8.20.2011

Philmont July 2011























We had the awesome opportunity to go to Philmont Training Center this summer. (Boy Scout training) It was so neat and if you ever get the opportunity to go, definitely take it. It's worth the effort.


The men have classes training them on the scouting and Duty to God program. The women have classes geared towards them including hiking, crafting, spiritually uplifting, scouting, horseback riding, museums, etc. The kids have their own summercamp classes with their specific age groups and Reed even went to his own class. The kids learned so much and grew so much. They hiked (including an all day hike!), rode horses, went on some musuem tours, made crafts, did skits, participated in a parade, and ate cereal and chocolate milk all week! Carly met a new friend, Ty went to his own class everyday and even wanted to stay afterwords to play with his new friends. Ridge loved his new friends and leaders and Reed...Reed stayed in his class and became really good friends with some of the caretakers in his class. But he stayed in the class and that was awesome! I really enjoyed my classes. Sean learned so much. The kids were totally empowered and made such good friends. We really enjoyed getting to know the families we travelled with as well and we are so thankful for such a great experience.



I just love this picture.

Reed reading 2011


"I know of no other practice which will make one more attractive in conversation than to be well-read in a variety of subjects. There is a great potential within each of us to go on learning."

~Gordon B. Hinckley~


"...seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith."

D&C 88:118



6.06.2011

Fun Mini Vacation


















A few months ago, my Mom called and said some friends had a timeshare we could use for the night in Scottsdale and they had a heated pool! Yeah! We packed up and went over to hang out with Grandma and Katie (who is the cutest pregnant girl in a swimsuit I have ever seen, by the way!) Thanks Grandma, Katie and the Harrison's for such a fun night!

Memorial Day Camping Trip





















































We had a blast last weekend on our Camping Trip to Black Canyon Lake. We ate, fished, played horseshoes, went exploring and rode bikes. It was so windy the entire time! I was amazed that the wind just never stopped. Each of the little kids got to reel in a fish and we ate them for supper! Super fun weekend spent with family!

5.01.2011

The Importance of Following the Directions











Tonight Carly wanted to make chocolate chip cookies by herself. (I was helping Ridge with a project in the other room and couldn't help her.)

Uuuuummmm. Ooooh. Ok. (You know how I felt, right?!) You know this has the potential to be.... interesting. But, time to let go and let her fly on her own a little. She was excited!

She got out all of the ingredients, read the directions and got to work.

We were out of brown sugar, so we tapped into our food storage bucket. (love that.) She put the bowl of sugar on the counter and Reed helped himself to it, dumping the contents on the ground.

Yuck! She came into the office a few times to ask questions and I thought it was going well....until I heard some thumping in the kitchen when she turned the mixer on. Ooops.

I went in to find she had dumped all the ingredients into the mixer at once, right down to the chocolate chips!

We talked about a few life lessons we could learn from this experience, had a laugh and a cry, and started over.


Her second time around went a lot better...minus some extra salt and baking soda that mysteriously made it's way into the batter! Reed didn't mind the extra flavor though!


God job Carly! You are awesome!

4.09.2011

Spice up Date Night...one week at a time!

I just wanted to pass on another fun blog that I recently stumbled upon. Sean and I hardly ever go out on dates anymore, however I do think it's important to keep dating my hubby...time and budget and life just seem to get in the way. I know many of you probably feel the same way. That's why I am so excited about this new (to me) blog. The Dating Divas http://www.thedatingdivas.com/ Eleven women take turns posting a creative, inexpensive, (and sometimes spicy) date idea each week! /Their Mission statement: We are wives, mothers, sisters, and friends who strive to enrich marriages everywhere.We want to celebrate the gift of marriage while inspiring others to do the same. It is our goal to provide creative, inexpensive, and innovative dating ideas that will bring joy, fun and excitement back into the relationship. We encourage all married men and women to take a conscious and proactive approach to investing in their spouse. By putting our spouses first, we are taken back to the simple magic of being head over hills in love again. We desire to help make lasting marriages, which in return will create everlasting families. Check out their "date in a can" idea! Fun! Take a look and do something fun with your spouse this weekend!

2.20.2011

Family Home Evenings


Hello there. This picture has nothing to do with this post, I just don't have one that does! Keri requested a recent picture of Reed and this is him from last week, enjoying his cream-of-wheat!
I was just preparing a family home evening lesson for tomorrow night and I found a great website with lessons on it. It has the lessons separated by age and includes a coloring page for the kids to hang in their room for the week to reinforce and remind them about the lesson. My kids each have a bulletin board in their room so I thought this was perfect for them! It also has some object lessons listed as well. Just thought I would pass it on. Do you have a favorite source for FHE lessons or ideas? Please share!



Here are a couple more sources I found: