A Conversation At Dinner

I'm in the kitchen making dinner, Braden is in the next room and Kaitlin is hovering between the two rooms.
Kaitlin is complaining at the fact that she's always the one who has to fetch things for her Dad (who's just called down to her to bring him something...which happens often).

Me(trying to be nice to Kaitlin): Braden... go downstairs to the freezer and bring me a bag of vegetables.
Braden: Sure, I'd be happy to tell Kaitlin you need her to get some vegetables... Just kidding!

My son the comedian :)

My First Convention

It's THE inspirational event you don't want to miss. TIME OUT FOR WOMEN is not a conference. It's not a formal gathering. It's not church. But it IS a day designed for women who might need a break or want a chance to regroup and rediscover all that's good. This year we're uncovering the JOYFUL LIFE that is waiting for you to more fully enjoy.



Friday Night:

Ardeth KappFormer Young Women General President; board of directors, Deseret Book Company and Southern Virginia University; author, Better Than You Think You Are
"OUR PART IN THE PLAN"

Jenny Oaks BakerMaster of Music, Juilliard; first violinist for seven years for the National Symphony Orchestra; award-winning recording artist
"IN CONCERT:"





Saturday:

Kenneth CopeSinger; songwriter; producer; composer; multiple Pearl Award winner; albums include Greater Than Us All, Women at the Well. and his newest release, All About You
"Musical Performance"

Mary Ellen EdmundsFormer director of training, Missionary Training Center; Former faculty, College of Nursing (BYU); author, Love Is a Verb and Peculiar In a Good Way
"...And Let it Begin With Me"

Cherie CallSinger, songwriter, and multiple time Pearl Award Winner; albums include He Gives Flowers to Everyone and Beneath These Stars
"Musical Performance"

Pam HansenWomen's Advisory Council, Internmountain Health Care; weight loss/management instructor; author Running with Angels and Finding the Angel Within
"Finding Joy in the Mirror"

Elia Gourgouris, Ph.D.Success coach and President of LDSCoaching.com; Ph.D. in Psychology, UCLA; recently released talk on cd DTR: What You Should Know Before You Get Married. Visit Elia at AskDrElia.com
"Creating More Joyful Relationships"
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Jenny Oaks Baker absolutely blew me away with her talent. She's so adorable I just wanted to run up there a give her a hug. She was full of grace and humility but also showed us how normal she is. We could all relate to her but at the same time were in awe of her talent.



Kenneth Cope.

Cherie Call. Her voice and mannerism reminds me of Jodie Foster.

I wasn't sure if I would come away with anything that would help me in my life but actually I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed every speaker and musical performer, each one was great and had a special message to share.
They said a few things which helped me to re-focus my thoughts and feelings.

I left the convention feeling emotionally and physically drained but with a newfound understanding of some things which I was struggling with personally. Maybe now I can tweak those things and find improvement; where before I found only baracades hindering my progression towards a better me.

I'm grateful to my loving Heavenly Father who provided a way for me to attend this event and give me exactly what I need to endure a difficult time in my life.

A huge thank you to Mike for taking care of our kids so that I could be recharged and refreshed.

Love You xxx

Sanity Saver aka Toddler Trap

Kaeleigh is quite the climber and at 16 months she can climb up the front of the oven and her high chair (standing triumphantly on the tray) but more recently she has discovered the art of crib escapes.

Mike and I heard banging coming from her room and then a loud thud followed by screaming. Kaeleigh had scaled the foot board (which is flat - it's attached to the changing table). Apparently she was stomping on top of the changing table and lost her balance ending up on the floor...she was fine. I on the other hand let out a long disgruntled groan at the realization that my life would officially be over now that she couldn't be safely contained.

Queue the sympathetic "uh huh" from moms around the world.

The next day I put Kaeleigh down for her morning nap, hoping she remembered her scarry fall. A short while later I went to check on Lil' Miss Houdini...

She was perched atop the changing table, talking to the birds out the window!

Oh Boy...I guess it's confirmed. The crib needs to be converted to the toddler bed and everything in the room will no longer be safe.

Now for the good news...

My best friend came to the rescue and brought me the "Crib Tent II" made by tots in mind.

Let me tell you, they deserve every penny for that wonderful idea!!

It's brilliant and I have my sanity back...for a short time anyway.

Thanks Karen you're the best :)

Top TV Picks

My sister in law had this on her blog so I thought I would try it too.
These are our favorite shows to watch...at the moment.


Mike and I love to watch the english shows on sunday evenings.

Bizarre Foods - A family best nomination

one of mine

Braden and I watch this one together...he loves the breakdancing.

Mike and I like this

I enjoy answering the questions. It's usually on

after I get back from picking the kids up from school.

Man vs Wild - A family best nomination

Great show. The kids and I love it.

We enjoy the series in HD.

a family best nomination.

First Family Campout

Mahoney State Park in Ashland Nebraska is a great park with lots of kid friendly activities. They have horseback riding, mini golf, a giant indoor playground, water park, ice-skating rink and togogan run. Too bad that nothing was open!!!


One of the beautiful views from our hike.

Our awesome tent, it has three rooms. They've certainly come a long way since I was camping as a child, It only takes 10 minutes to set up.

We looked online and chose this great spot in Little Creek. It wasn't until the evening that we realized our true location...

We were seranaded by crickets, a coyote and an owl but these lovely sounds were drowned out by Interstate 80, a couple of helicopters and trains going past every 30 minutes (sounding their horns loudly) along a track on the other side of the wood!

Here we are packing for the hike.

little Kaeleigh waiting patiently for some breakfast. She has a cold nose...aawww

The kids are toasting marshmallows for our s'mores. It was a race to find firewood before the darkness came. We cooked foil dinners and tried to boil water for hot chocolate but didn't cover the pot and ended up foregoing the drinks

Kaeleigh and her handsome chauffeur

Kaitlin on the trail

Braden's GQ pose.

left...left...left...right...left...everywhere we go, people wanna know, who we are, so we tell them, we are mormons, mighty mighty mormons.

Monkey #1
Monkey #2

The observation tower was quite high so I stayed below with the baby. Kaitlin was a bit nervous because the tower swayed in the wind.

We had a great time and plan on making this an annual thing. Thanks for reading my incredibly long post. I hope you enjoyed it :)