Temple Square in the spring!

It was such a fun experience to go plant flowers and prepare the grounds at Temple Square this weekend. I was amazed at how many other wards and stakes had signed up to volunteer. We got there at 8am, got our gloves and shovels, were assigned an area to plant and got to work! I loved it when I heard a bunch of the boys say, "Wow, I didn't know it was this easy to plant flowers." After we got our flower beds done, they needed people to help haul mulch buckets. We stood in a long line and passed them down as they were dumped out and brought back. It is amazing how quickly you can get such a huge job done with that much organized help! Afterwards we clean up the dirt that had spilled, swept, put tools away and were ready for lunch! I am so grateful we had such a willing group of youth to wake up early on a Saturday morning and serve!

My buddy...

Maybe because it is almost Mother's Day or because he is happy or because he came and snuggled with me this morning, but I just love my little guy! I have struggled...I still struggle with Andrew. He is a lot to handle! People have told me and made comments about him and how silly, or crazy, or imaginative he is. It is hard to hear sometimes as a parent. You work with and live with and teach these little kids and hope that they reflect all that you have taught them. Some days I just wonder what I am doing wrong. Why is he acting the way he does? Why is he so stubborn! You know what, it is worth it!

Today has been a normal day, but when we got home from preschool and he gave me a little paper flower with a picture of him on it, my heart melted! He is of course smiling very cheesy, but that is him! (Thanks Steph for making these!) He is playing in the backyard right now, racing back and forth, saying "ready, set, go!" I just brought some lunch out to him, he took a bite and said, "this is really delicious!" Days like this make it all worth it. Worth the comments, worth the struggles, worth being a mom!

Something really exciting......

ARE GETTING MARRIED!

I am so excited for my little brother!! And Leisl, we can't wait to finally have you in the family! I can't stop smiling right now!

What a night!

To prepare for our next Willowpark Fit Challenge, we decided to go practice the rockwall at the Legacy Center. It was so fun to go with these ladies and laugh together! We all did great, whether you think so or not! Poor Branden went into shoulder surgery today, but was a great sport to practice with our team just before! To top it all off, we went to an hour of zumba after an hour of this!

Pay it Forward....

The first THREE people to respond to this post will get something made by me! This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year.
4- You have no clue what it's going to be.
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange or unique, depending on my mood.

The catch? The catch is that before you comment, you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 3 people who do the same on your blog. The first 3 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture on your blog of what you win when you get it! (Which means you can't enter if I won on your blog unless you're going to pay it forward again...)

And the winner is.....

Ape! I mean April! Sooo, you are now the proud owner of some Oreo Truffles! (if you want to learn how to make them, click HERE for the recipe) Thanks everyone for the music suggestions, I love all of them! I have had some on while cleaning the house and both kids start movin' and groovin' to them!

Here is a list of the songs if you want to get them too:

Hot N' Cold

Grace Kelly

That's Not My Name

Shake Remix

Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better

Gold Digger

Lip Gloss

So What

Butterfly

Just Dance

Single Ladies

Shattered (Turn the Car Around)

Womanizer

4 Minutes

Viva la Vida

Headstrong

Apache

I Will Survive

Fat Bottomed Girls

Fat Girls You are Beautiful

Straight Up

One Little Victory

Move Along

Gives You "Heck" (Steph you are funny)

The Worlds Greatest

Life is a Highway

I'm Free

A Little Less Conversation

Let's Dance

New Soul

Ipod Makeover Contest!

No no, this isn't a contest to see who has the prettiest rhinestone ipod! I was listening to my running mix from last year while working out the other day, and I was bored! I need to revamp my playlist! So, here is the contest, leave a comment with your latest favorite song to listen to while exercising. I will pick a comment at random and you will win! Yes, I will probably bake something for you, but the calories from it won't count :)

Here is an old picture of Andrew listening to our ipod. He is so serious!

Contest ends Wednesday, April 8th

Girls night done right!

This month we went to Carly's for a Twilight night! We have all seen it at least 4 times each, but hey, why not again! If we were in different company, it probably wouldn't have been as fun because we all LOVE the same parts! Thanks to Jen for making the best caramel corn ever! I like your thinking too, a huge mixing bowl full for everyone! No sharing here. It was so fun to pass around baby Colten too, thanks Kristy! Ok so my month is next, what do we want to do?

Tooo Muuuccchhh Suuugggaarrrr....

We had a great night this month! It was Kristy's turn to host, and since she is due any day to have her baby, we kept it low key! We all met at her house in Eagle Mountain and made cookies on sticks. They are like the ones you would buy HERE in a bouquet. A bouquet there starts at $50! I must say, some members of our group were quite creative with their cookies. While we won't mention what Kristy's was....Jen decorated a beautiful aardvark. I bet all your kids were fighting over that one! Poor Grady, his cookie turned into a pool of melted frosting!

We have been getting together every month for years with these girls! Emily, Sarah, Jen and I all lived in the same ward in Orem when we very first got married. Kristy and Carly moved in later and now we have all gone our different ways but still make time to get together and relax! Oh and talk and laugh and cry and just have fun!

Can't wait until next month!

Way to go Julie!

Thanks Julie for taking pride in your commentating (is that even a word) status!!