Happy? New Year's Eve

Since I have spent 6 hours at the hospital today, and have only been home for 1/2 an hour, this will be quick. Wynn & Gary both got their nose straightened today. Yes, they chose this date simply for insurance reasons & because they didn't want it done on Christmas Eve. All went well, and now, they will be able to breathe, something Wynn has never been able to do, & Gary not since he broke his nose so many times in wrestling. So my celebrating will be spent taking care of them. Thank goodness neither of them are the whiney, sick male type. They just deal with it quietly & recover quickly. That's how I can handle both of them doing this at the same time. And they took care of me last year, so.....

2008 was a good year for us, not so much for the country or world. May 2009 be everything you need it to be. Love ya, from our house to yours.

Now I better go check on the men folk.

You're finally 7

We took down all the Christmas decorations on Saturday because...today is Tanner's birthday!!! We used to leave them up until January 2nd, but we want his birthday to be just that, his birthday, seperate from Christmas. This year neither have been very exciting for him. He woke up Christmas morning with a fever & has been sick ever since, so has been heavily medicated, but still played with his toys while awake. He seems to be doing better today, and is playing with Lexie with all his toys. He wants to build a snowman with all the snow we've gotten lately, but going outside & getting wet & cold would probably not be the best idea.

Tanner is our youngest & so (as Gary says) our most spoiled, since he has older siblings with money. They all get him birthday presents as well. He seems much older than he is most of the time, because of being raised with older children I believe. He is a few grades higher on all levels in school & extemely smart, but every once in a while he says or does something that reminds us that, yes, he is just a little boy....

This summer I was cooking dinner & asked the kids what vegetable they wanted. Tanner asked, "Could we have melted corn? That's my favorite!" I told him sure, but had to turn away I was laughing so hard. Melted corn? Really? I had never thought of creamed corn that way before. But think about it, isn't that what it would look like to a little child? To this day it is called melted corn in our house. I will have to be sure this next year to print more 'Tannerisms' so we don't forget them. He is so wise in his childlike/grownup way.

We love you Tanner!!! Happy Birthday!

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Here is some Christmas music (2) & pictures to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas.

Lexie and her friend Rachael, accompanied by Emily, singing 'Estrella de Luz' for their Spanish class program.
(they didn't have the microphone very high so I don't know how well you can hear them. They did very well though.)

Morgan played 'Jingle Bell Rock' with her piano teacher, Janette Peterson, at her house for the piano recital yesterday. She did so well.

Every year we get a real tree. This isn't a very good picture, but the kids decorate it with lots of love & tradition.

The nativity under the tree isn't showing, but here is the nativity in the living room.

Have a very Merry Christmas everyone!

From our house to yours.

Catching up #5--The wedding

On November 21, 2008 Andy Jenkins & Leza Farmer were married in the Logan Temple. The day before we had hurricane force winds, I swear. As I was driving Tanner & myself to school, he said, I hope it isn't doing this tomorrow, it will ruin the whole wedding. His little prayers for this were answered as we had a BEAUTIFUL day for a wedding, even though it was the end of November & just a week before Thanksgiving.

Here are a few pictures Drew took of that day:

Andy & Leza at my house ready to head to the luncheon




View from the back of the luncheon (I had 6 very wonderful friends help me with serving the luncheon, but I didn't realize noone got a picture of them. They were Debbe Balling, Jennifer Stenquist, Vicki Nielson, Alice Lucherini & MaryAnne Essig. Thank you my very wonderful friends/sisters)

With the parents at the luncheon

The most important event of the day had just happened. Coming out of the Logan Temple as Brother & Sister Jenkins

With both families (it was cool/cold in the shadows, but perfect in the sun)

With parents and grandparents from both sides

I love this one of the rings and bouquet

In front of the Logan Temple

Our family at the reception
She had her aunt make a grooms cake for him out of my (his favorite) carrot cake recipe as a surprise

The cake, made by her aunt

Oh, the weather outside is frightful....

Working for the school, I get a Christmas break with my kids. Mine started yesterday, which gives me (including weekends) 18 days off!! My kids are at school right now, therefore getting only 16 days off. Tanner & I went to a program for Lexie's spanish class yesterday morning at 8:30, before his school, (will have that posted later), and it was all of -4* outside on the car thermometer!!! Yes, you read that right, 4* below 0! & my car always matches the radio & reader boards in town. I am not a cold weather person. I came home & curled up in a blanket & watched sappy movies.

Today I have visiting teaching at 10:30. So I got ready & took Tanner to school around 8:40 even though I'm not working. All morning it looked to be a nice morning even though they were predicting heavy snows. It had started snowing around Provo, but not here yet. Until 2 minutes before we were to leave that is!! Then it started an instant blizzard. It is only about 1 1/2 miles to the school from my house, 3 miles round trip. IT TOOK ME HALF AN HOUR!!!! And I am still going visiting teaching. I am not a snow on the roads person either! Thank goodness it is all just right here in the neighborhood.

Thank goodness Andy & Leza got home safely (at 12:16am) from their 3 day trip to Las Vegas. Yes, they were there for the famous 3 1/2 inches of snow stuck on the ground in Vegas. But Drew is in Ephriam/Manti for her roommates (from Snow) wedding today. She went down last night & is supposed to be coming home tonight. She has 4 brand new tires & lots of relatives & friends houses along the way home to stop if it is still nasty. Now I know how my mom felt when Wynn & I would take a trip in the wild Wyoming winters. Sorry mom.

Oh the weather outside is frightful....

Catching up--in addition to...

Drew has some pictures from her camera that she felt should be shared, so here they are...

This is her favorite picture of Gary at Halloween:

These are pictures Drew caught of Morgan opening the birthday present she gave her:

It is the Twilight sound track. I think she was a bit excited!

Catching up #4---You are the scariest undead thing, and I really mean that

Halloween 2008 at the Jenkins'. It seems long because of all the pictures, but it's pretty fast to scroll through. AND you wouldn't want to miss our favorite, we saved it until last. Enjoy.

This year it was warm enough that this is just how they went, no coats, no jackets of any kind. They loved it.

Tanner, the brave knight with me ready to go to school





As the red power ranger ready to get some treats





Lexie the vampire, nobody recognized her at school

Morgan, the woods nymph? (found out later they might not be a good thing to copy. better research next year) But isn't she cute?

Drew, the gothic vampiress:

Her true self?

Every year Gary will dress up as whatever we, as girls, want. This year has to be our all time favorite!!

The whole picture

Lexie couldn't resist writing this on his pants (do we watch too much Cars maybe?)

And here is the fam.

Catching up #3--Lexie's dance

This is Lexie dancing at halftime with the Vistauns at a Sky View football game in October. She is the little blonde in the middle-ish with her shirt tied in a knot in the back. They never have shirts small enough for her. Isn't she a cute little 11 year old?

Catching up #2--crazy hair day

The end of September, Tanner had crazy hair day at school. Since Drew is a beautician, he talked her into helping him. I know in this picture it looks green, but it was actually a BRIGHT yellow. He looked like a 'sun'!

From the front:
And from the back:

Catching up #1--color guard

Last spring Morgan decided she wanted to try out for color guard with the Sky View Marching Band in Smithfield, Utah. She made it. I didn't realize at the time that this is pretty much a year round thing. It cost $492.00, but they had many fund raisers that she was able to raise the majority of the money. They start in the spring with practices, & then go all through the summer, many times for 10-12 hours a day in the blazing heat. They were in many parades, as well, over the summer. When this season is over, they can try out for winter guard, of course this costs another $350.00, (this actually costs more than any of the sports my other kids were in. Who knew?) and is what makes it year round. Of course, her advisor begged her to do it. But, they did really well this year & even traveled to Las Vegas to compete in Bands of America with bands from all over the country. THEY PLACED 6th!!! This after placing 10th last year. WOOHOO!

Following is a video from BBI (Bridgerland Band Invitational) at USU on Sept 27th. (Sorry, Wynn needs to invest in a tripod before we do any more of these I think.) She is the dark haired one on the left hand side at the beginning. Then he gets a good close up of her on the side line.

Their theme was Jekyll & Hyde:

And here she is in one of the parades this summer

And maybe we'll get better at the whole picture/video thing for winter guard.

Expounding on the previous

Saturday I felt I needed to expound a little more on my experience of that morning, to explain where I was coming from, but when I got home, the computer was having a brain spasm & I couldn't get on the internet. Wynn fixed it Sunday night, so here I am, Monday afternoon, hoping I can remember the things I had to say....

For AmeriCorp, we need to do 50 hours of community service this school year...25 in an 'easy circle' meaning that it is something that is no big deal for us to do. Carpooling for Colorguard took care of that quite nicely & easily. The other 25 have to be in the 'hard circle'. It has to benefit the community, for a non-profit organization & cannot be for church. I thought I had a project lined up, actually putting kits together for CAPSA, but it fell through. Then our study group leader begged us to help her with her sub-for Santa project, there were plenty of hours for everyone! We said yes & she was to tell us when she needed us. I finally emailed her since none of us had heard from her...she had some USU students come & help her the week before instead, so she was all done. So #2 fell through. I thought I had another date lined up to do some things for CAPSA, but it happens to be next weekend, while I am supposed to be in Layton at my neice-in-law's baby shower!!! #3 falling through. At this point I am saying 'Are you kidding me!? It shouldn't be this hard, I already have part of the hours done!' So enter the ward Christmas party, I don't know what we're doing, but I figure we'll go, it'll be good.

Long about Friday night I start talking myself out of going, even though I was feeling so strongly that we needed to go.....It's the one morning I can sleep in, I could actually take my walk in the morning, I could take a bubble bath & maybe actually get some reading done, it's probably just a Church Humanitarian project. Yes, I actually thought just! This is when I realized how horrible I was being about it all and decided we were going no matter what they were doing.

We got there & ate breakfast & then I went around the doors & read what they were doing in each room. THAT is when I found out it was for CAPSA!!! I had to do some quick repenting. Here the Lord was trying to help me get my much needed hours while I was helping someone else & I was being whiney. I have spent the last 3 days apologizing to my Heavenly Father for being so ungrateful for the things I have & almost not doing something he was handing right to me. Very big teaching moment for me with my kids. Yes, I got something out of this, but if I hadn't quit my pitty party & gone, I would have missed the opportunity.....not only to get my hours, but to help someone in need when I have so much.

And I still got my walk & reading time in that day anyway.

A morning well spent

Have I mentioned before that we live in a really great ward? They did this last year, but I didn't get to go because they did it after I had my hysterectomy, therefore I was somewhat laid up. So this is the first time I got to participate.

For the ward Christmas party, they chose to do it on a Saturday morning. We went to the church at 8:00am & they fed us a nice breakfast of pancakes, sausage, eggs, milk, chocolate milk, & orange juice in the gym. Then they had tables set up, in the gym, young womens room, young mens room, & primary room. This is where the great morning comes in....

Young mens room---put together buckets of car cleaning supplies
Young womens room---put together hygeine kits
Primary room---put together buckets of house cleaning supplies, or make cute gloves for girls by gluing on beads or for boys by putting on sports stickers
Gym--a whole assembly line....sanding wooden cars, putting on the wheels, dunking them in mineral oil, & then wiping the oil off

We were there from 8am until 10:30am. There were close to 100 people who came, men, women, & children of all ages & walks of life. I wish I had a picture to put on here to show the amount of everything that was put together this morning & how much fun & joy we had doing it. There is no complaining of Why do we have to do this?, or How much longer is this going to take?, or Can we go home now?. There is only We're done already?!! I wish there was more to do. And so much fun had by all. There is so much love & caring going in to each project done that you can actually feel it. The kids know they are helping others that are less fortunate & only show love while doing this. Where are all these projects going now we have them done? To the local CAPSA organization. And to think that with all that was done this morning, they still need so much more. I wish you all could have been there.

And even though this does count for my service hours for AmeriCorp, (for those that figured that out) that isn't why I did it. I went without even knowing it was for CAPSA. I went because I wanted to help others. My kids (Gary, Morgan, Lexie & Tanner) wanted to help others. I thought we were doing a Church Humanitarian project that would not have counted for my hours. WE did it because.

Things we missed

I realize there are important things that have come and gone that I have not blogged about. Getting ready for a wedding, even as the mother of the groom, got very, well.......hectic? stressful? crazy?.....and yes, Leza knows this & is fine with the fact that I say it was that way. Plus doing my AmeriCorp requirements on top of it....well we won't go there right now. That's the purpose of this post. I am going to be doing posts of the things I missed posting about during that time. Things like Morgan's colorguard, Halloween, and now, the actual wedding, Thanksgiving, what have I been doing for AmeriCorp that takes so much time, etc.

Now I need to get ready for me to go to work & Tanner to go to school. Lexie came home early from school yesterday, she actually waited until she knew I was done teaching & then called me. I told her she can call me any time & I can come get her or get a friend to go. Her stomach hurt, and she is staying home today with it as well. She is old enough to stay home alone for 5 hours while I'm teaching. If it was more than that I would just get a sub.

Drew moved to an apartment in Logan on Tuesday. It is a really cute condo & she is living with 2 of her friends from her ward. It will be good for her to get out on her own again. She is just working right now at Master Cuts in the mall & being 21. She loves it.

Well, better run now so I'm not behind all day. The other posts are coming, I promise.

I haven't read the book yet....

But my 4 girls have. I took Drew, Morgan, Lexie & Leza to see Twilight yesterday. It was a Friday afternoon at 1:30. Of course, it was the day after Thanksgiving, so we got there early....not early enough apparently though. We didn't sit together. There was 1 empty seat here & there, so we asked people to scoot down to fill in empty seats so Morgan & Lexie could sit together on the end of a middle row, then clear in the top row so Drew & Leza could sit together. Everyone did so happily. They were all so nice about it. Several people were having to do the same thing. I found one empty seat where the people actually volunteered to scoot down so I could actually sit in front of Morgan & Lexie. There were only 2 empty parking spaces, in the back parking lot, after I found a parking spot. Was it worth it??? Remember, I haven't read the book. I LOVED the movie! My girls have read the book.....they LOVED the movie. All 4 of them. They say that I now have to find the time to read the book, that I will still love it. AND that I definitely have to read the other 3 as well. Maybe I can read them over the 2 weeks I have off for Christmas. We'll see.


Oh, and I am an Edward fan.......

Stolen Tag

I just got my nephew & his wife's blog address, so I stole this tag from them cause it looked like it could be fun.

Rules:
1. Get the book that's on your nightstand (or whatever you happen to be reading).
2. Open it to page 56 and find the 5th sentence.
3. Post the next couple of sentences on your blog, along with these instructions.
4. Do not go and find your favorite book; it has to be the one you are reading now!
5. Tag five other people to do the same.

I always have my book in my purse. I can usually read a book in a day, a big book in 2 or 3. I haven't had time to read lately so this one, though I really like it, has been in my purse for a couple months!!!! I am reading it, though slowly. Maybe this weekend. So here goes....

Jeri Gilchrist
Shadow of the Crown, pg 56

It was no wonder Sterling Blackman had brought him onboard to build the company. Christian had a gift for conveying his passion for the work and his belief in his co-workers. His excitement for ComTech's future was contagious.

So I tag Sandra, Tawnya, Cindy, & Kristina.

Happy Birthday.....late.

Oops. I was going to be so good to get the blogs done on the actual birthday. I was doing good until now. Saturday we just kind of took the day off & vegged after the wedding. So even though I told Morgan happy birthday & we knew it was her birthday, I spaced putting it on the blog. Soooo.........

I cannot believe Morgan is 15. Her birthday was November 22. She is a very smart & pretty girl. When she was born, we lived in Freedom, Wyoming. It was well below zero & we had a lot of snow. She was born the Monday before Thanksgiving, so we went to my inlaws house so I didn't have to do anything for Thanksgiving dinner, my baby being just a few days old an all. She refused to keep her blanket on. I put her in her carseat & sat her on the living room floor. I put a blanket on her since it was so bitterly cold, she kicked it off. Elaine, my mother in law, put it back on her, she kicked it off. Elaine kept putting it back on her & she would just kick until it was off then settle down in deep sleep, until the blanket was put back on. I finally convinced Elaine it wasn't worth it since she obviously didn't want it on so she just left it. Morgan isn't that way anymore. You can find her wrapped in a blanket any time she is sleeping, watching tv, reading.......etc., and definately has a zillion hoodies & jackets to wear.

We love you Morgan, Happy Birthday!!!

8x8x8x8.....

My sister tagged me. OK, so it's been a while, but here we go....

Eight things I'm looking forward to:

1. Andy & Leza's wedding on Friday in the Logan Temple.

2. Seeing my parents/family/friends Friday for the wedding.

3. Morgan's birthday on Saturday (I can't believe she is going to be 15!!)/ the other kids birthdays thru the year.

4. Thanksgiving at my sister-in-law Sirena's house. There is always a good time had by all. My kids beg every year to get to go & threaten mutiny if we don't.

5. Starting/finishing Christmas shopping (haven't done much besides wedding planning).

6. Listening to Christmas music/decorating/watching Christmas movies.

7. Gary going on a mission next summer!!! (though I am going to miss him while he is gone)

8. NEXT SUMMER! (a break from AmeriCorp for 3 months)


Eight things on my wish list:

1. A spotless house, all the time.

2. Continued health in my family.

3. To finish getting out of debt, we are so close.

4. The cars to continue functioning fabulously.

5. Our jobs to be secure/security.

6. My family to love each other unconditionally.

7. To travel more/to places I haven't been before.

8. Did I mention security?


Eight TV shows I like to watch:

1. NCIS

2. Psych

3. Monk

4. Burn Notice

5. In Plain Sight

6. My Own Worst Enemy

7. Life On Mars

8. Corner Gas

(as well as Privileged, 90210 & 3rd Rock From the Sun)


Eight things that happened yesterday:

1. I went to Curves at 5:30am.

2. I went to work.

3. I went to a study group for AmeriCorp.

4. I bought tablecloths for the wedding luncheon.

5. Drew cut Tanner's hair.

6. Drew got her hair colored for the wedding.

7. I started making tacos for dinner, but had to run Tanner for his haircut & the kids finished cooking.

8. Fell asleep watching TV (3rd rock) with Gary & Lexie.

Feel free to do as you please with these catagories.

Double good

My son, Andy, is getting married, next Friday...one week. His fiancee, Leza, went through the Logan Temple for the first time this morning. There happens to be a girl from our ward that is getting married the same day. She went through the same session. They were the only 2 new people in that session. How cool is that! We all got to be at the Temple with them, and they with us, and that kind of made up for us not being able attend each others receptions, in fact, it was way better. It made for a very special morning.

Done

I am done with the bridesmaid dresses. I have spent most of my time lately doing these. I haven't cooked dinner for my family forever & have been staying up late into the night, every night, trying to get them to be exactly what Leza wanted them to be. Of course, there are always snags.

We went by the girls measurements to get the patterns. Last time I sewed for Drew, we went by measurements & it was too small. This time the pattern sizes seemed too big...they were.

I cut them all out at the same time so I could just sew & not have to stop to cut out again. Lexie, still being in a childs size 7/8, though she is 2 months away from 12 years old, fit perfectly with her measurements. I did hers first & had no snags. Next I did Drew's. It fit her like a tent & I was going to have to take it in, a lot. So I started on Morgan's figuring it would be too big for her as well and I would just do the altering on both at the same time. As I was sewing Morgan's, I got to looking at it, and decided to have Drew try it on. It fit her perfectly. Stupid pattern measurements weren't even close!!! So I finished sewing Morgan's, for Drew. I now had 2 dresses down & had to figure out what to do for Morgan. I obviously couldn't go by the measurements on the patterns. I got some cheap fabric at DI & proceeded to make her a 'fake dress' out of the same pattern as Lexie. She will be 15 the day after the wedding & this dress is a childs size 14 pattern. IT FIT!!! I just had to lower the neckline & waistline 1 inch. I unpicked the dress that I had made for Drew, which had been surged and everything already & proceeded to cut out the new dress for Morgan. Between the fabric for Drew's dress & the left over I had enough to make the new dress. I am now done & remember why I don't sew for them anymore once they are out of childrens patterns.

Morgan & Lexie's dresses are slightly different from the other 3 since they don't have that dress in the childs sizes. They match well though & I think that Leza likes the way they turned out. I hope they are everything she was wanting them to be.

picture to come

Big changes on the horizon

Last post was on election day. I have been very busy sewing & haven't got to the computer to comment on the outcome. The country has voted for change and it's interesting to see where we have gotten to.

In 1968, Martin Luther King was fighting for civil rights for all people, every race. He was assassinated for this. People didn't feel that all races were created equal, nor should some of them even be recognized in any way other than less than human. Unfortunately, some people still feel this way. But America has come to a place where they have voted for their first African American President. It took 40 years to get here, which is sad that we are still so backward toward our fellow man that it never would have or could have happened before now. Barrack Obama won the popular vote as well as the electoral vote. People of America feel that he will bring the much needed changes to this country. We all hope & pray that this will be the case. We are in a big recession. The country is in trouble. We need a leader who will bring us back to where we need to be. I just hope everyone realizes we didn't get to this point overnight & it is not going to be fixed overnight. (I hope they realized this no matter who had been elected.) Now that it is said & done, let's hope this is the change America needs. Let's hope America made the right decision. Let's pray for President-elect Barrack Obama, & his family, that he will seek God in his decisions & that God will be with him.....And pray for The United States of America.

Yes you should, and you know you should

Today is November 4, 2008. Election day. Have you voted? I have. My daughter, Drew, & I went as soon as I got home from work. This year there are 5 people in my family that will be voting for President of the United States, Wynn, myself & our 3 oldest children, Andy, Drew & Gary. If you haven't, are you planning to? If not, why not? This is something that so many people take for granted. It is not something that everyone on the planet gets to do. We actually have a voice & can make a difference. Why do people sit around & complain & then not vote when the time comes? This is actually a country where you have a say. My sister is much better at expressing herself about this than I am. We have people that have sacrificed everything they have, time, money, belongings, family...even their own lives, so we have the right to vote, then we just don't take the time to do it. One of my other sisters has not one, but TWO sons that are Marines. They are being deployed to Iraq in a couple of months for...quite a while. When we lived in Freedom, Wyoming, we actually had a vote that ended in a tie. That one person did make a difference, their vote did actually matter in who won & who lost. And so does yours today. If you stay home & don't cast your vote, your opinion, you have lost any right you have to complain or pass judgement or of saying ANYTHING for or against the people elected today to whatever position they are elected to. You lost any right to make any comment on anything that was passed or denied today no matter how you feel about it. If you want to make comment in the future, you better vote today. This is when your opinion really matters, not after all is said and done, and you did nothing.

Taking the day off

Lexie doesn't have school today, so she asked if she could come to work with me. Luckily, I work at a school where this is very much accepted. She went to work with me a couple of times last year, & several of the other aides have had their younger kids there on days they didn't have school.

She wants to be a vampire for Halloween, but since I have been working on bridesmaid dresses I haven't even worked on her costume yet. She has been very good about it & said, that's ok, I'll just find stuff around the house & I can still be a vampire. So I gave her 2 options. She could go to work with me, OR, I could get a substitute & we could stay home & watch movies while I made her costume. She actually had to think about it! In my head I was saying pick stay home, pick stay home! I really wanted to take the day off. She picked stay home.

So today we are going to take Tanner to school & then go to the store to get some fabric for a cape. She has black clothes, so this should be easy. Of course, the stores costumes are all 50% off now, so maybe we will just see what we can find to buy, if it's about the same as the fabric would be. Then I will just work on bridesmaid dresses instead. This is going to be a fun day either way.

Finale

This weekend was the end of color guard. They left last Thursday for St George, UT (thursday & friday) & Las Vegas (saturday). They got home yesterday afternoon.

I don't know even at this point how they did in St George. The competition in Las Vegas is BOA (bands of America). There were even schools from California & Oklahoma there. Morgan called us Saturday night to tell us they were in the finals, so they still had one more competition that night. Last year Sky View placed 10th there, which they only give 10 places. This year they placed 6th!!!!! She was so excited about this we didn't hear about St George. I don't have any video of this competition since we weren't able to attend, but I will be posting other video soon. (I'm not as up on this as my sister , who has already posted a video of my daughters band.) Morgan informed us last night that there is try outs for winter guard, I think she said Thursday, and that she thinks she is going to try out. What is winter guard?!!! Where do they perform? How much is this going to cost? Maybe this weekend wasn't the end after all.

Life and Death

It is interesting how life, or death, works sometimes.

We got a call Sunday afternoon during dinner from Wynn's mom, Elaine. Her brother in law, Lloyd Ashcraft, had passed away. He was married to her sister Velma. He got sick a few weeks ago, I'm not sure what it was, but I know he needed a tracheotomy. Maybe he had been sick longer than that, but I don't know. I'll have to find out. Though it was expected, it is still tough. We had stayed at their (Uncle Lloyd & Aunt Velma's) house in St. George a few times. They are two of the most loving generous people I know. They moved back to California a couple of years ago. Since Wynn's parents are neither doing well, Dean just getting out of the hospital himself, they won't be able to make it to the funeral. I know they wish they could be there, as do we all, but it just hasn't worked out for any of us to go. They are all in our prayers & we know he is in a better, happier, more peaceful place. We love you Uncle Lloyd.

For the life part...Nolan's (Wynn's brother) oldest daughter (Kelsee Garcia) just had her first baby Sunday around midnight. (They were married last year, August of 2007. ) I'm sure Uncle Lloyd was there to usher Harlee Mae into her new life. She was 21 1/2" long & 9 lbs 6.5 oz. She is adorable with chubby cheeks & black curly hair. I'm just glad none of my babies were that big, I feel for Kelsee but I hear she did great. She will be such a great & cute mom. This is great grandbaby number 10 I do believe, unless I've miscounted. Nolan & Trudy's 2nd grandbaby is due in January. We are the only ones not grandparents yet, but with my first just getting married, we can wait for a while.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday & my sister always does the best posts for birthdays. So just click here to see pictures of my mom.

As my sister said, I don't remember her sitting down very much, unless she had a migraine or was reading. I agree with my sister that we all got a love of reading from her. It has now been passed on to all but 2 of my children. The others I have to tell to put the book down & do something else. Of course, hours can pass while I'm reading & I don't even know it. Thanks for that love of reading Mom. Maybe that's why I love being a reading aide, to pass that love of reading on to other children.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!

Making progress a little at a time

But, progress is progress, right? I guess I should say what I'm talking about.

A couple of years ago, about 2 1/2 actually, I gained a lot of weight with no explanation. I worked out, counted calories, tried to do everything we are supposed to do to lose the weight. I gained more. The doctors did all the tests they could to figure out what the cause was. There was nothing, everything came back normal because being severely anemic doesn't cause weight gain. We just figured my work outs weren't as affective because of it. For some reason having no red blood cells makes you really tired with no energy. Go figure. I also was border line high blood pressure which I had never been before. Anyway, we (us & doctors) decided to do a hysterectomy the week before Christmas last year & we figured we'd go from there. And we have. Here is a nutshell of what has gone on since then.

It takes a while to gain your energy back after this surgery, not that I had any to begin with, but by February the blood pressure hadn't gone down & neither had the weight. It was either lose the weight somehow or go on blood pressure pills forever. I started going to Curves at 5:30 am Mon, Wed & Fri every week to try to get the weight off. In March the blood pressure still hadn't gone down, so I started the pills. I started walking 5 miles at 5:30 am every Tues, Thurs & Sat as well. The blood pressure started going down. The weight started to fluctuate. I went off the pills in July. Woohoo! The weight continued to fluctuate. My husband started weight watchers at work, so I started counting points with him. The weight started coming off, then stalled again. You've seen those commercials with this is how he loses weight, this is how I lose weight? Ya, they're true. His just started coming right off no problem. Well, he has had a couple of weeks that weren't as good. Since school started, I haven't been able to do my walks much, if at all, it's too dark in the morning before the girls leave for school & then I have to be getting Tanner & myself ready to leave for the school. After school it's all the mom stuff that gets done. I went on my walk again yesterday and it felt good. I'm going to figure out how to get them in anyway. Today I had a weigh & measure day at Curves, they do them once a month. I lost 1 1/2 pounds & 1 1/2 inches (combined over all) in the last month. So WOOHOO!!! It is a little at a time, not as fast as I would like, you know, 2 pounds a week, but it is going in the right direction. At least it didn't stay the same or, Heaven forbid, go up! Finally. That is a total of 10 1/2 pounds since February.

I still have a ways to go, but I know I will make it. Not by the goal date I originally had, but I will make it. I have the wedding in 5 weeks that gives me incentive. Those dresses have to not only fit, but I want to look good in them. Vain? Probably. But I've worked hard for it.

Having time off?

Since I work for an elementary school in Utah, I have the next 3 days off. Thursday & Friday, Oct. 16th & 17th, all schools in Utah are out for what is called UEA. I can never remember what that stands for, but I think it is Utah Education Association. I'm probably wrong and someone who actually knows, please correct me. Anyway, the schools are out for these 2 days. Our school saw fit to have teacher prep time for parent teacher conference next week, so we get today off too for that. I am perfectly fine with that. A 5 day weekend.

I was planning on just doing what I should have been doing last Saturday, hot chocolate, book, movie, but I received the fabric and patterns for my girls bridesmaid dresses, so I figured this would be a great time to do those instead, while watching movies or the many recorded shows on the dvr of course. But now I am sick. I have had more colds already this year than I had all last year put together. I don't know what the deal is. They seem to be more than just the average colds for some reason. They really knock me out. Yesterday Wynn went to the store before he left for work (he leaves the house at 4:30 am for work) to get me some Dayquil so I could make it through my day. Have I mentioned I have a great husband. I am truly spoiled. He knew I had a meeting with our Americorps supervisor, regular 5 hours of reading groups, and after work, training for the new reading aide substitutes. Then I came home and literally crashed on my bed! I don't know what time I woke up, took some Nyquil & went back to bed. I'm feeling a bit better this morning, thanks to more Dayquil already, but know that by night I'll be worn out. And this is what my 5 days off are going to be....

Today I am working on the first of 3 bridesmaid dresses for the wedding. I know I need to get them done now so I'm not stressing at the last minute. Tomorrow, more sewing and we are going to order the flowers. I can't wait to see what she has picked. I haven't seen any pictures of her choices yet. Then home to more sewing. Friday & Saturday will be more sewing & hopefully, if not done, very close to it. I was looking forward to getting these done, but really do want to just sleep. With the medicine, hopefully I will feel well enough to do this, otherwise it will have to wait until next week when I only have a half day Thursday & all of Friday off, but I'd rather get done now. Less stress that way knowing it's done. This is what God created Dayquil for after all. Isn't it?

It's a corduroys & sweater kind of day

Doesn't everybody know it is a 'put on your corduroys and warm sweater and curl up with hot chocolate and a good book or movie' kind of day?

Yesterday Gary, my 18 year old, had to go to Gardiner,Montana for work. That means driving a truck, pulling a loaded trailer. It was ok part of the way, then he hit the snow storm. He got to West Yellowstone where he went through last time, but this time they wouldn't let him because he was pulling a trailer. He had to turn around & go through Bozeman & Livingston to get there, adding another 1 1/2 to 2 hours each way to the trip. When he got there, he had to unload so he could head back. It got nasty on the return trip & he found himself sliding sideways down the road, WITH 4 wheel drive, three times. Fun as it is, but with a trailer? He said he had never seen so many accidents on one stretch of road in his life, and he grew up in Wyoming! The interstate by Evanston is notorious for winter accidents. He drove out of the storm, made it home safely & didn't even ding the truck or trailer & never went off the road. That's why he's their driver. Not good on mom's nerves however. But he did keep in contact with me letting me know where he was, how he was doing & what the weather was doing. I think it was as much for his piece of mind as mine.

Morgan, my 14 year old, is performing in Pocatello at the Holt Arena at ISU. I just carpooled her & 4 other of the colorguard girls up to the high school to catch the bus. It has been blowing hard all night & as I dropped them off, it started snowing. By the time I got home, it was bigger flakes. It is now snowing sideways. If it keeps up, we will have a blizzard. Now I have another child on the freeway in a snow storm today. I can't wait until she calls me to let me know they are back & I can go get them, tonight, at 7:00, or whenever. It's going to be a long wait if this weather keeps up.

Lexie, my 11 year old, is going to perform with the Vistauns (high school drill team) for the half time at football on Oct 23rd. They are practicing today at the high school. I get to go watch at 1:30. Maybe that will help keep my mind off traveling children.

Like I said, don't I know it's a 'put on your corduroys and warm sweater and curl up with hot chocolate and a good book or movie' kind of day? Probably not since I will be driving in the weather to get there. And I do have on the corduroys and warm sweater anyway.

Aging isn't always fun

We all think we're going to be young forever. We're invincible. We grow up, get married, have kids & think they are going to be little...forever. Then the next thing we know, they are grown up & getting married, having kids of their own, and yet, we still feel that we are young, and the cycle just repeats and repeats for each generation. We look in the mirror and wonder who that old person is staring back at us. So watching friends, family, loved ones age, isn't easy. Of course, we are the ONLY one who isn't aging. We're not like all of our high school and college friends that have seemed to start looking so old.
Wynn's dad, Dean, got sick the end of last week. The way I understand it, he just got sick in the afternoon or evening, started not feeling well and throwing up. Elaine, Wynn's mom, called Wynn's sisters. They live nearby to them and help take care of them daily. She explained what was going on & they said to call the ambulance and get him to the hospital. She did. They did emergency surgery and removed his gall bladder. Wynn, Andy & Gary went down to Ogden to see him in the hospital Saturday. He was back to his regular self, teasing the nurses & feeling pretty good.
Our mortal bodies just don't seem to agree with our heavenly spirits, or mind, that refuses to grow older. The spirit feels like we're still 20, but the mortal parts are letting us know the warranty has expired. Time to get new, or just get rid of, various parts, some still needed and others that we wonder why we ever had them to begin with. We're glad that we have the technology to do such spur of the moment things to save us from further suffering. We are grateful Dean was able to pull through so quickly despite his malfunctioning gall bladder. Looks like he will be around a while still to wonder who the person is staring back at him from the mirror, because in his 80's, he still feels like he should be 20 you know.

Enter to win a handbag

There is a new site opening up. Click here to enter. These handbags are to die for. I have been looking for a new handbag that had 'ME' written all over it & have come up with nothing. These so do that very thing!

I did it!!!

I changed the background for October! All by myself! Well, ok, not ALL by myself, but it only took 2 emails to my sister. First email--how do I do it, the second email was a panic attack in the middle of changing it. No one was home for me to ask a question, & luckily, she answered right back. I'm always afraid I am going to do something irreversible that is going to cause countless hours for someone to fix. I told you, I am computer illiterate. But I did it & I think I can remember for next time. It was painless & actually just as easy as she told me it was going to be. Thanks T, you are a life saver (or blog background changing saver anyway).

Now I'm just not sure about all of the text colors on here. I don't know if I am just being critical because I did it or if they just need to be darker, or completely different or.....

I still need to download some pictures from my camera for a couple of blogs I needed to do already. And, yes, I know I need to add your birthday photo Drew. It's all coming. Don't know if I can handle another panic attack trying to download from my camera by myself today. We'll see if somebody gets home soon to supervise.

He's a pepper, she's a pepper, wouldn't you like to be a pepper to?

Or a follower? My sisters have answered, so here we go.....

Not a tag unless you want to play (and did anyone else notice #20 is gone?): & #44?

1. Do you like blue cheese? No
2. Have you ever smoked a cigarette? No
3. Do you own a gun? The males in my house own several, does that count?
4. What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? Cranilla or Blackberry
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointment? always!
6. What do you think of hot dogs ? death dogs
7. Favorite Christmas Song? Oh Holy Night or It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (by the Chipmunks of course)
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Water or Hot chocolate
9. Can you do push-ups? Most definately!!!
10. What is your favorite movie? One Fine Day or You've Got Mail or.....
11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? My wedding ring
12. Favorite hobby? TV or reading
13. Do you work with people who idolize you? probably not but one could hope
14. Do you have ADD? Probably
15. What's one trait that you hate about yourself? I try to be too nice & always wind up being the one hurt
16. What's your middle name?Tarzan
17. Name three thoughts at this moment: 1) Believe me, you don't want to know 2) I have a lot to do at work tomorrow 3) So why am I just sitting answering these questions on my blog?
18. Name 3 things you bought yesterday: Nothing, it was Sunday
19. Current worry right now? You don't want to know
21. Current hate right now? That people have to make things WAY harder than they need to be
22. Favorite place to be? Bear Lake or on vacation anywhere
23. How did you bring in the New Year? Recovering from surgery
24. Where would you like to go? Ireland Scotland England Greece
25. Name three people who will complete this? They already did
26. Who's answer do you want to read the most? Theirs
27. What color shirt are you wearing?Pink w/white wonder tee beneath
28. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Afraid I would slide right out of bed in my sleep
29. Can you whistle? Sometimes
30. Favorite color? Red/yellow
31. Would you be a pirate? Of course if Johnny Depp or Orlando Bloom were there
32. What songs do you sing in the shower? Whatever is stuck in my head at the time
33. Favorite girl's name? Eliza
34. Favorite boy's name? Tanner
35. What's in your pocket right now? cell phone
36. Last thing (Person) that made you laugh? Lexie & Tanner
37. Best bed sheets as a child? The yellow flannel or knit? ones. They were so soft
38. Worst injury you've ever had? Skinning my knees to the bone, then doing it again the day after the stitches were removed
39. What is your favorite snack? Apple w/peanut butter (chunky)
40. Favorite thing to do on Sundays? read, tv/movies, play games with the fam
41. Who is your loudest friend? I AM the loudest friend!!!
42. How many dogs do you have? None at the time
43. Does someone have a crush on you? Hope so!
45. What is your favorite book? That's a tough one! So many
46. What is your favorite candy? Star Burst Jelly Beans, they rock!
47. What is your favorite sports team? What ever one my kids are on at the time
48. What song do you want played at your funeral? So you had a bad day
49. What were you doing 12 AM last night? Sleeping
50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up this morning? It seriously can't be 5:00 already,can it?

It's yer birthday!!!

Yesterday was my dad's birthday. My sister did a wonderful happy birthday to him. (she is better at getting the cute little things onto her blog. Maybe I'll be better at it by next year.) So ditto what she put on hers. He has been through a lot, but just keeps going. So......HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Today is my oldest daughters, Drew (Drewann to family & anyone from Star Valley) birthday. She is a grown-up 21 years old! She had to grow up early to take care of the other kids & the house. I was always so sick when I was pregnant. I always had migraines when I wasn't. My memory of her was just one of these occasions. I was laying on the couch with a massive migraine, AND pregnant, trying to supervise my 3 little children. I am a seamstress & was in the middle of homecoming dresses, so the sewing stuff was out. My sewing scissors are ginghers, very razor sharp, big no-no to kids. She was in kindergarten, just turned 6 years old, so Gary had to be only 3 at the time. He got ahold of my scissors and was opening & shutting them repeatedly like little kids like to do. Drew told me he had them & went to get them from him because I couldn't, just as he shut them, right on her hand. She hardly whimpered. I grabbed a washcloth, put ice in it & slapped it on her hand. I wasn't sure how bad it was because it wasn't really bleeding much. I somehow, in my foggy state, knew not to lift the patch of skin. We rushed her to the emergency room, where they discovered he had knicked the nerves. She got stitches & has a really cute scar to this day. She has just always known what to do.
She has fixed her 2 sisters hair since she was pretty young, so it isn't surprising that she is a stylist now. She does the most amazing things with hair. She fixed her cousin, Shaylas, hair for her bridals, wedding & reception. She is going to fix her brothers fiancees for her.
Being a dare-devil & thrill seeker, she was going to go sky diving today with her cousins & younger brother since she doesn't go partying & drinking. Of course I don't see any reason to jump out of a perfectly good airplane myself. They all pooped out on her. Money issues, they said, since they are poor college students. Maybe they will all get to go next spring. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DREW!

Thank you Elder Hales

This weekend was our Stake Conference. Elder Hales came to speak to us & fill our cups.
I have been feeling very overwhelmed & inadequate lately. I have so much going on & don't feel that I am able to do any of it. I'm not only a reading aide this year, I am an AmeriCorps volunteer. That adds about the same as 3 jobs to my day. About 1 1/2 months ago we were released from the Primary Presidency. The other 3 have new callings, but not me. I have been feeling very glad for that as I didn't know how I was going to do everything as it was without a calling. Can I just say that made me feel guilty on top of it all. I was taught that you are never supposed to say no to a calling, & I haven't, & that you should always have a calling.

Then Saturday night Elder Hales said an amazing thing & I feel it was just for me. He talked about seeing a woman sobbing in a church parking lot. She was the mother of 5, pregnant again & the primary president. The program was coming up & they wanted her to do some elaborate thing that was beyond her at that time. She hadn't spoke to the Bishop or Stake President about it. Elder Hales told her he would see what he could do to help her. He spoke to the Bishop & Stake President. They saw the problem & said for her to do a nice simple program. Then he said, I hate it when I see these mothers so overwhelmed. I do not understand why the husbands are not asked, " is this a good time for your wife to have a calling?". If it is not, then don't give them one. You don't have to be so overwhelmed.
I now know it is ok for me to not have a calling at this time, not want a calling at this time, and it is OK for me to not feel guilty about that. I wouldn't be good as a mother, wife, reading aide or whatever the calling would be. I am at peace with this. Thank you Elder Hales.

Last scared day

Yes, that is scared, not sacred. Today Lexie gave a talk in Primary. It was on prayer. She has a hard time with this, giving a talk, not prayer. Everyone tells her it is so nice she feels the Spirit so strongly. But no, she, like her mother, gets very nervous, extremely scared....and cries. It is not the Spirit most of the time, it is FEAR. She did really well & only sounded like she was crying for the first tiny bit of her talk, which was reading a scripture. Then, she did the rest of the talk just fine. I reminded her that this is probably, maybe, the last talk she will give in Primary since she turns 12 in January. But then, there may be one more since we have an extremely small Primary. Of course, then she realizes she gets to give youth talks in Sacrament meeting, in front of...THE WHOLE WARD!!! So maybe it's not her last scared day after all, and that prayer she talked about today will just have to keep getting her through talk after talk after talk....

Sick, Sick, Sick

I did mention the other day that I was sick. I didn't go to church Sunday cause I couldn't stand up, just spent the whole time in the tub. I came home yesterday with a migraine. Don't get many of those anymore, just one day a month now for the last 3 months. Might have to do something about that if it keeps up.
Now Gary has the cold & so does Lexie & Morgan just aches, no HURTS, all over. But this morning, Tanner ran to my room, clear the other end of the house from his, past his bathroom, to my bathroom & started throwing up. 5AM!!!! Thank goodness he made it, I don't clean that up without someone having to clean up after me & Wynn leaves at 4:30. Tanner is sleeping now, in shorts & nothing else. Pants were too hot & shirts choke him when he is sick. Even an unbottoned button-up shirt. Drew, the best daughter in the world, had to go to work at 1. I get off at 1:15. See the problem. Her manager let her come in late so she could watch him for me. Thank goodness I didn't have to try to find a sub this morning, I was giving the first test to my kindergartners. Best manager in the world. She may have to do the same thing for me tomorrow, & she said that would be fine. Does this mean I have to make her that Halloween costume now?

Birthdays & Memories

Yesterday was my Grandmas birthday. She is my dad's mom. She is an awesome woman that never forgets my birthday & ALWAYS sends me a birthday card, ALWAYS handmade with a special message just for me. I, however, am not so diligent. I had every intention of sending her a card this year. Then, like my sister, school started which means I am at the elementary school & I wound up sick. Just a terrible head cold, not the flu, thank goodness. I know, no excuse, she is my very thoughtful Grandma that makes no excuses & just keeps going. So....HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!! We love you. Hope it was a great one!



Today is my oldest sons, Andy (which is my oldest child), birthday. He is 22. This time of year always brings back the same memory of him when he was a baby. Being born in the fall, in Wyoming, to an avid hunter father (Wynn), we took Andy hunting. I so needed out of the house, so we strapped him in his carseat in the truck & took off. Now, before anyone panics about what a horrible mother I am, I'm sure that will become obvious over time as the blog goes on, Andy was not a newborn by this time & we sat in the truck while his dad hunted. I can still smell the smells & hear the sounds every year around his birthday. The crunching of the leaves, the animals in the forest....he was so content the whole time & I could just think & read. But it always makes me nastalgic this time of year....every year. Anyway,

I have some pictures on my camera from yesterday, I just need to figure out how to get them from the camera, to the computer, to the blog, then I will post them. We had his birthday dinner, cake & ice cream yesterday, except being sick I forgot to get a second #2 candle, so he made do with just one candle. He is engaged to be married in November, so his fiancee, Leza, was here to help us celebrate. It was a pretty good day. So.....Happy Birthday Andy!!
And look what I did! Here is a picture...

FINALLY!!!

Yes, I finally have a blog, thanks to my sister. I helped her with her sewing machine, she helped me set up the blog. So we have a running agreement...she calls me on all things sewing machine, I call her on all things blog. I have a feeling she is going to be receiving more calls than I am simply because I am so very computer illiterate. It's really pathetic actually. I can text & I can email, but my children, including my 6 year old, have to help me with all else. I am getting better, but please have patience with my inept ways. Have a great day!