DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS AT HOME!

I really hestitate to post this because I hate remembering this moment, but I will so that I can tell you without repeating the story over and over.


Yesterday started out a great day (which is something you SHOULD attempt everyday!) Thomas Market had flats of strawberries on sale for $4.99! Smokin Deal! So I bought two flats with the goal of not losing ONE strawberry to mold. I did it! I didn't have to throw one strawberry away! I was so proud of myself. So we started processing them to make jam and I thought it would be a great idea to make some pies as well. So when I got the strawberries chopped for the jam, I got some pie crusts made and baking and had just enough of the sliced strawberries left to fill the pies. They were YUMMY!!!

Even Joni was pleasant through the whole process!

A Whole Load of Strawberries!

I guess I proved that I don't get hives from eating strawberries anymore! I ate my fair share and then some. Good thing they are healthy!

Carson pitched in by chopping strawberries.

Logan was slicing and Carson ran them through the chopper.

This turned out to be quite the assembly line.

Then after we finished processing them, we went into town for our daily walk around the park. We brought a friend home for Carson to play with. I got a call from Justin to meet him and switch trucks. So we went and got the truck and horse trailer from him and took it back to the corrals by our house. The boys ran to the house to go play while I got backed into the corral to dump the calf out. I was sitting there waiting for the guys to open the gate and I saw the Monte and Carson's friend riding on the go-kart. One moment later I saw Monte's seat belt flapping in the wind which meant that it was NOT buckled. Fear struck my heart to say the least. I got out of the truck and headed that way yelling for them to stop. Unfortunately, they did not hear me and when I was still about 50 feet away, the go-kart to a sharp left circle turn and to my absolute shock, I saw Monte bounce up and off the seat and out the side! At first I thought that his legs were still caught in the inside of the go-kart and he was going to be drug, but then I saw his legs flip out and it spun him backwards so his head was positioned right for the tire to go over his head - You guessed it! I saw the back of the go-kart bounce up signaling that it truly did drive up over his head. By the time I sprinted over to him, he was up crying looking around for me. Of course horrified would be the best way to describe how I was feeling at this point. He could walk and talk which I was grateful for. I carried him to the house and got the plastered mud and tire track washed off his face. I talked to him to make sure he knew a few facts, like that his birthday is June 7, who comes on Christmas and brings presents, how many fingers am I holding up. Everything was looking good, but I just felt like a professional should be looking at him determining that he truly was ok. So we called the clinic and took him in. The doctor did a thorough examination and found that every single thing that he checked out was just fine. Of course he was extremely concerned about the fact that they were not wearing helmets or seatbelts, which they usually do. Now by this point Carson was feeling overly responsible and especially when the doctor looked at me and said "I think you might be getting off easy this time." Carson thought he was directing that comment to him and when the doctor left the room to run it by the other doctor, he started getting teary eyed and said "He just told me I was going to get off easy" So I had to explain to him what the doctor's comment really meant.
We found this abrasion when we got to the doctor's office. He told us to keep an eye out for other injuries that we could have overlooked because we were so focused on the head.

I didn't really feel like taking pictures at the time of the accident, so this was the day after picture. He originally had mud embedded in his scalp and plastered all over his face, but it washed off very easily. By the time we got to the doctor, he had a mild headache and just pain on the exact location of the abrasions.

Now comes the part that you SHOULD attempt at home:

- COUNT EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOUR BLESSINGS EVERY DAY AND BE GRATEFUL FOR THOSE BLESSINGS THAT ARE PART OF YOUR FAMILIES LIVES. I know that we were truly blessed that Monte did not sustain any worse injuries than he did. Heavenly Father truly blessed us considering how bad this accident could have been and we are so grateful that Monte is o.k. He is back to his normal rambunctious and mischevious self.

Today he came in the house asking for the duct tape. I asked what he needed it for and he said, "You know that thing that sticks up on the front of the white car? It broke off and I need to tape it back on!" I will post the picture later!

4-H . . . Here we come!

Logan and Carson decided that they might like to try doing some horse projects in 4-H and so we signed up for that. We get a call last week that they are trying to get a horse judging team together for the district judging that is here in Malad on June 9, would they be interested. So we go just to see if it would be something that Logan would like to do and before we leave, both Logan and Carson are signed up to do it. They sent the judging cards and the reasons cards home with Logan and Carson. Bear in mind that Logan has done meat, wool and livestock judging before, so he is just like "Aahh, another type of judging", nothing new. For Carson, this is ALL new! Leila is the judging coach and has personally taken him under her wing to teach him what to look for, how to mark the judging card, etc. So this morning Carson comes in while I am on the phone and asks for a clipboard.

When I get off the phone, this is how the conversation goes:

C:Mom, you got a clipboard?

M: No, can you do your project without it?

C: Yeah!

Twenty minutes later, Carson came back into the house with his judging card and says "Well, I got my class of horses judged. I went out and these are the horses that I judged and my horse was on the bottom because she has a man-made flaw"

Mom: What is the man made flaw?

C: You know, the wear spot on her withers.

M: Oh yeah! You knew about that? Who did you put on the top of your class?

C: Goofy, because she has straight legs and no man-made flaws.

Did I know that he would be such a little baracuda when it came to this new challenge? Eating up every bit of information that was given to him? OF COURSE! That is just who he is!

So, watch out 4-H Horse Judging! You have created a MONSTER! (I am just saying, at least it is a constructive place to put his efforts and energy! YEAH!)

FiNaLlY- an update!

So when I realized that it has been three weeks since a post I knew I had to get something done. I have been crippled for a couple of weeks, because I have not been able to get the pictures off my card onto my computer because of a software malfunction. SO, I worked on it and got it fixed so I didn't feel like such a loser at posting.

Yesterday a friend and I (Jamie) took a one mile(one mile up, one mile back) hike trip with our kids.

This is how it all added up:

Two moms,

two babies

and NINE boys 12 and under!

The rules: One mom stays in front, the other in the back and the oldest boys in the middle with the little boys sandwiched somewhere in between. Why you might ask? Rattlesnakes! Carson has a rattle to prove it. One day the boys went with Justin and another guy to fix fence on the forest and Carson came home with a set of rattles. Does this freak me out? JUST A LITTLE!! I told Justin that I need a course in Rattlesnake 101. I have never had to be trained in searching the ground for venomous snakes! We only saw a small little gardner snake while we were out. A great sigh of relief when we made it back down. Although, while we were there is was such a great relaxing time, to be outside enjoying the nice weather.

Here is Joni-enjoying her thumb! She loves to chew on her hands and then she eventually finds her thumb and starts sucking! I keep trying to intervene with the pacifier, but most the time she doesn't like it near as much. She rode in the sling on our little hike. She sure loves being outside! I am so glad because so do I!

Here is the crew of boys. Did I mention that my friend Jamie has all boys and one girl too?! Our boys are all the same age except she has one extra between Logan and Carson. We had a couple extras on this outing. L-R back row: William (friend from church), Danny (Jamie's oldest, Logan's age), Logan, Carson, Joseph (brother to William). Middle- Christoper (Jamie's third, Carson's age), Jaron (nephew of Jamie's). Bottom- Monte, Matt (Jamie's fourth, Monte's age) Her second son, Dale, was visiting cousins, so he wasn't there. Funny thing is that our baby's are three weeks apart and both girls starting with the letter J. They had a great time. We packed a picnic lunch and hiked up what they call Burnet Canyon which is right behind our house. Then they took their airsoft and BB guns and had a blast playing games and target shooting pop cans while we were there. They also found an embankment to slide down which went to the little stream they were building a dam in. Here is the video of William sliding down and coming back up.
Sorry I can't figure out how to turn this to make it upright to view. I will have to remember that from now on with my camera.

She is finally getting so that sometimes she likes to cuddle with someone besides me. Logan really loves to have the privilege of that someone being him. As you can see, there is not ANY hair growing yet! Still just a little bit of fuzz from when she was born.

She was all snuggled into his neck. She was supposed to be asleep, but she was just enjoying sitting with her big brother.

Here she is just hanging out while I get some pictures that are her three month shots.




Since Jamie and I have baby girls that are so close, it is kind of fun to do things together. She had this great idea to take them over to Logan to the temple and do some pictures of them in front of the Logan temple with their blessing dresses on. Here are some of the results of that. It is EXTREMELY hard to get such a tiny little person in the picture and have it look right when you are trying to get such a big object in the background. If anybody has any ideas how to get it at a better angle, let me know

Jenetta-


Imagine, if you will, that the mom's of these babies are busy trying to get the perfect shot. There are two innocent, lovely, well-meaning 5 and almost 5 year old boys that are waiting paitiently by the side of a BIG (what seems to be to them) pool of water, actually the fountain. Needless to say, the groundskeeper that was working on filling the fountain and getting it running was a little nervous by this whole scenario. But these two were actually very manageable. We only had to REMIND them a couple of times that they could only put one hand in to feel the water. :-)

Here she is in one of her "play" dresses. One that she would wear on just an average day. I didn't realize how fun it would be to start playing dress up until I realized that her brothers were suggesting what she should wear and having fun with it too! Now if they were such good sports when it came to taking pictures. I also had the great privilege of sharing a special day with a young couple at the temple. They asked me to do some pictures of them outside the temple on the day they were sealed! It was very nerve-wracking as I was scared that I wouldn't get the shots they wanted. But, alas, they were pleased with the pictures. Here are just a few of the day and the day before.

Blessing Day!

Poor little baby! Does she know how to sleep with her mouth closed?

On May 3, Joni had her blessing day! We had such a wonderful day with friends and family. Here are some of the pictures of Joni in her blessing dress. Thanks to Aunt Leisa for the beautiful dress! Thank you everyone for coming to our house and making this day such a special one for our family! It was quite an amazing day at church because there were FOUR babies blessed that day! Everyone in our ward said it was so unusual because there are not many young people in our ward, so to have four on the same day was quite eventful. We had a barbeque after which turned into an inside event because it was quite breezy and chilly. Yes, I did say breezy-we have experienced some breezes and even some wind in the last month. We had such a wonderful time seeing and visiting with all our family and friends that were able to come! Thanks again everyone!

Favorite event of the year!

The proud Cub Scout and his 6th prize winning derby car!
Isn't he a handsome little Cub Scout!
Who dressed the little bugger? You would think his mother would notice his collar and neckerchief before the end of the derby or at least before she took the picture! :-)

Ending with the flag being taken out.

Receiving his consolation prize from scout leaders.

So this is the first year that Carson gets to be involved in cub scouts which means he has the privilege of becoming an official Pinewood Derby Racer! They just do this one pack at a time, so it only took about 45 minutes with 12 boys! (Hallelujah!) As you might tell, I am not the biggest fan of the Pinewood Derby. This year really reiterated it for me! When Carson brings home the "blank" car kit, I have visions of the movie "Down and Derby" running through my head, hoping that Justin will take a real interest in it and help Carson get started on it EARLY, and by early I mean sooner than the night before or the day of the race! Yet again, we were scrambling to get it finished up in time for the race. I ran home from town at 4:00 p.m. (and the weigh-ins were at 5:00 p.m.) to grab the car, the drill and some lead sinkers from the tackle box. When I got home I was greeted by a tackle box completely free of sinkers, what to do! I call Justin and he tells me to go and get some out of a tackle box at Beau's (a guy he works with) house. How am I going to fix these sinkers on the car? Still haven't located the hot glue gun (a girl's best friend). Thankfully a good friend of ours who has a derby racer too comes to my rescue with her hot glue gun! So you see the results of a VERY proud Pinewood Derby racer! After all the pain and agony of preparations, we have another year of Cub Scout Pinewood Derby behind us!