My Man

Some of the many reasons I love my husband:
*He is the hardest working guy I know. He always ignores the pain of his crohnes disease to make sure his family is taken care of.

*He has such a weakness for Andrea. I could buy that little girl anything I want and he wouldn't say a word.

*He treats me like I am the most beautiful woman in the world.

*He has such a great sense of humor. He comes up with quirky come backs that I never would have thought of.

*He dreams big. He loves talking about our future and all the things he wants to accomplish (I just wish more traveling was part of those dreams)

*He is so smart. Whether it's a house repair, car repair, or computer repair. Ryan can fix it! And then answer most of the questions on Jeopardy while he's at it.

*He always says "love you" at the end of each phone call.

Ryan's birthday was on the 14th, his last year in his 20's. I am so lucky to have this guy as my eternal companion, he's a great Daddy and I know he would do anything for us. Happy Birthday Honey!

Flower Pillows

Saw some adorable flower pillows on a friend's link and loved them. I felt Andrea needed something on her bed so it would look more "made" than just pulling up the covers. Mine and Ryan's bed has 10 pillows when fully "made", so I definately needed something on hers. They turned out ok, they photograph a lot better than looking up close.

They really were as easy to make as the website said, and I thought they were fun to do. The only think I don't like is that the petals are really floppy, so I have to fix them when I "make" the bed. The red one was made with thicker fleece and I liked working with that better. Also, I used felt for the middle yellow, instead of fleece. I just figured it was easier to purchase a couple of sheets of felt for such a small area.

This project did come with a few injuries. First, a blister from the hot glue on my thumb as I was folding the center pieces.

And as I quickly removed the material from the thumb, it ended up in my armpit (don't know how) and I figured I better let it stay there and cool before I do more damage. When I did remove the piece it took off some skin, so I figured now Andrea will know that I really put a part of me in these pillows for her :)

Andrea loves the pillows, one night when I carried her to bed she asked "where's my flower?" and then snuggled up against it. For those of you interested in making these pillows here is the orignal link http://cometogetherkids.blogspot.com/2011/03/fleece-flower-petal-pillows.html

Wood Workers

Recently I was contemplating buying a cricut cutting machine. I got it into my head to make some seasonal letter blocking after I realized I didn't have any spring decor. My friend Kristi offered to lend me her cricut to see if I liked it. I am so glad I didn't buy one! After trying to scrap the vinyl off of the sticky pad without ruining it, and having to reprint a few letters because the "material saver" button didn't work like I thought it would, I was very frustrated! Not to mention the cost of vinyl and cartridges just isn't worth it to me! That being said, I am still very happy with my blocks!

Ryan was nice enough to cut the wood for me, but I should have thought to have him run the wood through the plainer first. The natural woodgrain often caused my paper to bubble and I had to re-do a few of them.

I think my favorite letter is the "a" in "Fall". You can't see it in the picture but it has a spider crawling down.

The bigger project finally done at our house is Andrea's playset. I've been begging Ryan to get this done, simply because I hate being asked to go to the park everyday (now I'm just asked to go in the back yard everyday). Originally Ryan wanted to design it and build it himself but we found this set at Walmart that was much more cost effective. We had set aside some of our tax refund just for this purpose, so even with all of Andrea's medical expenses lately, we could still afford it.

Andrea does well with climbing up the ladder and going down the slide but she still likes me to hold her hand so she doesn't go to fast, and of course, I have to push her on the swing. Hopefully one day she will go play by herself, but not quite yet.

I love the little playhouse in the bottom, and it also has a picnic bench on the backside. This was probably the first project in a long time that didn't cause marital problems for Ryan and I. We worked very well together, I would read the instructions and hand him what he needed. I just hope it holds up to the weather, and we need to figure out how it's going to work with mowing and watering the lawn, but that will come.

Girl's Camp

Four months of planning and Girl's Camp is finally over! The camp wasn't a stake camp this year, just individual wards, which meant we got to pick our own theme. We chose Boot Camp, which ended up having a lot of possibilities. So the first day of camp we gave all the girls their "rations" packets. The packets had a hoodie, a t-shirt, a camo bandana, dog tag, canteen, and gun. Each leader also wore a certain color camo bandana that matched which age group they supervised.

The bandanas actually really came in handy. The girls usually had some kind of duty (make dinner or clean up a meal) that was pre-scheduled according to their year. I could just glance at their bandana and figure out who was who. The first years wore orange, the second years blue, the third years purple, and youth leaders were pink. I wore a purple bandana which meant I was over the 3rd years, handled their certification, kept track of their where-a-bouts, and such.

We also assigned each year a miltary rank: 1st years- Cadets, 2nd years- Sergeants, 3rd years- Majors, Youth Leaders- Colonels, and all the leaders were Generals. The girls had a lot of fun with this and came up with creative nicknames for each other. Ones like "Major Moustache", "Cadet Kitty", "Sergeant Smalls". I was given the nickname "General Goldilocks". The girls wrote their names on their dog tags and canteens, which I thought was really cute!

I've really struggled with my calling as camp director... I was positive that after I completed this years camp I would asked to be released. I felt that through the whole planning process, no trust was placed in me. I didn't get to choose the theme, the crafts, shop for food... the things I did get to plan happened because I just went ahead and did them on my own. Ryan said I should have been happy with less responsibility, but what's the joy in that? If I am asked to do something I want to do it whole-heartedly! One day at camp my assistant and I were surprised by a "heart-attack" on our beds from one of the tent groups. I literally had to get my composure before I went back outside. I doubt the girls thought it would have made me cry, but it made me realize that this calling is about the girls, not my own frustrations.

When I think back to my young womens years I can remember all of my leaders, but can't tell you who all the girl's were or what the themes or activities were. The leaders are what make it special, that's why I spent as much time with the girls as possible... hiking, around the camp fire, doing crafts. I was so happy I got to know them all better!

Thank heavens for my assistant Mickell, the Lord truly inspired me while choosing an assistant camp director. I hadn't even talked to Mickell when I gave her name to the Bishop, she had just moved in the ward. But she has helped me "keep it real" and listen when I was frustrated or needed someone to share ideas with. The day before camp she got us these cute shirts, and we must think alike because I also got us some hats.

Here are some random pictures of the activities at camp.

Hike

Prayer Rugs

Sword fighting

Certification

Snipe Hunting

We had some really creative meals, and that credit belongs to the YW President Tawna and her counselors Danielle and Janalee.

 

MRE's (we thought that was fitting for our soldiers)

 

Boiled omelets (put all your omelet ingredients in a plastic baggy and boil it.)  

Banana boats and apple crisps in the fire

Walking tacos (place taco ingredients in a plastic bag, and some tortilla chips, mix it up and you have a taco salad).  Plus the good old buddy burner burgers, and lots of more delicious goodies. I don't ever remember having a camp with so much delicious food. Tawna always made sure we had lots of additional side options as well as snacks to keep the girl's happy.

Our destiny topics each day also pertained to our Boot Camp theme with a gospel twist. Day 1- Battle Strategies, I spoke about the basic training we have been given to combat temptation: Prayer, scriptures, word of wisdom, the commandments, and self worth. Day 2- Armor of God, Mickell related the Armor of God to modern day army equipment: bullet proof vest, tank, helmet, gun. Day 3- Battle stategies, theYW stake presidency was kind enough to host this day's destiny, and talked about taking out specific temptations with specific gospel ammunition, and they stayed for dinner. The last night of camp the Blacks were so kind to make dinner not only for us, but all of our visitors... the Bishobric, and the stake YW Presidency, and even Ryan came up to spend the night and drive the storage trailer back home for me. We had delcious dutch oven chicken and dutch oven carrot cake.

We were very lucky to have Bro. and Sis. Black lend us their camping location for the week. They were such good sports to put up with all the girls and they really seemed to enjoy themselves. The girls slept in tents, the leaders slept in a trailer and Mickell and I were in the cabin. When I informed the other leaders that I like my sleep they felt that the cabin would be the best place for me.

Here is the whole group minus Jim (Tawna's husband, he was taking the photo) he was also such a great help all week, it was nice to have two priesthood holders there to help us out with whatever was needed. I was so impressed with the girls in our ward and their willingness to do anything asked of them. I think between the great leaders and the great girls everything went really well. Just a fun week of bonding and camping! I think I'll stick this calling out for a while :) At least now I know more what is expected and feel more confident in my abilities.

Independance Day

Since my parents have moved to Texas, we weren't sure where to watch the parade this year. Their next door neighbors were out of town, and offered their curb to our family and friends.

Grandma Linda and Grandpa Gary were tending Petyon and Meryn while Matt and Sara were in California, so they got to join us for the parade as well. Linda had bought Andrea and Meryn matching outfits for the 4th.

 My brother Eric's family came as well as my brother Brent and his wife Becky, my friend Kristi, her Mom Laura and sister Jenna, and Jenna's husband Carl. This is why the 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays... getting together with family and friends to laugh at the silly floats in Tooele's parade. Unfortunately there was no fly over this year by the jets, and no statue of liberty float doing the limbo under the power lines :( But the kids really enjoyed all the candy, even otter pops, flags, and necklaces were given out.

We really didn't do any other activities. Later in the day I had to help load all of the luggage for girl's camp and we had watched fireworks the Friday before at the high school football field. So a pretty relaxing 4th, the best kind of holiday!

Swim Lessons

Since I've had a 3 month break from babysitting, I thought it would be fun to sign Andrea and I up for Mom & Tot swim lessons. The lessons last two weeks and luckily their first session was still during the time we had free. Andrea did so well on the first lesson, she did everything the teacher asked. The next day she realized she could say "no" when the teacher challenged her and I think she was onery from allergies. But as the days went on she got used the routine, got some allergy medicine, and we both looked forward to going to the pool.

 I was a little nervous to have the classes at an outdoor pool but the weather was nice for the most part. The water was also heated so that helped.

The teacher had some really cute ideas for getting the little ones to learn the basics. We would sing wheels on the bus with varied actions to teach them the front stroke and back stroke. We also sang "I'm a little pancake on my back" to the tune of I'm a Little Teapot. This taught the kids to float on their back. Andrea's favorite was jumping into the pool to Mommy, and playing "Blast off" by pushing off of the wall and kicking.

The last day Grandma and Grandpa came to watch us and were nice enough to take some pictures. I hope we will get to do more swim lessons next year, it was a lot of fun!

Tonsil update: We took Andrea to an ear, nose, and throat Doctor who said as long as she is breathing ok, then there is no reason to remove the tonsils. The dr also gave us allergy samples (I love Doctors who are sympathetic to those of us without insurance) and even though Andrea's tonsils are still swollen, she is a lot happier!

Cedar 2011

Ryan and I decided to take a trip to Cedar City over Memorial Day weekend. Our main purpose was so Ryan could help his brother Matt put in a back flow preventor. Which, I'm sure Ryan would be embarrassed to know, I still don't understand exactly what it does... but apparently it's useful.

Andrea did awesome on the way down, just watched her movies without much complaint. She used the potty in every town we came to, even was a good enough sport to go peepee in her potty chair off the side of the highway :) We arrived late Friday night and tried to get Andrea calmed down enough for bed, her and I spent the night in the spare bedroom and Ryan was a good sport to sleep in the recliner or on the couch, he tried both. I think it really helped Andrea sleep in being in the quiet bedroom.

The next morning Matt and Ryan began working on their project while the kids rode bikes and played. After they were satisfied with their work, we all decided to drive to Richfield to visit Grandma LaVelle. She had fallen while on a visit and hurt her hip. She is staying at a rehabilitation center until she is walking again on her own. So we piled all 7 of us in Matt and Sara's Durango and headed off. It was quite the trip, trying to keep 3 kids happy with ipods and making numerous potty breaks. I think LaVelle enjoyed her surprise visit and the kids were very well behaved. Afterwards they definitely needed somewhere to run around before we took the hour and 1/2 trip back, so we stopped at an Indian museum. They did have a small kids area to play in and a walking trail to look at petroglyphs. I think the kids enjoyed it enough, at least they could stretch their legs.

Saturday night we had some yummy pizza and visited Grandma Helen and Grandpa Ray. We were still debating whether to go home Sunday, and have Monday to work on projects at home, or wait until Monday to make the drive. We decided that the weather up North was even worse than down South so there was no rush to get home. So Sunday was a nice relaxing day which started with a visit to Aunt/Grandma Sandy and Uncle/Grandpa Fernlee's while the family headed to church. Grandma Sandy had a bag full of goodies for Andrea and a surprise for us all. Sandy, who's dogs are always a hit with Andrea, had a new puppy! Her name is cookie and she is adorable! Andrea wasn't too sure of cookie at first because Grandma Sandy warned her that she likes to bite. But Andrea enjoyed all the dogs, she made sure to check on Buster sleeping under the bed, she fed Teva lunch, even laid down with Cookie, when the little pup had been tuckered out.

Sunday we ran some errands, got Andrea some new DVDs for the trip back, and stopped at Beall's to check out the bargains. Matt and Sara had planned a nice barbeque (being Memorial Day weekend after all) and even though the weather brought us inside, the food was still delicious!

As you can see, Meryn and Andrea dressed up for the occasion in Meryn's princess dresses.

Monday morning we headed home and Andrea slept most of the way, that's always a plus! I thought it was a very enjoyable trip and although I wasn't looking forward to traveling with a two year old I was pleasantly surprised. Andrea adapted well to staying at Matt and Sara's and Ryan was, as always, a great help.

Now we get to deal with Andrea's mystery illness. Monday night after our trip she got a fever and since her tonsils have been swollen for 2 weeks I took her in the next day to check it out. The dr was very shocked to see the size of her tonsils but the strep test came back negative, so now we have to consider taking them out. I guess you'll all found out soon enough if that's the case.