While we were in SLC we drove down to Provo for the day and hung out with extra special friends from Santa Barbara. We met at a book store, then headed over to Mc Donald. They had free coupons for the new fruit shakes. And, there was a play area. It was so fun meeting there. Had a yummy shake, the kids played around and Scott and I got to chit chat with our friends.
There are many, many things I like but here are my top 10 in no particular order:
1. I like my family. We usually have a fun time with each other. We all laugh and play and I like them all!
2. Water. I like water. I like to drink water, play in water, visit water (beaches/lakes). I like jumping in a pool of water. I like to look at water. I like to drink water rather than any other beverages.
3. Fresh Flowers. I like fresh flowers. I like to have a bouquet on my dining room table. I like when flowers grow in my garden. I like to take pictures of flowers, and draw them.
4. Laughing. I like to laugh. I like to hear other people laugh, especially babies. I like to be around people that are laughing. It always makes me feel better.
5. Outside. I like to be outside. I like to play outside. I like to look outside, take pictures, see other pictures and dream of being outside.
6. Bubble Baths. Aww, I like taking a nice, quiet, warm bubble bath. It's so relaxing.
7. Cooking and baking. I like to cook and bake as often as I can. I like finding new recipes, and making food from my old ones too. It's fun and usually very yummy!
8. Crafting. I like to craft. I'm not very good at it, but I sure try hard. I like to find other crafts people have made and copy theirs. I like to craft, it's fun!
9. Trying something new. I like to try new things. Games, food, activities, clubs, states...I like to try new things out and see what I like.
10. I like to travel. I haven't been able to do a lot of that recently, but it's always fun to travel. Even if it's a hour away, there is something new and fun about it. I like to travel.
I found another cute idea on How Does She. When are family sits at the table for meals we go around and each person tells the rest of us their favorite part of the day and something they need to work on...We've been doing this for years and we really enjoy it. Some of my cousins in SLC use cards from a game that asks funny questions and everyone has to answer. Then, I came across these dinner questions from How Does She. I got 2 cute jars at the dollar store, I put ribbon around them and added some vinyl in a cute font.
This is what I came up with! How fun! Last night was the first night we used it and my boys loved it! Scott and I loved it too! Thanks again How Does She!!
Food storage for me is super easy in ways and hard in other ways....I have the $ and time to buy food items, I just have so little space to store the items. We started putting all the extra food under the boys bunk beds. There is a lot of space down there and it can hold a lot of food and drink for us. Great! But, the cans roll around, the bags open and I can't find anything so I don't usually use any of it. Over the weekend I went through and cleaned out and organized everything! YEAH! This is what I used...
I place all the fruit together, canned veggies together, cake/brownie mixes, condensed soups....You get my point! LOVE IT!!
Holy smokes, I am behind on updating you all on my mini goals! Again, I want to give a little shoot out to my friend, Melissa, for giving me this great idea!
Week 15...I set no goals, I did nothing except PACK, Pack, and pack. I mean, that was my goal to pack! :) And I did great!!
Week 16...Again I set no goals while playing and having FUN with friends and family in Utah. But, I was inspired on some things I need to work on and try out.
Week 17...so here it is folks! The next 2 weeks are going to be HARD goals for my but I wanna try them out. My mini goal of the week is not to eat any sugar! One of my cousins in SLC stopped eating sugar and has dropped like 20lbs in a couple months! When she first told me I thought she was crazy! You know how much stuff has sugar in it? No candy, no soda, no desserts, no ketchup! WHAT? This cousin is one of my dear friends and she has always loved candy, chocolate especially. So I am taking this as a challenge and a goal. I want to see IF I can do this! She is a great example to me, and has a much stronger will power than I. I could of never thought of this goal on my own. So, we shall see...It seems like a perfect week to test this one out...No parties, no Bunko, no RS activities, and it's right before Easter! :)
Wish me luck!!
If you look close enough the "grass" sure looks a lot like weeds!
Kids are funny!
My good friend, Jori, put on this great event a few weekends ago. It was a Beauty Day for individuals with Downs Syndrome and their families. We were able to volunteer at the event, which was a lot of fun. Jori worked extremely hard and it payed off, the even was great! Our family was in charge of a game, the egg race. Scott took it very seriously and did a great job recording every one's time to the best of his ability! :)
There was a magic show...
Arts and crafts area...
A hair cutting area, styling table and a place for girls to get their nails painted....
And several other areas for people to make things, eat things and have fun. The photographer brought these simple frames and had families pose with them...They came out real cute!
THANKS again Jori for all your hard work, dedication and love! You are one great lady!!Another fun and easy craft from Creative Chicks. This is perfect for me with all my boys in the scouting program I have always wandered what to do with all these pins they receive! Thanks Miss Jori and Scott for helping me!
Turned out great, just in time for the Blue and Gold Banquet coming up next week! I'll look fabulous wearing mine!
I was busy crafting last night while the movie 2012 was on in the back ground. (LAME movie!) I came across this cute idea for a fabric egg from Make it Love it. 
Isn't this cute? Super, super easy and I didn't buy a single thing! I had it all in my craft closet! I can take the picture out and change it to another one to fit the next holiday! How fun!
Stop by any Blockbuster Express kiosk and use this code: 555G13B to rent a FREE movie when you rent another one!! Only a buck and no membership fees! What a GREAT deal!
THANKS to Blockbuster and to Saving Cents with Sense!!
One day we spend several hours over at temple square looking around. It was a lot of fun and so beautiful!
Cute baby Nathan loved watching the huge fountain!
There were several people getting married that day and my boys would walk over to the brides and say, "congratulations" to each of them. How cute!
We went to the 26th floor of the church headquarters and saw this beautiful view of temple square! I've never done that before! This cute old lady gave us a mini tour of the place. She kept asking the same question over and over to us. Scott and I started giving different answers each time. It was funny to see her responses change. I guess it was kinda mean now that I'm writing about it, but it sure was funny at the time! We didn't intend to be mean...
This is where Scott and I were sealed over 10 years ago! 
We walked across the street to the Joseph Smith memorial building and took these shots. None of my boys have ever been there before. They loved the views of the temple!
This was a great shot of the state building. My grate-grate grandfather was a judge there back in the day! His picture use to be displayed, but last time I went I couldn't find it...The boys thought that was a cool fact though!
The older brothers standing by Joseph and Hyrum Smith. Two great brothers that we all admire so much!
I found this cute and easy craft last week....Thank you Creative Homemaker yet again for a fun easy craft, and my boys LOVE playing it!
I cut and sanded down 2x2 blocks. I added some vinyl lettering to each side of each block. On one side I added a heart next to the initial and on another side I spelled out the entire name. When you roll all the dice blocks the child receives 5 points it they roll their entire name, 2 points if there is a heart by their initial and 1 point for just their initial. First boy to 20 points wins! We played this several times before we left on vacation and the boys really liked it because Gavin had just as much of a chance to win as Will did.
Oh, man...This home is so nice. It's brand new and so beautiful! Papa Bill bought it for him and my mom to live in, eventually. Till then we will rent it from him. We hope to be there for a year while we search for a different home, our home.
The house is so nice. It has a separate 2 car garage. Right now that is storing a bunch of stuff from Bill's house he sold in Santa Barbara. The house is right next door to a church with a huge parking lot. The boys rode their scooters there a ton while we were visiting. It was a lot of fun!
The kitchen is great! A huge range, double ovens a huge bar for the kids to sit at for meals, and this....WOW! It's perfect for our growing family of 6 boys! We need a ton of food!
I don't have more pictures of all the rooms and basement...I didn't take any because there wasn't any furniture in any of them. I will after we move in!Wow! What a week! We left last Friday night and drove all through the night to Salt Lake City, Utah. There was a huge storm coming in and we didn't want to dive through it, so we left a little earlier than planned. Our suburban was packed to the rim and we hauled a huge trailer packed full of more of our stuff. As we were all unpacking it started raining and then snowing, a lot. The kids LOVED it! It was so beautiful! All the cousins blamed us for the snow storm! HA!
We registered the kids in their new school, got Gavin set-up in a pre school there, visited our new ward, unpacked boxes in our NEW HOME, played with all the cousins, had a mini reunion with friends from high school, went to Provo for the day and visited with friends from Santa Barbara, ordered new furniture, went to temple square downtown, and had A LOT OF FUN!! We kept going back and forth with the idea of coming back to Mesa, packing the entire house up and heading straight back for Utah. After much deliberation and thought, we decided to stick to our original plan and wait till the boys are done with school. Oh yeah, Scott also took his resume to a few places and had a few interviews.
At our new place, there is NO TV connection or INTERNET! Which was cool at times and frustration at other times. That's why I haven't blogged for a while. Too long! I plan on downloading some pictures and posting later tonight...so stayed tuned! :)
We reluctantly drove home yesterday early morning safe and sound. We are glad to be back, but excited for the future.
My sweet baby Brigham Nielsen Thompson celebrated his 2nd birthday! Happy, happy birthday to my love bug! He went to the doctors and had to receive FOUR shots. That wasn't a very nice present! The doctor said he is in the 99th percentile of height and weight...but he showed me the chart and he's about 1/4" off the 90th. So, he's way off the charts. Not so surprising if you know the kid. He's huge! He is super tall, he has a huge head, he weighs a ton, he also has a huge smile and love for his family (and food!) Technically, the doctor said, he is 4 lbs "over weight" but he looks active and healthy. And he is!
Brig's has truly been a blessing for our family. He loves, loves, loves each one of us and will always come running over for a hug and kiss. He is so funny to watch. He loves singing, Elmo, rocks, balls, playing at the park and any kind of motor vehicle. (He's been carrying around his little toy bus all day) When he is sad or gets hurt he always crys for Daddy. "Dad....Daddy..." It's so cute to see the love he has for Scott. Brigham will ask me with tears in his eyes, "mom, where dad?" as he lifts his shoulders up. 
Brigham has a very strong powerful name, and it fits him perfectly. He has blue eyes and super curly lite brown hair. (I especially love that!) He loves to play with his puppy, Cooper and his baby brother, Nathan. He'll always come a runnin' to tell me the baby is crying or the puppy is scratching at the door to come in. I sure do love the little guy!
