First Day of School - Fall 2011

Fist day of school for the boys always comes faster than we want it to. Summers at our charter school are shorter, allowing kids to retain more skills and knowledge and giving us more time off for breaks during the school year. We love it, but wish it lined up with the the school district a little better. It's always hard going school though, knowing the big sister is laying in bed being lazy.

So, here are my handsome boys on their first day of school, August 2011...

Joshua, 3rd Grade

Bryson, 6th Grade

Nathan, Kindergarten

...And the big sister, on her first day of school, a couple of weeks later.

Rachel, Sophomore

National Honor Society

At the beginning of October last fall, Rachel was inducted into Century High School's chapter of National Honor Society. I came home from Utah (while Sarah was in the hospital) on the Salt Lake Express to surprise Rachel. I wanted it to be a complete surprise, but we had to tell her ahead of time. She was really, really sad that we weren't there, and must have thought we didn't care enough about her to be there for her too. When she started making plans to go with her friend and her parents, we decided we needed to just tell her. In retrospect, I see that we made a mistake about surprising her. We should have just planned with her from the beginning for me to be there. She went through a lot of agony dealing with her feelings about it all.

That aside, it was a happy reunion when I came home to be with the kids, and we all went to Rachel's induction. I was so proud of her and am so impressed with what a wonderful student she is and how much she loves learning. Her talents and abilities astound me. 

 

My little sister used to always say how much she hated when people said she "has so much potential", as if she wasn't living up to what she could be now.... But, I think they simply meant that they could see so much in her that could prove to be nothing short of amazing as she grew and developed. I see that in my incredible daughter... so much potential, and nothing short of an amazing woman in the future. Love her so much!

First Friday Art Walk (in April)

Sarah and Rachel were invited by the owners of Alston Ink in downtown Pocatello to be their featured "artists" at the First Friday Art Walk on April 1st. They were invited by Stephanie and Neal Alston shortly after the article appeared in the paper about Rachel using her chocolate business to earn money for her leadership conference. Sarah and Rachel spent hours during the last week of March making mints for free samples and a whole bunch of peanut butter filled eggs, bunny suckers and solid chocolate bunnies. They set up a cute display at the front of the store and waited for people to stop and try (and hopefully buy) their chocolates.

They learned very quickly that you have to be pro-active to get people to stop and talk to you. A friendly smile just doesn't cut it. (Rachel was pretty used to it from the Chocolate Extravaganza, but we made Sarah sit on the outside until she invited ten people to try some free chocolate.) We also learned that the purpose of the Art Walk, besides to get recognition and business for local artists, is to give people in the community an opportunity to spend some time downtown and learn about the shops and stores there. Here's where Stephanie graciously stepped in and took over. She was wonderful. She obviously knew what she was doing, and stopped many people to brag about "these two high school students that have their own business of handmade chocolates". It was a great tactic. Most adults were impressed by my beautiful little entrepreneurs, and at least tried the mints and congratulated them on their business venture. A few even recognized Rachel from the article in the paper. Many people loved the mints so much they also bought Easter treats. Then, Stephanie would ask them if they've ever been in her shop and invited them in to show them around. The girls and I ended up having a nice time together, and Stephanie invited them back later in the summer, when business would be slow. We'll see if they're up for that again. They're not sure, but earning $76 in one evening was pretty nice!

Young Women Broadcast... Live!

As Sarah was approaching her last few months in Young Women's, I felt like I needed to seize the opportunity to take the girls to Salt Lake to the Young Women Broadcast and see it live. I've wanted to for the past few years, but as a stake leader, felt like we needed to stay here and support local viewing and dessert... looking back, I'm really not sure why, but just never did it. Well, not having that reason anymore, I decided it was something we just HAD to do, and since Steve agreed with me, we just did it!

I arranged with the Stake Presidency to get tickets and we took a Saturday trip to Salt Lake on March 26th. The girls had decided to take turns riding in the front and choosing the music. We sang along, laughed and talked non-stop the whole way. We stopped along the way at Kim's Fashions in Layton (to buy $3 earring/necklace sets) and then to the Olive Garden for lunch. Rachel and Sarah both had raviolis (Sarah had portabella and Rachel had cheese), and I had the Venetian apricot grilled chicken (only 6 WW PlusPoints and so delicious!) We went over to the Layton Hills Mall to shop, but after Rachel spent all her money at the first store, we just walked around to see what a real mall looked like.

When we got to Salt Lake, we spent a long time looking for a place to park, and then walked to Temple Square. We tried to visit the Relief Society Building, but it was closed. The girls (in anticipation of a beautiful "spring" day) weren't dressed warm enough for the cloudy, windy, cool weather, so we didn't wander as far as we had originally planned. We walked over to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and saw the "hats" display they had in there. We rode the elevator to the top and took some great pictures. We also walked through the family history center. I think the girls were impressed.

The Salt Lake Temple and the Conference Center from the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building

My beautiful daughters and the temple

We went over to the Conference center and got our tickets and decided to just change clothes and wait inside for the hour and a half until the meeting started. We ended up with amazing seats--being there so early, and enjoyed the time to sit and relax for a while. I loved the value-colored banners they had hung by the organ pipes with the three symbols (laurel wreath, rose, and beehive) on them. The touches like those and the beautiful spring flowers and grasses behind the podium created such a great atmosphere for such a special meeting.

The Conference Center. We loved the YW banners hanging above the doors. Such a nice touch that made the girls feel so special and important!

We were only about 14 rows back, on the side where the Prophet enters and exits. We were so excited to be sitting so close we could see actually see the wrinkles on his face when he smiled!

The meeting was so great. It is so different being there, watching it live, and feeling the spirits of all those beautiful daughters of God surrounding you. The love emanating from those beautiful General Young Women leaders was almost tangible. I love the videos they show in the middle of the broadcast that depict the righteousness and virtue of beautiful young women living the gospel all over the world. I have such a soft spot in my heart for these sweet daughters of God and my eyes often swell with tears of gratitude when I hear of my girls and others keeping the commandments and living the gospel so steadfastly. When the meeting was over, and President Monson and his counselors left, he spent quite a while waving at all those sweet girls. Then I was overcome with gratitude, and with tears streaming down my face, I testified of his calling and told the girls that I hoped they understood how blessed they are to have this gospel...to have the direction and resources they need to navigate this crazy world. There are so many around them that don't even know who they are, let alone why they're here or where they're going. After that, I hugged them each for a long time and told them how much I appreciate their goodness and example and that they wanted to be there with me. Oh, how I love my sweet daughters. I am so honored and grateful to be their mother.

It was funny, walking quickly down the sidewalk back to our car, we noticed that all those girls, moms and leaders (including us) were waking arm in arm or hand in hand, like they felt a closeness that they didn't want to let go of. We hurried to the car (it started raining) and headed home. Sarah rationed the Cadbury Mini-eggs (simply protecting me and Rachel from ourselves) and then went to sleep, and Rachel sat in the front seat with me and played DJ as we talked. The snow storm on the way home was interesting. As we went over the Malad pass, we had horizontal snow clusters coming right at us. Visibility was almost zero, so I slowed to a mere 35mph and followed the tail lights of the car in front of us, hoping that driver could see better than I could. We made it safely home, and went to bed tired, happy, and grateful.

My Piano Princess Plays Again!

A couple Saturdays ago, Rachel participated in Pocatello Music Club's Piano Festival again. This was her 6th performance, and her 6th... Superior rating! She said she got pretty nervous and had to start over on one piece, but she must have recovered nicely, because she earned herself another superior, which also earns her enough points for her 2nd gold cup trophy!

The following Monday, she also participated in the Pocatello Music Club's Piano Scholarship auditions. She played one of the pieces from festival and did an amazing job! She won a 2nd Place $50 scholarship that will be paid to her teacher, and give us one month free! (Love the free thing!) She also auditioned for summer music camps, but if she won one of those scholarships, we'll have to wait to find out if we get a notification in the mail.

She is such a gifted musician...the music just flows from her fingers, and I'm so grateful to have that beautiful music playing constantly in my home. She loves to play and enjoys being able to learn and play anything she wants to, including hard songs with pages and pages of music. She has also been teaching piano lessons for about a year and a half now and has six students. She loves the income and the cute little kids, and I love that she's gained greater independence, experience, and love of music.

A Chocolate Extravaganza!

After the article about Rachel appeared in the newspaper, a very kind lady from the Pocatello Community Charter School called and invited Rachel and Sarah to be vendors at their annual Spring Fundraiser, The PCCS Chocolate Extravaganza! People pay a fee to get in, and then get to taste everything chocolate from truffles to crepes, to shooters, mousse, and cookies! They also have an auction to raise more money. The Sweet Treets girls brought 200 Oreo Truffles as samples and had the opportunity to advertise their business with these samples, business cards and fliers.

The most awesome thing about it all was that the lady that invited them to be vendors at their event actually paid for the truffles Rachel made. It was so generous and kind. I'm quite sure nobody else got that offer. I got to go with them as their "adult chaperon" since there would be alcohol served there. It was really fun to see people's reaction to these sweet little truffles...and girls. People were so kind and complimentary, and so friendly. It was a good experience for the girls to be able to learn to "sell" themselves, be positive, friendly, and go out of their way to talk to strangers. (Something I don't recommend in other situations!) They were so good at it, they were given the "Spirit Award". There was competition for best presentation, best drink, best non-dessert, and "People's Choice". This was decided by votes (dollars) put in a jar on each table. The girls got so excited each time somebody came by and dropped a bill in their jar and told them they were their favorite. They didn't win that, but their "votes" earned another $14 for the charter school. It was so fun!

It was also through the newspaper article and this connection to the charter school's fundraiser that the girls have been invited by Stephanie and Neal Alston to their shop in Old Town Pocatello for the First Friday Art Walk in April. They will be at Alston Ink on April 1st giving out samples and selling Easter Bunnies and other Sweet Treets and doing more of that "talking to strangers" I referred to earlier. Should be a fun event as well, and such a good advertising tool for them. The people of Pocatello are so thoughtful, generous and kind... Thank you, Pocatello!!

Rachel is a Celebrity

A wonderful article, with a darling picture of Rachel, appeared in the Idaho State Journal today. It was a feature about her (and Sarah's) chocolate business, Sweet Treets. It was a pretty exciting thing to have the reporter call yesterday asking for a phone interview with her and the photographer to do a photo shoot. I was really surprised that our advertising emails and Facebook post could have spurred a story, but apparently Steve has friends in all kinds of places, even The Idaho State Journal! It was so kind of them to promote her fund raising efforts by doing a story on her. She's braced for a whole bunch of strangers ordering chocolates now, but is really excited and grateful for the extra business. It wouldn't surprise me. A cute face like that and a kid trying to earn money for a leadership conference...it's just the sort of thing a community like Pocatello will support.

Budding chocolatier

The Idaho State Journal, Wednesday, January 26, 2011

By: Kendra Evensen, Photo: Doug Lindley

Rachel Brown, a Century High School student, teaches piano and is in the school choir.

    POCATELLO — Rachel Brown had never made a chocolate prior to last year, but that didn’t stop her from becoming a holiday chocolatier.
    The 14-year-old Century High School student and her sister, Sarah, decided to start making chocolates last year in order to make some extra money.
    Although Rachel didn’t have any experience, her mother, Julia, and grandmother, Linda, did and were ready and willing to pass on their secrets. And the sisters learned fast.
    They were able to start their “Sweet Treets” chocolate business in time for Valentine’s Day last year, and, based on their success, have decided to continue selling a variety of goodies, including Oreo truffles, peanut butter blobs, chewy caramels and an assortment of mints, suckers and chocolate bars.
    They sell their goodies during the Valentine’s Day, Easter and Christmas holidays.
    “It’s really fun to see how excited people get about them,” Rachel said, adding that they strive to make them not only tasty, but attractive. “We work pretty hard on them.”
    The sisters and their family members use e-mails to spread the word about their goodies during the holidays, and they’ve developed a website, www.sweet-treets.blogspot.com, to further their business.
    And it seems to be working. Although Rachel wasn’t sure exactly how much they sold last year, she said they have had to come up with ways to streamline the system to meet demand, especially during Valentine’s Day.
    Rachel said she strives for perfection to keep her customers happy, even though that often means extra work.
    “When they get messed up it’s frustrating because I have to make them all over again,” she said, adding that the chocolate bars and the chocolate dishes, which hold a variety of mints, are particularly painstaking.
    But she and her sister enjoy the time they spend working together. They have used the business to help each other earn money for various needs, including history tours and college tuition. Rachel is hoping to use the Valentine’s Day profits to attend a National Young Leaders State Conference she’s been invited to attend in Montana this summer.
    “It’s a really good opportunity for me,” she said, adding that her teachers nominated her to go.
    She needs about $1,519 to cover the cost of the conference, so she’s hoping the community will continue to support their business during the upcoming holiday.
    “It’s really nice of them to support me and my sister,” she said, adding that they work hard to give them quality goodies in return.
    “They taste really good and they look really cute,” she said.

Original Story
Copyright 2011 Idaho State Journal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

2010: Our Year in Review

If I was into sending out Christmas letters with our postcards, I would have sent a letter that was way too long, bragged way too much about my wonderful family, and still wouldn't have even touched on the enormous amount of gratitude we feel  for all we've been blessed with this year.

I do know, however, how much I love reading about all of my treasured friends and loved ones' families, so for those who took the time to search out my blog to see what we've been up to, here's our year in review (and what you would have read, had I sent out a Christmas letter this year)....

The two most exciting things we can share from 2010 is our family vaction this summer and our move this fall. We spent the first half of the year saving our pennies and in June, we packed up our Suburban to the very top (not kidding) and drove to Alaska. We spent almost a month traveling through Canada and Alaska. We drove about 8,000 miles in our car, rode to the top of the Space Needle, hiked a glacier, saw the ocean and lots of wildlife, caught our “first fish”,  rode a ferry, dug up clams, played with cousins, swam in a hot spring, camped in the rain, and had many other grand adventures. We had a wonderful time together and have so many happy memories! In August, a wonderful opportunity and blessing was dropped in our lap, and we took it and moved forward with faith! We moved moved into a new pre-loved house that is just perfect for us! It has lots of room inside and out, and is absolutely beautiful! We really like our new ward, and love that we have so many new friends already. We've all adjusted pretty quickly, which helped our new house feel like "home" almost from the very first day. It's just where we're supposed to be!

Steve (our Daddy) still works for U.S. Congressman Mike Simpson. He loves his job, and also had an opportunity to help his boss get re-elected by working part-time at night and on weekends on the primary campaign. By June, he wasn't quite busy enough, so he accepted the Mayor's appointment to fill a vacant seat on the Pocatello City Council. It's been an eye-opening experience, and as much as he loves working with the other members of the board, he's really had to make some tough decisions and then stand behind what he feels is right and best for Pocatello. We're so proud of him. As entrepreneurs do, he's also found time to pad the family income with his direct mail business which helped out a lot during the campaign season (and our move) with 65,000 pieces of mail we designed, had printed, labeled, and sent out for several candidates. He has also been crazy busy this year getting our old house ready to rent, working out the little kinks in our new house, serving on a couple of other community and state boards, spending incredible quality time with his family, and tinkering in a couple of other business ventures. He was also recently called as the Cub Master in our new ward. He really likes having the opportunity to be the "funnest" 10 year-old in the ward!

Julia (Me, the Mommy) still loves being a stay-at-home mom. My kids are my life and I love that I have the opportunity to be totally involved in their activities and schools. This was also a year of change and growth for me as I discovered and learned much about myself and developed many new physical and spiritual strengths. I end the year much healthier and happier than I started it, and much more the person I want to be. I spent  a few months preparing for our trip and then a few more preparing to move. It's been a crazy year, but so many blessings have been thrown our way, I know that the Lord has watched over and blessed me to be able to keep up and be the kind of mother and wife I want to be. On our 3rd Sunday in our new ward, I was called to serve as the 2nd Counselor in the Relief Society Presidency. In the short time I have served there (almost 2 months now), my heart has been changed, and I've seen the Lord's plan for our family start to unfold. As you can guess, I haven't had a lot of spare time for hobbies this year, but I still love baking, blogging, and reading, and playing with my family the most.

Sarah (17) has had a pretty good year. It's been a healthy one (heart-wise) with relatively little action in that department. She found out this year that she has a pretty severe case of Scoliosis, which has caused much more heartache and many more challenges, but takes it all in stride and remains her sweet little self. She is a senior in High school, and is beginning the new year with college and scholarship applications dancing in her head. Besides our family trip and moving, the highlight of her year was attending EFY at BYU-Idaho. It was such an amazing experience for her and she came back a changed teenager! She loves to spend time with our family, and all of her extra time with friends (live or on Facebook).

Rachel (14) has become the best traveled member of our family. In March, she went on the American Heritage Tour with other 8th Graders in the community. Her favorite things were spending time in New York City, and seeing "Wicked" on Broadway, and making so many new friends! She earned all $3,000 herself (with help from her terrific parents) and had a wonderful experience. She also started high school this year and absolutely loves it! Being in a "real school" now, she can wear make-up, "real clothes" and make many new friends. She stays busy with piano lessons (taking and teaching) and friends, and thoroughly enjoys having her own room!

Bryson (11) is in 5th Grade now and still loves school. He was recently released from his occupational therapy and had grown and matured in such amazing ways. We hardly ever see evidence of his Asperger's anymore, and his confidence is apparent in his constant smile. His drawing talent has continued to blossom as he draws everything from the most detailed dragons you've ever seen to cartoon mice with goofy grins. He absolutely loves scouts, and earned his Arrow of Light just before we moved. His new scout leaders are amazing and he is looking forward to camping and many other adventures in the spring with his new troop. With our move came a whole handful of friends just down the street, a few he already knew from school. Having so many friends to play with all the time is a new thing in his life, but just one more blessing that came with our new house.

Joshua (7) is in 2nd grade and has discovered the joy of reading. He loves non-fiction the best, and any information he can gather about space, electricity and mysteries of the natural world are the best. He still loves to take apart and build things, but has discovered a new love for science experiments. He loves to draw, too, but his drawings are usually of mechanical or body systems, or data charts from his experiments. He also loves to play the wii, run around the yard, and play with his brothers and friends.

Nathan (5) is spending his last year at home with Mom. He is such a fun boy. He spent the first part of the year being a pirate, and the last part of it being a scarecrow. He often changes several times a day, and mom has to be careful to keep up. He also loves to draw and shows much promise of following in his big brother's footsteps. He started sounding out words this fall and has recently "published" his first book, "The Wizrd of Pos." He also loves running errands with Mommy, reading books, visiting Great-Grandma Mangum, and following his brothers around and playing legos with them.

Our family has been blessed beyond measure this year, and knowing that our Heavenly Father loves and watches over us is among our greatest treasures. We are so grateful for our forever family and all the amazing things that have happened this year to help seal our bonds of love and friendship. We pray that you, our family and friends near and far, have also felt the love and blessings of God rest upon you this year. We love you and hope you all have a merry Christmas and an amazing new year!

Up To Our Eyeballs in Chocolate

"All I really need is love... But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt." (Lucy Van Pelt from "Peanuts" by Charles M. Schultz)

For Valentiene's day, Rachel sold handmade chocolates to earn the last $600 for her American Heritage trip. She went through Grandma Dixon's boxes of chocolate molds (she used to have a business) and decided what she wanted to make. I created a brochure for her and Steve and I sent it out to about 100 people by email. Grandma also took some to work and put them in the teacher's lounge with some samples. Well, when all was said and done, she brought in $1,369 ($1126 after costs), made 24 chocolate bars, 237 trays of heart mints, 459 heart suckers, 95 circle suckers with colored hearts, and 19 candy dishes filled with another 57 trays of mints. Through the undying devotion and help of her mom, and pulling her first ever all-nighter, she pulled out almost twice as much money as she needed for her trip. I was amazed at how hard she worked and how supportive our friends and parents were with her project. Several people sent the email out to their friends, and others gave her donations above and beyond what they had bought. Although we were exhausted and still scraping chocolate off the kitchen counters, chairs and floor for days, we were so grateful and it was a great experience... for both of us.

...And as if I hadn't had enough fun with Rachel, I decided this was how Sarah would earn her tuition money for her week-long summer session of EFY in August. So, we started the process again, but this time with Easter Chocolates. I knew, going into it, that Sarah is not as self-motivated, and that she couldn't stay up late and give up her sleep, so we planned to work all day while she was home on Spring Break. But, because of timing troubles, we only got half of the orders that she needed. So, we extended the order deadline for another week and got twice as many orders as we had before. She had school the week we did the second half of her orders, so this project became more of mom's than Sarah's once she went back to school. But, we did it again, and Sarah earned all the money she needed to pay her tuition and pay back all the money she owed us from fall coed. In the end, Sarah earned $485, and we made 12 chocolate bunnies, 31 bunny suckers, 32 bags of mints, and 199 peanut-butter filled eggs with 87 of those personalized and decorated. The eggs were kind of my project, so Sarah did most of the other things while I worked on those. I put in a couple of late nights, but I was grateful we didn't get the larger orders like Rachel's project. It was scaled down perfectly for the need and the kid. So, with the money she had in her bank, Sarah is completely out of debt, and a free woman! She paid us back the money for her tuition and the money she owed for coed and still has enough money for camp and some spending cash for EFY. She's also been babysitting a lot, realizing that money is much more valuable to her than before. It was a good learning experience for her, too.

I had a moment of insanity (must have been the lack of sleep) while I was working on Sarah's eggs where I thought about what a wonderful little business this could be for my girls. They could do parties, weddings, holiday treats and do it in their own time, from home. My mom has all sorts of molds and we could find suppliers for the chocolate and molds at wholesale prices...my mind was spinning, thinking of how to market it and what we'd need to do to get it going. (I think my husband has finally converted me to the entrepreneurial way of thinking. It kind of spirals out of control once you get those thoughts in there). It sounded good until the next day when I started thinking about how much of my time would be swallowed up in "helping" them. Maybe if they ever want a stay at home job bad enough, I'll help them again, or, if I get bored and need something to do (hahaha...) once my kids are all in school, I could do it myself. Until then, we'll just keep it to making occasional birthday and holiday treats for the family and remember this wonderful experience with my girls where we worked toward financial goals together while we were up to our eyeballs in chocolate!

Piano Festival 2010

In March, Rachel participated in the annual Idaho Junior Music Federation's Piano Festival again. When we got there, they took her right back so she didn't have much time to psych her self out, or get nervous at all. She sat in a room with a really kind judge, and her teacher took me back to listen to her play at the door. She played beautifully and received an "Superior" rating...and a perfect score (50 out of 50 points)! It was amazing. She told me she thought she messed up a couple of times, and there were some comments for improvement on her score sheet, but the judge was very impressed with her performance. She was called the next day to perform again at the subsequent Honors Recital. I went with her last year, so Steve and my parents went to watch our amazing young pianist. I probably don't have to say it, but we are all so proud of her!

A Brand New Basement Bedroom

The girls' Christmas gift from Santa (and Mom and Dad) this year was new bedspreads and pillows for their bedroom. We also spent days (literally) cleaning out, throwing away, reorganizing and then redecorating the whole thing. The girls threw away and got rid of more than 2/3 of the stuff in their room. I was so proud of them!! They helped paint and Steve put up more trim and new carpet. The carpet was given to us from some good friends. It fit, almost exactly perfect, including the closet, with no seams! Must have been meant to be! I wish I had before pictures to show how awful it was before, but here's proof of how absolutely cute it is now!!

Rachel's bed and wall...

Sarah's bed and wall...

The very organized shelves and closet...

One of the best things about their new look is that they love it so much that they love to hang out there and it is is clean almost all of the time! The clothes only stay on the floor for a few days at a time, and the junk disappears at least every Saturday! I'm so proud of them, and it was a great learning/teaching/relationship building experience for them! It's one of the best things we've could have done for (and with) them! Great job, girls!

Christmas Recitals

In December, Rachel also had a couple of piano recitals. First, she had one for her students, three cute little kids that play one finger at a time. They had all been taking lessons from her for less than 8 months, one child for only two. They all did really well. It was so cute to see how much support they all had in their first recital. We filled the whole Relief Society room of the church. After the kids all played, Rachel played her Christmas piece for the children. We spent almost as much time taking pictures afterward as they took playing. It was really quick, but we finished off with delicious brownies and punch (made by one of the moms). It was a milestone, and such a fun night for us to watch our Rachel shine!

Kersten, Tyson, Rachel, Erica and Andrew. (Andrew is Kersten's brother and performed at the recital, too.) Such cute, proud kids!

The next one, only a couple of days later, was her recital. She did an amazing job, as always. I love to listen to her play! Here's a video for your listening (and viewing) pleasure...
(Sorry it's sideways. I spent an hour trying to convert and fix it, but to no avail. I'll replace it if I ever get it to work. Just turn your head, or close your eyes and enjoy!)

Christmas 2009

As we reflected on the past year, we realized, with much gratitude and joy, the great blessings Heavenly Father has granted us. We are employed, healthy, and happy. What more
could we want? We have enjoyed many special moments together and marvel at the blessings and miracles we are granted daily. Through our successes and struggles, we are more aware and grateful for what we have: a most amazing family.

Steve just finished his 2nd year working for the U.S. House of Representatives for Congressman Mike Simpson. He runs the office here and represents Mike at meetings and ceremonies. It has been a great experience for him as he's able to set his own schedule, work with wonderful people, and make connections with people all over southeast Idaho. He also serves on two community economic development boards, one as the chairman. He took somewhat of a "break" from local politics this year, determining to spend more time with our family. It's been marvelous for us. However, politics is "in his blood", and he still meets regularly with local Republicans. He currently serves on the Stake High Council, and we joke about dad "going to his church", but he usually takes at least one week a month to come sit by us at ours. His entrepreneurial spirit is still alive and well. He spent much of the year taking courses on internet marketing, looking at some avenues for a business that "runs itself". Through success we had in some direct mail pieces we created and sent out for a couple of friends, a new idea was born, and he's most currently working on a direct mail business. He's a wonderful daddy and husband, patient, funny and so supportive. We love him more than we can express!

I spent the year being the mom. Running kids wherever, volunteering many hours at the school as the PTO secretary and in classrooms, helping my boys with their homework, doing 323 loads of laundry, making 1,089 meals, and cleaning up the house too many times to count. I really love being a stay at home mom. I serve as the Stake Young Women President, which comes with the perks of working with awesome youth leaders (and their adult leaders) on things like youth conference and girls camp. The summers are pretty crazy, but I get to attend those stake activities with my girls and love the special testimony-building moments we have together there. When I make time for me, I love reading, blogging, card making, baking and spending time with my kids and sweetheart.

Sarah has had a great year this year. With a low-fat diet and handfuls of medicine, her health has improved dramatically. She feels so much better most of the time which has greatly increased her spirits, too. She is a Junior at Century High School this year, only missing a handful of days so far. She turned 16 and attended her first big dance this fall. She has a great group of friends now, and spends her time doing what teenagers do (whew...finally!). She likes to be with her friends, a good book, her mp3 player, Facebook, and the guy she attended the dance with (not necessarily in that order). She's recently found a new hidden talent in the choir at school and loves to help in the kitchen. She's in the Laurel class presidency at church and is a great example of faith and goodness.

Rachel has spent her year fulfilling her dream of going on the American Heritage Tour with the 8th graders in the community next spring. She decided last spring that she really wanted to go, and after Steve told her we couldn't afford it (over $2500), she moped for a couple of hours. He let her, then talked to her about ways that SHE could afford it. She put her mind to doing just that. Within a week, she had 6 children lined up for piano lessons, several babysitting jobs in the wings, a yard sale scheduled, and plans for a hand-delivered coupon packet (daddy's specialty) during the summer. She worked really hard, and by the time school started in the fall, she had earned $2100 of her money. She turned 13 this summer, traded her glasses in for contacts, started wearing make-up, and turned into a beautiful young woman overnight. She also serves in her Beehive class presidency. She loves to play the piano, read, write on her blog, and be with her friends. She's pretty excited to be at a public high school next year and wear "normal clothes" to school again. With all her drive and self-discipline, it's been so fun to watch her grow and mature.

Bryson had a pretty life-altering year this year. After so many struggles with school and some hard times at home, we finally found out that he has Asperger's Syndrome, one of the high-functioning autism spectrum disorders. So since summer, we spend our days in rigid routines, going to psycho and occupational therapy, encouraging social and physical experiences, and loving and enjoying our sweet boy with new eyes and hearts. He has responded well, and with his new accommodations at school and home, is thriving. He is still an incredible artist and loves to draw. He recently discovered that he kind of likes to read, too. He loves prehistoric creatures, ancient civilizations, and any animal that's ever existed (and some that haven't). He also loves cub scouts and just beams with pride when he earns his awards. Bryson is my special buddy, loving and sweet, tender and quiet, and good all the way through.

Joshua has decided this year that he prefers to be called Josh. (I think it's because it's faster to write.) But, he's still the same sweet, cute, cuddly kid he's always been. His darling little smile has saved his life on many occasions, as he's still our busiest, most inquisitive child. He builds traps, tears things apart, wrestles with his dad, and comes up with the most amazing things most of us couldn't even fathom. It is fun to watch his face light up when he finishes reading a book, or gets his spelling words right. He's excited to be in school all day, but is still practicing just paying attention and sitting still. He's a cuddle, a laugh, and a wildly vibrating ray of sunshine.

Nathan is such a fun little boy. He's very intrigued with letters and numbers and also loves to draw. He and Mom spend a lot more time together alone and we've become such good friends. He loves to go run errands with mom, play on the computer, read stories, watch movies, do puzzles, and make play dough "cookies". He is usually very loving and sweet, but has practiced his different moods and independent thinking a lot more this year. He's really grown up a lot, and has become quite a strong-willed little boy. He makes us smile all the time with his funny little antics, and has decided lately that he's either a pirate (aargghh!) or Santa Claus (ho ho ho!), complete with costume. We're so grateful he's in our family, too.

We have been so abundantly blessed this year, but among our greatest treasures is our wonderful family and the incredible blessing that we can be together forever. We couldn't stand it any other way.

Halloween with Mystery, Inc.

This Halloween's costumes were inspired by a cute little dog costume I bought at our school yard sale last August for Nathan. Since the girls are a little too big to do the whole Halloween and Trick-or-Treating thing, I thought we should have them all be the Scooby Doo gang. That way, the girls could dress up, too, and help the boys for me! Besides, the boys love to watch the old Scooby Doo cartoons. They all loved the idea and we went searching for clothes and accessories to make it work. Both the other boys had clothes that worked great, and for the girls, we hit three different thrift stores and Wal-Mart, and borrowed a few accessories from a friend, and had everything we needed. I was so excited with the way their costumes turned out, and the kids all loved them. Bryson had a brilliant idea that Steve and I should dress up as the "Mystery Machine", but we declined. Sarah, Bryson and Joshua all won movie tickets in the costume contest at the school carnival, and we got a lot of comments. Joshua's yellow hair ended up being a nice neon green, and Rachel's red hair spray ended up all over everything in the bathroom, but it was so cute, and so worth cleaning up the mess!!

Freddy (Josh), Shaggy (Bryson), and Scooby Doo (Nathan)

Velma (Sarah) and Daphne (Rachel)

The whole gang from Mystery, Inc.
Scooby-dooby-doo!!!

Family Pictures 2009

We haven't had our family pictures taken since Joshua was about 6 months old. Yeah, six years ago. Well, we wanted a bunch of fun pictures and didn't want to spend our life savings, so David spent the good part of a Saturday in October taking our family pictures. He has a new hobby in photography and is really very good. This was his first "Family Portrait" shoot, except for his own, so we all learned some things. We had four locations in mind, but we started out pretty cold, and then the sun came up pretty fast and made things a little more complicated with the shadows and light. He took about 260 shots, and we hoped a few of them turned out okay. With that many people, you always have somebody blinking, not looking, talking, or crying. Well, he got many more than a few good ones, and I am so happy with what we ended up with. Actually, there are too many to choose. I might just make a collage for the wall instead. There are just so many that are so fun! I love my brother and am so grateful for his willingness to do this for us!!

Saved by a Three Year-Old

This is one of those "Smiles and Sunshine" moments I built this blog for. I have a hard time remembering details about what happened last week, so I thought I better get this cute little story posted before I forget.

A few days ago, I was working on the computer and Nathan came in crying. He had tears streaming down his face, and his expression was one of those scrunched-up hurt-feelings faces that makes you think, "Oh, great. Now what did they do to my baby?" He climbed up on my lap and tried, through his sobs, to tell me what happened. I honestly couldn't decipher any of it, but know I heard Rachel's name somewhere in there. Trying to do the "mommy thing" and fix it for him, I facetiously asked if we should go and spank Rachel. Nathan immediately stopped crying and looked at me with a worried look on his face. He said to me, "Oh, no, Mommy! Not Rachel. She's such a good sister!" That made my heart melt. It was so precious, we went together to tell her what he had said. I found out from Rachel and a guilt-faced Bryson that he was the one that made him cry by pushing the teasing a little too far. After a half-hearted apology, Nathan forgave him, and everything was fine again.

By the way, Rachel later confessed that she was laughing and probably added to the problem. Hmmmm... Perhaps she shouldn't have been spared after all! Good thing her littlest brother loves her so much!

Back into the Swing of Things...

Well, we've been back in school for... a month for my Charter School kids, and 3 weeks for my Junior at Century High School. Yeah, I can't believe she's that old, either. Rachel is in 8th, Bryson 4th and Joshua 1st grade. I can't believe any of them are that old. The first day of school was pretty exciting. Sarah was still sleeping (she still had another week of summer break), Rachel was spending record time in the bathroom with the spiral curling iron, and the boys were dressed by 7:10 and making their sack lunches in the kitchen. Nathan was all caught up in the excitement, too, making his own lunch and packing his "pack-pack". (Sarah and I had to take him to the park to eat his packed lunch that day.)

Joshua, Rachel and Bryson on the first day of school
August 14th, 2009

...And Nathan on their first day of school...

Sarah's first day of school
August 20th, 2009

So, after a month, how are things going? Bryson had a major homework meltdown and Joshua had a little period of "bad choices" at school the first week, but everyone seems to have settled in and is doing great now! ...Whew! We love the kids' teachers, the new administrators at the charter school, and the new routine that comes with school schedules. Rachel's life changed a little bit this year with some of her good friends leaving to the traditional jr. high, and the new homework load of 8th grade. But, she's been busy, involved in student council and mostly happy. Sarah has only had one "sick day" so far, and we're thrilled that she's enjoying her classes and strengthening friendships. Nathan and I hang out all day at home (if we're lucky) and plan to have lots of trips to the library for storytime and special mommy-time at home. All in all, I'd say school is going great, and things are good. I'm holding my breath that life won't get much crazier and that homework time won't put me in a mental hospital this year!

Baby Blues is one of my favorite cartoons. Steve clips it out for me at least once every couple of weeks as it seems to apply so directly to my crazy mommy-life with my great kids! This was one he cut out last Spring, during burn-out season, but it also seems so applicable now....

"Um...I Think....Let's Sell It!"

In an effort to "de-junk" our house and help Rachel earn some money for her American Heritage Tour next spring, we decided to have a yard sale this summer. Looking at the calendar, the only weekend we had free was the one just before girls' camp. So, although the date was bad, it was our only shot. We spent 3 days cleaning up, cleaning out, piling and pricing. By Friday morning, we had a pretty good selection of goodies for sale. As we went through the toys, Bryson and Josh very carefully selected a few choice items they no longer wanted. As I held up each of his old toys, Nathan would reply, "Ummm...I think...let's sell it!" I don't think he has a clue what that really meant, but who was I to argue? Actually, I didn't sell anything I thought he would miss. He was pretty sad as the girls' old toddler bike got hauled off by someone else's mommy. Oops.

It went pretty well. Our neighbors donated at least half the stuff we sold and gave Rachel half the money of everything she sold for them (turned out to be $120 donation). A good friend and Grandma & Grandpa donated some stuff, too. Rachel had a bake sale and also collected donations for her trip, which added about $15 more to her profits. After everything, we cleared about $600. After Rachel took her $300, we paid the neighbors their $120, Sarah got her $50, Josh and Bryson each got their $10, and Nathan got his $5, I think Steve and I got to keep $105. What's wrong with this picture?? It was worth it, though, helping the kids earn a little money, and getting rid of some of the stuff I won't have to pick up anymore!

It was a pretty big deal. Really. We were even featured on the news!

Pioneer Day Celebration

Pioneer children sang as they walked, and walked, and walked....
Sarah and Rachel walked with the float in the Pioneer Day Parade and held signs with some of the other young women in our ward. They were wearing cute little blow-up alligator swimming floaties around their waists. Of course, Sarah thought they were cute and funny, and Rachel was embarrassed to death. We brought the quick shade and lawn chairs and found a pretty non-populated spot on Center Street with friendly and polite neighbors. It was really fun this year. After the parade, we did our usual run up to the fairgrounds to fight the crowds and heat and stood in line to get our traditional Pioneer Day lunch: hamburgers or hot dogs and corn on the cob, watermelon, and snowcones. Yum! That's what summer's all about. It was really hot that day, and I opted to hold everything while Steve took the boys into the petting zoo. When they were done, we made a bee-line to the car before they noticed anything else to do or eat.

We got home and Steve was watering the plants in the front yard. Rachel opened her water bottle and dumped it down his shirt. Pretty soon, there was an all-out waterfight going on in the front yard, and my poor husband was without his hose. A few minutes later, I heard footsteps on the roof and Steve opened fire with the backyard hose. Rachel didn't stand a chance.

Sarah and I were hiding and laughing on the porch, using picture-taking as my excuse so I could stay dry. Before I knew it, he bent the hose around the roof and squirted me and Sarah down. So, of course we joined the fun. Afterall, we had to get him back! We all had a great time, except Josh, who loved being the hose guy and squirting everyone when they came to fill up their buckets and pitchers, but cried everytime somebody dumped it over his head. We finally got smart and gave him an umbrella as a shield and had him sit on the sandbox and watch.

After an hour of drowning each other, we called a truce so we could all clean up and dry off. Of course, we did have to stop and pose for a picture first. What a fun, fun day! Spontaneous moments are usually the the stuff great memories are made of!

That Was Totally...

When we went up and over the tower, I seriously thought I was going to die!!

Shaunna and Eric also planned a trip to Lagoon while they were here for any of the Dixon family that had a strong enough stomachs to want to subject themselves to the scariest and fastest rides that Lagoon has to offer. (No baby rides on this trip!) The group that stepped up anxiously to volunteer was Eric and Shaunna, their 9 year-old boys, Landon and Branson, Me, Rachel, David and Valarie, and their 8 year old son, Kyle. We had such a fun day! We spent the first couple of hours at Lagoon-A-Beach on the water slides and then dressed and switched over to the park. One of our first rides was Wicked, a coaster that goes straight up really fast, then straight down, even faster and twists you in a corkscrew turn or two. I spent most of the ride trying to catch my breath and the rest of it out-screaming Rachel. It was horrifying...but so totally fun! We covered the whole park, probably a few times, riding anything that seemed even a little like a grown-up ride. I decided again that I really, really do hate the Wild Mouse. I like being flipped inside out and upside down, just not way out over the edge of the tracks. Scares me to death. Anyway, in the afternoon, when it got pretty hot, we really liked the Cliffhanger and Rattlesnake Rapids. We got soaked (some of us much more than others) and were soggy most of the day, but it kept us cool. I conned Rachel and Shaunna into going on the Samurai with me. They weren't quite sure about it, but Rachel even admitted later that she really liked it. Shaunna didn't agree. We loved the Rocket, the Blast Off one, and grabbed a bonus run of the Colossus right at the end before the park closed. I think the Colossus is still my favorite. The second time, I made Rachel open her eyes on the loops. Call me crazy, but I love that sensation of watching the world turn upside down. I was so excited to know that at 37, I still can do Lagoon all day without getting sick (unlike my poor brother) and that acting like a child again for a day can actually make you feel 10 years younger!