A Christmas Quiet Book!?! How cute is that

Have you seen these? I am totally wanting one of these. Adam would love it for church. Also, a Halloween countdown, darling idea. LeAnne was an old college rommate and now she is starting her own little business! You can head on over to her etsy shop or her blog and check them out. They are sooo cute!

Swimming Lessons

We did swimming lessons at the beginning of August (I know, I am so on top of posting). Adam did great! He jumps off the pool by himself, blows bubbles, kicks, and goes off the kiddie waterslide all by himself. He is a regular little water bug! We took the lessons with Brittani, Aspen, Rex, Lindsay, and Matthew. Aspen had her own class and Matthew came to help with Britt's kids. We had a blast. About 3 days into our lessons Rex looked over and finally realized we were in the class with him. Funny kid.

I made this towel robe for swimming lessons. I got directions from the sewmamsew blog. You can check it out here Its the easiest thing to do! I also learned how to applique from that same site. You cant see it in the pics, but the robe has a green seahorse on it. Adam LOVES it! He calls it his cozy and wont take it off. It was wonderful for swimming lessons. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pictures and how about a promise to post more than just being sick. LOL

On the Mend...Again

Quick Update:
So I am feeling great--minus a cough. Adam and Mike are back up to 100%. I lysoled the house
and ALL of Adam's toys and we are feeling GREAT!

So with all this sickness, I have something sooo cute to share! Adam LOVES the song "The Wheels on the Bus". He is so cute with his hand motions and all. When he sings it is goes something like this: Wheels on Bus beep beep towwwwn. shhh shhh shhh...town Wheels on bus beep beep beep towwwwwwn. Its the cutest thing ever! Well today he was singing and every time he finished he would say good job.

I think this is the best age to be a momma. Adam is just adorable. I LOVE it!

Sicker Than A Dog

Did I mention we had strep throat when we got back from Oregon? (a month ago) It took me a week to get into a Dr. (needless pain) because I thought it was a mere virus. Nope.

So 10 days after we finished up our meds Mike starts going down again. Same feeling. Shredded throat, foggy head, the works. When we went back to the Doctor the strep test came back negative. So for 2 weeks Mike suffered through symptoms as bad or worse than strep. I can't believe it because he worked the whole time--tough as nails that man.

Then to my amazing luck I took a nap on Saturday and woke up to the most miserable feeling I can remember. It was like the headache you get when you are really really tired, but my head was foggier. A LOT foggier. Just to move it felt like I was scaling jello. Pretty soon canker sore ulcers formed on my throat and all the way down my esophagus. I know graphic, but just so you get the picture.

I went to the Dr. as well and you guessed it, not strep. It was a virus, a mean one. So the same thing my dear Hubby has been dealing with so heroically for 2 weeks took me out in a matter of minutes. Since Sat I have been basically flat on my back sick. Adam is sick too, but he can still eat so I don't think its a severe.

My point with all this graphic detail is how did Mike have this for two weeks and not complain and still function. I made the point that I had it worse, but he disagreed. That man is literally amazing.

His secret? Ibuprofen. A gift to anyone cursed with this.

So if you are in the area, wait for a couple of days for me to heal and Lysol our house before coming over :)

New Calling

I was released from Wolf Den Leader on Sunday. I was called to be second counselor in the Primary Presidency. So for our last wolf meeting we had a party. It was a BLAST! I made sponge balls from here The boys congregated in the tree house an bombed us (me and the new leader) below. I loved that calling. Its going to be so hard to leave it. I am excited about my new one though. I really like the group of women I am working with.

Here are some pics from the after party.
(btw all the supplies were bought at a Dollar Store--cheap!)

Feeding the Deer

Little One is sick today

Little One is sick today. Here he is in all his misery, eating raisins and chillin on the love sac watching Baby Einstein. Its a hard life as a baby.

Camping up at the "Lake House"

Cathy and Mike have some amazing property in Washington State at Lake Merwin. Every time we go to Oregon we get to spend a couple days up there to camp, hang out and go on the lake. One of my favorite things about camping with the Dover's is their homemade eclairs. (I think its because of the Bavarian cream lol)
Here is the recipe if you plan on camping:

What you need:
2 inch dowels with the tips covered in foil
Refrigerated biscuits (like Pillsbury)
Chocolate Chips
Bavarian Cream...YUM!
Cooking Spray (PAM)

Spray the foil with cooking spray and mold 1 or 2 biscuits around the dowel. This will be the casing for the cream and the chocolate.

Hold the dowel with the biscuits over hot coals until its fully cooked. Then fill with cream and chocolate chips. (I like to stagger my cream and chocolate chips)

Now here are some camping pictures!

You have probably already seen this, but I liked it.



This one is awesome!



I love our prophet. He is a prophet of God.

My Favorite Pal Giveaway is TODAY!

Go today to Tip Junkie to enter to win a Free Father and Son tie! (28 dollar value) You can click here to enter the giveaway. Good Luck!

Foam Swords

While we were in Oregon, Celeste (my niece)inspired me to get creative and come up with things for all the kids to do. Here are instructions for the foam swords and pictures!

Tools:
Knife or saw to cut a noodle

Materials:
Foam Noodle cut in half (1 buck at Dollar Tree)
2 foot piece of 1/2 inch pvc (We found these pre-cut at Home Depot for about 75 cents)
1 PVC end cap (we found it at Home Depot for 27 cents)

Instructions:
This is so easy!

Cut the noodle in half.
Push the noodle onto the PVC pipe, leaving at least 4 inches or more at the top with no PVC. (That makes it soft when you hit with it)
Put the end cap on the other end of the PVC.

Ta Da! Easy as that you have a sword.
Notes:
I tried to buy noodles at the Dollar Tree here in Utah and they are sold out. You can still get them at Smiths for 1.99.
You can also cover the noodle in duct tape to make it last longer. I didn't do it because it makes it a harder hit.

Now for the pictures!

Eddie playing with the swords
Mikel Jr. and Mikel Sr. going at itMikel Jr. and Mikel Sr. action shot

Sibling Rivalry- Mikel Jr. and Michelle (older sis)

Check out these sweet rides

In Oregon I ran into an old friend. All you old Ricks buddies will probably remember Shanell Chezik. Well she is now Shanell Proctor and runs the coolest limo business in Portland. Just look at these pics! (they are all from her website)
If any of you are in Portland stop by and check them out. There website is Executivelimocompany.com It would be a great anniversary or hot date idea (hint, hint honey).

Oregon Zoo

Cathy and Mike Sr. (Nana and Papa) have tickets to the zoo where they can take all theirgrandchildren for free. What resulted was mass chaos. :) It was a lot of fun. Adam loved the animals, for a little while :). Cathy bought all the babies matching tees. It was a lot of fun.



This picture tells the story of how the day ended. Needless to say, everyone was exhausted on the way home. :)

Thanks Nana and Papa for the fun!

Oregon Vacation

Sorry for the posting hiatus. We are in Oregon visiting Mike's family. I have so many fun pictures to share.
Here is the Oregon Coast

Adam playing in the sand. It was so freezing he wouldn't go near the water.

Our family in the ocean. We were trying to explore a cave, but it was way too cold to walk in the water.

Roy'l and Casey with Javan, Mike Sr. Me and Mike with Adam, Sara(pregnant!) and Cavan with Lexi (dog)

Mike Sr. and the tide pool incident. This is a little funny and a little sad. Mike Sr. was freaking me out by giving Adam dismembered crab legs and body parts to play with. I buried the crab leg so Mike Sr. had to get more. In his journeying to get more dismembered crab legs he dropped the camera in the tide pool and fried it. So Mike and Cathy got there new camera a little earlier than planned.

We had such a good time at the coast! We also checked out the Tillamook factory. Adam was in heaven with so much cheese! Tillamook ice cream is about the best ice cream ever made. Here is a small piece of advice to all those looking to go to the Oregon Coast. It doesn't matter if its July, wear warm clothes.