Seminary Graduate

Sunday, Teesh graduated from seminary. She was asked to speak as well as play the piano. She willingly accepted but was so nervous. Proud momma to see her do things out of her comfort zone. She practiced the piano everyday and contemplated what she would share for two weeks. We extended an invite to all our family and friends to share in this great occasion. Teesh wanted to have a light refreshment for family to enjoy after the graduation. So I got busy and made 3 loaves of zucchini bread, 5 loaves of banana bread(some with nuts, yum) two loaves of zucchini lemon bread and one sweet potato bundt cake. I know, I am preparing for an army, with both our families being large I did not want to run out.  Freezers come in handy when momma makes more than the possie can eat.



Grandma Hansen, VaLynn, Ron, and their two boys Bitner and Tobias as well as Janalee, Jeremy, Brynlee, and Kale all came early so we had a BBQ and enjoyed a meal together.
Pam, Kevin, Stacey, and Brooklyn Dahl and Jaren, Cindy, Sarah, and Linda(Cindy's mom) met us at the stake center.
When we arrived, the lady in  charge realized Teesh was speaking so took the piano responsibility back and let Teesh just speak. Teesh sat up on the stand and looked absolutely stunning. What a beautiful woman Leticia is. They had two youth speakers talk about what they learned from seminary. A guy spoke first his name was Curtly, interesting both in name and speech. I was frankly embarrassed for him. He talked how he slept through most of seminary, came late and disrupted the class. He shared how he met his BFF in Seminary and they will be friends forever. Awkward, seriously awkward. I felt bad for his mother. I think his intent was to act cool and macho. Well, in actuality he looked like a fool. He will grow up and be so embarrassed I'm sure of it. 
Leticia got up and shared in her humble, quiet, spirit how music and speaking up to ask questions that others have but are too afraid to ask, has changed her life. She spoke like a seasoned speaker and I felt the spirit so strong. I shed a few tears and couldn't have been more proud of her.
The meeting was less than an hour, perfection! Everyone came back to our house for some bread and socializing. It was such a great evening in temperature as well as guests. I so appreciate all that traveled to support Teesh in this milestone.

We surprised Teesh with luggage for her graduation. The little girls could hardly contain themselves as they knew what lie under the wrapping paper.

 

 

  
Teesh for her graduation gift is flying to Europe with Grandma Hansen for a week. They are going on a tour of Kathleen's mission area. So we thought what a perfect gift of luggage for Seminary Graduation.
Leticia opening up her gifts from Grandma Hansen. The apron is a keepsake, graduation completed on to baking!

I tried to get a photo of everyone in attendance but a the end of the day, VaLynn and her family never made it in the lense of my camera. Sorry about that VaLynn. We do so appreciate your efforts in supporting us.

 Proud Momma!

 Teesh and her Grandma Hansen

 Corby, Teesh, Kathleen, and Jennifer

 Our first born is growing up..........sniff sniff

 Teesh and Sierra

 Brooklyn, Pam(my oldest sister)Kevin, Teesh and Stacey

 Janalee and Jeremy

 Mindy and Melissa

 Cindy and Sarah

Linda and Jaren with VaLynn making her debut with a peace sign

 

What a great day, now on to Highland High Graduation!

Dinner Groups

Our ward does these dinner groups every so many months. Typically I don't host, but this go around I decided to pony up and volunteer. The way it works is different auxillaries are put in charge and if you host someone will call you and tell you who will be coming to your house for dinner. Each couple that comes, contributes to the meal. In the past it has been a really fun experience but it always seems like Corby and I get put with the older folks that we have nothing in common with. So I took matters into my own hands and invited three couples to my house. I just let the primary presidency know of my idea and the secretary said it should be fine.
I invited Heather and Brandon Gresham, Scott and Stephanie Hoyt, Sheryl and Randy Broomhead and then of course Corby and I. I chose these couples because I have a genuine interest in getting to know them. I teach Sunday School with Heather and use to teach primary with Sheryl and visit taught Stephanie for three short months.
I did Cafe Rio chicken Salad for dinner. Stephanie brought key lime pie for dessert and Heather brought salsa and chips. The Broomheads were not able to join us as they had family in from out of town, so next time Sheryl and Randy for sure.
Each couple brought their children and my older girls watched them downstairs while we enjoyed dinner and games upstairs. Oh, how I love the willing hearts of my oldest three.

We played one of our family favorites, Slide 5. It was such a relaxing, low key environment.  I loved every minute of the evening. I hope to invite more couples over as there are a lot I don't know and would love to get to know better.

These were every bit as delicious as they look. So yummy! Stephanie is a really good cooker.

Valentine's Day

February 14th, the day of love. The day of flowers, chocolates and anything else to show your true love, appreciation. At NPA, we don't do parties so it has been many years of not worring about valentine boxes and candy. But this year, with my little ones in preschool, the boxes and candy must be made. It was fun to help Bria and Ada produce their valentine holders. I helped a little but for the most part they were the authors.

I just love these little faces, so innocent, most of the time. What joy feels my heart to be their mother!

When the boxes were complete off to bed these little ones ran. Excited for what would come the next morning. Excited they should be, I had some great things in store for everyone.

The girls woke to this.....................................

Pink heart shaped homemade pancakes and grapefruit. I began this tradition multiple years ago and the girls just love it. Bria isn't so sure about the pancakes being pink, but I reassured her they taste the same, so she gave it a whirl and whala she liked them as much as traditional. Silly little Breeta!

I was super happy the pancakes turned out so well, some years they stick to my mold and it is the thought that counts.

I bought each of the girls their favorite candy with a card. I decorated the cards and wrote heartfelt messages to each family member.

I bought the family a new Wii game. I have had so many friends tell me how much fun this is so we we will try it out.

Bria loves Scooby Doo so when I found these cards I just couldn't pass up this opportunity to see her smiling face. Gotta love morning hair! oh and sorry Corby I cut your head off. This photography business is harder than it looks. I must take a class when life s-l-o-w-s down.

Happy Valentine's Day

Sierra squeezed in enough time to get in our pictures

I have to explain these flowers, they were purchased a few days after Valentine's Day. I was a little disappointed on Valentine's Day to find not one family member did a thing for me. No cards, no notes, not a thing. I actually cried. Lately, I am an emotional wreck, hormones I'm guessing because I have never been like this. I don't expect a lot really but a homemade card or my favorite candy bar would have meant a lot. Bria could sense my sadness and asked what was wrong. I told her I didn't get a valentine and it made me feel sad. So next time she was with her daddy, she encouraged him to purchase these flowers. She was all smiles as she brought them in to me and presented her valentine. She told me I did not need to be sad anymore. She is one in tune kid! She also made me a valentine that just melted my heart. I love 5 year olds, they are so darn precious and adorable.

She wrote the word Love several times. The drawing in the right hand corner is an elephant. See his trunk and tail.? What a priceless gift she provided me. Thanks Bria, for being so loving and giving me a valentine.
To Corby's defense, which truthfully I am still so hurt but he did make up for it on our Anniversary a few days later, he was planning to get to the store and just ran out of time. I say what day is Valentine's each year? Does the day change each year? Huh, you had time just waited too late my man. Move on, get past it, we all make mistakes. Do again next year and we will have a boxing match on our hands my dear sweet loving companion. Love you Corby!

Ada wanted in the picture. She is so silly the expression she can manuever. I love my tulips and they are blooming so beautifully. Kind of makes me have a little spring fever.
All in all Valentine's Day was memory making. I love my family.

Snow

We live in Utah! 

Utah snows in the winter! 

We love the snow! 

We love the four changing season! 

We love to ski, sled, have snowball fights,create snowmen, create snow angels and absolutely enjoy the winter season.

 This year has been a bit much for the snowing though. We shovel our driveway, sidewalks, and streets so we can maneuver around only to find ourselves back out the next day or sometimes a few hours later doing it all over again. I feel like I am developing a too close for comfort relationship with my snow shovel these days!

Malia I see you, hang in there someone will rescue you

 

 Isn't it beautiful! I love snow .I really do but this year we have made up for the past years of less than normal. And let's talk temperatures, brrrrr! (that is saying a lot coming from a girl who wears flip flops and no coat most days)

Corby earning his keep

Malia by his side!

Corby sporting his new winter coat. He needed a new coat so bad, his old coat was over 20 years old. So, welcome to the 20th century honey!

Teesh, interesting shovel, but hey whatever works!

We all worked so hard, and even a few neighbors joined in to help us after they cleared their driveway. We don't have a snow blower, on purpose. I think some chores should be done with good old fashion hard work and snow shoveling is one of them. Seeing how I am the snow shoveler 90% of the time it is OK to have this philosophy. If we continue to have this much snow every year, I might rethink my logic. Look at the pile of snow on our grass. Holy Moly wintertime.

Malia and our neighbor, Brooklyn

  

There's the cement! We knew it was there. Grandma Hansen came down to hear Teesh give a talk in Sacrament meeting and after this storm, decided to stay the night. She is always so good to support our family in our activities. 

I wish I had photos of this event but wasn't in attendance so words will have to suffice. Our neighbor, Niki Guevara, called to tell me about an awesome deal at the Canyon's Resort. For $39, you get ski rentals, ski lessons, lunch, and a ski lift pass for all day. Malia and Sierra played hookie from school and left at 7AM with our neighbors. They had a great time and learned a lot. They both have wanted to learn to ski so what an opportunity this was. Sierra was suppose to take photos, but understandable so, she didn't take many. Corby and I have always loved to ski. We usually go only once or twice a season(darn money is too tight for more than that) but lately it has been zero. I would love to have a skiing family. Put it on the bucket list!

Teesh later told me she would have enjoyed that opportunity. Sorry, misread that one completely. I'll make it up to you sweetie I promise.

Just one more reason we love Utah, the greatest snow on the earth!

A new hairdo

When we bought our home in Taylorsville, the plan was to live here for 2 years and then move to where we would sink our roots in deep for the remainder of our child rearing years. Well, 8 plus years later, we are still in Taylorsville. For many reasons we just don't feel it is the right thing for our family to move. Our house is actually pretty great except for a few areas, kitchen, dining room and bathrooms. I love our bedroom sizes and amount. I love our backyard. I love the floor plan. I love that if people drop in, there is a welcoming room that basically stays tidy and the rest of the house is hidden(unless I invite them in). The things I would change if able would be like I stated, our kitchen, dining room, basement and  bathrooms. Our kitchen has a bunch of odd sized cabinets and our counter tops were the exact ones I grew up with. It was funny because I didn't remember this fact but would have this feeling of dejavu and one time my parents stopped in and my mom said, "oh, this color was in our Ucon home". And there you have it!
 Our dining room can barely fit our table and chairs seating for 8. We have toyed with the idea to build out but it would cost so much money and hardly give us much change. Plus our backyard is tiny, which we love  so there would be even less of a backyard.
So last November we decided to focus on updating our basement first since that was the most economical spot to begin. We painted the walls (Christmas Eve) and had the carpet replaced. We got all new furniture downstairs and even got a 55" television to add to the scene.
I have always wanted a home where my girls would want to bring their friends over to hang out here and now I feel like the basement is conducive to this wish. Next year, we will work on the bathrooms and maybe the kitchen.
Try as I may, I am unable to locate the awesome before basement photos. So just use your imagination and visualize white boring walls, beige plain carpet with red stains from the previous owners and old mismatching furniture. OK, do you have the image?
Here is the after shots now.......I just love the two tone paint. I love the white trim with the darker walls.

Under the TV, I would like a plug in fireplace with mantel. The ambiance is amazing and we could use a bit more warmth in our basement.

Got the bargain of the century on this lovely sectional....booyah! Still kind of have mismatched furniture, but this blue recliner will be with us through the eternities. It is so comfortable and where I sat to nurse all my sweet babies.

We figured if we have the toys behind the tv area the family can all be together and everyone is happy and fulfilled.

  This nifty little black item was supposed to change my life as I knew it,  it hasn't exactly lived up to it's full potential. Each cubby has all our toys. One cubby full of dishes and kitchen fun, another dress up, dolls and clothes, barbies.....you get the picture. Well, I need to attach pictures of the items or something on the outside of the cubby because there isn't a family member who is capable of putting like items with like items. So my brainy idea has been nothing but a glorified huge toy box that the girls shift through, dump out to get to the one desired item. Oh well, kids will be kids I guess.

Our family room downstairs is really long so we divided a section of it off for our office. I don't particularly love this idea but we need all 5 bedrooms right now. It is messy but well used. See the work out bench there. While I blog, Corby pumps iron. One day I will get organized and my desk will be clean but for now this is real life and how it looks 90% of the time. Just keeping it real people.

The next new and improved hairdo was replacing my rug and decor in the family room just off the dining room. I bought the items 8 years ago when we first moved in. The rug was black, which I loved but after 8 years of constantly vacuuming and still having it look dirty I traded it in for a lighter color. I also had the room accented in maroon and brown. I changed all maroon to an avocado green and cream. I rearranged the furniture in the room and have to say I am well pleased with the outcome. I also changed out my curtains from tan to green. Check it out!

If you look super close, you will see our family photo is sideways. Costco's photo machine was down so I couldn't update the frame, so yes, we are on our side!

 
 I changed out our curtains from tan to green. I had to hem them and for the sewing abilities I hold, it took a lot longer than it should have. Don't look too closely, but I have to say they look pretty great. On the curtains are brown designs, tying in the dining room with the living room. I also left a tiny bit of maroon, my fave color, see it, next to the table decor?

Our next house hairdo will be the bathrooms.......this June! I'll keep you posted, literally;)

New Year's Eve

We don't really have traditions to bring in the New Year. Sometimes we celebrate with family, sometimes with friends. This year it was the friends category. My work out buddy, Misty, had us over to her pad. She has 6 children, oldest being a boy then 5 girls, so we have a lot in common. Our two oldest and two youngest are similar ages but her middle two and Malia don't mix too well.
I made some appetizers and she provided veggies and we settled in for a full night of games.
It is so fun to hang out with others when our children get along so well. Seriously, we were there from 7:30 PM to 12:30 AM and not once did the girls argue. They get along so well (they spend so much time together at the daycare and also attend preschool together) I love that they have such cute little friends.
We played Slide 5, Mormon Bridge(have to be careful with this, Misty and her clan are not LDS), Catch Phrase, Scattergories(Corby's all time favorite), and a few other games.
When the magical midnight hour struck everyone sent a few texts wishing loved ones a new year and then we continued our game. No kissing. no pots and pans banging, no screaming just a quiet little moment to bring in the new year.
As with most,  some of the resolutions we as a family propose:
1) Jennifer will take over the allowance ledger and payroll department
2) We will try to be more kind to each other
3) Weekly Temple Attendance
4) We will be following a 95% plant base diet
5) And my most favorite, putting little girls in bed and teaching them to fall asleep with my assistance. Don't judge me here. I was a good mom to my first family and my girls could sleep without my presence, but somewhere along the struggle to get them here I slacked and they think I have to lay on their floor when they go to sleep. UGH for sure!
6) Jennifer, Leticia, and Sierra will all run a half marathon in April

I think we will stop there for family goals, don't want to overwhelm ourselves and end up not doing anything. Every new year we have an FHE about individual goal setting. We discuss how we felt last year went and what, if any, changes we need to implement for this upcoming year. The girls have 4 categories, 1)Spiritual, 2)Academic, 3)Physical, and 4)Entertainment. They must provide a goal for each category. I then type up the goals, laminate them, and hang them in visible spots in the house as reminders. I have to say some years are better than others, but this system seems to work well.
So cheers everyone to goals, and to 2013......We have high hopes for this being a bright new year!

Christmas Morning....oh dark 30

We had an unusual Christmas morning this year. Usually we are up at oh dark 30 but Bria and Ada slept in till 8:30. Normally I am waking my children up because that is what Christmas morning is all about waking up early. This year we have all been feeling a little yucky so the sleep did us some good. Anyway, Santa came and provided some great surprises for everyone, even though Bria our special 5 year old, unwrapped Christmas a week and a half ago. I'll blog more about that later (See post Character).
Our tradition for Christmas morning is to designate someone to be Santa and distribute the gifts to the rightful owners. We preheat the oven for our quiche and all settle in amongst our pile of gifts. Santa gets to tell the order we go in and one by one we each open a gift after eying what the one before us received. I love this method because it makes Christmas a bit longer and everyone gets to see what others are receiving or gets to see their face as they open the gift you gave. I have never been "a go overboard with Christmas" kind of gal. I set a budget on a sliding scale according to age and pretty much stay within the perimeters I set for myself. I know I sound like a control freak but budgets are important to me. Each girl receives about 5 gifts and there might be a few family gifts.

Our first glimpse of Christmas morning

Malia was our Santa this year. Each of the girls had fun unwrapping their gifts and acting surprised for my benefit(which was so kind)
Santa always sends the girls on a scavenger hunt to find the final gift. Santa had some brain cramps this year and didn't do the best job with clues but it's the thought that counts right? I love this part of Christmas morning the most, seeing these gifts opened up  are typically the best gift of the season in terms of wants and desires.

Here is Malia opening up her BYU sweatshirt. She was given one for her birthday but it was stolen at school so Santa brought a replacement.

Sierra received OPI nail polish and some very much needed makeup items. She also received a makeup brush set from Victoria Secret.

and Teesh received slippers(my old ones) which is why she is laughing. I crack myself up with my humor. She loves my old ratty slippers so I wrapped them up and gave myself her new UGG slippers and gave her my old ones. Her face is priceless. She is such a good sport to go along with my shenanigans. I eventually gave her the new slippers and happily took back my ratty ones that I have severely missed.

Malia actually received two surprises this year. The second was a 4th generation IPOD touch. She was thrilled.

Bria received a doll with matching clothes. I loved seeing this because it brought back memories of my Christmas mornings. My mom made me multiple outfits that matched my dolls and I loved it. Now I am not a seamstress, like my dear sweet mother, so the elves helped produce the clothes and everyone was happy. Here is Bria with her new nightgown and baby in arms.

Ada also received matching clothes with her baby. She looked at the outfit and informed us, "My baby doesn't want to be matching with me" and promptly went to get a different dress as to make sure there was no matching. 

Enjoying our gifts! Teesh received a laptop but I didn't get any pictures and Corby got two new coats. One casual and one dressy(he so needed them, his coat is almost 20 years old)
All in all it was a great Christmas yet again. I think we are blessed beyond measure and have so much to be grateful for. I received Clarissa and have been loving getting familiar with all her features.

Merry Christmas

Deliciousness! I put some spinach and mushrooms in a portion of this creation because there are some family members who don't appreciate the finer things of life. This stuff is so yummy, but takes an hour and a half to cook so we only eat it occasionally.What a great day! Now I am relaxing on the couch until New Years. I did all the shopping, wrapping, cooking, preparing this year.  Corby has been studying for a beast examine and needed the extra time to study. I am looking forward to the rest of the time off regular schedules and seeing my husband a bit more. He takes his examine on Friday the 28th, fingers crossed!