What?

My car broke down this evening.

What else is going to go wrong? Bring it on.

Ten things I learned today.

Oh to be young again...

1) My son loves me. Sometimes after he gets put to bed over at his dad's house, he'll call me because he has a phone in his room. Tonight he called and said, 'mom I just hate to leave you because I worry about you. I want to be with you because I want to take care of you and make sure you are ok. Dad, is a big person and he can take care of himself and I know you are a big person too but you're my mom and I want to make sure that you are ok and I just worry about you.' He is so precious! I'm so thankful that I had a son first. Now I know that no matter how big or old I get, he'll want to take care of me. How lucky am I! (I will rue the day he falls in love. She better like me!)

2) My friends love me. Today on Facebook, I was involved in a conversation with several of my friends about a tender subject, for a minute there emotions started to run high. One of these friends called me to make sure she hadn't offended me (I totally hadn't been at all). But I appreciate so much the fact that she called to make sure I was ok. I have the best friends on the planet.

3) Getting stung by a wasp REALLY hurts. I found a free patio set online at ksl.com. It just needs some TLC and some new staining and it'll look great. As I was loading the chairs into my car, a little wasp got me right between my thumb and pointer finger. It hurt bad and the lady I was getting the patio set got me some ice which was really nice of her. A little sting wasn't too much of a price to pay for a nice teak patio table with six chairs. (Maybe I was taking his home away.)
Here is the latest project.



4) Sometimes a person just has to let her kids build a fort with the dining room table and leave it up all day and night so they can keep playing with it the next time they come. Enough said. Oh, and letting them eat mac n' cheese and spaghettios in the fort makes them SO happy! (I borrowed Serena's camera for a little bit, hence the picture.)

5) Snuggling with my kids is one of my favorite things. I love the softness of their cheeks, their wonderful hands and feet, little arms that give tight hugs, and the kind words that come from their voices.

6) Hearing my children plink on the piano keys when their piano teacher comes every Wednesday morning. Even if they complain, I'm still going to make them take piano. It's so worth the $20 each week.

7) I really despise when dry yellow patches of grass appear on my lawn. It just ticks me off. I need a lesson in sprinkler systems.

8) I'm grateful for visiting teachers who like to go to dinner. It's starting to become a monthly habit. So fun! I have the best visiting teachers in the ward!

9) I need to learn to talk more positive to myself. One friend told me to give the negative voice a name. So I am going to do that. I can think of A LOT of names!

10) I will not let the adversary win. He does not have control over me and never will. End of story.

Until next time.

Quote of the day--for Saturday July 11

Sam was having a hard morning. He came to me to ask if he could walk to the gas station, saying that he 'just needed some alone time.' He is so like me! So of course I let him go and I went about my morning routine. Some time later he returns and walks in with this huge smile on his face. I said, 'Sam, I'm so glad you're back, I was beginning to wonder where you were.' He replies, 'It was awesome mom, and the best thing I got at the gas station was a good mood!'

I love this little guy!

My camera is in the shop...so no new pics!!

These are pics from 3 years ago when we went to the Gateway fountains. Kenna, Sam, and Sarah--they have all grown so much!!

Notice Ava crawling around on the ground looking for water! (Cami, Ava, Sarah, and Sam)

Sarah and Cami making a run for it.

Yesterday we met my sister Melissa and her kids up at Liberty park. We wanted to find a place where the kids could play in the water so she and I could plan our camping trip. Well the fountains were out of order at Liberty Park so we decided to try Memory Grove. Memory Grove was alright but Melissa thought the Gateway fountains would be better. So after packing up three times and driving around town all afternoon, we finally ended up at the Gateway. The kids had a blast getting wet and I loved the patriotic music they play while the fountains are going.

My camera got a little munched on the 4th of July, which is a reminder to all those out there to protect your camera in case you are sitting next to friends who are jumpy about spiders and creepy-crawlies!! We were sitting up on the mountain over looking stadium of fire about to watch the fireworks and Serena's brother Matt jumped because he thought he saw a spider, which made Serena jump and then I got freaked out and landed sideways on my camera, which caused the lens to get shifted and now my camera won't work at all. But not to fear, I took it into Kew's Camera Service (yes, some guy is actually named Kew!) They said two to three weeks! Argh!

Better Homes & Garden

This is a shot of my mom's front porch. I had to take this picture because it reminded me of how much my Grandma Rosie loved to decorate her front porch too. She also loved the 4th of July. She loved having family around, she loved cold watermelon and watching the fireworks out on her front lawn which was a block away from the U of U stadium. It was a fabulous memory for me.

My mom and dad love the 4th of July. It's a sacred holiday in our family. We are so grateful to the men and women who fight for this great nation. Thank you to all our soldiers and their families who have made great sacrifices.

God Bless America, my home sweet home!

Last night was our neighborhood 4th of July party and this is our 2nd year attending. There were probably about 450 people that showed up for food, fun, children's parade, the folk band, and fireworks. It was great to be outside, despite it raining on and off, with everyone in our neighborhood. There were snow cones, face stamping, fish pond, and popcorn for the kids. They loved it. Before it started my kids were starving so Sam was first in line, which was a good thing! The line was so long! We got to see lots of old friends who were also invited, and that was awesome.

I'm so grateful for our country, for the freedoms we are blessed with, for the opportunities that are ours because of this great land that we live in. I'm grateful for all the people, family, and friends that we get to share our lives with. I'm grateful for the safety which I feel living in this wonderful neighborhood. I'm grateful for the sunshine and the rain this year. I'm most especially grateful for my children, for their love, their smiling faces, and the wonderful people that they are becoming!

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Time flies when you're growing up

This is a picture of the Jessica Bentley Tiek and her new little baby boy Nathan. She was the cute young woman who used to tend for me all the time when my kids were really little. She just had her baby on Sunday and so I took the kids over to visit her and baby Nate.

She was such a great babysitter, she loved my kids so much and was always very responsible and caring when I had her over. I think Sam must have been 3 months old when I first let her watch him. She was also always kind and loving to my kids when she'd see them at church. She is wonderful and we love her. We're so excited that she now has a baby of her own. Congratulations to her and her husband Jon!