LIVE, TRAIN and PLAY the UNITED WAY!

I am too excited to not share the news about Josh! One night last week, I was on the phone with my mom and Jer came in and said he needed to talk to me right away. I could tell by his tone that something was up and it was serious. So I told my mom I'd call her back and went upstairs with Jer to "talk." He had this nervous pace and since he took me upstairs to discuss whatever was going on, my mind was going crazy. I wasn't sure what he was going to tell me and, frankly, I was a little nervous. When he finally spilled the beans, I realized it was excitement that he was trying to hold back. He had been on the phone with the head Coach of Josh's soccer team and received an invitation for Josh to go train in Manchester, England this summer! Can you believe it? Jer was freaking out inside and trying his darndest to hold back. His first suggestion was that we postpone our Disneyland trip in order to send him. I quickly talked him out of that. There is no way we can turn down an opportunity like this for Josh, but it's important that we don't disappoint the girls by adding to our countdown chain (like 365 days worth). So, whatever it takes, he will go! He has to!

I know I've blogged a lot about Josh and his passion for soccer, but I don't think words can say how much he LOVES Manchester United. That is his team. They are his boys. He can tell you the names of every player on the team, their age and their career path leading up to playing for Man U. He is all but obsessed with the entire team. That's his team. That's the jersey he wears. That's the team he is on FIFA. Those are the players he follows. And, in the World Cup he cheers for anyone that has had a career with Man U. He just named every player currently on the team for me since I am blogging about them. I know this isn't unheard of, but most boys that I know usually know all that about their football team or about the Jazz. Not Josh. He is Man U all the way. He eats, breathes, plays soccer (not really "eats" but it sounded good).

So a couple of things to think about: 1. How in the world are we going to pay for this? and 2. How in the world can I be there to see his face when he walks into Old Trafford Stadium?

I don't think there is much I can do about seeing his face. It's a 6 day camp and "visiting hours" are Wednesday for two hours. So, I will probably send him with my camera and make one of his buddies snap a picture. Or something. I will figure that out.

As far as paying for it.. we are going to make a lot of sugar cookies. I remember when I was 13, my sister went to the Soviet Union with the People to People Caravan. We did a car wash, a yard sale, a bake sale and who knows what else. So, we talked to Josh and after he calmed down a little and was breathing again, he has agreed to mow lawns (even if there is dog poop on it), bake cookies and cupcakes and whatever else it takes. That's one of the million amazing things about Josh. He will work his tail off. He is a good kid in so many ways. He overheard me telling my sister about all of this on the phone and picked up on me saying that I will probably have to forgo getting a new camera until we have his trip paid for. He came to me later and made sure I knew that I don't need to give that up. He will make sure he earns enough money. How can we not find a way for him to experience such an amazing once in a lifetime thing?

So it looks like Josh is one of four boys in Utah going. Last year, there were kids from over 75 different countries that participated.

In the meantime, he will continue doing his daily drills and living, eating, breathing soccer. Saturday we had a tournament that was squished into one day. He played in 5 (maybe 6 - it was a long day) soccer games. He is playing in a Futsal league on Thursday nights and practicing on Saturdays. We will be in St. George for the Presidents Day Cup and then the season starts.

Here's a few fun pictures from Saturday's tourny.
This is us waiting for the next game.

It's none of your beeswax!

Since my Senior year in High School, I've been scrapbooking. As each new baby came along, the actual act of scrapbooking became more and more difficult to find time for. (That's why my kids books only go to about age 2 - sad, I know). When the idea of blogging came along, I decided to continue my "scrapbooking" electronically with the intention of printing my blog each year. While I haven't yet printed any of it, I do find myself going back and reading old posts often. It's so fun to see how the kids have changed and kind of humorous to read about the things that mattered most at that time.

I am also a major blog hopper. I can spend hours going from one blog to the next. I have been able to catch up on the lives of friends that I haven't seen for a long time and also stay in touch with my family. And, I will freely admit to being addicted to "how-to" blogs. I love to find new projects and crafty things to make. I have also been inspired by the lives of others and find myself laughing and crying with people I feel like I know when really I only know through their blog. I also appreciate it each time someone approaches me about something they read on my blog. Sometimes it's easier to express myself through writing. Sometimes there might be something going on or just something on my mind that I find difficult to talk about, but I can write about it here.

In the last several months, I have found myself holding back. Have you ever written in your journal and not truly let the words flow for fear of the wrong person getting ahold of it? How many times have you gone to put an update on facebook and then had to rethink your wording or just not posted it because of the audience that might see it? I've struggled with that a lot lately, too, but recently I have come to realize my blog may have an audience that I don't know about or that I may not be comfortable with.

I really have nothing to hide and quite frankly, I've never been affected by others opinion of me. But, unfortunately, because it seems there is a select audience that is reading my blog with ulterior motives, I have decided to make my blog private. In the three years I have had a blog, I have never felt the need to go private. But, in order to protect my family and my recent sensitivity, I am going to have to to make the move.

I really really want to leave facebook and have kept my account for one big fat reason: I have a child with an account. As long as Josh has facebook, I will. But, I'm so rarely on anymore that I wouldn't miss it or the drama that it brings if I did cancel my account.

So, with that being said, I am looking forward to getting back to freedom. I am anxious to be able to say what I want without holding back. And, I would love for all of my friends and family to be a part of my honesty and continue sharing with me in the blogging world. So, if you think I might not have your e-mail address and you want to have access to my blog, please leave it for me in the comments. If I care at all about you and want you to read it, I probably already have you on my list, but don't hesitate to leave a comment, e-mail me or call me to make sure.

Babycakes

For the last few years my parents have given all the girls some kind of fun kitchen gadget. We didn't realize it was going to become a tradition initially, but I am loving this now. You might remember last year when I got the Magic Bullet. It's been used and abused. It had made everything from smoothies to chopped nuts to pesto sauce.

One year we got a Belgian Waffle Iron. Love this thing. I was never a lover of waffles as a kid. But, once you try a waffle from this thing, you tend to sway a little. Our favorite is waffles with vanilla ice cream on top. Our latest treat is french toast done in the waffle maker. So yummy.

Below is a picture of the Panini maker. I will admit, when we got this one, I wasn't sure how much we would use it. That's actually really funny now. We use this several times a week. Josh is a great sandwich maker and pretty much any sandwich can be pressed and toasted in the panini maker. My favorite is to make something from the Jason's Deli menu. They have lots of panini's on the menu and all are so yummy. I think Josh thinks this should be out on the counter 24/7 next to the toaster.

This year was the year of the Babycakes. I had never seen one of these before, but cupcakes are all the rage right now. I have always been a lover of cupcakes (hence the hips). But this little thing does a whole lot more than just cupcakes.

First, I tried muffins and brownies. Both amazing. Then I got a little more creative. Below are Golden Butter cupcakes with a Brown Sugar Cream Cheese frosting. So rich, but so good.

It also came with some cake decorating tools so you can frost them in a creative way. Below are the confetti cupcakes with buttercream frosting (my fave).

Below are little samwiches. We used a cornbread mix but added cheese and chopped jalepenos to the batter. When they had cooled a little, I cut them in half and stuffed them with cream cheese and ham. Amazing! I wanted to put a little jalepeno jelly on them, but didn't have any.

Next, we tried little pies. We bought a frozen pie crust and let it defrost. The Babycakes came with a little cookie cutter to cut the circles in the crust. We loaded them full of an empanada mix and put the top on. So great and only took 5 minutes.

Then, Jer started thinking outside the box. He is great in the kitchen so I usually don't argue. He made little individual omlets. Not only are they cute, they were full of flavor. And everything has just come right out of the pan. Easy as pie.

I wish I had a picture of the brownies, but I forgot to take some before they were gone. I sprinkled crushed candy canes on top just as I took them out of the Babycakes. It was so yummy. The candy canes melt just enough to stick to them.

I had pneumonia all last week (and a sinus infection) and Friday Josh started in with strep. So, we've been cooped up and feeling "under the weather" but at least we've had some yummy grub. Okay, so not Josh so much. He doesn't eat when he is sick. Anyway... enough rambling. Just wanted to share some of the fun and tell my ma and pa thanks for the awesome surprises every year! Can't wait to see what you have up your sleeve for next year!

All Crammed into ONE...

I have procrastinated this for long enough. The holiday season is so fun and so busy and I always have so many pictures to post! So I'm just gonna overload and do it all in one big fat blog post.

Tradition says we spend Christmas Eve at my parents and Christmas Morn at Jer's parents. It's always fun and the kids know exactly what to expect. Games, food and gifts at the B's followed by grapefruit, breakfast casserole and gifts at the J's. It really could be a whole lot of nothing and the kids would be happy because they love being with their cousins.

I think Erin is WAY baby hungry. It must suck being the youngest. Good thing she has lots of cousins that are younger than her. This is Bryson and Erin. He's gotten so big already.

This year we gave my mom her blog in a book (or two) and my dad The Pacific on DVD.
We entertained each other this year with Minute to Win it games. So funny. This one we had to grab the bag with your mouth and set it on the table without using hands. Notice the bags get smaller and smaller making it harder and harder to get that low.

It's hard to see, but Alexa and Josh are trying to get the ping pong ball into a shot glass by rolling it down 4 feet of a tape measure. Most "normal" everyday people could get one or two balls in the glass in 60 seconds. Josh got all three in the glasses in 37 seconds.

We also tried stacking golf balls (it is possible) and stacking cookies. Made for some good laughs.

The cousins always do a gift exchange and this year Cambree had Erin's name. This gift was bigger than Erin. It was so fun to watch her face light up when she found out "the BIG one" was for her! I didn't think it would matter what the gift was because just the fact that it was bigger than life was awesome. But, it was an easel with a white board on one side and a chalk board on the other side. She hasn't been able to walk away from it the whole Christmas break.

My mom and dad spoiled all of us this year. Jer and I got ladders (probably because I am always asking to barrow my dads), a babycakes griddle, money, batteries... what else? A lot. They just kept bringing gifts in from the garage. It was like a Mary Poppins bag.. bottomless.

All the kids in their Christmas jammies!

Emma has been asking for a guitar for Christmas her "whole life" and this year Santa finally got it right. She got a real guitar! It came with lessons and a case, too. She was just a little excited.

This is Josh's crap from Santa. It's amazing how little space it takes when you're kids ask for electronics for Christmas. The i-pod Touch is hiding in there somewhere.

And my little secretary, Erin. She turns everything into a desk and chair so Santa thought to bring her a little pink thing to replace the cardboard box. She also got a bike and a walking/barking dog fur real. Love those toys that take batteries.

After we open all the garb from SC, we go to the J's for breakfast. Jer and I went and got Grandma Johnson so she could join us. I had to snap a picture of Jer, Darrell and Virginia. It's not often enough that they are all together.

I spent the morning laughing right out loud at the chaos. It's so fun when we all get together and the kids are high on Christmas. Grandma started passing out the gifts and the kids just went for it. There was no rhyme or reason to the gift exchange this year and the kids loved it. It was the year for the Pillow Pet's. Grandma was probably thrilled to get rid of the pile of "pet's" by the time Christmas morning came.

I was inside with baby Trey, but here's the rest of the grandkids (thanks, Steph, for taking my camera outside to get one of these).

We did do a few fun things between Christmas and New Year's but not a lot. We took the kids to see Tangled and did a little shopping, but mostly we have all been sick with colds. Fortunately, we had plenty of new gadgets and games to keep us busy.

We played a lot of Rock Band during the break. This is New Year's Eve .... notice April's ability to harmonize with the two microphones. She's amazing. Have you ever tried to harmonize Drop it Like it's Hot? We did eventually figure out how you're supposed to "harmonize." We weren't exactly awesome, but anytime it didn't flash the word weak or messy we were content.


Here's a bunch of wild kids (minus Josh, Logan and Sam). I love getting together with these friends because the kids all play together so well. This was near the end of the night and they are all still smiling!

We ended 2010 with Rock Band and started 2011 with Rock Band... and a little Dance Dance Revolution. Below is Emma trying to teach the rest of us how it works.

This was a highlight for Cari and I... not only did we talk my dad into playing the drums, we got him to sing! My dad DOES NOT SING ... ever. But, he sang for us! It was great.

Jer always brings in a new year with amazing cuisine. This year he made Thai food. It was so yummy! We had bon me sandwiches, Massaman curry , fried spring rolls, Nuea nam-tog salad and lettuce wraps. We were pretty excited that he figured out how to make some of the dishes at home since it's never cheap to go to a Thai restaurant with the kids. I think we were missing sticky rice and chicken sate. Maybe next year.

Today we went to Joel and Jamie's ward in South Jordan for Bryson's blessing. It was a great way to end our Holiday week. I love all the time we get to spend together this time of year. Now if my nasty cold would go away and take the cold weather with it! I think tomorrow I will make a countdown chain for our next Disneyland trip. . . gotta have something to look forward to.

Happy Birthday, Bless You and Merry Christmas

So many fun things this time of year! On December 4, we went to Stansbury for Trey's baby blessing. What a sweet boy and isn't his mom gorgeous? Melinda was trying to lean out of the picture but why would I want to crop her out? She is an amazing mom and I love them all to death.


My girls love can't get enough of this little guy.

{ben} {jer} {trevor} {brady}

These boys are impossible to get a picture of. This was after several attempts and Brady is breastfeeding his two year olds baby doll and Jer is grabbing Trevors butt (which Ben thinks is pretty funny). What can I say? At least none of them are flipping the bird. They look like coffee drinkers. Mmm ... a hot chocolate from Starbucks sure does sound yummy right now.

{front row: Cameron, Erin, Collin, Livy, Sadie

back row: Emma, Trey, Elliot, Josh, Seth, Hanah, Aiden, Noah}

This little clan keeps multiplying and becoming more and more difficult to photograph. They are a cute little group though, aren't they?

The next Saturday, December 11, we had a little Luao Birthday party for Erin. My baby is 6. I'm not sure which is worse... her being six or Jer being thirty-seven. Ouch. We decided to change things up a little this year and make it feel like summer in our home for a day.

{Tally, Aislyn, Ashly, Cambree, Erin, Avery, Hana, Hanah, Noah}

How many kids can you fit into one hula hoop?

As soon as the birthday party was over, we started cooking ham and green beans for the ward party. Jer was released from the Activities committee a while back, but since he is such a good sport, he helped out in the kitchen again. It was probably the best Ward party we've had in a long time. The food was great, the program was well done and the live Nativity was a really neat way to start the night off.

My parents came over to see Josh dressed as a wiseman in the Nativity. He's so funny. They were allowing the kids to pet the animals and have pictures taken all night so Josh did a good job of keeping his head down. Pictures are not his thing.

He is the wiseman in the purple bathrobe. Isn't this a cool scene? I loved the idea of having a live nativity. At 6:00, they moved everyone inside and had dinner and the program. Emma was part of the angelic choir and was thrilled to be a part of it. She is so funny lately. She loves being in the spotlight. Fortuneatley, her white dress still fit from her baptism that was nearly 2 years ago.

On Monday, December 13, it was Erin's "real" birthday. We decided to ditch out on dance and actually spent our Monday night together as a family. We road trax downtown to see Temple Square and ran into Jer's bff from work (okay so that was planned). It was fun to actually hang with other adults while chasing all the kids around. We ate dinner at the Garden Resteraunt at the Joseph Smith bldg. TIt couldn't have gone better. The kids were great, the food was great, the company was great and the weather was great.

{Haley, Emma, Kaetlyn, Max, Erin, Karly, Stuart, Jonah, Josh}

Santa gun fine you!

Okay, so Emma was sure that this was not the real Santa. Why? Could it be that this Santa was from South London? Look at those teeth! Did he just finish a coffee? Who's got a beard that's long and white? Who wears boots and a suit of red? Cap on head, suit that's red, special night, beard that's white, smile that screams look at my bad bad teeth... must be Santa. Somebody needs to cut back on the cookies and try some toothpaste for a change. I guess if you take your kids to Valley Hood Mall and allow them to sit on the ghetto Santa's lap, this is what you get. That's the best they can do up in he-ya.

p.s. I want chicken pudding for Christmas, Santa. I've been good.

Thanksgiving Day

We had Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year (which only happens about every ten years). It worked out this year because we didn't have a soccer tournament in St. George for the first time in a few years.

Jer and I can host for 12 without much stress (my brothers and their families were with other family this year). We had lot's of super yummy food, great homemade pies, treats, crafting and a little Rock Band (of course). It was so nice to chill all day with the fam.

This is Jer's happy place. If he isn't sitting with the drums, then he is with the keyboard on RB3.

Our favorite way to get to know someone is to make them play RB with us. Poor Rob. We made him try every instrument. He was a good sport and must have actually enjoyed playing a little 'cause he came back the next day.

Bryn is great with the vocals. She did okay on the drums too, but my favorite is her dancing.

She makes me laugh! She wanted me to put on Josh's shoes and I was busy cleaning up. So, I told her to try them.. and she did. And, she could even walk in them. She is so crazy.

I was bummed I didn't get a picture of us crafting while Lynsee was still here. She had a toddler under her feet the whole time so she decided to finish hers during nap time another day. My dad was a good sport and took pictures of us with our projects. We only fixed and adjusted about 30 times. There were other pictures that turned out cute, but it's funnier to post this one after all the posing. Besides, you're supposed to just look at how crafty we are.

The kids got to do their own crafts. Edible crafts. Yummy. And Josh had to cheese it up for this picture, so it will go in the wedding video stash. The kid is going to find out I wasn't kidding on his wedding day when all the geek pictures of him are up on the big screen.

Then there's Erin. Even at the end of the day with her hair falling out she is a princess. A princess with her turkey.

What a fun day... so thankful for my family and one more reason to get together and eat great food.