Our secret is out!

We've had a very busy week and it all started last Sunday when they announced the release of our bishopric. I've been telling Zack for a while now that he was going to be involved somehow with our bishopric. He kept telling me he wasn't but when he received a call from the Stake President's office last Sunday he felt a little different. Zack and I were invited to meet with one of the Stake Presidency. It was a major anxious moment for both of us! Zack was asked to accept a call as the 2nd Counselor in our bishopric. This calling is very demanding of his time and talents. I was thrilled that it was all coming together and he was just about ready to throw up. He called his parents and asked his dad if he would be willing to come and ordain him a high priest. They were able to come and support Zack, he was very relieved to be able to have both his dad and mom be a part of this special occasion for him.

On Friday night we were able to attend the Tailgating party for Pine View as it was their Homecoming game night! Zack's parents flew in the Las Vegas and met up with us there. We watched a very intense and clumsy game. The Panthers played Hurricane high and barely beat them in the second overtime. Saturday morning Zack went with his parents to the temple, which he really seemed to enjoy. I stayed home with the kiddos and entertained them. We met up with my parents and little brother TJ later that day at the Quail Creek Reservoir for a picnic. It was nice, relaxing and free!!! Who doesn't like a free day on the lake?!?

Sunday we attended sacrament meeting where Brother Lamourex was sustained as bishop, Brother Bennion was sustained as 1st Counselor, and Brother Alvey was sustained as 2nd Counselor. I was quite emotional with teary eyes and all, I am so proud that he has honored his priesthood and been given this opportunity to be an instrument in the Lord's hands to help this ward progress. I felt strongly that this was no random call, it is from God, it is inspired! Zack spent some time after church learning a little about how things work. We then had a luncheon with those who could attend. I am very thankful to all those who are such a great support to our family. I am very thankful to all the sisters who offered to help with the children during sacrament meeting while Zack is up on the stand helping the bishop. This will be an amazing testimony builder for all of us!

School Picture Day!

I don't know how other people feel about school picture day but for me it is STRESS!!! "Parents have to buy the picture so you don't hurt anyone's feelings." Your child is not being groomed by anyone who knows what kind of picture you want or cares if their hair is sticking straight up or not. Taylor added lots of extra stress to the day by refusing to get dressed until 20 minutes before school (Note: he is in afternoon kindergarten for goodness sakes!!!) and then wanted to wear a crumpled up orange t-shirt that he found at the bottom of his drawer. I was sure he was going to bawl like a baby when I tried to get him to school, as grouchy as he was. Katelyn was fine except for she smiled without showing her teeth after she spent 20 minutes brushing them before school. Hopefully they turn out alright but there is always retakes! That seems to be the biggest reason I always take a picture of them before they leave to get their picture taken, at least I can decide how that one will turn out.

Katelyn was reading Junie B Jones books this past year and they have a whole book dedicated to school picture day and monsters. It is so funny! She calls the photographer "the cheese man" and argues that she really doesn't even like cheese so she doesn't know why she even has to say cheese. Her pictures turn out horribly due to the fact that she wasn't even ready but at the time she is worried about having a monster under her bed so she spreads all the pictures out under her bed to scare off the monster for good. Just remembering that little story made my day a little less STRESSFUL.

Katelyn ~ 2nd Grade September 2008

Taylor ~ Kindergarten September 2008

Be Careful Out There!

IDIOT SIGHTING: We had to have the garage door repaired. The Sears repairman told us that one of our problems was that we did not have a 'large' enough motor on the opener. I thought for a minute and said that we had the largest one Sears made at that time, a 1/2 horsepower. He shook his head and said, 'Lady, you need a 1/4 horsepower.' I responded that 1/2 was larger than 1/4. He said, 'NO, it's not.' Four is larger than two..' We haven't used Sears repair since.

IDIOT SIGHTING: My daughter and I went through the McDonald's take-out window and I gave the clerk a $5 bill. Our total was $4.25, so I also handed her a quarter. She said, 'you gave me too much money.' I said, 'Yes I know, but this way you can just give me a dollar bill back.' She sighed and went to get the manager who asked me to repeat my request. I did so, and he handed me back the quarter, and said 'We're sorry but they could not do that kind of thing.' The clerk then proceeded to give me back $1 and 75 cents in change. Do not confuse the clerks at McD's.

IDIOT SIGHTING: I live in a semi-rural area. We recently had a new neighbor call the local township administrative office to request the removal of the DEER CROSSING sign on our road. The reason: 'Too many deer are being hit by cars out here. I don't think this is a good place for them to be crossing anymore.'From Kingman , KS .

IDIOT SIGHTING IN FOOD SERVICE: My daughter went to a local Taco Bell and ordered a taco. She asked the person behind the counter for 'minimal lettuce.' He said he was sorry, but they only had iceberg lettuce. From Kansas City

IDIOT SIGHTING: I was at the airport, checking in at the gate, when an airport employee asked, 'Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?' To which I replied, 'If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?' He smiled knowingly and nodded, 'That's why we ask.'Happened in Birmingham , Ala.

IDIOT SIGHTING: The stoplight on the corner buzzes when it's safe to cross the street. I was crossing with an intellectually challenged coworker. She asked if I knew what the buzzer was for. I explained that it signals blind people when the light is red. Appalled, she responded, 'What on earth are blind people doing driving?!'She was a probation officer in Wichita , KS

IDIOT SIGHTING: At a good-bye luncheon for an old and dear coworker: she was leaving the company due to 'downsizing.' Our manager commented cheerfully, 'This is fun. We should do this more often.' Not another word was spoken. We all just looked at each other with that deer-in-the-headlights stare. This was a lunch at Texas Instruments.

IDIOT SIGHTING: I work with an individual who plugged her power strip back into itself and for the sake of her life, couldn't understand why her system would not turn on.A deputy with the Dallas County Sheriffs office, no less.

IDIOT SIGHTING: When my husband and I arrived at an automobile dealership to pick up our car, we were told the keys had been locked in it. We went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver's side door. As I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door handle and discovered that it was unlocked. 'Hey,' I announced to the technician, 'it's open!' His reply, 'I know. I already got that side.'This was at the Ford dealership in Canton , Mississippi

IDIOT SIGHTING: We live in a somewhat quite neighborhood, where there is only one other family with children. We have a water feature in the yard that attracts the indigenous creatures, which includes frogs. One day we received an anonymous letter asking us to turn off our frogs by 9 PM, as they were scaring the young kids in the neighborhood. Huh? How do you turn off the frogs? Vancouver, Washington.

STAY ALERT! They walk among us and the scary part is that they VOTE.

Julia's 2nd Birthday Party!

We went to the Washington Fields Park for our little niece/cousin's birthday party! My brother, Brandon just lives in Henderson and is only a couple of hours away so if he has a short break from the rigors of Med School they love to come visit family. Goldie and Brandon put together a little birthday party for their baby girl, Julia. We enjoy their company and are always glad for the visits. Zack was at work so I took the kids and met the rest of the family over at the park. We're sorry for all those who couldn't make it, you were missed. I hope you enjoy the pictures! Julia about to blow out the candles!
It is always windy at these parks and so my mom was covering up the little flames as best she could to keep them from blowing out before Julia got to them but Julia seemed rather confused by the whole ordeal. Once she got to eat the cake, she was happy again!
See, make Taylor be silly in a picture and he always gives me a great smile!
CHEESE by Joshua with a nap time haze!
William playing on the Hannah Montana scooter my mom got at Walmart for $5.
Grandpa Belt and Goldie's parents, Grandpa & Grandma Coon
William, Joshua, and me
The boys were trying to peak inside the bags for all the loot!

Denton with Joshua hiding in the background
Oakley and Taylor
Julia wasn't very into getting her picture taken today
My little brother, TJ, Katelyn & nephew Denton
Nephew Oakley

I wasn't able to get very many pictures of everyone, but you get all the kids so that counts for something right? It was an eventful birthday party, as Goldie had just finished setting up and was helping her parents get out of their car, a lady with a chip on her shoulder drove up, stopped in the middle of the parking lot, stormed over to Goldie and asked who was throwing this party. She rudely informed Goldie that we would need to move our party elsewhere because she reserved the place already for her 100+ guests. No sign anywhere to let us know this just mind reading, I guess! (To be noted: this lady's guests didn't show up until 6pm and it was only 4:15 at the time) We moved everything to the other side of the park and enjoyed ourselves there. Brian took TJ, Taylor, and his little Oakley over to the river during our re-setting up and did not come back until about 15 minutes later with wet muddy boys. Men don't think things out very well! The boys came back just in time to see Julia open her presents but missed the cupcakes, serves them right!

Rodeo Roundup

Taylor's class was given the opportunity to be involved in an activity put on by the Dixie Rodeo to get the children excited for it! The rodeo is this weekend, starting on Thursday. He loved dressing up as a cowboy. They had potato sack races, a bean bag toss, roping a bull, and Popsicles. He was in heaven, his class made these paper vests and hats for all the children to wear! Taylor even got up and ready for school before his dad, unfortunately, he is in afternoon kindergarten so the wait was driving him crazy!!!

Book Review: The Last Lecture

What would you do if you were given an opportunity to speak to a large group people before you die. Well Randy Pausch was given that very opportunity! On September 18, 2007, computer science professor Randy Pausch stepped in front of an audience of 400 people at Carnegie Mellon University to deliver a last lecture called “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” With slides of his CT scans beaming out to the audience, Randy told his audience about the cancer that is devouring his pancreas and that will claim his life in a matter of months. On the stage that day, Randy was youthful, energetic, handsome, often cheerfully, darkly funny. He seemed invincible. But this was a brief moment, as he himself acknowledged.

Randy’s lecture has become a phenomenon, as has the book he wrote based on the same principles, celebrating the dreams we all strive to make realities. Sadly, Randy lost his battle to pancreatic cancer on July 25th, 2008, but his legacy will continue to inspire us all, for generations to come. Both his book that he wrote with the help of his friend, Jeff Zaslow, and the lecture which you can watch at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

Z was given the book at a school meeting. He brought it home and I devoured it in two days. It was a very good book and highly motivational. I highly recommend reading or if you don't have that kind of time, the youtube copy of his lecture is great!

Hiking in Snow Canyon

We decided the kids were needing a little adventure in their lives, so we traveled over to Snow Canyon State Park with our puppy chow (recipe to follow) and water bottles to hike! The kids loved it and wanted to keep going but we figured 2 miles of hiking was plenty for one day. We aren't much like the pioneers a little weaker to say the least! K, W and Z on our way up Jenny's Canyon!
Z, W, A & J
Heading to Jenny's canyon - it's only a .5 mile round trip entering the canyon
at the end of the canyon
The kids at the lookout
T was terrified that J was going to fall
Let's go on another hike, that was fun!
They're off and running! This time we found a 1.5 mile round trip trail to take.
Climbing rocksWaving was the only way I could get their attention, climbing is much cooler than taking a picture just cause mom wants me to!
T kept leaving us in the dust
K all decked out for a hike
Z on top of the rocks!
Who knew the kids would have so much fun! :o)

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Chex® Muddy Buddies®
aka: Puppy Chow

9 cups Corn Chex, or Rice Chex cereal (or combination)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1. Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.
2. In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.
3. Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

We made this as our snack to take on the hike and boy did the kids love it!

Warning - by Shel Silverstein

Inside everybody’s nose
There lives a sharp-toothed snail.
So if you stick your finger in,
He may bite off your nail.
Stick it farther up inside,
And he may bite your ring off.
Stick it all the way, and he
May bite the whole darn thing off.

Shel Silverstein
Where the Sidewalk Ends

I just thought T needed a little reminder as to why picking your nose is such a seriously bad thing to do. He seems convinced!!! He has already been telling W to watch out for the snail up his nose or he might loose his finger. Kids are so funny! Hopefully, I won't be reminding him about the snail for the rest of the night.

Crib Mishaps

We have had this crib throughout all my babies. I'm not quite sure J will let the next baby use it before he breaks the whole darn thing! Yesterday afternoon J was in his room taking a nap. He always fusses for a little while during this time but nothing really major NORMALLY! W was watching Dumbo with little interest and I was reading something off the Internet when J started screaming. I rushed to the door, which he happened to be at?!? He brings me over to the crib which he successfully shook so hard that he undid a screw on the front and that part completely came apart from the side of the crib, it was just hanging on the other half. He managed to slide right in between that and the side and escape. I found all the springs and screw, then managed to put the crib back together. He is going to break the darn thing pretty soon. Maybe its time to look for a Big Boy Bed! With a new baby on the way, maybe a bunk bed would do the trick!

I'm so glad when at least one of the kids wakes up happy in the morning. We usually start the morning between 7 or 7:30 depending on how tired I am then get everyone up and running around before we walk K to school. J seemed to be in rather high spirits today!
With only one girl to dress up and do her hair I love to be creative with it! She doesn't enjoy it as much as I do, she'd rather have the new style with hair in your face and all that some of the others have.
This is the latest do. I saw it on my friend B's website of her little girl! Isn't it just cute.
These are my little trouble makers lately! W has decided that clothes are optional and T doesn't like mornings so walking is quite a battle sometimes. I tell him I need it for the baby! He gets to ride his scooter so he's not being tortured just a little lazy!