hello everybody no this is not mike or michelle this is one of the clan to be spasific josh so come over to my blog becuse i'm having a contest called guess the title you can read all about it at www.dudesruleoutloud.blogspot.com see ya on the other side!

I think I could listen to this all day.

Enjoy!

It's always interesting to download the pictures from your camera and find some surprises. The following few pictures were taken by Mike.

On Saturday we were eating breakfast talking about the things that needed to happen that day, and suddenly I remembered that I had signed us up to go the the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. We immediately changed the plans for the day, got everyone ready, and went for a drive.

Kim is not happy in this picture, because when we got to the reception area she chose to fill out a comment card first instead of getting a cookie. Then Aaron announced that he needed a bathroom. And everyone knows that when a three year old says he needs a bathroom, he means NOW. We were clear on the other side of the Temple from the bathrooms, so we had to move fast and Kim was forced out of the reception tent before she could grab a cookie.

After we got home from the open house, the big boys and Mike mowed the lawn and did some yard work. Then I convinced Josh to let me cut his hair. Here is the before and after pics.

(Mike and Aaron also got haircuts.)

Not much else happening around here.

Tomorrow Ben turns 15. I'm old.

Kimi decided that today was the day -

here is the before picture-

getting it measured-

ooh, the anticipation-



the cutting begins-



she got almost 12 inches cut off-



the back view-



and finally (drum roll please)-

the after picture-

She donated it to Locks of Love. She's been wanting to get it cut for quite awhile, but wanted to donate it. She wanted to wait until Christmas, but she was really tired of it. It was a constant struggle to get her to brush it or wash it. I'm really proud of her for wanting to help someone that's not as blessed as she is.

************

In other news -

Yesterday was Emma's 8th birthday. Here are some pics of the event.

This is how she came downstairs first thing in the morning-

Here's the big blow-

She received a new set of scriptures, a custom-made one-of-a-kind scripture
bag, some marking pencils, a new Barbie doll, and a funky night light.

She is sure a cute, special girl and we love having her as part of the family.

*************

This is just a cute picture I thought I would share. This past week has been a bit of a trial with him. He learned how to climb and how to scoot chairs. It's really a tragic combination - for him, but mostly for us. It's really hard to be angry with him when he looks at you with this face-

Have a Fabulous Day!

I, Michelle, do solemnly swear that what you are

about to read is accurate and truthful.

(it really is!)

• 2 bulb syringes
• 2 bottles of hand sanitizer
• 5 notebooks
• 3 granola bars
• 2 packs of peanuts
• 1 small bag of dark chocolate M&Ms
• Altoids
• 2 1/2 rolls of Necco wafers
• 1 cherry Jolly Rancher
• 11 sugar free wint-o-green Life Savers
• 7 dum-dum suckers
• 1 green Ace bandage
• 2 rolls of diaper disposal bags
• 1 small bottle of rubbing alcohol
• baby Tylenol
• my wallet
• tweezers
• nail clippers
• 3 newborn hats
• 1 1/2 pair baby booties
• 2 measuring tapes
• 1 camera
• 1 baby spoon
• 2 AA batteries
• 1 anniversary card with the check still in it - sorry Mom
• 2 burp cloths
• 1 small bottle of lotion
• 4 tubes of lip ointment
• 1 large tube of A&D ointment
• 8 shopping lists
• 1 vial of prescription eye drops for a newborn
• 2 old binkies
• 1 cerulean crayon
• 9 pens - they all work
• 1 green marker
• 1 green highlighter
• 1 pair of sunglasses
• 5 packages of tissues
• 1 straw
• 1 small package of cotton swabs
• 16 pass along cards for Sara and Isaac
• 1 6-page research paper about Raynaud's phenomenon from the Internet
• 3 immunization records
• a copy of the talk "Happiness, Your Heritage" by Pres. Uchtdorf from conference-October 2008
• 1 report card
• 1 prescription that can no longer be filled
• 2 programs from the moving replica of the Vietnam Memorial
• 3 paint chips
• 4 patterns
• 6 small flashlights
• 2 lists of library books I would like to read someday
• 30 receipts
• 3 coupons
• 17 napkins from various fast food places
• 11 wadded up tissues
• 12 SpongeBob stickers
• 1 package of wipes
• 4 size four diapers
• 1 quarter
• 1 penny
• 1 nickle
• 1 pair of scissors
• 1 green calculator
• 1 mp3 player
• 1 "I Voted" sticker
• 1 letter opener

These are the things that I have been lugging around with me for who knows how long. I cleaned out the diaper bag today.

It feels so good!

Guess what we were doing 17 years ago?

BEST day of my life! BEST decision I've ever made!

If you love food, or looking at food, or reading about food,

You MUST go here-

http://conversationswithacupcake.blogspot.com/

(but only if you don't mind being instantly and ravenously hungry.)

Here are some of the pictures refered to in the post below-

Have a good one!

I was checking out some blogs this morning. I read Sara and Isaac's blog. She was saying how lucky she is - her great, talented, handsome husband - her perfect (so far) baby - and I had to agree. Then I got thinking, and I decided that she isn't lucky. She is blessed. I don't believe in luck, except in the lottery. I believe you work for what you get, and if you work hard enough or well enough, you are blessed with things you can't work for or things that Heavenly Father thinks you deserve, even if you don't think you need them or deserve them.

I am blessed. I don't know why, but I am. I have a super terrific husband that works hard at a job that he hates, so that we can have the things we need. I get to stay home and try to take care of things here. I totally get that that is a HUGE blessing. Not everyone gets to do that. Very few people get to do that. A lot of women have to go to work everyday, somewhere outside of their homes, and put their kids in daycare. Someone else gets to spend more time with their kids than they do. Most of my kids are in school all day, so others get to spend more time with them than I do, but when they were little, I got to spend all day with them. I am so grateful for a husband that thinks that is a priority and makes that happen.

I am blessed to live in a country where I have the choices that I do. I'm glad that I can choose for myself and live how and where I want. I'm grateful that I was born into a family that already knew about the Gospel and had been sealed together. Out of the billions of people who have lived on this earth, why am I blessed enough to live now, here, with the Gospel already in my life? I don't even have to go find it. It's always been there, and I've always known it is true. What are the odds?

There are lots of things about my life that I wish were different, but I realize that they are my challenges to deal with, and I know that there is something for me to learn in each of them. Not to say that I don't wish that someone could just open up my head and pour in the knowledge without going through the trials, but that's how we learn.

I love my house (although we are changing some things about it for the better), I love my neighborhood, and I love my ward. I have the best calling ever, for me anyway. I am the Primary Secretary. It's all about numbers and files, and ideas and organizing lists. Perfect for me. Those are things I love, and things I'm good at.

I've been doing my project 365 (for a whole year you take at least one picture a day and write a sentence or two about it) faithfully. I just got a bunch of pictures yesterday in the mail (I signed up at Shutterfly and they gave me 25 free prints) and they reminded me of what a great family I have. They also reminded me of some of my talents. I'm grateful for that. Some days I NEED those gentle reminders.

Enough rambling on. I have things to do. Want a list?

wash walls so we can paint, laundry, clean the kitchen, clean both bathrooms, change some diapers, fix lunch, re-hang a towel rack in the kids bathroom, put up insulation in the basement, fold the laundry, put the boys for naps, vacuum the whole house, figure out something for dinner, clean out the spice cabinet, clean the fridge, etc., etc., etc.

Have a great day!

Here is a quick update of our lives over the past month-

Sorry we couldn't attend the baby shower at Keri's house (due to illness), but here is the outfit that Emma was planning to wear. She spent some serious time picking it out, and I didn't want you to miss the experience.

This is one of Andrew's favorite places to be lately. I have no idea why.

We bought three flats of strawberries for a pretty good deal, so we spent many hours cutting them up and making strawberry jam.

Emma found a new little friend in our backyard and named him (or her maybe) Edward. Hmm, that's Ben's middle name. I wonder if there would be any connection there.

I got to spend a little time at my Mom's house visiting last week. I took down the Mother's Day card I made for her to go with the new oven we all pitched in to get her. The one she has is decent, but only two of the burners were working and they were the ones that are inconvenient to work with.



We've had lots of peek-a-boo. It's Andrew's favorite thing to do.




Mike hired the kids to de-weed the backyard. They all wrote out bids of what they would do the job for then Mike wrote out a contract with each of them. They all worked really hard and were super excited when pay day came. Of course they all had the money spent before they got it.

Mike has been working hard on the basement. This past week he got up the courage to make a hole in our foundation so he could do the plumbing for the bathroom. He whacked away at it for a few days then broke down and did it the man's way. He rented a jackhammer. The whole house shook when he was using it, but the hole is done and he can move on with the plumbing.

On Mother's Day, Mike made a cake and we drove up to his parent's house to give them some of it with a card. We didn't stay because Mike's Dad has bronchitis, but it was good to see them.

Yesterday was Kimi's tenth birthday. I can't believe how grown up she is getting. We are so glad to have her in our family. She is a great helper and a hard worker. I never have to tell her to get on the homework. She is the one that comes home and does it until it's done. She gets good grades and she asks for books for her presents. What more could a parent ask for?

We Love You, Kimi!!!

In the past month, we have also each had a turn being sick. We took Andrew to the doctor because he wasn't eating or drinking anything, and when we did manage to get something into him, he would throw it up. The doctor told me that if he didn't have three wet diapers in the next 24 hours (his diapers had barely been damp for three days, and he had diarrhea) he would have to go into the hospital. Well, he started doing much better and he didn't have to be hospitalized. Thank goodness!

Mike's company got bought by another company. The new company (or maybe I should say - some of the people in the new company, mainly his new supervisor) is not very willing to recognize what a valuable employee Mike is and they have lowered his status (no longer a branch manager, now classified as a salesperson) and cut his pay by thirty percent. They have put him on a probation period and if his branch doesn't prove themselves in that time, they will close the branch. Needless to say, Mike is working twice as hard for less money, and is looking for a new job. Prayers would be appreciated.

So, I guess that this update would kindof explain why I have been having some problems this past month. I didn't realize until just now that so much had happened. I guess that's what happens when you're not paying attention. Life goes on.