Brazilian Party

I got together with three of my good friends for a Brazilian Party, hosted by Janese and her Brazilian hubby, Carlos. We had an amazing evening together, talking and laughing and wondering why our husbands weren't talking as loud as we were??? haha Has anyone else figured out WHY girls get together and all of a sudden talk a few decibels louder than usual? ;)

the girls L to R: Janese Botelho (5 months pregnant), me, Kim Williams, and Caralee Baker Before the party, Janese and Caralee watched our kids so that Wade and I could attend the Provo Temple. They took the kids for a walk to go feed the ducks, and Jon was just enjoying cuddle time with Syndey, Caralee's little girl.
Jon and Sydney sittin' in a tree...k-i-s-s-i-n-g! Well, okay, it's a stroller, not a tree, but aren't they cute together?
After the yummy Brazilian dinner, we all hung out in the famous orange living room to talk. Check out the carpet and furniture...classic, eh? Wade and Emily played "airplane," which makes her happier than anything. I love to watch them play together.
Cute kids! L to R: Jonathan, Sydney, Bentley, and Emily

Random Photos

I promise I did not set this up. I was on the computer and heard a cute little, "Hi mommy!" So I turned around, and this is what I saw. This girl is crazy! She likes to wear princess panties over her diaper, put her hat and sunglasses on and call daddy on the Buzz Lightyear phone. She makes me laugh, even when I'm having a hard day!
Emily is always kissin' on her brother, but he likes it though! You can see the scab on her cheek from taking a hard dive into the pavement the day before. What a brave girl!
This was just a sweet photo of Emily with her friend, Niki Michie, after spending the morning at Wheeler Farm.
Jon lives on top of the kitchen table. He climbs up there so much, I've thought about making a bed for him there, too! Jon was all smiles playing in the pop-up tunnels at my cousin, Karen's house. He just loved chasing Ethan!

Busy Week

Since I plan on printing our blog as our family scrapbook, I didn't want to leave this out. These pictures are from a fun, busy week we had a month ago. I'm still trying to play catch-up so you'll have to bare with me! I promise I'll post the camping pictures soon, Kelly and the 4th of July pics for you mom!

Before our friends, Jared and Kathy Allen, moved to St. Louis, we invited them over for Sunday dinner. We had a really nice visit with them, and afterwards the kids had a blast playing with our water table. Look closely at Jonathan's face and you'll crack up laughing! He's an intense little guy!

Spencer thought Jon was his personal pet or something as he kept pouring water on him and then creating a Mohawk with his wet hair. : ) It was hilarious!

That Wednesday, we celebrated the birthday of my nephew, Alex. As always, when we are at my sister Margaret's house, the kids (including Wade, who's really just a big kid himself) just love to jump on the trampoline! Taylor is holding Jon and Wade is holding Hailey and Emily. Next time, I'll post pictures of Wade showing off his sky high back flips and other tricks on the tramp. He's such a dare devil! You should see him on the slopes. He knows I freak out when he does anything risky like that because I don't like to pay hospital bills! (and I don't like to see him get hurt, of course)

Here's Taylor and Jon playing "crack the egg" on the tramp. And here's a picture of the kids at the big kid table. Although he's only 6 years-old, Alex got to sit with the adults because it was his birthday. :) This was the first time that Jonathan sat at the big kid table. It was so cute, but I'm not sure how I feel about my baby growing up so fast!

On Thursday, I watched Bentley while my friend, Kim, went to the dentist. Bentley and Jon are just a month a part and they really get along well. They played peek-a-boo with a blanket for like a half hour! Whoever said kids aren't entertained easily?!

The boys also enjoyed just staring at the window, pointing (and yelling) at each truck and car that passed by. Their favorite activity, however, had to be the Magnadoodle. When I told Kim about it, she was thrilled to discover that her 1 year-old was a little Picasso and of course bought him a mini-Magnadoodle the next day! They sure come in handy at church and long car-rides!

On Friday, I drove down to Orem with Austin and Ruthanne to my Aunt Grace's house so we could visit with my Grandpa Callister, who was staying there for a few days. I'm always impressed at how caring and personable he is when we talk. He seems genuinely interested in my life, and that means the world to me. He acted pleasant and cheerful, but a little tired.

Yesterday when Wade and I went to visit Uncle Roy and Aunt Arba, who's my grandma's sister, she said she's really concerned about my Grandpa's health and how long he's going to be "here." I thought about it on the way home and how much my Grandpa misses my Grandma. When He does pass away, I know it will be a wonderful reunion for my grandparents to be together again. I truly am grateful for the knowledge I have about Heavenly Father's plan for us. It sure eases the pain when life is hard, especially in losing a loved one.

When my parents were in town that weekend to sing with the Southern Utah Heritage Choir, we all got together at our house for a yummy dinner. We discovered that night that Jon LOVES to eat salad. Weird, but cool, eh? And he was also making us laugh when he was tromping around wearing a Davy Crockett hat. What a silly boy!

I was so proud of my parents as they sang with the Heritage Choir in the Salt Lake Capital building. The acoustics in that building are amazing! The choir sounded beautiful! Emily kept waving to them in the middle of their performance and saying, "Hi Grandma. Hi Grandpa. You singing? Okay. You come to my house for a party? Okay. Hi." That girl sure loves her grandparents!

Apron Swap

I recently participated in an Summer Apron Swap that this cute mom named Abby organized through her blog site "Feathered Nest." My friend Brynn, Traci and I all sewed aprons and sent them to our assigned "swap buddy" and in turn, we each received an apron. Here I am modeling the one I received from Melinda from Texas. Isn't it darling? It's bright and fun and the pocket looks like a bird. She did a great job. I love it!

And this is the apron I sewed for Doreen from Georgia. I was so excited that she liked it! Traci and I spent an afternoon and sewed our aprons together at her house. The kids napped and played while we sewed, and then we got out the pool and the kids went swimming afterwards. This Apron Swap was such a blast! I will definitely want to participate again. If anyone else is interested, let me know and we can do it together. : )

Blaze Game

Wade and I went to our first Blaze game and were purely entertained! However, it wasn't quite the football players, but the red-neck hicks in front of us that provided that entertainment! We were blown away by the overwhelming stench of N.B.O. (nasty body odor), the classic mullet hair-do's, the missing teeth (I'm not kidding), the red-neck talk (a swear word in every phrase) and best of all, the way they kept eating and eating and eating the entire length of the game. It was wild! I'm sure they are the nicest people, but I have to say they are also the most interesting! Here's Austin and Ruthanne cheesin' it up (we love you guys!) with the game field and the hicks in the background. : )
The coolest part of the game for me was when Ruthanne and I snuck away for some Dippin' Dots ice-cream (have you tried that stuff? Yummy!) But the coolest part of the game for Wade was when he caught a t-shirt when they were throwing free prizes out. Now that he owns a Blaze t-shirt, he says it means we have to come back for a game next year. I'm not so convinced, unless we can get free tickets again and if Austin and Ruthanne join us, AND if our hick friends come back, because they were just too funny!

Goodbye Mullet!

This post needs no long explanation...because the pictures tell it all! I liked the natural curls coming in at the back of Jonathan's hair, but the top of his hair was not growing much, so it turned into a classic mullet. Now we have a dilemma. So we asked Wade's mom, Eileen, to cut his hair and make our handsome little guy look even better. She complied, thankfully, and below is the end result!
Tada! Goodbye Mullet!
Ever since he lost the mullet, he thinks he's superman! Have you ever seen a superhero WITH a mullet? Jon hasn't either. He's unstoppable now!

Financial Peace

Last month, Wade and I attended the Dave Ramsey Live Event with our friends Travis and Cynthia Gough and Tai and Darcy Lauti. It was an amazing experience! Dave really helps you feel empowered about becoming and staying debt free. I love the idea that we can build wealth, not only so we can retire comfortably, but also so we can be generous and GIVE to those in need. Wade and I would love to be able to be more generous now with gifts for our friends, parents, siblings, and especially our cute nieces and nephews, but it's difficult because Wade is still in school full-time, so we have a limited income. I know most of you have "been there, done that" so you know how it is. Being conservative with our spending (yea, you might call us cheap) and living within our budget has taken a lot of self-discipline, but I know it will be worth it! When we're rich, I promise I will spoil all of you on your birthdays! : )

Dave talks about the "Baby Steps" which help us little by little to find financial peace. They are:

1. Save $1000 in a starter emergency fund
2. Pay off all debt using the "debt snowball" (except the house)
3. Save 3-6 months expenses in liquid savings
4. Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRA's and pre-tax retirement
(Steps 4,5,6,7 can be done at the same time)
5. College funding for the kids
6. Pay off home early
7. Build wealth and give!

When we first took a Financial Peace University class in the spring of 2007, Dave encouraged us to to use the "cash envelope system" to help limit spending. You may laugh at me when you see me at the grocery store or at a restaurant, but it's been working for us great! We spend less because it's harder to hand over cash. And once the envelope is empty and the cash is all gone...guess what...we've learned to be creative using what's already in our cupboards for the rest of the month! ; ) So then, we learn to spread the cash out so we can eat reasonably all month.

We've been so excited about Dave's program, that Wade even coordinated a Financial Peace University class for those in our area last fall. This last spring, he was invited to represent Zions Bank in Tennessee and become a Certified Counselor for Dave Ramsey.

Here we are, so excited to hear Dave Ramsey live! If you want to learn more about having financial peace, just visit his website at www.daveramsey.com. It's awesome!