What do you think?

I've been watching HGTV's Design Star. It's a competition where people compete to design the best rooms. One of the finalists, Jen, painted this really cool leaf design in one of her rooms. I loved it, so here it is. The first picture is Jen's design, the rest are my recreations on my own wall. Let me know what you think. I was really excited to try something different. I feel like I live in beige land, so this was a quick easy was to change it up.

24th of July in 2 Places!

Chris and I were able to be here for the 24th festivities at the football field, but we also made a surprise trip to Snowflake. For some reason, the unplanned trips always turn out to be the funnest. At 8:00pm on Friday night, we decided to head up there. We only told my sister-in-law, TJ, we were coming. We left at 9:00 and were there a little after midnight. My mother-in-law was so surprised. We stayed up talking, got up early, went to their parade, ate lunch, Chris and the kids rode 4-wheelers, and we came home. It was fast but fun. The kids loved seeing all of their cousins, and Bryson was hilarious. I think he knows how cute he is. Thanks TJ for taking all the pictures. (My camera could not withstand Bryson EATING the lens.)

How Old Am I?

Okay, sorry I post so much about my kids, but they're funnier than me. So, we're walking in Wal-Mart yesterday, and I'm looking for Children's Tylenol, and this is the discussion I had with my kids.

Kiley: "Awesome, they have this drink in chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla. It looks yummy, and I think it's healthy. Is it healthy mom?"

I look over at the stacked Ensure boxes.

Me: "Yes, it's healthy, but we don't need any. It's for old people."

Kiley: "Then you should get some."

Me: "I'm not old!"

Ryan: "Yes sir Mommy. You're old and we're new, so you that drink is for you."

It was so funny to hear him say new instead of young and not so funny that they were completely serious about me being old. I guess, in their eyes, I am. After all, they're a lot "newer" than me.

Tonight we had an interesting talk with Kiley. Yep, you guessed it we had "the talk." She wanted to know where babies come from, and up till now, we have told her that when a man and woman get married, they pray for a baby, and Heavenly Father sends one if they're ready. This answer was apparently insufficient for a six year old. She wanted to know how He, "just sent them?" I did my best to explain it as rationally as I could. I explained that Heavenly Father does play a huge role, but it is also part of the mom and dad's role. I told her that it involved "special parts," and I reminded her of how sacred this experience was and told her this is why people should be married. I said "um" about 50 thousand times, but all in all I think it came out okay. She was very mature about the whole thing. She listened, giggled a little, asked too many questions, but I think she really understood. Ryan, on the other hand, was listening the whole time with a strange grossed out look. I think this is a touchy subject. I didn't want to wait until they already knew all the wrong things, but I also didn't want to be to graphic. Chris and I reminisced about how we were told and had some laughs. I said that I could borrow a book from a friend of mine, but my mom said her parents used a book, and it horrified her. If any of you have any suggestions for future questions, please post them, and good luck to any one getting ready for this interesting experience.

My Friends

This was on my friend MaryAnn's blog.. it is so fun!

When did you first meet the 1st person on your list? Amy is the sister of my high school best friend, Amber. She is so fun and always has been. I think the first time I met her was at my friend's birthday party. She was the cool older sister everyone wanted to hang out with. If it wasn't at the birthday party I met her, it was when I was hanging out with Amber one day and she took me for a ride in her pinto while Ace of Base was blarring! As I think about that I can actually hear the songs! Scary!

What do you like about the third person on your list's blog? Kooliana was in the same grade in high school but in a different town. She was always so cute and happy all the time. I haven't been around her in awhile, but judging from her blog, she is a great mom and still always happy.

What do you like best about the 5th and 6th people on your list? Emily is 5th and she is wonderful. I don't think I have ever hear her say a bad thing about anyone in her life. She is expecting her first child, and everyone who knows her is thrilled because she will make such a great mom.
Britany is 6th on my list. I went to high school with her and she was always in style. It is no wonder she went to school for cosmotology. She's beautiful and a great mom to her cutie pie little boy.

What impresses you about the 11th and 22nd people on your list? The 11th person on my list is Gordon and Nicole. Gordon and Chris were friends in school. Gordon lived with Chris when he and I met, and I was always impressed by how spiritual he was. He also has the biggest smile in the world. I am impressed with Nicole just for looking so good even after having a baby. Way to go girl!
The 22nd person on my list is my mother-in-laws side of the family. They are all such sweet terrific people. Chris's grandpa passed away a few years ago, but Chris still looks up to the example this man set. Chris's grandma is awesome. She raised great kids and has a great attitude.
Oops, the 22nd person is actually Marisa. I know her because we went to school together. She was always so outgoing and friends with anyone.

What is a memory you have with the 23rd person on your list?
The 23rd person on the list was my best friend in high school. We went everywhere together and had a lot of fun. Her and Deanne were the ones who took the missionary disscussions with me. Those are of course fond memories for me. I was grateful the first time I met with the missionaries as I could have been so embarrased by my missing piece of eyebrow. Let's go back to the night before, I thought it might be easier to shave my eyebrows rather than pluck. This may have worked except that I sneezed and missed. Oops! My mom filled in the missing piece and I thought I was in the clear. Then, it rained. Yep, my missing piece came shining through. The sister missionaries were so sweet they didn't say anything until the very end, and Amber and Deanne never noticed!

Summer Time

Okay, here's a bunch of random updates about our summer.

The kids are in swim and just finished up baseball. I have never been so thankful for an activity being over as I am baseball. I'm glad they have the opportunity to play, but sometimes I wonder why I put us all through it. It is ridiculously hot outside; Ryan, no matter how many times you tell him, will always run to second after hitting the ball?; and Kiley hates to, "get all sweaty."

Swimming has been fun this year for all of us except Bryson. I decided to take a job as swim instructor. I thought it would be a great way to make a little extra money and really be a part of something the kids (mainly Kiley) really love. It worked out well, and other than having the grossest feeling hair in the world, I enjoyed doing it. Poor Bryson; however, did not like it. The combination of the heat and not being able to go to mom got to him. The crying got to me, so I quit. The kids are still in swim, I found a great replacement, and I promised I would sub anytime. Here's a picture of all of us leaving in the morning and Ryan with his tongue out as he swims.

Kiley also did a cheer camp with her friend Raynee, and she got her picture in the paper. She was so cute out there.

Picute from the paper below. Chris has been working on our yard, and it looks great. For once, we have grass. Chris and his friend, Marco, laid sod a couple of weeks ago, and it is taking root. I am amazed. We can't grow anything, so this feels like quite an accomplishment. Plus, the trees we planted earlier in the year are still alive! Hooray! I think by next year, we'll be ready to take on gardening. If anyone out there can give me some pointers, they would be greatly appreciated. I even have a plant in the bathroom that has been growing for months! I feel so Martha Stewartish.
We hope you are all having a great summer.