A Fun Memories Game!!!

I took this off my sister's blog! I think this sounds fun. Here are the rules:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one or more memories that you and I had together, or just some memory of me. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot. Anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. :) If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments or send you an email. (You know, you non-bloggers can still post comments. Just click "comments" below this post...)Okay, it's that simple. I hope everyone will play! I know a lot of you remember some fun, silly, or touching moments. Go on, give 'em up! Refresh my memory!

PS I am adding one more rule...Please, keep this family friendly!!!

Preserving Memories

I have to say I love this time of year! I seriously enjoy canning...it is so rewarding to see all the jars lined up on the counter before they are put away. I love falling into bed exhausted from all the hard work and bonding with friends and now my daughter #3. She is getting old enough that she wants to help a little more than a few minutes. I have been able to find a new canning buddy since the buddy I have had for a few years moved this summer. My new buddy is as crazy as I am. We picked apricots and wednesday last week I even climbed the tree to shake the apricots out and that night made a big batch of apricot pineapple preserves. This was my first attempt at preserves and since it is a trial and error process we ended in error. Although I did have fun working side by side with my daughter and a really good friend. The next day we did another batch that ended in perfection, we then made another batch. I went home completely exhausted. We still had a few buckets of apricots and I was going to do my favorite barbeque sauce for ribs on saturday. I was too tired so I put it off till monday. I started the barbeque sauce realizing I had way to many apricots to do myself so I called my new canning buddy and she came right over. We did three batches of barbeque sauce. I ended up with 14 quarts of sauce and she ended up with 14 pints of sauce. She has a much smaller family than mine so we split the sauce that way. We had left over apricots even after that so we did one last batch of jam.We felt so pumped about our accomplishments that after feeding our families we started to pick the currants off my bush in the front yard. We picked one and a half gallons of currants. We then steamed then and made syrup out of them. We processed 10 pints of syrup!!! Yummy!!! You may be thinking I am a little nuts but I went and picked more apircots tonight from my neighbors tree to help another neighbor to learn how to can. Tomorrow evening we are going to make some jam for her family...I love canning!!!!
The only downer this week is that I have had two very sick little girls. #5 and #7 have been sick since Sunday. They have just layed around and been fussy so it has been challenging trying to juggle taking care of them and preserving delicious food.
It has been a very busy week but I have thoroughly enjoyed preserving food for my family for the coming year and preserving memories that will last a life time.

PS I would have posted pictures but my children have broken my digital camera :( I am sure you can just picture how beautiful my pantry will look after I finish canning this fall.

#2's Turn!

#2 also played baseball with #1, yes I put them on the same team so that I wouldn't have to do too much driving and have games every night for 2 months. He was afraid of the ball at the beginning of the season. The coach ended up telling the boys they couldn't warm up together because #1 would really scare #2. By the end of the season he had played catcher for another pitcher. He had caught some amazing pop flies and had really grown as a ball player! I am so proud of him and he is excited to play next year!

Catching Up

Since I really have little positive things to share right now I decided to catch up on the things I have missed over the past few months.
The first thing I will catch up on is pictures from baseball. I will start with #1 he is quite the little baseball player. He was the starting pitcher for his team this year. He did quite well. He would frequently face three batters an inning. His throw is so fast that by the end of the season none of the catchers on the team could catch for him because they had injured their hand catching his fast balls. His coach estimated his fast ball at about 78 miles an hour. I would really love to get his pitch clocked to find out how accurate that was. He made the All-Star team and they started practicing tonight. We are pretty proud of him.



This is a picture I took so I could remember how long he is getting. He is so excited he is only 1.5 inches shorter than me. He measures atleast every other day to see if he is taller than me yet! Look how long those legs are....

The Fantastic Father Nigh

I think the Nigh kids are some of the luckiest kids on this planet...They have the best dad around. Hubby is an absolutely wonderful father. I am so proud of him and all that he does for our family. What a blessing to have such and incredible father.
Here are a few things the Nigh kids love about their Dad:
1. He honors his Priesthood. He is always ready to give a blessing and has baptized and confirmed us.
2.He's funny. He likes to be silly and make us laugh!
3. He works hard. Not only does he have a good job but he helps out at home.
4. He does well in school. He has done so well in college, this year he has kept straight A's
5. He tries hard to choose the right. He is a very good example to us.
6. He takes us to church and teaches us the gospel.
7. He takes us to get ice cream on family night.
8. He likes to play ball with us in the street. He is always willing to throw any ball no matter what the time. Thanks for always playing with us.
9. He is very patient with us, even more patient than mom.
10. He loves us!
(This list was compiled for #4's talk in primary today by all the kids with only a little of mom's help)
As you can see, these are some pretty lucky kids. And they love their daddy so much and want him to have a happy Father's Day! Thanks Daddy!

PS I thought you might want to know that he is just as awesome of a husband as he is a father! Here are some reasons his wife thinks he is great, too!
1. He loves me no matter what. Sometimes I don't think he should have to but he does anyways.
2. He listens when I need to vent, cry, complain, bawl my eyes out, etc.
3. He is level headed and I am not!
4. He tries so hard to do what is right, even when it is not the easy thing to do.
5. He takes me on a date every week. Sometimes that is only window shopping but I love the time with him no matter what we do.
6. He is silly. He isn't afraid to act silly to make any of us laugh. He can always lighten a mood.
7. He is serious when he needs to be.
8. He doesn't get mad when I go run an errand and I don't come back for hours because I am visiting one of the neighbors. I am sorry, honey, that I like to talk...alot!
9. He has the cutest crooked smile in all the world! That smile can make me melt in an instant.
10. He loves the Lord more than he loves me. I know he will always make wise choices because of who is first in his life. His priorities are straight.
I am so lucky to have him as my husband and the father of my children. Happy Father's Day!

I love My Kids

These are the boys pictures from the morning of #4's Baptism. They are growing up to be such handsome young men. I sure do love them.

My Beautiful Family

I have a great family and each one of my children are beautiful in their own way. These pictures are the good pictures of five of the kids from my photo shoot with my kids the other morning. I actually did get a few good pictures that morning.

The Joys of Photography

On the morning of #4's baptism we were actually running EARLY for once. I had all the kids in Sunday clothes with hair done and it was a beautiful Spring morning. I thought to myself this was the perfect day to take the years school pictures as I had not bought the school pictures from the school because of the expense of having 5 kids with school pictures. I proceeded to instruct each of the kids to take their turn in front of our beautiful blossoming bushes to give me smile and a quick picture...This should be easy I said to myself...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! What was I thinking? It was absolute murder trying to get these 7 beautiful children all nicely dressed to smile for half a second without pulling a face or moving out of the picture. The photo session did not turn out as wonderful as I planned but looking back on it I now see the humor in the photos I did get! I hope you can laugh with me!

#4, #4, #4...or Chip as he is now affectionately named!

Today was #1 and #2's last game. It has been horrible weather all season and today was no exception. The kids were trying to keep themselves busy by running and playing so that they wouldn't be cold.It didn't take long for something exciting to happen. I don't even think we got through the top of the first inning. #4 was running around doing who knows what behind the bleachers when all of the sudden he comes running up crying his eyes out. He has a little scratch on his cheek and is trying to explain to me that he wasn't watching where he was running and ran smack in to the tree that was immediately behind the bleachers. I am trying to console him when he stands up and starts sticking his fingers in his mouth. I peak in to check if he is bleeding and find that half of 3...count them 3, teeth are missing. He had ran into the tree so hard he chipped 3 teeth!!! I am freaking out! These are permanent teeth, not baby teeth. I am counting the dollars adding up for 3 caps. Hubby was able to come to watch the game so I left him with the other kids and I left with #4 to get him some ice and some Motrin and call the dentist. As I was walking to the car I realized Heavenly Father was watching over us. The blessing in all of this was that we were playing the Rockies, our dentist's son's team and the dentist was sitting in the other bleachers. I walked right up and explained what happened and Dr Paul checked him out and said we could wait till tomorrow to fix them if he wasn't in too bad of pain. He gave me his cell phone number so that I could call him at the game after we got some ice and some medicine and assessed the situation our of the wind and the cold. He also reassured me that we don't need to cap them yet, as he is too young. Phew!...am I relieved. I can just imagine paying $2ooo on a mouth that gets more chipped teeth before he turns 9. HAHA!!! Anyway, he turned out to be okay and we got back to see most of the game. While we where home we stopped to take a picture to document the event.

#4's Baptism

#4 was baptized on Saturday and became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am so proud of him. He has made the right decision to be baptized. He is a great kid, full of energy and enthusiasm. He always wants to be helpful and to learn to do everything that I do. He is growing into such a beautiful young man.
The baptism was a stake baptism and there were 8 kids baptized, two from our ward. The other child baptized was Kate. Their family has been good friends of ours since we moved here. The mom is my very good friend. Their whole family is friends with my kids, as all her kids are my kids ages, although she only has 4. They are moving at the end of the month, we will miss them a great deal.
We didn't get to have lot's of family up for the baptism. It was really sad but with fuel prices and the price of food, it wasn't a possibility for the family to come. Except for Grandpa. He was driving truck and got a run that would bring him right up here. We were so happy to have him here for a few days. He spoiled the kids rotten and helped us out with some projects around the house. He even got to see the boys play baseball.

Here is #4 and hid Daddy before the baptism.

This is #4 by himself. He thought he was so sneaky giving the peace sign.

This is #4 and Kate after the baptism. I hope someday they get married....in my dreams, I know. But, I can dream can't I?

This is #4 and his Grandpa after the baptism. Thank you Grandpa for being with us on this special day!

This is Mom and Dad and #4. Can't you stop taking pictures?

Oh, The Joys of Cool Whip!

This week after a long day at work, I came home to sit and ffed my face. My fridge had a present, an almost empty tub of cool whip. I was thrilled to plop myself down and eat to my hearts content, or atleast until I hit the bottom of the almost empty container of whipped smooth sweetness. I no sooner had sat down till I was swarmed by children all wanting to share. Being the...patient (yes, that's it!) mom that I am I shared. It turned out to be a very fun event sharing the mouthfuls of cream....The best face by far, though, had to be Madelyn. Every bite she took was pure delight. We had to get a picture because is was too cute to explain with words. Here is the picture of Madelyn enjoying every bite of cool whip.

Kindergarten Graduation

Our little #5 graduated from kindergarten today. She is so little that it is hard to believe she is old enough to graduate from kindergarten. Then again, she is loud enough and bossy enough to be much older. Here is her first day of school picture and her last day of school picture to compare.

This was her first day of school at the end of August 2007

This was her last day of school May, 2008

This is her with her teacher.

Where has the time gone?

It has been a while since I have posted anything. I have to admit my favorite thing lately has been reading other peoples blogs. I have found lots of old friends. I have truly enjoyed reading about all the people I have fond memories of.
I found some very fun posts to read but nothing has really inspired me to write anything fantastic lately. So I have decided to just do some updating about my family and our very busy life.
First, I am so glad that school is over in 2 days and baseball is over in 2 weeks. I do not do very well at baseball games in the cold with 5 kids that are not playing the game but running crazy. I would rather go to watch #1 and #2 by myself so that I can actually see when #1 pitches a no hitter or #2 catches the pop fly. I will take some pictures of them playing baseball this week and post them soon.
#4 is going to be baptized this Saturday, it is hard to believe that child number four is old enough to be baptized. I am feeling old. He is very excited, I think, he kind of played dumb in his interview with the Bishop.
#1 graduated from 6th grade today. I am a slacker mom though and didn't get any pictures of the even. The batteries are dead in the camera and I cannot remember, on my multiple trips to the store every week, to get batteries. I really think it is silly to have a graduation ceremony from 6th grade though. It has been a challenging year for him and we are both grateful it is over.
#5 graduates from kindergarten tomorrow. It is hard to believe teeny tiny little #5 is going to be a first grader next year. She is still so small, she hasn't even hit 35 pounds yet. Maybe by September she will hit the magical 35!
#6 had a little graduation ceremony last week from her second year of preschool. (She still has another year to go) It was very cute and she hammed it up quite well on the stage, blowing kisses and grinning from ear to ear. I really don't know where she gets it from, honest!
I have had a really rough couple of weeks and am finally feeling better. The day after Mother's Day (and my birthday) I finally went to the dentist for a much needed exam and cleaning. Well, since it has been a very long time since I had anything done to my teeth there was a lot of work to do. Being the tough woman that I am I decided to get the work done in to visits, one for the left side and one for the right. I had a root canal and some fillings done on the left side that went really well. The right side, however, proved to be a lot worse. I ended up having a filling put in my wisdom tooth that the dentist didn't want to pull. Little did he know, the tooth was abscessed. My x-rays did not show that. Well when he put the filling in the drainage that had been coming out of the filling now had no where to go...my face ended up very swollen. The grossest part was when the abscess actually burst in my mouth....can you say GROSS!!! Needless to say I was in the next day getting the tooth pulled anyway. And Yes, I am feeling much better.
Hubby is in his 3rd section of classes. He is doing very well. It is quite a challenge going to school and trying to help support our very large brood. I am so very proud of him and all he is doing.
My biggest project right now is our garden. So far it is going great, I will post about that later, with pictures, of course. This project has been very rewarding!

Baby's First Day at the Park

So...for a few days this week spring actually sprung. #1 and #2 were at baseball practice and #3 was at a birthday party. The little kids were so excited to get to the park and we were ready too. This being our first outdoor outing this spring, it was #7's first trip to the park. She loved it!!! She loves being outside. Hubby says we will probably have a hard time keeping her inside this summer because she thinks that the sun and the grass and the dirt are great. Enjoy the pics.

Ten Years Ago...
I was pregnant with #3, our first girl, living in our first house that wasn't owned by Hubby's parents. I was a stay at home mommy of two adoreable little boys. Life was sooooo simple! Oh I sometimes wish for those days!
5 Things on my To Do List...
*Pay off the rest of our debt with the money we just made selling our business.
*File our taxes for this year so I can get a nice return and buy a front loader washer and dryer and a deep freeze, and put in new windows and doors in my whole house. Yes my refund is substantial.
*Get to work...I need to put in atleast 5 hours today. Even if I do have a bit of Vertigo today.
*Clean my filthy house. It is a wreck because Tuesday Hubby and I went to the Temple all evening and the kids trashed it and last night we made valentines ALL NIGHT LONG. (Six kids with each of their classes means lots of valentines to be made!)
*Sleep
5 Things I would do if I where a millionaire...
*Pay off this house and buy a bigger one
*Help my family
*Start a charity for abused women and children
*Take my kids to see the world
*Donate to the Perpetual Education Fund
3 Bad Habits I have...
*Procrastination, although at work I don't do this at all. What is wrong with me at home?
*Eat poorly, I am a junk food junky.
*I don't excercise.
5 Places I have lived...
*Norfolk Virginia, although I don't remember it I was a tiny baby
*Las Vegas, Nevada, I wish I remembered more of this. I want to remember if I ever ran into my husband at school when we were little.
*Page, Arizona, The place I consider my home town. I love that litle town.
*Prescott, Arizona, I include Prescott Valley, Chino Valley and Dewey in that, too.
*Pocatello, Idaho, the place that is now my home. I LOVE it here.
(What is it with the P's?)
5 Places I have worked
*Farmers Insurance...my first job that wasn't babysitting!
*McDonalds...for about 4 months on Saturday's only
*Safeway
*WinCO
*A wholesale C-Store Distribution Company, the best job I could ever have being a mommy. They are so flexible, love the family that owns the company.
Some Things Most People Don't Know About Me...
*I am afraid of the dark and the quiet of the night, I sleep with the TV on all night, crazy I know.
*I am becoming quite the expert on Microsoft Excel
*I hate having to talk to people I don't know
*I have a secret crush on the greatest guy. He is strong, gentle, handsome, patient, quiet,spiritual...the man? My husband!
I have no one to tag!!! Don't have that many friends that Blog.

Cloning

I have decided to go into the business of cloning housewives and mothers...I think I am going to be Rich. Isn't it a fact that every mother has way too much to do? I for instance have seven children who want my undivided attention at any given moment. So I really wish I had seven of ME for them. Next, my husband thinks he needs my attention for all the things husbands want a wives attention for. Third I have a church calling almost always that wants my attention. Right now that would be the Relief Society Presidency over Enrichment. Then I have my full time job...so how many is that so far?.. Seven plus three...TEN of me!!! I haven't even got to taking care of the house or serving my community, let alone taking care of myself!!!

I think this will be really successful, It is a much needed service I will be providing. Women everywhere will want my product...Buy another you...get more done...be everywhere at once!!! Do it ALL!!!

Now all I need is the time to launch my product...How will I fit that in?!?

My Perfect Christmas

So...the long awaited Christmas time is here. I love Christmas, I love the lights, the music, the shopping, the CHOCOLATE. It is a great month for me...in my mind. The weekend of Thanksgiving we put up our tree. My kids were disappointed because it is all gold. I love my tree it is my favorite thing we have to decorate for Christmas but my kids wanted a colorful tree. I would be happy to oblige them except for how expensive it is to replace all my all gold ornaments for colored ones and all my clear lights for colored ones. Oh well, I guess my gold tree will have to do. I don't think the color of our tree will affect what kind of gifts Santa will put under it.
This weekend I set to decorating the banister in our entry. Every year I put it up in pieces. The (fake) pine garland goes first, then the lights and then the bulbs, pine cones and bows. This is a very important place to decorate as this is where all our stockings get hung. This year I decided to make everything I attach to the pine garland permanent, except the stockings. We checked the lights, carefully counted out the bulbs and the pine cones to make sure they were evenly spaced and attached everything with cable zip ties. When the pine garland was finally up and looking great we plugged the lights in...Alas, they no longer worked. After 4 hours of my hard labor, they DID NOT WORK!!! I cannot tell you my frustration. Hubby started searching for the problem, and the kids jumped in to help. Was it a fuse? NO! Was it a burned out light? NO!! Was is a short in the cord? NO!!! Do you think we can find any answer for why my lights won't work? Heck No!!!
Oh well, In my mind the lights are beautiful and next year when I go to put them up I will be sure to put in brand new strands of lights...and maybe I can put colored lights in the garland and keep my beautiful gold tree and that will make my children happy and me happy.
This year I will be sit back close my eyes and imagine the lights that are lining my banister and smile, spend time with my children and enjoy the music and the CHOCOLATE...And pretend it was a totally perfect Christmas...Until next year.

First Update in a VERY Long Time!

This is a picture of the family in March of 2007.This is at our newest arrivals blessing, She was born in January 2007. Our little family is such a blessing. Each of my children are so wonderful in their own little way.

I forgot you were here.

In the crazyness of life, I had forgotten that I even had a blog. It has been 2 years since I last posted. When I came across my own blog again and reread the things I wrote it brought back soooooo many memories that it brought tears to my eyes.
Alot of things have changed in the last 2 years. New baby, new job, vacations, etc. That have gone without being written about. That makes me sad.
If I am blessed enough to have those events brought to my remembrance I will write about them, if not, they will be lost forever.

The Elusive Quiet Time

So here it is sunday, I have worked almost 48 hours this week on top of voulenteering at the kids school and all the other things that come with being the mom. I have the day off which is a miracle in and of itself and I desperately needed a nap. Do you think my children could be quiet for even a few minutes? Ofcoarse not the were fighting and crying and yelling and playing the whole time...that is until I was ready to get up. Then they were quiet sitting watching the end of their movie. Aargh.