Fall Break

Last weekend was Fall Break for the kids. It was a very long weekend as they had both Thursday and Friday off of school. Thursday was chore day so we could have fun on the other days of vacation, plus, I had a huge migraine and did not want to do much.

Friday we got to have our friend's three kids overnight. We decided to take the whole gaggle of kids bowling. We went to Fat Cats, a local bowling and pizza place. The kids had a great time and the scores were pretty even. Matt did not win the first round - but he would tell you that you should subtract some points from the kids that used bumpers. Chloe was an adult and went bumper-less, so her score was not quite as high as the others, but she got better as time went on. Everyone got at least one strike, and most of them got more than one.

Livi, who is three, loved bowling and stayed engaged in the activity for almost the entire two hours! When she first got her shoes, she said that she couldn't wait to show them to her Mom. That could have been a problem, but we got them off her and back to the desk.

The boys had a blast dancing and jumping around to the music. About half-way through, the aisles went dark and they turned on the glow lights, which the boys liked even more. The balls kind of glowed and the shoes glowed - it was pretty cool.

We played a second round and Matt was awesome - through 6 frames (we ran out of time to finish) he scored a 111! He did choke on his chance for a turkey and I made fun of him. I almost thought I saw a tear, but he quickly wiped it away. Needless to say, if I still bowled, I would have crushed them all! You can see bowling pictures below.

On the drive home we were rocking out to the radio and Soul Sister (by Train) came on. This is Livi's favorite song, and she sang as much as she could. Afterwards, she asked for Soul Sister to be played again, so we pulled out Chloe's iPod and plugged it into the car. As Soul Sister came back on, Josh, Matt, and Olivia started a trio of singers, until Livi stopped them and said that Matt should not sing anymore (I was very grateful that I was not the one that had to tell Matt to stop). I restarted the song and this time Matt was quiet as Livi and Josh sang almost the whole song together. Very cute!

After that long Friday (the kids got to bed pretty late) we had a Saturday family pizza and movie night. It was a great weekend - but I was still happy to send the kids back to school this morning.

Jordan and Tanner waiting for their turn to bowl.
Jordan and Josh dancing to the music.
Livi actually got a strike on this turn.

Livi really liked the shoes. I thought there would be a problem getting them back.

My World Is Nuts

Matt was printing out some of his Prague pictures for my scrapbooking project, and, as Matt usually does, he decided to do something different while I was in the middle of a task. As Matt printed out the above photograph he also translated what the sign said - especially the phrase below my name. Matt was all full of chuckles as the translation came back as "World Is Nuts." He said that fit me perfectly.

General Conferance!!! :)

I know it's a little late and that my mom already blogged about it but I really wanted to blog about it and I'm sure I have some different stuff then my mom. So.... General Conference!! It was last Saturday and Sunday and was totally amazing!!!! The Saturday morning Session was awesome! My favorite talks from that session were Jeffery R. Hollands and Dieter F. Uchtdorfs. Jeffery R. Hollands talk was about Individual Worth and kindness. It was very good. Dieter F. Uchtdorfs was about focusing on the necessities in your life and mastering the fundamentals. This one really spoke to me because I have been very much off the wagon for practicing the violin which I feel should be a necessity in my life.
My favorite talk in the second session was Robert D. Hales. He talked about agency. I loved some of the quotes he had in his talk like "If we make the same choice to follow Christ and Heavenly Father here, like we did in Heaven, we will be able to return to him." and also " Returning to the Lord isn't easy, but it's worth it."
In the third session my favorite talks were by Henry B. Eyring, Boyd K. Packer, and Thomas S. Monsan. Henry B. Eyring talked about trusting in the Lord and that the Lord would take care of us. Boyd K. Packer talked about being sexually clean. My favorite quote from him was "Wickedness never brings happiness.". He also said that part of repentance was forgiving yourself and that we shouldn't look back. President Monson talked about service and gratitude. My favorite quote from him was "You never now when it will be too late."
Finally, in the fourth session my favorite talks were by Per G. Malm who talked about staying in the now. My favorite quote from him was "How we choose to act and react will not only affect us but also others." I also liked Mervin B. Arnold who talked about commandments and how they keep us safe. My favorite quote from him was "The grass is never greener on the other side." (You stupid cow! :)) And last but not least I liked M. Russell Ballards talk. He talked about not getting caught in Satan's traps, that prayer could always help us, and that we should set aside all our pride.
So that's my favorite talks from conference!!!! It was amazing! Oh and I forgot to mention that we actually went to the conference center for the Sunday morning session! It has always been a huge dream of mine and was an amazing experience! I loved it! :)
Love,
Chloe

Scrapbooking

After getting 400+ photos off the digital camera of Matt & Chloe's trip to Prague from this past April, I thought I was all set to get them into the scrapbook. Turns out it's a lot harder to scrapbook a journey I did not partake in.

Needless to say, I did not get a lot accomplished during my scrappin' get together with my friend Jenny, today. I did have a blast chatting & checking out her fancy gadget (The Gypsy), which is currently on my wish list!!

Chloe did save me and helped me organize and jot down names of buildings and places her & her dad visited while on the other side of the world when she got home from school. This is what the 400+ photos now look like all organized and ready to be put into the scrapbook!

I will post pictures of my progress as I get pages finished. I am giving myself ONE WEEK to complete this project. (Maybe posting this goal on here will keep me motivated with the project ;))

Fall Sunflowers

I finished another craft today with the help of Matt. Matt gets all the credit for sewing the twine into the middle of the button on one of the sunflowers. What a HERO! I have been doing a lot of crafts lately. I buy them from Heartland Paper in kits and I finish them at the house. Usually I do not have to have Matt help, but occasionally I need him (like with the sewing). Just don't tell Matt that I actually need him, that would make his head even bigger - it barely fits through the door now.

Now that I got Matt helping with crafts, my next job is to get him to take me up in the canyons this weekend to see the leaves changing colors. I am laying down a lot of hints, I hope he picks up on them.

Here is the picture of today's craft.

Conference Weekend

It's that time of year again when we recharge our spiritual batteries by watching the semi-annual LDS General Conference. The Saturday morning and afternoon session we watched at our house. We went to dinner with the Roblyer Clan. We usually go to El Farol's but this time we tried a different Mexican place called Salsa Leedos. It wasn't bad. They seemed a little short staffed, but other than the amount of time it took to get our food, I have no complaints. The guys headed off to the Priesthood session and the ladies & munchkins headed back to play games at Grandma and Grandpa's. *Not that it's important, but I won the first game (I don't know the name of it but it's kind of like Sorry!) & I was dominating our second game, phase 10!! Yay me!!!!

The Sunday session was a new experience for our family. Our Bishop gave us tickets for the morning session, so we headed downtown to the Conference Center. The kids were so excited to be in the same room as the Prophet. And my favorite quote from Chloe this week leading up to conference, "Can you imagine the spirit in the room being with so many of our fellow saints?!?!" Such a wise girl!

Here's some pictures of us waiting for conference to start!

I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Conference, "Love is spelled T-I-M-E!" ~Dieter F. Uchtdorf

HARVEST GREETINGS

I lOvE the fall season. The trees begin to change into beautiful colors, the air is just the right crispness & did I mention the yummy chocolate chip cookies I make!!!

This is the craft I finished just in time for the season! I bought the kit from Heartland Paper and made it at home. The only difference is I did not use the dorky looking polka dot paper on the birdhouse. Other than that mine looks about the same.

I've been working on a few other crafts and I will post pictures of those in the coming days.