Boise trip ect.

Here are some highlights of our trip to Boise. Of course we went to the Cheesecake Factory. Yummmm!!!!!!


Then we had a party for #1 Man and boy #6 's birthdays. We went to Wahooz. I hate that name. I don't know why I didn't get pictures of everyone but oh well. I'm glad you all came. I had a great time. I know everyone else did too. This was on little man's actual birthday. We had a party complete with chinese food and cupcakes. It was a lot of fun.
I am missing Idaho today. I guess I am really missing my family and old friends. I'm glad I have your blogs to look at. It helps me feel like I've talked to you. Love you all.

Not moving after all

Well our landlord has changed his mind and decided he is not going to let us out of our lease. I'm not too sad about it. I didn't really want to move anyway. We were just trying to find a way to make ends meet. Oh well, We are going to be certified foster parents by next month so that will help... or kill me. Maybe I will sell some songs or #1 man will finish the book he is writing. We'll see.
We started our training for foster care Tues. night. It brought back a lot of memories. I'm suprised that people are so shocked by the behavior of some of the kids in protective custody. Yes poo becomes a tool to test boundaries. I guess because I've seen what abuse does to kids and what taking kids away from their parents does to kids I'm not suprised by the stories I hear. I'm not excited to clean more messes and repair damaged things but the classes remind me why the Lord needs families who are willing to go through something hard to better the lives of those who need help. These kids need to know what a healthy family looks like. Most have never seen one. I remember when we got our group of kids that were a part of our family for years. It was two weeks before Christmas. We were so excited to give them a nice Christmas. The look on their faces that morning was pure shock and disbeleif. I don't think they had ever had a proper Christmas. The memories I have from foster care are varried. Some were awful. Some I will carry around with me my whole life. You don't forget your brothers and sisters even if they aren't biologically or even legally yours. Now that I will be in the parent role instead of the sibling role I hope I am up to the challenge. I really can do hard things with the Lord.

Such a fun weekend!

Temple Square well actually the conference center. Can you tell how cold it was?

I sat right under this buffalo at Maddox on New Year's eve. I kept thinking I hope this is well secured to the wall. ;)

Here are the boys. They love Maddox! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

My sweet wonderful man enjoying his evening too!

My funny Daddy. I think maybe we were too hungry! Carnations don't taste so good.

My beautiful Mother holding up the menu. I don't always get the pictures to turn out with my phone. Sorry It's a little fuzzy.

We had such a great time this weekend. We went to Maddox for New Year's. The next day we went to temple square hoping to see the lights. No luck! We missed them by one night. Oh well. I love going to temple suare. The visitor's center is so neat with all the paintings and exibits. Dad got to see the Joseph Smith movie. He hadn't seen it yet. It's my favorite. We talked to some really cute sister missionaries. One was from Mongolia. We then had an adventure finding a place to eat on New Year's Day that wasn't closed. I wish the JSM building was open. Or the Lion House but alas we had to venture elsewhere to find food. Chillis is where we ended up after driving for awhile downtown. We were all still so full from our lunch at Floriberto's we didn't eat much. We mostly ate desert. Yumm!

The next day we ventured into Ogden to go to the Solomon Center. There we ate at Costa Vida while watching the indoor surfing. It was so funny to watch people try to surf for the first time. Most fall very hard. I guess I shouldn't laugh but it's really hard not to. Then we went upstairs to see the indoor skydiving. They put people in a huge wind tunnel and they can fly. It is so cool to watch. The instructor always does a little show at the end. That is the coolest part. Look it up and watch a video. It's called ifly. Then we went bowling at Fat Cat's. That was so fun but the kids were tired by about the sixth frame so we left early. To cheer them all up and get their sugar levels back up we went to Farr ice cream shop. So yummy and fun. It's a cute little old fachioned ice cream parlor. I love going there except that people come in waves. You can be sitting in a nice quiet parlor and then a rush of people come in all at once. Then it gets a little crazy. We got there during a little pocket of quiet.

Then we went home and rested up for a nice dinner in. We mad a wonderful rib roast. It was a little under cooked but still so good.

The next day we went to church ate lots of leftovers and then said goodbye to my sweet parents. It was so fun and great to see them. I was missing them a lot.

Well it's official we are moving probably by the first of February. Not sure where yet. We put an offer on a house that I love but we don't find out if we get it till tonight. People have been calling to come see this one though so I've had to start keeping it clean again. Yay! :( So easy with my crew. Acually it's not that bad. I am not excited about packing and moving again but I am looking forward to no longer being so tight with money. Well hope all is well in your lives. Have a memorable day!

Wowie Kapowie!

One of the favorite gifts recieved was a marble shoot made by grandpa Bubbles for the kids.
The kids got quite a few gifts thanks to family and DI. They loved their logo sets and gameboys. They also loved their new jammies.
#1 Man loves his new Jacket and white shirts.
A little excited?

The binoculars were made by boy#2 and given to boy #3. I thought that was sweet.

I love my new painting from my mom. Thanks so much! I will post a picture of it when I get a frame:) Boy # 5 Loves his new Starwars millenium Falcon toy. It makes awesome noises!

Boy #6 loves all his new toys too. I don't know why we don't have more pictures. We took a lot of video. Maybe I'll post some of that later.

I made a huge Christmas dinner complete with three layer jello salad. We had a wonderful ham, Mashed potatoes, yams, stuffing, apple cider, and egg nog. We forgot to have desert which was pumpkin pie. Oh well. It will be just as good to eat today. We snacked on chips and dip too. Yum Yum!! Too bad there was no one to share it with. It was the best dinner I have ever made (if I do say so myself). Everything turned out perfect. Well writing about how good it was has made me want to eat it again. One good thing about it being just us is that I can. There are plenty of leftovers. ;) Hee Hee! Hope your Christmas was just as great!

I'm almost ready...

We went to see the lights at Willard Bay campground. They do a big show every year. It was fun. I took some video but it is a little nauseating.(I can't spell that) I used my camera on my phone and I forget I can't move around with it. Everything gets fuzzy. I'll post it anyway so you can see the fun lights. The sound doesn't work on my computer. I don't know if it works on anyone else's.

I got all the presents that have arrived wrapped. I'm still waiting for three things we ordered online but they should be here either today or tomarrow. I don't know if one of the items will be here before the big day or if it will arrive the day after. I'll just keep my fingers crossed. It's for Nick so It would be ok if it's a day late (he already knows). I'm a little sad that we are doing the big dinner alone. We tried to find someone who we could share it with but everyone we know is going to their families houses for dinner. Oh well. #1 man is kind of excited to be starting our own traditions. We are going to watch a nativity cartoon before we open gifts to set the right tone for the day. I got a living scriptures one for a dollar at DI. They are normally 20 bucks! I love DI. I also got lots of books there for 50 cents a piece and more movies and games. I think the day will be filled with lots of fun and cooking. I'm excited.

Now I'm the sneaky one...

I love shopping for Christmas and hiding things everywhere around the house. My kids don't have a clue about a few goodies. HEE HEE HEE!! I love having a suprise Hidden just bursting to come out! My little 4 year old knows about a couple large items in the garage. He has forgotten about them I think. I found a great deal on KSL which is like craigslist for UT. $10 a piece for almost new bikes! I'm thrilled because we don't have much by way of funds this year but thanks to the wonderful generosity of a couple of family members the boys will still have the best Christmas ever! Thanks!!!!!!!!

Sneeaky Sneaky!!

I was in the living room Saturday morning and my 4 year old pulls out a backpack from behind the couch. This particular backpack is one that has been missing for a couple of months. One that I thought was lost at school. So with great eagerness I looked inside this pack and to my suprise it was filled with incomplete papers. My little 7 year old has been Caught! He pretended his backpack was missing to avoid doing his homework. So although his work is well overdue he will be completing each and every paper I find.

His latest confession is that There is a folder in his desk that holds the more recent assignments. Yikes!! The first pile totaled 44 sheets. I can only imagine how many are in his desk. Oh well. He'll learn someday I guess.