Easter 2008

Easter was just another passing holiday until I joined the Peterson family. I think the only holiday bigger in the Peterson family then Easter is Christmas and Thanksgiving. Easter is a celebration of Spring. It is the first big holiday after the let down of Christmas. Easter means getting together with more family than you can imagine. And Easter is the celebration of Jesus' gift to us.

And this year we got to host the annual Easter party on Saturday. Every year Mark's Mom has had the party at their house. But we knew it was a lot of work for them. And we finally have a yard big enough to host. Our postage stamp of a backyard at the townhouse would not have even held everyone! The kids love the egg hunt. And the prizes afterwards are always a treat. How many gold eggs were there? And the parents love all the food and getting a chance to visit and catch up with everyone.

It was a lot of work, but we loved it! Seeing so many extended family members was wonderful. And it forced us to get our yard in order sooner than we would have otherwise done so. I've put together a few of our pictures into a slide show for you to enjoy!

Beautiful Girls

We have a dear friend that is an incredible artist. You can check out her other work at http://www.justlori.com/ When each of the kids were born she did a fun poster about them. And when the girls turn 8 she has drawn a picture of them. She just finished the one of Ashley, so I wanted to share. And I added Jessica's as well. Amazing to see how long Jessica's hair has gotten since she was 8. We have been blessed by getting such creative cards from Lori over the years. Thanks and we love you Lori!

Friends

I recently received a forward in my e-mail with this poem. I don't forward these along, but I really liked this message. I've been blessed with so many friends from so many different aspects of my life. I am grateful for every friend.

GIRLS IN MY CIRCLE
When I was little,
I used to believe in the concept of one best friend,
and then I started to become a woman.
And then I found out that if you allow your heart to open up,
God would show you the best in many friends.

One friend is needed when you’re going through things with your man.
Another friend is needed when you’re going through things with your mom.
Another will sit beside you in the bleachers as you delight in your children and their activities.
Another when you want to shop, share, heal, hurt, joke, or just be.
One friend will say, ‘Let’s cry together,’
Another, ‘Let’s walk away together.’

One friend will meet your spiritual need,
another your shoe fetish,
another your love for movies,
another will be with you in your season of confusion,
another will be your clarifier,
another the wind beneath your wings.

But whatever their assignment in your life,
on whatever the occasion,
on whatever the day,
or wherever you need them to meet you with their gym shoes on and hair pulled back,
or to hold you back from making a complete fool of yourself …
those are your best friends.

It may all be wrapped up in one woman,
but for many, it’s wrapped up in several..
one from 7th grade,
one from high school,
several from the college years,
a couple from old jobs,
on some days your mother,
on some days your neighbor,
on others, your sisters,
and on some days, your daughters.

John and the Lamanites

Here is a conversation John and I had Saturday afternoon.

John: Do we follow the Prophets when we die?
Mom: If we do what the Prophets tell us when we are alive like pray, go to church and read the scriptures then we will be able to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ when we die.
John: What happens if you don't follow the Prophets?
Mom: Then when you die you won't be able to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
John: Oh, then you have to live with the Lamanites?
Mom: Something like that.
John: Good thing I made us read the scriptures so we don't have to live with the Lamanites.

Cleaning

Okay, my house is normally pretty clean despite the fact I don't enjoy cleaning. I have a wonderful husband that does not like clutter. And when he decides to clean it is like a tornado going through the house. But that doesn't happen on a regular basis. So we keep things picked up and straightened, but as far as vacuuming, mopping and dusting go it usually only happens when we know someone is coming over. Just so happens that somehow we planned two events back to back this weekend. So after getting the kids from school it is cleaning time.

My first mistake is assuming the kids actually know how to clean and will do it. I know I should teach them better. Growing up we always had a list of chores Saturday morning to do. But since most of our Saturdays are taken up with going to Santaquin to visit Grandma and Grandpa Peterson my kids don't have normal Saturday chores. So I send Jessica downstairs in charge of vacuuming and Ashley and John in charge of picking up everything off the floor for her. Jessica has to call them back downstairs twice before everything is really picked up. I hear the vacuum going, so I know something got done. So when she is finished I go down and wonder if she really vacuumed but decide most people won't see the basement so I'm not going to be too picky. I revacuum the family room and then do the stairs.

John is the main person who uses the hall bathroom. And if I let him, he would be more than happy to clean it. I'd just be afraid he would use spit to clean off the toilet and say he was done. So I tackle the hall bathroom. Tell me how the walls got so dirty??? Six months ago when we bought this house we painted every wall in the house. So I know I can't blame it on the person before me. It is really our dirt. Thank you for the invention of Lysol Wipes. Love cleaning the toilet and then just throwing them in the trash, yea!! My suggestion is not to use white white paint in the bathroom. Then it is not so obvious when there are spots on the wall.

Next comes the dusting. I know exactly when I dusted the bedroom last. After laying in bed for a week sick with bronchitis the first thing I did when I had strength was to dust the bedroom. And that was exactly two weeks ago. I always assumed we had so much dust in the townhouse because we were so close to 800 North. Can't blame that anymore. So after only two weeks there has accumulated enough dust on the cherry wood furniture that some child has drawn a spider in it next to the TV, ugh.

On to vacuuming the main floor. The after vacuuming 3 rooms and the hall I check to make sure the bag is not full because it just doesn't seem to be picking up well. I just changed the belt a week ago. So I continue to vacuum. Half way through the living room, as I'm sweating because of vacuuming I look and what do you know, the belt has broken. Sorry Jessica, I guess you really did try to vacuum the basement.

Last but not least comes the kitchen floor. Love having tile floors so it doesn't matter when the kids spill water. But whoever put in light color tile I would like to strangle. I know I cleaned the floor really well a week ago and it has had several touch ups since. But you would never know. So I'm now sitting at the computer waiting for the tile to dry.

Can you tell I really don't enjoy cleaning. I like everything clean, maybe someday I'll have someone to clean it for me.

Well, I have an hour before our guests for this evening will be arriving, so I guess I'd better go get some food ready. Lets hope it stays clean for the party on Saturday!

100 Things

I recently discovered some new friends blogs and was so excited to read their blogs that it inspired me to start my own blog. My fear is I will not keep it updated, so we will see. But this is closer to journaling then I have been in a long time! So here are a few things about me, I hope I don't bore you.

1. Born in Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa, Calif (who names a hospital Grossmont???)
2. Served a mission in Boston, Massachusetts
3. I'm a couponer (and couponer is an action verb!)
4. We receive 6 newspapers on Sunday so we get 6 copies of the coupons! If you ever need a copy of an article on Sunday, just let me know.
5. I love checking things off my to do lists.
6. I was a computer nerd at one time in my life. I worked at WordPerfect/Novell/Corel for almost 10 years. Needless to say, I use WordPerfect more than Word.
7. I'm a planner and a scheduler. Don't really like spontaneous things.
8. We didn't find out the sex of our first two kids before they were born. (Both girls)
9. Decided with our third we would find out the sex before and the doctor told us at both ultrasounds it was a girl. Imagine our surprise at the hospital when a boy came out! (The doctor has since gotten a new ultrasound machine)
10. I love to travel. Especially when someone else pays for the trip. Mark and I are so excited to be going on a cruise to the Bahamas in April thanks to my Pampered Chef business.
11. I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
12. My favorite calling in church is being the Secretary to any organization. You are in the know, but don't have all the responsibility!
13. One of my all time favorite movies is "While You Were Sleeping"
14. My favorite musical is "Wicked". I've seen it twice in Chicago.
15. I've seen "Cats", "Les Miserables", "Phantom of the Opera", "Annie Get Your Gun" all on Broadway. (Did I mention I like to travel?)
16. My favorite book from High School was "Les Miserables", though I had to finish it in the hospital while on heavy medication.
17. Senior year in High School I blew out my knee skiing on Christmas Day and had to have emergency surgery the next day.
18. When we got married I owned more tools then my husband.
19. I used to like to fix things, until we bought a house that needed work and nothing I tried to fix worked out.
20. Love to bake and eat whatever I bake. But I enjoy all kinds of cooking. I just wish I had more time to cook.
21. I've been published in Parents Magazine. I'll have to post it on another post.
22. My kids attend a Charter School.
23. Hate doing laundry. Try to get it all done on Monday so I don't have to deal with it the rest of the week. It is all washed this week, but it is now Wednesday and there are still 4 baskets of clothes to fold and put away.
24. I watch too much TV. Thank you Rus for introducing us to TiVo. At least now we can skip commercials.
25. Love to read, but when I start a good book I can't put it down. So the only books I've read recently are the Harry Potter series and Twilight Series.
26. SOOOOOOOO excited Stephenie Meyers is coming to Thanksgiving Point in May!!! Even if it is for "The Host" and not her Twilight Series.
27. My Dad died from Cancer when I was 13. I sure miss him.
28. Attended Ricks College and graduated in 1987. I guess that dates me.
29. I cannot carry a tune, but enjoy singing. My children especially love it when I sing "Love at Home" when they are arguing
30. We moved from California to Utah the month after I turned 16. I thought it was the meanest thing my Mom could do to me. But I ended up getting better grades in Utah.
31. Lived most of my childhood in La Canada, California.
32. I have an amazing Mom and I look just like her.
33. I had to get my ears re-pierced a few years ago because I had stopped wearing earrings when my kids were babies.
34. I could never come up with this list if I didn't get ideas from other friends lists!
35. Broke my left arm twice as a child. Both times roller skating. Haven't roller skated since the last time I broke my arm on my 14th birthday.
36. Mark and I look forward to the Day after Thanksgiving Shopping all year long. We make a great team!
37. I miss the beach. Did I mention we are going on a Cruise?? Can't wait to see the Caribbean waters again.
38. I lived in Puerto Rico for 3 months the summer after I graduated from College.
39. Don't speak any Spanish even though I took a year of Spanish in High School.
40. I tried coming out of my mom face first. The doctor had to shove me back in and turn my head so I would come out.
41. My husband threw me a HUGE luau for my 40th birthday this past summer. The food was all catered and he even did the table decorations. It was so fun having so many people from different aspects of my life come together.
42. My favorite quote the last few years has been "Patience is a willingness to watch the unfolding purposes of God with a sense of wonder and awe – rather than pacing up and down within the cell of our own circumstances." – Neal A Maxwell
43. Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate -- need I say more?
44. Can't remember what my real hair color was. I started going grey when I was 21 and have been coloring my hair regularly since I was around 25.
45. Met my husband in the UVSC College 1st Ward. We were in the same Family Home Evening group.
46. I thought he liked my roommate. So glad I was wrong!
47. I'm 6 years older than my husband. Never thought that would happen. But Mark is perfect for me.
48. My favorite color to wear is red.
49. My first job was working nights at a Mortgage Company filing papers and removing paper clips.
50. I think it bugged my older sister that I made more money then she did at my first job.
51. Love to shop. So glad my husband does too. Spend way too much time in Costco.
52. I have silicone joints in two of my toes.
53. How the heck did you guys come up with 100 things?
54. I've sold Pampered Chef for almost 10 years.
55. When I signed up I thought I would do 6 shows and stop, surprise!
56. Hate being late to anything.
57. Neither of our cars have CD players in them. And both tape decks are broken. Does that mean it is time for a new car?
58. The only brand new car I've ever bought was a 1993 Toyota Camry, and we are still driving it. Who says you shouldn't buy brand new cars?
59. I should really be working right now and not blogging, oops.
60. I'm addicted to e-mail.
61. Hence I'm also addicted to the Internet.
62. And just got addicted to Google Reader so I don't have to check so many pages each day to see if anything is new.
63. Pampered Chef has paid for vacations to San Francisco, Boston, Miami, Disney World and the Bahamas.
64. I was a volunteer for the 2002 Winter Paralymics.
65. Took pictures of volunteers at the processing center. Didn't get to meet any athletes.
66. Hate to camp. Would rather stay in a scary motel than go camping.
67. Learning to love yard work. Moved from a townhouse to a home 6 months ago. We now have more flower beds than we did grass in the old place.
68. I've been sore for a week while we try to get the yard in shape for the Famous Peterson Family Easter Party!
69. Have never been able to love exercising.
70. Walking is usually my best effort at getting in shape.
71. But I do love to swim. Wished I could swim better than I do.
72. Never paint my finger nails because the paint just chips off immediately. I think I have extra oily nails.
73. Love eating out at restaurants.
74. Favorite place to eat out with my husband is Macaroni Grill.
75. Favorite place to eat with friends is Cafe Rio. (husband doesn't like Mexican)
76. I have bad teeth. Too many crowns to count and I think I'm up to 3 root canals.
77. My kids love going to the dentist. Good thing, since they have bad teeth too. They just want the toy at the end of the visit.
78. Don't like to chew gum. Gets stuck on the crowns.
79. I'm a loner by nature. Have to stretch to be social.
80. Husband works at Thanksgiving Point. Can't remember how many times we've been to the Dinosaur Museum.
81. Favorite time to go to Thanksgiving Point is the Tulip Festival.
82. Love tulips and so excited our new yard has a ton coming up. Can't wait to see what colors and varieties they are.
83. Have 2 sisters and 1 brother.
84. My husband has 4 sisters.
85. No surprise we have 2 girls and 1 boy.
86. Driven a casket across State lines in the back of a U-haul. And stopped at several stores to go shopping along the way.
87. My husband and I will be celebrating our 12th anniversary on May 9th.
88. Once I start something I have to finish it. Like this list, I'm so close, but it is really hard.
89. My husband likes to make buzzing sounds when I won't stop doing something to remind me I have a bee in my bonnet.
90. Lindt Lindor Chocolates are my favorite. Especially the Extra Dark!
91. Attended the Rosie O'Donell show in New York City in 2000.
92. Got free Sauchony tennis shoes from the Rosie O'Donell Show in 2000. Mark is still wearing his.
93. I was a Service Project Leader for BYU Women's Conference in charge of Tropical Sore Bandages. It was an amazing experience.
94. The only thing I can crochet are Tropical Sore Bandages, and that has been awhile.
95. Don't really enjoy sewing.
96. Sewed all my own clothing until I got my first job and could afford to buy my own clothes.
97. I've attended a Bon Jovi concert.
98. We took a side trip once to go to the Ben and Jerry factory in Vermont. Ashley had her first food at 6 months, ice cream!
99. I have blue eyes and am so grateful for Lasik!
100. Participated in a 5K and I didn't come in last! Close, but not last!

Ashley's Baptism Dress

Is it bad luck to show the baptism dress before the baptism? Hope not, because Ashley's dress is soooo beautiful I just could not wait to share. And we told her she could wear the dress on Easter (a month before the baptism) since we didn't want to buy two new dresses at once. She looks like a little angel in it. The pictures don't show all the detail on the dress, but here are a couple pics to enjoy. Her baptism is going to be April 26th, 2008 at 10 am.

Jessica's Ballroom Team

Here is the amazing Noah Webster Knights Ballroom Team. Jessica competed on Saturday, March 15th at the BYU DanceSport Competition in the Elementary School Competition. She danced an Amazing Tango! This is her first year learning and she has improved so much. Now Mom and Dad need to learn to Ballroom Dance so we can help her practice!

John the Builder

John called Grandma and Grandpa one morning and told them he wanted Grandpa to come build him a tree house. So Grandpa got John the equipment so he could start practicing nailing wood so he would be ready to help build the tree house!

Grandma says Grandpa has to build a doll house before he builds the tree house!