Are we having fun yet???

As you know Jeff has been out of work for 6 months now! I can't believe we have survived this long...we are sooo blessed! I was talking to my sister the other day telling her some of the blessings along the way and she asked if I was writing them in my journal. I must admit, I am a terrible journal writer, actually that's too generous, I am not a journal writer, but she got me thinking. I really should be documenting all these great blessings. Thinking about it is a good first step. Jake's class actually gets credit in seminary for "thinking" about reading the Book of Mormon. But I'm getting side tracked, this was really meant to be a silly post. It's very cute when Anissa says our family prayer at night, she always says "bless Mom and Dad that they will have fun while they're home tomorrow". Well, here is a very silly picture of some of our "fun" while grocery shopping:




Should we be offended? I'm not sure, but the "fun" has been great. It's been wonderful for Jeff and I to spend so much time together and just be us. It's really strengthened our bond. When the time (finally) comes, I'll really miss having him right there all the time...thank goodness for texting! But I must say: ENOUGH WITH THE FUN ALREADY! CAN WE GET BACK TO WORK NOW?!?

That's my boys...

A few weeks ago we had our stake leadership training. Joni gave a little bit of history on why the Primary was organized. A lady in the early church days (I forget her name...I know that's bad...it's kind of a big part, but anyway...) she was horrified at the state and behavior of all the boys in the town. They would go into gardens that were not their own and some were even seen hanging off wagons (gasp!). How were the girls to find good husbands if things continued in this manner? So Primary was born. I think today, I'd be happy if my boys just went outside a little bit more, their own "garden" or otherwise. Jeff found this cartoon today, and I think maybe this is the best I can hope for...

Halloween

We made it home from our camping weekend just in time for trunk or treat. Only Anissa and Jonah (and Jeff) dressed up. They had fun, but Jonah got WAY TOO much candy...18 pounds. I think he'll share (selected items of course!) Luckily, after the weekend he took me up on the offer to hide his candy. I loved their costumes this year...

Family Fun at Warm Springs

We spent the long weekend at Warm Springs with lots of family. We had an exciting first night which included propane tanks on fire! That was really scary. I thought the tanks were going to blow up. Luckily the men got it out with fire extinguishers before we were responsible for burning down the entire property. After saving dinner, we had fun making s'mores around the fire and then enduring a pretty cold night. The next day we swam and explored and the little kids had fun catching tad poles. Anissa was introduced to an old classic by her cousins, the movie "The Bad Seed". I hope it was a lesson on how NOT to behave. Jake challenged anyone who would play chess with him and it turned out to be a great weekend...we even witnessed the ever allusive teenage smile from all the teenagers present!

And the answer is...

You guessed it, Jonah is the messy one. He would like to say in his defense that the red shorts are Aidan's...so there you have it. I love 'em both to death. Isn't fun how each child comes with his own distinct personality.

What great kids I have

For my birthday my kids made me brownies (while I was attending Johnson JHS openhouse). Hot fudge brownie sundaes are my FAVORITE dessert. When we got home, they were ready to light the candles, all 40! They actually put 40 candles on. I didn't even know we had that many in the house. By the time they were finished lighting them, I had to hurry and blow them out before there was a giant pool of wax on the brownies and then we had to turn on the vent fan, so the smoke detector wouldn't sound off. Here are some great pictures...it looks like a 9 x 13 pan of fire!

My lovely roses from Jeff...

Guess Who

Aidan and Jonah share a room. I walked into their room the other morning and just had to laugh. The state of the room was such a commentary on their personalities. Can you guess who belongs to the messy side and who belongs to the clean side? Let's have a little poll...see how well you know these boys. I'll reveal the answer in a few days...

Taking a lesson from Harry Potter...

And his cupboard under the stairs. Only I think ours is probably way more impressive. One good thing about Jeff having a lot of free time on his hands lately is that we are getting a lot of projects done around the house. We decided to make our coat closet function a little differently. We'd punched through a wall at the back of the closet a few years ago so we could get access to the space under the stairs. We just took it a step further and finished it off. We took the coat rack out because it was a pain to get to the storage space. Aidan always said he wanted it to be his bedroom, but he's little too big for that now, so we made it Anissa's office. She loves it! She's been neither seen nor heard for extended periods of time the last few days.

Cort, this one's for you...

Maybe it's not quite as impressive since he is almost 14, but Aidan was cleaning out his back pack from scout camp tonight (finally!) and saw this piece of tile he found on the beach in Catalina. He saved it because it looks like Nevada. Funny coincidence.

Look Ma, I got a pedicure...

My first one ever! I can't believe I've waited this long. It was great. My Mom bought me a gift certificate for my birthday LAST year and I didn't want to waste it when the weather would be turning cold soon and my toes would be covered. Plus I'm not a big fan of feet, so I was nervous, ya know, low foot esteem. I finally got around to it, since my certificate was about to expire with my birthday in the very near future. Well, here it is...I usually do my own, but I must admit they do look pretty good, especially the cute little hand painted flower! Thanks Mom!

First day of school...

Wow, its here already? Summer flew by this year. I guess it's because time flies when you're having fun...we all got to spend so much time together as a family...lots of little trips and Jeff and I have been working like mad on the garage. It's a project he's wanted to do for a long time and we decided now was a great time to finally get it done. (I'll post some pictures on that when it's all done...should be soon.) Anissa was super excited for school, that last week of summer was so long to her. Jonah is starting middle school this year...he doesn't seem too worried. Maybe it helps to have Aidan there still, he'll be in 8th grade. Jake is a junior this year...I know! I can't believe it. They all let me take some first day pics. I even managed to get a smile out of Jake despite the early hour (seminary!)

Happy, Happy Birthday Jeffrey Dear!

Today is Jeff's birthday. He is now part of the "fortysomethings"...you know, 40 plus...(I'm not quite there yet...one more month til I hit 40..he he). Wasn't there a tv show by that name? I never watched it. It was before my time and I wasn't interested in a show about old people. Funny how when you're young, 40 seems so old...now it's looking pretty good! Anyway, I wanted to wish a very happy birthday to my wonderful husband (who so graciously spent the day with 6 seven-year olds. I'll take him out to a nice dinner tonight). I love you very much and look forward to spending the next 4o years together!

Happy Birthday Anissa!

My baby girl is 7 years old! She's getting so big. She's out of the baby stage and is turning into a little lady before my eyes. Getting so much taller, opinionated about clothes, capable of doing so many things on her own, and preparing for 2nd grade. For her birthday party this year, we invited a few of her friends to join us at the free movie (Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium) and then we went to McDonald's for lunch. It was so painless and the kids had a great time! Here are a few pictures from the party at home and with friends...We love you Anissa!

PS Granny & Papa: this outfit is a restyled combo of the two outfits you "bought" for her birthday!

Made us think...

Jeff woke me up on Friday night at about 1 am and said the neighbors house was on fire. I'd heard a lot of sirens in my half sleep, but they didn't sound right outside my house (I think I heard them coming from the station) and in my half asleep state, I was scared. I thought which neighbor? Do we need to get out of our house? When I got downstairs I could see flames glowing inside our neighbor's house directly across from us. It's so much scarier in person. I think we get desensitized by watching it on TV. I just felt sick to my stomach. I thought where are they, I don't see any people...it's some "kids" in their twenties that rent the house and I'm not even sure how many people actually live there (I know, we aren't very good neighbors). I just hoped they were all out and then I thought about all their "stuff". It's so sad. The forces of nature are so powerful. The firemen (all SEVEN trucks worth) had it out really fast after I woke up, but it still took about 2 hours for them to give the all clear. It really made us rethink our escape plan...we could see our previously designated meeting spot was basically buried in firemen and hoses and gear, so we'd better pick a new spot a little farther away. Also, it looked like the fire started in the kitchen and I wondered how does a kitchen fire get that out of hand? Didn't they have a fire extinguisher? Well we do, but we keep it in the cupboard above the microwave/oven combo...a kitchen fire will most likely start at the stove or oven. I don't think we will be able to reach over a burning oven to get the extinguisher, so we need to move that. Any way, they were all safe, but the house is unlivable for a while...it really gave us pause. I took a couple of pictures from inside our house and even that felt wrong, but here they are...

More mini vacations...

Since we have plenty of free time, we thought we'd make the rounds visiting family in California first...


Then we took a little trip up to Utah...




It was nice to visit everyone and do all the "touristy" stuff, but we hope Jeff finds a great job soon and we won't have the luxury of so much free time...keep us in your prayers.

Who is this Kid?

Jeff and Aidan went for a haircut tonight, which doesn't sound unusual to most people, but anyone who knows Aidan, knows "haircut" is not his favorite word! Jeff texted me while they were there and said "Aidan is getting his head shaved, I hope he doesn't hate me..." I was really panicked. I'm picturing totally shaved and I knew Aidan would NOT like that in the morning, so I called him up and said "NO, is it too late? Don't do it! Did you talk him into it or something?" Jeff said it was already too late, so I waited impatiently for them to return. Luckily, "shaved" was an exaggeration...here are the before and after. What do you think?

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Camping and Manti

We spent the past weekend camping at Big Rock Candy Mountain in Utah with Jeff's family. It was nice to get out of town and relax. We went to the Mormon Miracle Pageant in Manti. That was great, Jeff and I hadn't been since we were kids (I think it might be the same audio track that they had back then). We did the traditional church fund raising dinner (super long line, so so food) The only drawback is the starting time...9:30pm! They have to wait until dark, so two out of three kids fell asleep. Anissa went a day ahead with some cousins and got to do a fun river float. We didn't have time to do it, I might like to go back and try it. They have some good "beginner" white water rafting that sounded like it wouldn't be too scary. Here are a few pictures (stole of few of yours Cort, we kept forgetting to bring the camera)...

Jake leaves for Philmont...

Jake left for Philmont today. This picture is at about 3:30 am and he'll be gone on a 12-day 75-mile backpacking trip...thus the pained expression. I'll post all the details after he gets home on the 4th of July. (PS doesn't he look handsome in his uniform?)

Sun, Sand, Sea and Twins?

Jeff and Aidan spent last week at the beautiful scout camp "Emeral Bay" on Catalina Island. They had a great time snorkling, canoeing, and making pottery.They even found "future Aidan" there...a boy that looks like what Aidan would be in 2 years. Of course, we know he'll be even cuter. What do you think?

Brace Face!

Jonah got braces today! We've been lucky so far...Jake has perfect teeth (I don't think he's even had a cavity) and Aidan's aren't too bad, although he's been bugging for braces for a while. But at our last cleaning Dr. Lords told us Jonah's need for braces was a little more urgent. He's got some teeth just ready to come in, but no where for them to go. So far he's just got top braces. More to come later...he'll have to wear them about two years. The orthodontist said "The good news is you'll have them off before high school...the bad news is, you'll have to get them on now!"

DC Getaway...

On a Thursday Jeff texted me and said "What do you want to do tomorrow...I just got laid off". He wasn't joking (I asked). Well after the shock and a couple of days to let it sink in we decided to take a quick little getaway, just the two of us. We'd been talking about going to Washington DC in September, but decided since we suddenly have lots of free time, we'd go now. We spent 5 days in our nations capital. The weather was great and there is so much to see and do (most of it free!) It was great to recharge our batteries for the job hunt ahead...