"Birthday season" come and gone!

Between April 26 and May 23 all four of my little darlings celebrate their 10th, 8th, 4th, and 2nd Birthdays. So I have dubbed it "Birthday season" and I look forward to it and dread it at the same time. We decided this year that Maddy and Alex would not have parties  but that we would let them pick their favorite place for dinner and an activity to do as a family instead. Alex picked Tepanyaki for his b-day dinner and an evening at Boondocks. This is so classic Alex and I loved it! We had fun gathering tickets like maniacs so he could bring home a big bag of crap, er, loot. He was a sweet brother though and he shared his haul with his sisters and little bro.

Maddy chose Olive Garden and to go see a movie. The movie wasn't a very good one but Maddy still had a cheery attitude and was glad to be with her family on her special day

Sadie baby was the one who got to have a party because I just couldn't resist letting her have her "wonderful" Tinkerbell party. She was the most excited 4 year old you ever saw and she just couldn't wait to share her beautiful pinata and cupcakes with her guests. We just played fun little games and let her feel like she was the most fabulous 4 year old ever!

T-man had no clue it was his birthday and he really could have cared less but we still had him open a few gifts and we sang to him and let him blow out candles. He actually HATED being sung to and cried the whole time until the torture ended :)

I love my kiddies so much and I hope to celebrate many, many, many "Birthday seasons"

with my little monkey's!

Delton lanes baby!

Every June the Orr family, that is my mother in laws family, host a family reunion at the family bowling alley in West Valley called Delton lanes. The name Delton is a combo of my mother in laws parents names; Milton and Delta. We used to have this reunion at a park every year until my BIL Justin suggested to one of his uncles, who now own a manage the bowling alley, that we should have it there and the rest is history! The most amazing part about these reunions is watching some really incredible bowling from this family! My MIL is amazing since she grew up bowling every day after school as a little girl with all of her siblings. It is like nothing for these people to bowl into the mid to high 200's!  Such a fun family gathering, they have cash raffle's and endless drinks and pizza, seriously the coolest reunion around :)!

I am terrible at bowling so I won't even acknowledge my score but my kids love, love, love this reunion and being with all of their extended cousins.

Boulder Mountain 09'

I am so behind on blogging lately! So I will start with our most recent goings-on.

We just returned from our annual camping trip to Boulder utah, it's in the Fishlake national forest and we had so much fun except for some mild meltdowns of my own. It was the first time we had taken our little camper out and it ended up being  pretty tight for our little family but for now it will work. We did the usual hikes and a visit to the water hole (in some cloudy, sprinkling weather) but the kids never care about temperature if there is water around. The first day there it started raining and we had left our camera out and it got ruined. So I only have few pics of the trip :( 

It wasn't my favorite year at Boulder because of the rain and my meltdowns! :<

But the kids had so much fun and that makes it all worth it! Here's to next year!!

Handy recipe

No this is not a glass of urine on my kitchen counter. It is a fantastic little remedy for getting rid of pesky summer fruit flies and it totally works! Here's what you do...

-Pour about a 1/4 c. to 1/2 c. APPLE CIDER vinegar into a glass

-add about a teaspoon dish soap (I  use any kind )

-Cover with saran wrap tightly 

-Poke with a fork

Let it sit on your kitchen counter. It catches tons overnight, I couldn't believe it! 

Happy hunting!

Love it!

My fabulous visiting teacher( and friend) Melanie guided me to this wonderful blog--mykitchencafe.blogspot.com . I am so excited to try all these delicious, and seemingly  simple recipes. I have been in such a slump for a while and I love that these are all tried and true. So I want you all to check it out and tell me your family faves!

Thanks Melanie!!

I'll do it.......some day!

Ugh! going private is proving to be more time consuming and extensive than I had hoped but I am still planning on doing it in the very near future! I just wanted to remind anyone who wants an invite that I do need your email address in order to invite you. Thanks to all who read and follow along with our life. I love checking  all of your blogs!

Why I blog.

When I first decided to start a blog I was REALLY hesitant to do it because I had talked to a number of people who were very anti-blogging. The basis was that it was considered self-indulgent and a complete waste of time. I never really agreed with that, and since I  have always enjoyed reading about my friends and families life in a way that I would never have seen otherwise, I decided to start journaling small parts of my life through this blog. Besides, I figure you don't HAVE to read it :)

 

I was reading the obituaries today, as I always do, and I was drawn to the Obit about a young mother just a few years younger than me who passed away after a 3 year battle with cancer. I was curious about the type of cancer that she had so I googled her name and found a blog that she and her husband had been keeping chronicling her battle though her illness and finally up to her death. It goes back several months and you kind of take this journey with them through it.

It was a very inspiring blog and I felt the strength of this family and the love and faith in The Savior that they have. I feel so grateful for what I have today because I know that it can all be taken away, if The Lord deems it necessary, at any moment.

I never take for granted that my posts are about the light and simple in my life. I am not good at journaling at all! but I do take tons of pics and video of my family, and I blog (not very well). I hope and pray that all of my "posts" can be about the simple and pleasant but I know that the day may come where I may be sharing a painful journey through my blog or posting an obituary of a loved one. But until that day, if it ever comes, I will continue to be grateful for( and blog about) the joys in my life and maybe just a few of the bumps in the road.