Bowling!

 We took Gavin to Burger King and Taco Bell for a FREE lunch. Then in the early evening we took him, and the other brothers bowling. Gain had been asking to go bowling since we moved here, and it's been years since we've gone. I found a BOGO coupon and we were off! He was so surprised when we pulled in the parking lot.

 Brigham is telling me his ball is over there, but wants it back. He got the hang of it and really enjoyed himself.

 Tyler and Jackson rocked at bowling! Jackson's first game was a score of 119. And look at photo of Jack and Ty. Umm, Gavin you're over the line!! :)

 I chose this shot not to show off Gavin, but look at Brig's in the back. Laying there with his ball waiting for the pins to be placed out correctly. So cute!

 Brigham really got into it and after he'd throw the ball he'd wait there. (and wait! He'd throw the ball so slowly it took a long time for the ball to finally get to the end of the lane)

 And finally when some pins would fall, he'd jump up and be super excited!

 Nathan stayed in his stroller but seemed to have a good time watching all of us.

 They turned the lights off, added some disco balls and those neon lights and we all started to boogie!!

 A worker came over, after she'd announced it was Gavin's birthday, with a cupcake for him!

Happy, happy birthday Gavin!!

Gavin's special day

 Today is Gavin's special day! He is 5 years old. He has been so excited about this special day for a long time. When he woke up there were sign, balloons and presents ready and waiting for him.

After school he opened the gifts from his brothers first.

 Then he opened the gifts Scott and I bought for him. What he asked for that he kept telling me he wanted was a pair of goggles. He wanted his very own pair to wear for swim lessons.
After he'd opened all the gifts (except one that I was hiding) he said thank you and then let out a little sigh. I then "found" the last gift and here he is opening it...

He was super excited to receive his own pair of goggles!! We had a few errands to do in the morning and where ever we went I would tell people it was his birthday. Scott told the employees of each place we went and they announced on the loud speaker that it was his birthday! It was so fun!
Today is Gavin's 5th birthday, ad it was a very special day!!

Service Club at a retirement Center

 Here is part of the Rosecrest Service Club that participated in a little Valentine's service yesterday. The month before we made a couple hundred Valentine's. We took the children to a local retirement center to sing to them and tape Valentine's to their doors and walls. It was a fun event and the residents seemed thankful for our time and service.

Way to go Service Club!!

Super Bowl Party!!!

Once again, we hosted our annual SUPER BOWL PARTY!!! It was a lot of fun. (We did miss our friends from AZ though!!!) I made a 7-layer dip, boneless buffalo wings and a couple other dips. My cousins, the Boyce's, came and made a fruit dip, lemon bars, pigs in a blanket and these pizza rolls. So good! The Vail's came and also brought some yummy dip and a dessert. At half time we were joined by some other family. Good food. Good game. Good time!! 

Twitter

Okay, I am officially the newest member of the Twitter Family!! Do YOU tweet? I'd like to follow you, so let me know what your @ is!! Mine is @LorisFabLife

What App's do YOU use for Twitter?

Heart Attack

Tonight for FHE we did a lot of fun stuff! First, we went out to an extra special dinner at A&W where their large cheese burger's were on sale for .84 cents! RIght in my budget! Next we went to 31 Flavors and ate some yummy ice cream. I had two free single scoops and then two coupons for a BOGO. So, we ordered 6 single scoop for $4.00 bucks. Again, right in my budget! On the drive home we began talking about the FHE we were going to do when we arrived home. Valentine's Day is right around the corner and I found this adorbale idea

It was a suoer fun evening with me

and my boys!!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!

here. (One of my favorite blog's!!!)

Felt Heart Wreath

 During the Super Bowl game I crafted a little...It was fun! It reminded me of last year's game where we had lots of my girlfriends over and we were all crafting away! (MISS YOU LADIES!!!) I found this cute idea here. I need to put a frame around it. But it turned out cute and I am happy with it!

A few days ago the boys helped me make this: Cute, but not as could as it could be. Note to self: DON'T use a hot glue gun when working with buttons...And maybe don't let the kids work on your craft. Give them their own buttons to play with! I did put this craft in a frame. I found this idea here.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

BIG Savings today!!

I went shopping to Rite Aid, Walgreen's and Target and saved BIG today!!

Here is a photo of all the stuff I bought. (medicine, juice, cereal, candy, paper towels, gum, toothpaste, freezer food...)

My Rite Aid bill came to $31.00 minus $16.25 in coupons minus $15.00 in Wellness bucks = they paid me to leave the store!! LOVE IT!!

At Walgreen's my total was $11.94 minus $3.75 in coupons and minus $8.00 in Walgreen Bucks which means, I spent a wopin' 19 cents!!

At Target was bill came to $61.00 minus $18.25 in coupons minus a $5.oo gift card  = $37.75.

Not bad. Not bad at all!!

"Love" Craft

 Here is a craft I made on Friday...Isn't it adorable?! I saw something simular to it on a friends blog, but changed it up a bit and came up with this!

 I went through my box of scrap wood and found all these pieces, which made starting this craft a whole lot ewasier! I sanded the wood, painted a bright red, modge podged some beautiful scrapbook paper, sanded it all again, added some vinyl lettering (you could paint the letters or use stencils), and some ribbon to tie around each block.

Super easy, super cute and a nice addition to my small stash of Valentine decor.

Awards Ceremony

 Will photo flew through regional and is now heading to STATE!!! How wonderful is that!?! The other night was another awards ceremony for him where he was honored with a medal from the PTA president of this region.

 He then took a picture with the Superintendent of this area.

He also received several gift certificates to local restaurants. It was a fun evening and we are all so proud of him! Way to go Will!!

Community Helper

 This week in Gavin's preschool class they are having different kinds of community helpers to come in and talk to the children about their specialized jobs. Scott was able to go in yesterday and talk to the kids about medical stuff.

 Scott brought in a stethoscope, medicine, special scissors and many other medical tools that I have no idea what their names are!!! The kids enjoyed playing with them all.

 In the dress-up area Gavin found some cute scrubs and a mask to wear. How adorable!!

Wiiiindy!

 Yesterday it was about 12 degrees but it felt more like -something!! It looked real nice outside with the blue sky's. But looks can be very deceiving! It was so, so, so windy out there! It was freezing! Look how cool the tops of the huge mountains are...you can literally see how windy it is out there! The snow blowing off the tops of the mountains looks like a little mini cloud hovering over the tops of the mountains. Nope, blowing snow! Last night it dropped to almost 0, but again it felt more like -10 because of the wind.

I am happy to report that the wind has completely stopped!

House of Learning

I recently finished reading this incredible book about the temple. My uncle, Richard, and his wife, Kathy, wrote this book after serving as the Salt Lake City Temple Presidents.

 I read it the other evening and it took a little over an hour to complete. I tell you this because it was an easy read, and is possible for all of you to read by this weekend!

I loved how the book it laid out with explanations and stories of what they know and have learned together and then some parts are separated by their names with stories, experiences and inspirations that have happened to each of them. If you have not yet attend the temple or have not attend the temple in a long time, you can and should still read this book!!

The book is composed in 2 parts. Part 1: Preparing for Temple Worship and Part 2: How to Learn in the Temple.

In Part 1 I learned "that our ability to understand the spiritual meaning of its symbolic teachings was directly connected to the spiritual condition of our hearts". How important it is to have our hearts soft and open ready and willing to receive the prompting of the spirit. "Let us make everyday striving to open our hearts to the spirit".

Part 2 I learned more about the promptings of the spirit. "Sometimes it comes in the form of ideas that come to our minds and hearts. Sometimes it comes in an expansion of our understanding of the principles taught in the ordinances." There are so many different and unique ways the Lord reveals His mysteries unto us. How lucky we are that there isn't 1 way. "Sometimes we allow the world and its challenges and trials not only to define us but to limit our vision of who we really are." We need to learn to see ourselves as the Lord sees us. We live in a challenging world that pulls each of us in several different directions. "It is possible that true happiness comes from understanding and living the principles taught in the temple."

This is a wonderful book and I hope each of you make time to read this!

Here is Richard and Kathy on a local news show promoting their new book. They are now living in London, England serving at the MTC mission Presidents.

Tid Bits

I love my children so much. They make me laugh, smile, feel happy, and loved. Life is so wonderful with each of them in it. Her are some simple little tid bits about them and how they make my life so rich.

I love how Nathan always wants to sit on my lap and is so content there.

Gavin will come up to me at many random times a day and ask for a kiss.

Jackson is always willing to help with his little brothers anytime I ask.

Will always (tries) to tease and jokes around with me.

Tyler is always up for trying a new physical activity with me.

Nathan always says, "Hi ya!" with a big smile in the morning or in the afternoon when he wakes up.

When I am mad at the kids, Will always tells me it's okay, and I calm down so quickly because of him.

Tyler asks every night if he can sleep in my bed with me.

Gavin always helps me make meals and desserts. Always my little helper in the kitchen.

Brigham always wants to go where I am going, even if the errand isn't fun at all.

When I can't find Jackson, he is usually always sitting on his bed reading.

Nathan can crawl down the stairs but calls for me so I can give him a lift down on my hip.

Brigham always informs me when the baby is awake.

Will is always a huge help in babysitting the younger brothers for me. I never pay him for it and he has never asked.

When I see a spider or something gross Tyler always reassures me that it's ok and he'll get it for me.

When we watch a family movie Gavin and Brigham always snuggle on either side of me during the show.

Jackson is always the first to apologize, even when he didn't do it.

When it snows, Will and Tyler are the first out there shoveling the driveway for me.

At any meal or snack, Nathan gets so excited when I put him in his chair to eat. He loves food.

Tyler always completes his chores first and always asks me what more he can do.

When I am busy with the baby and I ask Gavin to go play with Brig's, he does without complaint.

Nathan, Brig's and Gavin are so excited when dad comes home. It always puts a smile on my face.

Brigham always wants to say the prayer, ALWAYS. When someone else says it, he'll start to cry. So we usually have two prayers for every meal and at night for our family prayer.

All the boys love living here in SLC, and that makes me so happy.

Will enjoys going to Scouts and is excited on some upcoming campouts.

Tyler has a goal to get 100% every week on his spelling words. He doesn't always get 100% but what a great goal for him.

Will struggled with his teacher and how she taught in the beginning of the year and now has completely changed his attitude and has straight A's.

Brigham asks everyday when he can go to school.

When Jackson comes home from school, he'll run over to Brig's and Naters and give them huge hugs.

Will, Jack and Ty will start piano lessons (again) and are excited about it!

Jackson and Tyler love being part of Swim Team and have already improved tremendously.

Gavin starts violin lessons this week and reminds me that he won't let anyone ever touch his violin, it's not a toy.

Whenever I say I need something, Brig's always chimes in, "I'll get it!!" He's always a big helper to me.

For bedtime I lay Nathan in his crib, kiss him and tell him good night and walk out. He falls asleep on his own.

Will received an alarm clock for one of his Christmas presents. He plays music every night while getting ready for bed. He's growing up too fast!

Will is always in charge of doing the dishes after dinner. He never complains and it (usually) always gets done.

Jackson has to match his clothes and have his shirt tucked in with a belt. His hair also has to be combed and not sticking up in the back.

Brigham and Nathan love taking baths together. Nathan doesn't like bubbles and Brig's knows that. When Nathan is done, Brigham then asks for Bubbles in his bath.

At almost every meal one of the boys will run up to me standing my the stove, sees what I'm making and will say, "YES! That's my favorite!!"

Gavin knows all the letters and has been practicing spelling and writing his name.

None of the boys complain when it's reading time around here. I love that.

Brigham knows he only gets a bottle when it's bedtime. So he'll ask, "Mom, ba-ba please. I'm tired, I go to bed." at 5:30 in the evening. Umm, no!

This is what I came up with in 20 minutes. Just think what I'll write about next year when they're all growing into my little men gaining their own personalities and traits. Motherhood is a blessing that I cherish everyday!