The Hansens

Is anybody out there still?

2012-01-25T09:39:00.000-07:00

Wow! I've taken a LOOONG hiatus from the blogging world. Life just seemed to be so crazy that I had to drop out of a bunch of things. And I'm SURE none of you feel the same way in your calm, organized, predictable lives! ;P Yeah, I know, we are all extremely busy and extremely overstretched. Hasn't life just got busier and busier and busier? How do you slow it down? Since I'm sure the answer to that question is, "You can't." then how do you pick and choose what you have time for and what you will let go? I think this video is a big part of the answer. Click on this link:
What Matters Most
Isn't that a lovely reminder?
One of those things that matters most is family. And guess what? I'm gonna be a grandma! Yep, indeed! It is true! My oldest son and his beautiful wife, Salise are going to have a baby! Oh hooray! What is better than a fresh, new baby straight from heaven? They are due July 20th...I am so excited! My lovely SIL, Kally, and my bro, Joel, had their beautiful baby, Jazlyn, and my lovely little sister, Tiffany, and her hubby, Mike, had their beautiful baby, Spencer just in the last week or so. Hurray for new babies!

FHE

2009-07-12T18:16:00.003-06:00

I was looking on www.sugardoodle.net for a cute quote to go with prayer for girls camp, and found this cute idea!
The Pretzel: A Reminder of Prayer
In about 610 A.D. a very creative Alpine Monk decided to make use of the pieces of dough left over from baking bread. The Monk formed them into thin strips folded into a looped twist to represent the folded arms of children in prayer.
This scrumptious treat was given to the children as they learned their prayers. They began calling the treat "Pretiola", which is Latin for "little reward". Soon it was known the world over as a pretzel.
The secret of making great pretzels is not only in the baking but also in the shaping. We, like pretzels, are made from the best ingredients, by the best hands available, the hands of our Father in Heaven.
Have you ever seen a broken pretzel, or one that's lost its shape? We too, can lose our shape when we don't pray always to keep our spirituality intact. Even in the midst of our greatest trials, we must remember, as did Job, to call on the Lord. The simple shape of the pretzel, arms folded in prayer, reminds us to pray each day. Our "Pretiola" or "little rewards" are the blessings we receive.
Every time you see a pretzel, remember prayer. Check to see if your arms are often folded in prayer and have not lost their shape.
Here are a couple different pretzel recipes. You can make them large like the ones sold at Pretzel stands, or a bunch of small ones .
Cheesy Soft Pretzels by Annette Wrigley
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. shredded cheese
2 tsp. baking powder1 tsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. cold butter
2/3 c. milk
1 egg, beaten
Coarse salt
In a bowl, combine flour, cheese, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in milk - just to moisten. Knead 1 minute. Divide in half. Roll each portion into a 12X8 inch rectangle. Cut in strips and twist into pretzel shape. Pinch ends together. Place on a greased pan. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake at 400° for 12 to 15 minutes. Serve immediately. Makes 1 1/2 dozen.

Homemade Pretzels by Paige Holden
1 Tbsp. dry yeast
3/4 c. warm water
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. flour
1 egg, beaten
Coarse salt
Wax paper
Mix yeast in warm water. Add sugar and salt. Add flour and mix. Put dough on wax paper and knead until soft. Cut off pieces and shape as you like (too thick = doughy, too thin = brittle). Place them on a cookie sheet. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle coarse salt. Bake at 425° for 12 to 15 minutes.

Isn't it darling and fun? So this will be part of tomorrows Family Home Evening lesson, and then we'll make the pretzels for refreshments. I'm thinking cinnamon and sugar would be very good on them, drizzled with a bit of glaze...mmm....

Tayzia's(late) Birthday Post

2009-06-27T00:18:00.012-06:00

My tiny little Tazmania is now 17. And a senior. Holy cow! How did that happen so fast?
Here's some of the reasons why I think she is so fabulous.

She takes awesome photos.
She is gentle and loving.

She was brave enough to cut off her long hair, and she looks GORGEOUS!

She helps out in the kitchen.

She goes to the Easter Egg Hunts each year with me.

She does funny things on the trampoline.

She is sweet and kind.

She is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.

She likes to be silly and goof around with her siblings.

One night we came home late after a date, and found this:
Precious, huh?

Her dance partner in ballroom dancing a few years back was her sweet Down's friend, Josh, and he thought he was the king of the dance floor with Tayzia as his partner!

She loves her siblings.

She doesn't wear shoes anymore. She started an organization to help others who have no shoes and is trying to collect shoes to send to Sudan. Check out her link Click Here .

Did I say that she loves her siblings??? They love her too! Here they are pouring leftover egg dye in the ditch. It was really pretty:)

She was in the Dance Festival this year at Taco Bell Arena.

The kids LOVE when she gets to babysit them, because they know they will get to party and have F-U-N!!!

And she eats her veggies.

Tayzia, I'm so grateful that you are my daughter! I love you to pieces and am so proud of you! You amaze me with your kind heart, your brilliant brain, and the love you have for others. Of all the seventeen year olds on this planet, you truly are my favorite! And I mean it. You're the best! I'm thankful that Heavenly Father sent you to me. I love you!

Love, Mom

Cool Giveaway

2009-06-26T23:00:00.007-06:00

Check out this cool new blog I discovered off my sister, Tiffanys blog: The Buzz. The gal from The Buzz is giving away a nursing bracelet from Chunky Monkey Toes.
These are my three favorites:

Way cute, huh?

The bracelets help you keep track of when you nursed last and on which side by using a moveable charm...very important info for all the nursing mothers....boy I could've really used this a few years ago! If I win, I'll give it to you, Tiff!

The Horrors of Blogging

2009-06-26T18:26:00.006-06:00

So, I decided to finally check blogs...and I didn't get very far...As I was reading on Val's blog, I noticed a smell. "MMmmm....I thought, "it smells really good in here, kind of like...SKIN SO SOFT! Oh GREAT!" I turned and looked and there was Zoe giggling and dumping a bottle of Skin-So-Soft Bath OIL all over herself, Zac, and the couch...grrr...so I got a roll of paper towels to clean up the oily (but lovely smelling!) mess (anyone know how to get an oilspot about 2 feet long and a foot wide out of a couch???)...then I returned to reading the blogs...until I heard a CRASH!!!! At which time I discovered another one of my darling off-springs had accidently pulled out THE DRAWER. Not just any, normal drawer, mind you, but THE drawer. You know the one that collects all the little odds and ends and this's and thats's and is crammed full of all the CONFOUNDED JUNK THAT SHOULD'VE JUST BEEN THROWN AWAY IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!!??? Yeah, THAT one. Well, that's the one that got pulled out and spilled all over the kitchen floor....GRrrrr...so then I came back to read the blogs again....and then I heard a "PLOP! fzzzzzzzssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh." "GRAND! THAT sounded BAD!" I thought as I quickly decided AGAINST Option #1 (which was running out the door and screaming down the street while tearing out my hair) and decided Option #2--though less desirable--was more appropriate (which was crawling into the kitchen and peeking around the corner through half-covered eyes to see what kind of horrors awaited me.) And low and behold! A GREAT surprise greeted me...50# of rice. On the floor. (Can I just crawl under the table and hide til Travis comes home??? OH, BUT WAIT. HE'S ON AN OVERNIGHTER WITH THE SCOUTS!!!! Guess that answers that question...GRRRRRRR!) But there is a bright spot to the 50# of rice issue, my lovely Tayzia had just mopped the floor about 45 minutes ago before she left, so the floor was spotless ('cept the rice...and the drawer contents...) so most of the rice was salvageable...So we got that taken care of and I came back to the living room to get back to catching up on blogs (will I ever learn???) and I find Zoe has torn up the whole roll of paper towels that I left out from cleaning up the SkinSoSoft....so what do I do? Turn off the computer? NOPE! I decide to write down this lovely experience for all you to read... and sadly enough, I'm really bummed that I didn't take pictures to post (I KNOW!!! What was I thinking...) Oh well, the night's still young, I wonder (dread!) what's going to happen next...

Happy Birthday, Zac!

2009-06-11T10:34:00.014-06:00

This morning Zaccy came and climbed in my bed for a good morning snuggle. I whispered in his ear, "Yesterday you were my favorite 3 year old in the whole wide world! I'm so sorry, but today, you are not my favorite three-year-old any more." You should've seen the the glare from those big blue eyes! Then I hurried and said, "Because today you are my favorite four-year-old in the whole wide world!" He giggled and gave me the best four-year-old hug that I've had in ten days. (Nine days ago Abbee turned 5, so ten days ago, I got a super-great 4 year-old hug from her :)

In honor of Zacharias Henry Hansen's 4th Birthday, here's a list (in random order) of some of my favorite things about my 5th child:

1. He has big blue eyes and long dark lashes.

2. He is goofy.

3. He's kind-hearted.

4. He gives awesome hugs.

5. He is really good at sharing.

6. He tells me "I wuff woo!" often.

7. He is named after John the Baptist's father who it is said, in Luke 1:6 was "righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless."

8. He has great facial expressions.

9. He loves his sisters and big brother, and isn't afraid to show it or tell them.

10. He has perfect faith in me.

11. He is always cracking us up with his silliness.

12. He loves Jesus.

13. He loves to wrestle.

14. He is friendly.

15. He likes to take weird pictures with my camera.

16. He's Tayzia's Transformer buddy.

17.His smile is contagious.

18.He falls asleep in the car.

19. And did I say that he is goofy?

Tayzia and Zac ready to leave on his Sister Birthday Date.

Pat Benatar

2009-06-11T10:17:00.005-06:00

While we were listening to the radio, Tayzia and I heard that PAT BENATAR is coming to The Knitting Factory in Boise!!!!! We were SOOOOO excited! We (Travis and I and Mykal and Tayz, but mostly me) LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE Pat Benatar!!! (I am an incredibly awesome mother...I taught my chillens to love 80's music...) So I looked up the concert date today and it is on Tuesday, July 14th....which just happens to be the day Tayz & I leave to church girls camp.... WWWWWAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!! We can't go. WE CAN'T GO!!!!! (I feel a sob building up....) WWWWWWWAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! I am so incredibly bummed that you would not even be able to imagine my bummededness. (see the extent of my sorrow??? I even had to make up a new word to express my bummed-ed-ness). WWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!! Do any of you FEEL my PAIN!!!????????!!! So I finally changed my playlist to all Pat Benatar...it might help my mourning process..... WWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
(I know, I'm pathetic)

Zoe & the Bird

2009-05-09T09:08:00.005-06:00

We went to Katherine Albertsons park for FHE. Zoe chased this bird for about 15 minutes,and I'm not exaggerating. It was so funny. I finally recorded some of it, but by that time, the bird was FED UP with being chased by this little squealing, giggling girl, and got into attack mode....

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Notice how out of breath I am from all that running? Guess it's time to get into shape...

I'm trying to win a contest...

2009-05-09T08:36:00.004-06:00

Hey, I'm trying to win a photo session with a local photographer, so for an entry, I have to blog about it. So here it is! Check out her blog at: www.shandyvogt.blogspot.com

Here are 2 of my faves from her blog:

She does a GREAT job! I love the style of her pictures...way cute, reminds me of Danielle Rappleye's (for all you Utahans).

If you are interested in entering, visit www.fabulesslyfrugal.blogspot.com

Dishing the dirt...

2009-04-04T19:03:00.008-06:00

WHERE ARE YOU, SPRING????

Got my planters ready, but I'm afraid to plant them all up...it's been so cold. Three new fruit trees--Hooray! Another pear (to replace my Mother's Day pear tree that got clobbered by wild monkeys last year ;-), and a plum, and a nectarine. We already have 2 peach trees (see my post from last August) and another pear that survived the wild monkeys).

Look at my beautiful garden, just waiting to be planted....look at my weird, alienesque shadow...wish my legs were that long...

My hunk-a-hunk-hunkuvuhman tilled it all up, added compost, and tilled it again...until he got rained out...but isn't it bee-yooo-tee-full???!!!

Today was actually a lovely spring day...I hope the crazy cold is on it's way out...I need to get playing in the dirt!!!!

Playday at the Hansens

2009-04-04T18:54:00.005-06:00

Just had to post a few pictures from a play day we had. We had Stickerz fruit snacks for a snack, and here's a picture of the kids.

Zoe (she ate half of her face off by the time I took the picture), McKenzie, Zac, Sadie, Kami. (Alyssa jumped out of the picture...she looked quite silly, too!)

Like mother, like son

2009-04-04T18:13:00.006-06:00

We made popcorn the other day, and Zac grabbed all the unpopped kernals before we could throw them out. He said, "I'm gonna plant this in the garden!" (Well, actually, it was more like, "Ine gonna pant deez innuh gahden!") I just had to take pictures of that cute boy of mine...just like his mom, has to plant every seed that comes his way, just to see what might grow.

Jumping on the shovel.

Digging with Zoe.

Filling the water can (he has his eyes closed, or half open--just like his mom--in most of his pictures)

Watering the oldmaids (as Zoe steps on all my onions...) I wonder if anything will grow???

Pay Backs...

2009-02-21T15:55:00.003-07:00

I was rushing out of Albertsons on Tuesday (at 11:56 a.m.), trying to hurry and load up groceries and get three kids in the suburban and buckled up in time to pick up Abbee from preschool at 12:00 (HA! ya think I made it on time???) Well I finally got the kids and groceries in and was trying to get out of the parking lot, when I noticed a young man holding a sign up and a paper cup in hopes of collecting some money. My first thought was, "I think I have a dollar." As I dug through my purse, my next thoughts were, "Ugh! I'm in a rush! I'll help him next time. Plus he looks young and able...but nice...I'm probably poorer than he is...who am I to judge??? Better to give too much than not enough." So I found my dollar and rolled down the window and smiled and exchanged pleasantries and wished him luck. As I was getting ready to leave, he said, "Wait! I have something for you, too!" He reached in his back pocket and pulled out an envelope. He handed it to me, smiled, and waved, and I (now 7 1/2 minutes late to pick up Abbee) smiled and waved and left. At the stoplight, I opened the envelope. And there was a note and a $20 bill! How cool is THAT??? The note said, "YOU'VE BEEN SERVED! We're starting a new church here in Meridian called Connections. We decided instead of spending Thousands on Postcards, Billboards,Flyers, we'd do something different." So they've been sneaking and paying for peoples gas at gas stations, paying for peoples groceries, dressing as bums and handing out $$$, baking cookies, paying for meals at restaurants, etc. Pretty cool, huh? Thought that was a great way to spread around some Christ-like kindness.

Winter Blues

2009-02-10T15:12:00.013-07:00

I do NOT love the cold. I think it is horrid. But I do love the snow. For a while. If it is cold, then there should be snow to go with it. Here is an assortment of my favorite snowy pictures from this winter.

Mykal taking down Abbee while Alyssa waits to be next.

Zac throwing a snowball at Mykal...

...and it goes down his own back...

Cute Alyssa

Cute Zoe

Cute Abbee. If you've notice, she has her own unique style. When I say, for example, "Get dressed to play in the snow!" Abbee puts on a tutu, and long purple leopard print socks. But at least she did put on a hat, boots and gloves...

Aly-Lu rolling in the snow.

Zoe and Abbee. I love Zoe's face as she's licking the snow off her huge glove.

Aly on the tire swing.

Zoe Brooke

Zac Henry

Alyssa Lee

Abbee Rose

Mykal & Zac

And I have NO pictures of Tayzia in the snow. So even though I want it to be spring NOW, I will hope for ONE more (and ONLY ONE more!) good snowstorm so I can add Tayzia to this post!

This is why blogging is NOT for the faint of heart...

2009-02-10T14:34:00.007-07:00

Everytime I blog, I am punished, SEVERELY! I'm not joking. Here are some pictures I started collecting of the cruel and unjust punishment that is thrust upon me every time I blog...

My living room actually started out clean on this day, really it did.

You know that sticky, greasy Halloween makeup that sticks to everything and does NOT want to come off ANYTHING (including skin and the bathtub!)? Well, HOW ON EARTH did these guys find a sticky black Halloween Makeup Kit (with ONLY BLACK in it, none the less) a full 3 months after Halloween was over?

My big kids

2008-12-08T11:32:00.006-07:00

I love this picture of Mykal and Zoe. Zoe TOTALLY adores Mykal. Even when she was teeny-tiny, she LOVED Mykal to death. When he would come home, she would always (and still does) get so excited. Mykal is 18 and Zoe is 18 months. When Mykal gets home from school, or work, or where ever, she always wants a hug, a snuggle, and often a story from her biggest brother. And he can't refuse her. She melts his heart. And he loves it.

This is a picture of my beautiful Tayzia. She loves taking pictures and then playing with them and tweeking them. She is really good at it. I really wanted to put about 10 pictures of her on here, but she'd kill me! :) I think this picture is so pretty.

Home Repairs

2008-12-08T11:00:00.005-07:00

Travis had a few days off work this last week, so we (mostly he) was able to get a lot done. We repainted our living room and hallway, and the ceilings in the living room and hallway. We also repainted the hallway baseboards and door frames and half of the livingroom baseboards (I'll try to finish those this week...) Travis also put a new toilet in our main bath, and we bought some new linoleum for the main bath yippee! Now when we have company, I won't have to give the "How to Flush the Fifty-year old Toilet" speech, which went something like this... "If you go #1, and you only use a few small pieces of toilet paper to wipe, you can flush, but make sure you hold the handle down for 45 seconds. If you go #2, then go #2, and then flush BEFORE you wipe, holding the handle down for a FULL 45 SECONDS. Then wipe. If you need to wipe more than 3 times, make sure to flush again (again, holding the handle down for 45 seconds). If the flushing process doesn't work, don't even attempt to flush again until the tank has COMPLETELY STOPPED running, which will take 3-5 minutes. When the tank has stopped running, you can try to flush again. But again, if you don't hold the handle down for a FULL 45 seconds, you will need to wait 3-5 minutes, and try again..." No wonder most people would rather "hold it" or company would usually make a quick trip to the corner gas station... Now, you can actually GO in our house! Hooray for NEW TOILETS!

While Travis was putting in the new toilet, He dropped a bolt down the creepy sewer hole...and his arm was too big to fit down there....ewww, so I had to reach down the toilet hole to get it, but only after I had on a rubber glove and wrapped my arm in plastic wrap...

Soup Time...

2008-11-08T08:57:00.007-07:00

Ahh...fall...cool weather...soup time...
I was just reading my cousin Katie's blog and she started a soup recipe swap. So here is my new favorite soup. Please try it and tell me what you think, then add your own favorite soup recipes as a comment, or post it on your blog!

Fifteen Minute Soup
1 can (16 oz) great northern beans
1 cup water (I did 2 cups)
1 teaspoon (or cube) Beef or Chicken bouillon* (I did 1 tsp of each)
2 cans (16 oz) tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp garlic salt
1 Tbs oil, marg, or butter
1 package (10 oz) chopped spinach
1/2 cup macaroni (elbow or any other shape)

1 In a saucepan, saute onion in butter. Add all ingredients except spinach and macaroni. Heat until liquid comes to a boil.

2 Stir in and break up spinach, bring to a boil again.

3 Stir in macaroni and simmer until macaroni is tender, 6-10 minutes.

Makes 4-6 servings
Cals per serving: 106
Fat per serving: 1 gram
Prep time: 15 minutes

When I made it, I didn't have the frozen spinach, but I had a 12 oz bag of fresh spinach. Travis just chopped it up, and we put it in. It seemed like a LOT of spinach, but it cooked down to nothing...Also, some of my kids are squeamish about tomatoes, so I often run them (or part of them) through the blender...Travis loved this, even though it had no meat in it. He thought it might be good with Italian Sausage, too.

*I thought it needed more liquid, so I added another cup of water, and put in 1 tsp chicken bouillon, AND 1 tsp beef boullion and it gave it GREAT flavor (I learned that trick from Cowboy Grub's vegetable soup-they use half beef and half chicken broth)
I also cooked up dry beans in the morning, and simmered until tender or you can soak overnight, then simmer til tender if you don't have canned beans on hand.

So now, it's your turn! Give me a good recipe, please! (Sharena, if you get on here, I want your White Chili recipe...)

Apple-Picking

2008-11-05T21:35:00.004-07:00

Fall is Here! Our neighbors, Ron & Lanelle VanOrder have a couple of apple trees. They are so sweet (both the neighbors AND the apples!:) and let us pick them. It is one of the kids favorite things to do (the teenagers don't love it so much anymore--notice they are absent) but the little ones still love it.

Some Cute Fall Pictures of Zoe Brooke

2008-11-05T21:26:00.009-07:00

My friend Sharena babysat Zoe. When I came and picked her up, she had fixed and curled Zoe's hair so cute! Zoe NEW she was adorable. She kept jabbering unintelligibly, then raising her eyebrows, and touching her hair, as if to say, "I'm a gorgeous babe!" I wonder if Sharena would come over on Sunday mornings to doctor up all my little girls...

The next time Sharena babysat Zoe, she came home with THIS hairdo!
Not really! Zoe was playing on the trampoline. Wow! I love static electricity. Super Cool, eh?
My little Zoe is such a sweetheart. You can't help but love this funny little girl.

Some Internet Statistics...

2008-10-30T14:38:00.004-06:00

I took this information from imView. The link to imView is in the column to the right. I don't know why I can't copy it over here. But here are some scary facts:

One third of kids have been contacted by a stranger and half of these were considered inappropriate.
81% of parents of online youth say that kids aren't careful enough when giving out information about them online.
76% of parents don't have rules about what their kids can do on the computer 65% of parents believe that kids do things online that they wouldn't want their parents to know about.
95% of parents didn't recognize the lingo kids use to let people know that their parents are watching.
89% of sexual solicitations are made in either chat rooms or instant messages
20% of children age 10-17 have been solicited sexually online; that's 1 out of every 5 kids.
75% of youths who received an online sexual solicitation did not tell a parent.
4,000,000 children are posting content to the Web everyday.
15,000,000 youth use Instant Messaging.
9 out of 10 parents will never know that any inappropriate contact has occurred.
14% have actually met face to face with a person they have met on the Internet.
1 out of 17 kids have been harassed, threatened, or bullied.
Nearly three-quarters (73%) of online teens believe that someone their age is most likely to be approached by someone unknown to them online as opposed to offline.
When asked how they responded the last time they were contacted online by a complete stranger, just 3% of online teens said they told and adult or authority figure.
Most kids will not report inappropriate Internet contact to their parents because they are afraid of losing Internet privileges.
61% of 13-17 yr olds have a personal profile on social networking sites.
44% of online teens with profiles like Facebook and MySpace have been contacted by a stranger, compared with 16 percent of those without profiles.
71% have reported receiving messages from someone they do not know.
45% have been asked for personal info from people they do not know.
48% of 16-17 yr olds report that their parents know "very little" or "nothing" about their online activities.
MySpace deletes 25,000 profiles weekly of users who don't meet the site's 14-year-old minimum age requirement.

This imView sounds like it is an excellent way to monitor internet activity. The link is in the column on the right, and titled "Family Online Safety Program" check it out and tell me what you think.

I really am still alive...seriously...

2008-10-23T10:17:00.003-06:00

I know, I know....I promised to do better, and I haven't kept that promise...yet...But I will...hopefully...soon....
My last post I copied off of my cousin Katrina's blog, and I think the one before that I gave the excuse that I was busy canning peaches, and now my excuse is EVERYTHING, because I'm sure you are all doing nothing....

But here's my last month or two in a paragraph:
made 14 jars peach jam
bottled 8 quarts peaches
bottled 14 quarts peaches
bottled 35 quarts peaches
bottled 10 quarts peaches
bottled 38 quarts peaches
bottled 6 quarts tomatos
packaged 140 ears of corn to freeze (yes, all grown from our garden :)
bottled 14 pints salsa
bottled 12 pints salsa
bottled 20 jars zucchinni relish
picked abt 300# apples
dehydrated 32# apples (should have weighed after, probably turned into, like 2 lbs!)
Made 27 jars of applesauce
Moved 150# of apples to garage to can later...
Picked over 125# green tomatoes out of my garden before they froze to can as they ripen & make green enchilada sauce
Wonder if Trick-or-Treaters would enjoy green tomatos
Bottled 48 jars grape juice
Cleaned my house about 600 times
Wondered why my house is still a mess...
Changed somewhere in the vicinity of 700 diapers
Potty-trained Zac
Wondered how 17 month old Zoe would re-act to potty-training...
Unloaded the dishwasher 100 times
Loaded the dishwasher 127 times
Wondered if disposable dishes are really THAT bad for the environment...
Did 8 bazillion loads of laundry
Got a new washer and dryer (I guess 8 bazillion loads is too much for 1 machine to handle...)
Wondered if joining a nudist colony would cut back on laundry...
Planned YW Evening of Excellence
Decided nudist colony is a "no-go" after hearing Stake YW Presidents beautiful talk...
Substituted in the Church Nursery 8 times
had family scripture study 55 times
had Family Home Evening 9 times
slept too little
yelled too much

And I think that about covers it. So, until my next post (which, at the rate I'm going, will be another excuse of some sort in a month or so...) hope you are all well & happy!

Grandpa & Grandma Campbell's DC Trip

2008-10-13T12:55:00.004-06:00

I copied this off of my cousin Katrina's Blog. Thanks Katrina! I am so happy that Grandpa and Grandma were able to go and so thankful to Uncle Gary and Aunt Teri for making it all happen!

The following is an article that was in the Daily Harold, Utah County's newspaper this morning. It is about a trip my grandparents made to see the WWII Memorial in Washington DC. It's pretty cool. Courtesy photo Nephi and Elaine Campbell of American Fork visit the U.S.Marine Corps War Memorial in Washinton, D.C., better known as the Iwo Jima Memorial, with a daughter-in-law and three great-grandsons.

The couple's children and grandchildren pitched in money to make the trip possible.Saturday, 11 October 2008Veteran visit a family affair: Family, vets group pays for AF couple to visit WWII memorial Caleb Warnock DAILY HERALD Gary Campbell was sitting in the American Fork home of his parent, talking about his upcoming Vietnam War reunion in Washington D.C., when a thought struck him."I said, 'Dad would you like to see the World War II memorial they just built in honor of vets,' and he surprised me by saying, 'I wouldn't mind seeing it,' because he never goes anywhere. He never leaves the house," Campbell said.There was a small problem."He won't fly," Campbell said. "He's never been on a plane."At a family reunion, Campbell asked the couple's children to pitch in $100 apiece and the grandchildren $50 apiece toward the trip, raising $2,700 in total.And when Campbell's fellow Vietnam veterans, the India Company Third Battalion Fifth Marines, heard he was bringing his father to see the memorial, they donated $1,000 to put the family in hotel rooms."That was not cheap, what a wonderful gesture," Gary Campbell said. "So many of the World War II vets never got a chance to see it [the WWII Memorial] because they were gone before it was built. They built it 30 years too late. I didn't want my dad to miss seeing it, along with Mother. Sometimes we forget the sacrifice the women made."With everything in place, Nephi and Elaine Campbell, 86 and 84, Gary Campbell and his wife, and three of the elder couple's great-grandchildren arrived in Washington after a 50-hour train ride.There had been one small mishap -- during a layover in Chicago, Gary Campbell hit a bump in the street while pushing his father's wheelchair. His father spilled onto the pavement, hurting his knees, banging his head and blackening his eye.Because the train arrived a day and a half later than scheduled, the family had a hectic trip, visiting the WWII, Vietnam and Korean war memorials the morning after arriving."I saw tears in Dad's eyes, though he won't admit it," Gary Campbell said. "It was beautiful."Many Vietnam and Korean war veterans, upon spotting the elder Campbell in his WWII vet cap, stopped to express their thanks for his service, something neither the elder Campbell nor his wife had anticipated."You can't imagine the men coming up to him and say 'I want to thank you,' " Elaine Campbell said with emotion."It felt good to be there and see all that," Nephi Campbell said.When asked what he thought about at the memorial, pain creeps into his eyes. "I lost a close buddy of mine, from Cedar City. We were both in the same rifle company. He got killed and I managed to get out of it.""It was really emotional," Gary Campbell said.The family also went to Arlington National Cemetery, viewed the outside of the White House, visited the Lincoln Memorial and other sites, and Mount Vernon."This couple has been married for 67 years," Gary Campbell said. "That is a long time with one woman, as Dad says, and even longer with one man, Mom says. They have 42 grandkids, approximately 125 great-grandkids, and I think around 20 great-great grandkids."When drafted in 1944, Nephi Campbell was a Geneva Steel worker, married and living in American Fork "with two kids and a third one on the way," said Elaine Campbell.After boot camp in Texas, the elder Campbell was part of General Douglas MacArthur's liberation force in the Philippines, after which he went to Japan as part of the occupation. He earned the bronze star, among many medals, which are displayed in cases in the family's living room.After returning from the war, Campbell spent another decade at Geneva before deciding to go out on his own as a bricklayer, a job he did not retire from until he was 80.Having never been east of the Mississippi, the trip to the nation's capital touched the couple."I never thought we'd see anything," Elaine Campbell said. "All those grandchildren and my children, I just can't believe they would think enough of us to give money for us to go."Elaine begins weeping. A silence falls over the room."They are a bunch of sweethearts, I tell you," she says, still crying.

My new grocery savers blog...

2008-09-29T13:13:00.004-06:00

OK, Many of you know that I love a good deal at the grocery store. So, because of a few of you urging me to "get the good deals out there" I've started a new blog listing the deals that I am aware of. I hope this will be helpful, and I hope you will post the good deals that you find on my new blog. The address is www.grocerygirls.blogspot.com . Now realize that there isn't much on it yet, so it's not cool...yet. I just posted 2 good deals on it, and then my kindergartener came home and is STARVING to death, so I must go. If you think it's lame, check back every couple of days, and hopefully it will get better and more informative. Thanks!

Blog Tag

2008-09-23T22:10:00.003-06:00

The rules are that you have to answer these questions with only a one-word answer. So since I got tagged by Val and by Kally I guess I better answer before someone else tags me.

1. Where is your cell phone? I am the OTHER only person in the world besides Val without one...
2. Your significant other? Travis, significantly so!
3. Your hair? Messy
4. Your mother? Headstands
5. Your father? Older (he just had a birthday, I'm not being a meaner, meaner)
6. Your favorite thing? babies
7. Your dream last night? I had a cell phone.
8 Your favorite drink? Ice water. Unless I just ate a pound of chocolate, then milk.
9. Your dream/goal? Debt-free & food storage full.
10. The room you’re in? Living
11. Your hobby? Gardening
12. Your fear? Spiders, the dark, dogs, creepy people.
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy & healthy
14. What you’re not? Quick
15. Muffins? Lemon Poppy Seed.
16. One of your wish list items? my house had another 1000 sq ft
17. Where you grew up? Idaho and Utah
18. The last thing you did? Told Mykal how to make cinnamon rolls with Pillsbury biscuit dough
19. What are you wearing? as Abbee would say, "Nuffin!" Just kidding, jeans and an old ModBe shirt that needs thrown out.
20. Favorite gadget? Computer
!21. Your pets? A lizard
22. Your computer? Wonderful
23.Your mood? Sleepy
24. Missing someone? Travis, he's still at school, but shoud be home 1n 15 minutes or so
25.Your car? To quote Oscar the Grouch, it's "Dirty and dingy and dusty! Ragged and Rotten and Rusty!"
26. Something you’re not wearing? Shoes
27. Favorite store? The one with a killer sale.
28. Like someone? SARAH PALIN! Yeah, me too, Deb and Val!
29. Your favorite color? all the shades of Purple and lots of blues and greens oh yeah, and pinks.
30. When is the last time you laughed? Today.when I asked "Who Stinks?" And my 16 month old Zoe patted her bum and said "Gross!"
31. Last time you cried? Today...teenagers...good thing they were once babies
Okay, I tag cousin Suzanne, Cousin Sondra, Karmen , Tiff (the pregnant one) and Karissa!

The POWER of...Obedience...

2008-09-19T16:11:00.004-06:00

This is my cool nephew, Justin (Jennifer's boy). I came across a deal this week in Albertsons where you end up getting 6-32 oz. bottles of Powerade Zero for 14 cents plus tax. That's not 14 cents each, that's 6 bottles for 14 cents! So I emailed my family and told them how to do it, and told everyone to go stock up....and Justin was O! BE! DEE! ENT!!!!!

This is him with 150 cases of Powerade Zero. This is 2,250 bottles of powerade which would usually cost $3,577.50+tax, but he got for under $100.00. You curious? Here's how....Albertsons (in Utah, Idaho, and I think Nevada, don't know where else) should all have 32 oz. Powerade on sale for $0.69 a bottle. If you buy 6 Powerade ZERO's all at once and use your preferred card, then your total will come to $4.19 plus tax. Pay for it. After the cashier closes her drawer, then a $4 coupon will print off. Buy 6 more, use the coupon, and your total is right around $0.14 (it comes to about 39 cents, depending on your tax rate). Pay your whopping 39 cents, and buy 6 more, use your new coupon, and Viola! You've got cheaper than heck Powerade ZERO! You can use the $4 coupon to buy anything, it doesn't have to be for Powerade Zero only...So, buy 6 Powerade ZERO's at a time, and the sale ends on Tuesday, September 23rd. AND it HAS to be Powerade Zero...the coupon won't print out on regular Powerades. So go get your year's supply...

I've been busy...

2008-09-11T09:15:00.005-06:00

Just a quick post to let you know we ARE all alive and well, I've just been busy! (as I'm sure all of you aren't...) I only have one word to say....PEACHES!!!!! It's THAT time of the year! I have almost 200 lbs of peaches and have been busy trying to get them all canned before the fruit flys totally take over my house. They have invaded, but I have fought back by hanging fly ribbons around my kitchen. A few of them have succumbed to the temptation of a beautiful brown swirly sticky ribbon and are now stuck...but many are still resisting the sticky goo...I'd like to stay and post more, but...
MUST.........CAN........PEACHES!!!!!

Lunch Time

2008-08-27T12:40:00.004-06:00

Lunch is always an adventure at my house. So is everything else, for that matter. First of all, no one wanted anything normal for lunch, no PBJ, no mac-n-cheese, no ramen w/ veggies, no fish sticks or chicken nuggets either...come on! With menu choices like that, what's not to like? So I finally resigned my "healthier" menu for what the munchkins wanted...cold cereal. So I'm getting the cold cereal ready and tell the kidlets to get seated--at which time the next problem arose...seating arrangements. Alyssa didn't want to sit by ANYONE, which meant that EVERYONE wanted to sit by her, which meant that the louder she screamed, "I DON'T WANT TO SIT BY ANYOOOOOOOONNNNE!" then the more adamant Abbee and Zac became at sitting RIGHT next to her. And the louder she yelled, the bigger they smiled and the harder they giggled...(what naughty little beasts)...and the faster they crawled over the table to sit by her constantly moving, screaming little 5 year old body. So I finally got THAT settled down and everyone sat with an empty space between them, the vitamin-fortified cereal poured into the bowls, milk poured, prayer said, and then they began to eat. Then I noticed a dark brown goo coming out of Zac's nose. I'm thinking, "Did he get punched or kicked in the face during the seating fight? Did he fall off of something? What the heck!!! Why's it so DARK BROWN???" And then I remembered that Abbee and Zac had caught me eating chocolate chips earlier, so I had to share with them, and the strange brown goo looked exactly like melted chocolate...ewww...
So I asked Zac, "Did you put chocolate chips in your NOSE?!?"
(Zac) "NO! I didunt!" and simultaneously Abbee yelled "YES! HE DID!"
(Zac) "No I DIDUNT! ABBEE did it!"
(Me) "ABBEE! Did YOU put chocolate chips in Zac's NOSE!" (and I'm picturing her sitting on Zac, laughing evilly as she pokes chocolate chips up his nose... )
(Abbee) "No I didn't! He did it himself!" and Zac simultaneously "Yes she DID!" and then a barrage of "She did it!" & "He did it" and "Not me!" and then I notice that Abbee's nose has started to run...a strange brown goo...Ugh...I'm not going to share my chocolate chips anymore.

Summer Wind Storm

2008-08-27T12:12:00.008-06:00

Monday night, Travis' mom and dad and grandma came over for dinner. We were going to eat outside, when all of the sudden a big windstorm came up from nowhere. We all ran inside, and moments later, our gazebo blew away, crashed into the swing set, knocking it over and into the garden. It was blowing so hard, that it also blew a bunch of branches off of our big sycamore tree, and blew our corn so it is no longer upright, but was at an awkward 45 degree angle. It blew a bunch of our tomato plants over, but I think they are ok....grrr....I liked that gazebo!

This is the crooked corn 2 days AFTER the windstorm, so it's actually straightened up quite a bit. I think it's going to be fine.

Abbee and Zac walking amongst the tree debris...There were also a bunch of big branches that had fallen down, but Travis dragged them out for the garbageman to pick up.

This is the broken frame of my beloved gazebo.

Now it's just a jungle gym...

Waaaaaahhhhh!!!!!

Mmm...Mmm....GOOD!

2008-08-27T11:28:00.010-06:00

Our delicious home-grown peaches.

Zac helping daddy pick peaches from our tree.

My handsome fella with a basket of peaches.

Breakfast at the peach tree.

Cute Abbee enjoying a juicy peach.

My darling Zoe and my adorable Zac.

Yeah, We Love Our Big Trees...

2008-08-27T10:30:00.012-06:00

...but so do all the T.P.-ers...

I think this was our best TP job ever. They got us REALLY good. I was completely shocked, because I have ALWAYS caught the TP-ers, so they don't get very far. I am a very light sleeper, so I USUALLY wake up and hear them, but Travis and I had a little window air conditioner running in the window right above my head, so I heard nothing....

The kids had fun collecting the tp rolls (otherwise known as "doo-doo's--because they put them to their mouth and run around singing "doo-doo-doooooo!" through them)

These pictures just don't do it justice, it was BAAAAAADDDD! And the TP-ers tore off little squares of toilet paper and threw them ALL OVER the lawn--bazillions of little squares...everywhere...

The kids had fun playing hospital and wrapping up each others broken bones.

Alyssa hiding from the camera behind a piece of toilet paper...I

can still see you!

Our big tree in the back with 3 toilet paper covered tree swings.

Abbe & Zac--mummified.

The culprits...Mykal's friends. One of them had actually dropped their cell phone while toilet-papering...tee hee hee....so when they called it to find it, we knew who they were. In order to get the cell phone back, they had to help clean up.....

Campbell Family Pictures (finally)

2008-08-26T15:37:00.014-06:00

I have 11 sisters and brothers. We finally all got together this year at our family reunion for a few updated family pictures. It's been a LONG time since we've ALL been together. This one is in order of youngest to oldest (well, except papa and mama they are pictured in the middle, but are actually WAY OLDER than us kiddos :)

From left to right: Tawnja, Tracy, Jennifer, Brenda, Koriann, Valerie, Papa, Mama, Karmen, Keith, Debbie, Benjamin, Tiffany, and Joel

This one is in order of age, too: TeeDub, Trag, Foo-Foo, Endendra, Guppy, Valdundree, Krem de le Krem, Keefy, Deb-of-tee, Besherman, Tiffy-Poo, Do-Do Bird, & Pappy & Mammy in front.

The goofy gang: Deb, Tawn, Ben, Gup, Jen, Keefy, Karm, Bren, Papa, Mama, Tiffy, Joelly, Trace, Valla

No Campbell Family get-together is complete without a pyramid. From the bottom left:

Jen, Ben, Keith, Joel, Tawnja. Row 2: Val, Karm, Gup, Tiff. Row 3: Tracy, Brenda, Deb.

And of course, my cute Pappy and Mammy peeking around the sides.

And when you have a pyramid, there's always a collapse....

What fun we had!

My Garden

2008-08-26T14:52:00.007-06:00

Here are some pictures from my garden. I love my garden and planting things and digging in the dirt. I love picking and eating fresh fruits and veggies. Spring, summer, and fall are my favorite times of the year because I can garden!

The Seven-Year Itch

2008-07-02T14:58:00.007-06:00

Travis and I just celebrated our seventh anniversary. When I've mentioned to people that this anniversary was our "seventh" there has been several "Uh-Oh's" and "Oh-no's" and raised eyebrows saying, "The seventh year, huh? You better watch out! Do you got the itch?" Well here's my answer: Yes! I've got the seven-year itch! And I've got it BAD!!!!! I'm itchin' for another 7 years with my sweet honey-baby! And I'll scratch and claw my way, if I have too, to get it, because I never knew life could be so good! And when those 7 years are up, give me 7 more, and 7 more....For those of you who don't know my Travis, he is the most amazing person I have ever known. He has a heart of pure gold. But not the cold, hard kind of gold, but warm, smooth, liquid gold. He is so kind and gentle and amazing. He is what he is. He's not fake or pretentious. He loves me completely. Just as I am. Imperfections and all. He can wrap his arms around me when I'm sad or mad or scared or psychotic, and that warm, liquid gold oozes over me, and all my crazy emotions melt away, and I'm normal again...and life is good...and everything is fine. Thanks, baby, for the best 7 years of my life...I'm itchin' for an eternity of sevens with you...

Our Albion Trip

2008-07-02T12:41:00.004-06:00

This weekend in Albion, Idaho, was the openhouse for the old Albion Normal School. It is an old college campus (originally opened in 1901) that has been abandoned for a looong time. It was bought by some friends of ours and they are renovating it. They have one building completed, Miller Hall, for this year. We will be having our Campbell Family reunion there. We are so excited! It will be such fun! Click on the "Albion" slide show at the bottom of my blog to see some of our pictures from the open house.

Father's Day Notes from the Kidlets...

2008-06-15T14:24:00.013-06:00

Zoe's Father's day message: "Na na na, Ahhh" "I zee zoh!" "Geemble, geemble, goh!" "Ah! Ah! Ah!" "Dyah, Dyah! Da...DA!!!"

Zac's message to Daddy: "I wuv, woo, D! I yike fine woahms na gen wiff woo, D! yah, IIIII do. I yike wessle wiff woo, D. Woo awr mine beh, D! Woo, en, me, huh, huh, D!"

Translation: "I love you, D! I like to find worms in the garden with you, D! Yeah, I do. I like to wrestle with you, D! You are mine boy, D! You and me, huh, huh, D!"

Abbee's message to daddy: "Happy Fathers Day, Daddy! I love you, daddy. I love to tackle you and I'm sorry, please, for, because, I really love you because I like to tackle you ANYWAYS! I really, please, love you so much! Then I super-duper love you super-duper much! I miss you the mostest, anyways. You are always in my heart. When I come home, I'm going to hug you forever and ever!"

Alyssa's message: "I love you, daddy! It's Father's Day! I'm happy. Happy Father's Day. Ummm...I love to play with you. I love to play games with you. You are the best daddy in the whole world! I miss you sooooooo much! OXXO"

What I love about you is that you always, always want to make people happy and you go above and beyond to accomplish it. Whenever I'm upset, you are always there and willing to try and make it right. Thanks for being such a rad dad. With Love, Tayzia Elaine

Mykal's message: "Happy Fathers Day! I love you very much, even though we have our differences sometimes :) Thank you for loving me. I love you, too.

Zac & the Butterfly

2008-06-14T20:48:00.003-06:00

My Montage 6/16/08

Click on the link "My Montage" to play the video. Zac was so funny! He was trying for like 10 minutes to catch this butterfly (don't worry, the video's not THAT long!) Kally and I were laughing so hard at him, he was so cute. I finally got my camera and started recording him, but of course, the cutest parts occured before I started videoing.

Playing at the Pool

2008-06-14T17:34:00.015-06:00

Mom and kids partying at Hafen's pool. We had sooooo much fun today. We went to Kally's parents house and swam and splashed and played the afternoon away in their GORGEOUS pool. It was a complete and total BLAST!

Mommy and Zoe

Abbee and nemo...

Kally, Joel, and Julia keeping cool in the kiddie pool

Tayzia getting ready to catch Abbee

Brenda, Zoe, Zac, Tayzia, Abbee, Alyssa, Mykal

Cute Alli-Lu

Tayzia and Kody and Zoe

Kody and Zoe peeking at Mykal

Abbee Rose hanging out and looking cool...

Mykal and Zoe

Alyssa and Zoe

Zoe LOVED the kiddie pool!