Part-Time=More-Time?

So going part-time at work was supposed to create more time for me and the kids. I have found it completely opposite. I have been more busy the last few months than ever before. First of all, work hasn't been part-time. Every person they hired to replace me in the office has been fired or quit. This has created an interesting scenario with trying to work part-time with full time duties from home. uhg! I have also taken on a lot more projects thinking they wouldn't be too big of a deal. Here are my latest projects. I am happy they are all over with and I guess I shouldn't complain that I have found time to accomplish them. This is a mini-enrichment activity I took on. We made 10 FHE lessons to put in a binder. The project seemed easy at first but turned into a lot more work than expected. Oh well, there was a good turn out and it came together in the end. This is a blanket I made Scott. He has been using the same one for 15 years now and it is starting to fall apart. We didn't tie this one but just sewed through it. I am still not sure if it is any easier to sew vs tie the quilt. Not planning on doing any comparisons any time soon. I made salsa over the weekend with my Mom and sister. It was a first for all of us but it turned out super yummy and I am happy we did it. Now I have good canned salsa at my fingertips anytime I need it. Yum Yum

Back to Utah

We went to Utah over conference weekend along with my Parents, Brandon, Logan and Michelle's family. We were one big happy family staying at Kliss' house. We had a birthday party for my niece Shaylee and did a lot of shopping. Here are some highlights of the trip. We missed you Ashlee but I am sure your carpet looks great! Thank you Francis family for being such great hosts as usual. We are quite the crew to take on all at once.

Weekend of Shopping

This past weekend I was lucky enough to head to Utah with some friends, Katie Phillips and Melissa Thomson. We went down specifically to shop without kids. Our wonderful husbands braved being at home with them Friday night and Saturday day so that we could make our great escape. We left around 6 on Friday evening and spent the night at Melissa's in-laws house. Cathy was such a great host and we had so much fun staying up late and talking. It has been awhile since I have been up until 2 a.m. chit chatting with a friend. It was like a true slumber party. The next morning we hit Ikea and spent half the day there and then hit Tai Pan Trading. I am so excited about my new decor, I have posted pics below of some of my favorite finds. Katie and Melissa found some great things too. I can't wait to see how everything turned out in their houses. We were so excited about our shopping experience that we even had a guy stop us in Tai Pan and comment on "how cute" we looked together walking around with our carts and stopping to talk about everything we were seeing. We were slightly imberassed after that. It is a pity we don't get out enough to not look like it is Christmas morning when we finally get to shop. Oh well. We had a blast. Thank you husbands for letting us desert you for some much needed girl time. This is a wall in my bedroom after I put the black vinyl flowers on it. $19.99 at Ikea, I absolutely love them! The previous sticks I had in my bucket were being broken slowly each day and were starting to look pretty sad. Although I had to carry these sticks for several hours through Ikea, they were worth the hassle and look much nicer in that space. I should have taken a before shot but I guess you just get to imagine them instead. This is a wall in the basement. I think I am going to buy one more sticker set to extend the branches more but eventually I will hang picture frames over it so the tree will be the background on the wall. It will be really cool when it is done.

9 Years!

I can't believe how fast time has flown. Yesterday we celebrated our 9th anniversary. Here are some reasons why I still love this guy:

*He cooks all day at work and is still willing to cook for us when he gets home.

*His Mom taught him to treat me like a princess and he always has!

*He has an amazing knowledge of the gospel and holds the priesthood.

*He took me to the temple to be married and can still bring me back to this day.

*If something is broke, he will figure out how to fix it. We call him the king of Jimmy Rigging.

*He is really tall so he can reach all the things that I can't.

*He is a great Dad and likes to play with his kids.

*He goes grocery shopping with me and will run errands for me.

*He has a great sense of humor.

*He helps me decorate even if it means balancing on one leg straddling the tv stand, or moving items a titch to the right and then no actually right back where it just was.

I love you Scott. Thank you for putting up with me all of these years.

I Was Made For Lovin' You Baby

For some reason my kids love this song. We get requests for it all the time. When it is on, this is what we get to hear which cracks me up every time. Sorry about the footage, I was doing my best to turn around in my seat to video.

Cress Creek Hike

We decided there isn't a lot of time left to take advantage of the outdoors. On Sunday we went on a little hike at Cress Creek (not far from Heise). We had discovered a few things along the way and had a lot of fun.

Our first discovery...a lizard. The kids (notice the view) Me and the girls. Our second discovery, an apple tree. Can you find Scott in the tree? He is wearing camo so it is a little hard. Enjoying the apples. Thanks Dad!

Dance

Dance has officially begun. Ashtyn took dance when she was 3 but I ended up relying on Scott to take them to dance a lot because of work. He did not enjoy it so I really haven't pushed it the last few years knowing I wouldn't be able to take them myself. Now that I am part-time I had no excuses and signed them up. They take lessons at Dance Unlimited and so far so good. Here are their first day outfits. I love to watch each girl in class. They all seem to light up when they are dancing. I think it may have something to do with the clothes they get to wear.