Staten Family

prayers for lydia

2010-04-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

We have some friends in our ward that are in need of some extra prayers. Their 15 month old daughter had a liver transplant on the 7th and is having some problems.

If you want to check out their story you can go to http://www.lydiasliverstory.blogspot.com

annoyed

2010-01-21T14:38:00.000-08:00

I never realized how messed up the English language is until I started to home school my kids and teach them how to read.

There are so many rules in the English language and then after all of those rules there is still something like 70 words that are sight words that don't even follow any of those rules.

It has taken me a long time to figure out the best way to teach my kids how to read. Thank goodness I found the reading for all learners program it has been so nice. If anyone is trying to teach your kids how to read I really recommend this program.

Now onto better and funnier things. Kaden was sitting at the table the other day eating ice cream and says,
Kaden: Mom eating ice cream makes our tummy hurt huh.
Me: Does it make your tummy hurt when you eat ice cream?
Kaden: yes.
Me: Well maybe you shouldn't eat ice cream anymore.
After this comment he looked at me and then looked at the big spoon full of ice cream he had and says,
Kaden: Ok, mom I will just lick it then ok.

Finally a few moments

2010-01-05T12:54:00.000-08:00

My camera broke just before Christmas how convenient huh, so I don't have any pics to post. So I will update without them.

We had a great Christmas all the kids were so excited about all the presents they got. After we opened presents we were suppose to go to my mom's house I was thinking we would be able to get there around noon. We were not even close. The kids had to play with everything they got for Christmas before we could go so we didn't end up getting there until almost five. Then we still had to take a lot of presents with us so they could show them to everyone.

Since today is Tuesday I just have to say I love Tuesdays. Every other day of the week my life is so crazy I don't have time to just sit and relax. Chase started his martial arts class and Kayla started her dance class. I really wanted them to have some type of interaction outside of home so we decided to put them in these classes. A normal day for me now is get up get breakfast clean up, start school, eat lunch, finish school and then on Mon. Wed. and Fri. take Chase to martial arts and Thurs. take Kayla to dance, come home fix dinner clean up have a few minutes of family time and then go to bed. And in between all of this keep my house up. Since I am not one of the lucky ones who looses their pregnancy weight I have also dediced to start exercising again mon, wed, and fri. Am I Crazy?

Destiny definantly doesn't have the realxing nursing sessions the other kids had, I am always nursing while trying to do somethig else at the same time. I have even walked around trying to nurse her before. I guess a crazy life is better then a boring one.

Special Days

2009-12-04T11:06:00.000-08:00

This Saturday on the 5th it will be one year since Curtis and Tami died. As part of their rememberance we are going to go to the temple and have all of their work done. Travis and I get to do their sealing. I can't think of any better way to remember their lives than to seal them together eternally.

Congratulations to Angela. Travis and I were able to go to the temple with her on Tuesday as she took out her own endowment. I am so proud of her and the choices she has made. I know it is going to mean so much to her to be able to be there on Saturday.

We had Destiny's baby blessing last sunday while Travis' family was still here. She was not liking the taking pictures part. I am sure it didn't help that she was hungry. I can't believe that she is already a month old. This last month has gone by so much faster than the previous one. We are finally on somewhat of a schedule now which makes things a little bit easier. Chase and Kayla love it when the schedule gets a little bit thrown off because then we don't get quite as much school done that day.

We also celebrated Kayla's birthday on Sunday while all the family was there. For part of her birthday we cut her hair and donated it to locks of love. After all was said and done we ended up cutting off about 12". I was having a hard time wanting to cut her hair because I loved her long hair. Now that it is cut I really like it. It is so much easier and faster. She really likes it.

pics

2009-11-09T12:59:00.001-08:00

Here are some belated pics. Thanks Angela for taking my kids trick or treating this year. I don't even have a pic of them this year on Halloween this pic is from a halloween party they went to a few nights earlier. Such is life.

Here is a few pics of Destiny. She has been the best baby! She knew I needed it.

Destiny has arrived

2009-11-02T15:03:00.000-08:00

Destiny Elizabeth Staten was born on Oct. 31 at 11:39 p.m. She weighed in at 8lbs 2 oz and was 19 1/2" long. Mom and baby are both doing great.

more fun things

2009-08-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to the museum of ancient life on Tuesday. They had so much fun. For the month of August they have two dollar tuesdays, we were able to get the whole family in for just $8 what a deal!

If you don't like being around a million people it might not be such a great deal. I figured it would be busy just not quite as busy as it was. We had to wait in line for almost an hour before we even got in and then it was pretty crowded inside. The kids still had fun.

We had the Staten family reunion over the weekend. I think it was the coldest weekend in August in history. I checked the weather and thought it would be a little colder than normal but it was a lot colder than normal, the weather man was way off on the high temps for that weekend. We went to Riverdale and thankgoodness they have their natural flowing hot spring pool otherwise swimming would have been out of the question. Travis was a good sport though and took the kids down the water slides they are really liked it even though they always came back freezing.

My kids hung out in their pj's for most of the time on Sat. except when we were swimming because it was the warmest thing we had, because yes I forgot everyones jackets. I was so glad Sun. turned out to be warmer so we could enjoy a few more outside activities.

Since I had so much extra face paint from Chase's B-day party the kids think I need to paint their faces or arms all the time. Here is a few of the most recent ones we have done.

fun days

2009-08-04T10:39:00.000-07:00

I have missed posting all of the fun things that we have been doing lately. I will try and catch up on a few of them.

Chase's B-Day

We had Chase's B-Day party yesterday and did lots of fun things. We had a fish pond for the kids which they all loved. Then we did some face painting. Thanks to my mom for helping me out with this it was taking a long time to paint all of those little faces. We then did some balloon tying. I practiced all week for this, it is actually quite easy. Then we broke the pinata which of course was a big hit! After that we opened presents and had cake and ice cream. I was worried about how the party was going to turn out thankfully it turned out really good, and everyone had fun. Chase got some pretty cool presents. His favorite of course was his new riding gear he had to come home and try it all on so I could take a picture of him.

24th of July weekend

We did a lot of fun things over the 24th weekend. On the 23rd we went to park and the kids were able to get their faces painted (Kayla's arm), play many games and ride ponies. They also got to slide down the biggest blow up slide I have ever seen. Chase tried climbing a rock wall and made it almost to the top. He did really good.

That night we went to the parade which was so long it lasted for 2 hours. We then came back to our house and enjoyed pizza and talking until the fireworks started. It is so nice to be able to watch the fireworks from our front lawn.

On the 24th we went camping and had a lot of fun riding the 4 wheelers. Chase and Kayla are getting really good at riding.

Fun Pics

Aren't sisters great!

2009-07-16T10:23:00.001-07:00

Kayla loves to dress up and since she does'nt have a sister to dress up she uses the next willing party, Kaden. Lucky for her he loves it to. Here is her latest dress up for him.

Kayla also loves Hannah Montana. She will sing to her music videos for hours. I had to hide her DVD for a few days so I could recover from the songs. She does look pretty cute when she gets all dressed up with her wig, headphones and dance mat though.

Busy weeks!

2009-04-27T14:55:00.000-07:00

Monday was my mom's B-Day which we sadly couldn't make it to. On Tues we got on offer on our house yeah! We had a lot of paper work we had to hurry and get together hopefully it goes through. On Wed Travis had a meeting with some people interested in purchasing their business which went really well, but of course we had a lot of paper work to get together for that also. Thurs was a very busy day. That morning we went to court for the sentencing of Robert. It was very emotionally draining but we were very pleased with the outcome. It was really sad to be in the court room and see the hatred and anger that some people choose to carry. After that we went and finished the paperwork for the sale of the business which took a lot longer that we had planned but are very grateful it is done and are hoping for a great outcome.

Then the best part of the day! It was Kaden's Birthday the big 2!

The cake was so cute but I wasn't able to get a picture of it before he dove in!

We had pizza and cake and ice cream. It was so nice to be able to enjoy it. Pizza has not sounded very appealing lately but now that I am pretty much over morning sickness I was able to enjoy it.

Sat was also a very emotionally draining day but really good!

It was Curtis' birthday on Sun so we all got together on Sat and celebrated his birthday. We went to the cemetery and each wrote a message on a balloon to Curtis and then we all let them go at the same time. Thanks Justin and Jamie for providing the Balloons. We then went back to my mom's house and ate and had cake and ice cream. Jamie had put together a video of Curtis that we watched. We were all crying of course but it was really good to see all those pics and remember all the great times we had.

Trying Times

2009-02-04T14:56:00.000-08:00

I had a very sleepless night the other night. Losing a loved one is really hard. Some days are good and some days it is very hard not to just cry all day. But I know that Curtis and Tami are happy.

I just wanted to share this poem that I wrote during my sleepless night.

Life is a journey we must all go through
Hold on and be strong is what we are asked to do
Sometimes it’s not easy to bear up this task
But with faith, hope, and trust we can be steadfast
For we are not sent here to bear this alone
God gave us family and friends to help us ‘til we come home
Satan’s always there to stand in the way
But God’s also there to lift you out of the way
So when your at a time in your life
When nothing seems to be going right
Get down on your knees and pray
And be humble so you’ll know of his way
Remember not to blame those you love
For trials are sent from God up above
This life is just a short glimpse in time
Before we move on to our life sublime
So make memories that you can hold so dear
Don’t let Satan and his helpers interfere
So when your judgment day arrives
And your asked the question, How well did you derive?
Which side of the scale will your deeds lean to,
Have you shown Christ-like love or is the opposite true?
You’ll be able to say without a doubt
I have passed the test that was brought about
So put your trust in that God up above
And you’ll find peace, joy, and eternal love.
Author,
Jennifer Staten

Benefit dinner

2009-01-18T19:24:00.000-08:00

I want to invite everyone to the benefit dinner for Kylee and Jaxon on Fri. Jan 23rd at Coppermilll in logan.
Dinner will be from 6-9 p.m.
The auction starts at 7:00
There has been many great donations made by various business' in Logan.
Come and enjoy a great dinner and have fun trying out your auctioning skills.

Christmas fun!

2008-12-18T17:56:00.000-08:00

Kayla's preschool did an impromptu nativity today she was a lamb and was so excited about it. I took my camera but when I got there it decided not to work so I wasn't able to get any pictures of it. Then they sang us some christmas songs. It is always so fun to see your kids perform. I love watching their faces light up.

Later this evening Chase and Kayla did their Christmas gymnastics program they both did such a great job. They each got to do one of each of the tricks that they have learned this year. I am really impressed with how well they are doing.

After their program they had some dancers come out and perform, I had to hold back my tears as I thought about Kylee, Curtis and Tami. It always makes me feel so sad to think that her dance performance that morning is the last memory she will have of her and her parents.

I do feel a great amount of comfort though because I know that this was part of God's plan. Curtis and Tami have started a great work in heaven as well as for the rest of us still here on this earth. I am so glad they were both a part of my family!

Thank You!

2008-12-07T19:04:00.000-08:00

Thank you everyone for your kind words and prayers they are very much appreciated!

Curtis and Tami's funeral will be on Sat. We have not set a time yet, we will be making all the plans on Tuesday. We have been spending most of our time the last couple of days at primary childrens hospital with their daughter Kylee. She has made some great progession and might be released tommorrow. Their son is doing very well and is with Tami's brother and wife. Tami's parents are going to be raising the kids.

Thank you again!

Joy and Pain

2008-12-06T01:16:00.000-08:00

As part of being on this earth we get to enojoy joy as well as experience pain.
Some of the hardest pain we feel is that of loosing a loved one. How grateful and joyful I am this night to know of the wonderful plan of salvation and in knowing that we will once again be able to see our loved ones.

To my brother Curtis and his wife Tami

WE LOVE YOU! We will miss you deeply. Until we meet again you will forever be in our hearts!

MMI

2008-11-17T20:07:00.000-08:00

Travis and I attended a 3 day seminar last week called the Millionaire Mind Intensive. It was the best seminar I have ever been to. We started at 8:00 in the morning and would go until 11:00 at night, but it seemed shorter than a few hour meeting. The processes that they have you go through are so amazing. Travis and I learned so much about ourselves as well as each other. I would recommend this seminar to everyone!

Snow what?

2008-11-05T14:27:00.000-08:00

This was our attempt to make a snow dragon on Tuesday. After we were done we colored him green but it didn't show up real well in the picture.

After the snow storm on Tuesday we had just enough snow to build something. We started out building a snow man, then the kids wanted to keep rolling the balls and making them bigger. They got big enough I was not going to attempt to put them on top of each other so we opted to make a snow dragon instead.

If you went a mile down the hill from our house they didn't have any snow until after the snow storm last night and today, they still have minimal compared to what we got. That is what we get for living in the benches of Bountiful I guess but I will take it. I love our view of the temple. (Which looks a lot further away in this picture than it actually is).

Sand dunes, trick or treating, leaves can you have too much fun?

2008-11-03T10:48:00.000-08:00

After we got done trick or treating on Friday we headed down to the sand dunes. It was really nice on Saturday and we were able to go riding in a t-shirt. Sunday was really cold and rainy but we were still able to get a couple of rides in in-between the rain storms.

We saw this tree walking around in the sand dunes!

Ready for trick or treating!

On Thursday we raked up the few leaves that had already fallen off of our trees and let the kids jump in them. They were so excited to play in them, they would get the rakes and fix the pile themselves so they could jump in it again. How great is that for Travis and I. Even though the pile wasn't very big they were happy. Soon enough it will be big. The Aspen tree in front of our house is still green when that changes and leaves start to fall off we will have lots of leaves. We have a few other trees that haven't lost all of their leaves as well.

FUN! FUN! FUN!

2008-10-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

The kids got to wear their costumes to gymnastics today. It was really funny watching Kayla try and do her tricks in her costume. We maybe should have taken the wire underpiece out for gymnastics but oh well she gave everyone a good laugh.

Kayla had her halloween party at school today. They went to two different nursing homes and sang songs to the people there. She loved it!

We had our ward party on Tuesday night the kids had so much fun. They have the kids do a parade in their cosutumes they love the attention. Then they had games set up for the kids. They came home with lots of candy and prizes.

Please help this wonderful family!

2008-10-24T12:54:00.000-07:00

I am posting this for my dear friend Ashley. If possible please help and also please help spread the word we want to raise as much as possible for them.

Most of you know Daryl and Ashley Larsen. For those of you who don't, they are a young couple here in Perry, who just lost their baby to a rare lung disorder. Their loss is truly a tragedy. They are now experiencing the beginnings of what will be a land slide of medical bills. In an effort to aide them, there will be a one day fundraiser at the Maddox Steak House. On November 5, you can call Maddox at 723-2916 and order the Turkey Steak dinner. You can choose the 2 or 4 family meal at the regular price. All proceeds will then be donated to the Larsen family. You do need to remember to mention the Larsen family name when ordering. You can then pick up your meal at the take out window in the back of Maddox. It will be for lunch and dinner. Please spread the word. Feel free to copy and paste this post on your blog.

The end is in sight!

2008-10-16T18:46:00.000-07:00

Travis and I have spent many hours and long nights this fall canning, a variety of things. We did 13 bushels of peaches yum!!!!, 2 bushels of pears, 10 bushels of apples,(with the help of travis' brother and wife) 166 quart jars of soup,(with the help of travis' parents and brother and wife) and 16 pints of salsa. We used the water we had cooked the apples in all day and made it into juice as well it was really good!

We dried some bananas, peaches and pears. The dried fruit makes great snacks for the kids and they love it!

We also froze some peaches, and raspberries for our daily fruit shakes.

The only thing left to do is our grape juice.

It is such a wonderful sight to go down to our storage room and see it full of all this yummy food.

What a good boy!

2008-10-08T15:08:00.000-07:00

Kaden was eating some goldfish and smashed some all over the floor, when he was done eating the whole ones he went and got the vacuum and cleaned them up all by himself!

Mr Potatoe Head

Kayla made a Mr. potatoe head at shool today! She was so excited to bring it home and show everyone! Luckily we got a picture of her with it before Kaden ate the nose and mouth.

ICE CREAM!!!

2008-10-06T17:50:00.000-07:00

I really like my ice cream!!!

SO PROUD!

2008-10-06T10:23:00.001-07:00

The kids got to paint their pumpkins this morning. They have been asking ever since they saw them in the grocery stores....which has been a long time! They were so excited and proud they had to take them right outside so everyone could see them!

2008-10-02T15:58:00.001-07:00

We went to Yellowstone earlier this year the kids had so much fun! We got to see a bear fight at the entrance to west yellowstone and the kids have been asking every weekend since if we can go and see it again. They thought it was pretty cool!