You will never guess what I learned to do!!!

 Most of you know I have THE MOST AMAZING HUSBAND in the whole wide world! He is so amazing that when I asked him to teach me how to WELD, He did not laugh at me. He was happy to teach me and I must say he is a really good teacher. He is patient and very encouraging. So yesterday while we had not a lot to do and we were spending a really lazy laid back day together. He suggested we go out and weld. I was more than happy to join him in the garage for my first lesson. What were we going to weld you ask? My tomato cages. You might laugh, and ask why would we weld something that costs a whole 3 dollars at the nearest hardware store? I'll tell you why, They are junk and every year when we buy another set and put them in the ground they always break. I am just so sick of paying for junky products. So I decided that we would make our own and we will probably never need to buy any more.

I am happy with the way they turned out! one of them is a bit wonky but I think it will work just fine. 

I want to thank Sweet Charli

Hey everyone, I have been featured on sweetcharli.blogspot.com
They are featuring some really cool birthday parties over there. make sure you head over and check out some of the incredible birthday ideas! And make sure you vote for your favorite. I so wish i knew how to put together a picture collage and send it. Because I would have!  Like I said they have some absolutely adorable parties. you can only vote once. so make it count. By the way we are number 16. But don't let that stop you from voting for the one you love the most!

Stouffer's House Party

A while ago I came across a blog that made mention of houseparty.com and I just had to check it out.  To my delight I found that this site was super cool! Basically different companies host parties through houseparty.com to promote their products. All you have to do is fill out a profile form and then apply for the house parties you would be interested in hosting. Within a few days of applying for a Stouffer's Toasted Sub Celebration Party, I was accepted.

 Now here is the cool part. They send all of the products to you in what is a called a party pack. The contents of your party pack vary from company to company. In my party pack I received  15 coupons for the toasted sub sandwiches. The coupons were for free sandwiches so I did not have to pay for them.  Also in my pack were 15 red plates, 15 Stouffer's napkins, 1 red pot holder that matched everything, 15 coupons for my guests for $1 off, and 15 tote bags for my guests. The tote bags were a big surprise to me. I really thought that they would have the Stouffer's name on the front, They didn't!  I really liked that. Some people don't feel comfortable carrying a bag with a brand name emblazoned on the front. This bag just had a small tag on the side that says Stouffer's. 

On the houseparty.com website they provide you with tools to send out custom invitations. whether you print them from the site or send them via email. It made it really easy to plan for my guests. They also have a guest manager. Your guests can either rsvp through the site or you can mark their response yourself. Easy, Peasy!  The only thing I would have done differently was to put on my invitation that this was just a time for the girls to get together and hang out, I had few people concerned that I was going to try to sell them something or try to get them to sign up to host some kind of party.  I should have been more specific!  

I hosted my first house party This last Sunday night while the guys were at bible study. I did send a few of the sandwiches with my hubby to share with the guys. 

Instead of making up the subs like a sandwich we both decided to bake them and leave them open faced. Then I cut each one in half so that every one could try all 4 varieties and have enough. I served a simple green salad, chips, mini candy bars and a cake. Along with some hummus and pretzels. I also encouraged my guests to bring a side dish or snack to share. They brought chips of all kinds, Strawberries, and a pasta salad. we had a wonderful spread. I used the boxes from the sandwiches to label the subs so my guests would know which variety they were trying. 

I also used my beverage jar which I absolutely adore! It has been used more times than I can count. every year costco has a different variation or design. I want to collect them all but they are a bit bulky and I would not be able to store them in my home. but then again maybe I could get my hubby to build me a shelf in the shed just for beverage jars. Ah but I digress!

I included a personal party favor for my guests as well as a pen for their purse.

We had a great time catching up and enjoying each other's company. And Eating! I think everybody had a different favorite sub. Mine was the Philly steak and cheese, my hubby liked the zesty Italian with the pepperoni and yellow peppers. 

I can't wait for my next houseparty!  

I have quite a few applications in the works right now. This morning I got notification that I was not chosen to host the red Baron Moms night out party. It's all good! I will just wait until I get to host my next party. Keep an eye out...

what do we believe?

As you all know we just finished the Easter and Passover season. I have had numerous people ask us why we don't celebrate Easter. If you are a Christian then you are supposed to celebrate easter. Right?  My answer No, We are Christians but we do not participate in the Easter Festivities. So many people get seriously offended when we talk about it. So mostly we have refrained from discussing it.  This post is not meant to offend but it is strictly to educate people about where we stand, what we believe and why we believe it.  Justin and I are very much about trying to follow Jesus. We do not want to go about life doing what is tradition merely for the sake of tradition. We fail a lot of the time but we are actively seeking the Lord and what best honors Him. 


So why do we believe what we believe? 
There are a few reasons. First is the Scripture from the Old testament, Deuteronomy 12: 30-31. 
Moses is speaking to the people. 
vs.30 But that's when you have to be especially careful not to ask, "How did these nations worship their gods? Shouldn't we worship the Lord in the same way?"
vs.31 No you should not, the Lord hates the disgusting way those nations worship their gods, because they even burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices.


Also Deuteronomy 14:2
Out of all the nations on this earth, The Lord your God chose you to be His own. You belong to the Lord. So don't behave like those who worship other gods. 


We believe that when Jesus died on the cross he set us free from the Levitical laws. However we also believe that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And while He may have sent his Son to be our Sacrifice, Savior and our High Priest. We also believe God's Heart is the same. The Bible backs this up when it says "God is a jealous God"

I looked up the definition of the word jealous, there were two different meanings. The first meaning was "to be resentfully suspicious or envious." This is usually the kind of jealousy that we, as humans beings, experience. The second meaning was "to be watchful in guarding." I see this as the kind of jealousy that God has for us.

Exodus 20: 3-5 (New International Version)

"You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God, am a jealous God."

Deuteronomy 4: 23-24 (New International Version)

"Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that He made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God."

***God is a jealous God in that He will not tolerate unfaithfulness on the part of His people. In these scriptures, God warns the Israelites not to get involved in worshiping other gods and not to participate in the religious practices of other nations. By doing so, they would be committing adultery.***

That being said I want to dig into some of the Easter traditions.

Easter is filled with pagan worship practices and tradition that have been fostered on this holiday. A holiday that is to be a celebration of our Savior's sacrifice, His death AND Resurrection. Ultimately it is supposed to be about JESUS. 

Let's start with the Easter basket.

This tradition has it's origins in the Old Catholic Church of bringing the Easter dinner to Mass to be blessed. This actually mirrors an old Pagan ritual of bringing the first crops and seedlings to the temple to ensure a good season. 

Next is the Easter Rabbit.

The goddess Eastre, (also known as Eostur, Eastar, Ostara, Ostar, Eostre) symbolized by a rabbit or hare, would come and bring the great bounty. Eastre is a highly sexual fertility goddess. The Catholic Easter basket custom combined with Eastre's awaited "rabbits nest" eventually evolved into the brightly covered baskets filled with sweets to be left for children on Easter morning. 

What about Easter Eggs?  

***The egg was also a symbol of fertility; Semiramis (Easter) was the goddess of Fertility. The Easter egg is a symbol of the pagan Mother Goddess, and it even bears one of her names.

“The egg was a sacred symbol among the Babylonians. They believed an old fable about an egg of wondrous size which was supposed to have fallen from heaven into the Euphrates River. From this marvelous egg - according to the ancient story - the Goddess Astarte (Easter) [Semiramis], was hatched. And so the egg came to symbolize the Goddess Easter.”

The idea of a mystic egg spread from Babylon to many parts of the world. In Rome, the mystic egg preceded processions in honor of the Mother Goddess Roman. The egg was part of the sacred ceremonies of the Mysteries of Bacchus. The Druids used the egg as their sacred emblem. In Northern Europe, China and Japan the eggs were colored for their sacred festivals.

The ancient Persians painted eggs for Nowrooz, their New Year celebration falling on the Spring Equinox. This tradition has continued every year on Nowrooz since ancient times.***

***One might wonder if there is a better way for Christians to celebrate Jesus Christ's resurrection, the most important of all Christian holy days. In retrospect, it seems obvious that it would have been a better witness to the world if Christians had not attempted to “Christianize” pagan celebrations - adopting the name “Easter” (Ishtar/Semiramis) in remembrance of Christ. Jesus has been obscured by painted eggs and bunnies. Attention has been shifted away from spiritual truth and toward materialism (clothing, products and candies with the wrong symbolism). Stores merchandise the name of Easter (not “Resurrection Sunday”) and sell goods that have nothing to do with Christ's death and resurrection. Christians naively use symbols and practices that unknowingly perpetuate ancient anti-Christ traditions - symbolic customs followed by the same religious cults that inspired the destruction of great numbers of Christians and Jews. Is the Devil laughing at us?

Many church bodies recognize the problem and make every effort to keep the focus of Resurrection Sunday totally on Jesus Christ and the Good News that He brought.***

This is totally why, We refuse to say Happy Easter and instead we gladly wish you a Happy Resurrection Sunday.

Note: **** indicates Some of this material has been taken from sites that are very informative. 

A  good one to read through for more info would be

 www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-t020.html

There are so many different sites out there that have more information. All you have to do is search.

Now you know. Please know we do not wish to push our beliefs on you. This is meant only to give insight into our position on easter.  

A House Party

Keep an eye out next week for my post on the house party!
I was selected by houseparty.com to host a Stouffer's Toasted sub party. I am really excited for my party this Sunday. If you would like to attend and you are in the Salt Lake Area leave me a comment and I will get you the details. Next week I will post about the party from Beginning to end. how it all got started, what came in the party pack, and details on how you can get your own party started. I can't wait for this blog post!

March Photos of the Month

Well here are the March Photos. I took a lot more this month than last month so I had a really hard time choosing my faves. BUt here we go!

This first Photo is of my Dear friend Christa, I helped to host her baby shower. She is having twins and we had a really awesome turn out. I can't wait to hold those babies!

These are the cupcakes we made for the shower. I was a bit disappointed in the color of the icing. I made it a few days early and as it sat in the fridge it got darker and darker. I felt like I was serving up mardi gras cupcakes, instead of baby shower cup cakes.

This was one of the shower gifts made by another dear friend. They are animals made out of Diapers!

So this is like March 8th, the kids were so excited because it reached 56*F. They made a slip and slide and had tons of fun. (As of this post it is April 1st, and there is about 3 inches of snow on the ground!)

Elyssa thinks it is funny to get extreme close ups!

Some of the cake plates I used for Elyssa's birthday party.

These are some of my most favorites!!!!! My husband makes breakfast for us every Friday and Saturday morning. I taught him how to flip and egg or an omelet.  He is so proud of himself!

He did end up catching it as well! I am so impressed!

Justin's Uncle Larry Passed away and the memorial was on the 27th. Here is a pic of almost all of us. Kent my FIL is taking the photo. 

After the service we went to lunch with a whole lot of the family. After that we went to Justin's brother's house. With some of his cousins and we had a really great time with a family Jam session.  Below is a photo of (from left to right) Ray Hoobler, Ryan Hoobler, Justin, and his brother John.

Later the guys came up and almost every one joined in whether with an instrument or a voice. 

Justin is taking a turn on the Djembe, while his cousin Cindy is on bass, Ray was on guitar and Roy was on piano.

Cheva had some percussion instrument as well.  and from this photo you can't see the people on the stairs or right in front of them. It was a crowded room and one of the most enjoyable nights I have ever had.

This is a pic of the fretless bass I made my husband buy. He wanted it anyway! When I saw it had a dragonfly on it I told him he had to have it. He has had it for quite a  while now but this is the first pic I have ever taken of it. 

I hope you enjoy the march pics!