Picture This

Here are some pictures that I have been wanting to post. Let's go in chronological order, starting with April Fool's Day. It is our little family tradition that I mess with our food on April Fool's, typically dinner. This year Tiff and Carter were with us (Mike was flying), Shelby's friend Krista also joined us for dinner so I went with the classic meatloaf cupcakes. I was certain that Carter's reaction would be the same as Shelby's the first time I made these. She was so excited about having cupcakes for dinner, that when she realized they weren't cupcakes she was MAD, so mad that she wouldn't touch my fried egg sundae that was made with lemon pudding and ice cream. Carter surprised us all by just rolling with it, he wouldn't eat the mashed potato frosting, but that was because he's going through an "I don't eat potatoes" phase.

Our dessert was fish sticks and peas. Don't these look awesome?! The 'fish sticks' are wafer cookies with peanut butter spread on the outside and then rolled in corn flakes. The 'peas' are made from laffy taffy. The best part (other than the cookies being really good) was that Shelby was nervous to eat them, even after she told Krista that she thought they were made with cookies and some kind of cereal. I LOVE that even though she's totally on to me, I can still get her!

Here is my new coat closet! Yay!

This is the school room. The art above the bed was painted by Shelby and Sarah just this week. I still have more decorating that I want to do, but we love going in here for school, it is such a bright, happy room. I should have taken a picture that included the curtains, they are white with colorful circles made from dots, they look great with the quilt. Mom, do you remember this quilt? This was my final Laurel project (the YW program was a little different then) I took this quilt with me to college, each circle is tied with yarn in the matching color. It was sooooo much work, but I still love it today!

And now for some Las Vegas Highlights.Here is Shelby outside her world headquarters. We like to tease Shelby that she was named after the Shelby Cobra.

This is Shelby's favorite CobraThis is Darren's favorite.So, I guess its a really big deal if you get Carroll Shelby to sign a piece of your car, like the dash board, or maybe the mirror cover on the visor. You can actually send them to him and for $250 he will sign them. So when you visit the factory, you get to sign the wall. I figure for our four signatures Mr. Shelby owes us $1000. The kids love the Rainforest Cafe, we go there for lunch everytime we visit, not because the food is great, or because its cheap(its neither of those things), but because the atmosphere is cool. There are animal statues all over that move, and about every half hour there is a thunder storm. Its pretty cool, and the girls love it.We also love a visit to M&M world, the girls like the 3D movie. This time I decided I wasn't getting sucked into buying M&Ms there, because they are stupid expensive, we can find a Smith's later and buy as much as we like, and still have money for our favorite Thai food!

So, there you have it. Hope you enjoyed a little look into our lives this past April.

My Shelby

I've been thinking I need to do a post that is entirely devoted to Shelby. I look back at these pictures and others (I would have put up baby pictures if I had any on my computer) and think how did we get here? Where did my baby go, and how did she go so quickly? Something happens as kids get older, they leave the cute little kid phase and move on to something else that seems to get forgotten, or at least not ooooed and awed over like when they are little. As a parent I still think she is cute and amazing, but in different ways than when she was little. Life is way more fun, and we have much more freedom, I love that!

The bond between mothers and daughters is interesting to me. (My major in college was Family and Human Development so all family relationships are interesting to me.) It is especially interesting when a daughter is also an oldest child. I know I am hard on Shelby I expect a lot from her, more than I expect from Sarah. Part of that is because I have Shelby that does so much, so Sarah doesn't have to. I can honestly say that Shelby does not let me down. Sure I get frustrated and disappointed, but I also realize that I expect a lot of her, so I try harder to look past the frustration and I find myself asking for her forgiveness A LOT.

I, too am an oldest child. I know what that feels like. I love that when my dad talks about my birth he says that he was glad they had a girl, because Mom would have a friend. I don't know what my mom would say about the kind of friend I am, but I like how my relationship with Shelby is changing. We can have interesting conversations, and I enjoy that. I know that my mom relied a lot on me, and I think I helped keep our house running. Shelby definitely helps keep our house running.

Shelby is awesome because she is her own person. She knows what she likes, and doesn't care if she is different from her friends. She is a lot like her dad in that way, and many others. She plays WOW with Darren (even though I don't understand what they are talking about, its fun to listen to them and see the bond that they have-it would be interesting to hear him talk about the bond between a father and a daughter). She is the dog whisperer in training. She loves to read, her favorite is fantasy-just like Darren. What can I say? She's my Shelby, my sweet girl, and I love her!

I have a new Nephew!

You can see him here ! I can't wait to see him myself! Congratulations Jared and Liz!

Valentines day and My New Hair Do

I have about 3 blog posts running through my head. The problem is actually sitting down to write, so after getting updated on everyone's blogs I am now inspired to do at least one post.

Here is a picture of my girls in their Valentines Day shirts. Darren and I went out on Friday night, and it was madness! The wait at Texas Roadhouse was at and hour and a half when we got there. So we killed time at the mall and then went to our movie. The theater was packed, I don't think I want to go to Jordan Commons ever again! Then we went to dinner at 9:30, good times. Oh, we saw "He's just not that into you" -Ultra Chick Flick, I felt bad that Darren had to watch it. On Saturday we did a little shopping, I needed to get Darren's present, and then we went swimming, Shelby's friend was there so she had an even better time. We ended the day with a heart shaped pizza and an excellent ice cream cake. I loved that the day was about the family having a good time, being together.

This is my new hair do. I helped in Primary on Sunday and the little girl sitting next to me asked if I spray painted my hair.

Possible posts to be coming soon: We have Snack issues, and Why genius is stupid.

Love Is In The Air

I am a huge Jon and Kate plus 8 fan. In one episode about Valentines Day Kate had these cute bags that she strapped to the kids chairs and filled with goodies for Valentines Day. I thought that was so cute. Well I decided to have the kids decorate these little mailboxes, and then the kids could spend the month of February delivering little things to each other. We decorated the mailboxes on Friday and immediately the kids started delivering notes and treats to each other. They raise the flag to let the person know they have mail. I thought the novelty would wear off by the end of the day, but they are still at it. It has been a lot of fun. We will have special prizes for Valentines Day. We are also our Valentines dinner, since the big day is Saturday, and it will be crazy busy everywhere Darren and I are going out Friday. Saturday we are having heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphys and I have ordered and ice cream cake from Maggie Moos (cinnamoo and dark chocolate ice cream with Heath bar and chocolate cake), I think we still need cookies from the Smart Cookie to finish it off. It is going to take some extreme points managing to pull it off, but I am up for the challenge, I think.

Yesterday we got a delivery from FedEx. I called Darren to tell him a package had arrived, and ask him what it was. I got the typical Shipley response "Its too close to a holiday to be asking those kind of questions". When he got home from work he handed me the box, I opened it and found this!



Isn't it cute? I LOVE red! I did already have an i Pod, its and old (in the i Pod world) 2G, I have to take stuff off anytime I want to put something new on. I like to listen to General Conference on my way home from the gym, now with a whopping 8G, I can have all of Conference on there at once! I am rather pathetic, because I don't know how to use i tunes or rip music. I tell Darren what I want on there and how I want it organized and he does it for me. Lame right? or is it love? I am so excited about my new ipod. In honor of Valentines Day I have decided to wear red shoes everyday this week! Today my red shoes are red slippers, cuz hey I'm not going anywhere until yoga class (tonight is my first class, I'm excited about it too).

Time for Christmas

I'm listening to my playlist as I type this post. The song that's playing is Barry Manilow "I made it through the rain". I can't help but think of my parents. They moved last week, out of the house I grew up in. It was tough, not something that my mom really wanted to do. But they made it through, and I really do admire the courage and strength they have. They sacrificed a lot for our family and I am grateful for the life they gave us. The part of the move that really got to me was on moving day seeing my parents neighbors, parents of my friends that I grew up with. I really love those people, they are all very special to me. Love you Mom and Dad, I hope that you can find joy in your new home.

I started putting up my Christmas decorations this week. It took me 3 days to finish with the inside of the house. The lights on the outside are still not finished, but they are going to be awesome! I am really starting to enjoy this Christmas season. Last year I got rid of decorations that I didn't love anymore, so it was fun to pull out the bins and see the decorations I love.

This nativity was my birthday present from Darren last year. I love it!

I had the idea of a Christmas tree forest a couple of years ago and decided to bring it back this year. I love it. The tree with the ribbon and the bow on top is our story tree. Every night we read a story and put a corresponding ornament on the tree. Shelby told me a couple of years ago this was her favorite part, I wonder if it still is, she is the one that keeps us on track with it.

This is the downstairs tree. A new addition this year. I love the ornaments, they remind me of something from Whoville. The red lights are a little intense, but I like them, for this tree it works. I have started listening to Christmas music. Darren's rule is that the first Christmas music of the season must be Elvis. It was more like the 3rd or 4th album we listened to, but still early on. My theme for music this year is classic stuff. I have a "crooners" Christmas album that I love with Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, its awesome. My favorite song is "Merry Christmas, Darling" by the Carpenters. I love the Carpenters. Karen Carpenter was an alto, so she's easy to sing along with.

My shopping is almost done, hopefully I will finish it up today. Christmas cards are next, then its time to think about cheeseballs!

P.S. Happy Birthday Jared!

Happy Birthday!

I can't believe I'm doing this so late! I am a terrible mom and wife. Shelby and Darren celebrated their birthdays over the weekend, Shelby on Saturday and Darren on Sunday. The long running joke in our family that makes Shelby shriek every time, is that we are skipping her birthday this year because Darren's birthday was skipped when she was born and he had to spend the day in the hospital, because of her (not that he had any part in that). We went bowling for Shelby's birthday. The biggest tragedy of the day was when Sarah got a strike and didn't get to roll the ball a second time.

My Shelby is Eleven! How time flies. I look at her and think back over our life the last eleven years. I am so grateful for Shelby, she has taught me so much. I'm so glad that she chose to come to our family. I could do without the wailing that Darren can provoke from her with so little effort, but she also has the best giggle around. She is growing into a very fine young lady. Happy Birthday Sweetheart.

Darren. Where would I be without him? I'll avoid getting too sappy and just say that he is my rock. To use his words he talks me down off the ledge. I'm also grateful that he has chosen me. Happy Birthday honey, your great for being half way to 70!

Fall Moments

I pulled out my Christmas notebook tonight (I'm always worried about forgetting things, so I have to write everything down), and as I was making lists of gifts, and projects, and things to do I remembered that I have a blog. So before it all passes by I thought I would post some of our fall goings on. Life has been crazy as I've adjusted to our household growing from 4 people and 2 dogs to 7 people and 4 dogs. Having Mike and Tiff and Carter here is great, we have had a lot of fun.

I love fall. Mandi's post about fall was the best and ever since then I have wanted to take a minute and post about some of the things I love about fall. Darren is at a meeting tonight, the kids are in bed, so since I have a minute I'm going to take advantage of it.

Every fall I love to go to Gardner Village and see the witches. I love that place, I love the little shops, and the treats at Sweet Aftons. Mom came with us, and we had a great time. Sarah knew exactly what she wanted to see, and made sure we found all the right witches.




We went camping with the whole Shipley clan (except Melanie and Dan-we miss you guys, and Daniel and Mindy didn't really camp, they just came up for dinner one night) over UEA. We went to Look out Pass. The weather was so nice, I had been worried about that and took Shelby shopping because she had no long pants and no long sleeved shirts, and no real shoes. Riding the 4 wheelers has become my kids favorite thing-thanks Brett and Jen, we need to get some of our own. Even Keno loves a ride, Molly likes to run along side and barks at you when you go too fast.Here is Shelby and yes, that is my grandparents old trailer in the background. I love that thing, it is a 1978, but it is way better than sleeping in a tent on the ground.That's Mike and Tiff on the 4 wheeler, Mike is giving Sarah a ride. Sarah left the helmet on the time so that she was always ready for a ride.Check out Carter! To say he loved the 4 wheelers would be an understatement. He really took to driving that little one, and we had to keep reminding him to drive slower, he didn't believe he could crash.

Our next fun fall thing was Pumpkinpalooza at Thanksgiving Point. For $5 you go there and carve a pumpkin, and they clean up the mess! This sounded like just the thing for me! Well, that was before the kids got pumpkins from both sets of grandparents, but I figured oh well we can go anyway. Tiffanie and I bought potato head pumpkin sets and the kids wanted to paint pumpkins so they will also get to carve a pumpkin with the help of someone else. I don't like carving pumpkins, its gooey and sticky, I hate being sticky. I usually let Darren do it, that way I can take pictures-see sneaky right?

Yep, thats me carving a pumpkin. Sarah's pumpkin. Darren carved Shelby's and Mike carved Carter's. So much for getting out of carving pumpkins. Next year I'll make my own treats, turn on my own spooky music, and do it in the backyard and save 10 bucks. If the kids want to paint pumpkins I won't argue.While I was carving her pumpkin Sarah took this picture of all the guts.See Sarah with my cute pumpkin? I mean her pumpkin.Photo op. at Pumpkinpalooza.Finally, the kids with their potato head pumpkins. Those turned out so cute. We went to pumpkinpalooza last Wednesday night and with the warm weather our carved pumpkins aren't looking so hot.

So there you have it, our life over the last couple of months in a nutshell, aren't the pictures awesome? I love this time of year, I love wearing a sweater, I love the taste and smell of pumpkin spice (have you tried the hershey's kisses?). Fall is also the beginning of birthday season, my Shelby turns 11 on the 8th, so be prepared for something totally sentimental then.

Family Production Numbers

When I was a kid, one of my favorite things to do was organize a family production number. I would take the Janeen Brady stuff, or whatever, assign parts to my brothers and sisters, and we would put on show for our parents. Our stage was usually the hearth (sometimes pronounced hearther, and also used by Garrett for cracking open his head during an exciting night of spinning), we also would perform on the trampoline or swings.

Well, this morning my kids were listening to an oldie, but a goodie, My Turn on Earth. The song "What does it take to make a family" started to play. It all came back to me. How about at Garrett's wedding luncheon we do a production number!? The words are "What does it take to make a family? People who love and laugh, people who sing a song". Come on, does this not sound like us? Tori could be our choreographer (be sure to include lost of jazz squares). So are you game?

Ok, if not a production number maybe we could make a video with pictures of Hayley and Garrett and put it to that song. I hope you are all laughing with me!

Grandma Elsie

Darren's grandma passed away Friday night. She has been living with Darren's parents for the past two years, and would stay with them for 6 months at a time for a couple of years before that. His mother (Pam) has given her life to taking care of her mother since she moved in full time with them. I really admire all that Pam has done, she has taken great care of her mother and I know it has not been easy. I sat with Grandma a few times when Wayne and Pam would go out, and Grandma would be so worried when Pam wasn't around. Since Grandma died on Friday, I have been trying to think of something good that I could keep with me. Today was her funeral. I learned that pink was her favorite color. I felt like I really got to know her today, and I wish I could have known her better when she was more of herself. Today as we were driving home, and I was thinking about her, I felt her spirit. I felt like she was letting me know that she knew that I try to do what is right, and she appreciated me. Thank you Grandma Elsie.

Update

I know I have been kind of a slacker blogger. It just seems like I never get the time to sit down and write. So here is a little update of what has been going on.

1.We have been working on finishing a room in our basement. Actually, to be honest Mike (my brother-in-law) has finished a room in our basement. Mike and Tiff and Carter will be moving in with us soon, and now they have a room to stay in! I am excited to have them stay with us, and even more excited that they will be living in Eagle Mountain. Here are some pictures of the new room before and after. Isn't the color fun?! Keno adds a little human interest, although I don't think he can compete with Sarah dancing.

















2. Darren was called as the Elder's Quorum President in our ward. We were so surprised when we got the call to meet with the Stake President. We didn't think Darren would ever be released from scouts. I have so many thoughts about this calling as well as my own, but the right words just aren't coming to me right now. So, I'll just say that I know that Heavenly Father is aware of our family and will help us in all that we have been asked to do.

3. I have loved summer! We have a had a lot of fun with our family. Tiff and I perfected ( in our opinion) lounging at the pool. We bought umbrellas, and beach chairs, and went as often as we could. Tiff and I went to the Parade of Homes, and check out this room!



4. I started school back with the girls at the beginning of August. I am really excited about this new school year! I found a History curriculum I really love, it called Story of the World. We are also making a BIG time line, it has lines for world history, American history, Church history, and Family history. I'm excited to see how everything comes together. We also got our new math books, and Core Knowledge books. I feel like I have better grasp on things this year, and I know what I want to see happen in our home. Wish me luck, I need it! Here is our 'First day of School' picture.
So, with all of this going on I needed a little getaway with Darren. Two weeks ago we went with Mike and Tiff to Park City. We shopped, went to the movies, and visited the Olympic park. It was the perfect break. I came back with new clothes, and ready for whatever is ahead. There's a quick blurb about what has been going on in our home.

Garrett is getting Married!

I got a phone call last night around 9:30 from my brother. Which was odd because he never calls me unless we have plans. He proposed to Hayley last night! I am soooooooooooo excited! They are getting married in January. I am adding Hayley to my blog roll, so you can read about the proposal if you want! Congratulations! I love you guys!

4th of July

I'm not one to post twice in one day, but I really wanted to post about swimming lessons and 4th of July. Then, I can move on to other things.
I LOVE the 4th of July! I love that its hot. I don't know why other than Darren keeps telling me I can't regulate my own body temperature so its nice not to be cold. I love eating! I mean I love it in general, but on the 4th we have our family's special marinated turkey. This year I made "Frog Eye" salad which I think is so yummy (and for all you out there who had some of my salad I just want you to know I am still eating it, had it for lunch today). Tiff made dutch oven potatoes in the regular oven that were so good we had them again on Sunday. We topped it off with my Aunt Saundra's recipe for Cherry Pecan Ice Cream oh my I could have drank the stuff that melted it was so good. So wow that's a lot about the food we won't mention my good porn, (which was really corn some people just can't hear).
Before we ate we went to the movies and saw Wall*E. I loved it! This might be my favorite Pixar movie! I highly recommend it.
Here are Carter, Sarah, and Shelby sitting on the display. Aren't they cute all dressed a like? My mom made their shirts, notice that the pocket of Carter's shirt matches the girl's shirts. I told you it was in my genetic make-up. You can check out Madeline's shirt on Jared and Liz's blog.

After the movie the kids played on the the slip and slide.

Go Sarah!
Notice Carter's excellent form!

Shelby showed everyone how its done. Note: she was so sore the next day she needed medication!



And finally, no Ward family get together would be complete without Rockband, Singstar, and/or Guitar Hero! We really had a party and played all three.

I also love fireworks! McKay went all out on the fireworks and they were awesome, and West Jordan's fireworks show was really good. Good times.

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy

After our trip to Logan, in April, Darren and I thought it would be fun to take the girls to Ephraim, to visit Snow College. Darren and I met during our first year at Snow, so this is where it all began. Plus, we try to talk about college whenever we can to get them pointed in that direction, so visits to college campus' are a must. My parents did the same thing with my brother's and sisters and me, it must have done some good even if I did decide at an early age that I definitely did not want to go to BYU (not that I had the grades that made that an option, but I digress).

We thought it would be even more fun to go during the Manti pageant. Darren's parents have some property in Fairview so we decided to camp. We didn't make it through the entire pageant, Sarah woke up about 10 minutes before it ended and was crying because she was so cold, so we left.


This trip was a little different for me than our trip to Logan. I had a great time in Logan, going to USU. I had great roommates, I really figured out what I wanted to do with my life, I got engaged, and then got married. Everything that college should be. Oh yeah, I did graduate too. The thing that made this trip different was that as I walked around the campus of Snow College I remembered how hard life was. I was always worried about my grades, that during my first year weren't very good. Meeting Darren was great! Saying good bye when he left for his mission was hard. My good friend at the time also left on a mission a year later while I was still going to Snow. It was a time to grow up and learn some hard lessons, like you have to study to get good grades, and if you don't get good grades they take away your financial aid, and if they take away your financial aid, all the studying in the world doesn't matter when you can't go to school. I also had lots of roommate drama. Note to Moms: If the kids don't really like each other when they are in high school, its not a good idea for them to live together. That might be a good topic for a future post: What I learned from living with 27 different girls over 4 years.

So, why is this post titled Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy? Two reasons. First, I did figure out a lot about who I was and who I wanted to be. I learned that I could do hard things, I actually made the dean's list the next year. Quite a leap from academic probation. I figured out how to live with different kinds of people. By the time I went to USU I knew what to do and how to do it and I got to have a lot more fun.

My most inspiring thought came as I was watching the pageant. There was Mormon handing off the plates to his son Moroni, and going off to battle knowing that he would die. As Moroni walks off all alone thinking "Where I go mattereth not." I thought about my life now. I know this world is changing and things seem to be getting harder, and there seems to be a lot to be worried about. But, I felt so grateful that I'm not alone, like Moroni was. I still have my family. I still have great friends. I most of all I have the gospel. This came to my inbox this week, and I've thought about it a lot.
"We all go through different life experiences. Some are filled with joy, and others with sorrow and uncertainty. . . .
". . . Aren't the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and our membership in His Church great reasons to rejoice?"
(Dieter F. Uchtdorf, ""Have We Not Reason to Rejoice?"" Ensign, Nov. 2007, 18)
I've been reading the Conference Ensign this week, and have found a lot of joy and comfort in the words of our leaders. There is much to find joy in. I am so grateful for my family, my home, Darren's good job that lets me be home with my family. I am so grateful for the gospel it is the good news. I love my Savior. I just want to put some happiness out there!