Find what brings you Joy and go there

Picture Perfect

2009-12-30T21:50:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! Wow it's really been since October! How time flies. One of my friends, Brandee Simpson, took some pics of the family a few weeks ago. She is absoblutely amazing! If you're thinking of getting pics done, call Brandee. Here's some of the pics she did.

Sunflower Seeds

2009-10-04T23:24:00.000-07:00

Oh how my family loves sunflower seeds. Brad loves them in the car. I love to see how many I can get in my mouth.......open the seed up.......eat the seed......and store the shell in my cheek without getting slobber all over and without accidentally eating a shell. I am up to 13 now :) Zack loves the challenge of just getting them open. Ashlyn loves that salty taste. O.K. so only four out of the six loves them.

My neighbor gave us two of her huge sunflower heads. I was totally infactuated with them. I have never seen a head with the seeds still in. Amazing! We gutted, soaked, baked, and ate!

Fall is here

2009-09-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

Fall is HERE! It's pretty obvious we can all feel fall, but can you smell it too? I sure can. So was blog surfing the other day and found a blog that had posted all her Fall decorations. I love that! Fall is my favorite time of year to decorate for. Looking at her pics made me WANT to get my Fall decor out.

My intentions.....to inspire ya'll to get your house decorated for Fall. And don't forget your favorite Fall smelling candles or scentsies. AND go out right now and buy Bath and Body's "Leaves" "Spiced Cider" and "Cinnamon Pumpkin" hand soaps!

Here's some of my favorite

Really?!

2009-09-25T10:57:00.000-07:00

Has it nearly been two months since I last posted? So that should say a little how my life it. Busy! So let's see, what's happened since? The kids started school. Loving that!

First day of school

I turned 33. Ouch!

And I've spent a lot of time reupholstering this

I've been looking for the perfect chair to go in my living room, but never could find the right fabric. So I decided that I would take a class and learn how to do it myself. I found this chair for $10! And the fabric was only $1/yard, so $3 total! I'm not usually frugal, and thought I'd probably spend just as much as I would on buying a new chair, but you can't beat $13. I was proud. Here it is taaadaaaa!

I'll be your huckleberry

2009-08-09T21:15:00.000-07:00

One of my fun childhood memories is picking huckleberries with my cousins. Our moms would gather all us kid up and we'd latch on our bucket belts and pick ALL DAY LONG! This is only the second time I'v picked huckelberries since I've been married. I know! What was I thinking! Probably that you can spend hours picking and come home with hardly anything.

Thank you to the Bransons for inviting us to go riding otherwise it would have been another year without picking huckleberries. We rode in to an awesome spot and found huckleberries galore! The kids were in heaven. So what did I do with all the huckleberries?

Huckleberry Muffins, to die for and

my favorite, huckleberry pancakes and syrup. Yum!

And I still have a couple more cups to make a Huckleberry Cream Cheese Pie.

Belly floppin

2009-07-31T20:02:00.000-07:00

Zack's favorite thing to do in Nova Scotia is go swimming. We were at the Lake today and this is how Zack was swimming. Look how much fun he's having :)....Priceless.......

(Sorry its a little shaky)

To Get To Nova Scotia

2009-07-19T19:10:00.000-07:00

We made it to Nova Scotia! Yay! And the plan ride was actually not as bad as I thought it would be. Can I just tell you how awesome my husband is. I had three stores I had to get to before they all closed at 9 p.m. in Salt Lake. First, gateway mall to Apothica, then to Fashion Place Mall to Mac, and then to Southetown to Macey's. We didn't get on the road til 5:30 and made it to SLC by 8:15 p.m. He knew I needed to get to those stores and did everything possible to make sure it happened.

Our plane didn't leave until midnight and then when we got their it had been delayed for an hour. Brad was planning just on driving right back for work the next day. So I told him to just go and I'd be fine. Two hours in an airport with four kids....not as bad as I'd thought. Good thing for computers, DS's, coloring books and fruit snacks! We had a layover in Atlanta at about 4 a.m. and I thought that would be the hardest to wake the kids up and then have to walk around an airport. They did awesome! Here they are sleeping

Yes, Paige sleeps with her eyes opened. So does Zack.

We finally made to Nova Scotia and I was beat. I took about a three hour nap and then slept the rest of the night also. It's been fun seeing and spending time with family. Zack and Ashlyn are best friends with my Uncle Wayne and Aunt Linda. I've been very appreciative because they let me have a break every once in awhile.

Can I just say how much I miss Brad!

Grandpa Sakota/Las Vegas

2009-07-13T08:04:00.001-07:00

So much has happened in the last month that I need to journal about! I'm so behind!
A couple weeks ago, I had my breaking point. I was overly stressed about work, Hailee's dance was pretty much taking over our life, Chemistry I was studying like 5 hours a day and still not getting it, and I had just found out my grandpa Sakota had stomach cancer. He was 88 years old so not much we could do and the doctor had said he only had a couple weeks left. We were headed to Las Vegas for a week and then back for two days and then off to Nova Scotia for three weeks. I was stressed about when he would pass and if I'd be home for everything. The night I found out about G. Sakota I just broke down and none of my kids really new what to do. They all gave me a hug and then just left me to be by myself.....except Ashlyn.

Ashlyn is like a little mother. She loves to take care of people. Zack always goes to her when he needs something and she tries to lift him up, but he weighs a lot more than her, and get him what he needs. Well, I was laying on the bed and she is just rubbing my arm and she starts to talk and she says

"Mom, I'm sorry. That's just how life is sometimes and well,............big girls don't cry."

O.K. she's 5! It was the cutest thing ever.

So back to my Grandpa. He passed away on our way to Las Vegas and we ended up having to come home a little early. We were in Vegas for Hailee's Nationals dance competition and two of her dances ended up making it to the finalist which meant they had to dance in the big gala show and then from there it would be determined which place they got. That was a hard decisoin for Hailee. She told me that no matter what happened she wouldn't miss the funeral, but then didn't want to let her team down either. When the second dance made it to the finalist is when it was decided that she couldn't let her team down. So she eneded up staying with a friend. One of the dances ended up taking first place, which was a huge trophy and $2500! She was so excited! I was so proud of her!

I always looked up to my G. Sakota and always wanted to please him. I know he is in a better place and he will be greatly missed.

Ashlynisms

2009-06-17T10:13:00.000-07:00

My girls absobluetly love to help me pick out my outfit for the day. They get the WHOLE thing. Shoes, belts, earrings, watch, rings, hats, EVERYTHING! The other day Ashlyn was helping me pick my clothes when she said:

"Mom, you are so rich with clothes!"

Me thinking "Don't EVER let your dad hear you say that!"

So I'm a little behind...........

2009-06-13T21:26:00.000-07:00

who cares right? Well, to be honest it is actually driving me crazy that I haven't been able to post for 5 weeks. And it's driving Brad crazy too. Isn't that funny? He loves reading my blog at work. I think it's cute. So what's been going on in my world lately? Well, we had the big Dance Depot dance recital. Let me just tell you, its crazy! Seriously crazy! Can you believe there are mothers that go to the civic at 8:30 a.m. and sit there ALL day until it starts at 6:30 p.m. to save seats for their family? And might I add you HAVE to be sitting there or all your seats you've saved are gone within minutes. And yes, I am one of those insane mothers that goes to the civic at 8:30 a.m. and saves seats for my family. I know, I know. My girls did absoblutely awesome! and I loved watching each of their dances. Ashlyn was in one, Paige was in two and Hailee was in five (i think).....Oh I can't forget that Brad was in one also. They asked the dads of the team if they would do the surprise number this year and Brad was such a good sport. He totally did it for Hailee. Check it out on U-tube under dance depot dads.

I've also been coaching Hailee and Paige's fast pitch team with the help of my hubby and I absobluely LOVE it. And we've won every game so far. This is the first year they've done fast pitch and they're really liking it a lot. Don't have any pics yet.

Oh and one last thing that has occupied probably 4-5 hours a day lately is my chemistry class. Yea, I know, I know. I decided I needed to go back to school to get my nursing degree. I got a lot of my classes done when I went to Ricks College and after chemistry, I have four more classes to take before I can apply to the nursing program. So it doesn't sound too bad right? There are ups and downs. I'm definately not as fun as I use to be. Just ask my sisters and friends. But Brad and I really feel good about the decision. So wish me luck. I will definately need it. After chemistry is over,July 1 and counting down the days, we're going on a month vacation that I can not wait for!

Ballet Recital

2009-05-04T19:39:00.000-07:00

One word to describe Saturday....INSANE. We started off with Paige having dance practice at 9-11 a.m. Ashlyn had a soccer game at 11 a.m. Hailee had a dance competition in which she did all five dances at 12 p.m. to like 6 p.m. AND her end of the year ballet recital which she had to be there at 5:30. It didn't start until 7:30, but I went at 5:30 like a good mom to save seats for the fam. What did I do for two hours? I thought I would sit alone and enjoy myself, but instead I did what I do best....SLEEP. I felt pretty embarrased when I woke up with my head back and my mouth wide open to a lady asking if some seats were saved. I really felt like I was the one doing all the dancing and soccer playing. I honestly don't know how Hailee was able to function and do such an awesome job after the busy day she had. I'm so proud of her and all that she is able to accomplish. Now if we can just work on her little attitude, which I feel she needs adjusted.

And to top all that off, we went to the 10 o'clock movie with Jeff and Lindsey after it was all over. We saw Ghosts of Girlfriends past, which I couldn't have asked for a better way to end the night.........Matthew. And yes, I did dream about him.
Here she is at her recital. She did marvelous.
Her and her dad messing around. Brad wouldn't let me post the picture with him in his tights lifting her.
She gets that from her mom. yea, right.

Her and one of her friends at the competition. More dance picture to come later.

Motorcross

2009-05-04T19:21:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago, we were introduced into the "dirt biking" world. A few of our neighbors all have dirt bikes and we were feeling a little left out.....not really. We just thought it looked like fun when they were out riding in the back yard. One night one of our friends asked us if we wanted to go to motorcross in SLC. I think they felt sorry for us :) Not really knowing what it was, we said yes. So two weekends ago we went down and met some of our friends there. Talk about a blast. I don't think Brad and I have ever laughed so hard. They are such great people. Thanks for putty up with us. Tai Pan, Ikea, Cafe Rio, great company, P.F. Changs (oh wait, we didn't go cuz of an hour wait. Very disappointed) what else could I ask for.

Well, the big news....Brad bought a motor bike when we were in SLC! I think Zack was the most excited out of all of us. We called him on the phone and told him and that was the first thing he said to us when we picked him up. He wanted to ride it right then and bawled when he couldn't.

I was a little nervous for Brad at first because he did not have a good experience the first time he tried to ride one. He totally tipped it over on himself. So the deal was he could get a dirt bike if he didn't get hurt. Good deal right?

Motorcross? Awesome! It's amazing to see all those motorbikers ride and do jumps and NOT crash into each other. So......now I want a bike! Crazy isn't it?

Pizza and Bowling

2009-04-26T12:47:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in several weeks and heres a few enteries to catch up from the last little bit.

Linkin, my little sisters boy, had his fourth birthday last week. It's crazy how it's so meant to be that he is with our family. Mandy had a really hard time getting pregnant and after lots of test and procedures they had to come to realization of not being able to have kids. So they adopted. They were with an agency for about a year and nothing happened. They switched to a different agency and within a couple days, they were flying to Texas to adopt they're first little boy. After about a year of having Linkin Mandy got pregnant with her second which was a miracle and now she is pregnant with her third. Isn't that crazy how that works. So we celebrated in Rexburg with Pizza and bowling.

I'm amazed at how well my girls did. I'm pretty sure they're better bowlers than me. Can I just say I"m so glad they got their cordination and athleticism from their dad.

Ashlyn Soccer

2009-04-26T12:43:00.000-07:00

We decided to sign up Ashlyn for soccer this year. She couldn't wait til her first practice. I didn't know how she would like it or if she'd even go out and play, but after her first practice, she couldn't wait til the game and asked every day. "when is my game?" "How many more days til my game?". After her first practice she comes up to me and whispers in my ear "Mom, I'm the best player." We don't have to worry about confidence with this girl.

Easter 2009

2009-04-26T12:23:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun Easter this year. Our good friends, the Bakers, hosted a big Easter Egg Hunt with a brunch. Talk about fun. Zack was so excited to go and they all had a great time. We appreciate the Bakers so much for putting it together. They had some of the eggs numbered, which matched some of the prizes that everyone brought. It was suppose to rain, but ended up being such a beautiful day.

All the girls that helped put it together. I love every one of them. Except I don't know where Julie went. She is missing.

Later, all the guys got the motor bikes out and started riding. We have three of our neighbors that all have motorbikes. In one of the empty lots in back us, all the guys have made a small riding track with jumps. I decided to try to ride one of the little ones and I loved it. So, I know this is bizarre, but I told Brad he needed to get one. Call me crazy!
Julie and I riding

Easter Pics

Hey Good look'in.......

2009-03-22T20:38:00.000-07:00

what ya got cooking?

Last Wednesday was Hailee's Birthday. It's hard to believe that she's 10 already! 10 going on 15. It's kind of scary. I'm such a sucker. Every year I say I'm not going to have a birthday party, but what happens......I always do. I'm kind of embarrassed to say that every one of my kids have had a party every single birthday. Is that bad? I actually think it's O.K. I think every kid deserves a celebration for themselves once a year.

I wanted to share what we did for her birthday party to give some of you some ideas. It was soooo much fun! I love to cook and Hailee loves to help me. I thought why not have a cooking party for her.
Here's a simple and cute idea for school treats. A rice krispie ball shaped over a Pop sucker, dipped in chocolate. Yum!

You're not a real chef unless you have a chef hat. Made out of tissue paper!

and apron. Found these cute dish clothes for pretty cheap that I made into an apron for each of the girls.

Here's the invite. A whisk full of bubble gum with the information on a recipe card

I had heard of cooking parties where they make pizza, but I thought for ten year olds I would do something a little more advanced so I decided to do personal lasagnas out of mini loaf pans. What a hit. The girls la la loved the lasagna.

Other items on the menu:
Salad on a stick. Cut up vegetables and meat and they got to choose what they wanted on their skewer.

And because I love drinks.....and I didn't want their parents to think I was filling them full of sugar........Fruitinis!

And for the cake, I wanted them all to be able to participate so I let them make all their individual cakes in hot chocolate mugs, which they got to take home as part of their favor. If you've never made cake in a mug, you MUST try it. It's soooo good and fun for all kids.

O.K., I'll admit the party was mostly for me because I thought it sounded sooo much fun. I would've loved a party like that when I was younger. Hopefully Hailee loved it as much as I did.

I wanted to list Ten things about Hailee
1. She LOVES to shop!
2. She's an awesome babysitter
3. She loves to dance
4. She loves to cuddle up with me to watch movies
5. She's happy go lucky.......no worries in the world
6. She loves her back rubbed (wonder where she gets that from)
7. She loves her brother and sisters
8. She wants to do everything I do
9. She can't wait to wear make-up
10. She's a big goof ball!

Happy Birthday Hailee!

"Purse" suit of Happiness

2009-03-13T10:14:00.000-07:00

First, I just have to brag about my husband. Have I mentioned that I love my husband. I was in my bathroom getting ready for enrichment and when I went to the kitchen to leave I saw this

Brad is sooo sweet and I'm going to tell you a little bit of what he said in the card because it's ....priceless. "I figured you have made a lot of different types of purses the last couple weeks invitations, bags, chocolats, etc that you deserve a purse for yourself. In your "purse"uit of perfection to make everything right, there is a purse for you that I hope you like!" Is that not dang cute. Love you babe.

I had the Relief Society Birthday Celebration last night and what fun! I've been wanting to do something with purses (because I love them) for a long time. So after a little bit of thought and a great Enrichment commitee, we got something together. The theme was "Purse" suit of Happiness". We had three speakers. I wanted them to talk about the stage of life they are in right now that brings them happiness. The first was a young mother and her topic was "purse" severing in motherhood. The second was a mother that had teenage kids and she talked about "purse"onal enrichment. The last speaker was a grandma with all her kids gone and she talked about Eternal "purse"pective. They were all AWESOME and was everything I hoped for.

Here is the poster

I found purse chocolate molds and made one for everybody. I was expecting little pop in your mouth chocolate, but these were HUGE! They turned out very cute.

I also found coach purse keychains on line and gave them away for prizes.

I also gave the center peices away for prices. They were stuffed with candy. I made a different purse out of paper bags for each table. Here's a couple of them. They were so fun to create.

And......this is a cake! Can you beleive that? And it was made by a man... Can you beleive that!?!?! He did awesome. It was so hard to cut because I wanted to keep it forever.

And the Winner is ......

2009-03-09T08:02:00.000-07:00

Ashley H.

Congrats Ashley. You are the new owner of one of these....

I know where you live, so I will drop it off to you. If any of you are interested in buying or hosting an open house, please let me know. (see a couple posts below for information about these watches) There are great incentives for hosting an open house. We did a party last week and the lady got a free face and three free bands! She had a HUMONGO turn out.

Giveaways

2009-03-03T07:35:00.000-08:00

Tis the Season for giveaways. Check out my friend Marne's awesome giveaway. A Scentsy! Yay! And my giveaway (see post below) will be ending this Friday.

100th Post and a Giveaway

2009-02-27T08:13:00.000-08:00

I can't beleive I finally made it to my 100th post! It only took over a year :0 (ouch!) And to celebrate, because I'm always looking for excuses for a celebration, I'm doing a giveaway! And the winner will be the new owner of a Hopper watch (see post below) So here's a list of my 100 favorite things in the world. All you have have to do is tell me what we have in common. So simple! right?

1. Brad, girls and my boy
2. Awesome friends
3. Brad's homemade coconut shrimp
4. Sushi Rolls
5. A clean house
6. Gringos Fried Ice Cream in Rexburg
7. San Diego
8. Cafe Rio's Pork salad (Yeaa Idaho Falls, we're getting one finally)
9. Crocheting Hats
10. Playing the piano
11. Clean counters
12. Smell of my laundry
13. Sewing something new (right now it's the new drapes in my bathroom)
14. Going to Starbucks with friends just to catch up
15. Caramel Apple Cider at Starbucks
16. Taco Bells Caramel Apple Empenada
17. Zack when he wakes up in the morning
18. Buying new decorations for my house
19. Hanging out with my sisters (It's ALWAYS a party)
20. Digital Scrapbooking
21. Watching Paige play soccer
22. Watching Hailee dance
23. Going to dinner with Brad
24. My back rubbed
25. Heels
26. 50 First Dates
27. Warm...No... HOT weather
28. Smell of fresh cut grass
29. Riding bikes to the 4th of July fireworks and seeing Brad tip over into a garbage full of pop cans, Good Times!
30. Nova Scotia
31. Traveling with my ENTIRE family.
32. People watching in the airports.... or actually anywhere
33. Blue Hashi
34. Olive Gardens Strawberry Mango Daqueri
35. Weekend trips to Utah with Brad
35. Shopping
36. Watching the kids have fun with each other
37. The snow shak
38. Coconut cream pie
39. Almond Joys
40. Kit Kats
41. My calling (enrichment leader)
42. Surprising people
43. Comfy pants (pretty much all sweats)
44. Orange Creamsicles
45. American Girl Sunny Orange lotion
46. Caramel covered bugels
47. Alone time
48. Twilight
49. Trying New Recipes and them being keepers
50. Movie Night with the kids
51. My religion
52. Pedicures
53. Homemade bread
53. Tulips...It means spring is here.
54. ALL my jewelry
55. My garden
56. Sitting by my pond feeding the fish with the kids
57. Garden grown tomatoe sandwiches
57. My heritage
58. Parents
59. Brother
60. Being a girly girl
61. Hosting
62. Smell of rain
63. Sleeping
64. Being right
65. Getting compliments from Brad
66. Laying out in the sun by our pool
67. Nertz
68. Christmas break
69. Sitting out by the firepit on warm summer nights
70. Flip flops
71. Stephens mint hot chocolate
72. Hot chocolate mugs
73. Dumb and dumber
73. Cooking
74. Good breath
75. Camping
76. Zack's face when he realizes I've spiked his hair
77. Being a mom
78. Lime Sherbet
79. Bill's Bananas Foster
80. Bill's Creme Brulee
81. Babies
82. Getting all dolled up
83. Italian Nachos
84. Beaches
85. Brad's blue eyes
86. Internet
87. Sakota Halloween Party
88. Being in the temple
89. Sundays at my parents
90. When tight pants feel loose
91. Mac Makeup
92. Straight iron
93. Freshly done nails
94. Running into old friends
95. Keeping busy
96. Paige's smartness
97. Ashlyn being a spider monkey
98. Hailee's eyes
99. Tai Pan
100.MY LIFE

Hoppers~ Hop from one watch to another

2009-02-24T13:00:00.001-08:00

My very talented sisters have decided to start a new business. Hopper Watches. You've all heard of Bumble watches. Well, these are like them except a lot cheaper! The quality is just as good or better and the designs (in my opinion) are better. ~sorry bumble~ So these watches are called Hoppers~ hop from one watch to antoher. Isn't that so cute. I own a few of these watches and every time I wear them I get tons of compliments AND they love the price of them. So I decided I would have an open house to help my sistas out. So if you come across this and live in Idaho Falls, YOU"RE INVITED!

Where: Karri's house

When: Wednesday, Feb 25 (tomorrow)

Time: 6-8 p.m.

Email me at karrinelson@hotmail.com or leave your email address in a comment and I will give you my address. If you can't make it tomorrow and would still like to see them, let me know and it CAN be arranged.

Here is their postcard:
>

Here are some other pictures of only a couple of the watches. The colors and designs are endless.

VaLenTines

2009-02-17T07:11:00.000-08:00

was filled with heartfelt business again. I absobluetly love valentines day. I think everyone deserves one day out of the year to set aside their crazy lives and show the ones you care about that you love them, but then I think why do we need only one day? I need to be better about showing and telling my family that I love them on a daily basis.

Did anyone else have a hard time finding valentine shirts this year? I did. So I decided to make my girls' shirts. They were very simple, but turned out just the way I wanted them too.

The girls were dying to make their own valentines and make a goody to go with them. We made these yummy chocolate covered pretzels for their classmates. This was Zack's first school valentine experience and he loved it. He now thinks that he gets candy everytime he goes to preschool. Yesterday, he said he wanted to go to preschool. I told him "two more days". He said "I want to go right now and get candy." That boy loves his treats.

I found these adorable popcorn bowls for their teachers and filled it with chocolate covered popcorn with a note saying "Thanks for popping in my life this year", which the girls were estatic to give them. I just hope the popcorn made it to the teacher before the girls and their dad ate it all.

I had a couple of my friends kids come over for a little valentine bash for cookie decorating, eating, and a little craft. All in all, we had a good valentines day.

Every year Brad gets his "girls" a rose for Valentines. I think it's so cute that he does it for his daughters.

sledding

2009-02-09T07:43:00.000-08:00

We took the kiddos sledding Saturday. It was the perfect sledding weather. Sunny, no wind, and great snow. We took them to the Ucon pit, it was the first time I'd been and it was a blast! The kids loved it and Zack wa a great sport in walking back up the hill. I didn't how he'd like having to walk back up.

Hailee and I were one of the first ones down and we got going sooo fast, we were screaming like two little school girls and all the sudden we went diagonal real fast and took my little nephew out and couple others.

My little sista Candice and her hubby came and they decided to be brave and go down a really steap hill with a bunch of deep pits in the hill. The first jump they took they both bounced off and Candice went about 5 feet in the air and landed on her back. She couldn't move at all and was in so much pain. We thought she broke something for sure. So we had to call the ambulance to come and get her. Luckily, she was just banged up pretty bad and nothing was broke. Boy how I wish I would've had a picture of how high she flew. We're glad you're O.K. My other little neice, Kaitlyn, kept saying "remember when I saw that girl die".

I

2009-02-06T10:52:00.000-08:00

suck! (I tried to get away from the word Suck, but it fit so good.) So a couple weeks ago Brad and I spent a few days in Las Vegas and last week we took the kids to Utah because Hailee had a dance competition and guess what. I forgot my camera both times! How can I forget my camera? Maybe partly is because I want a new one. In fact, I'm in the looks for a new camera I just decided so if anyone know of a good one, preferrably a Nikon, let me know which I need. Anyway Vegas was fun, but freezing. I didn't get to wear my flip flops that I was dying to wear. We went and saw Wayne Brady this time and he was ....AWESOME! I will definately go see him again. I wasn't a big fan of his before I saw him, but now I'm huge. He was so clean and funny and everything is inpromptu. Very talented. And I decided that I'm not one for fancy upity restraunts. We went to Enoteca San Marco, who is on the cooking network and thought it would be really good. Well, for one, if you don't drink wine people know you're mormon. I ordered a pork shoulder (not sure what I was thinking) and I literally got a pork shoulder and that was it. NO SIDES! And it was $30/plate. Anyway, not impressed.

So last weekend we Hailee had a dance competion in SLC and we, or should I say I, took the kids down. Brad went down with a bunch of his buddies and they went to a Jazz game and then he met up with us later that night. Hailee did awesome and her team did very well overall. They took first in all the dances they were in. Good Job Hailee.

So today was a very sad day for me. The preschool teacher who all my kids took from called and said she had an opening in the 3 year old and wondered if Zack would like to come. I was hesitant at first and then I asked him and that's all he could talk about was preschool. There was one problem. He wasn't fully potty trained. So I got him in undies all this week and he has only had a couple accidents. He did awesome. Well I didn't feel comfortable sending him in undies to preschool on Wed so I told him he needed a pull up. He was sooo upset. and said if he couldn't wear undies, he wasn't going to preschool. What?! So he didn't go. I finally talked him into to wearing a pullup today and he went to his first day of preschool. I was pretty sad because my youngest is not a baby anymore. But I guess not sad enough for tears. I tried to push them out, but they wouldn't come. I felt like a bad mom. So i now have a total of one whole hour by myself on Weds and Fridays. Yay Me! Ashlyn kept saying Mom, I miss zack.

isn't he so handsome!

gibber jabber

2009-01-18T19:04:00.000-08:00

So in my last post I said one of my NYR was to be better about blogging. Blogging is the closest thing I have to journaling right now. So I guess I'm doing pretty good so far. Two posts in two weeks. Here's the latest project I've been working on. HATS! This is a new pattern that one of my friends taught me. She is an awesome crocheter. I love this hat for spring. I've been selling my other hats at a place called Traditions in Rigby. So I'll be taking these new hats over there also. So check them out!

Brad was gone all week last week for work. People always ask how I do it, but I actually don't mind it. Now I wouldn't want him to do it every week. I put the kids to bed and then I'm by myself for some peice and quiet. By the end I'm so ready for him to come come. I missed you hon. Let's see, last weeks happenings were going to Starbucks with April, Shelby and Julie, playing bunko with Monica and then when Brad got home we went out with the Cunninghams on Friday and the Bakers on Saturday. I'm sure Brad is so tired of eating out. But I made it up to him by making him a good Sunday dinner today and we invited the Leishmans over. I'm so thankful for the ward and neighborhood we live in. I don't think you can find better people. We've made awesome friends over the last few years.

Now I don't normally get very publicly spiritual but I just feel so blessed for the life I have today. Awhile back one of my friends asked me if I wanted to go to the temple with her. I have to admit that it had been awhile since I'd been and was definately not going on a regular basis. So I decided that I would go with her. I'm not quite sure what happened during that visit, but I couldn't wait to go back. I've now been going every other week and haven't missed a time since last September. It's amazing how your life and attitude changes by doing what you're suppose to be doing and serving the Lord. I know that's why I feel the way I do and why I feel so blessed.

Anyways, this week should be pretty calm not much going on. But, like always, we'll see what surprises this week brings.

Time

2009-01-12T19:37:00.000-08:00

“Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it you can never get it back.” ~ Harvey MacKay

Time has been on my mind a lot lately. Maybe it's because I haven't blogged in almost two months. Maybe it's because I didn't get Christmas cards out this year. Maybe it's because Hailee has dance 3-4 days a week and basketball and 4-H and wants to do ski club. Maybe it's because Paige is in two basketball leagues and has 4-H. Maybe it's because Brad and I haven't been on a date for almost two months. Or maybe it's because we haven't had family home evening on a regular basis for quite awhile. Maybe it's because I got an AYSO soccer sign up reminder and wondered how on earth I will fit that in for Paige.

Friends, food storage, sisters, crocheting hats, and reading "breaking dawn" are some of the things that occupy my "free" time on a daily basis that I feel I need or that is good for me. I also can't say "no" to anything or anybody. And I find myself volunteering for lots of different things.

So can you guess what my one of my New Years Resolutions is? Time. Now I still have a lot of thinking and planning to do for this, but my goal is to free up more time for a couple reason. To be with my family and to spend family time together. And if that means to let some of the activities go, then so be it. I definately want to free up some time to do more blogging. I blog for my journal and well, you can see how thats been going the last couple months. Not good. I'm so impressed with some of my friends who journal so regularly. They will have those memories forever. So I've made a goal to journal at least once a week. And not for comments or to see who reads my blog, but to make a daily record of some highlights in my life and some of my feelings and especially to remember my kids and some of the stuff they say or do.

So to start of my resolution I took time tonight to cook with Paige. Paige is definately my daughter when it comes to cooking. She loves it. She got the cutest Paula Dean Cookbook from her Grandma Nelson for Christmas. Tonight I let her pick out a recipe and cook it all by herself. I, of course, was there to help with any questions. This cookbook is a great one for kids. It shows and tells step by step what to do and how to do it in a kids language. Very impressed! So we made porcupine meatballs tonight. The dinner itself was pretty O.K., but they were the cutest little porcupines ever. The picture doesn't do it justice.

Recipe Extravaganza

2008-11-22T14:31:00.000-08:00

Shelly is hosting the 2nd annual recipe extravaganza. She did this last year and I was a bum and only got the recipes, but didn't participate. I thought this year it would be fun to give out some of my favorites. If you want to join go to her link and comment that you want to be part of it and she will add you to her list. There is also a list there that has everyones blogs so we can all check out the recipes. Fun!
I thought I would start out with my Chicken Pot Pie. Enjoy!

Chicken Pot Pie

1 pound chicken breast, cubed
3 chicken boullon cubes
1 cup cubed carrots
2 cups cubed potatoes
1 cup frozen corn
1 stick of butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp celery seed
2 3/4 cups chicken broth ***See note
3/4 cups milk
deep 9 inch pie pan
two 9 inch pie crusts

Directions:
Heat oven to 415. Put chicken in saucepan, covered with water (about 4 cups), add bouillon cubes and cook until chicken is done. ***Save the water because you use this as the chicken broth. While chicken is cooking cover vegetables with water in saucepan and cook until tender. While both of those are cooking, spray your pie pan with Pam and cook crust for about 10-12 minutes. When vegetables are done, drain and pour in crust. Melt butter and add onion, cook until tender. Add flour and whisk constantly to make a paste. Add pepper and celerty seed. Slowly add chicken broth and milk. Mix until thick and pour over vegetables in pie pan. Add your top crust. Make your edge pretty. Whisk an egg and brush over top. Cut pretty slits in crust and cook for 25-30 minutes. You need a pretty deep 9 inch pie pan.

Call me CrAZy

2008-11-08T13:36:00.000-08:00

but I think I've just made my life bussier. For the last few years I've crocheted and knitted my kids hats and scarfs. They're so warm and very cute. So I think I'm going to take it to the next level and start selling them. I'm in works with a local craft boutique to start selling them at their store, but before I start selling them at the store I want to give a little trial of how it will be. So I'll be setting up a website with all my stuff on it. I'll let you know the name when I get it set up. But for now, my blog is the only thing I could think of to make it public. So take a look and let me know what you think. I made up the scarf pattern just yesterday and loved how it looked so I don't have much experience with the scarfs. Oh, if you want to order anything email me before it starts to get busy. karrinelson@hotmail.com. Wish me luck!

I love the Red with the snowflake for Christmas time. I did this for a friend and it turned out so cute.
This is one of my favorites. I love pink and brown together. So the flowers are on clips and can be interchanged to match whatever outfit. Saves a lot of money! I just made a 3 month old a hat and it's darling. I did cream with a bunch of different flowers to match different outfits.

Looks cute with a coat or jacket too. This brown hat has a different brim if you look close. you can tell the difference between the red one.

Didn't think I'd be fond of the red, but it turned out cute. And my kids wanted red for Christmas pictures.

Time flies by

2008-11-06T11:12:00.000-08:00

when I'm having fun. I seriously can't beleive its November. Christmas is next month! So what fun have I been having? Let's see. These are some things that have kept me busy in the last three weeks. First, SEWING. I love sewing. Hailee decided that for Halloween she wanted all of us to be clowns. So that meant I'd have to be sewing. I love the way they turned out. Take a look.

sorry, it's so blurry, I need a new camera.

Me and my bro and sisters goofying off after the Halloween party

Hailee and Paige before their school Halloween parade. they were good sports in wanting to wear their wigs.

My siblings again. Aren't their costumes awesome!

Another thing that's kept me busy that I love is canning. This is everything I've canned just this year. Look at all those beans! Beans, peaches, pears, tomatos, salsa, pear butter, raspberry jam, strawberry jam and ooohhh apple pie filling. I've taken up the dehyrating fruits this year, which my kids lalalove! I only wish I had more fruit to dry.

I hosted a neighborhood Halloween party this year. Our ward didn't hold a trunk or treat this year, which I thought I was disappointed in but I actually liked it. It was pretty warm this year too. I went to my sisters neighborhood and it was like the movies. Kids everywhere...walking door to door to get their candy. I loved it. Now ask me wheyn it's 30 degrees outside like years past and I'd probably prefer the trunk or treat.

I had a friend weekend in SLC a couple weeks ago and all I can say is it was much needed! Tai pan, P.F changs, Park city, Cafe Rio, Gateway, what else could I ask for. We had so much fun. That same weekend was the Sakota Halloween party And Brad and I had to get talks ready for church on Sunday. The talks came up a few days before I was leaving town. It probably seems like I complain a lot about me being busy, but I love being busy. I have a hard time just sitting and not doing anything. Needless to say, it was a very busy couple weeks and I loved every minute of it. I got everything done and this was me when it was all over.

I did it!

2008-10-13T07:27:00.000-07:00

After much debate and contemplation I decided to cut my hair. Like any other husband, Brad was against it. why do men love long hair? But I went against him and did it....and I feel so rejuvenated. Wishing I would've done this a long time ago. One of the big factors in cutting my hair was that I was with some friends for my birthday dinner and the waiter asked how old I was and he couldn't beleive that I was 32! I asked how old he thought I was and he said younger than him, which he was 22. My sisters even agreed that long hair made me look young. Don't get me wrong, I love looking young but I don't want to look like a 21 year old with four kids going on 13 years of marriage. I think the shorter hair makes me look older, but not too old! Brad says he likes it, but I never know if he is just saying that to please me. Anyways, what do you think?

My sister Candice, who doesn't have a hair license cut my hair. It's she amazing? thanks Tandice.

Go Diggers!

2008-09-24T07:25:00.001-07:00

What a fun day back at Sugar-Salem. Ashlyn got asked to be the little Homecoming escort for Sugar last Friday. So I spent all day thursday making her dress and was very pleased the way it turned out. Ashlyn loved it and couldn't wait to wear it. Ashlyn is a little bit shy and I got her pumped up all week so she would not get nervous. So Friday comes and it's time to practice...and she didn't go out. Her reply "I don't want to, I'm very shy." So my sister Candice and I bribed her with EVERYTHING! So when it's all said and done she gets a new purse, gum, lunch and her nails done. She really knows how to work it. Then the big thing was that she didn't want to hold the guys hand. what?! We finally talked her into holding their thumb. So after all the bribing, she finally did it. (This is just the practice) So all the students start coming in and I can tell she getting a little nervous. So it's time for them to announce the escorts and she won't walk out....without me. So low and behold I have to walk out with her and hold her hand. That is the one and only time I'll ever be in a spotlight. I go and sit down and my sister has to talk her into doing it again. But she does it and she does awesome! and she actually holds their hand. When it was over she whispers to me "Don't tell Hailee and Paige I held a boys hand" :) We stayed for the parade and the homecoming game. Brought back lots of memories of being in high school. One thing that was interesting is it's Sugars 100 graduating class this year and they had some of the graduating class of 1959 there and they sang the Sugar-Salem song. They announced the song to the students that this was a very old song and that none of them probably are going to know it and that it hasn't been sung for a very very long time. Well, it was the song that was sung at my graduation! Made me feel ancient.

And since I can't do a post without pictures, here they are.

This was one of my good friend in high school little boy. He did it like a pro.

Super Saturday

2008-09-18T22:20:00.000-07:00

For all you who have been waiting for this, here it is. I've had quite a few people ask for me to post what we did for Super Saturday. As enrichment leader, I had the opportunity to do Super Saturday. This is the first time ever that I've planned this. I started a couple months ago keeping my eyes open for fun things. Here are pictures and if anyone needs directions, just ask.

Recipe and CTR magnet boards. $8, great for gifts.

Sorry, this picture didn't take very good. Just a frame with vinyl lettering, hung by ribbon or there was an option for no ribbon to be put on a shelf.

The FHE and things to do Magnet board.

Here's another picture. It's hung by the cutest little metal hanging. Aren't these dang cute!

I wanted to do some type of a quiet book for church and decided to do quiet boxes because they could fit lots of things in it to keep the kids busy. this is the girl one. The paper say Jesus Wants me for a sunbeam.
This is the boy one. The paper says I love to see the Temple
Here's all the stuff that was in the quiet box. Pictures of the temples with information about them on the back, Articles of Faith, treat box, 6 fun pads, crayons, and a notebook
These were probably one of my favorite. This is LDS fabric that we made into pillows and blankets. Zack will not part with his "I hope they call me on a mission" pillow.
These were very popular. These are glass penny banks with a slit in the top. Very cleaver!

Sorry, this picture didn't turn out either. The Faith, Hope, Love wall hanging in the back was what people ordered the most of. These blocks were very cute too. I was so happy with the turn out we had. We had a potato bar that was very yummy. While it was very fun to do, I am glad it's over. Just in time to free up time for another project. Click on any picture to see a full view of it.

Our Private Investigator

2008-09-15T18:53:00.000-07:00

My dear Paige has always been the "brains". Don't ask me how I created a smart child. She gets all her smartness from her dad. So the other day, she lost a tooth and put it under her pillow. She was very upset the next morning to find that the toothfairy had not visited her, nor did she visit the next night or the next night. Whats up with that toothfairy? The toothfairy finally remember last night to take the tooth and leave money. As I was cooking breakfast this morning here is our conversation:

Paige: Mom, who really left this money. (as she holds up the dollar)
Mom: Um, probably the toothfairy. Why?
Paige: No, mom tell me the truth.
Mom: Um, the toothfairy.
Paige: I don't think so mom, because this dollar has a green highlighted mark on the right hand corner and I was looking on your dresser yesterday and you had a dollar that had a green highlighted mark on the right hand corner.
Mom thinking: Oh, shoot!

She is so observant! She would be awesome at being a private investigator. She notices the most bizaare things.

So Ashlyn has started Kindergarden and did awesome the first couple days. Well, after two days. She started to cry every time she got on the bus. So I had to take her the first two weeks. The teacher called one night and said that Ashlyn was having this crying problem and she tells the teacher she is sick and needs to lay down. Well, when recess comes, she pops right up and goes out to play. That little stinker. So I told Ashlyn that every day she doesn't cry, she can put a lions head sticker on her chart and once the lion is dressed and has a face we will go to lunch. She just earned her first lunch date with mom. She hasn't cried since, but has informed me that she will need to continue to go to lunch with mom so she doesn't cry. She really knows how to work it. It is hard to beleive that my little girl is starting school and it is kind of sad to see her get on the bus. Here she is on her first day of school.

Have you Ever Wondered....

2008-09-02T18:10:00.001-07:00

What 64 quarts of beans look like? This is what has occupied my life the last week. Beans and peaches! I love this time of year when my garden is already to eat! I love canned beans and won't eat any other. My food storage is looking pretty good. Once I get it all organized I'll post pictures.

Here is what we did for the kids' teachers this year. My kids loved helping make them and loved eating them even more. With the kids back in school, I'm loving life. I'm not one of those moms who dread when the last day of summer comes. Don't get me wrong, I love having my kids home, but three months is enough...almost more than enough. They were also ready to get back into the groove of things with having a schedule. All summer we ran around and had no schedule whatsoever. It was nice, but now we're all ready to get back into things. I'm enjoying spending time with just me and Zack. I can't beleive he's my only one home, boy how the time flies.

Summer Fun

2008-08-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

So after another call today to see if everything was alright with me, I decided that I NEEDED to post. I wish I could say that I haven't been posting because I've been out of town or gone somewhere fun, but I can't. All I can say is that I've had a very busy summer. I can't beleive it's over and the kids all are back in school. Here are some highlights of my summer.

Zack's brithday was August 10. We celebrated it at the Riot Zone. He wanted cars for his birthday cake and was very upset when I couldn't get the red car red. It was a little too pinkish for him. He told me "no pink, pink for girls. Red car". I finally got it a little reder after dumping the whole bottle of food coloring in.

We also celebrated Ashlyn's birthday on July 25. We had a summer pool party for her just in our yard. We bought one of those big blue swimming pools this year and the kids have loved it. I can't beleive she's 5!

My grandparents came all the way from Nova Scotia this summer and spent a month. It had been three years seen I seen them last. A lot of my time, I spent with them up in Rexburg at my moms. It was so good to see them and have my kids spend some time with them. It seems like we always had things going on while they were here.

Then there was t-ball and softball. This was Ashlyn's first year playing and she didn't enjoy it as much I thought she would. She didn't really understand the concept and she was always running to get the ball even when she was on base and she never knew which base to run to, but she always had a big smile on her face. Hailee and Paige played softball this year, which they both loved and they are pretty good. I spent a lot of time at the field watching ball games

We had a couple parties for the fourth of July. Like always we went to the parade in Rexburg, then went to a friends house for a BBQ and then to the Melaleuca fireworks. Every year we ride our bikes to them so we don't have to wait two hours to get home. Now we don't ride clear from our houses. We park at a church a couple miles aways and then ride down. The kids love doing it and we always have fun.

We've also had family reunions, Camping at Bear Lake and Island Park, which I forgot my camera (dang!) I've been getting ready for Super Saturday for my ward, which I'm very excited about. I will post of the things we are doing later. I will also be posting more regularly about some of my other activities I've done this summer.

Full of questions

2008-06-24T22:59:00.000-07:00

Oh, my little Ashlyn. She is a non-stop talker. This comes as no surprise because my sister Mandy practically raised her and Mandy is a non-stop talker. Mandy can make friends with ANYONE! I give her a hard time, but I really do wish I had that trait. Anyway, Ashlyn is at the age where her mind is just going a mile a minute. She is constantly asking questions about everything like: "Mom, what are you talking in your head about right now?" or "Mom, how do fish have babies?" or "Mom, why do moms and dads kiss?" That is just a few to mention.
The other day I was watching "The Bachelorette" (Go Jason!) and here's mine and Ashlyn's conversation:

Ashlyn: "Mom, when I'm a mom who will be the dad?"
Me: "I don't know sweetie, why do you ask?"
Ashlyn: "I just wanna know."
Me: "Well, you have to find your husband."
Ashlyn: "Did you find dad?"
Me: "yes."
Ashlyn: "Was he in the first house you looked in?"

If it was only that easy!

San Diego

2008-06-19T16:46:00.000-07:00

After driving a total of 2400 miles, which is 30 total hours, we're finally home. So much fun! Other than the driving, we had a blast and even the driving wasn't that bad. We broke it up pretty good. We drove to Salt Lake for a night, then all the way to Vegas for a couple days, then to our final destination SAN DIEGO! We couldn't have picked a better week to be there because we had heard it snowed in Idaho Falls while we were gone. We stayed in San diego for 7 days then drove to Cedar City for a day and then all the way back home. The weather was awesome, a little too hot in Vegas, but was perfect in San Diego. In Vegas, we were playing games at Excalibur and Brad had won a guitar. Not only were the kids excited about him winning, but it was a PINK guitar. After he won one, he had to win two more and then win a blue one for Zack. And we had the pleasure of listening to it all the way there and all the way back.

After San Diego Zoo, Sea World, a few beaches, Old town, the temple, In and Out Burger a lot, shopping, movies, baseball games, and more, I was pooped when I got home. My whole entire family went parents, brother, sisters and their families. It was great to be together to create more memories with each other. I have to say my family is pretty awesome and I'm so glad we're all so close. I felt the trip was perfect, we weren't too busy, but weren't bored at all. We had two condos which had kitchens and so we were able to sit back, relax and have a homemade meal a couple nights. One of the best things was we were right next store to Benihanas. One night we ordered probably $100 in sushi, soooo good. We were all lucky to have Brad with us because he served his mission there and he new where he was going and how to get to places.

My favorite part of San Diego was probably Sea World, I loved the Dolphins. And we saw Calista Flockhart while we were there. While we were feeding some of the sea lions real fish, there were a bunch of birds just waiting to get the fish before the sea lions. Well, Brad had a fish and was about to throw it in just when a bird nailed him in the back of head. I had a good laugh.

Another favorite part was the beach. I could totally live by the ocean and so could my kids. They would have been fine to just go swimming every day. Just a little bit out from where we were catching some waves, Brad spotted some dolphins. It was so cool to see them jumping. Next time we go, we're definately renting some boards. It was awesome to ride the waves, they got so big.

The temple was so beautiful, its what I picture Heaven as. I don't even have words to describe it. When Brad was on his mission, he was able to go to the dedication. There are beautiful flowers EVERYWHERE! Every part of it is landscaped.

All in all it was great to spend time together as a family and as always, even though we had tons of fun, its great to be home. Here's a little video of our trip. You'll need to push pause on my radio thing first.

Is Relaxation finally here?

2008-05-27T11:04:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a long time since I've blogged. That is how crazy my month has been. Last Saturday was the end of all the maddness. Ballet is done. Gymnastics is done and now dance is done.....Kind of.....I just learned that Hailee's team will be taking during June and August. She is very excited because she is going to be learning ballroom. Last Saturday was the big recital of Dance Depot. I guess it's kind of a BIG thing in Idaho Falls, because I had to be at the civic saving seats ALL DAY LONG! It's way worth it though. I love watching all the numbers, but my favorite are the teams. They have such great teachers and great coreographers. I've always loved watching dance and just wished I was a better dancer. It's fun to see how far Paige and Ashlyn both came this year. This was their first year of dance and Hailee's 5th. They all love being on stage and are so excited for next year to start.

I also met one of my favorite bloggers last Saturday. I was in getting roses for my girls and I thought this guy looked so familiar and I couldn't think of where I've seen him. Low and behold it was Shelley's (see sidebar) husband! Right when I put two and two together, I saw her. It was fun to see and finally meet her. YOu're such a cutie Shelly!

So now that everything is done, including school on Thursday, what will I do with myself? Well, we are still in piano and soccer and we are going to San Diego next week for TEN DAYS and I have nothing ready. So I think I'll be keeping plenty busy.

One last thing, does anyone else have anxiety because summer is here and ALL your kids will be home with you ALL DAY LONG? Don't get me wrong, I love being with my kids but summer always tests my patience (which I don't have any to start with)with my kids. So any suggestions on how you're going to keep your cool this summer?

Here's some pics of the recital

After a long and hard days work, this is how we found Ashlyn.

Enrichment

2008-05-15T09:21:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago I was released from Young Womans and called as the Enrichment Leader. Whoa! I was so surprised and felt very incompetent. Last Thursday was my first Enrichment of being in charge of. We decided we would focus on Service. I love service! We had a service auction that went very well and was very fun. The services I donated was to sew, crochet, or knit an item and to make a Japanese dinner. I won free babysitting and a plate of brownies. Very Excited! Since I was little, I've always loved doing service for others. I love the way it makes me feel when I'm all done. There is a shelter called the Ruth House here in Idaho Falls for mothers and children, I had everyone donate some items for this shelter. What a huge success. Our Relief Society President is a Mary Kay consultant and she donated a HUGE box FULL of stuff.I can get nothing done throughout the day, but if I take a plate of goodies to a neighbor I feel like I've accomplished a lot. The shelter was so thankful for all the things our Ward donated and I felt so good to that for them. They're in the process of redoing some of their rooms, I thought it would be fun to take my kids and help paint and redecorate. I just hope I can teach my kids the importance of serving others. These are the centerpeices I made and then gave away at the end of the night.

Paige's Baptism

2008-05-12T08:39:00.000-07:00

Another busy week last week. Paige got baptized on Saturday and so my week started with making a baptism dress. My mom made all my girls' blessing dresses and I decided I would make all their baptism dresses. I let Paige pick out the one she liked and then I "tried" to copy it with a pattern I had. I usually have my mom help me, but I did this one all by myself, even the sleeves. It turned out pretty good and Paige looked so pretty in it. We had all our family and close friends here to see her get baptized. I think she was scared to death because she wouldn't smile when she was up on the podium. She did great and we're so proud of her decision. She thought the best part of getting baptized was getting her very own scriptures with her name on them from her Nana and Grandpa Sakota. Here's some pictures of the big day.
If you click the picture, you can see the dress better.
I thought this pictures was cute. Brad was giving Paige a lesson about being baptized.

Ashlyn wouldn't leave Paige's new baptism braclets alone. She wants to get baptized just so she can get all white braclets.
Zack loved the netting on Paige's dress. Four layers! He loved to get all tangled in it.

Paige was so excited to be baptized on Mother's Day weekend. I had a great MOther's Day yesterday. We went to Brad's parents and had T-bone steaks, baked potatoes, grilled asparagus and lots more yummy food. That is one of my favorite meals. He made me breakfast and pretty much took care of everything yesterday. It was good because after the week I'd had, it was good to get a break. The girls were so excited about my gift and could hardly wait til I opened it.

We got this pearl when we went to Vegas with my sisters at one of the Pearl Factory stores. It was so big and really white. Brad had it set for me with a setting that was soooo pretty. He did a good job picking it out. The jeweler said it was a really big pearl. Thanks Hon. I will catch up on my other doings last week a little later in the week. I must sleep now.

Ooops!

2008-05-01T10:26:00.001-07:00

Just to give a glimpse of how crazy my life is right now, here's a true story. Last week I felt like I was running with my head chopped off. CRAZY BUSY! Well we decided we would make time to go to dinner with some friends. Paige had a soccer game from 5:30-6:30 and we were meeting our friends at 7:00 at a pretty nice Sushi (For Idaho Falls) place. Dinner was great and we had lots of fun. It was nice to get a little break. After dinner Brad and I had to run to the store. As I was walking in, I felt a little unbalanced like I was limping. Well, I look down and I have two totally different shoes on! I show Brad and he said "Oh my gosh, you can totally tell." One was brown, one was black. One was pointy, one was square, one had a skinny tall heel and one didn't. We laughed for a while and then I wobbled back to the car. I must get a grip on my life! What a dork I am.
Here's the shoes!

For all you who wanted instructions on the pool cake (see previous post) Here they are.

I first baked two cakes in a 9x13 pan. Let them completly cool. Now I used homemade whipping cream as the frosting. This was the first time I did this and it wa sooo Good. The kids liked it better than frosting. Cool Whip will work also. So cut out the middle of only ONE cake, leaving a two inch border. Add a layer of whipping cream to the bottom of the same cake and put it on top of the other cake, the one that you didn't cut. ADd the rest of the whipping cream to frost and use a decorative finish. I used so it looked like waves. I used teddy grams with gummy lifesavers for the people. You could do anything though. As for the water. I used two boxes of the blue kind of Jell-o and I used the speed method. Put in fridge until almost set (almost like egg whites) When almost set, carefully spoon the jello into the center. Refridgerate until completely set. It won't ever completely set, but will get firmer than an egg white. Have fun with it! Let me know if something doesn't make sense.

Pool Party!

2008-04-28T11:00:00.000-07:00

We Celebrated Paige's birthday over the weekend. Her birthday is Wednesday, but with our crazy lifes, we thought Saturday would be the best. I found a great place to have a pool party! We found some beach balls for the invitations and wrote all the information on the beach ball.

Here's the pool cake I made. How fun we had making this. All the kids loved this and thought it was so cool.

Here's them having fun!

These were the party favors. I found some fun dips and gatorades and put "thanks for taking a "dip" with me today" .

Paige had so much fun. She was able to invite 12 girls and by the time they were done swimming, they were all so tired. I thought they'd be yelling and screaming and running all over, but it was dead silence while doing the cake and presents. Then they perked right up after having cake. Happy Birthday Paige!

Can I just breathe?

2008-04-21T14:07:00.000-07:00

What an absolute CRAZY last week. And I have so much to say. It started off with me hosting a scentsy Party. How fun that was! It was a big success also. Thank you Hilary so much! You should check out the website. They have awesome smells!Then it was off to Utah for another dance competition. We rocked again and Hailee has so much fun. Her dance took first out of the five teams that were the same age, type of dance and group and then they took first out of their whole division, 14 teams! Way to go Hailee. Here's some pics of her

I found this awesome store in the mall called "Head Over Heels" I was in heaven. I love heels and the whole store was heels! I ended up buying five pair, but here is my favorite!

I'm loving the yellow for this spring and summer.

I also spent quite a bit of time in Tai Pan! Love that store. Brad said he wanted a nap so I thought, Perfect! He can sleep and I'll go in Tai Pan for a little bit. Well, when I came back to the car, he was pretty upset saying "did you really just spend two hours in there?!" He's such a good sport and here's my favorite purchases of that store.

When we got home we had two birthday parties to go to. Crazy Crazy. Then there was BUNKO, Me and another friend hosted a baby shower for one of our other friends, Another birthday party for Linkin and another party because all of my family from Utah, Alabama and Virginia were up. I think I"m all partied out! This was me by last night

This is a picture of the three grandsons at Linkin's party. Linkin is my younger sister's adopted son. We love him so much. Zack was so funny, we practiced all day singing Happy Birthday and he would pretend to blow out the candles. During the party, he was sitting up there by Linkin just dying to blow the candles out and dig in to the cake when we were done singing. I actually caught him licking the frosting on the cake with his tongue. He's a sucker for cake!
I'm afraid this is just the beginning of all craziness. May is pretty busy for me too. Wish me luck.

Ode to Snow

2008-04-10T08:29:00.000-07:00

When I looked up what Ode meant it said" a poem written to or about something". Well, I have no intentions of writing a poem about snow, but I figure instead of complaining that we just got a bunch of snow last night that stuck to the ground I would write things that I will miss about the snow when summer comes. I am definately not a fan of the snow, but I need to remember that we needed it so desperately and it's actually a blessing for us. If we start complaing about it, we might not get it again! Here's a list of just a few thing of what I love about the snow!

It means hot chocolate 24-7

I love to cuddle up with a blanket and a good movie

My days actually seem to slow down during winter

Snowmachining

Sledding

Watching the kids thouroughly enjoy building a snowman

Hot baths in our garden tub

Wearing sweats and a sweatshirt

Eating all the time and hoping my sweats and sweatshirt will hide the fat

Baking. I don't bake a lot in the summer because it's so hot.

Cutie oranges are in season

I get to wear my brand new "winter" coat

The holidays

TTA- Livin on the Edge

2008-04-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

If you could do
something dangerous
just once
with no risk

what would you do?

This one took a little bit to think about. Probably because I DO NOT live on the edge, nor do I like to. This all seemed to happen when I had kids. Not only will my bladder probably not hold up but I am scared to death of dying while doing something stupid. The last "risky" thing I did was bungy jump at Lagoon. But this is "no risk involved", that does that mean peeing your pants too? Here's a couple things I would consider doing

Doesn't this just look like a JOY? Your hubby being on top of you enjoying the bright blue sky. NOT!

Now, this is something I really have always thought would be a rush. Being in a cage with sharks just dying to eat you!
I would totally be a Harley chick if there was no risk in getting killed or beat up on the road. I would get ALL leathered up bandana and everything! I would definately check out Sturgis and see what that's all about too. I"ve always thought those girls were so tough and just had no worries, how would that be?

Weekend Update

2008-04-07T20:31:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend. Hailee had a dance competition in Utah so Brad and I went with her. After practicing all week every day for 3 hours on top of ballet, and performing at "an evening of dance", she was exhausted by Friday and it was only the beginning. She's like her mom and gets very grouchy when she's tired. It was hard to get her excited to be there. We met her for her dinner break and she comes running out with a huge smile and says "mom, the guy couldn't see my number and he told me to turn it over and then he wrote my number down." I immediately thought Oh no, she's getting in trouble for being so grouchy. Apparently they have auditions and they give out scholarships. During the awards ceremony they chose probably 15 girls of finalists. They called Hailee's number and we were so excited. Then out of the 15, they chose six that actually get scholarships and they called her number again. We were so proud of her. I was proud that even though she didn't want to be there and was grouchy, she still tried and danced her heart out and it totally paid off. First time in a long time that I felt like a good parent in teaching my kids the right things to do. And yes, I forgot my camera and couldn't get a picture.

It was great to get away except for the weather followed us there and back. We had great food (Cafe Rio) and found great deals shopping (Dillards). Brad is back working in New Mexico this week and we have another dance competition in Utah. So if I don't blog this week, you'll know why.

I mean business

2008-04-07T20:17:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to journal about something funny that Paige did the other day. She ended up losing a tooth. Now let me just say somehing about Paige. She is very smart and very serious. She has an excellent memory and everything has to be fair. She will let me know if she thinks she's beeing ripped off. When she was in Kindergarden so like 5, I can't remember what we were talking about; but apparently we were talking about hearts and their purpose in our body. She informed my whole entire family that (these are her exact words) "don't you guys know that the heart pumps blood to the rest of the body?" Who knew "I" could have such a smart child. She's always informing me of things I need or should have known by now.
Anyways, two months ago she lost a tooth and ended up actually losing it before it got under her pillow and the "very mean" tooth fairy didn't leave her any money for it. She totally felt ripped off then. Well, the other day she lost another tooth AND she found the one she lost a couple months ago. So Brad found this note under her pillow it said

"Take both teeth and I want more money to be included. Paige Nelson"

She Always starts her letters out with "dear". She totally meant business with this tooth fairy and did not want to get ripped off. She's so funny.

oops, here's the recipe

2008-04-03T08:59:00.001-07:00

Sorry, I forgot to post the recipe. (see post below) Here it is. This recipe is for a bosch mixer, but would probably work with any other mixer. I buy the dough enhancer and gluten at the Prepardeness store here in Idaho Falls. It's fairly cheap, like $7 for a big container that would probably last a year. Enjoy!

100% Whole Wheat

2008-04-02T18:02:00.000-07:00

I got a little taste of what it was like to live in the "olden" days today. I've been on this bread fetish for the last couple weeks and thought I"d try out my hand wheat grinder and make some bread. EVERYONE needs to try this. It has the best flavor. I will be honest with you. I've heard that hand ground wheat is much better than store bought wheat and the recipe calls for hand ground wheat. So if it doesn't turn out, go buy some wheat. We bought 500 lbs of "the best" wheat almost a year ago for our food storage. It was so amazing to me to see all the wheat whole and then it ground into the flour. Pretty amazing! So here is what we started with

Here's us working our little hands off

Here's the wheat being ground

Here's the finished product

....and here's a happy family enjoying the bread

Now I did learn a very valuable lesson today. My "hand" grinder will come in very handy when in desperate need, but as long as I have electricity I'm going for an automatic wheat grinder! It literally took an hour to grind 6 cups of flour, but well worth it.

TTA-Made by Hand

2008-04-01T10:19:00.000-07:00

What a great topic this week. I've come to determine I have a great deal of TALENTED women in my life. I give all my thanks to these women for having such an influence in my life. It's because of these women that I have the desire to sew, cook, knit, and crochet. To me, home made is so much more. If you know me, whenever I need to give thanks or tell someone I"m thinking of them, I'll do it with homemade stuff; cards, baked goods, hand stitched things, whatever. Not only does it mean so much more to me, I LOVE to do it. There's nothing better than looking at something I've created. I could have posted picture after picture after picture. These are some of my favorite and some that mean so much to me. I first have to tell you that I have a very talented husband too. He doesn't give himself enough credit, but he's awesome. His talent he is working on right now is bringing me much joy. OUR BASEMENT! Thanks Hon

Ever since I was little I loved to watch my mom sew. Probably since the time I was 7 or 8 I wanted to be mom just so I could sew them clothes. My mom is very talented with sewing and I owe it all to her. She made all my girl's blessing dresses. A treasure forever. These mean so much to me and my girls.

My Nanny is very talented with knitting. She has knitted us sweaters, scarfs, Christmas stockings, you name it, she can knit it. Very very talented. She knitted this out fit when I was a baby.

She knitted all my girls one of these. Isn't she amazing?

So since my mom made all my girls' blessing dresses, I thought I would attempt to make Zack's blessing outfit. It actually turned out pretty well and he looked so handsome in it. This was probably my first "big project".

Brad's mom is also very talented when it comes to crocheting. She crocheted each of my kids a blanket before they were born. Definately keepsakes. She's also a great sewer and has made each of my girls a dress. So between my family, I have to try to keep up with all the talent here. It's definately a hobby that I love and hope to pass on to my girls.

YUM-O

2008-03-28T13:15:00.000-07:00

I love the days when I get to make home made bread. Not only do I love to make it, but I love the smell it leaves in my house. I can do NOTHING all day, but I get a batch of bread made, I feel like I've accomplished so much. We had all this ham left over from Easter so I decided my family needed ham and potato soup with some home made bread. This soup was AWESOME! You definately need to try it. I found this bread recipe on Allrecipes a couple years ago. It's the only bread I'll ever make and it has a great taste. This is a great food storage recipe because it calls for no egg! Can you beleive it? Dried eggs are SO expensive and I'm not ready to have a chicken farm yet so I try to find recipes that call for no egg.

Top reason I haven't

2008-03-24T14:04:00.000-07:00

blogged in a week. I have been busy busy doing what? SEWING! I love when I get the chance to sew. A few years ago I thought it would be great to make my girls' Easter dresses. I had so much fun and my girls loved it so mucfh that now I always make my girls' Easter dresses. So, this is what I started with

and this is what I ended up with

I was so happy that Zack and Ashlyn were playing good together to give me the time to sew. I remember when I was younger my mom always sewing. She pretty much made all our clothes. I would never be able to do that, but I definately love sewing them dresses. After church, we went up to my parents house and had an FEAST! My brother was up and made the best sushi ever. It was soooo good. I love just hanging out at my parents house and visiting with all my family. We ate, ate, and ate.
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Easter Egg Party

Last year a couple neighbors and I decided we would have a neighborhood Easter egg hunt. We hated going to the local ones and having tons of kids and not getting any eggs. So I decided this year I would have it for our neighbors. We had an Easter egg hunt, ate, and colored eggs. We are so thankful to have such great neighbors and friends.

___________________________________________________________________

A few Crazy Girls

On Friday night Hailee and four of her friends had a little birthday party for Hailee. They came over around 5 p.m. and we ate pizza and opened presents. I never thought seven o'clock would come to go to the movie. I had five 9 year olds here screaming and yelling and running around everywhere. I almost lost my mind. They were having so much fun though. Brad came home for a minute and left and said good luck with the movies. Finally seven o'clock came and I told them to get out in the suburban. I went out and could hear them all singing and music blaring Hannah Montana. I have to admit, I did start singing and dancing with them. They had to have it that way all the way to the movies. When we finally got to the movies I could hear them talking about how there were a group of boys there and they were sooo cute. I thought "what?" I can't beleive she's already paying attentin to boys. They only got up about four times to go to the bathroom after the movie started. Hailee tried to talk me into a sleep over, but I had to say no. We don't do sleepovers anyways. I've always said I"m going to be a "cool" mom, but I really don't know if my kids will consider me "cool". I"m all about being a parent first. Right now I"m working on how to discipline and be a parent, but still be fun and be good friends with my kids.

TTA-Collections

2008-03-18T18:24:00.001-07:00

I"ve always wanted something really "cool" to collect, but just haven't been a great collector. I was a better collector when I was younger than I am now. I'm trying to keep up with my kids' collections and just don't have the time for myself. However, when I was younger I did have quite an assortment of collections.

Strawberry Shortcakes. I was obsessed with these little guys and was so excited when I saw them for sale again, but disappointed when none of my kids thought they were cool. I don't blame them though, they were way better in the 80's. My kids love to play with these and I'm so happy my mom kept them. She kept EVERYTHING I had of strawberry shortcakes. This is just small portion.

Sticker collection. I had them all. I especially liked the scratch and sniff ones that smelled like chocolate! I remember trading stickers with my friends at school, but would never trade the scratch and sniff ones. so Selfish!

Porcelain Dolls. This is one I started when I was a little older. This is one of my favorites that I got in Prince Edward Island. I loved the little girl porcelain dolls. If it was porcelain, I needed it. This is one I've started with my girls.

Letters. I didn't realize it at the time, that this would be a collection and quite a silly one I might add. I have kept all my letters from grade school up to when Brad and I got married. I don't know what it is, but I just can't part with them. I have lots from probably 7th-8th grade from my friends and when I go back and read them I just laugh. When Brad and I got engaged, he left for four months and I've kept all those. It's fun to go back and read them and see how much we've "grown" up.

Coin Buckets from Vegas. IF you know my family at all, we love Vegas. Well when I was younger, probably 8th grade, I thought the coin buckets were way cool. I made my family stop at every casino just so I could get a bucket. So sorry fam! That is one collection I did not keep.

Happy Birthday Hailee!

2008-03-17T09:40:00.001-07:00

I love weekends where I do NOTHING! What a relaxing weekend. All I had to do is get ready for Hailee's Birthday. Her birthday isn't until tomorrow, but we celebrated it yesterday with our family. We usually do a family birthday party and then a friend birthday party. I know, I know, a lot of work but it works great that way. I made her a purse cake which she absobluety LOVED! It was very fun to make and happy with the finished product. I thought I would contribute this post to Hailee and record some fun things about her.

Hailee loves to dance.
She is turning 9
She is almost taller than her mom
She loves to shop (like her mom)
She loves to wear matching everything jewelry, hair things, nail polish, shirts,
accessories. EVerything has to match.
She gets very grouchy when she doesn't get enough sleep (like her mom)
She loves candy
Her favorite color is pink
Her favorite food is pizza
She loves Hannah Montana
She wants to be a doctor when she grows up
She wants to be grown up so bad. (bad for me)
She's a great babysitter
She is scared of practicaly Everything. She always has to be with someone.
She's a great piano player
When she gets mad, she rubs her hands and feet together (like her mom)
She is full of energy
She always has to be doing something
She is my EVERYTHING!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

TTA-What's in the Name

2008-03-12T09:34:00.000-07:00

I"m so excited about this TTA (and yes, I do know it's Wednesday). I don't have it recorded anywhere else except my head and I can't rely on that too much longer.

Hailee Chiyemi- When I first got pregnant, I started to look up names on the internet. I wanted one that wasn't too popular at the time. I found the name Jacie and loved it. So it was Jacie up until about a week before I was due. I had seen Hailee in a magazine and knew that was the name for my first little girl. Chiyemi is my middle name and I got it from my Grandma Sakota. I knew I wanted to carry that on for sure.

Paige Keiko-Paige is a different story. I had the hardest time finding a name I like. I thought about Whitney, but wasn't quite sure. Well, Paige ended up coming two months early and I still had no idea what to name her so she was Baby Nelson for the first three days of her life. I had always liked the name Paige from when I was little and Brad finally made the decision to do Paige. I asked my Grandma for a list of Japanese names that she new and Keiko was on there. I need to find out more about that name if it's part of my family or what. Paige absoblutely loves her middle name.

Ashlyn Yamiko-Ashlyn's name had been picked out for about a year. We had some friends with a daughter that had that name and Brad and I both loved it. We had no idea what we were having this time so the names we had picked out were Ashlyn for a girl and we really didn't have any boy names so good thing it wasn't a boy because he would have been nameless for a couple days too. Yamiko was one of my good friends that was in my ward. She is from Japan and a great girl. I always knew that I wanted Japanese middle names for my girls, I wanted to keep the tradition of my family going.

Zackary Bradley-Maybe some of you can relate. I had no idea for boy names. And again we had no idea what we were having this time either. We had chose Olivia for a girl and didn't really know about boy names. I was sure I was having another girl and so I didn't really worry about it. Every boy name I thought of Brad would say "I knew a boy with that name and he was fat or a nerd or bald or a jerk or whatever! So I finally told Brad to choose. We knew we wanted Brad or Bradley for the middle name. Brad really like the name Zack and I didn't at first, but then it grew on me. We decided to just do Zak Bradley Nelson and that it what we put on his birth certificate. About two months later, I just couldn't do it anymore especially with that spelling. I don't really know why. So we decided to change his name to Zackary Bradley Nelson. For the longest time I thought we changed his name to Zackary Brad and that's what's on his blessing certificate. I was going through some of his things to put in his baby book and came across the name change certificate and saw that it was Zackary Bradley. What a mess. He answers to really anything though. :) I'm just glad I finally got my boy.

can you say PSYCHOTIC?

2008-03-06T17:34:00.000-08:00

This resembles a little how I felt and probably looked this morning. Let me just record how my day started today. While taking my girls and a neighbor to school today, I was driving down the road. My subdivision is not in the same neighborhood as the school. As I left my subdivsion and was headed towards the school I saw a car pulling out of her driveway. I saw her look both ways and she started to pull out. I thought to myself, there's no way she will pull out, she'll hit me. She never stopped and continued almost hitting me. I swirved so she wouldn't hit me and I gave her a big honk to let her know I was there. She followed me and I thought she was just taking her kids to school. I had to go in and helps my girls with some tests and so I parked. She pulled in right behind my car slamming on her brakes and rolled her window down. I told my girls that she was going to try to talk to us, but to just ingore her and continue to walk to the school. We all got out and she started yelling at us and did my kids ignore her and go in? No....They got out, stared at her and listened and got an ear full. She started by saying "Hey B----, I have your license plate number. You can't stop for two seconds to let someone pull out of their driveway?" I ignored her and started to walk to the school. She then said "Don't you dare walk away from me." I kept cool and told my kids to just keep walking. Well, she drives over the curb and onto the street where we were crossing and comes right in front of me with her car. She continued to cuss and yell and I can't even remember what she was saying. I was getting a little nervous. I just kept ignoring her and we finally made it to the school. She harassed us clear til we got in. I couldn't beleive that had just happened. Can you beleive that? What a Psycho. My kids kept saying "mom, she called you the B word." I can't beleive she was saying those words on school grounds in front of my kids. She even had a couple kids with her.
I'm the type that doesn't really take crap from people, but I'm so glad that I didn't lose my cool and start yelling back. What would that have taught my kids? I'm getting mad even talking about it right now. I still can't beleive that happened. Some People......

Time Out for Women

2008-03-04T18:58:00.000-08:00

I am so grateful I was able to go to Time out for Women this last weekend. I was so excited when I found out they were coming to Idaho Falls. Me and eight other girlfriends all got tickets and got to enjoy time away from our kids to get spiritually enriched. They had awesome speakers and awesome music. Music seems to always bring the spirit in. Everybody got these awesome bags, which I will be using for church. All three of my favorite hymns were sang: a Poor Wayfaring Man, Come thou Fount of Every Blessing, and If you Could Hie to Kolob. The theme this year is "Joyful Life" and the scripture is
Acts 2:28

"Thou hast made known to me the WAYS OF LIFE, thou shalt make me FULL OF JOY..."

Just what I needed to hear right now. It's funny how it seemed every talk was FOR ME. Jason Wright spoke who is the author of "Wednesdays Letters" and "Christmas Jars". (Which I am now dying to read, has anyone read them?) My favorite talk was Sharon G. Larsen. She talked on points that she has found to help her have a Joyful Heart. I thought I would share her points:

1. Forgiveness
Ask for forgiveness and forgive others

2. Trust in the Lord
He knows what will make us happy even if we don't realize it at the moment.

3. Let go of Competition
Make room in your heart for Joy. Your true friends are those you are not in competition with nor they in competition with you. (this was a BIG eye opener for me)

4. Keep yo9ur covenants
Keep your baptismal and temple covenants, how can you go wrong there.

She was awesome and was so down to my level and said everything I needed to hear.

Mercy River is a new LDS group that performed many songs. They totally brought the spirit in and would be great to listen to Sunday mornings. Here is there link and you can preview their songs. If you ever get a chance to go to TOFW, I strongly suggest it. Its worth it.

Update on Zack's hand: He's been getting wound therapy at the hospital and he saw the plastic surgeon today. He thinks he will probably need a skin graft, but wants to watch it for another week. Poor boy. He is so brave and strong and hardly complains about the pain. He loves his little blue cast. He had a long tiring day today.

Feeling Rejuvenated

2008-03-01T16:09:00.000-08:00

What a week! We had so much fun in Vegas and it went by way too fast for me. Brad had to go to New Mexico the whole week before we left for Vegas. We ended up meeting him in Vegas. Thursday, the day before we left, Zack got his hand caught in our treadmill, yes, while it was running. I was babysitting a couple of my friends kids and they were all down stairs, I heard them playing on the treadmill and yelled down to them to put it away. My kids know they're not suppose to play on it. I started getting things ready to pack and I heard Zack screaming, my heart stopped for a minute and I went to check on him. When I got him upstairs I look at his finger and this is what I found.

Now this is about a week healing. It was so much worse than this picture. I freaked out! I thought I had a pretty good stomach, but couldn't bare to look at it. Good thing I have a neighbor that is an R.N. I called her in a panic and she came and got the kids and I left for the E.R. I couldn't stop crying. I think it was the last straw of the week and I broke down. I was doing much worse than Zack! Good things for friend doctors in the E.R. too. We were taken right in and got an x-ray and got it dressed and we were done. They couldn't do any stititching because it was just like hamburger. Poor Kid. I've never had anything like this happen with my girls. Boys are so much more accident prone!

I had a hard time leaving him and the thought of having to leave him made me sick. Good thing for good friends and family that took good care of him and all my kids. I'm so lucky to live in such a great neighborhood. Thanks again to all my friends. It didn't take me very long to get over my sadness and Vegas perked me right up! WE HAD SO MUCH FUN!

Here's Brad and I getting ready to go to a Cirque du soleu show. It was fanstatic and I loved all the acrobats and contemporary dancing. Brad was not so impressed.
I'm still trying to catch up on my sleep this week. We were up until 2 or 3 every night and the night before we left we were up til 4 and had to leave our hotel at 6:30. Whoa! A good break every now and again does my body good. I missed my kids lots, but the best part is coming home to give them all big hugs.

TTA-Love List

2008-02-19T18:23:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you love your kidsI'll assume you love your husbandYou'd better love your religion.But............ what else do you LA-LA-LOVE.Share your love list with us this week.

Besides the obvious, my hubby, kids, family, because they're definately #1 in my life. Here's some fun things that I love right now.

Victoria's Secret Pure Seduction

Blue Hashi's Sushi

Traveling with Brad even if it's just to Utah for the weekend

Camping with my family

Starbuck's Caramel Apple Cider (thanks Sally)

Cafe Rio Salads

Shrimp Tacos

Flip Flops

Trying to figure out what Zack is telling me

Watching Hailee Dance

Ashlyn getting out of bed 5 times to tell me she loves me

Listening to Paige play the piano

Shopping with my sisters

Having nothing on my counters

Getting pedicures

Zack's chubbiness

Hosting parties

Sleeping

Getting all dressed up

Being right

Being a mom

Laying in the sun

Nertz

Finding extra money

Hot Chocolate

Nova Scotia

Fresh breath

Tomatoe Sandwiches

When the checkbook reconciles the first time

RSV

2008-02-18T16:07:00.000-08:00

Zack was diagnosed with RSV on Thursday, Valentines Day. We went in to have him checked for an ear infection and we left with him having a very bad ear infection and RSV. Zack has asthma and so every time he gets a cold or sick, it's ten times worse. It's been so sad to see him just sit and not want to do anything, but sleep. He is usually so happy and cheerful and full of life. His sisters aren't quite sure what to do either, because he keeps them laughing. Brad had to leave for New Mexico for work for the WHOLE week. We will then meet up in Vegas on Friday. I can't wait. It's probably good I won't see him this whole week because it will make Vegas that much BETTER! Hopefully Zack is better by then I can leave him and not feel guilty. I have awesome friends and family that will helping with the kids though. I have a big list to get done before Vegas. Here is it and X is what I have completed so far:

Clean top to bottom of my house

Do about 4 loads of laundry

x Nails

Pack for four kids

Pack for myself

Clean out my fridge

xTan, don't wanna look like a vampire in Vegas

Do something fun with the kids before I leave

Clean out my car

Make some bread and deliver to a neighbor

xGo shop for a new outfit

I guess that's not too bad. You see what my priorities are though! Good luck to me!

Valentines Day

2008-02-14T21:30:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines! I came across this free scrapbook page. Isn't it darling! So if you're interested go here.

What a fun day we had. We started off with heart shaped eggs and strawberry milk

The girls thought it was so cool to have pink milk and heart shaped eggs. I found a heart shaped pan at Target a couple months ago.

I made these corkscrew bows for their hair

These were gifts Brad and I gave them. A little bucket, socks, lippy and a journal

Brad gave all his "girls" a rose. What a sweetheart!
They had a great time making and getting Valentines for everyone they loved. We ended the night with heart shaped pizzas from Papa Murphys. We decided we would spend the night with our kids because we are going to Vegas next week and we plan on spending lots of time with each other there. I am SO EXCITED! With all the snow, it will be good to go someone a little warmer. And one last thing, guess what I got for Valentines?

Yep, an external hard drive. Digi Scrapbook here I come! Thanks Babe.
P.S. Does anyone know how to get the white box around my pictures off???

Marshmellow Pie

2008-02-08T12:35:00.000-08:00

The other day I was in cleaning my room. I heard some racket out in the kitchen but didn't pay any attention. I came out to find that Ashlyn and Zack had been cooking. Here is our conversation

Mom: Wow, what do we have here.

Ashlyn: Mom, we made Marshmellow Pie

Mom: Wow, where did you learn to make it?

Ashlyn: I made it up all by myself.

Zack: Me too, me too.

Ashlyn: We made it for Nate and Julie (our neighbors)

Zack: Nate, Ju-Ju

Mom: It looks really good.

Ashlyn: Mom! don't eat it, it's disgusting!

A Perfect Stranger

2008-02-06T15:17:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been a whole week since I've journaled. This weekend was crazy and I knew it would be so I started it out with Starbucks and a Pedicure with some friends Saturday morning. I couldn't have felt ANY better. I watched my friends kids while they had a weekend away so I was busy trying to keep the kids occupied and having fun. Saturday night, we went out to eat with some friends and again that was very refreshing. And how 'bout that superbowl game. I hardly watch Superbowls, I'm in it just for the food and socializing, but it was a great game. Go Giants! Monday, my sister and I took a quick trip to Salt Lake to pick up my other sister. Lots of good food, the spa, shopping, hair cuts! It was great to get away even if it was just for the day. We didn't get home til 2:30 a.m. I was exhausted Tuesday! I've caught up on my sleep and I was able to read a little bit. So I'm in the first book of Twilight and I can't imagine it getting any better, but I still have two more books!

As I was "blog surfing" the other day, I found such an interesting post by a girl named Chantri. Her post was about this mother who had lost a little girl. She linked me to a memorial website for this little girl. After reading, I was so intrigued I wanted to know more. After little search, I found the blog to the mother. I found her and her family so moving I spent ALL NIGHT reading her posts and it acutally took me back to when the accident happened. I had tears flowing the whole night. The mother, Sheye, is a great photographer and an amazing writer. All of her posts are so deeply tender and well spoken. I've assumed a great interest in her and her family. It's been exactly a year that the accident happened. I would not normally pass this on, but she has made such a difference in my life that I feel I should share it.

"Live each day, every single day, with the understanding that one does not necessarily lead into the other. Hug your family. Tight. Put aside What Does Not Matter. Tomorrow could be a completely new kind of normal." Sheye Rosemeyer

I'm positive I stumbled across this blog for a reason. I was getting all caught up in the "things that don't matter". I wasn't being there for my family. I wasn't taking the time to teach and play with them as I should've been. I was always in a hurry when I put them bed. I would always say "in a minute" when they tried to talk. I wasn't living as if they might not be there tomorrow. Now, everytime I or they leave, I make sure they know I do love them. I don't want there to be any regrets if something were to happen to one of them. That's probably why I haven't been journaling lately; I've been trying to spend all my time with my family. I'm sure my kids are so sick of me!:) I know this fixation will dwindle with time, but I hope not very much. So, If you're at all interested here is Sheye's blog.

Potty Training?? Already??

2008-01-29T19:51:00.000-08:00

Zack has brought to my attention that he does not like a poopy diaper. He's been telling me that he has to go poopy before he goes in his diaper. Being my first boy, I have NO idea how to potty train a boy. All of my girls were trained by 18 months. I was very lucky. I have been told that boys are LOTS slower. So, since Zack is very behind in almost everything I thought he wouldn't be ready until he was about 5 or 6. :) O.K., maybe not that late. Seriously, I thought he would at least be three. On Sunday, he said he has to go potty, so I took him to the bathroom just to see what he would do and sure enough he went! He's been going this whole week! It's funny because he will sit on his potty and with his little pointer finger, very carefully, pushes his little "guy" into the little protection cup. It's hollarious! We'll see how he does in the next few weeks!

What a Wonderful Man

2008-01-28T19:40:00.001-08:00

What a great man and leader. How sad it is for us who are all left behind. But how happy for him and his wife that they are together now. I was so saddened at first when I heard; but then I realized where he is now and who he is with. I've love his teachings so much and always looked forward to Conference just to hear his humor and his wisdom. I didn't know this, but he has dedicated more than half of the temples that we have. WOW!

I just wanted to take a moment to celebrate his life and all that he was and has done for the church. He truly has strengthened my faith and testimony.

Brrr... It's Cold Outside

2008-01-24T12:05:00.000-08:00

While trying to stay warm inside and not even approach the coldness outside, I decided that I would sit down with a book that one of my friend loaned me. I started the book on Monday and finished Tuesday Night. It was a really good book that I could not put down. I am so not a reader and never have been, but while reading everyones blogs, it seems everyone is a reader. I'm also trying to expand my intellegence (which is hardly any). Brad laughed when I told him that. I'm not really sure if I liked the book so much because it's been the only thing I've read and I just don't know what's good out there. This book is about a young woman who is only 17 and one day she's told a secret that's been kept from her since birth. Lots of secrets come about throughout the book and of course there's romance in it. It will truly make you realize how much you love your husband.

In the midst of all this, I've decided that I actually like to read. So does anyone have any good books to suggest to me? How's a girl to choose with all the trillions of books out there? There are so many!

TTA- No regrets, just lessons learned

2008-01-22T10:51:00.000-08:00

I wish I would have......

learned the violin when I was younger.

Furthered my education after Ricks College

Waited til I was older when I married Brad. I'll explain. NO regrets in marrying Brad at all, but I wish I had got some experience outside of Idaho. I would have done some of the things I wanted when I was younger like be a nanny in New York or work in Hawaii or on a Cruise Ship (I had not seen all the Cruise Ship staff does at that time- aauuughhh)

Not married Brad in October (the prime for hunting season) ( I really don't regret marrying you babe)

Been more social in High school. Be friends with everybody and not so judgemental.

Kept my grades up in high school.

Not been so "moody" to my family when I was teenager.

Spent more time getting to know the history of my Grandpa and Grandma Sakota.

Not eaten three peices of pizza last night

Payed more attention in seminary and church and learned back then things I'm learning now.

I'm so glad I........

waited four years to have kids.

did not get Brad "fixed" after having Ashlyn.

got married in the temple.

took piano and kept with it.

put my seatbelt on when I got the inspiration when I was in an accident with one of my friends in High school.

Was observant with my mom and grandmothers in "housewife" stuff. Cooking, sewing, kniting, crocheting. It always looked so fun to me and I'm glad I gave each of them a try.

Started blogging to get back in touch with good friends and to start recording important things like this.

Have the opportunity to be in Young Womens.

Was raised by great parents that taught me and cared for me and gave me a great childhood.

Chose the neighborhood we live in now.

Live so close to my family.

New Blog/New Recipe

2008-01-14T12:33:00.001-08:00

I just started a new blog that has all my digital scrapbook pages in it (see sidebar). I'm doing a 31 in 31 challenge, which is 31 pages in 31 days. I got started a little late, but have caught up. I just can't beleive how much faster digital scrapbooking is and how much cheaper it is, and how much time I can spend doing it. So, it's about 1:45 and I'm still in my p.j's (so is Zack), Ashlyn is playing at a friend's house and I just got four pages done. I did have to journal so I don't feel like today is a whole big waste!

Here is a new recipe that I wanted to share. I got this recipe from Shelly (see sidebar)and when I made it, it was soooo good and a big hit. Even the little kids liked it. So you definately should give it a try! Shelly did it in a one big cake shaped like a sunflower. I didn't have the cake pan so I did individual bunt cakes for each person.

Banana Cake with burnt butter frosting

2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup shortening
1/3 cup buttermilk or sour milk
2 medium ripe bananas, smashed
2 eggs
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Mix everything together. Beat 3 minutes at medium speed. Pour into 9x13 pan (I used the Demarle sunflower mold). Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Burnt Butter Frosting

1 cube butter
1 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
milk to consistency

Melt butter in pan on stove until foam cooks off and the color is a deep caramel. Pour butter over powdered sugar. Add vanilla and milk to the consistency you want. Beat for about one minute.

Note: I like this cake warm so I make the frosting pourable so I can just pour it on, let it drizzle down the sides and eat it. You can make it thicker and spread it on like a more traditional cake.

Karri's Note: regarding the burnt butter, if you let the foam totally cook off, it tastes really really burnt! I only melted it and cooked it for just a little bit and it was yummy!

By the Way, for all you that have had 1-4 p.m. church before, any suggestions on what to do before church starts? We're used to not doing anything until church started and that's what we've been doing til 1 p.m. a whole lot of NOTHING. We use to go visit family after church, but that is when we were done by 2 and I felt like we got things accomplished. I feel like Sundays are wasted (besides the spirtual uplifting we get from church) because we don't get home til 4, eat dinner and then go to bed.

Plumber

2008-01-09T15:04:00.000-08:00

THIS
PLUS THIS

EQUALS THIS

I LOVE THIS BOY!
(He was fully dressed in his clothes and came out of his room with just his PJ bottoms on. He has no idea he has plumber crack)

TTA-Get Organized

2008-01-08T13:02:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm anxious to read everybody's TTA because I don't feel I'm the most organized and need some new ideas. A couple years ago, I felt so unorganized. The kids would get home from school and it was total choas. Trying to clean up, play with Zack and Ashlyn and get all the homework done was a nightmare. I decided something needed to change. So about an hour before the girls get home from school, I make sure everything is picked up and if I'm workin on a project I put it away. I tell Ashlyn and Zack that when the girls get home, it is my time with them. I do a fun activity with Zack and Ashlyn during the day, so they know I've already spend my time with them. Now, when the girls get home, I'm PREPARED!

I am great friends with storage boxes and labels. I have storage boxes EVERYWHERE! when I'm done with something, I put it away in the box. This helps a great deal. I had to learn on my own to not be a hoarder. My parents kept EVERYTHING! I have learned over the years, that I don't need to keep all the pamplets that I get when I go places or all the coupons I get in the mail for "we might go there someday". To get ride of it first hand helps a lot too.

About every month, me and my girls go through the closets and under their bed and see what's come up. If they don't need it, it goes in the trash. This helps keep their rooms organized and clean too.

I started finding coins everywhere. Not sure where they are coming from. I'm trying to make a bottle that whenever we find or have change to put it in the bottle. We are going to San Diego this summer and we'll see how much change we can accumulate.

Being on a schedule has helped drastically too. When the kids are on a schedule, they know what to excpect and when to expect it. Over Christmas break my kids were on no schedule and I felt so disorganized! You have to come up with a schedule that works for you and your kids. Now, help me and journal what you do to keep organized. I need the help!

2008-01-07T16:32:00.000-08:00

O.K, so I think I can get off Photoshop for a couple minutes to journal. I love Photoshop. I've found great tutorials and such. For those of you thinking about digital scrapbooking (there sure has been a lot of posts about it), I think Photoshop is the way to go. Let me know if you want websites or whatever.

Anyways, I missed last TTA because I wanted to discuss things with Brad and make some family goals too. I definately have my own personal goals, but thought we needed to change some things as a family. Trying to come up with goals, we talked about what were some downfalls we had last year. Family time was certainly a downfall. Basically kids arguing and not getting along were another issue. We discussed last night and came up with great things. Now if we can only use them faithfuly.

My words for this year are Family and Simplify. I chose family because I just feel that maybe we're not doing things as a family like we should be. Sure, we'll have FHE when I get time to prepare a lesson or family prayer when I'm not anxious to get the kids in bed. Brad and I decided that if we expect our kids to behave and get along, that we need to be the ones that make sure they have the oportunity to have spiritual time with each other. Another one of my goals is to not yell at my kids. I want to say things to them in a kind, gentle voice. (YElling doesn't seem to be working anyhow, so why not try this?) Another thing we talked about is disciplining them. We're going to take a whole new outlook on this. We're basically going to try rewarding for the positive and NOT punishing the negative. They've always been punished for bad things they've done and never rewarded for the good. I think, with my kids espeically, this will be a big impact on them and I actually think they will start behaving themselves better. Any ideas on what to do when they are bad? I don't think I should ignore that. We also want to start doing a date with mom or dad and I think that is how we will reward when they do something positive.

My next word SIMPLIFY. I've been hearing, in not so many words, to SIMPLY from everyone. In General conference they talked a lot about it and our Stake President came and talked to all the couples in church and he basically said to SIMPLY. If we are not spending the time as a family because the kids are in some sort of activity, then it's not worth it. There's lot of families that have their kids in EVERYTHING! and it's just not worth it it keeps us from family time. We should take them out. (That's what our Stake PResident said) I was grateful that none of my kids' activities keep us from having family dinner together, but I definately think I could simplify my life a little bit. I've come with up with different schedules and pretty much being organized. My words go hand in hand with each other so I'm hoping it will keep me reminded of each. I definately know this won't be easy, but what goal is easy. I'm lucky I have a great husband to help me.

Digital Srapbooking

2008-01-01T22:20:00.000-08:00

This is just a trial. I got Photoshop Elements for Christmas and I've completed my first page. Wanted to see if I could figure out how to post it.

More Family Fun

2007-12-30T22:16:00.000-08:00

I wanted to spend time as a family on Friday. We gave the kids a choice to either go to a movie or go ice skating. The kids and Brad have never been ice skating. I love to ice skate. It brought back great childhood memories. My mom is from Nova Scotia and ice skating is BIG there. Whenever we would go visit in the winter we would ice skate. We always had a place to ice skate in our backyard growing up. I remember I would always go out alone and pretend I was a professional. I had a huge crush on Karl Gehmlich and I would pretend he would watch. That's pretty embarassing and I can't beleive I'm journaling that. Anyway, I was pretty excited when the the kids chose ice skating over a movie. The kids had a blast and want to go back. They caught on quickly and was able to go out in the middle by themselves. Zack was the funniest. Brad would hold him between his legs and Zack's little legs would go back and forth really fast. Everyone was getting a kick out of him. He would scream when we would take him for a rest. Brad and I are both sore for having to bend down with him. I think maybe we'll put him in hockey. Ashlyn wasn't such a fan, but was a good sport to give it a try.

Ashlyn always trying to be Zack's little mother.

On Saturday we wanted to take the kids sledding. There was a freezing wind in I.F. so we decided not to go. My mom called and wanted us to go to Rexburg. She said there was no wind and she would make chili. How could we refuse that? The sledding was perfect. No wind at all in Rexburg. The kids had so much fun. It was perfect. After sledding we went back to my parent's house and had hot chocolate and then we had Chili over scones. There's a name for that, but I can't remember. It was so good.

Here's Hailee trying to snowboard

Brian and Lesa went with us.

I love the family time we've spent together. We totally needed that bonding experience. Hopefully I'm helping them create childhood memories.

Christmas 2007

2007-12-28T10:57:00.000-08:00

I can't beleive I haven't posted anything since the 18th. I've been crazy busy. I really need to better at journaling especially during the Holidays when I"m so busy. We had a great Christmas and I will just mention a couple highlights. We started off the business with treats to the neighbors. The kids absobluetly love helping me bake. They loved giving the treats to the neighbors. At one house, we saw one of the boys just outside so I yelled to him to come over and I gave him the plate of goodies and asked if he could take them in the house. Paige's comment was "Mom, when I take the plate I always say Merry Christmas. Maybe you should do that too." Good thing I have her to keep me on my toes. I found the plates at Tai-Pan (thank you, thank you). This picture is missing the Oatmeal bars.
Brad and I had been to quite a few Christmas parties which I will journal about later. I think there were about 5 different parties we had to go to not to mention all the Christmas shopping we had to get done. Every time we would leave the kids would have frowns. It made me think. Christmas is suppose to be about families and spending time together. I will make sure next year that won't happen. We did have plenty of family time together. One night we went and looked at Christmas lights. If you're in I.F. there's an awesome house in Iona that had dancing lights. You turn your radio on and there are about four different songs that the lights dance to. It's amazing and the kids loved it.

On Christmas Eve, we usually spend it with my family or Brads. This year I felt so strongly that we should spend it with just our little family together. We had a candle light dinner with Martinellis. The kids couldn't stop talking about it. They thought they were so grown up. Zack loved drinking from the wine glass. (better keep my eyes on him) After dinner we watch Santa Clause 3 and opened their pajamas.

Hailee had a hard time sleeping because she was so excited. The kids actually slept in until 8:00 Christmas morning. Here's some pics

We had Brad's parents come over for breakfast and then we went over to their house for prime rib. It was so good. Later in the afternoon we went to my parents house and played games and ate some more. The kids were drained and went right to sleep.
We did have one incident that was not so good. While Brad was away to Vegas, I decided I would take all the kids to church (yes, even sacrament) by myself. They were HORRIBLE. I would have left right after sacrament, but I was in charge of the YW lesson (which was awesome. WE did a silent lesson) AFter the lesson, I heard my kids fighting in the hallway. I went out to see what was going on. As we were leaving right where everybody congregates, Paige throws a coat on Ashlyn. Ashlyn couldn't get the coat off and was screaming. I had three bags in my hand and Zack was screaming for me to pick him up and Hailee and Paige started argueing. I had several men come up to me and ask if they could help. I assured them I had everything under control and I would be fine. The fighting and screaming continued as we were walking out and another man approached to see if he could help. I started bawling and gave him all my bags and he carried them out to the car while I carried Zack. The kids sure did get an earful while in the care driving home. I went in the house, leaving all of them in the car and grabbed all the presents and threw them in the big trash in the garage. The kids started bawling and screaming. My mom called while all this was going on and Hailee answered and was just crying to her. I felt like the worse mom EVER! But I didn't know what else to do that would make them realize. But for the rest of the day, my kids were on their best behavior. They did have a chance to earn all their presents back, which they did. And we all had a Merry Christmas! (whew!)

Family Fun

2007-12-18T21:11:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I've posted. I have been so crazy busy the last couple weeks. I promised myself I would take a minute and journal tonight. I'm so glad I"m getting it in. So what have I been busy with? Parties! Shopping! Family! Traditions! Not to mentioned that I was so happy we made it to the temple before Christmas. The kids had a babysitter every night last week. I felt bad leaving them, but promised them we would have a fun week this week. Brad is going to Las Vegas to some football bowl with a bunch of buddies on Friday and he won't be back til Sunday, so we HAD to get all the shopping done before. I think we're pretty much done and now I can spend time with the kids. We started making our Christmas treat plates for the neighbors and some cards to grandparents. My grandparents live in Nova Scotia and we don't get to see them very often. We had to make sure we got their package and cards all sent off. Here's the kids making their cards

We started making cookies and Zack took a tumble off the counter on the hard tile floor. His forhead blew up like a balloon right before my eyes! I was so scared and sorry for him.

He was so brave and tough. He hardly cried. He was only concerned about getting back to the cookie dough.

Here they are all having fun. See Zack in the back with the beater in his mouth!
I'm so thankful for kids. They make Christmas so much fun.
We had my family over on Sunday and look what the little boys did!

They took ALL the games out of the closet and were trying to hid on the shelves. Boys will be boys I guess. And I just have to mention that I'm so glad it's been snowing. I love it!

TTA-Christmas Q & A

2007-12-11T20:13:00.000-08:00

Q: Real or artificial tree?
A: See two posts down. I have yet to win the argument

Q: Do you like eggnog?
A: No, I tried it when I was younger and it was such a bad experience, I can't get myself to try it again.

Q: Favorite gift received as a child?
A: A bike and a jewelry box when I was about ten.

Q: Do you have a nativity scene?
A: Definately. I think it's only right that everyone have one out at Christmas time.

Q: Hardest? Easiest person to buy for?
A: The hardest is definately my brother Brandon. The easiest is myself:) Brad hates when I come home and say "You bought me this for Christmas"

Q: Favorite Christmas movie?
A: I still love a Christmas Story and a Charlie Brown Christmas

Q: White lights or colored lights?
A: I prefer white, I'm not quite sure why though. It seems more elegant to me.

Q: Favorite Christmas song?
A: I love every song on Josh Groben's "Noel" CD

Q: Travel for Christmas or stay home?
A: Until I had kids, it was travel. Now that I have kids, it's definately stay at home. I want them to be able to to enjoy their day and not be rushed.

Q: Do you open presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?
A: Definately. It's always Christmas PJ's

Q: Do you tell the Christmas story?
A: We have it on DVD and we watch it. This year, I'm going to play Amy Grant's "Mary's Lullaby" (I think that's the name of the song) with it. I've heard the video is awesome with that song.

Q: Favorite Christmas tradition.
A: When I was younger, I loved every Christmas Eve having a Japanese dinner and taking a box full of gifts to a family in need. My favorite traditions since having my own family is the Christmas Calendar. My kids love it and we are reminded every day the true meaning of Christmas.

Santa Letters

2007-12-09T21:13:00.001-08:00

For all of you who live in Idaho Falls. This Santa mailbox is over by the temple. If you put your address on the letter, the kids will get a letter from Santa back. Isn't that a fun idea. One of the fun Christmas ideas on my calendar was to write a letter to Santa. The kids had so much writing the letters and I had fun listening to everything they wanted. Zack was done with his letter, but they kept giving him new ideas of what he may want. Some of the items on their lists were ipods, jewelry, clothes, heelies (spelling?), anything Dora for Ashlyn, anything spiderman for Zack. Later, we went to deliver the letters to Santa's mailbox.
One thing I think is crazy is that my two oldest, they are 7 and 8, didn't ask for any toys. I remember asking for toys up until I was like 12. What's the deal? They'll be asking for cars and such when they're teenagers! For anyone who has 7 or 8 year olds, what are you getting them? Does every 7 or 8 year old want an ipod? Boy how the times are changing.

Oh, Christmas Tree

2007-12-02T23:03:00.001-08:00

I feel like I'm the very last person to put our tree up. I'm a little disappointed this year becuase ever since Brad and I have been married, we've had a real Christmas tree. Last year, I bought a fake one becuase it was a great deal. I thought that I'd put the fake one in the family room and then still have a real one for the formal living room. Brad has assured me that we will not be doing two trees. (what a scrooge!) We'll see who wins this argument:) We finally got the tree up and I love having it in the family room where we can always see it. The kids had a great time putting it up. Ashlyn found a santa hat that kept her busy the entire afternoon.
So what do you prefer fake or real. Trees, that is:)

Tonight, we watched "Charlie Brown Christmas" with the kids. That was a tradition when I was growing up. The kids didn't seem to like it as much as I did. I found myself still getting excited to watch it. The grinch cartoon was also a favorite of mine growing up. The kids liked that a little bit better, but they preferred to watch Kerrie Underwood sing at Christmas at Rockefeller Center. When did they get so big? I watched those cartoons even during my teenage years. Maybe I should feel embarrassed to say that. I guess it shouldn't be about what we were watching, the point is that we were spending time together.

Dance, dance, dance

2007-12-01T21:38:00.000-08:00

Dance is a very big part of our lives. There's lots of times when we will just turn the music on and DANCE. Last night was the start of a very busy dance season. Hailee has danced since she was 4 years old. She LOVES it. Don't ask where she got her talent because neither Brad or I can dance. She's been with a really good dance team just taking lessons. She was finally old enough two years ago try out for their dance team and she was happy to find out that she made the team. She was so excited, but then found out she had to have ballet if she wanted to be on the dance team. She was not fond of ballet, which was a struggle. I was so proud of her to stick with it. We tried to teach her that you don't quit when things get hard. She decided she wanted to do the dance team again last year and it required two days of dance and two days of ballet. After that year, she was adament that she was quiting because she didn't like ballet. Well, I'm not sure what happed, but she wanted to try out again this year and they moved her up a level. I think she wanted to try out again because the recitals are so much fun and she gets a rose. So she still has two days of ballet and two days of dance. She loves ballet now. It's the craziest thing. It's amazing what a different teacher will do. Sorry if this is boring to you, but I definately wanted to record how it all begun.
They perform at lots of basketball games and have lots of competitions. Last night was the start of the "dance season". I'm excited for her because it's what she loves. Here's some pics of her and one of her good friends.

Silly Girls!

TTA-A Season of Giving

2007-11-27T08:32:00.000-08:00

I was excited to hear this week's TTA because it got me thinking about what I can do this year to continue teaching my children about service. Those of you who know me, know service is a big part of my life. Doesn't matter if it just a small plate of cookies to someone in need or making dinner for a mother who just had a baby. I love it. I love to brighten people's day. I hope and pray that I can teach my children the importance of service. Here's a scripture that I love "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matthew 25:40). I think that's what makes serving others easy for me is remember this scripture. Who wouldn't want to serve the Lord. I'm amazed at how this blogging community is on service. I'm always reading different acts of service that people have performed.

"Opportunities for service to others are limitless. Kind words and deeds can lift burdens and gladden hearts. Sharing the gospel is a great service with eternal consequences. One true key to happiness is to labor for the happiness of others."

I remember every Christmas growing up we would get a box full of goods and deliver it to a family in need on Christmas Eve. I will always remember the feeling I got when doing this with my family. One act of service I'm recieving right now is I have a great neighbor that every time she makes wheat bread, she brings me a loaf because she knows I love it. When I was pregnant with Ashlyn I was in bed on IVs and lady who I didn't hardly know, who has now turned out to be a GREAT friend, would take Paige to preschool every morning for me. That was such a releif for me and I will never forget it.

Last year for enrichment we made these little calendars. You start on December 1 and go all the way to Christmas. Every day there is a scripture, a song and a service that we are to perform. It was great for the kids to actually help in serving. If anyone wants a copy let me know.
We didn't get to this last year, but we will do it this year. It's a count down to Christmas and under each of the dates theres an act of service to perform. This was given to me by the same friend that took Paige to preschool.

So whatever type of service we do, big or small, remember we are serving the Lord too.

TTA-An Attitude of Gratitude

2007-11-21T15:34:00.000-08:00

O.K., So I'm always a day late and a dollar short, but I would feel totally ungrateful if I didn't take advantage of this TTA. I loved how Marcie specified what we are grateful for today or at this time in our life.

* I am grateful for my children
I am grateful that Hailee has a crazy and fun personality. She is what makes me want to be a funner mom. I am also gateful that she tries my patience because now I will know how to handle all my kids when they turn eight.

I am grateful that Paige is so smart and she has retaught me what a right angle is. I am grateful for her fun and loving personality. She is a little mother to Zack and Ashlyn both when I"m not there.

I am grateful for Ashlyn's beautiful smile and voice. She makes me laugh all day long with funny things she says like "I dinged her dingbell and no one was home, so I dinged it again and left." I am grateful I still have half a day with her and that she takes such good care of Zack.

I am grateful for Zack and his chubby little self. I am grateful every day I see him (because we were only suppose to have three kids!) I am grateful that he follows me around the house when I"m trying to clean and tries to help.

* I am grateful for such an understand and loving husband. He is willing to still stay married to me even after all my faults. He takes great care of his family and I love him lots.

*I am grateful for my sisters and brother. I am grateful and I know I take advantage of living so close to them.

* I am grateful for hot chocolate. It keeps me warm and cheers me up when I am sad.

* I am grateful for my health. I never even think about it until I become sick. After having a couple days with sick kids, I am so grateful that we are all healthy and have no illness.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

High School Musical on Ice

2007-11-19T08:22:00.000-08:00

What a great weekend we had. In March, Brad bought tickets to High School Musical on Ice in Salt Lake City. I guess it's kind of a tradition that we go every year to Disney on Ice. When Brad found out that it was HIgh School Musical, he was sure to get the tickets. We went with my sister Lesa and her family. HIgh School Musical is a favorite at our house. Lots of singing and dancing even Brad will get up and dance. We kept it a surprise until we were actually sitting down at the Delta Center. They asked why we bought the shirts and we said we just found them at a really good price, but when we went to Gateway Mall to eat and before the show there were tons of little girls in the t-shirts. They started to wonder, but we still kept it a secret. It was funny to watch them and their faces when they found out where we were going. They had a blast! It was a great family weekend. It's weekends like these that make you realize why we have families. It was fun to go with Brian and Lesa because our kids have so fun together. We have lots of laughs too. This is my girl's favorite song on HSM. Here's some pics of the weekend.

Zack not enjoying it. He was turning and twisting and plugging his ears! We were gonna make him and Ty shirts that said "my sisters made us come"

Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

TTA-Tiny Treasures

2007-11-15T10:16:00.001-08:00

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I know it's Thursday, but Tuesday was crazy and I'm now just getting a second to blog. I was excited about this TTA and didn't want to miss it because it has something to do with my girls. Here's a picture of some of my favorite jewelry. I love pearls. I love the story about pearls and how they originate. I was visiting Brad when we were engaged and we went to San Fransisco. We went to Fisherman's Warf(is that right?) and Brad had me pick out an oyster and we opened it. The pearl was so pretty. It was yellow. You can see in the picture. For Christmas that next year, Brad had got it made into a ring for me. Since then I wanted to get a full set of pearl jewelry (ring, necklace and earrings) to someday give one set to each of my girls (didn't think I'd have three girls). I have one full set right now, there's no picture of the pearl necklace because I've "misplaced" it. HOpefully it will turn up. I figure I have a long life and will have plent of time to get all my sets. The necklace in the picture Brad gave me for Mother's Day. It is the shape of a heart and it has each of my kids's birthstone. Brad said he got the heart because that's what binds us together is love. We thought we were done having kids (little did we know). That's why there is only three right now. We will be able to add Zack's, just haven't got it done yet.
Each of my children are my most treasured treasures. I love each of them more than they'll ever know. Ashlyn had fun with me looking at all the jewelry. She wanted to try the ear rings on. Doesn't she look great in pearls!

Thanksgiving Tree

2007-11-11T22:26:00.000-08:00

I got this idea from Family Fun a couple weeks ago. I've loved the idea and thought the kids would have fun with it. I'm hoping to do this every year for one of our family traditions. We spent all week cutting out leaves and making a pot for the tree. We will start tomorrow for FHE. Every night we will write something we are thankful for on a leaf and put it on the tree. I think it will be good for us to see and be reminded every day of all the blessing we do have in our lives during this Thanksgiving holiday. The kids have been thinking all week about all kinds of things to put on the leaves. I made a lid for the pot becuase I thought it would be good to keep the leaves after we are done and keep it as a keepsake.

Hide and Seek

2007-11-08T21:35:00.000-08:00

I love these pictures. Hopefully this gives you a little idea of what goes on at our house. My kids love playing hide and seek. For FHE on Monday, we played Sardines. I had never heard or played this game, but found it on the FHE website. Maybe many of you have played and heard of it. It is now the favorite at our house. I don't know if it's because Brad and I played with the kids or not. To play the game, you choose one person to go and hide and everyone else counts. They all look for the person individually and when they find her, they hide with her. You do this until everyone finds them. The kids caught on very well. When they would find the person hiding, they would wait until no one was around to go hide with them. Can you beleive we all fit under Hailee's bed. Ashlyn was so cute because she would always pick the same hiding place as the person before. Zack got a little scared because he didn't know what was going on. We were all laughing and having a blast. It made me think that Brad and I, as parents, need to spend a lot more time playing with them. I found this article by Gary K. Palmer, Professor at BYU and it was awesome. He couldn't have stated it enough that it's so important to PLAY with our kids. This quote is kind of long, but well worth reading:
"If we will learn to laugh and play more with our families, not only will we feel better but so will they. On average, children laugh 400 times a day, while adults laugh about 15 times. Why the gap? Did we lose something? Have we forgotten the way we used to be? Why is it that children seem to cope with life’s oddities better than adults? Perhaps it’s because they do not fully understand. But I think it’s simpler than that—they laugh. As we grow older, we get far too serious. Watch children play. They don’t need expensive toys to entertain them. Everything is fun. They are spontaneous. Only when we become adults do we start to get boring. Do we need to cultivate a different attitude? Humor is in the way we see things, the way we think. It’s an attitude, not an event. Perhaps the key lies in becoming more childlike. "

I'm alway making sure they clean their rooms, do their homework, practice piano, practice gymnastics, dance, and their chores; I feel maybe I'm always nagging at them. They would drop dead if the first thing I said to them when they came home from school was "Before you do anything, let's play a game." But that is totally what needs to happen I think. This will be my goal to work on. I did start dancing during High School Musical 2 when all their friends were here and they all looked at each other first and then started laughing. Let me know if you have any "family favorite" games your children love.

Birthday Wishes

2007-11-07T16:44:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Lesa!

It's my oldest sister, Lesa's, birthday today. This is a pic of when we were little. She is two years older than me and I'm so blessed to have her live in the same city as me. Our husbands were best friends growing up and now they're brother-in-laws. It's fun to hang out with them and our kids are best friends (most of the time)Here's some growing up memories I have of Lesa

When we were realy young and would take baths together, she would have one leg on the thing that the soap went on and the other leg on the opposite side making a bridge, she would tell me to go under and then she would pee on me. thanks sis!

One time when we were fighting, she picked me up and threw me in the bathtub full of water. I won't mention what I was doing to her first.

She would always make up dances and then make us perform.

She was the cool sister who would let me drive before I had my license when my parents were out of town. I even got to drive myself to drivers ed one time.

Our junior class beat their senior class in powder puff football and she and her friends wanted to beat all of us up. (Whatever!)

We would play hide and go seek with out stuffed bears after we were suppose to be in bed.

She would spend lots of time at Grandmas house (I wonder what she was doing. Family joke.)

Working in spud harvest she would always sneak in one of the trucks with my aunts and leave me out on the digger ALL NIGHT!

Making weekend trips to Utah when we had no kids.

She is the one that introduced me and Brad. Thanks!

Happy Birthday Sis!

Romance Box

2007-11-05T08:01:00.000-08:00

Sorry I've slacked on my romance box the last two weeks. Now that Halloween is over and I can finally think, I will get back to posting one every Monday. This week's is

"This week schedule an evening with another couple or two with whom you both enjoy keeping company. Plan some fun games and good food. In your planning think of a few compliments you can give to your mate in front of your friends. He may act embarrassed, but secretly he'll love it. Remember a compliment has at least twice the impact when it is said in front of someone else."

I just want everyone to know I have the sweetest husband. He emailed me this a couple weeks ago and I've saved it because I love it. This last weekend we were talking and he said that he's been reading my blog and doing the Romance Box to me too, but I didn't put two and two together. How awesome is he? Thanks Hon.

Halloween

2007-11-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

We had a great Halloween this year. We went to a carnival last night for a couple hours and let the kids play games and then we went to Lesa's house for pizza and went Trick or Treating around her neighborhood. (they give out great things!)The part of LOVE about Halloween is watching the kids get so excited about all the candy they got. My cousin Bryan and his family were up and we had a great time visiting with them. They are leaving for West Virginia today! We didn't get home until about 10 and the kids are actually doing good this morning, except for Hailee. She definately takes after her mother and is NOT a morning person. At least I can relate to her and I understand. We had great parties this year and I made this video because I didn't want to post every picture. Most of these pictures are from the Sakota Family Party that my parents put on every year. My whole family comes and my dad ended up doing a spook alley this year in the shed. Yea, the shed that we think is haunted. Everybody homemakes their costumes. We all put a lot of time and effort into this party. Lesa always does amazing when it comes to her costumes. Enjoy!

On Monday Night, I did dinner in a pumpkin. I made a rice casserole dish and cooked it in a pumpkin. The kids thought it was so cool. We had minature pumpkins that I gutted out and we used them for the kids' bowls. They thought that was even cooler. One of the Kid's favorite dish is pork and seeds and my brother Brandon makes the BEST! We also made apple cider biscuits, which was a new recipe and is fabulous! We made them into a worm. Zack loved that! Later that night, we carved pumpkins. I loved watching the kids smile and laugh and have so much fun doing all this. They love when they can help me.

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So some of you have requested my Caramel Apple Cider Recipe. I made this cider last week for Witch's night out and it was a hit. The best part is that it made my whole house smell wonderful. So click Caramel Apple Cider to view.

FrIgHt MaRes

2007-10-29T10:49:00.000-07:00

Rides + Churros + Food + Dancing + Eating + Walking + Laughing + SpookAlley = A Blast. The other day Brad won Fright Mare tickets from a radio station. The kids had been talking all summer about going to Lagoon, but there was just no time. Fright Mares is at Lagoon and they decorate it all up in Halloween. It's pretty cool. When we won the tickets we decided we would fit it in to our busy weekend. The kids had a blast and the weather couldn't have been any better.

Here's a couple of their favorite rides. Ashlyn Loved the Tidal Wave. I could only go on it once, because it made me sick. I have to admit my kids are a lot braver than I. I think me turning 30 has something to do with that. I just don't have the stomach I use to. They were willing to ride ANY of the rides and loved the big adults rides. We all decided to go on the Rocket and Reentry which are probably the two scariest rides and they did it in a heart beat. They had to talk me into riding it.

This is me and Hailee waiting in line to get on the SCARIEST ride and Brad and Paige are waiting for it to take off. Here's a couple other fun pics

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So I just learned what "getting tagged" is. Crystal tagged me when I questioned what it was. So here is seven random things about me.

1. I am half Japanese. My dad is full.
2. I do not like pets.
3. I love a great party
4. My favorite smell is snuggle (everyone always asks how I get it on my kids' clothes)
5. I've lived in Idaho my whole life (BORING)
6. I have three sisters and one brother
7. I"m obsessed with keeping my house clean.

Witches Night Out

2007-10-25T10:23:00.001-07:00

Some of you have heard or probably even been to Gardener's Village in Utah. There's a bunch of different cottages that are shops. All of them are themed, for instance, there's a shop that's just stitches or everything in it is white or everything for shelves. In October, they totally dec out and decorate in witches and then they have a Witches Night Out where the women dress as witches and go shopping. A couple years ago me and my sister Lesa and two of our friends thought it would be fun to have a witches night out here. It was a blast. I decided to do one again with my friends and neighbors and it was a HIT! This is the invitation I made and I had my three girls dress up as witches and deliver them to my guests.

My kids had so much fun delivering them and they begged me to come to the Witches Night Out. I sent 35 invitations and only four people couldn't come. I spent some time making door prizes and here's some of them

We met at my house for some appetizers and caramel apple cider and then off to Johnny Carinos to eat. There was a group of kids there that kept pointing and laughing at us. Everyone had a great time and it got my mind racing about ideas for next year. Here's some pics

Tuesday Tell All-Scaredy Cat

2007-10-23T10:45:00.001-07:00

I'm not scared of much, but here's a couple things that just give me the shivers.

MICE! I HATE MICE! I couldn't even post a picture of one because they just creep me out. I can handle spiders, snakes, or whatever. But I hate mice. I have yet to find one in my house, but the day I do you will probably all hear about it.

LICE! We never had it in our house as kids nor has my kids gotten it yet. (knock on wood) I will totally freak out the day my kids bring it home. I don't know if it's the disgusting way the bug looks or if it because you have to wash EVERYTHING top to bottom in your house to get rid of it.

Another thing that creeps me out and my family will agree with me is the shed behind our house that I grew up in. Growing up, my dad was a farmer and we had a HUMONGO shed behind our house. A few of you will know what I'm talking about and have even been in it. To give you an idea of how big it is it can fit 30 potatoe trucks, four diggers, 3-4 combines, a ton of junk, all of our cars, and a bunch of old farm trucks. It actually didn't creep me out until after I was graduated from high school. My family swears its haunted, just weird things happen out there. We're pretty sure a guy (some of you may know Blair, he would walk the streets of Rexburg or ride his bike) was living there. One time, Brad went out with me to put my car away in the shed and we were walking out and we heard music coming from somewhere. Well, Brad, being the man he is had to find out where it was coming from. We went a head a little bit and it was coming from my dad's truck. It was blairing loud. The key was turned back. My dad had just put it away and said he's for sure he did not leave the music on, especially that loud! Pretty Creepy! Lots of things like that would happen on a weekly basis.

One more thing that creeps me out is graveyards. We lived out kind of in the country (at that time we considered it country) and in the block we had a graveyard (and I wonder why our shed was haunted) My dad is a huge prankster and ghost teller and he just likes to scare people (Alison, ask Dave about it) he even liked to scare his own kids. I remember always having to have my guard up for fear he would be somewhere unexpected to scare the living daylights out of me. He would take us by the graveyard and tell us scary stories. So ever since I was little graveyards kind of creeped me out.

What Creeps you out?

Party #1

2007-10-22T20:27:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the start of a very busy week. My very good friend and neighbor had a Halloween party for all the kids in the neighborhood. Everyone needs an April in their life. She has been such a blessing to me and my family. I can describe her in one word and it is WONDERFUL! She had lots of chili and I made Sally's White chicken chili soup, which was a great hit again. Thanks Sally!

We bobbed for Apples and then dipped them in Carmel.

They had a pinata that all the kids loved! A Halloween story was told. They had sack races and did crafts. The kids had so much fun. By 8:30 they were ready for bed especially Zack.

So for Halloween we decided that we would all be witches and Brad and Zack would be black cats. I ordered a costume online for Zack and it never showed up so we had to kind of make it up. He was not thrilled at all. We painted his face black and he started to cry and washed it nearly all away and he wouldn't keep his cat ears on. Hopefully his costume will get here soon. I was disappointed I didn't get a picture of Brad and his cat costume, but don't fret he will be in it plenty of times and I will get one soon.

Must try Recipe

2007-10-22T12:33:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd share one of my favorite cookie recipes. If you like Peanut Butter and Rolos, you'll love this recipe. It's a favorite at our house and the kids love to help make them.

Peanut Butter Caramel Cookies

1 cup Butter
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup packed brown suger
1 cup white sugar

Beat until smooth
Add two eggs and 2 tsp vanilla

Mix and add
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

Mix

Cover roll-0 into a ball. Bake @ 350 for 10-12 minutes

Topping
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa
2 Tbsp milk

Did you think I forgot?

2007-10-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

I'm here, I'm here. Sorry it took me sooo long to get to the winners of the contest. I've been crazy busy this week. I ended up having to make Brad's costume because (those of you who know how tall my husband is) it's impossible to find black footed PJ's for men. So I found a pattern and I'm making it. It has to be done by tonight! I think I'll be O.K though.

Thanks for all the comments on the BUNKO deal. I had no idea that a Stake President said don't do it. I guess what it really comes down to is my intent and the way it makes me feel. that's crazy that everyone was redoing their homes when it was there turn to host. I couldn't even imagine that! You're comments helped me a ton so thanks.

Now for the contest, If you are Crystal or Heather email me if you want a boy hat or a girl hat, your address, the colors of each of your kid's coats (pictures maybe helpful) and maybe the size of their heads. Yes, that's right I will make one for each of your children. I don't think it would be fair for only one child to get one! My address is karrinelson@hotmail.com.

Congrats!

Question of the day

2007-10-17T22:56:00.000-07:00

So, I have a question for all of you. I'm in a bunko group that plays once every month. Bunko is actually really popular here. I guess it's cause there's nothing else to do. For those of you who don't know what it is, we pay $10 a month to the host (we all take turns being the host) and she goes out and gets prizes for the winners. You basically roll dice and keep track of your points and there are different prizes for the winners. So my question is "do you consider that gambling?"
There's been lots of talk that I've heard about it being a type of gambling. I actually know a couple ladies that won't do it because they consider it gambling. I mainly do it to get out and have fun with the girls the prize is just a bonus. What do you think?

another drawing

2007-10-14T18:44:00.001-07:00

I decided to have another drawing. The winner gets one of these hats that I made. It won't be this exact one because I want you to be able to choose the colors. All my kids have a couple of these to match all their jackets and coats. I'm always looking for new and simple recipes so post your favorite dinner recipe on your blog, then leave me a comment and I will know to check your blog, your name will then be entered in the drawing. Remember- you must leave a recipe on your blog. The contest will end on Wednesday! Good Luck. You will LOVE these hats!

Got Milk?

2007-10-10T19:47:00.001-07:00

I was getting Zack some chocolate milk and I guess I took way too long!

Tuesday Tell All-What I can't live without

2007-10-09T09:49:00.000-07:00

This actually made me think. As I was going through my house taking pics of things I don't think I could live without I was going outside and right above my door, I have this. I have this above my door so everytime I leave, I can think of it. I was taking pics of temporal things, I didn't even think of things that really matter in my life and that I really can't live without. Prayer is so important to me. I"m so thankful that I can speak with Heavenly Father directly through prayer. He helps me so much and he is the reason I have all the "temporal" things I can't live without.

Which brings me to my next thing

I couldn't imagine not beleiving in eternal life and being with my family. I'm so thankful that we are all sealed together and that we will be together in the next life. I love going to the temple and doing temple work. I saw this picture of the Salt Lake Temple and just had to add it. Isn't it pretty?
So pretty much I couldn't live without the church, everything about it scriptures, prayer, FHE, Temples, Joseph Smith, my testimony, etc.)

Chocolate! Chocolate is a girl's best friend! Sometimes I just need a little chocolate to lighten my day. Here's a few of my favorite (and what I happen to have in the pantry

This is the best STUFF! It's called "Pearatin". A friend introduced it to me after a horrible horrible hair cut and dye. I had to go to two different ladies to fix it and my hair was fried! My friend said to use this to help give it some nutrients and it has been the best stuff. I put a little in my hair every day. It makes it shine, smell and soft. It smells like Pear hence the name. You can even rub some into your skin. I always pour a little extra so I can add some to my legs and arms. The other stuff is Catwalk's oatmeal honey shampoo and conditioner. This is awesome stuff too. I don't think it really does anything special to my hair, but the smell is incredible! It smells like cake! This is one thing my hair can't live without.
My bed is awesome! I have a hard time sleeping if it's not in my bed. Not to mention a pillow top mattress, we have a down pillow top on top and it is so COMFORTABLE! Maybe that's why I'm not a morning person. My body doesn't want to leave my bed. Plus, this is where Brad and I spend most of our time talking after the kids go to bed. I don't care what people say, my bedroom is one of my favorite rooms of the house. I want new bed furniture, but haven't quite talked Brad into it yet. I also have two Euro pillows on order, which will even add more fluffiness. I definately can't live without my own bed!
I love to be outdoors. I love working in the garden and this last summer Brad and I did quite a bit of landscaping to our new yard. I loved every minute of it. I love trees and flowers and it's even better to have them in your yard. I love sit back and watch the kids play in the yard with other neighborhood kids. I'm so sad that I won't get to experience that for awhile.

I saved my favorite for last. I could not live without my family. My kids and husband are so important in my life. Everything I do, I do for them or for our family. I can't even imagine not having them in my life. They are my world! I took these pictures over the weekend. We woke up Saturday morning and there was snow! The kids had so much fun building a snowman and spending time together. As they say, "Friends come and go, a Family is Forever" (or something like that)

Not only could I not live without my own little family, but I coudln't live without my brother and sisters and my mom and dad. We are such a close family and I'm so blessed to have them close by. When we get together we laugh a lot, eat, play games and have a merry 'ol time. I love em!

romance box

2007-10-09T08:35:00.000-07:00

sorry I'm a day late, but this weeks Romance Box is

"This week write your husband a thank you note. Make a list of 25 things you are thankful for and appreciate about him, things you are thankful he does for you, and ways he blesses your life."

another busy weekend

2007-10-07T22:29:00.000-07:00

Wow, another weekend here and gone. It started off with one my of Young Women girls had Homecoming and she had asked that I modify her dress to make it more modest. I was so impressed I thought, wow they really do pay attention in class! :) So this is what it looked like before

It was strapless and the back was nearly backless clear down to her bottom except for the little tie up which did not cover up much. I ended up just making her straps a little bigger and ended up putting a cover-up (which looked really cute) in the back and here she is now

I can only hope that my own daughters will have enough self-respect to be this same way. Like I said I was so impressed that she wanted to add more to her dress and she still looked so pretty. It was really fun. She came over and I curled her hair and did her make-up for her. She was so thankful. It reminded me of going to dances back in the day. Which take a look at this.

This was my very first date ever! not to mention my very first semi-formal dress. I was covered from head to toe. Boy how the styles change. My mom made this dress for me and who's the hottie next to me? I remember being so excited that I could finally go on a date. I was one of the young ones and all my friends were able to date about a year before me. It stunk! I finally turned 16 right before homecoming. I was talking to my Young Women and she said their date started at 5 a.m. and they got home just in time to get ready for the dance. I remember it being a big deal just going on a day date, but 5 a.m.! She says they only go to the dance to get their pictures taken and then they leave! I can't imagine getting all dolled up to be at the dance for 15 minutes not to mention my mom would have killed me. She was telling me how people ask people to dances and it's way different than I ever did! I remember one time asking a guy with some fish. I got a fish bowl and filled it with water and dumped about 20 gold fish in and all the sudden all the fish were dead, they were all floating to the top. I was thinking what in the world! I felt the water and it was hot, I pretty much baked them. What a fish killer!