Projects I Have Worked 
on this Past Year or so!

I have done a lot of fun craft projects this last year and just have not gotten around to posting about them.  I just wanted to get them all collected in one place.

I'm storing Aunt Joan's sewing maching for her and while my Mom was here she re-taught me how to sew.  These were the dresses that she helped me make.    Next I want to make matching hair bows with the leftover material.

More bows for Sara's 1st Birthday.

Crochet Hairbow for Sara Jean.  I also made red ones for Eliza, Aubrey, and Lilly to match their Christmas dresses they got from Grandma Fitzgerald

Blanket I crocheted for a friends baby but I can't remember for who.  I love making blankets for babies.  I have made several more but somehow managed not to get pictures.

When I was prego with Aubrey I made one similar to this one that was green and purple.  I thought I would to make another one for an auction to help raise money for Joshie's preschool.  I was shocked to find that this went for $20.

I love making themed Halloween costumes for our family.  This year all three girls were flowers and Joshie was a weed.

Photo Blocks that the kids and I made for James for Fathers Day so he could have a photo of us at work.

Baby bunting I crocheted for Baby Sara Bunting my Cousins little girl.

Used my old Christmas cards to make new Christmas decorations

Picked up a book from the library on Ribbon Work to get some ideas for cute hair bows.  The ribbon bow in the back of the flower is something that I wanted to try from that book. Then I thought about adding the purple flower.

 I have make a few more things but somehow I didn't get any pictures of them.  I love to be crafty and make cute things.  Especially if they are gifts for other people.  I don't get as much time these days to do crafty things but I try to squeeze it in when I can

4^th of July

(Or should I say 3^rd of July)

Here in Utah when 4^th of July falls on a Sunday they just celebrate it the day before. So all of our activities were on Saturday. It was a little weird celebrating the day before but it was sort of nice. When we first moved to Utah we figured that we would be spending a lot of holidays on our own. We actually had the opposite. We have so many invitations from family and friends that we just were not able to spend time with everyone. I better not get used to that though.

Riverton City had a carnival that weekend so we went with Joan and Russell to see what fun we could find. Our first game of the day was a sponge toss. The kids only got to play once and they had no idea what to do. They were supposed to get the sponge wet, toss it over to the other person and try to fill up the bucket as much as they could. Joshie would get his sponge wet and then wring it out before he tossed it to Eliza. Then Eliza would toss it back forgetting to wring the water into her bucket. It was pretty funny but they were giggling the whole time.

Our next game of the day was a hay stack dive. I had never heard of it but it is very similar to an egg hunt but they have to find the prizes in a pile of hay. Let’s just say that I don’t have very aggressive kids. (I know! Most of you that know Joshie are probably surprised) The kids collected a total of 9 prizes all together. Some of those other kids were coming away with bag full so it was not because of a lack of prizes. Again they had a ton of fun and that is what counts. They were upset about the lack of toys and candy until we headed over to the carnival rides. Russell got tickets to let them ride a car ride and then let Eliza and Joshie pick out a ride each. Joshie picked the large potato sack slide and Eliza wanted to ride the merry go round. Lots of fun!!

Later that night some of our Bakersfield friends, the Haneys, who happened to be in town stopped by to light off fireworks. There was no room at our house but we were able to find an empty cul-de-sac with no houses just across the street. The boys lighted the fireworks in the center of the cul-de-sac while the rest of us chatted and watched. Though I think Andrew was having more fun discovering all the cool things he could do with his camera. I can’t wait to see how those pictures turned out. From where we were at we could also see Riverton City’s Fireworks and a few others nearby. The kids got to try sparklers for the first time and thought they were a lot of fun. Despite the many warnings though both Joshie and Eliza managed to burn their fingers by touching the stick after it had burned out. Though they are fine now and had no fear of them a few minutes later. We also got to snack on some home grown pineapple that Joan and Russell grew at their home in Hawaii. YUMMY!!!

All in all it was a wonderful way to celebrate our freedom. With lots of friends and family!! (July 3)

Hogle Zoo Field Trip

For Joshie's first field trip he got to go to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake.  Since Mom and Dad were in town we thought that we would all tag along.  We got to help keep an eye on Joshie's group. (Though I think there were more tag along kids than there were actual students)  We were there about half the day and didn't quite see every thing but the kids were exhausted after having so much fun.  Though I'm not so sure why the girls were so tired they rode on the rolling ice chest most of the time.  Aubrey even squeezed her way on for a ride.  The kids had a blast!  Eliza liked the monkeys so much that she even tried to be one.  Can't wait to go back!

(June 7)

 Mt Timpanogas Caves

 While we are living in Utah we thought we would try and see as many things as we could.  One of the sights on the top of our list was the Timpanogas caves.  In order to see these caves though you have to hike up a 1 1/2 mile trail.  Mom Fitzgerald, James, and I decided to take Joshie, Eliza, and Lilly with us.  We figured Aubrey was to little to hike up and too big to carry so she got to have a date with Grandpa Fitzgerald.  It was a tough hike but also a very beautiful hike.  It didn't help that I was carrying an extra 15 pounds on my back but Lilly giggled and squirmed almost all the way up.  She was having a blast!  Of course she also had so much fun that she slept the whole time we were in the caves.  It took us about and hour and a half to reach the caves and then we got to take an hour long tour through the caves.  There were a lot of interesting formations to see.  Joshie's favorites were the soda straws and Eliza's favorites were the popcorn formations.  I know such technical terms.  The hike down was a lot easier but by the time we got to the car we were all exhausted.

It is something that I would highly recommend and we plan on going again someday.

Pictures of my

Silly Lilly!

She is a real live baby doll for the older girls. She loves it.

She found a new friend!

My new skill. She can now pull herself to standing all the way up and can now walk around her crib holding on to the rail.

"I just want to see what is going on!"

Aubrey is 3!
I can't believe how fast she is growing up. She is slowly starting to gain weight but is still very picky. Her likes and dislikes change from day to day. She is my biggest trouble maker and she is always trying to use those big eyes of hers to get out of it. She continually surprises me with what she knows and is both a tomboy and a girly girl. One moment she want to be just like her big sis and get her fingernails and hair done and then the next she is picking up any bug she can find. She is definitely not afraid of bugs and is constantly finding new ones to carry around as a pet. Her favorites are ants because she knows that if she drops and loses one she can just go and pick up another one.

Born in Bakersfield

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Easter

The day before Easter the city had an Easter Egg hunt.  We went but because we got there just as the bell went off we missed most of it.  Aubrey only got 3 pieces of candy.  It was really funny to watch the whole scene.  It was like locust to a plant.  This ring of kids and parents getting smaller and smaller as the candy just dissapeared.  There was also so much candy that baskets were overflowing and parents were cramming their pockets with anything else their kids picked up.  It was a lot of fun but it just didn't feel like Easter.  Instead of the kids wearing cute little Easter dresses and sun bonnets they were wearing heavy coats, mittens, and hats. 

Easter morning we woke up to several inches of snow.  So we had a White Easter!  After the kids finished staring in awe at all they snow the hunt for their Easter baskets began.  It's a tradition in James' family for the parents to hide the Easter baskets and the kids have to look for them in the morning.  So I got to have the fun of hiding them and then watching the kids plus James and Keith go searching.  Let just say James and Keith are a little rusty on their Easter basket searching skills.  I will have to not be so hard on the next year.  In their Easter baskets all the kids got pinwheels, Joshua got a Cars coloring poster, and the girls got a dragonfly welcome sign for their room.  (I'm in the process of trying to decorate their room with a dragon fly theme.)  Once the found their Easter baskets they were then able to hunt for the Easter eggs that the Easter bunny left them.  They found all the eggs plus leftover carrot pieces that the Easter bunny left.  The kids thought that since the Reindeer get treats at Christmas that the Easter bunny should get some too.  So they left him a plate full of carrots.

Once the excitement of the morning was over we all snuggled up to watch confernece on our computer.  Our couch was too small, our screen was too small, and we could not get the volumn up loud enough but it was still wonderful to watch and listen to our modern day prophet and apostles.  We were even able to get the kids to sit still and listen to a few of the talks with the help of the conference bingo.  In the end the bingo square that was most covered was Jesus Christ.  No matter what topic the speakers focused on Christ was still the main topic and source for everything that was taught.  What a great way to spend Easter!  By listening the the prophet and the apostle teach about Christ.  

I hope everyone had a great Easter!