This Is the Way Life Should Be!

Everyone gets forwards all the time. Sometimes I read them and sometimes I love them. Well, this is one my mom sent me and I loved it. This is the way I dream of living my life. Such good advise is in each of these suggestions. Hope you have a chance to read each one.

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day, and while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate antidepressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.

3. Always pray and make time to exercise.

4. Spend more time with people over the age of 70 And under the age of Six.

5. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less foods that are manufactured in Plants.

6. Drink green tea and plenty of water. . .eat broccoli, almonds & walnuts.

7. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

8. Clear your clutter from your house, car, desk and let new and flowing energy into your life.

9. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead, invest your energy in the positive present moment.

10. Realize that life is a school and you are here To learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class .......but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

11. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a layman and dinner like a beggar.

12. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

13. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

15. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

16. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

17. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

18. Ladies - Go on and burn those 'special' scented candles, use the 600 thread count sheets, the good china and wear fancy clothes now. Stop waiting for a special occasion. Every day is special.

19. No one is incharge of your happiness except you.

20. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'

21. Forgive everyone for everything.

22. What other people think of you is none of Your business.

23. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time!

24. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

25. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch with them.

26. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

27. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all You need. God provides, remember?!

28. The best is yet to come.

29. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

30. Do the right thing!

31. Call your family often.

32. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: 'I am thankful for __________.'Today I accomplished _________.

33. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

34. Enjoy the ride. Remember that this is not Disney World and you certainly don't want a 'fast pass'. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy the ride.

Might be easier said than done, but wouldn't life be that much better if we all took these words and put them into actions??!!

Our Fun Bowling Eperience!

My mom wanted to take her grandkids bowling before they had to go back to school. So we went last Friday and had as much fun as you can with lots of little kids acting crazy!! First of all, my kids should not have had the opportunity to bowl at all. They were off the walls at our house before we left and disobeying everything I told them. But they were very lucky to have been able to do this. Anyway, we went to the new bowling alley in Gilbert and I love it there. It is my favorite place to bowl.

We had some interesting men bowling next to us. They had all their bowling gear in their fancy roll luggage, bowling strikes every time they rolled the ball. (How fun is that to always get strikes . . . boring) (I say that because my highest score in bowling was in the 130's and very rarely get strikes or spares) But our kids apparently were in the men's way when they got up to bowl. So we told the kids to get out their way, but the men still wouldn't bowl because 2 kids were in OUR lane. I guess they don't like to bowl when there are 2 people in the lane next to them. Well, the guy dropped his ball in the place that holds the bowling balls and was so mad that he had to wait every turn. (Obviously that was his problem because they weren't in his lane) But give me a break, they are kids.

The funniest part of all was when it was Braeden's turn to bowl. Now Braeden thinks he is the greatest bowler of all time. He basically drops the ball on the floor when he bowls. This one particular time he bowled, he dropped the ball in the other guy's lane and gave him a gutter ball. That was it for them. They picked up everything they had and switched lanes. They obviously have no children. Grumpy old men. I only laugh at this because Braeden thought it was so funny that he did that. He didn't understand what really happened and these guys were just mean old men. I was actually glad they switched lanes. We didn't have to deal with them anymore.

Other than that, it was really fun. The kids had a blast being together and bowling. I love times like this when my kids can be around family.

Elli says some pretty corky things. Last night she was talking about bugers and wanted to see my nose. So she looks inside and says, "Mom, you have no bugers, just hair." Then she looks at Mark's and says, "You just have hair too daddy." Don't know why that made her laugh but it was cute.

I always tell my kids that they would taste yummy if they would just let me eat them. I told Elli yesterday that I was going to eat her for lunch and this was her response, "I'm not lunch, I'm a kid. Just a kid Mommy." And she was saying it in a mad voice. I didn't know it made her so mad when I tell her that. But I probably won't stop though, they are too yummy!

My Funny Braeden

Well, I was going through some of our old pictures and found some funny ones of Braeden.

We had just had a great weekend at General Conference (April 2006) and was driving home from Utah. We decided to make a stop at the Manti Temple to take some pictures and I guess Braeden thought it was a bathroom break. I cannot believe I got this picture. Braeden in the middle of relieving his bladder directly in front of the temple. . . . on temple grounds. It was funny at the time, but I am pretty sure he got an earful when we got in the car. He is pretty good about not dropping his pants anymore to go to the bathroom, but he used to do this ALL the time. He even peed on a wall in our garage one time. Why do boys do this. . . . oh because they can. That is the only reason I would want to be a boy. :)




Braeden built this rollercoaster out of K'Nex. I love things like this because it keeps his busy for a really long time. All hail to Legos and K'Nex!!

So a couple years ago, Braeden was the world's biggest Superman Fan! First he would just dress up in his Superman PJs, then he thought (all by himself) to add church clothes over the PJs so he could be Clark Kent. I swear Braeden came up with this before all those costumes came out. I had never heard of dressing up like this before Braeden did it. I mean it even got to the point where I had to fix his hair everyday and put a little curl in his bangs just like Superman's. He had the shortest hair and that was difficult, but I HAD to do it. Anywho, this was an everyday occurance in the Baker house. You could count on Braeden dressing up as Superman. It even got to the point where he dressed up Elli with him. (We have several Superman PJs) It cracked me up when he came out and introduced Elli as Superman and Clark Kent.

This is Mark when he was little. I hear he was a big Superman fan too. WAY TOO CUTE!!

Braeden just acting like Elli when she was little.

So this has really nothing to do with Braeden, but I thought it was funny. This was a picture of when we had just moved into our house and had my family over for dinner. There are no decorations or curtains so it looks really plain to me. But what made me laugh was that Mark and my bro-in-law are sitting at the kid table, and if you look outside you can see a dog jumping up and down. I guess this could only be funny to the Harpers because we all know how much we love Kara's dog, Molly, and how she always makes it know when she arrives anywhere and just how funny she is. So here is Molly!!

(I know Kara is thinking in her mind how adorable Molly is right now.)

Crazy pictures of Elli

Braeden and Elli will dress up and act out cartoons, movies or whatever they are into at the time. Right now they are into "Wonder Pets." (Which I can't stand but Braeden knows how to use TIVO and records a season pass of it.) But Elli is Ming Ming and wears yellow clothes and Braeden is Tuck so he wears green. This little outfit Elli found is a 6-9 month bath robe thingy. Keep in mind she wears 4T. She squeezes into this when they dress up. It cracks me up because it looks like it could be a swimsuit on her. But I told her I wanted to get a picture of her in it and she posed for every single picture. I can't get a picture of her without posing. It is kind of funny.

We were driving home from our weekly Sprouts trip. And most of the time they have these little 10 cent suckers at the registers. If they are good for me they can have one. Well, we obviousy had a crazy long day because Elli fell asleep with the sucker in her mouth. I took this picture when I was driving. I had to take 8 pictures to get good one.

4th of July Weekend

Yes I am a little late posting this but hey, you all have been guilty of posting things late...right? :)

Well, Mark and I decided to go to California for the 4th. His younger brother was blessing his baby and we wanted to go to that. We did a lot of swimming, had a BBQ, went to the beach. Us girls even got to have a Girls Night. (Thanks hubbies for watching the kiddos!)

Mark showing off. He and his brothers ALWAYS play football in the water. Whether it's at the beach or pool. When they are in the pool, someone throws the ball to them when they jump off the diving board. They always keep score too. Not sure who won, but I know the old man, Kirk, was on top for a while. :) But I am sure Mark caught up to him. (I have to say that cause Mark reads this!)

Caleb's first time in the Bumbo. I love this little invention.

Braeden with his cousin Austin. Elli would go up the stairs to go down the slide and almost every time, Austin and Braeden would be climbing up so she couldn't go You can see her in the background yelling at them.

Braeden finally got the nerve to do a back flip off the diving board. Now we can't stop him from doing it. He has to show everyone in the pool what he can do. Mark even taught him and Austin how to gainers.

This was everyone who cared to watch the fireworks. They all got on top of the motorhome and saw 3 different firework shows. Marks brother, Kirk, lives really close to Magic Mountain and there was a show there, then in 2 other spots.

This is a close up view of everyone on the motorhome.




For anyone who know the Bakers, they know they are FANATICS about USC football. Well, Ellli came walking out of the house with this USC wig on and I couldn't stop laughing. What a nut!!




Just a little fireworks party.




Marks brother Kirk with Caleb! They were so sweet to let us stay with them and invade their house. They are so fun to be around. Thanks Kirk and Stacy!





We went to the beach on Saturday and it was a perfect day there. The sun was shining, but a cool breeze was there to cool you off. PERFECT!!





I do not know where Elli learned to do a sand angel, but I look over at her and she is laying in the sand doing this. Again, what a nut!







Braeden was so happy being at the beach. He loves it there.

He and Austin had a blast together.




Such a poser. Can't get a picture of her without her posing for it.

Elli loves loves loves dogs. Everytime she see a dog anywhere, she says... "OOOooooh!" She loved Reggie and wouldn't leave him alone. She lept feeding him too. It was cute even though we kept telling her not to. But Austin had a dog costume and she put it on and laid next to Reggie and sang to him. She is such a nut!

After the blessing of Carter. Most of the grandkids that were there.

Caleb and Carter. These 2 are only 2 weeks apart. They will be great buddies!

Grandma Dianna with her 2 newest grandkids.




We drove home on a Monday because we didn't want to get caught in the 4th of July traffic. We stopped at the outlets on the way home and waited for Mark's other brother Brig so we could drive together. We were in Carter's and Elli started doing her own shopping. She grabbed a stuffed animal for Caleb and some clothes for her. She was serious about this too. But it was hard telling her we weren't going to buy it. GIRLS!!

We had a great weekend. Braeden had soo much fun staying with his cousin Austin. Braeden wanted to move into Austin's house with him. The guest room we stayed in was perfect for us to live in he said. I overheard a conversation between the two of them that went like this....

Braeden: "Hey, why don't you come home with us in our car."

Austin: "OK"

Braeden: "Then your dad can come to Arizona and pick you up in a couple days. Go ask your mom."

It was fun seeing them get along so well. They don't get to see each other very often, but it's fun when they do.

GOOD TIMES!!

Caleb's Blessing

We have had some crazy weekends lately. Fun ones though! We blessed Caleb the same weekend Mark was in the play Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. We had a lot of family support us that weekend! Mark gave Caleb a beautiful blessing and Caleb was so quiet through the whole thing. After we had a little dinner at our house and was so fun hanging with family. Thanks everyone!

My cute family!

The gorgeous granddaughters on the Bakers side!

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Mark was the brother Frank in this play. His friend Brent wanted him to try out with him. Mark wasn't sure if he wanted to do it, but was glad he did try out. He had so much fun. All of the brothers were so much fun to watch and just made the play so funny. I think Mark took the prize for being the cheesiest brother! His faces were absolute cheese but the director told him to keep the cheesiness coming. Braeden loved watching it. A huge props to all of our families who came to watch and support him. Mark had one of his brothers come from California (which never happens because apparently they can't take the heat...whimps) :) and his Mom and step Dad came from Cali too. His brothers that live here came with their wives. My whole family came with the exeption of one and I know Mark really appreciated all the support. Thanks family! You ROCK!

And to my talented husband who keeps the fun times going. You did a FABULOUS job babe! Even though I felt like a single mom when you were at rehersal ALL THE TIME, it was well worth it. In my opinion, you were the cutest and funniest brother!! (No offense to the other bros though) :) Exept when you came home from dress rehersals with make-up....I just couldn't take you seriously. You're welcome for the eye make-up remover. :)