We Put The F In Awesome

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!! 2010

2010-12-23T22:03:00.001-08:00

Is it that time of year again when I have to blog? I haven't blogged for quit awhile... the business of life always gets in the way. Anyhoo... I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas this year and a Happy New Year! The Fossum clan is doing wonderful. Here is a run down of what is going on...

Enoch (11)- just got through with football season, his new found love. He has learned discipline, respect, dignity, and responsibility all in one swoop this season. He is very good at tackling even though he is a skinny little thing. I was very surprised to see him take down the big guys on the field. Enoch is also in the sixth grade and I'm starting to get a little nervous for him to be in junior high! He is a good kid and has grown around four inches or so over the summer. He just started babysitting for us when we go out on our weekly dates and is really great with all the kids.

Isaac- (9) went to soccer camp this year and really had fun in the heat of the sun. He also just memorized the 13 articles of Faith in which he can answer anything a mormon believes.... haha.
He is in scouts and really enjoys it... since it is just him and his best friend in his group. Isaac has become a real chatter box and loves to tell stories. I hope he turns out a good story teller like his dad.

Jacob (7)- the twins are getting big and have started first grade this year. Jacob was struggling at reading so he got into the resource program and has become one of the top readers in the program. He is best at sports and has found that he can really get the moves on when dancing to Just Dance on the wii.
Ben(7)- Ben is always busy. He loves to go from room to room and see what he can mess up... I mean that in a not so bad way. He is always wanting to play with friends, is always hungry, and never wants to go to sleep at night. I'm still wondering where he gets all his energy. Ben is very soft hearted and has become a good helper to his sister.
Rachel (2)- My baby is a big girl now! Rachel is doing well. She got tubes in her ears from all her ear infections and can now hear! She is delayed in her speech but goes around the house babbling anyway. She has just started pretending so a bowl and a couple fake foods can keep her busy for hours. She loves her brothers and they have really learned how to babysit her. They even put her to bed at night! Rachel is a sweetheart and puts the candy into our family of boys.

John is doing great. He is still a seminary teacher at Pleasant Grove High School and is teaching English online for DeVry University. He just got news that his article for a religion scholar magazine is going to be published! Besides work, John just finished a kitchen down in our basement. He was also the assistant coach for Enoch's team in football. I'm glad all that stress is over and we can just enjoy the holidays. John really enjoys being on the high council in the Stake and is in charge of the young single adult ward.
I(Sarah) am also doing wonderful. This past year my two running friends got into the St. George Marathon so I trained with them and then ran my own marathon with another bff. It was challenging and really fun so I'm excited for next summer when I can do a couple more. I have also cross trained and try to keep up on my swimming. I enjoy crafting and have a new blog with my sisters called ziggycrafts.blogspot.com. It is a site that gives demos on all sorts of crafts!
I also still enjoy reading, being involved in bookclub, and working in the Primary in church.

This year has flown by so fast. We had so much fun seeing a lot of you at reunions and other gatherings and look forward to being with you in 2011. If anyone is looking to buy a house in Pleasant Grove (the best area around), we are listing our house and trying to move up the street. Why would I move anywhere else? The mountains are gorgeous, the schools are wonderful, and it is a great place to raise kids.
We hope you have a happy holiday!
love from the Fossum family and hopefully I will blog again soon!

Park City here we come....

2010-07-11T16:05:00.000-07:00

We just returned from the Phil Packer Reunion up in Park City! It was a delicious vacation! We rented three condos at Bear Hollow close to the outlet malls. We each had a hottub on the deck of our units and there was a pool in the clubhouse. We stayed there for three nights, and the kids loved playing with their cousins. At night the adults all put their kids to bed and we met in one of the condos and played games. It worked out perfectly because we had a lot of bonding time! We had a talent show and John and I did that act where you lay down on a table and lay your head upside down and wear an outfit on your head and paint your chin to look like a face. We sang the "Jackson" song from Walk the Line and the family loved it! It got a little out of control at the talent show and my sisters and I started clogging a hoedown. For those of you who don't know, we all took clogging back in the day. Anyway, needless to say the next door neighbor came and told us to be quiet. So you can tell how much fun we were having! The next day we had Field Day at a park and played games: relay races, soccer, kickball to name a few. It was sunny and hot but a cloud soon covered the sun and it was perfect. Every morning my sister Liz and sis-in-law Sara and I went on a morning jog on the local trails there and had time to catch up and talk. On the last day I got to go alone with my Dad. It was really nice to talk alone with him as well. Each condo took a turn cooking a meal every night and we all ate dinner together. It was a little chaotic but you just had to laugh at how big the family is now! My brother Sam filmed each family doing a little skit and he put together music and edited them for the last night. We met in my parent's condo and had a little movie night. Our family has a very crazy sense of humor so we got to enjoy some great comedy. The highlight of all the movies was the music video performed by my brother Ben doing a song from Labyrinth "Dance magic Dance". It was halarious. We also made a care package for my youngest brother James who is serving a mission in Argentina. We each wrote him a letter or drew him a picture. The next morning we took family pics in our tiedyed shirts that we made up there and said our goodbyes. It wa hard to say goodbye especially to Ben and Sara who live in Arizona. These are the times that we really bond and make good memories. Can't wait for next year! Love you guys!!

Moab Half Marathon 2010!

2010-04-25T19:12:00.000-07:00

We had a really fun time this year doing the Moab Canyonlands Half Marathon last March. My friend Colleen did it with me too. It was a very cold morning because the sun wasn't in the canyon yet. We had to wait up the canyon for about an hour an a half before it started so the first mile or so felt wierd because our toes were numb. but then it warmed up and we took off. It took John 2 hours because he took his time and just had fun. Colleen and I came in at about 2 hours and 13 minutes. We didn't push ourselves and just had a fun time. Most of it was an easy gradual decline but there were some hills. It was fun to run in a place that was unfamiliar. I think that is why the race felt like it flew by. My bro Sam let me use his camera so I could take pics along the way. It was a gorgeous canyon with red rock and the Colorado river. John and I figured it was a bit expensive though because the race itself was $80 each, then with food, gas, and a hotel we ended up spending around $400!!! Next year I'm thinking of running it with a bunch of my girlfriends so we can share everything and cut the costs. Thanks to Sam also for watching all my kids when we were away, very fun for him I'm sure! Running is great and I'm really starting to take to these half marathons!!

Introducing our new Tortoise!

2010-04-25T18:59:00.000-07:00

Here is our newest addition! Sawyer James Ford Fossum- a Russian desert tortoise. We bought him from Petsmart last February and since we were in a Lost watching frenzy, decided to name him Sawyer. He sleeps in a huge 52 gallon aquarium in Enoch and Isaac's room. I didn't know what it takes to keep this pet alive but I learned that he needs two kinds of lighting... uva and uvb. But he eats lettuce, some spinach, apples and pears. He really is a good little pet and very very low maintanance. Hopefully we will be able to keep him alive since I have killed fish and hamsters. Yesterday Enoch helped John build a big cage for him to be in the backyard during the Summer. It has to be at least 70 degrees outside. Welcome to our family Sawyer, we hope you will outlive at least me!

The Swim Pro is Back!

2010-01-21T14:24:00.000-08:00

John bought me a 24 hour fitness pass for two years for Christmas. I was so excited because I hadn't been swimming for a couple months and now I can go back! I usually have a routine down that includes swimming 20 laps with different stroke rotations. But I am ready for something new! So I have been watching youtube and yes they even have "learn how to swim" videos. I really want to learn how to swim the butterfly stroke but that includes the dolphin kick and really strong arm muscles. Today I decided to try the butterfly and looked like I was hula dancing in place while drowning. Better luck next time. I just learned how to swim last year and owe it all to my sister Liz who taught me. Now the pro is here and ready to go another year!

One of my goals this year is to learn a new stroke every couple months. But haha we will see. I have two triathalons (speed of course) coming this Spring. I have been trying to teach my friend Colleen how to swim as well, but I'm not a good teacher. I think my favorite thing to do though is sit in the steam room afterward. I bought some Eucalyptus Oil to spray in there so it is all healthy and minty. Mmmm, it's nice to relax after a good swim!

Merry Christmas 2009!

2009-12-17T20:02:00.000-08:00

Lovin' Life Lots and Lots 2009

There are so many things we are grateful for and not enough space to say it, so we have come up with 9 ways to explain our joy from this year:

Lots and Lots of Family - We had a wonderful time this year with family. In May I went with Rachel and my siblings up to Boise to witness my cousin Nick's fabulous wedding. This was a big deal because I hardly get to see my mom's sissies. Then in July we went to Snowbird for a couple days with my dad's side of the family- the big Packer reunion. There is a blog post about this fun time. The kids loved the rides there! We had an awesome time with John's family in Fairview this past July as well. We rented a big house there and were given lots of R&R. I especially had fun WALKING a 5k with Alex and Erika. I still laugh about Alex's m&m's he carried in his pocket. Such a relaxing time! I am still going to do a post about that but there are so many pics that it is stressing me out! The greatest time was my brother Sam living with us for the summer. He moved up from Dallas and we were very blessed to have him in our home for just a short time.

Lots and Lots of Energy- Hopefully by now you all know that John and I love to exercise whether it be running, lifting, cycling, or aerobics. John did a couple marathons this year. He was a guinea pig for a new marathon that followed the Provo river down the canyon. He is looking forward to next year though when he will do the new Mountain Man Marathon. It is along the Bonneville trail up in the mountains. That is his territory and he loves mountain running! I am so proud to announce that my sister Liz taught me how to swim this year. Literally. I think I was so scared all those years to go under water that I never really learned how to swim laps. I did a triathalon with Liz and Cat along with our friends last April. Before that Liz taught me how to swim at 24 hour fitness. I was so frustrated but finally caught on and it has become my new love! So for Christmas this year I am asking for a 24 hour fitness pass from Santa! John and I snuck in some half marathons as well last year and love it like candy. Now that it is snowy and yucky outside we really miss those long runs. I also enjoy waking up at 5:30 every morning and going to the local rec center to take their aerobic classes. The teacher Marci rocks!

Lots and Lots of Luck- Just recently John woke up in the middle of the night with a pain in the ride side of his abdomen. Since I was such a pro and got my appendix out when I was ten, I kind of kne what it was. We rushed to the hospital at 3am and he got is appendix out at 7am. A quick surgery but long recovery. He is just no starting feel normal again. Also this past June I had an abdominalplasty. In other words my abs were seperated 7 inches and I really had to do something about it before it blew into a full hernia. Needless to say that was the toughest and most painful surgery but well worth it to "get put back together". You can read all about it in the June section of this blog. There are even before and after pics- woohoo! The kids did pretty well this year and only had a couple cavity's each. That beats extractions and root canals! Rachel got glasses a couple months ago because of her lazy eye that she was born with. I didn't want to go for the surgery to fix her eye so we are trying a more subtle way and it seems to be working! Anyway needless to say none of us died this year so I would have to say we have a lot of luck!

Lots and Lots of Learning- like I mentioned... I had a great time learning how to swim this year. I have also been learning some mean lifts at the gym. My favorite is called "skull crushers". Since John goes three times a week to lift he has taught me some new moves and I'm starting to feel like a pro! Ben and Jake are now in Kindergarten and are learning how to read and write. They are also learning to have their own seperate friends and have found that they love to play at other people's houses. Hey, I'm not complaining, that gives me time to have a nap! Isaac is learning how to play the piano and I am his teacher. He is doing really well with it and always asks for another lesson. I think I can teach better than I can actually play. Enoch is in fifth grade this year and is learning a ton! He is starting to catch on more to long division and has learned to do his homework without being asked. I think it is because he has a male teacher this year and really respects him. Enoch has learned how to babysit! That gives John and I a new freedom that we have never experienced! We are looking forward for all the years of dates without paying a babysitter! We have also learned this year how to make our own bread. We bought a wheat grinder and have learned to make John's mom's homemade bread recipe. So every week I make bread and it's delicious! Rachel is learning how to walk but doesn't really show much interest in it as well as learning how to talk. She loves the attention of being the youngest and a girl so I think it puts her learning a little behind. Someday she will catch on!

Lots and Lots of Work- John is working full time still as a seminary teacher for Pleasant Grove High School. He loves teaching the youth and is a great role model for the students. He is also enjoy his work for Devry University teaching English online. He has picked up two classes each term and really loves the fact that he can work from the comfort of his own home. I am lucky to be able to stay at home and be there for my kids. Although I still have a lot of work to do for example around 9 loads of laundry a week. I am working full time as a homemaker but love just playing with Rachel while the boys are at school. John just recently got called as a stake high counselman in our church so most Sundays he is gone to meetings and other wards. Sundays are hard for me but the boys are good at helping out. I am working in the Primary Presidency and really love the children in our ward. It seems like kids are so brilliant these days and each have a special gift to give the world. We love our callings and have put them as one of the most important things to us in our lives. Speaking of work, we also painted our kitchen cupboards black this past summer. I saw it on a blog and loved the look of it so we read her instructions and did it ourselves. We love the destressed look and think it's great because if our kids run into them and it makes a ding it just adds to it! That was hard work but we love how it looks! John also put in new lighting in the kitchen and that makes a huge difference!

Lots and Lots of Firsts-Rachel turned one this year and also got her first tooth. Now she has four. It is fun to see her with all her firsts. I absolutely love babies! Isaac got baptized this year into our church and has really grown since then as a new member of our ward. His cousin Lacey was also baptized and we had a nice luncheon afterwards. We bought Enoch his first cologne and deordorant this year although he probably doesn't need it yet. He puts it on after he has a shower and it makes him feel so big. He used to spray John's cologne on him before school so he is glad to have his own now! I got my first life size cardboard character of Edward from Twilight. my friends decorated my front lawn for my birthday and Edward was standing by the front door. Now it's in my boys' room and they still get freaked out by him there. But I have to admit I totally love the Twilight series and saw New Moon for the first time and three other times since. John even took me to it! I also went off sugar and realized for the first time that I'm an addict and so are my kids! My friend Colleen and I did a half to half challenge. We went off sugar from one half marathon to the other that we did at the end of the year. It was two months to be exact. It was hard and challenging but the best thing for my body! Next year we are paying our kids to not eat sugar!

Lots and Lots of Laughs- On the right side of our blog there are quotes from our boys and the funny things they say. In fact the other day Ben came up to me upon finding out that the toothfairy was late in delivering a reward from Jake's tooth and said, "I know why the tooth fairy hasn't come yet. I think she has the swine flu." They are always saying the funniest things that make us laugh! John is still getting lots of laughs over the fact that last year he put a student's used phone in my stocking and told me that was all he could afford. (although he gave me the new phone like an hour later.) He played it up for the whole hour though and it really didn't bother me at least it was a phone. He always tells his students that now and gets a laugh out of my reaction to that. But I really didn't mind getting a used phone! So this year hopefully I can get him back by some of the gifts I'm giving him. John is a great story teller in fact that's one of the reasons I married him so there are always lots of laughs at our house! I don't think I've ever laughed so much then when I'm around him.

Lots and Lots of Fun- We had loads of fun this year taking the kids on new adventures. One of which our friend let us borrow his four wheelers and we took them up American Fork canyon with the boys while John's mom watched Rachel for the day. It was very fun especially when John took us the wrong way and led us up an extremely difficult and bumpy path! We also had fun in Idaho this past summer at the sand dunes and the drive-in theater. (we ended up being the only ones there because it was a rainy and cold night). This year our boys have really taken to playing board games and we are excited about that because John and I are gamers! We love to play board games with bowls of candy and popcorn and bathe in the beauty of having fun with small minds. They really are better at some games than we are especially with the Wii!

Lots and Lots of Blessings- We feel really blessed this year especially with John's jobs because of the economy. We are so blessed to have the necessaties of life and so much more. I think of all of you especially during this holiday season and remember how you have touched our lives in one way or the other. We feel extremely blessed to have you in our lives and realize that the most important things are the relationships that we have with you.
I want to end this letter with a challenge and I love giving and receiving challenges. I want to challenge you to read the Book of Mormon, even if you are not a member of our church. Let me know if you read it and what you think of it. I know that it will help you in your life and know that God has the capacity to give you blessings if you will read this book and take it to heart. I love a good book and am in the process of speed reading it during the next two weeks. One of John's goals this year was to read the Book of Mormon two times this year and he is almost done with that goal. So our challenge for 2009 is to read the Book of Mormon!
We are especially grateful for the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ and hope that we can remember him not only at this time of year but all the time. He is the reason for all seasons! We love you and wish you the best for 2010!
Love, the Fossums
Sarah and John
Enoch, Isaac, Jacob, Benjamin and Rachel

Holy Yummy!

2009-12-09T19:10:00.001-08:00

Tis the season for Spudnuts! The other night Liz and David and their kids came up and we made spudnuts and ate them all! They are especially delicious when they are fresh and hot. My mom made them every year when we were growing up for neighbors during the holidays, and my Mom-in-law makes them as well with a special spice: cardimom. I like to combine the two recipes and make my own. I was thinking of opening up a doughnut restaurant called "Rispie Ream". I know it sounds like Krispie Kream but hey, if I can get people to come to my resaurant that way all the better!

Spudnut Recipe

2 C. Milk

7 C. flour

1/2 C. shortening

2 eggs

1/2 C. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. cardamom spice

1/2 tsp. salt cream of tartar (optional)

2 T. yeast

crisco veg. oil for frying

1 C. mashed potatoes (I use instant)

Cream together sugar, shortening, and mashed potatoes. Warm milk and add to mixture. Add all ingredients except flour, mix well. Add flour, kneading until smooth and elastic. Let rise until doubled in size. Roll out and cut into shapes. I use a mason jar lid for the doughnut shape and a smaller lid like a lemon juice lid for the hole. Let rise again. Heat oil on medium heat. Test a doughnut before cooking to make sure oil is hot enough. Place doughnut counter side up in oil. Cook to a golden brown. Icing: powdered sugar, water, vanilla. Mix until semi-thick. You will love these!

Crafting it up!

2009-12-09T18:46:00.000-08:00

I love to surf different blogs about homemade crafts. Here are a few ideas I have copied. I love to crochet and always have to be doing something while watching tv. On Thanksgiving I decided to crochet my little niece some gloves and a scarf. I know it looks like totally 80's but I love it! I have made some other friends gloves like this as well per request! I found this keychain idea from my sister Liz who found it on a blog. I made myself one and love it! You can put the fabric around your wrist so you never forget your keys! Also, the big thing right now is scrabble tile necklaces. I made keychains by cutting up some wood and the same way as the tiles, then spiced it up with beads. Some other ideas were these blanket covers for the newborn carseats. I made a boy one and a girl one for my friends' showers. It is so much fun to relax and have a crafting day every once in awhile. I have found some other ideas as well but can't post them cuz they are Christmas gifts!
Some of the blogs I like are makeitandloveit, ucreate, and infarantlycreative. When you hit these blogs there are other links to more and more. Happy crafting!

Twilight Party: in Celebration of New Moon

2009-11-17T10:44:00.000-08:00

This past Friday night I had a Twilight party before New Moon comes out this week. For all you Twilight Saga fans, I'm sure you know how fun it is to go with the craze and celebrate! My friend Colleen was so kind to host it at her house. She has a beautiful basement that just got finished with a home theater system. We had Stephenie Meyer, and Edward and Alice look alikes there. Everyone brought lots of food: cupcakes, peanut butter bars, brownies, artichoke dip, and lots of other mouth-watering food. There were lots of pictures taken with the celebrities, then we started the movie, and afterwards had a raffle with New Moon gifts. My sister Liz crocheted a little Edward doll for the raffle. He was holding a little apple. It was very cute! We dressed up in Prom dresses or vampire attire. I decided the easiest way to go would be vampire. Needless to say I look like a cardboard cutout with my pale face and strange black hair. It is so fun to dress up though. Who ever gets that chance once you are a mom? Later on during the movie, my friend's husband (Richard) decided to come and scare us. He has custom made vampire teeth. The girls thought he was just plain funny. He was sucking on cinnamon breath mints and blowing it in people's faces. Needless to say, he wasn't very scary, just funny. It was a fun night out with the girls. Don't feel bad if you couldn't make it this year, because we will probably be doing a New Moon party next year!

Edward: where is he going to be next?

2009-11-16T14:38:00.000-08:00

For my birthday this year my friends gave me this life-size figure of Edward from the movie "Twilight". He is pretty scary when you walk into a room and aren't expecting him to be there. You really feel the presence of someone watching you, it is way wierd! So John thought it would be funny to take it a little farther and try to scare me even more. He tried to put Edward in the least expected places: behind my door, in the kitchen, in the shower, and even in my bed! I thought it was so funny and so did all my kids! My boys have been begging me to put him in their room because they think Edward is very cool. So after my Twilight party, I put him in their room and just this morning as I was putting something in there, he scared me again! Edward, where are you going to be next?

Girl with Glasses

2009-11-12T15:33:00.000-08:00

Rachel was born with a lazy eye in her left eye. So eventually her doctor told me to take her to a pediatric eye doctor. I went to one that was located in Orem and didn't have a very pleasant experience. He was very pompous to say the least and jumped to the conclusion right away that Rachie needed surgery. So I wanted a second opinion and took her up to Primary Children's hospitol to Dr. Larsen. He said that Rachel has a very mild case of youth far-sightedness which is different than that of an adult. He recommended that she try glasses before surgery. Glasses are a more mild way of fixing her eye and will strengthen the muscle over time so that when she is around four or so she won't need them anymore. If the glasses don't work, which we will know around eight weeks, then we will opt for the surgery. I think she looks pretty cute though, don't you? It was hard for me to get a pic of her without her glasses glaring. She seems to like them though and doesn't take them off except when we are driving in the car. I think it's because I tease her in the rearview mirror so she takes them off and throws them. Cutie!

A Happy Halloween!

2009-11-11T15:02:00.001-08:00

I had a fabulous birthday this year. Since my birthday falls on Halloween, it is literally a treat every year. This year my Mom and Sam came down from Idaho to celebrate with us. It has been a long time since they both have been with me on my birthday. John and I woke up early that morning to run the Halloween Half Marathon which took place up by Sundance and down through Provo canyon. I ran it with my friends because of course John is way to speedy for me. Four of my friends and I trained for a long time for this race. We decided it would be fun to dress up as Cheetah girls. A lot of people wore costumes. It was a fun race. The first five miles were a very steep downhill so my legs really took a beating. When we reached the Provo trail, it was really foggy and kind of spooky: perfect for halloween. Then as we came out of the canyon it turned really sunny and beautiful: a perfect run. I was pretty happy with my time: 1:59 which was my personal goal. And of course John ran it like in 90 minutes.

It was a surprise to me when we got home to see that my yard had been decorated with every halloween decor you can think of. I thought it was awesome but my friends were hoping I would think it was discusting because it was major overkill. I loved it though and felt loved as well. The tombstones read stuff like: here lies a hottie, and i ran here.... and the date of my birthday. I thought it was so fun. They even put Edward from Twilight on my front porch! Liz and Sam helped decorate as well. I thought that was pretty surprising since Liz came up from Provo and then came back down and met me at the end of the race. I had no idea what trouble she went through that morning. Sam also went to Krispie Cream and bought us all doughnuts! My friend Colleen and I went off sugar for two months and Halloween was the day that we could eat sugar again so that doughnut tasted so good!

I went out to lunch with Sam, mom and Liz and we went to Iggy's to eat. Then I went and got some new jeans at the Buckle because John gave me some birthday money! I got a lot of fun gifts from everyone this year and feel so loved!

That night we went trick-or-treating at the church trunk or treat. Liz and David and their kids came up as well. Liz made a yummy white chili and brought me my favorite sugar cookies topped with candy corns! I decided not to have a cake this year because all I wanted were those cookies! It was worth every bite too! I think I ate like four!

This year the kids were very cute in their costumes: Enoch was Michael Jackson and was "thrilled" because he really loves his music! Isaac was a zombie-mummy(anything to look as scary as possible). the twins Ben and Jake were ninjas and Rachel was a little unicorn. I was going to dress up but by that time I was dead tired so I just painted my face and called it good.

Afterwards we took the kids around the block trick-or-treating and then hung out the rest of the night. I think I crashed at like 9 because I was wiped out. What a fun and Long day!

Thanks so everyone that made this day special! Earlier on in the week my friends surprised me by having John take me out to dinner and they all met me at the restaraunt..... I also got the treat to go to my favorite restaraunt with John, mom and Sam: the Red Iguana. Then on Sunday after my birthday we went to Mom and Dad Fossums and they had a special birthday dinner for me with everyone. I think I'm all birthdayed out now! Thanks everyone!

Family Times

2009-07-16T16:06:00.000-07:00

We just went to a family reunion for my Dad's side of the fam - the Packer reunion. It was a short one, only a couple days. I wish it was longer because by the time we all got reaquinted it was time to go home. It was up at the Snowbird resort. They have awesome summer activities up there: the Alpine slide, Zip line, bungee trampoline, tram ride, to name a few.We all got day passes so that we could go on anything and everything as many times as we wanted. The boys really had a lot of fun because they have never done anything like that before. When we went up the mountain to the top of the peak, we all got out and took pictures. It was very beautiful and the pictures don't do it justice. John got a second wind and wanted to run down the mountain on the trails. We watched him on our way down and could see him running along the edge of the peaks. It looked like he was in a movie, it was so pretty. We went swimming and hung out in the condos we stayed in as well. It was all a lot of fun. We took a family picture the last day we were there. It is a rare occasion when all my Mom and Dad's kids are together. We also had a birthday party for my 80 year old grandma, Lola. She is the cutest little lady and so genuinely charitable. We also played games: Dudo (dice game on Pirates of the Carribean) and Scum (a card game). What a fun time! I love Summers because of family reunions. Now in a week or so we are going to a reunion on John's side of the family. We are looking forward to more fun times!

Remembering Michael Jackson

2009-07-15T20:33:00.000-07:00

I grew up listening to Michael Jackson. In fact, I was so in love with him when I was eight that I consider him to be my first boyfriend. After all, sometimes kissing the tv or a poster isn't too far off from the real thing. Even now I am a devoted fan and made a promise to my siblings that if he ever came to the USA in concert we would pay big bucks to go see him. He is the King of Pop and by far the greatest entertainer of all time. Sure, he does look like a freak. If he wouldn't have changed his skin color he would still look okay. But being the boy who never had a childhood he thought he had to look like Peter Pan, the boy who never grows old. Instead, he turned out looking like a freak. There was no way he could have looked in the mirror every day and thought he looked okay. What a sad life in the end. But despite all the sadness he was still one of my favorite artists. Therefore, it was a very sad day when we found out that Michael Jackson died. I told Isaac (my 8 year old) and he hung his head down and started crying! That is how much we love MJ in our family. So the boys have been watching MJ's music videos, all of which are brilliant I might add. Enoch has been begging me to buy him a glove. So I looked online and almost every store online that carried the MJ costume glove was sold out! I finally found one for $7 on ebay and that includes free shipping! So today the glove came in the mail and immediately Enoch put it on..... only to find out it was too big. (I tried to tell him that a million times before we bought it but he still insisted on getting it). So I told him I would try to fix it with my sewing machine. When all was said and done and after three attempts of turning the glove inside out and losing sequins while doing so, the glove finally fit! Although in these pictures you aren't seeing that there are sequins inside the glove that are jabbing at Enochs skin. Oh well, let the King of Pop be reborn. His music will never die and he will always be alive in our house! We love you Michael!

Happy 4th!

2009-07-14T19:54:00.000-07:00

It is a tradition that we head on down to Provo every fourth of July to spend the day with Liz and David. We started off the day with the hot air balloon launch while John ran the freedom run 10k. Then, we went over to the Thompson's for a breakfast. Becky and Wes and their kids were there as well as Sam. The rest of the day we kind of relaxed at home and then went back that night for a bbq and to watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks. They live very close to the stadium and have a beautiful back deck with a great view for the show. The kids had fun lighting sparklers and playing with glow sticks. The adults sat around and played games. Jay and Emily Forscutt were there as well (David's sister) and some other friends. We ate a ton of food and had a great time laughing and joking around. The fireworks were a little different this year. They went on for about five or ten minutes and then stopped completely. Then like ten minutes later they started up again. We found out later that they were retiring an old flag in the stadium so it was a moment of silence. Before the fireworks start we always like to wait for the jets to come over the stadium. They are loud and fast and the kids just love watching them. This year all the kids wanted to follow what the Dads did last year and get up on the roof to wait for the jets. Pretty soon after one kid got up there everyone else had to follow. We also thought it would be fun to get some pictures of all the girls together so Sam was the photographer and got some glamour shots of all of us! It was all fun and good times. That is why we keep it a tradition every year.... thanks Liz and David!

My first podcast: Abdominoplasty Procedure

2009-07-05T09:49:00.000-07:00

http://www.yousendit.com/download/cmczK0duTWNTSUIzZUE9PQ

This is my first podcast. Since my brother Sam is living with us for awhile, we thought it would be fun to do some podcasts. A podcast is a voice recording. I decided to do one of my surgery. So this is for those of you who are interested in learning about what my surgery was, what to expect and other details. It lasts about 20 minutes or so.

In the future I am going to be doing some of my kids. I thought it would be fun to have them record their voices as well. So hopefully this link will connect you to the site where the podcast is and you just push download and it takes a second to download and then you can tune in! Good luck...

Before and After

2009-06-15T17:50:00.000-07:00

Here are the results of my new body. It is still swollen and bruised so it will look better I'm sure in a few months. The wierdest thing is my new belly button. It doesn't really look like a belly button but it may later. They cut around my old one, lifted up my skin, pulled it down and made a new hole for the belly button to come through. And that is just a little part of the reconstruction. I'm sure John would yell at me if I gave you all the gorey details of the whole operation. So if you want to know details just talk to me about it later. I have drains in and have to wear a corset wrap around my waste so it's a little tricky to sleep at night. Plus, I have a lot of bruising as you can see in one of these pictures. My ribs hurt and my whole back feels like it's bruised, but other than that I'm good as long as I keep up on my pain killers. If this wasn't a medical necessity I don't think I would voluntarily go in and get this surgery done. It is quite painful and extensive. I'm just happy to have my abs back together. They are holding in all that was being pushed out before. And by the way, the before pic of me at the top was when I was flexing, haha. It's amazing to me what technology they have these days that can put your body back together. I almost cried when I first saw the results because I was so happy to finally have a core again. Thanks to everyone for coming to visit, help out, and bring us food. You rock!

Pregnant Again?

2009-06-14T15:47:00.000-07:00

No I'm not five months pregnant in these pictures. Over the past couple months my stomach is getting bigger... and I'm excercising every day! So I decided to go in for a consultation to see what was going on. I went to three surgeons (one general and two plastic) and come to find out I have something called, "Diastasis Recti" which is a seperation of the ab muscles. This is mainly from having twins. After you have a baby the muscles usually go back together but from having twins and then another baby, my muscles went kapoot! Come to find out, by exercising I was making it worse. When my ab muscles were strengthening, they were going outward instead of together and pushing everything outward. So the saying, "My guts are hanging out!" wasn't an understatement.

John and I went through hours of trying to get our insurance to cover this procedure but it is coded a "diastasis" and our insurance does not cover it. Basically, you have to get your face blown off in order for them to cover anything. But we felt good about going with a certain doctor and paying for the procedure even though it will cost us six grand.

So... after much praying, we decided to go through with the procedure and I had a full abdominoplasty on June 8th. It took the doctor three hours or so and he said it was the biggest diastasis he has ever seen. My abs were seperated seven inches! It was an outpatient procedure so I stayed in his facility for a couple hours and then went home. The first day I felt totally nautious because I had way too many pain meds in me. I also had a pain pump inside that sprayed pain meds to my abs. John took a week off and now my Mom and Sam are here to take care of me. I have had numerous meals brought in from neighbors and John just let me rest all week which was much needed. I have had two c-sections and would say this surgery is probably the same as those if not worse because it is dealing with a lot of muscle. But every day is getting easier and my results are amazing. I am going to post more pictures of my after results within the next couple days so stay posted.

After seeing my end results (even though I am still bruised and swollen) my son Enoch said, "Wow mom! You look like a teenager!" So keep in touch!

Yippee! Sam is here!

2009-05-31T09:29:00.001-07:00

I'm so excited to have my brother Sam come back from Dallas. He dropped everything to move out here and be closer to family. Now that is a big leap of faith! I'm so excited to have him around again. We are only eighteen months apart and he has always been such a close friend. He is living at my sister Liz's house but is moving up here shortly. It will be great because he is such a good cleaner, babysitter, etc. (although that's not the only reason I'm excited to have him live with us) He's a great cook too and we always laugh. Who could ask for anything more! These pics were taken when we went hiking when he first came out. We were trying to get one of all three of us jumping at the same time.(Sam, me, and Liz). This is an expression of how happy we are to have Sam here again. Love you Sam!

Hooray! Spring is here!

2009-05-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

This past month we went to the Aquarium and the Petting zoo. The kids loved it! The weather is changing... hopefully it won't be too cold anymore. This Spring it has been kind of slow getting here, but I am glad Spring has finally Sprung! We have been very busy lately (that's why I don't blog very much) doing various activities that I hope to blog about in the future. We went to the Aquarium with Ingrid and Martin and their kids. It' s up in Sandy. The kids loved it. There is a pond in the middle where you can pet sting rays and try to touch fish, 'course that never happens. The octopus was my favorite creature and I am happy to say that when the Aquarium was downtown Salt Lake City when Martin worked there, we got a backstage tour and I was able to touch the octupus. It started feeling it's way up my arm and I got a little freaked out but it was awesome! So I'm glad I could see my little friend again. If you have never been, you should go. It's great!

We went to the petting zoo at Thanksgiving Point with my friends Hannah and Corissa and their kids. It was a very fun day. The kids loved looking at the animals and riding the ponies. Great place for kids!

Jake and Ben getting used to the jail bars.

some of the animals had little babies so it was fun to see them! The goat that Jake is petting was there like 8 years ago, and still has a freaky look on his face!

Happy Easter! I made Rachel a little shawl to go with her Easter dress. She was a good sport to wear it. Oh, I guess she doesn't have a choice. She did spit up on it though so maybe that will tell you how she feels about it! It was a beautiful Spring day and we had a wonderful Sunday.

the cousins (notice most of them are boys!)

We had a great Easter this year! We went over to Mom and Dad Fossum's on Saturday and had a huge Easter egg hunt with all the kids. They loved it of course because it's a sugar holiday! We put a couple dollar bills in some of the eggs and the kids loved finding the magic egg!

Jake and the magic Egg

Fun with Baby Rachie

2009-04-08T12:33:00.000-07:00

Rachel is now seven months old! That means I have hardly had ANY time to clean my house let alone post on this blog! So if any of you were wondering when I am going to do another one, come on over here and change some diapers for me! I have been running around like a chicken with it's head cut off ! I've been trying to train for my triathalon and haven't had much time to do anything else but devote my time to this cute baby girl and my four boys. But Spring is here and we are all ready to go outside! In my spare time(?) I snapped these pictures of some of the boys having fun playing with Rachel. She thinks she is so big now because she sits up at the bar with the boys and watches their every move. If you remember another post I did about Bionicle Soup you will see in these pics what bionicles are and just how much my boys love playing with them! Enoch has probably collected around 80 or so of them since he was four or so. He also has a bin full of various lego pieces which the boys love making new bionicles from. And actually one of my pet peeves is lego pieces that are found all over the house. Sometimes I just vacuum them up, shh don't tell! All in all we are having a wonderful time over here in the crazy Fossum house and can't wait to trust the weather enough to go outside!

One Enchanted Evening

2009-04-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

A couple Sundays ago we celebrated Mom and Dad Fossum's birthdays by having them over for a roast dinner. We also invited Grandma Flo, who is 98 years old! We thought it would be fun to get some pictures of our kids with her so that they can remember her when she passes on. She is very vibrant and healthy for her age and just loves life, so she may be here for many more years! It was a nice Sunday evening and we always love having Eric and Claudia over. I made a carrot cake for dessert, a recipe I got from my friend Laurel.... and I'm still dreaming of it ever since, it was soooooo tasty!

Never Too Old To Par-tay!

2009-03-26T12:26:00.000-07:00

This last weekend when John was out of town I had a birthday party for my friend Colleen who turned 37. Her husband was very nice to let us have it on the night of her birthday and he also payed for everything as well. We had Papa Murphy's pizza, Hannah made a castle cake, and we had lots of candy. He also bought a bunch of flowers and balloons, so much that my whole house was covered with them. We did make-overs on eachother and laughed so hard that by the end of the night our mouths hurt from laughing so hard. Most of the girls were from the ward here but my sister Liz also came up because she is friends with Colleen as well. We stayed up until 3:30 or so playing guitar hero on the Wii. The next day Colleen and Hannah came back over to help me clean up. Colleen said it was the best birthday ever.....I think she was just being nice! It was fun to just lay back and forget about all of our responsibilities for just one night. I'm sure if you were an observer you would think we were a little too wild and crazy at times....but you are never too old to par-tay!

p.s. if you want me to throw you a party I would be glad to as long as your husband gives me money! jk

Way to Go Liz and John!!

2009-03-16T09:03:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday was the Rex Lee Run held down at BYU. John and Liz both ran in the 10k and finished with excellent times....John 48 minutes and Liz 52 minutes.....that's 6 miles by the way! John checked later and found that the first place winner in his age group was around 44 minutes so if he just pushed it a little more he could have won! I know that's your competitive nature John but you have a spranged ankle...hello? I wanted to run it but my leg is injured from circuit running so I'm out for six weeks (see previous blog). I was so bummed but hung out with the kids on the sideline waiting to cheer these guys on!

When John came in he gave the boys a high five. They loved it! David and the kids were there for Liz as well. The boys played ball and ran on the sideline. Enoch said, "Did I run as long as Dad?" He thought that the race started and ended on the track and lasted about a minute. It was a great day, feeling a lot like Spring. Man, I wish I could have ran that race! Last year I was pregnant, so hopefully next year! Congrats Liz and John on a great race!! (upcoming races for us....the triathalon for Liz and me and marathon for John)

Swimming: Fear or Fun?

2009-03-15T21:37:00.000-07:00

I have been running extra hard lately, doing these circuit running intervals. I ran too hard one day and pulled something in my upper leg. I got an MRI on Friday to see if it is a stress fracture on my femur bone. I hope it's not because then that would mean no running for six weeks. But I have found a new love.... swimming. I don't know for sure if I am comfortable with calling it a new love since I am deathly afraid of water. I almost drowned like three times in my life and have never gotten used to not plugging my nose under the water. But it is one of the activities I can do without putting weight on my injured leg. I have also started biking. It's a good thing since I am training for a speed triathalon in April. Anyhoo, back to my swimming story. I joined 24 hour fitness(my sister's club) for a couple months so that I could train for swimming. This is a big deal for me because I am conquering my fear of swimming. I kind of look like I am drowning when I do the freestyle stroke, but I'm getting down the breaststroke pretty good. My sister-in-law is also helping me with the whole deal. It is very different than running and I am still trying to catch on to the whole breathing part. But it is fun and a great way to spend some time with my sister Liz. We take the kids to pre-school and drop off our youngest at the kids club that they have at the fitness center. So it is a fun break. I think the part I look forward to the most is the steam room. Very relaxing and I absolutely love heat! I have been exercising so much lately but feeling so good as well when I do. Sometimes I work out twice a day, but I feel great!

Gift Giving

2009-03-06T13:30:00.000-08:00

I got this off my sister's blog and I think it looks like tons of fun! I love giving gifts, as well as getting gifts so this is perfect! Hope you will play too!
The first five people to respond to this post will receive something made by me to you. My choice. Made especially for you. Of coarse there are some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees you will like what I make.
2.What I create will be just for you.
3. It will be done sometime this year.
4. You have no clue what it will be. I promise it will be made with love!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
The catch is you must post this on your blog and offer the same to the first five people who post it on their blog. The first five people to do so and leave a comment letting me know they did will receive a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift from me!! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win.
Posted by Liz at 8:29 AM 3 comments

Bionicle Soup

2009-02-18T08:39:00.000-08:00

I always have a hard time getting my boys to eat the dinners that I make. Seriously, I slave away trying to make dinner every night and the only thing that comes out of their mouths is, "Ew, gross." So lately I have been making up names to the things I cook: like Bionicle Soup. This is just a simple pasta soup with a tomato base and a couple vegetables. But since I call it "Bionicle" then they suddenly think it is the best tasting food ever. Except for Ben. You can't really trick him. My boys also like Lego Chicken, Shrek surprise, and the new Madagascar 2 lasagna. If your kids are struggling with eating, try this! It really works!

Life Sized Valentines Cards!!

2009-02-18T08:27:00.000-08:00

I thought I would post the cute pictures of my twins Ben and Jake as Valentines cards! They made these hearts at pre-school and Isaac made one when he was in pre-school so I'm glad I got this in a picture. The card is so cute it just brings tears to my eyes. The boys are doing great in pre-school and I feel very lucky to have my best friend Alisa Gilchrist teach them. They are drawing so much better, learning their ABC's, and also starting to read a little.I love Valentines day because my boys always express to me and to eachother their love. It is also another holiday that I don't feel guilty eating whatever I want. Just enjoy the moment! Happy Love day!

I love Cupcakes!!

2009-02-12T15:52:00.000-08:00

I am totally in the cupcake loving phase. It may be that I'm participating in the biggest lose contest with a group of women and I can't actually eat the cupcakes. But the other night I had a group of friends over and my friend was sharing her scrapbook pages. One of them was a cupcake page. SO CUTE! I love the designs, it brings a feeling of being a child again. I also saw some cupcake fabric at the store and totally want to make something with it except I don't have a sewing machine so it doesn't do me any good right now. So I found this background for our blog and LOVE IT! I thought it would be a great Valentines day background.

'tis the Season to be Jolly!

2009-01-29T20:05:00.000-08:00

So it's taken me a few months to even get some time to blog again, the busy days of having a newborn! We had a great Christmas. On Christmas Eve we went up to Salt Lake to Martin and Ingrid's and did the whole nativity scene and dinner. We also celebrated Kate's birthday. My boys dressed up as shepherds and Rachel was the lamb. It was very cute.
The next morning was super fun. We woke up early and went into the living room to open stockings that Santa had filled. Ben and Jake were so excited to get "Indiana Jones" whips. ($2 whips I found at Zurchers). Enoch was private about his stocking and didn't like the attention we gave him. Then we had breakfast and went downstairs to open gifts from eachother. We gave the boys a Wii this year and it was the last gift they opened. Enoch was so excited he dived into my arms and hugged me. We have it on video tape. The boys also got some lego toys. Ben and Jake got some swords and attire. It was a fun morning to be together and enjoy the true meaning of Christmas. I will blog later about what John did for me this year. Every year he has a different theme with my gifts. I think it's halarious mainly because he gets so giddy about Christmas because he can't wait to see my reaction when I open my gifts. That night Liz and David came up with their kids for Christmas dinner. I'm glad they did because I always get depressed when the morning event is over so I was glad to look forward to guests. We played the Wii all night as well and watched David and John's bowling moves. I can see why people get addicted to that thing! It was a wonderful day!

Oh yeah, I also crocheted some little people for the boys. That is what Jacob is holding up. It's so funny how they get joy over the little things in life. I love kids!

Fossum Family NEWsletter- all things new 2008

2008-12-17T12:52:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays to everyone! We thought that it would be fast this year to write our newsletter online. Most of the newsletters get thrown away, so we thought that those of you who really want to know what's going on with us this year will come to our blog! A lot has happened this year, it has flown by, and a lot of new NEWS has come our way.....this letter is written by me, Sarah. It's just wierd and uncomfortable to write in third person so I will take responsibility for writing this!...
January- I got a NEW foot. After running a half marathon I thought my foot was broken. Little did I know it was an extra bone on the inner side of my left foot that needed to be removed. The doctor said it was as big as a walnut and the end was broken off! Now I can run like a gazelle (well, almost). We drove up to Rexburg to the open house of the NEW Rexburg temple. It is beautiful and breathtaking and our kids thought it was the coolest thing to be able to go inside! They loved the celestial room and all the crystals in the chandeleir(sp?).
February -John got a NEW church calling, Elders Quorum President. After that I was soon released from YW and put in scouts (dangit) but it has been good for me to work with Enoch. John is doing great in his calling and he makes all the guys feel important and welcome. I think he will soon be the new bishop, j/k but it wouldn't surprise me.
March- John and I reNEWed our wedding vows as we celebrated our ten year anniversary. We saved money by taking the kids over to Liz and David's for the night. Who would spend money on a hotel when you can just hang out at home? We went to dinner and a movie, my favorite date.
April- John picked up a NEW hobby- running. He ran the Salt Lake Marathon, one of his first races. He made it in great time and didn't even feel too tired afterward. Woo-hoo! He also ran the Provo river Marathon this year and others that seemed like a breeze. After trying to convince him for years to run, I think he has finally discovered his NEW talent.
May- Besides turning nine, Enoch went to the dentist and discovered he had two more NEW cavities! I think Enoch can beat any kid with all the work he has had done to his teeth. You name it and he has probably had it done, therefore, he is very afraid of the dentist and we had to bribe him with a NEW toy.
June-John took Enoch and Isaac and drove down to Arizona with his Dad to see Chris and Kimbie in their NEW location. They went four wheeling on Chris' property, went swimming and played at the park. They said it was hot, but fun to be with family. I stayed home with the twins to rest my pregnant belly and all it's NEW stretchmarks.
Jacob and Benjamin turned five and received some NEW bikes. They taught themselves how to ride without training wheels and thought it was fun to have NEW bruises.
July-Isaac and Jacob decided to dive into something NEW this summer and took swimming lessons. They loved it! Ben tried for one session and wanted to quit after the first day(better luck next summer). We drove up to NEW territory to the Anderson family reunion(my mom's side) in Boise and had fun at Marla and Rick's house. They rented a large blow up slide and the kids played in it all day. The boys tried to make excuses to stay longer.
Isaac turned 7 and we went to Fairview because it was our 24th of July tradition with the Fossum side. This is nothing NEW, but I did get a NEW spider bite on my leg and misquito bites all over. Fun!
August - Our NEW baby girl, Rachel Elizabeth, arrived on August 20th. She is such a sweet little princess, or shall we say big? She weighed 9'7 and was born by c-section. I was kind of relieved because I don't know how I would have pushed her out. She had beautiful brown hair and lots of it, which was a surprise because our boys were all bald blondies. I was given three showers and received tons of NEW clothes, which is sad to say because she has outgrown a lot of them already. The boys love her and spoil her with NEW kisses every day. She is a daddy's girl and has a big girl look on her face whenever John holds her. We are so lucky and blessed to have this new little angel in our home!
John and I bought some NEW toys. I sold my vinyl letter company and bought a NEW camera. I would have to say it is the best investment I have made thus far. You can never spend too much money on memories. John decided to splurge and buy a 52 in. plasma tv. That may come as a shock to some people since John isn't one to go out and splurge like that. I think I'm still in shock at the sporatic and exciting move he made. Way to go! But John received another NEW job teaching online at Devry University so he's feeling in control of our finances. I think that is three jobs for him now. He's always been a slave when it comes to work.
September- The boys have been loving their NEW teachers in school. Enoch is now in fourth grade and loves Spelling and Reading. Isaac is in first grade and is the oldest in his class and lets everyone know. The twins, Jake and Ben, started pre-school this year (yes I am holding them back as well) and love their teacher, my sister of a friend Alisa Gilchrist.
October- I turned 33 this year on Halloween, which is nothing NEW, but John did give me something NEW- a mixer that I have been wanting for forever. I love it and use it every day. We all dressed up in NEW costumes this year. I was surprised when John came home from work with a wig to dress up in after I had complained that he never dresses up. He's a sweetie.
We also started doing something a little NEW, and that is one-on-one dates with our boys. We switch off taking one boy a week on a date so that we can give them a little extra attention. The boys have loved going to Nickel Cade, Cabella's, miniture golfing, etc. It's all sheer entertainment for them and sheer agony for us. But we do love the extra alone time we get with each of them.
November-John and I have started working out at the NEW rec center just down the street. It's a nice facility. I go with a couple friends around six every morning to run, do aerobics classes, and lift weights. John lifts weights with his friend and I think he's almost as buff as my brother Andy(but not quite)
My brother Sam surprised me with a birthday gift this year to go see my favorite band Coldplay on their NEW viva la vida tour. I went with Liz and David and we had the time of our lives. John stayed home with the kids and said he didn't want to miss the BYU vs. UT football game. Um, Coldplay or Football? That's a hard decision, haha.
We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner at Mom and Dad Fossum's this year and loved their NEW idea- eating in the garage! It was warm cuz mom put heaters out there. Loved it!
December- The boys have been having fun with all this NEW snow we have been receiving. They just discovered how to build a snowman. This time of year reminds us of all the NEW years resolutions that we want to make.
And of course we get to celebrate the birth of our Savior who gives us NEW life if we but believe. We wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We love and appreciate all of you. Words cannot describe how you complete our lives.
With Love,
the Fossums
John, Sarah, Enoch, Isaac, Jacob and Benjamin, and our little Princess, Rachel Elizabeth

Lights on Temple Square

2008-12-15T07:18:00.000-08:00

On Black Friday we went up to Salt Lake City to enjoy the lights at Temple Square. Martin and Ingrid watched Rachel while we went and took the boys to the Joseph Smith movie at the JSMB. We have been reading the Doctrine and Covenants this year as a family so the boys loved to see the movie because it brought the book to life for them. Enoch and Isaac especially loved it. Then when the movie was over we walked outside and the lights were turned on. It was a beautiful sight. I took some pictures with my night setting on my camera and think they turned out okay.

After that we went to Martin and Ingrids and had nachoes for dinner and were able to chat for awhile. I really miss those days when we could just sit back and hang out. It was a fun night and something jolly to bring in the Christmas spirit!

What a Wonderful Life!!

2008-12-08T08:59:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! This year we spent Turkey Day at Mom and Dad Fossum's in Highland. We thought it would be fun to spend the night so that it would feel like we were actually going on a trip for Thanksgiving. We should have stayed a whole week considering how much stuff we packed up just for the night. But it was really fun. We had pizza the night before and surprised the boys with Kung Fu Panda and Wall-e that we got on dvd so that we could have a movie night. I think they've watched Kung Fu Panda a million times already.

John's sisters Ingrid and Cat came on Thanksgiving with their families. They all live in the area as well. Mom decorated the garage and we ate out there so that it would be easy to clean up and we could use the rest of the house for games etc. afterwards. What a brilliant idea! There were heaters out there to make it nice and comfortable, and then four tables set up in a square so that we could all see eachother and talk during dinner. It turned out to be really relaxing and not so chaotic as it always seems to be.

Dad made a really yummy turkey. Cat made some outrageous orange rolls, and John made his southern sweet potato pie. mmmm....and of course mom made a million things like her tasty pies(the pecan was my favorite) and fudge. We ate so much we all felt sick, so then most of us had naps afterward. I think we ate fudge for a week after and I probably gained five pounds. Isaac ate five or six orange rolls that Aunt Cat made. The twins ate down most of the meat on the drumsticks and Enoch just "loved it all!" Later on all the ladies played Phase 10 and Uno.

All in all it was a really fun day for all of us and something great to remember. Thanks Mom and Dad for being such great hosts! We'll have to do the whole garage thing every year! We are so happy to have spent Thanksgiving as a family and to reflect on our wonderful blessings. We are so BLESSED!

a day at the park

2008-11-30T19:58:00.001-08:00

We live by Tank park or otherwise known as Sam Ives park. I tried to take panaramic pictures, but we are on top of a hill that overlooks Utah county. It is very beautiful up here and quiet. We go to the park at least once a week so that I can let the boys play and get their energy out. Sometimes I try to cross train with my running around this track. I used to walk on this track late at night when I was trying to go into labor, so it has many fond memories. The boys love to play here and ride their bikes. This park was just finished last year so we haven't gotten sick of it yet. In the Springtime it is fun to fly kites up here because there aren't any power lines nearby. The park sits in front of Mount Timpenogas and has great views all around. I like to pack a lunch and take it over to the park cuz then I don't have to clean my kitchen and we can just come home and it's nap time! Easy for me!

You can tell that I let the boys dress themselves. On this day Jacob was wearing shorts and cowboy boots.

They like to play Spiderman and see how long they can hang on the monkey bars. I know they can outhang me! Those aren't bruises on Ben's arms. He is wearing tatoos that have stayed on his arms for a few weeks! You can see that my boys like to show off. I'm hoping that Rachel stays girlie girl and doesn't turn into a tomboy but with brothers like these she doesn't really stand a chance!

When do you cry?

2008-11-29T08:32:00.000-08:00

So I was thinking about the times in my life when I cry. I was thinking this because I cry so easily, maybe I get it from my mom's side of the family. But it just feels good sometimes to cry, it's like a stress relief or something. Here is the list of things that usually make me cry.

1. When I feel the Spirit- I always try to hold back the tears when I bear my testimony in church. The Spirit effects all my senses, mainly my tear ducts. Whenever someone is giving a talk or a lesson in church and they start crying, I have to look away or I will too. Or whenever I talk about something spiritual or sentimental I will start crying.
2. When someone ruins something of mine- one of my dear friends mentioned this and it's true about me as well. One time my boys got into something of mine and ruined it. I automatically started crying. If my stuff is messed with I get mad, especially feminine things. I feel invaded and personally attacked if my things get messed with. So no one better find my candy stash.
3. When someone I love leaves- I hate goodbyes. Whenever someone comes to visit, I always cry as they pull out of the driveway. This is defenitely from my mom and her sisters. They always did that when they were young. I hate goodbyes.
4. Whenever my husband tells me sporatically that he loves me. I usually know when to expect it but if he catches me off guard the tears come flowing. If anything is out of place in our relationship it hurts me to the core until I fix it.We hardly ever fight or argue but when we do I don't think there is anything that feels worse.
5. Whenever I receive a sentimental gift- like Coldplay tickets, or a diaper bag I really wanted, or basically any card that my husband gives me.
6- songs- music touches me. Okay this is kind of wierd, but when I was a kid I would listen to FM100 and cry to all the songs that came on. Whenever someone dedicates a song to me I cry.
7. movies- this one isn't as bad as other ones but if it is a spiritual movie like the Joseph Smith movie that is playing at the JSMB right now, I think I cried like five times in that one. If it is a movie I totally get into I will cry. But most of the time I'm fine. As far as books go, I think I've only cried one or two times from reading something sad in a book.
8. When I'm totally worn out or stressed- what do you call that, a nervous breakdown? It helps to take Progesterone Cream to balance out my hormones.
9. In therapy - most of you know that John and I go to marriage counseling every other month. Why? Because it's the sane thing to do. And Alan always gets me to cry. He has a way of getting to the nitty gritty of things.You should try him sometime. I think we have referred like twenty couples to him. He owes us dinner or something.
10. Whenever my kids do something sweet for me - heck I even cry when Rachel smiles at me.

So there is my list, when do you cry?

Coldplay- the best concert ever.....Thanks Sam!!

2008-11-25T12:15:00.000-08:00

This last Saturday I went to Coldplay. It was in the Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City. The whole week I was trying to win front row seats on a radio station. I was trying all I could to use the Secret and get to go because Liz and David were going and I really wanted to go too. So I wrote it on the calendar. I was making plans for other things and saw that I had Coldplay down on the calendar and I'd say, "Nope, can't do it that night.I have Coldplay to go to." I was sure that somehow I would be able to go. Then I didn't win anything on the radio. boo-hoo, only 175,000 callers were calling at the same time as me. I seriously got a lump in my throat because I wanted to go so bad. But I kept on being positive that I was going. Then on Thursday night my brother Sam called and asked if I had won on the radio. I said no. He then told me that he had a surprise for a late birthday gift. I then let out some type of yell and cry at the same time. It didn't sound human. I just started bawling as he told me that he bought me a ticket. I didn't care that I was going to sit by myself, I would get a ride up with Liz and David and during the concert you can't hear eachother anyway. I was psyched. I couldn't believe that the Secret worked and that my brother had fulfilled my dream. John laughed at me when I told him I was going mainly because he knew how hard I was trying to win tickets off the radio.
Anyway, it turned out to be THE BEST concert I've ever seen. I've seen a LOT of concerts way back in the day but Coldplay is one of the best bands to see live. They really put on a great show. Their music is synchronized to lazers and lighting that is just amazing.
When I went and took my seat, in front of me was a black platform covered up. I just figured it was for the sound or something during the Jazz games. But during the concert the stage crew came over and started setting up a microphone and some guitar holders. I was so shocked I started shaking. Then the band left the stage and started walking up the isle right by me! I felt like I was going to pass out my heart was beating so fast. I thought of Sam and the Secret and how much I wanted front row seats. When I saw that the band was playing right in front of me (I could have reached out and touched them) I just started bawling again. I know, I'm a cry baby. I haven't figured out yet how to control my emotions, so I was screaming, shaking, and crying. I'm sure I looked rediculous. I was just so thankful I didn't know how to control myself. This picture above is of where they were playing right by me. Liz and David took it from where they were sitting.

After the concert I bought a t-shirt for John because it was worth every penny. Liz and David also loved the show and we are still talking about it every day. Next time I will take John and a few of my boys. Man, they put on a great show! Thanks Sam for the best show ever!

I was tagged by Teresa and Liz!!

2008-11-24T21:09:00.000-08:00

Here is the fourth file, fourth picture. Is that how you do it? Here is a picture of Enoch's birthday party and Ben watching him open a gift. I think it was from last year?

I tag: Daniel and Sadie

Marcy

Sam

Mom

The movie Twilight comes out THIS Friday!!

2008-11-17T09:22:00.000-08:00

This is my Edward and Bella. When I first got the book "Twilight", these are the people I imagined in my mind for the characters. Tom Welling from "Smallville" plays the young Clark Kent. I have blogged about him before. Who cares if he is over 30 and Edward is supposably stuck at 17. He would do a great job playing Edward! Alexis Bledel from "Gilmore Girls" and "The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants" is who I would choose for Bella. I would keep her beautiful blue eyes although Bella has brown. She does a great job at acting and is very convincing. I do love the actors they chose for the movie, though I would have loved to see these two as Bella and Edward. If you see the movie, make sure you go into it to just have fun and enjoy the show. I'm sure it won't be as good as the book, but it will be entertaining.

Confessions of a Stay-at-home Mom

2008-11-16T10:39:00.001-08:00

Here are some of my confessions that some of you may or may not know about. They are not my deepest confessions, because who would do that on a blog anyway?
1. I don't like raw apples. It took me years to figure this one out. I only like them cooked, dried, or in a dessert. I also don't like frozen fruit. It hurts my teeth to eat anything frozen.
2. I am a Diet Coke addict. If they had a dcannonymous club I would join it. When I was pregnant I switched to Caffeine free and can't tell a difference so I drink that now. It is a "fun" thing to do to go down to the gas station and get a drink. I love Vanilla flavoring as well. Now I limit myself to one a week but I look forward to having it!
3. I don't like camping. My biggest problem is that I hate sleeping in tents. I think it stems back to my childhood when a tent fell in on me because of the wind. I don't like the wind either. I love campfires, s'mores, cookouts, and latenights up in the woods, but when it comes to sleeping count me out.
4. I have a problem with losing socks. Where do they go when you wash them anyway? Last year for Christmas John bought me 45 pairs of socks. I don't know where half of them went. So whenever I sneak a pair of John's for my early morning workouts he says, "Is it time to get some new socks?" I think that is his pet peeve.
5. When do the high school dreams end? I swear I have at least two a week. My dreams are very vivid and real so when I wake up and I'm over thirty with five kids sometimes it is quite disturbing. I don't think I ever want to be in high school again but sometimes it's still fun to be seventeen.
6. I have a problem with toilets. I can only use my own, that is, in my bedroom's bathroom. If I'm watching a movie downstairs and have to go to the bathroom, I have to go upstairs. I think it might be because my boy's pee all over the other toilets and every time I go into that bathroom I can smell it. I also have a problem with cleaning toilets. Can't stand the stray hairs, etc. that come with cleaning a toilet. I think I dry heave every time, or I beg John to do it. I would rather hold it then go in a public place as well.
7. I've had body piercings. Ask me later about that one. I wanted to get a tatoo when I was a teenager but didn't want anything permanant, so I got body piercings instead. Maybe that was a way to get out all the angst. But it was a rush that I got addicted to.
8. I love the smell of toxic and hurtful substances. I used to have some rubber glue in my drawer and had to smell it at least once a day. Every time I walked by the drawer I had to open the glue and get a wiff. I went out of town and craved my glue. Finally I just had to throw it away. If I could create a candle smell it would be a rubber glue scent.
9. I have a little bit of OCD in me.(obsessive compulsive disorder) Every night before going to bed I have to check all the doors, the stove, and the kids before I go to bed. I have to check on the baby three or four times before I can relax. So I'll check on her before I brush my teeth, after I brush my teeth, after I read in bed, and one more time before I fall asleep. She can't even roll over or anything yet so when I check her she is in the same position the whole time. That is just one example. With the stove, sometimes I will go somewhere and worry that I left on the stove. I get anxiety and start sweating. That is a problem.
10. I am a sugar addict. I read a book on it and have yet to try to get off it. One time I stopped eating sugar for about a week and was a complete witch. John kept saying, "Please eat some sugar!" I love candy, especially sour candy like cabbage patch kids. But my favorite is licorice. I have to keep that out of my house or I will eat all of it in one setting. So my goal is to get off sugar or at least minimize my intake.
So there you have it. A few of my confessions, or shall we say obsessions. I would love to know yours.

This Is Our Morning

2008-11-13T16:43:00.000-08:00

I don't really ever have anything to say that is exciting on a blog, but my sister Liz just told me to blog about my day. So this is our morning. When I was little there was nothing like sitting on a heat vent early in the morning. The heat coming through the vent would warm me up nice and cozy. My boys love to do the same thing in the morning. The only problem is that we only have two heat vents in our kitchen so the boys fight over who gets them. So we mad up a system. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Enoch and Isaac get them. Then on Tuesday and Thursday Ben and Jake get them. Saturday and Sunday they have to fight for them, but we sleep in anyway on those days so it's not a big deal. The boys seem to keep track of the days and know what day is theirs. Another rule is that blankets are not allowed in the kitchen because the boys don't fold them up when they are done. But this morning Jacob is cheating.

Ben is not from an orphanage but loves to sleep in his underwear.

We start the day when I get home from the gym around 7a.m.by reading scriptures. Then we move to the kitchen for breakfast. The boys love cold cereal every morning. John loves frozen blueberries on his so now the boys do too.I usually have hot cereal with blueberries because I can't stand frozen food on my teeth. I call it "hot heewee" because that's what Enoch called it wen he was younger. Jacob loves hot heewee too but the rest prefer cold. (John keeps telling me not to talk to the boys in baby talk but hot heewee is one word I will never change). The boys love to eat with Dad before he leaves, then we usually get Enoch and Isaac ready for school and meet back up in the kitchen to listen to "the Secret Sound" on the radio. So that is our morning, I hope it is exciting for you!

Can you guess the secret sound?

2008-11-05T18:47:00.000-08:00

Okay this is rediculous. I have lost sleep over trying to guess "the secret sound". On B98.7fm they are doing a secret sound contest. If you win you get a $6500 hot tub plus money. Every time the secret sound isn't guessed, more money gets put into the jackpot. It is around $5000 right now. The sound is very familiar to me. I have told myself I am going to win and buy using the Secret I have been putting it out to the universe! The only thing is that I can't pinpoint what the sound is. Enoch and Isaac are in on it with me as well. I call in three times a day: 8:10am, 11:10 am and 3:10 pm, which you have to be the 20th caller to guess. This morning it was ringing, but I was like the 21st caller or something. My heart was pounding so bad and Enoch was really freaking out. I told the kids when we win I will take them to Legoland for Christmas. John got really mad because he doesn't want the kids to get their hopes up but I think it's fun just to get involved and be big dreamers! So.... you can listen to the sound on their website which is b987.c0m. Let me know what you think it is.
So far: a lighter, a lock, a deck of cards have been the most guessed. Enoch and I think it could be: a toilet paper dispenser, a nutcracker, a car lighter, or a potato peeler.
What do you think?
You can come and sit in our hottub when we win!

What a FUN Hallo-birthday!

2008-11-05T17:43:00.000-08:00

We had a great Halloween this year. I turned 33, so it seemed like just another year. Jacob and Benjamin were cowboys. Isaac was a phantom so you can't see his face. Enoch was a punk rocker cuz that was the cool thing to do in school. And Rachel was a pink leoperd. I decided to dress up for my birthday this year so I decided to dress the part and be a witch since it seems I'm like that character a lot these days. I told John he needs to stop being a party pooper and dress up for the kids' sake. So he came home from work with this wig. Then he went to his closet and put on a Hawaiin shirt. He was telling people he was dressed up like himself in the Millenium.

We went to the trunk or treat at the church and the boys got tons of candy. Liz and David and their kids met us there, then we came to our house afterward for a little birthday bash. After that Liz and I took the bigger kids back on the streets for trick or treating. They all had a great time and it was awesome weather so we didn't freeze this year!

Liz made me a bunch of sugar cookies with candy corns on them 'cuz she knows that is my favorite thing on Halloween. She also gave me a purse and a scarf that are way cute. Thanks Liz and thank you to all of you who sent cards, money, etc. and called me on my birthday. That means so much to me, it makes me feel really loved.

I bought myself a few gifts this year. Smallville Season Seven that just came out. I have all the other ones, it's sort of a hobby of mine to collect tv series on dvd. I love watching them all at once but this time I am taking my time because I usually get depressed afterwards if I watch them too fast. I also bought the "Twilight" movie soundtrack which just barely got released. I pre-ordered it because I heard some of the music on Stephenie Meyer's website and totally love it.

John bought me what I asked for and what I've been wanting for a LONG time - a mixer! I should have known he would buy me the top of the line mixer since he believes you should pay extra money for the best stuff then it lasts the longes. It is very fun. I have used it every day since. It came with a dvd on how to use it and I've made rolls, german pancakes, mashed potatoes, and muffins since. It will be very used in our house! Thanks John for making the day so special. He also gave me Sunflowers which are my favorite!

2008-10-27T20:57:00.000-07:00

I took some pictures of Liz's kids as well. We went to the amphetheater in Provo up by Seven Peaks. The kids loved it up there because it kind of looks like a midevil castle.

This should be my child. Carmen is my sister's little girl and she looks just like I did when I was her age. How did I get a girl with brown hair?

Forget School Pictures!

2008-10-27T20:22:00.000-07:00

So this year I decided I'm not going to pay the hundred dollars that it takes to get an 8x10 of each of my kids to hang on the wall. School pictures to me are a rip off. I always forget to give the wallets to relatives and I never give 5x7's to my parents cuz they already have a lot of grandkids. Anyway, I decided to take my own pictures this year and they turned out a lot better than the blue background that you get in school pictures. AND the photographer never takes the time to get your child to smile so you get pictures of your kids with crazy facial expressions. One year both of my twins didn't even smile. They looked like a deer in headlights. So I say no thank you to school pictures, I'll do my own. Thanks for letting me vent.

the SECRET

2008-10-19T20:42:00.000-07:00

I'm not one to believe this kind of stuff, and I'm pretty skeptical when it comes to practicing these things, but lately I have really enjoyed the Secret. We were first introduced to the Secret from my sister Liz and her husband David. I remember watching it on dvd a few years ago. I didn't reallly believe in it but kept an open mind and tried to be positive about it. The main gist of it all is the power of positive thinking. You are your thoughts basically. So time went by and I didn't really pay much attention to it until John brought home the cd's. Then I really started getting into it because I could listen to it while driving around in my car. One day I thought to myself, "I'm really going to try to see if this works." We were in the market for finding a new car so I did like the Secret says and imagined up exactly what I wanted- Yukon XL Denali, white with tan interior. A couple weeks went by and my car finally arrived. We went up to Salt Lake to test drive it and I found to my amazement it was exactly the car I imagined in my mind and it even had tan interior. We got it for a screaming deal from a friend of a friend of a friend. It just sort of fell into our hands!

I decided to put the Secret to the test again by saying out loud, "I want new carpet for our house." In my mind I thought that the only way that could happen is that John would have to get another teaching job. He called me later that day and told me that BYU offered him another course. I said, "It's because of the Secret." Needless to say we didn't get new carpet, instead we got new leather furniture, two coffe tables, a tv stand, a rug, two night stands, and a 52 inch plasma flatscreen tv which was all John's doing. He used the Secret to get all that instead of carpet. But what I'm trying to say is that it works!

I loved at this last conference how President Monson mentioned that you will be extremely blessed if you just remember to give thanks for what you already have and always have gratitude. Gratitude is one of the leading ways to get what you want from the Secret as well. First you give thanks and then you will be blessed. It is amazing to me how it all works and we have been blessed from it.

I'm excited to use the Secret for my weight loss from having a baby as well. They tell you to not weigh yourself and just imagine you are already at your goal weight. Wow! I'm 120 pounds, I'm 120 pounds, I'm 120 pounds, and even when I eat this Chocolate cake I'm 120 pounds. But it will work and I will prove it to you all! So go out and get the Secret, it is awesome!

Making Brownies with Dad

2008-10-19T20:30:00.000-07:00

Tonight the boys made peanut butter brownies with John. Oh, wait...John made peanut butter brownies while the boys waited around to lick the bowl clean. It was quite funny to see them all crowded around the bowl like little starving vultures. Jake said, "mmm. I love sugar!" We took our neighbors some and ate the rest. John decided to make them with a little bit of sweetened condensed milk. It made them more chewy. YUMMERS! Guess I'll be working out extra hard tomorrow!

Can you say "Overwhelmed"?

2008-10-19T19:33:00.000-07:00

Last night was my "laundry"night. I usually do around nine loads a week, I know rediculous. My strategy is to just fold everything all at once. So during the week I wash it all and leave it in baskets. Then I rent or buy a really good movie and fold laundry in my theater room. That way it never gets boring! You can see why I get addicted to tv series on dvd. I'm looking forward to catching up on Grey's Anatomy, Smallville, and the Office. Lately though, I have been feeling quite overwhelmed as my laundry piles up and I can't find time to do it. As I sit in a chair and rock Rachel I think of all the things I need to get done around the house. Laundry is usually the last on my list. So last night I finally decided to catch up. I watched "Pushing Daisies" with the kids. It's very Tim Burton like, which I don't think he's involved, but love it! So here are some pics of the before and after of my laundry. I even decided to include a picture of the basket of socks. I will match them another day!

Pretty Ballerina in her Blessing Dress

2008-10-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple pics of Rachel Elizabeth in her blessing dress that my sister Becky made. It is so beautiful. I tried to get a picture of the whole thing but it was too long. Rachel wasn't in the best of moods that night either. So at least I got a couple that you can see. I'm having such a fun time dressing her up and taking pictures of her. She is so sweet. Those late nights are hard but I keep in mind that it won't last forever and I'm trying to enjoy her every breath.

Pics of some true BABES

2008-10-08T10:44:00.000-07:00

This past conference weekend, my brother Daniel and his beautiful wife Sadie and their little Tommy were down here visiting from Rexburg. Also, my sister Becky, her awesome husband Wes and their three cute kiddies were down here from Honeyville. We decided to have a hayday with my camera and take a couple glamour shots. Here are some pics we took. Anybody need family pictures for Christmas, you know who to call. You can buy me dinner and I'll take the pictures for free. Deal?

A Wonderful Sabbath

2008-10-04T14:40:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we blessed Rachel in our ward. John gave a beautiful blessing and my mom wrote it down for me in my journal. I'm very blessed to have a priesthood holder in my home so that we can always ask for blessings. This is a group picture of all of us who were at the blessing. A day before we were able to see my brother Sam who came to visit for a couple hours. He was in town for a concert and staying up in Park City with some friends. You can check out a picture of us on that day on Liz's blog. After the church meeting, we all came to our house for a dinner: ham, potatoes, fresh veggies, homemade rolls, fruit salad, real oreos, and peanut butter brownies. Thank you all for donating food. I am glad you all found our church. Ingrid and Martin drove around to four different churches before they found ours. Sorry guys! What a wonderful day! It was also my brother Andy's twenty-first birthday, which we celebrated on Saturday. Happy Birthday Andy! Rachel was blessed in a dress that my sister Becky made her. It is so gorgeous. I will post some close ups of her in it later. We missed all of you who couldn't come, but are glad that we are all family! I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family. Grandma Fossum (who will be 97 this year) also came. That meant so much to us. Thank you!

back row: Ingrid and Martin, Mom and Dad Fossum, John and Sarah, Mom and Dad Packer, Andy and James, David and Liz/ middle: Cat and Grandma Fossum with baby Ray/ front row: all our dang kids

My Show is Smallville

2008-09-22T13:03:00.000-07:00

Okay. So since my sisters did a post on their blogs about their favorite tv show, here is mine. (although it's not a reality show, sorry.) I got into Smallville from my friend Becky Maness and have loved it ever since. I usually like to watch all the seasons on dvd because I have a great movie theater in my house, and I love to watch everything all at once. Who wants to wait until the next week to find out what happens? Anyway, the Fall reminds me of watching Smallville. I bought all the seasons and watched them (a lot with Liz) in the Fall. Our favorite thing to do was to go to a gas station and get a big diet Coke with Vanilla flavoring and go watch a couple episodes in the theater. Where were the kids during this time you may wonder? Ah, we didn't really care much about them, we were so addicted to Tom Welling, why would we remember we even have kids? J/K ...I often joke with John that he looks like Tom Welling but is bald. I've also had people tell me that before too, so I'm not that far off. In fact, Enoch just asked me if this picture was Dad, see what I mean? So I was shopping for a good movie the other night with my husband and there on the shelf was Smallville season 7! Just in time for me to purchase it for my birthday, and the Fall is almost here! Oh, I can't wait to get that one!

Marla Knows Best

2008-09-21T20:42:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to my Aunt Marla who won the guessing game I posted on how much my baby girl weighed at birth. She was the last one to email me and guessed the exact weight, 9'7! Good job Marla! Her prize was a box of See's chocolate. I tried to get something that was 9 lbs. but couldn't think of anything, so I thought why not get something women love- chocolate! Here is a picture of Marla with her grandbaby Gracie. Love you Marla!

Growing Cuter Every Day

2008-09-18T16:36:00.000-07:00

Look who is four weeks old! Rachel is doing very well and is changing every day. She's in the baby acne stage but I never looked that cute with so much acne! Her brothers are still malling her to death and can't get enough of her. I have just discovered that if she drinks a bottle before bed, she sleeps longer during the night (a relief for me!). She has yet to smile so we are just waiting for that day so we can take some pictures and get her announcement out. Happy 4 Week Rachel, you bring joy to our lives. Nothing can compare to the sweetness of a baby girl!

Becky Crocker

2008-09-08T20:57:00.000-07:00

My little homemaker sister came down this weekend with her family from Honeyville. She brought with her a bunch of food: homemade rolls and cookies(my favorite comfort food). I hid them so I could eat most of them in the middle of the night. She planned out like six meals for me and bought all the food that goes with it, including a roast for Sunday dinner. Some other meals she planned were Lasagna and Hawaiin Haystacks. Then, she had me write a list of jobs that she could do, and cleaned my whole house when I was at the doctor. She took my twins and entertained them for a bit, while juggling her kids as well. She and her family stayed at Liz's, my other sister's house, but she came up Friday night and cooked us Chicken crepes. Talk about doing everything all at once! Thanks Beck for being my little petite angel in time of need. I had fun going out to lunch with Becky and Liz to celebrate Liz's birthday. We always have great conversation. I feel so blessed to have women in my life that brighten my day!

Baby Ray with Aunt Becky. She is just over two weeks old here, trying to stay awake and loving every minute of hanging out in Becky's arms. (spoiled girl)

Another Great Race!!

2008-09-08T09:47:00.001-07:00

This past Saturday, John ran another marathon. It was down Provo Canyon, a very beautiful run. He said that this time it was easier than the Salt Lake marathon because he was in familiar territory and also knew what to expect. He ran it with his buddy, Kenneth, who has never run one before. Around mile 25 Kenneth hit the wall and John pulled him through for the last mile. Can you imagine running that far? Way to go John!

A couple weeks ago, John hurt his ankle again, which he has hurt numerous times in the past. I was really worried about him running the race but he was very determined and in the end said that his ankle didn't give him any trouble.

John isn't your average trainer. He only runs around three times a week, one of which is a long run. I keep telling him that if I'm going to run a marathon I have to run every day. He thinks that is all overated, but I know the truth. I'm married to Superman!

Book of Mormon Stories...

2008-09-03T18:37:00.001-07:00

John got these awesome posters at a seminary function this summer. So for FHE the other night, we told stories of each picture taken from the Book of Mormon and then we let the boys each choose one to hang in their bedroom. They thought it was so fun that they got one of their own. Enoch chose Samuel the Lamenite. Isaac chose captain Maroni, Jacob chose Ammon, and Ben chose Mormon. Hopefully my boys will follow after these Book of Mormon heroes.

I get Comfort in Food and a Clean House

2008-09-03T18:25:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all the neighbors, friends and family that brought in food these past couple weeks!

I particularly enjoyed Cat 's meal: cornflake chicken, twice baked potatoes, veggies, and key-lime

squares. John and I were laughing because Cat always goes way out and makes you feel so good.

My mother-in-law is an angel. She brought in her fresh bread, you would die for this bread it's so good! And when I was in the hospital she watched the boys and cleaned my house. There's nothing like a clean house and good food. That is where I find the most comfort. I feel so well taken care of and blessed to have these women in my life. When I married a good man, I also married into a good family!

Thanks Mom

2008-09-03T17:59:00.000-07:00

It doesn't matter how old you are, you always need your mother. When I was in the hospital throwing up after my c-section, I found myself screaming in my mind, "I want my mom!"

A day or so when I got home, my mom came down from Idaho to spend a week with me. She was such a big help. I got in the routine of staying up all night with the baby and sleeping all day because Mom was there with the twins while the older boys were at school. We got meals brought in and fresh bread from neighbors, my sister-in-law and my mother-in-law. I felt so blessed and so spoiled! My boys loved it when my mom would spend time with them, taking them places, and helping them with their homework. The help was very much needed. I was dreading the day that she would have to leave, and when she did I cried all day. (it helps with the blues to cry every once in awhile) So thanks Mom for taking time out of your busy schedule and coming down here to help my family.Luckily, I have my sister Liz as well as my in-laws that live close-by. What would we do without family? I love you, mom!

My mom gave me this hat for Rachel. You can take off the flower and interchange them. Isn't that fun?

Look Who's One Week Old

2008-08-28T08:53:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Rachel's One Week Old mark. I decided to do a little photo shoot with my new camera, and here are the results. My mom helped me and we laughed at how hard it actually is to take pictures of a newborn. I had to keep stopping to nurse her, get her warm, etc. but once she was deeply asleep it all worked out. Having a little girl is great. It's like playing dress up every day. When I was younger I loved to play "house" and dress up my cabbage patch kids in little outfits. Now the dream is a reality. Just today I painted her nails. It's too much fun! Here are some samples of the pictures we took.

Daddy's Little Girl

2008-08-28T08:19:00.001-07:00

Ever since I started having children I have always wanted a daughter. I never pictured my life without a little girl. After having four boys I was contemplating if I really wanted to try again for my girl. John felt quit content with our four boys so he wasn't too excited when we found out I was pregnant last December. It was very scary at first since I had two miscarriages the previous year. But I was willing to try one more time.
Last April I had an ultrasound and we found out it is a girl! Of course I cried right away because of all my prayers that were finally answered. John reacted quit differently. He really wanted another boy and was a little shocked it was a girl. He didn't say it out loud but I could tell something was definitely bothering him. We talked about it later and he expressed his concerns. First, most of the girls in his classes that he teaches are high strung drama queens who don't do well with advice etc. Let's just say that the girls are his biggest challenge at work. Mainly because he gets his feelings hurt from their reactions. Second, he took a class at BYU some years ago and discovered that the most important relationship is the daddy-daughter relationship. This put a lot of responsibility on John's shoulders. So he was stressing out about having a teenage daughter before she was even born! And lastly, we have heard from everyone that girls are more high strung and need a lot more attention than boys. This made John feel protective of our boys. He didn't want all of our attention to be taken away from the boys he already loved so much. All of these were valid concerns, and when we told others about them, they would just say, "Oh wait until you see her. Everything will change."

And guess what? They were right. Last week when I had a

c-section we were both so nervous. I was nervous that it would

come out a boy. And John was nervous about having a girl. We sat in the room waiting for the doctor to come and were both waiting in silence for about a half hour. What would this little girl do to our lives? Then, when they finally pulled her out, I cried with relief that it was really a girl. And John just melted in the sweetness that this little girl brought with her. I watched as they weighed her and cleaned her up and was awed by the reaction that John was giving her. He watched her every move and made sure to tell me all the details about her- her weight, how much hair she has, etc. I could tell that he was deeply in love.

Over the next couple days when I was in the hospital, John just loved to come and hold her. He brought the boys in one morning and said, "I caught myself speeding to get here so that I could just hold her." It was fun to hear him talk to her and everytime he did, she would open her eyes and just stare at him. He would often say, "You are daddy's little girl." I was overcome with emotion as I watched my husband fall in love with our daughter. We know it may be tough at times but the love we have for her will outlive the difficulties. Geez, we never knew she could be so sweet!

Sweet Baby Ray (Rachel Elizabeth) Is Born

2008-08-21T20:13:00.000-07:00

Early Wednesday morning, Sweet Baby Ray was born. It was a c-section delivery, and the boys were able to witness the whole thing through a window. Their word for it is "gross." Mom Fossum hasn't slept since she witnessed the whole ordeal along with the boys and Aunty Liz. As you can see, Sweet Baby Ray is beautiful (she takes after her daddy...ok, her mommy). Both Sarah and John were surprised to see Rachel emerge with a full head of brown hair and plump as a stuffed turkey (9 lbs. 7 oz.) since the four brothers were all white-haired and wirey. Her brown hair and features indicate that Dad's genes reign supreme in her little body (poor buggar).

Three in One

2008-08-19T08:36:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago I was given three baby showers in one week. I feel truly blessed. This girl is going to be so spoiled! I don't think I could ask for better friends and family who have supported me through all this. Now.... we just need a baby to go with it!

The first shower was with my bookclub at Liz's house. She and Laurel threw it for me. They did a rubber duckie theme and had ice cream sundaes and duckie sugar cookies. We also did pedicures and soaked our feet per my request! I don't think we even talked about books that night, but we did make flower bows for ourselves or our daughters and opened lots of cute girl clothes. It was a night to remember especially the few seconds of rain that fell on us! The only person missing that night was Kristin who was out of town. We also missed all you girls who have moved: Cumorah, Michelle, Becky and Frenchie. It's never the same without you all here!

The second shower was with John's family- his sister's, mother, and grandmother. We drove up to Salt Lake and had a great time at Ingrid's house. This picture of the Salt Lake valley was taken off her balcony. She has an awesome view! Grandma Flo gave me a quilt that she made. All of my boys got one from her too! She is 97 or so and super amazing. I felt so honored to have a quilt made by her for my daughter. It will definitely be a family heirloom. My mother-in-law loves pigs so she gave me a princess piggy bank. It is seriously the cutest thing ever and I have it sitting on my baby's dresser. She wants to put money in it every year for her birthday. Isn't that a cute idea? The pig has a tiara and a little tutu on, it's so cute! I got a lot of cute little outfits and we ate tacos and played games. Grandma Flo beat us at Skip-bo, she's so competitive! It was a great girls night out! Thank you ladies for all that you did for me, I felt definitely spoiled!

The last shower was held in my neighbor's backyard. She has a very beautiful garden. I felt like I was in a reception center. She had a chocolate fountain so you can only imagine the yummy treats that we ate there. I felt a little embarrased because I received so many gifts. I'm not used to being so pampered. I love all the women in my ward and feel so blessed to have them as my friends. I had two other friends come up as well that I have known forever. That meant a lot to me! My sister Liz also came representing my family. She is the only family member that lives by me so my mom and sister Becky are saving their gas to come when the baby is actually here! But thank you Liz for taking time out of your busy schedule for me that night. Thank you all you beautiful women for making this night and week so special!

Anyone Need Family Pictures?

2008-08-09T08:38:00.000-07:00

Aren't these eyes adorable? I just bought a new camera, it's a Canon Rebel and I'm loving it so far! This is Ben, he is kind of my guinea pig as I was messing around with the camera's computer software. You can cut the picture and do close ups, it has awesome editing tools. I can't wait to get my baby's little feet! I also took a picture of Liz at bookclub and there were people standing by her, so I cropped it so you can only see her. Isn't she beautiful? She didn't know I took this. She was just talking to our friends. Let me know if any of you want me to take some pictures of your family or kiddies, I'm not a photographer but I have an awesome camera!

My Baby's Room

2008-08-05T09:22:00.000-07:00

Here it is: the long awaited pictures of the before and after of baby Ray's room. This room used to be the twin's room when we first moved in, so it was tan with a teddy bear border, which was so hard to take off I would never recommend wall paper to anyone. Then the room turned into a guest room when we moved Enoch and Isaac into a bigger room. So to the boys it is still known as the guest room. I told John that I wanted a light pink room with white bead board. He tried to talk me into something like purple or green, but I said if we are only having one girl it better be a pink room. So he painted the ceiling and the closet white first, then put up the bead board and painted that white. Finally he got to the pink and I think even he enjoyed the color we chose. It's very soft and feminine. Although he'll never admit it, I think John really enjoyed fixing up her room. It helps him prepare for his little baby daughter.

My sister Liz and I just sold our vinyl lettering company, so I printed off a bunch of stickers for Rachel's wall before we sold it. We are naming her Rachel Elizabeth, so the sign has Elizabeth through it if you can't see it in the picture. I also made her some jewelry: binkie holders, anklets and bracelets that are hanging under her name. I found her bedding at Walmart of all places and saved like $100. It's exactly the colors I wanted for her room: pink, dark pink, and lime green. I just bought a new Canon Rebel digital camera so when she comes I can take some pictures of my boys with her and put them in the frames. We are now just anxiously awaiting her arrival. The boys keep telling me to go jump on the trampoline to get her out. She is almost too active at night so I'm savoring the moments that I can sleep. But after this week I will be doing some stair climbing!

Turtle for a Day

2008-08-05T09:03:00.000-07:00

The other day John and his sister almost ran over a turtle that was so happily walking across our driveway. They just thought it was a large pinecone, until they saw it's cute little legs moving. John brought it inside and the boys instantly got attached to it. He made sure though that they knew it most likely had an owner. You never see wild turtles here in Utah county. We decided to feed it some chopped up veggies and he ate them right away so we knew it was a pet. He also stuck his head out for the boys to pet which is rare for a wild turtle. There were no postings about a lost turtle, so I sent the boys around to the neighbors to ask if it was theirs and to the boy's great relief, it wasn't any of our neighbors. During the day, Enoch was very nervous at every phone call. He didn't want to admit that he wanted to keep the cute little thing. I don't know anything about the care of turtles, so I googled it and researched for an hour or so. Come to find out he is not a turtle, but a tortoise. The difference is mainly their feet. Turtles feet are webbed and most of them swim. This guys feet are like little elephants and they don't swim. I found out it was an African something or other tortoise. They grow to be around 100 pounds and kids can ride on them. They live over 100 years if properly cared for. I read all about how to care for them and John (not so willingly) made a little habitat for it in a plasic box. The boys were so excited to have a new pet, but John and I were hoping someone would come along and claim him. Come to find out, the next day my friend was posting "lost turtle" signs around the neighborhood. She lives at the top of our street. We are talking like six houses up. How the turtle got clear down to our house I don't know, but we are glad that it belongs to her since she is a good friend and she told the boys they can come and visit "Happy" whenever they want. It is a GIRL tortoise as well, but I was right on the kind of tortoise it is. She got it from her Aunt who's daughter dropped it out of a two story window. She was very happy that we took care of it for a day or so and that she was still alive. My boys get sad when they look at that empty box, but I smile inside knowing that I don't have to be the one to take care of it!

Fossums at Fairview

2008-08-04T11:02:00.000-07:00

One of our family traditions is to go up to Fairview every year for the 24th of July festivities. John's parents own a house up there. It is the same house that his Mom was born in! So we go with his family up there to escape the realities of life for a couple days and just relax. It is a small town near Manti in the hills of Utah.

The highlight of going to Fairview every year is the 24th of July parade. You will never see a parade like this! I think the funnest thing is the people watching before and after. There are some interesting fellas that live here!

What is in the Fairview 24the of July parade? Certainly not pioneers or covered wagons. John and I always laugh at what goes by: tractors, demolition derby cars, or just hot rod cars. We even see people on four wheelers. (no offense mom, but we think it's halarious!) It is fun for the kids though since everyone going by throws candy. They don't really watch where they are throwing it, as you can see in the picture where Jake got hit in the head. And everyone throws salt water taffee so the kids are gaurenteed to get cavities!

We celebrate Isaac's birthday every year up in Fairview since his birthday is on the 24th of July. We usally have a celebration up there and then a birthday party for him at home as well. Boy, is he spoiled! He got a Neo shifter toy, batman lego set, toy cars from Japan (thanks to Erika) and money and a pen from Grandma and Grandpa. We all enjoyed his Strawberry cake with gummie worms and loaded sugar frosting. Yum! Isaac was so excited to turn seven and will be going into the first grade. He is very confident since he is the oldest in his class!

The highlight of Isaac's birthday was going fishing in the afternoon with Dad and Grandpa. Although they didn't catch anything, the boys had a ball casting their poles into the lake. That night, Grandpa and Grandma took the boys in the back of their truck to go see the fireworks. They had a ton of fun. John and I enjoyed playing Settlers of Catan with Erika and Cat. It was very relaxing and we decided if we stayed up there more than a couple days we would all gain about ten pounds each. There was lots of yummy food and games- the Fossums favorite thing!

Another Great Reunion

2008-08-04T10:03:00.001-07:00

The Anderson family reunion(my mom's side of the family) was held this year at the Aldinger's house in Boise. We had a fun time getting reaquianted with my mom's sissies - Marla and Sherry and their families. Friday night we met at the Chinese Buffet.

The restaraunt had a lot of different types of seafood. Enoch wanted to try the squid but chickened out. He was very enthrawled with the crab legs which were a hot item. Liz and Daniel tried their first sushi and decided to eat it at the same time.

After dinner on Friday night, we went to Marla and Rick's house to hang out in their backyard. They live on an acre out in the country of Boise. It was very beautiful and relaxing. Here is Andy with Ben.

The girls got a picture taken all in white shirts with our necklaces that Marla made for each of us. She spent a lot of time beading and crocheting for us. Another beaded gift were purse charms, shown in the picture below. Can you tell my mom and her sissies are related? They all look like triplets, they even act the same as well! We decided to get a picture of the three girls in my family as well: me, Liz, and Becky.

Aunt Marla and Uncle Rick rented a 15 foot slide for the kids to go down, even the adults benefited from this toy. It was sheer entertainment all day for the kids as the adults basked in the shade. When we left that night, my boys were trying to think of ways to stay longer. They seriously got depressed because they had so much fun!

Beautiful Valley

2008-07-09T20:42:00.000-07:00

We are so blessed to live in this beautiful valley. We have a park near our house that overlooks the valley and behind us are the spacious wasatch mountains. I am reminded everytime I go outside that I should never take for granted the valley here that we live in. John and the boys hiked up to a waterfall with his family the other morning. It's a beautiful hike, only a couple miles from our home. The boys love it here and never want to move. I hope we never have to. There are a lot of people who say they will never live in "happy valley" but if only they knew the secret of what makes us so happy. It is a beautiful place to be!

Happy 4th!

2008-07-09T20:08:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful 4th of July this year with both of our families. Enjoying the day with lots of food, laughter, and family. We enjoyed seeing Grandma Fossum who is well into her 90's and still thriving. We were lucky to see relatives who travelled far to celebrate the day and felt blessed to have wonderful conversation with those whom we love so much. It was a long day but packed with goodness! We are glad we have our freedom and had a wonderful time celebrating it!

The highlight of our day was to see our kids react with their cousins. We celebrated Peter's fifth birthday in Highland with John's family. Kurt and Noelle were out here with their kids from North Carolina. Yes, they drove the whole way! The kids had so much fun playing together, they were so exhausted the next day!

Can anyone say "cankles"? My legs were so swollen that my calves blended in to my ankles. The heat is horrible when you're pregnant.

After a fun day with John's family in Highland, we headed down to Liz and David's house for a bbq and to watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks. This year Miley Cyrus was the featured artist- a favorite to young girls everywhere.

Before watching the stadium fireworks, uncle David gave us our own show in the front yard. We were laughing at how every firework looks the same- a steaming fountain of colors. But then we realized it's not really for us that we spend our dollars on, but sheer entertainment for the kiddies. We watched the jets fly over the stadium and had a fun time watching the fireworks. The finale is always the best and this year it seemed to be an even greater show than last year. It's fun to meet at the Thompson's house every year because they are so close to the stadium!

Hot Pics

2008-07-09T19:48:00.001-07:00

One of my best friends, Becky Maness, is an awesome photographer! We had a fun time when she came down from Idaho to visit the other day. She took a couple close ups of my beautiful boys. Notice, this was after the spray paint issue we had with Enoch. Now he has permanant black fingernails. But I do have to brag that these are some pretty HOT PICS.

Who's scared now?

2008-06-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago I let Enoch and his friend Spencer watch "Signs" during their sleepover. Enoch was scared to sleep downstairs for weeks. I wasn't very sympathetic to his ongoing requests to sleep in the room across the hall from us every night. But eventually he gained the courage to sleep downstairs again. He shares a room with Isaac down there, so what's the problem right? Well, this week John went with his Dad and took the two boys (Enoch and Isaac) with him to Arizona to visit Chris and Kimbie. Last night was my first night alone, although I have the twins with me. I got the boys into bed and purposely read myself to sleep so that my mind would be preoccupied from having scary thoughts. Then, around two in the morning, when the world was dead and quiet, Jacob woke up saying he missed daddy and the boys. I carried him into bed and sat there with my eyes open. I remembered the movie signs and thought of the scary alien that he sees one night on his roof. Then I thought, 'what if I looked out my bathroom window and that same alien was on my deck?" or 'what would I do if there were running noises on the roof above me?' My heart pounded as I tossed and turned. Finally around four-thirty when I heard the first bird chirping outside, I fell asleep. 'Cuz if there was a happy bird chirping then most likely there wouldn't be an alien out there. I'm really not looking forward to tonight but know I'll get through it again. Anyone want to have a sleepover? Next time Enoch is afraid of the dark, I think I'll be more understanding. Sorry buddy!

preggers in pain

2008-06-26T11:22:00.000-07:00

Isn't this just the cutest pregnancy belly? Too bad it's not mine. I will save you the horror of my own stomach. I have stretch marks up to my chest from previously having the twins, and now I feel all stretched out again. When I was preggers with the twins, I got up one night to use the bathroom. Not knowing how much my stomach actually protruded, I hit the bathroom doorknob in the dark. The next day there was a huge bleeding crack underneath my skin next to my bellybutton. Now....five years later....that same spot just kills because the baby is pressing on it. Unfortunately I look like I'm carrying twins because my placenta is directly behind the baby therefore I'm sticking way out! So... I have to wear all my pants underneath my gargantuan belly, which makes me look like a prego gangster. I haven't been in a very good mood to my kids lately because they just stare at me when I ask them to pick something up for me. The other day I bent over to pick up a toy and felt a tear in that same area. So needless to say, if you catch me in a bad mood it's because my pregnant belly is slowly tearing open. But it's worth it right? I only have seven more weeks and we'll have a baby girl. In the meantime, if anyone wants to come clean my house, I'll give you a dollar!

the Blogger loves a Jogger

2008-06-22T17:18:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, my husband is a talented runner. He started running a few years ago when I convinced him that it is worth it. I don't know why I did that because he turned into a health nut as well and now points out every thing bad that I eat. But besides that fact, this past March he ran the Salt Lake Marathon and came in 140th or so over all! This past race he ran was a 10 mile down Provo Canyon, and not surprisingly ended up taking 19th over all! He is very humble about his mastering skills, but if you were to watch him in a hard race, he looks like he is just out on a leisurely stroll. His friend Kenneth ran the 10 mile which was his first race and finished only 8 minutes behind John. Wow, what is it with these guys? My sister Liz, a skilled runner who has trained me in various ways, also ran the race and beat her time from last year by 20 minutes! I think I recall running it with her last year, who's holding who back? So since I am pregnant this year and have not even attempted running, I think I'll just be the blogger and John and Liz can be the joggers!

Family Matters

2008-06-22T07:25:00.000-07:00

We have always thought that relationships are the most important thing here on earth. As we reflect on past family reunions we laugh and joke about what was said or done. This summer is full of fun events: swimming at the pool, bbq's, late night movies, and riding bikes. But the funnest of all are the times spent with family and friends. John and two of the boys will be joining Kurt's family at the Alexander's in Arizona, we will be joining the Packer family for the Anderson reunion in Boise, we will be celebrating the 24th of July up in fairview with the Fossum family(a yearly tradition), and having get togethers with various family members and friends. This summer will go by fast, but the best part will be spending it with those we love. When this life is over and we are reflecting on what we have become, we hope to say that it was the ones we loved that changed us. We look forward to those times when we can bask in eternity forever - together.

Naptime with Mommy

2008-06-10T19:53:00.000-07:00

Have you ever tried to get a hold of us in the afternoon and the phone keeps ringing off the hook? That's because it's naptime at our house. Ever since I can remember I have had a nap in the afternoon. Sometimes when I was small, I would wait until my mom was asleep and I would sneak off to a friends. But then when I was ten and got Mono for a few months, I started having a nap regularly. Even in high school, my favorite thing to do would be to come home, eat a snack and take a nap.

John always teases me and laughs at how I always have to "have my nap". But to justify my addiction I usually will read to the kids and we will have some good educational time before we drift off. Enoch and Isaac no longer have a nap but they are old enough to watch a movie and know that it is quiet time.

It feels great to have a nap: like a cat getting scratched behind the ears, a pig seeping down into some good soft mud, a bee landing on a big mound of food. I think it is essential for every lifestyle. So if you are ever wondering where we are and want to hang out in the afternoon, forget it! We are taking a nap!

first blog

2008-06-07T19:44:00.000-07:00

So....like Ingrid, and many of my friends, I have started a blog as well. It wasn't very hard to think of a name since my husband puts the f in awesome, so we decided to go with f-awesome. Sound good? I don't really know how this goes but I do post sometimes on my bookclub blogspot which is http://www.readingsisterhood.blogspot.com/. There you can find lots of book ideas as well as what we are reading for the month. Anyway, I'll try to put some pics up later.
Hope you are all having a fun summer....