Bows For Uganda

Don't we all want our kids to learn about compassion? This is something that is so important to me. The girls were thrilled to put together bows and headbands for women and children in Uganda. They even give them to old grandmas to make them feel special and beautiful.

Not sure what happened to this pic, but here are the bows ready to be shipped.

Flashback Friday

This is my grandpa. I found his picture and thought I would tell a little of his story cause it's worth telling. This is the man that my baby Jesse is named after and I couldn't be prouder about it.
Grandpa was about 8-10 years old when he got sick of the lies his stepfather was telling his mother about him so he struck out on his own and walked from Salt Lake to Provo. He ended up living with an aunt and uncle. His uncle didn't treat him as kindly as his own sons and told him the reason he didn't was because my grandpa didn't have a father. He worked very hard on his uncle's farm from sun up til sun down, minus the few hours in school. He would study his homework late into the night after his work on the farm was done. He made it to 8th grade before quitting to work full time on the farm.

He married my grandma at the age of 28 and had a beautiful, dark haired baby girl (my mom) at the age of 30. He was a police officer for Provo City for 17 years and the Chief of police for Provo City for another 17 years. Him and my grandma served a mission to Auckland, New Zealand and later worked at the Provo temple.

Grandpa never made excuses about his childhood; he decided, rather, to make lemonade out of lemons. I am proud of both sets of my wonderful grandparents!

Jesse

Although it is Friday I decided not to flash back very far. I wanted to include some pictures of my darling baby. He is growing into a beautiful baby. Ava is one of his favorite friends. She can get him to crack up by being her silly self.

Seven Eight and Under

We made our way down to Aunt Tina's house to help out while Aaron graduated from police academy. I spent 24 hours taking care of 7 kids (8 mo to 8 years). Quite the chore, but it was good to see the cousins. Eating pizza from Lotsa Motsa! Amber and Gracie

Tyler and Ava

Megan and Breck

Bruno couldn't get enough loves. If he wasn't so slobbery I would have enjoyed it. Did I mention he laid next to my bed and farted as I tried to fall asleep. I'm still not sure if I actually fell asleep or passed into unconciousness. The kids having a go at feeding Yuma the pregnant horse.

Jesse being his happy self as he was continually ignored and placed on the floor to be stepped on by children and dog....no joke.

Breck and Ava trying out Ty's John Deere.

Here Comes The Sun......

We were able to walk to the park the other day and enjoy the good weather!

Jesse Boy's first time on a swing.

The view to the West. Gracie's school on the right hand side.

Hearty Shepherd's Pie

It's high time I added a recipe, and frankly it's high time that this Shepherd made a Shepherd's Pie for once. We thought this recipe was great. Breck ate it, so it is kid friendly depending on the child. We loved that it incorporated cream cheese. Mmmm.........

Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 medium onion chopped
1 can Cream of Celery soup
2 cups cooked veggies (canned, frozen, or fresh) (ex: peas, carrots, green beans, corn)
1 cup fresh mushrooms (washed and chopped)
1/4 cup water
1 tsp crushed rosemary
1 tsp garlic powder, divided
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups prepared instant mashed potatoes
1 pkg cream cheese, softened and cubed
1/4 sour cream
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until beef is no longer pink, drain. Stir in soup, vegetables, rosemary, 1/2 of garlic powder, salt and pepper; heat through. Transfer to a greased 9-inch deep-dish pie plate.

In a large bowl, beat the mashed potatoes, cream cheese, sour cream and remaining garlic powder until blended. Spread over top of beef mixture. Sprinkle with parmesan.

Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 25 minutes or until heated through and potatoes are lightly browned.

Flashback Friday

Poor quality picture huh? I got a laugh when I discovered this picture this morning. I had completely forgot about "flashback Friday" until I found this. In August 2002 Ryan and I, along with my brother Jesse and his wife Melanie, went and stayed at Bear River Lodge. We had an awesome time riding four wheelers, spotting wild life, feeding fish, playing cards and bbq-ing. We found this sign along the way. To my relief we never saw the inhabitants of 'Beaver Creek Nudist Ranch.'

Flashback Friday

Ya'll are gonna have to flashback in your memory to remember the last time I even posted a 'Flashback Friday'. So this is a picture I found the other day and thought I'd share. You can guess which one I am right? Definitely not either one with 80's hair in the back. That would be Tina and Claudia. Not the ball cap wearing nerd to the left, that would be Jesse. That leaves the "innocent" boy to the right, Spencer, or the cute as can be, lovable, pink-pajama-wearing girl up front. I hope you guessed right!

Gracie's 7th Birthday

I haven't posted forever! I bought these balloons because these are Gracie's 4 favorite colors! She invited 6 friends over and we had a great pajama/makeover party!

Katelyn, Emmy, Kassie, Gracie, Keirsten, Kenzie, Emma

I had to repeatedly tell Breck to stop kissing the girls!

Gracie and her best friend Kenzie Wheeler.

Temple Square 2010

We went to Temple Square again this year. We chanced it and went the Saturday after Thanksgiving and were pleasantly surprised that it wasn't that busy! We went to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building first to watch the movie about Joseph Smith. Afterwards Ava told me she loves Joseph Smith. That made me feel good that she got what she should have out of the movie. We then went out and enjoyed the lights around the temple. As we walked close to the temple Ava told me that she was going to get married there. She invited me along to pass out candy at her wedding and said that Ryan could clean the temple. ha ha. I love creating these special memories for my kids. Lastly, we went home and had pb&j sandwiches and rootbeer floats. It's funny cause that's what we did last year and the kids insisted we eat the same things again. Just goes to show how kids love tradition. I even tried to get them to have hot chocolate instead, but to no avail!