In Loving Memory....

"ROXY"

Our little Roxy Dog! How Roxy came to be...? When my little brother Scott was mountain biking up behind the capital several years ago, he came across a little lost black lab pup. Scott, being the tendered hearted little guy he was, decided this dog could not be alone any longer. He took the laces out of shoes and made the puppy a leash to bring her home. Once at home, Scott fed her and gave her plenty of water. He had an immediate bond with this lost little pup. Mom of course, told Scott "absolutely NOT." "We will not have another dog in this house!!!!" Scott put posters up all over the neighborhood but no one claimed the dog. By this time the dog had a name..."ROXY" and a master and a family. Best of all, Mom fell in love with her. And Roxy has been part of the family since....around 15 years!

HER PERSONALITY

Loves To Play Fetch

Enjoys Chasing Cats...But She Never Knows What To Do With Them Once She Has Caught Them!

HATES Thunder, Lightening and Rain

Likes To Take Herself For A Walk

Young Children Make Her Nervous

She Listens To EVERYTHING Scott Says

Hides Under The Bed

Eats Grass When She Has A Belly Ache

Despises Getting A Bath

But Likes To Swim In The Lake

The other night Roxy escaped from the front door while no one was paying attention. A few hours later I noticed she wasn't following me around the house as I locked up. I went outside in hopes to find her on the porch waiting for me. (She often took herself on a walk and would wait on the front porch for us to let her in!) Sadly, Roxy wasn't there. As I was calling for her, my neighbor asked who I was looking for. I explained it was the dumb dog and if he saw her to give me a call so I could go get her. A few minutes later, my phone rang. Steve told me a little black dog had been hit by a car and was on the side of the road. I got in the car to see if it was her, but by the time I got there, someone had all ready picked her up. We aren't sure if Roxy died or if she was rescued. We haven't been able to locate our little Roxy Dog and we miss her very much. I am so sad that our family dog of 15 years is gone, she wormed her way into the hearts of everyone. She will be missed and we LOVE you Roxy!

God Bless America!

Today was quite the day! It seems like sometimes a HOLIDAY is more work than it should be! But oh well, it was a fun day! We celebrated little Brody's birthday and the 4th all in one day! Good food, good friends and family, bad HOT day, NICE cool swimming pool! I of course had to yipe up the 4th at our house - just a little bit! The kids put on their patriotic shirts (poor little Griffie didn't have one..but he is in camo instead!) and mohawked the boys hair with RED hair gel, girlied up Charlee with patriotic hair bows (and red hair too) and took some pictures! This day means so much more to me now that it has in the past. I have a new sense of patriotism and appreciation for this country. I am so grateful I live in a free land where I have the FREEDOM to choose. God Bless America!

FYI - I let Griffin have a day off...it's so HOT outside! It would have been torture to make him wear that helmet!

Oh My...That Is All I Can Say!

Can you say PRINCESS CHARLEE?

Here is what she looked like underneath all those covers! I think I am in serious trouble. She came up with the outfit all on her own! And yes, that is a scarf she managed to turn into a shirt. Well, not sure if you can classify that has a shirt, but rather some type of top!

Griffindor....Little Man!

My little Griffin man is growing up! I think he wears his helmet very well. Doesn't he look FREAKY cute? I mean seriously, doesn't that smile just melt your heart? I think one thing I love about his helmet is the ANGRY EYES he gets. When the helmet slips a little, it pushes all the chunky from his forehead down towards his eyes. He looks like he is super mad, but then he smiles and it is to funny! I haven't been able to catch that look yet on camera, but I am trying!

Griffin has mastered going down the one stair in our house! He doesn't do it the right way, oh no! He heads down head first! Sometimes he falls, but the helmet protects his little head and he just continues on his way! I sure am going to miss that helmet when it is time to say goodbye!

Mission Accomplished! He is safely down the stair and now climbing back up. It never seems to bore him, and I don't quite understand!

This picture is just because....This is what he looks like when he gets his ONE hour a day without his helmet on! I have to put socks on his hands because if not...He just scratches and scratches his head until it bleeds. Poor little guy, can you see all the read marks on his forehead? The helmet causes skin breakdown, plus all the sweat, YUCK!!!! He reminds me of a little cat when he paws at his head trying to scratch, I can't help but laugh at him every time! He even will lay his forehead on the carpet and rub it back and forth while he is rubbing the back of his head with his little hands! So cute!

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY BRODSTER!

Last year today the first of what would be three boy cousins to be born in a six week period, Brody Scott entered the world!

It seems like yesterday I got the phone call Shaunna was going to the hospital to have Brody! In some ways I was extremely jealous because I still had six weeks to go. How amazing it was to hold Brody for the first time and feel of his perfect sweet spirit. I must admit, I was again jealous because Tammie was next, she to was having a boy. I on the other hand, had to be the difficult one and not find out if we were having a boy or a girl. Deep down I knew I was having a boy, but constantly doubted because NO WAY could all three of us have boys. I would have the girl and she would forever be picked on by the two older boys....sometimes that is how life goes! But, the Lord had something special in store. Another boy would be born! I can't wait to see what else is in store for these three AMAZING little men. What a precious miracle happened for our family!

We love you Brody and hope you have a FANTABULOUS 1st birthday!

The Roly Poly

The typical Roly Poly as we like to call it!

So the story goes a little something like this...we were enjoying a little lunch outside at Grandma's house. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the food and the company. Charlee comes up to me and shows me she has found a Roly Poly Bug. Out of no where I say "Charlee, I will pay you a dollar if you eat that Roly Poly Bug." Why would a mother say this to her child? I have no idea! But it was wrong...probably! She just stares at me like "hmmmmm....a dollar?" Then Aunt Tammie says "Charlee, I will give you 5 dollars if you eat that Roly Poly Bug!!!" Charlee then confirms that if she eats this bug we will definitely give her $6.00. She fiddled with the bug and continued pondering if eating this bug was worth the money! Next thing I know, Charlee rolls the Roly Poly Bug up like this....

Grabs her drink, puts the bug into her mouth, take a swallow of juice and down the Roly Poly goes! She immediately holds out her little hand and says "I want my SIX DOLLARS!!!"

I about died! I really didn't think she would do it, what little girl eats a bug? And better yet, what mother entices her child with money to eat a bug? But, of course we paid up and Charlee went to Target and bought herself a hula hoop!

Enrichment Night June 2009

When Life Gives You Lemons...Make Lemonade!

Last month I received a new calling in my ward. I was asked to be the Enrichment Leader! I of course said yes! I later found out that the next Enrichment Night was in a month...Yikes! I had never been in charge of one of these so I was a little nervous. I began thinking of ideas and I decided to go with the old saying "When Life Gives You Lemons...Make Lemonade!" The entire evening was based around lemons, and it was fabulous!

The night started with a light summer dinner! We had loaves of bread on the table with lemonade and water. Our center piece was a lemonade stand filled with fresh lemons! For dinner we served a yummy BBQ Chicken Salad and fresh cold Fruit Kabobs! I liked that the dinner was light...who wants a big heavy meal when it is so hot outside? For dessert we served Frozen Pink Lemonade Pie! The pie was so refreshing.

Now, what is an evening based around lemonade without a Lemonade Stand? My dad made this for me...just for this night! I decorated it because it had to be CUTE! Cooper and Charlee are so excited because after this night was over, the Lemonade Stand is being passed to them.


While everyone was enjoying their dessert, we had a guest speaker. Sister Larsen spoke to us about how important it is to take life's sour lessons and make them into sweet lemonade. She had three stories that really hit home to me. I realize that even when things are hard, the Lord will never leave me. I know I can rely on Him to help me make my own lemonade! She brought the Spirit into our meeting and I am so grateful she was willing to speak to us!

We then broke into mini classes where we learned all there was to know about LEMONS in our life!

LEMONY FRESH: In this class we learned all about cleaning with lemons in our home. I never knew that if you put fresh lemon juice in the dishwasher cycle it will remove all the cloudy yuck off your glasses! We also learned several different ways to be a cheaper housekeeper!

LIP SMACKERS: This class was all about LEMON desserts and how to incorporate our food storage into every day cooking and baking. We were able to sample several lemon desserts and oooohhhh, they were good! I was excited about the different ways to incorporate using my food storage into everyday meals and also how to hide it so no one knows it's there!

LEMON BERRY SQUEEZE: Here we had a demonstration on smoothies. It is amazing how healthy you can make these tasty drinks! You can put all sorts of fruits and vegetables into a blender and my kids would never even know this drink is good for them!

PUCKER UP: I think this class may have been one of my favorites! We learned how to make homemade lip balm...it tasted like LEMONS! It is so inexpensive and so fun. What a fun activity to have with your kids. We also learned about being a better grocery shopper and how to use coupons to our advantage.

With all the information we were giving, it was only necessary for a recipe book to be created and given out to all the sisters to refer to. In this book was all the valuable information they were taught in all the classes.

I am so grateful for my new calling. The night was definitely a lot of hard work, but well worth it. I feel all who were there had a great time and left with several great new tips! Now, I get to start planning the next one....ummmmm? I love this calling WAY to much!