Women's Conference and other fun things...

Hello Sisters O'Mine...

I missed BYU Women's Conference last year and I was sad. I don't want to miss it again. So I am registering for it soon. I am planning on staying on campus in dorms like I have done in the past. It is fun! I would love for someone to join me. The dates are April 26th and 27th. I realize that Jen, Lisa, and Mom will just be getting back from a trip down south of the Equator and Renee will have 2 month old twins (not fair), and Michelle works and hates WC...but maybe someone will want to come despite this; Melissa...or Angie even, since you are basically another sister! If none of you want to come, I understand. I will still go; after all I have gone alone a few times and I really don't mind. Just think about it and let me know...

Another thing. While up at Jen's for the Christmas Party (which was lots of fun, BTW, thanks for hosting it Jen) we decided that a sisters' trip to St. George would be awesome. I have always wanted to see a show at Tuachan. So I think that is going to be the plan. Michelle and Lisa, you two need to talk about what week would work for you two and then I can start getting the ball rolling. I think this will be super fun!

A couple of years ago, as some of you read about last year, we started what has become a tradition in our family. My mom hosts a gingerbread house party. All moms and their daughters that are 8 or older can come. We all bring our own gingerbread houses, which we all make from scratch, and then decorate them at Mom's house. Each year we get better and better and each year we learn more and more. Dad insists that this year they are the best ever! They turned out pretty amazing!

This is Elisabeths (Sam and Melissa's daughter)

This one is Renee's

The above house is Emily's and her daughter Lily's (her first year attending)

The house above is Rebecca's (Jen and Roy's daughter)

We loved how Mom's house (above) turned out this year! So cute!!!

The above house is Katy's (Michelle's 14 year old)

This is Jen's house. The thatched roof is amazing!

This is Michelle's house.

And the last one shown is Jane's (Michelle's 11 year old)

This is really fun tradition. We all bring a snack and just eat, laugh, and make huge messes. At the end of it all, we all just stand back and admire our work.

I have wanted to go to the Redwood Forest all my life. Visiting Muir Woods a few years ago confirmed that that is a dream I have and will not die without seeing them and loving every second of it. So, I'm going, with the kids of course. I'm going to start planning a trip right now for next summer and would love to have anyone join me that would like to for some or all of the trip. I know that you are all lucky enough to have husbands that work, and they can't take a lot of time off, but you are able to do things without your husband, and it's still fun. I'm planning on beign gone for at least two weeks. If you can join me for just a few days or a whole week, or the entire time, I would love it. I found a map called "the best of the Redwood Coast", 25 great things to see and do in Humboldt county and I'm doing them; ALL of them. Ok, most of them. Believe me, it's a long drive to get there and an even longer drive home. I hate driving and road trips, but seeing as this is one of my life long dreams, I'm doing it and going to suck it up and make the drive! So I'm going to start saving right now (maybe next month) so that I have a good chunk of change to spend and not have to eat off the 99 cent menu every meal of every day; blah. I am going to camp, at campgrounds with showers, but I'm planning on camping in the redwood forest, so it's a camping trip. If you are interseted in seeing what types of daily activities I'm going to do, here is a link to the map and list of things to do that I"m planning on doing: http://redwoods.info/redwood-coast-map-to-do.pdf It's going to be awsome. I don't know exactly when I am going to go. Probably in July. Let me know if you are interested in joining me for some or all of this adventure. And I would love to have anyone, even if you aren't family, technically speaking :)

I know who my best friends are :)

As most of you know, I took the kids and we headed down to Moab this last weekend for fall break. I wanted one last vacation in the trailer with the kids, and there were some families in our ward that go every year and I was invited. I figured I would try to be more social and get out of my comfort zone, and I knew the kids would have fun. I was right, the kids did have fun, and I definetly got out of my comfort zone; way out. I learned a few thing on this trip; I love my trailer (which I already knew), I love camping (also already knew), and that I enjoy camping with my kids alone better than with a huge group of non family members. The girls were non-existant and I didn't like that. I like having them around. we play games and just have fun. Sammy hung on my like a little monkey, which drove me nuts. It was fun, but not somethign I will do again. I write this post however with a purpose in mind; I want to do more campign with all of you. The trip we had at fallen leaf was amazing and I loved it and so did my kids. I enjoy being with my family more than anyone else, and I want to do more campign trips with all of you when spring rolls around again. I plan on doign a lot of camping this next spring and summer and want you all to consider it more. So next time you plan a camping trip, please let me know so we can join you :)

Fun evening!

We had a craft night at Emily's the other night. Melissa took some pictures of our crafts, so maybe I can get her to post them. Mine are shown on my blog. But I thought since I was the one railing on everyone to post on our family blog that rarely gets posted on, I should be doing that. We haven't gotten together and done a craft night before that I can remember, and it was so much fun to just sit around the table, visit, eat fattening food, and make things. I really enjoyed myself and so enjoyed the time with my sisters, and I don't even like crafts actually. Anyway, it was fun and I wanted to let everyone know how much I enjoyed it and hope that we can do things like that more often.

Just as a reminder, Gingerbread house making day needs to be set and you need to start thinking about it. I was hoping, that like last year, we could do it Thanksgiving weekend, like Saturday of that weekend. Let me know if that will work. We are still planning on doing it at Mom's house (although I haven't asked her about that). It's one of my favorite times of year. Remember, it's for mom's and daughters that are 8 or older (I have found that 10 works the best for attention span), so please leave your little ones at home if at all possible.

never such devoted sisters....

Hi Sisters....

According to the schedule there is to be another Sisters' Trip next year and I get to plan it (this is Emily). I have to be honest with you; I don't just want to use Jen's beautiful vacation home as our default trip every time. Jen (and everyone), I love going up there and I know it saves us a lot of money, but I also think it would be fun to do another "trip" like our Tahoe one. It has been seven years (eight by the time of our next get together) since Tahoe and since then we have basically just gotten together for a glorified mate at Jen's house or Michelle's house (the West Jordan one). Although they were great times, I am ready for another trip. Do you follow? Agree?

So I have been putting a brainstorming list together. Let me run my ideas by you  and then maybe get some feedback. Oh but before I run my ideas by you I wanted to also share my expectations for this and basically all Sisters' Trips. I expect that we spend time together first of all. I like to relax a little but I also like to use my body a little (more), so it would be great to have places to get out and walk, hike, bike, swim, canoe, kayak, or really anything. I would like to be somewhere pretty. If I am going to spend the money to go on vacation without my family then it needs to be a vacation worth going on. I think you all agree with me on that. Okay so here is my list of suggestions:

1. Camping in Tahoe: That was such a blast and I think it would be super fun to do it as sisters. We could have some awesome food. Plus it is really easy to find cheap airfare to Tahoe, so we could totally fly. I think it would be a lot of fun!

2. Sonoma/Napa: I have always wanted to visit this area. It seems like it would be a beautiful place and judging from the information I found online there would be plenty to do. Maybe we could use someone's timeshare, if available (and offered, of course), so that might help offset some costs in getting there.

3. Carmel: Look on this website  http://www.carmelcalifornia.com/index.cfm/travel_itineraries.htm.This place looks like it would be wonderful (if not a bit expensive). I would love to vacation there. There are two downsides though; first it would be very expensive and second it is about a two hour drive from San Francisco. But if this looks like a place that we want to go then I might be able to find some deals that would help with the cost...I can't change the distance from San Fran though...

4. BYU Women's Conference: As you all know, this is one of my favorite events of the year. I think this would be fun, cheap, and uplifting. The biggest downside to this is that I know that it causes stress in some of you, and we may not be together the whole time because of different interests. (P.S. I am going regardless, so anyone that wants to come with me is welcome)

5. Time Out For Women in Toronto, Canada: This is a long shot, I know, but doesn't it sound like it would be fun to go somewhere we haven't all been before. And unlike Women's Conference we would all be together and there is no stress in not getting the class that you want. But there would be a major expense in getting there.

So those are my suggestions. I think any of them would be a blast. I think if I start planning now then I can get an idea of what this will cost and we can start saving now. Let me know what you all think.

P.S. I was going to try and put Michelle or Jen or Lisa's face over Angie's in that picture, but it was just going to be too much effort...

This is the first time I have checked the blog since way before the Family Reunion. Michelle is right about using it more. I am the worst! (This is Jen.)

I am feeling super stressed lately b/c I have started taking an advanced art class. It is way more advanced than I am. The third class was Thursday and I have felt so incompetent that I haven't picked up my paint-brush since. I have been so down that I haven't even gone running which I usually like. I need to get back into it b/c I have lots of homework every week. I think everyone else in the whole class graduated from college in art. I think I will ditch next week. :)

On the lighter side, the elementary school had a walk-a-thon yesterday. A week ago, the boys came home from school so excited to get pledges for the walk-a-thon that they went straight to work. They were canvassing the neighborhood and basically bugging all of our friends and neighbors. I even put a $2/lap pledge for each boy. A lap is 1/8 of a mile. They would have 50 minutes to run as many laps as they could. Roy misunderstood and thought that they could run up to 8 laps and pledged another $3/lap/boy. There were lots of prizes for the most laps, the most money earned, earning over $100, etc... So they were super motivated. By the next night each boy had about $50 collected. Then Joey started getting nervous that one of his friends would get more money then he. So, he decided to "train" for the walk-a-thon. He was using the elliptical every day and running around the neighborhood. Well, yesterday was the event. The newspaper was there to cover it. I helped mark off laps for the kids. After it was over we owed Will $115, Joey $165, and Andrew $170. Will did 23 laps (almost 3 miles!), Joey did 33 (a little more than 4 miles!) and Andrew sprinted the last five minutes to beat Joey and got 34 laps. I am very proud of them. Next year we will not be pledging $5/lap. But on the bright side, every penny goes to the school for technology, school activities and classroom supplies. $450 eeeck!

You want an update and a funny story...

okay then...here you go.

Gary: "Quinny, you have a rooster tail to take care of before school."
Quinn & I watered it down as we made rooster sounds.
Me: "Okay, I think we took care of it."
Quinn: "Does that mean I'm a chicken now?"

And now to the update:

Going...

Going...

Gone!

All I can say, is of the three near deaths we've experienced this past month, I'm glad the van was the only real fatality. RIP old pal. It was a good ten years.

What's the Point of this Blog!

So we have this blog, why aren't we using it? I LOVE hearing and seeing your lives and want us to use this more. Put funny things on that your kids say. Put fun pictures of things that you are doing. Post recipes that you find that are amazing and totally easy (for people like me). I am just as guilty as anyone of not posting on here enough. Let's have some fun and get more involved in knowing and sharing our lives! For example, yesterday I went to Renee's after work for mate, and she had some soup in her crock pot. It smelled SO good. I asked what it was and she gave me the recipe and I went home and made it and LOVED it. It was so good. It was a cream of zucchini soup and the kids liked it a lot too. She should post the recipe it was that good! I miss hearing from you guys and because I work, I don't usually know what's going on as much as the rest of you maybe. Although I will say, I LOVE my job and am so happy right now. I smile almost every day and love what I do. Weird! I never thought I would say that. So share your lives people, I want to know what is happening :)

Getting ALL of the kids off to school.............priceless
Seeing Quinny enjoy his first sport...............priceless
Helping a friend out.....................................priceless
Keeping kids active in Church activities.......priceless

Doing all of this for 3 days.....$49.95 & 211.7 miles on the van

It's that time of year again...

maybe that's why Quinn's favorite song to sing as of late is
"We Wish You a Merry Christmas".

COUSIN SWAP 2012
Jenkins: Jane, Andrew, Joey, Adam, Sammy
Hammonds: Jack, Jessica, Clara, Grace
Rasmussens: Lucy, Davie, Jimmer
DeLongs: Davis, Ryan, Rebecca, Will
Hills: Katy, Elisabeth, Zach, Isabel
Rices: Lily, Quinn

As always, feel free to swap.

Come on already...it's June

Start praying for warm, sunny days in Northern Cali or we are going to be camping in the snow and spending long days indoors. (I'm only sort of kidding...).
Time to rally.

Cupcake Wars

I am so excited for the family reunion! It is going to be awesome! There are some really fun things planned. The last few nights Ryan and I have been experimenting with cupcakes and different flavors. This is turning out to be harder than I thought. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.
So, here are the rules and details on our Cupcake Wars:
1. Every family will receive 6 chocolate cupcakes and 6 vanilla cupcakes (I will be making a total of 48 chocolate and 48 vanilla, there will be tons).
2. I will have vanilla frosting available to everyone. You can use as much as you would like, or you can make your own frosting. I am making chocolate ganache for myself and Lisa, if anyone else needs some let me know so I can make enough.
3. You will need to supply your own flavors, toppings, mix-ins, etc. Other than cake and frosting there will not be anything else available, so plan accordingly.
4. To vote for your favorite in each category (chocolate and vanilla), your family will receive a card. On the card you will score every other families cupcake according to taste and presentation (so make it look good too). You will not be scoring your own cupcake. The highest score wins. There will be a prize for chocolate and vanilla.

Hopefully this is clear and we are all on the same page. I think this is going to be great! I can't wait to taste your creations!

Done

Alrighty....I ordered all the shirts yesterday and they should arrive here early next week. I am pretty excited!!!

Thanks for getting me sizes and colors so quickly (like there was ever a doubt that you wouldn't).

REUNION SHIRT INFO!!!!

Hello Family!

So it seems we are going with the pigment-dyed shirt. Sam suggested that we each pick our own shirt colors and then print the same logo on all of them. It is a great idea! The logo will be all black for simplicity in printing. Below are the links to the four different shirts; mens, womens, youth, and toddler. Go to those links, pick the color you want and then e-mail that info to me. DO NOT order it yourself; if we all order them together then we will get free shipping; plus then I will have all the shirts here to print on. You may notice that the women's shirt is a different brand than the other two...they are completely out of stock on the original one I looked at and plus this one is cheaper. I received the sample shirts in the mail today and I really like the feel of this women's shirt.

Here are the links:

Men's: http://www.jiffyshirts.com/authenticpigment-1969.html

Women's: http://www.jiffyshirts.com/comfortcolors-C4100.html

Youth: http://www.jiffyshirts.com/authenticpigment-1969Y.html

Toddler: http://www.jiffyshirts.com/bella-201.html

On sizing: I ordered a medium - it fits, but is a little snug through the shoulders and hips. I will probably order another one in large. I think a medium would fit Lisa, but anyone with any chest (Michelle and Jen), broad shoulders (all of us), or hips (me) would probably want a large. I would think the older girls like Katy and possibly Becca and Lizzy would fit into a women's small if they didn't want to go with the youth shirt. I will be up at Mom's on Friday evening if any of the locals want to come and see the shirts first hand to decide. (Lisa, let me know if you want a medium and if you want it in chili - don't feel obligated, I will still wear it, but if you want it, it is here)

I ordered Scott a medium in the men's shirt and although it looked big at first, once he tried it on it fit great.

I ordered Adam a youth small - it is way too big and fits Lily. In store sizes, Adam wears a 6/7, so my guess is that an XS would equal a 6/7 and a small would equal 8 or even a 10.

I didn't order a baby one, so those of us with babies will just have to guess. I will tell you though that the company that manufactures that shirt is a little higher end in the t-shirt printing world, so I am guessing that the sizing will be fairly accurate to the retail market.

Like I said; I will be at Mom's on Friday so feel free to come and look then to assess what sizes and colors you want. Also, Scott ordered a black one (it is kind of a faded black). We thought it might look cool because then the printing would be kind of subtle. We will try and make it soon and let you all know how it looks on a darker color. I think this will be fun.

Also, I wanted to let you know about pricing. Shirt pricing is based on market values and fluctuates a lot. So when you go to these links and see one price but then are charged a different price it is because the price of the shirt either went up or down at the time I placed the order (it will probably go up since the price of commodities in general are going up). But it won't be too much different than the price you see - it really only fluctuates by about 50 cents to a dollar.

One last thing; Lisa asked if for her older boys' shirts I not print the family names on the back. So I am not putting that part on the back of their shirts (which I can understand...they may not want to walk around with a shirt that says Lulu, Jimmer, and Gracie on it). If you or your child would also like to opt out of that feature then just let me know - it makes it no harder to not print that on the back of some shirts.

It would be great if everyone could let me as soon as possible which color shirts they want. That way I have time to see if it is in stock, get them ordered, shipped to us, and then printed. Let's say that everyone let me know no later than June 3rd. Let me know if you have any questions.

I am so excited for the reunion. I think it is going to be awesome!!!!

Thanks a million!

So Saturday was a GREAT day! It was so fun to see everyone at Lily's baptism (Lisa we missed you guys) and it was especially fun to have everyone over for lunch.

Knowing the kids were eating everything down in the basement I had mentally prepared myself to find Hurricane Katrina down there. I figured I would find fruit salad and frosting smeared into the carpet and on the walls. Can I tell you how surprised I was when I went to down to the basement after everyone left and it almost looked like the little cleaning fairies had visited me! There was not a single stain!!! In fact the only trace of food I found were a couple of lingering paper plates and a few bread and cake crumbs! Not only that, but the majority of the toys had been put away and cushioned put back on the couches. It took me all of five minutes to get the place cleaned up, vacuuming and all. What GREAT nieces and nephews I have!!!!! And what great parents they have for training them to be so well-mannered in someone's home. THANK YOU!!!!! It made it all that much more fun to have you here in my little house!

Just in case you'd all like to become educated on our life with Zachy, check out this site:

http://www.hspsupport.org/main/afterdiagnosis.html