memorial day weekend

Memorial Day has come and gone so that means summer is officially here, right? I hope so! I had an amazing Memorial Day weekend. On Friday James and I went camping with the Party at Ensign Ranch (Church Property east of Seattle). We all got up there around 7:30pm, building a fire and pitching our tents in the dark. James and I ate MEAT for dinner and we all enjoyed smores, yum! We had a great campsite and had beautiful weather, thanks ShaWrights for a wonderful camping trip. We had to leave early Saturday evening, but everyone else stayed through Monday. However, before we went home we canoed on the little lake at Ensign Ranch, grabbed dinner from a delicious and not at all healthy for you burger joint in Easton, Washington, and stopped to look at the falls in Snoqualmie. We had so much fun, but that was just the beginning of the weekend.


On Sunday I taught my Mia Maids class a great lesson on Eternal Marriage (see Elder Cree-L Kofford’s Ensign articles, from June and July 1998 Ensigns, I think). After my lesson I picked up James and after we were finally ready we drove north of Seattle, this time, to meet my family at Kayak Point. They had already set up camp and we joined on in the fun. We walked along the beach, ate delicious food, played with Leah, took ONE MILLION pictures and made so many memories…One funny thing was that our campsite only allowed 2 tents and since we had married people and an assortment of single people we had a boy tent and a girl tent, that was pretty cute. Thanks James for enduring the boy tent!


On Monday we had a little rain, but that did not stop us at all from enjoying the holiday. I spent the morning being lazy under the covers before heading down to the beach to kayak with James and my parents (BIG shout out to my mom who kayaked for her VERY FIRST time! WooHoo!). James did great for his first time, he way out-kayaked me. It was sad when it was finally time to take down camp and head home to reality. Thanks Mom and Dad for a great weekend, lets do it again! I love my family and I feel so blessed that they are my good friends too. Jacob, Lisa and Monica we missed you. It was wonderful to spend so much time with James. He is a great fit with both of these groups; he is a great camper and fun to have around. I hope I get to keep him around as long as possible.

***Pictures on the next 3 posts!!!

kayaking

camping with the farrars

camping with the party

introducing...greyson and aidan

So lucky for me James didn't enter my life alone, what is better than one Quigley? Three! James has two little boys, or not so little (but I still cuddle them whenever I get a chance), that we get to spend time with regularly. James is a wonderful father, he loves his boys and cherishes every minute he spends with them. He lets them be independent while still trying to teach them to know right from wrong so they are better informed for the choices they make. James has taught me a lot about parenting, one of my favorite things about James the dad is that he PLAYS HARDCORE with his boys. He is not content sitting on the side and letting them have all the fun. He is not afraid to get dirty or sweaty and be one of the boys! I like being with the Quigleys and count myself blessed for having ALL of them in my life.

The Quigley boys and me:

at the Science Center way back in April

Celebrating Grey's school performance with Cold Stone

Meet Greyson:

Grey is almost 7, my favorite thing about him is his sweet smile. He is a great big brother, he is thoughtful, reserved but also likes to talk and tells stories when he is comfortable. My heart melts when he takes my hand or cuddles with me.

Meet Aidan:

Aidan is 3.5 and has a perpetual runny nose, which is somehow endearing. He loves superheros and plays hard. James calls him "Impetuous Aidan," I just think he is pretty sweet. I love when he says my name.

Fishing on Saturday:

Aidan with his proud Daddy and the fish he caught

James and Greyson worked for a long time to catch this beauty, good work boys!

A couple of Saturday’s ago I spent the morning at a Stake Relief Society Enrichment Activity. It was a wonderful way to spend the day. I learned so much in such a short period of time and truly felt the Holy Ghost teach me. The theme for the Conference was “Standing Together in Holy Places. “ There were numerous talks along that topic and SO many great things were said, but one talk in particular made a great impact on my life. Sister Kristen Dayley from my Stake gave a talk titled “Creating Sacred Spaces”

These are some of my notes (mingled with my own thoughts):

“Only the home can compare with the Temple in sacredness” (Bible Dict.)

Do we think of our home as we do Temples?

“Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God” (D&C 88:119)

Some wives/mothers get overwhelmed by the phrase “house of order” but instead of thinking about the pile of mail on the counter or the laundry over flowing in the hallway think about putting first things first. He cares about our priorities not if our counters are clean.

Is your home where you honor the gospel?

The Temple as a Type (using the Temple as a pattern to how our homes should be):
1. Prepare to Enter- our homes should be set apart from the world, our homes can be dedicated for nurturing souls including our own, when we go home do we leave our worldly cares outside?

2. Welcome at the Door-how do we want our home to feel to people who enter? Is it a place where people want to be? Do people enter and sense your love and concern? Does the Holy Ghost visit often

3. Concern for the Individual-Salvation is an individual matter (Elder Nelson May 08 Ensign), never loose sight of the individual’s needs

4. Present in the Moment- be still and appreciate the moment, the Savior’s ministry was never hectic, relationships should come before tasks, everyday activities have opportunities to build friendships and memories, approach our responsibilities with reverence

5. We Leave Strengthened- (Cheryl Lant “Righteous Traditions May 08 Ensign) How do our practices strengthen us or others? Draw upon the powers of heaven trough fasting and prayer

6. Christ as the Center- “If the Savior stood beside me” (Primary song) a home focused on the Savior will naturally be a house of order where first things are put first, “The best place to prepare for Eternal Life is in the home” (David O. McKay)

*I love this concept, it is not really new. We all know these things, but I guess like anything the trick comes in the application of the principles. I love this topic! If you want to discuss it future or would love more ideas email or call and we’ll talk. Honestly I think this talk has changed my life….especially the part about a house of order , I can have my priorities in order even if I am not the best housekeeper on the planet. I love you all, I was so excited to share this with you and maybe make your life better too.

leah's big day

Last Friday was Leah Rose's special day- she turned 2!!! Can you believe it? I can't. I was able to spend a couple of hours with Leah and Nat including Leah's birthday lunch to McDonald's! We ate and played in the "paypace." A couple firsts even: Leah's first ice cream cone and my first time going down the big slide. Tonight we are having a birthday party to celebrate our favorite girl! I am excited to see Leah so excited, she is really getting the idea that it's her birthday. So fun! I love Leah and I feel so blessed to have her in my life. Leah makes me so happy, she is such a sweet girl.

what a man

James is a Prince!!! He really is, he treats me nice and takes care of me...basically, he spoils me. One night last week he decided to make dinner (which he does often or if I make dinner he does the dishes...heaven). In true James fashion he also decided that there was no need to use a pan, why not melt the cheese on the tortilla right on the burner? It might have worked had we been paying attention, but since we weren't it got a little OVER COOKED! The house was filled with smoke and we were laughing very hard (it was all I could do to run over to my purse and pull out my camera). James cleaned up the mess and we went with Plan B. That is just how we are...we are a great team.

just a normal friday night

what i love

Little boys with new haircuts...I love haircut day!!!

I've been tagged...I'm not going to tag anyone else

4 JOBS I'VE HAD IN MY LIFE:

1. Babysitting since age 10

2. Paper route

3. Carlton Cards at the Alderwood Mall, my first “real” job

4. Professional Scrapbooker, I got paid to scrapbook!

4 MOVIES I WOULD (OR HAVE) WATCHED OVER AND OVER:

1. Anne of Green Gables

2. Cosby Show, DVDs

3. Most Romance Comedies

4. Any movie I like really, I don’t care if I’ve already seen it before

4 PLACES I'VE LIVED:

1. Utah, for about 10 years total

2. The Philippines, for about 16 months

3. The Farmers in Idaho, I can’t even add up the days/weeks/months

4. Washington, for all of the time in between

4 PEOPLE WHO EMAIL ME REGULARLY:

1. http://www.southwest.com/

2. http://www.blogger.com/

3. http://www.facebook.com/

4. I mostly IM friends

4 OF MY FAVORITE FOODS/RESTAURANTS:

1. Fish Tacos from Cheesecake Factory, Baja Fresh, Z' Tejas

2. Pizza from Flying Saucer Pizza in Redmond, WA

3. Hamburgers from anywhere, I don't eat them often but I really LOVE them

4. Steak!!!

4 PLACES I'D RATHER BE RIGHT NOW:

1. Anywhere with James

2.

3.

4.

4 THINGS I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2008:

1. Everything with James

2. July!!! (the whole summer…vacations, camping, play dates, sunshine, my tan)

3. Stephanie and Rob's Wedding

4. Autumn, holidays, colors and pumpkin cookies, cake, pie, etc.

***Blogger and I are not friends right now, augh!

homemade ice cream

I bought an ice cream maker at Target a couple of weeks ago, I am in love with it. It was only $25, everyone should go out and get one today. It was very easy to use and made a good amount (we followed a recipe for Vanilla Ice Cream in the little recipe book that came with it). Obviously, it takes a long time from start to finish, but it is well the wait. Yummy, I am still thinking about it. I think I need to test out another flavor real soon, does anyone have any favorite homemade ice cream recipes?

James checking the ice cream to see if it's ready...

it's ready!

Look at it...

perfection!

Leah's lovin' it

Dad in the middle of a brain freeze

Hey James let's do this again, k?

I like this picture of James, he's a pretty handsome guy

saturday (last week)

Last Saturday I spent the whole day just hanging out with family, friends and of course James (that might have been my favorite part). The morning started pretty early, James made a delicious breakfast, we ran errands, babysat Leah, we also did house work and yard work while enjoying a little Seattle sun. It was an action packed day, very productive and super fun. We finished off the wonderful day with a fondue party with the Party. Close to perfect, a girl can get use to these kinds of days.

Hanging out with Leah:

Leah took a nap in Aidan's cool bed (thanks Aidan)

Natalie and Leah on the tramp

For real, how cute is she?

Playing in James' backyard

Steph's fiance Rob moved into James' house, Leah decided to make herself at home too

Fondue Party:

The gorgeous table, we are so fancy

Emily and Nicki

James and I during the dessert part of our fabulous fondue feast, we ate so much food (thanks Nicki)

check this out

see this


I don't like when you save a post on blogger for a few weeks and then when you publish it to your blog it doesn't go to the top of all the posts. Blogger, should fix this....