can you play? most definitely...L

me and heidi swapp! yesterday at Scrapbooks, etc. what a fun class! I took two classes from her. one was on her philosophy where we made a "she" frame kit and got an album and lots of fun stuff and the other was on her products and I finally used a mask and spray paint. Got an album in that class as well and made some cool coasters and a cute summer page. too much fun and I loved meeting her and talking with her and getting inspiration from her. But my hugest thanks goes out to David--whom was up all night sick as a dog, throwing up and still told me to go and have fun and stayed home with 4 girls! Gotta love a man that does that for you!!!!!MWAH! I will post my pictures of my projects when they are finished...L

a few disney pics!

been a while since I posted. went to disneyland. came back from disneyland. i have been stuck in laundry hell ever since! finally think I am almost caught up. disneyland was fun--a little too crowded but we all still had a good time. i think my fondest memory is the bug's life movie that is in CA adventures. bug's land is this little area reserved for the tiny tots. the little kids that are too afraid of the big rides. a safe, fun, no somersaults in your stomach kind of place. we decided to take the kids to the bug's life 3D movie. mind you we are traveling with friends (hi Sueann) whom have 4 children there as well as our 4. in the entrance to the movie i see that it says "loud, foggy and scary". well, i think, this is for little kids, how scary can it be? well, here's how it went--3D animation, bugs spray you with acid (water shoots out and hits you), bees fly in your face with wind machines simulating them being too close, stingers pop out of the back of your chair to sting you, yada, yada, yada. Now just imagine what life would be like if you were in a crowded, enclosed setting with 100 or so SCREAMING kids. the kind of screaming as if you had just been invaded by aliens. this is what happened--every child in the theatre was screaming their hearts out. what was i doing? laughing hysterically. i mean what else could you do? there is no way out and the thought that this is supposed to be for kids and the said kids are terrified did nothing but make me laugh so much that tears were streaming down my face. my girlfriend was doing the same thing. the only one unfazed was Haley. David kept asking her if she was ok and she just nodded her head yes.

the key things about disneyland this year were: Carson rode all the rollercoasters this year...and loved them! haley would have rode any ride in the park as long as she could sit on my lap. not sitting on my lap--freak out time! the parks were very busy--that was the flashing sign we saw every morning we went. we bought some art at my fave place "off the page", we bought "the evil queen" and a tinker bell one (love tinkerbell!). we found the best italian restaurant in Fullerton--Angelo and Vinci's. can't say enough except for MWAH! that was good food!

ok--then we went to south coast plaza on the way home and all i can say about that is that i came home with a pair of jimmy choo shoes. 'nuff said about that except thank you to a wonderful hubby that spoils me!!!!

this weekend i'm looking forward to getting Carson's braces off (today) and attending a Heidi Swapp class (tomorrow). can't wait...L

Happy Easter everyone. What a day. Beautiful weather--a little windy, but nice. We colored Easter eggs last night--fun for the whole family. This morning the girls got their Easter baskets and the fun began! David's sister Debbie was down visiting this weekend and came over at about 11--right after the girls had thrown off their Easter dresses after my picture taking attempts. I actually got quite a few good ones for the time of day and background I had! They were so cute and if you see a smiling photo well let's just say you weren't behind the scenes witnessing the yelling, bossiness and overall fun Easter attitude!! Whew--and I'm not talking about me!! HA HA Too much sugar maybe? After Deb arrived we hid eggs. The girls found all the eggs I hid in less than 10 minutes. Then Taylor and Carson hid the eggs. Let's just say that Anna, Haley and I gave up after an hour of searching and not finding all the eggs.

Then we had a glorious Easter lunch consisting of leftover pizza, mac and cheese, tamales, ciabetta sandwiches and Dora the Explorer chicken soup! Let's not forget the Dr. Pepper Berries 'n Cream soda! Could Dr. Pepper get any better after the vanilla/cherry version. YES! Immediately after the "traditional" Easter lunch we took Debbie to the airport and went to see my parent's whom took us out to a nice Easter dinner at Mimi's. It was pretty good and my Uncle Delta and Aunt Rose, whom I haven't seen in forever, met us there. Pretty nice. Then back in the car and home. Now I am officially worn out and ready for sleep. Nighty night...L

nothing like getting a little scrap time. Just what I needed too! Not quite sure I like what I am making but at least I am CREATING!!! Made these layouts from a little gift package I got in the mail yesterday--thanks, girlies! Got all my plants potted and sitting in my courtyard. Have to take a picture and post it because it looks too pretty. Just need a little bench now to sit and enjoy. Full moon tonight. I was told from a reliable source that it is a PINK MOON because the native americans named the April full moon pink because everything was in bloom. So there is your history lesson for the day. Do yourself a favor and go outside tonight and enjoy your pink moon. I know I will...L

What a beautiful spring day yesterday. An absolutely lovely perfect Saturday. I have a love/hate relationship with spring. I love the weather and everything blooming--the type of day where you can sit outside and sip a cold drink and watch your children play and have nothing better to do than enjoy the outdoors. Unfortunately for me spring brings allergies and that is total misery. But they haven't hit yet so I'm going to enjoy it while I can. Plus I miss being able to pull out my warm comfy sweaters that I've worn while it's cold and sitting down and drinking some hot chocolate and having a big bowl of hot soup. So as much as I love spring, I hate to see winter go.

But yesterday we had a great day--Taylor and Carson tried out for softball and Anna had some tutoring so David and I took Haley and went to Home Depot and picked out some bare root trees, flowers and plants. That is probably my most favorite part of spring--picking out new flowers and such to plant. We picked up some crab apple trees and some bowles mauve plants, we even bought wisteria--I got some stock flowers which I love to smell and we got a lilac bush and some live ladybugs to let loose! We also bought some honeysuckle and mounding juniper to put on our slope. Later that afternoon we went to the nursery and let the girls run around and picked up some more plants. We bought some awesome trees--quaking aspens, red maples, redbud, globe willow, a small flowering japanese tree and a beautiful contorted japanese cherry tree--to die for!!! We also got some autumn sage, blackberry, boysenberry and strawberry plants. We have already planted roses, pine trees, dogwood, butterfly bush and rosemary plants. We spent all day outside moving our plants to where we want them and thinking about how they will look. The yard is starting to come along--David is putting a pond our back with a waterfall. It's going to look beautiful. And the best thing about Prescott is we will be able to enjoy it all summer! It won't be hot like Mesa was! That's the best part...L

Got an email from my son today--he totally rocks!!!! Here is the email:


Hey its been a while since ive written one of these soo yea I decided I better write all of you today. Well the conferece was a blast. We didnt get see all of it because on saturday our ride to the church in Vercelli cancelled on us and didnt tell us until it was time to leave for the conferece and the trains that were departing didnt arrive untill the conference was over sooo yea that was kind of a bad day for us. then on sunday our ride told us that he decided to go to Torino for the conference and we werent allowed to go to Torino for the conference and we had to take the train and we arrived late to the conference and missed about half of the priesthood session and then we didnt watch sunday afternoon because it started at ten at night untill midnight and we had to sleep because we had interviews the next day. Man we were on a luck streak or something. The conference was awesome though. Iam so grateful for the Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley. Hes so amazing and hes done sooooo much for the church. Man he is so humble if I was him I would be struting my stuff but he always remembers the Lord and the many blessings hes recieved. What a stud! Well keep journals and read your patriartical blessing often(i think i spelled that wrong but you guys understand anyway). Speaking of blessings we are having a baptism on friday. Jennifer was interviewed and she is ready to make this covenant with God. Yea I really need to send pictures, soo today I will buy a cable that hooks up to the computer so I can start sending photos to you guys. well love you all and remember "Gospel Sharing Homes"

Anziano Gilbert

Love to get his emails. The other day I read an "LDS gem" that brought tears to my eyes. It totally captures the way you feel about your missionary.


"On occasion I have observed parents shopping to clothe a son about to enter missionary service. The new suits are fitted, the new shoes are laced, and shirts, socks, and ties are bought in quantity. I met one father who said to me, 'Brother Monson, I want you to meet my son.' Pride popped his buttons; the cost of the clothing emptied his wallet; love filled his heart. Tears filled my eyes when I noticed that his [the father's] suit was old, his shoes well worn; but he felt no deprivation. The glow on his face was a memory to cherish." (Thomas S. Monson)

It is so true--there are no words to describe the many feelings I have about Dallas on his mission--but pride, joy, happiness--those pretty much sum it up. No amount of money or material things could ever replace the learning, service, commitment and blessings that come to a missionary and his family!

That's it for today...L

well, couple of things...first, I just found out I'm pregnant!! WOW! Plus, David has decided to move the whole family to Ecaudor where we will be living out our dream of organic farming/missionary work. We have also decided to homeschool all the kids and give up all our worldly possesions to try and live more fully...to really LIVE! Not just to exist but explore our relationship to GOD and the world. We are going to call ourselves the "life people" because "the lifers" was already taken! And to say we are just people really doesn't quite cut it! Really--it hardly covers what we as humans really are!!!





APRIL FOOLS!!!! Hope you have a good day!!

hey--where you going with my coach purse??? I was just kidding!!!!


later days...L