Bismarck Temple

Today, we took the family on a little road trip to Bismarck, ND. It's been a while since we made it to the Temple and the Primary Presidency were providing child care so we loaded the whole family in the van for our little 9 hour road trip. It definitely makes us more appreciative of our Utah days when we made a 15-30 minute drive to any of the 5 surrounding temples in the area. I wish we would have taken a little more advantage of that when we were there. Sometimes you don't know what you got til it's gone, I guess.

This time, Brett and I got to do a Sealing Session. The Sealer was the Temple President, President Reese. Man!! It was so wonderful and a great spiritual experience. We even got to witness a live sealing. (Well, sorta) An elderly gentleman had done the Temple work for his parents who have long sinced passed away. Today, he and his wife stood as proxy for his parents to be sealed for time & all eternity and then he got to get sealed to them as well. They have waited a long time but now are a FOREVER family. It was really neat. It was also very special to hear again the covenants that Brett and I made to each other 13 and 1/2 years ago. I believe it's been 4 or 5 years since we have done a sealing session so I really appreciated the opportunity to hear it all again.

The Temple is one of the greatest things about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It allows individuals through Jesus Christ to be endowed with power from our Heavenly Father and gives families the opportunity to be sealed to God and each other for all eternity. That's a long time! LOL! We are so grateful to have our little family sealed together. It is a blessing and comfort to know that as long as we are righteous and faithful to Jesus Christ and his commandments, we can and will return and live with Him and each other again.

We know it can be an extra long day for 4 kids but we hope that Liberty, Justice, Victoria and Glory will grow to know how important the Temple is and have a desire to enter and make covenants themselves. We always take the opportunity to walk the kids over and let them touch the Temple while we are there. We know that it may seem just like a building but there is a special feeling felt on the Temple grounds. Victoria is always reminding us that she will get to go inside when she is twelve (that's when youth can get a limited-use recommend and participate in Baptisms for the Dead.) She is very excited!

I always feel uplifted and renewed in my tesimony when we go as a family to the Temple and know it is worth the sacrifice to give up a Saturday here and there. I am so grateful we got to go.

Spring is Here????

OK... not really. Afterall, this IS the Frozen Tundra where 7 months of the year as an average high temp of 40 degrees. Dang COLD! (As you can tell- it IS STILL snowing on my blog! LOL!) But nothing says I can't start Spring indoors, right? Here's my last piece to my collection of Seasonal wallhangings. Love it! It makes me feel all springy!

Only another month and maybe the snow will start to melt. Well... then there's the flood predictions for the 2nd year in a row. It's supposedly going to be just as bad as last year. Wowzers! The fun never ends here. Anyways- Hope life's at least bloomin' where you are!

Happy Spring!

Snow Fun in Enderlin

No wind, above zero degree weather, a free Saturday afternoon, a little scenic drive, generous friends with 4 feet of untouched snow on a humungous backyard hill... Perfect ingredients for a little North Dakota Snow Partay!

Some of our dear friends, the Luecks and the Friederichs families, had us out to do a little sledding and pizza eating this weekend. We had a great time! It's quite a jont to the little town of Enderlin, ND but they always make it so worth our time.

Once, we got everyone up from their naps and got everyone dressed up warm, we headed out to the HILL. Brett & the kids blazed a trail almost all the way to the top. [Brett figured we would get enough speed going down the 2/3rds so we cut across there instead of all the way] It was hard work! Only the blown up sleds worked due to the sinkin' factory with the hard sleds (into the several feet of snow) but it was a lot of fun. Justice & Katie were the speediest!!! WOW!! They just flew down the hill over & over again. As long as we protected them against the pole in the driveway they were great! Little Ellie wasn't too fond of the hill. (Evidence of it being her screaming in my lap on the way down the hill- poor kid!) but Glory and her enjoyed being pushed down the driveway 5 or 10 feet. They thought it was great! Liberty &Victoria went down a couple of time but their favorite is always the Snow-eating event AND there was a plethora of white clean snow to partake. They were in 7th Heaven!!

Back inside, we warmed up and had a little dinner. We waited for Steve to get off work while Micki made us some home-made pizza. It was the BEST pizza we have EVER had! I am NOT kidding! So good! The kids had Pepperoni and the adults had a Supreme version. I want to get the recipe but afraid that it's just a little Lueck magic that made it so great. Don't ya hate that? Food's always better for me when someone else makes it. Guess we'll just have to request it when we come out again.

After eating WAY too much of the delicious dinner, the kids watched part of To Kill a Mockingbird and did a little WWF in the living room while the adults visited. Katie is the perfect little Mommy and Glory followed her everywhere! I think she would have even changed Glory's diaper for me if I had asked her. Too cute!

We ended the night with some yummy Rootbeer Floats and a few cookies from the cursed cookie dough! LOL!! {Micki tried to make cookies this week. After burning the first batch and the 3rd batch, she gave up and put it away for another day. Faith decided to finish it off and even this batch of cookies ended up being a little on the crispy side. Like I said- CURSED cookie dough!} Even being cursed- they were pretty yummy. As long as we ate them quick before they turned into hockey pucks. LOL!

The whole evening was a lot of fun! Thanks guys for having us out! You are AWESOME! We'll have to do it again soon.

Celebrating Our Love

Pre-Valentine Partay

On Friday, we decided to do a little pre-Valentine Celebration in conjunction with our weekly Friday Night Movie Night. We started out the LOVEly evening by using a coupon that one of the kids had earned at school for a Free Subway meal. Luckily, we got there just in time cuz shortly after we ate, they ran out of bread. Too funny! What are your supposed to get at Subway without bread? Needless to say, we got out of there quick before someone freaked out about the no-bread service. LOL!
At home, before we left for dinner, we held a little drawing to see WHO our Valentine would be for the night. So after we ate, we then headed to the Dollar Tree Store for a little Valentine shopping. We ended up with some Valentine balloons, candy and a race car. It's always a hoot to see what the kids pick out for each other and us. Like Justice for example-- had Dad for his Valentine. He picked out a large red rose balloon. He said it was cuz Brett's favorite color is red and there's that Roses are Red poem that goes with it! Too cute!!! Since Liberty was the only one that got candy, she was very thoughtful and shared with everyone. Thanks Sis!

We ended the night with The Wizard of Waverly Place. It was much better than last weeks movie. OH SOOOO way better! (Sorry bout that one, Ironroads- Good thing you LOVE us!) What a great way to start out our weekend with mi Amor-s!

Happy Valentine's Day

Since Valentine's was Sunday and the Bishop shared a little LOVE by canceling morning meetings, my hubby let me sleep in. Thanks Honey (and Bishop B)! While I was sleeping, my family made tons of Valentines for me and each other.  There were tons of hearts, candy, and thoughtful poems (Liberty wrote page long poems for everyone and Brett wrote goofy poems for all. They didn't rhyme on purpose and the kids thought they were very funny!) Thanks guys! XOXO!
After Church, the kids helped me make Valentine heart cookies. For dinner, we fancy-ed up some yummy leftovers. Gotta love the microwave! Fancy place settings, red punch, and great Valentines company. What more could you want? OK... maybe a fantastic purple and pick sunset? Well, we had that too! Thanks for celebrating Valentine's with us, Mother Nature. It was beautiful!
Then, so we could have a little one-on-one Valentine time (winkwink), we tried to get the kids to bed a little early. Yah! Good luck, right? We only got 'em down after flipping the couch cushions over due to a Sharpie-Marker-disaster LOL!, several Valentine books and a little daddy/Wii time. But don't you worry- 13 balloons (13years of marriage), candles, rose petals........

What a lovely Valentine's Day!

I just LOVE my family!

XOXO!

Happy Valentine's Day! XOXO

Sending Hugs and Kisses to you all

on this LOVEly Day!

We are so grateful you are a part of our life.

XOXO!!

P.S. Thanks to Grandma Karla, Grammy & Grandpa Crump and Grandma and Grandpa Seamons for sending us Valentines! We love you all! Thanks for thinking of us!

Valentine Couple Partay

This year, Brett and I thought it would be fun to get our Romantic juices flowing and share an evening with some of our good friends. It was so much fun! Here's our LOVEly couples that were brave enough to join us:

We started the evening out with a fabulously scrumptious candlelight dinner presented by the women-folk. So delicious! We had Pesto-Tomato Pasta, Homemade BBQ Chicken Pizza, Spinach Salad, fancy Green Beans, Stuffed Mushrooms, and warm Home-made French Bread. The Men-folk were in charge of drinks. They did a fancy Valentine Fruit Punch and a Sprite mixture with an Heart-shaped ice cube. Everything was so awesome!!

Next, what Partay would be complete without games and prizes? Too funny! As usual, I can't fit all the fun here so... see the POST: Valentine Couple Games!

After the games, we put our Creative talents together to make a Valentines for our Valentine. Girls Team made their way downstairs while the Boys Team used the kitchen. All the guests individually were supposed to bring a less than $2 item to share with their team. The girls decided to make all the same gift. We made LoveKits for our hubbies- Rambo headband included. The rest is not appropriate to post about but it is Valentines so think what you will! :) Brooke brought fabric (of course!) so we even sewed Valentine fabric bags to hold all the stuff. We kill ourselves! So funny!

The guys were a little more personal and made each of their Valentines a little heart/candy gift. Very thoughtful!

Don't we have such Creative and Loving Spouses!? LOVE it!

The LOVEly evening came to an end with Delicious Dessert supplied by the Men-folk. Chocolate Mousse served in fancy wine glasses topped with whoopcream! YUMMMY! We were also supposed to enjoy these very elaborate Shortbread Cookies filled with White Chocolate and Raspberries. Didn't quite work out but it's the thought that counts, right? If it is... they were beautiful! (See photo collage of dinner & dessert above)

What a great night! Thanks everyone for coming! We had so much fun!

We'll definitely have to make it an annual event! Love you all!

Hope you had a fabulous, fun and possibly edible Valentines with your Valentine! LOL!

PS. Thanks Allsion for watching the kids. We sure luv ya! You are AWESOME!

Valentine Couple Partay Games

I used to really hate Party games. Maybe because I was uncomfortable stepping outside my comfort zone or maybe because I wasn't the one planning them or maybe because they were party games and not PARTAY games. Who knows? Whatever it was- nowadays... I LOVE them! Well, as long as you are with good friends and you get a prize!

We started out our Partay games with a little "LOVE is...." Poem Writing Game. Everyone got to pick out 2 words from the piles. One was a Romantic word, the other, NOT-so Romantic. With those two words, each person had to come up with a Love Poem for their spouse. OMH!!! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! So, here's what the creative geniuses came up with:

Shay to Brett:

Your shirts maybe wrinkly

Cuz the ironing board is more of a shelf

But you know that I love you

With all my heart- I give you myself!!!

Brett to Shay:

Dirty dishes, poopy diapers, chocolate on the floor,

When I'm with you, none of that matters anymore.

Without you, life would get incredibly stale,

But together it's a living Fairytale!

Ben to Amber:

I remember our first meeting at the store.

In the aisle of relief for constipation

It was then that I knew
That you were the ONE
That would soon become mi Amour
Amber to Ben:
Upon your eyes I love to gaze.
I know that this is not a phase.
My heart it goes all a flutter
& these words I love to mutter.
Because they have a lot of flair
Much more than those curly nose hairs!
Brooke to Jerry:
My Love-
You are even more attractive than a
Stary-eyed hairball!
Jerry to Brooke:
My dear Love, You are so charming
but I find it quite alarming
that you could possibly think
that I should fix the clogged sink.
Kristen to Jared:
I know you like your video games
& I love you just the same
I think that you're HOT
Even though your headphones are not!
Jared to Kristen:
My fantasy of you makes me squirm
My love for you is long like worms
When I think of you I wriggle with joy
I'll love ya even after we're in the soil.
Haylie to Matt:
Roses are Red
Violets are Blue
Bet you didn't think I could use wallpaper paste
To make lingerie for you!
Matt to Haylie:
Haylie- In this race of life
Your my car engine of love!
Be my sweet partner! -Luv, Matt
(He said it's a haiku, people!)
Kristen to Sean:
I love you in the morning
I love you in the night
I'd love to eat some dinner
w/ candles burning bright.
Yet, I would feel heartbroken
if you didn't kiss my lips
because my onion breath was something you'd rather miss.
Sean to Kristen:
To my Sexy Love:
My patriarchal blessing said
I'd marry a sexy wildcat
You always give me the remote control
Baby, my love- you know where it's at!
How do I truly love thee?
Let me count the ways,
With the remote control and your sexy self,
We'll be happy all our days.
WAIT- you want the remote control?
Is our love going to stay?
OK- I'll turn over the remote
As long as you promise to play-
Thus I will be yours and you will be mine,
With the remote and our love divine.

I absolutely LOVEd all the poems! Way to go everyone. You are all AMAZING!

Next... was our "Lovers Funny Bone" Game.

I think I lost all the weight from dinner just from laughing! The idea is that you and your spouse are a team. We did two teams at a time. Each team member picked a piece of paper out of the bucket. Each paper had a body part typed on it. (ie-- lips, shoulder, leg, hand, behind, chest, head, foot, back, etc) You take the body part that you picked and press it to the body part your spouse picked to hold the piece of paper there until the end of the round. Then, you pick 2 more pieces of paper and touch those body parts. You continue until you either drop a piece of paper OR there's no possible way for you to do the next set of body parts. What good sports! It looked more like making out or wrestling but it was so funny! We wanted to do a couple rounds with an ultimate winner but just ran out of time! The Ironroads ended up with 8 papers though so we considered them our Ultimate winners! You guys are AMAZING!!

Of course, everyone won a prize!! I put together these little Valentine Prize Bags. Every one was different but they all had something edible and something fun to do with their spouse. OooLaLa! Use it wisely, my friends!

We had to make time for our Valentine gifts so, we skipped the last game. It'll have to be homework! We were going to have all the ladies put on dark lipstick. Then, on your mark... get set... KISS! In a set amount of time, we were going to see how many times you could kiss your hubbys face! It would have been a lot of fun to have a pic of all the kiss-covered men. But there's always next year, right?

Thanks for being good sports, you guys and gals!

I just LOVE Partay games!