To Twilight Fans

If you haven't heard already some idiotic person posted an unfinished copy of Midnight Sun on the internet. Stephenie Meyer has now updated her website telling us that she does not plan on finishing the book. She is really upset. This upsets me. I was looking forward to reading Edward's perspective in its entirety. There is a petition out to try and get Stephenie to finish the book. If you want to sign it follow the link below.

www.thepetitionsite.com/1/Please-Finish-Midnight-Sun

They're Getting So BIG!!

I can't believe how big Lexi and Ray are getting! Today was Lexi's first day in Kindergarten. She was so excited she could hardly stand waiting to leave. We walked to school together and she looked so grownup in her new shades and carrying her backpack! She was super excited to go to her classroom. When we got there her grandma was waiting at the door to wish her luck on her first day. (Grandma teaches Computer Lab at the school.) Lexi had a big smile on her face when I left her with her class. The boys and I walked down later to pick her up and the first thing she said was, "School was actually fun!" The whole walk home she filled us in on the details of her day. I am so glad she had so much fun.
Later this afternoon we took Rayden to meet his preschool teacher and to tour the classroom. It brought back memories of Lexi's first year of preschool. I can't believe that it is Rayden's turn already. Where does the time go? Ray found his name and cubby. Once he found that he was all excited. He saw some of his friends there and I hope this means he won't have any problems going to school on Tuesday. He isn't quite sure about it all yet. I know he will do fine once he gets there though. I am just so proud of both my kids!

Thankful Thursday

Some weeks are harder than others to come up with 3 things I am thankful for. This week has been really hard. Between watching my sisters 4 kids for 2 days and getting my kids last minute school things together it has been really hectic. So with that said here are the 3 things I came up with this week to be thankful for.

1. A minute to myself-Having a minute or two to myselft has helped me to sit down and think. By doing this blog once a week I have been able to make sure I get that minute and that it isn't a wasted one. I am thankful for the peace it gives me to take the minute and use it wisely to find things to be grateful for. It helps me to put a perspective on all the crazy things that are happening during the day and to stop stressing if it isn't going as I planned.

2. Priesthood Blessings-Every year the night before school starts Dirk sits down and gives each of the kids and me a blessing. Last night we did this and before Dirk started he explained to Alexia and Rayden why these blessings are important and why he is the one to give them. Lexi was a little sad that Daddy wasn't getting a blessing but was ok after we told her Daddy asks his Dad to give him one when he needs it. It is beyond nice to have a worthy priesthood holder in my home who can be the Lord's mouthpiece to give my children and myself guidance when it is needed.

3. The Neighborhood-Now there are many reasons for me to be thankful for my neighborhood. The thing I am thankful for especially this week is how close my neighborhood is to everything I needed to do this week. We have done a lot of walking to save on gas and to help me get back into shape! My kids have been troopers as we have walked to the elementary school a few times this week, the preschool, and the park a few times also. On our last journey home Lexi did tell me that her legs were falling asleep but she made it. ;) I am just so grateful that I was able to enjoy the good weather with my kids and get some of our errands done!

Another Camping Get Away!

Once again we headed into the canyon for a camping trip. We love camping and we usually go with our friends and neighbors the Knights. We headed up Franklin Basin on Friday night and came home Sunday morning before church. Our kids always have so much fun. I might have a bit of a picture overload.

Dirk actually whittled a bow and arrows out of willow sticks for the kids. They were actually able to shoot the arrows. Dirk might have had more fun then the kids playing with this.

Lexi was so excited that she was able to figure out how to shoot the arrows. She did tons better then me! I couldn't shoot straight to save my life!

Every night we roast smores. (Who doesn't?) Uncle Brett sharpened a stick for Lexi to roast her own mallows on!
Rayden went off and found his own stick!

We took Lexi's princess power wheels. Ray kept leaning against the hood and I thought it looked so cute!

This is a picture of Simon asleep in his car seat. If you look close you can just barely see his mouth peeking out of the blanket. He sleeps like this at home too. He always has to have his face covered up!

We went to Tony Grove on Saturday. The kids had a blast playing in the lake and Dirk and Brett spent the day on the paddle boat fishing. They caught a couple of fish and Rayden carried them all the way back to camp on his lap. Uck! Both kids thought it was great watching the fish get gutted too. They were so sad to come home on Sunday.

Thankful Thursday

So I didn't forget again this week that it was Thursday. Yes, I am late in the evening which brings me to...

1. Busy Days-I love having busy days! When my kids are kept doing something all day and I have a schedule I find that more gets done then on those lazy days when I don't know what to do with myself. I am glad that not all days are busy but when I get a crazy one like today it helps my perspective of where I need to be with things.

2. A Good Book-Now this is something that Dirk might not be thankful for but I am. He sometimes thinks I read too much but I can't get enough of a good book. Lately I have found myself rereading lots of my favorites. The most recents ones being Breaking Dawn, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pride and Prejudice, and Ella Enchanted. Now Dirk might be a little upset with me since these are my rereads of the week but what can I say I'm a bookaholic!

3. Humor-I don't know if I could get through everyday without laughing. Luckily I married a great guy who makes me laugh almost every day. He can always find some way to make me laugh if I am in "one of those moods." My kids seem to have inherited his gift and I find myself cracking up all the time at the little things they say to me and to each other. Life is always good if we can find something to laugh about!

Olympics

Last night we had a 'going away/happy birthday' barbeque at Dirk's brother Reed's house. Jake and Melese are leaving us on Tuesday morning to go back to Nova Scotia. We are going to miss you guys!! As always when you get the boys together in their family it turns into a riot of laughter. This time it was all about the Olympics. They fancy themselves as quite the gymnasts!

First off is Jake!


Then Reed had a go.



And our finale is Dirk who they raised the rings for!

Thankful Thursday

Ok so I feel really bad that I spaced doing this last week! Friday night it hit me all of a sudden that Thursday had come and gone and I hadn't taken the time to be thankful! So I do have some things to be thankful for.

1. Reconnections-In the last couple of weeks I have been able to reconnect with more then one friend from the past. I was able to find people on the internet who I haven't been in touch with for some years and it was great to reconnect with them and see where life has taken all of us. I hate to lose touch with people so I am more then thankful.

2. Relief Society Lessons-So this kind of ties into #1. Two weeks ago I got to attend Relief Society at church for the first time in 4 years. We had a lesson on missionary work through the internet from July's Ensign. With so many bad things on the internet these days it was great to talk about the good things we can add to this world via the internet. The discussion did touch on blogging and how we can share our beliefs on our blogs. So I will try to be better about things like that. I am grateful though for the gentle reminders I receive in Relief Society that I can always do better to better this world. Did that make sense?

3. Creeks-I will have to admit that I haven't taken my kids once to the pool this year. Now some say I have a good excuse since I have a new baby but I don't want to take that cop out. The truth is that my kids have had more fun playing in the creek at the park. The water has been shallow this year so we have gone a few times. When I have taken them to the park it was with the idea to let them play on the playground andget their energy out but they always end up in the water. They love to search for pretty rocks and splash around. It is a fun free playtime where they still get to cool off. It does give me lots of photo oppurtunities if I would just remember my camera!

Fair

On Thursday night we went to the fair in Logan. Before we even left the house Lexi had come up with a game plan. Here are the things she HAD to do:
1. Eat a hot dog
2. Ride the roller coaster
3. Get some cotton candy

On our way to the hot dog stand the kids found this airplane. How cool is this? It seats 7 kids! I think Lexi and Ray would be happy to have gone home after playing on this for awhile.

Well we got Lexi her hot dog and she was in heaven. So we headed off to the rides. Lexi did get to ride on the roller coaster. Rayden wouldn't go near it! He gets nervous so easily! Lexi's favorite ride turned out to be the ferris wheel. Her and her dad were riding the ferris wheel while it was raining on the rest of us.

Rayden did not like getting rained on so he hid under Simon's blanket.

Ray did enjoy the caterpillar ride and the carousel. The rain didn't last long and we used all of our tickets and then some borrowed ones. Thanks Nate and Sarah! Simon hated being in his stroller so I ended up carrying him in his sling. He didn't mind the drizzle at all. After getting our cotton candy we headed home with 3 tired but satisfied kids. We had so much fun!

Eight Years!

I absolutely LOVE my anniversary! Today Dirk and I have been married 8 years! Time flies by so fast when you are in love and we are as much in love as ever! So here is a little shout out to my entirely wonderful hubby. I love you Honey and I wouldn't trade these years for anything, not the bad nor the good. You've given me every thing I could ever hope for from life and so much more. I can't wait to see where life continues to take us.

I LOVE YOU!

Finished!

Just had to let everyone know how much I really enjoyed reading the fourth book in the Twilight series. When I first started reading it I wasn't sure if I was going to like it as much as the other books but by the end I wanted to read it again! It definitely was a great end to the series!