It's offically official

Darren finally proposed. They have been dating since September and talking marriage since December. We really like Darren. He is fun and silly. He brings out the happy in Amber. Darren will be taking his medical boards in June and then leaving for five weeks for a rotation in San Diego. So it looks like we will have a wedding in August. Ugh. At least that is what Amber is saying. I hope they will have mercy on me and opt for September or October. This is the link to the video Darrn and his friend filmed while proposing to Amber. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nK9e75PArs

The Temple Rocks

It was dark and rainy today. A rare welcomed event. As a result track practice for Michael and Tennis practice for Tyler were canceled. Darren was still at work so that meant Amber was still home. All six kids home at the same time between 6:30 am and 10 pm. WOW!
The clouds parted and I knew this was my chance.
I herded them all in the car.
As we drove up I was disappointed to see that the gates were already up and grating had begun. But with some encouragement from the more daring we squeezed in between some fencing marked No Trespassing (yikes). Yeah, I am wicked. One of the kids said "I feel so ALIVE!" It felt like going TPing. A bit naughty but harmless.
It was muddy and covered with thorns.
We frantically went on a rock hunt.
Ron had warned me when I told him my idea a few weeks ago "if everyone did that there would be a big hole." I thought that was and even better idea. Think of all the money the church would save if the members dug out the foundation.
So today I am off to find a good rock tumbler. They aren't pretty rocks but I think with some polishing they could make a nice tie tack, necklace or something that will help my kids look forward to attending our future temple someday.

French braiding

Besides marveling at the clothing at the Renaissance fair we drooled a bit at the braiding they do. One year before Amber cut her hair the braider offered to do her hair for half price just because they wanted to play with her rear length locks.
This morning went very smooth so I was able to braid a couple of heads.
I think it is more Dr Seuss than King Arthur but the girls were pleased. I thought for sure Aubrey would get teased. In my jr high experience braids=nerd, weird braid = super geek. But times have changed I guess she was pleased to report that everyone liked it and thought it looked like Katniss Evergreen's hair from the Hunger Games book.

Happy Valentine's Day

In spite of all of our preparations I forgot about the most important tradition handed down from my parents. Cupid comes first thing in the morning and leaves boxes of chocolates for the kids on the doorstep. So I waited up until 12:00am to run to Walgreen's. No kidding I ran into a friend from church.


Heather designed her own hair clip this year. It turned out soo cute.





She also came up with the minky mailbox for her valentine cards at school. I did the measuring and pinning she created and did all of the sewing.






Aubrey was a bit envious that JR high kids don't get valentine boxes anymore so she made a purse for that function. We got inspiration for the valentines at Made but changed the message for our much more mature tweeny friends.












We ended the eventing with a nice meal on the good and only china. I realized after dinner that I don't have that much china.?? When I asked he admitted that he had bought it for our anniversary last October. What a sweet surprise.

Waffle fundraiser

I am not a huge fan of fundraisers. If given a choice I would much rather just right a check. But, the waffle fundraiser was super fun and the girls made some serious money towards camp. We have a super talented group of girls. I picked up the cutest beaded bracelet. Scrabble tile jewelry, a collage that was promptly stolen by my girls and a super darling leopard print apron. Among other things, Aubrey (ok I helped because I LOVE hand embriodery!) made the cute hair clips. The CTR one is my fav.
Aubrey earned $90 of the $100 she needs for girls camp. Pretty cool.

Caroline's wedding dress

December is a blur. I am sure everyone feels that way. The first two weeks were completely consumed by this dress. I first started it and wrote about it here
The best part about sewing this dress is that it is now finished! Wedding dresses are a little to stressful for me. People always want something custom and that just adds to the pressure. Plus I am a huge procrastinator. Not about little stuff. It is always the big stuff. It is like I have to have a pressing deadline to have the courage and confidence to jump in. No not confidence because I never have that. More like I have to be able to get to the point where I don't care that I am going to fail because horrible or not it has to get done.
But in spite or all my short comings, I am so glad Caroline loved it. That was the most worrisome part. She was beautiful and so was the venue, Sassi in Scottsdale. Now I understand why she changed the date three times to make sure it all worked out.

A truly sweet couple throwing a beautiful celebration. I wish them all of the happiness!

November 2010

We attended a family fitness event and had a great time. Could someone please mass market this for me? Kids in a giant hamster ball. Awesome!
The next Saturday we rounded up some friends and cousins and went to the Tangled party. Super fun and we scored tickets to the premier in 3-D!

Later that night...for Amber's birthday party we piled a bunch of friends in the car and went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter. She has great friends. And with the exception of the huge fit Aubrey threw because she wasn't allowed to come, we had a blast.
Ashley is speedy fast. She qualified for the Division 1 cross country meet and did a great job.