Trick or Treat!

Kaitlin was a pretty Witch.
Tyler was Joe Dirt, check out his chest hair.
Derick, as a Rubic Cube, won most educational at our Ward Party.
I had to dress up for my job so this is what I came up with! I even had crows on my shoulder and hat.
What a scary looking bunch!

BOO!

For Family Home Evening we did the traditional "Carving Pumpkins" I did though, try a couple new things.

• Instead of cutting off the top of the pumpkin and having to reach your hand in to light the candles, we cut a hole in the bottom so that you just have to put the candles on the ground, light them, and then cover them with the pumpkin. Worked great!
• I also heard that if you put Vaseline on the cut parts of the pumpkin that it won't dry out as quickly and therefore not mold or shrivel up. Worked great!
• This is the first year that I roasted the seeds! I didn't use any recipe, I just washed them and then soaked them overnight in water and salt. I then drained them off and sprayed them with olive oil and roasted them in the oven. They turned out pretty good for the first time, next time I won't put as much salt, and also might try flavoring them.

It was a fun evening, and the kids did a great job carving their pumpkins.

Grandma BB's Spudnuts

The other night we made my Great Grandma Bebensee's Spudnuts. They were delicious!

The picture above is of my Great Grandma Evers and Great Grandma Bebensee, I never did know my Great Grandma Evers, but I remember my Great Grandma Bebensee, she was a soft and cuddly grandma.
This is a picture of Kaitlin and my Mom making Grandma BB's doughnuts when Kaitlin was three.

Kaitlin's Fall Concert

Kaitlin is in a singing group at school this year, she meets every Wednesday on short day, after school to practice. They all did such a great job! We look forward to more of her concerts this year.

Volcano Erupts in Cedar City

Fall Photos

I love fall and everything about it! The colors, sweaters, smells, soups, pumpkins, etc. The kids and I drove up the canyon the other day (and that is where I got my very first ever in my whole life, ticket) and took pictures with all of the fall colors. Anyway, it was beautiful! It's always quite the adventure trying to get good pictures, between funny faces, sibling doing silly things behind your back, and getting impatient, it's a wonder that you get any good ones.

Don't blink or you might miss Derick on his long board.

"Long Board" or long board?

Derick decided that with the money that he earned helping me with my vinyl order, that he wanted a long board. So he found one online that he liked and ordered it, he would check every day with his friends to see where the long boards journey was and how soon it would be here in Cedar City. On the day it arrived he wasn't home until the evening so I thought I would have a little fun with him. I opened it up and found one of my blank signs and put it and a photo copy of the board he ordered back into the box and taped it back up. When he came home he opened up the box with anticipation.

• Derick, "What the heck!"
• Mom and Dad, "What?"
• Derick, "All there is is a piece of wood and a picture"
• Dad, "You paid how much for that?, they didn't even give you wheels?"
• Mom, "Did they put any instructions in there?"
• Derick, "No, I'm going to go show this to Kyle" (Kyle is Derick's friend across the street who had just received his long board a few days earlier.)

Needless to say Derick ended up with his "Long Board" after a few laughs.

His "Long board" will be forgotten about some day, but he will always remember the story about the long board.

Find JOY in all things now!

I always enjoy this time of year when we get to listen to General Conference. This session was wonderful. There were many great talks given, one of my favorites was Robert D. Hales talk on "Christian Courage". He talked about how Abinadi stood up for what he believed in even though it cost him his life, and then how through his example Alma was converted to the Gospel and then also showed Christian Courage. Another talk I enjoyed was Elaine Dalton who talked about Temple Ordinances and "Returning to Virtue". Then I loved our Prophet's talk on CHANGE. Here are some of the quote that he stated that I wrote down.

• Nothing is as constant as change
• Find joy in the journey NOW!
• There are no tomorrows to remember if we don't do anything today.
• The circus will come back again, childhood doesn't
• Be greatful for the abundance that is present.

How grateful I am for the Gospel in my life DAILY, and that we have a living Prophet on the earth today to lead and guide us.

Thanks to Tyler, we were able to watch Conference in our living room as a family instead of in our bedroom on the bed and floor.Since Tyler is the smallest and the bravest, he got to go up into our attic and help feed the wires through holes in the living room ceiling. He came down covered in the insulation up there.

Happy Halloween 2003

Getting in the spirit for Halloween? Here are a few pictures from 2003. I love the looks on Tyler's face during Pumpkin Carving. We also had the tradition while we lived up North to go to "The Halloween House" every year at least once. Thanks to Aunt June and Uncle Den who introduced us to this fun experience.

Kaitlin, how old are you?

When Kaitlin was going to turn one, we taught her to hold one finger up. So whenever we would ask her how old she was she would do this...
We use to roll her hair in curlers, she always looked so cute with them in. Such fun memories!

Kirk HATES his picture taken!!!!!

Kirk hates to have his picture taken. About the only pictures you can get of him is with something held in front of his face. A good trick I've come up with is to make him think he's not getting his picture taken, but I am taking a picture of the cute kids he's holding. Or else like in the other picture, which really isn't Kirk, it's a picture of a redneck with a shirt on that belongs to some other guy named Kirk. SHH he's incognito.

Mrs. Payne likes Monday's

Tyler comes home from school on Friday, this is our conversation.

Tyler: "Mom, can I have a shower every night"

Mom: "Yes, you can have a shower every night" Mom is wondering how she got so lucky

Tyler: "Mrs. Payne says that she likes Mondays because when she bends over to help us she can smell our clean hair. She says that by the end of the week we start to smell."

Tyler who likes to impress his teacher will do anything, even take a shower/bath every day!!!

Tyler: "Mom, do we have any coconut shampoo?"

Child of Royal Birth

I am trying to catch up on my old photos that I haven't finished. I thought that it would be fun to put some of them on my blog to remember fun times. This is one of Tyler, when he came home from primary he had this HUGE crown, not just a simple basic one. I thought that it was great, He is really making the statement "I am of Royal Birth!!!!!". How appropriate.

Family Night with the Elison's

17 years and wiser

Kirk and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary. We went out to dinner and to the movie. We took Kirk's truck and I decided that I would make it like our firsts dates when I would slide over into the middle and sit by Kirk. So I slide over, get a wedgie with the seatbelt thingie, and my knees are in my chest because I have the hump and no space for my legs.

What did I learn from this?

1. You are silly when you are young and in LOVE
   
2. Comfort is too important to my old bones.
3. My hips can't fit between the seatbelts anymore.
   

So I said "Forget this" and slid back over to the passenger side and enjoyed the rest of the evening in comfort.

What a rollercoaster these past 17 years have been. We just put our hands up in the air, scream, hold on for dear life, and then have a blast enjoying the ride. I am so greatful to be married to my best friend for Time & All Eternity.

Ta-Da!

Well we, (meaning Kirk and some great friends), finished the chimney. Notice their idea of scaffolding, good thing we aren't licensed contractors, just "do-it-yourselfer's". I love the finished result of all of the hard work from start to finish.

Thank you, I love you Kirk!

Teenagers are Silly!

Teenagers + Pink Gorilla Costume = Sweaty silliness

Tyler's a poet and we didn't even know it.

Tyler came home from school and had written this awesome poem. It describes him perfectly. He was able to read it to Mary Ellen Edmunds, who is an LDS book author. If you haven't read her books or listened to her tapes, I highly recommend them to you. Love is a Verb, is one of my favorites. She is a wonderful lady and will put a smile on your face. She was here visiting in Cedar City for a highschool reunion and we were able to have dinner with her one night. Tyler was quite tickled with himself when Mary Ellen gave him a standing "O".

Rock Melon

Last night we had the missionaries over for dinner. We had grilled pork chops, cheesy potatoes, zucchini and Rock Melon (which is what the Elder from Australia called cantaloupe). We had a great dinner and visit. There were three Elders, Elder Rasband, from Texas, has been on his mission two years and is going home on Wednesday, the Elder Paea, from Australia just had shoulder surgery and will be heading off to the Philippians soon to serve his mission, and then Elder Lee, from Maryland, has been out for 1 year.

Elder Rasband then gave us a short message of the importance of having balance in all things. He did a really neat object lesson for us. He took a salt shaker with a toothpick stuck in a hole then had a spoon a fork and another toothpick that he told us we had to balance the other three objects on the one toothpick. Everyone tried but couldn't figure it out. It was amazing how it actually works.

Yummy Pancakes!

It's such a fun tradition to go to Grandma & Grandpa Marchant's house in the summertime to have their yummy pancakes. You haven't had good pancakes unless you've tried these. I am not a huge breakfast fan, but I rarely will pass up this breakfast.

Fall Open House at Roberts

We have been planning our Fall Open House at work this past couple weeks. We did several demos on getting ready for the fall season. I can't believe that Fall is around the corner already. We had one lady leave the store in disgust because we started putting our fall decorations out! Oh well. It's always fun to plan but even better to have the event over. Our next event is Ladies Night Out.

Daddy Daughter Date

Kirk and Kaitlin went on their first Daddy Daughter Date with all of the girls and their dad's from church. They went miniature golfing and had a great time. Kaitlin was so excited and talked about going for a whole month, she kept reminding Kirk so that he wouldn't forget, he finally showed her that he had it programed in his phone to beep so that he wouldn't forget.

Blessed but busy, busy, busy

I have been working with Granite Publishing for the past few months seeing if they would be interested in selling some of my vinyl products. They sell to LDS book stores all over the United States. I sent them samples and they really liked everything and then this last month there was a LDS book sellers convention up in Salt Lake, where they displayed a poster of my products. I then received an order of over 300 items. So I have been up to my elbows in vinyl this past week trying to get the orders filled. I sent 80% of the order today and had to order more vinyl because I ran out yesterday! So I can breath for a few days until my vinyl gets here on Tuesday. It's really exciting yet overwhelming at the same time. My goal is to get on top of everything and then do a little bit at a time so that by the time I get another order I'll be ready for it.

The picture is a small sample of what I am doing for them.

When I grow up I want to be a Fireman

For our August Relief Society activity, we went on a tour of the fire station. We had a great time! They have a fire safety house that is a fully furnished house and they take you room by room and show you all the different safety hazards and explain what you can do to avoid not only a fire but other injuries. The last room that the kids went through they filled with smoke and showed them how to escape a window. Afterwards we had spaghetti, garlic bread, salad and dessert.

The Power of Prayer & a 10 year old

Yesterday after I got home from work Tyler met me at the door. He had gone to the DI with his friend and ended up not being able to find his money (ten dollars). I asked him if it was just in his pocket or in a wallet, he said just in his pocket. I told him that he shouldn't put his money in his pocket because it just works it's way out and you can loose it. Oh well, there is nothing we can do about. A while latter he comes back with his friend and tells me that he and his friend decided to both say a prayer that they would be able to find his money. They retraced their steps back to the DI and when they got inside the cashier asked them if they had lost some money and they said, "Yes, a ten dollar bill", she then handed them a ten dollar bill that had been found on the ground.

These little kids are such an example of faith and prayer. I am so glad that they were able to have the faith that their prayers would be answered and that they were able to listen to the Holy Ghost. They were so excited that their prayers worked!

Tyler came home from school today with this leaf bug, pretty cool!

For some must push and some must pull...

Derick was able to go with the Young Men and Young Women of the 2nd and 8th ward on a the Martins Cove Trek. He left on a bus on Tuesday and came home on Saturday, July 25. He had a wonderful experience there, making great memories that he will treasure forever. He came home with tons of mosquito bites and blisters, but other than that survived.

I'm so glad that he was able to take part in a little bit of what our ancestors and the pioneers went through to come to Utah to help build the temple and the church. I'm greatful for their sacrifices so that I can have the gospel in my life.

Back To School! & penniless

The kids started school on Thursday the 14th, HOOORAY for all of us. Man is it expensive getting kids ready for school. I guess I need to start budgeting ahead of time so that where ready when it starts. We did the rounds of back to school night, meeting the teachers, and seeing what the plans are for the year. The kids are all happy with who their teachers are at this point.

Derick is taking Advanced Science from Mr. Black, then He has English and Reading from Mrs. Rowley, U.S. History from Mr. Kamachi, Algebra I from Mr. Prince, Chamber Orchestra from Dr. Neves, and P.E. from Mrs. Chamberlain.

Tyler has Mrs. Payne and he thinks she's awesome!

Kaitlin has Mr. Shirley who grew up in our neighborhood and his parents are in our Ward.

Hopefully it will be a good year, without to much drama. It's nice to know what they are doing every day while I'm at work. Thankfully my schedule allows me to be here to send them off and I'm home before they get home. Plus on Fridays I will be able to help in their classes on my day off when the need me.

Zip-a-dee-ay and heigh-dee-ho...

...Happy birthday to you! Just wanted to wish Kirk a happy birthday! Here are 38 reasons why I love him, here goes;

1. Because he loves me
2. He is such a hard worker
3. He is great at working on my Honey Do Lists
4. He doesn't complain about being my Honey Do
5. He is a fun Dad
6. He has a great sense of humor
7. I love his smile
8. He has tremendous integrity
9. He is a great example to our kids
10. He's smart and can help the kids w/ their homework when I can't
11. He encourages me
    
12. He loves my body (even if I don't)
13. He does the laundry
14. He vacuums
15. He irons his own clothes
    
16. He served a faithful mission
17. He keeps going even if he doesn't feel good
18. He is great at running a business
19. He is a worthy holder of the priesthood
20. He does his Home Teaching
21. He sings good
22. He's got a sexy butt
23. He teases me
24. He loves me the mostest
25. He is a wonderful provider and sees that we have what we need
26. He loves my family
27. He's strong
28. He always encourages me with my talents
29. He let's me go to Chick flick's with my girl friends
30. He watches reality t.v. shows with me.
31. He watches the food network with me.
32. He waits to watch his favorite t.v. shows until I can watch them with him
33. He holds my hand
34. He is always with me when the kids have a program, parent teacher conference, etc.
35. He doesn't kick me out of bed when I snore
36. He'll rub lotion on my back even though he hates smelly lotion
37. He doesn't like going to class reunions
38. And last of all I'll repeat number one again I love him because he loves me.

That wasn't too hard. Happy Birthday Kirk, I Love You the Mostest!

Family Night of a "Different Species"

Tonight for Family Home Evening, Kaitlin did the lesson for us. She had a candle and we lit it and she talked about "Letting your light shine". She said that she can let her light shine by sharing her testimony. This was a bit of her testimony;

"I have a testimony that I can have friends, of different species, and I now that it's o.k. if my friends are different species, I can still like them"

Unfortunately she ended up in tears because her brothers couldn't help laughing. I told her that species meant that her friends were like animals and that she should say different "Races" not species. I asked her where she heard that from and she said from the movie, "My big fat Greek wedding". That got me laughing and here come the tears again. I had to hold her and let her know that we weren't laughing to make fun of her, but that she said something funny. The funny places kids pick things up from.

Kaitlin, thanks for making us laugh. We Love You!

Jaron's Baby Blessing

This Sunday we were able to go up North and do the dreaded school clothes shopping. Since we only have Wal-mart here to choose from. We stayed at Paige & Duane's and had a great visit with them. Then on Sunday we were able to be there for Jaron's blessing. There was way too much food, but it tasted wonderful, and of course you have to at least sample everything. It was also a good time to visit with our family that we don't see too often.

Back To School Event

Back to school week is the latest of events we had to prepare for. We had displays on how to decorate your doors, & bulletin boards, we made school project displays, showed how to cover and decorate your text books, had a decorate your lunchbox contest and made calendars. Whew! now it's over and on to the next event.

Bolt Cutters!

Waylene, one of my disigners, is getting ready to go home from work. She goes to checkout and is back again at the studio saying that she can't get her locker open. She had just put a new lock on it, so she gets a different key thinking that she grabbed the wrong one, and is back again with no luck at getting it open. So I had her give me all her keys and we both go over to see if I can help her. I try all the keys and look at the lock and it looks like the keys aren't even made for that lock. Waylene says "I have to have my purse, so were going to have to cut the lock off." So I get the bolt cutters and after several tries we get the lock off. Waylene opens the locker and, NO PURSE! We cut the lock off of someone elses locker! I love a good laugh. Thanks Waylene.

Aden's Baptism

Just another one of Tyler's adventures

During Tyler's stay in Leamington, he would go to Delta with Uncle Greg and catch polywogs and frogs. Needless to say "Spike" died. They had a funeral for Spike, Tyler, using a frisbee dug Spikes grave and Kaitlin offered a prayer asking Nichole and Michele to watch over Spike.

We do still have two living polywogs, who are now frogs, named T and Rex.

Our Block Party