She did it!!!

Sooooo...........I mentioned to Kelcie this afternoon - because I wanted her to go outside and play on a beautiful day - that she needed to ride her bike so she can get ready to take her training wheels off, and she came back 10 minutes later, "I'm ready". So, I took them off.............. and.......

SHE DID IT!!!!!

I was pretty surprised - she just got this bike in May, and if you remember what AZ summers are like, she pretty much hasn't had much practice riding it. Anyways, so exciting!!!!!!!

General Conference

Ethan turned 12 this year, so we're trying to do the tradition of taking them up to Conference when they turn 12. Ethan was SOOOOOOOOO excited (as was Lafe :) )!

Ethan at the airport -

they got through security in 20 min.! I wasn't even home from dropping them off yet!

This is actually on the way home, but isn't it cool?

By the fountain outside the Church Office Building

The Waterfall on the Conference Center

In the "picture spot" in front of the Temple.

Standing by the Handcart that his Great-Grandfather made for the Church History Museum.

In the Tabernacle

In the Conference Center - They went to 3 sessions!!! (no fair)

Leaving the Priesthood Session - Beautiful!

O.k., so funny story: Lafe calls me as soon as the airplane hits the ground in SLC and had forgotten the tickets to Conference!!! So, I frantically call everyone we can think of that is going to conference to see if they can take them up, but nobody was home. So, I call the Conference Center (did you know you can do that?) and they said I could fax them up and they'd reprint them - I figured this had probably happened before. So, phew - they got their tickets. This was also Ethan's first time on an airplane (that he remembers) so that was really exciting, too! All these pictures were actually taken on Lafe's phone - that's why some are not so clear - because our camera is breaking and the camera on his phone is actually better quality than our normal camera - time for a new one!!! They had a great time!!!!! So glad they got to go and have that memory!!!

Garden

So, we're trying out Square Foot Gardening!!! We've heard great things about it and we've read his book (the new edition) throughout the summer, and we've been SO excited to start! So, yesterday was the day. We used leftover paint from the house to protect the wood and then put the boxes together. We had to put a special metal stuff on the bottom to keep the gophers out ( they even eat through chicken wire!). Then, we mixed up Mel's special Mix and planted the plants! I sure hope it grows. It looks really pretty right now.

Erin is helping with the garden for one of her 10 hour projects for Personal Progress in Young Women's. She helped us plan out what to plant and helped with everything - wonderful!!! We planted Peas, Broccoli, Leaf Lettuce, Butter Leaf Lettuce, radishes, green onions, beets, carrots, swiss chard, and Marigolds. Wish us luck!!!

Erin's 14!!!!!! (no, really)

Can you believe I actually have a kid that's 14?????? I'm sure something's not calculated correctly!!! Oh, well. Happy Birthday, Erin!!!!! It's so fun watching her grow up and become such a beautiful young woman. She's loving, kind, a great friend, a wonderful student, works hard at everything she does, and is a great help! I hope you had a great day, Erin!

Welcome Fall!!!

If only we really saw more of this around here. We are dipping below 100F this week in celebration of Fall - only for a couple days, though. That's o.k. - at least we know it's coming! Happy Fall everyone!

Erin's Party

Erin had her birthday party on Friday night! We had quite the group of 12-14 yr. old girls over here! She invited several girls from school, church, and her best friend from Mesa. She did the whole thing - they played the "fruit game" - where everybody is a fruit and if you don't call someone else's fruit before the girl with the newspaper gets to you then you get hit with the newspaper - REALLY FUN! Then, they played white elephant but with candy bars -yum!

I made a bunch of different snacks thinking we had WAY to much food - HA! It was ALL GONE by the time they left - even the carrots!

Erin opening her presents just before they watched National Treasure 2. Fun night - exhausting, but fun for Erin.

Students of the Month

Erin

Laura

Kelcie

I forgot to post about 3 of my kids getting Student of the Month for August!!! I knew that Laura and Kelcie were getting it because their teachers called me, but then Erin came home with one, too! She said her teacher leaned over to her at Flag Ceremony right before and told her - "by the way....." And, I knew about Laura and Kelcie's for about 2 1/2 weeks - too long, I decided, because.........I forgot. I felt so bad. Last year I went every time someone got something, and for these two, I missed. I even jumped in the car knowing that by the time I reached the school, they would be done and in their classrooms. I apologized and, of course, it didn't really bother them - phew! But, just wanted to have a shout out for my girls that I'm so happy with how hard they work at school and how they treat other people.( The Value for August was Respect - they choose the Students of the Month based on the value.)

Olathe Corn

Next up, CORN!!! I had a roommate at BYU that would bring this amazing frozen corn back from home and we all LOVED it! So, I got her recipe and made it when we were first married, but haven't made it since. Well, I came across bulk corn this week and wanted to freeze some - but, of course, I've lost my recipe box in the move. Luckily for facebook - and blogs - I got the recipe again and that's what I've been doing all day (thanks, Sandy!) It's sooooooooooo yummy! I got 15 bags of corn that are almost 4 cups in each bag (big family).

Back on peaches - 14 quarts, 3 gallon freezer bags, and 24 cups of jam!!! Cobbler and Pie tomorrow - yippee!!!

Utah Peaches!!!

Utah peaches are the best in the WHOLE WORLD!!! So, that's what I'm doing for a few days. Yesterday, I found all the ripe ones if my boxes and cut them and froze them for smoothies - or just to eat like candy when it's hot! I got 2 gallon bags full so far. Hopefully today they'll be more ripe enough to make jam and then I'll bottle some.

9-11

I know it's long, but it's so worth it.

Gilbert Temple

WE ARE SOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!

Kids Rooms

I took these pictures a couple weeks ago hoping I would get the whole house clean and show you the different rooms - well, the kids rooms got done. I think it actually was the first day of school and I was "done" with their mess :)

The Boys Room

The little girls room

The Big girls room - Jamie's half

Big girls - Erin's half

The big girls have a little feaux dormer between their closets because they wanted one like the other kids. They were excited that to make that happen they each had to have their own closet - oh darn! Sorry, you can't see everything and I didn't want to post every angle, but you get the idea.

Just Ramblin'

1. I love being a Homemaker!!! I've noticed this week how much I really love doing the domestic stuff around the house - making bread, laundry, feeding chickens, collecting eggs, feeding bunny, making freezer jam, canning chicken, finding great deals on groceries, etc. Even cleaning up isn't so bad because I love how it looks when I'm done. Of course, my house isn't perfect - because I don't enjoy cleaning bathrooms, mopping floors, and dishes - and I don't enjoy this stuff all the time, but this week I really enjoyed it. ( Ask Lafe how many time I asked him if he saw my jam and chicken!)

2. I LOVE how having it rain in Arizona is the best entertainment!!! Whenever it rains it gets announced throughout the house and we love to sit outside and watch it. Even Talin earlier this week said , "It's raining! I gotta go outside!" We LOVE rain here and thunderstorms are SO fun! And, because we don't have an attic above the kids' rooms, they can really hear the rain and they love it - as much as I would have!

3. I love that my daughter will get up at 5:45 in the morning to exercise with me!

4. Why do restaraunts bring you an odd number of appetizers (breadsticks, etc.) when there are an even number of eaters? This drives Lafe and I crazy - it makes no sense. There are 2 of us - why bring 3? Bring either 2 or 4 - duh! We're only going to ask for more anyway!

5. I LOVE the mountains, latch-hooks, and cross-stitching - and I'm off to do that all weekend - woo-hoo! O.k., only Saturday, but it's still a welcome relief - and a chance to see Grandma and Grandpa who haven't been home for more than 2 weeks in a year and a half!

6. And...... I still love chocolate -which is probably why #3 hasn't helped me lose any weight yet :)

Cool House

So, yesterday I was preparing my Sunbeam lesson on being thankful for our houses, and I was trying to get pictures on google images of different houses around the world (fun!) when I decided to search for a really cool house that's just around the corner (or so ) from us. What do you know - they had a picture of it - so I have to show you!
I know it's really small, but I couldn't get it to open the full size version. It these three old farm silos that they turned into the coolest looking house! I would love to go inside. If you come visit me I'll take you to see it - although you'll probably just say, "neat, LeAnn".

Hannah Montana Party!

For Jamie's birthday we decided she could take a couple friends to go see the Hannah Montana Movie in the theater. I came out of the theater so pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the movie. I was ready to go buy the Soundtrack right then, and was wishing the movie was already out on DVD. But, I waited - go the Soundtrack at the beginning of the summer (Erin and Ethan are sick of it), and then got the movie the day it came out. Well, since only Jamie and Laura had seen it, we decided to do a Hannah Montana Party and invite cousins, friends, and neighbors - it was really fun! We were able to have some neighbor kids over that hadn't been here yet, and even an uncle that wanted an excuse to see it, too :) I'll have to watch it again, though, because I was running Erin and Ethan to Teen Elect while they were watching it ( and I think Erin would like it).

Friday - Me Day!

It's Friday!!! I decided today that it was My day and I wanted to sew today! I never get to it because there's so many chores and cleaning that need to get done - especially with the kids back in school so it actually stays clean longer than 5 minutes :). But, today I decided it was o.k. to let it wait. I did do the dishes and wipe off the counter, checked the chickens and bunny, and made my bed - BUT, other than that I've been sewing! I'm finally working on some skirts for my girls that I started back in February - remember the "I can't find any Sunday clothes for Erin" fiasco? Well, the house sold shortly after I bought the fabric, so life got really chaotic there for a while. I'm stuck, though, for a minute until I can get to JoAnn's and buy more thread, a zipper, ribbon, and some tape (I can't remember which kind, but I have it written down). Hopefully, I can get there after I get the kids from school. It's been fun, and I feel a little more productive than just cleaning. Talin got out all kinds of toys in the playroom while I was working - it makes it nice because my craftroom is right off the playroom, so he enjoys playing AND being by mommy.

P.S. - This picture is pretty close to what my sewing machine looks like - it was my mom's and I love that.

First Day of School!!!

Today is the First Day of School - Woo-hoo!!! Can you believe I have 5 kids in school - and they are all at the SAME school????!!!!!?? Erin is in 8th grade, Ethan is in 7th grade, Jamie is in 5th grade, Laura is in 2nd grade, and Kelcie is in Kindergarten!!! Here we go...........

New Shoes

It's that time of year again - school shopping! Today, we needed new shoes - and because the sale was buy one, get one 1/2 off, everybody got new shoes! Talin was SOOOOOOO excited - he even had to take his nap with them on :)
I was laying with him and he kept stopping and saying, "I like-a shoes, Mom!" Cute, huh? He won't even need them until October, so I bought them a little big.

Pickles!

The CO-OP this morning offered pickling cucumbers, so I decided to give it a try! I read on the internet that if you soaked them in ice-water for at least 2 hours they would be crispy pickles - we'll see if it works?!? Aren't they pretty, though?
Getting ready to be canned.......

The ending product....... I couldn't believe how much one box made!

L - R : Dill Halves, Dill Spears, Dill Hamburger Chips, Dill whole pickles, and Bread and Butter Chips. I was only going to make a few B&B but I still had more cucumbers and more B&B brine left, so I made more. I only had one not seal - ahhhhhhh, now we get to try them!!!! Well, after 24hrs. It was fun!

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! (Read as Weeeeeeeee......)

Yesterday, I had gotten out the Wii Fit and the kids kept taking turns on it. Ethan was having a turn and Talin literally stopped and watched Ethan the entire 40 minutes he was doing it. He was glued! He notices video games, but never like this! Then, he decided he would just do the excercises with him, so here's the boys doing push-ups. It was great on the games to here him council and cheer Ethan (Ethan wasn't as excited about it - I thought it was so cute).
He used a floppy flyer as his own little mat, and apparently he thought he needed his own remote, too :) I love the truck.