My Little "Souvenir"

You will never believe what happened to me today.  I STILL can't believe it!  It felt like a dream! Even as it was happening!  I attended a sweet small funeral today.  Stacey's (my sister in-law) grandmother passed away.  I had left Kevin and the kids at home to attend the funeral figuring it would be best for my little ones not to distract from the spirit of their loss.  

It was a lovely small funeral and to my wonderful surprise I walked in the room where the viewing took place and standing there was President Thomas S. Monson.  Prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!  He knew Stacey's grandmother.  He was her Bishop when she had immigrated here from Holland.  And President Monson does not forget a face or a name as I learned.  Stacey's mother had also grown up with him and his little sister.  

There were about 25 people there. Meeting the Prophet didn't require standing in a long line or catching a glimpse of him from a crowd of people.  He was just there mingling and happily talking to anyone there!  I shook is hand and told him how happy I was to meet him and that we pray for him every night.  His reply was; "Great!  We need it!"  and then he asked what my relation to the family was.  I was so taken off guard to him even being there that I could hardly say a WORD!  I was all tongue twisted!  To be caring a casual conversation with the PROPHET!  HELLO!  I was so mortified!  It took me 10 minutes to responded to his question explaining that my brother is married to Anna's granddaughter.  I KNOW I lost him with all that explaining!  I was lost explaining it!

I stepped away for a moment and when I returned to the room I saw him talking to my mom who was sitting down in a row of chairs.  I hurried and sat down beside her so I could hear him.  He was so friendly.  He commented to me; " you have a beautiful dimple in your chin just like me!"  gesturing towards his chin.  LOL   And he remarked that my mother has one as well.  

There was a vacant chair next me.  The last one on the row.  So he asked me, "I'm going to sit down here.  Do you mind?"  Do I mind?  I couldn't scramble fast enough to remove that box of tissue sitting upon that chair!  And after he sat down he said; "I guess I should have said MAY I sit here?"  And my LAME response was "Yes you may"  I'm laughing out loud right now because I have played TOO MANY games of Mother May I with my kids!  So that was the first thing to my mind! (tears streaming!)  

And so I sat there next to the Prophet for 20 minutes as he told story after story just like a visit with my grandpa.  And he would pat my knee several times.  And as people came up to talk to him, he would include me in his conversation by either looking at me or patting my knee or one time he even reached over and HELD MY HAND for a bit as he told this story about his primary president when he was a little boy.  He would joke and was so joyful and pleasant.  So real.  He was talking about his favorite children's hymn Give Said The Little Stream.  And how he was unhappy when he had found that it was taken out of the Children's Songbook.  I had offered him a bottle of water after he had sat down but he politely declined.  But as another girl came to meet him, she had brought him a bottle of water.  He took it and held onto it while he visited.  And after she had left he said; "here, do you mind holding this?" and handed it to me. So gladly, I held it for him!  

Well after visiting and hearing joyful stories it was time to end the viewing and have a prayer before heading to the burial services.  After the prayer I shook his hand and told him I have three children who will be so sad that they didn't get to meet him and what an honor it was to have met him.  And he told me he was planning on coming to the burial.  

He spoke briefly at the grave side service after which I went to shake his hand and to tell him thank you.  As I did, I offered him his water again and he replied " Why don't you keep it as a souvenir!"  As he laughed with his glorious smile!  

Oh if he only knew!  Not only will I keep it as a souvenir but I will also blog about it too!  Ha! (Too bad I didn't have my camera) So here I am.  Telling my story.  

It was such a wonderful opportunity!  I feel so lucky to have shared 20 minutes of his time, his life.  It was a great privilege!  The spirit that he carries is just so radiant!  I was so touched by his presence!  Such a confirmation to my testimony!  To meet him!  When I picture the Prophet, I picture him sitting shoulder to shoulder with great people, great Apostles, great leaders.  And there he was, sitting shoulder to shoulder with ME!  It felt SO cool! I was so sad my family wasn't there to see him.   When I had returned home and told the kids what had happen, Cole was so mad at me for not taking him!  I didn't think he would care that much.  But it was kind of cute.  He just begged me when I could see the Prophet again so he could come.  He prays for him every night!  I'm so sad that such an occurrence might never happen again.  But hopefully by us living in this city on the "stomping grounds" of the Prophets and Apostles he'll be able to experience this someday too. :)  

Oops!

Clarification!!

I messed up! I mentioned below that you can't have my name linked on your blog. But with my extreme poor writing skills, I failed! 

Yes, you can have my name on your blog and/or linked on your blog. I just would prefer that my LAST name not be on your blog. 

Sorry for the confusion! See, I knew this would be hard!

Teething!

MaryJane cut her first tooth today!  It snuck up on me so fast!  Last week it looked like she was far from teething!  But sure enough, it's here!  She has not wanted me to put her down!  Tylenol has been our friend!  Now we've got to wait for the other one on the bottom to come in.  Is she still a baby?  Teeth?  She's all grown up!!  I'm just LOVING her at this age!  Her siblings are constantly fighting for her attention!  They can get her to laugh so easily!  She just lights up when she sees them!

Cha Cha Cha Changes!

I'm ready!  For a while now I've been wanting to change my blog address to completely strip my blog of my last name!  I love having my blog open to meet new people and find old friends!  I'm not ready to switch to private.  So with my heart racing and my frequent trying to write a post hot flash and anxiety (is it just me?),  I'm going for it!  So my NEW BLOG ADDRESS will be ourscoop.blogspot.com  I also have just one request.  Could you please take my last name off your blog or anything you may have linked to me on your blog?  That would be the greatest!  And don't forget to spread the word.  I hate the Idea of loosing ANY readers since I have so very few!

THANKS BUNCHES!  You might just gave to hold my hand through this.

And don't worry! I'm working on the HEADER!

TuTu Cute!

My first attempt with the at home photo shoot!  I'm still needing to take a photo class but I just couldn't wait to play with my camera a little.  I don't know what I'm doing when I take pictures but it is a lot of fun and I sure got some cute ones!

What do you think?  Which one is your favorite?

 

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Ice Cream in a Baggie!

I am the Activity Leader for girls 8-11 in our ward.  I The girls love do the crafts and fun activities!  Yesterday I taught them how to make Ice Cream in a Baggie!  It was delicious!  And VERY easy!  I was so surprised!  So I am posting the recipe because it was a GREAT activity and such a fun thing to do with your family!  We played games and passed them around to shake them for 10 min.  Then we topped them with crushed Oreo's and M&M's YUM!  

You MUST try it!

Materials

2 T.  sugar

1/4  teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup half & half

1 cup(+) crushed ice

1/2 cup(+) rock salt (found at any grocery store)

1 Quart sized Ziploc freezer bag

1 Gallon sized Ziploc freezer bag OR tupperware 

   large enough to hold the Ziploc of ice cream and ice.  

Duct Tape

Cups

Spoons

Napkins

Toppings (optional)

Directions

1. Put the milk, half & half, sugar and vanilla in the 1 quart freezer bag and seal. For security, fold a piece of duct tape over the seal. 
   
2. Place the bag with the ingredients inside a Gallon sized Ziploc freezer bag. Pack the crushed ice around the bag. 
   
3. Pour 1 cup of salt evenly of the ice. 
   
4. Seal the bag with a strip of duct tape and shake for about 10 minutes. Wipe the bag to be sure salt water doesn’t get into the ice cream. 
   
5. Cut a corner of the bag and squeeze into Dixie cups. 1 bag should fill about 2 small cups.   
   

Tip:  You can double this recipe to make about 5 small cups. 

My friend Kami also posted a GREAT coloring activity to do with your kids!  I can't wait to try it! (click on her name to be linked to the activity idea!)

Lagoooon!

Well I'm a little behind!  So I need to catch up.  Again.  We recently went to our stake Lagoon day and had a great time!  It just sets me back to 9th grade every time I go there!  We started to go with our stake three years ago with VERY little expectations.  But we were pleasantly surprised!  It was much more shady than I had remembered.  The lines aren't too long and all the kiddie rides are all close together!  This year we buddied up with some friends.  The weather was PERFECT!  Cool and breezy.  We always like to arrive just after dinner when things have cooled down.  We're all napped and rested to stay until closing!  I asked Cole which he liked better, Lagoon or Disneyland.  His response was " I like them the same, how about you mom?"  He has no idea!  I think we need to go to Disneyland again!  Maybe he has already forgotten the "happiest place on earth!"  Lagoon somehow doesn't quite feel like the happiest place on earth.  But none the less, we had a great time for a fraction of the cost and distance!  

My Birthday!

Yesterday was my 30th birthday!  It was a very low key chill day!  It couldn't have been a better day!  I spent the day just relaxing at home, playing with the kids, doing no chores and catching up on some blogging.  Kevin offered MANY times to throw me a big party in our backyard.  But when it came down to it, he gave me 4 options to choose from.  I was even impressed he had 4!  The best way I could think of to spend my day was with Kevin and the kids.  Actually, a day at the spa would have been nice.  But I have a nursing baby and I went to the Stadium of Fire without them.  So we went to that Gateway Mall and ate my favorite BBQ chicken salad from Rumbi and took the kids to Kung Fu Panda.  It was such a cute show!  Then later we came home and had my most VERY favorite cake!   A Baskin Robbins ice cream cake!  My favorite is the chocolate frosting on it!  The kids and I just devoured it!  They went nuts for that cold chocolate frosting!  

After Cole had finished his cake, he said his new favorite line, "Check this out bro!" Then he began to lick his plate clean!  Oh he kills me!

Jill was great to have a package sent FedEx to arrive on my very birthday!  She gave me a beautiful pink scarf from Scotland and 2 cute magnets from her recent trip to add to my collection she supplies me with!  Thanks Jill!  And thanks to everyone who called or stopped by!  It was a FANTASTIC simple day!

Cousins and cousins!

On the 5th we went to my cousins Jeff and Janeen's house and had a pool party with all my cousins on my mom's side.  It is so nice because the pool has a beach entrance! My kids just loved it!   I called it 7 peaks!  It was so fun with lots to do!  The dads all played basketball and the girls just talked and talked!  It was so fun to see everyone and all those babies! Three of which were born in december.  Kate, Molly and MaryJane.  Wow!

Sadie somehow found a fan club of boys and Cade and Brigham were just so cute with her she didn't know what to do with all the attention!  They followed all over the pool.  And when she shouted "who wants to come march with me?"  I saw a circle of kids around her and about three hands went up.  Where did she get this?  

and here they are marching over to the trampoline to jump with her

Sadie surprised everyone with her little dance moves!  We just laughed and laughed!  She was trying real hard to impress those boys!  She just shook her hips!  I've NEVER seen her do that before!  Sooooo funny!

Cole looking so tough in is floaties before jumping off the diving rock.

Mom trying life as a blonde.  I think she liked it! 

Thanks Jeff and Janeen for hosting such a fun party!  We had a great time!

Stadium of Fire and My Miley Cyrus Conversion Story

When I heard that Miley Cyrus was coming to the Stadium of Fire I was so excited because I am a big fan! And Finally they get someone good to come! Along with the blueman group. So I got on line and had two computers give it a go to buy tickets when they went on sale. Well within 34 minutes of trying, the concert had sold out and left me empty handed. :(

Well months later, I find an old friend with an extra ticket. Kevin volunteered to watch the kids and I left them. Mean huh? But I couldn't stand to miss out! And it wasn't so bad leaving the kids since I watched fireworks with them the night before. So thanks Kelly for coming to my rescue! I had a great time! Miley sang songs from her new album. Thankfully, to my Ipod, I was familiar with at least three.

Well, as some of you know, I am a Miley Cyrus fan! I work out to her music on my Ipod. I know, I know, but whatever it takes to get me movin'. And it helps that I love her! It all started when I saw her on Oprah. Two different times. And I was really impressed at her maturity and groundedness (is that a word?) Both her and her father talked about how they are religious people. Their family seems to be really connected. Hopefully hollywood won't get to her! But most of all, I love her raspy singing voice. And yes she can actually sing.

This is a song her dad wrote after she had gotten the Hanna Montana gig in California. He had packed up his family and sent them on their way and stayed behind to tie up loose ends and that is when he wrote this song. And this is also where it all started for me. I became hooked!

Fourth of July!

It's been a few years since we've gone to the provo parade. So we thought this year the kids would really enjoy it!  Which they did!  They were a little tierd from the previous nights festivities but managed to pull it together for the parade.

Zach, Sadie, Porter, Austin, Luke, Cole

  I went a little nuts again and made these cute little dress for the girls for the holiday!  I bought the fabric at gardner village and just about died when I saw it!  

 

After the parade, me and the girls took a nice nap and then went to the Lorscheider Park for swimming, food and fun!

  {Grandma and Amelia}  

Amelia and Megan were so great to have around.  The were constantly there to help with the kids!  Thank guys!  We will miss having you around!

{Dinner with Megan and Porter}

It was a great day with non stop fun!  Thanks Nana for a fun weekend!

The Owlz Game!

For the 4th of July festivities we packed up our family and hung out down in provo for the weekend!  On the 3rd we went to the Owlz game and watched fireworks!

It was so fun to see Grandma, Jeanine and the kids!  I'm so happy they came for the holiday!

Cole was just determined to wear his Bee's get up to the Owlz game!  Here he is sporting his new shoes!  Thanks Grandpa!

Sadie and Kate were so cute to watch.  They danced, frolicked and played the whole night together.  I caught them calling each other sister at Nana's house while playing with the tea set!

more fish lake pictures

What am I going to do with all these adorable pictures I'm taking with my new camera?  Since I don't scrap book,  this blog has to fill that void.  

Fish Lake and a stroll down memory lane.

We just returned from our annual trip to Fish Lake!  Originally we hadn't planned to go this year because we went to California.  But thankfully I'm married to a great guy who values this family tradition of mine!  He told me that he and Cole were going no matter what!  So being the baby of the family, and my HATE of being left out, I jumped on board and was so thrilled to go! 

Fish Lake is a beautiful place located in central Utah!  The water is cold but it looks like glass most of the time.  The campgrounds are nestled in between all the Aspen trees.  They are everywhere!  And you know those Aspens(if you have any in your yard) they grow and grow everywhere!  In the mountains it is beautiful!  In your yard, not so much, especially when they begin to sprout all over.  

If you've been to Fish Lake you probably wonder why I rave so much about it!  To most it is just a place to go camping and fishing  along with other things.  But to me, there are so many memories there.  The nostalgia is so thick when I go there.  And mostly more since my grandparents have passed.  I am the FIFTH generation to go to fish lake in my family.  My children will be the sixth.  And knowing how my grandmother was paralyzed in a wheel chair most her life and STILL kept the tradition strong of going to this great place with my grandfather, children, and grandchildren amazes me.  I feel lucky to extend it forward to my children.  My grandfather played a huge part to these memories.  When we would go fishing, he would use his fishing board(a wooden board with fishing line wrapped around it. no reel).  We would all have fishing poles and there was grandpa, trolling with his fishing board.  And even tough he had "the shakes"  he would whittle whistles out of willow trees for us grandchildren.  We would play those things til they were so wet they wouldn't work anymore.  I always wanted to save mine for keeps.  But unfortunately, as a child,  I didn't know how much I would have valued one my grandfathers whistles as an adult.  

This time in our short 3 day visit, we were able to take a sunday drive through Loa, Lyman,(where my grandparents grew up) Torrey and other towns along the way to Capital Reef.   These towns are so cute.  So little.  If you blink, you could miss them.  They seems so quiet.  So still.  As if they haven't changed since I was little.  Almost like I'm in a picture of my memory.  And as we were driving through these little towns, and memories flooded my mind, I could hear the story my grandfather once told me on how he met my grandmother.  "I was driving down the street and there she was,  just walking down the street with her friend.  blowing her bubble gum.  out big like this, then pop!,  and I thought that was cute,  I thought, I'd like to see that again!  So I turned my car back around."  I almost could picture this happening as we were driving through town.   

And so I am grateful for my great greats who started this wonderful tradition in 1890.  And the memories that that part of Utah has for me.  It feels so much apart of me and who I am.  And I am so grateful to be married to someone who will willingly help me continue this great tradition  on to our children.  How neat would that be to be at the start of a tradition that carries that long?  I'm sure it happens all the time.  Everywhere.  And I don't stop to think of my wonderful ancestors.  

Here are some picture taken with my wonderful new camera!  I am LOVING it!  Thanks Kevin!

MaryJane is now sitting up all by herself.

Cole was helping his sister from falling off the log.  I found that shirt Sadie is wearing at Burns Saddlery in Salina.  It says "all in a hard days of work".  Perfect with that skirt.

And this picture,  paid for the price for that camera and more!