Mrs. Fields Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Thanks to the Brittany and the Carmichael Family I got the recipe I lost. Some of you expressed an interest of getting the recipe so here it is...

Mrs Field's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

2 C brown sugar packed

2 C white sugar

2 C butter

4 eggs
1 tsp salt

3 C raisins or choc chips
3 C chopped walnuts

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla

4 C flour

5 C oatmeal
Cream sugars and butter. Then add eggs and beat well. Add
remaining ingredients. Bake 6 min at 400 degrees.

I always use raisins and it is so yummy. Probably because of all the butter. =)

Requesting a lost Recipe

So I've been entering all my favorite recipes in the computer so I can have them in one book. I just got them all done last night. What a project! I had all my recipes on little recipe cards and I can't find one that I love. Does anyone have Mrs. Fields Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe? These are so good and stay moist for a week. Maybe one of you gave me this recipe I can't remember. I have looked on the internet and haven't found the right one. It is not the one with blendered oatmeal. If anyone can help me out that would be awesome!

Yuletide Festival

This week has been already crazy busy and it's only going to get worse. We are singing on Friday and Saturday for the American Festival Choir. It's going to be a amazing concert. I get to sing next to Deonne again. We have fun together and she is a great singer. There are a few parts I personally need to practice, I just got to find an hour to do that.

Like always, Dr. Jessop is pulling out all the stops. He has two guest artist which are really good. There are the USU ballroom dance team, a bell choir, Full orchestra, decorations which make the stage look like a winter wonderland, plus ice sculptures and hot cocoa before and after the concert while people mingle. The music is great. We are singing lots of traditional Christmas tunes and also some non-traditional ones. A great variety. One of my favorites is the Hallelujahs Chorus by Handel. We have practiced Wednesday and Thursday night till 10:00 pm so we are a bit tired. Unfortunately this will be our last concert with the choir. We love singing in it but we will need to wait for a different season in our life to do it again. Hopefully Craig will still be the director. Tickets are $10 a piece if you get them with the choir discount. If you want to come it's not too late. You will not regret it. I've heard a lot of complaints about how expensive it is. I say Ba humbug. People pay more then double to go to a Broadway show, the opera, ballet, or symphony. Not to mention going to a movie is about price now and more when you include the popcorn and drinks. Not that you can compare these events, but this is a production and the orchestra players do get paid. Enough of my soapbox.

Did I say Senior Citizens get in free at the Saturday Afternoon Concert? Here is the link to get tickets. If you want to get the choir member discount let me know and I'll give you the discount code. Hope to see some of you there. Have a great weekend!

Getting ready for Christmas

This week we wrapped up a lot of our Christmas to do's which is nice. We had a goal to get our shopping done by Thanksgiving. We did for the most part. When you have to take out the kids to do shopping it is so much easier to do it online. Devin and I did do one store on Black Friday. It wasn't that bad, no ramming carts or violent acts were witnessed. Now that we are done shopping we have to remember that and not buy anymore! We are really scaling back this year and hopefully focusing on being with family and our Savior.

The kids have been doing an act of service everyday and it's really cute to see them get excited about serving. Conrad helped me make breakfast one morning. They made snowflakes for Devin and I. Traeden has been singing Christmas songs that he learned from friends and then he comes up to me and asks me if he can sing them or if it's bad. "Jingle Bells, batman smells, Robbin lays an egg" I told him it was probably OK unless he is suppose to sing the right lyrics for school or church.

We went to the Live Nativity in Nibley with Greg and Deonne's family on Friday. They had real donkeys, sheep, goats and even a camel. The boys tried to feed the camel, Alex did a great job of that. It really makes you appreciate the circumstances of the humble birth of our Savior. If the Savior was born today, where do you think he would be born? I can't imagine in a busy city. I see something similar, in a barn or country home.

Conrad and Abi after the Nativity

Camel and the kids

Petting the donkey

My first apple pie I made with a friend with Devin's parents apples this week. It was a really yummy pie. You cook the pie in a brown paper bag.

Today we are fasting and praying for my uncle Gary who was in a snowmobile accident yesterday. A neighbor found him unconscious and called 911. He busted his knee and has some serious head wounds. Last night when we heard about it from my mom he was still unconscious. I just talked to my mom who is at the hospital now and said he is now awake. They will be doing a series of surgeries to reconstruct his jaw and one of his eyes. We are hoping he will pull through. We would appreciate your prayers in his behalf.

Halloween 2009

It's been a while since I've done a post. I've been meaning to put up some Halloween pictures. The kids chose their own costumes when we got down the costume box down. This was the tradition my family always did because we didn't have a lot of extra money to make or buy a new costume each year. I remember Danny always choosing the funniest combinations out. Well watch out Danny I think Conrad and Traeden will be putting some competition to the weird costume contest you won in years past.

Abigail was a little devil (although she would not keep that cute hat on)

Samantha was a Dalmatian puppy

Conrad was a Pumpkin Wolf

Traeden was something different every time he dressed up, magician, and a devil

We had a great time Halloween. I stayed home and gave out candy and Devin took the kids around with Greg and Deonne's kids. The kids got so much candy because we tried the Mall trunk or treat this year which was in the morning. The kids really enjoyed doing this. There favorite treat were these cool rings that glowed and sparkled. I'm still finding candy wrappers around the house as evidence that we still have candy circulating around.

Family Update

It's been a while since I've written. So I thought I'd give a family update. Well this weekend we have all been sick with the stomach flu. It has gotten to everyone but Devin. Lucky him. It hits like a wave and you feel awful for about 3-4 hours and then slowly start feeling like you can eat something. It was really weird. We'll have to see how it goes tonight but so far no one has thrown up all day so if it stays that way the boys will go to school tomorrow.

Abigail is the little gabber girl. Most of it's not anything you can understand, but she is getting more words that we understand. She said Bye Bye for the first time yesterday. She has been so much fun and we just love the little things she does to make us laugh. Lately she wakes up and sings in her crib before we get her out. She was doing scales the other day and Devin and I laid in bed laughing.

Samantha is talking more and more to people other then us. Lately we have had friends say this is the first time they have heard her say a word. She is loving dancing lessons and her favorite activity there is ring a round the rosies. She has been playing on the piano for a few months and had her first recital. She played all the two black keys. She is working on finding all the notes on the piano and identifying letters. She is getting great at her piano bow.

Conrad has been learning Spanish at school and has shown a desire to learn more so we got a CD course he got from the library. He is loving school and has many friends. He got a new orchestra teacher and really enjoys it because he shares his name, Conrad.

Traeden is working really hard at school. We have seen a huge improvement in his phonograms and spelling lately. He is doing well at scouts and loves learning new things there. He is such a great helper at home. He is also really into reading right now. Saturday Morning I got up at 6:00 to exercise and he had his lamp on reading a book. He has been reading the Harry Potter books, Leventhumps and Far World. We are very proud of him.

Devin and I are enjoying choir but have been really busy with it to the point that we feel like this will be our last semester for a while. We are doing a Christmas concert this year which will be fun but we have to learn a lot of music in a short amount of time. I have made some great friends in the choir and it's been really fun to sing with Deonne. In the last concert I was lucky enough to sing right next to her. Another big factor in not singing in the choir is Devin will be doing scouts next year on the same night as choir so he won't be able to do it. We will look forward to joining the choir again when our kids are older.

Traeden's Talk

Traeden gave a talk today in church. His grandpa T. helped him write it while Devin and I were at the dress rehearsal for the John Rutter concert. He did a great job and I thought it would be great to have on record.

My talk is about family prayer. My family tries to have family prayer each morning and evening. One family prayer I especially remember was when my mom had the flu for a week. We all took turns praying for her to get better. She got better and we thanked Heavenly Father for that blessing. Jesus told the people in the Book of Mormon, "Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name that your wives and your children may be blessed." I know that prayer is a true principle of the gospel because it blessed my mom.

My parents were so sweet to help us out yesterday. Grandpa even helped Traeden build a birdhouse out of their left over decking material. This is one of his scout requirements. Traeden has had two grandpa's help with scouting and it's such a blessing.

The concert last night was so fun. We had a lot of music to learn and we had an intense week of practices. Thankfully we have some great friends and neighbors who helped watch our kids. I sure love John Rutter's music. Some of the music I have sung before in high school. One of the songs, "The Lord Bless you and Keep you" I especially remember because I had a small ensemble sing it for Solo and Ensemble. We practiced so hard for that. It was fun to sing it again and remember the good old times. We even sang a few of his Christmas pieces. I love the "Candlelight Carol". There were many touching points in the concert when it was hard to keep back the tears. The music is filled with God and Love that the spirit can't help but fill the room and hearts of those who hear and sing.

I have joined the 'No cell phone club'. So far we have about four members of our club. It can be inconvenient at times but I really have enjoyed not worrying about losing my phone, or always being in reach when I'm not at home. So if you ever need to call me, just call at home and leave a message and I'll be sure to call you back. If it's long distance I have to wait till Devin gets home because we don't have long distance at home. Let me know if you want to join the club we are always accepting members. =)

Have a peaceful sabbath!

Happy Halloween!

Our two Lucy's and Ricardos at the Party!

This year's Halloween Party theme was Famous Families. We had a really great turn out. We decided to do the invites by E-vite which was very successful and took so much less time and money. This year we had 17 couples attend. We were surprised and happy so many were able to come. We played Round about Ping Pong. (name is wrong here) You hit the ball and put the paddle down for the next player to hit it. It's fast paced and so much fun! We had some really good ping pong players. Then we had introductions and ate yummy food. We had everyone bring a favorite finger food. There was caramel apple dip, veggies, caramel popcorn, yummy cake, spinach dip, queso dip, homemade root beer, and much more. Then we played the Lifesaver game where you pass the lifesaver in a line with a toothpick in your mouth. Very tricky and funny. Then we played Family Feud. This was awesome. Everyone got to participate by giving answers about Halloween. Bonnie and David let us use the game they made up for one of their Halloween parties. The program even had the sounds with it when you clicked on the right answer or the X. Devin was the host and I was the computer girl. We had a costume contest (see results below). Then we played the M and M game where you suck them up with a straw into a cup. You get a turn when you roll doubles on dies. We forgot the dies so we had to use cards. It worked. We have a fun time planning and doing the party. It's been a fun tradition.

Devin and I posing as "Adam and Eve" (no we were not winners)

This is Ellen and her life partner-- They got the funniest Award

This is The Umpa Lumpa Family--Most creative Award

Charles Mansen and a follower--Scariest Award

Lucy and Ricardo- Best Overall Award

Pictures

We had a fun picture day with Abi. Here are some of my favorites.

I learned to order pictures from Macey's online and then they are done in 1 hour! That's pretty awesome. The hardest choice is what picture do I put on the wall and which ones do I give Grandparents because they are all so cute. This photographer (Julie) was the same one that did our Titensor Family shoot last year. Deonne has used her for her family and individuals several times as well. She does such a great job. Check out her webpage at: www.simplyouphoto.com

Happy Fall!

Sick and Cookies

Cookies cooling on wax paper

Cookies with frosting and sprinkles

Have you every ate a cookie this big?

I have been fighting the flu this week. I started getting sick last week with a sore throat. Then I sang at an all day rehearsal on the 10th and lost my voice. Monday I started getting body aches and had a fever that night. I had three really hard nights of fever and chills. During the day I had a really hard time getting much done because I felt so sick. I stayed home the whole week with a few outings that I needed to go to. Anyway today I feel much better and only have an occasional cough. So far I am the only one in my family who has been sick with the flu. What are you thoughts on getting the flu shot. Has anyone gotten in ans still got sick? What about the H1N1 vaccine? I'm a little skeptical about getting it for my kids but I don't want them to get what I had. It's a tough decision.

This week was the primary program. The kids were promised cookies as big as their head if they sang really well. Three of us cooked the cookies and then we had a team of teachers who helped frost and package them. I was planning on doing one double batch of cookies everyday, but getting the flu kind of dampened that plan. Each double batch of cookies made 11 cookies. On Thursday and Friday I worked hard to get my part of the cookies done. My friend helped me out by doing 22 of my cookies so I only ended up cooking 48 cookies. Thanks Alison! Devin and the kids were a huge help with decorating the cookies on Saturday. They also put all the cookies in the flat bed of the truck and drove them to the church. Wow what an ordeal.

The Primary Program was so neat. Just for the record we had 124 children participate in our program today (if all came we would have had 163). All of them had a speaking part. Because of sickness and kids out of town we did have some missing. It went very smooth and the kids remembered their parts very well. The singing was beautiful! Our music director is also the USU choral director. He has done such a great job with those kids. The spirit testified of the truthfulness of the importance of families. I had such a hard time on a few parts singing because I was crying. My favorite song is "Families Are of God"I'm so grateful to be in the Primary Presidency. I've learned so much. The Primary children really deserved those cookies. We ended up with over 200 cookies and gave all our teachers, scout leaders, and activity day leaders a cookie as well. We have the best teachers! They all helped out so much to put this together.

One of the things the first counselor has done every year is take pictures over the year at activities and then the day of the program we show a video with all the pictures. She makes sure every primary child is in the video. The pictures are shown with all the primary music playing in the background. The kids love to see themselves. It was so cool to see every child in our primary pictured even though they don't come to primary all the time. One of our activities we made the goal of getting every primary child to the activity. We didn't get everyone but we sure got close. Seeing those pictures was touching to me.

Our family ended up bringing home about 8 cookies that were extra. Yummy! We had birthday cookies for my Dad instead of birthday cake. My parents were so helpful in watching our kids so we could go to our Halloween Party (I'll blog on this later) and then they stayed over so they could see the kids in the Primary Program. I think I'm going to rest this week. Well maybe a little.

Fall harvest

I had a poll on the blog about what went well in your gardens and here is the results

8 people took the poll

What did the best in your garden this year?

Fruit trees 0

Squash 1

Tomatoes 5

Carrots and beets 0

Didn't have a garden this year 2

Green beans and peas 0

I thought for my own sake I would write things I learned this year in gardening.

1. Because my pear tree got fire blight disease I'm going to spray for that next year

2. I didn't get one apple off my two apple trees and my neighbor said her parents only get apples every other year. Lets hope that's true and I get apples next year.

3. I loved loved doing my garden in the square foot fashion because.... I hardly had any weeds. I kept track of everything and knew what every plant was. I loved assigning a few squares to my kids. They got to choose what they wanted to plant and then they took care of it. It was a really good experience for them and they enjoyed it.

4. Watermelons don't work growing up a trellis. I think because the stem is so thin it doesn't have the ability to carry that much weight. Traeden was devastated when his watermelon fell of the vine.

5. I can grow carrots! But getting them to germinate was a trick. I reseeded some squares 4 times and some still didn't come up. I think I need to water a little more regularly at first for these seeds.

6. Pumpkins grow great up a trellis. It was so cool to see this large pumpkin 4 feet off the ground

7. I need to do more green beans and plant them sooner.

8. Eggplant flowers were really pretty but we only saw one actually turn into an eggplant. (not going to do that again)

9. Definitely going to do more beets

10. Spinach was way fun. I'm going to try to spread out the harvest better by planting one square every week till it gets too hot.

11. Zucchini is always a huge producer. The trick is to harvest these every day so they don't get big.

12. Tomatoes--I'm only planting the early tomatoes. We hardly had any that got red before it froze. We just have too short a season.

Music Therapy and R.S. Conference

Saturday I drove down with my kids and a music therapy colleuge to my parents house. We dropped them all off and headed to Primary Children's Hospital for the UAMT conference on Self-care. Devin picked the boys up on his way down to Cedar City for Don and Aliene's speaking assignment before they go to Moscoe Russia! Because our Primary program is really soon and the two conferences on Saturday I decided to stay home with the girls.

I feel so enriched after attending both of these conferences. The music therapy conference we had four different workshops, Dance Therapy, Professional Marketing, Chakra Toning and Quantum Touch, and MARI Assessment. I had fun reconnecting with music therapy friends. Some I have not seen for a long time. I had a great time visiting and catching up at lunch and in between workshops. The title of Self-Care for the music Therapist really fit what I needed. Sometimes we go through life taking care of everyday things, mothering, our jobs, cleaning, church callings, fun activities, but we forget to take the time to do our own personal care. I believe everyone needs time to decompress and reconnect with who we really are. If we don't do this we get burned out and are not effective in serving others. The ones we love the most are neglected. This conference gave us some ideas of things you can do. Some cost lots of money, some are time-consuming, and others are very simple and no-cost.

I personally have committed in doing better to find time to do my spiritual self-care. I would like to be more regular in reading my scriptures. I was reading my journal a little while ago and I saw in several entries a similar goal of reading the scriptures. This is something I have always struggled with. I keep setting goals and time escapes me and I've gone back to my bad habits.

Relief Society General Meeting is always a highlight for me. I especially enjoyed Barbara Thompson's words. She is so genuine and good natured. I'm impressed with her wisdom and great attitude about her purpose in life. I re-commit to relish where I am today. Relish the ages of my children and the fun stages they are in. I do not want to wish for tomorrow. Tomorrow is only built on what we do today. I also want to be a better Visiting Teacher. I felt during the meeting that I could do much better in serving and loving my sisters. Even though I am serving in the Primary right now I want to feel more connected to Relief Society. I will try to put more energy into visiting teaching and work hard to support the activities R.S. has. It has been a great weekend for me. I'm really looking forward to more spiritual feasting next weekend.

Just a side note. Traeden's Primary teacher was called to be the new Y.W. pres in our ward and she told me today that last week in class he asked her thoughtfully, "Does this mean you're fired?" She said "I guess it does." She has been a wonderful teacher for him and we will miss her in Primary.

Buddy Walk

I have a hard time coming up with original titles. I keep thinking maybe I should put the date. Well I'll keep thinking. Yesterday Devin went down to my parents to work on the porch. He said they got all the under part done. Now they just need to put the top part on. (not sure what the terminology is on that) I'll have to take a picture next week when I go down to visit. They also put a stone bridge in that took about eight guys to get into place. I don't think they will be moving that for a long long time! They have some new pools and a river and a beach for the kids to play in. Devin said it is really cool.

The kids and I stayed home to do some yard work, housework, canning, and we played a bit too. We gave our freezer to Utah Power on Saturday as well. It was on the brink of dying so we thought we better get it picked up before it was completely dead. (They only give you money if the freezer still works) Guess what Santa is bringing the Overly family for Christmas?

The pictures below is us at the Buddy Walk for Cache Valley. We have a little boy in our subdivision who has down syndrome so we thought it would be neat to have our family go and support him and his family. The kids had a blast. They had the walk, bounce houses, fishing treasure hunt in saw dust, lunch, and a raffle where you could buy a ticket to win prizes. Traeden and Conrad brought their own money and bought some tickets. Traeden won two prizes and shared with Conrad and Samantha since they didn't win anything. He really can be a nice brother.

We got Abigail's pictures taken professionally yesterday as well. They turned out so cute. As soon as I get them back I'll post some pictures.

I don't watch one of the boys during the day anymore. I'm feeling a little less busy. His grandma is going to be watching him. So I only have one extra from 11:30 am to 3:30. Not bad. I've got a poll on this blog so take a minute to answer the question about your garden this year.

Samantha was not going to stand by those scary guys until our next door neighbor, Christy, took her hand and got her to pose for the picture. These star wars fans are really neat, they go to events like the buddy walk and other charitable events and interact with the kids. Get pictures with them. My boys thought it was so cool!

Samantha loved getting her face painted and even got her finger nails painted.

Boys show off there paintings

There was not a lot of people that came so all my kids could go in and out of the bounce house as much as they wanted. Even Abi loved it!

Have a great week! We love you!

Feeling a bit full

Since school started, I've been racing just to keep up with daily things. I really thought when I sent Traeden and Conrad to school for full day I would have more time. Wow was I wrong. I agreed to watch a neighbor's little boy three days a week while she teaches school. I also am watching another neighbors boy who is in kindergarten. I have him until the other kids come home. It really hasn't been that hard of an adjustment and I really like that when Traeden and Conrad get home from school I can focus on them and their homework. But yes I don't have as much spare time as I would like. I was asked by another neighbor just this week to take her two kids during the day as well and I had to say no. I don't want to run a daycare and that would be just too much. I have a hard time saying no to anyone but I did it.

The kids are loving life. Samantha started dance lessons! She is so cute in her little pink leotard. I like having a little time with Abigail alone. Conrad started orchestra which normally begins in 4th grade. I asked the new orchestra teacher at Thomas Edison if Conrad could try it and see how he does. Well he is playing twice a week with the 5th graders after school. I am really proud of him. Traeden is doing so well in school so far this year. He come home and gets his homework done quickly and without complaint. I'm really hoping it continues. He seems to really like his teacher and his classmates.

I really am doing well and everyday I feel like I am a little more together. It's really hard to coordinate all of the schedules and play taxi driver and then have a clean house. The house right now is suffering especially because this week I canned peaches almost everyday. We got some peaches from Devin's parents and then I bought some from Brigham to get our yearly supply. I love bottled peaches so much more then canned. Our garden is producing tons of tomatoes, zucchini, green beans, and peppers. I am hoping to get all the beans canned this week and then I'll start on the tomatoes. Fall is a really busy time but one of my favorites. The colors have already started changing and it's so beautiful. I decided to do a slideshow since it's been so long since I've done a post. Enjoy.

Till we Meet Again

Devin's Grandma Hyatt passed away August 19 at age 91. She was a remarkable woman and we were blessed to know her. All of Devin's siblings were able to attend the funeral this weekend. I have been reflecting on how blessed I am because of not only my good posterity but my husband's. September's 1st Presidency message by President Uchtdorf is entitled "The Influence of Righteous Women" As I read this article this morning I couldn't help think of Grandma Irene Hyatt. She left such a great legacy of faith for me and my children to follow. Some of the things I think are her influence has blessed so many.

1. She served of approximately 80 years in the same calling, Ward organist. That is amazing to me. How many of us get burned out of our callings after a couple of years?

2. She raised four children, had 19 grandchildren and 42 great-grandchildren. As far as I know all the boy grandchildren went on missions and I think got there eagle scout awards. All of those grandchildren who have been married were sealed in the temple.

3. She was such a hard worker. She kept up an active lifestyle until the last few months of her life. She would be seen out in here well kept garden everyday where she had the most beautiful rose bushes.

4. She loved life and made everyone around her feel special and needed.

I was never an in-law in her eyes. She treated me like one of her own and I really appreciated that.

(The above picture is the last time we spent with Grandma, Easter weekend. The boys were able to play there instruments for her. She gave them many encouraging words which we will treasure forever.)

First Steps

While off at Danny and Melissa's and Grandma and Grandpa's this weekend, Abigail got really good at walking. Here is a little video of her showing her moves.

The Grand Tetons

For our 11th Anniversary we decided to do a backpacking trip to the Grand Tetons. Here are words that try to describe the beauty.

Quiet and Regal Beauty--Grand Tetons

Picturesque Skies with fast moving clouds
Wildflowers daring to grow mid rock and stream
Pikas scamper and screech at passerby's
Musty smell of wild game
Watching out for hidden danger
Hidden lakes, streams and waterfalls on every turn
Majestic and jagged mountains
Huge Boulders and tiny slate
One step up at a time, reaching great heights
Soft snow falls while safe and warm
Friendly hikers, encouraging words
Taken by the scenes before me
Grateful for God who created it all


A huge shout out to Melissa, Danny, Mom and Dad for watching the kids so we could go!
P.S. This park is an amazing place for families. Lots of picnic areas, beautiful small and large hikes, great bike/rollerblade trail, you can rent canoes and boats. We will be back for more fun with our family next year!

Real Soccer game

Devin got tickets through work to a Real soccer game. We were way excited to go! Both Devin and I are soccer fans. I like to watch it but I would rather play. We actually didn't see the Real team play. Instead it was an All star game Everton vs. MLS all stars. It was an exciting game which ended at a tie 1 to 1. They did a shoot out which happened to be at the goal we were closest too. Everton ended up winning but I think the All stars played a better game.

We had my mom watch the kids and we decided to take the UTA front runner from Woods Cross into Salt Lake and then take the TRAX to the game. They are running a summer special so for both of us to ride round trip it was only $10. It took about an hour to get there which was great because then we didn't have to worry about parking, which a lot of lots were $10 or more. I was impressed that there were quite a few soccer fans riding the bus. The only hangup is after the game we got to the TRAX great and once we got to the front-runner station we had an hour wait until the last front-runner left. This way they get all the late owls in one train. Since we were going home that night with the kids we thought we better call Dad. So he came and rescued us. So much for saving on gas, but it was a good test to see if we would do it again with the whole family. We definitely will when we can. The kids would love it-no seatbelts. We were thinking of Bonnie and David in NY who travel this way everyday and it's not a big deal. I hope it becomes more popular to ride buses in S.L. and in Logan. It takes a bit of planning but I think using the busing services is a great way to travel, not to mention it's better on the environment. Devin said this would be the only way he could survive if he lived in the Wasatch Front-he hates the traffic and congestion. He would get a good book and read while he traveled to work.

Summer Fun

We went camping with friends up Green Canyon. Wow it is so nice up there. So green, shady, and free! We loved it. Abigail with Westwood's boy (sorry Sandra I can't remember which one, Luke?)-getting really dirty camping with friends
Abigail is getting really close to walking. She has taken a few steps, Ohh big girl!
Grandma and Grandpa came for a night stay last week. We took them to Tummi Yummi's. This is a place you have to check out next time you need a cool treat. It's in the corner of 14th north and Main. Close to Little Cesears Pizza. They have self-serve frozen yogurt plus tons of fun toppings. The great thing is you pay by weight. The treats are good but that's not all. They have a game room with basketball, fooze ball, and shuffle board. Be sure to check out the bathrooms as well-they are really cool.

The whole family (well almost) enjoying the bean bag fun.

This week we have had Danny's kids with us. The cousins have had a lot of fun playing together. We will get a return favor in a week when Devin and I go backpacking in the Tetons for our anniversary. 11 years of marriage--Pretty Awesome! Have a great day!!

P.S. Thank you Vance Family for the photo tips--I love the format!

Pioneer Day Celebrations

Samantha loving the kitty! She is found outside with that cat so much during the day. Badge puts up with a lot and doesn't put up a fuss. She has grown a whole bunch lately.
The kids had so much fun catching candy at the parade. Deonne and Greg's family even came to see the parade with us.
Friday morning bike ride on the Legacy Trail. What a great trail that is.
Scott and his family walked the trail with their cute kids.
At the park after swimming the kids choose one thing to do. We had to cheer for Abigail every time she went by so she wouldn't cry.
They had handcarts people could try out with their family
Daddy is home! Devin was gone for a week with scout camp. We are so glad he is home.

Hope you all had a great Pioneer day!

Poll Results: Nylons

THE LAST TIME YOU WENT TO CHURCH WHAT FOOTWEAR DID YOU WEAR?

Results: 12 people voted

41% wore church shoes and nylons

41% wore just church shoes

16% wore only sandals

0% wore flip flops

I needed to post this now because I'm working on changing the background and when I did it to my other blog childrenareworthit.blogspot.com it deleted the poll about napping when I put a new template on. Oops. So if you voted on the other blog could you do me a favor and do it again and it will give you an excuse to check out the face lift I just put on. I think it's much more fun!

So the nylon issue was really interesting to get feedback from all of you. In the meantime I've done some investigating and found a few things out I thought I would share. I talked to a sister missionary helping at the temple open house in May and she said it is a requirement for her mission that the sister missionaries where nylons with their dress shoes.

I was also thinking about men and their attire. It's pretty cut and dry. White shirt, tie, dress shoes and usually dark socks, and if your really looking snazzy you put a suit on or blazer. I personally decided until it's OK for the men to wear sandals to church I'll save mine for the other days of the week, which is hard for me because I love my sandals and flip flops. And the nylon thing is hard for me as well for a few reasons: 1. my legs are so long I have to get mongoloid sized nylons to fit right 2. They are hotter especially in the summer 3. Not many younger girls are wearing them 4. It takes me longer to get ready

Despite these very important points I've concluded to wear them to church and to the temple every time. I may not be in fashion but I do feel dressier and the extra minutes to put them on may help me get in the right frame of mind for worshiping the Lord I love.

Super Saturday

(Pictured above Kids doing the sponge game and Abigail even helping out. Gwenda getting Traeden back for getting her wet. )

What a day it's been. We got up bright and early to head to Grandma and Grandpa Overly's home. They were selling their truck and we have been contemplating getting a truck for quite some time so the timing was great for us. We were told by Dad Overly that the tires were so bad they would need new tires. Kent and Don were going to put new tires on but Devin would rather get them himself and have the tires in his name. They agreed on one condition: that we drive straight to the tire store. It's always good for the kids to visit their Great Grandparents. Conrad is completely terrified of their tiny dog "Lady" She is a bit spastic but harmless. Conrad wanted to stay in the van during the visit but Devin had him get out with tears running down his face. I noticed Grandma's shoelaces were the coiled and stretchy. She got so excited to show us these laces and she showed us how they worked. She was so tired of the laces coming undone and a store clerk showed her these "elastic" laces. It was cute to see her so excited about something simple. We got a tour of their yard. I can't believe she still is growing tomatoes at age 93. If I live that long I hope I can still do as much as she does. Grandpa was moving slow but he is still walking relatively well with his cane. Speaking of old age, today I ran into a man at the bank who is 96 and walks all over. He wears really cool hats (the bank tellers told me) and has so much spunk and zest for life.

After our visit we headed to Jack's Tires in Orem since they have one close to Devin's work, but we didn't make it. Devin got a flat about two or three miles down the road. We got split up because of a parade going on and he called me to come find him. The tool that gets the spare tire lowered down bent while Devin was using it (the mounting bolt was rusted). This was also the tool that you use to jack up the car so we were in big trouble. Luckily Big O Tire was very helpful and drove to us and helped get the tire off and drove Devin to the store and got a new tire and then drove the whole truck to get the rest of the tires on. Wow what an ordeal.

The kids and I headed to the Grow family reunion while Devin stayed with the truck. The reunion was huge. I was suprised how many people came. We filled the park with people. It was great to visit with some family I haven't seen in a while. I found out that the game we played, the sponge game is a traditional game. You divide into two teams and the kids run a sponge from a full bucket and squeeze the sponge into the empty bucket. The goal is to get all the water from the start bucket to the end. The winning team gets to pour the bucket on the losing team. The kids thought that was so much fun. The first time we played it where all the kids stood in between the line and they passed the wet sponge down the line and the little kids froze up and were confused and the older kids got upset with the younger ones who were not fast enough. Individual runs worked better for the age group we had.

The Grows had a bazaar like the Titensors. They didn't do an auction though they did a number deal where you sign your name by the item on a number then they drew out your number and you pay the asking price. I got some really cute girl bows made by Evonne and a pink winter hat with a ribbon in it. Traeden wanted the candy sacks for a dollar. It was an awfully hot day so luckily there was lots of shade trees to keep us cooler.

Samantha is getting quite independent. She wanted to go to the bathroom and half way there she says to me, "You stay right here and I'll go to the bathroom." I thought that was pretty cute. Last week I forgot to mention that the Doctor called Abigail a little fire starter. She was climbing all over his equipment which is very normal. She even climbs up the playset ladder outside which is crazy because she isn't even walking, yet she loves to climb ladders--it sure scared Devin and I to death the first time we saw here half way up the ladder. Now we have to keep a close eye out for her. Her hair is getting lighter and longer so I can finally put a tiny pony in it.

Traeden is way into Pokemon cards. He has a few neighbor friends that get together and trade and look at cards.

Side note is I just love Pandora radio. I made a Mormon Tabernacle Station that is awesome. It rarely plays Mo-tab but it plays some beautiful arrangements of hymns. Perfect for a Sunday afternoon while I'm blogging. =)

Introducing Badge

We took Abigail to the doctor for her 1 year well visit this past week. She is in the 5 percentile in weight and 30th of height. This is crazy for our family. Our others have usually been off the charts in weight almost their whole first year. Conrad was on the smaller side but not this small.

I wanted to give a report of our curbing fiasco. We did get it resolved with the contractor. He ended up redoing the whole thing for $1 a foot (we had already paid $3 a foot for the first pouring). Yesterday I spent two hours rolling a sealant on it so it will stay nice. With all the rain it was really hard to find a day in June that didn't rain so he ended up doing it and then protecting it with a cover and sand over the top of it. I'm just glad we are done with it.

Samantha is feeling much better. She bounced back on Monday but I kept her mostly indoors for Monday and Tuesday. She sure loves to play outside with friends and with our kitten-Badge. Yes we just got a new kitten. She is a calico cat and so adorable. She has a pink collar with a bell on her so we can keep track of her. The kids adore her and spend quite a bit of their day playing with her outside. Samantha carries her around everywhere. It's been interesting to see Devin get attached to the kitten as well. Before we got Badge did not like cats one bit. But he is really warming up to this cute one. He even installed a cat door in the garage last night. Devin let the kids get the cat on two conditions: 1-The cat only stays outside or in the garage 2-the kids are responsible for feeding and cleaning out the litter box. They are doing very well with both.

Bus Adventures and Working Day

Friday for our field trip, the kids and I went on an adventure. We decided to take the bus into Logan and go to the Fairgrounds for a Children's Sale. They had used clothes, toys, books all for kids. The kids decided to buy foam swords which they have had a fun time playing with. I was hoping to find some school clothes for Traeden for next year but I struck out. I think finding clothes for boys past the age of four is impossible at yard sells or even the DI. Boys play so rough and tumble that they usually wear holes through everything before they can pass it on to someone else. After the sell we decided to eat our lunch at the park. We ate cherries under a tree. I sure love local produce! Since we had a little more time before the bus came we decided to go to a local bakery that was a block away and I let the kids choose a treat. After bathroom breaks we headed for the bus stop. I knew we were in trouble when I saw the but coming from behind and we were still a block away so I told Traeden to run ahead and get to the bus stop. Running up the hill with the stroller and Samantha on my back we were not fast enough and the bus passed us by. So we sat by the bus stop and played in the canal which had a momma duck and her four ducklings swimming close by. It ended up being really fun. We practiced skipping stones. After a half hour the next bus came and we got on. Since the Nibley bus only come every hour we had another half hour to spare so we headed to main street and dropped off our tent pole that needs repair at the post office and then we went to the sidewalk sale on main street. The kids rode on kids ride and then looked at a few things and then it was time to get on the bus. And we saw the bus coming, we could have made it but with a stroller going down a crowded sidewalk with vendors and shoppers we were stuck in traffic. Traeden said he could made it so he ran ahead to the stop. As I got to the bus stop I couldn't see Traeden. I saw bus stop very briefly and I saw one man get off it but no Traeden. I thought maybe he had jumped on the bus and I started worrying just a little bit. We stood at the bus stop for a minute then we asked a vendor close by if he saw a boy get on the bus. They said that only one guy got on and no one got off. Well Traeden didn't see the bus stop and he just kept running for another block then he decided to turn around. I stayed put and another minute later Traeden came back and found us and I was relieved. The kids learned a lot by taking the bus. You have to be on time, it doesn't wait for you. When you get off the bus you have to be fast as well. Samantha was taking her time off the bus on time and the doors started closing on her. It didn't hurt her just startled her a bit and she was much faster in moving the next time we got off the bus. We also met some really nice people on the bus. Free fare busing in Logan is pretty cool so we decided we are going to try to ride more often and I'm sure we will get better at it. The boys also like not having seat belts after I explained to them that the bus was so safe that you don't need seat belts.

Working on house and yard projects can be crazy with kids! We started a project of staining the play set Saturday morning and thought it would take about three hours and then we would reset some sprinklers that are too low, seal our newly poured edging and run some errands. We have seen some other neighbors playsets get pretty worn by the weather and so we hope this will help protect it. Well the staining took ALL day. The kids were unbelievably good workers and in the end, Conrad said that he loves to paint. Samantha and her friend Camry even helped for about 1/2 hour. The great thing is we got it done and even had fun doing it together. Abigail played well in her playpen that we set up close to us for a good hour. She ate in her highchair and took two great naps so that helped out a ton. Samantha helped in the morning and then after lunch she took a nap. I tried to picture on the camera the mess the boys got all over them. They paint like their Grandma T. She gets paint all over her when she paints. When they took their shirts off they even had stain in their arm pits from the stain running down their arm. We will have to do the other projects another day. We had a great time painting together. The playset looks great and now it will hopefully last long enough for Abigail to play on it till she out grows it.
Today I am home with Samantha and Abigail. Samantha is not feeling well. She started running a fever last night and has a cough. Devin and I had a date night planned but we ended up coming home an hour into the date since the babysitters called and said Samantha was sick. We hope she will have a quick recovery.