The Flu

Dear Mr. Flu,

Please stay away from my home.  You are nasty, you smell bad and I absolutely hate cleaning up your messes all over my couches, floors and bedrooms.  It stinks.  Please leave my boys alone.  They are sad.  They are lazy and it is no fun.  I hope you know you can leave anytime soon.
I am praying I will wake up tomorrow and things will be 10 x's better than today.  GO AWAY!

From a mom that cares

Fall is here

I absolutely LOVE fall! I love the colors, the smell of chimney smoke in the air and all the fun holidays that start showing up in the stores and especially in our home.  My boys love it! They love everything about it. Even Owen loves looking at the pumpkins on our fireplace. It all makes me happy!
This evening we went to my parents house for dinner.  It had been quite awhile since we had dinner with my parents at their home.  It was nice.  I didn't realize just how much I missed it until we were there.  Since we have had family living with us we usually have them over to our home for dinner.  My mom invited us all over for lasagna tonight and it was soooo good.  The weather wasn't too cold so we adventured out into my parents back yard and here is what we did this evening......

Lance and I took our picture together in front of this amazingly beautiful tree. Unfortunatley you can't see the tree too well.

Owen was pretty content to just run and be free

It still amazes me how fast this boy is growing. He is excelling really fast in school and continues to amaze me with his questions. He loves to be his own unique.

This is the entrance to Moon Valley Ranch. This is right behind my parents house on this little old country road. It is so beautiful. We spend a lot of time back here.

This is me right now. As of now, I am the skinniest I have been since having children. Weight loss is down to almost 10 lbs.  I still have a little more to go but man, I am feeling good and loving it. Still there is always room for improvement. Thanks to everyone who has cheered me on. It has really been my motivation in all of this.  No, this is not a kimono, it is a shirt I found while shopping in Utah, LOVIN IT! No it is not a maternity top either, and yes, I am going back to my natural color. Slowly but surely.

This is the child I can't keep clean.  We were about to do some familiy pictuers but unforuntaley his older brother Keaton pushed him down and he fell head first into a pile of mud. Can you see it on his head? I could write a book and have it full of pictures of just how messy this boy can get.  But gosh, just look at him. I love this boy.

Today was our primary program.  I love these programs.  This was our first year to watch our two boys participate in it.  Every year BYU's homecoming has always landed on the same week at the program and we always miss it.  This year nothing major happened I am happy to report.  Andrew is the child we are just waiting to make his grand appearance.  Mother's day he did. Father's day he did and we were crossing our fingers that the program would be low key.  I am h appy to report that it was.  He just sat there so quitely with his classmates.  The only song he really got into was "In the Leafy treetops."  Keaton stood right up there in front and sang his heart out. It was so much fun to see them sing those songs.  Even though we sing a lot in our home they did a great job.  After sacrament meeting a sister came up to me and told me that she was "disappointed" that Andrew didn't do something comical. She said that she had been looking forward to that.  It is always nice to know that my kdis can put on quite the show and entertain these folks.

We are doing well. We are happy and most of all we are all healthy.  Thanks for your love, support and prayers. They are so much appreciated. We love you all and wish you a happy fall.

BYU Homecoming

Lance and I just got back from a really short, but fun filled weekend in Utah with the Snyder family.  Lance's family has the tradition of meeting up in Provo during BYU's Homecoming and having event after event. Seriously, the weekend was packed full of different things.  Lance and I left early on friday morning and drove up.  My parents were so kind as to stay at our home and watch our children.  Everyone told us that going without kids was the way to go so we thought we would give it a try and boy were they right.  It was so relaxing. I didn't have to hear kids screaming in the car, clean up barf from my two boys who get sick without fail almost every time, and worrying about what time it was and who was ready for a nap. 
We got into Provo around noon. Lance had a buisness meeting and so he dropped me off at a strip mall and I went shopping.  It was the first time in a really long time I got to go shopping just for me.  So I went crazy and I had a great time.
We had a fun pizza party, games, and late night conversations.  Then Saturday morning we went to Mapleton where Lance's Aunt and Uncle Clifton live. It is really beautiful there.  Before the meeting I took a few pictures of my in-laws.  They were wanting their family pictures taken so here is a little preview of those.  Lesa and Sharlene, dad will be bringing the cd of all the pictures back to Utah this weekend. They sure turned out cute. It was so much fun to be with you all!!!
                                The Snyder family (Paul, Lesa, Heidi, Kaylee, Emma and baby Janae)

The Knotts Family (Tommy, Sharlene, Cali, TJ, Parker and Tessa)

The tradition is to all meet for breakfast and then there is a devotional for the adults only. Grandma and Grandpa Ray usually make assignments about who they would like to speak. This year my mother and father-in-law were asked to speak about how we can build our firm foundations on Christ. I am pretty sure this was the first year I have ever sat through the entire meeting. Usually I have a child to chase after or another one that is too fussy to stay downstairs. I really enjoyed it. Thanks to my in-laws for your inspiring words.
Then after the meeting is over, we all head to Glen Canyon Park. It is up the Provo Canyon and it is absolutely beautiful this time of year. All the leaves are changing colors and starting to cover the ground. Lunch is and has always been provided.  The boys usually play football and the girls all sit and chat. It is quite fun to catch up with all the family members we don't see on a regular basis.  Then we all go the BYU game.  This year I am guessing there were probably 60-70 of us that went to the game.  I must say that the majority of the crowd was overrun by all the college aged cousins. It was so fun to see them interact with each other. They are truly best friends with each other.
Then the most amazing part~ all the cousins helping pull Grandma Ray all the way up in her wheelchair. Unbelievable. I had to take a picture of it.

 Lance and I were able to stay up until the 3rd quarter. We had to drive back home Saturday night to relieve grandma from babysitting duties and be back in time for our ward Sunday.

It has been a long time since I had one on one time with Lance.  Seems like this job has been a constant and it is hard to find time to even sit and talk.  So I thank Lance for the fun time we had.  Let's do that again sometime!



Our front door

Friends and Worms

This is how my boys spent their afternoon........

What is that on the floor by their feet you ask? Well I will show you......

Yes worms.  It rained all morning long and what happens when it rains? All the worms come to surface. So my boys got the brillant idea to go worm hunting with their little next door neighbor friend Tyler. They collected all the worms they could find and pilled them right in front of our home. Isn't that lovely? Wanna know the gross part? Andrew would just sit there in front of them and swish them around with is fingers. He said he liked the way they "tickled his fingers." Gross or not gross? I was really grossed out, but you know what they say "Boys will be boys." And today I let them play.

BYU-Idado

My sister-n-law came to Boise over Conference weekend from BYU-Idaho.  It was so much fun having her back in our home.  We have been spoiled this summer with all the many times we have had Lance's family stay with us. It has been a lot of fun and my boys have loved every minute of it. They call her Uncle Camille.  Seems like they are calling all their aunts, besides my sister Rachel, uncle.
Camille didn't have a ride back to school so I offered to drive her and our friend Janet back up to Rexburg.  We left Sunday evening after the last session of conference and an amazing pre-Thanksgiving dinner at my parents house.  My brother-in-law Jason caught a ride with us too so he could buy a motorcycle from a guy in Rexburg also. So it worked out for everyone.
I was really excited to go back. It has been almost 12 years since I graduated Ricks College.  I was excited to see how much it has changed and how much  new growth there is.  I can't believe the change.  Once we got into town my memory of how to get around came back and we drove by all my old houses and apartments I stayed in.  It brought back a lot of really fun memories. I had a blast at school. Ricks College was by far the best experience compared to BYU Provo. Sorry BYU Provo fans.  This has nothing on you.
This first house down below was where I lived for the first year and a half I was there.  Yes, was and still is called the Sugar House.  Named after the daughter of the Phillipino Couple who lived in the upstairs house. Our front door was that little while door off to the right side.  Kind of creepy but it was the best place. I learned so much here. Met the most incredible friends. Fell in love for the first time, got engaged, experienced my first huge broken heart and just had some plain crazy times.

 This is where I spent my last year.  The Normandy Apartments. Mine was the very top floor all the way to the right.  That year was interesting. The best part was the friends I made with my roommates and the roommates who lived all the way down at the other end. It was a great place and I learned a lot too. It was a huge upgrade from Sugar House.

They aren't much. Not very fancy, but I didn't need fancy. Some of the best memories that I have were spent in these two places. Thanks to everyone who made it such a great place to call home.

Everything I remember is pretty much there.  It has either gotten a huge makeover, remodeled, condemned, or added onto. Plus there is a new temple that sits right on top of the hill so no matter where you are in Rexburg you can see it. It was beautiful.  At night it just lit up the whole sky.
So I stayed with Camille in her little apartment.  She lives in Royal Crest.  It is still there and it looks the exact same since I was there many years ago. I am sure they are still using the same couches, carpet and curtains.  It was fun to step in and be a college student for a small moment.  She has some really cute roommates and they all seem to be pretty good friends.  Capri, Camille's cousin let me sleep on her bed that night and I had the hardest time falling asleep, for a number of reasons, there was so much noise, no fans, and it was blasted hot.  But once I got past the loud noise, it became my noise maker and it put me to sleep. I got a good nights rest and the next day I toured around on campus.  It was beautiful.  It's changed so much.  Here is what I saw.....
     This is the Spori Building.  This is the art building. The original building burnt down to the ground about 10 years ago.  They replaced it and it is beautiful but not quite like the original.

This is the Manwarning Center or the MC building.  Here is the main building for everything. Resturants, book store, bowling alley, you name it. Completely different. I didn't even recognize it.  It is very large inside. Very pretty building and it will connect to this next building which is.......

The new Conference center they are building right next door.  It is literally right across the street to where my sister-in-law Camille lives too. It will be extremely large when it is done.  They are going to eventually have all the buildings connected with breeze ways. What a brillant idea since winter lasts about 8 months out of the year here.

Up on top of the Campus towards the intermeral fields sits this beautiful temple....

My brother-in-law Jason was telling us some interesting things about this temple. He got to tour it while it was still under construction when my sister and he were still going to school there.  I guess all the wood inside the temple comes from Africa and the chandelier in the Celestial Room comes from Romania (I think that is what he said) It was from somewhere over there.  Anyways, amazing stuff to hear when you hear about how far it travels just to be there. 

Then on Monday Camille went to her classes while I toured around a little bit on my own. It was so much fun. I felt like a college student. It was nice to be carfree and on my own. Then when Camille got down with her classes we drove into Idaho Falls to go shopping. We went crazy and stocked Camille's closet and cupboards up with all the fun things she needed.

Thanks Camille! It was so much fun to be with you. Let's do that again sometime really soon!!!!  Then I drove home later that afternoon just in time to put my sweet boys to bed.  It was a great trip. I didn't realize how much I missed that place. I recommend BYU-Idaho (It will always be Ricks College to me)!

Pumpkins

We love this time of year.  I can't believe that October is already here. Yesterday after dinner we took our boys to our annual trip to Jeremy's Pumpkin Patch.

  It is just down the road from our home and we have gone there ever since I can remember.  They have the best pumpkins for the cheapest price.  There is always lots to see and do there also.  Our boys loved it again this year.  This was Owen's first experience there and we was obssessed with this cat that moved on the rooftop.  We let them each pick out their own pumpkins, some cornstalks to put by our front door and some smaller stuff that goes inside.  We had a nice little evening out with our kids. I apologize for all the pictures of Owen. He was the only one willing to cooperate with the camera.

Halloween is just around the corner. Now all we need to do is find some costumes.