HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPENCER

I can't believe today my little man was born nine years ago. It seems like yesterday I had him. The weather is just like it was nine years ago, rainy and overcast. We love him so much. He brings spunk, happiness, and joy into our family. What we do without you Spencer? Since, Doug is out of town for his birthday we gave him a one gift early. Spencer loves to dance, so we got him Dance Dance Revolution Disney for the PlayStation. Here he is trying it out and just loving it. I gave him one more of his gifts this morning before his brother Hunter left for a scout camp out. It was a Lego star wars game for the PlayStation. He will get the rest of his presents tonight at his birthday party. He is having a few friends come over and spend the night. We love you Spencer. You are a good boy that wants to do what is right. You make me laugh & cry. You are truly an amazing child.

Haircut

Before and After

I finally got my haircut. My hair was down past the middle of my back. I was growing it out for locks of love, but I couldn't do it anymore. My hair is so thick and heavy it was giving me headaches almost everyday. I couldn't take it anymore, so I chopped it off and got highlights once again. Granted this is not a good picture at all actually, but it is what I have. My hair is more blond than this picture is showing. I absolutely love it. Doug likes it too.

Bowling

This is Spencer's frist time bowling ever. He did a great job and had a lot of fun. He won the first game. Hunter bowled a great game. This is Taylor's first time bowling. She bowled so good by just pushing the ball down the lane. Of course we had the bumper guards up for her. Jessica had a friend come with her and they both bowled great. You know how silly teenage girls get when they are together and there are boys around.

Start Dancing

Doug is going to be gone for Spencer's birthday this Friday, so we went bowling for his birthday last Saturday. He is always dancing around when he hears music. So I video taped him. He is to funny about it. Notice Taylor and Jessica's bowling in the background.

Valentine's Day

Every Valentine's Day I make Heart pancakes for my kids for breakfast. They are usually pink, but I did not have red food coloring this year. I thought I did, but I didn't. The day before, Taylor asked me if I was going to make heart pancakes and in response Spencer spoke out and say, "Yes, she always makes them for Valentine's Day for us." We always do a little something for our kids for valentine's. This year I bought them these solid chocolate I Love You bars. I lay them on there bed, so when they get home from school they get a special something from us. I also, made sugar cookies and put them in there school lunch with a note saying that I love them.

Day before Valentine's

Doug came home early from work on Wed. the day before Valentines. It was a nice suprise. He had Taylor make me a card, to ask me out to dinner. We went to my favorite Italian Restaurant. Doug knew we both had to be at the church building on Valentines day, and our weekend was full. So he had planned this for me. It was a wonderful suprise.

Who does Spencer look like?

He looks and acts just like his father. That makes me love him even more.

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Who does Hunter look more like?

He looks like his dad when he was that age. I love him dearly.

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Who does Taylor look like more?

Doug is always telling me that Taylor is a spitten image of me. Well he is half right.

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Who does Jessica look like?

This kind of suprised me. Everyone tells me that Jessica looks just like me when I was that age. Either way she is a beautiful girl and I love her dearly. I think she looks like me, but has her dad's talents & smarts.

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I know when I am Baptized

Taylor is singing tonight with her CTR 8 class at the Great to be Eight Fireside that I am in charge of. She was practicing and I thought I would capture it on video for grandma & grandpa. Getting her to sing in front of other people is a miracle. She loves to sing, just as long as nobody is watching her. She let me tape her so I took the opportunity when I could. She is singing When I am Baptized. It is hard to hear her, she is so quiet.

Pink Eye

Taylor stayed home from school today with Pink Eye. She is not happy about it. She loves everything about school. The schoolwork, her teacher, her friends and playing on the playground. Lucky I already have eye drops for her eye and she will be able to go back to school tomorrow. I told her she gets to stay home with mom today and help clean the house. That didn't get an grand response from her. Maybe we can fit in a little scrapbooking time today also.

Our Family Home Evening

Last night Jessica was in charge of our Family Home Evening. She chose a story out of the New Era to do her lesson on. It was about being an example. She gave Hunter the assingment to read it. He did not want to read and so Jessica told him he could sing a solo instead. I bet you can guess what Hunter did. Yep, he read the story. Next week Hunter is in charge and he told Jessica she will be singing a solo. Do you think that is going to happen? I don't think so. We all had a good time though talking about being an example. You never know who is watching you no matter where you are, or what sitiuation you are in. For example, Doug and I were in Arizona last summer for two days and ran into a man who used to be in our ward out here. There family had just moved to Arizona. Also, just a month earlier we went to our nephew's wedding in the Washington D.C. Temple, and I ran into someone who was in my ward growing up. I also shared a story with my children. When I was in High School, I was 16 years old at the time, the sister missionaries came and knocked on our door. I answered it. They were there to ask me if I would speak at Patricia's baptism, on baptism. I was shocked and floored. I did not even know this girl was taking the discussions, or was interested in the church. In fact, I really did not even know this girl. I knew her through school only. We were just acquaintances. The sister missionaries told me Patricia, her mother, and sister we going to be baptized in two weeks and Patricia wanted me to speak at her baptism. They had been going to the Spanish branch, because her mother only spoke spanish. I accepted the request, and asked the missionaries why she wanted me to give the talk, I didn't even know her that well. They said that Patricia requested that I give the talk, because I was such a good example to her. She would see me at school and wanted to have what I had. Which was the gospel. I don't remember how my talk went or much about that day, but I learned a very valuable lesson. You need to always live the gospel, because you never know who is watching. That is one of the best ways to share the gospel. I hope that my children learned something from Jessica's lesson and my story. They are good examples to me each day.

Freezer Meals

This past weekend I took the undertaking of making some freezer meals for our family. This time of year gets really busy for our family. With baseball starting and track practices & meets. Not to mention Doug traveling three times this month, twice to Arizona. There I am mixing some sloppy joe mix. All together I made 2 lasagna's, 3 meatloaves, 1 black bean stew, 2 taco soups, 2 taco meat(for tacos), 2 sloppy joes, 1 spaghetti sauce with meat, and 2 chicken pot pies. I did this all in two hours. Of course I had help from Jessica and Doug. Here is the picture of it all. I cooked up a big pot of Turkey meat and seperated it into bowls then added the rest of the ingredients according to what I was making. For example I made extra spaghetti sauce with meat to make my lasagna also, then what was left over I put into a freezer bag for spaghetti. It will sure be worth my time, when we have really busy days and all I need to do is pull something out of the freezer and let it unthaw then cook it. I will not need to prepare, but maybe a few things. Like cook noodles for the sauce, or some corn bread to go with the soups. It will be a lot healthier than running through McDonald's or Taco Bell for a last minute meal.