Halloween - Part 2

Happy Halloween - 2008

Halloween - Part 1

I LOVE Halloween!! Last night I was trying on my many different out-fits I am going to be this year, and his response was, "Mom, I think I am going to outgrow Halloween before you do!"

Here are some pictures from my work and from Niels. We are having too much fun!!

Village People... opening act for KISS!

Zoo starts with "Z"

For Fall Break this year, I took the day off of work and we headed to the Hogle Zoo. It turned out to be a very educational adventure. Zander is learning his letters and what sounds they make. We picked an animal thats first letter started with the first letter in each of our names. Zander simply LOVED this game. His older brothers had a great time teaching him. It was a super nice day!

"A" starts with Ape and Amy (Check out Garrett's great Ape Face. He looks better then the Ape in the far left corner)!

"C" starts with Crocodiles and Conner!

"S" is for Slimy Snakes and for Stockton. Ewwww!

"G" is for Giraffe and for Garrett

"Z" is Zander's favorite letter. It also starts with his favorite animal, the Zebra!!

Uncle Vic

Though you can't see or touch me, I'll be near...

And if you listen with your heart, you'll hear

All of my love around you soft and clear.

And then, when you must come this way alone,

I'll greet you with a smile and "Welcome Home."

This past week was one of those weeks where the unexpected happens. Unfortunately, the week wasn't one of those happy unexpected happening events. My Uncle Vic was in a terrible motorcycle accident. He passed away late Tuesday night.
I have attempted to post several times, but could never find just the right words (and still cannot). It amazes me how life can just be going along, and all the sudden, out of no where, things change in just one moment.
I have thought mostly about my cousins, Uncle Vic's children. I have hoped they have found comfort in the lose of their father. I have thought my own father and prayed for him to find peace with yet another sibling passing. I thought about my Aunt Lori, Uncle Ron and Grandma Dean and wondered if their hearts have felt solace in this difficult time?
The funeral services were Sunday night. They were beautiful, sincere, loving and peaceful. I could feel the love for him from so many people. It was an incredible event to attend as I saw many dear friends and family members.
Uncle Vic was a good man! A very loving and caring Uncle. I felt his love many times in my life. I found a safeness when things were difficult and a man who loved those in his life. Uncle Vic will be greatly missed!

Go BYU!

A couple of weeks ago we attended the BYU vs New Mexico football game. This was Conner and Garrett's first college game. BYU won! And.... we all had blast celebrating their victory!

Delightful Dots

Guess what? I started my own template design blog!

Delightful Dots

The word is spreading quickly. It has been incredibly amazing to see my template all around. I thought I would share my site with you! Check it out!!

A couple things about my templates:

*Very simple to apply to your blog
*You DO NOT have to re-format any of your information - ALL the information on your blog will move over when you follow the instructions.
*They are super cute!!!!

Right now I am offering an incentive for you to advertise for me. If you will post a blog about Delightful Dots, I will make you are free header. Here are a few headers I have made thus far:

How Sweet it is

California Clan

Haag Family

Read All About It

La Bonne Vie

Also... I take requests. If there are some particular colors or designs you would like to see, please let me know!!

I am currently working on setting up my Cute Cards site. I am accepting Christmas card orders now. If you would be interested just let me know. I would be happy to work up a few designs.

Happy Blogging!!

What is that smell?

Wednesday morning I got into the car to head to work. As I jumped into the car, my nose could smell this light stinky smell. The smell wasn't too strong, but still the same is was slightly stinky. I went about my day and didn't pay too much attention to it. At lunch, I decided to vacuum out the car.
I got in the car Thursday morning and I could smell the scent again. This time the foul smell was even worse. It smelt like dog poop or something along those lines. I was in a hurry to get to work so I avoided the smell as much as possible. I rolled down the windows in hopes to air out the car. When I got into the car at the end of my work day, the smell was still there.... and seemed to be getting even worse. I sprayed Febreze on the floors, used Lysol cleaning rags on the leather seats and hoped I had cleaned up the disgusting smell.
Friday morning came along.... and just as you may have guessed, the smell was even stronger. I ran back into the house and brought out some baking soda carpet cleaner. I sprinkled the baking soda all over the carpets in hope that would clear out the smell. I was sure that would do the trick. Lunch came around. A bunch of work associates wanted to go to lunch. Lucky me... I got to drive. I was almost certain the baking soda would have settled into the carpet by that time, so I agreed. Man was I embarrassed when I opened the car door and got a hint of the smell. With the powder on the floor, rather then clean air, my car smelt like a dirty diaper. No one said a word about the smell as I drove them to and from lunch. No one talked much either.... I think they were all holding their breath. I was sure we were going to have to get the carpets detailed. There was just no getting the horrible smell out of the car. I kept scratching my head because I just couldn't figure out what was smelling so horrible. The inside of the car was sparkling at this point.
Saturday morning I decided to go to the car cleaning place one more time. I put my quarters in the vacuum and began vacuuming away at my nearly spotless car. As I was vacuuming I decided to look in the very far back of the Trailblazer. The smell seemed to be coming from the very back. I hadn't even touched that area of the car because I was sure the smell was from the boys... tracking in dog poop or something. As I glanced in the back I saw some groceries. The second I saw the bag all the memories of shopping came back to me.
That previous Tuesday night I had quickly run to the store and purchase chicken, hamburger, and steak cubes. I had gotten busy with picking up kids from football and getting the boys to bed, I had forgotten to bring in the groceries. There they had sat for 5 days! GROSS!!!!
I immediately threw out the meat, opened the windows in the car, and let the smell air itself out. Thank goodness the meat was all tightly bagged in the plastic bags. Nothing had spilled out.
The car is smelling much better today. Not a hint of bad poultry! And... the car is the cleanest it has been probably since I purchased it!!!!

On a happy side note:

Niel's parents got their mission call!! John and Joyce are super excited to be serving an 18 month mission. They will be heading out February 9th. I am really going to miss them!! To find out where they are going, and to wish them well, please check out their blog!

Fall is in the Air

I love to experience ALL the seasons. Each season brings with it all it's exuberant splendor.
Fall is here!! Some of my favorite things about fall are....

(picture by Mark Jarvis)

Orange, Yellow's, Mountains.
Fall even has a musty clean smell in the air! It sure is Beautiful!


The Hot Chocolate machine has been pulled out & getting good use all ready.

Delicious!

Football has become a new favorite activity to add to my list this year!
The boys are all so great!!

Mouth watering caramel apples! The left over caramel goes on popcorn!!

Ah... Halloween..... it is one of my favorite holidays!

(picture by Niel Oscarson)

Time to pull out the warm sweaters, stylish jackets, long sleeved shirts..... a
nd my cool 10 year old black boots! Along with my favorite boots come my long, comfy, green polk-a-dot socks (I think it is time for some new socks).

I love Fall!

What are some of your favorite things about Fall?

I am feeling a little..... BROWN!

Having an incredible hair dresser makes life simple and easy. Plus, Brooke knows just the right things to do. I think I like it!!!

What do you think?

Our son Conner.... M.V.P.

Guess who won M.V.P. at their last football game? You guessed it.... Conner did!

Every Wednesday night Conner's coaches pick one person from the last Saturday game for the M.V.P. award. For the past 5 Wednesdays Conner has come home empty handed and broken hearted..... even grumpy. I had to sit him down and explain to him that Lineman rarely get M.P.V. awards. I also told him that Lineman probably have the most important position, but since they don't handle the ball, they are often overlooked. Conner was determined to change those statistics.

I walked in the door Wednesday night and the first words out of his mouth were.... "M-O-M! Guess what?" (with a nah-nah-nah attitude). "Guess who won M.V.P.? That's right!!! You were WRONG!"

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't like to be wrong..... but this is one time I was actually smiling!! I am so proud of him!!!!!

If you are interested, you can read all about his game on his blog!

Gone Green

Our family has hopped on board the healthy bus. Have you every heard of Green Smoothies? Well, let me tell you... they are delicious! Niel makes his very own homemade smoothie every morning.
The boys and I use Garden Greens Essential Greens mix. We add a banana and some low-fat yogurt to make it taste just a little better!

Niel's smoothie consist of Kale, Spinich, apples, bananas, and water! Yum!

Do you see these happy faces? They love their morning smoothies!!!! Do you also see their big muscles? I think the greens are helping them grow up big and strong!

It is our secret recipe to a long, healthy life!!!

A Saturday at our house!

Our lives are always so very busy!!! I thought I would give you a play by play of one of our days!

6:45 - Time to get up! Got to get going for the day!


7:30 - Niel heads out with Garrett to get him to his football practice before the game.


8:15 - Me, Conner, Stockton, Megan, Zander and Jerin all jump in the car to head over to Grandma Dean's house. Grandma Dean is going to get Stockton to practice for us because we are all ready busy with Garrett and Conner's games.

9:00 - Arrive at Garrett's football game! Yeah... another blowout. 24/0!


10:30 - Niel heads off with Conner to get him to his practice.

10:45 - Megan and I head off to her house in Provo. She has a Primary Program practice to attend!

11:45 - Arrive at Grandma Deans house to stop for a quick lunch!

12:00 - Conner's football games starts. Niel and Jerin are at Conner's games for support. They even got to play on the BIG new field!! Conner's team has a blow-out 27/0!


12:10 - Stockton's game gets a late start. Me, Zander, Garrett, Grandma and Brynlee are all there to cheer Stockton on. They barely win.... 14/13! Talk about a close call.

1:45 - Head home FAST! We need to get ready for Stockton's birthday party! Grandma Dean takes Zander and Garrett with her to help us out. Grandma Dean takes them to Kanagroo Zoo!! Thanks Mom!

2:30 - Birthday party time!!! All the guest arrive.




2:45 - We load up the kids and head to Boondocks!


3:05 - Arrive at Boondocks and attempt to play! The rain gets in a way a lot. The race track keeps shutting down. So we golf. Then we wait in line again only to have the track shut down a few more times.
5:00 - I leave Niel with all the kids (brave man), and I head to get pizza and drinks.

5:30 - Get back to Boondocks. Eat pizza! Play Games!!

6:00 - Gather all the kids together and head back home.

6:30 - Drop off each kid at their homes.

7:00 - Head over to Grandma's house to pick up Zander and Garrett.... they want to stay abd live with Grandma & Grandpa forever!!!

8:00 - Get back home. Have the kids get ready for bed.

8:30 - Put Zander and Garrett to bed. Make sure Conner, Jerin, and Stockton are settled with a movie.

9:00 - Finally.... some quiet time. Niel and I are exhausted!!! As we veg on the couch, watching some TV, we are just happy we made it through the day with little conflict! Plus, it was a great day!!! We are tired, but we are happy!

What a great life!!!!!

The Big Yellow Slide

Niel and I headed out to SLC for our grand adventure at the Utah State Fair! There are so many things to look at. There are people of all different types, an assortment of booths with just about anything imaginable, and all the junk food you could possible imagine. But my favorite thing to do at the fair is ride the big yellow slide. Wheeeeee!

Here we are at the top....

.....and down we raced!!!! Yes, I am the proud Big Yellow Slide winner!!!

Saturday Fun!

Saturday we get to do the most fun thing..... FOOTBALL!!! Conner, Stockton, and Garrett are all participating in Lone Peak football this year. Can I just say, it is soooo much fun! Seriously, I look forward to watching these games all week. The boys are very dedicated to the sport and spend a lot of time during the week preparing. Each of them has football practice 2 hours a day, 3 days a week. Plus, on game day, they spend an hour before the game getting ramped up. I am so proud of all the word work they are putting into this sport. They are each doing really well this year. Both Conner and Stockton's teams are undefeated 4/0. Garrett's team had a little tough start at the beginning, but they have been going well the past two weeks. They are 2/2!! Each of the boys have their own blogs and are in the process of updating them weekly with their football success.

Go Lone Peak Knights!

My Jewelry Box

For my birthday this past January Stockton gave me a jewelry box. This was a very special homemade gift for several reasons. First off, as most mothers, I love the handmade projects my children make for me. Stockton spent a lot of time preparing this cardboard artistic project. All the glue, tape, markers and construction paper were placed perfectly to make such a priceless piece of art. There is even a top for it. There are two trays... one for my "neklisis" and the other side for my "erering's"!
The second part of this special gift was the fact that I had been asking and looking for a jewelry box for about 2 years. When ever we would go to a new store I would stop at the jewelry counter to glance at the boxes. I could never find one that had everything I wanted or one that was in my price range. The fact Stockton remembered I wanted one so badly.... and the fact he created one to meet my needs, made the gift even that much more special to me.
I have cared and loved this handmade perfect gift for nearly 9 months. Unfortunately the construction paper has been worn to the bone. Water splats are decorating the outside of the box and it is withering away quickly. I decided to go out and purchase a wooden box to place my jewelry in. Mostly because I wanted to savor Stockton's gift before it got ruined far beyond salvaging.
My new box will never hold quit the same meaning. I will keep Stockton's handmade present in a safe place and in my heart forever!!

Lagoon

Most of the family got to go to Lagoon twice this summer. We had a blast both times.

The first time we went with Grandma Dean, Aunt Ang, Arianna and Alayna. What a special treat to have them in town. The day was hot and crowded, but all the thrilling rides were exciting. Stockton tried The Wicked for the first time. He was scared at first but loved it. Another event to remember was Zander's temper tantrum in Pioneer Village. Ok, so maybe I want to forget that one. I think that was the worst temper tantrum he has ever had in public. All because he didn't want to share an ice cream cone with me. Kids! Jerin also got to come with us. Conner and Jerin went on the Tidal Wave 11 times in a row (Crazy)! Arianna went on it once and I doubt we will see her on that ride again, at least not for a while. haha!

The second time we went was with Niel's work. It rained a lot that day but cleared up in mid afternoon. The park was nearly empty and the weather was just perfect with a nice breeze blowing all day. Zander found a new best friend, Gordan!

Once again I took too many pictures. Oh, but so many great memories!!

Stockton's Baptism

Stockton took the big step.... be got baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It sure was a special day. So many friends and family come to support him. I appreciate you all for the support and love you offer to our family! We are very blessed to have incredible examples in our lives!

Stockton wrote some of his thoughts about his baptism. Check out his blog if you would like to read them.

Happy Birthday Grandma J

It is hard to find the words to express the essence of this incredible woman! I believe most of you who know me also know Joyce. I believe you would each agree with me that she is someone pretty special. She is very thoughtful and sincere! She is accepting and makes me feel comfortable! The first time I meet her was on New Years Eve, 2004. She welcomed Zander and I into her cabin and treated us just like we had known each other for ages!! As a grandma she is perfect in every way. The kids look forward to spending time with Grandma J. She goes out of her way to make sure we are all happy. She even has a magic table!! I always know I can count on her to help out.... with anything! She takes the kids to school, supports each of her grandkids with their various interests, and is the best cook on this planet. You will even see her sledding down a steep, snowy hill in the winter or getting in her swim suit and boogie board with rest of us. I just love to have her with us because she makes everything so much fun!! She is also a great friend. She listens, laughs, cries, and comforts. She inspires me to want to be a good person. I often find myself saying, "I want to be like Joyce when I grow up!" She is beautiful and full of life! She is just one of those people who will forever leave her footprints in my life. I love her!

Happy Birthday Grandma J! Thank you for everything!!!

Timpanogos Cave

Grandma and Grandpa Dean took us on hike.  Now, this wasn't just any hike, it was a hike up Timpanogos Cave.

The boys were all great hikers!  The trail is 1.5 miles with most of it uphill.  I was very impressed with their hiking abilities!

Inside the cave was amazing!  It is incredible anyone even found the cave.  We learned a lot of intriguing information.

Conner wanted to know if he could just live there...haha!!   It definitely was a great day!!