White Peaks Centennial Bagpipe Band

So this past fall, Austin started playing tenor drums in a bagpipe band. It is soooo cool! He has loved it so much and I am so proud of him and his desire to learn something new and that is not of the norm. I love it that my kids aren't "cookie cutter" to what is supposed to be cool. (No offense--it's just not us!) Here are some picture of my sweet boy at his first event--The Race for the Cure in Salt Lake City.

HaPpY BiRtHdAy MOM!

The kids and I were fortunate enough to go to Boise, Idaho this year for my sweet momma's birthday. It was so nice to get out of town for a while and spend time with her...since she lives so far away we don't get to spend as much time as we'd like with her. We flew into Boise and rented a car for the weekend and stayed at a hotel with a swimming pool, so the kids enjoyed that. We hung out at mom's and then took her to Outback Steakhouse for her birthday dinner. She doesn't go out to eat often, so this was a real treat for her. We then opened presents, we got her a set of pearl earrings, some Bath and Body works, and a book about "Moms" that I highlighted all the sayings that reminded me of her. (She cried with that one, which was the response I was hoping for.) ;) We went and saw the movie, "Oceans", it's a documentary about oceans, obviously. It was gorgeously filmed! We then just hung out the rest of the weekend, going through old pictures and enjoying each others company. I'm so grateful for my mom, she's had a hard life...but I've always known how much she loves me and works so hard for me. I love her so much and was so happy that we were able to go see her for her "Special Day"!

Mother's Day--I know a month late.

I had a wonderful Mother's Day with my family. I am truly blessed beyond measure! MY special day started off with Todd getting up early and making me breakfast. He's so cute, he always closes the door, so he won't wake me up. I usually wake up from the yummy smell and comotion going on in the kitchen, so I pretend to be asleep when the kids and him come in to wake me up. I love my family for that! My kids know how much I love to pamper myself, so they bought me a home pedicure set and a massage cushion to use on my favorite chair--it feels SO good! We went to church and I was lucky enough to hear Austin speak in sacrament meeting on Mother's. He touched my heart so much--it was so wonderful to hear him in front of everyone tell me how much he loves me and how appreciative he is of the things I do for him. I don't think of alot of things as being out of my way--it's just being a mom--but he sees the sacrifice that it sometimes takes. After church we went to Red Robin (shhh...don't tell!) and I enjoyed my beloved Banzai Burger--so YUMMY! Then we came home and watched a movie together and just relaxed. It was such a peaceful day. I am so grateful to be a Mom and to enjoy my wonderful children. Thank you for making my mommy job so easy.

Easter!

So this weekend was Easter/Conference Weekend. I love conference! Sadly, I can't always say that I have loved it. When the kids were little, it was always so difficult to get them excited about watching people just talk for 2 hours at a time. Luckily now, we have the internet with great sites like http://www.theideadoor.com/ to download conference packets to help keep them entertained. I also do a quiz with the kids at the end of conference where they get a piece of candy if they answer the question correctly. At the end of the weekend, whoever answered the most questions right get to go on a date with Todd and me. You wouldn't think at their ages that this would be that big of a deal, but gratefully it is. We also enjoy a big breakfast of cinnamon rolls on Saturday mornings session and Potato Bacon Breakfast pizza on Sundays session. (Yup, I know the way to their hearts--food!) It was also Easter this weekend and for some reason it always feels like a sacrilege to me that we don't get dressed up and physically go to church (this must come from my pentecostal days). I am so grateful for the atonement in my life and for the sacrifice that Jesus made. I used to think that the atonement was just to wash away my sins, but it is so much more than that--he suffered EVERYTHING that I have suffered--physical and emotional. That is so overwhelming to me that HE did that. On Easter we always have a big ham and "Yummy Potatoes" dinner. Todd and I were able to enjoy watching the kids hunt for their Easter eggs and go through their Easter baskets. We always get the kids a new movie to put in their baskets. Kenz got "Alice in Wonderland", Austin got "Sherlock Holmes" and Cam got "Blide Side". I love that they still love being surprised with the holidays. When I think of how many holidays we have left before kids starting getting married and going on missions it makes me so sad. Even though I am happy for them and for their futures, I really think it's a mean joke to entrust us with our kids only to send them on their way. I don't like it much! Anyways, we hope you all had a wonderful Easter and enjoyed your weekend with those that you love.

Seiko!!!

So lately I have been a horrible blogger...just so much going on that this has been the last thing on my mind. For the last month we have had the opportunity to host another student from Japan. Her name is Seiko Kodama and she has the best smile ever! She will always be near and dear to our hearts. We had so much fun teaching her about our American culture and teaching her more English-especially slang. We found out one day that she had to give a speech in her English class about a new word or phrase that she had learned. The night before we were watching America's Funniest Videos and the comment was made about a "redneck". Sooo, of course we had to explain what that meant and had a very funny conversation about trailer parks and rednecks. She thought it was so funny that that is what she gave her talk on. Yes, us Manning's know how to have great converation! Seiko also wanted to teach us a little about her culture and wanted to make us dinner...we ate squid! It actually was pretty good (or at least some of us thought so). We all had such a great time with her and are all very sad that she had to go home. Hopefully someday we will all get to see her again. Thanks for the memories Seiko!

Thanksgiving and my baby is 20!

Yet again it's been a while since I did a real post about our family. I truly thought that once my kids were no longer "little" that I would have more time to myself and do the things that I wanted to do. However, I have found that this is not the case. There are days where I feel like I havent even had a chance to breathe. So right now as I sit in the comforts of my warm home, I thought I'd update our family and friends on what's been going on. Todd is still working with the census bureau and finishing up school. He is looking forward to Christmas break, so he doesnt have to meet so many deadlines. I have been working retail this Christmas, and I have to say that I definately hate it, although am very grateful for the opportunity to help out our family. I also received a new calling for church as the Enrichment Counselor. I am very excited for this opportunity to serve, I've had this calling before so it's not too overwhelming...yet. Mackenzie was hired at UVU and will be starting school there this January, she is SO excited to not have to work at the mall anymore and to start "learning" again. Austin loves high school (that's so wierd) and has been excelling at the drums with the bag pipe band. And has quite a few girls that he "chats" with, not quite sure how I feel about that. LOL! Cameron is doing well in school and has started a new interest in cup stacking, he really has enjoyed it.

My dad and step-mom, Trina, came for Thanksgiving. It was SO nice to have our family with us. It was the first time we had family over for the holiday since Todd joined the Army in 2001...definately long overdue. We also had Todd's cousin Rick and his family over. We all ate too much and enjoyed movies, games and each other's company. I was fortunate enough to not have to work on Black Friday, so Trina and I went shopping. We had a great time and picked up Kenz from work and went to lunch at Red Robin. Yummm! The Sunday after Thanksgiving was Mackenzie's 20th birthday, it is so crazy that she is that old...it has hit me really wierd this year, being the mom of a 20 year old, I feel old now...yes, I'll say it "middle aged". *GASP* It's all good though, I'm still young at heart and that's what really matters. Kenz had some friends over for a movie night and they had pizza, cake and all those wonderful kinds of things. They played games and were obnoxiously loud, but we loved hearing the laughter of our "baby girl". I'm so grateful that we have been blessed with such a beautiful, kind and amazing young lady.

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