Pinterest

So I am not a member of pinterest...but I have stolen a few ideas from that home-wrecking, dinner-burning, child-ignoring, time-wasting, wonderful web site:) I was glad to have spotted this little idea...I'm excited to get a little more creative with it over the years with my posing children.

Rags

I have revived an old traditon with my girls that my mom use to do with my sisters and I when we were little. We call it "putting our hair in rags". We would wash our hair and then my mom would twist our hair into semi-thick strands and wrap it around a piece of material and tie it up. Let it dry over night while you sleep and this makes for some SUPER curly hair in the morning. With fine blonde hair you get almost a fro:) With thick darker hair, you get really tight curls. It is pretty darn fun to have girls.

Bria turns 4!

I realized on my Calendar I had written that Bria was turning 3...and then I realized...she was turning 4! I honestly do not know how that happened so quickly! She is our little Valentine baby. Because her birthday is on the 14th, it seems we are always celebrating it on the weekend before the holiday, but this year we had a fun family day celebrating Valentine's Day and Bria's Day. She has really grown up in the last few months, even though she has always been pretty independent and helpful, I've seen those characteristics take on new life as she has come to realize how her actions affect others. She is a sweet girl and we love her. (Even if she compulsively asks for snacks:)

Sheri Dew & Sister Nelson

I went to a Women's Conference in Moab last weekend with a group of amazing women.  What a wonderful opportunity to hear from these two powerful women who are simply, ordinary women...with extraordinary testimonies of the gospel.  Some of my favorite quotes from the conference were:
"Who's agenda is this supporting?"  (Sis. Nelson-In reference to what media should be in our home)
"How deep are our roots?" (Sis. Dew-Referencing a story about some of her beautiful plants being uprooted by a 6 year old:)
"What does the part of you that noone else can see look like?"  (Sis. Dew)
"This life is not about "This" life" (Sis. Dew)
So many ideas and stories were shared, but the over all message I came away with is this.  We need to be stronger than we are, our thoughts need to be centered on our Savior, and our role in strengthening the home and family has never been more important nor has it ever been more attacked than now. We need to be courageous in standing for what we know to be right...and ladies...we KNOW.

What every Girl and Woman should know...

With a teenage boy in the house and a constant stream of teenagers coming through my door.I have observed what our youth and even our "not so youth" are facing today.Beauty is more than the clothes (or lack thereof) on our backs.Being modest is more than just covering skin,its inner beauty reflected

Bed Time Ritual

There are some nights when the thought of starting our "Bed Time Ritual" just makes me tired! It starts with family scriptures, prayer, our "Jack Pack Cheer" GO JACK PACK! :) Story time, lights out and ONE song. It is quite the process, and although it can drag out a bit, I realize how important it is to keep at it. There will come a day when I will miss being able to tuck the girls in like this.

Raspberry Almond Muffins

This is my favorite breakfast right here. You can be so creative with this recipe. Change up the filling and toppings. Apple with a brown sugar crumble, Apricot Jam with Chopped walnuts...whatever! Options are endless with this one. The secret to a great muffin is to not over-mix the batter. Just stir until the flour is mixed in.

Filled Muffins

2 C. Flour
2/3 C. Sugar
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 C. Milk
1 Egg Slightly beaten
1/2 C. Melted butter
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 tsp. Almond extract (If you want)

Mix all dry ingred. together. Mix in Wet ingred. Stir until moist. Cover bottom of lined muffin tin with batter, than add spoonful of filling (jam, cream, etc...) cover filling with more batter. Top with nuts, crumble, sugar, or whatever and bake at 400 until toothpick comes out clean (about 15 min.)

Balloon Festival

We went to bluff for the Balloon Festival this year. We went at night when they light all of the balloons up. The Girls were cold, but loved it. Tyler has had this crazy idea to buy a balloon and become a pilot. We do live in an ideal place for it, but I'm a little hesitant...something about flying around at heights I would rather not think about...in a balloon...over canyons...I don't want to talk about it any more. Let's hope he realizes it's not a good idea and moves on.

Danish Delish

I found an awesome recipe for wonderful, flaky pastry dough that will turn out better than any bakery treat you can buy! I filled these Danishs' with Sweet cream cheese. Check out the web site for the original recipe.

Winter Hike

We went on a winter hike to natural Bridges. It was SOOO beautiful...and I kept taking pictures of the girls *sigh* Of all God's creations...I think I like the three he gave me the best:)

Merry Christmas

Feliz Navidad!

All of the partying through December sure is fun, but I love a simple Christmas spent at home. The girl's are so fun, because they don't get greedy, they just ask for simple things and are so grateful when they get them. Allie wanted a "Doodle Bear", Bria wanted a "Strawberry Shortcake House", and Cloe wanted "candy canes". Jake mentioned a few things he "wouldn't mind" getting, but they were things he already needed. Tyler made him this bat rack to display the personalized Louisville Sluggers my Dad had given him for Christmas. It turned out amazing!! Jake was so surprised. It even has pegs for his mitts/hats and spots on top for baseballs. We had a great dinner with great friends to top off our Christmas day. We went to Idaho Falls after Christmas to spend a week with the folks...unfortunately I didn't get any pictures while we were there...I was having too much fun. It has been an awesome year despite some of the challenges and changes we have encountered. Christmas is a good time to take a step back and recognize how blessed we are. I'm so grateful for my Savior and for his sacrifice. His life was spent in humble perfection. I'm so grateful for his example of love, and pray that I can live a life in accordance with that example. Merry Christmas!

The Girl's Room After!

Sorry this post took so long...busy month! So these are the After pictures in my girl's room. I let them pick all of the colors...can you tell? Their favorite color is fuschia (I'm not kidding). We are girly girls to the max around here. There are a few things that aren't finished as far as decorating goes, but that will come a piece at a time. We put in new windows and I used the old windows to decorate. Tyler made these stick unicorns for them last year for Christmas. It was such a fun project to do together. They are all officially sleeping in here and it gets a little crazy at times, but I hope they will grow up to be friends. Much to my dismay and delight, bed time seems to be one of the few times they get along...which means some late nights...they are in some kind of conspiracy against me:) Our life is full of girl clothes, hair bows, and barbies, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

The girl's room BEFORE

I have been meaning to post this for quite some time...like, last year! The girl's room was the most unfinished room in the house when we bought it, but it was also the biggest! So we decided to make it into "girl land"-a place to keep all of their girly STUFF. I really wanted the beds to be built into the wall, but we had to get creative with the lay-out. We came up with this corner construction and I love it! Tyler is a genius. I dream it, and he achieves it:) We built walls, moved walls, built "cubbys" and textured, textured, sanded, and textured. 6 long months later....we finished. Wow...not what I had originally planned, but worth it.