These are a few things I've been working on. Trying to keep busy.

Mixed feelings this week. Sending Alisa off to college is bringing out all kinds of emotions! So excited for her to start this stag of life. I know if she will let down her gaurd a bit, she will have a lot of fun. I am also a little sad and emotional about her leaving me. She has been such a help and joy to me. I must admit, that when she was born I wasn't sure that I would make it with all the crying and not sleeping through the night for the first year or so. But here we are. The Lord blessed me by sending her to me first, because I was young and had more energy. I could go much longer with no to little sleep! :)

How I love all my children! Each one brings something different to our family. Alex will be next to leave the nest, and I'm not sure I'm ready to deal with that either. I guess we will soon find out.

Amber and Alex Prom 2011. They really do make a cute couple.

This is Amber, she and Alex went to Prom last week. They had a big group that all went out together. That is the best way to have fun! Everyone looked so beautiful, oh, and handsome!

LDS Afterglow - I'm going home lyrics slideshow

Wow!!! I'm shouting to the world. Alisa received a $2000 scholarship!!! It is a great blessing in our life. We still have more to do to pay for her school, but this is a great help.

Last Sunday the family went up to Logan to pick Alisa up. She was staying with her cousin and taking a look at Utah State University. That is one of the colleges she will be choosing from. Anyway, we went up the canyon and my nephew Lance took some family photos. They turned out great! It was such a great time spending time with family. Getting out away from our every day life. We all get so busy with school, work etc. We needed time to just be a family!

Alex went to his homecoming dance this weekend, and had a fun time. But as I started thinking about how he has grown up. When he was little he would say, "Mom you're beautiful." When he got a little older he would ask, as I was getting ready to help out in the school, "You look nice today. Why are you getting so dressed up?" I guess getting dressed up consitted of putting makeup on and combing or doing my hair. :) Now he doesn't say much of anything like that to me, and I kind of miss it. But he always gives me a hug and a kiss on the cheek when he leaves for school or when he gets home from work, and I love it! My little boy is growing up to be a very handsom young man.

Alex won the 5 K!

Katherine is TWELVE

Katherine turned 12 on Tuesday! Wow! that means her dad is getting old. I never age, at least that's my story. She went to her first Young Women activity yesterday. It was standards night and I think she had fun and hopefully learned about some of the things she needs to do to live a morally clean life, that will bring her home to live with her Heavenly Father. She is a great girl. A little awkward at times, but she loves life and tries to be her own person. Sometimes that can be good, and other times just a little weird, but she is who she is, and that's okay. Got to love my little girl!

Wow! so many things to do last week. Day 1 Sun. pretty normal, I didn't go to stake conference, so I guess it wasn't really that normal. I have been trying harder to do the things that I'm suppose to do. And going to my church meetings is one of those things.

Day 2: Mon. Gaylen leaves for Boise. He has guard duty all this week. I guess I'm a single parent again for the week.

Day 3: Tues. Katherine is home sick. She was suppose to go to choir and band practice after school of coarse when you stay home from school you can't do these other thins.

Day 4: Wed. Can't seem to get Kat or Emma out of bed. Emma whines the whole time because Kat stayed home and she doesn't get too. I have a marching band kick off meeting with Alex at the high school. Talk about overwhelming! $400 just to be in the marching band, and another $1400 to go on their trip to Texas to play in the Cotton Bowl. It really is a big deal, but oh my goodness that's a lot of money.

Day 5: Thurs. The week is almost over. I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I take a couponing class that night. Katherine has her 12 old birthday interview with the bishop. Katherine tells me she has a report due on Fri. She has a report and poster due. The report has to be 3 pages! She hasn't even started on it yet. When I get home, she is still working on it, that would be because she wasn't working on it while I was gone. This is a big cause of my frustration, and concern.

Day 6: Fri. I saw the light for a second and then someone shut the curtains, no more light. I substituted at the charter high school. They were loud. put me in a bad mood. However, I did take the kids to Cafe Rio for dinner. And after they stopped arguing it was a pretty good experience.

Day 7: Sat. I sleep in Alisa takes Alex to his high school for a band competition. I have a hard time getting moving but I finally get out of bed when Alex calls to come pick him up. I work on my bedroom most of the day. But I still don't get done. (It is really bad! My room that is.) Katherine is still working on her report. I am working on my lesson for my primary class.

Starting all over again. Sun. my back is hurting and I don't go to choir practice. I go to church ready to teach my lesson, and only one person in my class showed. I was going to go to my Sunday school class, but one of the other teachers didn't show up so I took over for them and taught that class. They were a pretty good class, it wasn't too bad.

Gaylen didn't leave Boise till 5 p.m. So he got home pretty late. I stayed up waiting of coarse. We didn't get to bed tell about 11:30.

It's now Monday and I'm substituting all week for the same teacher. Alisa is in New York City this week hopefully having the time of her life! I am hoping of a great week.

Spring is upon us. We have had 70 degree weather two days in a row! With spring comes yard work, allergies, and for me sun burns. If I'm out in the sun for more than 10 min. I get red. So a little at a time for me.

At the end of March Rockwell High School hard prom. Both Alisa and Alex went. They had a group of 6 kids that all went together. They came to our house and had a nice sit down dinner and then went to get ready. And left for the dance. I have to admit they looked beautiful and the boys sure looked hansom.

I've been working hard to get some jewelry done so I can start a boutique before Valentine's day. I am also making Watch bands to sell in an online store. I hope I am able to reach my goals.

The kids are doing well and are healthy. Katherine is having a bit of a hard time remembering to turn in her school work. Not sure what to do about that. She scores very high on achievement test, but it is not showing in her school work. We will be working really hard to help her with what we can.

Emma will be 8 years old at the end of the month. She is so excited to be baptized. She ask every day if her grandmas are coming for her birthday and when they are coming. She stays very busy. And sometimes I wonder if she will ever stop talking. Loves to talk.

Life is crazy at our house. Getting everyone where they need to be, when they need to be there. I usually am the one that carts them around because of Gaylens schedule at work.

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I got up early today and went to the BYU invitational to watch Alex run. He is doing an excellent job. He came in 66th of all the freshman and sophomores. Not quit sure how many runners total, but there were a lot. he had a time of 20:07. That makes it a 6:28 Min/Mi. He has been working really hard. I think he will be a great runner. This is his first year of Xcountry. I think if he keeps working this hard he will go far.

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School starts next week. Alisa starts on Monday and the other kids start on Thursday. Alex has been doing cross country practices for over a month and has been doing quit a good job. Alisa and Alex will be going to two different high schools. Alisa is continuing at Rockwell Charter High School and Alex is going to West Lake High School. I think it's just a ploy to keep me running the whole school year.

Katherine starts 6th grade and Emma will be in 2nd grade. They are just dying to find out who their teacher will be. They find out on Monday.

Gaylen is working days again and likes it a lot better. We wish he could stay on days all the time.

Life is giving us challenges and we are working hard to stay possitive. A friend of mine wrote on her face book page that she just wanted to give up. I reminded her that its the strong that keep going. And we were strong women. The hard part is going through the trials to find out just how strong we really are!