If I Could I Would Go To Neverland

This last week was our town's celebration days. We were asked to build a miniature float for the childrens parade. This year's theme was "If I Could I Would.." We decided to go with .."Go To Neverland!" I was pretty happy with the finished product considering I had never heard of things like Festooning, or Petal Paper. And then there are rules and even judges! I've been to many parade's including the Rose Parade. As a spectator I admired the colorful and shiny ones. But actually bringing it all together was hard. We had a budget of $400. And quickly went over that so we used a bit out of pocket. It took us a total of 3 weeks to make. And we were finished 3 days before the actual parade. Ted did an amazing job cutting the wood and building the pirate ship. We made the tree out of PVC pipe, chicken wire, grocery bags, and insulation foam. If you look close you can see Tinkerball hanging from the tree. We also had a sand island around the back half of the float with a treaure chest at the base of the tree. But the best part about the entire float was the cannon holes. Ted had set PVC pipes up to a fog machine. This shot bursts of smoke out of the ships cannons. After it was said and done I have to admit it was fun. Not sure that we will be volunteering for it in future.

On the morning of the parade I was totally shocked at how amazing some of the floats were! I am pretty sure there are some veterans in this town who have made more than a few floats in their lifetime. It was super fun to look at the floats in a new perspective. I understand the time and creativity it takes to make a float. And ours were little (10x8) hand pulled carts. I can't even imagine building the huge ones!!!

Some floats that got the "WOW" from me..

Wonderful News

We are officially announcing the "possible" addition to our family. Keegan's birthmom, Jasmine is expecting. We were aware of this news about a month ago. And it was hard not to hope she would be calling us. A week ago we got a phone call from the agency telling us that she wishes us to adopt this baby too. Of course we said Yes! As I talked on the phone I learned that Jasmine had already flown to Utah. And had her Dr. appointment. She is having a healthy BOY and the big shocker was she was getting enduced on July 24th!!!! Just weeks away!!! Reality is our babies cost us a lot of money, our current situation may prevent us from adding this child to our family on such short notice.
With Ted layed off for 3 months and we dont have insurance kicking in until late August, I was really worried. Luckily I have some wonderful friends who gave me some creative and legal ways to get the money. :-)
With approval from our Bishop we made this announcement at church.
On Saturday, July 11th we will be having a benefit yard sale. (LOCATION TBA)

If you are thinking of dejunking your home please bring your things to our house.
After church I was so excited with the response of our neighbors! I had several people come and tell me that they were bringing things and were even willing to help at the yard sale and help price items and on and on. Ted had several come to him too. I was so relieved that people were willing to help and didn't think we were weird for asking for the help.

We are very hopeful that we will get the chance to adopt this child and truly appreciate any help in this endeavor.

KEEGAN had a Birthday!

Our little "destructo" turned 2 last week. The day started out rough. Pretty much there are more rough days than smooth ones with Keegan. I took both kids ALONE to a friends baby blessing. I had to leave the meeting early because Keegan was jumping off the church benches and every 40 seconds would scream. After the blessing we went to their home for lunch. Keegan had dumped a whole glass of someones orange juice, threw half his food accross the room, and practically pulled my skirt right off. Luckily I grabbed it before I was showing my entire butt. Once we were back home Keegan took a 3 hour nap while I made his cake. Later that evening we had a little party with family for him. He was in heaven. Usually he shy's away from too much attention. But for some reason he really enjoyed it that day! He especially loved everyone singing happy birthday. After everyone was done singing he tried to blow out the candles but because he was grinning so much he couldn't get a good blow. His Dad helped him blow them out. Then as Ted was walking away he kept grinning from ear to ear and said "Elmo, Birthday". (I made him an Elmo cake) For a two year old he did really well opening his presents. We only had to take one intermission to let him play with a few of the toys he had already opened.

Things that Keegan loves at the age of 2..

- Cars, Trucks, Trains, Motorcycles (cycles), Airplanes.

- Elmo and Telletubbies. Watches Wall-E everyday.

- Abby. cute blonde girl next door. She's 5.

- "Moose" that he sleeps with.

- Pizza, Bannanas, and CHIPS!

Things that Keegan hates..

- Kisses from his Mom.

- Brushing his teeth. I have to surprise him so he doesn't have a chance to run then pin him down.

- He hates getting help in his car seat. I have to stand and wait while he climbs into the suburban and up into his car seat. Then he lets me help put the belt on.

- Icecream and ALL Vegies.

Keegan is for sure a hand full! And some days I really get frustrated with this energetic little guy. But I really love having him in our family. His personality is so outgoing and down right crazy sometimes, which makes it interesting and fun to see what he will do next. And what I can come up with to keep him safe and entertained is always a personal test. Happy Birthday Keegan. Mommy loves you sooooo much
!!!!!

Turning Japanese

I Hate Sushi!!! Believe me, I have tried it several times because it looks so good. But as soon as the seaweed touches my taste buds.. I am heaving and spitting the remains in my napkin. I just can't stomach this particular food. Until a friend who adores sushi had me try it again.

The name of it is what really helped me to try it. It's called the FANTASY ROLL. I liked it ALOT. And Ted's comment was, "I think I have a new favorite"

So if you want to try a really good sushi roll go here...

(located in Saratoga Springs. Next to Smiths.)

Costs $11.95

This is what you order....

So I was craving one for lunch the other day. I got one for me and one for the kids to share. My kids are not very picky eaters but I was curious to see if they would like it.

Keegan will eat whatever you put in front of him. So , I was not surprised to see him devour the rolls. Look at his eyes closed in total bliss. He really loved it!


Daesha will try anything once. She took tiny bites and never said a word about it until I asked her if she liked it. Her answer was sweet. "If it was just the rice and crab I would probably like it. But this green leaf taste like rotten fish!" I had to give her props for not heaving even once.