Brunch, Short Run & A Quick Photoshoot...

Back to the Fisher's for a delicious brunch today.  Ran a short 4.2 mile run and was invited to go take some pictures with Jessica.  It was a fulfilling day!  We had lots of fun!!  Thank you Rob, sorry you had to go back to work!  We missed you in the afternoon!

Dinner With The Fisher's

We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon with our friends again on Saturday.  After our Service project and attendance to the Ski to Sea Parade we headed out for an afternoon of food, games, and chatting with our friends.  We always have such a wonderful time and the food is OOOOOHHHHH, so very good!  Rob brought our Pictionary game and we had fun playing against each other.  Sophia got her name signed on her cast in Japanese, she thought that was pretty cool.

I had some fun trying to take pictures of their two cute cats. It was quite a challenge, they just wouldn't hold still. I also took lots of pictures of our meal. There was so much color in our dinner, I just couldn't resist. Thank you sweet friends for having us over again. We have sure enjoyed getting together with you all every weekend! Getting to know you all better has been a delight and simply a pleasure. You are amazing people! Thank you for your friendship and love!

Ward Service Project...

So I have done two activities so far as the Ward's Activity Committee Chairman person.  I have three to go.  This last one I had a Community Service Project planned.  We went to one of our newest local park and cut out grass and weeds around these baby trees, and then mulched them.  It was good hard work for those that did the weeding and cutting.  I was one of those.  I still can't believe how sore my arms are. 

Anyhow, it was a raining on and off, and we also had the Ski to Sea parade downtown, and it was Memorial Day weekend, so we had a smaller turn out than I expected.  But the 20+ that showed up are grately appreciated!  It felt good to get out and do soemthing for our community.  I was most happy to have brought all of our kids with Rob and watched them get muddy and dirty.  James had this awesome attitude and he was such a hard worker.  Thanks James for your great example of willingness to serve. 

Thanks to all those who came out and  helped! 

Missionaries Over For Dinner...

We enjoyed a wonderful evening with the Missionaries tonight.  After dinner they taught us a nice lesson on Faith and read out of some scriptures, but the best part was their Visual Aid, to prove their point.  They brought out these tea bags and emptied the herbal stuff out.  Then straightened the bag and set it on the palms of our hands. 
Here comes the test of our faith, one of the missionaries lit it on fire right on our hands.  We watched it burn and then it would just instantaneously fly up off our hands before it would be done burning.  It was amazing!   Now, don't do this at home.  You  have to have a specific brand of Tea Brand I think it was BIGELOW in order to make this work.  Anyhow, we all got to do it.  I think Juliette was the funnest to watch, she is the one that is more afraid to do anything new, than the rest of us.  But she did it!  She had enough faith to trust that the Missionaries would not burn her hand. 

Thank you Elders for coming over, it was a joy to have you!

Alma 32: 21
21 And now as I said concerning faith—afaith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.

Evening Homework...

So, I'm supposed to go out after 6:30-7pm and take some evening pictures using the natural light that is still available for Photography homework.  I have been sick the last few nights and I had not gone out, so Rob told me to go outside at 7:30pm tonight and have some fun with my camera.  I'm working on negative space.  I like taking close-ups too much and so I need to be more creative wtih using more background space.  It is a challenge for me.  I still found myself shooting closer than I should have.  Sorry Jess!  Just know that I am taking pictures.  I'm also using no flash!  That was actually fun, to figure our my speed shutter, f-stop and ISO to make my pictures come to life with natural light.  Thank you Jessica for teaching me so much and for being so patient with me as I learn all this stuff!

Rock, Paper, Scissors...

It only takes 30 minutes to make our kids happy.  We usually spend that time playing games, reading stories, wrestling, or whatever we can do for fun that we can all enjoy together.  Tonight Rob decided we would have Italian Sodas and have a Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament.  We had a blast and James even mentioned it in our family prayer wtih a Thank you to our Heavenly Father for the time we spent together tonight.  Our Champion tonight was James, the match for championship was between him and I.  I asked for a rematch on our another night.  James did this funny victory jump, it was really cute.  I caught him, see the picture.  It amazes me how these kids bodies can bend and twist in ways unimaginable. 

Anyhow, let's see who wins next time...Thank you Rob!

James' Victory Jump!

Our Family Singer...

Juliette is our singer.  She sings all day about anything.  Sometimes her siblings don't appreciate it as much and get annoyed with her.  Rob always tells his story of him and his sister Michelle, and how she sang all the time and he would beg his parents to make her stop.  Now he wishes he could hear her sing again.  She has an incredible voice, all of his siblings do, including himself. 

Anyhow, Juliette has been writing her own songs lately.  She wrote this one yesterday and it is called "Never Make Her Sad".  She seems to have her own style of music.  It is really cute!  Here is the video of her singing this song.  Enjoy...!
P.S.  She is also in the process of writing a song for the parents titled "Love Your Parents".  Stay tuned!

Here are the lyrics...

"You are on the phone, you're talking to your girlfriend.  She's upset so you've made her cry all day cause she's sad.  You made her sad.  You should never do that again cause you'll make her sad again.  So leave her alone, so you never make her sad again.  You never want to make her sad again.  So leave her alone, just leave her alone, so you never make her sad again.  So leave her alone, just leave her alone, so you never make her sad again, the end."

Then she signs at the bottom of her paper and this is what it says:

"By Juliette Gayle Tobler and she never took lessons"

Pretty funny and cute!

What To Do With A 20lb Bag Of Carrots...

I have been feeling really sick the last two days (down with a nasty cold) and today was a good day, so I decided to tackle a job that I knew needed to get done.  Our sweet neighbor brought over a 20lb bag of carrots.  I contemplated sharing some with friends and neighbors, but then I didn't feel up to going into town delivering carrots, selfish, I know!  Instead I researched how carrots could be frozen and the lifetime expand in my freezer.  I was pleased to know how easy it was to prep all the carrots and that they could last a year frozen.

So, Sophia and I geared up for an hour of peeling and washing all the carrots.  It was a blast!  We carried the most interesting conversations.  She is so witty and so very cute.  She managed to eat two huge carrots while we worked and told me that her eyes were already getting better, as if she had bad eyes in the first place?!  I have told her in the past that carrots are good for the eyes.  She remembered.

Anyhow, I used my Kitchen Aid mixer to shred and slice all the carrots.  We had over 20 cups worth!  She was having so much fun helping me get all the carrots done and put away.  Then she asked if we could make cookies with the carrots.  I convinced her to do a carrot bread instead.  So, I found an old recipe and we enjoyed a delicious Spiced Carrot Bread as a celbration of our huge accomplishment. 

Here are some funny things that I can remember Sophia saying while we peeled carrots:

"These carrots smell like stinky socks"

"Let's see who is faster at peeling carrots Mom, the winner gets a $1,000"

"I can just eat all these, but then I would turn orange"

"Robert (Dad) spoils me"

As we were shredding carrots in the machine and it was coming out:

  "It looks like somebody is pulling their hair out"

She said so many more things that were so funny.  I should of written them all down as she said them. 

I just loved spending time with her.  We also managed to bake 4 loaves of bread, 2 wheat and 2 white for fun.  She is my best helper when it comes to cooking and baking.  She loves it!  She loves being inthe kitchen...

Oh, I remember one other thing she said.  As we were making the bread and I was talking to her about how we needed to clean up our mess, she stops me and says:

"I just love cleaning up with you Mom, it is so fun to do the dirty dishes, and sweep, and dust and all that fun stuff!"

I hope she is able to keep this great attitude all through out her life.  I know I need to have it myself once in a while!  Thanks Sophia for being my fun partner in the kitchen today!