March by the Numbers

Another memorable month...filled with family, friends and memories.
ZERO books were read. AARRGGHHH. I am struggling with this one...I love to read but don't have the time.
ONE Dr.'s appt. for Tanner...we are starting to see the light at the end of this tunnel.
TWO the number times Tanner has seen the Hunger Games...so far!
FOUR days were spent at Dillon Beach...it was awesome!
THREE of our boys make the Select(A)Soccer teams.
FIVE blog posts recorded for March.
SIX baseball games were played.
SEVEN miles were run(by me) with out stopping...1st time EVER.
EIGHT girlfriends get together and enjoy a weekend at the beach.
ELEVEN candles on Carter's birthday cake this year.
TWELVE/midnight the time John, Tanner, Carter and friends saw the Hunger Games.
EIGHTEEN scrapbook pages were created(loved my time at the beach).
TWENTY ONE days of the Cardio Blaster class were attended.
THIRTY Fit Club classes were attended(some double days in there).
ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN miles were run/walked.
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY ONE Mothers' Day cards are being prepped/made(For the YW camp fundraiser).

Arise and Shine Forth

Each year, the Young Women in our ward get to enjoy a program called New Beginnings. It is a night where the theme for the year is highlighted and all of the happenings of the Young Women are highlighted. The theme this year is "Arise and Shine Forth...that thy light may be a standard to all the nations -D&C115:5." My friend Patti came up with a fun idea. She thought a morning talk show theme would go well with the Arise and Shine Forth theme. She and my other friend, Jan were the talk show hosts. They interviewed two of our super busy, talented, athletic, musically gifted Laurels(16-18 yr. old age group). They asked the girls how they were able to do it all(school, seminary, sports, time with friends, church, band, family activities) and still be able to find the time to work/complete their Personal Progress goals.


They also interviewed Amanda to talk about Personal Progress Boot Camp and all that the girls have achieved this year. They interviewed the Stake YW's President to talk about upcoming activities. There was a special musical number by the YW. They sang Arise and Shine Forth, a beautiful song by Jenny Phillips. One of our Beehives(12-13 yr. old age group), Sydnie put together a slide show(that counted as one of her Personal Progress goals), set to music. It was all of our activities over the last year. It was fun to look back on all of our Wednesday night activities and other outings.


There was an awesome audience give away. All of the girls received a music CD and their very own Arise and Shine, hot chocolate mug.

It just wouldn't be an activity/fabulous morning show without treats. My friend, Sheri made homemade cinnamon rolls and I made the homemade hot chocolate that we served to the girls in their new Arise and Shine mugs. My friend, Amanda created all of the graphics/fun fonts for the mugs/banner/treat sticks.


I feel so lucky to be able to serve in the Young Women's program. The girls that we work with are amazing young women who are kind, thoughtful, creative, talented, beautiful(on the inside and out), and so very sweet.

Just as equally beautiful and talented are the leaders that I get to serve with! What an AMAZING group of ladies. I love each and every ONE of them. They are very generous with their time and talents. It makes the YW's program in our ward over the top FUN!

I took Tanner to his monthly(actually it is every 3 weeks) appointment with Dr. F.. Tanner gets his hopes up before each and every appointment, hoping that it will FINALLY be the day that the cast comes off for good. He has had it taken off, just for x-rays and then a new one is put right back on. On the way over to his appointment, I was trying to keep the mood light, not knowing whether the cast would be coming off for good or not. I encouraged Tanner to pick a new cast color, one he hadn't had before. The nurse cut the cast off for him and sent us down for x-rays.



When Dr. F. walked into the room, he put the new x-rays up to the light and said "good news!" I have never seen Tanner perk up so fast. Dr. F let us know that the small bone(Tibia) was completely healed and that the big bone(Fibula)was well on it's way to being totally healed. He then told Tanner that he would not be putting a cast back on. Instead, we were to go next door to be fitted for a walking boot. HOORAY!!!!!!! The 1st ting tanner mentioned was taking a shower again. Lets just say that we didn't see him for 45 minutes once we got home :-).

Eleven

Today we celebrate Carter! He is officially 11 years old. Today is his GOLDEN birthday. 11 years old on the 11th day of March. FUN! Where did the time go? I remember the day I gave birth to this sweet boy. He had a full head of jet black hair. I quickly called him my little Monchichi. He has brought us so much love and joy over the years. We are happy to call him our son. His birthday fell on a Sunday this year. While it might not be the most exciting day for an 11 year old boy, with church to attend, we did make it all about him. He was up at the crack of dawn(5:00 am) begging to open presents. I told him that it wasn't Christmas and he needed to go back to bed for a few more hours. He did, begrudgingly. Once it was a decent hour, he was up and ready to par-tay. When he woke up(in the daylight hours), he found his door wrapped and decorated with small trinkets/candy. Dad made cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then the unwrapping of the presents began.

















We surprised Carter with an ipod touch. It has been on his list for about 2 years now. Instead of having a friend birthday party this year, we caved and bought him his ipod touch. I didn't want him to be disappointed with just one gift(he not knowing what it was). So, I wrapped his ipod in different sized boxes(about 10 times over). It was fun watching him open his present(s). He laughed a little harder as he unwrapped another box and another layer of paper.




They sang to him and the other birthdays this week in Primary(children's meeting at church). Our friend Gerald was able to capture the crazy birthday attire that accompanied that birthday song.


We ended his day with dinner and birthday cake. We hope his 11th year of life is filled with laughter and happiness! Happy Birthday, Carter.

Moms Gone Tired 2012

Our annual scrapbook weekend was given an official name/title this year by Denise. Moms Gone Tired. If you know Denise, you know that she is all about the nick names/titles :-). We had 8 of us on the trip this year. We missed Michelle. She is expecting Baby #5 and wasn't feeling up to the weekend. Hopefully she will make it next year with that new baby in tow...Michelle :-)???

It was a gorgeous weekend at Dillon Beach! Here are a few of the highlights.

Our beach house. There was a last minute switch of houses. Denise did a great job picking a new house on the fly. This house had a ton of windows which made fro great lighting.



Scrapbooking. The main reason this specific get away was organized. We haul our tables and chairs and move the furniture when we get there. We had lots of space this year and spent hours creating.
































The view. Absolutely amazing! Debby and I had gone out on a walk an hour before sunset. One of the guys working on the house next door told us to make sure we watched for the Green Flash when the sun set that evening. We quickly did a power walk so we could make it back in time for the Green Flash. We grabbed the other girls and headed out the door. Eve was convinced it was a hoax :-). she thought that same guy was the green Flash and was going to drop his drawers and show us his green underwear -ha! We lined up on the curb and watched to sun set. There was not a Green Flash of any type but the view was amazing.





Gift Exchange. One of our yearly traditions is to bring a little gift for each friend. It can be ANYTHING! Your favorite candy. Lotion. Scrapbooking goodies...whatever! I made a CD of every ones favorite songs and Pretzel Hugs. I used my friend Brandi's/Pinterst idea for my wrapping this year :-).

































Movies and Music. The house that we rented had a projection TV. It was awesome! We watched a ton of movies. We scored the jackpot when we realized that someone had left their Adele LIVE DVD. It was amazing. We watched and sang along as we scrapped.


It wouldn't be a complete beach trip with these girlfriends without a little photo shoot before heading home. I am so thankful for a wonderful circle of friends. We talked about how we all come from different walks of life(families, religion, experiences, etc...) and how fun it is to be together. We have some amazing, heart to heart, and hilarious conversations. I am already looking forward to next year.