Scottish Festival

My Mom and family arrived on Friday the 13th. My Mom plans her yearly trip to Utah around the Utah Scottish Festival, which was at Thanksgiving Point this year. You see my Mom is the Branch President for Clan Cameron in Edmonton and goes to Scottish Festivals all over Western Canada. She takes her Scottish heritage very seriously and loves the "pipes".

This year she was going to have all of her grandchildren in the same place and wanted to show them off. She made each of them bright yellow t-shirts with the Cameron crest on the back and "I'm a Cameron Kid" on the front. She made me promise to take the kids down to the festival so that they could at least walk in the Clan parade, which I did. Ryan is not one for such activities so I took my three kids down so that all 7 of my Mom's grand kids could march with their grandma. The picture is of my brother Scot (yes that is the way he spells it) and my nephew O'wyn (again spelling).
I am not really into the Scottish heritage thing as much as my Mom but I will admit that when all those pipes were playing as we walked around the fair grounds I did get a bit choked up. I guess my Mom did make me proud to be descended from the Scot's.

Anyway there was a LOT of comments from people in the crowd of how cute all the little kids in the yellow t-shirts looked. You could just see the pride in my Mom's eyes. So for that at least the trip down was worth it.

Maverick

On Thursday the 12th, Ethan had been in and out playing with Kevin, a friend of his, throughout the day. I was busy trying to get ready for my family to come so I would check on the kids about every half hour. Well Ethan and Kevin decided to go to Maverick and get a treat. So just after I checked on them they go and get some money out of Kevin's pigging bank and get on their bikes and head for the Maverick. Now the Maverick is about 10 blocks away from our house on the corner of 1000 W and 1800 N. They had to navigate a round-about and cross 1800 N which is a pretty busy street.

Well by the time I went to check on them again they were coming up the drive way so I had no idea that they had gone all that way until Ethan told me latter that afternoon. I freaked!! Ethan got into trouble but not as much as he would have if he knew better. We really have not had the talk about going very far without Mom or Dad. So Ethan had taken his new found freedom to the extreme.

We have now set some boundaries and talked to him about the dangers of taking off without Mom or Dad. He now understands and has been a good kid about not going to far from home. We just need to brake him of the bad habit of taking off and not telling us were he is going. Oh the joys of parenthood!

12th Anniversery

Twelve years ago today I married the most wonderful man. He is the greatest father to my children, provides a wonderful and full life for all of us, he makes me laugh, and loves me for who I am.

I made the best decision of my life when I married him and can't see where or what I would be with out him.

Happy Anniversary to the love of my life. I love for eternity!!

Stay Tuned!

Sorry I haven't post for such a long time. My family (Mom, 2 Bro, 1 sister-in-law, and two nieces) have been here from Canada all this past week. All of which except one brother have been staying with me. Jeff (Ray) and his family left yesterday morning and my Mom and Scot will be here until tomorrow morning.
I have a lot to post so be prepared to see a bunch of little posts all on the same day. Like Ethan's little trip to the Maverick, the Scottish Fest, Swimming, and the Swing Set. I have pictures for each that are great! So STAY TUNED!

The Place to Be

Let me just say that I love our ward. I like it more and more each week, which says a lot for having church for 3 hours. It is the people around here that go to our ward. They are very down to earth and humble. Everyone is friendly and you can just feel how genuine they are.
I have always known that you go to church because of the gospel NOT the people but having good people makes it easier. So why is this ward so special you might ask?
1)Everyone participates in the lessons and when they do they are real with their answers. Ryan taught his first Gospel Doctrine lesson last week and he came out of it saying "Wow I've never had such an easy time teaching. Everyone contributed". And in Relief Society when we have a lesson where the subject of children comes into it, everyone is very honest in their answers. Like how kids are great but sometimes its just plain hard! Then they honestly go into examples from their own lives. WOW, it just makes me feel like I not the only one who struggles to this degree. It is just a accepting place to be and it feels more like a big group of girl friends.
2)Everyone helps each other. There is a family that has a set of twin girls about 3 months old. They also have 3 older kids on top of that so they have their hands full. Well from the moment they brought them to church someone, different people each week, just take the babies from her so she can enjoy the lesson. It is amazing to watch because this Sister tried to protest for the first few weeks but no one would let her. They just take over and give her a break. Its great!
3)They think of the best ways to do things. Ryan doesn't really like Home Teaching but when he didn't get a slip of paper handed to him and was asked to come to the church to meet with the Elders Quorum he was surprised. He was really surprised when he showed up at the church and they had his companion there ready for him to meet. Then they went through each family with them so that they would not what to expect when they went out. He came home in awe.
4) There is a member of the bishopric at the each door when you walk into the chapel for sacrament. They greet you and ask how you are doing and if there is anything you need. It really makes you feel good.
Last but not least, for me anyway, our ward is full of Canadians!!!! I feel really at home. Maybe that is why the ward is so well run? ;)
I really think we are in the place we are meant to be which makes life much sweeter. I hope everyone has a ward that they can feel so at home in.

Taking the Dare

3 Joys:
My kids (most of the time)
My Husband (more than most of the time)
Beautiful days (72 degrees and sunny)

3 Fears:
Someone taking my kids
My kids getting killed
My husband getting killed

3 Goals:
Loss my baby weight (any weight)
Keeping up with the laundry (so Ryan doesn't have to)
Finding something to laugh about everyday

3 Obsessions:
Having my "great room" clean before I go to bed.
Sleep
Knowing where my kids are

3 Surprising Facts:
I LOVE creamed corn on toast
I have Adult ADD (I guess not surprising to some)
I really like dark music, books, etc. Not horror but just dark.

4 places I go over and over:
Wal*Mart
North Ogden Post Office
Smiths
McDonald's (we get take out on Fridays and the kids love McDonald's)

4 people who email me regularly:
Ryan
Newtowe Square HOA
Martha Stewart
Oprah

4 of my favorite places to eat:
Outback
McGrath's
Crown Burger
Tepanyaki

4 places I'd rather be right now:
My Grandparents house (Southern Alberta, Canada)
Sleeping
The Ritz Carlton in Vail, Colorado with no kids, sleeping!!
Anywhere with no kids, sleeping!

4 people I talk to on a regular bases:
Ryan
Ethan
Holly
Mason

4 TV shows I'd watch over and over:
Grey's Anatomy
Charmed
Law and Order
30 Rock

Figuring Things Out...

Well I feel really bad about my last post. I think I came across a little hard on Ryan. I really didn't mean to, and I think I freaked him out when he saw my post, but we did have a good talk about it and I think I have figured it out.
It is ME!!! Believe it or not I am a "pleaser". I feel like I have to make everyone around me happy, and I make myself miserable in the process. All you have to do is look at my wedding. I was trying to make everyone on both sides of the family happy that I made things worse, and now you can feel the tension in the air when both families are together. Not that they are because my family is now in Canada and Ryan's is here (thank goodness).
Ryan (and my kids) are my whole world and I love them so much I want to give them as much as I can. Ryan works very hard to provide for his family that when he gives me those big puppy dog eyes I can't say no to him. He knows that he has this affect on me so he know how to use this power, but he is working on not abusing it.
I get mad at my self because I can't, and I mean I can't spend money on myself and then resent the fact that I can't. Then I just get upset with Ryan because he doesn't have the same problem which is not fair to him.
I get this problem from my Mom I know. I watched her do this growing up and now I just can't get over it. Self esteem issues anyone?
So...Ryan I am so sorry for sounding so harsh. You are the best husband ever and I need to figure out how to communicate better.

How Does He Do It

Why is it that Ryan knows just how to push my buttons?? We have been looking forward to receiving our "George Bush" check and being able to get a few things for the house, like a new bed for Holly and maybe a swing set. Anyway, Ryan has been wanting the game Rock Band for awhile now and wanted to spend some of the money on it, well I told him that as long as we are able to get the things we need and still have some money to put in savings I was Okay with him getting it. Hoping that once we got everything and he saw the amount left he would just put it in savings and wait just a little while longer. Wrong!! He was all ready to go get the game when he talked to one of our neighbours at church who told him that Guitar Hero is coming out with a better version of a Rock Band type game that can do "cooler stuff" latter this year. He turns to me and says "Okay that can be for Christmas and we can get a Wii with the check that is coming". Now the Wii is about $150 more than Rock Band and my goal to get Christmas down to just little gifts so that we can remember the reason for the season is total out the window. I KNOW that Ryan is the biggest kid that I have. It is no wonder that Ethan is the way that he is because he has a big brother in his Dad.
So now somehow Ryan has gotten me to give in to the Wii and Ethan has gotten his Dad to give into him to get the new Lego Indiana Jones game. How this has happened I will never know.
Now we got our check this morning at 11 am, Ryan was home to pick it up by 11:30am and now he is at FYE getting the Wii. That is after he got me to call all over 2 counties to find one in stock somewhere.
How the CRAP does he do that?? Will someone please tell me, so that I can take precautions against this next time!!