My cute boy

It is not often that I get my sweet Cole boy all to myself. There is almost always one of the other two kids around. Well, yesterday I had accomplished the almost impossible task of getting all three children down for a nap at the same time...only to have Cole wake up a little prematurely. I had been relaxing on the couch with a little TV so I let him join me for a few minutes. Something happened on the screen that was apparently funny (I don't even remember what it was) because Cole started laughing and said, "That was funny." I chuckled and said, "Really? I just think you're cute, Cole." He responded with, "No. I think you're cute, Mom." So I said it again, "I think you're cute, Cole." "I think you're cute, Mom." (I really just wanted to hear him say it again). Cole actually speaks very well for his age and I absolutely love what comes out of his mouth (usually - he can be a pill sometimes). One of my favorites is when I ask him to do something, ie. get in his carseat, and he comes back with, "I'm going to go play ball, MOM." I just can't help but love him!

To the Birthday Boy...

Tuesday, September 4 marked Jeff's 28th birthday and we had a fun day! Jeff had requested blueberry pie for his special dessert so I bravely made one for the very first time. I found a recipe on the internet for a sour cream blueberry pie and it actually turned out very well. Jeff's parents came over for dinner and a little party, as well as Michael & Christina, our neighbors down the street. It was a fun night and I wasn't good at all at taking pictures, but did manage to get pictures of Jeff's birthday presents after he put them together and before they moved to their spots in the garage (I think we need a bigger garage - Jeff is getting quite the collection)!


a router table from Jeff's parents...now Jeff can make picture frames & such much more easily

a shop vac from me

We had a great day & I hope that Jeff did too...I love you, Jeff!! Happy Birthday!

Labor Day

Below are some pictures from our fun, fun weekend in Cedar City! We had a blast with Christian, Tamara, & crew! We hardly saw Madlyn for the 3 days; she was busy with Macy & Anna. They had so much fun trading clothes, making cell phones out of paper, as well as a doorway sign for their new Girls Club (no boys allowed!). They were so cute!! James & Cole hit it off pretty well and by the end were playing together like best buds. While Kate & Cade are roughly the same size, the 8 months' difference in age prevented them bonding too well. But it was fun taking pictures of them (we think they have some similarities in looks). Jeff & Christian worked a little on the backyard fence and Tamara & I chatted it up in the kitchen, while Tamara turned out delicious food every few hours! (We also enjoyed Domino's pizza and Dairy Queen blizzards, courtesy of the LeCheminants - thanks!)

We were also lucky enough to get to see Colbran & Stef at their home in Washington, as well as my parents, Buchanan & Ariann, Quinton, Stanton, & Lincoln. Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures...they would have been good too. The boys would have loved pictures of them shoveling rocks, I'm sure. Colbran & Stefanie treated us to yummy pizza & breadsticks from The Pizza Factory (the breadsticks were sooooo good) and my mom provided dessert of cheesecake, Oreo pie, and ice cream sandwiches. OK, can you tell I enjoyed the food of the weekend??

Thanks to the LeCheminant & Davis families for your hospitality and love. We loved spending time with you and only wish we could have hung out more. Love you guys!

Labor Day Weekend

The Day of the Tomatoes

There are a few things in my life as a homemaker that give me a tremendous amount of satisfaction. Baking bread and making pumpkin rolls are high on the list. There is nothing like sitting back after a few hours of mess & work and seeing your creation, perfect and untouched. Today, I added another to my list. Canning. Yes, I canned tomatoes for the first time as an adult person and definitely the first time by myself (well, not really...I had to call my mom & sister for moral support & some guidance). I really am so excited. I plan to do some more tomatoes this week, and hopefully some peaches soon if I can find a good deal, and next...who knows? The canning possibilities are endless.
P.S. Thanks to my mom for lending me her steam canner & to my mother-in-law for the use of the jars. I'm so excited to get my own equipment soon; I just wanted to make sure that I would actually use it if I went out and bought it...I think I will. Yay! I'm so excited!

At Home in the Mountains

Last week, my kids & I hopped in the car and spent a few glorious days in the mountains with my family. As I was driving into town, the temperature was 62 degrees and on my way out of town 5 days later, 74 degrees. I don't think it got much hotter than that the whole week - it was great! Here are the top 5 reasons why I loved this trip with my family:

5) the weather was amazing; we got to experience an awesome rainstorm on Monday afternoon
4) the smell; I miss the smell of the trees there, especially when it's wet
3) reading; I read 4 books, including one of my all-time favorites, Pride and Prejudice
2) chatting with my parents on a whole range of topics such as finances, canning, food storage, parenting, etc.
1) just being with my family: washing dishes with Quinton, watching Buchanan make Mexican suckers for the kids, watching Food Network with Stanton, playing ball with Grandpa, Grandma, & the kids, seeing Lincoln in his new football uniform, hearing some exciting news from Buchanan & Ariann, and watching my children LOVE being with their uncles & grandparents

The only downfall to the week was not being able to have Jeff with us; he was faithfully putting in his time at Atwell-Hicks in Florence. We really missed him and were so happy to be home again (there really is no place like home), but the kids are already looking forward to their next trip to the mountains.

I am so not cool...

I have come to the realization that I am no longer "cool". Maybe I should have realized this a little sooner (perhaps when I told my Achievement Day girls that they should come to the next activity. "Be here, or be square", I said...I should have been able to at least get the cheesy saying right. One of the girls just looked at me and said, "Isn't it be THERE or be square?"). Anyways, this is what has been on my mind the past couple of days: I am not cool and my life is not very exciting. These thoughts prompted some soul-searching on my part. Who am I really and what do I have to offer to those around me? Why isn't my life exciting...or is it? After pondering who I am and what makes me special, here are a few things that I came up with:

1) I LOVE chocolate chip cookies and I LOVE the chocolate chip cookies that I make. Almost everyone that knows me well knows that I make them anytime someone comes over to my house and have been doing it since I was young. In fact, Jeff worked with a high school friend of mine for a summer and we had him & his wife over one night. I was making chocolate chip cookies and he said, "Don't you always make cookies? It seems like I remember you always making cookies." Yes, I always make cookies.
2) I just got a new piano bench for my birthday. Jeff began refinishing my parents' old piano for me 5 years ago, and it is just in its finishing phases (we took a few years off when we moved to Flagstaff and couldn't take it with us). I absolutely LOVE it!! I love watching my kids get up to the piano and play; it makes me feel like a real mom. I love listening to the music as I do my chores throughout the day...I hope our home is always filled with good music.
3)I have never been very creative or decorative at all, but I just learned how to crochet a cute border on blankets & have already given one as a baby gift. I am so excited about this new skill that was passed on to me from my grandma; not only is it fun but I feel like I'm keeping up at least one tradition of the good women in my family. I also successfully designed (after copying & combining different ideas) and sewed a cute set of valance curtains for my kitchen windows. This is an accomplishment for me on at least two levels. Not only am I not known for my creativity, but I also am not known for my tenacity. If I can't do something well and quickly the first time, I usually don't try, try again. So I was pretty proud of myself for sticking with something that was not only very tedious & time-consuming, but not instinctively easy for me. They also turned out much better than I imagined.
4)I LOVE being a wife...maybe it's because Jeff is so easy on me and doesn't demand or expect perfection from me, but it really is so fun. While I have many improvements to make in this area, I love to do things for and with Jeff. He is such a fun person and I am so happy to have him in my life. He helps me not take myself too seriously and to enjoy the simple pleasures in our life. And he makes me laugh. You should have seen him the other night doing a TaeBo workout for the first time (he indulged me - he would rather go running). I know he was exaggerating his lack of coordination but it still made me laugh; I don't really don't know how the man can look so good on the basketball court with those coordination skills :) I love you, Jeff...you are the world to me!
5)I have three beautiful, amazing children that I love SOOO much! It is so exciting to watch them grow and learn, and I love learning how to be a good parent. I could talk forever about all the great things I get to observe and experience being a mother, suffice it to say that they teach me so much and bring me so much joy. Plus, they make me laugh too.
6)I try so hard to be good. I am so far away from perfect, but I don't know anyone who wants to be a goody-goody as badly as I do. You may laugh because obviously I am not there yet, but I really do try. I love doing good things and teaching my children the Gospel; every day I am "trying a little harder to be a little better".
7)I don't like to run at all, but I really REALLY wish that I did.
8)I have recently discovered the joys of shopping for a bargain.
9)I really want to buy a pressure canner; I just learned how to can chicken and I'm starting to get obsessed with food storage.
10)I really like to write...I don't take the time to sit down and do it very often, but sentences run through my mind like crazy and I rearrange them and rearrange them until they sound good enough to be put onto paper (they rarely get there).
11)I really really DISLIKE pets and would never get one on my own, but I am now considering the possibility of getting a chocolate lab puppy for my kids...what do you think? It would only be an outside pet.
12)I love FAMILY. I have 7 siblings that are fantastic and I love to be with them and talk to them and they inspire me to be better. I also can't help but love the spouses that they have chosen so far - I'm so lucky. My parents are AMAZING and I'm so blessed to have been raised by them. My in-laws are equally amazing and I can't believe how lucky I am to be married into such a great family. I have learned so much from them and love spending time with them as well.
13)I talk too much. Even now, in writing, I can't seem to stop myself. Sometimes I do have what I call "thinking days", where I don't talk a lot (drives people close to me crazy because they think I'm upset) but when I get excited about something, it's hard for me to stop.

I guess the moral of the story is that after thinking a lot about who I am, I came up with this one main idea: I am a person with a few weird quirks, but basically I am a good person who tries hard to be good and who has much to be thankful for. My life is exciting because it is full of the people that I love and I really wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world. I guess that is pretty cool.