Nixon Family News

A One Way Road Trip

2010-09-02T11:39:00.043-04:00

Here is the travelogue (did I spell that right?) of our trip across the country.

First stop: a side-of-the-road peach stand in Georgia. It was peach season and we were in Georgia...couldn't pass it up. And boy were we glad we didn't. The peaches were delicious! We even bought some peach cider which made it all the way to Utah and we drank once we were in our new home. Kind of a toast if you will.

So after we had a "normal" picture at the peach stand, Brady said, "Let's do something crazy this time." We did, and I call this next picture "irreverent peaches." I guess it could also be called "saggy peaches" as mine are hanging a little low. Think me in 20 years...is that what I have to look forward to?? (Sorry, this is a family blog, I know).
Next stop was Nashville. We loved it there!

Brady got a kick out of Church Street and Gay Street and made me take about 100 pictures of him at this intersection (does he have a warped sense of humor? If you're not sure, look at "irreverent peaches" above).

We stayed right in the heart of the city and walked to Jack's BBQ for dinner. Upon reading framed newspaper articles on the wall while we stood in line for who knows how long to order (good food requires a long wait, right?), we learned that the original location of Jack's was right down on the waterfront until bad boy Hard Rock Cafe came to town and booted them out of their prime location. But they aren't hurtin' for business...the line was out the door. And the food was definitely worth the wait. It was just good old Southern BBQ...Mmmmm Mmmmm.

Courtney the music lover got to go to the Country Music Hall of Fame (it's the building behind her). Brady and his mom took the oldest three kids and I think it was a little more "museum" that they were expecting, but said it was neat to see nonetheless.

This was a fun little pedestrian bridge across the river where the view below was beautiful.

Those two little spots in this next picture are Spencer and Jordan. All of the kids were enthralled with the big hills leading down to the river and they all (minus Meghann) rolled down them. That was a welcome break after being cooped up in the car all day!

Nashville was fun, but after dark the streets turned a little PG-13. We snapped a few pictures, tried to cover the boy's eyes a time or two, and hurried back to our hotel.

I think Courtney's head looks like it could be on the guitar in this picture

The boys always made good use of the pool and exercise room when we stopped for the night.

A highlight of the trip was being able to stop in Missouri and see the Caldwell family, good friends of ours that used to live in Florida and just moved last summer. We even got to spend the night at the Caldwell Bed and Breakfast! What a treat.

Nathan and Jordan were best of friends there - two peas in a pod and I swear they could almost be twins. Here's hoping for BYU roomates, or even mission companions!

And Shelby is one of my dearest friends, and a super-woman. When I grow up I want to be like her.

After a great visit with the Caldwells we realized we were going to be driving right by the Gateway Arch in St. Louis so we had to stop.

We took the tour to the top, even though I am afraid of heights and slighly claustrophibic. I made it to the top, and even back down again! It was fun to see the city from that elevation.

After Missouri we headed to Nauvoo, Illinois, just about 4 hours away. For those of you who aren't sure why Nauvoo would be on our "must stop at" list, it's just full of Mormon history. The kids had fun learning how bricks were made in the Brick Yard (and getting to take home a souvenir brick), getting a "prarie diamond" (ring made out of a nail, something like that), watching the Nauvoo Pageant, and eating at the Nauvoo Family Inn. It's a delicious buffet that tastes like home cooking. After several days of fast food, this was a welcome break! Here we are with Brady's mom who made the trip with us.

Outside the Nauvoo Temple:

A better view of the temple with the girls in front.

This is what the boys saw for most of the drive:

This is what I saw for the whole drive:

Brady was a mini-van man while I drove the Silver Bullet (our nickname for the Camry).

The other day I found some funny pictures that Spencer took from the back seat of the car. He must have discovered the camera somewhere around Nebraska. Look at these beautiful fields. They loved looking at the sprinklers watering the crops.

We stopped for slurpees one time, mine was blue. Can you tell?

After so much flatland, the boys were fascinated when the terrain turned hilly somewhere around Wyoming.

Sometimes even a train going down the tracks was an exciting thing to see in Wyoming. Boy, that state was a chore to drive through! Talk about boring...

So boring that Meghann couldn't stay awake. Of course, I don't think that was Wyoming's fault, she was like this most of the way! I kept saying, "Oh, look out the window at this" and she'd be fast asleep.

More hills...

Here's the scene the day the moving trucks arrived. I say "trucks" because THREE trucks arrived to bring our stuff. It had all been packed away into crates while we waited to close on the house so it took three trucks to bring all the crates. I'll bet our neighbors were wondering, "What in the world...?"

Jordan proped the slide to the play set up on some boxes and made himself a cardboard jungle gym.

This is how Courtney spent her time.

I thought this picture was funny - the movers had to take the front door off to get the fridge in so here it is, in the great room. When they were all done moving things in, putting things together, cleaning up their padding and cardboard off the wood floors, etc, they said, "Is there anything else we can do for you?" I said, "Just put my front door back on please."

I only felt guilty once or twice sitting on a chair watching the movers unload things. They were getting paid, right?

Just a little picture Spencer took of the wetbar area downstairs.

This is the sign that greeted us as we drove into Brady's parent's driveway. Thanks Liseanne for making it for us :).

And FINALLY, a big thanks to Spencer, the photographer for most of these photos. (He is also the king of the self-portrait).

HO LEE CRAP!

2010-07-01T12:42:00.031-04:00

He would probably not appreciate if i told everyone how old he is...but i am gonna do it anyway!

today my dad is......40! :O (gasp)
i know i know it is shocking! :O so anyway i just want to say how great of a dad he is and how much i truely love him....gray hair and all :) what a lucky kid i am :)

For my Dads 40th....my mom surprised him by taking himmm....DUN DUN DUN....well you'll see :)

aaawww :)

Coming in :)

INTO THE WATER BAD BOY!!

They had the same face pretty much the whole time...my mom scared to death and my dad like "oohhh yyeeaahh" :P

Brady and Brady Jr.
Dad and the boys
Dad and Jordan
Dad and the three kids

us in the keys
Dad and his old Mission Companion, Nolan Reidhead...on a ladder just in case you were wondering...he really isnt that tall!! :)

bubba teeth...our best friends gave to him last year...we call their dad bubba and they call our dad BIG bubba :)
Dad....a.k.a Joseph Smith

St. Augustine
i dont exactly know what they are doing here.... :P but anyway that is my dad and mike n' ike! :) (mike norton)
Me and dad on Trek :)

i looovveee this picture of us :P

Dad and the Wests

Weirdo's

i really dont know what happened here because trust me usually he is a white boy....

aahh the 3 amigos.... its nothing like David, Evan, and Brady

Baby Brady...aawww...he is sooo cute!! :)

I would put the 40 things I like about him but I was thinking…that is a pretty big number! :) so I will put the 13 things I love about my dad…one for every year I have been alive :)

1. He is a great gospel teacher
2. he always makes time for the family
3. he is a very hard worker
4. he know s what to say and when to say it
5. he is consistent in his calling
6. his really blue eyes...like mine :)
7. he cooks yummy food
8. he gives our family a good reputaion
9. he isnt afraid to be himself....you should see him at the YSA activites.... :)
10. he loves everybody
11. he wants whats best for our family
12. he is kind, caring, and funny
13. he brought 5 kids into this world...
So Happy Birthday Dad, your awesome.... :)

p.s this post was being retarded and wouldn't let me post it yesterday so just pretend...his birthday is july 1 not 2...just saying... :)

text

2010-04-18T17:24:00.001-04:00

guess who? yes COURTNEY!i think i took over my mom’s job! so yes we went to Venice Florida over spring break(friday) it was two hours away but it was worth it! the drive up was a little crazy. . . three brothers in the back seat trying to watch a movie with only two headphone sockets. . . four headphones for six ears. . . not that fun. . i slept:) anyway! we got there around 11:45ish and it was HOT! like very hot! so hot the sand BURNED! the water however? DELIGHTFUL! but not to my mom she thought is was FREEZING but it really wasn't! so here is how you actually find teeth. . .
1. go to wally world and buy a sifter
2. go to a beach
3. get in the water about waist deep and scoop in the sand
4. shake the sifter so most the sand comes out and all you have left is bits of shell and teeth!
5. bring that up to shore and look through it
sure enough you will find some teeth!

The beach+2 hour drive to Venice=LOTS OF SHARK TEETH!

2010-04-15T17:45:00.021-04:00

shark teeth

105 shark teeth

Sifting in the sand

Family(part)

haha i am almost taller than my mom! i was on a dirt mound in this picture!

Silver sifty thingy

Sailboat!

digging through the shell stuff

AdorableSee the pan thingy? oh yeah a grasshopper at the beach?
my beautiful mother! she is gonna kill me!

Spring Break + Hard Work = LOTS AND LOTS OF SOD!

2010-04-06T15:35:00.006-04:00

This is Courtney Alyssa here helping my mom out. . . sigh. . . yet again;)

This spring break our family decided to take on the mother of all yard work.. .relaying grass on the WHOLE yard! :\

So a few weeks ago we had the missionaries over for dinner. . . they offered to help lay the sod.. .just our luck! ;) Gotta love the missionaries!
That was then. . . at ten in the morning TODAY the grass came SIX WHOLE PALLETS! not fun! i was sleeping(with the window open:) Then the crazy driver of a semi truck came honking his horn about 8 times and i wanted to kill him! OH WELL! life moves on :) i probably needed to get up anyway.

The Work Crew :) our missionary in the back with the red shirt looks like Taylor Lautner ;) tehe

the front yard

the finished product:D

the back yard. . . this has been dirt for as long as we can remember. . . when we finished jordan said "this is weird having grass back here. . ."

SIGH yes yes GRASS! not as good as Utah grass;)

By the grapefruit tree. . . where weeds were in heaven. . .

Finally! after one day last week pulling up the front and side yard, Monday mom and the kids raked, weeded and raked some more, and today laying the darn grass. A good 10 hours of yard work! WHAT A RELIEF!! Especially for my daddy, he works so hard to keep my mom happy and our house looking nice . . . true love :)

AND....

Gotta love the rocket launches! this launch has got to be the best one i have EVER experienced while living here. . . we were all in AW at the beauty of this! the rumble was SO loud. . .we were just outside in our front yard watching it. we've NEVER felt the rumble from our house before. . . this was a gotta see launch :D

This was about 15 minutes after the launch when the sun started to come up and the line of smoke started to LIGHT UP! haha this was AMAZING! this picture looks professional! yeah this was just from our front yard. . .not across the street, but right in front of our magnolia tree. . . dumb founded at the beauty!

more to come. . :D

In Love with Tutorials

2010-03-23T14:38:00.004-04:00

I think tutorials are one of my favorite uses of the Internet.

Not only can people share their great ideas, they can give me step by step instructions of how to do it myself!

Here are some pictures of some fabric Easter eggs I made using this tutorial. I made a few in bright colors, but mostly in more subdued browns, barn reds, ecrus, blues. The latter matched perfectly with my two little wheelbarrow bunnies who needed an egg to carry.

Now...enough crafting and back to studying...exam to take in two days!

Another Give-Away

2010-03-23T11:37:00.001-04:00

Go visit my friend Janice at her blog for a fantastic give-away. I spent all day yesterday with Janice in Jacksonville at a fabric store...she has such a good eye for putting fabric together. Now I have some awesome material for three quilts...but more on that in another blog (with pictures!)
www.abbeylanequilts.blogspot.com

Free Fabric

2010-03-19T13:14:00.002-04:00

What will I do for a chance to win some free fabric? Blog about it...that's what.

http://ourcozynest.blogspot.com/

Here's the link...but don't enter! I'm already competing against 171 entries! :)

Freshly Squeezed

2010-03-07T15:06:00.007-05:00

A few of the benefits of our (usually) mild winter weather is the delicious citrus we get to enjoy. Here the kids are after picking grapefruit off the tree for breakfast (so yummy...)

And fresh-squeezed orange juice has got to be one of our favorite things about living in Florida! One of Brady's early morning teachers left a bag of Honeybell oranges on his car after he'd visited a seminary class. These are as good as anything you've ever tasted and we guard them like gold around here. Brady squeezed them for juice, along with some other oranges from a neighbor's tree, and we savored every swallow.

The celestial Honeybells

The terrestial Valencia oranges

It doesn't get much better than this. And boy does it make it hard to go back to concentrate!

Florida Snow

2010-02-21T12:00:00.004-05:00

Knowing Jordan has never touched snow, Aunt Joanna sent Jordan a snow-making kit. Last week for FHE we experimented with it. Not quite enough for a snowman, but it was a hit here where there's no chance of snow in the forecast.

Thanks for the fun, Gregory family!

(Not So Extreme) Home Makeover

2010-02-21T11:38:00.008-05:00

After Christmas I was needing a little home makeover. I put all the decorations away and started re-arranging walls. Not the actual walls, of course, but what was hanging on them.

The pictures in the entryway from the front room to the kitchen got dispersed around the house, a new Salt Lake Temple picture to take their place.

The pictures in the family room went to the D.I. (our version of it, anyway) and I hung new family pictures that we had taken over the holidays.

The pictures from the front room went to our bedroom and I hung a new family picture project that I had been working on for MONTHS and finally finished.

Also, with Brady's mom's help when they were here in January, I finished a project for Tucker. Annice unpicked all the patches off his cub scout shirt and we arranged them, along with several other patches and awards, in a shadow box display case. He was thrilled with it.

Family room wall - notice I even learned how to use my vinyl letter machine and cut a quote!

Front room wall...I could not get one without the flash making a few of the pictures look funky but the one below at a different angle gives a flash-free view.

Thanks to my friend Shelby for the great idea...twice! There's one similar hanging in the boy's room.

Painted this wall a shade lighter than the gold kitchen and bought this new picture. The lighting is horrible in the picture, you can't see the color of the wall at all. Oh well.

4 projects done...996 more to go!

A Post with a Hundred Pictures

2010-02-02T20:36:00.025-05:00

If a picture is worth a hundred words, this post is worth a lot! As I was trying to pick out a few shots from our cruise to share, I just couldn't narrow it down. So...look and enjoy, in no particular order.

Tucker after snorkeling - see the "mask face"?

Tucker celebrated his 11th birthday on the ship. This was one of two cakes he got.

Three handsome boys ready for "dress up night" on the cruise. This was taken off the verandah of our room.

the family (minus the photographer) at the "sail away party"

We rented bikes and rode around the island of Castaway Cay (Disney's private island). There were about 13 kids and 4 adults, we looked like a bunch of crazies.

Family from the top of the observation tower on Castaway Cay. If you look close you can see the ship in the far background.

One of my favorite things about the cruise was how our waiters took such good care of the kids. All 14 kids sat at their own table and the 6 adults sat together. The waiters did everything from cutting steak to pouring katsup (Mickey style, of course) on hamburgers. It was awesome.

Meghann on Castaway Cay. This ship was a prop used in "Pirates of the Caribbean."

The kids loved the all-you-can-eat ice cream bar that was open practically 24/7. I'm not sure how many cups of ice cream were eaten my my kids alone, but it was a lot!

Boarding the ship after a morning of shopping the straw market in Nassau.

In port in Nassau, Bahamas.

Me with my friends Dina and Dina.

Me with my friends Courtney and Meghann :)

Courtney and Mickey (for being a Disney cruise we didn't see Mickey all that much).

View of Castaway Cay from the ship.

Brady, Scott, and Rick - the dads who bring home the bacon so we could go on this fun trip.

Brady and Scott opted for the "patch" - no motion sickness for them! (none for the rest of us either, hooray).

Jordan, Spencer and Tucker as we were pulling into port at the Nassau. Tucker loved his birthday shirt and hat.

Five boys eating at an all-you-can-eat buffet...that's a lot of chicken strips and fries being consumed!

14 kids we took between three familes.

The only bad thing about this cruise is it was over way too fast!

Company

2010-02-02T17:34:00.016-05:00

Just when I think I'm going to stay caught up on my blog, just when I think I'm going to blog more often, I realize two weeks have gone by without touching my blog. Oh well, if something has to be neglected, better my blog than my children...right?

So, with a few minutes to update, I thought I'd post about our cruise. It was so much fun! But then I realized the pictures were on the family computer and I'm on my laptop so on to plan B. I'm posting pictures of our recent week-long visit by Brady's parents from Utah. What a fun week it was. The kids absolutely loved having grandma and grandpa here to talk to, play the piano for, read books with, take walks with, share their homework with, on and on. I loved having someone clean my kitchen when I wasn't looking and someone to help me with a few projects (picture of that to come later).

Here are some highlights:

Spencer had a school project where he needed to interview someone "older" about their family history. How perfect to be able to interview Grandpa in person! Here they are doing the interview:

Grandma helped put the project together:

The final poster turned out great! Grandpa is now famous (at least with 20 3rd graders).

Five Nixon boys:

Not sure where Jordan was for this picture...off on the playground I think. It was a cute picture anyway.
Here we all were at Lake Mills Park, beautiful weather, yummy picnic, great company - doesn't get much better than that.
Another picture with Kelly. It was wonderful to have her over for the weekend.

Brady, Stephanie, Annice, Galen:

And finally, a few pictures from our airboat ride. That was amazing, more alligators than we could count. On the flip side, more dead fish than we could count too. There had to be thousands of dead fish all along the banks of the river due to the 10-day freeze/cold weather we had a few weeks ago. There were talapia and some other type of fish that I can't remember all up and down the river with about as many vultures feasting on them.

Anyway, off of dead fish and on to some great pictures:

Our "tour guide" was great - he took us out for nearly an hour and knew that river like the back of his hand. He was fun to talk to - a genuine cowboy. It was a perfect airboat ride!

Thanks Galen and Annice for making the trip out. It was a wonderful week and like all good things, it went way too fast.

Powerade!

2010-01-20T21:13:00.005-05:00

A few weekends ago, right in the middle of our arctic weather, we were scheduled to volunteer at the Disney 1/2 Marathon. There was about 40 people from our ward all working at Water Stop 6 - the half way point (sort of).

We all bundled up (see picture of my friend Dina below, she looks like she belongs in Alaska!) and braved the cold weather, showed up at Disney at 4:45 AM!!! and had a great time filling cups with Powerade and handing them out to runners as they jogged by.

I was a little worried about someone sloshing juice all over my gloves but stuck my arm out anyway. I definitely got sloshed on a few times, but oh well. It was fun.

Brady was making us all laugh with his shouts of, "Get your Powerade here! My long arm comes to you! Easy hand-off right here!" And sure enough, most people came to him. He's such a salesman.

The perk? Free Disney tickets for the two of us, that awesome orange jacket, Disney rain ponchos (because it was predicted to rain, but gratefully didn't. It did sleet though, just slightly but it reminded me so much of snow!), and Toy Story T-shirts. It was a lot of fun and made me want to be one of the runners next year (maybe the one in the Snow White dress...?).

Farewell Frost

2010-01-12T10:43:00.015-05:00

Last night was supposed to be the last time we'd see a hard freeze...at least for this cold snap. The high is supposed to be back up into the 70's by the weekend.

Brady went to Atlanta last week and sent us this picture of him holding SNOW! Jordan was wishing he had been a stow-away in Brady's suitcase.

How handsome is this guy? I love this picture.

So, here are some pictures of our car this morning. Thank goodness for one in the garage that I could take the kids to school with. (Brady wasn't so lucky at 5:00 a.m. when he left to go visit an early morning seminary class. He had to scrape with a credit card.)

Courtney scraped together all the ice off the roof of the car and made a little snowball out of it.

I took this picture of her, then I put the camera away and left to take the boys to school. I left Courtney practicing the piano. When I finally had a few minutes to download these pictures to the blog, I found the following pictures of Courtney. She is the queen of the self portrait.

And she'll probably die that I posted all of these...good thing she's so cute (and forgiving)!

What Freezing in Florida Looks Like

2010-01-06T21:44:00.002-05:00

Last night's temperature in Oviedo was 26 degrees - the lowest temp recorded in Central Florida.

It's cold...and I mean cold! The oldest two boys came to me tonight after they'd gone to bed with sore, red, cracked hands and lips. It's cold and dry and their bodies aren't used to it.

Here's the scene you can see at most any house or business around town:

Plants covered with sheets, tarps, whatever you can find to protect them from the cold. Hopefully all those pineapple plants and our robellini palm will survive.

Brady is headed to Atlanta tomorrow where it's even colder and a SNOWSTORM is predicted for tomorrow night. I sure hope he gets to see snow again!

Annual Canoe Trip

2010-01-03T10:11:00.017-05:00

Over the Christmas break we made our annual canoe trip with the Shepherd and Bateman families. It's always so much fun - beautiful scenery, beautiful weather, delicious lunch - it doesn't get much better than that. Well...if someone would paddle my canoe for me it might get better. (Brady is probably thinking, "Wait a minute, I DO paddle the canoe for you!)

Enjoy some pictures from our float down the Econlockahatchee River:

One of about 2 turtles we saw. The gang in Tucker's canoe also saw two alligators!

Starting a fire to fry up some mean burgers and dogs for lunch.

Finding relief - the natural way.

Brady roasted these mallows to absolute perfection - then gave them to me on a s'more. Now that's true love (and it was the best s'more I've ever tasted).

It wouldn't be a canoe trip without playing on the "bouncy palm tree." Sight of this tree means we have arrived for lunch!

We call this canoe the "Beauty Barge." Those four girls had a great time together.

Look at the reflection of the trees in this picture! Gorgeous.

My view in front

My view behind. I'm not sure which is better!

The whole gang (minus photographer Kent). Notice - I'm the only wife! How do I get roped into these things???

Christmas Morning Hightlights

2010-01-03T09:50:00.011-05:00

Yesterday I spent about two hours trying to organize, name, file, order prints from all the pictures we've taken since Halloween! I ordered about 320 prints - now that's a lot of filing into photo albums to do when they all arrive! Thank goodness I have five kids who can help me.

Here are some highlights from Christmas morning:

Meghann was surprised and THRILLED to receive a new cell phone in the bottom of her stocking.

We loved the mugs and hot chocolate from the Bottema family

...and the Skookie maker from the Nixon family!

One of Courtney's favorite gifts was a new pair of CONVERSE tennis shoes (that makes three pair now! This girl is a fan of Converse).

I realized that I didn't have many pictures of Brady (probably because I was sitting next to him on the couch, hard position to take a picture from) but he was excited about these new tools he got.

Spencer loves this new Nerf gun. I'm not loving the 70 "bullets" to keep track of, but a week after Christmas Spencer was happy to report that he still had all 70. Woo hoo!

Tucker has become a fan of "Robotix" - some toy from the 80's that he's been doing at an after-school club. Thank goodness for ebay - Tucker is now the proud owner of a plastic robot roaming around our house.

Brady surprised me with a vinyl letter cutting machine. Thanks for your help with the gift, Liseanne! I can't wait to figure out how to use it (and I wish you could fly here and give me a lesson).

Jordan loved this Florida Gators blanket I made him. He's definitely fan of the Gators.

A little snuggle time with dad and the blanket.

It was a great day with lots of relaxing and enjoying each other's company. Why does it have to be over already??? Tommorow it's back to reality...ugh.

Christmas - Florida Style

2009-12-30T21:40:00.003-05:00

Don't hate us because it was 70+ degrees on Christmas eve...off to the beach we went.

A Florida snowman

Life Next Door to Disney World

2009-12-21T18:36:00.012-05:00

The first weekend in December we experienced a little perk of living next door to Disney. We were able to go (for free!) to the Magic Kingdom for some filming of the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade. Brady and I went together one day and saw Yanni and Kris Allen. I was so excited when I found out Kris Allen was performing. He was awesome. A few kids from our ward were there and they threw him their Santa hat with a Sharpie and he signed it! Wouldn't you know it, I forgot my camera. But check out this awesome video we found on youtube.

The tall guy in the green shirt and Santa hat who is RIGHT in the way during the performance is BRADY!! (Courtney found me too! I am the one right in front of Brady with the sparkly santa hat.)

The next day we took all of the kids but Meghann. It was opening night of her play and she was stressed about missing school that day. So we took Courtney's friend Kennedy instead.

The forecast was for rain - a 100% chance. The weatherman was right. When we got there we found out that the Jonas Brothers were being taped. Everyone was all excited. About 10 minutes later we were standing in pouring rain, pulling out rain ponchos and we heard the director say, "that's a wrap." No more taping of the Jonas Brothers that day, they were rescheduling them for Sunday. Boo!!! We played around for a while in the park and then headed to the Grand Floridian hotel for the taping of Celine Dion. So did a million other people, or so it seemed. That hotel was packed! But, somehow we worked our way up tothe front and had a great spot. In fact, one of the camera guys loved Brady and Jordan and asked them to get in a certain position so he could tape them. Watch for them Christmas day!

Inside the Grand Floridian - when we were actually dry

She was stunning (but I was afraid her dress was going to fall off)

Pinnochio borrowed one of the boy's scarfs so that he matched these two girls

We got rained on, but where else can you actually have FUN in the rain? There was no wait for the big roller coaster rides - the ones people wait an hour or more to ride in the summertime. It was great. And a bonus - we were given 7 tickets to come back on Sunday but sold them on Craig's list. Cha-Ching $$. Here's to keeping the Sabbath day holy.

One more perk of being Mickey's neighbors...Meghann got to perform at Epcot Center's Candelight ceremony. It is basically the reading of Luke 2 by some (not so) famous person with local high school choirs providing music with Disney musicians. The guest narrator on Meghann's night was Kit Kitteridge (what is her real name...? Amanada something I think). The night before it was Vanessa Williams. Brady was able to chapperone her choir so they both earned two free Disney passes.

Introducing Guest Blogger Courtney

2009-12-06T12:41:00.029-05:00

Well, I was caught up with my blog for about 10 minutes.

Now I'm behind again with no time to catch up. So, I've enlisted the help of Courtney who is going to blog all about our trip to the Florida Keys before Thanksgiving.

Take it away Courtney. . . .

We'll get the worst out of the way - the RAIN. A camping trip wouldn't be complete without rain, right? Let's just say our trip was very complete. The last night it poured so hard we thought we'd have to row home. This was the road that we normally rode scooters on, but it was flooded with water when we woke up.

This tree provided hours of fun. The ocean was practically out our front tent door, about 100 yards away (along with this tree).

A SHARK? Can you see it in the water down there? We saw it from a bridge.

We did lots of fishing. Meghann caught this beauty - they were actually very hard to reel in because they would drop off the line.

Iguana at Bahia Honda State Park

The dads fixed us delicious meals.

Courtney's catch

Key West, Florida

The Shepherds - our bestest friends

Family at Bahia Honda State Park

The old Flagler Railroad

Meghann, Natalie, Courtney - after a shower and "hair-do"

The family at "Mile Marker 0"

The family at "Mile Marker 0" - the other side of the street

Meghann and Natalie - best friends

There were so many hermit crabs we couldn't count them all. They were great pets for the weekend.

Nixon and Shepherd kids

Bahia Honda State Park - it was gorgeous. We saw a shark and sea turtle from a bridge overlooking the water, plus lots of iguanas on the ground.

This is a HUGE crab I found in the water just walking around a ways down the beach so we picked it up and brought it back to show every one! It was pretty mad! We named it Hue because it was huenourmous:)

The sunsets and sunrises were AMAZING!

When we were roasting s'mores the smoke burned this little guy's eyes and so he ran back to camp and came back with these!

Gorgeous water

The Fam (minus mom who had to take the picture)

Cute Boys!

These were all over the place in the water! pretty huh?

Messy! (But what's camping without s'mores?)

Handsome Boys!

Blue Tye Dye?!?

Key West!

DON'T FALL IN!!! (We saw the most awesome tropical fish from this bridge)

7-Mile Bridge! It's a famous part of the Florida Keys.

Isn't Jordan adorable?

These things were everywhere! It is a portuguese-man-of-war. Thank goodness we were able to steer clear of them.

Actually...Caught Up!

2009-11-15T15:12:00.009-05:00

My flash card is officially cleaned off. After this post, there will be about four pictures on it that are the kids'. This is in preparation for our big camping trip this next week to the Florida Keys! We're going with our friends, the Shepherds, for four fun-filled nights of camping. If it were only dirt-free too...

Anyway, a few weekends ago we went with Aunt Kelly to Flagler Beach. It was a windy day, but the scenery was beautiful. The pier was built in 1926 - we know because we visited a museum while we were there that gave us all sorts of historical information about the town. We also visited a farmer's market and bought watermelon flavored licorice made by the Amish! Yummmm.

Can you guess whose shadow?

So Far Behind Part 2

2009-11-14T08:34:00.025-05:00

And my next post will probably be called, "So Far Behind Part 3."

Anyway! Here's another attempt at updating:

Halloween '09:

Nixons with some neighbors that we always go out with

Meghann showed a little school spirit with her pumpkin, she is an Oviedo High Lion

Courtney tried her hand at pumpkin carving - Nixon style

This was one of my favorite costumes that we saw out trick-or-treating

(this next little bit of text is from my journal):

Thursday night was supposed to be a big night for Tucker. He was earning his Arrow of Light award in cub scouts and "crossing over" into boy scouts since he'd done everything for the Webloes requirements. We were getting ready to go and Courtney and he were out hitting a tennis ball back and forth to each other. He came in crying loudly and holding his eye, saying the ball had hit him in the eye. We grabbed an ice pack but it wasn't until he said he couldn't see out of it that I really looked at it. It was gross. His iris that is normally beautiful blue was a reddish purple. It had filled with blood. Yuck. A mother shouldn't have to see gross things on her kids, the images don't go out of your mind.

Anyway, we headed to the emergency room instead of pack meeting with Tucker bawling his eyes out the whole way because he was going to miss his big night at Scouts. He's worked hard for this and he was so excited. The bitter cup of disappointment. :(

The emergency room actually wasn't too bad. We were only there for about two hours. We waited for the eye drops at the pharmacy as long as we were in the ER. Seriously, I thought for sure someone was going to come out with a hidden camera and tell me I was going to be on Candid Camera next week. It was the biggest joke of a pharmacy I've EVER seen in my life. I felt like I was in a foreign country telling the pharmacist how to get me my medicine. Ugh. We got home around midnight.

Tucker had a hyphema of the eye which is a blood vessel bursting from blunt trauma and bleeding into the eye. The biggest worry is that the vessel doesn't re-bleed because the long term damage is even greater then so he's on two eye drops - one that keeps his pupil dilated so the blood can be more easily absorbed and another that paralyzes his eye (I can't remember why that's necessary). He had to sleep sitting upright that night but it really helped the blood to drain down a little. By the next morning he could see a little more out if it and by today there is just a thin line where you can see the blood has settled at the bottom of his iris. He can see pretty well but because the pupil is still dilated, it kills him to go outside without sunglasses on. He's on restricted activity for two weeks - no PE, no jumping, no bike riding, bending over at the waist or anything that would put pressure on his eye. We took him to the eye Dr on Friday, today, I have to take him in again this Friday, then a week from Friday, then in a month, three months, six months and a year. We'll just have to constantly monitor the pressure on his eye and make sure that he doesn't develop glaucoma or any other troubles that could come from it.

Before we left for the hospital Brady and a neighbor gave him a blessing that he wouldn't have any permanent damage from this so we're banking on that.

All in all, it was a rather unpleasant experience, especially as I had to put my head in between my knees at the drs office on Friday. I was thinking, "I thought Michelle was the only medical wimp in our family!" I can handle having five babies without an epidural, but I can't stand to see someone poking around my kid's owie. It just made me too lightheaded.

If you look close you can see the blood kind of puddled at the bottom of his iris, plus a spot or two up in the middle of the iris. UPDATE: last week he was given the "green light" - the blood was all absorbed, he can go back to normal activity but we have to monitor him every few months to make sure he doesn't develop any complications later. He's off the eye drops keeping his eye dilated but his pupil is still large. It should be back to normal in another week or so.

Through it all, Tucker kept his sense of humor. He actually wore this eye patch whenever he wanted to read because his bad eye was fuzzy and it bothered him to read. But give up reading for a few weeks? NEVER. He just used the eye patch.

I think I mentioned in my last post about one of Brady's old mission companions and his family coming for a visit. We spent a day at the beach with them and despite the cool weather and overcast skys, several of us came home looking like fried chicken (or fried something). I should know by now - EVEN WHEN THE SUN ISN'T BURNING HOT - we're getting burned. It's happened before. I'll learn my lesson someday.

Nixon and Reidhead Families

Nolan and Brady

looking a little pink after the beach

he was a raccoon for several days

So Behind It's Not Even Funny

2009-11-05T14:18:00.017-05:00

I have so many pictures to post I don't know where to start. Maybe that's why I haven't posted in weeks. Too far behind to get ahead.

Here's an attempt:

Tucker had a piano recital a few weeks ago. He did a great job. We had been to the beach all that day so he looks like a red beet from the neck up.

Sorry about the picture quality. Brady's only flaw is that he takes fuzzy pictures.

Tucker and Sister Little, his teacher.

Tucker and Adam, one of his best friends.

We were at the beach a few weeks ago with the Riedhead family (a mission companion of Brady's who live in Tucson, AZ). This little sand crab kept us entertained for a while. Isn't he freaky looking?

Here he is trying to burying himself in the sand. If you look close you can see those little beady black eyes still.

The cookies are so delicious I've got to share the recipe. If they stay fluffy for me at 350 ft. above sea level, imagine what they'll do for those of you at 5,600 feet above sea level!

The Gramanda Cookie

(named for newlyweds Grant and Amanda who concocted the recipe and gave these out at their reception)

Cream together:

1 c. sugar

2/3 c. brown sugar

1 c. butter

2 eggs

1 t. vanilla

1 c. peanut butter

Then add:

1 c. flour

1 c. rolled oats

2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. cinnamon (the secret ingredient)

1 package chocolate chips

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Easy as pie...or cookies.

We had a death in the family. It was the trampoline. After about 9 or so years, it gave up the ghost. The cause of death was RUST. Good old Florida humidity. It just ate the steel bars that held the thing up and when three little boys were jumping on it, one side caved in. Brady disassembled it rather matter-of-factly, but I was a little emotional about letting it go. It's been a good friend - gave us a few sleepless nights trying to have a little outing on it, lots of FHE's jumping together, countless hours with a sprinkler under it in the summer, the hub of the neighborhood. Good bye old friend.

A few weeks ago we saw this limo outside our next door neighborhor's house. The kids in the neighborhood were going crazy oogling over it. Spencer was hiding behind the neighbor's tree trying to take a picture of it, hoping Mr. Chauffer didn't see him. Brady went out and asked if everyone could look inside. That was a treat. Imagine if they'd been able to take a ride around the block in it!!!

Spencer's shot at the inside

Lunch with a GA

2009-10-16T10:53:00.003-04:00

Last weekend we had our stake conference. Elder Spencer Condie was the visiting General Authority. Brady and I got to have dinner with him and the rest of the stake presidency on Saturday night before the adult session. He and his wife were a joy to be around.

On Sunday Brady insisted on driving together, saying that their little "post conference wrap up" luncheon would only take a short time and me and the kids could wait around in the foyer. I was fine with that. Well, call it miscommunication, confusion, whatever, but the sack lunch for the presidency and Elder Condie turned into a sit-down lunch including wives and they all wondered why I wasn't with Brady. When he told them I was in the foyer with five kids, Elder Condie insisted we all come in. Brady came out to get us and I told him we were just fine waiting for him. We would go for a walk, a drive, just hang out in the foyer reading the Friend and New Era I had brought.

Two minutes later Elder Condie was in the foyer, shooing us into the high council room. When I started to protest, he said, "Now go on with you, be obedient!" Yes Sir! So, me and my entourage settled at the other end of the high council table and ate delicious BBQ pork sandwiches and brownies with marshmallows and frosting on top.

You know all those times you try to reinforce manners and proper behavior at the dinner table and you're sure your kids are going to be with you forever because after their first date at a restaruant, their date is going to bring them right back and say, "no thanks"? Well, our lunch with a General Authority proved that my kids ARE learning! No one said "yuck," no one wiped their mouth with their sleeve, no one burped, in fact, the kids hardly made a peep! Now I need to work on dinner conversation I guess. But they proved there were manners in there somewhere! Whew, what a relief.

Stretch Marks

2009-10-01T11:01:00.010-04:00

focus on the version in the top left hand corner

When Meghann brought this pattern to me in Joann's a few months ago and asked me if I would make her a dress, I knew I was going to get some stretch marks.

Not this kind...thank goodness.

But the kind that come on my brain when I have to do something that is out of my comfort/ability level.

So, aiming to please, I said sure. We bought, what else...pink and zebra fabric. Meghann decided what color she wanted where and she even cut almost all of the pieces out herself. That's half the battle for me so I was glad she decided to tackle that project herself. She's going to be a great seamstress someday - no fear of cutting out a project.

It sat on my sewing room floor (or "The Cave" as my family refers to it) for several weeks before I found the courage to start. Once I started, it came together fairly easily. I only had to pray over the pockets :). I've never put pockets in anything before!

Meghann was thrilled with the finished product and I was happy to know that it wasn't so bad earning new stretch marks.

Fall Fever

2009-09-23T19:17:00.008-04:00

With the onset of Autumn, it seems that everyone is talking about fall, fall, fall. But, we're still having temperatures in the 90's, high humidity, and my AC is still running full blast.

So, in an effort to get excited about fall like the rest of the world, to pretend that there was a chill in the air, that I needed another blanket at night, that I was pulling out my sweaters and wooly socks, I made some cute pumpkins to decorate the house (come November, that is. First the Halloween decorations must come out). I saw the idea here and loved them so much I thought I'd try my hand at pattern-less pumpkins. I'm not very good at anything without a pattern, but they turned out okay. Not as gorgeous as the originals (loved the fabric she had), but not too bad for around $2 a piece.

Now, back to my flip flops.

Extreme Bedroom Makeover

2009-09-20T13:45:00.021-04:00

Just before school started the girls talked me into repainting their room. It's only the third time in six years. The boys keep asking, "When are you going to repaint our room???" Hmmm... never?

Anyway, they are into pink and zebra right now, so that's what their room is too, naturally. It turned out so cute and "teen" looking. Here are some pictures of the various stages:

What the walls used to look like

Meghann helping to apply primer

See my head over there in the corner working on the primer?

And now, the AFTER pictures... (drum roll please)

A HUGE thank you to Aunt Liseanne for all the CUTE vinyl clings and zebra dots. The dots just totally made the room and the girls kept saying over and over how "amazing" all the vinyl clings were. They are definitely perfect. THANKS, LISEANNE!

Curtains made by mom

Wall canvases made by Meghann

We even found a spot for a dot on Meghann's shelf

Last week I was feeling a need to start and finish a project all in one day so I made this pillow sham for Meghann's bed. She bought the sheets and I made the sham, complete with zebra piping all the way around (hard to see).

vinyl cling above the closet

Another cute font

above Courtney's bed

I love this wall - the font on that vinyl is so fun. As Brady was hanging this one we joked that he needs one that says "Dad's make the best wall hangers!" :) Courtney made these canvases to hang above her bed.

And finally, this is Meghann on Sunday afternoon trying to get some rest. I like to call this picture "Zebra on Zebra." More to come later this week on that darling dress!

Birthday Re-Cap

2009-09-20T13:34:00.008-04:00

I had to post this picture of Spencer and his excitement at getting a new Wii game for his birthday. You can practically see all the way down his throat! I'll bet the dentist would love for him to open that wide.

He had a great birthday. Thanks Grandma and Grandpas for the gifts you sent. I'm posting pictures of those too, along with the birthday treats (pencils) he took into his class.

Spittin' in Style

2009-09-20T13:28:00.005-04:00

I made 12 burp pads for a friend who is due to have a baby in a few weeks. I'd never seen these colored diapers before, but she bought them off ebay and then had me cutsie them up. I think they turned out nice. When I took them over her mom was there and she asked, "Dina, are you sure you're going to name the baby Zac?" We both said, "Yep, it's a done deal!"

Here's an interesting side note:

Her first child has 8 letters in her name

Second child has 7

Third child has 6

Fourth child has 5

Fifth child has 4

Sixth child - you get it by now. He's going to have 3 letters to his name: ZAC

Business is Picking Up

2009-09-20T13:13:00.004-04:00

I ran a small MissionaryAprons.com ad in the September/October issue of LDS Living magazine (page 89 for any subscribers). Since then, I have definitely noticed business picking up a bit. Last week I had about 10 orders. Hooray! Here they are, all lined up and ready to be mailed on Monday.

Ode to a 9-Year-Old

2009-09-13T15:59:00.012-04:00

Happy Birthday, Spencer!

9 wonderful things about this boy:

1. He works hard on his cub scouts.

2. He is the best whistler this side of the Mississippi. He can be heard whistling amost any time of the day (except when we're driving in the car and all of the other kids are saying, "Spencer! Please stop whistling!" We've had to institute a "no whistling in the car" policy to keep the peace.)

3. He is a quick learner. It only took one time of him getting into my make-up (and being horrified when he saw himself in the mirror) and he's never done it again! :)

4. He's a great swimmer (but he never ventures into the water without his goggles).

5. Not only is he a great swimmer, he's awesome on the skim board at the beach!

6. He is a great friend to our neighbor, Joniel. Those two are inseperable.

7. He is my right-hand man in the kitchen. He loves to cook and as he told me once about four or five years ago, "Mom, if you need the eggs cracked just call me and I'll come a running cuz I love cracking eggs!" He comes running every time he hears me in the kitchen. Last Sunday he even sat down and read a cookbook.

8. He's a daddy's boy through and through. (He was thrilled one day when we were pulling hand-me-downs out of a box and realized he and Brady had nearly twinner shirts).

9. Even though he's a daddy's boy, he never lets me leave his room at night without a hug and kiss.

Have a great birthday, Spencer!

Another Launch

2009-08-30T21:14:00.007-04:00

Brady was off chasing shuttles again this week. The first attempt was Tuesday night. The launch was scrubbed due to lightening. Bummer, but a cool picture was definitely taken by someone (thank you whoever posted this on the internet).

There were a few more scrubs during the week (which Brady didn't go out for) but finally on Friday night, it looked like a go. It was set to go off at 11:59 p.m. which is definitely late, but Brady and his friend Kent were able to round up two car loads of dads and kids who all traveled out for the launch. Thank goodness it went up! Brady called me about 5 minutes before take off so I could go outside and watch. It was amazing from here, I can't imagine how much better it would have been where he was watching it from! The kids who went (Courtney, Tucker and Spencer) all raved and raved about it the next morning. Lucky kids.

First Day

2009-08-30T20:44:00.009-04:00

Here are the kids, in all their back-to-school glory!

Tucker: 5th grade

Jordan: 1st grade
(my baby is growing up way too fast!!)

Spencer: 3rd grade

Meghann: 9th grade
(which is HIGH SCHOOL!!! and early morning seminary!!! She will groan at this picture because her eyes are only half open, but could you expect anything else at 5:45 a.m.? I love the picture because she has her shoes in hand - no time to put them on, her scripture tote in one hand, Vera Bradley lunch tote in the other - so high school "cool" and her cute new backpack on her back. She has been able to wake herself up all week AND get her bed made before leaving at 5:50 a.m. What a gal.)

Courtney: 7th grade

So far everyone loves school and is doing great. Oh wait...we have one more student in our house this year...

Me! ?? grade
That's right, I'm taking Physical Science 100 from BYU Independent Study. I'm determined to finish my degree one of these days!

Wrappin' Up Summer (and a very long post)

2009-08-27T08:02:00.055-04:00

**Warning** Get comfortable, pop some popcorn. There are lots of pictures here.

Our "big" summer vacation this year was spent at a condo on the beach in Indian Shores, Florida. It's on the Gulf side where the water is like a bathtub - both in temperature and waves. My favorite kind of vacation is this one - sand, water, swimming suits, lots of reading materials, nothing on the agenda (a view of the beach from our condo doesn't hurt either!) We went with our good friends, the Roberts, and had a fabulous time.

Our condo unit was right next to a bird sanctuary so we had to go over and check it out. It looked like a place for birds that had been injured to "recover." The pelicans who'd had their eyes pecked out were a little unpleasant to look at...

It might be hard to see, but can you tell what a gorgeous view we had??

Dina and Scott celebrated their anniversary while we were there so we enjoyed a YUMMY dinner out with them.

Look what happened when I tried to do a "red eye reduction" on Jordan. He really wasn't about to puke, his face just turned a little green.

Jordan found this little treasure on a walk...a dead fish!

One of my favorite pictures (below)

If we weren't in the ocean, we were in the swimming pool.

Okay, we've made it past the vacation at the beach. Moving on to a day trip to Aunt Kelly's. She lives about three hours away. We drove to her "compound" as Brady calls it, where the kids were able to swim, paddle boat, fish, drive the golf carts around, eat pizza, everything kids love. We had a great time there. Here are some highlights.

The golf carts were a definite favorite.

Another favorite (or frustrating) activity: fishing. Jordan caught two fish and Tucker caught one. They were thrilled. The other fishermen (minus Meghann) weren't as thrilled. Maybe next time.

And finally, they loved the paddleboat. They rode it around the pond and Tucker was thrilled when he finally got out on the little "dock" (even though it was covered in duck poop!).

Brady and I made a quick trip to Utah for my 20-year high school reunion (I know, I don't look nearly that old!) It was so much fun to reconnect with old friends that I haven't seen for a long time.

My best friend Wendy since the 7th grade

Brady is such a goof ball. Thank goodness Mike is a good friend of the family and he "gets" Brady's sense of humor! Look at me, I'm just posing for the picture thinking those two were doing the same thing!

We were also able to get together with family. Here were are with Brady's side of the family (well the boys anyway, the girls were off having the last hoo-rah of summer).

This one cracks me up. They all decided to pull a funny face.

I got to meet and hold baby Kajsa for the first time. I need to be closer to these new little nieces and nephews that are being born!

We enjoyed a delicious dinner at El Matador with my side of the family. Thanks mom and dad for a yummy dinner. I haven't eaten there in years!

A few other highlights of the summer:

Tucker and Jordan putting their money together to buy a new Lego set. They experienced the joy of buying something off the Internet (since we couldn't find it in stores) and the anguish of waiting for something to come in the mail!

Courtney learning to wear make-up (yikes!)

The youth in our stake were challenged to read the Book of Mormon over the summer. We're proud of the girls for accomplishing this, and also of Tucker who, even though only 10, took the challenge very seriously and stayed caught up on his reading the whole summer long. Here he is with the candy bar award they received at the end of the summer.

Congratulations, you made it to the end. Now I've got to get something posted about the first day of school! (Yes, my house is restored to quiet).

A Nutshell Post

2009-07-21T16:03:00.025-04:00

I'm coming up for a few minutes of air. My summer has been a whirlwind and is going by way too fast. Here's a recap of the past two or so weeks.

1. Spent a week in St. Petersburg with Brady and 450 youth at EFY. It was so much fun, especially because Meghann was with us this year. I could write a novel about it, but I don't have time. It was wonderful.

2. Sent my girls off on an airplane by themselves for a week-long vacation in Arizona. They stayed with our good friends, the Petersons, for most of the time, taking in a night at my sister's house in Phoenix at the tail end of their trip. They had a GREAT time and I can't wait for them to come home and tell me ALL about it. I didn't get enough info in our nightly phone calls.

3. A mini-vacation to Amelia Island, Florida. With the girls in Arizona, we were excited at the thoughts of being able to go on a vacation and need only ONE hotel room. On my list of things-to-see was Amelia Island. We were only gone for about three days, but it was lovely. We relaxed at the beach (I got so much reading done!), swam at the pool, introduced the boys to Zaxby's (they loved it), watched too much TV, enjoyed the hotel's delicious breakfast, and just had a great time. I forgot my camera but this is where we stayed

a view of the island- now I couldn't have done that with my camera!

this is the beach we played on:
One of our favorite parts of the trip was on the drive home. We drove down the coast and rode the St. Johns River Ferry (drive the car on the ferry and get a ride across the river). Now that was fun! The boys were so excited about it.

4. We came home from our lovely vacation to a small flood. Apparently the washing machine filled with water and just kept filling while we were gone. This, DESPITE the fact that Brady turned off the hoses to the machine before we left. I know, go figure. We are still trying to do some detective work to solve that mystery. Anyway, three rooms were flooded and we had to rip out carpet in two of them. Gratefully they were just a laundry room, storage room and master bed closet so it wasn't rooms that were greatly used. But, you can imagine my house is in a state of dissaray because of it and that always makes me a little crazy. Hopefully things will be put back together soon.

5. The day after discovering the flood, we discovered lice in all three boy's hair. Hence, a "summer buzz" for the boys. It was awful. I thought I might lose it at that point, but we kept trudging along and I think we've got a handle on that too.

6. I was called as the new Relief Society President (heaven help me!). I'm still too freaked out to even talk about it so that's all I'll say about that.

7. Spencer got his stitches out. He cut his toe at the pool while we were at EFY and our babysitter took him to the ER where he got five stitches. He was a brave boy! One comment he made to us about getting stitches was, "Don't worry dad, it was done by a professional." Whew!

There you have it, life in a nutshell. No wonder I'm going NUTTY! :)

My trip to Arizona

2009-07-12T13:33:00.024-04:00

Two weeks ago I spoke at efy in Flagstaff. I wanted to speak in Show Low, AZ, but when they called and asked if I would speak in Flagstaff instead, my immediate thought was it was the next best thing. Flagstaff is where I did my first efy 9 years ago. I spoke in a gym that was an awful place to try and teach the gospel. It was much better this time not being in a gym.

I was most excited about my trip to AZ to make a road trip two hours to the southeast of Flagstaff to a place I still miss. It's a place all my children call "home" even though they don't have many memories of living there. Although I was not born there, I feel it is home to me in many ways. It had been five years since we last visited Snowflake. When I arrived on Tuesday evening, it looked the same, and yet it looked different. I dropped off two of the other teachers who were speaking with me at the temple and I headed to visit some dear friends.

I first went to visit our good family friend Sandy Carter.

It was so good to see her and spend about 45 minutes just catching up with her. She was like a mother to my wife and a grandma to our children. When my two daughters visit next week, she will be in shock at how grown up they have become. When we moved from Snowflake to Orlando Meghann was only 8 and Courtney was 6. Now they are 14 and 12. They are no longer the little girls she knew when we left. Our family loves Sister Carter a lot. She is an inspiration to us. From time to time I hear my wife repeat a Sister Carter-ism to my daughters. "My momma used to say..."

With about 45-50 minutes left, I crossed main street and pulled along side the Hiatt's and Willis ranch. I was hoping to catch both families home.
I saw Phil out in the garden and I saw Robin on the other side of the garden. I got out the car and started to walk down the driveway. When Phil got up and finally recognized who I was, I wish I would have had a camera as the look on his face was priceless. His mouth was as wide as his eyes when he recognized me. I gave him a big hug. It was so good to see them too. Robin quickly came over and we hugged. Soon RomaLee and LaMar came out. We visited about family, memories, the ranch, the corn maze, and just enjoyed being together. I love both of those families very much. They will always be special to me. Soon it was time to go get the other teachers from the temple. I didn't want to leave. It can't be another five years before I see them again.

I finished up my efy session on Wednesday afternoon. We drove down to the Valley to drop off the other teachers. I immediately turned around and drove back up to Snowflake. Ug! I forgot what a "fun" drive that was. I have gotten used to the flat roads and scenery here in Florida. I had forgotten how up and down that drive is.

I arrived Wednesday evening around 9:30 p.m. and stayed with the Peterson's.
It was so good to see them again. I couldn't believe how big Blake was. Haylee reminded me of a younger Andrea she had grown up so much. Hunter was at BYU at a basketball camp which worked out nice since I was able to use his bedroom while I was there. We visited for a short time on Wednesday night, but it was late and I was tired so I went to bed.

Thursday morning I drove around to find people to visit. I knew my seminary colleagues were out of town until Friday and I knew it was a work day, so I tried to keep that in mind. I stopped by White Mountain Physical Therapy to see if my good friend Lynn Johnson was there. I was directed up to his Taylor office and luckily he AND his wife were there.
I spent a couple of hours just visiting with them. It was a slow day for them, so I was able to visit quite a bit with them. I love the Johnsons. I didn't realize that Lynn is actually BISHOP Johnson. I wasn't surprised.

Dallas told me to be home at noon for lunch. When I arrived I saw this...

Oh Baby! BITS!!! I was in heaven! THANK YOU BRENDEE! I have yet to find a pizza like Bits!

After lunch I headed over to Beth and Woody Peterson's to visit. I just missed Beth who went for some physical therapy, but I was able to have a delightful visit with Woody. He told me a couple of times how much he loved me. The feeling is very mutual. He was sad that Beth was not there and was taking so long at physical therapy that day. I think my fondest memory of visiting with Woody was telling him about how we found Aunt Kelly out here in Florida and how I think the Lord directed our paths to reunite two families that were separated a long, long time ago. I could tell that the story moved Woody and he said something that made me feel good. He said he feels better now about us having moved to Orlando after hearing that story. That reminded me of a comment he made when we visited about one year after we moved. When I was introduced in church and I said I was from Orlando, he quickly corrected me and said, "He's from Snowflake, but he lives in Orlando." That perfectly summarized how I actually felt.
When I finally had to say goodbye to them, Woody told me again, "I've told you this before, but I love you Brady. I consider you as one of my own sons." That made me cry a little bit because I know how much he loves his sons.

After my visit with them, I continued down the road to the seminary. Thankfully Wanda was there unloading curriculum orders. She let me in and we talked for quite some time. It was a little surreal being back in the seminary. There were so many good memories tied up in that building. I went back into my classroom and looked around. Wanda took my picture. Wanda wouldn't let me take a picture of her that day because she didn't look good. I was able to get a picture of her and Bro. Davis on Friday morning before I headed back down to the Valley.
I was sad to drive by Dr. West's office to see that he was out of town until the 1st of July. I really wanted to see him and Debbie as well. I will always remember our first Sunday in Snowflake that they invited us over for dinner. A great friendship grew from there.

As I drove around taking pictures of things, trying to decide who to visit next, the distinct impression came to me that I should visit one of my old home teaching "families." I put that in quotations because this is a family of one -- a widower who was already in his 90s when I knew him. He will be 98 in March. I loved to go over to Leo Webb's and visit with him as his home teacher.
I went to his home and found the TV on but nobody was answering the door. I knew he probably wouldn't remember me. I have called him every Christmas and birthday since I have moved here to Orlando. The last time I called, he couldn't recall who I was. That's OK. As I was hollering in his door, I heard on the TV that Michael Jackson was found dead. I'll never forget where I was when I found out that news. I was about to peek my head in to see if he was there when I saw him walk back in the room. I think I startled him a little bit. I told him who I was and he didn't have any memory of me. He still invited me in and wanted to visit. I told him about me coming over with Brother Nichols (who was also old at the time) and they would talk about the good old days. I told Leo that since Brother Stratton passed away, he was the oldest resident in Snowflake. I asked him about his arrow head collection, something he would always show me when I visited. He took me out to his garden and we looked at the corn coming up. I could always find Leo out in his garden. He told me that it is his kids who use the garden now.

I was grateful when the lady who comes to care for him at night arrived. I explained who I was. She recognized me as the one who sent him a Christmas card every year. I was grateful because she was able to take our picture together. This was an emotional visit for me. I love Leo and I knew that this would probably be the last time I would see him in this life. Even though he didn't remember who I was, I was grateful that I was able to spend about 30 minutes with my good friend Leo.

I think one of the most emotional times for me was actually driving by our old home for the first time.
This is where we lived for about 8 of the 9 years we were in Snowflake. The garage was added after we left and of course, the road was not paved. There were so many memories in that home that it brought back a flood of memories that all poured out my eyes.

That evening was just spent at the Peterson's. Brendee spoiled me and bought me the only other thing I really would have liked from Snowflake, and that was a peanut butter pie from Trappers. The next day I was able to see the Bonham's and visit briefly with them as well. I sure love Dave. He is always good for a laugh. I miss he and Bro. Davis and all the good memories. I especially miss our seminary teacher band, the Preach Boys
I was also able to visit with my good friend, Howard Coltrin and Keith and Pam Webb. I went into Ed's to see if Kipp was working, but he was not. Bro. Mowers was and it was good to visit with him briefly. I was able to learn what was going on with his family and even catch up with Rashel on Facebook. I tried to stop by Kipp and Shug Peterson's home, but they were not there. There were so many more people I wished I could have seen like Arno Hall and Jerry Smith. The Abbotts and the whole clan that lives right there. It would have been nice to have visited on Sunday and it would have saved me some time, but that's not how it worked out this time.

Well, that sums up my road trip to Snowflake. Thanks for reading. I'm sure it was more meaningful to me as these were people who I shared my life and family with for nine years of our lives. I love Snowflake. I keep telling my wife I want to retire there. We'll see... To all of my friends from Snowflake (ward members, students, and friends), I love you. The only bad thing about my visit was that Stephanie and the family were not with me. Maybe next time. It can't be another five years though. That was too long.

To My Main Squeeze

2009-06-30T21:15:00.005-04:00

Brady on Lake Louise in Canada a few years ago

I am coming out of blogging hiatus to wish the love of my life Happy Birthday tomorrow. Only I am doing at 9:00 the night before (happy birthday to mom-in-law Annice TONIGHT!) because I have time at 9:00 at night. But at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow I might not have time. With five kids all home and saying, "feed me," "entertain me," let's do this," "let's go here" my time at the computer is limited.

And...I can't wish Brady happy birthday without doing the same to Roma Lee Hiatt since you two share your big day! Have a good one, Roma Lee. Brady had so much fun visiting with you, Phil, Robin, LaMar -the good old gang - last week.

Hard Knock Life

2009-06-07T14:55:00.004-04:00

At Courtney's end-of-the-year choir concert, she got to sing a solo! Here's some video footage of it, but I had a technical difficulty in the middle so it's in two segments. Great job Courtney! Look out Broadway...

Pioneer Children Sang...

2009-06-07T14:28:00.004-04:00

as they sewed and sewed and sewed. Isn't that how the song goes? After having sewn/helped to sew 6 pioneer dresses, 10 bonnets, 10 aprons, 3 pair of bloomers and one pioneer nightgown, I'm sure the words should be changed.

Our stake is gearing up for it's Pioneer Trek this week so we have been sewing like crazy around here. Meghann actually sewed most of her costumes herself for one of her 10 hour YW projects. And thus, a seamstress has been born. She started cutting everything out General Conference weekend last April and she has been working at it here and there ever since. She has done an amazing job. I get so excited when I can tell her, "Now make a casing for the elastic" or "make a narrow 5/8" hem" and she understands exactly what I'm saying! I think she's going to be the cutest pioneer on that dirt runway!

Even though Courtney isn't "officially" going on the trek because she isn't 14 yet, she has a role to play one day so she needed two costumes as well. I'm almost finished with the very last costume. What a relief!

two bonnets and two aprons made for a lady in our ward

Get This Tooth Out!

2009-06-05T12:40:00.011-04:00

Jordan could not wait for his first tooth to come out. All the while it was wiggling and loosening, he was crying for it to come out. He would come home from school and tell me that he told all of his class that it would be out tomorrow and if it wasn't out they would call him a liar! He was determined to get that thing out, so here are some pictures (and a video or two!) of us trying to accommodate his wish.

Here he is with it finally out. Oh, happy day! I should have gotten a close up of his smile, but I was actually taking a picture of him with his new Gator cup and plate. Brady took the boys to Big Lots last week and when Jordan saw this cup and plate, he couldn't buy it fast enough! He eats on it every meal.

Spencer on the Rubix Cube

2009-06-05T11:15:00.005-04:00

In the meantime, while we were occupied with Jordan's tooth, I found this little video clip on my flash card that Spencer recorded for us. Warning: it's a little fuzzy, but what do you expect from an eight-year-old who is recording AND doing the rubix cube at the same time!

Spring Cleaning

2009-06-05T08:04:00.005-04:00

I'm cleaning off my flash card. What a good feeling! Sort of like spring cleaning, only I hardly have to move a muscle, just a few finger muscles. Send this picture to a file on the hard drive, send this picture to be printed, send this picture to be posted on my blog, delete this picture that Spencer took of me and Brady kissing.

So, here are a few video clips of Jordan's end-of-the-year kindergarten program. Maybe only the grandparents can love these videos as much as I do...

Florida Writes

2009-06-04T09:10:00.006-04:00

You know the good old standardized testing that happens every spring...(does it happen where you live?). Well, it does here and that week of school is very tense for everyone. The school year seems to revolve around FCAT and Florida Writes. This year Meghann and Tucker helped boost the statistics with their perfect and nearly-perfect score on the Writing test (the other kids didn't have to take this test - just 4th and 8th grades).

It might be hard to read, especially the small print, but you can click on the picture and it will blow up bigger. Meghann scored a 6 out of 6 with the prompt "Persuade your principal whether students should be allowed to eat snacks in the classroom." Tucker scored a 5 out of 6 with the prompt "write to explain why it is important to follow rules." They are both strong, creative writers. They did a great job!

Wrapping Up the May Birthdays...

2009-05-28T21:38:00.025-04:00

Meghann at the recent 8th grade dance

...is Meghann! The first-born, but she has to wait until almost the last day of May (and after one brother and one sister celebrate May birthdays) before hers rolls around.

Ahhh...it's always worth the wait though!

And now, 14 Things I Love About Meghann:

1. She is ultra-creative. I came across so many pictures in her folder of things she has created that I couldn't decide which one to post. This is a simple one of a sculpey doll she made. She has also made sculpey Harry Potter characters, Charley Brown characters, a nativity scene, and on and on. She loves to draw, color, and lately she has taken up sewing. She made an apron, bonnet, and dress for her upcoming Pioneer trek. It does my heart good to see her love sewing.

2. She loves to read. And read and read and read.

3. She loves being dramatic. Oops...I mean she loves being in drama. And she's quite good at it.

4. She has some great friends. Here she is with her best friend Natalie.

5. She is an excellent student. She has surpassed both Brady and me on her math ability (where did she get that from???) and she excels in so many areas.

6. Her smile. Whenever she smiles big it just reminds me of the same cute smile she had when she was little.

7. Every now and then, she does something that just surprises us all.

8. Her gorgeous blonde hair. She's like me - fighting the frizz here in Florida, but she's got so much natural curl that it's just beautiful - humid or not.

9. She is a great big sister. Her younger siblings adore her and LOVE her to be the babysitter (could it be that she makes all-you-can-eat popcorn when we're gone??)

10. She's very obedient. The reason I posted this picture about "obedience" is whenever I tell her that her make-up is a little too overdone, she fixes it. She's a good girl.

11. She'll try new things. Lacrosse was something new for her. She discovered that she really doesn't like to run all that much (I don't either. Maybe she gets that from me too...) Notice I said she'll try new "things" - not to be confused with "she'll try new foods." Not happening. She's a very picky eater.

12. She's a collector. Now she has to get this from Brady. His office is like a museum, and her bedroom is quickly becoming one too. She has many fun collections. I found this picture in her folder and thought, "Now when did she take all of the spices off my spice rack and take pictures of her Littlest Pet Shop characters (which are now residing in the attic)?" Must have been sometime when I was gone.

13. She loves to grow things. I'm so glad she has a green thumb. Here she is picking strawberries at Pappys (she didn't grow these) but she started a garden last year with Natalie and she's done a great job at growing many things. Her favorite thing to grow is marigolds. We've started calling her Marigold Meghann because she takes the little seed things out of the dead marigolds and replants them. My front flower bed is teeming with marigolds that she planted from seed.

14. She's very dependable. Is this an oldest-child syndrome? I'm not sure, but Meghann is awesome at being dependable.

We love you, Meghann! Have a great 14th Birthday!

Kindergarten Art

2009-05-26T15:03:00.004-04:00

I will miss these critters that have adorned my laundry room door (both sides!) this school year. Now that I've taken them down, the door seems stark white.

Along with the critters, I will miss having a kindergartener. Where does the time go?

Birthday Girl

2009-05-24T18:21:00.022-04:00

My birthday girl is looking for her birthday blog...

I've been so busy getting ready for and celebrating this blessed day, I haven't even sat down at the computer to give my Ode to Courtney.

But, alas, here it is.

12 Things I Love About Courtney:

(in no particular order)

1. She is a natural leader. Here she is getting the Leadership Award in 5th grade.

2. She is NOT a picky eater (thank goodness! One out of five!)

3. There is just something sweet about her. People have said that about Courtney from the time she was about two years old, and 10 years later, it's still true!

4. She's always good to come up with something to entertain her brothers during "quiet time" every Sunday (the "stair jumping" episode was all her idea).

5. She's not afraid of bugs. If a lizard gets in the house (believe me, it happens) she's the first one I call. I know she's not afraid to hunt him down and throw him out.

6. She gets excellent grades.

7. She loves to have fun.

8. She has a thing for monkeys...she just always has (remind you of someone, Andrea??)

9. Sometimes she still lets me do her hair. This isn't my do, it's a Libby Lu do, but she likes me to put her hair in pink sponge curlers sometimes, and she let's me french braid it too!

10. She makes us laugh. And laugh and laugh.

11. She feels the Spirit easily.

12. She has a fun and funky style that is all her own.

Our house would be dull and quiet without Courtney around. Happy birthday girlfriend!

Finally! Mother of the Year Award

2009-05-11T18:38:00.003-04:00

Go here to see the news clip of my award.

http://news.cnnbcvideo.com/?nid=r9VvRh_35VL4o_3zoqC.dTM0NDg0Mw--&referred_by=16661468-z6FKBUx&p=jbj

(p.s. a friend sent me this on Mother's day. Where do people find these funny things?)

The Reason I Am Called "Mother"

2009-05-11T14:49:00.005-04:00

...and the reason I sometimes want to change my name (he he).

AND, I wouldn't be a Mother without HIM:

It was a fabulous Mother's Day!

The Heat Is On

2009-05-08T08:04:00.005-04:00

Temps have been in the 90's all week. Oh, Spring, where have you gone? We were so enjoying the days of windows being open, a nice breeze flowing through the house, kids playing outside until dinnertime, magnolia trees in bloom, lazy walks around the lake on a Sunday evening and no air conditioning bill. Now, I'm afraid it's all over. And it's just plain hot.

Happy Birthday to my Baby

2009-05-04T14:20:00.034-04:00

Six things I love about JORDAN:

1. He is an equal-opportunity hugger. He is always very good about giving me a hug, then giving Brady a hug. If he gives Brady a kiss, he gives me a kiss. Makes us both feel so loved!

2. He still loves to climb up on my lap. He sits on my lap every morning for scripture reading so I can help him with the words. It's a great way to start my morning.

3. He's a boy of many talents, whether it's doing the splits or creating a masterpiece with his toys!

4. He's all Floridian - through and through. He might have been born in Arizona, but this boy loves the beach, the Florida Gators, and even catching the lizards that are plentiful around our yard.

The shirt is one of today's birthday presents

5. My plan was to have a girl at the end. So, even though my plan didn't work out, I'm glad Jordan doesn't mind playing dress-up.

6. He's a born leader. I've known that about him since nursery!

Happy Birthday Jordan!

Getting a Workout

2009-05-01T16:08:00.019-04:00

What's your machine of choice when going for a workout? A treadmill?

Maybe a nice set of weights?

Not me. When I need a good workout, I go straight for this baby...

my Bernina. Ahhh, there's not much else that can get my heart beating like Bernie (unless it's Brady, of course...)

This week my exercises have included:

Three blankets for wedding gifts

*warning* Mom and Mom-in-law - close your eyes for this next picture!

Two towels for Mother's Day

Another bag for some lady in my mom's ward. I can't wait to visit her ward again and see all of my tote bags on display! Seriously though, this one is so darn cute. It just needs two tickets to Hawaii and it could have a really nice life...

t-shirt for brother-in-law (and sorry that it took so long!)

Apron for nephew on mission

(Michelle, this one is to celebrate his 1-year mark so you can include it in the next package you send him. It's in mom's mother's day package being mailed to her house)

Speaking of aprons, look at the name of this mission! I did about 6 or 7 aprons this past week from orders off my website. Woot woot! I even did two for a mission president/mom. It's so exciting to see this little venture pick up speed!!

When Brady says I've been in my cave all week, I lovingly remind him it's not the cave - it's the Cave of Creativity.

It has a much nicer ring, don't you think?

And no wonder I feel like I need a nap.

But, if Bernie could talk, I'll bet she'd say SHE was the one getting the workout.

(and she'd be right)

Is There a Doctor in the House?

2009-05-01T15:17:00.005-04:00

Last night was the first performance of the Advanced Drama class production of "Is There a Doctor in the House?" Meghann did a great job. Here's a few video clips, one courtesy of Tucker so don't mind the girl's arm that is constantly getting in the way.

Stenstrom's Most Talented Kids

2009-04-29T17:08:00.003-04:00

Last night we were treated to a music concert put on by Stenstrom's Most Talented Kids. Mrs. Harbin, the wonderful music teacher at our kid's school, held an audition and chose 5 kids from 3rd grade, 5 from 4th and 5 from 5th grade to put on a little concert. There was piano playing, cello, violin, singing, dancing, even the recorder!

Tucker was chosen as one to represent the 4th grade. He worked very hard to get this piece down just right and I think he did a great job. (If you look close, especially towards the middle of the song, you can see him mouthing the words. When I asked him about it he said it helped him keep time. I thought it was cute.)

No Mo' Metal Mouth

2009-04-29T16:56:00.006-04:00

Before

Meghann got her braces off today! What a big even in the life of a flirteen - I mean thirteen-year-old! (She's really not that flirty...thank goodness). I'll bet it's just around the corner though...ugh.

After

Surrogates

2009-04-26T14:53:00.003-04:00

Having lived away from extended family for almost 15 years now, we've come to rely on surrogate grandparents. We've had some wonderful friends who have become like grandparents to our kids and life savers to Brady and me.

Sister Carter babysat our kids for our 10th wedding anniversary so we could go away for the night.

Phil and Roma Lee Hiatt took our kids in an instant when my water broke all over Roma Lee's floor (just after she had fed us dinner) so we could go to the hospital and have baby #5 (thank goodness it was a wood floor!!! So embarrasing).

And Lucy and Justo Casablanca were our Florida grandparents. Still are, really, but they have been on a mission recently to Argentina. While on that mission, Justo was called to be the mission president in Bogota, Columbia. So, they are home for a few months to get things ready to leave once again. And while they are home we got to have them over for Puerto Rican rice and beans. Brady was nervous about cooking for them since they are from Puerto Rico, but they got a double thumbs up from the Casablancas. Brady was beaming! One other thing the Casablancas will be remembered for: introducing my kids to The Golden Corral. They took us there before they left for Argentina and my kids thought they'd died and gone to heaven.

We will enjoy writing letters once again to them. We're so blessed to know good people to step in and fill a void.

Older...and Wiser

2009-04-21T12:45:00.005-04:00

Happy Birthday to my OLDEST sister Michelle. Not that you're old, just older. Okay, and wiser. I'll give you both.

(She takes her wii very seriously)

Have a happy birthday Michelle!

Easter Picture - better late than never

2009-04-18T11:43:00.004-04:00

Finally, here is a picture I took of the kids Easter morning. After getting into bed around 12:45 a.m. Sunday morning and having 9:00 a.m. church, snapping a few pictures was about all I could do Easter morning. I did manage to get Easter baskets filled and on the table for the kids as well.

I bought the girls Easter dresses, then had to modify them. I added a piece of fabric to the bottom of both of them because they were just slightly shorter than I like them. So on Courtney's I added that pink strip. It turned out so cute. I'm not sure where the picture I took of Meghann went, I'll bet she deleted it that stinker! I added a strip of brown to the bottom of hers, you might be able to see it in the above picture. Anyway, I think it made both dresses even cuter than they were AND more modest! Bonus!

Losing Teeth

2009-04-18T11:20:00.009-04:00

A few days ago I found this photo on my flash card:

I'm not sure who took it but it's a nice shot of the inside of Spencer's mouth, don't you think? It's also a good intro for this video of Spencer losing that other front tooth this week.

And here he is, in all his toothless glory. He's a cutie.

Magnet Makeover

2009-04-18T11:17:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I ran into my friend Shelby at JoAnns. She gave me a great idea for a magnet makeover. I already had these boring, black (but very sturdy) magnets at home on my fridge and for ONE DOLLAR they went from this:

to this:

Viola! Aren't they cute? (these are just little round stickers found back in the scrapbooking area)

Utah in a Weekend

2009-04-14T13:47:00.006-04:00

While traveling over 2,000 miles for three days isn't exactly my idea of a "vacation," I didn't have to cook one meal, got to do some shopping with my mom and sisters, spent the night in a hotel with my hubby, and read until my heart's content on an airplane so I guess I can't complain.

We were in Utah last weekened for our efy training - getting us pumped, excited and informed about our upcoming efy session this summer. Brady and I will be at the St. Petersburg (Tampa) session, a change from our usual U of U session. I'm looking forward to it because we'll be able to bring Meghann and her friend with us. Now...if we can just figure out what to do with the other four kids we'll be all set.

(by the way, I googled "efy byu" for a nice logo type picture to insert here and only found about 500 participant photos to sift through so no picture!)

However, here are some great pictures I stole from my sister Denise's blog. Thanks for having your camera so handy. The only time I took mine out all weekend was to video my niece Jayden doing a cheer for me (she just made cheerleader at CHS - go Jayden!) But I thought she might kill me if I posted it on my blog. I dunno though, it might be cute. I haven't even watched it back yet, but watch out Jayden, I just might post it on YOUR facebook next April fools!

Here we are eating lunch at Five Guys Burgers & Fries. All I can say is "Mmmmmmmm. So delish." It was the best.

Brady joined me on Friday and we were off to be spiritually fed and uplifted at efy training. It was fun to be together again after being apart for only one day. He stayed with the kids on Thursday and was Mr. Mom. He did EVERYTHING on the "honey do" list including go to the grocery store, the dry cleaner, make sure all laundry and sweeping got done (thanks my wonderful girls for doing it), print and bring me some talks I had forgotten to do before I left, and the list goes on an on. He's amazing. So, we had a great time being together without kids. I love it when we get to get away.

I flew home on Saturday to be with the kids on Easter, Brady stayed and spent Easter with his family. The kids had a great time while we were gone with their friends. We sure have wonderful friends who will take extra kids on the tail end of spring break AND Easter weekend.

As always, it was good go be back home. That is...until I had to wake up Monday morning and realize that the laundry, dusting and cooking were waiting just for me. Ahhh...the life of a domestic diva.

Half-Italian

2009-04-08T18:51:00.007-04:00

After searching high and low and finally paying top dollar for a pizzelle maker off ebay, I feel like I must be half-Italian! Pizzelles are these yummy, thin, crispy Italian cookies that can be bought at Costco. Last Christmas when I asked my (Italian) friend Laura to pick me some more up when she went, she said, "You know, I have a pizzelle maker and you can just make your own." I had no idea there was such a thing! She brought me over some homemade pizzelles the next day. A few weeks later I did borrow her pizzelle maker and my family was hooked!

So finally I began searching for one of my own. I didn't know they would be so tricky to buy. I bought one at Bed, Bath & Beyond but after one disasterous try of making the cookies, I took it back. The trick is to get one that isn't non-stick. I know, normally non-stick is boss, right? But on this gadget, the teflon just doesn't work. I prefer the shiny, stainless steel kind. And, happily, I found it on ebay (where else?). We have been making them often for after-school snacks, Family Home Evening treats, and a few weeks ago I took them to my friend for her birthday filled with real whipped cream...mmm, delicious!

Here's some pictures to get your mouth watering.

Don't judge me by this next picture, my pizzelles aren't perfectly centered!

We usually leave them flat and dust them with powdered sugar:

But this time I got fancy and rolled them, then filled them with cream.

Sooooo delicious. If you are serious about buying yourself a pizzelle maker, email me and I'll give you the best brand to buy!

Conference Traditions

2009-04-05T10:22:00.016-04:00

This year we combined the old with the new.

Old tradition:

M&M's given out during MUSIC. We can't watch General Conference without M&Ms. A few weeks before Conference I start watching for a good sale on them because I know I'll need a few bags. This year our grocery store had the BIG bag on sale, buy one get one free (a BOGO - love them). This is actually more M&M's than we'll need, but I'll use the leftovers at FHE on Monday for a game (and any left over after that will get eaten with all five kids home this week for Spring Break. Trust me, no M&M will go wasted).

By the way, the kids have to "earn" their M&Ms by telling us what they learned in the previous segment of conference. THEN they get a colorful handful.

the official m&m passer out-er

New Tradition:

It was so nice of Walmart to have not five but SIX different colors of notebooks for Brady to buy for our new Conference tradition. That way when two children were fighting over the same color, we could take the PURPLE one back that no one wanted, trade it for a YELLOW one so that the one who originally wanted GREEN would give it up to the second one who wanted GREEN and take the YELLOW one and everyone was happy. Follow that? It doesn't matter. What matters is that this new tradition was a success! Everyone actually loved taking notes in their new notebook. They weren't writing feverishly the whole time (except for Tucker). There was still plenty of coloring going on in separate coloring books, but I'm telling you, they were listening and taking notes.

There's an incentive for taking notes. On Monday for FHE we'll have a Conference Quiz. Each person in the family is responsible for submitting three questions from what they heard during Conference that we will use for our lesson. (I'll be throwing out m&ms for correct answers!) The incentive to take good notes is that this is an OPEN NOTEBOOK test so whatever they wrote down will help them tomorrow night.

My favorite notes were those taken by Jordan. My five-year-old who is learning to write. Each sentence runs together and many words do too, but my favorite part is in the middle of the page where it says, "rafael E. Pino I like his hair." He did have good hair, you have to admit. Black and slicked back. Jordan has good taste in hair and takes a lot of care to make sure he has a good "up" each morning before going to school. (pictures of his "up" would be a good post for another day. He has a "school up" and a "church up." The school up is a little more wild).

my meticulous note-taker. He counted 11 pages of notes after just the Saturday session.

This is a small sampling of what our family room looks like during Conference: It's a mess, crayons, markers, colored pencils, coloring books, computer-printed coloring pages, TV trays - all strewn about the room. But the kids are listening and that makes me so happy. Happy enough to ignore the mess.

p.s. for more great ideas for Conference weekend see the article in the March edition of the Ensign. I read a few of these there and just adapted them a little for our family.

Brains vs. Common Sense

2009-04-05T10:12:00.002-04:00

Today I was cleaning off the clutter from the kitchen cupboard. I asked Tucker to put down his book and come do a few jobs for me. I pointed to a tool sitting on the cupboard and said, "Go put that in dad's tool box."

A few minutes later Brady came to take care of two receipts that were on the cupboard, to find only ONE receipt there. He looked all over for the other one but could not find it. I thought, "Ah ha" and walked to the garage to where the tool box lives. There, in the top of the tool box was the missing receipt. And there, on the kitchen cupboard, the needle nose pliers sat.

I have to smile a little at Tucker's lack of common sense because it reminds me of myself, really. My dad used to tell me I had plenty of brains but lacked common sense. (Was he calling me a dumb blonde???) Well, Tucker has enough brains for at least two people his age, but common sense...well, the tool/receipt incident is just one example. He is famous for hiding things from his brothers, only to completely forget where he hid them. I need to look on the internet and see if that is a common thing because I know quite a few "brilliant" kids who are a little on the ditzy side. Oh well, we're still okay for a few more years until he gets behind the wheel of a car. That's when my ditzy side caused me grief. But I got over it - I haven't been pulled over since about 1998! (I hope I didn't just jinx myself).

A Laugh For You

2009-04-01T09:38:00.002-04:00

I saw this today and it made me laugh out loud, all by myself here at the computer when I should be cleaning, doing laundry, cooking, sewing or some other domestic diva-ish job. Actually, my dishes are done, bed is made, laundry day isn't until tomorrow, so I'm good to sit and waste time at the computer. But I do need a shower. So, enjoy this little laugh on April Fool's Day. Played any good jokes? Tucker was NOT happy to wake up to blue eye shadow courtesy of his two sisters, but the other two boys didn't care too much. It actually looked kind of cute on Jordan, accentuated his blue eyes. Mine and Brady's saran-wrap-over the door didn't fool the kids though. Darn.

Something For Me

2009-03-31T21:22:00.004-04:00

I am so happy! I just finished my first real attempt at a quilt. The pattern is called "Turning Twenty." You take twenty fat quarters and turn it into this quilt top:

or any other quilt top when you choose 20 different fat quarters. That's what I love about this pattern, you can make it over and over again but choose different fabrics and it's a whole new quilt. I love putting fabrics together and while I don't think this one turned out quite like I'd imagined, I'm happy with my first attempt. Now I just have to machine quilt it and bind it...two big challenges since I'm not a pro at either, but it's all about the learning, right?

Can't wait to snuggle up with my honey and this quilt on the couch. Probably won't happen to next winter though the way things are heating up around here. We're using the A/C already!