I thought maybe we would try this blog thing again for a couple of reasons. I will just share one of those reasons now. One of the reasons is I think blogs help you keep your goals. I think when you write your goals down you/and others help to keep them. One of my goals is we are trying to change our eating habits . Not that we really eat bad, just that we want to eat better. Something that has always somewhat plagued my mind is D&C 89:12. Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly;. It's that last word "Sparingly". Now I'm not saying what anyone else should think this word mean to them at all. To me I feel like it means sparingly. Not to eat a lot of meat all the time. My Merriam Webster Dictionary definition says- Sparingly= to use frugally or rarely. We are not becoming vegetarians! We are just cutting back. More fruits and veggies. Less sugary and processed things (not that we really eat a lot of processed things). I will try and share my favorite recipes with you. I have some really yummy meatless dishes. I hope you will enjoy and maybe try some. Now after enduring all of that I will treat you to some sweet pictures. (I'm sorry they are backwards. I'm having to re-learn how to do this)

Landon dressed as the Mad Hatter this year. I think he looked awesome. I guess no one at school recognized him. He got first place in the costume contest and his picture taken several times with others and for the year book.

Madison dressed as a flapper. (She sewed this get up all by herself. Didn't she do a great job).

Jenson - G.I. Joe. Jordon- settled on The Hulk (He changed his mind several times). Gavon- Spider Man. Trenton- Cowboy. Brooklon- Cheerleader. Maron- Cute Witch ( I found a cute skirt tutorial and made her skirt. I will make this pattern again)

The younger kids school did a fun run and we all participated.

Sorry it is sideways but that's Brooklon.

Landon and his scout group ran in a 10k race called "The Dirty Dash". It was a beautiful day in a beautiful place -Soldier Hollow. We went to watch as a family and support Landon. He did an awesome job.

Well there you go. Life is busy. We will try this again.

Christian is working hard at work. He helps a ton with all of the many activities that goes on at our house as well as helping with the 12 year old scouts.

Me...I'm trying to exercise to help combat stress and maybe lose a little weight. I still teach Relief Society. I've decided I'm not a teacher. I have learned a lot though about the gospel and am thankful. There is always homework assignments/projects/activities etc... going on and now I'm going to try and change our eating:). Call me crazy because sometimes that is how I feel.

Madison- Besides going to school she volunteers at a developmental center. She has decided to go to nursing school. I am so proud of her. She never ceases to amaze me with her kindness and compassion. I think she is amazing to me. Amazing!

Landon- Just finished football. He was able to play a few different positions and did a great job. We really enjoy watching him play. He is a straight A student and has a lot of friends who invite him to everything.

Trenton - has just started wrestling again and we look forward to watching him at the meets.

Brooklons last day in primary was today and she is soooo excited to go to young women. She is doing great in school and absolutely loves her teacher. She has lots of friends and is looking forward to her 12th birthday party.

Maron is the smartest 4th grader. Her teacher has to keep giving her extra work to keep her and me:) busier:)

Jenson is in love with reading. He wants to read, read, and read some more. He loves going to school and is doing great.

Jordon loves to do anything to do with school. He loves horses, cowboys, and playing outside. He wants it to snow so bad so he can play in the snow and build snow men. It snowed early on and we built a snow man then and he loved it so much he wants to do it again and again.

Gavon is the baby here and I think he knows it. He is so sweet. I love to hold him. He also loves to be read to as often as possible. He also loves horses and anything cowboy.

A very happy Mothers Day.

I feel spoiled. I have the best family. They really have done a wonderful job of making me feel special. My sweetheart and kids have made Mothers Day so nice. I feel grateful and blessed to be a mother to the best group ever. I couldn't ask for better kids or husband. Yesterday the girls pampered me with a foot massage. They secretly plotted and planned a spa day at home. My feet were massaged and painted after soaking in a foot bath. While being massaged they gave me a homemade smoothie and favorite treats to enjoy while watching a fun movie together. My feet haven't felt or looked this nice for a long time. Today Christian made a nice dinner. He made barbecue chicken salad (YUM). Jordon worked hard on making a delicious chocolate cake to put in my new glass cake plate that Christian gave me. At church they usually have the primary children sing a mothers day song but today for some reason they didn't sing. Jenson was pretty upset about it so at dinner he sang to me mother I love you. It was beautiful. Lots of pictures, flowers and homemade gifts. Tomorrow I'm going to a "Mothers Day" banana split party with my favorite six year old. Jenson made a beautiful plate that he will give to me tomorrow. I love my family and am thankful for all they do for me.

This last week was a busy one.

This last week was a busy one.

Going backwards starting with Saturday: Saturday was Brooklons soccer game. Brooklon is an awesome goalie. She was able to stop many a ball from going into the goal. This game was very exciting. The girls on the team have come so far. They play a mean game of soccer. (Mean meaning it is very exciting to watch not that they elbow, kick, and push).

Friday after taking everyone to school Jordon, Gavon, and I spotted an owl in the road with a broken wing. We called the animal rescue team (Christian) and he helped us get him out of the road and home. We were able to call around and find out that the Wild Life Preserve wanted to help nurse it back to health. We took it to the Animal Shelter (after everyone came home to see the owl) where they would take it to the Wild Life Preserve in Springville. It was fun to see an owl up close.
Wednesday we were able to go as a family to see Brooklon perform in The Hope Of America program at B.Y.U. I thought it was amazing. I was thankful we were able to go. It was amazing.

They turned out the lights for part of the program and the kids in the program sang while waving a flash light. It was awesome.

There were a lot of dancers.

This was a 93 year old woman who danced in a group of ladies who were 50 and older. At the end of their dance she did the splits. I thought it was great that they formed this group to dance/stay young and in shape.

The 50 and older dance group.(I can't remember the name of their group.)They seemed like they were having fun.

All of the kids wore different colored shirts to form the flag.

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were dentist day. Everyone has clean teeth and only one had cavities. I won't say who;)

Also on Friday Jenson had to teach his class something he could do. He decided to teach them how to do a handstand which he did quite well I might add. (I didn't get a picture though).

On Tuesday the girls and cousins baked cakes in a canning jar in the oven. (I didn't get a picture of that either) I found a recipe and thought that would be a fun activity. I think they enjoyed making it and especially eating it.

On Monday we did family home evening on testimonies. It was kind of fun. We found a game where you have cards with words like -priesthood, Joseph Smith, faith, personal progress, prophets, etc... etc... Everyone took turns drawing a paper out of a bag and then standing up in front of everyone and telling us what they know about this word and what it means to them. It was fun and gave everyone a chance to stand in front of others like you would in testimony meeting and basically share your testimony on the word. It made you think a little about what you thought about each. It was fun. We then wrote our testimonies down on paper to put in our books of remembrance/journal.

All in all it was busy but fun. Thanks for reading. Love Amber

Brooklon is a winner!

Brooklon is a winner!

Brooklon wrote an essay and won $20.00.

At school Brooklon's class was asked to write an essay on "My Grandparent is My Hero Because" and Brooklon and a couple of classmates followed through. Brooklon and the classmates all won money. We are so proud of Brooklon for following through and doing a great job.

We put them to work early around here:)

We put them to work early around here.:) Actually my little boys jump at the chance to work with me. I love it and they love it. Sometimes it takes me a little longer to get things done but I don't mind. You have to enjoy every minute because it goes way too fast. Enjoy!

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike.

See my new beach cruiser or American Fork cruiser? Me and the three musketeers have been enjoying the weather while riding our bikes together. We just hook the stroller on the back of my bike (where Gavon sits) and away we go. Maron and I have taken a few trips out and around too. I love the one on one time we have been able to spend together.

They turn from boys to men fast around here. Notice anything? It's not peach fuzz and it's not a caterpillar. MUSTACHES! (We went to the movies last week as a family and in one of the vending/gum ball machines they sold mustaches. -What will they think of next-don't ask)My boys thought this was the funnest/coolest/silliest things ever and enjoy hours of fun. They would wear these mustaches everywhere to see if anyone would notice. I love how they can keep me in stitches laughing. A good laugh is good!

I LOVE MY MAN CHILD'S!

All Good Things Must Come To An End

This has been such a fun and enjoyable spring break. We have been able to do some fun things as well as clean up and organize some things. -We went to Park City all day Monday-

Tuesday we cleaned the basement storage and flew kites-Wednesday Christian and I went to the temple and went shopping with the family (mostly grocery shopping but the boys needed new church clothes and shoes so we did that too)-Thursday the boys minus Gavon went fishing while the girls did some cleaning and went out to lunch (We would have gone fishing too but it was " No Girls Allowed ". -Friday we worked to build a sandbox which has been already hours of fun.
I feel so grateful for this time we have had to spend together with Christian and the kids being home. I have thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to the summer.

Jenson and Jordon used birthday money to buy fishing rods and really had a fun time. There were no fish caught but memories made.

Please read some of my older posts and leave a comment so know your there. Love Amber

This was the perfect week to celebrate Jensen's birthday. He is my favorite 6 year old. I can't believe how time flies. I remember how excited we were to find out that we were having Jenson. There is a 3 year space between Jenson and Maron (My biggest space) so I felt like I could give Jenson a little more attention. I was such the proud Mommy( I still am). I never wanted to put him down. I wanted to hold him at all times and didn't want to share him with anyone. Jenson has a very special place in my heart. I was overdue with Jenson and not feeling the most healthy at the time. I was very worried. I remember not being able to sleep in my bed that night due to being so uncomfortable. I remember praying to Heavenly Father to please help me deliver soon. I didn't think I could make it health wise. (Sometimes I could feel our children pluck the little bag they were in inside me) As soon as I ended my prayer, Jenson plucked the bag and my water broke. I was so thankful. I know Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. Tenders mercies. I'm thankful that Heavenly Father sent Jenson to our house.


The finished product looks great. Jenson did a good job.

Jenson decided that he wanted a white cake with rainbow chip frosting. He helped to frost his cake and a mighty good job he did.

Let's Go Fly A Kite

It is Spring Break here and we have been trying to do some fun mixed with work. Yesterday we went to Park City for some shopping. It was a lot of fun. We didn't do any work type things yesterday. We just spent the whole day shopping and hanging out together.

Today we cleaned the laundry/storage/Madison's room. We added some shelves etc....etc...etc...and then went and flew kites. Fun!

I love this picture! Dad love

Being able to run and run and run some more. What could be better.

Jenson and Jordon thought that flying kites was so much fun. Being able to have Christian have this time off and being able to be together and have fun is priceless.

Let's Go Fly A Kite

Easter/Conference

We hope you had a nice Easter and were able to watch conference. Yesterday we watched the first half of conference at home and then went to Shawn and Tonnas house for an Easter egg hunt, barbecue, and the second half of conference (I forgot my camera unfortunately). Gavon thought the hunting for eggs was so fun. He especially liked finding all of the hard boiled eggs. I think he thought they would be yummy to eat. He didn't enjoy eating them though.

Resurrection Rolls-I've wanted to make these for a couple of years now. I decided to make them this year and I'm glad I did. They were fun and might become a new tradition. They turned out huge and were empty like the tomb. These were part of our Sunday morning breakfast along with breakfast burritos. We were able to talk about the resurrection of Christ and how He made it possible for us to be resurrected and live with our families again. We are greatful.

Christians famous cinnamon rolls are our families tradition for Saturday morning conference. They are so yummy!

Egg dyeing as a family.

Jenson had an easter party at school the other day. We were able to come and help and Jordon and Gavon loved feeling a part.