So Happy Together....

Here we are together

2012-01-07T22:40:00.004-07:00

Zach has loved playing games lately. This night Brandon was teaching Zach to play Slap the Jack. It was funny to watch them play.
when the snow falls, you can find this boy out on his sled. he is in heaven out there!

Silly Zach

New Years Eve is a night full of fun. We head up to Grandma K's house and eat yummy food and play alot of games. This year we had all of our family there. We play a $10 gift card exchange game that is always fun to see how creative everyone is in how they wrap it. It is so fun to be together. oh and Zach was so so so excited for "Shrimp Day". Brandon is so happy to have passed on the shrimp loving to his son. And boy does Zach love shrimp, he couldn't get enough! Happy New Year!

Last week Zach and I headed in to Salt Lake to run some errands. We stopped by to see Kennedy for her birthday, and asked if she and Jack could come to the zoo with us. So, we all went and walked around the zoo and rode the carousel. It was a nice day at the zoo, alot of the animals were out and we could enjoy being outside. We had a picnic lunch and just enjoyed being with Sorenson cousins.

Busy and having fun

2011-12-20T08:44:00.005-07:00

I just looked at our blog and realized it has been over a month since I posted last. We have had a fun and busy month, and I haven't been the best at taking pictures. We had Thanksgiving with my family at Kimberley's house. We took an impromptu family picture while we were all together. I will post that. Then we went to Temple Square the night that the lights came on. It is always fun to go admire Brandon's hard work and enjoy walking around seeing the lights. The cousins all had fun together. We did the Black Friday or Black thursday this year. I hated that it started on Thursday night, but we did it anyway.

We also met up with our Arthur cousins and went to the Santa Parade here in town. We drank hot chocolate and got candy. Since then we have been busy with parties, get togethers, shopping, baking, Christmas movie watching, wrapping, reading christmas books, and so many other Christmas festivities. It is always a busy but fun month. We are excited and anxious for a visit from Santa at our house. until then...MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Brandon and Ella at the Christmas Sing a Long

Jack and Zach having fun together

Zach with Arthur cousins at the Santa parade

Cousins at Temple Square

Brown family picture

New Project

2011-11-17T15:08:00.003-07:00

A friend of ours was moving out of her house and had some furniture she wanted to get rid of. We went over to see what she had, when I saw this. I thought it would be a good addition, and that we could use it downstairs for when we finish our basement. Well, it wasn't until we got it home that I realized it wouldn't fit down the stairs. It is a big, HEAVY piece of furniture! So then I knew we were going to put it in the front room. I attempted to spray paint it in the garage, but it was way too cold. So we had to move it in to the kitchen for me to work on it. It took a few days, but I LOVE how it turned out. It is fun to try something new and learn. I learned to never do a painting project in the winter because it takes so long to dry and it has to be done indoors. So, my kitchen cabinets are going to have to wait until next summer.

BEFORE

DURING

"antiquing it" a little

AFTER all of my hard work

Snow!

2011-11-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

The first snow of the season came and it let me know that I am not completely ready for winter! I have so enjoyed being outside, letting Zach be outside, and just enjoying fall weather.

We snuggled up under the covers and watched a movie to stay warm

Zach on the other hand, LOVES the snow. He wants to be out in it all the time. He loves everything about it.

His absolute favorite thing is sledding, and our daddy is the best at getting our "sledding hill" ready.

Halloween

2011-11-01T14:49:00.000-06:00

Halloween was a fun time at our house. We made ghost suckers for Zach's Halloween Party at school. Zach was so excited, and he loved putting the eyes on them. He couldn't wait to hand them out.

A few days before Halloween we had a "Boys Party" at our house. It was Olivia's birthday and she wanted just girls at her party, so we had a party for Jack and Zach. They painted pumpkins, ate cookies and picked out a prize at the dollar store. It was fun.

Halloween Day was filled with candy, trick or treating and having lots of fun. We had a ward trunk or treat, plus we visited 2 great-grandmothers, went trick or treating down some streets in our neighborhood with friends, got treats at Grandma and Papa's house and did more trick or treating with cousins. We had a VERY tired pirate on our hands by the end of the night.

Zach wanted us to be pirates with him, he BEGGED us. So we arrived a full Pirate Family at the trunk or treat.

Family Day at the Fruit Stand

2011-10-23T23:53:00.001-06:00

We had a wonderful Saturday as a family. We decided to head up North to Pettingill's Fruit Farm. While we were there picking up apples, we went on a hayride. They had 2 big horses pulling us around the orchard. Zach was so excited and did not want to get off. We also drove around to some garage sales, and enjoying the AMAZING fall weather we have been enjoying. The smiles of tell the story!!!

he was so sad to get off of the hayride

Family picture on the hayride

The Witches with Marnee

2011-10-17T22:00:00.003-06:00

My mom was here for a week taking care of my sister's kids while they were out of town. As is tradition with Marnee, we visited the witches one after noon while she was here. The favorite witch is always "Witchy Poo" and she never disappoints! My mom just loves having all of us dress up in Halloween shirts and enjoy walking around Gardener Village. We packed lunches and enjoyed the beautiful fall weather. Of course Marnee's trip had to come to an end, but we all loved spending time with her!

Zach's soccer

2011-10-17T21:54:00.002-06:00

Zach has had alot of fun during his first season of playing soccer. The Purple Dragonflies improved throughout the season, and learned alot. We are so thankful for coach Matt and coach Ryan. Zach especially loved the treats at the end of the game!

Apple smile at halftime

Sitting on Papa's lap

It was a beautiful fall day for his last day of soccer.

Zach is #6

October Fun

2011-10-13T20:59:00.000-06:00

While my parents were here last weekend, we had a family dinner and a Pre-Halloween Party. Since my parents don't get to be with the kids for Halloween we decided to have all of them dress up and have them go trick or treating (they went to my front door, garage door and we have wonderful neighbors who joined in on the fun) plus we had a Costume Parade. So, we had Batgirl, 2 witches, Batman, a pirate, a bumble bee and the scariest witch of them all was Marnee. We all had a fun day being together, eating my dad's tacos and watching my parents enjoy being with their grandkids. It was all worth it to hear my mom say " That was 3o minutes of Pure JOY for me".

Here is Pots giving the kids "monies"

Checking out their loot

Uncle Donald "dressing up" to hand out candy

Marnee and Pots and the CUTEST grandkids ever

After the costume parade

Marnee in grandkid heaven!!!

Our wonderful neighbors helping us out

The grandkids seeing Marnee for the first time

Marnee dressed up as the witch from Hocus Pocus

ooooohh scary

the cutest bumblebee

Batgirl

Cool Batman

getting ready for trick or treating

Let the party begin!!

Drive up the Canyon

2011-10-02T16:38:00.001-06:00

Yesterday we spent the day as a family. We went to Zach's soccer game in the morning, then we got in the car and went for a drive. We wanted to go look at the leaves since they were changing colors. It was a beautiful drive. We went all the way to the top of the canyon to look over the Copper mine. We stopped a few times to get out and walk around and enjoy the day as a family. Zach and Macey (the dog) loved exploring and running around. We love everything fall brings...cooler tempuratures, football, leaves changing colors, pumpkin picking and just the feeling of fall.

us at the top over looking the copper mine

The awesome colors of fall

Freebies2deals

2011-09-27T16:07:00.002-06:00

I LOVE this website. It is one that I look at regularly. It is hard to decide which is my favorite deal that I have scored. I got this awesome free razor for Brandon, which he loves. I also scored a free grip for Brandon's golf clubs. She does amazing things and spends alot of time posting deals and steals. It is great!

On the first day of Preschool

2011-08-26T18:17:00.005-06:00

Well, my boy started preschool this year. He is just so big, and I can hardly believe it! I have been excited for him to go-knowing it would be good for both of us. But as it got closer I really started having a hard time thinking of letting him go. I cried the day before and the morning he went, but as it got closer to go I was just excited for him. The night before I decorated our table like this for him. Plus my sister Kimberley came out and brought us dinner, so the cousins were all together. Brandon gave him a Fathers Blessing (to learn more about this click here) then we tried to get him in bed early. The next morning he woke up at 7:15 and was dressed and ready even with his backpack on by 8:00am. He was so so so excited! We ate breakfast, then worked on his shapes and colors, took pictures, picked up his room, and waited..... Then Grandma K came to pick us up ( we were without a car due to a troubled transmission). When we got to school we took pictures outside then went in. He was just uber anxious he could not contain himself. Then we went in his classroom, met his teacher, hung up his backpack, got his name tag, and sat down and played with play dough. I waited in there for a little while then the teacher said "okay kids say goodbye to your mom", he looked at me, waved then sat down and played. He was so grown up and I walked out thinking, " I can't believe my baby is 4 and old enough for this!" When I picked him up he ran to me and we talked for hours about his day. He LOVED every every everything about it.

This is our table I decorated for him

The morning before school picture

He is just so handsome and so grown up!

Showing off his scooby doo backpack

Such a big boy at preschool

Where is art work will be shown in the hallway

The smile that says it all--this was right before he walked in to his classroom

heading into the school

Mom being camera happy again

As I have thought about my Zach going to school, and so many others starting school again it has made me reflect on all of my years while I was in school. It seemed that each year I had something traumatic/dramatic happen. So since this is my journal as well as our family blog, I wanted to write down some of my memories. And if you know me at all, I am blessed with a good memory so here it goes!

Pre-School: I went to CDL at Burges High School with my cousin Jennifer. Our teacher was Mrs Fails. I remember eating peanut butter on celery with raisins and drinking tomato juice. We sang songs and one of my fondest memories was when we made Stone Soup and I was to bring a crookneck squash and I got to pick it out at the store and I carried it on my neck. I remember wearing my birthday crown made of tissue paper and on that day Lisa McDaniel was taking Jen and I home in her jeep and it rained and ruined my crown! I was so sad!

Kindergarten: Mrs Calvo, East Point Elementary. This year was intersting because I remember that our entire class was out at one time with the chicken pox. I remember the way she had it decorated for Easter and how excited we all were when we came into our class and the Easter Bunny had come and made a mess everywhere with his footprints.

First Grade: Mrs Norris, East Point Elementary. I remember walking to school with Anne-Marie, Kimberley and Kenny. One day I lost my hello kitty coin purse on our way to school. One morning before school I was sitting in the den and my younger brother Kenneth ran into the ironing board and the hot iron landed on my arm. Oh it hurt soo bad. I had a burn mark in the perfect shape of the iron and I was so mad because I had to sit inside during recess and PE because I couldn't get dirt in it so I didn't get an infection. She also got tired of hearing all of us tattle on each other, so she made a cut out of a big ear and posted it on the wall, so when we felt like we needed to tattle on someone we went over and told the ear. This year we also performed some Mexican dances in the talent show as a class. My mom and sisters and I performed "When I grow up I want to be a mother" from the I'm a Mormon tape. My mom sewed all of us matching pink and white gingham dresses and we sang and danced with our dollies on stage.

Second Grade: Mrs Guest, Aledo Elementary. This was a traumatic year because we had just moved from El Paso to Aledo. For some reason I even missed the first day or two of school so it was even harder for me. I remember on my first day that the girl next to me threw up on the floor and it almost got on me. ugh. I lost a tooth this year, I think we were at recess, and a girl Blanca bumped me in the line and I lost it in the gravel, oh I was so mad at her and so sad! I don't have many memories of this year.

Third Grade: Mrs Dewbre, Aledo Elementary. Oh this was a really rough year for me. I was not nice to the girl, Lindsey M, who sat next to me. our teacher told us to go sharpen our pencil for our spelling test so I did, then when Lindsey came to sit down I put my pencil-sharpened end up- on her chair and she sat on it. don't ask me why, i don't even know why I did it. This year I remember a girl named Blanca Hernandez stole my paper and put her name on it, I saw her do it, but then the teacher caught me erasing her name and sent me to the principals office. I got swats with the paddle in the principals office with this big wooden paddle. I had to lean over the chair and he got me 5 times I think. The secretary and my teacher had to come in and watch. It was mortifying but those were the rules and no one would listen to me. The funniest thing about this story is that I thought for sure my parents knew, but never said anything. Well just a few years ago we were all sitting around the table at my parents house and I brought that up, knowing I couldn't get in trouble about it anymore, and we laughed and laughed about it. Another exciting part of this year was that my mom was our substitute teacher while my teacher was on maternity leave. She certainly paid no favoritism, but it was interesting to have her as my teacher. Then later on that year it was exciting to be at school waiting for my dad to come and get me to take me up to the hospital to see my new baby sister Amanda. What a year!

Fourth Grade: Mrs Reisdorf half the year then Ms Armbrust for the other half, Aledo Elementary. I remember not liking Mrs Reisdorf at all, and I was really excited to get to go with the new teacher. We were in the new "portable" classroom and we grew a class pet in some water.

Fifth Grade: Mrs Gibson, Aledo Elementary. Our teacher would give us super bubble gum when we did good on a test. I was excited because all of my friends were in my class, and it was the first year we were in the "big kid" section of the school. We practiced tornado drills and this was the first year I got a locker. oooh.

Sixth Grade: Mrs Moore, Eastwood heights elementary. We moved back to El Paso this summer and I was sooo nervous about going to school. I really liked my teacher. I was traumatized when I had to get glasses for the first time and I sat with my head on my desk and cried, even though I had the most popular Sally Jesse Raphael red glasses, it was still hard. I made alot of friends this year. I loved being on the Safety Patrol that let us be the crossing guards. This was also my first year in the band, and I wanted to play the flute but there were too many girls that played that so I had to play the trumpet. But I found I was good and could beat the boys for first chair so I liked it. We also went to my first dance, and I remember everyone liked Brad Alexander and he liked Melissa Lingard. ha ha ha. I started taking spanish form Senora Lee and she had the longest fingernails I have ever seen, but I learned the most spanish from her.

7th Grade: Eastwood Knolls K-8 school. We changed classes here so I had alot of teachers. I liked Ms Coulehan for English, Mr Vasquez for History and Coach ruleford for sports. I made the 7th grade Volleyball and basketball teams. I HATED playing the trumpet because I had to carry it home up this really steep hill on Buckwood after practice. It was bad, but I still could beat the boys at the trumpet :)

8th Grade: Eastwood Knolls. This year I got in trouble because I hated my spanish teacher and I told her some lies, which came back to bite me. It is funny to look back on. I remember taking computer class and learning to play Oregon Trail. I had my first crush this year. I had fun playing basketball and volleyball.

9th Grade: Eastwood High School. I decided that instead of doing sports I would join the marching band. I was pretty good at the trumpet and thought I would enjoy the band, and I did not like it at all. It was not fun, but I had to stick with it since I had decided this is what I would do. I marched at half time of football games, in the parade and other band performances. I ate lunch with Jen everyday at her house and we had our lockers together in 8th hall.

Well, I think this is where I will stop. I had a hard high school life. I struggled with friends and trying to know where I fit in. I joined another group my sophmore year that became a big joke and still is from my sisters :). Then I found what I was really meant to do and that was I became a student Athletic Trainer working with all of the athletic teams. I loved this and obviously this is where my life took me down the road and I majored in college in this and worked at this for 8 1/2 years.

Then I went away to college and LOVED everything about it. I met some wonderful people who I am closest to even now. It was hard but I learned so much about myself and all of these has made me who I am today! okay, good night :)

Catching up

2011-08-20T17:40:00.009-06:00

We have been having such a fun summer, doing so many activities.

FISHING WITH THE CRANES

One night Brandon and Zach went with our friends Chad, Kensey and Andrew fishing. Steph and I stayed home and had a girls night, it was wonderful! We all had a great night. The fishers got alot of fish and just had so much fun.

Andrew showing his catch

Kensey and Zach playing

Zach casting in to catch the big one

My Zach loves Andrew, he is such a good friend to my boy

FUN WITH COUSINS

Out where we live all summer there is free bowling (you pay for the shoes). So we met up with cousins and went bowling. They had fun doing silly bowling and just being together.

Here is Zach, Olivia and Ella

Best buddies-Jack and Zach

Another day we went to see the "Up" house. There is a builder that made an exact replica of the house from the movie "Up". The kids LOVED it

It was pretty awesome to see. during the parade of homes they actually had balloons out of the chimney

My favorite part was the mailbox....so cute

BRANDON FISHING

On the day after Pioneer Day Brandon and his dad went fishing up at Strawberry Reservoir. They were on the boat ALL DAY and had a great time spending time together, just the 2 of them.

BEAR LAKE 2011 (Lamb Family Reunion)

Each year all of Brandon's mom's family gets together for a big family reunion with alot of extended family. This year we had 33 (i think) of us there. We stayed in an awesome cabin with lots of playing space, and we all had a great week up there. There were many activities, but it was nice to sit on the deck and read a book to relax.

Here is where most of the kids spent alot of their time..fishing off the deck to the magical fishing hole downstairs where they got treats on their hook! Zach and Kaitlyn are having fun together.

One day the boys went fishing, then another time they took most of the kids. Zach is learning from an early age about golfing, which makes his daddy and Papa very happy!

Playing on the beach at Bear Lake. The water was so high this year there was not much beach, but the kids found what they could dig in and played for quite awhile each time we were there.

Zach and Hannah swimming in the middle of the lake

oh how my Zach LOVED LOVED LOVED riding the tube. He even went by himself a few times. The best was when he went with Sarah and they went as fast as the boat could take them. You could hear them giggle behind the boat, it was so great!

MY FAVORITE PAL

When we went to the Raspberry Days Craft Fair Brandon's mom found a booth with matching ties for dads and sons. knowing how much Zach loves to be just like daddy, she wanted to get them matching ties. They look so handsome!

ZACH PLAYS SOCCER

Zach is in his first season of playing soccer. He has had so much fun already, just going to practice. Then today he had his first game. It was a blast to watch him play. It is interesting to watch 3-4 year olds play soccer, we scored most of our goals in the other teams net. It was funny, but hey we are all learning and most importantly having fun! GO DRAGONFLIES!

Bees Game

2011-07-24T23:34:00.002-06:00

We had tickets to the Salt Lake Bees game a couple of days ago and Zach could not wait! He even made sure to wear his shirt that had a baseball on it! To make sure we had all the fun we could handle (ha ha ha) we even rode Trax so Zach could ride on the "really fast train". He loved that. When we walked in they were handing out tshirts for the kids, and he was thrilled that it had bumble on it. I kept telling him about Bumble and how he was a big bee, that got Zach a little nervous( he was scared he was going to get stung by a BIG bee) so then I explained it was just a guy in a costume. Well, that totally calmed him down and we spent the first part of the game looking for the guy in a costume! When we saw him close to us, oh my did Zach practically run over the people sitting next to us! he was so funny. It was a nice night to be at a baseball game. Brandon took Zach to ride on the train, which they both enjoyed. Then after the game they let the kids go down on the field and run the bases. I loved watching him run and he giggled the entire way! It was a great family night!

Zach and Bumble

daddy and zach on the train

Zach so excited to be at the baseball game

Running so fast

Home plate!!

Sunrise Camping with the Bennetts

2011-07-24T23:22:00.002-06:00

We went camping over Brandon's birthday weekend up to Logan. We headed to the Bennetts house Saturday afternoon, and when we got there the kids went swimming and we played out on the swings. Then later that evening we went to the Deer Cliff Inn for dinner. It is always a fun time to go there and enjoy a great meal out by the river. I am sad I didn't get any pictures from up there! Sunday we headed into Logan then up Logan Canyon to Sunrise Campground. Almost 9 years ago Brandon and I got engaged at this campground. We have been wanting to stay there since, but just never have. So this year I made the reservations and called the Bennetts to come with us. We had a great time being with our wonderful friends. Zach and Lizzie had so much fun playing together. We ate dinner over the fire and enjoyed being outside in a beautiful campground. We drove over to Bear Lake and saw how high the water is there. It was a wonderful weekend!

All of us getting ready to go home

This is where we got engaged, August 10, 2002

Zach helping pop up the trailer

playing in the tire swing and Koby and Heather's house

Zach's Birthday

2011-07-14T23:48:00.003-06:00

Zach was so excited for it to be his birthday! he had a great day and was very taken care of!He was especially so excited about his monster truck cake.

My boy loved everything he got and was super excited about it all

his cake turned out so cute

Happy Birthday Zach!

I love this picture of my mom and Zach, the love he has for her and her for him. My mom and dad left the day before his birthday, so he opened up their gifts before they left. He was so sad when they left, he kept saying "You can't leave".

For Zach's birthday our friend/neighbor Chad wanted to take Zach for a tractor ride at our other friend Marcus's farm. We got Zach all dressed up like a cowboy and Andrew brought over the cowboy hat for him to wear. Zach had a fun time, he was a little unsure at first, but then he just wanted to get back on! he loved watching the bucket go up and down.

Zach and Chad riding the tractor

Kensey and Zach

My baby is 4!

2011-07-10T03:00:00.002-06:00

My Dear Zachary Zoo,

How I love you my boy. I can hardly believe how fast the past 4 years have gone. 4 years ago we were so excited to hear that you had come to earth from an amazing young woman that loved you. Zach, she LOVES you so much! You are so lucky to have so many people love you. You have filled our home and you healed my heart. I am so thankful that Heavenly Father sent you to our home. The day you were placed in my arms was truly the happiest day of my life. I knew from that moment on that you were mine, and I was so blessed to be your mommy. You are such a happy boy, that has an infectious laugh.

You love your daddy, he is your best friend and the one you want to be with everyday. You love to go visit him at work, and run as fast as you can when you see him. You are ALL BOY and love all things bugs, trucks, loud noises(most of the time), dirt and being outside. You still jump on anything and everything. You are learning so much lately, and that is fun to see. You can write your Z really well. You know the first 2 verses of Praise to the Man, and you love to sing songs. I often find you playing and you are singing Primary songs that you have learned. You can count to 10 and we are working on going higher. You are so excited to start going to pre-school in the fall. I think you are most excited to get a backpack. I often ask you if I can come with you in your backpack to which you answer with a resounding "NO!" You love your cousins and it is so cute to hear you pray for them everynight. You LOVE all of your grandparents, each one is very special to you, I hope that your relationships will always be close with them. You love to get a nonut with anyone that will take you, but especially with Pots, that makes you the happiest!

You love to have one of us sing with you at night, and you are a good example to us to remind us to read our scriptures. You are a VERY active boy with a lot of energy. I find myself wishing I had the amount of energy you have. Your favorite show is Scooby Doo. You love to read books and have us read them to you. You love music and you are really good about learning songs, which you get from me! You are my garage sale partner, and you get excited to go with me. We are partners in crime and I love you more than anything in this world. You make me so happy, and make my heart overflow with joy. When I look at you I catch a glimpse of the love our Heavenly Father has for his children and I feel so honored that he trusted me to be your mommy. I can't wait for you to be a big brother. You will say things about it often and its cute to hear you talk about getting a brother or sister.

Zach, I hope you know how much your daddy and I love you. We hope you have a great 4th birthday and a great year with many exciting changes and things to look forward to! We LOVE YOUR GUTS!!!

Love,

Mommy

ALL ABOUT ZACH:

I asked him some questions tonight while I was getting him ready for bed. We were talking about him turning 4 and how he is a big boy and he was just so excited for his birthday tomorrow. So, in his own words, this is all about Zachary.

Favorite Food: Pizza ( I like to dip it in Ranch)

Favorite Toy: Monster Trucks, the ones on my birthday cake

Who is your best friend? Andrew and Kensey

What is your Favorite Song? The Spirit of God

What is your favorite TV show? The Scary Scooby Doo ones

What is your favorite movie? How to Train Your Dragon, you know how they shoot those things out of those things pew pew, do we have those things to shoot the dragons at our house?

What is your favorite treat? My birthday cake, can I eat it tomorrow?

Family Night Golf

2011-06-22T15:44:00.001-06:00

For Family Night tonight we headed up to the golf course to hit a bucket of balls. It was a beautiful night and Zach was so excited to go "golf it".

I mean does it get much cuter than this.

Daddy teaching Zach how to hit it, but Zach kept saying " I can do it"

Love these boys

Such a big boy.

Posted by BrandonKristin at 9:44 PM 0 comments

For Family Night tonight we headed up to the golf course to hit a bucket of balls. It was a beautiful night and Zach was so excited to go "golf it".

I mean does it get much cuter than this.

Daddy teaching Zach how to hit it, but Zach kept saying " I can do it"

Love these boys

Such a big boy. He is so excited to be a big brother.

First Campout of the Season

2011-06-14T11:54:00.004-06:00

This past weekend we had our Ward Campout up Settlement Canyon. It was nice to be together as a family and be up the canyon. We have a wonderful ward with a lot of friends, so it was great to be able to spend time with them also. Zach was so excited to go camping. It did rain a little, thunder and lightning on us, but that didn't stop us. Zach was having so much fun he didn't want to go to bed, so it was a late night and a VERY early morning. The Primary made a yummy breakfast the next morning, and then we headed home.

Here is Zach the morning we were packing up and heading home.

Such a silly boy

We had a program around the fire where President Droubay sang some cowboy songs. Then we roasted marshmallows and some people played Minute to Win it games.

Such a big boy carrying his chair to the campfire

Eating our yummy dinner of hot dogs, chips and pears. A great campout dinner :)

Zach the Artist

2011-06-07T12:25:00.000-06:00

For quite some time Zach has asked me to let him "paint it". He just wants to paint--anything! So I taped some butcher paper on the fence and let him go at it. It started with a brush, then it went quickly to finger painting and even foot painting (Zach stepped on the plate that had the paint on it). He had so much fun, it will be a frequent summer activity!

Getting started

Kensey came over and painted with him. She is so good to play with him.

Look at that masterpiece

A Zach equation

2011-05-31T18:56:00.003-06:00

Here is an equation for you................

This "weapon" plus

this handsome devil

Equals--- Zach's Artistic creations on the WALLS in his room. ( a perfect green Z)

And more creations on the back of his door

Which means mom makes a mad dash to the store to purchase these wonderful, amazing crayon erasers! Thank you Mr Clean!

Happy Birthday to ME!

2011-05-19T09:45:00.001-06:00

I had a great birthday! I am very lucky to have a wonderful husband, son, sisters, friends and family who made my day so great! We started out that morning with me opening presents, and Brandon made my birthday cake. He did a really good job. I thought I had a picture of it, but it isn't on my camera. For lunch we met up with my sisters and all the kids at Chick-Fil-A. It was nice because the kids could go play and we could sit and talk. I really enjoy spending time with my sisters. They made me a cookie cake and all the kids sang Happy Birthday, then we ate the cookie. We came home and Zach and I took a nap, that was sooo nice! Later, my mother in law stopped by and took Zach to her house so that Brandon and I could go shopping for my birthday present from them. It was fun to be on a date with my man, then we went to dinner. When we got home we had cake and ice cream with some of our Arthur cousins and Grandma. Zach was so excited to blow out the candles with me and to sing Happy Birthday. It was so cute!

The first picture you will see is when we were playing with the box that my chair came in. We had so much fun laughing as a family simply playing with this box. I am so thankful to be a wife and mother, to have my own little family and to be living my dream! Happy Birthday to me!

My new bedding from my mom and dad... LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

YAY for my new bike! now if only the rain would stop so we can ride it!

SO excited to use this in the backyard in the sun, reading my book.....come on summer!

Flip flop slippers, super cute and comfy from Zach

the card Zach made me, he wrote all of those Zs all by himself!

Bath and Body Lotion is a staple for my birthday! Love it!

My new purse from my Nana! soo cute

new wallet from my sisters

Brandon got me this little necklace and i really love it. It has a silver circle that has love stamped on it with a gold heart on top of it. It is simple and from my man, and that makes me love it even more.

Thankful for our ears

2011-05-19T09:44:00.000-06:00

I mean really...does it seriously get any cuter than this? Zach learned about his ears in his Sunbeam class on sunday. I LOVE when kids come home with things like this. So, we took advantage of a beautiful day and took a picture outside. Oh how I love this boy!

Such a handsome boy!

TEXAS trip

2011-05-10T21:19:00.003-06:00

I had to put these pictures on here. While we were home, part of my mom's birthday present was to have us paint her front door red. It looks so, so, so good! It totally changes the look of the front of their house. Plus for Mother's Day we gave her red pillows and cushions for the bench and rocking chairs in the front and patio furniture in the backyard. And my dad planted alot of flowers in the planters to add color. It was fun to spice it up a little bit at my mom's house!

AFTER

another view of the door

the door BEFORE

We went to Texas for a week with my sister and her kids. The kids did so great on the trip in the LONG 15 hour drive. We had so much fun in the warm weather being at Marnee and Pots' house. We got to go swimming, see Marnee and Pots at work, play outside in the backyard, go to Peter piper, and celebrate Amanda and Marnee's birthdays among a few other things! It was a great trip!!!

Here is Zach opening his "un-birthday" present, the kids shared "their" birthday with Amanda, and each of them got a present and a cupcake just for themselves

Zach and Olivia playing the piano

Zach not liking Uncle donald putting him in the water

All of us in the backyard enjoying the nice afternoon/evening

Amanda sitting with the kids in the big, comfy chair

Zach and caleb in their matching swimming suits from Marnee

Zach wanting to catch some rays like Jennise in the backyard

Easter Happenings

2011-04-26T18:50:00.005-06:00

We had some great times together this week getting ready for Easter. For Family Home Evening we dyed Easter Eggs. Zach had been anxious to do this for a long time, and he loved every minute of it. That week we also went to see some Baby Animals that the FFA group from the high school brought to Maceys for us to see. Zach enjoyed petting a sheep, goat, and horse. They also had a pig, rabbits and chicken. We also saw "Hop" with Olivia, Caleb and Jennise one day. I thought it was a really cute movie. We decorated our house, made Easter crafts, made a bunny cake and really tried to talk to Zach about the meaning of Easter. It was a fun week.

We woke up Easter Morning and made sure that before we went out to find if a certain bunny had made it into our house, we talked about why we celebrate Easter. Zach said "cause he's not dead yet, he's not in the rock, He is risen!" We came out to find a jelly bean trail leading up to his gifts. Earlier in the week, Zach had asked me how the EB got into our house, to which we made an immediate phone call to Marnee (she has had many more Easter bunny visits than me!) to find out how. Thankfully, we also went to see Hop and that answered some of his questions too! Zach was of course very well taken care of, and got a BIG BOY BIKE! He was so excited, and has done quite well riding it around, except when it goes too fast! He also got the movie Tangled and some floaties for this summer when we go to the pool. We had a wonderful Easter Day. Later we went to Stake Conference, where we attempted to stay for all of it, but we made an early escape to get a tired, sugared-out, becoming-a-bear 3 year old down for a nap. When he woke up we headed to Grandma and Papa's for the easter egg hunt. Our eggs are hidden everywhere-kleenex boxes, in the fridge/freezer, and anywhere else you can think. Zach had fun finding his(and he had help from his cousins) and then they get to take their eggs down to Grandma who gives them the gift that matches the picture on the paper found in the eggs. Grandma and Papa always spoil us all so much and we all have a fun time! Zach got a Jesse "action figure"(aka doll) to go with Buzz and Woody, some clothes and other toys and in Zach's words "The BEST THING EVER"-a trampoline for our backyard. Papa and Brandon finished putting it together last night, and my oh my does my boy LOVE to bounce! He even said in his prayers Sunday night "Thank you for my trampoline, the best thing ever"! I feel safe with him in there because it has the cage around it. He never wants to get off, he just wants to bounce forever. Normally I wouldn't mind, but we are still in winter here and it is CCCCOLD outside! And he can always find a friend to jump with him, Andrew and Kensey (our friends next door) are just as excited as my boy. We then had a yummy Easter dinner at Grandma Koeven's, followed by another Easter Egg Hunt and a Treasure hunt. Grandma K always does such a good job making sure all the kids have a fun time, and they always do!

For me, I really enjoyed this Easter. I read a little every night about the life of Christ. I woke up early Sunday morning and immediately thought of that beautiful Easter morning when his friends came to take care of his body, but he wasn't there. I thought of how that must have felt, seeing an empty tomb. Then I thought of how wonderful the miracle of the Resurrection really is, that he suffered, died and rose again, and he did it because he loves ME. Me, small, imperfect me. What a miracle, and I am so thankful I know what I know. To have the knowledge that I get to LIVE with my family forever and love them FOREVER is just so wonderful. I know that our Heavenly Father lives and sacrificed his Son so that we might live with them forever.

Warm, Sunny Arizona

2011-04-26T18:33:00.004-06:00

Zach and I headed down to WARM, SUNNY Arizona to watch my cousins for a few days. It was so great to be where it was NOT COLD like it is at home in Utah. Zach played soo hard everyday, he crashed like this every night!

Zach and his bestest friend Jesse. he is so big to ride on the pegs of Jesse's bike. Trace and Jesse were so good with my Zachy, they love him so much.

Going to the park, wearing SHORTS and FLIP FLOPS-- it was so nice!

Zach, Trace and Jesse being so silly in the morning before school

Zach did great on the airplane. We watched movies on my IPOD, read books and his most favorite thing was having his own Sprite to drink and playing with the tray table!

We loved being outside, going swimming and just being with cousins. It was a nice trip, just getting out of COLD, frozen Utah was amazing! Thanks Lowder Family! We Love you guys!

Just doing some thinking.......

2011-04-05T21:17:00.000-06:00

I have been thinking about our next baby alot lately. Wondering what his/her story will be. Wondering where our amazing birthmom is right now. Does she know how often we pray for her, think about her and can't wait to meet her? I pray for guidance to know how to let her know of our love and support for her. I pray that she will be led to find us, and us to find her.

I have been looking at pictures of Zach when he was a baby, and haven't really let myself be "baby hungry" up to this point. I know adoption is the way our babies will come to this earth and come to our family, even though it could take a long time, of that I KNOW. Right now, my arms are empty and they are ready to hold a baby...my baby, our baby. We are ready. Zach is ready to be a big brother. I trust in Heavenly Father completely that he knows what is best for us and what is best for her. I just seem to lack the patience :)

So, who ever and where ever you are... we LOVE you. We appreciate you. We pray for you, that you will feel of our love and of the love our Heavenly Father has for you. We hope you will have the guidance of heavenly father as you make such an important decision for you and your baby.

Just know I am thinking about you right now.

Love

Kristin

Playing around

2011-03-22T20:36:00.003-06:00

Its become a tradition that Brandon and his dad go to the Sportsman's Expo and they take the kids with them. This year it was Steve, Brandon, Derek, Wendy and all the kids. They all had a great time! Zach won this duck decoy and was super excited about it. He kept walking around the house saying "quack, quack", and now the duck is in the bathtub with him!

The CUTEST "Reindeer"

We are all so anxious to get outside and play. So, when the weather was somewhat warm last week, we played in the backyard. Zach was so fun to watch. He played with his new golf set and we were playing with his t-ball set. We all had so much fun!

This kind of looks like a Happy Gilmore stance!

Hitting it hard.

Best Friends?

2011-02-28T09:39:00.002-07:00

One day Zach and Macey will be best friends. This picture proves Zach loves Macey and Macey is being absolutely tortured! They have a love-hate relationship.

In the mornings when I let Macey out of the kitchen, I will usually say "Rewease the Secret Weapon", and lately Zach will ask "where is the secret weapon?" I can't wait for the time when these 2 really are the best of friends and pal around together everywhere. For now, it is definately a work in progress!!

Winter or Spring?

2011-02-28T09:32:00.002-07:00

We have had a few days of beautiful blue skies and the SUN has been out! So a very nice daddy got Zach's jeep out and running. He has been sooo happy to be able to ride it again, and he is actually a pretty good driver, for a 3 year old! here is our daddy getting the snow off the lawn so it will melt.

Getting brave going off the curb

I LOVE this picture, how he is sitting with his arm on the other seat, just so funny.

the BEST birthday present ever, worth every penny!

Valentines Day

2011-02-28T09:21:00.002-07:00

I am lucky to have had 2 very loving Valentines this year. We had a sick daddy home with us, but we had fun with him here! Daddy decorated our mirror for me. can you feel the love?!

My 2 Valentines eating heart pancakes.

When I was little my mom would decorate our table with little Valentines, and I LOVED it! So that is another tradition I am carrying on to my family. Zach loved seeing his Valentines.

The Love Bug decorated our house too! She did a great job!

one lucky mommy with one of her Valentines!

our Candlelight dinner. Zach was funny and kept saying "Its too dark, can we turn on the lights?"

Such a fun night, i LOVE Zach's smile in this one!

February Fun

2011-02-12T17:04:00.002-07:00

Last weekend we headed to Logan for some good ol family fun. We first went to Fredrico's and met up with Heidi (Zach's birthmom). It is always good to see them. Then we met up with Koby, heather and Lizzie to go to the Aggie game. Zach was most excited to see Big Blue, and we were lucky to get a great photo with him. We love being Aggies and going to a game with our friends!

Last night for Family Movie Night, we had a pizza picnic in our front room and watched "The Tooth Fairy".

I am a lucky girl with a wonderful Valentine, who knows how much i LOVE flowers! Thanks babe!

Such a BIG helper!

2011-02-03T13:41:00.004-07:00

Today was our "get the work done day" and Zach was so excited to help me! I was happy to have "help". I didn't get pictures of all he helped me do, but he helped empty trash cans, empty the silverware from the dishwasher and shake off the rugs. Our house is almost clean!

My big helper using the vacuum,...

He helped me mop the floor....

Proof that I was not being the slave driver, I helped too! ha!

It was so funny, he grabbed this towel off the oven handle and threw it over his shoulder and said " I am like you mommy!"

Such a big helper sweeping in the kitchen

Ice Fishing

2011-01-15T18:52:00.004-07:00

Zach LOVES riding on the sled Such a fun day ice fishing
Catching fish with Papa

Ice fishing with Papa

Having so much fun with daddy

Brandon taking the fish off the hook

El Paso

2011-01-15T18:22:00.004-07:00

We visited Marnee at school one day, Zach loved this statue.

Sunday morning we had a Scavenger hunt for the kids. They had to look in different places around the house. This was at the end when they found the treasure. Zach got a book with a CD from Marnee and Pots

"Hello Daddy, are you there?"

looking for the clues

on the hunt, looking in the fridge

We had alot of fun visiting my parents in El Paso. The sun was out and that meant the kids could go outside and play ALL DAY! It was great! GOING DOWN THE SLIDE

LOVING RIDING BIKES OUTSIDE, HE LOOKS LIKE DENNIS THE MENACE WITH HIS LOOT!

ZRIDING THE THUNDERBOLT AT PETER PIPER PIZZA

Trying to have fun on the car ride homeCaleb hanging out on the car ride home

BEING SILLY

Just Zach..... things to remember

2011-01-01T13:52:00.001-07:00

I saw this on Devon's blog and loved it! I will just keep track of things Zach does or things that happen.

January 26-- Zach woke up this morning, and I heard him at his door saying "cock-a-doodle-doo" mommy time to get up"! He kept saying it over and over. The funniest part of this is that we have taught him to NOT get out of his room until we get him. So he was on his tummy, yelling under the door. When I came in to get him, he said, " I saw you go to the bathroom then you turned off the light", which I had just done!

January 25-- Zach has really been struggling with hitting/pushing/and not playing well with others. So we have been talking about having happy hands, good hands, soft hands, nice hands. We made a poster that he gets to put stickers on when he has a good day. After 3 stickers he gets to get a toy out of the room( his toys have been taken away and put in the other room). I hope this helps.

January-- he is really good at singing Book of Mormon stories, and does the hand gestures. The best part is seeing him put his hand in the back of his head for "Lamanites", he doesn't quite get the whole idea of 2 fingers for the feathers, he puts his hold hand on the top of his head. So funny.

January '11-- He is often found singing songs to himself, the latest and greatest are : The 12 Days of Christmas, book Of Mormon Stories, I Am a Child of God, jingle Bells and the ABC song.

January 24-- Brandon was helping me take stuff out to the car, and as we were walking out Zach said "Where are you going kids?".

New Years Eve

2011-01-01T09:43:00.007-07:00

We woke up New Years Eve to snow, lots and lots and lots of snow. When it finally decided to stop snowing, we measured about 20 inches of new snow. It is biting cold outside, so the snow is not going anywhere anytime soon. Zach is in heaven! Brandon was supposed to go to work, but they couldn't even make it down Main Street without doing donuts and sliding everywhere so they came home. He and Zach shoveled all day. Then we tried to stay warm inside and watch the Sun Bowl.

the New Years cake I made

For New years Eve, Brandon's family has a big party at his Grandma's house. This year there were 29 of us there. The boys cook all afternoon on the back patio. They cook halibut, shrimp, coconut shrimp (Brandon's specialty) and crab legs. We also have ham, salads, fruit, veggie trays, little smokies, chips and queso, homemade rolls and a yummy punch. Zach loves the shrimp and this year he ate the crab legs with Papa and loved it! the spread
Every year we do some sort of gift exchange. This year everyone was to bring a $10 gift card and to wrap it creatively. Kathy made this cute Santa mostly out of toilet paper and paper towels. There were some very creative wrapping jobs, duct tape and ice were popular tools. We also had a "live" rattlesnake, a sandwich, a UFO, a cardboard dollhouse and ten dollars in pennies. It was alot of fun and great to do something different!

Happy Anniversary to us!

2010-12-26T23:07:00.002-07:00

Tomorrow Brandon and I will be celebrating our 8th anniversary! It makes me smile to think about where life has taken us in these past 8 years. We have had heartache, lots of JOY, a baby, we have moved, graduated, bought/sold a house, bought a car, got rid of a car, laughed, cried, traveled, stuggled, overcome, laughed until we cried, worked, transitioned to a new phase of life, lifted each other and just grown closer together as best friends. He is the one I tell everything to, the one I want to talk to first and we truly are bestest friends, and for that I am so grateful! I sit here thinking about 8 years ago, so pardon me as I go down memory lane a bit. We were all in Texas, and today (the 26th) all of Brandon's family had flown in town. We met them at the hotel and gave them Texas goodie bags with treats, maps, schedules, etc. Then Brandon and I had to go meet with my parent's attorney, so that we could get our marriage license. We had quite the challenge getting our marriage license, so we had to have their attorney petition to the courts through a judge that we could waive the 72 hour waiting period. It was frustrating. That evening we had "Taco Fest" at my parent's house and we invited all of my family and Brandon's family over for yuumy tacos and to meet each other. We had a great night, and after Brandon's family left my nerves set in. I cried to my mom and just got nervous about all the "what ifs". She calmed me down, and after that breakdown I was totally calm and could relax. My sisters and I all painted our toes red while the boys went to a late movie. I slept so great that night. The next morning we had to have the Bishop marry us(to satisfy the laws of the land in Mexico), and we did it in my parent's living room with both of our parents there. Almost immediately after that, we headed over to the temple in Mexico. You see, my parents live in El Paso, TX and "our" temple is in Ciudad Juarez Mexico. My grandma Nana was my temple worker, and we had a wonderful day having all of our family and friends there to support us. They opened the temple just for us, and that was so special. We were nervous and giddy all at the same time. We had a beautiful ceremony, then after we took pictures and I just tried to enjoy being the bride. I felt really pretty in my dress and I even had a cape to wear since it was December. Later, we headed to our luncheon. We ate at a restaurant in Mexico called A'Jua, it was really yummy food. We even had our own mariachi singer to serenade us and we all got up to dance. It was fun, mostly because it was so different than any other wedding luncheon any of us had ever been to! We had our reception the next evening. When we walked in to the church, I could NOT believe how beautiful it was. I had told my mom I wanted a white winter wonderland, and all of our family delivered. There were Christmas trees(that a nursery donated for us) lining the entire room, and each of them had white lights on them and at the base of them. Plus there were white twinkle lights strung across the whole room, from one side of the room to the other. It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. We had such a fun night, we danced and ate really yummy food and I enjoyed seeing so many people I know there to support us. The next day we left for our honeymoon to Disneyland! So here we are 8 years later. I wish I was leaving to go back to Disneyland tomorrow, that would be awesome! But I will take what I can get, and be grateful we can go out on a date and just be together. Here's to many many more Happy Anniversaries!

Merry christmas!

2010-12-25T23:43:00.003-07:00

We had a VERY Merry christmas! Santa for sure found us and we are very spoiled. Zach was so much fun this year, he was just so excited about everything! I woke up about 6am and waited until 7 to ask Brandon if I could get Zach up yet. I went in his room, he was starting to stir so I asked him if he wanted to see what Santa brought him, and he sat up and said YES! He just giggled and was so excited and happy. We spent the rest of the day surrounded by family, and that made the day even better and more special. We were able to talk to my parents on Skype and that was wonderful! I am so grateful for modern technology! We hope you all had a Merry Christmas! playing with his Rowdy garbage truck

daddy helping Zach with his new toys

santa brought him a train to go around the Christmas tree

Santa also brought him the Grinch and Max. He LOVES them!

What a fun morning!

Before Christmas, we spent a day as a family in Salt Lake enjoying the Christmas festivities. We went to the zoo, then to dinner and then we drove around looking for Christmas lights. We found this street in Taylorsville that was fantastic! It reminded me of "home", seeing the lights in Eastridge.

Its the Most Wonderful Time of the year!

2010-12-16T22:25:00.006-07:00

Monday night we headed downtown to look at the lights on Temple Square. We actually started off walking down to the Grand America hotel to see the Gingerbread forest and to look at all of the (not so impressive) Candy Windows. We had fun looking around that BEAUTIFUL hotel though. Later, we met up with our Sorenson cousins at Temple Square and saw all of our daddy's hard work. It is always such a great night to look at the lights. Zach and his Sorenson cousins
Us in front of one of my favorite trees
This is the color without the flash Zach and mommy at the reflecting pool Last week our church had 2 Christmas parties. One was a nice dinner for the adults, and the other was a Breakfast with Santa. Zach was quite excited to see Santa. We invited Papa to come with us, and we all had a fun morning eating a yummy breakfast. Look at the smile on his face, he was
so happy to be telling Santa about the garbage truck he wants! I love the boots with his jammies. that is so my Zach right now!

All the kids were singing songs waiting for Santa to come.

At the Santa Parade with our Arthur cousins. It was a CCCCCCold morning.

We have had some impressive snow storms lately. Zach loves to play out in the snow, eat snowballs, throw snowballs, go sledding down our front yard and basically anything that has to do with getting his snow clothes on and playing outside in it. The only thing we have yet to do is build a snowman, and that won't be too far away with all the snow we got yesterday. One day we were having a bit of cabin fever, so we went outside to play. After awhile he said he needed to take a rest, so I made him a little couch to sit on and he sat there and ate his snowball.

So happy to be outside eating a snowball! Macey playing in the snowLook how deep it was, this wore him out. We made trails all around the backyard, then made snow angels.

Sitting on a big pile of snow, looking so dang cute
all bundled up

Thanksgiving Fun

2010-11-29T11:20:00.004-07:00

While my mom and dad were here they did a small Christmas with the grandkids. The kids loved it of course and just had a great time being with Marnee and Pots. The girls all got Princess dresses and each of the boys received a toy. Zach got Gator Golf and he loves how it shoots the ball back at him. Jack got a tent with a tunnel and each of the kids loved playing in it. Pretty Tiana and Snow White
All of us watching Football

Our front yard is the PERFECT sledding hill for little kids. It is not too steep or too hard of a walk back up to the top. After eating a wonderfully yummy Thanksgiving dinner, we all went outside to watch the kids go sledding down the hill. They had so much fun! Jack and Zach getting some help from Brandon

Kennedy and Olivia sledding

Kennedy falling over

having so much fun sledding

Helping daddy shovel

Getting dressed up to go outside

November Happenings

2010-11-29T01:18:00.004-07:00

It is crazy that in just 2 days it will be December! I have been such a blog slacker. Mostly I have not taken pictures of very many things. One Monday morning I decided that we were going to potty train Zach. The diaper fairy came early and took out all of his diapers and left him some treats and a box of Capri Sun. We started that morning when he woke up and he has done great! I have had these Buzz/Woody light-up cowboy boots for a few months as incentive for him to go on the potty. So on Monday I had him in a shirt and just his big boy undies and his boots. He did NOT like being without pants! My modest little boy. Such a sad face
I had him take a nap on the couch so I could wake him up and take him potty often. He said he wasn't tired, but this potty training stuff is exhausting!
Such a Proud boy!

My Zach will NOT take pictures in a studio. This fall we tried THREE times to get him to take some at the school on picture day. I tried, Aunt Wendy tried and even Grandma tried, and we ended up with the same result--a sad little boy usually with his hands in his mouth. On the last day he wouldn't do it, I took him outside when we got home and with my less than professional camera- lo and behold some VERY cute pictures were taken! What a difference the camera makes! So, here are a few of the pics from that day....oh how i love this boy! He makes my heart sing!!

These two of my favorites! just being silly

We made a countdown chain for FHE, counting down the days until Marnee and Pots and Amanda came for Thanksgiving. He loved taking one off each day.

Happy Halloween!!

2010-11-01T23:25:00.003-06:00

We had a great Halloween this year! A few days before halloween we carved our pumpkins. Zach was VERY excited to paint his pumpkins. So while Brandon and I carved, he painted. It was great! I carved the old fashioned jack-o-lantern and Zach's "z" then Brandon carved the spider. The day before Halloween (since we live in Utah), we had our trunk or treat at the church. It was cold and rainy so it was moved inside, definately not as fun, but we had a good time seeing all the fun costumes. We also visited both of Brandon's grandmas, who spoiled our Buzz Lightyear terribly! Then it was off to go "real" trick or treating to our neighbors. Later on we met up with Papa and our Arthur cousins to go trick or treating in their neighborhood. We had a fun time, and then came home to hand out candy at our house. We didn't last long and turned out the lights then went in our room to watch a movie and relax. On actual Halloween, we had a scary Halloween dinner/party with our other cousins at our house. We each brought food and had games for the kids. We ate mummy dogs, jello worms, monster eyes, bat guts and many other interesting foods. Then we played pin the hat on the turkey, the donut eating game and the kids had such a fun time playing with their cousins. It was a great Halloween! mummy dogs
eating the donut without hands

pin the hat on the turkey

Jell-o worms

snuggling in bed just relaxing

the CUTEST Buzz Lightyear.

Our pumpkins

another view

an artist in training

Zach LOVED painting his pumpkins (daddy grew the white one at work)

Approved

2010-10-25T14:10:00.002-06:00

It is a big day at our house! We got a call from our caseworker that we are officially approved for our next adoption. We are really excited for this journey, to hopefully be blessed with another child in our home. We have had such an amazing experience with adoption, and we hope you all will help us and share our profile. We have started a new blog for our adoption journey, that we want to share with you--our family and friends. Here is the link for our blog http://bkadoptionstory.blogspot.com You can also view our profile with LDS Family Services here: https://itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/24865357/ourMessage.jsf
We hope that you will keep us in mind if you hear of a situation.
Thank you for your love and support.
Love,
Brandon, Kristin and Zachary

Moments like this

2010-10-17T23:25:00.002-06:00

Today has been quite a reflective day for me. I am so thankful for where my life is right now, at this moment. I am so eternally grateful for the blessing of being a mother and a wife, and that I am at the stage of life I have dreamed about. I GET to say that I stay at home with Zach when I am asked if I work. Do I wish we didn't have to worry about paying our bills each month, YES! But, in the big scheme of things, that is such a small moment, and I try to not let my stress of "today" get me down about tomorrow and focus on what really matters. I read this quote by Sister Hinckley and it is how I feel. "I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived." Yep, thats me or who I hope to be.
Today as I sat at church and watched Zach color and play with his toys, I thought wow-- we made it. He was playing and not really paying attention, but when he heard words that we have talked about like prophet, temple, Holy ghost, he gets this look like "I know that!" Then when I walked him to nursery and he walked right in, well practically ran in, wow-- we made it. What I mean is, there were times when it was difficult to make it through sacrament meeting without needing to take him out in the halls. And then those painful weeks/months of taking him to nursery and he would scream or pound on the door or throw himself on the floor. I looked in that nursery room today, and saw my little Zachy with his hands in his lap listening to the lesson and thought aah, we made it! Don't get me wrong, we are far from perfection in any of the above categories, but for today, it was such a great feeling. He is quite the chatterbox lately, and loves to talk or tell you about anything! He is so silly. He plays so well by himself and loves anything with monster trucks or cars. We are working on our Articles of Faith, and he knows the 1st Article of Faith, and loves the part about the Holy Ghost. He gets so excited to say that part. I love that tonight I was reading/singing the book "Love you Forever" and he wanted me to keep singing to him. Then he would look at me, grab my neck and give me a big hug then kiss me. Oh! It melted my heart, and I am loving these mommy moments with my little boy. These 3 years with my little boy has erased from my mind those difficult years where I never thought we would be here. My heart still remembers, and goes out to my friends who are still there, but for tonight my heart is simply overflowing with gratitude for moments like this. The countless prayers filled with tears asking "WHY?!" make me so thankful for what I have learned. I can look back and know this was all part of the plan and for this moment in my life I am so grateful. To know I am where I need to be, trying to do what He wants me do and be who I know I can be.

Family Fun Day

2010-10-11T14:57:00.003-06:00

On Saturday we had a great family day. Brandon had to work early in the morning, so Zach and I headed to the Fire Station open house. He LOVED looking at and climbing on all the trucks. Looking so cute
Yep, firemen get to eat cookies on the job!

Zach with the Dog in the motorized fire truck.

Another cute picture of my boy having soo much fun!

After Brandon was done with work, we picked him up and went for a drive up Emmigration, East and Parley's Canyons. It was such a beautiful drive. We got out to go for a walk at the Summit of East Canyon, but it was waaay too cold! After our drive we went up SEttlement Canyon with Macey for a nice walk. Here is one of our favorite trees.

Zach and daddy

At the Summit in East Canyon

it was just so pretty! We love Fall and all the colors and especially the cooler tempuratures!

We had such a great day being together as a family, enjoying the weather and all that fall brings us.

September

2010-10-11T13:47:00.002-06:00

Zach playing on "Marnee and Pots" bed. He LOVES trucks right now. Especially monster trucks.

And all trucks need some kind of a trailer to carry more stuff around. He is so fun to listen to playing in his room, just having so much fun with his trucks, cars, tractors and anything else that might make noise! Our library had a fire safety day. So we met up with Jennise, Olivia and Caleb to listen to the firefighters. Olivia was asked to come up and be a volunteer, so of course Zach had to go up with her. The funny thing is that neither one would do what they wanted them to do, which was stop, drop and roll!

We mainly went so that Zach could get a fire hat and see the fire trucks. he was so so so excited, but then they got called on a fire so they had to leave without letting the kids play on the truck.

Fire Captain Zach! Is that a cheesy smile or what. He is just getting so big!

Back in the Saddle Again

2010-09-13T08:55:00.004-06:00

Yep, its sure been awhile, but we are back and ready for action! We have had a busy and fun few weeks, and we are excited to see Fall starting to show up. We have been enjoying the cooler weather, going to football games, watching the leaves change and just the overall feeling that fall brings.
I am starting out with a new dinner idea for all my "loyal" (ha ha ha) readers. It is nothing new, just a new way to do dinner, and its sooo easy and the best part is the easy cleanup. Okay, so here is what you do need: a foil pan, some foil, a bottle of barbeque sauce and however many chicken pieces you need to feed your family. Put the chicken and sauce in the pan, cover with foil and put outside on your grill to cook! I use frozen chicken tenders, and it takes about 30-45 minutes to cook. I love this way to do dinner, the chicken stays moist and has the flavor of the sauce, and is fast. Here is the picture of it on the grill. So, try it, you will love the easy cleanup--throw it away, and that the heat is outside not heating up your kitchen! So, let me know if you try it!

We went to St. George a few weeks ago when Brandon's cousin, Kevin, came home off his mission. Gary and Cheryl put us and Grandma up in this great condo, and we had a nice getaway. On Saturday we visited the Washington Community Center with this fabulous pool. Oh how I wish we had one like this out here, it was so great! Zach loved going down the slides by himself. Behind them here is a splash pad outside.

this was the toddler area

The best pool ever

I have found a few costumes at garage sales, and when all the cousins were here we had a dress up day. They loved it! Here is Belle and her friend the Ballerina.

And the CUTEST Buzz and Woody EVER!!

We have had soo many hummingbirds this summer, we have loved watching them. We hung another feeder, and we have had to refill them each at least once a week. It is common to have 6-7 flying around the feeders most of the day. It has been fun to see them fight over the feeders, and poke each other with their beaks.

We have spent many hours of fun outside with friends on the swings! Zach and Aaron were having fun swinging really high on this swing. Emily was in the baby swing just giggling, and my friend Michelle laughing along with her!

We had rain for a couple of days, so Zach wanted to play in it. Of course we had to have the ducky jacket and the umbrella out.

Can't Wait for this.....The Boys of Fall

2010-08-16T13:20:00.001-06:00

For as long as I can remember high school football has been a part of my life. It started with us going to support my dad as the coach, then me being a Student Trainer in high school, having Kenneth be manager for the FB team, watching my brother Donald play a little bit, then being the trainer at Mountain Crest for a number of years, and talking to my dad every Friday night after games about how we did, and how his teams did. (that part I miss) There is no question, I LOVE Football season. I love how my family would come and support ME at the MC games. I love how we are talking about going home for Eastwood's Homecoming this year, just for fun. I love how my brother and I have already talked about which games we want to go to, and looked at the schedules. There is nothing like Friday Night Lights. And College Football Saturdays. LOVE it all!! I watched this video and had floods of memories, and thought of my Zach .......and how I just love Boys of Fall. ***(before you play this, make sure the music on the side of my blog is paused)**.

Long Time Gone

2010-08-14T14:30:00.002-06:00

I can hardly believe we are in the middle of August! Time has just flown by, and our family has been trying to enjoy every minute of this summer. We counted that from July to August we were gone for more than half of it! We just came back from Bear Lake with Brandon's family. It is always a great reunion with lots of extended family that we only see about once a year. We stayed at this AMAZINGLY beautiful "cabin" in Garden City. It had so much space that all 25(I think) of us fit in there wonderfully, with enough space for everyone to just relax and enjoy doing whatever they wanted. We went to the beach, rode on the boat, went tubing, played in the sand, the boys went golfing and fishing, we ate super yuumy food, played games, read books, took naps, fed the horses, went to a hilarious show at the Pickleville, got snowcones, rode the scooters, watched the Raspberry Days parade, went to Raspberry Days and just really tried to enjoy the week. Thanks to Grandma K for making it such a great week!! I will let the pictures do the talking. SNOW CONES with cousins!!
having fun on the boat

loving being on Papa's boat sitting with Isaac

Since I have been a bit of a slacker we have done a few other things I just want to write down for memory's sake:

* Took Zach to his 1st ever Pioneer Day Parade in downtown (he did ok)

*Saw the childrens parade out here on Pioneer Day

*Met with Grandma Janet, Grandpa Mike, Heidi, Donnie and the twins for lunch on our way to Bear Lake

*Went to Ethan Walker's baptism

*Zach is in a big boy bed now and doing great( pictures to come)

*No MORE binkies!! (funny story about that, we had been without them for about a week or so when we went to bear lake. well, when we undid the pack n play there was a binkie in there and he got sooo excited. I had to think quickly and told him that there was a Bear Lake Binkie Fairy that brings binkies to kids at bear lake so that they will sleep good since they are not at home in their own beds. I made sure to tell him that when we leave bear lake the binkie fairy will take it to another child that is staying there. It was also used as a threat in that if he didn't obey while we were there the binkie fairy is always watching and might take it away. Needless to say, he loved using it there and he slept great. Then the morning we were leaving we were onthe boat and we passed this little boy with his daddy on a jet ski. So when we got back to the cabin to pack up he wondered where the binkie went and I told him, remember that little boy with his daddy, I bet the binkie fairy took it to him so he can use it! And he accepted that and said "OK mommy!" Whew, good thing I can think fast-huh?! Such a funny boy....

*Zach took swimming lessons and passed Preschool Level 1(pictures to come)

*took Zach for his 3 year check up, and he weighs 32 lbs and is 36 inches tall, right in the 50%. He is growing like crazy and healthy, what a blessing!

*Brandon and I went to our ward's EQ party and we had a great time. We learned how to play a new game called "House on Fire".

The Land of Desolation camping trip

2010-07-22T14:17:00.002-06:00

Last week we headed up to Strawberry Reservoir for a family campout with Brandon's family. The boys' favorite spot to fish is called Renegade Point, so that is where we camped. From now on it shall be entitled, The Land of Desolation. As you can see from the picture below it was quite desolate. The hardest part of this trip for me was the lack of shade and the plentiness of the sun(and the lack of electricity!). The two dont mix well! I will admit that we did have a good time, under the circumstances. We did play some fun games, Grandma was VERY prepared with lots of activites for the kids, we ate yummy food, Zach played very hard and got really good on the scooter, we had secret friends and the boys got in ALOT of fishing within a few days. I really really enjoyed going for a boat ride and seeing how big and beautiful "Strawberry Bear Lake"(as Zach called it) really was. WOW! So even though I will not ever return to this campsite, it holds memories we made as a family that we won't ever forget!! I used my panoramic setting to take this pic
playing Phase 10 trying to stay cool
Zach and Sarah playing in the pool

They used alot of cups, but they had alot of fun

Zach hitting the pinata, our wonderful Grandma brought it for the kids

we had late nights and early mornings, so Zach's blanket came out often

Such a cute boy

Getting pretty good at the scooter

Brandon helping make breakfast

Our camp

Bear Lake, Take 1

2010-07-22T09:32:00.003-06:00

We headed to Bear Lake with my family this year, and had a great time. I had so much fun that I hardly took any pictures! As you can see we went for 4 wheeler rides, and the kids rode the train at the KOA. We also went swimming, walked down to get shakes, ate snow cones, jumped on the jumping pillow, played miniature golf, played games, the boys went fishin and we all just enjoyed being together. We had all of my family there, plus my aunt Denise and her 3 kids. The kids all had a great time and played hard every day. After Bear LAke we had my parents here for a few days and we really enjoyed having them here. Zach was sure sad when Pots drove off in his truck without him in it!! Marnee and Zach on the Rhino car Daddy showing Zach the fish they caught

going for a ride with Marnee

going for a ride

Jack, Marnee, Pots and Donald going for a ride

the kids on the train with Brindlee

eating dinner-hamburgers and the freshest corn on the cob, oh it was soo good!

our tent

another look at our "camp"

Zach is 3!!

2010-07-11T22:43:00.003-06:00

Well, my boy is 3! He had such a fun day. It was so cute the night before his birthday I was putting him in bed and he was so dang excited. For the first time, he actually "got" what it was about. I made his cake that night so he saw it before he went to bed and LOVED it(read more about that down below). Then he woke up so happy, and was the happiest 3 year old that you ever did see! He got up and we sang Happy birthday and he opened presents. He was completely spoiled by us, aunts/uncles, grandparents and friends. I can honestly say there is nothing that boy didn't like. We had a fun day playing with Marnee and Pots and Amanda, we played with his new toys, especially the Stomp Rocket. Then we had Grandma K come over, then we went to lunch at Costa Vida. After lunch, Marnee, Pots and Amanda had to leave to get on the road, so we said goodbye to them. We all came home and took a nap, that was wonderful! Later that evening, we had friends come over and Grandma and Papa came too. He played soo hard and just had a great, great "Birthday Day" as he called it. I am attaching a few of my favorite pictures from his day and today. Notice the church clothes while riding his new bike, that was before church today since I forgot to take pictures of him on it yesterday! Thank you to everyone who helped make Zach's birthday so great! He is also now in a big boy bed and he is doing so great and loving being in it! And in case you couldn't tell, my child LOVES anything Toy Story-hee hee!

Birthday Balloons from Mommy and Daddy Cruisin' around before church on his new bike
new goggles from Marnee and Pots

Is this not the CUTEST picture EVER?! Thank you Aunt Amanda!Blowing out the candles with DaddyThe cake, I loved how it turned outThe second cake with the leftover parts of the "3" cake

Do you notice something different about the cake NOW?!?! They are all sitting a little deeper in the cake.The post destruction cake! It was sitting on the table and Zach pushed EVERY ONE OF THE TOYS down deep into the cake. All he kept saying was "I pushed it down". Good thing I got pictures BEFORE it was attacked by a 3 year old!Good thing it was still so yummy!

3 years ago tonight...

2010-07-09T23:43:00.003-06:00

I am going to just go back in time for my journal and memory's sake. As I think about how our life has changed, it is wonderfully amazing. I feel like it wasn't too long ago that I was doing this for his 2nd birthday, and now here we are--another year later. My how time flies when you are having fun!! 3 years ago tonight, we got a phone call that was one of the most exciting EVER. We had been waiting for this phone call, I had wanted him to be born on 07/07/07, but this little boy wanted to wait. Then, this night 3 years ago Heidi called us to tell us she was at the hospital, checked in and ready to go. We were so excited. We called everyone. We sat around thinking how this was possibly our last night of it being, West Family--Party of 2. We hardly slept, well actually we slept a few hours, and then came the best news at around 6 in the morning. I got a text message with a picture of the cutest boy, with the most WONDERFUL hair that had been born at 3 am on July 10, 2007. And the song "The first time, ever I saw your face" plays in my head. I love this boy more than ANYTHING. I love him. My heart is wrapped up in HIM. And I am so thankful that I get to be his mom, and enjoy making a Buzz/Woody cake for his 3rd birthday because that is what he is all about right now. Happy Birthday My Zachy Zoo. I love your guts! Love, Mommy

Summertime

2010-06-28T13:12:00.002-06:00

We have had a fun summer so far, and we have a VERY busy month of July coming up and we are super excited. I just came back from a few days at Girls Camp, and we have alot of family reunions/vacations coming up starting next weekend! Plus Zach's 3rd birthday and our daddy's birthday too.

For Father's Day I took Zach to the Dollar Store to let him pick out something for his daddy. We looked up and down almost every aisle and found these babies. Zach would NOT leave without them, he wanted to give them to daddy to take to "bear wake". So, we left with 3 in hand, one for each of us and a bag of REd Vines and a bag of tootsie rolls, just for our daddy. Zach was so excited. Then all day Father's Day, these water noodles were our entertainment, as you can see they were......

A HORSE and Swords for our sword fights.

Not pictured are the use as a megaphone, binoculars, weight lifting equipment, crutches and a few other creative ways. Next week they will make it to Bear Wake to use in the pool!
Zach and I went swimming to the big pool one day, we had a lot of fun.

he looks sooo grown up here, we were waiting for them to blow the whistle to let us get in.

I watch my nephew and neice a few times a month, and on this day Zach saw what Caleb was wearing and wanted to match. The big smile on Zach's face is because our daddy just had come home-HOORAY!!!!

My daddy is my favorite pal....

2010-06-19T14:24:00.005-06:00

HAPPY FATHERS DAY Brandon!!!!

To say that Zach and Brandon are best buddies is a complete understatement. There is just something between a dad and his son, and seeing my boys together I would definately agree. As much as I want Zach to say I am his bestest friend, no one compares to his daddy. I am so thankful for the great daddy Brandon is. As I look at the pictures of when Zach was just a baby, I can remember all the feelings of me finally becoming a mom, but I have to think of how thrilled Brandon was to finally be a daddy. He is so patient and will do whatever this little boy wants his daddy to do. Zach LOVES knowing that Daddy is here when he wakes up. It is so cute to see them mowing the lawn together, or just sitting out in the backyard talking about who knows what. To Brandon,Thank you for being our boy's favorite pal. Thanks for being what a daddy should be and needs to be. I am so thankful for a wise Heavenly Father that made both mommies and daddies for children, because they definately need us both (though at times I think the mommies need the daddies more:)) . Thank you for working so hard for the money and for all you do to provide for our family.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY BRANDON! We love YOU!

And a Happy Fathers day to our Pots and Papa too!

Thank you for loving us so much, especially for loving our Zach!

when it all began...........

having a picnic with daddy at work family home evening

playing hide and seek

working together

sharing a Diet coke after putting up the tent

3 years ago today...

2010-06-07T14:44:00.002-06:00

Three years ago today was one of the most exciting days of my life. We were totally surprised by our caseworker Emily, she told us she had to come and sign off on our homestudy, but instead, she brought us the most wonderful news we had EVER heard. Heidi had chosen US!!! We were going to be parents to a little boy due in only one month! She and her mom made this adorable bouquet of baby socks in blue and white, to tell us the news, along with a very special note from Heidi. It was one of the most wonderful moments in my life and that I will NEVER EVER EVER forget. We were both in complete shock! We were so excited, after Emily left we cried together for a few minutes, then called all of our family and friends to share the news. Oh, just sitting here makes me cry because I can remember how wonderful that day was, and the next month leading up to the BEST day of our lives, when Zach came to our family. Heidi, thank you, we hope you know how much we love you and are so eternally thankful for you, for blessing us with our Zachary.ARen't these so cute?! I love them!Almost immediately, we went out searching for all things baby. One night, we came home from work and put together his crib. Each night I would do a little more to get it just perfect. It was so fun, we were soooooo excited to finally being able to have a baby in our home. That month was so fun getting ready for him to come.

Our First Campout

2010-06-01T21:57:00.004-06:00

OUR FIRST CAMPOUT OF 2010, Memorial Day weekend, in our backyard doesn't he just look soooo grown up??! daddy and zach just relaxing after working so hard to get the tent put up

watching daddy get the fire ready, and he has the fire poker just in case his services are needed.

Such a BIG helper

Relaxing in the tent, this is when the decision was made to take naps in our own beds inside, to get ready for the night ahead!Before Zach came into our lives, Memorial Day weekend was always our "camping kickoff". We would always go up to Guinevah-Malibu up Logan Canyon and stay for a few nights. It snowed, rained, hailed and the wind blew like crazy most times, but we had alot of fun. Well, now we don't live close to any good camping spots, and our daddy had to work both the Saturday before Memorial Day and on Memorial day, so our camping was not to be. Or, so we thought. We had been talking about going camping with Zach for awhile, and putting up the "teent". We have been camping before with him, but we have always taken our trailer, so this was a big deal! Sunday afternoon became our first campout in our tent. Oh was my Zachy soooooooo excited and such a big helper to his daddy. They got it all put up, blew up the air mattress, I got the pillows and blankets and we were gonna go "camping". We decided that we all better take naps in our bed to be prepared and rested for the night, so we came inside and took a little siesta. When we got up from our naps, we went up the canyon to get some firewood for our firepit. LAter that night, we roasted marshmallows around the fire, and Zach just ran in and out of the tent. Each time he came out he would say "its sure dark in there!" Brandon lit the lantern, we got our warm jammies on, I made Zach a comfy bed right next to me and we read a few books to settle us down for the night. After prayers were said and daddy gave Zach his own flashlight "just in case", we all were tucked in. And as soon as my boy's head hit the pillow, if we didn't hear every noise you can imagine, and each of them made Zach lift his head up. We heard a helicopter, an airplane, dogs barking, car stereos booming, people laughing and talking, neighbors rolling out their garbage cans, garage doors going down and a few other things. His eyes were as big as saucers. Brandon and I were whispering to each other wondering how long we were really going to last. I kept reassuring Zach that it was okay and it was time for bed, it was about 10:45pm. Well, we tossed and turned, answered the question "what's that?" a few times and then...... the icing on the cake, the straw that broke the camel's back, the last hoorah, you get the idea. Macey, who was not invited to sleep in the tent, started howling in the kitchen. And with that, we celebrated our Memorial Day campout, said thank you daddy for the tent, picked up our pillows and blankets and went inside in our own beds to sleep nice and comfy all-night-long. Hooray for the memories we made in those short but oh so exciting hours of our first family campout.

May Recipes

2010-05-31T14:28:00.002-06:00

I have really loved trying new recipes for my family lately. So far, we have had success and they will be added to our "menu". So, since I have found so many, I thought I would put a few of them here for all of my friends to enjoy as well!! Bon appetit!

Whole Wheat Bread
My mom makes really good homemade bread, and she knows just how to get it right. Well, her recipe also makes about 14 loaves, which is waaay to much bread for us. Awhile ago my friend Richelle, passed along this recipe and it is perfect for us. It makes 2 good sized loaves and it is just good bread. In fact, I have spoiled my Zachy in that this morning we only had enough for 1 slice of homemade toast, and I was putting in the "other" bread into the toaster, and he said "I don't like that one, I want THAT one, pointing to the homemade one". He wouldn't eat the other toast, and truthfully I can't blame him, there is NO COMPARISON!! This is really easy, trust me, anyone can do this one!

In mixer mix: 2 1/2 cups warm water, 3 1/2 cups wheat flour
In mixing bowl: 1/4 cup honey or brown sugar, 1/3 cup oil, 1 T salt
In smaller bowl: 1/4 cup warm water, 1 T yeast-dissolve yeast in water

Mix ingredients together. Add 2-3 cups of white flour. Knead 4-10 minutes. Place in greased bread pans. Raise til double in size. Bake 38-40 minutes at 350.

Flautas
We served these oh so yummy rolled tacos at our Fiesta, and they turned out so good. We learned from a girl down in El Paso that knows how to make all sorts of delicious Mexican Food. I am planning on making them again for my family soon, maybe even tonight. Our dinner group's blog has alot of good recipes for you to try too.
Ingredients:
2 lbs Ground Beef (the 80/20 fat content works best)
3 raw potatoes, peeled and chopped
Corn tortillas
1-2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
Salt/Pepper to taste
Toothpicks
Oil for frying
Brown the ground beef with the onion, garlic and pepper. You will want to chop it really fine while cooking it. If you are using a lower fat beef, add a little oil to help with the flavor and the consistency. Add the potatoes and mash the beef and potatoes together using a potato masher. Let it boil down, and absorb all the oil/grease. This step takes awhile. When the meat is somewhat mushy, you know it is done. When it is cooled enough for you to not burn your fingers, start to warm up the corn tortillas. The tortillas are much easier to work with when they are warm and doing it on a griddle works best but microwaving is fine. Spoon a helping of meat in the tortilla and roll up to where it is really thin. You will place 3 flautas on each toothpick. This will help during the frying to keep them rolled up! In a frying pan, heat up some oil in the bottom of the pan, you just need enough to let them brown in the pan, not deep fry. When the oil is hot, place your set of 3 in the pan and brown on the 2 sides that you can, then take out the toothpick and you can brown the other sides. Place on a paper towel to drain the grease off when they are done.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese Julia Lyman
A friend of mine made this for dinner and gave us some to try. My Zachy gobbled it up really fast! So I got the recipe HERE and made it for dinner. Thanks Courtney!
Ingredients:
• 8 oz. elbow macaroni • 2 T. butter • 2 T. flour • 2 c. milk •1-2 T. chopped mixed herbs (thyme, sage, chives etc) • 1/2 t. salt • 1/4 t. black pepper • 4 oz. cream cheese • 8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded • 4 oz. shredded Parmesan cheese, divided • 1 c. soft bread crumbs • 1 T. melted butter
Method:
Grease a 1 qt. baking dish and preheat oven to 350. Cook macaroni following package directions; drain, rinse and set aside.
In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Stir in flour until well blended and bubbly.
Gradually add milk, stirring constantly; continue cooking and stirring until slightly thickened. Add the herbs, salt and pepper, then stir in the cream cheese and Cheddar. Stir in about 3 oz. of the Parmesan cheese.
Continue cooking and stirring until cheeses have melted. Stir in the drained macaroni and turn into prepared baking dish.
Combine bread crumbs with melted butter and toss with the remaining Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle over the casserole. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until bubbly and nicely browned.

Breakfast pockets
I made these for Sunday morning, and they were a HUGE hit! Next time I will add some chopped potatoes and green chile, plus use the flaky biscuits for added yummyness. This girl has some good recipes, so go here to get them!
10 eggs
1 lb. sausage, cooked & crumbled
2 C. shredded cheese
4 (7.5 oz) tubes refrigerated biscuits
Cook the sausage and set aside. Scramble the eggs and cook in the same pan that you cooked your sausage in, scraping the bottom to get all of the yummy sausage bits in your scrambled eggs. Cook until creamy and still wet. Add sausage and combine. Roll out biscuits into thin circles. Put a mound of the sausage and egg mixture on the center of half of the rolled out biscuits. Sprinkle cheese over the egg mixture. Place another rolled-out biscuit on top and press the edges to seal. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 11-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to a cooling rack and brush with butter. Serve warm. Makes about 20 pockets.

Caramel Brownies
I got this recipe from my Aunt. She used to teach RS and each time she would bake a new treat to pass around during her lessons. I have eaten them before, but had never make them until this week. Caramel+chocolate+nuts=divine!
1 German Chocolate cake mix
3/4 cup melted butter
Stir butter into the cake mix. Put half of the mixture in a 9X13 pan, and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Reserve the other half for the top layer.

Melt 30 caramels in the microwave along with 1/3 cup of evaporated milk. Pour the caramel mixture on top of the baked cake mixture. Then sprinkle 2 cups of chocolate chips and 1 1/2 cups of chopped nuts on top of the caramel mixture, then crumble the other half of the unbaked cake mixture on top. Then bake the entire mixture at 350 for 10 minutes.

Potato Soup
I know it is almost summer and soup won't sound that good for long. But my neighbor Steph gave me this recipe and it was really tasty. Anything I can put in my crockpot is a huge hit for me, and this tasted so good on a cold day.

8 cups diced potatoes
1 /2 cup chopped onion
3-6 bouillon cubes
6 cups water
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled
green onion for garnish

Combine potatoes, onion, water, bouillon and soup in crockpot. Cook 8 hours until potatoes are tender. Add cream cheese to crock pot and blend. Top with bacon and green onion.

Lessons Learned

2010-05-24T18:44:00.004-06:00

For FHE tonight we had a lesson from the friend on Helping Mommy. We each traced our hand and wrote down ways we can help mommy around the house. Zach said he can help put his jammies in the drawer, pick up his toys and take his dirty clothes to the hamper. Brandon had a list too. I have learned a few lessons of my own when having FHE with an almost 3 year old(and a couple of 30 somethings).

* We have it at the dinner table since a certain boy is strapped in and can't go anywhere! And he has food to occupy him.

* We usually start out with "Take me out to the ball game" or the "The Ants go Marching" as our opening hymn which gets us excited for the lesson.
* Any activity that requires crayons is a HUGE hit, especially if it involves tracing hands

*Treats. Need I say more?

* The shorter the lesson, and the more pictures involved the better

* Zach loves to play Follow the Leader after any lesson. His favorite is to crawl like a baby or march. We started this after a lesson of follow the Prophet.

* Playing Hide and Go Seek with a almost 3 year old is absolutely a riot. We were playing tonight and he was cracking us up. When we would hide with him and ask are you in here, he would ALWAYS give it away where they were. We were hiding from daddy in the closet and all he kept saying was "Hey guys, its really dark in here". Needless to say when you hide with him, you are found quite quickly! Oh it was fun.

* our lessons are usually only a couple of minutes long. But if we have an intermediate singing session of the "ABC" song or "twinkle, twinkle" it will go a little longer.

*Thank goodness for the nursery manual! Quick and easy, little prep required.

*if you forget to bless President Monson, President Rockwell, Bishop Smart or the missionaries in your prayer, you will be reminded by the almost 3 year old on prayer patrol!

*Popcorn popping is our favorite closing hymn, with the "Alligator and Monkey song" coming in a very close second!

We are far from perfect at doing this, but nights like tonight make me think, why do I make this harder than it is?

Our FIESTA

2010-05-22T23:06:00.004-06:00

Jennise and I hosted our "Bon Vivant" dinner party last night. It was a Fabulous Mexican Fiesta. It was ALOT of hard work, but it all paid off with a really great night with friends. That day Jennise, Kimberley and I (and all 6 kids) were working hard all day at my house getting it ready. We were originally hoping to have it outside, but 'ol Mother Nature didn't want to cooperate, but it turned out beautiful inside. Its amazing what a few strands of white lights and some tissue puffs can do! We served some great food like Sal Picon, Fresh Mango Salsa, Chile Con Queso, homemade flautas and so many other yummy things. It was great to finally be able to put it all together! On our trips to El Paso we bought the tablecloths, table toppers, plates, napkins, tortillas, biscochos, wedding cookies, and brisket meat to really bring the Mexican Flair! Now we are going to have to plan a girls trip to go down there!! We had some great background music playing and had all the smells of a Mexican Restaurant. This group of women is so fun to get together with, there is always alot of laughter, wonderful conversations and it is always such a great night! Ole!

A Very Happy Birthday

2010-05-17T22:40:00.004-06:00

Today was my 34th birthday. I had a really nice day. I went to lunch with my sisters and the kids to Chick-Fil-a, it was so yummy! After lunch I snuck in a little nap. Then tonight we grilled hamburgers and had friends over for cake and ice cream and rides in the jeep! I realize how blessed I am to have such amazing friends and family in my life, I truly am a very lucky gal! I have thought about turning 34 and remember thinking when I was younger that when people are that "old" they are so mature and just grown up. Well, I am there at that "old" age and I don't feel it, I feel like a young 34 year old! I know I am a grown up, you know with responsibilities and big kid things like a mortgage and a child, but I just don't feel like I thought this age would feel, and I don't really know how to explain it! I am certainly glad that I don't feel older than 34 that is for SURE!!!! So as I blew out my 34 candles I made a wish, to make this year and my next 34 the happiest they can be, to bloom where I am planted, and to be grateful for each step in the journey of my life.
My Zachy and his/my JEEP!My new workout shoes, I am a Nike girl!Our new shower curtain from my sister, it matches our room so great!. my mom and dad got me this bedding, I love it! I am going to paint the wall behind the bed a chocolate brown color, and I have a few other things to go on the wall. I am anxious to see it all put together.The Fire Pit! so excited to use this in our backyard this summer!A white tent/shade from Brandon's parents. Hopefully it will make its grand entrance this Friday at our Dinner Party!My husband is so good! He made both of these cakes. One is a cherry chip (my usual favorite). Then this year I wanted a fudge marble cake with homemade chocolate frosting. They were both so good! Thanks Brandon! And no, the smoke detectors did NOT go off!

Trip to El Paso, take 2

2010-05-04T14:16:00.005-06:00

Our trip to El Paso, take 2 Zach wrestling Tula
learning to pedal the trike, he did so good!

amanda's silly hat for the Derby

Pots' silly ponytail hat for the Derby

Oh how I love this picture, Zachs hat for the Derby

the drum major

she got new stuff to redecorate her room

birthday cupcake

Olivia at Peter Piper

Caleb just watching the action all around him

Zach being silly

don't you love this get-up, a fishermans outfit, keys in hand, and purple little mermaid high heels!!!

Bob the Builder at Peter Piper

eatin breakfast outside with Tula watching his every move

the car ride on the way down

My sister Jennise and I drove down to Texas to surprise my parents last week. We totally surprised them it was great, they were out on their walk and we came honking and pulling up beside them, they were just waving being neighborly. Then they took a good look at the crazy people and recognized the car, and boy were they excited to see us! The kids did sooo good in the car, both ways, 15 hours in the car is a LOOOOONG time, but thank goodness for a DVD player, kids music, books and lots of treats!! We had fun down in the west Texas town of El Paso, even though the weather was less than desirable for some of it. We celebrated Amanda's birthday, visited Marnee at school, went to Peter Piper, went shopping downtown, saw Nana, and one night we had a "class" from Amanda's friend on cooking some yummmy Mexican food. The kids played outside, rode bikes, ate pop-pops and loved playing in the sand box. During the Kentucky Derby, we all found hats out of Marnee's dress up box and wore silly hats, oh the kids loved that! I am so grateful to be making memories with Zach being at Marnee and Pot's house. We had fun, but boy howdy is this Texas girl ready to stay at my home for awhile! Brandon is so good to let us go, and he worked hard on the basement bathroom while we were gone. Thanks Brandon, we love ya!

'Tis the Season

2010-04-26T16:11:00.003-06:00

In case you were wondering, its that time of year to be totally immersed in a book, laying on a blanket soaking up some rays enjoying this amazing weather. At our house you will find Zach pushing his lawnmower, or watching some bugs crawl, and he is usually eating a pop-pop, while I enjoy my latest book. Aaaaah, I LOVE it! In the past month or so, I have read this onecouldn't wait to get this one which I finished TODAY, and found out that this is just out! Plus I read this great find that was handed to me from my sister (LOVED it!),
and borrowed this one from a friend. We also saw the movie this weekend. So, now I am on a mission to find more good reads for my summer blanket-sitting-out-on fest! It makes me sooo happy! Bring a blanket, a book and come on over!! On some days you might even get a treat of freshly popped popcorn-no not the microwave kind, real popcorn! oh, and the pop-pops are always in the freezer! :)

Our tent

2010-04-22T21:06:00.004-06:00

Since it has been cold the past couple of days, we have had to be inside. Yesterday, Zach and Olivia were bored so we made a tent. Well, guess what has been up since then and where we spent alot of our day today? Yep, in the "teent" as Zach calls it. WE had snacks, sang songs, played with flashlights, read books, talked and just had a fun day. Zach even made a doggy door for Macey in our tent (going under the chair) was just for her, even though there is no way she was going in there with Zach( he terrorizes that dog sometimes!) He is so funny right now and is saying so many new words that it is just fun. My favorite part was when he wanted me to sing the baby Jesus song, which is Away in a Manger, and he sang most of it, so so cute. Yes I am totally biased! Come on over to join us in our tent, it is a party in there!

our visit to see Daddy

2010-04-21T08:54:00.004-06:00

Since the weather has been so nice, Zach and I took a day and went in to visit Brandon at work. Brandon had wanted us to come in to see all of his flower beds, and wanted us to come while they were at their "peak". It all looks sooooo BEAUTIFUL, I am a very proud wife. i recommend everyone going soon to see how amazing it all looks. We had a picnic with our daddy, then walked around a bit. After our daddy had to go back to work, Zach and I walked around the temple. We talked about when he gets to go into the temple, and how this is where he is supposed to get married. He was so funny because he really wanted to know what was in there, when he looked into all the windows. Then he couldn't figure out why the doors wouldn't open! We had a nice little teaching moment while we were walking around "daddy's temple".

Our latest adventures....

2010-04-15T20:34:00.004-06:00

We have had such a fun week! A few things we LOVE right now are the SUN, being outside, having picnics, playing with friends, going for walks, sidewalk chalk, blankets on the grass, going to the "libary", eating slurpess and soo many other things that take us OUTSIDE! We have also had fun taking treats to people and spending time with some great friends. HOORAY for Spring!! Our latest sidewalk "art"
Zach mowing with daddy
Watching daddy mow
Playdate with friends
We watched Alvin and the Chipmunks, had popcorn and wrote with chalk on the sidewalks, it was fun! Look at my owie, a fat lip after taking a tumble at the "libary"
Making funny faces
Helping mommy make cinammon rolls
SUCH a BIG helper
He wanted his own cutter and rolling pin like me, and he had to have his apron on too!!
OH HOW I LOVE THIS BOY!!!

Easter

2010-04-06T13:56:00.004-06:00

I love having Conference on Easter Sunday. I love listening to the Choir sing all the Easter Hymns, and really feeling the Spirit and the Miracle of Easter. On Sunday I got up before my boys and had a few moments to myself. I thought about how that first Easter morning was, when Mary Magdalene was at the tomb but was told "He is not here for he is risen", how she must have felt. I wondered what it was like, in the stillness of the morning, knowing that the greatest miracle of all had just occurred. And how grateful I am to know what I know, and how wonderful the blessings of that beautiful Easter morning are and how much hope that gives me. I am so thankful to know that I will be with my family forever, and I am forever grateful for the peace that brings. How wonderful it is to know that Christ lives, he loves us and performed all he needed to do so that we could be happier and be with our families forever. What an amazing, humbling, wonderful blessing that is. I loved the messages of Conference and how so many of them were focused on the family. I came away realizing how important my job as a mother is, and what a big responsibility it is to teach Zach and any other kids that come to our family. There were so many talks that I thought "Oh thats what I needed to hear", but I found myself saying that with each one, so I have alot to work on!!
We did have a great Easter. We woke up to seeing that the Easter Bunny had left a candy/jelly bean trail from Zach's room out to where our Easter baskets were. It was so fun to see the excitement on his face when he saw "Alvin and the Chipmunks:The Squeakuel". Oh how he loves that movie, and his favorite song is "All the Single Ladies", just ask him, it is funny to hear him say it. he also got some sidewalk chalk, a Buzz kite and a bubble wand. We also had a few eggs hidden around the house for him to find. Then we went to Brandon's parents house for our Easter Egg Hunt. They hide eggs for each of us with our initials on them around the house. I still haven't found one of mine, but it will turn up sometime! We had fun there as well. Later we headed to Grandma Koeven's house for our Easter dinner. We had ham, cheesy potatoes, strawberries, salads, rolls and I made 2 cakes. It was delicious, all of it. THere were about 25 of us there, so we had a good crowd. We had another Easter Egg hunt and a treasure hunt for the kids, Zach loved it and he ate soooooo much candy this day I was amazed he didn't get a sick tummy! We came home and went for a much needed walk around the neighborhood. It was a great day spent as a family!

Our Trip to El Paso

2010-04-01T09:53:00.002-06:00

We had such a great time visiting my parents in El Paso. The weather was wonderful, the sun was out and we played outside everyday. We did alot of fun things, and even found some new stops that will be on our list of things to do when we go home from now on! The kids loved being outside and we ate otter pops at least once a day. The pictures will do the talking, it was a fun trip.

Love this

2010-03-29T10:32:00.002-06:00

I love adoption stories. I love adoption. I love birthmothers and birthfathers. I love Heidi for so many reasons, but especially for her love for Zachary. I love Grandma Janet and Grandpa Mike for how much they love all of us. I love how adoption is such a miracle and blessing, and how each story is so different yet the same. I am so grateful for the miracle of adoption. I am so thankful that we all have a loving Heavenly Father that knows each of us so personally that he answers so many prayers through this wonderful miracle called adoption. Ever since I heard this story of our friends Brian and Erin, I felt I needed to share this. So, go HERE to read this.
Adoption....its about LOVE.

A Night fit for a Queen, the Silver Bullet returns and other happenings

2010-03-22T12:19:00.008-06:00

We had our dinner group this past week, and it was truly a Night fit for a Queen. It was decorated so cute, we had it in the party room of a new candy store out here called Sweet Lizzies. We were served delicious food and had a wonderful time with friends. It was such a great night to treated like a queen! Good job Aimee and Heather. Jennise and I are next in hosting our dinner, we are having a Mexican Fiesta, you will definately have to check back in May for that excitement!!

JESSE'S BIRTHDAY PARTY
my cousin Jesse(Zach's best friend) turned 8 while they were here in town for Spring Break. So, we had a birthday party at Fat Cats while they were here. the kids all got to bowl, play arcade games and we ate pizza and birthday cake. It was a really fun night.

THE RETURN OF THE SILVER BULLET, aka The Aggie Van
After the series of unfortunate events which led to the disabling of our van, we were able to rent this car for the time being. During the week and a half we had it, we put almost 1000 miles on this baby. Then, friday night we got the call we had been waiting for, our van was finally ready. So, now the Silver bullet is back in action, all shiny and vacuumed, oh I am so happy for its return. For now, we will avoid any area that requires backing up with large wooden objects in our path.

OUR BOY
Here are just a couple of pictures to show off our handsome boy. He loves to wear this basket as a hat. The other picture I LOVE because it is a 3 generation picture, plus an additional member that is a little more hairy. They went to the Sportsmens Expo this weekend, and Zach wanted to take a picture with this baby bear. Lucky for him daddy and Papa were in the picture too. Love it!!!

Park City getaway

2010-03-22T09:36:00.003-06:00

We had the opportunity this past weekend to go up to Park City for a night. We stayed in this beautiful condo right by the Olympic Ski Jump. we had fun sitting in the jacuzzi, relaxing and just being together as a family. It was just what the doctor ordered. We spent some time in Park city on Main Street, drove around up there a bit, got some breakfast and really took it easy. It was GREAT!!

Wedding Weekend

2010-03-15T15:09:00.008-06:00

We had a fun, busy weekend with all of my family in town for my cousin John's wedding. My parents came in town and stayed with us all weekend too, which Zach loved of course. Friday night we had a Rehearsal Dinner at this beautiful restaurant in Park city called Ghidotti's. The food was fantastic and it was a nice night to be with alot of family. I highly recommend this place, it was yummy Italian food.

My cousin Taylor watched Zach while we went to the dinner, and he had a blast. He played with Trace and Jesse, and they wrestled, had snow ball fights, sat in the hot tub and watched a movie. He loves being with those boys, and they just love him!
Saturday we got up and of course, Pots took Zach to get a nonut, which is their new tradition together! They even took a nonut to Papa. It started snowing, and it didn't stop all dang day. John and Courtney got married in the Bountiful Temple, and it was beautiful. They looked so happy together. THE NEWLEYWEDS
Breyson, Zach and Tracemy cute boy
HANDSOME
After the temple, most of our family went to Cafe Rio for lunch. Then we headed back home to get Zach a little nap. Brandon shoveled the driveway and I took a nap like Zach. Then he got to go play with the Arthur cousins and Papa and Grandma, while Brandon and I headed to American Fork for the reception. It was at another beautiful place, the Northampton House. They danced, we danced a little, ate cake, and had a fun time. WE all made a tunnel of sparklers when they left, which looked really cool with the snow falling all around.

Yesterday, we had all of my family, minus a few, out to our house for my dad's tacos and queso. It was Y-U-M-M-Y!!! The kids loved playing out in the snow, those Arizona/Texas people don't get to see this much snow ever! Everyone came out and just enjoyed playing and relaxing, it was a great Sunday.

our week in review

2010-03-13T15:56:00.004-07:00

At our house, last week and a little of the week before was really rough. So, since this is my journal/family history I wanted to document all that we had go on. We had Caleb and Olivia a few days at our house. Zach and Olivia play pretty well together, and they love eating at the table together, especially when I read stories to them while they are eating!Cute Kids!
We had to be grown ups and make a difficult decision of getting rid of one of our dogs. So, I had to take Dorie. It was so emotional for me and one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. We miss her, but know that we had to make the decision for the safety of our Zachy.
In case you were wondering, THIS, PLUS THIS EQUALS
I forgot to take pictures of Brandon speaking at our Enrichment. He did such a great job, talking about what he does at his job here.....

It was a busy week and a half at our house. We learned quickly how grateful we are for auto insurance and rental cars, and for how much we can love the dogs in our home. But we are mostly grateful that we were all safe and we have many things to be thankful for!!

11 years ago....

2010-03-05T08:12:00.004-07:00

11 years ago, but yet sometimes it feels like 11 lifetimes ago. You see, my life and the life of my family was forever changed 11 years ago. And what makes this day difficult is that is was exactly 11 years ago, Friday, March 5, 1999. So, for my journal sakes, I am writing this down so I will have it forever. My brother Kenneth had been sick almost his whole life. He was first diagnosed with cancer, a brain tumor, October 12, 1990 when he was 10. He battled, fought, won, then the cancer came back a couple of times. It was early January 1999 and Kenneth and I were in the backyard playing a game of Horse when the phone rang and it was Dr Swaney, his doctor. I could tell in his voice something wasn't right and he asked to speak to my mom. My mom, dad and Kenneth left immediately to go to the hospital and I was left alone to go absolutely crazy. You see, Kenneth was getting ready to go to MD Anderson in Houston for a stem cell transplant, but the Dr had ordered one last round of MRIs to make sure everything was clear to get started. Obviously it wasn't. When they came back from the DR, Kenneth grabbed our dog Tater (his best friend) went to his room and locked himself in there for a long while. The news wasn't good. It was back, with a vengence. But like all the other times, we rallied together with all of our family to fight this nasty, terrible beast. But Kenneth knew something different, he had asked Dr Swaney for the first time ever, if he was going to die, to which the Dr said basically, Yes, but i just don't know when. So, we fasted and prayed and prayed some more to be the miracle AGAIN. I was in my last semester at the U, Jennise was dating Weston and was going to BYU, and Kimberley was the nanny for Arnold and Maria. The last weekend in February, the softball team from the U for which I was the trainer had a tournament in Las Cruces, NM of all places(only 45 minutes from my house)! My family came to watch some of the games, and Kenneth looked really, really sick like an old man. We went to Golden Corral, his favorite place, and he hardly ate. You could just tell he didn't feel good at all. Well, Sunday we were at the airport and Kimberley, Donald and Amanda came to tell me that at his Eagle Court of Honor he got a bloody nose and couldn't stop it so they took him to the hospital. I am forever grateful that the coach let me change my flight to Monday so I could stay with my family for just one more day. That Monday, Kimberley and I had experiences we will never forget at the hospital with Kenneth. They are stories that we tell often and always get a good laugh, knowing that Kenneth is probably laughing the hardest when we do! But that day when I left, I had no idea that would be the last day I would see my brother alive. He struggled that week, good hours, bad hours, and just never really felt that great. Friday, I was scheduled to go to San Diego with the team to another tournament. I remember calling the hospital and talking to Nana before I left and she told me he had a really good night and that he had alot more color and looked better than he had in a couple of days. She was there so my mom and dad could go home. So, I knew he was okay and I got on the plane. We got to San Diego, checked into the hotel and went to a UofU vs SDSU baseball game. When we came back to the hotel, I had a message to call my mom immediately. So I did, and she said that I might be needing to come home because Kenneth had taken a turn and they didn't know how long he had, but not to rush now, but just be on alert. Not more than about 30 minutes later, my dad called and said I needed to come home NOW. The pneumonia had settled in his lungs and he wasn't going to last long at all. So we made arrangements, so many miracles happened, and I was on my way home. Of course of all weekends, we were all in places different that where we normally can be reached and this was LONG before cell phones, but they were able to find each of us and get us ono ur way home. I remember being in Las Vegas for my layover, thinking here are all these people partying, and I am going home because my brother is dying. It was the lonliest feeling. I finally made it to ELP at 2:00am. My mom, dad, Donald and Amanda were there to get me, so I knew then that Kenneth was gone. He died at 11pm. My mom had taken Donald and Amanda to dinner and a movie, while my dad was at the hospital. Then my dad told them to get up there ASAP because he wasn't doing well. They each were able to say goodbye, and Sister K took Donald and Amanda away. My mom and dad were there, with a few other close family members. He hadn't been alert for awhile, but at one point he woke up very alert and told my mom he loved her, then he fell back asleep. It was a very peaceful moment when he left. He looked at my mom and dad, and they told him it was okay to go, that it was time, and that they loved him and that he had done everything he was asked to do on this earth. He looked up towards the ceiling, reached up like to reach out to someone, my mom put his hands down, then his head went to the side and he was gone. The next few days were difficult, amazing and so many other words that I can't even describe. We spent time as a family, clinging on to each other tighter than ever before. At the graveside, all of the little cousins let off balloons with notes tied to them for Kenneth. So now every year on March 5 and September 21, we let balloons to go Uncle Kenneth, to tell him we love him, it is something we look forward to. I am so grateful for the peace of knowing that this earth is not the end for our family. That we WILL see Kenneth again. I know beyond anything in my life that families are FOREVER and we are so blessed to know that. It makes the difficult times of death easier to handle. It is our job to do everything we can to live our lives worthy of being where Kenneth is. He is already there! And like the words of this song, "If you get there before I do, don't give up on me". Kenneth, I love you, miss you and can't wait until we can be together again.

You've got a friend in me

2010-03-01T10:40:00.004-07:00

Zach is very attached to Buzz and Woody right now, he has been for a few months now. He got the 2 action figures for Valentines Day, and he doesn't go very far without them. It really does remind me of Andy in the movie, he just loves to play with these two. he LOVES Buzz, but he carries Woody around the most and is completely fascinated with Woody's hat. He tells me that he wants to be a "towboy" like Woody for Halloween. Looks like when I go to ELP in a few weeks I better find him some boots!! I love that these 2 toys really are his friends, he really loves them!!
I always ask Zach if I am his best friend, and he will usually say yes. However, his daddy I think is his bestest bestest friend. On the weekends and evenings when brandon is home, Zach can't be very far from his daddy, my how he loves him!! They are so funny to watch, Brandon is such a good daddy and Zach just idolizes him! Here are a few pics of my two favorite boys being silly. When Brandon is on "poop duty" in the backyard, Zach is his poop finder and he will run around and show Brandon where it is. They are often sitting on the couch just like this picture. And here, Brandon and Zach are switching hats, Brandon has on Woody's towboy hat. Oh how I love these boys!

TEMPLE SQUARE
A week or so ago we met with cousins and went to the I am a Child of God exhibit at the Church Museum. Since it was a cold day, we thought this would be a great activity for the kids to be inside and get some energy out. We were monitored very closely and it was almsot as if the kids couldn't be kids and play, but they needed to be still and just sit. So, after being watched so closely by about 5 ladies, we decided to leave. We then let the kids run/walk around Temple Square. That was great! We also had our picnic on the 10th floor of the JSMB. It was a fun day with cousins. This picture is an example of a berth in a ship that the pioneers would take to come from other countries to America. An entire family would get ONE of these to share! WOW! Makes me grateful for my king sized bed!Zach on the straight and narrow, holding to the iron rod
MR COOL

Bathtime at our house

2010-02-18T14:55:00.003-07:00

To say that Zach loves baths is a glorious understatement. My boy L.O.V.E.S his bath. Lately he loves to take one during the day, at random times just to play, espeically since its been cold outside. This morning we came back from the gym and he came running in to me saying "I want to take a bath!" So he did, and he will play in there for 30 minutes or so, with me making sure the water is warm enough for him. he loves to have me close the shower curtain and turn the light on above the bathtub on and just let him play. We talk about all sorts of things, we work on his kicking and bubble blowing, and his favorite thing is to splash me or Brandon when we open the curtain. Well, I love bathtime pics, so I thought I would share a few of my handsome, sometimes "winkiny(wrinkly)" little fish in the tub. But it got my wondering, do you have a specified bath time each day, or do your kids get in whenever they want to just play???

Will you....

2010-02-15T10:58:00.003-07:00

Isn't he the cutest Valentine anyone could ask for? We had a good Valentines Sunday at our house. I woke up to find these beautiful hot pink roses from my Valentine, with little pink hearts all over the kitchen and family room. As i looked closer, each had writing on them, Brandon had written little things he loves about me and put them around the house! I cried after reading the 1st one that said "you are a wonderful mom"! I couldn't have asked for a better, more romantic ANYTHING. Thank you Brandon, I love you.
I forgot to take pictures of the table that I had decorated with homemade heart placemats and little valentines we made each other and Zach. It was cute to see Zach so excited over a little box of Buzz/Woody gummy candies. He loved them! We went to church, surprised to have our Papa speaking in our ward, and boy was Zach excited to see him! Afterwards, he went to Grandma and Papas house with Papa to get his Valentines while we went to Sunday School, and after classes we went and picked him up. Later that afternoon, we headed in to Brenda and Gary's house for dinner. WE had fun playing tag in the front yard, swinging, building towers and eating a wonderful yummy meal. I am grateful that I have not just one valentine, but 2 of the most handsome, cutest valentines that you ever did see.

Zach, our little fish

2010-02-12T09:38:00.003-07:00

Zach has been in swimming lessons for the past 2 weeks and yesterday was his last day, and he passed! He has been in the Parent/Child class, and his wonderful dad did it with him. It was a good experience for both of them to spend time together, and it was nice since I wasn't feeling good for the 1st week of class. He has learned to kick, jump in and out of the water, Throw the ring/stick and go underwater to get it, climb the stairs, go underwater, blow bubbles and a few other tricks that he already knew how to do before going to this class. At least now he can go take the regular swim lesson class this summer. His absolute favorite thing about taking swim lessons has been the slide. He LOVES the slide, and his daddy would take him a few times each day they turned them on at the end of the lesson. It was a great activity to do this for Zach, something to break up the boring days of winter and he loved it!

the Silver Bullet

2010-02-03T15:03:00.002-07:00

Well ladies and gentlemen, as you can see the Silver bullet hit a big milestone today. And of course, where were we when we reached it??? On I-80 East heading into SLC, our most traveled road sometimes! We just hope the silver bullet can keep going full steam ahead for another 100,000! This has been our best car ever, and it has convinced me why other people LOVE their Hondas, add us to that list.