Our Forever Family

A New Look

2012-02-01T09:24:00.001-05:00

Mandy came home from school last week with her hair looking extremely messy. So I tried to comb it out with my fingers only to find a HUGE blob of gum in it. And because I lack the patience to try to get it out, I just decided to cut it off…

It was a really big chunk of hair. So now Mandy has a cute little bob. I actually like her hair better short anyway.

I think I know

2012-01-30T08:40:00.001-05:00

what Layton will be getting for his birthday! A bike!

He has started riding Mandy’s and has become a real pro at it.

The cutest part is that Mandy and Dallin are the ones that taught him how and they are just as proud of him as we are :)

Go Layton!!

They sure have…

2012-01-27T08:56:00.001-05:00

some big boots to fill!

Just want to say how grateful I am that they have the father that they do. He sets such a wonderful example of dedication and hard work. If they turn out even a little like him, they will have done well.

Yay Dallin!

2012-01-26T13:12:00.001-05:00

Dallin made it on the A-B honor roll this past nine weeks!

We are really proud of him!

Both he and Mandy had perfect attendance and so got gift certificates for a free kid’s meal at Texas Roadhouse. We sure enjoyed using those up!

Shelf Reliance –Thrive Consultant – Food Storage

2012-01-24T09:08:00.001-05:00

A few months ago my very good friend Kylia introduced me to a new product line called Thrive from Shelf Reliance. Thrive is a food storage line of products that is really more than just food storage. Why? Because these are products that you can use everyday!

They make it so easy for you to build up a supply of food. Why build a supply of food? Job loss, natural disaster, sudden high expenses, and more. Having a food supply on hand is like having food insurance. Should you have several months where you are unemployed, or perhaps get injured and are unable to work for a while, or for whatever reason are unable to purchase food, with a good food supply, you can rest easy knowing that no matter what happens you can feed your family.

With Shelf Reliance, you can determine a monthly food budget, set up a list of foods that you want to add to your food supply, and then they will send you foods from your list each month that are equal to that budget amount. Don’t know what you need to have in your food supply? They even have tools to help you determine that and can generate a food list for you.

I’ve been doing the monthly shipment thing now (they call it your “Q”) for several months and I’ll be honest, I’m actually having a hard time adding to my food storage. Why? Because my kids just want to eat it! I think this company’s best products are it’s freeze dried fruits and vegetables. My kids love eating the veggies and fruits right out of the can. They are so tasty and crunchy. I love having them as snacks myself. The best part – the ingredient list. It is usually just one item long. My favorites so far are the pineapple, corn, peas, peaches, and pears.

I’ve actually found that my kids are choosing to eat these healthy snacks and as a result I am buying less snacky type food at the grocery store. They are eating healthier and I am spending less money at the grocery store. It’s a win-win!

So because I’ve learned to love these products so much I decided to become a consultant for it myself.

Take a look at the website to see all the types of foods and other products available. (Click on the logo to go to the website)

The prices available to you at a party are better than the prices listed on the website. Usually by 5 to 10 percent. So a party is definitely the way to go. And as a hostess you get to earn free food! It is super easy to host a party. All you have to provide is the place and the plates. I bring all the food for tasting! If you are interested in having a fun night with your friends and tasting some good food, I would love to do that with you! Just e-mail me at ksjarvis77@gmail.com to get started!

Aunt Becky’s Temple Day

2012-01-23T08:39:00.001-05:00

A week ago Saturday, I was so happy to go to the temple with my Aunt Becky. My Aunt Becky is my second mother and she has been working towards this day for quite a while now.

The temple is such a special beautiful place. It is a sacred place to learn and come closer to our Father in Heaven. The spirit there is always so sweet and peaceful. Stepping into the temple is like entering another world. You leave the hustle and bustle of our crazy everyday life to enjoy the peace and quiet atmosphere of the temple. It is one of my two most favorite places on earth. The other being my home with my husband and children.

I am so happy that she got to experience the temple for the first time and I know she’ll be a frequent visitor!

And a special thanks to Laurel for being such an awesome friend and watching my kids for me that day!

A message from Dallin…

2012-01-20T09:51:00.001-05:00

And I second that! Have a wonderful day and weekend!

Bowling

2012-01-18T09:59:00.001-05:00

We took the kids bowling for the first time and they LOVED it! They were so cute and they loved having Daddy teach them how to bowl.

Watching Layton’s ball roll down to the pins was like watching bowling in slow motion, but at least he had fun.

By the end of the session, Dallin had actually gotten pretty good at it and even got a strike! And the ball didn’t even hit the bumpers along the edges. It was pretty awesome!!!

Journal Treat Jar

2012-01-16T10:45:00.001-05:00

On the first Sunday of the this year, Sister Roberts gave a talk about keeping journals. It was really fantastic and inspiring. Then while in Relief Society, she shared a few more ideas about journaling with your children. One idea that I just loved, was having a journaling cookie jar. She explained that when her boys were small, she had a special cookie jar that she kept well stocked with animal crackers. Each time she and her boys sat down to write in their journals, they would eat a few cookies from the journal jar. She said her boys LOVED journal time and would beg to write in their journals – mostly so they could get cookies, but also because it was a time that they sat down to do something together as a family.

So I decided to use her idea and try it with my own kids. So here we have the Journal Treat Jar:

I decided to call it a “treat” jar rather than cookie jar so that I can change out what kind of snacks I put in there to hopefully keep them excited about it. This is just a $5 canister that I picked up from Wal-mart, a piece of ribbon and a little title card I made on the computer and printed out.

To go along with it, I also made an “idea” jar filled with questions for times that they need an idea to write about. These I also just made on the computer, printed out and then laminated them to hopefully keep them in condition to be used over and over. Here is a sampling of some of the questions I put on them:

To get us started, I bought a few notebooks and stickers and let them decorate their journals to make it their own.

And then we started writing! Layton of course doesn’t write anything, instead he draws a picture about whatever subject he chooses.

We only write in them once a week and they are loving the experience. And I am loving what they are writing. During our last journal time, Dallin pulled a card from the idea jar and was asked to share a memory about Mama Doris (my grandmother). This is what he wrote:

I thought it was so cute and I am so glad that we have it recorded to go back and look at it over and over.

New Year’s Eve

2012-01-13T08:54:00.001-05:00

This year we celebrated New Year’s Eve at home. Just us. And I loved it!

We started the evening with games! Twister:

Apples to Apples:

And Sorry:

Then after a traditional meal of Waffles (that is a tradition handed down from my Grandmother, Mama Doris) we headed outside for a few fireworks.

And some fun with sparklers:

Then we headed back inside for a New Year’s toast of sparkling grape juice!

And then the kids had their last hooray for 2011

and were in bed by 9:00. That’s my kind of New Year’s Eve :)

Fondue {No alcohol Cheese Fondue and Chocolate Fondue}

2012-01-11T15:13:00.001-05:00

We LOVE fondue. Especially chocolate fondue. So one day last week we decided to have fondue for dinner. First a cheese fondue and then our regular chocolate fondue.

I went searching on the internet for a cheese fondue recipe and found tons of them. But all of them called for white wine. It was actually pretty hard to find one that didn’t have white wine in it. But I finally did and we loved it.

To make it you will need:

3/4 cup apple juice

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

3 cups shredded cheese (you can use any combination you like – Swiss, cheddar, Monterey Jack, Colby, etc.)

1 tbsp flour

black pepper to taste

Heat the apple juice and vinegar to boiling. In a separate bowl, toss the cheese, flour, and pepper together. Reduce heat on the juice to med-low and add the cheese mixture. Stir until cheese is completely melted.

And then dip in your favorite things. We did apple slices, sour dough bread, lightly cooked broccoli, celery sticks and pepperoni.

The kids had such a fun time with it. It was a nice fun way to have dinner.

And then for dessert, our favorite chocolate fondue.

To make it you’ll need:

2 cups dark chocolate chips (or an equivalent amount of your favorite dark chocolate)

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 tbsp vegetable oil

Put everything together in a microwave safe bowl. Melt for 45 seconds and stir, another 45 seconds and stir, and so on until the chocolate is completely melted. You just want to be careful not to get the chocolate too hot or it will change the consistency of it.

We dipped strawberries (our favorite thing to dip in chocolate), pineapple, marshmallow, pretzels, and pound cake.

You should try it sometime. It is so yummy!!!

Getting Spoiled by Mema

2012-01-10T10:16:00.001-05:00

While over visiting with my family, one of the days, Mema (my Aunt Becky) kept the kids while Nathan and I went to the movies. They REALLY got spoiled. She took them a Marine petting zoo (you get to put your hands into tanks to touch all kinds of marine animals) and then she took them to Walmart to pick out a treat. They were in heaven!

Progress Report #1

2012-01-08T13:01:00.001-05:00

So far so good. I’ve stuck with my training schedule this week! I’m pretty proud of myself right now!

As our goal this year is become healthier, I happened across a diet book that caught my attention and I’ve been reading it for the last few days.

Did you know that you can download free books from Amazon to read either on your Kindle or you can download a free Kindle app that can be used on your computer, your I-Phone/I-Pad, or Android phones and read the book on it? The list of free books is ever changing. I think it is mostly new authors that want to give their book a boost by offering it for free so that people can leave reviews on it. Then after a short time, they change the book price from free to regular price.

Anyway, on the free list last week they had a book called The Perfect 10 Diet:10 Key Hormones that Hold the Key to Losing Weight and Feeling Great. It has actually been quite interesting. Oh sure the first couple of chapters he goes on and on and on about how wonderful and flawless (insert eye roll here- for real, he actually used the word flawless) his diet plan is and how awful the currently recommended low-fat diet is and also how bad the Atkins diet is for you. While the explanation of why these diets don’t work in the long run was interesting, it got REALLY repetitive after a bit. But once you get past all that, I think about a third of the way into the book he starts discussing 10 very important hormones in the body and how certain foods interact with those hormones and what foods should be eaten to booster the effectiveness of those hormones. I thought this section of the book was extraordinarily interesting and well worth reading.

In the end his recommendations came down to eating only whole foods and staying away from refined and processed foods. Which is something I highly agree with. And while I do agree with that concept, I found his approach a little extreme and not really sustainable to me personally. I guess I am more of a moderation in all things kind of gal.

Some of the more interesting points he made about food were:

1. Eat full fat dairy instead of low fat. The low-fat/fat free version causes spikes in your blood sugar and insulin levels. Eating/drinking the full fat version helps the food/drink be digested more slowly and doesn’t cause spiking. Those natural fats are actually good for you. Also don’t buy into the 3 servings of dairy a day recommendation – 1 a day for most people is just fine.

2. Eat a big breakfast, a slightly lighter lunch, and then make dinner your lightest meal.

3. Refined foods like white flour, white rice, and white pasta can spike your blood sugar even more than plain ol’ white sugar.

4. He recommended eating lots of fish and seafood. Like a lot, a lot. Like 4 or 5 times a week a lot. (Talk about expensive!!!! I don’t think we’ll be doing this. But we might try to add it in a little more often.)

5. He also extoled the nutritious wonders of red meat. It has all kinds of trace minerals and good for you things in it. BUT – your body only really needs those things about once every three weeks.

6. Stay away from manufactured fats. Like all the vegetable oils, margarines, and so forth. Use BUTTER (I loved that he said that, cooking with butter tastes so much better), olive oil, coconut oil, and other natural fats. Natural being the most important word.

7. Manufactured soy products are a big no-no. Apparently soy naturally has certain hormones in it and the manufacturing process can amplify the effects of those hormones. Stay away from things like soy milk and soy protein products. Especially people that have issues with thyroid. The manufactured soy products can actually interfere with the effectiveness of thyroid medication. (Surprisingly this is not the first mention I’ve heard of this, I’ve all read about this in other health articles and magazines as well)

8. Organic, organic, organic.

9. Read labels. If it contains refined flour, lots of sugar, chemicals, artificial flavors, or hydrogenated oils, it’s probably not good for you, no matter what the front of the product may claim.

10. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Add in more natural fats to your diet, like nuts and avocadoes. Eat whole grains. (Pretty common sense stuff right there)

Now, do I buy into everything that he claims and do I plan to follow all of his recommendations? No. If there is anything that I have learned about doctors and scientists, it is that the studies are always changing and new information is always being found. That being said though, I do think he presented some pretty sound principles. Namely eating whole foods and staying away from processed foods. I also plan to try to buy organic more often, because he is right, we don’t know all the effects the chemicals used in pesticides can have and so it probably is a good idea to try to lessen the amount you eat. But I plan to be reasonable about it. I mean, I do love a good Oreo, and I can’t imagine that having some every now and then is really that bad. But, that doesn’t mean they need to be eaten everyday :) I also don’t plan to eat as much meat as he suggests. His menu plans have you eating meat at almost every meal. That’s just too much for me. I like meat, don’t get me wrong, I just don’t crave it and don’t really think you need to eat it at every meal or even every day. But that’s just me.

To get the free Kindle app go here. Once you have the app, to get the book go here. They have now changed the price from free to $1.99, but I still do think it is worth taking a look at, even if you just read the chapter that talks about the different hormones in your body and how food effects them. It is very very interesting.

The Craft Area

2012-01-06T11:46:00.001-05:00

MY favorite Christmas present for THEM was their new Arts & Crafts area that we created in the garage. After opening all of their other presents, we led them out into the garage for their last surprise.

They now have their own craft table (which you can tell they have already put to good use)

And an easel with a white board on one side and a chalkboard on the other.

They also have a craft supply container with drawers filled with everything they will need to be as creative as possible. They have crayons, colored pencils, glue, scissors, paints, brushes, sketching pencils, oil pastels, markers, paper, and lots of other little crafting supplies.

My mom helped out by giving them a whole load of things to add to their supplies as well. Awesome!!!!

And she also gave Layton an art desk just his size. He’s been loving it!

This gift had several purposes. First and foremost, we want to encourage our children’s creativity as much as possible. I love seeing what they create! Secondly, my dining room table has had about as much creativity as it can stand. I needed to have a place where they can paint and do all the creative projects they like to do that wouldn’t end up ruining my table completely. And third now we have a nice 6 foot table and four chairs to use whenever we need it. Win-win all around I think.

Dallin also received a couple of step by step drawing books. From the instructions in the book (no tracing) he created this picture of our family:

I love it. Mandy is sticking out her tongue. Layton has monkey ears. And Dallin is chubby. It makes me giggle every time I look at it. I think he has some serious potential as a cartoonist!

Christmas Morning

2012-01-05T12:00:00.001-05:00

Santa was very good to us this year. He snuck into our house and set out all of this:

The kids were so happy to get the the one thing they really really wanted – SCOOTERS! So fun!

After a moment enjoying their scooters the present opening began! Layton was so very happy to get more cars and even the Cars 2 movie.

And of course he loved getting his very own set of Legos, which happened to be from us not Santa. That was one smart purchase! All of the kids have spent hours playing with them during the last week and a half.

Mandy got a microphone, magic clay dough, a new board game and a jewelry making kit. She loved it all!

Dallin got a new video game for the PS3 and a few new games for his DS, plus some legos of his own.

But I think his most exciting gift was a BB gun. This BB gun was extra special because it belonged to Nathan when he was a kid.

The kids also wanted to give presents to each other. More than just empty chocolate milk cartons :) So I gave them a list of extra chores they could do (you know stuff like clean out the van, vacuum the van, dust, scrub the tub, organize the bookshelf, etc.). They earned 50 cent for each chore they completed. And then I took them by themselves on a shopping to trip the dollar area at Target and AC Moore. They LOVED doing this. The had so much fun with the secrecy of it :) Somehow with the craziness of that morning I didn’t get pictures of what all they gave to each other, but here are a couple.

Dallin gave Mandy some glow stick earrings (which she loved, even if she does look funny in that picture) and a little art project thing and to Layton he gave a tiny stuffed animal and a Lightning McQueen paint set (you can imagine how ecstatic Layton was!) Mandy gave Dallin a miniature Lego set and to Layton a little car. Again they LOVED it. Layton gave Mandy a slinky and to Dallin a mini-Knex set. These were among their very favorite gifts.

After the present opening we headed to church for a beautiful service. Nathan sang a solo portion of the first verse of O Holy Night. It was wonderful. The whole program was wonderful and just perfect to bring the spirit of Christ to our Christmas day.

We followed up church with our annual crepes. And then the real playing began!

Dallin is getting pretty awesome with his aim. These little targets also used to belong to Nathan when he was younger.

One of Layton’s favorite gifts was a stomp rocket. I have to admit – it really is pretty fun!

I have to say – this has to be one of my most favorite Christmases.

Dallin thinks he’s SOOOOO funny….

2012-01-04T08:43:00.001-05:00

A couple weeks before Christmas, Dallin came home from school and told me that he had made some gifts for Mandy and Layton and he wanted to wrap them. He wouldn’t let me see what the presents were because he wanted them to be a surprise.

Christmas morning rolls around and Layton opens the present Dallin had made him and it was a cute little construction paper reindeer. Mandy opened her gift…

and it was an empty chocolate milk carton. Nice, right? Isn’t that what every little girl dreams of receiving?

Christmas Eve

2012-01-03T10:27:00.001-05:00

We spent Christmas Eve with Nathan’s family. The kids did their usual gift exchange and loved all the things they got.

Especially Layton. He loved it so much it was more important for the gift to be in the picture rather than his face.

Then it was time for opening presents from Nana and Grandpa. Talk about chaos. Whew!!!!

Dallin was super excited to get a mini-video recorder and Mandy has been loving her new magic set.

Then we had a bit of a crazy hair moment. Don’t you just love their new looks?

I think it looks particularly awesome on Nathan. He could totally pull off a look like that, don’t you think?

And then it was time for the annual nativity. Dallin was a wise man, Mandy the Angel, and Layton was Joseph.

Nathan even good naturedly agreed to be the donkey and carried Ryan in on his back while Layton “led” him.

Then it was time for Mary to have her baby.

Oddly enough, it came out the wrong way and looked like a stuff animal.

But then magically it looked like a baby again.

The angel came and told the shepherds of Christ’s birth.

And then the wise men came from the east

and gathered close (and I mean really close) around to worship the child Jesus.

It was a super cute Nativity! Even if Annabelle was giving us the evil eye!

It was wonderful being together with everyone!

My little crazy children…

2012-01-02T08:47:00.001-05:00

I tried to get of nice picture of my kids with some of their cousins at Haley’s baptism. This is what I got instead…

So I tell them to please straighten up and be nice for the camera. Mandy complies, but Layton…

Oh well. At least he’s always good for a laugh.

New Year Resolutions

2011-12-31T10:17:00.001-05:00

It’s that time again when we make goals for ourselves for the year! Is anyone else like me and have a horrible track record for setting goals and then not really keeping them? I set goals every year and only very very few of them I have ever actually stuck to and accomplished. So I’ve been trying to figure out how to make this year different. I want to make this year the one that I set a goal and actually make it happen!

I read a pretty good article here that sums up some strategies to help you keep your goals. These are a few highlights that I took away from it:

1. Be specific and make it attainable – in other words don’t set my sights too high and be detailed in what I need to do to accomplish it.

2. Focus on just ONE thing. Instead of making a list of goals, choose one specific thing or area that you want to work on.

3. Plan-Plan-Plan!!!! Create a very clear plan on how to accomplish the goal.

4. Do Baby Steps – in your plan, have clear small steps along the way that can show your progress

5. Avoid repeating past failures – if you are setting a goal similar to one you’ve tried in the past – REEVALUATE the goal – determine what went wrong the first time and adjust your plan to overcome those setbacks

6. Don’t let small stumbles make you give up – when you come to a setback, take a step back, reevaluate, modify your goal plan if necessary and then keep going!

7. Get support from family and friends – share your goals with those around you and ask them to be your cheering section. Being accountable to others helps provide motivation.

8. Remember – change is a process – the habit that you are trying to change didn’t get created overnight, so it is completely unreasonable to think that changing it will be an immediate thing. It will be a slow process, but it IS doable.

9. Stay motivated – it is easy to be motivated at the beginning, find ways throughout the process to reignite that spark of motivation – remind yourself often of WHY you are doing this

10. Keep working at it! Don’t give up! Record your progress and your failures.

So what is my goal going to be this year? My one area of focus is going to be my health. I’m starting to feel old. And I don’t like it. I am tired of feeling, well, tired. I want to feel better.

Now to apply those strategies above -

I had thought about setting a realistic weight loss goal. Something specific and attainable, but then after reading this article from the New York Times, The Fat Trap, I’ve decided to change that a bit. That article is kind of long but is a great read about new research in the area of weight loss that talks about how when we are losing weight, our bodies actually fight against us. Your body becomes used to a specific weight and views it as “normal” whether it actually is or not. And then when you loose weight your body fights to get it back to where it perceives “normal” to be. It is hypothesized that it takes years – yep YEARS – of maintenance dieting and exercise at the new lower weight before your body starts to view that new weight as the norm. So to make a really long explanation short – I took away from the article a desire to focus on being healthy rather than losing a specific amount of weight.

So my goal is to begin an exercise program and to support that program with eating foods that fuel the body in a healthy way – fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, lean proteins, and low-fat dairy.

To make my exercise program as specific as possible, Nathan and I have decided to sign up to run (or in my case, more like run/walk) the Ortega River Run on February 25th. It is a 5 mile course and is BEAUTIFUL. We did it about 8 years ago when Dallin was just a baby and I pushed him in the jogging stroller. The course goes through an old neighborhood along the river, down little roads with huge canopy trees and lovely old houses. It really is beautiful. We’d love to have friends join us!!!!

From the 1st Place Sports website I was able to find a training schedule for a race of that length and then I modified it to make the “rest” day fall on Sunday.

So Monday I start my training! You’ll notice that the training schedule lists specific numbers of miles to “run”, well, I’m not sure I’m completely up to that so my miles will most likely be a combination of running/walking with more running hopefully mixed in as I go along. I’m very excited. I really do want to make this the one year that I accomplish my goal!!!!

Obviously this training schedule only takes me through the end of February. At that time, I plan to reevaluate, see how things went, and modify my goal as necessary to keep on improving my health for the year.

Happy goal setting everyone!

Cookies for Santa

2011-12-30T10:33:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite family traditions is making cookies for Santa. It is one of those traditions that ties back to my childhood. As a child, I remember using this very bowl handed down to me from my mom,

to mix up oatmeal cookies or snickerdoodles because those were “Santa’s” favorites. They also happened to be my dad’s favorite. Strange coincidence, no?

And so now it continues on with my kids. At our house, “Santa” happens to love sugar cookies. And so sugar cookies we made!

Sprinkles anyone?

Santa washed those down with a glass of eggnog and loved them!

Skating Again!

2011-12-29T10:28:00.001-05:00

Last Thursday, we met up with some of my cousins that I discovered lived over here just a couple months ago at Skate Station. This time around I was able to convince all three to go out there and skate!

They have these really awesome of “trainer” skates for little ones. They don’t allow you to roll very fast and so Layton was able to get out there on his own and really go!

Mandy on the other hand had to use regular skates. She spent most of the time there clinging to the wall :)

But she did eventually get a little more adventurous and gave it a good try. She never really got the hang of it, but she is excited about and wants to try again. Hopefully we can go again soon so that she can really learn how to do it.

And Dallin, well – he is now an old pro at it. He went skating around the rink no problem!!!

Family Photos

2011-12-21T10:58:00.001-05:00

When Christmas rolls around, we always try to get a good family photo done. I think this is a pretty standard practice with a lot of families :) We always take enough that at least one or two of them turn out good enough to go on the Christmas card and to hang on the wall. But to be quite honest, my favorite ones aren’t necessarily the “perfect” ones with everyone looking and everyone smiling that I use on the Christmas card. I think all the other not so perfect ones actually make me smile more! So here are a few of our out takes that made me smile!

This one is a personal favorite – let’s just say I was pushing the wrong button and no one was ready!!!

Anyone noticing a pattern here of why most of these pictures didn’t make the Christmas card cut? One word – LAYTON!

I love my little family!

Christmas Ballet Performance

2011-12-20T14:21:00.001-05:00

Last Saturday, Mandy’s ballet class (plus two other classes) paid a visit to a nursing home. They sang a couple of fun Christmas songs,

and then started in on their performance.

It is always so fun to watch little kids “dance”. It always brings a smile to my face. And I think it also brightened the day of some of the residents.

I am really glad Mandy got the opportunity to do that. She has the sweetest dance instructor. Ms. Jan is so much fun and ever so thoughtful.

Our Trip to Bethlehem

2011-12-19T09:52:00.001-05:00

The second weekend of this month, the Orange Park Methodist Church put on one fantastic event! They invited the community to take a step back in time to see what life might have been like in Bethlehem when Christ was born.

You came in through the city gates past the rather scary looking soldiers.

On entering the city our family was “counted” and we paid our “taxes” (which really was a voluntary donation to their charity fund).

Then we wondered the streets of Bethlehem. Getting a taste of fresh bread,

watching the blacksmiths work,

seeing the livestock, including a baby goat that was born only the night before,

learning how to build from the carpenter and even giving it a try,

and walking into the market to see what foods were sold there.

And last we came upon the stable where Mary and Joseph and this adorable chubby little Baby Jesus spent the night.

The kids love it so much and I think it really was an experience they will remember and will help them understand what life might have been like back then.

Making Potpourri

2011-12-16T09:59:00.001-05:00

As a little gift for a few people, we decided to make our own potpourri. We started by dehydrating oranges mostly for looks but also to add a little citrus scent.

The kid’s favorite part – sneaking a few orange slices as they arranged them on the trays!

Then after waiting overnight for the oranges to dry out, we put together little bags of orange slices, pine cones, and cinnamon sticks.

It really smelled quite yummy!

We hope that the people we made it for really like it!

Relief Society Christmas Party

2011-12-14T10:02:00.001-05:00

Last night was our annual Relief Society Christmas Party. Our theme for the program/dinner was:

We decorated the tables with lots of angels all around.

And then after a yummy meal cooked and served by the men, we had a short little program. We had asked several sister to share an experience of when they had received service from their fellow RS sisters and how it had blessed them. It was so sweet and wonderful to hear some of the things that they shared. It is so special to belong to a group of women who truly are angels walking among us, helping those around them and allowing others to feel their Heavenly Father’s love through them.

For the last couple of months some of the sisters in RS had “adopted” one of the young women in the ward and had secretly brought them gifts and sent them cards and did other things to let the young women know how much they care about them. Last night, the young women got to find out who their secret sisters were!

We had such a great turn out for the evening.

We closed the night by reading the words to this country song from a few years back:

I was walking home from school on a cold winter day
Took a shortcut through the woods, and I lost my way
It was getting late, and I was scared and alone
But then a kind old man took my hand and led me home

I believe there are angels among us
Sent down to us from somewhere up above
They come to you and me in our darkest hours
To show us how to live, to teach us how to give
To guide us with the light of love

When life held troubled times, and had me down on my knees
There's always been someone to come along and comfort me
A kind word from a stranger, to lend a helping hand
A phone call from a friend, just to say I understand
And ain't it kind of funny at the dark end of the road
That someone lights the way with just a single ray of hope

I believe there are angels among us
Sent down to us from somewhere up above
They come to you and me in our darkest hours
To show us how to live, to teach us how to give
To guide us with the light of love

They wear so many faces, show up in the strangest places
To grace us with their mercy, in our time of need

I am so grateful to have so many angels in my life!

Oh so modest…

2011-12-13T13:26:00.001-05:00

Layton and I were having a conversation in the car the other day that went a little something like this:

Me: You’re funny.

Layton: No you’re funny.

Me: Well, you’re funnier.

Layton: No, you’re funnier.

Me: You’re the funniest!

Layton: No you’re the funniest!

Me: Well, you’re the cutest.

Layton: (pause) Yes, I am.

I guess we’re doing a pretty good job of building his self-esteem.

Christmas Tree Decorating Time

2011-12-12T12:46:00.001-05:00

I have the best little tree trimmers around.

Unlike most years where I have to go behind the kids and spread the ornaments out a little more evenly, this year I think they really got the idea of balancing out the tree.

I think I only moved one or two ornaments. That’s pretty amazing for me :)

My kids are so excited for Christmas. They have been talking about it since January. You think I’m joking but I’m not. Anticipation for Christmas lasts all year long at our house!

Out of the mouth of babes…

2011-12-08T08:47:00.001-05:00

Have you ever had one of those days when you are feeling a little overwhelmed, stressed, just not sure that you’re doing a very good job at anything – especially being a good mother? Well, I’ve kind of felt like I’ve been not only having one of those days, but one of those months. And just when I need a little encouragement, Layton tells me:

Mom, I like you. You’re the best Mommy I ever had.

They may not be the most profound or poetic words, but they are beautiful to me.

I like you too Layton. You’re the best Layton I ever had.

Making Bubble Gum

2011-12-07T11:49:00.001-05:00

One of Mandy’s gifts from Dallin and Layton was a bubble gum making kit. It was quite messy, but a very good time.

They loved mixing in the different flavors to create their very own.

Their hands also got an excellent work out as you had to knead the gum for 20 minutes to get it to the right texture.

Let the gum chewing begin!

Mandy’s 6th Birthday Party

2011-12-06T10:48:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned before, for Mandy’s 6th birthday party we decided to steal my friend Becky’s daughter’s birthday party idea and have a Baking Birthday Party.

Like my friend, I tackled the project of making aprons for all of the kids we invited (plus a few extras for my nieces). I made all different sizes from one for a 9 month old to one for a 13 year old.

All I can say is I really have to hand to people that know how to sew well. I do not. If the stitching on those aprons last more than a few months I will be seriously impressed. Let’s just say I REALLY need to work on my sewing skills.

When our little friends arrived, they each got their apron, a spoon, and a chef hat.

We only invited a total of 6 kids other than our own for the party because my kitchen is way to small to have any more than that :)

And then we started baking!!!

We dipped pretzels in chocolate, covered Ritz cracker peanut butter sandwiches in chocolate, molded oreos in chocolate, made our own peanut butter cups, and created colorful flower candy pops. In other words - we made enough treats to put a child into a sugar coma for a week :)

We also made cupcakes!

And they then placed all of their goodies into boxes for them to take home. I figured I’d let the parents deal with the sugar rush rather than me :)

This a was obviously a pretty girly party, so let’s just say that Dallin was not always the most enthused about it:

But that’s ok because the party wasn’t about him. It was all about Mandy.

And she loved it! She got so many great gifts. Thank you so much to everyone!

Her gift from us was a Hearts to Hearts doll that she had picked out months ago and kept begging for it. She wanted this particular one because she said it looked the most like her – with brown hair and brown eyes. Her name is Consuelo. Yep, that’s right, my daughter apparently identifies most with those of Hispanic origin. She’s so funny.

Thanksgiving Day

2011-12-05T09:08:00.001-05:00

Our Thanksgiving Day was filled will all the usual things. Started out the day with the annual Turkey Bowl.

The guys were really into it.

And had a great time.

Then we had out Thanksgiving Feast. And Feast it truly was. We ate around 1:30 in the afternoon and I didn’t really feel hungry again until the following morning.

I think my favorite part of the meal was Mandy asking if she could have the “chicken leg” as that is always her favorite part when we have a whole roasted chicken.

She tore right into that “chicken leg”!!!

It’s Alive!

2011-12-02T12:41:00.001-05:00

That’s quite a nice little pile of leaves there don’t you think?

But wait……it’s ALIVE!!!

Mandy’s Late Birthday Post

2011-12-01T11:45:00.001-05:00

Can you believe I forgot to post about my Mandy girl on her birthday yesterday? I mean I did remember to take cupcakes in to her class for her birthday, but I don’t know what happened with my blogging. I think I’m loosing my mind. Literally. If you find it – please send it back!

Our little baby girl was born on the very last day of November. I had really wanted a December baby, but she was just too impatient for that. She couldn’t last even one more day :)

That’s ok though, we were super happy to have her with us.

She was a super happy baby we loved her to pieces.

She grew up so fast and had more than her fair share of personality.

She has always been one for having lots of flair.

We love her smile.

We love everything about our little moo-who. Even her attitude.

We love her beauty – both inside and out.

We just love her.

Happy Birthday to my most favorite girl in the world!

Bullseye!

2011-11-30T10:13:00.001-05:00

Last week when visiting with my brother, Sarah showed the kids how to shoot a BB gun.

They had SO much fun with it. Don’t you love how Mandy has her little hip cocked to the side here.

BB gun and a jean skirt is quite the fashion statement, don’t you think?

Nathan even coached her on how to bend down on one knee for extra stability.

Even Layton gave it a try with some help from Emily.

I love how he even squinted one eye so he could get a better look down the barrel.

And Dallin – he was in love with whole experience.

After everyone tired of it, he continued to practice and practice and practice.

He got really good at his aim and was hitting the target almost every time. I was actually pretty impressed!

Thanks Sarah for such a good time!

Artistry

2011-11-29T08:44:00.001-05:00

At the beginning of last week we went to visit my family. While there, the kids did their favorite activity to do with Meme – PAINT! They love painting. I’m hoping this means they will grow up to be amazing artists one day :)

They really get into it. It is very serious stuff for them!

Skate Station

2011-11-28T13:35:00.001-05:00

A couple of months ago at the kid’s elementary school fall festival they had a silent auction. I put a bid on a family pass with pizza/drinks to Skate Stations. I was the only one that bid on it, it was pretty low bid, and there was another hour left before they closed the bidding, so I knew I wouldn’t win it. But surprise – I did!

So after the end of baseball season, we finally had a chance to take the kids to enjoy some miniature golfing!

They had a great time and

Dallin even got a hole in one!

Nathan and I had a little competition between the two of us. Let’s just say it wasn’t my best idea.

Nathan stomped me pretty badly.

After enjoying (I’m really stretching that word by the way) some pizza for lunch, Dallin wanted to do a little skating. So we rented the skates and then Dallin took one step onto the rink and decided he didn’t want to do it. I did serious eye rolling at this point and went skating on my own. Nathan even took a picture of my best side for me.

After doing a little practicing on the carpet, Dallin decided he would give it a try. So hand in hand, away we went!

With many falls and lots of effort, Dallin finally started to get the hang of it and by the end was skating on his own.

He even got so confident that he could wave and skate at the same time :)

Now he begs us all the time to take him skating again. And we did. Last Wednesday. And I skated with him. And then I fell. And really bruised my knee. I hate getting old and being less coordinated….

My Gratitude Journal

2011-11-24T10:16:00.001-05:00

Like many others this month, I have kept a daily record of things that I am grateful for. These are only a few snapshot items/moments that make my heart filled with thanks.

11/1/2011 – I am grateful to have a piano and that my kids are showing an interest in learning how to play.

11/2/2011 – I am grateful for speedy mechanics that changed my oil and rotated my tires in less than 30 minutes.

11/3/2011 – I am grateful for word of mouth advertising that helped me get a wedding scheduled for next May.

11/4/2011 – I am grateful for laughter – sometimes it is the only thing that can help me get through a bad day.

11/5/2011 – I am grateful for a warm jacket, gloves, and scarf to wear out at the ball field – it was freezing out there!

11/6/2011 – I am grateful to have felt the spirit during Church and for reminders that I need to try harder to follow God’s commands.

11/7/2011 – I am grateful that my dental work is going to cost less than I thought. And I’m grateful that it stopped raining right before I had to go pick up the kids from school

11/8/2011 – I am grateful for a mother-in-law that is so willing to help out with babysitting whenever I need it.

11/9/2011 – I am grateful for the invention of ibuprofen.

11/10/2011 – I am grateful for Layton and the crazy things he says to make me laugh.

11/11/2011 – I am grateful to have so many things that I am able to give some of them away.

11/12/2011 – I am grateful for all the photo sessions I have this month. It sure will help in paying for Christmas!

11/13/2011 – I am grateful for how girly Mandy is and how much fun we have together making crafts. Especially when it involves lots and lots of sparkles and glitter :)

11/14/2011 – I am grateful for Dallin wanting to do his very best at sports. I love to see him working hard and learning to be better.

11/15/2011 – I am grateful for wonderful friends. Life would be dreary without wonderful friends.

11/16/2011 – I am grateful for people that have great ideas and are willing to share them with everyone on the internet.

11/17/2011 – I am grateful that I can work from home and arrange my schedule to fit my kids’ school activities.

11/18/2011 – I am grateful that almost every time Dallin gets a treat at school he always saves part of it to bring home and share with Layton and Mandy.

11/19/2011 – I am grateful for a husband that likes to go out and do things that the kids enjoy even if it is not all that fun for him.

11/20/2011 – I am grateful that I live close enough to my family that we can easily travel there in only a few hours.

11/21/2011 – I am grateful that just like Nephi, I can say that I was born of goodly parents.

11/22/2011 – I am grateful that my kids have so many cousins that they love to play with. I am also grateful that when we travel Nathan usually drives because he knows I don’t like to.

11/23/2011 – I am grateful for time to do fun things with my children.

11/24/2011 – And today I am most especially grateful for my family. With them life is never dull, is filled with laughter, contains tons of hugs, and I can’t imagine life without them.

Schools Out!!!

2011-11-23T11:52:00.001-05:00

Schools out this whole week. The kids decided that they needed to take advantage of that and relax as much as possible. They made themselves extra comfy on the living room floor.

I don’t think they could fit in another blanket or pillow if they tried!

May your holiday be extra comfy and cozy too!

A Very Fancy Turkey

2011-11-18T12:52:00.001-05:00

Mandy had to decorate a turkey for her kindergarten class.

She wanted it to be the fanciest turkey ever.

I think she succeeded!

P.S. Yes, it is November and yes, she is wearing a bathing suit. But is that really surprising? I mean this is Mandy we’re talking about.

Wouldn’t it be awesome…

2011-11-16T07:57:00.001-05:00

if when you sent your kids to time out, you could lock them up like this:

I’d even be really nice and throw marshmallows at them instead of rotten fruit.

A Chilly Garage Sale

2011-11-15T12:57:00.001-05:00

Last Friday on Veterans Day, we held a little garage sale to get rid a few things. It was quite chilly out there. So rather than going with the normal way of staying warm – coat, hat, scarf, gloves – Mandy came up with her own way. That’s my Mandy girl. She RARELY does things in the normal way.

Halloween Day

2011-11-14T13:59:00.001-05:00

Every year, the elementary school does a costume parade on Halloween. And this year was no different! They try to encourage the kids to dress up as a character from a book.

In Dallin’s 3rd grade class, he had to do his very first book report this past month. He chose to read “Swiss Family Robinson”. We also watched the movie. Which by the way, the movie was completely Disneyfied. In there book there wasn’t even a single pirate!!!!

Anyway, Dallin wanted to dress up as a character from his book. He really loved the adventures that the donkey named Grizzle had in the book, so he decided to dress up as a donkey. Which was just great, because you know it’s so VERY easy to find a donkey costume. Needless to say, we worked together and made a very simple one. He had to explain to everyone what he was, but hey, it was the best I could do.

All of Mandy’s class came to school dressed in their pajamas.

They were all being characters from the book “The Napping House”. Which if you haven’t read it, you should. It’s one our favorites! Mandy’s teacher is so much fun!

We were also happy to see cowgirl Chloe that day in the parade:

That evening, the kids got all dressed up again for Trick or Treating. Dallin decided to wear his donkey costume rather than his pirate one. Mandy FINALLY decided she would put on her leopardess costume. Layton decided that since Dallin wasn’t a pirate, that he didn’t want to be one either, so he went as Spiderman. My children. Sometimes they are just a little nutty.

Oddly enough, this was actually their very first time going trick or treating. In the past, since we go to trunk or treat at the church, I’ve been able to convince them to stay at home and just hand out candy. But not this year. I guess they wanted more candy!

And more candy they got. Lots and lots and lots of candy.

Looking Stinky

2011-11-08T15:40:00.001-05:00

This year for Mandy’s birthday we are having a baking party. Earlier this year my cousin/friend Becky did one for her daughter and it was SO CUTE, so I decided to steal her idea completely and do one for Mandy.

To make the invitations, I set up a little baking photo shoot for Mandy. To get ready for it, I told her to go put on a black shirt so that it would match the apron. She went to look for one in her drawer and came back to inform me that all her black shirts were in the dirty clothes.

So being the kind of mother that I am, I told her to go dig one out of the dirty clothes. Then Mandy just gives me this look like I’m nuts and said, “What? Do you want me to look stinky in my pictures?”

So what’s your opinion? Do you think she looks stinky in these pictures?

Crazy Hair

2011-11-08T13:44:00.001-05:00

We made a trip to Walgreens the day after Halloween. Can you guess what the kids found on sale for half price?

The Next General Authority

2011-11-07T12:56:00.001-05:00

Many of you have probably already heard, but last night my father-in-law, who I am happy to call Dad, was called to be the second counselor in the Stake Presidency at church. (for those not familiar with our church, the Stake Presidency oversees a group of wards(or what some people might refer to as a congregation) that meet at the LDS churches in this area)

The family members that live around here locally were able to join him for this special occasion.

We are really excited for him and know that while this is a huge responsibility, Dad is going to do an amazing job!!

Just as soon as Dad was set apart (which is a special blessing given by the laying of hands, just as the apostles did so long ago), Layton jumped off my lap and headed up to the front of the room. I thought he was going to give Grandpa a hug, but nope – he hopped right up in the chair ready to receive a special blessing too.

President Berry reached down and patted him the head and said “Son, I don’t think this is the kind of ‘laying on of hands’ you really need.”

Ah President Berry, so in tune with the spirit, he pegged Layton just right.

But who knows, maybe one day I will see Layton sitting in a chair like that. Maybe he’ll even be a General Authority one day.

P.S. Thanks Mom for letting me use your pictures!!

Jacksonville Area Women’s Conference 2011

2011-11-04T09:10:00.001-04:00

October 22 we held the first ever FREE Jacksonville Area Women’s Conference. It was quite an exciting day! And took a lot of preparation. We had a great time putting together all the little goodie bags for all of the participants.

And by great time, what I really mean is LONG time. It took forever to get all those bags put together!

On the morning of the conference, all the women showed up at our cute little registration desk,

and received a bag plus one of these adorable name tags. They really are adorable aren’t they? And if you don’t think so, please don’t tell me because I spent a ridiculous amount of time on them!

After registering, everyone attend their classes. Subjects included interior design, gardening, hair/skin care, identity theft, estate planning, financial organization, genealogy, organizing your home, being frugal, yoga, healthy eating, and many others.

I know I personally learned, or was reminded of, some really great tips in the classes that I attended. Here are a jumbled few from the classes I went to:

1. When organizing an area, plan manageable blocks of time for all the different steps of the process.

2. Decide on what organizing containers you want to use only after you have completely gone through the purging step and have gotten rid of everything that is no longer “relevant” to your current life situation.

3. If you haven’t needed to use it in the last 6 months, you probably don’t need it.

4. Go through all your bills every 6 months to see what can be reduced or eliminated.

5. Try using homemade cleaners to save money – like vinegar and baking soda.

6. Get a timer for the water heater or turn it off when not in use.

7. Do a freezer meal swap party! (I’ve already started planning this one!!!!)

8. Use the 30-day purchase rule – keep a list of items that you “want” to purchase and leave it on the list for at least 30 days before making the purchase. You’ll be surprised at what you might find you don’t really “need” after all.

9. E-mail companies of products that you like and tell them how much you enjoy their product. Sometimes they will e-mail back coupons in return!

10. Design your home to suit your personal style – don’t let anyone else dictate your style for you! Just because you see something you like in someone else’s home doesn’t mean that it would be perfect for your home.

After all the great classes, we headed over to the church building for a nice lunch

And then settled in to enjoy the musical presentations and speakers.

Then we came to our last speaker, Meg Johnson. She was amazing.

Everyone fell in love with her. She shared her story of overcoming her hardships. We all laughed and cried, and laughed and cried a little more. She truly is an inspiration.

She even has a CD available where you can listen to her inspiring words. I HIGHLY recommend it.

I am now one her biggest fans!

Trunk-or-Treat

2011-11-02T11:44:00.001-04:00

At trunk or treat there was lots of smelling of feet, getting something good to eat, and luckily everyone cared so they didn’t have to pull down anyone’s underwear.

There were lots of scary trunks to treat from,

but we’re thinking that this poor guy didn’t get his fair share of candy.

I swear we feed him….

2011-11-01T10:22:00.001-04:00

Organizing some of my pictures this morning, I discovered this one that I hadn’t posted. This was taken at the Jarvis Family reunion this year. Layton discovered the joy of jumping off the diving board and became a lean mean jumping machine. Lean being the most descriptive word here. I promise, he really does eat. Lots actually. In fact last night, he probably took in enough calories from all the candy to last him a week. He especially loved the Kit-Kats just in case you were wondering.

AAAARRRGH…..AGAIN

2011-10-31T09:30:00.001-04:00

So do you know why Layton wanted to be a pirate? Because Dallin wanted to be a pirate. It’s only logical you know.

But Dallin didn’t want to be just any pirate. He wanted to be Captain Jack Sparrow!

And I’d say he’s just as crazy as Captain Jack ever was!

GO GATORS!

2011-10-28T09:25:00.000-04:00

Yeah, not really. But it goes along with Mandy’s costume.

Funny thing is, we actually bought her a new costume this year. She picked out this cute little leopardess number. But when it came time for Trunk-or-Treat, she didn’t want to wear it. And I didn’t want to fight with her. I usually don’t win anyway.

She’s highly logical and very convincing. And she can really wear you down. So she went as a cheerleader instead.

I tried to get her to wear my old garnet and gold Bulldogs cheerleading outfit, but it was all about the Gators for her.

I’m blaming this one on Sherri. She knows Mandy loves anything that Emily and Sarah give her! Besides, she’s adorable even if she is wearing orange and blue!

AAARRRGGH….

2011-10-27T12:19:00.001-04:00

Very very scary. I’d hate to meet him in a dark alley!

He Who Must Not Be Named

2011-10-26T11:29:00.001-04:00

Todd and Katie totally made my day a couple weeks ago. We arrived at Luke’s Harry Potter themed birthday party and after gorging ourselves for a little while on all their delicious food (for real, these guys know how to lay down a spread) Todd asks Nathan if he wouldn’t mind dressing up as Lord Voldemort and scaring the kids. Awesome.

The kids prepare by practicing some spells with the wands that they had made earlier.

Then out comes the Dark Lord. In shorts. I mean, it is Florida, so he must be on vacation. But even on vacation, he doesn’t mind taking a little time to terrorize some kids.

Smiling from ear to ear. I think that might be the creepiest part. Anytime Lord Voldemort is smiling must mean bad things are going to happen.

But the kids are up for the challenge. Audrey tries a different tactic to bring down You Know Who. A full on tackle. Maybe Harry should of tried that.

Then the kids attacked in mass,

and Lord Voldey didn’t stand a chance.

The best part – since I took pictures of it – I can pull them out and laugh at Nathan anytime I want :)

You know it’s been a day…

2011-10-25T11:08:00.001-04:00

full of fun when you look in the back of the van and see this:

The best days always end in exhaustion. And it’s even better when you’re dressed like Captain America!

Ballet at the Town Hall Fall Festival

2011-10-24T12:14:00.001-04:00

Mandy’s ballet school did a little performance at the Orange Park Town Hall Fall Festival.

Little kids dancing are so dang cute. Half the time most of them had no clue what they were doing.

It was a good laugh. And Mandy of course looked adorable.

They even had them all say their name. For a little girl that is so sassy and prissy at home, she acted like a little shy angle up there on stage.

I love my pretty little ballerina!

I love…

2011-10-19T10:13:00.001-04:00

a beautiful sunset.

Seeing things like that always make me want to start singing – “I’m glad that I live in this beautiful world, Heavenly Father created for me.”

So what did we do on our Anniversary?

2011-10-18T11:12:00.001-04:00

I’m sure you’ve been just dying to know.

We woke up at 7:15.

I got the kids ready for school and Nathan got ready for work.

I took Dallin and Mandy to school and Nathan headed out to the office.

I cleaned the kitchen, worked on stuff for the Women’s Conference, edited pictures, and worked on a permit.

Then Layton took a nap and I did a little more work.

I picked up the kids from school, fixed them a snack and helped them do their homework.

Then we left for the ballpark for Dallin’s baseball game.

We got home late and ate a super romantic gourmet dinner.

I mean, what could possibly be more romantic than grilled cheese?

After the kids went to bed, we did at least have a little grape juice toast to our 10 years together.

All I can say is thank goodness we celebrated our anniversary a month early!!!!! We never would have gotten any celebration in this month!!!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins

2011-10-17T09:29:00.001-04:00

Halloween is inching closer and closer! So to get ready for it we decorated some pumpkins! I know it’s traditional to carve them, but I find that to be really hard to do myself, much less something that the kids can do. So we just paint them instead :)

It is serious business at our house. It requires major concentration!

While at the pumpkin patch we found some very fun little pumpkins/gourds. We found one that looks like an octopus,

one that looks like a swan,

one that looks like a pumpkin in a ghost costume,

and one that Layton said is a giraffe in a ghost costume :)

And then I saw this one and had to buy it for myself.

I love the bright orange/red spider veins. They look beautiful!

So here are their finished products. Rather cute if I dare say so. And the pumpkins look cute too.

I’m so proud of these….

2011-10-14T21:30:00.001-04:00

…that I need to show them off.

Isn’t our bag cute? Everyone that comes to the women’s conference will get one. I think it makes our conference very legit :)

It’s been a pretty nice 10 years…

2011-10-13T13:07:00.001-04:00

10 years ago today, Nathan and I were kneeling across the alter in the Orlando Temple.

During these 10 years, we’ve had smiles everyday, secret jokes, a few fights, frequent laughter, occasionally tears, some misunderstandings, many compromises, a lot of forgiveness, a huge learning curve, 3 kids, and a whole lot of love.

Thank you for these wonderful years. I look forward to all we will experience together for eternity. I love you.

Goldhead

2011-10-11T09:35:00.001-04:00

For a little afternoon fun a couple weeks ago we headed down to Goldhead State Park for a little hiking and playing in the creek.

It really is a lovely little spot.

After hiking for a bit, we stopped along the trail for a little rest and a snack.

It was so nice and refreshing to be in nature together. I think its something that we need to do more often!

I {HEART} My Family

2011-10-10T11:37:00.001-04:00

Don’t ask me why Layton is making that face. Layton is just Layton.

Just because…

2011-10-07T10:27:00.001-04:00

this picture makes me smile…

Fall Festival

2011-10-06T11:03:00.001-04:00

Who doesn’t love a good old fashioned elementary school fall festival? We sure do.

There was face painting, ring tosses, corn hole tosses,

Mini-golf, pizza, hamburgers,

Sponge throwing, bouncy houses,

And even a little petting zoo.

And of course getting to see their friends from school was a nice bonus too!

They also had a silent auction and we got a basket of Peterbrooke Chocolate (no picture of that – it has already been completely consumed) and a family fun pack to Skate Station. We’re looking forward to that one!

Fall Ball

2011-10-05T11:10:00.001-04:00

Dallin is back into baseball again. Which one of the main reasons our schedule is so crazy!

This season his team is the “Hotrods”. Dallin has started off the season well. During the last game he had two hits.

And he did an AWESOME job as the catcher.

He gets into position and then he is ROCK SOLID.

That ball comes flying at him and he doesn’t even flinch.

Doesn’t he look so cute with all that equipment on? You should see him walking in it. It’s really pretty funny!

They lost their first game. And they’ll probably lose most of their games. But, he’s having a great time and that’s all that matters!

Is it just me

2011-10-02T21:33:00.001-04:00

or is my calendar already looking crazy this month and it is only October 3rd???

And this isn’t even everything. Holy cow. If you see me passed out somewhere, you’ll know why.

Vacation Day 8–Whitewater Rafting and Vaudeville

2011-09-29T08:57:00.001-04:00

For our very last day of vacation, we drove over to the Ocoee River for some awesome whitewater rafting!

I had never been whitewater rafting before. So you see where I am in the boat. Nice and comfy at the back.

Smartest decision ever. Because when he hit the course that had been specifically designed for the 1996 summer Olympics, you see who stayed in the boat…

I will admit that Nathan stayed in too. But only just barely. The funniest part is only minutes before he had been sitting in the front, but then switched with the younger kid so that he could enjoy the front for a bit.

It was a seriously good time. I loved it. Even if it was overcast and cold for most of the day. We were so pumped up on adrenaline most of the time, you didn’t even notice the cold!

Our guide was such a character. You can kind of see that by what he is wearing. He dressed up a little fancier that day because it was the last day that the upper portion of the river would be open for rafting. Most of the water in the Ocoee is held behind a damn and is used to produce electricity. But on Saturdays during the summer months they open up the damn to allow some white water rafting on the upper portion of the river. So we were lucky to get to do both the upper and middle Ocoee.

Because during the week, the upper portion of the river has very little water in it, lots of animals find there way down into the river bed. Especially things like snakes and lizards. So when they filled up the river, the snakes and such were all floating up on the water. One snake even found it’s way into one of the boats that we were with. I’m so glad it wasn’t ours. I would have DIED!!!!!!!!!

It was so fun and I’m so glad we went. I can’t wait to do it again someday!

After our rafting we headed back to Chattanooga. That evening we went downtown to find a fun local place to eat. We came across this place called the Vaudeville Café. Turns out it is a comedy murder mystery dinner theatre. We didn’t have tickets, but the lady at the desk said we could hang around for a little while and see if any of their reservations didn’t show up. Sure enough, a table was left open and we were able to get in.

It was such a good time. We laughed for 2 hours straight. As the name of the café would imply, it was mostly silly slap stick humor, but we loved it. We saw an Italian-Redneck Wedding murder mystery. The girl that played the redneck bride was hilarious! And the food was pretty good too. It was a simple Italian buffet, and while not amazing or anything, it was better than some other buffets I’ve been to. The tickets to get in were $26.50 a person, which I thought was very reasonable considering it was a two hour show and it included dinner. So if you are ever in Chattanooga – I highly recommend it!

Vacation Day 7–Chattanooga

2011-09-28T10:06:00.001-04:00

After our fun at the Parthenon, we headed on down to Chattanooga. And of course you can’t go to Chattanooga without seeing the Chattanooga Choo-Choo.

Well, you can. And we would have – BUT – we still needed to buy a little gift for Layton and because he loves trains, we figured this was the perfect place for it :)

We also decide to go to a special memorial built to note the beginning of the Trail of Tears at Ross’s Landing. So we headed down to the riverfront park that website said the memorial was located at. We walked the entire length of the park and found nothing. So, a little disappointed, we headed back to our car, only to find out the memorial is on the OTHER side of the road from the park. Who knew.

Regardless of how hard it was to find, I am very glad we found it. The Trail of Tears is one of the most inhumane events in our nations history. Here was a nation of Native Americans who were not only at peace with the people around them, but were even adopting customs of the Europeans who were sharing their land. By the 1820s, many in the Cherokee nation had begun wearing clothing similar to their white neighbors, were building schools and setting up permanent townships. But their European neighbors were greedy. Rather than sharing the land, the State of Georgia decided to layout the Cherokee lands in lots of 160 acres and began selling them off for 4 dollars a lot to people who won a “land lottery”. And even after representatives from the Cherokee nation took their case against this to the Supreme Court and WON – the local government would not uphold the Supreme Court’s ruling. And so in a rather underhanded “treaty” deal, the Cherokee nation was forced to relocate to Oklahoma against their wishes. Thousands were forcibly rounded up and herded into small holding forts in unsanitary conditions and with little food. Then they were forced to march in the middle of winter to Oklahoma. Some 4,000 Cherokees died during the relocation.

The monument in Chattanooga has seven discs of artwork that represent the seven Cherokee clans. Each disc had special meaning in Cherokee folklore.

The first is the Sun Circle. It represents the sacred fire of the Cherokee that still burns today. It is their belief that the Cherokee will continue to exist for as long as sacred fire is kept burning.

The second symbol is the Four Direction Journey and represents the different directions the Cherokee Nation had to travel to reach their final destination.

The third symbol is their Warrior Birds.

The fourth symbol represents connections – connections to family, connections to the earth, connections to their forefathers, and connections to the Great Spirit.

The fifth symbol represents their Strength of Life.

The sixth symbol is the Coiled Serpent. The serpent is an animal that inspires both reverence and fear.

The seventh symbol is the Weeping Eye Mask.

The final piece of artwork is “Little Water Spider”. It is this little spider that is believe to have first brought the sacred fire to the Cherokee nation.

The entire monument is fed by water pumped up from the river to run down the steps to represent the tears of those along the trail who wept to leave their homes and watch as so many of their family died.

I am very proud of my hodge podge melting pot ancestry. I have so many different nationalities is my bloodline. Including several different Native American tribes.

That evening, Nathan and I took a riverboat ride along the Tennessee River.

It was fun with lots of food and entertainment.

And some lovely views.

It made for a nice romantic end to our day :)

Vacation Day 6.5–Nashville

2011-09-27T09:18:00.001-04:00

I’m so bummed that no one got my Percy Jackson reference yesterday. Swearing on the River Styx?? Anyone??? Are there no other fellow geeks out there?

Everyone knows I love to read. A lot. Well, a lot might be an understatement. I love all types of genres from the classics, to mysteries, to Christian novels, to science fiction, and even a good ole shootem’ up Western. But my most favorite category of books – young adult fantasy. Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, Eragon, The Alchemyst, The Goose Girl, Dragon Slippers, The Gods of Manhattan, The Tapestry, Wild Magic, The Iron King, Fablehaven, Percy Jackson, and many more. So what if they are written for teenage kids. I don’t care. I love them.

So should it be a surprise to anyone that of all the places that we could have chosen to go in Nashville, I wanted to go to the replica of the Parthenon and look at the Greek Gods? Of course not.

Because I mean, who doesn’t love a gigantic statue of Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom (aka Annabeth’s mom in case you were wondering). She’s fierce!

Really though it boils down again to my love of history and since it is unlikely that I’ll ever get a chance to go to Greece, why not a enjoy a little piece of it here in good ole USA.

The pediments at each end of the Parthenon depict a scene from Greek Mythology. The East Pediment shows the birth of Athena. Apparently Zeus had a major headache and so he asked his son Hephaetus to hit his head with a hammer and his head split open and out jumped a fully grown Athena dressed to hilt in battle gear. Rather interesting way to have a child, don’t you think?

They were of course surrounded by family and friends for the event.

The legends of all of the paganistic Greek gods are fascinating, but the history of the replica of the Parthenon itself is pretty interesting too. It was originally built in Nashville for the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exhibition (essentially a state fair). That must have been one amazing State Fair! It was built of simple wood and plaster and was only meant to be a temporary building for the exhibition. But the people of Nashville loved it so much, that in the 1930s they decided to make it a more permanent structure. And so the Parthenon replica was born.

We had actually arrived in Nashville the evening before our little visit to the Parthenon. While there, Nathan used his phone to look up on Yelp a good restaurant close to our hotel to try. He found this random place called “Mediterranean Cuisine”. Not exactly the most inspiring of names, but the reviews were good so we decided to try it out. As a result, I have now discovered that I cannot live my life without falafel. I’ve had falafel before, but nothing that tasted as good as it did at this place. I fell so in love with it that I even tried to make some last Friday. But…it was only average. Good, but not amazing like that place. So now I’m on the hunt for the perfect falafel recipe. So if you have one – please share!!!!!!!!!!

Vacation Day 6–Mammoth Caves, Kentucky

2011-09-26T10:25:00.001-04:00

We started out the day with more hiking -

yep that’s right more hiking. But at least it was outdoors! The rest of our hiking that day would take place underground. We hiked more than 6.5 miles underground and didn’t even scratch the surface of the vastness of this cave system. The cave system is over 392 miles and they are discovering more of it every year. It is the longest cave system in the world – by a lot – the second longest is only about 150 miles long.

Upon entering the tunnel to start our first tour,

we were greeted by this little guy. Isn’t he cute?

Unlike many other caverns, Mammoth cave does not have a lot of the normal formations that you associate with caverns – you know stalactites and stalagmites. Most of the formations are underground river beds. Some of them are enormous.

While some areas are tight slot canyons.

There is one are that we passed through that was so narrow that it was dubbed:

There are also lots of tight little wholes that they actually do a “wild” cave tour where you can do some true spelunking. Not me though. Some of those places looked like they would bring on a major case of claustrophobia.

One of the highlights of the tour to me was eating our lunch underground. They have an area called the Snowball Café. Equipped with picnic tables and a lunch counter. Fun, right?

They even have fully equipped restrooms down there. And their restrooms often get little cave visitors like this guy:

There is pretty much only a couple of areas of the cave system that have traditional formations. At the “vineyard” they have a whole wall of these little grape formations:

And then they have a formation know as Frozen Niagara Falls.

The most impressive thing about the caves is just how incredibly large they were. None of the pictures I took were really able to capture the vastness of these caves.

But the most interesting thing about these caves to me is their history. I told you I love history. Mammoth caves were of course first discovered by Indians. They braved the caves that they believed were haunted by evil spirits to mine the gypsum from the walls of the caves.

It is unclear exactly what the Indian used it for, all they know is there is evidence of them scraping it from the walls. During the war of 1812, the caves became an instrumental part of providing gun powder to our armies. Slaves were required to mine salt petre from the caves. Salt petre in combination with charcoal and sulfur forms gun powder.

Salt petre was mined by digging up the cave soil (rich in nitrate from bat droppings, gross, no?) and then put in these log vats. Water was poor over the top of it and then the nitre was leached out and collected and then boiled to make the salt petre. The water needed for this process was piped into the caves using a series of hollowed out poplar trees. Ingenious, I think.

The first true explorer into this vast cave system was a slave named Stephen Bishop. His maps of the caves were so extraordinarily accurate that they were used to base much of the modern day cave exploration on. Stephen Bishop began leading tours in the caverns sometime in the 1830s. He would lead them in and for a tip, he would burn their names into the walls and ceilings of the caverns using a candle. 19th century graffiti. Gotta love it!

During his time he was considered the foremost expert of the cave system. Pretty impressive for someone that was considered someone else’s property. He love it there. Even after the end of the civil war when he was free, he stayed on at the caves to continue his work as a guide.

It was so interesting. One day I would love to go back and do some of the other tours. They even do a tour by lantern light to give you a feel for what it must have been like during the 1800s. We had a great time. I swear it on the River Styx.

Vacation Day 5–My bad driving…

2011-09-23T09:47:00.001-04:00

Our 5th day of vacation was one that we had set aside just for travel. We had no real plans – just driving 9 hours from Charlottesville, VA, to Cave City, KY. The previous evening Nathan discovered that one of our headlights was out, so first thing in the morning we headed out to find an auto parts store. Yay for smart phones! We were able to locate one and Nathan was able to quickly change out the headlamp. Then we stopped at a bakery that we happened to see as we were heading to the auto parts store. As I was pulling out of the parking lot, I kind of bumped up against the curb (which I hadn’t even noticed). Opps. Nathan gets out to look if there was any damage and luckily nothing on the body of the car was scratched or dented, but the very tip of the muffler was slightly bent. He said it was fine and that there didn’t appear to be any problems. So we go on out toward the highway. A few minutes later we begin to hear a loud rattling sound. And I thought – oh no our muffler is coming off!!!!!!!!! So I pulled into the closest parking area I could find. Nathan checked under the car and the muffler was perfectly fine – BUT – a little cover that goes over part of it was completely loose. As luck would have it, or maybe more like divine providence, I had pulled into an empty parking lot that was right next door to a little auto repair shop. We went down and talked with the guy and he let us immediately pull our car into his garage and he was able to fix it with a simple bolt in less than 10 minutes. Apparently the little bump that I dealt the muffler, had broken off a little plastic bracket that held the cover in place. Who the heck puts PLASTIC underneath a car?? Don’t they know that there are drivers out there like me?????

Needless to say, when we left the auto repair place, Nathan was driving because I think he didn’t really trust me anymore :)

The one good thing that came out of that crazy morning – we discovered a amazingly delicious bakery chain. I am so super sad that there are none of them in Florida. The bakery is called Great Harvest Bread, Co. The artisan bread that we had from there was so amazing. And the cookies. Oh the cookies. I am still dreaming about them. They have lots of locations around the country – just none in Florida. I think our next vacation may have to center around a route that takes us by one! They grind wheat daily to make their fresh breads and goodies. It has inspired me to get a wheat grinder myself. So Nathan – here’s a not so subtle hint for you – this is what I want for Christmas:

L'Equip 760200 NutriMill Grain Mill

20 Cup capacity grain mill that keeps all the vitamins and nutrition in every batch of flour
The world's first variable texture control mill for creating fine or course flour
Grinds on-oily grains with precision grain feed control; No gumming, no overheating, no jamming, no hassle
Multi-channel air flow for better motor cooling and longer mill life, self cleaning milling chamber that is easy to use

I’ll even give you a link!

Vacation Day 4 – Monticello

2011-09-22T10:46:00.001-04:00

After walking over 20 miles on the Appalachian trail for Nathan, it was time for us to do something for me. So we took a short drive down to Charlottesville, Virginia, to visit the home of one of our founding fathers – Thomas Jefferson.

If has always been one of my life-long dreams to be a history buff, so while that has never actually really happened, I still love taking any opportunity that I can to learn about history. American history is particularly fascinating to me. So needless to say – I LOVED our visit to Monticello. First of all the grounds are amazingly beautiful. They have a huge vegetable garden planted. A garden that they believe based on historical accounts would have been very similar to what would have been there in Jefferson’s time.

It was filled with tons of different vegetables and herbs. One really strange thing for me, was that their rosemary was blooming all over. I have rosemary in our tiny little garden and I don’t think I’ve ever seen it bloom. It was lovely and so fragrant. Even the butterflies thought it was wonderful.

At the back of the house,

is a beautiful garden walk, filled will all types of flowers and plants. These are only a few of them:

The house itself was so fascinating. Jefferson designed all of it himself. There are influences from French and Roman architecture as well as some things that were completely unique to him. They have restored the downstairs of the house to be pretty close to what it would have been when Jefferson was alive. About half of the furniture and artwork is original that the heritage society has been able to locate in the last 80 years. However they don’t let you take pictures downstairs because some of the artwork is borrowed and the society does not have photographic rights for those pieces. So the following pictures I borrowed from the Monticello website.

Thomas Jefferson was a great collector of books. His first library of books actually burned early on when he was first building his property. But then he began his collection again. He collected thousands of books. During his later years he had amassed over 6,000 books. Which is pretty impressive considering the time period that he lived in. After his retirement from political office, he decided to sacrifice his collection of books, and sell them to the government so that the Library of Congress could be established. (This picture is also borrowed from Monticello’s website)

Shortly after this, in a letter to his close friend John Adams, Jefferson wrote, “I cannot live without books” and so he began collecting them again. I would have to agree with him. I don’t think that I could live without them either.

His home design was so interesting. There is the big home that you see here:

It was set right at the top of the hill. Then to the left and right of it were build two additional wings of the house that were mostly underground and then an underground passage that connected the two wings. These were where the house servants lived as well as where the kitchen, stables, ice house, and brewery were located.

After the downstairs tour, we did the “behind the scenes” tour of the upstairs. They have only in the last year and a half opened up the upstairs to the public. And even then, only on special tours of 15 or less people at a time. I had booked our behind the scenes tour 2 months in advance or there would have been no way that we would have gotten in!!!

And of the tours it was by far the most interesting. Mostly due I think to our tour guide. She shared so many personal quotes from letters written by Jefferson to family and friends, and also from letters written by his daughters and grandchildren. After Jefferson retired from his political career, which included several years spent in France as the foreign minister there, and of course his two terms as President of the United States, he returned to his beloved Monticello. However, he found the enormous house to be a lonely place (his wife had passed away many years earlier), so he invited his daughter and son-in-law, along with their ELEVEN children to come and live with him. Now he truly had a full house :)

The upstairs has not yet been fully restored with period furniture but it was amazing all the same. Almost all of the beds were in the little recessed alcoves and the bed frame was built right into the walls.

He was one of the first people in America to incorporate skylights into his home,

The detail that he had put into the rooms were lovely,

He was definitely a dreamer. Out of this window you can see a hill, which he purchased and planned to put a space observatory on it. That would have been something!

His designing also was very focused on saving space. He had the most narrow stairs in such a huge home. It was crazy!

Thomas Jefferson was a brilliant man. But for all of his brilliance, he was also something of a contradiction. This is the man who penned the words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” And yet, he was a slave owner. During his life, he owned over 600 slaves. It is quite clear that he treated his slaves well. In fact he was the only slave owner, to promote one of his slaves to the position of foreman of his plantation. But for all his good treatment, they were still slaves and did not have the freedoms that he proclaimed belonged to every man. In addition to this flaw, it has also been shown that he is most likely the father of 6 children born to one of his slaves, Sally Hemming. It is a bit difficult for me to reconcile these ideas with someone that did so much for our country and for whom I have such respect for his writings. I guess that is why God is the judge of man and I am not. Regardless of some of his flaws, he was still a brilliant man who was instrumental in shaping our country. And he had a beautiful home.

Jefferson wrote his own epithet. The three accomplishments in his lifetime that he valued most are carved on the monument at his gravesite.

He wanted to remembered as the author of the Declaration of Independence, of the Articles of the Freedom of Religion for Virginia, and as the founder of the University of Virginia. He wanted to be seen as a champion of liberty, of religious choice, and of education. Three extremely noble causes.