{Some of my Greatest Blessings....}

Call me MOM!

I really do have some pretty great kids, who need to be bragged about every once in a while!

Brock competed in his first ever Karate competition this past Saturday. Since we'd never been to one, and really didn't know what to expect, Derrick took him while I stayed home with the other kiddos. I think Brock was pretty excited to have a day with his dad. Anyhow, as we were getting everything out Friday night, we couldn't find his yellow belt anywhere. He had been wearing it the day before for class, so I was sure it couldn't have gone far.....boy was I wrong, after 2 hours of searching (it was now almost midnight) I gave up, and he wore his white belt (that danged yellow belt still hasn't turned up!). I really worried that this was a sign of things to come, but again, I was wrong.......HE DID GREAT! He took a fourth place on his Kata's (basically a choreographed routine) and FIRST place in sparring! Way to go Bud.... I love that he's found something that he really loves and does well!
Right after the kids went back from Christmas break, it was Kaleb's special week in his class. I made an all about me poster, with his help. He is such a fun kid, with the most contagious grin. When we had his pictures done earlier in the year, he decided he wasn't going to show his teeth, since so many of them were missing. Sally (Sweetly Simple Photography) caught this cute giggle, that I just fell in love with!

Kaleb's poster. It says............

My name is Kaleb Dearden. This is my family. I have one sister and one brother. I like to play my Nintendo DS and build with Lego's. My favorite foods are, ravioli, brownies and peanut butter. I like to play with my puppy Chevy. My favorite color is red. A monkey is my favorite animal and I am good at climbing on everything, just like a monkey. I also like to play at the lake with my family!

Carlie is our girlie girl. The other morning she not only wanted a dress, but she wanted her hair curled. When I finished she look so adorable, we just had to have a little photo shoot! She loves to color and draw and maybe I'm just biased since I'm her mommy, but I think she definitely has some talent there! The other day she decided to draw a little doodle on her jeans with one of her markers (thankfully it was washable). When I put her on her bed for a time out, she sobbed and sobbed.....not because she was on time out, but because I told her I was going to have to take her "colorlings" away for a few days, and that devastated her!

I am constantly amazed at how different each of my children are, not just in their looks, but also in their personalities and temperaments! They are each truly unique and I am so awed by the fact that they are mine. I'm so thankful for them and the chance I have have to be their mother. They truly are some of my greatest blessings!

{A Winner, Family Fun & Yummy Food}

And the winner of the Be Mine banner is........ KRISTEN, my cute cousin, who said, "Ok....so you are forcing me to comment when I usually don't. ;) So can it count that I love you???? Cause I really do!!!!" Awww, how sweet you are Kris! See commenting pays off!

A BIG thanks to all the rest of you for your sweet comments (I love comments) and your compliments.....really you all give me to much credit, I like to craft, but I'm not all that creative and I usually copy others ideas and just tweek them a bit.... plus crafting distracts me from other things like cooking, cleaning, laundry, all the boring things! Derrick's mom and Mike came to visit last weekend and brought the kids their Christmas gifts. Carlie got a darling coat and some cute outfits. The boys, and all the rest of us, were excited with the new game table they got. It's a four in one- air hockey, ping pong, mini pool and a baseball game. Brock was so excited he ran and got his tools and figured he could just whip it right together. Not so much, it took a bit longer than that, and the boys were great helpers. Then the fun began. The boys had to play each other, then they had to play dad, then Grandpa Mike, then Mike and Derrick had to play, mom even played dad, but mostly Carlie, Grandma Jeannie and I just watched. We all stayed up too late, and had a hard time getting up to get ready for Church the next morning. What a fun gift, that will definitely get lots of use!

Now for the yummy food. I've been cooking this morning, since we're having friends over for dinner tonight. It's starting to smell good and I thought I'd share this yummy, not to mention easy recipe that I got from my sis-in-law Katy. I'm also going to attempt guacamole.... no big deal, you say? Not for me! I HATE guacamole, it's green color makes me gag, and the texture, ICK! But Derrick loves it, so I'm going to be a good sport and try.

** Chile Verde **
Shredded Pork Roast (you can either cook one up, or grab one of the pre-cooked ones from Hormel then shred them....today I did one of each, a really small one, plus the precooked. One of my sis-in-laws has even just used some of her left over beef roast from Sunday dinner on Monday).

2 cans chopped chile 2 cans diced tomatoes (I used the Mexican variety)

1 can each of black, pinto and kidney beans, rinsed & drained (if you need it go farther, add 2 of each)
1 bunch cilantro, chopped (save a bit for garnish..... I just realized I forgot to add this)
1 Tbs. Chili Powder
1 tsp. Oregano
1 tsp. Cumin
1 tsp. garlic powder

**Dump everything into your crock pot and cook on high for a few hours or low for longer. Everything is precooked, so really it just needs time for the flavors to blend. Serve on top of Fritos, and garnish with cheese, sour cream, cilantro, salsa and a squeeze of lime....you have to have the lime, it's a 100 times better with it!

MMMMM, Yummers!

{Reminder....Today is the Day!}

Just a reminder..... my giveaway ends today, I'm thinking this afternoon. So, if you're wanting your name in, leave me a comment!

{Crafty Love}

It's almost February! What's more fun than Valentines crafts? Some years I'm all over Valentines and some years, I'd rather just skip it. I'm not sure if this year I'm going to care about Valentines its self, but I've been enjoying myself some Valentines craft time!

Ok, this first project isn't a Valentines craft, but I'm excited with it and wanted to share. I've always just stuck all the friends and families pictures on the fridge, but with all the kids papers and such, it was getting messy. Then my bloggy friend Cherie showed that she sticks hers all in an old window, something I happened to have a few of sitting in my back garage! So, over Christmas break, I pulled one out and started to clean the grime off it, and when I say grime, I mean it. See, these window came out of my Grandparents house, long ago and were deposited in the old milk barn, until Lisa and I found them and rescued them. I thought about painting it, but I like the rusty red color and the old hardware, so I left it as is! I still have some pictures to add to it, but I've been funny about the placement of the pictures and need to find time to play with it.

Now to the "Lovely" things. I honestly haven't done much, just added a few things here and there. I changed out my pictures in the ladder, they are now all sepia tones with little sayings on them in pink and red such as....True Love, Be Mine, XOxoXo, and Little Sweetheart. I also added a little crafty Love frame to the top. I won the cute Love banner at Bunko and added some hearts to hang from my rail.

And, last but not least, I made this Be Mine banner. I just got the dies from Stampin' Up! and have been excited to play with them. So, since I love all of my bloggy friends out there, I want to share my banner fun and will be giving one away (it may not be exactly the same, it just all depends on my paper supply) Just leave me a comment and share something you love...anything! I'll randomly pick a winner, lets say Thursday. And all you non-commenter's/lurkers..... I'd love to hear from you too!

{Hidden Treasure}

I'm sure none of you could tell from my last post that I'm SUPER excited about my new big heavy treasure. I can't wait to get it cleaned up and in my house. I think I'm just going to give it a good scrubbing and try it in my kitchen as is. Anyhow, Derrick and I were looking at it this evening when I found a hidden treasure! I opened up the top two doors and there are little notes penciled along the insides. I know these pictures aren't the best.....but how cool is that?
This particular one says 10 lbs to Milton. Milton was my Great Grandfather!

Some of the other little notes........

• Started to take milk, Nov. 20th (do you think that's a cow or a child?)
• 11 Lbs. mutton
• 9:30 Wed Night KSL
• Phone bill $1.20
• pd for Deseret News Sept. 20, 1926
• No 101 check for Edith's coat (Edith was my Great, Great Aunt)
• Check to Sears Roebuck Edith 37 Papas 25
  
  There is also a recipe for something that is only partially legible, a couple addresses and quite a few other little notes. I for sure won't be painting that part if I do decide to paint.....and I'll have to be very careful to make sure and clean around it all!

YEA, for hidden treasures!

{Treasures, I Tell You}

We had an interesting sacrament meeting in our little town last March. It didn't start out different than any other week, but about fifteen minutes into the meeting the pager of one of our firemen went off, and out he ran. Ten minutes later someone came in and got a young couple, a few minutes later their parents, then some family friends. By that point, I felt bad, but I don't think many of us were hearing the speakers, but were wondering what was happening. It turns out there was a fire in the home they were renting, a home that has been in my family for generations. My Grandpa's, grandpa built that home over 100 years ago. As long as I can remember the house has been owned by Uncle Orrin, who is actually my Grandpa's Uncle. It was a summer/weekend home for his family. I have so many memories of sitting on the front porch visiting, playing in the yard or playing Chinese checkers when the cousins came to town. Uncle Orrin always called me, and any of the other girls Matilda, and as a child I could never understand why. My parents rented that house the summer I was born, and I lived there the first 3 months of my life. That Sunday was a sad day for many. In the many months since that day, I've driven by the old Beckstrand home daily and been so sad to see the shape it's in.

For weeks after the fire, the bricks stayed wet from the water used to put out the fire.
These pictures honestly don't show how bad it truly looks.

Yesterday, I noticed some cars there and wondered who was there and what they were doing, since I'd heard that the family was selling the home. Lisa and I were visiting for a minute when she came to pick up Tylie, and my grandma called. She said the family was closing on the house in just over a half hour and had asked if there was anything she would like from the home, she said, "No, but I know two girls who would love to come look." We jumped in the car and ran right down. I don't know which I noticed first, the treasures or the devastation? We just stood there, with melting snow dripping on our heads, looking at the amazingly detailed mouldings and beautiful doors amid ashes and damage. I would have taken all of them, if the buyer didn't plan to try and restore it. But, in the middle of the living room floor were two huge old cabinets. Cabinets that had been there as long as I can remember, cabinets that have a bit of smoke and water damage, not to mention age damage, cabinets that the family wasn't taking and were offering to us!
Tonight we got a crew together and went to pick up our treasures......treasures that the guys (Derrick, Dad, Shad, & Ky) joked should have burned with the house. How could they say such a thing? I guess the old saying is true "One mans trash, is another mans treasure". They are both made from solid old barn wood, with old square nails, not to mention are very heavy. While the guys went to drop off Lisa's cabinet (the multi-colored one, we drew to decide who got which one). I visited with my grandpa. He said that the cabinets had been in the house as long as he could remember, even when his Grandparents were there.....meaning these belonged to my great, great, grandparents!

TREASURES I tell you!
I can't wait to get to work on them, and I have just the spot picked for mine!

{SNOW Much Fun Again}

It was another snow fun weekend for the Dearden families! James & Kami (Derrick's cousin)made arrangements for us all to borrow a condo at Mt. Holly above Beaver for the weekend. After hours of packing, (seriously why does it always have to take so long, and why must we take so much) and the back of the truck packed full, we headed out late Friday afternoon. They got there a few hours before us, and had cleaned everything up (it hadn't been used in awhile) and had dinner almost done, or maybe a little too done...... lets just say James may never be allowed to cook steaks again.Saturday morning we all went out sledding for a bit.

There was plenty of snow and a hill that was perfect for both the kids and the grownups too! I have to admit, I only went down two or three times, because the hike back up in that deep powder was rough! But everyone was having a blast, until.....

.....suddenly it was cold, and everyone was tired and ready to go back in!
The kids really all play pretty well together and kept busy watching movies, playing the PlayStation, and Carlie even entertained us with her dancing moves. Derrick and James took advantage of that time to take the snowmobiles out for a bit. The kids and Kami (yep, I wimped out....no really I was listening for Tyce to wake up from his nap) went back out and made a big snow fort complete with seats. Then later that afternoon James and Kami were nice enough to watch all the kids while Derrick and I took the snowmobiles out a little bit. It had been quite a few years since I've ridden and I have to admit, I was thankful for the groomed trails.
The next morning (after much preparation, it seemed) we all went out on the snowmobiles. Again, I was very thankful for the groomed trails, especially since I was riding with two kids. I did kick them off every so often so I could go play in the open areas. We found a great hill, and were glad we'd deflated a couple tubes and threw them on. The kids were in heaven with this hill, the slope was perfect and it probably took two minutes to get from the top to the bottom. I think they each may have climbed back up (or even half way up) once.....and the rest of the time they'd go down and one of us would run down on one of the snowmobiles and bring them back up! What could be better than that?

I have to say it was a great weekend filled with fun, games, not much sleep, good food, not many quiet moments, and especially good memories!