Sleepy Zoe

Cami and Brandon celebrated their 4th wedding anniversary by going to Napa to stay at my sister-in-laws parents bed and breakfast. It was the first time I got to take care of Zoe over night. She was such a perfect little angel when it came to going to bed. First while playing with her toys she started to suck her thumb so I could tell she was getting tired, then she walked over to me while I was sitting in the maroon chair, and started playing with her hair while continuing to suck her thumb.  I picked her up and she snuggled down on my shoulder...I put her in her crib about 15 minutes later.  She fussed a little for a few minutes and then was out until 8am the next morning.  So, so sweet!

Jared Scouting

 Angel Lopez, Jared, Mike Seymore and Anthony Telford.

Sweet Baby Zoe 1 year Pictures

Pictures by Erin Noel Designs. 1st Birthday present from Grandpa Sheldon and Grandma Lisa.
These pictures turned out so beautiful; Zoe looks like a little doll.

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Justin Beaver

Rachel:  "I hate Justin Bieber"

David:  "I don't, I like Justin BeaVer!"

 Daddy gets home from his Ulink meeting and gets hello hugs from all of his babies.

 Julia's inventive hairstyle for Rachel's tumbling class.

 Silly goofy David and Rachel.

Julia Women of Virtue Video

Julia's Women of Virtue video from Young Women in Excellence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj6oxQFO5Eo

Taylor Swift Plays Piano

Rachel as Taylor Swift, (think Love Story), playing her latest piano song.

This is right before we left for the Visions charter school, Harvest Festival.

Waffles

I've been making lots of waffles lately. It's an easy way to use up some of the wheat I have stored and since wheat is one of the few foods that Rachel is NOT allergic to, a good way to fill her tummy. Yesterday I experimented with a savory waffle that Rachel used to make a "waffle pizza" with for lunch, minus the cheese of course since she is highly allergic to any milk product.  Then I made some "Apple-Pumpkin-Cinnamon Waffles for afternoon snacks. I added some brown sugar to the recipe so the kids would eat them like a cookie instead of needing syrup. The kids loved them! Rachel is allergic to butter but here are David and his friend Nolan eating fresh, hot waffles with butter. So satisfing to hear their "Ummmm's" and see their little eyes roll back in their heads as they ate their waffles.

Then the boys decided to go strawberry hunting to complete their afternoon snack.

4 c Freshly ground whole wheat flour

1 c brown sugar

2 T Baking Powder

1 t Baking Soda

1 t salt

1T Cinnamon

1t nutmeg and ginger

1/2t allspice

1/2 c olive oil

2 t vanilla

2 T Vinegar

About 1 1/2 c dried apples blendered till smooth with 2-3 c of water-aprox.

1 16 oz can pumpkin

Add dry ingredients to liquid ingredient.

About 1c batter per waffle.

Cook for about 10 minutes on med in waffle iron. 

add more water if too thick 

(I would add 1-2 eggs if Rachel was not allergic)



Zoe's Verbal Abilities at 13 Months

I took this video a few weeks ago. We hadn't seen Zoe for two and a half weeks; when she came over for a visit she had many new tricks to show us!

Yucky Kisses

Julia: I don't want your YUCKY KISSES!

David: "But you smell so pretty!"

David was finally able to get his kisses even though they are a little slobbery...

So Sweet:)

Zoe Fun in the Tub

Zoe in her New Sandals

Handsome David

David got a new suit for his birthday...He said, "I look good! Very handsome!"

Zoe's 1st Birthday Party

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Emma Mavy's Birthday Barbeque

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Saturday with Stacy & the Boys

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Zoe's first steps...She has clapping for herself down better than the actual walking:)

Zoe playing peekaboo

Zoe loves eating the strawberries from our garden. The first video she signs for "more" and the second video she says "NUMMY, NUMMY, NUMMY!"

Zoe's favorite game to play at night.

Peter Maughan

Pioneer Story of Peter Maughan
PETER MAUGHAN
Submitted By: Angus H. Belliston



Because of his prominence, much has been written about Peter Maughan, the great pioneer colonizer of Cache Valley. This account will serve only as a vignette, summarizing his life. Born in the little village of Milton in Cumberland County, northern England on 7 May 1811, Peter grew to manhood in humble circumstances. From the age of fifteen, he worked in the lead mines.


Peter was married at age twenty to Ruth Harrison, age nineteen, on 1 October 1831. Almost immediately they were the parents of several children. They lived faithfully together and were baptized into the LDS Church. Peter was soon recognized as one of the Lord’s favored disciples and served in important callings all his days.


Ruth’s time on earth was cut short by her death just after the birth of her sixth child, baby Ruth, on 26 March 1841. She went to her grave while making plans to emigrate to America with her husband and family. Brigham Young advised Peter to go forward with these plans, and the motherless family together launched out across the deep in company with Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball and five other apostles returning from their famous mission to Britain. The little baby Ruth died from malnourishment and was buried at sea off the coast of Newfoundland.


In Nauvoo, Peter met and married a young widow, Mary Ann Weston Davis, who became a wonderful mother to his five surviving children. She bore eight more of her own, all of whom were given the middle name of Weston. Peter later married Elizabeth Preator, who bore three children. This brought the total number of Peter’s children to seventeen. Many of these had large families of their own, and the posterity of Peter Maughan has grown to very large numbers, most of whom have faithfully retained their blessings in the Lord’s Church.


Peter worked on the Nauvoo temple, where he and Mary Ann were endowed on 2 February 1846. Peter joined the Nauvoo Legion. He purchased a lot, built a home and stayed in Nauvoo until the spring of 1844, just before the martyrdom of Joseph Smith. The Prophet sent him north to Rock Island to mine coal. A year later, the coal enterprise was closed and the family returned to Nauvoo to prepare to flee west with the Saints. But sickness in the family intervened and they were unable to get ready in time. Instead, they went north to Wisconsin to mine lead -- a skill Peter was expert at. Peter said the Lord showed him where to mine, and during the following four years, until April 1850, the family provided for themselves and obtained the necessary outfit and supplies for their journey west.


In Utah, the family was first assigned to Tooele, where Peter became the county clerk and assessor, then Recorder for Tooele City, then county treasurer and finally a member of the Territorial Legislature. He also was called to preside over the Church in E. T. City, near Tooele. Poor soil, crickets, diseases in their crops and hostile Indians made this a difficult pioneering enterprise. A lesser man than Peter and a lesser woman than Mary Ann might have given up. But they overcame all difficulties and prepared themselves for their next assignment. This came early in 1856, when Brigham Young asked Peter to head a company of pioneers in settling Cache Valley.


In September, the settlers camped on a stream in the south end of the Cache Valley and decided to make this their home, and to call it “Maughan’s Fort.” The severe winter and the invasion of Johnston’s Army in 1857 caused a temporary evacuation. In 1859, the settlers had returned and the little city became Wellsville. Soon many families began flocking to the lovely valley. Logan, Providence, Mendon, Smithfield and Richmond were soon established. Peter Maughan was named Probate Judge for Cache County, which office at that time was the chief executive. He was also called by the Church as “Presiding Bishop,” a calling similar to that of later stake presidents. He and Apostle Ezra T. Benson, who had also moved to Logan, worked in close harmony with each other. Peter and his family were asked to move to Logan in 1860, where he could better work with bishops in the whole area, and with other Church and civic officers. By the time they moved into their new three-room log house, Mary Ann was ready to deliver her eighth and last child.


A lifetime of service cannot be told here. Peter Maughan became a giant among the leaders of the new Utah Territory, respected and relied upon by Brigham Young and other leaders, as well as by the people he served. He learned to deal with the Indians so successfully that peace prevailed throughout most his lifetime. When Peter died on 24 April 1871, the Logan Tabernacle was filled with friends and admirers, including many Indians. It is interesting to read the order of march for the procession to the cemetery: Brass and Martial Bands, Company of Cavalry, The Hearse, Family and Relatives of the deceased, Bishops and Priesthood, Citizens in Carriages and (at the last) a company of Shoshone Indians.


The sons and daughters of Peter Maughan and his three wives became the forebears of a noble posterity. Their names are held in honorable remembrance by all who knew of them, most of all by those who claim them as grandparents.

Langstraats Swim

Last Tuesday, the 12th of July, the Langstraats came over to swim. I'm Brianna Langstraat's Primary teacher at church. Brianna is only 4 but was an incredible little swimmer and fearless going down our twisty, very fast slide. Her little sister was a crack up as she ate some of the strawberries from my garden. She called me Sisser Mom (for Sister Maughan). As she would eat the strawberries and want more she would say, "Sisser Mom, Mo' straw-bear-ee, mo' straw-bear-ee!" I picked the strawberry patch clean of all the ripe strawberries! She was so adorable I couldn't resist giving her as many strawberries as she wanted.

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Friday Night Fun with the Merritts, Schades and Cooks

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Jared Watching Paige & Mason Lewis

Jared watched Paige and Mason while Stephanie went to an appointment.  Mr. Mason thought the water fountains and David's fire truck were all that...what a busy little boy.  I was tired just watching Jared watch him! He was oh so cute though as he discovered the fountains and then the fire truck:)  Jared's going to make a great Daddy someday, even though he tried the classic male "I can't do it" when it came time to change a poopy diaper; he did just fine;) 

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Teenagers Know Everything:)

So funny when your teenager tries to correct something you say...

Mom:  "I have a history of longevity in my family.  Nana lived to be 94 and Nonnie is 81 and still going strong.

Julia:  (In a condescending tone)  "Mom, it's not longevity, it's LONG-LIVE-ITY"

I haven't stopped laughing for the last ten minutes!

Vole Drowning

Look what we found in the pool filter this morning....EEEEWWWW!

These nasty little voles have been eating all of my strawberry plants back behing  the waterfall.

David was studying it and said, "I think it's a possum!"  Close David but it's a Vole.

possum

Voles are small rodents that grow to 3-9 inches, depending on the species. They can have 5–10 litters per year. Gestation lasts for 3 weeks and the young voles reach sexual maturity in a month. As a result of this exponential growth, vole populations can grow very large within a very short period of time. Since litters average 5–10 young, a single pregnant vole in a yard can result in a hundred or more active voles in less than a year.

Voles are commonly mistaken for other small animals. Moles, gophers, mice, rats and even shrews have similar characteristics and behavioral tendencies. Since voles will commonly use burrows with many exit holes, they can be mistaken for gophers or some kind of ground squirrel. Voles can create and will oftentimes utilize old abandoned mole tunnels thus confusing the land owner into thinking that moles are active. When voles find their way into the home, they are readily misidentified as mice or young rats. In fact, voles are unique and best described as being a little bit like all the other animals they are so commonly thought to be.

They will readily thrive on small plants. Like shrews they will eat dead animals and like mice or rats, they can live on most any nut or fruit. Additionally, voles will target plants more than most other small animals. It is here where their presence is mostly evident. Voles will readily girdle small trees and ground cover much like a porcupine. This girdling can easily kill young plants and is not healthy for trees or other shrubs.

Voles will often eat succulent root systems and will burrow under plants or ground cover they are particularly fond of and eat away until the plant is dead. Bulbs in the ground are another favorite target for voles; their excellent burrowing and tunnelling gives them access to sensitive areas without clear or early warning. A vole infestation is often only identifiable after they have destroyed a number of plants.[1]

8 & 9 Year Old Achievement Day Girls Swim Party

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Out by the Pool

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After a hard day of swimming, David fell asleep while drying off.  My baby boy is so cute;)

Hair Cuts and FHE

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