What it is all about!!

What Mother's Day is all about.......

Breakfast in bed. Toast buttered by a 5 year old literally ON my bed with the company of his favorite stuffed animal.

two homemade gifts made with love at church...too bad Colt ate my flower pot cupcake before he gave it to me. "It has my picture on it so it's mine, Mom." Makes sense.

a gorgeous hot pad made at Troy's preschool. "Mom you are wearing a blue dress and you are happy cause we are holding hands". Yes, son. You never want to hold my hand anymore so of course this would make me happy.

the only Mother's Day picture that was captured and it's blurry and Troy has bandaids on from a busted chin.

my kind of perfect.

A perfect day.

Disneyland!

We had a great week in California at Disneyland! Needed more time at the beach next time, the boys were in heaven laying in the sand and looking for sea anemones. Cute boys.

Then off to Disneyland! We hit the park right after they were packed for Spring Break so our week was very quiet....mid-April and October are the times to go!! No lines and perfect weather.

Our favorite new ride, the Toy Story Midway Games. I could ride it over and over!

Kevin's mission buddy, Elliot met us for dinner. We were insta-friends. I hope he will come visit us sometime!

We got to spend a lot of time with Auntie Aubrey after her days at work. We love her so much :)

Discovered my favorite Disney treat...Macaroons from the Blue Ribbon Bakery on Disney Main Street. Amazing. Can't recreate them at home...I've tried! So glad my best friend is headed to Disneyland in JUNE so she can bring me a box home :)

Waiting for the parade...

The most magical place on earth!

Every good thing must come to an end.

Back at it!!!

Wow, so it's been a while since I've had a blog post!!! I will totally blame it on my job and my crazy life!!! I have to update the work blog 3 days a week as part of my job description so blogging has kind of lost it's "fun" after that!!! I will try and do better....I am too lazy and re load the ones that aren't rotated so I will try and be better next time :)

Just got back from a crazy week away from home!!! First went with 2 of my friends to Bear Lake to a friends cabin. Had a blast...trip was shortened due to a snow storm though :( The kids had a blast playing together.

Left a day early....good thing since I got the worst stomach bug of my life!!! It was a horrible 12 hours of being sick and I gave up and paid the best $50 ER visit fee ever! Pain meds put me out and was hooked up to the IV that hydrated me and magically made my yuckies go away!! Woke up feeling fabulous and shopped the next day :) I love doctors!

Went to Jumping Jacks with the boys....they had a so much fun. The adults...well we were bored out of our minds. I think all of us were on our devices online or on Facebook :)

Cutest daddy ever...he was THAT bored he read US Weekly :)

Melts my heart. Love how they pose for me!

Troy sticking with brother and helping him around

Spent lots of time with my Mom's family...love my cousins on that side. And Troy's best friends are my cousin's little boys. Troy, Colt, Hayden & Tyson are so cute together. They love getting together!! And they can't wait for Cousins Camp in July...it's all they talked about!

Stayed up waaaay too late two nights in a row with Steph & Jasen. Stephanie is my sweet cousin who took me to the hospital. She and Jasen have been dating for SEVEN years, ever since Kev and I were married! They are perfect for each other and we wish they would just put a ring on it. They were so cute and went with us to "The Last Song" so they got major points :)

Easter!! Boys got way too much candy, toys & a Razor Scooter! They loved everything. Kev and I were in bed still when they snuck out to their baskets.....

Rain, shine or snow....eggs belong outside!!! Love the jammies and cowboy boots. Cute boys.

I hope everyone had a great Easter!!! I promise I will be better on here :)

My New Work Blog

Just thought you might want to know....part of my work description for DCWV is maintaining a design blog with their different products. It has been a lot of fun so far making all of the projects. I would love it if you would go to the blog and click on "Follow" under "Our Fans" tab. Bookmark the blog and you can see everything that I am working on for work. By becoming a follower you become eligible for the free giveaways as well!! Thanks!

www.dcwvinc.blogspot.com

Grace

Most of you know that I am a huge Philosophy fan. One of the things that I love is how they write little inspirational thoughts on the outside of the bottles of their product. This is one of the bottles in my collection that I look at every morning in the shower...because what else is there to do while you wait for your 3 minute conditioner? I have read this quote everyday for the last 2 months. And I just love it.

It reads: "How you climb up the mountain is just as important as how you get down the mountain. and, so it is with life, which for many of us becomes one big gigantic test followed by one big gigantic lesson. in the end, it all comes down to one word. grace. it's how you accept winning and losing, good luck and bad luck, the darkness and the light."

I have had a hard time these last few months mourning the loss of a best friend. I have learned that friends sometime go different directions and that is just a part of life. I sincerely hope that the pain and hurt that I feel from the way I have been treated is released someday. Because it is a burden and I don't want it weighting me down. But until time passes and hard feeling die down, it will just take all of the strength that I have to try and act with grace. Which is what I know I need to do.

Hello 2010!!!

It's a new year and a new start! Funny how we think we have to wait until a date to make changes in our life. But it works so I guess that's good :) Before I share some of my goals for the year, let's recap a few of my highlights of 2009:

Getting our pug, Jack, back.

Kevin going back to school.

My parents moving to Utah.

Finally getting my Annie Madsen, even though she's my niece :)

Getting my first Mac.

Learning how to make perfect rolls.

Singing in the ward choir with my sweet friend, Amberly.

Eating at The Melting Pot after years and years of anticipation.

A new calling in Primary which I absolutely adore.

Losing 15 pounds without giving up my Diet Coke.

New Moon girls weekend with my girlfriends.

Weekend in Vidor to say goodbye to my PawPaw.

Attending my first CF Fundraiser which has opened my eyes to work that needs to be done.

Learning how to digital scrapbook with Photoshop CS4

I'm sure there are more since I have been so blessed this year. I have a husband that I hold on a pedestal, mischievous yet perfect boys, a loyal family and friends which the word "friend" doesn't do justice. I am blessed. I am happy.

On my to do list for the year:

Read "Jesus The Christ" on my new Kindle :)

Get out of debt and pay cash for everything. (all of my CC's are in the freezer and all but 1 are paid off)

Complete Project Life as my gift to my children and grandchildren.

Go to "The Lion King" Broadway show in SLC. (anyone want to go with me in Aug. so I don't have to drag Kev?)

Lose 5 more pounds

I don't want to commit to too much so I don't set myself up for failure. But I know I can do this and that my life will be happier as I complete each one of my goals. I have so many people around me that I love and I wish each one of you a Happy New Year! May this be the year that you make yourself into the person you have always wanted to be!!!

A Big Day in the Madsen Kitchen

I consider myself to be a pretty good cook. I love to try new recipes and am always looking for new things to feed my family. You would think that a good cook could bake a simple batch of rolls, right? Well I sure did. But for 7 years, I have struggled with dozens and dozens and DOZENS of roll recipes, never finding the perfect one. Most were too yeasty. Some would never rise. I tried people's "No Fail" recipes, and guess what. I would fail!!! So imagine the day in my kitchen when I finally mastered a homemade batch of rolls! It was a huge deal! (Don't worry, I made a batch the following day to make sure it wasn't a fluke that I made yummy rolls!) I found the recipe on allrecipes.com (fav) and I love how the recipe uses your bread machine to do the dough. I have a cheap old Sunbeam breadmaker from Walmart and it works perfectly on the "Dough" setting. So....I challenge all of my girls who think they can't make a.ma.zing rolls. If you don't have a bread machine, simple let rise, punch down, let rise and shape, rise. Like a typical bread recipe. Good luck! I hope your results are as delicious as mine!!!

A.ma.zing Rolls

1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

1/2 cup warm milk

1 egg

1/3 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

1/4 cup butter, softened

Directions

1. Place water, milk, egg, 1/3 cup butter, sugar, salt, flour and yeast in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Dough/Knead and First Rise Cycle; press Start.

2. When cycle finishes, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a 12 inch circle, spread 1/4 cup softened butter over entire round. Cut each circle into 8 wedges. Roll wedges starting at wide end; roll gently but tightly. Place point side down on ungreased cookie sheet. Cover with clean kitchen towel and put in a warm place, let rise 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden.

Merry Christmas from the Madsens!

I just mailed out all 75 of my Christmas cards this year. What a relief. Instead of including a Chrismtas letter, I noted our blog address so everyone I love can keep up with us all through the year! So here is my Christmas letter for 2009!

Kevin: has had a busy, busy year full of fun and not so fun things! Starting with the fun....he played in his recreation softball team this summer and has continued this winter with the basketball team. He gets to play with 2 of his brothers so he has a lot of fun. He has been hunting A TON this year and is grateful there are no babies in our home which allows him to play and hunt a lot more than he has in the past! His pride and joy, the Elk, is on our living room wall. That's all to say about that since I had absolutely no say in the decision. :) He went back to school this fall and got all A's! Only a few more semester to finally have his bachelors degree in Business Finance. Kev is a primary teacher now which is a welcome change from the 4 years in Young Mens. And we are VERY grateful that after the many layoffs in the bank, he still has a job. Even if it is no fun being a banker right now, we get 2 paychecks a month and for that, we are very lucky.

Erin: has continued with her many, many jobs which include mommy, wifey, scrapbook designer, housekeeper, chauffeur and referee to name a few. She works 25-30 hours a week for DCWV and is very blessed to have a job she loves, the chance to travel a handful of times throughout the year, the ability to work from home the rest of the time all while being able to help support the family. She loves teaching the 5 year olds (including Troy) in Primary and singing in the Ward Choir. She loves having her Mommy and Daddy in Utah now and is always finding excuses to need to go and stay for the weekends. When she is not working or "mothering", you will find her crafting of some sort, with her amazing circle of girlfriends, texting, watching the endless DVR playlist or on her beloved MacBook Pro shopping or"facebooking".

Troy (5): has mastered Preschool after his 3rd year. He loves to read to his little brother and sound out words. He is always playing with his friends and is so lucky to have darling little kids his age in the neighborhood. Troy likes being the boss and loves to be independent. His mommy will often climb out of bed to find apple juice and cereal poured and 2 little boys eating breakfast. He loves doing things by himself. He loves going to the movie theatre and having "movie night" on Friday nights with the neighbors. He is a happy, healthy, social kiddo!

Colt (almost 3): does not want to be called "Colty" anymore because he "is big now." Sad. The baby is growing up! Colt basically likes to do anything that Troy likes to do. "Monkey see, Monkey do" is quoted throughout the day. Everything has to be equal and the same between the two brothers. Colt loves to watch "Caillou" and "Blues Clues". He loves to read books and sing songs. He loves going to nursery and playing with Jack. We say that Jack is Colt's dog because they just seem to have a bond. He would rather be next to me in the office or kitchen than playing with his brother. He just likes to see what's going on and being a part of everything. He is such a sweet little boy.

Never Say Never!!!

Well everyone knows that I have been a huge scrapbooker for the past 13 years since I was 15 years old. I love touching paper and pictures in my hand. I love going to the store and buying fun supplies. I am so blessed to be able to scrapbook for my job for the last 6 years. Everyone has always asked if I would ever get into digital scrapbooking and my answer had alwasy been "No way." Well never say never! The last 6 weeks I have been in an intense online training class learning Photoshop CS4 which is a complicated, mind turning program that is the most professional editing system on the market. (If you are interested, a great alternative in complexity and price is Photoshop Elements 8) I have learned sooooo many cool things and am shocked at how much I really enjoy digital scrapbooking. There is nothing cooler than laying in bed, watching reality TV, and scrapbooking on your laptop. I thought I would miss "touching" my supplies and having them in my hand. Nope. I feel completely creative and inspired simply by looking at files on my hard drive. I feel like I can express more of my personality in a digital page because I have so much more to work with besides paper, ribbon and brads. The possibilities are simply endless. And come on, I LOVE not having a mess to clean up when I am done with my project! I can't say that I will clean out my scrap room anytime soon because there will always be a use and love for that in my life but for now, I'm going digital! Here are some of my layouts at I completed in my training that I thought I would share!