Tess

Meet... Tess!! She has a name! Although we did think she should be named Houdini. Tanner spent a lot of time on Monday trying to rig the gate so she couldn't escape again. ay-yi-yi. Why do we have to have a dog?? Just because she's so stinkin' cute!

Oh, funny side note... Melissa and Landon were considering naming their dog Tess too! This is becoming a little weird...

Tanner and Leisha came to See Us!!!

We had a fun visit from Tanner and Leisha during the kids' spring break! There's not much to do here, so we made our own fun! Tanner mastered the Marble Solitaire game, we made Leisha play Settlers for her first time ever, and we took them to 7-11 for dinner! (It's not the gas station... we're not THAT bad here! ;) On Monday, while Brandon was working, we all got to dye easter eggs. Here's Tanner and Leisha's beautiful art. I think Tanner took this very seriously. He was hand painting one of his eggs.
Tyler looks like he's going to eat his eggs! And he did... he ate three boiled eggs soon after this picture was taken.
Aubrey's beautiful "green-themed" egg collection. The middle one is really neat in person.
Cooper's fun eggs. He drew the cutest smily face on one egg, then covered it with one of the shrink wrappers. It's still cute, though! I made some too... I just didn't take any pictures of myself. ;)

I'm a Pushover

Look what happens when I say "no". Here's Brandon's new puppy. She's a German Shorthair/Chocolate Lab mix, which means she was free. (That part is good, at least.) She is like our dog, Molley, who we got when we were in Newton. Hopefully she acts more like Molley and less like Trout and Max.
She doesn't have a name yet, but we were thinking maybe we should follow the tradition of using Hannah and Jake's girl's names, and name her Annie. ;) In our defense, Hannah told us to name our last girl dog Molley, and it was long before her Molly was born. Cooper thinks we should name her Olley.
They're so cute when they are little. Too bad they grow up to be big naughty dogs that I have to take care of.

You know how hard it is to get Brandon to smile for pictures? He smiled in every picture today. I'm glad he's happy. Lynda, take note for future family pictures.... have Brandon hold a puppy.

She has three perfect spots, right in a row. It's kind of funny.

Can't. Move.

I. am. so. exhausted. I would substitute High School ANYDAY over 1st graders. Holy crap. Elementary teachers are amazing. That's all I have to say.

Cooper's First Loose Tooth!

Cooper, who will turn 7 next month, just got his first loose tooth! He is so excited! He was a little bit concerned that everyone else his age already had lost teeth, and he hadn't, but Aunt Melissa (dental hygenist) says it's good to lose them late. So, watch for future jack-o-lantern pictures of Cooper!

Running in Place at a Stop Light

I've heard lots of people talk about those silly runners who run in place at stop lights. I admit, I kind of thought that was silly too. But that's when I lived in a place where I could run 10 miles and not encounter one stop light! Now I live in a place that in a one block distance I had to cross at 3 lights! I also have a lot of stops at crossroads where I have to wait for cars. So, it starts getting ridiculous. You almost feel like you're waiting more than you're running. So, just so I didn't look too silly, I ran in circles at the stop light instead of in place! ;)

Proof That My Kids CAN Be Quiet

What I've Been Up To

I learned how to make this fun bag at my quilting retreat, and I'm hooked! My next step is making it in different sizes. These are all pretty big... a perfect small diaper bag size.

This is the first one I made at the Quilting Retreat. I made it for Melissa. I just love the fabrics! It was one of the most fun things I've ever sewn, and it turned out so cute! I love love love the ties on the sides. That is one of my favorite things about these bags.

Here's the detail of the button I put on the second bag. I loved how the button echoed the fabric pattern! I haven't decided for sure what to do with this bag yet. It may be the first one I sell, or I may just keep it for myself! :)

This one I made for Hannah. I love the colors! Melissa and I are going to make more bags when I go up there this weekend. I can't stop!

Womens Conference

I went to a wonderful Womens Conference today. It was for this whole area, so there were TONS of ladies there! The speakers were great, the music was great, the spirit was great! I am so glad I was able to go.

The theme was: O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. -Isaiah 64:8

The speakers were Liz Lemon Swindle, and Shanna Labrum. Sister Labrum and her husband just returned from serving as Mission President in the Phillipines. She spoke so beautifully, and humbly, and was a wonderful example of allowing the Lord to shape us, and make us into something beautiful. Sister Swindle was amazing. I loved finding out about her as a person, and not just an amazing artist. The things that really touched me were finding out how intensively she studies the life of Christ to do her paintings. (I was sitting just 3 rows back, so I could see her scriptures... they were proof of what she said about studying!) Also, how much she relies on the Spirit to help her in her painting. She told some amazing stories. The thing that probably touched me the most, was when she shared her deepest reason for painting these pictures of Christ... to share her love of Him, and to testify of Him.

I loved the theme too! It was such an uplifting morning!

Since You Asked...

I got a few questions, so I thought I better give some answers!

Melissa and Tanner or Leisha, no Cooper did not break both his arms, and yes, I'm saying bum wiping never ends... at least when your kid is Cooper. He is so silly about it. He'll sit on the potty and call for me forever. He has wiped his own on occasion, but for some reason he really doesn't like to. (Not that I like to either...)

Leslie, I would LOVE to be your personal trainer! Too bad we don't live close to each other. I'd have to tell you to "do as I say, not as I do" though! ;) If you ever need any email support, let me know!

Tanner or Leisha, the Red Canyon Lodge is only $85 a night for a nice cabin with a kitchenette and everything... in the winter. We're going the very last days of winter pricing. Yay!!! Do you guys want to come?

Vanessa, I'm not teaching aerobics... it's a toning class--weights and abs and stuff. I'm sure you are in better shape than I am. Seriously. You'd do fine. Is there a gym in Loa? ;)

Melissa, how about we clean together while someone else takes care of your kids? That would make both of us happy. I actually cleaned 1 1/2 houses today with Brandon and all of my kids. I think I will not complain about cleaning by myself anymore!!! (Brandon was great... the kids... didn't enjoy it so much.) I can't wait for Red Canyon Lodge either!!! If we have the time of our lives, maybe we can convince everyone else to go there for a big vacation (like the Oregon coast vacation.)

Felicia, you would clean houses if you got paid what I'm getting paid. I thought I'd never clean houses either. In some ways these houses are better than cleaning a normal house, because there is no grossness. Nobody has lived there yet. It's just a lot of dirt and scraping adhesive.

Whew. Hope I didn't miss anything!

Since I Have Nothing to Say...

I'll just do a Random Thoughts post! I'm sorry, Hannah, to deprive you of my extremely interesting blogging this week! ;)

I have 3 houses to clean this week, so I cleaned one on Wednesday (7 hours), spent 3 hours at one today, and I'm going to finish that one (it's a big one) and the other one tomorrow, with Brandon's and Aubrey's help. I'm excited to have someone there with me. I get pretty lonely cleaning a house all day by myself, and long for someone there to share the workload... and the money!

We're finally getting a hint of spring here! It's fun to see the ground, and be able to walk on the sidewalk! We're going to have a ton of yardwork, and cleaning up to do (leaves, garbage, etc.) when the snow is all gone. I already threw away some very very rotten moldy pumpkins left by the previous owner.

Aubrey had two babysitting jobs last week! She was very excited, and got to babysit just one little girl at each place. One of them will probably be a continuing job most Saturdays.

We're going to be signing the boys and Aubrey up for baseball soon. That's the sport they love to play, and since I'm a mean mom that doesn't let my kids play every single sport, that's the one we do!

We have a fun little getaway planned for the end of this month at Red Canyon Lodge (where I had my quilting retreat)! Melissa and Landon are coming, and we have 2 cabins reserved for 2 nights. We're all so excited we can hardly stand it! Brandon and Landon are going to fish the Green River, and Melissa and I are going to have a fun time with the kids.

I've taught 2 classes so far at the gym here, and so far so good. I've been a little sore after each one, since I was lazy and didn't do anything for awhile, but it definitely feels good to exercise again. I think the people here will need a little time to get used to my class, but they'll learn to love it. ;) They've never done toning with the ball, stretching on the wall, etc.

If anyone has any questions for me, feel free to ask! I'm really having a hard time thinking of anything else even remotely interesting to write!

Oh, shoot, I lied. I just got up to wipe Cooper's bum, and my legs are really stiff! I've just been cleaning all day, so I didn't notice until I sat down for awhile how sore I am.

Quick Note

I know you are all just dying to know what is going on in my extremely exciting life! I haven't been able to blog much, because I've been having too much fun! I subbed at the High School Thursday and Friday, and it was great! Easy as pie, and I got a lot of reading done. ;) I've been sewing up a storm since then, and hanging out with my kids and hubby.