~Future Olympic Swimmer~

This kids cracks us up! One of the kids put this swim cap on Anney and she LOVED it...she wore it around the house forever! The kids love to do funny things to her and she loves it...she's such a ham! What a blessing this little girl is in our lives, ALWAYS HAPPY and SMILEY! We love her and are so glad she is part of our family!

Sorry to have stolen your shoes....................

I have to document this story because it's so funny and I know Travis will laugh about it later......

It all started last Thursday night after his swim meet at Shepherd Junior High....we get in the car and he looks down at his shoes and realizes the black crocs he is wearing aren't his. These are small on his feet and have a hole in the bottom.......he starts freaking out saying someone "stole" his shoes. I told him Travis everyone has black crocs and they all look the exact same so I'm sure someone just took yours by mistake, etc. We are pretty much the last one's to leave so I figure oh well, someone got a MUCH nicer pair of shoes then we got so they will be happy. I had told travis also..I would just get him a new pair of shoes next time I was at the store....he wasn't very happy cause he wanted "his" crocs.

Fast forward to Tuesday at Swim Team practice at Brimhall Junior High... I go pick him up from basketball Camp (he goes straight from swim team to basketball camp with my sister) and he RUNS out to the car so excited telling me he has found "his" crocs. He said, "mom they were just sitting on the pool deck by themselves." I said, Travis those are someone else's shoes. He tries to tell me, no they aren't they are mine....anyways he wouldn't let it go, I couldn't reason with him, I tried to ask him how they would of gotten from Shepherd to Brimhall by themselves, etc. Basically he saw a pair that looked like his, and he was determined they were his. FINALLY after I said, "travis, those are someone else's shoes and now that poor kid had no shoes to go home in." I can't imagine how long this person spent looking for their shoes, and what if they had to walk home? So after explaining all of this, he finally GOT IT! The look on his face went from so happy he thought he found his shoes, to how bad he felt for someone that went home with no shoes! I kept thinking how frustrated this mom must be....how many times do we say to our kids, Where are your shoes? You came with shoes..no find them! I don't think someone stole your shoes, etc.? Oh I can only imagine..... anyways, to make a long story short he took the shoes back the next day to Brimhall and put them in the lost and found. Let's hope they make it to the rightful owner.

We have another swim meet tonight...so who knows what we will end up with!

Happy Father's Day!!! (a day late!)

Happy Fathers Day to the best dad EVER!!!!!!!

The kids and I made pancakes, bacon and eggs for breakfast and then we opened some fun presents. We gave Randy a BBQ cleaning brush, an UNDER ARMOUR shirt for running, a framed family picture for him to put on his desk at work, diamondbacks tie, candy and a pitcher! I'm sure some of you are wondering why the heck we could give him a pitcher but he has complained about us only having 1 pitcher (for some reason we've lost all the others). So when we some some pitchers at Target, we grabbed him one. He said that was his favorite gift, and we mixed Crystal Light in it for dinner last night. After church the kids and I made him a yummy dinner, we had Flank Steak with florentine stuffing, potatoes, corn and pineapple and watermelon. It was a yummy dinner. After dinner we went over to my parents and Randy's parents and wished them a Happy Father's Day.

Here are some pictures of the kids with him and the presents.....you can see how much they love their dad, he is truly their hero! Randy loves being a father and loves his kids more than anything. I couldn't ask for a better dad for my kids,

he supports them a 110% in everything they do

loves doing things with them, family vacations are the best!

he loves to have fun with them

he teaches them about the gospel all the time

he has such a strong testimony

he can fix anything that breaks

he loves to brag about them

he's so proud they all love to ride quads, play sports, etc.

He is such a great example to them everyday

He works so hard to provide for them

I could go on and on forever.....but as you can tell we are so lucky to have such a wonderful dad!

Also, thanks so much for a wonderful father and father-in-law....Randy and I wouldn't be the people we are today without these two wonderful men who have taught us the gospel, set a great example to us, and taught us how to choose the right and be the people we are today! Thanks, we love you both!!!

Wannabe SWIMMER???

Hey Everyone! I took these pictures of Anney yesterday in her new "floatie" thing....let me tell you though...she HATES this thing! She will last in here for about 5 seconds. You can see her trying to squirm out in the second pictures. She's such a pain to take swimming cause she wants to swim like her brother and sisters. She thinks she can jump in like them, jump off the diving board, etc. It's crazy and not very enjoyable to swim with her. I thought maybe if I bought this little floating thing she would happy to float around with the kids, but nope she wants out and wants to swim! Oh well, waste of 15 bucks!

Randy got back late last night from being gone to Boston for a week, he had a great time visiting with some people he works with and attending a Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Park. I was quite jealous he got to go without me....most of you know how much I love baseball and visiting other ballparks, so I was quite jealous he got to do this. I even contemplated flying out Thursday morning to go to the game that night, but thought that's a little unrealistic.... The kids and I had fun while he was gone, we took it easy and hung out in the pool most of the time.

Travis and Taylor had their first swim meet last Thursday. This was the freestyle meet and they both did so awesome! They are really becoming fast swimmers and I think they really enjoy it. Of course it helps they have so many friends swimming with them this year, but hey whatever works! After the meet we went to Cici's pizza with our friends, I think we've started a new tradition of going out to eat after the swim meets!

Well i need to run and get my act together for Father's Day tomorrow...everyone have a good weekend!

Watch out....here we come!! Speed Racers!

The kids had primary activity day this afternoon. They had the best time ever. It was a "drive- in" at the church. All the kids brought home-made cars that they had made and they watched a movie. The movie they watched was a talent show. The leaders had gone around and taped every primary kid doing some type of talent. Travis played "Called to Serve" on the piano, Taylor did all kinds of tumbling routines and Megan "jumped" off the diving board and swam to the side. We had so much fun making our cars. Our neighbor the Nelsons have primary age kids so we make all the cars together. When the kids got to the church, I guess it was all set up like the drive-ins. THey had a road done in the hallway made out of tape, they had a concession stand set up and a car wash so you could wash your car before you watched the movie. My kids had the greatest time ever.......They haven't stopped talking about it. My kids have the best primary leaders and teachers, they are so creative and I appreciate all the hard work they put into teaching my kids...they are incredible! Here are some fun pictures of the kids working on their cars.....they LOVED it and are begging me to keep their cars forever! Somehow I don't think they will last longer then a couple of days. They can only take Anney dragging them around so long................

A Darling Baby...and a YUMMY recipe...

This kid is so stinkin' cute!! She is the happiest and most friendly baby ever. We were outside playing tonight and she was having so much fun on the tricycle, I had to snap a picture. She LOVES to have her picture taken, as soon as you get the camera out, she has a HUGE smile for you....how can you resist not taking her picture?

Also, i forgot to include the recipe for Lemon Bars. This is my Sister In Laws Recipe, it is the best Lemon Bars I've ever had. The first couple of years her and my brother were married, I swear we had her make these lemon bars for EVERY family function.....she probably got sick of making them, but they are so yummy! Thanks Katie!

Lemon Bars- Katie Weight

Crust:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter
Mix and press in 9x13 pan and bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees

Filling:
4 eggs slightly beaten
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 lemon rind zest
Mix and pour over warm crust and then bake for 30-40 minutes
Cool- then add:

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Happy Birthday Grandpa Ferrin!!

Today is Grandpa Ferrin's Birthday. We decided it would be so much fun to take all the grandkids over and sing Happy Birthday to him at his door and make him brownies and lemon bars. I think he was quite surprised to open the door to a bunch of little kids screaming the Happy Birthday Song.

Everyone Loves Grandpa Ferrin, these are some reasons we thought of

He is so fun and friendly to everyone.

He is such a great example of love and service.

He loves his kids and their spouses and all the grandkids so much.

He has always treated me as a daughter, and always made me feel like his own.

Everyone goes to him for advice

He Loves his wife more then ANYTHING!

He has a very strong testimony of the gospel.

He LOVES to play golf.

If you invite him to dinner with you, he even pays!

He always knows where the cheapest gas is and who has milk on sale!

He will go to any store for you and pick up what's on sale so you can get the great

deal also, and he even delivers your groceries!

He has taught his children how to work hard

He can build ANYTHING!

He is a great example on how to live within your means and invest your money

wisely.

He is a wonderful man and we are so lucky to have him as our grandpa and father! We love you and hope you had a wonderful birthday!!!

Back from the trek....

Holy cow....talk about a great experience. We had the greatest time! Randy and I were fortunate to be a "ma and pa" to 7 other kids. Those of you who don't know what a trek is, basically you are acting as pioneers for 3 days. We dressed as the pioneers, put all of our belongings we took in handcarts, slept on the ground, no showers and pulled our handcarts about 18 miles. As we "trekked" we had many experiences along the way. Some pioneer stories were told, games were played and some spiritual experiences were shared. The highlight of the trip was the testimony meeting Saturday morning at 5 a.m. Everyone shared their testimonies and I was touched by so many. The youth of our ward are incredible and they are such good examples to me. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to go, it was a life changing experience for me that I will never forget. I can't believe what I learned about the pioneers. I came home with a greater love for the pioneers and what they went through.

p.s. thanks to my mom, sister and sister in law for watching my kids, we could of never gone and done this without ya!!


Recipe for the day.................I made these last night for dinner, they are so yummy. This comes from my grandma who is an incredible cook...

Company Carrots

1 lb. carrots 1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1 1/2 cup finely crushed Ritz crackers 1/4 cup or more of grated cheese
1 cube butter or margarine salt and pepper to taste

Peel and slice carrots and cook them until tender. Melt butter and set aside. In a casserole dish place layer of carrots, salt and pepper, cheese and crushed crackers on top. Top the final layer with melted butter. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Just A quick Update................

Hey everyone! Thought I'd give you a quick update on what's been going on. Randy got back from a fun week of scout camp. They hiked the Highline Trail....Over 50 miles of hiking! Doesn't sound fun to me, but they had a blast!

The kids started swim team and basketball camp this week....they've had so much fun. This is the first year they've had TONS of friends doing swimteam with them. We actually have a neighborhood carpool going with a ton of kids getting dropped off everyday, the best thing is I only have to drive one day a week, but I drive all morning long. It's worth it though!!!

Megan and Anney love swimming everyday, so that fills our afternoons almost everyday. Our fun neighbors join us quite often. Randy and I leave on the pioneer trek this week, so we are looking forward to that. I went and got all my pioneer clothes today, so I'm totally outifitted!!!!! I'll post lots of pictures and tell you all about it. I've been reading the itinerary and I have a feeling this is going to be an emotional weekend, but an incredible experience i will never forget!

And last but not least....a yummy recipe from a friend of mine who is an incredible cook....everything I make of hers, is too DIE FOR!!!!!!!!! (I love recipes and cooking so I'm going to try and share a recipe with every post!!)

JANAN'S BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

1 large bag of frozen hashbrowns, thawed1/2 cube of butter, melted Spray 9x13 pan, spread THAWED hashbrowns in pan. Pour butter over top of hashbrowns. Salt & Pepper to taste. Bake at 425 for 25 minutes. (This can be done the night before and you can refrigerate hashbrowns after cooking them and then continue with the recipe the next day.....or you can do it all at once.)Mix 8 oz. shredded Cheddar Cheese & 8 oz. Pepper Jack Cheese (THIS is the secret ingredient.....YUM!)Spread cheeses over the top of hashbrowns.Choose ham, bacon (cooked and crumbled) or sausage (cooked) - desired amount - spread over cheese layer.Mix 5 eggs & 1 C. milk - pour over entire casserole. Salt & Pepper to taste. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. ENJOY!