Courtney's Faith

Courtney has always been a good, nice girl. She has always been particularly close to the Spirit and interested in the Gospel. Last night was our wards Young Women in Excellence night. Each girl was asked to pick a value and present a two minute talk on how it has straightened her throughout the year. Courtney picked faith. She kept telling me she needed to write this little talk, but we never sat down to do it. We didn't, but she did. One day she was babysitting for a neighbor into the wee hours of the morning, and so after she put the kids to bed she wrote her talk. I never saw it, but hoped it would be okay. It was. I wanted to write it down here because I thought she did such a wonderful job, and I want it recorded for her to look at when her life gets hard. I know that as Courtney faces challenges in her life, that most certainly will come, she will have a strong foundation to draw upon. I have to admit my heart swelled with gratitude and admiration as I listened to her last night. She is far above me at her age..I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for our Courtney.

My Faith

Courtney Cluff

In Alma 32:21 it says "Faith is not to have perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not see which are true" Faith is the foundation of my testimony. While working on my faith value my testimony was strengthened. I gained a testimony of my Savior and his love for me. While reading in Helaman I read about the Savior. He is the only sure foundation on which we can rely. He loves us and knows us personally. He cares about us and wants us to be happy. I also gained a greater understanding of theBook of Mormon. In Mosiah 10:4 it tells us that if we ask God witha sincere heart and a contrite spirit he will manifest it unto us by the power of the Holy Ghost. I found this to be true. I read the Book of Mormon and prayed to know if it was true. I felt the Holy Ghost testify that it was true. I am grateful that I was able to complete this value and gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon.

Cooper Turned Five!

Our baby turned five on October 26th. I just cannot believe it. Cooper has been a constant source of joy to our family since the day he was born. His dimples and cute ears add to his character and personality. Don't you think he looks a tiny bit like his dad??

Cooper has become somewhat of a celebrity here in our neighborhood. He is the youngest of all the kids in the neighborhood so he is a favorite. They call him our neighborhood mascot. As soon as the older boys (12-15) get home from school Cooper asks if he can go outside and play. I see him sneaking across the street and knocking on the door asking if the boys can play. He often come back dejected because they have to finish their homework first. But not to much later these big boys come and knock at our door looking for Cooper. They play with him on his scooter, teach him soccer, baseball and football and entertain him for hours.

Everyone loves this little guy. I take him to my Relief Society meetings and visits and he is so quiet and content. The ladies all adore him and fuss over him.

Cooper, we love you and are so glad you came to our family. Life would just not be the same without you here. Happy birthday my little guy.

Fifteen

Fifteen...that's how many years Carter and I have been married today. It has flown by. We have had our up and downs just like everyone else, but I could not have chosen anyone better to share them with.

Carter continues to love me despite my many flaws and shortcomings, which is why it is not hard to love him despite his. I already bragged about him in the post below so I will spare you to many details except to say that he is the love of my life. The prospect of having him by my side into the eternities makes my heart leap.

Thank you Carter for working so hard, loving so deeply and making me feel like the most loved girl around! I love you.

Happy Birthday To My Greatest Catch!

We celebrated Carter's 37th birthday yesterday! Wow we are getting old babe. It was stake conference this weekend so he went to priesthood leadership on Sat afternoon, then we went to the adult session on Saturday evening followed by a delicious Outback dinner. Sunday consisted of stake conference, a yummy dinner, long naps and a delicious pumpkin dessert (Carter likes anything pumpkin). It was not an eventful day, but that is how Carter likes things-low key, just like he is.

I know its overkill, but I have to gush, I just have to. Carter is calm, quiet, funny, and cheerful. I honestly don't know what he is like grumpy--we just don't see it. What a gift. If only I shared it. He works harder than anyone I know at his job and at his church calling. But I think he works the hardest at being a good father and a great husband. He is not perfect, but he is perfect for us. We love you Carter and can't wait to celebrate more birthdays with you.

The "BOO" Crew

Whew! It's finally over. I love Halloween, but good riddance. This year it seemed to drag and drag. We did have a good time though. Here are a few festive things we did this month.

Decorated Bowen's classroom door for red ribbon week

Went to the Staheli Family Farm and Corn Maze with the Morby's aka most darling family in the world.

Watched Cooper perform at his preschool program

Cooper and I went to Bowen's classroom as mad scientists. We helped with the class party.

Watched Bowen walk in his school Halloween parade

Made some doughnuts for the neighborhood trick or treaters.....

Made some more doughnuts......

And some more doughnuts. 400 to be exact(notice the bottle? It's what got me through :))

This is the set up in the garage every year. Most of the neighbors bring over their lawn chars and their Halloween candy and they hang out all night handing out candy and eating doughnuts. It is a blast!

And of course...... Trick or Treated! Bowen as Napolean Dynamite, Jackson as Tiger Woods and Cooper as an old fashioned golfer. Courtney was upstairs watching scarey movies with her girlfriends all night.

And They're Off!

Courtney is brace free! Granted, I am out SEVERAL dollars, but just look below to see the results that made it all worthwhile.

I think may have been wise to keep this cute girl in glasses and braces for much much longer. As I sit here typing she is at the stake dance flashing those pearly whites at awkward teenage boys. Who am I kidding? She couldn't be ugly if she tried.

It's A......

We didn't even dare dream.............

and we are over the moon!!!

Some Halloween Ideas

I am Bowen's room mom this year, so that puts me in charge of the Halloween party at school. Can I just tell you how delighted I am that Halloween is on a Saturday this year? We don't have to mush all the school, church, home activities into one day. Any way, I wanted to do something a little different this year so here are a few ideas I have come up with so far. I thought it may be a help for other mom out there.

I want to do a mad scientist theme this year. The moms wear lab coats and black glasses. Gross apothecary jars, fun science experiments( I have found kids of all ages LOVE science experiments).

A few years ago at our school carnival we had a Sandy Candy booth- you know the one with the sour candy that looks like sand that you layer in straws. The kids went wild, especially mine. We have seen it since at candy stores and Thanksgiving Point etc.

I looked online to see if I could find it cheaper, as it is fairly expensive. I couldn't, so I decided to make it on my own. It worked perfectly. I ordered plastic test tubes with lids here. I am going to pour the candy in little clear ketchup- like bottles so the kids can layer their candy any way they want, each flavor being a different color. I found some labels here. I thought that I would print them on sticker paper and stick them on the tubes. My kids are wild about these. Here is the recipe:

1 Packet Kool Aide

1 Cup Sugar

Blend in blender, you can add any color of food coloring you like. Hard recipe right?

We will also be making slime, which we did last year. There are lost of different recipes online.

I think that I will do a scary story about body parts and pass around the spaghetti for brains and peeled grapes for eyeballs etc. We all did this when we were little, but did you ever forget it-not me.

Now all I need is a mad scientist treat and maybe a game. Any ideas?

PS Tomorrow we find out the gender of baby #5! Stay tuned for details.

First Day of School

I know I am a little slow in posting these pictures, but I am incubating, give me a break. I was ready to send these kiddos off to school this year, it was a long, hot and busy summer. Most of which I spent trying to find ways to calm my raging stomach. Now that they are gone--I miss them terribly, although my house stays clean for 6 whole hours. Imagine that.

There is one slight problem though. They are all in different schools this year. Different departure times. Different arrival times. Yes I feel like an airport. And baggage is definitely a problem here.

Leaving at approx. 7:30 am to catch the school bus is Courtney. Courtney is in 9th grade. You heard me. 9th Grade. Can I just tell you that I remember 9th grade as if I were there yesterday. EVERYTHING about it. Desert Hills Middle Schools is her school this year. The middle school houses the 8th and 9th graders, so she is the oldest which is great. There has already been a dance (she danced-whew!). She was so excited about starting seminary this year and she has three honors classes. She makes me look like a good mom. Deceiving, very deceiving.

Leaving at 7:00 am is Jackson. Jackson started 6th grade, a big deal down here in sunny St. George. 6th graders move up to intermediate school, which is 6th and 7th grades. So basically Jr. High. He loves it and stays very organized with his modern day Trapper Keeper. No loud Velcro rips for him, just a sleek snap. Technology.

Leaving at 8:30 am Bowen is our lone Elementary school goer this year. He started the 2nd grade with the teacher that we all hoped and prayed for. She is the teacher everyone wants so we were ecstatic! He loves going on his own and having his independence. He is thriving as usual and loves school.

Leaving at 12:15 on Tuesdays and Thursdays is our little man Cooper. He missed the deadline for kindergarten this year so he is in his second year of preschool this year. He is much more confident this year and feels like an old pro, showing all the kids around the school. I am so glad to have him around for another year, he is my lunch partner, my chore do-er and my side kick.

So there you have it. Our complicated school schedule. Now I have to go because they are starting to arrive home now in half hour intervals.

Summer 2009 Rewind

I didn't post much over the summer so I thought I woul do a quick overview of a few things we did this summer. I haven't been feeling well since June so we stayed close to home. The boys golfed at least twice a week all summer long. They are getting to be awesome golfers. My mom and dad bought a second home in the neighborhood and so they were here often this summer. It was so much fun to see them all summer long. One of the highlights was my grandma Richards 99th birthday party. She is one of the most incredible people I know and a huge influence on my life. She is graceful, positive, bright, full of faith and she is full of wisdom.

Look at her!!! Does she look 99 to you?

Grandma's posterity

Hiking Timpanogas Cave with aunt Ashley....


at the cave

Grandpa Bowen was always WAY ahead (of course)



The car show in Cedar



Lots of baking (cream cheese tarts for the 4th of July)




Roadrunner baseball games



Money being dropeed from a helicopter at the game




Jackie and Keiths wedding





Lots of baseball games (Jackson pitching)





Jackson catching




Bowen at bat



Bowen at short stop




Brian Reagan show with Jackie and Keith





We had such a fun summer even though we didn't make any special trips. My kids are always happy to stay home and hang outside with friends. I am looking forward to cooler weather, but I am sad to say goodbye to my pals for another school year.