Utah S.O.C.K.S. Club

Even though most of the activities planned for this evening were originally for the boys- the girls had a blast spending time in UT with aunts & cousins.
The Davis' spoiled us as usual! Halle recently read an article in the Friend magazine called- SOCKS Rocks! and decided to get socks for all the girls so they could be in the S.O.C.K.S. Club (Sisters of Courage and Kindness and Service). What cute girls!

While the boys went to the BYU game, we went out to dinner at the Habit.

Then headed back for a PJ Party to watch Cinderella. Which BTW made us super sad then taught us to "Have Courage and Be Kind!!" Hey--- just like our SOCKS Club! Are we themed this weekend or what!? LOL

Saturday, we watched Conference. Halle & Victoria took some impressive notes. They are definitively sculpted from the same mold. Love those two!

Down in Salt Lake, we made stop (just special for Cheri) to Mrs. Backer's Pastry Shop. I grew up with Birthday cakes from there so it was fun to have a little treat!

Liberty got to go spend Friday night at the Hills and hang out with the older girl cousins. We met them to pick her up on Saturday evening.

We had dinner at Noodles and Company at which they screwed up everyone's order. Grrr! But the little girls didn't care as long as they could eat sugar and butter packet- together! LOL

We made Liberty's day by letting her browse Barnes & Noble and buy a book. She was in heaven!

Back at the Davis' home, Cheri painted the girls nails.

Cheri spoiled us with amazing food!

And of course, all the girls adore Cricket!

Such a fun weekend! Thanks Davis' for always opening your home to us. Love you! We all have our own special ways of saying goodbye. Such silly people! LOL

P.S. Thanks also to the Hills for having Liberty over. And the Rasmussens for their sweet road package. You are always so kind to us! Sorry we didn't get to see you this time.
P.S.S. We also got to see the Grandpas for a few minutes each. They both are having health problems so it was nice to hug them while we were down there!

Priesthood Session at Conference Center

This evening was Justice's 1st opportunity to go to the Priesthood Session with his Dad. It was extra special because with us being in UT- they worked it out to get tickets to go to the Conference Center. Brett, Justice & Ethan went to dinner at the Food court and then headed over for the session. I am so grateful for Brett and his example to our son and his nephews. What a special guys night out!

Ethan told his Mom to have an Ice Cream Bar ready for when they got home. We scored a pretty sweet spread for dessert! Thanks Cheri!

BYU Game

Brett (and Justice) got his Brother-laws and nephews and son together again this year to go to a BYU game together. It was an awesome game to be at! They had a great time even though they got back to the Davis' super, super late! [Dixon & Chandler are hanging out together in NY- so jealous! so Brett & Justice took Ethan along with them]

They even got to slap a High 5 to some of the players afterwards! Super cool!

SUPERMOON: Lunar Eclipse 2015

It just happened to be the same night as our SUPER Saints Trek Fam Reunion so we had the special opportunity to watch the Lunar Eclipse/ Blood Moon/ SUPERmoon with them. The next one won't be until 2033. We went out several times to check it out. Here's a few of the cool pictures I got. So neat!

Super Swag$ Scones: Trek Family Reunion

Our Trek kids really wanted to get together for a Trek Fam Reunion. We told them we'd have them over sometime for Scones. At the Trek Fireside a couple weeks ago, we set a date for tonight and decided we'd call it our Super Swag$ Scones. They're so funny! Quite a few of them were able to make it out tonight. Luv it!
We had a fun time making and eating scones with them. Jenny Sue & Emma Bob put on War paint. (flour streaks on their cheeks) They took their task very serious! LOL

We played Spoons! We did our Super Saints- Search, Ponder, Pray! Before each round. Of course, Big T won it all!

We took Fam pictures with our SUPER SAINTS sign!

And we even got to watch the Lunar Eclipse with them. (More on that soon) What a special group of kids! Luv them!

TREK FIRESIDE

Back on the 13th, we had a Trek Fireside at the Stake Center. They had some youth share testimonies. The "Company Captains" (Stake Presidency) spoke. We watched our Trek video- which isn't available yet because of song copyright issues. Bummer cuz it's SUPER awesome! And we got to visit with our Trek kids! We brought them a treat from us. They thought we are so cool! {Even some of the other kids from other families told their Ma & Pas- "Did you bring us something?" Oops! Sorry! We're just SUPER awesome like that! LOL

Aren't they just as darling in their regular clothes? ;) After the fireside, we got to see JoJo & Little Ricky who couldn't make it to the Scone Night. We haven' been able to get BubbaBob or Sarah Jo to anything yet. We'll have to work on them! Miss you guys!

Pie After Women's Broadcast

Liberty had already committed to babysitting before we realized it was Women's Broadcast (I know-lame on my part. Oops!) So Victoria and I had a special date to listen to the broadcast and go out for dessert with some of our friends. 

The Broadcast felt as if it was particularly written for me. A few of the things that meant the most to me were:

*It is time to take that beloved phrase “I am a child of God” and add the words “Therefore, what?”

*Because you are His child, you not only need Him, but He also needs you. Those sitting around you right now in this meeting need you. The world needs you, and your divine nature allows you to be His trusted disciple to all His children.

*When we are involved in watching, reading, or experiencing anything that is below our Heavenly Father’s standards, it weakens us. Regardless of our age, if what we look at, read, listen to, or choose to do does not meet the Lord’s standards in For the Strength of Youth, turn it off, rip it up, throw it out, and slam the door.

*Sisters, I do not know why we have the many trials that we have, but it is my personal feeling that the reward is so great, so eternal and everlasting, so joyful and beyond our understanding that in that day of reward, we may feel to say to our merciful, loving Father, “Was that all that was required?”

*Speaking of a 102 old woman that is serving in YW and just received her medallion-  Afterward, I asked Sister Hoskins, “How did you do it?”She promptly responded, “I repent every day.”

*Eva asked Great Aunt Rose- "Why are you so happy?” 

         “There is enough that doesn’t go right in life, so anyone can work themselves into a puddle of pessimism and a mess of melancholy. But I know people who, even when things don’t work out, focus on the wonders and miracles of life. These folks are the happiest people I know.”

         “But,” Eva said, “you can’t just flip a switch and go from sad to happy.”

          “No, perhaps not,” Aunt Rose smiled gently, “but God didn’t design us to be sad. He created us to have joy! So if we trust Him, He will help us to notice the good, bright, hopeful things of life. And sure enough, the world will become brighter. No, it doesn’t happen instantly, but honestly, how many good things do? Seems to me that the best things, like homemade bread or orange marmalade, take patience and work.”

         Talking about what made a change in her, Aunt Rose shared- “I discovered faith. And faith led to hope. And faith and hope gave me confidence that one day everything would make sense, that because of the Savior, all the wrongs would be made right. After that, I saw that the path before me wasn’t as dreary and dusty as I had thought. I began to notice the bright blues, the verdant greens, and the fiery reds, and I decided I had a choice—I could hang my head and drag my feet on the dusty road of self-pity, or I could have a little faith, put on a bright dress, slip on my dancing shoes, and skip down the path of life, singing as I went.”

After the Broadcast, we visited for a bit at the Church with friends that stayed there for ice cream. Then, we went to Shelly's for some pie, fries, and shakes. Yum! Fun Mommy/Daughter time! XOXO

Clark's Bay While it's Warm

We went out to Clark's Bay for a bit with some friends before the weather turns cold. We live so close but don't make it out there enough! The kids all made this huge hot tub. Luv it! Thanks Jensens for the invite!

See You at the Pole

At the beginning of the Summer, I joined a few amazing ladies in starting a Prayer Group that is part of Moms in Prayer- an international organization that gathers moms, grandmas, aunts and friends together to pray for their children and their schools. At first, it was a little out of my comfort zone but it truly has been an amazing experience for me! I have never felt such powerful prayers in my whole life. I love it!
Our little group heard about this See You at the Pole event that was happening all over the world. We decided to help our kids pull one off at the Montana City School. We texted and facebooked (No- I'm still not part of that world. LOL) and got permission from the School leaders. We were prepared to show up with only our 8 little kids but we had an awesome turnout! We had over 30 people pray and sing and praise Jesus around the flag pole. And most of the kids said they'd come back next year. What an awesome opportunity to share our testimonies and ask for God to be a part of our school and our lives. Luv it!

Enchanted Forest GNO Weekend

My cute friends that I serve with in Primary have been talking about getting away together for a weekend trip. It took us months but we finally pulled something together. My amazing friend Susan has a sister (Vicki) with a cabin a little over an hour away from Helena. It's called the Loon Lodge and it's on Enchanted Forest Road. How fun is that??? Vicki agreed to let us come party out there this weekend. We had the most fabulous weekend with the ladies that were able to come this time. Just luv them!

Friday evening was pretty laid back. We all came up as we could after our real life responsibilities. Susan made us this delicious dinner! It was sooooo good! We stuffed ourselves regardless of how many points some people used up! We visited. We laughed. We winked a lot-- especially Donna! LOL And Kris played on her iPod. (No kids to interrupt her bird throwing /pig killing skills;)

We giggled about our goose trick we played on Donna. Thank heavens she wore her raincoat! Thanks for being the "goose" of our joke, lady! It was super funny!

We saw a gorgeous sunset. We wrapped up in blankets and had hot cocoa by the lake as we star gazed.

We even saw a shooting star like this one and made a wish! (Except for Amie who missed it because she was staring at us instead ... in the dark! LOL)

Despite the beauty and majesty of the night sky over the lake, we froze our butts off out there. So we decided to collect firewood and start a fire with our pro-like fire making skills. We're awesome like that! We forgot about s'mores because we seriously all brought enough treats to feed an army. Yum and oh man! Make me sick! ;)

We snuggled up in our PJs on the couch for a little devotional on Happiness. We read a list of ways to be happy. Then we listened to a motivational talk by Hank Smith that talks about Happiness. He's so funny! He suggested that we:
Accentuate the positive.
Learn to work.
Keep the commandments.
Drop the contention.
Then we all shared a thought, a song or a favorite scripture. It was super special to hear the stories and testimonies of these amazing ladies. They are such an inspiration to me! I'm so lucky to know them!

We (Ok,,, I really mean me!) wanted a cute group picture so we set up the timer on my camera. And then about peed our pants with the zillion shots we took. We are sooooo funny!

 Here's probably the most "normal" one we took. LOL I love Donna and her wink! Crack me up!

Let's all join her for a wink or two!

We got to bed super late or should I say super early! ;) What a fun, uplifting night! Man are we gonna be tired!!! Bright & early, we picked up where we left off with laughter and good food!

We took an early morning jog through the Enchanted Forest to get some exercise and soak in some rays. LOL OK... It wasn't that early and only the Super Lady Donna jogged but it was amazing to be out there in the beauty of God's creations!

Once we got back, we hung out at the lake- enjoying the beauty and sanding some wood.

We made these cute "So Very Blessed" blocks. Cuz what's a GNO weekend without a CRAFT????? ;) I love the creativity and diversity of woman. So fun!

We finished up our weekend with a yummy lunch and saying thank you to Vicki. What a perfect girls weekend. These are such beautiful ladies! Thanks Susan, Brenda, Amie, Kris and Donna for getting away to the Cabin! It was amazing! XO Let's do it again next year!

Farmer in the Dell: 3rd Year

Our family went to the Farmer in the Dell Harvest Days again. This is our 3rd time. Liberty & Justice both volunteered this year for Church Youth group. Liberty did the morning (and stayed the rest of the time). Justice had the afternoon shift when he was finished with his football game.
Before Justice started his shift, we picked our pumpkins. This is one of our favorite parts. Justice loves to get the biggest one he can and weigh it against the rest of us. The girls like ours a bit smaller and green so they last until Halloween time!

We played some games.We mostly went to the booths that our kids volunteered at. And got a free project from the Home Depot Booth.

We ate lunch with our neighbors, the Weavers & their friends.

And the girls got some cotton candy. Good times! Happy Fall!

Special Tour of Reeder's Alley

For Relief Society, we got a special tour of Reeder's Alley. My friend, Anna Strange, is the Programs Director for Helena Tourism Alliance. She was our host. {That's her to the left- a pic I got from her instagram page. Isn't she darling?} We got a tour of the Pioneer Cabin, checked out her Visitors Center, went into a little local shop, went inside the convention center, saw the Boobie Wall (LOL) and she even did door prizes and refreshments. She's awesome!

Anna also came up with this "Selfie Spot" idea. It's amazing! It's all over town. Check it out here: http://www.helenamt.com/content/selfie-spots-in-helena-montana/