Oh, what a Fourth!

I have anticipated (stressed and worried) about this day for months now. Why? It was my first activity as the activity chairman in our ward. I didn't sleep much last night because my mind wouldn't stop worrying about every little thing.

The activity was held at a park with a pavilion, lots of grass and a play land. The plan was to have a pancake breakfast, flag ceremony with the anthem, a kid parade and then games at the end like kickball, volleyball, corn hole, and soccer. Some things I planned fell through but no on knew it and as far as I saw it, everything went so great. A LOT of people came. There was enough food for everyone. The kids LOVED the parade as did some adults too. Two of my neighbor families who are nonmember came. People played together and chatted and enjoyed being together. But the best part is that the rain held off until 5 minutes before I had the last of my stuff loaded in the car to go home. It rained for 6 straight hours after that. I had prayed my little heart out that the rain would hold. As Ryan and I walked to the car (in the rain) he said, "Tiff, if you ever doubted Heavenly Father didn't know who you were, you know today that he knows and loves you!" That is exactly how I felt too. I sang praises to God the rest of the day!

The rest of the day my family just chilled. I had worked Ryan like crazy that morning and I was plain burned out too. We watched a movie, napped, and ate food. Later that night we went to a friend's for dinner. We ate dinner in their barn sitting on hay bails. It was such a fun atmosphere. By 9:00, though, my family was beat. We headed home. I was sad we didn't go for fireworks but really we just were too tired. So the last miracle of the day was that some one in our neighborhood put on quite the little firework show. It was no Thunder over Louisville but they were big enough to be pretty and entertaining. We sat ON OUR COUCH and watched the fireworks out our window. How perfect was that for a tired little family? Oh what a day!

Gun Club

My kids ask me everyday if they got anything in the mail. Occasionally they do which keeps them asking every day. Well the other day I got four identical letters in the mail. One for me, Cassidy, Aidan and Lacey. I opened them up and there were NRA Membership cards for each one of us PLUS a sticker and window decal. So when the kids asked, "Did I get anything in the mail?" I excitedly said YES and gave them their card and stickers. They were very excited about it, especially the stickers.

I then had the following conversation with Aidan.

Aidan: What are these cards?

Me: They are membership cards to a gun club.

Aidan: A gun club?! (excitedly)

Me: Yes, Daddy signed you up for a gun club.

Aidan: What do you do in a gun club?

Me: I don't know. You will have to ask your dad.

Aidan: Who else is in the gun club?

Me: Daddy and Grandpa Arden

Aidan: (in full seriousness) Well, when do we meet?

I just thought it was so hilarious. Aidan for the next 2 days played gun club where he was the Captain. So you are probably asking what is this NRA membership all about. I'm asking the same thing. Ryan heard about a free membership to the NRA so he felt the need to enlist every one of us in the NRA. Not sure how I feel about that but hey I'm a full fledged member with a card, sticker and decal! How could you not be excited about that?

Recipes

I love collecting good recipes from people that I know. What I love the most is of course the good food but I also love that overtime I make it I am thinking about them. As I have moved from city to city or as friends have come and gone I have collected some good recipes. Everytime I make that particular recipe my thoughts ALWAYS turn to them. I think about how they influenced my life, my good memories with them, and what I loved most about them. It is just so fun to go through my recipes and see how many people have influenced my life and my cooking. They will forever be a part of me and my cooking.

Texas Sheet Cake- my sister Melinda
Sweet and Sour Chicken- Lisa Willard (Florida friend)
Ultimate Chocolate chip cookies- Whitney Yates (old roommate)
Squash Dollars- Susan Stallings (my second mom)
Cornflake cookies- my brother Blake
Fettucini Alfredo- my sister Rachael
Pot Roast- Arden my father in law
Pulled Pork - Ashly Bingham
Chicken broccoli Slaw Salad - Jamie Giffin
Oriental Chicken Salad - Eva my mother in law
Meatloaf - Mike my brother in law
Pork Chop with Black beans - Becky Cole
Chicken Cordon Blue Casserole - sister Analee
Wild Rice Soup - Niki Christensen
Best Ever Potato soup - sister Melinda
Chicken Pockets - sister in law Deanna
Raisin Bran Muffins - my mom
Kettle Corn- sister Rachael
Stuffing Casserole - Emilee Anderson
Las Vegas Potatoes- Karen Linn (sister in law)
Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies- Rachel Dahl
Cherry O'Cream pie- my dad
Parmesan Garlic Breadsticks- Alexis Kelly
BBQ Baby Back Ribs- Bridget Lobo


I'm thinking of you!

From Sea to Shining Sea!

We went from the coast of South Carolina to the Coast of Washington all in a weekend. We finally were able to get out of Charleston and met up with Ryan in Atlanta. He had stayed up late the night before packing our bags for our trip to Seattle. Our timing worked out great. Ryan landed moments before us and we were lucky enough to get on a flight to Seattle 30 minutes later. We all sat together which is a big deal.

While in Seattle we went to the aquarium, had a couple of BBQs (3, I think), met our new cousin, well my niece, and went to her baby's blessing. It was fun to see KK be the momma. I'm so use to being the one with the crying baby, the kid with the stinky diaper and the exhaustion permanently written across my face. I'm happy to have Karen join the ranks. Welcome Karen, welcome!

We also were able to go to my favorite view of Seattle, Alki Beach. We weren't really dressed for photo ops but I still love these pics.

The "30" Wig!

When I turned 30 my sister drove 5 hours to surprise me with a visit. To accompany this surprise my friends had a surprise "Wiggin" out party for me in which they made me wear my pjs, a clowns wig and a sign that said I'm 30 today and took me out in public! It was a little traumatic but I am getting over it. Well, my sister just turned 30 so I had to follow suit. I flew to Charleston, SC and surprised her by jumping on her bed at 12:30 a.m. to wish her happy birthday. That night we had a surprise party for her in which I made her wear the "30" wig. It was a great to be with her and to especially surprise her.

I was able to spend 2 days with her because thunder storms wouldn't let us out of the area. It was to my benefit though. I love my sister. She is my complete opposite but we know how to make it work and have the BEST time. I miss the days she was my roommate and all the silly things we did together. She will forever be my little sister and dear dear friend.

While we were together we went to the beach and also to a fun park with lots of spinning toys and a fountain park. Here are a few of the pics we captured.

First trophies

Soccer is over now. The last game Aidan scored his first goal. He was so close so many times that I was so happy it finally happened for him. He was so proud. Ryan told him to run around like an airplane after he scored a goal but he was too shy to do it. Maybe next year. We had fun watching them play together. I loved that they were on the same team. They improved a lot and I kind of wish the season were a little longer. They were just getting the hang of it.

Here are their first trophies!

Last Day of School

What in the world just happened? Kindergarten is over?

Aidan was so excited for his last day of school. Of course he has been counting down the days since the end of April. But today was the day. Ryan took Aidan to school today

FIRST GRADE HERE I COME!

At school today they had field day. Ryan volunteered and I just came out with the girls for pics and fun. They had a bunch of fun things going on. Ryan worked at the obstacle course. The kids had such a blast. As part of field day they signed each other's shirts. I was in the room when they did the signing and even was asked for my autograph a couple of times. You know how kids are, they just want as many names as they can get regardless of who it is. It was cute though. This is Aidan 's teacher signing his shirt.

Here is his finished t-shirt.

Aidan had a great class and a great teacher. He learned to read this year, was introduced to math, grew 1 1/4 inches and gained 3 pounds. We are so proud of him and how well behaved he was in school. You are a great kid AIDAN!