TIFFANI & CO.

Finally Snow!

2012-01-23T22:31:00.000-07:00

We woke up to a pretty major snowstorm last Wednesday. By midday I think we probably had 4-5 inches on the ground. The kids were so excited!

Unfortunately, this is what the yard looked like the very next day:

The snow turned to rain and melted it all away before the kids had much of a chance to play.

So we decided to head to the mountains to my uncle's cabin where there was considerably more snow:

Like four feet of snow.

We got an additional 6 or 7 inches the night we drove up (scariest car ride of my life!)

Just to add to the adventure the power went out around 2 am, probably due to the heavy snow crashing branches into the power lines.

It never came back on. Thank goodness we had these propane heaters that kept the cabin warm and helped us rethink our cooking plans. (Toast and hot dogs...perfect breakfast and lunch!)

We really didn't need electricity because all of the fun was outside! The kids had an absolute blast!

My cousin Paul cleared a great sledding hill to go down.

Even I was brave enough to try it!

I also enjoyed getting a chance to try out the new camera lens I got for Christmas.

It is such a beautiful area up there with gorgeous trees everywhere.

We also saw some amazing views on the drive home.

Not too bad for iphone pics!

It was a great weekend and we loved having our own winter wonderland just a few hours from home.

Christmas 2011

2012-01-02T17:37:00.001-07:00

It's been four years since we've all been able to spend Christmas together in Beaver, UT, my mom's hometown. (She has spent every Christmas of her life in the same house...imagine that!) Mark and I weren't planning on going down, but after much begging, pleading and a few tears, Mark agreed and we decided to head down and surprise everyone. I will never forget the looks on everyone's faces when we walked in the door. Totally worth the 8 hour drive and packing our entire Christmas into the back of the suburban.

Here's the whole crew, all 33 of us.

Mark, Jason and Matt

Moyes family

Siblings

Siblings acting like we usually do when we're together...goofy

" Strike a pose"

Pretty much my favorite people in the whole world

Opening one present on Christmas Eve

All the grandkids in new jammies

Trevor in his Neil Diamond turtleneck

Here's what Christmas for 30 looks like (this is actually just the kids, the adults opened presents after church)

Pretty much total chaos

And here's what Brady looked like the entire weekend...he wouldn't take these night vision goggles off.

Definitely a crazy, wonderful Christmas to remember.

Holiday Photo Shoot

2011-12-05T13:48:00.000-07:00

I took the kids to get some pictures for Christmas cards on Saturday. We went to the property of a friend of mine who has some cool old vehicles and farm equipment. They also have an amazing view. Here's some of the individual shots that I really liked.

It was FREEZING so it was hard to get a good pic with everyone smiling. Out of about twenty group shots there was really only one with everyone that I liked. You'll have to watch your mailboxes for that one, once I decide on which layout to use (too many cute ones to choose from!)

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-28T14:28:00.000-07:00

Hey! Remember how I have a blog, even though I haven't posted in almost 2 months? We're still alive, just enjoying our busy fall and getting ready for the holiday season.

This past week we had lots of family come and stay for Thanksgiving. My parents and youngest brother Jordan flew in, along with Trevor and Kaitlin, plus Jeff, Ashlee and Skylar. Lindsay joined us on Friday with Grant. We definitely had a houseful with people sleeping everywhere, but it was a ton of fun. We enjoyed a delicious meal (thanks to Mom's expert turkey-making skills), some early morning Black Friday shopping (worth it? I'm not quite sure), bowling, eating out and fun games (Sardines was the fave--nothing like family togetherness with 8 people crammed inside a closet). We loved it all and hated to see everyone go. The whole weekend just reminded me of how lucky I am to have a large, loving family and a home big enough to hold them all. Hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend too!

Homecoming 2011

2011-10-11T08:52:00.000-06:00

This weekend was our annual trip down to Provo for BYU's Homecoming. It's turned into a mini family reunion where everyone who can make it, does. The weather was less than perfect (again) but we still enjoyed being together. Highlights included the Spectacular Friday night, the parade Saturday morning and of course, the big game Saturday night.

Here's Trevor with the boys at the parade. He's the 7th Moyes kid to attend the Y.

Don't he and Kaitlin just make the cutest couple?

Mallory and Grant in their knit hats (a trend of the weekend because of the cold and rainy weather)

Here's the boys all ready for the game in their new hats. Brady was so excited to be at his first BYU game. Thank goodness they won or else we all would have frozen for nothing!

Fall Decor

2011-09-26T13:51:00.000-06:00

I have been having a great time decorating for Fall and Halloween. I love everything about this time of year: the cooler weather, the yummy foods and the beautiful colors.

I've used my Cricut a lot lately cutting out cute silhouettes and lettering.

I found some napkins with patterns that I loved and made them into new pillows for the couch (the flowered pillow I found at Kohl's). Great new look for only a few dollars!

Look at those beautiful apples that came right from our two trees out back. After three summers of babying our fruit trees we've finally been rewarded with apples, pears, peaches and nectarines. Lots of yummy desserts to be made!

Football Fever

2011-09-21T12:45:00.000-06:00

If it's starting to feel like Fall then you know that football has taken over our lives. Dallin and Brady are both playing again this year so if you include BYU we pretty much watch football all day on Saturdays. Let's not even talk about the Cougars right now :(

Brady made his first touchdown in his first game of the season. We were so excited as he ran the length of the field without getting his flag pulled (I think he was pretty surprised!) Thanks to Celeste for pictures (since I forgot my camera)

Dallin's team is having another great year. They were undefeated going into Saturday's game, against another undefeated team. After a loooong afternoon ending with the ambulance having to take one player off the field (from the other team...I don't think it was too serious) the game ended tied 6-6. The coaches told the boys the low score was thanks to the offensive line, of which Dallin is right guard.

Ready...

Set...

Go!

And if it's done correctly the opponent ends up on the ground (which usually happens since D is usually bigger than the kids he's against.)

It's fun to see how aggressive Dallin gets since he's really such a sweet kid off the field. After this nail-biter of a game we were thrilled to see Dallin awarded the blocking award for the week.

Is there anything cuter than this boy in his compression shirt and white pants?

Lake Powell

2011-09-07T22:59:00.008-06:00

We had a great time at Lake Powell this past weekend. Almost my entire family was there (we missed you Amber, Cody, Debbie and Jordan!) My parents have been doing the houseboat thing every summer with friends for the past 15 years. This is the first time we were able to go. Let me just say...I get it. I finally understand why everyone loves it so much. It was so relaxing and fun to be in such a beautiful place with all of your favorite people.

I was completely shocked when Brady wanted to jump off the houseboat. He's been going through a scaredy cat stage lately, so I couldn't believe it when he climbed right up and jumped...not a moment's hesitation. Definitely braver than his mom!

Cool shot of Nathan (Melissa's oldest) jumping.

Dallin enjoying the big raft.

Dad on the boat in our little cove. It was his birthday (he wouldn't want me to reveal how old) on Saturday so we had a little party with cake and a present from all the kids (new ipad!) He is definitely in his element at Lake Powell.

Cliff jumping for the brave ones like Trevor

Melissa and Lindsay (oldest sis, youngest sis)

Ashlee and Chelsea goofing around

All the girls (second from the left is Dana, a family friend, and last on the right is Kaitlin, Trevor's cute girlfriend)

We were definitely in a silly mood that day. This picture was followed by a sweet synchronized swimming routine for all the men to enjoy. My sisters are some of the funniest people I know. Boy I love being with them.

Gorgeous sunsets every night

Lots of cousin time (here watching a movie on Grandma's bed)

Mallory got up on just her second try skiing!

Kenzie was a big hit with the little ones

Lots of time spent digging on the beach

Cute Mal with mysterious spots on her skin

Singing "Baby Shark" in the hot tub with Hayden and Skylar

We all enjoyed cheering on the Cougars as they (barely) won their first game of the season. Good thing the boat had satellite or Mark might have had to stay home.

As an added bonus I got to see one of my best friends from Phoenix, Larissa, since they were on the lake that weekend too. Thanks for braving the crazy weather that afternoon to come and see us, Mike and Ris!

Lastly, here's a shot of the funniest moment of the weekend. On our Sunday tour we came upon a huge group of college students docked in one of the canyons. They had this huge inflatable "blob" and as we were watching they launched this rather, um, large girl into the air. Quite the sight to see!

All in all, it was a fabulous weekend with lots of memories to treasure.While having 26 people on one boat was at times crazy and crowded I loved every minute of it and can't wait to go again.

Sew Crafty!

2011-09-03T08:00:00.001-06:00

I spent an afternoon last week teaching Kenzie how to sew. She wanted some pillows for her new bedspread so we tried this cute ruffle pillow we had seen online. It was really quite easy to make and Kenzie did a great job. I really didn't help at all, just supervised. Turned out pretty cute!

Here's Kenzie's new color scheme, grey and lime green. We found the duvet cover at Ikea a few months back. She painted the grey on the walls herself. She's quite the DIYer!

Cabin Trip

2011-09-02T08:00:00.002-06:00

Last weekend we celebrated the end of summer by heading to the mountains with my cousin Paul and his family. His parents have a cabin that's less than two hours away. We had such a great time relaxing and enjoying the great outdoors, plus Paul and Lesli are just a ton of fun to be with. A highlight was playing in the river/ hot springs nearby (this is right where we went for Girls Camp so we were familiar with the area).

Dallin saving Lesli and Tanner from floating too far down the river

Cute Avery

Tanner looking manly

Poor Mallory scraped her legs up pretty good

Mark and Paul..BFFs and pretty much inseparable this summer. These two love being together and get along so well.

Cute pic taken by Kenz

Saturday night Mark and Paul were determined to go back to the river and catch a salmon they had trapped earlier that day (the salmon were running at the time...so fun to watch!) Sure enough, they came back victorious with a pretty big fish they caught with their bare hands (Bear Grylls would be so proud!) They sliced it opened and found all the eggs the poor salmon was heading upstream to lay. (This is about half of the eggs.) Most of the group tried eating the eggs. Caviar! Apparently they tasted like eggs (I, of course, did not partake.)

All in all it was a great weekend. It's been so fun hanging out with these guys now that they live so close. We're hoping to go back to the cabin in the winter to play in the snow!

Look who's fourteen!

2011-09-01T08:00:00.001-06:00

Mallory celebrated her 14th birthday on the 21st. She didn't want a party so we just had her friend Sarah and her family over for cake and ice cream Sunday night.

And look! She's finally not (in her opinion) the only teenager in America without a cell phone! Happy Birthday sweet girl, you've brought us so much laughter and joy the past 14 years. We couldn't be prouder.

Back to School

2011-08-30T22:21:00.000-06:00

Today was the first day of school and while I'm sad to see our fun summer end I was definitely ready for a quiet house again. Everyone came home happy, even little Mallory who faced the big scary high school.

Mallory: freshman, Kenzie: junior

Every year I end up with a goofy picture of the boys...that's just who they are. This morning the sun was too bright so this is what I ended up with. Also, notice Dallin in his socks. That's because he left his new tennis shoes (the only pair we could find) in the car Mark took to work. So instead of sending the boys off on the bus we had to race to the clinic to get the shoes out and then get to school just in time. What a way to start the year!

Brady: 3rd grade, Dallin: 5th grade

Summer Decor

2011-08-20T12:49:00.000-06:00

Most of the colors in my house are reds, browns, gold and olive green. I'd been wanting to freshen it and update it for awhile now. I decided to use some brighter colors for spring and summer and then bring back the warmer colors in the fall. Here's a few things I've done (for my sisters who don't get to visit often enough).

These are hydrangeas from our front yard. I love these flowers, they start out white, turn a soft green and then more of a pinky mauve towards fall.

Here's our entryway ledge that's a fun place to decorate for the season or holiday.

I found this cute little canvas sign at Michael's for only $1 in my favorite color. Love it.

These dried flower/ball things were only $1 each at Michael's too!

Here's the fabric I changed the curtains in the kitchen out with (after approval from friends and sisters via cell phone picture in the middle of the fabric store). This is such an easy way to make curtains, I didn't even sew these and they'll be easy to switch out with the old ones next month.

I'm really enjoying using more greens, yellows and white to brighten everything and bring the outdoors in. Gives it a whole new look (although I can't wait for fall to come with its gorgeous colors).

Brady, my baby

2011-08-16T19:00:00.002-06:00

Now I know that this boy just turned 8, was baptized and will be starting 3rd grade in just a few weeks, but he is and will forever be my baby. Case in point: this picture taken from my bedroom floor at 9:45 this morning (how are my kids ever going to start getting up early for school?!?). If Brady has a nightmare or thinks he sees a spider downstairs he quickly comes running up to our room, no matter the hour. I lay out some blankets on the floor and he instantly falls back asleep (while I usually can't go back to sleep for a good long while...grrrr.) He will always bring his bear blankie up with him because he can't sleep without it. Some of my sisters were talking about taking blankets away from their 3 year olds and I'm thinking I missed the boat on that one. Do you think there will be room in Brady's mission suitcase for a well-loved bear blankie? Also notice the footie pajamas that still look so cute on him. He decided to wear them last night so he wouldn't scratch the 10 or 12 mosquito bites on his legs.

Yes, he's definitely the baby of the family and for sure is the most spoiled. This kid can get me to buy him a lego set almost every time we go to Target just so I don't have to hear him cry and throw a tantrum. After four kids you'll do anything just to keep the peace. Whether or not this translates to getting a sports car when he's sixteen remains to be seen.

Good Riddance

2011-08-15T22:04:00.001-06:00

You may recall just how much I despise the calcium plant directly behind my house. This picture from last summer shows it in all it's decrepit glory. Three years ago when we first came up to see our house being built I almost cried when I saw this ugly building framed by my big living room windows. We had changed building lots while we were still living in Phoenix and I didn't realize what sat behind us until it was too late.

Well look at the view now:

One of the happiest days this summer was when a big tractor came to dig up the field behind us to plant corn. Yay! No more ugly dry weeds and sagebrush! Then, piece by piece they dismantled the calcium plant and the structures around it until it's mostly gone.

Now when I look out all I can see is a gorgeous sea of green as the corn grows higher and higher. Although I don't know what the future plans are for this land I'm sure going to appreciate the beauty while it lasts!

Brady's Baptism

2011-08-12T08:00:00.002-06:00

This weekend was a great celebration for Brady's baptism. Crazy to think that all of my kids have reached this stage now. We had a house full of visitors for the big day.

Utah Trip

2011-08-11T14:12:00.001-06:00

So much for the lazy days of summer! I feel like this is the first day I've had in weeks where I've had time to finally sit down and catch up on my blog. We have just been go, go, going! First up was a trip to Utah. We like to visit my mom's hometown of Beaver, UT for the 24th of July. Most of my cousins gather there and it's fun catching up with everyone. The parade is always a highlight:

brother Trevor, Mark and brother-in-law Matt

sister Lindsay and youngest brother Jordan (who's going to be a senior this year!)

cute girls

cute boys

Uncle Pat and Aunt Kathy in the parade

Me, big sis Melissa, Lindsay and Mom

The parade always ends with the fire truck spraying (or rather soaking!) all the kids. Dallin and nephew Nathan were the brave ones this year.

We finished out the weekend with waterskiing, a family BBQ and fireworks, church, a beautiful drive in the mountains and playing games with cousins. I always love being in Beaver, my second hometown.

Monday morning we headed to Provo for McKenzie to go to EFY at BYU. Mark had to get to back to work Tuesday night but I stayed in Salt Lake with the kids for the week. We had a great time visiting friends and family. Highlights included shopping at the Park City outlets, meeting up with Phoenix friends at Raging Waters, swimming in the Rasmussens' new pool and going to the Parade of Homes with the Robertsons. The kids loved the "UP" house in Herriman.

Happy Fourth!

2011-07-07T19:59:00.000-06:00

We celebrated the Fourth of July by going to visit Mark's family in Shelley for the third year in a row. We started the festivities on Saturday by driving to beautiful Driggs, ID to for the Huntsmans' "Celebrate America" event.

(Shot of the Teton mountains peeking out)

It was a day long family festival including an air show, bounce houses and games for the kids, entertainment and a patriotic concert.

The highlight of the night was hearing Glenn Beck speak followed by some of the most amazing fireworks we've ever seen. It was really a great day even though it was pretty hot.

Mark (a huge Beck fan) declared it one of the best days of his life. Pretty much all his favorite things: WW II airplanes, visiting with an old buddy from high school, Idaho mountains, being with his older brother David, honoring veterans, celebrating this great nation and traditional family values, hearing Glenn Beck and watching the fireworks with the kids.

On Monday we went to Steven and Kathy's yearly BBQ. Lots of fun visiting with family and swimming (for those brave enough to handle the freezing water!)

We ended the night back at Grandpa's house for our own fireworks and a little target practice (we are in Idaho, after all!)

Saturday Night at the Park

2011-06-30T08:00:00.000-06:00

Lindsay came into town to help watch the boys during girls camp. The weather was so nice we decided to take a picnic to the park and enjoy the summer evening together. We had fun taking some cute pics of the kids.

Origami Master

2011-06-29T08:00:00.001-06:00

One of Dallin's recent obsessions has been origami. My kids have been doing this for years ( I blame Nathan and Chelsea for the paper swans they had on the tables of their wedding luncheon...it's been going on since then.)

Dallin likes to look up instructions on YouTube and then follow along, the harder the better. This project was a doozy:

First he had to cut and fold over 400 paper triangles. Just this took two days.

Then he carefully put them together to form a swan (or dragon if you want to be more manly)

Quite the accomplishment

I think he's a little burned out on origami now and has since moved on to magic tricks. I know, the girls are just going to be banging down the doors for this guy.

Girls Camp 2011

2011-06-28T11:59:00.001-06:00

The girls and I spent a wonderful four days at Girls Camp. We were at a campsite about 2 hours away, next to the Boise River. It was gorgeous.

Our theme was "Your Happily Ever After"

and we even had a frog!

The girls enjoyed playing in the hot springs nearby,

and singing around the campfire.

One night we had a princess ball complete with homemade gowns made from plastic table covering.

So, so cute. Boy I love these girls. We had 25 this time and each one added so much personality. Really a sweet and wonderful group. I also loved spending time with all of the leaders who have become my dear friends. Our camp director Amy did an amazing job making this year's camp just like a fairy tale!

p.s. Amy hand made each of these tiaras....yeah, she's just that awesome.

It's Great to be Eight!

2011-06-27T21:36:00.000-06:00

I cannot believe how quickly the years have gone by and my baby is eight. Good thing I can still get him to snuggle with me (a little bit.) Brady shared his day with Father's Day this year and we celebrated with cake, presents and dinner at Chuck-a-Rama the night before. He can't wait to start scouts and to be baptized in August.

Piano Recital

2011-06-20T08:00:00.006-06:00

Last week was the last piano recital of the school year. All the kids did great on their challenge pieces, even though some were very challenging! I have to admit that I am the most proud of McKenzie and the progress she has made in piano this year. She has gone from hating taking lessons to loving them, even practicing without being asked! She was actually disappointed to find out we were taking a few months off in the summer. As Michelle, her fabulous teacher said, "She finally just gets it." She played Pachelbel's Canon in D major for the recital and even though she gets so nervous (I noticed her hands totally shaking!) she did a great job on this hard piece. I have to give a lot of credit to my friend Michelle, though. She has the perfect mix of fun and discipline and the kids all enjoy taking lessons from her.

Bridal Shower

2011-06-18T08:00:00.003-06:00

Last week we threw a bridal shower for Jenna, my first Laurel to get married. Just last year she was graduating high school and now she's going to the temple to marry her sweetheart, Carsten. Theirs is a darling "boy next door" story.

It was so fun to decorate all girly with hot pink and lime green. Jenna seems so happy and the two of them are completely in love. Yay! One YW to the temple...only thirty plus to go!

Here I am with Jenna and Chris, the YW president I worked with in our last ward. She deserves the Lifetime Achievement Award for being in YW and taught me everything I know. Absolutely adore her. It was fun planning this night with her as we celebrated one of "our girls" starting her happily ever after.

Snapshots of a Summer Night

2011-06-17T17:13:00.000-06:00


School's been out for over a week now and I've finally found some time to catch up on blogging. Things have been crazy around here, especially getting ready for Girls Camp on Monday.

Here's some pics from the first night of summer, a typical time spent in the backyard. Above is some game the kids thought up in which you stuff an entire cupcake in your mouth and then run across the yard. Whatever.

I'll call this pic "The Tree Doctor" because this is pretty much what Mark does most nights. Comes home from work and putts around the yard, fertilizing, spraying, pruning, doing who-knows-what-all in the yard. He loves it.

One of our favorite games is track ball where you hurl a ball super fast at your opponent and see if they can catch it. Pretty fun stuff.

Apparently I take the game very seriously.

Last pic of the night as the sun was finally going down (after 10:00!) I love these cool evenings spent outside. They're one of my favorite things about summer!

Mallory's works of art

2011-06-04T08:00:00.001-06:00

Thanks to a middle school drawing class Mallory has become quite the budding artist! She did receive the best student in art award last year, but I didn't really realize the depth of her talent until recently. Believe me, she doesn't get this skill from me! (Some from her dad, some from my Grandma Moyes for sure) Here's her self portrait that looks so much like her, right down to the little hairs that are always sticking up in the front! This is hanging on our fridge although it freaks us out because those eyes follow us everywhere we go in the kitchen!

This copy of a masterpiece was made by coloring in the whole page and then using an eraser to create the picture.

Here's the sidewalk portrait of Cosmo she did a few Sundays ago. Too bad it only lasted a few days before it rained! I'm thinking future career?

Weekend Trip

2011-06-03T11:16:00.001-06:00

At the last minute we decided to take a trip to Utah for the long weekend. We started by staying with Brandon and Lindsay in Jerome where the boys got in a little Zumba workout:

Next stop: Our favorite bed & breakfast, the Robertsons' house, where we stay most times we're in Utah. Unfortunately no pictures, but we had fun going to Ikea, the Nickel Arcade and Sub-Zero for ice cream.

On Sunday we drove to Saratoga Springs to see our friends the Fishers in their beautiful new home right on Utah Lake. The Roches also came down for a fun little reunion. Here's most of the kids:

And the moms:

Our main reason for going down was to see my brother Trevor who has been laid up for weeks with this traumatic injury:

Gross, I know. He turned his ankle playing basketball and it pretty much just stayed at a 90 degree angle. After having it put back in place he's been in constant pain and can't walk on it or drive. Poor guy! My parents were in Southern Utah so they came up to Provo as well and we had a fun Memorial Day together. Nothing like getting spoiled by the grandparents!

All in all, it was a great trip with family and friends who are like family to us.

Sweet Sixteen Party

2011-05-08T20:07:00.000-06:00

I knew I wanted to do something special for Kenzie's big birthday and some friends suggested I combine with her good friend Lexie, since both girls were turning 16 about a month apart. Turned out to be the best suggestion ever, 'cause I never could have pulled it all off by myself.

The color scheme was black, white and turquoise. It was fun decorating the table all girly.

We had a fancy dinner complete with menus and these two cute waiters.

Fettuccine alfredo, salad and breadsticks...YUM!

This gorgeous girl is my friend Jen, Lexie's mom. She was the brains and the brawn behind the whole affair. She is one of those amazing, creative, talented people who just goes all out in everything she does (right down to making matching aprons until 2 am the night before!) Thanks for everything, Jen!

After dinner the girls played games (including one Jen just whipped out that day...seriously, amazing.)

Dessert was chocolate fondue.

The evening ended with a movie ("You Again") upstairs with the requisite movie treats.

I think it turned out to be a super fun evening for everyone, especially the birthday girls. Such a cute, fun group of girls. I couldn't be happier with the friends Kenzie has chosen. What a blessing when you don't have to worry about the things your kids are doing because you know they have good friends who will help them choose the right.

Look who's sixteen!

2011-04-29T08:00:00.001-06:00

(Taken by her friend Heather outside the Boise Temple)

Kenzie had her big birthday last week. Seriously, where has the time gone? We celebrated by going to Olive Garden (her fave) and then she and her BFF are having a combined party next week. What a beautiful, wonderful girl she's turned into. I can't believe we only have two more years until she's off to college. Crazy.

These cute Laurels decorated her room to welcome her to the class.

Finally!

2011-04-28T10:11:00.000-06:00

After 18 years of marriage (and part of our tax refund) I finally have bedroom furniture that I love! It's a dark brown although these pictures make it look more black. I smile every time I go in there. Opinions: should I spray paint the hanging above the bed white or leave it the rustic brown?

Blue Eyes

2011-04-06T09:42:00.000-06:00

Grant's back visiting again. We just can't get enough of this boy and those big, beautiful eyes.

Recent Faves

2011-04-02T18:45:00.000-06:00

Here are a few things I am liking/obsessing over right now:

Mark got me an Ipad a few weeks back and I love, love, love it! Since our laptop died a while ago I've been so glad to have internet access all over the house. It's crazy how much time I'm spending on it (not necessarily a good thing)

Some of the time I use the Ipad to watch Netflix episodes of

I seriously love this show, it is so so funny. Great motivator to get me on the treadmill every morning. Definitely recommend if you're looking for a new series you and your hubby will both enjoy.

Have you watched this?

My friend Susan introduced Kid History to us on girls trip and I'm embarrassed to say how many times I've watched them. There are four episodes, this one's my favorite. It's great to have youtube videos you can laugh at with your kids.

Speaking of kids, you've probably already heard about myjobchart.com, but it is working miracles around our house this week. I've always been terrible about assigning chores and paying an allowance, but this has been great for computer loving kids like mine. Dallin and McKenzie are in a battle for the most points and our house has never been so clean!

Of course I'm so glad that spring has finally arrived in Idaho. I'm loving the warmer weather, the bright green grass and these:

Forsythia bushes are everywhere around Boise and every time I see their bright yellow buds it makes me smile.

Amber and Cody introduced us to these delicious pancakes (shared by the amazing Becky Higgins, who I have obsessed over for many many years). Oh my gosh, I can't even tell you how good they are, you have to try them. We'll be making them for Conference Sunday tomorrow, along with a similar syrup that uses the buttermilk instead of whipping cream.

Speaking of Conference, of course the best news of the weekend was the announcement of a new temple in Meridian. After many years of living an hour or more away from a temple we are feeling very blessed to have not one, but soon two temples close by. I'm campaigning for it to be built in the field behind my house, to replace the lovely calcium plant that I hate. A girl can dream, right?

Pinewood Derby 2011

2011-03-25T08:00:00.003-06:00

After two years of less-than-successful Pinewood Derby cars Mark and Dallin (OK, pretty much just Mark) really researched all the secrets for a super fast car. And guess what...they came in second out of 22 cars! We were all so excited, especially Dallin who, let's face it, is all about winning.

He was so cute high-fiving everyone going by to race.

Of course we had to do a BYU car, even though the guy running the race didn't know what "U got Jimmer'd" meant.

So proud of my two guys. Brady's already planning on winning next year now that Dad's figured it all out!

Family, family and more family

2011-03-24T09:55:00.001-06:00

We've had lots of visitors in the past two weeks. Cody had a conference in Sun Valley so Amber and the kids flew out with him from Michigan. We don't get to see them often so Lindsay, Chelsea and Trevor (plus his new "friend" Kaitlin) all came up to visit.

Four of the six Moyes girls. Just a slight family resemblance ;)

(Only picture I have of Trevor, sorry, none of Kaitlin. She's darling, though, believe me!)

Look how grown up and gorgeous Sydney is.

Here's her personality wrapped up in one picture...full of sass!

I dare you not to smile when you see this cutie Grant. He is the happiest baby ever.

My little peanut Luke is growing up too fast! He's at such a fun stage.

I love all these kiddos so much (and I can't believe I didn't get a single picture of Carter. He really stole my heart and is a real sweetie.) It was definitely exciting (and crazy!) for us to have babies around again. Boy, I forget how much work it is! My sisters are all great mommas and handle it all so easily.

We had a fun time going out (Cafe Rio three times, the mall four!) and staying home to cheer on our Cougars or watch movies. What a blessing it is to have siblings that are your best friends.

Girls Trip 2011

2011-03-04T10:26:00.001-07:00

Last week was my 5th annual Girls Trip with some of my best friends from Phoenix. We've visited every place that we've all moved to except one: Salt Lake. Emily and Susan live in Utah now so we decided that would be our destination. Highlights included:

Seeing "A Tale of Two Cities" at the Hale Center Theater. I can't recommend this musical enough...it was FABULOUS! Just as good as anything you'd see on Broadway. If you're going to be in the area in the next month or so you should definitely go.

We did a session in the SLC Temple...so great to be there with these wonderful, faithful sisters. They are the best examples to me in so many ways.

The rest of the weekend was filled with our usual: eating out, shopping, watching favorite TV shows (this year it was "Modern Family") and staying up waaayyy too late talking.

Here we are at the airport dropping me off for my early flight (can you see how tired we are?)

Love you girls! Can't wait 'til next year!

2011-02-18T09:21:00.000-07:00

Sick
by Shel Silverstein

"I cannot go to school today,"
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
"I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I'm going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I've counted sixteen chicken pox
And there's one more--that's seventeen,
And don't you think my face looks green?
My leg is cut--my eyes are blue--
It might be instamatic flu.
I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I'm sure that my left leg is broke--
My hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button's caving in,
My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,
My 'pendix pains each time it rains.
My nose is cold, my toes are numb.
I have a sliver in my thumb.
My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
My tongue is filling up my mouth,
I think my hair is falling out.
My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,
My temperature is one-o-eight.
My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,
There is a hole inside my ear.
I have a hangnail, and my heart is--what?
What's that? What's that you say?
You say today is. . .Saturday?
G'bye, I'm going out to play!"

(How much did you love "Where the Sidewalk Ends" when you were growing up?)

I am getting really sick of the sickness around here. We're going on two solid weeks of somebody having something and I've had it! It started with Dallin, then came to me for about 5 miserable days, then to Brady, then Mallory and now back to Brady (although he was never fully over it, I just made him go to school anyway...bad mom.) I have been trapped in this house for days and days. All I want to do is go to Target. Is that too much to ask? Let's just say my Girl's Trip next week can't come soon enough.

The Goings On

2011-02-02T16:13:00.000-07:00

Our nice Christmas Break is definitely over and we have hit the ground running in 2011. Why do I keep complaining about how busy I am? I have four kids, this is life. I know our schedule isn't any crazier than the rest of yours. I'm just the type that likes to stay at home in my pajamas with a good book. Instead I find myself racing from one place to the next, never stopping to catch my breath.

Last week was New Beginnings and we did a football theme (along with the rest of the worldwide church...thank you Sugardoodle.) Here were our invitations/tickets:

Amazing, right? They were made by my second counselor Angela, (on the right below). She and our Beehive advisor Holly planned the whole evening, down to every little detail. It was incredible and I think the girls and parents really enjoyed it. Angela is one of those super creative people who love to go all out for events like this one. Unfortunately she is moving to CA next month and we're going to seriously miss her!

Tomorrow is our annual spelling bee that I'm heading up for the school again. Should be fun but boy will I be glad when it's over. Is it sad that I'm relieved neither of my boys are competing this year? That would just mean additional time helping them study their words!

Besides these activities, Dallin is now playing basketball, McKenzie has started Driver's Ed (crazy, I know!) and Mallory has cheer every day this month to prepare for competition. And Brady? He pretty much just wants to come home from school, take a bath and put on his pajamas. Every. Single. Day. I wonder where he gets that from ?

The Reader

2011-01-10T12:44:00.000-07:00

I think I have a problem.

On Friday I got back from our library's book sale and went to put the 5 books I bought on my shelf. Then I saw them. All the books I've bought in the last year or so that I have yet to read. All the books that I can't wait to read. All the books that other people have recommended, and then I've found at a thrift store for only a dollar or so. That's the 20 books on the left there. And then there's the four books to the right that I've read before but I really want to re-read.

Yes, I love to read, always have, always will. My mom is the same way and her mom was as well. 3 out of 4 of my kids are avid readers too. I had to laugh because this year I was talking to Mark about a trip I was thinking about taking and he said, "As long as you have a diet Dr. Pepper and a book to read you'll be happy anywhere." He knows me so well.

I wanted to list some of my favorite books from this year, because like all good things, books are even better when shared!

If you liked The Glass Castle (I loved it!) then you'll really enjoy this true story of Jeanette Walls' grandmother.

A fascinating look at what factors can affect success.

I'm sure you've all heard of this one and if you haven't read it already you really should...it is that good.

An amazing true story from WWII, I could not put it down over Christmas Break.

Another true story that I found so interesting. So many medical advances have come because of Henrietta Lacks...and she never even knew it.

The heart-wrenching story of a woman who suffers from early-onset Alzheimers.

Love story set during WWII (a favorite topic of mine). Definitely long (over 600 pages) but filled with so much rich detail.

An unbelievable true story from the genocide in Rwanda. I think one of the reasons I like to read non-fiction or historical fiction is because I learn so much about different historical events that I wouldn't otherwise know. Definitely the case with this book.

Even though I obviously have a lot of books I'm excited to read I'd still love to hear more recommendations. What are the best books you read this year?

Happy New Year!

2011-01-02T17:20:00.000-07:00

We had a super fun New Year's Eve, highlighted by McKenzie getting all dolled up for the Stake Dance. She didn't even object to having her hair totally curled and complete make-up. Considering two years ago I had to do this, I'd say that's progress! She wore the dress I wore for my sister's wedding a few years back (yes, we're the same size!) and she looked darling. She had a fun time with her friends and we enjoyed celebrating with a couple of families from our new and old wards. Happy 2011!

It was a very merry Christmas

2010-12-29T11:54:00.004-07:00

Our Christmas Break has been full of family fun. Here's some photos of the highlights:

Christmas Eve Candlelight Dinner

Opening one present (jammies not so matchy thanks to Mom getting some wrong sizes)

Leaving treats for Santa (everyone leaves Mtn Dew instead of milk, right?)

Looks like Santa came!

Brady's favorite gift

He has hardly taken it off since he got it!

Mallory got a little video camera, so you can be expecting some sweet Sunday afternoon movies soon.

A new bike for Dallin (since his last one was stolen...but I don't want to talk about that)

Aspiring chef McKenzie got a crepe maker and this fun cupcake book

I got Mark this cool canvas for his office,

and he got me a zoom lens for my camera (I took this picture of a hawk from my kitchen window!)

After opening up all our goodies we headed to Shelley to see Mark's family. We had a fun party Sunday night with our favorite $1 present exchange game.

Notice Brady's missing front tooth (unfortunately he didn't lose the second one in time for us to sing "All I Want for Christmas...", you know the rest)

Here's some of the cousins trying to trade the gifts they weren't exactly thrilled with.

Monday we left for Pocatello to meet up with three of my sisters, Amber, Chelsea and Lindsay and their families for just a few hours. We had such a great time that we all forgot to take a single picture!

Now we're back home and the kids are enjoying playing with all their new toys and I'm enjoying sleeping in and wearing my pajamas until noon. I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas filled with the people you love!

18 years and counting

2010-12-20T11:44:00.001-07:00

Mark and I had a fun anniversary weekend celebrating 18 years of marriage. Considering I was only 17 when we met, 18 years is a long time! Mark surprised me with these gorgeous flowers Saturday morning that go so well with our Christmas decor!

Reminded me a lot of this picture from when we were first dating (taken in the hall of my apartment in Heritage Halls) Mark's always been a great one for bringing flowers.

Friday night we went to a couple's Ugly Sweater Christmas Party. Check out these lovely numbers:

You may not notice the shoulder pads and metallic gold thread that accent my fabulous (and itchy!) sweater. And no, I'm not pregnant but I certainly look like it here!Saturday we watched BYU play football (yay!) and basketball (boo! their first loss) and then went out to dinner with friends. I had to make sure Mallory took another picture of us so the ugly sweater one wasn't the only one to document the weekend.

I feel very fortunate to have spent more than half of my life with this wonderful man and look forward to many happy memories to come.

2010-12-07T22:32:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday we woke up (at 5:30) to the sound of the answering machine informing us (in Spanish) that we would be having our first ever snow day! Aren't those the two words every kid dreams of hearing? We had a wonderful cozy day staying home and playing in the snow. I only left to go pick up this visitor from the airport.

We had a great weekend with Ashlee visiting from Phoenix. Lindsay came up as well and we had some fun sister time shopping, eating out and watching episode after episode of Modern Family. I only wish the rest of the Moyes girls could have joined us!

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-29T10:52:00.000-07:00

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend with our good friends the Robertsons. They drove up from Herriman, UT to spend the holiday with us. We've known Eric and Raquel since we first moved to Maryland for med. school over 16 years ago.

Here we are at one of our last Thanksgivings together in 1996 (along with the Carters and the Beans):

and McKenzie looked like this:

All these years later and we still love spending time together. Our kids match up perfectly, making it hard to say good bye, especially when they have to leave early because of the weather.

(Mallory showing off her origami skillz)

We had a great time cooking, eating, shopping, playing games, watching sports and going to the movies. This Thanksgiving we were most thankful for good friends who are like family to us!

First Snow

2010-11-20T10:15:00.000-07:00

This morning we woke up to this:

Ten minutes later Brady was dressed like this:

One month later

2010-11-18T10:34:00.000-07:00

OK, it's officially been a month since I've posted and I don't even have a good excuse for why I've been gone. I have been trying to keep up with Young Women's, two different PTOs and my crazy kids. I haven't been keeping up on taking pictures, exercising or keeping the house clean. Life has settled down quite a bit now that the boys' football seasons are over. Dallin's team finished undefeated and if you know Dallin, that's a big deal (it's all about the winning for him.) Brady's team also had a perfect record, in the opposite direction. They didn't win a single game but there were a few close ones! Here he is at the team party:

Instead of trophies we had a family that made full size posters of each kid with pictures highlighting their season. Such a fun idea.

Now that football is over we are taken over by basketball: Mallory cheering at the middle school games, Kenzie taking yearbook pictures at the high school games and Mark obsessing about the BYU games (he even drove to Provo last weekend for the season opener.) Luckily Dallin won't start playing until January and we decided to let Brady wait another year or so. It is nice not running to practices all the time.

Halloween was great, with a fun Harvest party at the school and the ward trunk-or-treat.

Since the costume box was out, there was also a lot of other dressing up going on. I found these pictures on my camera:

(Face will remain covered to protect his identity)

(Notice the famous "stick gun" which was painted camouflage to coordinate with his army Halloween costume)

The funny thing is, we were looking at some old photos for FHE this week and it's crazy how many times Kenzie and Mallory dress up the boys as girls. Eventually the boys are going to object to this, right? Right?

Dallin celebrated his 10th birthdy last week with a fun party with 11 friends. Note to self: eleven 9-10 year-olds can be loud...very loud, especially when singing Happy Birthday.

One of my favorite moments during the party was when the boys were watching Toy Story 3. When Andy was packing for college one of the boys said, "Oh, I hate growing up. Growing up is the worst!" I agree, and having your kids grow up is even harder. I can't believe Dallin is already 10 (and more than halfway out of the house! Think about that!) He's such a great kid and while he may drive me crazy at times I wouldn't change anything about him. It's like his teacher said in conferences a few weeks ago, "It's not just that he's such a smart kid, it's that he's also such a nice kid." I couldn't ask for more.

Design Help Needed!

2010-10-16T08:00:00.001-06:00

I recently started changing up the decor in our bedroom. My old bedding was starting to feel a little old-ladyish and I wanted something fresher. Here's what I found on clearance at Dillard's (with some help from Ashlee and Nathan finding some pieces in Phx. and Denver)

Before:

After:

(Please ignore the old furniture that I would love to change...someday.)

This is what I did with the wall to the right:

I need help deciding what to do over the bed. I was thinking about a collection of different white plates, but is it weird to have plates in a bedroom? And is that too girly for Mark? How about different white mirrors? A large piece of artwork? Do I need to expand and have some other colors or is it OK to just do green and white?

P.S. This post is mostly for my sisters who live too far away and on whom I rely for validation on most decisions that I make (and who are also great decorators...I'm talking to you Melissa!) But of course I'll take suggestions from any of my readers!

Goooo Cougars!

2010-10-15T11:42:00.000-06:00

Homecoming 2010 did not disappoint, especially since the team came through with a W, making this boy very happy.

Is it weird to say that I got a little emotional during the parade when the marching band was playing the fight song? BYU and Provo just mean so much to me (it was the town where I was born after all!) and being there always feels a little like coming home. It's so fun to see all the blue and white after living in Boise surrounded by orange and (a not as nice-looking) blue.

Loved getting to see lots of family and cute new babies. A great tradition that I hope continues for many years to come!

We're pretty desperate for pets around here

2010-10-06T08:00:00.002-06:00

Look at this cute little snail Brady took home from piano lessons last week. His name is Billy. He lived in a bowl on our kitchen counter for a week. We all thought he was dead because after a few days he didn't poke his head out anymore. Then today I noticed he was looking around again! Mallory decided to have mercy on him and released him into our waterfall outside (because, let's face it, we have no idea what to feed a snail!)

October is here!

2010-10-04T11:44:00.000-06:00

These babies are currently resting on my front porch. Pretty much the only success we had in our garden this year (besides zucchini, of course...anyone can grow zucchini!) I'm so happy it's fall and our weather is actually cooler today to prove it. Mark and I just got back from a fabulous trip to Denver for a Family Practice conference and to visit Chelsea and Nathan. We had a great time shopping, eating out and relaxing. Lindsay handled the crazy schedule at home and I felt validated when she called to say running all those kids around is hard. Why yes it is! We're looking forward to heading down to Provo this weekend to see family and friends and to cheer on the Cougars in their homecoming game. (Please, please, please let's end this losing streak!)

So what is everyone doing to enjoy this wonderful time of year?

Football is our life

2010-09-26T18:29:00.001-06:00

If you were to ask us what we're up to these days, chances are it will have something to do with football. Dallin is playing tackle, which means practices Tuesday thru Friday. Brady is on a flag team and he practices twice a week (luckily at the same time and in the same neighborhood as Dallin.) Mallory is cheering for the middle school, requiring practices at 6:00 am and cheering at one or two football games a week. Of course I'm usually the one driving them all. On Saturdays we go from one boy's game to the next, followed by cheering on our sad little BYU Cougars who are currently 1-3. That's OK, Mark still proudly flies his flag every Saturday morning. When the boys aren't actually playing football they are collecting football trading cards or playing NCAA football on the XBox. And when Mark isn't commiserating about another BYU loss he's keeping up to date on the Cougar message boards online. So yeah, pretty much we're all about football right now. (Except for Kenzie...she'll have nothing to do with the sport.)

Babies R Us

2010-09-09T14:42:00.000-06:00

I haven't had much time to write since I've been hanging out with these two cuties:

Chelsea and Luke came from Denver for a visit last Wednesday. It has been so fun seeing both she and Lindsay as mothers (wasn't it just yesterday I was changing their diapers?) They are both naturals at it and these boys are very lucky to have such loving moms.

This little guy just stole my heart...he's seriously one of the best babies I've ever been around.

We headed to Jerome to be there for the blessing of sweet baby Grant.

It was fun to have Dad and Trevor there as well (Mom couldn't make it due to knee problems)

Sunday afternoon was spent visiting Murtaugh, ID, the town where my Dad grew up. Lots of fun Moyes memories!

Back to School

2010-08-31T12:33:00.000-06:00

And they're off!
Dallin: 4th grade
Brady: 2nd grade
Kenzie: Sophomore
Mallory: 8th grade

It was not easy getting these two goofballs to hold still for a picture! Notice the long pants...it was in the 40's when the kids left for school!

I forgot to get pics of the girls so I made Kenzie pose that night but Mallory wouldn't cooperate. I guess she thinks she can give me attitude now that she's a big 8th grader. The house was definitely quiet yesterday without the constant sound of Disney Channel in the background. Everyone came home tired and happy, ready to face the new year!

Last Getaway of the Summer

2010-08-23T22:24:00.001-06:00

We had a busy but fun-filled weekend. We went to McCall for the first time for our former ward's campout. It is so beautiful up there, I wish we could have stayed longer. We had so much fun on the lake, tubing with the Burks and playing in the sand.

When we got back to our campsite this is what the kids spotted right by our tents:

Brady did the one thing he wanted to do while camping, "find a perfect stick gun." (A direct quote.)

We had to head out early Saturday morning to get back in town in time for Dallin's first tackle football game, a scrimmage on the blue turf of Boise State. (Sorry about the not-so-great picture, in our hurry I forgot my camera). He did great and it was a thrill to play in a real college stadium (even if it was the not-so-favorite Broncos)

Oh, and throw in the birthday of this new thirteen-year-old and you have the makings of a very busy weekend. Just one more week of summer fun before it's back to school (maybe then I'll get a minute of rest!)

Toothless

2010-08-17T13:20:00.000-06:00

Brady has lost two teeth this week so he's sporting a cute Jack-O-Lantern smile. Too bad the tooth fairy is so forgetful and took three days to come, therefore having to pay more out of guilt. (There's nothing sadder than waking up only to be disappointed with your tooth still under your pillow.)

Who needs vinyl lettering?

2010-08-12T20:00:00.004-06:00

Not us! I told Mark that if the whole medicine thing doesn't work out he can always find work as a wall muralist.
Look what he painted on the boys' wall:

Seriously, he just freehanded the design in pencil and then painted it. He's going to go over the white with glow-in-the-dark paint (how much are the boys going to love that!?!)

If you know Mark you know he is always working on a project of some sort. I call him a "Nervous Ninny" because if he's home he has to be doing something. Usually I am less than supportive of the home improvement projects he comes up with because I'm unsure about how they'll turn out. In the end, though, they are always great and I love how handy he is.

Excitement at our house today

2010-08-11T21:36:00.001-06:00

We had an eventful afternoon around here. The kids and I were outside working on shucking about 100 ears of corn that our friends gave us when a storm started to blow in. For some reason Kenzie, Mallory and Dallin decided to don goggles, capes and magic wands and play Wizards in the backyard (don't ask me where they think of these things.)

Right after they performed this magic spell the lightning and thunder began (coincidence? I'm not so sure!)

We were in the house when we heard a loud bang that shook the house. Kenzie was near a window in the front of the house and said the lightning lit up the whole sky. A few minutes later we heard sirens and Kenzie looked out and saw smoke coming from the roof of the neighbor's detached garage.

The kids enjoyed watching all five firetrucks put out the small fire. The thoughts I had were:
1. I'm glad it was only their garage and not their house
2. I'm really glad it wasn't our house and
3. Why couldn't the lightning have hit the calcium plant behind us? I wouldn't have even called the fire dept. on that one (just let it burn).

Lazy Summer Days

2010-08-09T20:19:00.001-06:00

I would like to call this photo montage "Barefoot on a Barbed Wire Fence"

This is what I found in the backyard a few nights ago. Mallory had somehow climbed up without shoes (ouch!) and Cosmo jumped right up and joined her.

Let's pretend those are amber waves of grain behind our house instead of dry weeds.

This is what happens when the sprinkler line Mark is working on sprays me and the camera.

See the lovely old building in the distance? It's an old calcium plant, and for those of you who have been here, you know how much I hate it. Good news! It looks like if might be in the process of being dismantled. I dream of one day waking up to see it completely gone.

This girl, she's dreaming of more summer nights like this one.

We are enjoying a few more weeks of doing nothing before school starts on the 30th. After our busy summer it's been nice to just be home. Our days are spent sleeping in, playing on the computer, reading books, working on projects, going on field trips, buying treats. In the evening you can find us outside: cooking on the grill, working in the yard, checking on the garden, jumping on the trampoline, enjoying the cooler temps. Dallin just started football practice (2 hours, 5 days a week!) so life is going to get busier. I'm hoping to enjoy these lazy days as long as I can!

Pretty in Pink

2010-07-25T08:00:00.003-06:00

Here is confirmation for my sisters that Kenzie did, in fact, buy (or rather Grandma did) a shirt that is pink. We haven't seen this color on her since probably first grade. I know, the times, they are a-chanigng (and so is this girl!) She can't wait to go to EFY at BYU on Monday.

Girl's Camp...Mission Accomplished!

2010-07-24T12:59:00.000-06:00

We're back and mostly recovered from Girl's Camp. We had such an amazing time. The campsite was beautiful and the girls were all so fun and cooperative. Our theme was "Mission Possible", expertly executed by this extraordinary camp director:

Now that's a full trailer!

We camped next to a beautiful lake and the girls loved it, even if it was freezing!

They found this log raft and tried to stayed up on it...

Not always successfully!

All in all if was a great few days and we definitley feel more unified as a YW group. I loved just spending time with the other leaders, some of the funniest ladies I know. Can't wait until next year! (OK, maybe I can...girls camp is a lot of work!)

Trek Pictures

2010-07-16T18:24:00.001-06:00

After sorting through over 1600 (!) pictures that my friends Chris and Emilee took on Trek, here are some of my favorites of our family.

Getting ready to set out (can't you just feel the excitement?)

I did get a lot of flack for bringing along this luggage!

Our new family...the best kids on the Trek.

McKenzie's family

Climbing "Rocky Ridge"

Coming down another tough hill.

Camping the first night.

Mallory's huge skirt

Mark with our good friends Roman Burk and Steve (Bishop) Packer

We were glad Kenzie was able to walk the second day after feeling sick and riding the whole first day.

Woman's Pull

Top of the hill on the Mormon Battalion hike.

The last leg heading into Zion.

Coming soon: Girl's Camp! (The fun just never ends in YW)

Baby Grant

2010-07-13T21:25:00.003-06:00

My vacation took an unexpected turn on the way home. My youngest sister, Lindsay, had her first baby on Monday, so I decided to stop over and see her and Baby Grant in Twin Falls on the way back to Boise. Good thing I had left the other car there so Mark could continue on with the kids. Lindsay ended up having some complications and was rushed in for surgery to stop her bleeding a few hours after I got there. I ended up staying part of the night in ICU with Linds so Brandon could go and get some sleep.
Luckily by Wednesday morning mother and baby were doing much better and I headed on home that afternoon.

Mom flew into Boise the next night, so Mark and I drove her to Jerome on Friday night. I was happy to get another chance to snuggle this little cutie:

Congrats Brandon and Lindsay! We're in love with him already and we're so glad we live close enough to watch him grow up.

Vacation: Part 2

2010-07-11T11:38:00.004-06:00

This is the second year we've been in Mark's hometown of Shelley for the 4th of July. His oldest brother Steven always has a big BBQ where the kids can swim and play.

(Mark and his 3rd brother, David)

Just hanging around

Bounce house and texting...what more could a teenager ask for?

Later that night and on Sunday we had fun at David and Linda's house (the same house Mark grew up in.)

The kids improved their mad badmitton skills,

got all sticky with cotton candy,

played on the swingset,

and raced around in a game of freeze tag with all the cousins.

Of course there were sparklers,

lots of fireworks,

and a big family picture.

The weekend was all topped off with an 80th birthday bash for Mark's dad.

Thank you, Ann, for organizing such a fun family weekend.

Vacation: Part One

2010-07-10T16:52:00.001-06:00

I'm back from a weeklong trip to Utah and Eastern Idaho. Brady and I left last Tuesday to head to Kayesville to see these good friends:

Emily (in the middle) and her daughter were in a community production of "Annie Get Your Gun" and the Eastons were up from AZ, so I decided to have a little getaway with some of my favorite people. Besides the play, we saw "Eclipse", ate Chick-Fil-A and got to see our other BFF Susan who had just driven in from Maryland. We spent Thursday at Kim's parents' house in Eden, UT (one of the most beautiful places I've been to) and had fun playing on the beach of Pineview Reservoir.

(Emily and Logan, bocce ball pros)

Brady and I also got to quickly see Trevor, Ashlee and Skylar (who were up to see Jeff's family for the Fourth) at Pei Wei, another one of our faves. On Friday we drove back up to Jerome to meet Mark and the rest of the kids to head to Shelley for his family reunion. More on that to come!

Brady had a Birthday (shout horray!)

2010-06-26T09:44:00.001-06:00

Brady turned seven (seven!) last Saturday and boy, was he excited! He got a plasma car, football cards, an art kit and of course...

lots of legos (some things never change.)

We went to see Toy Story 3 as a family and then had friends over for a BBQ.

(On a side note...we all loved Toy Story 3 but I found myself balling towards the end. I'm sure it was the combination of my baby turning 7 that day, plus remembering my cute little Kenzie watching the first Toy Story over and over and over and now she only has 3 more years until she leaves home. Oh Pixar, you really know how to pull on a mother's heartstrings!)

Yesterday Brady had twelve (twelve!) of his friends over for a party. It was really fun but completely exhausting. They chased each other with water guns, jumped on the trampoline, threw water balloons and played a few water games.

The slip-n-slide was also a big hit.

Happy Birthday Bud, we sure love you but hate to see you growing up so fast!

We Survived!

2010-06-18T10:31:00.002-06:00

Back from Trek and almost done recovering (pedicure later today will just about do it!) It was such an amazing experience. I will admit that I was not the most enthusiastic Trekker when I first decided to go. All I could see was the hard work to get ready and the physical challenge of doing it. Believe me, it was all worth it. Seeing how much fun the kids had, plus how they worked together to meet every obstacle; I loved it. Mark and I had a great family of 8 kids who pulled that handcart so fast we could hardly keep up! We really enjoyed spending time with the other adults who went, as well as getting to know all the kids better. Definitely a bonding experience for our two wards.

If you ever get the chance to do a Pioneer Trek....do it! You really get to experience just a glimpse of what it was like to cross the plains. I can't imagine how those women did it, walking all day and then having to feed and care for their families at night. After our first day I was so exhausted I felt like I couldn't take another step. Thank goodness we had wonderful cooks doing our meals. There were moments when the spirit really let me feel the emotional trials those women went through, especially when all the men and boys left for the Mormon Battalion and when we had to leave two children behind who had "died". Absolutely heartbreaking...I don't think I could have gone on. The unwavering faith that pushed them forward is such an inspiration and I hope to never forget the lessons I have learned.

I'll hopefully post some pictures later because I'm sure you'll want to see us in all our pioneer glory!

For Some Must Push and Some Must Pull...

2010-06-13T19:01:00.002-06:00

Wish us luck as Mark, McKenzie, Mallory and I head off for our Pioneer Handcart Trek tomorrow. We're going about an hour away in Oregon and will be back late Wednesday night. It has been a ton of work to get everything ready, but I'm sure it will be worth it. I figure if our ancestors could survive for three months (some in the snow!) we can handle three days, right?

Let's hope so!

The Official Start of Summer

2010-06-07T20:48:00.005-06:00

These girls are ready for summer…and so am I! Tomorrow is the last official day of school, although Kenzie and Mall pretty much finished up today. At our house summer vacation means…
No More:
*waking up early
*packing school lunches
*nagging about homework
*worrying about missing assignments and forgotten PE clothes
*making kids go to bed even though the sun is still shining

Lots of:
*staying in pajamas
*playing in the yard
*trips to the library
*treats at Sonic, Maverik and the shaved ice hut
*working in the garden
*riding bikes in the neighborhood
*day trips
*swimming
*having friends over
*eating outside on the patio
*dollar movies
*building forts

Unfortunately it also means no more quiet time for Mom and lots of watching T.V., playing video games and saying “There’s nothing to do!”

I’m ready, summer, bring it on.

Shoshone Falls

2010-06-01T22:06:00.001-06:00

After our tour of the dairy we drove in to Twin Falls and visited beautiful Shoshone Falls.

Only five more weeks until we get to meet Baby Grant!

Dallin and Mallory had fun rolling down the hill at the park by the falls

(FYI Moyes Boys and Girls, this park is where we had our family reunion way back in 1991, the last time I was here.)

A beautiful ending to a great day!

Dairy Pictures

2010-06-01T08:50:00.000-06:00

2010-05-31T21:49:00.001-06:00

Don't know why the pictures won't show up below, here they are

Got Milk?

2010-05-31T21:37:00.002-06:00

(Sorry, you know I had to have that for my title.)

We spent the weekend about two hours away in Jerome visiting my little sister Lindsay and her husband Brandon. Since graduating from the Y in April, Brandon has started working as a manager at a large dairy farm. They live in an older home right next to the dairy, way out in the country (definitely not the life any of us envisioned for Lindsay, but she's learning to love it... right Linds?)

The kids had a great time in their big yard climbing trees, looking for eggs (there are a million birds!) and trying to catch baby mice. Mallory was in heaven.

Saturday morning Brandon took us on a tour of the dairy. It is huge with over 13,000 cows (and believe it or not it didn't smell that bad!).

The kids loved getting to bottle-feed the baby calves.

Then we went to see all the calves that had been born just that morning.

Mallory thought it was cute that this one seemed to like her...

until it started wiping it's slimy nose all over her.

And to end the tour Brandon gloved up to help deliver a calf right in front of our eyes. Lucky for all of you my camera battery died just as it was coming out. Believe me, it's a sight you wouldn't soon forget (I know my kids won't!)

Up next...Shoshone Falls!

Spring Sports

2010-05-27T10:27:00.002-06:00

Last Saturday we finished up the boys' season of spring sports. Brady did his second year of soccer and Dallin played flag football again. Since it was early spring in Idaho Mark and I spent many freezing, early Saturday mornings bundled up on the sidelines cheering them on. Brady has improved a lot since last year and loved getting to play goalie. (Thank you Celeste for the awesome pics!)

Dallin continues to love football and had a great time on this team (he discovered it's fun when you actually win, unlike last season.) On to tackle football starting in August with practices four times a week. What am I getting myself into?

Lost without Lost

2010-05-24T09:32:00.003-06:00

After watching every single moment of Lost over the past few years (mostly on DVD until we were caught up last season) I can't believe it's over. I absolutely loved the finale. There were so many touching moments as everyone was reunited. While not all of my questions were answered (let's face it, I never could understand what was going on) I am definitely satisfied by the ending. I'm just left feeling lost without something to watch with Mark at night after the kids are in bed. I don't really see him becoming a big fan of "So You Think You Can Dance".

Blooming

2010-05-20T08:40:00.000-06:00

Am I the only one who has a kitchen counter that has turned into a greenhouse? Every few days my kids are bringing home some sort of plant or flower. Must be spring.

Splash!

2010-05-16T19:05:00.005-06:00

Warm weather has finally made it's way to Idaho. We all enjoyed being outside this past weekend when it actually got up into the 80's! The boys had friends over and loved cooling off in the sprinkler...such a simple childhood joy.

Weekend in St. George

2010-05-11T22:56:00.005-06:00

I had a great time this past weekend where I got to see this sweet boy sealed to this amazing family
inside this beautiful temple.

It was also great to spend time with these siblings (plus some favorite cousins)

and these parents (in front of the temple they were married in).

And as an added bonus I got to snuggle this cutie (Chelsea's baby Luke)

and be entertained by this little doll (Ashlee's Skylar).

Pretty much a perfect weekend in my book (plus the weather was gorgeous!)

Pinewood Derby

2010-04-28T09:35:00.001-06:00

Last night was Dallin's Pinewood Derby. I would really like to say that we came in first, second, or even third place. We didn't. In fact, Dallin's car didn't win any of it's races. For one race he was against a car shaped like a school bus (!) and he still lost. It's not our fault that the winners every year are practically Professional Derby Car Builders (I'm talking to you, Ken Dougal.) Even more sad? They had a specific award for the car that was the most "True Blue" and we didn't even win that with our beautiful homage to BYU. (Do you like how I say "we" as if I had anything to do with the car? All I contributed was the Y sticker.) Oh well, better luck next time.

(This pic is for all of you who don't have sons of scouting age yet. Can you believe how high-tech this race is? Computers and headset microphones and all. This is serious business...just ask Ken Dougal.)

In My Kitchen

2010-04-23T12:33:00.001-06:00

What I'm seeing:

What I'm tasting:

What I'm smelling:

Don't you just love Spring?

A Warning

2010-04-18T22:20:00.006-06:00

Be careful what you blog about. A few months back I wrote about how I spend my days leisurely taking baths and watching TV. Apparently the Lord is aware of all aspects of our lives (even our blogs) and decided that I needed to make better use of my time.

And that is the story of how I became the new Young Women's President of the Shafer View Ward.

The End.

(of my free time, that is.)

Another sign there are boys living here

2010-04-12T15:08:00.000-06:00

This is a phenomena I was not familiar with when I just had girls. These are all the jeans/pants that Brady has torn a hole in in the past few months. It's always in the right knee. Apparently there is a lot of sliding on one knee happening during recess. The hole appears about 3 weeks after I've bought them. I've stopped paying regular price for jeans and just buy them at thrift stores for a few dollars since they're only going to last for a few weeks anyway. I used to not let him wear them to school, but now that we're down to only two pairs of jeans that don't have a hole (yet!) I've given up. He looks a little bit white trash when he wears them, but then I notice all the other boys in his class are sporting the same look. Another reason why I'm ready for summer: shorts.

What's making me happy today

2010-04-07T15:55:00.003-06:00

Today is the first day in weeks that it's actually felt like spring. Just having the sun out automatically lifts my spirits. I'm also loving everything that's just starting to bloom, including this new bush (don't ask me what it's called) that Mark planted yesterday.

This is the empty field behind our house. Most of the time it looks terrible and full of weeds. But for a few weeks in the spring it greens up and has a lovely purple hue (from the sage? I don't know) that makes it look almost picturesque.

Mark spent his birthday money on a big flagpole for the front yard, something he's always wanted. I love that the flag is just gently blowing today, rather than standing straight out from our almost-constant Idaho winds. (And yes, we have a big BYU flag to fly on game days...our Boise State neighbors are going to love it!)

I'm very proud of this girl for playing "We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet"on the piano at her seminary conference this morning. She has been practicing for weeks and was so, so nervous to do it.
I'm excited for this girl who has out of the blue decided to do cheerleading at the middle school. Only problem: practices are at 6 a.m. (I moved here to avoid early morning seminary, and now I get this?!?)And lastly, don't you think everyone should have a pet that coordinates with their shoes? I highly recommend it.
So what's making you happy today?

Thank You Easter Bunny!

2010-04-04T13:59:00.002-06:00

Dallin is at the age where he's not quite sure what to think about Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. He wants to still believe they're real (if only to get the goodies they bring!) but he's starting to suspect otherwise. All yesterday he talked about how he was going to prove or disprove once and for all the existence of the Easter Bunny. Kenzie helped him with his plan by typing up the following:

Here's the picture he found on the camera this morning (thank goodness it wasn't stolen!):

After careful handwriting analysis and fingerprint comparison I think we still have a believer, at least for another year.

2010-04-04T08:00:00.001-06:00

Hope you're all having a wonderful Easter Weekend. We had a fun day doing all the traditional Easter activities. We started with a super fun egg hunt put on by two families from our former (sniff!) ward. (Our boundaries changed last Sunday...much to our dismay.) They had over 2000 candy-filled eggs scattered all over their neighborhood, plus check out these fabulous prizes!

The boys loved grabbing up as many as their baskets could hold. Then it was time to sort through, looking for the prize eggs. Dallin found one, but Brady was starting to get worried that he would come up empty-handed.

Thank goodness the very last egg he opened held the precious slip of paper. After seeing the big chocolate bunny he won he shouted, "I am the luckiest one!"

We spent the rest of the day watching conference and coloring easter eggs. Plus Brady wanted to repeat the egg hunt over and over and over again in the backyard. Unfortunately our weather hasn't exactly felt very springy. At least it was sunny and not snowing like the previous two days! Happy Easter everyone!

Mini Spring Break

2010-03-31T10:37:00.001-06:00

We spent a long weekend in Utah to start out our Spring Break. We stayed with our good friends the Robertsons who are always so nice about letting us stay there anytime we're in town. The only pictures I took were of the boys (including dads) playing tag at the park on Sunday.

Other highlights included:
*taking the girls to the YW broadcast at the Conference Center
*spending time with Trevor, Lindsay and Brandon
*seeing Mark's sister Ann and her family
*shopping at the BYU bookstore
*eating at all my favorite places (that we don't have in Idaho) including Pei Wei, In-N-Out and Chick-Fil-A (let's face it, the real reason I wanted to go to Utah was for the food...I know you're not surprised)

Breakfast of Champions

2010-03-26T13:53:00.002-06:00

Our elementary school has a fun program where they recognize students who demonstrate certain character traits each month. They receive an award, a t-shirt and a dogtag necklace at a "Breakfast of Champions". This month both of my boys were recognized for "kindness". I'm proud of how respectful and friendly they both are to their teachers and their friends. Way to go! Here they are with their super teachers (whom I love):

Apparently Brady takes his kindness very seriously, I could hardly get him to crack a smile!

And now off for Spring Break! Woohoo!!

(Except it snowed a little this morning...what the heck?)

Obsessed

2010-03-15T09:25:00.002-06:00

Brady is a little bit obsessed with guns. I know, every little boy makes a gun out of legos or any random stick he finds. But Brady is constantly pretending to shoot or wanting to play army. He only wants to check out military books from the library. OK, his dad did spend 14 years in the Air Force. Also, maybe the fact that Mark collects WWII rifles has something to do with it. And we did give him a nerf machine gun for Christmas. OK, I guess we should take some blame here.

What I'm mostly concerned about is the fact that every time he wants to draw it involves some sort of shooting. On the back of every school paper is an intricately drawn battle scene. Here's a paper he brought home last week:

Notice how Dallin and I are apparently parachuting down, guns drawn, while Brady is on the ground shooting back at us. From the frown on my face and the red slash to my belly I don't think it's going to end well for me. I'm not sure if I should be flattered that he thinks I'm cool enough to be a paratrooper or concerned that Dallin and I are his number one targets. Something to think about.

Should Brady continue on with this military obsession he has some wonderful heroes to follow, especially this uncle. Jeff flies Chinook helicopters for the Army and just left for another year in Iraq. We love you Jeff and are thankful for all of the sacrifices you, your fellow servicemen and their families (especially their families!) make. You are constantly in our prayers.

S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G B-E-E

2010-03-12T17:29:00.001-07:00

A few months back my friend Michelle (PTO President Extraordinaire) asked if I would head up a spelling bee for our elementary school. I said yes, not knowing just how time-consuming the project would be. I think if Mark hears me say "I have to go to a spelling bee meeting" one more time he'll scream. Finally the big day arrived and everything went relatively well (only a few disgruntled parents!) I'm just relieved to have it over with.

Not surprisingly Dallin was one of the three top spellers from his class:

He did a great job and stayed through the fourth round when he got out on "precocious" (he left out the "i"). Seriously, that's a tough word for a third grader! We're so proud of you D, and I'll admit I'm a little glad to not have to help you study for the multi-school bee next week.

Boys in Blue Blazers

2010-03-07T14:49:00.001-07:00

If there's anything cuter than these two on a Sunday morning then I don't know what it is.

The Glo Girls

2010-03-06T16:47:00.003-07:00

Here's the video from our fabulous talent show performance this week. This is all of the YW leaders in our glow stick dance. I won't tell you which one I am (why subject myself to that kind of ridicule from my sisters?), so just pick out which one does the best job and that's me. Obviously we received glowing reviews for this one!

Brady's Place

2010-03-04T11:29:00.000-07:00

As I was changing the sheets in the boys room today I thought I had to document the small area of our house that belongs completely to Brady: the top bunk. And believe me, he makes good use of the space. He is always decorating it, adding to it and finding things to put up there. Currently you will find:
* balloons from Mark's b-day (what kind of helium is that? They've stayed floating for almost a week!)
*Star Wars cut outs and original Brady artwork taped on the wall and railing (that boy loves his Scotch tape...must get it from his Aunt Lindsay)
*hockey poster from Sports Illustrated Kids
*trading cards from S.I. Kids
*poster he made for the 100th day of school, featuring 100 things to do with BYU football (of course)
*leftover glowsticks from last night's talent show
*Bear Blankie he's had since he was born
*favorite space pillowcase, a hand-me-down from my brothers
*book left over from late-night reading

It's always an adventure to see what he's thought of to put up there. Sometimes it's surprising he even has room to sleep!

2010-03-01T16:07:00.000-07:00

Look who got braces today! Two and a half years really isn't that long, is it?

Animal Lover

2010-02-25T16:28:00.003-07:00

(San Diego, June 2008. Such a cutie...I think she's grown a little bit since then:))

Here's where I found Mallory after school this afternoon:

On the hill in the backyard enjoying the sun with our kitties, Maple and Nala. (Yes, we've managed to keep the same cats for more than a few months!) The weather is gorgeous and in the 50's (after snowing yesterday...go figure!). I'm excited to see some green grass starting to poke through.

Mallory loves these cats so much and she's definitely the one who takes care of them the most. The first thing she does before leaving for school and when she comes home is go to the garage to snuggle them. They really are good kitties, very sweet and loving. Maple even caught a mouse last week, finally earning her keep! Mallory has always loved all kinds of animals and wants to be a vet when she grows up. I think she's just smart enough to do it!

Girls Trip 2010...The Coming Home Tour

2010-02-23T17:33:00.003-07:00

I think I've finally recovered from my six day vacation in Phoenix. The weather was amazing and I admit I was very homesick for the Valley of the Sun. It was really great to spend some time with my mom and dad and Jordan, plus Melissa was there with her boys (bonus!). Girls Trip started Wednesday night as I was welcomed by Kim and Larissa sporting darling "concert tour" t-shirts they had made along with matching tote bags. We wore them to dinner the first night and were asked if we were a singing group! As a joke the waitress had us sign autographs for the manager of the restaurant. The entire weekend was so fun, filled with shopping, eating, talking and laughing, along with a movie and pedicures. What more can a girl ask for? Love these wonderful friends of mine.

I came home to spotless house and all of the laundry done. This leads me to believe two things: one, I have a great husband, and two, maybe they don't need me around here after all!

Excitement

2010-02-15T10:13:00.003-07:00

I'm heading out for my annual girls trip tomorrow, this time back to Phoenix, where we all met. The weather forecast calls for "Abundant Sunshine, Highs in Upper 70's". It actually said "Abundant Sunshine"! Needless to say, I can. not. wait!

Downtown Boise

2010-02-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

To finish our photography class we convinced our teacher to take us on a field trip to practice our skills. So Monday afternoon found us strolling downtown, one middle aged man, 5 women and one baby in a backpack. Here are some of my favorites:Inside the capitol building:

I Heart Butternut Squash

2010-02-11T08:41:00.004-07:00

On my friend Chrissy's blog she's having a heart treasure hunt all month, so I've been on the lookout for hearts in unusual places. Imagine my surprise when I spotted this on my plate last night:

Seriously, I just plopped it out of the dish and that's how it came out! Quite a coincidence since butternut squash is one of my favorite foods (just ask my family, every time I eat it I say "I love this squash!" No, really, I do!) Of course you have to cover it in butter, salt and pepper, and sometimes brown sugar, thus cancelling any health benefits you might have derived from the vegetable. I was so excited when I saw that my Costco sells it in their refrigerated section (you know, the area you have to run in and out of so quickly because it's so cold!) all cut up and ready to go.

OK, most boring blog post ever, I know. The funny thing is, when I found the squash at Costco I thought, "I should blog about this, it's making me so happy!" But then I thought, "That would be really lame to write about squash." So thank you, Chrissy, for having the fun heart treasure hunt and giving me the chance to declare my love for butternut squash to the world.

Valentines

2010-02-10T12:31:00.003-07:00

Thanks to my wonderful friend Courtney (and the person she got the idea from) for these fun valentines. They would have been even cuter if I had remembered to type "Happy Valentine's Day" on the front before printing them, but Brady was so obsessed with getting them done (it's all he could talk about for days) I was rushed. We just made labels and put those on instead.

Dance Party

2010-02-08T21:21:00.002-07:00

This is what happens on Sunday afternoons when the kids can't play on the computer...they get creative with Kenzie's cell phone.

And yes, Brady needed to go to the bathroom, but don't you love how he incorporated it into his dance moves? Pure genius.

P.S. The robot is a little tribute to you, Kevin and Maureen.

Photography Class

2010-02-03T12:02:00.001-07:00

As I mentioned before, I have been taking a community ed. class on photography with 5 other friends. It has been a lot fun and I do think I've learned a lot about using my camera to get the best possible pictures. Let face it, though, I'll never be the next Heather Ives (click on her wedding photos to see my gorgeous sis Lindsay) but I'm getting better.

Here's our assignment from the first week, a self-portrait:

The teacher said this could have been a great picture, but I didn't quite get it right. (He doesn't spare anyone's feelings when critiquing photos.)

The next week we were to take a picture of something in the kitchen. Here's what I chose:

He said, "That's pretty." and then handed it back to me without another word. It wasn't in the running for the prize.

The last week's assignment was "something red". Here's my two that made it to the final round:

He liked the composition on this one

And this one came in second place overall:

Funny thing is, the pencil was my least favorite! Maybe I just don't have a photographer's eye.