April 2011

Jake started preschool in April... He only got to enjoy the "blessings" of being a "big kid" for one month, because school let out for the summer. He loved every minute of it, and couldn't wait for school to start again! Here are some pictures from his first day of school:

SPRING BREAK
Day 3
SALT LAKE CITY DISCOVERY GATEWAY
On day 3, we were able to meet up with some more of our dear friends in Utah. We met the Larson's when we lived in Seattle, and we have been friends ever since. They are a blessing in our lives, and we love them to pieces!

~Devyn and Amber~

~Amber, Jackson, Devyn, and Hailey~

~While in the discovery center, we ran into some more friends from Boise--the Giles, and the Fuhrimans! We were so excited to see both of these families! I was especially excited to see the Giles Family, because they had just recently moved to California. It was definitely fun to see good friends.

Spring Break
Day 2
~HOGLE ZOO~

The Hogle Zoo was fantastic! We had a great time frolicking through the zoo! The best part; however, was spending time with good friends! We absolute love the Simmons family! We have missed them since they moved away from Boise. It is always fun to reconnect.

After the zoo, we went to the monument, This Is The Place. It is a historical monument representing Brigham Young's announcement of the Salt Lake valley being the place to settle for the Latter-day Saints.

~SPRING BREAK; March 28-April 1~
DAY 1
My sister-in-law was blessing her baby in Logan, Utah on the Sunday prior to spring break. After the baby blessing, we ventured further into Utah to spend our spring break site seeing in Salt Lake City. On Monday morning our first stop was Temple Square. We spent most of the day enjoying the museums, videos, and monuments. To my surprise and absolute enjoyment, my children were captivated by Temple Square. They had no desire to leave, and when the time came that we had to leave, we were all disappointed.

Church History Museum:
~Quilt Wall~



~Fiesta Dancing~

Meeting the Forsbergs:

As we were leaving the Church History Museum on Temple Square, we ran into the Forsbergs! We were thrilled and excited to have seen dear friends from our home town. It is such a SMALL world!
DINOSAUR MUSEUM:
After we spent most of the day at Temple Square, we met up with some friends from Utah, and continued playing at the Dinosaur Museum.

Spring Break
Day 4
On our last day in Utah, we got together with good friends who were once in Boise, but have now moved on... (except the Fuhriman's...whom we are so glad still live in Boise). It was nice to chat, and allow our children to reconnect. It was funny that we all happened to be in Utah at the same time. Jill and Monica have moved to Utah, but Angela and Carrol were both visiting like us. Once we saw Angela and Carrol at the Discovery Center, we thought we should get together again before everyone left.
~Jill Simmons, Monica Walters, Angela Giles, Me, Carrol Fuhriman~

Happy St. Patrick's Day
For St. Patrick's day, we did a Shamrock Hunt. In the hunt, the children looked for hidden shamrocks. Once all the shamrocks were found, they traded for a specific number, and then they got prizes depending on the numbers on their Shamrocks. Each bag had different prizes coordinating with the numbers on the shamrocks. It was a game of chance..., and pure fun!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Suess!
~March 2, 2011~
Dr. Suess' birthday is on March 2, and we love to celebrate each year by reading "Green Eggs and Ham", and eating green eggs and ham!

Favorite quotes by Dr. Suess:
"Don't cry because it is over, smile because it happened."
~Dr. Suess

"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple."
~Dr. Suess

"A person's a person, no matter how small."
~Dr. Suess

JAKE's BIRTHDAY
Before Jake's birthday, I asked him what he wanted to do... he replied, "play with my friends"! So, on Jake's "Big Day" we spent the day playing with his buddy, Spencer Tobler. They had a blast! When the girl's got home from school, we headed to BOUNCE with Spencer in tow. The kids played hard--they ran from one bounce house to the next! They played their little hearts out. On the way home, Hailey and Amber had to keep Jake awake, so we could open presents and eat cake with dad--he was exhausted.Four Things I love about Jake:~Every morning when he wakes up, he comes looking for mom (no one else)...when I am finally located, he opens his arms, gives me a big grin, and comes running for an amazing hug!
~He loves to play. We run through the house giggling over each and every new adventure.
~He loves his family. Every night in his prayers, he thanks his Heavenly Father for his family. Every prayer he utters is a prayer of gratitude for his family.
~He is getting "big enough" to be reasoned with...what a relief! What a great stage!
...okay, five things:
~He love his one on one time with mom. Although he loves his sisters dearly, he is sometimes sad to pick them up from school, because he still wants to spend the time with me. I also enjoy our time together. I am sad that he is getting bigger and will soon be venturing into the world of school... One thing is for sure...he's going to have to get use to sharing me!
I LOVE MY BOY! Oh, I am so grateful he is mine, and I am his! He is my buddy! Love you, dude!!!

BOUNCE:


CAKE AND PRESENTS:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYAN; February 9, 2011

For Bryan's birthday, we did the "12 DAYS of BRYAN"! We copied this idea from a good friend--we thought it was a fabulous way to say "We Love You"! We typed a song, and attached a note to each day. In the beginning, we tried to be conspicuous...we sneaked the packages to a coworker, we asked the coworker to be "secretive", and then we pretended innocence. However, as day 4 rolled around, our secret was known. We spent the last 8 days talking and laughing at each new surprise. We had a great time showering our husband and daddy with love!

This is what we did for the "12 Days of Bryan":

On the first day of Bryan, your true "loves" gave to you
One bag of Jerky...
ba dum dum dum
(I typed a tune that I thought went with the song "ba dum dum dum", and then later realized that it really didn't go with the tune. At the time, when I was writing the clues--it seemed to fit. The mistake was worth it; however, because it allowed for many days of laughter.)

On the second day of Bryan, your true "loves" gave to you
Two TEXAS items
ba dum dum dum

Third Day: 3 cans of pringles

Fourth Day: 4 Chocolate Kisses (Because Bryan's birthday is so close to Valentine's day, we were able to buy 4 Giant Kisses. We then made a tag for each kiss. Each tag had a sentiment of love from us...an obvious giveaway as to who was delivering the goodies. We curled each tag, and attached them to the top of the individual KISSES to make it look like the original tag that comes with a Hershey kiss.)

Fifth Day: 5 Green Apples (with caramel dip)

Sixth Day: 6 Root beer

Seventh Day: 7 "texts" of LOVE

Eight Day: 8 favorite candy bars

Ninth Day: 9 Fortunes (We placed "fortunes" in nine fortune cookies, which were in a Chinese take-out box.)

Tenth Day: 10 Treasure Hearts

Eleventh Day: 11 Cookies

Twelfth Day: 12 Balloons with 12 Nutter Butters (We attached a note to the package of Nutter Butters that read: There is "nuttin better" than you! We then tied the bouquet of balloons to the Nutter Butters. Each balloon had a message inside.)

On Bryan's birthday, we enjoyed family time while eating cake and ice cream!

Bryan is the love of my life! He is my best friend! I thank my Heavenly Father for such an amazing husband and friend. I am so blessed to have him in my life. We are a team! He keeps me "sane" in moments of insanity, and keeps me laughing through every day life. He is my other half.

~NEW BEGINNINGS~
For the last few years, I have been the Young Women's President in my ward. I feel so blessed to be able to learn from our Heavenly Father's precious daughters. Part of that blessing is being able to share in memories like "New Beginnings".
This year for New Beginnings we centered our thoughts around Elder Utchdorf's talk, "Your Happily Ever After". We opened the evening by showing a video clip with the girl's pictures in conjunction with pieces of Elder Utchdorf's talk. It was a Mormon Message made specially for our YW. We then had each YW introduce each value of the Personal Progress program. We had different ways of introducing each value. Some were introduced through music, and some were introduced by the YW sharing personal experience-each value was demonstrated as a point on a map directing the YW to Eternal Life. (In Elder Utchdorf's talk, he refers often to the "map" Heavenly Father has given us to follow.) As the YW would introduce a value, a map was projected, and each value was highlighted. The spirit was strong as the YW bore testimony, and explained the YW program to the new YW. All the while, the underlining theme was Elder Utchdorf's talk, "Your Happily Ever After".
The evening was truly inspiring. The spirit was present. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to learn and grow along with these precious YW. I know that Heavenly Father loves them, and wants what is best for them--He love us all, and because He does--he gives us direction through His apostles. Elder Utchdorf's words reached to the very core of these young girls. He explained that our "once upon a time" is now, and it is our privilege to write the stories of our lives--we choose our own path! He said, "'happily ever after' is not something found only in fairy tales. You can have it! It is available for you! But you must follow your Heavenly Father's map."
Heavenly Father has given the youth tools that will help them follow His plan or His "map". He has given the young women the Personal Progress program, and the young men the Duty to God program. He has given the young men and the young women a booklet of standards called, "For the Strength of Youth". I know that if the youth of the church, and even the adults of the church will follow these guidelines, we will be blessed, and we will someday see our Father in Heaven, and it will be the ending of a great chapter and the beginning of our "HAPPILY EVER AFTER"!

Each young woman received a journal to remind them that right now is their "once upon a time", and they are writing their own stories to reach their "happily ever after".


Leader's and YW singing, "Live Like You Believe" by Jenny Phillips.