Betcher Bonanza

Back to blogging

2011-09-06T23:15:00.001-07:00

I didn't realize it had Bern so long since my last blog. A lot has happened. I won't bore you all with all of it so I will just tell what has recently happened.

So the girls and I had a fun 4th of July. We went and visited my best friend Samantha in Mankato.

Most of the summer the girls went to different countries and made crafts at this cool project thing they had at Michael's. They got to visit different countries like France, Russia, India and Canada.

We also visited the library a lot and read lots of books over the summer.

Abriana made a pet grasshopper which we kept maybe 4 hours before we let him go again.

The kids also enjoyed having a kool-aid stand. They made $11.00 and were so proud.

Abriana and Alexia both had their birthdays. Abriana turned 3 and Alexia turned 7. They are growing up so fast. I can't believe it.

After our fun filled summer we headed off to Utah to have tons of fun. We went to Temple Square and the Great Salt Lake. Utah is so beautiful. Everywhere we turned there were mountains.

Well that is the summed up version of what's been going on. I will definitely be updating more very soon.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-03T16:23:00.001-08:00

Halloween was so much fun this year. We invited the missionaries over the have dinner and to carve pumpkins. The girls were so excited.

Here Abriana is taking the seeds out of her pumpkin. She wasn't sure if she liked it or not. Her face made me think she didn't like it cause of the slimy feeling.

Here is Alexia digging in.

Reona loved getting all the guts out of her pumpkin.

Here are the elders hard at work on their pumpkins.

When carving pumpkins one must concentrate very hard.

Here is my Pooh pumpkin.

Elder Robinson's pumpkin of Frank from Donnie Darko.

One of Alexia's pumpkins

Elder Payne's Missionary Ghost

Alexia's kitty pumpkin

Chris' random pumpkin (he never does anything that make sense on his pumpkins)

Abriana's baby pumpkin

Reona's Pirate Pete pumpkin

Here are the kids all ready to go out trick or treating. The baby had no idea what trick or treating was until she got her first handful of candy. Once she saw the candy she was trying to eat it as fast as she was getting it. She thought it was great.

Here is our lady bug Abriana thinking she is going to get two buckets of candy.

Skeleton Alexia excited to get candy.

Cheerleader Reona said she was going to cheer to the people of all the houses we were going to visit that night. The girls had lots of fun visiting all of the people they saw at church that live right by us and enjoyed getting all the candy.

Apples, Apples, Apples

2009-10-12T20:31:00.000-07:00

To get ready for the fall season we decided that we were going to make caramel apples. They were so GOOD!!! The girls had fun making them and eating them. The hardest part was waiting for them to cool in the refrigerator so we could eat them. I think we got a little impatient though because when we went to eat them after F.H.E. they stuck to the wax paper so they hadn't cooled enough. They were still good though.

Quilting Part 3

2009-09-29T06:45:00.001-07:00

This first quilt is such a spectacular quilt. It was hand stitched by Emma and her daughter Elizabeth. Here is what the frame says.

In May 1871- Alexander & David Hyrem Smith left Nauvoo to go west to Salt Lake on to California on a mission trip for the RLDS Church. Elizabeth "Lizzie", Wife of Alexander was in the 9th Month of pregnancy with their 5th child. In their absence Elizabeth and her Mother in Law Emma made four quilts for the beds in their children's rooms. Two were blue/green and two were rose colored. My Grandfather; Don Alvin, was born on May 18th 1871 at the Mansion House and spent his childhood nights under this quilt. When he married my Grandmother; Susan Zeanette "Nettie", she used it as a bed cover on their bed until his death in 1904. After he died she never used it again, but it hung over the footboard of her bed until her death in 1957. It meant much to her as it represented the majority of the nights of her husband's life. My sister Carmen recieved it from my Grandmother Smith and kept until her passing in 2002. It then came into my possession. It is one of my most prized possessions as it was hand stitched by both my Great Great Grandmother (Emma) and my Great Grandmother (Lizzie) and a cherished possession of my Grandmother (Nettie) for 67 years.

Signed,

Robert W. Smith

Second Great Grandson

Here is the quilt plus a few others.

Quilting Part 2

2009-09-28T20:28:00.001-07:00

Here are some more quilts from the quilt show.

This one is a yo-yo quilt.

This one is my favorite.

This watermelon one reminds me of summer.

Quilting Part 1

2009-09-26T11:57:00.000-07:00

On our trip home from Branson, MO we decided to stop at Winter Courters in Omaha, NE. While we were there we saw their wonderful quilt show. I took pictures of some of the quilts. Here is the first bunch, I hope you enjoy them.

Stitching You Up

2009-08-15T16:49:00.000-07:00

We went to the beach yesterday to hang out with the Cole family. While we were there Alexia went into the part where the boats are supposed to go, which means she was not inside the roped area. While in the area she cut her foot on something in the water. When I went to check on her and Reona, she showed me her foot. After examining her foot we decided that the cut was deep enough that we needed to take her to the doctors. When we got there she decided that she was going to announce to everyone we see that she was not getting stitches. After having her foot examined the doctor decided that he was not going to be able to just glue it (I know) he had to put stitches in because it was on her foot. This caused her to start screaming and having a fit to the point that Reona started crying because she said it was scaring watching Alexia going through pain. Once she got the novocain (very painful for her as well) and six stitches then Chris shows up from work. I had to go through the hard part by myself with the kids. It is very hard trying to comfort one child while your baby is trying to run around the hospital and Reona is crying. But we made it through successfully. After the stitches they took her in to have an x-ray done since we are not sure what she cut it on. They wanted to make sure there was nothing still stuck in her foot. So now Alexia is getting carried around the house and gets to lounge around for 7-10 days until she heals.

Harvest

2009-08-15T16:37:00.000-07:00

We have been enjoying are wonderful harvest this last month and so I thought that I would share some pictures of are harvest. We are growing lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, onions, potatoes,brussel sprouts, cabbage, peas, beans, broccoli, cauliflower, squash, melons, peppers, and pumpkins. We are sharing our garden with another family of 7 so all the harvest that we are getting is enough for both families. We are very excited to have a wonderful harvest this year, since the last couple of years we haven't had much luck. So here is some of are harvest. Enjoy.

Our cabbage. I am going to try Au Gratin Cabbage with it.

Our cabbage with some of our squash.

I thought this one looked like a bird or duck.

Update on the bean plant

2009-06-26T19:33:00.000-07:00

Here is an update on the girls' bean plant. They have done nothing to this bean plant. The rain waters it and I put a stick in in about a week ago because it was getting pretty tall. Well I went out today and this is what I found.

I find it so funny that we try so hard to plant stuff in a garden so that we could possibly provide for our family and we barely get anything. The girls just happen to plant a bean seed and they do not take care of it, weed it, water it, nothing and this is what they get. Oh well I guess they are planting the next garden.

Birds, Birds, Birds

2009-06-26T19:04:00.000-07:00

The other day we had this robin who kept flying into our kitchen window. Well this window is not exceptionally clean, so it couldn't have been that. Well then Chris saw this bug on the window so he thought that maybe the bird was trying to get the bug. So I grab a napkin and I killed the bug. Well after I did that the bird seemed to stop. Or so we thought. Not even two minutes had passed and the bird was at it again. We tried to think of everything that would cause this bird to want to run into our window and we could not think of any reason. Maybe the bird was a little nutty from hitting its' head the first couple of times. So here are some pictures of our lovely nutty bird.

So here is the bird looking at me taking its' picture.

Here is the birds beautiful profile.

Another one of the bird.

April Showers bring May Flowers

2009-06-11T10:46:00.001-07:00

I decided to go out and take advantage of the lovely weather and the lovely flowers in my yard.

Here are the bleeding hearts

I was also able to get a picture of bees collecting necture and pollen.

Here is a bud of the flowers below.

The End

2009-06-11T08:45:00.000-07:00

Chris had his oral interview today and he did not advance to the next level. Part of the reason we believe that he did not pass is, because the questions that he had to answer had to do with responses to situations he could be in. They needed to be answered in a certin way and after talking to Jamie Cole he found out that he didn't really respond the way someone in a law enforcement position or something similar would answer. I wish I could go into more detail since I am sure that all sounded confusing, but he signed a paper saying he would not discuss what was said at the oral interview. So at this point Chris can apply again in 6 months if he wants. We are kind of bummed. So at this point I am not sure where we are headed. I am sure that this means that Heavenly Father has other plans for him. So for now we are staying where we are and Chris will continue to look a job that is better for us than the casino.

We would like to thank you all for your support.

All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth

2009-06-08T17:15:00.000-07:00

Reona has finally lost her first tooth. She is so excited. She lost it last night. Before bed each night Chris looked at her tooth to see if it was ready to come out. Every night it was getting closer and closer. Well lately she had been complaing about the fact that her gums were hurting where her loose tooth was. Because of this we told her that if it wasn't out by Monday that we were going to take her to the dentist because she had been trying for almost a month to get it out. Well last night when Chris was messing with it, it made that popping noise that it does right before it comes out. (I don't know if you know what I mean here or not) Well I told her that the noise she heard means that it was ready to come out. So we played around with it but it was too painful for her so we let it be. I told her to come over because I wanted to see it. Well as I looked at it I told her that it was just hanging there and that she should let us take it out. Well she didn't want us to because she said it was going to hurt to much. I told her that she could hold my hand if she wanted. That didn't help. Then Chris told her that when she is playing with it to loosen it up that she should twist it until it hurts a little then stop and twist it the other way. Well she did this one time and it started to bleed a little. After seeing this Chris told her that it need to come out tonight because she had broke it loose enough it could come out in her sleep. So she held my hand and he pulled it out. She was so happy to have it out because now her gums won't be hurting and she can finally eat like normal. That night the tooth fairy came and she got $2.00 for her tooth. To her she is rich. :)

Here is a picture of her showing her two teeth that are coming in. (as you can see she has another tooth ready to come out.)

Here is her smile before the tooth came out.

Here is her itsy, bitsy, teeny, weeny, tooth.

Here is her toothless smile.

Here is is holding her tooth.

Happy First Birthday!!!

2009-06-08T16:41:00.000-07:00

Abriana's birthday was on the 3rd of June. I can't believe that she is one already. It seems like she was just a baby coming home not to long ago. The party was fun. She had all of her family there.

Here was the cake that I made just for her.

We always make one little cake that is just for the birthday girl.

Here is our before picture.

Time to blow out the candle.

1...2...3...blooooow

Here is the during picture. The funny thing about this is that at first she was trying to be dainty about eating it, so we had to help her along by mushing her hand in the cake. After that she went to town.

Here is the after picture. She even got cake up her nose.

Surprisingly her dress came clean without any chocolate stains!! :)

Dora the Explorer

2009-05-30T19:08:00.000-07:00

So all of our kids have loved watching Dora the Explorer. I have to say none of them have loved watching it as much as Abriana. She will not sit and watch anything as diligently as she does Dora.

She already sings part of the song. It is only the D-D-D-D-Dora part. It is funny how she gets the biggest grin when you mention Dora.

Here she is zoned out watching Dora.

Again very enthralled watching Dora.

Let it grow, let it grow, let it grow

2009-05-23T10:34:00.000-07:00

So we have tried to garden for the past couple of years and have had little or no success. This year we decided that we were going to garden with another family in hopes that our gardening skills along with theirs will hopefully yield us a fairly good crop.

So now the reason for my post. The kids have been wanting to garden for a while and we have let them help here and there but we haven't really had much for them to do. Well they decided that they were going to go out and spread some beans in the driveway. The driveway has tons of sand and of course is being driven on all the time.

Well somehow our children have managed to plant beans in the driveway. Here is their first sprout.

Doesn't it look great. So now what do I do with it? Do I leave it and hope it doesn't get run over? (which is more than likly going to happen since it is in the middle of everything) Do I try and move it to a better location? If I move it, how do I go about that.

I find it very funny that with no effort at all they have managed to get a bean plant. Me and Chris try as hard as we can to grow a garden and we get almost nothing. Guess our kids have a green thumb.

2009-05-20T19:39:00.000-07:00

So today Chris had his medical exam and fitness test. Well his exam came back as all is fine except for the TB shot he got and he will have to go back in on Friday so that they can check the injection site.

He also passed the fitness test. We were pretty confident that he would. So now we are waiting until he goes in for the oral interview which is June 11th. Once he gets the "thumbs up" as far as if he is going to academy, then we will be planning a farewell party and all are invited.

Wish us luck.

Phase 4

2009-05-17T20:58:00.000-07:00

So I started thinking as I was posting this, "I wonder how many different border patrol pictures I could find for all the post I am making?"

So the reason for this post was that on Wednesday the 13th (I believe) the Department of Homeland Security called and wanted to talk to Chris.

Well they called so that they could schedule his fitness test and medical exam. We were pretty shocked because we thought that he would have more time to prepare. From the information that they give you, it sounded as though he would have the fitness test 6 weeks from the oral interview which isn't until June 11th. Well that is not the case and he goes in this Wednesday to take the fitness test and to have the medical exam done.

We are pretty confident that he will pass the fitness test but they did send a sheet that said as of January 1, 2009 those that do not pass the fitness test will be called back if they wish 30 days from the first time it was taken and asked if they want to retake the test without having to apply for the job again. This is good just incase he doesn't pass since at home it is hard to know if you are doing the sit-ups and push-ups to their standards.

So once he passes the fitness test and medical exam, then he will go to the oral interview and there they will go over the entire background information packet that he had to fill out and have in by the 11th of this month. If they feel he is qualified to continue on then from our understanding they will tell him that day if he is going to academy or not.

Now because this process is moving faster than we thought it would, Chris is thinking that if he passes everything that he will be called to go to academy either at the end of June or begining of July. If that is the case then I will have 4-5 months from then before I will be leaving with the kids to go down to meet him. Also he is apparently picking his top 3 choices of where he would like to go at the oral interview.

So that is an update as far as what is going on with this job. I will update once he goes to the fitness test and medical exam and we find out how he did.

Phase 3

2009-05-11T12:25:00.000-07:00

So Chris got his letter today telling when he had to go to Fort Snelling for this oral interview. We are half way there. If he passes the oral interview then he is pretty sure he will get called to go to academy. If he gets called for academy then he will be leaving in either September or October. Once he leaves he will have 55 days of training and then he has a spanish class he has to take which from my understanding is about a month long. Once he finishes all of that then we will being coming down with all of our stuff.

If he get to the academy then we will be packing up everything while he is in academy. I will then have to try driving a HUGE u-haul down there and I still have to figure out how we are getting both vehicles down there since we can only hook one vehicle up to the u-haul.

Wish us luck that he passes the oral interview and fitness test.

Phase 2

2009-04-30T21:59:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to announce that Chris got his packet today for the second part of border patrol hiring process. He now has a bunch of paperwork to fill out and have in by May 11th (you would think they would give more time.) so we are cracking down. Once he gets all that paperwork in then we have about 5-6 months before they will call him in for an oral interview and fitness test if he passes the background test.

So we are waiting and training so that we are prepared for when they call us.

Easter Eggs

2009-04-12T13:26:00.000-07:00

So today the kids dyed eggs. They had a lot of fun. We had a mixture of white and brown eggs. At first the brown eggs didn't dye very well. So we decided to just color the white ones.

After we dyed the eggs the girls put stickers on them to make them extra special.

Once they were done I added more color to our jars and put the brown ones in again. I left them there longer than the white eggs and when they were done they looked like this.

I offically love dying brown eggs. I love the dark rich color that you get. Looks like next year we will be doing more brown and less white. I will start earlier so that I can use them to decorate with.

Isn't it great to be a parent!!

2009-04-01T21:21:00.000-07:00

This is the best email that I have read in a long time!

A 3-year-old tells all from his mother's restroom stall.
By Shannon Popkin

My little guy, Cade, is quite a talker. He loves to
communicate and does it quite well. He talks to people
constantly, whether we are in the library, the grocery store
or at a drive-thru window. People often comment on how
clearly he speaks for a just-turned-3-year-old. And you
never have to ask him to turn up the volume. It's always
fully cranked. There have been several embarrassing times
that I've wished the meaning of his words would have
been masked by a not-so-audible voice, but never have I
wished this more than last week at Costco.

Halfway, through our shopping trip, nature called, so I
took Cade with me into the restroom. If you'd been one
of the ladies in the restroom that evening, this is what you
would have heard coming from the second to the last stall:

''Mommy, are you gonna go potty?
Oh!
Why are you putting toiwet paper on the potty, Mommy?
Oh!
You gonna sit down on da toiwet paper now?
Mommy, what are you doing?
Mommy, are you gonna go stinkies on the potty?''

At this point I started mentally counting how many women
had been in the bathroom when I walked in. Several stalls
were full ... 4? 5? Maybe we could wait until they all left
before I had to make my debut out of this stall and reveal
my identity.

Cade continued:
''Mommy, you ARE going stinkies aren't you?
Oh, dats a good girl, Mommy!
Are you gonna get some candy for going stinkies on the potty?
Let me see doze stinkies, Mommy!
Oh...Mommy!
I'm trying to see in dere.
Oh! I see dem.
Dat is a very good girl, Mommy.
You are gonna get some candy!''

I heard a few faint chuckles coming from the stalls on
either side of me. Where is a screaming new born when you
need her? Good grief. This was really getting
embarrassing. I was definitely waiting a long time before
exiting.

Trying to divert him, I said,
''Why don't you look in Mommy's purse and see if you can
find some candy. We'll both have some!''
''No, I'm trying to see doze more stinkies...Oh! Mommy!''
He started to gag at this point.
''Uh - oh, Mommy. I fink I'm gonna frow up.
Mommy, doze stinkies are making me frow up!! Dat is so gross!!''

As the gags became louder, so did the chuckles outside my stall..
I quickly flushed the toilet in hopes of changing the subject.
I began to reason with myself: OK. There are four other toilets.
If I count four flushes, I can be reasonably assured that those who overheard this
embarrassing monologue will be long gone.

''Mommy! Would you get off the potty, now?
I want you to be done going stinkies! Get up! Get up!''
He grunted as he tried to pull me off. Now I could hearfull-blown laughter.
I bent down to count the feet outside my door.

''Oh, are you wooking under dere, Mommy?
You wooking under da door?
What were you wooking at?
Mommy?
You wooking at the wady's feet?''

More laughter. I stood inside the locked door and tried to assess the situation.

''Mommy, it's time to wash our hands, now. We have to go out now, Mommy.''
He started pounding on the door.
''Mommy, don't you want to wash yourhands? I want to go out!!''

I saw that my wait 'em out' plan was unraveling. I sheepishly opened the door, and found standing outside my stall, twenty to thirty ladies crowded around the stall,
all smiling and starting to applaud. My first thought was complete embarrassment, then I thought, where's the fine print on the 'motherhood contract' where I signed away every bit of my dignityand privacy? But as my little boy gave me a big, cheeky grin while he rubbed bubbly soap between his chubby little hands, I thought, I'd sign it all away again, just to be known as Mommy to this little fellow.

(Shannon Popkin is a freelance writer and mother of three
She lives with her family in Grand Rapids , Michigan , where
she no longer uses public restrooms)

We Want YOU!

2009-03-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

So Chris got his test scores back from the border patrol today. To possibly be called in for an oral interview you needed to pass the written test. To pass the written test you needed to score at least a 70. Chris scored a 93 so we are really happy there. Now we have to wait up to 4 weeks for them to contact us with information on if he has been selected for an oral interview. We are praying that this works out for us because this is what we have been waiting for. We are ready for change. I will be update once we get to the next step.

Chris' New Look

2009-03-09T14:42:00.000-07:00

So today was the big cutting day. First Chris got his hair wet so that I could put it in a pony tail and then braid it. We decided that we were going to donate his hair to Locks of Love.

So here is how long it hair started out as

Getting ready to start cutting

Cutting snip, snip, snip

Here is how much was cut off

After it was cut off

How much was cut off after the braid was cut off

Here is the side view after it was trimed

Here is the back view

Here is the front view

Even though he doesn't look like it in the last photo he is excited for his new calling and he doesn't mind the hair cut. The kids find it a little strange but they are getting used to it.

Cutting News

2009-03-08T13:10:00.000-07:00

So for about 4 weeks we have been wondering what kind of calling Chris and I were going to get. Then three Sundays ago he was called in by the branch president and they talked for a while and he got to know Chris. Then two Sundays ago Chris was again talked to and was asked how attached to his hair he was. He responded with saying that if he had a calling that required he cut it he would do it.

Since then I have recieved my calling as Enrichment Leader in the RS. I am very excited for this calling and I can't wait to serve the sisters in my branch.

We have been wonding what kind of calling he could be called for. Well they don't have an elders quorum 2nd councilor, so we thought that would be a good calling for him. Then we started to think of all the callings that require him to cut his hair. Well we could only think of things that were at the stake level. Well when I recieved my calling last Sunday we were told that Chris needed to be here this Sunday. Well this Sunday was Branch Conference for us and so the 2nd councilor in the Stake Presidency was going to be here. Well of course now we were really anxious to find out his calling because we knew it had to be something that had to be presented by the Stake Presidency since we were told we had to be here this Sunday.

Well today during second hour Chris was called away and so I anxiously sat waiting for them to call me in to approve in his calling or for him to come back and tell me what calling they had given him. He came back to class and said to me he didn't expect this calling but wouldn't tell me what it was. He made me wait until we met with the 2nd Councilor in the Stake Presidency before I found out. Well once we were all together I found out that my husband was going to have to cut his hair because he was being called as the 2nd councilor in the Branch Presidency.

So I will be posting pictures of his transformation as it happens.

Calling all RS Sisters

2009-03-01T12:34:00.000-08:00

So today I got my calling and I am now the RS Enrichment Activity Leader. I am very excited to have this calling because I love doing enrichment activities with the sisters and I love doing crafts so this I believe is a great calling for me and I can't wait to serve the lovely ladies in my branch.

Chris has not recieved his calling yet but he will be getting it next Sunday at Branch Conference when the Stake President is there. This has caused us to wonder what kind of calling he is getting. I will be happy to update when we find out.

Why boys need MOMs!!

2009-02-12T20:07:00.000-08:00

I thought all of you moms with boys would enjoy this!!
For those mothers of boys, sisters of boys, and boys that have grown older.
And anyone else who needs a laugh.

You also find out interesting things when you have sons, like...

1.) A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4 inches deep.

2.) If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.

3.) A 3-year old Boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.

4.) If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not st rong enough to rotate a 42 pound Boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft. room.

5.) You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.

6.) The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.

7.) When you hear the toilet flush and the words 'uh oh', it's already too late.

8.) Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.

9.) A six-year old Boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36- year old Man says they can only do it in the movies.

10.) Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-year old Boy.

11.) Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.

12.) Super glue is forever.

13.) No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water.

14.) Pool filters do not like Jell-O.

15.) VCR's do not eject 'PB & J' sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.

16.) Garbage bags do not mak e good parachutes.

17.) Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.

18.) You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is.

19.) Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.

20.) The fire department in Austin , TX has a 5-minute response time.

21.) The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.

22.) It will, however, make cats dizzy.

23.) Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.

24.) 80% of Women will pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without kids.

25.) 80% of Men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid.

My Two Front Teeth

2009-02-10T20:52:00.000-08:00

So here they are. My daughters first two front teeth. They have finally come in enough that you can see them when she smiles. I think that they look so cute. Now it will be time to go to the dentist and to get a new tooth brush soon.

New Home

2009-01-25T15:26:00.000-08:00

So here are some pictures of the new house. We can't wait to be fully moved in and settled. We are really going to miss all of our friends in the North Branch Ward but as Reona said "We will make new friends."

So here is the front of the house
Here is the pole shed and a small barnHere is the small barn, large barn and shed

Here is the small shedHere is the old farm house

Food Storage

2009-01-08T20:56:00.000-08:00

Since we have been blessed with extra money we have been using it to grow our food storage. I have been looking online for some place that would help me use my food storage on a daily basis. Well I have found the perfect site. If anyone is interested in learning how to use their food storage in everyday use then here is the site for you.

Crystal uses her food storage everyday for all of her meals. She has wonderful recipes on her site as well as videos showing how she makes some of her meals. She also has wonderful ideas for the holidays and other things. (like VT gifts) She has teamed up with some other wonderful ladies to help you get your food storage started on the right track and also to help you save money when you go shopping.

The site for the food storage recipes is http://everydayfoodstorage.net/
The site for helping you get your food storage is http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/
The site for helping you save money when shopping is http://theobsessiveshopper.net/

From these site I also found this blog that shows you how to make an oven that works just as good as your home oven.

The site for that is http://safelygatheredin.blogspot.com/2008/10/how-to-make-cardboard-box-oven.html

This is another food storage site that has some great stuff on it as well http://funwithfoodstorage.net/

I have found all these site very useful. Check them out and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

For You!!!

2009-01-04T16:54:00.000-08:00

So I found this game on my friend Anne's blog, and I WON!!!

So now I'm paying it forward. Check out the rules and leave a comment!

{The Rules}
--Be one of the first three bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me.
--Winners must post this challenge on your blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift for the first three bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!
--The gift that you send to your Three Friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!
--When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate Linky Love!
If you are not one of the Top Three Commenters on this post, you can still play along. Please take the button and post it on your blog; start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same!

Crawling

2008-12-31T20:21:00.001-08:00

So today Abriana started crawling for the first time. She has been doing the army crawl for a while now but today she has finally figured out how to crawl by using both her arms and legs. She has had lots of practice latly because she has been more glingly then normal and since I have other things that need to get done and I can't contantly hold her, she has decided to start trying to follow me around. Well it is faster to use both her arms and legs then trying the army crawl all around the house. So now I have to offically put up gates by the stairs. The good thing is that the new house we are moving into is a one story and the only stairs in the house can be closed off with a door. So she will be able to roam around as much as she wants and can practice crawling all day long without having to worry about falling down stairs.

Home Sweet Home

2008-12-20T18:09:00.000-08:00

( This is not the house we are moving into.)

So we have found a house that we are going to be moving in to. It is up in Askov, MN which is about 30 mins north of Pine City. The house is on 40 Acres. The home has 5 BR and 2 BA. There are two small barns and one big barn on the property along with a pole building. Then there is a old farm house on the property. We will be moving in on the first of February. We will miss all the people in our ward. Everyone has been so nice to our family and helped us out when we have needed it. We hope to make many more friends in our new branch. We are very excited to be moving and hoping that every thing works out. As soon as I saw the house I fell in love with it. The guy renting it to us is very nice. The house is wonderful and it will fit our family perfect.

Many Faces

2008-11-23T18:22:00.000-08:00

Abriana has to be the funniest baby. When she gets excited she makes the funniest faces and I was finally able to get pictures of her doing it. Every time I see her it makes me laugh. I get the greatest kick out of her. For example, every time she eats she has to growl with every bite. It is hilarious. None of my other kids did this. I wish I could video tape her doing it because I want to show her when she is older how funny she was and I hope still will be.

Well here are the pictures of the many faces of Abriana.

Bear Bottom

2008-11-21T07:05:00.000-08:00

Here is my cutie pie with her cute little bear bottom.

She got this the other day and I thought it was so cute.

Doesn't she have a cute little bum?

The kids wanted me to take more pictures. She is going to think I am crazy when she is older! :)

2008-11-21T06:55:00.000-08:00

Reona turned 6 on the 17th. She had so much fun at her party. Her best friend Skylar and her brother Jameson, her great grandparents, her grandma, her aunt, uncle and cousin, and Mandi, Brad, Logan & Ella. She got a lot of Hannah Montana stuff (her fav.) and some movies.

Getting so BIG

2008-11-14T19:37:00.001-08:00

So my baby girl is getting so big. I can't believe that she is already 5 months old. She is starting to sit up on her own a little. She has been able to rollover for a couple of months now. Her hair has finally grown long enough for me to put it up in a little ponytail. I think she looks so cute.

Going to school

2008-11-08T23:53:00.000-08:00

So I have decided to go back to school. I wanted to open my own bsiness as a photographer but that isn't working out as well as I had hoped. I haven't put much into the business so that is part of the reason why. So I wanted to go back to school for education. Well Minnesota doesn't allow you to go to school online for some reason. The school says it has something to do with the curriculum standards or something but I am not sure. So I changed my major to and Associate in Arts in Business (AAB). I start school on the 17th of this month. I am kinda nervous since I didn't do to well in high school. But even with all my nervousness I am SOOOOOO excited to be going to school.

Yeah Back to School :)

What more could happen

2008-11-08T23:35:00.000-08:00

So yesturday our vans battery light came on. So today Chris went out and tried to figure out why it came on. Well later I went to the store and it didn't come on, until I got about a mile away from home and it came on. Nothing really happened. The van was running fine. Well Chris had to work today so when he left at 9pm to get to work at 10pm everything was still going fine. Then he called me at about 9:15pm to tell me that the lights were dimming and then the radio clock went out. As we continued to talk things started to get worse. The lights on the dashboard started to fade and then they went out as well as it stopped telling the speed he was going and it showed that he had no gas. Well he kept driving to work. When he got to the Hinckley exit he figured the van would die well when he slowed down the lights and stuff started to come back on. (kinda weird) Well then when he pulled into the parking lot of his work the van died. So I called up a mechanic that we have in the family and he said that the alternator went. Well that is going to cost us at the least $100. So we will see how things go. Chris is going to buy a new battery just in case it might be that. Hopefully things will get better.

Well now that I am done drowning you in sorrow I am going to go.
Bye

Quilts

2008-11-07T16:51:00.000-08:00

So I have had some extra time on my hands and I have a ton of extra fabric so I have decided to make some quilts. It takes me about two days to finish a small infant quilt it would take me about four days to finish a medium quilt for kids and maybe about a week to finish one for adults. I made one for the Thomas' new baby but forgot to take a picture of it before giving it to them. But I started on another one for a friend of mine who is having a baby girl. With people having babies and it getting colder my quilts can get some use out of them.

So here is the one that I have to finish for a friend of mine.

The Thinkings of a 5 month old

2008-11-05T21:13:00.000-08:00

So Abriana learned how to roll over at about 3 months old. So we have decided to start putting on the floor more so she can practice rolling over. Well lately she has been scooting her but up and trying to move which I kinda knew she could do because ever since she was about 1 month old and was sleeping in her crib more every night I would lay her at the end of the crib and every morning she would be banging her head on the bars at the head of the bed.

Here she is trying to scoot.

So I had her on the floor this evening and I gave her some baby rings to play with. Well I wanted to see if she would scoot to try and get them so I put them just out of her reach. Well at first she tried to scoot her self up closer. Well she tried that about 3 times and she was almost there but gave up and started getting a little mad. Well I did help her right away and so she calmed down and decided to try a different strategy because I looked over at her and there she was pulling the blanket towards her so that she could reach the rings and sure enough after two pulls on the blanket she got them so that they were in her reach. I wish I would have had my camera. It was the funniest thing I had ever seen.

Voting

2008-11-04T10:20:00.000-08:00

So today we all went to the voting polls to vote. Reona was learning about the polls and the candidates in school so when we got to the polling place she got to learn about registering and got to see what the ballots look like. Then we got to show her how people vote. Once Chris and I were done voting both Reona and Alexia got to vote as well. Reona got to vote on three different trees she liked that were on her ballot. Alexia got to vote for crayons or pencils. Reona loved the fact that she got to vote even if it wasn't for who would be president.

I was really happy to see that they let them vote because when we first started talking about the election Reona thought that it wasn't fair that she couldn't vote.

Let's see how I do

2008-11-02T16:28:00.000-08:00

Well this is my first time on here and I am really excited. I don't usually blog so we will see if I can keep this updated regularly.