CLARKS

HOPING TO ADOPT!

2010-05-07T23:00:00.002-06:00

My sister Kristi and her husband Craig are hoping to adopt a child into their family. We want to spread the word if anyone knows of someone who may be placing a baby. For more information you can view their blog at www.craigheartskristi.blogspot.com.
Thank you!

JACOB'S BABY BLESSING!

2009-10-18T23:30:00.003-06:00

Today, Andy blessed Jake at church. We felt so blessed to have so many family members to join and support us in these special moments in our life, Craig and Kristi, Jeff and Mary, Stan and Kim, Rachel, Mitch and Leslie, Matt and Chalene, and all of their cute kids! It turned out to be such a wonderful day! It also happened to be the annual primary program at church so that was fun to see, the kids did a great job. We all went to the park afterwards and had a yummy lunch and the kids, once again, got to play with their cousins. (I don't think there is anything my kids love more than to be with their cousins!) What a memorable day for us!

HANGING WITH JACOB!

2009-10-18T23:10:00.006-06:00

(picture Isaac took of us at the Teton Dam)

Anyway...

Our little Jake has quickly turned into our big Jake! His 9 week check up he weighed 17 pounds! No wonder my back hurts!! He has been nothing but a pleasant baby though! He is very entertained by all the commotion around our house and seems happy to be along for the ride. We can't get enough of him!

Jacob's first haircut- BEFORE

AFTER

HARVEST BREAK...UTAH!

2009-10-18T22:53:00.004-06:00

This year for Harvest break, I decided to take the kids down to Utah to spend time with my sisters, Tori and Kristi. My kids had a lot of fun hanging out with their cousins for the week. We ended up going to a dollhouse exhibit down in Provo, followed by seeing the "Bean" museum on the BYU campus, it is basically a slew of taxadermied animals. It was quite interesting and the kids were pretty fascinated. We went to Thanksgiving point and went on pony rides. We later went up to Salt Lake to see Stan and Kim and their girls along with Rachel and her girls. Andy also came down with Jeff and Mary. We were sure glad to see him again! We also got to attend the baby blessing of Matt and Chalene's baby, Charlie. All in all, it was a wonderful, refreshing week!

Christian with the Liger

all of the kids togetherThis was cool, it was a giant butterfly made out of all kinds of little butterflies.These girls love to pretend they are twins. They get so excited if they have any matching clothes.

Ava all dressed up and no place to go.
Justin and Ava trying to get a closer look.
Ava's first pony ride.She was concentrating very hard!Addie loved it!

GARDEN SALSA!

2009-10-02T13:49:00.003-06:00

We didn't know if we were going to get very many tomatoes this year because we planted a little late but suddenly we had more than enough. The only plans we have with planting tomatoes is to make our yummy salsa. We have made 6 batches of our homemade salsa. It is delicious!

HERE'S TO YOU, MEREDITH!!

2009-09-18T21:21:00.013-06:00

So, when I get online to update my blog, I end up whithering away my little window of time looking at my hotmail or facebook, therefore, my blog ends up neglected. My lovely friend, Meredith, has been so kind as to point out that it needs...an update!

:)
Thanks and I hope this makes up for my lameness!

Jake just started smiling lately

Ava tried to get herself a bowl of Golden Grahams, can you say, 'greedy'?

**(Andy don't look)**

I got in the van to do a little tidying and found Ava's melted strawberry milkshake, I was wondering where it had disappeared to.

Jake was crying so I asked Addie to bring him to me, so she brings me him, Ava, and his bassinet.
Jacob's cute little jacket my friend gave him

I discovered that Ava made herself her first PB&J. She must have got tired of waiting for her breakfast.

Isaac fell off of his bike and got a huge fat lip (he is wearing his mouthgaurd in this picture)

Ava came out of my room all decked out in my makeup, fancy girl!

PEACE!

JAKE'S NEW WORLD

2009-08-23T17:43:00.005-06:00

Here are some of the happenings at our place since Jacob was born. Some other events include going to the drive-in to see Aliens in the Attic, meeting G'ma & G'pa Christian, the Peters, the Wests, & the Rennakers. Life doesn't slow down at our house, infact we are heading out for Nevada tomarrow. We'll keep you posted!

meeting Aunt Lexi

meeting Grandpa Clark

Sunday dinners at Grandma & Grandpa Zollingers

going on a family hike

the whole family on our first hike with Jake

added to the family tree the kids made

learning to tolerate baths

admired by the neighbor kids

playing the Wii with dad

Christian loves to carry him around the house

meeting Great Grandma and Grandpa Feigleson

taking naps with dad

getting to be held for about 30 seconds before getting passed to the next kid

Jake's second hike up to the wind caves

WELCOME TO OUR FAMILY, JACOB!

2009-08-03T23:22:00.003-06:00

HOSPITAL PICTURESone last pregnancy picturein labor, i wanted to die! I couldn't even crack a smile! Ahhh, he is here!

Andy holding himmy sister Kristi, came up to spend time with us

At last, our baby is here! On July 7th, around 6:30 pm, Jacob Zera Clark, was born. He was 9 lbs. 4 oz. and 21 in. long. I was scheduled to be induced on the 8th but went into labor the day before. This made it a little complicated to try to find people to watch the kids at the last minute but wonderful friends stepped right in and helped us out. Mary took me in to get checked around 9:00 am and sure enough I was in labor and making progress. Dr Z. (aka: Jeff) said to head up to the hospital around noon and get checked in. So Andy came home from work and we got the kids off to where they needed to be and headed up to the hospital. Well apparently July has been a very busy month for them with babies being born. It was similar to when you go to Dairy Queen and tell them what you want and they give you a number and then, "NEXT". Anyway, I eventually got to where I needed to be and was moving right along. I called my sister Kristi, who was planning on coming up the next day, and she quickly rearranged her schedule and came up here to be with us. She was a huge help and we are so thankful to her for coming here! Meanwhile, I decided to try going natural, mostly out of curiosity (at this point I wish I had known how big he was going to be!) It wasn't too unbearable until the point of no return and then I realized why someone created the ever so dreamy 'epidural'. Oh how I love the epidural!!! All in all, my curiosity has been cured. Did I mention how much I love epidurals?! Well, our little, I mean big Jacob is here and we are crazy about him! All of the kids love him and it has been so fun to have him in our home. There is something so special about having a new baby in your home. They are so fresh from heaven and you can so strongly sense that about them. We are so grateful to have Jacob in our family!!

ADDIE GETS EARS PIERCED!

2009-07-30T13:25:00.003-06:00

Waiting to get her earings put in
Grandpa doing the honors

Addie showing off her new earings
(that you can't see in this picture)

For Addies 5th birthday, she wanted to get her ears pierced. Her cousin Edie also wanted to get hers pierced so we waited until they came into town for the 4th of July and then they did it together. Grandpa Z has an ear piercing gun, so we went down to his office and had him do it. Thanks Grandpa!!

NEW COMPUTER...UPDATES COMING SOON!!

2009-07-26T17:55:00.002-06:00

So, I haven't been able to blog because of major computer problems (mixed with a bad pregnancy). We have been looking around a saving for a new computer and FINALLY found one! Hopefully I can keep updated on our family, especially now that Jacob is here.

LONG BOARDING WITH BIG 'D'!

2009-05-21T22:48:00.003-06:00

Devin letting Ava go solo
Isaac's turn

Christian pretending to be Harry Potter on his broom.

Isaac, Ava, & Addie getting the grand ride

Whenever Devin comes over he usually rides his long board to get here. Needless to say, my kids are fascinated by it and always want to try it out. So Devin took them all for a ride up and down the sidewalk. They LOVED it!!

HOW TIME FLIES

2009-05-05T23:43:00.002-06:00

So I agree that I am a lame blogger. I have lost my motivation to get on here since I am unable to put any pictures on. Hopefully that will change soon and we can get back to business...that is until the baby is born and then I'll be out again, I am sure. So in the meantime, I will summarize what we have been up to for those of you who may be curious.
Fortunetly, Andy's company seems to be hanging on fine for the moment so we are very grateful that he still has a job! We have seen so many of our friends losing theirs and have been trying to get prepared for that circumstance, just in case. In the meantime, things in that area are fine.
I have been trying to keep up with the different demands of the children and frankly can't wait for school to be out, I love having things on my schedule (and sleeping in until 7:30). I am getting anxious for this baby to get here, I just want to see him and hold him! I love brand newborn babies and I am so excited to have one again!!
Christian just cut his hair, which was one of his trademarks, it turned out nice and it is great to see his beautiful eyes again! He has been reading the Harry Potter series and is just about to finish book #4. He has mastered riding his Ripstick that he got for Christmas and loves to go to the skate park to ride. Christian is playing baseball, his team are the Indians.
Isaac is also really into reading lately and is currently reading the Junie B. Jones books. He loves school thanks to an amazing teacher! So far he has gotten 100% on every spelling test this year. He has just about got his Ripstick figured out. He can go the length of our sidewalk so far. He is in baseball too, the Diamondbacks, an loves it. It will end the end of May.
Addie is very anxious for her 5th birthday next month. She has been making a vocal list of all the things she wants for her birthday for at least 2 months now. I told her she gets one present so every day the 'one' thing changes about 10 times. She gets to get her ears pierced and is super excited about that. She got registered for kindergarten and can hardly wait for it to start. She has been my big helper with Ava and always picks things up for me so that I don't have to bend over. (I must say a lot that it hurts to bend over) She can't wait for this baby to get here, she talks about him all the time. So overall, Addie has some very exciting events coming up!
Ava is finally starting to talk. Everyday she adds some more words to her list. I have noticed that if you try to egg her on to talk, she won't but if it is on her terms, she will. Reminds me of when I've potty trained kids. Anyway, she keeps us all laughing with all of the cute things she does. We tried having her sleep down in Addies bed since she suddenly decided she absoblutly did not like her crib. And fortunetly, she is doing great with the transition! The past few nights she has slept all through the night and today she even went in around 3:00 an put herself down for a nap! I guess she was just helping me out by freeing up the crib in time for the baby to get here!
Overall, things are going very well, no complaints, we feel very blessed!

CLOTH DIAPERS, HERE WE COME!

2009-03-31T21:18:00.004-06:00

So, I have been talking about turning over to cloth diapers for a few months now. I should say that I have joined the bandwagon of everyone else who is 'going green' but that is NOT at all why I am doing this. In fact, I am so irritated with this 'green' tend, but that is another post for another time. I am sure I have my own personal landfill of disposable diapers out there from changing them for over ten years now. Anyway, my reasoning behind this is simple...the economy! I am just prepping myself for the worst in hopes that the worst won't come. But, if it does, diapers were going to be a big expense that we can't ignore. We will have 2 kids in diapers for at least another year and then one for another 2 years after that. So, I decided to invest in them now so that I won't have to keep forking out $ for the next 3 years. Anyway, I have only done it for a day now but I think so far it sounded scarier than it is. I have to say though, that they have come a very long way since I was a baby, so it really isn't fair to try to compare. My favorite thing is the diaper sprayer, it is like a sink sprayer, only it hooks up to your toilet so that you never have to dunk a poopy diaper into the toilet. In fact, I warned Andy that I better not ever find one of these diapers sitting in the toilet! Anyway, all in all, this isn't my first choice but I am just preparing for the worst. And if the worst never comes, I am taking all of the $ that I saved and treating myself to a trip to Hawaii!!

UPDATED KIDS PORTRAITS

2009-03-20T23:02:00.004-06:00

So, I haven't taken real pictures of my boys since Isaac was 3 years old. This has definetly been on my 'TO DO' list for sometime now. So Monday I had a sitting and told myself that I wouldn't put my photography stuff away until I took a picture of each of my kids. So here they are, they are all now updated and even on my wall. Just in time for the baby to come and to be outdated again!

SUMMER DREAMIN'

2009-03-13T22:41:00.006-06:00

I drove past the park today and looked over at the vacant playground and found myself longing to come back. I miss the feeling of the sun warming my skin and the kids running around...outside! I love summertime and I am so excited that it is just around the corner. So here's to hot summer days with an ice cold drink...I love you and I miss you!

DANG MEMORY CARD!

2009-03-06T15:08:00.004-07:00

So ever since 'someone' broke our last camera we have been having camera problems. Our new camera works fine but the memory card is making me want to pull my hair out! At first the card just went wacky on us and 'died', we couldn't rerieve any of the pictures and lost everything that was on that card. So I went out to get another card and there was a sale going on that the 4 GB card cost the same as the 1 GB card so of course I opt for the 4GB. We took a bunch of pictures and went to load them onto the laptop but...nothing. We reformatted the card and still, nothing. Come to find out that our 4 yr old laptop can't process that much information so we went back to the store and got a smaller card, 2 GB, took some pictures and the same outcome...nothing. At this point I am pregnant and not up to dealing with anything that is going to cause me to move. So here we are still in the same boat, with no pictures. I think that posts without pictures are boring so I will be posting some oldies for now until I give in and add to my memory card collection that I have started. Better yet at this point, I think I will sell all of these memory cards and buy myself a brand new computer that can handle my 4GB memory card!!!

(almost one year ago)

FYI: I am going to try posting every Friday. Since I am private now, I realize that I don't get updated on peoples blog roles so I don't want you to keep checking when there is nothing new.

IT'S BEEN A WHILE!

2009-02-24T23:11:00.002-07:00

So, last time I posted, I had full intentions of adding another post within the week. Well, within that week I found out that I was pregnant and by the time I got over the shock, the next week the awful sickness kicked in and I was a barely breathing body laying on the couch. Getting the motivation to move to my bed about wiped me out let alone getting onto the computer to catch up on anything was out of the question.
So apparently almost 5 months has passed since then and I am ready to come back to life. The good news is that I have this wonderful medicine that makes me feel normal again. It was keeping me out of the hospital from needing to get the good ol' IV treatments that I grew so fond of in my previous pregnancies but I still felt about as crummy as I get but now the nausea has worn off a little bit so that the meds are working full force. I am so grateful for them!!
We also just found out that we are going to be welcoming a baby boy into our home. If anyone has any name suggestions, that would be wonderful. The childrens suggestions are a little scary, but who knows, maybe 'ELMO' is making a comeback!
For those of you who haven't heard, I am due July 16th.

PRIVATE

2008-11-05T22:59:00.003-07:00

So, unfortunetly there are way too many weird people out there so we are going to go private with this blog. If you would like access to it, just let me know in the comments. I will need your email if I don't already have it. Thank you!
Lynne

HALLOWEEN '08

2008-10-31T21:31:00.002-06:00

They're ready to go on the prowl for candy
Joe DirtVadar

Super(cute)Girl

Our little lady

Another Halloween has come and gone, there are candy wrappers decorating the house and two tired parents. With all of the carnivals and parties and finally the actual night, the kids had a lot of fun but as for me...I am glad I have 365 days until it all starts again.

LOOKING BACK THIS SUMMER

2008-10-28T23:50:00.005-06:00

my favorite people

Christian throwing mud (probably at Isaac)

Andy & Ava at the park

Christian & Isaac

the family pool

heading to the lake at the sand dunes

Andy taking Addie out on a date

2008-10-26T16:37:00.003-06:00

You Are a Yellow Crayon

Your world is colored with happy, warm, fun colors.
You have a thoughtful and wise way about you. Some people might even consider you a genius.
Charming and eloquent, you are able to get people to do things your way.
While you seem spontaneous and free wheeling, you are calculating to the extreme.

Your color wheel opposite is purple. You both are charismatic leaders, but purple people act like you have no depth.

http://www.blogthings.com/whatcolorcrayonareyouquiz/">What Color Crayon Are You?

ok i had to posst this, it was on my friend, Dacia's blog. She is purple, I thought it was funny what it says about purple people. Dacia, that is so not true, the only thing in here that was accurate was the part about being a genius!!

A LITTLE LESLIENESS

2008-10-26T15:26:00.006-06:00

Not much to update on, although life still feels terribly busy. Every once in a while, there isn't anything pressing and I wonder why I don't do it more often. One of those moments

this week was when Andy's sister Leslie came to visit her old stomping grounds and we got to just hang out for 2 days. I put the endless responsibilities on hold just enjoyed the moment. Let the kids play while we just chat about whatever comes up. She is such a beautiful person both inward and outward. I love to be around her, she has so many amazing qualities that I admire. She is a great mother, wife, friend, and her inner strength is so vibrant! We got to take pictures of her very cute girls, I have to post them so you can see what I mean. I didn't get any pictures of all of us because my other memory card is messed up (its always something with my little cameras!) Anyway, it was great to be together and I hope we see them again soon.

LOVE YOU, MOM!

2008-10-17T22:42:00.007-06:00

my new little niece, Sierra (Tori and Steve's)

My wonderful mother traveled so far to spend a couple days with me in between her visits with my 2 sisiter who just had babies. I thought that was so kind of her to take the time to do that.

first stop, pedicures then out to lunch my mom and Addie by the beautiful changing colors of autumn
seeing the new templeMy kids sure got attached to her very quickly. They couldn't get enough of her little action songs. It was fun to hear her sing them to my kids, they were the same ones she used to sing to me and my sibilings.
I have been wanting for some time now to see how far back I could trace my mothers line. With the help of my mom I have record of my mothers, mothers, mothers, mothers, mother. I think this would be neat to pass this onto my daughters who can keep passing it onto their daughters. Anyway, an extra special find was when we went searching cemetary's and found my 4th great grandma, Ruth Pack. We noticed that she had been honored with an honorary pioneer plaque on her headstone. It was a very solemn moment to stand by her grave and think of the sacrifices that she made which have been carried on so that I can enjoy the blessings that I have today.
I've got to hand it to all mothers, who sacrifice so much for their children so that they may have a happy life, thank you mom, I have been richly blessed to have you for my mother!

ANOTHER SUNDAY DRIVE

2008-10-08T08:25:00.008-06:00

This sunflower is in our garden, the kids noticed that it looked like a heart.

This was our most recent Sunday drive, we decided to follow the Snake River out past Heise. It was very pretty with the fall colors changing on the trees. It was so peaceful out there.

TEMPLE SQUARE PART 2

2008-09-23T21:31:00.006-06:00

sweetie pie
classic Isaac!

the gang
Ava kept running away from our 'girl' picture so just me and Ad

our family picture
on top of the conference center
the famous temple square water fountain Ava fell in the fountain
the spot on temple square that Andy proposed

Here are some of the pictures from our day at temple square, thank you Mary & Jeff!!!

TEMPLE SQUARE...PART 1

2008-09-08T12:30:00.000-06:00

Christian in front of a covered wagon
Addie didn't want to walk so she found this little spot to hang out
Isaac in front of a 'really cool' ship
'The Christus'

We went to Salt Lake for the weekend to attend our niece, Lily's baptism. We were going to head back home on Sunday but before we left I wanted to get a family picture by the temple we got married in. Mary and Jeff were kind enough to come with us and take pictures, so I will put some of those pictures on after I get them. When we got done taking the last picture next to one of the water fountains, we turned around and Ava fell into the water. It was pretty funny to watch. We went over to the Conference Center to show the kids where they will be doing General Conference, we ende up doing a tour of the building which is pretty amazing. They have these gardens on the roof of the building, they were beautiful. Then we went over to Church History Museum, Christian has been wanting to go there really bad. He had been reading a lot about the pioneers and wanted to be able to see some of the actual artifacts. Then Andy wanted to show the kids the Christus before we left. There is always such a strong Spirit in that room when you go there. I love this church and I am so grateful and blessed that I have this knowledge in my life. I hope I can pass all of this on to my children as my parents have for me. This gospel has brought so much joy into my life, I love our Heavenly Fathers plan and I am grateful that I can feel His love in my life. He is truly a merciful, loving God, I can see it in the little things in my life, if I will just stop and look for them, they are all around!

BEARTOOTH PASS

2008-09-04T13:58:00.003-06:00

leaving the hotel in Billings to head up the pass
Addie is on top of the world!
part way up the pass
the kids cooperating for one second

Isaac on top of the mountain. There were lakes everywhere.

The kids in front of an amazing Yellowstone waterfallAddie & Isaac were fascinated with the statues all over West Yellowstone

Andy was going to Billings for a prebid and we thought it would be fun to all go together since the trip there and back is so beautiful. It was a really great 2 days, we are glad we decided to do it! I had heard about how beautiful the Beartooth Pass was but I was still blown away at the beauty. (being a native to Alaska, that is saying a lot!!) As we came down from the pass we went through Yellowstone. We had never gone through the park on that side, so it was neat to see other sights that were new to us. Half way through, Ava threw up and she didn't hold anything back! Fortunetly we were pulling up to a gas station at the same time so we were able to get it all taken care of non-pioneer style! All in all, it was well worth the time to go and we hope to do it again.

WHEN THE BOYS ARE AWAY, THE GIRLS WILL PLAY!

2008-08-20T16:08:00.009-06:00

Well school is back in session and this year we have both of the boys going full day. So it was just the girls home today. We went and got some needed shopping done then it was time for Ava to take a nap. Addie and I fixed up her bike and then made some fruity rice krispy treats to suprise the boys when they got home.
Christian is starting the 4th grade and Isaac is starting the 1st grade

Isaac's teacher is a lady who used to be in our ward, she is going to be a very fun teacher. She mailed the kids a pirate party invitation to meet at their classroom at 8:20 am for the first day of school. Needless to say this got Isaac very excited to go, when we got to his classroom this morning, his teacher was dressed up like a pirate. He came home with a bunch of pirate loot, he said it was a very fun day.

Christian was just relieved to find out that his teacher was nice, he had heard rumors that she was the strictest teacher in the school. He said his teacher said that she is an elem. teacher because she loves to be goofy. Oh man, can you imagine these two together?! Mrs. Goofy and Christian, the class clown. This should be interesting!! He was happy to see that there are a lot of his friends in his class this year.

The other day Andy had the boys for a chunk of the day so the girls and I went to the local gourmet cupcake cafe, The Cocoa Bean. Their cupcakes are deadly and worth every calorie!! You know how I love cupcakes and I think I have fulfilled my quest to find the perfect cupcake. If you are ever passing through, you have to stop here!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRISTI & PAGE!!

2008-08-15T16:08:00.002-06:00

Kristi and Savannah

Page and Adam

Today is my sister Kristi's 30th birthday! We had planned a few years ago to celebrate her birthday by going to Graceland, TN to visit the ol' Elvis homestead. Her birthday also happens to be the anniversary of Elvis' death. So this year there would be an extra 'to do' there since it is the 30th anniversary. But plans changed since they have moved back from Texas and apparently something a little funner has come up. So now she is on an airplane flying to Italy instead. She and her husband are spending 10 days in Italy and Switzerland...sorry Elvis! I love to be around Kristi, any time together is such a treat! She is so full of life and so lovely in every way! Anyway, I hope she has a wonderful day, which I am sure she will! Happy Birthday Kristi, you are a wonderful sister!!!

One of my other sisters, Page is having her 35th birthday this Sunday. It was so fun while growing up to have Kristi and Pages birthdays 2 days apart. Lots of birthday cake and fun!! Page is such a great sister, she was the leader of the girl pack in our house. I love how creative and witty she is. I feel like I learn so much from her whenever I get to be with her. She is so down to earth yet nobody can pull the wool over her eyes, she is amazing. Page got her birthday present a week early this year, with the birth of her 4th baby, Tad. Congratulations!! I have always felt so blessed to have all of my sisters in my life! They each have such a great personality that have added so much to my life. I always tell Andy, my sisters are life a vein that runs through my body, they are a part of me I can't live without!

So happy birthday girls, I love you so very much!!!

AMAZING...AT LEAST TO ME!

2008-08-04T14:51:00.004-06:00

A little watermelon
romaine lettuce
red peppers
roma tomatoes

So we decided to try planting a garden for the first time this summer. It snowed after memorial day so I didn't know if anything would turn out. As I was planting the seeds, I just couldn't believe that something would really start to grow and actually become something. Funny, I felt the same way everytime I was pregnant. :) Anyway, here are some of the produce that is growing in my garden. We also have pumpkins, peas, brocolli, & brussel sprouts.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMEN I KNOW!!!

2008-07-29T09:45:00.003-06:00

Today marks the day that one of the most amazing people came to join us here on earth. What a blessing she has been to so many people that have been fortunate enough to know her. I remember when I first met Rachel, I was starting to date her brother and I remember seeing her and thinking, WOW, she is gorgeous, and quickly feeling intimidated! I soon found out that she was just as lovely on the inside as she was on the outside when soon after we met I got a ride with her over to a gas station that we were going to meet up with Andy and his cousins in Farmington so I rode with her in her little Civic and found out what an outgoing, fun person she is. I've loved her from the day I met her. I love her love for life, for art, for travel, for the beach, for the sunshine, for her children, for her family, for other people, for the gospel. I believe she must have been so anxious to get to come to earth to experience all of these wonderful things, I believe this because I see it in how she lives her life. Thank you Rachel for letting me be part of your life, you are so fun to be around! I love you!! Have a FABULOUS day!

MESA FALLS

2008-07-27T20:40:00.004-06:00

We love to go on Sunday drives after lunch, so today we took the kids to one of our favorite places, Mesa Falls. It is a beautiful place and the drive to get there is lovely too. So here are some pictures from today. Enjoy!

SUMMER ON THE GO...

2008-07-25T07:36:00.005-06:00

This has turned to be a very busy summer but it sure has been fun. In the past week, the kids went to the dentist and there were NO cavities!! phew! Devin went back home, the kids were sad to see him go. we'll sure miss him, he has been great company to have around and such big help for me! We took the kids to a chukars game. It isn't as much fun with a one year old who is mobile but the other kids liked it. It probably had a little to do with the back pack full of candy. The kids got Chukars T-shirts and had 'Charlie Chukar' sign it. Addie is not so sure about the giant Chukar though. The past few days my sister Kristi has been here and this is always a treat. Andy was so wonderful and watched the kids for us while we went to IF for the afternoon/night. We (and lil' JZ) went shopping and ate out at Texas Roadhouse and then out for more shoppping. Thank you again Andy, a night out can do wonders for a mom, you are awsome!!!

LYNNE CLARK PHOTOGRAPHY

2008-07-19T12:52:00.002-06:00

I have had a lot of people asking me if I have a website to my photography. So I just started a blog to display a running show of my recent work. You can see it at http://www.lynneclark.blogspot.com/ .

A DAY AT THE CANNERY

2008-07-17T10:59:00.002-06:00

Dacia & myself
Dacia getting covered in fine, sticky powdered milk
Tiffany & McKenzie

I went with some of my friends to the cannery for the first time the other day. It was a lot different than I had imagined, which was a good thing! You just slap on some gloves and a hairnet and away you go.If I had realized how good I looked in a hairnet, I would have incorporated it into my hairstyle years ago! It actually ended up being a lot of fun, a lot of work but fun. I was able to get quite a bit to add to the ol' food storage. I am hoping that if I have it, then maybe I'll luck out and never have to use it. Living off of powdered milk, oatmeal, and refried beans isn't exactly my idea of good times. So in hopes of never having to pull out the can opener, here's to a day at the cannery!

CHRISTIAN'S BLOG

2008-07-08T11:21:00.003-06:00

Christian has been begging me to help him start his own blog the past few days. I finally got around to helping him this morning so if you are interested, it is http://www.christianthesuperstar.blogspot.com/ , I am interested to see what he will post. We had to do invite only since people we didn't know were leaving comments but if you want to get on, let me know and he'll invite you.

ADDIE'S HUGE BIRTHDAY BASH!!

2008-07-01T10:47:00.007-06:00

Grandma and Addie with her cake
the birthday girl
Everyone eating cake & ice cream
Addie opening her presents
Addie & Isaac setting up her doll house

Addie's cupcakes at the park
Addie's birthday pie at Grandma & Grandpa Clarks
Addie gets a birthday brownie at the Mason home

For Addie's birthday this year, we were worried that it may get overlooked since her birthday was goig to be on Sunday and we had a lot planned for that day. We had planned to go to Utah and spent Friday at Lagoon. Then on Saturday night we had a picnic at the park with some of my sisters and their families. We had cupcakes and sang happy birthday to her, thinking we would do the actual celebration on Monday at home. Then on Sunday, her actual birthday, my sister, Leslie and her husband, Joseph, were blessing their daughter at his sisters home. After the blessing they had brownies and ice cream and they were so nice and all sang to her and Josephs mom put a candle in her brownie and sang again. She was very shy but later told me how much she loved it. On our way home, we stopped by Grandma & Grandpa Clark's home to visit. They brought out this dreamy key lime pie and then Kim grabbed a candle to put in Addie's slice and we sang to her again. Finally on Monday we did her party with Devin, Grandma & Grandpa Zollinger, Matt, Chalene, & Margot. This was such a great birthday for her, she loved every minute of it!! Thanks to everyone who helped make this such a special weekend for her!

LAGOON

2008-07-01T09:13:00.005-06:00

Savannah pushed Addie in the stroller for quite a while
Ava trying out some cookie dough ice cream
the double mint twins

Lily & Addie waiting for dinner
little Joseph
Kristi, Justin, & Savannah on the train

Savannah & Addie on their first ride
Savannah and Addie cruising in their sweet boat
Joseph taking little Joseph on his first ride, 'Puff'
Addie wanted Aunt Leslie to take her on 'Puff'

We met up at Lagoon with the Leslie, Joseph, Little Joseph, baby Elizabeth, Craig, Kristi, Savannah, Justin, Rachel , Ana, & Lily. We went there to celebrate Addie's 4th birthday. Rachel took the 4 older kids to go to the big rides while we stayed with the younger ones and took turns getting them on rides while some stayed with the babies. It sure is different when you go as a parent instead of going as a kid. It is a lot of work keeping track of everyone. We took a break and strolled over to Pioneer Village to relax and eat ice cream. This place sure brings back a lot of great memories!!

THE WESTS & THE SPRAY PARK

2008-07-01T07:35:00.005-06:00

Devin & Ava

Vanessa
Ethan
Austin
Vanessa, Isaac, & Christian
Isaac
Christian
Ava
Addie

The other weekend we got to spend the day with my sister, Tori, and her family who were here visiting family in the area. It is always a treat to have them come over. We took the kids to the park and had dinner and let the kids run around in the spray park. Our brother, Devin was able to come and join us, it was a lot of fun to all be together!

I'M SO LOST, SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME WHO I AM!!

2008-06-20T23:00:00.003-06:00

So I joined onto the bandwagon with some of my friends and did the princess quiz. I kinda felt like I was 14 again and doing the quizzes out of Seventeen magazine so I could find out if I was a cool or lame. Anyway, this is the princess that most represented my answers. Anyone agree? (FYI: I've never seen this movie or heard of this character, I am guessing she is from Hercules)

You Are Megara!

Charming and witty. You are always the first person to come up with a wisecrack. Sure, you have an attitude, but that's why people love you. You keep them on their toes. Sometimes you can be misleading, but always end up doing the right thing for the people you love.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

SEAN AND KIDS VISIT FOR THE WEEK

2008-06-12T19:38:00.008-06:00

Sean( AKA: Indy), we decided to step it up a notch in the photography studio.

We were treated to the best homemade pizza by the famous "Papa Sean"

It has been pretty windy this past week so we grabbed some kites and had a fun evening. The wind was so strong though that it ended up destroying each kite.

We took the kids bowling and Hannah and Addie were the ones who had the highest scores from each family.

"Come and get it!" It sure has been fun having my brother Sean and his wonderful kids here from Alaska while Tammy was doing a volleyball camp in Wyoming. I got a glimpse of what it would be like to have 8 kids under 9 years old. What an amazing family they have, it was a pleasure to have them come visit. Thanks for the great memories!

BASEBALL

2008-06-06T07:57:00.004-06:00

Christian got to take home the winning ball!

Christian just finished playing baseball last night, he had a really fun season.

MEET COCOA CLARK!

2008-06-01T13:08:00.007-06:00

On Thursday, the kids last day of school, they had just come home and we were still outside talking when this little kitten came walking down the sidewalk, walked right into our garage, through the door into our home. We brought her into the backyard to let the kids play with her for a little while. I went inside and the next thing I knew they had made a little house for her from a box and had named her 'Cocoa'. Addie thinks she is her baby and wraps her up in her silky blanket and carries her all around. She has already given her a ride in the stroller. Ava is absoblutely beside herself, it is very cute to watch her squeel with delight watching her. Well, needless to say, we still have her and the rest is history (unless she pees in the house and then she is history!!!)

WE'RE SO ORIGINAL!

2008-05-30T14:12:00.001-06:00

Andy Clark

HowManyOfMe.com

There are
172
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

Lynne Clark

HowManyOfMe.com

There are
151
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

http://howmanyofme.com">How many have your name?

YUP, HE JUST GOT A LITTLE HOTTER!

2008-05-30T07:45:00.003-06:00

As stated before, Andy likes to keep this delicious moustache after he shaves off his beard just for kicks (and to torture me). Well this time he's living on the edge and decided to go to work with it. This morning the first thing Christian said when he saw it was, 'Mom, I hope you don't make dad shave that off like you did last time. I think he looks really cool with it because he looks like Larry Bird.' We were laughing so hard, Andy almost went to shave it off right then!

I LOVE ANDY!!!!!!!

2008-05-27T15:43:00.002-06:00

Today I was having one of those awful days that you just want to crawl back in bed and start over. By noon I was in tears and called Andy to vent. He just listened and let me rant and rave while I am sure he had better things to be doing! I felt much better and went on with my day when my doorbell rang and there was someone standing there with a bouquet of flowers from my wonderful, fabulous husband. So there I was in the kitchen in tears again! Thank you Andy!

MY HOMETOWN WEDDING

2008-05-20T21:56:00.004-06:00

I just did my first wedding here at the temple. I was nervous since I hadn't done it before and the landscaping was still dead from the winter and the weather had been full of rainy days. We were able to make perfect timing in between rain storms and got some pictures. Phew!! This one was my favorite, as you all well know it is always windy here but it worked with us to make some of the pictures come more to life with the motion of the wind.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANDY!!!

2008-05-09T21:15:00.005-06:00

Andy's birthday pie
Andy and his sweetie pie
Eating BBQ in Texas
Andy and Addie on Christmas morning
Andy and Christian in Island Park

father/son outing

Andy & Isaac in Yellowstone

Andy & Isaac at Henry's Lake

Andy & Addie at the sand dunes

Andy & Ava

Andy taking Isaac on a ride

Today Andy turned the big 35! We went out to dinner at Applebee's with Jeff and Mary then back to our house for cherry pie and chocolate cupcakes. It was a fun evening. What a wonderful guy Andy is, he is always so patient and kind. He is an amazing father who thinks the world of his kids. We are all so grateful to have him in our lives. We love you so much, Andy!!!! We hope you enjoyed your big day!

AVA'S BIRTHDAY PICTURES

2008-04-24T16:41:00.002-06:00

AARGH!

2008-04-23T21:16:00.004-06:00

#1-So since it isn't nice to point fingers, I won't mention any names but a certain someone in our house has dropped 2 cameras in the past year and broke them both! I really need to invest in a kids camera! So I am again cameraless which in turn makes my posts not quite as interesting.
#2- I have been sick with an awful head cold going on 5 weeks now. I didn't even think this kind of thing happened in this day in age. I kept thinking surely I was on the tail end of this misery when the next morning all the symptoms would start to come back. I finally thought, enough is enough, I have got to get back to my old life, so I went to the doctor (of course, my favorite doctor is in Paraguay at the moment). So hopefully things will start to clear up for good this time. How grateful I am for my health!!!
#3- Today Addie hit her mouth on a stool and now her front tooth is wiggly. The dentist said, if left alone with no pressure, the tissue should harden around it and it will be fine. The problem is, Addie sucks her thumb ALL the time. We have been thinking it is getting time to help her stop this habit but now it is in full force. So all day I have been wrapping her thumb in bandaids and tape. She isn't quite on board with the idea and keeps sneaking off to pull off the tape. So when you see Addie next and the tissue has hardened around her tooth but her tooth is protruding straight out...you'll know why.

AVA'S 1ST BIRTHDAY!

2008-04-19T21:18:00.006-06:00

one year ago...

...today

love those teeth!
she's on her way

Ava today on her big day

___________

tiny Ava

Today Ava turned one year old! This past year has gone by so fast, it seems like just the other day that she came into our family. We feel very blessed to have her with us and can't begin to describe the joy she has brought into our lives. She has a very sweet spirit and we couldn't love her more!!

DISNEY PRINCESSES ON ICE- WEEKEND!

2008-04-10T16:15:00.003-06:00

a morning Easter egg hunt before gettingt ready for the show
grabbing some food before the show
intermission, more sugar please
the grand finale

My sisters and I are always thinking up any excuse to get together. We saw that the Disney on ice show was coming to Salt Lake so it sounded fun to get us and our little girls together for a girls weekend. The girls got decked out in their dress up clothes and we had fun at the show, it was actually pretty good. Then we took the girls to Gardner Village to the candy shop and the little girls had sugar on a stick and the big girls had A LOT of yummy fudge. All and all the weekend was very fun and like always it was over too soon. Maybe we can see if there's a monster truck show soon, the girls are into that, right?!

AROUND THE HOUSE

2008-04-10T15:16:00.004-06:00

Ava's new playpen
The kids ready for church
My girls who wouldn't take pacifiers as infants suddenly think they're great!
Addie going to her friends birthday party

SIMPLY DIVINE!

2008-04-10T14:56:00.003-06:00

For the March Enrichment me and my friend Tiffany made 100 cupcakes. It was fun to decorate them and to see them all together when we were done. The hardest part was trying to keep the kids out of them! I must say, they were pretty tasty too! Thanks Tiffany!!!

THE GREATEST JOB ON EARTH!

2008-04-05T00:03:00.003-06:00

My sister, Leslie Lewis, sent me a quote she forwarded on from their Lewis Family Conference. It really struck me and inspired me to step back and reprioritize my efforts and possessions. It is hard to be a mother and trying to be a good one also is downright exhausting! But this time is so short and so rewarding! I couldn't keep it to myself so I'm sharing it with you... Thanks Leslie, you and Joseph are such wonderful examples!

"When considering how to spend your time, it might be good to ponder on this hard and immovable truth: In all of eternity, in the endless realms of time and space that we have and will yet exist, we only have one very short window of 20-30 years to be parents in mortality. We only have our children as little children in all of that time for just a few short years. That thought has whispered urgently to me pausing me, prompting me, empowering me to lay aside other pursuits for now and bask in the sunlight of my children's youth. It is a path through a place in time that I shall never be allowed to trod again and so I resolve to enjoy and celebrate every step I take."

And on that note, I am grateful today that I surrendered and put the chores aside and laughed with my children. We made crazy faces with scotch tape on each other, we were all laughing so hard we had tears streaming down our cheeks! I'll sure remember that a lot more than I would the clean counter (that would have just gotten messy again!).

OUT OF ORDER

2008-03-22T20:57:00.002-06:00

Just so you know, I am not able to get my computer to connect to any internet connection. I probably won't be doing anything with my blog for awhile until I get this figured out. Anyway, I thought I would let you know so you don't keep checking it and wondering if I fell off the face of the earth. Hopefully, we'll be back in business soon!

THAT WAS WEIRD!

2008-03-06T14:11:00.003-07:00

If anyone has tries to visit our blog lately, it had been taken over by annoying wallpaper! So here is the new look. Hope it is a little more pleasing on the eyes!
FYI: my new obsession...cupcakes! My sister Kristi and I are determined to come up with the perfect oversized cupcake. Let me tell you, if you are ever looking for a fun quest, this is the one! I'll keep you posted when I get some pictures.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

2008-02-14T13:03:00.002-07:00

I was in charge of Isaac's valentine party at school. We played an intense game of BINGO.
Andy gave this to me this morning.
We made paper roses for our neighbor.

I have to first admit I cringe at gushy romance, jewlery commercials make me want to come out of my skin but I do love having valentines day with my family. Any holiday that usually consists of going out to dinner can't be half bad. The kids get so excited with all the festivities and I love spoiling them. Andy suprised me this morning with a wonerful present that I was not at all expecting, it was very thoughtful of him and beautiful, thanks Andy!

MORE SLEEPY KIDS

2008-02-13T21:14:00.004-07:00

Ava kept snuggling up to sleeping Addie.
Ava sound asleep in her highchair during dinner.

THE PRINCESS & THE PEA

2008-02-13T08:45:00.002-07:00

As some of you know, we are very laid back about sleep around here. If our kids are feeling sleepy they'll usually find somewhere to drop and take a nap but I hadn't seen this one before. I found Addie sound asleep in the middle of kids running around wild on her chair. She looked pretty comfortable!

FOOD COLORING...NEED I SAY MORE?!

2008-02-11T21:42:00.000-07:00

HEALTHY LIVING...I HOPE!

2008-02-04T21:13:00.000-07:00

So Andy asked me today if I was busy tomarrow around 5:00. Quickly jumping to conclusions I start thinking of all the wonderful suprises my great husband has come up with, dinner without the kids, an hour massage at the spa, the ideas were pouring in. So of course even if I did have plans I was about to cancel them, so, no plans, why? He then informs me that he'll pick me up right before five so we can go to the medical center and get weighed, blood pressure taken, consultation and other tests that I can't remember since I was still waiting for him to mention something about taking me out to dinner. Here's the thing, Andy has been on this healthy living kick for a few weeks now which I am very supportive of as long as it doesn't interfere with what I want to eat and do. So far it has been great, Andy eats carrots after the kids are in bed, I eat ice cream. I don't see a problem. Now he would like us to both get on board with this and be a more healthy couple, you know, grow old together. Since I couldn't come up with an excuse of why I should keep clogging my arteries, I agreed to go. I got off the phone and started to think of how great this could be for us, but then I started to really think of how this could be....no more coke!? Anyone who knows me knows how much I love my coke. It is my reward each day usually around 3:00, its my afternoon coffee, it is how I survive my day. So I must have gone into panic mode because I later found myself endulging on cream puffs and a coke. This might be harder than I think. I sure hope I can do this because when it comes down to it, I really do have a huge crush on Andy and I really do want to grow old with him. So wish me luck...here I go (at least, not until exactly 5:00 tomarrow!)

CHRISTIAN TURNS 9!!!

2008-02-02T21:48:00.000-07:00

Christian holding his cousin Justin

Christian holding baby Ava
Christian holding baby Adalyn

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Christian a year ago, on his baptism day

Today Christian turned 9 years old. It has been so fun to watch him grow up, we are so proud of him! Today for his birthday we all went bowling and then met up with Grandma and Grandpa Z to go to Gringos then we all went back to our house to decorate cupcakes. It became more interesting when Andy started decorating all of the kids faces instead! Christian got a new bike for his birthday, too bad there won't be any sidewalks for a few more months.
We love you Christian, we are so grateful to have you in our family!!!!

MESA FALLS 2006

2008-01-28T21:10:00.000-07:00

Best Buddies

I was looking through some pictures and remembered this day we took the kids to Mesa Falls. It was a beautiful day and it was so nice just to get out! I love going up into the mountain area, it reminds me of home in Alaska.

AROUND THE HOUSE

2008-01-16T16:53:00.000-07:00

Ava trying out her chair
Addie trying to iron Ava's pants
Dawson, Christian, & Isaac playing against each other on their DS's. They all link up their games and play together, it is nice for the fact that they sit still and I don't hear a peep out of them but this is all they want to do. So much for the days of snowball fights and reading a good book. The other day I had to make the boys but their DS's away and play with their toys. I'm such a mean mom!

I SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS A LONG TIME AGO!

2008-01-16T16:44:00.000-07:00

Ava's Christmas present finally got here. I broke down and bought her a high chair. I have not ever had one before since I thought this was an area in which I thought I could pinch pennies. I have seen the light and now I know why people use them! I could rant and rave about how great it is but since everyone else in their right mind has already tried them, i'm sure there is no need to.

HEY LADIES!

2008-01-16T16:07:00.000-07:00

The other day Andy had to shave his beard but he doesn't ever just let it all go at once. He will usually come out of the bathroom with some sick chester moustache. This time however, he decided to be a little daring and wanted to keep his stache for a while. I was devistated since we were supposed to go out on a date that night. I just smiled and went to pick up the babysitter, and to my suprise (and relief) he shaved it off before I got home. He is such an amazing husband but the stache doesn't really do it for me.

AVA'S HATS

2008-01-16T15:40:00.000-07:00

Addie is truly enjoying having her baby sister around. She has her baby dolls and then their is Ava who actually moves, laughs, and cries. I came in her bedroom the other morning and she had taken all of Ava's hats and dressed her up. She did the same thing this morning with her headbands but Ava wasn't smiling about it this time.

CHRISTMAS DAY

2007-12-31T22:18:00.000-07:00

The long awaited Christmas day finally arrived, the kids were beside themselves! Santa brought the boys more Star Wars ships, Addie got the Strawberry Shortcake baby she just had to have and Ava got baby toys. Yipee!

THE JAZZ GAME

2007-12-31T22:06:00.000-07:00

For Christmas, Christian got a Williams jersey and a ticket to go to the Jazz/Mavericks game the next night. He was thrilled! He is a HUGE fan of the Utah Jazz. We met up with our friends, the Hirrlingers who used to live in Dallas so they were rooting for the Mavs. My brother in law Craig and some of his family also joined us. It was a great night and to top it off, the Jazz won!

DOWN MEMORY LANE

2007-12-18T14:06:00.001-07:00

Here is my family with my wonderful Aunt Janice, it was always a huge treat when she would come to visit, she would spoil us rotten! She is still just as sweet! This was around 1983.
Here we are with our new baby cousin Asha (Aunt Janice's daughter), we were on one of our famous road trips from Alaska to Nevada. 1986
Here we are again with Asha, note that Page is playing with a snake we caught and kept in a shoe box in the suburban(my poor mother!)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

2007-12-18T13:58:00.000-07:00

This was one of our attempts to do a family picture but I have surrendered to the reality that I can't be in the picture and try to take the picture at the same time! so this year we are doing individual pictures, oh well! Where is Justin Hackworth when I need him?!

ADDIE AND AVA'S PICTURES

2007-12-02T18:59:00.000-07:00

Here are Ava's 6 month pictures, I can't believe she is already this old! I love her cute cheeks,

her whole face lights up when she smiles!
I finally got around to taking the girls pictures since the boys had theirs done in the fall. Addie loves getting hers done, I think she loves getting the one on one attention with mom. Anyway, we got it done, phew!

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND

2007-11-25T16:26:00.000-07:00

Addie waiting in line for the big dinner
The cousins hanging out at Little America
Check out these cute cheeks!
Andy helping Addie decorate the tree

Addie enjoying her chocolate covered strawberries and marshmellows
Of all the food there, the boys went for the pizza!
Isaac loves the turkey!

What a great weekend this was We got to go to Little America and be with a bunch of family. We all had a blast. The cousins always love getting together and they thought we were staying at a palace. We later went to my sisters house and hung out with Craig and Kristi. We were hoping she would go into labor while we were there but it wasn't to be. This ended up being a blessing in disquise since she caught a stomach flu and spent Saturday very sick. We still had a good time since the best thing about being together is just hanging out!

CHRISTMAS IS COMING!!!

2007-11-18T18:07:00.000-07:00

I am getting so excited for the holidays, we got our tree out and the Christmas music going, it is so magical! It has been fun to see the excitement on the kids faces. Ava is mesmorized by the lights on the tree. She loves to sit in front of it and watch the lights twinkle. I know we are breaking the unwritten rule about waiting until Thanksgiving is over but....oh, well!

BOISE STATE FOOTBALL

2007-11-11T19:00:00.000-07:00

For Isaac's birthday Andy suprised him with tickets to the Boise State football game. So early the next morning we drove to Logan and spent the day at the game. The weather was awsome, the Boise fans in front of us were scary. I still have cow bells ringing in my ears. It was a great day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISAAC!!!!

2007-11-11T18:48:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa Z gave Isaac an R2-D2 robot, Isaac said we could have him do the dishes and decorate for his party next year!
Here is everyone trying to figure out how to get R2 to do something besides tell us 'No', (we eventually figured it out and he was pretty entertaining!)

Isaac wanted to have a spongebob birthday party, so we did everything spongebob!
Isaac blowing out his 6 candles
We let the kids spray down Isaac with silly string (thanks for the idea Magan!)

AVA'S SMILE!

2007-11-05T12:31:00.000-07:00

Ava is full of smiles lately and we just can't get enough. This is such a fun stage, their entire face lights up. She is such a bright spot in our life, as each of our children are.

HALLOWEEN

2007-11-05T11:51:00.000-07:00

Isaac and his buddy were both Robin for Halloween
Ava trying to eat some candy....sorry kid, I guess mom will have to eat it for you!

first stop, the other side of our twin home
going to the school carnival, this year Christian was a knight, Isaac was Robin(again!), Addie was a pumpkin (or as she says, a pumpkin pie), ans Ava was a sweet flower.

GRANDMA POLLY

2007-11-04T18:40:00.001-07:00

Grandma telling the grandkids stories

Some of great grandmas grandkids
Uncle George taking control of unruly boys. christian and isaac kept trying to sneak up and give him wet willys so he tackled both of them and showed them whos boss.

We had an enjoyable sunday afternoon getting to visit Debbie, George, Judy, Frank , Julie, and Grandma Polly. Rachel, Ana, and Lily were there too. It was nice to see all of them and catch up on everything. They are wonderful people.

FAMILY HOME EVENING

2007-10-23T16:19:00.000-06:00

For family home evening last night we went to go find this pumpkin patch we heard about and on the way home Andy took us to this place he used to go fishing. It was so beautiful, the fall trees were so vibrant and the river was so calm, it was a perfect mirror image of the trees. So we grabbed our camera and took some pictures. It was a gorgeous evening.

KRISTI'S BABY SHOWER

2007-10-22T14:48:00.000-06:00

The kids got shirts from Hawaii, thank you Uncle Craig and Aunt Kristi
My sister, Kristi, and her cute daughter, Savannah
Ava trying out her Halloween costume, the cutest flower I've ever seen!

.......

This weekend my sister, Tori and I wanted to have a baby shower for my other sister Kristi who is due to have a baby boy on Nov 19th. We are so excited for their family! We went to a place called Mimi's Cafe and had lunch. It was fun to get together with the Colyar girls and spoil Kristi. She seems all ready for this baby to come. He sure will be quite the stylin' little guy. His bedroom is done up very cute! Craig and Kristi just moved to American Fork from Dallas and are getting settled into their new home. The best part for Craig is that they moved in 2 doors down from Bronco Mendenhall (BYU's head football coach). Craig is a huge BYU ftball fan! They have a lovely house and they live about 3 minutes from my sister Tori, so that is wonderful! It was great to spend the weekend with my sisters, staying up until 3:30 talking and especially the Krispy Kreme doughnut taste test (we got 2 dozen variety K.K. doughnuts and so we could decide which is the best one, 52,000 calories later, we all concluded the basic chocolate covered dogughnut was our favorite! The sacrifices you have to make to find these things out!) My boys on the other hand had their own party this weekend. Basically you can sum it up with ...Pizza, Playstation, Sleeping, Movies, and Golf. Andy said that he took them out to eat at Gringo's and the waitress came over and asked if there was anything else she could get them and when she turned around Christian said,'How about a backrub?' Anyway, we all had a good time. Thanks for a great weekend!

WE LOVE ANA!

2007-10-09T15:41:00.000-06:00

Here is our shoutout to the beautiful Ana Rennaker. It was 9 great years ago she graced all of us with her lovely spirit! It has been wonderful ever since, what a gift it has been to us to have had the opportunity to know her and watch her grow. Her spirit is so full of life, you can tell she must have been so excited to finally get to come to earth. I love her creativity, her enthusiasm, and she is always so willing to be a big helper. I love what a true friend she has always been to Christian. I have a home video that rachel and thomas took right after christian was born. they were looking through the nursery window as christian was lying in his little crib crying and thomas was holding ana up to see him. rachel said to ana, 'look ana, there's your new best friend!' it makes me tear up whenever i see it because they really have been true friends over the years. we love ana so much, what a joy it has been to watch her grow in to a beautiful young lady. what a wonderful life you have in front of you, enjoy it, we were ment to have joy! happy birthday!

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP- YUM!

2007-10-09T15:21:00.000-06:00

Okay, one of these days I will actually put on a recipe that is from me but since I have zero culinary skills I have to use others. So today the credit goes to my lovely sister-in-law, Leslie Hurst. Most people related to Leslie already have this recipe but if you don't you've definetly heard me talk about it since it is one of my favorite soups to make. My sister Kristi requested the recipe so here it is. It is a perfect marriage of autumn and bliss. It is DIVINE! Thanks Leslie!

1-2 lrg butternut squash(depending on how flavorful you like it)

1 c. chopped onion

2 bay leaves- still good without

2 tsp. brown sugar

1 tsp.ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

4 cups chicken broth

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 cups milk or cream

cut squash in half, remove seeds, cover in plastic wrap and microwave for about 8 minutes, or until tender. scrape out squash and set aside. in lg saucepan, cook butter, onions, bayleaves, sugar over med heat about 10 min. add spices, broth, s/p and squash. simmer about 15 min. puree in blender or with hand blender until creamy then add milk, simmer about 5 more minutes. do NOT bring to a boil or it will curdle.

MMM, MMM GOOD!

2007-10-08T16:17:00.000-06:00

She melts my heart!!

THANKS RACHEL

2007-10-08T16:12:00.000-06:00

thank you Rachel for the link on templates, much funner than the options on blogger.

I LOVE AUTUMN!

2007-10-08T14:51:00.000-06:00

notice the strawberry shortcake candle addie put on
andy took this of ava

for my birthday, andy gave me a new lens for my camera so i took a picture of one of the first gifts he gave to me. thanks andy, they were both great choices!

I just love this time of year! The colors, the smell in the air, my birthday(i love getting older!-rachel), and all the holidays are just around the corner. I was starting to feel a little jipped when the snow came on saturday but now it is beautiful again...aaahhhh-I'm lovin' it!

SNOW DAY

2007-10-08T13:57:00.000-06:00

As many of you also experienced, there was a huge snow fall on saturday. it was great! addie wanted to set up the christmas tree and isaac couldn't stay out of it. yes, that's ike making a snow angel in flip flops. the snowflakes were huge, it was fun to watch. it did do a lot of damage to many branches around town though, check out this huge one that came crashing down at porter park.

ALRIGHT, ALREADY!

2007-10-05T17:29:00.000-06:00

I don't know what it is but people must think I love zucchini. When in all reality I can't stand the dang thing. This time of year I get zucchini donations on a regular basis. I dislike the taste, texture, and smell of it. I am starting to wonder if anyone really likes it or if everyone is trying to pawn theirs off too. I have tried to be a good sport about it and make stuff but the only recipes I can find call for maybe 1/2 cup of shredded zucchini, so what do you do with the rest? Freeze it? Then it piles up in your fridge until it takes over and all you have in there is frozen zucchini. These things don't usually get brought to my house when they are the size of a banana, they come when they are the size of my 6 year old son. I don't mean to sound ungrateful but seriously........

ADDIE'S FAT LIP

2007-10-04T20:48:00.000-06:00

We were out on a walk on Monday when Addie got running faster than her legs could control and she wiped out on the street. She cut her lip open and had a fat lip by the time we got home. For someone this age a bandaid is the answer to 93% of her problems. So trying to explain to her that a bandaid wouldn't stick to the inside of her mouth was out of the question. We finally were able to flip her lip up and stick the bandaid to her cheeks. She looked pretty rediculous so I had to take a picture. Enjoy!

WHAT A FIND!

2007-10-04T20:40:00.000-06:00

As a teenager, I used to be emarrased driving around town in our green suburban but I should have been thanking my lucky stars that I wasn't driving around in this! Andy and I saw this driving around Rexburg and had to follow it so we could get a picture. Words alone would not have colored quite the picture that an actual photo can. We were so mesmorized at all the work and creativity somebody put into this true lap of luxury! Who knows, maybe this could be our inspiration for the next Clarkmobile!

OH BABY!!!

2007-09-29T21:50:00.000-06:00

I had put Ava down for a nap when a little while later thought I could hear talking coming from her room, sure enough Isaac and Addie had decided to join her and they were trying to all have a nap together. Sorry Ava, I guess this is what comes when your the 4th child with adoring sibilings.
Ava gets a new view of her world.
These cheeks almost look painful!

2007-09-24T11:25:00.000-06:00

2007-09-23T09:35:00.000-06:00

I FOUND THIS RECIPE FROM ONE OF MY FRIENDS BLOGS, I HAVEN'T TRIED IT BUT I THOUGHT IT SOUNDED GOOD....

Fresh Papaya and Chicken Quesadillas

If you're nervous about how papaya and chicken might taste together surrounded by a love bed of cheese--don't be. It's terrific, take my word for it. The papaya gives it a sweet and tropical flavor that is a little different but nothing to fear.

With the chicken in there, these quesadillas are much more than just an appetizer, these are officially a Healthy Main Dish. From henceforth and forever. Because I say so.

8 large flour tortillas
2 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2 chicken breasts, grilled and thinly sliced
1/3 cup of red onion, finely diced
1 papaya, seeded and thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh, chopped cilantro
1 1/2 cups of fresh spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
cooking spray
sour cream
salsa

Lay out four of the tortillas and divide the ingredients among them in this order: first the cheese, then the chicken, onion, papaya, cilantro and spinach. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and top with the remaining four quesadillas. Grill lightly in a frying pan coated with non-stick spray. After lightly browning both sides and melting the cheese, remove from pan and cut each quesadilla into quarters and top with a dollop of sour cream and 2 tablespoons of fresh tomato salsa if desired.

2007-09-21T23:25:00.000-06:00

2007-09-21T23:14:00.000-06:00

OUR LITTLE VISITOR

2007-09-21T23:00:00.000-06:00

The last week we had my sister Kristi and her husband Craigs' little girl, Savannah here to stay with us while her parents basked in the Hawaiian sun. All I can say is that I have a new found respect for people who have twins! The old saying 2 minds are better than one was more like 2 minds are NAUGHTIER than one! They had a great time keeping me on my toes. We sure do love our little Savannah!

2007-09-05T12:10:00.000-06:00

So Andy and I watched a show with Dr. Memmett Oz and lets just say that Andy and I are very motivated to eat healthier. It was a real eye opener. My motto on cooking has changed, it is no longer "the more processed the better" . it will take more work but we owe it to our Maker who gave us these wonderful bodies.

We tried this qualifying recipe last night and it was a hit with all of us.

It is Barilla spaghetti with cherry tomatoes and basil...

1 box 'barilla' thin spaghetti

2 Tbs olive oil

1 clove garlic

2 cups cherr tomatoes(halved)

salt/pepper

1 Tbs fresh basil, chopped

1/2 c. shredded parmesean

Cook pasta, meanwhile, heat olive oil and garlic in a large skillet until garlic is golden. Add cherry tomatoes, salt, pepper. Cook for 2 minutes. Drain pasta nad add to skillet mixture. Add basil and toss over med heat for 1 minute. sprinkle cheese over each serving.

How We Love These Kids!

2007-09-03T18:18:00.000-06:00

Those adorable eyes!!!!

All dressed up!

2007-09-03T18:14:00.000-06:00

We thought we should capture this moment before we walked to church, it is such a rare sight to see these kids NOT covered in dirt! Ain't they sweet?