10 year old Angel!

Hallie enjoyed celebrating with 13, yes I said THIRTEEN of her closest friends at a slumber party. I tried to take lots of pictures, but since I was the lone adult trying to keep it all together I didn't get too many!





We did cake decorating, nails, hair, makeup, had lots of snacks, movies, and giggles! They were asleep by 1 or so....and up at the crack of dawn, we fed them breakfast and sent them on their way!

I think for that many girls things went exceptionally well. There was no drama, fights, or tears. I think this is the last year I can get away with that before the hormonal years kick in and then let the real fun begin!

I will say however that Hallie is very mature for her age. She is small, but I forget that she is almost a year older than most the girls in her class. She is such a sweetheart and was so polite, gracious, and kind to her friends. I was so glad that I could let her do this, even though I was cringing at the MESS!

We celebrated her actual birthday yesterday, the 28th. The whole day just seemed bittersweet. My baby girl was 10! I have been working out at the Rec. Center every Tues, Wed, and Thurs. from 5:45-7:15 so on the way home I was able to witness the sunrise. I couldn't help but get emotional as I realized that it was 10 years ago that I became a mother to this little angel.

Last night was the usual family party. She was spoiled rotten and so grateful for all the fun things she got! I had my usual lady in Tabiona make her cake. It turned out AMAZING!

Kayler as usual was the life of the party. He kept putting hats on my grandparents. I caught this picture of my Grandpa as "luigi" I didn't capture the one of my Grandma as "woody"!





There haven't been too many more important/noteworthy happenings around here. It just seems we are busy busy keeping up with life. We are SO enjoying this sunshine. The days are seriously perfect. I love this time of year. September is really a great month!

Too much to share...

Wow-2 posts in one week….! I had a few random thoughts, and I couldn’t not share.

First off, I need to give a shout out to my precious baby girl Hallie. She is seriously SO dang cute. Not to mention she is so innocent, smart, and just an all around GOOD girl. I am so so very lucky. She turns 10 next Tuesday, so she is celebrating with a slumber party this Friday with 15 girls. Yes…I will have 10-15 9 and 10 year olds. I am CRAZY. She started out with only 2….and the list grew to 15 because she didn’t want to leave anyone out or make them feel bad. I am secretly hoping at least half don’t show up! But how do you say no to this face?:



In other Hallie news, she is still saving money for her dog. She has been begging me to let her make flyers to take to the neighbors advertising that she does chores for $....I wasn’t too keen on that idea-especially since most of our neighbors are young families or have kids of their own to do chores. I am trying to make her appreciate the dog more, so she is earning half the money. She has a cute poster I made her in her room and she gets a sticker for every dollar she earns. So between her birthday money and chores, let’s hope she makes it!

I watched this movie the other night- “Temple Grandin”-it’s a true story. My mom had rented it, and then Kael and Emily watched it, and then passed it down to us. I am not really a movie watcher, but this one had me captured from beginning to end. Probably due to the fact that it hit SO close to home. I highly, highly recommend it. I took it to my Grandpa and he loved it-which is a hard feat for a picky old man! Anyways, if you know anyone affected by autism, or if you have a kind enough heart to want to understand what an autistic person or those around them go through-it is a family friendly must see!:



Our house was hit by the yucky stomach flu Monday. Poor Gavin called me crying from school. It was after he threw up for 4 hours that he finally told me that he had fallen off the monkey bars at school and hit his belly. So I of course had to drag him in to the Dr. to make sure he was o.k. The Dr. said it was probably coincidence that he fell and got the flu all at the same time. He is just so tiny, so things like this really take it out of him. He stayed home yesterday, and of course I had to get it too. I was miserable. G.J. had to come home so I could rest. I am praying and pleading that the rest of the family remains unaffected, but we shall see.

And finally-I just need to document how grateful I am for my job as a cleaning lady. I have 3-4 clients at all times. That occupies every Wednesday while Kayler is at school. I can’t help but think how lucky I am to do something that I love-clean. It fulfills my OCD obsession of cleaning outside of the home…lol. It provides a little extra money to pay unexpected bills and helps to slowly build up our savings. I truly care for the people I clean for. They are so appreciative and trusting of me and I am glad to help them out. It is such a compliment that I have people on a waiting list for me to clean. It is tempting to pick up another day or two, but at this point I don’t want to overwhelm myself.

So there you have it! I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful fall weather like I am! September is truly a beautiful month!

Week in Review-middle of September already!?!

While driving to Salt Lake to spend time with G.J. last Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, this is the sight I saw in many canyons. The picture doesn’t even do it justice. The colors were so breathtaking:



It is always while driving alone that I have time to really think and ponder. Sometimes it is good…and I am full of gratitude and positive reflection. Other times it is not so good and I fill myself with pity….something I really hate to do. This trip was a mix of both.

Let me back track for my own journaling purposes. Last Monday was the first full day G.J. was gone. It honestly was not my best day. All 3 kids were not feeling good. So after cleaning house, doing laundry, getting groceries, etc. I had to brave the Dr.’s office alone with all 3 kids. Let me just say it was not pleasant. When the Dr. asks if you had considered ADHD meds for your kid…that is not a good sign. I was bummed because it was a special day, my friend Karlee had her baby boy, and it was my niece and nephew’s birthday party. I wanted to celebrate both. Luckily I did sneak away to see Karlee and the baby, and made a quick stop to the birthday party.

Tuesday I am having a hard time remembering what I did…is that so sad? Less than a week ago. I did spend time getting things settled for all 3 kids so I could leave town. That is a chore in itself! Packing and preparing instructions and distributing their stuff to their grandmas is a lot of work! I really appreciate G.J.'s mom for taking Hallie and Gavin and my mom for taking Kayler.

Wednesday I got things settled and headed out of town for a “break”. I always get SO mad at myself because I am always so overwhelmed and ready for a break. Then I get to whatever my break is supposed to be and I can never relax. I did a little shopping, we met G.J.’s family for dinner, and then I stayed up until 2 a.m. worrying about my kids/life in general. Go figure...

Thursday was one of the main reasons for my trip. I have talked a little about the dog Hallie is saving for. I think we may have finally found the perfect breed/type for our family. (Although if you ask me NO pet is any good….but I am out voted on this one) I drove clear to Fillmore to pick out our new pet. A mini goldendoodle-which is half golden retriever, half mini poodle. The best thing is that it is hypoallergenic and doesn’t shed. They are supposedly extremely smart family friendly dogs. They are also an approved therapy dog for Autism. So there are lots of pros. So, after meeting the super nice family I narrowed it down to this little sweetie:





Hallie is BEYOND excited. She is naming it Mollee after Mollee on Toy Story (which I feel bad about because I have a friend who loves that name for her baby girl-but I couldn't change her mind!) She still has quite a bit of money to earn. We are making her earn half…so hopefully between chores and her birthday money she will make it!

We finished the night off Thursday by going with my brother and his wife to the Draper temple. It was SUCH a beautiful temple, and we had a great session.:




Friday I woke up early and headed back to real life. I was home by 12 and I had laundry, cleaning, errands, etc.etc.etc to do. Gavin went to a friends to play, and Hallie went to a slumber party.

Saturday was a fun day. We had our quarterly primary activity which was combined with our ward and another one. We made dog beds for the local animal shelter. The kids had a blast and it turned out really well:




We finished the day off with cleaning the garage, errands, and I got to go snuggle Karlee’s sweet baby Lincoln for a couple hours, and visit with her and our friend Heather.

Today was pretty boring and lonely. I am not a fan of Sunday’s to be honest. G.J.’s parents were in Denver, and my parents were out of town camping. I did sing a duet in sacrament meeting today with my friend Heather. Thank goodness she has a beautiful voice, because if it was up to me alone it would have been a disaster! Kayler was a beast in sharing time. At this point I am honestly considering not taking him back for awhile. He was so naughty he made me cry…and I never cry-so for him to push me that hard is really frustrating for me.

This week is filled with more busy activities-mainly for the kids. I am still soaking in every ounce of this beautiful weather, and trying to find the good out of every day!

Wonderful Weekend!

I don't have much to report from last week, but we did have a WONDERFUL weekend in Salt Lake.

My Mom had bought Hallie, Gavin and I tickets to Lion King at Capitol Theater. So Saturday morning my mom, my kids and I, and Emily and Rachael headed to SLC.

We had a blast shopping and looking around at the mall and other stores. Gavin doesn't look too happy in this picture....but he does look like a 3 year old! Contrary to that, he was actually SO good for shopping all day with us! Both of my kids were so good, and I couldn't help but be so grateful for the ease of traveling with them!:



That night we headed to Incredible Pizza. It has a pizza buffet, and then tons of arcade games, bumper cars, race cars, golf, laser tag. We had SUCH a fun time! We were so pooped by the time we left close to 10 p.m.!:






We stayed at my brothers house (who is doing MUCH better by the way!-Finally!) and then met up our group of 26 the next day at the Olive Garden across from the theater.:





The kids loved it. They were super good and we all thought it was nothing short of amazing. I am so grateful to G.J. for staying home with Kayler. I can't wait for the day when we can go to things like that as a family. I am also super grateful to my mom for buying us the tickets. And last, I am grateful for my fun family to go do things like that with!

Now...I am home and G.J. is in Salt Lake this whole week for training. I miss him SO bad while he is gone. I don't know what it is, because he is gone most of the time anyways, but I think mentally just knowing that he will be home at the end of the day is so important to me. Not to mention he helps me out immensely.

I usually sink into a deep dark depression when he is gone....OK not really!-but I do get sad. This time my mom and G.J.'s mom were nice enough to watch the kids for us so I am going to join him Wednesday through Friday and I am so excited!

So other than that, we are all happy and enjoying every ounce of sunshine this time of year has to offer!

"labor" day weekend

I always love Labor Day weekend. This time was no exception. It is so good to get a little break from school and work. Not to mention the weather was absolutely pristine! Blue skies, a warm sun, and a small fall wind blowing. We had a great time!

Saturday G.J.’s sister was in town, so my kids had stayed the night at my in-laws Friday night. I had stake baptisms to attend to Saturday morning, but after that we headed to the ranch. We did a little more crawdad fishing. My parents, my brother Kris and his wife, and some of their friends joined us. After they left I taught Kayler how to “drive” he thought that was great!:



The kids have a blast playing in all of Grandpa George’s “junk” and his tractors. We made a drive up to the basin after that. They have a really nice new playground up there. They also set up a trampoline. You can’t really tell in the picture, but Hallie and Gavin are jumping in a forest in the dark!:







Sunday everyone woke up a little sick. Some sort of flu/cold/allergy thing. We stayed home from church. The kids quickly found something to keep them busy, sliding down the stairs in sleeping bags:



We went for a quick drive to the mountain to visit my brother Kael and his family. That night I came down with a nasty headache. I went to bed at 6:45 and slept until 9:45 the next morning. I was pooped!:



Labor day…I had plans to get my normal Monday housework done, but I was so tired and groggy from my long sleep the night before, so we just visited family. We let the kids ride Kael’s mini ponies. They are SO cute. It was good to see my brother Kris up and about. He really didn’t feel good all weekend, but he is slowly getting better. We also went to my parents, my Grandma and Grandpa Stewarts, and Grandpa Bowthorpes, where Kayler found a new friend…the sheep!:









So, it was a busy yet relaxed weekend. I wish the weather would have lasted, but as with all good things-it never does!