Happy Birthday Addy (2 weeks late!)

Happy 5th birthday to our sweet Addy! We love you so much and are so grateful for you. Addy is such a blessing to our lives and I can't imagine life without her.

Addy had a great birthday and got to celebrate two days in a row. Clint and I took Addy to Seven Peaks (waterpark) on the day before her party. She did great and I was really proud of her. I was worried about how she would do in the water because she has not been a huge fan of the water and swimming but she had a ton of fun!

The next day we celebrated her birthday with a party at my in-laws' home (thanks David and Stephanie). Addy had an animal themed birthday party and we had an animal rescue group come and give an hour long show/presentation to the kids. We got to see a hedgehog, bird, rabbit, lizard and woodchuck. For the grand finale they brought out a tortoise and the kids got to ride her! They typically don't allow that but our group was so small they felt that it would be fine. I think it's safe to say that the kids and adults had a great time!

Thanks to everyone that came to support Addy on her special day. We love and appreciate all of you!

Labor of Love

We decided in early spring to work on a family garden this summer. It is at my sister's house and it is huge! Even as we were planting seeds I didn't realize how big this was going to be. It has been a ton of work and a big thank you is owed to Janie and Mark for the use of their land and water and a thank you to my dad for all of his gardening knowledge - plus all of the hard work done by the 3 of them. This is going to be a huge blessing for all of our families in the coming months. I realize that we have a TON of work ahead... I'll keep you posted as we begin canning. If my dad's estimates are correct we may still be canning in December : ) !

First Swim

This was a first in two ways:

This was Kolby's first swim and he loved it! Thankfully grandma had put the pool out a day ahead of time and the water was nice and warm. This was also Addy's first swim of the summer!

Hopefully we have more summer days ahead and a lot less rain.

Food Storage

Okay, I hate the topic of food storage. It totally stresses me out but I know that I need to work on it so I'm trying. My sister found a great website that has been a huge help to her and I'm starting to catch the vision of it too.

There are two websites that were created by the same woman but one focuses on the purchase of food storage items and the other focuses on using food storage items. One is called Deals to Meals - http://www.dealstomeals.com/. The other is My Food Storage Deals - http://www.myfoodstoragedeals.blogspot.com/.

Until I visited these sites I didn't think food storage was very possible. Let's face it - does anyone really know what to do with 300 lbs. of hard wheat? You can sign up for the service that this woman offers and pay about $5 a month to get a comparison of all the prices and ads weekly. I haven't done this. Janie did and she swears by it - I'm tending to believe that it's a good thing because Janie's food storage room is filling up rapidly (way to go Jane!). However, I am beginning to become more focused on food storage and I'm learning that it is possible a little bit at a time.

So, for all of you that are trying to work on your year's supply of food and have found the task a little daunting - take a look at these websites. They might be of some help to you!

(By the way, I am in no way being paid to advertise for these sites, lol)

The Princess Festival

On Saturday Addy and her cousin Rubie spent the day together as princesses. Janie and I took them to the Princess Festival in Lindon and the girls had an awesome time! The weather was horrible but it was still a wonderful day.

They were able to go on a fun adventure and they met all sorts of wonderful characters: Belle and Beast; Cinderalla and Prince Charming; Peter Pan and Captain Hook; Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter; Sleeping Beauty and her Prince and many others. Addy was able to dance with a prince and she was very excited about that - though very shy!

The girls were also able to do some other fun activities such as getting their hair done, making some princess crafts and, as you can see, dressing like princesses.

This was a lot of fun for Janie and I to see them enjoy their day so much. The best part about the whole experience is that it was for a good cause. The money we spent to enjoy the day all went to help an organization that provides services to areas of Kenya - the organization is called "In Our Own Quiet Way" - http://www.inourownquietway.com/home.html

Election 2008

I want to start by saying that I thoroughly dislike politics. The waters are too muddy for me. I never know who to believe and it takes so much work to really study the issues. Why can't it be easier? :)

Politics are inescapable in my house. I have a husband that reads 4 newspapers a day and listens to talk radio and LOVES to discuss politics. My mother grew up in a house that was very similar and so she caught the "politics bug" early in life. She loves to discuss politics too.

But...I'm confused. I don't feel comfortable with either of our choices for President this election year. I have not enjoyed the last 8 years of our current administration and I definitely don't want more of the same - but the question is - would it be more of the same? I feel like each candidate brings their own set of issues to the table that would create more problems for the future. Maybe I'm pessimistic, maybe I'm not.

My mother recently told me that my grandfather and grandmother, who are very conservative Republicans, have decided not to vote for President this election year. Though I don't always agree with their views they are very, very intelligent, informed voters. But this year they are voting on other issues and they will not be voting for President. In their words, "one candidate is a communist and the other is a socialist". What?! Holy cow! In my world this is big news. The grandparents aren't voting? Has the world come to an end?

Anyway - this post really has no point other than to point out that I'm confused. However, I know that I don't feel alone in my feelings. Several people that I have spoken with seem to feel the same way and I don't think they know what they are going to do either.

So I go back to my original statement - I thoroughly dislike politics.

Thanksgiving Point!

Saturday we took Addy to Thanksgiving Point - thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Richards - and we had a great afternoon. We try to go a few times each year, as the seasons change, and we thoroughly enjoy it.

Our specific goal this past Saturday was to let Addy ride the horses. She did this last year and had a blast! This year she informed us that she did not need any help and she could do it all by herself. My baby isn't a baby anymore!

By the way if you've never eaten at the deli at Thanksgiving Point - you're missing out! It's really good food. I recommend the Steak and Cheese sandwich (that could be pregnancy talking).