Home Project #1...A million to go!

I have always hated the cheap cabinets that are in my house. So, I decided to paint them. I was going to pain them white and do an antique glaze. Someone (I can't remember who!) suggested that I try black, cuz my bedroom furniture is black. It took me awhile to build up enough courage, but I finally painted them. WOW, boy do I love them! Now on to the master bedroom walls, and then the kitchen.

P.S. Sorry the "before" shot is so bad. Someone named either Makenna, Emily, or Ryan got ahold of the camera and deleted the better shot. Oh well, I think you get the idea!

It's Wii Time!

Boy it was Emily's lucky day!!! Today I got a phone call from Dr. MacDonald's office (the girl's orthodontist) telling me that Emily won their summer photo contest and that she won the grand prize. I was so excited for her and felt like a kid on Christmas Eve waiting until I could pick her up from school and tell her. You should have seen her face when I told her (to bad I was so excited I forgot the camera!) she squealed in pure delight. And just what was the grand prize you might be wondering (as if the pictures didn't give that away)? A Nintendo Wii!!!! Yes, that is right we are now the proud owners of this fabulous gaming system. So far we have had a blast bowling, boxing, batting, golfing, and smashing tennis balls. What to play next....? Congratulations Emily!!!

I Love To See The Temple!

We are so excited that the Temple in the Gila Valley is making great progress! Janae grew up in Thatcher and played softball in the fields where the temple now stands. It is a beautiful sight to see a temple going up in this beautiful valley. The kids were excited to see the temple as well, and we are all looking forward to the open house.

The Bare Necessities

Matt and I took our kids and went and saw the Jungle Book at the Broadway Palm. We were joined by my sister Lisa and her family, and my parents. It was a lot of fun! There were children everywhere, but that just added to the fun. This was Ryan's first time going to see a live show. His eyes were glued to the stage the entire time! It was a fun afternoon and while we were there we "forgot about our worries and our strife" and made some lasting memories.

Wicked!

Matt and I went and saw Wicked for our 12th wedding anniversary. It was everything, everybody said it would be! We laughed, I cried and we both enjoyed every single minute of it. Especially the being alone together with out the kids! We love them to death, but it is nice to be able to enjoy time alone with each other every once in a while.

Brace Face!

Well it's official! Makenna now has a mouth full of metal. She was nervous on the way to the orthodontist. but, she did an amazing job sitting in the chair for the hour and a half that it took for them to polish, glue, and rubber band her teeth. She looks so cute and will have a beautiful smile at the end of this journey.

P.S. "Brace Face" is a loving term on endearment in our house!

Night out with my Girls!

If you have girls between the ages of 4yrs-12yrs. Than I am sure you know all about High School Musical. My girls LOVE anything to do with HSM! A year ago, along with my parents and the Stants, we bought ticket for all of us to go and watch High School Musical on Stage at the Broadway Palm. It was a long year to wait for July 10th to arrive. But to quote Makenna, "It was worth the wait." I am so glad my girls have a love for the theater like I do. It was so fun to watch their eyes and smiles! Our next play: The Jungle Book....this time we are taking the Boys!

Pet # two!

Makenna recently acquired her very first pet. A hamster named Oreo. He is a cute little thing who likes to bury himself in all of the wood chip. All the kids have gotten a kick out of watching him run around and play. The kids love to put him into his plastic ball and watch him roll all over the house.

Sunflowers

Ever since I was a little girl I have always loved to look at and watch sunflowers. I love the bright colored petals, the dark centers, and deep green leaves. Perhaps that is why my favorite flower arrangement ever given to me was one made up of sunflowers, and why they are now in the decor of my kitchen. But, what amazes me the most about them is how they follow the sun. Even before their beautiful blooms appear the first leaves on the stem bend towards the morning sun. All throughout the day as the sun makes its trip over the bright blue sky the flowers bend and follow the sun until it disappears behind the horizon. There is a spiritual message to be learned by these flowers, one that I was taught by a primary leader long ago. Just as the sunflower follows the sun all throughout its beautiful existence so should we follow THE SON, the Son of God all through out our gift of mortal life on this earth.

Feelin' Crafty

I have spent the last few days being crafty! I must say that I have missed being able to spend time tuning into my creative side. I think that I need to make time more often to enjoy this side of me. The FHE board I made for our family, and soon will be adorned with head shots of each family member to mark our assignments. The other projects I made as gifts for my sister and two of my friends. If you have any cute craft ideas that you think I would enjoy making...send them my way! I am always looking for something new to try my hand at.

Drive In Movie

We had a new experience this past weekend with our family. We took the kid's to the drive in movie to watch "UP". The kid's got a big kick out of being able to watch a movie in the back of the van in their PJ's. We had a great time and the kid's keep begging us to go back next weekend! It is a great way to spend time with the family without breaking the bank!

Life lessons can be hard to learn.

We have had a sad couple of days around our house. Our sweet little pet chicken Angle Rose has gone on to a better place. Yesterday, after church, we had plans to have FHE with Matt's family. Emily had every intention of putting Rosie in her cage while we were gone. But, Emily hit her head on the corner of a dresser drawer and the blood started to gush! For such a little wound there was a LOT of blood. That was enough to put us behind schedule and we rushed out the door and forgot about Rosie! She has been left out before with no major problems so we thought nothing of it when we realized when we got home what we had forgotten to do. I told Emily that she would probably find her outside asleep somewhere. Well... after an exhaustive search of our little backyard we came up empty. She just diapered! Poor little Emily cried her little heart out. It can be really hard to learn the "Circle of Life" lesson. We will miss our little friend and have already printed pictures for Emily that she has placed in her room so that she can always remember her first pet.

Two "chick's" @ play!

This is a cute video clip of Emily with her pet chick!

Thank you gifts

With the end of the school year comes thank you gifts. Teachers work so hard that it is always hard for me to find the perfect way to say "Thank YOU!" This year I made a quilt for Emily's teacher and had all of the children in the class sign it. She taught these children for the past two years and enjoyed every minute of it. I don't think to many teachers can say that! For Makenna's teacher I made her a paper covered clip board personalized with her name. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the wonderful teachers out there!

Teacher's are AWESOME!

I am so grateful that my children have had amazing teachers every year that they have been in school. I am especially grateful for Emily's teacher Mrs. Cox. Emily was able to be in her classroom for both 1st and 2nd grade. She is an angel on earth! She was a wonderful support for our family while trying to help Emily succeed in school. Thank you is not a big enough word to express how grateful I am for her patience, kindness, concern, and love. She will always hold a special place in my heart as well as in Emily's.

Meet Angel Rose

We are now the proud owners of a chicken! Yes...that is right, a chicken! Emily's 2nd grade class hatched chick's in there classroom as part of a science unit. School is almost over and so they needed to find good homes. Emily kept looking at us with pleading eyes so much so that we eventually agreed that she could bring one home. This is going to be an interesting experience! She is really cute but who knew that they could chirp so loud! I had no idea!

Lead Role

Makenna got to play the lead role in her 4th grade production "Arizona, How do you do?" She had to memorize all 8 pages of her lines. She was a pro! I think we may have a drama major in the future!

First Harvest

We are starting to reap the benefits of our hard work. We already pulled up all our lettus and now have a strawberry, a zucinni, and will soon pick a bell pepper and yellow squash. It has been so much fun learning about how all of these different fruits and veggies grow. A major bonus is that the kids are excited to taste test all of the produce!

Easter 2009

Ok...so I am a little slow posting this picture of Easter. But they are so cute that I had to put them on the blog.

Bush-Ba-Gahwa

During our last spring break we packed a picnic lunch, loaded up the kids and headed to Globe, AZ for a day trip. We were joined by my mom and dad and my sister Lisa and her family. We have driven through Globe countless times but never stopped long enough except to use the restroom. Little did we know that there are ancient Indian ruins just off the highway. We had a great time playing in the park and walking through the ruins. Its a great day trip...just do it in cooler weather!

Ryan Turns 4!!

I can't believe my little man is now 4 years old!!! He is such a wonderful little boy. It is my big helper and my little shadow. We have so much fun keeping each other company while everyone else is at work or school. Now that he is 4...everywhere we go he spots that number! He thinks it is the most wonderful number in the world. He has grown so much and makes us laugh daily. The other day he said, "I am a good boy! But sometimes I am a little pill!" OK... so my words came back to haunt me! I laughed so hard it made me cry. Happy Birthday little man!

Clean and Pure

Emily's baptism was so beautiful. She was so excited and could hardly wait! All day long she kept looking at the clock waiting for the time to finally come. She looked like an angel all dressed in white. She had many family members and friends come to support her. One of my most favorite things Emily said afterwards was, "Mom, I am so happy I got the Holy Ghost." I am so very blessed to have children who already are showing their strength in the Gospel. Matt and I have been truly blessed. Emily we are so very proud of you!