Busy, busy!

I haven't posted for a while since we have been so busy!  So, I will recap the last few weeks.
We don't do much for St. Patrick's Day, but Levi was challenged by his teacher to make a "trap" for a leprechaun.  He designed the trap, and I helped him decorate it.  Right before he fell asleep, he said, "mom, I forgot about the hole in the box.  The leprechaun can crawl out of it!"  I assured him I would fix that, so I glued a coin over the hole.  He was disappointed that he didn't catch one, but thinks one turned it upside down to let him know he was there!

I had a birthday on the 14th.  I am now 37 years old!  Mike decided to surprise me for my birthday this year.  He wouldn't tell me what he had planned, only that I needed clothes for 3 days and I had to be ready to go on Friday after he got off work.   I had an idea of where he was taking me since I've been asking him to for the past 3 years.  VEGAS!!  I have never stayed there, just drove through on my way to Utah.  Well, I got my wish.  We went on Friday night and stayed in the Venetian.  We had an awesome room.  Unfortunately, the door handle on the bathroom came off the first night there.  Then, the shower didn't drain and flooded our bathroom.  Mike was on it though (he knows to be prepared with my LUCK!"  He got us moved to a new room right away.  We spent a lot of time walking through shops that were too expensive for my tastes, but I loved looking at everything.  I got a new watch.  Then, on Saturday we had dinner at the fanciest restaurant (aka, most expensive!)  I've ever been to.  We went to CUT which is Wolfgang Puck's steak restaurant in the Venetian.  It was sooo good!  But, I learned that I don't care too much for Kobe beef.  It was like eating a huge chunk of fat that wasn't fat.  Too weird for my tastes.  They did make me a special dessert.

The next day we went to the other side of the strip.  We went to Shark Reef and looked at all the fish, we went and saw the Titanic exhibit (loved it!), and then we did a CSI experience and got to solve a murder.  SOOO much fun.  We forgot about the time change so we had to RUN back to our hotel to change for a fancy dinner.  We ate at the Eiffel Tower restaurant.  Mike had reserved a table with an amazing view of the water fountain show at the Bellagio.  There were roses and rose petals on the table for me.  He's so romantic.  We ate too much and then went to the top to freeze, I mean see the view of Vegas.  Afterwards, we had time for another show and decided to see Blue Man Group.  They were great and a fun show.

The next day we slept in and packed up for home.  I missed my kids, but was too busy having fun to be mopey about it.  Mike is the best.  It was so fun to be together and hold hands all day.  I love my man.  I could've done without all the cigarette smoke in Vegas though!

When we got home, I unpacked, cleaned up, and packed again to head on over to my brother's house for a few days so we could celebrate our birthday together.

              This is a picture of some of mine and Allen's kids.

  We were there from Tuesday to Saturday.  It is gonna take me a few weeks to unpack, clean, and organize myself after a week of being gone.
It was my best birthday ever!

spring project

As I may have mentioned before, I love spring.  I don't love spring cleaning though!  Spring makes me want to work on projects that require a bit of thought and have useful results.  I've been combing through some of my favorite blog sites and been inspired to start a new project.  The project I want to be doing right now is finding/refinishing a dresser for Tristan.  Unfortunately, I live in a small town where there is not a lot to choose from.  Our used furniture and Salvation Army are full of junk, and over priced junk at that!  It doesn't stop me from looking.  I frequent craigslist and ebay, but never seem to find anything in town.  Today however, I found a perfect little armoire.  I went to Salvation Army and walked through the furniture section with little hopes of finding anything.  The only cute furniture was already "sold".  Then, to my great surprise, the last piece of furniture on the way out was this adorable t.v. armoire.

This is it laying down in the truck.

It is even made out of real wood!  Another bonus was that today was 1/2 off day.  Everything in the store was 1/2 off!  My heart started beating fast as I realized that this could be my new project.  I got in line to buy it, and had to wait as two older ladies in front of me argued about who saw a couch for sale first.  I almost talked myself out of buying this little gem.  I called Mike and he said "get it".  So, I did it!  I am so excited.  I got home and wanted to bring it in and clean it up so I can get started on it tomorrow.  Sadly, Mike is still out of town and the thing (real wood remember) is so heavy I can't get it out of the truck.  I did manage to take the doors off and take out the drawers.

It's still too heavy.  I have plans to gut the inside. paint it, distress it, and put shelves in it to store . . . stuff.  I don't have any place in my house for such a cute piece, but that won't stop me now!  I'm thinking it's gonna end up red.  I've always wanted something RED!

pre-school grad

Today was Tristan's pre-school graduation. It was at our friends/business partner's house. Tris gets so embarrassed when he has to do anything in front of others that he didn't even want to go, but his friends were going to be there. It was cute watching him and his shy smile get his "diploma" and sing a song.

I told him he couldn't wear one of his old t-shirts, and he didn't have any nice ones at home. I promised him I would get him a new shirt for graduation.

He wants to look like his hero, Shawn Spencer (obnoxious character from t.v. show Psych) so I got him a "Shawn" shirt. He posed for me afterward.

I also took a while to look around the house and take a couple of pictures. Mike is in the works to buy this house and I really hope we can work it out to move in this summer some time. So, anyone who wants to buy my house can give me a call!

fun FHE

Last night the Bishopric decided to have a group FHE out at the boy scout camp grounds. Our ward is in charge of cleaning up the road/parking lot this year so since the men had to go scope out what needs to be done they decided just to bring all the families and have a campfire dinner together. I have never been out there, and was surprised by how pretty it is.

We started out by getting a fire going and letting Mike and Bishop cook the hot dogs for us. The kids were gone exploring before we could blink! Fortunately they had Braxton along who knows the area very well.

After eating dinner, we immediately let the kids make smores.  Then they were off exploring again. It was fun to visit with friends and not worry too much about the kids.
Then Mike helped the kids shoot the boys' new bb gun.  They got it for Christmas and this was the first chance we had to let them shoot it!

It was a simple, fun chance to spend some time together and have fun. I loved it 'cause there wasn't much prep/clean up involved. The weather was perfect too.
Sadly, Taylor was home sick. She volunteered to keep Jax at home with her so I didn't have to chase him all around the woods.
Now, Levi and Tristan are going to bug me to take them camping! I've already been asked twice when we are going to go camping since they love it so much.

My latest creation.

It must be getting into spring, but we aren't there quite yet.  I love spring.  I love to be outside, do yard work (not that you could tell by the state of my back yard!), take slow walks, go to the park, and all that fun stuff.  But when you live in AZ, you get teased with spring a lot.  For example, last week, we had several days that were so warm and gorgeous.  I thought for sure we were heading into spring a bit early.  But this week we are back to colder nights, outside not warming up til it's too late to do anything, and just plain unproductive weather.  So, when I start to get bored with all the "inside" stuff, (a.k.a., cleaning, entertaining kids, t.v., etc), I try to find crafty creations that won't take me too long to finish and that are not too difficult (I don't want to get frustrated or ANGRY, it's supposed to be fun!) and that I can encourage my kids to do.

  This bag/purse is what I've been working on the past few days.  I guess I could have had it done in a few hours if I didn't have to make 3 trips to Walmart (I can never get out of any store without forgetting something, even if it is on my list), reading 50 books to Jax, sitting with Jax, playing with Jax, feeding Jax, changing Jax's diaper, etc.  It's a miracle I get anything done with that kid around.  Oh yeah, and the 4 other kids keep me somewhat busy as well.  Anyway, I found this cute pattern online for super cheap and it had the simplest and best instructions for a sewing pattern I've ever come across.  It was also fairly cheap.  I don't know if I'll keep it or give it away yet.  The girls want to make their own now.  I think I will make another one too, but I'll expand the pattern to make it big enough for a church bag.  What do you think?

The last time.

This weekend was our last official temple trip to the Mesa temple.  It was bittersweet.  I didn't get to go in this time since we had all of our kids with us, but I had a lot of time to sit and think about all the many wonderful times we have had at the Mesa temple.  I remember going there as a young girl with my YW class.  There was one specific time I remember going to do baptisms.  After we were done, we had to wait for all of our leaders to finish.  My friends Laurel and JoShel and I walked all around the temple and all through the visitors center.  Afterward, we went out on the big lawn and lay down just to look at how beautiful the temple was.  I remember us all promising to ourselves and each other that one day we would be married in the temple.  It was a great day!
 
  I remember going there on a special day (day before I got married) to get my endowments.  My family was there with me.  My older sister got to go through on the same day to get her endowments.  It was so beautiful.  The next day we got up so early and took wedding pictures and later I got to be sealed to Michael for all eternity.  It was magical!
 
  Not long after that, my brother and his wife were sealed there.  There were many other sealings and special occasions that we were able to attend in that temple.  I remember once when I was pregnant with Taylor we were called to be temple missionaries.  That meant we were asked to go there and do 2 sessions or 2 initiatories a month.  It was very difficult on us since we were both in school and both working AND pregnant with our first baby.  We were doing sealings once and the worker performing them turned out to be my mom's cousin.  I almost passed out.  I guess it is pretty common when you are pregnant!  So, he let me sit on a chair and do all the sealings we had on our list.  I loved that day!
 
  Taylor and Jordan were both able to do their first baptisms at the mesa temple as well.  I'm so glad they were able to do them where I once did as a young girl!

  Of course, we always love family temple trips to Mesa because we usually end up staying in a hotel and eating out at restaurants we just don't have.  The kids love going to a real mall!  We make the trips really fun.  This time around it was rainy so I didn't get to take any pictures.  I was also pretty cranky since I didn't get much sleep and the boys were fighting.  But being with my family at the temple is always a good thing so I managed to get over it.


  Now we are going to be going to the Gila Valley temple.  I have lots of family and memories already made in that area.  Mike and I lived in Central for the first 6 months of our marriage and both my parents and their families are from Safford.  It will be nice to go to the temple there and be able to visit with my Grandma more often.  We know the temple president (President Crockett) from our days at EAC.  We are going to make lots of new memories in a new temple.  I'm both excited and a bit sad about it all.  Our girls get to participate in the cultural event that is coming up with the open house and dedication.  It will be a great start!

It'll take your eye out!

Levi has gone and done it!  I no longer worry about a bb gun taking Tristan's eye out.  I only have to worry about him doing it with any toy he can get his hands on.  Today Levi was "knife" fighting with Tris.  Tristan's 'knife' was a CapriSun straw.  Levi had a hard plastic ninja knife.  He accidentally stabbed Tris in the eye.  When Tris came to tell on him he was crying.  I said my usual "stop crying, you are fine".  Then I saw that his tears were bloody and got a bit worried.  Well, the inside of his eyelid and a bit of his eye was cut.  Luckily it isn't going to affect his vision, but it sure looks ugly.  We are also lucky to have a good friend who is an optomotrist who will see Tris first thing in the morning.  Poor kid.  I had to buy $100 eye drops for him that cause him to cry blood some more.  Ugh!  It's always something.

Valentine's Fun!

Mike and I decided to celebrate Valentine's day last night.  He has a busy weekend working today and then chaperoning the stake dance tonight.  He talked some friends into going to Tucson with us to eat out at Flemings Steakhouse.  It is the best steak I've ever eaten.  We had so much fun visiting and getting a break from the world not to mention eating the best food.
Before we left for dinner Mike gave me my Valentine gift.  We don't usually give each other big or expensive gifts so I was a bit surprised to get anything.  I love my new bracelet!

I love my Mike even more.  He is the best.

Taylor is funny

Today Taylor had to take her final for her online class at the high school.  When I came to pick her up she says "Mom, today was not a good day for me to wear plaid!"  We didn't remember that today was the Cowboy Poets Gathering at the school.  She said that several people asked her if she was going to read her poem or what her poem was about.  I got such a laugh out of it that I had to take her picture and post it.  She is SO anti cowboy.  It didn't help that she was carrying a leather bag with thick leather stitching.  Funny girl.

What color will they be?

Jax is 15 months old now and I still don't know what color his eyes are going to be.  When he is in my bathroom, his eyes look really green.  Of course, my bathroom is decorated in green.  When he is in my family room they look like they could be blue or brown depending on how dark it is.  This morning I took a picture of him with the natural lighting from outside shining on his eyes.  I just don't know what color they are going to end up being!  I'm hoping green like his Nana.  What do you think?

My new favorite!

I really enjoy a good meal.  I mean, I've always loved food.  As a child, I was always hungry (I wish I still had that metabolism!).  I used to think about food a lot.  My mom still teases me b/c when I was in high school, I would call her from school to ask her what she was making for dinner.  As I got older, my tastes for food matured.  Now, one of my favorite things to do is to go out with Mike to dinner at a restaurant (not fast food thank you very much!) that serves food you just can't replicate at home.  We have eaten out a lot, and although I am not a very adventurous eater, I am a bit of a food snob.  I still like eating foods like my mom used to make, but I always wonder what it would be like if I added this, or that, or if I cooked it this way or that.  Now, after reading all this, you may think I am a great cook, but you would be wrong!  A good cook is someone who thinks those things and then acts on them.  I tend to follow the recipe, and "wonder" about it later.  That is why I love food blogs.  There are some really great ones out there.  My sister, who knows me very well and is one of my BFF's found a great one and had me making recipes from it about a year ago.  Well last week while Mike and I were browsing the local book store, I came across a recipe book by this woman who is an amazing cook and who gladly shares all her recipes online for free!  I was so happy, and even though I have all of her recipes that I love printed out and put in my own collection of favorite recipes, I had to have it.  It is my new favorite book!  I encourage all of you check out her blog and start cooking! http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/
The best recipes I've tried so far are the mashed potatoes, the beef brisket, enchiladas, and chicken spaghetti.
You are welcome!  Oh yeah, please send me some links to your favorite food blogs!  I would love to try any new recipes I think my family will like!

I really am his mom!

So, some of you read all about my "situation" last week.  I thought I would document the funny on here.  As a pre-side note, my brother in law says it figures that this would happen to me, one of the most unlucky women in the world!
Here is what happened.  Last week, while thrift shopping for a dresser for Tris, I went to the Salvation Army to browse.  I was only there for about 3 minutes as it is not very clean and I only wanted to look through the furniture.  I had Jax on one hip, and my purse in my other arm.  We walked in, walked in a circle around the furniture, and walked right out.  On the way out to the car, I passed a lady in her car who gave me a strange look.  She was on the phone with someone.  Jax started screaming just then b/c he didn't want to be put back in his car seat since he just got out.  I said "oh, baby!  Stop crying!".  Then I got in and started to back out.  The parking lot is really small, and not laid out very well.  An older man in his truck was waiting for me to back out so he could have my spot (I think!).  But, when I pulled out, he wouldn't move so I could leave the parking lot.  In my impatience, I gestured to him to move over so I could get out.  Just then, the lady in the parked car got out and ran over to the man in the truck and started rambling to him.  I slowly inched my way around the guy thinking he was a crazy old man.  I had to run a few more errands, but was home within 40 minutes of the "episode".

When I came home Jordan says "mom, a police man came over and wants you to call him as soon as you get home.  Mike says "What did you do now?", ha ha!  So, I call the police man and all the while Mike is gesturing "What?" to me.  The officer then tells me that an "anonymous older couple" called in to report a missing child and that they thought Jax was that child.  He wanted to come over and look at him and his birth certificate.  I assured him he could, but that I may have to search through my disaster of a closet to find it.  I told him he could come look at all his baby pictures, and compare him to his siblings since they all look alike too.  He said he believed me and didn't need to come over.
I was glad I didn't actually have to prove he was my child, and also appreciated that the police were so fast to respond to a tip about a missing child.  On the other hand, I wondered what made me look like I was such a hooligan!  I mean, lots of babies Jax's age look similar.  Was it that he doesn't look much like me?  Do I look like trouble?  Were the tipsters just frustrated with me for being impatient?  I'll never know, but I do know that he is my child through and through.  If there ever was a mommy's boy, he is it!
 

A new year

It's a new year which leads me to ponder on how it is a time to make changes to improve one's self.  I don't like making "resolutions".  I tend to be a bit of a flake when it comes to sticking to them.  Not because I can't make changes or that I don't want to do or be better, but because I am so forgetful.  I get caught up in life.  I spend way too much time taking care of my family and I get lost in what I am doing.  I'm not an adult with ADD either, I think I'm more pre-alzheimer.  Anyway, this year I've decided not to make any "resolutions", but rather to look back on the year and find ways to be more positive about my life experiences.

This year, we were able to see one of our good friends beat cancer!  We were all worried about him, and he has horrible scars to remind him of his scare, but he is cancer free.  He also got married and is expecting his 6th baby soon.  That was a great thing.

Jaxson kept us all busy learning how to roll, sit up, crawl, walk, drink from a cup, and so many other things.

Jordan had a birthday and turned 12.  She is almost 13 now!  That meant she was able to go to the temple and do baptisms for the first time.  She is officially a babysitter which is a huge help to our family!  She was also inducted into the National Junior Honor Society.  Oh yeah, and she got braces!

Levi lost and grew in two front teeth.  He also came in second in the ward pinewood derby!  He started piano lessons, and he is growing way too fast.

Tristan has become best friends with his little baby brother.  He really enjoys making him happy and taking care of him.  He got to start pre-school and we are finding that he is a smart kid if he applies himself and takes a break from the video games!

Taylor was able to have her surgery on her knee so she can finally be active without worrying about falling down in pain all the time.  She has recovered better than anticipated, so all those medical bills were worth paying!  She got to take an awesome vacation to Hawaii as well.  We are grateful she has a job to pay for things like that.

Mike and I have been able to spend a lot of time with our kids this year and we have learned to love them even more (is that even possible?).  We were able to spend more time with my family this year too.

All in all, it has been a great year.  We have had ups and downs, fun times and downright boring times!  Looking back on it all, I see where we have improved.  We are spending more time together doing things that matter.  We are trying harder to be better.  We will continue on in our journey to be a forever family.  My goal this year is to not wait til the year is out to find the positive in my life, but to find it in the here and now.  My goal is to bring more joy into my own life, and share that joy with my family.

Christmas stuff!

Christmas 2009 was another success!  We had so much to do before Christmas.  The boys got to go to a primary activity called "cereal with Santa" (although they had muffins instead of cereal!  Don't ask me why.) and got their pictures taken with Santa. 

Taylor and Jordan wanted to help out with the Christmas eve stuff so they did some major shopping with Mike on Christmas eve.  We let the kids open up their night before presents (or as Tristan would say "presidents").  The boys got pj's and the girls got snuggies.  Tristan got the flu and spent most of the day throwing up.  Poor kid just can't win!

Christmas morning came way too soon but not as early as I anticipated.  Around 7:30, we let the kids in to see what Santa had brought them.  They were surprised! 

We spent most of the day in our pajamas playing with presents.  We cleaned the house a  bit, had a wonderful ham dinner.  We open Christmas Crackers every year and everyone wears their paper crowns throughout dinner.   At dinner the I asked the kids what their favorite thing was for Christmas.  Levi said that having dinner together and being a family was his favorite.  He is so smart!!

After putting the boys to bed, Taylor, Mike and I went to the movies with Nana and Papa Leavitt and Uncle Ethan.  We saw Sherlock Holmes.  I really loved it.  


Today my parents came for dinner.  It's always fun to visit with them and talk about family history. 

All in all, we had a great time this week.  I hope all my friends and family had fun and memorable Christmases.  

Me and Mike

I've been thinking a lot about my marriage to Michael the last few weeks.  Many of our friends and family members have been going through difficulties in their marriages.  One of my friends even lost his wife a few weeks ago to cancer.  It has made me reflect on how lucky I am.  We stayed up late the other night talking about how easy it is to let a marriage go and not work on being best friends forever.  We work hard at getting along and even though we have disagreements and arguments at times, we always make an effort to show love and accept each other for who we are.  Mike told me he was glad he didn't marry someone "crazy"!  I guess that's a good thing (I've been successful in keeping him in the dark!).  I thought how fortunate I have been to be married to a man who sticks to his principles, who loves the gospel, who always wants to do what is right, and who loves me still, inspite of all my obvious flaws.  Tonight I get to go to a wedding reception for a girl in my ward who used to be one of my YW.  She is marrying a sweet boy from my home town of Chino Valley.  I will spend a bit more time thinking about my own marriage 16 and 1/2 years ago.  I love the man I married even more than I did then.  He is and always will be my very best friend.

Tis the season to be . . . BUSY!!

I love the holidays so much!  But, I can sure do without the business that naturally accompanies the festivities.  It feels like we have been running since before Thanksgiving.  Here is a bit of what my family has been up to. . .
We all returned home from Utah/Hawaii, and were back to school, work, and laundry galore!  Then the girls had YW in excellence.  It was great from what I hear (Mike had to go while I bathed and put the boys to bed).  Then later on in the week, the girls both had the Christmas parade to march in (they were great!)  I don't have pics of them since it was a night parade of lights.  It was freezing cold.  My boys would have insisted we go home if they weren't expecting to have candy thrown at them!

Then, we had a few days to get the house cleaned up for company.  One of Mike's mission companions from Australia was coming with his two daughters for a visit.  It took a lot of work, but we were ready for company just in time.  Since Chris and his daughters have been here, we have played a lot of Wii, watched too much Disney (they don't have it there), and a few other fun things.  One day, we drove them out to Willcox to my folks house to see and ride the horses.  Dad thought it would be fine just to put the kids up bareback on Sierra, and she did great.


Even Jaxson got a ride.  He thought it was so cool.
That same night we had Mike's office Christmas party at La Casita.  It was fun and the food was yummy.

Next day Mike took Chris out shooting.  No one is allowed guns in Australia so he thought it was really awesome.  Then we topped it off by going to Tombstone, the town too tough to die.  We didn't have time to do all the shows and see all the museums, but that's a good thing since we probably didn't have the money to do it all either!