Happy 4th Birthday Mason!

On November 15th four years ago Monroe and I's life was turned upside down with the birth of our first son Mason. From that point on our life has been so enriched with happiness, love, and sleepless nights. Sorry for this post but if you will indulge me and my sappiness I sure would appreciate it. I would like to write a post to each of my children on their birthday, after all this is our family journal.

Our week started out on Sunday with Mason's birthday and with a quiet family party at home. We started off with opening presents except Monroe and I were not involved. Mason opened his presents while we were still in bed because he was so excited about them. It was pretty funny and I really can't blame his, I was the same way as a child. We then went to church and came home and had Masons Meal of his choice Ham and cheese sandwiches with butter. We all enjoyed and walk to the park while Mason rode his new Scooter from his Grandpa and Grandma. After our walk we went to the nearest Red Box (which was one of the best inventions) and Rented the Movie Up, it is so cute and I highly recommended it. We then had Root Beer Floats per Mason's request. Then off to bed. It was a fun day and I think Mason had a good time.

We also celebrated again on the next Saturday with a party with all of his friends. It was a good party and I think that every one had a good time.

Anyways I think Mason liked turning four. It is absolutely amazing to me that he is four already. He is such a special little boy and brings so much joy to our family. He defiantly has a special spirit that he has had since he was born. We sure do love our Mason.

Here Comes Wildfire!

So since selling my horse and closing that chapter in my life I have taken up a new hobby, and no it is not canning as many people have asked. My sister Megan and her husband has introduced me to Mountian Biking, and living in Fruita one of the best places to Mt. Bike in the nation I have found a new love. I have two good friend that I have gone with weekley now for around a month and love it. The nickname that my friends have given me is Wildfire (from the song) because I used to ride horses.

So anyways I have been riding my good old Diamond Back Bike that my parents bought for me when I was in JR. Highschool and it has worked really well but the money that I sold my horse for I decided to buy a new bike with shocks and better brakes and I really don't know all that I need so I turned to my brother-in-law to help me find a bike. Well he found one within two days of looking and I am way excited to try it out. It is UT and I will get it over Thanksgiving and I can't wait. Here is a picture of my new bike.

HALOWEEEEEEEN!

Here are a few pictures from Haloween. Masonwas the Rock Man from the Faboulous 4 and Madelyn was a Tulip Pixie. We had a lot of fun and the after effects are even funnier. :-)

The Numbers Are In! (revision)

So anyways I must have an addiction to canning because I spent all day yesterday Canning 19 more Qts. of Spaghetti Sauce and 6 Qts. and 4 Pts. of Tomatoes. Just so everyone know I only bought 5 boxes of Jars. Everything else came from my Grandparents, Mother-in-Law, Parents, and yard sales. So it was all really cheap especially since most of the food was from my garden or free. Oh and also another change as my Hubby pointed out he was a big help in my canning endeavors. Thanks a bunch Hon! So I am so glad that this years canning is all over and hopefully this will last our family through out the year.

The Numbers are in!

So as said in my last post I have been canning up a storm and I just wanted to share the "Fruits of My Labors". So here are the numbers:

Canned Tomatoes-140 Qts.

Green Beans-12 Qts. and 36 Pts.

Pickles- 36 Pts.

Relish-24 1/2 Pts.

Peaches-48 Pts. and 36 Qts.

Beets-12 Pts.

Tomatoe Soup-38 pts.

Spegatti Sauce-48 pts.

Apple Sauce-48 pts. and 24 Qts.

Apple Pie Filling-36 Qts.

Raspberry/Apricot Jam-16 Pts.

Raspberry Peach Freezer Jam-48 Pts.

Strawberry Freezer Jam-16 Pts.

And.....

I am in the Process of doing

Salsa-20 Qts.

I am so glad that the frost has come. I am tired and ready to enjoy the food. I have to thank my Parents, Sister, and Friends for the wonderful help. It is such a big comfort to look out in my garage and see my food storage 90% complete.

Good Bye to a wonderful Summer!

Ok I know that is the middle of August but summer seem to be vanishing so quickly to me. I have had a busy but fulfilling summer.

I traveled a lot (or at least a lot for me with my two children). Wyoming, UT (a couple of times), Las Vegas for a quick get away for me and my hubby with out the kids (Lots of fun but missed my kids to much), Idaho for my sides fam reunions, Lake Powell for a windy trip, and finally Idaho again for my husbands Reunions. One thing that I learned is there is no place like home. I feel like I could stay home for a year and be content.

The other thing that we have been working on is our garden. Some people in our ward offered some land to people in the ward for the use of a personal garden. We jumped on the offer and started the summer working in the garden. Monroe being a seasoned farmer for ID was very involved and loved it. Mason also enjoyed the idea of being on a tractor with his Daddy. The big machinery gene runs deep in his blood also. Like father like son right? We have been constantly working in the garden and I love it. Poor Madelyn doesn't fair it so well. She would rather be home and not out in the heat and amongst the bugs and dirt. She is my prissy girl.

We planted 69 tomato plants. Yes let me type that again 69 tomato plants. And please listen before you think that we are crazy. We love canned tomatoes and use them in a lot of the dishes that I cook. I also wanted to share the tomatoes with my family and friends that could use them. So needless to say I am canning at least 5 days out of the week. I am loving it and am comforted of the food storage that is stacking up is this uncertain time.

Just a few pictues from our ward garden.

One weird thing that has happened to me is that I am no where ready for more children. I find this interesting because I have always wanted 4 children and thought I would have them right in a row. But Madelyn in approaching 2 and I am completely content with where we are at. I think that this has been such a learning and sole searching time for me. Working out issues, concentrating on breaking bad habits, and learning to love me and my life for what it is. After having Madelyn I struggled to much with life (I'll spare you the details) and thank you Heavenly Father for leading me to my Chiropractor, Friends, and family, my life is starting to come together (knock on wood). I have learned to trust more in myself and my hubby, take the time to enjoy my kids because they are so wonderful and pure and they grow up so fast. Take time for me and it is okay if my baby cries the whole time I am out at Girls Night Out (Thanks Hun for the breaks), and that it doesn't matter what people think of me as long as I am doing what I am feel I should.
So anyways that is my story and I am sticking to it (sorry kind of corny I know). Thanks all for indulging me and reading my summer story.

Happy Late Easter

Ok so I know I am a little late but I just wanted to show our Easter Pic because I think they are so cute. Of course they are cute they have the cutiest kids in thim. :-) I am a little partial.

We spent it at home and the kids sure loved what the Easter Bunny brought. Church was good and it was fun to dress up the kids in Easter outfits and now Meg I didn't make Monroe wear a pink tie. (JK ;-) Love Ya Meg) We did go to a friend house for a wonderful dinner and company so it was a good day.

Good Bye Jo Jo

(not Joe, apparently I am a bad horse owner and have no digital pictures of my horse)

So tomorrow we are going to take my horse to my friend who is going to buy him. I am really excited about the home that he is going to I know that they will take very good care of him but this now signifies the close of a pretty significant long chapter in my life.

For those of you that don't know I have loved horsed since third grade. I remember begging my parents for a horse and finally getting one in 10th grade. My grandparents gave him to my family (me) to ride because they knew that I desperately wanted one. He was a really good horse but got old so I went for a few years with out a horse, until I moved back to Laramie and my dear friend (who is taking my horse) let me ride one of her horses in The Gem City Jewels, a precision riding team that does a drill type show for rodeo's and other horsey events. It was a blast and so good for me. The next year I decided that it was time for me to purchase a horse. I found Jo Jo and loved him. He was five then and a good horse for me. Well after my purchase my life evolved and I got engaged shortly after, then comes marriage, school, child, and moving around like crazy, and another child, and now no time for my poor Joe. Well he probably loves not seeing me and having the good life.

I so feel that this is the right answer and much to my husband's joy (now we don't have a money pit as he says) I am ending a chapter. My husband assures me that we will open this book again probably because Mason love horses so much we will probably get some horses when my children get older and can ride by themselves. But until them I will get my "Horse Fix" from my good friend Lora and John who are horse trainers and already have said that they will let my ride their horses.



So to my dream, farewell for now...........

More Mason-isms

So my sister in law emailed to this to me about a conversation that she had had with Mason and I just thought it was so cute that I wanted to share it.

"I remember calling you and i got Mason, I ask for Monroe he said no, than I ask to speak to you (mom) and he said No, so I said do you want me to just talk to you? He said yes! then I said OK, now let me talk to your mom or dad and goodbye Mason, He said goodbye and hung up the phone. What a cutie." -Terri Page-

I think this is cute because I have to be so quick to the phone when it rings of I have my own personal Secretary and I never know what he is going to say.

And then yesterday Mason was sitting at our table eating and he saw a tiny little beetle crawling in front of him. He told me about it and I told him to flick it, so like a good boy he opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out and went down for the big lick. Luckily I saw this so I told him to stop and he stopped with millimeters to spare. He thought I said Lick it. What a good trusting boy and boy do I love him.

Hopefully you won't get sick of these post about my children but it is going to be the only way that I remember this precious moments so thanks for indulging me.

I was just reminded when Mason was around four months old and started to laugh. This funniest thing made him laugh, the words "bath, bath" we would say those words to our dogs and of course they would run and hide trying to avoid a bath. For some reason it tickled Mason's funny bone.

Mason-isms

So I decided that I need to start writing down the funny or memorable things that Mason says because there seems to be on about everyday. I am going to start to post them on my blog because this is the only thing remotely like a journal that I am keeping.

To start about a week and a half ago I was visiting my sister and my mom came after we had been there for a few days. My mom had called my dad shortly after she had arrived and Mason wanted to talk to my dad. The first thing that he said was

"Grandpa you forgot to come!"

We all laughed and thought that it was so cute.

Then this last week I made some Guacamole and Mason came and asked me what it was. I told him and We said

"Wack-o-moly"

Hence the game Wack-a-mole that I had just gotten for him the week before.

Mason sure keeps us on our toes and we love him so much. What a boring life without him.

Madelyn's First Birthday

While in Laramie we celebrated Madelyn's First Birthday. It was fun to have alot of her family around. I can not beleive that she has been with us for a year. There has been a lot of up's and down's, but amoung it all we don't know what we would do without her. She truley loves her brother and warming up more and more to her Daddy. Monroe's and her song is "Cleaning this Gun" By Rodney Atkins and when ever Her Dad plays it she will just dance and clap her hands. I think that she know that it is her and her Dad's song. It is so neat for me to see her and her dad get closer.

Madelyn is such a joy and we love her very much.

Christmas 2008

I am going to post something that happened about a month and a half ago and I apologize but that is just how my life rolls. While we where in Laramie over Christmas visiting my family we went to Happy Jack and went sledding with my parents and My sister and her Husband. It was lots of fun and the first experience for both my children going sledding. Mason especially loved it. He likes anything that his dad or Grandpa does. He is such a boy and want to be just like the men in his life. Madelyn also tackled the hill and didn't mind it at all. The pink marshmallow suit probably helped with that. Please don't mind me, I look horrible but what can you do.

Christmas was lots of fun. Like I said we spent it in Laramie and had lots of fun hanging out with family. We went swimming at the new rec center in Laramie, went to Denver and enjoyed the Temple, and Hammond's Candy Factory. It was a lot of fun and we made many wonderful memories. Thanks Dad and Mom for the wonderful time.