Memorial Day 2008

So, Connor has been begging and begging to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house. It strikes me as funny that he is so obsessed about it. We are definitely going down to Utah for the 24th of July celebration, but that is a VERY long time for a four-year-old to wait. So, my mind started searching for a good time to go down, and POP--into my head shoots Memorial Day. The kids will be out of school by then, and James will have that Monday off. It would also be good to teach the children about the true meaning of Memorial Day; that it's not just the kick off to summer's fun, but a day set aside to remember those who bravely fought for our country, as well as those who have gone on before us. Perfect. But then we started thinking about gas prices and watched them soar higher each day. And would our poor old van make it, or would we be stranded in Idaho Falls? I started hemming and hawing and wondering if it was such a good idea after all. We decided to go for it.

The weather didn't seem to want to cooperate, but Saturday wasn't so bad. We went swimming at the rec center (Alex couldn't swim on account of his hair, so he sweated pink sweat in the weight room). Then we ate a YUMMY lunch at Dick's Drive Inn--Home of my first real employment and the best footlong in the world. It's also up for sale! We toyed with the idea of buying it and moving to Kamas, but it was just a fleeting thought. After lunch, my mom and I sat in the car in her driveway and talked for about an hour while the kids jumped on the tramp and James napped. My Dad was digging up everything in his yard to send home with us!

Then we headed to the local movie theater to watch the awesome The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. The movie theater was once owned by my Great Grandfather, Douglas Thurston Simpson. I think they still have the original seating! We had such a fun time. The popcorn there has got to be the world's best, and they always have a drawing for $100 from the ticket stubs! I love small towns!

I was able to attend church with my mom on Sunday and got to see her nervously give her lesson. She did a wonderful job and really allowed the spirit to teach the sisters.



We heard that the weather wasn't going to be good on Monday, so we decided to head to Coalville to put flowers on the graves. I had forgotten that my Grandpa Dean was buried there. Wow, I can't believe that it's been 6 years since he died. My mom showed us where our other relatives were buried and then we had to search to find Alexander Black. Alex was able to get his picture taken with him. Truthfully, I didn't know I had an ancestor with that name until after I had named Alex. I'll have to do some research on him!

Monday, we were able to attend a Rodeo Queen Contest. My cousin was a contestant. It is amazing how professional these young 13 year old girls are! They memorized very engaging 5 minute speeches and wore $500 outfits, not to mention learned a rodeo pattern which they performed with their horses. It was very fun.


My amazing and dear friend Betsy happened to be in Utah the same time we were! It is so funny how we found out we each would be there. Betsy told her dad that she was coming to visit. Her dad told my dad and my dad told her dad that we would be there too! She finally texted me and we made plans to hook up. We thought it wasn't going to work out, but we agreed to meet halfway in Park City for a late lunch. We saw her for about 20 min and she had to rush off to the airport to catch her plane. I'm so glad that I have Betsy in my life. She is a great friend!



Some cool recycled art statues in Park City.


We headed back home and met up with my brother Josh and SIL Susanna and their darling kids. It was so fun seeing them, but the best part was watching the little cousins interact with each other. Emily absolutely loves the babies and she was so good when any of them needed a little extra TLC! I could just eat little Phebe up! She is so adorable!


We got a picture of all of the grand kids together! The little bunch is growing. My parents now have 9 grand kids!

Josh and Susanna, I hope you don't mind, I had to nab these photos from your blog. They are too cute!




Oooh, that little Phebe is yummy!

We decided to leave the girls with Grandma for the week and the boys and I headed home before dusk, and that amazing little van made it all the way home once again! It was a great trip and I'm so glad we sucked up the $3.75 a gallon and went!

For some reason, we had the most peaceful week!

Last Day of School--May 23

Alex, my future rock star, on the last day of school!

The end of school came extremely fast this year! Before it was warm outside, practically before the snow melted, the kids were having field day, the concerts were being held, and the awards were pouring in. It just felt too early. I have always been one to say that school should be finished by Memorial Day. Well, this year, my wish came true. Now I'm thinking, "WHAT was I thinking?"

We've been out of school for two weeks now, and I'm now starting to settle in to the idea that all of the kids will be home all day long. Phew! It's tough keeping 5 kids entertained with wholesome activities all day long without killing each other!

Ah, Summertime!

Alex had been telling me since before the last month of school that he wanted to dye his hair pink for the last day of school. Well, since my good friend Susan Tietjen lets her girls dye their hair with Koolaid on the last day of school, it must be an okay thing for good parents to do, right? Besides, I figured he'd probably chicken out. Well, two days before school lets out, he's begging me to take him somewhere to find pink hair dye. I'm thinking Koolaid, but no, he's thinking official dye! James finds a kit at Rite Aid for $10. There is no way I'm paying for that, and I figure there is no way Alex will pay that, but I was wrong, and he used his hard earned and quite skimpy allowance to pay for it!

Alex is so lucky to have such a GREAT dad! James dove right in and opened the box and started on Alex's hair. First it had to be bleached. Then carefully dyed.

It turned out to be exactly the same color as my cell phone! Since pink is my favorite color, and I tried to color stripes of pink in my hair when I was a teenager with magic marker, I kind of liked it. And besides, when I was a baby, I had a pink blankie that I named Pinkie. Pinkie mysteriously disappeared when I was about 10. Now I have my own Pinkie again!

It was also so soft, I couldn't keep my hands off of it! The girls at school felt the same way! Alex said that all of the girls had to run their fingers through his hair. Surprisingly, it is quite the babe magnet! Everywhere we go, teenage girls come out of their shells to comment to Alex about his hair.

The color is now starting to fade to a bright pinkish orange and the roots are growing out. I haven't said a thing about his hair to him, and low and behold, the other day he was in the grocery store looking for products to take the color out of his hair!!!!! I think he's all pinked out! I told him we already have something at home that takes color out of hair. He was all ears until I told him that all you do is plug it in and buzz it over your head. Instant color and hair removal! He didn't like that idea at all. He's decided to grow his hair out and not cut it. We'll see how he feels when he has orange tips with platinum in the middle and dark blond roots!

I really love having a teenager. It is so much fun. It really does bring back a lot of good old memories!

Step One: Remove Color.

Step 2: Keep bleach moist and look foolish!

Step 3: RINSE. Ooh, la, la!

Step 4: Color PINK!

Step 5: Oh, yeah, who's cool now?

Moore's Folley at the Teton Dam May 5

I am so behind in blogging, but I have a good excuse. I moved my office / scrap room downstairs, and I wasn't able to upload my photos onto my computer because the cord that usually sits next to my monitor wasn't there anymore. Tonight I had James plug it in for me. I know, it's pathetic how helpless I am when it comes to the computer, but I think secretly James adores that I have to rely on him so much. I couldn't live without him!


This was a good one!
See that teeny tiny red dot? Our fun's motivation!

We decided to go visit the Teton Dam Flood Site one nice Sat afternoon after Emily's final volleyball game. It was an unusually nice day. We drove to the lookout spot and noticed that a van had driven ALL THE WAY down to the water. The kids asked Dad if we could Please do it too. Well, I said that I didn't think the old van had it in her to make it back up, but against my better judgement, we headed down the steep, windy dirt road (what man could resist?).

The boys were so scared that we were so high up.
I had sandals on, so I pooped out and stayed in the van while James took the kids for a hike down a rock slide and over to what remains of the water in the dam. They spent about an hour throwing rocks into the water and exploring. They had the greatest time. While they were gone, my imagination got the better of me. I was watching the two men in the other van and wondering what they were doing all the way down here in this remote location with no one else around for miles. I wondered what I would do if they approached the van with a gun and tried to steal it or kill me. One man got out and started milling around. I sunk down into my seat and my heart began racing. I spied over the dashboard. He appeared to be looking around for something (a better fishing spot, probably, since his previous one was now ruined by kids throwing rocks). At the height of my worrying, I heard a loud gun shot!!!!! I about had a heart attack! I ran to check on my family to make sure they weren't dead. Well, James got the message that these people were hunting, so he decided it was time to go so that we weren't the ones being hunted.

Rock Slide.
Exploring the flora and fauna.
It doesn't look that steep in the pic, but take my word for it, it's Mt. Everest!






To my great relief, the two men packed up and started to leave. They got turned around and began the steep climb to the top of the hill. They started spinning out a short way up and had to back all the way down and try again. This time they made it, and we never saw them again.

James and I began to wonder if their full-size van had 4-wheel drive.


We then began our own decent to the top of the hill. We made a go at it and got stuck in the same place the other van did. We backed down and tried again. We backed down and tried again (a third time). Then James hiked up the hill and cleared the rocks out of the road. Then tried and backed down again. This time, all of us got out and climbed up the hill to clear rocks out of the way. The kids thought it would be a good idea if they pushed behind the van. Aw, aren't they cute. They would have been pancakes! The kids and I stood out of the way and James tried again really punching it. It was frightening because the road was fairly narrow and when you punched it, the van was all over the place. On the sixth try, I yelled at the kids to start praying for the van to make it. James made it to the spin out spot and kept barreling through. I yelled "don't stop, keep going!" and he zoomed past us. But then he kept going about another mile up the mountain. He stopped and waited for us. We started hiking up the hill. Okay, remember why I stayed behind before? Sandals! Not just sandals, but the kind your foot slides into with no back! I climbed that puppy like it was nothing. I don't know if my shoes will ever be the same.


By the time we made it to the top, an entire hour had passed by. I am so grateful for prayer because I KNOW that is the only way our old van made it to the top of the mountain! It was threateningly close to overheating, but she made it none-the-less. I am so proud of the old girl. It makes me want to keep her forever! I don't know how the underside of her fared. We don't dare look too closely.


THAT was one unforgettable Moore family outing!


Unfortunately Alex had to miss all of the excitement since he had to go to Saturday School (tee hee).

Mother's Day 2008

This year was so much fun! My kids are really starting to get the hang of this Mother's Day thing. I have a great husband who always spoils me on Mother's Day, but this year, the older kids especially tried to make it a special day.

James took the kids shopping all day yesterday (poor guy) except for Emily who stayed home with me to work on the garden (an amazing gift in itself). James searched high and low for the items he had been collecting on his list (he's so good and clever that way). Then he took the kids to his office to play Battlefield 1942. They didn't get home until around 8:30 which gave Emily and me lots of time to enjoy being together--a rarity! After slaving (and I do mean slaving) in the garden for about 4-5 hours, we rode our bikes into to town and got a hot dog and a shaved ice. We ate it outside, and I almost froze to death! Then we went home and watched Enchanted. It was so fun!

This morning, everyone got up early (except for Connor who was up half the night). They brought me breakfast in bed; cold toast and luke warm eggs over-easy and yummy, crunchy bacon and orange juice. I haven't decided if I'm in love with breakfast in bed yet, or not. This year it wasn't so bad. The food was my request. They didn't jump so much on the bed this year, and I wasn't too groggy when they came in ( I know I sound somewhat ungrateful, but I put on my happiest face and looked like I loved it). Then I started with their handmade cards and pictures. I LOVE getting these! Then the presents started pummeling me and I had to cover my toast and eggs! I was surprised by the DVD of the history of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I had forgotten about casually asking for it when I missed watching it on BYU TV a couple of weeks ago. Then I got two dozen Marigolds for my garden, YEAH! It helps keep the pests away, while looking pretty. James, later in the day, tried to throw some laundry into the basket, but missed and sheared off a few of the flowers heads! I also got a hoe and some knee pads to save me while pulling all of those weeds! Lastly, I grabbed a Bath and Body works bag and pulled out--not lotion--but a brand new pair of baby pink CROCS!!! My first pair. I'm so excited. They look like tiny ballet slippers. I actually wore them to church and they were so comfy!

The younger kids each gave me flower seed packets and a watering can card from primary--very cute, and I got a begonia from the ward and a rose from my team teacher in Sunday School. After church, I hadn't left the RS room yet, and a handicapped woman from the other ward came up to me (among all of the other 50 women with flowers) and said "I want a flower" I gave her my rose. She was SO happy. As I walked out, she had given it to the woman with her--could have been her mother. It warmed my heart a little.

The girls had run home before me, and they wouldn't let me come in the house. I promised I wouldn't look and they let me close my eyes and go to my room and cuddle in my bed until lunchtime (or luner as we call it on Sunday). Hunter came with me and showered me with kisses and snuggled with me until it was time. When it was finally ready, I had to close my eyes and sit at the table. I opened my eyes to a beautiful spread; a white table cloth with the nicest dishes and the table perfectly set! Hannah even told Emily not to put her elbows on the table! I wonder where she learned that! The best part was, the kitchen was clean! The food was amazing. I have never made a pot roast like that before! I told James that and he said that he had done everything totally differently than I do it! I didn't know whether to be offended or not, but I was so grateful to have a day off that I just feigned hurt, but smiled inside.

James and I called our mothers and took a wonderfully long nap. We didn't hear a peep from the children! They were all trying extra hard to be kind and sweet and quiet. When we awoke, we ate pie and ice cream! Then I got to read my book while everyone (but me) cleaned the kitchen again. We played a little Sorry, then James put everyone to bed! It was a perfect day!

So, I was thinking about what makes the perfect Mother's Day. I always feel a little guilty, as I think most moms do, on Mother's Day. I guess we wonder if we are worthy of such an honor. Those poems can get pretty sappy and hard to live up to! But, of course we deserve it! And I have come up with a plan to have the best Mother's Day ever:

1. Make sure you very subtly let everyone know exactly what you expect to happen on that day. Say things like, "oh, I love it when you . . . " My kids know I love peace, quiet, and clean.

2. Several weeks before the event start hinting about what you would like. You can even go as far as cutting out photos in magazine ads and putting them on the fridge. Kids are savvy, but make sure the hubby is keeping track. It may sound like it takes all of the romance out of the occasion, but in the end, everyone is happy.

3. Casually go grocery shopping a day or two ahead and conveniently have all of the ingredients needed for your favorite feast. Don't forget to mention it to the hubby, or even have the kids tell the hubby.

4. Pray you don't have PMS when you wake up Mother's Day morning. Then all of your planning will have been in vain.

5. Don't forget to be the world's best mother throughout the year to eliminate any guilt that might transpire the morning of.

My own dear Mother always gives me hope by saying how wonderful Mother's Day is when your children are grown up! I'm looking forward to that time, but for now I'm very happy with the fun and wonderful creations my little ones (and big ones) come up with, and very happy with the effort my husband takes to make the day so fabulous! All I can say is that it's a very good thing that Mother's Day comes before Father's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

I wanted to take a moment to pay tribute to my mother and mother-in-law today.

I have been blessed to have a wonderfully caring and loving mother. My mom has been so supportive of me throughout my life. She is also supportive of my other 8 siblings and all they choose to do. She has so much love in her. I have never seen such a compassionate person in my life! Mom, thanks for being such an amazing example to me of Christ like love! I love you and I'm so glad you're my mom!

I am also blessed with a wonderful mother-in-law! How many people can say that? My MIL is also a very loving and supportive mother. She, too, has had 9 children! She supports each one of us and our children by attending each special event. She always gives love and encouragement. She did an amazing job of raising her sons to be excellent husbands and fathers. She has been such an example of faith and enduring. Miriam, thank you for being you and for being such a wonderful person! I love you and I'm so glad you're my mother-in-law!

Congratulations

On a lighter note, my sister, Shirlee is getting MARRIED!!!! I am so happy for her and I wish her every happiness! (I wonder if she'll ask me to make her cake again :) Way to go Shirlee!

An Angel Has Passed Away

Susan Metzger died in her home today, May 7, 2008.

My first memory of Susan was shortly after we moved to Idaho. She was riding her Roadster bicycle down our street, that pure white hair blowing in the breeze and her beautiful smile. She waved and said "Welcome to the neighborhood!" I knew at that moment that she was a special person.

Susan was one of those people who just drew people to her. She was Emily's Activity Days leader. She made us all feel like we were the most special people to her. I immediately wanted to adopt her as a "significant person" for Emily. She just needed someone to give her some extra attention.

We invited David and Susan over for crepes one Sunday night. We found out later that Susan had served her mission in France and she LOVED crepes (Pronounced crepes with the short e sound like in eggs). She probably ate 7 or 8 of them! I was amazed that such a tiny person could eat so much. They brought their own sweetener: stevia, because they didn't eat sugar. We had no idea at the time that anything was wrong.

It must have been a couple of months later that she developed breast cancer. They told no one. She may have had it before. They tried to treat it naturally, with diet and other means. The doctors gave her 6 months to live. It must have been in February. The cancer spread quickly, and she passed away today.

When I left for Virginia, I called Susan and asked if Emily could visit her each day after school for an hour so she wouldn't be alone. She said it was fine. Later, someone at church said that Susan was sick and that she wouldn't be singing in the choir anymore. I questioned them, but they just said she was sick. The way they said it clued me in that it wasn't just a sore throat. When I got home from church, I asked Emily if Sister Metzger was sick. She said she was and that she had oxygen in her nose, and that her daughter, Emily was there doing the dishes. I KNEW something was wrong then. I couldn't stop crying. I called her later and asked what was wrong. She told me that she had breast cancer. I cried on the phone and apologized for sending Emily to her when she wasn't well. She told me how wonderful it was having Emily there with her and about all of the things they did together. She told me how special and sweet I was. I begged her for some way that I could help. Thankfully she asked me to make 15 thank you cards for her. I quickly made them knowing that her time was short. I realized the significance of her writing her last messages on those cards. I put the cards in a basket and took them to her house last Sunday, a week and a half ago. I don't know if she was well enough to write any messages, but it feels so good knowing that I was able to do that for her and that I didn't wait too long, and that maybe I helped make her last days a little happier.

I don't know Susan's exact age, but she was in her 50's and was very young at heart. I was so angry when I found out she was dying. I knew what it would mean to Emily to lose another person in her life. I didn't think it was fair that we only got to know her for 10 short months. She was one of those people that you want to sit down and have them teach you EVERYTHING. After the anger came peace and gratitude for the gift of knowing her for any amount of time--short as it may be.

Our ward and neighborhood will be grieving the loss of this wonderful woman. She will be greatly missed. I'm so happy to know that I will be able to see her again someday. I'm sure she was catapulted into the Celestial Kingdom. That's the kind of person she was.

Good Bye, Susan. We love you!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Last week when I was doing the "diet" thing, I was having a discussion with James about diets. Hunter (my 6-year-old) was listening close by and piped up, "Mom, diets don't work." I said, "Oh, really?" then he said in a very serious voice, "Weight Watchers does." I had to laugh, he was totally convinced! Isn't it funny that even the cartoon channels have Weight Watchers commercials!!!

A little while later I was watering my plants with my trusty watering can. Connor (my 4-year-old) pipes up and says, "Mom, you need Aqua Globes. I'm going to buy you some Aqua Globes. They water the plants for you so you don't have to." Um, Okay, I can barely even understand what you're saying, but okay! I had never heard of Aqua Globes, but the next time the commercial came on TV, he was screaming for me to come in and look. They are very interesting. I wonder how long those things would actually last in my plants before Connor, himself, broke them.

Do ya think they are watching too much TV? Actually, they have photographic memories. They memorize everything they see the first time (it feels better to think of it that way).

The End of Starvation

Okay, so I had to do a health evaluation today in order to qualify for my health insurance policy. It has been something I have been dreading since the Insurance Rep told me that I was just a couple of pounds above the optimum weight for the cheapest category. She told me to really try to bring my weight down if I could. Well, that was all well and good until I went on vacation and gained 5 pounds!!! Now a couple of pounds was turning into nearly 10 pounds! Being the silly person I am, I decided to try to go for it. The nurse called to set up an appointment with me the Monday after I got back from my trip. I immediately told her that it was a bad week. After all, I had to have at least a few days to purge! We set the apt for early this morning as I had to be fasting and the earlier the better when no food is involved!

The race against the scale was on. I started the week skipping all snacks and sugary foods. I knew it wasn't going to cut it. I needed to take more drastic measures! I was looking through the medicine cabinet (which spans the entire top of the refrigerator) and found the Vital 18 that my grandma gave me for my bday in Sept. It was the perfect solution, I thought. Drink 4 cups of milk mixed with Vital 18 a day and one meal and you're good to go. It has all of the essential vitamins and minerals a body would need.

Day one on Vital 18 went well. Hey, it actually tasted good. The Buska's came over and brought brownies. Well, I thought I'd be fine because I don't really care for brownies (I know, I'm sick in the head) unless they are covered in ice cream and fudge! Sarah somehow knew this about me and had made caramel, chocolate chip, ooy, gooy brownies. It was hard to resist them, but I was good and I did. I was proud of myself too (I stored two away in the freezer for a future binge). Day two was a little tougher. I woke up starving, but could only have my cup of milk with a tablespoon of V-18. Then a migraine set in and I was doing more physically than I probably should have. I ended up eating a pb&J so I could take some medication for my headache, then I had to go to dinner with Jean who was in town from VA for the weekend. I was good then too. I had a salad and water. They had to get an asphalt pie and it would have been rude of me not to at least have one bite. Okay, so I had two or three bites, I still felt like I was ahead of the game. But then we went to Jean's friend's house and she had specially made--just for us, home-made hot fudge. Once again, not to offend, I asked my portion to be very tiny. It was good, but the guilt I was feeling was not! How can one ever hope to lose weight when they are socially guilted into eating????? I mean, I think I would feel bad if I spent a bunch of time and effort on someone who refused to even taste my offering. So, why do we do that to each other???

The next day was Sunday, thankfully. I never eat more than one square meal on Sunday, anyway, so I knew I could get through it (even though I usually snack throughout the day and eat dessert for dinner).

Sunday night, the nurse called and said that she had double booked herself, and would have to either come later in the day, or reschedule. Now, here I am, a woman on the verge, who hasn't had enough to eat for several days . . . she may have been endangering herself with that phone call! I took it all in stride. I told her to come at 11:30. To get my mind off my hunger, I decided to deep clean my house. I dusted, I vacuumed, I cleaned under the couch cushions, I cleaned out the coat closet. I was getting ready to mop the entry way (something I've only done once in 9 months), and the phone rang. It was the nurse again. She had a cancellation and wanted to know if she could come right then. That was fine, but you know how much of a mess you make when you clean the house? And, I hadn't even gotten into the shower yet. I started running through the house stashing the 3 vacuums in various places, returning cushions and chairs to their correct places. I hurried and changed clothes, pausing to weigh myself. I was down 9 pounds!!! Hooray, I did it! I had just enough time to run a brush through my hair, when the door bell rang.The nurse was bright and cheery and chattery. She put me at ease as she poked and prodded at my veins. Then it was time . . . she brought out the scale. I stepped on and was quite unhappy to see that it put me 5 pounds heavier than my bathroom scale had five minutes earlier. I mentioned this and she graciously took that into account and recorded the mysterious number. I'm not sure exactly what number she recorded, but I'm hopeful that my sacrifice will be forever worth the pennies that I will save on my insurance policy.

Just as soon as the door closed behind her, I was in the kitchen pulling out the biggest feast you could imagine. Binge time!!! Okay, it wasn't that bad, I fried up a couple of fish filets (in butter), and had a nice salad. But then I went to the freezer for that brownie from Sarah. I warmed it up and put some ice cream on top. It was heaven! A little later in the day I ate the other brownie--frozen. It was divine! Oh, the guilt!

Sometimes the things we do to ourselves are not nice. From now on, I want to be nice to myself. I want to eat a nice balanced diet and get some good exercise. As far as the vital 18 goes, I don't know if it's something I'll continue as drastically as I did the past few days, but maybe with a little more moderation. I think that is the key to success with anything, after all--moderation.

Oh, Virginia!

AHHHH, Spring in Virginia . . . beautiful!
For some reason, Alex and Matt decided to shave their legs.

Alex and Cameron playing Guitar Hero at Game Stop.
Christie Lee and Me having lunch at 5 Guys.
Jean and me looking hot after having our hair hilighted by Kristen.

I can't believe that tomorrow it will be a week since I got back from Virginia. WOW! Time is flying by so quickly! I had a great time in Virginia. It felt like going home! It seemed like I had never left. It was so good seeing all of my friends. In fact, I attended book club one night just so I could see everyone, and after hugging them all, I started crying. I was just so overcome with emotion at seeing them. It was embarrassing, but I think they understood. I'm choking up now just recalling it. It's amazing how much can change in a mere 9 months. There were even major changes occurring while I was there! Two people had babies, two more are pregnant, two people are moving soon--Yay, Kathy is moving to UT!!! And whoa, Roxanna is moving to Japan (that unfolded while I was there) and she's pregnant! I'm sorry to say that three friend's fathers died. Kristen Fitz. got her mission call to Jakarta, Indonesia (I got it all on video!).

Spring was definitely in bloom in VA! It was so beautiful. But the weather was rainy and cold. I'm glad I packed for it. I didn't know if I was getting a cold or allergies, but I felt awful the last few days I was there. I had to cancel a couple of important visits and that made me sad. It turns out that it was a cold. I still have it a week later, and it doesn't seem to have improved any.

Me, just basking in the sunshine after James painted my nails.

In contrast to that beautiful spring weather in Va, we are in a wintry oasis here in ID. Yes, it snowed again. We got about 3-4 inches last night! We had a slight reprieve over the weekend with temps getting into the 60s. I thought I was in Heaven. On Sunday I sat outside for most of the afternoon. I figured it wouldn't last, so I took full advantage of it. We even took the kids to the park. It gives me hope to think forward to July and how nice and non-humid it will be here while the Virginians suffer in their humidity! (It seems like I'm constantly talking about the weather on this blog).

Back to reality! I didn't realize how much I missed my family until I got back. It was so good seeing them and cuddling with them again. It's fun to get away, but it's always nice to be back home!

Emily's Day!

Happy Birthday Monkey Girl!
Hot Tub Party!!!
Make a Wish!

Happy Birthday to my little monkey, Emily! And Hallelujah, it's finally over! I'm going to drop tonight after all of the festivities of the last week and a half! It was a lot of fun. Emily wanted a monkey party. So basically, we just let her and a couple of friends act like monkeys, threw in a few crafts, and a super easy to make monkey cake, and we had nearly total success--other than a little sisterly jealousy. The highlight of the party was the hot tub--empty-- filled with a Love Sac--balloons and a half a dozen girls. Never before (nor hopefully again) have I heard such squeals and laughter! Thankfully, the hot tub room has a sliding glass door! I just shut the door and watched from the kitchen!

Emily, My wish for you is to find JOY in all things in your life! I love you!

Happy Easter Everyone

Hoping that you will know of the true meaning of Easter and have gratitude in your hearts for all that the Savior has done for each of us.

Blessings to you!

Easter Egg Hunting!

Well, it's been somewhat balmy here, up to the high 30s and maybe even the low 40s. We've even had some rain to help melt away a little of the snow. So, I was excited to wake up early this morning to get the kids ready for Rigby's, annual Easter Egg Hunt! I immediately ran to check the outside thermometer. It was 19 Degrees!!! AAAHHGGHGHHH! "Okay, Kids, put on your snow pants, hats, ear muffs, gloves, boots, and scarves and grab those Easter baskets! Oh, yeah, let's not forget the HOT CHOCOLATE!" It felt like we were headed for a day on the slopes! I was informed that since the park was still under several feet of snow, they would be handing out candy to the kids standing in line. Wow, what fun. We drove to the park 30 min early so that we didn't have to wait in line. We got out among the other Idahoan's and headed to our line. Okay, you know a true Idahoan when it's 19 degrees out and they are in shorts--just defying the weather. It IS spring, after all! Most people only had on sweatshirts! You could tell we were new-comers! There was excitement in the air, and candy scattered across the ground around the piles of snow! Apparently there was just enough ground exposed to have a successful hunt. The whistle blew and the kids were off. Hunter came limping back to me when it was all finished complaining that his back was sore! He really worked hard on that hunt! He had more candy than Emily and Connor combined. Alex came along to give the boys some illegal Easter Egg Hunt Bullying techniques! All in all, we really had a lot of fun. Once the sun started shining, my ears thawed and I felt fine (inside of my down, fur-lined coat). Next year, we're hoping for another Easter in APRIL!

Birthdays in the House!!!

It's birthday week for the Moore family, and it couldn't be crazier! But what fun we're having! Alex decided on Thurs night that he wanted to have some friends over for a party Fri night. That almost put me in panic mode, but I decided to chill out and order pizza and buy a bunch of junk food. I think it turned out well, and the kids had a fun time. They ended up listening to Alex play his guitar, playing Guitar Hero, and watching Blast. An interesting combination. He ended up inviting a bunch of kids over tonight (it being Spring Break) to watch August Rush. They also went over to the playground for a while. I secretly watched them through binoculars. They tried to see how many people they could get into the twisty slide at the same time. It was all very innocent and quite funny.

Hannah decided on Thur that she wanted to have an Ice Skating party on Sat. Okay, panic mode again! Emily had a volleyball game at the same time, so I had to recruit James to do the party so I could go to Em's game. It all worked out well. I think everyone had a fun time skating, and Emily won all but 1/2 of her last game.

Thankfully, they are over having mom make elaborate birthday cakes. Alex asked for a simple Giant chocolate chip cookie, and Hannah just wanted donuts! The cookie didn't turn out as simply as planned. I wanted to make it thick so it would be soft, but using my pizza stone wasn't the best solution for that! Most of the cookie ended up in the bottom of the oven! It was a mess and I had to scrape all of that cookie out of the oven! Now every time I bake, it smells like burnt cookies! Time to use that self-cleaning feature.

(Deep breath) Okay, so now we just have to make it through Easter, and then Emily's birthday on Monday. Thankfully her party is the same day as her actual birthday! She's having a Monkey party.

It's now after midnight on Thur, and the party is Mon! Here we go. . . Panic mode, again!!!

Scrappin' Again!

I have finally taken time to start scrapping again. It is so much fun and amazingly healing for my soul! I just received 250 photos of Connor from snapfish. I am going to do his entire album. I hadn't done any of his yet, so I have my work cut out for me. I'm glad he's only 4! I am at least that far behind on the other 4 kids. At least I'll be making a small dent.

ALEX IS BACK!!!

Yeah, Alex! We've got our boy home and it feels so good! Alex Graduated on Leap Day. A day to remember. His ceremony was short, casual, and very nice. There are a lot of good people in that school! The guys in his room said a lot of nice things about him as well as his seminary teacher and school counselor. It warmed my heart how sad they all were to see him go.

There has been an adjustment period. We're trying to get him used to us and all of our family's rules, and we're trying to get used to having a teenage boy in the house! The TV, Game Cube, and computer time have dramatically increased! The other kids just kind of hang around him and whatever he's doing. Everyone is happy to have him home!

Welcome Home Alex!