Things my Dad taught me

1. Never be afraid to try new things. My brothers and I frequently joked around as kids that our dad would try any food. I remember watching Indiana Jones and seriously asking my dad if he would eat monkey brains just like they did on the movie. He of course promptly replied with "yum, my favorite!"

2. Duct tape will fix just about anything! and spoons aren't just for eating, they're great tools for digging, scrapping and cleaning....(hence that spoon is long gone!)

3. My Dad has a logical approach to just about every situation. Therefore statistics are good indicators of if a situation is safe or not! My Dad is famous for saying, "that chances of that happening are so slim." The rest of the family is famous in replying with "You do it, then I'll do it. (Goes to show statistics aren't always right)

4. Integrity. If anything else I have always appreciated my Dad's integrity. I remember as a kid, him telling me to always strive to do the right thing because even if others can't see it, people eventually figure out the truth. I've never regretted following those words.

5. Don't make rash decisions! It's usually best to keep a calm head and think things through. When I'm not sure how to handle a certain situation, I know i can find some great advice from my Dad and if i can't ask him for his advice, I know I can think about what he might do.

6. Have a sense of humor and enjoy life! My Dad is a wise crack and I like to tease him that I get my sense of humor from him!

My Dad, way back when I was in high school, was always trying to teach me valuable life lessons.

My Dad "What do you do if you get a flat tire?"

Me "Easy!"

Dad " okay, what do you do then?"

Me "Call you!"

7. Last but not least love! My Dad has a big heart! When Justin first met my Dad he was so intimidated by this giant guy! It made my laugh because I saw my Dad as a big teddy bear. He has all the love in the world for his family, always has and always will. He's not perfect and he doesn't expect anyone else to be, he forgives easily and finds it hard, not to find something good about someone.

buddies

Last night Ikaika announced that I was cute buddy while he and his daddy were cool buddies! ha ha, sometimes I wonder where he comes up with this stuff. Justin couldn't be more thrilled however, when Ikaika get's so excited to be best buds with Daddy!

As of lately, Ikaika's new favorite shows are creepy crawlers and believe it or not, National Geographic especially about dinosaurs and crocodiles! I thought it might be scary but Ikaika thinks they're so fascinating and loves to explain what he's learned to anyone who will listen.

Plus I had to post this....

Nothing like playing Sonic the hedgehog on a lazy Sunday afternoon in your underwear. He makes me so proud :)

Things I'm looking forward to....

Playgrounds, parks, flying kites, slides, swings, picnics, fairs, cotton candy, amusements park rides.....

camping, camp fires, dough boys, tents. etc....

This is a pic I think is from our one and only camping trip last year, we'll definitely have to remedy that this year especially since it was so much fun :)

Bear Lake, swimming, boating, getting my tan on....

A few things to get me through long hours of homework.....

Laughter is good for your health?

Ever wonder what exactly laughter does for your body well, according to Web MD:

We change physiologically when we laugh. We stretch muscles throughout our face and body, our pulse and blood pressure go up, and we breathe faster, sending more oxygen to our tissues.

Give Your Body a Boost -- With Laughter

By R. Morgan Griffin

In other words, it changes the way you feel.

The other day after a sleepless night of nausea, achiness (ya i made that up) I woke up feeling even worse but still determined to get Ikaika and I to school. Well funny thing happened, while Ikaika and I sat on my bed to enjoy some of the sun's rays that were streaming through my window, I felt a tug at my arm and looked up in time to see Ikaika roll off the bed. You might think I'm mean but it was sooooo funny! Ikaika thought he was silly and promptly asked me "Mommy why did you push me off the bed?" ha ha, ya right! When I told him he wasn't paying attention so he fell off, he smiled and said "I know." He and I laughed for a good 5 minutes. If you know Ikaika, this isn't the first time, due to lack of attention and focus that he's fallen off the bed and I'm sure it wont be the last. He always makes me laugh and did I mention he called me "baby mama" yesterday too! He of course didn't understand what he said but it made me laugh :)

What did he just say???

Sometimes Ikaika has the most interesting things to say, sometimes it's just gibberish, either way it's pretty funny.

After showing Ikaika a daddy long leg spider he announced to my parents...

"I just saw a long legged daddy!"

Saying goodbye to my parents: "Goodbye, sweet guy! Goodbye stay in your home sweet home!"

Asking my mom for otter pops: "Can I have a beaver pop?"

and did I mention in an effort to get out of eating the rest of his dinner he "accidently" dropped it on the floor for the dog. Never mind the smile he was trying to hide when I asked him why he did it! lol

and to top it off for today, after repeatedly bugging my mom for a yogurt, this was her reply.

"You know your being really annoying"

Ikaika" Ya I am" (grinning from ear to ear)

He makes life so much more fun or should I say funnier! Love my little guy

I hope they call me on a mission

On May 18th Stockton finally received his mission call! He had waited all month for this, well all of us had been pretty anxious too and even the day he received his call we weren't so sure it would be there since it took all day to get to the house.

Justin and I got the mass text announcing it was there and by the time we got there, cars lined the road. It was amazing to see the love and support he received from friends and family (Several people were holding phones out, so those who couldn't be there could hear it!) because he has been looking forward to this for some time now and he will be the last of his friends to leave on a mission this year.

So we are all pretty excited, especially him and very proud of his dedication to serve the Lord. I think he'll be a fantastic missionary and look forward to hearing all about it after he leaves. Where is he going, well your going to have to check the video to find out!

"Missionary service is not easy, but it is infinitely worth it."

M. Russell Ballard - 2005, Apr. Gen. Conf. "...be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you." Peter . - 1 Peter 3:15 Oh and the video is sideways, don't know how to fix that but let me know if you do :)

Play Dough Cookies

Looking for a fun cookies recipe well, try this Play Dough Cookies recipe I found at yummly.com. Yes it is edible and very cool to look at. Ikaika had a lot of fun making shapes with his cookie dough just like real play-dough :) I posted the recipe below

Yummly

Play Dough Cookies

Source: AllRecipes Rating: none

IngredientsServes: 12

3/4cup butter (softened)

3 oz cream cheese

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 3/4cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4tsp salt

food coloring (assorted colors of paste)

24 lollipop (sticks)

Method

1 In a bowl cream butter, cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until smooth.

2 In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Stir till soft dough forms. Divide dough into fourths. Tint each with a different food color. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours.

3 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Working with half of each color, shape dough into 3/4 inch balls and for each cookie place 1 pink, 1 green, 1 blue and 1 orange ball together to make 1 large ball. Shape into a 12 inch long roll (like a snake), starting at one end, coil roll to make a 2 3/4 inch round cookie. Place cookies 3 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheet. Carefully insert lollipop sticks into bottoms of cookies.

4 Bake cookies for 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool and store in an airtight container.

Mother's are Awesome!

I'm so grateful to my mom and so grateful to be a mom to my son. So with mothers day coming up there are a lot of fun things to do for your mom, one activity we did for young womens was a bath Sunday... check it out! I believe you can find the idea at snickerdoodle.net

If you were wondering what it says:

This very special Sunday,

will leave you felling great.

It's chock full of good things,

even though it can't be ate.

Take it in the bath with you.

Of course don't take a sip,

cause it may look delicious,

but it's made to take a dip.

Happy Mother's Day!!

You're not going to wear that are you?

Just as we were about to leave the house, I turn around to find this...

Floods for pants, a patterned shirt with a different patterned tie and yes those were his church shoes for the day. Needless to day, I think Dad's officially blind at least when it comes to matching. lol! By the way, should I mention before I took this picture that he was wearing a belt on pants with no belt loops. ha ha! Anyhow, Justin and I had a good laugh and Ikaika of course thought he was hilarious.

Below is his new outfit...something that matches :)

Easter Fun!!

As tradition, went to Vegas for Easter, visited with our wonderful

family, had a blast and fell asleep on the car ride home :)

P.S. Check out Ikaika's Easter video, you never know what he's going to do but he always makes me laugh

"Eggs"ellent Easter Eggs

I know this is a little late but for our young womens activity the week before Easter, we had a fun easter egg decorating contest! Unfortunately I wasn't able to get pictures of the all the other eggs, which were pretty creative if you ask me. There was a chicken complete with it's own yellow feather, painted eggs, dyed eggs and eggs custom designed with crayons and stickers.

Just like Daddy

Who knew explaining to Ikaika that his middle name is his daddy's name could be so confusing...

Me"Your middle name is Justin"

Ikaika "So my middle name is Daddy?"

Me "No, you share Daddy's name, it's Justin"

Ikaika "No my middle name is Daddy, so I'm the Daddy now"

I love this kid with all my heart, so proud to be his mama!

Another Milestone...

“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?”

Vincent van Gogh

I love a good quote!

Plus I'm excited to be celebrating six,

yes I said SIX

years of marriage to my wonderful hubby!

The semester is coming to an end....

Can't believe there are only a few more weeks left in the semester!

I'm excited and a little overwhelmed at times because that means time for finals, which means I need to get assignments done! This semester it's all about the final projects, mostly overwhelming because I'm still working through my procrastination habits! I swear I was born with them and they just wont go away!LOL

I posted this picture because honestly how many times have you felt like that during finals! To my fellow college friends, I hope you don't suffer from procrastinitis as I do, and may we all have a good end to this spring semester!!

I can't remember the last time I've been to a museum but when I go, I always

wish I went more often.

Justin and I visited the University of Utah's: Utah Museum of Fine Arts, the other day. If you haven't been you should go and here are a few tips for your visit...

1.if your a SLCC student bring your student ID and it's FREE! Can't get better than that

2.Look up the directions for visitor parking and register your vehicle at the front desk. Or better yet take Trax.

3.Take a guided tour(I wish I had done this) It really does help to know some of the history behind the pieces to really appreciate it.

Check out the website

UMFA: Utah Museum of Fine Arts

They have some really cool things to see.

Just a thought but have you ever wondered who makes the call that determines whether something is good art? I like my Mom's answer "If your like it, it's good art."

Happy Birthday to Who?

My birthday's not for another month but my awesome friends Jess and Steve took Justin and I all the way down to Ceder city to see this guy

<----------------------

as an early birthday surprise!

I was surprised by.....

1.the seriously long drive(thanks Steve for driving) and seeing Brian Regan which of course as a joke everyone tried to convince me we were going sky diving instead (Yikes)

2. That Justin actually kept it a secret from me for a whole week! which if you know never happens, he usually slips up but this time he was ready :)

Although it was a long, long trip it was so much fun. Good friends, the hubby and a whole lot of laughter, what else do you need for a great night out?

Super Why!

I'm not sure if it's Ikaika's favorite show but he does like it and so do I!

Attributes on Ikaika's list of what makes a great kid show

1. it has to be a cartoon

2. it has to be a cartoon

3. it has to be a cartoon

....getting the point? lol

Things that make a great child show on my list

1.It's child friendly, you know regarding language and content

2.it's educational

3.it's entertaining (this usually only applies to Ikaika, kid shows can be agonizing to sit through, ha ha) but hey, I wont complain about about the good benefits that come from shows like Dora, Sesame Street, Diego, Dino Dan and Team Umizoomi!

Called to Serve

Young Women

“There is no more

beautiful sight than a young woman who glows with the light of the Spirit, who is confident and courageous because she is virtuous.”

—Sister Elaine S. Dalton

you are called of God. The Lord knows you. He knows whom He would have serve in every position in His Church. He chose you. He has prepared a way so that He could issue your call.

Henry B. Eyring October General Conference

Recently in my new ward, I have been called to serve in the young womens, my initial response to Justin was "I don't know why anyone would want me to teach." Needless to say, I wasn't very confident in how I would fulfill my calling but nevertheless, I do know that our Heavenly Father does things for a reason and I needed to accept and complete my calling.

The other young women leaders and the young women in the ward are such great examples for me and it encourages me to work a little harder to do a little better. Today I went to my first auxiliary leadership training at the assembly hall. Who knew all the great resources members have to help them fulfill their callings? In a computer savvy world full of apps, it was only a matter of time before before we could use these resources in our weekly lessons, even family home evening. Which by the way, Ikaika knows way more about computers than I think a 4 year old should, it'll be a funny and sad day when he has to teach me about new technology like I taught my mom how to check text messages on her phone! lol

Anyways to get to the point, here's a great scripture....

12And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

Helaman 5:12

As I continue to fulfill my calling I need to trust in my Savior and put in the work. Then hopefully the girls wont fall asleep during my lessons but come to enjoy young womens like I did and find it a strength in their lives. I know I looked up to my young women leaders and still do to this day.

Festival of Color

Can"t wait for spring? Why not celebrate the coming of spring at the Holi- Festival of Colors? Partly for a school assignment and because it looked like so much fun, my family, my parents and good friend Jessica, went down to Spanish Fork to the Kirshna Temple, so we could celebrate the Festival of Colors.

Holi-Festival of Colors is a traditional Indian holiday and to my understanding the throwing of colors (colorful chalk) is to celebrate the coming of spring. It's an awesome sight and everyone is covered in this brightly colored chalk! and when I say everybody i mean everybody from the babies to the elderly and it's a total riot!

Just check it out!!!

Finals are done!

Now that finals are done, I feel like I have some time to breath! This semester was a tough one for me but I'm glad I stuck it out. Here's my final portfolio for my photography class, one of my favorite classes. I chose to do light painting photography (aka using lights like flashlights to draw out your photo). Anyways, I had never done it before and wanted to try it out for myself. Thanks to all my helpers, I couldn't have done it without your help. It just seemed like a waste to put so much effort into this project and have no one see it, so take a look and enjoy!

Also, a little about the project. Each picture correlates to a saying about the home.

My whole theme surrounded the home and my photos are my interpretation of those sayings.

I live in my house as I live in my skin: I know more beautiful, more ample, more sturdy and more picturesque skins but it would seem unnatural to exchange them for mine.

Primo Levi
If I were asked to name the chief benefit of a house, I should say: The house shelters day-dreaming, the house protects the dreamer, the house allows one to dream in peace.
Gaston Bachelard

Home is where you truly believe

They are the happiest, be the king or peasant, who find peace in their hands.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

It takes hands to build a house, but only hearts to build a home.

Home is where we love- home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Home is where we are free to create who we are.