Labor Day Family Swim

I just want to make the rest of my life the best of my life. Zig Zigler

We had a great family swim day. The weather was perfect. I love spending time in the pool with my family and my grandchildren. 

May 27, 2016 family cabin trip

Clayton really had to go potty!

Norah, Clayton and I hike to the pond the throw rocks in. They didn't want to go at first bout I talked them into the hike and they loved it! Scott brought Ian down  in the Rhino. The kids love throw rocks in the pond. Carlie came down and went on a small hike with them. It was a beautiful day. 

May 26, 2016 Geoff comes for a day.

Geoff had a training for Solar City. So he came for the day. We went to lunch together then he took a nap and worked for our house. Then he flew home to Stacy. I loved having him here. Geoff works for Solar City in Colorado. He is the manager for Colorado and he loves it and is doing great. I am so proud of him.   

Boston plays on the Royals baseball team.

 Batter up!

 Boston plays on the Royals team. Brandon Fish our home teacher is his assistant coach .

Boston, MaCoy, Clayton and Norah

I went an watched Boston play baseball May 10th it was a beautiful evening and I brought Norah and Clayton. This is Bostons first year playing and he is a natural. Brandon says for his first year playing he is amazing. I think Boston is a natural. MaCoy played with Norah and Clayton while Jill and I watched Boston play. I really enjoy be able to be a small part of Boston's life.

Owen Douglas Evans blessing May 15, 2016

These are my people and I love them. Jessie Evans

Love my people!! So glad I have them in my life. It was a wonderful day at Owens baby blessing. Rylie Dunaway

Courtany, Hyrum, Gray and  Lindsey Turnner thanks for the cousin support. 

When we start to recognize all things we have to be grateful for in our lives, we can't help but be happy. The moment we begin to count our blessings, everything becomes a bonus instead of an expectation. Blessing day for Owen Douglas Evans. What a beautiful day and I am grateful.

Yummy food fresh fruit and quiche. 

Today was a special day for our family. In church, we gave Owen a name and blessing and then after we gathered with friends and family to enjoy good conversation and food. And then we took this picture and I had an "oh my gosh I have four kids" moment.

Tom and Cheryl were able to come for Owen's blessing.

What a blessing it is to be a Grandma and watch them be blessed. I am grateful for my faith in The Lord Jesus Christ. Grateful to my family and the joy they are to me. Here is Owen's birth story written by Jessie. Taken from her blog.

Owen Douglas Evans Birth Story

March 17^th  5 lb 19 Inches

On March 17 at 2:43 I sent Jason a message on Skype asking him to come home around 4. He replied and asked if I needed him earlier and I told him, “Ian’s asleep and the other two are watching a movie so I’m okay, but still having painful contractions and can’t fully help with the kids when they need me. I’m doing my best to keep baby in.”

When the kids woke me up that morning, I noticed I was experiencing contractions. Nothing unusual, I figured, I have Braxton Hicks contractions on a regular basis through most of my pregnancies, so I wasn’t alarmed. Except, I was feeling these contractions more in my back, similar to when I went into labor with Norah. And they were coming on a semi-regular basis. Fortunately they weren’t painful, and I hardly noticed them. I made a joke to Jason about how “we might be having a baby today!” And went about getting started on the morning routine with the kids. After being the most sick I ever remember being and bed-ridden for almost a full week with influenza A, I was excited to get back to the land of the living.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t rid myself of these pesky contractions. I tried drinking water, lying down, and getting in the bath. My bath was cut short by an invasion of little people who took the bath from relaxing to rolicking in 10 seconds flat. I sent Jason off to work and attempted to function as a normal human, but it wasn’t going great. I was still pretty weak from the flu, dealing with an intense cough, and my contractions (though super painful) were coming every 10-15 minutes. I got Norah and Clayton settled in with a movie and Ian down for a nap and decided to try taking another bath. I messaged Jason at work asking him to come home at four, set my laptop up near the tub and started watching Gilmore Girls on Netflix. Rather than slowing down the contractions, they became more frequent, more intense, and more annoying. I was so not ready to have a baby.

When Jason walked in the door around 3:30 I nearly cried tears of joy. He went downstairs to watch the movie with Norah and Clayton and Ian (who had woken up the second I got in the tub) and I continued to rest. I texted Jason at 4:02 and asked him to come upstairs. He didn’t reply. I texted him again at 4:15 again asking him to come upstairs. Jason came upstairs to find a very distraught wife sitting on the bed.

I always laughed when people said “Oh, I could never not find out the gender when pregnant. I’m too much of a planner.” I’m about as much of a type A planner as it gets. Not knowing the gender doesn’t make it any harder to plan, but you know what really makes things hard to plan? Babies being born 3 ½ weeks early.

Jason convinced me we should maybe start packing the hospital bag. I texted my former labor and delivery nurse and second mom Rachel asking her if she thought I would still be able to get an epidural, because apparently, having the flu disqualifies you from being eligible for an epidural. Which is all fine and dandy if you’ve prepared to go natural, but I had not. My birthplan goes like this: Epidural ASAP. And, that’s it.

We started throwing stuff into the bag. Jason packed his things, I was too distracted with contractions to do much other than say “yes” or “no” to what Jason was packing for me. I still wasn’t convinced this could be it, mostly because it wasn’t the plan. I wasn’t ready. I had hair appointments scheduled, I had plans to get a pedicure, a massage, and a brazilian wax. I needed to schedule sitters for my kids and someone to clean my house while I was at the hospital. We didn’t have a name picked. I hadn’t yet purchased a coming home outfit. We had no idea where this baby was going to sleep. This wasn’t the plan. Or rather, this wasn’t MY plan. But as the contractions kept coming, I knew this was it. I turned to Jason and asked him to give me a blessing. It was the most perfect blessing, blessing me with strength and courage and letting me know how much Heavenly Father loves me and this baby.

I gave my mom a call and let her know that we were heading to the hospital to get checked. My mom had a house full of people because the next day was the start of a two-day extended family reunion for her side of the family, so the timing wasn’t ideal for her either, but she headed over to watch the kids.

At this point, my contractions were coming every five minutes and lasting about a minute each. And they hurt. The short drive to the hospital seemed forever and the walk from the parking lot to the entrance was my personal gauntlet. We arrived at the hospital at 6:20. The nurses at the front desk started asking me questions and after the first question or two, I was in too much pain to answer.  A nurse appeared with a wheelchair, and took me back to a room to be checked while Jason finished checking me in. I quickly changed into my hospital gown, the nurse hooked up the heart and contraction monitors, and checked to see how dilated I was. I was measuring at a 4+. My labors are extremely fast once they get going, and I knew a 4+ meant this baby was coming, and coming fast. This was my third pregnancy testing positive for Group Beta Strep, which is treated with two rounds of antibiotics during labor. The antibiotics take around 4 hours for both doses, which was not going to happen for me. We quickly informed the nurse that I was Group B positive and that we needed to start the antibiotics asap. Of course, she needed to call my doctor and get his permission to admit me, so she left Jason and me waiting. My contractions were becoming more and more painful and more and more frequent and I was begging Jason to make it stop. When the nurse came back (after what felt like an eternity) she said she had talked to Dr Judd and he had said, “but she’s not due yet!” I know, Dr Judd, I know. My thoughts exactly. But, because I was very clearly in active labor, I was admitted and they put me back in the wheelchair to take me to my room.

One major perk of going into labor over being induced is, placing my IV is no big deal. I have a HUGE needle-phobia, but when I’m too busy trying to cope through contractions, I don’t even notice needles and IV’s. So, in goes the IV to get the antibiotics started and all I can think about is, “where is my best friend the epidural man?” And in he walks! Ryan informs me that he sped the whole way to the hospital, and even sped past a cop but didn’t get pulled over. “Jesus must really love you,” he said. With my epidural placed, I could finally relax and embrace that this was really happening.

At my last doctor’s appointment, I told Dr Judd my biggest fear was not having him deliver my baby. It’s really my fault for saying it out loud and jinxing myself. On call for Dr Judd was Sue, a nurse midwife who was actually perfect for the situation. I was a nervous wreck. This baby was 3 ½ weeks early, and I was Group B positive and wasn’t going to be able to get the full antibiotics dosage. Sue was so motherly and calming.

I quickly progressed to almost complete and Sue asked if she could break my water. As she was checking me before she planned on breaking my water, my water broke and there was meconium in the fluid, which is not a good sign. Sue quickly assembled the team saying this baby needed to come now, and that for my sake she hoped it was a girl because they do so much better with potential respiratory issues.

The delivery team quickly got into position, and so did I. Because of all the potential health risks this baby faced, I wasn’t going to be able to hold my baby right away, but the plan was to place the baby on my stomach for a second while the cord was clamped and cut. I pushed through two contractions, and at 9:20 baby was born! I was so focused on the health of the baby, I forgot for the moment that we didn’t know the gender. “It’s a boy!” Jason said in surprise, I couldn’t believe it. This pregnancy had been much more similar to my pregnancy with Norah that I was thinking we were going to have a girl. After a brief moment of admiring him while Jason cut the cord, he was whisked away by the respiratory therapist. Sue immediately distracted me from the situation as she stitched me up. As much as I wasn’t thrilled about going into labor 3 ½ weeks early, on St Patrick’s Day, Sue kept reassuring me that this baby came now for a reason. Given the meconium in the amniotic fluid and the condition of the placenta (It looked like it had been shredded and was starting to detach), my sweet little baby may not have done well for much longer.

Because I still had to be stitched up and taken care of, and couldn’t really move, and my baby boy had to be on a CPAP machine and all sorts of IV’s and monitors, I wasn’t able to see him for about an hour. Jason went into the level 2 nursery with him and the nurses and (praise modern technology!) I was able to facetime with them and see everything that was going on. One of my favorite moments was seeing my little guy immediately respond to hearing my voice over the phone. Our little guy is a fighter, and despite all the potential health risks he faced, was completely 100 percent perfectly fine. We didn’t have a name picked out, and didn’t really even have a list of names, but as we threw out name ideas over the next day and a half, Jason looked up the meaning of Owen, which means little warrior, and we immediately knew it was perfect for him.

Mother's day

To the Women in my life and throughout the world you all have incredible impact on SO many! I am blessed to be surrounded by the best of the best! Forever grateful to God for blessing me to be able to be a mother and understand God's love for his children. Learning to love as God loves is powerful. Happy Mother's Day to all the beautiful mothers out there! 

We order Shoots and picked it up on Saturday and Scott and Jason just heated it up for us on Sunday. It was so yummy!

Sweet Carlie and me

Geoff and Jessie and I

Happy Mother's Day to this beautiful lady who is not only my mom, but my best friend. Growing up everyone loved my mom and I swear my friends would want to come over to hang out with her and not me. She makes everyone feel loved and special. Love you, Mom! (From Jessie)

Love this mother of mine. She is such a good example to me. She has done so much for me and I'm so grateful that I was sent to her in this earth life. (From Rylie)

Happy Mother's Day to you! I will be for ever grateful for you, you raised the man that I get to have forever. Love you so much! (From Stacy) 

Scott's 58th Birthday

 Happy birthday! You are my everything! Life is good with you. You have face challenges that make you the man you are today. You see life "just right" you believe in and trust your God. You're strong, you're kind, and you're good. Our children are so blessed to have you as their father. I hope your birthday includes a beautiful bike ride and all your birthday wishes come true!

I choose YOU. And I'll choose YOU over and over and over. Without pause, without a doubt, in a heartbeat. I'll keep choosing YOU. Happy birthday Scott! Today was a fun day celebrating YOU! 

Thank you everyone for your thoughtful birthday wishes. I had a great day today. Started out with a meditating bike ride up Provo Canyon and then spent the day with Barb.

 Vegetarian Lettuce Warps

 Ma Po Tofu

 Scott and I spent the day together running errands and went to dinner at PF Chang's  

🎉

Cards are a bid deal in our family. A tradition that Scott has carried on from his family. I love a good card. Scott got some really sweet cards from his children. 

For you, Dad on your birthday- If everyone had a father like you, what a wonderful world this would be...
Because then, everyone would grow up knowing they were safe, protected. and loved...
Everyone would know what it means to have someone to believe in-someone who believes in you, too...
Everyone would have the chance to make the most of themselves and be the best they could be...
Everyone would be given the opportunity, and the joy, that our family's fen given...
...by having a father as supportive, as caring, as simply wonderful as you. Happy Birthday with love.

Scott is a great father, good man and a wonderful Husband we are all so best because of the love he so freely gives. 

Someone posted this on Scott FB wall. I love it!

Happy Birthday Scott! You are my greatest example of perfect faith in our Savior Jesus Christ. 

Kind words from Karen Tebbs who loves Scott and use to work for him. 

From Dave McCoy -Scott, My main man and good friend. Happy birthday. I hope you have an incredible day. Love you brother.

From Stacy Elder-Happy birthday! Thanks for being such a great granddaddy, father-in-law, and dad to all of us! I love that you and Geoff have a good relationship, means so much to him. Love you so much! Have a great day.

From Carlie- It's been a hectic day at work so I'm a little late to the game, but  happy birthday daddy! you're the best example to have in someone's life and you've always been my number one. Thanks for being my dad and everything else you do for me. Love You! Happy Birthday

From Geoff- I called to wish you a Happy birthday! I hope you've had a good day today! Mom sent a video of you going on a bike ride. I love that you do what you love. Thanks for being such a great example of how to be a father and a husband friend. We sent you a gift to your house let me know if you got it. 

Geoff, Stacy and Mekk in town. And taco Sunday

The grill in the middle of the table is a Raclette Grill. Check this link for more info. I love mine!

 http://studio5.ksl.com/?nid=126&sid=33682807#7FmKUs6awYhuOmwZ.32

 Grilled Zucchini Tacos

Serves 4 to 5

Ingredients:
2 zucchinis, tops and bottoms removed and sliced into strips
2 yellow squash, tops and bottoms removed and sliced into strips
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
roasted tomatillo salsa:
8 tomatillos, cut in half
2 garlic cloves, gently smashed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 jalapeno, seeded and roughly chopped
½ avocado
½ bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
1 limes, juiced
sweet corn succotash:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ cup red onion, diced
¼ cup red bell pepper, diced
½ jalapeno, seeded and diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 corn on the cob, kernels and milk removed from cob
18  4-5 inch corn tortillas
½ cup queso fresco, crumbled
2 limes, cut into wedges

Directions:
1. Preheat grill or grill pan to medium-high heat.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F.
3. Brush the zucchini and squash with olive oil,  season with salt and pepper and place on a hot grill/grill pan.
4. Grill on each side for 4 to 5 minutes or until slightly softened. Remove from grill and set aside.
5. Place the tomatillos and garlic in a bowl and toss together with olive oil, salt and pepper.
6. Pour the mixture onto a baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes or until the tomatillos have softened and slightly caramelized.
7. Remove from the oven and place tomatillos and garlic into a food processor with the remaining salsa ingredients.
8. Puree the mixture until smooth, Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
9. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat.
10. Add the red onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, and garlic and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes.
11. Add the corn and continue to sauté for 5to 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
12. Remove from heat and set aside.
13. Warm the tortillas over a griddle for about 3 minutes on each side.

 Slow Cooker Refried Beans (without the Refry!)

Author: Six Sisters Stuff

Recipe type: Side Dish

Prep time:  10 mins

Cook time:  8 hours

Total time:  8 hours 10 mins

Serves: 12 servings

Took 15 minutes to throw it together and THEY WERE AMAZING! My husband said that they were as good as the beans you get at a restaurant . . . and the recipe is so easy that you can’t go wrong!

Ingredients

• 1 onion, peeled and halved
• 3 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed
• ¼-1/2 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped (I used about ¼ because I wanted my kids to eat it and not think it was too hot)
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 1¾ teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
• ⅛ teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
• 5 cups water
• 4 cups chicken broth
• -If you want to turn this into a big batch of bean dip, add the following:
• 2 cups salsa
• 2 cups shredded Colby Jack cheese
• 2 cups shredded pepperjack cheese
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 16 oz. sour cream
• 2 Tbls chili powder
• ½ tsp. ground cumin
• Mix in with the beans and let cook a couple hours longer so flavors can blend. Makes a huge batch so just freeze leftovers!

Instructions

1. -Place the onion, rinsed beans, jalapeno, garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin into a slow cooker. Pour in the water and chicken broth and stir to combine. Cook on High for 8 hours, adding more water as needed. Note: if more than 1 cup of water has evaporated during cooking, then the temperature is too high.
2. -Once the beans have cooked, strain them, and reserve the liquid. Mash the beans with a potato masher, adding the reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency.

Geoff and Stacy came in to town to clean out their Town Home to get it ready to sell. The are in Colorado for awhile. They love it there and just moved into a home with a back yard! Mekk and Stacy love it. It was a short visit and we decided a while ago to have a Taco Sunday. It's a family favorite. It's fun to watch your kids have kids and see the cousins play. I am truly blessed lady. I love my family.