Couple Night Out!!!

Last night Byron & I were able to get away and enjoy a fun and entertaining night together. It started out by heading to one of my favorite places to eat - Chili's. I LOVE their bottomless chips and salsa. I ordered their new crispy chicken tacos and Byron had the fajitas. The food was delicious and I'm afraid we got more than enough of our fill. Following dinner we headed over to the E-Center to see Carrie Underwood in concert. We purchased her tickets so many months ago and have been looking forward to this day. Camille was so jealous that we were going without her. She was such a great help to watch the kids while we went, though.

Byron & I have watched Carrie since she was on American Idol - rooting for her the whole way. Carrie is such a beautiful, energetic girl. "Little Big Town" opened and were great, but when it was time for Carrie to come on stage the crowd came to life. The lighting, sound effects, and stage were just perfect. She had 3 clothes changes throughout the concert, which added to the surprise. Byron & I thoroughly were enjoying ourselves. She was as amazing as I had imagined. The crowd was on its feet through a lot of the songs. I loved when she would talk between songs giving us a little taste of her thoughts and where the songs came from. She sang for about 1 1/2 hours. For her closing song, "Before He Cheats," confetti was being blown all over the auditorium. She definitely went out with a big bang.

Byron & I would love to see her maybe in 5 years to see how much she as changed through the years. It is hard to believe that just on May 25, 2005 she auditioned for American Idol not realizing at all what huge things would be awaiting her.

Below are a few videos - our camera won't let us zoom very close, so most of the videos are from one of the large screens next to us.

My Creative Girl

Camille was able to participate in YW in Excellence on Tuesday. What an amazing evening! The Young Women Leaders all put so much time and effort into the night to make it just magical. The theme was "The Worth of a Sole" so the evening was all centered around the shoe theme. The girls and leaders all sang "Walk Tall." The decorations, food, and entertainment were all great. One of the hightlights was a great slide show of all the happenings throughout the year. What fun activities they have all been involved in. I loved seeing Camille in so many of the pictures - we have heard about some amazing activities she participated in, but now have pictures to go with the stories.

Camille was asked to display something that she had made. She wanted to sew something really bad. We decided upon a scripture bag. We went and spent about 1 1/2 hours in the store looking at all the fun possibilities. She finally decided upon what she wanted and we ended up making the bag on Saturday. I do not know much about patterns, so we decided to just wing it. Every step took time to think it through, but the end result was gorgeous! Camille did such a great job at designing the outside - she is so creative that she has a knack for designing things.

Here is just one of the many fun decorations of the night. This is a sugar cookie decked out in the shoe theme - the cookie was delicious also!

Camille has such awesome YW leaders. She is definitely blessed in that regard. At this point in her life, they hold such a HUGE importance. I know that she looks up to her leaders and tries to emulate them in her life.

Monday thoughts

I have been thinking lately about how hard parenting is. I have realized how much I truly appreciate my parents and all that they did and are continuing to do for me. I absolutely LOVED growing up in a large family, but have realized how much work it truly is. Some days I would love to only have to deal with one or two children and their homework, discipline, etc., but am quickly thinking how boring my life would be. I am not sure why I have been so extremely blessed, but can't help but feel so grateful for each one of my six children. Every one of them teaches me so much that is helping me be a better person - through the good and bad:).

Today for Family Home Evening I was in charge of the lesson. I talked about the Second Coming and how important it is to prepare now since we don't know when it will be. We got some really good discussions going. I was able to tell my children how I am looking forward to being together with every one of them in the Celestial Kingdom and that we will also have Johanna with us. What a glorious day! My greatest hope is that my children realize how important it is to make good decisions now because they can make such a HUGE impact in their lives.

Raising 5 future missionaries is such a daunting task. I have so much to still teach each one of them - it is definitely a daily feat. I am overwhelmed almost on a daily basis, but realize that luckily I am not in this alone. I have such an amazing husband. Byron is able to say things to the kids that I would never think to say. He has much more patience some days than I have and will sit and listen to them. I lean on him so much to help me through everything we deal with as parents. Together we can get through anything that is thrown our way. I also have a loving Heavenly Father who knows me more than anyone else and will help me through this parenting journey.

"My dear sisters, do not pray for tasks equal to your abilities, but pray for abilities equal to your tasks. Then the performance of your tasks will be no miracle, but you will be the miracle." ~President Thomas S. Monson

SNOW

Wednesday we woke up to about 6 inches of snow. I was so surprised opening the blinds after waking up. The kids were SO EXCITED! They were really sad that they had to go to school and worried that the snow would be melted when they got home. I took the kids to school that morning and was amazed at how long it took us. The roads were bad. I was glad to finally arrive back home. Carter & Parker were so excited to go outside and shovel the walks - who could complain about that:). They did such a great job. I enjoyed watching them from the window. They were out shoveling for about 45 minutes. Bradley had to enjoy from the window also, since I wasn't about ready to let him go out alone. Luckily he was content and didn't complain.

Parker being such an awesome helper!
Carter doing such a great job at clearing the walks.

Our beautiful fall trees in our front yard.

Our front yard. Such a depressing sight especially when driving in it. Luckily I was able to come home from driving kids to school and was able to actually stay home and enjoy the beautiful weather from indoors.

Tanner & Johnathan didn't waste any time after arriving home from school to play in the snow. They were both making forts in our backyard.The snow has dissappeared and the cold weather has set in. I suppose it has been such a nice couple of weeks that I really need to be thankful for our nice long summer.

Here's to many more cold mornings, hot chocolate, cuddling in blankets, shoveling walks, and sledding:).

Jazz Mania

Byron called me from work on Friday to tell me that he had received 4 awesome Jazz tickets for the following night. The tickets were on row 4 and included dinner before the game. What an awesome experience! Byron gave the other 2 tickets to his parents. We had a great time going with them. We were able to park right next to the Energy Solutions Arena with a free parking pass. After going into the arena we headed up to the 6th floor for an elegant dining experience. I wish I had taken a picture of us sitting at our table. All of the food was presented so beautifully - the fruit looked amazing! I enjoyed eating a delicious green salad, yummy and refreshing fruit, some lemon chicken that was so good, potatoes, a cheese souffle, and some other great food. I definitely had my fill and then topped it off with some chocolate cheesecake. After eating we headed back down to the arena to find our seats. I couldn't believe how close we were to the floor. I have never had quite a view. We we were sitting right in front of the opposing team. The entertainment during the time outs were so fun to watch. During half-time we were invited to go down into a room and get all these yummy snacks. Byron & I chose not to eat anything else since we were still full from dinner - it did look delicious, though. The Jazz won which made it all the more exciting!

These awesome tickets are listed at $402 a piece! AMAZING!
Here I am in front of the food on the 6th floor.

Byron, Dad & Mom Beck

Byron

Our great view from our seats. Larry H. Miller is sitting right next to the steps on the bottom row. He is in a wheel chair sitting next to his wife.

Thank you Melissa for coming over to help Camille watch the kids. Thanks NuSkin for an amazing evening!

(Entertainment during one of the time outs.)

Skeet Shooting

Byron set up a fun morning on Saturday to go with the adults in his family shooting. He recently purchased a new gun and wanted to try it out. We had a pretty good turn out: Byron, Melissa, Jeff, Michael, Eric, Dad Beck, and I. We went out to some BLM land on the other side of Utah Lake. The weather could not have been any more gorgeous - in the 70's. This was my first attempt at shooting and it definitely didn't go as planned. I think I need to start out with targets that are not moving:). We were shooting at clay pigeons and had fun aiming at each one. I think everyone hit a few except for me. I was enjoying just being amongst family and being the designated picture taker :). I loved seeing Byron so passionate and excited about something. He is already planning another outing with his family.

Above Dad Beck, Michael and Eric (working the clay pigeon thrower). Below Byron & I are attempting to shoot the clay pigeon. With the poise alone you can probably tell that I am definitely not very experienced in this field:).

Byron, Dad Beck, Jeff & Eric.

Below are 3 videos of us shooting. The pictures are pretty boring, so hopefully you can see how fun it really was by the videos.

Pumpkins and Halloween oh my!

Last Tuesday we enjoyed carving pumpkins as a family. The kids were so excited! Parker cracks me up each year when he gets to the part of taking the insides out. He has such a hard time with it - it literally disgusts him. Every kid designed their own and Byron or I cut them out for them. They all turned out really cute. Camille had to leave for YW's, so she wasn't able to finish her pumpkin and be in some of the pictures with the kids all together.
Parker being disgusted:).
Bradley loved looking inside his pumpkin. He was so excited watching Byron carve his and clean it out.
Bradley, Tanner, Parker, Johnathan & Carter with their pumpkins.
Camille decorated her pumpkin on Wednesday. She did a great job and added some fun added touches after I cut hers out.

Halloween day was a much anticipated day also. The day started out bright and early getting Tanner & Johnathan ready to head to school at 7:00 a.m. Tanner's makeup was the only hard part of Halloween this year. Camille wasn't able to dress up at the Junior High - it was weird sending her out the door in regular clothes. The Sego Lily Halloween Parade was at 9:30 a.m. Carter & Parker were so excited to be able to be in it this year. Since they have afternoon kindergarten, they were able to come right before the parade and then leave after the parade. They were excited to be able to go to school two times. After the kid's get home from school it always gets so hectic. We were able to finish dinner just before kids started showing up at our door. With day light savings being after Halloween, it sure makes it nice to trick-or-treat in the light. The weather was gorgeous - there was a light rain the whole time, but would be traded for the cold weather any day. Camille, Tanner & Johnathan went out on their own for the first time this year. They loved the independence. Byron went with Bradley, Parker & Carter. After being gone 45 minutes, Byron brought Bradley back and then went back out with Carter & Parker. They were able to go so much faster without Bradley tagging along. Plus, Bradley loved being at home, was able to eat his candy and help me answer the door. Around 7:30 p.m., the kids were all done and ready to head up to Grandpa & Grandma Beck's house. We always look forward to the fun company, great cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate. The added bonus this year was being able to see so many of their cousins. We loved having Halloween fall on a Friday this year. We weren't stressed to get back and were able to enjoy spending time with family. We left around 10:30 to head home. The kids were wiped out and ready for bed.

Johnathan our BYU Football Referee.

Tanner our Scary Skeleton Zombie.

Carter our Ninja.

Parker our Batman.

Camille our cute Go Go Girl.

Bradley our Lion.

Here we are waiting at Grandpa & Grandma's house for the door to open.

Ashlyn, Parker, Carter & Alyssa enjoying their cinnamon rolls, hot chocolate, and talking about the happenings of the day.
Cooper, Tanner and Johnathan

The entire gang - Tanner, Johnathan, Camille, Carter, Parker & Bradley

October Pack Meeting

I have been slow at posting some fun pictures taken at our October Pack Meeting. Everybody was encouraged to dress up. My kid's were so excited and were looking forward to this day for quite some time. We had some really fun Halloween games planned. Enjoy the pictures.

Above is Tanner with his Bear den and below Johnathan with his Wolf den. Don't they just have the funnest leaders! One of the activities was eating a donut off a string. This was such a great hit!

Another fun activity was wrapping a person in toilet paper. Johnathan is below enjoying this activity.