Do Girls Play Soccer?

Last year when Chloe was cheering on her brothers at soccer she saw some little girls playing soccer.  "Girl's can play soccer?" was her response.  I knew right then that it was time for me to encourage her to join a soccer team even if I was not excited about adding another child to that season of sports.  During the summer we found a cute pair of black and pink soccer shoes and she fell in love.

So when spring came around we decided to sign up Chloe and cousin Sage to be on the same team with the Upward Soccer Program.  I have been really impressed with Upward over the years!  The program is all about sportsmanship, memorizing scriptures, and having fun.

Chloe enjoyed the first couple of weeks.  THEN...I started hearing things like "What could I hurt just a little bit so that I wouldn't have to play soccer?" or "The only thing I like about soccer is the treats at the end." or "Soccer is so dumb.  Who do you think is bring the snack after the game?" or "Is the game almost over so I can have my treat?"  You get the idea.  Soon it was all about doing handstands on the field and waiting for the game to finish so she could eat something delicious.

The next best part about soccer (other than the food) was being with cousin Sage every week and figuring out ways to make her outfit cute.

So I'm thinking we can cross SOCCER off Chloe's list of to-do's next year!

Grandpa Ditto's Funeral...a family man

On March 30th Grandpa Ditto passed away.  Grandma and Grandpa Ditto are both such stalwart people.  Years ago Birch and I were able to visit them on their mission in Pennsylvania.  I've watched them serve their family ever since I became a Ditto.

I love this sweet picture of Grandma and Grandpa - it was taken about a year ago.

The funeral service was lovely.  Birch and I drove up with Blayre and Ryan for the weekend to Helena.  It was wonderful to be together with so much family that we have not seen for years.

The military honors are some of my favorite!

The lovely Ditto Clan

Aunt Sherri, Uncle Dave, Aunt Laurie, Uncle Dan, Grandma Ditto, Aunt Lasca

Tavia and Blayre

Beautiful inside and out

On the way home, Birch and I were able to stop in Missoula and see baby Sara Elizabeth's gravestone.  

Funeral talk given by Birch:

Families Can Be Together Forever!!!!

She met her goal!!!

Chloe was SO close last year to earning her 50 mile t-shirt.  She was determined to make her goal this year.  This means that twice a week she is running during recess.  Chloe normally runs about two miles each recess.

Chloe is also IN LOVE with making cupcakes; really what she loves is the whole decorating part.  She really enjoys watching shows about making cupcakes and so naturally she convinced Birch that meeting her goal warranted making cupcakes.

Easter Week 2015

Our Christ-Centered Easter Week was extra fun this year having Owen in the house.  The kid loves candy and got so excited about each of our activities.  I didn't feel as prepared this year since we had just gotten home from Hawaii the day before Easter Week started.  We still were able to squeeze in some spiritual activities.

 One fun thing we did was our annual family Easter Egg hunt.  Do you think Cooper was excited?

 It didn't take Owen long to figure out what this egg stuff was all about.

 Never too old for candy.  Actually Alex did all the hiding this year and the kids helped me fill all the eggs.

 We were able to share our Easter Passover meal with the Sister Missionaries, the Hanchett family, and of course our family and the Maynes.

 Always gotta dress up

 This meal just keeps getting better -- this year we dined on grapes, garlic pistachios, homemade naan, grilled tilapia, jerky, dried apricots-figs-dates, mediteranian couscous, humus and veggies, marinated roasted lamb leg, chocolate covered pomegranates, pineapple, and Blayre made some deviled eggs.

 I was the naan Queen!

 My friend was able to share a beehive tray with us so we could see what real honeycomb looks like.

 Our L.O.A. (Love One Another) wall was even better this year having Blayre and Ryan here to help fill it up.

What a memorable week!!!

because he lives

Our Family Map

I finally finished the last touch to the basement this week.  We decided we wanted to have a family map documenting all the places we have and will go as a family and couple.  I searched and searched for the perfect map and ended up falling in love with an artist in Australia.  She customized our map and made sure it was quite accurate with labels as well.

 I ordered the digital map from Blursbyaishop.  Then I had it printed through on online poster company called Posterprintfactory.com.

 My next step was to modge podge the poster to the 40" x 30" canvas.  This was a little stressful to make sure that I didn't get any bubbles.  I found some great tips here:  http://beachbrights.blogspot.com/2011/01/diy-artwork-turn-poster-into-canvas.html  I decided it was more of a two person job so my sister, Emily helped me make with this step.

The final step was to add texture to the modge podge to give it more of a real canvas look.  This idea came from here:  http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/2014/06/diy-art-canvas-with-real-texture.html

Next my super awesome sister-in-law Annie did some vinyl lettering for me to hang on the wall.  I found the idea online and then remade it (is that called copying?).  After hanging the map we decided that it would look good to split the lettering and put it above and below the map.  

We all LOVE the way the map turned out and now we are still trying to decide how to add "markers" to where we have been.  Now I'm itchin' to go somewhere!!!