august 2011

One of our favorite snacks, is dehydrated fruit.  It takes 8 hours to get it dehydrated, and we usually eat it in about 10 minutes, but it’s soooo worth it!  And healthy of course, which I love!

august 2011

The kids, well, the younger ones, had some friends over, and they ate junk, played, and watched a movie together.  We have been very blessed with such great friends.

july 2011

Jarom is slowly edging up to 40…how is that possible…how are we getting to this age already?  I guess we have an almost 13 year old, but still…doesn’t seem possible.  And yet, Jarom still plays and exercises and travels like a 20 year old!

july  2011

Cody, my little brother, came to visit us for a week in July, and we introduced him to 100% humidity!  He loved it, much more than the drier Arizona weather, and I guess we’ve just adjusted to it, trying to hide our slight discomfort there and again.  Cody just finished serving a 2 year mission in California, for our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

We had a lot of fun showing him around parts of Atlanta.  We visited the aquarium(world’s largest tank), the zoo(great zoo!), Fernbank Science Museum(that was ok), and I’m not really sure if we did anything else…Fro-yo.  Can’t forget that!  Oh ya, we went to Piedmont Park in the center of the city, when it was really hot, and thought we would have a picnic, but didn’t, and watched Jarom fly his helicopter contraption.  It was fun:)  Then we would end our busy day with a movie and some yummy fresh popped popcorn with olive oil…if you haven’t tried it yet, let’s just say it’s so good, you wouldn’t want to go back to microwave popcorn! 

Here it is…1/3 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup popcorn kernals…put into a pan with a lid(or we have a whirly pop from target that you just spin the handle and it spins the kernals evenly in the oil inside the pan), and shake until you hear it stop popping…pour into a bowl, salt, and enjoy.  It’s THE BEST!

july 4th weekend- 2011

Leticia, Nadia’s birth mom, came to visit for a few days.  Leticia brought Zoe, her daughter, and a friend to keep her company on her driving trip from Texas to Georgia.  Even though Nadia doesn’t understand what’s going on, (she is three…), she still will look at pictures and say, “that’s my birth mom!”  I asked her what birth mom meant, and she said she didn’t know. 

We want to be open about the wonderful blessing and occurrence that happened of how Nadia came to join our family, and that she is sealed to us for all eternity, and has always been apart of our family, she just came to earth through someone else.  We are grateful for the adoption experience we went through with Leticia, and are glad we get to visit every now and then.

june  2011

Because we live near Emory University, Madison was able to participate in the one week camps for kids who have had health issues and have been in the hospital…they have a week for heart kids, a week for cancer kids, and other medical needs kids. 

So Madison was able to go, all expenses are paid for each child, and she went to a heart camp where all the kids have had heart surgery.  I thought for sure I would hear from Madison sometime throughout the week.  They are allowed to call or text using the camp leaders phone if they get homesick, but no, not a word.  I guess she was having too much fun kayaking, horseback riding, swimming, crafting, eating, and whatever else they did.  This being Madison’s first time away without any family nearby, she did a great job, and showed us that she is secure in herself and knew we would be here for her when she got back.  We missed her so much, but were so glad she had this opportunity!

 madison returning…hair braided, nails painted, bag full of goodies…

 had to get a little fro-yo…so hot in June…and had to celebrate our madison coming home…

cool shot alex took using the mirror…a great little photographer!

june 2011

It seems like yesterday we had just had our little alex, now she is already going to girl’s camp.  I love this girl so much!  She had a blast, and as yw president now, I went up for the day, and she managed to say “hi” to me in passing, she was having so much fun. 

We were just talking in the car how she only has six years left before college.  Really, less than that, more like 5 1/2.  I feel like I still have so much to teach her, and not enough time!

Mothering is never done I know, but it is the most rewarding for sure!  I love being a mother, being home all day with these girls, teaching them, and spending what precious time I have with them before they leave home.  It’s going by so fast, I can’t believe it, nor can I believe I’m old enough to have an almost teenager!  Holy Cow!

For those of you who would love a little two day get-away, I have the perfect fit!   
Spark 3 will be Oct. 21-22 in Lindon, UT this year…a two day creative event and artisan market…with meals and snacks prepared for you…all you have to do is enjoy the beautiful ambiance, and the fun things to make with everything set out for you and easy instruction.  Not to mention Mindy Gledhill will be performing, who I absolutely love.

So meet me in Utah, we’ll share a hotel room, and have some fun…just the girls!  Alex my oldest gets to come with me this year, she’s working hard to earn her tuition(it costs $350 for two days full of everything(which I probably brought back home half that much in supplies, not to mention all the stuff I made and brought home-they really spoil you!), and I hope it sparks her creativity even more…she’s already amazingly creative! 

If you want to see some pic’s of what to expect…copy and paste link below, then scroll down just a bit. 

http://chocolatechipsandpeanutbutter.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-10-26T12%3A53%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=499  

You’ll see beautiful inspiration eeking out from every room…it was so inspiring, and it did spark my inner crafty self, I can’t wait to go again!!!

Copy and paste the link below to get a peek at what will be goin’ on!   
Come on, you know you want to come!

http://www.sparktheevent.com/