Vacation Pictures

So I've been busy digitally scrapbooking some of the pictures from our vacation. I have found some AMAZING websites to get freebies from. I'll include links at the bottom of my post so that you can grab some too (if you're into that sort of thing.) I don't claim to be an artist.... and certainly not a scrapbooking guru so bare with my pages.

We left Grand Junction on Sunday afternoon and drove to Denver assuming it would be a good half way point to stop. It wasn't. Holy cow! Who knew that Colorado drug on for so long after Denver? I sure didn't. The kids were troopers. All of them, Tanner included, hung in there and did soooo great.

The second day of our trip we went to this cute little park that's called a "Sprayground", completely free. The city of Lincoln pays for the water to run it. It was PERFECT for our kids! They're still young and none of them know how to swim so a playground set inside sprinklers was a great way for them to cool off. I vote for Grand Junction to get one of these.







So I just now realized that I made another page with the same background... oops. Oh well. Sorry for boredom here, I'm still new at this! These are just a few pics from the most epic water fight I have ever seen. What started with Jon picking on the kids and Frank trying to save the day, soon turned into everyone vs. Frank. The kids had a great time and so did Jon and Frank. Notice you will find no pictures of myself, Kami, or Diana. (We strategically equipped ourselves with cameras so we wouldn't get wet.)



MORE PAGES TO COME SOON.... as soon as I whip them out.
If you like some of the stuff I have, I found some great places for freebies! Check them out below and show them some love!
http://justsoscrappy.blogspot.com/
http://scrapbook.creativebusyhands.com/
http://digifree.craftcrave.com/

Silhouette Giveaway

http://www.sugardoodle.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6344

Enter to win a Silhouette! I want one!!!!

Playing a little catch up

Okay so it's been a really long time since I've blogged.... again. It seems like I always sit down to do it and then something pops up and I don't think about it again for a really long time and then I have too much to type in just a few minutes so I don't.

Lots and lots of stuff happening in the Stanley family household! We took our first official family vacation in June and had such a great time! Jon has been on the advisory council for his work for the last year and June 12th they held an end of year banquet in Heber City, Utah. They put us up in this ADORABLE little condo with a fireplace and kitchen and a cut little package of homemade fudge. I loved it! It rained all weekend so we weren't able to catch a round of golf like we were hoping but we still enjoyed the time to ourselves, even though we were quick to head back to the kids.

On the way back to Junction we stopped in Roosevelt and picked up Jon's son Trevor so that we could take him with us on our trip. Sunday afternoon we loaded up the van and headed off towards Lincoln, Nebraska to see Jon's sister, Kami. This was quite the exciting adventure because I have never been East of Denver. Seriously. I always expected that Colorado stopped on the outskirts of Denver..... it doesn't.... it goes on FOR-EV-ER. Anyway, we stayed overnight in Denver on Sunday then headed the rest of the way into Lincoln on Monday morning. We got in around 3pm and were happy to see Kami, her son Thomas, daughter Jazmine (whom we had not yet met!) and her boyfriend, Milton. Not only did we get to see Jon's sister, but his mom and step dad drove down from New York as well. We hadn't seen them since Gavin was about Tanner's age. It was soooo good to see them all again.

We spent the next few days visitng the children's museum, sprayground, the Omaha Zoo, and Mahoney state park. Not to mention lots and lots of time visiting with family and catching up. I plan to scrapbook the pictures soon and will post them as soon as I manage to find a cute enough page for it.

After our awesome vacation we came home to recuperate for awhile. Jon had to work on the 4th of July (seems like he's missed it the last 3 years or so) but luckily the city of Fruita puts on a show on the 3rd, so we were able to get some time together. I saw these adorable Captain America t-shirts on a blog and insisted on making them for my boys. My sister and I spent ALL DAY LONG on the 3rd making shirts to wear for that night. When I say ALL DAY LONG.... I really mean it. She got to my house at 8am. We went to the store to get supplies then came back to finish them.... 9 hours. Not even exaggerating.... 9 hours to make the stupid shirts. They ended up looking fabulous, but I can easily say I will most likely never do that again. The 4th of July, after Jon had gone to work, I went up with my sister and her hubby and kids to Delta to watch the fireworks they set off around a little lake up there. It was sooo cool, puts the dinky ones they set off in Fruita to shame. I made a scrap booking page with some of the pictures-

1. Do not mock my photoshop abilities.... twas my first attempt and a sad one at that.....

2. I don't really like pictures of fireworks. They never come out as pretty as the actual firework and I get a little disappointed.....

So here's what has been going on with each of us so far this summer:

JON: A lot has been going on with Jon's work lately. A few months ago we played with the idea of Jon switching companies. He was offered a position with a similar company that would pay him just about the same, but he would have a 4 day work week and would be home every Saturday and Sunday. This sounded like a dream to us, but the more we prayed about it, the more we felt like something wasn't right. So Jon decided to stick it out with Sysco. He was able to approach his local manager as well as the director of transportation (his manager's manager) and say that he really needed to resign from the vacation relief position. They were willing to let him do this with no problems! So starting this week Jon is no longer a vacation relief driver, he has a local route and will be home EVERY night. No more traveling (other than for his advisory council and leadership training) I think he's a little nervous to step back from this position, it may feel like they don't need him as bad now, but I really feel like it's a good move for us. The director of transportation also mentioned that as soon as a manager's position opens (wherever it may be) they are most likely going to offer it to Jon. This may mean that we have to leave Grand Junction for the Salt Lake Valley. I don't know how I feel about it.... let's cross that bridge when we get there I suppose.

Zoey: Zoey has been through a lot this summer. She suffered her first big loss on Father's Day this year, her great grandma passed away. She was very close to her and was heartbroken when we told her, but it gave us an opportunity to explain our beliefs to her and that she will see her again someday. Her schedule has changed a little bit and she spends the weekdays with her mom and the weekends with us. With some minor exceptions of course. She's staying busy reading and is really excited to be a first grader!! She started swim lessons tonight and did such a great job listening to her teacher and being brave.

Gavin: This little boy is trying to stay busy and not drive his mom crazy! He loves his sister so much and when she's with her mom he goes nuts. He begs me to go get her every chance he can and when I tell him that she needs to spend time with her mom he sobs "BUT I MISS HER!" It really is one of the saddest things ever. We started a marble jar with both of our kids this past month. For every time they do something great they get to put a marble in their jar. Anytime they do something naughty they get one taken away. Once they get to 10 marbles they get a special treat from the store. This has been working so great with Gav. He is so afraid of losing a marble that he straightens up right away and has been trying really hard to be a good boy to earn those marbles. He also had his first swim lesson tonight, got right in and didn't even cry! He's so brave!

Tanner: Little man is already almost 7 months old. It's going by way too fast. He's eating rice cereal, squash, green beans, peas, carrots, and sweet potatoes. He is such a good eater! Just this week he's started sitting up pretty much on his own. At his last doctor's appointment he weight 17 lbs and is in the 95th percentile for height. He's gonna be a tall boy!!!

I wish I had more to write about me. There's really not much going on in my life. My Grandma is moving back to Grand Junction at the end of the week and I'm really excited to have her back. I'm sure she'll help me fill up my time with a few more exciting details.

As a family we are getting super close to being sealed for time and all eternity. We met with the bishop on Sunday and have set a tentative date for September 24th (maybe 25th) of this year!!! That will be our 5 year anniversary. We are so excited and can't wait to be able to post more details. We love you all and hope you're all well!

-The Stanleys

Moral of the Story

ha ha I just took in the biggest breath and let it out really slowly, like I was getting ready to do something that required a lot of breath. Sometimes I get a little dramatic and have to stop myself and say "Is it really that bad?"

Sometimes I really feel like the closer I get to my Father in Heaven, the harder the adversary works on me. Over the last 6 months we have worked really hard at getting our testimonies strong and have started doing the things we need to in order to enter into the Temple. Jon was ordained to the office of an Elder at Stake Conference and last Sunday was able to bless both of our children. It was such an amazing experience. I cannot even think of words that could begin to describe the feeling I had as he laid his hands upon their heads and let the spirit take over. Speechless.... and that does not happen often for me.

This weekend was not so easy for me. It's not even like something happened that set me over the top emotionally. There was no straw that broke the camel's back or a big argument that pushed me over the edge. I'm just emotional this weekend. Jon left to Roosevelt last night to see his dad and ordain him to the office of a Priest (pretty cool if you ask me how Jon has had such an amazing impact on his family and mine.) I had agreed to watch my sister's children for their anniversary and couldn't go with him. So as he left last night, a huge wave of emotion hit me. It didn't help that he called me from the road to inform me that he got a speeding ticket - a quite expensive one I might add. I went to bed last night totally drained emotionally with NO intention of waking up early to go to church. But at 4:30am when Tanner woke up to eat, I had a change of heart. I knew that I needed to be at church today, that when I feel like I'm struggling that's when I need to be there the most.

So I got up and got myself and the two boys ready for church. Amazingly enough I made it there on time. I get us all situated and ready to absorb the things that I needed to hear.... and Gavin has to go potty. I get the baby out of his car seat and take Gavin to the potty. Get back into my seat just as they finish the opening hymn. After the opening prayer Gavin decides that he needs his cup of juice but is unable to get any juice out of it because he has bit the mouthpiece and clamped it shut. So he violently shakes his cup of fruit punch in an effort to free the juice from the cup. After arguing with him about the juice for a good 5 minutes he is finally distracted and gives up the cup. THANK YOU! I made it though the passing of the sacrament and part way into the first talk when Gavin decides he needs to go to the bathroom again. I say "You just went potty" and he announces quite loudly that he doesn't need to potty... he needs to "GO POOP!" Oy! Tanner was fast asleep in his seat and I was not about to wake him up. Thankfully, one of the great sisters in my ward offered to keep an eye on Tanner while I took Gavin out. We get to the bathroom and Gavin sits down and immediately says "I'm done!" I tell him that he has no more trips to the potty so if he needs to go he better do it now. He insists that he doesn't need to go now and we head back to the chapel. He asks if he can color so I set him up with the tin of crayons and a coloring book. Whose brilliant idea was it to put the crayons in a tin??? Oh yeah... mine. "SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE" he cannot be any louder with the stupid crayon tin. I finally get him quieted down with the crayons and we've got about 10 minutes left in Sacrament when he announces yet again that he has to "GO POOP!" I need to teach him to whisper. Seriously. I try to get him to wait the remaining ten minutes but he begins to scream... so out we go again... again ditching Tanner with the sister sitting behind us. You can imagine the scene in the bathroom again... gets in there.... pants down... and magically he doesn't have to go anymore. OY! Get back to the chapel in the middle of the closing hymn.

Finally I get him dropped off in primary and I'm sooo looking forward to being able to sit in Sunday school and Relief Society ready to hear the great message that they had prepared JUST for me. As I sat in Sunday school I could not focus. Tanner got a little fussy so I had to excuse myself long enough to get him a bottle. Normally I would feed him in the hallway but I was so intent on feeling the spirit and getting SOMETHING out of my meeting that I fed him in class. With about 15 minutes left in Sunday school the door opens and here comes the Sunbeam teacher carrying my little Gavin. "He said he doesn't feel good." I just smiled at her and took Gavin. He sat in the chair next to me and started commenting on the basketball hoop on the ceiling and wanted to know where his toy was and then he says "I missed you, can I go back to my class now?" Knowing that it was going to be a lot of back and forth I loaded up the boys and went out into the hallway. I asked Gavin if he was ready to go back to class and he insisted that he was sick and needed to go home.

I cried the entire way to the car. WHY did I even come to church today??? What was so important for me to learn... did I miss it? Was I too wrapped up in keeping my kid quiet that I missed the thing that I needed to hear today?? I went home feeling so discouraged and frustrated, fed Gavin lunch and sent him to bed. Tanner was sleeping peacefully so I took a few minutes to myself and cried. Sometimes crying can be so cleansing. I cried for a solid 10 minutes as I pleaded with my Heavenly Father to teach me something from this. I hopped online not really feeling any better and checked an old friend's blog.

In her blog she expressed how much she appreciated how the spirit can speak to us in different ways, specifically through music. In the past she has described her challenges in raising a son who battles with Autism. While it may not always be easy for her, she always smiles and has such a positive outlook on life. It really made me realize that I have taken so much for granted. All of the times where I had my husband beside me to help with noisy fighting kids and a crying baby. All of the times that my children have played quietly instead of causing a scene. All of the times that my kids have crawled into my lap and told me that they love me.

In all things there is a balance. We need the hard times to make the good times so much sweeter. We need the horrible Sunday's where we battle with out children to appreciate the ones where they sit quietly and come home excited to tell you what they learned about in primary. I love my kids. I love my husband. I love my friends who inspire me when they don't even realize it.

Flirty Aprons GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Flirty Aprons GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Ward Conference, 53 tiny wooden letters, and projectile vomit

What a crazy few days it has been in the Stanley household!

First of all, I spent all morning finishing up my Daisy Girl Scouts "self-esteem picture frames" from our last meeting two weeks ago. I know, nothing like waiting until the last minute. That's how I roll. My Daisy scouts are currently working on their Respect Myself and Others petal. We spent a lot of time talking about self-esteem and how it's okay to say nice things about yourself. So at our last meeting I had the girls paint some picture frames and tell me some things that they like about themselves. I took those nice things that they said and hand wrote them around the picture frames. I took their pictures and put them into the frames. I had gone to Michael's and found these little wooden letters that I thought would be a GREAT addition to the girls frames. So I spent ALL morning long, hand painting 53 tiny wooden letters (to spell each girls name) and then hot gluing them to the frames. The frames look adorable, I just wish that the girls names weren't so long.... I have 3 different Makenzie's in my troop... and they all spell their names differently. They deserve it though. I love my Daisy scouts!

Last Sunday the bishop asked to meet me with and Jon on Tuesday night. When we showed up, he was not able to make the appointment but we met with one of his counselors. He asked me if I would be willing to speak in church on Sunday. Normally I would be okay with speaking in church, but this particular Sunday was Ward Conference.... and the topic that I was given to speak on is one that's pretty embarrassing for me. Jon and I had struggled with our activity in the church since we have been married and recently became more active in our ward. So I was asked to speak on Reactivation. It was really humbling to me to not only share my own reactivation experience but also talk about why it's important to be diligent in our visiting teaching and home teaching. I shared a lot from my heart and cried like a baby through most of my talk. After church I had a lot of people come up to me and tell me that they had enjoyed my talk but I had two members whose comments really gave me a lot of hope for my family. One sister told me that she had been inactive for a very long time and that she didn't feel like she had the strength or even desire to come back to the church, and now she serves in the Stake Relief Society. Another brother told me that he was inactive for over 40 years and that coming back to church was the best thing that ever happened to him. These two stories gave me so much hope. My dad has struggled with his testimony since I was young. And while he was going to try to make it to church on Sunday to see me speak, he got really sick and wasn't able to make it. I got really discouraged before I was supposed to speak because I had prayed so hard that he would make it. But now I have faith that someday, he'll be back. And I really feel like Jon and I will set an example for the rest of my family members who have not been active themselves.

Another exciting part of Ward conference was that Jon and I were given callings. Jon has been called to be a Sunday school teacher for the 16-17 year olds. He is sooo excited! I know that it will be a challenge, only two active kids in that class, but Jon will be great at it. I was called to be a Relief Society Teacher. I'm pretty excited myself! I get to teach on the 4th Sunday, which means I get to teach on topics out of the Ensign rather than out of the Gospel Principals manual (nothing against the manual, I just think the topics are a little dry sometimes.)

Even more exciting that me speaking in church and our new callings is..... Jon has been found worthy to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood!!!!! I am sooo proud of him! He will be ordained at Stake Conference which is April 11th. His brother will be coming down from Roosevelt to ordain him as well as some of his really good friends. One step closer to becoming an Eternal family! The bishop told Jonathan "I don't think you realize how close you guys are." WOW!!! SOOOOO EXCITING!!!

Not to take away from the seriousness of the above topics... but Sunday was also one of the most humiliating experiences of my entire life. Almost as humiliating as running down North Avenue dressed as a giant slice of pizza to avoid being tackled by a pack of teenage boys (I'll share this story some other time.) So my mom came to see me speak in Ward conference on Sunday and stayed with me through Sunday school and Relief Society. Sunday school ran a little over so by the time we made it into Relief Society the only open seats that would accommodate Tanner's car seat were right up front. Seated directly behind me was the Stake President and his wife. I made it through most of Relief Society with Tanner sleeping peacefully. All of a sudden Tanner began to get fussy... and not his normal fussy... angry and loud fussy. So I grabbed him and the diaper bag and ran out to make a quick bottle. I fed Tanner the first half of his bottle in the hallway and then tried to get him to burp. I patted his back for about 5 minutes and no burps. I figured he was good and so I walked back into Relief Society and took my seat. I put Tanner across my lap and let him continue to eat from his bottle. This was all good for about a minute and a half and all of a sudden... one massive burp... and an eruption of vomit. Seriously... the most puke I have ever seen come out of a child. Everybody got really quiet, the teacher even stopped mid-sentence with her mouth wide open, and all I could say was "I'm sooo sorry." I thought for a moment that he had managed to spew so far that he hit her. I think he managed to get a good two and a half feet in front of him. Luckily he hadn't managed to hit the teacher. I quickly grabbed Tanner and took off into the bathroom. His entire face, my entire front side, and the diaper bag were soaked in spit up. The Stake President's wife followed me into the bathroom to help me get cleaned up. I was completely humiliated but so grateful that she is such a nice lady. All I could do is laugh. And luckily it happened in Relief Society where almost every other mother had been in a similar situation.

Here's to hoping for a little less eventful week!

Families can be together forever!

Time to update the family blog! So much to blog about right now! We just got back from a quick trip down to St. George, Utah. My step grandpa, Jim, has been ill for awhile now and finally lost his battle with cancer last week. Jim had been sick for quite some time and my Grandma had been struggling to take care of him and herself for the last few years. We were sad to see Jim go, but know that its all for the best and that he's in a much better place where he no longer has to suffer in pain.

On a lighter note, it was great to be able to see my family that I don't get to see that often. My Grandma and Jim moved from Grand Junction about 6 or 7 years ago and our visits have been few and far between since then. It was so nice to sit and visit with my Grandma and see my Uncle and Aunt and cousins. We also had a chance to stop by the St. George Temple before we left which was so great and set the mood for a peaceful and safe drive home.

Besides that quick trip to St. George we've been in and out of town with Jon's work. Everywhere from Moab to Price to Salt Lake. It's been a busy few weeks. We're glad to finally be home for a while.

I went back to work at the very end of January, just working one day a week to get me out of the house and give my co-worker a break. Even though it was only one day a week, it was still hard to pull myself away from the kids and still manage to get everything else done. That's why it came as a major blessing when Dr. Adams called me and said he had hired an employee whose hours of availability was more fitting for his office. I knew when I left for maternity leave that he was looking for a 3rd employee and that my time in the office was limited. Like I said, it came at the perfect time and it was nice to walk away with both of us feeling happy about the choice. LOL. So now I get to do what I love to do best, be at home with my kids! I couldn't be happier!

Zoey just finished up her cookie sales for Girl Scouts and we are sooo proud of her! She set a personal goal to sell 150 boxes of cookies. She went out and sold 247 boxes! Almost 100 boxes over her goal. The whole troop did an amazing job and we reached out troop goal to be able to go and do a few fun activities around the valley. Not only did Zoey do such a great job on reaching her goal, she outsold every other girl in our troop. She was the top seller! Way to go, Zoey! She's really doing a great job at Girl Scouts and has earned the center of her daisy and 3 petals! We are so proud of her.

Gavin is doing as great as ever. Everyday he finds a new way to make us all smile or laugh. Most recently he's started singing just about every song that he hears on the radio. My personal favorite is his interpretation of Lady Ga Ga's poker face. I'm going to have to get a video of him singing this song. It's impossible to not smile. What makes his singing even MORE entertaining is that he'll often change the words to the song based on what he hears. For instance, I was playing the song Funky Town the other day. The real lyrics are "Wont you take me to, Funky Town" Gavin's rendition is a little more hilarious "Won't you take me to Pumpkin town..." or just this morning as I was taking Zoey to school an old favorite from Tom Petty- Free Falling. Gavin's rendition "Now it's a Green, Green Forrest." LOL like I said, it's hard not to smile when he's around.

Tanner is getting so big so fast! It's hard to believe that he's already two months old. At his last appointment he weighed in at 9lbs 6oz. He's lost the newborn look and is starting to get chunky little cheeks. Jon and I love to try to get him to smile. There have only been a few instances when we can guarantee that he's smiling at us and not just because he's "cutting muffins" as we like to say. But still, even if he is just smiling at me because he's got a little gas, I'll take that any day!

Probably the most exciting news is that in visiting with our Bishop about getting Tanner blessed, we were able to set a firm goal for Jonathan to be ordained an Elder and also for our family to be sealed in the Temple. We are so excited and have begun working hard to be able to reach this goal soon. Last Sunday, our Bishop told Jon that he sees our family going to the Temple before the year is over!!! I wanted to cry when Jon told me that. We have been working so hard this year and I cannot wait to see our hard work pay off. Thank you to all of you who have been such a driving force for us and setting such a wonderful example for us to follow. We love you all and can't wait to have you there with us when we become an eternal family! YAY!!!