a taste of what's to come...

The youth in our ward....good kids.

So Bremen was recently called as YM president in our ward so he's been a bit busy with mutual and other meetings throughout the week. He's having a lot of fun with it but on Saturday he somehow ended up taking a bunch of our young WOMEN to a stake youth meeting. He says he was in culture shock amid the twilight loving teens. Which didn't sound so bad to me, I would've loved that conversation. One of them was saying that Edward Cullen is her fiance, ha ha. And they had a little ipod dock and were playing Linkin Park and Silverstein (My Heroine), kinda crazy music...I've always thought of Bremen as a pretty "with it" guy (he listens to some crazy music too~ Bauhaus, Peter Murphy, Midlake and 90's grunge) but he said he couldn't believe how big the generation gap was! Too funny to imagine Bremen in a car full of teenage girls!

I've also had my taste of teen girls, well pre-teens. I teach the 10-11 year old girls and OMG they are a handful! Don't worry I don't really say OMG, but one of my girls says it every other sentence. They're so young but there's already cattiness and rolling their eyes at what another girl says, I just wish they didn't have to start with that so young, they'll get their fill of it in a few years! I seriously thought I wouldn't have to deal with this for awhile, Lexi's only 5, but Heavenly Father must know we need to be prepared!! We really are enjoying this change in our lives.....crazy but fun!

Tagged

So, Randi tagged me and this one you just post a picture....easy! The way it goes is you post your fourth picture from your fourth picture folder, write what's going on & tag others......This is an OLD one (I keep mine in chronological order) and it's my little bro Josh before his mission and Lexi~ she made him put all these clippies in her hair and he did it, he's a very sweet uncle!
I tag Mandy, Rach, Dawn, Cindy, Elaine, Michelle, Carrie, and Tera

An Amazing Legacy

Today I came across the blog of someone I've always admired and looked up to, but sadly for us was recently called back home to our Heavenly Father. Ginger was this amazing girl that I knew off and on from the time I was 8 through my teenage years. She was ALWAYS warm and genuine and just had an amazing spirit with her constantly. About a month ago I heard that several weeks earlier she had passed away very unexpectedly. I was devistated for those who loved her so much and have been left to wait to be reunited with her someday. After reading her blog about herself and her beautiful family, I feel like I've been so blessed and edified to have a glimpse into the last year of a soul who was about as close to being perfect as we can be. She kept a beautiful record of their life and is an amazing example to mom's like us of what is truly important and to be valued. I hope our family and friends (we share some of the same) don't mind me sharing the link to her blog...I just feel like we can all benefit so much from having a taste of her example. By all the thoughts left on her last entry you can see how many people she has touched, Ginger has left an amazing legacy. http://www.jasondgingerd.blogspot.com/
Thank you to my friend Annette who found Ginger's sister, Brandi's blog (who says she doesn't mind stalkers). Brandi shares an incredible testimony on there and the tender mercies that their family has experienced through all this. Truly inspiring. http://www.cottons.blogspot.com/

Conference Tradition

Every Conference Sunday morning (since the Johnsons introduced them to us in Solvang 15+ years ago) we make these yummy Danish pancake balls called Aebelskivers or potviches (sp?) in Holland. They're so good sprinkled with powdered sugar, and served with good jam and whipped cream.


The only way you can make them though is if you have one of these funky Aebelskiver pans, which I think they sell at Williams Sonoma now, and you use a knitting needle or a skewer to flip them....they are time consuming but worth it!

And what's great about them is they're super easy for kids to eat. Conference morning always makes me miss my family and sharing this tradition together while we watch conference in our pj's (for California time anyway) Oh and we also make them Christmas morning too! Yum.

Hope you all enjoyed Conference~ as usual it was amazing and inspiring and I can't wait to get the Ensign to experience the talks again.

Sticker Crazy

As moms we enjoy the moments when our kids are quietly playing.....but when it gets too quiet we know something's definately going on. And this is what led me to look for Lily the other day. What can I say, the girl loves stickers as do all my kids. I just thought she chose a unique way of displaying them, silly kid.

Fall TV

Okay, so I know not everyone is too into TV, but I love relaxing at the end of the day and watching a good drama or comedy (something not Sponge Bob, Thomas or Elmo), once the kids have gone to bed.
I wanna see if any of your favorites are ours too~ the best shows are Lost and 24, but since those aren't on till January, we're excited for The Office (ofcourse), we like The Fringe (has been compared to The XFiles), and I also like The New Adventures of Old Christine, funny stuff. And embarrasingly enough, I've also gotten sucked into watching 90210-atleast Rach is watching that with me... I think! Some of these I record on my DVR and watch the next day while I do laundry, like Priviledged, it's a cute show.
Why do I feel like I just put an unflattering picture of myself on here. Oh well, it's what I like! How about you, what are you watching???

Pictures Around the House

Lexi & Dane doing their homework~ Lexi LOVES homework, she always says "that's all? Isn't there anymore I can do?"

Lily & Daddy hanging out~ this girl loves her daddy....and looking at books (she's a Lexi in the making)

This is our cat Asher trying to nap while the kids are preoccupied and not chasing eachother screaming!

Weekdays with Lily, BYU Football & Bike Rides!

Busy afternoons here in SC! It's crazy how calm my days are with two in school now, and all the chaos that ensues as soon as they get in the car after school~ quite a contrast! I have loved spending more time with Lily, she keeps me entertained~ pointing out different colors, (her favorite is yellow, which Dane & Lex told me that it was her favorite a long time ago but I didn't believe them, not knowing how they would know that, now I stand corrected by my kids~ and so it begins...aaaag!). Lily also likes to point out every E and O she sees, her favorite letters? And last night she was playing with a deck of cards and sorted them all by color, funny kid!

As many of you may know, BYU football has begun! We've been having fun watching the games and getting calls from my brother Josh~ he gets to go to all the home games now that he's at BYU, he and Bremen are HUGE fans! I love the passes between Max Hall and his new bro-in-law Pitta, they're amazing!

And EVERY dry afternoon we take the kids out to ride their bikes around the neighborhood, they're getting really good...and fast. Bremen & I have to run to keep up with them.

So I put this chalkboard up in the kitchen and this is what Bremen puts on it....if any of you have the "good fortune" of watching Sponge Bob because of your kids, or in my case, my kids AND my husband, you'll recognize this phrase. And yeah, I get to hear the kids read this to me several times a day, lucky me!

Twilight Fans~~~I still can't believe that Midnight Sun (the new Twilight book from Edward's perspective) was leaked. I totally feel for Stephenie Meyer, she seems heartbroken, and rightly so. She has a great website StepenieMeyer.com, and after hearing that the leaked manuscript of Midnight Sun carried viruses, she decided to make the manuscript available on her site, virus free, for her fans. It's about 1/3 of the book, and it is sooo good!

Birthdays

Bremen got me my favorite flowers a couple weeks ago, as an early present, and they still look amazing! (That's part of why they're my fave...they last way longer than other flowers, I love stargazer lilies)

So....as some of you know we have a ridiculous number of Summer birthdays in our family~ 4 of 5 of us. It gets a little overwhelming! But it has been fun to get flooded with gifts in the last month! My parents gave us money to spend frivolously, so I might buy a couple of birds...I know you think I'm crazy right? I've just always loved those really beautiful old birdcages but I'm too practical to not actually have a use for it aside from decorating.
Rach & Jake spoiled us with a gift certificate to a 5 star restaurant in downtown Charleston, we've been dying to go there since she told us the good things she heard about it on Food Network, so we already studied the menu and know what we're ordering, can't wait! They also gave the girls cash, which was the absolute best for Lexi. With that money and the $5 the tooth fairy spoiled her with, SHE'S LOADED! But she's also super frugal, which reminds me of a gene I've seen on the Van side :)
Bremen's family spoiled us all with some much desired books to read, that's been really fun!
Anyway, thank you guys, we felt very loved even though we're so far from family!!

First Day of School :..(

Dane & Lexi started school today, it's Lexi's first day of school EVER! It was very surreal packing her lunch and dropping her off. They were really excited but a little shy. Amazingly, I didn't cry, I was too busy consoling Lily...she was so sad they had to go that she cried all the way there and back, poor girl. Busy times for us parents! On the other hand I actually have time to blog now!!