I'll Love You Forever

After lunch just before I put 2-year-old Nora down for a nap,  I sat on the twin bed in her dimly lit room. Nora was snuggled up on my right side, and four-year-old Jane snuggled up on my left. We read, "I'll Love You Forever", an old favorite of mine.  I have a hard time not chocking up at the end of the book.  I think the enduring and quiet love is so sweet. Reading it now, as a mother, the majority of the book being written in the mother's perspective, I can relate to the things that she does, her little daily sacrifices that go unrecognized and unnoticed. But I think we'll find, like the mother in this book, that if we raise our children in 'love and righteousness' (The Family: A Proclamation to the World), they will notice. They will feel it. They will remember it when they've grown and gone away, and even if at some point in time they've gone astray, they will come back because they'll remember that love and goodness and want to have it in their life.

Now, speaking of love, here are some pictures of the kids. Charles found a giant leaf bug in the back and got it to stand on his stick. He brought it to the screen door to show it to me and it jumped into the house, in our kitchen, just as I was telling him not to bring it too close to the door :).

 But it ended well. Scott got the leaf bug back onto the stick (good thing he was here! I might not have been as nice to the bug :)) and took it back outside.

 One of the quiet ways I show the kids I love them is by regularly making them nutritious food and helping them pack lunches. The older pack their lunches on their own, for the most part, though I will sometimes help prepare snacks for them to bring or if they're taking lunch in a thermos, I'll help with that. This was Annabelle's lunch one day last week: agave sweetened greek yogurt, home made granola (to put inside yogurt), cheese cubes, grapes and for a snack she had carrots and leftover Honest cheerios we had bought to use as Bingo Markers during General Conference.

 Love this girl! She's improving every day with her piano!

 Homemade whole wheat, honey sweetened pumpkin muffins. Another 'love' food. The kids like to pack these in lunches or eat them after school for a quick snack.

 I love my Janey! She's my helper during the day and I love our alone time during Nora's nap when we get to work on some pre-school type things together and read.

Homemade granola is another act of love. This one is especially for Charles. He LOVES granola and wants it on hand, every day. So I make a huge batch once a week and that's about how often we go through our granola. I recently discovered an easy trick to make the granola stick together more, with more clusters and at the same time being a little crunchy but not burnt! I was so excited when my experiment worked! I posted it on my Real Foods Mom blog which you can see HERE.

Estes Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, hiking and horseback riding

This past weekend Scott and I were able to have a have a night away up in the Rocky Mountains! It was kinda a last minute decision. The previous week a dear friend of ours, who is also like a grandparent to our kids here since both sets live out-of-state, offered to stay with the kids for a night so that Scott and I could have a long date night :). In the eleven years of our marriage, I think we had stayed 4 nights away from the kids total. But we're getting into a different stage in life, we still have young kids but we no longer have nursing babies or a pregnant mommy so we're thinking we'll try and do a night away at least once a year now and since Patricia Murphy offered and we knew the kids would be in good hands, we took her up on it! THANK YOU Patricia!!!

Friday afternoon I picked up Patricia(she doesn't drive) and we ran to Walmart to grab a couple of things and then came home and made lunch for ourselves and Scott who came home shortly thereafter. I put Nora down for a nap and then Scott and I were off to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. I arranged for a neighbor to pick up the three oldest kids after school and bring them home.

As we drove into Estes Park and then also into Rocky Mountain National Park, we saw lots of Elk just sitting around in herds. One male and a whole lot of female elk :). They made noises like the Caribou in the animated Polar Express movie.

 Our first stop was in Rocky Mountain Park at the base of some hiking trails. We hiked past Dream Lake and onto Emerald Lake, which was a pretty easy hike and absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous! We plan to take the kids back to do this one some day in the near-ish future. From there we went back to where there was a fork in the trail and took another trail to Lake Haiyaha. This hike is given a moderate ranking, probably because it was a bit more steep and there were some big rocks/boulders to climb at the end in order to see the Lake. It was so beautiful and peaceful and quiet. We loved it. I'm glad we went when we did, in October, because in Colorado it's chilly but not too cold which I personally think is perfect for hiking, and there weren't lots of people around like there would be in the summer. We hiked a total of 5.5 miles in 2 hours...and we stopped a lot to take pictures and just admire God's beautiful creations. Here we are at the beginning of the trail.

I don't remember what this little lake was called. Maybe the "lake of shining waters" :). Can anyone name that book? Okay, I'll tell you.  It's from Anne of Green Gables.

 Here are a few pictures of Emerald Lake.

 Scott taking a panoramic with his phone camera. I sure love that man!! So blessed!

Pictures don't even come close to accurately portraying Emerald Lake's grandness and beauty.

This is Dream Lake. It was long and narrow and we saw quite a few fish.

We stopped here to take a picture of the view on our way up to Lake Haiyaha.

Lake Haiyaha, and once again, this picture does not do the lake justice. I need to work on my photography skills...maybe I should have done a panoramic view? But just think, gorgeous still waters in a perfect oval shape, surrounded by ginormous boulders with unique trees growing in between and all around. This spot, right there on that big boulder where Scott is standing, is the perfect place to give your loved one a kiss :)...but just a quick one if there's an audience; but we didn't have an audience :).

This tree was so cool. It was all twisted at it's wide trunk and then it branched out in several directions.

 Here it is again.

There were a couple of narrow bridges to cross to get there, which had a think layer of snow atop.

 This is Bear Lake; you really don't hike to this one at all. It's just right around the corner from the parking lot. Another beautiful creation.

After our hike we checked into our room, changed clothes and went out to dinner at Mama Rose's.

 I think we ate around 730 or 8...much later than when we normally eat but we wanted to get in as much hiking time during the daylight as possible. Scott had a spicy spaghetti with sausage and I had polenta (my first time!) with a creamed spinach, marinara sauce and sliced olives on top. It was so yummy!

 Here is our room. It wasn't at a hotel, more like a cabin but with lots of nice rooms. Our suite had a jacuzzi. It was so nice to sit in the jetted tub after hours of hiking.

After, we watched "Million Dollar Arm" while eating popcorn and a favorite treat (Aussie licorice for me and dark chocolate with nuts for Scott).

We brought breakfast along with us: homemade granola, plain greek yogurt and Naked juice. Our kinda breakfast.

 Fall River was right outside our back patio.

We packed up and headed out to the Sombrero Stables by 820am...we had to be there by 830 for our horseback ride on am ountain trail in Estes Park.

 I had a horse for a couple of years growing up so I was SUPER excited to get back on again! Unfortunately, they only allow you to walk the horse, no galloping or trotting. One day I will run on a horse again. Have I ever mentioned that my dad grew up on a farm in Mexico in the 1920's and 30's and his only mode of transportation was on a horse? Well it's true. He practically lived on the horse, and he's got the bowed legs to prove it :).

 Scott had been on a horse a couple of times before so this wasn't new, but I think he was probably happy to just walk :).

 We rode for an hour on the mountain with a group of 8, including the two who worked at the stables. It was wonderful and I'd definitely do it again.

 After our trail ride we stopped at Notchtop bakery and cafe and shared a cinnamon roll and a bowl of steel cut cinnamon and apple oatmeal and then headed back for home. Both girls had soccer games that afternoon that we needed to be back for. And both girls scored 2+ goals and won their games! Wahoo!

 Thank you, thank you Patricia for staying with the kids so Scott and I could have a longer date than usual, doing things we love to do(ie eat, be active and outdoors, snuggle up & watch a movie)!

doTerra Essential Oils

A few months ago I went to a doTerra essential oil class. I had heard some good things about doTerra, their company and products, but I didn't have any experience with them myself and I wanted more information. During the class, our instructor said that she had an organic chemist in one of her previous classes. His job is to extract the protective part of the plant and make a synthetic version that they could patent and sell. These are our modern medicines and they are costly and many times we experience multiple side effects from taking them. Essential oils go straight to the source. The oil has been extracted from the plant and we use that oil to enhance our physical and emotional health without side effects. I love this scripture that talks about how God created the earth and the plants for us to use and benefit from, to strengthen our bodies and enliven our souls.

"All things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart; 
Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul."
              ~Doctrine and Covenants 59: 18-19

Our Creator knows us. He knows the earth and nature because he created them. He made our bodies so they can heal themselves and the earth to help us along that path of healing and wholeness.

 Another perk to essential oils is that when you're healing yourself naturally, it ends up being less expensive for you because you don't have doctors visits or expensive prescriptions etc. Now, all that being said, I've really only had experience with doTerra essential oils, I haven't experimented with other companies oils so I can't say how they compare.

After the class I bought the guide book, took it home, and studied the oils and found out which oils help with various symptoms. After looking at my family and our needs, I ordered about ten different oils, though I had a much longer 'wish list'. I'll probably get a few more for Christmas :). Here are a list of the oils I've been using so far with a brief explanation on what and how we've been using them. The first two are oil blends, the rest are single oils. The ones with stars in front of the name are my personal favorites where I've seen the most impact. But like I mentioned, I'm still pretty new to the oils, I've only been using them for the past 6 months, so who knows, through time I may have stars next to many more once I've had more experience with a variety of oils. Like Wintergreen...I probably won't know until my next dentist appointment if it's working or not :); read what I wrote for Wintergreen for an explanation.

*On Guard: kids got sick and were feverish while at the beach this summer. I rubbed this on their feet with some coconut oil, several times during the day and it didn't even last 24 hours.

*Breathe: I used this for myself and for kids and hubby when we had a cold/cough/congestion. I put it behind my ears and a little under my nose and it helped to clear things up. I rub it on my kids chest when they're congested with a little coconut oil (like you would with vapor rub)

*Peppermint: Scott uses this for headaches. It's also a great fever reducer. peppermint brought down nora's fever from 103 to 101 within 20 minutes after we rubbed some on her neck and spine... we didn't give her anything else since it brought her down to a 'safe' temperature. We didn't want to give her something like ibuprofen if we didn't have to, which would make her body stop fighting and numb symptoms temporarily.

Eucalyptus: with a little coconut oil to massage on scott's back when he's tense or has any aches and pains.

Ginger and Wild Orange: When we drove to NC if I started to feel a little motion sick I'd smell ginger or wild orange. I also have cooked with ginger; adding one drop to my liquids for my granola recipe.

Lemon and Wild Orange: great in smoothies. Wild Orange is rejuvenating and invigorating. Just smelling it makes you feel energized. Lemon is great for cleaning when mixed with water and vinegar.

Wintergreen: drop a couple of drops in some warm water as a mouth wash because I've always gotten lots of cavities over the years and it's an antiseptic.

Grapefruit: helps curb appetite. I put a drop in a glass of water in late afternoon when feeling hungry.

*Melaleuca(tea tree): we've used tea tree oils, not just from doTerra, a couple of times now for a couple of different children that had moloscum contangiosum(kinda like warts; on stomach, chest area). Charles had it a few years ago and dr said it'd just go away on it's own after a couple of months. Well a couple of months turned into a year and it spread and got worse. Then advised that I bring him in to have them frozen off like with normal warts. I remember getting warts frozen off as an adult and it was not pleasant. I did some research and we tried tea tree oil and after applying it every day for a week or two, they turned red, got a little bigger with a white top and then popped. He didn't complain or whine as I put them on, except maybe the very last day right when it was about to pop he said 'ouch' as I put it on but nothing worse than that. Same thing happened to two-year-old Nora recently with same results.  Tea tree is great for any wart, acne etc.

*Frankincense and Lavendar: I made my own face lotion/balm that I love and use every morning and night after I wash my face. I used to get acne for a few days around 'my time of the month' but I haven't since I started using this!  Frankincense is anti-inflammatory, anti-infectious, antiseptic, anticancer, soothes skin and nerves and is known for it's anti-aging effects. Lavendar helps reduce inflammation and allergic reactions in skin. Also helps skin recover from various injuries and infections and helps reduce conditions related to dry skin. Antifungal, antihistamine, anti-infectious, antiseptic and more. I also use Lavendar for my allergies and I have a foot scrub I've made with lavendar, coconut oil and epsom salts.

Here are a couple of recipes I use and love:

Face balm recipe
1/4 organic coconut oil
5 drops frankincense
3 drops lavendar
Whip together with a spoon and store in a jar.

Lavendar coconut hand/foot scrub
1 c coconut oil
1/2 c epsom salt
10 drops lavendar essential oil

General Conference Weekend

General Conference was this past weekend. I laminated Conference Bingo cards for the kids last year that I keep in a 'general conference' file, which they used again. I bought 'honest' brand cheerios for them to use as bingo markers (I did not want them loaded on sugar. Cheerios, or any cereal is a HUGE treat at our house). I had also printed out some extra coloring pages from last year that were filed with the bingo cards so conference prep this year was easy peasy :). All I had to do was buy some fun snacks: cheerios, granola bars with chocolate chips(I think it was a kashi brand or something similar), and Annie's fruit snacks (sweetened with fruit juice).

We were able to watch all four sessions, two on Saturday and two on Sunday, though we did miss the first few minutes Saturday as we drove back home from Annabelle's soccer game.

Saturday evening, Charles and Scott went to the priesthood session and ate dinner at Chipotle. While they were out I took the girls to Ann Brown's house for a 'ladies night' in :). Probably about 12-15 women showed up and our kids played while we visited and ate some finger foods we had all brought to share.

The men in our ward had been working on a push-up challenge over the past month and after the priesthood session, some of them came over to our house for a push-up competition. They had to do as many 'man' push-ups as they could in a row without getting up. I love seeing them all in their white shirts and ties, doing push-ups. Priesthood power! :)

Elder Bassett (standing on the right) won and was awarded a Chipotle gift card :). Scott did 55 push-ups and came in third. Good job!

Sunday morning of General Conference we always have a brunch and we invited all four missionaries over from our ward so we had a bigger brunch crowd. We had pumpkin pancakes (made by Scott), German Pancakes and Turkey sausage (made by Elisabeth and Charles), and Green Smoothies and 100% whole wheat and spelt cinnamon rolls (made by me :) and they are AMAZING! You can find the cinnamon roll recipe here.). We waited to have the cinnamon rolls until halfway through the first session of conference, Sunday morning.

Elder Lavaka is from Tonga and Scott was able to get conference up on the laptop for him so he could listen and watch in Tongan.

The missionaries just stayed for the Sunday morning session and then took off. Once they left we went for a walk outside since it was gorgeous and then came back in for the final session. The kids cut out pictures from old Friend magazines during the morning session and then made them into collages during the afternoon session, which is a fun tradition they've done for years.

I could really feel the spirit during conference, even with my five kids and all their noise :). They actually did really well and weren't too loud and we did get Nora, our 2 and 1/2 year old to nap during the afternoon sessions on both days which helped :). I have set a couple of personal and couple/family goals. I love that about conference; that it uplifts and inspires people to become better disciples of Christ.

LDS Temple, hair and other random pictures

As I went through my pictures Sunday, there was just a whole lot of random and I didn't know how to categorize them into separate posts so I'm not going to do that. Here are random pictures from last week with explanations.

I took this picture of Elisabeth after church one Sunday so we could document her cute side french braid that ended with the fishtail braid. Note to self: next time take picture before church so hairs are all in place :).

Scott got a bunch of dry erase markers from work with magnets attached to the lid. We have a couple on the fridge so the kids can mark their chore charts and I have one on my giant magnetic dry erase calendar, and then Scott had the brilliant idea to stick them in our bathrooms so we could write each other notes on the bathroom mirrors :). Charles asked me to remind him, on his mirror, to fix his hair in the mornings, so I did and then I added a nice note. This is our messy bathroom (and bedroom in the background). Notice my Doterra essential oils on the counter there. I LOVE them! I'll have to do an entire post on them one day.

 The kids had a half day on Friday (we only get four in the school year), so we went with our friends, the Burton's, to an apple orchard where we got apple's, apple cider and apple cider donuts and let the kids pet the horses and watch the chickens. It was fun, but hot! It's Fall now; we're looking forward to cooler days ahead. I can't wait to pull out my boots, jeans and sweatshirts! Heaven!

 I went to the LDS temple Saturday morning which is something I do every month and I LOVE it! I feel so peaceful and happy and it really helps to remind me why we're here and what life's all about. Anyway, so I've been to this temple about 12 times now since we moved here last year and this was my first time making it there without using GPS! :) I'm a bit directionally challenged. But in my defense, GPS has taken me three different ways and each route you take 2-3 different freeways and it's about a 40 minute drive when I go early, early Saturday mornings so it's not like it's in a familiar area that I regularly drive. I, in fact, only go down to that area to go to the temple...and then I like to stop at the Trader Joe's on the way home since that's down there as well; I wish we had one closer!

 Sunday afternoon Elisabeth asked if we could make a treat. We looked at our ingredients and decided to make shortbread cookies even though they're more of a December/Christmas treat. Only three ingredients in these cookies but WOW, they are amazing! (and not good for you! Those three ingredients are white flour, though we used unbromated, brown sugar, and a pound of butter!)

 And my last random picture: Jane and Nora with their braids. Desi watched my girls last week while I went into the school to volunteer and when I came back to pick them up, all the girls hairs were in braids, which was a fun surprise since I've never done Jane's hair in a braid before because I always thought it was too short. Jane was so happy! So you can imagine, she has requested that hairstyle every day since. Thanks Desi :). This is a picture I took later in the week when I did Jane's hair in a braid in the back and put a headband braid on Nora since she has SO many bangs and they're always in her face. But her headband braid didn't stay long. Within a few hours most of the hairs were out...her hair is still so soft and thin it doesn't stay put very well.