Our Forever Family

The kids are always asking to do extra jobs to earn money.  Actually it is mostly Jason asking.  I remember when he used to be the worst when it came to chores.  And now he is my BEST worker.  Alyssa has taken his old position.  It must be the age.  I can’t wait until she is a year older and wants to be more helpful.  For now I will take what I can get.  And right now that is cooking.  She LOVES to help me cook!  Today it was bread.   When I fix Jenna’s hair like this the kids think she looks like the baby on Despicable Me.  I have only heard it in the van while driving and haven’t actually seen the character.  I will take their word for it.  She bruises very easily and has them all over her body as well as her face. Proof of Jason’s hard work.  Today he picked up and threw away the broken crayons, organized the books, vacuumed the whole house, dusted, and folded a load of laundry.  He was happy with his $2.50 he earned today.  And it really helped me out!

Today Cameron and Melanie went back to school.  4th and 2nd grade.  They are growing up so much!  They were really excited to start up again!  Melanie told me to wake her up at 6:30 and Cameron said he wanted to be woken up at 7.  Cameron didn’t make it that long.  He was in our bed when I woke up at 6 and already dressed by the time I got out of the shower.  Excited?  I think so.  He also woke up Jason.  I woke Melanie up at the requested time and Alyssa and Jenna also woke up.  I think I will have some tired children tonight.  8 o’clock has been the normal summer time wake up for the girls! Instead of a back to school night, they did a back to school morning.  So we went inside the school and met the teacher and  saw where they sat.  I thought it was a great idea but after doing it prefer the night when they know the classroom and teacher.  The kids were nervous and unsure of everything and it was just a little awkward. I am extremely happy with the teachers each of the kids have

We went up to Jordanelle Reservoir Friday night.  We met some friends up there that David works with.  One had a trampoline in the water and another brought up a boat!  The kids had a blast and we stayed out on the water until dark.  We can’t wait to go boating more in the future!! 

To finish our basement we have to clean out the “stuff” we have piled down there.  But where to put it all?  David spent an afternoon a few Saturday’s ago building shelves in our garage.  It is wonderful and makes me wonder, “why did we not do this YEARS ago?” Before: During: After: I wasted no time going through our basement, organizing and bringing stuff up to fill the shelves.  The basement is 2/3 of the way cleaned out.  I love the D.I. and garbage these days!

Every year it seems we get a slip n’ slide for the summer…

The talks in Sacrament Meeting yesterday were on prophets and they were excellent. One lady who gave her talk read through the last year of Ensign's and wrote down all the things President Monson has asked us to do. I asked her if I could get her "list" and she emailed them to me. I wanted to share. It was interesting to note that often after he asks us to do something, he mentions a blessing associated with that commandment... Some of the things he has asked us to do include: Every worthy able, young man should prepare to serve a mission. Mature couples – we need many, many more senior couples. To those of you who are not yet to the season of life when you might serve a couples mission, I urge you to prepare now for the day when you might serve a mission. If you are able, consider making a contribution to the General Missionary Fund of the Church. Pray. Make a decision right now not to deviate from the path that will lead to eternal life. That path includes: mission

We have 1 1/2 more weeks left of summer. Bummer. I will be happy to have my house back again but that is about it. I have made sure to pack this summer with plenty of things for the kids to do. I don't like to hear "I'm bored" all day, which still does happen some days. In June Jason played t-ball every Tuesday and Thursday night. It was interesting to juggle that and Cameron's scout meetings on Tuesday nights. David had 3 days of Youth Conference in June that he was in charge of planning and coordinating most of it. David is really busy as Young Men's President. Glad it is him and not me! After talking with a friend who is also the Relief Society President and wanting to do a weekly park day I decided to take that on and coordinate going to a park every week. It has been fun and I love the socialization that I get to have with the other ladies that come. For some reason my kids have not enjoyed it so much. They love it when we get there and have a

This is the shortened, very condensed version of our 4th of July holiday.  The long version was deleted by my sweet children who make me go crazy at times when they do things like that! We made a last minute decision and went to Washington for the 4th of July.  We loved every minute of it and we are SOOO glad we went.  We stayed over night in Boise on the way up and arrived Friday afternoon.  Chris and Andrea were so nice to let us stay at their house on very short notice.  It was really nice to have so much space! Here are some highlights of the trip:  Swimming at the Holiday Inn Express Running from Bleazard’s dairy to my parent’s house.  18.4 miles.  My dad ran the last mile with me and a surprise finish line! Playing at my parent’s house with the McGary cousins. Playing with the Lee cousins at Chris and Andrea’s.   Cutting a bouquet of flowers from my mom’s flower’s and visiting Grandma McGary’s grave.  First time going home and her not there.  Sad…  I think she would