Our Crazy Week and a Billion Pictures

We have had a great week! It was a good way to end the summer. We had one of our favorite people here with us this week. It's my niece Tyler. She came on Wednesday and is leaving on Monday. I have decided I need to find me an 11 year-old to come live with me, because she is so helpful.

We have gone swimming at sandhollow, we've baked, we've SHOPPED, which was an experience all of it's own. We went to Hollister and Aeropostale. I felt like I was living that scene out of Pretty Women, when Julia Roberts go shopping on Rodeo Drive and they tell her that there is nothing in the store for her. Here I am in Hollister with my double car stroller that we rented at the mall. HA! I wonder how often those go into Hollister? What else, oh we've eaten a lot of pizza and for anyone who knows Tyler, you'll know why!!

Then tonight we went to this new crazy park!! I love parks, poor Josh hates them and swears he's been to everyone in Washington, County. But I just had to share some pictures. It was a blast. I love playing with my kids. They are so awesome!

J.D. is such a stud!! He gets so exasperated with me when I want to take his picture.

Here is my mini Josh. Tyson is Josh in miniature and he makes me giggle!!



I had to throw in a couple of pictures of J.D. He's getting to that age when he wants to do his own thing and so he is never around for pictures. But I love this kid!! I need this as proof so when he is all grown-up he can't claim I didn't love him.

I cannot put into words how cute this picture!! I love her so much!
Josh and Tyler had a ball on this pendulum swing. Look how high she is going. I have oodles of pictures of them on this thing. Kind of scary. Note the look on my face in the next picture.
Oh yucky picture!! Tyler wanted me to post it because she said you never see pictures of me on my blog. I love to play on the playground with my kids and there is never anyone there to take pictures, but Tyler was there and started to snap away. We didn't get any really good ones of my face, because I was being flung around like a rag doll by my husband on this silly swing. Not his feet in the background.
Tyler had so much fun in this contraption. I am not sure what to call it, except to say that she spun around and around so much she got sick.

Does anyone else remember these??? Except in our day they were horses and lot's of crazy mixed up animals? Piper loved it.

Look at this cutie!! Tyson insisted on wearing that silly suit over his swim trunks. I kept telling him that he needed to take them off, but he wouldn't. Oh, well. At least he floated.

We did a few experiments with cookie recipe's. Piper loves to help me cook!! Tyler and I made Rainbow Pop Cookies. For this fun little project, see my other blog on Monday, I will be posting full details there!

We got this fun toy at KB Toys, which is having great clearance on their summer toys. Look at Tyler, she must be full of hot air because she sure did a good job blowing it up!! Just kidding, J.D. and I both helped.

Awesome Quote

"The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are TENDER. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are KIND. There are enough women who are rude, we need women who are REFINED. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of FAITH. We have enough greed; we need more GOODNESS. We have enough vanity; we need more VIRTUE. We have enough popularity; we need more PURITY.".

Margaret Nadauld

I came across this today while preparing my Y.W. Lesson for tomorrow and I fell in love with it. I just had to share! Have a great weekend.

A Little of This and a Little of That

I am so excited to announce that I have taken blogging to the next level!!! Mandee and I being the crazy girls that we are have decided to start a blog together and leave any question of our sanity behind!!

But seriously, we have both wanted to start cooking and activity blogs for quite some time. We were both talking about it separately one day and I called ManDee up and said let's do it together. So here is our first official day of posting!!!!

Check us out at A Little of This and A Little of That!!

P.J. Fun

Just wanted to share a few photo's of my cute kids!! I love pajama time. I love the way they smell after baths and the down time that we take to read books and hang out on the floor as a family.

This one melts my heart. He looks just like his daddy, but blonde. He is the sweetest guy!

Notice that Piper is wearing Tyson's underwear over her diaper. She is obsessed with his underwear. I think it's just because she see's the boys wearing batman and cars so she thinks she needs to. Silly girl!

Love this kid!! He is so sweet. I can hardly believe he is going to be in first grade!!

Bunks Junk

Almost forgot to post this. Like I said earlier, my head has been in the clouds for the past two days. I linked to Bunks Junk through Misty's blog. This is a fun little blog where she does vinyl and metal work. CUTE STUFF! She is having a contest this month for free vinyl. The more people that sign up the more vinyl she will giveaway. Go check it out and sign up here. Right now there is only 9 people so the chances are good. And remember Christmas is coming u p fast!! If you won this would be a great way to make a present for someone and save a little cash.

So Sad and So Tired

I'm tired, so very tired. I have spent the last two nights staying awake and reading Breaking Dawn. I hate to see good things end. I am currently in a state of mourning. It was an amazing book. I think it crossed over from being a teenagers book to an adult story. Bella and Edward got married. The relationship had to progress but I think Stephanie Meyers did a fabulous job of keeping it clean and it was well written.

In the middle of reading it I had to remind myself that all stories progress and strange things happen. For some reason lots of people have problems with Harry Potter, because they got darker as the series progressed. I don't think it was necessarily darker, but Harry got older and so his perception changed and as such so did the telling of his story. The same was true with Breaking Dawn. The characters had to evolve to allow the story to be told.

I loved the way Breaking Dawn ended. It was enough for the fan's. I won't ruin it for those of you who have not read it yet. There were a few things that I did not expect, but turned out to be okay in the end.

For all of you who know me, I am a huge Harry Potter fan. Piper's middle name is Hermione for heavens sakes. I think the fact that Stephanie Meyers is being compared to J.K. Rowling is a huge compliment. She has made a phenomenon that will not soon be forgotten. I can't wait for the movie to come out. it's going to be a good year. Twilight and Harry Potter are being released only weeks apart.

If you haven't read the book go get it!!! I promise you'll enjoy it. Thanks to Kris and ManDee, you guy's are sweet and I love you guys!

Breaking Dawn

I know everyone is eagerly anticipating the release of Breaking Dawn!! Until them I will be reading this guy's blog. He has written a spoof of chapter overview which so far are pretty funny! So tomorrow, while we are all eagerly awaiting 12:OO A.M. Check this out and have a few laughs.

Half Blood Prince Trailer

I am so excited that I am doing a little dance right now!! I love Harry! I really wish that J.K. Rowling would continue the series. I am still in mourning from book #7. I could go on and on all day. Check out the trailer on You Tube.

A Girlie Moment

Piper is so much more tempermental than my boys ever were. She can go from happy to sad in a split second. These pictures were taken in about a one minute time frame. I just wanted a picture of her in the dress! Isn't it so cute. It's a hand me down from BayLee.

Sweet Little Cousins

Cute little Riyo
Cute little Piper

24th of July Parade

Talk about a lot of pictures for one post!! Just wanted to share with you a few pictures from our 24th of July in Marysvale. I love small town parades. Nothing beats them. There were only three actual floats. One was a boat that was decorated with little fish and had little girls dressed up as mermaids. The other was the VFW float that had the flags on and all the old soldiers on it.

This float kills me. This was the DUP float.

Look at all the sage brush. Priceless!
See J.D. waving. And Brannigan is right there
beside him on his bike. Lot's of bikes in a small town parade.

This is one of my favorite pics. This is Carol C. She does this

every year. Her wheel barrow is full of water and she

goes around squirting the kids! Good time.

Gotta have horses. The rodeo royalty was in the

back of a truck??? We alway's rode our horses.

Piper and Tyson watching the parade.

Tyson had a whole bag of candy.

This was the hat that Brannigan started

out wearing, but it got to hot.

Cute Ashton running the foot races.

J.D. & Brannigan waiting to run.

J.D. actually won for the 5 & 6 year old boys!!

He got two whole dollars!

HE, HE, HE, Josh was a fish cop

for the fish rodeo. Cute shirt, honey!

Redneck Tubing

For those of you who don't know, my sweet husband Josh is a redneck. He loves to do crazy things and I love him. This you tube video that was made on the 24th of July of Josh and my brother-in-law Austin. My husband is on the tube and my brother-in-law is driving.

Josh and Austin were fish cops at the Fish Rodeo yesterday. It's held in the open air dance hall that has a lot of memories from my youth. After they got it filled with water, I guess they were bored and this is what they resorted to. Good thing I love him!!

Happy Pioneer Day

We are off to Marysvale!!! Yeah! Have a great weekend and make lots of memories.

Buttons, Noodles & Whales

This is how we have spent our morning. It started out by writing names and using buttons. Then it went to adding noodles and whales.

Tyson's Spiderweb

J.D. did 3 of his name

Amazing the things that will entertain.

Happiness is when.......

Happiness is having three, beautiful, little ones who love me and call me mama!!! It's being married to my best-friend and loving every minute of it. It's knowing my home is tiny, but filled with love and lot's of laughter. It's early morning snuggling, late night cookies and milk and everyday moments that make me happy! I love you guys.

Piper Hermione aka Suey

Tyson aka Tootie-Bootie

J.D. aka Chubba or Jaders

Memory Lane

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

I Survived Operation Rock Salt

I survied girls camp!!! It was the funnest 3 day's I have had in a long time. Not only fun but so spiritual. I hope and pray that the girls were uplifted. I defiently was. I left camp wanting to be a better person in every aspect of my life.

The camp theme was Operation Rock Salt. Instead of the Green Beret's we were the Pink Beret's. It was an army theme and the girls had to wear uniforms. They wore camouflage pants and pink shirts. We also had to wear a beret and carry cute weapon holders. Every ward was so diffrent. It's funny how your givin an idea and you run with it. The picture above is our camp flag. We were the Salt Shakers. We had the cutest cheer that Tawny wrote it goes ~ Don't mess, don't mess, don't mess with the best cause the best don't mess. Don't fool, don't fool, don't fool with the cool cause the cool don't fool. From the East to the West the Shakers are the best!


I had a few parts that were my favorite. Tim Gates from the band Due West flew out from Nashville to speak to us and to hold a concert. That was pretty cool. He is originally from Richfield. His music was beautiful and I loved that his song's had meaning and direction.

Also loved that we had academies. We were asked to choose them earlier in the Spring time and they placed us where they could. I got to do a first-aid clinic, which was okay. Soft option since I have certified in it several diffrent times. I got to go to a clinic on how to be an amazing speaker and Hyrum Smith was the teacher. The man is the king of public speaking and he is an amazing individual. Loved that class. I could have sat and listened to him talk all day.

The last academy that I went to was about reading. We were asked to read a book ahead of time, called Journey of the Promise, Joanne Arnold a local author her in Santa Clara. It was an amazing book. I love LDS novels and this one was amazing. Lot's of suspense and stories within the story. Defiently worth reading.

There were other things that I loved. I loved testimony meeting, which is alway's spiritual. I loved the sunrise devotional on the last day. I also loved the remember rocks that they made for us.

I am so grateful to be involved in young women's. I have an amazing group of girls whom I love dearly even when they are giggly and keep me up all night long!!! I have so many pictures, that I will try to post later on. Right now I feel a nap coming on. Have a good Sunday!

Happy 6th Birthday J.D.

Hard to believe that my baby is 6 years old!! Seems like just yesterday that I brought him home. He was such a cute baby. He's been such a joy. He's a good boy. He is my special helper and friend. I love him soooo much!!!

Ride em' Cowboy

Not a very flattering picture of Mama!! EEK! Oh well, gotta have a picture every and then. I am looking a little rough, I had just gotten home from girls camp a few hours before.



J.D. wanted to go to Texas Roadhouse for his birthday. We met up with Grandma & Grandpa Doty and Aunt Heather and had some steak, which is J.D.'s favorite food. J.D. wanted to go there because he got to sit on a saddle and they gave him a great big Yeah Haw!!! Super fun. He got new boots and a new hat for his birthday. He will have his friend party next Wensday and then we will head off to Marysvale so that we can go spend the 24th at home and go to Brannigans birthday party.

A fun little tip

This nifty little tip came from my friend, Lindsay. We had a barbeque for the 4th of July and I had hot dog buns coming out of my ears. I was lamenting what to do with them when she said, "Haven't you ever made breadsticks out of them?'. What an idea. We made them up with the hot dog buns and my kids loved them. I made them up with leftover hamburger buns last night and the kids loved them even more.

I just put a little bit of garlic butter on. Sprinkle on some seasoning. I use Pizza n' More Italian Seasoning from Alison's Pantry. Sprinkle a little mozzarella cheese on top and pop it into the oven under the broilder until the cheese is melted. So much easier than making breadsticks, which we love to do, but it is so messy!! I am all about convenience.

Well everyone have a great week! I am off to girls camp and if I survive, I'll tell you a tale or two when I return!!

Young Women's

For those of you who don't know, I am the beehive advisor in the Young Women's program. I love my calling, but it also one of the hardest and time consuming callings I have ever had.

Here we are doing a camp fundraiser car wash and bake sale.

Cute Meagan and Brianna are two of my beehives. Here we were playing wheelbarrow baseball with our dads. Lots of fun!!!!

There is so many places available online that have awesome ideas and handouts. I use Sugardoodle , Mormon Share and The Idea Door a lot.

Every now and agian I stumble across website that are amazing!!! Somehow last night in my (mommy therapy time) blog hopping I found these blogs who belong to super, crafty women. I am crafty in my own right, but nothing like these ladies. They have amazing ideas and some of them I have seen on Sugardoodle, but not all of them. These need to be looked at.

A Bushel and a Peck This will take you right to her y.w. archives.

The Time of our Lives Her y.w. stuff is mixed into her blog, so you'll have to browse it a little bit.

Go Ask Laurel Super cute sight that the y.w. can use to see answers to other questions that young women ask.

And as a side note and totally unrelated to young women's. Check out this blog. She is doing Christmas in July. There will be 30 days worth of fun crafts and idea's to do. I love crafty women!!!

A Rodeo and Swimming

Thursday night we went to the Gunlock Rodeo with Kris's family. We had a lot of fun. The kids got to chase chickens and watch about 500 people rope. Okay, maybe not 500 but enough. I think roping should be saved until the very last thing in every rodeo. IT TAKES SO LONG!!!! J.D. is all about Rodeo!! He dresses the part and looks pretty cute, I might add. His wranglers wouldn't fit so he wanted me to take off the tag and sew it onto his pants. He's such a little stud!

Here are my boys in their goggles. The boys are both getting really good at putting their heads under the water. It helps that we have been going swimming a lot!!

This little punk is so photogenic.

That and I love his red hair :)

Tyson, Corbin, & Aidan
J.D. & Piper

For the 4th of July we spent the evening with the Carters. We had a barbecue and then went swimming. It was a lot of fun, as usual. After swimming we ran into St. George to watch the fireworks with Josh's family. There were people everywhere. It was craziness. As soon as the last firework was over we ran for the car trying to hurry and leave before the other thousands of people tried to leave also. We went to Trina and Ammon's house after that and set off the few fireworks we had bought. It was a lot of fun.

God Bless America

While many in our nation no longer believe in God, I do. I thank him daily for my blessings for being able to live in this great and beautiful land. I am so grateful for the freedoms that I enjoy and the life that my family is able to have here. I pray for our nation. I pray for peace, I pray that this country will bring God back into her foundation. I am grateful for the founding fathers and the faith that they had in God. I am grateful that they payed tribute to him in the birth of our nation. I ask God to bless America, though many do not.

I am grateful for those who fight for our rights when we cannot or choose not to. Bless them and bless their families. Remember all those who have sacrificed in your behalf. Thank them and honor them.

Happy 4th of July. Be safe and make lots of happy memories with those you love.

Monkey or Baby??????

First of all. She's stinkin' cute! I love her so much! This morning while I was trying out a new recipe for Blender Wheat Pancakes, which by the way were super yummy. J.D. didn't like it, but Tyson and Piper ate the whole thing. Anyway, back to the story.

The kids were being very quite. I looked in on the kids in the living room and Piper wasn't there. J.D. and Tyson were absorbed in cartoons. So I first went to check the bathroom, but the door was shut. So I stuck my head in the boys room and guess where Miss Piper was? Sitting on top of J.D.'s bed. She climbed up the ladder. I almost had a heart attack and then I decided she was pretty cute because she was being so happy and cute so I had J.D. come sit with her so I could run get the camera.

I had caught her before on the ladder, but only up to like the second rung. Holy crow, only 13 months old and already a dare devil. Heaven help me!!

I thought I gave birth to a little girl.

Not a Monkey!!
It's a good things she is cute.