Our "Baby Girl" is Graduating!

Less than a week until Krystal's graduation from Columbia High School. She graduated from Seminary last Sunday. I am so proud of her for doing well in school and making good choices for her life. It is hard to see her grow up and let her go, but this is all part of Heavenly Father's plan for our family, and I know she will do well. I know I will shed many tears this week as I think about the changes about to occur in our family, but I am also very excited.

I had the chance to teach Aubrie's Sunday School class today. I didn't take the time to prepare the lesson, but I prayed to have the spirit with me to help me teach. The lesson was about tithing, something very dear to my heart that I have a very strong testimony of, and the class went great. I had a bag of candy that I shared with all the kids that brought their scriptures and/or participated in the lesson in some way, and they all listened and participated. It was actually a wonderful experience! I am gratefull for the opportunity I had to teach and strengthen my testimony, and I know that the spirit touched each of those kids today as well.

I have been doing tons of coupon shopping at Albertsons...they have had double coupons the past couple of weeks. Most of the things I have purchased have been FREE...all I had to pay was sales tax. Couponing has been a HUGE blessing for our family, and I know it is because we pay a full tithe that I have been blessed to learn how to use coupons and, in so doing, build up our food storage for our family. We are now working on putting 72-hour kits together, and most of the items we are using have been free. Coupon shopping is very fun and addicting!!!

AWESOME COUPON SAVINGS!!

I just went shopping at Albertsons, and all the groceries I got added up to $124.19, but I only paid $23.04...That's a savings of $101.15, or a whopping 82%! I found a wonderful blog at http://idahopress.com/blogs/Live_On_Coupons/
She outlines all the great deals in the Albertsons ads each week and also adds links for additional manufacturer coupons. I am going to her coupon class on April 14th at 7 PM in Caldwell. If you are interested, the info is on her blog...

My Testimony

I was sick again today and did not go to church, so I decided to share my testimony here...

I know that my Heavenly Father lives and loves me. Jesus Christ is my my Savior and atoned for me. They have provided a way for us to live with them again, and that is by living the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and restored the gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet of God and receives revelation for us today. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. It is another testament of Jesus Christ and testifies that he visited his people in the Americas.

I am so thankful for the blessings the gospel has brought into my life, blessings of the Priesthood, temple blessings that make it possible for families to be together forever, blessings of health from living the Word of Wisdom, blessings of righteous children that make good choices in their lives, and the list goes on...

So Blessed!

This has been a long week! It is spring break, and I should be enjoying it with the kids, but I have been really sick. I have this cough that won't go away and have just felt like doing nothing at all. Unfortunately, though, I still have to work.

I am so blessed to have a husband who holds and honors the Priesthood, and he gave me a blessing last night. I am feeling a little better today, and I also found some ideas to help me get over the bronchitis quicker...500 mg of vitamin C three times a day and fish oil capsules three times a day as well. It seems to be doing the trick.

My husband is such a sweetheart! I was dreading coming into my office to start typing this morning, but when I sat down there was a surprise on my desk...Greg had brought me a donut in a paper bag and wrote this poem on the bag...

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
This donut is sweet,
And so are you!

What a great way to start the day! I thought it was so sweet that I even took a picture of it.

Thank you so much, Greg! I love you too!!!

One more before I go to bed...

I took Jessica Sprague's Photoshop Friday challenge to make a 4-square layout. It was fun (and simple!) Check it out here... http://spraguelab.squarespace.com/imported-archives/2006/7/7/photoshop-friday-issue-9.html

always sisters, always friends

All of my sisters were together to celebrate Mom's birthday on February 25, 2009. We had a "sisters photoshoot" and had a wonderful time together! The pictures turned out beautifully...just wish we would have taken some including Mom too!

you are ready.

I borrowed this letter from Brittany's blog and adapted it for my daughter, Krystal. Thanks for sharing it with me Brittany!

Thanks for sharing this with me, Brittany!

I found this quote on Brittany's blog today and I fell in love with it. "As a stay-at-home mom, I often do the same things over and over: I empty the dishwasher. I sort the laundry. I cook the mac n cheese. Everyday. And in all of those moments that seem so mundane, I have lots and lots of Moments of Meaning. Often with my kids or my husband, or a friend. That's what makes me not just an ordinary mom, but an everyday MOM (Moments of Meaning) mom. I add a little of my job skills to my life as a mom by trying to create order in our often chaotic lives. I know that my work DOES matter because I'm doing the job God gave me to do."
Sometimes we all need that little reminder of why we mothers do what we do. Thanks everyday mom!

Getting back to Scrapbooking...

Since I have been sick, there is a lot of time to learn new scrapbooking skills and put them to work...I recently found a great magazine, Computer Tricks for Scrapbooking 3, which contains tons of great ideas for digital scrapbooking in an easy-to-learn format. I can't wait to incorporate some of these into future layouts! Here are some pages I have done recently...

Time Flies!

It has been way too long since I posted to my blog. Some big events are beginning to happen...Krystal turned 18 on Friday! She will be graduating from high school on May 29th. I can't believe how fast the years have gone. It seems like just the other day we were bringing her home from the hospital as a newborn. To all of you young mothers...cherish everyday with your children...they are gone way too fast!!!





I have started working on some digital scrapbooking again. I will post a few of my latest layouts on my other blog...Dazzling Digital Scrapbooks. http://dazzlingdigitalscrapbooks.com Check them out and let me know what you think! (here is a sneak peak...)




My mom had her birthday a couple weeks ago, and it was so much fun to have all my sisters together again to celebrate. We had a "sisters photoshoot" and took some pictures for mom and had a great time together in the process. We also drove Mom to Gooding, Idaho, where she grew up. We had lunch, and she showed us the house her mom built by herself when they were young. We had a wonderful time!

Oregon Coast Vacation July 2008

Using my new laptop

My husband bought me a laptop for my birthday that I can use for my digital scrapbooking. It was so much fun to sit and play today and learn more about Photoshop as I created these pages.

Our New Babies

The "Tank Farm" is growing! (Who would have ever imagined that I would own so many animals?!?!)

The kids got their 4H pigs a couple of weeks ago, and they sure have been a lot of fun! They really have quite a personality. They love to run with the kids in the yard and even like to play with our dogs (I think Mia thinks they are puppies). They sure can eat and are growing very fast. (I see where the phrase "lazy pig" came from...all they want to do is sleep and eat!)

Their names are Abercrombie(Krystal's pig), Fitch (Aubrie's pig), and Tiny (Nick's pig), and our "Pig Adventure" so far has been a lot of fun!

Totally Photos

This layout was created using only photographs. No BG paper, no embellishments, just fun photos and journaling. I love the way it turned out and how I was able to incorporate so many photos to tell the story of my son learning to ride his bike.

Family Pictures

It seems like such a big production to get our family dressed and ready for professional family pictures (maybe that's why we did not have one taken from the time Porter was 3 months old until the time he was 7 years old). We decided to have our pictures done in January 2007 and scheduled an appointment at Walmart Photo Studio. I should have known...pictures at a bargain studio...bargain photo results. All that work to get everyone ready, and when we got the pictures back, our faces were GREEN! Needless to say, they refunded our money, and I came home and changed the photo to Black & White on the computer so we could at least have photos to share with our family and friends. Next time I think I will hire a professional!

Our 3rd child just turned 13, so now Mom and Dad are officially outnumbered by the teenagers in our home. Our children are great kids and are making good choices for themselves and doing well in school, so we certainly can't complain. I just can't believe I am the mother of 3 teenagers! (Wasn't I just a teenager myself?)

Time Has Flown By

It has been almost a year since I started this blog and almost a year since I posted to it. Life has been very busy. I have not done much stamping lately and have shifted my focus to scrapbooking my digital photographs and learning more about Digital Scrapbooking. I love the options it gives me and enjoy learning new techniques. I bought a book called Digital and Hybrid Scrapbooking and Card Making with Photoshop Elements
and would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn Digital Scrapbooking. Here are a few of my latest creations...

The Best Cinnamon Rolls in the World!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup margarine, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS
Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.
After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Candid Shots

You never know what will be happening in our home from one minute to the next...but with 5 children, 2 dogs, 1 cat, 2 chinchillas, 7 rabbits, 4 chickens, 50+ pigeons, and soon to be 3 pigs....there's bound to be chaos! It all keeps us on our toes, but life is great and I wouldn't want it any other way!

Meet Our Family

Our family loves to spend time at the Oregon Coast. We finally talked Dad into coming along with us last year, and now he is hooked and can't wait to go back again. Being at the beach definitely gives us some much needed relaxation and peace!