FHE---Does it work?

Do you ever give a Family Home Evening lesson, only to wonder if

your rambunctious, crazy kids even listen?

That happens regularly at our house.

Our girls are both talkers and its hard to get them to pay attention during FHE.

Last night, our lesson was Love at Home.

We talked to the kids about how we should be nice to each other,

share, use kind words, etc.

All the while, there were children singing, giggling, rolling on the floor.

Later that night, we were driving the kids home from an errand.

The girls were arguing in the back seat.

Suddenly, Cloe pipes up.....

"Andraia, remember our lesson!  We're supposed to love each other and share!"

It didn't stop the fight.

Neither of them was going to give in..

But Chloe remembered enough to use it to her advantage.

As my brother, Mike, says...

"That Chloe is devious!"

Our Moab Weekend

We spent our last three day weekend in Moab.

Mike, Shannon and Oliver were very wonderful tour guides.

We were able to visit Dead Horse Point State Park

and Canyonlands National Park.

They are gorgeous!

And we LOVED seeing all of the red rocks with snow.

The kids turned out to be real mountain goats.  

In Canyonlands, we climbed Whale Rock.  The previous

pictures are views from the top.

There was a section of the 'trail' that was pretty close

to vertical.  We had to climb up on our hands and knees

and slide down on our rear-ends.

The girls were a bit scared. 

Brayden loves heights, so he giggled the whole time!!

We even had a birthday party for Oliver.

He really enjoyed his ice cream!

We had the BEST time!

Our three days certainly wasn't long enough.

2 Birthdays and a Wedding

Both Earl and I celebrate our birthdays in February.

Mine is the 14th and his is the 21st.

This year, my mom got us this FABULOUS cake.

Earl turned 40.

I did not!

We also celebrated Valentine's Day with the kids on Saturday.

Earl made steaks, sauteed mushrooms and baked potatoes.

YUMMY!

I, personally, had a GREAT birthday week.

One of my most lovely friends took me out to breakfast on Friday.

We don't get to spend nearly enough time together, so it was wonderful to sit and chat with her.  And we weren't interrupted by yelling children or anything!

Earl had Friday off.  That always makes my day special.

On Saturday I went to lunch and Color-Me-Mine with three fabulous ladies!

Now I'm addicted to painting pottery!  And the food at Shoots.

That night, Earl made his famous steak dinner.

 And I bought cupcakes.

Sunday was spent with my family.

Taco salad, birthday cake, cards....laughter, smiles!

Monday was Presidents Day, so I took Spencer to see Percy Jackson.

Good movie, but it TOTALLY DID NOT follow the book.

It was so nice to have a 4 day weekend with my hubby!!

 Although, I don't know how excited he was to put together my new shelves.

Especially with all of the 'help' from the girls.

Feb 20, 2010

Darel and Rissa's Wedding

We all had a FUN time!

My nephew, Darel, married his lovely bride, Rissa.

The temple was beautiful.

The reception was a blast!

Couldn't ask for more.

So, for Earl's 40th...

I took a huge bunch of balloons to his office.

As a SURPRISE

He was standing out in the main area talking with people when we walked in.

The first words out of his mouth were

OH CRAP!

He was hoping to get through the day without giving away the 'secret' that it was his 40th.

OOOPS!

This weekend we are getting together with his family to celebrate.

Hope he has a fun time.

I'm so lucky to have him!

Chloe---Blowing 'Bubbles'

Earl and I always joke about how dainty and lady-like Chloe is.

She IS our dress-wearing, pink-loving girl, but that's pretty much where the daintiness ends.

Today while I was sitting on the bed folding laundry, Chloe was hiding under the covers.

Suddenly I heard the LOUDEST toot.

That's what we call them in our house.

You know...breaking wind, farting......etc.

I look at Chloe and say "Excuse You"

She looks at me with the silliest grin on her face and says

"I'm just blowing bubbles with my bum"

I just about fell of the bed from laughing so hard.

THEN

She said "like this"

and the next one was even LONGER and LOUDER.

Then I really DID fall of the bed from laughter.

Yes, she is the dainty, lady-like princess....

and Queen of the Loud Toot!!

We See Mickey Everywhere!

On our last family adventure to Ikea, Chloe saw a set of three lights.  

They were globe lights like the one in this picture.

The large light in the middle, two smaller lights on either side.

As we walked down the long aisle in the self-service area, 

Chloe screams........'Mommy, it's Mickey mouse!!!'

We have a bit of a Disney addiction at our house.

And I LOVE IT!!

Olympics

We are pretty big Olympics fans.

We love cheering on our country, watching all the fanfare, enjoying all the different events.

But I find them a bit bitter-sweet.

During the last Summer Games in China, Brayden was in Primary Children's Hospital.

I would spend all day in ICU with him.  Not interested in watching TV, I would read, or try to eavesdrop on the conversations going on around me.  Always hoping to get a tidbit of information on our progress towards home.

Earl would be there through the night.  He remembers the Olympics playing on the TVs in ICU and the waiting rooms, but never watched the events.

I would come home, enjoy the dinner that was brought to us by loving friends and neighbors, put the kids to bed and stay up watching the Olympics until I could fall asleep.  Sometimes that was an all night endeavor.  Sleep didn't come easily when I was worried about his lungs healing so that he could be taken off of the respirator.  Then it was the worry about if the seizures would stop so he could come home.

These Olympics are MUCH MORE enjoyable!  Earl and I love to catch the events that are on after the kids go to bed.  We have to keep our cheering to a dull roar so they don't wake up, but we really have a fun time!

It is so much better to be home....with all of our family under one roof.....TOGETHER!!!

Coupons Rock!!

Honestly, I NEVER thought this was something I would blog about.....coupons.

I mean, how boring... right?

Well, not for me.  At least not today.

See, my friend, Alisa, hooked me up with a website that lists all of the sales at our local stores and the coupons you can match up with them to get super deals.

So, I had to share my Target savings.

What started out as a $53 shopping trip

only cost me $27!!!!
That includes My Little Pony toys for Valentine's Day and lots of groceries.  

I was so excited!!

Now, obviously this kind of savings doesn't happen on every trip or we would be spending much more money on Disney trips, cool electronic gadgets for the hubby, etc.  This was a special trip where I had coupons for almost every item I purchased.  

Is it wrong to get an adrenaline rush from saving money?!?!

BTW-the My Little Pony was a Buy 1 Get 1 Free coupon that you can print out at Coupons.com