Who needs a Professional Anymore

The girls and I had a fun time painting our nails this weekend. We never have to go to a salon for a manicure again as we can now do the fancy stuff ourselves. I went to a craft fair back in November and found this great kit that applies the decorative flowers on your nails. It was a bit more than I wanted to spend but when I divided up the cost between us 4 girls, it didn't seem so bad. At least I felt better justifying buying it. Besides it is about $5 a nail for a flower at the salons. They are plates that you have with designs etched into them and you put the polish on that, scrap the excess away and then stamp them on your nail. It is so cool and looks even great on non painted nails. They even have a plate for a french manicure without all the fuss. It takes a bit of practice but if you mess up, it is easy to redo it. There are dozens of plates to choose from-I even got one for M that has basketballs and softballs on them. They will be fun to wear during the BB season that has just started. Don't get me wrong. I still love the attention that I get with a manicure at a salon. No one will rub my feet at home, so I can't say that I will never get a salon manicure again. But the decorative stuff is now done at home. If anyone wants to try it, come on over. You will have too much fun.

Family Pictures

I wanted to post the pictures of our family from this fall. We went to Helen Hunt Falls with a couple of families to take family pictures back in September when the autumn colors were still abundant. The family pictures were taken by our friend, R with her new camera and the rest were off my camera after we headed out to hike around. It was a gorgeous day and there were not many people out so we were able to pretty much have the mountain to ourselves. As you can tell by some of the pictures, we had a blast having fun with each other. My kids are quite the goof balls at times. Some of them you will recognize as they are posted on my sidebar and one I used as our Christmas card, but I wanted to post the rest of them for you to see.

The Day After

You should all be rested up and out of jammies and ready to face reality again now that Christmas is over. I don't know about you, but I love Christmas just for the sheer fact that I can lay around in my jammies all day and not feel guilty about it. I hope that everyone had a glorious day and enjoyed some family time. We had a great time playing new games (we got many of those) and watching new movies (again we got lots of those), talking to family on the phone and just plain relaxing. The day was nice and sunny although M would have preferred to have snow- she wanted a white Christmas (I guess she should have been in Utah for that--they had a blizzard!) We didn't venture out though, not even for the newspaper. We were content to stay inside and be lazy. It was a great day!

We didn't even go out today either. My hubby had to go to work, but we decided that we would wait until Monday to do some shopping. The kids have money burning holes in their pockets, but I did not want to be among the many many shoppers trying to find deals after Christmas. I would rather enjoy more lazy time, which felt good again for another day. Can I spend the whole weekend in jammies too? I guess New Years is just around the corner so we can do the whole relaxing thing over again. Sounds good to me!
I had to include these pictures of us on our way to church this last week. I always have to get pictures of us in our nice holiday attire, much to the children's chagrin. You would think that they would be use to it after all these years.

Holiday Concert

You might have noticed a couple of songs on my playlist from Jim Brickman--okay maybe a few more than that. If you haven't heard of him, he is a piano player. A very good piano player-America's Romantic Piano Sensation. I don't recall how we first heard of him, but several years ago we went to his Christmas concert here in the Springs. He has several people tour with him so it is not just the piano. That first concert he had a guy and a girl singing and a guy playing the electric guitar. They sing Christmas songs plus do some of his "hits". It was such a good concert, that we decided that we would make that a tradition every Christmas. The very next year, he didn't come to CO and we were bummed. But he came that year after and we got 2nd row seats. It was so good. He had totally different people with him that time. We had back stage passes so we were able to meet them all up close and get pictures. This year, he only came to Denver, so we braved the cold last week and went up. He was playing with the Colorado Symphony plus had 2 of the 3 people with him from the first concert we saw. We had 4th row seats and again it was fabulous. It is just a great way to get into the holiday spirit. Okay, you can call us "old fogies" cuz we like the mellow music, but go here to listen to more and I bet you will like it too. Don't get me wrong, there are times when I need some good rock and roll with lyrics and a beat to dance to. My kids tell me I scare them sometimes. I guess it is the 80's coming out. But for those quiet times that I want to just relax, Jim Brickman music can't be beat. This picture is from the Holiday Concert 2006

Hungry?

How can something that tastes so good be so bad for you? I really don't think it is fair. Tonight for FHE, we ventured out in the freezing temperatures (yes, 5 degrees) to enjoy dinner at Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Tonight was their grand opening and it was pretty busy. We were lucky to find a table. In fact, we had to split up and take 2 tables. But it was worth it. We first ate at this place this fall in Utah and we were so excited when we saw one was opening up here. Their burgers are better than Fat Burgers--2 patties on their regular size burgers with whatever you want on it. We ordered two large fries for the 6 of us and couldn't even come close to finishing them. Gotta try it- you won't regret it. Well, you may when you feel the need to spend more time on the bike to work off all those yummy calories. But, hey, you need to enjoy life, right?! HINT: GO HUNGRY - skip lunch.

I Would Like To Thank.......

What can I say? This is truly an honor to receive this award. Thank you to my friend for the "Your Blog is Fabulous!" award. You can check out her fabulous blog here

OK, so here are the rules about this award:

Firstly - I must list 5 of my fabulous addictions:

playing games
ice cream
family trips
taking pictures
Natural Ice chap stick

Secondly - I must pass this award on to 5 other fabulous blogs:
I am awarding this to people who I find inspiring, entertaining, or just flat out hilarious.

1. 3 Toads and a Princess
2. museummuses
3. McKendrick Family
4. Bridgette & Keith
5. Blankenship Family

Congratulations, one and all!


Thirdly - I must post the rules:

The rules of this award are:
1. You have to pass it on to 5 other fabulous blogs in a post.
2. You have to list 5 of your fabulous addictions in the post.
3. You must copy and paste the rules and the instructions below in the post.

Instructions: On your post of receiving this award, make sure you include the person that gave you the award and link it back to them. When you post your five winners, make sure you link them as well. To add the award to your post, simply right-click, save image, then "add image" it in your post as a picture so your winners can save it as well. To add it to your sidebar, add the "picture" gadget. Also, don't forget to let your winners know they won an award from you by emailing them or leaving a comment on their blog.

Remembering

I can't let this day go by without remembering my sister, Pam. She passed away 9 years ago today at the age of 42. It is hard to believe it has been that long, but then again, I can still remember the phone call from my father that Saturday-where I was, what I was doing, who was there...... She had been sick for almost a year, but we were hopeful. But the Lord needed her more than we did and we were happy that she was finally free of pain. That Christmas was the hardest ever but also the best since we were all together as a family. We spent the holidays reminiscing, laughing, and crying but happy, too. We knew that she was in a better place and that we would be able to see her again. We talk about her often in our home. There is a picture of my sisters and I on a shelf, so my kids can see her. The kids know her in some small way or another. T and M remember a few things from when she was alive, J only knows that she never got to meet her Aunt Pam because she was only 6 months old, and we tell K that she was lucky because she got to meet her in the spirit world before she was born. (J thinks she got the raw end of the deal) Anyway, life goes on and we remember the fun times--like going with her and her roommate and her sisters down the Alpine Slide--and the not so fun times--like when she was working after college and I went to visit her. I had to sleep in her waterbed with her and she kept hitting me and telling me to stop moving cuz I was creating waves in the bed. I remember staying up all night too afraid to sleep for fear that I would move. Of course after that, I slept on the couch. But we are sisters and always will be. I am happy to know that my Savior loves me enough to help us find our way back to each other when the time is right. Even though time heals all wounds, I still shed a tear every December 11 for my big sister. This year was no different.

Deck the Halls

For family night, we decorated our Christmas tree. It was weird to have a bare tree up in the living room for 2 days. Usually we set out to decorate it right away. But as I said in my last post, we were way too busy to get to it on Saturday. Then we were going to do it on Sunday after church, but we were so tired that we took long naps (they were nice too). We fed the missionaries and watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional that evening, so again, we had no time. Thank goodness for FHE. Every year, we let the kids pick out an ornament to buy and it is so fun to see what they pick each year. It really does show their personality. I get a kick out of watching the kids get out their past ornaments and get excited all over again. They line them up and recall the memories that go with each of them. The little girls like to actually play with them as they would their dolls. T has picked airplanes for 10 of the 15 years. M has several Harry Potter ones, but then has some sport ones and some action ones like Star Wars and Indiana Jones. The little girls have a variety of Barbie and Princess with some animals mixed in there too. Our tree is so packed with the kids ornaments that when they all leave home and take them with them, we will have a very bare tree. Anyway, we had a great time decorating and it is so nice to have a completely decorated house now. Since the presents were all wrapped, it was great to just slide them under the tree and be done.

The Annual Christmas Tree Hunt

Saturday we headed to the forest in search of that perfect Christmas tree. We have never really found it since these trees are more like the Charlie Brown Christmas trees, but this year we found the best one yet. We were thrilled to find it standing alone without other trees crowding it. It was about 14 feet tall and seemed to not have many bare spots which is rare to find. It was a gorgeous day to spend outside hiking and playing in the snow. We all look forward to going every year.
Once we got home, the boys went to work putting the outside lights up after getting the tree into the house. We had no time to decorate it as we had a whole evening planned with other things.
M was in the Parade of Lights again this year with her middle school band. She was front row right on the end as usual playing the trombone. It was such a nice night to watch a parade. We got there late and it was packed so we didn' even get to put our chairs out and relax. But it was fun anyway. Last year T was in it too and they were on opposite ends of the front row. So it was nice to have her march right next to us.
After that was over, we hurried to the church building to attend our ward Christmas party. We felt bad that we were not dressed in the theme of the night as it was all decorated to look like Bethlehem. The Activities Committee did a great job setting the mood for the night. We did bring our blankets to sit on while we ate and watched the nativity. We had a good time, but we were so tired from running all day that we were happy when the evening was over and we could go home and put on our jammies. It was quite the fun family day. There is never enough of those kind of days for me so I love having them when I can. Now we just need to decorate the tree and we are set for the season.

Okay, I'm Ready Now!

Thanksgiving is over and I am officially ready to start enjoying the Christmas season. I have updated my background as you can tell and added Christmas music as you can hear, so let the festive mood begin.

I love Christmas. It is my favorite time of the year with all the beautiful lights and decorations, the gift giving, the Christmas music, the many smells, and the family time. I love the snow-it adds to the season, too. I have a hard time with people getting Christmas out before Thanksgiving is even here. I think that holiday gets a raw deal because it is always overshadowed by all the Christmas that is out early. But since it is December 1st tomorrow, I am rearing to go. I am hoping for a snow day for school so I can spend all day pulling out the decorations. Seminary has already been cancelled and the kids have a 2 hour delay, so we are getting close to that. The house lights will have to wait until the snow melts off the roof and we will go this Saturday to the mountains to cut our tree, but other than that, I am ready to spruce up the house with some Christmas spirit.

Happy Decorating Everyone!

My Two Cents

I guess it is time I weigh in on the movie Twilight. Yea, I know it is crazy, but I have heard and read several comments from friends on their take of the movie, so thought it was my turn. First off, let me make it clear that I am not a fanatic. I have read the books only once and in fact I still have not read the 4th book yet. That should be sign enough right?! Anyway, my daughter M is 12--enough said. She has read the books way too many times to count. She and her friends talk all the time about Edward and Bella and Jacob. She is fanatic enough for both of us, although she does not have Twilight tshirts to wear or pictures of the characters plastered everywhere. Anyway, she has been counting down the days to this movie and I have been excited as well to see how they bring the book to life. So I took her out of school on Friday to go see it. (yes, you can say it, I am the coolest mom ever--I ROCK!) Now, I didn't expect it to be outstandingly fabulous. There is no way that the movie ever is as good as the book. So I was okay with the movie. I thought it was pretty good-entertaining and I thought worth the $5 ticket price. I am sure that I will see it again and if M has her way, we will own the DVD the very day it comes out. By the way, she loved it!!!! Loved it!! It was interesting to see the people that were picked to play each character. I thought they did great in picking Dr. Cullen, Emmett, James and Edward. I really didn't like Bella but with her personality, I am not sure if any other actress could have portrayed her any differently or better. My favorite scene in the movie is the baseball game. I just liked the way they played it, their uniforms, their quirky comments and responses. The fight in the studio wasn't bad either. Anyway, I am glad that I saw the movie and on top of that, I had some fun mom/daughter time.

Another Happy Birthday

I have to give a shout out to my dear husband on his birthday. Well, it was actually Sunday, but it has taken me this long to get the pix off my camera. I had to post pictures of him and "the hat!" We have this goofy tradition that everyone has to wear this birthday hat while opening presents. We actually have two different ones, but I think this is goofier (is that a word?) so I pull this one out first. You can't see if very well in the pix but it has candles that come out the top and flop around.

Another tradition is picking a place to eat out, but since it fell on a Sunday this year, I cooked him one of his favorite meals-Chicken Lasagna, homemade french bread and a banana cream pie for dessert. Of course, we went out on Monday night for FHE to Texas Roadhouse. Gotta love those rolls!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY!!!!

The Mouse Hunt

I hate to admit this because it sounds like we are unclean, slobs at our house or something, and I really don't want everyone to know certain things that happen in our home. I have been wondering if I should really write this post or not but have decided to only for the fact that I want this to be a funny family memory for when the kids get older. So with that said---we had mice! HAD being the key word in that sentence. Also, I must state that they were not in the house.

It all started several weeks ago when we saw Duke sniffing around in the garden. We had taken the wire fence down that kept him out of the garden during the summer and now we had noticed him with his nose at the fence. He was quite fixated on something and for awhile I just blew it off. But after watching him for a bit I got curious myself and went out to investigate. I saw that he had this look in his eyes of "I see something that I want to get really bad!" It was all consuming for him and he would not look away or be distracted by me telling him to come. Finally I got him out of the garden and decided to just watch and wait. Sure enough, right where he had been sniffing, a mouse jumped up and ran to a hole along the fence. I just stood there amazed. Of course, I was not happy to have mice, but thank goodness for Duke-he is almost as good as a cat. I went about setting traps for those pesky little rodents and by the next day I had caught one. But I knew there was another around and figured I better clean out the garden of all the corn stalks and pumpkin vines and such. So on the weekend, we pulled it all out and hoped that Duke had eaten the last mouse and our problem was gone.

No such luck as the next week, we had noticed mouse droppings in the garage. A few years ago, we had found some mice in our garage that had nested in our insulation and was eating our bird seed. We cleaned everything out and killed 2 mice. So when we saw the signs that they were back we were not happy. As some of you know, we are finishing our basement and all of our stuff from there is in the garage, so we were not looking forward to moving it all out to catch some mice. We set up traps again after I saw a mouse run right in front of me as I was about to walk up the garage steps into the house. My hubby asked if the neighbors heard me scream--hahaha. He is so funny, but I did not scream at all. Just watched in amazement of the guts this little guy had. Anyway, we ended up catching 2 mice this last week. We figured that was all of them but knew we would still have to clean out the garage.

Saturday was the day. We would have to start early as BYU was playing Air Force in football and we had tickets. We couldn't be late for the flyover-that is the best part. We enlisted the help of all the kids to check every piece for holes and move it all out onto the driveway. It was quite funny as several people driving by thought we were having a garage sale and stopped to ask about it. We had everything moved out except some shelves that were against the wall near the insulation. As we were moving those, a mouse ran out. Not another one. We ended up losing track of him and so we moved on to what they were eating - weed and bug killer for the lawn. I thought that is poisonious but I guess not to mice. They had also found our grass seed to eat. Needless to say, everything for the yard that is in bags is now out in the shed. We decided that we could use hornet/wasp spray on the mouse to slow it down, so with T holding the shovel, M holding the big broom, and hubby with the foam spray, we hunted for another mouse. It was quite comical to see us running around the garage trying to get these mice. I wished I had videotaped it. In the end, we caught 3 more and to be graphic, one was chopped in half by my daughter (way to go M), one bashed with the shovel and one smashed by a 2X4 by my brave and fearless hubby. What a chore that ended up being. By the time we had finished cleaning and putting everything back in the garage, we were late for the game. We missed the flyover, but we had a great time at the stadium anyway. Cougars wailed on the Falcons. Way to go COUGS!!

So all in all, we caught 7 mice and we now have a nice clean garage floor. You all know who to call now for advise on that matter - We are pros now. Now if we could only get the basement finished.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

This is my mom and I at the Alpine Inn in Hill City, SD this summer. We are waiting for our Filet Mignon to come-it was so yummy we went there twice that trip. My mom is one of my best friends and I love that we get to spend time together, although it is not as often as I would like. Hey, you and dad could always move over here (hint, hint). Anyway, I hope you have a great day today and that dad spoils you with fun times and fun food. I will eat some dark chocolate in your honor today!

LOVE YOU MOM!

When the guys are away, the girls will play

We have a tradition in our home. It is GIRL'S NIGHT anytime the guys go on a camp out. It use to be only on Father and Son's camp out, but now that my hubby is a scout leader, they will have camp outs once a month. That is good for us girls. We help get them ready, send them off and then it is our time. We do dinner out, watch movies, pop popcorn, paint fingers and toes and what ever else we want to.

Tonight we went to Cici's for dinner and then picked up a couple of movies to watch. The little girls picked Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus Best of Both Worlds and M and I got Journey to the Center of the Earth. We had to stop at Lowe's for some traps-we have a mouse running around outside. It is so funny to watch Duke when he picks up the scent. He goes wild and can't think of anything else-he is extremely focused. Anyway, I am actually writing this post as the little girls are watching their movie. I couldn't bring myself to watch Hannah Montana AGAIN and I guess K couldn't either. She came down a few minutes ago and said she didn't want to watch it anymore, that it was just a bunch of singing. I don't know what she thought it was going to be, but she was not excited about it.

I hope the boys are warm. I am sure they are not as it is suppose to get down to the teens tonight. I know I will be nice and toasty in my big ole bed tonight.

Better get back to girl's night and watch my movie.

A Different Halloween

This year I can honestly say was a very different Halloween than any other. Some things were the same while others had changed. Let's just say it was a transitional holiday for our family--let me explain:

Our Halloweens have consisted of ALL the kids dressing up. The Elementary kids taking their costumes to school for the parties and the parade. The family attending the Fall Festival at church, again ALL dressing up to participate in the parade and such. The week of Halloween found us all carving pumpkins for FHE. Then on that hallowed night, dressing up again and going as a family to the church Trunk of Treat, with a bit of Trick or treating after for the bigger kids. Pretty simple-everyone together in pretty much the same place. Well, the scenario has changed and I know that it will never be the same again. My kids are growing up (I hate it when they do that) and they have different ideas on what they want to do now. I guess I can't keep them to myself anymore.

We had our great Fall Festival and the little girls decided to be witches. We have done witches in the past, but this year we added black lips, black fingernails and black streaks in the hair. T didn't want to dress up at all. I guess that is not the thing to do once you are in high school. M decided to go the scary route this year by being a vampire (I wonder if that has anything to do with Twilight???) The little girls were the only ones to carve pumpkins this year, so the other 2 we bought are now part of my Thanksgiving display on the front porch.

Halloween night found us all going in many different directions. T had to be at the high school at 4:30 to set up his booth and would be there most of the night. I took the little girls Trunk or Treating at the church. M actually went too and handed out the candy while I got a chance to visit with friends I don't get to see very often anymore. Right after that, we dropped M off at a friend's for a party and to spend the night. I took the little ones to the high school for games, spook alleys, more Trunk of Treating, bouncy slides and yummy smores we cooked ourselves over a fire pit. T was working the mini golf for his ROTC and was having a great time. He was so cute with his sisters. He told all his friends who they were and to be extra nice to them. What a good big brother!! Anyway, they had a good time with that and by the time we got home, Daddy was there and he turned around and took them out to T&T the neighborhood. They were gone for a couple of hours, which is longer than normal. In the meantime, T came home and had to be at a Seminary party. So I picked up a few of his friends (girls) and dropped them off at the teacher's house. I got home and actually had some time to enjoy the quiet of the house before the little ones came home. They had a good time, just them and their dad.

Everyone seemed to have a great time and I will get over the lose of family time on Halloween. It is not my favorite holiday anyway, but I did look forward to the time we were together as a family. That is gone now, but I do enjoy seeing the kids doing other things that make them happy. So as a mother, I mourn the old Halloween traditions of being together, but bask in the new ones that find my children growing up and becoming their own person.

I am sure that next year will be even different still!

Oh So Many Tears!

It is October and what does that mean---FLU SHOTS! We get them every year since K ended up in the hospital for 2 days with Croup that was brought on by the Influenza virus. I still remember that day when her lips turned blue and she was sucking air so hard that her chest was caving in. I frantically called hubby from the doctor's office to tell him we were heading to the hospital. We were new to the area at the time and didn't know our way to the hospital, so we went by ambulance(no lights and sirens though-DARN!). The Fire Department had to be called to the doctor's office and so we made quite a scene at the time. That was quite the experience. Anyway, with hubby working with patients all day and kids in school, we figure that any help we can get to stay healthy, we will take it. Besides, our insurance pays 100%, so why not.

So, I call around to see when we can get these shots and find out that my doctor will give everyone shots except K. She is not a patient but if I paid for a doc visit, they would do it. OK, NO! I called her Ped. and got an appointment for a few days later. So, I take all the kids to the doc and meet hubby there so we can get them all done at the same time. I can't leave K by herself at home, so she comes too, knowing that she will not be getting her shot. They take us back 2 at a time to the nurse, so hubby and I go first. Okay, done. Next two are T and M. No problems there. Then it is J's turn. She is quite nervous about it, although for several days before she was bragging to everyone how much she likes getting flu shots. Too funny. Anyway, she wants me to go back with her, so I walk back there with her and K decides she wants to come too. I wrap my arms around J and she holds on for dear life as the nurse pokes her. All this time, K is watching intently to what is going on. We finish up and we are going to the basket full of goodies to pick one out and K starts crying. I don't notice it at first, but then all the nurses are asking what is wrong. When I ask her why she is crying, she says that she wants one too. I said of course she can have a goodie from the basket, but no, that is not what she wants. She is crying because she wanted to get a shot like everyone else. Oh, my poor baby. I try to explain to her that she will get hers in a few days, but that is not good enough. She just cries more. At this point, the nurses are asking why she isn't getting one. I explain that I am too cheap to pay for a doctors visit. They decide that they will ask to see if they can do it for her anyway. After a bit, they decide that they can do it after all. K is so excited she can't stand it. Go figure! Anyway, she gets the shot and everything is right in the world again. Thank goodness.

Who would have ever thought that she would be so upset not to be getting a shot. I remember last year when we took her into the doc for her flu shot. She had to be held down by both hubby and I as she was kicking and screaming so much. In fact, she was screaming so loud that the mother outside the room had to take her child down to the end of the hall because it was scaring him so much. It was so traumatic for her that is was upsetting for me to see. I felt like such a bad mother forcing this upon my child. How could I do this? What a difference a year makes. I guess they really do grow up and change in a blink of an eye. My sweet K!!

Dig! Set! Spike!

You sure can't beat a good volleyball game, especially when it is BYU. I guess not everyone likes to play volleyball, let alone watch it (I think that is just wrong!) Anyway, BYU girls played Air Force tonight at Clune Arena and of course, we kicked their behinds in three straight games. I know I am biased since I am a BYU Almun not to mention a volleyball player. But I sure love going to watch them play every year. My hubby and the 2 oldest had YM/YW tonight so I took the 2 little girls and went by myself. The girls always take paper and markers to make signs to hold up while they cheer. They are so cute. It sure brings me back to the good ole college days though-when there was not a care in the world (at least that is what we thought then). Actually we did care about being asked out on a date, passing tests and where our seat was going to be at the next home football game. But as I think back to those days now, they seem so small compared to the things we worry about now as mothers and wives. I loved my college years and would actually repeat certain years if I could. Definitely not my freshman year and probably not my 2nd year either, but the last 2 for sure. They were by far the most fun and the memories made then are some of my most cherished. I will hear a song or see something that will remind me of those glory days. Then I think about how long ago it was, and I cringe. I can't be that old already--wasn't it just yesterday I was walking that campus?

Some parenting insight from a GREAT MAN

This weekend was quite a busy one, especially for my hubby. We had the privilege of having President Dahlquist, General President of the Young Men's, come visit for a regional conference. It was such a big deal that everything that was planned for the wards and stakes were cancelled so that we could attend. Friday night was a fireside for the youth and all youth leaders, so my hubby took T and they loved it. It was only for 14 and up, so M couldn't go. I guess he just told stories the whole time and I hear everyone was mesmerized with him. Then Saturday morning, he held a training meeting for all leaders of youth. So for 4 hours, hubby got to learn from him. He said he couldn't believe how fast the time went it was so good. Then that evening, they had another fireside but this one was only for the parents of youth. So I was happy to finally get to hear him speak. It was wonderful. It is amazing how good he is at speaking as he used no notes. He gave us some insight on how to help our children, how to teach them and raise them up right. So I would like to pass on that insight to you and hopefully it will be of some use for you.

He said there are three things we need to concentrate on:

1. Strengthen the Family
He told great stories about how he and his wife taught their 5 daughters while they were growing up. He said his wife decided one day that they needed to learn poetry, so they memorized poems in FHE. He spouted several of them from memory, some totally funny and others poignant. He even quoted one from the Bernstien Bears. He also said that the FHE manual that came out in 1970 had a new song in the back of the book - "Teach me to Walk in the Light". They have sung that song every FHE since then. When he travels and is away from home on Monday night, he would call home and they would sing the song together over the phone. He stressed to always stick to having FHE, family scripture study and family prayer no matter how hard it might be to find a good time to do it. NEVER GIVE UP!!

2. Strengthen the Kingdom
It doesn't matter what calling you hold in the church-all callings teach the youth of the church in some way or another. Always do your best in the calling that you hold and know that there is a purpose for you to be there and that they are watching you. The youth, not just your children, will see what you do and how you do it and they will learn from watching you.

3. Strengthen the Boy
(He talked about the YM, but he did say that this also refers to YW)
Be there for them and support them in whatever they are doing. Be there to cheer them on. Teach them to do hard things. (I really liked hearing this as my children seem to think that some things are too hard and then I feel bad that I am making them do it) Encourage them all along the way-help them to know they can do it. By doing this, they will be prepared for their missions. Remind them often they are Sons of God! Also, help them to have positive things to help them know who they are--that reinforces who they are. His suggestions were things that could be in their bedrooms on their walls, i.e. temple pictures, mission sayings, picture of Christ, etc. He stated that work is something that you may not want to do but you stick with it until it is done. (I liked that because just that morning, my son was working on a yard that he was hired to take care of for the summer. Since it is now fall, the owner had told him all the things she wanted him to do to get it ready for the winter like raking the leaves, trimming the flowers and shrubs, weeding, mowing, fertilizing and so on. It was a big job so while my hubby was at the church meetings in the morning, I went and helped him. At one point, only about an hour into the job, he commented to me how this was boring and he just wanted to mow. At that time, we was on his knees weeding the flower beds and trying to get all the many leaves up from inbetween the plants. I know that he was thinking that if it was time to mow, then he would be done after that. I tried to explain to him that this was good for him and it needed to be done right for him to get paid for it. It got me thinking that maybe I am not teaching him well enough for him to get the message? But, after hearing what Pres. Dahlquist said about work, maybe he really is getting the message. Maybe there is hope as I know he felt good about getting it done and how it looked)

What a wonderful man. You could just feel the sprit in the chapel as he spoke to us that night. I only wish I could have attended more of the meetings. It was truly inspirational. And I know that all who attended (adults and youth) were filled with a deeper desire to do better, to be a better Latter-day Saint.

Small World

I have got to tell you--this blogging is amazing. You know, I have been reading other blogs for several months (like 6 months or so). I have found several people I know from past years and it has been fun to see what they have been up to. And then of course, my friends and family that have a blog that I can keep up with their lives so easily. Anyway, once I started my blog I noticed a friend of mine from when we lived in another city had a name of someone I knew from here on her blog list. Come to find out, they are related. What a small world! I would have never known that otherwise. What a great invention - this blogging. Thanks for the comments. It has been so fun to read them, so keep them coming.

It's Good to be Back--I think?!

We are now back from vacation and I am thrilled to be able to share it with everyone. We had a great time in Utah. My hubby decided that he wanted to go to Utah so since it has been way too many years to remember that he has gone with us, I was eager to go. (thank goodness for Fall break from school) Our main objective was to attend General Conference since no one but I has ever gone. We were able to get tickets for the Saturday afternoon session and wouldn't you know, it was pouring rain. I was so looking forward to laying out a blanket on the grass and listening to the talks with K. Instead, the two of us had a wonderful time going around Temple Square while my hubby took the other kids into the session.

My parents get the privilege of working all the conference sessions as they are service missionaries on Temple Square. My father was able to get the guys RED TICKETS for the Priesthood Session. They were seated in about the 6th row with all the family members of the General Authorities. As me and the girls were having dinner, he would text me to tell me that he had just shook hands with L. Tom Perry, or that he just had a conversation with Elder Tah, or Elder Russell M. Nelson was standing behind him talking to his relatives. They were in heaven and I was glad that T especially could experience that.

We had a great time going to Hill Air Force Base and getting the royal treatment (thanks Scott). That is T's favorite place and we never miss a chance to go see the museum. We were able to see a new "Pave Low" helicopter that had just arrived a few weeks earlier still with the dirt and grim from Iraq. It had stopped off to help with Hurricane Ike on its way to the museum. Thanks to Scott, we were able to go behind the ropes and go inside where he gave us the run down on this big beast. Of course, we had a blast playing on the simulators as well. I even got to visit with his wife (an old friend from CO) for awhile too.Our family has developed a love for caving and whenever we can go inside one, we do. So we took a trip up the mountain to Timpanogos Cave. It is quite the hike--1.5 miles but very strenuous as it is definitely uphill all the way. The kids beat us adults up with no problem, even K. We are not as young as we used to be that is for sure. It was a beautiful hike though as the leaves were still changing colors and they were brilliant. The little girls became JUNIOR Rangers and got their badges to go along with the 10 or so others that we have for National Parks and Monuments.

We heard a storm was coming in from Alaska and would hit Saturday night. Since we were planning on going home through Wyoming, we decided that we would try and beat the storm and leave Sat morning. We made it to the mouth of the canyon when it started snowing and it didn't let up. In fact, we ran into a traffic jam east of Evanston that had us at a dead stop for over 2 hours. And as we were stopped the storm got worse and worse. We were afraid that we would be in this kind of snow the whole way home. Just a hint---make sure you go to the bathroom before you get stranded in a snow storm. I almost........well, I won't go into it, but I'll just say that I couldn't hold out much longer. It must have snowed at least 3 inches by the time the plows came and cleared a way for us. It was quite the adventure which seems to always be the case for our family vacations recently. After that, it was smooth sailing . We ran into rain, fog, flurries, and sunshine the rest of the way. We still don't know what the hold up was...an accident, just trucks getting stuck, who knows. But we did see a big semi jack-knifed going the other way and traffic was backed up for almost 6 miles (we clocked it). I have never been on a road that has so many semis, but I think we like going I-80 better than I-70, even though we have the wind to contend with. Anyway, we had a good time all the way around. Thanks Mom and Dad for the fun and food and memories. We always have such a fun time and I hate to leave when the time comes.

Are you sitting down?

After months of reading friend's blogs and finding more people I knew through those blogs as well as friends telling me I should do this, I thought it was about time I stepped into the blogging circle. I knew it was only a matter of time before I succumbed and so now you can all tell me - "I told you you'd love it!!" So hang on while I take the time to make this my own. I am on vacation, so I am doing a little at a time between family outings and such. Besides, all my pictures are on MY computer at home, so it will be a little dull until I can get those. I know this will be way too fun, so keep checking back to see what I have come up with.