Overnighter

Last weekend our kiddos had a sleepover at Grandpa & Grandma Stewart’s house. So we took advantage of the free day and night.

For Eric’s birthday, we bought him the new super sweet 3.8 XDM.

We also haven’t been skeet shooting with our recently acquired shotguns yet, so we decided to spend the day shooting. It’s one of the things we love to do together.

Here we are at Ussery Pass.

Eric really got the hang of skeet shooting, but I think I’m going to stick to pistols and rifles. I have much more luck with them.

This was my first 2 magazines of the day. From 20 feet, I only hit 2 shots out of the red/head. Not bad for a girl, huh? ;)

After shooting, we grabbed lunch, did some shopping, and then hit a movie. Later that night, we went out to dinner with my siblings and their spouses to celebrate our birthdays.

As always, it was a great day with my hubby!

While you were out…

I recently spent 3 days at Stake Youth Conference in Flagstaff, AZ. It was SO cold. I’m such a desert rat! My group made it so much easier for me to be away from home.
They were such great kids. We never had a single problem. Phew! Here’s my group…

While I was gone, my sweet hubby and kiddos plotted my birthday present.

 

When I got home, I was met by the most excited little family.

Next, they led me through the house to a new set of knives that I’ve been wanting…

 

Next, they led me to what they’d spent a ton of time on…

Something I’ve been wanting for a LONG time… A GARDEN BOX PLANTER!

 

So we spent last weekend planting our very first family garden. We planted yellow squash, banana squash, snap beans, green peppers, cucumbers, peas, carrots, lettuce, cantaloupe, and zucchini.

Chandler also wanted corn…

Shelby wanted watermelons…

Tatum wanted strawberries…

And Harley wanted tomatoes, so we planted 2 plants in separate pots…

 

We also have another planter that we’ve previously planted flowers in. This time, we used it for things like rosemary, jalapeno, oregano, cilantro, green onions, and sunflowers. While most of these things we planted were from seed, there were a few that were transplants. Don’t they look cute?

 

I am so excited for our little garden to grow! I’ll keep you posted on how it goes…

Snow bunnies…

Eric & I decided to go skiing last week. I’d never been, and he was missing it desperately. So we planned a trip to Flagstaff. Only, unlike the cruise, we couldn’t stand to leave the munchkins behind. After $500 in snow gear for the whole fam (ouch!), we were ready for the big day.

We headed out at 4:30am so we could get on the slopes nice and early, and got into the snow just after sunrise. We had a contest… whoever saw the 1st snow on the ground wins a candy bar… Chandler won!

Gorgeous, huh!

After getting our boots and skis, we enrolled the kids in ski school.

Eric decided he’d just teach me. Either he’s a GREAT teacher, or I’m a natural (doubt that), because I only fell ONCE the entire day! I couldn’t believe it. I even managed to get on and off the lift multiple times without face planting. GO ME!

The kids were AMAZING! I couldn’t believe how good Chandler and Shelby were. Their class was only 3 hours long, and by the end, they were taking the lift up the mountain, jumping right off, and skiing down. Couldn’t believe my eyes!

(Chan is far right with a red jacket and white pants. Shelby’s far left, next to the teacher, wearing red pants and a black jacket.)

(Tatum and Harley are in the middle with blue pants and white hats.)

 

We ALL had such a great time!

We’re already planning our next ski trip for next winter… maybe even in Utah if we can find some brother and sis-in-law people to stay with for a few days. ;)

Shelby’s 9!

Shelby turned 9 last week. They just keep growing up so fast! I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday. We should have known then that Shelby was going to have her own way of doing things.

This year Shelby didn’t want a traditional birthday party. Instead, she wanted a “Little Ladies’ Late Night” party. We had 12 little girls over from 7-10pm. They  were giggly and silly, and the party was everything she imagined it would be.

First, she wanted a chocolate fountain instead of cake and ice cream. So we did that in a big way…

Next, she wanted “fancy” plates and cups, instead of birthday ones. So, here’s most of the birthday guests with their “fancy” cups and plates…

Next, we opened presents from her friends. Her friends really know her well. They all gave her gifts that she was in heaven about. She has some really nice friends.

Eric and I gave her a “Better Homes and Gardens Junior Cookbook” and an adorable “Hot Mama Apron”, made by her aunt Heidi. She’s really into cooking and baking, and is a big help in the kitchen.

 

(BTW- If you want to buy an apron, let me know. “Hot Mama Aprons” come in both adult and kid’s sizes in multiple patterns. They are all SO cute! I’ve got them on hand if you want to see them before buying one.)

Next, we gave each girl a notebook and pencil. We got them all in a circle and passed the books around to each girl. When you’d get a new book, you’d look who it belonged to. Then, you’d have 2 minutes to write a nice note to, or something nice about that person. Then, you’d pass it to the next person in the circle and they’d so the same. At the end of the night, they got to take their book of nice things about themselves home with them. I thought this was really fun, but I was busy running the game, and didn’t take any pictures of it. Oops!

After that, they got comfy and watched a movie.

Harley tried really hard to be one of the big girls, but she just couldn’t last as long as they could.

 

After the movie, the girls had a little more chocolate before their parents came to get them. Then, they went home. Shelby LOVED the whole party, and so did her friends! They had a great time!

With all those girls in the house, Chandler tried really hard to avoid the entire thing, but couldn’t resist the chocolate fountain. So, he’d sneak in periodically to get some, hoping to stay unnoticed. However, a cute boy like that… It was hard for the girls NOT to notice him. I’m sure this is only one of MANY more times this will happen in our future. ;)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Shelby girl! We love you!

Family pic 2010

We had a family picture taken during the 50th Anniversary celebrations in February. This is how it turned out…

 

Cute family!

Making Progress

1 year from now my parents will be back at home…safe and sound…with regular running water and power, and all the crazy kids and grandkids around them. YAY!!!

Here’s our countdown chart. We keep it on the door of our pantry so we can mark it off every day. The kids LOVE taking turns doing it. We’re making progress…

I know Mom and Dad miss everyone SO badly, but we are SO proud of them! They have learned so much about having unconditional faith, from the people in the Democratic Republic of Congo. These people have so little, yet their faith and resolve to follow the teachings of the gospel are truly inspirational.

Here they are with some of their missionaries…

Through their selfless service, we are learning so much!

We love and miss you Mom & Dad! See you next year!

Olympics withdrawal

Our family loved watching the Winter Olympics. We really got into it! Everyone would gather every night to see which events were on. Some of our favorites were, snowboarding, downhill skiing, and the bobsled events. Most of the time it’d end up like this…

… but we sure had a good time.

Until 2014… we’ll miss you, Winter Olympics! ;)