I got tagged!!!

I was tagged by my mom in the pursuit of happiness. I'm supposed to blog something that makes me happy for the next 8 days. I'm also supposed to give this gift to 8 other people, so I tag Ashley, Leslie, Kino, Ally, Jody, Kim, Jenny and Mysti. Have fun!


I am so grateful for my boys. They make me happy every day. I know that Heavenly Father knows me so well! He knows that I love a challenge and that I get bored really easy!
I love how they play, fight, laugh, cry, and love to take care of each other! They are truly the best part of me!

It's time!

The blood, The sweat, the tears.....bring it on big boy!

Easter at Dad's ranch

So, we decided that because it was a semi-long weekend that we would go to Idaho and spend time with our family on My Mom and Dad's ranch. Shauntae and Jim invited us up about a month ago for Wyatt's 2nd birthday and we thought that would be an awesome party, so we packed our jeep and drove the 4 1/2 hours to Weston reservoir.
When we got there, we decided to go sledding down the hill... we would drive them to the top on the 4-wheeler, meet them at the bottom and drive them back up. What ever happened to good old fashioned climbing the hill, then sliding down? Anyway, that lasted about 4 trips down and then they started complaining about it being too cold, so we went back to the trailers and cranked the heater and built a fire in the pit. Way fun, right?!
The next day we woke bright and early and started planting an apple orchard, 35 in all I think, and one peach tree. It was fun to be a part of the future of this place.
After we got the trees planted, we started laying the sub-flooring in the loft and in the bedroom in the cabin. It was fun to work with my brothers and my Dad on this project. We also hung the drywall on the interior walls. It's going to be an awesome place to stay.
After lunch we had an easter egg hunt for the kids. There were eggs and candy everywhere!
The kids had a blast finding all that we hid. I think we had more of a blast hiding it all.
The next day we started peeling the logs that will someday in the near future be our cabins. It was awesome to work together to get the job done. Kaden even helped until he cut his hand on the blade, and then it was over for him. What an over-protecting mother he has, poor kid!
After all the hard work , we left for the most important part of the whole weekend, Dalan's baptism. It was such an awesome experience to be a part of this little spirit's quest for righteousness. It's good to think that we are on the right path back home when we hit these little milestones in our lives. I cried like a baby when Kaden got baptized. It made me feel like I was finally doing something right. Now if we can just survive Mckay then we should really get some good marks in Heaven.

what's the 411

So, does anybody know how to start planting onions and potatoes under all this snow? I heard that we were supposed to get them in the ground last week! It's not like we have the shortest growing season in the world, but we're a close second. I always get so frustrated with it all. I put in all this time to till,(thanks Jason), to weed, and to plant, and I don't get much return for my investment. Granted, we chose to leave town at a crucial time last year, and didn't get the weeds taken care of. Then when we got back they were too crazy to deal with properly, so we just had a enormous weed crop! Why do they always have ample time to grow to maturity and my vegetables don't? Dumb weeds!
O.k., onto a lighter note, Kaden and Mckay are both playing soccer again this year. You know, it's funny but we usually let them both play every other year. I get so frustrated with them not wanting to play one year, that I make them skip the next. Then when the year after that arrives, I forget how aggravating it truly was, and sign them up again! Why do we put ourselves in these kinds of situations, and then keep on repeating them over and over again??!! Oh, well, I guess we're exposing them to a lot of different options in life. Who knows, after a while maybe something will stick.

Florida...

I know, I haven't wrote for a long time. Sorry. I get bored easy. It's like blogging a.d.d. or something? Anyway, Florida was awesome! I felt better there, my hair worked better there, and I even felt lighter there, if that's even possible. It was beautiful! You would think that it would be difficult for a group this big to get along but for the most part it was all peachy! We're so lucky to have the family that we have.
Kaden got a little upset when we wouldn't let him play. He said that there were too many pictures, and not enough playing! I think 90% of us agreed.
We started our vacation out with a 4 hour layover in Georgia. Luckily, we all found something to do. The boys played video games.( Thanks Grandma!)
Jason, Kari, Grandpa and Brooklyn slept. Grandma and I watched over things and Cresta and Chris snuggled. It was fun! It really didn't seem like a very long wait. The sun was just setting when we boarded our next flight, so we got some great pictures from the plane.At Disneyworld, We saw Lilo and Stich, Kenai and Koda, and Tom Cruise and Suri. But I don't think anyone was very impressed with the last one.

We rode a ton of rides, tower of terror and rockin' rollercoaster being our favorites. Then in between all the hustle and bustle, a.k.a. "The happiest place on earth," we escaped to Cocoa beach. Now that's relaxing! Listening to the waves while sitting in the sun is all it's cracked up to be! We saw dolphins swimming in the wake, seashells all over the place, and not too many of us got sunburned...O.K. I'm the only one that kept slathering on the sunscreen. Yes, I did spend two weeks in the warm sun, I just don't have much of a tan to show for it! I tried really hard on the last day to get burned, but I didn't have any luck. We ended our vacation on a good note. We were all a little worn out, but we seemed to survive. We came back to slushy, soggy snow. Lucky us! I need some warm riding weather! It's time to get out the bikes so that my sweet little husband can make fun of me again about not riding fast enough to keep up with the rest of them. Isn't this picture priceless! I didn't use any trick photography at all, It's all Jason, and his mustache strategically placed over his front tooth! Scary ain't it! So, I know that this picture is a little "cliche", but here it is... The family photo in front of the flower mickey. A perfect ending to a perfect vacation. Thanks for the memories Mom and Dad! All your planning and worry and stress paid off.