Boys n Berry

The Newest Member!!

2011-01-09T19:43:00.000-08:00

Cougar turned 8 and was baptized this month. He was a little nervous and wasnt exactly sure he wanted to go through with it but he made the decision to be baptized and we are sure glad he did it. He was a little nervous that his toe would pop out of the water or something and he would have to do it again. It wasnt Cougar that had to do it again. Ken had to give the baptismal prayer twice. Its gotta be right! His Uncle Jared and Uncle Mike were there along with PopPop. All his brothers were there despite being sick. The primary president and a member of the stake presidency were there and his friend from school showed up to see him be baptized. What a great day. Afterwards he was confirmed a member of the church and recieved the gift of the Holy Ghost which will be a constant companion throughout the rest of his life. We celebrated by going out to dinner at On The Border for chimichangas, Cougs favorite!

The Jokester

2010-09-24T10:22:00.000-07:00

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

joke of the day

2010-09-24T10:19:00.000-07:00

Dakota just got off the bus grinning and told me a joke.
Dakota: "knock knock"
Me: "who's there"
Dakota: "who"
Me: "who who?"
Dakota: "Are you an owl?" giggling as he runs in the house.

Happy 4th Birthday Ashton!

2010-09-24T10:08:00.001-07:00

------ MMS ------
Sent: Sep 12, 2010 7:10 PM
Subject: IMG00136-20100912-1906.jpg

HaPpy 4th BirthDaY Ash! I love you so much! You bring me so much joy. I cannot believe my baby is 4. Where does the time go?
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

spaghetti mystery

2010-08-25T16:05:00.000-07:00

We are having dinner and I notice a small pile of noodles on the table in between me and Dakota...I know I didn't put them there...

me: Dakota...why is there spaghetti on the table?

dakota: um, well, I can't really tell you right now Mom, Its a verrrry long story.

He makes me laugh.

gulp

2010-06-20T13:54:00.000-07:00

Dakota: Momma, Why do you only have boy kids?
Me: Well that's just how it happened ...I don't get to choose if I get a boy or girl. Its just a surprise each time.
Dakota: Did you want 4 boys?
Me: Yes that's exactly how many I wanted. Aren't you so glad you have 3 brothers?
Dakota: Yeah, but I really wanted a sister....

Sun Devils for 2 more years!!!

2010-02-24T11:28:00.000-08:00

We have had a good week. Ken was accepted to grad school at ASU next fall. He will graduate this spring with an architectural design degree. In 2 more years he will have a masters in architecture. I am so proud of him. Just 3 years ago he wasnt sure what he wanted to do. We had just built our house in Dayton, NV and we both really enjoyed it. Construction wasn't really what he wanted to do for a living but Architecture sounded pretty cool. So he made a decision and 3 years later we feel like the plan is working. That wasn't the only good news we got this week. Ken was invited to have an internship at a firm that is doing the new Phoenix Temple. He is so excited to start working. The firm is a really big name here and they do really great architecture. There are 5 or 6 other LDS guys who work at the firm but they don't know the computer program that the project requires. Ken happened to take a class on said computer program about a year ago and was asked to help on the temple project specifically because he knows the program. We have been so blessed these past 3 years. Ken works really hard and doesnt get near enough sleep but we've never had a doubt that we were doing the right thing.

Bee Repellent

2009-11-19T16:12:00.000-08:00

I realized today that i've had this blog for almost a year now and I have only a handfull of posts. So here is what happened to us today. After Ash got home from preschool he said "Mommy I want to have lunch at the park today." I thought, what a great idea. The kids were going a little stir crazy and I was just reading a book. So I was all for it. We didn't have any bread so I couldn't make any sandwiches so I decided just to get something on the way. My kids seem to be pretty picky about fast food-nothing too spicy or too big or too bland etc...I chose Arbys because they seem to like the roast beef sandwiches pretty well. Heres the first misfortune of the day. I paid with the wrong card! Who pays for fast food with a credit card? So after calculating the amount of interest I will pay on that meal, we headed off to the park. We found a nice bench in the shade and proceeded to get ready to start eating. Getting ready to start eating takes a little time what with the opening wrappers, dumping out fries, squeezing ketchup, telling them no toy untill they eat something (at least 10 times) then we were attacked by a bee. The bee would not stop pestering us and I don't really like bees so we packed everything back up in the bags, gingerly of course due to the ketchup, and moved to another area. We were all good for a while. I had forgotten to grab some napkins so it was a little messy. I had seen the bee try to get into my soda through the lid and then through my straw. Since I didn't want bee germs I took the lid off my soda and threw it away. Pretty soon there were 2 bees, then 3 bees, then 5 bees. I was panicking and trying to shew them away without making them mad. It seemed like they just wanted soda. Very quickly I had enough and started throwing things out that had had a bee on it. I wrapped up the uneaten sandwiches and threw out the fries and half of my sandwich. I went to grab my root beer and noticed a bee down in my cup. He was either dead or very drunk. I guess taking the lid off wasn't the brightest of all my ideas today. Meanwhile Ashton had gone to play and came back with wet pants. After trying to clean him up, I decided it was time to go. The kids had played maybe 7 minutes at the park. Bummer for them. As we were walking back to the car Ashton slipped in a puddle of water on the concrete and got all muddy. Poor little guy!
It was a great idea Ash! Lets try it again tomorrow. We will bring a sack lunch from home and drink water instead.
Later in the afternoon, my sweet little boy took a nap and before I left the room he said "You are my best friend, Mommy."
I could just melt.

My Fingers are Numb...Isn't it So Cool!

2009-11-18T12:03:00.000-08:00

On my long list of things I'd like to do before I die, one of the top things is to learn how to play the guitar. I have wanted to learn for many years and now I finally get the chance. I bought me a classical guitar! I bought it from Alaska's online Employee Assistance Fund auction which uses items left onboard and donated items to raise money to help employees in need.I feel like I got a good deal on it and it seems to be in very good condition. It looks brand new. And I LOVE IT!!!
I bought a few other things in the auction and instead of having them ship it down to me from Seattle, I decided to fly up there and pick them up myself. I felt so cool walking through the airport with a guitar on my back. 3 people asked me how long I've been playing....I had to respond truthfully and tell them that I don't play YET but I want to learn. One girl said "thats alright, Jimi Hendrix had to start somewhere."
I want to be that person that sits around the campfire and plays all the songs on the guitar to all the camp songs. I want to be able to sing to my kids while playing the guitar and instill in them a love for music.
I know you all have a "list" of things to do before you die, so what are you going to do to cross something off your list?
So far I have tried tuning my guitar which proved to be difficult especially because my piano is out of tune. I have learned 4 chords, C-G7-D7-G. My book actually said after learning those 4 chords and practicing on some short songs that "right about now, you may find that your fingertips get sore." Um, yeah. Numb. Cool.

Good Friends, Good Times

2009-07-22T05:38:00.000-07:00

Well it is currently 4am and I am wide awake. It feels like 7am which is probably why 2 kids are also wide awake. We just got back from Washington DC where we spent a few days visiting my good friend Jill and her family. Jill and I go waaaayyy back to the 8th grade. She has 4 lovely girls who are very similar in age to my 4 boys. I've always wanted to visit the East Coast so when Jill invited us to come visit we jumped at the chance.
Our first day there we decided to drive out to the coast and play at the beach.

We drove about 2.5 hours out to Assateague Island which is a narrow neck of land off the Maryland coast. The sand was beautiful and the waves were huge. It was warm and humid so the water felt good. There were crabs everywhere and there was a warning sign to stay away from Jelly Fish-which sort of makes me wonder why on earth did I even get in the water? We stopped off at a little mart and got some sand toys to build sand castles with.

It started to sprinkle on us and we heard thunder in the distance. It was warm rain though so at first we didn't mind. Then it started to rain harder so we decided it was time to go. We packed a lunch but everyone was having such a good time we kind of just forgot to eat....But luckily enough there was a little crab shack nearby which Jills husband made reservations at for all 12 of us to have some dinner.

It was quite an experience learning how to crack open crabs. The kids loved using the mallet to crush the crabs into smithereens. We ate shrimp and fried chicken and corn on the cob. Some of the kids ordered hot dogs but ended up preferring to eat the seafood instead. Thanks to Jill and Russ for giving us that unforgettable experience. It turned out to be my birthday and they even ordered up some yummy cheesecake to top off the meal. I loved it!
The next day was a whirlwind day touring Washington DC. We first stopped at the Air and Space museum.

We saw all kinds of aircraft, spacecraft, astronauts and everything to do with flying. It was very cool. Then we made our way up the Mall with 8 kids, 3 strollers and bags full of snacks and food, stopping at the Washington Monument,

the Lincoln Memorial,

and the Viet Nam Memorial.

We then turned around and walked back up the Mall toward the Capitol Building.

When we finally made it back to the car we had some very tired and cranky kids and parents. We still wanted to see the White House so Russ was going to take us on a driving tour to see a few more buildings...almost immediately our caravan got split up so they went on home and we stopped and hopped out to get a closer look at the White House, (and to find a bathroom). We were unsuccessful at finding the bathroom but got right up next to the fence at the White House.

Driving through DC is as crazy as it gets. the streets dont make sense and if you miss your turn it takes you 15mins to get back to where you were. We drove by the Pentagon (Jake didn't believe us that it really is in the shape of a pentagon untill he saw it from the air) and Arlington Cemetery.
The next day was Sunday and we decided to visit the Washington DC Temple visitors center. It is really stunning to see the gold spires ascending from the trees.

Its very green there. It reminds me of Seattle a lot. We watched the Joseph Smith movie which was really good. We spent a good couple of hours there before going to church with Jill and her family.It was good to have a day of rest-we needed it.

On Monday, our final day there, we decided to visit Mount Vernon, George Washingtons home. It was beautiful! There was more than 800 acres of farm land, orchards, grassy fields, animals, and his mansion, servant quarters, smokehouse, storage, burial grounds and much else. The view out the back of his house is breathtaking. It looks out over the Potomac River. I can imagine him sitting on his back porch pondering really heavy things and getting divine inspiration. After lunch we went back to DC to see one more museum, The Museum of Natural History. The kids loved it and I so wish we had more time there. We saw Dinosaur bones and fossils of all kinds. They especially loved the gem room. The crystals and gold nuggets were just so fascinating. We of course saw the Hope Diamond in all its exquisite glory. Since this was on a Monday the side street meter parking is only valid untill 4pm so we had to leave at 4p and head home. It took us a while to get out of there due to all the traffic and we tried to get a closer look and the Arlington Cemetery but they don't just let you come in and drive around. You have to pay to park and get out and walk. Its probably a good thing but we didnt stay. We decided to rent a GPS this time with the rental car which turned out to be a really good thing. Except for when it decides to send you on side street tours just to avoid traffic....yeah....it didn't save any time. Oh yeah and when it tells you to turn on a street that no longer exists...then the female voice sounds so exasperated when she says "recalculating." I'm pretty sure we were more exasperated than she was....
Overall we had so much fun. I'd love to go back and see more of the city. We could've spent the whole day in just one museum. So I fully recommend visiting the Nations Capital if you've never been there.

Breaking A Sweat

2009-06-22T09:33:00.000-07:00

I started week number 4 of my new exercise program with running a mile straight this morning!!!wooh hooooh! Week 1 was really sad. Ken and I started walking one morning and tried to jog a little but I think we only jogged for about 5 minutes of the 30 minute course. So slowly, slowly, we have been working on increasing our endurance and it really is improving. I love Ken for supporting me and encouraging me even when he would like to run on ahead and at least break a sweat.
On week 2 we decided to try out the track at the Hish School. We loved it because its squishy and not so jarring on the knees. There are a lot of people out at 630am working out with us and so far it hasn't been 100 degrees at that hour. I like to know how far I've gone and how far I have to go. I like to sprint the last 100 yards. Its exhilerating to force your body to move fast. Its hard to do it for long periods of time but to make this old out of shape body move fast for 100 yards is kind of fun. Plus I know its the final piece before I'm done!
We come home and do a few crunches and a few push ups then get ready for the day.

CHANGE IS GOOD

2009-03-16T14:26:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I decided that I need to start updating this house. The bathroom was my first victim. It desperately needed some work from the baseboards to the wall paper to the light switches. I was going to do it all myself but as it turns out I needed a little help (thank you Ken). My lifelong dream is to be an interior decorator, not because I have tons of experience, because I don't, but because I love to feel spaces. You know there are just some places that just make you feel good....and thats because of the way its decorated. I needed to create a space comfortable for boys...since thats all that we have in this house. So after I decided that I needed to start with the bathroom, I went and found a shower curtain that I loved. That led me to find the paint for the walls and that led me to want to change the covers to the light switches and I am still looking for a great clock to hang above the laundry chute and another fun picture to hang by the small sink. We redid the baseboards and changed the towel rings and added a standup TP holder. I only went a little over my 100.00 budget. So here are my before and afters and perhaps when it is really done I can post my final 'after'.

derby update

2009-01-29T11:52:00.000-08:00

The boys had a blast at the Pinewood Derby. Their "cars" did well. Since they were in the 'open' class there were no standings or awards. After the regular cub scouts derby they opened up the track to whoever else wanted to race. They actually had 1 heat where it was just Jakes "Bullet Bill" against Cougars "Fighter Jet Car". Bullet Bill won by a hair. The boys got to see a whole lot of different designs in Derby cars. One kid painted his block like Spongebob. No cutting required. Another kid made his block into a pile of bricks. It actually ran pretty fast. Our neighbor made a car with a shape of a hand reaching for a cookie. Its name was "Give me back my cookie." I wish I had a picture of that one. It was pretty cool. All in all we had lots of fun and I think they will be excited to do it again next year.

Derby Dad

2009-01-12T15:14:00.000-08:00

Our ward is doing a new thing this year with the Pinewood Derby. They are inviting anyone who wants to join in the fun to do so. So Ken thought it would be fun to help Jake and Cougar build their own pinewood derby cars. So Jake thought about it and decided to build a "Bullet Bill" car. Cougar decided on a fighter jet "car". Ken has been very busy just making the basic shape of each car so the boys can "do most of the work themselves" by sanding them and painting them. You should see these cars. I don't know if they will race down the track but they sure look cool. Ken has been anticipating this day for as long as we have known Jake was a boy. He can't wait for scout camp and hikes and eagle projects. I feel so blessed to have a husband who participates in his childrens lives. Ken, we love you! Thanks for being such a great Dad! May this Derby be the first of many!

Perks

2008-12-03T10:11:00.000-08:00

Just a few days ago I got to meet Stephenie Meyer, the author of Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. It was so exciting to meet her because I love the books so much and there has been so much publicity about her because of Twilight coming out in the movie theaters. Her webpage stepheniemeyer.com is very interesting and it feels like she could be my next door neighbor. She seems to be just a regular gal even though she is famous world wide now. The girls at work got me started reading the books. I borrowed the first 3 from Kimmy and read them all pretty quickly. I couldn't wait for the 4th book because I just had to find out what happened. So when Breaking Dawn came out I bought it and read it in a few days. It turned out to be my favorite! So since everyone at work was reading the books, even the guys, it caused quite a stir when she showed up with her family at the airport to fly to Seattle on Alaska for Thanksgiving. Several of them got autographs and got to chat with her a little. I wasn't there that day but I was scheduled to meet her flight when she came home. I made sure to bring my book to work and boy was I nervous. I don't know why except she's the the biggest author out there right now. She stepped off the plane and I quietly said "Stephenie, will you sign my book?" She smiled and said "sure" so we walked up the jetway and I asked her how her Thanksgiving was to which she replied that it was very relaxing. I asked if she went up there to see family and suprisingly she said she doesn't have any family up in Seattle. I told her I was thrilled to be able to meet her and by then we were at the top of the jetway and I thanked her and said good-bye. It was very short but it was very cool! 30 seconds with the most famous person on the planet...well in my little world anyway. That is just one of the perks of working for an airline....I will include my treasure....

4x4 tag

2008-11-12T12:30:00.000-08:00

Katie sort of tagged me so I will do a 4x4 tag just for fun.
A. tv shows I watch
1. Dancing with the stars
2. American Idol
3. So you think you can dance
4. House
B. Things I look forward to
1. Ken being done with school
2. having my own house again
3. spending Thanksgiving with Kens sisters in Snowflake
4. getting braces to fix these awful teeth ( maybe not the getting so much as the result of getting)
C. Things I love
1. traveling
2. pedicures
3. being happy
4. trampolines
D. Things I can't stand
1. confrontation
2. people who hurt others
3. being shy
4. not being good at guitar hero
4.5 badd speling

well I don't really know how tagging works but since theres only 4 people who read this blog you are all tagged.
So yeah, the braces thing, I found out today that I will be getting braces Dec. 2nd. I have an open bite which means only my back 2 teeth on both sides touch when I bite down. Its putting strain on those teeth and they are showing signs of wear and tear. They arent meant to take all the chewing and grinding and pounding...So now at 32 years of age it's time for me to get braces. They say I 'll have to wear a retainer for the rest of my life ...Jeannie and Dave where are your retainers?

Real Excitement!

2008-11-11T17:35:00.000-08:00

I know, I know its been almost 3 years since I wrote something. I usually feel like the stuff that happens in my life just isn't that exciting. But today a happy thing happened. I have a friend at work who is constantly asking me questions about the church. He wants a CTR ring and he spent 15 mins looking at all 150 temples on the church website. He is very curious and I would say 'golden'. Not 2 nights ago I said to Ken if he could just have one discussion with a set of really great missionaries he would be converted. Now I'm not saying he is going to get wet any time soon but today started off like many previous days with my friend asking question after question. I finally asked him, "would you like to talk to the mormon missionaries" I told him they are the same age as him and they could answer all his questions and it would be so cool. He said yes!. " I think I will take you up on that..." he said. I also asked him if he would like to go to the visitor center at the temple. And again he said "yes." I'm thrilled to pieces. That my friends, is exciting!

gifts

2008-10-02T16:20:00.000-07:00

The other day I was sitting on the porch swing with Ashton and Dakota waiting for Ken to come home from school. There was a little breeze and it just felt so nice outside. We were just talking about simple things like the flowers and the grass and the airplanes flying overhead. Then out of the blue Dakota came to me and took my face in his hands, (you know how they do) and said "I give you the gift of a merry-go-round!" I thought how sweet is that. He wants me to have fun. But he didn't stop there. He then gave me the gift of a head to put on my shoulders. Wow, this kid is deep. He wants me to think. Once again he was passing out the gifts, he gave me the gift of a key. You know- to open doors and locks with. That could come in very handy from time to time. And lastly, he gave me the gift of a shirt. Also very handy from time to time. Such a sweet memory of my little Dakota. You just can't make this stuff up!

abortion

2008-09-22T17:31:00.000-07:00

I got the October Ensign today and started flipping through it. I was drawn to an article regarding abortion written by Elder Russell M. Nelson. I was completely blown away by a statistic that they quoted. "Worldwide reports indicate that more than 40 million abortions are performed per year." That is more than were killed in WWI and WWII combined....every year. Ok so thats a lot to interpret. Listen to this. In the United States there are between 3 and 4 million live births per year. In the same year there are about 1 million abortions. This is what I find so shocking. 1 in every 3-4 pregnancies end in abortion....What part of "thou shalt not kill nor do anything like unto it" do we not understand?
Before I had children, I thought that in certain instances abortion would be ok, like rape or incest. Now that I've had children I know that as soon as that child is conceived, no matter how it is conceived, it is a child. It begins the process of building a brain and a heart. According to Elder Nelson who is also a Medical Doctor, that child has a beating heart and a functioning circulatory system within 30 days of conception.
I don't agree with abortion on demand. If you make a choice to create a life, then you are also choosing the blessing or consequence that comes with that choice. We don't have the right to take the choice away from the unborn child. They are defenseless. I am so sad that not more women in this country value the life of thier unborn children.
Along the same lines, A gay couple flew on my airline the other day with newborn twins. They had a little girl and a little boy. They may be really nice guys and have the ability to provide those babies with all the material things they need in this life, but they cannot give those children the mother they need. If you are gonna choose to live a gay lifestyle then you choose to give up the benefits of a marriage between a man and a woman, the only way in which children come into this world. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
Thats all I'm gonna say about that.

Ken's horrible, terrible, no good, very bad day

2008-09-09T17:28:00.000-07:00

I've been helping Ken work on his architecture class models. He has to build tiny little buildings with thin little bass wood sticks and planks, and glue. The other night we stayed up most the night working on the project. This model shows how a particular modular home is built. It uses sections of the house which are prefab'd (built off-site and trucked to the building site) which are then put toghether. Anyway it was looking really good. He stained some of the planks and scored lines in them to make it look like wood siding and he really puts a lot of effort into his work. He was actually ahead of schedule which was nice for a change. Notice all the past pretenses I've been using....It was a very nice model....

Ken called me from school feeling very low. The teacher had suggested that he add a lot more detail to his model. He also was beginning to feel frustrated using the Auto-Cad program which can be very complicated. He was going on very little sleep and probably didn't have much to eat for dinner. He actually said he felt like quitting....Just before the cell phone battery died he told me he was just going to pack up his stuff and come home to try to get a decent night sleep.

1 hour later:

Ken walks in looking even more dejected than he had sounded on the phone....His first words were "It got worse".....how in the world could his day get worse? He went on to tell me how he had just gotten on his bike to ride to the lot where he parks. His paper bag holding all his models hanging from the handle bars...some guy in a big hurry comes flying down the sidewalk right toward Ken so Ken swerves and is launched head over handlebars and landed right on top of his bag of models....crushing them. CRUSHING THEM! All his hard work gone. I'm pretty sure he spent a few tears on the drive home. My poor sweet husband. It's pretty hard to see my husband feeling so low...He is usually my rock.

We got to work right away salvaging anything we could and stayed up most of that night rebuilding. Thankfully the process was quicker the 2nd time around and it really is fun spending quality time with Ken. I love him to "pieces."

I'm a BIG kid now, Mommy!

2008-08-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

You know how when you are potty training your kids and you tell them "you are gonna be so big now because you get to wear big boy underwear" They are so proud to be able to do some big boy things. Well the other day Dakota found a knife on the table and wanted to cut a slice of cheese all by himself, you know because he Is a Big boy afterall....Well his eyes started to tear up when I told him that little kids don't cut with knives..just mommies and daddies do. Then with all the sincerity and pleading that a little 3 year old can muster he said " Well Mommy I am a Big Boy...he then proceded to lift his shirt and drop his shorts....See? he said. And there I had my proof...He was in fact wearing his big boy underwear. You really can't argue with a 3 year olds logic :^)

blogger newborn

2008-08-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

I am a blogger newborn trying to figure all this blog stuff out. I've seen some great blogs and I have no idea how to do it so I'm just diving right in. I want to know how to get those great wallpaper or background graphics. But the first thing I want to do is figure out how to put a playlist on my blog. Look at me , I'm gettin all techno-savvy...