A little bit of this and that

Country Learning...

2011-11-16T07:55:00.002-07:00

Because things have been changing around here, I have decided to document them in a different blog.... Country Learning is where I will start to blog about life out here in rural Nevada/Utah. I bet your wondering why Nevada and Utah.... Well there is a post coming about that! :)
I will still update things on here from time to time, but for now it will be a blog fest over here.
Stay awesome! A

The new chapter....

2011-11-09T15:56:00.003-07:00

Here it is, 5 or so weeks since we have moved and I am just now getting to posting in the blog...

I don't have any pictures to post as of yet, because I'm lazy with taking pictures.

The move went really well. WE love where we are living! The views are indescribable! The weather is cooler than I anticipated, but that is just fine because we have 3 wood burning stoves that keeps us really warm. And I have a lumberjack hubby so that makes it even better! :)

The kids LOVE their school, and so do I. In the High School/Jr High School there is a total of 9 students including Samantha. It is amazing how much Sam loves her new school! Since we have moved here, she has come out of her little "Sammy Shell" and is friends with everyone! She is doing so great in school and loves all of the things she is doing!

In the Elementary there are a total of 10 students. 5 of them are mine, but it is really working out great! All of the kids are achieving so many things and that makes me really happy! Also, I get to help out at the school 3 days a week and that is really awesome! I LOVE IT!

I am also learning so many things about myself! I am having to learn how to cook from scratch and that is so much fun! The kids are really loving all of the homemade breads and goodies that I make. Even though El goes into Wendover 3 days a week and can get groceries it is nice to be able to learn how to improve my abilities with cooking and baking. I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving and making homemade pie crust!

It does get a bit lonely at times, but I try to keep myself busy!

I have lost 15 pounds since the move! I attribute that to not having McDonalds at my beck and call. French Fries are my total weakness!

One of the coolest things that I have seen here is, 2 Sundays ago El and I took a drive up above the property where we are living on the dirt bike and we saw wild horses! THAT was SO amazing! I wish I had my camera... It was so amazing and they were not to far from us! The stallion was trying to show us just how awesome he was/is with kicking and stomping and tossing his mane. It was truly awe inspiring!

Also, the Eagles around here are so cool! We see them everyday and I just love it! What beautiful country I live in!

The adventure continues...

2011-09-08T09:05:00.004-06:00

After years of planning and working hard to be able to find a job that will be able to sustain us in the wild desert of Utah, I can finally say that we will be able to see these beautiful mountains daily!

El has been able to get a job out in the west desert and we have a place to call home and we all couldn't be more thrilled! El leaves this week to start the move and we will soon follow in about 2 weeks. I am so greatful for all of the wonderful blessing these last 3 years have been and I look forward to all of the blessings to come in this life! Let the adventure continue!!!!!

Almost Accomplished...

2011-08-26T15:47:00.006-06:00

At the beginning of summer Morgan and Kylah decided to see if they could see all of the licence plates for the US... This was a FUN game! It got all of us involved.

The only catch was, they had to get all 50 before school started... We were able to see 47, plus Ontario, Alberta, Winnipeg, Australia and Tonga! REALLY, Tonga! In a Home Depot parking lot. If only any of those 5 could have been the illusive 3...

Hopefully next summer we can get all 50!

speaking of chickens.....

2011-08-07T16:54:00.004-06:00

Over the last couple of weeks I have made daily excursions outside to see if any of my loudly clucking chickens have laid any eggs... I was totally surprised to find one at the bottom of the back porch steps. It was cracked, but it was still an egg. I was elated! So yesterday I heard them clucking along with the family and we couldn't find one of the hens.. WELL, my Grandma searched and searched and found this;

Here is one of our hens.. She is one of the friendliest... She was sitting on all of these eggs... I marked them with an X so that we knew they were older. Apparently many of our hens have been laying in this spot and we didn't know it... After I took this picture, she went back into the nest and laid another egg... This is the greatest part of having chickens...

Update! REALLY!!!

2011-08-06T11:29:00.013-06:00

Life is busy! Blogging really isn't on the top of the list of things to do!!! It seems like we have been going non -stop since April.

So I will try to give a little break down...

In March we got chickens, got rid of our dog who was killing our chickens, and got more chickens! We have a total of 19. Two of them are roosters! Only one of them is crowing and let me tell you, that is just lovely to wake up to in the morning!!! I don't have a recent picture of the chickens so I will have to get one...

In April we took our trip to San Diego... It was so much fun!!!

Here are some pictures of the beach!!! It was so much fun! April was the perfect time to go, because the weather was so beautiful! The kids all LOVED the beach so much! But if you were to ask them to swim in the ocean the way they did then, the wouldn't because we have been watching "shark week" all week... :)

Here are just a handful of pictures I took from all of our "park adventures".. I seriously took about five thousand pictures during the trip.. I didn't want to overwhelm with the pictures....

So here is the break down of the parks.. We went to San Diego Wild Animal Park, Lego Land, Sea World, San Diego Zoo & Knotts Berry Farm... It was a lot of fun and I lost about 18 pounds from all of the walking... I just wish the pounds would have stayed off... :)

El and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary on June 1st... It has been such a wonderful time being married to this crazy guy.. He really makes everything worth while! El planned a big old surprise for me.. He took me to dinner, then decided to drive me around the town to see the Temple and then he surprised me with a night stay at the Anniversary Inn.... It was so awesome! I just wish I could have been a bit more cooperative... It was totally freaked out that all of the kids were going to be left with my Grandma and I was worried they would all be to much for her.. But things went well and everyone had a great time!

Also in June we made our first attempt at getting out to the 240 since March... In March when we went, it was too muddy and wet. We barely made it to the Norman Ranch without incident... So this June trip was way over due! We did make it kind of and got stuck in the Motor Home... It was a chore getting unstuck. We had to wait for El's dad to get there to tow us out... But it sure made for some great memories....

July was our annual Murphy Family Reunion.. It is always a lot of fun! The only problem is, I only took a handful of pictures and none of them turned out.... :(

Now here we are in August... El left for the 240 yesterday.. He didn't get out there until 3:00am... Because of some problems... Hopefully things are going well today... I'm hoping to pack the kids up on Tuesday for our final trip of the summer out there...

SO there it is.. TADA! Not really all that exciting.. But exciting enough for me....

Have a happy day!

Birthday Boy

2011-04-27T10:54:00.003-06:00

My sweet Gannon had his 5th birthday on Monday April 25th.. He is such a special boy and I enjoy him so much!

He really brings so much joy to our family.. I often tell him that I want him to stay little. He will give me a weird look and say "okay".

On Monday when I was giving him his bath, I told him that on that day 5 years ago he got his first bath ever.. I then asked him who gave it to him and he said "me?" I let him know that daddy was the one to give him the bath.. He then said "I like when daddy gives me baths"..

Gannon's favorite things right now are Ben10 toys and his ultimate favorite is Lego Ninjagos.. This past week when we were in California we took a day trip to LegoLand California.. It was so awesome and Gannon thought it was the best birthday ever!!!

and then???

2011-04-25T13:46:00.003-06:00

So much to say... I haven't really felt like blogging to much over the last little bit. Life gets away from me and before I know it, it is the end of April...

So, I will try to catch up on all that has happened..

March: Was a real craptastic month! Really! My Grandpa got really sick and was in the hospital for 3 days. He was going down hill, so we brought him home to be with his family. And WOW there was alot of family here.. It was so good to have everyone here to be with him in his final days. He passed away on March 18th 2011 at 12:18 PM.. It was such a sad day for all of us, but such a wonderful day for him...

Time kind of stands still when you loose someone you love so much... I don't know how to really deal with the loss of him. He was more than my Grandpa. He was my Dad.. He taught me so much in this life and I truly miss his presence here!

April: Has been a whirl wind of crazy! El and I decided to take a vacation with all of the kids to California for spring break... BUT, those are other posts! The thing that I really wanted to mention is, on the day that we were leaving April 15th, my baby sister had the cutest little baby girl... Her name is Ellieann... SHE is so cute! I was afraid that I wasn't going to see her before we left town, so I dropped by the hospital on our way out just to see my sister.. And low and behold, the baby had just been born!!! I was so excited to see her!!! I didn't get to hold her until yesterday (easter) because we had just gotten home!!! She is lovely.. I love snuggling her! Pictures to come soon...

Arizona!

2011-02-24T11:15:00.011-07:00

We had such an amazing time in Arizona.. If I had my way we would move there tomorrow... It was wonderful! The weather was great (anything is better than SLC right now).

The kids all thought it was the coolest thing to be able to play outside. At the Mangums they were out every chance they got.
Here are pictures from our trip to the Park.. It was awesome.. LOTS of pics... Enjoy!

All of us at the park..

Little Miss Ali.. She is the cutest!

Brook and Morgan...

James!

I love this picture of Kroban running.. It is like I have never let him outside before!

Kylah & Sam in the back ground..

Gannon with his cute black eye..

PRICELESS!!! I love the look on Helams face.

Little Miss Monkey bars... Emer had tunz of fun!

excitment!

2011-02-09T19:36:00.003-07:00

When reading this, please sing in your loudest voice, or your head "I'm so EXCITED" by the pointer sisters...

I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it! We are going to our BFF's next week and I couldn't be more happy! I am looking forward to hanging out and just doing nothing!

It reminds me of when I was in the 3rd grade and my Grams and Gramps took me to California to pick up my Aunt Lynda and Michael and Bryan.. We decided that during that trip we would go to Disneyland. It was the greatest time of my life! I rode home with my Aunt in her car and almost the entire way home we listened to the pointer sisters on tape... It was SO awesome! I wish I knew how to use my scanner so I could scan in some pictures of that trip..
California trips as a kid were the best. I loved going! That first trip we drove in this little grey Toyota. It was such a little fun car. (I inherited that car when I was 17)... Then about a year later my Grandparents got a motor home.. THE COOLEST! We took that thing to California every chance we got (at least that is how I remember it!) O how I miss that motor home! The funnest thing to do during trips was to sit in the overhead and watch all of the world before me.. Such great memories!

I am so excited to take this long road trip to Arizona with my family. I am more excited to go towards the warmth... This Utah weather is crap!

Lost in Translation...

2011-01-27T13:52:00.004-07:00

I seriously feel lost! I keep looking at other peoples blogs and I feel like I have alot to write about. BUT, the words just don't flow! I feel I have missed the opportunity on posting big events that have happened this month. But then I look over my calendar or other journal entries that I have and there were really only two big events...

The first event: Helam turned 2... TWO... But in reality it feels like my baby is 4 going on five.

Then I remember that my baby that is 4 going on 5 is Gannon..

The second event: Emer got Baptised. All I can really tell you about that day, was Helam turned two and I was busy doing so many other things that I feel I cheated my son out of a party. But then again, if he even has a memory of his second birthday it will be that there was a party and hopefully he will remember that he was the center of attention. O WAIT! He was, because he is a million miles and hour and I am sure he stole all of Emers thunder!

The worst part of the day, was that I forgot my camera! SO, I don't have a single picture (at least one that I would have taken) of El and Emer together...

It was an amazing day! Not only did my baby girl get baptised, but I got to hear El's amazing testimony. The love that he has for our children is so amazing! It really is one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced in this world. He is such an amazing person!

I wish I could remember all of the wonderful things that were said on that day. But all I could really think about was this family that I have is awesome!

As I sit here and write this, I just have to post something that I think is so cute. But all of my 2 readers will think i'm a meanypants.. Helam is sick with a cold and a cough.. The thing that is so cute about it is this: When he talks, his voice is all raspy and when he giggles it just makes my heart melt~! He sounds like a 90 old man whos voice box has had its last whisper.. :)

I know! MEAN! But to make it all better, just know this: I have been sick too..

Proud!

2011-01-06T15:28:00.001-07:00

With all of the hussle and bussle of the last month, I have forgotten to tell the Internet that:

EL got a 4.0 last semester! He took 6 classes (18 credits) ALL online!

Whoot, Whoot!

waiting...

2011-01-05T14:20:00.002-07:00

Happy New Year!

Winter! BLAH!!! I am ready for Spring already!

The sun is so awesome today, but it is so deceiving. I feel like we are on the top of the hill looking down towards warmth, fun and life!

I can't wait for all of the amazing things that the spring, summer and fall will have in store for us. I can't wait to be out at the 240. I can't wait to ride 4 wheelers. I can't wait for Helam to eat dirt again.

Speaking of Helam, he turns 2 this week. TWO! I know I say this alot, but how is it he is growing so fast? He is such an amazing person who tries my patients each and every day. He makes me want to pull out all of the gray hairs he is giving me. But I LOVE HIM so much, it makes my heart ache.
Also on Helams birthday, Emer will be getting baptized. She is so excited and so am I!

I love this journey. I love my family. I love winter too, but spring, summer and fall are my true loves!

sigh...

2010-12-30T18:01:00.002-07:00

It has been a crazy week! I really have debated on writing this post, because this last week has been hard!
Emer turned 8! I actually have a post dedicated to her, but I haven't been able to finish it up. Maybe one day! :) She had a good birthday. Then on that same day (the 23rd) we had a big Steve Murphy family get together. It is always fun to see all the bros and sisters! We missed some this year.. Hopefully next year we can all get together!
On the 24th morning, my Gramps woke me up at 5 because my Grams was feeling really sick. So I ran up to check on her, and immediately called 911. She was having a heart attack. It was a scary morning, and scary day. We figured that she had 2 heart attacks before Gramps woke me up then had two more while I was on the phone with 911, then she had 2 more at the hospital. NO FUN! We were all really worried. I was sure this was going to be the worst Christmas ever! BUT, after some quick surgery she was on the mend. Well I guess as well as can be mended. I got to bring her home on the 26th!
Christmas was okay! I didn't take one picture because I was taking only video so my Grams would be able to see all of the morning fun! All of the kids got so many things! It really was a true blessing that we were able to have a good Christmas.
This last week has been tough. I must say that my Grams really runs a tight ship! I have been doing her regular things each day, because she is on a NO work order from the docs. Let me tell you, every night I hit the pillow and I don't MOVE until 7 am the next morning.

I am so grateful that everything worked out for the best this Christmas. I'm so grateful that my Grams is alive. There was a point where I thought for sure it was her time. I wasn't ready for that, so I am glad the Lord has let her stay for a bit longer. I'm sure my Gramps is really grateful too.

Blessed Be...

2010-12-14T18:15:00.001-07:00

EL turned 35 today! I would like to say that I have 35 reasons to post as to why I love him, but I don't!
Just kidding.. I really do, but the Internet really doesn't want to hear them all!
SO, Happy Birthday to my amazing hubby! He brings me joy every day and I am so excited I get to be with him for all of his birthdays!

not so good parenting...

2010-12-10T08:14:00.005-07:00

The one word that I would use to describe Helam right now would be spaz. Ever since he became mobile he really gets into everything! He climbs on everything, opens every cupboard(even the ones with child locks) and is just all around unlike any other child I have had!

So to my greatest pleasure, two weeks ago he started to like to watch movies.. (yea) Mainly Toy Story 3 (which by the way if I have to watch it with him once more I might go crazy). I was SOOOO happy! It was actually nice to have 90 or so minutes to get things done! Now he likes to watch Finding Nemo! WHEW...

I would say that it isn't great parenting on my part to ask him if he would like to watch "NEMO" or "SLINK"every time he is under foot, or wanting to destroy something but I would just like to state for the record that he is still getting his daily exercises in!

Create...

2010-12-02T18:15:00.019-07:00

So here they are! My attempts on being "crafty". Let me just say this: I really enjoyed doing these crafts and I look forward to getting better at them. My brains ideas are so much better than what my hands actually created!

My "Martha Stewart" veggie tray for Thanksgiving! I really thought it was cute. Also, note the beautiful purple punch bowl in the back ground. That was my yummy attempt at making LimeRickies... SO SO SO GOOD!!!

Here is my fist attempt at an Advent Calendar. My Mom has accepted it. (thank goodness) I like the size of it. Not so much the color choice...

Second Advent Calendar.. I like how this one turned out! The size is pretty big, but I know that it will work for my sister Crystal! The reason that I decided to make these on my own, is because one: at a store I went to, I saw one and loved it, but it was falling apart! YIKES. And two: this blog that I follow had great ideas.. I will be making more in the future with the hopes they will turn out more like this.

Christmas village.. For my sister Crystal. I bought the houses from Hobby Lobby for super cheap! I did all of the painting and decor by myself! I LOVE THEM! I will be making many more in the future!

Quickity Quick...

2010-12-01T10:34:00.002-07:00

I made a promise to myself last month that I would blog more. HUM.. Didn't happen and that makes me sad. I really had alot to blog about, but didn't find the time!

PTC: The girls and Korban all did really well on their report cards and all of their teachers had great things to say about them during PTC or SEP or o my goodness what could you possible have to tell me that I don't already know... SO, we decided to have an Ice Cream party for all of their successes. El and I took all the kids to Dans and they got to pick out all of their yummy favorites. While checking out the young man who was ringing us up asked what it was all for and I let him know it was for good grades. He nodded in approval and then asked when he could show up.. :)

SNOW: There was a flurry of excitement of the proposed "Blizzard of 2010" yikes! The weekend before we got about a foot of snow, so I was SO excited for the upcoming blizzard. The city shut down! Schools were closing! It was going to be a Thanksgiving Miracle. It really just turned out to be the biggest weather disappointment of the century! I am sure it had effects all over the state, but East Millcreek! But to my greatest enjoyment, on Sunday it started to snow and it didn't stop until Monday afternoon... 12 more inches later and we are well on our way of having the greatest snow ever!!!! I hope that the snow keeps on coming and that on Christmas morning we will all be able to enjoy the warm snow gear we will be getting...

December: I woke up this morning feeling anxious! I LOVE December! We have 4 of our own little families birthdays this month on top of about 300 others in both sides of our families...
But there is a sadness about it. Samantha will be an official TEEN! That breaks my heart abit. I look at her everyday and still see that little baby... El will be turning 35.. He told me yesterday that he feels that 35 is an OLD age. I have to agree. I never thought that I would like a 35 year old! HA... But I do like him. Emer will be 8 this month. She is so over the moon about being baptised. This is my baby girl... O how I wish she would just stay little..
As for me I will be 33 this month. What should I tell my almost 33 year old self? TO TAKE A CHILL PILL... 33 isn't that big of a deal! Embrace it! Love it! o and don't forget to go out of the 32's with a BANG!!!

Christmas: What can I say, I love Christmas! Who doesn't? (EL!) We have been decorating and I have been crafting. I have yet to post pics of my crafts, but before I divvy them up today I will take pics and hopefully post them before 2011!

Pondering...

2010-11-07T23:03:00.002-07:00

Just a quick pondering thought...

When did my baby grow 5 feet 6 inches? I'm not talking about Helam. I'm talking about Samantha. All of a sudden she is growing and growing and growing.. I am 5 ft 6 and she is just barely taller than I am... yikes! I would like to just state for the record (while i'm having a tantrum) IT'S NOT FAIR!

NoWHATber...

2010-11-02T07:37:00.004-06:00

HOW is it already November? It is crazy town to me how the days, months, years just fly by!

I remember being a kid and thinking THIS is the LONGEST day ever!!! Or this is the longest drive ever (when just traveling up to the Zoo). Does this happen to everyone?

In just a couple of weeks Thanksgiving will be here then shortly after that Christmas then shortly after that NEW BABY will be two years old!

I sometimes wonder how long the days feel to my kids. Are they wondering why the days are just dragging by? Or are then wondering why they are flying by? Who knows!

I really love this time of year! I have started to draw out some of the projects that I am going to be doing in the next couple of weeks and I am so excited about them. I have decided that I will do a bit of a craft section once they are all done... So if any of you who read this mess of a blog would like to send me some ideas of projects that would be fitting for the Holiday season that would be awesome...

Til next time here is a little quote "don't stop make it pop DJ blow my speakers up"

Crafty Class...

2010-10-28T13:38:00.005-06:00

Last week, I got an email about Morgan and Kylahs class Halloween party. I totally spaced that I had signed up to help so I thought well this is a great opportunity for me to do a craft.

I saw this really cool craft on my cousin in-law Leslies blog and I loved it. So I decided I would do this craft for their class. But after looking at my budget, I just wasn't sure if I could afford putting these together with 28 kids. Needless to say, I was at a loss.. UNTIL I saw these cute crafts on my other cousin in-law Jens blog. I had almost everything to do this craft (all thanks to my Grams and her million mason jars in the attic) so it would be pretty cost effective.

So, I did the prep work of putting the crate paper on the jars before hand. (because one: Modpodge stinks and two: it took a while to dry) Then I took the jars to the class and had them all make their own Jack-O-Lanterns.

I am so grateful for my extended family and their talents. Because of the things that I see them all do, I put my shoulder to the wheel and I give it my best effort. I have decided that I am going to make some of these lanterns for Christmas, and I am going to do a Nativity Set with the clay pots.

If anyone has any other crafty ideas, please let me know. Because this Christmas season I'm going to have to have a "homemade" theme..

who says i'm to old to bathe in the sink?

2010-10-25T13:24:00.002-06:00

He is seriously the cutest kid ever!

its a birthday party

2010-10-25T08:20:00.003-06:00

I was not the greatest at the picture taking during the twins birthday party. I wish I would have taken pictures of all of the fun things.. Bummer me..

So here is how it went:

First we greeted all of the guests. We had 11 of the 12 girls come to the party who were invited. That made for a crazy amount of girls... They all made their own birthday hats. All of the girls were very creative. I was impressed!

Then the girls broke off into teams and went on a scavenger hunt around the neighborhood. It was so much fun to see them running all over the place. They had to find birthday party items. I wish I still had the list so I could put it all in the blog and a picture of all the things they were able to get, but alas, I'm a looser!

Then they all came back and we had pizza, cake and ice cream and did presents! The twins made out like little bandits! They got everything the could have wished for and more!

Morgan and Kylah both had so much fun and I'm so glad. I was stressing like crazy over this party. They both also told me that this was the best birthday ever!

1 day older & wiser 2...

2010-10-22T07:29:00.006-06:00

11 years ago, I was so blessed to have two babies! Even if they are turning 11, they still are my babies.. I love Morgan and Kylah so much! They bring such joy to my life! I have been complimented many times on how beautiful they are and how sweet they are. Not only with each other but with all of their siblings and friends.

They are great examples to me and to everyone around them. I'm sad they are growing up, but I know they are growing up to be exceptional young ladies and one day women. I look forward to everyday with them!

Happy Birthday Morgie and MoJo JoJo... I love you both with all of my heart!

Would you like them with a Fox?

2010-10-19T07:46:00.003-06:00

Recently Helam has taking a HUGE liking to reading.. Here he is with my Gramps reading "Pooh and Friends ABCs" My Grampa has read this to Helam so much that he can now read along with him..
Below is El and Helam reading "If you give a Cat a cupcake". He loves to be read to. But his FAVORITE BOOK is "Green Eggs and Ham".... We all (meaning El, Gramps, Grams, all of the sisters and myself) read it to him ALL DAY!
I woke up in the middle of the night dreaming about reading it... Then, this early morning when he crawled into bed with El and I he asked for his boook. I told him no books, it was time for sleep. He cried a bit, got a drink of water and laid there gabbering about his booook... I'm glad that he is starting to love to read. But my favorite part of reading "green eggs and ham" is when he says "i SAM!"... So cute..