Thursday, May 28, 2009


SUMMER IS TOTALLY ALMOST HERE!!!

we are all very excited for summer. here is a list of some fun things we are planning to do. let us know if you have any more ideas




  1. Summer pirate play- Spencer, Rebecca, Sarah, and Joseh

  2. movie marathon, any suggestions?

  3. bike the bear (Spencer)

  4. play all the board games in our closet in one day!

  5. build a castle

  6. buy a dog. sshh dad doesn't know

  7. soccer games galore!

  8. hiking in logan canyon, old ephraim, the wind caves, any other ideas

  9. read a lot of good books, any ideas of good one?

  10. swimming

  11. willard bay

  12. camping

  13. backyard camping

  14. cross country workouts- Janelle and Spencer

  15. cross country camp- Janelle and Spencer

  16. YW camp- Janelle and Rebecca

  17. YM camp- first day of summer, spencer is off to camp

  18. relay for life- ( it is a 25 hour walking relay to raise money for the cure of cancer, if you would like to donate anything let us know :) )

  19. EFY - Janelle

  20. woodworking

  21. carpentry internship- Janelle

  22. Trip to Australia, I wish!

  23. water fights

  24. fireworks

  25. who knows what .....

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Back Yard Treasures!






We have been enjoying the
simple pleasures
in our own back yard...


Watching birds, climbing trees, planting a garden, picking dandy-lions, swinging and jumping, playing soccer...


Hope you are enjoying the beauty of each new day!

Friday, May 15, 2009

Favorite Books...

Our sweet and amazing sister, Laura Bingham has written and published her first novel, Alvor! The sequel is already in the works! I'm not at all surprised that she has the talent to do it, but, don't ask me how she found time! She is the busy mother of 5 and has her own business and dance studio where she teaches clogging etc.. I haven't read the book yet, but it looks fantastic and has great reviews! I'm sure it will be added to the list of our favorites! If you are interested , it can be purchased through Amazon.com. I don't know how to post a link or picture of the book (I'm still pretty much computer illiterate!), but check it out!

Here are a few more of our favorite books right now...

We all LOVED the Olsen's version of "The BOX"! We can't wait to find a copy to add to our library --- and a good box to play in!

Meagan LOVES "Good Night Moon". We read it at least 10 times a day... She really loves all books and has since she was tiny, but just recently she has started to love the STORIES! Not just the pointing at the pictures and turning the pages!

Amy loves books about fairies and princesses! She has read almost all of the "Rainbow Magic Fairies" series and lots of other...

Joseph loves mysteries! He reads the "A to Z Mystery" books, "Cam Jansen", "Geronimo Stilton", and he is currently enjoying "Indian in the Cupboard"!

Sarah really likes books by Andrew Clements and has read lots of them and lots of others...

One of Rebecca's favorites is "The Anybodies" by N. E. Body. She also just finished "A Wrinkle in Time" for a book report and really liked it.

Spencer just read "Apollo 13". He liked it... Pretty technical, but a good book! One of his favorites is "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card.

Janelle has just read "A Raisin in the Sun" for her English class. It is NOT her favorite. She liked the Twilight series, but she is not an addict like some girls her age. She loves to escape with a good suspenseful romantic comedy!

One of Eric's all time favorites is "The Veil of Snows" by Mark Helpring. He has been reading "The Tale of Despereaux" to the kids and he just discovered "Skippy jon Jones"... a new family favorite, especially if Dad will read!

I can't pick favorites! I'm sure "Alvor" will be up there once my copy gets here! Janelle just gave me "The Truth about Forever" for Mother's Day and I look forward to reading it. To tell the truth, I mostly just read to and with my kids. But I love that and I am so glad that the all LOVE to read! What a gift!

I would love to hear what some of your favorites are! Happy Reading!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Zoom Zoom!



Joseph designed and build his 1st pine-wood derby car this week (with a little help from Dad)! It is a Super Shark Car! Very cool! We all went to the Pack Meeting last night and watched lots and lots of races! Joseph's car was the 2nd fastest overall and he took 1st place for the Wolves and Bears! Everyone had a great time and all of the boys won a ribbon and candybar.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Seven is Heaven!!!

When I first found out we were going to have baby # 9, Heavenly Father spoke to my heart and told me that she was a very special baby coming to our family for a very special reason... No doubt about that! Having Amy Melissa in our family has made every day better! She is so completely and unconditionally loving! She is such a joy and a blessing!





Can you believe Amy is 7 YEARS OLD!!! She just celebrated her birthday on May 3rd. I have no idea how seven years could have flown by so quickly! She is getting so grown up! The last couple years have been so much fun that I tried to convince her to sleep up-side-down so she could go back from six to five ( I've heard that works...) instead of up to seven, but she wouldn't go for it... So she is really, truly, officially a seven year old --- big toothless grin and all!


(What a delightful age!!!)




Because her birthday was on Fast Sunday, we started partying in Saturday with birthday muffins for breakfast and a family party at the local bowling alley...










(Sorry-- No cool Music Video like the Olsen's.) None of us are great bowlers, but we had a great time!

Sunday was even better... After church, Grammie and Grandpa C. and Heather and Garrick joined us for a super fun birthday party and dinner. Amy is so loved!!!



Honestly, I wish my kids wouldn't grow up quite so fast, but I love every new stage and development, from toddler, to teen-ager, to adult...