Hillbilly Hoedown - Ward Campout

The weekend of Father's Day, as a ward tradition, we had a campout up Hobble Creek Canyon. Roy and I happened to be the lucky couple to be in charge of the food for the Friday evening and Saturday breakfast.

I think everything moved quite smoothly. We had 175 people come for the evening and around 75 people come for breakfast. We were able to estimate just the right amount of food for both meals. Our family didn't sleep over but our home (thank goodness) wasn't too far away. It helped to get some food started ahead of time and have it ready at the campout.

For dinner, we had sloppy joes (squirrel burgers), potatoes (taters), fixins (salads/chips/fruit, etc), dranks and dezerts. :) We had quite a few people dress up in hillbilly attire, had a live band play and even had people come up to dance. I think everyone had a wonderful time even the kids! :)

Here are some photos of our hillbilly family. :)

Run w/Elle 5k & Kids Race

Amanda & Kaitlyn waiting to see Jessica, Ammon & Daddy run by. :)

Ammon & Jessica racing to the finish line. Roy is toward the back of the picture...he was the one to keep them plugging along. :)

We ended up seeing Roy's sister (Vicki) and nieces (Aubrey & Whitney) there at the race. We had to get a group picture! They all did a wonderful job!

Kaitlyn snacking on an apple. Everytime I see this picture...I just laugh. Kinda funny. :)

Jessica after the race eating bread.

Roy & Kaitlyn. She is about ready to get ready for her first kids race!

Amanda getting ready for her 2nd kids race.

There's Kaitlyn running! Notice no one is running with her. lol She did a false start. Kaitlyn was pretty excited to get going. The crowd were all chuckling at her. :)

On your mark, get set, go!!!

Amanda running to the finish line! She won her age division! Go Amanda!

The kids were able to get an otterpop and other snacks afterwards.

Amanda showing off her first place medal, ribbon & free ice cream coupon. :)

I think everyone had a wonderful time! This time round it was fun to watch all of them and me not running. They have all been such a huge support for me. I had to turn the favor. It was fun to take pictures of everything. They all did a great job!

Mother's Day!

Me and my girls after church. :)

I had a wonderful Mother's day and I feel a bit spoiled. I was able to get curtains for my front room, a beautiful flower basket, a homemade card from Ammon and a painted picture frame with a picture of Amanda. :)

I have been looking, waiting, and budgeting to find some curtains for our front room for about 7 years. I finally found some and it was definitely not what I thought I would end up buying. Once I brought them home, I was so excited to see it blended so well with the colors in the room (especially our Greg Olson painting up above our fireplace). It is amazing how much curtains make a difference in a room...a lot more cozier. :)

I also was able to hear Amanda and the Primary children sing a song in sacrament meeting at church. It was Amanda's first time to really go up there on the stand and actually sing the song. She did a great job and she was smiling the whole time. :) It definitely brought a smile to my face. What a lucky mom! :)

Pictures of our April Adventures

Amanda, Jessica & Ammon coloring Easter eggs. :)

Amanda



Jessica & Ammon



Kaitlyn on the swings at Aunt Becky's Easter Egg Hunt

Ammon, Amanda, Jessica & Kaitlyn after the Easter Egg Hunt

Ammon :)

Kaitlyn finding the eggs, with Jessica's help. :)

Playing on the piano.

I normally don't have them play on the piano since they don't know how to play but when I saw both saw them sitting there...it made me smile. I do hope they will both have an interest in learning to play and bring more music in the home. :)

I had to chuckle on this one! I came in the famiy room and Kaitlyn had all of her stuffed animals all lined up on the couch to watch tv with her. I thought not bad for a two year old. She was very particular on where she put each one. :)

Little K :)

Amanda showing off her Cat mask that she made at Iliana's.

It has been a busy month. Roy and I also celebrated our 7th anniversary...although I was sick in bed for most of the day. We went to Sizzler the day before with Amanda & Kaitlyn. It was definitely an anniversary we will remember ...well at least the dinner at Sizzler. Amanda ended up eating too much from the salad bar that her tummy was so tight. She leaned back and said she didn't feel so good. So I took her to the bathroom. She was saying, "What is going to happen to me?" thinking she was going to blow up.. lol, but nothing happened. I even tried to prolong the visit in the bathroom. So we came back to the table thinking we were safe and the next thing we know she is throwing up. Roy caught most of it in the bread basket...lol. Gross I know!! We had a worker come and help us clean up the mess. Amanda was saying to me, "Is Sizzler going to be mad at me??". I told her that accidents happen and I am sure they would not be mad at her.

We did about two weeks later after I was all better from the flu go eat Sushi. That was one thing we were both talking about doing after Roy's competion. So we actually were able to enjoy lunch together with just the two of us.

I also just finished today the Thanksgiving Point Half Marathon. It was very cold, and it snowed at different times. It was beautiful! I was able to run through the garden's and see the tulips, the other gardens, the golf course and the water falls. I have to admit the hills really got me though, by the end of the race I was sooosore especially my butt and back of my legs. I know it was from the hills. ;) I didn't have too much of an expectation on this race since I got sick during the training. It really drained me. I finished in 2 hours and the sun had come out at that point. :) It looks like I place 19th in my age division with 91 runners and to make myself feel really good...I came in second for the 37 year olds in my age division!! LOL

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

Parenting: Touching the Hearts of Our Youth

I love this short video about parenting. It really hit home with me with "Are you in there?" saying. My mom used to say that to me, to get a reaction out of me. Sometimes I would be cranky about it and other times I would laugh and say the same thing back to her. :)

Ward & Young Women Conference

I have to admit how motivating it has been to attend Ward Conference and Young Women Conference with Jessica this past week. I have felt the spirit so strong and yet I wonder if I have been spiritually starving. Lately I have been wanting to learn so many things and yet not much time. Just thinking about these things, I have realized I have known these teachings for a long time and these conferences are just confirming to me the words mentioned are truth. There is so much for us to learn and I have learned you definitely can't go wrong to put the family first. My brother, Doug, and his wife, Colleen, send over two well worth watching video clips of Motherhood and Family. I was so touched by these little videos that I had to share them with you!

NPC Body Building Competition 03-19-11

Roy is in the middle.

Roy is 2nd to the left.


Roy during his evening routine. Spotlighting just him.

The Latspread

Coming out on stage for his routine

Trophy time!

Trophy Time :)

Roy is the second on the left in the red posing trunks.

Me and my Muscle Man backstage. :)

Well we have had quite the exciting month! Roy competed in his 4th body building competition this last Saturday, March 19, at Cottonwood High School. He has been preparing for this one for 19 weeks and has been very dedicated. I have to admit when I would first think of body building I didn't have that high of respects for it, but after seeing all the work put into just competing, I am definitely amazed and realize it takes a lot of self-discipline...which Roy definitely has.

The alarm clock goes off at 3:50 a.m. so he is at the gym by 4:30 a.m. to get in his workout and back home so we can have scripture study/family prayer. Then I leave for work. His food plan is down to a tee on what he can and can't eat. Lots of chicken, fish, broccoli, string beans, avacado, almond butter or peanut butter, yams, egg whites, spinach...etc. :) We definitely have to go to the grocery store quite a bit to keep up with it all. Plus the last week of the competition is even more hard core...to tappering down the water intake and carb loading.

Roy competed in three different divisions, Junior Masters, Ironman Natural, and Heavy Weight. We are pleased to announce (this month) he placed 1st in Junior Masters, 2nd place in the Ironman Natural and 3rd place in the Heavy Weight division. So exciting! In his past competitions he has received a trophy for 4th and 5th place in the Light Heavy Weight division.

Hats off to Roy for all your hardwork, plus being a good dad, husband, and all the other many responsibilities he has. You are truly amazing!

FULL Potential, Part One

FULL Potential, Part One

A friend of mine had posted this on her blog. She is so amazing and loved her input on what she has discovered and willing to share to everyone. I feel it is so important to know who we are and not have the world try to control how we should be. It is definitely one of Satan's tactics in distracting us to reach our full potential and accept who we are.

I thought I would share this link. Enjoy!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

We have had quite a bit of snow in January and in the middle of the month it was actually sunny, comfortable to be outside, and still snow outside. I figured it was a good time to attempt building a snowman. I found a cute little snowman kit in the store back in November and thought it would be fun to put one together as a family. So the weekend of Martin Luther King holiday, we did it! It was actually a lot of fun! Ammon found twig arms for the snowman, Jessica, Amanda and Kaitlyn helped with the accessories. A big thanks to Daddy & Ammon, with their big muscles, helped to get the big snowman body stacked and ready. Hopefully this will be a fun memory for the kids. :)