Seedlings

As soon as the snow melts in Idaho, it's time to start planting seedlings! Connor and I are getting a jump start on our garden this year by planting starts in the solarium. We want to can a lot of salsa this year, so we started with tomatoes and sweet peppers. Then we added some flowers for beauty and some broccoli for nutrition! Then we had to plant a surprise...We're going to have a *great* garden this year!

The surprise seedling is sprouting!It's getting bigger... And bigger....POP! Just look at that Cute connor plant! Thank goodness little boys grow more slowly than plants!

Conference at the Heber House

When Connie and David invited us down to the Heber House to watch General Conference, how could we resist? Combining good friends, good food, a gorgeous house (with all of the amenities) and a change of pace for conference; we had to say YES! Even the 4 1/2 hour drive couldn't hold us back!

Dave Baker and his family joined us at the house. Dave, Alex, James, and David heading out for Priesthood session.

With 20 people in one house, you have to have some activities to keep the young-uns entertained! I brought some sugar cookies and frosting for the kids to decorate. Since most of them were girls--well, actually ALL of them were girls except for my 3 boys--they really got into the decorating. I have to admit though that the boys enjoyed it just as much as the girls! Meagan, looking more like a pro, decorating like crazy!

Little Chloe Baker was the youngest of the group, but managed to get the most frosting on her cookie!

Big Emily having fun!
Little Emily decorating like a maniac! She is so proud of her work!

I couldn't resist putting this second picture of Emily up for you, Connie. She is so adorable!

Connor with his sugar-crazed expression.

Ashlyn (who loves James) and her cookie.

And...what do you think the older kids were doing during the conference decorating?
Alex was napping (or faking it),
Connie and Kayla were making really cute bags,

...and later...Alex shows Kayla something interesting on one of his many electronic devices (they also stayed up with Emma B. until 3 am talking!,

Hannah and the older girls crocheted. Of course, I was sitting dutifully taking notes. It really was a wonderful conference! It's amazing to me how a change of scenery while watching conference can really help you focus and listen.

James and David, who were childhood best friends, got a little emotional at seeing their children playing together and having such a great time.

At the end of the last session, Hunter came to me and asked if I would help him pull his tooth. Each time I tried, he chickened out. I listened to him whine for over an hour. I told him that it had to be his choice, but he just couldn't handle it. Finally he leaned his head back and opened his mouth. I quickly reached in and grabbed the tooth. I significantly loosened it, but Hunter started screaming bloody murder and James who had been watching conference upstairs, ran to his rescue. He made me let go of Hunter and scowled at me for a while. His reaction was pretty funny to everyone who had been listening to Hunter for the previous hour! About two hours later, Hunter happily pulled his tooth out in the car on the way home!

We were able to stop and see my parents on the way home.

It was such a fun trip and we're looking forward to visiting the Atkissons again soon!

Happy March Birthday!

March Birthdays: Emily 24th, Susanna 31st, My Dad--Emery 16th, Hannah 18th, Alex 16th!

We invited my parents and my brother and his family up for the road shows and to celebrate all of the March Birthdays. It was a crazy day, but what could be better than a house full of family?

I made (another) giant cake with checkerboard insides and we partied like it was Christmas!

It was sooo much fun! We love our family!

Road Show

Drum Roll Please......The Road show has come to town!

We had so much fun preparing for the roadshow. It was a family event. Everyone was in the show except Hannah--who has debilitating stage fright! She did help fill in with the "pipe band" during practice when they were short handed.

Our Stake's theme was Music Through the Decades, and our decade was the first; the 1890s. "Daisy Bell" was chosen as our song, and James and I were chosen to be Daisy Bell and her beau. They knew we would ham it up--and we did!

We were simulating an 1890s parade complete with waving flags in the back ground!

Alex was selected to be in the barbershop quartet. They sounded really good! I was excited that they convinced him to do it! It was a nod to James' youth when he was in a barbershop quartet directed by his dad.

Next came the dancers. Emily was involved in this part (see her in the front?). The girls did a cheer using the lyrics to the song.

Hunter and Connor dressed up in their best suspenders and bow ties and decorated their bikes for their role in the show. They were so cute! And they were really good little actors!

And here we are in all our glory! We had a great time. I fell in love with the dress that I wore. It happens to be an original Gunny Sax dress! I have yet to give it back to the owner!

The road show was a lot of fun. The wards came up with some fun skits! It's so much fun being a part of something like this, but it's always a relief when it's over and you can move on to the next big thing!

March 24, 2009 Happy 11th Birthday Emily

Oh, the frosting, Oh, the cake, Oh, the balloons, Oh the Parties!

It was a big year for us with Alex hitting his sweet 16 and Hannah becoming a teenager, and Emily hitting double double digits!

Chubby Bunny! I found some bunny shaped marshmallows for this game. Those girls can really pack in the food! They also made happy face pizzas using all of the Pillsbury Grands I bought on sale at Albertson's!

Last minute, Emily decided she wanted a slumber party! So much for keeping things simple! I made flannel totes with notes inside for the invitations to join us for a late-over/sleepover, and Emily handed them out at school (probably not the best idea).

I threw together some quick games and a quick cake and we were off! The decorations just happened to already be up (wonder why).

It happened to be a fairly warm night (okay, slightly above freezing), so the girls went out in the neighborhood to play night games. After a little cake and ice cream and some presents, most of the girls headed home. It was nice that two girls got to sleep over (a much nicer number than eight!). And it was especially nice because the next day was the road show (see next post) and family was in town for another party!

On Emily's actual birthday, she was pampered with breakfast and presents in (my) bed.

March 18, 2009 Happy 13th Birthday Hannah

Miss Teenager!

It was a very strange year with birthdays. Neither Alex, nor Hannah wanted anything special done for them on their birthdays (at least, that's what they originally told me), so I didn't plan anything "much." In fact, on Hannah's birthday, James and I were planning on attending our Financial Peace University class at the credit union. Hannah's friend Mikaela mentioned that she was throwing Hannah a party on her birthday, so I left it at that. I thought it was a perfect plan! Last minute I found out that Mikaela wasn't throwing Hannah a party. She said that she and her mom were going to bring Hannah some cupcakes. Now I felt bad because she would get stuck babysitting on her bday. Mikaela ended up pulling through and invited Hannah over to help decorate cake and cupcakes with her. They ended up decorating each other! I need to figure out how to get those photos from Mikaela's phone to my blog...hmm. She ended up having a lot of fun!

Then on the weekend, Mikaela's mom graciously consented to having Hannah and another friend over for a sleepover! It just so happened that Emily decided to have a sleepover the same night (see next post for more info).

I happened to be up late with Emily's party, and after tucking all of the girls in at 1:30 am, I decided to check my facebook. My friend Chelsea who lives down the street was online and had just gotten home from WM with 9 copies of Twilight! Since Hannah only wanted Twilight stuff for her bday, I decided to get a copy from Chelsea and take it to her. I texted Hannah at the sleepover and asked her if she was up for a movie. She couldn't figure out what I was talking about (a common occurrence with her lately), so I sent a text for each letter in the word T W I L I G H T. She finally got it and they begged me to bring it over.

I picked it up at Chelsea's house and had to go in and visit her two boa constrictors and huge dog and we sat and chatted for a little while. In the mean time, Hannah and co were outside in skimpy pjs in the freezing cold waiting silently (so as not to wake mom and dad) for me to drop off the movie! (sorry Hannah)! I finally dragged Chelsea off with me to deliver the goods! The girls were up all night long drooling over Edward! I still haven't watched it again.

All in all I think Hannah had a great birthday!