I love to see the Temple

"And if it so be that ye should labor all your days and bring but one soul unto me. How great shall be your joy." What a great day it was for us yesterday. After many years of trial, tribulation, perserverance, love and family, Aaron's Mother was able to return to the Temple. Her records were reinstated and we were honored to be able to be with her and share in her special day. I am grateful for the example she is to me and my family. It isn't easy to set a goal and decide within yourself to obtain that goal, no matter what the cost. I know that she has always had a testimony and a desire to serve our Heavenly Father. She will now have the opportunity to do that on a more regular basis as she has been called to be a Temple Worker. Can you even imagine a more fulfilling assignment than the work of the Lord? I know she will be blessed because of her willingness, faithfulness and diligence. I am so grateful for my Husband. It is because of his love and his closeness to the Spirit that all of this came to be. He followed the prompting in spite of everyone's disapproval. He knew at the time that it was the right thing to do, and because of that, her life has been changed for the better. I am so glad we were able to be part of her experience and for the opportunity that it allowed us to be together inside the Temple. It is always a good experience and such an enjoyable way to spend an evening. After our session, Mom took us out for some great mexican food. I wish I would have brought my camera inside the restaurant to show what Aaron and Chad ate for dinner. It could have easily fed the two of them plus me, Mom and Noey. However, the girls decided to take a more traditional approach in our menu choices. As for the guys...they enjoyed every bite and I'm sure Chad will be ordering it in the future! Thanks everyone for the enjoyable night and for allowing us to be a part of it.

Da Bee's!

For family night this past Monday, we took the boys to their first Bee's game. I think for the most part they really enjoyed it. Aaron got us seats along the third base line and although it seemed a good idea at the time to sit by the opposing team's pitchers, the sun was BRUTAL! Luckily, the sun does finally set and we could watch the game in enjoyable weather. The boys brought their mits in the hopes they would catch a fly ball. Not so lucky in that department:) However, they did make friends with a pitcher from the other team who gave each of them (and Aaron) a ball. Talk about making their day! I'm such a space cadet and forgot to bring our camera, but I did manage a couple of pictures later so they could show off their first professional baseballs. I think even more of a highlight for them was the fact that "Bumble" (their mascot) signed both their ball and their programs. Baseball, family, food, and fun. All in all, an excellent family night:)

mixing it up

I ran across this idea the other day and thought it was so great. Any of you mom's out there know how hard it can be to think of new ideas for meals and even snacks. It seems especially hard in the summer time (for me anyway.) This is not only a great way to introduce your kids to something new, in a fun way, but to break up your normal routine. If this wouldn't work for you in terms of your main lunch, it's a great idea for afternoon snacks. Try it out! Your kids will love it:)

Jeremiah Johnson Day Camp

So...I forgot to post this right after it actually happened and today Jackson asked, "How come Dad gets a post about Scout Camp, and I don't?" Good question, I thought. So here is a post about Jackson's very first Scout Camp. He went last Wednesday to a place called Jeremiah Johnson day camp. He went with all of his troop and leaders and had an absolute blast! Aaron was totally bummed, of course, because he was at his troops Scout Camp at the same time and wasn't able to attend with Jackson. Oh well! I'm sure there will be many more chances:) Anyway, Jackson did a lot of fun activities including: canoeing, BB guns (yikes!), crafting and just getting dirty (hey, he is a boy). Just a one day event, but he talks about it like it was a week. I'm grateful that he has the love and desire to participate in scouts. Thank heavens he has a terrific Dad to set such a great example. It looks like with Aaron's calling and having just the two boys, I'm in for a lot of camping over the next few years! Hooray for SCOUTS!

Dino's, Cousins & Carl's

What a great day we had! Not only was it our first time to Thanksgiving Point's Dinosaur Museum, but we got to enjoy it with Amy, Kaleigh, Kaden & Brianna. I was surprised how much there was to learn about and see. Unfortunately, I think the kids enjoyed the water & fossil brushing more than the educational part. No matter, they had a blast and I'm sure we will visit again one day:) After the museum we headed to Carl's Jr. for a little lunch, a lot of playland, and good conversation. It seems forever since we've been together and it was nice to catch up. It's sad to think that the warm summer days are slowing coming to an end. School in 3 weeks, baby! I still have mixed emotions about that. Anyway, thanks to Amy and kids for a great day. We love you guys!:)

Scout Camp

Okay, so Aaron is officially off to Scout Camp! Let me just say that personally I enjoy the preparation for backpacking more than organized camp. It took the two of us all day Saturday to prepare a list, shop, and organize the food. We got up at 4:00 AM today to pick up food from Mom and Dad's and pack the coolers. Up until earlier this evening I thought we had remembered everything.....WRONG! Mom called and said we had left the bag of grated cheese in her refrigerator. Thank goodness the Scout Master from 7th ward isn't leaving until tomorrow. The good news is that if that's the only thing that was forgotten, we didn't do half bad. Don't you love the scouting program? I can't really say that I did until I really understood the meaning of it. Watching the love and dedication my Husband has for it has really strengthened my Testimony. I am so grateful to have a small part in helping with it. So here's to a good week for Aaron and his troop and also to the boys and myself who will be flying solo! I pray we ALL make it through:)

Proud to be an aMeRiCaN!

So, our 4th of July holiday was low key, relaxing, and full of family time! Aaron had Thursday and Friday off work this year, so we got him for an entire four day weekend. We got back from Logan on Wednesday night and Jackson had caught himself a little bug. He was still battling on Thursday, so we decided to stay close to home. By the evening he was a little better and ready to get out of the house. We decided to take the kids to the Olive Garden for dinner and enjoy a night of no dishes (which was more for Mom than anyone:) On Friday we some time over at Mom and Dad's visiting with them, Uncle Mike, Aunt Ricki, Shawn & Allyson. We didn't stay for the BBQ and headed down to Provo instead for our annual Stadium of Fire firework show. No, we don't go inside, we watch from a hill outside. The price is nice and the family time on the lawn with KFC is far better! When we arrived we found out that our friends, the Perez family, had tickets to watch the show but they were short two. So, we got the pleasure of having Estuardo and his brother share our spot with us. Thanks for hanging with us guys! Old maid and go fish were awesome! The kids loved it. Saturday we spent the day at the pool letting the kids work off energy galore! I think they are fish living in a child's body. They SO love the water! Johnny learned how to manage the green slide all on his own without any help from Mom or Dad! That was a big accomplishment for him. Jackson, on the other hand, is content to swim in "the deep" as he calls it, all by himself. For not giving either of our boys lessons they sure are pros when it comes to water. So, that was the extent of the weekend. Nice and relaxing! It's unfortunate that Monday's tend to always roll around eventually. At any rate, we were grateful to not only have time together as a family, but to celebrate the freedom that our country has. We feel so blessed to know that we are citizens of the USA and can live freely in everything that we choose. We should never take it for granted!

first time blogger!

Okay, so I'm not really a "first time blogger." I deleted my first one:) Anyway, I'm committed to blogging this time around and promise to be faithful in keeping you up to date on the fun filled (and not so fun filled) events of our little family. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I'll enjoy posting! Happy blogging everyone!