Arrow Of Light

Proud to announce that Jarom earned his Arrow Of Light Award as a Cub Scout! We are so proud of him for sticking to it and working hard. This award is equivalent to an Eagle Award in the Boy Scouts. In May, Jarom will be an official Boy Scout and begin his journey to become an Eagle Scout.

I was honored to have the Arrow of Light pinned on by my son.

Jarom was the only cub scout of the three, hence he still has his blue shirt on (looking kind of small on him). He received his neckerchief and was welcomed into the BSA.

The three boys being recognized, Alex Duncan, Jarom and Tyler Bake. Presented by Bro. Risinger.

Bro. Mark Lewis does this fantastic reenactment of the story of the Native American named Arrow of Light. Excellent night of honor and service. Great job Jarom!!

Birthday Boy Turns 4!

A big happy boy today! He has been asking for days when it is his birthday...and to say "on Monday"...well that means nothing to him. So finally his big day has come and he can officially hold up those 4 fingers with pride. Happy Birthday to my cute, handsome, big boy!

Friday Ammon had gotten a small package in the mail from Daddy. He was so excited, first of all to get something in the mail that is for him, but secondly that it meant his birthday was that much closer. I was trying to make him wait to open it, but as you can see, he was so curious he got the flashlight out and tried to get a peek inside. He carried that box everywhere...outside, to quiet time and even put it next to the shower when he jumped in. So I only made him wait til the next morning to open it. He loved it. Thanks daddy.



At church, Ammon was excited to know they were going to sing to him in Primary. Being a big Sunbeam, he is learning how fun it is to grow up. They sang to him and gave him a gumball treat. Let's just say they didn't make it home, he ate them all on the way home...



Monday morning Ammon was being bashful...

But he was a big boy and blew out all of his candles.


Later that day we went to Kroger and let him pick out his balloon and open his presents. He loves this train 'ding ding' as he calls it. He takes it with him everywhere. It blinks and the arm goes up and down. Best gift ever! For dinner we went to Steve B's pizza buffet. He only cares about the games and finding tokens on the floors...but he had fun none the less. Later this week we will make a train cake and do a park day with some friends.

Federation Music Festival

This past Saturday was a big day. With Trent already out of town for the past few weeks, I've come to the harsh reality that I'm the only taxi driver to get these kids around to their activities and then if I can...get to my own activities. I was asked to help on the food committee for the Stk Relief Society Women's Conference. This meant some setting up the days before and also making chicken salad mix for the sandwiches...no problem. But I had to be to the Fayette Bldg by 7am Saturday and the kids had a music festival in PTC soon after the conference... Let's just say with the help of Kristin taking Ammon after the conference (THANK YOU!) I was able to attend and the kids were good in a nearby classroom during it...thank you DVD's.

Afterwards, I took the kids for a quick bite and off to the Lutheran Church where the festival was. Tarin and Rae loved the stained glass window. This is a once a year thing where the kids have to memorize 2 piano pieces and perform in front of a judge.



They are critiqued and rated. All 3 were given a superior rating. Great job to them. I am so proud. I think my favorite part was not only did I get to sit in with a judge for an hour as a moderator and hear such talent from many other children, but I got to hear my own kids talk about the amazing talent they saw from other kids their own age and older. I think I saw sparks in their eyes of what they could one day become.

Afterwards...

Pajama Day at Brusters!! Oh yeah, couldn't pass this up...

I sort of used this to my advantage. You know...if you are good we will go get some ice cream...well, let's be honest, I dressed up too. I wanted some...a free waffle cone of ice cream. Wonderful delight! Since it was over 80 degrees, it did melt quickly, so we all needed a change of clothes afterwards, but it was well worth it!!

Leaving A Mark

I have been reminiscing in my mind about all the wonderful things here in GA. I will miss so many things about this place. At least I know we have made our mark. Here are our names in 'brick' at the local YMCA. We have been members here over a decade...sad to terminate our membership, since there isn't one out in Utah. Hopefully these bricks will be here for many years...



Also, I'm proud to say I was a GA voter. But come November I will be a Utah voter...

Pintrest...I know I know...

Yes, I got myself onto pintrest and love it! I have been a good girl and I haven't spent too many days in a row checking it, but I have found some very useful things. First off I found some fun ideas for St. Patrick's day. I'm not a huge holiday celebrator except the big ones of course, and it was my turn for Sunshine School with Ammon's play group. I was in charge of this holiday and I learned how people make traps for leprechauns. Nope, never done it or heard of it...I know where have I been, right? This was all kind of new to me...anyway so I did this and made bags for each of the kids and filled it with candies of gold (chocolate is always golden if you ask me). I had some gold glitter glue and marked each of the bags. I think I had more fun then the kids...

Ammon, Zaden, Gideon, Kyle and Jackson

Next, I had found these mini strawberry cheesecakes! Yummy and so easy! I will spare you the other many many things I have come across, but this was a lot of fun. Happy Pinteresting!

Pride & Prejudice

Sunday afternoon, I decided to break out the most awesome classic ever! It was later in the evening, so we had to finish over a course of several nights afterward...one of those nights I decided to break out the mud mask. It was a lot of fun.

I think Rian really liked the movie. One day, I know she will love it just as much as I. We may argue like sisters, but we also have some great moments together!

not the best pic, but hey, I will take it...

1/2 Marathon -- Round 2

I did it! I'm a crazy person, but I set out to do it, and I did it! I was on the fence because of the whole moving out of state stuff, but I have to admit, Carrie Brown, you are my hero. My sis-in-law is a machine. She didn't know this, but seeing her sign up for a race that meant challenging her world, I knew I could do it too. I'm proud of her and proud of myself for finishing something I started out to do. No regrets!



Because I enjoyed the challenge, I 'dragged' my good friend Melissa to feel the self high this experience can bring! She is truly an amazing person, and I saw all my 'first timer' concerns arise in her and I knew I could be there to help her know...she can do it! We didn't really train together or even run together on race day...only the first mile or so...but to know someone is there with you and wants to do this really makes it that much more fun! I was proud of her for sticking to her pace and blowing her goal time out of the water! I wish I could pack her in my bags and bring her with me to Utah. It was time well spent together. Love you Mel!

The course was just as I remembered it 2 yrs before...pink is the half course. But this year was a bit more...shall we say eventful?! The week before I was watching the weather and knew there were chance of severe weather for that day. Well, night before there were tornado warnings and an emergency broadcast but we stayed positive. 5am at wake up, the weather was still ominous with 71 degrees and thick rain clouds, perfect tornado weather, but we were ready! 7am at the starting line it started to rain right as the cannon went off. What a start! For the first 2 miles it rained pretty steady. Down to a drizzle we hear sirens going off...others kind of looked around and shrugged, we all just kept on going. Finally at mile 4-5 the sirens went off and it was just off and on rain from then on.

My time was a little disappointed. I think I matched my initial time from 2 yrs ago. I'm still waiting for the times to be posted. I hope I beat it even if it was by a few seconds...Because I was in so much pain this go around, the last mile I literally forced myself to run and not stop and finished strong. 2:16 is haunting me...

I really think I will do another race. I love the challenge in the training and the joy in the accomplishment.

It Was Time...

Our little girl came to us in August 2011. She was so small and adorable.


She melted our hearts with her big brown puppy eyes, long floppy ears and strong puppy paws. She truly was a new adventure.

We learned so much from Charlie. She was such a joy to have.

Sad to say that Charlie has found another home. She is a sweetie and loved by all of us, but she has been very difficult for me to manage with trying to sell a house and with images of moving cross country into unfamiliar territory. Obviously there is more to the story, but I want to keep this simple and sweet.

Feeling guilty for several weeks, I decided I need to just do what will save my sanity, so we listed her on Craigslist. Right away several interests, but sadly, people are just unreliable. No shows without any followup. We were so sad. Finally we found someone that said she would take great care of her. We took her over with all the kids and said our good-byes. I still wasn't too sure about this lady since my heart was with Charlie, but I needed to let go.

This morning was tough, no sound of a jingling collar, or claws tapping across the hard wood floors or little puppy eyes peering over the couch arm. Many tears have been shed and we all feel like the house is so much emptier.

The kids have so many fond memories of her her cute wrinkled forehead...

her crazy, fun energy...

her love and excitement when we return home...

But most of all we loved her for her soft, sweet heart.