This is a picture of the Nauvoo Temple where my parents are serving a Mission. I had the chance to go back to Nauvoo last year and experience Nauvoo the best I think anyone can experience it. Me and two of my sisters flew back there and stayed with the two best tour guides we could ever ask for. (my parents). We got to stay right down in the "hub" of Nauvoo. Where all the sights and pageant etc. are located. I learned so much and now that our Relief society lessons are on Joseph Smith they have a ton more meaning to me than they probably would have otherwise. Anyway, my little sister, Kandice and her husband are just returning from Nauvoo today and it makes me a want to go back and experience it one last time before my parents return home. It was such a good learning experience and so much easier to imagine when they talk about the experiences of the early saints. And now that we are coming up on the 24th of the July and the celebration of the saints arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, it brings such a greater appreciation for the trials that they experienced in Nauvoo and their journey west.

I had some great experiences in Nauvoo and one in particular that was a great realization that my Heavenly Father was aware of us and loves us no matter how small or insignificant we may feel about ourselves.

I can't wait to hear about all the adventures Kandice and Dave had in Nauvoo. And I am very glad that my parents had the chance to serve a mission in such a great historical spot so that my knowledge and testimony could be increased. Thank goodness for missionary work.

Speaking of Missionary work, Tanner, gave a talk today in Primary on Missionary work and he did such a good job! He had his talk all memorized and he stood up and gave it so cute and the primary kids listened to him so well. I was so proud of him and I couldn't help but think what a great missionary he will make some day!

Catch up

Here is a quick review of what has been going on around here. Since I haven't blogged for a while

A little camping (dirt included). . . .

a little Fishing. . . .

(Just not a whole lot of catching going on_

A little naked Slip-n-slide. (apparently you slide better that way)

And that brings us up to date!!

Oh, and Megan I saw that you tagged RJ and I appreciate you thinking of us but all I would get out of him is yup and nope. So I will leave it at that and not bore everyone to death.

I will end with one thought for me to remember.

Friends are fun and great to have

but a brother is better than any other.

My little family's motto for this week.

And I would like to remind my sisters of the girls weekend coming up, it is going to be super fun and worth the trip (Trudi and Cheri) so be positive and think of the good memories we will make and not how much gas is going to cost to get here! (Trudi, I can feel your doubt from here).

I better post this one last picture for fear Kory might read this and him think I don't appreciate his skills as an outdoors man

Someday his dream may come true and the prophet will "order us to the hills to live off the land."
And then I can really see his skills put to the test. I just hope he doesn't expect much from me cause the only thing I did to prepare for such a thing was marry him!

Should these two things go together?

Like oil and water, some things just don't mix. That, in a nut shell, is how the past week has been around here. First on the list. . . RJ and a sling shot!

Should these two things ever be together? I would say they shouldn't be brought within a two mile radius of each other, and yet, so far (knock on wood) it works. RJ has been entertained for hours with his rocks and sling shot and we have yet to replace a window or rush to the Dr. for stitches in someones head. As long as we gather the rocks that land on the grass before we mow the lawn we are good. And we might have a scientific breakthrough on this one, these two just might be able to coexist!

Next on the list of "non mixers", boy's and pollywog's. At first, you may think these two things go hand in hand. Not if you are the polliwog. Those poor little things didn't stand a chance with RJ's desire to hold them instead of being content to just watch them swim around in the cup. And once RJ had his own little pet to carry around in his hand then a few others thought they needed a pet as well. This was at the Toquerville park. The kids had a great time catching frogs and pollywog's as well as getting wet. Here is a little video for Grandma's sake. There isn't a lot going on but you can here there voices and Tanner teasing his brothers which is always precious. Listen for Porter's little "rockin' n rollin" it was so cute.

The last thing on the list of non mixers is me and the sports arena. This last week was summer games. I put together a volleyball team and then I was invited to play on a basketball team. It was so much fun and I love every minute of being in the gym, yet I fear that it is getting closer to being one of those things that just shouldn't be put together. Our basketball team didn't win a single game. Although, it was never frustrating to me it was just fun to get together and play. Our Volleyball team did pretty good but that was a little more frustrating because we should have definitely come home with a medal and we ended up taking 4Th. I had told Kory Friday night that "for sure we will win a medal, we are one of the best teams there, yadda, yadda, yadda". I spoke too soon and we dropped a few games that we should have won. I hate that! I know we were really the better team but we just couldn't pull it all together.

And so because of my love for the game, I will continue to force the issue and keep playing (for another year at least). I don't have any pictures but that is probably for the best.

I just thought of one more non mixer that happened this week. Never mix your face head first down into the sprinkler box.

Once again, RJ, apparently the star of this post. He was standing on one of our big landscape rocks and fell headfirst into the sprinkler box. His tooth went all the way through his lip. I was afraid we were going to have to go have a stitch or two put in it but the band aid seemed to make it all better he was back outside running around 15 minutes after it happened.(And no he wasn't shooting his sling shot at the time). We have got to find some things that RJ will mix with before we give him a complex. Wow, that was a long post! sorry if that put you to sleep, it made me kinda tired too. Good night!

Peach Day's & Volleyball

I wanted to get the word out that I am putting together a volleyball tournament for Peach Day's so if you play or you know anyone that loves to play and would be interested in putting a team in send them my way. There is also a peach on my sidebar that you can click on and it will take you to the site that has more info on dates and times. I am super excited to have a weekend of playing volleyball and then get to head on over to Peach Day's and get some fresh homemade peach cobbler and Ice cream! What could be better?

I've been tagged

Shani tagged me a while ago and I decided I better do something about it so here goes.
10 year's ago I was. . .
A newlywed, working for Dr. Heideman as a dental assistant and I was probably in Mexico ten years ago today. (wish I was there now).
5 Years ago I was . . .
Living in LaVerkin, Luke was about a month old and I was probably still adjusting to life with 2 kids, and Tanner was probably up the street at Martha's house asking for food!
5 Months ago I was . . .
Pretty much doing the same thing I am now. Khloee had just turned one and I was still serving in the ward primary. I can't think of anything else different.
5 things on my "to do" list. . .
1. get stuff for father's day
2. have the kids make cards for fathers day
3. vacuum the house
4. take the kids for a bike ride
5. spray the weeds
5 snacks I enjoy
1. grapes
2. cookies (I never turn down a cookie)
3. cherry's
4. garden fresh peas
5. trail mix
5 things I would do if I suddenly became a billionaire
1. buy a new house with a big fat pool
2. buy a new car
3. go on a vacation (a really long vacation)
4. invest for the future
5. hire a maid so I could spend time playing with the kids
5 place I have lived
1. Washington
2. Layton
3. LaVerkin
4. LaVerkin (different House)
5. Hurricane
5 Things people may not know about me
1. although we have a dog and a cat, I am not a big animal lover (unlike my sister kandice.)
2. breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.
3. I was in 4H when I was younger. We were the "Super sewing cooks" and we learned to sew and cook (obviously) but I actually made a couple of different outfits from a pattern but you would never know it now because pattern reading is tricky for me.
4. I used to wish that I could become a professional spring board diver.
5. I wear the pants in the family (OK not really but I couldn't think of anything else)
5 people I would like to tag, how about anyone who reads this and wants to, should take the chance and just do it!

The end of another season

One baseball season down, how many seasons left of this? I actually love baseball season It is just a little too busy for Kory. He doesn't like to run from one thing to the next, I on the other hand like having the kids busy and things for them to look forward to in the day. Kory coached Tanner's team and he was glad to have their last game yesterday. I will admit it was crazy when the kids both had practice and games every week and Kory had games two nights a week and I usually played the same night as Tanner. But we survived!

Tanner loves baseball and it was great to have Kory with him throughout this season. Luke's season ended two weeks ago. Misti and I coached our little T-ball player's to an undefeated season. (I am sure we won every game even if we didn't keep score). They are the funnest age to coach I think. We didn't have a single game that I didn't laugh a whole bunch at something that happened. What a fun way to kick off the summer!

Now we just have to finish up Kory and my games and then it is on to the next season in life. (whatever that might be?)

Apron Swap

I came across this fun little apron swap on line one day and I thought it would be a fun way for me to do something a tiny bit crafty and creative but it also gave me a deadline so I knew I had to follow through. I signed up in May and then everyone was assigned someone to make an apron for. We also included a little bit about ourselves and a favorite recipe or recipe book and anything else that would go along with the apron. So Monday was the deadline and of course I was still working on my Apron. Kandice was going to do the swap with me so we had gone and got material and found a pattern together. She finished her apron like the next day after we had gotten all the supplies (at the first of May) and then she didn't get signed up for the swap. I on the other hand signed up and procrastinated making my apron. It was a fun project for me to do even if the kids were trying to be a little too helpful. Here is a picture of the Apron I sent off to my swap buddy. I included a recipe of my favorite summer salad and one of Maren's personalized hand soaps that she sells on her etsy site. It was super cute, thanks Maren for getting it done so fast.

Here is the apron I received from my Swap buddy Natalie who lives in Arizona.it is so cute and she did such a good job on it.

Natalie also included some yummy Mexican recipes that I can't wait to try out. In fact I just returned from the store and I bought the ingredients to try out this creamy tomatillo ranch dressing like they have at Cafe Rio. Yummy, I can't wait to try it on our chicken salad tonight. It was fun for me and the kids were just as excited when my apron arrived. I was afraid Luke was going to claim it as his own. He loved it! If any one is interested in joining next year let me know and I can let you know when it comes around again. I love seeing what other people come up with from the design of the apron to the type of material and embellishments they put on. It was time well spent for me.