Our New Addition

Yes, we have a new addition to our family. We got a piano!! We abosolutly LOVE it and I think the best part is having more music in our home.


The kids love making music. They make up songs all the time and play them for me. None of the kids can read music, but that doesn't stop them from playing.

One day we hope to be able to get myself and the kiddos into lessons... one day. For now I will enjoy all the wonderful sounds that come from our piano!

P.S. - - I LOVED the way Evelyn's hair turned out on this particular day!! French braid in the front, pulled to the back/side into a "messy bun" with a bow!!

To market, To market

While Carrie and kiddos were visiting us, she showed me how to make these "market bags." I'll probably use it to put books and crayons, etc... things to entertain the kiddos at church.


I just think it's too cute to put milk, eggs, or *gasp* packages of raw hamburger in... EWWW ;)

Thanks Carrie!

Pillow Pets

So every so often, JoAnns has their sewing patterns on sale for $1.00 and the last time I was there I found the cutest pattern for pet pillows - the kind of pillow that wraps around your neck, but made to look like an animal - and decided it would be so fun if I could make them before our big trip this summer.


I started right away working on them, and in the midst of finishing my second one, Carrie (Thayne's sister) was visiting and was going to be here for a week and decided she wanted to make some for her kids too. I called these my "Secret Projects" while the kids were around and they were pretty good about not being too snoopy. But they would see me working on a body part - like the ears - and guess what body part it was and guess what kind of animal I was making. I think they saw the pattern envelope so they knew it was animals... For me to make all 4 took maybe 3 weeks... (you know 'free time' comes at a premium these days). Carrie got her 2 done within a week!! I'm soo glad Carrie decided to make some too, it helped me to not get burned out! Thanks Carrie!!

Here's how they turned out!! I put my kids' first name initial on one of their paws. The kids love them!! Success! - and just in time for our vacation :)


Evelyn's - Pink Puppy!! Her "E" initial is on the back of her front paw. She named her Rosena... We'll see if that sticks, She liked that because I put flowers on her dog's back.



Samuel's Green Puppy with green circles on his back! He named his dog "Race Car" - He thinks of some funny names for his 'lovies' The "S" initial is also on the back side of the front paw.



Hyrum had to have a lion. I couldn't picture a more fitting pillow pet for him! And lions have his favortie color - Orange. Since he likes blue too, that's the color of his initial. He named his lion "Lion." That makes 3 Lions - all named "lion" - that he has and he loves them ALL!!



I made Anna a purple monkey with hearts on it's back!! She got a sneak peek of her monkey while I was finishing making it and she hugged and kissed it tons!! I didn't think she would care one way or another, but seeing her reaction made making her one sooooo worth it!

Car Woes

So since at least Christmas, my car had been acting "funny." Little things here and there but then they would disappear or go away. Here are some of the things that my car would do (when I say "my car" I'm talking about the Suburban):

The Check Airbag light would come on. This was the most consistant problem. It would come on at varying lengths of time and then go back off. At one point, I needed to get the car safety inspected and noticed that my light had gone off. So we hurried and took it in while the light was off so it would pass :) and it did...

When I take my keys out of the ignition, the doors are supposed to unlock. On two instances, this did not happen.

Once while I was driving, I looked down to see how fast I was going, only to notice that my gauges were not working - The speedometer, the odometer, the gas gauge...none of them!!

A few times while driving, the gauges and radio would reset. SO for about 2 seconds, nothing would work, and then they would start working again. Also, when this happened, the clock would reset, so I never knew what time it really was! ARGH!

I felt like things were getting worse and worse because these things were all happening on at least a daily basis. To make things worse, this was when Thayne was going out of town for a WEEK!! Being the pessimeist that I am, I could see how this was going to play out: Thayne would leave town and the car would break down. I would be lost somewhere where my cell phone didn't work and it would probably be in a bad neighborhood.

Luckily, I can't predict the future and Heavenly Father shed a tender mercy on our family. Thayne and I were on a date, the night before Thayne was set to leave. We drove home so that we could eat dinner and can jalepenos. Then we got in my car to go out for a treat, and the car didn't start at all!

While this put a damper on our date, we were able to figure out that my battery was DEAD, replace the battery, and get my car working again while Thayne was here!! My car (knock on wood PLEASE) has been running wonderfully since repacing the battery and I feel like this 'breakdown' couldn't have happened at a better time!

A Long Time Coming...

So I think in some areas of my life I over-prepare... which I feel is better than under-preparing, but still, it is silly sometimes. For instance: After Thayne and I were married, but before we had children, or were even pregnant, I started buying baby clothes. Just the 'cutest' outfits when they went on sale.

Then there have been other times when I buy baby girl clothes, when I have a baby boy. I just figured that I would use it someday...

Well one of those 'somedays' was today.


When we lived in Idaho, Hyrum was the baby, and we went shopping at TJMaxx one day and I saw these cute "Got Milk" oneies. I instantly fell in love with them, but they were pink - obviously Hyrum would not be wearing them, but I still 'had' to have them. I don't regret it. I still love them, I guess I'm just glad that we had another girl who could look so cute in them!!

I must get this trait from my mother, who gave me a little girl outfit when I was pregnant with Hyrum (partly my fault b/c I adamantly thought, for the first 4 months of my pregnancy with Hyrum, that I was going to have a girl...) Anyway, we saved that outfit for years too, till Anna could wear it!!

Thanks for coming into our family Anna - we needed you on so many levels!!

Lost Library Books...

So it shouldn't surprise me that we lost 2 library books, we had 22 checked out... But the last time we went to the library, we checked out 38, so 22 sounded like a much more manageable number of library books - till I could only find 20....

I tried to get the kids to look for the books, but really they were not interested in finding them at all, EVEN when I bribed them... sad.

Knowing they were due in just 3 days, and that they could be ANYWHERE, I began cleaning and searching. Even when I wasn't searching, it was all I could think about: "Where are those books..." "What haven't I looked under..." etc.

We have only lost one book in our library history, but perhaps the memory of that experience is what makes me want to never lose another book. Of all books to have to pay for why couldn't it be one of the ones that we read 100 times and absolutely LoVe?? (and we did eventually find it, so now we own it...) Oh no, it was a Dora the Explorer book - "I Love My Papi." - I don't even think we had read that book before we lost it... and we had to pay a restocking fee that was MORE than the cost of the book... which I guess is a blessing that it wasn't some rare hardback book... just a cheap paperback one...

Anyway, as I was rummaging around the house, I caught a glimmer of something that was 'off' by the fireplace. Nothing stood out, but something was different. Can you find the books?


Here's a closer look...


As I went in for a closer look and lo and behold, the library books had gotten shoved into a small crack in the fireplace, and the only reason I could see it was because the books were tall enough to just barely show through the grill.



These books were masterfully planted there because they cannot just go straight down. There is that overhanging grill that goes out about 1/2 inch from this crack... It must have been Anna. She does love the fireplace.


With tweezers in each hand, I was able to get them both out (and that same day they were returned to the library - not even a late fee!!) Maybe someday I'll get to see HOW exactly 2 books got put in that peculiar spot... But for now, I am just grateful that the books were found - especially before the due date!!

P.S. - When we went to the library to return the books, I vowed to not bring too many home... we ended up with 29 - AHH!!

Manna From Heaven

So one afternoon the doorbell rang, and I opened the door and what lay in front of my eyes was the most interesting package we have ever recieved... 12 pounds of Onions.


What? Onions??? We didn't order onions... Did someone send us a gift??... Unfortuantely - NO - these onions were addressed to the previous owner of our house...

ARGH! It's bad enough we get their credit card applications, store catalog magazines, christmas cards, and junk mail... but it's just WRONG to get a package at your house and realize it's not for you!!

So we called the company these onions came from and they told us we could keep them because they did not have a forwarding address! WaHOo!!

Talk about good timing, we were almost out of onions when these arrived. And I have to say that I have never seen more beautiful onions than these... Good size, No bruises, Just enough peel... What a nice surprise!