Scrappy Maddy

I've been scrapbooking a lot the last few days. Maddy asked if she could make a page about her two favorite stuffed animals. And as soon as we finished she said, "Now, put it on the blog, for all the world to see."
So I did...enjoy!

Trip to Palisade Lake

This past weekend we went to see Grandma in Manti! It was a great get-away. We went to Palisade lake, it was such a perfect day!

I wanted to get some nice pictures of the kids, because I wanted to paint one in Watercolor. Madison was obliged to help the cause, but Ethan, not so much, the boy just wanted to get in the lake and catch some guppies. The pictures turned out good, and you'd never guess that he was in agony the whole time.

The water was so blue that day, but when I took of my sunglasses, it didn't look as pretty. The kids suggested I take a picture through the sunglasses lens. I think these turned out pretty cool.

We love going to see Grandma! It's so peaceful down there with all those "Sanpete-ians" None of the hustle and bustle. Thanks Mom we love you!!!

Lunch with Jen and the Smithkins!

This is my lovely friend Jen! She is always happy, always giving, always friendly, and always there when I need her! Every year for my birthday, Jen makes me a years supply of the best, tastiest, sweetest, made with love Strawberry Jelly. Or as we call it around here "Jen-Jelly" We ration it as though it were water in the desert, on the 15th of August, in the middle of a drought. When you've tasted it once, no other Jelly will do. We use it on bread, pancakes, ice cream, in and in between layers of cake.

When I think of Jen making me jelly in her kitchen-with all the other things she has to do, with all her kids, and responsibilities- It makes my heart warm. Love ya Jen!!

Isn't she lovely, Isn't she wonderful?

I want to shout it out from the rooftops! I'm in love!! It happened earlier this week, at RC Willey, it was so unexpected, I'm now a believer in love at first sight, when the clouds parted, and the sun shone down. I swore I heard angels sing "hallelujah!"

Any of you who have known me for any amount of time, know of my struggle with washers and dryers. (It stems from my inability to spend money on anything) I have been married about 11 years, and have gone through 3 washers and 4 dryers! I have went through summers of hanging clothes out in the garage on clothes lines. I've transported heavy, wet laundry to the laundry mat, because I'm too cheap to wash AND dry there. My washer started to go out about a year ago, when after a load was done, I had to reset it to the spin cycle again because everything was dripping wet, (but I kept doing it because I'm to cheap to buy another one!) Then, about six months ago, my most recent dryer decided to start taking 2 full cycles to dry the clothes. (Looking back now, I think it would have seriously been easier to wash, and dry these clothes without the help of any machine at all.) But then 2 weeks ago, the dryer quit completely. I began looking through the classifieds to find the perfect "new" used dryer. Raul kept saying "Just buy a new freakin' dryer!!!" And then I'd say something like "You wouldn't believe the deals I'm finding online, 'course they're all sold by the time I call, but I'll get lucky-just you wait!" After a few weeks at the laundry mat, Raul finally got fed up, and said if I didn't go pick one out, he would. (by the way, he spends way to much money for things) So I reluctanly set out to find the cheapest dryer I could find. I knew they'd try to talk me into one of the new fangdangled fancy ones, but they didn't know who they were dealing with. "Show me the cheapest you got" I said "Well, do you mean cheapest now, or in the longrun?" he said "huh?" my pennie pinching ears perked up. "Did you know a high efficiency washer and dryers only cost about $20.o0 a year to run, and they end up paying for themselves in 5 years, and that you can wash twice as much in one load?" "Keep talkin' slick" I said, frugal excitement running through my blood. "And we just happen to have a dryer, that's marked down 45 percent, because it's already been opened" (ohhh.....tempting.....ohhhh) "Will you throw in a 5 year warranty, at no extra charge?" I said, refusing to give in to sticker price, even if it was 45 percent off. "I guess," He knew he'd lost the war! "SOLD! my fine young man, pack 'er up!!!

Did you guys know that dryers aren't supposed to make a thumping noise, blow lint out from underneath or produce a musty smell? Well guess what, they aren't!!

Well, you may be asking yourself, where does the washer fit into all of this??

Well, it seems my sneaky, overspending, lovely (I mean macho) husband decided to go buy it while I was at work on Saturday, and surprise me. (And yes he paid FULL price, SURPRISE!!!!) I'm so grateful to him though, I wonder how long it would have taken me to convince myself it was necessary. They definitely wouldn't have matched.

I feel spoiled I've never had a new washer and dryer, let alone ones that go together, and were made in the current century!!

Don''t worry, I'm trying not to let this excess go to my head, or the next thing you know I'll be buying name-brand jeans and 2-ply toilet paper!

Easter Dress

Happy Easter!

Easter was fun! We got together with the cousins for our annual Easter egg hunt. My brother Nathan has the best yard, and it serves as a great place to hide eggs.

Easter last year
Funny what difference a year makes! this is just one year ago, I can't believe how fast they grow!

We're makin' Movies!

It was the biggest thing to hit this town since Onion Days! Yes, Payson had it's 15 min. of fame, when Disney chose our mainstreet to film a scene for an upcoming movie. And to make it even better, they were filming a parade scene, so the whole town was encouraged to come and watch and even get a chance to be in the movie!

It took a few weeks before filming, to transform our mainstreet into something worth filming, crews came to paint, and turn the fronts of businesses into other things, (like into a sherrifs office, which is really a insurance business)

Madison was a little more into it than Ethan, who thought it was very boring. (I have to admit, the filming process is not as glamourous as one might think.) In this first photo you can see some of the actors behind Madison, between takes. The second one shows a little bit of "Newt" from Cory in the House. She was most excited to see him, but when he came out they wouldn't let anyone take pictures, but we hurried and snapped one. The last one shows "Arwin" from Suite Life of Zach and Cody. He was the coolest by far! He joked around with all the kids between takes, slappin' high fives and taking pictures. The directors had to keep telling him "Stick to the lines!"

It was fun to see stars in real life, and see that they're just normal lookin' folk like us.

My niece Natalie got a paying part in it, she was so excited, and even got to miss school, I can't wait to see if she makes it in the movie when it comes out Feb, 09.