Melissa and Girls

This is kind of a long post.....sorry.

A few weeks ago I attempted to make my first loaf of french bread from scratch and I was so proud of myself that I decided to take a picture but I'm just getting around to posting it now. It was a little browner than I would have liked but overall it was yummy. Next time I'll bake it a little less.



Last Saturday I decided to take the girls on our first hike of the season. I got onto the state website and searched for hiking and it brought up all sorts of places around the state. I want to be able to stay around Utah County so these are not too big of an ordeal. I decided that I would rather do an easier hike just in case Brooklen wouldn’t do so well and found a spot that I thought would work. It is called Devil’s Kitchen and it is up Payson Canyon on the Nebo Loop. I picked the girls up from Sean's house and we got all geared up and headed up the canyon. It was about 3:00 p.m. and so I was a little surprised to see a couple deer out grazing at that time of day but the girls thought it was neat. We got about 10 miles into the canyon when we had to turn around because the road is still closed going up the loop. I was very disappointed. Then I remembered that as I had been driving I saw a sign that said Grotto Trail. I figured we could check it out and just go as far as Brooklen’s little legs could take her. I am so excited we decided to take this hike because it was SO COOL!!! The trail wasn’t difficult and there was a small river with the snow runoff. The girls were surprised how cold the water was. As we were hiking there were a couple of muddy spots where the snow was still melting. One spot in particular was a little rough because it was on a really steep incline and our feet kept sliding. Eventually we had to cross the river on planks that had been created using trees that had been split in half and then built up on rocks. I thought Brooklen would be afraid but she actually did fairly well. We had to do this a couple times and suddenly we were at the end of the trail. I was shocked to find this really cool cavern with a waterfall pouring into it. There was still snow that we had to walk on to get out to this big rock we could stand on in the water. It was so loud we had to yell at each other and the spray from the water was freezing cold. I got the girls on the rock and then had to back track to be able to take their picture. We stayed for a few minutes but then we all got cold enough that it was time to leave. On the way back down Maegan slipped in the mud and was not happy about it first but I kept telling her it would wash off and she wasn’t hurt so it was okay. I had to carry Brooklen through that spot and slipped a little myself. By the end of the hike I think Jordyn was the only one that didn’t wasn’t covered in at least a little mud. They kept telling me that they want to go on this hike again and we definitely will because it was so fun. After we got home we got cleaned up and headed to the mall for Jordyn and Maegan to spend their money at Claire’s. Maegan finally got the rings she had been wanting and Jordyn picked out a pair of ‘diamond’ earrings that were very sparkly. We also stopped at Roberts so I could get some frames for the pictures I was giving my mom and grandma for Mother’s Day. It was really late by the time we got home and the girls all headed straight to bed.

Sunday was Mother’s Day and as I posted already, Brooklen’s birthday. Before we went to church I prepared dinner so all I would have to do was heat it up. I made “Cyclone Pasta” (used to be on Outback’s menu and is so yummy). I even made the alfredo sauce from scratch! Yum. After I made fresh strawberry lemonade and the girls gave me some cards they had made. We ate around 4:00 p.m. and afterwards we had the birthday party. I only posted about Brooklen’s portion of it but it was also the family party for Jordyn and Maegan. They got some money and a kit to make tye-dyed t-shirts. My grandma also made Maegan a Barbie house like she had given Jordyn a couple years ago. I am blessed that she was able to do this because my grandma has severe arthritis and it was very difficult for her. I’m not sure how many more great-grandkids are going to be able to get these gifts from her so we are incredibly lucky. I hope that someday my girls will appreciate them as much as I do. When we sang happy birthday we had 22 candles on the cake for all 3 girls so it was pretty bright. Brooklen missed out on the whole thing because she was too concerned with Jaxon playing on her scooter and wouldn’t let go of it. In the end Maegan blew with so much gusto that she blew out all of the candles on her own. Silly girl. I should mention that when I picked the girls up from Sean’s on Saturday they also gave me a hanging basket of flowers which was great because I had been debating about whether I wanted to buy one. Maegan also gave me a recipe book which she made at school. There is a funny story to this. A few weeks ago her teacher sent an email saying she needed that student’s favorite recipe. When I asked Maegan what recipe she wanted you’ll never guess what she said. Tuna fish. lol. What a surprise right? So responded to her teacher that it wasn’t really a recipe but that was her favorite food. So, on Saturday when she gave the recipe book I was cracking up. There are all sorts of yummy recipes from the other students and Maegan’s is a Tuna Fish Sandwich! Hilarious. That is so Maegan isn’t it? I love her so much. Oh, and yes, the girls gave Ashley a Mother’s Day present too. I made a pretty beaded bracelet for her but I didn’t think to take a picture of it. Sorry!

On Monday, May 10th I picked the girls up from daycare and Maegan and Brooklen's faces had been painted as kitties. Brooklen was finally awake so I gave her her b-day presents from me. She got an outfit, a Barbie movie, Little Mermaid sheets (she loves Ariel) and I made a tutu for her because she's been asking for one for months.

Tuesday May 11th was Jordyn's performance of Wonderful Witches of Oz. I left at noon and rushed to check Jordyn out of school. We stopped at home and got everything she needed packed up and her hair in hot rollers and we headed to Mapleton Elementary School where they were doing a performance at an assembly. After the performance we went home and got more items packed for the Maegan and Brooklen to snack on and then went back to the school to reserve our seats because I HATE getting bad ones. We just took our books with us and read for about an hour while we waited. Around 5:00 I picked up Maegan and Brooklen from daycare. This day Brooklen's face was a butterfly and Maegan's was a lion. When we got back to Mapleton Elementary I made them go wash it off and got Jordyn ready for the evening performance. Eventually my parents, Grandma and Grandpa Madsen and Sean and Ashley arrived. It was a good thing I thought to bring supplies this time because this was not a short performance. It was almost a 2 hour long play. Phew. Twice in one day is a little rough. But Jordyn really loved being in this group and had so much fun. She played a minor part of Elle Woods and sang a solo in one song and then sang in quite a few other numbers. Next year they are probably doing Alice in Wonderland and Jordyn is already looking forward to it. Oh, and sorry about the quality of the pictures. My camera isn't the greatest for zooming and getting good action shots.

Thursday I had to be at work at 6:45 a.m. so I could go to a leadership training in SLC at the capitol with the rest of the clerical management team. I was able to drop Brooklen off at my aunt's house and she took her to daycare for me. Jordyn and Maegan got all their clothes picked out the night before and when I left they were just barely waking up. We had talked about everything they needed to do and when they had to leave the house to get to school on time. I must say it is wonderful having them old enough that they can be a little more responsible and therefore I'm not quite as stressed. Anyway, the training was fairly interesting. Lt. Governor Bell spoke to us for a little bit and then we learned about "optimism" in the work place. I now know how to "reframe" my thoughts. lol. On our way back to Provo we decided to eat lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and had a meeting although none of us ate any cheesecake. That night I went to see The Last Song with a couple friends from work. I'm not a huge Miley Cyrus fan so I was a little worried I wouldn't like it but it was actually a really good movie. I thought it had a good family message and, yes, a little romance too.

Today, I had a couple interesting experiences. One, Brooklen had to give the scripture in primary. She is so shy I was really worried about it but she actually spoke up and did a great job. Maegan is excited because she was assigned to give the talk next week. Two, I LOVED our Gospel Doctrine lesson today. I have to admit I have never read the book of Joshua before and I'm going to try and read the whole thing tonight because our teacher made some really amazing points. For one, he was talking about the Book of Law (aka scriptures) and was talking about using the scriptures as a discipline tool. He basically said to you ever feel like you talk and talk and talk and your kids still don't listen? Well, when you run out of things to say then Heavenly Father has a whole bunch to say in the scriptures. He suggested we should turn to them and have our children learn directly from God. WOW! Don't ask me why I had never even thought to do that but it was amazing to me. Anyway, there were lots of cool things in our lesson today. Then in Relief Society I ended up sitting next to our ward choir director. Now, I've been singing in the choir but I've never sat next to her before in church. After RS was over she turned to me and asked if I would be willing to sing a solo. She said she could tell I would be good at one. Uh, YIKES!!!!! I haven't sang in public for almost 11 years and I pretty much vowed at that time I would never do so again. I must have seemed pretty hesitant because she then asked if I would be comfortable with a duet. I told her if I had enough time to practice the song I would. I can't believe I agreed to do this. I'm nervous and excited at the same time. Singing is something I have always loved to do but stopped for some specific reasons. For a while now I've wanted to sing in The Messiah and Christmas time so I don't know, maybe with all the other, "getting Melissa back" things I'm working on this can be one of them too.

Well, I'd better get going. I started this post forever ago and now it's time to cook dinner. BBQ ribs, masked potatoes and corn. Yum.