Karsyn's First Field Trip

Karsyn and I went to Apple Jack Orchards in Delano yesterday.
She had a blast with her little friends.
We went on a tractor ride,
picked pumpkins,
ate a picnic lunch,
walked around in a maze,
pet some goats, and got to taste apples, apple donuts and apple cider. Interesting observation: There were just as many dads and grandpas as there were females as chaperones.
It was an hour bus ride over there and an hour back. Some of the little ones crashed but not Karsyn and Kate. A picture to prove I really did go!

I Love to See the Temple

We decided to stop by the temple since we were going right past it.
The flowers were beautiful. The girls just about fell over trying to smell them.
Karysn stood looking up at the temple and sang, I Love to See the Temple.

It was a Kodak moment and it was chilly, you can tell by how Kaydree is holding her arms in all the pictures.

Kaydree is smiling so big in order to stop her teeth from chattering because she was afraid her loose tooth would fall out! She is constantly wiggling her front tooth. I am about to go in while she is sleeping and pull it out! I think about all those germs she is putting in her mouth every five seconds that she wiggles it! ugh!
And they lived Happily Ever After.......until Karsyn spilled her M&M's on the way home all over Benjy's carpet...uh oh....and Kaydree asked if we were home yet every minute of the ride! ;-)

River Falls Quick Trip

This is my friend Amanda. We met in 1997 when I was coaching her brother Adam in track. We started running together and have been friends for 11 years now! Some of my fondest memories with Amanda were on our drive out to Las Vegas when I moved out there in 1998. We went to River Falls yesterday for her brother Adam's wedding reception.
It was a beautiful drive, great food and fun seeing old friends from RF and faculty from the University. These are two of her children. Maddie (soon to be 7) and Rachael (5) are close to Kaydree and Karsyn's ages and they have a blast together.
Timmy, her son refused to have his picture taken. He was very sad to be leaving River Falls. I know the feeling. It is an amazing little place tucked back in the beautiful rolling hills of Wisconsin!
This is my friend Becki Borg (Dumond). We became friends in 1995 when I was her Resident Assistant and then we went on to be roommates and lost touch over the years and thanks to facebook have been able to reconnect again! Karsyn and her daughter Anna have hit if off already too!
It was a quick trip over there and back and yet it meant so much to me. Benjy just loves to do these types of social events.... ;-) uh huh, yeah right! He swears he is introverted by nature? He was so accommodating yesterday and we had a nice time catchin' up with my friends. I love being able to share memories and people that have helped shape me into who I am today, with my family!

Just a Normal Day to Remember.

Yesterday I was a GUEST TEACHER (sub) at Blaine High School and as I walked in I saw two girls and I thought, "Wow, I am getting old. Wait, is that the style now? I hope it is Wacky Day or I am REALLY getting old. I don't even think that fashion is cute and I ammmmmm tooooo old to wear that!" Relief came when the secretary let me know it was Wacky Day. Whew... Then I thought, " Ahhhh... remember those days when I did those wacky kind of innocently dumb things, just to do them because I had no worries or anything better to do? " Oh what fun!

When we are usually waiting for Benjy to get home from work, the girls and I sit down with some good books and read. Karysn brought home her preschool homework, which was a webkinz named Cocoa. Karysn had picture day and Benjy had to do her hair in the morning. It was kind of funny...he had some serious anxiety about having to do that, but he actually did great pony tails. Again, he always has the ability to amaze me!
Kaydree loves reading Weird School books. She is currently reading, Mr. Docker is off his Rocker. I love this time of day when it is peaceful and quiet and we are all waiting for our man of the house to get home! I finished the 6th Harry Potter book and yes, Korin, I cried!
When Benjy gets home our quiet home errupts into a big burst of energy. The girls always go running to the door, screaming, "Daddyyyyyyyy, Dad is home." Charlee barks and runs around and I finally get my hottie husband hug that I have been waiting alllllll day for. Well....since lunch time, I guess we did eat lunch together, yesterday. I also wonder, who liked her computer homework more, Karysn or Benjy and guess who was a little envious? Kaydree is feeling a little deprived....her comment, " I have never gotten a webkinz for homework!" A great way to end the day with BREAkFast for SUPPER! My mom makes french toast with a little orange juice in it. You have to use a loaf of french bread and cut it into 1 inch pieces for the right taste! Ohhhh it was so good with powdered sugar and cool whip. I love Kaydree's face in this picture! Just a normal day, but one I want to remember!

What Was Our Favorite Part?

We had a Great Weekend Away at Arrowwood Resort in Alexandria, Again. Last Month we went for Benjy's work without the girls. This month we went for Benjy's work with the girls.

We LOVE Benjy's Work!

What was our Favorite Part of the Weekend?

Was it the Tropical Indoor Waterpark?

Was it the endless fun going down the slides?

Was it the view of the Lake?


Or was it the fact that we....

let the room get really messy and just not care? Or that we slept in and didn't make the beds?

Was it the cool nighttime stroll as a family?

(Not Benjy's Favorite Part)

Or was it the Changing of the Trees? It was so beautiful up there! Our favorite part was the entire package! Being together as a family, having fun and not having to worry about anything. (including Charlee.... thanks Welkers!)

Grandpa's Farm Fresh Eggs.

About 6 or 7 years ago my parents started a tradition of getting the grandchildren baby chicks for their Easter Baskets. They would put food coloring on the back of the chickens so that the grandchildren could find their chick. The first group got so big and fat from too much corn, that they couldn't even walk on their little legs. They also gave baby ducks one year.. which were so cute. They followed my dad around like he was their papa. They eventually flew away, which made my dad a little sad, I think? So the baby chicks eventually grew up and my parents stopped giving them away and kept a couple. We all laughed and thought it was so funny. Just not what we thought my dad would be into. Yet, we were sooooo wrong. He loves all his little birds.

About a year ago my dad really started accumulating eggs. This is just the tip of the Iceberg! The girls love to pick the eggs with Grandpa. Last time we were home we talked about our favorite things we did....I said, "going to a restaurant with Grandma Ruth," Kaydree said, "the Parade," Benjy said, "Canning Apples," and Karsyn said, "PICKING EGGS!" None of us would eat them for a long time because they kind of grossed us all out. Benjy would literally get a gag reflex when my dad kept trying to persuade us all into eating them. My mom would use them in her cooking and we didn't mind that so much.
Grandpa started talking Karsyn into eating them scrambled and when they would come up to visit he would sneak a carton or two into our fridge for Karsyn. It was kind of funny how much we rejected the eggs for awhile, but then I came across a healthy eating article and found one on the health benefits of FARM FRESH EGGS FROM CORN FED CHICKENS.... So I decided to give them a try.
You really can tell a difference visually. They are a little smaller and brown.
FARM FRESH and STORE BOUGHT

They taste the same to me, but Benjy still says that the yoke is brighter Orange because they have more blood in them. Yuck, right..... yet even Benjy looks forward to FARM FRESH EGGS NOW!

Karsyn will tell me she only wants Grandpa's FARM FRESH EGGS. If I grab other eggs she gets very defensive of Grandpa's eggs. Kaydree will only eat them scrambled. My parents have great renewable food storage! ;-)

A Borrowed Idea....

My friend Audrey tries to blog on Thursdays and she calls them Thankful Thursdays. I love reading her blog and always look forward to it on Thursdays. This week I had a lesson with the Children at church about focusing on really being thankful for things that they may take for granted or forget to thank Heavenly Father for. We talked about how it is so much easier to pray for the things we want and need and sometimes forget to be thankful for what we have already been given. So I asked the Children to think of some things they are thankful for. They developed a pretty extensive list, it was very humbling to see how many tender and sweet little things that they came up with. Karsyn kept saying something and I didn't understand what she was saying it sounded like, "Seets." I asked like chairs? I then looked to other adults in the room to translate for my own daughter. They all shrugged their shoulders and on the way home she told me... "You know mom, the ones on your bed that you snuggle up in!" Oh... Sheets. Got it!

Today I want to share a couple of things that I am thankful for. I got to Substitute Teach a half day, today at Blaine High school. We are actually called, Guest Teachers. I was told that is the Politically Correct Term. Some believe we are treated with more respect if the students address us as Guest Teachers? I absolutely love having the flexibility and choices that come with (Subbing.) I feel like Jack Black in School of Rock. I have a BLAST. I actually feel a little guilty about how much I enjoy it. I am planning on subbing 2 days a week when Karsyn and Kaydree are in school.
I am thankful for Chili. Just about every Monday morning, I make chili. Last year my parents gave us some canned tomato juice from their garden. I can't believe the difference it makes. I love to make chili on Monday and have it for lunches for the rest of the week. It is just a Fall and Winter thing, though.
Kaydree and Karysn love it too! Kaydree with a little Sour Cream and Karsyn to dip her chips in!
I am thankful for Schwan's Precooked bacon. We have tried others from Sam's Club and Aldi. They just don't compare!
The temple. Someone set fire to our temple yesterday. I really am struggling to find the right words to explain what it felt like to see the news footage of a burnt entry to a Temple... The House of the Lord. I am so grateful especially today on September 11th, for the freedoms that we have in this country and especially for Religious Freedom that we do and should enjoy.

I am thankful for the people who will never be forgotten on September 11th. For the people who choose not to forget how our country changed forever on this day seven years ago. For the people who are fighting to prevent something like this from ever happening again here on our soil or in other Countries around the world.

10 Year Anniversary of Being LDS.

September 5, 1998 is a very important date for me. I was raised Catholic by my parents who were and are to this day active in the Catholic Church. My Mom grew up going to a couple of different churches and became Catholic when she married my Dad. My dad grew up going to Catholic School and his mother relied on the Catholic church to help her raise her four boys as a single mother after her husband was killed in a tractor accident.
My parents and family can tell you that from an early age, I was a pretty religious person and was always questioning things about the Catholic Church. Why couldn't I be a Priest, Why couldn't non-catholic Christians take communion ( I knew the Catholic answer, but I felt strongly that anyone that accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and Redeemer should be allowed to take communion) and there were other things that I often pondered. My confirmation teacher in High school told her son that she hated that I always asked so many questions.
When I went to college to do gymnastics, the first club that I joined was Fellowship of Christian Athletes. This was my first experience of looking into other churches. I attended other Christian churches and some bible camps. It was during this time that I really learned to trust in my Savior, Jesus Christ and the path that my life was suppose to take. I started to know beyond a doubt that there really was a God and that we really do live after this life. By the time I moved to Las Vegas to teach, which I know was not a coincidence, I knew I was looking for a bible centered church that had Sunday School for Adults, Bible Studies and lots of Activities and programs in order to help strengthen my faith and commitment to being a Christian. I was looking for a church that helped me live my faith, not just believe in it, but make it apart of my everyday life.
Within weeks of moving to Las Vegas I was introduced to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. (The Mormon Church)
This is what we believe:
Articles of Faith:
We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.
We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.
We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.
We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

The green ones are some of my favorite ones! I want to sum this up knowing that some of you don't like reading long posts, with this.... I am forever grateful to have supportive family and friends that have encouraged, supported, defended and shown tremendous love and respect for my decision. It has in ways that are beyond words or expression brought more joy into my life then I thought possible. I don't think I always deserve or have expected the blessings that have come from being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It hasn't always been easy, but it has always been worth it!

Karsyn's First Day of Preschool.

She was more than ready.
Her shirt has horses on it and she has recently let us know that she is adding a horse to her Christmas list.
With a Hello Kitty Backpack and lunch bag and her fuzzy coat, she was frustrated that I made her stop to take this picture. Walking in, another mom came out and said to Karsyn, "That is the biggest smile I have ever seen, you are smiling from ear to ear!"
All week she has been waiting to give her (hixie cups as she calls them) Dixie cups to Teacher Karen. She told me, "OK, mom you need to go now, because you don't stay here, you go now!" Well, OK, then. I was fine until I called Benjy and he said, "Do you need a Kleenex?" I then lost it and started crying. I got over it quickly as I decided to hit Target to look for a clearance swimsuit so that I could sit in the hot tub at the gym! Benjy and I showed up at the same time to pick her up, which was 10 minutes early. She came bouncing out telling us all about school and informed us that recess is her favorite time. First day of school and Karysn has already decided Recess is the thing to do!