Summer fun memories

I have had a hard time keeping up with our blog.  I enjoy doing it but have struggled finding the time to sit down and actually do it.  I know it is strange I am posting about a summer activity in the beginning of December but my Niece reminded me that I still hadn't posted about the time we went to Kennecott and spiderman park.  I was like "WHAT"?!  How can or could I forget to post about that, we all had a great time and it was all free. 

 

Check out the size of this wheel from one of the big huge dump trucks on display at Kennecott, Rio Tinto.  The trucks are the size of a house!! 

 

 

After Kennecott we went to what we call "Spiderman Park"  it is in a lovely park in Daybreak and is a lot of fun.  It has a small man made lake that is beautiful with lots of cute ducks.  Maybe next time we will bring our swimsuits and maybe possibly our paddle boat.  It would also be fun to bring a picnic lunch. 

They had a great time spinning around this machine, I think it was their favorite.  Especially having big strong hubby pushing it!  Hold on tight!!  I love their smiles!

 

Katelyn relaxing and taking a nap!



 

Brittany chillin' and looking "oh so cool".

 

Garret says "this park is awesome"!  Madison says "it's fun"!  Katelyn says "it's a great place to spend with the family"!  Brittany says "it is adventurous"!  Dad says "there are lots of webs"! 

Mom says "Lets go again"!

 

Thanks Brittany for reminding me that I needed to post about are awesome, fun, adventurous time at Kennecott and the Spiderman park!  =)

Fall Fun

Fall is fun and my absolute favorite season!   This time of year makes me happy and here are some of the reasons why.

COOLER WEATHER
I love the cooler temperatures in the fall.  It makes a days visit at the zoo so enjoyable when your not breaking out in a sweat because of the hot summer sun.  65-70 degree weather is a great temperature to enjoy a walk around the zoo.

 The baby giraffe was our favorite!

DINNER IN A PUMKIN
Our family has a tradition of eating dinner in a pumpkin every fall.  Yummy!

CARVING PUMPKINS
We love to carve pumkins!  My husband has a thing with puking pumpkins. 

ROASTED PUMPKIN SEEDS
Gotta loves those roasted pumpkin seeds in the fall.

TRICK OR TREATING
Dressing up in costumes and trick or treating is one of my kids favorite fall activities.

Oh yeah...so cool!



We are looking forward to Thanksgiving!! What is better then food AND spending time with your family in the fall?
We are having Thanksgiving here at our house with the Pearson's. I look forward to the food, great company and decorating the tables to make it look festive. My friend Shannon helped me make some cute placecards today for the thanksgiving feast. I will take pictures and post when the day arrives.
I LOVE FALL!!



 

I am getting new couches!!  Jeff bought the couches we have now before we were married....about 15 years ago.  They have been great couches but when your Dad comes over to visit and he would rather sit in your hard kitchen chairs because they're more comfortable, you know you have a problem or in other words, the couches have a problem.  Great excuse to get new couches, but not the whole reason.  My husband decided after having the couches for 15 years his wife deserved new couches. (Love him) Which brings me to my latest project.  I have been wanting to paint an old end table in our living room but couldn't decide what color to paint it.  Well, we bought some new pillows to go with the couches and there my dear family/friends is where I found my answer.

This is a picture of the table before the make over.

I do not like to sand so I applied two coats of this before I painted.  I am not a patient person so waiting for this to dry 24 hours between coats drives me crazy but gives the best results.

 

 

After I applied to coats of paint I attempted to do an antiquing glaze.  It is not perfect, but hey practice makes perfect.  Right?  Who knows?  It may drive me crazy and this piece of furniture may end up back in the garage at a 2nd attempt to make perfect.  OH but all that work!!

 

 

A photo shot of the pillow that will sit on my new couches.  This is the pillow that inspired me to paint he table the color that I did.  I love this color with brown and brown is the color of our new couches.  :D

 

 

 

I am so pleased with how hard my children work in school.  There are times when I wish they were as good for me as they are for their teachers.  Overall they are good kids and I am lucky to have them.  Maddy and Garret both recieved principle pride awards at their school this month.  I feel I need to recognize my childrens great accomplishments more often and let them know how much I love them.  They are wonderful!!

 

Their teachers both had great things to say about them.  It is hard to read what they said on their awards.  Garrets award says.... he recieved this award for "his amazing listening skills!  garret always listens to and follows directions the very first time, setting a great example for his classmates.  He is a wonderful helper to our substitute, Mrs. Thomas, and we are so glad he is in our class!"

Madison recieved this award for "Always being ready to learn, following directions, showing respect to her teacher and classmates, and helping others.  Maddy is a joy and her maturity and personality make teaching fun and easier."

Way to go Garret and Maddy!!  Stay tuned for upcoming awards Katelyn may recieve....she is an amazing older sister who has set such a great example in doing well in school for her two younger siblings.

This past weekend we went to Thanksgiving Point Gardens.  It was BEAUTIFUL!!  I can't believe we have lived in Utah all these years and I have missed out on it until recently.  It was fun, relaxing and a great thing to do with our family.  We decided it is something we will have to do again.  I would love to take my Parents there.  They even rent golf carts if you prefer to ride rather then walk.  If you love nature, plants and trees you will love Thanksgiving Point Gardens.

 

They have 15 themed gardens.  This was the Italian Garden.

 

 

This was the Koi View Pier.  The kids had a blast watching these swarms of fish flop on each other to get to the food they were feeding them.

 

 

They had an area of statues of Christ life.  I loved this spot.

 

 

The fragrance garden.

 

We wish we would have had more time in the gardens but before we went to the gardens we checked out the Childrens muesum at the gateway.

Garrets favorite spot was the rock climbing wall.

Maddy loved being on TV.

Katelyn also liked being on TV.

 

It was a fun day!!  Next time we will plan more time at Thanksgiving Gardens.  Jeff really liked the Gardens...... the Children's Museum not so much.

 

I love the little notes Garret writes to his Dad.  They make me smile and are so sweet!  This is one he gave to his Dad along with a dollar bill.....he thinks his Dad is poor and wanted to help him out.  :)

Back to School

Summer vacation ended today.  I got a few photo's of my kids before they were out the door.  Time flies when your a mom sending your kids off to school!  When I was their age it seemed like the days dragged.  It makes me want to cherish the days I have with them before they are out the door to missions/college.  I do have to admit it was kind of nice not hearing the fighting and complaining though while they were at school.

 

Katelyn left for school before I could get a picture of all 3 of them together. 
 

After school was out we got to spend the rest of the day having some fun at "This is the place State Park" for Jeff's company party.  I wish I would have remembered to get my camara out earlier to get some more pictures but hey I got it out for a few and that is way good for me.  :)

Garret had fun riding the ponies.

face painting

We ate a ton of food and had a ton of fun.  I wish we would have had more time to check out more things at the park.  Next year we will have to go again when we can have a whole day to enjoy it.

 

Summers out bbq

School starts back up this week.  I wanted to have a summers out bbq with the family.  Of course its always fun to have friends and family over but then I stress WAY too much getting things ready.  After its all said and done I am always happy I did it.  We had my Mom and dad and a few of my brothers and sisters and their cute families over....unfortunately all could not make it.  What's a bbq without good old hamburgers off the grill?  We made "French onion burger of wonder" from Jamie Cooks It Up!  They were pretty tasty but we had a load of oinions left over.  After the good food and full stomachs we embarked down to my wonderful unfinished basement and played "minute to win it".  We had a great time with plenty of laughs.

Katelyn and her VERY tall cousin Branden playing "face the cookie" they had to get an oreo cookie from their foreheads to their mouths without touching the cookie or dropping it in under a minute.  Brittany in the background..... my cell phone flash messed up her beautiful eyes.


Amy and my dear Mom.

"Nose Dive" both Jeff's trying to transfer cotton balls from the table to a
paper plate with vaseline on the tips of their nose.

Jeff was the grand champion of "minute to win it".  He is holding up our game tracker with the points to prove it.  My niece Brittany did the sign for us....I love her writing.....she is talented!!!  This picture makes me want to finish our basment but I do have to say I didn't worry so much about things getting dropped on the carpet and staining it.....as you can see cement floors are very sturdy.

Necklace Holder

Looking for a way to organize those lovely necklaces you don't have a place for?  I have a solution.  A short curtain rod and some shower curtain hooks.   Now I have a well organized way to hang and easily access my necklaces.   It feels so good to be a little more organized! 

Before..... I hung my necklaces on this lamp.  Not a pretty sight.

After....Now I can stand back and smile.

A special thanks to my husband who had the patience to put the rod up for me.... after not having success the first time.... which caused a trip to home depot. 

Thanks Shannon for this brilliant idea and solution to my problem!

 Thank you my dear dear friend Jill for the gift card for my birthday so I can have a nice place to hang my necklaces!

  What would I do without all my family and friends!!

  I love you all!! 

 I found this old picture that my friend Jill and I took in a photo booth years ago.  Jill and I have been friends since grade school, served missions together, were roomates in college, and lived within a couple of miles of each other raising our families until a few years ago..... when we both moved away.  This picture brought back so many memories I just had to post!  :) 

Dumpster Diving

Awhile ago my friend Shannon and I went dumpster diving.  I have to admit it was my first time dumpster diving and I was thinking Shannon was a bit nuts.  Don't ever underestimate my dear friend Shannon we found some headboards that were headed to the dump and turned them into a lovely bench for my deck.

Shannon used her expertise with the saw and cut one of the headboards in half and took a few inches off the bottom legs.

We then screwed the sides and back together along with some 2X4's.

It only took us 1-2 hours to put this bench together.  Shannon and I were very pleased on how it came together.  I decided I wanted to paint the bench red to match my other patio furniture.  I recieved some great birthday presents for my 40th birthday, a new electric sander, some red paint and a paint sprayer to help finish the job.

Here is my red bench.... along with the benches we made out of old pallets.  I am starting to wonder if my husband wants me to break out my new paint sprayer and paint the pallets red.  He keeps asking me if I am going to paint the pallet benches.  Haha  I'M thinking I need to put the paint sprayer to use on a new coat of stain for our deck.  :)