My Favorite Bands of the '90s

Don't you love how hearing a certain band or song can bring you back to an exact moment? That's why I love these bands. These are mostly in order.

10. Dave Matthews Band
AMAZING talent there.

9. Oasis
Oasis got a lot of flack for their Beatles-like sound, but that may have been why I liked them.

8. Green Day
These guys still rock. I remember when they first came out.

7. Soundgarden
Superunknown. Loved it.

6. Live
Remember when Lightning Crashes was the last song of about every school dance?

5. Counting Crows
These guys are really talented. August and Everything After was a great album.

4. Metallica
I love these guys!

3. Alice in Chains
The unplugged album is awesome.

2. The Cranberries
I listened to The Cranberries A LOT throughout HS, but they mostly remind me of JV basketball trips and The Tunnels.
1. Weezer
Most. favorite. '90s. band. I could listen to this album 100 times and never get sick of it. I think I can say that this is even my favorite album of the entire '90s. It brings me back to specific moments. High school was fun.

Honorable Mention: The Offspring, STP, Rage Against the Machine, Nirvana, and James. I also LOVED the Spice Girls and N*SYNC, but don't really refer to them as bands, so yeah.
Sorriest excuse for a '90s band: Anyone remember POTUSA? What were we thinking listening to that?

Swimming Lessons

For the last two weeks, the kids have been doing swimming lessons. I learned my lesson last year and signed Levi and me up for a toddler and mommy class. Now I can get in the pool too instead of sweating to death waiting for the kids to be done.

Levi took a few days to warm up, but get the hang of being in the water really quickly. I am going to have to watch him; he really likes swimming and jumping into the pool to me. He worked on kicking, blowing bubbles, jumping in, and doing the monkey crawl on the side of the pool.

Eden loves swimming, and is totally comfortable in the water.
Jonah has taken a while to get used to his class, but he is in an older class as is required to do more. He has been working on putting his head under all the way (head bobs) and kicking on his back and doing the freestyle. He has a lot of work to do, but he is getting it!
We have also been going to the free lunches they have at the Jr. High next to the pool.
We'll be doing another session of swim in a few weeks. Yeah!

Happy Summer, People!

Camping Trip

We went camping last weekend with our buddies the Rowleys and the Ericksons (minus Mike). This was the first time we have gone camping as a family, and let me tell you, it was a lot of work! It was also fun, but the kind of fun that requires a week to recover from. I never realized how much work goes into camping, especially the preparation. I camped a lot as a kid, and I never realized how much work it was for my parents. So, thank you, Mom and Dad for taking us camping even though it was a lot of work. I've now realized that camping as a family is for the kids, not the parents. I'm sure it will get easier the older the kiddos get.

So the Rowleys took us to this awesome campground up about a half hour outside of Payson (Arizona). There was a lot to do there, which was great for the little ones. We got there on Thursday afternoon, with plenty of time to set up camp, play for a while, and eat dinner. Our new tent sleeps eight, and I really like it. It's nice to have all of that room and it will last our family forever. The kids slept well the first night. Here's what they looked like in the morning:
We spent a lot of time down at the rope swing they have there. The kids loved it. Peter even attempted the "grown-up" way and did a lovely barrel roll as he slipped off. Wish I had a video of it. I did get Eden though.

The kids got plenty dirty. They just wanted to play in the dirt all day, and after a day of getting after them for it, I finally gave up and let them go to town.

Levi, showing off his dirty hands.

On Friday we headed a mile or so up the road to the fish hatchery. The kids liked feeding the fish and basically running around like wild animals.

We also spent some time at the creek. This was pretty awesome. The kids loved playing around in the creek, even though it was freezing!The men had a contest to see who could stand in the water the longest...

but the clear winner was Levi, who did not get out of the creek once the whole time we were there! He must not have nerves in his feet.And although all of the kids gave it a valiant effort, the dirtiest kid award clearly went to Mabel, especially after Grayson dumped a few handfuls of dirt right on her head.
Thanks, Rowleys and Ericksons! It was a lot of fun and we'll have to do it again, but not for a while!

Eden's Birthday

Eden turned four this month! She had a morning pajama birthday party. We served muffins, fruit, bagels, and ice cream. My mom even surprised us by showing up! It was great to have her visit for the weekend. Here are the decorations from the party:

Floating sun and clouds...

The kids all wore their favorite pajamas.

The kids played outside a little...
we read a story... and played some games.


We sang "Happy Birthday" and ate up!


Eden got lots of nice gifts...

Levi was obsessed with this Prince Phillip that Eden got from Marcelus. He carried it around all day. Maybe I'll get him another prince for his birthday!
And then we sent the kids home with some goodies of their own- a little pillow, candy, a mini box of cereal, and a mix CD of daytime-themed music.Some of these pictures were stolen from Lexie's post! Happy Birthday, Eden!

Memories of Russia

Just some videos I found on You Tube that bring back memories from Russia. These were both filmed in Tyumen, where I served for 11 months. The first video is at the open market where they chop up meat (cows and pigs) using axes and big stumps painted green. Then the ladies pick up the meat with their bare hands to bring it out to the counter to sell it. Of course, the meat is not refrigerated. Love it!


This is the normal display on New Years Eve. This is exactly what I remember. Fireworks so close I could have touched them! You've got to wait a little while for it to really get going...

Summer Fun

So summer is here. Girls Camp really threw me for a loop; I have felt really out of it as far as routine goes, but I just figured out it's also because it's summer so now we don't really have a routine. We have been doing a few things though.

In the morning at breakfast the kids and I figure out our chores for the day. We make a little list and then get to work after showers and getting ready. I like to get the chores out of the way first because I basically hate cleaning up and it's nice to get it over with. Today I am doing laundry. Side note: We now have bins in the laundry room so I sort the laundry straight out of the dryer. It's kind of nice, and if I don't get around to putting things away or folding (like the towels and sheets are right now), at least you can find it and don't have to overturn a whole basket of laundry. I will do those towels and sheets tomorrow :)So, anyway, today I am doing laundry, which means that the kids' jobs are to help me sort clean clothes, put their own away, and bring dirty clothes into the laundry room for me. They also have to clean up their toys every day. I am so thrilled that I am no longer the only one cleaning up toys! Yeah! We also matched socks. The kids actually loved it and were having so much fun finding matches, at which point they would throw the matches to me so I could fold them. Easy and painless!

I have bribed the kids to clean in the past and have used a treasure chest full of candy, but while I was gone, Peter decided to cut back on their TV time and he only lets them watch TV if they have done a chore. I think it's a good idea, and since I have been home, I have noticed that the kids don't need a show on all day to play nice. They have been playing in their rooms or reading books, which has been great.

We also started our handwriting books, from Handwriting Without Tears. Jonah did the Get Set For School book last year in preschool, so I got that book for Eden and got Jonah the next book, Letters and Numbers For Me. The books run about $7.25 each and I think that the program is really great. Check out their products here.

So today, after they did all of those chores and their school work, (and believe me, they worked hard!) I let them watch a movie we got from the library. My sister warned me about Yo Gabba Gabba, but I thought I would get it from the library and see just how annoying it was. And you know what? I can see how it could bug some people, but it is nowhere near as annoying to me as Dora and Diego. Plus, it teaches kids preschool rules, like cleaning up your toys, taking turns, and keeping your hands to yourself. And there are lots of dancing opportunities with this show, so my kids naturally like it. Now, if they could make a preschool show like this without all of the annoying voices, I would be in heaven. I'm not going to go buy this show, but I can live with it for a week. This picture is for you, Lexie!
We have been going to library about once a week. The kids love going, but cannot seem to get the concept that they need to be quiet in there! So, needless to say, our jaunts to the library usually last about 5 minutes. I've learned how to pick a bag full of books in that amount of time!

We are looking forward to swim lessons next week. Our neighbors down the street invited us over yesterday to swim. I was interested to see how the kids would do since it had been a whole year since they had swum in a big pool with their floaties. Eden warmed up right away and was jumping in near the end. Jonah took a little longer to warm up to swimming alone, but he also caught on again and was having a great time. He rarely gets in our little pool in the backyard, but he loves swimming in real pools. Wish I had taken some pictures!

I have been trying to keep up with the STOMP program our youth are doing this summer. It stands for Students Trying Out Moroni's Promise and that means that we are reading the whole Book of Mormon over the summer. Everyday there is a reading assignment, usually of about 5 pages. I am a little ahead because I started a little while ago, but I'm only really about 4 days ahead. I am excited to read the Book of Mormon fast. I just finished the Isaiah chapters so it's smooth sailing from here! I'm almost to my favorite parts, Mosiah and Alma.

I have a new hobby too! I tried making a few bracelets, first one for Eden, then a few for me. They are fun and kind of addicting! I have had these Minnie Mouse beads for a long time, probably since our last Disneyland trip. It's kind of a funny bracelet, but I wanted to make something with those beads. Eden saw this cupcake charm at Hobby Lobby and had to have it. I have to admit, it's pretty cute. She has a few bracelets, but doesn't really like to wear them, so I was afraid that making a new bracelet for her would be a waste of time, but she has been wearing this for two days straight, so I think it's okay!And lastly, I tried a new style on my hair today. I never do anything different, and you can't even really tell here, but I waved out some pieces using my flat iron. It looked better in person, I think, and there really isn't a big bump in the back; I was leaning against the wall. My hair usually looks the same everyday. Anyone want to give me hair-styling lessons?

Happy Summer, Everyone!