VACATION...

We are on VACA...
We will be back REAL soon...
Look forward to Posts about it!!!
Fun in the sun... Family... Wedding... Vegas... :)

LOUD!!

We have fulfilled one of Matt's LONG time dreams last weekend...

We installed our Home Theater System!!

 We ran the wires up the wall, got up in the attic and drilled holes for the wires, then installed the brackets and got the speakers in the 4 corners... sure it SOUNDS easy... it was not! And when I say "WE" I mean I helped Matt by doing all the easy things while he did all the hard work... 

 After the wire was drilled, then after speaker install...

 I am SO thankful for a husband that can do ALMOST everything! And that he is willing to save money to do it himself! I used to turn the TV on and listen to Pandora through its speakers... NOW I get to listen to music in SURROUND SOUND... YES IT IS AMAZING!!

And I caught this little man falling asleep while playing his game on Daddy's Phone... Sweetness!!

We all scream for HOMEMADE Ice Cream!!

Matt got a STEAL on this Sunbeam Homemade Ice Cream Maker...

If I told you the price you would not believe me...

 We knew the kids would want to help so we did an EASY family recipe that we just LOVE!! 

 Banana Pineapple Ice Cream is DELICIOUS!! (Landon wanted his to be green... haha)

And he wanted to show off a few of his looks!!

LOVE these kids!!

(I WOULD have shown you pictures of Hailey eating her ice cream... but someone did not want to eat her dinner... so she did not get ice cream! HER LOSS!!)

I FIXED it! ~

So I had a little predicament...

We bought a new bed... 

This bed is TWO separate Twin XL Mattresses...

So I need TWO twin XL fitted sheets... RIGHT?

But I want ONE Egyptian king flat sheet...

After researching the crap out of it, I realized I would not be able to get nice sheets to do what I wanted to do.... SO....

I bought two Twin XL Sheet sets, and sewed them together...

with help of course!

There is a lady in my ward that offers her house EVERY Thursday Afternoon for people to work on craft projects... She helped me fix my sheet problem!

We cut off the hems on the matching up side. 

I ironed down one side of the sheets with a 1/2" crease.

I inserted the other sheet into the crease and sewed them together.

Then I flipped them apart and sewed up the other side.

It sounds difficult; the only difficult part is figuring out what sheet needed to be put or ironed or cut the right place to it all worked out.

THANKS MICHELLE!

(she is also the helper I had with the YW to make the Personal Progress Books... )

7-11

I LOVE Free Slurpee Day!!

 And as you can tell... so do the kids!

After getting our Slurpee on... we had to hit up the dentist with the kids!

 Landon pointing at his teeth and watching his SuperHero Movie...

Hailey in her Studda Shades, and watching a Kitty Cat Cartoon...

No Cavities!! Just keep Brushing!! AND Flushing!!

GREAT DAY!~

Personal Progress Holders

Last Tuesday Night my Mia Maids and Laurels made Personal Progress Holders.

You can find the tutorial HERE

 They turned out SO cute!!

 LOVE the Polka Dots!!

 The girls did a GREAT Job!

The leaders made a few extra, and my mother helped me make a few when I visited her so we would have some for the girls that come into YW! We only had 3 girls make the holders, but we had a few other girls there doing homework and chatting! It was a fun night! I just LOVE these girls!!

Magic Show

Our Clovis Library puts on a Special Summer Show every Tuesday afternoon...

 We were able to see the Magician.

 It was a HOT day, so the kids were enjoying a cool drink!

 Hailey requested a special hair-do for the day... 

Braid on Braid on Braid.She calls it the Super Twist.

The magician had birds, and bunnies, and all kinds of fun stuff to show us!

The kids really enjoyed the show!

Thanks Clovis Library!!

Family Boat Trip ~

We FINALLY took the kids out on the boat for the season exactly a week ago from today!! The poor things were REALLY upset with us that it was taking so long, but they had a BLAST once it came.

We lost our BOAT BUDDIES last year when the Bakers moved... so we are making some new Boat Buddies! The Sorensen's came with us and it was a PERFECT morning boat trip with 5 kids...

 (YES 5 kids... we were outnumbered and it was still great!)

First the kids (Hailey) decided they wanted to swim around the boat. 

We just found a nice little cove, anchored and swam around. 

 Hailey decided she wanted to be a mermaid... She is my little water bug for sure!

 Hailey and Daddy time!! While Landon chilled in the boat and ate! LOL!

Hailey was excited she had a friend with her. 

Sydney and Hailey's favorite spot was the bow of the boat.

 We made sure to get a few Family Pictures in too...

All the Adults got to Wakeboard... which was REAL nice! And all the kids got to go out on the tube! (of course Hailey decided she did not want to go on the tube... she just wanted to swim!) The Sorensen Kids said "This is better than Disneyland!" so we KNOW they loved it!!

 All the kids got a chance to drive the boat with Matt. Landon was the last, and the only one I grabbed the camera for! DUH! Did you notice the other pictures were taken by Matt in the driver seat through the mirror back at me wakeboarding...??? I thought that was neat!

And of course the kids were OUT in the car about 5 minutes later...

I would say it was a success!!

Thanks Sorenson's for the GREAT Family Trip! 

Now how are we going to go as couples without the kids in the future!!??

Little Man

So I learned how to route Pandora to the BIG TV! YEAH for me!

 It makes my cleaning day SO much easier!!

Randomly Landon will come and dance to the songs that come on, and I caught him in action...

Obviously he was caught off guard when I tried to dance with him. 

And when another song came on he was NOT happy about it! 

Matt took him to see the Men In Black movie so he recognized the song and the characters!

 I LOVE THIS KID!!

Primary Girl

Hailey was SO excited to show me her special paper she got from Primary...

They do a "Getting to Know You" spotlight in Primary... HAILEY was last weeks recipient!! I remember asking her the questions, and just LOVED her response!! It is in its resting place on our fridge and she shows me EVERY morning!!

On ANOTHER Primary Note:
Hailey gave the scripture AND prayer in Primary last month. We had been given the opportunity before, and practiced it, and when we got to church she was NOT going to do it... no big deal. So THIS time I was prepared for the same thing to happen...
I almost had tears while she lead the scripture. She was SO cute and daddy and I are SO proud of her! She is growing up SO fast and I LOVE every second of it!!

Family Camping ~

We had a BLAST Camping with friends in the Ward. We went up Friday Afternoon and came home about the same time Saturday Afternoon. The kids were SO excited about Camping!

We had a nice group; The Farnsworth Family, The Dunning Family, The Mills Family, The Tim Ryan Jr. Family, The Garcia Family, The Mergenthaller Family and our family were able to enjoy nature with us. The Jensen Family came up end enjoyed nature with us but not overnight. I think the BEST part of camping was sitting around the campfire with all the adults just having a good time!

 Matt got a DEAL on our new tent. It is a 9 man tent! Our previous tent we got for a wedding present... he convinced me it was time for an upgrade... this tent takes less than a minute to set up! The poles telescope up and out and it wraps up nicely and fits in the bag without a struggle... JEALOUS??

Just behind the campsite was a huge mountain mostly made of rock. The older kids in the group enjoyed playing capture the flag! We took our kids on a little hike up to the top of the mountain...

 Matt and the kids yelled "ECHO!!" and then listened for the Echooooooo... the kids loved it!

On our way back down Matt and Landon wanted to show me how STRONG they were for completing the hike! The kids joined in on the capture the flag game, but did not quite like being in Jail...
It was a GREAT get away and one I can do again... as long as it is ONLY one day... because there were no bathrooms... I HAVE LIMITS PEOPLE!

Hair by Carissa ~

Remember how I told you my girlfriend needed me to model for her portfolio...

 So she did my hair...

This is the Results of the Photo Shoot.

It was a TON of fun!

I went for the classy natural look...

There were other models, but I did not get approval to put them on my blog so you only get me...

Thanks again Carissa for the hair do!

Anyone need a new stylist? I can HOOK you up!

Happy 4th

I am SO lame...
I left our camera at home for the Ward Pancake Breakfast...
I would have ADORABLE pictures of cute little kids in a parade riding bikes and scooters around...
Instead you get this...

 After our WONDERFUL breakfast (and almost loosing Landon during the breakfast) We took the kids shopping. First we hit up Fresh n' Easy to prepare for our impromptu BBQ that night. Then we went shopping shopping... like clothes, shoes, FUN stuff shopping...

 After shopping we relaxed at home then went over to our friends for dinner. We had almost every fruit avaliable, tri-tip, hot dogs, rice pilof and for dessert we had brownies, apple pie, and ice cream. HELLO!!
The kids played in the water while we made dinner, ate, then played inside while we sat and talked and laughed and had a great time!

We did some sparklers in the back yard then walked around the neighborhood to watch fireworks! It was a fun time with GREAT friends! Thanks Sorenson's for the FUN TIME!
Next time we can ruin my house for a BBQ!!

i WORK out!!!

Did I tell you before that we signed up for a local Gym Membership??

 I think I did. We did it on Matt's Birthday.

We wanted to go about 3 times a week and so far we have done pretty good...

It is hard right now, with F.H.E., Y.W., and the Men's Church Softball all on different nights...

BUT we are trying!!

So I HAD to get new shoes for this... because my old shoes are like 6 years old! I know I bought them before I had kids... so NEW KICKS...

I tried on like 10 different shoes... these were the very first ones I tried on!

I LOVE them... they are ADORABLE and they are the same brand I used when I ran Cross Country SOOOOOOOOOOOO long ago!

Not saying my starting weight... but I am down 6 lbs... YES!

She got her call...

My sister got her mission Call...
Watch the video to see where she is going!!!

We were taking a video with my camera of Matt's Phone while we were on Facetime with the family...

DID THAT MAKE SENSE?? :)

Anyway...

TAMPA, FLORIDA...

you have the most amazing missionary coming your way!!

Mission ~

My BABY sister Sharon turned in her Mission Papers a little over a week ago...

I told her to post on FB that she had, so we can all guess where she is going to go...

But she is lame and has not done it yet... so here goes... 

Where do you all think THIS adorable girl is going to go... ? ? ?

MY WISH is for 

CLOVIS, CA...

But I will submit a GUESS as well...

Melissa: SALT LAKE CITY, Temple Square.

Matt: Texas, San Antonio ~ Spanish Speaking

I asked my children where she was going to go...

Hailey:  "to RIO to see all the beautiful birds."

Landon: "in a rocketship to the moon." 

So I asked him WHO would Sharon teach on the Moon? His response "The Aliens!"

OK. YOUR TURN!! So leave a post with your guess...

SO EXCITED FOR YOU SHARON! 

I will update you on where she goes when she gets the call!!