Rachel Fuhriman

No more diapers

2012-01-26T20:31:00.000-08:00

For the last 3 weeks we have been working on getting Carolina potty trained and I think she has got it. I am so excited because this is the first time in 9 1/2 years that we don't have a child in diapers.

We have been talking to her about it for several months and telling her that she needs to start going in the potty. Then we tried setting her on the toilet on several different occasions and she actually went a few times. Then on one of my days off we spent the whole day with her in underwear and had her sit on the potty for a big portion of the day until she had gone several times. (I also bought several $1 store prizes and each time she went she got to pick a prize).

Since then she has only had a few accidents and even wakes up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. Although I still force her to wear a pull up to bed, against her will.

It is pretty exciting, and I feel pretty lucky that it went so easy. She is 2 1/2 which is I think exactly how old Savanna was when she got potty trained.

The only problem is that she is still pretty short so I have to help her get on and off the toilet, but it is a small price to pay to not have to change any more stinky diapers!

A quick update

2012-01-24T15:27:00.000-08:00

I haven't updated my blog recently for a couple of reasons:

1. I lost my camera, and I keep hoping that it will resurface so I can post some of the pictures that I took.

2. Not a whole lot to talk about.

3. I am a little down in the dumps and don't feel like sharing much.

I usually feel a bit blue during January and February, I think that I get a little bit of that depression that comes with not seeing the sun, but this year with Reid being on the road that has really thrown me for a loop. Don't get me wrong, we are doing ok at home. I feel blessed that I get to spend most of my time with my kids and as their mom. I love my job, and feel super lucky to have such a great place to work. And I feel very blessed that Reid has a job that provides for our family. I just wish that he didn't have to be gone 5 days out of the week to do that. I am also really having a lot of anxiety about him being out on the road. I find myself in a constant state of worry. If he doesn't answer the phone right when I call I start panicking, which is totally irrational I know. I have been doing a little bit better the last two weeks thanks to a priesthood blessing.

On the bright side the weekends with Reid and the kids have been great. We have really learned to appreciate our time together and I feel like on his days off we really take advantage of that time.

This last month we celebrated Reid's 37th birthday by having a party at our house. It was lots of fun, with a house filled with both sides of our family. We had pizza, salad and cake and ice cream. Reid got lots of great gifts and we enjoyed every body's company.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-28T10:19:00.001-08:00

This is Mitchel's stuff from Santa- He got a new bike and a remote control jeep.

This Christmas day was fantastic! We started out at home seeing what Santa brought to us. He spoiled us big time this year! I almost hesitate to post all that was brought because it seems excessive. Sometimes I think Santa forgets that kids don't need quite so much stuff. We will have to have a talk next year about that, but it made for a very fun day, the kids loved it and it was so nice to spend the day with each other and enjoy our family and the time we had together.

Christmas was on Sunday this year which was kind of nice. We went to sacrament meeting and enjoyed a lovely musical program, it is a great way to feel the spirit on this special day. Savanna had the opportunity to play a piano solo in the program. She played "The First Noel" and she did a great job. She was so scared, but she did great. The primary also sang some songs so it was great to see our kids participate.

After church we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Sargents house and had a great dinner and opened some presents over there. They gave each of the grandkids the move "17 Miracles" and each of them got a pioneer hat, with a promise that this summer we are going to go on our own handcart adventure. That should be lots of fun.

We missed seeing Grandma and Grandpa Fuhriman this year for Christmas because they went to Salt Lake to spend the holiday with Reid's sister's family. I think that they had fun in Salt Lake, but they were missed here!

We feel very spoiled by our parents and Grandparents in their generous gifts to us and our children.

The grandkids with their pioneer hats, Grandma made the bonnets and got the boys hats from Nauvou.

Mitchel got a new alarm clock from us.

Treyton got a semi-truck from Grandma and Grandpa Fuhriman

Carolina got a barbie from Grandma and Grandpa F.

Mitchel's car kits from Grandma and Grandpa F.

Reid got a new wedding ring- his other one wasn't fitting any more and I found that it was cheaper to buy a new one than to have his other one re-sized.

Savanna got new barbie clothes from Grandma and Grandpa Fuhriman

Mitchel got a remote control jeep from Santa

Treyton's big rig

Mitchel got a new bike

Treyton got his guitar- that is the one thing he asked for from Santa

Savanna got a lego kit to build a house

Carolina got a doll house

Very excited kids checking out their loot!

Carolina's baby house!

We finally joined the 21st century and got a wii- Mom is excited to use the wii fit!

Treyton got a scooter, remote control jeep and a guitar

Savanna got the legos and remote control helicopter that didn't work so we are taking it back.

I got my kids new PJ's for Christmas which I have never done before, they actually needed pajama's this year so they opened them up on Christmas eve. It was kind of fun! Aren't they cute.

Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-28T09:42:00.000-08:00

My Dad singing his signature Christmas song "Birthday of a King"

We went over to Sara and Shane's house for the program because they have a nice big basement to fit everyone in.

Tony and Olivia- she was the "star" of the manger scene

Sara and Shane and the babies (inside her tummy!)

Hanging out

Carolina picking her nose

Sara and Shane did a guitar duo which was fantastic

Joseph and Mary with the baby Jesus (Talmage) and the sheep Carolina

The shephards with their sheep

Olivia was the star

They sang the primary song "The Nativity Song"

The wise man

Trying to get this rowdy bunch organized

Leah and Olivia

We decided to have the kids open the presents that they got from their cousins on Christmas eve. This was a great idea because then they could really see what they got and enjoy it instead of waiting for the chaos of Christmas morning. Each cousin drew a name and got someone a gift.

We have a great tradition of going to my parents home for a delicious meal on Christmas eve and then we have a little Christmas program that includes all the grandkids getting dressed up in all the manger scene characters. My sister Sara has taken this all each year and always makes sure each child has a part and a cute costume. It was no different this year, the kids looked so cute. I can't wait for next year to see how she dresses up her cute little twins!

Treyton's Preschool Christmas Program

2011-12-28T09:33:00.000-08:00

Treyton had his Koala Kids Preschool Christmas program last week. It was so cute to see them all singing all their Christmas songs that they had been working on for so long. They did a great job. Treyton loves going to school, and he is really learning a lot this year. I am glad that he loves it so much. He has made a lot of new friends and he especially loves going on the days that his cousin McKay is there. I feel very blessed that I get to work at a place that my kids get to go to also!

McKay

Treyton singing his reindeer song

Waiting for the program to start

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2011-12-20T10:37:00.000-08:00

Santa with baby Talmage

Treyton asking Santa for a "guitar" don't you love it when they ask for something you have never heard before?

Mitchel asked Santa for a new bike

Elijah and Santa

Kate wanted nothing to do with Santa, even more than Carolina

Carolina didn't want to sit on his lap, but she did tell him that she wanted a baby house

Savanna told Santa that she wanted a Wii...hmmm

McKay

Here comes Santa Clause

Savanna and Mitch making their houses, along with Laynee and Audra

Jaxon, Hayden and Hannah making their houses while LuDean watches- so fun!

Aren't they masterpieces?

Treyton, Carolina and Kate making their houses

Treyton was really concentrating!

I threw in a few other miscellaneous pictures from this month- Reid cutting the boys hair. Do you notice that Reid shaved his face, he looks a lot younger I decided without it.

Reid cutting Treyton's hair

This is our Christmas tree- Savanna was putting on the final touches

We are all very excited at our house for the "big" day to arrive. We have been making lots of preparations for Christmas including baking sugar and gingerbread cookies and taking them around to the neighbors, shopping, wrapping, and decorating the house. We love Christmas at our house, and we feel very blessed to be able to celebrate it is the way we like and around our wonderful families. We are especially excited this year for Christmas because Reid gets to spend an extra day or two home after the weekend to rest and relax.

Last night we went over to my parents house and had our annual "gingerbread house" party with a special visitor. (Santa Claus came and saw all the children so they could tell him what was on their wish list for Christmas.) It is always so fun to see the gets light up when he comes in. My kids were all ready to tell Santa what they wanted but when it came time for Carolina she wanted nothing to do with him. She clung to me like glue and didn't want to talk to him or get on his lap. I guess that is pretty normal for a 2 year old. We are all very excited and hope we can hold out our anticipation for the next 5 days!

Getting Christmas Trees

2011-11-26T16:45:00.001-08:00

Reid and Mitch cutting down the tree

Me and the kids in front of the tree we chose
Reid and the kids
All of our family on the 4 wheeler with the snowmobile wheels we were trying out.

Savanna, Reid and Carolina in front of the fire
Brad and James having some dinner
Steve and the kids in front of the fire
Julia and Carolina
Reid and Aaron
all you can see is snow
Here comes Reid- this thing throws up a lot of snow- he wasn't even going fast

Reid and Carolina
Reid- he never stops working!
Treyton shoveling some snow
Carolina ready to make some lunch

It is our annual tradition to go with Reid's family to Island Park on Thanksgiving weekend and get a Christmas tree. We went this year again, and we didn't think there were be much snow, but we were wrong, there was a ton of snow. In fact we barely got back to our usual spot. We had to stop and put chains on our tires and we still barely got back there. We had a lot of fun though. We made a fire, had some lunch, played on the 4 wheelers and picked out our trees. We missed Grandma Mickey and Danny who had to stay home still recovering from knee replacement surgery. It wasn't the same without her.

Thanksgiving Day 2011

2011-11-26T16:16:00.001-08:00

We had a very nice Thanksgiving this year. We went with my Dad's side of the family for dinner at the Kearney building. My family has been celebrating Thanksgiving with the Sargent family for at least 40 years. I never knew Thanksgiving any other way until I got married. I suppose we will continue to celebrate it with the Sargent family at least until my grandma passes away. Sometimes I feel like we are eating dinner with a bunch of people that I don't know very well since we don't see these cousins very often. But it is good to renew these relationships and I know that Grandma loves it.

This year I invited my friend Kathy Peterson to have dinner with us. Her husband Jim passed away 1 year ago and she doesn't have any children or family in the area. I invited her but didn't think she would actually come, but she did. I really enjoyed her company and hope that she enjoyed herself as well. I have known Kathy for about 18 years, we worked together at Melaleuca years ago and have just kept in touch all these years. She is such a sweet lady and one of my favorite people in the whole world. She has really struggled with Jim's death as anyone who lost a spouse would, but she doesn't have the same religious belief's as I do and I think that she feels very lost. It really makes you realize how lucky we are to know the truth that families can be together forever and have a knowledge of where we go after we die. I hope that I can always be a friends to Kathy.
Reid and Carolina getting ready for dinner
Savanna and Mitchel playing some basketball after dinner
Treyton and Daxton (Alan and Annette Sargent's son)
My Dad and Kathy Peterson cleaning up
Me and Kathy
Reid and I
Steve and Angie
My Mom
My Dad and Reid
Uncle Neil, Grandma and Dad
Stevan, Reid and Kathy
Ruth, Denise, Adam, Leah and Tony
Kent and Naomi
Sara and Shane
Carolina

Major life changes

2011-11-20T10:53:00.000-08:00

I haven't updated my blog in a while because I have been a little depressed. I am trying to snap out of it, but it is what it is. I use my blog as our family journal and then print it out each year so I have a copy of it, so I wanted to document this part of our lives as well.

At the beginning of October Reid lost his job at the INL. The very day that he found out he lost it he had a new job working for Doug Andrus Distributing driving truck. I love my husband so much for being willing to do whatever it takes to support our family. Most people would have probably at least taken a day to mourn the loss of a job and to get their head on straight before starting to look for something new, but not my husband.

This whole change has been very difficult for both of us. His driving job takes him away from home from Sunday until Thursday night. So far he has been able to be home all day Friday and Saturday and then he leaves again Sunday morning. It is extremely physically demanding working very long days and not sleeping much at night. He has to help load and unload the salt and lumber that he hauls. We are very thankful for the job and in this economy feel very blessed to have it, but know that he won't be able to continue doing it for the long term, it is just very hard on the family and on his health and mental well-being.

I know that our Heavenly Father is very aware of us in our individual lives and that he blesses us, and I do feel extremely blessed because we have so many blessings in our lives. I am also very aware that this trial is small in comparison to some of the other trials that people have in their lives so I don't want anyone to think that I am complaining because I am not. But I also want to be able to look back on this time in our lives and remember it for what it really is. I feel like through this trial I have been brought closer to my Heavenly Father, to my wonderful husband, and to my family. I have seen the generosity of others and have had to learn how to be on the receiving end of service. I hope that I can do the same for others.

Mitchel wrestiling 2011

2011-11-20T10:35:00.000-08:00

Mitchel is wearing the red singlet in all the pictures.

Mitchel is doing wrestling again this year with the Bonneville team. He absolutely loves it! But the thing about wrestling is that it takes up a lot of time! He has practice twice a week and then usually one match a week and one tournament a week. But luckily with the matches and tournaments you don't have to go to all of them. Since it really isn't a team sport, if you don't go to the matches it doesn't hurt the team. So we have just kind of picked and chosen which matches and tournaments we go to. They are so chaotic and so many people go that it is kind of stressful. But it is really fun to see our boy wrestle. He is doing a great job, he tries his best which is all that matters and he has won about half of his matches.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-20T10:29:00.000-08:00

Treyton and cousin McKay- they were both cowboys!

This year for Halloween we had many different opportunities to dress up. Trick or Treating at Melaleuca, the school parade, Savanna's Daddy Daughter activity and actual trick or treating. The kiddo's kept switching their costumes. I was horrible at taking pictures this year, these are a few I got.

Savanna dressed up as a dirt biker and then a princess
Mitchel dressed up as a dirt biker
Treyton was bat man and a cowboy with his horse
and Carolina was snow white.

Carving Pumpkins 2011

2011-10-30T10:24:00.000-07:00

Treyton cleaning out his pumpkin

What a good Daddy! (Can you see what show Carolina is watching in the background?) Cailou of course!

Savanna- oooh yuck!

Mitchel with all his pumpkin seeds!

Lots of pumpkin guts!

Carolina finally joined in the fun, Reid found a cute cat face that he made for her.

All their master pieces! Thanks Dad!

And with their Halloween costumes on (except for Carolina)

And with the lighted!

Burr, it's cold outside! (see my dead flowers? I need to clean them out!)

Scary!

I don't enjoy carving pumpkins, and I am no good at it. Thankfully we have Reid who is such a good sport and enjoys doing it with the kids. This is something he takes the lead on every year with the kids. This year we had 4 great pumpkins in our garden and we were excited to use them for Halloween, but when we tried to bring them in yesterday they were rotten. So we had to go to Winco and buy some. But the kids and Reid had lots of fun carving the pumpkins yesterday and I think that they turned out very cute!

Treyton turns 5 years old!

2011-10-25T08:52:00.000-07:00

Roller skates from Grandpa and Grandma Sargent

Some camoflauge pj's

A cool shirt that says "Boys will be Boys"

Some leggos

A fun game!

Some leggo's

A scooby doo shirt!

He got a moose pillow pet!

I really don't know how this keeps happening, but my babies continue to grow and get older and older. Treyton turned 5 years old today! He was so excited for his birthday. He was lucky enough to get to celebrate it 2 times. We had a party over the weekend with the Fuhriman family and he got to celebrate it with his cousins McKinley and Gid and Grandpa Fuhriman who were also having birthdays. Then again last night we had a little party at our house with the Sargent side of the family. He got very spoiled with lots of fun gifts. The only problem is I forgot my camera at the Fuhriman party.

Top five things that Treyton loves:

1. He loves to play with his baby sister Carolina and takes such wonderful care of her.

2. He loves his Daddy and wants to be just like him when he grows up!

3. He loves to go to school at Koala Kids and learn and play with his friends.

4. He loves to play with his cousins and he is so lucky because he has so many of them.

5. He loves riding his bike, I think it is his favorite past time. That is why he got a new bike from Mom and Dad for his birthday.

He is a wonderful, obedient child who is very loved by his Parents!

9 going on 16

2011-10-25T08:48:00.001-07:00

In the last couple of months I have noticed how concerned Savanna is with her looks. She spends quite a bit of time working on picking out her outifts, and she has started doing her own hair. I have to say she does a pretty great job! It makes me a little sad that my little girl is growing up! I just hope that she continues to be the nice girl that she has always been and that she has the self confidence that she deserves to have.

Best News Ever!

2011-10-15T11:23:00.000-07:00

The last couple of weeks have been kind of an emotional roller coaster. But during this time came some very wonderful news. It definately put some perspective into what is really important. Check out this blog shaneandsarasargentwilliams.blogspot.com

Spider party

2011-10-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

Grandma and the kids eating their lunch. Most everyone wore their spider shirts from last year if they still fit.

Elijah and Mitchel

Sara and Carolina and Kate

Sara was in charge of taking the littlest group of kids around for their treasure hunt. All of these kids adore her.

Kent got to take the middle group of kids and they kept him running.

Stevan took the oldest troup on their treasure hunt, but I didn't get a picture of him doing it.

Ruth, Val, Steve and Kent

Last week was our annual Sargent spider party. My Mom is such a fun Grandma and plans these cute parties for her grandkids. This year she invited several of her neighborhood kids to come too. Each of the kids were supposed to find a spider and put it in a jar and bring it to the party. She had lunch, spider games, a treasure hunt and cute little gift bags with lots of spider treasures for each kid. These kids loved it. And I love just going and hanging out with my great family.

Mitchel's football

2011-10-15T11:06:00.000-07:00

Elijah, Mitchel and Hayden (yellow shirts)

Mitchel was #1.

Mitch played football again this year. He had a great season and their team did a lot better this year than last year. They probably won almost half of their games which was a vast improvement over last year where they didn't win any. Mitch was a great blocker, and he even got the chance to run the ball a few times and scored a few touch downs. I really enjoy watching them play ball. He was on a team with his cousins Cooper and Elijah and Hayden Jackson. He played on Ed Murdock and Christian Taylors team with a bunch of cute boys from Ammon. I don't think with Mitchel's size he will end up being a big football star, but I am glad he gets the chance to learn the game and participate on a team sport.

Savanna's 9 year old friend party

2011-10-03T18:21:00.000-07:00

We don't do friend birthday parties very often at our house. In fact this is only the 2nd one Savanna has ever had. She was so excited, she invited 12 of her closest friends (all of them being girls except for her cousin Easton boy). We had all kinds of fun with these kids. We had a pizza lunch, donut eating contest, potato sack races, we made bracelets, did a fishing pond, pinata, ate cake and ice cream and opened presents. I got a bit frazzled by the end of the party trying to keep up with all these extra kids along with my 2 little ones that were being little turkey's. Thank heavens Aunt Leah came to help. The only thing I forgot was to take a picture of the whole group.
Savanna opening her presents

Just for memory sake the kids that came to the party were: Megan Hales, Olivia Jenson, Jody Schwicht, Easton Sargent, Emily and Sarah Hamilton, McKinley Anglin, Maddy & Kynzee Williams, Eliza Willey, and Madison Carter. There were a few other girls that were invited that weren't able to make it.

This year instead of a cake she opted for cupcakes, it was kind of fun!

All the kids enjoying their ice cream cones and cupcakes

The girls especially enjoyed making their own bracelets

Carolina and little Olivia- they wanted to be right in on all of the birthday party action

The donut eating contest was a huge success- everyone loved that!

Maddy and Savanna

Mitch, Megan, Eliza and Sarah

Going to town on the donuts!

Enjoying the sunshine while they ate their lunch. Thankfully it was a nice sunny day!

Fuhriman cousins- Emily, McKinley and Sarah

Jody

Savanna's 2nd 9 year old birthday party

2011-10-03T18:13:00.001-07:00

Saturday night after the Priesthood session we had the Fuhriman family over to celebrate Savanna and Aunt Corri's birthday. She is so lucky that she gets to celebrate her birthday's each year with her Aunts. She was very excited because she got the ripstick that she was hoping for from her Mom and Dad.

She got lots of fun toys and gifts from her Aunts and Uncles, and some really cute Ragedy Ann and Andy dolls from Grandma and Grandpa Fuhriman.

Aunt Corri opening her presents

Savanna blowing out her cupcakes

Savanna's 3rd birthday party

2011-10-03T18:04:00.000-07:00

Savanna was lucky enough to get to celebrate her birthday with my sister Sara and her husband Shane. We had an enjoyable dinner and party with my family on Sunday night. Savanna loves her aunt Sara and she really admires her so it is always fun for her to share a birthday with her. She got tons of darling new outfits from my family and some new rollerblades from Grandma and Grandpa Sargent. She is a bit spoiled, but we all love her so much!
Kent, Talmage, Sara, Treyton and Steve. (I think Treyton was just soaking in some time with his Aunt and Uncles.)

The birthday kids! Shane, Savanna and Sara. All the "S" names share their birthdays.

My first bit of canning

2011-09-23T15:48:00.000-07:00

I was so excited to get things on my new shelves that Reid built last month in the storage room.

I have always felt like canning was way to much work for what you get in return. I have always thought that the cost of buying store bought canned goods was worth the cost and effort that you save by not canning. However; I have been feeling a bit guilty about not trying to can at least a little. So the other day I was talking to my friend Natalie and she was telling me all about her canning peaches. I mentioned that I would love to learn how, so she came to my house and helped me learn how to do it.

I remember canning with my Mom when I lived at home, and hating every minute of it, but honestly this time canning didn't seem so bad. It is a lot of work and kind of a mess, but very worth the effort to have all those peaches and pears on my storage shelf. I ended up buying two boxes of peaches, and one box of pears. And ended up with 20 quarts of peaches, and 11 pints of peaches. And 6 quarts of pears, and 12 pints of pears. I feel very accomplished in having done it.

Cute Carolina

2011-09-23T15:46:00.000-07:00

We took these pictures of Carolina on Sunday in her cute dress that was handed down from Kate, I couldn't resist posting it.

Treyton Van Fuhriman

2011-09-16T11:58:00.000-07:00

We are so excited because this week Treyton has mastered the skill of writing his name un-assisted! I am very thrilled since I have been working on this with him on this for months!!! This summer I thought he would never get it and I was feeling discouraged, it is very encouraging to see some major improvement this fall. We work on his letters every day that I don't go to work, and he loves it!! (not always, but we are trying our best!)

Last minute trip to Bear Lake

2011-09-04T07:54:00.000-07:00

We decided to take a last minute day trip to Bear Lake. Bear Lake is one of our favorite places to go each summer and we have had so much going on that we haven't had the chance to get their so far so we just went for the day. We had so much fun playing in the sand and water. Our kids had so much fun! They loved building sand castles, digging holes and getting burried in the sand. We packed up a picnic lunch and it was the perfect day! I took a ton of pictures, but they were having so much fun I wanted them to remember our day. I can't believe that summer is coming to an end.

Treyton
Savanna

Reid spent lots of time blowing up all the toys

Mitch

Savanna

Mitchel enjoying the water

Treyton and me- love my white skin!

Savanna and Mitch starting a sand castle

Treyton and Carolina enjoying their watermelon

Reid ready for some fun!

Mom, relaxing in the water

Reid, Treyton and Carolina

Reid is so good at playing with our kids- I am not so good at that so I am glad they have their Dad.

They dug a big hole in the sand until they got to the water

Burying each child to make mermaid legs

Mich and his hole, he was working very hard!

one mermaid, one frog!

the making of a muscle man

Treyton the muscle man

First Day of School 2011-2012

2011-08-30T08:41:00.000-07:00

I didn't have good lighting for these pictures obviously. Here is Carolina and Mitch eating their breakfast before school.
All the kids eating their breakfast.
Mitch and Savanna
Mitch and Savanna in front of the school.
Mitch at his desk in his class (Mrs. O'Rullian is in the background.)
Savanna and Mrs. Julian

Savanna and Mitch started school yesterday. They were both super excited and ready for their first day of 3rd and 2nd grade. In fact for about a week before school started both kids had a hard time sleeping each night because they were so excited and all they could think about was going back to school. I am really happy that they were excited for school to start. They both have great teachers. Mitchel got Mrs. O'Rullian- the same teacher that Savanna had last year. And Savanna got Mrs. Julian- we have heard she is a great teacher.

Treyton and Carolina also went to school at Koala Kids yesterday, they were also very excited to start their new year of preschool.

End of the summer slow down

2011-08-30T08:20:00.001-07:00

You can see on their chore charts that the stickers got more sparse as the summer went on.

I started out the summer very motivated to get lots done and have lots of fun with the kids. We did have lots of fun, but didn't get as much done as I was hoping. I made a chore/reading chart for my 3 oldest kids and each day that they did their reading and workbooks that I got them they got a sticker. And each day that they got their assigned chores done they got a sticker. Each sticker was worth .25 cents. At the beginning of the summer we did good on almost every day, but I noticed that as the summer went on, I lost my drive and so did the kids. In fact by last week I don't think that anybody got any stickers. I felt like a bit of a failure as a mother, especially on the reading part. But at least we started off good, right? Maybe I am just trying to make myself feel better.

We did have lots of fun, just so I don't forget I am making a list of some of the highlights:

-t-ball, and pitching machine the whole month of June

-swimming lessons

-Rigby Lake about 4 times

-Rexburg Rapids once

-Ross Park once

-Boating 3 or 4 times

-3 family reunions

-Swimming at the Ammon pool twice

-Camping 3 times

-dirt biking

-trip to Boise for motorbike race

-numerous bike rides outside

-numerous BBQ's

-numerous picnics at the park

-Sleeping out on the tramp as a family once

-Many walks through the neighborhood.

And I'm sure many more things that I can't even begin to think of.

Steve and Mickey Fuhriman Family Reunion 2011

2011-08-30T07:15:00.000-07:00

I am finally getting around to updating my blog. A few weekends ago we went to Salt Lake and attended our last family reunion for the summer. We had a lot of fun with Reid's family, the only problem was that when I pulled out my camera the battery was dead. I was so upset. I had to take pictures with my phone and so I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked. We had a lot of fun, we got there on Thursday evening and spent the evening at the Hamilton's cabin in Park City. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and hung around the camp fire. The kids always love playing with their cousins. We also got to learn a little bit about our pioneer heritage about the Tanner family (this comes from Mickey's mother's side of the family).

On Friday we went swimming in Cottonwood at a swim park. Everyone enjoyed the water very much since it was so hot. They had 2 big water slides and lots of fun toys to play with in the water. Grandma and Grandpa even got in a swam with the kids. Friday night we had a yummy dinner at the Hamilton's and enjoyed time at their home playing on a big bouncy house that Aaron brought.

On Saturday we spent the day at Hogle Zoo, we had never taken our kids there. They had so much fun, we watched the elephant and bird shows which were very entertaining. We enjoyed seeing the giraffe's and the monkey's and of course riding the merry go round, and train. It was especially hot that day, but we still had a lot of fun. Saturday night we went to Uncle Jeff and Aunt Claudia's house and had a BBQ. It was really fun spending time with them and their kids. We were all pretty exhausted and came home on Sunday, and it took us a few days to recover from all our fun.

A big thanks to Corri and Brad for hosting such a fun reunion.

Our family at Hogle Zoo
James and Savanna on the Merry-go-round
Savanna at the Giraffe's
Reid and Treyton
Mitch, Sarah and Lori
Reid, Savanna, Mitch and Treyton
The giraffe's. I think they were my favorite animal to look at.

Steve, Mickey and Mitch waiting for the train ride
The Fuhriman cousins at the zoo
Corri getting her kids lunch at the water park
Carolina and me on the merry go round
Aaron and Addi- I think?
Grandma Mickey and Mitch playing in the water
Carolina and her sunglasses

2011 Romrell Family Reunion

2011-08-14T08:58:00.000-07:00

Aunt Val- she is amazing and put this whole thing together (every year!)

Grandpa Romrell-thanks Grandpa for paying for the whole event!

Val, Grandpa and Kelsie

Dale Hepworth and Julie Anderson visiting with Alex and her boyfriend

Tony and Olivia, he was a good sport and took care of the baby the whole time so that Leah could play in the pool with the kids.

Sara, Shane, Cami, Garth and Amy

Ruth taking care of baby Talmage

Naomi, Kate and Carolina loving the dog Hurley

Angie, Shane and Cami

Alex and her new boyfriend- I can't remember his name?

Carolina

My Mom, Taryn, my aunts, Jan, Eileen, Val and Grandma Romrell

Carolina is in love with baby Olivia, and Naomi is in love with Sara.

My cousin Laramie- one of the best Aunts ever. Her and Chloe hanging out.

Last weekend was the annual Roland & Joy Romrell family reunion. This is my Grandparents on my Mother's side of the family. For the last several years we have gone to Heisi each year since my grandparents aren't in great health and traveling isn't really in the cards for them. It is always so much fun to renew relationships with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. It is fun to see as each of us cousins have grown up and now have our own families to see everyone's kids. I am so grateful to be part of such an amazing family and to feel the love from each of these wonderful family members. I have so many great memories of time spent with this family. I big part of my identity lies with being a part of the Romrell family. My best friends growing up were my cousins and aunts. It was just so much fun to sit around and visit with everyone. I only wish that everyone could be there, unfortunately with a family this size it is impossible.

This year was extra special because Val schedules pictures for all the family members and a big group shot. I was waiting to see if we got those pictures before I posted this blog, but I just decided I would wait and add them in later. My kids always have so much fun swimming, diving off the diving board, going down the slide and of course just playing with their cousins. It is one of the highlights of our summer!

Swimming lessons

2011-08-12T09:44:00.001-07:00

We just finished another season of swimming lessons. We always take lesson's at the Apple, we really like it there. It is convenient because Koala Kids takes the kids there on the days that I work. We also like it because it is inside and then we don't have to worry about the weather if it is ever bad. My kids swimming skills have improved a lot this year. In fact I think that Savanna is good enough that she doesn't need to do swimming lesson's next year. They had a lot of fun and are glad that we did it.
Treyton with is class

Treyton with his teacher

Savanna

Mitchel

Treyton's class

The whole group of kids from Koala Kids

My cute kids, Carolina didn't take lessons this year, but next year for sure

Before and After

2011-08-05T21:23:00.001-07:00

All 4 kids and me got our hair cut today, here are the before and after shots. Thanks to my cousin Miriam for cutting me and the girls hair today and thanks to Reid for cutting the boys hair!

I especially love Carolina and Savanna's. In Savanna's words "I look sassy!"

In other news Savanna found out today that she needs glasses, we have them ordered and she should be getting them next week. I can't believe it!

7th annual Van Sargent Reunion

2011-07-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

This is the finished product of the scripture craft that we did for the reunion. The Scripture I chose for our family was D&C 64:33 "Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great." The reason I chose this scripture is because as a parent I feel weary a lot, and I have to remember that the things we do each day in raising our children, in teaching them correctly, praying with them, reading the scriptures sometimes seem small, but hopefully some day we will see that they were a great thing.

Here is Stevan, Sara, Leah and Ruth working on their craft board. I loved to see Stevan get involved in this and they all turned out great. I wish that I had taken a picture of everyone with their scripture.

The kids painting their sun-catchers.

Little Naomi- 16 months and a hard age to be camping!
My Dad! Love him!

The kids working on their projects!
Sara and Shane- the most recently wedded

I'm glad the newly wed's still like each other

Angie, Naomi and Grandma

Grandma taking care of her grandkids- she is the best!
Shane trying to put Naomi to sleep
Carolina ready to go swimming!
Mom and Talmage
Angie, Kate and Carolina hanging out on the boat dock- this is all we had, there were no beaches.
This is Reid taking off on the boat, he won't come back dry.
Steve
Steve wake boarding! He is a pro

This is Reid after he fell out of the boat. Poor guy was trying to get the rope for Steve and fell out of the boat. He ruined his phone and really hurt his back. But we all got a good laugh!

This year I was in charge of the Van Sargent family reunion. This was a little stressful for me, I don't like be in charge and responsible for everyone else's fun and happiness. But after all is said and done I think we all had a great time. We chose to hold the reunion up in Palisades due to the closeness. Mom and Dad prefer to come home each evening to be able to sleep in their own bed. Plus Leah and Tony with their new little baby wanted to sleep at home as well. We started out on Friday and came home Sunday afternoon. We spent saturday on the lake, it was very full this year so there were no beaches for the kids to play on. They didn't seem to mind, and spent most of their time on the boat or playing on the 3 man raft that Ruth and Kent brought up.

Sara and Shane ended up borrowing a motor home so Ruth and her babies were able to sleep in that with them or they too would have gone home each evening.

I chose the theme of "I know the scriptures are true." So each of the families picked their favorite scripture and each of them did a small devotional on whey that was their favorite scripture and we each made a board with the scripture on it. It was fun to see the husbands get involved in this craft. They all turned out really cute, and I think it is something that everyone can display in their homes. I found some easy, cheap crafts on Oriental Trading for the kids- this kept them entertained and then I didn't feel bad if they didn't turn out the best.

We all took turns making different meals, and everyone came prepared with delicious food. I don't think anyone went away hungry. It was a great time, and I am glad that my year is done and I don't have to be in charge for another 5 years!

Boating for the first time in 2011

2011-07-20T13:05:00.001-07:00

We get the great opportunity to go boating when we would like because my Mom and her sister own a boat together. So last night we took it out to Blacktail and had a great time. We took our friends Sarah and Jeremy Hansen and their kids with us. The weather wasn't the best, but by the end of the night we had some beautiful water for skiing.

The kids all had a ball riding on the tube, even Carolina got on for a bit. The only problem was this morning when we filled the boat back up with gas and then we remembered why we don't take it out very often- you about have to take a loan out to fill it with gas. But I suppose it is worth it if you don't do it very often.

Savanna and Alexis riding the waves- look Ma, no hands!
Karson hanging out on the boat (pink life jacket and all)
Treyton loves watching everyone ski and ride the tube
Treyton and Karson taking their turns

Tyler enjoying a snack
Mitch and Treyton on the tube
This one is Mitch and Tyler on the tube, they were getting sprayed pretty good.
Carolina, she just finished her licorice- can you tell?
The girls
Sarah and I taking a turn
This is a shot of me getting up on skis' (I always have to document it just in case I never get up again.) I was really excited because I got right up on my first try.
Me again
Savanna jumping off the dock.
Savanna and my toothless Mitch
Jeremy skiing
Reid decided after much deliberation that he should try slolem, and of course he did great and got right up.
Being a bit of a show off

Reid and Carolina
She just loved the ride

Fun at Rexburg Rapids

2011-07-20T12:38:00.001-07:00

Cute Kate and Easton and Savanna

Treyton trying to get warm on the sidewalk
Mom and Leah taking care of all the babies while we play
Treyton and Carolina
Ruth and Naomi
Savanna, Easton, McKay, Angie and Kate

Angie and Kate in the lazy river
Me and CArolina
Mitchel

Angie and Kate
Carolina and Mitch
Ruth and Mom
Angie and the kids

We took the opportunity last week to go to the new swimming complex in Rexburg. It is such a nice facility. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins. We are so blessed and lucky to live close to our family and to be able to do so many fun things. I don't think my kids realize how good they have it!

2011 Melaleuca picnic

2011-07-17T21:28:00.001-07:00

Carolina and Savanna on their pony ride
Treyton and Savanna

We got to go to the annual Melaleuca picnic yesterday. It was a fun, hot day in the sun. The kids love it, but who wouldn't with all you can eat cotton candy, pop, popcorn, ice cream and tons of fun games and activities for the kids to enjoy. Unfortunately we didn't win any of the prizes, but it was still worth our time to go. Our friends the Hawkes won a helicopter ride so we got to watch their 2 little kids for a little while during the picnic while the went on their ride. Aubrey had fun hanging out with Savanna.

Treyton and Carolina
Aubrey and Savanna
Treyton and Mitch

Treyton loves the pony rides
Mitch taking his turn
Treyton going down a slide

All the kids on the ferris wheel

Carolina and Treyton loved the swings!
This jumpy thing was Savanna's favorite thing of the day!

Unfortunately my camera's battery died so Reid was taking pictures with his phone and it was a little difficult to get all the pictures we wanted to.

Mitchel's two front teeth

2011-07-17T21:23:00.001-07:00

We had to get a picture before the last one fell out because he looked like a red-neck with his front tooth half way hanging out!

I have posted before how Mitch has had lots of problems with his teeth, so we have been anxiously anticipating him loosing his baby teeth in hopes that his adult teeth will come in stronger. But this last weekend while he and Savanna were swimming at the neighbors house she kicked him in the face on accident and knocked out his two front teeth (well not all the way, but made them extremely loose- they were hanging by threads literally). He refused to let us pull them and so we waited out the weekend and finally last night and this morning he lost those teeth. We didn't take him into the dentist because the teeth were already loose and they didn't actually break so I am hoping that I didn't make a mistake by not taking him in.

Drive in movie fun

2011-07-10T20:25:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken by Savanna on Reid's phone so they aren't very clear.

We went and saw Cars 2, and Pirates of the Caribbean 4 last night at the drive in. We went with the Anglins, it was a lot of fun. We sat in the back of our pick up truck. I for one slept through most of both shows. I don't know what it is with movies but turn one on and it is like giving me a sleeping pill and I fall right to sleep. The kids had lots of fun!

4th of July

2011-07-05T17:07:00.000-07:00

We had to get a few pictures of the Corvette before we took it back this morning.

Our 4th of July this year was about as jam packed as you could get. It actually started on the 3rd when we had both Olivia and Talmage's baby blessings and a fun after party at my parent's house. Then Sunday night we went over to Reid's parents and let off some fireworks.

On Monday we got up early so that I could run the Firecracker 5k, I was pretty proud of myself, I shaved 7 minutes off my time from last year. I ran it with Sarah Hansen and we had a lot of fun doing that. Steve and Kent also ran with us, but we didn't see them after the starting line because they finished the race about 10 minutes faster than us.

After the race we met Sarah's husband and all our kids at the parade. We had a lot of fun sitting with the Hansen's and the kids enjoyed gathering all the candy. The highlight of course was seeing Grandpa Fuhriman in the parade being driven by Reid. (Mitch and Treyton both got a turn riding in the car.) Reid was so excited because he got to drive a brand new 2011 Corvette that Smith Chevrolet lent to Steve for the parade. I think Reid has a new item on his wish list.

After the parade we went and had a BBQ at my parents home. Both my family and Reid's family came, it was fun to be able to relax and enjoy everyone's company.

And to top off our 4th of July we went to the fireworks. We sat with the Hamilton's, Ben and Holly, my Mom, and Leah and Tony. We all had fun hanging out and visiting before the show and then really had fun watching the fireworks. Too bad that Reid had to go to work and miss them.

Sarah, me, Kent and Stevan before the race
Sarah, the kids and I at the parade- we were a bit sweaty for the parade since we didn't have time to go home and shower. Oh well, it was worth it.
Jeremy and Sarah- do you love his hat. When I first saw him I thought he got some hair implants. (It's a hat with fake hair on top- he is usually bald.)
Carolina at the parade

Here comes Mayor Fuhriman in the white corvette

Mitch enjoying his ride
Now it's Treyton's turn

Ms. IF- Kelsie Roper!
Treyton and Mitch at the fireworks
Carolina- so proud of herself because she was sitting in Olivia's stroller
Mitch, Leah, Olivia and Tony
Emily and Savanna
Corri, Alex, Anna and Sarah

Holly, Andrew & Julia
James- him and his silly picture faces!
Ben and Holly and family!
Uncle Brad- Just happy to be here!
Grandma Sargent and Carolina
My Mom and Me
Our baby- Carolina!

Ross Park with the Fuhriman's

2011-07-05T16:45:00.001-07:00

We had a great time at Ross park!

Treyton and Carolina taking a break and enjoying a snack
Corri and Mickey enjoying some shade. Good thing for Grandma's who hold the babies so Mom's and Dad's can play a little.
My cute husband
Ben and Reid- can you tell they are brothers?
James and Mitch enjoying the lazy river
Savanna and Emily
Brad, Alex and Anna in the lazy river
Sarah
Holly and Julia
Carolina finally taking a much needed nap
Grandma and Julia
Ben drying to dry off a bit
Corri and Reid
Carolina doesn't want to wake up and get her picture taken- Can you tell?

We had the chance to go to Ross Park in Pocatello this last Saturday with most of Reid's family. We had a great time enjoying the sun and the water. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins!

Treyton's first year of t-ball

2011-06-30T18:19:00.000-07:00

This year Treyton played t-ball for the first time, he ended up loving it! His first game he cried and refused to play so I was worried- he was just scared. But after his last game today he told me that he loved it and can't wait to play again next year.

His coaches were Tonya Byington and Melanie Chatelain. They were great to work with these little kids who are just learning the game!

Savanna's pitching machine

2011-06-30T18:13:00.001-07:00

This year was Savanna's 2nd year playing pitching machine, she had so much fun and has turned into a pretty good little player. She hits the ball every time and is a great fielder. Savanna had the chance to play in most positions and especially loved playing 1st base and pitcher. She keeps right up with all the boys on her team.

I helped coach her team this year with Tonya Byington. We had a great little team and we seemed to improve each time we played. I really enjoyed coaching this team and would love to coach again next year- hopefully Tonya will decide to do it again also!

In Savanna's last game today she wasn't feel great, but because it was her last game she really wanted to play. The poor thing had an upset stomach and had thrown up earlier. She wanted to play so I let her and after the 2nd inning she was the pitcher and I looked at her and saw her fall flat on her back. At first I thought she was goofing around but soon realized that she had fainted. Needless to say she was pretty sick and had to sit out- or I should say "lay out" the rest of the game. Poor thing! Other than that she had a great time.

Mitchel's t-ball

2011-06-29T15:24:00.000-07:00

Today was Mitchel's last t-ball game of the season. We had a great team this year and we had lots of fun. I had the chance to coach the team this year with Angie. Last year I coached his team also and it was kind of frustrating, but this year it was great. Their team has improved so much this year, it has been a lot of fun. And I would even say that I would be willing to coach again next year!

I think the reason that I like to coach is that you get to pick your kids cousins, and friends to be on their team which makes it so much fun for everyone. This year Mitch got to have 3 cousins on his team- McKinley, Cooper & Elijah. Plus I got to have two of my cousins kids on the team, Hayden and Tylee. And then a lot of friends including Tyler, Cole,Jace, Alex, & Zack. And Elijah got to have two of his cousins Garrett and Bryce on the team as well. We had a great time!

Camping at Fall Creek

2011-06-26T09:13:00.001-07:00

We went camping this last weekend in Fall Creek with the William's family, we had a great time. The only thing bad about it was the mosquitoes were out in full force, we all came home covered in bites. We went up there on Thursday evening and came home on Saturday evening. We all brought our motorbikes and let the kids ride around camp as much as they wanted, and we even went on a long ride with all the kids in the mountains. The country side was beautiful and we all got a little muddy. It gave us a small taste of what Reid and Josh do on their rides (very small taste).

We had good food, and lots of fun with great company. Josh and Natalie also have 4 kids that are very close in age to our kids. They all played together so nicely and I didn't notice any fighting between any of the kids. They have very well behaved nice children. It is always fun to spend time with great people.

I decided to try riding Savanna's motorbike, and am so glad that I did. I haven't tried to ride a motorcycle since I was a kid. The last time I did it was over at my cousin the Jackson's house and I crashed into their fence. I felt so bad about it, and was teased so much about it that I didn't dare try again until now. Natalie and I even went for a little ride by ourselves. I can really see the appeal of riding.

Josh and Reid also got to go on a few rides while we were camping too, so everyone got to do what they liked to do.

Carolina by the campfire
trying to get breakfast going

Reid spent a lot of his time working on the bikes
Carolina loved going on rides on the 4-wheeler
Josh and Kenna- both Kenna and Treyton have motorbikes with training wheels.
Savanna, Kenzi, and Maddie on a hike
Mitch on his bike
Treyton- you can see his training wheels too- he has no fear.
Carolina and Reid
All the kids lined up on their bikes
Josh and Natalie had some fun racing. Natalie crashed a few time.

This is me on Mitchel's bike

Natalie and I after our ride
Reid cooking
Savanna
Mitch

Treyton
The view from the mountain that Reid and the kids hiked

The William's camper
The kids found a checker board in our camper
Kenna and Carolina had fun playing for a while
Our camper
Josh and Kenzie on our ride
Natalie and Kenna and the kids on our ride
Our long ride
Natalie was so nice and trying to help Treyton learn to ride Mitchel's bike with no training wheels
Savanna on her bike- when her Mom wasn't trying to ride it.

Kenna
Nat and Treyton
Reid after their ride
Natalie was riding Josh's bike and trying to figure out how to do a pop-a-wheelie (she is much braver than me!)

Fuhriman family pictures

2011-06-18T18:32:00.001-07:00

At Easter time Reid's entire family was home, which is very unusual, with half of the siblings living out of state. And one in the military it is hard to get everyone together. We took advantage of this by getting family pictures. It is no easy thing with all the kids, but I think that they turned out pretty good. I am finally putting them on my blog because I finally figured out access to them. I was quite concerned about doing them right after I cut off all my hair, but I think they turned out ok. I really like the navy and white that everyone is wearing. I am glad we color coordinated.

Our little family

Reid's parents and siblings
The whole clan

Our trip to Boise

2011-06-06T19:03:00.000-07:00

We went to Boise this last weekend so that Reid could participate in the Idaho City 100 reliability endurance race. This is a race through the mountains that is extremely difficult for the most experienced racers. Reid has been riding dirt bikes for only 3 years. This years race was 120 miles. He trained for this race for several months and did great. However due to a flat tire he had to quit at mile 95. He was very disappointed but still had a great time. It was kind of a blessing in disguise that he had to quit because he was feeling very sick.

Reid's friend Josh and his family went also. So the kids and me were able to spend the day on Saturday with Natalie and her kids. We had a lot of fun letting the kids play. We had a picnic, went and watched for the guys as they came in on their gas stops, and just spent the day enjoying the sun.

On friday we drove to Caldwell and spent the evening with Reid's Aunt Chris and Uncle Bob. They had a nice BBQ for us and their family. We really enjoyed getting re-acquainted with them. I felt very bad because I didn't get any pictures with them at their house.

One of the highlights of the trip for the kids of course was playing in the pools at the hotel, we don't stay at hotels often so it is a real treat for them.

We also stopped on our way home at Twin Falls and went and saw Shoshone Falls- they were beautiful. That is something I have never seen before and I was glad that we took the time to go and see it.

The weather in Boise was beautiful, we had a wonderful time on our little vacation. In fact so much fun I wouldn't mind going again next weekend!

Reid and Josh before the race
our family before the race
The starting line-Reid is in the middle
The girls watching their Dad's line up
Reid in the middle of his race

Josh
Reid coming in on one of the gas stops
We found a cute little park and the girls were dancing on the stage

Mitch in front of an old mining cabin

Treyton and McKenna found a safe place to get away from the dog
Savanna and Carolina
This is where we were waiting for the racers to come back
Our babies were such good sports- Carolina and Jaxon
He finally bad a showing- too bad it was with a flat tire
Everyone was so glad to see him in one piece
Shoshone falls
Our family at Shoshone Falls
The kiddos

Look at the beautiful rainbow

Carolina's 2nd birthday!

2011-06-02T18:46:00.001-07:00

Carolina's birthday is on June 3rd, but because we are going out of town over the weekend we celebrated it a few days early. It is also her cousin Andrew's birthday on June 3rd and since they share a birthday we decided to share a party. We had a great time! We went to the park in Ammon and cooked hot dogs, had cake and ice cream, opened presents and played games. We are really glad we decided to do it on Wednesday because the weather was just perfect.

Carolina is such a sweetheart and we are so glad that she is our little girl. She is a little bit spoiled because she is our youngest and we all want to give her exactly what she wants, but she really is a sweet child and can't imagine what life would be like without her. She loves to carry around any kind of phone and carry on conversation with anyone from "Kate", to "Grandma", to "Daddy", or to "Josh". Is it obvious who we talk on the phone a lot to. I talk to Grandma and Daddy, and Reid talks to Josh. She always says please and thank you and one of her favorite things in the world to do is to go outside and swing.

Carolina and McKay eating their dinner at the party. Carolina got that big ball from Grandma Mickey
Everyone getting their food
Some of the boys eating their meal
Ben cooking hot dogs and Holly and Ruth getting their food. This is Ruth 2 days after having a baby- she was such a good sport to come to the party.
Savanna
Carolina's cake= can you tell that it totally sunk?
Andrew's cute football cake that Holly made
Carolina blowing out her candles.

Andrew blowing out his candle.
Carolina got a Cinderella from Kate and the Sargents

They did potato sack races and Carolina wanted to be in the middle of it.

Carolina and Julie

Mitchel finally lost his first tooth!

2011-06-02T17:55:00.001-07:00

Mitchel finally lost his first tooth yesterday. This was a pretty exciting event in his life and in mine due to the fact that his teeth have been really bad. It seems that no matter how much we brush, floss, take fluoride pills or what he still gets lots of cavities. We have been looking forward to these teeth coming out for a while now and just hoping and praying that his adult teeth are stronger.

Talmage Andrew Beck

2011-06-01T15:38:00.001-07:00

The Kent and Ruth Beck Family (Elijah, Naomi, Ruth, Talmage, Kent & McKay)
Ruth and Talmage
Talmage Andrew Beck
Me and Talmage

My sister Ruth and her husband Kent has their 4th baby on Monday May 30th. He is a cute little red headed boy names Talmage Andrew Beck. We are excited to have another little nephew and cousin join our family.

Savanna's piano recital

2011-06-01T15:35:00.001-07:00

Savanna had her 2nd piano recital last week. She did great, she played Sonatina and Mickey Mouse. She is really enjoying piano lessons and she seems to pick up on it really well. I hope she continues to love it and continues to improve each year! We love her teacher Natalie Peterson

Savanna's 2nd grade

2011-05-26T15:23:00.000-07:00

Today was Savanna's class award/slide show. I was able to sneak away from work and go to it. Of course I cried again during the slide show. I can't believe that I will have a 3rd grader next school year. Savanna had a wonderful 2nd grade year. Mrs. O'Rullian was her teacher and she was so great! We love her and hope that next year Mitch gets her too. She is so kind, yet she pushes her kids to achieve their very best.

Today during the awards ceremony she gave each of her kids a binder that has some of their work from the year in it along with a few pictures. She also awarded each child a certificate with an award from her about something she loved about each child. Savanna was awarded the "Being an enthusiastic participant" award. She said that Savanna was always very willing to participate and was always ready with the answer to her questions.

Savanna did great during 2nd great, she is a wonderful reader and has been very motivated each day to come home and get her homework done without me having to nag her.

This is Savanna on the first day of school.
these are some of the pages from Savanna's book

Mrs. O'Rullian giving Savanna her award and book today.

Mitchel's 1st grade year

2011-05-25T14:39:00.000-07:00

Today was Mitchel's 1st grade play, and slideshow, it was so fun to watch him perform and sing, he even knew all of his lines. He was one of the 3 little pigs. The play was called "Lemonade" and it was a musical for young singers and it had a whole bunch of characters in it from the Mother Goose nursery rhymes. The story was about how to turn lemons into lemonade and to try to look on the bright side of things. It was very cute. After the play his teacher had a slide show of pictures from the year, of course this mother couldn't help but shed a tear or two just to realize another year of my child's life has gone by.

This has been such a great school year for Mitchel, we have absolutely loved Mrs. McLaren. She is such a fantastic teacher, so kind and just perfect for our Mitch. He has learned so much this year, we couldn't have asked for a better 1st grade year. He has some nice friends and has done very well in his school work. We are very proud of Mitch for all he has accomplished!

This is Mitch on the first day of school!
This is Mitch with his teacher Mrs. McLaren today after his play
This is Mitch with his pig ears
It's hard to see him because he's in the back row, but you can see his suspenders.

There he is by the lemonade stand.

M.A.D. 1/2 Marathon

2011-05-14T13:34:00.001-07:00

Today I ran the 1/2 marathon in Idaho Falls. It was called the M.A.D. marathon standing for Make a Difference, it benefits the Olive Osmond hearing fund. They get hearing aids for children that need them. I trained for several months for this run, but it was a very difficult run for me. On the advertisements for the run it said that it was meant for beginning runners, well it had lots of rolling hills- which I did not train for. And 2 miles of it was on a very rocky, gravel road that was hard on my feet. They also made a bit of an error and were routing the 1/2 marathon runners with the marathon runners which caused them to have to run an extra 2 miles. Luckily Reid found out about the error right before I got there and he told me to go straight instead of turning. So most of the runners ran 15 miles rather than 13.1. I luckily only did 13.2.

I feel happy that it is over and now I can move on to the next thing! Oh and my Dad brought his new recumbent bike and rode the whole time with me. It was nice to have someone with me the whole time.

Crossing the finish line!

My Mom and kids with me after the race.

Moses and Kalee fromt he biggest loser did the 5 k. I stopped and visited with Moses, he was super friendly and we had a nice chat just like we were old friends. I was very impressed with him.

Baby Olivia

2011-05-13T13:02:00.000-07:00

I didn't get a very good close-up of Olivia- I will have to go back tomorrow and get some more pictures.

My sister Leah had her first baby yesterday. She actually had her on my brother Steve's birthday. She was due on the 20th. But her water broke yesterday morning. She was in labor all day and by evening they were worried because she wasn't progressing any more and they were worried because how high up the baby was and they were concerned about it being so long since her water had broken. Dr. Isbel decided it was best to do a c-section, it ended up being good that they took her c-section because she was 9 lbs 3 oz. So she was a big baby. She is such a cute little girl. She has big chubby cheeks. She was fun to hold today, I forget how fun it is so hold a brand new baby. I am glad that my sisters are still having babies so I can experience the new born stage without having to have any more of my own.

10 Year Anniversary

2011-05-08T10:11:00.000-07:00

It was Reid and I's 10 year anniversary on May 5th. I can't believe it has been 10 years already the time has flown by. For our first official date over 10 years ago we went to Jackson Hole and went skiing at Snow King and then went out to dinner and then came home and went to a Movie in IF. We spent the entire day together and it felt so comfortable, I think that is why we didn't waste much time and we got engaged 2 months later and then married 2 months after that. So for our anniversary we decided that it would be fitting to go celebrate in Jackson. We stayed the night and went to dinner at the same restaurant that we went to over 10 years ago "The Teton Steakhouse", we walked around downtown Jackson, went to a movie and just relaxed in our hotel room. It was fun to get away without the children.

It is nice to know that after 10 years of marriage, knowing what I know now if I could go back 10 years I would still choose to marry Reid all over again.

Us in Jackson

On our way home from Jackson it was raining really hard, we could see water just rushing down the mountain sides. As we got closer to Swan Valley the creek's were over flowing- I think we could have a flooding problem this year with all the water as the snow melts. We took a few pictures. But it was much cooler in person.

This is a road that the water was rushing over

Mitchel's 7th birthday

2011-04-28T19:24:00.000-07:00

Mitchel turned 7 on April 26th. I can't believe that he is another year older. He is finishing up his 1st grade year at Discovery. It has been a great year for him. He loves his teacher Mrs. McLaren and he has done well in 1st grade, his reading has improved a ton and we are hoping that we can continue to read all summer so that he stays where he needs to be. This last year Mitchel participated in t-ball, football, wresting and basketball. His favorites are wrestling and football. Right now we are struggling to finish out the basketball season.

For his birthday this year he got to have lots of fun. On his birthday on Tuesday I took doughnuts into his class at school and after school we went to Leo's place and had a little party with the Fuhriman family. Then tonight we had the Sargent family over for cake and ice cream and a little party. He got lots of fun gifts and he was most excited to get the D.S. that he has been wanting for almost a year. He also got his new room finished in time for his birthday, so it has been nice that he has his own space to put his stuff in. Mitchel is a great kid, and he is such an important part of our family- I love him!
This is the cake I made for the first birthday party- I went easy this time since Reid didn't have time to decorate any cakes this week.

Mitch opening presents at Leo's place

he got a cool model train from Grandma and Grandpa Fuhriman

Reid

Blowing out his candles

This is the cake I made for his 2nd birthday party.

My Dad had this picture blown up and he made the frame- he is so excited to hang it in his new room that is all bare.

His gift from Sara and Shane

His DS attachments

And the DS

Easter weekend 2011

2011-04-24T21:10:00.000-07:00

We had an incredibly busy, and fun Easter weekend.

We started out on Friday night with a baby shower for Leah who is due with her first baby girl on May 20th. The shower was a huge success and we had a great time.

Then on Saturday morning we got up early and got dressed up and met with the Fuhriman family for family pictures. For as many people- mostly little kids that we had there I think it went pretty good.

We then went over to Reid's parents house for an Easter Egg hunt. The kids had a ball finding all their eggs.

We then hustled over to my parents house for her Easter egg hunt. My Mom had all goodies and toys hidden around her yard for the kids. They had to find only the things that had their names on it.

After that hunt we went back over to Reid's parents house for Easter dinner. It was delicious. After spending several hours over there we headed home and decorated eggs. The kids enjoyed it, but after such a long day we were so tired!

The Easter bunny made it to our house last night, and we all got spoiled. The kids each got a pair of rain boots, and they each got something fun. Savanna got a kit to help make your own Knot-quilt, Mitch got a big floor puzzle of the map of the U.S., Treyton got a track with a truck, and Carolina got some books. Along with some candy for each of them.

It was pretty cute this morning when Treyton came to wake me up. I had told them the night before not to go into the living room until they come and get me, and that we had to wait until Dad got home from work (he was working nights). So when Treyton came in my room I told him we had to wait until Dad got home. I turned on some cartoons and after a few minutes he said "I think that the Easter bunny brought me rain boots." I asked him why he thought that and he said, "Well, I just wanted some". I asked him if he peaked, and he insisted that he didn't. I thought it was pretty cute.

The kids all got dressed up in their new Easter outfits, we had a great day at church and then headed over to my parents for Easter dinner. We had a great time with my family. My Mom had Easter baskets for us over there. The kids each got a pair of crocks, and a hat, and Reid and I each got a new shirt.

I feel very lucky to have such a wonderful family to celebrate such a special day with!

Savanna and her cousins Emily, Anna and Addi after family pictures.

Carolina really getting into the egg hunt

Savanna

Treyton

Mitch climbing the tree to get some eggs

Carolina's first egg hunt that she could walk at

Sargent cousins with their annual bunny ear pictures

Sargent cousins with their new animal hats

Mitch, he was on a constant run so I couldn't get a good picture of him

My Savanna

Treyton

Savanna and Treyton

Savanna with her haul

My kids dying their eggs

My kids baskets after the Easter bunny came

My kids in their new Easter outfits!

Mitchel's new room

2011-04-21T16:31:00.001-07:00

We finished (well when I see "we", I mean "Reid") Mitchel's bedroom in the basement today. Reid did all by himself, except the tape and texture and the carpet. He did a fantastic job! The pictures don't do it justice at all. He picked out a camouflage bedspread and so Reid painted the walls a cool green color that goes great with it. He also painted his old dresser to match. Mitch is so excited to sleep in his new room tonight! Now I need to figure out some decorations for the walls.

I have decided that doing this finishing the basement one room at a time is the way to go! Now onto the bathroom!

My cute Mitch on his new bed!

The window

The closet

Savanna is so excited that she won't be the only one in the basement !

Carolina, she jsut wants to hang out down there with him.

The story of my hair

2011-04-17T07:58:00.000-07:00

Before & After of my hair

I have spent most of my life having long-ish hair. I have always thought there is no way I could ever pull off a short hair cut, and so I never really considered cutting it short. I remember in high school a good friend of mine cut her hair into a very short pixie cut, and I remember thinking how cute it was but that I would never be able to do that (but kind of being a little jealous that I didn't have the nerve to try something different.)

The last several years I have sported my shortest look of a shorter a-line bob. I have really liked it but was feeling kind of bored with my hair. One day Reid suggested that I cut my hair short, short. I was shocked and amazed that he would like the idea of that. (He has always told me that he loved my hair when we got married- it was long and curly.) So I couldn't get it out of my mind to do it. I searched the internet for pictures of short hair for weeks and found cuts that I really liked. I asked friend and family what they thought and after 3 months of going back and forth I finally decided to go for it.

I had my cousin Miriam cut it, she has been working up in Rexburg at the beauty college as a cutting specialist, but now that she has a baby she has been working in her home cutting family member hair. I knew that she would do a good job, plus I wanted to give her some business.

So I did it, I think it is a good cut. I have been in a bit of shock over it all week. But it is starting to grow on me. I don't quite feel like myself, and honestly I don't know if I will keep it short like this, but it is a nice change and it is fun to try something new. It will also be really nice for the summer while I am training for my 1/2 marathon. And the best part of it is that it takes less than 5 minutes to do in the morning!

38

2011-04-05T12:06:00.001-07:00

I don't know how this happened, but I turned 38 on April 1st. It doesn't seem possible, I feel like it wasn't very long ago that I was turning 18 and getting ready to graduate from High School. I feel very lucky that I am in a good place in my life. There are a few area's that I would like to improve on, but we will get there. I had a fun birthday party Sunday night with the Sargent Family, and Monday night with the Fuhriman family. I felt very spoiled and loved! I look forward to all there is to come. I hate posting pictures of myself, but Savanna took pictures last night at the party and told me she wanted me to put them on my blog.

Choosing the better part

2011-04-01T12:59:00.000-07:00

This is my way of getting my feelings out, I promise I am not feeling sorry for myself anymore. I have had kind of a rough week, probably one of the worst one in a long time. Nothing major , I won't go into any details, but let me just say that I have experienced some un-kind words and deeds the last few days from people around me. I am trying to choose to forgive- forgetting takes a bit longer but I will work on that too. So today I have decided to try to think positively and choose to see the good things in life. I decided to make a list of the things that make me happy: *Family prayer each night with my sweet husband and kids. (I love to hear the things my kids pray for.) *Great health- I feel so lucky that I can run, play, & work and feel good. *A beautiful new home *The gospel of Jesus Christ and membership in his church. * A church calling that is a challenge to me, that is helping me grow spiritually *A hard working husband that loves me, despite my shortcomings *Savanna *Mitchel *Treyton *Carolina *Wonderful parents who love me and would do anything for me *Brothers and sisters that are my best friends *A job that I enjoy- even though it is challenging right now *My calling as a visiting teacher *The seasons- I love the change of seasons and I am glad that spring is finally coming! *Reading a good book- I love when I find a book that I love. See I already feel better and my list could go on and on.

Feeling a bit nostalgic

2011-03-22T11:17:00.000-07:00

Last week I came across one of my mission companions (Emily Tibbits) on facebook. I was so excited to get re-acquainted with her. We have been sending messages back and forth to each other remembering our experiences from our mission. It got me thinking back on my time as a missionary. I will never regret my decision to serve a mission. It has served as a foundation for my testimony throughout my life. I look back at the time that I spent as a missionary in South Carolina as some of the best time spent in my life.

After finding her I tried to find my old mission journal, I couldn't find it but I did find my journal from after my mission and from before I got married. During that time I had a lot of fun. I went on lots of fun trips, had lots of fun adventures, and had many good friends. It was a great time of life, but I found that instead of fully enjoying that time I was always worried in the back of my mind about getting married. I was worried that I would never get married and so I didn't feel like I truly enjoyed this time of life like I should have. If there is something I could go back and change is that. I would just enjoy and quit worrying.

Of course, I wouldn't want to go back to that time of life. I am glad that I am now married and raising a family. But I am so glad that I can look back on those experiences with happiness. I am happy that I married Reid and that he came along at the right time. I am happy that I have Savanna, Mitchel, Treyton and Carolina. I feel like right now I am doing the most important thing that I should be doing. That beats sky diving in Vegas- a least for now.

Me and Stevan sky-diving after sky-diving. We went with some friends and drove to Vegas to go sky-diving. It was a total blast!

On a P-day in Windsor Lake South Carolina with our whole Zone.

Sister Tibbits and I with an investigator and her children.

Sister Tibbits and I with an Elder- don't remember his name

Me and my roommates on a fun trip to Vegas

My sister Sara and I on our Carribean Cruise

New Family Pictures March 2011

2011-03-18T18:31:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to get family pictures taken for a very long time. Last summer I had my sister do some snapshots outside, but the lighting was really bad and they didn't turn out great. So for Christmas I told Reid that all I wanted was family pictures. So he gave me a gift certificate to JC Penney's to get pictures done. I have been putting it off because I wanted to lose another 20 lbs. Well, it hasn't happened and I decided that my kids were growing up and we needed to get the pictures no matter what.

I was really happy how they turned out, I could spent a fortune buying all the pictures, but with the gift card it covered most of the cost- thank goodness! I love how they all turned out- except my stubborn little Mitch who wouldn't smile for any of the family shots. We didn't even know he wasn't smiling until we were all done. Oh well, it really shows what his personality is right now.

Yearly cabin trip

2011-03-08T10:03:00.000-08:00

We just returned this last weekend for a little trip to Salt Lake to go to the Hamilton's cabin in Park City. It is a trip that most of Reid's family goes on each year. I haven't always gone between being pregnant or having a new baby, but this year we all went. It was fun to get away from home for the weekend and spend some quality time with our family. On friday we stopped in Salt Lake and got to have lunch with Sara and Shane before we headed up to Park City. There was tons of snow there so we had to snowmobile or snowshoe into the cabin. It is quite the hike for those that hiked it (I lucked out and got a ride up). The kids love going there and playing in the snow with their cousins that they don't see very often.

We got to go ice fishing, and Savanna even caught a couple of fish, she was so excited. Reid had a lot of fun riding his new (used) snowmobile. After we left the cabin on Saturday we stopped at the outlet mall in Park City so that we could do a little shopping. We didn't buy much, and because we were so tired we didn't get much time there, but that is my idea of fun.

We went back to Salt Lake saturday night and celebrated Lori and Aaron's birthday at the Hamilton's house. Then Sunday morning Reid and the kids and I went to temple square and enjoyed our visit to the visitors centers there and got to see lots of cool things about our church. Then we headed home, it was a very enjoyable weekend.
Reid, Mitch and Carolina in the cabin

Uncle Danny taking a much needed nap

Treyton all smiles

Carolina on the floor, she was having a bit of a fit

Savanna getting ready to go and play

Reid and I in front of the cabin

Reid, Mitch and Aaron working on the snowmobile

Reid with his snowmobile and the sled he got all set up for the cabin.

3 of my cute kids

Savanna and Carolina ready to go for a ride

Corri and I took a little walk down the mountain on snow shoes for a bit of exercize.

Savanna ice fishing

Corri on the pond

Savanna's first fish she caught, with Aaron and Addison

Carolina, Anna and Mitch on the pond

Reid and Treyton getting ready to fish

Mitch and Aaron with the fish that Mitch caught

Treyton fishing

Reid and Carolina

Mitch and Treyton trying to get warm by the fire

Yes, my husband changes diapers

Glimpse into my morning

2011-02-23T12:19:00.000-08:00

Carolina has been coming to me and saying she is poopy, but she isn't and then after I change her bum like 2 minutes later she actually poops. So I was thinking maybey she was trying to tell me she needs to poop. I have been trying to have her sit on the potty when she first tells me poopy. She still hasn't done anything in the potty, but maybey one day she will.

My little ones having their breakfast, I just thought they were so cute I had to take a picture.

This is what I found at 6 am this morning when I got on the treadmill.

This was from Savanna. I had to laugh. I went ahead and let them sleep in a 1/2 hour longer and then drove them to school rather than making them take the bus. She seemed to be ok with that. I think it is hilarious after having Friday and Monday off of school.

President's Day Bowling

2011-02-21T13:14:00.000-08:00

Grandma Sargent and Naomi

Angie, Easton and Carolina

Treyton, Mitch, Cooper and Elijah

Ruth helping Elijah

Angie and Kate

Treyton and Savanna

Treyton

Treyton and Savanna

Me and my boys - I hesitated posting this pictures because I feel like it makes me look pregnant. Another motivation to continue on the diet.

Carolina with Kate and Angie

Treyton and Leah

Grandma and Ruth trying to explain it to McKay

Mitch

McKay

Mitch and McKay

Easton

Grandma Sargent

Treyton- he got pretty good and throwing that ball

Savanna

Ruth and the kids

The two pregnant ladies bowling

I normally work every Monday, but today I decided to take a day off and spend it with my kids since it is President's Day and my older kids don't have to go to school. I am really glad that I did because we have had a good day so far. We got up and went to the church so that I could work out with some girls from the ward. Then we came home got our chores done and then went bowling. We went to Bowl-ero with Grandma Sargent, Leah, Ruth and her kids, and Angie and her kids.

The kids had a ball, they loved every minute of it. It was so cute watching Treyton throw that ball. He did amazingly well, and so did Mitch and Savanna. Carolina had fun watching all of us, she didn't seem to mind or even notice that she didn't get to bowl. Of course, Grandma Sargent beat us all with the best score- of course she is on a bowling league team so she better win.
It was very helpful that they put the bumper's up. Without that we would have had a lot of gutter balls.

Valentines 2011

2011-02-15T15:17:00.001-08:00

I have never been a huge fan of Valentines Day, I feel like it is nothing more than a way for stores to make more money. But I decided that I want to make it fun for our family. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a dozen red roses from Reid at work along with a giant heart balloon.

I came home from work and tried to make a nice dinner and we had homemade chicken pot pie and salad. My Mom gave us all red and pink drinks and some treats. I got all the kids some slippers that I found on clearance after Christmas. They were all very excited. I gave Reid a gift card for Harbor Freight- his favorite new store.

Filling up the freezer

2011-02-15T15:05:00.000-08:00

This was a good excuse to get the freezer cleaned out.

So if anyone remembers one of my New Years Resolutions was to build up our food storage, this has never been easy for me. I really feel that this is important, but have never been very good about it. I am trying to slowly buy extra things to build this up. We had the opportunity to buy a 1/2 a cow and decided that even though it was pretty expensive that this was a good idea to have. I am so excited to have all this meat in my freezer. In the past I have always just bought enough meat for a couple of weeks and that is it.

I remember as a child my Grandpa Sargent used to give us a 1/2 cow for Christmas, and I appreciated it because my parents told me how great it was. But now that we just bought one I really appreciate him doing that for us all those year. Thanks Grandpa! (maybe he can hear me on the other side of the veil.)

100 days of school poster

2011-02-07T19:20:00.000-08:00

We did Mitchel's 100 days of school poster tonight. This week marks 100 days since first grade started and Mitch was asked to make a poster that counted up 100 things. We did 25 pieces of candy broken down into 5 different kinds, 25 pieces of cereal also counted out by 5's, and then 50 stickers counted by 10's. I sometimes think that things like this are a pain in the butt, but it was fun tonight to see Mitch get excited about it. The hard thing for me is letting him do it, even though his writing and lines aren't perfect, I have to remember it doesn't have to be perfect.

As you can see I did some of the writing, and he did some of it.

Super Bowl party

2011-02-06T20:48:00.000-08:00

My Dad in his room enjoying whatever it was he was watching- I promise it wasn't the football game.

Carolina and Treyton

he loves to torture her.

My Treyton is a real poser. He has been so fun around our house the last couple of months. I really love this kid.

Grandma Call. She has recently moved in with my parents. And she sits in this spot on the couch pretty much all day long. Poor Grandma is ready to be done, she can hardly hear or see and is just plain wore out. She is an example to me of "enduring to the end."

Mitch really wanted the Steelers to win- I guess it wasn't in the cards for tonight.

Mom- She is always up for some kind of a party. She is the best!

Tony was the only one there besides Mitch who really cared about the outcome of the game.
As you can see the tv we were watching wasn't exactly a "big screen". It is silly because there is a nice big tv downstairs, but we all sit in the kitchen.

Leah and Savanna trying to pretend that they care about the game.

We had a little bit of a super bowl party tonight at my parents house. It wasn't too exciting, in fact we ended up not really even watching the game and playing some games of our own. But we at least attempted to celebrate. It was a nice change for the meal rather than just the normal roast beef and mashed potatoes that we have each week. (Although I will never complain about eating roast beef and potatoes- I am an Idaho girl and I love that meal!) Reid had to work today so it was just me and the kids, my parents, Grandma Call, and Leah and Tony.

It is nice to be able to go to my parents house after church and kind of relax. It is nice to have someone else there to give my kids attention and I feel like I get a little bit of a break from parenthood. Also I am now leading the primary music and after church I feel exhausted.

Lazy winter days

2011-02-06T20:39:00.000-08:00

Carolina and Savanna taking a nap together- so cute! I love my girls.

Treyton having some hot chocolate- thank goodness for the hot chocolate to warm us up.

Carolina and Treyton watching a movie- eating their snack- a piece of bread- delicious!

Savanna and Mitch watching the movie- they look bored out of their mind.

We have been pretty lazy at our house the last couple of weeks with it being so cold outside. I can't wait for it to warm up so that we can spend some time outside!! Luckily I have cute kids that keep my life exciting.

Chicken Pot Pie

2011-01-25T16:48:00.000-08:00

The chicken, vegetables and sauce all mixed together.

All ready to go in the oven.

As you can see it kind of made a mess in the dish, so I would recommend putting it on a cookie sheet so you don't make a mess in your oven. Or maybey if I had used a bigger dish this wouldn't have happened.

It doesn't look super good, but it was very delicious!

You see our fancy dinner table.

I very yummy dinner that I plan on making many more times.

I have been in need of a major menu overhaul. Tonight I decided to try something different so I made homeade chicken pot pie. I was so excited about it that I actually took pictures of it while I was making it. It turned out really yummy and it was a huge hit in my family. I thought I would post the recipe in case anyone else wants to try it.

2 frozen 9 inch pie crusts

4 chicken breasts cut into chunks

1/2 onion chopped finely

1/3 cup butter

1 cup frozen peas

3 stalks of celery chopped

about 15 mini carrots chopped

3 small potatoes pealed & chopped

2 tsp. Chicken boullion
1 can cream of chicken soup

1. cook the onions in the butter until the onions are translucent. Then add the chicken chunks to the onions and cook until the chicken is cooked through.

2. In a seperate sauce pan cook the peas, celery, carrots and potatoes in boiling water until the vegetables are tender.

3. Add the chicken boullion and cream of chicken soup to the onions and butter.

4. Drain the water from the vegetables and add the vegetables to the chicken mixture.

5. With cooking spray coat a casserole dish and place one of the pie crusts in the bottom of the dish. Pour the chicken and vegetables into the pie crust and then cover with the 2nd pie crust. Put a few slits in the pie crust for venting.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place dish in the oven and cook for 30 minutes covering the crust with tin foil. After 30 minutes remove the tin foil and cook for another 30 minutes. let cool for 2-3 minutes before serving.