New blog for Dennis

We've started a new blog for Dennis' at http://mountainwestdecking.blogspot.com/ This blog will be for Dennis' deck building business that we are starting in Boise, Idaho. Please feel free to stop by and check out his projects. Also, if you know anyone in Idaho that is looking to build a deck, please feel free to share our blog with them.

Happy Birthday Kylie!

Kylie doing her spotlight with Mommy and Cameron at preschool

(A picture for those who complain that they never see the photographer).
Kylie in her new big girl bed with her cute blanket and pillows from IKEA.

Kylie sitting on the couch during her party (why blogger is posting this sideways, I can't figure out). We realized half way through her party that she was sick with a fever.

Kylie had fun celebrating her 4th birthday with a new bed and bedding from IKEA. She had 4 of her favorite friends come over and join her for crafts, strawberry shortcake birthday cake and balloons. Then she was sick for two days. She is feeling lots better today so hopefully we can go to the zoo since she couldn't go with her preschool this week.

And one last picture of Cameron and Dennis taken recently.

Art Kits are Ready!

Remember these?

Well, look at this! This is what $180 in art supplies looks like

(with some punch, scissor and paper donations).

Yeah!!! We have 24 art kits ready to deliver to Primary Children's Hospital next Wednesday. Each kit has a sketch book, coloring book, washable markers, crayons, pencils and stickers. We will also be delivering some Fiskars squeeze punches, decorative scissors, glue sticks and construction paper for their craft room. Cameron is excited to deliver them and the hospital is very excited to receive them. This has been such a fun project. The kids helped with flattening craft ribbon and Kylie sharpened lots and lots of pencils (have to love automatic pencil sharpeners =) We just need to decorate the outsides of the bags and they are ready to go.

THANK YOU to everyone who has helped out by buying cards, making extra donations (thanks Mumzy, Shirley, Wendy Jo and Jenna!), and helping to sell cards (thanks Mumzy and Shirley!). Thank you Fiskars for the scissors and sqeeze punches.

We will continue Cameron's donation project with the sales of his remaining cards. We may even make future cards with new drawings. We would still really like to make art kit donations to the homeless shelter and domestic abuse shelters as well.

Cameron Playing T-Ball

I just have to say that I love to check up on family by reading their blogs. I'm sorry I haven't been updating our blog very much lately. Now that some craziness is behind us and more craziness is scheduled (moving), I'll try to keep everyone updated.




Cameron started t-ball last month and has really been enjoying it. He plays with 4 of his friends from school and church. T-ball is pretty funny at this age. Most of the kids can't catch a ball or throw it very far. Quite often they have to be directed to which base to run to. I've seen the runners try to field the ball instead of running to base. There have been more dog piles on the ball than the coaches would like to admit. Its just plain fun to watch!

In other news, we will be moving again May 31st. Where? We aren't sure yet. My job here with Shirley is ending. Cameron finishes up school on July 1st. We might stay at a friends house in Sugarhouse for a month if their house hasn't sold yet. We want to get back to the Boise area and we are job searching for Dennis. He would like to do decking in Idaho but it may take a little time to build up his business. For now we are just looking for good paying work with a schedule open enough to allow Dennis to do some deck jobs on the side. This will be move # 12 - so wish us luck!

Cameron's Donation Cards are Here!

I thought I had posted about Cameron's donation project here, but rather than repost, you can check out my card making blog for the details. Just click here!

Cameron's cards are finally done! I ordered them with the cheapest postage so that we could keep the card cost down. It felt like forever for the order to arrive but we finally got them today. I also decided to only do sets of 4 cards and took the 4 pictures that had the most votes via email and message boards.

The cost will be $7 for a set of 4 notecards with envelopes. The insides of the cards are blank and Cameron's picture is on the back. Half of that cost will go towards the cost of printing and shipping. The other $3.50 will go towards art supplies for kids at the local children's hospital as well as the homeless shelter.

I ordered 12 sets of cards to start. Cameron has already sold 3 sets to family and friends (Thank you Niecia for our first purchase!). He is really excited to get the art supplies so that we can take them to the hospital. A friend of mine who works for Fiskars is also sending some children's scissors to include with the art kits (Thank you May!). Cameron also wants to include a small toy which I think is a great idea. If you are interested in ordering cards, please email me.

Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive with votes and suggestions.

Happy Birthday Cameron!

Cameron celebrated his 6th birthday with his friends and his sister. Jen made her first ever decorated cake for him. She has a ton of cake decorating tips from a former neighbor but has never learned to use them. This was a fun way to start. Cameron loves excavators and anything construction. The "dirt" in the hole was Dove dark chocolates chopped up. Considering she only had 45 minutes to frost the cake and decorate it, it turned out okay.
Kylie had fun at the party too but really wanted to open presents. Cameron was nice enough to let her help him open a few. Isn't this such a sweet picture of her!

Cameron had a great time with his friends. These are his buddies that he hangs out with at home and at school. Thanks to all of his friends who came and brought such super cool presents. We had such a fun time!

More Snow!

The snow just isn't going away this year. Saturday morning we woke up to 15 inches. Suprise! Dennis stayed home from work and we all went outside and shoveled/played with snow. The kids had a great time climbing the mountains of snow created by the snow blower and shovels. They'd climb up one side and slide down the other dragging more snow out on the driveway and sidewalk. The snowplow never made it down our street but we have a nice neighbor with a digger who plowed one side of our street. Four days later, our street is still a slushy slippery mess (its kind of fun to drive on :)

Dennis and the kids posed in front of his new work trailer. He has put in new shelving for his tools so he can reclaim his truck cab. He was a very happy camper to finally be able to get this.

Someone complained about not getting to ever see the photographer so this is what you get! Cameron insisted we pose next to a light post in a snow bank. Its hard enough to take a self-portrait without balancing on a 2 foot snow bank! Not my best picture ever but there I am!

I love....

My family! I was trying to get a cute picture of our new Sunbeam Kylie this past Sunday. She is so excited to be in Primary now and is doing so good for the Primary leaders and her teacher. While playing with the portrait setting on our camera (it blurs the background - great for those messy room pics), I took these pictures of the kids and my hubby. I have to include the great self-portrait Kylie drew. Pretty good for a 3 year old!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

We drove to to Idaho this past weekend to spend some time with Jen's parents before Christmas. The kids were so excited for the trip that they probably asked every day in December if it was time to go see Grandma and Papa. The roads were clear going up but coming back they were pretty scary at times. It was so worth the trip though. Grandma and Papa have finished fixing up their new home with beautiful carpets, hardwood floors and really nice furniture. The kids were excited to go outside and check out the barn and play with their dog Taz. Cameron was really sick the first night we were there but with a father's blessing and some Heavenly inspiration he was able to get some rest and start feeling better. The presents we opened didn't seem as important as just spending time together. The kids were, however, very excited to get lots of new tracks for their GeoTrax set and we even got some suprise presents that we weren't expecting. Thanks so much Mumzy and Daddy for a wonderful weekend. I'm sure the kids will make sure that we are up to visit again really soon.

On Christmas Eve we headed back to Utah over snow covered roads. The summit was snowy with patches of ice so Jen put her nose in her book and trusted Dennis to get us home safe. The kids got nice long naps so they were ready to play and have fun at the family party. It was such a relief to make it with no incidents and it was great to see Dennis' parents, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews. I didn't count how many of us were there, but it was a lot. Thank you everyone for your thoughtful gifts. We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas day.

We are not sure of our New Year's eve plans but hope to see our friends Don and Eliane before they head to New Orleans. Whether you stay home or head out to party with friends, we hope you are safe and enjoy ringing in the new year.

Snow!!

We finally got some snow here - two storms, two weekends in a row. Both storms dropped about 8 inches. The first snow melted before the 2nd storm hit so it hasn't been too bad. We wanted to let the kids go out back to build a snowman, since this was our first wet snow, but the snow was so heavy that it kept breaking branches from the tree that covers the back yard. (We usually get really dry fluffy snow that doesn't pack well. Perfect for skiing but not for snowmans.) Hopefully tomorrow it will be better so Cameron can build his snowtanker and Kylie can build a snowpenguin.

We also put up our Christmas tree last weekend. The kids were VERY anxious to get it decorated. We tried to get pics of the kids after decorating. They were quite hyper so this is the best we could get.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We really hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We spent the afternoon in Eden, UT (up Ogden canyon). It was beautiful but freezing cold! We had lots of good food and yummy desserts. Cameron and Kylie love to see their Grandma and Papa as well as all of their aunts, uncles, and cousins on their daddy's side of the family (and a few neighbor friends). The turkey card was drawn by Cameron. We'll be sending a copy to both sets of grandparents. Kylie's Indian costume was from preschool. And by the way, we didn't drive the four wheeler around although I'm sure Dennis would have loved too. It just made for a different photo spot than the big barn wall. Happy Holidays Everyone!

Fiskateer Roundup

Jen headed down to San Antonio, Texas this past weekend to be trained as a Fiskars Product Demonstrator. This all came about through a site called http://www.fiskateers.com/. Jen started participating on the site in July of last year. There is a blog, message board, and a gallery to post projects. It is one of her favorite sites to visit with its challenges and give aways and really nice members. The site is run by Fiskars, the orange scissor people, to give consumers an opportunity to discuss their products and share creations. There are 4 lead Fiskateers who were getting more and more requests to visit stores to demonstrate the tools and products. Fiskars decided to expand their demonstrators to those 4 plus 50 more. Out of over 2500 Fiskateers, Jen was chosen as one of the "Nifty Fifty!" Fiskers paid for her trip to San Antonio and provided her with the tools and training that she needs to "share the Fiskars love." Now that she is back, she is looking for 20 people in her area to train as certified Fiskars demonstrators. She is also qualified to demonstate Fiskars products at big box stores as well as local scrapbook stores. It is an awesome responsibility for which she is very greatful. Take a look at her blog for a rundown on her fun and exciting weekend at the Fiskateer Roundup: http://cardsbyjen.blogspot.com/

October Happenings

We've had a super busy October! Dennis and Jen headed down to Florida for a much deserved weekend. It was our first real vacation without the kids in 5 years. We stayed with Jen's friend BobbiLynn, the site administrator at CircleofCrafters.com, at a beachhouse on St George Island, Florida. The weather was just beautiful! The butterflies were migrating the day we arrived so they were practically everywhere. The beach in front of our house had a sandbar that went out several hundred feet so we were able to swim in the ocean the first day with really small waves. It was like a gigantic swimming pool (with sting rays and jelly fish to watch out for). Dennis and Jason enjoyed fishing off the cut while BobbiLynn and Jen looked for sea shells and enjoyed the sunshine. We also went to church in Apalachicola on Sunday before heading home. It was the smallest chapel we've ever been too. There were only 11 cars in the parking lot and one of the families was from Utah as well. It was wonderful to hear the testimonies of the members there. The flight home was really long but well worth the chance to go to Florida again after 10 years.

The kids stayed home with Grandma Jonna who flew down from Boise. They went to the Aquarium, the Pumpkin Festival, Carl's Jr, Chick-fil-A, and Applebees. They had enough fun that they didn't miss us as much as we thought they would. They didn't even want to talk to us on the phone while we were gone.

The day we came home, Cameron had art class and then we headed to a ReAL soccer game. The kids had a great time. Thanks Leo for the tickets! It was the last game of the season and Leo invited all of the mascots from schools and teams around the valley to join in the fun. The kids got a really cool soccer ball that Leo signed and Dennis and Jen got some really nice hoodies with the ReAL team logo on them. Dennis also got to reunite with some of his friends from his days in Stanford and San Jose, California.

Kylie had a Halloween program in preschool on the 25th. She knows all of the songs by heart and was singing them for weeks before the program. However.....the day of the program, she was upset and refused to sing any of the songs or even smile. Oh well. Maybe next year.

The kids had fun dressing up for Halloween. Cameron was a construction worker and Kylie was a doggy doctor (vetrinarian). They had fun trick or treating around our neighborhood. We didn't stay out very long as it was starting to get really cold.

Jog-A-Thon

Cameron did a great job at his school's jog-a-thon last week. The track was 1/6th of a mile and he made it around 8 times in 20 minutes! He had a great time jogging and walking with his friends.

When he first came outside, I noticed that he was in "awe" of something. Finally he said, "Mommy, look at all of the construction barrels and cones!" He loves construction and especially cones so he had the greatest time touching them (in the middle of the jog) and hugging them afterwards.

I have to add a cute picture of Kylie too. She was collecting flowers at a friends ciente anos fiesta (15th birthday party) and loved giving them all to mommy.

State Fair

Cameron and Jen came home with ribbons again. This time from the Utah State Fair. Cameron got a 1st place ribbon for his iris fold dolphin (scroll down to see the card and video) and an honorable mention for his drawing of a power line repair truck. Jen got a 1st place ribbon for her Salt Lake Temple iris fold. (This pic is with her county fair ribbon.)

Jen also did a demonstration of iris folding and a free Make & Take. Here is her card making blog with pictures and even some free patterns: http://cardsbyjen.blogspot.com/








The kids favorite part of the fair was the pony ride. It was pretty late at night and the kids looked like the ride was going to put them to sleep but they both said it was their favorite part.