Apple Picking

Last Saturday we went apple picking with aunt Hope. We went to Farnsworth farms in Sandy. It was a little tiny orchard, but it was the perfect place for the kids. We made applesauce that night and made cobbler on Sunday, it was yummy!

Bloody Baby

I took Maren in to have some lab work last week. I was feeling guilty because I had had the orders for over a month. I finally decided we would go right after I got the big kids to school. I first went to the hospital, but the lines were huge, so I thought I would go over to the lab at the doctors plaza. Bad idea. I should have waited in line at the hospital. We waited for about 45 minutes in a teeny tiny waiting room. There was one lady that gave us dirty looks the whole time. Thank goodness for the nice little old lady sitting next to us. She let Maren go through her purse and play with all of her things. Finally when it was our turn, the nice lab ladies couldn't hit her veins. They tried twice and got enough for some of the tests and then poked her finger to get the rest. Next time, I will wait at the hospital. Maren wouldn't keep the bandaids on and so as I walking to the car I got some strange looks. Then I realized that Maren was bleeding and smearing blood everywhere. We were both covered. I tried to clean her up, but when we got home, she was totally covered. Because I am such a good mom, I took pictures before I cleaned her up. Thank goodness her iron levels are up, hopefully there will be no more trips to the lab.

Beautiful Butterfly Bush

A few years ago my brother and sis-in-law gave me a butterfly bush for my birthday. This year it has been so pretty. The butterflies, humming birds and bees love it. These are some of the visitors to my bush.

And another ones gone, and another ones gone...

Addy lost two teeth last week. One came out on Tuesday, the other on Thursday. She is now two dollars richer. The one picture is kind of scary and I'm sure that someday she'll hate me for it. Oh well. She looks so much different now. 3 front teeth missing has given her a little bit of a lisp too. Just after the second tooth came out, she came downstairs giggling because she can't make the "s" sound very well, it was great. I'm just not sure what she wants for Christmas now that her two front teeth are out. Hahahaha, okay that was lame.

Baby Shower

Cute Lindsay and some of her loot

Marie and Bryce, my great shower helpers

I burnt a dish towel while baking

I made 8 dozen cream puffs over 2 days

My friend Lindsay is expecting her first baby around Halloween. She's waited a long time to be a mom, so we had to throw a party for her. The shower went well, we invited over 80 people and had at least 40 show up and another 5 drop off gifts. It was fun visiting with friends and neighbors and seeing all the cute pink things.

Super Busy

I can't believe how busy I have been in the last few weeks. I feel like today is the first day that I have actually been able to slow down and breathe. I have spent the last few weeks planning and carrying out a baby shower, which was very successful. I baked 8 dozen cream puffs and 6 dozen chocolate chip cookies for the shower. I don't mean to brag, but I had many people tell me they were the best cream puffs they had ever tasted. I took Maren in for more lab work. Her iron is finally up, yeah! We've been doing homework, picking apples and cooking with them, pulling more teeth out, going to young women activities, working on girls camp, slide-shows and lots of other things. Oh, and helping lots of friends with their children. I also have been doing some things to help at the school. I think I need a short break, I'm grateful to be busy, but I'm a little tired of my life being planned for me. I'm a control freak, I need some control. Sigh. I'm done now. So, I guess I will post some pictures from the last few weeks. Breathe...

Kindergarten at last

Today was Sydnee's first day of kindergarten. She has been so excited for months now. This morning she was up and dressed by 7 and ready to go. She was a little nervous, she wouldn't eat her breakfast. Ben went to work late so that he could walk with us to school. She led the way to the school. She was all smiles as she stood in line waiting for her teacher to come. She didn't look back at all. She was so happy when I picked her up. She had a great day and has been talking (in a big girl voice) non-stop. Hurray for kindergarten!

Hey Maren, Where's your nose?

That's right, good job!

Goofballs

Trying on Maren's clothes

Baby clothes and memories

I pulled out a box of baby clothes today so that I could take inventory of what Maren will need for winter. I pulled out this purple outfit that is totally hideous and started to laugh. When Addy was little, terrible two's to be exact, she wore the purple outfit. She always seemed to be wearing it when she got into trouble. Take the picture for instance, she would use her laundry bag or diaper pail to climb up on top of her dresser. As you can see in the picture, she had emptied all of her clothes out of the dresser and made a huge mess. I couldn't find a picture of one other incident, but I remember it well. I went in to check on Addy during nap time. We had just transitioned her from the crib to a twin bed. When I walked in she was a greasy mess. She had used her diaper pail to climb up on the dresser. She reached way up to get her diaper rash ointment which was up on top of a shelf. She had smeared the ointment all over herself, the quilt on her bed, the wall and the carpet. Her clothes were covered and her face and hair were just nasty. She had also eaten some, gross! I got her into the bathtub and called poison control. They told me she would be fine. I had to wash her several times with lots of soap to try and get all the grease out. It took a lot of work to clean everything up, there was still a stain on the carpet in her room when we moved. The worst part is that she did it more than once. Crazy kid. This outfit will not be making its way into Maren's drawer this fall. I don't think she needs to wear the naughty toddler outfit.

The Last Hurrah

My friend Jamie and I took the kids, well most of them to the zoo yesterday. Jamie and I have been friends since we were born, okay, as long as I can remember. Sydnee loves Garrett and says she is going to marry him, so cute. It was the perfect day to go to the zoo. It was sunny and breezy, but not hot. Perfect. We had a great time checking out the animals, watching the animals we call our children and just catching up. What a great way to spend our last day before kindergarten starts. Thank you Jamie for a super day!

Smart"ies" Girl

Maren's new favorite thing is smarties. She loves them, she screams for them when she sees them. She's a super smart girl liking the sweet stuff.

End of Summer Splash

Last night we had a neighborhood end of summer party. They had the big water slides up on the hill at the park. We couldn't keep Addy and Sydnee away from them. Maren was content to just wander around and steal potato chips. I am so grateful that we live where we do and have great neighbors. What a great way to end the summer. Addy is the blue speck just starting down the slide. I never made it close enough to get good pictures. Oh well!
P.S. Addy loved the first 3 days of school, yeah!

A Super Saturday

Yesterday, Ben and I had the privilege to go to a sealing at the Mt. Timpanogos temple. A family in our ward whom we love had their youngest son sealed to them. This family is amazing. They have 2 biological daughters and have adopted 7 children who were in the foster care system. Kim and Matt are two people who I look up to, the story of how they came to have all of their children just amazes me. Yesterday morning was just perfect. The sealer gave a little talk before the kids came in and it really touched me. He talked about the covenants that are made in the temple and their significance. It was a good reminder that was very helpful to me. When the children came in the room, I was just overpowered with the sense of love in the room. Even now I'm a little teary eyed thinking about it. I am so grateful for the gospel and the knowledge that I can be together with my family for eternity. I am grateful that Ben and I could be married in the temple and keep our children sealed to us forever.

Another on bites the dust

Addy lost her 3rd tooth on Saturday night. Isn't she cute? Goodbye bucktooth, hello new tooth!

First Day of School 2010

I can't believe I have a 2nd grader. Addy was so excited for school this morning. I can't wait until she gets home to hear all about it.

I have my copy, do you have yours?

My friend Amy and I went to Wal-Mart at midnight on Monday to get our copy of Mocking Jay. Wal-mart only had 13 copies, so we were pretty lucky to get our hands on one. Now, I must go read.

Out With a Bang

The luggable loo...don't ask

Sister Wirtz trying out the potty

kaber toss

On Sunday I was released from the young women's presidency. It was a sad day. I love the girls in our ward, they are just awesome. I have loved working with them, but it was time for some changes. I was also given a new calling, ward camp director. I was thrilled, I still get to spend time with the girls, and I love camp. This last weekend I went on a campout with our young men and young women. We camped in the west desert with all of the bugs. When we arrived, we were buzzed by one of our young men leaders. He is a member of the air national guard. He was flying that night so he came and buzzed us. It was awesome! We had 10 young women go and they didn't want to be split up, so all 10 of them slept in one tent. The boys put up our tents and so the leaders tent was right next to the girls tent. After getting settled, the kids played a church trivia game in groups. Then the young men in charge shared their favorite scriptures. Brother Grover shared a story from his mission and shared his testimony. He's an awesome guy. Then it was time for ride that pony and other games. I think we finally headed for bed around midnight. Having the girls so close to our tent and hearing them giggle kept us awake. We (the leaders) had so much fun talking and sharing stories. We meaning the girls and leaders didn't get to sleep until 4 a.m. I woke up about an hour later and finally got up and dressed around 6. The bugs were horrific and I could hear them swarming around our tent. After very little sleep, we had breakfast and then rotated through the various stations. We shot black powder rifles, .22's and shot guns. We also played some games that required team work. We also threw tomahawks and knives and had a kaber toss. Besides being too hot, it was lots of fun. The kids in our ward are great and just so much fun to be around. I left my calling as 1st counselor with a bang.