Valentines Tic-Tac-Toe

For family night this week I decided we would talk about love and the commandment that Heavenly Father has given us from John 14:15, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." We talked about how Jesus loves us all year long but, on Valentines Day that is coming up, we make a special effort to tell everyone that we love them. Afterwards, we played this little game that I made (after seeing in on another crafty blog) and Max has been having fun with it all week. I cut a heart out of construction paper and drew the tic-tac-toe lines on it. Then I sewed together hearts and filled them with beans for our bean bags. They were easy enough to sew and I made them with material that I had on hand ... so it was very inexpensive. Every time I sew ... I am reminded that I am so grateful that I do not have to sew for a living! While my hearts are not perfect, they were perfect for us and our little game! No doubt, I will incorporate this in to an upcoming Primary lesson too!

Tom Johns Visit

Our long time friend Tom John was in town this past week and stopped by to visit us here in St. George. Tom and I met originally back in the early 90's at Langley Ward (Singles congregations) in Northern Virginia. He and Mark met in the mid 90's as well. Tom is so fun to talk to ... as he has so many wonderful stories to tell from his life experiences to the backgrounds of so many people he has met. He recalled helping me to slim-jim my old Sentra after church one Sunday as apparently I had locked myself out. I remember going to a birthday party for him and he told me that he had socks older than me! We laughed about some of our old stories and enjoyed lunch together. Tom joined the church some time ago and his life has changed 360 degrees! He was married about 8 years ago and loves his dear Sandra. This is a silly picture of Max ... but he sure had fun talking and playing with Tom for a couple of hours. Thanks for stopping by Tom!

Where Have I Been?

Seems like quite a while since I posted. I have been VERY busy with our school supply project for the kids in Afghanistan. If you have not checked out our blog, click on the button on the top left to take you over there. We had a huge donation come in from Newell Rubbermaid / Sanford. Four LARGE boxes (about 100 lbs) came in yesterday with 4000 items to be counted, reboxed, recounted, taped, labeled and ready to ship. All of these items along with the generous donations that have come in down at my gym, Anytime Fitness, are on their way.... 16 boxes worth! We also now have a targeted delivery date of February 19th. Hopefully all will go well and we'll be able to get these wonderful supplies in to the kids hands sooner than later!

I've also been busy going to the gym and working on becoming a ROCK STAR! I'm usually at the gym 6 days a week for 90 minutes. Cardio and weights and I am losing weight ... I'm actually on DAY 8 of no Diet Coke ... which is a miracle! I feel good but, still have the cravings for it. No headache, just crave it!

Mark has had some frustrating days lately. I pray that the experience that he is gaining will help us find the right job that is stateside here in the next few months. My hope and prayer is that as soon as Septemeber comes, we'll have another job waiting for us.

Crush or True Love?

So each morning when I take Max to school we pull up and there are usually two teachers out front who help the kids get out of their cars. I think I should note that Max prefers to have the "pretty teacher" or now that we have learned her name, Ms. Walker, assist him in getting out of the truck. He adores Ms. Walker who has long straight dark brown hair, olive skin and is very attractive. I'm so glad to know my sons taste at this juncture in his life ... all of 3 1/2 years old! He loves to see her smile every morning.

My New Niece

Meet Ruth Ada Bridges ... born Wednesday, January 13th! We had a baby shower tonight and got to meet our beautiful new niece ... thankfully mommy was not too tired to keep the party on! Below are some of my *martha* moments from the shower. I had fun putting these together and Max thought it was totally great to help make a diaper cake!

Favors ... a small bottle w/bubble bath and recipe for relaxation!

Big 4 Wheeler!

Today Ron & Rose Allred (friends of my parents from Wyoming) came back from their trip to Mexico. We have been storing their 4 wheeler and trailer here in St. George, while they were gone. Max was so excited for "Mr. Ron" to come back and see if he would take him for a ride. Once the keys were found, tires pumped up ... Ron gave Max a ride around the block and boy was he thrilled. Here are a couple of pictures from the adventure. We think Grandpa Tippets needs to invest in one of these big boy toys!

Gymnastics ... Day 1

So, pictures through a window do not work out so great ... but you can see Max fairly well. He is in the tan shorts and light blue shirt. He is in the mini-squirts class once a week for 45 minutes. Of course he loved it yesterday and can't wait to go back. The teacher went to show him how to pull himself up on the bar ... no problem. I think he was showing her how to do it! He loves it and I'm sure we'll be doing this for a while. There are six kids in his class but, there are probably 12 classes going on in the gym at the same time. Very crowded but for the first and last part of his class they use this room and have it all to themselves. Perhaps a future olympian?