FarWorld

I know, I am sooooo horrible about posting and I have officially decided that it doesn't matter how many times I tell myself that I will do better, it just doesn't happen!! And I have come to the conclusion that the reason why, is because my life truly is, "Hectic and Crazy"!

Anyway, I just finished reading some books that are so fun and full of adventure that I thought I would share them with all of you. They are a five book series called "FarWorld", but only the first two books have been released. The author's name is J. Scott Savage and I just found out that the third book in the series, "Air Keep" will be released sometime this year and I am soooo excited! It's a series that is written for the Young Adult readers, but I absolutely LOVED it. I got the first book "Water Keep" for a GREAT deal at Deseret Book and decided to buy it and read it. It was amazing!! I enjoyed it so much that I had to go and get the second book "Land Keep" to read also, and it didn't let me down. It was just as good as the first book in the series, maybe even better!

I totally recommend these books for anyone from about 9-10 years old and up. If you want to get lost in a fun adventure of two kids by the names of Marcus and Kyja that were destined to help their worlds survive, but were switched at birth by a powerful magician, then you will love these books and all the magic they hold. There is so much I could tell you about what happens, but I can't even come close to doing these books justice! They keep you wondering what is going to happen next and how Marcus and Kyja will escape one situation from the next. They are on a quest for the four mythical Elementals Water, Land, Air, and Fire to help them in saving both Earth and FarWorld. They run into all kinds of trouble as they go and it's fun to see how they get out of each situation they happen to be faced with. If you would like more information on the books or a better description look them up on Amazon.com. Scott also has a blog you can check out, jscottsavage.blogspot.com, that will keep you updated on the third books status. These books really are fun and MAGICAL!!

A Cake Report?

Lacey is in the fourth grade this year and just had a school project due today, that I happened to find out about LAST NIGHT!! Anyway, so she gets home from school yesterday and proceeds to tell me that her "Cake Report" is due tomorrow! I looked at her, and I'm like, "What Cake Report, Lacey?" She was gone from school on Monday and apparently her class was given an assignment of making a cake to look like the cover of the book that they are currently reading and then tell the class about the book. In that moment I had a bit of a panic attack!

I kind of freaked out for just a mere minute and then I calmly decided, okay, I can do this. I have just taken two cake courses. This shouldn't be too tough! I went upstairs and started mixing the cake mix to get the cake cooking. At this point the time was about 3:15 or so, and I just kept thinking, I will never get this done. Either that or else I will be up all night doing it! YAY me!! When that cake finished cooking I put it in the fridge to cool while I then started making all the icing I would need to complete this "little project"! The main icing for the cake was quite a task actually getting a color that compared to that of the book. I finally accomplished it through a lot of trial and error. The icing started out white, then using burgundy coloring it turned it PURPLE!! That was not okay at all, so I thought maybe adding black would work. WHATEVER! That turned it gray, then my next idea was to add red and that helped a little, but it still just wasn't quite right. I had some leftover pink icing that I decided to add just for kicks and funny enough that actually even helped some. I also had some leftover chocolate that I decided to add and thought if anything it couldn't hurt! With that final decision I actually ended up getting a color very close to what I needed! By that point the cake was cool enough to frost so I did that and then put it back into the fridge while I made a new batch of icing for the rest of the colors I would need for the cake.I got all that done and at that point it was just a matter of putting the whole thing together. I finally finished at about 8:45 p.m. So, it didn't take as long as I thought it would and I was pretty happy with the results! Even after that mere minute of freaking out I had actually pulled it together and still got a good nights sleep!! Lacey was so excited to have me bring it to her classroom so her class could see it! That alone made me feel like the time was all worth it.

I decided I had better take some pictures of the cake so I had proof of the "Cake Project" that Lacey did!! Okay, okay! I mean the project I did, but does that REALLY matter? I think the teachers assign these kind of projects just to see how much the parents actually get involved. Well, I think all Lacey did to help with this project was stir some of the icing!! That's enough to say she helped, right? Anyway, I thought it would be cool to take a picture of the book and the cake right next to each other to actually see the comparison!
So, today I took the cake to Lacey's class so she could do her report and her classmates LOVED the cake!! They were like, "Oh my gosh, did you make that cake?" I told them I did and then they were asking me how long it took. I told them it took about 4 hours and they were like, "Holy Cow!" Even the teacher was impressed and the first question she asked me was, "Are you a cake decorator?" Well, I wouldn't go THAT far, but I did take a couple of classes at Michaels. It's really only my 4th cake so I wouldn't go as far as calling myself an actual "Cake Decorator" yet. It was a fun project and everyone loved it, so that gave me a little bit of encouragement anyway. What really matters, is that it was for Lacey and I'm glad that I could help her and that she was happy with how it turned out!!

Happy Birthday Alaya!!

I just can't believe it!! Alaya is 4 years old now! I want my BABY back! Of course she will ALWAYS be my baby, but she is just growing up waaaay too fast and it makes me so sad. Especially knowing she is my last one. She is so much fun to have at home now that the girls are back to school and she is the only one I have with me all day. I have never cried when I have sent one of my girls off to school for the first time, but when it is time for my little Alaya to go, I fear I will be crying like a baby! It makes me sad even thinking about it and I still have one more year with her at home with me. I am so grateful for that at least!

So, it was Alaya's birthday on Sunday and she was so excited she could hardly stand it. On Sunday morning she came in and said to me, "Mommy, it's tomorrow now!" but when her daddy started singing Happy Birthday to her she said, "Dad, it's not my birthday yet!" She didn't think it was her birthday until we actually had her party. She was insistent that she was still three all day until she got her cake and presents. It was so cute! Every time someone would try to tell her Happy Birthday she would say that she was still 3 and that it WASN'T her birthdayyet.

I made her a cake that she saw in a book a couple of months ago and when she saw it she was dead set that that was the cake I was making her for her birthday. I have never even tried to do anything with fondant before, so this was my first attempt at it and I think it turned out pretty good. I even made the fondant from scratch and was just hoping with all hope that it would turn out! Otherwise, I would have been on my way to Winco to get a pretty (store bought) birthday cake for my baby! It was a fun cake to make and Alaya absolutely LOVED it! Of course, she IS only 4, so to her I am sure it looked perfect!

We waited until all the girls got home and then Grandpa and Grandma came over and we had a little party for her. She was just so dang cute and she loved everything! Although I was at Kmart with her yesterday and we happened to walk passed some toys and she started saying, "Hey mom, I want that for my birthday!" I kindly had to set her straight that she just had her birthday and that she doesn't get any more presents. She wasn't too happy about that, but I told her Christmas was coming soon and that seemed to make her feel a little better. Awwww, the innocence of childhood! I just LOVE it! Alaya is a pretty easy going kid anyway and it's not too tough to make her happy! What a SWEET little bug she is!! I just want her to stay little FOREVER!

Flowers and Cake Design

So, I finally finished my second course of the Wilton Cake Decorating classes. This course was called, Flowers and Cake Design. The next and last class I will be taking is, Fondant and Gum Paste. I am so excited to take the next class because I really want to learn how to work with the Fondant and Gum Paste. Not only do I think it will be really fun, but that is what most requests are now for ordered cakes. I'm sure when my girls start getting married that is more than likely something I will need to know when I have to start making wedding cakes!

This class was a lot of fun. Making the flowers was pretty cool, but I hated making the Royal Icing! It's soooo sensitive! As soon as I was done mixing it, it would immediately need to be covered or it would start hardening right away. The roses were probably my favorite, which was kind of funny because my Wilton Instructor informed me that I was making them incorrectly and that they wouldn't turn out the way I was doing it. Funny thing though!! All of my roses turned out and after class she told me that she was totally amazed because in all the classes that she has taught, she has NEVER seen ANYONE pull of a perfect (her word) rose doing it my way! I don't think my roses are "perfect" by any means, but I was happy with them anyway.

In the last class of the course our final project was designing and putting together a cake. These pictures are different views of the cake I did in my last class. The flowers I chose to design my cake with were Apple Blossoms around the sides and Primroses on the top. The last class was so much fun actually putting our cakes together and getting to see the final look of what we had done.

This last picture is of all the different kinds of flowers that we learned to make throughout the course. The yellow and purple button flowers were made with a mixture of fondant and gum paste. They were a lot of fun to make, and a lot easier than the other flowers. I can't wait until the next course!!

Yay!!! It's Back To School!

YAY!! It's time for school again, Stand up and CHEER again!! It's back to school time again and boy am I excited! Not only do I get my sanity somewhat back, but my peace and quiet as well!! I always take pictures of the girls on their first day of school and some of them hate it and the others don't mind, but I do it regardless! As you can see, even though little Alaya doesn't go to school yet, she too feels like she should be able to get in on the picture taking and she wasn't about to go inside until I took her picture too. She is such a funny little bug and I just absolutely adore her! I adore ALL of my girls, but Alaya is my baby and I rather enjoy having her home all to myself. She is just like my little shadow and every where I go, she goes. She is so used to going everywhere with me and when I have to go to work or somewhere that I can't take her she is absolutely beside herself!! She just can't understand WHY I can't take her with me to work. It's so sad because it's getting to the point now that if she can't go then she doesn't want me going either and she begs me, with her little crocodile tears and all to "Pleeeease" stay home. As for the other girls, at this point they are all enjoying being back to school and back with their friends. They were getting pretty close to being bored to tears by the time school started!

Renae is a Senior this year and is so excited that this is her last year in High School and then she will get to be all grown up!! Katelyn and Kelsie are both Sophomores and are both doing well in their studies. They both absolutely love school and are so excited to be back and not at home bored out of their minds. ChristyAnn is in 8th grade and she doesn't really say much so I am assuming she is doing okay. I haven't heard from any of her teachers so I am taking that as a good sign! No seriously, we don't have to worry about ChristyAnn and her school work. She does great! Ashley is in 7th grade this year and is in Middle School now and loves it, at least being with her friends anyway. She's definitely NOT a fan of homework, and I totally sympathize with her because if there was one thing in my life I hated, it was SCHOOL!! And homework was NEVER my friend! Lacey is in 4th grade and she just loves EVERYTHING! She loves being back with her friends, she loves her teacher, and she loves being in school and learning. She is just happy and as long as she is getting HER way, I usually don't have to worry about her much at all!! Last of all is Aymara. She is in 1st grade and is ecstatic that she gets to be in school all day this year. She was so excited to get to stay for lunch at school and be one of the BIG kids! She is doing GREAT and is reading like a trooper. She comes home and reads to either her dad or myself and she tries to read books that really a bit above her reading level, but we help her and she loves it. I figure it will possibly help her progress with her reading level a bit faster, and she is determined to learn all those "BIG" words that she comes across.

So, life is good and the girls are all doing amazing! I just take it all a day at a time and just keep on plugging along. Sometimes I get frustrated and think my life is way too HECTIC & CRAZY, but I love it anyway and have high hopes that it will eventually mellow out a smidge! WHATEVER!! Seriously though, I love my life and I am grateful for every one of my girls and feel so blessed to have each of them in my life. They are each amazing in their own way and I love them with all my heart. Sometimes I have a funny way of showing it, but I truly do!! My WONDERFUL husband and my girls are my life, and I wouldn't have it any other way! Life is truly great!!

Apple Of My Eye!

I am going to share a secret

It's so special and one of a kind,

It's definitely one in a million

Such a unique and precious find.

Let's start with a ray of sunshine

And include an armful of love,

Then the perfect amount of beauty

Is the next thing I'm thinking of.

Don't forget the sweet hugs and kisses

For those are the very best part.

Toss in the adorable dimples

And they will surely melt your heart.

Throw in some sprinkles of perfection

And a dash of pure happiness.

Add a ton of grins and giggles

And a small dab of fiestiness.

Now mix them all together

And what you get is a cutie pie.

Her name is little Alaya Rose

And she is the apple of my eye.

By Janae Suxo-Sanchez

Make Your Cake And Eat It Too!!

This isn't the most beautiful cake in the world, but I guess it's a start for my first one EVER!! So, me and my BFF Jill finally got all our ducks in a row and took a Wilton Cake Decorating class together this month. We have been wanting to do this for quite awhile now and our schedules FINALLY agreed with each other so that we could work it out. Anyway, it was the Basic Decorating Course so we didn't learn too many fancy things, but enough to get started. We had a BLAST, and of course with Jill and her amazing sense of humor, the classes were always full of life and laughs!! This cake was what we did in our last class and it was our final project. We even recieved a certificate for finishing the course! Cool huh?

We had a lot of fun people in our class and they all took Jill's teasing rather well if you ask me. There was a gentleman in our class that was taking it with his wife and daughter and he was amazing! Jill and her need of having to nickname everyone came up with the name of "Jesse Cupcake" for this guy and it was perfect! It all started with her telling him that he was like "the Jesse James of cake decorating". Even funnier about the whole thing is that his name is actually "James". So in a way it kind of fit, right? Jill was insistent that she get some pictures of him so she could blog about the whole thing, which he was truly a great sport about! Our last class was yesterday and Jill and I got together and plotted with one another to make Mr. Cupcake a T-shirt so he would have some memorabilia of how much fun our class was!! I made the shirt using my new piece of equipment called a YUDU machine. LOVE IT!!

This is the "One and Only" Jesse Cupcake!! Doesn't really look the cake decorating type now does he? More like a biker dude if you ask me! Well, looks can be deceiving because he was amazing and for more pictures and a way better version of the story go to Jill's Blog . Her Blog is one in a million, and hilarious to boot!! Her version of our experience is way funny! A must read if you would like a good laugh for the day. Actually all of her posts are worth reading!! So seriously, go check it out. You will love it!

I am already signed up for the next Wilton Course "Flowers and Cakes" and I am so excited to learn some of the funner and prettier part of cake decorating. There are three courses and I will be making it a priority to take them ALL! Because I will be danged if I am going to spend $500-$600 on NINE wedding cakes. Yep, that's the plan!! I will be taking it upon myself to make all of our girl's wedding cakes, whether they like it or not! Fun times, fun times!!

Aymara's Kindergarten Graduation

YAY!! Aymara graduated from Kindergarten and she is so excited to get to go to 1st grade next year! She isn't too excited about having to get up when Lacey does to get on the bus that early but she can't wait to stay all day and have lunch at school. Her graduation was so cute and the songs they sang where hillarious! Especially the "Hampster song". Alaya still walks around the house singing it and it is soooo cute.

I have decided that I am NOT the best story teller there is and that I run out of things to say pretty quick. If I only had half the talent that my good friend Jill has at posting and keeping peoples intrest that I would be happy with that. But noooo, God didn't bless me with the talent of incredible ramblings and a "Post What's On Your Mind" personality. Seriously Jill, I am so jealous of your amazing and fun posts!!

So, sorry I haven't posted for so long. Awhile back our computer crashed and I lost all of my programs. Including my Creative Memories Storybook program which is the one I use to create my digital scrapbook pages for some of my posts. Anyway, I was so mad that I just didn't feel like blogging. I still don't have it completely reinstalled but I decided I better start blogging again anyway. Needless to say, I have A LOT of catching up to do.

An Amazing Reunion!

This is a story our family will not soon forget and will cherish forever!! It all started a long time ago back in Bolivia when Fred was very young. His parents, Damingo and Justa Suxo-Sanchez where introduced to some Mormon missionaries and chose to take the discussions. They were later baptized and always had a special place in their hearts for the missionaries that taught them the gospel.

When Fred was 13 years old his father wanted a better life for him and wanted him to have the chance for a better education than what he could get in Bolivia. He made arrangements for Fred to come to the states with an LDS missionary. Not knowing any English and being so young he left Bolivia and his family and came to the states to live with the missionary's family in Sierra Vista, AZ that brought him to the states. Later in his life he would have 3 other siblings that would make their way to the states and make a life here for themselves and their families. In 2008 Fred's mother, Justa, came to the states and is now a resident here living in Orem, Ut with her daughter Veronica and her family. She had two previous visits here and both times had asked the children that live here if they had had any luck in locating the missionary "Elder Thomas" that had baptized her back in Bolivia. None of them had really tried looking, thinking it would be a long shot in ever finding him.

Well, Justa was determined she would meet him again and so she took matters into her own hands into trying to locate him. She was in Salt Lake one day and was at some convention or something like that and she stopped at a missionary booth asking if there was any way possible she could locate a missionary that served in La Paz, Bolivia back in the late 1960's. She gave the missionaries name and left her name in hopes some how Elder Thomas could be found. This is where the story takes a huge turn and becomes truly amazing! We later hear the story of Elder Thomas and learn how his side of the story comes about, leading to a truly amazing reunion!!

So, Elder Thomas gets this call from a missionary asking if by chance he remembers someone by the name of Justa Sanchez, that he baptized while serving his mission in Bolivia. He stated that she was looking for him and that she was now in the states in Spanish Fork, Ut. He thinks back and doesn't recall anyone by that name. It kept nagging at him until he decided to get out his mission journal and look through it. He found entries about teaching and then baptizing a Damingo and Justa Suxo-Sanchez. He knew that had to be the woman that was looking for him and he did remember her. He was so excited and wanted to be reunited with her as well. He called the number she had left with the missionary that took her information and she happened to be gone but he got to talk to Betty, my sister-in-law. Come to find out, Elder Thomas also lived in Spanish Fork!! While talking to Betty they made a plan to surprise Justa with a meeting between the two of them.

Betty told Justa that their plans for their house fell through and that she wanted her to go with her to look at some more houses. She took Justa to Elder Thomas' house and when he opened the door she recognized him right away. They were both so excited and happy to see each other. They visited for awhile and enjoyed catching up. About a week or so later Elder Thomas called Fred and they were on the phone for quite awhile talking to each other and Elder Thomas so he would love for our whole family to come and stay at his house some weekend and to have a big get together with Justa and all her family that is here in the states. He also wanted his family to be there so we could all meet and have a big party. So, it was planned, and we were all excited to meet the missionary that baptized Grandpa and Grandma and who played a huge part in changing the lives of the Suxo family forever.

I can't remember the exact dates of the weekend that we all got together, but it was a truly amazing weekend. We all had so much fun and Elder Thomas' family was incredible!! His house was absolutely gorgeous and great for the entertaining. Before we all got together his daughter helped him put together a DVD of pictures from his mission. A lot of the pictures were of Grandpa and Grandma Suxo and of Fred when he was just little. They have a huge theater room that we all went in to watch the DVD. It was perfect and the DVD was amazing!! Elder Thomas gave each family a copy and we were all so grateful. What a keepsake!!

I just can't say enough about the Thomas family and how incredible they are. Sister Thomas is soooo sweet and an amazing hostess. The Spirit in their home was so strong and we couldn't help but feel it and the love that was there. It was great to get to know them, but it was kind of weird because as soon as we got there and started to visit it was like we had all know each other forever. Fred and I both felt the same way and we felt so comfortable with them, like we were all family. Which in retrospect, I believe we are. The weekend went so fast and I don't think any of us were ready to leave when it was time to go, especially the girls! It was such a great experience and we all feel so grateful to Elder Thomas and his sweet and beautiful wife for making it happen!! WE LOVE YOU!!

A Truly Hectic Life!!

Okay Okay! So, I know I haven't updated in way too long, but life has truly been hectic, and now that the holidays are over it should calm down a bit. At least I hope it does. I thought I would add our most recent family picture to this post. It was taken at Thanksgiving at my parent's house. Holy Cow that's a lot of girls!! Poor Fred! But what a beautiful family if I do say so myself.

I don't know if I mentioned this or not, but I have changed jobs and I am now working at Michael's Arts and Crafts as a Supervisor and I am totally loving it. I started there the beginning of October and life has been pretty crazy since then. I have since asked that my hours be cut almost in half so I can be home with the girls more.

The holidays were CRAZY and I was gone way too much. I think they were all starting to feel a little motherless and I hated it! Aymara, my little 5 year old, said "Mom, when the holidays are over are we going to be a family again?" Oh my gosh, it almost broke my heart! Not only was I gone a lot, but Fred was gone a lot too, because being the store Manager of Kmart he too was pretty much NEVER home! Did I say "Motherless"? What I meant to say was, "Parentless"! I think the girls were feeling like a bunch of orphans for about two months and I hated it.

At least it is over now and life is starting to get back to some sorts of normalcy. My house is still crying for some serious attention, but it will get it's pampering back now that I will be home more. On top of that our dryer broke!! GRRRRR! So, with a family of 11 can you even imagine the piles of laundry I had to catch up on until we got a new one? Two weeks worth of laundry just piling up day after day!! I ended up doing laundry straight, batch, after batch, after batch, for like THREE days! As much as I hate laundry it was horrible and I hope to NEVER be that backed up again.

Anyway, life is good and the girls are starting to get used to having parents again, so we are happy about that! Hope everyone's holidays were fun and relaxing and you are all well and happy!

Rigby Lake 2009

Here we are once again spending some time at Rigby Lake!! All of the girls love coming here, accept maybe Katie. She heard that you could get really sick from swimming in this lake so she went, but didn't have nearly as much fun as the rest of us because she didn't want to play in the water. She really missed out, and guess what? None of us even got sick! Next time we go I hope Katie decides to join in the fun! The little girls had a blast playing in the sand and trying to build things. I don't think they ever really built anything but they loved getting dirty. We took Cocoa with us and even she had fun. I didn't post any pictures of her, but she was hilarious. We would throw her in the water and make her swim and she would swim for her dear life, which was usually to either me or ChristyAnn. I have some really funny pictures of her rolling around in some kind of dirty moss or something. Whatever it was, she loved it! We all did and we will definitely be going again next summer.

Chesterfield

This has taken me awhile but I am finally taking the time to post again. These pictures were taken in a little town called Chesterfield, ID. They have tour guides that take you through all the houses and other buildings that have been restored to what they were like back in the 1800's and they tell you the history of each one. Everything was amazing and due to our bad timing we didn't get to finish the tour because we had to get back to camp for dinner which was a huge bummer because it was so neat and even the kids enjoyed it. These pictures don't even begin to do the homes and the things we saw much justice at all. So, I guess if you want to experience it to it's full affect you might just have to take a little trip. It's definitely worth it! Katie got to visit Chesterfield once before with a Young Women's group and she was lucky enough to go on the entire tour. And she still loved it, even the second time around. We had so much fun and if we get the chance again we plan to make time for the entire tour the next time!!!

Hall Family Camp Out

This past weekend I took Katie, Ashley, Lacey, Aymara, and Alaya to Big Springs for our Annual Hall Family Camp Out. Other than the bugs, the dirt, and the stinky out houses it was a lot of fun! I'm not that incredibly fond of camping, but the girls all loved it and I guess that is what matters. Right? Okay, I guess I will agree with myself! These pictures were all taken while we were on a little hike and at the top the kids waded in the ICE COLD water which I wasn't about to go in, but had fun taking pictures instead. Katie said that the water was so cold that it felt like it was giving her feet a "Brain Freeze"!! She said that is the only way she could describe what it felt like. It was a fun little hike and the kids really enjoyed it. I even enjoyed it a bit myself! Poor little Aymara was having lots of fun, but unfortunately the water was so cold she didn't feel a rock cut the bottom of her foot until the numbness started to wear off and she could feel the pain. It was pretty ugly, but we bandaged it up with my nifty little Melaleuca First Aid Kit and she was good to go. Once she realized she wasn't going to die from her injury anyway!! I have many more pictures to post of our weekend so hang tight and I will get them on here in the next couple days or so.

Recent Projects

I decided to share with you some of the projects that I have finished the past few days. The project above is one I came up with while lying in bed one night trying to fall asleep. I had been thinking about something fun to do for the girls for a chore chart and this was my idea that I thought of and FINALLY put it together and I love it. You can't see it as well as I would like, so I will explain how it works. Each of the clothes pins has one of the girls' names on it. Each outfit has been laminated and on the back in dry erase marker I will write down a chore. Each Sunday I will have the girls pick an outfit from the clothes line and whatever chore is on the back, then the outfit they chose will be hung by the clothes pin that has their name on it and that chore will be their responsiblity for the week. Then on the next Sunday I will erase the chores from each outfit and replace it with a new one and then the girls will get to pick again. This way they won't have memorized what chores are on the back of the outfits! Personally, I think it is a pretty cute idea myself!!

This project was made for a friend that I work with and just love. Her name is Katie and she is such a sweetheart!! She is such a little mother to everyone that works at Roberts and we all just adore her. On the top of the board I picked the work "INSPIRE" because she is such an inspiration to all of us and inspires us to be better people and she always has us smiling. Tomorrow is her birthday and I had this idea to have everyone who wanted to pitch in and pay for the board and then I would decorate it. They will be celebrating her birthday this evening and I am bummed that I won't be there, but I took the finished project in earlier so everyone could sign the back of it. I hope she likes it and knows how much we all appreciate her!! Happy Birthday Katie!!
This magnetic board I made for Ashley and ChristyAnn's room. I have had so much fun decorating their room the past few weeks. It is decorated in flowers and butterflies and the colors are: yellow, pink, green, blue, and orange. It turned out even cuter than I thought it would and Ashley is home now (from her dad's the past six weeks) and she absolutely loves it!! She can't wait for ChristyAnn to get here to see it. I still have a couple of little things to do in there but the most of it is done. They are so excited to finally have a room they don't have to share with any little sisters and they better keep their word and keep it clean now!!

Dump Cake! Yummy, Yummy!!

Since I don't have anything to post at the moment I will post another recipe! This one is soooo delicious! It is Kokie's favorite dessert. She requests it every year for her birthday instead of the traditional birthday cake. It is so incredibly easy to make and so worth it when it is done! It's good to eat either hot or cold, by itself or with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. A great dessert any time of the year, especially for big get togethers! Hope you try it and enjoy it!!

LAGOON!!

A couple of weeks ago, after all the other girls left, Fred and I took the two little ones to Utah for a bit of a get-a-way. The first day we got there we were going to go to the Hogle Zoo, but low and behold, it was lightening and thundering and POURING down rain. We decided to skip that idea, obviously! So, we ate some lunch and went and checked into our hotel to hang out and swim for awhile. For dinner we drove to Lehi to have dinner with some family there. Jorge and MaryKate were wonderful and the food was incredible!! Thanks for the delicious dinner and the fun visit. Anyway, the next morning we got up and the girls thought they had to go swim again so Fred took them down to the pool for about a half hour.

We arrived at Lagoon at about noon and had lunch at Subway before we went into the park, because you know how they just rip you off when it comes to eating in those places!! Seriously, it's outrageous! We decided to get the girls a ice cream cone and for a one scooper we paid $3.00 a piece!! HELLOOO, could they rip us off any more? Okay, so enough about that. We took the girls on some rides and they thought it was the best thing ever. They both had a blast and I am so glad we took them, even though it cost us $150.00 to get us all in and the girls maybe rode a total of about 10 rides. Fred made me stand in all of the lines with them and most of them I got to ride too because Alaya was too little for them and they required a parent to ride with them. It was fun, and none of the rides even made me sick!! The trip was mostly for the two little bugs anyway, so it was worth it, and it was fun to get out of town for a couple of days.

Meet Sophie!

I think this little puppy has to be the CUTEST thing ever! Meet Sophie, she is a Shnauzer and she is my parents new little puppy that I just love! I think I just might have to doggynap her!! So watch out mom and dad!! I have already got to doggysit her a couple of times and for only being eight weeks old she is already so smart and has the cutest little personality ever. She is already house broke! Can you believe that? Of course when she is here, our little dog Cocoa gets so jealous she can't hardly stand it. She wines and growls and her eyes turn as black as night with jealousy!! I think it's rather funny myself! Fred even likes her, and he really isn't much of a animal person so I think these pictures are so sweet with Sophie sitting on his shoulder. Anyway, I promised Katie, Ash, & Lacey that I would post some pictures of the cute little pooch because by the time they see her she will be much bigger. So girls, this post is for you! Love you!!