Double Lakes w/ the Turners

For part of our Easter Vacation we went camping at Double Lake with the Turner Family. Camping is always a lot of work but in the end so worth it. It only took us 1 1/2 to get there and this time we made it before sunset. Nothing like setting up a tent and preparing dinner in the dark. Steve made his special Dutch oven meal, only this time he added sausage and it was delicious. Our campsites were right on the lake and we had our own little dock to fish from, although the boys loved all the other docks more than the one at our campsite. We had fun catching lots of fish, playing with the fire, hiking around the lake, climbing trees, collecting treasures, trying not to fall in the water, observing wildlife, taking care of baby Lucy, taking lots of trips to the restrooms, eating good old camping food, going for a bike ride, collecting wood and we tried really hard to get a good night sleep. (But when the camp site next to us is full of foreigners and their 6 tents that pull in after midnight with screaming kids until at least 3am, it was hard to get any sleep.) That was just a little side note of the only thing that could have been better this trip.

Steve and Ethan working hard.

The girls and I working hard.

Lauren & Lucy - Lucy loved Lauren's pink heart bracelet and held on to it almost the whole trip.
Mama Rachel & Baby Lucy Our first incident with the water
Two cute little bugaboos The beginning of our pyromaniacsNight fishing from our dock.
Matthew & Isaac sitting by the fire Silly Lauren

Early morning fishing
Daniel & his caterpillar Snug as a bug Lucy
Playing with fire Ethan's FIRST fish
Fishing at our neighbors dock
Jonah moving on from the docks Second incident with the water
Ethan and his SECOND fish
Ethan and his THIRD fish
Ethan and his FOURTH fish Daniel and Lauren with their fire sticks
Matthew and his FIRST fish
The boys on the logs not the dock


Matthew and his SECOND fish


Getting more minnows

Ethan and his FIFTH fish
Daniel & Miss Lauren

Rachel roasting marshmallows just for fun.

Cute picture

These two had a blast together

Matthew just had to touch the turtle

Rachel was the proud carrier of Lucy


Matthew the proud carrier of Daniel

My two beauty queens, even when camping.

Daniel & Matthew

Some tree climbing on our walk around the lake

Water incident #3 actually wasn't so bad.

Cute Isaac and his shells

Sometimes I am amazed that when taking my own picture I actually get what I wanted in the picture.

Me and my Amazing Friend Cathy

Me, Steve and his BIKE.

The sign of a great vacation

Just Lauren!

This was the day I went to the Zoo with the second graders and Steve went to help the Elder's Quorum president, so Lauren stayed in her pajamas with crazy bed head and went to play with Maya & Max, ten month old twins. She had a blast. And then was able to spend the rest of the day with Dad. Here she is at the end of her long day asleep with her dollies of the day.

Happy Easter!

At this Easter season of hope and renewal we testify of the glorious reality of the atonement and resurrection of the Lord, Jesus Christ. The empty tomb brought comforting assurance and provided the answer to the question of Job, “If a man die, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14).

Because of the Savior’s resurrection we will overcome death and become the beneficiaries of His mercy and grace. In a world of trouble and uncertainty, His peace fills our hearts and eases our minds. Jesus is in very deed “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

We give our sure witness that Jesus is the Christ. Though He was crucified, He rose triumphant from the tomb to our everlasting blessing and benefit. To each member of the human family He stands as our Advocate, our Savior, and our Friend.

The First Presidency Thomas S. Monson  Henry B. Eyring Dieter F. Uchtdorf  2009 Deseret News

Easter Party at Preschool

Lauren's Class before the Easter Egg Hunt. She is in one of her silly moods!

On the Hunt!

I love the outline of her little body as the wind is blowing her dress. Cute Cute!

Her is hair is so pretty. And she is so proud that it is getting long.

She finally stopped long enough for a picture.

Lauren's class after the hunt

Easter Party Snack time.
I have somehow managed to be the first one to sign up on the what to bring to the preschool party lists all year until the Easter Party. So in the past I have brought the drinks. Easy! This time I got the last spot and that was the Easter Treats. What to do? What to do? After spending too much time trying to decide what to do so it wouldn't take too much time, I found this on some one's blog and I wish I could give that person credit, but I really have no idea where it came from.

This is a picture of one of the bird nests I made for Lauren's Class Party. It was the easiest treat I have ever made. I just made rice crispie treats using chow mein noodles, molded the nests in my big muffin tins and put speckled malt balls on top. I was pretty impressed with myself. Although it probably really took longer to decide what to do then to actually make these.

Happy Easter Ms. Nikki's Class!

2nd Grade Houston Zoo Field Trip

As Rachel's homeroom mom I was able to go on the field trip with her class. I was hoping to be able to spend some time with Matthew too, but I only saw him for a few minutes as we were eating lunch. I felt really bad, sometimes it is just a little too hard to be in two places at once. I do have to say that I was his homeroom mom last year so I was with his class then. But you still want to be able to enjoy these fun moments with them both. It was a beautiful day and the four kids I was in charge of were wonderful. It really was a fun and relaxing day at the zoo even with the other 50 schools that were there.

This turned out to be a really cool picture. It is the real thing. I took a picture of a picture for fun.

Mrs. Leander's 2nd Grade Class Rachel & Rasha
Rachel & Ape Hands
Rachel & Nicole
Rachel & Rasha
Rachel, Nicole & Megan

Me and my few moments with cute Matthew
Matthew & Jackson
Rachel & I eating lunch

Girl Scout Field Trip to L'Aglio

I was able to go on a Girl Scout Field Trip. We went to L'Aglio. It is just a cute little gift shop for chefs and entertainers. And they had a little cooking class in the back for the girls.

They made "Brownie" Vegetable Soup.

1/2 cup rice
1 cup of water
1 cup celery
1 cup carrots
1 cup yellow squash
1 cup of kidney beans
4 cups of broth

Put the rice and water in a large pot. Heat and Stir.

Cut the vegetables into bite size pieces. Try to keep the pieces the same size.

When rice is soft add the vegetables, beans & broth.

Heat until the soup is hot.

All the girls did good using a knife and cleaning up after themselves. And everyone loved the soup except for Rachel. She ate most of it, but I think it was because all the other girls were going back for seconds and thirds. I even got to try some and had seconds.

YUM! YUM! & FUN! FUN!

Carefully cutting hard carrots.

Getting the hang of it.

Putting our nicely chopped vegetables in the the pot.

Cleaning up our mess.While waiting for our soup to cook, we made recipe folders.

Enjoying the outcome of our hard work.
Being silly after the party!

Fish Bowl Bubble Top

Matthew is the one who came to our fish, Pinky Girl's rescue. Ethan used to have a a Betta fish, Blue Bubbles. I think the dirty water got the best of him. So he decided to buy "Lauren" a new fish. (It was a really sweet thing he did) HOWEVER, since it is Lauren's, it is not his responsibility to always clean out the bowl. BUT since Lauren is still a little young to do it, it has been a constant battle to get someone to do the dirty job. This time Matthew volunteered and here he is hard at work, playing in the bubbles. Thank you Matthew.

Spring Garden is in Full Bloom

There is nothing like a Garden Fresh Tomato, Strawberries & Fresh Steamed Green Beans...

And watching your kids enjoy them!

Young Women Broadcast in Katy

These are my wonderful little helpers. They helped us set up all these tables and chairs for the Stake Young Women's Dinner we put on for the the Young Women, their Mom's and Leaders before we feasted up the words of our prophet.

They worked hard and even managed to work this into their Cub Scouts and Achievement Day requirements.
Some of my favorite Young Women:

Katy 2nd Ward

Westlake Ward

Hearing from our Latter-day Prophet is always so inspiring. President Monson had some great words of wisdom for all young women. He said, "As I contemplate all that you face in the world today one word comes to my mind. It describes an attribute needed by all of us but one which you -- at this time of your life and in this world -- will need particularly. That attribute is Courage."
1. Courage to refrain from judging others
2. Courage to be chaste and virtuous
3. Courage to stand firm for truth and righteousness

I love feeling the love of our prophet, Thomas S. Monson.
Even if I was working up a sweat by helping set up tables and chairs and making pasta, bread and salads for about 125 people.

April Pack Meeting

I had to miss this pack meeting. But here are some pictures that Steve took of the boys during their gathering activity.

Ethan recieved his Citizenship Belt Loop, Citizen Activity Badge, Handyman Activity Badge, and Artist Activity Badge.

Matthew recieved Geology, Wildlife Conservation & Volleyball belt loops.

Way to go Boys!

Happy belated St. Patrick's Day

We were camping on St. Patty's Day and I am going to pretend that we celebrated it out in the beauty of all the GREENERY!
I didn't even think about it once. Then Rachel brought this home from school and my heart is celebrating it now.

Rachel
Wish #1: I wish my family could be together all day.
Wish #2: I wish every body could be friends.
Wish #3: I wish my dad had a job.
Wish #4: I wish my brothers could be nicer to me.

Two Surprises

This morning I was going through a stack of things that I was saving for my kids and I found something, Surprise #1, that was so appropriate for this Conference Sunday. I am a little embarrassed, because a couple of them were letters that Ethan wrote to President Hinckley and to President Monson and that I said I would mail and well, it is too late to mail one of them. It actually makes me really sad that I failed there. But anyway, here is what I found.

April 1, 2007

Dear Gordon B. Hinckely,

I'm baptized. I am haveing trouble showing respect and being respectful to my mom. I have prayed and prayed for help to show respect and be respectful and I have got a little help. The question I have been wanteding to ask you is for advice on how I can be more respectful to my mom?
Love,
Ethan Spendlove

1-17-08
7:00pm
The day Gordon B. Hinckley died

The day my Prophet of the church died I was all balled up in tears. I was sad that he died but I was very of how long he lived 97 years which was good. I had so much Faith him and I was realy bumbed because I was going to send a leater to him. I also know that are new prophet is going t be a good one and I have Excedling Grait faith and joy for any prophet because they are the most powerful person on Earth with all of us to talk to and with I just can't explan How I feel when are lader day prophet died that day and I say things in the name of Jesus Crist amen.

2-4-08
Dear Thamas S. Monson
I'm listing to the News conference announcing the first presidntency. I would like to ask you How do you fell about president Hinkly's death and How do you feel about being the new president of the church?
Sincearly,
Ethan P. Spendlove

P.S. My mom is realated to Goerg Q. Cannon.

Wasn't that such a sweet surprise? I love my sweet boy Ethan.

Surprise #2 was also from Ethan on this Conference Sunday. Between sessions today Ethan stepped in a small flower pot outside and hurt his foot. This is what he said when he came in, "The prophet said, 'Instead of groaning about something, you should laugh'". Wow, he really was listening to conference.

I had a wonderful day today. Right now I feel like the message to me was that I am a "nobody" and need to make more opportunities to visit the temple.