Horseback Riding with Grandpa!

I grew up on a 20 acre ranch with lots and lots of horses. Most of the horses were for show or breeding, so we didn't do a lot of riding while growing up. But, now my dad has some old, very tame horses so, while we were in California he invited the kids over to ride one night. Gillian was really sick, so she didn't get to go, but Davis, Ryan and Ginger loved it!


Grandpa is known for cruising around the ranch with a pile of his grandkids going for the ride. We miss those days!

2008 Family Reunion at the Beach House

Every year, my family (my 10 brothers and sisters, their families, and my parents) gather together in ONE huge house on the beach where we spend the week swimming, surfing, boating, playing, talking, laughing, and eating....and this year we added, and vomiting! Despite the fact that almost half of us got sick, we still had such an amazing vaction. We soaked up some much needed sun, pigged out on way too much junk food, and just enjoyed being together as a family. We took about a million pictures, but here are some of my favorites.....
This is ALL of us, except for my youngest sister who couldn't come because of a brand-new job as a CES seminary teacher! She was definitely missed.

Terrific Kids and Terrifying Parenting Moments

Most schools have a program where students are chosen as "Student of the Month" or something similiar, but our school doesn't do that. They have a different program where the Kiwanis Club (whoever they are?) comes at the end of the school year and has each teacher choose one student during the month of May and one during the month of June. They chose a student who has a positive attitude, good character, and responsible citizenship. To our delight, both Ginger and Gillian were chosen by their teachers for the month of May and were honored at an assembly with the entire school. They called in advance and told us it would be a surprise for our girls. The funny thing was, they thought we had just come for the fun of it and ended up being able to see them by chance. We are such good parents to go to the assembly's just for fun! (Ryan and Davis were grounded for a month for NOT getting chosen, by the way).

The best part of the whole assembly was when Ethan turned white as a ghost and looked like he was going to "lose his lunch". Don quickly took him out, but he kept calling for me, so Don passed him off to me right outside the auditorium. Within 10 seconds I was covered in throw up. Don ended up taking him to clean him up, missing the entire awards program while I videotaped with an arm full of throw up. Good stuff.

I'm Back!

To all my fellow bloggers, I've missed you! Life has become a little crazy over the past couple months and I have not had time to do anything with my blog....or even check yours. (And if you think I'm behind on my blog, you should see my bathrooms.) Yikes! I have been doing some work at home and let me tell you, being a working mother with a husband who travels is not fun. But, it has been such a blessing for us at the same time. Anyway, I am slowy starting to get my head above water. I am going to catch up this coming week if it kills me! Stay tuned...

Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium

Last Saturday was a glorious, sunshiny, WARM, beautiful day. So, we took advantage of the weather and took the kids to the zoo, and unfortunately, so did the rest of the state of Washington. It was PACKED! We almost didn't even go in once we saw the parking lot, but decided to brave it anyway. It really wasn't too bad and we ended up just loving being outside and spending the day together as a family!
Just click the pix for a slideshow of our day...

Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium

"Not by the hair of our chinny chin chins!"

This is what we do on Sunday afternoons. How about you?

Just click to watch...

Chinny Chin Chin kids

"I am thankful for fish"

A couple weeks ago, Ethan came out of his Sunbeam class at church with a live goldfish in a bag! He was so excited and the rest of my kids were ecstatic. Don and I were NOT excited. We have a "no pets allowed" rule in our home. I announced that we don't even have a bowl for it and Don quickly responded, "oh, yes we do. It's white, ceramic and it's called a toilet". The kids were not very happy with that response. So, two weeks later, we still have this fish, that I call Stinky Pete. Hopefully my nephew will be taking it home today to live in his aquarium. And hopefully, Ethan will think it's cool that his big cousin is taking it to live in a bigger fish tank.?? Fat chance.

Spring Break Continued...

Friends, cousins, play dates and fun...

You know you live in Washington when your children can't even handle direct sunlight for longer than 2 minutes....

Spring Break/ Sun Break!

We REALLY lucked out this year and actually had FOUR straight days of sunshine for Spring Break! Don was gone most of the week, but luckily, the only thing my kids wanted to do was spend their days outside on bikes and the trampoline. It was still quite chilly outside, but my kids kept asking for popsicles and smoothies, insisting it was "so hot!" Ridiculous.

Class Party

I have been trying to have a party with my Primary class since the end of last year, but with sickness and people out of town, we haven't been able to ALL get together until last week! We had such a fun time. We ate pizza, popcorn, and candy (too much!) and watched the cutest movie in the world...."Enchanted". I think I have watched it about 6 times now and would be happy to watch it again. Pathetic. I have the best Primary class in the world.....all girls and all GOOD girls, too!

The Joys

This is what every tired mother needs to find at the end of a very long day. I love my Gillian!

Easter Dinner

It was our turn to host Easter dinner this year and we really had so much fun putting it all together. Unfortunately, Don was out of town the entire week before, so the day before was a bit stressful trying to get everything ready, but once he got home, it all came together and made for a very enjoyable family easter celebration.


I have to show off the jelly bean bracelets I copied out of the Family Fun magazine. They are made with elastic string and pastel colored jelly beans (which are hard to find). I made one for all 10 girls and boy were they a sticky nightmare! It seemed like it would be an easy task to whip them out, which is why I took on the project, but when the needle got sticky after the first jelly bean, it got a little tricky! The girls loved them, though, and that's all that matters, right?

And, the cupcakes? I can't take credit for those. Don's Mom made those and can you guess what the flowers are made of? Tiny marshmallows that she simply cut in half. Go ahead...double click to enlarge the picture and see for yourself. She insists that it was the easiest thing in the world to create. I thought they were the cutest things ever and they LOOK like they took hours and hours to create, so everyone thinks you slaved over them. And that's all that matters, right?

Easter morning

What is wrong with this picture? Oh yeah, it's Easter morning, my kids are dressed in spring clothes and it's freezing, raining, dark, and depressing outside. Not exactly my idea of a lovely Easter morning. But, it was a beautiful day anyway. The talks in Sacrament meeting were so uplifting and inspiring and it was good to take some time to reflect on the Savior and His atonement and resurrection. That is what Easter is all about.

The Ward Easter Egg Hunt

Saturday, before Easter, we attended our ward's Easter Egg Hunt, and Don was still out of town. It was a great little party, complete with a hunt for eggs, picnic lunch, and games for all the primary children. All five of my children are in primary this year, and I had my nephew, Hank, for the weekend, too, so it made for a great distraction!

Aren't Home Teachers the Best?

Last week the kids and I came home to find our faithful home teacher mowing our lawn! Don has been crazily busy, or gone, and just hasn't been able to get out and mow. The young men were supposed to come and help, but when they didn't show up for a while, the kids pitched in and helped. Thank you, Bro. Ferguson!

"Thanks, Easter Bunny!"

On March 15, eight days before Easter, our family was assigned to clean the church. So, we got up early, worked hard, picked up our traditional donuts, and headed home to find this note on our door...

The kids went ballistic! The hunt was on as they screamed and ran all over the house filling their baskets with eggs and candy.

Wasn't it nice of the Easter Bunny to let Dad be part of the fun?

It's Tradition!

Every year when I leave for Girl's Weekend, Don gathers the kids together and they make their plans for their "special weekend with Dad". They make their menu for the weekend, go shopping and then plan all their activities. This year, Don wanted to do something a little extra, so they booked a cabin at Zion's camp for the night. The kids LOVED it. Before their trip, they caught the elementary school production of "Puss In Boots" and then hiked and canoed and explored and played. My kids really look forward to this weekend all year. And wasn't he cute to take all these pictures?

Girl's Weekend 2008

a.k.a. Girl's Gab Fest, as my brothers like to call it. We had another fabulous girl's getaway, our 7th annual! Yes, we started this tradition 7 years ago, and we love it. We leave our poor husbands and children at home (or kick them out if it's our turn to host) and enjoy a weekend of talking, laughing, crying, walking, shopping, eating, staying up WAY past bed time, actually getting to sleep in, and bonding together as women. It really is such a wonderful weekend to regroup and reconnect and refocus and remember what our role as women and wives and mothers is. I love my sisters and mom so much and feel so blessed to have them as my best friends!


Oh, and one added bonus. It's usually in California, so I got to soak up some much needed sun! It was a beautiful, warm, sunny weekend. And, yes, I took a picture of the sun. In fact, I think I might just put it up as my desktop picture.