I have a Sister Missionary gathering this weekend. My mission President and his wife will be there and hopefully most of my mission companions! It has been over five years since I have seen my Mission President. I am looking forward to our little reunion. The kids are excited to play with there cousins and see Grandma and Grandpa, Aunts and Uncles. . . Good times Ahead - - - See ya all later :)

Kids having a good time at the lake

This is the 4th of July outfit that my friend Candee taught me how to sew! It was neat to be able to sew something other than flannel P.J bottoms. I am hooked now and I really want to make some more cute outfits, endless possibilities :)

Father's Day Pictures :)

Dallin and Penny have the best DAD in the whole world! We Love you!

Look at these handsome boys!!!

Yesterday, was Spencer's Mommy's Birthday and my kids woke up bright and early asking "What are we going to do for Rosie's birthday?" My kids love Rosie!! So,we went out for doughnuts and cinnamon rolls, and enjoyed a yummy breakfast together! I just can't say it enough but Dallin is so blessed to have a BEST FRIEND like Spencer! And it is a double blessing for me to be friends with Spencer's Mom!


Yesterday was also one dollar day at the movie theaters so last night the kids got to stay up late and watch 'Horton hears a Who' The kids got some kicks and giggle out of watching it and it had a good theme too. We had a Great Day :)

CHOOSING TO BLOSSOM

And the day came when the risk (it took) to remain in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

- Anais Nin

"Can you find one perfect rosebud, either in your garden or at a flower shop? Place it on your desk or night table. The Talmud tells us that "Each blade of grass has its Angel that bends over it and whispers, "Grow, grow' " So do we. - Sarah Breathnach

Monday Mornings

i start my monday mornings by running at least 4 miles, i come back around 6:15 am turn on the computer and check e-mail and blogs and then I usually make a new post! If i am lucky the kids will still be sleeping and i can post some thoughts. The past couple weeks I have been trying to at least make a lunch for my hubby before i turn on the computer ;) I've been needing to do better about that! I would like to share some thoughts from Sarah Breathnach this morning that i think is very fitting for how i feel after the weekend has ended and how i feel for the start of a new monday/week. I usually have a sink full of dishes to do on monday mornings and lots of cleaning! Fun Fun NOT :) Here is proof my friends that my sink actually has dirty dishes in it.

Here is what Sarah has shared in her book 'Simple Abundance'

Getting your house in order

My life will always have dirty dishes.

If this sink can become

a place of contemplation,

let me learn constancy here

-Gunilla Norris

leftover spinach that was not eaten ;) If only i could accept the fact that my life will ALWAYS have dirty dishes, the repetitive tasks of chores could possibly become more bearable. Maybe i need to have an affirmation about "I will always be washing dirty dishes" Maybe it will become easier! Is any of this making sense? Does anyone else feel this way?

O.K so Sarah continues writing and says this "Because we dread it, we put it off for as long as possible until we have to dig ourselves out. Many women approach the unrelenting, repetitive, exhausting, and unproductive work known as housekeeping like the torture of Sisyphus. After offending the greek god Zeus, Sisyphus was punished by having to roll an enormous stone to the top of a steep hill. Every time he managed to pull off this feat, the stone would slide back down and the poor soul would have to start over again. Women do the same thing, Simone de Beauvoir observed in her book "The clean becomes soiled, the soiled is made clean, over and over, day after day."

O.K I remember taking mythology and learning about Sisyphus and that is a perfect way to describe housekeeping :) The thought of just picturing me trying to push a stone up a hill made me laugh because that is how i feel cleaning my house day after day and especially trying to keep a clean house with kids!!!!!!!!!!!! I love Sarah Breathnachs thoughts, I can relate in a lot of ways. Then shes writes this about getting your house in order "Prayer and housekeeping - - they go together. They have always gone together. We simply know that our daily round is how we live. When we clean and order our homes, we are somehow also cleaning and ordering ourselves." Gunilla Norris tells us in her modern book of hours, Being Home. How we care for our home is a subtle but significant expression of self-esteem.

I agree with that too "daily work, including housework needs to become a sacred art"

Lots of food for thought!!

Cleaning, washing dishes, laundry are on my to do list for TODAY

One of my many goals in life is to not feel like Sisyphus while doing housework!

Here is a picture of Penny, monday mornings my kids are usually in there PJS until at least 11 am :) and Penny loves to unload all my utensils and play with them under the kitchen island while I do dishes and then I take the utensils she has been playing with and toss them into the dishwasher too.

HAPPY MONDAY

"Let me learn constancy"

Relay For Life

Out of all twenty (plus) of our running group, including our families, Penny had the BEST time!! They had a jumping house, puppet play, k9 dogs, lots of goodies and Penny did not want to stop running! She probably did about two miles worth. She loves to run and she is fast too. Dallin was tired after one lap :) The kids stayed up till mid-night for the hope ceremony, they loved there glow in the dark sticks they got, they were perfect for a night light and then the kids squeezed into one sleeping bag together and slept until breakfast! It was neat to be apart of the Relay! There were a lot of people, we raised some good money to donote by selling home-made cinnamon rolls! The cinnamon rolls sold fast. A gal in our group made us all matching t-shirts, our group name is the 'Morning mob' Because we run at 5 am and we look like a mob running in the dark ;) Our group ran the most miles, we have a couple determined individuals in our group! One wanted to do 50 miles which would of taken 12 hours at least and then another one wanted to do 26 miles. They both did great they almost reached there goals. It was way to chilly for being a June summer night! It was in the 40's, but our running group is use to running in the cold, we ran through the winter!

We had a great Relay for life experience and hopefully we will be able to do it again next year.

Yesterday we played at the park with some friends, went biking, I've also been working on a sewing project :) I'm learning how to make an adorable 4th of July outfit!

here is a sneak peak :) I'm excited to get it finished!

Also a friend and I are starting to plan a 30th birthday party. A group of us 1978 girls are going to have a girls night with an 80's theme! I can't believe I am going to be turning 30 this month! Turning 30 is definitely a reason to CELEBRATE :)

Well, this morning we have already taken Rolo to work, went grocery shopping, now I am going to go make some yummy cinnamon rolls for Relay for life. I am kind of bummed because a good friend in my neighborhood is moving tomorrow so we need to stop by and say good bye to them some time today. She has been a fun gal with two cute kids. There are not very many kids in my subdivision so it will be sad to see them go. Well, it will be interesting to participate in Relay for Life this evening, I will post pictures of the event tomorrow!

Have a fun weekend everyone!

Bedroom Decor.

I have these pictures in my little collection of ideas to use some day . . . I do not recall where i have found 'em. I feel bad not giving credit to who and where they came from, i will be better about it, i promise!! They are cute ideas that i wanted to share :)

I think this would be cute framed. I love little piglets!

love birds found at redstamp.com Adorable stationary!

CUTE! CUTE!

My running group . . .

is doing Relay for Life this Friday. We are Planning on having a great time! :) We are bringing our families for the start of the evening and we will have a little potluck & play games, there will be lots of activities. The relay goes all night until ten in morning. Yikes, i have not pulled an all nighter for a LOOONNG time. There will be a bunch of booths at the relay, a couple of us are baking cinnamon rolls to sale at the relay to help raise money to donote to the American Cancer Society. This will be a new experience and I am looking forward to having a fun time with our group. It will be for a good cause, The theme is . .

CELEBRATE.
FIGHT BACK.
REMEMBER.

Some days I feel like this picture below and yesterday and today have been 'A SNAP OUT OF IT" day. I wasn't going to blog about it but this is how I have been feeling. The reason why I feel this way is because a week and a half ago I went to the doctor to have a colonoscopy and it went well and I did great during the procedure. Well, the doctor took some samples and the nurse called back with the results yesterday and I am bummed about the results. I have been working hard to keep my body healthy but it still isn't what it should be and I have also been on a high dose of medicine and it is not working to the best of what it should. A year ago the doctor had to convince me to go on this medicine I have been taking and I am glad that I did because what I thought was normal for me was not at all. I have felt so much better since I started taking the new med and well I need to start taking some more. I keep on telling myself 'you do the best with what you can do and roll with the punches'. So, this i how I feel! I needed to vent!

I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it is always June --- L.M. Montgomery

Rolo and I are both June Babies and we wouldn't mind living in a world that is always June ;)

• Dallin is his Daddy's little shadow. They had a good time at the Father - Son campout. I do not have any pictures of there little adventure because they were to busy hiking, playing with friends, cooking and eating lots and lots of treats. Lucky boys!

Doing Saturday chores together :0 Work before play! We went to a summer library carnival in the afternoon.

Yesterday was Rolo's Birthday! Dallin was excited to bake his Daddy's cake. He helped bake it and then Decorated the Angel Food Cake with "Vanilla" (Cool Whip) ---- Dallin wanted Whoppers on the cake and he said this about them "They live at Wal-Mart, you can go there and get some, they even have brown ones, we used the strawberry ones" ;) Sprinkled with fresh Strawberries and Blueberries. Mmmm Mmmm Good

Finger lickin GOOD ;)

Happy Friday :)

June is just around the corner! I have lots of fun things planned for this next month!

Yesterday, we had a good time at the Boise Zoo. The highlights for my kids were carrying there little backpacks with snacks inside and playing on the toys. They had fun and going to the Zoo on Thursday is half price so it was a great deal.

Well, today Dallin is going camping with his Daddy for the ward 'Father-son camp out' We need to go get some snacks, bake cookies, fix the video camera, get bags packed and send the boys off and Penny and I are going to watch thumbelina and have a princess night :)

Have a GOOD weekend!

Dallin drew this picture for his friend Spencer. It's a picture of the two of them having a sword fight and there is a little bug in the middle "Watch Out little bug"

Dallin is a good little artist :)

I would like to display Dallin's art by doing something similiar to the picture below (idea- from Martha Stewart)

Family Hike

We went to Jump Creek Canyon Yesterday for a family hike!

The kids had a great time! It was a perfect hike for kids. You do have to watch out for poison ivy! It's a simple trail thru this rock canyon.

Dallin loved crossing the creek! He is an adventurous little boy. He would go to one side and then back and then do it again.

It is a beautiful waterfall!

"Treasure of Eternal Value" The April Ensign had a wonderful article written by President Monson. I have been reading this article over and over again. An article that I am going to value for a long time and put it in my journal.

If you haven't read it, you can look at it here! And I would like to quote from his talk because this is what I have been thinking about all week!

I don't even have the words i would like to use to express my appreciation and love for our new Prophet. But, I know he loves us and is concerned for the well being of us all. And he gave us some wonderful words of counsel: "I wish to provide the three pieces of your treasure map to guide you to your eternal happiness. They are:

1. Learn from the past
2. Prepare for the future
3. Live in the Present

Each segment of his counsel is so inspired! The part that especially hit home for me was "Prepare for the future" "It is necessary to prepare and to plan so that we don't fritter away our lives. Without a goal, there can be no real success. One of the best definitions of success I have ever heard goes something like this: success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal. Someone has said the trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never cross the goal line. Years ago there was a romantic and fanciful ballad that contained the words. "Wishing will make it so / Just keep on wishing and care will go." I want to state here and now that wishing will not replace thorough preparation to meet the trials of life. Preparation is hard work but absolutely essential for our progress." "We must pray daily to a loving Heavenly Father, who wants us to succeed in this life."

"Live in the Present" "Sometimes we let our thoughts of tomorrow take up too much of today. Daydreaming of the past and longing for the future may provide comfort but will not take the place of living in the present. This is the day of our opportunity, and we must grasp it. . . Every day of your life is a special occasion. . .and each morning, I say to myself that this could be a special day. Each day, each hour, each minute is special."

This article is amazing and has inspired me to want to plan and achieve future goals and to not take for granted special ordinary days in life! It is important to focus on the real treasures in life that are of eternal value!

Having just accomplished preparing for and finishing my first 1/2 marathon has changed my life! It is so rewarding to set a goal and literally cross a finish line!!! That finish line is very symbolic. Now that i have learned that lesson physically, I have some life long spiritual goals I need to conquer!

Well, Today we have Doctor Appointments that remind me how mortal we are and how important it is to not take for granted your good health. Penny has been having ear problems again. Her ear tubes are both out now and since they have been out she has had a constant ear infection. Poor Baby! And I get to go see my Colon Doctor today :) I have been feeling great but I still have to have colonoscopys to make sure I am alright. It is better to be safe than sorry. But to leave on a happy note it is Memorial weekend and we are planning on being spontaneous and having a great weekend! So, who knows we might show up on someones doorstep :0

Make Today a Special Day!