Cramming it all in, to get Caught up......

WOW! I am such a slacker. It's been over a month since I posted last. I think I might have been a little busy lately. Doing what, I don't know. You would think that with being released from my calling that I would have a lot of extra time but I have just found other things that take up my time. I wish I could say that I have completed all the many projects that have been left unfinished, caught all the way up on my scrapbook pages or got all of the Spring cleaning done but I haven't done one of these things.

I have been buys with the everyday things like work, cleaning, laundry, cooking-(just the boring daily things) Kaiden finished basketball a few weeks ago, so our Saturday mornings have been spent at the junior high. I love watching him play, I think this will be the sport he excels at. (I will have basketball pictures up soon...)I've gone to a few baby showers and bridal showers, and even started watching tv more. I know this sounds funny but I NEVER used to watch tv. I think when I was single, I was trying so hard to keep up on everything that I was always going, going, going and never stopped to relax. I don't think Paul likes the idea of me taking over the tv because there have been some nights where I will sit on our bed and watch tv for a few hours. This has only happened a few times, so don't worry I'm not turning into a lazy couch potato. I think I just need a day, once in a while, where I can just veg.

One thing that I have done that I am SO proud of (I have to brag a little) is that I made HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY JAM!!!! I know this doesn't mean that I am Little Miss Domestic or anything but it's something that I have never done and never thought I could do and I did it!!!! The other day, my friend Marci was going to the store to get .99 strawberries to make some jam. On a whim I asked her if it was that hard and she said no. Marci is so good at everything, I still wasn't sure but asked her if she would pick up a bunch for me and I would give it a try.

I put it off for a couple days but then got the motivation (or courage) to start working on the strawberries. I had a bunch of different recipes that I was following because I had forgotten to get one from my mom or Marci and at that point, I wanted to see if I could do it ALL BY MYSELF. (that might have been pretty stupid on my part, if the jam wouldn't have turned out-luckily, it did) I finally settled on just following the one in the pectine box because I kept mixing up measurements and ingredients from the different recipes.

I don't know if Paul thought I was going to burn the kitchen down or felt sorry for me because I looked like a chicken with my head cut off, running back and forth in the kitchen, because he stood by and watched me the whole time. He kept asking me if I wanted him to call his mom. I told him he could if he wanted to but I would eventually figure it out. He called but she wasn't home, so I was on my own...He helped me smash the strawberries and when I almost overflowed one of the jars I was filling with hot jam, he thought he would take over that job because "I was in too big of a hurry" as he put it. I busted out laughing when he did the exact same thing as I did and jam overflowed to the top of the funnel we were using. I said, " I told you that it wasn't just me in a hurry, it just comes out fast and you can't tell if it is full." (I was glad that it wasn't just me being a spaz)

When my mother-in-law called back, Paul told her that I was making jam and that he wasn't really sure if I was doing it right. He told her that I had put 4 strawberries in a jar, added some sugar, lemon juice and water and sealed them. He said, "No she just put all of them in the jar, no she didn't mix them up first, just the whole strawberries." Anyone that knows Paul, knows that you can never tell when he is being serious or not. I think my mother-in-law believed him, not knowing if I was really that dumb. He hung up after saying "Well, she is already done so we'll see how they turn out."

It's a good thing that I can be teased because Paul is always doing stuff like that to me. Our boys think it is SOOO funny when out of nowhere, Paul says, "No Kristen I can't kiss you right now, in front of everyone." Or he is always making up things that I have done that make me look like a bigger ditz than I really am. It's things like this that keeps everyone laughing, even when my in-laws really believed that I couldn't follow a recipe.

So, the strawberry jam turned out pretty good and I couldn't stop telling everyone what I had done (I really didn't think I could do anything like that) It wasn't as scary or as hard as I thought it would be. I am already planning on canning our peaches when they are ready to be picked and Marci has even got me excited about canning tomatoes...Who knows, I might just turn into a Miss Domestic...

Valentines Day

On Thursday night, after the wax museum, Kaiden and I (once again) rushed around looking for supplies. We needed to get Valentines for his class and come up with a Valentines box. I really don't like doing things at the last minute, even though this is what usually happens at our house. We made Kaiden a cool "colored chicken" valentines box (as the cute little neighbor girl calls it) in record time and got all his class valentine's labeled before it was time for bed. Whew!!! we did it!!

For Valentines day, Paul and I stayed up in Park City at this great Westgate condo, FOR FREE!! The BIG catch was that we had to sit through over 2 hours !!!! of this pressure-filled sales presentation for a Westgate timeshare. I can't believe that we got out of there without buying the stupid timeshare. I think they make it so unbearable that people buy them just so they can go home. I had actually been to one before so I kind of knew what to expect. Paul had NO idea, so he was ticked off by the time we got out of there. It was really nice to be able to check into our room right after instead of driving all the way home. Paul said that the stupid presentation was worth it because the room was soooo nice and we were able to have dinner at this fancy little restaurant right there in the complex. It was a great Valentines getaway (and I had the hottest Valentine's date!! ;)

Neil Armstrong and the Wax Museum

SORRY, REALLY LONG POST*****The fifth graders (and the sixth graders in Kaiden's class) did the coolest thing two weeks ago. They had a "live" Wax Museum at the school on the 12th. (I know, I should have posted sooner but I am still being a slacker) They had to choose an American hero, do a written and oral report on them, then bring a display and dress up like that hero for the Wax Museum that was presented to students and parents. Kaiden chose to do his report on Neil Armstrong so I had been searching the internet and different stores for ideas on things we could use to make a neat astronaut costume.

At the last minute, Kaiden told me that he had his oral report in 2 days and needed the costume then. The timing wasn't the greatest because I was having Bunko at our house that same day. I needed to make and frost cookies, make this punch that took more than just dumping in a packet and sugar, figure out an appetizer, shop for plates napkins, etc., clean the house REALLY good, set up tables, have one of Kaiden's friends over, help him finish his written report, find Neil Armstrong pictures on the internet, write up cards for his oral report, plus figure out something for his Valentine box and valentines. I might have been able to pull it all off but I still had to go to work and try to fit it all in.......I was frantically trying to figure something out for the costume but nothing was coming together.

My mom is the GREATEST at coming up with neat ideas at the last minute, so I called her (she works really well under pressure, this is where I get my strategy of putting things off until the last minute and being able to pull it off quite nicely-but this time it wasn't working for me) I LOVE helping Kaiden with his big school projects and I don't like doing them half way, we have to do them differently than everyone else'. That's how my mom did things when we were growing up, the more creative the better, so that's what I try to do with Kaiden. (I love it more than he does but maybe one day he will look back and appreciate the "cool" things we came up with)

Just like I thought, my mom had the best ideas.....Paint Suit Space Suit anf Paper mache helmet. I thought this was going to be the best astronaut helmet ever. I had the whole thing figured out in my head and it was going to look like the real thing. So, on Monday night we rushed out to the store and picked up our supplies. I'm pretty sure that Paul thought I was making things more complicated. He didn't think it would matter if Kaiden had a helmet or not because he probably wouldn't even wear it (Kaiden didn't care either)He gave me some great (easy) suggestions like just spray painting half of a basketball but I was set on the paper mache helmet.

While everyone else watched the Jazz game, Kaiden and I slapped gluey strips of newspaper all over this huge punch balloon. I wish I would have had my camera because Kaiden and I were a HUGE MESS by the end of the night.) Kaiden wasn't too thrilled with the whole thing and wandered off a bunch of times to watch the Jazz game but I was determined to get this thing done. At one point in our messy activity, I told Kaiden that he would be so excited when it was done, that he would be glad that we took the extra time to do this and one day he would have great memories of doing things like this. He just laughed at me but I'm pretty sure it isn't something he will forget (because it took us FOREVER and was a HUGE, FUNNY mess) Paul was great to help us smooth out the bumps (and there were tons, until I figured out how to make a smooth gooey glue paste) By the time we were on our fourth layer we were just slapping the strips on to get it done. We got the whole balloon covered and it looked pretty good.

The next day before work, I went in search of a white paint suit. (This is NOT the technical term, as I was reminded several times at each store I went to.) Come to find out, there aren't a lot of tiny painters out there. I had to run all over Utah County, in the huge snow storm that fell that Tuesday, searching for a size Medium or Small suit. I figured that my life wasn't worth losing over a paint suit, so I bought a large suit and decided to alter it with my scissors.

Tuesday night was CRAZY!!! I was trying to clean, bake and frost cookies, altar a space suit, make dinner, help Kaiden write his oral report and dry out a huge, wet paper mache balloon. Paul tried to help but he has a hard time when I run from one thing to the next, before I finish with anything. He thought it would be fine if I bought the sugar cookies at the store and was sure that no one would care if I just mixed up a packet of Kool Aid. I had my plan and I wanted to follow it... He volunteered to pick some things up at the store for me, so I sent him off while I continued to run around like a chicken with its head cut off.

Sorry this is getting TOOOOO long. So to make my long story short..... I was in such a hurry to dry the wet paper mache that I brought a space heater home from work and locked them in the bathroom together. I was doing good running back and forth from baking, altering the "spacesuit" and gluing patches on, writing a report, mopping the kitchen and checking on the progress of the helmet. Except, I waited a little too long between check-ins of the bathroom, that the last time I went to check on the balloon, it had expanded into this HUGE balloon and cracked the drying plaster stuff. OOPS

Needless to say, I tried everything I could to fix that stupid helmet but I just kept making it worse. Kaiden was so cute and told me that he wouldn't have worn it anyway so we bagged the helmet (oh it would have been so great, IF it would have turned out like the idea in my head)

Kaiden gave a great oral report on Wednesday. I was told this by several of my neighbors, since I wasn't able to go. This was the VERY first time I hadn't gone to ANY of Kaiden's school functions (I even made it to the monthly assembly where Kaiden's third grade class sang ONE Christmas song) I was sooo sad but I had taken off earlier the day before so Kaiden's friend could come home from school with him and had to go in a little late because of chasing around for the paint suit. Once again my cute little boy made it ok for me. He told me that he would probably be too nervous with me there that it was probably better that I didn't come (I don't know if that's a good thing or not) He got great reviews from his friends and told me that he knew that he did good. I wasn't surprised, he blew me away when he was reading to me off his index cards, the night before. I thought I would have to have him read them and reread them but he did it like a pro. I forget what a great reader he is and how grown up he has become. I almost started crying when he was "giving me his oral report." I know it's silly but he is just getting so big.

The Wax Museum on Thursday was AMAZING. I didn't know it was going to be as great as it turned out or I wouldn't have sent Kaiden with some dinky table clothe we had lying around. (All of the kids had to have a table cloth to put on their desk to display all their props) They had all of the lights dimmed in the library and each kid had their own little lamp lighting their desk. (luckily, Brayden came through with a cool lamp that looked great) I couldn't believe how life-like yet waxish the kids looked. It was just like going through a real wax museum. Or how I would imagine it, if I had ever been to one. Kaiden started laughing when Paul, my mom and I walked by him, and couldn't stop. It was pretty funny

All in all, everything turned out really great!!! I think Bunko turned out good too. It was fun to have most of my friends together and meet new ones too. I think my "Special" punch went over well. (thanks to Jen) I even whipped up a spinache dip at the last minute because I couldnt find a store that carried it. We had a fun busy week but I was glad to have it over with.

Stay tuned for our great Valentines box and Valentines fun.....

Traditions

Even though it's over a month late, I'm going to do a Christmas post. I got so busy and never got back to it, so here are all the fun things we did for the holidays.....My mom has had a tradition the last two years, this will be the third year, that she takes all the grandkids to Build-A-Bear. Each of them get to make a new stuffed animal for that year. They are always so excited and look forward to making a new stuffed animal. A week before Christmas Brayden, Kaiden, Mandi, Maci, Mckay, Avery, my mom, and I headed up to Salt Lake to eat at the restaurant above the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (not the Roof) see the temple lights and go to Build-A-Bear at the Gateway.

Mixed Feelings...

In my ward today, all of us in the Relief Society Presidency were released. We have been in for over 2 1/2 years and I think everyone was relieved, except for me. I am happy in a way but also a little sad. I am happy because I have the opportunity to serve somewhere else, get to know other people a little better, and have a little break. I am sad because I have learned to love my calling and the sisters I served and have served with.

When I first got called to be the RS secretary I had only been in the ward for less than 3 months. The bishop came to my house and said that the Relief Society and Young Women were going to be reorganizing and my name had come up for several different callings. (I really had no idea how anyone knew me, since I hadn't been there that long but was excited to be getting a calling) When he told me that he would like to extend a calling to me to be the new RS Secretary I said, "Are you sure?"

I didn't doubt that the Bishop or new President knew what they were doing, but the RS Secretary? Me? First of all, I barely knew one or two people and that's only because they were my neighbors or someone that my parents knew. Second, I really hadn't been that involved in RS very much before. I might have gone here and there when I was in between a Primary or YW calling but I really didn't have a lot of experience in Relief Society. Third, I was a single mom. I didn't know if they REALLY wanted ME in the Presidency, I was different than everyone else. Of course I told the Bishop I would accept the calling, even though I was really nervous.

Everyone in the ward was so great after they heard that I was the new Secretary. A few people came up to me and said that there wasn't any better calling for me, especially so I would get to know more people in the ward and all the sisters.
We had a great Presidency. I have heard crazy stories about other RS presidencies but ours was nothing like that. We didn't have a lot of gossip going on, we were different in our own ways, all of us had something unique to offer to the Presidency, and all of us worked really well together. The sisters in our ward were always so willing to serve each other that it just made our callings that much easier.

There weren't very many times that I didn't look forward to our meetings (even when we were meeting for 2 hours every week that first year) I grew to love and admire the sisters in the presidency and look up to them as great examples of strong, faithful members of the church. My testimony of Relief Society and service has grown so much over the last few years. I love the sisters in our ward and am so grateful that I was able to serve in the RS and that they accepted and loved me too.

Even though I am sad for this change, I know that I am where I am suppose to be. I know that I have gone through different things so that I can learn and grow and strengthen my testimony, and this was one of them. I am so glad that I have had the chance to work with some great women and now I will just wait for what comes next...

Draper Temple (and Kaiden)

I know, I have been a BIG slacker on my posting. So this one is for all my friends that keep bugging me about posting something.....
Last Friday night we took all of the boys, minus Brayden, to the Draper Temple open house with our friends Mindy and Royce. Every since they announced the two temples being built so close to us, I have been waiting for one of them to be finished so we could go to the open house. I have never been to one and I was especially excited because I wanted Kaiden to finally be able to see the inside of a temple. Every since he was four, he would ask when he would be able to see me get married in the temple or ask if he could go with me every time I went to the temple. As he got older, he understood that he wouldn't be able to go into the temple until he was older but still wished that he could go inside. So, I think Kaiden and I were the most excited about going to the temple. Akoy and Kove didn't really understand what it was all about but they knew it was something special that we were going to do.
The night was suppose to be foggy but luckily it didn't hit the Draper area until we were leaving, so we were able to see the outside the temple as we came upon it. It looked so pretty up on the hill all lit up. I tried to tell Kaiden as much as I could about all the different rooms without telling him too much. He was probably a little confused about a lot of it but he kept asking different questions and seemed really excited. One thing that made me really happy was when he said, "I can't wait until my next birthday so I can come back and do baptisms and I can come back and see the whole thing again."
When I told him that he would only be able to go to certain parts of the temple but would be able to go through the whole temple when he was getting ready to go on his mission, he didn't say "IF I go on a mission." He said "Oh I have to wait that long?"
For anyone that knows my little Kaiden, knows we have come along way with this. When I first got divorced he would not even talk about going on a mission or said he wasn't going (this was when he was 4) Then he started saying that he would go IF I would go with him. (I know it was probably really bad but to save from any anxiety on his part, I told him that I might be able to go with him) We had about a year when he was 8/9 where every Sunday he told me that he hated going to church, because he didn't have to go when he was with his dad (I bribed him with his own set of scriptures if he would stop saying that he hated church, for 6 months. It worked!! and he hasn't said it since and even likes going to church and FHE now.) He would still say that he MIGHT go an a mission, I wouldn't press the issue because I didn't want to fight with him. Lately though, he has talked about where he might go and that he hopes it's not really far away...and then he didn't even balk at the idea of going on a mission, when we were going through the temple.
I think my little boy is growing up...and he is turning into a great young man. It was hard at times and I will still worry that I am not teaching him all that he needs to know to have his own testimony and love for the Gospel. I know though, that I have had a lot of help from Heavenly Father, a great family, great neighbors, our friends and a husband that is a great example. I am doing the best I can and it seems to be turning out....
I'm sorry to have gotten off track, I was just so happy that Kaiden was as excited about seeing the new temple as I was. I am so grateful to have so many temples right in our backyard. Paul and I try to get there often but I know that we can be better. So that is my goal, to go to the temple AT LEAST once a month

Merry Christmas!!!

I'm back to work tomorrow, after a nice Christmas break. (This is the first year that I have taken the day after Christmas off and it was SO nice but it's REALLY hard going back) We had a great Christmas and hope everyone else did too. I have TONS of pictures so stay tuned....

This weekend was CRAZY. We had a really good weekend but I am glad it is over. I had a billion and one things to do so it went SO fast. On Friday Kaiden had his sing-around at school at 1 so I left work to go to that. I LOVE going to Kaiden's school things and haven't missed one yet, but it gets a little crazy at times, especially if I am going from work to his school and back to work and home again. I knew that the storm was going to be coming and thought hard about just taking the rest of the day off but I still had tons to do, so Kaiden and I headed back to work after the program. Just before we were getting on the freeway I was talking to Paul and he hadn't been able to stop for lunch so Kaiden and I turned around and took him some pizza. I was So nervous that we were going to get caught in the big storm. I HATE driving when it's blowing and snowing. If I were the only car on the road it would be fine but since there are other cars driving on the road with me, I HATE IT!!

As we were leaving the job site Paul was on, THE STORM HIT. I so wanted to just drive home and forget about work but all my stuff was there and I had told my boss that I was coming back. SO, we raced back to Provo with the storm blowing right in behind us. I must have been complaining out loud or Kaiden overheard me on the phone because he was so cute and said, "Mom I would drive for you because I know it would make you feel better, but I can't" (I'm really not sure if that would have made me feel better, but that was cute that he thought that)

I wasn't sure if I was making him nervous by what I had been saying, so I told him that I could drive in the snow. It was just a lot harder and you had to pay a lot of attention to all the other cars.

I'm thankful for.....

I've really been slacking on my posts lately. I have tons of pictures to add but it seems like I can't find enough time to get them posted. Anyway, my point to this whole post is that I never wrote about all the things I am thankful for, around Thanksgiving. I think I take a lot of things for granted especially when I am going through tough times and seem to forget all of the many blessings I have in my life. I have so many and I am going to try a lot harder to remember all the great people, experiences and other blessings I have. I know I am going to forget A LOT of things but here are a few of the things I am thankful for........
The priesthood I am so grateful to have the priesthood in our home and to have a husband who honors his priesthood, who is so humble and is such an example to me.
My calling in RS I love all of the ladies I serve and serve with. My great neighbors and visiting teachers are part of this too. I have the best ward ever!
For our kids I love being a mom! I think being a mom is one of the greatest blessing I have been given.
My family I have the best family ever! I am especially lucky to have some of my family as my best friends.
Paul's family. They can also be considered as my own family. They have made me feel like I have been part of the family forever.
All of my friends I have been blessed with some of the best friends ever! If you have ever heard the saying about people coming into your life for different reasons, I totally believe in that.(Sorry I don't know the exact quote) I have friends that I have known since I was growing up. Some that I don't talk to a lot but that I can go to lunch with or talk to once in a while and it's like we just saw each other. Others, it seems like I have known forever. Some you would swear we were the same person, because we have been through so many of the same things. All of my friends no matter how long we have known each other, are such strengths to me. I love all of them. (Wow, this wasn't suppose to turn into a friends post, I just have some great friends.
Last but not least is Paul I have alot to write about Paul so I will get back to this.
I have so many other things that I am thankful for . Maybe I will add some more later...

Black Friday

Yes I was one of the crazy ones that was out this morning before 4:00 a.m. JJ's girlfriend, Debbie and I hit the after Thanksgiving sales. AND then I went into work when we were done. I was pretty loopy the whole day but I got A LOT of great deals.