Great Bounty

When we started our garden 2 years ago, my goal was to eventually be able to make Chili Sauce (a Labrum Family favorite) without having to buy anything. This year, I was able to do that! 16 tomato plants, that have produced, produced, produced, produced. half a 8 x 4 garden box full of full size onions! Awesome!!! So fun to say "hey Kenz, go out and get an onion." And 1 finally successful green pepper planted basking in the cover of a tomato plant. It only gave us 2 of the 5 needed peppers, but it actually grew fruit, that was nice and big and thick!!!

We have been so blessed, by our garden, and the gardens of others. This year I have 15 pints of Chili Sauce, 15+ Quarts of tomatoes and 13 pints of Raspberry Peach jelly, and I am not done. I have at 7 quarts worth of tomatoes still to do, pears that are waiting to ripen for Raspberry Pear jam, and Pear Sauce.

I have fond memories of canning with my mom and my Grandma J. I so appreciate them letting me help, and teaching me their talents and skills. I hope to pass it on to my one children. Cutter already loves help. He has become a pretty good tomato skinner, and squisher. He even got to go to the neighbors, and help her. He loved it.

Family Outing

Couple of weeks ago, we ventured out for a ride. We headed up Big Cottonwood Canyon. It had been many a year since we had gone up there. We were in search of possible colored leaves. It was a beautiful drive, not much change in the way of leaves, but just a pleasant experience, being together, and enjoying what the Lord has created. We made it all the way to the top, up to Brighton and Solitude. We got out, and decided to make our way up to Mary's lake. Supposedly a 1 mile jaunt. I am sure it is just a mile, but it sure felt forever as we made our way straight up the mountainside. We didn't make it all the way to Mary's Lake, but we made it to the waterfall, and Dog Lake. The kids had so much fun. We met a couple and started to visit with them. We found out that the woman had turned 50 in March, and had made the goal to do 50 hikes in her 50th year. I believe she was on hike 36. What a fun goal. Maybe one day, I will come up with some kind of goal like that, something to add to my bucket list.

She's amazing!

Kenzie loves soccer. She is passionate about it. In May she found out that her current soccer coach was going to switch leagues, and that she would need to tryout. She was at a crossroads, as were we. We really liked her coach, and her team. She had learned and grown as a young lady from being on this team. Did she tryout for this league?, did she tryout for a different team on the league we were currently on? Should she tryout for the High School team? Trying out for this new league, could me a lot more money than what we had paid before. Her current coach had forgone his compensation, to make it cheaper for the girls. Did she try to go find a new team on the old league, maybe a team that other friends from school were on? I encouraged her to not try out for the High School team this year for many reasons, one of which was money, and time. I wanted her to be able to enjoy her 9th grade year, and not have to stress about all the after school practices, the number of games etc. She chose to follow the coach, and tryout for the new league. She tried out, and didn't make his new team...she was heartbroken. We felt so bad for her, and we weren't quite sure where to go from there. Then, she was approached by another coach from this new league. He asked if she was still interested in playing. YES! She was so excited. He would let us know more information later. We waited...and waited...he finally contacted her about practice. That was a trying experience in and of itself. She really didn't have an official team yet, we would go to the field for practices, and sometimes they were their, and other times not. But, even though we were not sure what was really going on for the summer, she learned more about playing soccer in those few months than she had in all her soccer playing. She learned foot work, and how to stay on top of the ball, she learned to hustle, and how to dribble the ball. With the other teams, she was learning plays.

Finally, after the summer was over, and the high school teams had been set, she had an official team, and he named her Captain, because she had been their all summer long. C and I finally felt at peace about this change after the parents meeting. The coaches shared with us that they are there to teach the girls skills to take them forward in their life, not just soccer skills, but skills to aid them in their life. How to set goals, how to reach them, how to not get discouraged, and to keep going. Yes, they want to win, they are competitors, but they want to help these girls grow and progress in their everyday life. I was sold! Except....we had no idea how much this was going to cost. We had not seen anything about the prices.

C and told Kenzie, that if she wanted to play, she had to earn the money. I gave her an amount that she had to reach, still not knowing how much it was going to cost, but based it on what we had paid before, and added to that for some buffer. She went to work. She and I contacted friends, family, and neighbors letting them know that she was interested in earning money, and that she would be willing to do any number of things. She prayed about it, we all prayed about it, and the phone started to ring, and the jobs began to come in. She babysat, she weeded, she took care of animals (horses, dogs and cats) and she cleaned. She worked hard, and she did not complain. Instead she was grateful! She knew that she was being blessed, and that the Lord had heard her prayers, and knew the desires of her heart.

When we finally got word of how much it was going to be, she had earned all that was necessary to cover the entire cost. She had paid her tithing, put some aside for herself for new clothes etc, and the majority went to soccer. SHE HAD DONE IT!!!!!

Such a testimony builder for her, a great blessing to us, as we are in Operation Get Dad Home, and such a special experience for a very special girl!!!! She is amazing! We love her!

Operation: Get Dad Home!

We have a new goal for our family. It has been our goal for quite sometime, but we have renamed it, reworked it and all are taking ownership of it. We have counseled together about it. We have discussed it as a family. We want dad home at night.

We have been very very blessed that in our time of need, C was able to get a 2nd job. We know how extremely lucky we are, when those close to us have had a hard time even finding any job. For many years now C has worked two jobs. We have managed without him being around at night, getting were we need to be, and doing all the regular after school, evening activities. It hasn't always been easy, but we have done it. BUT WE MISS HIM! We need him home. We need his love, his counsel, his help, his sense of humor, his teasing etc. So we have changed our prayers. We have changed our way of thinking. We have changed our goal. We still need to get out of debt, which is why he took the second job in the first place. We need that income to survive, that hasn't changed. But our outlook has.

Through our prayers, through inspiration from the Holy Ghost, we started Operation Get Dad Home. We all have had to rethink things, and are making sacrifices, and we are being blessed for it.

The kids are taking cold lunch now instead of hot lunch, saving us at least $80 a month. Cutter had a hard time at first, he was so excited to go to first grade and take hot lunch. But, we have worked it out. Each month they can pick one hot lunch that they want have. Kenzie is on board too, with some reluctance at first. There is stigma involved with "brown bagging it." But she too joined in. It is working out great, and I also am glad to have more control over what they are putting into their bodies.

The kids also gave up art. Every off track they would go to art classes. Cass and Kenz enjoyed it so much, and they both are so talented... but. It was also hard to make this decision, because it was Cutter's turn to join in on the art fun. But, we resisted. Kenzie has not said anything about missing going each week. Off track time has come and gone, and neither Cutter or Cass asked, or thought anything about the art classes. Such a blessing. We are saving $120 dollars each off track time because of this decision.

So many other things are blessing us in this goal. I will post more about Kenzie and soccer later. But, little things keep coming up that have helped us toward this goal. Expenses that we are able to cut back on, a raise from Kinkos, etc. etc. etc. There are so many little things, but great blessings too us. The Lord has had his hand in our lives, we see it, we recognized it, we love it, we have such gratitude for it. We have the faith, that when the time is right, as we continue to do the things that we have been counseled and prompted to do we will GET DAD HOME!!!!!!!

4th & 1st Grade

Both kids were very excited for this new school year, even though the last one just ended 3 weeks ago. I am very pleased with the teachers that they have. When tracks were assigned back in June, once again, we didn't get what we asked for. In fact, we got our last choice. I put in a track request change, and prayed. Prayed that whatever was the right thing for my children would come to pass, even if it meant staying with the track that they had assigned us in the first place. But, I got a phone call, and sure enough we were changed to they first choice I had requested. We are all very happy! Thank you Heavenly Father!

Swimming Lessons - Cass

When we went off track in May, it was Cass's turn for swimming lessons. I had gotten her in the same level as Cutter, and after the first time, I could tell that she was going to do great. So great that we ended up switching with a friend that was in a level up, because her little one wouldn't even get in the water. So Cass moved up, and was will other friends, and definitely comfortable in her situation. She and her friend would do somersaults in the water, and dive to the bottom (4ft) to get toys. She had a blast, and did a great job. Even to the point, that she finally decided to jump off the diving board with the rest of her class. Great job Cass!

Cassidy's Piano Recital

Cassidy started piano lessons this year. She has quite the talent to hear a song and pick it out on the piano, much like her Uncle Jeff. She loves her teacher, and loves to practice and play...although sometimes what she practices and plays are not her lessons. We are working on that. She was trying to pick a song for recital, and couldn't decide between 3 pieces. She learned all three, and then decided on Swan Lake, the same piece that her ballet recital is too, especially after her teacher added a few notes, so it sounded even closer to the ballet piece. She did a great job! What a girl!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4AI9byOSuc

Evening of the Arts

 

This year the school started the choir program back up for the kids. Cass was very excited and for many months went to school an hour early twice a week to practice. They learned a musical "Pirates of Grammer Island." She got to help with painting the scenery, learned some simple choreography, and a lot of songs. They got to perform it 3 times, twice for the school, and an evening performance at the Evening of the Arts at school. It was very well done, and so cute. Also, the kids in their classes did art work that they had displayed that night as well. The top picture is of the kids in front of their work.

Going to the Zoo

Cutter was so excited for his fieldtrip! He was going to get to ride on the school bus, and go to the zoo! It worked out that I was able to go with him. We had a lot of fun, and saw some of the great animals. He also thought it was pretty awesome to eat lunch there too!

T Ball

We left it up to Cutter to decide if he wanted to play baseball this year. When spring attempted to come this year, he asked his dad when he would start baseball. So we signed him up! He has improved so much he is hitting better, and understanding the game more. He has really enjoyed it this year. He is so fun to watch play. Go Blueclaws!!!!


Up to bat

Heading to first

Hangin' at third


playing pitcher

Let's Dance

 
Kenzie took dance the second semester of school this year. She enjoyed it so much. She told me quite often that she missed dance, but not enough to quit soccer! These pictures are of their year end recital. She had a lot of fun back stage. Such a cute girl!

Birthday Boy

 

This year Cutter turned 6! He got to have his very first friend birthday this year. C and I came up with a plan several years ago that the kids could have a friend party on even birthday years...6, 8, 10 etc. Odd years they could invite a friend to dinner. Cutter was so excited to have his friends over. He wanted to play just basic birthday games. We played pin the tail on the donkey, musical chairs, freeze dance, and had a pinata. He had such a great time.

It's a date

A few weeks ago, C's nephew asked if he and his dad (Grandpa) would go shooting with him, and a girl he was asking out. Our family was able to join the group. It ended up being Alex, his date, his dad, Grandpa and Grandma, and all of us. We had so much fun! It was Cass and Cutter's first time. Cass was a little aprehensive, and spent quite a bit of the time in the car. But, she finally warmed up, and actually shot. So did Cutter, after extensive training and talking to from his dad. Kenzie is an old pro. She has been going out with C in the fall with the ward for the annual Turkey shoot. It has been such a long time since I had been shooting as well. It brought back great memories of when C and I were first married! I have experienced so many new and different things being married to him! Things I never thought I would ever try or like! Thanks C! I love you!!!

 

Swimming Lessons

 
I did it! I finally got one of my children in swimming lessons! With the addition of a new Rec Center in our area, I had run out of excuses. Which is good, because they need to learn, so that I can stop panicking, and let them enjoy life as a swimmer, since their mother is NOT!!!
I signed Cutter up with some friends, it worked out great because of his school schedule we were able to get him in. He LOVED it! And he is a natural! He can't wait until his next round of lessons. And then it is also Cass's turn.
 

Science Fair

 
And we start again! Cassidy has reached the age of Science Fairs. We did the rounds with Kenz, and now we are moving on to Cassidy. She was excited to do her experient. She chose to do hers on Supertasters. We went around the neighborhood coloring peoples tongues with food coloring, and counting tastebuds. Her hypothesis was that she thought that girls were more abt to be supertasters than boys. Her conclusion...yes, girls are more of the supertasters!

Uniplatyurtliger

Cutter and all the kindergartners recently got to come up with an unusual pet for a school project. They were to come up with the idea and then decide how to create it. Back during Christmas time, one of Cutter's cousins wanted to come up with something crazy to as Santa for Christmas to stump him. In our conversation she and Cory came up with the combination of a Unicorn, platypus, turtle and tiger... thus an Uniplatyurtliger was born. Fast forward to April and that is what Cutter wanted his unusual pet to be. With the help of his dad they came up with the body, and then Cutter decorated it. I got to attend the Pet show, and admire his and all the other students unusual pets. As a bonus for them, their pets were put on display in the library for a couple of weeks. Very cute!!!

Ballerina Girl

This last dance season Cass and her friend changed dance studios. She is learning strictly ballet, and is loving it. I love it! It brings back such great memories of all my dancing years. Her teacher is so sweet, and is teaching the girls the wonderful fundamentals and beautiful basics of ballet. Cass is such a natural. She has such a grace on stage. It was such a pleasure to sit and watch her. She did a great job. My beautiful ballerina girl!