Our Fun Thanksgiving

Kevin's brothers came to visit. We all had so much fun! Cousins are GREAT to be with! We are indeed thankful for family! Ty made some really tasty beans (the Farnsworth tradition beans and tortillas yummy!), Nathan made good pasta. We had yummy moist turkey with all the trimmings, pies galore...even cheesecake (that I ate too much of).

The kids and everyone loved the park behind our house. They had so much fun playing football. and apparently posing for pictures (as you can see). We miss them already! It was a Thanksgiving to remember!

Ah...House Updates

The doors are in, the trim is done, the floors are clean (well, as good as they can be right now), the putty and sanding are done, the paint is done, and the tile is in process. The outside of the house hasn't changed much...and my apologies for not having more pictures of the inside. Those are soon to come. Cabinets should be in by Thanksgiving (fingers crossed), and the last BIG job we have to do before it's complete is the landscaping. The end is near...but there is still SO much to do! Seriously, if you are ever bored come on over...I'll put you to work! We'd love to have you!
This is the landscape plan. Isn't it lovely? The trees look a little juvenile...but it's all good.

A FaBOOlous Halloween!

In the words of Elizabeth...it was a Monsterific Day!

The Farnsworth Photoshoot

Go ahead! Laugh it up! Can you tell who is the comedian of the family?? It's almost to the point of being scary.:) Truly never a dull moment! You should come over sometime!!

New picture of our house! (See above)

I think we can, I think we can, I think we can........

Veggie Tales Silly Song- His Cheeseburger

This song is dedicated to "The Chef" and his love of cheeseburgers.

Blue Flower Power....Book One

Introducing Elizabeth's first original "chapter" book series....Blue Flower Power!

Bk 1: Sneaky Peeky Spying

Chapter 1: Mystery

Once upon a time there was a girl named Emma and she had a friend named Brylee. They liked to play at recess together. I was their friend too! One day I saw something very unusual. My teacher, Mrs. Jaggi was sneaking out the door into the cafeteria!

Chapter 2: The Plan

I ran to Emma and Brylee!
"Emma, Brylee!" I said. "Our teacher just sneaked out the door into the cafeteria."
"She did?" they said.
"YES!" I said. "And I have a plan."

Chapter 3: Eye Spy

"Let's spy on her, okay."
"Okay," they said.
So we sneaked to the cafeteria.

Chapter 4: Alert

Right when we got there she was gone!
"Where did she go?" I wondered
"Maybe she's on the other side," Emma said.
"Let's go," I said.

Chapter 5: Bathroom

We ran to the other side.
"I have to go to the bathroom," I said. So I went to the bathroom and that's where my teacher was.

Chapter 6: Gone in a Flash

Right when I got in the bathroom guess who I saw, my teacher! I ran in to the toilet and closed the door before you could even say "Hello!"

Chapter 7: No More Spying

I went to the bathroom and washed my hands before she finished going to the bathroom. Then I got out and told Emma and Brylee that I saw her in the bathroom and we should go back to recess before she sees us. And we did.

The End!

Insulation, Baby!

There it is! It came today! The beautiful insulation that will keep our house warm in the winter and cold in the summer. Thank you, insulation! You will make my house a happy place to be!

Next up...drywall, baby, yea!!

Kirby Heyborne stole my family

At least Kyler doesn't look happy about it. That makes me feel a little better.

Elizabeth's Baptism

Here she is with her very own set of scriptures with a case she picked out herself. She is already trying to beat me at scripture chases.:) She is learning to use them well.

Wow, we have a charming little girl who is really starting to blossom this past month. She has turned 8 and has been baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It really did happen...it feels almost like a dream to me. Am I really old enough to have a child old enough to be accountable for herself? I am so proud of the little lady she has become...she has really stepped up and took this important first step energetically and with confidence. She is a great example to her little brothers.


The program was perfect! Liz looked so darling in her white jump suit (I got to help her change into). It fit perfectly.:) Sister LaRue Heaton gave a nice talk on baptism...and then it was time to move to the font. It all happened so fast...she stepped into the warm water and walked towards her dad...he took her arms, like they practiced, said the short prayer and before I knew it she was completely wet.
I was teary-eyed...she was so beautiful and I was so proud and I was so completely amazed at the priesthood power my husband holds. That he could take his daughter in his loving arms and allow her to open the gate to eternal joy and happiness. What a special and significant moment. I just wish it could have lasted a bit longer.
I quickly rushed to the dressing room to rap her in her big white baptism towel. I wanted to hold her forever...but she was anxious to return to see everyone. When we arrived back to the crowd we prepared to sing our special song together. She started her solo singing the first verse to "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus " while I joined in on the chorus and we finished it together. She sings so well...that was the highlight of the program for me! I loved it! Then Grandpa Farnsworth gave a lovely talk about the Holy Ghost before she received it. Kevin gave a lovely blessing...I can already sense a desire in her to do her duty as the ward's newest church member.
Thanks to all those that attended! It was wonderful to have you there to share our special moment! We missed all those that couldn't make it!

The Wonder That is Elizabeth Turns 8!

Yes, it is true...Liz had another birthday and is OFFICIALLY 8! 8 is great! She had her first ever slumber party with her 3 best friends. We had a blast celebrating her big day with a swim in her Aunt Valerie's pool and then we had stuffed crust pizza from Littler Ceaser's (her favorite), presents galore and of course cake and ice cream. We played a game or two...but they all had so much fun playing with Liz's new toys that I didn't have to worry about entertaining them much.
I honestly don't know how long they stayed up watching movies...they all seemed pretty tired so it couldn't have been too long. But when I asked Liz what her favorite part of her party was she said "staying up until after midnight." So that gives me a good idea.
Where does the time go, really? I still remember that day vividly when I held my sweet (but boisterous) baby girl in my arms for the first time. She had a pair of lungs on her like you wouldn't believe! She had come into the world and she was going to let the world know she was here! I knew she was a special girl with a strong spirit even then.
I love you, my darling Elizabeth! Thank you for coming to our family and blessing us with your lively personality! What would we do without you!

Lizzy's Slideshow...she made it herself!!:)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Think of this the next time you eat a jelly donut!

Hmmmm, yummy!!!

A Cool New Blog

check it out! Paulette's Point just for fun!

How much is $3.19 worth to you?

I was at the Bloomington Walmart the other day, picking up some last minute gifts for Liz. I found what I was looking for, a "secret diary", voice activated, plays music and it was only $19.97, (remember this price). So I buy it, get my receipt and notice that I was charged $22.97 for this secret diary. I told the cashier and she politely suggested that I spend half my life in the customer service line (you know how that goes). It's finally my turn to be helped and lo and behold I get a 16 year old, and no offense to anyone but I think I smelt pot. Anyway, I tell him of my predicament and he informs me that a price checker needs to be called to verify my information. I think to myself, if you wanted a price checker I could have done that ten minutes ago, after all the customer is always right, right?
Anyway, another year passes by and the "price checker" arrives, or should I say the spawn of satan entered the room. She very rudely asked what the problem was, smirked as to say, oh right, as if this lowly customer knows what he's talking about. She grabbed the secret diary and begrudgingly headed for the toy section to prove that I was wrong.
Verily, verily another year passed and she arrived back at the customer service desk. Without making eye contact she quickly placed the diary down on the counter with a price tag attached and proclaimed, "this is the price.' and then she walked off, still not making eye contact. I leaned over to check what the price was and was shocked to read, $22.97. How could this be! I know what price I saw, buy maybe, must maybe I read it wrong. So I grabbed the diary and headed back to the toy section and sure enough there was a $22.97 price tag underneath the secret diary. But wait, I thought as I pulled on my Sherlock Holmes hat and reached inside my trench coat for the trusty magnifying glass, there is foul play here. Quickly checking around me to make sure no one was watching, I carefully peeled back the plastic that covers the price tags and saw what I had already supposed, a new tag had been placed over the old tag! Ha, I laughed to myself, they were too lazy to even discard the evidence! Sloppy criminals!! Sure enough, behind the new $22.97 price tag, which was dated with todays date, was the old price tag of $19.97.
I could have been happy with this and just let it go but something inside of me cried, No! This is not right! Forget about the money, this isn't even about money anymore, this is about honesty and I had been unjustly dealt with. No, there would be no letting go today.
I headed back to customer service, waited in line again, placed the secret diary proudly down on the counter with both price tags and explained that the prices had been swapped since I first got the toy. He then, in a straight face, told me that the $19.97 price tag was for a different secret diary. Instead of smash his face in with the diary I instead restated his stupidity and asked, "so there's a different secret diary?", in which he shook his head in the affirmative.
So back I went to the toy section to check on this new information and guess what? There was only one secret diary.
I quickly stormed up and down the aisles looking for the nearest employee. I found her and as luck would have it, she was the department manager. After explaining the situation she admitted that it was her fault and I would only be charged for the original price of $19.97. She told me her name and sent me back to customer service, where I waited in line again, purposefully waited for the other employee to help me out, she looked older and wiser. Explained my issue, of course she couldn't take my word for it, so she had to call the manager to confirm my story (as if I could make this up!). The story was confirmed, I was refunded $3.19, when the spawn of satan, excuse me, "price checker" saw this she muttered, "gosh, how cheap do you want it!"
Was it worth it? Absolutely it was.

4th of July Races

So I am going to take this time brag about my kids and how well they did in the races last Saturday. For those of you who don't know what I am referring to, every July 4th it is a Hurricane tradition to have races at the park. They start with the crawlers and work there way up by age, separating the boys and the girls. Kyler ran with the 5 year old boys and if not for a rough start surely would have contended. Elizabeth ran with the 7 years old girls and she won!! Her face as she waited for the word "Go" was that of great determination and complete focus. She wanted to win so badly and she did it.

Now Eli, this is where I am proud and yet at the same time a little bit ashamed. You see our cute little Eli is 16 months old and still relies on crawling as his main mode of transportation. He can take a few steps but he's not quite there yet. So his main competition was basically kids half his age or younger. Now with that said, I am proud to announce that Eli smoked the other crawlers and came in 1st place!!

Yeah for races!!

Happy freakin 4th of July!!

Why do I keep going to parades when I know exactly how it's going to go down? Find a seat, check. Wait patiently for the parade, check. Inform my kids to stand back so everyone can see, check. Have a family come late and stand in front of you, check. Watch their greedy older kids get all the candy before your kids, check. Have 10 year old boys standing in front of you trying to sell water and otter pops, check. Feel like I'm watching a glorified advertisement for all the local businesses, check. After five floats and some loud sirens asking myself if this was worth it, check.

The only thing I enjoyed was watching the veterans float with the American flags and standing with my hand over my heart. Too bad the true meaning of the holiday only lasted 15 seconds.

I still love you at 4 a.m.

You all know how it goes; kids get's sick, kid won't go to bed, kid finally falls asleep, kid doesn't stay asleep and wakes you up when you were finally able to fall asleep, kid is now hungry, thirsty, but because the child is ill they will not eat or drink, thus the parent is left feeling helpless and tired.

At 4 a.m. as I held my boy in my arms I had a moment of awakening as I looked down at him and he looked up at me with a look of total confusion like, why do I feel this way, I want to eat, drink and sleep but it just hurts too much. With his head on my shoulder I realized that I was his comfort, he was relying completely on me to make everything ok. I stopped grumbling at my predicament and pride filled my heart for this beautiful child that I had been entrusted with. Sleep soon came for both of us, but not before a bond was formed between father and son. I look forward to more of these moments in the coming years, just maybe more in the afternoon time.

We've got windows!!

Father's Day + Zion's Free Weekend = One Awesome Day!

Saturday Zion National Park sponsored a free day. So, for a little Father's Day Adventure we decided to take advantage of it. We had only ever hiked to the Lower Emerald Pool and that day we chose to try something different and venture up to the Upper Pools. Man, was it ever a challenge (especially pushing the stroller that obviously is not built to take hiking). The kids did so great and Kyler surprised me with his determination and ability to climb over those big rocks all by himself. I have to remind myself, as his mother, that he is growing up and needs to feel like he can do it himself. Go Kyler!
When we finally reached the Upper Pool it took our breaths away! There is such a dramatic difference between the lower pool and the upper. The weather was perfect, there was lots of sand to play in and the pool itself was nestled in the canyon. A very cool and inviting place. It was worth the rocky and bumpy hike it took to get there. Thank you Zion for having a free day. Thank you Kevin for being such a loving daddy. For making our kids laugh everyday and for being my support and best friend! I love you! Happy Father's Day!