Seminary Conference

Liberty & Brett had the opportunity to go to great Falls today for their Seminary Conference. Liberty was the only girl from our ward that went. But she was brave and had a good time catching up with people from past times. She spent a lot of the day with the other Liberty. How fun is that? I also heard she was a Dancing Machine at the Dance. We gotta watch this girl!! Beat the boys off with a stick!! ;)

She also won 8th place in the Scripture Chase Competition. She's pretty amazing!

MBU Chess Champion

Justice had the chance to go to another MBU (Merit Badge University) at Carroll College with his Scout Troop. It was a long day but he had a great time. He came home with his Chemistry Badge and one in Chess. He also happened to be the Chess Champion. Way to go!

Goofy boy in his closeup:

Birthday Parties Galore!

Happy Birthday to Everyone!

Glory at Brooklyn's party

 Victoria spent the day for Kaylee's Bday

Donuts with Dads

Brett made it to Donuts with Dads with the kids at Montana City School. They were so glad!! (He teaches early morning Seminary but figured out how to get out a few minutes early to make it.) What a good Dad!

District Band Festival with Sightreading!

Liberty had her District Band Festival this evening. She did a great job! She said they didn't do very well on the 2nd song but it sounded good to me. ;) I was really impressed with their their last song. Can you see those 2 judges seated in the front the band? Well, they presented Mr. Loveridge with sheet music. The freshman had about 2 minutes to look it over and then performed it together for the 1st time. It's a sight-reading judging. They did amazing!!! If I can figure out how to do a small blurb from it on video- I'll get it posted. Way to go, Sis!

Birthday of Remembrance

The Wannabe Time Lord's 15th Birthday Celebrations

(WARNING: Half the time- we don't understand the things that come out of this Fangirl's mouth. It's like she speaks a different language with all the "cosplay, fandom, O.C." things she talks about. So if you are confused by this post---- join the club!! LOL And know that she had a fabulous day! ;)

Liberty took her "Personal Day" to spend her birthday with her mommy. We let her sleep in until we had made her a special birthday breakfast. She requested waffles, blackberries, turkey bacon and choco milk. The kids were excited to help make it for her before they left for school. We presented her with her "Doctor Who" (Leonardo DaVinci painting inspired) bouquet of flowers as well as special bonus of the Flower of Remembrance in the middle. It's a native golden Gallifrey flower that the Tardis turned into during the time of the Third Doctor. She thought it was pretty awesome!

During the day she got to open presents. A majority of them being from her Fandoms so she was elated! Her mommy made her several doctor who buttons, magnets and charms for a necklace. We also made her a vinyl to hang over her closet door. Her closet is now an official Police Box entrance. Alons-y!!!

We had lunch together and watched a show before the other kids came home.

After she finished Karate- We made her birthday dinner of Zuppa Toscana and "that yummy bread".

We had donuts for her while we sang and almost burned the house down with her fire she had to blow out. 

Happy Birthday girlie from your family and....

Lydia's Adoption

Our cute neighbors have been foster parents for a year and a half. They are such an amazing family. We adore them! Well, today they were finally able to adopt that sweet girl. We are so excited for them!! I had the opportunity to be at the court house this morning as their adoption was finalized. How special!  It was so amazing to be a part of their special day. Congratulations! Lydia is so lucky to be a n official part of your family.

We also joined them for a little celebration at their home tonight. Lydia LOVES "Tori"!! They have quite the bond. By this evening, Lydia was too tired to share any smiles but she wanted Victoria to hold her. Love this girl!

(P.S. My other good friends- the Fifes- had their adoption go through while we were in UT for Zach's wedding. Bummer that we missed it but so excited for them too!)

Sooooo..... That Happened!

The last year has been full of growth and haircuts and dnces and fandoms and changes and pushing limits. We are so very grateful to have Liberty in our lives. Love you, Sis! XO

14 Year old Favorites

Color: From Aqua Marine to Purple to Grey to Tardis Blue

Friends: Shannon, Ann, KatLo, Marz, Jarren (oh- he's a boy!! ;)

Food: Zuppa Toscana soup, Herbal Tea, Coconut Greek Yogurt, Spicy V8

Show (aka Fandoms): Fairytale, Pirates of the Caribbean, Avengers, SuperNatural, Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Who- just to name a few

Hobbies: Watching movies, Skiing, hanging (napping) with friends

*Passed her Mom in height right about the time she turned 14.

*Participated in BelAVisEx at school (a program to help out younger kids)

*Went Sapphire Mining

*Graduated from Montana City School

*Donated her hair to Locks of Love

*Participated in Trek

*Went to Hawaii and Seattle

*Started High School

*Loves to go to Youth Dances

*Loves Swimming

*Still so talented at the Piano

*Loves to dress up in cosplay outfits

*Loves late night movies and sleeping in

*Bought an iPod and is connected socially by Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat, Wattpad, ???

186th General Conference

Grateful for the opportunity we had to listen to the Church's Conference this weekend. It's a special time to hear what God wants us to hear. It challenges us to make better choices, grow closer as families, reach out to others and follow the Savior more meaningfully.
I love that my kids got out our Conference Bingo. Even before I got any candy out as an incentive. Love those kids! They spent the weekend listening for words to fill their boards. If nothing else, they filled their minds with uplifting, God-like words. ;)

 Saturday:

Sunday:

Neighborhood Bikers

Glory is one lucky kid to have so many friends in our neighborhood. Quite the Bikers Crew!

Fashion Show with a Runway (plus Answered Prayers)

Victoria's friend situation has been tricky this school year. There was some circumstances that changed friend dynamics at the end of last year. And it's been hard! Girls can be unforgiving and dramatic so it's been kind of a lonely for my sweet girl. We have prayed many hours for her to be able to find a solid group of friends that will help her be kind, including and the best person she can be. It's been a slow process but I can finally see some of our prayers being answered. I volunteer every Wednesday and have the opportunity to eat lunch with my girls. I see the interactions they have and the people they associate with. Sometimes I wish I could just stick my head in the sand and ignore the info I see. But it's been special to see the transformation happening in her friend situation. Slowly, she has been sitting with a group of new, cute girls. She has been part of a "texting" group that makes me giggle because it never makes sense. LOL It's just a bunch of emojis and a whole lot of "Hey"s but it's cute to see them reach out to each other. Recently this sweet mom of one of the girls reached out to get to know us so we could get the girls together. Can I just say- I adore this mom!! She's is so darling and kind and including. We were chatting after a playdate the girls had together and it sort of seems like God brought us together. I told her we had been praying this whole year for Victoria to make some new friends and she actually said- "I think I felt it." (She's also been looking for ways to expand Clara's group of friends.) How special is that? I love it!
The girls had a great time putting together a super fabulous Fashion Show with their dolls including a runway and music. Pretty creative! Love these girls! I'm so excited for Victoria and this new groupd of friends she has. Thank Heavens for answered prayers!

Couch Potato Family

Our family loves watching shows together on Netflix & Hulu. Like.... LOVES them! We watch one of them almost every night. Our favorites lately are...

Super girl

Flash

Chuck

P.S. We had to stop watching this because Chuck's girlfriend keeps wearing skimpy outfits. Crazy! How as adults we get desensitized to the crap. Shoot! Thanks heavens for my sweet kiddos that feel comfortable enough to point it out and having us CTR.

Silly Rabbit...

We put our Easter decorations up last minute before our hunt on Saturday but we plan on enjoying them for all of April. And yes! We know Easter is over!! ;) LOL

Even with all the fun Easter decor and eggs and bunnies and Peeps and candy- we do want to bear witness that we know that Easter is about the Savior. We know He is not dead but that He lives!! That He died and came back to life on the 3rd day! We are so very blessed to know Him! 

Egg Dye & Fights

After our guests from our Hunt left yesterday, we dyed our Easter Eggs. Quinn hung out and did them with us. I love colorful Easter eggs! So fun!

We spent the next day or two having Egg Fights! The kids really get into this! It's pretty silly! I laugh everytime I see the faces we make during the battles. We are sooo funny!!

 And to top it off- they all love to eat Deviled eggs- it's a Win/Win situation! Yummy Easter food!

Easter Egg Hunt & Magic Jelly Beans

Brett put together his usual Egg Hunt for the kids this morning. It's over in a matter of seconds but they love it!

Brett also had the kids plant "Magic Jelly Beans" again. Glory even watered hers last night. They magically transformed into the kids favorite treats. Even the dirt magically changed into crushed up Oreos. Glory is so amazed how that happens! LOL

Emily Lenora Easter Hunt

With Brett's encouragement, we decided to plan our annual Emily Lenora Crump Easter Hunt. We invited a few families. The Andersens (our awesome, stalwart Easter friends) and the Fifes were able to join us!

Once everyone was there, we sent the kids off to do the Hunt. It was actually really relaxing because everyone had a partner to hunt with so the adults (and the kids too cool to hunt ;) were able to just sit in the sun and watch.

The rest of the afternoon, we ate a light lunch, visited and enjoyed the sunshine. So glad we have such good friends to be with on Holidays! Luv you guys!