10 Day Countdown

We made this one year with the Hoffmans as Friend Gifts. It was one of those "find an idea and let's make it our own" projects. They turned out darling! They are printed on magnetic sheets so all the characters can be placed on your fridge individually. We included a story with them so that you could place a piece up each day during December until you lay Baby Jesus in the Manger on Christmas day. Because we have so many other Advents, we usually just put the whole thing up and enjoy it all month.

10 Days Left!

Utah Vacation: Heading East, Temples & the Hoffmans

WOW!! Are you totally exhausted? I am!! And just from blogging about this trip! Good thing I am stubbon or I'd be throwing the towel in on this whole "Preserve the Memories" crap! My kids have been giving me a hard time the last day or two- they think I spend ALL my time on the blog. Poppycuck! Then I'd like to know who's been making the food and doing laundry and changing poopy diapers all week? Kid Perspective- isn't it great?

Ok- so our 2010 Utah journey is almost at it's end. I promise! LOL! After a few goodbyes, we headed out leaving our beloved mountain-y state behind.

Brett and I have a goal this year to make it to the Temple 6 times each. We used to go at least once a month when we lived in Utah but since moving to Fargo, a single Temple trip is an all day, 9 hour, round-trip journey to just do a session. So, even though six doesn't seem like a lot- we felt it was do-able but also a little stretch for us with little kids still at home. Well, since we ONLY (LOL) saw a minimum of 9 temples in the last two weeks, we thought we'd better get us to some of them. We did do the session together in the Salt Lake Temple but decided to do separate visits to different Temples on our journey home. We made our way North and dropped Brett off to do a session at the Idaho Falls Temple while the kids and I went to visit some friends. It is a beautiful Temple. And can you tell?- I LOVED the flowers!

It worked out perfect because our friends, the Hoffmans, just moved from Fargo this week to Rexberg. (The Rexberg Temple is actually closed this week for cleaning or it would have been about a 5-minute ride- lucky-they are so close) We gave them less than 24 hours to have the place presentable for visitors. Sorry about that! But actually the place looks great! That's Amber for ya! Luv ya lady! It was fun to visit and see their new home. It is darling! They have the best street names EVER!!! They have an adorable little townhouse, a 2 car garage, a BBQ patio, a great grass area, a playground and an amazing Clubhouse. Amber is going to have to become the Partay Queen out there. She has the room for it for sure! A pool, a fireplace, a kitchen, a sitting area, a work-out room and a movie theater. Wowzers! Too much fun! Maybe I'll have to come to your Ornamanet Exchange this year- Can I be invited?? LOL! Thanks lady for letting us drop by- your place is great! We'll miss you tons! Be brave, out-going, invite some people for dinner and throw lots of parties for me! ;) Best of Luck, Hoffmans!

After our night's rest at the Fairfield Inn, I left my sleeping family and went to a session at the Billings, Montana Temple. I really enjoy the quietness and peace I feel in the Temple. They truly are the House of the Lord. When I got done, I walked around the grounds- the rocky backdrop to the Temple was awesome!  I also got to see a bride, her groom and her mother come to the Temple to be sealed. It's so fun to watch the excitement as people start their lives together. Ahh! The memories!

What a fabulous trip! Except for a couple incidents, I actually could almost call it a vacation! (Are they ever a vacation for the Mom?) We, of course, had other things we could have done, more people we would have loved to see, more time we could have spent with the people we did see- but all in all- we had a great time!

Thanks for all those who made time to see us! The memories are priceless. We so appreciate your love and laughter and friendship! Until we meet again--- Love ya all!!

Red Hawks Game

Family Home Evening at it's finest!

The Hoffmans invited us to a Red Hawks game tonight for free! Thanks to the Sunmart/Red Hawk Red-Hot Ticket Giveaway! {Just head over to the Box Office at Newman Outdoor Field and bring your Sunmart receipt for $25 or more. (You have to pick up tickets before the game starts) They'll give you 2 FREE General Admission Tickets to a Sunday, Monday or Tuesday regular season game!} Yeah for FREE! (or "yah, right- it's free!"-- We totally made up for the price of the tickets in concessions- go figure! LOL! And not because things were too expensive-- just simply by pure quantities ;) We had a lot of fun though! Glory's favorite part was the Red Hawk Mascot! She could spot him from across the field! :)

We ate and ate and ate and ate- like the whole time! Too funny! They had a great deal for a hot dog dinner. It ain't a baseball game without a hot dog, right? Then, we followed that up with cotton candy and dippin' dots and oreo mini cookies and licorice and....... OK maybe that was it BUT it was a lot! Will the kids every be able to go to bed tonight? We'll hope so! LOL!

They had a free Red Hawk Bouncer set up for the kids. They loved it! They stood in line several times for turns! Justice and Ian were hilarious. Right before their turn, they would lay on the entrance and pretend to shoot the "turkey"! Funny boys! We so need one of these at our Partay house! Maybe someday, right?

We also had some other Red Hawk Fun! 1)Liberty enjoyed Ben's ipod for quite a while. Thanks alot Ben! LOL! Now she's gonna be begging for one of her own! ;) 2)We got to thank the local weather man, Hutch Johnson, in person, for the cloud that finally came across the sky to shade us from the HOT sun AND watch him catch a flying Red Hawk T-shirt. (He was there with his kids on the same bench as us!) 3)The kids got to play on the playground for a bit. 4)The little girls played in the sand as Andrew ran through it. He thought it was tickly on his feet. Silly kids! 5)AND oh yah- we watched the ball game! That's why we went, right? Well... it was a bonus, I guess!

We wanted to stay until we could all sing the famous 7th inning stretch song. The kids were playing on the playground during the 6th inning. Can you tell they were SO into the game? LOL! Amber and I kept telling the Dads to go get the kids but do they listen? NO! They finally went to go get them halfway through the 7th inning and they all missed the song. LOL! Oops! Glory & I enjoyed it though! She is so funny when it comes to singing. She's very animated in her lips as she sings. It's hillarious! Cute girl. We luv ya!

Take me out to the ball game
Take me out to the crowd
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack
I don't care if I never get back
So it's root, root, root for the home team
If they don't win it's a shame
For it's one, two, three strikes you're out
At the old ball game

Thanks Hoffmans for a fabulous evening! Lots of fun!

Go Red Hawks!

4th of July Partay on the 5th

The Partay NEVER stops at the Seamons house. LOL!  We decided to throw a BIG 4th of July on the 5th Partay! It was a lot of fun! At least we thought so :) I LOVE dinners where everyone brings something and you end up eating like Royalty. Everything was amazing and so delicious! Brett & I had our favorite, of course! Alexa made a flag cake! SO AWESOME!!!! (She even teased me that she asked her Mom if she thought it would make it on the blog! Oh YEAH!!! Look how awesome this thing is!! Way to go lady!) We had hamburger, hot dogs, all the fixings, fruit, veggies, chips & salsa, and all kinds of desserts. I LOVE food! YUMMMMY!

We're so lucky to have such great friends here in Fargo. Our Partay Guests for today included our neighbor- Andrew; the Hoffmans; the Larsens; the Ironroads; the Mausolfs & Jen's Dad; Rob Neuteboom (Jen's in Utah this week); the Parkers; the Potters; the Ransoms & their friend; the Roberts; the Tuckers, and the Seamons (hey we count! LOL!). Thanks everybody for coming! We just luv you!

Today was a Par-Tay to remember, for sure- at least for anyone that was in a swimsuit! The Potters let us borrow their blowup waterslide. It was such a blast! {Thanks guys! You're the greatest! You are always welcome to our grass anytime you'd like to use it! ;)}

We also had LOTS of other Waterfun! We had waterguns, a kiddie pool, the big pool/hot tub, the water table, the tramp, and the zipline. I LOVE that the weather has been good enough to enjoy some water! Yeah for Summer 2010!

After a little cleanup, a group of us headed for the Fairgrounds. Brett decided to bring over the GoKart for anyone who'd like to ride/drive it. We still get teased about calling it a "Go-Kart" but we bought it at Go-Kart USA so that's what it will always be to us! LOL! It's always fun to see grown men instantly become kids again. Another of Brett's toys that turned out perfect!

After a change of locations (gotta love fairground managers! ;) we had an awesome 2 hour firework show brought to you by the Larsen/Seamons Men! I wasn't sure they were ever gonna end! LOL! AND I think we still came home with stuff. Gotta love their enthusiasm, right? OR be very scared of their pyro-ism! Either way, it was very patriotic!

Lucky for us (Overstatement of the Year), our Firework Viewing Area must have been a mosquito nest because I'm sure we all left with hundreds of bites. OUCH!! We tried to smoke them out and probably just bought the makers of OFF Spray a new car but nothing worked for long! The kids had a blast though! They tailgated, took turns lighting off fireworks, swung sparkers near each others heads, tried to light the grass on fire, let off smoke bombs and ran around crazy until 11:00 PM. That's any kid's idea of an awesome 4th, right? It was a very long weekend, with lots of late nights. But you gotta love it! Thanks to all our friends who stuck it out to watch with us! I have Calamine Lotion people can borrow! LOL!

Happy 4th on the 5th Everybody!

and

Happy Birthday America!

The Annual Easter Hunt

Every year growing up, my dear Grandma Crump (who passed away a couple years ago) held an amazing Easter Hunt in her very large (an acre or so) backyard. She always prepared a fabulous Easter meal enough to feed the five thousand. Her hunt (including a handwritten list) included 20 or more Easter-themed items including money, egges, pencils, candy, and the famous marshmallow-filled chocolate egg with your name on it. :) When you came back inside, she always supplied some kind of  basket to put your loot in. She also made sure that the adults all got a basket full of stuff as well. Our family was already large when I was young but as I grew so did the family. My sweet grandma just kept doing it and she would even make sure there was stuff for guests we brought. She was AMAZING!!!! The whole thing was quite eggstraordinary!!!!

Well, the year after we moved to Fargo, I decided that the tradition needed to be kept here in our little part of the world. Not quite as fabulous but fun nonetheless. Of course, my hunt is quite a bit smaller and Microsoft Word has taken over the handwritten list but I do have a lot of fun shopping for all the items and filling the eggs and hiding it all! And you know how I LOVE a ParTay!

Here's our list for this year:

Here's our beautiful guests:

Here's the Easter Hunters:

Here's our Easter Feast:

And the Extra fun:

Thanks to all our dear friends for coming and keeping my Grandma's tradition alive!

Happy Easter!