Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House

I had to go to Utah for a conference for school, and we were lucky enough to be there during the open house for the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. I had not brough church clothes, but with help from Greyson, the boys didn' t look too bad.

I was so grateful to be there and be able to take my kids through. It was so beautiful. My favorite part was going through the brides room and telling Mara that this is where she would get to come to be a princess on her wedding day! She was so excited. What princess doesn't want to get married in a castle?

Caleb, Porter, Mara, Max

Walking into the tent. Cami and Chloe, Porter, Grey and My mom and dad came as well.

I took a pic of my mom holding Emma and taking a pic of us. :)

Love those little kids in front of the fountain.

So glad we got to go there and feel a little of peace here on earth.

Six Kids...Six puppies!

So it has been a crazy birthing adventure for me lately. My mom left on Wednesday night to go home and Thursday I attended two births. Friday the kids got out of school and we went to Dairy Queen for Blizzards like the rest of Great Falls. Seriously everyone had the same idea. We quickly ate and raced home for a waterfight with the Giles and the Cranes! It was tons of fun. In the midst of the water fight Miya was acting really strange...I knew it was go time. I got her a bed already and Ryan and I headed off to have dinner with friends. We were almost there when I got a call that two more ladies were headed into the Birth Center. There was already one lady there, so two birth rooms + three ladies = a lot of shuffling! Luckily it all worked out really well and everyone was healthy and happy and Ryan was at home birthing puppies! HEHEHE! five of them. And from the looks of them, the mystery black and white border collie is the father, not the german shephard across the street. I got home at 2:00am and checked her and her cute five puppies were doing well. Then in the morning before I had to go back I checked on her again and five turned to six. Who knew?

They look like little rats, cute but ratty. Mara stayed up with Ryan the whole time and kept saying "Daddy...another one" in her high pitched squeal. Sam made it for most of them, but finally gave in and went to bed. So summer has arrived and I now have six kids and six puppies to keep track of.

Really, Does anyone want or need a cute puppy that comes from a great mom?

Family Home Evening Doughnuts!

So Caleb has my mom wrapped right around his little finger. On Saturday he wanted pancakes, Sunday he wanted crepes, Monday he had his heart set on doughnuts. They are so messy and take so long, but she graciously jumped at his command. They were so good, and it really was fun to make them. We made plain, maple and cream filled (my fav) when I was a kid we used to take our little wagon full of doughnuts around the neighborhood and sell them. That's how we bought Lagoon passes and how I got point shoes for ballet. It's a really fun memory, and the kids are always begging me to let them sell doughnuts...the problem...I've never made them by myself.
This batch was delicious! and Emma would not stay off the counter. I would take her off and she would crawl right back on.

Caleb helped most of the time, but I didn't get a picture of him helping. We took them to the neighbors. (my real intent of taking them across the street was to find out if their dog was the one who got Miya pregnant? It's either their german shephard or a little black and white border collie that I have seen once.)

Looks good enough to eat!

So they put Ryan in the bishopric two weeks ago, our first and second counselor are moving, so they restructured. Ryan is the first counselor. We got to go to Canada to the Cardston Temple with the youth for baptisms on Saturday. (My mom was here so we left the kids with her) We had the greatest time riding with the Bishop and his sweet wife. We talked the whole way and totally enjoyed ourselves. Then we got to the border...
The whole passport thing that they are hyping up goes into effect June 1st. We will probably not get passports since $90 X 8 of us =Cha Ching! I really wanted to take the kids to Canada before they got so dang feisty about letting us back in. It's the USA that is being the sticklers, not Canada, so you can get in...but you may not get back...that's what they want you to believe. When we went through the border the patrol officer was on a major power play. He took our birth certificates and drivers licences and preceded to inform us that we needed to have a passport. In all actuality, it was still May 30, and we didn't need a passport until the next day. When he got done pulling his "I have power" attitude, he had to let us through but not before he told us that if we went to Canada without a passport, we would have to go into the lobby of the border and wait for hours before we were allowed back in. I am so bad, but the only thing his power trip did for me was make me determined to not buy passports, go to Canada with all six of my kids and just see how much they would like me in their little tiny lobby for hours singing , playing cards and being as obnoxious as we possibly could. I really get irritated when people tell me what I can and can't do. When it comes right down to it, I am a US citizen and they have to let me back in. Even the macho man at the border admitted that. URGGHH! I am really trying to work on that great weakness that I have.

Ultimate Temptation

We had to clean out the chicks box since it stunk to high heaven,

We put them out on the lawn while attempting to scour their lair.

What dog could resist cute little baby chicks?

Miya tried so hard to keep them all in one little area. She was herding them all back into place.

They weren't scared of her...what do they know they are only two weeks old.

She never tried to eat them though...I was impressed.

We have just discovered that our dog is pregnant. Great!!! I mean that sarcastically, not in an I am excited about it kind of way.

The great thing about it is that since she has become pregnant, she has totally mellowed out and I really can say that I like her now. She just follows the kids around and is very protective of them. She doesn't jump the fence, or wander, or jump up on us. I love it.

PUPPIES ANYONE?

Love this pic of Noah trying to contain all the chicks.

Memorial Day 2009

We had rain on Memorial Day, but we didn't let that stop us. We went back to Giant Springs Park for a BBQ. Emma was so excited about it...Mara, asleep.

I love that toothy grin!

Love that man, even if he likes to pose for the camera.

Cooking Hotdogs and Marshmellows over the single burner propane stove for ten kids and four adults. Luckily we could cook four at a time. Sam was so good to cook the hotdogs for all the kids while we were cutting watermelon and getting salads set out. I might just say here that we had a hotdog roast on Saturday night with friends and then ate the leftovers on

Sunday. Then Monday had them again. We weren't really wanting hotdogs, to say the least, but it got worse the next night (Tuesday) when we went to scouts and guess what...Hotdogs again. No one could stomach them. Even Emma was like enough already.

Eating!

Rock Climbing!

Trevor taking the little kids Fishing!
Max thought it was the greatest thing ever. All the gooslings were out.
So stinking cute.

Playing in the water and swatting mosquitos... they weren't too bad!

Emma having to be independent and walk herself!

Dad's turn!

While the little kids were fishing with Trevor we decided to go on a short hike.

We passed a teenager who was looking for a lost kid. How horrible to lose a kid there, by the water, by the road, strangers, tons of trails...We got back to our kids and Mara had wandered away from Trevor to find me, she was up by our stuff just crying, unitl a man (uggh!) brought her to Trevor to ask if she belonged to him. I felt like the worlds crappiest mother ever. It makes me cringe to even think about it as I write it.

Giant Spring...Big Springs..Whatever it was fun!

I had had enough. Please tell me I am not the only one who gets that "couped up" feeling! Saturday I just had to get out! Ryan has been working a lot "tis the season":) and we just needed some R&R. So we headed out to Giant Springs State Park (or maybe it was Big Springs?) They have a tiny playground there that the kids had a great time on. I love that Sam Loves to help his sisters.
We decided that Noah must be polynesian. When we went to Hawaii, the polynesian cultural center had a group of young guys that were climbing palm trees with their bare feet. Noah did that the whole time we were at Giant Springs, of course, they weren't palm trees, but I am amazed at what that kids toes can cling onto. Later in the week he came home from school and told me how they learned about tiny monkeys in Brazil that people steal and raise as pets. He wondered if that's where we got him. Dang-Secrets out!

This is fake grass. Ryan decided that that's what we need at our house. Little miss naturalist quite likes her dandelions and thinks green grass is overrated...not really, I love green grass, just real green grass that you can roll on and smell and mow.

The fish hatchery was cool and there was a whole group of Hutterites there. It kind of struck me as odd that Hutterites would just take a break and have a picnic. I talked to them and they were very friendly. They thought that Noah and Caleb were twins. They are only one inch apart in height and can wear each others cloths. (I have to laugh when Noah gets so bothered by Caleb wearing his clothes. I thought only girls did that. Noah has a major need to have things be just his. It is quite funny. You can imagine in a house of eight just how much he gets to call just his. But I do really try to let him have a collection of "just his" stuff.)

The water was beautiful and it was a perfect day to be out.

See, he's a MONKEY!

We walked down the trail and found some rock clifts to climb. It was almost like Zion National Park...okay not even close, but we'll take what we can get and run with it.

Sam and Noah, of course complained that they didn't want to go to Giant Springs, and then we got there and had a great time and didn't even get to explore all that we wanted to, and then complained when we had to leave.

That is precicely why I make my kids do things that they say they don't want to do. Because 9 times out of 10 they LOVE it.

As we were leaving we found this really cool stream, and even Emma had to dunk her feet in.

Good times. I highly recommend going.

Noah gets his BEAR!

I love this kid! he is totally self-motivated when it comes to scouts and at this point in my

life I really need that. His Den leader called me up and said "Noah has all his requirments

for his Bear" thank goodness I had just looked over his stuff and actually already knew that

so I didn't look like I was totally oblivious. She then said "in all my years of scouting I haven't

seen a kid get their Bear this early." He will have four months to get as many arrow points

as he can...and he intends to get a lot. I am so glad that he likes scouts.

Here he is with his pack getting a bunch of belt loops.
Here he is my cute little scout

He got to pin the pin on me, and Ryan had to give a presentation so he missed it, but
Noah was pretty excited.

Love that kid!

Happy Mother's Day

After some technical difficulties, here is a shout out to my mother and Ryan's

We are so grateful to have you in our lives! Thanks for all that you do for us and your endless concern for our well-being!

We know that our lives are blessed immensely just because you are a part of it.

Thank you for being such great grandma's to our children. The fact that they love you so much is a testament to how great you are for them and to them.


We hope that you have the greatest Mother's Day EVER and hope you know how much we all wish we could have been there to celebrate with you!

Mother's Day for Me!

I just have to say thanks to my wonderful family for the greatest Mother's Day! Ryan, Noah, Caleb and Max were driving home from Utah most of the day, so Sam took care of me and surprised me by making me breakfast secretly while I was out with the goats. I got to eat it in bed, and he had made me a flower and vase out of tissue paper. We made jam and cookies, and then went to church. After Church we went to Elaine's to eat and play baseball and wait for the boys to get home. I was so excited to see them again. How grateful I am for them and their kindness to me. How happy each one of them make me!