NEWS FLASH: DH (who graduated in May from the U) got a job offer! 2 weeks ago he interviewed at a school and they offered him the history teaching job! It is very exciting.

Phew! Most of the unbearable weather has passed us by this week, so we've been enjoying 90's instead of 100's and rain yesterday!

Life is rolling along. My little sister gets back from a month in PA tonight, so that is cool. I think we'll meet her at the airport. And we also have pack meeting, where ds1 gets his 2nd Bear bead.

Tomorrow I have the assignment of teaching the youth in my ward a scripture study workshop, lasting an hour, for youth conference. It's definitely the biggest teaching job I've ever had. I'm trying hard to get my thoughts arranged. I want them to be interested and would really like to keep boredom to a minimum, so we'll see how it goes. I don't just want to lecture either (seeing as how it's a 'workshop').

We went to the park for lunch again today. Most of the other kids in year-round school have started back already, so it was quiet and uncrowded. I met a mom there who has just moved here from Elko, NV and knew nothing about the free summer lunch and was thrilled when I explained it!

Oh, I canned 10 pints of strawberry jam this week. I found flats for $6.99 at Ream's. Yummmm!

Activity Days today should be fun as we finish our babysitting activities like sock puppets and flannel boards. I just wish it wasn't at the same time as my youth conf stress. The girls are great, though. It is a very rewarding calling!

So, Saturday was a laid back day. Usually we have so much to do on the weekends but not this week. dh got his new Harry Potter book in the mail (as promised by Amazon) so he carved out nooks of time to read in between family stuff. He took a bike ride with the kids and then they were so hot that the boys asked to do a lemonade stand.

Pretty surprising that it was our first time, but we went to work. They ended up selling cups of lemonade as well as candy for .25 each. They made 10 bucks (about $2 just from my sister I think) and were especially excited to pay tithing yesterday.

DD's funny line from Sat...daddy was helping her say the prayer and he ended with

"We say these things..."

"In the name...."

and dd blurted out "I AM A CHILD OF GOD!!!!"

Geez, I'm getting slammed for not posting over the weekend! (thanks, W!)

The anniversary was great! Dh arranged for his mom to take the kids on Thursday and we went to our Sunset Dinner cruise on the Great Salt Lake. It was so-so food but amazing views! Very romantic. We had a great time and 2 hours went by too quickly... Grandma kept the kids till Friday morning, when dh took the day off from work as a surprise and let me sleep in while he picked up the kiddos. Oh, when we got home from the cruise there were rose petals all over the house and our bedroom, as well as a lovely dozen white roses on the table! Beautiful! It all made the CD I made for him seen kinda goofy, but it was so nice.

Friday (our REAL anniversary) was fun just bumming around the house and playing with the kids. He hired a babysitter in the ward to watch the kids again while we went to do sealings at the temple. We were able to join a great sealing group who was grateful to have us with them and the sealer was a funny, inspiring man with appreciation for everyone. He thanked us repeatedly for coming. It was very special and I was quite emotional as we listened to those same promises made 11 yrs ago renewed again.

After leaving the temple dh had the feeling that we should walk onto Main Street plaza and see the reflecting pool. We met a nice non-member couple who were traveling thru Salt Lake and asked us many questions about the temple and the buildings on Temple Square. It was an amazing missionary experience as we talked to them for a few minutes. We tried to answer their questions the best we could and hope that they were left with a good impression of the church and our beautiful city.

We ended the night with dinner at the Gateway (California Pizza Kitchen) and it was YUMMY! We hardly ate anything that day and were starved, so maybe anything would have tasted great!

I am immensely grateful for being married to such a great guy. He was so romantic by planning out so many things. It was an amazing two-day anniversary!

Phew! I've accomplished a lot today! My bathroom is sparkling and I can't remember the last time I could say that. The bedroom has stayed relatively clear, although I can see a few piles starting if i'm not careful. I need to stay diligent. Earlier in the week I caught up on laundry, which really multiplied after camping.

The kids have really been awesome the last two days. Getting along, being responsible, coming when called, and just generally fun to be with. Yesterday we ran a bunch of errands which usually ends with a couple of us in tears (mainly me) but they were terriffic. What is normally a terrible chore with all of them was actually enjoyable! Today we went to the park for lunch and it was fun as well.

I also spent the morning sorting pictures so I can do another round of scrapbooking. I tend to go in spurts as far as my scrapping goes. That's ok I guess. My dh says it will keep me from getting burned out on it. On the docket next: DS3 t-ball page, followed by some newly-found baby pics of him. Should be fun.

My cute dd was so funny earlier. She had her hair all done up with claw clips today. She was trying to lay back on a pillow and it was uncomfortable. She says "mom, tan I take my hair out"? What a character.

Last night I made pork chops with baked potatoes. Tonight is just frozen fish and maybe pasta or rice. Tomorrow I think I'll make tacos or something for the kids since we're going out.

Our 11yr anniversary is Friday and we are celebrating Thurs AND Friday! Cool eh? He planned it all and i'm really excited. I got myself a new shirt yestersday and I just need to figure out shoes now.

Well we survived camping this weekend. It was pretty uneventful. Camping is one of those things I just wish I liked more. I really dislike the packing, planning, shopping, bugs, dirt and reversing it all to come back home. I just prefer being in my own bed I suppose. The kids had fun though. My sister had a canoe up there and they got a short ride with daddy.

The boys are getting after each other today. I can tell the summer is getting long for them. And I can't blame them. They haven't been able to even play outside since the temps have been at 100 for the last week. The last 2 days were 105 and 104 degrees! Almost unbearable.

Today I'm trying to get the house back on track, as is necessary after each weekend. The kids did a good job with their chores this morning, which has made it easier on me. Then I can do things things i need to without worrying about their stuff. I also found a load of forgotten laundry on the washer from late Sat night. I HATE it when i do that.

I grabbed some pork chops on sale and I think I'll make those for supper. Maybe with mashed potatoes.

Well, i'm proud to say the bedroom is coming along nicely. It is so inviting and peaceful! 2/3 of the job is the bed being made. Even a messy room with a made bed looks good, don't ya think?

Last night my baby sister and her fiance came over for a game of Scattergories. So fun. I love that game. We laughed a ton.

DS1 had a great time at camp, and I had a great time getting his jeans and shoes in the wash. Yes I had to wash his hiker shoes.

DS2 has borrowed his uncle's game boy and is loving it. Not to mention the 5 used games i bought them on eBay. They all think they're pretty cool. The hardest part is keeping the machines charged up.

My sunburned skin from the Idaho trip is now flaking and peeling and itching like crazy. In the shower this morning I tried to scrub a lot of it, but I don't think it worked. Hopefully it will be over in a few days.

I braved the store this morning with all four of them. Lucky me! They were acutally a bit better than normal. Only a handful of reprimands and "stand right by me" warnings. I was able to get diapers, some food, and craft items for the next couple months worth of Activity Days. I have so many ideas right now that I din't know if I can find time to do them all! This is a lot of fun. I get to teach the 8-9 yr old girls and they are a great age. Today we are melting old broken crayons into new ones and beginning our babysitting bags.

I have supper in the crockpot (bbq ribs) and need to figure out a side dish. Maybe rice? broccoli? It needs to be easy, since dh gets home right at the end of Activity Day and there's not much time. I love the crockpot for days like this!

Tomorrow we go camping with our parents/home ward. The best part is that another sister and BIL are coming to hook mom's big van up to the pop-up trailer and drive it so we don't have to. That makes me a lot more positive about going. We should get there right in the middle of dinner; not too bad. The kids will love it.

In my neverending quest for peace in my life and since being on the computer is a habit of mine, I'm starting this blog to record the happenings in my world and squelch the guilt I have for not being a very good journal keeper. I love being a mom and am ever grateful that our situation allows me to be at home with the kids.

We finished up a crazy, funfilled holiday week last week. The 4th of July was fun, although HOT. We did the normal parade, fireworks routine. The following day we took off on a three day Idaho adventure as a family. It was a blast and my sunburn is finally feeling better. I know it's healing because I'm getting very itchy UGH

DS1 (9) is at cub camp today. When he got home yesterday I basically only saw the whites of his eyes. He was Mr grungy! But at least he had fun. It will be over in an hour or two.

With him gone, the other 3 kids have been surprisingly peaceful. Overall we have been out of our routines somewhat, but it's been pretty nice to just ease back into life after vacation. Speaking of life after vacation, there are several organizing projects that I have needed to tackle for some time now. I think I may be ready to begin. Our bedroom is a constant struggle and I cleared off the chest of drawers this morning. I polished it back to it's beautiful cherry finish and DS2 (7) said "wow mom, how often do you clean it? never?" That's how I knew we were in bad shape. But at least we're moving in the right direction. My goal today is 3 loads of laundry. I'm 1/3 of the way there.