Petersen Family

2010-10-04T10:25:00.001-07:00

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Beautiful Benjamin

2010-04-29T22:04:00.000-07:00

At two weeks old today I finally got dressed AND put makeup on and did my hair today to run errands. Isn't Ben gorgeous?!

Ben is only awake about an hour and a half in a 24 hour period. He is very sleepy and always seems to look like this.

I really need Ben to take a bottle so we are starting early giving him just one a day. The kids love getting to feed it to him. He is taking it like a champ. Darren even fed him one in the car today. I love it.

Ben - 9 days old

Is this not the cutest pose?

Ben- 6 days old

Ben's first bath - in the kitchen sink.

Ben - 4 days old

Part of homebirth is a visit to the Pediatrician in the first 24-48 hours. This was his first car ride. Yes, those are flowers on his carseat. I recovered the carseat and just couldn't resist this adorable fabric-flowers and all.

Ben was a little jaundiced so he was getting some sun.

Benjamin's Birth

2010-04-29T20:40:00.000-07:00

I know certain people have been anxiously awaiting pictures of our BEAUTIFUL BENJAMIN so I am finally going to post about his birth and beginnings. This may be a little long and may have too many birth details for some so feel free to skip to the pictures. I did leave out all of the graphic pictures. My sister Carri was so wonderful to drop everything and come be our photographer. Thank you Carri for capturing this for us.

Ben was due on April 20th. I always go over my due date and was expecting to have him closer to the beginning of May. I tend to get crazy a week or two before my due date and start trying a few things to bring my babies sooner. In the past it has never brought on labor sooner but I do believe it makes for a quicker labor since I have so many contractions prior to labor. This time was different though. I had my midwife strip my membranes on Wednesday the 14th of April, which she couldn't really do since I hadn't effaced much or was not dilated to more than a 2. I decided to go home and take castor oil to possibly efface me more and start me dilating. I did not believe it would put me in labor since it never had the seven times before when I took it in previous pregnancies. I took it at noon with no effect until midnight when I started having contractions every three to five minutes. I figured they would last a few hours and then fizzle out. At 3:30am they were starting to get stronger and a little closer together. I finally told Alan I might be in labor. At 4am I told him maybe we should fill the birth tub in a little while. He said ok and went back to sleep. At 5am I was laying there and felt a sensation like the baby had just punched my cervix really hard and felt a trickle of fluid come out. My water broke. I now knew for sure I was really in labor and it wasn't going to stop. I was thrilled of course but also knew it was time to get to work. I got Alan up and filling the tub while I called my midwife Sue DiSilvestro and my mom and sister. They all arrived about 6am. I had her check me and then settled into the tub as the contractions were getting pretty strong and I needed to have silence and be able to relax. Alan was right there getting my music on, wiping my face and neck with a cool cloth, getting me drinks and just being present for me. He is my perfect Doula. I absolutely adore laboring with only my husband by my side. I love that it is he and I going through the entire process from conception to birth together focused on each other and this new spirit that will soon join us. When I labor I go completely silent and focus all of my energy on relaxing every part of my body while letting my uterus do its job. I always get to a point where I feel like I could keep my labor at the current level of intensity and it will take another hour or so before I am complete and ready to push or I could tell my cervix to open and finish dilating and I could be done in a few contractions. That happened about 7am and I started to push at about 7:20. He was born around 7:26am. He was my first water birth and I loved being in the water for relaxation, the relief from pressure and the ease it gave me to change positions. Alan was right there and caught Ben. The midwife gave a few instructions that Alan told me later were totally unnecessary because he knew exactly what he was doing. The whole process was intense but quick and absolutely perfect. I just kept thinking how grateful I was that I wasn't going to be pregnant anymore and I couldn't believe I had actually gone into labor five days before my due date. We found out that night that Alan's Mom who is on a mission in Africa had woken up that morning and thought that I should have the baby that day and prayed and asked that I would go into labor that day. That would have been almost exactly midnight our time. I really feel like me getting to go early was just a very sweet and kind gift that Heavenly Father gave to me. Thank you Mom for your prayers!
Another fabulous thing about home birth is having the midwives and visitors clean up and check the baby and me and then they all go home just a couple of hours after the baby is born. My amazingly wonderful sister in law Angela came and got Luke and Darren so that Alan and I and the baby could spend the entire rest of the day in bed adoring the baby and each other. That is such a special time to get to know each other and just be grateful for a healthy baby and such a miracle. Everything about this birth was Pure Perfection.

Grandpa Vanderpool stayed downstairs with the kids eating cereal and watching TV during the birth.

I loved the birth tub. It is very soft. The water was very warm and it helps to relieve pressure and aids in deeper relaxation.

Alan was by my side provinding comfort and a cool cloth when needed but also backs off during the contractions when I can't stand to be touched. It takes all of my concentration and effort to deeply relax and focus on letting my body do what it needs to do.

Alan and the midwives are quietly standing by while I push. This is the exciting part. Here's our Ben. He is so beautiful even all scrunched up and completely covered in vernix. It is such sweet relief to finally hold him in your arms for the first time.

This is my very favorite picture. It embodies everything beautiful about the amazing father that Alan is. There is a look of complete love and peace on his face and his arms wrapped tightly around his new son as if he will protect and love him forever.

Grandma Vanderpool was in the middle of a temple session when I went into labor. They came and got her out but she didn't quite make it for the actual birth. I think she arrived just a couple minutes after he was born. We loved having her there afterwards though.

A good ole homebirth scale. Benjamin weighed in at 8 pounds 7 ounces. He was 21 inches long with a 14 cm head. He is perfect.

Welcome Benjamin James

Love at First Sight

2010-04-29T20:23:00.000-07:00

Having a home birth has so many beautiful things about it. One of my favorites is the comfort and ease you feel from the very beginning. I adored having my kids in the house during the birth. They were absolutely silent and were able to come up and meet Benjamin just minutes after he was born. They all instantly fell in love and have been adorable with him. They all love to hold him, fetch diapers, take turns giving the one bottle a day, talking to him and especially turning on the swing for him. We all think he is perfect and way too much fun.

Eleanor

Mark

Luke

Bradley
Darren

More pictures

2010-04-04T12:40:00.000-07:00

Images cont'd

2010-04-04T12:36:00.000-07:00

Spring Break pictures cont'd

2010-04-04T12:32:00.001-07:00

Spring Break at the Cabin

2010-04-04T12:21:00.000-07:00

We had a great time at the cabin during spring break. Here are some of the pictures from our trip. The kids built traditional snowmen. Alan built a not so traditional one. Wolves came by the cabin. We enjoyed the snowfall for a little while. It was nice to get away as a family. We played games and put puzzles together.

Are you smarter than a fifth grader?

2009-12-01T05:09:00.000-08:00

Mark's assignment: Write one Veteran's Day Essay on a Veteran of your choice (to be entered into a school wide competition)

Mark informed Mom and Dad: night before

Mark's participation in writing the essay: little to none

It seems that Alan and I could still make it in 5th grade. We got a 100% and received an honorable mention in the school wide competition.

Thank you to Uncle Rick for being the coolest Veteran with the best stories that we know. It made for an interesting and exciting essay.

Hello, hello is this thing on?

2009-11-17T15:26:00.000-08:00

It has been six long months since I last posted. I almost forgot how. Just like everyone else in this world we have been extremely busy and posting has gone by the way. I actually put blogging on my "to do" list today. I was going to catch up with pictures and do some fun things but then was inspired to go to the temple instead. I had an amazing session where I received some beautiful answers to things I have been praying about. I love the temple. I love the repetitiveness and the peace and even trying to stay awake in the afternoon session. We are so blessed to have a temple that is only 20 minutes away. It will be even more amazing when we have one five minutes away.

A quick announcement to all those who are out of town and I don't get a chance to talk to very often. We are pregnant again. I am 17 weeks along due April 20th. We just found out a few days ago that we are adding yet another boy to the house. I would expect nothing else. We love our boys. It would be nice for Eleanor to have a sister but it is not to be this time. It's a good thing that Alan and I want more children so we can try for girls another time.

Besides that we have had a ton of sickness in the last month. We think that everyone but me contracted swine flu and we all lived. It wasn't fun and it wasn't short but it is over now and they all have a beautiful immunity to it for next time. Our bodies are amazing. I have been gone a ton with my calling lately. I am the secretary for the Stake Young Women in a very busy stake. We were gone 8 days out of 14 of the last two weeks. It is a crazy calling but one that blesses me and my family (I hope).

Alan's business is going along. We have good months and not so great months but they are still in business and enjoying the ride. We can not be grateful enough for the good name his Father left us in the business.

Mark, Bradley and Eleanor started a new school this year. It is a charter school that focuses on the Spalding method, discipline, high expectations and focuses on our founding fathers and the importance of the constitution. It has been great for Eleanor. She adjusted beautifully and has straight 99-100% and Outstandings in all her classes. She has made tons of friends and is very happy. Bradley adjusted a little slower than Eleanor but is now doing quite well academically. He is still trying to make friends and feel secure there. He has attended four different Elementary schools now so he tends to be reserved for several months before he will let himself make friends. Mark has had a tough time all around. He doesn't have friends that he wants to invite over but he loves playing all the sports at recess and seems happy with the other kids at school. Academically it has been quite the wake up call for us. He went from being an A student to straight C's, D's and even and F. By fifth grade they expect the kids there to do quite a bit and don't review much but so much of the curriculum was brand new to Mark. He is improving drastically but still has a ways to go.

Luke and Darren are very happy playing at home, going to preschool and playgroup and love having Co-op (babysitting) at our house on our turn. If I haven't told you about co-op it is one of my most favorite things and one I highly recommend. They have discovered the word "jerk" and use it often but still love playing together.

We are happy and busy.

Ode to the Perry's (especially Aunt Carri)

2009-05-05T12:41:00.000-07:00

For quite some time now my Luke has asked me everyday if he can go play at the Perry's (cousins) or sleep over. He absolutely loves being at their house and he loves Uncle Joe and Aunt Carri. He tells me everyday that he is going to marry his three year old cousin Allison and it doesn't matter if she is her cousin because he loves her and he is going to marry her. He gets upset when I tell him he cannot kiss her anymore and he cannot be with her everyday. Today he announced that he is going to go live with the Perrys forever until he dies to death. He also said that Alan and I can just get a new family and they will be Perry's now. I don't know if I should be really insulted or just really happy that he has such great relatives. Carri has to tell Luke all the time that he can't spend the night every night and that their house is really boring and all they do is work so he doesn't throw a fit everytime we leave their house. Aunt Carri is especially the favorite. She believes that Aunts and Uncles should only spoil their neices and nephews and she certainly does. She gives them anything and plays with them so cute. They all love her to death. They also have an amazingly fun house. They live on an acre on a street with five other families. The yards are almost all connected and the kids just run from house to house. The Perry's have a great merry-go-round, a huge swing set that you could almost swing so high that you do 360's around it, and a terribly dangerous teeter totter that spins in a circle and goes up and down. Six adults can easily fit on it and do often. They have had concussions and broken arms and multiple people that have had the wind knocked out of them on it. It is crazy but tons of fun. The Perry's know how to have fun and their house is a party most of the time. Luke is not the only one in my family that is in love with the Perry's. Darren knows all of their names and talks about them constantly. Uncle Joe was the first non family name that Darren could say. Mark announced on Sunday that "everybody loves the Perry's and it is a good thing that we have a pool so people will love our house too."

We all love the Perry's and are so glad they are a forever family and are related to us. Thanks for being such great friends but could you knock it off a little so my kids will want to live with me?

Another full week

2009-04-26T16:28:00.000-07:00

We have had a fun and full week. We started the week on Monday with FHE at a member of our Stake Presidency's home for star gazing. In order to get ready for girls camp they had us over for treats and a cool night of star gazing with a man that new quite a bit about the heavens. It was a fun night even with Darren running all over and making way too much noise. There were about seven families there and we were definitely the noisiest. Everyone was super nice about it and Pres. Tilley was adorable with my boys. He wrestled with them for about 10 minutes. Wednesday was Darren's birthday and Thursday we had Pack Meeting. We started out with a dinosaur dig at the Riparian Preserve and then had awards. We have pretty ambitious boys in our pack so that always takes awhile. Bradley earned five belt loops, two pins, a silver arrow point and the cub scout outdoor activity award. Mark earned his Webelos badge, two activity pins, a compass point and four belt loops. I love the cub scout program. I would love to be released from the counselor over cub scouts and to be a den leader. Boys that age are crazy but a lot of fun. We just love our ward and how on top of scouting they are. It is great to have fabulous leaders that work so hard for your kids. On Friday my Mom called and told me my brother Colin and his new wife Paige were in town and could we please have a family party at our house. Of course. Alan and I love having parties. We had a ton of fun swimming, eating, playing volleyball and and the kids watching a movie outside while the adults played volleyball and talked. Living by family again is pure heaven. We missed it way too much when we were away. Saturday there was a Petersen family BBQ planned at our my in-laws but I asked Alan if we should call and offer it to be here since we had so much fun the night before. My mother-in-law was relieved to move it since they are busy getting ready to jet off to Europe for a quick trip to see their daughter and getting their house ready to go on a mission. We had another fun party with the Petersens. I was too tired to take any pictures of both of them. It is just too hectic to take pictures and host groups of 40+. We also had a primary activity day yesterday that went great. Luckily my part that I was in charge of was the games and took very little prep time. I love an easy assignment. I had sharing time today and it went fabulously. The spirit was so strong and the kids were absolutely silent, both junior and senior. They respond amazingly when you can invite the spirit and they feel it. I am so grateful for prayer and the power of preparation. What a blessing to feel the spirit. We talked about Jesus washing the feet of the apostles, serving our fellow man and becoming a Disciple of Christ by following his example. I love the Lord and I am so grateful to have a chance to teach his children in primary and to see how much faith they have and how sensitive they are to the spirit.
After stake leadership meeting and another camp meeting tonight we will be all ready to start a new week.

Happy 2nd Birthday Darren!

2009-04-26T15:56:00.000-07:00

We love our Darren. He has been the sweetest and most adorable baby. Just a few weeks ago he decided to turn 2 a little early. He now wants to do everything, "myself, mommy," he hits me and anyone else that does not agree with him or immediately surrender to him whatever it is he wants, he usually adds a nice scream to that and he goes to time out about 100 times a day. Time out lasts about 15 seconds and then he is ready to come out and kiss and hug and say sorry. It is really adorable. When he is in time out he puts his nose on the wall and then covers his eyes. If he didn't have to go there so often on his own I might put him there for fun becuase it is so dang cute. He has been "potty trained" for almost three months now. That consists of him saying "bafroom mom" and me getting him on the toilet and so he can "finish" what he started. It is slightly frustrating but I would take this over diapers anyday especially since he wakes up dry 9 out of 10 nights. He talks like crazy. All of my kids have talked a lot young and it is very nice to understand what they want. Today in church he was looking at my neck and found a scratch and turned to Alan and said, "Daddy, don't ever hurt mom ever again. Don't scratch her ever again." He said it about 16 times. He then got down and was stroking my legs which I did not shave today and they were prickly. He was very concerned and kept saying, "Mom cut- scratch, don't cut ever again." Sacrament meeting is a night mare with him but he is so cute that you just can't stay mad for long. I love the way he speaks. All of my kids have spoken pretty clearly so when they speak any kind of baby talk I love it. He says all of his words that start with two consonants together with an uh between the two consonants like pu-lease, gu-ross, and Bu-radley. And just like Luke and Eleanor he loves food. He begs for lunch and snacks starting about five minutes after a meal. It is so hard to find nutritious snacks that don't fill him up much. We hope these terrible two's don't last forever but we will take them as long as we get Darren. He is definitely worth it.

More Birthday

2009-04-26T15:35:00.000-07:00

We got to celebrate Darren's birthday a few times this week. It started with the morning birthday breakfast and then the next night when everyone could be home we had the birthday dinner and cake and presents and then both Friday and Saturday we had family over and celebrated again. Darren loved his Dinosaur bucket from Grandma Petersen. All of the kids have enjoyed playing with them. Darren loved helping to make the cake just as much as seeing it and blowing out the candle. We had to relight the candle seven times so he could blow them out again. That was his favorite part of his birthday. He has walked around all week repeating over and over again, "Darren's berfday, Darren's berfday."

Too few and far between

2009-04-21T21:16:00.000-07:00

I am awfully ashamed of my lack of posts to this blog. I was going to be so good about finally keeping some form of a journal for my family because it was so easy to blog and you get pictures too. Well life just seems to get more and more busy and my posts get fewer and fewer.

I really started to fall apart way back in September when I didn't blog about Mark on his birthday and I missed blogging about all of the holidays and few more birthdays. I cannot necessarily go back but I am recommitting to begin again and improve. I am such a morning person and I think it is mostly because of the thought that today is a brand new day and I can do anything and shape it anyway I want. I don't have to repeat my mistakes of yesterday.

A few things that have consumed me for the past while are of course my children who I love dearly and have had to neglect somewhat because of all the rest of my projects. I am currently the second counselor in primary over scouts and cub scouts has had one event after another lately that requires so much time. I just got to spend 3 and 1/2 hours last Saturday at Leader Specific Training. I had no idea about all of the training I would need for this calling. I was called about two months ago to go to girls camp on the stake staff over 3rd year certification. Another thing I had no idea the time committment when I said yes. I love girls camp and am so excited but yikes! It takes so much preparation and time. I have canned 34 quarts of boneless skinless chicken in the last week. I made 12 quarts of yummy strawberry freezer jam as well. I decided we really needed to have a garden this season!!!!! so I took on the project of building four 4x4 garden grow boxes. Alan did not appreciate the project but he took it on anyways. I spent over a week planning and purchasing all of the supplies and then on conference Saturday Alan built the boxes while I mixed the soil, filled the boxes with the soil and then planted the garden. It was an excruciatingly long and tiring day but the boxes turned out beautifully and I love it now. We hope to add 8 more boxes for the fall planting season. Supposedly that will be enough for our family to eat out of and to can and preserve. I am still exercising like crazy with my group of girls. I do not love it anymore. I am exhausted all of the time and sore and wonder daily just why I need to have this "six pack". I need to give up something and I really should give this up but I love being with my freinds and we work out at my house and when else will I find time to exercise besides at 5am? Only six more weeks of P90X. The last major thing that has kept me so busy lately is the darn coupons craze I am on. I am enrolled in Coupon Sense and I spend way too much time getting amazing deals. I rarely go to the store without saving at least 80% on my purchases. I get most things for less than .50 cents or for free. My shelves are completely loaded with food and we are acquiring our 3 month supply and year supply for really cheap but it takes way too much time. I will not do this forever but I feel a need to do it now.

I talked to my sister-in-law the other night about how busy I am and how much I hate it. A friend of mine said to me "Amy, you do everything!" I did not take this as a compliment at all. I feel horrible that I have myself spread so thin. I am not doing everything. I have let so many of the most important things slide. I rarely sing to my kids at night anymore or tell them stories. I don't spend enough time helping with homework and going through backpacks. I haven't gotten out that Faith in God book in about two months to help Mark and Bradley work on. I don't spend nearly enough time cherishing my kids and playing with them. I am missing too much. My sister-in-law was in a very similar situation a year ago when a horrible car accident brought her life to a screaching hault. I do not want to have to learn the lesson that way. She has changed her life a ton and is so happy. She is my inspiration in so many ways. We really have to prioritize and constantly reevaluate what is most important.

I am committing to cutting back. I can't cut out all of it but I am going to cut back and enjoy my kids more. I feel time slipping by way too quickly. Tomorrow when the kids want to swim I think I will actually get my suit on and swim with them instead of clipping coupons, watering the garden, reading or the hundred other things I can think of doing while watching them swim.

Tomorrow is a brand new day!!!!!!!!!

Strawberry Freezer Jam

2009-04-07T08:07:00.000-07:00

I am adding this post upon request. I buy the Ultra Gel from Shar's kitchen store on Gilbert road at Houston Ave. The Ultra Gel is only 12 dollars for a small bucket so it is way way cheaper than doing sure jell and you can use less sugar and you don't have to cook this at all. It is wonderful, delicious and easy.

6 cups pureed Strawberries (I just put them in the blender and blend to the desired consistency)
2 cups sugar (you can use less and it won't affect how much it jels)
8 Tbsp Ultra Gel

Puree the strawberries. Mix the sugar and Gel together and then add it to the strawberries. Stir them together. Mix well. Pour into jars or tupperware and freeze. This will last for three weeks in the fridge and much longer in the freezer. We are still eating jam from last year that tastes great.

Oops-A-Daisy

2009-02-25T11:03:00.000-08:00

I was busy in another room when I heard Darren laughing and yelling Oops-A-Daisy and then crashing. I came into the kitchen and found him having a great time throwing all of our "kid" dishes on the floor. That is the first time I have heard him use the phrase oops-a-daisy. It was just way too cute. It was one of the few times it wasn't hard to not get mad at one of the many messes he chooses to make in a day. I tried to get my video camera because it was just so darn cute but of course the batteries were not charged. I am going to charge them right now.

I was runnin

2009-02-25T10:06:00.000-08:00

People have been wanting to know why in my last post I was running three times in a day. Well........ I have joined an awesome running group that is made up of mostly women in my ward and then some friends from other places. I started running with them last July. We were running three days a week in the morning at 5am. At first we were just running for exercise, fun and a chance to socialize. After we did our first 1/2 marathon we decided to compile a team of 12 runners and to sign up for the Ragnar Relay. We have been training for it ever since. Our group has morphed into a fabulous running team. We love it. We now run four days a week together. We have been doing hill training, speed work, long runs (up to 18 miles) trail running amd even running up to three times in one day. Some of us even got in some high altitude training. Our big race is this weekend. It starts on my birthday. The race is a relay race that starts in Prescott, AZ and ends in Mesa, AZ. It is 200 miles long and we have about 24 hours to complete it. We are each running three different legs that very in distance and difficulty. It will start in a decent elevation and run along highways, through neighborhoods, dirt trails and end in a nearby park. It has been kind of a logistical nightmare to plan for and get ready for all of this. We each took on two jobs from coaching to decorating the vehicles to gathering night bike riders that will ride next to us while it is dark and so on. We have all worked really hard and everyone is super excited. Alan can't wait for it to be over so my trainging will go down significantly. It really has gotten in the way of family stuff quite a few times. My 18 miler not only took three hours to run but when I finished I felt like I had the flu and couldn't do much the rest of the day. All of this running has consumed a lot of my time and concentration. I will be relieved to have it over but I will not stop running all together. Most of the girls want to do a marathon in the next couple of months as well. I don't know If I want to do that. I am happy with 1/2 marathons and 10K's. I just don't feel like that is something I have to do. I think that I enjoy running now more so than I even did in highschool. It is all the fun of a team without all of the pressure to perform. The only pressure I feel is the pressure I put on myself. I tend to be a little competitive so I do push myself pretty hard and I love it. Sometimes during a race I wonder why but I always feel so good afterwards.

Anyways, wish us luck and come join us anytime if you would like. After this race we are actually thinking of switching it up a little and doing that P90X (or whatever it is called).

My Sweethearts

2009-02-15T20:20:00.000-08:00

Will you be my Valentine?

2009-02-15T15:43:00.001-08:00

We had such a fun evening as a family last night. I'm sure you were expecting me to say as a couple but I decided to involve all of my Valentine's in the celebration this year. Alan and I have had some really romantic trips in the last few months and we have left the kids with babysitters a lot as well. While running at 6:30am yesterday morning my friend Lori gave me a great idea. I went straight home and worked the rest of the day to pull it all off. I only took off time to go running one more time. I cheated and didn't do my third run in order to finish it all.

We had a Valentine night out but we stayed in. We started out going to "Petersens" a fabulous resturaunt complete with menu's and a several course meal. I even let them decide whether or not to have salad and vegetables. That was not easy but I did it. I was the server but had to change my title to"Matre De" so Eleanor would let me sit down and eat with them. We got out all of our china (which isn't much) and had a fancy dinner. I went a little crazy and made lots of really great food. The kids loved every bite. Earlier in the day Mark said he wasn't going to like anything I made. I told him I would pay him $10 if he didn't like it. He tried to say it wasn't good during the meal between bites that he was scarfing down and enjoying every bite. There was no money exchanged. We started out with a green salad, garlic cheesey bread and shrimp cocktail. For drinks we had strawberry daquiris and pina coladas. For our main course we had a fabulous marinated flank steak that was so tender and delicious with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus. For dessert we had a yummy homemade cherry pie and ice cream and chocolate dipped strawberries. The entire meal was exciting and so fun. It was great to have the kids feel "fancy" and to choose their meals. Each item was given a different love themed name and they had to order using those names instead of the name of the food.

After dinner Alan had heated the hot tub and lit the fire in the pool area. This was only the second time we had heated it and the first time the kids got in. It was great to spend this day showing my love for my family. I am so grateful for all of my Valentine's. (Alan and I even got some great romantic alone time after the kids went to bed.)

2009-02-06T12:45:00.001-08:00

Our Darren

2009-02-06T12:32:00.000-08:00

Darren is at the most adorable age right now. We have been potty training him for the past two weeks. I thought it would be a nightmare with tons of accidents and lots of washing out underwear. He is only 22 months old so you have to expect it to take several weeks to really take but Darren is doing beautifully. He says in his very cute voice "bafroom, Mom" and then runs in and is ready to do his thing. It is all very exciting. I think he has got it already. We have gone three days with no accidents. He got a new toddler bed yesterday. I figured he needed to be able get out of bed to go to the bathroom at night by himself. I can’t believe he is getting so big. AMAZING!
His language is exploding lately. He has even started simple sentences like "where mom go?" and "mom, milk please" and "mom, look gain gain(train)". He is in love with Thomas the train. He carries around a Thomas computer game that we have and shows everyone the train pictures. He is very good about saying please and "Kank you Mom." It is nice to have at least one polite child for the time being. He is still whispering but not as often as he used to. Anytime he really wants something he just whispers "mom, mom, mom" until I notice and then he asks for it. It is my absolute favorite. It is sweet and polite and so darn cute. When Alan comes home he just stays where he is and whispers, "Dad home, dad home." I will be so sad when he stops doing this all together. I have tried to get it on video but he is not good about performing on command. He only whispers when he feels like it and will not repeat. It is usually when everyone else is being loud. He has learned that it melts my heart every time and I will give him just about anything if he whispers. He loves to say people's name and does a pretty good job. He tackled Eleanor quite early. He calls her Nenenore. He says Ukey for Luke and can say Mark very wll. He does not however ever call Bradley by name. I don't know why but he just calls him Mark too.
Darren is very curious and climbs everywhere and gets into everything. He empties cupboards and opens everything to check it out. He, of course loves the kitchen still and rifles through the drawers and cupboards on a daily basis. I keep all of the plastic kid dishes in a low cupboard that they can all reach so he gets those out and sets the table with all of them. He loves to explore any cupboard. I find my makeup with finger marks in it and spread all over my bathroom. He loves to rummage through the pantry as well. Food is his main motivator. It is his constant pursuit. He loves to eat and snack all day long.
Darren is my buddy. He wants to be where I am and he loves to snuggle. There just isn't much not to adore about my sweet baby. His adorable eyes and smile sure don't hurt either.

Cruisin

2009-01-24T07:52:00.001-08:00

Alan and I got to be spoiled rotten in November and go on a cruise. This was the first trip we had left all of the kids and gone somewhere by ourselves in ten years. We loved every minute. We did the seven day Mexican Riviera cruise on the Holland America Line. There were lots of things we loved about that line but one of the best was that it caters to the older crowd. There was a lot of older retired couples and some middle aged couples and even a few families. None of the hard core partiers and crazies. I guess we are most comfortable with that crowd. We had such a relaxing fun time. It was nice to take naps, eat whatever whenever, enjoy sun bathing, reading, being together all the time, the entertainment, getting to know other fun couples, participating in various shipboard competitions and being without kids. It was so nice but hard not to feel a little guilty for leaving our kids and having such a relaxing fabulous time. Every couple should get to do this from time to time. We would really like to get away together much more often than every ten years. It is just so healthy for your relationship. It felt good to just be us and not Mom and Dad. Next time we might like to go with other adult friends or family too.

The ship was beautiful and the food was great. We did have to buy soda for Alan when we got to our first port because Alan refused to pay ship prices for that. The entertainment was so fun. Our favorite was the Elton John impersonator. He was hilarious and a great comedian as well as a great singer and piano player. The piano bar guy was super good too. The ship singing and dancing cast was ok but nothing too special. The magician was so cheesy. He would tell a joke and then turn his head and shake his shoulders up and down and pretend to laugh. His majic was not that impressive either. He did choose me to go up on stage one night though to have my neck pierced with a sword and smoke blown through it. That was fun but I almost punched him when he lit a cigarette and kept bloking smoke in my face. We also loved to go and sit and listen to the string quartet every night. They were excellent. Ship life is quite amazing. It is a floating city that is very compact and totally relaxed. I loved being able to eat all the time. We even ordered free room service at 2 in the morning. I loved running laps around the ship for exercise. That is a little strange with the ship pitching and rolling. My legs were super sore- it was like I was running hills the whole time. I loved having a pool to lay by in the sun and read. I even liked the movement of the ship. You didn't notice it very much except for the first and last nights. The first because it was a new sensation and the last because the sea was rough. We were never nauseaus but it did feel strange to be moving like that. I loved the chance to dress up in formal wear two different nights. Alan didn't love it as much but he didn't complain. We met a really cute older couple that took us polka dancing-much to Alan's chagrin. It was thier 27th cruise and they were adorable. It was great to do whatever you wanted whenever you wanted. We took three naps in one day. I don't think there is much better than a day like that.

The ports were lots of fun too. The first port was Puerto Vallarta. Everyone told us not to purchase an excursion on the boat becuase you will pay almost triple for it than if you just get off the boat and haggle for activities with the locals. Since Alan speaks spanish we were completely comfortable with that. We hired a guy to take us to Lover's beach and for snorkeling equipment the first day. It was beautiful. The weather was perfect and the water was warm. The beach had beautiful white fine sand. It was great to lay out and snorkel and explore the beach. One of our favorite activities to do together s probably people watching. There was plenty of that to do that day. We didn't see a ton of fish snorkeling but there was some pretty ones. That beach was nice because there are no hagglers walking the beach trying to sell things to you constantly. When we got back we found a mall that had a great little restuarant with really great food. I loved my fish tacos with fresh salsa and rice. It was "real" mexican food! Our next port was Mazatlan. We didn't want to spend much money that day so we chose to go to a time share presentation to have our food and taxis paid for. It turned out great. They weren't too pushy and they let us go in the exact time they said they would. We had lunch on them and the yummy pina coladas and then went to the beach. We rented body boards and had a great time riding the waves and playing in the water. Then we layed out in the sun under an umbrella and read. It was a great day. I just couldn't stop thinking how great it was to have a break from kids and the stresses of the past 11 years of school. Our last port was Cabo San Lucas. This one we haggled with a guy and got a great price on a Zip Line tour. We drove in an open bus up the mountain for about an hour and then did about 15 different zip lines over the jungle canopy. It was stunningly beautiful and such a thrill to zoom that high up and for such long distances. Our guides were fun and pretty goofy. They film it and make it into a movie since it is made in the place that Arnold Swarzenegger (sp?) filmed some action film. We of course did not buy the film but we had a great time.

I highly recommend a cruise. You can get them for fantastic prices right now if you are willing to book them two or three days in advance.

Thank you Alan for a wonderful trip!

Absolutely Beautiful

2009-01-23T12:10:00.000-08:00

My sister-in-law Jessica had a beautiful baby girl this morning. They named her Aftyn Clarissa. (I was going to name Eleanor- Clarissa right up until I held her in my arms for the first time.) Jessica allowed me to come to the hospital and be her DOULA. There is not much in this world that is better than being a part of a natural birth. Jessica did beautifully. She had had a lot of contractions for a few weeks and thought she was in labor a few times. Last night we did a little surprise shower for her and she looked so ready. Today was her due date and she woke up this morning and her water broke at about 4:30am. They called me and we all arrived at the hospital at about 5:20. She labored with complete focus and relaxation. She birthed Aftyn at 6:05am. She was 7 pounds 13.2 ounces and 21 inches long. I love to see women that want to do natural birth and learn the right way to do it and then carry it out with such perfection. It is not possible for everyone but when it is it feels so right. It is how our bodies are meant to birth. I was actually a little jealous of her and would have stepped in her shoes in a second if I could have. I love to give birth.
Aftyn cried out quite a bit as if she was telling us how hard her journey just was and how much hard work it was to make. She finally settled down and nursed beautifully after about 20 minutes. She was the perfect pink color and has big beautiful lips and the Petersen nose. What a joy it was to be a part of. Thank you Andrew and Jessica for letting me be a part of this sacred experience.

I will post a picture soon.

Good bye old friend

2009-01-23T11:57:00.000-08:00

We had to say good bye to one of my dearest friends this last fall. I was devastated to lose her but we had had five rich and very full years together. We spent countless hours together and with the exception of the carpet and occasional brake problem she was very very good to me. We logged almost 100,000 miles together and saw quite a bit of the country doing it. She endured way too much throwing up on her and urine and food but never complained. Her doors were my absolute favorite feature. My children never slammed them into another car, I could easily climb in and out of them and they opened with such ease. This was all until her computer module decided to go out. It would have cost almost as much to fix it as she was worth. We had filled her to capacity but know we are not done having children so we couldn't replace her wiht an exact replica. How could I ever be happy with anything else?

WELL...........

2009-01-23T11:45:00.000-08:00

When employee pricing, great cash back, decent trade in value come into play Alan decided it was time to stop risking our brakes going at any time and to go ahead and purchase the Yukon. I was very resistant. I love my van and did not want anything else. There were lots of reasons to purchase this but I just really loved my van and didn't want to buy something that I felt was a little ostentatious. The salesmen were shocked that I did not just ooh and aah over the car and that I wasn't super excited.

I was very reserved about it for a few weeks but I absolutely love it now. My number one feature on it is the back up camera. I am always terrified that I am going to accidentally back over a child. That worry is no more. It is complete peace of mind. I love the on star feature and the leather interior and just about everything. It isn't even hard to park like I thought it would be. Thank you GMC for such a great vehicle! And Thank You Alan for not listening to me and buying it anyway.

Family Home Evening

2009-01-23T11:22:00.000-08:00

I was going through some pictures and decided I really need to update my blog. I have been quite the slacker since the kitchen remodel.
In November we were having a very normal average Family Home Evening. I was teaching the lesson and everyone was quietly listening and participating when the giggling began. I guess Alan decided my lesson needed some spice and he happened to have a rubber band on hand. He thought it would be a great addition to the lesson to contort Luke's face with the rubber band and then Bradley's and his own. It actually ended up to be very funny and entertaining. Much better than my boring lesson. You are supposed to have a game or activity anyways, right?

Can't Sleep

2008-12-02T03:51:00.001-08:00

I went to bed last night at 9pm because I was so tired and I had a headache. I was hoping sleep would make it go away but I woke up at 1am with a terrible headache that was soon turning to a migraine. I quickly got up and took my cocktail of advil and excedrin knowing that I could stop it quickly. I was so desperate that I took the excedrin even though I knew I would have trouble going back to sleep. Now that it is 4:45am I have completely given up sleep and decided to blog about my evening. I am supposed to get up in 15 minutes to go running anyway.

Yesterday was the beginning of the 4th week of having no kitchen and my house being in total disarray. It was a hard day to say the least. For family home evening we had to spend it in Home Depot picking out bathroom sinks and faucets and eating dinner at Burger King (which I hate). It was rather pathetic. Alan had to help his mom with something so I was left to put the kids to bed by myself. I was really tired and very GRUMPY. Poor Luke kind of took the brunt of all my frustration.

He has a little plastic cap gun that is out of caps but that he loves to shoot over and over again. Usually I just tell him to take it outside and all is well. Last night however, he and Bradley were both running around shooting their guns and yelling and I had had enough. I told them to stop now and don't shoot them again or I would take the guns, break them and thow them away. I don't think I said it very quietly either. After about two minutes Luke must have forgotten or just really couldn't help shooting it and he resumed the noise. I immediately took the gun broke it in half and threw it away just like I said I would. Here is the sad part. He didn't yell or scream or even start to cry. He just sat there and his little lip trembled a bit and he looked totally crestfallen. Mark cried for him though. I asked him what was wrong and he quickly let me know it was ME! We had prayer and I sent them off to brush their teeth. When I went upstairs to check on them I found Luke walking through the hall totally oblivious to me whimpering and muttering to himself, "she just broke it and threw it away. It is gone. In the garbage. Forever." Later I found him sitting on the counter in the bathroom trying to brush his teeth and muttering the same words. It totally broke my heart. If I hadn't broken it I would have gotten it out of the garbage and given it back tomorrow. I think he is definitely getting an orange plastic cap gun for Christmas.
Patience is a virtue that I am obviously still working on. Thank goodness kids forgive quickly and there is always a new day to look forward to and to try again.

Remodeling Pics

2008-11-25T15:37:00.000-08:00

Here is the kitchen as of a week ago. Most of the cabinets are in and it is being painted at the moment.

This plastic drape is supposed to keep the dust out but nothing can stop that darn stuff.

This is where the entire contents of my kitchen now reside and this is also where Darren spends most of his day. No toy room can compare to a full kitchen at your immediate disposal. This was last week. This week everything has been rearranged by Darren and has an inch of dust over it.

I took this picture because everything is in the wrong place last week. It looks about one thousand times worse at the moment. I sure hope this all ends soon.

Soooo Tired

2008-11-25T15:17:00.000-08:00

I am thoroughly ashamed of myself for the lack of posts. Time has flown by this fall with so much going on. Nothing has been very normal for us lately. We are in the midst of remodeling our kitchen and have gone through a whole house painting and new carpet being installed. I am truly grateful for all of it but I can hardly wait for it all to be done. It is possible that all could be put back together by next Friday but in the beginning we thought we would be done by the end of October so you just never know with remodeling. My entire kitchen is draped in plastic at the moment and painting is supposed to be going on but I haven't heard much in the last couple of hours. I am sitting in the family room and if I want to go upstairs or to the front door I get to go out the garage door through the garage and back in the front door. My house has at least an quarter of an inch of dust over the entire first story. I seem to be running constantly to buy something at home depot or go to another specialty store to see if they have the sink, faucet, lighting, granite etc. I am not complaining I am only explaining the lack of posts. The hardest thing is that I am supposed to carry on life as normal in all of this. I think Eleanor has to decorate a brown paper horse with any material we come up with and turn it in tomorrow. At the moment it is in some obscure spot covered in drywall mudd powder and ceramic tile dust. That just may be the medium of choice for this project.
I just got a new calling on Sunday. I was released from the nursery which is truly one of my very favorite callings and it made me very sad. I am now the second counselor in the primary over scouts and nursery. At least I still get some connection with nursery. Scouting is fun since my boys are totally involved and I now have somewhat of a clue of how it works.
The kids seem to be functioning fairly well in all of this chaos we are all just really dusty and everything is in the wrong place. I am craving organization and cleanliness like no other. (Hooray I finally hear painting starting again) Thats all for now I need to figure out what to feed my family tonight. This one is going to be tough since I have not only no kitchen but also no refrigerator access. We may just have to go visit Wendy.

Let's Do All We Can

2008-10-21T08:07:00.000-07:00

My sister sent me this link. Please take a minute and watch the video clip. It shows some of the possible outcomes of Prop 102 not passing. I was livid and shocked with what I saw!!Here is the email:If you worry about what is or may be taught to your children at school... Please visit the following link: We should be taking all the steps necessary to ensure that this doesn't get passed in our own state. Copy the link into the browser and hit go http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1352578267/bctid1784521903
Dear Friends,I highly encourage you to review this short video which was sent to me by a friends who's friend is in the actual clip. It will blow your mind. Then please send this clip to all your contacts. The video will prove to you WHY we must pass the marriage amendment.This link was sent to me by my daughter Cheri. Her husband has a brother -- Robb -- living in Massachusetts and he and his wife are in the video clip attached. They've been involved in law suits and all the ugly details affecting this homosexuality agenda. Dear family,It looks like our legal efforts may after all be useful and serve a good purpose during the election this year in Florida , California , and Arizona . Our lawsuit and story are being used in the ads encouraging support to adopt these constitutional amendments. I was surprised to see it mentioned in California 's first TV ad for the amendment, and it is also discussed/printed in the Arizona government official "voter issue" guide. I'm also attaching an internet video clip that is circulating from the Family Research Council showing our story. Anyway, I think we're going to be involved in more media as people get reminded about what happened to us. I've already been contacted by the campaign manager for the California effort. I expect to hear soon from others. Anyway, I'm asking you to forward this clip on to people you know in Florida , Arizona , and California . We all have cousins, in-laws, extended family in many of these states. Tell them that what happened to us is real and will, I believe, undoubtedly come if these amendment efforts fail. This IS a big deal and we need to do what we can - even if we can't send money, we can hit "forward" and remind people of the stakes of this election. My brother-in-law's wife in Arizona is active their state's marriage amendment efforts. One thing she sent us yesterday caught my eye, "Our Area Seventy, Elder Anderson, said that the fight for traditional marriage in Arizona and California is the biggest fight he has been involved with in the Church. He told some volunteers that passing this Proposition is as important to saving our families as it was for the saints in Nauvoo to finish the temple in order to get their endowments before they moved west."

Free Handbag Giveaway

2008-10-08T07:32:00.000-07:00

Handbag Planet is having a give away of a free handbag, 1 handbag every hour 24 hours before they officially open their doors. There are some really cute bags at not horrible prices. I'm not a big purse girl but these are great and you just may get one free. Go here to enter to win http://www.handbagplanet.com/contest3

bread recipe

2008-10-07T09:05:00.000-07:00

Here is my bread recipe it is courtesy of my favorite chef around- Chef Brad. He is wonderful and has so much knowledge to share. If you haven't taken a class from him I would strongly recommend it. I just may be hosting one in my home as soon as all the remodeling is finished. His classes are on grains, breads, pressure cooking and on and on. You can get all of the ingredients that are on here if they sound unfamiliar at Char's Kitchen Store on Gilbert Road at Houston or at the Emergency Supply Store on Mesa Drive by Deseret Book.

The Master Recipe

5 cups warm water (between 95-110 degrees)
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup honey (I put the oil in the measuring cup and then add the honey so they both come out nicely without the sticky mess)
1 heaping Tbsp. Salt
3 Tbsp Saf instant yeast (this really is better than anything you can get in the store)
1-3 Tbsp dough enhancer
1 Tbsp lemon juice (optional)
2 cups high gluten flour
6 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour (I use all kinds of grains here. As long as at least 2/3rds of the flour is wheat or spelt you can use 1/3 of any other grains you would like. Just grind them all together in your mill. They will change the taste and texture slightly. You just have to play around and experiment to see which ones you like best.)

Put all of the ingredients above in the Bosch with yeast on the top and then turn on speed 1. As that is mixing add as much additional flour for dough to pull away from the side of the bowl. (It usually takes about 14 cups of flour total) It should only pull initially half way up the side of the bowl, and during the 8-10 minutes of mixing it will pull completely away. It is important not to put too much flour in or your bread will be dry and crumbly. Add back in 2-4 Tbsp of water (more if needed) to keep your dough soft. The stickier the dough the lighter and fluffier the bread will be. Let mix for 8-10 minutes. Oil your hands and counter well. Divide dough into 5 loaves and let rise in loaf pans, sprayed with a non-stick spray. Let rise for approximately 30 minutes in well-oiled pans, until they have doubled in size. While they are rising preheat oven to 375 degrees. After putting bread in oven turn down the oven to 350 and cook for 30-35 minutes until bread is golden brown. You can measure the temperature of the bread with a meat thermometer they should be about 180 degrees. When they are done take them out and immediately take them out of the pans and let cool on a wire rack. I like to butter the tops. Do not bag until they are cool. You can get great bread bags at those two places I suggested at teh top as well. They freeze very well. We always eat one loaf that day and then one for the next couple so I usually freeze three of the loafs or just give them away to friends and neighbors.

Good Luck. I only know how to do my bread with a Bosch. If you do not have one I highly recommend one but they are pricey. I believe they are well worth the investment since I use mine all of the time and they will last you at least 20 years but probably a lot more. Feel free to email me or call or come by with any questions. Or we can schedule a lesson if you want. Just give me about six weeks until my remodeling will hopefully be done.

Happy 6th Birthday Eleanor!!!

2008-09-18T13:04:00.000-07:00

Eleanor and her favorite cousin Jency
She does much more jumping and diving than swimming.
Ballet: She never smiled once during her performance.
This is the most common Eleanor we see. Even mad she is cute.
This morning she had six different breakfast choices for her six years. She chose the strawberries and whip cream, bluberry muffins and of course chocolate donuts.

Eleanor is our unique child. We love her for all that she is both the good and the unusual and the challenging. Her main loves in life are of course number one- Art. She says she is definitely going to be an artist when she grows up. Her mediums of choice these days are markers and trash. Everytime I go to throw away a wrapper or container of any type she stops me and says she wants that for her art. She still sits at the table for hours and colors and creates. Thankfully she produces much less these days because of the hours she is in all day kindergarten. I was constantly having to try and throw things away without her watching. The one thing I had to put a stop to lately was water color painting toilet paper. Way too messy and she wanted to keep every square. When she does art it is in mass production. Eleanor does not do things half way or small. She also loves to swim and play in the sand in the back yard. She became a great swimmer this summer and showed us her brave side. The older boys were on dive team and when they learned a back dive she watched them do it once and immediately pronounced that she could do that too and did an almost perfect back dive. She really loves her gymnastics and does it constantly. I am always getting to watch her latest routine or this new back bend. We are having a contest who can get all the way down in the middle splits first. I was ahead but she is pulling ahead now. She also loves playing with Darren and making him smile and make faces and sounds. She of course loves to play with all her friends and cousins. They love to dress up, play outside, make forts, watch t.v, tell jokes and be really silly. Notice nothing about dolls. Like mother like daughter. She absolutely loves Kindergarten. She is made for school. She loves to obey the rules and to sit for long periods of time and work on things and she loves to be social. Her teacher adores her. When I go to the school I usually run into another adult that works there and they are all telling me how wonderful and cute Eleanor is. I'm glad she saves all her sass and attitude for home.
There are a few things she does not like at all. She hates having to stop an activity and do something other than her idea. She does not like taking showers. She hates having people touch her unless you are scratching her back very softly and just the right way and in just the right places. She is very particular about most things like that. She hates eating dinner. No matter if you put a tablespoon of food or a cup of food on her plate she immediately says that is too much and she cannot possibly eat it all. She does not like to smile and laugh at things when Mom and Dad are watching. She usually laughs and then quickly covers her mouth or pulls the corners of her mouth down so that the smile goes away. She only likes to display emotions on her terms. She hates her art to be messed with or thrown away. She really wants to have a sister but does not want to have to share her room. Most of all she just does not want to be told what to do, when to do it or how to do anything. I think she is a type A personality.

She continues to get more beautiful all the time. That is fine except that I worry that she will define herself by that and not by kindness and compassion and sweetness. Every where we go people tell her how pretty her eyes are and never how kind she is. I wish we could look at a person and tell imediately how loving or compassionate someone is as much as their outside appearance. She is kind when she wants to be and very sweet at moments, but she also knows how to work it and milk people for what she wants. If you wonder if I am afraid for her to be a teenager that is a definite YES! Her toddler years were hard enough I can't imagine what the natural inclination for more independence and freedom combined with hormones is going to do to her.

We love our Eleanor and wouldn't trade her for anything. She has definitely taught us many valuable lessons. She is our very girly, beautiful, and sweet when she wants to be SIX year old!

Vacuum Obsession

2008-08-27T12:35:00.000-07:00

My little Darren loves the vaccuum. He follows it everywhere, constantly plays with the attachments, loves to sit by the plug while you are vacuuming and unplug it, and loves to hold on to it as I vacuum. Mark happened to leave it running and unattended the other day and Darren siezed the moment. He ran to it as fast as he could and then proceeded to vacuum the same spot for about six minutes while I snapped pictures. He was in heaven. He would concentrate really hard and then turn and smile and laugh at me. We were all busily doing our morning lists but this brought everyone running and we all just sat and watched and laughed. Babies are the best. I wish I could be as thrilled with running this machine. Thank goodness my kids are old enough that they do most of the vacuuming these days.

Nothing Like Homemade Bread

2008-08-27T12:25:00.000-07:00

I have been a bread maker since very early in our marriage. My sweet husband liked it enough and likes me enough to even buy me all of the right tools. In order to make great tasting nutritious bread you really need to have a great recipe, a bosch mixer, a grain mill (wheat grinder), and stone bread pans. In the beginning I always mixed in about 1/2 white flour with store bought wheat flour but since the grain mill I have gone to 100% wheat and then finally to wheat, spelt, rye, popped amaranth, flax, steel cut oats, and many more. I found Chef Brad who taught me how to use grains in my everyday cooking. I now own an electric pressure cookers and use it at least 4 times a week. I love it and my family even likes it. His big thing is not to change your families diet too drastically or it scars them for life since we all have such an emotional attachment to foods. Anyways, back to the bread. My family loves the bread. I bake five loaves about every 6 to 7 days and freeze three of them. We eat one of them the first day because no one can resist fresh bread. So here is why I am posting this. My bread has always tasted great but does not have that store bought professional look to it. I try to cut it just so and store it right. Not until I went to my neighbors garage sale and saw this bread slicing gadget did I finally feel satisfied with the look of my bread. Now I put it in there and use an electric knife and each slice comes out perfect. The feel of each slice is much nicer and it crumbles much much less. I am so excited about this. The bread even stays moist longer for some reason. I have been searching for so long and now I have finally found it. Hooray! I don't do many things very well but I guess I am pretty good at this one. Stop over any time for a slice or even a loaf.

Working With Family Is Fun To Do Fun To Do To Do To Do

2008-08-17T16:41:00.000-07:00

After moving in to our new home we have had quite the opportunity to be outside in the heat working together as a family. We have spent weeks working hours a day to rid this yard of weeds, greening up the lawn and keeping it mowed and removing unwanted cactus and very poky plants that will not work with kids in the yard. I thought it was going to absolutely miserable and we would have to drag our kids out to help. This has not been the case at all. We have had some great "Ensign Moments" working together. Mark and Bradley and even Eleanor have said several times, "I love working together, This is fun, Look at our progress, It looks so much better, This feels good, It's fun to tell stories and work at the same time." It has been amazing to work side by side and have them just talk and talk and talk. It is stunning and has made this task bearable. It does feel really good to all be out there together accomplishing a task that beautifies our home and teaches us all to work. I have not been so hot in I don't know how long or sweat so much but I don't mind at all. Amazing!!!

Things I love about being home

2008-08-13T07:51:00.000-07:00

I dreamed so long about moving back to Arizona and how great it was going to be. It has been so much fun having all of it come true and so much more. Here is a list of some of the great things about being done with school, living in Arizona and in our own home.
-Having a steady and dependable income
-No more visits to the DES office!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-Alan is relaxed and happy as can be
-Our own home that we can paint, change carpet or even knock down a wall if we wish
-Family, family, family they are everywhere and wonderful
-A ward that seems to be made for me
*a running group that meets at 5:15am and will run a 1/2 marathon together
*an amazing babysitting co-op (one of the best ideas I have ever heard)
*a fun book group
*lots of families with 4-6 kids in our same stage
*a fabulous cub scout program
*very very friendly and welcoming
*I already feel like I have been here for a year not 2 months
*I get to work in the nursery (I actually love this calling and Darren gets to start early)
-Grandma sleep overs and outings with just the grandkids and grandma
-Paying back not accumulating more student loans
-I can buy little things here and there without any feelings of guilt
-Arizona sunsets
-Warm swimming pools
-Meeting up with old friends in random places
-Cousin play dates
-Having Alan home on Fridays is the best!!!!!!!!!
-Trips to the cabin, hiking, and camping in the desert with the Rangers
-Being able to pay for a date and a babysitter
-Feeling settled. I can finally make new friends without reservation of having to leave them in a couple of years.
-My children can grow up in the same schools with the same friends.

and on and on and on....................

Being done with school is the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stress is still there and always will be but it is well cushioned by so much support and love from all our family and friends and security in Alan's job.

Happy Day- off to school

2008-08-07T14:37:00.000-07:00

The day has arrived that all may be still and quiet at moments in my home again. Yesterday was the first day of school. They started at a new elementary with the new house. Bradley was very nervous and excited and Mark was super cool and calm and Eleanor just flowed into class and said, "Bye Mom." She is so independent. They seemed to have a good day and as usual I had to pull out the very few details they were willing to give up like , "My teacher is nice, I made one friend, we went over the rules and toured the school." That is about all I got. Their school is huge and quite the maze to get around. I still haven't figured out how many levels it has. We only live 1/2 a mile from the school so I bought a bike trailer off craigslist and put the baby seat on the back of the bike and we all ride together to school. I am sure we are quite a site. Maybe I will get a picture sometime. It will be fun to have some one on one time with Luke when Darren is sleeping and to have less kids to haul around town.

Just another day on the lake?

2008-07-29T12:21:00.000-07:00

We finally found the time a month ago to try and take advantage of the boat that the practice owns and it turned into a really hot and miserable day. We were so excited to go to the lake and enjoy the boat but after we go it into the water and got out past the no wake zone Alan pushed down the drive and it would not go at all. We ended up drifting over to the marina to see if they had an idea of what was wrong. It took about 45 minutes to get over there and then another 45 minutes to get back to the dock. It turns out that this had been a problem the last time it was taken out and so they took it to the shop but I guess they decided to not fix it. We ended up spending about 4 very hot hours (over 110 degrees outside) just to take the boat back to the shop.

Well a month later we tried again. Full of hopes of good times we once again put the boat into the water but it wouldn't start due to a dead battery. We pulled it out of the water and found that there was also no plug in the boat and that it had filled with quite a bit of water. We could have sunk had we stayed out there for long. We once again went to the marina to see if they could help. Alan purchased three new plugs and a new battery and we were on our way. We had a great day waterskiing and tubing. The kids' favorite thing was just jumping in the lake and swimming around between skiing and tubing. They loved how fast the boat was and we all had a great time.

Right before we were going to go in Alan said I should learn to drive the boat so I followed his instructions carefully and drove Luke around in the tube. I turned it off and we floated around for a while. When he went to start the boat again the drive gear that you push to go just went around in circles and the boat wouldn't start. Of course it had to happen right after I attempted to drive. He messed with it for quite a while and finally got it started and we headed home. The kids were starting to think we were going to have to sleep in the boat. We got the boat loaded up and then headed home. On the way home we had trouble with a latch that had broken and the lid to the engine compartment kept flying up so Alan had to go rig a rope contraption to keep it down. Next we had a flat tire on the boat trailer. Of course there was no star wrench to get the lug nuts off the tire so I got to go find a Checker Auto and bring it back. Then someone tightened the lug nuts way too tight and Alan had to take off another tire on the same side in order to get the other one off. We finally were able to go drop off the boat thinking all the while that we never want to see it again.

Now we understand that people say the two happiest days of your life are the day you buy a boat and the day you sell the boat. Also that BOAT stands for Bust Out Another Thousand$.

I am just so grateful for a husband that can figure out just about anything. He was able to fix the latch and the drive problem the next morning in just an hour. Maybe this boat thing isn't such a perk after all. Boats are so awesome when everything works but a nightmare when they don't.

Luke's Questions

2008-07-26T07:36:00.000-07:00

We were at pinewood derby and Luke told me again that he had eggs in his pocket. I was distracted and thought he was talking about the plastic Easter eggs that he and Eleanor play with almost daily. Instead they were real chicken eggs from the neighbors chickens that like to come and visit Grandma's house. He found them in the grass and of course put them in his pocket. He had been carrying them around for about five hours. After one broke in his pocket I realized he had told me about eight times throughout the day that he had these in his pocket.

Eleanor convinced Luke to sit still for long enough to decorate him with her hair things.

Luke is my adorable three year old that has been in the question phase for a very long time. He seems to be more inquisitive than my other three older children or maybe I just don't remember. He leaves me confounded on a daily basis. Right now he is stuck on growing and death because of some recent occurances with some friends and family. Here are some recent examples:

When will I grow up?
When will I be a Dad?
How do you make a tree, grass, table, arm, toes, bees, the sun, piano, window, swimming pool.... (basically anything he sees he wants to know how it is made)
Does Dad love you? (this was followed by no he doesn't, sometimes he doesn't)
How do you drown?
When will I die?
Do you only die when you grow up?
Will I drown today when we go swimming?
How do arms grow back? (Aunt Angela's car accident has brought on much concern and interesting questions)
When will I be in a car crash?
Is this police man going to shoot me? (The one that had us pulled over for speeding. I only got a warning. Thank goodness for a really cute baby that charmed the nice officer.)
When will I be big?
When will I be superman?
Of course all of the body part questions. I will spare you those.
Can I go? Can I go? Can I go? (He will go with anyone, anywhere, anytime.)
And on and on and on.

This could all be asked in the space of about a ten minute car ride. He seems to think a lot in the car because he really hits me hard there. It is not easy to answer most of these with out quite a bit of explanation and caution so yelling an answer over the other four children and all the way to the back seat of the van is not easy.

What is one to think?

2008-07-11T06:48:00.002-07:00

A couple of days ago the kids and I were sitting at the table eating lunch together when Mark very seriously says, "Mom, if one of our parents had to die or we just had to choose which one to live with I would choose Dad because he makes all the money." He looked very pensive and like he had given this a lot of thought. The other kids listened and then put in their own opinion which sadly most agreed with Mark. Mark then added that it would be okay because when it was his turn to cook he can make some things for dinner. What is a mother to think about that. I guess I am nothing more than a cook to my nine and a half year old son at the moment. I just chalked it up to an interesting observation and boys really do not have a clue so much of the time. I sure do love him but WOW!

Future Wrestling Champs?

2008-07-09T10:21:00.000-07:00

Mark and Bradley participated in a week long wrestling camp through a local highschool. They took it very seriously and loved every minute. I was totally amazed at how much technique they learned in just a few days. The last day they grouped all the boys into groups of four according to their weight class and had a little tournament. They each wrestled three times so each boy wrestled all the others in their group. It was super fun to watch. Alan happened to be off work so he was able to be there as well. That was really great because between matches the boys would run over to dad and he would give them pointers and advice. We just may get into wrestling. We have been told their are more camps to attend and even a club to join.

Mark was an animal on the mat. He was really intense and loved having Dad there to cheer him on. He won all three of his matches quite handedly. Notice he is the shortest one out of the group. This could be a good sport for him since he will only compete against boys his same weight so his size will not be an issue. It could be a great self esteem builder for him as well.

Bradley did awesome as well. He won two out of the three matches. He only lost the one because he forgot that you shouldn't let the guy up once you take him down or else he will score points. He was adorable. He kept stopping and smiling at Alan and I when he was doing well. He loved the competition and loved learning the correct technique. Darren wanted in on the action the entire time we were there so Bradley finally obliged him.

Pictures of the outside

2008-07-07T21:08:00.001-07:00

The home is on 2/3rds of an acre and it is well used. We have a huge grassy area, sand area, sport court, rv parking area, and the pool area.
Believe it or not it is no longer green like that. It only took two weeks, a new filter, gallons and gallons of chemicals and 16 -40lb bags of salt.

This is the side yard.
The waterfall and slide to the pool.

Our New Home

2008-07-07T20:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our new home. For some reason we haven't taken a picture from the front. We bought this home on a short sale so the previous owners were very bitter about losing the home. They stopped taking care of it a long time ago. The pool was very very green and there were weeds everywhere. These are all the before pictures. I will post some after pictures later. Alan the boys and I have worked so hard to clean this up. We have big plans for the inside but we haven't worked on that yet. We have been pulling weeds and removing cactus for hours everyday. Alan has fixed most of the 60 plus sprinkler heads and has spent hours and hours trying to figure out and fix the pool. It is going to be fabulous when it is all done but I'm sure that won't be for quite some time. All of the work will be well worth it especially since we got the house for such a deal. I feel really sad for the family that lost this home because it will be quite a gem someday. I have happened upon a great way to lose several pounds and I wasn't even trying to. It is work outside pulling really big weeds for a week and a half in over 110 degree heat and don't eat much of anything because you are so hot all you want to do is drink water.
We are planning on tearing out the soffet (spelling?), replacing the cabinets and counter tops and all appliances and also reflooring the entire house.
This is the entryway. The living room is at the bottom of the picture and the dining room is up the flight of three stairs where I am standing.

As you can see we have a ton of painting to do on the home. We will most likely repaint the entire home. This is Luke and Darren's room.

And the fun begins......

2008-07-07T13:31:00.000-07:00

After much viewing of many friends' blogs I am finally going to join the throng. I thought it may be a great way to relieve a lot of the guilt I have for not keeping a family journal or scrapbooking. This just may be the only record I will keep of our family. I have millions of pictures in albums but nothing written by them or anything cute to make them more interesting. So here goes....

A very brief family history: Alan and I were married in 1997 and we were both going to school at the time. He was doing his undergrad to get into dental school at ASU and I was studying midwifery through the Utah College of Midwifery. We had Mark after a short 16 months of being married. Bradley came along 20 months later. I finally got my midwifery license and completed one client when we took off for dental school at the University of the Pacific in San Francisco. It was very difficult to leave home and our beloved Arizona but we knew we were always going to come back. I decided life in San Francisco would be too difficult for me and the kids so we lived in a beautiful suburb called Walnut Creek. Eleanor was born just two months later. We lived in a tiny apartment above what became a great friend Jill Hoopes. She truly helped to save my sanity. She even moved us to a slightly larger apartment when we were out of town one week. Luke was born four months before dental school ended. Dental school was quite the challenge but of course Alan did wonderfully and so we got to go on to Orthodontic school. St. Louis here we come. We met more wonderful people and loved so many things about St. Louis. We will always miss the beauty of the area, the amazing list of free and wonderful things to do there and most of all our friends but not the weather. Darren was born seven months before we finished Ortho school. Alan finally graduated from school in December of 2007 and we were able to go home. We moved in with my parents so we could save for a down payment on a house and so we could find a home to buy. This proved to be much more difficult than we originally thought. Now seven months later we are getting settled in our new home and we love it.

I hope to post often so stay tuned....