Arches & Canyonlands

What a fun weekend! We decided to skip town early Friday morning and head to Arches National Park. It was so worth it. We had tons of fun. The weather was perfect, raining at night and overcast during the day. Our first day there we decided to take the long hike to Delicate Arch. 

Wow! It was beautiful.....and windy. See those three dots under the arch? That is Ben, Whitney and Corinne posing (hiding from the wind) for the camera. I have never seen anything more beautiful. The hike was hard for me seeing as I was on an antibiotic being treated for pheunomia.  Coughing and carrying Sadie in the front pack made it a little difficult but well worth is when you get there. I never realized how big the arch is. 

We had fun seeing all the other sights around Arches. William loved climbing on the rocks and made me nervous. 
My kids are posers.
We had to do lots of kids pictures and they were all wonderful. We ended up camping at the great little campground that was about 30 minutes from Arches and 10 minutes from Canyonlands. 
This picture above is us at Canyon lands. The views were amazing. I wonder sometimes why it took us so long to get there to see all of this. We will for sure go back. The funny thing is I can still say I have never been to Moab. Not once did I make it to that town, but we were 5 minutes away.

Are you wondering why there are no pictures on me? Well, I woke up on Sat. morning having an allergic reaction to my antibiotic. I was not a pretty sight, hives covered me from head to toe and my eyes were all swollen. I looked funny and I was very ichy! Penicillin and I are not friends!

Thank-you Mamou!

The 6th grade medieval feast is today. Whitney came to me a week or so ago and asked if I would make her a costume. Of course I would I love this kind of stuff. After going through all my fabric we had the perfect dress planned, thanks to Mamou. 

Who or What is Mamou you might ask? 

Mamou is the kids great grandmother who passed away last August. When her house got cleaned out I got all her fabric. At the time I thought, 

"I already have enough of this stuff of my own but I'll take it." 

Well, this entire dress, trim and everything is fabric from her house. 

Whitney is a very sentimental person so she loves that this dress is thanks to Mamou. (and a little thanks to me) Whit hopes she is reading this from her heavenly computer. 

I know she is!

It's a girl thing!

What do you do when you are sick and board? 

Make hair do-dads!

 I had fun making these and I hope my niece will like them as well. 

Not to Toot my own horn

Time likes to play tricks on us all. It seems like only yesterday Ben was as tiny as Will and following his dad everywhere. Now he is growing up and turning into an amazing young man. 

This past Wednesday we had the privilege of enjoying Ben's last band concert in Jr. High. These past three years have been such a great time in his life. I have watched him grow and express himself more and more through music. 

Where will this take him in life? 

I am not sure but I do know that if you listen for the music in your life you will be greatly blessed. 

Mr. Wolf, Ben's band conductor, has really taught a love for music for all his students. At the concert it is tradition for a Parent of the student to join their student on stage during their last number. 

WOW! I have never been in a band before and sitting there next to my son as he played his last song was amazing.  

As Mr. Wolf raised his baton to begin the song he looked at the kids, smiled and said,"Have Fun!"

I managed to keep the tears under control as my son sat next to me playing his horn. I hope after all of this that he will always remember those 2 words from Mr. Wolf, "Have Fun!"

Why did I say yes?

I have been asked to speak at our church enrichment (church night where the ladies get together with out the hubbies ) this Thursday on saving money in the kitchen. I was asked a long time ago and was totally okay with it then. 

Now I am getting a little nervous. My ways of saving money in the kitchen are just how I was raised but some people may think I am crazy. My mom says not to worry that I learned it all from her so it is her fault.

I think my biggest worry is that no one is going to come, or only the blue hairs, who are way beyond this in their life, will be the only ones there, or I am going to not talk about what people want to hear. If you live in my area please come, if nothing else dinner will be awesome! We are not having your typical enrichment food of pasta, salad and dessert. We are having rice bowls. They are going to be yummy. 

Please come 

Thurs. @ 6:30

The Rock Church

Check back later to see my "Top 10 ways to save money in the kitchen" list.

Dandelions

Nothing says Mother's Day like dandelions. My sweet girls picked these for me on the way home from church. I think they are beautiful. The girls even put them in the vase and tied the ribbon around it all before I got home.

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful Mother's especially my own. Thanks for being such a great mom and teaching me how to have fun and relax. You are the best!

Peanut Butter and......

JAM! 

Under Quarantine!

Don't come visit us anytime soon. I promise there has been no pig kissing here but the test still had to be done.

It came back negative and instead Ben has pneumonia. He has been playing hooky from school for almost a week and is not enjoying it. He misses school lunch, science, and seminary. I am just not very entertaining with my laundry doing and diaper changing. 

Whitney felt like she was being left out of the fun and joined Ben at home today. Wish us all luck, I think it is going to be a long one.

Is this really fair when it is 70 degrees outside?

In my dreams I want to be able to express myself in writing like my friend Kristen. Her blog is so fun to read and very entertaining. I am working on my writing skills but it is pitiful compared to her. Visit her blog to see what I mean and it will further prove I am no writer but I just long to be one.