a LittLe Of ThiS, a LittLe Of ThaT…

I guess with how busy the summer got, I forgot to blog a few things! Not to mention, my new phone has a camera, and there are times I get too “snap happy” on that. So here is a little catch up post.

We got a POOL! Now don’t be too excited, because we’ve only used it once. Apparently, you have to have a level backyard to operate one of these bad boys. Apparently, our yard has no level spots what-so-ever! So yes, we filled it, drained it, and our now leveling part of the yard for it. By the time we actually get it up and running. It will be time to take it down! Fun-Fun!! :P 

Clint’s Aunt is raising chicks! Naturally the children wanted to hold, and play with these adorable animals. The funny thing, they aren’t so adorable after you pick them up!! They got pecked, and scratched! So I don’t believe we will be raising baby chicks anytime soon! It did make for a cute photo opp-though! Addyson wanted nothing to do with them—SMART GIRL! They stink! 

So my goal is to make-over every inch of my house this year! Totally Kidding. It feels that way though. Since my Mom moved we had a little extra space. We moved the boys downstairs, and separated the girls. It has been so nice! Kaitlon can finally go to sleep, because Addy isn’t bugging her! So Addyson got the boys’ old room. If you notice in the first picture the walls were bright, colorful squares. I loved it!! However, it was getting to be too much. I also didn’t feel like it would work for Addy. I set out on my quest to re-do that room. I used white paint we already had, and re-painted. My Mom left those hot pink curtains when she moved. So I put those in there. I wanted to buy Addy a new bed, but couldn’t talk myself into spending that money yet. So I took an old black bed skirt, and covered the brown wooden bed with it. I did buy her a new shelf, a comforter, and 3 hot pink Gerber daisies (from all-a-dollar). It’s still needing some work. There are some craft projects I would love to do—to spruce it up! So far it’s coming along! I will post when it’s all finished!!At the rate I’m going, it may take clear to her birthday though!!

  

I don’t know if anyone ever goes to Bella’s, but I think they have some of the best Mexican Food around. We were there eating with my Mom several weeks ago, and they let the kids feed their fish. They have this huge fish pond inside, and it was fun to see all the fish come eat!! Try there food if you haven’t! If you hate it though—I’m sorry! ;)

Last, but not least! Picture A is titled… “WHY YOU SHOULD OWN A DISHWASHER!!” We do not have a dishwasher, and I wash all of our dishes by hand! It takes 4-eva!!! That’s not the point though. One day I was washing dishes, and a glass exploded in my hand! Just shattered. I didn’t touch it on anything, bang it, tap it, NOTHING! It just busted. It took my hand with it too! After much debate, I decided taking 6 kids (I was babysitting) to insta-care to have it stitched wasn’t a great idea. So I basically super glued it, and went on my way. After it stopped bleeding-of course. Now I realize that was very stupid. I should have just gone, and gotten stitches. It’s finally closing up. It no longer hurts to bend my finger. And I will have a pretty scar to add to the collection.  

Picture B- Isn’t that sad?? My Mom had her Parathyroid removed last week. I spent ALL DAY (I mean it too) at the hospital. In her Surgery Prep room there was this crib. It just made me so sad. I don’t even know why I am putting it on here. I just can’t imagine sweet little babies having surgery. :( It really makes me grateful that my children have been healthy, and their happy, good kids! I think I take too much for granite  sometimes. I just wanted to count my blessings!! My heart goes out to families that have to go through that. May God bless them. I did however have such a deep spiritual experience this day. My Mother, and I do not get along!! We just do things differently-I guess. My heart was so softened by being able to serve her in her time of need.  I just want to bear my testimony of how important serving others is. I haven’t felt such peace, love, and understanding for her in years! I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to just to be there to hold her hand, care for her, and help her through this. We did not fight the WHOLE time, not even once. I am so thankful for the love of our Savior. For his example. For bearing our burdens. For just simply knowing each of us. For placing opportunities in our path, so we can learn, and grow. Again, if you want to feel some really good happiness…serve someone…it’s amazing!

*RoDeO* Post 2 of 2

 

After Mutton Bustin’ we settled into our seats for some fun Rodeo times!! Lot’s of screaming, and cheering on the cowboys. Lot’s of laughing at the clown, and visiting with friends/family that came to cheer on Tyson! We love the Rodeo. My Grandparents would take me every year, and it’s one thing I have loved sharing with my kids. My Great Grandfather was a Weber Co. Sheriff's Posse. So it must run in the blood somewhere. :) The kids like the animals, and the fun music. Addy decided she wanted boots too! Since Tyson got some. Since she has Daddy wrapped around her finger, he gave in! Who can resist a little photo shoot with such a cute cowgirl!!

*RoDeO* Post 1 of 2

We let Tyson try his luck at Muttin’ Bustin this year. It was a very interesting experience. Quite different from the one we had with Preston. Tyson was first, and they put him on the sheep. Not more then 5 seconds later this guy was pulling him off. Neither Clint or I are sure what happened. We don’t know if he was falling, and the guy tried to prevent it. Or did Tyson tell him he was done, and wanted to get off?! We have no clue! We can’t seem to get anything from Tyson. The only thing he says is “The guy pulled me off.” He got a score of 65. Which was still good compared to some riders. He was most definitely one of the youngest riders, and I think that gave him a disadvantage. We are still really proud of Tyson. We try to encourage the kids to do different things, and try things that are new. He said, “I was really scared, and those sheep go fast MOM!” He wants to try again next year!! So we are looking forward to that. Way to go Tyson!! Yee-Haw!!

~27~

I turned 27 on Thursday! I am feeling extremely old. I just keep thinking to myself, “I can’t be this old…can I?—Didn’t I just graduate from high school?!” It seems weird!! Time has just flown by! I can tell I am getting older…I don’t always like it. Like the gray hairs I keep finding!! :( I did have a nice birthday though.  I worked, and my co-workers bought me Barbie cupcakes, and lot’s of treats. They even decorated for me. Then later in the evening my Aunt babysat, and a friend of mine joined me for pedicures, and dinner!! So much fun! Clint did surprise me with flowers being delivered. It was really sweet!!

On Friday, my Mom babysat for us. That way Clint, and I could go out for a special birthday date! I love P.F. Changs. So we decided to make reservations, and we drove all the way to Salt Lake to eat! Before eating we did a quick run through of some fun things to do. We window shopped at the Gateway & Trolley Square. Quickly checked out the Clark Planetarium to see if the kids would enjoy it. Then Clint took me to this park called ‘Memory Grove’. It was beautiful. I have never been there. I loved it! I have decided that we are going back soon for a family picnic, and getting new family pictures taken! Just a short hike above the park, is the Capitol Building. I have never been to Utah’s Capitol Building. It was so neat. They offer tours, but we missed the last one. So we gave ourselves a tour. They have lot’s of Utah History exhibits in there. I loved the marble. I got my picture taken on the stairs in front of the Supreme Court room. The murals on the ceiling, and walls were so neat! They shared some of Utah’s history too. I can’t wait to take the kids sometime.

On Saturday, my Brother took me to lunch. We went and got ice cream. Then we went and saw the Sorcerer's Apprentice. I thought it was really good. I enjoyed it. I really liked the actors in it too. We also happened to be downtown, and caught the end of the Farmer’s Market. I haven’t ever been to one. I am looking forward to going back!! They had some neat stuff. Just incase you were wondering…it’s every Saturday from 8-1. On 25th street.

It was a nice birthday! Thanks everyone!!

Dennison Family Reunion

 

So this past weekend was our first annual “Dennison Family Reunion”. Or in other words, camping. My Dad kind of planned this last minute…so it was a lot of scrounging around trying to get things in order. I was really stressed about it, and not really looking forward to going. I am now eating my thoughts, words, and feelings…because it was a blast!! I took 197 pictures—eek!! I will only share a few of my favorites, and tell you a little bit about them.

This is the first time we have ever let the boys sleep in their own tent. It’s also the first time—in a long time-- we’ve slept in a tent. It’s not my favorite thing to do. Once you’ve had a camper, you don’t want anything else. The boys had fun, but were scared. They did a great job though. Addy just loved her sleeping bag, and had no other cares. The baby didn’t love it. She cried all night the first night.

We are the worst campers!! My Dad has generators so we bring all of our electronics. I think the point of camping is to leave those things behind. Oh no, not us. We had T.V., movies, Nintendo DS, our cell phones (that had no service), a laptop, and blow dryers. The kids had fun syncing up and playing the DS together.

Fishing, is a favorite of mine! I love it!! Fly fishing takes a lot of patience. I haven’t mastered that one yet. I think I love it, because my Dad does, and it’s one of those things we can do together. So the total fish count: Dad-1, A.J.-1, Clint-1, Celeste-0! Stupid Fish! :)

Rafting is AWESOME!! I think I am actually ready to take a river rafting trip. We played, and floated down the river in these tubes. We eventually got up the nerve to go over the rapids. It was so fun! We probably played on the rapids for over an hour. Preston and Tyson even got the courage to do it alone. They looked so natural out there. :) We also bathed in cold river water. We heated it, and bathed our kids in a bucket. It was hilarious! Kaitlon loved it though!

Campfire, s’mores, and family!! Need I say more?! I love being with my family.  We would sit around the campfire, and just enjoy each others company. We also had spiritual devotionals each night. Which was very neat!! My devotional was about an article in the ensign. It’s an article that explains how families who’s fathers work for long periods of time, (outside the home) are blessed, and strengthened by the Family Proclamation. Since my Dad, brother, and husband all work together—I felt very inspired to share this. I think I needed it more then anything. 

It was a really great trip! I am now in charge of all the Dennison Family reunions. My Dad says it’s my birth right. So I am excited for next year, and already have some fun things planned!! OH, one more thing…Callie thank you sooo much for teaching my primary class for me!! I so appreciate your help!

Healthy Challenge

So my SIL is amazing! She is the MOST healthy person I know! She introduced me to this thing called the Healthy Challenge. You get points everyday for doing the following things…

No Sugar – 1 point

No Unhealthy Snacks – 1 point

Healthy & Correctly Portioned Breakfast – 1 point

Healthy & Correctly Portioned Lunch – 1 point

Healthy & Correctly Portioned Dinner – 1 point

Take Multi-Vitamin – 1 point

No Food After 8:00 p.m. – 1 point

Exercise 45 minutes – 2 points

Drink 64 oz. Of Water – 1 point

Then I keep track of it on this little chart:

You can earn up to 10 points in a day. Each week you get one day to cheat. Thank goodness! I have sort of been doing the things on here, but not 100%. However, today was Day 1 of me actually doing it. It is harder then you think. I had to really think about how much I was eating, and what I actually don’t realize I usually intake in a day! I have done pretty good for Day 1! I am really excited, and hope this will give me the boost I need to loose some weight!! I want to be as healthy as I can. I think it’s good for my kids to watch me do this too! I want to set a good example for them to live healthy lifestyles!! If anyone else is interested in this info. let me know!  (You can do this as a competition with friends or family too. Each person puts $20 in the pot, then at the end of 8 weeks the person with the most points wins the money.)

Wish me Luck!! :)

Our 4th of July Weekend…

  

We celebrated the 4th of July on Saturday! We started with the traditional Cherry Day’s Parade. It’s always more fun for the kids…then us. We did try to get into it this year by helping our children collect the candy. People probably thought we were really annoying. Oh well! After the parade, we went to the Park to see what goodies were there. We haven’t ever done that before…it was fun to look around. We got 50 cent snow cones, and let the kids blow $10.00 on the bounce houses. Later in the evening we had a BBQ. We made chicken, and veggie skewers. I made Patriotic fruit and yogurt parfaits. We did baked potatoes, pasta salad, chocolate cake, and popsicles. It was YUMMY! Then as is turned to dark we started our fireworks. A.J. gave us a show by blowing up fruits, and veggies. It was very entertaining to watch them blow to pieces. I am glad though-- it was just fruit, and not someone’s hand! We ended the night sitting on our front lawn watching the fireworks shoot off from Weber High. I also made little treat boxes for the kids that had sparklers, pop-its, suckers, glow sticks, and a parade shaker in it. It was fun. They took their boxes to the parade to catch candy in it. The glow sticks, and fireworks were fun when they got dark.

On Sunday, the real 4th, we ended up (last minute) going down to see some of Clint’s family. It’s hard only having him home for 3 days! Our weekends have been stuffed full with trying to accomplish everything.  It was his sister’s birthday so we ended up having a great big dinner with them. Then I drove Clint to my Dad’s to head to work. :( It is so hard having him go. I really miss having him home.  I was going to go back over and do fireworks with his family…but I had gotten a headache, and was feeling miserable. So I decided to just drive home. The kids loved holding the baby chickens at Clint’s aunt’s house.

It was a nice weekend. I am again thankful for this beautiful country we live in, and those who defend our freedom!

God Bless the USA!

Joining the New Age

A while back, I bought a phone from Verizon after several...SEVERAL...hand-me-down phones. I loved it, but it kept having all these manufacturer issues. After the 4th time of receiving a new phone, sending the old one back, and so forth...I threw in the towel. I made Clint call Verizon, because I was too scared. He told the sales guy--it just keeps happening, we're done dealing with it, etc... The sales guy was so awesome. He went above, and beyond for us! He got me this brand new Palm Pixi for free!! It has Internet, and all sorts of crazy apps! I honestly have no idea how to work this phone. I do feel like I have finally joined the "New Age" of phones though. I am excited to have something to do while I am waiting in the car for kids, or sitting in the doctor's office.