Photos of the Climbing Wall.

3 Things That Made Me Smile Today!

1.) Cute spring outfits with matching shoes! The shoes didn't last too long though, she preferred the Elmo one's instead...WHY?! :) Today is going to get up into the 80's! It's beautiful outside right now! Hottest day so far this year!


2.) My morning coupon shopping trip to Albertson's! (I know I'm a dork, I took a picture of it.) 13 boxes of granola bars, 3 boxes of Capri Sun's, 1 box Nabisco snack crackers (12 count), 1 pkg. of Scott TP: all for $4.63! Then I got .15 off every gallon of Gas that I filled up on at their gas station. I'm sure lots of other people got even better deals than this because many get even more Sunday papers (more coupons) than I do! If you haven't learned how to coupon yet, you're missin' out! Lovin' Albertson's!

3.) I thought pansies were annuals and planted these LAST spring. I was lazy come last fall and never dug them up to get ready for winter. They started blooming again all by themselves! WAHOOO! Some one said they send up "babies" so that's how it works.

Life as of Late

What have we been up to?!?!? Jarom and Makenna are in soccer season right now which means practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays and games that seem to take up most of our Saturdays. We love it though and this last Saturday they both had awesome games. Jarom's team was dominating so much that they allowed the other team to place an extra player on the field and Boyd and his assistant started making the kids on our team pass a certain number of times before they scored another goal, each time increasing the number of times they had to pass. They were spreading out, passing, and making some incredible goals. Jarom made two and along with the 8 goals the other kids made collectively they won their bet they had made with their assistant coach that if they scored 10 he'd have to bring them candy to the next practice. They were pretty excited.

Makenna played hard yesterday and was always were she needed to be at the right time. The other team they played was challenging and the game was still 0 to 0 with only 2 minutes to go. Our team was constantly on their side of the field but the other team had a great goalie and sweeper that saved a ton of shots on goal. Still Makenna and her two sidekicks didn't give up and fought and fought and finally were rewarded with 2 minutes to go. Kenna scored! It was so awesome! We were so excited and proud of her for not giving up!

Yesterday we also found out that they YMCA was free so we squeezed in a quick trip and all of us but Aubree tested our muscles on thier climbing wall. Last time we went there the kids couldn't stop talking about doing the climbing wall and were so excited for it. However, when we got there and were ready to get on the harnesses we realized that we had only brought flip flops (we were swimming too) and we needed socks and shoes to climb! We HAD to take advantage of the "free" day to conquer the rock wall! So fun and what a work out! My forearms were burning and could hardly hold a grip for quite awhile afterwards!

I have been in "stock up" mode lately. I had a friend that showed me how to really use coupons. Did you know you can use a store coupon AND a manufacturer coupon for ONE item and if it's on sale, especially if it's a double coupon day, you can get awesome stuff for a few cents or FREE! SO AWESOME! SO the more coupons you get, the more you get for that great price! So we get 4 Sunday newspapers, cut out and organize the coupons, watch the adds and wait for just the right time. Call me crazy, some people say it takes too much time and effort but I LOVE it! I make sure I only spend part of Monday figuring and shopping with coupons so it doesn't take over my life, because it can be addicting! I don't every deal out there but I definately take advantage of the GREAT ones! Cereal, soaps, shampoos/conditioners, toothpastes, razors, DIAPERS and WIPES, granola bars, fruit snacks, soup, TP, popcorn, potato chips (for summer BBQs!), spaghetti sauce, chicken, refried beans, and more! I also had a friend show me how she makes yogurt (see side for details) and it is so easy and so yummy! We double the batch and make it every 2 weeks. Winco had strawberries on sale for so cheap last week so I got a bunch and restocked our jam supply (we use a lot of it to mix in with our yogurt). My mom showed me how easy it was and it is so much yummier and better for you than the stuff you buy in the store! I also took advantage of a burst of energy and an idea to get some freezer dinners made up last week. They come in handy on soccer practice nights. My refrigerator and deep freezer are packed full!

Aubree is so cute and learning so many words! When we yell, "Where's Aubree?" She'll yell back, "Right here!" When we ask what she wants she'll say, "Play outside!" or "color" (I want to color), or "baby!" (She loves her baby dolls), or "SEE!" (she wants to see everything!). She went to nursery for the first time last week and loved it! WE DID TOO!:) She loves her "shovel" to dig with outside, her "marker" to color with (boy can she make a mess!) and her "shoes" to wear in hopes that it means she gets to go outside.

Easter! We had a fun Easter. We hid candy filled eggs and Easter baskets for the kids. All were found except one of Jarom's eggs that Aubree found a week later. She stuffed her cheeks with as many M&M's as possible before we got to her. We went to church and had Jared and Emily over for dinner afterwards. There were a couple of egg hunts this year. One we had for our date night kids when it was our turn to babysit and the other was at our church. They got tons of eggs and probably a year supply of jelly beans (I had just had to throw them away!) The only thing I regret about Easter was that we forgot to take a photo of the kids in their Easter clothes!

We had Saryn's Co-op preschool at our house this week. The theme was RAINFOREST! We went on a rainforest walk (kind of like "goin' on a bear hunt"), learned about the rain forest animals, colored pictures about them, learned to move like them and had a rainforest animal parade, and other stuff with letters and numbers. We love our co-op groups! Saryn has been acting like a different rain forest animal every day!

My Brother - THE IRONMAN!

CONGRATULATIONS TYLER! He just completed the IRON MAN (#2447)race in Oceanside, California today! We watched what we could online and got repeated updates over the phone from my dad and were even able to hear his name read over the phone when he crossed the finish line. AWESOME JOB TYLER! Man, we wish we could have been there!

In other news; Jarom and Makenna had their first soccer games of the season today and did an awesome job. They both tied their games. Makenna's team dribbled and passed so well and dominated the other team always keeping them on their side of the field. They took numerous shots on goal but in the words of my assistant coach, "are they using a college goalie?" says it all. Their goalie was a foot and a 1/2 taller than anyone else (and the goal nets are smaller for this age group) and blocked like crazy. She stopped them all but we picked up a couple goals when they switched her out. On the field she was fast but our girls out ran her and kept stopping her. One of her goals was well deserved, the other was a shot right to our goalie's stomach (Makenna's!) and while she was doubled over a quick follow up shot was scored on an open net. Good thing Kenna is tough! Jarom's team came from behind. Jarom was all over the field and played great! WAHOO it's SOCCER TIME!

We are looking forward to General Conference (of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) this weekend (Saturday and Sunday). A new apostle will be called to replace Elder Wirthlin who has passed away since our last conference. We'll be juggling our first soccer games of the season on Saturday as well. I was able to get a small taste of conference last weekend when I attended the Young Womens General Broadcast. I thought it was so good! You can find the talks in video and written form HERE I especially enjoyed our prophet's talk on "courage." Although he was speaking to the young women it was a talk that I think applies to all and I just had to include a few of President's Monsons quotes here:

"My earnest prayer is that you will have the courage required to refrain from judging others, the courage to be chaste and virtuous, and the courage to stand firm for truth and righteousness.

Mother Teresa, a Catholic nun who worked among the poor in India most of her life, spoke this truth: “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”

Powerful is this quote from news commentator Ted Koppel, host of ABC’s Nightline program for many years. Said he:
“We have actually convinced ourselves that slogans will save us. ‘Shoot up if you must; but use a clean needle.’ ‘Enjoy sex whenever with whomever you wish; but [protect yourself].’
“No. The answer is no. Not no because it isn’t cool or smart or because you might end up in jail or dying in an AIDS ward—but no, because it’s wrong. . . .
“What Moses brought down from Mt. Sinai were not the Ten Suggestions, they are Commandments. Are, not were.”