Nathan's Weekend Adventures in Pictures

He got lots of funny looks driving down the road wearing these glasses.

A 'get well soon' gift Nathan gave his father after surgery this week.

Deep in thought.......



Getting a haircut from his sister Jennifer.

She has such a cute salon.



His very favorite part.

Jennifer (his sister) will do anything for Nathan. Even make him
guacamole, shrimp salad, and hamburgers for dinner.

He loves him some guacamole.

Payden says that she is Nate's girlfriend.  They do have
 a very special bond.

Happy Tuesday!!!

Kennecott Landslide

On April 10th at approximately 9:30 pm (while Nathan was at work) the Kennecott Copper Mine where Nathan works as a driller experienced what they call a geotechnical land movement.  In essence a landslide.  Being that Kennecott mine is the largest man made open pit mine they are no strangers to earth movements episodes that they usually call 'slips.'  They experiance many of these small slips each year.  Greatfully becuase of technology, mine officialls had been monitering the ground movement for several months prior to the actuall slide and were able to relocate all employees and many pieces of equipment away from the area days before the slip actually happened.

Here is a great news article from KSL about the slip: 

 

 Kennecott slide moved more than 165M tons of dirt.

 

I am so grateful that Nathan works for a company that values its workforce and has such a strong commitment to safety.  No one was injured and Nathan still has a job. 

 

 

This is just another reminder that life is always changing and all we can do is plan the best that we can and adjust our course as needed. 

 

Happy Friday!!

The Power of Technology

Our little blog reached 1000 views today!  I find this amazing!

I started this blog a year ago at the suggestion of our adoption agency as a way that prospective birth-families could better get to know us when choosing a couple to adopt their baby.  We send it out to the universe as a little seed of faith, hoping a praying that through it our hopes and dreams my come true.  Over the last year we have shared many things here, mostly about our day to day activities or special things we do.  It is not always easy for me to sit and write and share with you some of my innermost thoughts and feelings with no feedback or comment.  But I do it anyway.  I like to think that I am writing to a special friend who is faraway.  I am writing to YOU.

Up until this last week this blog has been mostly read by only our families and close friends; but that all changed on Wednesday.  That is because on Wednesday morning I shared a digital copy of our adoption networking card on my Facebook page and invited everyone to pass-it-along and share it with everyone they knew.   Again sending out our message and hoping it crosses the path of as many people as possible that we are hoping to adopt.   Because of that simple act on Facebook our little blog has experienced tremendous growth with almost 400 new views in just the last five days.  We are so grateful to our many friends and family members who have helped us in sharing our information; through Facebook, handing out our cards, and by word of mouth.  We couldn't do it without any of you. 

Happy Sunday

Nathan's Bow

Nathan recently purchased a bow so that he could archery hunt this year.  After having it tuned-up and adjusted for his draw-length it is finally ready for him to start practicing.   In addition his birthday is next week and for his gift I got him a large target cube he can use in the backyard.
With the wonderful spring weather we are enjoying today he just couldn't wait to get started.

Looking good.

As you can see there are no houses behind ours so he's safe aiming in that direction.

He is hoping that he will be able to use his bow on his upcoming black bear hunt next month and his elk hunt this fall.




Jasper is right in the middle of the excitement as well.

Check out this grouping.

We would like to say thank you to the guys at Humphries's Archery in American Fork for doing all the work to get Nathan's bow in tip-top shooting shape. 

Happy Friday!!! 

I have got to try this

Chocolate Lasagna!

INGREDIENTS

1 package regular Oreo cookies (Not Double Stuff)- about 36 cookies
6 Tablespoons butter, melted
1- 8oz package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons cold milk
1- 12oz tub Cool Whip, divided
2- 3.9oz packages Chocolate Instant Pudding
3 1/4 cups cold milk
1 and 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Begin by crushing 36 Oreo cookies. I used my food processor for this, but you could also place them in a large ziplock bag and crush them with a rolling pin.  When the Oreos have turned into fine crumbs, you are done.
2. Transfer the Oreo crumbs to a large bowl.  Stir in 6 Tablespoons melted butter and use a fork to incorporate the butter into the cookie crumbs.  When the butter is distributed, transfer the mixture to a 9 X 13 inch baking dish.  Press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan.  Place the pan in the refrigerator while you work on the additional layers.
3. mix the cream cheese with a mixer until light and fluffy.  Add in 2 Tablespoons of milk, and sugar, and mix well.  Stir in 1 and 1/4 cups Cool Whip.  Spread this mixture over the crust.
4. In a bowl, combine chocolate instant pudding with 3 and 1/4 cups cold milk.  Whisk for several minutes until the pudding starts to thicken.  Use a spatula to spread the mixture over the previous cream cheese layer.  Allow the dessert to rest for about 5 minutes so that the pudding can firm up further. 
5.  Spread the remaining Cool Whip over the top.  Sprinkle mini chocolate chips evenly over the top.  Place in the freezer for 1 hour, or refrigerator for 4 hours before serving.

Just a few Pictures of my Easter weekend

I have had a very eventful two days celebrating the Easter holiday with friends and family. 
Yesterday Nathan's family got together and did an Easter egg hunt for all the nieces and nephews and a little lunch.  I love these get-togethers because they are always laid-back and we just enjoy each others company and have a good time. 
My sister-in-law Jennifer and I (yes that means that there are 2 Jen's in the family) had the fun responsibility/honor of hiding all the eggs.  I believe it took us twice as long to get them all hidden as it took the six kids to find them all.

 

Jake will still need a little more practice before he goes into professional egg hunting.  He wanted
 to stop and open each egg and eat the candy in it before going and finding the next one.  Maybe
next year he will be able to find more before the other kids get to them first.

Little Ty had a great time with Aunt Jennifer. 

I just love this little guy.

 Today my parents spoke in Sacrament meeting at church.  In addition to it being Easter Sunday it was also their mission farewell.  They will be leaving in two weeks to spend the next 18 months at the Heber Valley Girls Camp.  They both gave very powerful talks about following the Saviors example and how the Atonement can be used in each of our lives.  I am so grateful for their faith and examples that have helped me grow closer to the person that I want to eventually become.  
After the meeting we went back to their house for lunch and to visit with my dads side of the family and many of our friends and neighbors stopped by as well.  It was so nice to see many of the people that I had not seen in several years.  They are very blessed to be surrounded by such great and wonderful friends.

The kids favorite part of coming over to my parents house (other than the cats)
 is to play with the little tractor that is just their size.

My parents visiting with a family friend.

 And lastly, when I arrived home from my parents home I looked out my back door and what do I see?  A couple of buffalo in the field behind us.  A few years ago they raised a few bison as well and it is so fun to watch them all summer long.  I think it is going to be another fun year.

Yep, those are buffalo.  This picture is taken from my back porch.

Happy Easter Ya'll

Thank goodness for children.

Lately I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything I have to do.  Between keeping everything put together at home, preparing for girls camp (I'm the ward girls camp director), planning cub scout activities weekly, spreading the word of our adoption hopes and working full-time.  Sometimes it seems like there is so much to do that there is no way that I can get it all done.
One of the things that just happened to be at the back of my mind was that the cub master asked that each den come up with a new den cheer before the next pack meeting. 
I am not the most creative person and making up a new cheer was not an easy task for me.  So it makes sense that I kept moving it to the bottom of my to-do-list.  Well as these things go, I put it off so much that I forgot about it and when the cub master got up at pack meeting yesterday and announced that all the dens would be giving their new cheer I panicked!  With only minutes to go and my mind racing I looked to the assistant den leader and pleaded for her help hoping that she might miraculously have one in mind.  She didn't.
Mind and heart racing I felt a little tap on my shoulder.   When I turned around I saw two of my boys standing behind me.  Very excitedly one of them said that he had just come up with a cheer and can we please use it.  We'll how could I refuse.  He hurriedly showed me what he had come up with and was so pleased when I told him it was great.  The two boys than rushed to the back of the room to teach the cheer to the other two boys in the den. 
Happily when the Bear den was called up to the front of the meeting, four wonderful boys stood in front of their parents and fellow scouts and said:

(hand raised with one claw slashing downward)

"Claw the air,

I'm a Bear!"

 

They did great and with a little of practice may even do it in unison.  I am so proud of all the boys in my den and all the hard work and fun we have each week. 

 

Happy Wednesday