Just a normal week

Well it has been a typical week at our house. We have had fun things to do all week. Unfortunately I forgot the camera for some of them. On Monday we had our typical Family Home Evening. The kids actualy still enjoy it. We sang songs, had a lesson and of course had a treat. When we lived in Colorado our Stake Presidency recommeneded that no matter what we should always have a treat at FHE. For one it will always get the kids there. So that's what we always have -a yummy treat.

On Tuesday we had a busy day at clogging. Ashlyn has a dance performance next Tuesday and they are getting ready for that. We then left a little early to head to Softball pictures. Then ran home to eat something fast and went to her softball game. She was walked both times up to bat. But she sure had fun. She is enjoying the social aspects of the sport more than actually playing. But she is doing well.

On Wednesday my in-laws came down to go with us to visit Grandma and Grandpa Granges graves. I didn't know Scott's grandparents but knew Grandpa Grange well. When we were at BYU we went over weekly to visit him. Scott would do the yard work and I would help him cook dinner. It was always a nice time to visit and he told me lots of good stories. It was hard for us when he died. But we will always have special memories of him.

On Wednesday my in-laws came a little earlier so I could attend a Mother Daughter Achievement Days Party with Ashlyn. It was a nice little program and Ashlyn made me a cool oil lamp out of salt dough. I will treasure it. She is getting so big. I just realized how fast the year has gone when I realized she has only 4 months until she is 9. WOW the time flies.

Thursday I went to a women's night out. We had my neighbor a few doors down talk to us about motherhood. She is a mother of 12 and has written several books. I even owned one and didn't realize that she was the author. She was excellent and we enjoyed her. Her name is Jaroldeen Edwards. The book that I own is "Things I Wish I'd Known Sooner." She has written 10 books and some of them were through Deseret Book. She is a good neighbor. We take her little treats quite often. Her husband passed away just a few months after moving into their home. But she is a very gracious women who lets us use her basketball court to play with our kids. It was a fun night and we all were able to socialize too.

Friday was FIELD DAY at the school. The kids were so excited. Britton went to the park and had pizza. Ashlyn had lots of fun with outside games. Thursday she had a read a thon at school and had lots of junk food. The kids then played outside all day.

This memorial day weekend I have thought a lot about my Grandfather who passed away a bout a year ago. I sure miss him. He was a special guy and I admired him greatly. So Grandpa I LOVE YOU!!!

On Saturday we went and hit the Soap sell that my sister in law Heather told me about. We also took the kids to dinner. THey were so GOOD!!! We had yummy food and then went to the mall.

On Sunday we went to visit my Grandma. She is always fun to visit with. Hope all of you had a fun weekend.

Yard Work, visit from a aunt, Mother's Day and Cereal

Well our weekend started out with a day in the yard. Saturday morning we awoke and Scott headed right out to work in the yard. He worked out there all day. I first cleaned the entire house and then headed to the garage to clean it. After that I took the seats out of the van and cleaned the van. A few weeks ago Treyson and his little friend Spencer took buckets of dirt and rock and emptied them into our van. There was about an inch of dirt on the floor. So I did a fast clean up that day but needed to take the seats out to finish the job.

That evening our sister in law Anna, Kristin and my mother in law came for a short visit. Anna was visiting from out of state and she brought her baby Spencer to come and meet baby Brielle. We hadn't seen him since the wedding in December. He has sure gotten big and is such a cutie. It was nice to visit with her. But we sure wish she could have brought her other two kids. My kids were upset that Mackay and Sophie weren't coming.


Mother's Day was wonderful. I got up at about 7:00 to feed Brielle. But she must have known it was Mother's day because she fell back to sleep. I then slept until 8:30 when Scott made me yummy waffles, strawberries and whipcream for breakfast in bed. Here our my sweet kids on Mother's Day.

That evening we had Scott's mother and his Grandma, my mom and dad and my Grandmother for Mother's Day Dinner. Scotts dad is currently out of the country on business. We had a yummy marinated Turkey on the grill, rice, two salads and strawberry shortcake. It was delicous. Scott did almost all of it. What a great guy.

We finished the evening with Brielle eating cereal for the first time. Here is a cute picture of Ashlyn helping her eat. Treyson keeps saying "But she doesn't have any teeth." She didn't necessarily love the cereal but she did eat some of it.

Well that's the past few days at the Grange house.

He's coming home today

Well the past few days have been busy for our family. Scott went out of town on Monday morning and is coming home late tonight. I wouldn't be a very good single mom. So we will be grateful to have him home.

Yesterday Brielle turned 4 months old. I can't believe how fast the four months have flown by. It just seems like she was born and here she is smiling and laughing. Yesterday unfortunatley also meant SHOTS!!! She was a brave little girl. Barely even cried. The nurses were fast and they must not have hurt as bad (or it is because she has CHUNKY legs). She is 15 lbs, yep that's right 15 pounds. She was 93 % on weight 50 % on height and a little 10% on head size. I guess you could say she takes after the rest of my kids minus Treyson. Everything else looks good. She is growing up so fast and the Doctor says everything looks good.

We spent the rest of the morning at Target and Kohls. Bought some household items and some things we just needed. Went to Kohls to look for a grill and ended up buying a shirt. Isn't that how life is.

Tonight our ward is going to have a Service Auction and dinner. Of course Scott's not going to be home so I think I am going to have to take them to the sitters at the church. Will see how that works.

Other than that we are bus with the end of the school events. But I am happy to say that Treyson hasn't had an accident for 1 1/2 weeks now!!!! YEAH TREYSON. I don't even worry about him.

Cloggin and Fun at Lagoon

Well our family has been busy this weekend. But we sure had a great time. Ashlyn had her piano recital on Friday evening. Both Grandparents came down to see her perform. We also had our sister in law Chelsey and her two boys there. We had gone out to dinner earlier. Let's just say it wasn't the best service or food. Won't be going back there.

After the recital we decided to go to Centerville to spend the night. Ashlyn had a clogging competition at Lagoon (the local amusement park) the next morning. Her first performance was early that morning. We had to be there by 7:40. So with Brielle and her feedings and getting makeup and hair all done we decided to stay up there. Ashlyn did WONDERFUL at her clogging competition. She got 1st places in EVERYTHING-her two individual events and her two dances.

After the competition we headed back to the Granges for some lunch and to get the kids for the fun day at Lagoon. We got discount tickets and decided to stay for the day. My mother in law watched Brielle for a good section of the day so we were really able to enjoy the rides. The Kids had a BLAST!!! Ashlyn loved the Colossus and Britton loved the Spider. Treyson really enjoyed the little kids roller coaster. We just enjoyed their happy faces.

A Sick Day

Brielle Sucking her thumb

Well it has been a long day today. The family falls apart when the mommy is the one who is sick. Yep, I think I have the flu or something. Last night right before bed I COULD NOT GET WARM. Yep, 5 blankets later still not warm. I finally just put on pants and took some Advil and finally got warm. Woke up this morning feeling yucky again. I was able to take a good long nap this afternoon. YEAH!!! It was heavenly. Even Brielle slept well. Hopefully she won't get sick

Here's the pile of rocks we need to move tonight. Last night we had a pile of dirt that big that we had to move. We have almost a 1/2 acre and at the time were excited for the land. Not so excited now. If we could afford to have someone else come in and do it all that would be one story. But alas we don't. Some of the neighbors have spent 40,000-60,000 dollars on their yards. WOW!!! That's a lot of money.

Well I asked Ashlyn to hold Brielle for awhile while I did a little project. Here she is holding Brielle. Brielle is sucking her thumb. What cutness!!!

Stitches and family

Well the Granges have had a good weekend. After working in the yard all morning and early afternoon on Saturday we went to the Granges for dinner.

Kevin and Chesley (Scott's Brother) and their two kids-Hunter and Kenyon were visiting from California. So we headed down there to see them. We had a yummy Barbeque and lots of good food. Great Grandma Patterson also came over for the day. Here she is with Flat Mackay.


GRANDMA PATTERSON

Well we decided to spend the night and then go home early Sunday before our church. We go to church around 1:30 so thought we would have plenty of time. But of course right before we left Treyson slipped on his chair and hit the table on his chin. We had lots of blood and could tell we needed to take him in for Stitches.

So Scott took him to Urgent Care while I got the rest of us ready. It was a horrible experience for Treyson. They tied him up in a blanket to restrain him and then they put on a little mask to keep the light out of his eyes. He hated it. He kept screaming and yelling. So it took a little longer than it should of. By the time Scott came home there was NO WAY we were going to make it to church on time. So we ended up staying the day and having a great Roast Beef dinner with the entire family.


Treyson showing his bandaid

That evening right before leaving the Granges neighbors had a friend come overwith a horse. He let the kids ride their horse. Ashlyn was so excited that she rode it three times. The pictures of course our on my sister in laws camera. So an update to follow.

Today we are back into the school stuff. The kids are doing well. Ashlyn passed off her 8 times tables, Britton already did his school project so he has no homework and Treyson has been playing all day. Brielle is just a cute baby.

I was able to sign the kids up for swimming lessons today. So we are all ready for summer. Here are a few pictures of Brielle and the boys. Britton and Treyson wanted a few with their sister.

Today I found a few moments to capture my little girl. She's getting so big. I love this one with her mouth open. It truly captures her personality.
Here is our little "Elle" (what her nickname has become) She has already rolled over a few times but is actually enjoying her stomach more.


I love this pictures because if you look at the bottom you will see her little feet. BABIES FEET!!! Gotta love them.

Yesterday Ashlyn wanted her picture taken with her sister. Here's a cute one of the two of them.

Scott is out of town for the next few days. Of course those days seem extra long. He will come home Thursday evening. Over the next few days Ashlyn has a lot of homework. We need to write 2 more book reports. It would be easier if she didn't read such difficult books. But she is a great reader and is enjoying reading. I went to Target today which is a place I can easily spend our money. I can always find some cute clothes for the kids and just enjoy looking at all the stuff. I then kept telling myself NOT TO GO TO OLD NAVY!!! But I did it. But they had all their Easter Dresses on sale. So I bought Brielle one for next summer.

Britton and Treyson have been outside all day playing. We turned our drinking fountain on (we have one outside) and all the kids in the neighborhood are coming over for drinks. I am sure the excitement will wear off in a few days.

The Rest of Spring Break

THE GRANGES



Yesterday's post was a trial post because I hadn't done this yet. So I thought I would let everyone know how the rest of our Spring Break week was like.

On Monday we decided to take a easy day and just let the kids play all day. But of course the weather wasn't the greatest. We then decided to go to Ice Age the Meltdown as a family that evening for FHE. They sure enjoyed that. Especially because they got popcorn and candy.

Just as a side note-We have been asked to be a host family for "Flat Mackay". Flat Mackay has gone on most of these adventures with us. Flat Mackay is a picture of my nephew that lives in Minnesota. There is a book that is called Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown. It is about a young boy named Stanely who is accidentally flattened by a bulletin board. Stanley is flat, but otherwise fine. The story goes on to tell how he discovers real advantages to being flat. One is that he goes to California in an envelope. So we have been asked to take our "Flat Mackay" with us on our adventures.

On Tuesday I took the kids swimming at a local swimming pool. They sure enjoyed playing in the water and going down all the cool slides. Here is Britton with Flat Mackay

On Wednesday we went to the Hogle Zoo. The kids enjoyed seeing all the animals. It was sad though because the lions and tigers were all gone. They are redoing the park to allow the animals more freedom (which was greatly needed) so they are away at this time. But the kids enjoyed the elephants and the giraffes.
Once again here is "Flat Mackay"

We then went to Moab on Thursday through Saturday. Here is Mackay at Arches.

Sunday we were back to Church. Scott had to talk in church. Of course both the Stake President and First Counselor in the Stake Presidency were there. We have a HUGE WARD. We have over 700 people so it already is like Stake Conference. But he did a wonderful job and had several people want him to email his talk to them. Way to go Scott.

We then headed to Grandma Jans for Sunday dinner. It was YUMMY as normal. My sister in law Heather took a few pictures of the kids. Of course the kids WERE NOT IN THE COOPERATING MOOD. But I love the way they are and it sure is a true representation of how they act.

Today it is raining and we are back to the normal stuff. Ashlyn has to write three bookreports this week and is getting ready for State Testing. I have tons of laundry to do and lots of things to clean. Oh the joys of housework.

SPRING BREAK TIME!!!!

For Spring Break this year we decided to do a mini trip to Moab, Utah. We weren't sure how it would go with 4 children all in ONE hotel room. Especially with Brielle. But it was a wonderful and fun trip. I think we exhausted the kids through the day that they easily fell asleep.

The first day we arrived and went and checked in our hotel. Just a typical hotel but the kids were really excited. Mostly about the swimming pool.



Here is a picture of the kids swimming with their daddy. That was what they really enjoyed. They also thought it was cool to go and have breakfast at the hotel lobby. On the way home Treyson kept saying he wanted to go back and live at the hotel. Sorry our house just isn't as much fun.

After we checked into the hotel we went to Dead Horse Point State Park. The kids loved climbing all the rocks and enjoyed the beauty of God's creations. The kids and Dad spent the evening at the pool while Brielle and Mom just hung out.

The second day was a busy day. We arose and after getting all ready decided to make a day out of it at Arches National Park. We went to the visitors center and the kids decided to try to become Junior Rangers. They had to watch a movie, pick up a bag of litter on our adventure and do 3-5 activities out of a work book. The kids sure enjoyed that. It took a little time but in the end they got a certficate and a cool rangers badge. We also did this at Canyonlands National park.

At Arches we did a lot of hiking. We just put Brielle in the backpack and the other kids just hiked with us. We enjoyed hiking do the Double Arches, to the North and South Windows and a distant hike to Delicate Arch. When we finaly got to the end of the trail there were a few more hikes but the kids were pretty tired. But Britton wanted to see one of the largest Arches in the world. So he and I went on a mile and a half hike to see Landscape Arch while Scott and the other kids went to Pine Tree and Tunnel Arches.

That night we went to the Bar M Wrangler Chuckwagon Dinner. We enjoyed the gun fight to begin the night and had a yummy Cowboy dinner. The kids especially liked the lemonade. We then enjoyed a fun night of music and songs. But by the time we got back to the hotel the kids were exhausted.

The next morming we got up early and started the day with swimming. All of us including mom and Brielle got in. It was a beautiful and hot morning even at 9 a.m.

We then went to a cool park in Moab that we heard of. It has a lot of zylophones for the kids to play with. They sure enjoyed that park.

We then headed out to lunch at a yummy mexican restaurant. The rest of our time in Moab was spent driving around Canyonlands. It is only a few miles away from Arches but so

different. It was a beautiful park.

Overall it was a very fun trip. I think the worst part was the drive home. We drove on Highway 6 which is one of the scariest roads in the nation. It was long because everyone was tired. But we made it home safely and have lots of new memories.