Where do I begin?

Hmmmmm.... I have so much to blog about, but I don't have a lot of time to sit here and write it all. So, I'll just pick a few things, starting with my garden and Anson's birthday. This year, we decided to do square-foot gardening. A technique I saw on KBYU (never heard of it? check it out: Square Foot Gardening). Last week Saturday, Scott built a 4'x4' box for our garden and we started planting in it. We also took out 5 thorny, but beautiful, bushes from our backyard and in it's place, we're planning to plant melons and spaghetti squash. The thorny bushes were great as theft deterrents, but awful for my children who will some time run into it or a favorite toy lands inside it. While Deuce was mowing the lawn and Tiani babysitting, I was breaking my back weeding and trimming bushes while Scott was having fun yanking the bushes with his quad. I learned after numerous pricks from the annoying bushes, to allow Scott the honor and joy of using his mechanical steed. After a grueling day of yard work, we met up with Aunt Joyce and Uncle Verl at the park for dinner and celebrated Anson's 7th birthday! I can't believe my "Handsome-Anson" is 7!!! Anson was so excited that it was his birthday that he told everyone he came into contact with that it was his special day, his birthday. He even reminded me that since it was his birthday, he gets to eat whatever he wanted for breakfast and he did exactly that. He went through my pantry and ate whatever he felt like. Anyhow, Mom, Quinn and Ash showed up at the park where Mom gave Anson a piggy bank with ten $1.00 gold coins to encourage him to start saving now and to remind him the Dave Ramsey (DR) plan, which is our plan. What a great birthday gift (thanks, Mom!). Aunt Joyce and Uncle Verl provided the meal. They're always so wonderful!

=============================
For Mother's Day... Mom, Quinn and Ash came over. Beth, Jacob and their beautiful babies also came down to celebrate. We had a feast of Tahitian Chow Mein (no joke, there really is a Tahitian version of chow mein and you can get the recipe on our cooking blog ---> Cook's Nook), chicken fried rice, veges, etc. Beth brought bacon wrapped asparagus and potato wedgies. After dinner, we took a Sunday stroll through our neighborhood and stopped and fed the horses. Then, it was back to our home for chocolate cake that Tiani made and watermelon. My brother-in-law Steven, called Mom from the mission field. He's a great guy and an incredible servant of the Lord. He's matured so much while on his mission. We've missed him very much and we can't wait to see him. He'll be home in November. YAY! ;)

=============================
This past Wednesday marked our 14 years of marriage. FOURTEEN YEARS!!! We left all the kiddies at home under the capable hands of Tiani and her friend, Brooke (Tessa's daughter), and as our usual part of celebration, we spent an evening at the temple followed by dinner at a restaurant. This year, our friends Mark and Ofa were with us. Ofa is due in a few weeks with her 7th and last child, and it was funny in a cute way, to watch her deal with contractions during dinner. I remember those days... oh wait, that was only a few months ago. ;) Anyway, my hubby made me the cutest card this year. My favorite cards have always been home-made cards from him and my children. The cards mean more to me than gifts. It's the effort and love that they put into every letter they write, the folds, the cut, the coloring, it's everything they do to add their personal touch that makes me so grateful that they're in my life... and for the eternities. I love my man. He's an awesome father and a loving husband. He sacrifices so much to make our lives comfortable and he does so much for our family. He's a great blessing in my life.

=============================
On Thursday, we celebrated Tiani's 13th birthday!!! Can you believe my first born baby is 13?!? Now, I'm really beginning to feel old. We invited Quinn and Ash over for dinner and I made one of Tiani's favorite meals (chicken roll up with chicken fried rice and veges). She ended up making her own birthday cake (chocolate with chocolate ganache and strawberries). Mom had to work, but like Anson, she gave Tiani a piggy bank with twenty-five $1.00 gold coins. She was so excited and we discussed what DR would do with the money. She agreed that she would save it. Thanks again, Mom! My family called in throughout the day and evening with the ritual singing of "Happy Birthday" and merry wishes. One of the best parts of celebrating birthdays in our family is when our little boys scram around the house looking for gifts they can give. They are so giving and I love it when we hear one child yell out, "hey, that's mine!" when another child is giving it as a gift to the birthday person. It's moments like these that make me so grateful to be called, "Mom!". Anyhow, after the party, it was back to the garden. I still have more weeds to pull before we can plant the rest of our garden. Ash came out and helped me battle the weeds for a bit and we chatted about the guys in her life.