Good Morning Breakfast

I had seen toast done like this a couple of years ago and had tried it with a yellow sun. (It is just food coloring in milk painted on then toasted)  But the sun didn't really show up.  Sunday morning I was looking at the friend and saw the recipe again in there and decided to give it another shot.  The kids were very surprised and loved it.  I am the only one that will drink the avocado smoothie but they are amazing.  This is Blake's breakfast the smile wouldn't show up on the bread that Dave and I eat.

Sunday night Dave and I went for a walk.  As we walked out our front gate this is what was on our sidewalk.  We have a fight on our hands every time we ask Leah and Blake to sweep or mow but apparently they are willing to do it for others.  They are also willing to broadcast our phone number to the world.

Just a Little Color +

When we first redid our house I decided that I wanted my kitchen to be black,white and red.  I could never find the curtains I liked or they weren't the right color of red.  I finally gave up.  Last week I thought why not just spray paint some stuff and add my red.  So that is exactly what I did.

And I love it.  This little color makes me smile every time I walk into my tiny kitchen.

Here is what I found on my camera this time.  I seem to always find something new when I turn it on.  Cora said the dragon fly landed right on her finger and stayed awhile.

It amuses me when my kids climb trees in public.  I always get a shocked 'have you seen Cora/Leah?'  Of course they are usually as high as one can go in a tree.  I guess that I am used to it by now.  We had a ward camp this weekend and right away they both found a tree to climb.  The bottom branch was a little high to get into but they both just jumped up and swung themselves up.  Away they went.  Later Bro. Davis climbed it and my girls thought that was pretty cool.

Leah and I finally tried the lemon and honey on our faces.  She was not to impressed.  I am not to sure it super helped her black heads.  It did a little but my dark spots on my forehead look way better, and it really is soft.

Dave has been going to work at 4:30am and getting home around 6 or 7 pm this past week.  This morning he woke up at 4:45 and had a headache.  I told him it was because he had slept to long.  He shouldn't be so lazy and sleep so late.:)

I am so ready for the kids to go back to school.  They are also getting a little bored and starting to bug each other.  I understand what it's like Lalainia.  We only have a few more supplies to find and then they are set,

My New House

With his new profession Dave has found the perfect house to build me.  I couldn't figure out how to upload the pictures to my blog but it is awesome.  Google 'grain bin house'.  And scroll through the images.  Let me know what you think:)

Fort Macleod Tri

Dave and I had our triathlon in Fort Macleod  yesterday.  Dave had originally signed up for the half-iron man distance.  With his new job he has not had any time to train, so he got it changed to the sprint.  He swam 500m, biked 20km, and ran 5km. I thought he did really well.  He was 27th out of 118.

It only took him 1 hr and 10 mins.  Later I did the super sprint.  Mine was swim 200m, bike 10km, and run 2km.  I was mostly nervous about the swim.  Turns out that was my best event.  Over all I came in dead last.  Yep I was the very last one.  I did run quite a bit farther than I was supposed to because the volunteers were busy making out in the shade and not directing people and I did have 3 boys turn around in front of me.  I think I would have still have come in last but probably by not such a big margin.  It was 33 degrees when I did mine and I was very hot afterward and had a bit of a headache.  Dave thinks I should give it one more try next year.  I will see how it goes.

When we were done we headed to Calgary.  Myrna had picked up our kids earlier and taken them up.  Lalainia was having a BBQ at her house.  We got there early enough that we spent about 15 minutes at Sikome Beach with everyone before heading to Atwood's.  It was a really nice evening.  I haven't gotten together with the Puzey's for a couple month and it was great to see everyone again.  I loved hearing Jason talk about his work on the Calgary Temple.  I can't wait until it opens and we can take the kids to the Open House.

Cora has been wanting some magnet boards in her room FOREVER. She has tried many different solutions. Grandma Puzey was getting rid of hers and gave them to Cora a couple weeks ago.  Dave finally had 5 mins of spare time last week.  He decided that she should learn to hang them.

He guided her through it and helped, but she did do a lot of it

(About 4 years ago Kailey handed down this dress to Cora.  When she got it it went down to her knees. It is absolutely one of her favorite piece of clothing. She has gone from wearing it as a dress to wearing it as a long shirt with pants.  I think it is hilarious.  I guess we will see how long she can get into it.  I may have a fight on my hands whenever it does get unwearable.)

Speaking of spare time, if anyone has a spare $600 that they don't know what to do with I will take it off your hands.  I have decided that I would love to have a Vitamix Blender.  That thing can do amazing things.  Kita blended up kale and it was so smooth.  So if you have any extra, just saying.  Or....really a couple hundred thousand I could build my house;)

The Reason for the Answer

A few years ago Dave and I had talked about seeing if he could do a 2-3 year transfer to England with FritoLay.  We thought it would be a great experience for us and the kids.  To see a different culture and try new thing.  We had planned on moving back around Aug 2012. Cora asked me today where in the whole world I would like to visit and it started me reflecting on this.  I had desperately wanted to go, but kept getting a no answer to my prayers.  But as I thought about it I can now understand that answer.  As I look at what has happened in the last 3 years.  We would have been away the entire time David was sick and not around when he passed away.  I would never have met Anna.  He wouldn't have the job he does today.  We wouldn't have been able to help Jared with the sudden start up of cows expenses.  Moving back and forth takes a lot of time and money and I wouldn't be able to be starting to build a house.  And possible many more things I will never know.  So as much I as am still sad for that missed opportunity, and it is missed I will never have that chance again, I now understand the reason for the answer.  I will have to always remember this.  Even though sometimes we don't understand why, Heavenly Father really does see the big picture and I just have to continue to trust him.

Family Get Together

This past week we have spent in HillSpring with my family.  This is always such a fun week.  Everyone was there but Steve Sunday afternoon and mom was very determined to get a family picture.  Some of us had dirty shirts, some may have been in pj, but mom didn't care.  She just wanted us out there smiling.

Monday Dave was able to stay out since it was a holiday.  Cannon and Nicole were redoing their bathroom and that became the men's project.

The boys project was to repaint the white playhouse and turn it into a camouflage fort for the boys.  They had a really great time doing that.  Pretty painted after, the fort and the boys.  Blake and Colton played so good the whole week.  If I was looking for Blake I just asked Natalie where Colton was and didn't even have to go looking.  I knew Blake would be there also.  Tuesday we went into Raymond.  We had a great lunch at Natalie's then went to the Raymond Pool.  It really is an awesome pool.  They have things for every age group and it is really inexpensive.  Kita had a hard time getting anyone to take her money up here.  It got to be quite funny.  They didn't want that big of a bill or it was the wrong credit card.  She was getting very frustrated. After the pool, Brock and McKay came in to take everyone 12 and up into Lethbridge for 'teenager time'.  This was a big hit.  They ate at 5 Guys, went mini golfing, watched a movie, and got treats.  The feed back I got was this may have to become a tradition:)  They kids and adults went back to Natalie's for dinner by Nicole.  Poor Cannon was feeling miserable.  Wednesday the moms went to Cardston for some girl time.  We had lunch and did a little shopping.  It was nice.  We haven't had a girls trip since Taylor and Kristin got married, so this was a super mini one.

Brynn is presiding over the rest of us.

I may have the cutest nephews.  I was glad Taylor and Kristin were able to make it up, even though it was only for a few days.  I don't get to see much of Brody.  I think he will be walking any second now.

We went tubing twice and down to Pioneer Palor for ice cream. One morning Natalie taught us all how to make fabric flower for our hair.  They were easy, fast and super cute.  Thursday Nicole had fruit come in and McKay took chickens to the Hutterites to get slaughtered.  When that all came home everyone lined up my parent's stairs and handed them down to the deep freeze.  Ever since Vernal my mom has loved human chains:)

Mom had Nicole make this table cloth.  Mom put clear plastic over the top and we ate off of this all week, unless we ate outside. Dave is # 13, I am # 7, Cora and Leah are #16 & #17, Blake I can't remember.  I will have to total that up.

My sisters, mom, and I:) :)

For my mom's meal this year she made a milk can dinner.  We just layered everything in then cooked it over a propane burner until it was done.  It was really tasty and really fun for the kids to watch.  I had been trying out recipes for a couple of months and decided for my meal I would make salmon.  We never have fish when we are all together.  It had a great brown sugar, soy sauce, and lemon pepper marinade.  I also made crock-pot baby potatoes that taste like potato skins.  I wanted to try a coconut fruit dip from Pinterest.  It was yummy but not in my top 5 so I won't make it again.  Funny thing was Kita made tilapia this year.

Mom has a bag of plastic cups that she keeps and every year the kids pull it out.  It is amazing how much fun they have with cups.

A boys sleep-over. Ryan only lasted part way through, but he was so excited to be invited to that party.  This was a long post but I really didn't include everything.  This is honestly my favorite week of the year.  My kids and I look forward to it.  They have great cousins to look up to and all get along so well.  I love just being with my sisters. No matter what we are doing.  We stay up to late, eat to much, and just hang out.

One Year Older

Blake thought it would be great if his tooth fell out on his birthday.  This morning when he was brushing his teeth it did.  Right down the drain.  He thought that was the coolest thing ever.  He is 7 years old today.

He was very pleased with all his gifts. It is Sunday so we didn't do much.  Everyone sang to him out at HillSpring.  Mom made him spaghetti a couple days ago.  He requested a watermelon cake and an angel food cake.

I had early morning meeting this morning, I tried to make his angel cake quick before I left, but it fell out of the pan (even though I had propped it up) it was quite smashed and ugly.  But still tasted OK.  I told him I was sorry and all he said was that he was glad I had made him a cake it didn't matter what it looked like.  I thought that was sweet.  The watermelon cake turned out fun and was a great addition to dinner.  We are relaxing the rest of the day and he is hard at play with his new toys.  Happy 7th Birthday Blake!!!!!

M.I.A.

Dave has been quite busy with his new job.  He really enjoys it but as a result we have hardly seen him.  It is quicker for him to go to the farm and help, but at the same time because he is closer he doesn't pick up one of the kids to go with him. So far this week my kids have seen their dad for 1 1/2 hours at a swim party Monday night.  His cell phone is pretty crappy and he spends more time on the floor then before, so he rarely answers emails.  I am starting to think that my husband is Missing In Action.  I know he came home last night because when I went to bed at 10:30 (yes, very late for me) his side of the bed was smooth and I had put a lunch in the fridge.  This morning when I woke up at 5 his side was messy and I had old lunch dishes in the sink and his lunch was gone.  That is all my evidence.
Going to the farm has been so much nicer for him.  He feels guilty all the time that Jared does such a great majority or the work.  We really want to be there and really want to help but living so far away makes a huge difference. Hopefully we can rectify that soon.
I had planned to take the kids to a movie at the library this afternoon.  They needed to get out of the house and it looked like an interesting one.  We got already to go and jumped in the Tahoe.  It would not start.  I remembered that yesterday coming home there was a light on.  We have been spending a lot of time moving stuff from one church to another and setting things up.  Whoever got the last load out of the Tahoe didn't close the back tightly enough.  Dave has shown me how to put on the battery charger but I couldn't remember.  Instead the kids have decided to have a movie night in.  We are going to make some fun treat, they are busy making movie tickets.  I have a stand set up in my house with a drop box for used tickets and a stand for getting refreshments that they just made and set up. This may actually turn out to be more entertaining because of all the time they are putting into making everything.