rocks+dirt=baby magnet

I went outside around 5:00 when the wind started blowing and the temperature cooled down. I got one flower bed weeded and Emma (without even being asked) did most of the other one. Sawyer got a little extra something in his diet today. Yum.

After the dirt, he moved on to sticks and leaves.

Don't you just love his curls!? Sigh.

After I had taken a bunch of pictures of Sawyer, Emma asked me to take some of her. Who taught her to pose like that!? Seriously!

It felt like it had been forever since I had taken pictures. In reality its only been about a week. It was fun to bust out the camera this evening. In my pursuit of mastering portraiture, I have developed a bit of a distaste for taking regular old snapshots. Sad. I need to get back to capturing the everyday with my photographs. Not to mention my scrapbooking. It really has been forever since I did any of that.

I can't blame it on the terrible twos

Nathan is no longer two. For a reminder how well he fit the terrible two adage go here and here. Now I don't know where to place blame for his bad behavior. Surely it can't be my parenting! Can it?

He has started getting the dirty diapers out of the trash can in the garage. The first time he opened them (yes, even the poopy ones) and spread them around the garage. Today he thought it would add a nice touch to the front yard to have dirty, stinky, disgusting diapers everywhere. AAAAGH!

an amazing giveaway

Five Minutes for Mom is having the most amazing giveaway: a 37" flat-panel TV, sponsored by Best Buy (one of Dave's favorite stores). I have been wanting one of these so that I could use my TV as my computer monitor and clear up some space in our family room. Just last night we were talking budget and this definitely isn't in ours right now. Wouldn't it be so cool to win? Worth a shot.

the world gets a little smaller

I was brave and went to a blog party on Saturday. I had never met any of these women, except on-line, and only a few of them at that. But I have been enjoying their blogs and thus their lives and I know that the only real way to make connections is to get outside the good old comfort zone. So I went. I met the fabulous Jill, who hosted the whole event. And I met Amy, who takes the most fantastic pictures. And as if I didn't spend enough time on the computer already, now I have a LONG list of new blogs to read written by the other great women I met Saturday night (Jana, Jenn, Jenny, Michelle, Collette, Jennifer, Crystalyn, Lori, Rachel, Claudia, to name a few).

I came away from the evening with these thoughts/confirmations:
-I am not an extrovert
-its hard to get out of your comfort zone
-you are blessed when you do
-blogging is fun
-blogging can change your life
-I want to develop life-long friendships and the only way to do that is to work at it
-I love the good mail concept and want to start sending it
-I want to start a book club
-I should throw more parties
-I want to be a happiness maker
-there are some amazingly funny, smart, talented, energetic, just plain fabulous women out there

Jill, thank you for putting this together. You were a delight to meet and watch interact with everybody. I am so sorry you ended up with a migraine. I look forward to many more get-togethers with you and the others I met, even if its only in cyberspace.

she's got personality

I am fascinated by personality tests. I posted previously about my motherstyle, which applies personality in parenting. I just think its so amazing that I can quickly answer a few questions and then get a short blurb that so fits me. Amazing.

You Are An ISTJ

The Duty Fulfiller You are responsible, reliable, and hardworking - you get the job done. You prefer productive hobbies, like woodworking or knittings. Quiet and serious, you are well prepared for whatever life hands you. Conservative and down-to-earth, you hardly ever do anything crazy. In love, you are loyal and honest. If you commit yourself to someone, then you're fully committed. For you, love is something that happens naturally. And you don't need romantic gestures to feel loved. At work, you remember details well and are happy to take on any responsibility. You would make a great business executive, accountant, or lawyer. How you see yourself: Decisive, stable, and dependable When other people don't get you, they see you as: Boring, conservative, and egotistical

What's Your Personality Type?

what I didn't take pictures of this week

I have been doing a few other things besides reading in the last week. However, I have not been taking a lot of pictures. What's up with that? Here's a recap (try to enjoy it even without pictures): On Thursday, we took the kids up to Lagoon. I got cheap(er) tickets through a homeschooling group. It was 100+ that day. What was I thinking!? Keri and Josh met us there. We swam in the water side of the park for a while and then headed over to the rides. Emma went with Keri and Josh (Keri can I just say again how lucky I am to have you for a sister!) so she got to do some of the bigger rides. The boys loved all the kiddie rides. There were really no lines (thank goodness) and most of the area was in shade. I spent most of the time with Sawyer. Waiting. Waiting. These kinds of days really aren't all that fun for parents, are they? I purposely left my camera behind on this day. I don't have a point and shoot (need to get one) and I didn't want to have to worry about mine all day. I think it was wise but there were some great shots I missed.

We went swimming on Friday night. More sitting and waiting.

On Saturday, our city has its family festival. Our Primary was in the parade that morning. Emma went over with the neighbors because the boys would not get out of bed. Dave had gone to play in the ward's softball game for the stake championship. When I finally got them up we walked down to the end of our street to watch the parade. Frankly, I was kind of glad not to have to be walking in it in the heat. I'm such a wimp. Slade had lots of fun gathering up candy. I rode my bike to get Emma at the end of the parade route. I haven't ridden in so long. Felt rather clumsy and awkward but managed not to crash. In an unusual role reversal, Dave did not want to the leave the house all day so we did not participate in any of the other events. Emma went to play with a friend. The boys (Dave included) played video games and watched movies. I worked on photo editing and my extended family blog. Good times. I love you, Air Conditioning. The best part of the day didn't come until 10:00 at night when we were able to walk out our front door, sit on our lawn, and watch the fireworks. I love my neighborhood.

We started back into our regular routine on Monday, including schoolwork. Slade is officially a kindergartener so I will be doing more formal stuff with him this year. I have big plans and high hopes for this school year. Its always better to dream big, right?

We spent Pioneer Day yesterday with Dave's family. I even helped tie a quilt. How pioneerish of me. The kids played so well together and we didn't do any permanent damage to Grandma's house. Then we went to Katie's, Dave's sister who just moved back here, for dinner. It was a nice day. Family is such a blessing.

If you've read this long (and boring) of a post without pictures, you must be my mom. Hi, Mom! Just for fun and because pictures really are the best part of any blog post, here are some recent faves of mine.

coloring page from a photo

How fun is this!? I got this idea from the Photojojo newsletter. Go here for the instructions if you have Photoshop. Happy coloring.

I had a date with Harry

Where have I been, you ask? Reading books I just could not put down. First there was Twilight. While I did really enjoy the book, I don't think I have the same enthusiasm for it as all those who recommended it to me.

Monday morning, coming home from the gym, I checked the mailbox for the mail we never got on Saturday. Guess what had been sitting there all weekend? HARRY POTTER. I resisted the urge to start it all morning. I was able to go run a few errands in the early afternoon, one of which was going to the library to pick up New Moon.

Two books I really wanted to read. How to choose? I chose to be loyal to Harry. All afternoon. All night. Man, its hard being a mom (particularly a nice mom) when you just want to read your book. I finished at 2:18 a.m. So forgive me for the lack of attention I'm giving my blog. Its just that now I have a date with Edward.

Emma's new smile

At the dinner table last night, Emma was frustrated that she couldn't eat her hamburger because of her very loose front tooth. I told her to just go pull it out so she could finish dinner. So she did.


The Tooth Fairy forgot to come. Emma came into our room crying this morning. I told her she could either put the tooth under her pillow again tonight or I could just pay her. She took the money from me. Bad Tooth Fairy!

SPT-embrace your geekiness

This year I decided I wanted to start a blog and study photography. Those two resolutions have really upped my geek factor (not to mention changed my life). While I am nowhere truly computer savvy, I have learned a lot. Besides, I am spending WAY more time on the computer now so that must make me something of a geek.

I think blogs are awesome. I am having so much fun blogging, reading other blogs, making on-line friends. As long as I can keep the time I spend doing it under control, I think that this blog is a great thing for me to do.

Along with my learning how to take pictures come learning how to edit them. I have learned so much this year about Photoshop for photo editing and digital scrapbooking. Its fun to be able to do so many neat things. Still so much to learn though.

Tonight, though, I actually going to get off the computer before midnight and go curl up on the couch with a book that I have heard so much about, Twilight. I think the amount of reading I do also qualifies me for geekiness.

the 7 hour drive that took 24

This post could also be titled as "the $500 tire" or "why you should not drive home on Friday the 13th" or "why you should pay attention when your dad tells you to watch that right rear tire". Yep, any of those would do.

After my dad miraculously packed my van with all our stuff, Keri and I headed home with our kids at 2:00 on Friday. We were cruising along pretty smoothly for nearly four hours. About 16 miles outside of Rock Springs, Wyoming, one of the back tires blew out.

We received many tender mercies from the Lord. First, Keri was able to pull the car over without any problems. We were close enough to a city that we had cell reception. The weather was actually pleasant so we didn't have to wait in scorching heat. Shortly after we stopped, the highway patrol stopped and helped us call a tow truck. The kids thought it was pretty cool to ride in the van on top of a tow truck.

Then we hit our first snag. It was late enough that all the tire shops were closed. So what could we do but get a motel room and get it fixed first thing in the morning. Luckily there was one right by the Walmart where the tow truck brought us.

We headed over the IHOP to feed/entertain the kids. The waitress brought everyone their food, except me. Apparently mine was made wrong so they had to start over. Several minutes passed and I still had no food. The waitress came back and asked if we would like any dessert. Well...I let her know that would rather have my food. She was mortified that she had completely forgotten and ran off to get it. Then, she brought it out with french fries instead of onion rings, so I got to ask her to correct that. Poor girl. She seemed to be having a day like mine.

Keri and I didn't dare unpack the car because we didn't think we could get it back in again. We managed to get some sleep in dirty clothes, in a hotel room with two bed and 7 people including a baby who hasn't been sleeping well lately. We got the tire fixed in the morning and were back on the road by 11:00. Three hours of driving and we arrived back at my house at 2:00 on Saturday. Twenty four hours.

Keri and I are not allowed to ever drive together from Colorado again because something always seems to happen when we do. However, we are very grateful that it turned out well in the end.

they're gonna be heartbreakers

These are my darling nieces. Don't you just pity their fathers during the teenage years? Especially Rob. He will have three teenage girls all at the same time!



This is sweet baby Jane. She really is totally sweet. And her mom needs a little sweetness to counteract big brother Carson's two-ness.

Out of 18 grandchildren, only five are girls. I think we all appreciate the sugar and spice they add to the family.

camping

Here are some of my pictures (and a couple of my mom's) from our camping trip in Rocky Mountain National Park. I ended up only going up for one night (which was definitely enough for me and Sawyer). I did enjoy the songs by the campfire, watching my kids get dirtier by the second, reading by the campfire (although I could have done without all the men's "music" from their hind parts), talking with Kim while everyone else was hiking, and just being with my family. However, I don't think we shall be camping again for a LONG time.

Colorful Colorado

Well, we made it through a two-week vacation to Ft. Collins. Somehow, a whole bunch of my photos got erased from my memory card. Luckily, I had downloaded them to my mom's computer. She will be send me a CD of them but that still leaves them unavailable to share now. Instead, I direct your attention once again to my mom's blog. Her last few posts include lots of pictures and some great thoughts about our visit. I linked this post already but I love the pictures. Check out the one of Emma putting makeup on. Visions of a teenager dance through my head. This post is about the camping trip. And I love the perspective on this one.

All in all, the trip really was great. The cousins got along really well. I got to talk and shop with my mom and sisters. We enjoyed a great meal together where we ordered five different things and shared all around. Now that is the way to dine out! I got to see all my brothers too. We were able to get a picture of nearly everybody--Mom and Dad, seven children, four spouses (we missed you Michael), and 18 grandchildren. As we were driving to the park to take the pictures, a thunderstorm was rolling in. Emma said a sweet prayer that we would be able to get the pictures taken before the storm. And we did. I have never seen our family move so fast.

The rain and wind started in right after we finished. They aren't the greatest and I groan in frustration a bit every time I see them. I am so glad we were able to get something but because of the storm I had to bump my ISO up so high that they are terribly grainy. Oh well.

Now its the middle of July. Already! Summer is halfway over. We are back in Utah where we get to enjoy 100 degree heat but get to sleep in our own beds, get back to routines, see the other side of our family, and get geared up to begin our schoolwork again. So while I am very glad to be home, I am so glad I went. So glad I got to see my family. So glad I was reminded that sometimes the everyday is great too.

Can anyone tell me why the line spacing gets all smooshed together sometimes?

a-camping we will go

Greetings from Colorful Colorado. I'm here enjoying family, food and fun. If you want to see a bit of what is going on here, check out my mom's blog.

We had a good Independence Day. I went on the yearly shopping spree with my mom and sisters. I hate to shop. The only time I ever really go is when I'm with them about once a year. They are the best personal shoppers. I spent a lot of money. Lots. Of. Money. However, my sweet husband, when I confessed to spending so much, simply asked if I'd spent more than $500. Since the answer was no (thank goodness), he said, "I don't want to know any more than that."

Dave took the kids to see Ratatouille in the afternoon. Then we enjoyed a barbecue with everyone at Mom and Dad's. Almost everyone went to see the fireworks. I stayed home to put Sawyer to bed. Dave said it was terrible and a waste of time since the boys spent the whole time just playing in the car (honking the horn, turning on lights). Its all about the memories, right?

Today, most of the family headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park to camp. I stayed home with Sawyer again but I am heading up tomorrow with my mom and sister-in-law, Kim. It will be the first time in a very, very long time that my whole family (7 kids, 5 spouses, 18 grandchildren) will all be together. So even though I am not particularly looking forward to the camping part of it, I am looking forward to the reunion.

I will be away from blogging for a while. Lots of pictures and stuff in a few days....

a bit of inspiration

Have you seen this?

for all the hidden talent in each of us
for following your dreams
for taking a risk



And just so you know...he won the whole competition.