The Lang Family

Hair cuts

2011-04-14T18:51:00.001-07:00

This picture is Lizzy through and through. I told her I wanted a picture of her hair, and she jumped right up and posed. We took off about 7 inches. Her hair is still long but it was so long it was getting in the way when she went to the bathroom. :(

It makes me a little sad to see it so short.. it used to go down passed where her jeans are. (I guess I should have taken a before picture too).

Amanda's hair was another story altogether! She wanted hers to look like her new doll kit. I have never even been able to cut a straight line so you can imagine that I was VERY nervous!!! No shots of the back yet as I still have a little touch up to do...but even at that it is pretty darn cute. :)

Words Cannot Express

2011-04-10T19:12:00.000-07:00

Wow I don't even know where to begin. This last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of emotion and of trying not to get my hopes up. However that all came to an end tonight as Steve, Allison, Christie (Ali's mom) Cameron(her step dad) and I fasted to make a decision about Ali coming to California to live with us for a year. We started the fast last night and to tell the truth I wasn't sure what exactly I should be fasting for. I wanted with all my heart to just tell my Father in Heaven to tell Christie YES no doubts about it she should come here. Then in the same breath I wanted to do what was best for Ali so I prayed that if the answer were no that Steve and I as well as Ali would get a clear NO. That would make it easy. Either she gets a yes or we get a no, what followed however was a heartfelt prayer that whatever the decision Ali would have her testimony of fasting and prayer strengthened, that we would be able to hear the Lords will and that all of us would be able to talk it out in an honest and kind manner. I was afraid to trust my own feelings today as I prayed and tried very hard to listen for the spirit and not my own heart. The time came to end our fast and Steve and I knelt together in prayer. When we were done I turned to him and asked what he was and had been feeling throughout the day, his answer mirrored mine... I felt peace that she would be fine in either location and that the decision was for Ali to make. Steve put it perfectly when he said "its kind of like one of our daughters coming to ask us if she should wear the red or blue shirt, and really either one would be fine. Of course this didn't help me as in my mind that meant that Ali's mother could still have received a definite answer and we would have to wait and see what that was.

Steve called and talked to Ali and she had felt the same as we had no real wow moment but peace that she would be happy. A few minutes after hanging up with Ali we got the "phone call" that showed Allison on the caller ID Steve answered the phone saying "hey cutie" to which he heard "wow you haven't called me that for awhile" in Christies voice followed by laughter as Cameron shot in.."I thought he was talking to me" That broke the ice and eased the tension as everyone laughed We began our first ever "family council" with both of her families. Everyone had had a similar experience and in the end it was decided that Ali would come to California for her 8th grade year after that she could go back to OK or if she wanted to stay here then we would re-evaluate at that time. I am extremely grateful that although Ali has two families both love her very much and want what is best for HER! I am grateful that both Steve and Christie can be polite and even kind to one another when they act for Ali's best interest.

I can honestly say that I never really felt this day would come. Steve and I long ago agreed that we would never ask Allison to come and live with us, we would welcome her with open arms and hoped that someday she would ask if she could. But we did not want to make her have to choose between her parents! No child should feel they have to choose one over the other and although there have been numerous times when she has made the comment that "she sometimes thought about what it would be like to live with us" We would always tell her she was welcome to do that but she would have to be old enough to know what she wanted and she needed to be sure enough of her decision to take it up with her mother. This way she always had full control and would never feel she was pressured by us to make a choice.

Well that day has finally arrived and we can say for sure that this was her choice. She has an amazing mother and I know that there are a lot of things that she does that I will never be able to compete with. But I hope and pray that there are also some things Ali can learn from me that will make her better as well. I know Steve and Cameron each have special gifts that they have given her as well and with any luck she will pick up the best in each of us and be a better young lady because she has had so many people who love her and want what is best for her! My heart is full to think that the Lord hears and answers our prayers, he comforts us when times are hard. But because of those hard times it makes the sweet moments that much sweeter.

A Day at American Doll LA

2011-04-05T11:26:00.001-07:00

This takes a minute to upload but it is so cute!

This free scrapbooking design generated with Smilebox

2011-03-29T19:41:00.000-07:00

Well I guess you could say we have been busy. Who knew Girl Scouts could consume my life, but it did. So rather than try to update you one the last 3 months let me point out some of our highlights.

1. Amanda lost her first and second tooth in the last 3 weeks.

2 Katrina got highlights from Aunt Kensi

3. Lizzy turned 4

4. Allison came for Spring Break

5. Amanda got her own bedroom

6. The whole family went to see Wicked. Loved it!

7. Putting in grass out back.... Currently under construction :) with a completion date of Thursday. If your lucky I will post some pictures when it is finished.

8. Steve passed the 1/2 way point of his masters and only has until Nov until he is finished :)

9. Got our first flat screen t.v (I know we are a little behind the times lol)

10. Katrina and Amanda decorated hats for the school hat parade. (I do have pics of this so I will download later)

11. Upon recommendation from Megan I read the entire Fable haven series in a week and a half. (yes my family is glad to have mommy back lol)

12. Went to the dollar movies more times than we should have ;)

As you can see we are well and happy! Hope you all are to. I will post pict soon.

The last 3 months in a nutshell.

2011-01-05T18:10:00.000-08:00

So I am catching up all at once and since I just scrap booked these pages today you get these instead of a long old dialog. These are in no particular order enjoy!

Photo shoot 2010

2011-01-02T17:51:00.001-08:00

Make a free scrapbooking design

My Amanda

2010-08-26T15:44:00.000-07:00

This was Amanda's last year of Preschool, she has enjoyed the Hawks nest but is sooo excited to finally be going to Kindergarten or as she puts it "Ms. Diaz's class at Mountain View Montessori" She has grown up so much this last year and I am soo very glad that we had her wait until this year to start school. I have loved having the extra time with her.

Her personality is so kind and loving sometimes to a fault. If there is ever a conflict over who gets to go first, sit next to mom, play with a toy etc. She will always be the first to sacrifice so that someone else can be happy. I love having her around and will be so sad to see her go off to Kindergarten this year. She will be gone from 8:30 in the morning until 2:45 and I will miss her dearly during that time. I will miss her hugs especially and her cheerful attitude. She is one of my babies and I don't want to let her go.

She also has a spunky and funny side. She loves to make us laugh and will do silly little moves and dances when she thinks no one else is looking. This year she was quite the ham at the end of the year performance at Preschool and I was amazed as I watched to realize that my little baby is growing up way to quickly right before my eyes.

I feel like the time has just slipped through my fingers like sand. I can't seem to slow it down and I am afraid of missing something. Am I teaching her all she needs to know, am I inspiring confidence and Independence so that she will be successful this year without me.

It was really fun to have Elizabeth join her for the last 1/2 a year of Preschool. Amanda was the perfect role model and took extra care to watch out for and play with her sister. It was fun for me to know that my other baby was safe with her big sister and that they would stick together. The teachers said they never left each others side. I am happy that they are best friends and hope Elizabeth survives for the next two years while she is the only one at home.

I love this little girl of mine and am proud to be her mommy! She is my angel and I have a feeling she will be an angel to many as she seeks to help, love and serve those around her. I am sure she will be a great friend to the kids at school and I hope they will be as kind to her as I am sure she will be to them.

Before she goes to school we decided to do a special date with each of the kids and since she is always so giving and goes last at everything Steve and I decided that this time she goes first. She is so tickled that she is going first and that she gets to decide what we are going to do. Naturally she wants to do something we will all enjoy. So she her dad and I will be going to McDonald's and then maybe a movie (she's not sure on the actual activity yet) I hope she enjoys the one on one time as much as I will.

I love you Amanda!!!!

Time flies!

2010-04-21T15:59:00.000-07:00

Wow time flies when you are stressed to the max. So what you may ask has the Lang family been up to these past 7 yes I said 7 months.

Amanda turned 5 in October Katrina turned 7 Steve turned 36 and Stacie turned ** in November. That being said we went to Disney land for all but my Birthday as we had passes and they gave us gift cards for our birthdays. The girls spent their $62 gift cards in about 10 minutes and then we spent the remainder of the days having fun running from ride to ride. On Steves b-day we left the kids at home and had a birthday date to disney land and went to dinner at the blue bayou resteraunt. It was loads of fun and I think it was more fun watching him spend his money than the girls. He literally took hours and ended up building himself his own light sabor. :) My baby sister McKensi got married and Allison came for a Thanksgiving visit which entailed two trips to Utah that month. We loved every minute of it but it kept us super busy.

We purchased a new home and moved in December with the help of family and made a suprise visit to St George to suprise both Steve and my families on Christmas eve. The new house is a blessing in disguise and came very unexpectadly. We love the new found space we have and I especially love that there is room for everyone to spread out and have a little space to do so. We have lots of work to do on the house as it was a bank owned property but bit by bit it is becoming home.

January left us feeling a bit unsetteled and we spent most of our free time trying to finish up the move and clean up the old house. Allison turned 12 and entered young womens, and yes it makes me feel old to have a 12 year old. My baby Elizabeth turned 3 at the end of the month and we celebrated by going to chucky cheese for the evening.

Febuary brought my youngest starting preschool and I found myself with several hours 3 days a week without children. I am suprised however that in the weeks that have followed I have not found any more time. I still do the same things errands, shopping, dr appts, the only difference is that I do not have the company of little ones to keep me entertained as I do the mundane things of life. I do not look forward to the day that they are all in school and I have every day to myself, maybe we will have to look into foster care at that point or I can get a job at the school as a teachers aid. I guess only time will tell :)

March we were able to have Allison come and visit and we once agin went to Disney Land. Ali does not get to go as much as the rest of us for the obviouse reason that she lives in Oklahoma and when she does come it is the busier times of the year and who wants to spend our entire vacation waiting in line? This year our passes were not blocked and some good friends of ours came with us. They made the trip so much more enjoyable, thanks Carol and Kerri for coming with us :) Ali flew home and then Steve and Katrina started their spring break. We went to Utah for a couple of days to see Steves grandfather who's health is not great. We came back and spent the rest of the vacation on the yard. We stained most of the fence, pulled out all the dead plants and planted 2 peach, 2 apple and 1 pear tree. We also planted 2 grape plants and about 100 strawberries (thanks Ali for helping get those planted and for your help in starting to stain the fence)
April is now upon us and we like everyone else celebrated Easter. We had the Easter Bunny come a day early so Saturday could be about the candy and Sunday could be about the Savior. We made ressurection cookies which helped the kids better understand the Saviors roll in all of this as we read passages from the scriptures to understand the days leading up to the crucifiction and ressurection. I loved listening to conference as we had people in and out of our home joining us for various sessions. Life in the mission field sure is different, no watching conference in your pjs when you have strangers coming into your home to listen to the words of a prophet. On Easter Sunday I also learned that a dear friend of mine had passed away. I made plans to attend the funeral and was touched by the spirit as I watched all of her family and friends (including myself) struggle with the loss. I was touched by the love of her husband for their 5 young children as he made the decision to stay home and be a dad for a while.

I think that about wraps it up for now, I will try to post some pictures as time permits ;)

Borrowman Reunion

2009-09-03T07:40:00.000-07:00

So in my efforts to catch up here is a post about one of the reunions we went to this summer.

Every year for the 4th of July weekend the Borrowman clan gets together for a reunion. We have gone to the lake, and stayed locally, however this year was especially fun. As a family we have/are purchasing a piece of property up in the mountains near Zions National Park.
It really is beautiful up there and we had a blast. You can see both the girls around the campfire, which by the way we finished while we were up there. You can see the thin path of rocks around the campfire, well while we were there we went out and collected enough rocks to finish the paving. It looks fabulous!!!

This is Janae who is afraid of heights while the rest of us looked over the edge of a beautiful canyon. I admit the drop would kill you but how do you not CAREFULLY look at it. Janae we love you for worrying so much about us :)

Here is one of the reasons she was having a heart attack. Yep people were getting right up to the edge for this spectacular view. (the children were not allowed this close, so don't worry too much!)

Another on of our favorite pastimes was riding the 4 wheeler and the range rover. The rover was great for getting lots of the kids going at once, and they really never wanted to get off.

We also loved the food, the movie on the side of the trailer as well as the time together it really was beautiful!

2009-09-02T07:32:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a while since I posted so look for several in the days to come. One of the more exciting things that happened at the beginning of our summer was that Katrina decided to learn to ride her bike without training wheels. She was quite nervouse to say the least but you could hear her whispering under her breath. "I can do it, I am not going to quit, and if I just keep practacing".

It took her 2 days of 20 minute practices (that is all dads back could handle) and she was riding on her own. It was funny to watch her as she realized she was doing it by herself she would hit the brakes. I mean really hit the brakes leaving little white skid marks all over the street. She finally found her stride and she is a great rider. She now go on family bike rides and she leads the way:)

2009-05-28T08:38:00.000-07:00

Amanda had her semi graduation ceremony from pre school yesterday. She will be going back for one more year before kindergarten but they have the graduation for all regardless. Here she is pleased as punch after receiving her certificate.

These other pictures are of her doing some fun dances. They dressed them up in poodle skirts and taught them a few moves.

Twisting

Look at me. It was funny how many of the pictures I caught her checking out the boys on the guitars. She is growing up so fast.... anyone know how to slow down the process and keep them cute and little forever :) ?

Make sure you check out Allison's Promotion in the post before this one!

5th Grade Promotion

2009-05-28T07:48:00.000-07:00

Its that time of year when all the kids start getting out of school for the summer. This year Allison finished elementary school and had her 5th grade promotion. Next year she will start middle school, I cant believe how fast she is growing up.

Steve flew to Oklahoma to celebrate with Allison. It was really sweet for them to get to spend some time together. Steve showed up at Allison's front door about 7:30 am on the day of her promotion and took her out to breakfast before heading over to the promotion ceremony.

After the ceremony he was able to volunteer at the local YMCA as Ali and the rest of her class were able to play. Later that night they went to dinner with her mom and step dad and did a movie at her house. The next morning they spent playing before Dad had to go. They had a ball, congratulations Ali we love you and are so proud of you.

Disney Land

2009-05-04T11:34:00.000-07:00

Last week Steve's parents came to town so Steve took the day off, and we pulled Katrina out of school for the day and went to Disneyland. We haven't been for about a year and a half so it was fun to watch the girls relive the magic. It was especially fun to see Elizabeth react to it for the first time.

She was so cute on Dumbo as she figured out that she could move us up and down all by herself. After every ride she would put her hands over her face and cry because she didn't want to leave. It was cute to see and even cuter to see her light back up when we found something new. I can just imagine how much fun she will have when we go in the off season and don't have to wait in long lines at every ride.

We don't usually spend a lot of time in toon town, but this time we did and the girls had a blast with all the pretend play that didn't require waiting in a line :) Here they are as they try to get out of toon jail.

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Lang for such a fun day!!!

Free swimsuit giveaway!!!

2009-04-03T15:31:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many of you love MODBE swimsuits but they are doing a giveaway for a free on on the meanest mom blog. I have posted the link above. Just go to the site and scroll down until you come to the post about the free give away. It ends tonight at midnight so good luck.

Having Fun and Being Silly :)

2009-03-27T07:19:00.001-07:00

Last Thursday Dad took the 3 oldest girls to see Suessacle. This was a play put on by the drama students at Steve's school. They had a lot of fun and went up to meet some of the actors after the play ended.

These pictures were taken right before they left, as you can see they were all in good spirits and excited to spend some time together. They all look forward to dates with dad.

This is them the next day. I am walking by there room and I hear all this giggling. So I peak my head in unnoticed, and see them making faces at themselves in the mirror. I grabbed the camera and clicked the bottom picture and then they sat up and made faces at me.

Look at all that hair :)

The Three Piggy Opera

2009-03-25T14:46:00.000-07:00

Amanda is growing up so fast. Today she was in a play at her preschool called the Three Piggy Opera. She did a wonderful job by singing and dancing and doing all the

the actions to all the songs. Now maybe for those of you who have very outgoing children this may not seem like that big of an accomplishment. But last year when they did their Christmas play she stood there and didn't move the entire time, in fact she looked like she was going to cry.

My little girl is growing up. I love her dearly and love to watch her as she loves and takes care of others. She is very nurturing and will make a great woman someday. Until that day however I just want to cherish every minute I get to be with her and help her grow up knowing that she is loved by both me and her father as well as her Heavenly Father.

Lizzy let me get her all dressed up for the play and so I couldn't help posting this picture of another of my beautiful little girls.

Valentines Day

2009-02-15T07:07:00.000-08:00

I cant believe that I forgot to take any pictures, but wanted to post about our great day anyway :) Steve and I started celebrating Valentines day Friday night by going out to dinner with a bunch of our friends. It was nice to go out with everyone and even nicer to not have to worry about the kids. After dinner we went to the stake center where there was a dance going on. I enjoyed the chocolate fountain a little too much and ate lots of chocolate covered strawberries (my favorite). We danced for a couple hours and then headed home and realized just how old we were getting because it was only 10:30 and we were exhausted.

Saturday morning was typical and Steve went to a ham radio class and then we went to the gym. We lounged around the house for a good part of the day. The highlight of the day was dinner. I made lasagna and salad, we set the table with glass dishes for everyone (big deal at our house) I put the girls valentines from us and their grandparents next to there plates and then we got out the sparkling cider and candles. Until the lights went out the girls were not very excited about dinner, but after their comments were something like this..... "mom you made a super special dinner, thanks" and " this is a very special day" "can we do this everyday" "what if the candle fall will it start a fire", you get the idea. :) After the girls went to bed Steve and I played a couple of games together. Over all it was a GREAT Valentines day and we hope you all had great days as well.

being silly and photographer's in training.

2009-01-26T18:00:00.000-08:00

These are just some fun pictures of us being silly after we cleaned the girls room. We were taking a picture for the house fairy so she would come and check their room and leave a surprise. First Katrina wanted to take a few pictures. Except for the top of my head being cut off she did a pretty good job.

She also took this one of Lizzy I think she looks so cute.

Amanda wanted a turn as well and told us to make faces for her so here we are in all our refined glory :)

Of course after us being silly Katrina had to take one more of Amanda. The beauty of digital cameras is you can see how silly you look immediately and they love it!!!

Christmas Eve

2009-01-26T16:05:00.001-08:00

This was Christmas morning before the kids opened their gifts. We had a lot of fun opening and made a huge mess as usual. We spent the afternoon with some friends and we all had a great day.
Ali's Christmas

American girl doll bed/with Hannah Montana bedspread and a Nintendo DS were her main gifts

Trinas Christmas her big gift was her bike but she was also really excited about her wedding Ariel barbie.

Amandas Christmas she got a dollhouse and because it said Emma on the box it is always referred to as the Emma dollhouse

Lizzy's Christmas consisted of a baby, bed stroller and bottles.

We had a great Christmas this year!

Catching up. 1

2009-01-26T15:31:00.001-08:00

Here we are on Christmas Eve making our gingerbread men and decorating our cookies for Santa.

Lizzy is at the stage where she squints her eyes whenever she sees the camera. So cute!

Katrina and Amanda had lots of fun and their philosophy was the more candy and frosting the better. Katrina tried to make clothes for her gingerbread man. (the influence of her big sister helped) :)

I get the feeling that Ali has seen and done some real decorating with her mom, because she was using the tips, outlining, and filling in. It was fun to see her work so hard.

The Break

2009-01-05T15:24:00.000-08:00

Wow what an eventful couple of weeks. I'll start by saying we had a GREAT Christmas this year. Santa found our home and with a few minor setbacks left a bunch of happy girls in his wake. Ali got a Nintendo DS, Katrina got a bike, Amanda got a dollhouse, and Elizabeth got a baby complete with stroller and bottles. They were all very happy (until later that day when the adrenaline wore off from waking up so early). We spent the day with friends and enjoyed watching the Lakers play and win :)
After Christmas was over we set off to see family for a couple of days before Ali went home. We enjoyed the time we had with family. Steve ran a 5 k on new years eve and so Ali, Katrina Megan and Ashley stood and froze while we waited for him to finish and then we celebrated the new year. OK so we shouted Happy New Year to each other as we hurried back to the warm comforts of the van. We met together as a family to make plans for our up and coming business and I tried (and succeeded) to get some last minute authorizations for banners and permission to represent our business at a soccer tournament. After the family meeting I was flying high. We are doing better then I expected to be at this point and I am optimistic that this is a winning opportunity.
The kids went back to school today and I tried to catch up on all the laundry that a vacation brings and cleaned out the girls drawers to make room for the new clothes they got for Christmas.
All in all it was a great holiday, but I am glad to be getting back to a normal routine!!!

Snow Day

2008-12-18T07:16:00.000-08:00

SNOW DAY!!!!

First for those of you at the R.S. Preisthood social I posted a playlist with "The Gift" which was our song.

This morning when Steve woke up it had started to snow. It was just barely sticking so he headed to school. I also took Katrina and Amanda to school and dropped them off, but by then the snow was sticking to the ground and I was glad to see that Katrina's school was doing a minimum day. by 10 I was looking at the roads getting worse and knowing there were no snowplows and that our little city was totally unprepared for snow I was debating as to whether or not I should pull the girls out of school and just get them home. About 5 minutes later Katrina's school had called and said to come get her they were calling it a snow day. Liz went to get her and Savannah while I headed to the preschool to pick up Amanda and 3 other kids from the ward. By now the roads had about 6 or 7 inches and because it was wet snow we were fine. Steve's school let out early and the kids had a blast playing in the snow with him. These pictures were taken about 2 in the afternoon and it continued to pile up until sometime after 10 (that's when we went to bed)

It was hilarious watching Amanda and Katrina trying to walk through the snow that came up so high on them.

At first Amanda was afraid to go out in the snow But after getting all bundled up she was the first to throw a snowball and get a snowball fight going. In the above picture she had just gotten her dad and you can kind of see the smug smile on her face. She was so proud of herself!

Katrina standing in the snow getting ready to do her snow angel. The snow was deep enough that we had to pull her out because she couldn't get up.

Lizzy had no intention of getting anywhere near the snow but I snapped this picture after sticking her hand in the wagon full of snow. She thought it was funny but would not let me do it again.

One thing that I love about the snow is the peacefulness that comes during a snow storm. Everything is so quiet and clean and beautiful, I love that we are stuck inside and we get to spend some fun family time together without interruption from the outside world. Here's wishing you all a wonderful day.

Earthquake!

2008-12-06T09:13:00.000-08:00

You would think that living in California you would get used to an occasional little tremble. Last night Steve and I were watching a movie when we felt the trembling begin. It only lasted a couple of seconds but it was very much discernible. We later found that there was a 5.5 earthquake about 50 miles from where we are. Because of the distance we hardly felt anything but it still makes my stomach churn and it definitely makes me look around the bedrooms where my children are sleeping to see if anything on the walls could fall and hurt them if the big one were to happen. As much as it turns my stomach I am grateful for LITTLE reminders to assess our situation and get prepared. Later as we were getting ready for bed I noticed that the grandfather clock was still reading 8:22 and it was wound. Steve and I realized that the shaking from the earthquake must have disrupted its rhythm and stopped the clock.

A little of this and that.

2008-11-30T18:16:00.001-08:00

Well a lot has been going on around here so here is just a brief overview. 2 weeks ago Steve and I began our own little business and so far we have made a whopping 37.00 dollars with more on the way I am sure. We are really excited about this opportunity in our lives.

We spent the last week in Utah with family and had a ball running back and forth between family. The kids loved seeing all their cousins and especially liked that there was ALWAYS a cousin to play with. Amanda even asked why we don't live there too. When I explained that daddy doesn't have a job in Utah she innocently replied " I have a job mom... I can make the bed and pick up my toys and" I had to laugh at the simplicity of it and told her that daddy needed a job teaching that would pay him money. Needless to say we all had a good time. We were even lucky enough to miss the traffic both coming and going :)

While we were in Utah Elizabeth had to fall asleep on our bed with pillows around her and she did really good. So when we came back we let her decide whether or not to sleep in the crib or the toddler bed. She chose the bed and it looks like we will be taking down the crib for the last time. It amazes me that she is getting so big and I am enjoying every moment of the journey.

Well that's it in a nutshell, we hope you are all well and that you had a great Holiday as well. Love to all!!!

Exfuze!

2008-11-21T08:54:00.000-08:00

I am totally excited about a new product and I haven't even tried it yet. It is a new nutritional supplement called Seven Plus. I have some coming in the mail and am so excited to try it. As many of you know I have been looking for something to help supplement my body but everything is so expensive to even try. This one they are so confident you will like it that they are offering a 7 day challenge in which they want you to take the product (for free) for 7 days and see if it makes you feel any better. Mine is on its way and I thought that maybe some of you would like to try it also. It is supposed to be better than Mona Vie. It has 7 extracts from 7 of the most powerful fruits in the world. Gogi, Noni, Gac,Fucodian, Seabucthorn, acai, mangostien and then it also has aloe and pomegranate. Everyone says it tastes good too. So if you want to try it go to my brothers website and order a free bottle http://borrowman.iexfuze.net/ to try. I am signed up to sell it but will not contact anyone unless you tell me you are interested in purchasing it or signing up to sell it yourself. The bottles retail for 45 dollars each or if you have them direct shipped to your home you get them for 35 dollars each. So that is the only sales pitch you will hear from me. I will post when we are having a meeting so that if anyone is interested they may attend and learn more about what makes this product so amazing.

The LA Temple

2008-11-20T14:17:00.000-08:00

This was sent to me by a ward member and I wanted to share it with all of you who I don't have e-mail for. So Jill I hope you don't mind.
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This was written by a dear sister in our Stake. She was Kara's seminary teacher for 2 years, she is awesome........I know you will enjoy reading her story about the LA temple today and what happened on Thursday!My dear family, brothers and sisters, friends and leaders:My heart is overflowing with joy and gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His tender mercies and mighty miracles in our behalf. I just have to share this with you. As most of you know, I am a Temple ordinance worker and work the morning shift in the LA Temple every Saturday. Today, I had the privilege of translating sister Martz-the new assistant Matron's-message during our devotional.She started like this "The prophet Joseph Smith said that no unhallowed hand would be able to stop this Work from progressing. These past few weeks when mobs have combined and armies have gathered against the saints, the Lord has protected His house". She went on to say that those, like her, who were inside the Temple when mobs were surrounding it, did not realize how scary and terrifying this looked on TV to the rest of us, because inside the House of the Lord all was calm and there was peace abundant. After Proposition 8 passed,the Temple began receiving threatening calls and mail from those opposing it.They were warned that more than 5000 people would come to the Temple and burn it to the ground, and stop Its work. The first Thursday when the mob came,the new LA Temple President called the Salt Lake City Temple Offices for instructions. He was instructed to call the local police and to insure the safety of those attending the Temple by closing the gates. The assistant Matron said today, that it was a tender mercy from the Lord that the mob chose that Thursday to come since they had only one person coming to receive his own endowment that day, which he received in time to leave before trouble started. The LAPD and the FBI responded quickly to the Temple Presidency's summons and patrolled the grounds and kept the mob from entering the same. Most of them had never been there before and expressed their surprise at how beautiful and peaceful all around was. They were invited to come back during the Christmas season to see the lights and they promised they would. On Thursday, November13th, sister Campbell, a secretary in the Temple, was opening the mail and upon opening a large manila envelope found inside a smaller one. When she opened this one, a white powder flew all around her desk. She thought this could be related to the demonstrators and feared the worst-ANTRAX. She contacted the President, who in turn called the Salt Lake City Temple office again for instructions. The FBI, the LAPD, and even the SWAT teams were once again in the grounds to investigate, and the Temple once again had to close from around11:30 AM to 5PM. They closed the gates and were instructed to keep all the people there wherever they were found at the time. Those in the parking lot had to remain in the parking lot. Those entering the Temple had to remain in the first floor and those already upstairs were taken to the Celestial Room. Then,the miracles began to happen: A brother serving as a recorder that day is a Microbiologist by profession and used to deal with hazardous substances everyday. He was the first to say the white powder in the envelope was only talc,and put every one at ease. Then the sister coordinator upstairs was impressed to call upstairs to the sealing area, and said "They said we can't go down but no one said we can't go up, and I have many people in the Celestial room with their ceremonial clothes on ready to work. Could they do some sealings?" As it happened, there were four sealers present that day and they ran four sealing sessions non stop while the Temple was closed. Downstairs, someone else thought to invite those in the Lobby to do some initiatory, which they promptly did for all those hours too, brothers and sisters alike. Among those waiting in the parking lot there was a large group of young men and women with their leaders who had come to do Baptisms for the dead, and who waited patiently all those hours and decided when the Temple was reopened to go ahead and fulfill their assignment instead of driving back home. The Temple reopened in time for the 5:30 PM session. The next day when recording the ordinances, they discovered that they had performed 2000 sacred ordinances on Thursday,only one less than the day before when three stakes had been visiting the Temple. Once again the assistant matron reminded us of the words of the prophet Joseph Smith, "No unhallowed hand can stop the Work from progressing...".But, this is not all, a prophecy was fulfilled also. When the new LA Temple President was set apart by President Uchdorft of the First Presidency, he received a blessing and these words were pronounced: " The time has come for the LA Temple to come out of obscurity and become an Ensign for Righteousness to the world under your presidency." The pictures of the Temple have been shown on TV, newspapers and the internet, not only in this country but worldwide.People of other faiths have called and sent letters to the Temple thanking the Church for defending marriage and protecting the family, and commenting how impressed they are by how beautiful and majestic the Temple looks . One minister of an African American church, who by his own admission had harbored ill feelings against the Mormons before said " I am impressed by your integrity and Christ like behavior, and even if I am not ready to consider you my brothers and sisters in Christ, we can be first cousins!". I asked the assistant matron if I could share her comments and she said to go ahead. I can only add my own testimony that I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has the power and authority of God on earth. God Lives and Jesus, His only Begotten Son and our Savior is coming soon to redeem His people. I am grateful to know this and I pray we stand firm, steadfast and immobile while the prophecies of the signs before His Coming are fulfilled. "Be not afraid, only believe" He has said, and also " What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same." I testify that this is true and testify it in the Holy Name of Whom I strive to serve, even Jesus Christ.Be faithful and safe is my humble prayer. Your sister in Christ, Patricia H.Arnazzi

It is nice to know that the Lord watches out for us and it is also amazing to watch his tender mercies be poured out upon his people at this time.

Katrinas Birthday/ Prop 8

2008-11-05T09:52:00.000-08:00

With Proposition 8 still undecided I feel a calm that no matter what the results I did what I felt was morally right. Steve's cousin Jeff had a interesting thought that maybe this was just our Zions camp.... and this was just a test to see who would follow the prophet. Who knows, I just know that I am glad it is over!

In other news it is Katrina's 6th birthday today and she loves it. She is milking it. Yesterday she came with us to the store and thought that since it was her birthday she could put anything in the cart that she wanted for her big day. She strutted around the store like she was so big and got all the necessary food and treats for a great birthday. We had to stop her when she wanted to start picking all the regular food as well, we just didn't think we wanted just snacks to live off of :) The camera was out of battery this morning so I am charging it now and will post pictures later.

She loves her gifts and wore the new shirt and shoes from Grandma and Grandpa Lang to school and she spent almost an hour with her art easel from Grandma and Grandpa Borrowman, making drawings this morning before school. (I will take some pictures of these as well mom)

Halloween Photos

2008-11-03T06:13:00.000-08:00

This was round one of our costumes. Katrina was a horse and Amanda was Cinderella. They dressed like this for the ward trunk or treat Girl Scouts and Preschool. Katrina dressed as Emma Smith for school since they had to be a historical person and dress up and recite 5 facts about the person they chose. I didn't get pictures of that one because she was crying too hard. I guess my outgoing talkative daughter has stage fright who would have guessed?

Friday after our traditional chili dinner we went to get into our costumes and lo and behold they wanted to be something different. I guess they were tired of their other costumes from dressing up all week!

Lizzy was Lumpy the elephant from Winnie the pooh. She kept pulling the top part of her costume off and would then laugh herself silly. She thought it was the funnest game to have us put it on and then pull it off as fast as she could. Here I caught her laughing after she thought she had pulled it all the way off. What a cutie!

Amanda really surprised us when she pulled out this Dumbo costume and put it on. Since she is obsessed with Cinderella we were more than happy to oblige her in this request.

Katrina pulled out this dress up and found the wig to go with it. We had to work on the wig for about 20 minutes getting it all combed out but it looked much better when we were done. She loves to pose for the camera.

All in all it was a fun Halloween and I must say that I am glad it is all over :)

6th File 6th picture

2008-10-30T12:34:00.000-07:00

I usually ignore tags because I just don't want to sit down and take the time but this one intrigued me so here it is. What is in my sixth picture folder and then what is the sixth picture? Well here it is ... we were trying to build a gingerbread house last year

when it all started falling apart. Steve made a great face for the camera never thinking anyone would ever see it. Whats in your sixth folder sixth picture spot? I can't wait to see so I tag you all :)

2008-10-21T14:38:00.000-07:00

I know can you believe it 3 posts in as many days. Amanda started preschool again today and she loved it. Of course when asked what her favorite part was it was eating..... and playing. I guess that is an improvement from last year where her only favorite thing was eating. She too is growing up way to fast and is still my little mother. She tries to dress Lizzy and if she sees me laying down assumes that I am not feeling well and brings me a blanket and strokes my face. Yesterday I laid down to watch a cartoon with her and she paused the T.V. so that I could go to sleep without the noise. After about 15 seconds she leaned right into my face to ask me if I was asleep yet... of course I pretended to be so she could turn her show back on. I thought it was pretty perceptive for a 3 year old. I didn't get a picture of her this morning so here is a sweet one from Sunday.

In other news as I watch the country go through the this financial turmoil, I am thankful for a living Prophet who leads and guides us. We have been warned for years to get prepared! Although I am not as fully prepared as I would like (none of us ever are) I feel grateful for what we do have. This has been a time for cutting back and for learning again to live within our means while still putting a little aside for a rainy day. I am thankful that I have a husband who balances me! I am the one to put everything we have towards paying off debt and he gently reminds me that we need to save as well (even if we are paying more in interest then we are earning :)). Although times are tough we are blessed to have income that is stable and that in and of itself is something to be thankful for.

I don't know what will happen if marriage is no longer defined as a man and a woman but I do know that again a living prophet is telling us to take a stand and make our voices heard and to do everything we can to ensure that marriage as we know it does not change. For me that is enough! I think of all the warnings that came from the prophets in Book of Mormon and Bible times and what happened when the people were too proud to listen, and I know that regardless of the outcome I want to be able to stand before God and to be able to say that I followed the council that he gave the Prophet. Everything else will come and go but I want to be obedient even if I don't see the end from the beginning I know God lives and that we have a living Prophet Thomas S Monson and I WILL follow his council whatever it may be!

2008-10-20T14:50:00.000-07:00

My baby is growing up. Yesterday after I had everyone ready for church I put in a movie to entertain the kids while I got ready. When I came out Lizzy was sitting on top of the table in a puddle of milk and breakfast cereal. As you can see she was pleased as punch at what she had accomplished. She now knows that the when the camera comes out she should smile and let me have some beautiful smiles that I couldn't help sharing! She is communicating with us so much more and is on the verge of potty training. She hates to have a messy diaper and will take it off or get us a diaper as soon as it is slightly wet.
She tries and has accomplished going poo in the potty because she hates those diapers most of all.
Isn't she the cutest thing ever! :) I hate that she is growing up so fast and I try to treasure every moment as it will probably be the last.

We have a new Dishwasher...

2008-10-19T17:19:00.000-07:00

Her name is Katrina. This week as part of Katrinas homework she was assigned the job of washing the dishes. (Don't you just love homework ;)) Any way she decided that today was the day to complete that task and she loved it. When she got done she even asked if she could do it every night. Duh... of course she can. I can't believe my baby is big enough to handle the dishes. I guess it is time to give her more complex chores so she can feel this sense of accomplishment everyday. I took several pictures as she did the dishes before and after dinner. I also had to add this grumpy picture so you can see that she is not always all smiles. She sometimes reminds me of a hormonal teenager rather then my 5 year old daughter, the way she bounces from tears to laughter and from happy to angry at the touch of a button.

Purging my thoughts on Marriage

2008-10-12T18:13:00.000-07:00

For those of you living outside of California we are still fighting to get Proposition 8 passed. We want marriage to be defined as between a man and a woman. I am terrified of what our world is coming to. What is happening to my freedom to believe as I choose and to be able to teach my children those values without fear. As I listen to a living Prophet and his Apostle's tell us that we need to do everything we can to preserve the sanctity of marriage. I am overcome by the power and force of what I feel. I feel that if we do not win here the rest of the nation will follow and my children will grow up in a different world then I know now. Did you know that if same sex marriage is legalized it will be taught to our children in school under the guise of "Diversity" just as it is in Massachusetts? Did you know that Church's could be penalized for teaching that only marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God (where does my right to teach and believe as I choose go then)? Or that we could lose our tax exempt status because we will not allow same sex marriages to be preformed in our buildings. I hope and pray that we will have enough voter support to stop this once and for all in California (also Florida and Arizona currently have it on their ballots as well). Pray for us and pray that peoples hearts will be softened and that they will realize what is going on here.
On a personal note, just because I do not believe in same sex marriage does not mean I do not love and cherish those within my own family who live this lifestyle. On the contrary I love them dearly and although I do not condone their lifestyle they are indeed children of God who are loved by him despite the lifestyle they choose to live. Let them live as they choose, and let me live as I choose. A Vote against traditional marriage only gives them the title of Marriage as opposed to Legal Union. The rights that will be lost our mine and that I simply cannot stand for. Let God be your guide and get out and vote next month and lets make our voices heard.

Update for family

2008-09-30T10:09:00.000-07:00

We are alive and well. I think I mentioned that Steve was released from the Bishopric. He was immediately put in as the ward Mission leader and then the bishop proceeded to call me as a ward missionary to serve under Steve. I will miss being in primary but thoroughly enjoyed being able to sit through Sunday school and Relief Society and to just enjoy the lesson. We are well and the girls are growing up quickly. Katrina started 1st grade and loves being back in school. She is really trying to be good and will often remind me that "I am being a good girl today, HUH Mom" She usually says this right before she asks for something. Amanda cannot wait for her preschool to start in a couple of weeks and is bored at home without Katrina. She has a really hard time when we drop her off because she misses her so much. She is starting to make a little more sense when she talks as she is now trying to make the correct sounds for her words it is really cute to hear her say her L words as she has had a hard time getting her tongue to do what she wants it to. We are doing some exercises (games) with her to strengthen her tongue and she is super cute when she says things like LLLLizzy or yeLLLLow she really tries hard to get that letter in and you can see she is proud of herself when she does it. Lizzy is growing so fast and she is walking around and is in to everything. She constantly wants a bottle and will not take a sippy cut except at meals. Does anyone have any tips for getting rid of the bottle? Steve and I are fine and especially enjoy the weekends when he is home. Hope all of you are well.

When the Lord closes a door he always opens a window!

2008-09-03T19:06:00.001-07:00

Just so you all know I get to do both. Thanks to a dear friend I will be going to the cannery in 2 weeks and will be able to go help on prop 8 on Saturday like the prophet has asked. For those of you who live outside of California on Sunday we received word that after the first presidency had finished there weekly meeting in the Temple they had decided that all fifth Sunday lessons were to be on prop 8 and its importance and what we may face if it passes. Sunday morning lessons were canceled accross the state and new plans were immediately made to teach about the importance of marriage between a man and a woman. Although I did not attend the meeting because I was teaching primary I was moved by what I heard from Steve as well as others who were in attendance. So for those of you who thought I was great for wanting to do both I know you would have felt the same if you knew the prophet was calling on you to raise "the title of liberty" in our day and to stand up and fight for what is right. I know there will be terrible consequences if this passes. So please if there are any of you out there that can join in this fight and help this proposition pass I urge you to do all you can.

Confusion

2008-09-03T13:02:00.000-07:00

I have been jumping around and reading everyones blogs and right now I am feeling so torn as to what I should be doing on Saturday. Our ward is meeting for a couple of hours to pass out flyer's about prop 8. I had planned on continuing with my original plans of going to the cannery for a couple of reasons that I felt were pretty legit. First food storage is important but not nearly as pressing as fighting prop 8, so that was quickly dropped from the list of reasons to go. Second we are fellow shipping a woman in our ward and she has agreed to come with me and learn a little more about following the prophet and preparing for hard times (which she is currently dealing with). OK so that is pretty legit but is it enough? Last and probably the most convincing for me is that fact that Elizabeth is allergic to milk and soy milk and everything else we have tried except for the powdered milk from the cannery. Because it is so expensive to can I only do enough for about 4 months and then I go again. So I need to get milk and they will not sell it to me in bulk right now because of the high demand for food. I have enough for another 4 or 5 weeks but cannot get another appointment for 3 months. I know that fighting this proposition is important! I feel like I am being torn between following the prophet and providing for my child and I feel like I lose either way. Any suggestions?

Making bread

2008-08-29T16:46:00.000-07:00

I am ever amazed at how much fun children can have doing things that we consider work. This week in church we were challenged to live off of our food storage for the week and then next Sunday we would discuss it in our combined 5th Sunday meeting. Since Steve and I have been working on our food storage ever since we got married we were up to the challenge and have been incorporating beans, rice, dehydrated carrots and celery and the like into our daily meals. Because lets face it most of us have enough in our pantry's to survive for a week without changing our diets much. The one thing I did put off was bread, we had 2 full loafs of bread when the week started. However incorporating all of the above meant several nights of soup which of course you have to have bread and butter with. Well today I took the bull by the horns and made bread. My girls LOVED it, especially the kneading part. They were amazed by how much bigger the bread got as it rose and when I was shaping the loaves I gave them each a piece of dough to work with, they made the rolls when we were done. I am so glad we have children to help keep our lives fun and to remind us to look for the good in things and to enjoy the journey we are on. As for the food storage challenge I am glad we are prepared but I think I want to add some fun things to our storage as well, you know chocolate chips and nuts for cookies :) Some things I am grateful to have added to our storage are: Extra tortillas, shredded cheese, butter, and meats that we keep in the freezer. Things I will miss if we ever have to really live off of our storage.... Ice cream and fresh fruits and veggies.

These other pictures of the girls I took after the fact because I didn't think about posting until later, and lets face it who wants to get out the camera when you are covered in bread dough!

The Callister Reunion

2008-08-23T10:13:00.000-07:00

Well we had a great time at Grandpas farm! There was lots to keep the kids entertained but I think the highlight for them was adopting the cows. Amanda spent so much time with her cow that we could almost guarantee if she could not be found she would be there. We love it.

One of the days we got on a big school bus and headed up into the mountains for a hike. The hike was a little long for us with all the little ones so we stopped here and ate our lunch before heading back down. All in all though it was a really fun adventure. Surprisingly the highlights were the big bouncy bumps on the big yellow school bus.

This was the area between all of our sleeping areas where we could just kick back in the shade and relax.

another highlight was the 4 wheelers as they got to ride around on the farm and see everything up close and personal

A gunshot...nope just a broken window!

2008-08-19T13:20:00.000-07:00

While driving to Idaho just before we hit Farmington UT. We heard what I thought was a gunshot. I turned around and the back window was gone. As you can imagine I panicked and quickly assessed that no one was bleeding. The loud noise I had heard was not a gunshot just our window blowing out. Lucky for us most of the window flew out instead of in. there were some chard's in the back and around Katrina but no injury. We found the local Toyota dealer and 4 hours and 500 dollars later we were back on the road.

Ali gets highlights and bangs

2008-08-19T13:04:00.000-07:00

While Ali was here she was so excited to be going into 5th grade that everything we did revolved around that. When we went school clothes shopping she wasn't worried about what would be cutest she was worried about whether or not it made her look older. She seems to think if she looks older then nobody will notice that she is short. I had to laugh since I remember doing similar things all to no avail. We talked a lot about all the good things that come from being short rather then focusing on the negative. I like to think she listens because she knows that I really know what it is like for her. When she found out that we would be staying with the Grandma and Grandpa Borrowman on our way to Idaho I could tell that there was something that she wanted to ask but was nervous to do so. When she finally got it out she was hoping that she could get bangs cut and highlights from Aunt Kensi while we were there. I thought it was a great idea but of course told her that her mom had to agree before I would even ask. As you can see she is one very happy girl. She walked around all night flipping her hair for all to see. We love and miss you Ali!!

More to come

2008-08-19T12:55:00.001-07:00

So I have been getting the feeling lately that some of you are expecting a post. I admit that it has been awhile but so much has been going on that I have not had one minute to myself where I could do something so leisurely as upload pictures and post. I will do a quick update while I upload photos, and then I will update in detail a little later. Since my last post we have traveled over 2000 miles to Idaho for a family reunion. On the way we were able to stop and meet the newest addition to our family, our niece Katelyn and I must say she is beautiful! Elizabeth was sick and vomiting for nearly 2 weeks and I took Ali to Vegas for her flight home. She started school last Wednesday and school is O.K. but not great. Katrina started swimming lessons for the first time and we have all been to the dentist and doctor ( me more times then I would like to count) All in all life is good, I will go into detail on all of this when I have pictures to post. ttfa

A Busy Day

2008-07-26T17:26:00.000-07:00

Today we had a very busy day we started out by attending a stake picnic at a nearby park. Steve and Ali played Frisbee and the girls played on the toys. There were plenty of big trees so we had shade to sit under while we visited and rested. Around 12:00 we had a potluck lunch.

After lunch we headed to the mall to make one final purchase for Ali's school stuff and then made a return to another store. you know the things you realize you really don't like once you get home.
When we got home we started on the long awaited jam making project we cut and smashed all the strawberries and raspberries and then realized we didn't have the pectin. I took all 4 girls with me to the store so Steve could cut and edge the lawn and then we hurried home to finish our project.
By the time we were done we had 14 jars of jam and we even had a fairly clean kitchen. Don't we just look like we are having fun?

Another fun movie/camping night

2008-07-23T15:46:00.001-07:00

Ali came again on Monday and the girls could not wait to show her the tent and campout again! So we settled in on Monday and Tuesday we set up the tent and the movie projector and settled in for another fun night at the Lang family outdoor theater.
Since it was just our family we moved the swing over and laid it down so the girls had their own little area to lay down that was all padded and cushy. We expected Amanda to fall asleep but she surprised us and stayed up for the whole movie.
Ali told the girls that if you pull your ears out and make a face you look like a monkey. HMM What do you think?
After the movie the girls all posed as the got ready to climb into their sleeping bags. There were lots of fun shots but I love everyones expressions here especially Lizzy as she kept acting suprised and covering her mouth.
We forgot that we were going to make shadows on the wall after the movie so everyone piled out of the tent and we played some more before heading back to the tent for some shut eye.

You can see in the background that we set up the playpen for Lizzy but she would have nothing to do with it and screamed when we put her in so we ended up taking out the mattress part and she slept next to mom. Amazingly she went right to sleep and so did everyone else. The best part was that we had real bathrooms and didn't have to worry about what critter might get into our garbage while we slept :)

rain + more rain = flooding

2008-07-17T09:28:00.003-07:00

Well last nigh around 6 pm it started to rain. We pulled out the umbrellas and the girls played in the rain while Steve myself and Lizzy sat on the swing and watched. It was coming down so hard that in just a few minutes the backyard was flooded and we had a small current of water growing on our patio. After a few very loud thunder claps we headed back inside because Katrina was terrified. So instead we decided to settle down and have us a rain party. First we gathered all the flashlights in the house and set them on the kitchen table ( i told the girls that the power often goes out when it rains so we were getting them out just in case) Then we pulled out the corded phone and set it next to the cordless so we would have a phone in the event that the power did go out. Next we gathered all our blankets got an ice cream cone and settled in to watch a movie. Steve tried to go to the church for mutual but the roads were more like rivers and everyone was getting stuck so after trying several routes to get there he came home and enjoyed the night with us. Lucky for us the power stayed on and we had a ball. We even had to turn off the lights for a few minutes after the movie just to play with the flashlights before everyone went to bed.
If you want to see some pictures since I forgot to take any check out my friends blog (the Belew bunch) under my blog list.

Random Thoughts

2008-07-12T11:46:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted for awhile and so much has been going on so I thought I would sum it up in just one post. Last week we went to the Borrowman reunion and had a blast we spent the days at the lake, 4 wheeling swimming, playing games, watching movies, watching the fireworks, talking and of course eating. We had a ball and were worn out by the time we came home, but loved every minute of it.

We spent the rest of this week lounging and enjoying the fact that it is summer and that the regular schedule can be so flexible. Yesterday Katrina lost her first tooth and waited excitedly for the tooth fairy to come. She was not disappointed when she woke up and found that she had a new dollar. She was however disappointed when she found out that after paying tithing she did not have enough to buy something at the dollar store. (we are giving her opportunities to earn some extra so she can have a positive experience) That's all for now

A trip to the dentist

2008-06-28T20:05:00.000-07:00

Just about a month ago I went to the dentist for my semi annual check up and cleaning. I had been experiencing some sensitivity in one of my lower back teeth and mentioned this to the dentist. After he got the x rays back he said that the roots looked fine and that there were no cavities. He then did an oral exam and could see no problems so he took the cold water and sprayed it on the tooth OUCH to say the least I flinched from the pain. He could see that something was definitely wrong and said I needed to take some anti inflammatory for a week and come back, he was going to have to take out the existing filling to see what was going on. I came back a week later and he TRIED to numb me but after 3 full tubes of the medicine I couldn't feel anything in my tongue, lips, or cheeks but the tooth itself was very alive and well and just the slightest bit of air or water on it and I could feel intense pain. He sent me home again with another prescription for the anti inflammatory and an antibiotic for the infection in my tooth. Jump ahead to today when I go into the dentist and find out I have to have a root canal and they are doing it now. So they send me into the insurance office because there is going to be some out of pocket expenses that the insurance does not cover. My heart sinks as I wonder just how bad it is going to be. They start by telling me how much today's services are going to cost. Over $1700 dollars I wince and then wait for the bad news. She says the insurance will cover everything but 110 dollars of the Crown they will have to put on. They then said I could make payments. I am so grateful for insurance Steve has a great job with great benefits I cant imaging if i had been given this news and had to figure out how to come up with the full amount. I felt so blessed at that moment.

I then went back and got numbed again and they started digging out my tooth only to find that the nerve was being irritated because my tooth had cracked in 2 places. The dentist had a hard time with the root canal and a little over 5 hours later I left the dentist with a temp crown in place and a very very sore mouth and jaw. I thought it was kinda of interesting how quickly they offered to give me a prescription for the pain. I told them I already had some Motrin 600 from my c section and they asked if I would like 800 or vicaden. Holy cow are you kidding me if I can deal with the pain of having my stomach cut open with the 600 why in the world would i need something stronger for a little mouth pain. No wonder people get addicted so quickly to pain meds when they are so easy to get.

Any way we are looking forward to our trip to St George next week and can't wait to spend some much needed time with our families. Love you all.

Fathers Day

2008-06-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to take a minute to pay tribute to the Fathers in my life.

I must say that growing up I had the best dad in the whole world. He was always working so hard for us and yet he always took time to do fun things with his family. I remember camping trips just for the sake of camping. We would cook over the campfire, play in the stream and just sit around and talk. I never realized just how much work he would put in both before and after so that we could have these fun memories. We also had fun traditions of just going up to pine valley for a dutch oven breakfast often followed by swimming and a barbecue later that evening. Speaking of swimming dad, do you remember all the times we would go to the city pool and swim? You would take turns picking us up and throwing us into the water, or sneaking up on us while we were playing and pulling us under the water pretending you were a shark or some other monster out to get us. We had a lot of fun didn't we? I remember picnics in the yard and trips in the car, there was always something going on and someone to turn to for advise. Thank you dad you are a wonderful Father (and Grandfather), Thanks for all the wonderful memories. I love you Dad! (ten truck and trailer loads).

Next the father of my children. I think many of you know that I was a LITTLE picky when it came to dating and some of you thought that I would never marry because of this. I remember my mother telling me that I needed to remember that I needed to look for someone who had the potential for all the qualities I was looking for because no one is going to have all the qualities i was looking for YET. Well I think I proved everyone wrong when I married Steve! He is an amazing husband and takes such good care of me. He is the best father ever and the girls cant wait until he comes home at night. They love to play with him whether it is riding on his back, playing tag in the yard or being pushed in the swing they always go to dad first. I love that he loves to camp and is willing to spend so much quality time with us. I don't think he knew what he was getting into when he married someone who's father set the perfect example, but I think he fills the shoes rather well! I am pleased to be married to such a wonderful man.

This list would not be complete if I did not honor another father, my father in law. Of course I don't have any childhood memories to share but he must have done something right to raise such an amazing son. He has taken me into his family and treated me like one of his own since the very first day I met him. Dad "do you remember when" we went to Denny's for breakfast and we had that waitress with a hangover? Or "do you remember when" we went to Goofy's kitchen with the whole family? What about the time we went to chucke cheese and had mediocre pizza just so the kids could have fun. You are a great Dad and Grandad, hope you had a great day

HAPPY FATHERS DAY WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!

Just had to add this photo of Steve on Fathers day. As you can see he was honored by members of the ward with a candy lei as well as another lei that is in my opinion very manly:)

Camping and Movie Night

2008-06-16T09:25:00.001-07:00

So in an effort to keep costs down for family activities we incorporated an idea from some friends of ours and Steve brought home his projector from school for the weekend so we could enjoy a fun outdoor movie in our back yard. He set the projector up on the kids picnic table and we used the back of the house for our screen. I popped popcorn and made some cookies and lemonade as well as grapes for the snacks and we invited the next door neighbors over. Last year I bought these little plastic popcorn holders that look like the old popcorn bags and so we pulled those out to serve the kids. I know we had more fun then when we actually go and see a movie in the theater and we built far more memories this way :) We also set up our tent for the first time ever. We bought it at the end of last summer when it was on clearance ( thank goodness we bought it then because we have outgrown our little 4 man tent and with tight finances we would not have had a tent this year). The kids had a ball checking it out and setting up. At about 8 15 we sat down to watch Nanny McPhee, it was so fun to be out in the fresh night air and enjoy each other. Amanda fell asleep in the middle of the movie and Lizzy conked out a little earlier than that. After the movie we laid on the blankets with the lights off and looked at the stars we found the big dipper but couldn't seem to locate the little dipper, guess I will have to brush up on my astronomy :) After that our friends went home and we moved everyone to the tent where we talked for a few more minutes before going to bed. We had so much fun and will definitely do it again! The best part was that it only cost us nothing because we used things that we had around the house!

P.S. if anyone wants to come down and try it with us we would welcome it :)

Katrina's kindergarten Graduation

2008-06-15T17:54:00.000-07:00

Katrina had her Kindergarten Graduation on June 10th. The them was a luau, so of course she was excited. She kept talking about how the girls got to do the hula and the boys would get to do the Haka. We went out and got her a grass skirt, flower headband and a flower bracelet and of course a candy lei. She stole the show being the little performer that she is she also lit up when the class did a 5 second hula during one of their songs.

After the program they gave out the caps and they got their diploma's and flower lei's. She loved it and could not quit smiling!
Then the long awaited Haka. Peni is in her class and he and the other boys his age from our ward got up and did and amazing job doing the Hukka. It has been fun watching them learn and progress in their confidence at this dance as they have gotten bigger

I had to throw in this picture we took of Lizzy at the graduation her eyes and smile were so big that I just had to share.

Never too old for Dress ups

2008-06-15T17:27:00.001-07:00

I guess I am all or nothing with posting. I will be doing several posts in the next 24 hours and then who knows when it will happen again. Anyway these are pictures of the girls while Ali was here. They had a ball and this picture was taken as we called everyone together for Family Home Evening. They decided that they needed to be princesses during FHE and of course with these beautiful girls who could tell them no? The only stipulation was that they needed to be reverent even though they were dressed up. They had a ball and it is fun to see them all play so well together. As you can see Lizzy is getting bigger and although she may not be into the dress ups yet she adores her big sisters and loves to tag along in watever they do!

Pre-School Graduation.

2008-05-22T17:59:00.001-07:00

Amanda had her first pre-school graduation today. I say first because she will go again next year and do the whole thing over . We have started a few new traditions over the past couple of years for special occasions. The first is either orange or cinnamon rolls for breakfast that morning, usually brought to the special person in bed. The second is related to where we live and the culture that my children are exposed to that they think they are a part of =) We now have to have candy lei's. This came about by chance as last year Katrina was given one for her pre-school graduation by her friend Peni. Then Steve received one for Fathers day since he was in the bishopric, several of the children in our ward then got baptized and you guessed it lei's and then to bring it right back into their minds I was given one for Mothers day. We had so much fun making them last night for Amanda and all her friends at the hawks nest. I must say my children, Katrina especially would probably prefer if she had been born Polynesian, but I am grateful that we have so many friends who include us and enrich our lives with their rich cultures.

So after the Cinnamon rolls we began the process of getting ready for a Hollywood themed graduation. We did Amanda's hair (she wanted it down) so we had fun putting lots of pretty curls in it. We took a few pictures before she left for school and then put the battery on the charger and proceeded to the graduation without a battery in the camera =(. The graduation was cute and they danced and sang and I guess they had done a DVD, but they could not get it to play so they are going to redo it and give all the kids a copy in a few days. Amanda had fun and got an award for being the "Most Shy" go figure! Afterwards we went to the mall for lunch and let her play in the play area for awhile.
The high school students gave each of the children a gift with a note book, crayons and a giant hershey bar, which she loved! I couldn't resist one last picture of Amanda with her chocholatey face, candy lei and flower. We love you Amanda and can't believe how big you are becoming.

Girls night in!

2008-05-10T08:29:00.000-07:00

Well last night was the Priesthood commemoration camp out (otherwise known as father and sons) an so of course Steve went. I have always had a hard time when he goes in the past but the older my girls get the more fun it seems to be. We had our annual girls night in, and made Chinese chicken and popped popcorn. The girls each got to choose a treat for the movie and were loving the gummy savers and starburst all the while sharing with Elizabeth =) the fact that they were being so cute with the baby overrode the sticky mess that was being made as the literally engulfed the candy. It was also fun that we didn't have to watch an animated movie. They chose to watch Dreamer a show about a young girl and a race horse.

Before Steve left he blew up the air bed and so we all watched the movie from there. I was planning on sleeping on the couch as the idea of 3 of us on a queen size blow up wasn't all that tempting. But after the pleas from Katrina and Amanda (not to mention the couch wasn't all that comfortable either) I ended up sleeping at the foot of the bed. We had a blast and we finished it off this morning with toaster waffles eaten on the floor with the breakfast tray. We can't wait to do it again next year. Hear are a couple of pictures

Play time

2008-05-08T11:36:00.000-07:00

I have been trying harder lately to really play with my children. not just let them play and have fun but to be involved in the play time. These are some pictures of the girls standing outside of the fort we made. I must admit my house was the part not covered by blankets and I only went inside their fort for a quick picnic.

But I was the next door neighbor for a while and we had lots of fun. I must admit that the house is not nearly as clean as it normally is but we are having lots of fun together and somehow the house does get cleaned(just not all at one time=)) I love being a mother to my beautiful daughters and am so thankful that I am able to be a stay at home mom.

The blanket we used was a wonderful gift given to Steve at a Polynesian baptism. It was given to Steve out of respect since he is in the bishopbric. Every time we build a fort we have to use the blanket with the flowers so that they can have flowers on their roof.

update

2008-04-17T11:51:00.000-07:00

Well we got our new computer about a week and a half ago and yes this is the first post since then. Things have been crazy around here yet really nothing spectacular. Katrina is loving her new teacher and her new school. She loves playing on the piano and I hope that in the next year or two we are able to start her with lessons!
Amanda is also enjoying school, it is only 3 times per week but that is more than enough for her. she loves that days that they have parties and particularly loves to show off her art work.
Lizzy is cute as can be and is starting into the bumps and bruises everywhere stage as she is trying to run faster than she is able.
Today Steve and I are going to accompany 83 high school students to tour a college campus, eat and see Phantom Of the Opera. It will be a very fun but long day I am sure so wish us luck.

We'll be back soon

2008-04-02T19:39:00.000-07:00

Well we ordered a new computer so it should only be another week and a half until we are back online.

Computer crash

2008-03-21T13:53:00.000-07:00

I am posting from Utah! We are in St George right now so I am using my inlaws computer. Ours has died. The hard drive is failing and it will be a little while before we can fix or replace it so don't expect to hear much from us for the next little while. lots of love until then

Montessori???

2008-03-12T20:10:00.000-07:00

So Katrina and I went to the Montessori today and I really liked it. We were hoping to get her on the list now so that she could attend next year. One of our friends went in last week and they said that they would call her back for a second interview in a couple of weeks so what happened next really surprised me. The said that for next year there is a waiting list and they determine who they will take through a lottery, so there really was no guarantee of her getting in. Then they proceeded to tell me that if she wanted to transfer NOW they would take her and that would guarantee her a spot next year!!! Well I was not prepared for that and I am not sure whether I should transfer her mid year but... I really like the idea of her being in such a fun learning environment that teaches kids to pace themselves and to enjoy what they are doing. Steve and I are leaning towards transferring her but we will know more by the weekend. Keep us in your prayers so that we make the RIGHT decision for Katrina. Oh yeah if Katrina is accepted Amanda will automatically be accepted as well, because she is a sibling she wouldn't have to go through the lottery process.

What a fun Idea for a Valentines Bouquet.

2008-02-14T18:17:00.000-08:00

This year for Valentines we decided not to do any flowers. So instead we got this edible arrangment for the family to share. After dinner we all enjoyed chocolate covered strawberries until we were more then satisfied. It was so fun that we may even consider doing it again!

In other news I spent the day in Katrina's class helping everyone pass out Valentines to each other. I had a blast and the time goes so quickly when I am there. I go every Thursday and I have alot of fun getting to know all the kids she associates with. Amanda also had a party at preschool and had way to much sugar and was a roller coaster of emotions the rest of the day. The baby tought that her sisters coming home with candy was the best thing since sliced bread as she tore into anything she could get her hands on. All in all it has been an amazing day.

Happy Valentines day to you all !!!!

New Layout

2008-02-08T09:01:00.000-08:00

Thanks Kensi for the link for the blog layouts!!! It is fun to change things up every now and then and not look like everyone else =)
Today I am working on my orginazation or lack of it. I am trying to clean up some of the clutter that seems to never go away =) We had a Enrichment last night that actually gave me a couple of ideas and I thought I better act on it before I lost my motivation. Wish me luck. Do any of you have any storage Ideas for the never ending pile of movies and tapes that at our house at least end up stacked around the t.v. or stereo? Maybe I will take some befor and after pictures to show. But only if my mission is a success.
I cant wait to see everyone for the Sealing of Mason to his new family. Good luck Tyson and Lori.

Happy 1st Birthday Elizabeth

2008-01-29T18:46:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Lizzy!!!
Today Elizabeth turned 1 year old! We started the day with the traditional orange rolls for breakfast and then sent Amanda off to school. Katrina was sick again today and stayed home with us. When dad got home we had a fun dinner of a grown up version of mac and cheese. I diced some chicken and added it to the
homemade macaroni. We topped it with sliced tomato's and the kids ate it up. (you have to have kid friendly food for a 1 year old party right?) All during dinner she was reaching for the cake and boy was she surprised when as we were singing Happy Birthday we put it right on her tray. Some kids hesitate before getting
their hands all dirty, but she must be used to fighting
for everything she gets because she only looked at us once before she dug in. She used both hands and put the cake in as fast as she could. The top picture shows what she was able to get through in just a minute or two. After we washed her up and opened presents, she got a new outfit and a yellow spider that says and shows the letters of the alphabet. The last picture is of
her in her new swimsuit that Grandma got her and her new book. It appears that she likes the book the best and keeps fighting to get it from her sisters. All in all it was a great day and as you can see Katrina is feeling much better tonight.

A new twist on an old favorite

2008-01-28T11:19:00.000-08:00

So I came across a recipe that builds on dad's macaroni and tomato's. We call it chili mac and it is delicious

I cup elbow macaroni ( I use Barilla plus because it is multigrain and it tastes the same)
1 lb ground beef or ground turkey breast
1/2 med onion chopped
3 cloves of garlic minced
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 15-16 oz kidney beans ( we use pinto and black as well depending on what I
have in the cupboard)
1 large can tomatoes chopped and drained
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
3/4 cup shredded cheese. ( you can use 2% cheese that is less fat and it is still
wonderful)

Cook pasta according to package directions
while past cooks, heat a LARGE skillet (or cut it in half and it might fit in a normal skillet) cook meat and next 5 ingredients and cook until meat is fully cooked.
add the beans and pasta and tomato sauce and cook until completely heated. add the cheese just before you serve for a fun and healthy dinner.

I tried this the other day and it reminded me so much of dads macaroni and tomato that I thought you would all enjoy this version as well. Let me know what you think

The Death of President Gordon B. Hinkley

2008-01-28T09:55:00.000-08:00

Last night like many of you we heard the news that our beloved Prophet had passed away. This was bittersweet news in that he was dearly loved and will be missed by us all, and was also reunited with his Father in Heaven and his sweet wife. As I sat down to explain to my girls that the Prophet had died, they once again showed such faith when they asked when he would be resurrected =) They have been watching Lazarus Lives and want to know why Jesus doesn't resurrect us all after a few days "why do we have to wait". After I told them where he was and that his "honey" (that's what they call Steve or I when referring to the one who is not there ie Mom where is your honey or mom did your honey do that for you) was with him they were happy and wanted to know if Joseph Smith would be the prophet again.=) I got out a picture of President Monson and said that this would probably be the new Prophet. That was that and they were fine. Isn't it wonderful to know that even though this great man has died, that the Lords work continues on? I am so grateful for my knowledge that the Gospel is true and that God live and that we can live again and be together forever! I know that this is true with all my heart and it gives me great peace in times like this.

Just for Ryan

2008-01-18T18:29:00.000-08:00

My brother Ryan wanted to see my house so here are a few pictures. The first three are the kitchen dining and family room they are all together. I also have a picture of Katrina and Allison's room as well as Amanda's. The last one is a picture of the office, scrap booking, exercise, everything that doesn't have a place room. It is never clean and this picture is actually better then most days. I didn't include our bedroom or the babies as they were occupied when I took all the photos. =) Hope you enjoy. If you double click on the pictures you can see more detail.

Simple joys

2008-01-11T09:19:00.001-08:00

So it appears that I am the only one who hasn't posted yet this week. Things here have been a little crazy. Elizabeth has been sick again and the only good thing about it is all the cuddle time I have been getting. I feel bad enjoying the cuddle time though when I know how badly she is feeling. She is finally keeping food down and has a lot more energy and is glad to be back playing with her sisters. She still has a cough but that is definitely better then how she has been. Amanda sounds like she is coming down with it too all night she wasn't feeling well and several times we had to give her Tylenol for earaches. This morning she is milking it and is laid out in the front room with her pillow and blanket watching movies, she is most excited that she gets to pick them and that she isn't having to use a ticket to watch it =) oh the little joys in life! Even with all this going on I love being a mom. I love being the one that they call for in the night and love that I can give them the comfort that they are looking for with such simple things as laying next to them and holding them. Life is GREAT

Time on my hands!

2008-01-02T10:34:00.000-08:00

I guess I have too much time on my hands. With all the projects I have been juggling it seems like I have nothing to do except post on the blog. Actually I have lots of scrapbooking to catch up on so I guess I better start printing pictures.
Hope you all had a great new year! Love ya all!!!

2008-01-01T19:13:00.000-08:00

Amanda was in a school play on the 20th of December. They preformed "Bob Humbug" There were several high school students who did the speaking parts and the kids sang and danced....Well most of them. Amanda pretty much stood there and stared. No smiles or moving at all. She was pretty much scared to death. After the play Santa came and I think the only reason she actually sat on his lap was because he had a stocking full of goodies for everyone that sat on his lap and told him what they wanted for this year. As soon as it was over she was all smiles and so proud of herself for being in the play.

Are they sisters or what?

2008-01-01T18:57:00.000-08:00

Steve and I were going through some old photos today and came across this one of Allison (among others) and were amazed at how much alike she and Elizabeth look. Tell us what you think.

Just in case you aren't sure, Ali is here on the bottom.

Christmas.

2007-12-31T13:02:00.000-08:00

This was one of the favorite presents this year. We played Incredibles' all day long =)

Elizabeth wondering what is going on!!!!

Not that you can see them without really looking, but I made two bright green bags for the girls to take their scriptures to church in. (one is on the far left of this picture next to Amanda's Cinderella doll) You can also see their quiet book on the far right ( another of my hand made creations....Mom I don't know how you did it =))

This is how everything looked when the girls came out Christmas morning. We have carried on the tradition of getting together to pray and give thanks before we go out and see what Santa has left for us.
I surprised Katrina and Amanda by finishing their dolls. They knew I was making one for Elizabeth but I told them that I would make them one after Christmas was over. I stayed up until 1-2 in the morning for the entire week before Christmas to get them done. Then I hid them among the gifts and it was a good 10-15 minutes before they noticed that they were there. They were pretty excited.
3 dolls in one week was a quite a feet but only Elizabeth got the cradle. There are just not enough hours in the day. Christmas was great! We missed being with family but had a wonderful time on our own.

Christmas Eve

2007-12-31T11:10:00.000-08:00

There will be several posts over the next few days to catch up with everything , but I thought I would start with these of Christmas Eve. We had subs for dinner and then we made cookies for Santa before taking a bath and then opening presents. The girls loved the fur real animals they got and especially liked the Ariel and Cinderella pajamas and slippers and they pranced around as we read the nativity story and sang carols. Mom and Dad were up till after midnight finishing dolls and getting everything set out but I will post pictures of that later.
Here are dad and Trina...Notice how all the girls seam to want to do is eat the frosting =)
Here we are again digging into the frosting .......
Mom to the rescue... cookies are getting done at last!!!

See what a little bit of focus can accomplish! Merry Christmas Santa

This was funny

2007-12-19T17:24:00.001-08:00

Tonight Steve went to put the girls in the bathtub and noticed it wasn't draining very well so he pulled out the "plug" to clean it off. He said "look at all this Crap" to himself as he was cleaning it. Then Katrina says "Dad whats crap?"I was in the other room listening and started to laugh wondering how he would explain it. He told her "crap was yucky stuff that we don't like" . I thought it was a pretty good answer until she said "oh you mean like Zucchini" I love kids!!!

Ugh!

2007-12-19T10:50:00.000-08:00

I have been looking everywhere for a bag of stuff we bought over at Ensign Book on Saturday. We spent 85.00 on movies and gifts and it was on the counter Sunday. So I spent all day Monday looking for it, I look everywhere and realize that it must have fallen into the recycle can next to the counter. Unfortunately the garbage was picked up early Monday morning and my stuff is gone =( It was a setback but one that can be taken in stride right? Well Tuesday I go to mail two more packages and I cant find my phone and wallet. No big deal I do that all the time, until I realize that my wallet and phone were in the bag that got lost. Oh No!!! We called to see if the recycling center possibly found it but with no luck. They said it was probably smashed to smithereens and in the landfill because everything is automated. So here we go I now have to cancel all my credit and debit cards, get a new drivers license and a new Costco card. Just what I need this time of year is to spend my time on the phone and in lines WAITING. At least no one found them and used them =) I also found out that I am eligible for a new free phone Jan 30th. So don't try to call me on my cell phone until then!

Carmel Popcorn

2007-12-18T11:05:00.000-08:00

Well just like I had hoped things have settled down around here. The packages and cards are all in the mail. I finally finished the quiet books, I don't think the dolls are going to be done. Lucky for me they were extras not the main event. I am still going to try to make 1 for Lizzy but not all 3 and with everyone being sick I am not even sure that one will get done. *sigh* But alas everything is wrapped and ready =) The best part is we stayed in our budget and the saving we had done throughout the year was enough (no credit cards this year =)). Anyway things are going well and I can concentrate on baking for the neighbors now. I think I will do popcorn balls since that is what I am craving. Here is the recipe for everyone who has lost it and is now craving it because of me.

2 cups Brown Sugar
1 cup Karo Syrup
1 cube of butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Bring to a boil for 3 minutes (soft ball for those of you who know what that means) pour over a big bowl of popcorn. I usually have 1 big Tupperware bowl and a large salad bowl. This makes a lot and it is sooo good.

Hustle and Bustle

2007-12-12T09:15:00.000-08:00

How is it that you can plan all year for Christmas and now that it is only 2 weeks away feel like you are not going to be able to get it all done? Wow it has been a busy couple of weeks and we are enjoying every minute of it. On Saturday we took the girls to see Santa at the mall, Katrina was a little chatterbox as usual asking about the elves and Rudolph. She told Santa that she only wanted 1 thing for Christmas which I think shocked him a little. Amanda was so excited to see him until she was sitting next to him and then she just stared. She was able to squeak out that she wanted a Cinderella doll for Christmas, but then she was once again silent =) That's my Amanda =)
I thought I had finished all my holiday shopping when I realized that we still had friends and neighbors that we should do something for. Any cute (but inexpensive ideas)? As for me I think things will settle down by this weekend after everything is finally in the mail including my Christmas cards which are usually done and in the mail by now.
Next week Amanda is going to be in a play at preschool she is so excited for us to come and see, I hope she doesn't freeze when she realizes that all the other parents are there as well. I will have to start prepping her now I guess.
Well I guess that is it I will try to post again before the end of the month with some fun Christmas pictures. Love you all and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Happy Baby

2007-11-15T08:54:00.000-08:00

This morning while I was getting ready I could hear my girls (all 3) just laughing and playing. It sounded so cute and I went to get the camera so I could capture this joyful moment. When I walked in Elizabeth was standing at the doll house playing with the dolls right beside Katrina and Amanda. I tried to capture it but she saw me and started crawling to me as fast as she could. This is the picture I got while she was cruising my way.
I finally got one of her standing. She stands up to everything and walks as far as it will take her. She is my little shadow and crawls right along with me everywhere I go, including the laundry and the bathroom. Here she was beaming as she scooted to the end of the dryer and came a charging my way.

Thought you would enjoy seeing how big she is getting!!!

Halloween

2007-11-09T10:57:00.001-08:00

just wanted to post a couple of pictures from Halloween. The first is with the next door neighbors Brook and Katrina were Ariel's Hunter was a transformer and of course Amanda was Cinderella. My costume was found and put together 5 minutes before we walked out the door, and Steve was supposed to be a hill billie but the kids just called him the fat daddy. =) Elizabeth went to bed early so we don't have any pictures of her in her costume but I guess we have many years to get that done.

Katrina's Birthday

2007-11-09T10:25:00.000-08:00

Well Monday was Katrina's Birthday so we pulled her out of school for the day and Steve took the day off and we went to Disneyland. We had a ball! We started out on the princess walk where they were able to meet Sleeping Beauty, Bell and Mulon, it was really cool because they only let one group in at a time so there is no one else around while you talk to the princesses. While we were waiting in line we found out that you can get a button from city hall that says Happy Birthday and then they write in her name and age. (not that she wasn't telling everyone it was her birthday and how old she was ) Any way we got her the tag and then everycast member we met would wish her a happy birthday. At first she was so amazed that they knew and when she asked them how they knew they would tell her it was the magic of Disneyland and that Mickey Mouse had told them. She was told happy birthday over the speaker system in the Nemo submarine ride and she was extatic. Then the local artist drew her a picture of Ariel. (he gets 500 a pop for his Paintings) and another cast member had her call goofy and he sang her happy birthday. By the end of the day she had figured out that it was the button that was pinned on her jacket. So when she took off the jacket she made sure to hold it so you could still see the pin. She got to meet Ariel which I am sure you can guess was one of the highlights. the other highlight was riding Thunder Mountain Railroad for the first time... she loved it. All in all it was a fun and amazing day.
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Looks like their in love!!!

2007-10-31T14:26:00.001-07:00

I just had to post a couple of pictures from the wedding. I would have posted one of each couple but there wasn't one of me and Steve. I guess between the bathroom and the throwing up we were to busy to sit and pose for a picture. Hope you enjoy these.

Amanda

2007-10-31T10:13:00.000-07:00

So here are the pictures I promised. First we have Friday morning after breakfast in bed and opening presents.... She got a cinderella doll from Grandma Borrowman that Katrina quickly stole and a Nap quilt from Grandma Lang which if you look in the mirror is on her bed and has been since she got it.

Next is her at her Birthday Party everyone dressed up as princesses and she was Cinderella!

here she is blowing out her candles on the b-day cake or at least trying to. We all had to help her after several failed attempts

This is her first day of Preschool. She was so excited she kept doing this everytime we mentioned school.

This was the day before her b-day we took treats to preschool and suprised her with balloons. The teacher and student teachers made her this crown which she wore for several days after

Amanda

2007-10-30T14:26:00.000-07:00

I am uploading pictures to the computer so I can share some cute ones from Amandas B-day party and from her first day of Preschool.

Amanda had her first day of Preschool last Tuesday and absolutley loved it. She has been asking every day since Katrina started Kindergarten and was so excited to go to school that she had a hard time sleeping the night before. It was so much different for me to take her to school than it was for me to take Katrina. Although Amanda loves it, she is very shy and quiet and did not want to interact with the teacher and student teachers. She just wanted to be left alone so she could play house with the dollies and other toys. It was fun to hear all about her day when I came back....she gave me a play by play of everthing that she did including what she liked and did not like about her snack and lunch =)

Amanda also had her first birthday party on Friday. She dressed up like Cinderella and all her friends came as little princesses. They had a tea party and went on a scavenger hunt to find all the goodies for their bags, they danced and played put the shoe on Cinderella. Even with all the superb activities =) the favorite was cake and ice cream. One of the little girls blew out the candles for Amanda so we had to relight them and then help her blow them out because she couldn't seem to do it.

All in all it has been a really good week.

Oh did I mention I love having a couple of hours with Katrina and Amanda in school it gives me about an hour with Elizabeth and about 2 hours for just me while she is napping. Ahhh life is good.

Lets think pink!

2007-10-18T13:41:00.000-07:00

So with everything in our life girly why not the blog? Steve never looks at this so he will never know the difference, right? Life here is good as I prepare for a marathon of birthdays and birthday parties in a couple of weeks. We will start with Amanda who's birthday is next Friday....that means cupcakes or treats for her preschool class on Thursday a birthday party of Friday a birthday party for her friend on Saturday. Then I have a week to get things in order for Katrina...lucky for me she doesn't want a party this year.....she JUST wants to go to Disneyland and have dinner with Ariel. sheesh. Lucky for us we have passes and so it is really just a matter of dinner and I am sure that will not cost as much as a party =) I still need to check out her schools policy for birthdays....some schools here only allow for treats that are prepackaged from the store, because you know we all want to poison our children and their friends. After we finish with Katrina's we have Steve's on Friday. It seems like we weren't the only ones who have lots of birthdays this time of year....so far this month Katrina and Amanda have been invited to 12 b-day parties from kids in the ward. I need to start my birthday budget now for next year =) so I can keep up. Lots of love to you all.

Random

2007-10-15T12:25:00.000-07:00

I was so good at this when I first started blogging, but at least this time it was not a full month between updates. Elizabeth is growing up so fast and is quickly learned that when her sisters are playing in their rooms that it is a fun place to be. They love the reactions that they get from her and are the first ones to greet her in the morning.

These pictures are a frequent sight in the mornings as they race to get her when she wakes up while I am in the shower. ( maybe they wake her up who knows!)

The other night we went to the drive in and saw the game plan it was a fun family outing and the girls loved it. In fact I think we could see just about any movie as long as they got their popcorn and treats.

Here is a random picture of Amanda as she played at her friend Vivians house.

Busy Busy Busy!

2007-09-27T20:45:00.000-07:00

So just a little update from the Lang's. This month has just flown by as I have discovered my creative side =) I have several projects underway and it is looking more and more like my girls are going to mostly have homade items for Christmas this year. I am nearing completion on several quiet books and I can't wait to use them. I am hoping it will help me when I am taking care of the girls while Steve is on the stand. It has been amazing how well behaved they have been considering that they really could milk the situation. The Lord truly blesses those that serve him.

I just completed some scripture bags for Katrina and Amanda and am now starting (and am very nervous about) Dolls for each of them for Christmas. The pattern says that the faces have to be embroidered so I guess I will learn =) Life is wonderful and busy as we go about our day to day routine. I will try to post some pictures soon. Love you all.

What a day!

2007-08-27T14:51:00.000-07:00

So today is just another blah day at the Lang household. I just finished packaging 50 lbs of meat for the freezer (there is a really good sale every 6-8 months where I stock up on Chicken and ground beef) and am not really feeling very motivated to do much right now. I am working with the girls on being more obedient and responsible by giving them jobs that earn them tickets. The tickets buy everything from games and TV to treats. Well today has been a bad day for them and I have taken every single ticket from both and it is not even 3 o'clock. Right now they are in there rooms for quiet time............................................I was just in the middle of this when Katrina informed me that Amanda colored all over the wall. I went to check and it was everywhere. Thank goodness it was a washable marker and it all came right off. Needless to say she just lost her marker and crayon privileges for the week ( this is not the first occurrence) Oh the joys of being the mom =) It makes me very grateful that I am not a single parent. Because help will be here in just 89 minutes but who is counting?

Party Time!

2007-08-20T14:35:00.000-07:00

The whole family was invited to a party for one of Katrina's friends. Here are a few wind blown pictures

First day of School

2007-08-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

Well this may be a week late in coming but here goes. Katrina was so excited to start school last Monday and woke the entire household up at just after 6 A.M. She had picked out her outfit the night before so when she woke us up she was already dressed shoes and all and wanted to go to school right then =) We told her that it would be a couple of hours and she needed to get her hair done, eat breakfast and do her chores before we could go. Needless to say we were All (including the baby) to go by 7:30 and so we went and took some picture outside of the school and in her classroom. She had a really good first
day and found out that her best friends Brook and Trenton were in her class too. You all know what a talker she is and it got her in trouble quite a bit this first week as she was moved to 3 different tables before she learned to not talk when the teacher was talking. The second day she got to ride the bus home and loved it. Of course dad and I were following the bus the whole way. She feels so grown up and is eager to learn. (her words) I love you, my teacher is Mrs. Lawhead and she is nice. I like my new school and I am in kindergarten because I am big. I get to ride the bus and mommy will always be there
to get me when I get off....

2007-08-12T12:50:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a crazy month indeed. Since my last post my Grandma Goodwin passed away. We went to St George to be with family and to attend the funeral. I was once again impressed by the wonderful example that my grandmother has been throughout her life, and found myself wanting to emulate that in my life as well. She was an incredible woman and she is missed by all of us whom she has left behind. I love you Grandma!

Allison also spent the month with us and it seems that each year the summer gets shorter and shorter. Alas this was no exception and the month just flew by. How we miss having her here, and look forward to every moment she gets to spend with us. We would love it if she lived closer and we could see her every other weekend like a lot of children from divorced homes, but we will take what we can get and cherish every moment of that time!

Katrina starts kindergarten tomorrow and I know that I am more nervous than she is and I am making myself sick with worry about how she will do and if she will like her teacher, school, and class. I worry if I have made the right choice in letting her start school this year even though she is still 4 and is it the right school for her. Keep me in your prayers tomorrow so that I can let go =).

I will write more later

Just Chillin

2007-07-13T09:51:00.000-07:00

How cute is this. I came out to check on the girls and found them deep in conversation, so much so that they didn't even notice me taking the picture. I love to see the friendship and love that exists between Ali and her sisters even though she is not here all of the time. As soon as the camera flashed they noticed I was there but that didn't stop them they just went right on talking the only thing that changed was that they quickly stopped so they could take turns pushing Amanda who had come to join them. I love that they all get along so well.

First Meal

2007-07-13T09:40:00.001-07:00

Just a really cute picture from one very happy baby as she ate her first solid meal.

More Lake Powell Pictures

2007-07-13T07:51:00.000-07:00

This trip was amazing and we loved the time we were able to spend as a family. Grandma was constantly surrounded by the little ones who adore her.

Amanda was content to stay in the shade of the easy ups and just play in the sand, so needless to say this is where I spent a majority of my time as well. Elizabeth just wanted to eat non stop (probably due to the 114 degree temperatures) Ali and Katrina were little fish and it was nearly impossible to get them out of the water long enough to put on more sunscreen, but they did it and we are proud to report that the only ones who got burned were Steve and I.

It was really fun for me to have the time to just sit and watch my daughters interact with not only each other but their cousins as well. These are the times we will treasure forever and will create the bonds and friendships with the cousins for our children that I cherish from growing up around so many of my cousins.

Lake Powell

2007-07-09T22:12:00.000-07:00

The Highlight of this trip would have to have been the tube! Ali and Katrina LOVED it. The pictures that were taken while they were on the tube didn't turn out so we recreated it for memory sake. The first time the girls went out all three of them went with dad. Tyson went really slow and by the time Amanda got off they were ready for some real action. Steve, Ali and Katrina went out and they picked up more speed and bounced around. Once they got off then the real fun began as the adults were being bounced, flipped and thrown from the tube. Ali was the bravest and went out with Uncle Nick and Aunt Megan. She was pleased to return and report that although Nick and Megan were flipped from the tube twice while she was on that she had only fallen off once, after that she went out whenever anyone would let her tag along.

4TH of July

2007-07-09T21:47:00.000-07:00

As I stated in my last post Grandma Grandpa, Steve, Ali and Katrina started the day by walking to a free breakfast. Needless to say it was not all it was cracked up to be so Grandpa treated everyone to some extra breakfast at McDonald's, then they picked up some extras for our barbecue later that afternoon before they walked the mile home. Ali learned that if you look longingly at something grandpa Lang will buy it for you and if he doesn't see you looking at it just ask; at least that is what they told me when they got home and showed off the cupcakes he had purchased at their request. We had a fun barbecue with most of the Lang family and then went to see the new Disney movie (I have no idea how it is spelled) =) After the movie we went to Grandma and Grandpa Borrowmans house and the kids played while the adults loaded the boats for our early departure to the lake the next morning. We got done just in time to head back to our other grandparents house and watch the fireworks that Uncle Randy had provided. All in all it was a great day.

Swimming

2007-07-04T07:56:00.000-07:00

Well no pictures yet because we are having problems with our camera again! But yesterday we went swimming with Summer and her kids and the girls had a blast. Ali is a little fish and the fear we saw in her last year has been replaced with confidence =) She is so proud of herself so those of you who will be swimming with us this month be sure to take note and ask her to show you her stuff. Katrina who has never had a fear of the water,which instilled a fear in me, but yesterday she finally learned how to pull her head up and breath while she is swimming. Yeah! Still she needs lots of supervision and practice but is trying hard to keep up with her big sister. Amanda Who is my big baby when it comes to the water, (she wouldn't even get in the water until this year) is found a love of the water and loves to jump from the side of the pool and have mom or dad pull her up from UNDER the water. The baby is content to just do whatever and is so easy to have around, yesterday she had her first meal (squash) and ate just like a pro and finished nearly the whole container on her first try. After swimming we came home and got ready for the evening and went to meet aunt Jessica's boyfriend or soon to be fiance. We had a nice time and the girls always love playing in grandma Borrowmans amazing toy room. In fact we are lucky enough to have two grandmas that have dedicated rooms full of toys just for the grand kids.
Today is also a full day and Steve, Ali and Katrina went out for a free 4Th of July breakfast and should be home soon. I will update you tomorrow on Today's activities but we should have lots and lots of fun. We hope you do too.
Well that is enough for one day, hopefully we get this camera thing sorted out and I can post some cute pictures as we have a very full week ahead of us.

Friends

2007-06-21T22:22:00.001-07:00

Here is a picture of Katrina and some of her friends, they love getting together and during the summer we are getting together once a week to watch a movie. Our friends have a projector so we all bring pillows blankets and chairs and watch a movie outside. It is a lot of fun and we enjoy the cool nights and the friendships we are able to foster with everyone.

Getting into the cupcakes

2007-06-21T22:16:00.001-07:00

Amanda has figured out the stool and uses it to her advantage all the time now. In this picture we had made and decorated cupcakes for an afternoon activity and we still had a couple left that we were going to decorate for our afternoon treat the next day. After feeding, and putting the baby down I came into the kitchen to find this munchkin up on the counter enjoying herself as she ate a few bites out of each of the remaining cupcakes. Maybe I should have got upset but it was so cute that I just grabbed the camera instead and took a picture of my adorable daughter. I guess that we had just had so much fun that she didn't want it to end......right =)

Quick update

2007-06-16T09:44:00.000-07:00

I always say quick and it ends up longer but here goes anyway! The last couple weeks have been very busy...Steve finished school on the 9th and for the first time since he began teaching is taking the entire summer off and the girls and I are very excited to spend so much time together. That night (the 9th) we went over to the church for a final practice before the ward luau on Saturday. I was preforming the Maori poi ball dance with some of the sisters in the ward while we were there the men talked Steve into learning the 3 men's dances to preform with them the next day. He learned the Hakka, Slap and Fijian dances that night and preformed all 3 the next day. For only one practice he did an amazing job. The next day we were busy getting things ready and we had a ball with a couple of pigs and all the trimmings for the evening. I love that we have so many Polynesian individuals in our ward and that we get along so well. Monday and Tuesday Steve finished up some loose ends at the school and then it was all about having fun together. We have loved playing in the back yard and watching the girls run all over yelling mommy daddy watch this and look at me. We filled the pool in the back yard yesterday and hopefully in a day or two the water will be warm enough to swim. I will try to get a picture or two in in the next day or so. Until then we love you all.

We got a new Bishop

2007-06-04T13:17:00.000-07:00

Sunday Steve came home from his morning meetings to help me get the last minute things done so we could make it to church on time and told me that the Bishop was getting released. Well you know what that means? Steve gets released too, and I was so excited because it was only 30 minutes before Sacrament meeting and we had not received a call from the Stake so that meant he would be able to sit by me again during the meetings =) well that wonderful feeling was short lived because as soon as we arrived they pulled Steve aside and asked him to serve with the new Bishop as the 1st counselor instead of the 2nd. Well at least I am safe for a while and can enjoy my calling in the primary. All in all it was a really good day. I love that my husband is worthy AND willing to serve when the Lord calls. I mean really who can't use the blessings that come when we do =)

Memorial Day

2007-05-30T11:56:00.000-07:00

Although we were not in St George for the traditional Pine Valley Breakfast, this year we did have our own tradition! We got together with Jeff and Suzanne Carter for our annual memorial day barbecue. We had lots of fun watching the kids play and enjoying ourselves. Steve and I engaged in our semi competitive game of air hockey of which I won! (technically we are about 50/50 when it comes to winning and losing so I guess it was my turn to win.) We invited our next door neighbors to come as well and the Carters invited another of their friends. All in all it was a great day.

Pre-school Graduation

2007-05-27T21:19:00.000-07:00

This is me just before I left for school today! I even got to have make up and take it with me to school so I would be pretty on the stage today (Chap stick)
When I got to school today we went and practiced our program for the parents we sang and danced and had a lot of fun. We even had a song where all the grandmas and grandpas had to get up and do the actions with us. Mom and Dad said we were so so cute.
Here I am getting my preschool diploma. I don't know if you can see the stripes hanging on my dress but it is my hula skirt that I wore for the performance

After the graduation was over we had Audrey's mom take a picture of all of us. Notice that I have a candy lei that Peni's mom made for us. I had flowers from dad and bouquet of balloons from mom and a balloon on a stick from Amanda. Mom and dad had to help me carry it because there was so much stuff. Boy am I loved.

After graduation we went to Chuckey Cheese to play with some of my friends we spent almost all of our tokens on the carousel where we got to ride the horses. (can you believe it =)) Peni was there with his mom and dad and then Katrina's friend Sydney showed up and we had lots and lots of fun ; -)

Rambling

2007-05-25T07:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Katrina graduated from preschool I will post some pictures and tell you about it as soon as I get some time.
Tonight we get some time for ourselves, and we are going to see the new pirates movie. We are doubling with another couple in our ward so it should be lots of fun. Also this afternoon I am going to bottle tomatoes! Mom are you so proud of me =) We were able to get a full box of tomatoes for 19 dollars. Can I just say I love having friends with connections. She has a friend in the restaurant business that's how we got such a great price. Wish me luck.
My garden is growing beautifully (no Janae it doesn't even begin to compare to yours) I have 6 thriving tomato plants, peas, yellow and zucchini squash, corn, carrots, honeydew melon and strawberries. The girls love the strawberries and pick a couple every day. It is Amanda's favorite thing to do and when she finds one she comes running back to me so I can wash it and says "mom I promised" because she promised not to pick them unless they are really red. It is so fun to watch them and I love having the garden just to get them to try new things. (they hated strawberries until they picked them out of our garden)
Well I guess that is enough rambling I just wanted to post an update but didn't have time to upload the pictures from the camera and then upload them to the blog. love you all

Its all about accountability!

2007-05-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

Well today is day 2 of a my new goal to get healthy. Actually it is the start of the 3rd week but the second week I was sick so I got no exercise in. I am posting this in my blog because I need accountability when everyone is expecting to hear how I am doing then I am less likely to quit. So what does this goal entail you may ask, well for one it means no more late night snacks and smaller portions. It also means working out at least 4 but maybe 5 or 6 times a week. Exercise means at least 25 min but my goal is 2 miles a day, the 25 minutes is just to make sure I do SOMETHING on the days I don't really feel like it. Mom has been helping me for a while and now it is time to up the anty =) anyway if you have any suggestions on how to fit exercising in or have some really good healthy snacks treats and/or meals you enjoy I sure would appreciate you sending them my way. I feel like I eat the same things all the time.
I guess if this is going to work will have to report my progress too. I will report inches and lbs lost but I will not admit what they are to start out with....that's just a little too much for me. Thanks to you all for the inspiration as I see all of you living active healthy lives... it makes me want to be better as well. ta ta for now