WOOT!!

I lost 5 lbs so far, yay me!

Sorry!! for my absence ;)

Ok, so I've not posted in a few days, and my mom has gone back home, and a lot of what we did went into the abyss of forgotten memories (I know it just happened right!!)And things have been a little hectic getting back to normal, so I really don't have much to say. We did go to dinner with everyone Tuesday evening @ Shari's, which was crazyyyy. My mom, stepdad, Ben and his wife and their 3 kids, Christina and Nick and Desiree, Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa and my brood too. We all had a very good time together. I don't have any pictures of that night, and I still haven't put my pictures on photobucket (Procrastinate much?)But I will get to it eventually, I promise.. ;) As for other things, I've been picking the mess out of blackberry bushes around my yard, I have a huge container full of juice (which I froze because I don't feel like doing anything with it just yet) and I have a HUGE bowl (2 actually) full of berries that I have frozen waiting to be turned into something awesome like jelly or a pie or maybe a smoothie...But ya, I've been outside cutting bushes away to get to the good berries because they're about to go to waste if I don't. It kinda drives Brad crazy because he thinks we have enough berries saved up and that I don't need anymore, but I keep picking more and more and tell him that you can never have enough. I mean it's free goodies right, grows naturally in my yard, I should take what I can and do what I can with it. ;) So the kids wanting to play outside gives me an excuse to get out there and pick them.. Tomorrow I am probably going to make some jelly. The first two times I did mom helped me, so this will be interesting.. doing it by myself for the first time.

I am also kinda determined to lose some weight now, and I have been taking walks and trying to stay away from certain foods etc. It's a lot easier to get fat than to lose weight lemme tell you. I just want to be able to run around and enjoy playing with my kids without dying of shortness of breath etc, and I do reaize that I am unhealthy in the amount of weight I have gained, and so I am going to strive to become more active and healthy!! I was promised a new wardrobe when I successfully complete my mission, and the sound of new clothes is just soo great to me since I have been wearing the same clothes that I did in high school...graduated 7 years ago so, ya I need some new clothes.
As far as anything else goes, Saria starts school on the 3rd so I will be a little more free during the day, just the two boys to look after, and I can take a long walk after I get her on the bus because I have a double stroller, or better yet if Brad's home he can watch them while I go walking. I am pretty excited about life right now, it's good to me, and I'm thankful for it. I am super excited that Hila moved up here, I may have someone to go walking with now! :) And I'm sure she's got a few awesome healthy recipes up her sleeve as well. Well, I will definetly try to get some pictures up soon, I hope everyone is safe and remains that way. Love to all!!

Zoo and Pike's Market

So two days ago we went to the Point Defiance Zoo for a few hours, the kids of course had a blast, Ben loved the sharks the most I think. Samuel really enjoyed the effalants (elephants) and I think Saria's favoriate was the parrot she got to feed a dollar to (it dropped her dollar in a donation box (real bird too) We made jelly yesterday, but it won't set, and I think the reason is because we put too much sugar in, I guess we read the instructions wrong, oh well, maybe I will be able to pick enough berries to do it again. I have been trying to add pictures to my myspace page. After I get them up over there, I will put a few of them here. We went to the Pike's Place Market and walked around there yesterday afternoon. My mom said she could walk around that thing for hours, it really is a neat experience. The kids trid some chocolate spaghetti! Today we went to Illahee again for a little bit, and we walked up and down the nature trails they have, and picked shells and the park ranger gave each of the kids a sticker.

Nonna and Poppy visit day 2

Well, yesterday my mom and step dad got here around 11 30 in the morning, and we didn't really do a whole lot because everyone was really tired. Ok I lied, we did a lot considering the circumstances. We went to the beach for a little bit and walked on the pier, but we didn't stay there too long because the tide was in and the whole shore part was in the water. Then we went home and of course it's raining, but we pick blackberries anyway. I squashed those suckers to make juice for the jelly I'm going to make while my mom is here too. They're still draining. That was yesterday....
Today we went to the Pacific Science Center in Seattle. It's really expensive to get in, but let me tell you, the kids had such a wonderful time, and so did the adults, and we all agree that it was money absolutely well spent. They had so many fun and exciting hands on exhibits for all ages, Benjamin even got in on the action. I think Samuel's favoriate part of the whole trip was this beach ball that was floating above a tube that was shooting out air, and you could move the tube back and forth to change the angle the ball was floating at, he kept trying to take it off the air (it was just out of his reach) and sometimes he actually knocked it off the air steam and it would fly and hit me in the head, and it was so hilarious because when I threw it back to him he thought that he was going to catch it but the air stream caught it first and blew it right back up out of his reach. Saria's favoriate part was the lazer light show that we went to, it was called "The 80's." My mom and I both agreed that the songs they chose to represent the show really sucked hehe. Brad really enjoyed the view of the beehive they have set up in there, because it had a tube leading outside where the bees can come in and out at. I really loved the shadow wall, the room where you stand against the wall and it leaves an imprint of your shadow on the wall. I think everyone enjoyed the butterfly exhibit too, my kids absolutely love them. I found in the gift store a butterfly hanging that had several species of butterflies on it, and one of them was called "The common Mormon" I told him if I could find a print with just that butterfly in it I'd wanna buy it, but I didn't find one. I thought it was mildly amusing hehe. I will have to put up pictures just as soon as I snag them from my mother's memory card because I do not have the time to take pictures while chasing my kids around.. hehehe More to come as we've still gotta visit the zoo and aquarium and other things before they leave.

BoM challenge for the Silverdale Ward youth

It's been a pretty awesome experience so far. We are reading the BoM daily anyway, so instead of starting with the beginning, we are just starting with where we were reading as a family and we'll get it done backwards ;) Saria has been asked to read the entire BoM by the end of the year and highlight references of God (The Lord, Christ, etc) red, and where it is Christ's spoken words, highlight in blue. This is words that He not only spoke to prophets, but the relay of messages from the prophets to the people. I have learned a lot in doing this, not just spiritually but that would be a good place to start. I never really LOOKED for these things in the scriptures before, and its amazing just how often the Lord is referred to and it's just as amazing when I recognize His spoken word. Saria is really enjoying this project and has even participated in reading the verses with us. I know she can't possibly understand what she reads, because half the time I don't, but she can read these really BIG words that a typical 7 year old wouldn't really be able to do. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that we do read scriptures and they are full of these big words, but it just amazes me everytime she flies through a verse.

Its been 7 years today :)

Since I entered the waters of baptism and became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It's a good feeling, really. I sit back and look at ALL the experiences I've had, both good and bad, and I realize that without the guidance of the church influence (even if sometimes I made the absolute worst decision possible) I would probably NOT be where I am today. I have a LOT to learn still, but the things I have gained along the way have been so helpful and rewarding. The biggest thing being that we recently went to the temple for the first time and were sealed together as a family. It is probably one of the greatest experiences I've ever had and I know that if we weren't doing what we are supposed to be doing that it wouldn't have happened. I think I really realized how important the gospel is when Brad went to Turkey in 2006. I started to read the Work and the Glory series and even though most of it was fiction, it was written (for me at least) in such a way that I was actually THERE. I couldn't put the books down. And reading what they went through, their hardships and their togetherness just made me think that my problems were dinky and I should be grateful that it wasn't something major. I think right then I realized that we weren't living the way we needed to be living, and I discussed my feelings on the matter with Brad and he (in my opinion at least) seemed to be waiting for me to say this to him because he felt the same way. We got rid of all our R rated movies that we had on DVD in a yard sale, and we started paying tithing and we talked with the Bishop about things and we just got on track, and I'm very proud of where we are right now, even if it took 7 years to do. I just wanted to share this with you, I know I already did in my temple trip post but a little reminder never hurt ;0