It must be Christmas!!!

Well I must say that I really do love Christmas time. We have been very busy and sometimes I wonder if I will actually get everything completed before the big day. So here is some things I Love about Christmas ( In no particular order).
1. Christmas Music: Tonight we went to Haylies Choir Concert and they sang all x-mas music. It was really good.
2. Decorations
3. Treats: Someone brought me some yummy almond Rocha tonight and I love it.
4. Parties: Thursday we went to the Dentist office party and saw a musical play called White Christmas. I really liked it but Ty thought it was Boring. We had Prime Rib for dinner though and he thought that was good.
5. Shopping: Who doesn't love shopping.
6. Spending time with family: I am excited for everyone to get together.
7. Remembering the birth of our Savior and what Christmas is all about.

In December it is also Olivia's Birthday on the 7th so we had a party of little girls. It was pretty fun. We painted a sun catcher and did our nails with decals and everything. Then we had Pizza and cupcakes . Then we opened a few presents and played Christmas bingo.
It was fun but a little noisy with 8 extra girls. Olivia turned 9 this year and she got a DS for her present.
She is growing up fast. When she was born they dressed her in a little red sock to bring her home. She has lots of dark hair and is a special part of our family. Olivia is right on the ball with her school work and her teacher tells me that she keeps her and the class on task. She always wants a friend to play with and is a good big sister to Raegan who is always willing to do what Livy tells her to do.

Chase has been very busy with his first year of Jr. High Wrestling. They just had the conference Tournament which he placed 2nd. He was a little disappointed about losing the championship to Chase Wasia from Blackfoot. He is a good wrestler and Chase Lemons has beat him 3 out of
5 times this year. This is them on the Podium. One where Chase L took 1st and one where Chase W. took 1st. I am glad to see the season come to an end for a few months. It is alot to do every week but I am glad Chase still loves it. He is getting very sound in his ability and just keeps getting better. He has made some good friends and likes to keep busy with it. We are proud of him for being committed to it and for having such a good season.

Chase and Jacom Stacey.

Chase as the Champ!

Chase's team before a home match!

Computer Down! Annoying!!!!

I know i haven't posted in a while and the reason is because my computer doesn't work. I had to come to Tasha's to borrow hers. I never realized how much I use the computer until it is not accessible. So annoying that i can't get my stuff done. We have been very busy still I can't believe how fast the holidays are coming. I am excited though. I still love Christmas even though I am old. Well I will post more as soon as my computer is back in service.

What's for Dinner?????

Some of my sisters know that I do a monthy menu in advance so I always know whats for dinner. I started doing this in March and haven't missed a month since then because I have loved knowing whats for dinner everynight before dinner time. My kids even like it. They are always willing to put in an idea of their favorite food. Most of the time they like what we are having(except chase, he usually doesn't like anything but what he picks). So since they requested copies I decided to post it.
This is the menus for this week.
Monday : Shake and Bake pork chops and funeral potatos and corn
Tuesday: Sloppy Joes veggies with ranch
Wednesday: Pork stir fry
Thursday: Taco Salad
Friday: Pizza
Saturday: Chicken enchilada's
I have been getting smarter every month about the menu. Like if you have pork chops on Monday I cook enough to have the meat already cooked for Wednesday's Stir fry. Also when I cook the meat for the Sloppy Joes I will cook enough hamburger for Thursday's Taco Salad. Sometimes we have a date on friday night so I try to make that something the kids can make if I am gone. Also tonights potatos were leftovers from yesturday.
I now take my menu to the grocery store and so we usually have everything we need.
I am sure some of you already have a system and I always like feedback so let me know.
This seriously makes my weeks easier, isn't half the trouble with dinner what to have? I hope this gives you some ideas.

First Day of School: A Monumental Year!

School is in and this was definitely a year to remember. Haylie started High School, Chase started Junior High, Olivia went to 3rd grade and Raegan went to 1st Grade. Am I getting old or what?

I thought it was bitter sweet. Bitter because of the age thing and that Haylie is officially a teenager, and sweet because it means all my kids are in school all day this year.

For the first couple of weeks I was really enjoying my new found freedom but now it just seems like there is always something filling up my days.

I had this idea of what it would be like before hand, that I would get so much done with time to spare and I could go to do my workout everyday and clean the whole house and visit friends and read, cause when your kids are home who has time to read. I even bought a book so I wouldn't forget. I haven't even picked it up. My workout maybe gets done 3x per week. My whole house is never clean and each day I wonder where all my free time went. I guess I will have to work on a schedule or something. I decided I waste alot of time and I could do better. So if anyone has something that works for them that might work for me, I'm open to suggestions.

Anyway; all the kids are enjoying school and are doing pretty well. Livy of course doesn't have much trouble in school. She also has been asked to play on a little volleyball team in January so I am thinking about it. Raegan like to eat lunch at school and is enjoying being in all day, so that is fun. They are both taking dance lessons and enjoy it alot.

Chase is trying to keep up with 6 classes which is new for him but he likes it. He also has a girl that he likes. Her name is Danielle and it is so funny to see him a bit girl crazy for the first time. He is almost to playoff time of football and wrestling starts in October so he is in my opinion to busy for girls!

Haylie is busy on the Honey Bees. They had a Little girls clinic for a fundraiser and that kept her pretty busy for a few weeks. She had to make-up a little dance (thanks Tasha for helping her) and sell tickets. She has to attend most football games and they will be preforming at the homecoming game this Thursday so that will be fun for them. They have been working really hard so they can do a good job!

The first vacation is already here on Thurs and Fri of this week. Time goes by so fast it is hard to believe we are halfway through the first quarter.

These pics are taken in our entryway outside the first day waiting for the bus. Doesn't everyone look so grown up! We've come a long way since Haylie started school and I cried. I have to admit I wasn't crying this year! Is it bad to say I almost cheered? J/K

Summer Fun!!!!!

Well since my kids are going back to school in the morning i deiced to finish up with all the stuff we have done this summer(not including that which I already posted). This is things that I wanted to post but if I did it one at a time it probably wouldn't get posted so here it is.

WESTERN REGIONAL WRESTLING

It was really good this year for Chase! You need to place in the top 8 in the state to go so there is alot of good wrestlers there. It lasts a week long with 3 separate tournaments 3 different styles. The first one was the best for Chase he Placed 2nd in folk style only losing the championship match. AWESOME! He also placed 6th in freestyle .

We pull our camper down to Holt Arena and they let you hook up in the parking Lot. It was a fun week in between wrestling days we even got to go to Ross park.

Chase almost has this guy pinned!

4TH OF JULY

We went to the Idaho falls parade this year and Ty's parents met us there. Also Allison and Thomas Jen and Derek and kids and my mom. We all went to watch Haylie in the parade! She is in the Honey Bees and did a really good job in the parade. After that we went to the Lemons reunion and back to my moms for a swim party. It was a fun filled day finishing off with the fireworks (we just watch them fromTy's shop so we can get home fast) then we light our own fireworks at moms. Fun!

Mom and dad Lemons

Raegan and Olivia

Haylie, in the parade

Olivia and Raegan swimming

Next is Chase's Birthday

We went to Rigby Lake for his birthday and he did take 2 friends (Donny and Jacom) but for some reason I only got a picture of him with Haylie and Abbie! He turned 12 this year and he was at scout camp on his birthday so when he got back he wanted to go swimming.

Haylie, Abbie and Chase eating chips

Chase and his buddies at scout camp.

Camping Trip

We decided to go on one more camping trip before summer ended so we went to PinedaleWyoming and stayed on a very nice but cold lake! It was fun our friends Lorin and Nikki Pack have a cabin up there and we stayed at a campground right by there cabin. One day we got totally rained on so instead of playing in the Lake we went to this very nice swimming pool which is inside the High School there. (CRAZY) It was really one of the nicest pools I'd ever been to.

This is Haylie and Megan in the hot tub. It was only for people 14 or older so they thought it was cool that no kids could get in there and splash on them. I also enjoyed that part.

This is Chase and Donny by the submarine. They played tag around it and in it all afternoon.

So after we went swimming we went to pizza and they let these girls have there own private table. They thought they were so grown up. They loved it. The waitress gave them big cups and kept bringing them refills of orange pop. YUM!

Even Ty got in on the action of the water slide!(SO funny!)

There is a beaver pond right by Nikki's cabin and the boys had fun trying to figure out hoe to canoe with each other. It took them a little while before they learned how to not just go in a circle.

This is the kids by the lake. We parked our camper here. It was a very nice campground and right here by the beach. They could pull right up and pick us up on the boat. It was a good trip. We watched a movie in the camper one night and had some good food. We also saw a BiG Deer and a little deer and a beaver. Donny caught one little fish in the beaver pond and Chase, Olivia, and Raegan went tubing behind the boat. Thanks Nikki for inviting us to come.

RAEGANS BIRTHDAY

This is some of the kids who came.

It was just this past week on the 19Th and she had a party! The Hannah Montana movie came out the day before so she wanted to watch it on the big screen at moms. So we invited a few friends and had popcorn. We had meat and cheese and crackers for a snack and also starburst and skittles.

We opened a few presents and Raegan got a DS. I don't know who was more excited her or livy.

We Sang happy birthday and had a tower of cupcakes. MMMMMMMMMMM.

She blew out 7 candles!

This one she decorated herself.

Happy birthday Raegan!

Hollie Left Me!

Well It has been  a busy week and usually I rely on Hollie ! We help each other you know.  Well she moved last Wednesday and I've been a little lonely without them.  When we get school clothes we would go show them what we got and they would show us what they got. At registration they asked me if she would be there for PTO and I had to say no. They will miss her. It is hard to find such a volunteer as good as Hollie. She really puts thought and effort into all she puts her name on.  Livy can hardly stand not to invite Lauren over every day (even thou she can't come everyday she still invites her) .   And Raegan wants to have a birthday party and who will come if Savanna can't?  When we went to grandma's it was boring cause none of the Arfmann kids were there.  So I just wanted to write a little tribute to them and tell them it's not the same without them.  I will probably still call her for chants and poems and I will try to get the camera going so we can see them on skype. We miss ya!!!!!!!!!!!!

Haylie's "Extreme" Softball !!

E-X-T-R-E-M-E thats the way we spell extreme oh yeah extreme!

This is a cheer the girls would do at every game.  We had the fun summer watching Haylie play ball. I had to admit I was a little sad to see it come to an end.  What will we do on Tuesday and Thursday evenings now! 

Haylie had a great season.  She is a very consistent hitter with I think only 2 strike- outs the whole season.  She is a good infielder and outfielder as well.  Nicole Anderson was on her team this year and I liked that because we liked to sit by and cheer with Marci and Troy.  The kids like to go watch the games to or play on the 
toys  at the park.  

Nice Cleats!

Haylie goofing off before the game in her mirror

2nd place in the Rigby Tournament! Great Job !

Getting ready to bat!

The Pink Panthers!!

Well most of June before and after camp was spent with Olivia trying out softball for the first time in the Iona city league.

She was placed on a team that was not athletically inclined and the coach knew nothing about softball. Sherri Hatch was the coach and she owns Mrs. Powells and she asked me to be the assistant coach.
We didn't win many games in regular season but we were improving a lot each game.



Olivia was a very good 3rd baseman. She could get the balls and throw them home. Our pitcher Sydnee worked really hard and got very accurate by the tournament.




When tournament time came we lost the first game and then came all the way through the loser bracket to play for the championship. It was very exciting because we were tied for 3 innings straight. We had to play 2 extra innings and the



other team finally beat us by one run. It was rewarding to see how much all the girls improved and they were definitely the best cheerleaders in the dugout. Way to go Livy and the Pink Panthers!

Born To Be Bold Girls Camp

Girls camp was so much fun this year. I was the camp director so I was a little worried about how it would all turn out. Because of Dad's motorbike accident I felt like I was putting alot of things together t the last minute. But it turned out super and we all had a great time. I loved how all the girls got along so well and we had good food so that was important.


We are all so nice and clean this first picture the day we left. These 3 new YW so excited for their first year at camp.
We painted shirts and it was fun to see how creative everyone was. The theme was born to be bold and our gem was a pearl so we called ourselves the "Pearl Gems" and we made up alot of cute chants and songs.

This is our flag that We made out of cute fabric and vinyl letters. We also put pearl beads on safety pins and gave them to other wards with some pearls of wisdom. Thew were pinned to our flag until we gave them away. Our color was white wich I thought was lame so we made our flag pink with white letters because we were being bold.

We had 16 Girls there the whole week and I think they are all awesome and unique. We went to Darby girls camp which I think is the best place to go to camp. The spirit is definately with us up there. It is truely a place where testimonys can grow and be strengthened. I appreciate the opportunity to serve as the camp director and even though it is hectic getting gone and making arrangements for my family I know i have been blessed for going.

This is everyone Brianne, Haylie, Morgan, Cielle, Megan, Brielle, Keilei, MacKenzie, Brittany, Rochelle, Bryce, Kalli, Amee, Chelsey, and McKayla and Calli who was sleeping during this photo. Thanks for the good time girls!!

Memorial Day

Well our family has a tradition on Memorial day. We all go to the Milo cemetary at 10am to see the gaurd honor the Vets and shoot the guns. They also play taps on the trumpet. The kids really like the gun part and then picking up the shells afterward.
On this day we were all there but Hollie's family, they went to Salmon for a reunion. We like to see the graves decorated and teach our kids to honor their grandparents and those who have passed on before us. Then we go to mom and dads for a breakfast. we all help do the cooking and clean up. we used to go out to breakfast but you can see there is way to many of us now to do that. Our Family can fill up a whole restaurant. This is my parents and my brother and sisters all but Hollie. We always have fun when Jennifer and Allison can come for a visit. This time Braxton brough Rock band and that was a fun time for all who played.

This is my family I don't know what chase is looking at but I decided we need more pics with just our own fam. Even though Ty doesn't like to get them.

These are the kids by Grandpa and Grandma cooks Grave.

This is all the kids who were there. But Jacob and Braxton and Haylie and Emily don't consider themselves kids anymore.

We always have such a fun day and Me and my family really enjoy just hanging out. Thanks to my extended famly for making it fun.

We have a "Champ" in our midst

Well as most of you know we went to Bosie last weekend for the Kids State Wrestling Tournament. Chase has been doing really good in his wrestling matches this year so we thought he would do pretty good. And he did Awesome!! He Won all his matches on both days of the tournament to be named the champ in the State of Idaho in the Novice 85 pound bracket. He had alot of good matches but this last one was definately the most intense.
This is Chase signing his the winning bout sheet.




This is them just getting started. Chase had wrestled and beat this kid before at a Kuna tournament so he was ready for him. He beat Chase in the first round 7-3. Then in the second round Chase pinned him to win the match!








This is some intense coaching from the sidelines.
Ty has really enjoyed being the coach at the Bonneville wrestling club. Chase doesn't even want to wrestle if Ty can't come and sit in his corner. What a great Dad for making the time so they could do it together. I don't know who was prouder whe he won Chase or Ty!