Amazing Week

Despite our oven exploding this week and having to be creative with our dinners until we got our new oven, this week has been good. I had the opportunity to attend the "Mom's Who Make I"t conference. I was honored as a "Mom Who is Making It". There were 10 moms who were honored. I knew nothing about it until I got an email telling me I had been nominated. I was surprised. I got a free ticket that was normally $70 and got one for my mom as well. We had a great time. There were so many great speakers and mini classes. There were also free samples of everything and anything everywhere you turned. We got so much stuff. Then there was a yummy Mexican buffet. A virgin margarita and pina colada bar, an exotic fruit buffet, home tortillas, yummy salad, dressing, different flavors of rice, grilled steak and chicken, fresh salsa, cheese and guacomole and it was all you can eat.

It was at a beautiful building called Noah's. It was so charming. I met so many amazing women who have been through so many trials yet achieved so much. The theme of the night was overcoming your obstacles and succeeding as well as believing in yourself. There were women who were in horrible accidents and whose lives were turned upside down and now they are successful business owners. All of these women were young like me and so optimistic. I felt right at home. The classes were about how to turn your ideas into a business and still be a mom. How to balance your projects and family, how to have faith in God to help you achieve your dreams and how to live your dreams and enjoy life. It was so inspiring and these women always had everyone in tears as it was also emotional at times. What a great night!

I'm going to work harder at aligning my life with God so that I can be better guided and in tune with what He has planned for me and my family. I have had so many other amazing experiences this week that have all been pointing me in a better and more spiritual direction. I truly feel God's hand in my life.

Memorable Moments of the Week

What a week!

On Tuesday we went to playgroup and invited our friend next door and her two boys. We went to the aerospace museum and saw the cool jets. Then later had lunch at McDonald's. On Saturday our good friend Janet stopped by for a visit on her way back from Idaho. It was so good to see her and do some catching up.

On Friday I went outside to water the garden and when I came inside Gabe and Paisley were both inside this giant box. They were having fun and laughing so I decided to do the dishes. Suddenly I heard a rushing water sound and coughing. My exact thought of what that might be was correct. Gabe had thrown up all over the box and Paisley. What fun that was to clean up. Gabe was in more shock than pain. After he was cleaned up he was back to his normal self. Then yesterday Manuel and I were making a yummy Japanese dinner (my first attempt at tempura) and in between the chaos of both parents cooking, Gabe went diareah all over the bathroom upstairs and Paisley fell down the stairs. What a weekend!

Paisley got a cute little baby buggy for her upcoming birthday from her Oma and we hope it will help her get the hang of walking. Gabe loves it just as much as she does and hardly lets her play with it. Today Gabe went home after sacrament meeting with Manuel and when I got home there was this yummy cherry cake awaiting me. What fabulous cooks we have in this family!

This week has just been another reminder of why I love family so much. These special moments of being a mom and a wife are something I wouldn't trade for the world.

Happy 4th of July!

What a busy weekend! Things have heated up even with the rain clouds. To cool off we set up our pool in the backyard. Gabe and Paisley love to get wet.

My sister Crista had her baby on the 2nd. She wanted me to be there for her last baby because she gets terrible anxiety and panic attacks when she goes into labor. She always think she is going to die. Because I always have really good delivery experiences she wanted me to be there hoping that my positive energy would rub off on her.

She was scheduled to be induced on Wednesday and I was going to go down in the morning and leave the kids with Manuel and she had taken her three boys to the babysitter and her husband took work off. Well the hospital told her they were too full to take her. She was so sad. That night her husband went to a hockey game and got injured. Around 10:00pm he had to go to the hospital and found out his liver was bruised. They live about an hour away from the hospital and so they decided to just sleep at my mom's house with the kids since it was so late. When I found out I just knew she would go into labor at 3:00 am and I told my mom this. Needless to say at 2:30 in the morning I got a call that she had gone into labor and wanted me to come. I packed up the kids and said bye to Manuel and drove to Sandy. Luckily my little sister and her husband were willing to watch my kids when we got to their place at 3:30 am. Crista ended up having her baby at 11:30 am. We think it was meant to be that they had to go to the hospital the night before because they had just barely come home from the hospital when she went into labor and had to go back. Had they not already been there they would have had to pack up all their kids and drive an hour to the hospital. She would have had a panic attack for sure.

Her husband was very sick and out of it from the night before and the medication he was on. It was a good thing I was there. I helped stop a few of her anxiety attacks and calmed her down. When it was time to deliver (the part she fears most) it was a breeze. Her baby was only 6 pounds 14 oz (the smallest baby she has had)so she didn't have to push he just came right out. She felt that I was the reason her delivery went so well, but I think it was the epideral.

On Friday night we had our neighbors over for a firework show in the driveway. They are moving and we will miss them a lot. I made red, white and blue jello with fireworks on top. We set up fun things for the kids on the lawn and lit fireworks. The next morning we met up with them at the Clearfield parade. It was fun. It's a tradition that we started last year. After the parade we had naps then went to the Layton Park to enjoy their events. I bought some really pretty jewelry sets for only $3.00 and some cute crochet baby headbands for $1.00 each. It was a great deal. We went to lunch at the new Warrens in Syracuse and had lime rickeys. Then I treated everyone out to frozen mango yogurt at the new Red Mango in Layton. My mom, Jared and Cherise stopped by on the their way back from Bear Lake. We visited for a bit. Later we went to see the Clearfield fireworks. We had front row seats on the lawn for the Fab Four concert which is a Beatles tribute band. They were really good. Paisley danced and Gabe clapped. We ate treats, blew bubbles and enjoyed the firework show and music. What a weekend!!

Family Reunions, Rain and Cooking!

So June has just been a nice month for cooking, family and rain storms. Just this week we saw the last of some nice thunder storms, cool wind and clean fresh air. We also made a lot of treats. Strawberry frozen yogurt (with our garden strawberries), sushi rolls (we made for the first time) and a Brazilian dinner. For the sushi dinner we decorated the table in Asian decor, and made our own pickled ginger and I recreated the creamy house ginger salad dressing from my favorite restaurant. We like it better. Gabe and Paisley loved the sushi rolls! For the Brazilian dinner I made Brazilian BBQ beef on skewers (we liked them just as much as the real thing), Brazilian cheese bread (Pao de Queijo), salad and homemade banana cream pie. Later this week we'll do Italian, Mexican and German (schnitzel and spatzle). At our house we love food from around the world.

We had two family reunions on Saturday but I didn't lean about the second one (the Willardson reunion) until the morning of, so I couldn't go. The Lundskog reunion was at Wheeler Farm. It was so fun. We went on an "I spy" hunt with the kids. Gabe got to trade our paper in for a treaure box full of bubble gum gold coins. We also went on a tractor ride all over the farm. I acutioned a bag of my baby hair accessories at the auction and I won a bid on an antique handcrafted wood and porcelin item made in Germany. It's supposed to be worth $160 and I got it for $15. It's a cute little flower shop store that I hung in Paisley's room. For some reason I connected with it and just had to have it. We had fun with cousins and Grandma and then came home and crashed.

Gabe completed his swimming lessons this week with Aunt Cherise. He did so good. With help he floats on his back, does ice cream scoops, blows bubbles in water, and kicks on his stomach. He also dove for rings in shallow water of course. He now has an interest in singing and dancing because of Michael Jackson and wants to take lessons and perform. He was actually a Michael Jackson fan before he dies this week. His favorite video was always thriller but now he likes "Bad" just as much. Yes, he was pretty down about his death and talks about it every day with us.

We look forward to the 4th of July this week and plan to make homeade cherry ice cream. Can't wait!