Not all it's cracked up to be

There are certain words that get me excited. One of them is FREE! I love everything FREE and do all I can to get as much FREE things as possible. So when I heard that there was a FREE Easter egg hunt at This is the Place State Park, I thought, "Fun for all, and it's FREE!" So up we went on Saturday to get our share of FREE eggs and stuff. We arrived around 1:20 p.m. The hunt was advertised to start at 2:00. I knew there would be a lot of people, because hey, everyone likes FREE, but when we got there, the line was already a mile long. They weren't letting anyone in until 2:00 so we waited in this major line that just kept growing and growing for 40 minutes in the freezing wind.They finally let the herd of thousands of people in the gates and we all went to our respective age group sights for the hunt. Then we had to wait another 30 minutes for the cannon to go off for the whole thing to start. I took Mitchel and Max to the one area, while Mike took Mason and Miles to the little kid area. They boys were excited because they could see the many plastic eggs inside the fence. They were sure that they would get some, even though there were hundreds of other children lined up at the fence with them.
Finally, the wait was over and both of them crawled through the fence into the maham. 45 SECONDS later, Max reappears at the fence bawling his head off holding a broken basket and no eggs. Meanwhile Mason and Mike reappear with Mason bawling his head off because he didn't want to go with Dad, he wanted me to go with him. 15 SECONDS after that, Mitchel arrives back at the fence with a total of 3 eggs and a disappointed look.
In a total
45 SECONDS
the FREE event was over, kids were bawling, everything was gone and we were done. Then it was another 20 minutes of making it past all the people and back to the parking lot to get in the van and get out of there.
So, lets review what we got for FREE:
1) 1 1/2 hours of waiting in the freezing cold wind
2) 45 seconds of hunting for Easter eggs
3) two bawling children and 1 disappointed one
4) 12 eggs full of crap
5) an exhausted mom and a crabby dad
I swear never again to go to any public event for children that is publicised as FREE. Not worth it!!!

Nine months old

Miles turned nine months old on the 25th. He is so stinking cute with his big chubby cheeks. He has been a little crabby and slobbery these last two weeks while his four top teeth are coming in all at the same time. He is starting to scootch around, but not quite crawling. He loves being around his big brothers.
Loves to play patty-cake with mom.

Max is the best at taking care of Miles. He loves to hold him and carry him all around.

I can't believe my baby is already nine months old. It has all been a blur really. Time just goes so fast.

Grateful

Today I am just grateful for all my blessings. My children, my husband, my mom, my sister, my family, and my life. I am learning so many lessons lately about the love Heavenly Father shows us every day. I know that he put us here and gave us the things we have to go through for a reason. There really is a "master plan." I am so grateful that he has given us prayer and the Holy Ghost to guide us in all we do. He knows who we are, He knows what we need, and He knows how to help us. I am so grateful for the people he has put in my life to help me and teach me and love me. I am in awe daily for the many blessings and tender mercies Heavenly Father pours out on me and my family. Life is full of struggles and challenges, but with the Lords help, I know everything is going to turn out okay.

Go Lightning!

Isn't it amazing how Cub Scouts and their dads can turn a $3.99 block of pinewood into a $30 work of art! Well that's exactly what Mitchel and Mike did! Mitchel got to participate in his first ever Pinewood Derby last night. This is his car that he called "Lightning." Mitchel and Mike spent hours on the internet looking at different cars and then drawing the design of the car they wanted. Mike then used the few tools he owns to saw and shape the wood into the perfect lightning bolt. Mitchel chose the colors and painted it very carefully. Then just hours before the race, Mike put in the weights and finishing touches on the wheels and they were off to the church without even a dry run. (I was just praying that the car would go down the track.)
There was some stiff competition. We haven't had a Pinewood Derby in our Stake for a while, so this was a pretty big deal. Lots of fun and creative cars. Can you find Mitchel's?

Each boy got to race his car 4 times, once in each lane. We were all so excited to see that not only did Mitchel's car make it down the track, it was one of the faster ones. He came in second on his first two times down the track.

Then on his third attempt, his car came in first! Yeah!!

It was a really fun night for all of us. Mitchel was proud of his car and Mike was glad that all the money and hard work he put in was worth it. Mitchel is doing great in Cub Scouts and next month he will be awarded his Wolf badge and some arrow points. (I'll be taking some credit for those too!) Way to go Lightning!!

Going Green

To show my kids that I can be festive, I made them all green, homemade waffles for breakfast on St. Patricks Day. They ended up looking just brown after they were cooked though. Oh well, I tried. Notice I put everything on green plates and had green cups too.
Then we all got on our green shirts.

That was pretty much it for us. Oh, I also made chocolate chip cookies for the kids to take to their teachers that said, "I'm so lucky to have you as my teacher." No one got pinched all day, so that was good.

Speaking of being lucky, I thought I would share some of the things I have been grateful for lately.

1) Our health. My family has been really healthy all winter with not even a cold to mention. Many of my friends have had to deal with sick kids all winter and luckily, my family has stayed free and clear of all the germs.

2) Mike's job. Even though we've experienced some financial downturns, I am so grateful that he is still employed with a company he likes. Too many of our neighbors are out of work right now and I feel blessed that Mike has been able to avoid that so far.

3) My house. It's not as organized or fancy or up to date as I would like, but we have a great place to live. We've been making some fun family memories in this home and I am grateful for a place where I can safely raise my children.

4) Time. I am grateful that Heavenly Father is making it possible for me to have enough time to do what I need to do. Somehow things always work out and I am able to enjoy the little moments of joy and happiness he sends me each day. He is helping me to prioritize and not stress over things that don't really matter.

5) Joy. I get to experience joy everyday of my life, if I choose to see it. There are so many things to be grateful for, and I find when I dwell on those, instead of what I don't have, my life is full of joy. My boys are amazing to me and I love being their mom. I love that we are learning lessons together on how to bring more happiness into our lives. I love watching them grow and achieve and discover how great they are. I love the joy I receive from living the Gospel and trying to do what is right. I am grateful for the tender mercies I am given each day that fill my life with simple peace and joy.

So I would say that I am very "Lucky!"

Out with the old, in with the NEW!

My Sony video camera that I've filmed over eight years of the Harker family, plus over 75 weddings and events, has finally died. It has been an awesome camera and has made it possible for me to have my own business, plus capture countless, precious memories of my kids growing up. So what was I to do? Get a new one of course. The debate was, do I just stick with the old digital technology, or was it time to pay the extra dough and upgrade to an HD camcorder? It is now possible to get a camera like my old one for only around $200-$300 dollars. I think I paid close to $600 or $700 eight years ago. But since the HD technology is relatively new, they are up in the $1000 price range. What to do? What to do? Well this is what my Internet research convinced me to do. UPGRADE! So here is my new Sony HD camcorder.

But this baby doesn't only take video! Oh no! It also has a 12 mega pixel still camera. So this might also replace that camera for me as well. It records up to 100 hours on a hard drive. One of my favorite features is that you can take a still shot while you are filming video at the same time! This will come in very handy while I am filming weddings. It has face recognition and a feature that will take a picture when it catches the person smiling. The LCD screen is 3.2 inches, which is a pretty good size on such a compact camera. I haven't yet learned all that it does, but I am totally excited. My next wedding is March 25th so it will be fun to test it out and compare the quality of this video compared to what I had before. So if you know anyone getting married who would like a video from an experienced and creative videographer, who also has all the latest technology, send them my way okay?!

Beautiful

Let's face it, getting up early in the morning sucks! Who wouldn't rather stay nice and cozy warm in their bed instead of getting up while it's still dark outside? But every once in a while, the morning rewards us with something spectacular. This is the sunrise I saw this morning after returning home from the gym at 6:50 a.m. Amazing!!
If I would have been sleeping, I would have missed it.

Jr. Jazz

The Players
The Fans

The Trophy

This was both Mitchel's and Max's first season playing Jr. Jazz and they both loved it! Mitchel was on the 3rd grade league, and lets face it, his team was not very good. But Mitchel was just learning and was getting the hang of dribbling, guarding, passing, and running up and down the court 100 times, so it was all good. His coach told him he was the "most improved" player on the team. He played at Eisenhower Jr. High and that brought back some fun memories of my Jr. High years.

Mike got to coach Max's team and they both had a lot of fun. Max is pretty aggressive, and of course the tallest Kindergartner out there, so he did pretty well. The only thing I didn't like were his games were all at 8:00 a.m. every Saturday morning, so it will be nice to be able to sleep in again on Saturdays.

I'm glad they both got a chance to play. Mitchel has signed up again to play basketball through Taylorsville Rec center and Max has chosen to play Taylorsville Baseball this spring. Mason is dying to play 3 year old soccer.

I hope they all continue to like sports. It's a lot of fun for me as their mom to see them try new things and learn new skills.