Labor Day - Haymore family reunion 2009

Apparently we only got our camera out for the pinata! Here are a few pictures. It was a fun reunion. Cooper loved playing with his cousins and Arlee loved having someone different holding her every second! I missed not having my parents there, it just wasn't the same! Flint loved getting to ride his 4-wheeler! Cooper cried when it was time to go home!

some of the gang!




Arlee and I...obviously I had slept in a tent and had not looked in a MIRROR!


Cooper hitting the pinata...alota good the blind fold is down around his NECK!

Hunter and Cooper! These two boys had a blast. I'm not sure who was dirtier or who ate more candy! I love that these two little boys like to play together! Hunter is my nephew Dagen's oldest son!


to CHANGE THE SUBJECT...
These are Arlee's 6 month pictures that I had printed for the house. It was so hard to decide! I am so in love with this girl!!!








ANOTHER subject change!
I LOVE this picture...there are just so many things wrong with it that it makes me laugh EVERY time!
She is sitting in her bumbo on the COUNTER swiggin DIET MT. DEW! I also love that her feet are on the jug too! PLEASE dont call CPS on me!haha

My Mamma's gonna be so proud of ME!

Okay, lets start at the very beginning--- two Sundays ago at Stake Conference our Stake President asked all of our stake to have a 3 month supply of food, water and medications by SEPTEMBER 30th. WOW WEE! Have you ever sat down and really thought about what it would take to have a full 3 month supply for FOOD? Talk about overwhelming! I was a little besides myself, but knew that it was something that we needed to do. The spirit was so undeniably strong when President Ostler asked this of our stake. Flint and I sat down and talked about how we were gonna do this and decided we needed a plan, cuz you just can go to the store and start buying all sorts of random things! So luckyfor me one of my good friends mom is the "food storage lady" in her ward and she gave me all sorts of great information. Flint and I made a plan and have been working for the past two weeks to obtain a 3 month supply. It has been a very interesting and a HUGE learning process for me. First we made a menu for two weeks, then figured out what ingredients we needed for all these meals and multiplied it by six...wow it was so amazing to figure out what we needed to have to feed our small family for three months!!! Flint has been building storage shelves, I have been VERY busy learning new things and think that just maybe I have a new hobby...here are some pictures of my most proudest (is that even a word?) accomplishments!

NOPE, not dog food, HAMBURGER! Yep I canned almost 40 lbs of hamburger! It looks so disgusting, but I just don't have a freezer big enough (who does?)for all the chicken, roast, fish, hamburger, veggies, ice cream, etc. for a thee month supply. So the hamburger got the boot from the freezer! I hear that is tastes just like chicken hahaha just kidding, I've been promised that I would never know it was canned when we eat it! We shall see.
pardon the photography, Flint was at a church meeting tonight when I wanted the picture taken!

I also figured out that you can can somethings with the "Food Saver machine", so the experimenting began...
here is some powdered milk...did you know that if you DON'T put a napkin or paper towel in the top of your jar of powdered milk before you dry can it, that it can cover an entire kitchen in a fine dust in a matter of a few seconds? Trust me on this!

potato flakes, pecans, and of course CHOCOLATE CHIPS! (I also did brown sugar, but was too lazy to go get it from the storage closet for a stupid picture)

My food storage would not have been complete without some CHOCOLATE!

YIPEE for me I learned how to can food and now I want to can EVERYTHING in sight!

The next items I want to can is chicken and beans. I really want a pressure caner of my own, maybe Santa Clause will some through for me! I do still believe!

As of today all we lack to finish is more chicken and frozen veggies, and a few more cases of water! YEE HA

HELP...I need help

Calling all my crafty friends, please help your craft challenged friend out!!!
I was just asked to be on a little committee for enrichment activities. I need some ideas for some crafts. (can be Halloween, Fall, Thanksgiving, or Christmas, or just as a gift or any craft idea!) I just have NO idea what new and cool things are out there, so I need your in-put. What did your ward do for Super Saturday etc... You can either leave me a comment or e-mail me at jan@fotosbyflint.com or of course call me! Please let me know ASAP our meeting is next week and I'm clueless.
also...I still work in YW with the Mia Maids, and if you have any Wednesday night activity ideas, they would also be GREATLY appreciated!
THANKS TONS!

I LOVE MY KIDS!!!

Here is a picture of Cooper on his 1st day of Kindergarten. I can't believe that my little boy is going to school. It is all day, so he is gone from 7:45 until 2:15! That is sooo long for him! He has had 3 days of school and everyday he comes home and lays on the couch and says "I'm gonna just relax for awhile" That is SO unlike him! He is asleep every night by 7:30 on his own free will! I'm still trying to figure out what to do while he is at school. He has consumed all my hours of the day for the past 5 years and now I feel so LOST!

He is very proud of his transformer lunch box. That is all he cared about. I kept asking him what he wanted to wear on the 1st day of school and he was like-"who cares! Do I get to take my Transformer lunch box to school?"


Arlee still takes 3 naps so I feel like I have so much free time. I feel like a free woman!!! I even started a BOOK! On Monday, I'm gonna go to HOBBY LOBBY with just a baby...I'm sooo excited! (yes, simple things like shopping without a kid that touches everything makes me happy!)

Here are some pictures of Arlee that Flint took for our friend Kelly. She owns a baby clothes company, and need a picture of a baby in this onesie! I LOVE this onesie and think that Arlee is the best model EVER! Her smile makes me smile!

Kelly's company can be found online at

itsybitsyhearts.com

This is my FAVORITE one!

I took Arlee to her 6 month Dr. visit this week and she weighed in at 14.1 lbs (7%) and is 26 inches long (85%). I guess that means she is tall and skinny for her age! I wish that was the case for ME!!! haha

Colorado

HOME AT LAST

What a crazy summer! Flint and I figured out that since the end of June we have been gone for 21 nights! I am so ready to stay home for a while...until Labor Day!

Our latest trip was to one of our favoritest places in the WORLD! It is this little town outside of Durango Colorado where it was about 55 degrees when we wake up each morning and tops out in the low 80s during the day. Beautiful! We always have a great time at the JACK REUNION. Cooper loves going because there is so many cousins to play with. (unlike my family were his cousins are having thier own kids!) We stayed for nine nights, YES, nine nights in our trailor, and I actually loved it! Its so nice to relax and hang out, with no place to be!

This year was extra fun cuz DeAnn and the twins got to go. It was great having them there! We can't wait until next year!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

AMAZING VACATION

I have put off blogging about this vacation for a week now, because it was so awesome and just way too much to tell...so feel free to just look at the pictures!

Sunday July 12th we (Me, Flint, Arlee, Ron, Maurine and Tracy) all left for Kansas City. We arrived there and went straight to get some good ol KC BBQ at Arthur Bryant's. It was yummy. Then we went to Independence MO. It was a very interesting place. My favorite (haha) was the 'tower' on top of the "other" churches temple. Ron said it looked like an ice cream cone. Flint called it the 'Tower of Babel'.

After we left there we went to Liberty MO to see Liberty Jail. It was so humbling to see the SMALL room that the Prophet and others were forced to stay in for about 5 months. They couldn't even stand up straight! I cant believe how unfairly treated they were!

After Liberty, we headed to Far West...a much happier place. It was so beautiful there. The temple corner stones are located on a hill that has an amazing view. I can't imagine how sad and frustrated the Saints must have been to be forced from such beautiful land. I could really feel the spirit at the temple site. I'm so glad that we visited Far West.

Our last stop before heading to Nauvoo was Adam-ondi-Ahman. This was definitely one of my favorite places that we visited on our trip. We arrived there just before sunset. It was so beautiful...actually, BEAUTIFUL really just doesn't do it justice. I was speechless. The spirit at Amam-ondi-Ahman was so strong. I read somewhere that Adam-ondi-Ahman means "valley of God" WOW. I could have sat there for hours. I loved being there with Flint.

We arrived in "Beautiful Nauvoo" after midnight we are all so exhausted.

In the flats looking up at the temple


The Nauvoo Temple

The Temple taken at night with the flag. I LOVE this picture!

Monday morning we FIRST went to have breakfast at Elder and Sister Haymore's house. (mom and dad) It was so fun to see them! They are so happy there and it shows!

Then we were off to see all the sites in Nauvoo. Did I say it was beautiful in Nauvoo? Green grass and trees were everywhere. We were busy crazy people while we were there, so we could see all that there was to see. On Tuesday we went to Carthage Jail. It is so hard to put feelings into words...once again I was so amazed at the spirit that is at Carthage. There is such a reverence there. Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God.

That night we went to the pageant. It was spectacular. I wish that I could have seen it a second time. I love that the Temple is in the background of this picture. What a beautiful backdrop!

Maurine, Mom, Arlee and Me at the Women's Garden.

This is a picture of the Temple with statues that depict Joseph and Hyrum leaving Nauvoo for Carthage.

Wednesday we did a session at the Nauvoo Temple. It was such a wonderful experience. Dad and Mom did the session with us (as workers). I LOVED being there with them. Definitely the highlight of my trip. Dad took us to some of his favorite places to see the Mississippi River on Wed afternoon. It is a HUGE river. It is amazing to see the HUGE barges go up and down the river.

I had to say good bye to Mom and Dad that night...but only until Saturday. On Thursday we went to St. Louis. We stopped by Hannibal MO on our way there. We did a Mississippi River boat cruise. It was fun. Hannibal is the home of Mark Twain.

Thursday night we decided to go eat at a restaurant by Busch Stadium. (walking distance to our Hotel) It was called Mike Shannon's. While we were there several of the D-backs came in to eat dinner also. I was so excited I was shaking. I so bad wanted to get my picture takin with them! I finally worked up the courage and I walked up between Brandon Webb and Doug Davis and asked if I could get my picture taken with them. I was so excited and nervous, I felt like I was 14 yrs old again.

Friday morning we went to the famous ARCH. It was crazy tall!

After the arch we went out to see the St. Louis Temple. After seeing the temple we went to get some St. Louis BBQ. We ended up at a restaurant called Ms. Piggy's. It is a long funny story, you can ask me about it sometime...lets just say we were a minority in this neighborhood, the people were so funny and cool to us, and the BBQ was to die for!!! I am so MAD that I didn't get a picture with the owner who called herself as Ms Piggy! After a yummy dinner we headed off to the D-back game. It was fun to go to Busch Stadium, too bad the D-back lost.

Saturday EARLY we got up and headed back to Nauvoo for my nieces wedding. It was neat to be in the temple with my parents again. Dad did the sealing. It was special to be there with my parents, sisters, Ron and Flint. Melindy was a beautiful bride.

Sunday we headed home. I was ready to see my Cooper. I missed him so MUCH while we were gone. I cried myself to sleep on Saturday night, because I just knew that he missed me and needed me! (really he was having the time of his life with Lindsey and the Redwings!!!

It was a trip I will never forget. My testimony was strengthened, we laughed a ton and had a great time...what a great trip!

Spontaneous little vacation

Have you ever just wanted to get away??? I did last Thursday!!!

So last Thursday after swim lessons, Flint and I were sitting on the back porch watching Cooper and his friend Caleb swim and I told Flint..."lets go somewhere!" I thought that maybe it would be fun to go to Prescott and stay in a hotel and while we were there we could check out places to take our trailer and just hang out. Flint says "Ya we can do that or we can drive a few more hours and go to San Diego!" I told him to find us a nice hotel for a good price and I'm in! This was about 12:30. We were packed and in the car on our way by 2:30! (not bad considering we had to feed Arlee, eat lunch, pack, take Caleb home, and find a hotel)

We had SOOO much fun. We got there Thursday about 8:30pm and just hung out in the hotel. We woke up Friday and decided to go to Sea World. It was a ton of fun. Cooper LOVED it! He was so excited to see all the "sea creatures" he loved Ship Wreck Rapids (where you get wet riding these big tire looking things) but when it came to riding the roller coaster he had a love/hate relationship with it. He didn't like the dark, or the unknown, but when he could see what was gonna happen, he LOVED it! I rode it with him and decided that it hurt my incisions (from my gall bladder surgery 2 weeks prior) to much to ride it again! I have to admit I guess I'm just not as much of an adrenaline junkie as I used to be. I think that next time I will stick to riding the tea cups with him! We stayed there ALL DAY and saw the night shows. They were AWESOME. I absolutely LOVED Cirque de la Mer. It is the show that is done down on the bay/ocean. It was amazing to watch these guys perform. We also the LOVED Ignight. It is the nighttime dolphin show. It was spectacular! Arlee held so still watching it. I was so surprised!
We got back to our hotel about 10pm and crashed! The next day we went to Children's Beach (we call it seal beach, because there are most always seals on the beach). We played there for a couple of hours. Cooper was nervous about the ocean, as the day before he had seen all the creatures that lived in the ocean and was a little worried that they might get him. After a few minutes he decided that he LOVED it and had a great time playing in the ocean and in the sand. Arlee got to hang out in her stroller the whole time, cuz I didn't want her to get sunburned! We headed home about 4pm. It was a great little trip...we decided it was a little too short, we needed one more day!

HERE ARE A FEW PICTURES--

Me with the kids

Flint with the kids...

Flint and Cooper on Ship Wreck Rapids

Us at a show

Cooper feeding a seal some fish...the white bird is trying to get the fish 1st!!

Cute Arlee bug in her big hat!

I LOVE this picture of Cooper at Seal beach in La Jolla

Arlee at the beach..she woke up from a nap on the beach!

Flint buried Cooper in the sand

Playing in the ocean

We LOVE San Diego...