The Fourth with Friends.

We had a great 4th of July hanging out with some new friends we made well we were in Winston, Amy and David. (Amy came over to the house at least once a week and had lunch with me. I think I would have gone insane if it was not for her visits.)

Our first stop of the day was to the local firehouse. They had hot dogs and activities for the kids. Derrick got to aim the firehouse at a "burning" house and put the fire out. They also were giving rides for the fire truck. Sadly well waiting in line, they got called to a FIRE or some other emergency and had to leave.  It being the 4th I was not really surprised the fire truck had to leave!!

Our next stop was the parade were we had FRONT ROW SEATS!! Derrick and Riley got LOTS of candy. Derrick worked for it running to get it when ever it was thrown. Riley just like to be the recipient and sat on her chair the entire time eating whatever she was brought! Owen fell asleep half way though.

Amy and David "borrowed" Derrick to watch the fireworks at their house that night. Riley and I enjoyed them from the living room window. At least we tried, we did not have a very good view. Once again Owen missed out because he was sleeping!

The BEACH.

The second week we were in Oregon my sister's and niece came down for a ten day vacation. My parents and my brother treated us to a weekend at the coast. Shannon and me and our kids sleep in a YURT. It was pretty exciting. WAY better than a tent and a lot cheaper then a hotel room! We plan on taking a summer vacation to the same place next year and renting a yurt again.

 

The kids loved playing in the Ocean. Covering themselves with sand, and looking for seashells. The last day we were they it rained, but that did not stop us from going to the beach one last time.  Owen shoved sand in his mouth at one point, I thought he was going to chock to death before I could get it all out. We made sure we brought the play pen to the beach after that.

Derrick was even big enough to go up to the VERY TOP of the light house.  You can hardly see out the windows. The guide told us it is because they are afraid that someone might get hurt if they cleaned them. Good thing it is really not a working light house anymore!

Into the WILD.

This summer was filled with A LOT of trips to the Wildlife Safari. My parents have a pass and we took advantage of it. I think the first week we were in Oregon we went a total  of FOUR times. I lost track of of how many times we went after that. On the road you drive to go to the safari, there is a blue house on the right side of the road. My Dad, used to live in that house. He used to have dreams about lions invading his house and eating his family well they slept. The house was up for sale, but from my understanding no one can live in it because it is to close to the safari. Lions could escape from there cages and eat you in the middle of the night!

Every time we went to the safari we saw something new and exciting. Once the Rhino's were down from the hill, and right next to our car. One of our last trips the Mama Zebra even came down the hill with her baby that was born in June. We even got to see a 2 day old baby ostrich, and lots and lots of baby buffalo.

Derrick's favorite animal was the Cheetah. I think we stopped almost every time to talk to the lady in the cheetah booth. A couple of times she even told us the names of the cheetah's. The only one I remember was Mohawk. A cub, who in fact did have a mohawk. My favorite animal were the bears, and Riley's were the elephants. Before I was married, I got to "sit" on the elephant with my sisters and get our picutre taken. They do not do that anymore. BUT, they do have an elepahant car wash. We never did the car wash, so this is the closest we got to the elephants!

Hiking (Posted accidentally by Grandma Nette)

Wild Iris seen along the trail of the Falls, Falls.

 

Owen whom was very determined that he could hike all by himself... but when he came to the bride he decided to back over it...

Owen enjoying the water with his Aunt Rynn,  He loves the water and can get cold and soaked and still wants to play in it more..

 .

  Riley with her Cousin Maggie..  This was a great big old tree that had been burned and made a nice place to almost hide.

Maggie and Rily standing in the spray from the Falls..

A New JOB!! Plus OREGON!!

Us Clement's have been pretty busy. Last week I traveled to Oregon ALL BY MYSELF! This was my very first road trip alone, plus I had three kids along for the ride! I am so glad my kids are good travelers! It helps that we have a DVD player in the back of the van. 

The day after we arrived Daniel called and told me he had a job interview. Guess what? He got the job and starts next Wednesday. We are pretty happy. I am excited about staying in Utah at least for the next year. We are really hoping to rent a  house that is in our price range, so that we have more space and a yard! We are hoping to live out by Eagle Mountain or Lehi.

Me and the kids will be in Oregon probably until the middle of August. My parents will be gone for the month of July and I already have promised that I would house sit for them. We have some good friends in Utah who have kindly said that Dan can stay with them rent free. I am so glad we have friends like that. I have been thinking of ways I could repay them for their kindness... I think I have decided to make them quilts. AHHH! This will be my first time! I also have to make a quilt for the gentleman who got Daniel the interview. It is the same person who was trying to get him on at the other construction company.

The kids and I have been having a great time in Oregon. We do miss Dan. Riley who is mad at Dan for not being here, has decided to call him Daniel. I think it kind of hurts his feelings...Today my sisters get here from Idaho and tomorrow we leave for the coast for two days!! Kind of excited I have not been to the Oregon Coast since before Riley was born, that was three years ago!!

I will try to post some pictures on here tomorrow. I just need to figure out how to work my Mom's laptop since my Dad's computer is out of comission.

packing

I have been packing like crazy!! I hope it will help lift the load off Daniel, when he has to move everything by himself at the end of June. I started packing on Friday, and have 12 boxes so far. The living room is DONE.  The "laundry room" is DONE. I am just waiting for the dishwasher to get finished and then the kitchen will be done!UPDATE: Kitchen DONE! I also scrubbed the top of the cupboards today. I would not be surprised if the last time they were clean was when this place was first built. IT WAS DISGUSTING.  Next it is the bedrooms closets and the children's toys. I am hoping I will be done packing everything I want packed by tomorrow.

I actually do not mind packing. It helps me get rid of the junk that has been sitting in the cupboards, under beds and in the closets.

Owen has officially said his first word. RILEY. My Mom made the comment that her children's first words, were the words they heard the most. I however, think it is because she has him help her do her evil work.  I am always finding them in the middle of a big mess together! He loves the attention he receives from her and follows her around the apartment like a lost puppy dog. She does a good job sticking up for him too. Yesterday in primary, she stood in the middle of him and another little boy who was trying to steal his bottle.(Since me and Dan both are in nursery Owen has no other choice then to come with us.) She put her little hands on her hips and starred the kid down. The little boy walked away and Owen's bottle stayed safe in his chubby little hands! It was really cute and made me giggle.

Riley, cut her hair AGAIN. This time I am not going to try to fix it, just cover it up. Which I try doing by putting hair bands in her hair with giant flowers on them! If she takes them off she looks like she is losing patches of hair and going bald.  It seems she always does it before a big event... I am thinking she is never going to have beautiful long hair.  On a good note, She is almost ALL the way potty trained. She has went #2, in the toilet all last week and never in her pants! TMI, sorry. She did wet her pants a couple times, but it is because she does not want to stop what she is doing, so she waits until the, very.last.minute.

Derrick, is of course just "Derrick". The other day he made me laugh, and I told him he was so silly. He replied, "Well yeah! Heavenly Father made me this way. He knew I needed to make you giggle." Also, every night when he says his prayers, he will ask for Daddy to get the phone call.He is so sweet. Him and Daniel are such great buddies. He has already expressed a couple of times how much he is going to miss his Dad when we are in Oregon.  Makes my heart break a little...

Choose Your Love, Love Your Choice

I entered this picture in a photo contest this week. I really want to get picked!!

I have not posted anything in a while. That is, I have not posted what is going on in the Clement household…

We are surviving.

A couple of months ago Daniel started applying for new jobs here in Utah, and in Boise. The plan was that if he was to find a job here, he would work until the end of the summer, then we would move to Boise to go to school. Well about a month ago Dan got recommended for a great job here in Utah. He is supposed to be on a “list”. We have been waiting two weeks for a call... Our little family has been on pins and needles waiting, so we could plan our summer.

My Mom has kindly offered for us to stay with her for the summer. Actually she has offered her house for all eternity, saying if we needed we could stay with her until Daniel could find a job there. She is so sweet. I am so blessed to have someone who cares so much about my family. We really thought about going to Roseburg for the summer or until Spring semester started in Boise... WE LOVE OREGON! However, it would not be wise to move to Roseburg with nothing in hand.  Especially since it seems, the “recession” has hit Roseburg hard. Finding a job there that pays good is almost impossible. Finding a job there that pays anything it seems is impossible.  

Since we can not find a job here in Utah, Boise or Oregon last night we decided what our little family need to do...So the kids and I are packing our bags, and going to with my parents house. Daniel is staying here, working, packing up the apartment, putting everything in storage, and staying at a friends house. He is going to be working hard. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful, hardworking man in my life. I already have stated to miss him…

I actually have already started packing things. I know he would do a great job, I just like knowing were things are. I like the way I label!!

Daniel is hoping he will still get the job in Utah, and if he does the plan is to stay here. I would come back in August before Derrick starts school. We have prayed about this decision, we feel good about it. It is a great opportunity. It will help us get out of dept. Plus, Daniel will still be able to go to school. He would start in January taking some Internet classes at the UofU, or BYU. The best part, we would not have to get financial aid for him to afford to go to school!!!

What if Daniel does not get this job? Then we will more than likely move to Boise this fall, like we had originally planned. We need to work some things out with the financial aid department... However; until Daniel can secure a job in Boise we will not have enough money for our entire family to move down. So I would continue to stay with my parents, until he can find a job.  Thankfully Daniel has somewhere he can stay, if it comes down to that.

For those of you who say “But, you prayed about going to school in Boise. You said it was the right thing to do.” We still do. We still feel really good about that decision. But, we also feel really good about the decision to stay in Utah. We have prayed day in and day out, about both decisions. BOTH feel right.  This last week I was listing to President Monson’s talk he gave at the priesthood session this past General Conference. It was about marriage and trying to make it work no matter what the circumstance. I loved that talk, but it also made me realize something else. We have choices given to us in this life.  I knew this before but it is confirmed to me once again, our Father in Heaven lets us choose. Isn't Agency WONDERFUL?! In our cirmcumstance, one choice is not necessarily better then the other. It is how we go about after we make the decision that matters. How we trust in our Heavenly Father and have faith in him. How we turn to him always, not only when life gets difficult. I love finding the little message in Conference talks that are hidden it seems just for me! Over the last couple of months our family has been faced with many choices.(I have no idea if I am writing choose, or choice in the right way? I think I may be a little sleep deprived. So if it is wrong please forgive me and please still be my friend!) Should we stay in Utah, should we continue working for Layton, should me move back to Couer d'Alene, should we move to Oregon, should we go to school in Oregon, should we move to Boise, should we go to school in Boise, can we afford to go to school, if we do go to school how will we pay our bills, should we stay and try to get a different job in Utah?? (SORRY FOR THE LONG LIST!) We have finally narrowed it down to two. They both are righteous choices. They both will help our family. We have prayed and prayed about both decisions.  We are trying to have have faith... 

We have no idea what is going to happen. But, we have faith in our Father in Heaven. We know that what ever happens it is because that is what he wants for our family. Our first choice would be to stay here. We would love to get this job, it would help our family out so much. I can not believe I am saying this, but I would love to raise my family in this valley. I love having so many temples at my finger tips. I love getting to drive by the Salt Lake temple. I love the mountains, especially in the winter time when they are covered in snow. If we do not get this job? It will be a blessing to be in Boise. To be so much closer to our family. To actually have family that lives in the same town, BLISS!  To actually live in Idaho again, HEAVENLY! It would be so much easier to register our car. Plus, I would not have to take a written driving test again, I could just walk in change my address and renew my license!! 

We will continue praying, and continue hoping... What a wonderful thing the power of prayer is. I think I would have gone completely insane these last couple of months, if I was not able to get on my knees and pray whenever I could.

Made My Day!

Some days you just need a good laugh.

Here you Go!

Courtesy of Riley Pie Pie.

We Made DONUTS!

Kind of, we called them donut POPPERS.

They were yummy.

We made them out of RHODES DINNER ROLLS.

Cinnimon and Suger.

Chocolate with Sprinkles.

 

The crowd pleaser: Glazed Vanilla.

(We had to add sprinkles to some of these too!)

I am not great with recipes so bare with me.

Here is What I did:

Donut POPPERS.

The RHODES rolls stated out frozen. I let them thaw for about two hours (following the directions of the package). Then I cut them in fours with a knife(crosswise), and rolled them into balls. Then I let then raise for another two hours.

I then heated oil in a heavy pot (my cast iron dutch oven). I let the oil get really hot. I don't have a candy thermometer, so I tested the oil with a couple drops of water. When I did this, it made a popping sound (which was what I wanted to hear). I then turned the heat down to about medium-high.

I put in about 10 piece of dough into the oil. I cooked the dough an both sides for about 30 seconds. Using a slotted spoon I removed them and let them "drain" on a paper towel. The END...

Well almost, if you want to eat them plain.

Cinnamon Sugar Coating:

1 cup of Sugar

1Tablespoon, plus one Teaspoon of Cinnamon.

Place all ingredient into a Ziploc bag. Close. Then Shack.

*You want to place the POPPERS into the bag a couple of seconds after you remove them. (You want some oil left on them, the sugar sticks better.) Give the bag a shack them remove the POPPERS!

Vanilla Glaze:

1/4 cup whole milk

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups powered sugar.

Heat milk, butter and vanilla in a small sauce pan until warm. Add Sugar, and whisk until blended. Turn heat to low ( or you can place the pan in a bowl of warm water).  Place POPPERS into the pot, and coat with glaze turning them over. Take them out using a slotted spoon. Place on a cookie sheet. Cool for about 5-10 minutes. (They taste better when they are still warm!)

* I put paper towels under my cookie sheet, so I would not have a big mess to clean up.

Chocolate Glaze.

* I sure you can find better recipes then this one on line. It is not really a recipe

All I did was take 1/4 cup of Canned Chocolate Frosting.

Placed into a microwave bowl, and microwaved it for about 30 seconds.

Using a slotted spoon  coated the POPPERS. Then I let then cool for about 10 minutes.

There it is. I hope you enjoy it. SUPER EASY. The best part, my kids LOVED them.

Check...

It has been a couple of weeks since I have posted. Life has been a little crazy here, and only going to get crazier in the months to come!

Daniel has a TO DO list of things he wants to see and do before we move to Boise. Yesterday we checked an item off! We went to the Salt Lake City Public Library. (Next on our list is the Bingham Canyon Mine, and a Historic Farm in Salt Lake !)

The car ride over there started off with a weird noise once we hit seventy on the freeway. I keep looking around to see if it was coming from the inside of the car, when suddenly something caught my attention.

Daniel left the redbox movie underneath the windshield wiper.

He had forgot his keys in the house and left it there for "safe" keeping as he ran inside to get them.

Luckily it did not blow away and we took the next exist so we could "safely" put it in our car!

These are some pictures I found online of the Salt Lake City Library. IT IS HUGE!

 In the above picture, underneath the canopies is where the children's library is located. The have little couches, desk and beanbags for the kids to set on. And of course a room full of children's books, cassettes, Cd's and Movies! There was so much to look at in the children's library we did even make it to other parts of the library to see what they had to offer!!. 

If you happen to be in Salt Lake City, I would say it is a must see!

Here are some pictures I captured inside the library with my own camera... Just of the kids.

Owen going for the stairs, in the Crystal Room.

Derrick, who was looking at Star Wars books said the Crystal Room reminded him of were Luke Skywaker was taken...Then he said it was actually were Superman got his powers...LOVE THAT KID.

(No she is not picking her nose!)

There was also another room (sadly I did not get any pictures), that was called the ATTIC. It reminded me of a tree house... They also had a contest going on with LEGO's, which were displayed in cases through out the Library (again I did not take any pictures). Daniel was going to get a library card, but it cost $20.25...And since we do not plan to be here very much longer we decided against it. Oh well, the kids had fun and loved riding in the glass elevator. They even got a frozen lemonade on the way out!!

We also thought we might take some family pictures, but it was TOO cold. This was the only one of the kids we caught together and Riley is crying because she wants to put her coat back on. Derrick is trying to get Owen to smile and look at the camera!

Here is a picture I captured of our sweet Owen!

Riley LOVES watching movies in the car...

She also LOVES her pink rain boots.

We ended our day going out for an early dinner at Famous Dave's Bar-b-Que! Delicious!!!

Can't wait until next Saturaday to see what my husband has planned!!