The Draper Temple open-house

Last week, we had the opportunity to take our little family to the Draper Temple open-house. It was fun to see how reverent the kids were while walking through and the special peace that came over everyone when we entered the Celestial room. What a wonderful experience and how grateful I am that our children could be with us in the best place on earth. It was hard not to get a little choked up thinking about what it will be like to be in the temple together when we all have a recommend to be there! I can hardly wait!!:)

Though the kids liked the temple, I am afraid they were nearly as excited about the cookies they would get at the end. The sweet sister missionary (above) told us about the wonderful cookies in the reception area after the open-house and asked us if we'd bring her some back. She was semi kidding but the kids just had to take cookies back to her.

It was a wonderful day!!:)

(This was the bus ride back to the church where we parked and

I think this hottie sitting by me wanted to kiss me!?!:D)

On the way home, we saw about 12 deer

grazing in someone's yard.

Texas!! YEE-HA

My honey and I went to Dallas this weekend for a work convention and had an absolutely wonderful time! It was hard to leave the kids but, so nice to get away by ourselves! Here are some pics from our, pump-up the positive attitude weekend! We were spoiled rotten and loved every minute of it!:) Our last night was like PROM! Good, dinner, entertainment and we got to dress up!:) Work buds: The guys look'n good! The ladies during a l-o-n-g awards ceremony starting to get silly!

Off-Track Fun!

Our kids have been out of school since Christmas Eve and just went back today. Though this break was a little long, we always love off-track time because we do lots of playing, exploring and field trips. Here were some of the highlights:

For starters, we spent New Year's Eve with some friends, and had a great time playing games, munching, visiting and laughing!

The girls

The guys

Good

Friends!

This is how everyone should look after being

in a chocolate factory!!

We try to go on at least one factory or business tour every time we are off track and this time , we chose one of our favorites. It was even more fun to have some good friends with us too.

Fun with the family. It's always fun to get some energy out after being trapped inside during the winter!

Cool Dude!

We always love to go downtown and visit the sites around Temple Square! The kids especially love to see the children's museum, statues and ride the TRAX!

The kids love the story about the cricket and the seagulls so we had to get a picture by Seagull Monument this time around.

Okay, so these have to be some of my favorite, recent pics! We have been talking about the temple a lot because we will be going through the Draper temple soon, so I wanted a picture for them to have of the temple! I love how these turned out!:)

I have always wanted to drive up to the castle that is on the hill around Fruit Heights, since I was a little girl and a few weeks ago, my kids and I did it. We decided that it did not seem quite as big and mysterious as I had always thought. We did find a great hiking trail near it though.

One of our last little outings was with some of our neighbors to Backyard Adventures. We loved having the place to ourselves and again, running, and playing and running some more!

Last and best of all, Grandma T came for a few days and we went up to Ogden to celebrate our uncle Paul's birthday with him. We love having our family come to visit and we love the memories we get o make!

PARTY'N (family style)

We told Porter on his birthday, that he could pick anything he wanted for breakfast and he chose, to Sadie and dad's dismay..."cold cereal". Anyway he had four little card's by his seat that read..."Porter's birthday choices 1-4. He chose the Chuck E Cheese option which meant a ton of, of course, CHEAP tokens, pizza and, a refillable drink (which is the reason I think Porter picked that option). Anyway, we had a blast spending time with our family and seeing how flippen good our kids are at getting the "100 point hole" on skeeball.:) The kids and I also loved the fact that daddy had the whole day to spend with us and it was a weekday. YEA!!!:)

The kids turning on the charm for Chucky..."CHEESE"!

Okay, so Kailey was not one of our children who scored a 100 pointer...at least not the honest way.

What sweet, little buddies!

One of my favorite mom moments this far has been

watching my children become one another's best friends! :)

Happy 7th Birthday!!

PORTER Porter is the "Energizer Battery" of the family and is most always charged!:) He loves moving, playing, hiking, cracking jokes, loving, questioning, being outside and anything else that involves motion. He is a natural, little athlete at everything he tries and is generally a first to figure things out. Though he is sweet and loving to his family, (as long as no "outside" eyes are watching), he loves to wrestle with anyone who crosses his path. You might think that 3 sisters would make him a little reserved, instead, he has brought the rough and tough boy things into our girl's world, considering that they are usually his wrestling buddies. Luckily they are learning to hold their own. Porter also likes to figure things out and is very interested in and curious about the world around him. He is also a good helper and enjoys doing little things to earn money. We are proud of him and the young man he is becoming. We are grateful for his outgoing and energetic spirit in our home. We know that the Lord must have a great work for him to do here and our prayer, as parents, is that we will be able to help provide and direct his strengths were the Lord needs him to go. We love our boy!:)loving big bro!Good Buddy!

Athletic and adventurous!

CAUTION: Not for the weak of ear!!!

Okay, so we are going through a HUGE "Potty Talk" faze at our house: not Jason and I of course, but our three older kids. Well, some of our kids know exactly what they are saying and what it means while other's don't.

The following conversation is uncut and unedited:

Aubrey: "giggles"..."Cheese makes me fawt"

Mom: "no, toot"

Aubrey: "toot makes me fawt"

Mom & Dad: trying to hold in belly laughs.


What would life be like without kids? They can be such a test of patience at times while at other times, they are the cutest and funniest little things you've ever seen! I am so grateful to have been blessed with the family I have! For the most part, my kids are best buddies and they never miss a moment to involve mom and dad in their fun and games too! We have so much fun together and, even though it's not all fun and games and their are some days when I may be on the verge of pulling my hair out, I would not trade the family I have for anything in the world! They are my pride and joy and the loves of my life!:)

Pac Man

So I would do a post and tell about our fun New Year's Eve party or some of the fun we have been having while my kids have been off track but every time I come to my blog to do anything, I end up playing Pac Man. It is one of my fave arcade games anyway and I have discovered that it is terrible to have it on my computer to play for FREE!! AHHHHH. So don't be surprised if it comes up missing one of these days. Well I'm off to play Pac Man...I mean do something constructive with my evening like fold laundry!:)