We Did It!

Yeah! We did it! We finished reading the Book Of Mormon as a family! As you can see, it has been a very busy month for us! I can't even put into words how much this has blessed our lives! We are not exactly sure when we started this challenge, but it was before some of our children could read. As Adam and I were reminiscing, we think it has been over a three year process. At the beginning of the new year, we made a goal as a family to finish reading the Book of Mormon before Kaitlyn was baptised! We all agreed that if we finished we would have a party to celebrate! The girls chose cake and ice cream sundaes for the reward! I am so proud of the girls and their willingness to participate. It has been amazing to watch the girls ask questions and see their testimonies grow! As I look back over the past few years, it is evident that the power of this book has pulled us through some challenging trials. It is obvious as you look throughout the world that the family is under great attack. The adversary is doing everything he can to destroy our Creators most important possession (the family)! This process has definitely brought each of us closer together. As we were completing the book, Moroni gives a challenge to anyone who reads this book. In Moroni 10:3-5 he says:

"When ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you, that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye will ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost."

We challenged our girls to prove Moroni's promise through prayer before they went to bed that night. Adam and I talked to each of them the next morning, and it was amazing what each one said.

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints we believe that this book is another witness of the truths taught by ancient prophets, and our Savior Jesus Christ. We believe that this book was restored for our day and purpose. We are told that if we follow the teachings which are written, that this book will draw us closer to God more than any other book. We also believe that this book is the keystone of our religion.

I know this book to be true. I have taken Moroni's challenge for myself, and have had the undeniable witness that this book is true! I know our Heavenly Father knows each one of us on an individual basis and we do draw closer to him as we study and are obedient to his teachings.

100th Birthday Party!

We had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Wyoming to celebrate Great Great Grandma Van Norman's 100th birthday! She turned 100 years old on April 14th 2010. It's amazing that our children have a great great grandmother that is still living! It has been several years since the last time we saw her. Although she has had some struggles, she is still going strong. She is still as beautiful as ever! It's hard to imagine all the changes she has witnessed in her lifetime. We can learn a lot from this wonderful lady. Although she doesn't remember a lot, I think Adam's voice brought back some sort of memory for her. Whenever he would speak in a crowd she would turn and look right at him. At one point when he was kneeling down by her side, she turned to him and said, "kiss me!" He got a pretty good chuckle out of that! It was great to see so many people that Adam had not seen in a very long time, and people I had never met. It was great to see Kay and Jim. The girls loved Jim's story about Rindercella and the Prandsome Hince and how she slopped her dripper! Cowboy poetry is hilarious!

The Real Old West

We headed to Wyoming for Adam's Great Grandma's 100th birthday party. While we were there we stayed at the Occidental Hotel. Talk about a step back in time. It was one of the coolest places! It has been accurately and beautifully restored to original, the way it was in the 1880's. It has been awarded the Best Hotel in the West for the past two years in a row. This was the famous hang out for Butch Cassidy, The Sundance Kid, Calamity Jane, Buffalo Bill Cody, and many many others. Since there were six of us, we booked a suite with three bedrooms. When we were told what our suite was called Adam just laughed with a big grin! What was so funny about the Bordello suite? I didn't know what that word meant! To my surprise it means a whorehouse! I said, "We are staying where?" One of Lori's cousins had connections, and was able to get us some killer rates! I guess long ago after a hard days work, the cowboys had certain things on their mind; a hot bath, games and drinks at the bar, and of course some lady lovin'. I wished we had pictures of our faces as we walked through the door with our three girls in hand into the Bordello suite! They still had the soft red light shining through the window to alert people that they were opened for business like many years ago. As we walked through the door, Lori and I quickly noticed the photographs on the walls. You can only imagine right? We quickly scouted each room to preserve the innocence of our children. Then again we are staying at the old "hook-up" or "humpin'" hotel as Adam calls it. It was crazy! The first thing I read as I walked in was a sign that said:

"One Upset Cowboy"

Apparently some ornery cowboy, upset with not being able to get into see his favorite girl, left the marks on the bordello door by pounding on it with the butt-end of his Colt-45 pistol.

There was even a back escape door for those cowboys that had to make a quick exit! It was actually a pretty educational place. It was amazing to see what things were really like so long ago. To get to the restaurant in the hotel, you had to walk through the saloon. There were original bullet holes left from the fights that had broken out over 100 + years ago. Myself and the girls had never seen anything like it. As we walked through the saloon, Kourtney noticed the giant naked lady painting that hung from ceiling to floor right away! Sure enough when you want her to miss something she never does! We hadn't prepared ourselves for such talks! After dinner, we were visiting with some family when they asked which part of the hotel we were staying in. We told them and they said, "I'm glad you guys are staying there because I've heard that's where the ghosts hang out." Oh great! Once again our kids didn't miss that one either! So our original sleeping plans changed in a hurry! Each adult ended up sleeping with one child. All in all, it was a neat experience and very educational! When we were getting ready to leave Wyoming, Kaitlyn said, "I have noticed in Wyoming that they always have dead things all over the walls!" lol

Kaitlyn had a Birthday!

I can't believe this little girl turns eight today! She is so special to our family! Her smile makes me smile! She is always making us laugh by doing silly things! She is definitely our little entertainer! This birthday she was able to share it with Grammy TX who flew in yesterday to help celebrate! Kaitlyn played in a soccer game and then we came home to open presents and have cake.


















One of Kaitlyn's favorite things are birthday spankings! :)
I can't tell who is having more fun! lol!
After singing Happy Birthday, Kaitlyn opened gifts. She was excited to get a gift card and hear grandma was going to take her on a shopping spree!

Crown Molding at G & G House

While we were visiting grandma and grandpa Heaton during our spring break, Adam hung some crown molding in their living room. It looks so nice! Adam is such a perfectionist. Sometimes it drives me crazy to just sit and watch him, so I thoroughly enjoyed talking and spending time with grandma! I still supervised him though! lol Grandma is an amazing lady! She has so much wisdom. Whenever I am around Weldon and Vivian I feel like I learn so many things. They are wonderful people! They are so loving, and the grand kids love that grandma and grandpa play card games with them.

The finished project!

Cousins!

Nothing but fun when these kids get together! You never know what they will come up with! Our girls absolutely love their Blair cousins! Thank goodness we have Isaak to keep all those girls in check! Makell and Zoe make me laugh! They are so funny! I walked past the back window and saw the dolly, loaded with a crate, quickly speed past with one kid pushing and one riding! Everyone else was standing in line to ride! I guess Kaitlyn was afraid to ride when she found out Kourtney was the one pushing. :) Kourtney and Aryn set up a school room on the patio. They played four square until the balls became flat due to the many trips into the rose bushes. They also ate endless amounts of treats! Grandma is so good to them!

Spring Break!

Spring break was a full week this year, so we decided we were not staying home! After all the snow we have had lately, we planned on heading to sunny Saint George! It was absolutely perfect! Everything was in bloom and green! The weather was fabulous! We stayed with grandpa and grandma, which is the greatest place on earth to our kids! Once again, the kids loved playing in the barn and on the tire swing! Kaitlyn and Makell found two new friends in the barn. Kourtney helped grandpa plant some vegetables in his amazing garden! She loved every minute of it, and is still talking about it. Maybe I should put her in charge of our garden this year!

This is BAD for us!

The other day Makell asked me if she could open a root beer soda. I said she could, but only if she would share with her sisters. After I cracked open the top, she put it up to her mouth and took a BIG drink. A second later she looked up at me with tears filling those big blue eyes, and with her hand over her throat she said, "MOM, this stuff is BAD for us! It just burned my throat off!"
She really wanted to have more root beer but didn't dare for the fear it would hurt again!

She Graduated!

Yeah! Makell graduated early from the TLC program! She has been attending the program for the past year and a half. She has made such tremendous progress that there wasn't much more they could help her with! Everyone is amazed with what she has accomplished! They asked me if they could use Makell as their example for the program! Makell was their first four year old ever to graduate from the program! Her teachers have been helping her with sounds that were hard for her to make in the beginning. I think I learned just as much as Makell did! She has loved Miss Kerstine and Miss Megan! I am grateful for this program! These two ladies have been wonderful! I was always impressed by how they would incorporate fun learning techniques into their teaching outline! It is amazing to see the difference it makes with all the kids they teach.

Easter Egg Hunt

Can you believe this is what Easter Morning looked like?! Over six inches of freshly fallen snow! I told you it fells like we are in the middle of winter! After church, we were all planning to get together at Grandma Great's for a BBQ and egg hunt.

Since there wasn't enough shovels to go around to hunt outside with, Matt and Janette decided to hide them down in grandma's basement. You know us, snow is not going to stop us from having our Easter tradition BBQ!

Makell getting an egg with dad's help.

The loot! There were eggs everywhere! The kids were told there was a Grand Prize egg, and with it came a big surprise. I think every kid was on the hunt for that one egg. Will, was the lucky little guy who found the egg in the dryer. His family anxiously awaited the prize! Matt and Janette ran home to get it. Right then I thanked the Lord it wasn't one of our kids that had found it! If it wasn't brought to grandma's when they came, then they had something up their sleeves! Sure enough the Grand Prize was two baby chicks! I hear they are worse than a colicky baby.

If you don't have a set of these then you are missing out! Matt and Janette are so good with the kids! They are always doing such fun things for and with them! The kids had such a ball!

Easter Saturday

Easter Saturday we started the day off with the annual Easter Egg Hunt at the sports park. The weather was extremely cold. Lately it has felt as if we are still in the dead of winter. I am hoping Spring will arrive soon! I guess you could call us die hards. The girls had to bundle up in their winter coats to stay warm! The rain broke for a few minutes as the hunt went under way, but the wind was rather miserable. Was it worth putting ourselves through it for a few pieces of candy and some stickers...? Ask Adam he will tell you! :) Later in the evening, we colored eggs at grammy great's house. We took a turn staying with her for the weekend, so my mom could go home and get some much needed rest! Grammy great loved hearing about their eggs, and how the girls had decorated them since she isn't able to see them. After we left grammy great's house the next morning, the girls were anxious to get home to see if the Easter Bunny had left them a surprise! Sure enough their baskets were not where they left them. There had either been a robbery or the baskets had been filled and hidden. Makell was the first one to hunt for her basket and found hers in the bathtub. Kaitlyn found hers in the front hall closet mixed in with all the winter attire. For a moment Kourtney wondered if maybe the Easter bunny had taken her basket with him for some snacks along his delivery route. After fifteen minutes of hunting she found her basket in the toy room closet mixed in with all the toys.

April Fools!

Just ask Kourtney how our morning started off! I'm sure she would LOVE to tell you! Kourtney has had a trick up her sleeve for quite some time now. Look really close at her picture! Can you see something that just doesn't look quite right? I wondered why there were many times I found her at the calendar with a smirk on her face counting down the days until April 1st.
It was first thing in the morning and of course my mind was still a little foggy, eyes not fully opened, and I didn't bother turning the light on when I walked over to the kitchen sink. I reached for the faucet, turned it on, and let out a blood curdling scream! I was being pelted with ICE COLD water! Talk about a rude awakening! Kourtney had put a rubber band around the sprayer and had it pointed directly at her future victim. Unfortunately I was her victim! I have since then made a new rule that mom cannot be the subject of the pranks, only the dad! lol! After the kids had belly aches from laughing so hard I told them that they better watch out because I had a little trick up my sleeve as well! :)


When the kids arrived home from school, they began looking around the house trying to see if they could figure out what surprise I had planed for them. After an hour, they became side tracked doing other things and had forgotten all about the pranks. I decided I was going to dip some strawberries in chocolate and make some of my "homemade" chocolates for dessert.
After dinner, they were anxiously awaiting their dessert. My plan was to lure them in with the strawberry and then get them good with the chocolates.















What they didn't know, was the filling for the chocolate was a cotton ball!
Oh my goodness! Adam and I laughed so hard watching them bite into them and realizing what they were! It made for a great laugh! I would have given one to Adam but he caught me making them! Can't wait till next year!