Updates on our family

We have had some pretty relaxing weeks since Alan and I have been released from our callings. Alan is now serving as the 16-17 year old Sunday school teacher and I do Activity days with the 10-11 year old girls twice a month. Easy Cheesy! Bishop Olsen has pretty much turned the ward upside down and inside out with callings. Our family has been trying to help a family out in the ward during sacrament meeting. Her husband is a counselor in the new bishopric and she has 4 young children and one of those is a very active 2 1/2 year old. Alan picked her up from the isle this last week as she was just about to make a run for it and put her in the bench with us. It takes all of our energy to keep her entertained. I must say sacrament meeting is so easy for us now and we can actually sit and listen for the whole meeting with little or no drama. Having this little girl sit by us brought back a ton of memories of when Alan was serving in the bishopric with John Crozier and I had three little kids and was pregnant. I really wondered why I came to church each week. It was so hard! This lady seems to roll with the flow and told me during RS that she had a rare moment in sacrament this last Sunday where she actually got to listen to what the speakers were saying.
We missed Alan during his week to Tulare, CA. I really do hate it when he is gone. He almost got bumped off of their flight coming home, not because of too many people but because of too much weight overall on the plane. Jeff Stoker was gracious enough to step aside and take a later flight the next day. I felt bad that he did this because I knew that he had been on a trip the previous week and his wife Jen was sick. I told her that he is too nice and he should have muscled his way onto the plane. You would think that the airlines would be smart enough to make sure things like this wouldn't happen. During that week Hannah and I reflected that it was a year ago on the 11th that she got hurt skiing. We were grateful to have made it through the week this year without an incident!
We had fun having Alan home on Valentine's day weekend. Alan and I have agreed that whoever is in charge of Valentine's day the other would tackle the Anniversary in November. I elected to be in charge of Valentine's day and planned a night full of surprises on Friday. We had so much fun and realized that being surprised every once in a while is kind of nice! We will see what he plans for our Anniversary later this year. The bar has been set!
The kids had a great day on Saturday and got to play with their Twin Fall's cousins. Glen was busy taking layers of paint off of a dresser and sanding it down to surprise his wife Laura who was away with Acoya clogging in Boise. Glen took our four youngest and five of his kids to a movie and back home again to play. They had so much fun together and it made me realize that we really do need to get the kids together with their cousins more often. Playing and being with my cousins when I was growing up are some of my best memories.
This last weekend Alan and I took all the girls down to SLC for Melissa's tournament. We stayed at Ann and Mark's, they are such great hosts. The kids enjoyed playing with Sophia and her wide variety of toys. Alan and I were looking at vans when Ann dropped the girls off with Mark at temple square while she and Sophia went to Madame Butterfly. Alan met up with Mark after he dropped me off at Melissa's tournament. The girls loved temple square and how beautiful everything was. They even had hot chocolate and free cinnamon rolls at the top of the Joseph Smith building. They also had a great time swimming at a local hotel Mark was staying at. Melissa played well during her tournament and had some great outside hits. She is so much fun to watch. She really is a leader on her team and gets along well with all of the girls. Their team played well together and ended up winning their division. We gathered the kids after her tournament and left Bountiful about 8 p.m. I had such a headache and wanted to get home. On the way home I worried about hitting a deer through the mountains and I did spot one grazing on the side of the road. We made it home safe and in pretty good time and enjoyed our Sunday together. I really do like Sunday's and I am grateful that we treat it differently than any other day.
Alan and I have been organizing our storage room with shelves. Kent Baldwin has done most of the work. It has opened that room up so much and it brings me such joy to just go down and look around. He also put another rod and shelves in our bedroom closet and I can't believe what a difference it makes. Everything has a place and there is a place for everything. I love it! I could not believe the pile of clothes and stuff that we brought out of our closet and placed on our floor and the bed. Even the Baldwin's were amazed. The funny thing is that 1/2 of the time I feel like I have nothing to wear! And I might add here that for every one pant of mine Alan has five. We filled the Yukon full of stuff from downstairs and from our bedroom and took it to the DI pod at the stake center. It really was quite liberating! Now I just need to get out and tackle the garage..... Maybe later, when it is warmer outside.
We hope this post finds everyone happy and well. I haven't taken many pictures lately so no pictures this time. Love ya!

Being Released from YW

I am going to be released from YW this Sunday and I am completely and utterly bummed about it. I have never had such reservations about being released from a calling as I have this one. I have been bumped around as 2nd counselor through three different presidencies but I didn't quite make the cut this time around.
I love working with the YW but I especially loved being there with my two oldest girls. Some people think that it is not good for parents to be in a calling where their children are but I think that statement is completely and utterly false. I LOVE SERVING WITH MY CHILDREN! I love being with them outside the home environment and having fun together. I do feel kind of cheated that I only got to be with Hannah for a few months.
Some things that I have learned in my short time about the girls in YW.
*The girls need to feel that you love them first and foremost. They need to feel accepted and safe when they are around you. They need to know that they won't be judged on what they have or haven't done. They need to feel comfortable enough to express their thoughts and opinions without the fear of being criticized or put down.
*You need to have FUN with the girls. They need to be excited to come to YW's. They should be excited about coming each week and being together. I am not saying that it has to be a roadshow every week but it needs to be interesting and something they are interested about. I have started turning over more responsibilities to the class presidency lately and I think that the girls enjoy the challenge.
*You need to show interest in the girls outside interests and attend something that they are competing in or starring in every once in awhile, even if it is something that you have no interest in. They need to know that you care enough about them to step outside the box. It is fun to see them in their own element.
*Girls love handouts! Sister Stokes is so good about giving the girls a handout every week and they love it. We even made a handout keeper for them to put them in.
I am sad to be released and have struggled because of it. I guess I just love the girls so much and I am sure that their new leaders will also. It is just hard.
This pending release has made me take a step back and look at my life, or maybe it is a mid-life crisis or something. I put so much time and energy into my callings. I can't help it because my mother is that way and I am a stay at home mom and all I have is my family and my church. I really need something else to direct my thoughts and energy towards. I have thought about two possible home businesses I could do. #1 I have experimented and enjoyed putting together pictures and video to music and I thought that this is something that I could do as a service from my home for weddings, funerals, birthdays, graduations, etc. Anyone know anyone else out there who has experience with this? #2 I thought about contacting Shannon & Dan and bringing food storage items to this valley than we can can't get through the cannery. I think that there is a need here for something like this.
Thanks to all my great friends and their listening ears. I love you all so much! I am so grateful for a loving husband who loves me in spite of my misgivings. He is my rock. I do know that Heavenly Father can see the big picture and that I need to have faith that He will always do what is best for me and my family.
Any advice or contacts out there anyone can give me about my two possible home businesses would be appreciated! Thanks!

Going Private

I am going to follow my sister Jaime and go private with my blog. There are some people out there that I would rather not have them lurking around on my blog. If you want to view my pages please email me your address at stacileavitt@gmail.com as private blogs are by invite only. You can also look me up on facebook. I would love to have more friends. I am trying to get more friends than my daughter Melissa! You've got 2 weeks to get me your address. Thanks!

Melissa turns 15!

It is hard to believe that my oldest daughter will be able to date and drive at night in a year. It has been so much fun to be her mom. She is such a hard working, never have to worry about kind of girl. I am so excited for her to be able to drive herself around in 5 months. She is playing volleyball in Twin again and it is a bit of a different experience this year. It isn't quite as "FUN" as it was last year. It is as if they tried to be too big this year and there are A LOT of inexperienced/don't know anything about volleyball girls playing, luckily most of Melissa's team has had some experience. Hopefully things will improve, after all, we have only been to one tournament. It is a lot of money and if we don't feel like it is money well spent we won't be doing it next year.
Anyway back to Melissa, she woke up too early for me to get her breakfast in bed because she had to look beautiful for the day at school. She opened a few presents from mom and dad and ironically they were clothes for her to wear to school. She loves clothes! Girls are definitely much more fun to shop for than boys! It is a bit hard to shop without her there to give a thumbs up or down but I managed to get her mostly surprises this year that were a hit!
Alan has a standing lunch date tradition with the kids on their birthdays. He picks them up from school and takes them out to the lunch of their choice, except for one year he took Rachel to the PDP for leftovers. They love this! It is also one thing that he can do that doesn't require too much preparation. I also have always made signs for the kids on their birthdays. In the past they were always homemade but we have slowly transferred to computer signs that dad makes! He comes up with some of the most witty sayings and he saves them so he can use them over again! (The kids don't know this but he does add a few new ones each year.)
After piano Melissa came home to an interesting meal that I thought would be to die for but, (long pause here) it was not so good. We all managed to shovel some down and gave the rest to Rusty who was most grateful and not picky at all!
We had a volleyball cake and ice cream and opened up more presents. For many years she has not had to go to school on her b-day and I think that she prefers that. At school everyone sang happy birthday to her in most of her classes. She was a bit disappointed to not get balloons from anyone so her aunt Jaime got her some the next day. Better late than never!
***Click on the scrapbook pages for an up close and personal view!

Allison Turns 4!

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Allie turned four yesterday and we had a fun filled day! She has been so excited for her birthday to come since Abigail's birthday last June. She told me the night before her birthday that she wanted breakfast in bed and so I got up early to do that and she came up the stairs just as I was headed down and changed her mind.
She got to open up four presents before the kids left for school. She immediately put on two of her three outfits at the same time. She got a lot of little things that I am sure will be lost before the weekend is over. She even got her own computer game!
We went to Abigail's school and checked her out early so she could join in on the afternoon of fun. We went to McDonald's and it must have been mom's day out because they were packed! The girls had fun playing on the toys after lunch. After that we picked up Alan, Jaime and Lucas and headed to a new place in Twin called "Hop to it." I read about it on a friend's blog and decided to try it out. Laura brought Brighton and True to join in on the fun and Allie's friend MeKenna also came. They had so much fun going down the slides and bouncing around. "It was pretty fun", as Allie would say. We definitely will go during earlier in the day next time. It was pretty crowded.
I can't believe how time flies. It seems like only yesterday that I gave birth to sweet, little Allie. I remember what a beautifully shaped head that she had when she was born. She is growing up much too fast for me! (I must say though that as I watched Jaime scrambling all over the place with Lucas, it is nice not to have to worry so much about that anymore.) Allie is my little buddy. She keeps me company while the kids are at school. She loves to go shopping with me and she usually gets a treat out of me every time. She loves to draw, cut and play computer games. We are grateful for a computer tech at work that helps us fix all the funny things that the computer seems to do after she has touched it. She absolutely adores her sisters. Abby and her are the best of friends. They can make a mess in no time flat but they are joined at the hip whenever they are together. Allie started sunbeams this year and loves her teacher Sister Farnsworth. She is breaking out of her shell slowly but surely. She did great at including her friend and her cousin at the hopping place yesterday. I am so grateful that she is a part of our family. We love her to pieces!

Little Bit late - Our New Year's

We had great fun on New Year's Eve with Laura, Don & family and Ann and Sophia. My parents were also up for a few days. Some of the fun things that we did -
*We played a new Slider's game that Ann got us for Christmas.
*Don took the kids for a ride on the sled outside. Only Sarah and Ben managed to step in front of the sled and get knocked over. Sarah even braved it outside with the big, scary Rusty dog lurking around!
*We ate LOTS of food!
*We enjoyed playing Wii fit. I must say that this is a definite favorite of mine! I use it more than anyone else. The yoga on it has really helped my lower back! We laughed are heads off as we watched each other try and dodge soccer balls. Don spent many hours on the ski jump and so far holds the record.
*Some of us sang karaoke until we were out of breath. We were really sang loud and proud as Zach left the house with a friend to go to a New Year's Eve dance. I must say that Don sang about every song on the list! I am including a small little video of Laura and Melissa singing. Pretty cute!

Snow, snow, snow

The weather has been so unpredictable lately. We got so much snow in December and now it is just cold but sometimes it is in the 40's and you feel like shedding your coat. I wish I would have gotten some pictures of the trees yesterday, because they were all frosty and white. Here are some pictures of us enjoying the snow in December with Lucas.