Princess Twinkle Toes

Elody is my little princess! Marni's youngest daughter grew out of the little slippers and wanted to give them to Elody!

Sneaky Purchase while I was gone

While I am sitting at the luncheon, Matt calls me from Costco and tells me that he is buying a playset. He's been talking about it for a while, but I kept telling him NO. This day, there was an in-store $200 OFF and we also had our AmEx rebate check. So, he called to tell me that he was buying it, not taking NO for an answer. He spent the next 2 1/2 days putting it together. The kids have LOVED IT! They took out a bunch of toys out there and played to their hearts' content. Today I finally made them bring all the stuff back inside. It's suppose to rain this weekend. It's been a nice place for them to play with friends OUTSIDE!

Day 3 of me being gone - PJ day

Friday, March 9th was PJ day at the elementary school. Matt had the day off and stayed home since he work the previous Saturday. He got the kids ready, took their picture and sent them off on their bikes. A minutes later, Beau came out and said he wanted to take his and Elody's picture with them too. He was so disappointed that he missed them, that Matt put them in the truck and caught the kids half way to school. He then took a picture of the 5 of them together. It totally made Beau's day!

Meanwhile, Friday for lunch my mom took me to the little Greek restaurant and we both got a gyro. It's been a long time since I've had one of those. I really enjoyed getting to spend some time with my mom and my sisters and my sister's kids over the weekend.

Day 2 of my being gone - At Home

Thursday, March 8th was crazy hair day for my kids. Angelique did the kids hair since I was gone. I forgot to ask anyone at home to take the kids' pictures and I was devastated! So emailed the kids' teachers and told them I was out of town and didn't get to take the kids' pictures. So Jaren's teacher, bless her heart, took Jaren's and then went to Angelique's and then Safia's classes and pulled them out and took their pictures and emailed them all to me!!! I was very thankful for her thoughtfulness.

Day 2 of my trip home - Wedding Day!

Thursday, March 8th was Madisyn's wedding day! Actually I have a funny story to tell about the morning. I called my older kids before they left to school to talk to them for a few minutes and then they gave the phone to Beau. I talked to him a couple of minutes and then he set the phone on the counter. I kept yelling "Hello!" but they didn't hear me. I was on my mom's landline and it was 7:30am and my kids were on my landline. I then spent the next hour listening to all the goings-on in my house like I was a fly on the wall. It was hilarious! My neighbor Karen came over and helped my kids get ready for school and get them out the door on their bikes. I could hear Elody asking for her bread to be cut into squares. Then when Karen gave it to her, she said "Squares!" Karen said, "They are in squares, and aren't going to get in anymore square that this!" LOL! My irrational 2 year old!!!! I finally called Candy on my cell and told her to hang up my phone inconspicuously so Karen didn't know I was listening. At almost 9am Candy came over and did as I asked and then took Elody and Beau home until Matt was able to go pick them up.

Then I went to the wedding! It was a nice ceremony and Madisyn looked Gorgeous!!! The Temple garden's were so beautiful. I hardly ever have pictures taken of me, but this time I was willing to be in one just to capture the background.

The luncheon was at a Mexican food restaurant. I sat with my sisters Marni and Jen and also with my mom and brother Nathan. We ate Tostadas! That evening was the reception. It was outside at a golf club. It was very nicely decorated and the food was delicious. I was able to stay afterwards and help take stuff down.

Jeanette's children: Kelci, Brock, Madisyn, Isaac, Hannah

These were the center pieces. Very beautiful!

This is Tom and Jeanette dancing!
Nathan did a dance to the Backstreet Boys, Bye Bye Bye as he usually does!

Boquet Toss

Garder Belt Toss
Bye Madi and Nate! Off to the honeymoon. The spent their honeymoon somewhere in Mexico.

Day 1 of my trip home March 7th

My niece Madisyn got married on March 8th. I really wanted to go, so I decided to fly home to make it to the wedding. Wed. March 7th, I got up at 4:45am, showered and left at 5:15 to catch the 6:00 shuttle to the airport. The flight was only 45 minutes. At the airport, I caught the bus to the closest stop to my mom's house about 1/2 mile away. It was a long morning, but it was a good way to get there without having to drive myself. The first thing I did at my mom's was drink a large glass of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. Ahhhh, the taste of home. Later I asked my mom if I could see my Dad's headstone since I hadn't yet. She was happy to take me and we went in her little electric car. I took a picture of the intersection and the trash bin that it's by and my mom's cute car. It's a very nice headstone. I glad I finally got to see it.

Day 1 of me being gone - Mini sized bubble bath

Jileigh gave Elody a mini bubble bath in my utility sink in the laundry room. I thought it was cute!

Jileigh had a choir concert that I missed. So sad. and Matt went to a parent meeting for Jaren's future. He has been asked to go to a different school next year to go to a special High Ability Stand class for the gifted and talented. Wow! We aren't sure if we are going to do it or not. It's 45 minutes away. We would have to drive him half way there everyday to the bus stop that would take him the rest of the way. Supposedly there can be a carpool created so we are thinking about it. Then Jaren had to go to cub scout pack meeting with our neighbors, Andrea's family. He earned his Wolf badge, but they are going to wait until next month to give it to him so we can be there.

Angelique's new hair cut

Angelique has been tossing around the idea of letting me cut her hair for about a month. Finally this evening, she decided for sure that she wanted it cut. So off came about 8 inches! She loves it and I think she looks adorable! These are the before and after pictures front and back.

District level History Fair

Today Angelique and her cousin Colton we to the District wide National History Day Fair and entered in their website on The Constitution. They WON 1st Place!!! Candy took them because I wasn't able to leave her and go too. She took them out for lunch at The Golden Corral. They also took the iPad to keep them entertained while being gone a good part of the day.

Our first attempt at empanadas

Every Sunday night we sit together and have Family Meeting and plan out our coming week. We usually plan out the meals that they want to help make, but this time no one had any ideas and it was bedtime. So each day I'm saying, "What are we going to have for dinner?" Tuesday night, Matt came up with a new idea. We made a version of empanadas. The stuffing is rice, Jimmy Dean ground sausage, imitation crab meat, cheese, cream of mushroom soup, and sauteed vegetables: onions, celery, bell peppers, mushrooms, and carrots. Then he made creamy whole multi-grain buscuit dough, and rolled it out into small rounds. We put the stuffing on, folded it in half, sealed it, and brushed it with egg and baked it. They were so yummy!!! I think next time we won't include the crab meat. Some of the kids didn't like the slight fishy taste.

Saturday morning breakfast

I took this picture to make a memory of all my kids sitting around the kitchen counter eating their cowboy toast and drinking raw milk on a Saturday morning.