$2.00 Find

On Saturday, Jocelyn and I drove down to the local grocery to return a movie. We passed the thrift store in our route and there was a big red sign that advertised "Furniture Clearance". I only had one kid with me and was not in a hurry so I decided to stop. There on the front lawn amidst the other furniture was this solid wood bedside table/dresser. Other than a good layer of dust in was in pretty good, clean condition but the best part about it was it's solid wood construction. I saw the potential it possessed and well...$2.00 later, Jocelyn and I were lugging it to the back of the mini van.

The exact location, use and color that my find would take was constantly changing but I finally decided to use it in the kids room and paint it blue. I didn't think to take a picture of it before I started stripping the paint off of it but here are the before shots.

The dresser on it's side.

The drawers

I wanted something fun and decided on two shades of blue just because I could. I went to Lowe's and found out the color I chose was a whole lot more than the cheaper Lowe's stuff. I should have waited until I didn't have all four kids with me and no time constraints because I had buyer's remorse on the blues I chose. They are more along the lines of IKEA Let's make a statement blue than Pottery Barn kids which I have would preferred but did I mention it cost $2.00? I don't think I really could have gone wrong.

The project took me about 2 days and I was so excited to have it completed that I failed to test things out before I moved it into the kids room. You'll notice that I need to go back and paint the inside of the dresser. The picture makes the lighter blue look white but it's actually like a sky blue or a robin blue and darker blue isn't so bright. It's didn't turn out exactly how I envisioned but I am pretty happy with the results and so are the kids. Kelsey keeps saying, "It's so beautiful". Jackson just wanted it blue for BYU. I am just happy I got it for $2.00.

Trip to Utah Part 2

Grandpa took the kids fishing. Jocey apparently has a natural knack

for the sport because she caught a fish right at the start.

Got to love the face on Jocelyn in this photo.

I don't think she knows what to think of the fish.

Jackson was so excited to go fishing but his luck wasn't as

good as Jocelyn's. He had a nibble but it didn't make

it out of the water. Maybe next time.

I posted this picture just for the scenery behind the people.

This is a picture of the boat launch on Henry's Fork on the Snake.

We started many a boat trip from this point. My dad use to

drive across the old train track bridge in the background.

You can't go to the cabin without having a fire and roasting

marshmallows. Jackson really loves smores!!

Kelsey just wanted the marshmallows.

Jackson desperately wanted to learn how to drive the little 4-wheeler.

Uncle Rinehart was kind enough to risk limb and life to try to teach him.

Uncle Rinehart was very patient but I think Jackson

needs a few more lessons and a few more years

before we let him ride solo.

Thanks for the lessons Rinehart!!!

I spent most of my vacations as a child going to Yellowstone. I was very excited that I was going to be able to take my kids there. Unfortunately John-David had to leave to go home so he didn't get to join us. We took the kids to see Old Faithful and some other hot pots. We also did the traditional Meier venture of looking for bears and wolves. I think some habits die hard. As grown adults we were still going to the park rangers and asking where the latest bear siting was. We even taught our kids the song we use to sing. "A penny for an elk. A nickel for a moose. A dime if you tell me where the bears are". Aah the memories.

This was a picture of all the grand kids

minus Robbie and Kelley's bunch.

Our bison that we could literally reach out our

window and touch his tail. We refrained though.

A Motley Crew

If you have any friends from Asia who recently visited Yellowstone

you might find this photo on their blog. This shot of a bunch of blond

girls sitting on a bench was a favorite to take.

Jackson was determined to find a bear. It didn't matter what we showed

him, nothing was good enough. Well around dinner time we finally saw

a mom and baby bear. He was finally happy with his trip to Yellowstone.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for taking us to Yellowstone.

When we returned from the cabin, more time

was spent playing with the cousins.

The dark haired child in the middle was a friend of the cousin's.

Jocey just loves her Grandma Larna Jeano.

She loves the pampering treatments

that Grandma gives her. Jocey got a nightly foot

massage from Grandma.

We chose a good time to come out because we ended up

overlapping a lot of different friend's trips including our friends

the Gillette's. Kennadee looks the same but bigger but Cade is such a big kid now.

It was so fun catching up with friends.

We took the kids down to temple square and the church history museum.

Jackson wanted his picture taken with the Christus.

Cousins at the reflecting pool.

I think Morgan was reflecting that she didn't

want her photo taken.

The kids had a great time playing in the play area

at the church museum. There were all sorts of things to do.

Kelsey found a lot of dolls to love. She was in heaven.

Jackson sporting a shepherd dress up.

This kid loves to dress-up.

As we were walking to the car I snapped this photo.

Salt Lake really is such a beautiful place.

I absolutely loves being so close to the temple and the

weather was great. No humidity!!!

We couldn't get enough time in with the cousins.

Uncle Robbie couldn't get enough of Jocey's cheeks.

Jocey wasn't so sure about him.

Jackson's dream came true when Uncle Robbie, Riley and little

Robbie played Star Wars all evening long. They choreographed battles

and we even recorded them. After all the Stars Wars, they played a little

game of football with the uncles. Jackson was in heaven.

We had such a fun time with family and friends. Thank you

for all who made it such a wonderful time for all of us!

Trip to Utah Part 1

This year my father turned 60 years old. My sister Melissa decided to organize a big surprise birthday party for him and well we thought we ought to go out for the fun. I wasn't really excited by the idea of flying solo with 4 little ones but it's the sacrifices you make for living so far from family. John-David decided to fly stand by and he was able to come out for a week too. We both arrived on the day of the party and fortunately I arrived a little earlier to help with the last minute preparations. My family put in a lot of work making cute table decorations, balloons and some great food. Unfortunately we were all so busy with the party, we all forgot to take photos of the event. My dad was pretty surprised and we got to see some people we hadn't seen in a really longtime. It turned out to be a really great night.

Since the family was all going to be together, my mom had planned to have our family photo done. We had a bit of a family tragedy come up so we scrapped the family photo. We still wanted to get a photo of the grand kids so we took one on our own in my parents back yard. Aside from Jackson having Bryce in a choke hold in the photo it turned out pretty cute. As you can see it's a family full of blondie's.

When I asked Jackson what he wanted to do when he went to Utah, he responded with, "Go to a BYU game". Since it's not the right season for football that wasn't quite possible but my cousin's husband happens to be a BYU coach graduate assistant and was able to make two boy's dreams come true with a personal tour of Lavell Edwards stadium and the training facility. John-David will need to blog on all that because I didn't take the tour so I don't know what they saw. These are the photos I liked.

Jackson with the "Y"

Dad and Jackson at the fake stadium and the real stadium below.

Our timing of our trip turned out to be very special. The day before I left to fly out, we found out that my youngest sister Christina, who was 8 months pregnant, that her baby's heart stopped beating for some unknown reason. It was their second child and if you want to read more about it you can link to her blog on the side listed as Christina and Michael. My sister normally lives in Arizona but was visiting for the summer while her husband worked for my dad. This was the first time in a year and 1/2 that my family was all together.

She had her baby on the 22ND and I was able to go over to the hospital and be with them for a little bit and meet Connor before they buried him the next day. The next day they had small grave side service with Michael' s family and ours. My dad is the bishop of his ward and presided over the service. He did a wonderful job and just reminded us of the Plan of Salvation. My niece Amelie drew a beautiful picture of Christina's family and her explanation of the plan of salvation. It was very sweet and so wonderful how the a 9 year can grasp what's happening. I am very grateful for the gospel in my life and to have the understanding of forever families. I know it has helped my sister through this difficult time.

All of Connor's cousins putting flowers on the casket.

We had planned a trip to my parent's cabin for that same day. We decided to carry on with those plans and Michael and Christine just came up the next day after taking care of some stuff. We all needed a distraction to take our minds of the situation.

Jackson and Grandpa wasted no time in breaking out the camo. Most of Jackson's time was spent by Grandpa's side. They are definitely of one heart when it comes to nature.

Dad hanging out on the 4-Wheeler.

Jocelyn and her cousin Sadie may be two years difference in age

but these girls were joined at the hip. They get along so well.

I love it. I never had a girl cousin my age to pal around with.

Kelsey loved being outside.

Nothing brings a smile to your face like seeing a large man

on a kid size 4-wheeler.

4-Wheeling Divas!!!

More on our trip to come.

Catching up a week at a time!

For the past few weeks we were able to go to Utah. We have much to catch up on but I am going to start with what we have done since we have gotten home and work our way back. I know you all are waiting by your computers to find out what we have been doing :)

No summer would be complete without a visit to the berry bushes to pick our supply of fruit for jam. This year we picked our traditional blackberries and we were lucky enough to catch the very tail end of raspberries!!! Jocey and Kelsey ate their fair share of berries as usual and Jackson kept his distance from the fruit. He told me his job this year was to look for bears. I didn't realize there was a large bear population next to the Delaware River. Go figure! We combined the berries and made a delicious jam. I also got some peaches from a local grower and made some peach jam too. I think that we are well stocked for the year.

Berry Babes

"I love picking blackberries!"

Jackson captured us picking raspberries.

He finally started pulling his weight on the trip

by playing photographer.

Bubba Chunks has decided that the formula we have been feeding him just wasn't cutting it so we had to break into the rice cereal. I think you can tell by his face that it was a big hit. There are definite signs that Bryce is the fourth child in this bunch. The fact that his 5 year old brother was not only the one feeding him but taking the photos is proof. Good thing for older siblings to take photos of the neglected ones.

Yummy rice cereal!

Bryce has the cutest smile and laugh. He rather have a good conversation with someone than play with a toy. I guess he is his mother's child. I tried to capture one of his gummy smiles but it was hard. I did capture a few but this first one was a favorite. He doesn't love a kid with a double chin and some meaty cheeks? We sure love this little guy. Today we took him to the doctors and he weighed in at 15 lbs 9 oz. s and 25 inches at 5 months. He is doing a great job of catching up. He still doesn't have much hair but it's slowly growing. Jackson was still pretty bald at this age too.

Happy 8th Anniversary!!!!

Out Of The Mouths Of Babes

My children are very open and honest. They hold nothing back and they speak their minds. They are my reality check if you will. If I ever get cocky or start to develop a big ego, they are there to reign me back in. Here are a few of the comments said to me recently that are really enduring terms to remind me how much they love me.

A few weeks ago the family was getting all loaded in the car to go to a friends house. Jackson and Jocelyn were in the very back and I climbed in between the two captain chairs Kelsey and Bryce occupy to attend to Bryce. Jackson says to me, "Mom, are you skinny or fat?" I was taken a little off guard by the comment but before I could answer, he obviously came to his own conclusion and said "Yeah your fat". I thanked my son for his observation and then climbed into the front seat where my husband sat shaking, trying to contain his laughter. He was just laughing because he wasn't the one being judged. You just wait! By the way, this was day before I had to wear a swim suit for the first time after having a baby 3 months previous. It was just the vote of confidence I needed.:P

Today I went to Target to get a few things and I decided to try on a skirt. I had to haul the whole clan into the family dressing room with me. Jackson and Jocelyn were occupied with something so I quickly pulled the skirt on and checked out the view in the mirror. Kelsey took one look at what I had on and said "Why you have that Grandma skirt on?" Great, she already thinks I dress old fashion!

From Target we left to go to a friends house. As we were driving the kids asked where we were. I told them we were driving to Winter's house. Apparently my children don't normally trust my ability to get to a location without getting lost because Jocelyn responds with "You are not even using the GPS. I can't believe this".

Tonight was my personal favorite from the day. Jackson was in the tub with Bryce and Jackson said, "Mom, why is Bryce all fat right there?" I thought he was pointing to his thigh and said "His thigh?" He responded with"No" and pointed again. I caught on and said "Jackson that's his scrotum and you have one too". Jackson replied with" Well his is a lot bigger than mine". I guess the comparison has begun.

These kids are definitely my comic relief!!!

Fat Happy Baby

I haven't blogged in forever but I thought I would post a little video until I can get to writing a real post. This is proof that Bryce is eating well and living up to his nick name "Bubba Chunk".