Dehydrator Fun!

Thanks to a wonderful person who dejunks their house often and gives it to my mom, we have a new dehydrator.

 We decided since fruit was on sale to have a fruit dehydrating family home evening!

 Strawberries, kiwi, and bananas.... oh my!

 All in all, the fruit all turned out really good. We seasoned some bananas with cinnamon and sugar, those turned out a little yucky but everything else was great. We're going to have to calls our friends and have another beef jerky making party soon!



Bathroom update!

Clay's buddy Adam and his wife Kelly and their little girl Shelby came down for the weekend. Whenever Adam comes down, it's time to get a project done. Last time he came we did electrical work around the house, the time before that it was telephone line work. This time was no different. We redid the base of the shower. The last pour for some reason didn't sent up well and came out all wavy and lumpy. So we ripped it up and there it sat for months. Then Adam calls and time to get to work. This pour set up great.

 A few weeks later after we were sure it was all nice and set, we (I should say Clay) tiled the floor. He did an amazing job! In between these two pours Clay textured the walls. After we laid the tile Clay put on a coat of paint, waited a few weeks and added another another coat of paint. Now all we have left to do is tile the walls and the floor and add in the necessities. He also put up the light fixture after the paint dried. We now have light in the bathroom! It's coming along, more updates to come!

Food Storage

Back in January, Clay got a big bucket of red wheat from his mom for his birthday. Since then we have slowly been building up our food storage. My friend Camilee told about a place in Phoenix where you could walk in and purchase already canned products and bulk food for canning. I had a doctors apt in Tempe yesterday and we decided to swing by afterwards and pick up some food.

 And food we did get! We bought a number of different products that were part of long term storage and some other thing like potato pearls and pancake mix meant for short term storage. The next morning we decided to try a little of the pancake mix. We took the sisters advice who checked us out and added a little almond extract for flavoring. It was the best batch of pancakes I think I've ever made. They not only looked pretty, they tasted super good as well. We've since tried them with added vanilla for flavoring and those tasted awesome as well!

Who needs boys....

...when you have buff little girls. My mom and dad came up for dinner. After dinner mom and I stayed in the kitchen at the table to visit and the girls and dad and papa went into the living room. Before I knew it they were having a contest to see who could do the most push ups.

 Papa agreed to do as many as the girls could. Little did he know that they do push ups all the time with their dad. Alex can rock out 120 sit ups but Sydney has her beat in push ups. They even winded papa. Dad proved to be stronger than them all in the end. It's an amazing sight to see Clay pump out the pull ups as well! He's one fit guy.

 Then later that night here is the sight I beheld. Clay with his daughter (who needs a son when you can have a daughter like you in every way!), laying in the same position, both in pajamas, watching the same t.v. show. Someday Sydney will be too cool to hang out with her dad, but for now he's still her hero!

Happy Birthday brother!

Happy Birthday to my big brother James. Since we couldn't be in Montana with him to help celebrate, we had to think of another way to celebrate. Why not have an ultrasound!

I had my first ultrasound today. After nearly 10 years of trying to have another little one we've finally been blessed. What a tear jerker it was to hear the tiny but loud heartbeat of our new little one. A sound I had feared I would never again hear from my own belly. Then to see the sweet little baby growing inside up close and personal. The shock and awe of it all set in. I was a blubbering hot mess. I'm so excited, a little nervous, and extremely worried. I wish I had a sonogram machine at home so I could see the baby whenever I wanted and know for sure it is OK. I have to do tons of blood work weekly, tons of doctors appointmentts, and take tons of meds (all of which I have been assured will not effect the baby in any way). All of that can make a mommy super anxious and a little stressed. The minute I hear the heartbeat, it all goes out the window. I can say for sure once again we're having a baby. I'm so thankful that our heavenly father has a plan in store for each one of us. I prayed for years for a new little one to bless our lives. My prayers were answered each and every time, just not in the way I wanted them to be. The answer was always, not right now, maybe later. Heavenly Father knew exactly when a new little one should come down and join our earthly family. I am so grateful our family has once again been blessed. I'm a proud mom and wife and I'm excited for October to come so we can meet our new little one. I hope your day went as well as mine James, Happy Birthday! We love you!

A chilly start to our Spring Break!

We started off our Spring Break with a nice little snowstorm. The snow really never stuck to well. The thing about Arizona and weather is that it is very crazy and can't make up it's mind what it wants to do. A few weeks prior to this storm it was so warm out that we had to turn off the heater and get the cooler all hooked up.

 We froze our little tootsies off this weekend. I was glad Clay was home to drive us around in it. Today we spent the day in Sierra Vista. I'm not the world's greatest driver in the first place but then you throw snow into the equation and drivers beware!

 Another awesome thing about Arizona, the snow is pretty and nice but never lasts long. Just the way I like it!

Let's hope the rest of the week is warmer so we can get out and enjoy our week off!

In case you didn't know.....

We found out yesterday. As for more info....you'll know when we know!

:)

(If you aren't sure what this is a picture of, ask a friend!)

Bookfair 2012

It was book fair season again at Greenway. That means I have been one busy lady for the past 2 weeks or so. Our goal this year was to beat last years profits of $6,600 by at least $100.00. If we accomplish this goal our Principal has dance the hula in the cafeteria in a grass skirt! The theme this year was a book fair Luau. I dressed the part everyday for two weeks. I had the good ole Hawaiian shirt and I rocked a Lei every day! We were busy non stop every day. It was exhausting but also so much fun. We had a family night. We played pin the coconut on the palm tree, we did the limbo to Hawaiian music, we had prizes and raffles, and we also sold ice cream floats and sundaes. The girls had to be up early to get to the school with me by 6:45Am, then our day didn't usually end until 4:30PM or so. They were tired little girls but good sports about the whole thing. I think it helped that they got to read as many books as they wanted before and after school. We also had a second family night with a free movie offered. The school put on Lilo and Stitch and had popcorn and water for sale. That was pretty fun too.
The last day of the book fair was today. We closed it down at 8:00 this evening. When we did a profits print out from the registers, they said we made $7,100. We get 50% of the profits to spend on new books for the school!! It looks like Mr. Gauch will be doing the Hula next week! This has been our biggest and most successful book fair to date. It was a lot of fun but I am glad it's over. Time to start looking forward to October when we have another book fair at the Junior High. Oh my goodness, come October Sydney will be in Junior High!! That's a scary thought!!!