They're here!!!

These are some happy kids!!! Der and I told them we would go get their chicks on Saturday but we surprised them today. The kids were so excited!!!

Everybody got to choose their chick and then name her.

Rosalee (Becky's)

Betty (Derek's)

Stacy

Chickadee

Roxanne

Ellie

Welcome to the family! Bring on the eggs (in 4-6 months)!!

Scrambled or Fried?

I know it is so "Little House on the Prairie-ish" but guess what is coming to our house? CHICKENS!! Well chicks, actually. We will be picking them up in the next day or so, and construction on the hen house and chicken run will begin tomorrow!! I hope to have some cute pictures of our six baby chicks as soon as we get them. Can anyone say FARM FRESH EGGS? We WILL NOT be getting a rooster. We have to draw the line somewhere!

Preaching to the Choir

Remember several posts ago I mentioned being in a church funk? Nothing like March Madness to take care of that one. March Madness is when the seminary kids read the BoM cover to cover in the month. It equates to 17 pages a day. Der and I decided to read along as support and motivation for Nat. Well I just reached 3 Nephi. This has been an awesome experience. It's been so fun to be reading in the same chapters as Der. Discussions with he and Nat have been special treats. They truly inspire me to do better and be better. My favorite passages are with Alma and the sons of Mosiah, but who can't get excited about Captain Moroni's epistle? Der likened it unto William Wallace! So true!! The Chapters with Nephi and Lehi (Helaman's sons) are so, so sad! This has been so cool!! Moms can do Personal Progress now. I'm hoping to earn my medallion for the first time along with our girls. This will go towards that goal!! So, when you're in a funk . . . read your way out. It works.

Hansen's and Sweet's

I had a ball at Laura's shower Saturday. I wonder if she knows that she is getting the most awesome family for in-laws!!! The Hansen ladies (including Sam haha) are the most fun and loving folks around!!! I was a bratty pain in the butt and this family just always loved me. We missed Natalie at the shower. I'm excited to see her at the reception!

Back: Laurel, ME, Carrie (Sam's wife), Linda, Reese, Angie, Laura (Reese's Fiance), Ginger

Front: Sam, Lindsey

The Hansen's lived next door and the Sweets were across the street. We had a fairy tale childhood!! I got the experience of a large family thanks to these great people. I feel like we have created a "Hansen Environment" with our kids. At least I sure hope so. I feel like summer day's were spent playing from dawn to dusk at one of our houses. I had the swing set and sandbox, Hansen's had the playhouse and Salem's Lot, and Sweets had the golden treasure of a junk pile with everything you would ever need to let your imagination take over for hours. We always had a great fort under construction at Sam's.

Back: Laurel, ME, Carrie, Linda, Reese, Angie, Ginger

Front: Sam, Lindsey(holding her baby girl)

Angie and her family have become such dear friends to our family. Our kids are all the same age and we love getting together when schedule allow!

We joked Saturday that Linda actually had 10 kids. Oldest to youngest it was Angie, Audrey, Ryan, ME, Natalie, Sam, Ginger, Laurel, Lindsey, Reese. They said I was like a sister and Sam was like a brother AND a sister hahahahaha!!

Brandon and I were laughing about fighting with the Dobson's just last night. Good times!

Throw in our other great neighbors the Berry's, the Hill's, and poor MonkeyHead and it was a magnificent childhood full of giant sleepouts and many other awesome memories. It chokes me up as my mind is flooded with memories!! I love you guys!!

Rocket Man

The rocket has arrived!! Danny and Lainee!

Interior. Behind the kids are a few old keyboards, an old desk phone, and my personal favorite A PLUNGER JOYSTICK. Grandma made head communicators out of head bands, pipe cleaners, and a battery powered visor light. There are battery powered dome lights in the ceiling, and a locking escape hatch in the nose. After about six weeks the major construction was complete. Updates are ongoing. I'm sure several cans of spray paint will be purchased as soon as it gets a bit warmer.

This project was inspired by Brady and assembled by Brady, Grandma, Grandpa, Der, and grandma's neighbors Kenny and Gayle. To infinity and beyond!!

A bit o' begging

My nephew Dixon has created a survey for research on his science fair project. It takes less than two minutes. Go to http://dixonmusicsurvey.blogspot.com Feel free to pass this info on so he can get a ton of feedback! Thanks Becky

Man's Best Friend

Well the time came yesterday that all were agreed and we had Kramer put to sleep. We ran up to my folks place in the afternoon to give some hugs and loves to our great dog. My mom gave him to my dad for Christmas in 1998. He came to live with us in Spring of 2007. Last month we took him back to my folks to live because the stairs in our multi-level home were too hard for him and his ruptured discs.

Kramer has been a great dog! We're sad to be without him, but we are SO glad that he is done hurting with every step!Good Boy!

Top O' The Mornin'

Spirit Week at BJH!

Mismatch Day

Nerd Day

Retro Day

Like doesn't she look like totally cute?

Yes! This is HER hair! Yes! They are snakeskine pants! BFF Bekah with Nat.

Weekend Wrap-up

We had a great weekend. Friday night Der and I went out to dinner at good ol' El Habanero (YUM!) Then we went for a ride and up to Walmart to buy fabric for two cute baby quilt gifts. Nothing exciting but always fun and enjoyable to be together. Saturday I got to accompany Natalie and all the school play cast (along with Mrs. Parker and her husband) to see "Twilight: I was a teenage Vampire" put on by Desert Star Playhouse. Hopefully by now you all know that I think the whole Twilight series is seriously GAY!!! Yes. G...A...Y Gay! So I LOVED watching it be made fun of on stage!! Don't worry, Team Edward and Team Jacob were well represented and also enjoyed the show! By the afternoon I was feeling pretty poor so I had a fairly easy night. Der had his date with Danny (2 kids down, 2 to go) and they had a great time at Taco Bell (Danny's pick) and Hollywood Connection for Miniature Golf. Nat spent the evening at a church Dance. She came home seeing stars thanks to a new hottie from Taylorsville that she got to swing dance with several times! Lol and Bones were in pure bliss with Pirates 3. By Sunday 4 out of 6 of us were working on pretty good colds. So we stayed home from church. I slept until 12:30! Holy cow that felt good! We just layed around and the kids did homework. After dinner every one of us helped tie one of the quilts. It was so cute. The kids did awesome. Bones would never admit this but he was having a dang good time. Once everyone was in bed except Nat (still doing homework) I tied the other one! Woo-hoo! It's March madness and Der and I are reading the BoM along with Nat. This has been awesome! I hate to admit this, but the last time I read the BoM cover to cover was during March madness as a seminary student. I really enjoy topic study and that is what I usually do. Well, this has been a wonderful experience. I'm, getting more out of it that I ever have. It's so fun to discuss what we're reading, especially with Nat. Last week was Spirit Week at BJH. Our daughters were looking very cute as sports fans, nerds, mismatched girls, and an 80's pop and 80's rocker chick. Pictures will be coming as soon as I figure out my new camera. Oh yeah, we got a great new camera off KSL for a song!!! Things I'm looking forward too: I get to watch Lainee and Syd this Wednesday I'm having lunch with old friend Becky B. on Thursday. Book club is on Thursday too! I get to see the Hansen gals on Saturday (hopefully Sam and Carrie too.) The Bezzants are coming on Sunday! Life is great!

Daily Danny

In the van after school Danny reaches in his back pack and pulls out an envelope. D: I can't wait to read my note from Sara. He tears into the envelope and pulls out a folded paper. He opens it up and looks at it and makes a confused face. D: I love you?!? He's a little exasperated! Sara had drawn a big heart and written I love you inside it. M: Oh Danny she must think you are very kind to make you such a nice note. D: No. She thinks I'm hot! He later informed Brady that when Sara sits on the rug at school her bum crack comes out and it's gross (no . . . it doesn't merely show, it comes out! haha!) La, you better find some double stick tape or something cuz when Addie goes to preschool her bum crack might come out and scare the other kids!!

Moving Fences

My Mom has always said that being a parent is all about moving fences. It's true. For example: our young toddlers cannot leave the driveway on their little trikes. Once they graduate to bikes with training wheels we allow them to ride around our cul de sac on the sidewalk. Once the training wheels come off they may ride in the street of the cul de sac. We've been moving some fences lately. . . Lolly can now see some approved PG13 movies. Natalie can now just go to bed when she wants (which is usually around 10 or 10:30. She is still more responsible than most adults. It's hard at times to have a child that is more mature, intelligent, spiritual, and responsible than her mother. I'm still pretty sure that I could take her in an indian leg wrestle.) Nat and Lolly invited everyone they knew to go swimming on Friday and I dropped them off at the pool and picked them up three hours later (a first for sure.) Derek took Bones on a date Saturday night to have "THE TALK." My friend Angie has a very cute blog post about this recent event at her house. Check out "Adventures of the White Family" over on my list to read her account. So Bones has been asking some questions about things he's heard from boys at school. It was either time for us to tell him OUR way or let him learn from school yard talk. Well, it has really been on his mind the last two days as he has been processing. Yesterday Der and the boys were playing "The Game of Life" and Brady still hadn't gotten a child. He casually remarks that maybe he and his wife should "get things going" with a smirk on his face. Oh yeah, and his biggest question for me when he and Der got home Saturday night was "why is it called the birds and the bees?" Why is it called "the birds and the bees?" I'm SO glad that Nat will not be 16 until October of her JUNIOR year. I am not anywhere near ready to move THAT fence. In other news. . . My Best of Buddy Holly CD arrived and I have loved every minute of it!!!