Works of Art

Ever have a time when you look back and say to yourself "What was I thinking?" Well, we did! For family home evening I got the brilliant idea to let the kids have some kind of craft activity while we did our lesson, to hopefully keep them distracted. So, at the dollar store we found these little boards to paint....and here's what came to be! Okay, it wasn't really that bad. The kids had fun and behaved for the most part.
Devon wanted to go without a shirt instead of changing into one that could get messy. Oh well, he still stayed cleaned.
Ellie seemed to really enjoy it.

Hand prints were the best! At least, the kids thought so. The brush tickled when I painted their hands....and of course, they had to paint their hands themselves after that.

Daddy was pretty tired and falling asleep. Poor guy, very worn out.

It's a little blurry but so cute! What a little monster, not to mention she loves having her picture taken.

And the final creations! What fun! Tomorrow after they are dry we are going to hang them up on their walls. Devon was pretty mad at me so he wouldn't smile for this picture. Mostly, he was really working hard not to smile. Oh well, it's a usual Devon face!

Labor Day Weekend!

Oh What a busy weekend! But we have had fun! We had a family movie night on Friday and then Saturday Morning we went out to Antelope Island to the Balloon Stampede. It was too windy that day for the hot-air balloons to go up, but they at least had these pretty cool large kites out there. They also had a whole blow-up play area for the kids, slides and bounce house...really fun. Devon's favorite was the big slide! He just kept going on that and would have kept doing it all day long! Ellie, on the other hand, was afraid on the blow-up stuff. We aren't really sure but we think it might be because she didn't have the solid footing that she is used to. Ellie did, however, really like the big kites out there. She enjoyed watching them, while they bored Devon. At least they both had something they liked though! We also FINALLY finished our fence. It has taken us a YEAR. It is not so much that it is that hard just that we have been putting it off. We needed to finish staining the rest of the pieces and finally put them up. It looks beautiful though. Oh accomplishment! What a wonderful feeling! On to the next project.....one day!

On Sunday, I experimented and made some homemade pizza sauce. We have had a lot of good luck with our tomatoes growing but haven't been using them up very quickly, even giving half of them away! So, to use up some of those tomatoes I attempted the pizza sauce. It actually turned out pretty decent and we had homemade pizza that day. Yummy! The kids ate it up. I guess sometimes I can pretend to be a cook!

Then Monday (today) we took care of some things around the house we'd been neglecting over the weekend. :-) Then for dinner we went on a picnic to a duck pond. The kids like going out there to feed the ducks bread. After we finished eating, the kids saw one little duck close by where we were so they went over to start giving it some bread. After they started throwing bread in the water, a bunch of ducks started swimming over. In a just a short time, the kids were surrounded but having the best time. Afterwards, we went on a little walk around the pond.

It was such a nice weekend and the kids are definitely worn out! So are we! Hopefully we all sleep well now!!

8 Years

On the 25th of last month we celebrated our 8 year anniversary. Yes, it has been 8 years. I can't even believe that we have been married for that long, but at times, it feels like it has been longer. Also last month, we had 2 siblings get married (Congrats Adam & Leslie and Trisha & Ryan!). We thought back on the beginning of our marriage and just thought "Wow, they don't know what they are in for!" :-) Marriage is hard and every one has it's struggles. We have had our struggles and at times, really didn't think we were going to make it through. And honestly, a few times, we almost didn't make it. We survived them, and we've just become better and closer because of them. We still have a long way to go to get to where we want, but we are headed there and we have years of being together ahead to learn what we need to about marriage.

I love my husband very much. I am so proud of him and everything he is doing and starting to accomplish right now. I know a lot of it is hard for him. It is hard to put into words how I feel about him. Each day I look forward to him coming home from work. I'm glad he is in my life. We have our problems and our fights, but we make it through them. Thank you for staying with me for so long Jared. I love you!

(Hopefully Jared will add on to this later :-) )

Here is my add on! First, I say a huge "amen" to everything that April said! It has been a pretty difficult road for us, for sure. I'd be lying if I said that I never thought about giving up, wondering what it's all for. I'm glad for the struggles, though, and am trying to get to where I welcome the ones we'll have in the future. I'm not there yet. I know that I love my wife though. She has given me the two best gifts I have in my life in Devon and Ellie...I learn from them daily. She cares for them while I toil away at work everyday, and I believe that she definitely has the tougher job, and the more important one. My job puts food on our table, but hers puts direction and meaning into lives by planting seeds of faith in our two little crazies! All I have to say to April is thank you for putting up with me. For seeing in me what I cannot, or will not, for many reasons, see for myself. I know it takes a lot of faith in a person to look past shortcomings and see what they can become, and not what they are...I admire that in you. I do look forward to our many years together and struggling through whatever life throws our way, and doing it together....which is most important. I love you with all my heart!