Do You Remember When?

M E M O R I E S

This seemed like a really fun thing to do... I got it off of my sister-in-laws blog. Here's how you do it-

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.
If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Red, White, and Blue...

This picture was taken yesterday after church. I love the 4th of July, and have always enjoyed dressing my kids in red, white, and blue around the holiday. We are especially excited this year for Dustin's family to come down here. Friday we will all be heading to Laughlin to see the "Rockets Over The River"! I am so excited to do something fun and different for a change. We got some motel rooms in a little town called Searchlight, NV for after the fireworks show. It should be a fun, little adventure for all of us.

Scouts!

Dillon has been having such a great time in Cub Scouts. They have den meeting every Tuesday night at the leader's house, and then they have Pack Meeting once a month at the Stake Center. These are some pictures of Pack Meeting last Wednesday night. They do a lot of crazy stuff, like learn silly cheers, play games, and do skits. Along with this they are also learning how to do a flag ceremony, and every activity they do is to help them pass off or earn something from their books. These pictures are of them having a relay race where they have to chase paper-towels. They also made them see how many push-ups they could do. It was cracking me up to watch Dillon, because everytime he would do one, his whole upper body would rest on the ground. Then he would slowly push himself up and act like he was going to die in between each one. I think he needs to start lifting weights with his dad, hee, hee. This really has been great for Dillon though, it is good to see him being enthusiastic about something.

Play Time!

Last Wednesday our friends the Vincents invited us over

after school to play and have snacks. The kids had fun playing outside in the water and on the slip-n-slide. The Morgan kids were also there, so there were all together, 10 kids running around. It didn't take them all long to get hot, thirsty, and hungry, so we went inside and had crackers, grapes, and kool-aid. We always have such a good time at the Vincent's and Sabrina is always such a great hostess. Thanks for inviting us!

Happy Birthday to Ashley!

Saturday night a group of us got together to celebrate my good friend Ashley Bailey's birthday. We ended up having the best time! Sometimes it is good to have a girl's night out. First we went to Olive Garden for dinner, which was so dang good. I love that place just for the breadsticks and salad! Ashley does not like attention to be on her at all, but there was this waiter that was bound and determined to draw as much as he could to her. First of all, it didn't help that I brought birthday balloons that we put on the back of her chair.... but besides that, every time he would walk by, he would say or do something funny to draw attention. He even took some pictures of us, and even posed for one with Natalie and Ashley... Then he got a whole group of people that work there together to sing to her, they were all really getting into it. One guy especially was jammin... :)

After Olive Garden, we headed over to the Red Rock Casino to go Cosmic Bowling. We all had such a great time! This really is a fun and crazy group of gals... no one cared how bad I was bowling that night. I got my lowest score ever. I think it was because I was laughing the whole time. Hee, hee. Rachel made a yummy birthday cake, and Ashley blew out her candles as we sang the primary song "Happy, Happy Birthday Ashley Dear" to her. It was quite funny. What a fun night and a great break for me.... thanks for the good time girls!

The Wallace Cousins

Dustins cousin Bonnie, her husband Dave, and their 4 kids were in town for a vacation. We had the chance to spend a little time with them. First we went to the Condo that they were staying at and let the kids go swimming for a while. They had a lot of fun, and of course, did not want to get out of the pool. It was especially fun to see the newest addition to the Wallace family, cute little Kallie (I hope I spelled it right). She is such a little doll, and I loved being able to hold her. The kids all played really well together. It seemed like they were paired off perfectly, Dillon and Kaden, Ashlynn and Karlie, and Samantha and Kyler. After the swimming we all went to Ricardo's for dinner. We had gone their with them last year when they came down here, and Dave wanted to go their again. It is one of the Mexican restaurants that we have gone to quite a bit since moving down here. One of the fun things about Ricardo's is the magic trick/balloon guy that comes around. We ended up having a great time visiting, and wish that we would have had more time.

Great Harvest Bread Company

Last week on June 17th, we had the opportunity to go on a tour at Great Harvest Bread Company. It was a lot of fun for the kids. They learned got to see all of the equipment that is used to make the bread, and were able to see how it is made. They each got their own little ball of dough to shape any way they liked, and then it was baked for them. The girl that did the tour did an awesome job, she was so enthusiastic and fun with the kids. While the bread was baking she took them outside and read a story to them and gave them each a BIG chocolate chip cookie. At the end, they each got a cute little bag to take home that contained a color page, a coupon for a free loaf of bread, and some seeds to grow their own wheat grass. I love doing fun, educational things like this with my kids. Thanks to Angie Gubler in my ward for arranging this fun trip.







Of course, Samantha is the only one that would not participate in the group photo..... instead she went and hid behind a wall and pouted. :)

Our Dad's

I wanted to take a minute and recognize the great Dad's we have in our life....

Dad, Dan, PaPa, Grandpa.......

My Father-in-law, Dan, is just a great guy. There have been many times when he has dropped everything and sacrificed much, to be there for us in a time of need. In his own quiet way, he always let's us know that he cares about us. I have been repeatedly amazed over the years as I have watched his tireless devotion to his son Trent. As I think I said in an earlier post, Dan and Gloria deserve to go straight to the top, for the never-ending care and love that they have give Trent. Dan is an awesome Grandpa, and does a great job of spending one on one time with the kids. He is so good at teaching and explaining things to them. I especially appreciate the time that he spends with Dillon. Dan takes the time to do boy things with Dillon, since he is the only grandson. I am always blown away by Dan's amazing artistic ability. He can draw, sculpt, or carve anything. I swear he could be rich if he sold the stuff! :) I think my kids have inherited some of his artisitic abilities...how lucky for them. Happy Father's Day, Dan!

Dad, Dave, PaPa

My Dad is probably the hardest working man I have ever known. I do not think there is a lazy bone in his body. I always remember him constantly doing stuff all of the time. I remember even on Saturdays, he would walk around with his list of stuff to accomplish. So needless to say, I probably inherited some of my "on the go" tendencies from him. I learned the value of hard work from watching him. My dad was always well liked by my friends. They all thought it was pretty cool that I had a dad that listened to hard rock full blast in his pick-up truck all of the time....but it was not only music that they liked, it was also the way he joked around with them and made them feel comfortable. My dad always makes people laugh. I know he usually gets big tips and stuff at Christmas time from the people he delivers to, because everyone just likes him. I think that I can most definitely attribute my stubborness to my dad... we are definitely alike in that area. In fact, the older I get the more similarities I notice.... funny how that happens. I look up to my dad for many reasons, but I think the most for the changes he made in his life many years ago, and has diligently stuck to. I feel blessed to have been raised in a home where my father was, because of his sheer determination (and because of Janalee), a worthy priesthood holder. My kids love my dad and still call him "Papa". Dillon especially loves to spend time with him and go on four-wheeler rides, and camping. I wish that they could spend more time with him. Camping is one of my favorite childhood memories. We used to go all of the time. My kids have not had the same opportunities for that type of thing. I was thankful to have my dad be able to baptize Dillon this past April. That really did mean the world to me and I know it did to Dillon too. I love you Dad, I know that I have not ever been good at expressing it... but hopefully you have always known.

My Husband...

I meant to do this for Father's Day, but since

we are still in the same week, I figure it is still all right. I could not let Father's Day pass by without expressing my gratitude to my husband, and best friend, Dustin. From the first day that we met, we have always been able to talk and be comfortable with eachother. Most people that know Dustin were a little bit surprised when they found out that he was getting married. Not because he is not a great guy, but because he is just so shy and reserved. I remember that I had not even met his mom and dad before we got engaged. I think when he told his mom that we were getting married, she didn't even believe him, because she had never even seen me before! That just proves how much he keeps things to himself, although I think he told his sister Shalise pretty much everything about me. :) There was an obvious, and pretty much immediate connection between Dustin and I. We have always enjoyed just talking to eachother. Sometimes we stay up half the night talking about everything. Dustin never does things the conventional way.... he does things strictly in his own way, and in his own time. I would call this little trait stubborness..... Let's just say that both Dustin and I have been blessed with more than our fair share of this "little trait". Because of this, I believe, we have really had to learn to compromise with eachother. I think over the years we have learned to not try and change eachother, but instead to love eachother for who we are. Dustin and I have been through many ups and downs in our marriage, we have had many happy times and a lot that weren't so happy.... but through it all I can say that he has remained constant and unwaivering, when I wanted to quit... he inspired me to keep going. He has his own way of showing it, but I can honestly say that I have never doubted his love for me. Always, when I least expect it, is when he will do something to prove that to me. Dustin is an extremely hard worker, and he is a perfectionist at everything that he does. There have been people say that his electrical panel's look like works of art. Dustin would do anything for anyone. He will go above and beyond for people. I have been so impressed by his compassion for people. There have been more times than I can count that he has done electrical for people for free, just to help them out, or given people in need money, or donated to charities... or numerous other things. He prefers to do these things un-noticed, kind of behind the scenes, but I want him to know that I do notice, and that he inspires me to be better.... everytime I see him do one of those things. I could go on and on about all of the other traits that I love and admire about my husband... but since, we do not have the time or room for me to do that... I will move on to his next greatest role, that of Father to our 3 children. I will never forget the first time Dustin told me that ever since Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped out of her bedroom several years ago, that he had not slept well. He was always worried that that was going to happen to one of our kids. He said that he would sleep much better if they were just all in our room with us. That just proved to me the deep love that he has for his kids. He is always joking and playing around with them, he is the one that makes them laugh. I think a lot of times he has much more patience than I do. Dustin and the kids have developed their little weekly rituals, such as, watching "Smack Down" every single Friday night. The kids now know every wrestler and character on that show, and their corresponding songs. I think it is really cute, because it is their daddy bonding time. I don't think that Dustin realizes the impact he has on these kids. Dillon has told me many times that he wants to be just like his dad when he grows up. Dustin would say to that, "No you don't, Dillon." but, I think he can take that as one of the greatest compliments you can receive. I so appreciate the sacrifice that Dustin makes everyday in order to provide for us. The reason that I am able to stay home with my kids is because of him...there are many women who are not as lucky as me. Thank you for everything Babe.... We love you!

Trip to the Stratosphere

Saturday we decided to take the kids to the Stratosphere. Dustin and I had been there before, but the kids had not. We did not tell them where we were going until we got there. They had wanted to go for a long time, so when they figured out where we were, they were really excited. We had a really great time. I love it when we get to do fun stuff like that as a family. The kids had fun looking through the telescopes. We were able to look through one and find the Temple. They thought that was pretty cool. The wind was blowing really hard, so we didn't get to see the crazy rides going because they closed them down. After we got through looking around, we went to Roxy's Diner inside of the Stratosphere to eat. It is a fun little 50's diner type place. The atmosphere is so cute, they even had waitresses walking around singing. The whole night was just really nice, these are the type of fun times that I hope the kids will remember.
(Of course, Dustin won't let me take pictures of him, in case you are wondering why there aren't hardly any of him.)

My cute little "Mantha"...

I just had to post these pictures of "Mantha" that I took at the park on Saturday. She is such a cute little thing. It is funny instead of Samantha's nickname being "Sam" or "Sammy", it has for some reason always been "Mantha". I think that her Nana started calling her that when she was a baby, and it just stuck. We think it fits her....