Scrapbooking Cabin (Mormom Moms Gone Wild)

I was so blessed to be able to go scrapbooking with ten other friends at our annual retreat at the cabin. We've been going since 2006 and we all love it. This year we added another night to the trip so we could be there for three nights (April 28-May 1). We had a blast and got a lot of scrapbooking done too. I love these women and feel so grateful for their examples and the ways in which they touch my life. It was so much fun to laugh and be very silly. Here's our top 10 memories!

Top 10 Scrapbook Cabin 2010 Memories

1- Getting caught in a blizzard. It was pretty scary. Bless Bishop Zwahlen's heart for coming to rescue us.

2- All 11 of us braiding our hair and getting the adorable picture above. Lloyd said it looks like "Mormom Moms Gone Wild"

3- Our "food babies." The fathers were mint brownie, scotcheroo, or oreo.

4- Doing step class, the splits, and gymnastics in the kitchen area.

5- Another year of Cafe Rio. We can never have enough Cafe Rio! I should add, we can never have enough diet Pepsi either.

6- "Frozen diapers" - Ashleigh never fully explained this one so we are still wondering.

7- My crush on Paul, aka Tom Selleck

8- Brittany shoveling snow

9- "Nuggets" and "Sizing Up" (I think you had to be there).

10- Lauri reminding us that this is "the last time" for the scrapbooking cabin. We hope not, but we also understand. Me - for some reason I like to stand when I scrapbook!Starla and LauriKathryn and Cindy Stacey and Natalie

Katie, Diana, and Brittany

Katelyn's Braces

On April 19 Katelyn got her braces! She was so excited. She has been such a trooper about them. She rarely complains about them hurting and she meticulously brushes her teeth. Katelyn looks adorable with her new tin grin! BEFOREDURING

AFTER

In about two years, Katelyn will be sporting a whole new smile. Can't wait to see it!

Magic Mountain

I took my girl scout troop to Magic Mountain April 5-7. We had been preparing and looking forward to this trip for about three years. we sold lots of cookies and saved our money so we could go. It was a great time for me, my co-leader and the nine girls (ages 13-15) who came.

Our trip started at the Modesto Amtrak station early on Monday morning.

We took the train to Bakersfield and then we took a bus to Valencia.
In Valencia we took the city bus to our hotel. We were quite the travelers!
On Tuesday we went to Magic Mountain. I have never seen so many roller coasters in my life. Each ride was a little different, but my very favorite was X2. It was so different than any roller coaster i have ever been on. It plays music throughout the ride and it makes for a very unique experience.
It was fun to spend time with Courtney.

We even met the dancing old man from the Six Flags commercials. I think we all enjoyed the trip - the train rides, the Holiday Inn express, going out for pizza, getting a midnight snack at Denny's, and just laughing and being together. Girl scouts can be fun!

Our Easter

Our ward didn't have an egg hunt planned so I decided to organize one at the park. A lot of kids showed up ready to hunt. They still loved finding all the eggs even though it was raining a bit.
Here's my kiddos - Conner, Cameron and Kylie hunted, and Katelyn and Courtney (along with other youth from our ward) hid the eggs.
At home we dyed eggs and each of the kids got an Easter bucket. Since Easter was on General conference this year it was a very relaxing day to spend with the family.

Jerusalem Dinner

On March 31 we had a beautiful Young Women activity to celebrate Easter. It was called a Jerusalem Dinner and helped us to think about the Savior and the time in which he lived. We all sat on the floor and ate with "candlelight."

We also made a "names of Christ" garland with different names of the Savior and scripture references. Some names we shared were: the Prince of Peace, the Mediator, Good Shepherd, the Lamb of God, Redeemer, Bread of Life, and Counselor.We ate olives, fish, rice, melon, resurrection rolls, and grape juice.The priests in our ward were the most polite ans helpful waiters.

To end the evening we watched the video "To this End was I Born." Bishop Allen then spoke with us about the Savior's final week on the earth. It was a very spiritual evening and really set the tone for a beautiful Easter season.

Easter Run and Carnival

Last year Katelyn Kylie, and I went to the Easter Run and Fun in Lodi. We had so much fun there we decided to bring the whole family this year.Even the Easter Bunny comes out for the run. Lloyd and I both ran the 5K. I was glad to be running again after taking a break due to my plantar fasciitis. Kylie ran the quarter mile kids run. She was more than thrilled to have come in first out of around 30 kids. She's our competitive girl!

After the run we attended a carnival at a nearby church. We had an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast and played lots of games. We won five cakes at the cake walk.Conner and Cameron got to participate in the egg hunt. Kylie was disappointed because it was only ages 1-5.All the kids rode on the train before we left the carnival. It was another fun time. I think we'll be back again next year!

Being an Auntie in Arizona

My sister, Karen, and her husband were lucky enough to go on a cruise to the Bahamas. Karen has been such a fun and loving Auntie to my kids for many years. I have always been worried that I will be the old and boring Aunt to my nieces and nephews. With that being said, I couldn't resist the opportunity to help watch Karen's kids while she was away on her cruise. I got to spend four days (March 19-23) with these two cuties - Ethan, age three and a half, and Adelaide (Addie) age 2.

Ethan is such a handsome and bright boy. He began talking at a very young age and still speaks like a much older child. I told Karen I think he must be gifted! He was a great helper and so much fun to talk to.Addie is Karen's sweet little girl. She loves girly things and insists that anything pink is hers. She loved playing with the baby doll I brought her. She doesn't even cry when you put her to sleep in her crib, probably because that's the only time she gets her pacifier that she calls her "wa wa."

I thought it was sweet and cute that Addie kept calling me "Mama." I think I must have reminded her of Karen. Ethan called me "Aunt Kristi." I can only hope that he thought I was a fun and loving Aunt (like Karen was to my kids for so many years). Here I am with "eating up" these two sweetie pies.Katelyn joined me for the trip to Arizona. It was a great time for us to bond as mother and daughter. She also helped out a lot with the kids.

We had a lot of fun while we were there. We made cookies, went out for ice cream, played in the back yard, read books, played games, went to church, and went out to Cici's Pizza (I've seen so many commercials for it, I had to try it).

Karen came back from her cruise on our last day there. She took us out for a delicious lunch.
Then we went to the park. I was glad to see Karen and her cute kids. We wished they lived closer. We love you guys!