Look who's walking!

Scott took his first steps on Saturday night! He isn't quite walking all on his own yet, but he is well on his way! He is super cute!

My Army of ROBOTS!

Joshua is going to have a robot (Wall-e) party! And so I made these robots as the invitations. They "print" out the information. (which is roled up on a long piece of paper inside the bot.) They turned out really cute. It should be a fun party!

Breanne's Dance Recital!

Breanne's Dance Recital went well. She loved all the attention! She bowed in the middle of the stage, until the curtains were closed! She has a lot of fun doing dance, and this time around was even funner because her cousin Niamh did it with her. They both did a great job!

OUR BIG NEWS!!!

JARED IS FINALLY DONE WITH SCHOOL!

Jared defended his thesis on Friday! He got his Master's Degree in Computer Science from BYU. It is such a great accomplishment, and I am so proud of him! Thank you to Linda, who baby-sat the kids so that I could go with him, and watch him do his presentation. He did a great job! And now there is one less thing that he has to think about. No more school. We had everybody come over that night and had dinner. Jared did BBQ spared ribs and BBQ chicken in the dutch ovens. And everybody brought sides. It was very good, and it was a fun celebration. you can't really see any of the decore in this picture, but I had it all decorated with "Congratulations" signs. It was a really great day! We have been looking forward to it for a long time. CONGRATULATIONS JARED! I AM SO PROUD OF YOU! AND I LOVE YOU!

The LOOT!

Here's the kids enjoying their "loot"! (When I was a kid, it seemed that the best part of Halloween was when you got home, and surveyed your nights work.)

Halloween

Halloween was fun this year! Jared was the headless horsemen, who then has a pumpkin head. I was a princess with Breanne. Joshua was a doctor, Eli was a dracula, and Scott was Super Baby! It was fun to get dressed up. And it was awesome that the weather was so great! Plus daylight saving hadn't been done yet so it was still light out when we started. It was a good Halloween, but I'm glad that it is over because my kids always get spooked around Halloween time, and we have more "come-into-Mom's-bed-because-I'm-scared" during the night. So I'm glad that it is over, so that we can (hopefully) get over being scared. (At least until next year!)

SOME FUN "MOM" QUOTES

"If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?"
--Milton Berle

"Having a toddler is like having a bowling alley installed in your head."
--Marin Mull

"You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at her parents every time around -- and why her parents will always wave back."
--William D. Tammeus

"You can learn many things from having children. How much patience you have, for instance."
--Franlin P. Jones

"A baby makes love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankrolls smaller, homes happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for."
--Author unknown

"Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother."
--Lin Yutang

Thank you to Janice, who gave me this sweet little quote book about parenthood. I cry almost every time I read through it.

By Small and Simple Things....

So my sister suggested a mothering book to read, and my mom got it for me for mothers day. It is a really good book called, "Mothering with spiritual power." By Debra Sansing Woods. It takes scriptures and likens' them to motherhood. The whole book is great, but the one concept that has continually jumped out to me, and the one that I thought I could share with all you other busy mom's is this:
Remembering the By Small-And-Simple-Things Philosophy
"Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise."
-Alma 37:6
The chapter goes on to explain how to apply this concept in mothering. And now instead of getting frustrated with the messy kitchen, and thinking "this is overwhelming, and to much." I think...."I will just clean this part of the counter, or just sweep the floor...etc." I try to apply it whenever I feel overwhelmed. Just to take it one step at a time. And it really works, eventually everything does get done. But it keeps me from going crazy at the forefront.
The book is much more in depth, but I just thought I'd try to explain this concept of thinking. It has helped me, maybe it will help you.
I sure look up to all of you other moms out there. It is really nice to know that everyone is experiencing similar things being moms, and I always find strength in reading your blogs, and hearing your stories!
Love Julie!

Almost Walking!

I can't believe that Scott is almost walking! Here he is using the toy as support. It is not to many more days now before he is going full on! Crazy how fast they grow! He is doing so well. He is so cute!

This was the cake that I entered for the Cake Contest for the ward party. The party was really fun. I couldn't believe how awesome people's costumes were! I especially loved the "Bacon and Eggs" (A young couple in the ward... and the wife is pregnant, so she was the egg, and cut out around her tummy was the yolk. I forgot my camera, or I would have pictures.) I also loved the "Mary Poppins and the Chimney Sweep guy" (sorry that I don't know his name.) But they looked almost just like they walked off the movie set! And there was an "Iron Man" guy, who looked so cool. He said that he spent 2 months putting together this thing that looked just like the real thing. Amazing! People are so creative!

Halloween!

Our ward held a Halloween party, so we get a preview of everyone's costumes. Eli is so cute, he won an award at the party! And he is only wearing his church close, with a black cape, and spiky hair. Maybe it helped that just before we got there, he had been sucking on a blue sucker, so it made his mouth all blue, and really added to the effect.

Pumpkin Carving!

Here it is... Pumpkin Carving! It is always so much fun! The kids love this! Of course, Mom was too busy carving everyone else's pumpkin, and didn't get to carve hers until the next day. The kids had a great time going to the store and picking "their" pumpkin, and then carving them. I would love to grow them one year in our own garden.

Crazy Hair Day!

Breanne had Crazy Hair Day at school. And she thought it was so awesome! We weren't able to go to crazy, but she really just wanted to have (are you ready...) tape in her hair. So instead of using a hair tie, we made those ponytails using tape. I told it would hurt coming out, but she insisted it wouldn't and demanded it be done. So there ya go. (And she was right...it didn't hurt coming out.)

Dutch Oven BBQ Spare Ribs!

Is your mouth watering yet? Jared made delicious BBQ Spare Ribs for an Elders Quarm party. He also made some "test runs" a couple weeks prior. So we've been eatn' good round here!

Halloween Decor

It's kinda hard to get a good picture of the house, and all the decorations in detail, but you get the idea. What's cool, is that the "bush ghost" lights up at night! It is fun to decorate the house for holidays.

PUMPKIN LAND!

The preschool always goes to Pumpkin Land for the field trip in October! I'm so glad, because I don't know if I'd be able to find the time otherwise. And the kids love it. It was a lot of fun this year! We had great weather, and the kids loved to see all the fun things!

Breanne's Birthday!

Breanne is 4!!! And she had a princess party! (My sister took pictures of the "friend" party that we had with all of her little friends... so I will have to post those later.) But this was the party we had with the family. It was a lot of fun. She sure is a "girly-girl". She wanted the new "Barbie Diamond Castle" movie and doll, and got both! She loved all her presents! And I made a "princess castle" cake that turned out looking pretty cool. And I took the opportunity to buy a bunch of goodies (all the things that I normally do not buy, but want to buy!) It was a fun (and yummy) party! Happy Birthday Breanne!

Brent is home!

My brother, Brent came home from his mission! He served in Washington D.C. on a deaf mission. (He is deaf) We all went up to the airport and then went out to dinner! It is great to have him home, and it was fun to hear about his exeriences on his mission. Good work Elder Mortensen! And Welcome Home!

Eli's Birthday!

Yup! It's Birthday week for the Jardine's. Between Grandma, cousins, and our kids, we have a ton of birthday's clumped together! And Eli's went really well! He is so cute! The big 2!! He had a dinosour themed party. I made a dinosour cake, and we had everybody over for a party! He loved all of his presents, and got lots of cool things! Happy Birthday Eli!

Happy Birthday Linda!

Janice had the great idea of going out to lunch with just the gals for Linda's birthday! We went to Olive Garden, and had a great time! Happy Birthday Linda!

Joshua's first field trip!

Joshua had a lot of fun on his first field trip! It was also his first ride on a school bus! We went up the canyon and did some fun activities, and went on a hike. I was so glad that I was able to come. It was a great time.