First Day of School

Here are the girls in their new clothes and ready to start their first day of school. Everyone was excited and couldn't wait to get to school and start learning. Okay, maybe not to start learning but to get the new school year going.


Kylie's favorite part of the first day of school: Seeing my friend Katie in my class and meeting a new friend Grace. I really like my teacher Ms. Roosa.


Ashley's favorite part of the first day of school: Meeting my teachers, (she has 3) especially my homeroom teacher Mrs. Milner, and wearing new clothes.

Courtney's favorite part of the first day of school: I got to have M&Ms in class(which is awesome!) I also got to spend half of the day in a Stafford warrior group and we got to talk and go over rules(but it was fun). Then we got to go through our schedules and meet all of our teachers and all of mine are cool! And I had to ride my bike to school and it was NOT cool!!!!


Tiffani's favorite part of the first day of school: I now get early release every other day this year and therefore get to leave at 2:18 instead of 3:55! I'm now the first one home! No longer will I be the one carrying the towels upstairs. WHOOOHOO! And I get to spend some one on one with my mom!

My Crazy girls. I miss you when you are away from me.

Tiffani

On Sunday August 24, 2008, in Sacrament Tiffani was recognized for completing all the requirements to earn her Young Woman's Medallion.

I am so proud of Tiffani and all the things that she is accomplishing in her life. She is growing up way to fast for me and I wish that I could make her stop or freeze time so that she could just stay this age for a while longer. Here are some things that I love about her: she thinks before she does things, she just doesn't do something just spur of the moment or because everyone else is doing it, if she doesn't feel good about something she won't follow along, she doesn't let others sway her decisions. She stands up for what she believes in and has a good heart and is nice to others. She loves to have fun and hang out with her friends and family. Tiffani, thank you for being a such a great example to your younger sisters and thanks for making our family fun.

(Just a side note Tiffani finished her Personal Progress in May)

Ward/Primary Activity

Being in the Primary Presidency one of my responsibilities is planning the Primary Activities. We decided it would be fun to have a water themed activity, and with the Olympics going on we decided it would be cool to have The Primary Water Olympics. Due to the fact that we don't have a ward activities person right now the Bishop asked if we could make it a Ward Activity. I said, "Sure why not". So on August 23 we had the Ward/Primary Water Olympics. I think it turned out really well. We had a good turn out and everyone enjoyed getting wet to cool off from the hot summer sun. Here are some fun pictures of the day.

Kylie, Courtney, and Julia decided it would be fun to try and get Mike wet...but when Courtney attempted to throw the water on him it back fired and the water was on her instead.

At the end of the activity Mike decided to dump a big bucket of water on Brother Lloyd, who had earlier dumped a cup of ice down is back. Brother Lloyd wasn't expecting it and was quiet surprised and soaking wet.

Then it was Bishop Martin's turn to get a nice cold bucket of water. Due to the fact that he made it through the activity getting other people wet and staying dry himself Mike and many of the youth felt the need to include him in on the water fun as well. We love our Bishop!

School Starts Tomorrow

Should I be Happy or Sad that school starts tomorrow? Some of my friends are super happy that school is starting and others are really sad. I am having mixed emotions about the girls going off to school tomorrow. Here are some of my happy and sad feelings:
1. I am getting tired of hearing I am bored, what can I do,(besides clean mom!!)
2. I love hanging out with my girls, we have so much fun together, making each other laugh, cooking,watching the home decorating shows and talking about stuff. So I will miss them terribly.
3. The cooking though has added about 10 lbs to me, so I am glad that wont be happening as much, although I will miss those chocolate chip cookies.
4. When they start school, it means that I will start school too. (Not sure if this is a happy or sad thought. I love learning but don't love the test.)
5. I worry about them as they are away from me. Like will the other kids being nice to them, will they like their teachers, and will they eat all their lunch and like it. (Hopefully they wont get tired of PBJ sandwiches. I may have to get a little creative with lunch.) (Any good ideas?)
I am happy that they are starting school, so that they can continue to learn and grow socially, and I am sad that they will be gone all day from me and I wont be their to protect them from the world. I guess that's why I am really glad that we have summer vacations and the breaks throughout the year so that we can appreciate each other and enjoy the times that we do have together.

Using My New Mixer

My mixer that I am really loving.

I have been very excited to use my mixer and try making bread and other fun things. My first attempt at using my mixer I decided was going to be baking cinnamon rolls. I have only made these a couple of times, and that was a long time ago, (at least 11 years or so). The girls and I had fun, although Kylie thought that they took to long to make.
Okay, so I got a little confused on the instructions for the butter, sugar, cinnamon mix in the middle and we ended up making a butter, sugar and cinnamon paste, but it stilled worked and the cinnamon rolls tasted great.

Don't they just look yummy??!!!!

Then my good friend, Katie, and I attempted to make some whole wheat bread. That didn't work at so well. It seems when ever I try to make bread or rolls it just doesn't work. The problem or problems could have been that the wheat flour wasn't fresh, the recipe we were using was a little weird, and I just don't know how to make bread. The bread really didn't rise and it was hard and yucky tasting.

Katie found a better recipe for me and so I decided to try it. Here is the reward for my labor. Doesn't this bread look so delicious? Let me tell you it was pretty darn good. My family tells me that I did a great job. I might even get my Kylie to start eating whole wheat bread. With my mixer it has an auto knead which is so nice and it was all done in less then two hours. I love it!! I can't wait to try and make rolls and some more bread. Oh, and I used fresh ground whole wheat this time maybe that was the secret to my bread success, or was it the recipe? Maybe I'll have to try one without their other and see which one makes the best bread.

Our 18th Wedding Anniversary

Today is our wedding anniversary. I can't believe that we have been married 18 years. I love being married and especially I love being married to Mike, he is my best friend. He brings great joy into my life and into our daughters. He is an awesome dad and husband. Mike thank you for making these last 18 years the best years of my life. I love you.

2008 Summer Olympics

The 2008 Summer Olympics!!!
We have loved watching the Summer Olympic games. We even had an Beijing Bash with some friends to watch the Opening Ceremony and had Pei Wei for dinner. Our favorites have been the volleyball,beach volleyball, swimming, and of course gymnastics.
Here is the official website of the Olympic games if you are interested in the Medal counts and other neat stuff.

http://en.beijing2008.cn/

Quote For the Day

I found this quote from Marjorie Pay Hinkley. I really liked it and wanted to share this with you all.

"As you create a home, don't get distracted with a lot of things that have no meaning for you or your family. Don't dwell on your failures, but think about your successes. Have joy in your home. Have joy in your children. Have joy in your husband. Be grateful for the journey."

Girls Gone Wild!!!

The girls had a sleep over with some friends and they came down and wanted to do a fashion show for Mike and I. They were wearing some funky get-ups and having a great time.

The Actress.

The Drama Queen

The Model.

Kylie and her friend Maddie.
Ashley and her friend Melissa.
Courtney with the girls.
Here's Tiffani all dressed up! (JK)

The end of our Trip and a Trip story.

Okay, the other day I was talking to a friend and realized that I hadn't shared our flat tire adventure with you all. As we begin our second day of driving, leaving Denver, CO (we had been on the road maybe about an hour or so.) We came to some road construction, and needed to merge over and went over those bumps in the road. (you know those things in the road that try to keep you awake.) I went over some and realized that noise wasn't going away. Then the low tire light came on and I realized that we had a flat tire. So has I am driving in this construction zone, I realize that I can't pull off anywhere as there are concrete walls on both sides. After a few minutes I finally see a place to pull off. Now I was really excited as I was prepared for this trip I had triple A and a GPS for this trip. Triple A was for the emergencies and the GPS was for helping with directions as many of you know that is not my forte. So when I called Triple A to come and change my tire, they want to know where I am. This was a problem as I was just driving till the GPS told me to turn or do something. So I wasn't really paying attention to where I was and was just watching for the next place to turn which was like 50 miles ahead. I had to give them a guesstimate of where I was and what was around me and they told me it would be anywhere from a 1/2 hour to an hour before they could get to me. Thank heavens for the nice highway patrolman that stopped and helped us. Then he told me that I needed to go and get my tire fixed so he started to give me instructions and then basically he ended up just showing me where the place was. I really liked that Colorado Highway patrolman, he was very friendly and helpful. Then after unloading the car the 2nd time the guy at the tire place tells me he doesn't have the tire size I need and that all my tires are bald and need to be replaced but that I will have to go somewhere else to get them as they didn't have the right size tires. Then I am not happy and shocked that my wonderful husband would let me and his four daughters drive on a road trip to Idaho/Utah on bald tires. So I call Mike to talk to him because now I am supposed to go and get all my tires change and unload my car for the third time that day. He tells me that I am okay and to keep going to Utah and I can get the tires fixed there. So the girls and I say a prayer that we can get to Utah safely and without any more incidents. We do arrive to Utah safely and no other flat tires. So the next day we drive to COSTCO and get new tires and new books to read as we wait for the tires to get done.

Here are our last pictures of our trip. This was on our way back home staying in Provo with Julie and Jeff. It was so good to see everyone. One thing that Tiffani really wanted was a lime freeze from Ripples. So we went and got lunch from Ripples and ate in Chris and Allie's backyard while Alan was cleaning up the paint stuff. It was a really nice day hanging out with family. Believe it or not Tiffani was starting to feel back to normal. We were glad that she was being her happy self.