A New Favorite Thing

About a month ago I went to a friends "Scentsy" party. I was really impressed with their "wickless candles." They heat the little smelling cubes (wax of sorts) and melt it--but they do it without a flame--it is all with a 25 watt light bulb. SO, no burning down your house! It is warm to the touch, but not HOT.

It's made my house smell so yummy and delightful! I got 3 scents: Coconut Lemongrass, Enchanted Mist (so nice), and Bergamot & Tarragon. They have SEVERAL scents to choose from. It was hard to decide which to get, but I really like the ones I got.

They have so many warmers to choose from but I got the one pictured above, but below is one that I think I'll get next. It would be really pretty in my bathroom.

Check it out at: http://www.scentsy.net/

We Have A Winner

I made a scrumptious dinner tonight and it was so easy! It was in the crock pot and SUPER simple to do. All the kids ate it and LIKED it and Jim LOVED it!

Check out my recipe blog for the recipe.

The link is on the side of this blog or just hit this! Sara's Recipe Spot

Enjoy! And tell me how you like it!

More Utah Fun

Okay, besides the baptism, we had a really nice visit with friends and family. Sadly, Kyle was sick sick sick (barfing on the way there). We had to go though, and we're glad we did. The vacation wasn't exactly "ideal" as the first 3-4 days, we were just laying low at my parents' home...trying to take it easy on Kyle. He did start feeling better though--but this is the worst "flu"-type thing any of my kids have EVER gotten. Poor kid. He just wasn't himself most of the time we were there.

Kyle trying to feel better in a sink bath & Kids at Grandma Mac's Breakfast table

We did visit with my sister a few time; and then more siblings, family and friends at the open house.

Isabel huggin Auntie Marcie (Sara's Sister) and Allison peaking in too!

My parents were really great hosts. My mother loves to sew--quilts, costumes, dresses, etc. She made the boys some cute Indian shirts and the LOVED them. Isabel and she made a small blanket for Isabel's special teddy bear, Bobby. While there is no place like home, it was very nearly as comfortable. It's so nice to have a nice home to stay in and have your normal comforts. While there we finally talked them into letting us install a water softener in their home. They've been wanting one since they moved in but have put it off...so I bullied them into it and Jim installed it as the house was already prepped for it! Jim's a whiz at this stuff anyhow!

Boys wearing their Indian shirts & Jim installing the water softener)

So, we did have some fun. We visited BYU Bookstore and that was neat. I got to go to lunch with my sister. I went with my mom to the Distribution Center and got Isabel her new scriptures and then we lunched at The Garden up on top of the Joseph Smith Memorial building there on Temple Square. It was lovely to look out at the brides. Jim had some fun too...he got a truck. Yes, a real-life truck. We'll have to post pictures of that sometime soon. It's big and red.

Sara's Parents & Bryce, Rory, Allison, Isabel & Jorma

We got to spend some time with Jim's family too. Bob and Sheila came up and visited us there since we weren't taking Kyle anywhere. It was nice of them and we even enjoyed a fun dinner at Winger's! (I've missed that place) It was good to see them.

Jim's Parents with Bryce & Isabel

We love our family and friends in Utah! Thanks for the visit. Hopefully we'll all be healthier next time we're there!

Baptism

Well, it is done! Isabel was baptized this past weekend. I can hardly believe that she has hit this milestone in her life....and in my life too. My first child has been baptized.

We went to Utah where both sides of our family are at. Isabel and her cousin Jorma (pronounced Your-Mah) have been close since birth. They are only 3 months apart and it has been fun for my sister and I to have them go through life experiencing the same things at the same time. How fitting it was to have a double baptism.

The baptism was so nice. Simple and sweet, and over too soon. They were also confirmed there with all our family present. The open house following was so nice. We had 55 people there at my parents' home. It was nice, a bit crowded--but happy. I was honored that so many people came...friends and family that have known either Jim or I most of our lives. Thank you for coming those of you who did.

My mother made Isabel's baptism dress and it is so sweet, beautiful and one of a kind. It was a special day for all of us.

a fabulous day for a fabulous girl

It's great to be 8! Happy Birthday Isabel!

We've begun the day with some fun. We opened the gift from Grandma & Grandpa Mac that they sent. What a beautiful outfit!

For quite a while now, Isabel has been looking forward to getting her ears pierced. We had to wait until she was 8. I think it is an appropriate age--she's a little young lady now and it is very cute and pretty. She was so excited! She could hardly wait until Claire's opened up at 10:00am this morning. I found that I too was excited and had to make sure I didn't speed to get there. Isabel was really brave. It hurt a bit but she was all fine in just a minute or two, and now she's so happy and can't stop looking at her ears in the mirror. I'm so happy for her! We bought her a few pairs of dainty and elegant earring for future use. I'm all about "age appropriate" activities, clothing and now earrings. What we got are definitely appropriate.

(anticipation)

(earlobe before)

(here we go!)

(earlobe after)

(I LOVE it!)

Then, as a surprise to Isabel, I took her and got her a manicure. She is a little lady today. She feels pretty and it shows. That's a nice feeling...isn't it!

Tonight, she's going with the family and a couple of close friends to Chuck E Cheese's (it wouldn't be an Ellertson-kid-birthday without a trip there)! We look forward to that too. What a day. And she even still has her baptism to look forward to.

It really is great to be 8!!

(Remember, you can click on any of the pictures to get a closer look)

the gates are down, the underwear ON and the eggs are found

Gate Status=DOWN. What does this mean? It means that Kyle is going up and down the stairs and is fabulous at it....so much so that we have taken the gates and all barricades DOWN! It's rather nice...I still take double-takes sometimes, as my psyche isn't used to it quite yet. Kyle LOVES IT! He loves going to the down-down play room with "the big kids" and just roaming. He really is pretty good on his own, and YES, I do check on him still rather often. But it nice to let him have some freedom and not have to have him under foot and in sight at all times. Hooray for Ky!

Underwear Status=ON. What does this mean? It means that Mom took Rory's diapers and said "no more." Okay, he still wears them at night...but not during they day. We aren't going back either. No pull-ups, no diapers for nap...underwear! He was just getting lazy with his training and it wasn't going anywhere. I seriously prayed for help with this, and I got the impression to just go for it. Jim was home a few days last week being sick, so he was here to help with the few accidents we had, but it really hasn't been too bad. He's excited and proud, and I, Rory's Mother, am very excited and proud of Rory!

Easter Eggs Status=DYED, HIDDEN & FOUND. We had a fun fun time this Easter. We all enjoyed the Founders Village Easter Egg Hunt--though it was rather brisk out, the sun made its appearance at just the right time. There were a ton of kids...and not quite a ton of eggs, but each of my kids got a few eggs, so they were happy enough. We saw friends there and it was a great way to kick off the Easter weekend.

We also shared some nice spiritual moments this week. Beginning with our Family Home Evening on Monday we talked to our kids about Easter and its meaning. We spoke of Jesus's Atonement, His Crucifixion and the Resurrection. It a bit complicated for our yougin's but we simplified it and they got the idea. Mostly we talked about how much Heavenly Father and Jesus loves each of us and how all of this is a gift to us. We got a beautiful book from Deseret Book called In The Garden, at the recommendation of my sister-in-law, and while the wording in the book was a bit rudimentary, it was basic and understandable for children....and the art was FABULOUS.

All in all, our Easter was rather nice. We shared a lovely Easter dinner with some close friends and enjoyed our day at church too. Now to get the kids to not eat ALL their candy in one sitting!

a painted house

We decided to have our interior painted! It looks so nice. I miss the brightness of the white walls, but now that it's painted, it feels like a "grown up" home. It's kind of hard to explain, but if you've ever done it, you understand!

We aren't painters. So many people are--I think most of my friends--LOVE to paint and do fun projects like that. Not I. It is a pain. I guess if I didn't have kids under foot and I could take my time, maybe I'd like it more, but right now it sounds like torture to have such a daunting task. Plus we have HUGE vaulted ceilings, and that would be even more challenging. So, last May (2007), we got a quote, and it was actually a rather reasonable price, but decided to afford it finally when we heard about the tax$$ rebate. It really was worth having someone paint it--I feel like I have a new home! AND--Thanks kids for being alive so we can have $$ to paint the walls that you've made nice and dirty!

(the main color is a goldy-tan & a few accent walls/areas were the green you see)