me and deep fried food.

I have never denied that I love deep fried food. My favorite fried food is five guys french fries. Personally I think everyone in life should get to experience those fries. A close second is the garlic and parsley french when we went to go and see the Seattle Seahawks 3 years ago.  I thought everyone loved a fair donut like I do.  Lots of my favorite foods are deep fried. To say I love them is minor. I will never admit how much fried food I eat in 1 week because it's embarrassing.

A few months ago, I went without deep fried foods for 1 week. It seemed pretty easy. My goal was to challenge myself and make it for 1 week. It seemed pretty minor and was easy to do. At the end of the week though, it never really changed my eating habits though. That was one of my goals and but it didn't really happen the way I wanted it to. 

So I was thinking about it a while ago and decided I needed to challenge myself and do something HARD. I decided that for an un-determined amount of time, I was going to give up food that was deep fried.  I know this is not hard for everyone but it is for me. 

This weekend we went away for a little family get away. At one point L was having Chinese food. One of his favorite is sesame chicken. He offered me a piece and I said "No, I am sorry, it's deep fried" He looked at me and said "Mom, I don't know how you are going to do this! Look at all the food that you cannot have anymore!" I told him that it was not a "cannot have" but a "chosen to not have" 

It gave me a great opportunities how in life, people make choices and we get to live by the choices that we make, either good or bad. 

I hope he gets it. 

Did any of you give birth to Fish's? I did!

Okay, so at the beginning of the summer, L was pretty confident. M and B, not so much. B would not even go in the big pool even though he could touch. M was stuck at my side in the water. It drove me crazy because I want them to be confident in the water. I am SO NOT confident. Pools scare the heck out of me. And it's not just the fact that I have to get into a bathing suit. 

So I want for my kids what I don't have BUT I want them to earn the confidence in the water. We live a 5 minute walk from the outdoor pool in our community. In the summer time we spend a lot of time there. Mr. M is so good with them in the water. I just am there for support. 

L man in the pool during lessons. He LOVES these goggles

L man going off the diving board. I love the "action" in this shot!

B boy in the pool during lessons. 

In the deep end. He will only be there with a life jacket. Hey, I am just happy he will go in the deep end!

M and how she spends her time in the deep end. She will go off the low diving board and just keep jumping in a million times. I am so glad she is confident.

What's this???? M getting ready to go off the deep end!

SHE IS 3!!!!!!!

I love this shot! She jumped twice and loved it.

I am so proud of all of my kids!

Reptile gardens

We got to go to the reptile gardens in Rapid City, SD. I was not a fan of the price ($50 for our family, I think M was free) but it was worth EVERY PENNY. We loved it. Check out their link here

They had a fantastic selection of animals! I cannot remember the name of them all but they were wonderful. The staff was amazing, anytime we had a question, we got the answer. So many viewing windows to keep us away from the poisonous (YAY!) The write ups on each of the animals was detailed enough to give the kids the necessary info but it was not too much.

They had 3 separate shows that we could go to. We started at the birds, went to the snakes and then the crocodillians. I loved it because each of the shows were about 30 minutes, and then it was about 15 minutes until the next one. We felt like there was enough time to move from one to another. My kids were thoroughly entertained!

The raven was taking money for something (I cannot remember what)

Boa. That puppy was huge! Poor Mr. M was not doing too good during this whole presentation. He is so not a fan of snakes.

B took this picture! Cool eh?

This guy was demonstrating how to close a gators mouth

Every time he would get close, these guys behind him would head for him! 

Finally, a demonstration! After 6 tries.

we loved it! We hope if you went with your family you would love it as much as we did!

holidays part 1!

So this year we decided to go on a fun holiday and try and pack as much in as we can. A few years ago, I went to Mount Rushmore with L and B but because of timing, Mr. M could not go. He has always wanted to go there, so we decided to add that to our trip. The whole goal of our trip is to see a sweet little nephew who was born in July. So because of where my sister lives and where Rushmore is, we added it to the trip.

I am a "get in the van and drive" kind of a girl, Mr. M not so much. We decided to stay in Billings the first night at the big horn resort. It was a blast. They have a mini West Edmonton Mall, except better because it's mostly built for little kids. They have mini waterslides that M could go down by herself, they have a mini wave pool, hot tub and grown up waterslides. L and Mr. M loved the tube ride. Me, I am not such a fan of super quick things. We loved the waterpark!

This is a HUGE bucket that holds 140 gallons of water. It fills up and then dumps all over whoever is below. The first time I stood under there I got a bit nervous. "how hard is it gonna hit me" was what I worried about. It did hit hard, just not that bad. M would even go under there and stand there to get hit with the water, so obviously it was not that bad!

This is B going across the monkey bars. Both boys LOVED it!

M after going down a waterslide perfect for kids!

The next day it was Sunday and we went to Sacrament meeting in Billings. We were in the quietest ward I have ever been in. And of course, M was the loudest she has ever been. It was horrible. I prayed (really!) that some other kids would squirm and be all loud. Nope! I could not be so lucky. I took her out and some super sweet lady says "she looks like a handful" I replied with a yes. Then she said "I bet you were a handful at this age too". I again replied with a yes. I am sure I was way busier than either of my parents care to remember.

We were a little sad that we could not go up to the Temple because the gates were shut, but realized that it was to keep the Temple safe from those who might wish it harm, so we were ok with it.

This was our HOTTEST day. 105. ouch.

On the way we drove past the Battle of Little Bighorn. I married a social minor, so you bet we stopped! it is some of the most peaceful land I have been at. It was so hot and we all tried like heck to be patient with Mr. M as he looked around. The kids spent time looking for rattle snakes (gross).

Then it was on to South Dakota. Mount Rushmore was what we wanted to go for. We stayed first at a KOA Kabin in Hotsprings, SD. It is not recommended in my book. I was hoping for a nice stay, it was not very friendly. We packed up and left first thing. It was fun to tour Mt. Rushmore with L and B as Mr. M's guide. We went there 4 years ago so you know, they know everything.

M was scaring the pants off of us. She was wanting to sit up here on a ledge. There is a 6 foot drop right behind her and if you see the ledge on the right, she headed for that. There is a 25 foot drop from there. I turned my head for 1 second when I heard "mom" she headed for that ledge. WHAT??? There was a guy who was on the lower ledge who saw her doing that and grabbed her. Thank-goodness. She is such a turkey. I wanted a picture of her and  her brothers on the ledge (of course with her sandwiched in the middle) so we bribed her with ice cream if she behaved and would let us take her picture. Wanna see it? It's a beaut!

I love it! We got a picture and she got an ice cream!

Rushmore was beautiful! I loved it. I loved being there. I loved the whole part of the state that we were in. It was so fun to spend this time with my family.

I have a picture of B 4 years ago. Man has he grown!

Kids getting their "junior ranger" badges

cool shot Mr. M!

Crazy Horse. I notice no change in the last 4 years. Supposedly they have a regular blast schedule but people who were there 20 years ago notice no difference. Sad really because if they completed it, it would be beautiful. 

crazy storm. I always thought that thunder and lightening storms were scary where I live. NOT! In the mountains when thunder rolls, it echoes. I have so many friends that would love it. I did not.

love these little men.

What Rushmore would look like if it was finished.

Ice cream. The ultimate bribe to get your kids to cooperate for a picture

Me and L. I cannot believe how grown up he is! 

M eaves dropping on a conversation. There was 4 people at the table and she sat there peacefully for about 10 minutes and listened. She did not say what they were talking about so she must be a good secret keeper.

"the Help"

"the Help"

I loved this book and movie. Loved it.

The book is based in the 60's in Jackson, Mississippi. It is a story that is about Maids and their employers in Jackson. The main characters are Aibileen, Minny and Skeeter. They bounce back and forth between each of their lives that are intertwined. Aibileen and Minny are both maids, Skeeter is an author who wanted to write something different so she could get a job at Harper & Row. 

The movie stayed so true to the book. There were a few things that were out of place as to the order that is happened, but most of the main parts were there. If you want all the little parts, read the book. No matter what, I don't think anyone could be disappointed in the book. While this book may not be word for word what has happened, it is a part of history that really DID happen. Maybe still does. It got me to thinking.

I don't want to say too much about the book because I don't want to give it away. The book tugged at my heart strings, helped me to view people differently and made me make sure I didn't want to be a "Hilly"

It was kind of scary for me to realize that there was a time in the past 100 years that if someone who employed a maid didn't like her, she could tell whatever lie she wanted and the maid was fired. And not just from her, from all the other people she associated with. One person could make it so that maid would never work again in Jackson. And not just the maid, other members of her family as well. 

I think the part that affected me the most was that the Maids (really, the surrogate mother for the mom while she was out doing whatever was "important") could not go to the bathroom in the same house as  the people who she was employed by, BUT she could be trusted with their children. They changed diapers, potty trained them, all the "going to the bathroom" necessities BUT they could not go to the bathroom in the same toilet as their employer. They could not touch them as they put their food on the table but yet they were trusted with buying their food and preparing it for them. 

It baffles me how there could be such divisions in life. I thought 

"we are all part of the HUMAN race, is that not what matters?"

It has helped me to take a look at my life and the people who are in it. Do I treat people like I am better than them or do I treat them as a slave and not really appreciate what they do. It has helped me to want to be a better person, show love to all people regardless of differences, and most importantly, teach my children that ALL people are created equal regardless of race. 

I read this book on holidays. DON'T! It was horrible to try and sneak in a page and really, you just don't want to read ONE page. There was one time J was like "can you drive" I was at a good spot, I was not about to drive!

(Warning, there are swear words in it that I did not appreciate)