impromptu clothes line

The belt on our dryer broke the other day. It's fixed now(by my amazing, wonderful, HOT and sexy husband)but until I was able to use it, the trampoline made a great clothes line. The clothes dried way faster in the hot sun than they do in the dryer. They were quite stiff though. I think the towels were able to stand up on their own. It's amazing how much we take our appliances for granted until they break. I'm glad I'm married to a handy man so he can fix things when they break.

Good news...

When we moved into this house, we signed a 12 month lease. It expires next month. Has it already been a year, wow! Anyway, Chris just talked to our landlord and he told us he was happy with how things are and we can stay. I'm so happy about the fact that we don't have to move and that our rent will stay the same (that was what I was most worried about). Hopefully by next summer (maybe sooner, who knows), we can start looking for houses to buy. I'm really hoping that prices will start going down soon so we can be able to afford a nice one. I like living here. I mostly like the fact that I don't have to move again.

blogs YOU like

I am looking for more interesting blogs to read. I would love to find some of people I know. If you know of any you think I might like, leave a note in the comments. If you have found this blog from another blog link, say Hi in the comments. I really think it would be fun to find some people from Richfield High School class of 93!

One of our most favorite places to be

We go to the library by our house about every other week. In the summer it's usually every week. This is our haul. Tristan usually gets 10-12 books, his stack is the big one and I think he added two more after this picture was taken. Connor usually gets 2-3 audio books and 4-6 chapter books. Anna gets 12 picture books and I usually get 4 novels.

We are definitely readers at our house! We are also getting very strong carrying all the books!

I did it again, and again, and again.....

Forgot my camera that is.....

After my last post promising to take pictures at the farmers market. I forgot it. We saw lots of interesting things to take pictures of too. Luckily we can go again and see even more lovely things.

When we finished at the market, we decided to head over to the Gateway. They were having a sidewalk art festival so we mosied on over to look at the artwork. Perfect opportunity to take pictures, but no, the camera was sitting in it's dock on my desk. I took some with my cell phone, but those didn't really turn out. There was some very pretty pictures. It makes me sad to think about all that work and talent being washed away with the first rain, or just walked and driven on. I guess the artists know that when they start. Maybe it's part of the art? Not something I would want to do.

Another fun thing I was planning on photographing was last night. I met my friends Amy and Jilayne for dinner. These lovely ladies and I were part of a herd of girls that hung out all through middle school and high school. It was fun getting together with them and playing catch up. I can't believe we graduated 15 years ago. WE ARE OLD LADIES NOW. I never thought of myself as old, but it's true. I am. I have a 12 year old for heaven's sake. Anyway, since I forgot my camera, again, there is no way to show the loveliness of my friends. Maybe next time huh?

I need to think of ways to help me remember the camera. Maybe a big note on the door? A post-it on the steering wheel of the car that says,"did you remember to bring the camera?" Any suggestions?

Hopefully some other pictures worthy events will take place in the near future and I will have my camera. One can hope.....

I was SO busy yesterday!

The title of this entry is a direct quote from Anna. And she was! Me too.....

We sent the boys off to their scout camps, and gained a friend for Anna for the day. We got ready and headed to the Gateway to visit the Children's Museum. We played for a couple of hours and then stopped by Old Navy to buy Anna a much needed swim suit.

We came home and had lunch and then the girls went and played outside while I watched and read a book (see how busy I am, wow, working sooo hard!).

Connor got home about 3:30 and we exchanged him for Anna's friend. Tristan's camp was an overnighter (his first!). We changed into our swimming suits and headed over to April's to swim. She bought a new house and it is right across the street from the clubhouse, so they have a really nice pool to share with the Forbes's! Yay! Chris and the kids and her kids swam and swam while April and I chatted ( I didn't swim this time at all). Then we got invited to a bbq! That was so unexpected and I felt a little strange not bringing anything. It was really nice though.

The kids had so much fun playing and when it was time to go, we were met with several complaints about not wanting to leave yet. We always have fun when we visit.

It was a good day, I don't think I heard "mom, I'm bored" even one time!

Oh and I forgot my camera, so no pictures this time! But we are making a trip to the Farmer's Market today at the newly remodeled Pioneer Park. Hopefully I will remember to bring (and use) the camera.

Tag, you're it!

I have now been tagged twice for this one so I decided I'd better do it!

How to play this game of tag. Post these rules on your blog. List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Joys:
1- Summertime! I love being able to sleep in and not have to be anywhere everyday.
2- Motherhood--I always wanted to be a mom, and I have the 3 bestest kids!
3-Crafts, I love to have a project going. I feel better when I have something to work on, and I love to see the results of my imagination!

Fears:
1-Debt--we mostly got all the way out of debt when we sold our house and moved. It was horrible. I never want to be a slave to the credit cards ever again!
2-Something bad happening to the kids--I know I can't be everywhere, but I get so worried when I can't watch them all the time. This is especially hard for me now that Tristan is a Boy Scout. I hope he stays safe and the bad guys leave him alone.
3-Something bad happening to Chris--He seriously is my very best friend and I don't know how I would survive without him.

Goals:
1- To be a better mom.
2- To buy our own house (we rent this one)
3- To someday get back into scrapbooking and get caught up

Obsessions/Collections:
1-I like reading other people's blogs. I love when I find one that has links to people I know. It's kind of stalkerish, I know. But I like reading about people.
2-I am growing a garden right now and I go outside several times a day to check on it. I love watching it grow and don't want to miss a thing.
3-crafts (see above). I am getting quite a collection of fabric, yarn, paper, etc......

Randoms/suprising fact about me:
1-I don't really miss living in Richfield all that much. I miss my family and my neighborhood, but I really like living in a city. It's fun to have all the culture and shopping--more opportunities all around.
2-I have no desire to return to school. I don't have a degree, but it doesn't bother me at all.
3-I love baths! I hardly ever shower, but every night I reward myself with a hot soak in the tub with a good book.

You're It:
Tag..you're it...Stefie, April, Tanya, Tennille and anyone else who just happens to read my blog that hasn't done it yet.

The Boy turns into a Man

Tristan was ordained a Deacon yesterday. He now holds the priesthood. His dad ordained him and gave him a beautiful blessing. It was really nice. I am exicted that he is worthy and can continue to learn and serve the Lord. He is a good example to us all.

These are the people who stood in the circle with Chris. I haven't asked for their permission, so I won't list names. Left to right Counselor, Bishop, Dad, Grandpa, Great Grandpa, Uncle, Primary Teacher, and Tristan in the front.

This is our family, with Grandpa and Great

Grandpa included.

There are four generations in this picture!

There were other family members there to support Tristan. Grandma and Great Grandma, Aunt and two cousins. After the ordination we went to our house to celebrate!

We ate lunch and then Tristan finally got to open his gifts. He has been waiting all week, which was hard because his birthday was on tuesday! But since he's 12 now, he was very mature about it and waited.

I used some fabric I had to wrap the gifts. Mostly because most of the wrapping paper I had was left over from Christmas, but also because Tristan doesn't like to tear the wrapping paper. I wanted to make it easier for him. The gifts looked cute too. I used pipe cleaners to close them. He got a brand new sleeping bag to take on scout camp-outs (which he is going on without me--he's glad but I'm not). He also got a book from his grandparents, some boring old clothes from his parents, a swimming suit from Anna, and some candy and water balloons from Connor.

We made him a "fancy" cake. It was Lemon cake with cream cheese frosting, decorated by Chris.

It really is fancy. It says so right on the cake.

Happy Birthday Tristan! You are very much loved my your family and everyone else. I hope you had a great Birthday and remember this special day forever!

Captain Jac Sparrow & Me

This is my friend Stefie. We work together in the Learning Center at Spectrum Academy. Everybody is afraid of Miss Stefie. She is a huge bully and makes people cry. We never really knew each other before I started working and now we are really good friends. We have so much in common that it is freaky. And get this.... she GETS Chris! Amazing. She introduced me to The Office and for that feat alone, she should be honored.

I really admire her because she has had a really rough year. But she toughed it out! She is really a strong person and sticks to what she believes is right. She is a really good mom, and does so much for her family. I'm so glad I had the chance to work with her this past year. The kids love her so much and she gets flowers and love letters all the time. The other teachers really value her opinion (except for the stupid ones who just don't get it). Thanks Stefie for being my friend! I love you!

Where did the time go?

He's 12!

Tristan had his birthday on Tuesday, June 3. He is 12 years old! To celebrate we went to Lagoon! He had such a fun time. He says his favorite rides are The Jet Star, The Bat, The wild mouse, the sky ride, and Turn of the century. He also rode the Roller Coaster with his dad, and his comments on it, were "it's steep". He was very adventurous, and every time we asked if he wanted to try a ride he would shrug and say "okay". Unfortunately, I forgot the camera so I didn't get to take any pictures. It wasn't a very warm day, so we didn't get to go to Lagoon-a-beach, or ride Rattlesnake rapids. We just didn't want to get wet! Anna was pretty adventurous too, and get running from ride to ride. Her favorite ride was The Paratroopers and Puff the Little Fire Dragon. I don't think Connor was feeling very well. He just didn't have much fun. But his favorite ride was the bumper cars. He probably rode it 4 or 5 times.

One funny thing that happened was that Tristan rode the paratrooper ride 3 times in a row. He was sitting by himself, and Anna and I were together. He got on, then we did. We rode around and then the operator started getting people off. During that time there was a shift change and Anna and I got off, but Tristan didn't. So he went around again. He was in the #10 cart and the new operator started letting people off. He started with cart #1. He got all of them off until he got to 10 and then started the ride again. That was ride #3! Chris went up to the operator and told him it was his 3rd time around. Needless to say, Tristan was the first one off when it stopped! It's a good thing he liked the ride!

It was really a fun day for all of us! It's fun living close to fun things like Lagoon!

Last day of school

We have been very busy this week! Monday was our last day of school. Anna graduated from Kindergarten. They had a ceremony (sorta) and the kids all got a certificate and a picture frame gift from the teacher and her aide. There was a cute cake with all the kids' names on it and lots of food. She had a good time playing with her friends one last time before summer. She is so ready to go to first grade next year, and hopefully we will have better luck with her teacher. I didn't post about this but at the end of April I moved her into a first grade class to finish off the year and she did great! She was so excited to learn and do work and follow rules.

Tristan finished 6th grade and brought treats for his class. This is the closet we have ever come to having his birthday during school (it was the next day). He is super excited to be a seventh grader next year. He really likes the teacher. I didn't get any pictures of him to post. They had a pizza party and root beer floats (he mixed root beer and orange soda for his and freaked out his aide). They had a water fight with all the middle schoolers too.

Connor finished 3rd grade. He had a great teacher and learned lots. The teacher in the picture with him is my good friend April. She teaches 5th grade and was Tristan's teacher last year. Connor went to her class for math and language. He is best friends with her son. I hope she doesn't mind that I posted this! What you don't see in the picture is the girl who has a crush on Connor. He got a penpal letter from her 2 days after school got out. He got to have a sleepover to celebrate the last day of school and had a good time. He's happy it's summer.