Thursday, July 31, 2014

Shiloh Blessing (3 months)

James was able to give our sweet girl a blessing from our Heavenly Father during sacrament meeting Sunday. We were very blessed and grateful to have friends and family there. It was touching for me to hear my dear husband heart touched by the spirit as his voice cracked with emotion. It instantly brought tears to my eyes

Our Father in Heaven, we take this infant into our arms to give her a name and a blessing. The name that she will be known as on this Earth and on the records of the church is Shiloh Adoré Mortensen. Shiloh we bless you with the knowledge that you are a child of God. That your spirit is precious to the Lord. That he desires you to live a happy life and to return to live with Him someday. We bless you to develop many talents and abilities and enjoy your time on the earth serving, working, and being a participant with your family and other groups throughout your life. We bless you to have a strong desire to follow the example of your savior Jesus Christ and that you will develop a personal relationship with Him. We pray that you will be prayerful in your daily efforts to choose the right and to be an example and leader to those around you. We bless you as you learn and develop wonderful gifts and abilities that you'll strive to find ways to incorporate music and physical activity into your life so that you can find that much more joy. We pray that you will learn to love and follow the guidance and counsel of your mother that Heavenly Father provides you. We pray that you will see the blessings that come as you live the gospel and you will choose to follow the example of Jesus the Christ and join His Church and serve in His Kingdom to prepare for His Second Coming. We pray that you will have a happy childhood and that you'll have a rewarding life that will lead you and prepare you to enter the Holy Temple and that you will eventually find a righteous young man and that you will go to the Temple to be married. We bless you that you will find joy in reading the scriptures. There will be times that you will have to stand alone and the scriptures of the holy prophets will be there with you. We bless you that as you prepare to be a mother that you will find that it is a worth while endeavor in this life and the choicest calling which God can give you. We pray that you will and we bless you to repent when you do something wrong, quickly, and find your way back to the straight and narrow path. That will ultimately lead you to eternal happiness. Shiloh we bless you with these things and with the eternal love of your Heavenly Father on this journey to know that he's there with you even though you can't see him. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.




My heart swells when I think of my little Shiloh. She is a joy and a light in our home. She always has a ready smile, is very talkative and lively. Everyone adores this little girl. The kids fight over who gets to sit next to her or hold her next. She has an outpouring of love constantly going towards her. She is very good at expressing herself. I am very grateful for this little baby and the happiness she has brought into our lives. I feel like she is a little piece of Heaven here on Earth.
Shiloh is a very strong little baby.  She has been doing sit ups in her swing since she was born and this month she rolled over for the first time and then the next day she started scooting. She was on my bed when Bella said "Mom she is crawling" (I brushed it off because Bella also claims to have taught her to say her name) then I looked over and sure enough this little one was sticking her bum up get her knees underneath her and moving around on the bed! She has also gotten up on her hands and knees and since then has gotten proficient at rolling around. She loves people but she has a preference for her Mom. We tenderly look forward to watching her grow and being able to lead and guide her. We love her immensely!






Luke is 8!!!!

So on the 5k we ran on Pioneer day we went past the church in Provo that I was baptized in. On my jog back to get the car I stop and went in the church. It was a touching experience. I remembered the day I was baptized. It is so exciting to see my oldest son about to make the same choice.

Luke's birthday is always fun. There are always so many options of what do. Luke decided that he wanted to celebrate at the Manilla Pond. His Aunts, Grandparents, Cousins and our neighbors came (with there Kayaks) They swam, ate cake, played in the sand, ate more cake, fished and went out in the kayaks.
This is the second time I have made this Dino cake the first time it was green
 Luke has grown like crazy this year physically, mentally and spiritually. He is and always has been a very strong boy but now he is almost as strong as me. He beat me at a race for the first time this year, not his dad yet though. He is my big helper around the house. He helps without being asks and makes good choices. He loves to play with people of all ages. 
Something I am always impressed with is how outgoing and brave he is. He is a curious child which I love because it makes it so easy to teach him! He has an awesome memory and can recite a various of facts on a variety of topics at any given time. He love games and media time but even more he loves books he spends several hours everyday reading to himself and his siblings. Luke takes good care of his little brothers and sister and is the natural leader. I often comment to people that I am so grateful that God sent him first because he is just the child I needed. I also frequently hear from friends and family what a good boy he is, very polite and sweet.
He has had an interview with the bishop and has chosen to be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost on Sept 6, 2014. We know his choice will serve him well in his life..
We love you Luke!
 Grandpa George, Grandpa Marc, and Grandma Betty
 Grandma Cherie and Grandpa George
 After being at the beach for 4 hours we came home and Luke's oldest cousin (Christian) came over and they played and played until the sun went down. We had pizza for dinner and instead of ice cream Luke requested this ice cream cake I make sometimes. So the lucky duck got 2 cakes.

Luke with his second cake.

Summer Happenings 2014


We are having a fun busy summer. We have still been doing school most every day which I feel is important for the kids to keep up the habit, plus we took off a lot of weeks here and there last year due to moving and having a baby. It feels good to get into a routine again! We are also ramping up for next school year with some new books and a new homeschool group.


We have cherries! and I mean alot of Cherries probably a dozen gallon bags frozen and 12 jars of jam. The neighbor across the street let us have as many as we could pick. Everytime we went for a walk we would see cherry trees that no one was picking it made me sad to see all that delicious fruit go to waste.


Shiloh getting ready to go swimming. We put up the pool on the cement pad in the backyard (same pool we had in TX about 12ft diameter and 3 ft deep) We also read some scary statistics on drowning so we used some fencing materials we alread had to make a secure pool.


For the 4th of July we went Camping in Tabiona on a land lease (for cows and horses) in my Sister Heather's family. The kids had so much fun on the four wheelers. Luke and Bella learned how to drive them on there own. (they had a kid size one)
Who needs toys when you have sticks!
and cow bones

Bella and Hailey were making a fort out of sticks. Since we were camping we didn't get to see any fireworks but we did bring glow sticks. The children put on what I would call a Glow stick fire dance after it got dark. It was fun to watch them dancing around having fun!

In my opinion swimming in the river was the best part. There was an area with a little water hole where a tree had fallen over making the perfect diving board. Everyone including James and I had fun jumping off.



My mom also came with us she was very helpful in helping us keep track of our wandering children.

Macey's grocery store is close to our home and they sell these monster ice cream cones for $1.89. I wanted to see Royce's reaction when I bought him the biggest cone they offer. Silly boy! He actually didn't have a reaction at all when I first gave it to him. He just acted like that was what he was expecting the hole time but later I got him to make an excited face.





Royce is our only kid that has ever done this it is hilarious to watch him nod off while sitting at the table.

If any of you are familiar with BYU the Bean Museum has been updated and I do have to say they have made some marked improvements. We went and checked it out on a field trip. The kids all want to go back.




Watch out Royce the Moose is about to jump on you!

Bella is still our little artist! Constantly creating and spending hours everyday doing crafts. She loved the birds at the museum and when we came home she wanted to copy the picture to draw her own. SEE Below



I spend to much time on the computer someone needs to cut me off. I love shopping on amazon or finding new recipes!


Say MOO for Cow Appreciation day. We love free chicken!


Royce loved this cow but was super shy around it. At one point I thought all the kids were in the play area. I glanced outside where this cow was dancing drawing attention from the passing by traffic and low and behold Royce is out there just staring at the cow. That was a bad Mommy moment for me.

James and I went on a date and hiked a trail to this little waterfall a couple blocks from our house. We live pretty much at the base of the mountains

About 5 blocks from our house is the Murdock trail which goes on for miles. For some reason we decided to go roller blading when it was over 100degrees. Thus Bellas red face we made it maybe a half mile and came home. It was still fun just hot! Oh and Bella had clothes on when we left but as she heated up she kept stripping items off, until fortunately she had this swimsuit underneath.

Also in Pleasant Grove there is the Manilla Pond. It is super fun. We have been trying to go once a week. Lots of swimming and sand, plus they have an area you fish. The kids like to stay for hours and that is what summer is all about right!


Introducing Ms. Pumpkin our Olde English Bulldog. She is so sweet, and I like to think very happy to be in our family. She is 6 years old and we have had her a couple weeks now. She isn't perfect but has been easy to train.


Bella has wanted to take dance classes for a while now but I kept telling her she had to be willing to do the performance at the end of the class if I paid for her to go. Up until this summer she was unwilling to do that. She finally agreed until the day of when she put the breaks on. I did a little bribing and she did end up performing. She also gave a talk in Primary this month. She acted like she was nervous but when she got up to do it she was awesome! Very confident, she spoke loud and clearly. What an great little girl she is and such an important part of our family.



-Pioneer Day-
James took the day off work and the whole family ran (more walking that running) the temple to temple run in Provo. There were a lot of people but we still had fun and found everyone at the end of the run. Luke took off in front of us on his scooter. Bella stayed behind and road her scooter with my mom. James and I took the three little ones.
Here we are finishing the race. Royce was so excited in the morning of the race he was outside in our driveway warming up but when we got there it wasn't quite what he expected he seem a little worried and overwhelmed by all the people.
We then went to the Veterans park and enjoyed the Pioneer day festivities which included a petting zoo. Jesse stayed here for a good 20 mins.

The kids got to go on pony rides

Royce like the old school fire engines


Last but no least we went to Golden Coral for dinner. I have not like buffets for a long time because the food is usually gross and they are usually messy. But this place I like to James great relief and joy.