Camping Pictures

Here are some pictures of our camping trip over Thanksgiving.Whitney was ok with the camping part but hated putting on all the layers. She didn't care how cold it was she didn't want to wear all the clothes. My sister bought each of my daughters a pair of gloves and matching hat when they were each born. Whitney is the only one that was able to wear all of them.
Whitney trying to eat Austin's hot dog.

William showing off his elk "bone" (antlers)

Posing for pictures.

This is how we got Whitney to sleep. We would take her for a walk in her stroller. At this time she liked to go to sleep in her swing but we didn't have room to pack it so this was the next best thing.

I Little Understanding

I now know why the pioneers were able to settle places like St. George or Mesa with out Air Conditioning.

The kids and I decided to tag-a-long on Lyle's Elk hunt this year. It was over the Thanksgiving holiday so I knew that it would be colder than the other times that we have gone camping. We packed layers of clothes but we still froze.

Just like the pioneers, I NEVER want to be that cold again. The wind would blow and it felt like it went right through your jacket. I can't imagine having to cross a frozen river or be run out of your house in the middle of a snow storm. I do know how cold I was and how cold the baby was. At one point Jared's lips were blue.



We do have some help. A while back Lyle's mom offered for us to buy her pop-up trailer from her. We took her up on the offer and have gone camping in the trailer a couple of times. I would not have gone with Lyle if we did not have it. It has a heater in it and we would turn it on and run it a couple of cycles before turning it off for the night. Then in the morning we would turn it on before anyone got ready and run it so that the trailer was warm to get dress in.

When Lyle and I go camping he does all the cooking while I get the little kids ready for the day and keep them warm. Because we were tagging along Lyle would leave camp early and not come back until after lunch for a quick sandwich and then be gone again until after dark. Austin really stepped up and would start the water for hot chocolate and get the fire going. Josie would also hold Whitney so I could make the meals. Friday morning I was making breakfast and William was so cold he was crying at my side. I told him to go see Joey so she could get him warm but he just wanted me. I informed him I was making breakfast and couldn't pick him up. After a couple of minutes he turned to me and said. "Mom, you need to make me happy!" I couldn't help but laugh.

Halloween 2011

For Halloween this year we went to our church's trunk-or-treat party. Jared went as his Grandpa Sauls (complete with the Mt. Dew)
Austin was an army guy.

Josie went as a witch.

Whitney was a pumpkin.

Anna was a cheerleader.

William was Bob the Builder.

Helping Dad

Having an old truck means that Lyle does a lot of the work himself. Before we had kids I would be out helping him by holding the light or handing him tools. The whole time I would be helping him I would be thinking about everything that needs to be done inside the house. After I had the kids I told him that they are his help. The kids are finally starting to get old enough to help. Austin hates getting dirty and would rather not work on the truck.

Josie is to busy with school work to help, so packing the bearings fell to Jared. He LOVED to get in there and get his hands dirty. Lyle said he did a good job.

Growing Little Girl

Whitney is getting so big! I keep forgetting how big they get so fast. Yesterday she rolled all over my family room but ended up under my chair many times. Don't you wish you could be this flexible?
This is her favorite place to be while I am cooking dinner. It is a Johnny Jumper that she jumps in and spins around. Her legs start pumping before we can get her in it!

10 Years Old! Already!

Jared turned 10 this year. He has really grown up the last year. He has worked hard in school this year. I do not need to remind him to do ALL of his homework and he has studied so well he got Honor Roll this last quarter.

As his birthday was approaching he asked if I could just give him money that he could put toward buying himself a DS, just like Austin did. Lyle and I thought that he has done so well that we got him a DS light for his birthday. He is one HAPPY boy!


When we went to get his cake they only had a Halloween cake left so he had them take off the plastic "Happy Halloween" and replace it with "Happy Birthday Jared". He had them leave the ghosts and skeletons on, he thought the were cool.

Josie is 12!

Josie turned 12 this year! She has started Young Woman's and is already passing things off in her Personal Progress book.

The kids are getting older now so I let them pick what they want for dessert. Lyle always gets pumpkin pie for his birthday and I like ice cream sundaes. Josie decided to have Key lime pie. It was very yummy and no one complained about he change.


Josie also wanted to ride a horse for her birthday. She did this a couple of years ago for her birthday but we had a rough time getting with Lyle's boss to have her ride his horse. Since that time my BFF moved to and back from Idaho and got horses. I got with her and Josie enjoyed riding the horses by herself.

She also wanted a volleyball. I guess it is the new thing at the school. I think she had a great birthday.

He Will Not Do That Again

I was making lunch for the kids and William was "helping". After taking the pot off the stove top I turned around to put it on the counter top. William decided to make a drum out of the stove top. (The one time I forgot to remind him that is was hot) He starting SCREAMING right away (you would too, just look at the pictures). It took me over a hour to calm him down.

I ran his hand under cold water for about 10 minutes and then wrapped it in gauze and a wet paper towel until Lyle got home from work. When Lyle took him to the pharmacy the pharmacies told us to take him to the ER. She obviously doesn't have kids, has GREAT insurance, and/or has never been to girls camp. We just kept it wrapped for about 5 days and changed the gauze 2 times a day. (These pictures were taken the morning after he did it)

These pictures are taken a week later. The human body is so AMAZING! He is healing great and enjoys picking off the dead skin (it is defiantly feeling better).


What is really funny is that now when I take something off the stove top or out of the oven he leaves the room. Lesson learned I guess.

Canned Peaches

So a couple of weeks after canning pears for the first time I tried my hand at canning peaches. Both were about the same for canning and easier than I thought they would be. I ended up canning 30 quarts of peaches!

I love feeling like I am helping the family and that I know that I can do it. The peaches and pears all look so pretty sitting next to each other on my shelves just waiting to be eaten.

Another plus side is that the kids are eating more fruit. They always ask if this was the fruit that I canned.

Canning for Dummies

I have never canned a day in my life. I don't remember ever seeing my Mom can. I decided that I would try my hand at canning. While I was waiting for the peaches to come in a friend had a problem with the storage of some pears. She knew that I wanted to can so she offered them to me. After asking her a ton of questions, asking my sister-in-law more questions, and researching on You Tube I was ready to go.I was able to make 12 quarts and they turned out great! I can't wait for the peaches next week.
I think I did a good job for my first time. We will be eating some tonight for dinner.

Jareds Glasses

Jared is REALLY hard on his glasses. On Sundays during church I will do some adjustments and cleaning of his glasses. When we went in this year to get new glasses I asked them to adjust his old ones. While she was adjusting them the broke in two. She told me that if I payed for new lenses she would replace the frames.

It was a good investment at he broke his new glasses (see picture) a couple of weeks ago and had to wear the ones that broke in the doctors office and we bought new lenses for.

I just hope that these will last until we can get him into the doctor at the beginning of the year. Thank goodness Lyle's insurance cover new glasses (frames and lenses) every year!

Another Thumb Sucker

Both Jared and William were thumb suckers. Jared stopped about the time he started school but William is still sucking his thumb.

The other day I took these pictures of Whitney. She does this at night and keeps herself asleep throughout the night.

At least I will save money and not need to buy pacifiers.

First Day of School 2011-2012

I know that I am a month late but here are the pictures of my Elementary School kids heading off to their first day of school. Even thought William did not start school he wanted his picture taken also.

All About Austin

Austin turned 14 this year. He is getting taller and his voice is changing. He will go up to people that we know and see if he is taller than them yet. He is VERY close to passing me up.

This year he joined swim team. He has not fat on him so he is getting more defined muscles and tan.

This is a picture of my WHITE arm against his back.He also joined JROTC. Don't tell my brother that he was very upset that it was

the Navy JROTC and he wanted the Air Force. Got to LOVE a guy in uniform.
Spirit day at school. "Nerd Day". He is really enjoying High School life.

Young Woman Cupcakes

Last March I found this recipe in my "Family Fun" magazine. I thought they looked cool but also realized that they had all the Young Woman Value colors in them. I kept the recipe knowing that I would make them for the Young Woman for Birthday Sunday (The one Sunday a month that we celebrate all the Young Woman's birthdays for the month).

We started planning this years Young Woman in Excellence (This is the opportunity for the girls to showcase what they have been doing in their Personal Progress Books for the last year), and I was put in charge of refreshments. I knew I had to make these cupcakes.

They were a little more time consuming than I thought they would be but they turned out so cute. I topped them off with Cool Whip and gold sugar crystals.

I Want to Feed Her Too.

When I got home from the hospital with Whitney William watched me nurse her. The way he was looking at me I though, "How am I going to inform him that he can't eat the same way?" I found out soon enough that HE wanted to nurse Whitney. He would lift up his shirt and say, "I want to feed her." We gave him the chance just to see what he would do.

We all had a good laugh at him trying to feed his sister.

He's ask to taste my mommies milk so one time while I was pumping I let him taste some. He has not asked since.

He is such a good helper with her. He also is a great "Big Brother". When he wants to do something on his own he will tell us, "I do it! I a big brother!" We've had many spills of milk and lemonade to clean up but I am very happy that he is doing it on his own.