Pictures of Katie's B-day

Katie had a great birthday day! We celebrated on Sunday since Saturday was a full fun-packed day! It is hard to believe she is 8 yrs already. She's a great kid, smart, helpful, and full of laughs. We are blessed to have her in our family! We love you Katie!

By the way I did manage to cake a purple marble cake for Katie. I went to the grocery store to find a big bottle of red and blue food coloring. Well they only sell big red, yellow and green. So I went to Michaels since they have a big cake decorating section. I saw lots of icing coloring, but no food coloring. So I asked someone about this and the lady said "I don't know...I don't cook." Thanks how helpful. So I went to Walmart. My sister had suggested it since they have a cake decorating section too. Well they had more icing coloring. So while there I called my mom and asked her if I could use icing coloring to dye this stinking yellow cake. "oh yeah I did it all the time when you were little, that is all I bought." she said. Oh. Well I guess I should have dug deep in my childhood memories and remembered that my mom kept icing coloring in the cubbard when she baked. I must have forgotten to remember such an important detail in my childhood. Anyway, I return back to the cake section at Walmart and they don't have purple...they're out. I remembered that they had a couple of purple colors at Michaels, but I was not willing to go back after being out and about for several hours with three kids. So for all of you who want to color a cake or any type of food you CAN use the icing coloring as food coloring. Who knew? Well I guess you can say I learned something knew, I remembered something old, and I had a happy girl on her birthday!

Katie's 8yrs old!

Katie gave me this yesterday and I thought it was great! Today she turned 8yrs old. It has been a very full day for her. She has a friend at school who's birthday was yesterday and Katie was invited to Chuck-e-cheese to play and eat. Then this evening we had a ward/ primary luau. It was fantastic! We will upload other pictures tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Katie we love you!

Momma and Daddy

(Click on the picture to see a larger view)

Happy 6th Birthday Samantha

Can you believe it! She is 6 years old.

Now I know what you are thinking...my goodness that is a bunch of icing on that cake. It didn't start out like that. And the cake was not supposed to be that huge. So let me explain. Samantha wanted a pink cake. No problem I can run down to the store and pick up some strawberry cake mix and make a cake. Well while I was there I bought the strawberry cake, but I also picked up a red velvet cake (because that is what I like). My intentions were to make a "pink" marble cake. So I made up the two batches separately and mixed the cake so it marbles and cooked it. Then I cooked the second cake and before I knew it I was making a double decker 9x13 pink marble strawberry and red velvet birthday cake! I put strawberry jam in the middle of it and covered it with cream cheese frosting. I bought special tips to decorate the cake, but when I was writing Happy Birthday Samantha on it the tip busted through the plastic bag when I was writing the B- for birthday. So now the cake says Happy Bd- SAM. I tried to make it as pretty as I could by adding globs of pink icing on the corners to make some resemblance of flowers and then placed these pretty princesses on the cake. Cinderella is "her" princess and so I placed her in front. Robert handed me these big fat candles (which I like) but we only had 5 of them and so the 6th on was a small one and of course that was front and center, but anyway. We started to sing happy birthday to her and I had the camera. We just replaced the batteries in the camera and just as she was blowing out the candles and I was trying to take a shot the camera turned off. So we relit the candles, sang Happy Birthday to her again and just as I was all ready and Samantha began to blow out the candles, the camera shut off again. So I said forget it and we cut the cake and served it. By the way...it was good. But we have tons left over!!! I threw it in the freezer to satisfy some cravings later on in the year. Because I have to make another one for Katie. Only, she wants a purple one. Anyone know how to make a purple cake and purple icing that has some flavor to it? Let me know, I only have 10 days.

Car accident, car rides, and cookies = 9 happy yrs!

It all started on December 1, 1998, when Leslie got a calling to be a Stake Missionary. She was getting ready to go to church to get a blessing. As she got in her car she thought to herself, "I want to sing some church songs to get in the right frame of mind for getting set apart." The car is started, seatbelt on, and on the road. 1. "I am a child of God, and he has sent me here has given me an earthly home, with parents kind and dear. Lead me, guide me, walk beside me, help me find the way, teach me all that I must do to live with him some day"2. "I am a child of God..." crash! I hit the car in front of me and knock out my head lights. It was winter time in Idaho Falls, and the sun woke up late and went to bed early. I needed rides to work since I got off late. I passed papers around in Relief Society and then in Priesthood. After church I went into the Priesthood room and as I walked into the room I felt something very different. I walked up to the Elders Quorum President and asked for my paper. Two men were looking over it. One I knew, Darren Wright, and the other I didn't. He held out his hand to shake mine. "Hello, my name is Robert Hagen." I smiled and shook his hand introducing myself back...something again felt different. Darren was signing up to give me rides when he realized that his schedule would not work. So Robert spoke up and said, "I will do it. I am off the next two weeks and can give you a ride if you need it."
I thanked him for his kindness and headed home. I could not stop thinking about him. My paper still had some vacant spots on it. I had hoped to fill them up, but by Friday that week they still had not been filled, so I called Robert Hagen for a ride and he said he would be up in a little bit. He picked me up at work and I was starving so I asked him if he didn't mind if we got a bite to eat. So he took me to Pizza Hut and I let him order. He ordered pepperoni and olives (that was my favorite pizza too!) Then we sat down and Santa Clause came to our table wishing us a Merry Christmas. He asked if we were boyfriend/girlfriend we both blushed and said we were just friend, even though we barely knew each other! Robert could not eat, he just gazed at me. I tried to keep conversation and so I talked and talked and talked. Well that was our first date. After that I was still determined that I was headed home to Missouri to go on a mission, but that was not the Lord's plan. Once my car was "Severely Jimmy Rigged" Robert secretly would clean of the snow and ice off my windshield and windows so that I could make it to work on time. He bought me flowers and other things. I was still avoiding him, but then one day I looked at myself in the mirror and I said to myself, "Leslie, if you don't let anyone love you then you are not going to have anyone to love!" So immediately I went to my kitchen and I gathered some cookies I had just made and I walked over to his door and I wished him a Merry Christmas. We have been together everyday since then. Robert began taking the Missionary discussions with the Sister Missionaries because he had been to church for about 8 yrs, after he finished his discussions with the missionaries we started dating (end of January.) TEN days later we were engaged on Feb. 5th,1999. Three months later we were married in the Bountiful Temple in Bountiful, Utah. It's been a wonderful journey. Some good days, some uncertain days, but most of all days spent with the one I love. We have a plaque on our wall it says, It doesn't matter where you go in life... it's who you have beside you. I am glad to be walking side by side with you, honey!

He proposed...she said Yes! Feb. 5, 1999

Leslie forgot white shoes! May 5th, 1999

Robert and Leslie....very much in love...still!

Happy 9th Anniversary to Robert and Leslie! These past nine years have been full of joy, uncertainty, happiness, love, up's and down's, adventure, struggles, laughter, life, enjoyment and many miracles! I love you, honey! Here are some of the things we have done since we met:

*Moved 3 times
*Had 4 kids
*6+ years of College and still going!!!
*5 car accidents (and a few other dents) Only one was our fault (that is how we met-best car accident I've been in)
*6 cars
*pets (dog, cat, and used to have fish)
*started childcare business

Happy Birthday Robert!

Just wanted you to know that Robert had another birthday on April 30th. We thought you could celebrate with us. Shhh....he's 37 yrs.

Waiting at the Doctors office

Well Hello there,

My topic today is about waiting at the doctors office. There is always a wait. Some as little as 5 mins. Some 15 mins, or 30 mins. And maybe you have even had to wait one to two hours. But have you ever been at the doctors for 8.5 hours? Well Robert did today. I dropped him off at 8am. He got his paperwork completed at 11am. After 3:30 he was finally sent to another room besides the "waiting" room. By 5pm he was finally seen. But he needed to have a prescription filled. I arrived at 5:30pm to pick him up. 8.5 hours.

So remember when having to wait those short little minutes and you feel like the time is dragging by, be thankful that you haven't spent 8.5 hours there.

PS We still do not have the results of his tests. Those will be available in a few days.

Cheers.

Leslie and family

To Homeschool or not to Homeschool

I have been considering homeschooling, give me your feed back whether you vote or not on my poll. I truly would like to know what your opinion is.

I am considering these choices for curriculum:

Calvert (Like a private school)
Carl G. Maeser Academy (LDS curriculum)
Georgia Virtual Academy (like a public school at home)

Let's talk about it.

Leslie