Don't Eat Pete! and a Friend's Blog You Should See

My friend Jill is teaching a parenting class in our ward. Honestly, this is my 3rd time in this class and I still love it. The first time they taught it I didn't have any kids, but sat in the classes anyway. They taught it again a couple years ago and Rick and I both went, but now that our kids are a little older we're experiencing more fights, sassing, fits, etc. so we thought we could benefit from a reminder. She's an educator and has some really interesting things that she has shared with us. She has put some things from the first lesson on a blog and asked me to spread the word. The reason I got to be the lucky one is because I was going to put a post up about a game called "Don't Eat Pete!" Well I talked to her about it and she said she just made a blog and put it on there. Her blog is http://yourkidsuccess.blogspot.com/ and she will be adding to it periodically. Go check it out and play the game. Your kids will LOVE it! Mine have asked to play it everyday for a week. Maybe it will get old and then we'll just use it for FHE sometimes, but it hasn't yet.

RS Women's Conference

I LOVED going to see the RS Conference at the Conference Center. It was awesome and I saw a few people that I know besides the ones from the ward & stake. When it started the first thing that I felt when it started was love. Just sheer love of that many women of God all together there to be uplifted and learn. One of the gifts of women. Then sweet Sister Beck gets up and kindly says that we are doing good, but there is more to be done. We got a gentle chastisement that we are there to support the work in building the kingdom of God. Later we were told by President Uchtdorf that EVERY member is important. Every member is known to God and important in the building of the kingdom of God. I thought it very interesting that that phrase was mentioned several times. I loved that Sister Beck told us to 1-Increase in Faith and Righteousness 2- Strengthen our families and homes 3- Serve the Lord and His children. Sister Thompson and President Uchtdorf also talked about service. It reminded me that during one of the worst periods in my life I happened to be involved in a service organization and it was so uplifting that the depression would lift from me during those times. He said that through faith, hope, & charity, we will be okay. I LOVE that and I hope that I can do a little better.

A Few Good Things...

I was thinking about what a bummer it is that the store is closing. Then I started thinking about all the opportunities that came of having the store in the first place. So here goes.



1- We got to see Rick "The Computer Guy" advertised on bus stop shelters, in newspapers, and even on billboards.

2- Rick got to make some really good connections with some wonderful people including the mayor, other politicians, advertising and media people, and many wonderful customers.

3- Our family got to participate and help Rick in the Utah Family Expo where he did a little internet cafe. The kids and I got to do a lot of fun things including Carlyn climbing the Rock wall.

4- As part of advertising, Rick sponsored some movie premiere events and we were able to go to some fun movies including Iron Man, Cloverfield, Man of the Year, Marie Antoinette, and Eragon, and others I can't think of right now.

5- A Beach Boys concert at the Gallivan Plaza.

6- We bought a tree from the Festival of Trees in 2006.

7- We had a family trip to Vegas for Rick to work at a business.

8- Rick joined the Murray Rotary Club. He loves their devotion to service and continues to enjoy being a part of their club. As a member we had the opportunity to make many new friends, go to some fun parties, go to Lake Powell as a family, attend part of the Rotary International Convention in SLC last year, and make some good networking contacts as well.

9- Have random people come up and say they have been into our store and really appreciated the good work that we did.

10- Above all, I'm thankful that even though Rick was really busy he took the time to be a great dad when he was home and that I have the opportunity to be a stay at home mom. It hasn't always been easy, but it is worth it.

Rick and the Mayor at his store opening. They were doing a cheer.
The ribbon cutting for the store. Yeah!

The tree from the Festival of Trees.
Us at the expo. Carlyn was excited to see Elmo, but a little scared too.
Still at the Expo with Snow White. Look how little they are!
Carlyn on the climbing wall at the expo.

Hilton Get Together

I should have put this on with the last blog. Oh well. We Utah Hiltons got together on Sunday at my cousin Crystal's house. We had a BBQ and visited. It was so fun to see everyone. My parents and a cousin at BYU weren't there, but everyone else in Utah was there. We missed you other Hiltons very much. We had fun for you :) Darren wouldn't sit to eat. He just carried around a hot dog and Cheetos and watermelon.
I didn't think to take pictures until in was dark. Here's uncle James, Mathew, Grandma Hilton, & Crystal (Carisa and Rick are there in the background.)
Here's aunt Cindy cleaning up and Mathew fighting with a Darren who wants to get down and play in the sandbox. Thanks Crystal. We had a lot of fun.

Family Fun Day

On Saturday Rick and I decided to have a family fun day after doing a few chores and errands. We were going to go swimming. Rick took the kids to Lowe's for a couple home improvement projects and they came home and informed me that they wanted to go to Jungle Jim's. Basically it is an indoor amusement park for kids. It is a little lame to a grown up, but the kids love it. Carlyn, Darren, & Anneliese on the swings. Annie wasn't so sure at first. I thought she was going to throw up, but she was just scared. All 3 on the spinning ride. I went on this one with D because he loved it and the girls were on a ride he couldn't go on (trust me, you don't need a picture of that) and I got SO sick. Darren was a trooper and loved everything except stopping or waiting. He would get on the ride and then "chill." It was so cute. Anneliese was scared on a few rides, but Carlyn loved everything.
The girls on the bumper cars.
Annie & Darren on the plane ride. This was definitely on the favorites.

Doesn't she look big in this picture?
The carousel, another favorite. Annie wasn't so sure unless Mommy or Daddy was right there, but loved it if we were.
Carlyn didn't want any help and didn't want to be too close to her little siblings.
This is Darren with Rick on the Music Express type ride. Makes me sick, but my 1 year old loved it! Go figure.
The highlight of the night for Darren. After he had stolen a balloon from a little girl and we returned it, they gave Darren a free balloon and he was a happy camper after that. He would have slept with it if we would have let him. Seriously.

Fun at Wordle.net

I was a little frustrated with this last night, but here is the cool finished version. I like how the words Love and Kids and other words stand out. I hope that my blog reflects who I am and how I want to be. Even if you don't post it, try it. It is fun to see. Thanks Marinda.

Fun Stuff!

I almost forgot to put up these pictures of a family party a couple weeks ago. We had a great meal and a good time, but the highlight was the pinata for the kids. They were all cute and had plenty of candy and we didn't have any America's Funniest Videos moments (though there was a close call.)

Darren's turn-he thought he was big enough to do it himself, but couldn't hold the bat.
Carlyn whacked it really hard but it doesn't seem that way in this pic.
Annie didn't do too bad either.After choir practice for Stake Conference Saturday morning I came home to Annie throwing a fit, but she was supposed to be a waiter ushering me to my seat for breakfast that Rick made. This is our little drama guy. If I don't pick him up as soon as he wakes up it is DRAMA. He was even more mad because I decided to grab the camera instead of him.
We've been looking for a used upright freezer for some time now and we always call just after they are sold. This time KSL.com let me down and I found it on craigslist. We got a great deal too. I need to go grocery shopping to fill it up, but so far I just got ice cream with the kids. My friend Debbie from college and I have tried to get together several times in the last months. Every time we plan it one of our kids get sick. The same thing happened last week, but this week we got lucky. She came down on Thursday and the kids played, we ate lunch, and we all had a great time. I'm so glad that we got a chance to catch up more than by blogging. Our kids are pretty close to the same ages and they had a great time. They didn't want to say goodbye. Thanks for coming Deb, it was GREAT!
This is our jungle/desert where the kids had a great time playing.
Seriously, I took about 12 pictures of these guys and all of them are blurry! They are only a few months apart and were very cute playing together.
The 4 girlies. So cute! They are so much alike too. Reading my friend's blog I always think how similar they are and she says the same too.

After they left the girls were pooped and had a nice rest on the couch. Playing wears you out!
Later we went to the library where they had tattoos at the children's desk instead of stickers. Love Annie's? I wanted to dress her in biker chic clothes today. Its awesome!
Carlyn's is a pirate octopus reading books. We finished the day with a quick trip to the store and ice cream cones. D is a pro.
This is what we do when Carlyn is at preschool. They really do love each other.
A neighbor that Rick did computer work for gave him just the right amount of peaches to make a peach pie. I used my mom's recipe and it was fabulous! Delicious.

Picture This-Yikes!

Ok, so picture the following conversation while looking at this face.

Recently my room was not quite so clean as it is right now. I was cleaning a little with my precocious almost 5 year old watching. I picked up a certain piece of underclothing that, shall we say, she would never see me in and put it in the drawer. Carlyn grabbed it and held it up to her exclaiming, "Mommy this is the most prettiest dress you have! I love it. I just love it! You should wear it to church on Sunday!" I almost died laughing as I explained to her that it wouldn't be appropriate to wear to church as it wasn't modest enough. With her smart little brain working too hard she said, "Then what is it for, if you aren't going to wear the dress to church?" What do you say to that? I laughed my head off and I don't think I said anything except, "You'll understand when you're older." What do you say to that???

All About D (a little late)

I just realized that I didn't really make a post for Darren during the month of August except on his birthday. Well, I want to remedy that situation now with a couple of my favorite pictures of him his first year. He's loud and exhausting to keep up with, but he's sure fun and a great part of our family. We love you, little D!

I Love to See the Temple

Rick and I haven't been to the temple too many times since we've started our little family. It is kind of tricky when you have rough pregnancies, breastfeed your babies for about a year, and then start the whole thing over again. :) We went last month finally and it was great to be there. We went last night to our Stake Temple session and it was even better. I love being there more with people I know. It was so peaceful and relaxing. The had a chapel session about how to get more out of temple attendance and it was great. We were in a hurry but decided not to be stressed and we still made the session. I'm so glad we went and that the kids were relatively good for Grandma. Thanks Grandma White for watching them!

The Things Kids Say #2

I usually can't remember the funny things my kids say, but these last few days maybe I needed a laugh or maybe my kids are just funny. Anyway, the other day we were working on Carlyn's "All About Me" poster for preschool. Hers was: (the condensed version.)

Me: What is your favorite place?
Carlyn: Chuck-E-Cheese!
Me: Not Disneyland? (she's always talking about Disneyland even though the last time we went she was 6 months old.)
Carlyn: No. Just Chuck-E-Cheese
Me: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Carlyn: A bus driver.
Me: What? Not a pizza cooker anymore? Or last time you said a Mom.
Carlyn: No. I don't know why. Just a bus driver.
Me: What is your favorite thing to do?
Carlyn: Crafts
Me: Really? That's your favorite thing to do? Not swing or ride bikes or play on the computer?
Carlyn: Well, no. I guess my favorite thing to do is play with friends.
Me: Ok. That's fun. If you had one wish, what would you wish for? (I'm thinking it will be to go to Disneyland.)
Carlyn: I would have a pony. A real live pony. Yeah. I would really like that.

I'm shocked. The girl knows what she wants. For now, at least. Then Annie pipes up and says, "Me too! Me too!"

Me: What is your favorite place?
Annie: Here.
Me: Home?
Annie: Yeah. Home. With you. (Oh how sweet.)
Me: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Annie: A race car driver! (without hesitation. Let me remind you she's barely 3!)
Me: Oh. That sounds exciting. What is your favorite thing to do?
Annie: DANCE! (followed by a little move)
Me: And If you had one wish, what would you wish for?
Annie: A pig farm!

The kid had me in stitches. She knows what she wants too. I thought Carlyn's was pretty great until my little ham came in and stole the show. Oh Annie you are a hoot.

To understand this next one, you need to know that when I get frustrated I say "Good night, kid" or something like that. Today she kept walking in my way and we tripped over each other. I started to get frustrated as this is a new habit of hers and she said, "Good night, mom." She looked up at me and we both cracked up.

All Grown Up (She Thinks)

This is my little Carlyn. Well, she's my oldest, but still little. Even if she doesn't think so. She started a free computer class, preschool, and dance class yesterday. She goes M W F to the computer class and preschool and Wed to dance. She has just enough break to eat lunch before preschool. Doesn't she look big? She was excited, but I think I was more excited. I couldn't sleep the night before. We got up and ready and were actually ready about 20 minutes early. If you know me, you know that's a big deal. Isn't she cute?
She picked out her clothes and everything. I thought she'd have a hairdo in mind, but she let me pick.
This is her teacher, Miss Jani. She's in our neighborhood and I hear she's great. Carlyn sure had a great day, but couldn't think of much to tell us afterward.

Last week, I fell down the stairs. Duh, huh? Unfortunately it wasn't the first time. The point is, my back hurt, but what really hurt was my neck. I slept with a neck brace or my neck hurt so bad I wanted to cry. I wore it during the day a little, but I usually could remember to hold it still. I took it off and Rick put it around Darren's waist. Rick thought it was hilarious that Darren looked like a sumo wrestler. Labor Day weekend we cleaned out the garage, took a huge load to the dump, and worked on cleaning out Rick's store a little. The rain put a damper on that (oh, darn) on Monday morning and we didn't get a lot done. Then we met my family that is in Utah at Chuck-a-Rama in Provo for an early dinner and then went to see Kung Fu Panda. The kids loved it but Darren wasn't the greatest so Rick and I tag teamed it and only saw half of it again. This picture was afterward in the car while we waited for Daddy. I got a really cute picture on my phone, but can't get to it right now. We did have a lot of fun.