My First Blog Book!

I was introduced to blogging in November 2008. It is one of my favorite things to do! I love to record the events of our family. I was told by a friend about a book you can make from your blog posts. So I decided to give it a try. And it turned out awesome! It is a 60 page hard back book that will be a record of the activities of our family from the end of 2008-2009. I think it will be enjoyed for generations to come. One of the things that I included at the beginning of my book, was a description of each one of my children. How old they are. What they are doing in their lives and what their interests are. I can't believe how much has changed since I wrote those things back in November 28, 2008!
I plan on making a new book each year. It is a perfect way to keep a beautiful journal complete with pictures of your family and events!

Kent received his mission call today!

Kent just read where he is going!
Kent opening his call!
Kent's mission call came in the mail today! It is just sitting on the table waiting for him to come home and open it!


Kent received his mission call today! He is going to the Cape Verde Praia mission in West Africa. Cape Verde is a group of islands out in the Atlantic Ocean. It is off the coast of West Africa. Praia is the capital of Cape Verde. There are approximately 124,000 people on this island. Kent will learn and speak Portuguese. He will be reporting to the MTC May 5, 2010.

Tristan's sleep over!

Everyone stayed up until 5:30 am! With only 3 hours of sleep they where a little quieter in the morning eatting their pancakes!
One of the boys was a good piano player. So they listened to him play. And then they all joined in on chopsticks.
They wrestled so much that sometimes my walls shook! I was honestly worried about my little house full of 14 year old boys wrestling!
They played a game of nervous. They each bite onto an end of a Red Vine and eat it until it is so small that their mouths almost touch. The first one to move away looses. It had everyone laughing!
All of Tristan's presents came in Hannah Montana gift bags! He got candy and 70 dollars in cash. Not a bad birthday!
Cameron eatting trying to spread the dog food onto his pizza to kill the taste!

This week Tristan turned 14. He had a basketball game the night of his birthday. The next night was Cassandra's final district playoff game (they won!). So he asked if he could invite a few friends over for a sleep over. I was quickly corrected when I wrote on his invitation that it was a slumber party! I was told boys do not have slumber parties. They have sleepovers! So he invited 6 boys from school to his big party. I never realized just how funny 14 year old boys where. I have never been around a group of 14 year old boys with out girls around. That is a different experience! They walked down to Pioneer to see if they could find anything good. They came back with a can of dog food. They dared Cameron to eat this can of dog food. He told them that he would as long as they paid him 5 dollars a piece to do it. I thought he was going to be sick! They laughed and cheered him on until he did it! It was so gross!!! They sat at the table and ate pizza and imitated their teachers from school. I have to say they did a great job of it! They played the piano, wrestled, played a game of nervous and played hide and go seek in the dark. One of the boys said, "This is the best party I have ever been too!" I am pretty sure he meant it. We did nothing special or out of the ordinary. It was just plain old fashion fun! But the party was a success! Happy Birthday Tristan!!! We Love You!!!

My Weight Removal for January!

In the book Fit for Life for Women the Doctor was talking about weight "loss". She said that when you loose something, eventually you want to find it again. When we loose our weight we do not want to find it again! We want to completely remove it from our lives. So instead of saying weight loss, we need to be saying weight removal. I never want to find this weight again!!!! This will give you some indication as to how much of a mind set I am in. The family made brownies on Saturday. I have NEVER been able to pass up brownies. They are my biggest weakness! I just can't do it. Well guess what. They smelled great. But I had ZERO desire to eat one! How can that be!!! They did not even tempt me! So I never felt like I was depriving myself! Because I didn't even want it! NICE!!! My eye is on the goal! So my progress of weight removal is this: This week I lost 5 pounds. For a total of weight loss for January~ 18 pounds!
The Biggest Looser Bootcamp is a great video! I do it at least 3 times a week. It is mostly weight lifting. I highly recommend it! My big motivation is my goal chart. I hang it on my closet door. When I accomplish my goal for the day I put a star next to that goal. Each star represents accomplishment. And it constantly reminds me what my goals are. So it is easier to stay on track.
I use these dressing sprays for my salads. They are only 1 calorie per spray! And they taste great! This is the oatmeal I have every morning with a 1/2 a grapefruit. The oatmeal is sugar free and whole grain.
One of my secret weapons! Air popped popcorn. I usually do not like it. However I found Parkey spray with 0 calories and 0 fat! I spray that on the popcorn and then season it with popcorn seasoning. It has 2 calories and 0 fat! I can eat my popcorn guilt free and it is delicious!
Fit For Life~by Bill Phillips and Fit for Life for Women~by Pamela Peeke both are very good books to read!
My elliptical. Sometimes it's my friend. Sometimes it is not! I can put a book on it and read and read and read while my legs and arms move! I try to get 45 minutes a day on my elliptical.
This is my normal lunch. I enjoy everyone of those things on that plate. It is healthy and delicious!