The Bake Sale

I have to toot Katelyn's horn for a minute. So please excuse me.

When the kids went back to school after Christmas break we learned that one of the teacher's granddaughter, who is only 4 years old, had been diagnosed with cancer. All of the kids at the school were very concerned and worried, as were alot of parents. (You can read her story here: jessicasmiracle.blogspot.com)

One afternoon Kate came home from school and started talking about how she and a few of her friends wanted to raise some money for Jessica. I must admit that I kind of brushed it off. That week I was busy trying to get ready for Josh's baptism and a million other things, so I told her we'd talk about it the next week. Secretly I thought she'd forget about it. Not so.

The next week came and she reminded me of my promise that we'd talk about it. So, she explained that they wanted to have a bake sale and we began to make some plans. A week later, after lots of phone calls, text messages, Facebook posts, and flyers were passed out we began to bake. And not surprisingly we had ALOT of friends and family offer to help.

Friday, January 28th was the big day ... BIGGER than we could ever have imagined. It was set to start at 3:00 and at 2:45 people started coming ... ALOT of people! I was overwhelmed by the number of treats that my friends provided, by the number of people that came to our little bake sale and most of all by the generosity of everyone. By 5:30 we had completely sold out of treats! It was AMAZING!


When we had everything cleaned up, we headed inside to count the money. Kate and I had said that we would be really happy if we made $500, which was a pretty lofty goal. But as we started counting I knew we'd be much higher than that. In fact, as the total started to rise, Marcia, Ashley and I started to cry. When all was said and done we raised $1,700! I was blown away! People were SO generous! I had family mail me money to donate. We had strangers just drive by and give us money. We had more than one family give us $100! It was incredible and really touched me.

I am VERY proud of Kate, Kenna, Jaden, Kaden, Kaylee, Demri, and Aleia for working so hard to make a difference. It was great to share this experience with them and hopefully it had the same kind of impact on their lives as it did mine. One small idea can turn into something amazing sis! Thanks for inspiring me! I love you!

The Bake Sale Beauties ...
Demri, Abi, Kenna, Kaylee, Kate, and Aleia


Our sign boys who directed lots of traffic our way ...
Kaden and Jaden


Depositing the money at the bank
Kenna, Kaylee, Bailia, Aleia, Kate, Demri, Kaden, Jaden and Cooper

The beginning of a new year!

Usually you think that things will slow down after the holidays, but not so for us (at least this year). January was as busy as ever.

Along with turning 8 years old and being baptized Josh started Cub Scouts! And let me tell you ... this little man LOVES scouts! In fact, he loves it so much that he got working right away and already received his Bobcat award. (Sorry about the pictures of you with paint on your face, buddy. It's part of your history. And your wife and kids will thank me someday!)


Kate and Josh also started playing basketball during January. (Unfortunately none of my pictures turned out well.) They both LOVED it and had a great time!

Eme's big thing for January was learning to adjust to the 1:00 p.m. church time. NOT GOOD! Of course she'd refuse to sleep while we were at church, so as soon as we'd get home she'd want to crash around 4:30, which doesn't bode well for bedtime. But if we didn't let her take a little cat nap, we would ALL pay the price. So this is what she'd usually do while the rest of us ate dinner.


One of the greatest things about living in Southern Utah is we actually get to play outside in January, while almost everyone else is still getting snow. Of course, we pay the price in July and August, but my point is ... after playing in the snow once or twice, it was certainly fun to play in the sun for a change.

Josh's Baptism

I may be just a little bit biased, but I think that I have THE sweetest "little man" ever! Granted ... he is 100% boy and can be very loud and wild, but he is also the most tender hearted kid I've ever seen. He honestly tells me that he loves me about 10 times a day. I LOVE it!


He was SO excited to get baptized. He was literally counting down the days. The night before his baptism, he and I were getting the food ready and he said to me, "Mom, I’m glad that I decided to get baptized. You know, you don’t have to get baptized, but you should." The next morning he woke up and could hardly contain himself. He kept saying, "I thought this day would never come." Well, it did buddy and it was a GREAT day!


We had SO many friends and family come that day! It was amazing and we are so grateful for the effort that everyone made to be with us. I told Josh to never forget how many people came to support him on that day and to show their love for him.

One of the sweetest moments was when Greg got ready to baptize Josh. He doesn't get emotional very often, but he certainly did that day. I asked him later what he was thinking about and he said he felt so grateful for the chance to baptize his own son. What a neat experience for all of us.


As I watched Josh that day, looking so handsome and grown up in his new suit, I couldn't help but think about 11 years from now when he will hopefully be going on a mission. I have to admit that I even got teary eyed when I snapped this picture of Josh and Jake together. Best buddies. I can just picture them as missionaries out in the field serving the Lord somewhere. But for now ... I just want to enjoy my "little man."


I love you buddy! Thanks for being my "snuggle buddy" and for being such a special part of our family! We love you with all of our hearts! Happy Baptism Day!

Christmas Break

This year the kids had a little more than 2 weeks out for Christmas break, which as any parent knows is good and bad. Good because you get to spend lots of time together and can take it easy. Bad because well, they start to get on each other's nerves after a few days. So, it was a welcome surprise when we woke up to snow. Yes, it does occasionally snow in Southern Utah, but you have to seize the moment because you never know how long it will stick around. So I bundled up the kids and sent them outside. But because they're "desert dwellers" they only lasted a few minutes in the cold. I think it actually took us longer to find clothes and get dressed than it did for them to play in the snow. Oh well!


This year's New Years Eve celebrations were very quiet. We usually have some family in town to share it with, but this year it was just us. However, we still had a great time! We made a nice dinner, had tons of treats, played Wii games and watched a movie. These are the moments that I love ... when we can be together as a family having fun and relaxing ... and hopefully making a few memories along the way.

2010 was a good year overall for us and we feel very blessed. With lots of people around us who are struggling we're thankful for good health, a good job and food on the table. But mostly we're grateful for each other.

Can you believe it?

Can you believe it? I am actually going to TRY to catch up on my blogging! I have been in charge of the yearbook for the kids' school this year and I just submitted it on Friday! Can you say HALLELUJAH! So, here I am with 4 months worth of things to blog about, but I'm going to give it my best shot. It's going to take a few days, but let's start with Christmas! (Yes, Christmas! I know it's almost Easter, but hey ... what can I say!)

This year was alot of fun! As is tradition we spent Christmas Eve with Greg's family. We ate lots of delicious food, played games, ate some more, opened presents, ate again and read a Christmas story. The kids had a TON of fun with their cousins and the adults enjoyed chatting, playing cards and even the occasional nap. Thanks Hardmans for a fun filled Christmas Eve!


Then it was off to Nana and Jim's house to get settled in on Christmas Eve. Of course, what would Christmas Eve be without a new pair of pjs and setting out treats for Santa.


Christmas morning Eme wasn't quite sure what to make of all the presents and things, especially at 7:00 a.m. In fact, she didn't really want to have anything to do with it. However, everything changed once she opened her new dolly. She didn't put her down all day! And Kate and Josh loved everything! They both wanted IPods and I think that when they first came out to see their things they wondered if Santa had forgotten! However, he had tricked them by wrapping their tiny IPod Shuffles in big boxes. Way to go Santa! They also got new skateboards (which you can see Papa Jim even tried out) and Eme got a Cozy Coupe!


Of course, the eating and fun continued throughout Christmas Day as well. More cousins, games, laughter and fun! We even managed to get a family picture of everyone, which is no small task, especially with all of the little people (and some of the big ones, too!) It was great to all be together, even with all of the noise and chaos.