Only the good die young

Andrew is 8!

2012-02-04T11:12:00.001-08:00

Andrew turned 8 this week. He is a fun little boy. He loves to read, play Wii, hang out with his friends, play Lego's, and be a boy!

Turning 8 meant Andrew didn't have to sit in a car seat anymore! It also meant he got to be baptized. What a special moment. Here is Andrew with his Dad all dressed up in thier suits. They look so handsome.

All the kids and Dad, waiting for the baptism.

We are so proud of Andrew for making this decision to follow in Christ's footsteps and become his disciple.

Andrew ready to be baptized. He was only a little nervous :)

We are so blessed to have the priesthood in our home. All of the family that came out for the baptism.

Silent Night

2011-12-21T12:53:00.000-08:00

The Porters 2011
Happy Holidays from all of us!

This year we want to start by letting you know how much we love all of you. We are grateful for all of our friends and family. We are so blessed. We love our Heavenly Father and Savior. The atonement has made it possible for us to be together forever.

Aaron started a new job as an IT project manager at Nu Skin this year. He is much closer to home now and has eliminated about 30-45 minutes each way off his daily commute. He is able to use his education and talents at this job and is enjoying what he is doing.

Helen
started back to work in April. She is managing a retail store called My Oil
Business, which supports doTERRA essential oils. She loves what she is doing
and has made a huge impact at the company. Helen is still in school and will
graduate next summer with a BA in Business. The highlight this year was going
sky diving in Moab. It was amazing!

Mariah
is a freshman this year. She is in several honors classes and is excelling in
all of them. She loves to sew and can make just about anything she sees.

Alyssa
is officially a teenager this year complete with make-up, a clothes addiction,
and a crush on her classmate in band. She is in advanced band this year and can
play the trumpet proficiently. She had a part in Fiddler on the Roof at school.

Caitlyn
hangs out with her best friend every chance she gets. She loves to perform.
After spending 5 months practicing with her friend for the 4th grade
talent show, she is already planning for the 5th grade talent show
that will happen next May! She is involved in 4H, choir and activity days at
church.

Andrew
is a typical 1st grade boy. He is wild, loud, silly and crazy. He
has an amazing talent for annoying everyone all the time. He has figured out
what little thing bugs each of his siblings and then does that only to them. We
need to harness that skill for other areas! We often find Andrew staying up
late in Parker’s bed reading books to him.

Parker
still has everyone wrapped around his little finger. At 4 years old he has
managed to skip the terrible toddler years. He is so much fun to be around. He
has had the opportunity to spend time with his cousins this year and tells
other people that he has cousins, but they are also his friends. His favorite
toy is his little baby doll that he has named Porter. She is his little sister.
He changes her clothes and gets her dressed. Good thing he is happy with a
pretend baby sister, since he is not getting a real one!

Have a very Merry
Christmas and stress free holiday season.
Love, the Porters

Halloween with the Porter Hospital

2011-11-01T21:03:00.000-07:00

Right before Halloween Parker had a little accident with his tonka trunk. It got a little carried away and zoomed right over him.

No problem! Our house had just gone through emergency training. Surgeons Aaron and Mariah took him in right away and fixed him up. He is now being monitored by Dr's Caitlyn and Andrew. Nurses Helen and Alyssa are making sure he is comfortable.

No fears. We prescribed 1 hour of trick or treating and 2 lbs of candy for our patient Parker.

We were right! By morning he was just fine.

Witchapalooza

2011-11-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

The girls and attended our Young Women's 2nd annual Witch-A-Palooza. We had a crazy mixed up dinner and had table topics. It was fun to spend time together.

Alyssa's concerts

2011-11-01T20:53:00.000-07:00

Last week Alyssa had both her band and choir concert.

Alyssa is in advanced band and plays trumpet. They band did great in their Halloween concert. (Do you see the boy on the right of Alyssa? That is her not so secret crush) Shh don't tell her I told you!

Alyssa has choir as school this year. I was not able to hear her sing, but I made Aaron take the camera and get a few pictures. I am sure she did great. I am so glad she has more musical talent than me.

Arches National Park - Part 2

2011-11-01T20:15:00.000-07:00

More hiking. This first picture is actually at the end of our trip. By the balanced rock the kids found this great dead tree. My kids are so cute!

Best buds.

Andrew in one of his may poses.

Aaron doing what he did most of the trip. I think this is probably what i looked like.

Teenagers. Moody or tired? You guess.

More of the monkey boy.

Caity and Parker.

Can you find Andrew? Hint: look for the blue dot.

Alyssa didn't climb as much as the others. I think she was just taking in her surroundings.

Cailtyn is queen of the rock.

Can you find Andrew now?

I couldn't resist this picture. Alyssa was playing with my camera and snapped this one. I love my wondeful husband.

Sweet siblings. I was so happy to see them take care of each other all weekend.

Mariah was taking in the amazing view while the other kids climbed up, down and all over the sandstone.

Ignoring Parkers smirk you can see our entire family in one picture.

Most of the kids. This is near the end of the day and some of the kids had enough. Overall they were great.

Love the view.

Clayton imitating me. I need to get his copy of me!

A happy Alyssa!

The kids climbing up. Do you see them?

Clayton trying to get Alyssa to smile.

I couldn't resist sharing this picture. Isn't she adorable?

My sweet baby boy.

Cousins and friends. I love seeing the kids spend so much time getting to know their cousins.

This is what it looks like when you hike with a handful of little tiny ones.

Moab was great. We loved spending time with our family and seeing part of Utah. We ate, played games, talked, hiked, picnicked and had a great time. Next time we need to get the entire family together. Love you all!

Family Time in Moab

2011-11-01T19:54:00.000-07:00

These first pictures are just random cute pictures. The entire family stayed for 4 days in a 2 story, 8 bedroom house. It was fun for the cousins to play and be silly together.

Ben and Parker squeezing into small places.

I loved seeing these 2 together. They had fun all weekend.

All the kids got together and put on a play Mariah wrote and brought costumes for. With just a little practice the did great.

Another activity we did was inspired by my girls camp days. The kids were put into 3 groups and were given 2 rolls of toilet paper. They had to make an outfit for one of their group members.

Hole N" The Rock is on the South side of Moab. It is a 5,500 sq foot home built into the rock. We went on a tour and the kids played in the collection of items around the outside.

The 3 boys are in an old Twirly Whirly car. They each took turns flying and then all climbed in together.

The group waiting for our turn for the tour.

Who do you want to be? The Mine Boss or the Miner?

There was even a "Mater" car.

Arches National Park - part 1

2011-11-01T18:06:00.000-07:00

During our stay in Moab we spent a good part of two days at Arches National Park. This was our first time there. It was beautiful. October is a good time to spend there since it was cooler. We did a few different hikes. These pictures are from various places.

The family at balanced rock.

mariah and Andrew were my brave climbers. They would scury up each spot and get as high as they could.

Mariah loves to climb. She had a hard time only doing the little hikes. Since we had so many little ones we were not able to do an all day hike like her and I like to do on our vacations. We will have to back another time.

Alyssa was a good helper with Parker. He loved hiking, but as a little kid, he also loved being carried.

I think this is from the North Window. All of my lovely kids.

I even managed to have a few pictures taken of me. I actually like this one!

Mariah and a few cousins sitting on top of the window. They are quite high up.

Andrew has over 50 pictures just of him. Every chance he got he would climb a little higher and make a pose and tell me to take a picture. At one point he told me I should save all the pictures and give them to him when he gets older so he can have memories. Good thinking little man!

Caitlyn is growing up into a beautiful young lady.

Parker is my little cheeser. The kids kept telling him he was at Archeese National Park. He loves to smile. :)

Aaron with his eyes open and a smile. That does not happen often.

Aaron and I together with Delicate Arch in the background. I love that we could do this as a family.

This picture cracks me up. Parker and Taitt were taking some great pictures when baby Edynn decided she needed in on the action. She walked over and plopped herself in the front, got herself posed and gave a great big smile.

Before our first hike to the overview of Delicate Arch.

A Panoramic shot of part of Arches. It doesn't do justice, but you can see a little of what we saw.

Minute to Win It in Moab

2011-11-01T17:31:00.000-07:00

We spent our winter break in Moab with several of my siblings and their families. The first night We had 3 of the 4 families there and played Minute to Win It games, hosted by Starr. She planned lots of great games. Everyone had a good time.

Uncle Clayton with the kids!

Emalee, Abby and Caitlyn stacking cups. Emalee won!

Aaron, Robb and Clayton trying their hand. I dont remember who won. Robb, maybe? I know it wasn't Clayton.

Me against the girls. We had to take each cup and put it on the top of the stack until we got back to the first one. These cups were sticky and hard to get apart.

Each couple participated in this game. We had to blow up a balloon and let the air out to knock the cups off the table. Aaron won by a landslide.

The kids were in teams of four. Each member had a toothpick in their mouth and had to pass the lifesaver along. Mariah did really well.

Alysssa, on the other dropped at least 4 lifesavers before getting it down the line.

I won't tell you what the name of this game is, but the idea is to get a pen or pencil into a bottle. Everyone had a good laugh.

One member had to spin a quarter and the other had to stop it standing up. We lost because apparently spinning a coin is not a talent I posses.

Aaron was right at home in this challenge where they had to shoot a rubber band to knock down the cups.

This was the most exhausting game. Each of us women had a small cup of mimi M&M's and using a straw we had to pick up the candy and sort them into different cups. There were over 80 little m&m's. I was dizzy by the time we finished.

If you look closely everyone has cookie on their face. they started with the cookie on their forehead and had to get it to their mouth using only their face muscles. Alyssa won, but little Lorrin was a close second.

Thanks for the fun night Starr. We loved all the games.

Sky Diving

2011-10-23T16:41:00.000-07:00

On Friday October 21, 2011 I got to mark Sky Diving off my bucket list. I have wanted to do this for a long time.

After signing away my life and all the rights of me, and my dependents on a 4 page long waiver, I got strapped into the harness by my instructor. I shrunk at least 2 inches it was so tight.

Waiting with the girls until it was time to go. (Mariah is the one taking all the pictures)One last picture with the family before I climbed in the plane. Andrew didn't want in the picture, but I caught him before he ran off :)The plane fit 5 of us: the pilot, 2 instructors and 2 students. Here I am on the ride up to 10,000 feet. It took about 20 minutes to get the right altitude. I loved the ride. It reminded me of riding in my Dad's plane when I was litte. Good memories!

Getting out of the plane was the hardest part. I was not scared at all. The wind was so strong that I had a hard time lifting my legs out.

As soon as my legs were out the instructor says go and off we went! It happened so fast there was no time to think.

And then we were free falling. I was surprised at the wind force. As we were falling the wind force was about 130 mph. It was a little hard to breath. They told me before the jump that if I had a hard time breathing to yell as that helps to get the air out. So that is what I am doing in most of the free falling pictures.

I think this is my favorite picture from the free fall. I was loving it.

After 30 seconds of free fall the shute went up. It felt as though we were being pulled to a complete stop and then slowly we began to glide in circles back towards the airport.

Taking hold of the parachute. I got to steer for a little bit.

Floating down. What a view of Moab, Arches National Park, and Canyonland. It was beautiful.

Getting ready to land.

After a safe landing (on my butt!) it was great to see the kids run out to see me. What an awesome welcome back. I was relieved to land and only ended up with one bruise, a rather large one on my leg. I can't wait to go again! Who's going with me?

Here is the video of the jump if you want to see it. http://youtube.com/watch?v=Fw8Cr454nAg

Grandma Porter

2011-10-09T20:21:00.000-07:00

Grandma came to visit for the week. I did not take nearly enough pictures. Luckily I remembered as she was leaving to snap a few of her and the kids. I am so grateful for such an amazing Mother-in-Law. She is sweet, supportive, and loves her family.

Carving Pumpkins

2011-10-09T20:13:00.000-07:00

After picking up our pumpkins we came back to our house for dinner of homemade potato soup and rolls. Then the kids each carved their pumpkins.

They turned out pretty good! My job was cleaning out the pumpkin guts so I could cook the seeds. Its a messy job, but someone has to do it!

Alyssa, Andrew and Caitlyn get started on their pumpkins.

Grandma helped Parker with his pumpkin.

Uncle Dan worked with William. Then he ended up carving faces in Cailtyn and Andrews pumpkins. He has the skills!

Carving pumpkins is so much fun to do as a big family event. I am grateful to have so much family around.

Pumpkins

2011-10-09T20:06:00.000-07:00

October 8, 2011
Aarons Mom has been in town for the week. We took advantage of this great weather to go the pumpkin patch with the kids. We went to the Red Barn so we could get some of their amazing apple donuts. YUM!

The kids had fun choosing the perfect pumpkin. Our only rule is that you have to be able to carry the pumpkin.

Ice Skating

2011-10-09T19:50:00.000-07:00

September 23, 2011
My sister and I took our kids ice skating. Most of the kids had not been before, the rest had only skated 1 or 2 times. We went at the perfect time as there were only about 20 other people on the rink. That is great for beginners.
Here is my crew at the end, plus an extra friend.
Parker only skated for about 30 seconds. He did not like the lack of control. He spend the rest of the time walking from the entrance to the benches to the time out section.

Mariah did great. She got right out and was able to skate.

Caitlyn did not enjoy skating as much as everyone else. She mostly hung by the edge. We got her to use one of the walkers for while so she could out by everyone else. I think she sort of enjoyed herself by the end.

Alyssa is just being silly here. She skates great and had a good time with her cousins and her friend who came with us.

These walkers make skating a lot of fun for kids Andrews age. He had a blast going around and around.

I did pretty well myself. I did not need the edge or any assistance. I got to where I felt confident enough to try some tricks. I could turn in circles fairly well. My sister tried to teach me to skate backwards. This is where I came into some trouble. As I was trying to go backward I did a combination splits and leg turn and fell. On my way down my legs flew above my head and I landed pretty hard on the ice. My toe pick hit my niece on the way down and scratched her up pretty good. I landed on my arm, which started to swell. I was in a lot of pain, but didn't want to scare my niece so I got back out on the ice for another 20 minutes. Then we took the family to dinner. At dinner I was in a lot pain. We ended up going to urgent care. Good news! It was not fractured but the bone was bruised. My arm was a nasty shade of green from my wrist to halfway up my upper arm for over a week. I am still in some pain, but it is healing.

I guess I am too old to learn new tricks!

County Fair August 2011

2011-10-09T19:08:00.000-07:00

At Claytons invite we went with the family to the Utah County Fair. I thought Sacramento county fairs were small, but this has it beat. It was small. We walked through the entire thing in about 20 minutes.
Parker enjoyed the taxidermy display and wanted a picture with this guy.
Then each of the kids got to go on one ride. Taitt and Parker went on the motorcycles. Notice the huge crowd! I think most of the kids went on the rides by themselves.

Caitlyn used the last of our tickets to try her hand at rock climbing. She made it to the top without trouble. After she got down she asked me why I made her go since she was afraid of hights. I had no idea she was!

Lagoon

2011-09-11T15:19:00.000-07:00

Aarons work rented out Lagoon on Friday for all the employees and their families. This was the best work party ever!
We drove down after work and got there when they opened the doors at 5pm. Mariah and Alyssa had been there before with the junior high, but for the rest of us this was our first time. It was great! There were no lines for the rides!
Aaron stayed with the boys in the kiddie section while I took the girls on the big kid rides. Parkers favorite ride was a roller coaster called puff. Of course, I think he went on everything 3-4 times.

Andrew loved everything! Once he got the hang of the helicopters he loved making it go up and down. He was sad at first that he wasn't quite tall enough for the other rides, but had fun anyway.
The girls and took off and went on every ride! It was a blast. I am so glad my girls love rides. My favorite was Wicked. LOVED it! Before we rejoined the boys for dinner the girls went on Cliffhanger. This ride gets you wet. If you look at how wet they are in the picture that is all from one ride. On our way to eat the boys spotted this fountain. They got soaked. It was nice to let them just enjoy it and not worry about how wet they were.
After dinner we hit more rides. The boys watched us go on the rocket and then they went back to the kiddie rides. While waiting in line for tilt a whirl we watched a girl puke at the end. They had to close the ride to clean it up. It was then I saw the Sky Coaster. I was intrigued! I plan to go sky diving next month so this looked fun. I called Aaron over to join us (since he had my wallet - it was extra for this ride, but since we got in for free and dinner was free I felt it was worth it). Mariah was thrilled to go with me. She is a daredevil like me. I couldn't convince anyone else to go.
This is Mariah and I suited up waiting for our turn. Considering how dark it was Aaron got a couple of great shots. This is us on our 2nd fall. They pull you up and then at the count of 3 I pulled the cord and we free fell 143 feet going speeds up to 80 mph. It was scary and awesome! Mariah was pretty nervous when we were going up. I was glad to be there with her and have this experience. I am so ready to sky dive!

Helen's Birthday

2011-08-23T17:36:00.000-07:00

My birthday was a week ago. I forgot to update it so here it is!
My family did great for my birthday. We have started doing presents in the morning before everyone runs off. It has been fun to have all day to enjoy the new things.
We also started taking pictures with each person and their gift. I guess I am not holding the items up high enough because you cannot see them in most of the pictures.

Parker got me some lovely new earings.
Andrew made pipe cleaner people I am wearing teh red shirt and he is wearing the blue shirt. After this he also made one with a green shirt to be Daddy. They are all 3 at work so I can see them every day!

Caitlyn got me a butterfinger! My favorite. Yum!

Alyssa got me a couple more butterfingers. I think my kids know what I like!

Mariah made me poppyseed muffins (or puffy seed as Parker calls them). I got a dozen just
for me to take to work. The best gift from her came after work. I got home to a sparkling clean and organized kitchen. She worked ALL day cleaning the counters and fridge. She also organized all but the spice cupboards. I am putting in my wish now for the same gift for next year. Mariah rocks at the cleaning and organizing!

Aaron got me North and South (the civil war version not Jane Austin). I loved watching this movie every summer. I can't wait until I have enough time to watch it again. He also cooked me a yummy dinner of steak, asparagus and baked potatoes and a yummy blizzard ice cream cake for dessert.

Thanks family!

First Day of School

2011-08-22T17:56:00.000-07:00

August 22, 1011
Summer is over and school is back in session. I have enjoyed having my kids home this summer so this was bittersweet. I know they love school, but as they get older they are more helpful and we can do more activities as a family.

Here are all the kids ready to go. I had to change my first day of school pics as the older girls are in a carpool and got dropped off at the school today. I offered to take them and get pictures. They thought about it but were ok with me just them at house first. Alyssa made sure to pose in front of the carpool van.
Mariah is in her new outfit complete with her first pair of skinny jeans. She is in 9th grade and is a little bummed that here that is at the junior high. All her California friends are in high school. She has 3 honors classes plus she is one of 19 kids that are taking Spanish 2 this year. She loves all of her teachers and classes.

Alyssa is ready for 8th grade. The first outfit she put on she spilt milk on so she had to change. Alyssa got moved up to advanced band is glad to have lunch with her 2 best friends.

Andrew is in 2nd grade and is in class with a few kids from the neighborhood. He likes his 2nd grade teacher. He told me this evening that all of the other kids have decided he is a popular kid now because he wears cool clothes. I guess I did ok when I picked out his new outfit!
Caitlyn is in 5th grade. Luckily she has class with her best friend again. She came with us to school and even posed for a few pictures. We love her friend. They are so good for each other. Caitlyn is counting the days until choir starts in a few weeks.

Parker doesn't start school until next year, but he was not about to be left out of school pictures. He even picked out his outfit last night when we were getting everyone else ready. Today he got to go to a friends house where he will be babysat Monday-Wednesdays. He got to go the park, play and draw. This was the note from the sitter: "So today the kids were doing markers on a big white board and Parker was drawing a BIG circle with a circle in the middle and saying 'thats Amber, she has a baby inside her!' then he added the face, hair, arms, and hands. He seemed to know all about Amber and the anatomy of pregnancy :) It was cute!"

Aunt Amber was just here last week visiting. She is 8 months along with baby #5. I guess Parker was paying attention!

Alyssa's turns 13

2011-07-30T20:23:00.000-07:00

Alyssa turned into a teenager this week. As a typical girl all she really wanted clothes. Aeropostale is her favorite brand and she got 3 new shirts! She also received another shirt, a pair of pj pants, perfume and hand sanitizer that said: I love boys. After dinner we surprised her with a trip to Wal-Mart to pick out a new bike. She was thrilled!
For dinner Allysa chose pasta carbonara with cheesecake for dessert. Yum!

Today was Alyssa's birthday party. She had 4 friends over for pizza and games. The first game they played is the duct tape game. An item is wrapped in lots and lots of layers of duct tape. One girl is trying to unwrap the item while another girls is rolling 2 die. Once they roll double they pass the duct taped item around. This continues until the item is completely unwrapped. Whoever unwraps it gets to keep it. They girls loved this game.

They also played a cotton ball game, tag, balloon popping relays, draw a picture on a paper plate that is on your head and a few more.

Alyssa had to have a pinata this year. As we don't have any large trees Aaron got creative and hung it from our bike stand. I was worried the girls would beat the stand up, but it held up.

Chocolate cupcakes and vanilla ice cream for dessert! Overall it was a great party. Alyssa has awesome taste in friends. They all get along and are good girls.

Parker turns 4

2011-07-21T19:48:00.000-07:00

Parker turned 4 on July 15th. We had to celebrate without the older girls as they were at girls camp.

All Parker wanted for his birthday was little legos like Andrew. He got his wish with his very own set of Sponge Bob legos. About a year ago we started celebrating birthdays in the morning before everyone takes off. This year we had cupcakes for breakfast!

At 4 Parker is a bundle of joy. He keeps all of us laughing. Just yesterday he took his birthday money from Grandma and Grandpa Porter to shop for a blue power ranger (thanks Grandma & Grandpa). Parker held is dollar bills and was so excited to get to pay. He told me wanted to put his dollar in the rectangle thing. I wasn't sure what he meant. We got to the register and he unfolded his dollar and then swiped it in the credit card slot. He then proudly handed me the dollar and told me he paid for everything!

We continued the celebration by going to McDonald's for dinner and watching Cars 2. Parker enjoyed the movie, but thought all the action was a little scary.

4th of July

2011-07-05T20:47:00.000-07:00

This 4th we went to a friend and neighbors. Beth is the best party planner. She invited some of her family, a few friends and some neighbors. It was a great mix of people. She decorated her yard and coordinated a BBQ with bratwursts!
Beth doing a 4th of July cheer with her sparklers. Aaron had to try his hand at fire breathing again. He was able to do as much as we had some rain and quite a bit of wind. I was able to catch this shot while trying not use the flash. He did great and was very entertaining. Andrew had as much fun with the glow sticks as he did sparklers.

Part of the group. There were about 30 people. The young boys were thrilled with their chance to light the fireworks. We didn't have any of the now legal aerial fireworks but we still had a good show.

Mariah and Alyssa did a few sparklers before watching the rest of the night. I didn't get any pictures of Caitlyn but she was out having fun. I think she did more sparklers than any of the other kids.

Parker only made it through 1 sparkler. Then he sat with Mom for a little bit. Once he heard the fire crackers he lost it and went inside the rest of the night.

Another good holiday. We are reminded of our freedoms and our blessings. We have so much to be grateful for, especially those who work to keep our freedom. God bless America!

Balloon Fest

2011-07-05T20:27:00.000-07:00

Since we moved to Utah my Sister-in-law had been telling us how cool the Balloon Fest was and that we should go with them. The thought of getting up before 5 a.m. on a weekend was never really appealing so we didn't go.
This year we were heading out of town to visit friends in Idaho and so it wasn't a huge time difference for us. We all got up early and headed out. We arrived at 6 am and got pretty good parking. We brought some yogurt and granola bars to eat until 6:30 when the festival officially began.
In the open field there were 23 hot air balloons laid out and ready to go. When the time was called the balloons began to be inflated. It was an amazing site. You had to stand and be ready to move as the balloons grew. Soon we could only see the 4-5 balloons that were filled around us. Once the balloons filled they began taking off. Some only went a little ways and set down in the school yard next to the field. Others floated off around the valley.

There was a variety of balloons including Darth Vader, smokey the bear, a pig and the worlds tallest balloon - a coke bottle standing over 182 feet tall.

To support Nu skin, one of the sponsors of the balloon fest, Aaron got us all shirts to wear.

After the balloons are all up they have a contest where the balloons come back one at a time and try to drop a bean bag on a target. They also use a 5 foot pointed stick to joust and pop a balloon. We weren't able to stay for the entire contest as balloons fly slow, but it was fun. We will definitely go again.

Father's Day

2011-07-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

This June we had an opportunity to celebrate fathers. We are blessed with great Grandfathers and a wonderful father and husband.

Since Aaron has become a father, 14 years ago, he has done a great job. He is the one to put the kids to bed, do baths and bandage the kids when they are hurt. Thanks for all you do!

The kids put together a book for Aaron. They each drew a picture and then filled in the blanks. Parker: Daddy can lift 100 lbs and is 10 feet tall. His favorite activity is getting on the computer.
Andrew: Daddy is as handsome as a bird. His favorite food is meat.
Caitlyn: Daddy is as strong as a bull. He looks funny when he is starting to laugh.
Alyssa: I know he is really mad when he turns red and yells. I would not trade my Daddy for 1 million dollars.
Mariah: In the good ole days when Daddy was little, he used to play pranks on his siblings & hand out with friends. His favorite activity is writing & reading books.

Parker is learning to be like his Dad and play games on the phone.

All the kids with Dad after serving him a breakfast of creme brule french toast and bacon in bed.

Mariah also make a few comics staring Daddy and some of the girls. My favorite features Caity Kaboom. She drew the characters to look like each of the girls and came up with a great storyline.

We also want to mention Grandpa Porter, who loves to pull hair and tease the girls, Great Grandpa Guy, who we don't see often enough but love just the same, and Grandpa Guy, who has recently gone to Iraq to work as a civilian. We love all of you and hold you in a special place in our hearts. Our lives would not be the same without the wonderful men who help raise and inspire us.

Splash Pad

2011-06-28T19:56:00.000-07:00

June 18, 2011
We went to the local park to hang out. The splash pad is new and we love having the free park to enjoy in our city. It is not quite as neat as the free water parks in California, but is is nice to have.
Andrew, Parker and Caitlyn ran right out into the spray to get wet. We stopped at Little Caesar's for $5 pizza on the way. I love not having to cook!

Aaron wrestled and played with the kids. What a great dad!

Caitlyn and Parker in the water again. Parker would stand right on the water spout and laugh as the water made his shorts poof out.

Watermelon Eating Contest

2011-06-27T20:21:00.000-07:00

Saturday June 25,2011 was the Kids Fair at Macey's. I took the kids to play on the jump houses, play games, eat cheap ice cream, snow cones, cotton candy and hot dogs. While we were there the girls saw them setting up for a watermelon eating contest. Alyssa LOVES watermelon so we got all the girls to participate. I was certain Alyssa would win, but half way through it became evident that Mariah has some serious watermelon eating skills. She was killing it! Not only did Mariah win by a landslide, but Alyssa gave up before it was half way over. Caitlyn didn't win, but had so much fun she hung around the booth and later did a soda sip and hot dog eating contests. She didn't win any of those either, but a great time trying.
You can watch the entire contest below. Mariah was the only one with a a pile of juice. Ignore the whiney boys in the video, we had been at the fair for a few hours at this point.

California Adventure

2011-06-27T20:06:00.001-07:00

June 4, 2011 we went to California Adventure before heading back home. The first ride we went on was Tower of Terror. The girls loved it, Andrew was scared, Aaron and I jumped and Parker covered his eyes the entire time.

Our first time going down we all got caught by surprise for the first major drop. You go down so fast that even Aaron came up off the seat. After the first time the girls immediately wanted to go again. Aaron said he would wait as it was fun, but he did like hitting the seat on the way down. Andrew told us no way was he going again. It was too scary. He was going to wait with Dad, until he saw Parker heading back with us girls. He was not about the get shown up by his 3 year old brother!

After the ride the boys saw Chip and Dale. We also have pictures with Mr. Incredible, Mater and Lightning McQueen and the Monsters from Monsters, Inc.

California Adventure is great for photo ops. The kids climbed and stopped at everything to take pictures.

We only had about 5 hours at California Adventure and could have stayed a lot longer. It was fun. We loved soarin over California, the water ride, Turtle talk with Crush and the swings. Aaron loved California Screaming. If the line wasn't so long I would have loved to have gone. Instead Parker and I got to stay in line for the Toy Story ride.

Our trip to Disney will not be our last. It was a blast.

Disneyland June 2-3, 2011

2011-06-27T19:45:00.000-07:00

We surprised the kids with a trip to Disneyland. We woke the kids early and told them we were leaving to go home and handed them their shirts. It took them a little while to figure out they said: I'm going to Disneyland.
Caitlyn figured it out first and started grinning. Then the others started to catch on a little. They were all so tired, though that the big response came from Alyssa. She wanted to know if they could sleep on the way.

We arrived at about 1 and after dropping our bags at the hotel we headed straight to Disneyland. The kids were finally getting more excited.

Notice our bags? I know we look silly but they are Disney bags that I had personalized. Everyone got their own snacks and water bottle. This was fantastic as it gave everyone control over their own food and they didn't have to but me every time they wanted to eat. Andrew loved the freedom of having a bite after each ride.
This was Aarons first trip to Disneyland so I made a big deal about it and made his shirt that says It's My 1st time at Disneyland. He had never wanted to go as he grew so fast that he quickly became to tall to fit in most rides at Great America and Six Flags. He didn't realize that the rides at Disney are more family friendly and he fit fine. He had a great time and may even go back some day.
Caitlyn's favorite ride was Splash Mountain. I love this picture as we are all in it. You can't see Parker but he is in the back next to me.

The second night Aaron took the boys back to the hotel to rest and the girls and I went back for a second time on Splash Mountain. We were soaked!

My favorite thing about the trip was Parkers excitement at seeing Buzz. Right when we got off Space Mountain Buzz came out of his 'secret' door to go to his photo spot. Parker saw him and took off. He was so excited to see him that he ran around him and tripped him. Luckily Buzz's helper caught Buzz before he completely smashed Parker. By that time I finally caught up to him and we went to see Buzz in his photo spot. Parker spent at least 5 minutes asking him about his buttons, giving him hugs and hi-fives and posing with him.

In this picture Aaron got Andrew to join him for a picture.

I have hundreds of other pictures of our day at Disney, but I won't share them all. We had a great time and it truly was magical for all of us. Parker was tall enough to go on every ride except Indiana Jones. He was a great sport and loved all the rides. The girls enjoyed space mountain and even went on the tea cups and dumbo. I think we went on all but about 5 rides.

Our last morning at Disney we headed over to to Toon town and stopped at Mickey's House to say Hi. All of the kids jumped in for a picture. Parker was to busy giving hugs and wanting to talk to look at the camera.

More family

2011-06-27T19:37:00.001-07:00

Another dinner visit with family. This time it was Uncle Don, Aunt Cathy and their daughter Sarah and her boyfriend. Aunt Linda and Danielle also joined us.

Sarah pulled out her mom's ipad to play angry birds and Parker immediately became her best friend. He loves the bird game.
Sarah is currently in school in Monterrey to become a Marine biologist. I can still remember when she was just a baby with a head full of crazy hair. She is all grown up now and is a beautiful, responsible young adult.
Her boyfriend Chris was so great with boys. Sethie climbed on his lap and started wrestling and he took it like a champ.
Aunt Cathy, Aubrey, Sarah, Parker, Chris and Sethie.

I am so glad we were able to see so much family while we were in California. We love them all and it means so much to have time to reconnect.

I don't have pictures of all the friends we saw but I was able to hang out with Sarah, my bff and most awesome business partner, Mimi, my lovely, wonderfully strong, friend. Aaron was able to hang out with goods friends Mike and Sarah. Of course we also saw tons of other friends at our park day. Just in case I don't blog about that one we had a great time seeing everyone.

The Zufelts

2011-06-27T19:26:00.001-07:00

Our last night in Sacramento we got to visit with Uncle Clint and Aunt Connie and their kids. I love my Aunt and Uncle. I have great memories of going to their house to ride horses, swim and hang out. One summer I was able to house sit for them and help watch the twins. It was a great time. They have huge hearts and a very lovely, fun home.My cousin Tanner playing with baby Millie. Tanner was there with his wife Kim and their great kids. Caitlyn, Aubrey and Claire. So fun to have so many girls so close in age.

My cousins Scott's wife Sueanne and I are probably the closest out of all my cousins. We got married about the same time and our kids are all around the same age. We both have 3 girls and then a boy and they are all within 6 months of each other. We ruined it, when we went on to have one more boy. Sueanne has a special spot for little Parker and loves to play with him when we get together.

Jen

and her twin Steph. The twins are my brothers, little sisters. My brothers and the twins are all natural siblings that we adopted.

Calapp Cousins

2011-06-27T19:18:00.001-07:00

We are so lucky to have such great family. Melissa had no problem with our family of 7 crashing at her place for an entire week. The kids all crashed on the floor, turning it into a huge camp ground. A few nights they even set up a tent in the backyard and slept there.
This is Melissa with her youngest of 6, baby Millie (aka Amelia). She is the cutest thing ever. I loved palying with her and watching her laugh.
Caitlyn and Aubrey are very close. They loved getting extra girl time, especially since Aubrey is surrounded by boys in her family.

The boys: Sethie, Brennen, Logan, Parker and Andrew. These boys are full of energy. They were constantly jumping, climbing, wrestling and being boys!

Alyssa, Kamron, and Mariah. The older 3 hung out together, often with Kamrons cousing Justin.

The last night with all the kids in the front room. It was a little like Where's Waldo? finding each kid in the pile of blankets. We would hear the kids up till well after midnight most nights talking and laughing. They are going to have some great memories of their time at the cousins.

Visiting family

2011-06-27T19:08:00.000-07:00

Part of going to California is that we get to see all the family. We spend Sunday with Grandpa Guy and Grandma Connie. We went to the Wilton ward and then spent the day at their house.
The kids love seeing Grandpa. We were especially glad we got to spend the day as he left, to go to Iraq to work as a civilian mechanic, the week after we left.Grandpa Guy's little sister, Aunt Linda (Grandpa and Linda are exactly 1 year apart! How neat is that!), her daughter Jalynn, and her little baby Dominique.

Jalynn's daughter Danielle and Caitlyn. They had a great time catching frogs.
We took a few minutes to stop at the cemetery to say hi to Grandma. We love you and miss you every day Mom.

Stinson Beach

2011-06-02T22:48:00.000-07:00

Aaron's Family has a tradition of going to Stinson Beach whenever possible. As we were all in town this weekend for a baptism we spent Memorial Day at the beach. Despite the cold weather in town, it was a perfect day at the beach. It was warm with minimal wind.
The girls and I. Did you notice that I am not the tallest?
Aaron and the boys.

My sister and her sister in law and their kids also joined us with Aaron's side of the family. There were 18 kids. The older ones spent a lot of time digging holes and walls.

Andrew and Parker loved the water.

Parker ran in and out of the waves for hours.

My sister and I!

Me and Andrew being silly.

Parker with his Mommy.

The kids and Aunt Melissa.

Andrew.

Caitlyn and her cousin Aubrey riding the waves.

Digging cousins.

Uncle Jeff buried Parker before we had everything unloaded! He thought it was great.

We had a perfect day at the beach and can't wait until the next trip.

Alyssa's Band Concert

2011-06-02T22:34:00.000-07:00

Alyssa has been playing the trumpet since 4th grade. This was her 2nd concert on May 14, 2011 at the junior high. She is first chair and the only girl that plays trumpet at her school. Next year she will skip intermediate band and go straight to advanced. I love to watch her play.

Easter Outfits

2011-05-01T11:20:00.000-07:00

Each year I take pictures of us in our Easter outfits. Normally we do this on Easter Sunday (of course!). Last week was Easter Sunday but it was also stake conference. This meant that we would not be meating with our regular church group at our regular time so we decided to dress up this week instead.
The boys did not have new church clothes this year since they already own enough white shirts to last a long time! The girls all got co-ordinating robin blue shirts and white skirts which we will also wear for Porter family pics at the end of the month.

Daddy and the kids! Mom and the kids.

Mom and the girls. Don't we look cute!

Just the girls. I can't believe how big they are getting.

Aaron and the boys. What handsome men they are.

Brothers!!!

And last one of Aaron and I together.

Easter Egg Hunt

2011-04-24T19:49:00.001-07:00

We got together with my side of the family for an Easter Egg hunt and lunch.

We met at a park and it was cold! We made it just long enough to do the egg hunt before heading to my brothers shop to eat.

We broke the kids up in groups by age and let them go a few at a time with the youngest going first.'

This is the oldest group. These three cousins are only months apart! I love that they get to hang out together.

Andrew started going the wrong way so we had to turn him around. :)

Cute girls running for the eggs.

The littlest guys. I love their faces. They were so excited.

We had a great time hanging out and spending time together.

Easter

2011-04-24T19:34:00.001-07:00

I am so grateful to Jesus Christ for showing his love for all of us. Because he has risen we will be resurrected.

I love that we celebrate this season in the Spring when everything is warming enough to emerge from the winter.
We celebrate with food, Easter egg hunts, family and lots of chocolate.

This year I made my carrot cake into cute little Easter baskets. I thought they turned out cute. Mariah and her basket. Each kid got their own little digital game and lots of candy.

Alyssa's favorite candy this year was the pop rocks. It brought back many memories.

Caitlyn is getting bigger and got her own bath set (each girl got their own!)

Andrew loved his ninja's, squinky and power ranger game.

Parker loved it all! He ate so much candy Andrew started telling him to stop so he wouldn't get a tummy ache. I love it when they look out for each other.

My baby girl is 10

2011-04-13T19:21:00.000-07:00

Caitlyn turned 10 years old yesterday. She was excited because her birthday fell on spring break and we were able to have her party on her birthday. With all the rain and snow and we have been having we celebrated with some sunshine! We threw a luau with a beach cake, lei's and beach ball games. Caitlyn requested homemade pizza. Her 7 friends (plus our kids) finished off almost 3 large pizzas!

I don't want to admit that my girls are growing up. Luckily you are never too old for a Just Like Me doll from American Girl Dolls. She loved it!

As our lives have gotten busier we have started celebrating birthdays in the morning before we all run off. This is what our kids look like at 7am on a vacation week!

PS candles melt in hot food!

Creme brulee french toast and pop tarts for breakfast!

Happy Birthday Caity!

Bowling

2011-03-15T12:53:00.001-07:00

For Family home evening we took the family bowling. I had a great coupon for 2 hours of bowling plus pizza and drinks. I was not able to bowl with my shoulder problems so I took the opportunity to take a lot of pictures!

Parker couldn't wait until it was his turn so he could put a ball on the guide and push it down. He loved it!

Aaron was a good sport and even kept the bumpers up during his turn. He was being silly and did some granny shots and silly moves for the kids. Even still he got over 100 both rounds!

Mariah tried her best but was the only who didn't get a spare or a strike. That was frustrating for her but she did good and trying.

Alyssa had the wierdest pose of all when she bowled! Instead of putting her right foot behind when she let go of the ball she would kind of hop and lift her left leg to the side. It was funny to watch!

I think Caitlyn had the most fun. She loved to mimic some of Daddy's silly poses. She did great and loved helping Parker when it was his turn.

Andrew got so good he was able to set up the guide by himself after just a few rounds.

Fiddler on the Roof

2011-03-13T09:03:00.001-07:00

Alyssa performed in the Jr. High play this year. She was a daughter in the chorus. She had a fun time and loved all the new songs.

To portray a Jew the girls had to cover their hair. She wore her Grandma Guy's old pioneer dress and shawl. I love that her clothes are being used in her honor. To cover her hair she wore one of her Moms scarves and tied it like a babushka. She looked great!
Alyssa had several good friends in the play with her. This is on of her BFF's. We couldn't find the others after the play to get pictures but there were quite a few. This was a good experience for the kids.

Andrew's 7th Birthday

2011-02-01T21:02:00.000-08:00

Seven years ago I delivered my first boy. Born on Superbowl Sunday, Andrew was our first to come without help (and one day before his due date). Since then our lives have never been the same. Andrew is fun, cute, feisty and all boy. He loves to jump, run, ride his bike, read and play Lego's, transformers, bakugon and spiderman. Andrew opening presents. Along with the 'bad' transformer he got a transformer DVD, shirt, bakugon case, remote control car, spiderman outfit and power rangers.

Andrew surprised with his new RC car. He loved it!

SpiderRoo! Andrew got his first spiderman outfit when he was 3 and still wears it. We thought it was time to get him the next size up. He loved that this one has padded muscles.

Sunday Andrew got to celebrate with his cousins who had birthdays in January. What a lucky kid to have so much family around.

Dads and Donuts

2011-01-28T08:07:00.000-08:00

Today was Dads and Donuts day at the elementary school. I don't have any pictures of any Dads or any donuts, though. Aaron went last year but was not able to attend this year so I went in his place.
The school provides milk and donuts and invites a parent to come and read to their kids before school. They even give each kid a brand new book to read from. It is a fun tradition and gets over 500 people.

Caitlyn and Mom Mom and Andrew

Parker even got to come and have a donut.

It was also PJ and stuffed animal day at school. Caitlyn and her best friend coordinated their animals. Notice they both brought dogs.

Circus

2011-01-28T07:46:00.001-08:00

We took the kids to the Jordan World Circus this past Wednesday.
The older girls had been to the Barnum and Bailey Ringling Brother Circus when they were little. This circus was smaller and didn't quite compare, but we enjoyed it.
While we waited for it to start the kids got a little bored so I brought out the suckers. Andrew really wanted to ride the elephant. Aside from the outrageous cost the line was long so we passed. He was a little disappointed. You have to have cotton candy when you go to the circus!

Parker did ok for being 3 years old. The performance started late in the evening and he was getting tired. He climbed from Aaron to I and back and forth, but other wise he loved the show.

All of the performers. They did a great job.

The tightrope walkers were incredible. The one on the left even jumped rope while on the rope that was at least 20 feet off the ground without a net underneath.

I loved all of the areal performers. There were many acts with trapeze artists and men and women climbing ropes and cloth. They were graceful and pretty.

There were 2 trained black bears that were cute as could be.

I loved the elephants. They did lots of fun tricks.

Pioneer Day

2011-01-28T07:38:00.000-08:00

The difference of living in CA and Utah is apparent in 4th grade. In CA the kids learned California history and made models of missions. In Utah they learn about pioneers. For the end of the unit, on January 19, 2011, they learned some dances and have a day where they dress up and invite the parents the last hour.
Caitlyn got to dance with her teacher in her group. She also danced with boys!

When we were finding her clothes to wear she saw my pioneer dress and asked me to wear it to school. Of course, I was the only parent dressed up. That's what you do to support your kids.

She was excited and it was fun to get to learn a dance with her.

New Years and Family

2011-01-04T15:40:00.000-08:00

My sister and her family came out for the New Years holiday. Since they still live in California they were excited to see the snow. We were glad to be able to spend a few days with them. It was an awesome visit! I can't wait to see them again this summer.

This is my little sister, her husband and my husband.

My baby sister, her baby and her husband. They came down from Northern Utah to spend family time with everyone. This baby has the best hair! It is so fine it just kind of poofs all over. I love it. You can't help but smile.

As soon as the kids could get dressed they were out front in the snow. The little ones only lasted a few minutes, but the older kids stayed out for quite awhile.

Then we went sledding at a nearby hill. The rest are random picutres from sledding. Aaron had the great job of fetching everyone and everything from the last part of the hill as it was very slippery.

This was our first time using tubes. Parker grabbed one and jumped on it. Before anyone had any idea was going he was down the hill. He had a blast.

The top of the hill where most of the adults watched from!

My older brother. We had a race just before this picture. I won!

These 3 cousins are all about the same age. There is one more girl cousin the same age. She is not in this picture though. I love that they can all grow up together.

Coming back up the hill to go again.

Christmas

2011-01-04T15:11:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning was great! We woke up at about 7:45am at started in the front room with stockings at Santa presents.
Parker was thrilled to get Handy Mandy, transformers and bakugon. He loved all of it!Andrew loved the little robot he got, especially since he asked Santa for a small one.

Caitlyn received several barbie type dolls, lots of earings, candy, art supplies and gum!

Alyssa is officially a pre-teen with more make-up than a drug store.

Mariah has picked up sewing this year and was so excited to get a cutting mat, rotary cutter, material and patterns.

Present time! I didn't take too many pictures of the presents the kids got, but they were very spoiled this year. Each child received a book or book set, a large set of legos and several other toys.

Aaron spent a lot of time helping put together lego sets and unbox toys for the kids. He is such a great dad!

I was happy to get a beautiful necklace, nice flat iron, 5 Glee CD's, and some fun nail polish.

We unwrapped Christmas presents slowly this year and did not finish until 10am. Then we had brunch of cinnamon and orange rolls, hash browns, sausage, bacon and eggs.

Once breakfast was over we got to sit around and be lazy. It was lovely!

My sis-in-law and her family came over at 3pm for finger foods and games. I have come to love our new tradition of a very relaxed , low key Christmas day. Spending time with family is the best thing about Christmas.

Christmas Pajamas

2010-12-24T20:12:00.001-08:00

Every year we get new pajamas for Christmas that we open Christmas Eve. I have always wanted matching pj's but since we range from toddler to giant buying them is out. So I finally made them! For a non-sewer this was quite the task. Fortunately I had lots of help from my sister and mother-in-law. Everything fit and looks great! I can't wait to see everyone in them tomorrow morning.

Christmas Eve nativity

2010-12-24T20:03:00.001-08:00

After dinner we went to my sisters house where the kids acted out the nativity. It was cute to see all the angels, the baby girl Jesus who did not want to cooperate, the three cousins as the wise men and even a camel. I love that all the kids get to participate. Three wisemen

The shepherds visiting the newborn king.

Angels rejoicing

Joseph, Mary and Jesus

Christmas Eve talent show

2010-12-24T19:53:00.001-08:00

We started the tradition last year of having a talent show on Christmas Eve before dinner. I love seeing what the kids (and sometimes adults can do).

This year the girls sang Silent Night in Spanish with their Spanish speaking Aunts and Uncles. Mariah wrote 4 Christmas Haiku's.

Alyssa played Jingle Bells on the trumpet.

Caitlyn read a holiday poem.

We also heard a poem by one of the families about nobody. It was funny. 2 nieces and one nephew played the piano, a few of the kids sang and one Uncle led the group in playing chimes.

After dinner we had a formal dinner at our house for 26 with ham, scalloped potatoes, croissant rolls, dinner rolls, green beans with almonds and 3 layer Christmas jell-o. The dinner was good and the company was great.

SNOW

2010-12-20T16:42:00.001-08:00

It has been snowing for the last 20 hours and is expected to go through the night. The kids are loving it. Mariah has built a fort in front of the house and the neighbors across the street are building another one so they can have snow ball fights. I love that they can do that. Bundled up warm and with the promise of hot chocolate when they are done the kids will play and build for hours.

Parker in the fort.

The neighbor accross the street and Alyssa building her fort.

Parker, a neighbor friend, and Andrew getting ready for the fight!
Mariah making more snowballs.

Mariah's Birthday

2010-12-20T16:36:00.001-08:00

Mariah had a birthday yesterday. She turned 14!

I remember the day she was born vividly. I was 11 days overdue and went in for a stress test so she could be induced the following week. The doctor on call looked at my chart and asked if I wanted her that day. Of course! 12 hours of pitocin, an epidural, a 3 hour nap and 5 minutes of pushing later she arrived before the doctor. She suprised us then and continues to do so now.

I love her ability to tackle new projects. She loves to read, sew, and craft. She is always looking for a new project to start.

Christmas Sunday

2010-12-20T16:34:00.001-08:00

The Sunday before Christmas is dress up time for the kids. They look so beautiful and handsome.

Aaron is the church choir. In addition to singing with them he had a solo. I love to hear him sing.

Band performance

2010-12-20T16:29:00.000-08:00

Alyssa played in her firstband concert at the junior high last week. She is the first chair and the only girl trumpet player! She is doing really well and likes to play. We are very happy for her.

I am also grateful that she has her fathers musical abilities and not mine!

Christmas Candies

2010-12-20T16:20:00.000-08:00

Some people bake cookies, others make fudge. I make truffles and candy.

I tried my hand at a few different recipes this year.

I made:

Dark chocolate truffles

Mint truffles

Raspberry truffles

Lemon truffles

almond roca

toffee

buttermints

turtles with homemade caramel

toasted almond clusters

peppermint bark

oreo balls

mint oreo balls

peanut butter balls

I was very happy with the results!

Christmas Letter

2010-12-19T09:10:00.000-08:00

The Porters 2010

Another Wonderful Year

We have settled into our new house in Utah and love our opportunities. Our neighborhood is great, the schools are good and we have found wonderful friends. We especially love being near our Utah family and have the opportunity to see them often.

This year Mariah and Alyssa both participated in plays. Mariah was a Who in the school play Suessical. Alyssa played several supporting roles, including a Winkie, in the Wizard of Oz put on by our community youth theatre group. Alyssa also had the opportunity to sing with the school choir at a Utah Flash game. Both girls have found friendship and support in our neighborhood. They have also discovered make-up!

Caitlyn was a finalist as she represented her 3rd grade class in the school spelling bee. She did great! Caity is our girly girl. She loves dresses, wearing flat and painting her nails. She is learning to make jewelry this year after school and has made some lovely pieces.

Andrew started Kindergarten and has started to read chapter books. He still loves Spiderman, playing the Wii and bulding with his Lego's. His favorite foods are spaheti and broccoli.

Parker is 3 and is our big boy now that he is potty trained. He loves jumping, tumbling and just being a boy. He makes us laugh everyday with the things he comes up with.

Helen was laid off in September and is loving this surprised blessing of being able to stay home. The days are spent running kids to school, cleaning house and getting things organized. She also went back to school in August. She expects to graduate in July 2012 with a Bachelor's in Business Administration.

While Aaron loves the rewarding work he does at UHIN he does not enjoy the hour long commute (or longer when weather or traffic are bad). But we are thankful that he has a job! Aaron co-authored a book on project managment titled Project Pain Reliever. The book is currently available for pre-order on Amazon and is expected to be released in January. He has also written and published an article. He stays busy with his writing and his position as Vice President of Education and Certification for the Northern Utah chapter of PMI. When he has time Aaron loves to cook. This year he is perfecting sushi!

We are so blessed to have family; both immediate and extended, near and far. We have friends! We have the church. We have peac. We love you all!

We wish for you a year of happiness and peace.

May the important things in life be in abundance.

Christmas Cruise

2010-12-06T19:20:00.000-08:00

For family home evening we took the kids to Provo to go on a River boat cruise. The cruise was only 25 minutes but it was a fun experience. While on the river Santa came by on his canoe (he fell out of his sleigh!). Parker thought that was the best and got to give Santa a high 5!

Winter

2010-12-06T19:13:00.000-08:00

The girls couldn't wait for the first snow. Mariah spent several days building forts, castles and even snowmen.

She built these snowmen in the front of the house. Can you tell which one Aaron is?

Family Pictures

2010-11-10T14:39:00.000-08:00

The last time we had family pictures taken was when Parker was a baby. We were overdue a photo session! We used Cheapshots and had these taken at the Salem Pond. I LOVE them! I am very pleased. The photographer took over 400. I am amazed that with 7 of us she could get any good ones!

These are a few of my favorites.

Welcome to the Circus

2010-10-31T20:29:00.001-07:00

If you know us then you know we LOVE do Halloween as a family. Last year I missed out since I was sick with pneumonia. This year I planned ahead. We went as the Porter Circus.
The kids were perfect. Even Parker got into character and growled and people.
The lion and the lion tamer.

Mom as the fortune teller.

Dad as the lion tamer.

Parker the lion. He loved trick or treating and saying thank you. His favorites were
the houses with dogs. He was ready to go inside and play with all the puppies.

Andrew the strong man could lift 1000 lbs with ease!

Caitlyn was our silly clown! It is hard to tell but her hair is in 4 pony tails with each one sprayed a different color.

Alyssa was our mismatched clown. He rocked the colored hair and super big bow.

Mariah was the perfect clown. When she decides to get into character she does a great job.

Dress up day at school

2010-10-27T13:51:00.001-07:00

Caitlyn and Andrew got to dress up for Halloween at the Elementary School.

Caitlyn is a clown. It is hard to see in the picture but we put her hair in 4 ponytails and spray painted them orange and red. I think she looks great!
For our family theme this year Andrew is going to the strong man but for school he wore an old pirate costume. He was excited to dress up a few times this year. ARRGH!!

Caramel Apples

2010-10-27T13:42:00.001-07:00

Why haven't I made these before? The are so easy and super yummy. Of course I also had to dip them in chocolate as everything is better with chocolate! I will definitaly be making these again next year.

Witch-A-Palooza

2010-10-10T20:30:00.000-07:00

October 2010

The girls Young Women class had an activity for the girls and their mom's. We all dressed up as witches and played get to know you games. It was fun for all of us. We enjoyed spending this time together. I learned that I don't know anything about the girls favorite tv shows or music groups!

This is the Place

2010-10-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

September 2010

After living here for 1.5 years, we finally made it to the This is the Place national park. This park is set up like a frontier town and shows how the Pioneers settled Utah.

We were able to go with my baby sister and brother. We love having so many cousins around to hang out with!

All the cousins!
The train ride.

All of the kids got a pony ride. Parker kept giggling. This was his first time on a horse and he loved every minute.

Several cabins had old time games the kids could play. Mariah tried to use the stilts but wasn't too successful. She had fun trying.

This same cabin had a 'garden' the kids could plow. Alyssa discovered how dirty this chore made you when her socks turned brown after only a few minutes.

First Day of school

2010-10-10T20:13:00.001-07:00

August 2010
The kids on their first day of school.

Andrew going to 1st grade.
Caitlyn in 4th grade.

Alyssa on her first day of Jr. High.

Mariah rolled her eyes as I got my camera to take them to school. She said, "Your going to the only Mom taking pictures at the Jr. High." She was right! Oh, well. She was ok with me going, but maybe I will have to do the pictures at home next year.

4th of July

2010-10-10T20:03:00.000-07:00

July 2010

We spent the 4th of July with the Porter side this year. It was so great to see them. We had fun hanging out, eating, playing games and even making smores.

We went to a parade and fireworks show with my sis-in-law in her neighborhood. The kids had fun watching fireworks and doing sparklers. Aaron loved watching the men 'breath fire', of course, he had to come home and try it out. It took some trial but he got pretty good at it.

Graduation

2010-10-10T19:57:00.000-07:00

May 2010

Alyssa graduated from 6th Grade this year. She will join Mariah next year in the Jr. High. She is so big now!
Alyssa is super social. She is bright but prefers talking on the phone rather than finishing her homework. Once we got a schedule done she became a great student! She finished reading Harry Potter for the 4th time this year.

Andrew graduated from Kindergarten this year. He is a happy, silly boy. He get frustrated with his ready as he would rather be out playing. Math comes very easy and can add and subtract large numbers in his head. He can't wait for 1st grade to start.

St. George

2010-10-10T19:45:00.001-07:00

April 2010

We had the opportunity to go to St. George for a week with my baby sister and brother and their families. We all rented a huge house with 3 master bedrooms plus 3 other bedrooms and another sleeping area. There was plenty of room for everyone.

We were just blocks from the temple and enjoyed walking there and going to the visitors center. We also went up the canyon for a picnic and some hiking. On our last day we went to Zions national park. It was so beautiful. We really enjoyed the hiking and seeing some of nature.

Freezer Jam

2010-10-10T19:36:00.001-07:00

April 2010

This was our first time making freezer jam. I had the opportunity to purchase 40 lbs of strawberries and so we decided to take the plung.

The entire family helped. Aaron and Mariah washed and sliced the berries. Alyssa mashed them and Cailtyn stirred in the sugar. By the time we were done we had 17 quarts of jam. The kids loved making it so much they finished a quart a week for the next few months.

Easter

2010-10-10T19:26:00.001-07:00

April 2010

Our cute kids dressed up on Easter Sunday.

I love this picture of Mariah. It is one of my favorites. She looks so beautiful.

Andrew shows off his newly colored Easter Eggs.

Plays

2010-10-10T19:17:00.000-07:00

March 2010

Mariah had a part as a Who in her school play Suessical. She had a great time.

Alysssa played several roles this one was a Winkie in the community youth theatre. This years play was Wizard of Oz. She loved being part of the play.

Alyssa sings at the Utah Flash game

2010-02-03T21:13:00.000-08:00

Alyssa had the opportunity to sing the National Anthem at the start of the Utah Flash game. It was a fun experience for her. Her choir teacher taught them to sign the song as well. They did really good. I am so proud of her.

Snow

2010-02-03T21:04:00.000-08:00

I was a little worried that we now live where it snows. Before our move I had never driven in the snow and had not had to spend much time in it.

So far it has not been bad. We have only had 2 real snow storms where the snow has stuck. I have only driven in it once and it was not bad. I think I prefer it over rain because you do not get wet.

We were able to take the kids sledding in December after one of the storms. It was fun! Parker did not care for it but the rest of the kids had a blast. Who knows maybe we will even going skiing some day!

Birthdays

2010-02-03T20:55:00.001-08:00

Mariah turned 13 in December! We now have an official teenager. I am so proud of Mariah. She is an excellent student, wonderful cook, great crafter and has good business sense. She is in the drama club at school and is excited to play a 'who' in the school Suessical production in March.

We celebrated her birthday by taking the family and some of her friends ice skating. This was the first time for most of them. They did great. All of them were able to move from the wall by the end of the session.

Andrew turned 6 (don't worry about the 5 on the cupcake - there is a #1 behind it!) the beginning of this month. He is in Kindergarten and is starting to read by himself. He loves building with Lego's and was thrilled to get 6 lbs of assorted legos for his birthday. He is looking forward to using the gift card and money he received from relatives to pick out another set on Saturday.

Christmas

2010-02-03T20:51:00.001-08:00

I hope it is not too late but I wanted to post our family picture and Christmas letter.

The Porters 2009
Embracing change and new opportunity

This year we experienced many changes:
1. January - Aaron got laid of from his job with Delta Dental as part of a massive company lay off.
2. February – Helen closed her Scrapbook store after a long hard fight with the failing economy, closing businesses and rising gas prices.
3. March – came to Utah to visit family. Helen found a job working as the customer service manager for an online scrapbook retailer.
4. April – moved the family to Utah.
5. April – Caitlyn turned 8 and was baptized. It was a wonderful time as family surrounded us. Caitlyn is our girly child who loves anything pink and fuzzy.
6. April – July Aaron became the best stay at home Dad ever as he prepared meals, did laundry, cleaned the house and kept the kids safe and happy.
7. May – Alyssa overcame her devastation from moving away from her friends as she found many new friends right in our neighborhood. She joined choir and drama at the school and loves being a 6th grader.
8. July – Aaron found a job in his field as a Project Manager.
9. July – Parker turned 2. He talks a lot and loves Yu, Uh, Ninin and Andrew (yep that is his names for his siblings!). Parker makes all of us happy.
10. August – Mariah began Jr. High. She enjoys having many teachers and excels in all her classes. She joined the drama club and will trying out for Suessical next week. Mariah loves to craft and is a great cook. She is a great help for this working Mom!
11. September - Andrew started Kindergarten. He can already sound out words and count over 100. He enjoys quizzing everyone on the sounds each letter makes. He amazes us with his talent to create with his legos.
12. October – Helen spent the month sick with H1N1, pneumonia and a cold. I am incredibly grateful for a wonderful husband who took over everything while I could not even leave my room for weeks.
13. November – Enjoyed spending the Thanksgiving holiday with family (36 from Helen’s side!) We ate 2 Turkey dinners, hiked in the snow and saw the frozen Bridal Veil Falls. We love being surrounded by so much family.

We realized through all of this change that we are happy. We have family; both immediate and extended, near and far. We have friends! We have the church. We have peace.

We wish for you a year of new experiences and a chance for change and growth!

Thankful for my Family.

2009-12-06T16:27:00.000-08:00

Ever since we moved I have been ever more thankful for my family. I love all of them. Each member is unique with talents, gifts, challenges and joy. I love it all!

We had the opportunity for 6 of us siblings, their spouses and children get together over Thanksgiving. That made 12 adults and 24 children! Crazy times!

I wish I had taken more pictures but here are a few from our days together.

We went to the park

then stopped for apple donuts and cider

Played with cousins

Ate a super large and yummy dinner (sorry no pics from Thanksgiving day)

And went to Bridal Veil Falls.

I look forward to many more events spent with family near and far building more memories.

Time Out For Women

2009-11-15T19:09:00.000-08:00

I have just begun a new journal for me of personal experiences. I wrote there of my experience this last week. I debated on keeping that private but have decided that I do not share my spiritual experiences or my testimony often enough so I thought I would this time.
This is a long post so I do not expect you to read it all. that is ok. I am really posting this for me anyway!

Sometimes as women we need to take a time out. A time to reflect on our role as wife, mother, sister and individual. Deseret Books has put on a conference for the last 7 years. I have had the opportunity to go with my Mother the first 2 years it was in Sacramento. The 3rd year was the year my Mom had a stroke just weeks before. She still wanted me to go. I did for her with mixed emotions. Since that year I have not been back.

When I saw that this conference was coming to Salt Lake City for the first time I felt the importance of going with my sisters and sister-in-laws. I am so happy that all of my sisters here in Utah were able to go. Amber came down from Logan with her newest 3 month old baby, Brooklyn. I was able to pick up Sonia and Starr before we picked up Lisa. Our wonderful husbands all pitched in to help with our kids so that we could head to SLC early.

We got in about 11am. With the conference not starting until 6:30pm we had plenty of time to walk around Temple Square. We saw the Christus in the visitors center and listened to a presentation about the importance of family and the plan of redemption.

Then we saw the Joseph Smith movie. After struggling with parts of my testimony this last year this was just what I needed. It was reminder that Joseph Smith was a man, a person just like the rest of us. He was pre-ordained to play his role in the restoration of the Church. Had he received a patriarchal blessing would it have said, "to bring back the true church of Christ." Can you imagine having that said? If you said no, why not? What does your blessing say? Something about holding a calling in Young Womens and touching the lives of those around you? Maybe it says that you will be a mother and raise children unto the Lord. Or that you will have the opportunity to be an example to thousands.

Wether we are Joseph Smith or we are a primary worker we have been pre-ordained to play our role in sharing the gospel and strengthening those around us. Each of our roles are important. The thing I find inspiring about Joseph Smith or Jesus Christ is not that they filled their roles but rather they listened the promptings of the spirit and trusted those promptings. They acted on them. It was not easy. They were tarred and feathered, betrayed by good friends, spit upon, dealt with infertility and the loss of children, hated. We each go through our own trials. I may not be physically tortured but I have my own struggles.

So how do I learn by the prophets and others? I learn that I need to follow the promptings of the savior without question. I need to learn that by following the the Lord this does not mean I will not have problems. What it means is that I can have peace. When faced with trial or even certain death I can achieve the peace that Joseph Smith felt in Carthage Jail and that Christ had in Gethsemane. I can know without fear that I have fulfilled my mission that I was ordained to do.

After seeing this movie and having dinner we starting our weekend at the conference. Each year Sheri Dew chooses the most amazing speakers and musicians to share their experiences and testimonies with us.

We heard from Wendy Watson Nelson who told us our motto needs to be: NOT EVEN ONCE. How much easier is our life if we can answer the questions to have you done drugs, smoked, drank alcohol, broke the law of chastity or broke the commandments with the answer a resounding NOT EVEN ONCE.

What about questions like have you forgotten to say your daily prayers, had weekly family home evening, read daily scriptures. Can these by answered NOT EVEN ONCE have I missed a time.

This answer may not apply to some of us who have made mistakes and that our motto can be NEVER AGAIN. This can apply when we do miss our daily scripture study. I promise to NEVER AGAIN miss a time to strengthen my testimony.

I learned that whatever Christ wants me to do I will do.Sher Dew then spoke about our influence as wife, mother, ward member, neighbor, etc. We need to remember that we are being watched and that we have a profound influence on thousands of people.

Who do we look to for influence? Are we watching what our neighbors spend money on so we can buy the same things? Or do we look to the scriptures, the prophets, the strong men and women?Strong Families are created by Strong Women. I want a strong family so I guess I have my work cut about for me!

She said that sometimes we act as if we are going to stay here on earth but we aren't, we won't, we can't. Living to be happy and comfortable here on earth should not be our goal.

So how do we make our goal beyond that?

1. Know who we are - we are children of our heavenly father

2. Understand the atonement and take advantage of it in our lives.

3. Receive personal revelation so we can know for assurity how the Lord feels about us personally.

Mary Ellen Edmunds spoke of our Life Assurance policy. Jesus has paid all the premiums and we get all the benefits. All we need to do is accept and live by the agreement we made him. Then we get it all: happiness, family, heritage, the kingdom. Mary Ellen is a happy person. She is a great speaker. It is easy to believe her when she says that optimism is a choice. It is an attitude of happiness. She spoke of faith and assurance. Hope helps us feel things we can't see. But this is only half of the sentence. It should go like this: Assurance and hope help us feel things we can't see when we come unto HIM. Jesus wants us to come home. He is waiting to help us all we need to do is ask.

Michael Wilcox spoke of the scriptures. He reminded us of the importance of personal revelation and listening to the promptings we receive even when a prophet speaks. He said that sometimes we do not do as we have been asked by our leaders but we do another equally as good thing. As long as we are following our personally revelation we are doing what the Lord wants. He talked of the importance of listening but also of asking. The Lord is ready and he is the only one who can help. We can come to him with all things. I will saying this prayer tonight: Master if thou will thou canst make me clean.

Emily Watts spoke of the trials of our life. They make us who we need to be. Sometimes though we make the trials into a big tangled mess as we try to solve the trial by ourselves. If we take the trial to the Lord at any stage he can untangle us. She spoke of our fruit and how some fruit ripens sooner than others. You water and nurture the fruit but how and when it ripens depends on the SON. The fruit can be who I become through my trial as a parent. When is it my season to be ripe?

The Lord knows each of us. He knows our situation. I was chosen to be the mother for my children because I am the BEST Mom for them. I have been chosen and trusted by the Lord for this job.

Kris Belcher is blind. She shared her very touching story of her eye cancer discovered at the age of 7 months and the many surgeries and experiences leading up to the full blindness she experienced 6 years ago. Through many struggles she has learned that you can choose to throw a tantrum, be sad and cry through your trials or you can pray and let Heavenly Father know of your sadness, disappointment and frustration and let him help. Heavenly Father won't give you anything you can't handle WITHOUT THE SAVIOR.

Through this weekend I was touched by the spirit. I learned that I do not know everything I want to know. More importantly I learned that I know enough.

I KNOW:

that I am where I need to be right now.I
am loved.that I have felt the spirit touch me in my life.
I will see my Mother again.I can be forgiven.
Jesus lives for me.my children need me.
I have talents.I need to pray more.
I want to be happy and happiness comes from the Lord.
It is up to me to seek for answers.
Heavenly Father wants more for me.
I am married to the perfect man for me.

I am so glad to have had this experience. It was wonderful to spend time with my sisters. I love them all so much. I am grateful for a family that puts effort into family. I love that we can overlook the minor things and focus on the goal. I am so thankful for a wonderful husband. I know that I can leave for a time out and that the house will be clean, the kids will be fed and alive. I know that he is the best person for them because he is their father. I am also thankful for him as a supporter of me. He knows when I need comfort, when I need space, when to rub my back and when to pray for me. He has been there for me through many trials and continues to be my rock. I only pray that I can be as good and strong as he is.

Halloween

2009-11-01T07:58:00.000-08:00

For the past few years we have done a family theme and I have loved Halloween! This year the kids decided they just wanted to use the costumes we had saved and to do their own thing. I was a little disappointed but once I got sick the beginning of the month I was relieved. It was not as fun but it sure was easier.

Now remember I have been very sick for weeks. I didn't pick out their outfits or dress any of them! I think they had fun and that is what matters.

Parker as a lion! He wouldn't keep the hat on but he was cute!

Andrew was thrilled to be spiderman this year. He has had this costume for 2 years and has never worn it on Halloween.

Caitlyn is an Indian trying to stay warm in the cold, cold temperatures.

Alyssa is wearing my Mom's pioneer costume. We had to hem it a little and take it in but she looked great and got to honor Grandma Guy!

This is Mariah's second or third costume of the year. She was a witch for her school party but I didn't get a picutre. She wanted a change and went for this princess look!

School's In!

2009-08-19T20:03:00.000-07:00

School started today for the girls.

Mariah is now if Junior High School. She is so big. I can't believe it. I am so proud of her. Mariah is a good student. She is confident and able to tackle the new campus, 6 teachers and hundreds of students.

Alyssa is the glad to be the big kid on campus as a 6th grader. She is excited to have her good friends in her class again this year. She is hoping to do some acting this year.

Caitlyn is right in the middle in 3rd grade. She sits accross the row from BFF Kate. As long as she stops giggling long enough to listen she will do great.

YouTube

2009-08-13T20:10:00.000-07:00

Check out my YouTube video showing how to make these back-to-school clipboards.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ohmycrafts

Changes

2009-07-28T21:19:00.000-07:00

This year has been one of changes. I am embracing the changes and loving them so far.

This month my baby turned 2! I can't believe Parker is already so big.

He is the joy of our family. We all love to make him perform. He does animal and vehicle sounds, says everyones names, sings Elmo's World and most recently he says Transformers: Robots in the sky (it is really robots in disguise). He loves to jump and run in circles. He eats everything! Most the time he is a perfect baby. He rarely throws tantrums or even gets upset.

Alyssa turned 11 this week. I have 2 girls now in the 2 digits! She is such a young woman now. Alyssa is a very social girls; always having friends over or talking to them on the phone. We celebrated her birthday by taking the family and 4 of her friends to the reservoir. It was a fun evening.

Ignore the #5 candle. We couldn't find any other ones! LOL

This month we have also gone to 3 parades. We went to the 4th of July parade in Provo where we sat in the crowd through the hot sun and then the 10 minutes of downpour followed by more sun. Then the kids walked with our primary in the children's Parade. The kids dressed up as what they want to be when they grow up. Andrew a cowboy (like his best friend McKay). Cailtyn a teacher and Alyssa a movie star. Then last week we watched the 24th of July parade here in Spanish fork. I think we are done with parades until next year!

We have also spent time with cousins at the 4th of July BBQ, saw old friends from Sacramento who were out visiting, went to a community theatre show of Singing in the Rain and done some walking.

The best news is that Aaron found a job! He started work today and thinks he is going to like it.

I have also been promoted to Customer Service Manager. I have a team of 6 that I am training. I hope to have them so good that I can work a little from home once school starts. The boys have started day care and really seem to enjoy it.

Girls Room

2009-06-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

It is done! Well mostly...lol! There a few things I still want to find like shelves and I want to add a little more vinyl but the furniture is in and it looks great!

I love that it is bright, colorful, open and organized. We tried to find a place for everything so it can stay clean.

Crafting

2009-06-25T21:18:00.001-07:00

It has been awhile since my last post. I have been busy with the kids, house, work, getting settled at work, etc.

Finally things have slowed down a little and I have started crafting again. Most of what I have done was done with Starr or with her help! Thanks!

First we made these bangle watches. All I have is one watch face and then I have about 10 of these bracelets that I can hook on. We had fun one night using the hundreds of funky beads I got for free at work!

Then we did some glass etching. We made some frames for my Dad for father's day and then I did a few more frames, some glasses, votives, a big ol' cup for Aaron and Starr did a pyrex dish for her father-in-law. It was fun and very easy!

Finally this project was the girls bedroom. We had a flood in our basement last weekend and had to take everything out of the girls room. We are waiting for the carpet pad to get replaced, the carpet to be relaid and then cleaned. This should all be done by Tuesday. So while the room is empty I decided to finally decorate. this is the start! Starr covered some cork boards with fabric and used ribbon to make each girl a personalized memory board. Then I cut tons of vinyl in bright funky colors to make these circles. I love it!

I found these picture frames and filled one for each girl. We added more fun vinyl. These will go above their beds.

This wall is mirrors and vinyl for the girls to do their hair.

I have the bedsets and a cool lamp. I am on the look out for some chairs and milk crates in loud colors to use as shelves and a nightstand. I hope to have everything done Tuesday!

Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T16:55:00.001-07:00

I love this day. First off all I am so grateful to have the best mother God every created. She was perfect in every way. After birthing 6 children and being told she couldn't have any more she went on to adopt 2 more and fostered several dozen. She cooked, kept a clean and tidy house, took us on vacations, had her own friends, crafted, and overcame some of the most horendous child hood issues. All of this I do not have one memory of her every yelling. She was amazing! I love her and miss her every day!

I try to be like my mother. I am not. I yell, my house is often messing and I know I can not handle more children than the ones I have. But I continue to try.

Today I woke up to the best gift. My children were up and dressed for church and were happy!
Then they preceded to give me the treasures they had made. Mariah had drawn a bird and made a beautiful card. Alyssa had a jar filled with tags for me to use in my scrapbooks or on gifts. caitlyn has several treasures she had made at school: a picture she had drawn, a paper flower pot with paper flowers listing reasons I was a good mom and a book about mothers she had written and illustrated. All of these great treasures will be added to my scrapbooks.

The best were given to me after church. Each child was given a form to fill in the blanks about there mother.
Andrews:
When I was born, Mom thought she loved me.
My mom looks really pretty when she doesn't blow dry her hair or cut it!
In her spare time my mom likes to go to the store and buy stuff.

Caitlyns:
When I was born, Mom thought I was cute.
My mom looks really pretty when she wears dresses.
In her spare time my mom likes to sleep.

Alyssa's:
When my mom was a little girl she had a best friend who she named me after.
When my mom met my dad she thought he was gorgeous.
When I was born, mom thought I was beautiful.
Mom looks really pretty when she is dressed for church.
In her spare time, my mom likes to scrapbook.
My mom likes me to do my hair in ways she likes.
I love my mom because she loves me and takes care of me and my needs.

Mariah's:
Still to come....

Aaron surprised me this morning with a Mothers necklace. It is a heart locket with birthstone jewels inside representing each member of my family. I will wear it and keep my family close to me!

Off to enjoy the marinated chicken and artichoke pasta that has been prepared in my honor!

Happy Mother's Day to all women who in any way help to raise and educate todays youth and especially to those who help keep all mothers sane!

Mr. Mom

2009-04-08T22:33:00.000-07:00

While Aaron looks for a job he is playing Mr. Mom. He is very good at it. Some things he has gotten to do: pick up girls from school, laundry, dinner, cleaning, playing with the boys, feeding boys, homework, playdates, whining children, and running errands. And he has done all of this while trying to apply and look for a job.

I am very proud of my husband. He is trying very hard and has done a great job at keeping the kids in one piece, having dinner ready when I get home and having the upstairs clean!

Thanks honey. I love you!

I just love it here!

2009-04-06T18:15:00.000-07:00

So today was the girls first day of school. We had already met the principal when we enrolled them 3 weeks ago. He was very nice.
We all went to see them off on their new adventure. As we were walking up we were greated by a teacher who asked if we were the 'new' family. She has a 2nd grade son who would be in Caitlyn's class.
Then before we could get to the door a group of girls asked "which one of you is Mariah?" Each class had been told they would be getting a new girl from California. They told Mariah to come with them and off they went.
It was so great to see the girls taken in and shown the ropes.
Even after school they were still excited. Caitlyn says her new best friend is named Zoe!

I am so glad that they are fitting in and making friends so quickly. Right now the girls are all riding their scooters around the neighborhood in hopes of catching sight of a new friend.

I started work today and had a similar reaction. Everyone was very open and welcoming. My job is customer service. I get to answer a lot of emails; mostly where is my order type of stuff. Not terribly exciting but I get to work in the industry and with great people.

We made it!!!

2009-04-04T09:24:00.000-07:00

After 2 long days of packing we left our house late Tuesday night. It was strange to drive away from the house we own leaving it messy and with belongings (my step-mom is doing a yard sale for us later this month). As strange as it was it was also exciting.
We spent the night at my Dad's. Yeah for beds and breakfast in the morning. Our plan to leave at 6am were deterred by the want for more sleep. By 7am we were on our way. Aaron driving a 24 foot truck, my Dad driving a 16 foot truck and towing Aaron's car, and me driving the van with the little kids.
Our drive went smooth although long. We finally made it to Spanish Fork at 10:30pm. My sister graciously set up beds in her basement for us to crash on.
Thursday we arrived at our new house and began unloading the trucks. We were amazed at the support from the neighborhood and our new ward. With in minutes of arriving our landlord was at the house unloading for an hour before he went to work. Then my awesome friend and her husband drove down and spent a few hours helping. The relief society president showed up with muffins and spent an hour organizing my kitchen. The next door neighbor brought us home made cookies.
The other neighbors came to introduce themselves and ask if we needed help. My reply was sure if you have the time. They replied, "We are out of town and can't help today but we will call someone to make sure you have the help you need." I laughed at that.
Then the elders quorum president and his 2nd counselor came and finished bringing in the rest of the big furniture.
I couldn't believe the amount of help we had with in the first few hours. We have met more of our neighbors in 2 days than we ever met in our 12 years in Sacramento.
It didn't end there!
Friday we slept in after a late night grocery shopping trip in the rain. As I was getting out of the shower at 9:30 the neighbor arrived with her 2 little ones with the offer to help. With her and my sister working hard we finished the kitchen, Caitlyns room and got a good start on the food storage room. After she left another neighbor from down the street came and helped with my craft room.
Before long the Bishop's wife came with her 12 year old daughter. We got to work organizing the boys room. Mariah and Alyssa found a great friend and took off with her to her house.
Still not done with all the generosity. Around 5 the retired lady across the street brought bread and dessert and told us the rest of dinner was on its way. Sure enough lasagna and salad showed up a little later.
We shared our dinner with all of the family that showed up to help bring in the last boxes so I would have room to park in the garage.
Today we had a delivery of warm cinnamon rolls to start our morning.
I am just amazed and blessed to have the warm acceptance from family, neighbors and church members. With all the help we are almost done with the unboxing. (except for my craft room which will take awhile)
So far I love it here! Our house is big and open. The people are wonderful. Family is close!

New job, new house, and our move

2009-03-13T22:04:00.000-07:00

What a few weeks we have had!

Over the years Aaron and I have had several discussions about moving to Utah to be near my siblings and his sister. The discussions usually ended in 'NO, Way'. Niether of us really wanted to live in Utah with the snow, being surrounded by mountains, away from friends and family we have here. Plus I had the store and he had his job.

Then I closed the store and Aaron lost his job. After looking for work for the past 8 months I did get hired on at Walmart here. I even started orientation last Friday. But we were feeling the pull again toward Utah.

So we packed up this week to go for a visit. While there things were falling into place. We looked at some rental houses and found a HUGE 7 bedroom, 3 bath 3,300 sq foot house for half of what we are paying in CA. See how open the living area is? And the kitchen has so much more storage than what we have. Downstairs in the basement is a large living room and 4 bedrooms. We will have kids rooms, excercise room, craft room and study! So we signed a lease starting April 1st!

Then I found a job in Utah!!!! I am so excited!!!! I had applied at a few various places and then as I got an email from one of my favorite online scrapbook stores I noticed the address was in Utah. So I filled out their contact me form with a plea for a job. I got a reply! They said they found my resume 'interesting to them' and they wanted to talk. I met with the owners on Wednesday and talked for 2 hours. We discussed the current trends, my experience and what I could offer them. They wanted me to join their team! I came back Thursday and they offered me a job. The pay is better than I was getting here in CA @ Walmart and the job is so much better. They are anxious for me to start. In order to help them out sooner they are flying me out next weekend to run a scrapbook Expo! I am so excited! I get a steady paycheck, flexible hours and get to be involved in the scrapbook business.

Aaron still has not found a job but has been able to make many contacts. Fortunitely the IT field pays the same in UT as in CA. We are confident that he will be able to find something soon.

While in Utah we visited a great friend and her 3 daughters. I also got to go out to dinner with an awesome gal and her family. I met Heather almost 4 years ago when I attended a convention in Provo. I can't wait until we move and we can scrapbook together! We also saw lots of family. I loved watching Parker kiss baby Taitt, Andrew play with his baby Ben, Caitlyn and Emalee running off together, Andrew and Hadley holding hands while walking through the temple, Alyssa getting all of the kids together for games, and the kids playing in the snow. I am going to love have family to get together with. Before leaving we stopped at the kids new school and got them enrolled.

So now we are frantically packing and finishing many tasks. We move the 1st of April! Aaahhh!!!

Who am I?

2009-02-18T07:58:00.000-08:00

I am a working mother and wife.
I scrapbook and craft with my daughters.
I have taught Mariah to be an entreprenuer and to work for the things she wants. I have seen her successfully start a business at school and then sell her homemade scarves in my store. I have seen the joy in her eyes as she has earned money to go to girls camp and to sly park. She knows that she can do anything.
I cuddle with my boys and read them books. I laugh as Parker dances and mimicks words. I am amazed that Alyssa is so sensitive yet continues to put herself out there trying new things.
I am a homemaker. I clean, cook, shop, fix, mend and create.
I am a friend. I listen to and vent with friends as we party, talk, eat and scrapbook. I share and contribute to relationships.
I am a student. I am continuing my education so that I can learn and grow. I am teaching my children by example the importance of continuing an education. I hope to get my bachelors in Business Administration in 2011.
I am not a good stay at home mom. I do better with quality time versus quantity time. I tried staying at home with my kids for 9 years. I am grateful for that time but have discovered that for me it is best when I work.
I am great at multi-tasking. I do best when I have a lot going on. I thrive on deadlines and juggling schedules.
I like to read. My favorites are historical fiction.
I used to like to cook. Now I like to eat out!
I am addicted to my computer. I check everyones blogs daily and facebook several times a day.
I want to have a good relationship with my family and keep putting myself out there only to be hurt over and over.
I love my husband. He is the most forgiving, honest, dependable, caring, self-less man.
I hate my accounting class. I will be glad when this semester is over. On the other hand I love my economics class. My teacher is horrible but I love the topic.
I am scared for the future of the world and what it holds for my children. The economy is scary.
I eat chocolate every day. Even if it is just one piece.
I need between 8-10 hours of sleep every night. I can take a nap and still sleep 8 hours.
I just had surgery last week. Hopefully my anemia will improve and I will finally stop being cold.
I want to find a job that will allow me to provide for my family and that I will enjoy. I want a job that will allow me to go to my kids school and church functions. I want to feel secure in a career.
I am sad that my dream of owning a scrapbook store is over. I will forever be grateful that I took the leap to try it. I have had experiences and freindships that I will treasure the rest of my life.
I am grateful for my mother-in-law for supporting me in my dream and reminding me that I am a good person.
I love reality tv and watch most of the new shows. Good thing I can multi-task as I usually study while watching!
I just interviewed today for a position with Walmart. I have a 2nd interview tomorrow. It is for a supervisor position in the shoe department.
I have a boot fetish. I own at least 4 pairs of boots and would own more if they sold them in wide width more often.
Aaron and I are getting our passports soon. We don't have plans to use them but we are getting them anyway.
My digital SLR camera is one of my favorite things. Taking pictures is a calming wonderful thing. I so horrible at playing the tooth fairy that I finally just fessed up and now the girls just bring their lost teeth straight to me in exchange for a dollar.
My favorite outfit is a red and black dress with my black boots. It is so comfy and yet cute!
I love to see live theatre. My favorite show ever is Wicked. It is in San Francisco and I would love to take all the girls.
Mariah and I went to see Wicked last year in LA and then went to Disneyland. I would love to go back and take the whole family.
I dream of remodelling our kitchen.
I am in the middle of a bankruptcy for the business. Unfortunately this also means I have to file personally as well. Good thing I am not planning on making any large purchases in the near future!
If I could I would join a gym and take the kids. We will start with weekly walks around the block.
Getting LASIK was one of the best decisions. I love being able to see while swimming.
I can get me and all 5 kids ready in a shorter amount of time than it takes Aaron to get ready.
I used to greatly dislike Halloween but since we started dressing up as a family theme I love it. We plan next years theme before this Halloween has even passed.
Time and money allowing I will both sky dive and bungee jump this year.
My guilty pleasure is getting my hair dyed and my eybrows waxed.
I have to keep my alarm clock on the other side of the room or I never get up.

Movie and Dinner or Bowling anyone?

2009-02-13T11:32:00.000-08:00

This year Mariah is in 6th grade and has the opportunity to go to Sly Park. This is a week of crafts, singing, adventure, science, exploration, new friends and memories.

The cost: $290

She has been making scarves for the last few months and has made about $60 so far. If you would like to order a scarf leave me a comment with the color. They average $10 each and she can usually have them done in 3-5 days! She is quite good if I do say so myself. I wear a black and purple one regularly.

The school is doing a Bowling Fundraiser to help the kids out. We realize it is on a Sunday afternoon. I am sorry. We did not get any say in the day or time. Mariah and I will be there anyway as we have a few friends that have already expressed interest.

The details:
ONLY $5 includes "One Game" and "Shoe Rental"
$2.50 for each additional game

When: Sunday March 1, 2009
12 - 2 pm

Where: AMF Alpine Valley
2326 Florin Rd. (Near 24th St.)

If interested in tickets please contact me or Mariah. Tickets will also be sold at the bowling alley on the day of the event. All proceeds will go to Sly Park fundraising efforts. Everyone is wellcome so invite family and friends!

This will also be Mariah's first year of Church Girls Camp.

The cost of this fun adventure: $100

The fundraiser:

Movie and Dinner (hot dog, chips and drink)
Cost $5 each or $20 family

When: Saturday February 28, 2009
@ 5:30pm

Where: LDS chapel
6711 Seasons Dr.
Elk Grove, CA 95758

Our family will be there to support Mariah. We would be thrilled to have you join us.

Relaxing get away

2009-02-09T19:11:00.000-08:00

Aaron and I had the opportunity to take another weekend get away! (I think we are getting spoiled!)

We left Saturday after I went to school and then put in a few hours on our last 'official' day of the store being open.

Aaron picked me up from the store after the kids got picked up at our house and we left around 5. The drive was long but nice. We chatted a little about our days and then each of us got lost in our own thoughts. I fell asleep for the last portion of the drive and awoke as we pulled into the hotel. We stayed right on the beach with a room looking out on the ocean.
This is what was saw from our room!

After dropping our things in our room we went to the restaurant hotel for a light dinner. We had the best fried calamari and clam chowder. YUMMY!! It was perfect.

Off to our room. We played some cards and I took a nice long hot bath while reading a novel. It was a perfect evening.

Sunday I got up early enough to do some homework and shower before Aaron got up. Then we ordered in. I had never done room service before so this was a nice treat. Again the food was delicious. I had an omelet with spinach and artichokes and the best fried potatoes. Aaron also had an omelet and potatoes. We were full and ready for our day.

We bundled up and headed off to walk the beach. For a holiday weekend it was very bare. We walked down stopping to watch the waves, birds and to pick up odd pieces of washed up sea things! A nice man even offered to take our picture.

After we were thoroughly cold we headed back. As we walked I closed my eyes and let Aaron be my guide. I knew he would lead me where we needed to go so I used my other senses. I felt the cool ocean breeze on my face blowing my hair. I listened to waves crashing on the shore. I heard the birds flying and chirping. I heard the cars drive by and the families talking and laughing. I felt the sand beneath my shoes; softer in the dry sand and more firm when we were closer to the water.

We reached our room again and freshened up before heading to the wharf. We walked and walked. The day was cool with light sprinkles. As we hoped the rain would stay light we became tourist window shopping but not entering any of the shops on the pier. Near the end was a man and his birds. Gathered around him were families and visitors in awe of the colors and types of birds. The man was bringing the children to him to hold the birds then having them pose for their mothers camera telling them to pet the bird like a cat. Some children were scared and hid. Others couldn't wait for their turn. After awhile the crowd thinned and Aaron and I stepped up. We couldn't pass up this opportunity.

We continued our walk following the path 1.2 miles to Cannery Row. The view on this path is spectacular. The city has gone to a great deal of work to keep it clean and well groomed with plenty of benches available to stop and a take a break. As we walked along we spotted a father and his son climbing on the rocks below near what Aaron has named 'Crap Capped Mountain' for obvious reasons.

As we looked we noticed this one white seal up on the beach. Suddenly 4 rocks moved behind him! Those seals camouflage quite nicely on the rocks.

Further down we stopped to take a snack break and were quickly joined by 2 hungry guests! They didn't give up their perch until after we did! During our break we saw a family going snorkeling and a group getting ready for a scuba diving trip. One our way back we saw a father flying a kite with his daughter. This is a great place for so many activities!

Down in Cannery Row headed into Ghirardelli market for a free sample and an ice cream cone. Then off for some more walking and window shopping. Finally we headed back the same trail being passed by both walkers and cyclists as we took our time.

Time to head back but before going to the hotel we stopped at Chili's for dinner. The waitress thought it was cute when Aaron and I ordered a salad and a steak dinner and shared them both. Cute or not it was the right amount of food with out having to take any home!

Back at the hotel Aaron wanted to go check out the spa. As soon as we changed and headed outside we discovered it was raining. This did not deter us! I am not usually one to be out in the rain but hey I was going to be getting wet anyway so what did it matter! The spa was a hot 104*. We stayed until we were officially prunes and had to get out. In our room there was a sign saying to use the towels at the pool instead of bringing down ones from the room so we obeyed. They forgot to mention that the towels were not much bigger than a hand towel! Drying of was kind of pointless anyway as it was still raining so we just ran back.

At this point exhaustion took over and I fell asleep within minutes of lying down. This meant I was no longer tired at 4 in the morning. Oh, well. I got up and got some more homework done and of course checked my facebook! By 6 I got back in bed for a few more hours of sleep. We both had a lazy morning of showering, packing and sitting before we checked out around 11. On our drive back we stopped for brunch and movie. I can't do the slow relaxing weekend for all my vacations but this one was needed and came at a great time.

Thanks Aaron for catering to my every whim this weekend. Thanks Dad and Connie for keeping all of our monsters. Thanks Sarah for closing the shop Saturday so we could get on the road.

I've Been Tagged!

2009-02-06T10:06:00.000-08:00

Here are the rules:

1. go to your my document/my pictures

2. go to your sixth file

3. go to your sixth picture

4. blog about it

5. tag six people

I love pictures so I had to follow through on this tag! Thanks Kristi!

This is a picture of Mariah and I all dressed up and ready to go so WICKED in LA. What a fun night and weekend! We had the best time seeing the best broadway show ever and going to Disneyland!!!

Ok I tag: April, Sarah, Sherry, Robyn, Cora and Clayton!

Forever Plaid

2009-02-05T22:52:00.001-08:00

My husband and I had the privilege of going to see Forever Plaid put on at California Musical Theatre's new Cosmopolitan Cabaret in Sacramento.

This show was Amazing! Not knowing much of the background I assumed it would be a quartet singing 50's and 60's music. It was so much more than that! The storyline left the audience laughing, the audience participation left us on our toes and the music left us in awe! When Jinx performed his solo half way through we couldn't wait to hear more.

If you haven't been I would highly recommend going, and if at all possible sit front and center. You won't be sorry!

Happy Birthday Andrew.

2009-02-01T19:59:00.000-08:00

My oldest son turned 5 today! He is our superbowl baby. Coming from two non-sport parents I didn't even know it was superbowl the day he was born until the husband of the new mom I was sharing a post-delivery room with said something. Liz made this birthday cake. Andrew asked for a bionical cake but that was a little too much. We then suggested a lego cake. She had never made one before. I think it turned out great! As an added bonus Aaron and I found these candles that spell his name at Evangeline's in Old Sac. How fun!

Andrew was thrilled with all of his presents: a transformer, lots of bionicals, a shirt and Martian Matters. His oldest cousin Kamron, or 'big one' as Andrew called him, was elected to put the kits together. Kamron has been a lego fan for many many years and is quite the expert. Andrew let his younger cousin Logan unwrap a few of his gifts. He had a great birthday!

Good new and bad news

2009-01-30T17:49:00.000-08:00

The good new is that DH is officially still an employee until March 31. He will receive his salary and benefits. The better news is that he doesn't have to go into the office during that time.

The bad news is that he has been laid off.

It could be worse. We know people in worse situations. We will make it.

I passed the interview process of the dispatch position and have moved on to the background check. If they call and ask you about me be nice! Once I pass that I go into the psychological exam portion. Following that is a physical. Once done they will know more about me than me!

The dispatch academy will not begin until May or June. So until them I am closing up the store, focusing on my 2 college classes, cleaning and organizing the house, spending time with hubby and kids and if possible working at any of the jobs I am on the substitute lists for. Call me I can work now!

My Mom

2009-01-23T22:10:00.000-08:00

Today is my Mom's Birthday. She would have been 55 this year. I have missed her dearly the last 5 years since she returned to her heavenly home. My mom was my best friends. I could talk to her about anything. She would listen and give advice when asked, but never judge. She was true to herself, her family, friends and church. Her talents amaze me still. I remember the summer she made a mall for our Barbies complete with swim suits, pjs, dresses, pants, even a wedding dress for each of us. She cooked, baked, did many crafts, stayed caught up with family and friends.

I love you Mom!

In her honor I got a tattoo of a ladybug for the lady who meant so much to me. This was added to my daisy chain I got last year as a Mothers day present. It has 2 large daisies for Aaron and I. They overlap and are now connected. Then there are 5 additional daisies for each of my seedlings. I love seeing and having them with me always.

I passed!!!

2009-01-13T10:41:00.000-08:00

I just got my letter in the mail! It is official. I passed the dispatcher test. This is for Sacramento Fire/EMS.

Next is the interview on the 22nd before I have to do a background and psychological tests.

I am off now to do an interview with SCOE!

Wish me luck!

Hire Me, Please!

2009-01-09T11:27:00.000-08:00

These posters can now be seen hanging in our front window at the store.

As we prepare to close our store and shut the doors on our dream we are finding ways to stay sane. Sarah and I have discovered that we are in the mourning process. We are dealing with a loss. The loss of our dream, our daily work, the community we have built. We have faced denial and anger. Now we are dealing.

The job hunt has been long and so far with no avail. I have taken several tests with school districts, the county, city and even for a 911 dispatcher. I will find out results in the next few weeks. I am even on lists for hiring. I have interviewed and had 2nd interviews. The problem? No one is hiring. Government: school, city, county and state are all facing hiring freezes due to the economy.

So this is one more attempt to draw attention. We are hard working, capable, fun loving women who need jobs. We continue to submit resumes and take tests. Even if our attempts do not prove fruitful we will have fun in the process.

Reconnecting in San Francisco

2009-01-06T07:53:00.000-08:00

2009 is for self discovery. It is a year for claiming my own destiny.

The first thing I did in this journey is make my husband and my marriage a priority. We are fortunate enough to have family willing to take all 5 of our munchkins on little notice for the weekend.

After dropping them off early Saturday morning we headed on west to the bay. The drive allowed us to talk and work through some things that were on our hearts. We arrived to find our hotel right on the bay. Since we couldn't check in yet we parked and began to explore the city.

Meandering around San Francisco in January is a little chilly. That gave us the perfect opportunity to get a cup of hot cocoa in Ghiradelli square. We took the cocoa with us as we sat on the beach and watched a few crazies swimming in the bay. BRRR!!!

Before heading back to the hotel we had a yummy cup of clam chowder.

We stayed at the Argonot. This hotel was all nautical themed. The lobby was great with a fire, comfy chairs and even a sail boat. Our room was lovely. The king sized bed was the most comfortable I have ever slept in at a hotel.

We didn't stay long after checking in. We had things to see. This time we headed straight for Pier 39. The cold weather wasn't keeping anyone away. We saw and heard people from all over the world. I love the diversity we have in California!

Meandering through the many shops left us cold and hungry. Dinner was at Bubba Gumps. That brought some good and bad. Bubba Gumps is all about the shrimp. I LOVE shrimp! But I am also allergic. :( I was good and had a steak. It was yummy! Aaron of course had shrimp. I was jealous but whats a girl to do.

After dinner we headed back in for a movie in the hotel. I stayed true to me and fell asleep 10 minutes before the movie ended. I wonder if I will ever see the end of a movie!

Sunday morning we took our time getting up and checking out. Then it was back to the wharf for some fresh mini donuts and a Bay Tour. I had never done a tour before. We really wanted to do an Alcatraz tour but they sell out pretty early. The Bay Tour was 1 hour long sailing around the bay. We went under the Golden Gate Bridge, saw Angel Island and around Alcatraz before coming back to dock. What a great tour! I loved all of it: the corny recorded narration, watching the tourists with all their cameras, taking great pictures and sitting next to Aaron.

We finished the day with lunch and began the drive back home. I left Aaron to his thoughts as I slept in the car.

It was a great weekend and a perfect way to start the new year.

We have lost the battle...

2008-12-19T22:34:00.000-08:00

and the economy has won.

The past year we have seen sales decline at the store. The summer was particularly slow. We hoped to make it through the Holidays and see how sales reacted to a new President, the High School opening and gas prices remaining low.

However it is not to be. After meeting with our attorney today and speaking with our management company we were assured there would be no bailout, no compassion and no aide for us. So at 2pm we sent out the notice and put up signs.

The entire store is now up for liquidation. We will be closing our doors forever before the end of January.

I am going to miss the friends I have made, hanging out scapbooking, the community! I often joke that West Sacramento is like Mayberry meets Days of Our Lives. Everyone knows everyone, drama is constant. The community pulls together when good friends suffer from cancer, spouses lose jobs, families take in foster kids.

As I fail for the 1st time in my life I take with me the knowledge of all I have learned and the experiences I have had. I look forward the changes to come.

Miscommunications Suck

2008-11-18T11:19:00.000-08:00

In my very large family miscommunications happen often. This last one is my last. I am standing up for myself and my children and stopping the hurt. We will not have anything more to do with my extended family. I am tired of being judged for working out of the home, having my kids in public school, not having a perfectly clean house, letting my kids stay home by themselves, etc.

There is no communication. No opportunity to say what you feel without everyone being brought in and things getting blown out of proportion.

It hurts that what could be isn't. There could be large family gatherings, cousins having sleepovers, exchanging emails and phone calls. There could be fun, collaboration of ideas, sharing of talents. Instead it is each family out for themselves.

So now I will join the ranks of others and leave my family of birth and create a family of choice. A good friend told me the best families are the ones who choose to be together.

Coupon Codes

2008-11-13T23:08:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that I just made this discovery. I order things online frequently. Between my schedule, gas prices and hauling kids to the store I have found it easiest to order birthday and Christmas presents along with books online.

I was placing an order yesterday and saw that there was a place to put in a coupon code. I notice those at most online sites and feel quite sad that I am rarely ever able to put anything in that box. It is as if someone is waving a coupon or sale in my face while telling me I can't partake in it. So I decided to try something. I put the websites name (can't say what it is because it was for a Christmas present!) then the words coupon code. Wham!!! Up came several websites listing online coupon codes.

The particular site I was using let me put in more than one! I was able to get FREE shipping plus $10 off my purchase. I also got 25% off everything after the first regular priced item. I saved over $40! I was way excited.

So today I had to order a new glass top to our range. The other cracked due to a child's accident and our home warranty wouldn't cover it. The repair man told me it would cost $275 for the part and $80-100 for labor. OUCH! So I decided to look up the part on Sears. I could get the part there for $212 so I put in my cart and on my check out what do I see? A box saying enter coupon code here. So off I google. I found a code that got me 10% off. Yeah! I saved over $20. I am so excited. Sears only let me put in 1 code, but that is OK.

I promptly forbid Aaron to ever to order anything online without googling coupon codes first. :)