Where the Wild Things Grow

Emotions/Theme for this year

2012-01-09T21:11:00.001-08:00

The past few months I have felt I have been on a "Emotional" roller coaster. I have had a heavy heart as several loved ones have returned to Heavenly Father. I have hurt inside as several of my friends have had really hard times in their lives ranging from divorce to money problems to children problems. I have had to deal with some people that do not like me and let every one else know why. I have been filled with love and yes, dare I say it, PRIDE in my children. Then I have friends that I will miss seeing daily as they have felt they need to go on a world mission and do service for others. I have friends that have been able to adopt new little ones in their family that they have fought for, for so long! I have met some new sweet babies, fresh from Heaven. I have dear friends that hug me every time they see me. I have friends that make me laugh. I am watching a family I dearly love,as they hurt watching their son who is 27 and newly married, struggle daily to breath while waiting for another families sorrow to provide him with new lungs to replace the ones he has that have been destroyed by CF. I watch as love ones deal with cancer, depression and other health problems.
So many emotions, all of them fill my heart. I have learned an important lesson from a lady I truly admire and I am so blessed to call my friend. She has taught me, Everyone has problems but not everyone has a cheerleader. Don't be a problem they don't need, be a cheerleader they do. With that lesson I found a quote that I have decided will be my theme for this next year.

Work for a CAUSE
not for APPLAUSE
Live life to EXPRESS,
not to IMPRESS.
Don't strive to make your presence noticed,
just make your absence felt.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-21T19:08:00.000-08:00

What a year for the Wilding family. As you can see, we start out this holiday time with YES, another move. If the picture looks familiar, it is because we have lived in this same floor plan 2 other times. We are so excited to be in our new place. (This is the 19th move in 25 years...)

We were blessed to be able to celebrate Christmas early with all of our family home last week.

Coqui and Jason (not pictured) are living in Oak Harbor Washington now. Jason is in the service and is stationed there. They have just bought a house and are having fun fixing up their place. Coqui is working at a gas station while looking for a new job.

Keana and Kevin are living in Spokane Valley Washington and just welcomed their 1st baby boy, Collin Joseph who was born November 10.

Colton is a busy boy! He is going to school, working, competing in paintball and has moved in with two of his good friends to an apartment so they can stay up late playing x-box.

During Thanksgiving, Colton joined the Army Reserves. He leaves for boot camp in March. (He looks so good in his ACU)

Klaira, busy as always, just finished performing in her high school production of "Grease". She was Frenchy and did an amazing job. I so loved watching her and listening to her sing!

(Two Beauty School Drop Outs!) Klaira is doing EVERYTHING she can during her Sr. year of high school. She doesn't want to miss a thing.

This is Sweet Collin! We are too far away!!! We loved the snuggle time we had this past week. I just can't get enough of this sweet baby. It was really hard to let go of him when it was time for them to head home.

Jeff and I are busy as always with work and church callings. Jeff is now in the Elders Quorum and I am helping to interpret for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in another ward. We love our callings and love where we are right now.

Our Hearts are full as we reflect on the experiences we have had this past year. From loved ones returning to Heavenly Father, to New Loves being sent to us. We think of the trips we have had, the family time, of our testimonies growing. We are blessed!

We are excited for this new year and all that it brings.

Hugs and Kisses,

The Wildings

Goodby Frances

2011-09-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

The dear little neighbor that I talked about earlier, quietly passed away on 9/11 at 9:11 at night. She is missed.

17

2011-09-04T19:50:00.000-07:00

For the past 17 years (TODAY..yep, she was born on a Sunday!) I have been honored/Blessed to call this sweet face, My BABY!
K..Kind
L..Loveable
A..All Hugs
I..Inspiring
R..Replenish me
A..Artistic..music is all over her!
I know this is dorky, but I just love this girl! I am enjoying my time with her!
She is fun to listen to at the end of the day with all of her adventures.
She LOVES music and brings me into her love!
She LOVES her family and misses them dearly!
She is a tender heart.
She is a daddy's girl.
She hates bacon. (Ireally though she liked it...)
She is going to have a busy last year of high school. She is planning to live it to the ultimate!
She is my luvlump...

Emotional Rollercoaster

2011-09-04T18:50:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I had so many emotions..from one extreme to the other. I will go in order of events but the first part I really don't like...
I have to preface this by saying that I am SOOO Thankful for what I have been taught through the church/girls camp/and being open to where Heavenly Father needs you...

Last Friday I was prompted to travel home a different way then I usually go... As I drove on my street I saw one of our dear neighbors (she is 86 years old and walks 2 1/2 miles every day and talks to EVERYONE and is just a doll) sitting on her front step just COVERED in blood. She just waved to me..I backed up and pulled in her drive way while trying to get 911 on the phone. She had somehow split the top of her head open to the bone and had been sitting there for some time in over 100* weather. She had tried getting into her house but blessings that she was not able to..I never would have seen her! Her doorstep was a war zone. Blood everywhere. With the help of the police and ambulance we got her on her way to the hospital and I assured the police man that I would clean up the mess before the kids in the neighborhood came home from school. I got it all cleaned up (Now I so understand what my mom went through cleaning up after someone she loved had a horrible accident...Love you mom!) and got Klaira settled and then headed to the hospital to get an update...we were unable to get ahold of any family so I was it! I stayed while they did ex-rays (to find out she had broken her neck..) and then held her hand while they stapled her head close (13 staples and about 6 stitches) and got her ready to transport to another hospital. Still unable to get ahold of any family. She was such a dear and I had a wonderful 4 hour chat with her. We got her into the ambulance and off to the other hospital. I followed to the other hospital but was not able to be with her until they had figured out what she needed. About an hour after being there, family members found me. What a wonderful family she has! I went home just drained!

I stayed up cleaning the house..(that is for another post..) to get up early for the BEST part of the weekend and the other side of the emotions...

Klaira and her YW and leaders have been focusing in on the Temple this year..from several stories they were inspired to walk from one of our buildings to the Temple. 9 miles! Now some of these girls are not very physically active at all, and it was expected to get up to 100* by noon. This was their first Saturday since school and seminary started that they could have slept in, but they ALL were at the church early with a smile on their face, ready for the walk. (Notice the camp shirts the girls are wearing! NICE)

I was blessed to be asked to follow along so that if one of the girls needed a ride, they could. We had another brother who met the girls at stops along the way with water and fruit and encouragement. I did have one young lady drive with me most of the way since she had just had knee surgery but she wanted to do some of the walk with the girls. (LOVE THAT GIRL!)

The girls all had smiles on their faces the entire walk. We had a few that were running the entire time, others that were slower but were laughing and keeping a good pace. THEY ALL MADE IT! The young woman that traveled with me was able to walk some in the middle and then the last mile and a half. When they got to the temple, family members were waiting with open arms. (SO many parallels to our lives...it is hard not to start blubbering again..)

The temple president and his wife talked to the girls about their journey and then the girls had a final group picture and a trip out to the picnic area behind the temple for refreshments and inspiring words from the YW president.

The next day it was the YW program in Sacrament meeting. Klaira led the music and was one of the speakers. (She is Laurel President)

It was one of the most wonderful meetings I have sat through in a long time. Klaira did an amazing job with her talk! LOVED IT! Then on Tuesday it was all wrapped up with a meeting called New Beginnings. What amazing Young Women and Leaders we have in our ward! (Klaira is stinkin amazing too!)

I Love to see the temple....
Photo's by Shelley VanWagenen

Hair

2011-07-08T07:33:00.000-07:00

About 3 years ago (I think it was only 2) Klaira donated her 9 inches of hair to Locks of Love with a friend... (Love you Hanna Horspool!)

Well, the kid is at it again! This time she donated over 14 inches to Pantene Beautiful Lengths.

Her hair was so thick, it took quite a bit just to cut the ponytail!
HOW CUTE!

(Mandi McDonald did an amazing job!!!!)

The funny part was how much hair she took off just styling the hair! Enough for another wig!

What a wonderful, loving way to do service for girls you have never met!

LOVE THIS KID!

More Pictures

2011-07-03T11:08:00.001-07:00

All about camp 2011!

2011-07-02T16:09:00.000-07:00

I am trying not to make this a long post..I put the pictures up first so that I could just write about it on this one. There were so many pictures, it was hard to just put a few.

This year of camp marks my 11th year of YW camp. I missed Coqui's first year but have been blessed to have been able to go to all the rest of the years with my girls. This was Klaira's last year. With this being Klaira's last year, I'm really not sure if I will be asked to go again, and I wanted Jeff to come with me so that he could see what his girls have been doing for the past 11 years. WHAT FUN!

I have been able to experience camp from just about every angle. This year was my second year as an assistant to the Camp Leader. (Kirsten Greenlaw (the blond) is the Camp Leader with Jana Wilkerson (the really tall one) as first assistant and I am second.....)

We have been planning since October of last year for this one week. We had 4 great girls to work with as our Sr. counsel with 25 YCL 2 leaders. (YCL 2 is a fancy term for the Sr. girls)
I have to admit that I was a bit worried if we were going to be able to accomplish all that we had planned since I didn't see most of these girls very much before camp.

Monday was set up day. The 4th years also go up and help us to unload the trailers and then they go on a over night hike/campout. Jeff and Cory (Cory is Kirsten's husband) were our priesthood for this hike. Coqui, Keana, Klaira and I have done this hike and it was fun to hear Jeff's side of the adventure. Jeff got some great shots from on top.

On Tuesday the rest of the girls come up to camp and when everyone is settled in, the 4th years come back into camp! It is a huge production! For some of these girls, it is the first time they have ever been "Camping" and sleeping outdoors. It is a difficult hike and they find many parallels to life on this hike.

After the 4th years come back into camp, we take our ALL CAMP picture are have skits to introduce the theme for the week and the rules for camp.

We have many activities for the rest of the day, with a wonderful skit/devotional/activity that we do with the girls that night. We send all the other years back to their cabins after and then have a special night out with the 1st years. All the YCL 2's have picked a 1st year as their little sister to help them through their first year at camp.

Wednesday is hike day. All the levels go on hikes except for the 4th years that have already done their hike. The 4th years do a service project to help protect the environment or improve the camp. In years past, the girls have cleared a path up to the waterfalls, they have cleared a path down to the river and this year the girls made steps up to the repelling. Jeff was involved with this project and was GREAT with the girls. He wishes he had understood better what the project was going to be, the girls did not have enough materials that day, or they would have just kept going!

The 4th years also dug a pit and cooked pork in it and all the years did some kind of out door cooking for a all camp meal. (Very busy year for the 4th years)

That night is the night walk. It is a very spiritual night that the YCL 2's plan. Klaira wrote her station in the night walk. It was about Emma Smith. She also sang a song and there were several tears..very emotional to watch..(she even made her Dad cry!)

The next day was certification day. The girls are very busy with finishing up certification requirements (they have been doing activities all week..) finishing up the day with a talent/skit show performed by all of camp..yes, even the cooks and the priesthood!

Friday is when we start wrapping it all up. The certification ladies have a all camp survival contest, then we have a all camp activity...these two things take up SEVERAL hours. Then that night the Bishops from each ward come up for dinner and testimony meeting. This year, Klaira put together 2 videos that had pictures of Christ and quotes from the YCL 2s. As she was putting it together, she would have me preview parts..I cried every time...the spirit was so strong...All loved ending testimony meeting that way and it is now something they plan on doing every year!

We end camp on Saturday morning with closing ceremonies where the 4th years recieve awards for the first 4 years of camp, the YCL 1s and YCL 2s recieve awards for their years of certification and we close with final words to take them home...

OH and all in-between the crafts and other activities, we have rappelling and zip line. (Jeff helped on the zip line this year!)
I have been very blessed! I am so Thankful that I was able to share this year with Klaira and Jeff!

(The second one is my favorite...turn up the volume so you can hear the beautiful music)

I am so proud of Klaira for all she accomplished at camp. I love that she has a testimony and is helping it to grow.

Camp ROCK! 2011

2011-07-02T14:40:00.001-07:00

This was our main theme for the week.
Tuesday: Ballet-Stay on your toes. Helaman 5:12
Wednesday: Break Dance-Just move it. D&C 58:27-28
Thursday: Interpretive-Be your own kind of Beautiful. 1 Samuel 16:7
Friday: Line Dance-Don't get out of sync. 2 Nephi 28:32
Saturday: Step Up-And bring someone with you. Exodus 12:31

The Rock!

The Best Team!

Our Girls!

Sacred grove at the waterfall! Perfect!

A view from Camp up to the rock!

The Mighty Hikers return!

We caught 4 rattle snakes this year..the girls skinned 2 of them.

A lot of screaming at the zip line!

How many girls can we get in the yellow twinkie?

Our Stake Leaders!

One of these is fake...the other one...It was hard for one of our priesthood to tell the difference!

Over 206 this year.

This was the best Camp EVER!

Choir In Anaheim 2011

2011-05-02T15:41:00.000-07:00

This is a long and emotional post. I will try to not ramble and get the facts in with hopefully little detours...
Klaira is in 3 choirs at school this year. They have the most talented, professional, loving teacher ever. I don't know if the kids really know how spoiled they are to have such an incredible director.
First some back ground...in the past few months...days even...a few of our students have lost love ones. (One of our girls lost her Father to cancer the Sunday before we left..another lost her Mother just a few months ago, another, her grandmother...it goes on..)
One of the songs that the kids have been working on comes from a man who wrote the song after he lost his baby in a tragic accident. So the kids have much emotional feeling for this song. (There will be Rest)
When we got to Anaheim, the kids had a workshop with a very talented Gentleman (I'm sorry I don't know his name) who knows the author of the song "There will be Rest" personally. This song has a place in his heart. The location for our workshop had beautiful acoustics and the song was very strong and emotional. Several of us were crying. He did not know about the emotions already at the surface with our kids and as we were working with him, as he told his ties to this song. Lots of tears that afternoon. Lots of hugs and love and support for everyone. I am so impressed at the love for one another in this large group. (This is two choirs..)
Cool Michael!
Then, later that night we were able to go to a Jazz concert that our directors daughter was apart of at a college near by. It was a long day since we had already driven several hours just to get to Anaheim and then to go to the workshop and then to the college. When the concert was over, we headed back to the hotel.
About 10:30 one of our buses (heavy traffic, in the car pool lane, traveling about 70 mph) was behind a small truck. The truck swerved and hit something which then the bus also hit. The bus driver knowing that we were not far from the hotel, did not stop, but got all the kids back to the hotel. The kids were put to bed with the talk that it could have been anything, so not to get worked up until we had more information. We found out the next morning that indeed the bus had hit a man and he was killed. We talked to the kids and some insisted that we have a prayer for the bus driver and for the man who was killed and his family. (I was very impressed that the kids wanted to do this...) then, teary eyed, we drove our first choir to the festival to perform, and while we were warming up the second choir was bussed over. The kids sang the best I have ever heard them sing. It was perfect! Again, all of the chaperons were crying. Chamber Choir Womens Coral

Amber and Aaron

After the choirs performed, we went outside to take pictures. They had a professional photographer, and there were signs saying that only that group could take pictures..of course I snapped a few of the whole choir but we are not able to see some of the kids and I have the back of the guy in my picture...a little bit away we found this great sculpture of a hand that the girls wanted their picture taken in...very nice! Then we loaded up and headed to Huntington Beach! YES!

Emily and Sarah

Alex

Alex, Kellie, Morgan, Bri, Ghiannah, Klaira, Haylie

Maria

Beach Baby!

Huntington Beach

Happy Feet

After the beach we had a few minutes to clean up and head over to the awards ceremony. We had just enough time to eat and look around California park before the ceremony began.

Chase and Jessica

Bea and Amanda Just DONE!

Both of our choirs took 1st with Gold in their divisions. They also won Judicator's award for both choir, Spirit award, and a special invitation to New York. In other words, they swept the competition!

They next morning we got up and loaded the buses and headed to DISNEY LAND/CALIFORNIA PARK! What a fun day to release from a VERY emotional weekend. The girls were finally able to get Klaira on "Tower of Terror"! (She got the T-Shirt!)

It's Official!

2011-04-25T15:48:00.000-07:00

Yes! It's True! She is a official driver! She passed her driving exam! Yippy! Pros-
1. She is no longer waiting for me to pick her up from activities.
2. I can send her to pick up things from the store for me.
3. She can drive herself to seminary early in the mornings!
4. She can plan her activities around her time frame and not her mothers.

Cons-
1. I no longer get to hear all about her day as soon as she pops into the truck after school.
2. I no longer get to listen to all the kids talking as I drive them to all the activities.
3. Gas and insurance for another vehicle.
4. I will not be as involved with all her activities and get to hear all the inside stuff...

This is a happy/sad day.

Mormon Prom

2011-04-25T15:27:00.000-07:00

Last month, just 3 days before Mormon Prom, Klaira got a phone call asking her to go. Oh the squeals! She was so excited! Several stakes in the area get together once a year a put on a "Prom" that they know the kids will be able to go to and have a prom experience without all the gunk that seems to go on at the high schools now days. Everyone is dressed modestly, the music is appropriate and the kids are there to have a fun time... Of course they went as a group and it was a really fun group of kids!

The Girls!

The Guys!

She is so beautiful! What a fun night for her! (Growing up way to fast!)

Hello Dolly!

2011-04-11T20:22:00.000-07:00

This last month Klaira was able to perform in her high school performance of "Hello Dolly". (Disclaimer...I don't have photo shop on my computer and I don't know how to get rid of all the red eyes..thus it looks like most of the kids are evil...but they really are sweet!!!)

This was Klaira's favorite of her outfits for the show. She had to make 3 costume changes during the night. Don't she look sweet?!

This kid is a CRACK UP! He is in 7th grade. I was able to give kids rides to the theater where they were performing, for their practices and this sweet boy climbed in the first day. I had "Wicked" playing and he knew every song. He sang loud and proud. The next day I had "Phantom of the Oprah" playing..yep, he knew those songs too!

This is a group of wonderfully, talented young adults. I was very impressed! They did a GREAT JOB!

What great memories these kids are making!

25 YEARS

2011-03-27T21:08:00.001-07:00

25 years ago....I married my best friend!

I love him more today than I ever have!

I am so blessed to have him as my MAN!

(Love the silver tux!)

Best 25 years ever! Lets do it again!

Crafters Annon...

2011-03-04T15:30:00.000-08:00

(Sorry these are not the best pictures...)
SOOO, what have I been up to?

Then it was time for....

And before I could put everything out, I realized...St. Patricks day is just around the corner. Out with the red and in with the green!

Really, nothing much...just a bunch of

(Oh, and my friend became a Grandma again! So I made this...)

Have you tried these?

2011-03-02T13:34:00.000-08:00

Can I just say...YUM!!!!!!
(Yes, these are in the FREEZER section at Sam's club...)

I make some angel hair pasta to go along with this chicken.

End Of Two Wonderful Years

2011-01-25T17:27:00.001-08:00

Two years ago I was called to be the ward Nursery Leader. (I was told at the time that I was called that it is only a one year calling by our Bishop...)At the time I had just been released from 3 years of serving in our ward Relief Society. Wow, going from serving my sisters in one capacity to serving my sisters in another. It was hard to think of being so involved in RS to be sent to what has been labeled "The Black Hole". (Meaning you really don't know what is going on in the rest of the ward.) At first I was not very excited. (What am I going to do with little ones...all my kids are almost out of their teens!)

OK, a little attitude....

Then I guess there was a bit of hiding...

Then I think there was a few days of screaming....

And other days, more screaming...

Then as the weeks went by, we had singing and maybe some dancing...

Then we found lots of kisses and hugs

Two years really goes by faster than one would think. Now I have been released and I am not sure if I want to cry or do a happy dance. I can say that I will miss the weekly snuggles. My boyfriend had already moved on at the beginning of the year...He was three and ready for Sunbeams.

I do feel that I was greatly blessed. I had the most AMAZING partner in crime (Deanne..You are the best!) and some great stories that I can share. I love the kids and love the waves and peeks that I get during Sacrament Meeting. The great thing is I have not moved out of the ward, so I will be able to continue to see the kids in Sacrament Meeting and other ward functions.

I loved my two WONDERFUL years!

Christmas

2010-12-28T23:19:00.000-08:00

Ahhhh, the most wonderful time of the year.

This year....where to start.

Well, it has been a hard year with work, or lack of it. I think it was a blessing that Jeff had the time off from work so that he could have the time to get his pilot's licence which he has wanted to get for as long as I have known him. So money has been really tight. Right after Gobble Day, our friends/family (The Holcombe's) treated us to Disney Land. What a fun day. It was like Christmas early to be able to spend time with their family. LOVE THEM!!!!

The past few weeks since then have been busy with my open house with DaNae and then we opened her garage at night to sell our stuff to people walking the lights in her neighborhood. I was also busy getting things wrapped up at work for the kids to do a small gift for their mom's, and finish up papers for classes. Then....well, lets just say that life has been busy with EVERYTHING. I tried SEVERAL times to write a Christmas Letter to send out to everyone. For some reason, it just never came together. Not to mention, the thought of spending all the money on the postage was a bit intimidating.

Coqui-this year has been about choices and consequences. I am hoping that this next year brings happiness to her with new adventures. She is moving to Washington to live with some friends and hopefully go back to school.

Keana-is trying to find the perfect place for her. She is in Washington now looking for the perfect job.

Colton-is still going to school, working and playing hard. I know he is alive because the piles on his floor in his room move.

Klaira-learning to drive, busy with school and church.

Jeff-Pilot. (so fun to add that to his accomplishments!)He will be starting a new job next week, we will see what adventures he has this next year!

Christmas eve was our traditional homemade egg roll/eat tons of Chinese food night. We started a tradition several years ago where we don't have gifts for the kids, we just give them $10 for every year of age that they are until they are 18. Then they get a gift card. We fill the stockings, for those that are home, with a few goodies. We just have not had the money for the past few years to do more than that. Sometimes I really wish I could buy the stacks of gifts for my children of things that I know they need and wish to have. Other times, I am thankful that it is not about the presents, but the time as family. I so enjoy spending the day with my family and the day after. (We go to the movies and out to lunch.) I will miss these days when all of the kids are making their own traditions with their own families. I think I would like to start making new traditions with my family, but sometimes it is hard when we all have in our minds what we want Christmas to be.

Now I look forward to this next year. What will it have in store for us all?

My goals: Listen more, tell my kids I love them more, learn more, enjoy more! I still have not found my theme for this next year. Maybe in the next few days I will find it.

New Beginnings!

2010-12-19T17:21:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago a dear friend of mine (DaNae)called me and said that she needed to meet me for lunch. She had something very important that she needed to talk over with me. Well you know that got the mind going...

My friend had a business proposition for me...Ok, I'm listening!
Well, long story short, her sister was coming down to have a craft show here and thought DaNae should have something in it also, especially since it was going to be at her house...(that is a sneaky way of getting a sister to open her house to have many people track mud in and have it all discombobulated for several days..)
DaNae somehow thinks that I am crafty and it would be fun to make crafts with me. Oh, and we only have about 2 weeks to put it all together. And we have no start up money.
OK, I'm in! Anything with DaNae is going to be an adventure!

Sooooo....
Working at the school
Driving Klaira around with all of her activities..(still working on the driving permit)
Calling at church
Keeping a house running (well, it is better on some days)
Sure...I have time!

6x6 Glass Block Bank: $15

6x6 Wood Santa: $8
Well, the open house/craft Boutique was a success! DaNae's sister brought enough stuff that she could of had the whole show herself. We had 4 other girls bring their stuff to sell also (candles, jewelery, etc...)
Now DaNae lives in a neighborhood that people come from all over to look at the Christmas lights. At night time we open up her garage and we have everything set up that people are still coming to buy our stuff! Its great! We have even had several orders for more things. Who knows where this will go! I have set up another blog (I haven't had time to really do much with it yet...) that will have some of our fun creations. theaccentedlife.blogspot.com
YIPPY!

Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T21:28:00.000-08:00

Ok, quick update of what we did for Gobble Day...
Coqui went to Washington to spend a few days with friends,
Keana is living in Washington and her car would not make it down, so she stayed up there..
Colton found a girl and her family that would feed him up at Shaver Lake where he could play in the snow...
Klaira stayed home with Jeff and myself...poor kid. Wednesday night Klaira was sliding on the kitchen tile and fell on her arm, just below the elbow. SOOO Thursday morning her and I made a trip to Urgent Care. X-rays are crazy and don't really show everything. They wrapped it and sent her on her way.
We (Jeff, Klaria and I) went to see the new Disney show "Tangled" which was a cute movie, to come home to a Turkey dinner. We got up 4 in the morning to drive down to DL to meet up with our dear friends, The Holcombes! A very full day of standing in lines and giggles and cold, Jeff and I traded Klaira for Keith and came home to get in about 2:30 in the morning. Klaira stayed and had another day at DL and Jeff and Keith were golfing fools. I am getting ready for a open house this next weekend so I am up to my eyeballs in craft stuff... Klaira got back this afternoon in time for her and myself to give it round 2 at Urgent Care. She is in a half cast for now and we will look at x-rays next week if not better. Now we head back to work and school for 3 more weeks until we are off for Christmas Break! Yippy!

Harvest

2010-11-28T20:54:00.000-08:00

This last month I was reading my friend's blog and her experience with getting ready for a huge marathon and how she did. Forgive me for my paraphrasing, I really do not have the talent for words that she does. She used the term, "The Hay Is In The Barn" meaning farmers will work the land for several months, preparing the land, planting the hay, etc until the hay is in the barn. The farmers will only get the amount of hay that they really worked for. In her training for the marathon, she worked hard, but probably could have worked harder. She was not able to finish the race this year. She got as far into the race as she had prepared for. This got me thinking about this past year. At the beginning of the year we all make our new goals. Things we were going to accomplish. So how did we do? How hard did we work? How much "Hay is in the barn"? I have tried looking back on this year to see if I can even tell what I have accomplished, planned or not planned. I say planned or not planned because I can now see, when looking back, that Heavenly Father had his hand in all that I was able to accomplish, weather I was trying to reach a specific goal or I was just plowing though what was put in front of me. Did I "Harvest" friendships? Did I "Harvest" education? Did I just survive? In Octobers General Conference President Tomas S. Monson spoke and said, ..."may we be filled with gratitude for the right of choice, accept the responsibility of choice and ever be conscious of the results of choice." As I move into the next few weeks of "Crazy get ready for Christmas" moments, I want to keep in mind and close to my heart the 3 R's and better plan what I hope to be able to "Harvest" this next year. What will be in "MY Barn"?

Busy!

2010-11-21T21:22:00.000-08:00

It is really hard to get caught up with everything that has been going on since my last entry. Best thing to do is to tell about the latest adventure with Klaira.
Klaira's drama group (56 people total..) just went to Disneyland for a workshop. We had (I say we since I got to go...) 2 days of travel and 2 days in the park. We rode the train, bus, train, bus to get down to Anaheim. The kids were so good at waiting in between train and buses....

In the workshop the kids got to work with a incredible puppeteer who was so wonderful to watch! He was great with the kids. The kids were able to use actual puppets that are used on Disney T.V. programs.

This a great group of kids. I so enjoyed hanging out with them.

DisneyLand is all decorated for Christmas! Pretty!

Klaira has been busy since school started. She is in two choirs, (one being on Tuesday nights) Photography, Drama and French, and her basic classes. In her photography class she is having fun taking pictures. I love this pictures..looks like the cover for a record!

Klaira turned 16! She got her drivers permit and had her first date! She was busy with the Stake Youth Musical where she had a singing part! She will be trying out for the next school play, "Hello Dolly", and then she will get really busy!

Colton...he is still going to school, working at a tractor supply store, playing paintball, roping cows, going to the beach...just keeping busy. I really don't see much of him.

Keana...she is in Washington (state) right now working for Cabela's. She is thinking she wants to move back closer to the family...we will see if she can find a job back in the area...

Coqui...she moved back in with us for a short stay. She is planning on moving to Washington (state) to go to school and be closer to friends. (one coming, one leaving..)

Jeff is now a pilot! Hmmm...he hasn't been able to get back up since because of being a OH MIGHTY GREAT WHITE HUNTER! He was able to go up to Cousin Joyce's place in Idaho and caught himself a good ol time. But, alas..no elk or moose. Now he is back up in Sonora being a builder. He is finishing up a garage for a family that he built a house for several years back.

Me...I know that I am hard to catch on the phone..There just is not enough hours in the day!
School started. I found out that my student didn't come back this year, he went to Freemont to a school for the deaf and hard of hearing. Since I was hired for him I thought I was not going to have a job. Well my boss had different ideas. I now have 7 students that work with. 1 boy is in the 8th grade, 3 boys in the 7th grade and 3 girls in the 7th grade. All have different levels of learning, hearing and needs. I work everyday with it suppose to being part time but most days it turns out to be full time.
I am still nursery leader with over 20 kids in my class. I have 1 full time helper and 1 part time helper. It is crazy!!!!
A friend of mine came to me about 2 weeks ago wanting to start a new business with me. She wants to do the vinyl lettering. We are trying to get a show together for the first week in December and we have nothing ready yet.
My day looks like this..
5:15 wake up and drag myself to the shower.
6:15 dressed and ready to take Klaira to seminary
6:40 back home to make breakfast and gather up stuff for the day
7:15 take Klaira and other kids to school
7:30 at work
12:30ish leave work-find lunch
1:30 work on projects
2:45 pick Klaira up
3:30 cook dinner
4:30ish clean up (Some days go pick Coqui up from work..this takes an hour..)
work on projects/ clean house/pay bills/run errons
6:00 Tuesdays get Klaira to choir 7:00 Wednesday to Mutual
8 pick Klaira up from Choir/Mutual
9:00 showers/wind it up
10:00 in bed if lucky

Weekends we just add in working on stuff for open house, nursery and church activites.
Today I took a nap. It was lovely! I think I will do it again soon!

Where to begin...

2010-09-06T14:32:00.000-07:00

I am really bad about taking pictures...just putting it out there before I start this update...

SOOO, a few days before school started we (Jeff, Klaira and myself) FINALLY were able to make a trip over to San Francisco to see this....
Last year Nana Judy had given us the sound tract and said that we needed to learn it before we went to see it so that we would enjoy it all the more. I was really enjoying the music but still did not understand everything that was happening in the music, so I read the book....OMY! So there was a great book under all the gunk you had to wade through but in the end, I was glad I read it. (I gave the book away the day I finished it..) Nana was so wise in having us learn the music first. We (Klaira and I) were so excited we were full of giggles for days. Jeff was not really excited about going but since it was going to be late at night in the middle of San Fran, he came to be our body guard. THIS WAS SO FUN! It was all Klaira and I could do to not sing along with it. BUT...it is coming to Fresno in April and Klaira and I (and yes, Jeff) will be seeing it again. AND WE WILL SING LOUD AND PROUD! (Jeff said that he liked it!)

THEN....
Jeff has been trying hard to pass his testing to be a pilot. The person giving the test is described as a #*$&#^@)!! and kept failing him for not using terminology that he was looking for even though Jeff was telling him exactly what he was asking. So a week ago on Saturday, Jeff tried again and the guy failed him. That night the man who owns the plane and school that Jeff is taking lessons from, (and just happen to be some really fun friends of ours) invited Jeff and I to fly along with him and his wife over to Montery Bay for dinner. (Who does that? Just decides what they want for dinner and then think of their favorite place for that food and FLY over for dinner?) IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! Now I am not really fond of flying, but it was a fun trip. We were only in the air for about 22 minutes. It is fun to listen to all the talk between the pilot and the tower. When we landed, there was a car waiting for us and we drove about 2 minutes over to the wharf to walk up and down by all the little shops and restaurants. We ate a little place that had yummy oven baked pizza and different fish items. I don't like sea food. I keep trying it hoping that my adult tastbuds will finally grow and except the flavor..but it just has not happened yet. (I had some fried calamari but still don't like it. Jeff had a smoked Salmon pasta dish and it was OK.. but not something that I want to eat more than 1 bite of.) Then we played in some of the shops that all seem to have the same stuff in them and then flied home. It was dark and so all the house lights look like you have stars on the ground while you are in the sky with stars above you. What a nice evening out!!!!

Well, then on Monday, Jeff took his test again. The man failed him again. So Jeff worked with our friend for about an hour on maneuvers and then took the test again. I think the guy giving the test was really going to try failing him again, but Jeff and Gene put up a stink and the guy passed him! YIPPY! Jeff is a PILOT!
We celebrated at our favorite steak place and had a double celebration since Klaira's birthday was going to be that next Saturday and we usually go there for dinner, but why not save some money and celebrate both at one time. LOVE IT!

Then of course, Klaira had her 16th birthday on Saturday. Amazing! The time has just wizzed by! We had a layed back day which was so nice. Dad gave her our traditional "16" birthday gift and we went out for ice cream to finish the day. She is dragging out the day by going horseback riding next Saturday with some friends and Dad.

LIFE IS GOOD!

Summer...

2010-08-18T12:02:00.000-07:00

So those that have been trying to get me on the phone and on the computer...Sorry, I have been busy this summer.

Jeff had a seminar up near Reno and he let me come along...we found this place
Which is now a new love on my list.

As you walk in you see this incredible wall..I would so love to have this in my house. This one is a salt water tank and at the other entrance is a fresh water tank...

It is full of the most colorful fish! I could sit for hours just staring at the wall.

Then I was invited to help celebrate a VERY important birthday. This sweet girl had her 7th birthday on 08/09/10. And were did we go? To the ZOO of course! This was my first time at the Fresno Zoo. (Very nice Zoo!)

We went with all of these people and had a wonderful time!

Then during the week we made lots of these...

We found a really fun hands on museum for the kids to play music...

And dress up...

And Laugh...

Strut our stuff...

Show our talents....

Get a check up... (sad to say that I have contracted Elephant cheek, tiger knee and my heart stopped 3 times!)

We did several lab test to see if we would recover...

Dr. Brynn said that the only way for us to get better was to go to the beach and play in the sand..

And play in the water...

and you know..It worked!
We had a wonderful week that ended knowing that we are children of Heavenly Father who loves us and gave us a wonderful world to explore and wonderful people to love!

This was a great summer!

Summer

2010-07-21T15:02:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago I got a call from my sister...her daughter Morgan and Morgan's friend Brandy were in need of a new camp sight. (I just got back from camp, I know how to do camp, the Wild Camp would be a great place for them!) (They were up at Brandy's house in Sonora and needed to be on neutral ground!) So I ran up to Sonora a grabbed these two! We slept in late, stayed up late, ate a ton of pizza, went swimming and of course went to see..

Have our popcorn and drinks! Ready!

Klaira was very excited but really hates seeing it with obnoxious people! Must say that this movie was better than the first two. Still a little cheesy...but better...I guess I should just expect that no one will be able to make a movie that matches what I have in my head as I read the books...

Well, after you have stayed up late, slept in late, ate tons of pizza, swam, watched a cool movie..what do you do? Color your hair! Dah! Its what girls do during the summer!

I know that it is hard to tell what we did to Brandy, but in just the right angle in the light you can see the purple! Very cool!

This was a fun week at Wild Camp. I think we should do it again next year!

Camp

2010-06-30T18:44:00.000-07:00

For the past several months I have been a part of a incredible team preparing for our church girls camp. (The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints)

These two women amaze me! I love their humor and their love for their families. They are so talented and have a great love for the girls.

Then I got to work with these girls..our Sr.s! WAY FUN and so hard working. The girls ran camp!

We had almost 190 people at camp this year.
DaNae almost stepped on a rattle snake in camp, and what do we do with snakes in camp? We skin and eat them silly! (This is our amazing Certification Crew)

We have amazing leaders that will love the girls and do the most silly skits without a hesitation. (It is a bit scary just how good Jen Bohn is being Nacho Lebre')

Our Fourth Years have a tradition of going on a intense hike to the top of "The Rock". From camp this is what they look like..

Klaira was a JC (Jr. Counselor) for the fourth years this year. She did a great job with these girls who were also JC's. It is fun to see how they worked this year because we will be working with these girls as Sr.s this next year.

I have been blessed to have been invited the past 10 years to go to girls camp. I have been able to serve at 3 different camps (3 different stakes) and have been able to see how girls camp is run differently but how they all have the same spirit. This is Heavenly Fathers camp and I was able to see his hand performing miracles.

When we got with our Sr. girls for our first meeting of camp planning, we asked them what was most needed with our girls. It was almost as if they all came with the same idea, Unity. Our girls need to feel united. Our theme for this year was BOOT camp. Be Of One Troop. The scriptures and the songs and the daily themes all just fell into place. As we left camp and as we are now home, I believe that we achieved what our girls needed, to BE UNITED.

Danny Awards

2010-05-30T19:09:00.001-07:00

Klaira is very involved with the drama class at her school. I have mixed emotions about it. Jeff and I both were in drama in high school and have fond memories of the experiences we had. I am excited that Klaira has found something that she enjoys doing in school. Now the mixed side of it....Here is Fresno/Clovis there seems to be need to have kids grow up faster than they need to. I find that several times the drama teacher has chosen plays that really are not age appropriate. I am very uncomfortable when young kids are having very heavy love scenes on stage. Do we really need all that? Can we change the scene to get the point across without having the kids all over each other? Are we giving the kids mixed messages? Don't make out in the halls, only on stage! Then we have these OVER the top parties. One being the Danny Awards. I understand the need to award the kids for a job well done. That is not my complaint. It is the outfits that we encourage the kids to wear at these events. The girls are barely dressed. There is so much of a "Hollywood" feel to it that it feels like how we are having "Proms" for 6th graders with all the hype of limos etc. This is just not age appropriate. We can have a great awards program without breaking the bank and dressing up more than the prom.
I'm not saying this the way I wanted to....
I work at school with so many confusing rules. In the handbook it says that there is a dress code and anything you do that is school related it to be in dress code. Then when we have a car wash, (7th and 8th graders) the girls are allowed to be in tiny bikini's. This made me SOOO embarrassed for these girls. Then we have swimming at school for P.E. and again, girls are allowed to wear very skimpy bathing suits. (but you can't show your tummy in class...)
We say no P.D.A. (Public Display of Affection) and then have the kids make out on stage...These are our future leaders and we are not teaching them to be leaders.
So how do we change? I have had some interesting discussions with the kids at school about dress code. There is one boy who wears a shirt that had a half naked woman on the front. It is his favorite shirt. He is allowed to wear this shirt. I tell him that if it was up to me that shirt would not be allowed because the girl on his shirt is not in dress code. Then we talk about WHY this is his favorite shirt. I am finding that parents are not having conversations about clothing with their kids. They allow their kids to dictate what is fashion (Parents WAKE UP!) and the kids are choosing their choice in clothes by shows on T.V. that the kids should not be watching.
I guess I am on a soap box.
Lets go back...The Danny Awards....Klaira went to the Danny Awards. A sweet girl at church let her borrow a dress because I was not about to buy a party dress for one night. I was proud of her for finding a dress that was age appropriate that she could borrow. I understand her need to be apart of what is going on at school, I am just not ok with how the activities are being presented.
I guess it is many talks about "Being in the world, Not of the world!".

I love this girl!!!!

Hide and Seek

2010-05-16T21:52:00.001-07:00

LuvLump's school put on the production of "Hide And Seek". Now this is a bit of a dark play to begin with and so when LuvLump didn't make it into the 9 people cast, I was a bit relieved. I know that she was really upset, but she then said that she was willing to do what ever just to be apart of the crew just so she could be busy. Well, one of the girls had to drop out and LuvLump was in. As a mother I was happy for her, but the thought of, "Not another play" did go through my head. Not to mention again that this is a bit dark in content.

I don't have any pictures of the play since you are not allowed to take pictures in the theater and I am not shelling out the money for the cheep CD with very few pictures of my daughter and tons of kids that I don't even know their names. Yes, I am a terrible mother but I have other things that are keeping me up at night, not this one.
LuvLump plays a 40 something year old housekeeper for a young expecting couple who rent out a farm house way out in the country with their only neighbors living about 5 miles away. Now LuvLump sends me a picture of herself the first time they do make up on her..(to protect the innocent, we will not be sharing that picture. The make up was done by other students..not professionals..)My first question to her was, "How old are you suppose to be? You look like you are 80!" She tells me she is suppose to be about my age....HELLO, I don't have gray hair and heavy wrinkles!!!!) Well before she comes out after the play, she cleans up her face the best she can and brushes her hair out..still is a bit gray...

One more week! One more week! One more week...What do you mean you want to do the summer production of "Wizard of OZ"? NO way! You are already busy with summer school (her choice...) girls camp and you want to get your drivers licence. Not to mention that I have a list of things that I would like to do before going back to work in August! Like clean my house! (I know it is a silly thing to want my house clean...)

Garden

2010-05-16T21:38:00.000-07:00

For years our church has been telling us that we need to know how to grow a garden and that we SHOULD have a garden. We have moved so much and the houses we rent have gardners attached. (Its a Fresno thing for sure!) Well the gardners spray the ground so weeds won't grow so they wont have to pull them. So the ground is not the best for starting a garden, not to mention that there really isn't a good place to put one. We have really felt that we need to learn how to garden and why not do it in something that we can take with us when we move. Jeff thought about it and his crazy brain came up with the idea,(I think he has seen it somewhere before) with trying out planting in rain gutters. WHY NOT? And I thought, Lets put some stuff in pots! WHY NOT? And Klaira wanted some flowers, so WHY NOT?
Klaira and Jeff went shopping and came back with some seeds, soil and gutter stuff. I had the pots..LOOK AT OUR GARDEN!

A strawberry plant that Klaira ate the one and only strawberry that was on it and said that it was perfect!

In our pots we have herbs, squash, peppers and a tomato plant and flowers.

In the gutters we have radishes and onions.

In the ground we have Sun Flowers and Carrots and we have a crazy Black Berry bush that last year did not do to well and so Jeff chopped the snot out of it and this year it came back very happy. The test will be this summer when the berries come out. Not a bad start! I like our little garden!

Hike

2010-05-16T20:54:00.001-07:00

Saturday I had a full day planned! I had a camp meeting in the morning and while there one of my favorite people ever said, "Hey, I'm going on a quick hike, do you want to come too?" Now this favorite person of mine is always going on hikes and tells me of her adventures and I always want to go and I always have an excuse. I had a meeting that I had to be back for by 3:00 and she said, "No problem!" I asked her when she was leaving and she said, "Right Now!" So I am thinking to myself.."I can do this, run home, drop baby girl off, change my clothes,pack a quick backpack and be over to her house in less than 10...home by 3, have my meeting, get the rest of my list for the day done! It will be great!"
Well, silly me, I should know better! Any time I am with DaNae, there is NO clock!
I didn't ask where we were going or who was going or anything, just that I wanted to go!
When I got to DaNae's house, Jill was waiting and very anxious to get going. (So glad she waited for me...just going to throw that out now...)

Back ground...DaNae is a mother to 5, all grown and most have children of their own (I know..hard to believe!) She is a lover of words and outdoors! She needs a T-Shirt that says, "Been there, done that, got the T-Shirt" cause she has! And is very much in shape!... Jill is the mother of a gazillion boys, she raises Llams, is an incredible lady and very athletic.

Ok, getting back to the day...So Jill is waiting for me to get there and the 3 of us jump into Jill's very little car that goes really fast. I find out that we are headed North. Great! About 1 hour North, maybe a little more than that. We are going to scope out a hike that she wants to find for taking her YMYW on. (Realizing that some of her YMYW and some of the leaders are not hikers and we don't want it to be too difficult for them that someone will have to carry them off of the trail..)(I am the perfect one to go on this hike..If I can't make it..try a different one..)
Soooooo, after a bit of turning around in a few spots, we find the beginning of the trail. DaNae assures me that it is only a 6 mile round trip hike and we should be able to do it in about 2 hours. Well my brain starts doing the math on time and realize that I will be cutting it close for my meeting. Jill says, "No problem, lets give _____ a call." (Wow, you have phone reception up here? AND you have ______'s number?) (_____ says no problem, better yet, lets meet tomorrow after our first meeting that we have at 7:am. Great, no more stress to be home at a certain time.)
Well, the first part of this trail goes I kid you not, straight up. Ok, maybe not STRAIGHT up, but it is a bit of a start justoutofthecarnothavingdoneanyexercisinginyears straight up. It starts to level off a bit and we come to a great waterfall!

Photo moment! (Not to mention a great time to catch my breath!!!(Insert heavy breathing here!)
We see a group on the trail and talk to them for a minute...Keep talking DaNae....PLEASE!!!!
Feeling better and we get moving again. We see some remarkable large Red Woods. We see little patches of snow...then we see big patches of snow...What tha...

Well we keep going...we have some big patches of snow that we have to walk on (Slushy mushy)and then back on the trail. Ooops, another patch of snow...no we are good...oh, more snow. Yep it is that way for the rest of the hike. (Are we there yet?) We meet two off road bikers on the trail who are basically caring their bikes since they can't ride them through the snow. They came for OMYGOLLYHOWFAR away and assured us that we were almost to the top and then it will go STRAIGHT down from there. We assured them that they were just about out of the snow. We finally got to the place that I think was the top..hard to tell...

What a view. Well, eventually it did go straight back down...(how did those bikers carry their bikes all the way...wooo)so we turned around and started back. About half way back we stopped for a little nibble. (So glad I dumped those bottles of water in my pack and the granola bars.) The girls shared with me some of their favorite new goodies and lets just say, they are both on my new favo list. (will have to share another time..)
We FINALLY made it back to the car, and would you believe it, it was 5:00. Jill became SPEED RACER! We made it back about 6, just enough time to get home, take a shower and get to the church of Stake Conference. I was a bit sore and then I sat for two hours...THEN I WAS REALLY SORE!
Today, I walk funny. My calfs are MOOOOing! I loved the hike! I need to do it more often. The hard part is finding the time to do it.
I love my friends!

Linus

2010-05-09T19:19:00.001-07:00

This is one of my sweethearts in Nursery. I have renamed him. He is Linus. When I started in Nursery Linus would cry any time he saw me. It didn't matter where I saw him, the moment he saw me, he would cry. I was starting to really have hurt feelings wondering what I may have done to scare this little one. I was really frustrated trying everything to help him to be happy in class without Mom and Dad. Several times we even tried letting him cry it out. Nope, he is a strong will that would make himself start gagging. I talked to Mom about it to find out that he really loves his class and talks about it during the week, and that he is just a "Klingon" to Mom and is really shy. Well, somehow at the beginning of the year, Mom had many talks with him during the week about going to his class and that Mom and Dad were not going with him because he was a big boy now. He would come in with fear in his eye, and would "Klingon" to Mom, but I would peel him off and hold on to him talking softly to him and singing songs. Soon I fould that if I would give him a job, he was so happy to help. He became my best set of helping hands. The one thing I have found out is that Linus does not handle change or stress. If anyone starts crying in class, He is under his blanket. If someone new comes in to the class, He is under his blanket. The fact that he now comes into class and will say goodby to Mom and is such a big helper says the blanket is working. LOVE THIS KID!

Mothers Day

2010-05-09T18:39:00.000-07:00

So many other note worthy things have happened in the past few weeks, and I should write about them, but today...today is Mothers Day.
For those that love Mothers Day, I say, "READ NO FURTHER!!!"
Here we go...
Mother's Day is a socialistic ploy to get us to spend money we don't have to make OURSELVES feel better for ignoring our mothers all year long! Every day should be mothers day! Now if you are someone who gives attention to your mother without society telling you to, on a regular time frame, then I have no problem with you telling your mother once again, how wonderful she is. I usually don't even go to church on Mother's Day because it is a weepy "ode" to the best mom in the world, and once again, I have failed! (Please don't get me wrong, this Sunday I heard about a wonderful woman that I love and adore and I think the world of and I love that her husband can share how wonderful she is to all of us...and I am so lucky to be able to call her my friend!)
If I was not nursery leader, I would not have gone today.
I appreciate the men taking over for me, but I don't appreciate the men thinking that I can't let go...OH, I can let go! (I am headed into a rant here so if you want to go take a potty break and come back after...this is a good time...)
I have 13 precious little ones in the nursery. Several of them really need structure. Several of them are "Klingons" that will not let go of mom unless one of us ladies hug them for a minute and let them know that everything is OK and we get them into the nursery routine and then they are fine. Now, to have well intentional, wonderful men tell me that they will physically pull me out if they have to just makes me boil. I know that they can do the job, that is not my worry. But these men do not spend every Sunday with these kids and don't know who needs a little extra TLC for a minute so that their mothers CAN leave to go to class. I had every intention of leaving and letting the men take over class, I was happy to have them there..I love having them in EVERY Sunday, but don't tell me when to go!!!! Let me take care of the children so that next week I will not have to do damage controll!
I am feeling better.
(You can come back in now..)
Today was cold and a bit windy...
(AND yes, I get my feelings for Mother's Day from MY MOM! LOVE THAT WOMAN!)

Rain!

2010-04-12T21:50:00.001-07:00

Guess what I got to wear today? MY NEW RAINBOOTS! I was so excited! It rained HARD, but left great puddles!
A few months ago some little friends of mine told me that they had their puddle jumpers and I needed to get mine so I could puddle jump with them. I finally got mine and waited for the rain, thinking that maybe rain season was over, BUT NO! Today was the day! I was not able to go jump with my friends, but it was fun to get my boots wet. I look forward to our next rainy day when hopefully I can go puddle jump with my little friends!

SWEET! (Now I need to find a Rain Coat to match!)

I'm Back!

2010-04-01T19:01:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been awhile since I have been here, and so much has happened!
First, my computer crashed! The hard drive went to the big drive in the sky! Lucky for me, I have some incredible computer geeks that were able to save all my pictures and music. Now I just have to back everything up so I don't have this scare again....
How to tell everything that has happened in the past few weeks will take till June!!!! So I will just break it down into small bits and pieces...

This is Jeff's shirt. Jeff is learning to be a pilot. He had his first solo flight on March 16. It is a tradition at the hanger that on your first solo they cut the back of your shirt (Lost your shirt on first solo on...) and sign it and put it up in the shop. Very big deal. There is so much to learn to be a pilot! He could be a weather man now with all he knows about conditions for flying. He will never look at a plane coming in for a landing the same again. It is fun when he comes home and shares all his adventures of the day. He had a big flight the other day where he had to plot stops and air speed and fuel...big time stuff. He is also able to work on the planes to learn them inside out. Best ever!
Next...
I have had fun being a chaperon for Klaira's Drama and Choir the past month.
The first adventure was the drama kids took a train from Fresno to Bakersfield, in Bakersfield we took a bus to Los Angeles and then we got on another train to Anaheim where we got on a VERY small bus (packed to the max!) to get to the hotel.

Most of these kids have never been on a train. It was so fun! (Well, except for lugging all our stuff up and down the stairs to get on and off...that was difficult..)
Our hotel was just within walking distance to Disney Land.

The kids were GREAT! They had a workshop at Disney Land that was a great opportunity. All I will say about it is that even if the kids never pursue drama, everything they learned there they can use in daily life. Way cool!

I had a fun group of girls that I was over! It was really hard to go back to work on Monday and not see them all day.

Then two weeks later....Klaira's choir went to San Diego! (Lucky for me, we got on a bus and stayed on the bus all the way down. )

We started out trip at Mission Beach. I found my happy place!

Again, I had a great group of girls! So much fun!

Later that night we went on a dinner cruise. I know that I had never been on one and none of the kids had ever been on one. It was kind of funny to see how the girls dressed. You would have thought they were going to the prom.

The next morning the kids got up early to go to their competition. After the competition we went to Sea World. That was a fun day.

The next day we packed up and headed home, but on the way....stopped at Six Flags! YES WE DID!

The sad story to this day is that I had one of my girls get the stomach toss and we spent the day in the first aid station. Klaira was such a trooper to sit with me all day in the first aid station, both girls never complaining! Very impressed with these girls! I am so happy to be home!

Look What I Made!

2010-03-07T20:51:00.000-08:00

This weekend was our youth/ward auction. What a great time to come together as a ward to support our youth for all the activities that they have planned, to be able to fund them. I am so impressed with all the talent that we have in our ward. With that being said, it makes me stretch to see what I can come up with that will be even a smidgen close to the talent that I know will be shown. THIS WAS TOTALLY FUN! The dinner is free but you pay for the desserts. Then tons of stuff was donated for auction! I made these "Flowers" that are totally edible, except for the sticks. The main part of the flower is a brownie, the peddles are gum paste and there is a raspberry candy holding the peddles on the stick with a dollop of melted chocolate to hold the brownie on. All of them were sold very quickly!

How am I going to top this next year?

What your car color says about you?

2010-03-04T19:46:00.000-08:00

Today was a very important day for my truck. In April, I will have owned my truck for 5 years. When I drove to work today, I found that my odomoter said....

Yikes! But I do a bit of driving!

Then I thought, what does my vehicle color say about me? Well of course I googled it and I found this article. It is a bit long, but fun to read. How close is it to you and your color?

What the Color of your Vehicle Says About You (Or the Character in Your Book)March 23, 2008 — Pat Bertram
In my green article for St. Patrick’s Day, I wrote, “Owning a dark green vehicle supposedly means that you are traditional, trusty, and well balanced, but what it really means is that you are thrifty. Who makes dark green cars anymore? If you own one, it’s probably been a while since you bought a new vehicle.”
So for all you smug people who don’t own a green vehicle, I thought I’d tell you what the color of your car says about you.
Yes, your fiery orange-red sports car says exactly what you think it does: you’re sexy, speedy, high-energy, dynamic. Before you preen, go out and look at your red car. Most red cars on the road are more of a kidney bean color. Is yours? If so, it means you are dynamic and energetic but are losing your fire. You really want to be have that orange-red sports car personality, but you just can’t quite make it. You’re too busy, too old, or too tired. For all the good your red car does you, it might as well be brown.
A silver car supposedly says that you are cool and elegant. The only problem is that since silver was the most popular car color for several years, almost everyone owns one, like your neighbors who don’t mow their lawns and don’t put their garbage cans away after the garbage has been picked up. Real cool. Very elegant.
White supposedly means you are fastidious, but what it really means is that you wanted that fiery orange-red sports car, but you drive like a bat out of hell or like batman in his batmobile, (depending on your age group) and you were afraid that you’d get too many tickets so you chose the less conspicuous white. Good thinking. On average, while drivers in red cars do not get more tickets than anyone else, orange-red sports car drivers do, and let’s face it, they deserve them. Who drives the speed limit in a car like that?
A light blue vehicle supposedly means that you’re calm and quiet, but what it really means is that you went to the showroom to buy a sunshine yellow car to show how joyful and young-at-heart you are, but they only had marine blue, and since you really are a calm, quiet person who doesn’t like to make waves, you bought it.
A purple vehicle means you are creative, individualistic, original, and perhaps it does. It could also mean you’re too old to care what anyone thinks of you.
A black vehicle says you are empowered, not easily manipulated, love elegance, and you appreciate the classics. It’s also says that you are mysterious or that you have two sides to your personality; it’s the favored car of both clergy and gangsters.
A dark blue vehicle says you are credible, confident, dependable. And you drive too much because you always get stuck with the carpool.
A gray vehicle says you are sober, corporate, practical. Boring. But if that gray car is charcoal with sparkles, you still have flashes of brilliance and charisma.
An orange vehicle says you are fun loving, talkative, fickle, trendy. A yellow-green one says you are trendy, whimsical, lively. And you know it’s true. Only fun and whimsical cars come in these colors: Volkswagen bugs and little sportscars.
A tan vehicle means that you’re timeless, basic, simple, but it also means you have something to hide. Maybe bad driving habits? Or that you never wash your car?
A gold vehicle says is that you love comfort and will pay for it; it also says that you’re intelligent, and you must be — you were smart enough to come read my article!
And a brown vehicle supposedly means you’re down-to-earth but who are you trying to kid? If you really cared about the earth, you wouldn’t have bought that big old gas-guzzler.
So what color of car do I drive? I’m sorry, but I don’t know you well enough to answer such a personal question.

Valentines Day

2010-02-14T18:53:00.000-08:00

I don't have any pictures of today, but what a fun day.
LuvLump and another young lady from our ward sang in church today. Their voices blend so nice together and both of them are in choir at school and have been taught well! (Not to mention the proud mommy moment!) We had a really nice Sacrament meeting and then....
Off to the Nursery! Today was my day for lesson and activity! I had the day planned. (As I was waiting for Sacrament Meeting to start, I was informed that two of my helpers were not going to be there today...Need to have a talk with those two! Don't they know that Nursery comes first? With a brief moment of panic, two of our most incredible brethren said that they would be happy to help in nursery today! I LOVE THESE MEN!) The first part was our usually playing with toys, getting the wiggles out after sitting in Sacrament Meeting for an hour. It was warm and sunny outside, so we let the kids go outside in the little play area with slides and other toys. It felt so good to stand in the sun and soak up the warm! Then we had snack time! I had made strawberry cupcakes, with coolwhip/frosting/strawberries dip, and apples. I am finding out which kids have very picky tastebuds, which ones are into dipping and which ones will not try new things. We have lesson time during snack time since they are really happy to hold still and eat. They do a good job of talking too! Then Sister Bitton came in for song time. Can I tell you how much I love Sister Bitton and song time? I LOVE SISTER BITTON AND SONG TIME TO THE MOON AND BACK! She is so fun with the kids and the little ones really seem to love song time. We do have a few movers and groovers, but for the most part, the kids are really good about staying on their chairs and do the hand actions and sing what parts of the songs they know. Then we had our activity. I had printed out pages with hearts all over it and we had chocolate and vanilla pudding to finger paint with. Again, you find out the kids that are into getting their hands in and having fun, the others that do not like to be messy and the ones that are there just to eat. The little containers that I had put the pudding was just big enough for hands but it was really challenging for one little one who really thought he could lick the pudding at the bottom of the container. (His tongue was just that much too short!) The brethren were perfect helpers. When we were playing, they played with the kids. When it was lesson time, they listened and made comments, when it was song time...you just have to see very tall Brother Boyer as we are singing and doing the actions to "Once there was a snowman"...priceless! How wonderful to have support from loving adults that will get in and be interactive with the kids and I don't have to direct them on what to do! This makes my calling that much more the best calling ever! (And I can not do this calling without Deanne! I would not even try!)
Then I can home to a steak dinner that my Sweetheart had cooked for me. He knows the way to my heart! Then a three hour nap! Yep! Today is a wonderful day!

Uncle Milo

2010-02-02T19:23:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid, I had a Uncle Milo that would talk backwards. He was so fun to sit and listen to. I found this skit, that was posted on another friends blog that she found on youtube, that is one of the stories that Uncle Milo use to tell, done by some other faces that the older generation will remember...I miss my Uncle Milo. (Remember to go turn the music off on my page before watching the clip.) ( I moved the clip to the side bar! Go see it!)

January

2010-01-29T22:27:00.000-08:00

So how did I do this month...I have been sick ALL month! I finally gave in and went to the Urgent Care. I don't go to the regular doctor's office any more since every time i go it is: 1. hard to get an appointment, 2. filled with cranky people, 3. the last 2 times I have gone to that office I have waited OVER 2 hours past my appointment time to be seen. The last time I was in and I had waited in the waiting room for an hour and then another hour in the exam room, I had a very loud discussion with the doctor about how rude he was for keeping me waiting. It is hard to even leave your house when you don't feel good and then to sit for two hours and have a simple "Sorry"is just not ok. So, now I go to Urgent Care and the reasons: 1. it cost less, 2. I am in and out within 20 minutes, 3. there is usually only a few people waiting, 4. they fax my perscriptions right to my choice of pharmacy. LOVE IT, I mean if you have to go see a doctor, and you need meds, that is the way to go.
Ok so getting back to the fact that I was sick this month...I just could not clear up this cough. It turns out that I had a secondary infection in my lungs and my sinuses were swollen shut with it leaking into my ears. The doc put me on all kinds of stuff...I am better but still not up to snuff. The sad part is that I shared the gunk with Jeff and Colton. They have both been on drugs too. Needless to say, I am not ready to give up my soda. (I know it was a long story to get to the point of how my soda addiction is goin..)
So the good thing about being sick, if there is one, is that I have had time to read. I love to read. I usually have a hard time picking out books so I contacted a friend of mine (HEY JEN)that I know is in a book club. She gave me her group's list..I am so excited to have books to read.
The books that I have read so far this month is:
The Book Theif by Markus Zusak
Uglies
Pretties
Specials all by Scott Westerfeld
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

I don't think I would have chosen any of these books on my own. I am thankful for Jen giving me this list so that I could read books that are out of my norm so that I could read different writting styles and topics that are so diverse from each other. The past couple of years I have really been into the "Popular" teen books and have gotten into the wizard, dragon, vampire type books. These books are not even close to those books in topic which really was quite refreshing. I did have a hard time with two of the books until I was in the middle of them and then really wanted to finish them. I am so glad I did. I have two more books on this short list that are again very different from the rest. Then I hope that Jen will have more books for me to read! Keep it going!

Quote

2010-01-10T21:56:00.000-08:00

I love this quote from Erma Bombeck:

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me."

What have I done today to be able to say that I have used the talents that Heavenly Father gave me?
What will I be remembered for after I am gone? Will I be remembered? Will they say I was a nice person? Will I be remembered as someone that tried everything and loved it?!?
A friend asked me today if I could make posters for the youth auction that is coming up in a few weeks...she said that I made the cutest posters..That made me feel good. Of everyone that she could have asked (and there is some impressive, talented people in this ward!) she asked me. Tomorrow I am using my poster talents....

Goals

2010-01-03T21:46:00.000-08:00

I normally don't make new year resolutions, I find themes for the year. My favorite was a few years ago that my little neighbor (at the time) had given me. "Say Jesus Loves Me! Now say it like you mean it!" This year I have really struggled with a theme.
The past few months I have really struggled with trying to get approval from people that for all of my life, I thought I needed. After a really great talk with my sister, the realization has been like an AAAAHHHHHAAAA moment. Then in Sacrament meeting today, fast and testimony meeting seemed to be about getting on a good path and sticking to it.
I need to find a good path that I can "stick to". I think this needs to cover all areas of my life.
A dear friend of mine says that one needs to re-invent ones self every couple of years. I guess it is like looking at yourself and asking if this is the person you want to be? Do I like myself? Are there areas that I feel that I can REALLY improve? (Not just try for a week and then slip back into old habits..)
This year I want to get Healthy! I am not talking the , start exercising this week and then stop...
I am thinking Healthy Spirit, Healthy Mind, Healthy Relationships.
I want to make list for each month of things I want to work on for THAT month. I think it will be easier to stick with it, like the concept of how do you eat an elephant...one bite at a time.

For January, (I have a yucky cough and I really don't feel good... the only thing I want to drink...)
Jeff says that we drink too much soda. My name is Janey and I am a sodaholic! (HI Janey!) I love Dr. Pepper. It goes with EVERYTHING! Breakfast, Lunch AND Dinner. Not to mention dessert! I start my morning with a can! Breakfast of champions! We try-ed backing off by getting Decaff. Dr. Pepper. Not as good, but a close 2nd. But, it really didn't slow me down. I know it is not good for me. I KNOW IT! So, this month...it is about the soda.
To Be Continued!

New Year's Eve

2010-01-03T20:11:00.000-08:00

This New Year's Eve was so much fun! My friend, DaNae, called and said that her family was going to have a little get-together and we were welcome to come. They were going to make some Chinese food and play games. Nothing too big.
Well, make food we did! I made egg rolls and her family made Gyosa, Rice, and Sushi. It was a hit! Yes, I tried the Sushi, and NO, I don't like it.
Then we made a game called, "Who, Where, How". It is a charade version of the game "Clue" and "Telephone"but nothing has to go together. You have 3 people leave the room. Then as a group you choose Who died, Where they died and How they died. Then one person comes back in the room and can choose anyone to act out the different parts. (one person per part) Then they have to act it out for the 2nd person who has to then act it out for the 3rd who has to figure out what is going on. This we played for 3 rounds and then played a game called "How's Yours". Wont tell you all the parts to that one, but fun game. Then we rang in the new year with non-alcoholic bubbly. Of course I didn't even think to take pictures until everyone is drinkin it up.

The best part is watching the prego lady drinkin it up! Jen is so much fun!

At the end of the night, DaNae had all of us open a fortune cookie. (Great new tradition!) I love what mine said. I am holding on to this one! I need to remind myself when I am feeling a bit unsure of myself with some of the things I have lined up already for this year...I can do it! We look forward to this new year and all that it brings!

New Year's Day

2010-01-03T18:09:00.000-08:00

It has been our tradition on Thanksgiving (when we have a pool) that our kids can make $20 by taking a little dip in the pool after dinner. This year we were in Utah for Gobble Day so Jeff let the kids carry the tradition by taking the dip on New Year's day. Oh, and its about 40 degrees outside..you can just imagine how cold the water is...This is a bit long, but it is funny to watch...well for us it is...

Christmas 2009

2009-12-28T20:37:00.000-08:00

Christmas at home this year! I am so blessed to have had the family together this year!Christmas was spent caroling with friends, making egg rolls and watching movies with my family! LOVED IT! (It was really hard to get these pictures and these were the only pictures I was able to get!)
This year I made blankets for everyone. Well, Klaira made her's back at Thanksgiving and it gave me the idea to put one together for everyone so we could all be warm on Christmas morning. (Colton was being a stinker!)
Ok, lets try it again! Come on Colton! Mommy wants a nice picture! Oh well....
So this year has been big changes for Coqui. After 3 1/2 years of being married to Derek, she found that he was not the eternal companion that she needed him to be. She filed for divorce (it will be final next month) got a new place to live, a new job and now is finding out who she wants to be. She says that she is happy now!

Keana and AJ are living in Merced which is only an hour from us! AJ is now working for a lumber group, but he has a weird schedule. Kea is still looking for a job and has learned that it is hard to find a job in a college town. All the college kids have the jobs. They had to give up their animals to be able to live in the new apartment. This has been really hard on Kea since she really loves animals.

Colton doesn't like having his picture taken by me for some reason...Colton is a student at ITT focusing on Drafting and Design. He just got a job with U-haul and is really busy with friends and dirt bike riding. He has a really cute girl friend this year that we all like! (Yea Jody!)

Klaira is so incredibly busy with 2 choirs, drama, school and church! She is really looking forward to getting her drivers licence this year so she doesn't have to wait for me to pick her up for all her activities. She has found that she loves ATV's and can't wait to get back up to the Ranch in Idaho!

Silly Jeff! It is hard to get a picture of this guy without him crackin up! Jeff is unemployed! NOOOOO! Well, this has been a good and bad thing. I am LOVING having him home. He has been such a great support with everything that I have been busy with the past few weeks! The bad part is that no money is coming in! The good part is that he is doing some things that he has wanted to do but has not had the time. (Yep, he is finally taking flying lessons!!!!)

Sorry, no pictures of me...(Which is really ok with me since I am growing my hair out and look like a left over of the group Wilson Phillips!)

I am so busy with so many different things(work, wood signs, nursery, chasing Klair...) that I am thinking that it is time to start clearing off my plate. I want to take some classes this year, try some different things. I will just have to see what this new year brings.

We have been blessed to have been able to stay in the same house for 2 years now! Amazing! We love where we are and love the people in our lives! We are blessed with good friends and great family! We miss having family so far but love the updates we get in emails and facebook!

Ok...here is my serious face...

New Tree

2009-12-20T20:00:00.001-08:00

For almost 20 years we have had a little tree that has had special meaning for us. Unfortunally that tree has started looking like a Charlie Brown tree. It is falling apart. It just wasn't feeling much like Christmas and I really did not feel like decorating. It took about 2 weeks of Jeff telling me it is time to get a new tree to convince me it was time to go shopping. After running back and forth between two stores looking at the selection, we finally found one we both agreed on. The only thing missing was the wonderful smell. We found a live wreath that smells like Christmas. We brought the tree and wreath home and started decorating the tree. It took me a bit of time since I am so use to decorating a two foot tall tree. This one is over 6 feet! Even then, I had it almost finished when we though something was missing. It just was not working. So I added other colors. Nope, still not right. Then another color. Ooops, now it looks like a patriotic tree. OK, take all the blue off! THATS IT! ( NO Colton, take the blue off! I understand that you love the blue ornaments but they don't work on this tree. Go put the blue ones on a little tree for your room.)
Then I felt like decorating the rest of the house. Now it feels like Christmas. I am looking forward to this week when we will have all of our kids home!

Past Few Days

2009-12-20T19:08:00.001-08:00

So much has been going on that I thought it would just be easier to blog it all at one time.
Across the street from me is this house. I got a kick out of the fact that the polar bear has flowers blooming behind it. At night time their lights give off a soft glow that reflects to our yard. I will be sad when they take the lights down.

The other day we actually had fog. I love how it makes the trees look. It is interesting how people here can not drive in fog! I get frustrated getting behind people going 20 mph when you can see at least a half mile ahead of you.
Today in church we had our Christmas program and we had many visitors. We had 19 kids in nursery with 4 more popping in and out. It is fun to see just how much of a schedule these kids are use to when I changed it up today since classes were shortened so we could get out early for a ward social. We didn't have snack time since the ward was serving cinnamon rolls for the social. Several of the kids let me know that we were doing it wrong. We were missing snack! We finally were able to convince them that they would not miss snack, but that they were going to have snack with Mom and Dad today. What a great group of kids we had today! I love it! Yes, this is a picture of 18 kids ,ages 3 and under, sitting and coloring while we gave the lesson. Amazing!

This is one of my buds! He insisted on having me take his picture today and wanted to see it. I am going to miss having him in my class. Next week is the last week for several of my kids since at the beginning of the new year the 3 year olds will be moving up to the next class, the Sunbeams. About 7 of our kids will be moving up. They are such good helpers and have the BEST stories. (Not to mention, they CAN talk and I can understand them.) Our little ones that will be with us for another year to 2 years are just learning how to talk. I am so Thanful for the helpers that I have in nursery. I could never do this job without them. This many kids on my own? Makes me shiver just thinking about it. (I truely enjoy this calling, but go home every week so wiped!)

Open House Fun

2009-12-10T08:59:00.000-08:00

This past week was a fun, exciting, time consuming, stressful, and more! Loved it! My friend Laura opened her house with a little boutique for several of us to bring and sell our crafts that we had been working on all year. One gals had home made glass beads that she had made and made it into beautiful jewelry. Another gal had made headbands for babies. Another one had candles that smelled soooo yummy! I had put together several fun new projects and most of them sold! Then Susie had an open house for just vinyl lettering. It was a crazy day! Susie got several orders off of her open house and so we are going to be busy for the next several weeks! Here are some of the our favorite projects!

Temple Square

2009-12-09T09:27:00.001-08:00

For years I have been trying to get our family up to Temple Square to see the lights for Christmas. Lucky for me, we were in Utah for Gobble day! The day after Gobble day is the first day of turning on the lights! The weather was PERFECT. (Well, if it has to be winter time and cold, then this was perfect. The wind was not blowing, it was not below 0 and I didn't get too cold with all my layers...PERFECT) I so enjoyed my time with Klair and Jeff!

2009-12-01T08:34:00.000-08:00

What a week!

We drove up to Idaho for Gobble week to stay at the Ranch. As we were driving from Salt Lake up, it started snowing. For Klaira, this was heaven! When we got to the Ranch it was covered in about 2 inches of snow.

Jeff had Klair up early to go feed horses and check the fence lines. When we say check the fence lines, it means to get on the wheelers and have some fun! It was 21* of cold in the mornings yet Klaira was always happy to be out, without a coat, driving fast on the wheelers. Yes, she found her happy place.

The first night we were there, Klair and I made some blankets.
As soon as I made mine, Jeff decided that he needed it. I guess I will have to go get some more stuff to make another one.
As with every Ranch, there is always work that needs to be done. We cleared out a field of cattails. I think Klair liked tending the fires the best, which I don't blame her. This was hard work for lazy city girls like ourselves.

After the hard work, Klair and Jeff rewarded themselves with a 3 hour ride up in the canyon on the wheelers.

The Ranch has a magic power over all who go there. It calms you and slows you down. It gives you an incrediable view with air that is crisp and clean to breath. Klair says we HAVE to go back next year. Yep, we all have found our happy place.

Just need to vent for a minute!

2009-11-29T23:35:00.000-08:00

Several years ago my parents divorced. It was everything. Good, bad, ugly and the best thing for both my parents. They have both remarried, and are happy in their worlds. With that said....
Now jump to back to today and see how the world tries to bring 2 families together. My Dad and his wife’s. Between the two they have 11 kids and bunches of grandkids. I think my Dad’s wife is PERFECT for him. I have seen how truly happy my Dad is with his wife. I know that she loves him.
This past week was the second time that I have had Thanksgiving dinner with my Dad’s wife’s family. Having a meal with the “other side” has showed me a few things. I say the “other side” because “our side” has tried repeated times to make the “other side” part of the family only to be shot down and told that we would never be family. How sad. I keep trying, but this week finally put to end my trying. I tried several times to start a conversation with different people, only to be shut down quickly. I listened to the conversation that they were having among themselves to the realization that they are not nice to each other! The teenagers have so many troubles that truly sprout from the parents. My sister and I had found humor in the conversations and were laughing, only to find out that we had offended others and then my Dad and his wife had to have therapy 101. Who has energy for all that? Since my Dad has gotten married, his wife’s kids have tried to break them up, even to the point of accusing my Dad of some really rotten stuff. My Dad has put up with it all, because he loves his wife. So, let’s see...they are mean to one other, they don’t want to get to know us and they are offended by us. Yep, these are people I want to spend time with! NOT! I want to surround myself with people that are happy! People that WANT to be around me. I want to be around uplifting people. People with a sense of humor. People that can have fun without tearing down others.
It is hard when I have drawn a picture of how I want my family to be and then someone comes along and colors over my picture with a black crayon. I keep trying to get my picture to be the way I drew it without accepting that someone else changed it and I can’t change it back.
I did not have the child hood that I would have wanted. I do not have the family that I keep trying to draw. At some point in time, it is time to write a new book of reality. I need to be healthy and going back to try to make something happen that just can’t is just hurting myself without reason. This week has shown me that I will not try Thanksgiving with my Dad’s wife’s family again. I am done trying to make cranky people like me. Lesson learned!

I have to add on to this...
sooooo...weeks have passed. It is now after Christmas only to find out that the drama carried on! (Really!?!)

Oh Yum!

2009-11-14T21:46:00.000-08:00

My girlfriend (Hi DaNae) came back from one of her many adventures in Utah, telling me about this mother/daughter team that have come up with a recipe for bread that does not use oil or eggs, and claim that you can make really good whole wheat bread, 45 minutes from Can to Jam. Well we all know that if you grind your own wheat, mix your bread and try to let it raise and cook it in 45 minutes, it just won't happen. Needless to say, my interest was perked! I sent for my own copy of their DVD, Pantry Secrets created by Jeannie Dayton and Mindy Spencer. Now, what they are teaching as far as what to do with the bread dough is really nothing I didn't know already. What I wanted to know is how to make bread without eggs or oil and have it come out light and fluffy! I didn't have time to grind my wheat so I went ahead and just tried it with white flour. Well, my first batch....texture was fine, just wasn't the flavor that I was hoping for. So the next batch, I adjusted a few thing. The batch makes 4 loaves and I really didn't want that much bread around so I split the batch in half and made one loaf and them made my sticky buns. (My recipe is different then on the DVD). OHMYJEEPERS! This was a big mistake! I ended up eating most of the batch all by my self! I don't feel I can share the bread recipe yet, need to find out if that is ok, but here is the sticky buns recipe.

Bread dough/enough for one loaf broken into a bunch of pieces that are pretty much the same size
1 package of COOK and SERVE vanilla pudding. (No, can not sub instant.)
About 3/4 cup of brown sugar
A couple of shakes of ground cinnamon. More depending on your taste.
1 stick of melted butter

Mix the pudding, brown sugar and cinnamon together.
Dip the pieces of dough into the butter and then roll in the the pudding mixture and then layer in a lightly greased bread pan. (Really only want about 2 good layers)
Sprinkle left over butter and pudding mixture on top.
Let rise till near the top of the pan.
Cook at *350 for about 25 minutes or top is a golden brown.
Turn out onto a plate as soon as comes out of the oven so that all the goo can be poured on top.

YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Hurray!

2009-11-06T19:29:00.001-08:00

For almost 2 years now I have been renting a house that when it was built was not painted but wall papered. I am talking wall to wall to wall papered. Not just any paper...UGLY!

As you can see I have tried to cover it with pictures and other things to try and draw your eye away...
The problem is that IT JUST DOES NOT MATCH MY BEDSPREAD!

Well I started in the little alcove/dressing area. The paper was so old that it was very brittle but easy to peel off the wall. It is the paste that is hard to get off. It takes forever!

I ran out of time after strippin, primin and painting the weekend that I did this little area, that I had to plan when I could finish doing the rest of the room. I knew it would take me at least a week to do. Of course I was working all day to come home at night to do the little area and knew I wanted time off of work to do the rest.

Well, my daughter Kea and her husband needed a job for a week, did I have any jobs for them to do? Did I have a job for them?!?!?! OH YEAH BABE!

So here is the finished product!

I LOVE IT! Oh, and in talking to the husband after doing the little area by myself , he says... "Why didn't you use the paint that has the primer in it?"

THEY HAVE THAT? So I went and got it for my daughter to use...It makes the job SOOOO much shorter, but the smell!!!! It looks great but smells awful! It has been a couple of weeks now and the smell is still there! The trade off though....smelly pretty walls!

So happy to have this one done!

A Hunting We Will Go..

2009-11-03T09:33:00.001-08:00

I have a "Oh Mighty Great White Hunter" that lives with me. Every year for the past, oh I would say 6 years, he has worked really hard all year to be able to take a few weeks and go to his cousin Joyce's place up in Idaho to go hunting for this...

Well...for the past 6 years all he has been able to get next to is this...

All would be well if he had a tag for this...but he only gets tags for that...

This year he even got some great footage of a moose that was not too far from him and did not seem shy at all. (That is a bit scary!)

Jeff even texted me at one point saying he was in Elk Heaven but all the Elks must be really rotten and have gone to (oh you know) because there were none to be found.

He so enjoyes his time with his cousin and really would love to live at the ranch, but if he could just shoot an elk...then the long drive to Idaho would be all that more sweet!

{I have to say though that I was raised a "Oh Great White City Girl" and it is hard for me to eat Deer and Elk. So a little part of me is really happy when he does not come home with meat. (Sorry Honney!!!)}

Halloween '09

2009-11-02T20:47:00.000-08:00

Can I just start this by saying how much I really do love Halloween! I don't like the "Scary" "Satanic" side of it, but I love the wimsical, dress up out of your norm, side of it. I love fun decorations and the fun of trick-or-treaters! THIS YEAR WAS AWFUL!

What happened?

Well the best that I can think of is:

Our kids are past the "door knocking for candy" age.

LuvLump was the only one home and she really did not want to dress up. This was as dressed up as she got all day. But I don't blame her, those bottoms are comfy!

(I have a pair too and wore them all day!)

I took most of my stuff to Doc's office to decorate it there.

I really thought that little ones would be out early so by 5:30 I had my bowl of candy ready and waiting! Luvlumps pumpkin was lit and welcoming! I was dressed up and waiting by the door!

NO ONE CAME UNTIL 7:30! And it was teenagers. Now I don't have a problem with teens, but I really looked forward to all the little ones. We only saw about 5 little ones and maybe 30 teens (and that is stretching it!) By 8:30 it was over! I was so disappointed.

My neighbor says that next year we should just all go out to dinner and forget handing out candy. I guess she is right. But I am still bummed!

Really?

2009-10-21T10:59:00.000-07:00

This has been really heavy on my mind lately. I guess I have not found my answer yet because I have not stopped talking about it. I have talked to my co-workers, friends and even a lady waiting for her order at Pick-up Sticks. I know it sounds like I am obsessed, but Really! What happened to Social Edict?

When I was a kids...(the music starts to play as we go WAAAAAYYYY back in time..)
We were taught:
Don't call people until 9 in the morning
Don't call people after 8 at night
All adults were addressed as Mr, Mrs, Auntie, or Uncle. Never by their first name. ( Am I an adult now? Can I call people by their first name?)
People did not show great affection in public. A quick hug and kiss for friends. (NO MAKING OUT!)
When we go to a concert or church, we do not leave when someone is talking or singing or performing and do not come back in until break in time again. We do not eat pickles or chips or ANYTHING in a concert. (No, I do not mean a rock concert or those kinds of concerts...Orchestra, Choir...you know!)
There are just some topics of conversation that is not meant to be shared with just anyone in the room. Unless I know you really well, I don't want to know about your BM!)
Men opened doors for ladies and held chairs for them
You did not hear cursing used as every other word in a conversation. It was saved for if you hurt your self unexpectedly.
You did not show your underwear in public!
Some parts of your body were ALWAYS covered
YOU DID NOT SPIT! (This is so gross!) (Unless you got sand in your mouth when on the beach!)
You were private with your phone calls
You were private with your music
OK you get the picture. I can go on about this subject!
So when did it change? When did it become OK to be rude? Did it happen with the commercials that tell you "Your Worth It", "Do What You Want Today".... Now I spend most of my time working at a high school and I see way too much. Kids eat while the teachers are talking, they leave during a lecture, they make out EVERYWHERE, they spit on the ground where people are walking, they have more cheeks out of their pants then in. At times I want to ask the kids if they have a mommy! Did no one teach them these things are wrong? Now I am trying not to focus so much on the wrong things they do and focus in on the right things, but sometimes I am just overwhelmed at how these are our future leaders. It is amazing how many times a day I am asking boys if they kiss their mothers with that mouth they just used to spew out trash words or made out with a girl that just made out with a different boy durning the last break...
Sooo I ask you, when did it change?

Post Script: So After I posted this I was in the school parking lot and a girl was in her car changing her clothes. Now not just taking a sweatshirt off with another shirt under, NO. It is changing EVERYTHING! When I asked her WHY her response was that she was late and didn't have time to go to the locker room. REALLY?!

Into The Woods

2009-10-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

For the past several weeks, Klaria has been involved with her school musical production "Into The Woods". For those that know the musical, Klaira was one of Cinderella's step sisters. This is Klair in her dress. I think she looks like someone ready to perform at DisneyLand. (SHE HATES PINK!)

I love this picture of her and another girl backstage while getting ready.

The kids were AMAZING in this play. It is not a easy musical. It moves fast. I have to say that the girls out-shined the boys with very grown up voices. There are several comical moments in the musical and I am glad that the kids were able to pick up on them.

I love this picture since it showed her big honkin earrings that she had to wear every night. Klaira doesn't wear much jewelery so to see her in such big earrings was almost comical.

I am happy that Klaira has found her nitch at this school. She is so fun to watch on stage and I am impressed at how she can stay in character. (I never did get a picture of her in her wig and I think she didn't want to have any pictures to remind her of just how awful it was. Ok, it was really ugly!) This production was a very large undertaking for all the kids and they did it beautifully. Long days started with going to school all day to go to practice to get home some times after 10 at night to try and eat something, get home work done and maybe get a shower. I do have to say that I am glad that this is over now. Maybe her room will get some attention now.

Oh the fun!

2009-10-15T11:05:00.001-07:00

Sunday we had 16 little ones in nursery. My huband just made some new rollers for the playdough so we had to try them out. This is one of the kids favorite pastimes in nursery and we don't do it every week so as to keep it a fun activity. The youngest ones are getting better about not eating everything. I am so thankful for all the help from the adults!

Spirit Week

2009-10-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

This week has been "Spirit Week" at the high school. During the week, each day has a theme. Everyone can dress to reflect the theme of the day. Love this teacher. She dressed up the two days that I was in her class.
The first day was "Sports"day...
Can you tell what her favorite sport/team is?
Tuesday was "Wild-West" Day
Wednesday was "Disney" Day
Thursday was "Retirement"Day
and Friday was "Bear Nation"Day to go along with Homecomming. (The mascott is the Bears)

I am so impressed with this teacher. She is great at what she teaches and shows a love of being a teacher.
What a fun week!

Waiting!

2009-10-08T20:26:00.001-07:00

Just have to love them!
In our nursery, each child has a cubby, a check-in picture, a helping hands picture and a shooting star picture. When the children check in, they find their picture (it has velcro on the back) and choose on a picture frame (other side of the velcro) that has flowers and insects, and choose where to put their picture. It can be on a flower, a bee or a lady bug. The lady bugs are very popular. On the out side of the door is a big sign that has stars with the children's faces(Shooting Stars). The parents take the star off the chart and shove it UNDER the door. Then we SHOOT the child and anything they may have in their cubby from the activites of the day, out the other door. This makes it easier so as not to have all family members in our classroom and we make sure that the child is going out with a parent. The kids wait by the door every week, excited to see who's shooting star will come under the door. They get so excited when a star comes under the door, shouting who's star it belongs to. They all love the stars and want to take them home. I have promised them that when they are ready to SHOOT into Sunbeams, they can take their stars with them. I think I have about 6 stars that will be shooting out in January.

Swine Flu, Swine Flu

2009-09-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

Last week my baby (now 15) really was not feeling well. I figured it was a cold. She has been on a crazy schedule with school, the play, seminary....the list goes on. Well it got to the point that she was pleading with me to take her to the doctor. Now understand that this is a kids who HATES going to the doctor and will do all to avoid.
Sure enough, the doctor says it is Swine Flu and that she is probably at the tail end of it and when her fever is gone for 24 hours, she can go back to school. (They really don't have a test for the swine flu at the urgent care but since it is not "flu" season yet, they are calling it Swine Flu.) She started on Tamaflu (or what ever that stuff is to lesson the effects) and with 2 days home from school, felt so much better. I hear so much chatter on this subject that here I am getting on my soap box. ( You are welcome to check out other blogs now or skip to the bottom...)

There are several strains of Flu. The doctors guess which one will be the most popular for the year and put out the vaccine for that one. The chances of getting just that one is rare. The chances of getting ONE of them is good. The fact that it is a new one (there are new ones all the time) has put everyone in a panic. Yes, I understand that people die from the flu. They die from the chicken pox. They die from getting hit by lightning also.
Instead of getting worried about maybe getting the flu, I am trying to put my energy into what I need to do to get ready for possibly getting the flu. What food do I have in the house so that I do not have to venture out. Do I have meals in the freezer so that I do not have to cook for my family. Do I have meds to help me feel better while riding out the time...
At this point today, I am not ready for the flu. But, after Baby Girl having it last week, I am going to try to get myself ready. I go to work where there are many kids not washing their hands, not covering their faces when they cough and sneeze. I try not to touch the hand rails as I walk up and down the stairs. I try not to touch the doors going in and out of the buildings. Even sitting at the desk not knowing what was there before me...yuck! But, I wash my hands several times a day. I cover when cough and sneeze.
(I do ask that if you have a child with a runny nose, or is not feeling all that well, PLEASE do not bring them to the nursery on Sundays to share the joy with other little ones that lick everything and share so well.)
Just my opinion...I will get off my soap box now.

How to Keep a Husband Home

2009-09-18T20:05:00.000-07:00

My husband is a guy who just can't hold still. If he holds still for a day, he really does not feel good. Sundays are really hard for him. He is such a hard worker that most of the guys he hires (20-30 year olds) can't keep up with him. Our son HATES to work for him because he can't keep up. Yes, my husband can out work a 19 year old.
Last week, he was getting out of the pool, walked to the other side getting ready to dive back in when...OOOWWWWCCHHHHH...instant pain.
A trip to the chiropractor finds that my dear husband has torn his meniscus.
( Wow, when you say it like that, it sounds just wrong.)
For a week the man has been on the couch, icing his knee. He uses a office chair to wheel himself around the house. (Thank heaven we have tile through most of the house..) We finally borrowed some crutches from some friends and he found some freedom. Then the other day the chiro got a brace for his knee. More freedom. The really hard part is that the Elk hunt is in 3 weeks. Jeff works incredibly hard during the year for this 2 week getaway. On his hunt he hikes all over tarnation. It has been a real eye opener to me just how busy this man usually is and how much I rely on him for all of my projects. I am loving having him home, but I am sad that he is in pain and that he is tied to the couch. This is one of the hardest weeks for him ever. Poor guy!

Well Said

2009-09-17T19:22:00.000-07:00

Today I had a great lunch with a dear friend and we got on to a conversation that really hit home.
We have become a society of outsource-ers. We, as mothers, run our kids to piano to have someone else teach them how to play, then we run our kids to football, dance, tuba, day camp...again, for someone else to teach them how. We expect primary teachers to teach our kids about the gospel. People at school to teach math and how to share. We have people to clean our houses, cut our grass, fix meals that we can pop into the oven for a home made taste. We are great at organizing to keep everyone where they need to be when they need to be there.
Drop kids off at school
Take Fifi to the vet
Pick up dry cleaning
Take Jr. to the dentist
Two kids to piano
Put Costco lasagna in the oven
Take Jr. to soccer practice
Homework
Clean kids
Put to bed
Yes, we are busy all day. But what did WE do.
We have been counseled to Create, Organize, Learn. We are forgetting the pride and feeling of self confidence that we get from a wonderful meal that we make for our family, to nourish them. When was the last time that we did something to show our creativity side? When was the last time we learned something new? When was the last time that we organized something? I am not saying that providing opportunity for our children to learn is wrong..far from it! I think it is great to have our children learn to play the piano. But what are WE teaching our kids? This really made me stop and think about what am I teaching my own children.
Do my children know how to cook?
Do my children know how much I love my Heavenly Father?
Do my children know how to show compassion? Do service?
My friend told me about how she had bottled pears. She had bottled several dozen jars and they were beautiful. She left them on the counters for a few days just so she could see her accomplishment and took some pride in what she had created! GOOD FOR HER! We all need to do more of this. I am worried that maybe I have leaned on others too much to teach my children things that I should have been teaching.
What am I going to create today? What am I going to organize? What am I going to learn? What am I going to teach my children...
This was a good discussion!

Nursery continued...

2009-09-13T18:47:00.001-07:00

A bit ago one of our boys was standing on a chair looking out the window with a few girls around him on the chair and he was talking to them at great length.
Teacher: McKay..What are you doing?
McKay: I'm showing the girls my car.

Well we can see where this is going...Watch out for this one! (Too Cute!)

When I first started in the nursery we were having a lesson on families. I was asking the kids about some of the things their parents tell them about how much they love them.
Me: Aubrey, what are some things that your parents say that show they love you?
Aubrey: At our house, Daddy says Christmas is canceled!

Be careful what you ask!

Birthday Weekend

2009-09-11T20:09:00.001-07:00

This last weekend... (Nana and Pompa)
These wonderful people came all the way from Utah to spend the weekend with us celebrating LuvLump's birthday. While they were here..we went to the UNDERGROUND. Now I have been living here for over 3 years (this time..we lived here before for 2 years, thus we have lived here for 5 years) and I did not know about this place until one of my friends blogged about going to it with her family. (It is very educational to read others blogs...but that is another entry)

This is looking at it from top side. Just driving by you would never even know that it is here.

A man came from Italy and all by himself, dug under the ground for over 40 years, making this catacome of chambers.

He planted trees undergound with the tops just rising up on ground level. (Makes it easier to get the fruit off..you don't need latters...just go topside.)

He had a tank for water that was topside that was warmed by the sun. The water ran down to his tub by a hose. SMART! And he had a place to save fresh fish for several days until he was ready to eat them.

He carved out places to sleep...

He carved these beautiful arches all through the tunnels.

I took a lot of pictures, but you will just have to go see it for yourself! So glad we went! I may go again!

A fun ending to the day... When we finish at the underground, we went across the street to In and Out for lunch. A wedding party was there having lunch also. What a great way to share your day with your family! Good food and someone else cleans the dishes.

Luvlump Turns 15

2009-09-09T21:18:00.001-07:00

This weekend my baby turned 15.

It is amazing how fast it happens.

What I know about Luvlump:

1. Has a tender heart

2. Loves to be busy

3. Is obsessed with Twilight

4. Hates to wear pink

5. Loves Sunday Dinner

6. Loves to sleep in late/stay up late

7. Loves to go to the movies

8. Loves her cats

9. Rather not go out to dinner unless her brother is with her

10.Hates to shop. (Still don't understand this one)

11.Really hates to be ditched

12.Loves going to the beach

13.Hates rollercoasters

14.Loves to draw

15.Is very musical/sings alot!

16.Falls asleep with her contacts in all the time.

17.Loves her Daddy and misses him when he is not home

18.Hates to clean the litterbox

19.Excited to learn to drive

20.Loves to laugh

I love my baby girl!

School Has Begun!

2009-09-01T09:04:00.000-07:00

I have been enjoying my summer and it has been hard to go back to school. Klaira took a independent study class (World History) so that she could have more electives this year. She was really excited for the drama musical production of..."Into The Woods" which is the first drama production for this school year.

All summer she has been watching the DVD so that she could try out and hopefully make it since it is a small cast. For those that don't know what this production is, here is what Wikipedia says...

Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Bernadette Peters' performance as the Witch, and Joanna Gleason's portrayal of the Baker's Wife, brought acclaim to the production during its original Broadway run. Into the Woods won several Tony Awards, including Best Score, Best Book, and Best Actress in a Musical (Joanna Gleason), in a year dominated by The Phantom of the Opera. The musical has been produced many times, with a 1988 national tour, a 1990 West End production, a 1991 television production, a 1997 tenth anniversary concert, a 2002 Los Angeles production and a 2002 Broadway revival.[1]
Inspired by Bruno Bettelheim's 1976 book, The Uses of Enchantment, the musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales and follows them further to explore the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. The main characters are taken from the stories of Little Red Ridinghood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, and Cinderella, tied together by a more original story involving a Baker and his wife and their quest to begin a family, most likely taken from the original story of Rapunzel by the Brothers Grimm. It also includes references to several other well-known tales.

Well, the first day of school was tryouts. Klaira was shooting for Little Red or Cinderella. (I was hoping for her to get Little Red..) Klaira made call backs for Tuesday. Ok..We are really excited. Tuesday, I get a sobbing call.."K mom, you can come pick me up." She is heartbroken. The drama teacher let her go without explanation. So she thought she did not make it. (Lets just say at this point I am thinking the teacher should see this act because there was PLENTY of drama going on..) Later that night I got a email from the drama teacher with the list of the cast...Yep she made it. But as a step sister. BUT SHE MADE IT! (Other end of drama spectrum..) So now we begin the crazy scedual of up OHMYGOLLYITISWHATTIMEDARK in the morning to ITISWAYPASTDARKANDNEEDSLEEP time at night.

I so miss my summer....

Cookies

2009-09-01T08:59:00.001-07:00

Some of my little swim buddies came last night and brought me the most adorable cookies. We put our feet into the pool for a minute..the pool is getting cold. I think swim season is about over. For this I am sad! But the cookies...HOW FUN!

Cub River

2009-08-28T20:12:00.000-07:00

Every year Jeff works really hard so that he can go play really hard..Here.. This is Jeff's counsin's ranch in Cub River Idaho. (Don't look at the date on the pictures..changed the batteries in the camera and didn't change the date thing..)

This summer, Jeff and I escaped for a few days so that he could take me here to show me a few of his favorite spots. I have been up to the ranch a few times but it was always for sad times and we stayed around the house. This was a wonderful time to go during happy times and see more around the ranch. In fact, I had never been in the back pasture till this trip.

We got there in time to help Joyce with the haying! (I got to drive the truck while Jeff and Joyce bucked the bales..Yes, I am a wus!) (My eyes are itchy just looking at that hay!)
After the work is done, we jump on the ATV's, well, take the haybales off first...and head up in the hills..

to stare at hills. This is (as I learn the vocab)called spotting. Joyce and Jeff and Rex are looking for signs of animals that they are planning on shooting in about 6 weeks...This really is funner than it looks when you have binocculars to look through also. The first night out we saw one cow elk. That got Jeff ready to go!

It is hard to see in this picture but on the trail back to the ranch we found a blow snake. It really was not interested in getting off the trail. Joyce changed her hat from Rancher/Hunter to Snake Wrangler. She is very good at all three.

Back at the house are these three critters. Oggie, Wezzie and Rocky. They are the funniest little dogs, and now my best buddies! Every time I sat down I had all three in my lap. It is funny that Wezzie really can not breath through her nose. I would hold her like a baby in my lap and rub her tummy and it sounded like she was asleep and snoring. I have to say it is nice to have something excited to see you when you walk in a room.

Wait..whats that past the storage shed? MMMMm.....Targets!

Ready...Aim....Twang, Thump! Got it!
Ok Joyce...you give it a try!

A few months ago Jeff bought himself and Klaira and me our own compound bows. I took archery in High School and I think I was pretty good at it. (OK so the bows were little 40 lb single string that we had to string ourselves..But I did hit the target almost every time!) The first time I shot it when we first got it, I lost 2 arrows and had a really pretty bruise on my arm. I am surprised at how chubby my arms got since High School..How does that happen? Well, this time I did not loose any arrows and I think we have my sights pretty close to being right on. I did hit the target this time. (And the bruise on my arm was much smaller!) I really do enjoy shooting my bow. Just need to move to the ranch so that we can do it daily!
The next night we went up a different road to this field. (Yes to do some more spotting!) The grasses were almost as tall as me. This is a look back toward town. It was so beautiful walking the the grass, looking at all the different colors of green in one location. The view back to town was breath taking.
Jeff and I had a little trip up one of his favorite places to hunt. It is in and out of thick trees and bush. I have to say that riding the ATV's was better than some of the rides at Disneyland! Just call me Mrs. Jiggles! I was bouncing all over the back of that thing!

It was fun to see this little bike in Joyce's shed. It was her bike when she was little..I think I had a bike just like it... seeing it brings visions of little ones in their make-believe world, riding to great adventures.

It is hard to see, but out in this field is a old car. This is a place of old forgotten. Several places have cars or tools that when they broke down for what ever reason, they were just left where they were never to be thought about again. I saw houses that when no one loved them any more, were left to be taken back over by mother nature. Then there are the things of good intentions. Houses that have been started to be updated, to only have been started but not finished...Jeff says some of these houses have not changed his whole life. Every time he comes up, he looks to see if anyone has put the last 4 rows of siding on a house, or finally put the walls on the garage that has the roof, studs and a window that has been nailed into the studs. ( I wish I had gotten a picture of that one..)

As we were there for a few days, I started understanding why things don't get done. They have a whole different Clock there. Time is, whatever... We would go to bed after midnight, to get up after 8, to think...what do we want to do today? Then when we finally got to it..it was getting dark..we would eat dinner after 9 at night. We sat one night and watched the shooting stars. It was suppose to be a really great show around Midnight...so we all stayed up to watch. Our alarm clock was the horses outside with window (that we left open all night for the cool breeze and wonderful smells) trying to get someones attention to throw them some grain. We had the constant sound of the water in the canal next to the driveway as it bubbled and played passing by. Every once in awhile you hear a distant neighbors dog. Other than that, you really think you are the only ones out there. I can understand now why Jeff loves it so much out there. The best part is that there is a Michaels only 20 minutes to town from the ranch! Yep! I can live there!

Nothing

2009-08-27T09:00:00.001-07:00

Jeff and I got a little (and I mean little) time away this summer. We drove up to Medford Oregon, to Elko Nevada, to Salt Lake Utah, to Cub River Idaho, back to Salt Lake, home to Fresno. Traveling from Medford to Elko, there is a spot of "Nothing". So if you were wondering what "Nothing" looks like...Here it is...This is the road in the middle of "Nothing"

This is some of "Nothing"..

This is more of "Nothing"...

And this is the other side of "Nothing"...

AMAZING!

YSA

2009-08-20T19:18:00.001-07:00

Jeff and I were so excited to be called to help with the 1st ever YSA conference for all of California. All of the YSA of California were broken down into 7 different areas, close to where they lived, to have a weekend that is planned to be the same at all the areas. The food, the talks, the activites, were all the same so no one area was better/worse than another. Just great! We had over 1200 YSA come to the Fresno Temple area. Jeff and I were working with another couple (GO BAKERS) and we were over Hydration! (The Best Place To Be EVER!) We were responsible for having several areas set up with water coolers and cups for people to be able to get water to drink and then at meals we had water bottles set up for everyone. This sounds simple, but it is time consuming, making sure all the coolers are filled all the time, there is plenty of ice in all of them, and there are cups available.

The first meal was pizza from Pizza Hut, salad, cookies...etc. (I just can't remember what else there was...sorry) To think about enough pizzas to feed over 12oo people...amazing! Yes, leave it to the mormons to feed the masses! There were so many loving hands willing to serve during this weekend, for weeks before to weeks after. The whole time I heard such wonderful support from everyone. I didn't hear complaining, or anyone upset. To hear singing, laughing and great conversations was so fun. How could you NOT want to be there?

There was activities and workshops all day for the Young Adults to get to know each other and great speakers at the workshops!

Speed Dating...

(It was great to have our son Colton there! I loved hearing it from his point of view!)(Not to mention just how cute he is!!!!)

I loved talking to all the young adults and listening to their conversations and I really enjoyed my time there. The most incredable time for me though was when we had Sacrament Meeting.

Sunday morning we were in the church building with all the people in the chapel, overflow, class rooms all through the building. Singing the hymns, you could feel the spirit. Then we sang the song for the sacrament. I was overwhelmed with the spirit, I could not sing. Seeing all the Young Men in their white shirts and ties, preparing the sacrament, the spirit was testifying how this was right. I was amazed at how fast the sacrament was passed. Within 10 minutes it was passed to the masses. Having that many young men with the priesthood, worthy to use it...felt amazing! I have a testimony of sacrament! I have a testimony of the priesthood! I am blessed to have the priesthood in my home! I am blessed for the opportunity to be able to be apart of this great weekend.

Another Swimmer

2009-08-03T13:41:00.001-07:00

Here is another one of my swimming buddies. He put the goggles on and was just so funny! He was not really interested in putting his face in the water with them on..just wanted to wear them. Little kids are great!

Nursery

2009-07-28T20:07:00.000-07:00

I love working in the nursery, if just for what the little ones come up with.
One of our workers was under a table with 2 little girls playing. They were hiding from the dinosaur in the forest.
The first little girl went and got a dinosaur and touched the knee of the worker and then said,"The dinosaur ate you!"
The worker looked at the second little girl and said, "Oh no...I'm in the dinosaur's tummy, now what?"
The second little girl looked at the worker and said,"HE WILL POOP YOU OUT...YEP, HE WILL POOP YOU OUT!"

Summer!

2009-07-22T19:47:00.001-07:00

I am so enjoying my swim buddies!
This one is a diver....

This one is a frogger...

This one is just too cute!

These little girls just make summer FUN!

Nursery

2009-07-21T10:45:00.000-07:00

For those that don't know...I am the nursery leader for our ward. We have 22 little ones (ages 17 months to 3 years) on our roll. It differest from week to week just how many will show up and how many visitors we will have depends on how the wind is blowing. There are some wonderful web sights with great ideas to entertain while learning. One of the places I visited talked about file folders. Soooo I made some...

Now we just need to see if the kids like them!

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

2009-07-21T10:22:00.001-07:00

On July 14 (Tuesday)I went with these pretty girls to Edwards Theater

To sit with these very crazy people

To watch...

Now let me tell you how crazy people are..The movie was suppose to start at 12:15 a.m. (I know what you are saying already...hello..what time..this should have been my first clue!) We got there at 9:30ish to see people in lines EVERYWERE! I went roaming to find what line we were suppose to stand in. (One of the girls had purchased our tickets a month before so we were assured a seat.) I found out that our theater had already been let in. OK....great...We walked into the theater to find that 98% of the seats were already filled. Well, let me take that back..about 80% were filled with the other 18% percent covered with socks to save them for people. So to find 5 seats together was not an easy task. One lady had saved over 25 seats. I was not happy with this since my back side was there and ready to sit..where were all the people? I asked one of the employees if people were allowed to save seats..he said NO! Thus, I then and confronted the lady with the 25+ seats. She said that her girls were in the bathroom (all 25+ of them?) and that she had been there since 8 and was told she could save seats. (She was not a nice lady.) I related to her that I was told that people were not to save seats. She was ready for a fight...Really lady...ITS A MOVIE! I gave up...there was no way I was going to sit next to her for the next 3 hours waiting for the movie to start...(I think she really needed a nap) So we were in seats that made it so we were looking right up Harry's nose. The movie did not start until almost 12:30..(What happened to the 12:15 time?) People were pretty punchy by then and were trying to be entertainers. (They really should keep their day jobs..) Well we got out of there about 3:45 a.m. to find that the parking lot was FULL of young teen drivers that had no clue how to get out of a parking lot when everyone wants out at the same time. (Now why are parents letting new teen drivers out past city curfew anyway?) Well...I was so overtired that I don't think I really remember all the movie...did I like it? LETS GO SEE IT AGAIN!!!!

So on July 16 (Thursday) at the 8:30 showing, we went with these girls and had the best seats and YES, it was better to see it the second time.

Oh My!

2009-07-14T11:27:00.000-07:00

Be careful what you say...

I had planned on cleaning and organizing my house this summer so that when school is back in I won't be tripping over myself. We have been living in the house we are in for about a year and a half now, so a good scrub is in order. I was just having a bit of a time finding time to clean. Well..

Yesterday I threw a load of laundry in the washing machine. I had a FULL bottle of this

sitting on top of my washing machine. ( I have a front loader..)

When I got home, it was not on top of the washing machine anymore. It was ALL over the floor. My first thought was to just sit down and have a good cry...then I thought I should have something to eat because you just don't cry over this stuff so I must be having a low blood sugar. I ate some dinner and felt so much better. After looking at the scene of the crime for a few minutes trying to decide how I was going to get all that soap up, the idea to look it up on the internet came to mind. I am sure someone else has had this happen before...

AAAAHHHHH...Can I just say how much I LOVE the internet! One of the sights suggested using this..

It just so happens that I had this! So I sprinkled the cat litter all over the spill, somewhat thick, and waited about 10 minutes. It was great! It got 98% of the soap up just leaving a slight film. Now the internet also says that you don't want to add water because it will just make this stuff go on forever. But by the time you get down to the last 98% with just a film left, the internet says to use vineager to cut the soap. It took me over 2 hours to scoop everything up, and I still have some cat litter on the floor, and a little bit of a film...(it was after midnight when I gave up) but for the most part...One more good wash of the floor and it will all be up..yes, I even cleaned behind the washer. My laundry room is cleaner than it was yesterday. I didn't know that I needed to really clean my laundry room, but I guess I did.

What the?

2009-07-10T20:30:00.000-07:00

So Coqui called me in the bathroom and asked me what this was..
I have no idea! I look to see if it is wet around it...No...Is something dripping? No...What is it? Crusty, yes...hhmmmm...mystery!
Then Klair comes home and I ask her..."Do you know what this is?"
Klair starts laughing.."Mom, don't be mad"...so I know that there is a story to this.
Klair was getting ready to get into the shower and does not have her glasses on. She sees something coming down from the ceiling. IT IS A SPIDER! (Ok, my daughter has inherited my fear of spiders..) She has NOTHING to kill it with and can't go out in the hall to find something since she does not have any clothes on.
She fills her hands with water to throw at the spider to get in on the ground. Once on the ground it is still moving. She throws more water on it. IT IS STILL MOVING! What to use, what to use....thinking..
She grabs the shaving cream and just plasters the spider. She didn't want to clean it up incase the spider was still alive under all that.
That is thinking on your feet. If water doesn't kill it, use shaving cream!

4th of July

2009-07-06T23:07:00.000-07:00

I took more pictures of our wonderful day but this one of LoveBug just said it all! She was so tired from swimming ALL day! Bubbles were just the way to end a fun day at our house.

This year we actually had our family together, well for some parts of the day. The past few years we have not celebrated the 4th together. Last year Klair and I were down at my sister Holly's house celebrating J-rod getting baptized. The year before, Jeff was out of town. This year we had two families come for BBQ and swimming. What a fun day in the pool and eating and laughing!

Kea and her husband AJ came down for a swim and to watch fireworks with us.

Family, Friends, Food, Fun! The best!

The Rock

2009-06-21T10:26:00.000-07:00

(Yes, I took this picture!)

Jackass Rock Summit - California Mountain Peak Information
Jackass Rock Details

View Jackass Rock Topo Map (Enlarged)
Jackass Rock is a mountain summit in Madera County in the state of California (CA). Jackass Rock climbs to 6,860 feet (2,090.93 meters) above sea level. Jackass Rock is located at latitude - longitude coordinates (also called lat - long coordinates or GPS coordinates) of N 37.432778 and W -119.300833.
Anyone attempting to climb Jackass Rock and reach the summit should look for detailed information on the Jackass Rock area in the topographic map (topo map) and the Piyau Dome USGS quad. To hike and explore the California outdoors near Jackass Rock, check the list of nearby trails.
Read Condition Reports Add Condition Report View Locator Map and Local Weather
Peak Type: Summit
Latitude: 37.432778
Longitue: -119.300833
Peak Elevation: 6,860 feet (2,090.93 m)
Nearest City: Mono Hot Springs (14.6 miles away)

Now I give this information for those that may want to go see one the most beautiful places I have been to. And YES, I hiked to the top! And No, it was not easy!

Here we are at the beginning of the "Its All Up Hill From Here!"

This is a view from the top looking over to Mammoth Pools.

Here is a look down to camp.

My Sweet Klaira. Lookin Good!

Here are some of the girls..hard to fit all of them in the picture.

Me and My Gal!
What a beautiful day! We started out on the trail about 11 in the morning. It took about 2 hours to make it up to where we stopped for lunch.

When we got to the top, we took pictures and then together sang "High On A Mountain Top." The spirit was so strong. Some the girls make the comment about how temples used to be on the mountain tops, and wasn't that where God talked to his prophets?

The whole climb up was a wonderful experience to have girls who usually hang back in a crowd, step up and help each other by supporting others feet so as not to slip on the granite, and here, step on my knee to get to the next rock. Here, grab my hand I will pull you up. Then the most incredable moment was the crevas. The pictures just don't show you how scarry it really is. It looks like a little jump, but its not. Girls strattled the crevas and helped to swing others across. A few girls were really scared and one girl got into the crevas to have the girls walk across her back like a bridge, having the other girls swing them across.

The love for each other was incredible. There is no way to put into words the spirt that was there.
I am so Thankful for the opportunity that I had to go on this hike with the girls.

Frogs

2009-06-21T10:14:00.001-07:00

When the Rial family was visiting, we noticed a few little frogs by their wheels. Little did I know it was about to explode in frogs in my yard...

This one is taking a break.

It was really tired.
I was scooping out of the pool over 50 of these little guys the first day I noticed them. I say over 50 because at 50 I quit counting. I threw them over the fence into the neighbors yard, but I think he was throwing them back over with a few of the ones in his yard.

At night when the sprinklers come on, the grass in the front yard and the back yard turns into a frog party! Lots of dancing. The funny ones were the ones that made it into my shop and into the saw dust. To see lumps of saw dust jumping....ok, a bit freeky.

Rial Family

2009-06-10T08:06:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day Weekend I had a wonderful surprise! My dear high school friend and her family came to see me. The Rial Family lives in Gresham Oregon. They were on a fun filled vacation that took them from Crater Lake to Yosemite, to Cambria to Montery and beyond. How great that they made "Where the Wildthings Grow" part of their adventures.

Douglas, Cambria, Lonie (holding Sierra) Morgan, and in back of Morgan is Jarom and in front of Cambria is Denica.

Fresno was warm when they got here, but it has not been warm enough to really make the pool comfortable. This did not stop the kids. They said that it was warmer than the stream that they had been in the day before in Yosemite. Sierra was in so long, her lips turned blue. When I wrapped her in a towel, she snuggle in for a few minutes, the shivering had not stopped yet, and she said that she HAD to get back in. She just Had to!

Love Denica's face! She loved swimming! But then, I think she had a smile on her face the whole time she was here! What a doll.

I had a wonderful visit with Doug talking about all the people that we both knew in Fresno. It turns out that Doug was raised in this area.
I loved talking to the Rial kids, getting to know them. What great people Lonie and Doug are raising. Jarom, the oldest, is getting ready to leave on his mission soon. I look forward to hearing about his adventures! (I hope that I am on the email list!)
Cambria is such a tender heart. She is so much like her mother at that age. She cares so much about other people.
Denica is such a performer. She will steal the show every time! She never ran out of things to say. She is quite entertaining.

Sierra, what a sweet one. She can have what ever she wants! She has me wrapped around her little finger.

I wish I lived closer to Lonie. I so miss spending time with her. She has always been such a good friend. She has a way of making me want to be a better person.

I'm a Survivor

2009-05-29T08:23:00.000-07:00

May 16, 2009. Our Stake Relief Society had a Enrichment on "Surviving". We had 3 speakers and several booths set up with ideas on different topics.
The speakers had as their topics "Surviving the Pandemic", "Surviving with Humor" and "Surviving Money". These were great speakers!

The booths ranged from "Surviving beyond Cheerios", "Surviving the Clutter"...
"Surviving More than a Day"...to "Surviving pot planting" and more. (Sorry I can't remember all the booths that were set up...)

To my booth, "Tribal Feedings or "Surviving on what you have"
I talked about having a 6 week menu planned to help you to set up your shopping list, which helps you do see what you really use and what you need for 6 weeks. Then it is easier to add food for 6 months to 1 year. I had some different ways of rotating your food once you get it home from the store. I had examples of shelf life for many foods, and the life span of things in your fridge..(for example, Mayo should only be in the fridge for less than 2 months after you open it.) I also had a binder, I.C.E. (In Case of Emergency) and what should be in that binder.
What do you take if you have 10 minutes to get out of the house? Oh, and where is it?
This was a great opportunity to bring food storage back to priority in our home. We get comfortable in the "Feasting" years that we forget about the "Famine" that could happen at any time from illness to job lay off to natural disasters.

I think for some the thought of starting food storage is a bit overwhelming so they just don't start. Others just don't know where to begin. I know for me, the idea of where to store it and then the possibility of MOVING it makes it so I don't want to do it. I HATE clutter. Everything needs a place and finding the place for it bugs me. I am trying to get over this.
I feel very blessed in being asked to do this booth. It is my goal to get our house organized with food storage. I have an incredible husband who helped me in so many ways to get ready for this one day, who supports me to get ready for the rest of the year. I am Blessed!

Wonderful Town

2009-05-23T13:41:00.000-07:00

This year for Klaira's school musical production, Clovis North performed "Wonderful Town".

Klaira was what they called "Part of the Ensemble" but was very busy.

The kids worked for WEEKS, from after school until some times 9 at night. They even had one night were they practiced till late, then got up OHMYGOLLYITSSTILLDARK early to be on the morning local news, to go to school to practice after school again.

This is Kyle...who was in the play...a friend of hers.
Klaira is in a new school that opened up (This is her second year) with 7,8 and 9 graders. (Klaira was in 8th grade now finishing up the 9th grade) so the oldest kids are in the 10th grade. Most people who saw the show could not believe that there were not any Jr. or Sr. in the cast.

This is Bee...she is really cute! She was also in the play!

Yep...with me! This was my second time seeing the show. On this night they had 2 interpreters so the deaf and hard of hearing could come and enjoy the program. What a fun night! I hope they do more! I work with one of the gals that did the interpreting and then several of the other interps. from work came! I don't have enough sign language to know all that they were saying, but oh how fun to watch them!

What a great experience for Klaira. She is already planning on the production for next year! I think she has the performing bug.

Love Living in Fresno

2009-05-09T23:04:00.000-07:00

During this time of year in Fresno, in the early morning and the early evening you can smell the orange blossoms. It is an incredible smell! I also have Jasmin growing in my back yard and it is all in bloom. I have not been able to find these smells in bottles yet and probably never will. Oh what a smell! LOVE IT!

EFY

2009-05-04T21:04:00.000-07:00

Sooo...Klaira got back from Anaheim and her choir festival on Monday, April 6. Jeff and Klaira washed laundry like crazy and Klaira fell asleep for most of the rest of the afternoon. The next morning Klaira got back on a bus. I know..how crazy is that!

(Pretty Crazy)
She took a 2 1/2 hour trip up to Sonora to the Learning Center that Clovis Unified School District owns and the Stake (Church group) uses for EFY (Especially For Youth) every year. The kids were put into groups. Klaira was put into the orange group.

(I think there was about 7-8 different groups).
Klaira went up Tuesday and came back on Thursday.
The time was spent with activities, games, dances and special speakers.

One of the special speakers this year is a great singer/songwriter name Kenneth Cope.

(We are so thankful for Brother Cope for his time, energy and testimony that he shared.) Klaira came home very uplifted. This week is a spiritual high for the kids and the adults and they look forward to it every year. ( The youth run the whole camp! They did an amazing job!) Jeff and Colton were able to go up at night since it was just up the road from where Jeff and Colton are working. It was wonderful that Jeff could spend some time there with Klaira.

I hope that next year I can attend also with Klaira. Now we are looking forward to Girls Camp in June.

Disney Land

2009-04-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

Klaira's choir had the opportunity to go the Heritage competition in Anaheim California. Since Jeff has not been a chaperone on these outings...I thought it would be fun to sign him up so I had a buddy in crime. We left April 3rd, ohmygollyitisstilldark early, and rode one of these for 4 hours.

Jeff really had no idea what he was in for!

The kids had to wear their Choir clothes since there would not be time to change before we got there. That is a long trip on a bus for these outfits.

After the kids performed and had a mini class with the judges, we went to the hotel to change our clothes to go to a dinner/show called "Pirates".

This was ok..a bit long and a bit loud..(I must be getting old)
After we went back to the hotel to get the kids settled in for the night, lights out at 11:00 but you know kids were up way past then. We got up and got back on the bus by 8:45 am to head to Disney Land/ California Park. (We had hopper passes)
Now the great thing about this age is that everyone has cell phones and can text you for check in time! It was perfect. So Jeff and I were off to fend for ourselves. We did all the rides we wanted and then hopped over to California Park to get a start on the rides we wanted to do over there. We had to be back over to Disney Land at 8:00 pm to meet up to go to the award ceremony from the Choir competition. We didn't get out of the award ceremony until almost midnight. Our kids were soooo tired, cold, and just done. We headed back to the hotel to get kids asleep before 2 am (some just would not give up!) to get back up and be on the bus again by 8:45. Jeff and I were one of the first people in California park and went right up to the Screaming California rollercoaster. Jeff had never been on it. IT WAS THE BEST..No wait...as soon as we got off, we noticed that the line was still short, so we got right back in line and within 5 minutes were back on the ride again! THAT WAS THE BEST!!!! I love that rollercoaster!
Needless to say, we did all the rides we wanted before 3.

(We went to Bugs Life)

Klaira even met up with us for lunch and did Soaring Over California with us. (love that one too!) We headed back over to Disney land and by 5 we were so done. Jeff and I are just old people now. We spent the rest of the time sitting on the platform of the train station at the entrance, watching the people and the parade. We got on the train and road the rails for hours.
When it got dark, Klaira came and joined us on the train. Again, traveling round and round. I think I dozed off a couple of times.
We finally got the kids back on the bus by 11pm to get back to the hotel, to not hear a peep from the kids. We were back home by 2 the next afternoon.

Then.....

EFY

How much? Really?!?!

2009-03-30T22:01:00.000-07:00

For those that are the faint of heart, I say, stop reading now. For what I am about to discuss is rather....oooooie. I would not talk about it other than the fact that I keep "Running Into It" or I should say that it is "Running Out Of" me on a continuous journey. Yes, the topic is "SNOT" Just how much of it can one person make? What is it really made of? Will it ever go away?
I have had, what I believe to be, buckets coming out of me in the past 4 days. I should take stock in tissues! Yes, I did go to Ask.com to find out just how much can a person make in one day and I do believe that this person has never had a serious drip. I will not tell you how much the person believes that one can make, for I know that I have far surpassed that amount, and NO, I have not saved all of it to check.
So, where did I get it? Will it ever go away? Maybe this is a plot from the makers of Nyquil. (For this is truly the only thing that will help me to rest! And yes, sometimes we do have it for dinner! And Yes, I have gone through 2 bottles!) The girl at Target knows me and worries about me. You see, they have to ask for I.D. for the release of it at the store. I don't know what my limit is before they take it away from me, but then there is always Wal-Mart!
If anyone really knows when all this will go away, I would so love to hear from that person. My nose Thanks You.

23 Years and Counting

2009-03-28T17:07:00.001-07:00

And they said it wouldn't last...
Today is Jeff and my 23rd wedding anniversary. I have been so blessed to have this man in my life! He is the best thing that ever happened to me. Yes, he comes first before our children. Don't get me wrong, I have been blessed to be a mother, but life really started for me when I met him. He is my knight in shining armor! (And he had a horse when I married him! Our first date was horseback riding!)

2009-03-25T20:47:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went with her....
And them.....
On this....
To here...
To perform...

And hang out with them
And then go to
Here...

To Watch This?

And ride on here with her...
To be happy to be back on the bus to go home!
And next week we get to do it all over again...but where to now?

It's his Birthday!

2009-03-08T21:26:00.000-07:00

I love this picture of my man. Today is his birthday. He has been sick all week and finally came home Friday late afternoon. Yesterday I had a friend call me that her fence fell down and her husband was out of town, she needed help. So Jeff goes over and fixes her fence. Then he left "OHMYGOLLYITISSTILLDARKEARLY" this morning to go take a dear friend to the airport in Sacramento to catch a flight out for a family member's funeral. So, for his birthday this year, he was a Knight in Shining Armor. (But then, he always is for me!)

What the....

2009-03-04T20:50:00.000-08:00

So here it is March. It is suppose to be winter. Some how the trees didn't get the memo. These trees are outside of our house. I have been sniffling for the past week. I am not sure if it is allergies or a cold. If this IS the worst of winter...I am loving it! (Well, not the sniffling or the fact that I am cold, but this is a better cold than in Utah!)

WHY GOD MADE MOMS

2009-02-18T20:42:00.000-08:00

I found this on my friend's blog and it was just too cute! I could not pass it up.
(Thanks Lee!)

WHY GOD MADE MOMS
Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:
Why did God make mothers?
1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?
1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my Mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts

What ingredients are mothers made of ?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair andeverything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men 's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other Mom?
1. We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people'smoms like me.

What kind of little girl was your Mom?
1. My Mom has always been my Mom and none of that otherstuff.
2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guesswould be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

What did Mom need to know about Dad before she married him?
1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your Mom marry your dad?
1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And myMom eats a lot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that Mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?
1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because Dad's such a goof ball.
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees thestuff under the bed.
3. I guess Mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between Moms & Dads?
1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3. Dads are taller & stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friend's.
4. Moms have magic; they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your Mom do in her spare time?
1. Mothers don't do spare time.
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your Mom perfect?
1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. Dye it. You know her hair. I'd dye it, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your Mom, what would it be?
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
2. I'd make my Mom smarter. Then she would know it was mysister who did it and not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

Klaira's Room

2009-02-10T18:16:00.001-08:00

Klaira has been living in a green room for the past year. She does not like DARK green for a room color. It made her room really dark.

Well, we took the big leap and painted her room. It took 3 coats of primer. Yes, it was that dark.

Now, WOW, what a difference. We need to put pictures up and personalize it but, Wow. Now if only we can get her to keep it clean!

Serving My Sisters

2009-02-10T17:53:00.000-08:00

This July we will have been in Fresno (for the second time) for 3 years. When we had been here about 6 months, I had really prayed to my Heavenly Father to help me to be able to remember my sisters names at church. I have a REALLY hard time remembering names and I wanted to get to know the sisters. Well, about 2 weeks later, I was called to be the Relief Society Secretary. Chris was the president, with Kim and Laurie as her counselors. It was an incredible year before Chris and Kim and Laurie were released. I was kept in to serve with Susie and Jackie and Charisse. Wow, I did not know why I was kept in, but was happy to be there. I HAD learned all of my sisters names, and all about them. One more year with Susie and girls, and this last weekend, I was released and called into the Nursery. I am finding that when I ask Heavenly Father for something that to me would seem so easy of a thing, he gives me a 2 year mission and stretches me and makes me grow beyond the simple request. I wanted to know names, I came to know hearts! What a wonderful blessing my Heavenly Father gave me. I have been able to serve my sisters one way and now have the great blessing to serve them another. I am Thankful for the friendships that I now have from serving with these amazing ladies; Chris, Laurie, Kim, Susie, Charisse, Jackie. I have learned how to be a cheerleader, how to sometimes speak soft, how to look at things from a different angle, how to be positive, (Come what may and LOVE it).

25 Things About ME!

2009-02-02T20:05:00.000-08:00

So on facebook several friends of mine have been "Tagged" and asked to tell 25 things about them. It has been really fun to read about them. And then I was "Tagged". This is the list that my husband and son help to create. It really is not as easy as it looks. (And yes, Aaron,number 25 is true!)
1. My shop is better than Jeff's
2. I dye my eyebrows
3. I can play the violin
4. I can't play the accordian
5. I don't make New Year resolutions, I find themes for the year. This year is from President Monson's October Conference "Find Joy In The Journey"
6. i don't have a favorite color, but I love Camo
7. I can have a converstaion with a 3 year old deaf child. That is about it for my sign language
8. I have been a worker at girls camp for over 8 years and LOVE IT!
9. I have night terrors and scare my kids!
10. I can shoot a gun and I have a compound bow. (And I do not hunt!)
11. In the case of a water landing, I can be used as a floatation device
12. My kids love my cooking
13. I am a beauty school drop out. (There is a song about that!)
14. I have been married longer than I have not! (And Loving IT!)
15. I asked my husband to marry me! (And he said YES! Silly Man!)
16. I have been the only one to give my husband hair cuts in the last 22+ years
17. I was in a beauty contest (Ms. Alpine) and got Ms. Photogenic
18. I have lived on the East Coast and the West Coast
19. I am a statistic (In many ways)
20. I am ambidextrous but I had to look up how to spell it!
21. I can't spell
22. I love to eat! But, not vegetables. That is what food eats!
23. I collect things
24. I am a night owl
25. I used to be really shy. Jeff cured me of that.

Gingerbread Houses

2009-01-23T09:19:00.000-08:00

Just before Christmas we had some families over to make Gingerbread/Graham Cracker houses. This was so fun. I am bummed that not all the pictures I took turned out. What a great way to have a instant village!

What do ya mean we are out of candy?!

5 Things

2008-12-30T23:21:00.000-08:00

I have looked at so many other blogs and Janelle's is probably my favorite place to land. She has one entry that I love and it is about things about her. I sat down and tried answering some of the questions that she asked. It is harder than it looks. I really had to sit and think on some of these questions. Some of them (the negative stuff) almost was too easy where the positive stuff was harder. I think it should be the other way around. I will have to work on that. So here is my first attempt on 5 Things about me...

5 Things I am good at:
1. I am good at cooking. I even can say that I am great at crockpot cooking.
2. Organizing. I love to organize. I love when I have the time to organize.
3. Coping crafts. I love to look at other people's projects and see if I can copy them. Most of the time I like to think I do a pretty good job.
4. Crewl Work. I have not done this in years, but some of my stuff was nice.
5. I can sing like a rock star when I am driving in my truck and no one can hear me!

5 Things not so good at:
1. My handwritting is not very good. I wish this was better.
2. I can not sew.
3. I can not memorize scriptures like I should. I have a hard time reading them.
4. I can not play the piano.
5. I can not loose weight. It keeps finding me.

5 Things I Want To Learn:
1. How to make really good jewelry.
2. MORE sign language.
3. Shoot an arrow straight and not hurt my arm.
4. More computer skills
5. Photography

5 Things I Want To Do:
1. Take line dancing/Swing with my sweetheart. (He hates to dance so I don't see this one happening..)
2. Have a home of my own that I can paint any color I want.
3. Go on a mission with my sweetheart.
4. Explore the world.
5. See all my kids marry in the temple.

5 Places I Want To Go:
1. Go on a cruise anywhere with my sweetheart.
2. Go to Disney World
3. Hike on warm beach coast with DaNae
4. All over the U.S.
5. This one I need to think about some more...

Our Tree

2008-12-28T22:42:00.001-08:00

No, your eyes are not seeing thing wrong. The tree is hung from the ceiling and it is upside down. What seems like a life time ago...the harp music takes us back...We were living in Eagle Point, Oregon and we were beyond poor. On Christmas Eve, Jeff had been at Home Depot and found this tree with all the lights and decorations, marked down, marked down to $3.00 What a deal. I was doing day care and I was worried about my little ones taking it apart. So I had Jeff hang it from a opening to the kitchen. We ran lights from the tree all the way around the room. It was perfect. The next year we came up with the crazy idea to hang it upside down....from then on we trade off each year if it is upside down or right side up. One year Jeff even rigged it to a ceiling fan and it lit up and spun. Sad to say, our poor little tree is really falling apart. I am not sure it will last another year. This little tree reminds us of the love we received from strangers, or rather, special angels that took care of our family the year we got this tree.

Klaira's Choir

2008-12-28T21:51:00.000-08:00

Klaira is in a choir at school and also is a part of a choir that meets at night during the week. You have to try out for the choirs and Klaira has done a great job with both of them. These pictures were taken at the Winter Performance. What a great group of girls! Very talented!