The Canyon

One of the best things about warmer weather is getting to go up to the mountains! We have a plethora of wonderful canyons with lots and lots of picnic areas to choose from. We went up to the canyon, despite being poured on early in the am. By afternoon, the weather was beautiful and we had a wonderful time. Thanks Natalie and Dave, for going with us!

Connor and Madison climbing with Brett.

The kids are pointing to the road here. It's in the background...you can see it if you look hard enough.
Kenna found this leaf and said, "Look mom, there's a heart in this leaf! It's for you!" So sweet!

Here are the kids at the entrance to a cave. We all went inside and the kids loved it! It was really dark, but we had head lamps. This was a highlight for the kids.

Twins Preschool Graduation

This year I did a joy school with my neighbors for the twins. It was a lot of fun, actually. There were 8 kids (which was a little on the much side) and some of them were just barely 3 (which was a little on the young side) but overall, it went really well. The kids became such good friends and love to play with eachother. They did wonderfully at learning their letter names and also the letter sounds. The twins are really ready to begin learning to read this summer which they are excited about and so am I!

I can't believe my babies are 5! Where does the time go? FIVE YEARS!!!! I seriously cannot believe they're so big!!! They will be in kindergarten next year and they are just so excited! I have some friends who are just so sure that I am the luckiest mom because all my kids will be in school.....well little do they know that I am not ready to send them away! These two are like my hands....I will feel lost without them. You know how most moms relish the time to go to the store by themselves and just be alone? Well, when I go to the store and I'm by myself, I think, "this is how it's going to be next year when they're in school. I'll be all alone, by myself with no little hands to hold, no arms to squeeze around my legs or neck, no slobbery lips to give my kisses, and no high-pitched, squeaky voices to hear call my name or sing a song. What am I going to do?" (Don't get me wrong. I do enjoy a nice shopping trip by myself every once in a while.) But being by myself means my babies are not babies any more. My children are growing up. I am not the mother of babies or even toddlers anymore, I am the mother of children; school-aged children. When did this happen? How has time passed so quickly? Now time will go even faster than it has before and soon, I'll be the mother of tweens and then teen-agers.

Ok.

I'm stopping.

After all this fretting about time passing so fast, one thing remains and shines through all the harshness of children growing so fast:

I have the privilege and blessing of being a mother.

That, in itself, is enough.

Connor's Baptism Day

What a wonderful day! We had such a special day with many friends and family. We are so proud of Connor and grateful that he made the decision to be baptized. It has been so neat to see the change come over Connor. Since he's been baptized, he is different. He is more submissive and soft and he's really taken a liking to the scriptures and to writing in his journal. He says he thinks the difference is the Holy Ghost. I agree. What a precious and marvelous gift.

The big boy in his new suit. Doesn't he look handsome?

Connor with G & G Bell

We want to thank all our friends and family who came to the baptism and who supported us on this special day.

Hillarious!!!

You have got to check out this awesome video of a group called, "Improv Everywhere." These are just all seemingly regular people in a mall food court, and then one worker at Hot Dog on a Stick just breaks out into song. This is great! I wish I could get my hands on one of those Hot Dog on a Stick outfits. Do you think they're on Ebay?

Called to Serve!

My sweet brother and sister went into the MTC 2 weeks ago. My sister is going to California to speak spanish and my brother is going to Chicago to speak spanish! Isn't that awesome? These are my two youngest siblings and I am so proud of them and I know they will do wonderfully.

The MTC was great! The spirit was so strong and singing "Called to Serve" started the tears. By the time it was time to say good-bye, we were all in tears and Connor was sobbing. He was so sad to say good-bye to my sister, he could barely stand it. But, we are so excited for them and we love them. We pray that they will find those who are ready.

Dave Ramsey

Brett and I had the wonderful opportunity to go see this guy:

If you have not heard of Dave Ramsey, you need to discover who he is. He is incredible! We first heard about Dave while listening to him on the radio. He is on 570 KNRS from 7-10 pm . I know, I know, it's an AM station, but really, that is what I listen to these days. FM radio has too many commercials and I have to save the music on my ipod for running days, or else I get tired of it-- so AM gets my attention. Anyway, we LOVE Dave Ramsey! We listened to him for a while and then read his book, "The Total Money Makeover," and we caught the bug to be debt free! Dave's philosophy makes so much sense and is so do-able. The total money makeover consists of 7 steps-- Dave calls them baby steps, like from the movie"What About Bob." We started the program in January. Since January we have paid off about $20,000 and by the end of this summer, we'll have paid off about $30,000! The cool thing is, is that he uses a lot of principles from the pamphlet the church published way back when, "One For the Money." He also uses a lot of scriptures from the Bible. His philosophy: "If you live like no one else, you can live like no one else." Meaning: if you give up things that everyone else is doing now like new furniture, finishing basements, newer, bigger cars, remodeling, boats, vacations, clothes, electronics, going out to eat all the time, blowing the budget, charging things just to get the 'benefits' etc., etc., etc.(and no offense to those who might be doing those things now. Trust me, we'll be doing some of those things when we can pay cash.) So, if you give up all those things now, later, you can do whatever you want with your money. I am so excited and just feel so in control of our finances now, which I am ashamed to say, I haven't felt our whole marriage. Isn't that horrible? My parents taught me well, but it seems I prefer to make the mistakes myself and then learn the lesson. I guess some things just have to be learned that way. In a few months we will be totally debt free, except for the house! No payments except the house! If you want to learn more about Dave, his philosophy and the "Total Money Makeover" click here.

We went along with our fabulous family, Natalie and Dave. We had a wonderful time and we were so motivated! Thanks for going with us guys!

Polar Bear 2008

Almost every year for the past 10 years, Brett has been taking us up to a place we like to call the, "Polar Bear Canyon." When Brett was a teenager he found this spot with his friends. It's quite a hike through brush and poison ivy (which none of us got on us, except Brett) and up some pretty huge rocks, but we make it and it's always worth it! This water you see is direct run-off from snow. Yes, I said snow. Since we had such a huge winter this year, the waterfall was very powerful. This time we went with my brother and sister, Alyssa and Tyler, a few days before they both entered the MTC.

This is right above the little 'pool' area where you jump in and have to completely submerge yourself to be an official member of the polar bear club.


Video of Ty

Video of Cami

(Just so you know before you watch this, as I'm getting into the water, I'm thinking to myself, "I am not going to freak out. I am not going to look like an idiot when coming out of the water." [I was thinking this because of past experiences of looking like a freak] Anyway, I am trying so hard not to go nuts, but the water is just so cold and I couldn't help it!)

We had a great time with Alyssa and Tyler! I'm glad we got to go one last time before they left!

I tried to upload the video of Brett and Alyssa, but it didn't work. I'll upload it when I can.