A wonderful christmas gift!

For Christmas our good friends Jake and Amy gave us a gift certificate to Fat Cats bowling alley. They said that we had to use it and go on a group date together (they also gave it to our friends the Barnes and Spencer's). Yesterday was the big date night and what a blast it was!!! Here are some of the crazy shots.



Kirstin after she got a strike!!!


Amy, Kristen and Me

The spouses (minus the Spencer's)

Chris, Jake 'Dough', Merrill 'Miles'

Kristen and Miles...ha ha Miles, you made it on my blog after all (he kept threatening "if these end up on your blog, you will get it!"

Me and Chris

A shot with the gift certificates...cheesy I know...oh well deal with it people!

'Dough' HATES to have his picture taken and his wife Amy ALWAYS has her camera and is taking pics! This picture captures the essence of it all!

Brett and Kirstin




They had HUGE hot chocolates (think 'so I married an axe murder')

It was REALLY hot and I burnt my tongue! Poor baby! Honey, quick, kiss it better!!! :-)

Kristen Bowling

Oh ya....were bad!!!

The proof that they have a volatile relationship!!! J/K....seriously though, notice what is in Amy's hand...yep, a camera. She was trying to take an action shot of 'Dough' and he had had enough!

Love this one of Aim

When my daughter saw this she asked "Why are they ALWAYS kissing?" I told her that they were trying to set a good example for your dad. HINT HINT!

Okay, so my JERK friends are always giving me a hard time about not ever sharing drinks with them. I admit that I have a huge germ/slobber phobia. I personally don't see anything wrong with not wanting to suck on something that someone's bodily fluid has touched. So I had my own drink and they were all sharing (dry heaving right now!!). I guess that they took this picture while I was in the bathroom. Yep that is my cup and yep, I drank it all gone before they showed me this picture. YA JERKS!



This was taken after I figured out what they had done...actually first I threw ice at ALL of them! They are such MEANERS!

You would think that he had just made a strike...nah, he gutter balled BOTH balls!!!

I guess that this is pay back! They thought that I was taking their picture, not video taping them. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH (said while rubbing hands together aggressively!) But not to worry girls, you will get yours!!!

Thanks again Jake and Amy for such a wonderful time!! We love you guys!

The art gallery???

Dear Abbie, (they still have Dear Abbie columns in the newspaper-don't they?)

Our son has taken up the art of drawing and might I add that he is an amazing artist for the age of two! Now if only he could find a different form of canvas to create his masterpieces on!!!

SERIOUSLY can I tell you how white trash our home looks right now?! And here is the BEST part...it is all permanent marker! I have tried everything to get it off, even the Magic erasers and it is just taking paint off the wall....but not the marker! QUICK, does anyone out in blogging land have a secret that will take it off? I know the obvious answer, to just paint over it...but what happens the next time Mr. Vangough decides to strike again?

Signed- Helpless is Trashville

I added some pictures for your enjoyment...keep in mind that each picture is a DIFFERENT wall! These pictures just don't do his 'artwork' justice. SIGH.

It's great to be....DONE!

As you all know, I am in charge of baptisms this year, which means I am also in charge of our baptism preview, which was tonight. I really wanted this to be a great night for everyone, so I tried to do things that would make them feel special. I tried to take pictures of all the things that I did and I am posting them not to brag, but to remember, so that next year I can try to copy myself or improve and do things better.

Our theme was 'It's great to be...8', so I tried to incorporate that in all the things that I did. Here is the invitation, which is what my inspiration was for everything I did. Everything I did was in white, cream and beige shades so it had a nice simple, but elegant look (in my opinion).

The band with the 8 on it slid off, so that the invitation could be opened and looked like this when opened. A special thanks to my good friend Donna who let me use her cool paper for these!


When I delivered the invitations I took my camera along. I wanted to get a picture of each child so that I could use it to decorate with. I made each child (yes, I had to force some of them to do this) do a nice smile and then a funny face. Then, keeping with the 8 theme, I cut out the pictures and put one at either end of the eight. Then on the top picture I put "It's great to be..." and on the other picture I put their name. It was simple, yet it turned out cute. I put these all over the doors to the font, which was at the front of the room. We have 18 kids getting baptized, so it nearly covered the doors. Here is what one of them looked like.

Then I made a little favor for each child. I made copies of the following poem

"I am making some important covenants on my Baptismal day.

I'll wear these socks to remind me that I'm choosing the right way.
As I go into the Waters of Baptism, these socks will be first to enter in.
Just as these socks are clean and white, I too will be cleansed from sin."

I bought each child a pair of white socks (girls had lace around the cuff) that they can wear on their baptism day. I put them in a white chiffon bag and tied a bow around it. Since I discovered this Christmas, how to make cute hair bows, I decided that I wanted to make some white ones for the girls getting baptized, so I made some and clipped it onto the bag. I didn't have anything for the boys and Chris announced that it was unfair; at this point I had nothing else for them. Well today at church, I was going through our Primary cupboard and found some white CTR brackets...not girly ones, but the thick rubber band type, so I attached them to the bag as well.

This is how the girls bag looked...sorry you can't see the socks, but they are in there!Here is a picture of the clip up close, but I decided that you just had to see it on someones head to do it justice, so I asked AnaLeigha to model it... she was only too happy to oblige!

Then I made the programs, I tried to keep them simple and in the color scheme of choice. I am not computer savvy, so I am pretty proud that I figured out how to do a '8' watermark on it. LOL

For the program, both the Primary President and a member of the bishopric spoke to the kids, then we had the cub scout leader and activity days leader do a little blurb about those activities. Chris 'lovingly' agreed to sing a musical number...which by the way was so beautiful (of course) and really brought the spirit into the room. Then we did a small spotlight on each child...which was so fun. We really have such a great bunch of little ones! It was a short and sweet program (my kind of program) and then we ate refreshments.

And now for the best part!!! My friend Lesleigh, who is also in the ward, has a cake business (you can find her link on my sidebar!) and she made us these TWO AMAZING CAKES! They were definitely the hit of the party! When you walked into the relief society room, the aroma just hit you in the face...plus they looked so BEAUTIFUL! Really, these pictures just do NOT do them justice. She went above and beyond for us with these two beautiful masterpieces and I am so thankful for her and that she was so willing to do this. THANKS LESLEIGH!

This cake was only supposed to be a small 6" round cake, just in case the other cake didn't feed everyone (we were expecting 60+ people). But when I showed up to pick them up yesterday, this is what I found! She made another smaller version of the eight cake...just amazing!

So the night is done and I am relieved that it went so well. All the hard work was definitely worth it, I got so much wonderful feedback and thanks from the parents. I feel so blessed to be able to be a part of such a wonderful thing.

How's that for fulfilling my new years resolution????!!! Oh, and another great part, there was actually a little bit of cake leftover that I think is calling my name right now. I better go and answer it...after all, it is rude to ignore something that is calling your name! So in the words of Marie Antoinette..."LET THEM EAT CAKE!"

Broken Finger???

Now before you get all excited...let me just say that it PROBABLY isn't broken, just sprained, but it sure hurts like it is broken! So here is the story.... on Friday night Chris and I were playing games at our neighbors house that lives right behind us and so when we left their house we were HIKING through the snow and of course Chris had on tennis shoes with no socks, (the snow right now is about up to our mid-calf) so I tried to grab his shirt to keep him from running to the house (thus making him stand in the freezing snow even longer...hee hee). As soon as I grabbed him he shot off like a bullet, taking my hand and especially finger with him. Well, my finger got bent back the wrong way and YOWZEERS it hurts so bad! I kept re-injuring it every time I used my hand, so I finally created a splint using a broken pencil and some electrical tape...pretty resourceful I would say. It's not pretty, but HEY it does its job. You should see me trying to type with it, I keep hitting the wrong keys. I was supposed to play the piano tonight for our baptism preview, but that was definitely out. You don't realize how much you use your finger until you can't use it. Here's to a speedy recovery!

Addicted to reality TV???

Alright I admit it...I LOVE reality TV SHOWS. So this week I am a pretty happy camper because so many of my favorites are starting. I thought that I would share my favorites....after all this is my journal of sorts and I want to remember what I enjoyed 'back in the day'. So bare with me.... disclaimer- I really am not a TV junkie, thank goodness for TEVO, then I can watch things when the kiddos are in bed.
So in no particular order here they are:

1- America's next top model. I love Tyra Banks, if I could meet any celebrity it would be her.






2- Top Chef. This is one that Chris and I love to watch together, it is mind boggling how people can just come up with recipes on the fly like that!


3- Survivor. If I didn't have to eat weird bugs and crap, I would SOOOO audition for this show. It is great! Some day my good friend Brianna is going to win this hands down (she just needs to hurry up and apply...hint hint)

4-The biggest loser. This is such an amazing, life changing show! I love watching the transformations that these contestants make!

5- The Bachelor. WOOT HOO, I am so happy that this one is back! I watched it Monday, while Chris sat next to me rolling his eyes. Wow! I can't wait to see this season! Can anyone else BELIEVE that Diana is begging for him to come back to her?! (VOMIT...she had her chance and chose the skater dude)

6- American Idol. Holy cow! Love this one!!! This is one that the entire family can get into. It's da bomb!!! Starts next week!!

7-So you think you can dance. One word...BRILLIANT! This is such an amazing show, as a dancer (especially ballroom) I am thrilled to see this talent showcased...if I was younger and a LOT more flexible....sigh.



8- Dancing with the stars. Wow, same feelings on this one! It just takes me back to my ballroom dancing days! Love the Hough siblings!!! Go Utah dancers!

9- The Amazing Race. I STILL want to go on this one. Looking for someone to partner up with me on this one...any takers? Come on, it's for a million dollars and a chance to see the world!

10- And finally, a new one. True Beauty. Did anyone else see this one after the Bachelor? It was pretty good and VERY funny. Really can anyone be THAT stuck on their looks? Finally a show that looks at how beautiful someone is on the inside and how they treat others.




So there you have it! WOW, I didn't realize that I liked that many...LOL. Does anyone else share in my reality TV jubilation's??? Oh, gotta go...Top Chef is about to start! :-)

Finding joy #2

This year the Primary presidency switched up their responsibilities and now I am in charge of Baptisms....YIKES! Talk about a ton of pressure! This is one of the most important days a child will have and I am in charge of planning it?! What if I mis-spell their names, what if I print up the program wrong, what if....the list could go on and on. As part of the job I go and visit with each child the week or so before they get baptized and just talk to them about what they need to know about that day. I also am planning the baptism preview, which is next Sunday. I had my first baptism on Saturday and lucky for me, one of the boys being baptized was my good friend Angie's son...so I knew that if I screwed up she would forgive me!
Well not only did the baptism go pretty smooth, it was such a wonderful spiritual experience for me. What an awesome blessing I have to be able to be a part of such a wonderful thing! I can tell that I am going to love this new responsibility. It really helps me to connect with the children on a personal level...which is what I think I have been missing out on.
I am still a little stressed about the Baptism Preview that is coming up, but at least I got all the invitations made and most of them handed out last night. PHEW! I also took pictures of each of the kids that will be getting baptized (there are 19 of them!), I am not sure how I am going to use them, but somehow I want to incorporate that into the program. *shrug* sometimes I feel like the blind leading the blind! LOL

Finding joy in a sometimes chaotic atmosphere

By the sound of the title you would guess that I am about to write about life at my house...but no. Actually I am fulfilling part of my New Year's Resolution...the one about finding joy in my calling. So I wanted to document something that happened last week that made me chuckle.
If you are a blog follower of mine, you know that I have been in the Primary presidency for just over a year now. Well we have an ENORMOUS...make that GINORMOUS primary, so it can be a tough job keeping all of those little ones reverent. Well last week there were two little boys that were just egging each other on, so it became necessary for me to sit in between them. The following conversation occurred
Me: Asher, you need to sit still, fold your arms and be reverent (he kept fidgeting in his seat)
Asher: I just can't sit still....I have so many funny things going on up there (he was pointing to his head) and I just have to say them!

This child is six! I of course started laughing...it was just too funny, he then continued.
Asher: Did you know that in all my seven Christmas' I have NEVER gotten a lump of coal?! I must be such a good kid!

No wonder the child sitting next to him was laughing and being noisy! He kept me laughing the whole time I sat by him...I finally had to remove myself for distracting the rest of the primary. I needed to be put on timeout.
Thank you Asher for teaching me that I am not merely a disciplinarian to these children...it is OK to laugh and enjoy them too.

New Years Resolution

I don't think that I have ever written down my New Year's goals....well looky here, I now have a blog that I can put it on. So here it goes....
1- Read the scriptures every day...starting with today.
2- Attend the temple once a month
3- Find the joy in my calling and not complain about it anymore
4- Be slower to anger as a mother and wife
5- Be better organized
6- Spend more time playing with my kids
7- Find more opportunities to serve others and teach my kids the importance of service
8- Develop a stronger relationship with my father in heaven
9- Have regular Family Home Evenings
10- Be a better support to my wonderful husband
11- Get our finances in order and reduce our debt
12- Continue building our food storage

Phew! That is quite the list! I know that each of these goals are VERY attainable and I know that I can do it. I can't wait to read this a year from now and see how I did.
Here's to a great 2009!

A night out with my roomies

On Monday I went out to dinner with a few of my roommates from college. That is one of the beauties of Facebook....finding people you have not seen in YEARS!!! It was so much fun to get together with them. We met up at the Cheesecake Factory..YUM, and just had an enjoyable evening catching up on each others lives. Heather was supposed to join us, but she broke her arm last week and wasn't feeling up to it, other than that we were all there. Thanks girls, it was so fun to see you! Can't wait to do it again!!!

Trieste and Tammy finally doing a funny picture

Trieste and Tammy

Brookie and me....crazy girls together again!

Another of me and Brook

A group shot

This shows just how long it has been since we have all gotten together! Sheesh, we have all changed a bit...well except for Tammy! Hopefully it won't be another 12 years before we get together again.