Mother's Day!

Mother's Day...here are Mom's presents from us!!

Happy Mother's day to all of my sisters!!

Look at my blog to see some exciting posts...

Concluded Volume 2

I just finished reading the second volume of B.H. Roberts' "Comprehensive History of the Church." This volume ends with the first group of saints departing Nauvoo in February 1846. In 1,100 pages the two volumes (1 and 2) cover Joseph Smith, Jr. ancestry through the beginning of the saints migration. While I recognized many of the stories throughout the history, I have learned many things that I never knew before. More importantly to me, however, I have a greater understanding of the things through which the saints had to pass, the circumstances under which the doctrines of the church were received and taught, and the character of the leaders and the members in the early days of the church.

This history has opened my eyes to the degree and volume of persecution those early saints endured. Just for example, I had no idea that within just over a year of the martyrdom, many of the saints' homes were torched by mobs. Because of direction given by Brigham Young, the saints offered no resistance. The mob would knock on their door and tell them they were going to burn the house. The saints would collect their personal items they intended to keep and then watch as their homes were burned. Because of the exposure incident to sleeping out doors, some family members died from the loss of their homes. At least 25 and possibly up to 175 families lost their homes in this manner. I just can't imagine living under those circumstances.

What made all of the persecution worse was that the government in Illinois did nothing to stop the it (not to mention in Missouri where the government largely supported it). As I've read all these things I'm just amazed that the saints stayed as faithful as they did. I hope that I can endure all the trials in my life as well as they did theirs.

I'm looking forward to reading the next volume. I know a lot of the pioneer stories, but I'm looking forward to the context to put them all in. I don't know much about the churches early years in the Salt Lake Valley. I know a little about the federal government's persecution of the church but not much, so I'm also excited to get the details on that.

I just wanted to share that with you all and to suggest, if you've got time and some extra money, that you pick up this history and read it for yourself.

Another option

What about Ocean Shores???

http://www.vrbo.com/138042

http://www.navylifepnw.com/site/373/Pac-Beach-Cottages.aspx

This is a good option. We could get 3 cabins to fit us all. Beach is in walking distance. 20 hours from me, 20 from Denver, Ralph and Andy would be close.

Look at the vintage cottages. This is through the military, so we would ask you soldiers to reserve them for us. We'd share the cottages.

What do you think???
Remember the trip we took there one year?

What do you think of this??

Jess, what are the dates that you and Jason could both come?

Some fun places to stay?

I haven't really looked at where these places are...but they look so fun!!

http://www.lasvegasretreats.com/vacation-rentals/luxury/castillo-de-paraiso.html

http://www.lasvegasretreats.com/vacation-rentals/property/luxury/castillo-de-la-paz.html

http://www.vacationhomerentals.com/vacation-rentals/Bear-Lake-Utah-vacation-rental-villa-proID-41769.html

Family Reunion

So next summer will be our next reunion. While this is over a year away, we need to start thinking about some things. I will mention those things now (feel free to add "things" to the list):

Most of us live closer to the west than the east. So, it would probably/possibly be cheaper/easier for the two families in MD to join the rest of us out west-ish.

That would mean we would not have free lodging at Jess and Mom and Dad's. We would have to find a place to rent.

If we don't have it in MD, then Jason wont be able to attend as he will still be in school...

Before we find a place to rent we need to pick a place to look. I am thinking Utah area. Washingtonians can get there in a days drive, Coloradans less than a day and us NDers in about a day and a half.

We could look in Park City area, like our family had a reunion there in 1998. It was fun, it's a lovely area. Prices might be crazy out of our reach by now. We could look in Southern Utah, closer to the LV airport for those who fly. There are lots of national parks down there.

We could see if BYU offers dorms anymore. I have no idea. I don't even know how old we were when we went there.

I am sure Colorado has some lovely places, but that would be farther for the Ralph and Andy family.

I know it is far away, but I think we should decide and book a place this summer for next summer. That way we can all plan around those dates and plan to be there.

So, what I'd like to hear from you is some suggestions of where you want to go. If you search around and find a good place, let us all know the link so we can look at it. There are currently 27 people in the family. If you find a great place that will fit us all, let us know.

If you have a completely different idea, like you want to fly us all to Hawaii and pay for 2 weeks there, please tell us all!!

You are all welcome here, of course, we could put tents in the back yard, but unfortunately we are not on the way to anywhere or easy to get to.

So those are my thoughts. Now share yours.

Also, does anyone prefer early summer, mid or late summer?

Cinnabon Popcorn

Hey all! One of my friends brought this popcorn to bookclub last night. Soooo good!! My kids were eating it for breakfast this morning. Give it a try!
http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/09/cinnamon-caramel-corn-with-pecans-white.html

Also, for those of you who have not read Hunger Games yet, read it!! Everyone I have spoken with has enjoyed it, including many of the husbands of the book club ladies. Men are not invited to our club... About 1/3 of us read the whole book in a day, so don't tell me you don't have time for it. Then you'll want to read the second one, which we will discuss at bookclub next month if you'd like to join us (just the ladies) and then you'll want to read the third book, which isn't out until August, so you might be mad...

Hope you all are enjoying SPRING!

Last night we went on a double date with some friends. It was nice to go out. We went to an Indian restaurant and it was fantastic. We decided that we have liked Indian food every time we've eaten it so we ought to learn how to make it. We also went to a rec center to go ice skating but they said there was going to be a competition today so they had closed it and we couldn't go. Bummer. Mike was relieved.

Also, I just want to brag for one minute. I went to the doctor to have my foot checked out and the nurse checked my heart rate. It was 52! Isn't that awesome? I guess this last year of working out and trying to lose weight has been good and helped me be healthy.

Ok, we are going to go eat some left overs for dinner--hope you all have a good weekend.

Something new

They say something is better than nothing, right?

I need something new on this blog!!!!

So what is going on in everyone's lives right now?

Jason just found out that he was accepted into our community college's accelerated nursing program. He will start school May 24 2010 and be finished in August 2011. He will be a RN when he is done. He is really excited (we both are).

Jessica is on a break from school for the month of April and is happy to have a little time off. She spent an afternoon at the cannery and has a renewed desire to use wheat in our diets. She really doesn't know what to do with herself now that she does not need to stress about Jason getting into nursing school...but she is sure to find something else to stress about soon.

Austin just turned 8 this past weekend. He got his hair cut, see our blog for an update on that soon. And he will be getting baptized soon (hopefully May 1st, his grandparents are going to be out of town for the next couple of weekends). He continues in piano lessons and playing video games.

Layla continues to amaze us all. She reads without any difficulty, and writes as well as the kids in Austin's second grade class. She makes friends everywhere we go and is happy most of the time.

Ryan continues to be our little baby, although he is now 4 years old. He still loves to be held and cuddled. He has finally learned to write his name and can sing the alphabet song (we didn't really teach him like the other kids...poor number 3).

All in all we are healthy and happy.

We would love to hear about all of you!

We are home!!

We had a fabulous trip last week in Florida with mom and dad. Please see my blog for a few pictures over the next week. It was wonderful, but it is going to be hard to get back to normal this week!

House Party!!

Guess what?!?! I signed up to host a DiGiorno House Party, and won! So, I had to do somethings online, like upload photos, put out an invitation, and comment on other party hostess conversations. They will sent me a party pack, to include coupons for 6 free pizzas and 15 coupons for, I think, it was $4 off. So, I am to go get the free pizzas, invite at least ten people over to party with us and then report afterwards and have more pics. So, I'm excited!!
Now, I'd like some opinions from you all.
How many people should we really invite, I mean, I am only planning to get the free pizza's, so 6 of them, and I don't think they are huge. We will also have salad and a fruit or vege tray. I will ask the guests to bring either an appetizer or dessert to share. So, how many people will 6 DiGiorno pizza's feed. Of course you are all invited!!
Should we have an activities planned? Or do you all prefer to just eat and hang out when you go to friends house? Should I also make a dessert? I guess maybe that will depend on how many people we invite. According to the rules I am to invite at least 10 people. In the land of my friends, that could easily be just 2 families. Or three smaller families.
So, any ideas or suggestions? I wish you all could make it. It will be on the 20th of March, also known as Spring Eve!!
I occassionally go and apply to host all kinds of parties, but this is the first I have been picked for.
Oh, if you are interested you can go to see my site here

New bathroom at the Crowl's

Please be sure to check out my blog and see my bathroom! Jason has worked so hard and it is so pretty!

Money Matters and Reading

Hey all. I have recently read Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. I really enjoyed it, and found it to be relatively light and easy to read through. I am in agreement with him on most of his ideas. I would love to pay off all our debt. We are doing pretty well, I think. I would also love to follow all of his steps and be a millionaire... I just don't get how the people who have so much debt are able to pay it off so fast.
For instance, John has $153,000 debt. He makes $38,000 a year. He works soooo hard and is able pay off all his debt in just a year and a half. HOW DID HE DO THAT!?!?!?
I just started to read the Millionaire Next Door. I am not too far in it. Not enjoying it much and not sure how far I will get in it.
Another book I just read is called The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. It is just a novel that was cute and fun to read. Enjoyed it.
Have any of you read any of these books? What do you think of them? What have you been reading? Do you like to read or not? Maybe you just don't have time to read. Maybe if you neglected your home and children, like some people do, you would find more time to read. Just an idea.

Puzzles and Cheese

The Bel Air puzzle is finally finished. I know that the deadline was yesterday and it was finished around 6pm yesterday. Please notice the missing piece...where oh where can it be? We don't have anyone to blame, there must be a poltergist in our house! Mom did most of the puzzling, with a little bit of help from Jessica and Dad. The total time spent on the puzzle was 18 hours. What a lot of time! I won't say a waste of time, I enjoy doing puzzles, though this was a hard one. I was afraid that I would never get it done. In fact with about 50 pieces remaining I was sure that many were missing and that they had slipped a few in that didn't belong.

Now, about cheeses, I have in my fridges and freezer:

• Velveeta
• Cabot Monterey Jack
• Cabot extra sharp cheddar
• Kraft sharp cheddar
• Hickory Farms smoked cheddar blend
• grated cheddar
• grated motzerella
• grated parmesian
• grated Monterey Jack
• String cheese
• Laughing cow cheese
• Babybel
• Sliced Muenster
• Sliced Provolone
• White American
• Yellow (orange?) American
• Cream cheese

So, I have lots of different cheeses but many of them are the same variety, just different types. I count 11 different varieties, does that sound right? I certainly don't have the quantity that Mandy does, so she is ahead......I better go shopping.

Happy Vday!

Hey are any of you doing anything fun/fancy/romantic/unusual for Valentine's Day? We don't usually go out for it or do anything fancy. The school kids get lots of candy and cards at their school parties. Last night we had a ward activity. The kids got to go do activities and the parents got to watch and participate in a Newly Wed Game and eat cake. It was pretty fun. Today our awesome neighbor Judy invited the kids over for a few hours and lunch. Mike and I will go out to lunch and then I will go shopping! It will be pretty fun, if we make it that far. Jake and Tyson keep asking me how much longer until we get to go to Judy's house! They love her! Tomorrow we will have a nice turkey dinner and each get a candy valentine from me. I hope you all have a great day! Oh, and it's a four day weekend here... yeah!

FYI

Hey, just thought everyone should know...mom is stuck in California. She was going to be coming home tomorrow, but because of another storm coming, they canceled her flight. She will be coming home Friday, almost a week later than originally planned. Dad is home alone. Mom has his cell phone and he has hers. Not sure why...

Also, Andy is home and safe!!!! YEAH!!! Laura and the boys and her mom should be joining him soon!

Challenge Mom's Kitchen: Cheese

I've created a new game to play--if any of you ever want to play it. It's called, "Challenge Mom's Kitchen." The way the game works is you select some food item in your house that you think you have more of than mom (or, if you just want to force mom to see how much of it she has :) ). Today's challenge, cheese. We have 12 different kinds of cheese (one is a strawberry cream cheese apple dip, so technically it probably doesn't count, but I'm listing it because I'm sure mom has lots of cheeses I don't). From the left, around the top and back we have: Blue cheese, 2 kinds of Swiss, cottage cheese, brown cheese, 2 kinds of cheddar, 2 kinds of cream cheese, Parmesan, mozzarella and another cheddar. Common cheeses that are missing from our fridge today are Monterrey jack, shredded parmesan, and feta. Adrianne pointed out that this might be why we feel like we need to lose weight.

What's your cheese arsenal like? Feel free to post pictures! This is a great way to go through your fridge.

Puzzling...

You might not believe it but we are done with our puzzle. Don't worry if you are not even close, as we started long before most of you. I am too lazy to take a picture right now, but you all know what the puzzle looks like. I will not post our time until others of you are ready. I wouldn't want to scare you!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MANDY!

I did not have a great picture of you alone, Sorry! I wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday and I hope that you get to have a relaxing day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDY!

It is a little after 9am on Sunday, January 17 in Iraq which means it is your birthday there. I hope you are able to celebrate and have a great day!

Mike and I are holding a puzzle contest. We are hoping you will want to join us. The rules are on our blog and when we find a puzzle we will start. Leave a comment on this blog or our blog so we know if you are participating.

Grandma and Grandpa Paulsen's gift

Here are pictures of what we got with the gift certificate from Grandma and Grandpa Paulsen. Will thought the chocolates were good, Adrianne and I thought they were fine. There's only one layer in the tin, but they were free, so we aren't complaining. We tried the red cheese. It was good--a cheddar-- though we think the cheddar we get at Sam's club is better. The other's are an aged cheddar and swiss. Grandma says the swiss is good and if the aged cheddar is the same as the red cheddar just older, I think I will like it.

Let us know what you get and what you think of it.

Some things to think about...

Don't you just love January??? All the Christmas decorations get to be thrown away, I mean put away! Everything looks so clean and neat with them down. You get to start a new calendar! You get to have a birthday!! Oh, I guess that is just a few of us, but anyway, other than the disgustingly cold weather, January is a great month!!
Here is some thought for us all:
Are we all still good with a reunion next summer, as in 2011? I heard about some families who skip the Christmas gift exchange the year before their reunion and instead put that money together toward the reunion. What do you think of that? It wouldn't add up to a ton of money, but it would be a nice start towards the food or activities.
Does everyone know where they will be that summer, as in Mike will you be in Colorado, Andy will you be in Washington? We will be here unless some crazy miracle happens and we move to somewhere warmer. Based on where people live, do we want to have the location somewhere that is in the middle of the USA, or do we like the idea of the home base at Mom and Dad's. I don't really have an opinion on this one. It's expensive for all of us to travel regardless of where it is. Having said that, my other family, the Pitchers, looked at a rental web site and found some pretty good deals on personally owed cabins/lodges that hold multiple peoples. If we picked a place, that might be fun. If we had a destination reunion, then we'd be paying more for the lodging and I would suggest more just hanging out type of activities and less having to pay activities, but if we were by a lake or beach or something where we could play alot outside, or play games inside, ok, now I'm just rambling. You get the idea.
I have lots of ideas/goals floating around in my head for the new year. I'd like to get them down on paper when I finalize them. Have you got any good goals this year?
Finally, I enjoyed the Christmas cards from my siblings this year. Oh wait, I only got one from my sister!! If you brothers sent one, then it never came to me and if you didn't, why not!!!
So, share your opinions!! I know next summer is a long way away but it's good to plan ahead!
Happy New Year!!

The Big Ball Game

The boys were bothering me the other day and I made Isaac pretty upset--Adrianne says I spanked him for something, but I don't remember. In any case, after he got upset, I figured I'd better help him to feel better, so I created The Big Ball Game to play with the boys.

We basically take turns rolling the que ball to knock the other balls out of the "circle".

Yuck

I am sick. I probably have a cold. But I feel terrible. My head feels like it is stuffed with cotton in every orifice. It is not good. My eyes are leaking, my nose is leaking, sometimes I even drool because I can't breath through my nose. My head aches and any time someone makes a loud noise I feel like it is going to explode. We went to BJs today and there was a man cleaning the floor with one of those giant floor cleaning machines. It was making a lot of noise and I had to plug my ears. Jason and Ryan both looked at me like I had lost my mind. Later in the car Jason sneezed and it hurt my head so bad it made me cry out. Jason felt terrible...but what could he do...he had to sneeze!!! Anyway, I find that I am a very whiny sick person and thought you all should suffer with me at least for a minute!

Thanksgiving

Hi! How was every one's Thanksgiving? Did you get your 5000 calories for the day? What did you do?
We went over to Mike's brother's house. We had tons of food! We had 7 pies!!! For 12 people!! I have to say, with all the other good food, who really needs the turkey?? We ate, looked at ads, watched sports and played.

Did you go shopping on Black Friday? Did you get any deals? Did you see anything crazy?
I got up at 5am and went to Walmart. Cars were lined up to leave the parking lot when I got there at 5:15. There were lots of people, but I had studied the map and knew exactly what I wanted and where to go. Everything was very well marked. The lines moved pretty fast. I was there for about 45 minutes, including the waiting in line to get out of the parking lot.
Next I went to Kmart. I got what I needed, although there things were not marked as clearly and had to be searched out. I eliminated 2 things from my list. The lines there were not so great, but still didn't take to long.
After that I went home and was there as Mike was getting dressed for work, by 7am. Not bad, I say. I showered, ate breakfast and got the kids ready for the day. Later, Jake and I went out to Lowes and got a tree, then to Kohl's where we looked at the one thing I wanted, looked at the line and then left. Not worth it.
So, I discovered that people apparently can't see the lines in the parking lot that early in the morning. They also forget that even though they didn't shower before they shopped, I didn't either, they still need deodorant! I remembered, but others in line didn't. Lots of people were on their phones asking their friends/family where they were and if they had gotten their quests. Lastly, coffee seemed to be sustaining many people in the stores.
It was fun, I am pretty much done shopping, which is kind of sad. We got a new family room couch set, Merry Christmas me!
Tell me about your weekend! Oh, did anyone put up their tree yet? Ours is in the back of the van...

Another Snippet

Since no one else is putting up posts, I'll do another one from my book.

I had a problem--when I first started my book I made the religion of the main character, Jaren, a big deal. Then, for most of everything else I've written, I've left that stuff out. Someone pointed that out to me and I've been trying to decide if I should take it completely out of the first part or if I should go through and insert it into the other stuff. Well, I think I found a way to leave everything the way it is. What do you think?


"How are you doing?" She asked him, her brown eyes reassuring,comforting.

Not sure how to answer, or even what she was really asking, Jaren shrugged his shoulders, which hurt, and replied, "I'm fine."

Molly squinted a little and said, "No, how are you doing? How are you feeling, how are you taking all of this?"

Jaren teared up a little bit as he thought about what she was asking. With her arm still on his shoulder, she led him a few steps into the room and shut the door.
"I have a boy about your age. His name is Kevin. This whole experience was very traumatic for him--being enslaved, seeing his father whipped, being separated from us..." Molly's voice choked up a bit and she turned her head, wiping away a tear of her own.

It was then that Jaren really felt the whole weight of what he had been through. Thoughts of May and Elsa and *the little boys flooded into his mind, memories of the aching pain of hunger, the sleepless nights and drowsy days, the starving and whipped men, Lorentz and on and on. He gently touched his wrists, the brand on his shoulder, and the scar on his head, the muscles in his arms aching with each motion. For so long he had been holding it all inside, doing his best to carry on as if things were just normal, like he had when his parents had died. He had been trying to live by Lorentz' principle of focusing on the best in each situation and in so doing he pretended that there was nothing wrong. But, as it all came down upon him Jaren finally let go. Big tears rolled down his cheeks, and sobs broke through his scrunched up face.

Molly turned him toward her, and hugged him close. She spoke reassuringly to him and told him that things would be alright. Somehow, Jaren believed her.
"Jaren," she said, "this is a safe place. I won't say that everyone is nice or that they'll treat you kindly and I won't say that what you'll have to go through here is easy, but it is safe. Hairth does not tolerate people being cruel to one another. You will be happy again." Her last statement was like an answer to an unasked question lurking in Jaren's subconscious.

"How will I ever be happy again?" Jaren asked between broken sobs, "There's nothing left. I have nothing..." Jaren trailed off. Molly just hugged him tighter. She stroked his hair and let him cry. After a moment she said, "Hope for better things to come, ***, and always trust in the eternal." (These are the last words his father spoke to him before he died--if you had read the other part of the book, you might have remembered that. The *** indicates that I'd like something to go there but I'm not sure what)

The words sank deep into Jaren's heart, piercing the protective barrier he had been carefully building since he realized he was alone in the world. Images of his father rushed back into Jaren's mind. Not of his father, the diseased, disfigured, disgusting spectar that laid in his father's bed during their last interview, but the strong, vibrant man he had grown up with, the man he loved.
Like Lorentz, his father had always looked to the future with an expectation of "better things to come". But, when his parents had died, and Benjamin didn't return, something in Jaren gave up. He no longer trusted in the eternal, and no matter how the Devout Woman had tried, they had never been able to convince Jaren that better things actually would come. The past long weeks had acted only to re-enforce Jaren's disbelief of the doctrines his father had taught him. Jaren had never given up on the moral aspects of the creed. He had always tried to be a diligent worker and had always wanted to be kind, generous, and honorable. But he couldn't bring himself to believe that there was more to life than what he experienced--that there was providence watching over him and providing for him.

But somehow, Molly's words cut through all the disbelief. With the single statement, she eliminated years of doubt and took Jaren back to that eight year old boy, who, while standing beside his dying father had recited the most critical aspect of his faith, "Hope for better things to come, ***, and always trust in the eternal."


If you have suggestions for *** that would be good.

My progress bar

It's been too long since our last post, so I'm doing one. If you'll look to the left, you'll notice the progress bar I've added to help you all know how I am doing on my book. I've set the target goal of 110K words, so the percentage is based on that number.

Here's a picture of us making taffy. It needed more flavor oil...

Thadren

Jaren's head ached. The pain seemed to rise from his brain out to his scalp, and then sink back down. He held his head in his hands, like he was trying to keep it from falling apart. Confused by what was going on, Jaren tried to piece things together, but his thoughts were too elusive.
He had tried to open his eyes when he first woke up, but the sunlight was too bright. Instead, he had to use his other senses to figure out where he was. He could hear clinking metal and creaking wood. The pain intensified, distracting him. Jaren winced as he put his head between his legs. Tears ran down his cheeks and dripped from his chin. The more lucent he became, the more he wished that he was still asleep. His whole body hurt. His stomach ached, his muscles felt torn, and he felt as if large sections of his body had been rubbed raw and then exposed to too much sunlight.
The pain momentarily ebbed, and Jaren focused again on his surroundings. He was sitting on something hard, his feet and seat level. Whatever he was on was gently swaying from side to side, like a rocking chair. After a moment of concentration, he identified the metallic clinking. It was the sound of metal chain links bumping into each other. Jaren had often heard this noise when he had watched his father work with carcasses in the slaughter house.
Jaren inhaled sharply in response to the pain cycling through his body again. The throbbing still clouded his mind. Once it subsided, he focused on the very distinct odors that filled his nose: smoke, like burning grass or wood and pork.
There was another smell that somehow nostalgic. The image of the slaughter house with the animals hung by chains through their hind legs, their heads missing, and blood dripping in the collection pails below returned to his mind. The combination of senses made Jaren wonder if he was in fact in a swaying slaughter house. The smell was blood.
Jolted quickly to full awareness, Jaren ignored the pain the sunlight caused and looked down at the drops of blood that had dripped to the wooden floor below. He gingerly traced the source, a wound on his head, with his left index finger. Squinting he looked up and his heart surged with fear. It was mid-day. He was caged in on a wooden wagon heading away from his home town.
Memories from the past night flooded into his now alert mind.

Uh...that's how my book is going to start.

If you know anybody that works for a publishing company, let me know. I'm trying to get as many contacts as I can so when I'm finished with the book, I'll have people to try before just going to random publishers.

Mike

Happy Birthday Ralph!

Happy Birthday! We hope you've had a great day!

Anniversary .... 4 year

Hola mi amor:

Hoy cumplimos cuatro anos de casados, estoy tan agradesida por eso.

Cada dia que pasa estoy mas enamorada de vos, sos mi mejor amigo mi companero eterno, el padre de mis hijos, y me hace tan feliz, Deseo estar siempre junto a vos, junto a nuestra familia etrena,

Amor soy tan feliz a tu lado gracias por todo lo que haces por nosotros.\

FELIS ANIVERSARIO AMOR TE AMO

Projects

I am so enjoying the sharing that has been going on lately on the blog. Here is another discussion suggestion for you all:
What projects are you working on, planning to work on in the near future?

I have several.
~I want to make nativity costumes. As I mentioned before, buying them is crazy expensive. I bought a pattern for $1 at a JoAnn's sale last week. I may not follow it exactly, but it will give me a good reference.
~I want to make robes for my kids for Christmas. I thought, I could skip the costumes and just make robes and use them for both, but that didn't cross my mind until after buying both patterns. Plus, I want to use bland fabric for the nativity and fun fabric for the robes. I actually bought a robe for Mikayla last week, so I wont make her one, but Braden for sure and then we'll see how it goes after that.
~I am going to consolidate my recipe books. Thanks Adrienne for the suggestion.
~I have been organizing/cleaning out clothes and toys. I took several things to several places. I took a few of my things to a consignment shop and got $9 in my last drop off. I still have one item waiting to be sold. I took a bunch of stuff to Once Upon a child. They bought a bit less than half and gave me $11. I took a ton of stuff to a twice yearly children's consignment sale. I sold $126. With all that is left I have given some away, have boxes for the thrift store and will save some for the spring consignment sale. I'd like to go through the toy room one more time before I take a thrift shop run.
~A constant project for me is menus. I must have menus for each week for dinners. I need to know what we are having each night and that I have all that I need to make it.
~I'd like to make our home more inviting, so any suggestions for this project would be appreciated. How do you make your home inviting, warm and confortable?
~I've been working on my master Christmas list, so I know what needs to be done in the next two months for the holidays.
~I'm working on food storage, trying to get it all and organize and use it. Mostly I enjoy the buying and the organizing. Fun stuff!
~Finally, Mikayla would like a slumber party for her birthday next month. I've been thinking about this alot. Mike is not really sure he wants to have a slumber party for 9 year old girls at our house. We'll see what happens.

Anyway, I am not working on all of these right this second, but a little here and there over the next two months. What about you??

Personal Progress

I liked Mandy's discussion questions. I have a few questions I wonder about you all, too.

First: What is a normal day/week like for you (especially Andy and his Laura--I have no idea what your normal day-life is like now)? I have classes Monday through Friday. I usually leave here between 0730 and 0800. I get home around 1630. Every day, except Thursday, my classes are: 1000-1100 Nuclear Physics, 1100-1200 Linear Algebra, 1400-1600 FORTRAN (a computer programming language used by engineers and scientists to do calculations and model stuff). On Thursday's my only class is from 1500-1600, though there are frequently other things I have to do: PT in the morning or afternoon, big meetings with all the students, training, and other junk. I try to get all my homework and reading done while I'm at school so I don't have to do it here at home. Once I get home I do what ever Adrianne tells me to do :). Just kidding. We eat dinner, run errands, exercise, play with the kids watch a show or movie, etc. We are usually in bed between 10:30 and 12:00 (notice, time switches to normal time at some point after I get home from work). We go to bed together every night (there have been a handful of nights in our marriage when we have gone to be at different times).

Second: What goals, aspirations, etc. do you have for yourself? I was thinking about this question this morning. I have 3 main topics that I am working on.
1. I want to be the person God wants me to be. I have been working on this for a while, and I suppose I'll always be working on it. I have become better at reading my scriptures the past few months. I have improved from reading almost every day with some days being just a verse before I go to sleep, to reading every single day with some days only reading a few minutes. Part of my improvement has come as a result of another change I've been trying to implement. I try to get the most important things done before I do the less important things. For example, I get everything ready for the next morning (make a lunch and get my clothes and anything else I need for the next day together) before I do anything else in the evenings. I also study the scriptures, work on my calling, and do anything else I'm supposed to do before I can watch tv or do the other things I want to do.
2. I'm trying to do well in school. I'm not trying to be perfect, but I do want to put forward a good effort.
3. I'm working towards being wealthy. Besides our retirement savings, I'm looking at getting into real estate investment. I'm also working on a fantasy novel that I hope to have published (and sold). We pray each night that we will be careful and wise in how we spend our money, and I have been praying for help to write my book so that millions of people will buy it. :) .
What about you all?

Questions for all!

I have some questions for all of you. Feel free to expand on your answers.

**Do any of you have nativity costumes? We act out the Christmas story on Christmas Eve. I've seen in the Deseret book catalog the cute costumes they have for sale. They are simple and plain and $20 each. Do you do this? What do you wear?

We always use baby blanket and towels for our costumes.

**Does anyone do once a month cooking? If you aren't familiar with this term, it just means that you do most of your cooking for the month in one or two days and then freeze it and use it throughout the month. Do you like it? What good sites or recipes do you use?

I have done a bit of this, but not on a full scale. I will divide up packages of meats, make meatballs, taco meats and freeze them. I also have started to double soup recipes and freeze the second half for later. Also, if I make breads, I will freeze the extra loaves. I'm not anywhere close to doing all my cooking at once, but the idea appeals to me.

**Do you have a good chili recipe?

My kids love canned Hormel or other cheap/generic chili. I have to buy about 4 cans and then we eat all of it. I have made chili before but it never is the same as the canned stuff. Homemade has way more chunkies because of the veges and all the beans. One time I put a can of diced tomatoes in the canned chili to make it go further. Braden almost died. "What are these and why did you put them in the chili!!!"

**Have you heard of American Girl Dolls?

Mikayla would like to get one. They are about an 18" doll with one outfit. You can buy all kinds of accessories, furniture, clothes, pets, etc. They also have book series and movies about them. Several of them have names and come from different eras. You can also get one that looks like you and doesn't have a name or specific era. Mikayla has read some of the books and seen some of the movies. We get a catalog in the mail about once a quarter. We look at them and talk about which she would pick if she could get one. Are you ready? They cost $100 each. More outfits are about $25 each. The pets are around $20... She is not getting one. What happened to playing with the $5 barbie doll??? Do your kids want something a bit out of the question like this??

So, now lets start some discussion here and tell me what you think/know/do with all of this stuff. Thanks!

Noah's birthday

Recipes revisited

Hi all~

I have been working on my cookbook project. Here are the recipes I have so far. If this gives you more ideas, please let me know and I will add them. These are all the ones I have from mom.
Thanks!

Carrot Cake
Poppy Seed Cake
Pie Crust Mix
Cardamom Bars
Chocolate Revel Bars
Chocolate Chip Cake
Gay Chess Tarts
Mini Cheese cakes
Frago Mint Dessert
Mississippi Mud Cake
Sweet Potato Souffle
English Toffee
Cranberry Bread
Yummy Potatoes
Fantasy Fudge
Brownies
Caramel Toffee Bars
Mexican Meat Mix
Guacamole
Chinese Chicken Salad
Potato Salad
Hot Chicken Salad
Mexican Chicken Casserole
Poppy Seed Chicken
Chicken Divine
Breakfast Casserole
Chile Rellenos
Cha Cha's White Chicken Chili
Zucchini Jack Casserole
Stuffed Pizza
BBQ spare/short ribs
Frog Eye Salad
Artichoke Heart Dip
Institute Rolls

Dad's new Toy

Dad decided corvettes are too small and too expensive, and Solstices, Skys, Miatas, and other sports cars were too small, so he wanted a honda accord coupe with a 6 cylendar engine in it. After looking and looking, he came across a deal he couldn't refuse, a 2009 Pontiac G8Sedan with lots of extras. Here it is.

Nick and his uncle in the avacado tree

Hello eveyone.

thanks for the your coments. I'm happy be here witht my family and they are happy to have us here. Today I wanted to show everyone, my mons avacado tree.

Nick loves to climb among the giant avacados

Grandmpa and grandma we miss you very much and we're excited for you visit

I blogged!!! Go see!! OH, and comment!!

Nicn and Noah in argentina

Hola familia,hola amor
Aca hay algunas fotos de los chiquitos,

Free $10 gift card

Go to this website and see if any of your local malls are participating in this. I was just able to print a voucher for a free $10 gift card for one of my local malls. You have to go to the mall and pick it up on the day the 18th or 19th of September, but it's free. Let me know if this works for any of you.

There are only 500 vouchers available for each participating mall, but the mall near me still has 365 left. There is a $10 off $75 card and just a free $10 card. Make sure you click on the free card link. Happy shopping!

http://www.shopsmartlookfab.com/GiftCards

We Finished!!!

I know I already posted, but this is a big deal, worthy of two posts in one day. WE FINALLY FINISHED THE BOOK OF MORMON!!! I can't say for sure, but I think it has been about 4 years of reading a chapter a night, then down to 4 verses, one for each of us, having the kids repeat after we read the verse, then up to 5 verses a night, with Mikayla reading her own and Mike reading for Tyson and helping Braden read his. Now three of us read a verse, Braden and Tyson repeat theirs after Mike and Jacob climbs all over the kitchen while we read. Mikayla is just disgusted that we have to start over again. She must have thought when we finished that we would never have to read again!

By the way, today during FHE, disaster child, also known as Jacob, pulled a shelf full of books onto himself, hitting his glued up forehead in the process. No blood this time, just tears. This is a bookcase we have had since Mikayla was a baby. No other child has attempted to climb it or pull a shelf out. I truly fear for this little boys safety!! What is he going to do next?!?!

Books for Kids

Dolly Parton has teamed up with the United Way to offer free books to children under the age of 5. Since you all have at least one of those, I thought I'd pass on the information. My two boys each got The Little Engine That Could in the mail this month and were very happy!
Click here http://www.dollysimaginationlibrary.com/firsttime.php to see if it's available in your area.

Steven Earned his Life Scout

Steven earned his Life Scout after attending Scout Camp last week. Now he has to earn 6 more merit badges and his Eagle Project and he will have his Eagle Scout. Our Scout Leader and our Young Mens leaders have done a great job helping and encouraging the boys to succeed in moving along in the scouting program.

Right now they are at Fort Lewis in Tacoma, Washington at the Washington Jamboree, I think that he will have a great time. Ralph is going to go down tomorrow and spend the night until Sunday. They are going to have a special speaker and Sabbath program for all of the LDS troops down there. It sounds pretty neat!

Let's talk about... FOOD!!

I thought the mention of food might get your attention! Did it work? I would like to start a project of putting together a family cookbook. What I mean by this is a collection of favorite recipes we had while growing up. Things that Mom made for us. Then, Mom, if you could help to tell us if they were family recipes and also help to name recipes that we might not have thought of and ones passed down from both our grandmas. If you all help me collect them, I think we could get a nice little booklet out of it. It would be fun if anyone had a memory to go with it, or wanted to say it was a favorite and if they make it in their own homes, etc.
Does that all make sense? You could leave comments here or email me any suggestions you have.
Thanks in advance, I know you will help out when it comes to thinking about food.
By the way, Mom, this project would fall under a YW value project if you would like to work on it with me....

Food Storage

I just found this cool calculator to help figure out food storage for a year. Now I have to go figure out what we have and what we need. Some friends of ours just got their years worth of food, so I know it is possible. I am trying to get ours, but it is quite a project as you all know. I will learn how to use our wards canner tomorrow. We bought several bags of wheat and some cans a few months ago that we need to put to use.
Our garden is doing pretty well. We are hoping to get somethings canned and in the freezer for later usage. I'll let you know how that goes.
What are you all working on?

A little FYI

For those of you with 7-11's near by:

In celebration of 82 years in business, 7-11 will be offering FREE 7.11-ounce Slurpees at participating 7-11 stores on July 11th (get it? 7/11? heh heh!) between 7:00am and 11:00pm.
More details here
(like many other places, 7-11 stores are independently owned & operated. It might be a good idea to call your local store to ensure that they are participating before making a special trip!)

For those who live by a Chick Fil'A:

Just a reminder that tomorrow (Friday, July 10th) is Cow Appreciation Day!
Stop in on July 10th to any participating Chick Fil’A dressed as a cow and get a FREE meal! Need some ideas for your costume? Click here for the Chick Fil’A “starter kit”.

Don’t want to go out in public in a full cow costume? Simply wear a “cow accessory” (don’t we all have those?) and you will still get a free entree item!

We don't have either of these near us, but I know some of you do so I thought I'd pass it along.

More Mom Birthday Pictures

Happy Birthday to you!

Did Dad just tell Mom how much that necklace cost?

For some reason my computer wouldn't work to put these pictures with the other post...but here they are!

Mom's Birthday

Austin was trying Grandma and Grandpa's present!

Mom and Dad in front of their edible arrangements present.

The surprise birthday dinner for mom. She thought they were just coming over to look at the basement and then we were going to go out. That didn't sound like fun to me, five kids in a restaurant...so we planned a surprise at our house! I think she was surprised!

Mike's chewing habits

Tonight we had Fajitas. I ate 5.3 ounces of fajita stuff (meat, peppers, onions), one tortilla and some sauteed zucchini and mushrooms. All of this equalled 310 calories. That makes 1000 calories exactly for me today.

The boys and Mike also had Fajitas. Will made a comment that his food wasn't going down his throat very well and it hurt. I told him he needed to follow Mike's example and chew his food more. So we decided to count how many times Mike chewed one piece of meat: 79 times!!

That is why he is skinny and I am not.

"Richards Family Renuion"

So, while Adrianne and I were sitting here talking, she looked down at the table and gasped like she doest when she sees a big spider. I waited, like I do when she makes that noise, to find out why she was making it. She said, "Seriously?!?" And then she picked upt the photo book of our family reunion and pointed to the title, "The Richards family Renuion." Nice that we've had that for over a year, shown it tons of people, and never noticed that it doesn't say "reunion"...what is a renuion, anyway? How many of you noticed this, and were too nice to point it out to us?

I can imagine Dad noticing it right away and having to pretend like it was fine every time he looked at it...

Oh well. Soryy.

Trip Pics

So, here are some pics from the trip we took a month ago... I know I am a slow poke in the blog area, but enjoy them anyway, who knows when you will get new pics. This is Braden and his cousin Mason at the Pirate party we had in Calgary. We celebrated Mason's bday, Mike's Mom Barb's bday and Grandma Rolfson's bday. Lots of fun. Lots of cake!
Mikayla and her cousin Katie were flower girls at Tara's (Mike's sister) wedding in Calgary. So beautiful!

At the pirate party...

At the Calgary zoo... lots of behinds.

The kids in a kangaroo pouch, not real obviously, at the Calgary zoo.

New post

Please see my blog...

A fine post from Adrianne (title by Mike)

This is Isaac's first drawing of a person. I just love it.

Isaac drew lines for Mike.

Will was very excited about his picture. He said, "Look Mom! I can draw fingers!" So cute.

Their flowers. Will's is red and Isaac's is blue.

My sister recently posted something on my family blog about how her husband always answers "fine" to questions. I totally know what she is talking about. Actually, we recently (Mike and I that is) just got in a little tiff about that very thing. When I ask him if my hair is nice, he is supposed to say, "It's beautiful" not, "it's fine." You get the gist of it. Anyway, today we made little pictures. We aren't painting in this house because we won't really be here long enough so I wanted to paint a mural but haven't quite made up my mind so I painted a little dinosaur painting and will paint another dinosaur. Then I will probably do a mural of a plane in Eli's room. The boys made flowers because Will wants to plant something and so we had a follow on FHE tonight about The Creation and then went and bought plants. They also drew pictures. Above is our artwork. The boys were very excited to show Mike. Isaac said, "Daddy will say it's so beautiful." and then Will responded, "Daddy doesn't say, "it's so beautiful. Only Mommy says that." So when Mike got home I showed him my dinosaur and he said it looked "great." I said "does it look fantastic?" And he said, "No. It's a picture of a dinosaur that is supposed to look like a cartoon." What?! Doesn't he know he's supposed to say, "It looks freaking fantastic." At least he told the truth and didn't give me a non-answer like "fine." And, to his credit, when the boys showed him their artwork he said, "Oh, it looks so pretty." Way to prove Will wrong.