Swim Partay for Austin

Austin Weber turned SIX on Wednesday so we went over tonight to celebrate with him. He wanted friends and a swim party! Hurrah for us! It was so much fun. We visited, ate pizza, played, and went swimming. (We were going to walk over to the pool but a storm rolled in and dropped the temps by 15 degrees so the kids ran and we drove:) When we were done with that fun- we went back to the Webers for cupcakes and presents. The night went by way too fast. Thanks for inviting us guys! We sure luv ya!

Happy Birthday Austin!

We sure are going to miss you guys.

Temple Trip

Disclaimer: Haylie did such a great job of summarizing our trip- I am going to copycat most of her post! :)
It has been way too long since Haylie & I have been to the Temple. I've been kind of down spiritually lately and was dragging my feet on even going (making excuses of time and expense and blah and blah). Actually, I called Haylie last night to finally say I would pick her up in the morning. I am SOOO glad we went.
It was the fastest 3 hour trip to Bismarck we have experienced yet, although it might have to do with the fact that Jamestown somehow disappeared during this trip. I swear!!! Kinda scary but I seriously spaced half the trip! Haylie promised me she's gonna point out Jamestown the next time. I'm sure you're now all excited to hire me as a chauffeur. In my defense, it was rainy and cloudy and except for the ocassional "mountain" (ND rolling hills), it all looks the same. I do promise I was a safe driver- I just got lost in the company of a good friend. LOL!
When we got there we were 30 minutes early, a first for me, so we got to sit out in the front area and relax. It's always fun to see so many people you recognize in the Temple. (even when you don't make it as regularly as you should :) That's the wonderful thing about smaller Temples.
After the session, we sat in the Celestial room for quite some time discussing some of the things that caught our attention during the session. I like to concentrate on learning something new every time. This time, I could write a talk about what I learned!!! (and I just might! :) But the short and sweet of it is Daily Scripture study and how even the Creation of the world shows us how important it is and the steps we need to take to set up a regular study of God's Word. It also means--I have somethings to work on. :) That's nothing new though, right?
The Celestial Room was so beautiful and peacful and quiet. Not the "all the kids are now finally in bed and we tidied up a bit and watched a show and now I'm going to lay here in the quiet for 2 seconds before I fall asleep" kind of quiet BUT the kind that you can breathe in. I really needed some of that! We ended up being the last ones in the room and it was wonderful sitting there in the silence. I also got to show Haylie the Tissue box covers I made for the Bismarck Temple last year. It was fun to see them in the Celestial Room- they're even prettier than I remember them!
Remember how I said I had a bad mood about coming-- and how it was rainy on the trip out. Well...I definitely came out with a better attitude and low and behold- the sun came out as well. Too funny how God can tell you He's keeping an eye on you even with a simple little sunshine. I was very grateful!
We went to a late lunch at the Olive Garden.  We had a good time talking and eating delicious food. Then we headed for home. Another fast 3 hours, lots of giggles, running over a dead skunk and smelling it for the next 20 minutes resulting in a story about a bullet bike running over a cat, an interesting fact about the gigantic bison statue in Jamestown (don't ask!) and then we were home! We haven't talked or laughed that much in a long time. It's so great to have such fabulous friends to make special lasting memories with. Thanks lady for making the trip with me. Sure luv ya!
I sure LOVE the Temple and the opportunity I have to feel of God's love when I am there!

Justice's BDay Celebration

We started out the Birthday Boy's morning with the Bday hat, checking out the loot and opening one present. He opened one of his Webkinz. (The kids are obsessed with the Webkinz lately) Justice had a Boston-creme filled Toaster Strudel with Happy BDay written in frosting for his Breakfast of Champions! LOL! Then, he took M&M cookies & his Webkniz Gorilla to share with his school class.

Justice has been begging to get the firepit out so for his Bday celebration it was only appropriate to have a Firepit ParTay!! He requested hotdogs, puffy Cheetos, strawberries and S'mores. Yummy!

The other events of the evening included: Opening presents, 

sharing a game of Trampoline Dodge ball with

our neighbor friend Andrew Ray,

singing Happy BDay with candles in cookies,

and of course Friday Night Movie Night with popcorn!

We sure love ya Justice! Hope you had a fabulous Birthday!

Thanks to everyone that remembered him on his special day!

Scenes from Six

Our One & Only Boy is seven! Unbelieveable! We are so glad to have you a part of our family, Buddy! Love ya!

Here's a walk down memory lane:

Kitchen Fun

I am the first to admit that the kitchen is not my favorite room in the house. Now, don't get me wrong-- I LOVE food!!! It's just that it's better when someone else makes it! LOL! However, I have been inspired lately by my amazing friend and her fabulous cookbook and her delicious meals! So, I have been on a roll lately. I picked the recipes from Brooke, got all the ingredients, made a plan and ended up making 11 meals in one day to put in my freezer!!! YEAHH!!!! Don't they look fabulous! I even ended up looking like a very domestic Visiting Teacher when one of my sisters had a baby this week and I delivered 4 ready-to-heat meals to her family. I'm so excited to be like Brooke! Yeah for me!

Also- kitchen related.....after 13 years, I finally broke down and bought myself a nice knife set. Not the $500 sets I saw out there (OMH!!!- who pays that kind of money for knifes!) but a really nice Chicago Cutlery set. The problem is that they are so sharp, I'm almost afraid to use them! LOL!

Look at me- all domestic and everything.

My family won't know what to do with the new me. (If it lasts, that is!)

Unfinished Projects Done- Check!!!

Not my projects today, people!! This time... I am bragging for my friends! (this is a quite a few months in the making but time flies when you're having fun)...

Hanging out with awesome ladies. Check!!

Crafters heaven. Check!

Projects completed. Check!

WAHOO! Onto new things but first a little look at the hard work!

Haylie Mae- Matt & Haylie needed a King size Comforter for their bed and the "Indian" in Matt made a store-bought quilt unexceptable. So... Haylie and  I went on a little journey together (well- I think Haylie thought it was LONG! LOL but she seemed way speedy to me!) She did a fabulous job and it looks awesome! Now we just need a couple throw pillows (hint hint Lady!) and the bed will be Parade of Homes worthy!

Brooke Cook- Brooke has been carrying a little Art to Heart Christmas Pattern Book around with her for a couple years now. She had grand plans to make these adorable Christmas Stockings for each of her 8 family members. She worked on them here and there a little at a time. Well, after Christmas, we decided (OK- it was probably more me than Brooke LOL) that the time had come to get them done and retire the book for good! We have been getting together every Tuesday since the beginning of the year. We sadly missed our Jan 31 deadline goal by 31 days (we do have 4 kids and lunch and naps and craziness going on our Sewing Tuesdays as well- LOL) but they are FINISHED! Hallelujah!!! SO adorable but if we don't see them until Christmas it will be a good thing! Aren't they Amazing?

Ashlee Weber- Ashlee has gotten dragged into a couple Quilt making projects with me over the last couple years. When she first started she was very timid but MAN! look at her now. She is like a hundred times faster and more precise than 3 years ago. Sadly for us, Nick graduates very, very soon and then they are moving. But we have unfinished projects to be done! AHHHH! Aren't deadlines great? LOL! Ashlee's been coming over to finish her Scripture Power Quilt and I made it over for a late night date to finish up her Friendship Quilt. They look awesome! Your like a pro sew-er now, Lady! BEAUTIFUL! We are even gonna get brave and make it over to the Ransom's to quilt them ourselves. Go us!!!

Deb Stephenson- Deb was also dragged into the little Quilt Adventure with me 3 years ago. This is her first quilt and most likely her last but it is so exciting! She took the day off to hang out with me and sew. I gave her a coupon last year for her Bday to quilt it when we finished piecing it so I'll have to post a picture when it's all done. Great job on the piecing, Lady! Look at you go! and thanks for using your vacation time to hang out with me. Luv ya! I know you can't see the finished quilt due to the Sunshine but it was a beautiful day so you'll just have to imagine what it looks like until we get it all quilted and bound. It's gonna be amazing!

KBro- First, a little background about our Fall Friendship Quilts... (or maybe about Brooke and I in general. LOL) When we came up with the idea, Brooke and I did a little calculating, browsing the Internet and buying EXTRA fabric. Cuz that's what we do really well. LOL! Anywho- we got tons of fabric for sashing and borders and extra colors and then a few fat quarter packs just cuz we loved a certain pattern. Needless to say- we have A LOT of the Fabulous Fall fabric. Well, for the Friendship quilt we only included the fabric for the blocks for the ladies and they were in charge of getting the rest. However, even after finishing mine completely and doing Ashlee's, I told Kristen I had enough to have her add sashing and some splash of color to her quilt with all my leftovers. I told you we bought a LOT of fabric. YEAH! I'm so excited and I love how they all turn out so different. We'll have to take a pic when you get it done lady! With your last couple projects we can really call you a master Quilter now!

So there you have it. Spending time with great women and finishing projects. What more could a girl ask for? NOTHING! LUVed every minute! Sew much fun!!! You ladies are AMAZING!

Our Favorite Shows

Brett & Shay LOVE watching movies/shows together. We didn't use to but now it's just part of our spending time together. Several times a week (late at night unfortunately- we have kids, don't ya know) we can be found, relaxing on the two couches in the living room in front of the big screen. (I know-- how is that together? Someday, people, we'll have a big comfy couch we snuggled together on- but we'll let you know when we plant the money tree in the backyard LOL!)

Well, our 2 constant shows (mostly on DVDs now) are first, Keifer Sutherland's 24 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24_(TV_series) AND Dennis Haysbert's The Unit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unit). Yeah!!! We love these shows!

1st- 24. This show came into our life's 6 years ago when Brett left for 6 months to training. On one of his visits home, he told me about this show that some of the guys told him to watch. He explained it and I thought- "Whatever. I'm not watching that show." Well, Brett rented Season 1, Disk 1 which had like 4-8 episodes on it. I think that first night or two we watched the whole thing- all 4-8 hours and we were hooked. We have followed Jack Bauer through all 8 1/2 of his days. It's is so intense and aggravating and fabulous all at the same time. Unfortunately, there does come a point where enough is enough. LOL! Brett and I tease these days about Jack--- our latest is "If I have to hear Jack say 'I give you my word' one more time I'm gonna barf" LOL. OR Can't someone just shoot Jack! Really! We have loved you for years, our dear Jack... the ride was fun but it's time to be done. (Sorry Jack) We'll will for sure miss it when they are done with all his adventures but you can only beat the crap out of everyone for so many years then it's time to get a real life. No offense to the 24 die-hards. We know your still out there. :)

Here's a little walk down MemoryLane with Jack:

2nd- The Unit

Our dear friends, the Kings introduced us to this amazing show during Season 4 which unfortunately was it's last. Because of withdrawals, we decided to watch them all and start at the beginning. It's pretty intense but just amazing. We LOVE this show. It's based on a book called Delta Force about a Special Ops group. There's good looking men, patriotism, beating up the bad guys, strong women and love all wrapped up in one amazing package. I am so sad that they canceled it. Such a bummer! Here's our new friends:

And some of the rest of the Cast:

Then this last week, we were watching part of Season 3 and a tragedy occured. [if you haven't seen them and plan to you- you better skip this part. Trust me, you don't want to know. :( I'll put it down a ways so you don't have to see] It was so shocking and sad and thought provoking. Dang real life!

B

o

o

:(

H

o

o

:(

 

Anyways, Hector died. I can't believe it. So sad!! So here's our shout out to Hector Williams. We will miss you!

In case, you are now worried about us, we do also lead a real life. We try to be anxiously engaged in many good causes besides spending time with our "Beat 'em up" friends. But sure do enjoy being part of their adventures. Yeah for make-believe!

Bloomin' Seamons: Part 1 & a little Yard Work

Here it comes, people! What you've all been waiting for-- A chance to follow the growth of the Seamons Garden.--This year known as the Bloomin' Seamons. LOL! I know- it's been a long winter but spring is finally here. Brett rototilled the garden up this weekend. Yeah!!!! I LOVE the fresh tilled dirt look. It's so beautiful. Now we gotta get stuff to put in it. I can't wait!

With spring- comes the bloom of new leaves which I also LOVE! Here's our raspberries and our lilac bush. So much fun! We are actually trying another blueberry bush as well so we'll see. 4th time has to be the charm, right?

Last but not least--- Brett also power-raked the yard. I didn't get a picture of him doing it but there was so much dead grass it pulled up that when I mowed it up, I had to dump the bag 19 times. Crazy! We are going to do our yearly "Spring Grass Planting" under the umbrella tree. Gotta love the shade!

Stay tuned for all the growing that's going to happen! It's gonna be Bloomin' beautiful!

Walking with Dinosaurs

O....K..... So we finally admit it. There's not a ton of things to do here in FARgo but.... Today, we took a Walk with the Dinosaurs. (you gotta check out the link)
It was pretty neat! From the previews (& due to the price), we decided that it might be a bit scary for little Glory so she stayed home for a nap. Thanks Haylie for helping us out!
We missed the 1st half due to car trouble but all the dinosaurs in the last half were pretty spectacular. We were pretty high up in the Dome but they still looked humungous! In the center picture, you can see how big they are compared to the Dino-Guide. They all looked & sounded amazingly real!!!
Some of our favorite memories from our adventure included:
*the long walk around the entire building just to get in
*Intermission- (oh yeah- that's when we got there! LOL)
*the bloomin' light flowers
*the Torosaurus' fight- the young guy won!
*the UTAHraptors- made us miss all our fam!! (Luv you guys!)
*our Dino-Guide finding a dung beetle in the dino-size poop pile! YUCKY!!!!
*the Tyrannosaurus-Rex!!!.....uh......the baby
*covering our ears for the roars
*the mama T-Rex, of course
*the asteroid hitting the earth
*the cotton candy
AND
*spending time as a fam

Hurray for Dinosaurs!!!

All Tucker-ed Out

OK so that doesn't sound like it's a good thing but it is! Time with our new friends, the Tuckers, is always a blast! Along with them joining our babysitting group every other weekend, we also spent the evening with them on the night of the Priesthood Session. It's been a long time since Justice had a guy friend he could really WWF with so Austin Tucker is the greatest!!!! The second they see each other, it is really Paid-Preview Smackdown and they LOVE every minute!
Tomorrow, Austin turns 5 so they had a bunch of us over for a Bday get-together for him. We had a lot of fun!
They have a fun little park next to their house so the kids all played in the sand, climbed through the tubes, played in the swings and went down the slides. I didn't get any pictures of them before lunch though.

The Tuckers fed us a yummy Summer lunch including hot dogs on the grill. Jared planned games. He did a great job. The kids did 3-legged races with rubber bands (OUCH!! LOL), and plastic sack races. Then they did a special Scooby-Doo Treasure Hunt and found GOLD! (Chocolate Gold Coins) YEAH!!! They finished the Party out by frosting our own cupcakes and getting awesome Sport- themed treats bags. Thanks Tuckers!

Everyone had a blast! Well, until the last slide run of the day! Oops! Glory and Carson were having a blast chasing each other around. Glory was a little too slow for the game so Carson tried to help her along a bit. It just happened to be at the top of the very tall, very fast slide. OUCH! I don't think that face planting into the gravely sand below was part of the game plan. Poor baby! She totally looks like one abused girly. Such is life in the fast (& fun) lane!

Except for the little sand eating, it was a perfect day. We just luv the Tuckers! Happy BDay Austin!

9 year old Birthday Celebration

A NINE YEAR OLD!!!

My little baby grew up!!!! Liberty turns 9 years old today!!! I seriously can't believe it! Here are some of our memories of Liberty being eight:

We Love ya Sis!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

Easter Traditions

We usually start our Easter morning with a Seamons fam tradition of Dad's Egg Hunt. Unlike Mom's Grandma Hunt on Saturday- Dad's hunt is all about the CANDY!!! The kids find tons of candy-filled eggs hidden all over the front room. They usually have to resort to a game of Hot & Cold to find the last ones. Some hiding places get pretty tricky. Brett also hides mini Twix bars all over (usually in high places) the room for Shay! Thanks Love. You sure make our life fun and yummy (and sometimes sick LOL! ----from the too much candy, that is)!!

Then, there is always the annual Easter Egg Coloring.  Lots of eggs, lots of colors, lots of ideas, lots of crayons, lots of mess and lots of fun!!! We have quite the creative egg decorating family. Way to go everyone! 

...And what good are all those eggs if not for a Eggstordinary Egg Fight!!!? 3,2,1... SMASH!!!! Another Seamons family tradition. Grandpa Seamons would be proud!!! This years fights got a little ficious- a little more like breaking the wood boards in Karate.The force that they hit each others egg really should have been illegal. LOL! But everyone had a lot of fun! There was some pretty demolished eggs to donate to the potato salad and deviled egg pile. Which were delicious, by the way.

Food, family, relaxing, Spring weather, fam traditions, fun, remembering the Savior--- what's better than that?

What a Egg-cellent Easter!

Hearing the Prophet Speak

What better and more uplifting way to spend Easter weekend than to listen to the Prophet and Apostles speak to us about the Savior? We had a fabulous weekend listening and watching the Semi-Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Technology today is so amazing. I can't even imagine those in the pioneer days that would sacrifice days and travel to hear the Prophet speak. Now, we go downstairs, flip on the computer and within a few clicks, we are watching it live in our our home from anywhere in the world. It's pretty amazing.

Here's our favorite parts of this Conference--

Brett:  

Shay: I think my favorite talk was, by far, President Thomas S. Monson's talk about "If a man dies- Shall he live again?" He shared about trials of life and about Job and his question of this. He tesitified that the answer to this is found with the Savior on that Easter morn. He tesitifed of  the Savior's Atonement, sacrifice, death and resurrection. He is Risen!!! I add my testimony to that of this latter-day Prophet. I know that the Savior knows me--my trials, my family, my heart. He suffered for me and He has risen! May we all remember the Savior during this season of new life and always!!!

Liberty:  President Deiter F. Uchtdorf 's talk "Ye are My Hands" I liked the part where they carved in the statue "We are His Hands".

Justice:  Breakfast at the Ironroads 

Victoria:  "That they singed"

Glory: Justice thinks she liked the breakfast too. Victoria agrees because Glory always has a messy face when she eats. LOL! :)

Also, one of my favorite things about this weekend was that I got to go to the Chapel for the Easter Sunday morning session with some of my dear friends. It was a marvelous session and so great to be able to sit and actually listen and soak it all in. As a mother of 4, that is a rarity. :) {and for those that heard Sister Beck's talk-- I am NOT whining just stating facts!!LOL} Thanks ladies for sharing that opportunity with me. Luv ya all! (Aren't we just such good-lookin' ladies?)

He Lives!!

On this Easter morning, we want to share our testimony of our Savior--- that He lives. He atoned for each one of us. He suffered for our sins, died on the cross and He has risen so that we may all return to a loving Heavenly Father if we follow Him.
May we share a powerful video and add our witness to those of the Apostle and Prophets that He lives. May you feel His love on this Glorious Easter Morning!

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!

Conference Breakfast

This morning, we continued our fabulous tradition of Conference Breakfast @ the Ironroads. We LOVE this tradition! Matt & Haylie invite our family- Brett, Shay, Liberty, Justice, Victoria & Glory and the Brotherson family- Sean, Kristen, Ellen, Ethan, Mason, Bryn, London, Bronwyn and Gwen over to share a yummy meal and watch the first session of Conference. There was threat of the tradition changing locations due to a TV issue but personally I am glad that it worked out. I think Haylie thinks it gets pretty squishy but we just look at it as comfy!! :) The food is always great and we love all the company.

Thanks Matt & Haylie. We luv being apart of your fun tradition. Luv ya guys!