Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

I LOVED this little movie clip. It gives me hope when I feel like I'm failing as a mom. It helps remind me what my purpose here on earth is. Please watch it and share it with all the awesome moms out there. It brought tears of JOY to my eyes. YOU are wonderful!

Camping and Boating with Friends

A few weekends ago we were able to get together with a bunch of friends from High School and go camping! We camped at Downatta Hot Springs and boated at Twin Lakes. It was such a good time and the weather was perfect!

This snake was crossing our path on the way to the bathroom. ICK!

All the gang! A good friend, Darren, was in an accident right after graduation. He was my date to Senior Prom. He is now paralyzed, but it doesnt stop him from coming out and having fun! The guys loaded him in the boat and he was a trooper the whole camping trip! Glad you could come Woody!

My husband has turned me somewhat into a water rat! And although Im not a good swimmer and I am 5 months pregnant, I just HAD to get in the water and go for a ride. I figured tubing would be less dangerous than wakeboarding (even though i was dying to strap a board on!) and so YES, i did go for a few tube rides and I was very safe! Here's a few pics.

Chad wakeboared, but I was driving the boat for the first time pulling him so i didnt get any pictures. Darn. Everyone was impressed with how good he is!

Here's our campsite.

Me and my best bud, Aub. It was SO great to take a mini vacay with you! And the best part was that my parents kept Carter for the weekend so we could have some nice quality adult time! Wish it would have been longer, but all in all it was a wonderful trip!

Called to Serve

My 2nd youngest brother Jordan has been called to serve in the Dallas TX Spanish speaking mission and he leaves to the MTC tommorow. Jordan is the strongest kid i know. He is the definition of virtue and strength. He has endured many trials with his health over the last 2 years and it is a miracle he is getting to serve a mission. Rock Dallas' world Jordy!

The fam at his farewell dinner.

2 future missionaries. I hope these boys look up to their uncle Jordan and strive every day to be like him.

Best of buds, Carter and Ryker ready to go to church.

Those who came to the temple when Jordan recieved his endowments. Such a special day when you can be in the temple with your family!

Proud momma and Pop.

We tried to plan one last camping/boating trip before he left to Lucky Peak, but due to bad weather we had to cancel and "camped out" at mom and dads. We played games for 2 days straight and ate tons of food. Saturday afternoon we went to Sligars in Hagerman for some good ol swimming. It was a blast. Heres Justin (my older brother), his wife Carrie and Son Ryker.

The fam...minus Tony and Monse who are in California.

Carter as always at family gatherings is being chucked through the air.

Carter and Chad in the pool.

We will miss you tons Jordan, but know you are going to serve the Lord and help bring people to this wonderful gospel. I love you lots and wish you the best!

Memorial Day Hymas Reunion

We had a great time at the Hymas Family Reunion this year. We went to Heppner OR which was about an 8 or 9 hour drive for us and Carter was a champ while we drove in the car. Thank heavens for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!

It rained the first few days we were there, but finally on Sunday we got a nice day so we did lots of trail riding. Chad had a blast. He told me on the way home he thought he could trade his boat in for a dirt bike! If you know Chad, he has a HUGE love for wakeboarding so I was really suprised he said that. I think he had a great time riding with the BIG BOYS.

Yes I even got a few rides in, by this point on the trail, my bladder was about to explode from having a baby bounce on it. I hope she enjoyed the bumpy ride!

Heres most of the gang out on our ride.

Clyde and Evelyn (Chad's mom and dad) even tagged along.

Chad and his dog Goofy.

Carter LOVED the motercycles and 4-wheelers and constantly wanted to be on them whether they were moving or not.

When it rained we piled in the camper and played Sing Star on PS2

Carter man in his riding gear

What would we do without wonderful neices and nephews who loved playing with Carter! Kaylie pushed Carter on this bike for hours every day! They helped make the trip more enjoyable for me!

IT'S A.......

GIRL!!!!

Yes that is right, we are expecting a sweet baby girl! She was not shy at all to flash us her girl parts but it was impossible to get a picture of her face. She was just curled up in a tight little ball. SO CUTE! Chad and I are very excited! Thanks for all your votes....Those 11 of you who voted girl, YOU WIN! Watch for our next poll for girl names. we are having a tough time but so far this is what we have come up with...
Brynlie May (May is after my Grandma)
Tenley ???
Mirissa ?????
If anyone has any cute suggestions please pass them on!

Bountiful Basket

A few of you wanted me to report how my first Bountiful Basket experience went. If you dont know, in Twin Falls, and many other Idaho and Utah cities, a group of volunteers get together and buy fresh produce at deep discounts and sell it at certain pick up spots for $15 a basket! For more info go to bountifulbaskets.org (not .com). You do have to pre pay with a credit card and there is a $3 fee for your first time, but never again. There are no obligations to buy again and you can just order when you want. If you want a basket for Saturday (the next pick up day), you have to order and pay by Tuesday.

So anyways, I was VERY suprised with how much stuff i got! I was really unsure if it was going to be a better deal than just buying it at Winco, but 1) its fresher and 2) YES it is cheaper!

This is what i got:
1 head of leaf lettuce
1 lb. of strawberries
1 little box of blackberries
1 coconut
9ish bananas
1 bag of baby carrots
3 large cucumbers
4 avacados
3 large oranges
9 tomatoes (roma)
2 yellow squash
9 peaches

Now can you get ALL of that for $15 at a store? Just the berries by themselves are atleast $6! The process was so easy and smooth, there was no waiting lines or big problems...(although the credit card orders didnt go through the 1st time and i had to go back and check out twice, but i didnt get charged twice). And as far as i can tell the produce is fresh and yummy. We did have 1 bad orange, and the peaches are hard, but they will ripen up soon i hope! If you have any more questions, let me know! I'd love to answer them!

Dirt, Dirt, Dirt

Well the time has arrived for us to start our yard...ugh. I love that Chad is so handy and can do these projects by himself to save us money, but sometimes I wish he would just PAY someone to do a few of these things! But it is something he enjoys doing and I am very greatful he can do it. I always wanted to marry a handyman and thats exactly what I got.
Due to all the wonderful weather we have had, it has taken way longer than it should have. We had one nice day last week so Chad came home from work at 10AM and it was me and him digging and filling trenches until 10PM! We really needed to get it done, so we just let Carter have a hay day in the dirt. He loved running in the trenches (which created more work for me beacause I had to go re-dig them out when the dirt would fall in!) Its not something I reccomend when you are 18 weeks pregnant. But Carter had a ball and now wants to play in the dirt every day. Who needs grass right?!

By the end of that night I couldnt even sit down I was so sore. I have a few hip problems now and then and I was miserable! And I thought I had strong hands from doing massage, but after hanging on to a shovel for a few hours proved that I am a true wimp. My arms felt like they were going to fall off. Luckily it didnt last long.

But enough complaning....we finally finished our sprinklers! YAY! Now the next steps are a flower garden, food garden, landscaping and grass! The next 6 weekends are packed with summer things already so who knows when we will actually be able to say we have a landscaped yard! Wish us luck on the next few weeks! We are learning a lot! I'll post a few pictures of our progress here and there.

PS We find out what we are having on MAY 27th! Be sure to cast your vote for girl or boy!