The Hardman Family

Nothing profound to say, but thought I would update

2009-04-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

This week has been a crazy week, but fun. I used to dread even the fun things if it meant that I was going to be crazy busy. I have decided that it makes it easier and better memories when I enjoy every bit of it, even is I am EXHAUSTED!

I can't believe it is almost May already and the end of the school year. I hope my kids can survive the summer together. They tend to love or love to hate each other and it changes within minutes :).

I guess I better get going on the millions of things I need to finish up today. Yearbook, PTA budget, clean the house (HOLY COW, after a crazy week no one can come in today), list on ebay, build my website and of course, watch the Jazz game tonight. We can always hope for a REALLY good game tonight.

Also, I have to say that when one door closes another one opens. It's amazing how things keep piecing together. In one week we lose the little bit of unemployment we've been getting since Rick got a part time job. Last week Rick came home and said that the company he works for needed someone to do some writing for them and it would be by the job and that it could be done at home. It worked out this week that I would be able to take the job and start on Monday. I am really excited to start doing this and see where it takes us. I have to say every little bit makes a difference. It's still hard work, lot's of thinking about where the next penny or dollar will come from, but every little bit is a GREAT blessing. I have come to hang onto the peace that comes with each little thing along the way.

A new leaf. . .

2009-03-29T15:51:00.001-07:00

So, it has been several months since I have posted anything on my blog. There are many reasons for that, but the main reason is I have hopes of a new website that has been a vision for a couple of years. It is going to happen this year. When it comes I will be sure to post it over on this blog.

The other reason is I didn't realize I was really falling into a very despair time of my life. It was only a few weeks ago that I realized where I was at in my life and that it was time for a NEW LEAF to be turned over. I was going through each day, taking care of family, taking care of things that needed to be done, but I couldn't figure out why I wasn't holding up under the millions of things that I used to take on. I was becoming a home body and was happy if I went a day not seeing or interacting with anyone. That is not my personality, but it seemed alright at this time in my life.

A few weeks ago I had a Friday that was more than I could handle. I will never forget it. It was definately one of my weakest days in my life. I felt alone. I felt lost. I couldn't quite crying. I felt like there was no hope. I just wanted to quit. Why did my life have to be the way it was? What had I done that brought me to this point? I had always been active in the church, I held church callings and served faithfully in them (even when I really struggled with the calling), I took my children to church, taught them to pray, read scriptures with them, served in my community, had an amazing husband who worked so hard (unbelievable hard), held strong through some tough things that had happened in my life, went to the temple faithfully, etc. I am sure we can all make our list.

Then I knelt in prayer. Pleaded for some help. I figured I would get up off my knee's and life would be the same. The weight would still be there. That's what I figured. Despair and hopelessness had taken over. I then got up off my knee's and turned on the TV. I figured I would escape the problems by turning on the TV and laying in bed. KBYU was on and it was just after 11 a.m. My son had been watching cartoons earlier. The first words I hear are "I hope ya know we had a hard time." It was the conference talk from last General Conference. It was amazing. The timing couldn't have been more perfect.

Saturday was still full of hopelessness and feeling like there were no answers. Sunday I got up and went to church. It was Ward Conference. Our bishop and stake president were speaking in Sacrament Meeting. What amazing talks!!! I have to say that was the major turning point in my life.

Our Stake President talked about taking one day at a time and doing all we could in that day. Recognize that another day was a blessing. To not look too far ahead. I am doing that. I am taking one day at a time and recognizing the blessings that lie in that day. Even when the bad things happen, I turn it into a positive. I feel like I am recognizing the blessings everyday. I am no longer looking just at myself and my challenges. The Lord loves me and has blessed me BEYOND any list I could make.

I can't believe the miracles that have come into our lives since I turned over this new leaf. It's not perfect, trust me, but the problems don't feel as heavy. In fact they don't feel heavy at all, because I turn them over to the Lord. I have had to put things into perspective. At Ward Conference my bishop listed things that we needed to be doing and that the Lord wouldn't withhold blessings. As that list was made there were definately things that I needed to improve on. I know that as I take one day at a time that I can get through things.

Anyways, I am a pretty private person when it comes to my life and my feelings, but I was at church today and the lesson in Relief Society was on Hope and it was a Conference talk by President Uchdorf and it had such an impact on me I felt like I needed to share this. I felt like if it even helped one person that it was important to share.

I have no idea who reads my blog and it has been stale for so long, but for those that are reading this I want to thank my friends, family, neighbors, friends at the school and those that blog that I read. All of those bring smiles to my face and help me recognize the great blessings I have.

Thank you for bearing with me as it is long, but it was important to me to share.

Apple Grove Light Decorating Contest

2009-01-06T22:05:00.000-08:00

I forgot to blog about Rick's excitement this year. He spent quite a bit of time decorating outside in our small area out front. We came home on Sunday afternoon on December 21st and we had a fun sign out in front of our house. Here are some fun pictures to show the sign and look at the level of the snow:

SNOW and MORE SNOW. . .and pictures of our dog

2009-01-06T21:50:00.000-08:00

I left my house this morning at 10 a.m. and that was it. It is 10:50 p.m. and the snow has finally stopped and it is lightly raining. On the news it said that Pleasant Grove got 11" of snow in the last 24 hours. Today I had cubscouts at 4:15 p.m. and as my scouts showed up they went to work clearing my long driveway of snow. I have to say that it impressed me a ton and I was so grateful for my wonderful scouts!!! As they were clearing the snow Daniel Holdaway showed up with his 4 wheeler and helped even more with clearing the snow. It's just another blessing given to me today. Here are some pictures of the snow levels tonight:

Tonight my kids were playing with our dog and took my camera and took several pictures. Here are some pictures of our dog taken by my children.

Brayden and Ellie

2009-01-05T22:36:00.001-08:00

One of Brayden's friends moved to Chicago about a year ago and they have been able to keep in touch. Whenever they have come into town to see family Brayden and Ellie have been able to get together. She was baptized while they were in town over Christmas which made Brayden even more excited for his baptism coming up in the next few weeks. Here are some of the fun pictures from while she was in town:

New Years Eve DDR

2009-01-05T22:01:00.000-08:00

About 10 minutes before the New Year rang in 2 of my brother-in-laws were playing the Wii and trying out Dance Dance Revolution on the Wii. Everyone joined in and it was alot of fun. Enjoy the slow motion and the fast motion:

2 Weeks of Crazy Fun

2009-01-05T20:51:00.000-08:00

I was thinking about all of the things we did in 2 weeks and it's amazing and no wonder we are TIRED!!!

Here is a list of some of the things we did in 2 weeks . . .
1. 2 Family Christmas Parties
2. Thanksgiving Point Christmas Lights (and the boys got to each drive with dad)
3. Spanish Fork Lights (and the boys got to each drive with dad)
4. Go to the mall and make Build a Bears (dogs)
5. Celebrate dad's (Rick's) birthday
6. Polar Express train rides for friends and family
7. Go see Bolt, the Disney movie (on Gift Certificates)
8. Christmas Eve at Grandma Hardman's and Grandma Anderson's and visited a couple families with Santa
9. Delivered Gifts to family and friends
10. Christmas day visited both grandparents and 2 sets of Great Grandparents

11. Spoiled by grandparents, family and friends for Christmas (count our many blessings :)
12. Had a friend visit from Illinois
13. Played the Wii for HOURS!!!
14. Ate Dinner at Los Hermanos (on Gift Certificates)
15. Ate Dinner at Mimi's (on Gift Certificates)
16. Ate Lunch at Olive Garden (on Gift Certificates)
17. Kids spent money they got for Christmas at the Mall
18. Had a New Years Eve Party at Grandma Anderson's until 3 a.m.
19. Clark Planetarium (saw Flies to the Moon in 3D - used tickets from Reflections)
20. Slept over at our Uncle Scott's house and played games until 2:00 a.m. and then watched a movie
21. Played at Kangaroo Zoo for 4 hours with Cousins (mom had a family pass from earlier in the year)
22. Played games with family everywhere
23. Went to a baptism
24. Michael had his first Basketball game

25. Michael and Brayden had Piano Recitals

26. Ate TONS of food and treats everywhere we went

27. Talked to their aunt Tawnya in Hungary on Christmas morning (she is serving a mission)

All of this fun and it hardly cost mom and dad any money. It was GREAT!!! It was a fun packed couple of weeks and now we will get to regular schedules and maybe some sleep.

The end of Christmas Day

2009-01-05T20:40:00.000-08:00

I was going through my pictures from the holidays and decided that I found the perfect picture that shows how I felt at the end of Christmas day and I am betting that it represents several others :), especially Santa. Happy memories of this year and 11 months and 20 days until the next Christmas. . .

Hopefully we can carry the true spirit of giving, service and love throughout the whole year and not forget the spirit of Christmas throughout the year.

Holidays and fun activities

2009-01-05T20:11:00.000-08:00

This year we decided to do something fun with the kids for a gift from Rick and I. Our kids have asked for a long time to go to Build a Bear, but we had always heard that it was really expensive so we have avoided it. We went to the mall to walk around and just for fun and Build a Bear had several animals for $10 a piece. I was worried about what that included and how much it would add up to be.

Once we got looking into it we decided that it would be a fun and memorable activity and gift for Christmas. We were AMAZED at the experience that Build a Bear created for these kids. We gave them a budget of $10 to pick out an outfit or accessories. They got to fill their dog, put a heart and sound inside and bathe their dogs. Then they got to dress them and create a birth certificate. We were in there for over an hour and the kids had a blast. The animals came home in their own boxes.

Since they were for Christmas the boys had to put them under the Christmas tree until Christmas. They were such good kids that we gave them to them on Christmas Eve. They were so excited.

Here are some fun pictures from Build a Bear:

Beginning of a New Year. . .

2009-01-05T19:05:00.000-08:00

Alright, I am not one that sets goals or one that sets New Years Resolutions, but this year I decided to make a list of things that would make my life better. Not necessarily goals, but things that can make our home, family and my life better. I feel like I have set goals in the past, not accomplished them and then thrown in the towel. I have found that I am looking at life in a more positive light. Waking up each morning knowing that I am working at each day to be a little better. I don't have to perfect things instantly, but that each day our lives will get better.

Today the kids were heading back to school after a nice 2 week break and I didn't want them to go back. I am finding that I am really enjoying my time with my children. I was working at being positive when Rick let me know that the computer wasn't working. The computer is now down for a few days, but hopefully will be fixed. We rely too much on our computer. Then there were a couple of other problems that came up within the first few hours of the day.

At first I started to feel down and discouraged and had the thought that I was worried today would be a bad day. Then I decided to take each problem one at a time and recognize my blessings and it turned out to be a great day! Nothing miraculous happened, but it was a blessing to have time with my children and everyone was safe and happy. I got to enjoy the day at home and the problems worked out by addressing them one at a time.

There are a few things in our lives that we urgently need to come together and work out quickly, but I have decided it is in the Lord's time and have to put full faith in the Lord and make every effort on our part to make it happen. I have been surprised at the things I have learned over the last 5 months. There have been many blessings that have come and experiences that we would have never enjoyed as a family and strengthening our testimonies.

Life is good and there are blessings in everything that we go through.

Snow, more SNow and more SNOW!

2009-01-05T18:48:00.000-08:00

I have to say that I don't live in Utah for the snow. I am not a sledder, skiier nor do I like driving in the snow. If I can sit in my home and watch it fall I love it! I also always wish for snow on Christmas day. When I was on my mission in Arizona I arrived in November and realized that snow adds alot to the winter and actually missed it for the first time in my life.

We had an abundance of snow on Christmas day and it definately doesn't seem to be slowing down. It has come down nonstop since noon. I was going to go to a family dinner tonight, but am relieved that they changed it to tomorrow night. Hopefully the snow slows down tomorrow. I am guessing that we are just at the beginning of SNOW :).

Glad the holidays are over and we can enjoy the time we have inside. I will post a picture of the snow from tonight later tonight.

December Blessings. . .

2008-12-28T16:12:00.000-08:00

December was an amazing month! I don't know where the whole month went, but with my children being able to help with the Polar Express they have truly come to understand the true meaning of Christmas.

Brayden told Santa several different times that he wanted Jesus for Christmas.

The kids definately got plenty for Christmas from everyone, but we definately focused this year on what they could give Christ for Christmas. It was nice to give and share with several of our friends and family this year.

At the North Pole we changed the message a little bit to focus on the pictures of Christ. We could truly feel the spirit.

One of the most touching experiences we had was when a little boy (maybe not so little, I would say around 9 - 11 years old) came and sat on Santa's lap and said that he didn't want his dad to work anymore so that he would have time to spend with him. It touched the dad who stood in the back of the room. Come to find out, this dad works a good 60 hours a week.

I kindof chuckled inside thinking that I wished that Rick just had a job, but then I had the thought come to mind that if Rick was still working for the same company that he was laid off from that the kids could have easily been saying that about their dad. Even though financially it hasn't been easy, I think that Rick being laid off from his job has put real perspective on our family, our children, Rick's health, our relationship and our priorities. Our children have truly enjoyed having their dad around and building a strong relationship with him.

In everything, challenges and good things, there are many blessings to be discovered.

No wondered I was TOTALLY exhausted at the end of Halloween Week

2008-11-08T19:57:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday I had pretty much hit exhaustion and as I was looking through my pictures from that week I am realizing how much happened that week.

It first started on Tuesday and Wednesday with 2 Pampered Chef Parties. Then we went into the Spooktacular Math Night on Thursday, October 23rd and then I hung out at the school on Friday night for the public night taking money. On Saturday it was running crazy getting ready for Red Ribbon Week and then off to the Legacy Center for the carnival festivities. As we were driving home I realized that we needed pumpkins for our annual carving activities at my mom's. We stopped at Macey's to let the kids each pick out a pumpkin. This is a fun picture of the boys picking out pumpkins.

The kids have been running up the driveway and standing against the garage to see if I will get close to them with the car. They always want me to get closer, but at least I flash my bright lights at them. This night was really funny because all of them lined up in their costumes. It reminded me of a line up at the police station (at least how I have seen them in the movies ;)

Sunday morning started with our Primary Program. I figured I would get a nice picture of all of them in their suits before they pulled their ties off and became crazy boys :).

Then Sunday came and it was Zach's birthday. We kept it simple on Sunday because we had a big party coming up on Monday. My kids don't like cake so we do donuts with candles. It seems practical to get something they are actually going to eat. Here is Zach blowing out his candles in the donuts on Sunday.

Then off to my parents for the evening for dinner, our Annual Halloween picture and carving pumpkins. I think this is one of our funnest pictures we do throughout the year. It's amazing to me to see how many in my family get into dressing up. Rick and I finally joined the ranks on Wednesday, but too late for the picture. This year it was my mom who joined. She and a friend made her costumes. Here are some fun pictures. It's amazing how many cousins there are now. It is a little crazy!

This is my crazy brother carving his pumpkins and having his wife hold it so it doesn't go flying from his power tools!!! It's always better that way :).

That is the beginning of our crazy week, but very fun week!!!

Tanner and my special picture

2008-11-08T19:41:00.001-08:00

The week of Red Ribbon Week Tanner decided he wanted to hang out with me the day I was at the school for Sidewalk Chalk and planting the tulips. We were at the school from 8:30 a.m. - 3:45 p.m. It was a long day. We had taped off areas for each of the classes to draw a Drug Free drawing. Right by the front door there was an area that we didn't tape off for a class. Tanner had decided he wanted to draw me a picture. I was not paying attention and he drew me a picture right by the front door of the school. He showed me my special picture. It was great.

Then one of the classes came out and they needed a little bit more room. I told them they could draw around Tanner's drawing. He did not like that at all. Here is this little 3 year old telling 11 year olds that they can't draw by his picture. He sat right on his drawing and if they got too close he would push their chalk away. It was hillarious!

He is so cute and wanted to make sure that his mom's drawing was saved. Here is a picture of him sitting on his art drawing.

Since we were at the school all day Tanner, Zachary and I went and joined Michael and Brayden for Lunch. We have never done that so that was fun :). Michael left to go play outside for a little bit when I thought to take a picture.

Holiday Open House

2008-11-08T06:30:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that I am having a Pampered Chef, Scentsy, Discovery Toys and Usborne Books open house at my house. It will be an easy way to get your Christmas shopping done. Gifts for the neighbors, co-workers, family, parents, children, etc. Look over your list and I am sure we can help. Please feel free to stop by or email me for information and I will be happy to get it to you.

Please feel free to stop by any of these times
Today, Saturday, November 8th: 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Monday, November 10th: 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Tuesday, November 11th: 6:30 - 9:00 p.m.

For an Open House discount you will save the Sales Tax on your whole order! Order has to be placed by Wednesday. You are also welcome to visit the websites and email me your order if you would like.

There are neighbor, co-worker or family gift ideas for under $ 5.

I hope to see you!!!

Red Ribbon Week

2008-11-05T17:22:00.000-08:00

In the midst of Halloween and all of those festivities I had the opportunity to help with Red Ribbon Week. I got to work with Deone and Danielle. I have worked with Deone before, but I got to get to know Danielle. It was alot of fun working with them. We had a very exciting week!!!

Monday we had the firemen come and do autographs and let the students see the fire trucks and ambulance. Each of the students were given a notebook and a red pen for the autographs throughout the week. The students also got wristbands reminding them to be drug free. While we were in the lunchroom we got word that the firemen had water spraying across the lawn and parking lot. It was really cool to see and the kids were having a great time. The bad thing was that the kids were soaked and when they went in they were a little cold. It is definately something that the kids will never forget and as the firemen turned off the hoses the students sat and chanted, "Get us soaked." It was fun and unforgetful and we are VERY grateful to the fireman for coming.

Tuesday we handed out a water bottle to each of the students with a saying, "Being Drug Free is no Sweat." We also did some drawings at the Tuesday assembly. This was a lower key day. Approximately 650 bottles of water were handed out. It was crazy!

Wednesday we had each of the classes come out and do a sidewalk chalk drawing representing being Drug Free. The students also got to plant red tulips that will bloom in the spring and remind them to be drug free. We gave them each an Airhead Taffy that said, "Don't be an airhead. Don't let drugs sneak up on you." This took all day :).

Thursday we had BYU Cosmo Cougar come during lunch. He gave autographs for the students and we handed out popsicles. We had a banner that said, "Cosmo thinks it's cool to be drug free." We got done with lunch and then headed into a Red Ribbon Week Assembly. We had Hootz the Owl from the Orem Owlz UVU Baseball Team. The kids had a good time getting autographs from the owl. We did a power point with pictures from the week. It was a very crazy day!!! At the end of the assembly we gave out whistles to go along with the owl.

On Friday, since it was Halloween we just did Rulers that we gave to the teachers to hand out and it said, "Rule out Drugs."

It was a fun and exciting week, but it was good to have it come to an end. I am definately enjoying the quieter times right now. This week I actually got to stay home 3 full days with no where to go. YEA!!! That was so nice.

Fun Halloween Traditions

2008-11-05T17:14:00.000-08:00

Halloween has become a long lasting, fun holiday for our family. We definately have our list of activities that we do as a family.

1. Legacy Recreation Center in Lehi. As a family we go over and do trick-or-treating and carnival type games. They have dinner and a haunted house. The kids have a really good time. It is a kickoff to our crazy holiday week.

2. Sunday carving pumpkins and taking a LARGE family picture with everyone in costume with the Anderson's. This is a lot of fun and we count on carving our pumpkins this night. It's nice to make the mess at mom's and not our house :). The funner part is everyone being together.

3. Haunted Train Ride at my parents. This is a 3 day activity that is open to the public. This year I believe we had almost 4000 people come through. Our children love participating in the scaring part of the train ride. Rick and I take our post in helping and then soup is served for those volunteering. The boys hardly trick-or-treat on Halloween night because of wanting to be at the train ride. Tanner and Zachary were able to help with the scaring during the kiddy hours and then Michael and Brayden went to work. Rick even helped scare for part of the time this year.

4. School Costume Parade. This is alot of fun to see all of the students in their costumes. There are always amazing and creative ideas. It's fun to see the teachers and what they dress up in, also.

We also have the class parties and all of the little extra things along the way. This year the businesses in Pleasant Grove did a trick or treat activity right after school downtown so that was the majority of the trick or treating for my kids.

It's fun to be creating fun memories of the holidays.

Zachary's Birthday at the Hardman's

2008-11-05T17:01:00.000-08:00

I am way behind on blogging, but on the third Sunday each month we go over to the Hardman's for dinner. We did Zachary and Daniel's birthday. Grandma Hardman let Zach pick the dinner and he chose Burritos. As adults we thought that was an interesting choice, but it turned out to be really good. Daniel picked Pumpkin Pie as dessert and that was great. That is Zach's favorite dessert.

Here are some fun pictures of our evening over at the Hardman's.

Life has interesting turns

2008-11-05T16:32:00.000-08:00

Last week was a VERY crazy week and I was looking forward to a quiet Sunday with nothing much going on. I sat down to write some blogs on Sunday when I missed a phone call from my mom. I called right back, but I couldn't reach her. I decided to call the house and see what she wanted. My brother-in-law, Sam, answered the phone and said that dad had a heart attack. I laughed at him and said, "Your kidding." Then he was serious and said that he really did. I coldn't believe it. It had happened a few hours earlier and he was out of surgery and doing well. In fact, he just wanted to come home.

We had a Priesthood Preview for Michael at 6:00 p.m. so we went to the church and then went over to see him. It seemed so weird to be going to the Priesthood Preview for my son who would be 12 next year. That is AMAZING! I don't think I should be that old :). I don't want my children to grow up. They are definately at very fun stages right now.

We went over to see my dad and the boys were having a hard time that they couldn't go see their grandpa so he called them from the hospital. The boys were able to go over and see him on Monday and he came home on Tuesday.

I think I take for granted that my dad and mom will just be around. Sometimes I wish I could freeze time. We have a close family and love working together. The children are at fun stages and are enjoying their cousins. As a family it is great to have the opportunity to give to the community through the generosity of my parents, brother and sister and their spouses. We have been greatly blessed with wonderful family around us.

Lindon Elementary "Spooktacular" Math Night

2008-10-23T22:07:00.000-07:00

Tonight we had our "Spooktacular" Math Night at Lindon Elementary. It has become a VERY large event. We had almost 400 of our students (a school of only 600 students) attend. They visit different classrooms and participate in fun math activities. Once their card is filled they can come and go through the Haunted House that is put together by parents at our school. There are over 500 hours put into the haunted house and alot of creativity and money that goes into it.

Here are some of the pictures from tonight. To help cover the cost of the supplies we open the Haunted House to the public on Friday night from 6:00 - 8:30 p.m. It is only $ 1 per person which last year people commented they felt the haunted house was even better than some of the public haunted houses. Everyone is welcome to bring their friends and come tomorrow night. The address is 30 North Main Street in Lindon.

Brayden and Grandma Brown

2008-10-16T18:40:00.000-07:00

I was just going through my pictures and I just wanted to put a quick post up about my Grandma Brown and Brayden. For as long as I can remember Brayden has always found it important to go and give Grandma Brown a hug whenever she is around. He wants to help her and asks about her often when we are at home. All of my life I was really close to my Grandpa Brown. I loved spending time with him and I was his girl. He had red hair for as long as I can remember.

I find it really special that Brayden has the red hair that my Grandpa Brown had and has such a special relationship with my grandma. The picture tells it all :).

Exercise Boot Camp

2008-10-16T17:58:00.000-07:00

My sister and sister-in-law have been doing an Exercise Boot Camp for the last little while. With a transition right now their trainer has been able to come over to my sister-in-laws and do exercise workouts for an hour. My sister called me on Monday and begged me to come and work out. I keep really busy and keep on the move, but not in the exercise department.

I had things going on during the week, but Rick and I decided to go today. The kids got to play with their cousins and watch a movie while we worked out. Holy cow!!! I was exhausted by the end and had muscles that were sore that I didn't even realize were being worked.

The worst part was realizing how exhausted I was the rest of the day. Good thing I didn't have alot going on today. Rick was the same way. I guess it was good to have a day to relax.

A part of me doesn't want to go tomorrow, but I am also excited to start getting in shape. Rick commented that he looked forward to the day that the workout didn't wear us out. I am sure we will get there. Then it will be worth it :).

I will write tomorrow on how it goes.

Mom Sanity Tip:

I have been content with where we are at in life as far as exercising and eating right. We can still do activities with our children and enjoy life. Today I went because of my sisters persistence. It actually felt good inside knowing that I had made an effort. I know that Rick felt the same. Our children were excited to see us working at it and they wanted to participate today.

If you have been wondering what to do or when to start exercising or making that change in your life start today. Take just a few minutes. Do something. Include your children. Their support makes it worth it. We will see where it goes from here, but it does feel rewarding to have made a start.

Rick's favorite saying

2008-10-16T17:38:00.000-07:00

For a long time my brother and sister-in-law have had a saying up in their house that Rick always comments about. It definately fits my brother to a T. The other day we had cubscouts over at my brothers house and I asked Rick to take pictures of the boys. As I loaded the pictures onto the computer I noticed that he had taken a picture of the saying. I thought this would be a perfect time to share the saying:

This is my Mom Sanity Tip for the day. Enjoy every minute and live life to the fullest!

Chuck E Cheese General Conference Reward

2008-10-15T19:30:00.001-07:00

For Family Night on Monday we went to Chuck E Cheese since we owed the boys a trip there. We usually go twice a year and that is right after General Conference. For every bingo they get from watching conference they get a Chuck E Cheese token. They earned alot!

We had alot of tokens left over from the last time we went, but we needed somemore. I went onto Chuck E Cheese website which is http://www.chuckecheese.com/ and found that they had great coupons. I didn't have to look through my ad's or pay retail price for tokens. While I was in there I found that they have certificates that you can print off for Potty Training, Completing your homework and many more. They are fun and colorful and when they are filled for 2 weeks the kids can redeem them for tokens. We printed off one for each child, filled it out and were able to additional free tokens.

The birthday club is great too! They send a certificate the month of their birthday and they get a free mini cheese pizza.

We definately can't afford Chuck E Cheese at regular price, but with a few coupons and certificates it can provide fun for hours! We were there over 2 hours.

Mom Sanity Tip: Become familiar with the internet. We don't go anywhere without me checking for a coupon or specials on the internet. I just go to www.google.com and type in what I am looking for. If I want a coupon I type the company name and coupons or discounts. I usually find some kind of savings or somewhere I can go for savings. It's worth the few minutes on the internet!

Birthdays, birthdays and more birthdays. . .

2008-10-15T11:16:00.000-07:00

Megan Zachary Emily Julia

My brother, Scott

On the 2nd Sunday my family gets together to have dinner, have FHE (we rotate the different families taking turns) and then celebrate all of the current months birthdays. Due to my brother and brother-in-law being out of town in November we did all of October's and November's birthdays. That is the Sunday that we take our gifts for everyone over so that we don't forget anyone throughout the month.

In September I had just completed the carnival so I didn't take the time to get the presents together so we had September, October and November birthday's to give out. It was crazy! I was worried about missing someone and unfortunately, I missed one, but we recouped and made it right really quick.

Zachary is turning 6 in about a week. I can't believe it! He was very excited to get his presents from grandma.

Then came the big bonfire for dad and mom. Their birthday's are only 3 days apart so we agreed to let them blow out the candles together. You can see for yourself what kind of fire we had, but they did it together and they got them all.

To help keep my mom's sanity both of our families have gone to doing everyone's birthdays on a specific Sunday. We love being together, but sometimes it can become alot of time and hard to make it to everything. My family is on the 2nd Sunday and Rick's family is on the 3rd Sunday. It works out really nice!!!

If you have a fun way your family celebrates birthday's please share. I would love to hear your ideas.

First Snowfall

2008-10-15T10:54:00.000-07:00

It has been a VERY crazy week so I haven't had a chance to blog about the week. Sunday morning we woke up and the kids were peaking out the blinds cheering that there was snow on the ground. They were dying to go play in the snow. The weather changes so fast that I told Rick that I had to get pictures before we left for church or we wouldn't have a picture of the first snow fall when we got out of church.

When we walked out from church the boys were very disappointed that the snow was gone. It has still been REALLY cold, but no more snow on the ground, just frost.

Here are the pictures of the first snow fall:

My great date with my husband!

2008-10-11T21:35:00.000-07:00

So, it has been a couple of months since we have gone out on a date or really had anytime away from the children. The other night I came home from the school and my husband asked what we had going on Saturday night. I told him I wasn't aware of anything. He told me that was good because he had made arrangements for a babysitter and asked if we could go out on a date. I am so grateful for a great husband!

We decided that we would go out in the afternoon so that we could be home to watch the BYU football game tonight. I love watching the games with the kids and my husband.

I have always loved movies with Richard Gere so the new movie out interested me. I usually watch 2 - 4 movies a year and maybe make it to a movie theater once a year (because we have free tickets that have to be used :). I think this was actually my 4th - 5th movie this year - maybe I am starting to relax a little more in my life. Well, we decided to go see "Nights in Rodanthe". I was really enjoying the movie until close to the end. I REALLY hate sad endings. So the verdict on this movie is that I am not sure if I would watch it again due to the sad ending (but that is the only reason :). I know I am a wimp when it comes to sad movies, but I figure there is plenty of sad things around us so I like to watch things that make my happy, laugh or teach me something.

We then went to Red Robin for dinner. It was fun to just spend time together. The funniest part is that we always say we need to get time to talk with each other, but when we go out we just enjoy the peace and quiet. Today was a movie and then at Red Robin we watched the BYU football game and talked sports. Not much applicable to life, but nice and relaxing.

I am VERY grateful for a GREAT husband who takes care of me and our children!

For my mom-sanity tip I would just say to take time with your spouse or with those that are very important to you. Those times are so important. The most important part is to enjoy the time you have together. You never know what life will bring.

Abbie's Baptism this morning

2008-10-11T11:39:00.000-07:00

This morning we started the day off by going to my niece's baptism. It was so neat to see her smile and to feel the spirit. My dad had the opportunity to baptize her and to give the blessing to give her the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was a special morning and it is always neat to remember the covenants and promises we make at baptism.

I actually felt a little emotional this morning realizing that my 2nd son, Brayden will turn 8 in January and will be baptized the beginning of February. He is so excited and can't wait for it to be his turn. He has such a pure and sincere testimony and helps keep us all on the the right track.

Rick and I are leaving to go out on an afternoon date which will be nice. We haven't been out for quite awhile so it will be nice to have a little break and have time to just talk and be together without the interruptions of fun children wanting to talk to us :). We are hoping to make it back to watch the BYU game at 4 p.m.

Hopefully BYU will play better today!

Crazy, but fun night!

2008-10-10T22:15:00.000-07:00

Today was a fun day and tonight ended up being a crazy, but fun night.

I spent the afternoon over at the school helping clean up from the successful book fair we had at our school.

I went over to my mom's and Rick was out working with my dad and brothers pouring cement. Tonight was an enrichment in my parent's ward for the girls and for their spouses. My sister-in-law asked if I would babysit her 3 children tonight. Then my sister called and asked if I could babysit her 3 children so they could go. I had only 3 of mine, because Michael had the opportunity to go the the Space Center for an overnighter. He was SOOO excited! It is the first time I have had him to an overnighter besides his grandma's and my brothers. I have to admit that it isn't easy to watch my oldest grow up.

Anyways, my other sister has one very cute boy and she wanted to go out with her husband. I had figured that Rick would be around to help so I told her I would be happy to watch her boy too. From 6 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. I ended up with 10 children under the age of 7. They are such cute kids, but Rick ended up working on the cement so I was on my own. We played patty cake, ate lots of food, cookies, chocolate milk, colored, watched TV, created huts with the cushions off the couches and had lots of fun.

I have to admit that I was a little worried, but I had a good time. I have to say that kid's say the darnest (cutest) things.

Mom Sanity Tip:
Along with going through being unemployed right now I have several people ask how we are doing it. I strive to smile a lot and laugh. We laugh a lot in our family and boys that recognize their blessings. The way that I am able to do that is by recognizing the blessings we do have. We are extremely blessed. There are definately daily challenges and times that the weight of the world weighs on us, but I try to recognize some kind of blessing in everything that happens in our lives. I know that we are not alone in the challenges we face and that there is always an anwser.

Exhausted!

2008-10-09T20:40:00.000-07:00

Tonight I have hit EXHAUSTION from the week. It has been non-stop (fun, but non-stop) so my tip for the day is that when you have hit exhaustion SLEEP is the best solution :). Goodnight!

Even though there isn't much from today I would recommend looking below. There are some fun and interesting pictures of my children.

Brayden's Surgery in August

2008-10-08T23:14:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post a few pictures of my 2nd son that had surgery in August since I put pictures of his brother up yesterday. Brayden had to have his 2nd surgery on his foot on August 29th. He had his first surgery when he was 9 months. He was born with a 6th appendage on his foot and the doctor suffocated it off while we were at the hospital when he was born. It ended up doing damage to the foot and we have had to work through this over his last 7 years of life. This time he had a bump in his foot and we thought the doctor was going to shave the bone down. When he got in there he found that there was a syst in his foot. We are grateful that we chose to do the surgery so the syst wouldn't grow and do any additional damage. It ended up not being anything serious and he was a FAST mover on his foot and is happy to have it off now. Rick was laid off in August and we chose to hurry and have the surgery since our insurance was going to run out on the 30th. I truly believe that this was a blessing. We probably wouldn't have chosen to do this surgery right now if it wouldn't have been for that. There is always a blessing in everything - not always the way we want them to come :).

He got to have Cosmo (BYU Cougar) sign his cast. That was a highlight for him! He had to save his cast.

SEP's

2008-10-08T22:33:00.000-07:00

Today started a little slower, but it picked up for the afternoon and evening. I had a hard time getting moving this morning. Getting to bed really late and and starting days early for the last little bit have worn me out.

This afternoon I got to work at the School Book Fair for a couple of hours. I have done a lot around the school over the years, but the book fair isn't something I have ever done. It was fun to see the families come through the book fair and visit with the parents and children. What was worse was that I loved seeing all of the fun books that the book fair had. I have a MAJOR weakness for books! We probably have over 2000 books in our home.

After the book fair Rick and I went to visit with each of the children's teachers for SEP's (Parent Teacher Conferences). The good news is that all of our children are very smart and doing well in school. Our children tested really well with the different evaluations that they have had done and tests they have taken. I am glad that having so many books in our home has paid off.

The most exciting part was that Mrs. Abney had all of the students fill out a form on how they thought they were doing in school. Michael has struggled for years with self-esteem and being bullied / teased at school. On the form it asked how he felt about school and he marked happy, friends and other positive words. Grades matter to me, but what matters to me more is that my children feel happy, confident and positive about life. That was very exciting to me!

SEP's also motivate me to be a better mom and be more committed to helping my children do better with their homework and helping them at home. That seems to be where we slack in our home. We do things, but are definately not as committed as we should be. I remember my mom always trying to figure out the best way to help all of her children do their homework. I feel overwhelmed with 4, let alone 9 children in school. WOW!

In keeping with my mom's sanity with the topic of school I strive to find balance with each of my children. I know that education is VERY important, but I am a FIRM believer that there is balance with education and living life. We tie education into our daily lives and strive to make it fun. As we are driving on a vacation we will throw out multiplication facts, addition or subtraction facts or say the alphabet with words along the way that start with the different letters. I have had my children count to see how long it takes to get from point A to point B. We will be sitting on the couch relaxing and make up a fun story problem that pertains to what we are doing right then. Then I let my children challenge Rick and I with fun questions or problems that they make up.

It may not always tie into the specific things they are doing in class, but it is educating my children with basics that they will need in their lives.

We read books to each other. My children will read to Rick and I, we read to them and they read to each other. I will encourage my children to share with me things they have learned in school and have them teach me (I probably wouldn't do very well on "Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader?" since that was so many years ago).

I ended up doing pretty well through Elementary, Junior High and High School and furthered my education in College and got good grades, but we still did MANY fun things in our family and education was more a part of our lives than just consuming our lives and always worrying about only grades.

Another day of canning. . .

2008-10-07T22:22:00.000-07:00

Alright, I am a little sad because I wanted to take more pictures today, but my camera died. It is a rechargeable battery and I just didn't pay attention to the battery light until it was too late. So, I thought it would be fun to show some pictures from my oldest in the hospital in January from his sledding accident.

In January, on a Friday evening, we went sledding for a FUN family activity. Michael was supposed to have a Basketball practice, but it was cancelled so with fresh snow on the ground we figured we would go sledding. Of course, I am the nervous mom not wanting my children to get hurt. I could hardly watch them come down the hill with their crazy tricks.
I was visiting with one of my friends and Michael starts crying. I figured it was some small incident so I told him to quite crying and get back up the hill if he wanted to keep sledding. Then I turned my head to look and see what was happening and was in TOTAL SHOCK and PANIC (with 4 boys it takes alot for me to panic :). We ran to the car and loaded 4 boys and 4 inflated tubes into the van. Ran to instacare, but within minutes the doctor was telling us to rush over to the Emergency Room because he was concerned about the swelling growing so fast.
This is what his eye looked like on the way to the Emergency Room. The swelling was growing as fast as I could drive. Zachary and Michael had decided it would be fun to see if Michael could jump at Zachary as he came down the hill with his tube to see if he could stop him. He stopped him alright, with his head.

This is what Michael's eye looked like about an hour after being at the hospital. We ended up going to an optomotrist at 10:45 p.m. to see if he had lost his vision in that eye.

The good news is. . .it has been 10 months now and his eye is healed and he didn't lose any of his vision. We sure are lucky!
The best part was that he decided he didn't want to miss his Junior Jazz game on Saturday so here is a picture of him playing on Saturday morning. He also had team pictures a week later. Team pictures we will never forget :).

Here are a couple of pictures of his eye healing over the next few weeks in January.

We've been starting to get in a good consistent habit of reading the Book of Mormon everyday. We were actually getting to the point that we would read in the morning and in the evening. We loved it and the kids loved it! For some reason we have gotten back out of the habit for the last week. We decided that this morning we would read before the kids hurried to the bus. By 8:00 a.m. the phone was ringing and by 8:45 a.m. I had gotten 4 phone calls. Needless to say, our habit didn't start back up this morning.

Then I ran off to a PTA Board Meeting. I am the Treasurer this year so I had to get there a few minutes early to make some copies. I got done with the meeting and the few things that I had to take care of around 11:30 p.m.

After that I ran over to pick up my son from Preschool and then raced to get my kindergartner off the bus. From there we spent the day bottling tomatoes, making Raspberry jam and making Strawberry Syrup.

In the middle of that I had scouts. We got to go to the Fire Department for scouts today. It was alot of fun and the boys had a good time. Field trips for cubscouts always make it fun for the boys and easy for us. We only have 4 boys and we have a good time.

It is always fun to be with my family. We laugh, joke, work hard together and of course, have our differences every once in awhile :). That adds for great variety and entertainment. I love it!

With the 2 days of canning together here is my mom-sanity thought:

Yesterday I got a phone call asking me to share a thought at the PTA Board Meeting today. Each month we have a Character that we focus on with the students. This month is Tolerance and Diversity. When I got the phone call yesterday we were DEEP into the Strawberry Jam and working with several different personalities. As it got later and everyone was tired and hungry the word Tolerance came to mind.

I am grateful that I have such a wonderful family that shows alot of tolerance for each other. No matter what we go through and our differences we love each other and can work together and find ourselves willing to do things for each other.

In the packet of thoughts and activities for this Character there was a quote that I loved. "The highest result of education is tolerance" by Helen Keller. I find that tolerance and recognizing the best in individuals is very important. I truly believe that most people strive to do their best.

If you would like to see all of the packet or other ideas of other Characters you can go to www.lindoncharacterconnection.com. Then click on curriculum and you can find all of the packets. They are great for office thoughts, FHE topics with your children, etc.

Strawberry Jam

2008-10-06T21:04:00.000-07:00

Today was a long, fun, interesting, family and STRAWBERRY day! My dad got 10 BUCKETS of Puree Strawberries. He called to see if we would be interested (actually Jenni did). We had to agree to be over there today to help do the strawberries. I was excited because we go through jam like it's going out of style. We just had to have the other supplies. I figured no problem, I have jars and the other stuff wouldn't be too much. Well, it came out pretty good, but I have to say sugar, jars and pectin add up really quick :). We have sufficient jam to last us the year - I would hope.

Anyways, it started out this morning at 10 a.m. and we got home at 10 p.m. The kids had a blast playing all day at grandma's with their cousins. They ended up FILTHY, but had a great time. We ended up doing 351 jars or cooked jam and 16 boxes of pectin for Strawberry Freezer Jam (I don't have any actual count on the freezer jam). We also did 28 jars of Strawberry Syrup. That was delicious! We are thrilled with all of our supplies. It is nice to be prepared with something.

It was fun to be with the family. We had a great time. By the time 8 p.m. rolled around I think we were all getting close to being ready to being done. I have a sister that is going to do hers tomorrow, but we got through 7 1/2 of the buckets today.

Here are some of the pictures from the day (what you see isn't anywhere near all of them):

Mom Sanity tip: I loved today, but I missed spending a little quality time with my children. I know that they are alright and in bed sleeping sound, but I missed that few minutes of a visit with them today. The other day I had a friend of mine tell me that in a training she was in that she was told that a child only needs 7 minutes a day of quality, undivided attention from a parent to feel content and happy with their parents. That is such a small amount of time for each of our children. They deserve it!

I love General Conference!!!

2008-10-05T19:22:00.000-07:00

What a GREAT weekend! I love to hear from the Prophet and others. It is so inspirational to me and gives me motivation and hope. To help my children pay attention to conference I print off bingo cards that have different words that they listen for. We have M&M's (we've used fruit snacks, skittles - whatever the kids like) and they mark the picture / word as they hear it. They keep track of how many bingos they get through all of the conferences and then they get a token at Chuck E Cheese for each bingo. It's nice because it becomes another family activity and they think about conference tied to Chuck E Cheese and fun. We have done this for several years and it has worked really well. They look forward to it every 6 months.

After Conference we had a family council meeting. My dad wanted to talk about the economy and how to survive the challenges that are going on in our economy. Everyone was able to be there except for Ranee and Jerry, Saundra (she was sick) and Tawnya (she's on a mission in Hungary). It was a great family council. You never know how it is going to go when you have 15 people there and a whole bunch of children that are supposed to be entertaining themselves. My dad was in charge of the Family Council meeting and it went really well. There was amazing council that I feel I really needed. The children all entertained themselves and the spirit was right. It was neat to have almost everyone together.

This is the group that got together tonight. This is last years Halloween Group picture, but it shows what a wonderful, close family we have. We do so much together and love each other.

This is my sister, Tawnya, who is on a mission in Hungary. Last year she did this booth for Festival of Trees. She is always willing to serve and is energetic about sharing the gospel and what she has been blessed with.

Here are the top 3 things that my dad counseled us on and I would recommend these 3 items as my mom sanity tip of the day:

1. Invite Christ to be a partner in our lives and invite Him to heal our hearts
2. Invite Peace into our lives and homes (Satan cannot counterfeit Peace)
3. Pray Often (includes listening and acting on the promptings)

There were alot of details and discussion, but I have to say that these 3 things sum it up really well and believe that these tips are going to continue to make my life better.

Funny and special start to Saturday

2008-10-04T09:24:00.000-07:00

I am sure I will probably blog a little later, but I had to enter our funny and special start to Saturday morning.

I was in my room relaxing and hadn't gotten a start to the day yet when my 3 year old, Tanner came and said he wanted to be a mommy. I was surprised by this, but then I asked him why he wanted to be a mommy and he said, "Because I want to be like you mommy." Then my husband said to Tanner, "You just made mommy's day!" He was right. It's nice to have a little positive reinforcement that you might be doing a good job.

Within 10 seconds of feeling that was so special our car alarm goes off. It was early and it took a few minutes for the alarm to turn off and I was feeling mad at my children and wondering who was setting my car alarm off so early in the morning. Then Zachary comes upstairs and says that he wasn't dressed so he put on Michael's coat to go outside and get Brayden's wallet out of the glove compartment and the alarm went off when he put the key in the door. He looked so funny! Being mad at my child quickly turned to laughter. I figure it didn't hurt anyone.

Children can really make a funny and special start to your day!

Spending time with the family. . .

2008-10-03T21:22:00.000-07:00

I started out the morning reading with Michael for Milk and Cookies with Mom's. That was alot of fun. I really enjoy spending time with my children in their classroom. I ran some errands, spent some quiet time at home by myself and then went over to the school to collect box tops. It has been a fun class competition where everyone ends up winning! It's great to have an opportunity to earn free money for the school.

In the midst of running my errands I had the opportunity to visit with a couple of friends about being unemployed and the joys of trying to figure out a direction in our lives. I like to have a plan, have it layed out on paper and know what I am doing each day with a schedule. Right now that is not what life has in store for us. I am having to learn to be flexible and fly by the seat of my pants :). Being unemployed is more than just going without money and a job. I had no idea the emotions and uncertainty that it would bring into our lives. Wondering what lies ahead and what is the right thing to be doing. Wondering if I should be looking for a job and questionning what the Lord has in store for us. I feel calm, but just have no idea what lies ahead. Somedays are good and some are not so good.

I feel blessed to be out of the rat race of the previous company we were both with. It CONSUMED our every minute of our lives. We both felt that it was like when we owned our own business, but it wasn't our own business. It's nice to have time to relax and spend time together as a family and enjoy some down time. I know that it was time to get out of that. I truly feel that the stress that was put on Rick was really wearing on him. I know this is where we need to be, but it is hard.

Anyways, after visiting with 2 friends that gave me some good insight I felt refreshed and ready to keep moving forward through this interesting path of our lives. I am trying to learn my lessons quickly so that we can move onto the next steps of life.

Tonight was a nice, relaxing night at my parents. We got to watch the BYU Football game and have dinner together. Alot of the family was together and it is always fun to have everyone around and spend time together.

BYU won, but not with a GREAT win! GO COUGARS!!!

I am very excited for General Conference this weekend. I feel like there is so much in store for me and my family and I love getting a fresh perspective on life.

For the tidbit of Mom's Sanity. . .
Hang in there! I have definately learned that there is gold at the end of every rainbow. It isn't always the gold that we are looking for and think it should be, but it is gold and we need to be grateful for it. I treasure the minutes I have to be with nieces and nephews and my family. I love that my children get to be so close to their grandparents and nieces and nephews and aunts and uncles. These are days that I can't ever take back.

Goblin Valley

2008-10-02T18:42:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend we had the opportunity to go to Price for the final races of the Mini Sprint Season. On Saturday we chose to get up and head to Goblin Valley and hike around for about 3 hours. It is a beautiful place and our children love it! They beg everytime we get anywhere near Goblin Valley to go again. We have been there 4 times over the last 6 months. It is amazing all of the great things that we can discover everytime! Here are some fun pictures from Goblin Valley.

My life has been so busy for the last few years with giving service to Lindon Elementary as the PTA President, but during this time I found myself loving the idea of sharing ideas and experiences with my friends and family. I found myself asking friends how they do something in their home or friends asking how I did something. Together I felt that I gained great experiences and strength from my friends and family.

With these experiences I decided to start a website called mom-sanity.com with the idea of sharing ideas of how I find sanity in the craziness of my life. That website was on the back burner for the last couple of years, but with starting this blog I have decided to start building step by step and sharing something I did each day with the lines of MOM SANITY. . .

I have to say that I have learned to enjoy the small moments with my children. This last weekend was a FAR STRETCH for us to go since we have been unemployed for the last 7 weeks. With support of family we were able to go. I decided that instead of worrying about our situation back at home that it was important to enjoy the time we took to be together. We laughed, hiked, swam, watched races and played hard together. We ran a tight budget by packing food from home and explained to our children that we needed to enjoy what we had and to work at not spending any extra money. It was fun to work together to make the best of what we had! It was a fun game.

To sum it up. . .Make the best of each days situations. There are blessings in everything!

My kids and fun at Lindon Elementary

2008-09-27T10:16:00.000-07:00

Friday started a little crazy, but it was all fun! Brayden had piano at 7:15 a.m. and then Michael at 7:45 a.m. At 8:15 all 4 boys and daddy started their "Walk to School Day" walk. They are normally bused and it is just over a mile. They had alot of fun and it was fun to see alot of the students walking to school. I met Rick over at the school with the van so that we could take the bikes and other stuff home.

While I was at the school Annella Carter, who is over the Lunchroom came and asked me if I would be willing to help serve in the lunchroom. I have been PTA President over at Lindon Elementary the past 2 years and now I am treasurer. I have formed many special friendships at the school. They are amazing people!!! It was sooo much fun serving the students in the lunchroom. I realized I wasn't as quick as I needed to be in serving up potatoes, gravy, chicken and a roll on each plate for the students, but they were patient :). I loved having the students say hello as they came through the line. It was fun to serve my own 2 boys for lunch.

Then we loaded up and headed to Price for a Friday and Saturday race. These are the last 2 races for the season. Then we will start back up in April if Scottie decides to race next year. It is a nice get away and the boys have a blast. We went to the public pool for Friday afternoon and they have a BIG wave pool that the kids love. Michael is a good swimmer, but he got caught in a wave and couldn't break out of it. The lifeguard hit the stop wave button and jumped in and got him. I asked him if he was alright and he said that he knew that he had to keep kicking his legs to keep himself a little above water until he could break out of it. He ended up being alright, but I think it taught him that there are times that water can be unsafe and you have to be careful.

We then went to the races and Scottie was doing great! He has been really fun to watch all season because he is quick and very competitive with the rest of the racers. Unfortunately, he got caught in a big group of cars, spun and then got hit by another car that rolled to the point of a pretty destroyed car. That was it for last night, but they are working hard today to get the car up and going again for tonight and it sounds like it will happen. The driver that rolled wasn't too badly hurt. I am always amazed at how safe those cars can be even in accidents.

I will add pictures to this post later and probably put the crash on here so that you can see what I am talking about.

We are now off to Goblin Valley for a little bit until the races tonight.

First Pampered Chef Online Orders

2008-09-25T21:49:00.000-07:00

Today was a really good day! I had my 6th Pampered Chef Party tonight and it was alot of fun. I have done alot of different at home businesses, but this business has been alot of fun and Pampered Chef makes it really easy to have a successful business. I have found alot of fun and it has given me an out from the stress that I feel sometimes at home.

Tonight started with 2 people at the party and we were having a great time! After about 45 minutes we had 4 more people come to the party. With the 6 people there we ended up with almost $ 150 in orders. That was exciting, but last week I set up my Pampered Chef Website and when I got home there were 2 orders in my email box for the party that I was at tonight. Those were my FIRST orders from my website. That was really exciting!

Also, Rick has been trying to help my brother and brother-in-law sell some Sport Court that they had. My brothers were willing to pay Rick a portion of the sale and the sale happened tonight. It is amazing how things work!

As we have gone through this unemployment stage in our lives I have found that when I pray, read my scriptures and listen to the real feelings of this experience I feel calm. I absolutely don't understand why I feel calm and I can't explain it to anyone. When I start to question everything and start to get mad about our situation things fall apart. It's not that things aren't falling apart little by little :), but each day there are little glimpses of hope. I don't know what the Lord has in store for us and I definately can't make sense of it, but I feel that it is all in the Lord's hands and we are doing all that we can.

My sweet boys have prayed diligently for their dad. At first it was praying for both of us to get a job, but then we talked with the children about praying that their dad would find a job so that their mom could be at home with them. They have fasted and prayed very diligently for their dad and have been so positive through all of it. They have been encouraging and very loving.

Well, tomorrow we are going to go to Price for Rick's brothers last races this year. The boys really enjoy the races. It will be nice to have a little break.

Here is a picture of the boys with their Uncle and his car and trophy (Trever, their cousin, comes to the races with us):

2008-09-24T21:00:00.000-07:00

I was going through the summer pictures for the blog and when we go to Bear Lake we go to this REALLY fun playhouse in Garden City, UT. It is called the Pickleville Playhouse. They have an outdoor barbecue beforehand and the cast and family of Pickleville Playhouse serve the dinner. Then you go in for the great plays. All of my family that went to Bear Lake went and there were over 20 children in our group and everyone of them had a GREAT time! Anyways, I found a video clip from the play that we saw that was so funny and really fun so I thought I would share it here. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family and children have:

The beginning. . .

2008-09-24T15:01:00.000-07:00

"Sometimes the Lord calms the storm. Sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms his child."

Well, my husband has begged me for a long time to start a blog. I have decided that since I don't journal at all and there is so much going on in our lives right now that I would go ahead and start to write a little bit. Also, the last month and a half of our lives have taken a twist that I never prepared myself for. All my life I have thought, "how would I handle this or that situation?" I have to admit that my husband has always been such a hard worker and had at least one job with 60 hours or 3 jobs and working even more that I have never imagined being unemployed. I have to admit it is alot harder than I thought it would be.

On July 31st about 30 minutes before Rick and I were to leave for an overnight get away for our Anniversary (the first in many years) the company that both of us worked for pulled me into a meeting and in about 2 minutes they laid me off. I did alot of my work from home and I knew that they were going to more in house work so I half anticipated it, but it was still a stress on our family.

My husband had been with the company for about 5 years and they kept telling him that he was very valuable to them so it never crossed our mind that he would be laid off. On August 11th he was laid off. Within 11 days we lost ALL of our income. It was a shock to me and my husband.

I have to say that the last 6 weeks have taught my family many experiences. Several of my friends have given me advice along the way and I have found alot of comfort from family and friends and their support.

The other day my sister-in-law referred me to a blogsite that a mom shares daily scoops of thoughts after she lost her 14 month old in June. I have found a lot of comfort in her daily entries and that has inspired me to share some of my thoughts and day to day stuff that maybe I can help someone.

So, here goes the blog. . .

What a summer we had!!!!!!

2008-09-21T01:00:00.000-07:00

My husband set this blog up and started an entry for me:

"I still can't believe that the summer has already gone by and we are well into school. I have already completed my major project in the PTA this year with the school carnival. I thought that I would start this blog by sharing some pictures from our summer. We went to Lagoon, parades, stock car races, bear lake, stock car races, goblin valley, stock car races, crandall canyon mine, not to mention all the time at the pool at my moms after a movie with all of the cousins at the scera every Wednesday."

It worked. I had to make some corrections :) so that motivated me to add to the Summer entry. We had a BLAST! When it was time for school to start I didn't want my kids to go back to school. My children are at perfect stages and we have a blast together! I can't believe that month of school has already gone by. With 3 in regular school and 1 in preschool 2 days a week I actually get to enjoy 4 hours a week of quiet. It is really nice, but it is great when my children come home. Here are some fun pictures from the summer fun. . .

Orem Owlz Game in July

All of my family (except for 1 sister and her family and a sister who is in Hungary serving a mission came to Bear Lake) and we hiked into Minnetonka Cave. This is the end of the cave.

Went to Hogle Zoo with Grandma Hardman

Went to Family Reunions. . .Dad was racing on a skateboard in one of the activities.

These are just some of the fun things! It was an amazing summer!