The Cravens

The Birthday Boy, and His Daughter!

2011-12-06T07:30:00.001-08:00

We finally made it back to Nicki & Mckay's late Friday night and were planning on going into the city Saturday morning. As luck would have it, that was the day the big snow storm hit the east coast and so we stayed home. We just hung out and watched a lot of football and visited. We didn't realize the storm had been so devasting, it was just pretty from our point of view. Of course, next morning going to church was a different story. It was pretty icy out there. Again, I was so busy just watching the snow storm, I didn't get any pictures. Really, it wasn't any different from the dozens of snowstorms we get in Utah every winter, so I wasn't that motivated to be capturing it on camera.

Sunday, October 30th, also happened to be Kent's birthday. Nicki was so excited to be celebrating his birthday with him. She made him a yummy coconut cake. Nicki and Kent have always had a close relationship and she was really excited to make his birthday cake for him - it's a big deal. And, of course, Kent loved his cake - so much that we made ourselves sick eating too much of a good thing!

Sunday was our last night with the Dunn's. We left Monday for the airport and a long trip back home. It was hard to say good-bye to the kids, but knowing they will be here for Christmas makes it much easier. Too bad we live so far from each other!

Maine

2011-12-02T08:57:00.001-08:00

Our trip to New England was so much fun, but as I am writing blogs to journal it, I realize that (1) we didn't take enough pictures and (2) the ones we have don't do it justice. I can't even remember the name of this little town up the coast of Maine, but it was a beautiful little town.

We drove across a very low bridge to this island in the back of the first photo below. Just after we got off the bridge, we saw this cute little building (we loved the buildings/NE architecture out there), which just happens to be the library. I should get a photo of the library here just for comparison's sake (ours is extremely ugly). Even their libraries are cute! The homes over on the other side of the island were amazing. Again, I was so busy gocking at them, I didn't get any pictures. But the other problem is that there are so many trees, I couldn't have gotten decent pictures even if I had remembered!

After driving around the "rich" side of the island, we got back on the road and headed even further up the coast. We stopped at this little "lobster pound" for my very first and very yummy lobster roll. Basically it was lobster on a hotdog bun. The lobster was good, but for heaven's sake, if you are going to serve it on a bun couldn't we get something a little fancier than a hotdog bun. Lobster good, bun disappointing.

When we got to this place, we weren't sure how much further we had to go until we got to Bar Harbor, which was our final northern destination. We had a huge problem reading maps on this trip. Not that we couldn't get oriented, but we could never get our minds to equate the distance, even with the little guide at the bottom of the map. We're just too used to driving in the wide open spaces of the west. We would look at the map and think we had hours to go to get somewhere and just a few minutes later, we would be at our destination. From this lobster pound we were only about 1.5 hours from Bar Harbor - yeah!

Again, crossing another bridge and a too-late picture. We drove over a very narrow highway to get to the kind-of-island Bar Harbor. It is a beautiful little island way up in the northeastern corner of Maine. Used to be the playground of the rich and famous, most notably the Rockafellers. There were tons of these little stone bridges all over the island, but again due to "lookin out my window" I only got one picture. Kent wouldn't back up the highway a few feet so I could get more pictures of the bridges???The island was just so beautiful. Home of Acadia National Park. Gorgeous.

This is the beautiful hotel we stayed at while we were in Bar Harbor. This is just the tiny little wing Kent and I stayed in, it was a huge hotel. Our room was right on the end with a beautiful view of the water.

Here are some pictures of the rest of the island. The camera just doesn't quite capture the beauty of this place.

We only spent one night in Bar Harbor and then the next morning we headed south again. It took us about three days to drive up to Bar Harbor and we were going to make the drive south back to Nicki & Mckay's in one day. Lots of driving, but again, we were amazed at how quickly we were covering the distance in New England. We finally got to York, Maine, around 5 p.m. York is the southern most coastal town on Maine before you get into Mass. It is a beautiful little resort town so we stopped there for dinner and to look around. Vacation here anyone?

We only saw a few light houses in Maine, which I thought was weird. Isn't Maine supposed to have tons of light houses. This one was really cute, and if it had been earlier in the day, we might have walked out to it, but it was getting late and dark and we still had to get through Massachusetts and most of Connecticut to get to our reservation at the Dunn's. The house in the picture above the light house is not typical of York, but it also isn't unusual. Too much money here on the east coast. Oh, while we were driving around York looking for a place for dinner, we were temporarily detoured around the elementary school as it was their Halloween parade. It was a cute little community with a cute little school with cute little children. I could live here! Okay, more later.

Deerfield, Mass and New Hampshire

2011-11-28T07:43:00.001-08:00

Oh HELL-p! I can't seem to figure out how to post a blog. There are weird spaces all through this blog and a photo that I can't get turned the right direction. Nicki, take a crack at it - you know my password.

We left Nicki and Mckay's Tuesday morning and headed up to New Hampshire. It was a beautiful drive with lots to look at. We found the Yankee Candle store, which boasts over 10,000 candles. We didn't smell them all, but we did spend quite a bit of time here. Kent was a pretty good sport about it.

We also spent a few minutes driving around Deerfield, Mass, which is a pretty cool little community. The whole time we were there we kept saying to each other, "We could live here". We really loved New England, we love the architecture, the beautiful leaves, etc. I don't know that it is so much the whole New England thing, or if it's just that it is something different to look at than what we see here in the west. But regardless, it was fun to look and imagine what it would be like.

We crossed a few beautiful bridges, but since I was busy gocking at them, I usually missed a great picture until it was too late. Obviously, I'm not the best photographer (or maybe I just need a new camera), but we saw some amazingly beautiful bridges and scenery.

I'm not sure what's up with this picture. I did not have my camera turned, nor was it in this position when I uploaded it from my file, but for some reason, every time I try to post it, it turns. So, look at it sideways! We found a great cemetery in New Hampshire. I'm not sure if all cemeteries out here look like this one or not, but we spent a lot of time here walking around and looking at headstones, really old headstones. This picture, like most of my pictures, don't do justice to what we were really seeing. What can I say,- weird fascination.

We only saw one covered bridge and it was way up in Northern New Hampshire. It as fun walking around this little New England town, but I have to say I was a bit nervous. There was a kid playing with a switchblade that kept following us. Kent kept telling me he was just some kid killing time, but it felt much more sinister to me that just some innocent kid hanging around. I was kind of nervous and was especially happy to get off this bridge.
The bridge crossed this little river.
We were in Littleton, NH on a kind of chilly day. The town here has a pumpkin festival where people carve their pumpkins, then put them out on little islands or rocks in the middle of the river. Unfortunately, we were here several days before Halloween and there was only one pumpkin out in the middle of the river and you can't even see it in this picture. I thought that sounded like a fun, but cold, pumpkin parade.

We were just a tad late for the beautiful fall colors, especially the further north we drove. But I did get this great shot with the sun just right. What we did see was so beautiful and breath taking. God put some amazing colors together for us. It was beautiful.

New England - Finally!

2011-11-25T16:11:00.001-08:00

It took me a while to get all my blogs caught up, but finally I'm ready to post our trip to see Nicki and Mckay. We flew in to JFK late on Thursday night and through phone tag, Nicki found us. We made it safely to their home in Connecticut and crashed. On Friday morning Mckay had to work and Nicki had a couple of classes at school, so Kent and I slept in and just relaxed.

After Nicki got home from school, she thought she would give Kent a good scare and told him she had learned how to take blood that day and she needed to practice on him. She came at him with the needle and we (she and I) had a good laugh while Kent was jumping around on the sofa trying to get away from her. We miss out on Nicki's antics at home!!!

The whole thing was more than Kent could handle. We couldn't talk him into going shopping with us to Stew Leonard's. Did you see that STEW LEONARD'S. I'd seen this place a couple of years ago on the Food Network and when I found out Nicki lives close enough to shop there, I made her promise she would take me. See, there I am in front of Stew Leonard's.

It wasn't quite the rush I thought it would be, but still we had fun. And, it was kind of fun going to a place I've had on my list for awhile!

Friday night (I think, maybe it was Saturday) we went to Nicki and Mckay's favorite Greek restaurant. I've been there before with N&M, and the food didn't disappoint. I love their food.

On sunday we ditched church. Nicki and I wanted to go to church, but the boys begged us to skip it. I felt kind of bad about that, especially since we had just been on the phone with Regan, Kenna and Trevor and told them they should go. Oops! We went apple picking instead!

The apples were so crisp and good fresh from the tree, I think I ate at least three because we had to try each kind of apple we picked. It was kind of a nippy day and even though I had stuffed my tummy with apples, I was still ready for fresh apple cider doughnuts! Best ever and I don't even really like doughnuts! That's all for now. More to come later.

Backing Up Again!

2011-11-25T15:40:00.001-08:00

This is why it is important to keep updated on your posts. I have to back track a bit and add a couple of events that we thought were important.

The end of May Nicki was able to come and visit us while McKay dedicated his life to studying for his exam the first week in June. We spent time making pillow covers and curtains for Nicki &

Mckay's apartment.

We also had another "girl party" for those who could come. We had a great time. You will all be spared our "Blue Steel" poses!

In the spring of this year we noticed a bird was building a nest on this thing that is on our front porch. This hangs just outside our laundry room window. A little robin would sit on her nest all the time, and if I went in the laundry room too early or late and turned on the light she would fly away. Also, if we were too loud in the laundry room, like slamming the door that goes out to the garage, she would fly away. So Kenna, especially, made it a point to remind us, daily, not to be too loud or not to turn on the light when it was dark unless we really needed to. Usually when I go into the laundry room in the dark, I do need light, so there were lots of time the mommy bird would fly away. Kenna also got really upset if the dogs happened to go out the front door because they would also scare the bird away. After a lot of weeks of tip-toeing around momma bird, the eggs finally hatched. This is what we got!

Anytime the momma bird would fly away, we'd go over and peek at the baby birds. We were surprised at how quickly they tried to fly out of the nest, like within a couple of weeks. They grew fast and I suppose the nest was crowded as there were three baby birds in there. They would fly to the garden, which is just in front of the porch, but couldn't get all the way back up into the nest, so would perch on the railing. We tried all the time to get close enough to pet the bird and get them to not fear us. I got close enough to touch one of the birds once, but as soon as I put my hand on it, it flew away and that was the last time any of us got close.We thought they were cute, but when Nicki saw these pictures, she thought they were disgusting. We loved our baby birds.

Trevor and Kenna at Youth Conference

2011-11-25T14:24:00.000-08:00

This post and the next one are out of order, "oops". Around the end of June, Kenna and Trevor had a chance to go to Youth Conference down in St. George, Ut. It is so beautiful, and hot, down there. The kids were able to go to the St. George Temple and do baptisms the first day there were there -- while they were still clean.

After that, it was camping in the dirt, hiking in 105 degree heat and finding pools to swim in.

Kenna and her friend, Kenzie Gomm - really hot and sweaty!

They saw beautiful scenery, of course.
A little bonding time for the sibs.
They also had and "opportunity" to work in the cannery down there. None of the kids were looking forward to it, yet, as often turns out, they had a great time working and doing some service for others.

Trevor and his friend, Jackson, at the cannery.
Kenna and some of the other girls - loving the hair nets!

Catching Up . . . Again!

2011-11-25T14:00:00.000-08:00

So, I am going to update my blog, starting with where I left off - mid summer. The weekend of July 24th we had our McAffee Family Reunion. It was at the same campground where I went to girl's camp when I was in Mutual - Camp Loristica. Kind of fun to go back there and show my family where all the "excitement" of girl's camp happened for me.

Trevor and Hunter canoeing on the lake/pond. They spent a lot of time in that canoe and loved every minute of it.

On a dare (which is seldom a good idea) Trevor stripped down to his swimsuit and went into the freezing cold pond late on Thursday night. I think a bet from his older cousin, Tucker, was involved. I don't think Tucker came clean on his bet, even though Trevor spent the required one minute in the water. He did not, however, go in naked, as was originally planned!

The older guys spent a lot of time launching water balloons at any one in the canoe. Thankfully, they were terrible shots. But it was still lots of fun tryin'.My dad.
Me & Trevor and Shirlene & Layton. Remember, these are camping pics!
When the kids weren't in the canoe, they were in Carl and Lanell's camper playing cards with their cousins. I think they learned a few things from the cousins (hopefully good things).

I'm Baaaaaaack!

2011-06-22T17:48:00.000-07:00

Oh, I've been gone for so long. I don't think it is because I've been so busy (although I have, but no more than usual). So far in June we've celebrated our 24th anniversary and Father's Day. Regan's birthday is coming up on Sunday and mine is on Tuesday. So we will be continuing the celebrating.

Kenna and Trevor are in Zion's Park this week at a Youth Conference. They are going to hike the Narrows tomorrow. It is 105 there today. I hope they are using sunscreen and drinking lots and lots of water.

Regan quit her fabulous job at the hospital where she has worked for the past year and a half in the daycare center. She loves that job, but is starting cosmetology school on Tuesday.

Nicki and McKay are traipsing around jolly old England for the next few days. McKay finished his second year of a big ol' hairy three year test the first weekend in June and celebrated a birthday on June 5th (we are racking up the June birthdays). Nicki will be starting nursing school in August.

Kent is (thankfully) busy with work and not so much golf these days as his favorite course is under 6 feet of water on most of the holes.

I've been busy with gardens (no, this is not mine, but it could be) and slightly busy at work. Could use more clients, but all in due time.

That is a snapshot of our lives. It's all good.

Tuscaloosa

2011-04-28T06:54:00.001-07:00

These images from Tuscaloosa are so heartbreaking. Last night Nicki called me. Her former roommate, Rachael, and her husband live in Tuscaloosa where Dan is going to school. They were right in the middle of this tornado and had such a harrowing experience. Apparently they saw the tornado coming, ran into the bathroom and when it was over opened the bathroom door to see their apartment completely gone. They were standing outside. Then Rachael, a nurse, heard someone screaming for help. She found her neighbor just a couple of doors down (or what used to be a couple of doors down) and she was in pretty bad shape. Rachael tried to stabilize her, but she died while Rachael was working on her. Shortly thereafter, Dan and Rachael's hometeachers came and rescued them. Their car was also demolished. This has been such a traumatic experience for this young couple. Please remember them, and all those who are suffering from these destructive tornados in your prayers.

update: watch Rachael's CNN phone interview here:

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2011/04/28/exp.tsr.tornado.survivor.intv.cnn.html

Backscatter vs. "Enhanced" Patdown

2011-04-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

I read an article this morning on Dr. Mercola's website. It is very interesting/disturbing. How safe are the backscatter body scanners at the airport? I think we've been sold a bill of goods, again. Consider the fact that Homeland Security Chief, Michael Chertoff is the primary promoter of body scanners and a paid consultant for the companies that sell them. Conflict of interest??? Click here to read the article. It will only take a few minutes. Also, the "We Won't Fly" campaign calls the patdown of minors a "predator-prep" course for minors. Interesting.I don't know how to make this image bigger, but the tiny print reads, "Helping your child understand why he may pose a threat to National Security". I laughed at first and it would be funny if it weren't so ridiculously stupid. For heaven sakes, lets not profile anyone who may look like a terrorist, but let's sexually assault everyone else, including children and grannies. Typical of our government - extreme, extreme, extreme, with no allowance for any kind of common sense!

Weather (I'm Ready For Spring)

2011-03-22T16:39:00.000-07:00

I saw this on a friend's blog and she saw it in her local paper. Having been born and raised in Idaho, I can testify that it is true. Northern Utah isn't that much different.

65 degrees above zero,
Floridians turn on the heat.
People in Idaho plant gardens.

60 degrees above zero,
Californians shiver uncontrollably.
People in Idaho sunbathe.

50 degrees above zero,
Italian and English cars won't start.
People in Idaho drive with their windows down.

40 degrees above zero,
Georgians don coats, thermal underwear, gloves and wool hats.
People in Idaho throw on a flannel shirt.

35 degrees above zero,
New York landlords finally turn up the heat.
People in Idaho have the last cookout before it turns cold.

20 degrees above zero,
People in Miami die.
Idahoans close the windows.

Zero,
Californians fly away to Mexico.
People in Idaho get out their winter coats.

10 degrees below zero,
Hollywood disintigrates.
The Girls Scouts in Idaho are selling cookies door to door.

20 below zero,
Washington D.C. runs out of hot air (not even possible).
People in Idaho let the dogs sleep indoors.

30 below zero,
Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.
Idahoans get upset because they can't start their snowmobiles.

40 below zero,
All atonomic motion stops.
People in Idaho start saying, "Cold enough for ya?"

50 below zero,
H*## freezes over.
Idaho public schools open 2 hours late.

It is snowing today and that isn't even unusual for this time of year.

Total Foodie Weekend

2011-03-22T15:43:00.000-07:00

Last April when I visited Nicki in New York, I ate some of the best food I have ever eaten in my life. Hands down, New York is a melting pot of food for every palate, from every country in the world. I came home determined to try cooking some of the yummy things I'd eaten in New York. So last Friday I took an Indian Cooking class. I learned to make Naan bread (so yummy and easy), Chicken Makhani, Bangalore Chicken Curry and Indian Veggie Patties. All very good, all very easy. Best of all, I learned that with very little know-how, you can cook from a variety of countries around the world.

My next project is gnocchi. I've had it before (not in New York), but I want to learn to make it from scratch. It isn't as easy as it looks. I've watched cooks on the Food Network make it, and of course, it looks so simple and easy. Big lie! I tried Giada's recipe (nothing to it, she promises) and ended up with tiny little pillows of brick in my tummy, not tiny little pillows of pasta. I ran into someone at Friday's cooking class that swears she has a fool-proof recipe, but it involves dehydrated potato buds - not the kind of fresh I was looking for, and probably not what any Italian cook who is worth her weight in pasta sauce would use, but I'll try it. Why don't I just buy it you ask? Well, because I have yet to find it in a grocery store here in quaint little Cache Valley, and I've been looking for about 7 years (no kidding!) only the dried stuff - yuck. If any of you out there have a great recipe (Bonnie) and are willing to share, I'm up for making it multiple times until I get it down. How hard can it be, right???

Add in a big batch of homemade bread, an apple pie ( as per Trevor's request) and a coconut cream pie (as per Kent's request) and I had a cooking/baking filled weekend.

HCG diet, anyone???

My New Favorite American Idol

2011-03-10T14:00:00.001-08:00

You had to know, it's James Durbin. I love his rocker style and his sweetness. I love that he looks a tad bit like Kurk Russell (look at those peepers) and sings a bit like Adam Lambert. Most of all, I love that he has overcome challenges in his life to pursue his dream. He has crazy, insane pipes, as they say.

Happy Birthday Nicki

2011-03-02T10:44:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to you, Nicki!

Today is Nicki's 22nd birthday. I can't believe that 22 years ago I was in a hospital in Connecticutt having our first baby. Kent was in and out of the labor/delivery room watching March Madness, that is until the madness in the delivery room kicked in. Nicki was born with just a skiff of dark hair and we thought she was such a beautiful baby. She was so tiny that when we bundled her up to bring her home, Kent kept checking in the quilt to make sure he had ahold of her. Those first few days were quite the shock to us. I thought I knew all about babies, but I quickly found out my mom knew all about babies and I knew nothing.

Through the years Nicki has been such a blessing to us. She is full of surprises, fun and joy. Maybe add in a bit of stubbornness and a determination that is unmatched by anyone I know! From a very young age, it was apparent to me that Nicki would think for herself and not be swayed by whatever or whomever. I always knew she would choose her own path and make her own decisions. I was always grateful for that strengh in her, even when she was at odds with me. It wasn't always easy, but I knew if we could keep her pointed in the right direction, she wouldn't disappoint.

Nicki is a natural "oldest child". She is a natural leader and has an abundance of confidence. She has been a perfect example to her younger siblings and she has made our job as parents much easier by setting this great example. She is intelligent, smart, a little sassy (which is fun now that she is out of her teenage years) and always up for some fun. She is a spark, that's for sure.

We love you, Nicki and we hope you have the best birthday ever. Here are a few photos that bring a smile to my face and I think they will bring a smile to yours too.

Love you,
Mom

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Catching Up!

2011-02-28T18:38:00.000-08:00

As per Nicki's request, this blog is specifically for her and will be mostly boring to anyone else who reads it. However, if you elect to read it, you are going to get a glimpse of our most ordinary lives.

We got dumped on this past week. It snowed off and on from Wendesday through Saturday, but by far we got the most snow on Friday night. I know it doesn't look like much in these pictures, but Kent and I moved a ton of snow off the driveway Saturday morning. And it was wet, heavy snow. Yes, we do have a snowblower, and it even works, but Kent claims he loves the workout. It was beautiful, as snow always is before it gets nasty looking.
This is what the front of the house looked like.

Looking over towards Farnsworth's home.
The front yard.
View from the back deck.
Hansen's red barn.
Dad and Dean, after singing a very inspiring "Happy Birthday" to Claudia.
So, while Kent and I were out shoveling snow, he decided to take a break and go across the street and talk to Dean. While he was over there, Claudia (Dean's wife), came out to shovel the snow off her front door step. Next thing I knew they were singing "Happy Birthday" to Claudia in a very enthusiastic and off-key kind of way. It was cute and funny to see/hear these two old guys singing with much gusto to Claudia.

Kenna and Ringo enjoying the snow (boots) and sun (shorts???).

Backing up a bit to Valentine's Day. What is it they say about the best laid plans . . .
Nicki gave us a gift certificate to one of the few nice restaurants here in Cache Valley and we decided to save it for Valentine's Day. So a couple of days before, I reminded Kent to make the reservation. I also happen to love making something special for the kids for Valentine's Day. Traditionally I have made them chocolate heart-shaped biscuits for breakfast with whipped cream and strawberries. This year I wanted to change it up a bit and "surprise" the kids. I decided I would make a red velvet heart-shaped cake for after school/work. After I got off work, on Valentine's Day, I went to a couple of grocery stores looking for the red food coloring - none to be found. I was tired and it was getting late, so no red velvet heart-shaped cake for the kids. That would have to wait for later in the week. Then, to my dismay, Kent forgot to make the reservations until Monday morning, so no dinner out. I think we ended up eating mac and cheese, homemade, but still, very lame. We pulled the cake off a couple of days later and had a good ol' time decorating it. It was kind of a family effort, and tons of fun.

Below is a yummy fruit pizza Trevor and I made a week before Valentine's Day. It was just something we have never made before (I know, I must live under a rock). Trevor did the fruit arrangement. For some reason, my kids get way into food arrangements. He loves baking with me. For the longest time (almost up until he turned 6 or 7, he wanted to be a baker, then a librarian when he started school and discovered the library there, and the sweet lady who was the librarian).

An Amazing Artist

2011-02-14T19:07:00.000-08:00

My neice drew this picture of Nicki and McKay from their engagement announcement. I think she captures them perfectly - not an easy thing to do in person, let alone from a picture. She really got the eyes and facial expressions just right. To see more of her work, click here. When I have grandkids (Nicki and McKay, are you paying attention?) I will commission her to do them with Christ. She does amazing work. She just did her neice with Christ and I love how it captures her neice.

Yippee For Me!

2011-02-01T14:07:00.000-08:00

I started a new job today. I am now working at a chiropractor's office, by appointment only, doing face and foot zone balance treatments. I have my own little office with my own little spa music. I am so bona-fide now!

This is what I do

and this too

and this is how you feel when I'm done.

I love my job.

I'm offering free introductory face and foot zones for February.

Wish you could all come and visit!

Baby, It's COLD Outside!

2010-12-01T09:08:00.000-08:00

For the past week all I've seen out my window is this. We have had snow off and on for days now. I love the first snowfall of the season, but I'm afraid I'm going to be sick of it by the time spring comes again. We have lived here for 7 years and this is the first time we have had snow for Thanksgiving.

When I woke up this morning it was 29 degrees warmer than yesterday morning. Yesterday it was -8. You do the math.

Undoubtedly, snow can be beautiful.

Party Crashers!

2010-11-08T21:26:00.001-08:00

So, a few weeks ago, I decided I was going to host a little craft party at my house and invite my sisters and nieces that live nearby. Some said they were going to come and some couldn't make it. Our plan was to arrive, have dinner and craft on Friday night, then go to Gardener's Village on Saturday. So, on Friday morning I got a call from one of my sisters (Lanell) telling me that my sister from California (Janice) was coming to the party. She was coming up to Idaho to borrow my dad's chainsaw (don't even ask, but if you do, its a pretty funny story). I asked Lanell if it wouldn't have been cheaper for Janice to rent or buy a chainsaw, but at this point it was about more than borrowing my dad's obviously amazing chainsaw. Anyway, when Janice heard we were all getting together to craft, eat and talk, (our favorite best hobbies), she decided to crash the party. She wasn't invited because I didn't think in a million years she would drive 10-12 hours for a few hours of partying with us. Boy was I wrong. I'm so glad she came. But, we kept it a secret from the rest of the party-goers. April, Lanell, Ashley and Taunya arrived around 5:00, Darcie got there a bit later. Then around 8:30 Janice snuck in the house. The pictures below tell the story better than I can.

You can't tell from the picture below, but April is crying she was so surprised and happy to see Janice.

We were all sitting around feeling bad that the rest of the sisters couldn't make it, when to our surprise around 11:00 Shirlene showed up. She had told me on the phone earlier that she wasn't coming because of the cost and time. She is working on her Master's Degree at BSU and pretty involved with that, and like the rest of us, the money she would have spent on gas could go to so many other places. But then she had a "conversation" with mom that went something like this: "Mom, you wouldn't go if you were me and money was an issue". Mom, "Go be with your sisters". Shirlene "You wouldn't do this if you didn't have the money." Mom, "I have a different perspective now, go be with your sisters". So she decided to come. I halfway expected her to come, especially since I did spill the beans and tell her Janice was coming (it was a little pressure, nothing more). All the same, when she showed up I was so surprised and busy hugging her that I didn't get any photos of her walking in and surprising us all. Here we are working on the cute little pumpkin crafts we made. It was kind of challenging for some of us and we had some pretty good laughs.

Aren't these stuffed pumpkins cute!!!

After crafting we spent the rest of the night, (literally, we were up until 6:00 am) laughing, crying, talking and making some unforgettable memories. One by one we drifted off to bed for a couple hours of sleep before we were supposed to head south to Gardener's Village. Debbie didn't get there until Saturday morning because she and my brother (her hubby) work the Friday evening shift at the IF Temple. She was also surprised to see Janice and Shirlene.

Here we are Saturday morning drinking all manner of herbal teas trying to relieve our suffering-from-sleep-deprivation hang-overs and moving pretty slowly. I'm the one with the incredible bed-head in the bottom left corner. I look better than I feel.

Lanell had to leave Saturday morning-ish to go back to Pocatello, where her son was playing in a championship football game, so she couldn't go to Gardener's Village with us. This is a group photo before she left. I'm still in my pajamas!

We finally left the house around 2:00 (much, much later than we had planned) and drove down to Gardener's Village. We had a late lunch there and then walked around the many shops and had more fun. The sun was setting and reflecting this beautiful pink on the mountains to the east of us. Unfortunately, my camera wasn't quite up to the task so you can't even begin to appreciate how beautiful it was.

One final group picture before we left Gardener's Village. Back row: me and Debbie. Seated from left to right: Janice, April, Ashley and Taunya, (April's daughters), Shirlene and Darcie, (Debbie's daughter who has two buns in the oven due the first part of May, we're so happy for her).

Debbie and Darcie went home Saturday night and April and her girls were going to drive back home also, but we talked them into staying one more night. When we got home around 9:00 p.m., we made a run to Macey's (food store, not department store) so Janice could buy "Snaps". She can't find them anywhere near where she lives, so we always have to do a "snaps" run when she's here. If you don't know, snaps are colorful little licorice tubies that we McAffee's love. Debbie told Janice she thinks they taste like soap, to which Janice replied (think happy, excited voice here), "Ya, they do, and they taste like perfume too". And they really do, but they taste like soap and perfume with lots of sugar on them and we love them. I've actually converted Kent to them too. After the "snaps" run, we went home and watched, or tried to watch "Letters from Juliet", which I liked, but kept falling asleep through it.

Bright and early Sunday morning April, Ashley and Taunya drove home and Janice and Shirlene went to church with us. Right after Sac. Meeting, Shirlene left. It was so hard to say good-bye to people as they left, but Janice and Shirlene were the hardest for me because they were the last two to leave. Janice left early this morning for her drive back to CA. She drove through snow, rain, sleet, wind and sunshine, and sometimes all of it at once according to her. But she made it through the Sierra Nevadas and on home safe and sound. Thanks you girls for a glorious, albeit, unhealthy weekend. Thanks to all of you for making financial sacrifices and giving up time with your hubbies and babies (young and old) to be together. Love and miss you all.

Missing Mom

2010-11-02T13:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday marked two months since mom passed away. I really miss her. It seems like it has been years since I've seen her, talked to her or laughed with her.

Thanksgiving 2008

Dad sporting a nasty owie from a semi rearending them. His face smashed into the steering wheel. Ouch!

Mackay Dam, Summer 2009

May 2009 -I promise I did not stick my tongue in a socket just before this picture was taken. What is up with my wild hair???

Mom with granddaughters and great-granddaughters, plus Garrett.

Mom with daughters, minus Cindy, Shauna, Lanell and Shellie.

Mom with the latest batch of great-grandbabies.

June 2010 - at Hawaiian Temple

The Worst of the Tricks!

2010-11-01T09:51:00.000-07:00

Trevor decided at the last minute to go trick-or-treating with his friends on Saturday night (yes, you saw this costume last year. We are pretty lazy when it comes to putting costumes together. Consider this recycling). He even took a pillowcase with him. I used to have huge hangups about kids trick-or-treating with pillowcases. How much candy does one need anyway? And, isn't gluttony one of the seven cardinal sins!?! Not to mention what all that sugar does to the kids - blissful energy, then the inevitable crash (like all good drugs should do, right?), tooth decay, lethargic thinking, suppressed immune system, and the list goes on.

Dumb things I have done in the past in regards to the Halloween loot:
1. Not take my kids trick-or-treating.
2. Let my kids go trick-or-treating, then make them pick out their favorite 10 items, trashing the rest (this was by far the most sadistic because it never really got trashed, Kent and I ate it. I know, we're sick!).
3. Pick out all the bubble gum loaded with sugar and trash that (I have never liked my kids "chomping" on gum, and you will never see me doing it).
4. Allow them to eat as much Halloween candy on Halloween night as they can, then trash the rest (very poor advice from a not-very-bright mom, and I fell for it. Who's the dummy here?).
5. Pay my kids for their Halloween candy - actually, I can't remember if I ever really did this, or if I've just fantasized about doing it until in my mind it has become a "real" memory.

For years Nicki and Regan have had to take the brunt of our "learning curve" when it came to parenting skills. This is just one example. I think I owe them bags of candy, if they really want to collect!

New Christmas Soap!

2010-10-28T15:17:00.000-07:00

I don't mean to jump the gun, but . . . I'm so excited to be offering this new stinking cute "Cranberry Fig" Christmas soap! (It doesn't really stink, it smells fabulous and oh, so holiday-ish). It will be ready to ship December 1st. Each bar will sell for $5.00, however, beginning Monday, November 1st, I will be taking pre-orders through November 10th and all pre-ordered soap will sell for $4.50/bar. Remember your friends, neighbors, co-workers and family (great stocking stuffer) in a cute and useful way!!! They will love something fun from someone special. To order, click here, or go to www.ittybittysoapcompany.blogspot.com.

Note: This soap is fragranced with a fragrance oil.

Photo by Bramble Berry

(Because all soaps are handmade and hand cut, slight variations may occur).

BFF's

2010-10-24T22:53:00.000-07:00

First off, I bugged Nicki to send me pictures of her bridals so I could post a bunch of them for the entire world to see. She did it and I never got the blog done. I notice she got tired of waiting for me and posted them herself. Thanks, Nicki, and so sorry!!! To see the pictures click here.

Now, on to my weekend. These girls are my best friends from childhood. As long as I can remember, I have known these girls and we have been friends. Allison is in the white shirt, then me, and Marilyn is in the purple shirt. We went to church together and saw each other in Primary (later, Mutual) every week, and many times in-between. Allison and Marilyn went to a different high school than I did, rival high schools in fact, but that never interfered with our friendship. As we got older, we only became better friends. Then we all graduated and went our separate ways.

Unfortunately, over the years, we haven't kept in touch as much as we should/could have. Allison and I send each other Christmas cards/letters every year, but I had lost touch with Marilyn quite a few years ago. In fact, I haven't seen Marilyn since she moved from our little valley where we all grew up about 32 years ago. I knew she lived in Utah, but wasn't quite sure where. When she heard that my mom had passed away, she made an effort to get my phone number and call me. It was such a delight to talk to her after so many years, and especially at such a difficult time for me. I will always be grateful for her efforts. Long story short, we decided we needed to get together, since we all live within 3 hours of each other.

They came to my home and we spent most of Saturday together, then they both left Sunday. It was such a great weekend. We caught up on everyone we knew, reminisced about the "glory days" of our youth, laughed about all the stupid, crazy stuff we used to do, and talked about things that we will take to our graves. The time went too fast. We needed a few more days to finish all our business together. The best thing about it is that we picked up right where we left off years and years ago - a sign of a true BFF! Thanks girls for making the effort. We need to make this a yearly event. Love you both!!!

It's No Secret - I Love Fall!

2010-10-22T11:53:00.001-07:00

I love the house decorated for fall. I try to stay away from "Halloween" only decorations, that way I can keep the stuff up for Thanksgiving too, because even though I love my house decorated, I HATE doing it (too time consuming and a brain boggle for me)! Disclaimer here: I am no photographer, as is obvious, but wanted to share the fun anyway.

I love this fall wreath.

We grew all these pumpkins (plus a few more) in our garden this year. I think we had about 40 in all, including the 3 or 4 the grasshoppers ate (oh ya, they made a feast of the garden this year).

This tree is in our backyard and it is one of my favorite things about fall. It always turns this beautiful red color, while most of the rest of the trees I see around here turn gold or orange (also beautiful, but not like this one). The picture doesn't do it justice. I wish I had a few more of these planted around the property.

I love putting all my pretty fall dishes in my china cabinet.

I bought these a few years ago. I couldn't decide which one I liked best, so I got all three without any regrets or buyer's remorse!

The over all effect. (Sorry about the glare)

I have a ton of built in shelves in our family room. Even though it is a pain to dust, having the spaces broken up does make for easier decorating.

I love this picture over our fireplace. It was painted by Del Parsons in an orphanage Kent designed down in Ecuador a few years ago (also where I served my mission). The owners of the orphanage had a print made for Kent and I and gave it to us for Christmas the year the orphanage was finished. You can't tell from this far away, but the small children in the painting are the children who live in the orphanage and the teenage girls are the girls from BYU-Idaho that volunteer to go down and work in these orphanages. The man standing in the left of the picture is the man who, with his wife, run the home the volunteers live in. I love this picture for the obvious reasons, and because it is very unique; not every member of the church has seen or has a copy of this picture. I love it. Not a fall deco - this one stays up all year.

This is a bit better, but again, I am no photographer.

Anyway, on with the decorating. I love pumpkins, about 90% of my fall decor is pumpkins, most of them are pretty generic, but a couple are definitely Jack-O-Lantern type. Here are a few of my favorites.

My token Thanksgiving decorations.

Last, but certainly not least, I bought this spooky tree quite a number of years ago when we lived in CA. I don't love it and have tried to get rid of it, however, it has turned out to be one of my kids' favorite decorations. They used to fight over who got to hang the little halloween decorations on it. (Ahh, such sweet memories)!

I hope you enjoyed your little tour. This was mostly done for Nicki, but I hope it was also fun for the rest of you "regulars".

Celebration, Aviation, Ordination

2010-10-20T06:39:00.000-07:00

On September 27th, Trevor turned 12 years old. This is a big birthday for him. We went out to dinner and enjoyed some really great food . . .

and amazing desserts.

Later in the week, Trevor invited his friends over for a little party. They hung around here and later in the evening we built a big fire and the kids made some s'mores. Trevor loves s'mores.

When Trevor was a very small boy, he wanted to be a baker when he grew up. Then later, when he started school, he wanted to be a librarian when he grew up (he loved his school librarian and loves to read). Now he dreams of being a pilot when he grows up, so for his birthday, he got to go on his first flying lesson. This was a pretty thrilling birthday gift! He actually got to fly the plane part of the time. Kenna and Kent went with him.

this is the plane they flew in.

This was beyond exciting for him. He makes a good looking pilot doesn't he!

His co-captain.

On Sunday, October 10, 2010 (10.10.10) Trevor was ordained to the office of Deacon by his dad. Another momentous occasion. He didn't pass the sacrament last Sunday because we were up in Idaho for his cousin's mission report. However, he is looking forward to this Sunday with much intrepidation. He does not like to be up in front of a crowd, even if it is to pass the Sacrament with 10 other boys.

It's a Dunn Deal!

2010-10-10T20:09:00.000-07:00

Finally, after days and weeks, I am getting this event posted. Nicki's wedding/reception was beautiful and everything went off without a hitch (well, almost everything). Being in the temple with my daughter was something I have been looking forward to for many years. We crammed a ton of people into the sealing room. Not only were there tons of aunts and uncles from my side of the family, but McKay comes from a family of 11 children, most of whom were at the temple with us, along with his uncles and aunts. Their bishop from their singles ward in Connecticutt was even there with us. It was so nice to have all these people who care so much for Nicki and McKay be in the temple with us.

We are excited to welcome McKay to the family. He is good to and good for Nicki!

I love this picture of Regan and Kenna, and I think Trevor looks pretty spiffy in his suit too!

The Wednesday before Nicki and McKay were married, his parents, Dale and Penny, flew in from Friendswood, Texas, just outside Houston. We had a nice evening getting to know his parents.

Nicki's best friend from California, Lauren Kallerman, came out too. I didn't intend to put this poor girl to work, but I don't know what we would have done without her. She and Nicki have been friends since Kindergarten and she is so sweet. We loved having her spend some time with us and were so happy to have her come and share this event with us. She is a darling girl and we just love her.

A week after the big event here in Logan, we flew to Houston for the open house in Friendswood. Nicki and McKay flew in from Mexico and we picked them up at the airport and headed out to his parents home. On Saturday, we had the open house and met some of the wonderful people of Texas. They truly are so very friendly. The cake was made for Nicki and McKay by his talented sisters who have a cake business. It was the yummiest cake I have ever eaten.

The Newlyweds!!!

Nicki with her newest niece, Alyssa. She is only a few weeks old and Nicki and McKay both have a hard time keeping their hands off her (a good omen for me;)

Nicki's other new neices. These little girls are the cutest and they were fun to watch during the big party. The little blonde one (Savannah) loved Nicki in her pretty wedding dress. She was the funniest. I really wish I could remember all their names, but I had a ton of people to meet and remember.

I'm not sure what I'm contemplating here, but it may have had something to do with the heat, humidity and fire ants that I was introduced to in Texas (and did not love)! I just thought this was a funny picture of me.

What can I say, we both love this guy!

Sweet Sixteen

2010-09-12T17:48:00.000-07:00

Our dear little Kenna turned 16 on September 9th.

*Old enough date.

*Eligible for a midnight curfew.

*Old enough (but not yet experienced enough) to have a license to drive.

About that driving - it is usually a giggle-fest (nervousness). She is pretty good at distinguishing between the brake and the gas pedals, unless I am in the car with her screaming "brake", then she gets a tad confused. Yield signs almost completely baffle her. However, she improves with every driving experience she has.

We celebrated her birthday by going out to dinner at her favorite place - Olive Garden, where she ordered what she loves and always orders - chicken alfredo.

Then back home for her birthday cake. She was laughing so hard she could hardly blow out the candles. After many, many attempts she finally did it. We enjoyed some melted wax on her cake. After cake we put on our jammies, opened gifts and enjoyed a family movie. Oh, by the way, she is sporting a cute new haircut that happened sometime last week (I've completely lost track of time).

A Loving Farewell

2010-09-05T22:38:00.000-07:00

For those of you who may not know, my mom passed away this last week. She was an amazing person and I will miss her so much. However, we are all so relieved that she is done with the pain involved with terminal cancer.

She passed away on September 1st surrounded by all of her kids and my dad was by her side. She knew we were there. She felt our love for her and we felt her love for us. It was the sweetest, most spiritual experience I have ever had. I never thought I would ever be saying that about her death, but it is true.

With each piece of bad news we received along this journey of her having cancer, she always felt like Heavenly Father was watching over her and showering her with blessings untold. Her faith never waivered. She felt His tender mercies upon her, and we continue to feel His love and peace extended to us as we enter this new phase of our lives. Even now we recognize that one last prayer was answered in her behalf, in that she passed quickly and didn't suffer for days or weeks on end, as some do. Her passing was mercifully fast.

The second Sunday in August, we were all in Idaho for my nephew's missionary farewell. Mom was with us and in pretty good spirits and health, considering. But she did tell me that day she didn't think she would be able to be to Nicki's wedding - it was just too long of a journey and too exhausting for her. I understood, but still wished she would have been in good enough health to attend. When I gave her a last kiss good-bye this week, I whispered in her ear and asked her to meet us in the temple in a couple of weeks. I know she will be with us on that special occasion.

I miss her so much, but cannot feel sorrow for her. She is in such a better place, and free of pain and the worries of having cancer and having dad take care of her, which exhausted him. She was always thinking of him, even to her last breath. My sorrow is for my dad and for those whom she left behind. I miss her already. But she wouldn't want us to be bogged down in sorrow. If she were here now she would be telling me to stop wasting time grieving for her and get busy because I have a lot to do before Nicki gets married. That's my mom!

Newbies at School

2010-08-27T10:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first day back to school for Kenna and Trevor. Kenna was a bit nervous because it was her first day in high school. She reports that it was "boring". However, in seminary she made a name for herself. The teacher asked each of the kids to say what their pet peeves were. According to Kenna, most of the kids gave the usual expected answers. When it was her turn, she said, "I hate when people scratch themselves". This bought a burst of laughter from the entire class and for a split second Kenna wondered why this struck such a funny chord with everyone, then she realized how they were interpreting her comment and quickly defined what she meant. She said, "You know, like when they scratch their arms when they get a bug bite. I hate thinking about the dead skin under their fingernails". In true Kenna fashion she was laughing so hard when she was telling me this, she could hardly speak. Sometimes she can be just a bit dim about what comes out of her mouth. She really doesn't have a crass sense of humor, she just didn't think this comment through before she blurted it out. I love her and especially love her stories, even as I wonder what her teacher thinks of her. As he gets to know her, he will appreciate her zest for life and the depth of her spirit. She adds a definite zing to our family. And by the way, isn't that just an adorable, beautiful picture of her? I know.

Trevor, or as we like to call him, "Mr. Serious" had a bit of an adjustment to middle school. All summer long he has been so excited about starting middle school. It didn't quite pan out as he expected. He thought some of the teachers were a bit too strict and maybe a tad scary. All afternoon he was having anxiety about getting all his school supplies purchased and organized and getting his homework done. I didn't think too much about this, as it is typical Trevor behavior. However, when it was time to go to bed, he kept fiddling around with pencils, pens, papers, binders, etc. Finally, after reminding him several times how early he had to get up, I put my foot down and told him it was time for bed. Period. He was visibly upset so I went downstairs to tuck him in and spend a few minutes with him before he went to sleep, just to smooth over the evening. As I lay in bed with him and we were talking, I asked him what was really bothering him. After he had ticked off a few concerns of his, he got kind of quiet, then asked if he could tell me one more thing. He said they had an assembly first thing in the morning to welcome the kids to middle school and in that assembly, they told the kids that this year would affect the rest of their lives! Understandably, he was VERY distressed about this. I burst out laughing, which I shouldn't have done, and which he didn't appreciate, but of all the things! Trust Trevor to glom onto this one statement and stress about his 6th grade performance affecting the rest of his life. I explained why the (dumb Nazi) teachers did this and promised him that not even Ivy League universities or the military will be checking his 6th grade scores. He was a bit relieved, but I'm not sure I totally convinced him.

He also had to fill out those awful "Tell me about yourself" forms. One of the questions was, "Tell the most embarrassing thing you have ever done". That question is, in and of itself, embarrassing for Trevor. He couldn't think of an embarrassing moment because he spends a great deal of his life trying to avoid said experiences. Even if he did have an embarrassing moment, he's not about to relive it or discuss it with anyone. I think he ended up answering something like this, "To an 11/12 year-old-boy, life in general is embarrassing."Another question was "What is the funniest thing you have ever done?" Again, a very difficult question for Trevor, which stumped him all afternoon. Even though he laughs a lot, tells some pretty funny stories and jokes and generally enjoys life, he never finds himself in the middle of a "funniest" experience. That would be embarrassing! (That would also be Kenna, i.e., above story). He left that one blank. I kept reassuring him that he would do well in middle school and it was just a matter of adjustment. In a few days he will be fine. He misses the simplistic life of elementary school.

hide yo husband

2010-08-06T08:26:00.000-07:00

Good for a laugh...

Kent said, "The only thing that tempers the hilarity of this is that those people have the option to vote!"

Oh, and don't forget to click on the song button.

Big Soap Sale

2010-08-05T09:38:00.000-07:00

In an effort to make room for my new soaps, I am selling all of last year's soaps for $4.00/bar. This is a wonderful opportunity to stock up on your favorites! As the soaps age, they lose a bit of their fragrance, but not to worry, they perk right back up in the shower. They also become more mild as they age, and these bars are perfect for mildness and gentleness. Hurry and get yours now. This sale only lasts as long as the soaps do!
To order, go to www.ittybittysoapcompany.blogspot.com.

These Are The Times That Try Men's Souls

2010-08-02T17:19:00.000-07:00

Take 9 minutes and watch this video. It will be a well-spent 9 minutes and when I listened to it, it gave me hope, something I haven't felt in a very long time when it comes to our current political leaders.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=qtjfMjjce2Y

What I've Learned

2010-07-29T08:35:00.000-07:00

I've learned a few things over the past couple of weeks:

*Planning a wedding/reception long distance takes its toll. Thank goodness for phones and email.

*Just when you think the decision is made and the issue is settled, its not.

*Nicki and I are both traditionalists, especially when it comes to wedding photography (no magazine spread photography, please).

*I'm in the wrong business. Weddings/receptions are incredibly and disproportionately expensive.

*Nicki is a sensible girl (I already knew that, but never appreciated it as much as I do now).

*Thankfully (on a multitude of levels), we are not the Clinton's ($6,000/guest at dear little Chelsea's sweet affair).

*It will all be worth it in the end.

Big Announcement!

2010-07-14T20:52:00.000-07:00

Nicki and McKay are officially engaged! Wedding scheduled for September 17th, pending availability at the Logan Temple! Details to follow. Yippee!!!

Another Shameless Plug

2010-07-09T09:05:00.000-07:00

I saw this article this morning when I was checking my email. I subscribe to Dr. Mercola's free newsletter and always find something interesting. This particular piece goes right along with what I do. Click here to read it.

I haven't used shampoo in my hair for the past year, or longer, and I don't buy Dr. Mercola's either. I use the soap I make, any bar. I just "shampoo" with my soap, rinse my hair and then use about 1/4 cup white vinegar added to 2 cups of water (give or take a bit) to get rid of any residue. It leaves my hair cleaner and softer than shampoo and conditioner and I don't have to wash it as often. It doesn't strip my hair of it's own natural, protective oils (or the color either). It is by far more gentle to my hair than shampoo and conditioner. Added bonus - since I'm not using plastics on my hair (that is what conditioners are - plastics to coat the hair shaft dried out from the detergents and chemicals in shampoo) my shower stays much cleaner! Not to mention that I am saving a bundle on shampoo and conditioner.

If you are thinking your expensive bottle is a better quality shampoo or conditioner, remember that is only slick marketing. It may even have added botanicals (for which your are being charged an arm and a leg), but all the other nasty chemicals and detergents are still there. I would put my soaps up against any shampoo or conditioner, not matter how expensive, any day of the week.

If you are interested in switching over, remember, it may take a few shampoos with the bar soap and a few rinses with the vinegar to get your hair back to its normal, healthy self. Your hair will have a brief "detox" period. Stick with it, you will love the results. I just keep a plastic drinking cup in the shower with a jug of vinegar (the loveliest of decor, I'm sure), that way I always have it handy. And I don't stress over measurements either. A shower is supposed to be, in part, relaxing. I just add a bit of vinegar in the bottom of the cup, add water, swish it around (sometimes) then pour it on my hair. Massage it around a minute and then rinse it off. One more bonus - if you get those small pimples on your back/shoulders, it could be from your pores being opened in a warm shower, then getting clogged with your conditioner that is very difficult to wash off. The vinegar method actually cleanses your skin as it washes over your body. Don't worry, if you come to visit, you will have access to regular shampoo and conditioner - without a side of guilt;).

A few months ago, I wrote an article for a little flyer that circulates in Utah, dealing with the problems of personal care products. I highlighted some of the same ingredients as Dr. Mercola's article, only in a bit more depth. If you are interested you can click here and read it. Remember, I am not a professional writer or journalist - please forgive!

June Highlights - The "Cute" Post

2010-07-02T09:29:00.001-07:00

This is a pretty long post for those of you who care to read it. Just so ya know.

Every year, the last day of school, (which was really in May, not June) the 5th grade here in Providence does a Civil War re-inactment. It consists of a narrator who describes key battles from the Civil War and the kids re-inact the battle by throwing water balloons to the opposing army (Confederate or Union). Kenna and Trevor have both done it and it is a very patriotic event. Both times I watched it, I got all choked up. The kids always love the water balloon part, and the parents and the rest of the community try to stay dry and enjoy the narrations of the events. It is a great little event. Trevor is a Union soldier here.

Around the end of May/beginning of June, Kent built this cute little screen to keep the birds from enjoying my strawberries. It is a tiny patch, and as much as I love the wildlife, I don't enjoy them eating all my berries. The plants in the buried garbage cans (next to the strawberries) are blueberries, which do not grow in Utah, unless you plant them in buried garbage cans filled with alkaline soil. I get a great crop of blueberries every year and love them. They sit between my raspberry patch and the strawberries. I love my berries and they are all grown organically. Love that!

We also planted our garden in these amazing garden boxes. Kent built these for me last year and gardening has never been easier. We planted corn, red peppers, squash (several varieties), carrots, parsnips, three kinds of potatoes, peas, onions (yellow and purple), cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, radishes, scallions, turnips, beans, spinach, pumpkins, cucumbers, beets, zucchini, watermelon, cantaloupe, tomatoes, basil, rosemary, cilantro and a few other items. All grown organically and I love it. Note the cute shed Trevor and Kent built a couple of years ago. Next post I will do an updated garden picture - it's all filled in and growing great.

I have all my summer pots planted, a big accomplishment since we had cold weather up until the beginning weeks of June.

On June 12th, Kent and I celebrated our 23rd anniversary. He took me to this cute little get-away in Midway, Utah. Fun, huh! I ate the best crab I have ever eaten in my entire life right here in land-locked, Midway, Utah. It was so good!

I love when all the bushes and flowers start their spectacular spring & summer show.

Cute lilacs from our trees.

We've enjoyed some spectacular sunsets from the comfort of our back deck.

Speaking of our deck . . .

This is the view looking down -- it leaves a lot to be desired.

Under the deck it isn't much better, however, we are in the process of fixing that!

Kent spent a bit of last summer and a lot of this summer working on steps and a landing to replace the lovely dirt hill we have lived with since we bought the house. Once the hard scape is in, I get to landscape it and I can't wait. It is going to be . . . what else, CUTE!

The best thing I did for myself and my kids was marry Kent. On Father's Day we spoiled him with a mediocre lunch but made up for it with his favorite pie - homemade coconut cream. He loved it and he didn't complain much about this sweet hammock he got either. He's the best and we love him. We think he is kind of cute too!

Sometime in June I managed to get Kenna and Trevor to help me make strawberry jam, our family's favorite. The first picture captures Trevor trying to look natural - and busy! We ended up with about 35 containers and only a few gallons of it on the floor, walls and refrigerator, thanks to Kenna and Trevor's enthusiasm for stirring jam. I endured very loud (but good) music in order to enlist their help. We had fun together.

On Saturday, June 26th, we took the fam to Salt Lake City for Regan's birthday. It was not easy convincing her that she would have fun. All I could tell her was to pack for church the next day because we were going to have a great time in Salt Lake and then spend the night with Gma. & Gpa. Craven in Orem, and go to church with them the next morning. Regan was not pleased. She loves her grandparents, but certainly didn't want to spend her 19th birthday hanging out at their house. I finally convinced her that what we were doing before going to Gma. & Gpa.'s would be worth the effort, i.e., shopping at The Gateway Mall.

After a bit of shopping, we went to PF Chang's for dinner (she has never eaten there). She was having fun, until I grabbed her and dragged her into the bathroom complaining that I thought I was going to vomit. It was all a ruse to get her away from the table so Nicki and McKay could sneak in and sit down. When we came out of the bathroom (where I had and amazing recovery, w/o vomiting, which quite perplexed and aggravated Regan) she just stopped dead in her tracks and started to cry when she saw Nicki. It was so sweet, and of course, I missed the photo op! She has been begging Nicki to take a weekend off and fly out to Utah for her birthday. Nicki kept insisting that there was no way she could do that, planning all along for this big surprise.

Nicki and McKay - cute couple!

We took a bit of time after dinner and walked around Temple Square, a lovely and favorite place to hang out for a while. Always relaxing there.

My cute baby Regan all grown up!

Regan and her cake after church on Sunday. It was a vanilla cake with lemon curd filling and pink frosting - a special request from Regan. Even though I couldn't wrap my head around lemon filling and pink frosting, it would have tasted okay if I hadn't over baked the cake, making it really dry, ugh! But Regan was happy!

Monday, June 28th, my 50th birthday. It was kind of hard turning 50, but not as hard as turning 40 for some reason. Kent got me these beautiful roses. I have never seen an arrangement of roses like this before and I loved them. He had attached a gift certificate, which was very thoughtful, since he already purchased a cute watch from the Gateway Mall (Brighton's - if you've never been in there, you must go - cute purses, watches and other jewelry/accessories) for me on Saturday. Those roses aren't cute, they are beautiful and gorgeous!

The birthday cake saga. This is the cake Regan made for me, a chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting and sliced strawberries. It was so delicious, made even sweeter by the fact that it was the third cake she made. The first two didn't turn out quite the way she had envisioned, so she stayed up until 2 or 3 in the morning making yet another cake (that is after working all day at the day care center at the hospital, she must have been exhausted). I would have been happy with the first one (especially since I was perfectly content to serve her a less-than-perfect cake on her birthday).

On June 29nd, Trevor had his piano recital. This year his teacher decided to do it at a retirement center, which I thought was such a great idea. The elderly people love and appreciate any entertainment, even if there are a few flub-ups, as there always are in recitals. Trevor is getting very good at playing piano and really likes it. He played "Crystal Dew Waltz", "The Entertainer" and a couple of other songs that I've forgotten the titles to. He played a difficult John Schmidt piece that he taught himself, surprising his piano teacher.

Just a couple of the honored guests at the recital -- they are the cutest people ever. One little lady asked me if she broke the camera when I took this shot. It was funny.

Ahh, The Beautiful People

2010-06-21T21:35:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend up in Rexburg, Idaho and had an amazing time (hard to comprehend, I know). The purpose of the trip was the wedding of one of our friends' son. The other purpose was seeing and reconnecting with old friends. We had a few hours between the temple sealing and the luncheon so we took advantage of it and spent the afternoon getting caught up on everything. It was great. So lame that I didn't have my camera to take any wonderful pictures of the reunion! It was the best eight hours I have ever spent in Rexburg.

Not us, but beautiful people nonetheless, and we did have that much fun! (I get to be the young, gorgeous blond and my hubby, Kent, gets to be the young, good looking, obviously funny guy with the full head of hair.)

Feeling a Little Guilty

2010-06-16T18:51:00.000-07:00

I get a bit nervous when my posts start getting really old - like I need to update my blog. Even though I mostly don't stress, sometimes it just happens. So I am taking a cue from a friend of mine and doing a "Wordless Wednesday" (well not really, but kind of). Because I am somewhat computer challenged (okay, completely computer challenged) I am just referring you to my niece's blog and a wonderful video she posted. Very much worth the extra time to get there. Click on "Laugh Mommy, Laugh" on my side bar and check out the June 16, 2010 post entitled "Good Things To Come".

A Heart-Breaking Update

2010-05-30T21:53:00.000-07:00

Little Naked Baby Lucky. Notice the cute little nose and his tiny little stubby tail. Tiny, tiny black dot to the left of his tail is baby bunny poop (we even think that is cute)! This picture was taken on Saturday. We think he is cute, although to everyone else, I'm sure he is kind of scary looking.

It is Sunday night, around 10:55. Lucky died just a few minutes ago and I am crying my eyes out. Everything the vet and PetSmart told us about caring for and nurturing baby bunnies was totally wrong. As per their instructions, we were trying to feed him every 3-4 hours and should have been doing it only once or twice a day. We were feeding it goat milk because bunnies and goats are both herbivores (made sense to me), but we should have been giving it Kitty Replacement Milk, because it is richer in colostrum. We didn't know we had to gently stroke his tummy so he would urinate and we didn't do it. This can cause the tiny bladder to rupture. We fed him too much milk from the bottle and he aspirated it into his lungs, and truthfully, I think that is what killed him. He was doing fine and we were figuring out all the other stuff (thanks to the internet and experienced "bunny-whisperers" sharing their knowledge), but I gave him his last feeding and milk started coming out his nose. I quickly stopped and started sopping it up with tissue paper every time the bubbles came out, but it was just too late. He was gasping for air and died about 20 minutes after I fed him - so quickly.

We have devoted so much time and energy to this little baby bunny over the past couple of days, and I kept thinking if we could get him past the first few days he would survive. Then I imagined him a tiny little fur ball in my hand (he was already getting his fur, he had two tiny cute little bottom teeth and he had his whiskers, but you could just barely see them. Even his tiny pin-dot sized poop was cute). We have been fascinated by this little creature for the past two days and I've hardly been able to think of anything else. Even in church today all I could think about was getting home to our cute little baby. Between Trevor and Kenna he was held in their hands with a little soft cloth to keep him warm practically non-stop. I am so sad and as he was dying all I could do was sit and stroke his little head and tell him I was so sorry I couldn't take better care of him. Trevor has already gone to bed so we are going to have to tell him in the morning and I am not looking forward to that. Kenna was standing with Kent and I when the bunny died and we just burst into tears. I'm sure in a few days I will be embarrassed that I cried about a baby bunny dying, even worse, that I blogged about it (even now I am thinking this is a little weird), but maybe not. Hopefully tonight I can grieve and get it out of my system.

I've always said I am not an animal lover, but I think having a family of my own and raising my own children has made me much more tender towards life in general. Even Kent is sad about him dying (but so far, I haven't seen him cry)!!! What a crazy, wild weekend it has been with so much drama and emotional ups and downs. At one point I told Trevor maybe we could get a boy bunny (or borrow the neighbor's again for a minute, literally) and he could sell the babies to earn a little money, but I don't think I can go through this again if it doesn't turn out well. I may have to recant on that. Thankfully, human babies are much easier (hard as I thought that was) and I was better at helping them thrive!

The Bunny Business

2010-05-29T08:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Trevor and I were out in the yard and happened to walk by our bunny hutch. We have two females in there and to our utter surprise, we also had four baby bunnies in there with them. They had been born that morning. It was really quite the exciting/surprising event at our house. We were totally unprepared for this so the momma bunny didn't have a nest to have her babies in. She had pulled out her hair to make a nest, just no place to put it. The babies were kind of sprawled on the wire flooring of the hutch. We found a shoe box and put some nesting materials in it that Trevor has for his hampster, and put the babies in the box, hoping the momma bunny would take it from there.

We checked on the babies and the momma several times throughout the day and it seemed to us that she was taking care of her babies, all except for one she had kicked out of the nest. We brought that baby in the house and then Kent bought a tiny baby bottle and some goat milk from the pet store. We are now hand-feeding this little guy. We continued checking on our babies, but around 10:00 p.m. discovered the other three babies had died. The momma just didn't know how to take care of them and they got too cold. I'm not even sure she was feeding them. I think if she had been able to properly prepare a nest, her instincts would have kicked in and things would have gone much better. It was so sad. After all the emotion and elation of watching this miracle of new life unfold, we had gotten so attached to these babies and we were looking forward to watching them grow and get much cuter (right now they are pretty naked and frankly, quite ugly, but we still thought they were the cutest things ever). We are now on a vigil to keep the one remaining baby alive. Kent was kind enough to get up every two hours during the night to feed this baby bunny, whom we have named "Lucky" (hopefully, not prematurely).

Kind as he was to get up with the "baby", he is the one responsible, in part, for the litter. A few weeks ago we found a stray bunny hanging around our hutch. We knew it was someone's pet and not just a wild bunny because he was so friendly. So Kent and Trevor picked it up and put it in our hutch planning to keep him there just long enough for them to go the ten paces to our shed and fetch our extra bunny cage. (They didn't check to see if it was a male for female - Bunny Keeping 101). Kent swears that bunny was only in there for 10 seconds, but apparently that was enough time for him to do his business (not to mention the fact that both Kent and Trevor conveniently forgot to mention any of this to me. I could have at least been suspecting she was pregnant and watching for signs). It was quite the nervous morning yesterday, with me calling our vet more than once to get educated about taking care of these newborn babies. I desperately wish we had brought all four of the babies in the house, but I also knew if the momma would take care of them, that would be the best for the babies. It's hard being a first timer and hopefully, we will never have to do this again. No more male bunnies in with the females!!!

P.S. About That Wellsville Mile Thing

2010-05-22T12:17:00.000-07:00

I forgot to add this to my blog about Trevor running in the Wellsville Mile. Of course, I was there to cheer him on. They start the race, run around the school once and then the second lap they run to the finish line. When he came around the school for his first lap, I was standing where the starting line was and was cheering for him. He gave me a little smile as he ran by (regrettably, no picture). Then sometime after the race ended he said to me, "When I saw you and heard you cheering for me it gave me a little jolt of happy energy". That totally made my day. It was joyful beyond words for me to hear him say that. I would have stood in the rain for hours cheering him on just to hear those words and know that me being there made a difference to him and made him happy. I loved it!

The Wellsville Mile, Again

2010-05-20T15:03:00.000-07:00

Today Trevor ran the Wellsville Mile for the last time. Every year the 4th and 5th graders from all the elementary schools in the south end of the valley go to Wellsville Elementary and run a mile around their school. This is a huge competition - people take time off work to see this, which very much amuses me.

Last year when Trevor ran this it was a hot day and he looked like he wanted to die when he came across the finish line.

(Last year's picture.)

This year, however, it was raining. I'm not sure which he liked better, but from the look on his face, the cooler weather was better. Last year his time was 8 minutes 22 seconds and he came in 77th out of about 200 kids (5th grade boys).

(This year's race.)

This year he shaved almost a minute off his time. He came in 59th with a time of 7 minutes, 36 seconds. He was so happy that he beat his time last year, and he beat it BIG. This is the picture of a satisfied boy. Way to go Trevor! I wish I could run a 7 or 8 minute mile, heck, I'd be happy if I could run a 10 minute mile.

The Frat Boys Are At It Again.

2010-05-18T08:07:00.001-07:00

Did you see Michael Posner apologizing to China for our indiscretions? Apologizing to China? Can you believe this guy? When I first saw it on Bill O'Reilly, I thought it was a spoof from Saturday Night Live! As I watched, I realized, in horror, that it was no spoof. What is up with this administration? This guy should have been fired on the spot, no questions asked. How's that for human rights violations. Has he never heard the phrase "Free Tibet"? Has he never heard of "Tiananmen Square"? This guy is an idiot in a long list of idiots President Obama has appointed. From Robert Gibbs (WH Press Secretary, aka, White House Clown) to Eric Holder (US Attorney General, aka, General Twit) to now Michael Posner (Assistant Secretary of State, aka, Assistant Apologist, right behind President Obama who bowed to the President of the People's Republic of China - does Obama have some kind of uncontrollable tick?). I feel like the White House has become the Frat House. Instead of a proud country run by intelligent men and women, we have become a shameful nation run by a bunch of frat boys. By the time this Administration is finished (hopefully in 2012) we will, indeed, be a third world country. If you missed Michael Posner's pathetic apology, you can view it here.

Yippy, Skippy, I found My Camera!

2010-05-17T09:39:00.001-07:00

Yea, I found my camera. So here are the pictures from our weekend in West Yellowstone.

Mom with almost all her granddaughters. Actually, she is missing about 7 granddaughters and 3 great-granddaughters (I've had to count that three times to get it right and I still may have missed one or two). We snuck a great-grandson in there. He is sitting on his mommy's lap up in the top right-hand corner. (Kara on the bottom row, left and Kenna, bottom row, right are not sisters, but could be. Kara married my nephew, Levi. Kenna and Kara not only look alike to me, but they also act alike. It's all good).

All of us - Mom, daughters, grand-daughters and great-granddaughters. (I don't know what this underline thing is all about, and I don't know how to get rid of it, ugh).

The sisters! Debbie (a sister by marriage), me, Janice, Mom, Shirlene and April. We missed Lanell and Shellie, and sisters-in law Cindy and Shauna.

Mom and four of her eleven great-grandkids. Mom and dad have 10 children, 9 children-in-law (is that really a phrase??), 32 grand-children and 11 great-grandchildren. WOW! What a heritage! The babies - Avery Jane behind mom's left shoulder. She is 6 months old and a sweet one with really chubby thighs and cheeks (very cute). Her entire face lights up when she smiles. Marley behind mom's right shoulder. She just turned one and is funny - she just learned to say "yes" but it sounds more like "yesh" with a big smile. She is always smiling.

Cooper, in her left arm, is two months old and the most mellow baby I've ever seen. I don't think she cried once, she just slept and ate. Garrett, in her right arm, is chubby too and looks just like his dad. He was not happy this trip. I think he was suffering from tummy troubles. We got a smile out of him on occassion and I think his mom can make him smile whenever she wants. He and Cooper are first cousins (their mom's are sisters).

It was so nice to spend time with just "the girls". We missed those who couldn't make it.

This Could Be Problematic

2010-05-16T23:42:00.001-07:00

I've been waiting to post my blog about our girls getaway this past weekend. All the girls in our family went to West Yellowstone for a little getaway - my mom, my sisters and I, and all our girls. A few were missing, including Nicki, hence the post. Problem is no camera. I took it with me and the last I recall seeing it was about two hours before we left West Yellowstone. Kenna was holding it and I haven't seen it since.

List of things to do today:

Check with Kenna to see where the camera is.

Unpack bags and see if it is in there.

Check the rental car before returning to see if it is in there.

Check all the unexpected places to see if it turns up anywhere.

Call everyone who went on the trip with us and see if they ended up with it.

Go back to Kenna and ask her when was the last time she remembers holding/having/seeing it.

Call the condos where we stayed and see if it turns up there.

Yummy Yellow and Magic Bullets

2010-05-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

These are the cute flowers Nicki sent to me for Mother's Day. I love all colors and all flowers, but yellow is one of my all time favorite colors. I just love these, especially with the maroon lilies added just for contrast. They were stunning.

On Mother's Day Kent and the kids grilled tri-tips and made a wonderful dinner for me. They also gave me a "Magic Bullet". I was a bit under impressed with this and was thinking I would probably return it. But to my surprise, I love it. I make smoothies all the time, in fact, we are kind of a smoothie making family. So last night I tried out my new gadget and loved it. Now I am a smoothie making junkie. I made four last night just so I could show the entire family (or at least those of us still living here) how to use this nifty little item! I also got up and made scrambled eggs for breakfast. Okay, I probably could have made them just as easily without the Magic Bullet, but it wouldn't have been nearly as fun! Who knew!!!

One More Thing

2010-05-06T11:01:00.000-07:00

I know, this post will actually show up first, so reading the title is a bit confusing. But while I was at Sam's club the other day I picked up a magazine that caught my attention. I took it home and thumbed through it while I was eating lunch. Then when Kenna got home from school, she was flipping through it too. The magazine is called "Clean Eating". It is a magazine dedicated to, among other things, eating foods in their most natural or close-to-it state. Now don't go off and get discouraged at this point. This magazine actually has good food in it. Good food that's real, not over-processed, over-flavored and over-sized, and not difficult to find or cook. Kenna was looking through it saying stuff like, "Can we have this tonight?" or "That looks so good". She's by far not my most picky eater, but I think even Kent would like this food. It is just good. Check out their website here. I actually ripped out the little flag thingy that you mail in for a subscription to the magazine and I'm excited to get my first issue.

The rules for clean eating:

1. Eat 5 to 6 times a day (I can do that).

2. Drink at least 2 liters of water a day (I think I can do that).

3. Get label savvy (I already do that).

4. Avoid processed and refined food (I mostly do that).

5. Know thy enemies - high saturated fats, trans-fats, fried foods, foods high in sugar.

6. Shop with a conscience.

7. Consume healthy fats (I way over-do that).

8. Learn about portion sizes (I know, but don't do that).

9. Reduce your carbon footprint (okay, I'm not a huge environmentalist, but the idea here is to eat seasonal produce that is local - I do that as much as possible b/c it's better for your body and wallet).

10. Drink water with a lemon wedge.

11. Slow down and savor (I need to do that).

12. Take it on the go - s0 many recipes are lunch box friendly.

13. Make it a family affair (indeed, I plan to do that).

Check it out and happy, healthy eating to you!

Two Book Reviews

2010-05-06T10:13:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of books I have recently read that I think are interesting and perhaps you will too. No more "frothy Mormon literature" for me (thanks to Janet, my sister-in-law, I can now refer to all LDS novels as FML).

I just finished reading this book and loved it. I started it Monday evening and finished it Wednesday evening. I even mowed the entire yard and weeded two of my gardens in between, but I didn't get much else done! It is about the relationships between white women in Jackson, Mississippi in the 60's and their domestic help (black women). Very fun and interesting novel that delves into a somewhat sensitive issue. I loved Minny and loved hating Ms. Hilly Holbrook. Reader Beware: There is one part of the book where a man tries to attack a couple of women. He is completely naked and while there are no pictures, it is somewhat descriptive. It was disappointing to me that it was in there, but it was pretty benign and I am recommending this book to my 15-year-old daughter and my mother, gasp! Just so ya know.

Another book I read just a couple of weeks ago. It has a bunch of stories about people who have survived some pretty incredible disasters and what it took for them to survive. The author, Ben Sherwood, has also included some pretty amazing stats in his book. For instance, did you know that you have a 96+% chance of surviving a plane crash? Do you know the two most important numbers in military training are 98.6 and 3? Ninety-eight.six is your core body temperature and that is the first thing military personnel are trained to protect in a crisis. Three is a magic number that goes something like this: You can only survive 3 seconds without hope and faith. You can only survive 3 minutes without air. You can only survive 3 hours without maintaining your body temperature in extreme conditions. You can only survive 3 days without water. You can only survive 3 weeks without food. You can only survive 3 months without love and compassion. (I think I have that right, it's been 2-3 weeks since I read the book and I loaned it to my mom). At the end of the book there is a list of common survivor traits and a website where you can take a very accurate survivor test to see what kind of a survivor you are. I am a "Believer", while Kent is "Realist". Do you have what it takes to survive a disaster, whether personal or otherwise?

Cherry Jubilee

2010-04-30T07:09:00.001-07:00

Would you just look at that? Last night Regan came over and we were bored (she was not me, I always have plenty to do). We decided to make a cherry pie, so this is the end result. I made the pie crust and she weaved the lattice top, beautifully, I might add. We are kitchen divas! We enjoyed a warm slice of pie with ice cream after dinner. Yummy!

Flying Feet

2010-04-30T06:48:00.000-07:00

This year Kenna decided to run track. She loves running, loves practice and loves running in the meets. She especially loves running in cleats and the first time she did it, she couldn't believe how fast they made her run. She kept saying they made her feel like she could fly. She is a funny girl.

Kenna at her track meet against Sky View High School in Smithfield on Wednesday. Doesn't she look cute in her stunning track uniform.

She ran the 100 and 200 yard dash. It was a cold and windy day (temps in the hi 30's-low 40's). We were freezing. Her favorite part of the track meet - the cute boy holding the block for her!!! My favorite part was just watching her run. She wasn't the fastest, but I love watching her go.

April Showers???

2010-04-28T08:46:00.000-07:00

The last two days have been sunny, beautiful and warm. In fact, it was so warm I planted my peas and put out some new strawberry plants.

Then we got pounded by a snow storm this morning. It was our typical April winter, we get those often around here. We get light snow storms off and on through March and April and sometimes even in May, and we always get one that has lots of water in it making the snow extra heavy. This wet snowstorm usually comes just when the daffodils and tulips are in bloom, weighing them down and breaking off the beautiful blossoms. I'm hoping my tulips, daffodils and bleeding hearts can withstand the snow! So ready to be done with winter! By the way, aren't April showers supposed to be rain not snow?

A Busy, Fun Weekend

2010-04-27T15:23:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we left Logan and drove up to Arco, Idaho for my nephew, Cade's, missionary farewell. Once we hit Darlington, (the town were I was raised, just north of Arco) we let Kenna practice her driving. We turned off the highway and Kent turned the car over to Kenna. It was about 3 miles of dirt roads to Gma. and Gpa. McAffee's house and not another driver in sight - good for us and Kenna. Kenna is a giggler by nature, and sometimes the more nervous she gets, the more she giggles. We listened to nervous giggling for three miles. She is an excellent driver, cudos to her for doing such a great job, even parking was "no problemo"!

Mom and I Sunday morning. Mom looked so cute in this pretty pink dress she bought for herself a few weeks ago. Pink is definitely her color. Considering what she has been through in the past few months I think she looks simply amazing and beautiful. I hope I inherited those good genes!

Mom and dad just before leaving for Cade's farewell. They may have been a bit exasperated with me for requesting "one more picture" before we left. It is always a race against the clock and they don't like to be rushed. Once they decide it's time to go, it's time to go!

A most handsome missionary. Cade did a great job on his talk. He was the last speaker and all during Sacrament meeting he was kind of "rocking" back and forth in his chair. Kent thought perhaps he was practicing muslim prayer hour. Come to find out, this never-being-able-to-sit-still is classic Cade, according to him mom. We had a laugh over how sweet that is. Lanell will miss that, I am sure. Cade is going to the Cinncinatti, Ohio mission and leaves for the MTC on May 12th. Our love and best wishes to ya, Cade. You will be an outstanding missionary!

Me and the love of my life. Kent has been the best thing I ever did for myself. He is smart, kind-hearted, gentle and most of all funny beyond belief. My life has been one big party since I married him. It has been a sweet ride.

Cudos to me for making the best decision of my life - WAY TO GO CAROLINE!!!

One last note. The doctor told mom she would be scheduled for a CT scan and blood work next week. If her numbers are where the doctor wants them, he will give her a 12 week vacation from Chemo. Mom needs a break as these chemo treatments are getting more and more difficult for her. She needs time to rebuild her body. Please remember her in your prayers.

Last NY Blog - I Promise

2010-04-26T07:47:00.001-07:00

The day before I left, Nicki, Ariana and I went to visit another nanny who had invited us and a couple of other nannies over for lunch. April works for a family who lives on 7 acres just outside of Manhattan, the property is lovely with a 100+ year old house. The house was gorgeous and I especially loved the kitchen and the butler's pantry. I loved all the windows that let the light just pour in.

I would love to have this butler's pantry, but then, who wouldn't? Huge windows, tons of light, lots of fun seasonal dished and glasses. Tucked way back in the corner is an old charming sink original to the home. Loved it.

The last day I was in Dobbs Ferry with Nicki, we made bread. It was quite an undertaking, but it turned out beautifully. I love the aroma of baking bread. We pulled it out of the oven around 2:00 and left for the airport at 2:30. We just barely managed a tasty treat before it was time to go. Ariana loved helping us with the baking and thought it was fun to butter the top of the bread. It was yummy.

Just looking at it makes my mouth water. Didn't the loaves turn out beautifully!!!

This was a bitter/sweet morning for me. I loved being in the kitchen with Nicki and Ariana, but I knew as soon as it was over I would be heading to the airport, which meant saying good-bye. I had just a few tears before we left, but saying good-bye to Nicki was harder than I thought it would be. Once she dropped me off and left, I was okay. Thankfully, I had other things on my mind (getting through security and getting to my gate). I was sad to be leaving Nicki, who knows when we will see each other again, but at least we have the capability to communicate on a nearly daily basis. It makes the parting easier. Plus, I was excited to get back home to Kent and the kids. Vacations are fun, but it's always nice to come home too.

Day 4 and 5 in the Big Apple

2010-04-25T17:50:00.000-07:00

Day 5 - Mary Poppins

I won't even attempt to go through the events of this evening, except to say Nicki did an excellent job driving in Times Square, she was under a lot of stress. The plan was to drive to the city, go to dinner at yet another of her favorite restaurants, then hail a taxi to Times Square. We had the wrong address for dinner and ended up missing our reservation and didn't have enough time to eat anyway, so we just got in the car to drive closer to Times Square. Nicki was very frustrated at this point, as she wanted to show me a really great time in the city (again). The whole parking thing was just crazy. We were in Times Square before we knew it and we were aghast to think the meters were charging us .50/12 minutes. We were too frazzled at that point to figure out it was much cheaper than the $50.00 parking lot we found a few minutes later. It is much better reading it from Nicki's point of view. Click here - it is funny and entertaining. From my point of view, I didn't care that we missed dinner, it would have been nice, but I was just happy to be with Nicki going to Mary Poppins. This is a must-see. I loved it much better than Wicked and even Mama-Mia. (Hard to believe, I know).

Day 4 - Sunday

Sunday was my day to meet everyone in Nicki's ward and all her friends. So here we go from left to right: McKay, Nicki, Josh (I think, and apologize if I have his name wrong), Stacey, Ethan, Barrett and Alli. This is a fun group of young adults and I love that Nicki has an association with these kids. They were great.

After meetings we stayed at the church for "munch and mingle" (only in a singles ward), then went to the Murphy's house for games later. McKay works for Brother Murphy and they were out of town so had asked McKay to house-sit. Having the gang over was an approved activity (I think). We played a couple of games that required fast thinking and it was apparent that my mind was the oldest one there, as I had a hard time keeping up with these young fresh minds. This was a going away party for Ethan (blue tee shirt). Ethan is from Providence and Nicki just happened to run into him in the city one day when she first moved to New York. She knew him from high school. That day he invited her to a party with his friends and also to attend church in this ward. Funny thing is, Nicki was fasting and praying that weekend to find a place to go to church where she felt she could find friends and a good social network (prayer answered!). Ethan has been working as a "manny" out there and now he is on his way to Scotland for a week of fun and frolic, then back to Providence to visit his family, then off to Alaska to work on the docks. He is one cool, adventurous guy.

Ethan is the one who introduced Nicki and McKay (more on that later), hence the sandwich hug.

This is McKay impressing us with his "man skills" (tearing a paper towel). It is not a man-bra!!!

Day Three - The Big Apple

2010-04-25T16:49:00.000-07:00

Got up early Saturday morning (not too early, I am on vacation, after all) and headed to the city. First order of business - brunch at Alice's Teacup (one of Nicki's favorite places). The best eggs benedict I've ever had and yummy rooibos tea to warm our tummies. It was still a bit nippy in NYC.

I have a lot of pictures of me stuffing food into my face on this trip!

Walked to Tiffany's, looked at very pretty diamonds, felt very out of place. Went to Rockefeller Center, ate some more (my favorite, black licorice bridge mix at FAO Schwartz).

Walked around Central Park

Loved the city

Hung out at Times Square (around 5 p.m.)

Walked across the Brooklyn Bridge (a very New York thing to do)

Freaked out at the fact that there were only these insufficient looking slats between me and a perilous fall to the water below. This photo is very deceptive. The water looks like it is just a few feet down, but in reality, it was hundreds of feel down - scary, nervous.

Admired the beautiful architecture of this bridge.

Convinced and threatened Nicki she should only sit on this part of the bridge, not STAND on it! (Much traffic and water below, no safety net).

Took the subway (very NY again) back to Grand Central Station, caught a train back to Dobbs Ferry. How can Nicki look so perky - we were exhausted.

We walked all day and I thought we had covered tons of the city, but when we got home Nicki showed me on a map where we had gone. On a map the size of an 8.5x11, we only covered about the diameter of a quarter. Very big city that is going to require many trips to NY to cover it all! Check out Nicki's very fun version of this day here.

Finally, the BIG NYC Trip!

2010-04-24T09:43:00.000-07:00

Yipee! I get to blog about my fun trip to New York. After a long day of flights from SLC to LaGuardia, I finally got to see Nicki around 8:30 Wednesday night. (What was I thinking, no photos). Thursday morning we got up and went for a lovely walk in the neighborhood, and what a gorgeous neighborhood. I saw beautiful homes like this

and this (not the best photo, but you get the idea)

and this

and my all-time favorite (at least in this neighborhood) this. I think I loved it because of the somewhat Third Empire French style. Loved this house. All of these homes sit on amazing properties too.

This little beauty is Ariana, the two-year-old Nicki takes care of. At first I thought she was cute, but nothing to get too excited about, but by the end of the week I was in love with her and her cute little ways (uncontrollable wild curly hair and all). No wonder Nicki loves her job. She will be killer-beautiful when she grows up. Her father is Pakistani and her mom is a blonde from Boston - great gene pool, don't you think?

Dinner that night with Kelly and Munir (nicki's employers). They have a professional Pakistani chef that cooks for them and we ate the most amazing yellow lentils (beautiful color, bright yellow - my favorite. Now I get to not only wear and accessorize with it, but eat it too - what could be better). All I can say is we Americans eat yummy, but dull looking food. It is pretty bland too, comparatively speaking. Loved all the food I ate in New York. As far as getting little gifts for everyone here at home, I can buy almost anything here in Utah that I can buy in New York, except for the amazing ethnic food. That is the one thing I would have loved to bring home to my fam. I wish I would have taken more/any pictures of the food.

Day Two - Friday

Another gorgeous walk through another part of the neighborhood and more beautiful homes. We got home and showered/dressed and it was time to pick Ariana up from pre-school. After lunch she went down for a nap and we were able to have some girl-time shopping at Woodbury Commons, the biggest outlet mall I have ever seen. I found a cute dress and handbag at the Liz Clayborne shop, reasonable priced, and asked the lady to put them on hold, then we shopped around a bit more. Went to the Coach outlet just for fun and carried around a handbag that I loved for about 30 minutes. However, I didn't get it ($200.00) b/c I already have a really cute one that Nicki got me last year for Mother's Day. I thought about getting the new one and putting it on a shelf, saving it for next year, but that would never happen and I'm a one-handbag-at-a-time kind of girl. Besides, it was kind of pricey. Sadly, I put it back on the shelf. I miss it. We left Coach, went to Godiva and got so excited about buying chocolate that I completely forgot about my "hold" items at Liz Clayborne and left without getting them. I miss those, too! Nicki did buy a cute scarf (notice scarf in hair) at Coach for $12.00 - what a bargain!

That night when McKay (Nicki's honey) got off work, he came over to Dobbs Ferry (where Nicki lives) and we went to Lefteris, Nicki and McKay's favorite greek restaurant. Again, amazing food. Ya, that's me stuffing this ginormous gyro (pronounced g-y-r-o, not hero, as is said in Logan, UT) into my face. I was stuffed for the next 16 hours, seriously. I even ate the rice-stuffed grape leaves and loved it! This kind of activity explains my lovely "jelly-roll" in all full body photos of me. But if you're gonna have one, eating good food is the best way to go!

Can't wait to blog about our next adventures. By the way, if you want to see more photos and get an idea of the trip from Nicki's perspective (funny and much more brief), check out her blog by either clicking on her name at the right, or click here.

St. George Temple and other St. George sites, Zion's National Park and Kolob Canyon

2010-04-23T09:39:00.000-07:00

St. George Temple

Jacob Hamblin's home. Jacob Hamblin was the first Mission President in St. George (I think) and he was also very instrumental in keeping the indians in a peaceful mood.

The first jail in St. George. Unfortunately, the city or the church sees no need to preserve this building and it currently sits in the middle of a small shopping district and is being "improved" to serve as yet another small shop.

Our hike on the East Rim of Zion's National Park.

I think this is Angel's Landing - not part of our hike this time, but we are going back in the fall to do this and The Narrows. Can't wait.

Kolob Canyon sits just in the northwest corner of Zion's National Park. It was my favorite part of the park. When we go back in the fall, we are planning some fun hikes in this canyon too.

That's us hiking in a bit of snow in Kolob Canyon.

Spring Break in St. George, Ut

2010-04-23T08:35:00.000-07:00

I am slow getting these posted, but loved our little trip to St. George, Utah over spring break. The weather could have been warmer, but at least we didn't get rained on. Driving through a blizzard in Cedar City that almost ended the trip, I was worried that we had spent time and money for the same weather we were having in Cache Valley. Thankfully, the blizzard was confined to the Cedar City area and St. George was sunny and almost warm!

St. George Tabernacle.

Loved the beautiful architectural details of the tabernacle. This woodwork is a relief of grapes and cotton blossoms, both grown in St. George back in the day.

I also loved this staircase. It is a free standing staircase. The pioneers never cease to amaze me with their talents in building the most beautiful structures!

The "all-seeing-eye". Personally, I think this is a bit weird, but the pioneers were way into it! This painting and the plaque below it are on the wall just behind the pulpit. I think this would be distracting to me!

The free-standing staircase, and Trevor!

The front of the tabernacle. The "all-seeing-eye" is blocked by the chandelier. Below is a close-up of the pulpit. This is where Lorenzo Snow told the St. George saints that if they would pay their tithes and fast offerings, the "windows of heaven would open" and they would receive rain. You've all probably seen the filmstrip. There was a terrible drought in St. George at the time and the crops were failing.

I loved the gorgeous chandeliers in the tabernacle. Views from directly below the chandelier and from the side.

The chairs are original and so beautiful. They actually recline (somewhat like the ones we have in theaters now) for comfort. Very forward-thinking pioneers.

Still Loving Those Endorsements!

2010-04-23T08:30:00.001-07:00

This soap is great for kids too!

I received this note from a client in Pennsylvania. Her 4-year-old daughter had been having issues with her skin so I sent her some soap and this was her response.

Caroline,

Thank you so much for the soap. My daughter Sierra had patches of dry skin all over her arms. I used your soap on her body and in two and a half weeks it was gone. She has been a regular user of your soap and we have had no further problems. Thank you for making a natural soap that has no chemicals and is so gentle. She smells great and looks beautiful and soft, just like a child should. You are so talented keep blessing people's lives. Hugs - Lisa

Because these soaps are so gentle they are beneficial even to children and babies. Forget about the baby products you buy in the stores, they contain the same harsh and harmful ingredients that adult products contain. Don't be fooled by slick marketing either, commercially produced baby shampoos, soaps and lotions are no better than all the other junk on the market. Rest assured that no Itty Bitty Soap Company products ever contain any harmful dyes, fragrances or synthetic chemicals. All natural, all the time. Pure. Clean. Fun.

Thanks Lisa, it is deeply satisfying to know my soaps helped Sierra's tender skin!

I Have Some Catching-Up To Do

2010-04-22T10:15:00.000-07:00

Way back on March 10th, Kent's mom and dad celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. We went to Midway, Utah (midway between Park City and Heber, hence the name) and had a lovely dinner with everyone from his family. All of his siblings and spouses were there, minus Mark and Janice in Florida. Mark had some last minute work issues and couldn't make it. The picture of the dinner didn't turn out very well so it's kind of hard to see everyone, but we had fun. The hightlight was that we had a beautiful inn completely to ourselves. It was kind of like "The Shining" as the owners just left us a key and we let ourselves in. I have to say, it felt a bit creepy, but it was a fun and beautiful inn.

We sat around the fireplace, as it was a bit nippy outside and Gma. and Gpa. Craven didn't think the dining chairs were very comfy so we dragged in these two enormous chairs from the lobby. They were duly dubbed King and Queen for the night. It was a funny little event.

The Iron Lady - We Need Her.

2010-03-25T07:01:00.000-07:00

""The problem with socialism, is that eventually you run out of other people's money."

Margaret Thatcher

If it looks like Socialism, smells like Socialism and tastes like Socialism, then its Socialism. These are the changes I believe in:

1. The new healthcare plan will bankrupt the country.

2. Cap and trade (don't think for a minute it's dead) will bankrupt the country.

3."Green is the new red" thinking will bankrupt the country.

4. The Progressives will bankrupt the country.

I miss these guys!!!

My Boo-Boo

2010-03-25T06:16:00.000-07:00

You should always read through your blogs from the point of view of others who may read it. I posted a picture of Trevor's 11th birthday, which is really September 27th, but the date of my last blog said March 23rd. I am sorry for the confusion, his birthday isn't in March, although I'm sure he would love a "half-birthday" celebration. Actually, he got one. Kent busted him out of school yesterday and they are off having a guy adventure in Duschene (I know that isn't spelled correctly, but couldn't find the correct spelling). Kent had a meeting over there so he took Trevor with him and today they are visiting Dinosaur Land or something like that.

Back to the correction. I also said I was looking forward to his ordination, but I meant in September, not in the coming week. I am so sorry to have been so confusing in my blog. I'll try not to let that happen again. Thankfully, it's not the end of the world :) The birthday picture just happens to be one of him that I liked so I posted it.

Trevor

2010-03-23T07:35:00.001-07:00

(Trevor's 11th birthday)
This morning as we said family prayer, it was Trevor's turn to pray. This boy amazes me. He has a depth of spirituality that constantly surprises me. He has always been this way. This morning as he was praying for Gma. McAffee, he asked that Gpa. would be comforted, that he would know Gma. was going to be okay and that he would realize God was watching over them. It was such a touching prayer and as he finished I was fighting tears. Today mom is having a consultation with her oncologist to go over the results of a bone biopsy done on Friday. We don't think it will be good news, and are keeping her and Grandpa in our prayers, asking Heavenly Father to give them peace and comfort. Mom having cancer has been hardest on dad and I think what we all fear the most is that if this goes bad for her and she leaves us, how will dad survive? He depends upon her for so much and I seriously wonder if he knows how to cook anything for himself or wash any clothes. This morning Trevor's prayer was for Grandpa.

(Capitol Reef State Park)

A couple of years ago it was Trevor's turn to do the lesson for FHE. We usually give him a bit of help with the lesson, but this time he wanted to do it himself. He did his lesson on the prophet, Joseph Smith. As he finished it he bore his testimony, which, quite frankly, left us all speechless (next to impossible around here) and as he struggled with his own emotions, I was, again, touch at the depth he feels such things. He is sensitive to the Spirit and to the needs of others.

Awhile ago, one of my friends told me I needed to get him involved in sports to "toughen him up". Trevor does not especially like being involved in team sports, although, he does love basketball and golf. He likes playing sports on the playground with his friends, but he doesn't like organized sports. I don't have a problem with this at all. I think my friend was shocked that I don't push him to do more sports and be more aggressive. He would be miserable if I did. I love that he isn't especially a rough and tumble type of boy. He loves wrestling around and goofing off with his dad, but that's about as far as his aggressiveness goes. I love that all his friends at school are the brainiacs. I love that he is rather academic and is inclined to appreciate the finer things in life. He loves piano and being in orchestra (viola). What I love the most is that he still loves to give me hugs and tell me how much he loves and appreciates me. (What mother wouldn't love that). He is a great kid and I look forward to having him get ordained this fall.

(Advancing from "Cubs" to "Scouts")

A Daunting Read

2010-03-18T08:48:00.000-07:00

I have been struggling for the past few weeks to read/finish this book. While I am no professional critic, I do have some opinions of this book. I got it for Christmas and was so excited to read it, as I wanted to learn about the expedition and the amazing people who were involved and their histories. It has been a bit of a disappointment. I know Gerald Lund's work and should have known what this would read like, since I've read other books he has written, i.e.,"The Work and The Glory", "Behold The Man", and "Fire and the Covenant". I never finished the books from The Work and the Glory (too long, boring and too much sappy love dialogue, although I did love the historical facts). I plugged through "Behold the Man" and the rest of the books in that series, hoping to get a better perspective on the life of Christ (didn't happen, I think I'll stick to the scriptures). I got bored with them and I am bored with this one. I have been reading it for a while hoping it would get better. By better I mean less predictable, and less romantic drivel between fictional characters (do people really talk and behave that way?) and more history of real people. So far, the footnotes at the end of the chapters are the best parts, and the beginning of the book where he describes the coal mine conditions. In my opinion, this book is a carbon copy of all the other books he has written - change a few circumstances, change a few names and you have a new book. Same sappy love stories (and painful dialogue) in a new cover. I appreciate that he did a ton of research on the people and events who were real, but the main characters in this book are (I'm shouting this part) FICTIONAL, while the real people are secondary. I'm sure their lives were much more amazing than the fictional family he made up.

When I read the dialogue between the confused courtship of Molly (who cries so much I want to slap her and tell her to buck up) and David (I like his character, but total emotional wuss) and Abby (who, if this were a play the actress would have to over-act every line) I want to gag.

At one point I decided not to finish the book, time and life are to precious to waste on a book you don't like, but I had already committed to 600 pages (trying to get to the "good part"), so I decided I could work through the last 200. (It was a liberating feeling for the few days I had decided not to waste my time on it). Plus, I wanted to write this blog so I though I should at least finish the book, in all fairness. I could be the dumb one here.

I know there are people out there who read and loved this book. I am happy for them that they found a good read. There is nothing I love better than losing a few hours a day (yes, hours) in a good read. But this book didn't do it for me.

Here are a couple of books that I have read and loved. "The Female Brain" by Louann Brizendine, it is a non-fiction, but an easy to read and understand book about how the female brain works from conception to old age. I love to read this kind of stuff, maybe you won't. I don't agree with the author's point of view on all things, but was fascinated by how the female brain differs from the male brain even in embryo and how our brains change in chemistry (hormones) as we age (teenage brain, mommy brain, yes it is real, menopause brain).

A somewhat historical fiction I read and loved was "Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett. It is set in mid-evil times. Story about a mason who wants to build a cathedral to God. Very good, but beware of a couple of rapes in the story and a few graphic scenes. I took this book to Mexico a few years ago to read in my down time and didn't put it down hardly at all - even while on the Mexican Riviera. Good book.

"Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns. This is an older book, I read it about 15 years ago and can't remember much about it. However, I clearly remember that in some parts I cried and in other parts I laughed. I love books that take me on an emotional roller-coaster.

"Running With Angels" by Pamela Hansen. This book is a raw -life experience about a woman who had unparalleled challenges in her life, but overcame them, lost a bunch of weight and ran a marathon. I know that is not a stellar description, but it is a good book, very inspiring, quick 200 page read.

"Left to Tell" by Immaculee Ilibagiza. Another quick read. This is the author's experience of the Rwandan Genocide, her family's murder, how she survived by hiding in a bathroom and how this entire experience turned her to God. It isn't a dark and depressing book, although the experience of the Rwandan genocide is atrocious. She doesn't dwell too much on that in a dark and negative way, although the entire book is about the murders and genocide. It is more about how that experience turned her to God and her struggle to find faith in such unhuman circumstances, and how she found forgiveness. It is hands down, the best book I have ever read. It left me with a feeling of hope, not utter despair. Everyone's probably already read these books, as none of them are hard to find. If any of you have suggestions on good books to read, let me know. I'm always looking. (Anita Stansfield and other LDS fictional authors need not apply, don't even think of suggesting any books about vampires, I can't take it).

P.S. For those who may be wondering - I am a card-carrying member of "the church" and do believe Gerald Lund to be called of God, but as a general authority, not a fictional author. I read and loved his non-fiction book "The Coming of the Lord" - excellent read. And no, apparently I don't know how to write a short blog!

Celebrating 21

2010-03-02T06:11:00.000-08:00

I have no pictures of just Nicki, she is always with someone.

Today is Nicki's 21st birthday. As her mother, I am so proud of the wonderful person/daughter she has turned out to be. When she was born she weighed 8 lbs. 6 oz. and was 21 inches long. I thought she was enormous and at the same time so tiny, small and scary. What did I know about raising children and being a mom - nothing!!! Twenty-one years later I wouldn't go back and change anything. Raising Nicki, along with her siblings, has been the greatest blessing in my life, and also the most challenging. Today I am going to indulge myself and write about Nicki and some of her fantastic qualities:

Nicki inherited her father's gift for thinking logically. Many times when I can't see the end result of a decision that needs to be made or a problem that needs to be solved, both Nicki and Kent are able to see through all the issues and make logical, well thought out decisions. This is a blessing in her life and at times was a curse in mine. Don't ever try to argue with a logical, well thinking teenager, I promise you will lose every time!

Nicki is tidy and has been since she was old enough to discern messiness from cleanliness. Even in her high chair when she was first learning to eat real food, she was tidy. I don't have any baby pictures of her with her bowl on her head and food smeared all over her face, she didn't like it and never did it. She also made her bed and kept her room clean from the time she was very, very small - and she always did a good job on that bed-making, always. Her tidiness extends to every aspect of her life, including her wallet. I will never forget walking into her bedroom when she was about 12 years old and seeing her ironing her paper money and placing it in her wallet, in numerical order, all presidents facing forward. I laughed at that and so did she but she was proud of her desire to have order and secretly, so was I.

Although she was a clean fanatic and very logical, she could be a real air-head sometimes (still is). Nicki started working when she was pretty young. She babysat for us and a few of our friends and our friends paid her very well. Once when we were out shopping, she left her wallet sitting on top of a clothing rack in a store in the mall. We had left the store and were in another one when she realized what she had done. I was so sick for her loss, but thought perhaps this was going to be one of those "life lessons". She had saved $70.00 from babysitting and was school shopping and I just knew that money was gone. She couldn't remember where in the store she had left it. However, we said a prayer and went back to the shop and either someone had turned in the wallet or it was siting on the clothing rack, I can't remember, but we did find the wallet and all her money was in it. Turns out that was not a life lesson, because it happened a few times after that. I think she keeps better track of her wallet/purse when she is out shopping now.

This leads me to another of her qualities - faith. Nicki is a very faithful, spiritual daughter. Nicki has learned to pray to our Heavenly Father when she is in need, as well as most other times, and depends upon His support in her life. Once when we were traveling from California to Idaho/Utah to visit grandparents, our car broke down in Winnemucca (why does that always happen to us). She was only 5 or 6 when it happened. Kent and I were both very frustrated with a broken down vehicle and small children on a very hot summer afternoon. We had no extra funds to repair our car and during a very tense moment, with a big smile plastered all over her face, Nicki suggested we just pray and ask Heavenly Father to fix it for us. We went along with it, both of us feeling like that was just a waste of time but since she had suggested it, we would do it. We were just going through the motions. But Nicki was sure Heavenly Father would hear and answer our prayers. As we were both over-the-top-frustrated, I think Kent asked her to pray. As I recall, we got our car fixed very quickly with little to no expense and were soon on our way. We learned a lot from Nicki that day. She just smiled and was happy to be going to Grandma's. Throughout her life, when Nicki is in a jam, she prays. When she was sick at girls camp she asked for and received a blessing, knowing that was all she would need to feel better. Brother Mattson and Brother Phillips gave her a blessing and not only did she feel better, she was so grateful to them and has felt a soft spot in her heart for them ever since, for their service to her. She also has a great capacity for gratitude and is always more than willing to express it.

Nicki is compassionate. She has always been compassionate and has always felt a tenderness to our Father in Heaven's children who came to earth a bit challenged. When she was in high school she was a "helper" to a class of Seminary students who were challenged. Her assignment was a girl named Sasha, who was very difficult. She would go to seminary every day with Sasha for the term and often it wasn't easy. Sasha spit on Nicki and would often walk away from her, or ahead of her, trying to ditch Nicki. But Nicki was persistent. After about a day or two of this kind of treatment, Nicki firmly told Sasha (in no uncertain terms, she left no doubt) she wanted to be her friend, but wouldn't allow Sasha to be mean to her. That seemed to be a turning point in their relationship. From that day on Nicki was Sasha's best friend and when the end of the term came, Nicki cried when she had to move on and leave Sasha to someone else's care. Much later, Nicki had to report on a service activity she had given to someone and decided to talk about her service to Sasha. I heard her say that when she started the term she was excited to help and teach someone, but when the term was over, Sasha was the one who had taught Nicki. She could barely get through her report for the tears streaming down her face - she loved Sasha with all her heart.

Nicki has chosen to continue serving others in her career choice. She wants to be a nurse and as part of that choice, decided to be a CNA and worked in a retirement center here in Cache Valley for pitiful pay. But she loved her job. She spent a lot of her time working in the Alzheimer's unit because she was so good with the people there. Many days she came home with bruises all over her body from being hit, kicked and otherwise beat upon, but she always told me how wonderful those people were and how much she loved them. She knew they were not in their right mind and they were trapped. She worked hard at that job, came home exhaused every night. She spent many hours a day cleaning poop from various body parts, cleaning up vomit and wrestling tough older people into a shower or to the toilet, often getting more soaked than the patients. She also spent a lot of time painting their nails (men and women alike), doing their hair, looking at their precious family photos and just sitting and holding their hands until they felt better or happy. She always tried to bring them joy and she did. They loved her because she loved them unconditionally.

Nicki is intelligent, smart and loves to learn. Nicki has always loved learning (she gets that from her dad). She doesn't necessarily come by it easily, but is willing to work as hard as is required to get what she wants in school. Her freshman year at BYU-I she was chosen to work as a summer scholar at Boise State on a project to come up with a base protein for a bio-genetisist there. Specifically, they were to come up with a base protein that the body would have a response to for the Black Plague. She worked with nasty things like e-coli and Yersenia pestis (the plague), both deadly bacteria and LOVED it - no lab coats, no masks, and loved it. They were to combine the Yersenia pestis with a cholera toxin combined in a plasmid, that, I think, was the base protein they were trying to build. On the first day of the program the director asked if all the student's had had organic chemistry and bio-chemistry. Nicki hadn't but decided not to volunteer that information because she figured she would just watch and catch on - which she did. That horrifies me. I would never do that, my hand would have shot up in a second and I never would have thought, "I can figure it out". My immediate reaction would have been "I'm in pretty deep caca here". But not Nicki. And guess what - her team won the competition, even beating out the Fellowship scholars (much to their shock and shame). There was a very specific and difficult protocol she had to follow and she did it. She was a stinking freshman and her team won first place in this incredibly difficult assignment, beating out Juniors and Seniors who had had organic and bio-chemistry. Nicki never gave up, she worked hard for those two weeks. Not only did she work hard, she made a party out of it for everyone she worked with (does picture #3 look like they are working with deadly bacteria???). So if we ever get bombed by bio-terrorists, Nicki, in part, has your back!!!

As you may have noticed, Nicki is also very confident. Let me repeat that - - VERY CONFIDENT. I don't think there is anything in this world Nicki couldn't do or accomplish if she wanted to. When she was in sixth or seventh grade, after her teacher explained Darwin's theory, Nicki raised her hand and asked something to this effect, "You don't really believe all that stuff do you? (I actually think she said "crap"). Again, I would have never questioned a teacher out loud, but was proud of her for speaking up. Nicki has no problem speaking up if she feels someone is being treated unfairly or if something said is not correct. It doesn't matter who she speaks up to. In elementary school, Nicki found a book in the library that she thought was inappropriate for kids to be reading. She took the book to the librarian and asked if it could be removed because it was inappropriate. The librarian explained to her that while that book may have been offensive to Nicki, it was perfectly fine that the library had it because others may like and enjoy it. Nicki wasn't satisfied with that, so she simply took the book and buried it behind a bunch of other books where she thought nobody would ever find it. I'm sure to this day Nicki made sure nobody would ever find it without removing every book in that library. Nicki loved being on "library partol".

When Nicki was 16 years old, she was chosen by the local Rotary Club to represent her high school at a leadership convention at Sundance. She went to the convention, had a ton of fun, but was most excited about a group called Youthlinc. She was finishing one of her classes and the instructor told the students to file out of the auditorium-type of room using one of the doors at the bottom of the class. Since Nicki was sitting at the top of the class, she decided to go out one of the back doors at the top (she gets that non-conformity from her dad, never tell her or her dad exactly what you want them to do, rather tell them just what you don't want them to do, very effective). So while she is leaving the classroom, she notices another private meeting in another room and decided to peek in to see what was going on. Come to find out, it was a Youthlinc group. This group organizes volunteers, including a doctor and a dentist and students from 17 up through college, to work in mostly third-world type countries to bring medical, educational and dental support to villages that are isolated. Long story short, Nicki ends up going to a village on the Amazon in Peru. She spent two weeks down there and loved it. She tramped through the rainforest, caught and ate peranha, held a de-fanged tarantula, taught kids in school, screened adults for diabetes and even did a dental assistant stint. She practiced sutures on a chicken breast for a couple of hours one night, the next day she is closing gums with sutures after the dentist has pulled the rotten teeth out. Bonified dental assistant in just two hours - who knew! She loved her trip to Peru and loved working with these people. They are the poorest of the poor and she absolutely loved every minute of it. She never got homesick and wanted to stay longer.

Nicki is a social butterfly. She is always making friends, no matter their age. She loves anyone and everyone and loves getting to know people. When she was two and we would go for walks, she would say hi to everyone, old and young alike. She has been living in New York for a little over six months and is having a big bash tonight with a dozen or so of her closest friends. When she was little and would have birthday parties I would have to cut the guests off at the number of years she was celebrating. If she was turning 12 we could only invite 12ish friends (she always talked me into one or two more). Otherwise, I would have had dozens of kids at my house. I often did after we moved here and I could no longer control the crowd size. Every where we go, she knows someone.

Nicki's idol is her dad - always has been. People sometimes ask me if it bothers me that Nicki is so close to her dad and it doesn't. I know she loves me and we have a great relationship, but she absolutely loves being with and adores her dad. Maybe it would bother me if he were a jerk or something, but he's not and I can't think of a better person for her to admire. I swear by my life that her adoration and determination not to disappoint her dad helped her avoid some really stupid teenage mistakes. Nicki had plenty of opportunities to do the dumb teenage stuff, but I think she had such a desire to please her dad that it always came into the equation. I'm thankful for that. I love and admire him too. How could you not love that silly old guy??? Speaking of silly . . .

Nicki loves to have fun and loves having fun with her siblings. She is the joy of their lives and they all love hanging out with Big Sis. She has been an almost-perfect example for her younger sisters and brother. Regan, especially, lights up like a Christmas tree when she gets to spend time with Nicki and has since she was old enough to conceive that she has a big sister. Nicki was only two and a half when Regan was born, but that didn't stop her from thinking she was a second mom. Many times I would find Nicki dragging Regan around (literally) and even trying to get her out of her crib when she cried. Often I have had to remind Nicki that I would be Regan's mom and she could be the sister. But Nicki takes her responsibility as a big sister very seriously. They have serious fun, serious talks, serious shopping sessions and serious gab sessions whenever they can.

Besides being a great example to her siblings, she is dependable and responsible. She started babysitting for us when she was only 10. We would go to the movies and I would worry about her and ask Kent if he thought they were all getting along okay and if they were safe. He would always tell me, "Don't worry, Nicki is babysitting for us. She is a better parent than we are and she knows what to do. If she doesn't know how to handle a situation, she will figure it out". He as always right. Nicki was an excellent babysitter and she always felt free to share her parenting advice and observations with me.

Nicki is thoughtful. She has always been thoughtful. One day in church when I was expecting Regan it was Mother's Day. Kent had remembered his mother on Mother's Day, but I was completely overlooked. As I sat in Sacrament Meeting having a very hormonal breakdown over the fact that I had given birth to this beautiful daughter and was miserably pregnant with number 2, I started to cry. Kent was completely oblivious to this until Nicki noticed and reached over with her chubby little hand and wiped a tear from my face. Then she gave me a little hug and said, "Don't worry mommy, it will be okay". She had no idea why I was crying and I had no way to stop those tears. As soon as Nicki showed me that tiny little bit of thoughtful compassion, the flood gates really opened. But I loved her for trying to comfort me. She was only two years old. I should mention here that Kent quickly took notice and when I got home from church he had some flowers on the table for me. I think he ditched Priesthood meeting in a frenzied search for flowers. I was still ticked off that I was an after-thought, but who cares now. He has never forgotten Mother's Day since. Thanks, Nicki!

Nicki is also artistic, very independent, a devoted journal writer, adventurous, graceful and beautiful. Her outward beauty is truly a manifestation of her inner beauty. I don't take credit for any of these qualities. A very good friend of mine once said, "Our kids come to us perfect, and we do our best not to mess them up". I agree with her comment. I have never forgotten it. I look at Nicki and see all the gifts and talents she came to earth with and am amazed that despite our best efforts, she's not messed up. I have learned more from being her mother than I could have ever learned in a book or in a life time of experiences without her. She was the perfect first child for us to cut our parenting teeth on and has done much to help her siblings put their feet on the right path. She led the way for them and I will always be grateful to her for her wonderful, loving example to them. I celebrate this day as not only Nicki's birthday, but as a day God gave me a most precious gift. I am so blessed to have her in my life and I look forward to many more years of being her mom. Happy Birthday Nicki - I love you.

Honest Scrap

2010-02-24T11:58:00.001-08:00

So, Nicki tagged me for this Honest Scrap - shouldn't it be called an Honest Blog??? I have to list 10 simply amazing, wonderful things about myself and it feels like a chore. Nicki promises me it gets fun once you start - - we'll see.

#1. I have a secret "wild child" inside me (maybe not so secret). I don't know why. I don't have any desire to get unbelievably drunk and do embarrassing things, but I do have the urge every now and then to do the unexpected and be just a little bit of a rule breaker, maybe even a tad rebellious. I have never had any desire to just be normal, but I always thought that had to do more with self-esteem issues and less with living outside the box. However, I feel the need to keep that part of myself locked away in a safe place and only parade her in front of people I know really well, like my family and a very few close friends!

#2. Even though I am a professed consumer of all things natural and homeopathic, I have been known to throw in the towel and use OTC aids, especially if I have a killer sinus headache that I can't shake. I usually try the more natural methods first, but if they don't cut the mustard, I have no compunction about trying drugs. Katri would be ashamed of me.

#3. There is not one public figure that I idolize. A few have good qualities that I admire, but I don't cry or go into a frenzied contortion when I see them in public or on tv. They are just very ordinary people to me, and as far a celebs go - mostly unbelievably stupid. But I do have a few very strong women in my personal life whom I greatly admire. My mom and my grandmothers come to mind. They were/are strong women physically, mentally and spiritually and very well grounded. I admire that hard work was never daunting to them, just something they had to do and I never heard them complain about it, they even enjoyed it. I idolize them.

#4. I cried shamelessly when I got called to work in the Nursery two weeks ago. I mostly managed to do that privately, but Kent got an earful. I had no desire to go to church knowing that after Sacrament Meeting, I would be stuck in the Nursery for two painfully long hours. When I complained about it to mom I got no sympathy, in fact, she told me she loved it ( she did it just a few years ago). My first week in there was a living hell, last week wasn't so bad and I'm afraid to admit that I may even end up liking it (I can at least tolerate it). Me and one other woman are the youngest workers in there (out of about 6 or 7), the rest are a bit older. Right now we have something like 20 kids in there, but by the end of the year we are supposed to be around 30-35. What's up with only asking the Grandma-age women to work in Nursery, not to mention NO MEN?!? Grudge, grudge.

#5. I'm still broken hearted that Adam Lambert turned out to be such a public disgrace. I loved him on American Idol, even had pictures of him plastered all over my scrap booking room (but I never did idolize him, just loved watching him perform and loved his moderated "wild child", I could identify). This year American Idol seems boring compared to his performances last year.

#6. In many ways I am an old-fashioned, traditional girl at heart. I love old things - the older, the better. I love canning fruits and veggies. I love being a stay-at-home mom and not having a career and I love having a husband to take care of me and a family to take care of. I love the modern conveniences, but also find myself often wondering what it would have been like to be a prairie girl like Laura Ingles. A few weeks before we moved from CA I had a dream that we bought a little two-story house with a wrap-around porch sitting in the middle of a meadow with wagon wheel tracks coming up to the front gate (rickety picket fence included). I was the local school teacher of about 5-10 children. I remember being so happy when I woke up from that dream and I felt so peaceful. I think of that dream a lot and I honestly think it is one of the happiest dreams I have ever had. Weird, huh! Lately, I've also had a hankering for a treadle sewing machine, one that works, so I can make quilts on it. (I would probably really hate that in the end).

#7. Most of the time I have too much time on my hands. I love being able to relax and just take it easy, but not every day. Today, for example, it is 1:30 in the afternoon and I am still in my pajamas. This happens on a regular basis, but not all the time. That is not to say that I don't work, I just do it in my jammies. That may also explain why I love to blog, but can never think of anything interesting to blog about. I love reading other people's blogs. However, too much down time leads me to depression. I have to have things to do, I just like to do them on my time schedule, not someone else's. That's why I don't have a full time out-of-the-house job. Here is a sample of my typical day: up at 6:00, cook breakfast for kids and get them out the door for school, exercise, then I have hours upon hours of time to do whatever I want, then the kids come home, I cook dinner, RELAX from my taxing day, bed at 11:00. I need to get a bit more of a life. Could be weather related - I am actually busier in the spring/summer/fall.

#8. My new favorite indulgence is plain Greek yogurt with a bit of honey and cinnamon sprinkled on top. Not the low or non-fat type, but the full on high-content fat. It is to die for and I love it more than ice cream, but I have to limit myself to only one serving a day (according to the scales, less than that).

#9. I secretly dread all my children moving out of the house and far away from me. What I really am afraid of is that Kent and I will have empty lives without them. Not that I want them to stick around forever (Heaven forbid). I love that they go out on their own and can manage and do well, I just wonder what it will be like when they all leave. They have given depth to and filled our lives more than I can even begin to explain. I hope some of them live close enough that I can spoil grandchildren and enjoy their company. Will Kent and I have something to talk about and stress over when they are gone??? Before we had kids, Kent and I thought we were living rich and full lives, but I could never go back to being childless now. I do, however, also look forward to spending more time with Kent when and if he ever retires.

#10. This is my last one so it had better be a good one! I miss having a "girlfriend" close by that I can go and do stuff with. As much as I love my daughters, sometimes I just want to hang out with someone my own age and say things to them that I could never say to my daughters. I have had friends like that in the past, but I don't live close to them any more and I miss them. I also have that kind of a relationship with my sisters and mom, but again, I don't live close enough to them that we can just drop everything and go to a movie or do something fun together, everything has to be planned weeks in advance. I have friends here, but not the same connection I've had with friends in the past (hope none of them read this, cuz I do love them). Most of the time it doesn't bother me b/c I love being with Kent and my children, but every now and then I just want to go and do the "girlfriend" thing and laugh my head off at all the dumb things people around me are doing, all the dumb things my husband has done and all the dumb things my kids have done, not to mention all the dumb things I have done. As much as I love it, sometimes I just need a break from "mom" and "wife" mode.

#11. I know, I know, 10 is my limit, but I just thought of one more thing and it is really important - at least to me. I can be unbelievably oblivious to when I offend people. I don't mean to do this, stuff just comes out of my mouth and I never figure it out until much later that whatever I've said could be misconstrued and offensive. I truly never mean to be mean or hurtful to people, but I know there have been times. So to all of my friends, family and associates, past and present, I apologize from the depths of my heart and pray you will forgive whatever I said that was painful or offensive to you. Does this blanket statement count?

Okay, so that wasn't so bad, although it was time-consuming. The four I am going to tag:

1. Kim - sorry Kim, I know you are busy, but for as long as I've known you, I still don't feel like I know you well enough.

2. Bonnie M. - she always has an interesting point of view and it will be fun to read her responses.

3. Regan - her comments will make me laugh my head off. She is so funny. But no pressure, here, Reg. Feel free to be more honest than funny.

4. Lisa C. McKnight - I feel like she is all alone out in Penn. while the rest of the fam is hanging out in Utah. We miss you girlie!

The Real St. Valentine

2010-02-15T07:47:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure I've ever contemplated where Valentine's Day comes from. I always assumed it was a "Hallmark" holiday, until I read this from my niece's blog. I love the story and wonder if it is really true, although I do know there was a St. Valentine. Valentine's cause of death would put him in the "Saint" category!

"One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men — his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death."

I wish I had seen this before the holiday was over, but no matter - be sure to tell your loved ones each and every day how much you love them.

P.S. Now that Valentine's Day is over I have finally figured out how to change my background! Yipee!!!

It's only a dance step

2010-01-26T09:21:00.000-08:00

Monday morning, January 25th, I was at the oncologists office with my mom. She was getting her blood drawn so they could check and see if her numbers were where they needed to be in order to get her chemo treatment. I saw this quote printed on regular old copy paper, taped to the wall of the lab room. "An optimist is someone who views one step back as a dance step." I don't recall who that quote was by or even if it is correct, but it was something to that effect. I loved it and thought of all places, this was an appropriate place for that quote. Many people who go there probably feel like they take many steps back in their recovery. Some never move forward. So far mom has done extremely well with her chemo. She has a pretty positive attitude, support from her family, many prayers offered in her behalf and a few extra therapies to 0ff-set the damaging side effects of chemo. We are hoping and praying that these things will all work to her good and give her an edge over the side effects. Yesterday her white blood cell count was up, but her red blood cell count was down - it seems like there is always a trade-off. She got a shot to raise her red blood cell count and was able to continue with her chemo. She didn't much like the shot, it stung a bit, but the sting left as soon as the shot was over. Dad left to go run errands, I stuck around for a while, but mom looked tired so I left for a while so she could rest. However, that did not happen. When I came back I noticed that mom had had a nosebleed while I was gone. She was, however, very tidy and didn't get any blood on her clothes. That would be something very important to mom - if you're going to bleed, be tidy about it! I was feeling horribly guilty that I had left her and so was dad, but the nurses were taking good care of her. Of course, the nose bleed lowered her blood sugar levels so she had to have a glass of juice with a granola bar, a rare treat for her as she is also diabetic. She finished up her treatment and we ended up back at my brother's house where mom and dad stay every Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. It is a very convenient and peaceful place for them to be while we see how mom handles each of those chemo treatments. Three down, 21 to go. Remember mom, it's only a dance step!!!

Check out this blog.

2010-01-23T13:00:00.000-08:00

Two posts in one day - woot, woot! Nicki introduced me to this blog, www.bringingladyback.blogspot.com. It is a fun site to visit and has great quotes and thoughts about being "lady-like", a somewhat lost art in our society. Nicki also nominated me for a "sitting pretty session" and the host of the blog interviewed me. Click on the above blog address, scroll down a bit and see the interview. It was fun to think about her questions and what they meant to me. I had to truly think about my answers and even though I fall short on many accounts, I truly believe what I said. Enjoy reading this blog!

Winter sports are not for wimps!

2010-01-23T12:16:00.000-08:00

Kent, me and Colt Farmer (could be Cade Farmer)
Colt or Cade, Tucker, Hunter and Lanell, my sis.

Kenna doing her snowboard thing.

I'm in the yellow coat, Hunter is sitting in the snow, and Lanell is in the white coat.

We've had a bit of snow lately and have been promising Kenna and Trevor we would let them take a day off school and we would go skiing. We finally did it yesterday and had a ton of fun. I love that we live so close to a ski resort and can do this. I took up the sport in 2004 or 2005, can't remember for sure. But one thing I do know - I should be way better at it than I am. Every year when we go for the first time I am unbelievably nervous that I will hurt myself, or worse yet, someone else on the slopes. We only did a few runs yesterday as it was blizzardy and kind of hard to see, not to mention the fact that every year our first trip to the mountain is like the first time I have been on skiis - ever! I really wish I would get better at it, but I still do the same three or four runs I always do. They are familiar to me and I am somewhat comfortable on them. Kent keeps telling me to relax and I would ski better, but I don't believe him. These pictures are from a couple of years ago. We invited the Farmer's to go with us (my sister and her family, for those who don't know). We had a blast with them, and I would love it if they would come and ski with us again, but I know it's our turn to go with them and they ski Targee. That is over by West Yellowstone and there is no way I'm doing that. I'll stick to our own little Beaver Mountain, thank you very much. Kenna snowboards and Trevor skiis and they are both pretty good, fearless in fact. Kent has been skiing since he was a teenager and is so patient to just hang out on the easy runs with me. Every now and then he and Trevor like to do a black run while I sit in the lodge and finally relax. Despite the trauma, I truly do love being out in the beautiful winter surroundings (as long as it isn't too cold - very fair weather I am). I even enjoy skiing when I get to the bottom of the hill and realize how much fun I had coming down in one piece. We never could get Regan and Nicki very interested in coming along and learning with us. They miss out and we miss them because we have so much fun together and I always wish they were with us. So, to end this blog - if anyone out there wants to come to Beaver and ski with us, you are more than welcome to come along - the more the merrier. Just be aware of the fact that I do granny-style skiing!

Best Holiday Ever!

2010-01-09T16:27:00.001-08:00

I apologize first off for not having any pictures. Since Nicki was here, I completely let her take over the picture-taking. So for the highlights of the season:

1. Nicki coming home from New York for two weeks. It was so much fun to have her here and the time flew by. It should have been a tad bit longer.

2. Christmas Eve - we always play the "Johnny Wright" game where you sit in a circle and pass gifts to the left and right according to directions given in a silly little story. This year I opted out and was the reader (okay, I'm always the reader, but I usually try to pass and read at the same time). I had made everyone a memory book of our Christmas trip to Mexico a couple of years ago. I was so excited to give this gift as we all loved the vacation. Now the pictures are in a safe place and if they get lost, it's not my fault.

3. Closing ranks when the family was together. Getting ready for Christmas this year was hectic and once Nicki was home I closed off to everything but my family and had a fabulous time with them.

4. Meeting McKay - Nicki's boy. For pics you'll have to go to her blog, Nicki-tyler.blogspot.com. or just click on the right of my blog on her name. McKay is from Houston, lives in Connecticutt and is a sweetheart. He got here New Year's Eve and stayed through Sunday, they both left Monday morning and it was so quiet when they left. We really enjoyed meeting him and had tons of fun while he was here.

5. Sledding in the snow. This was a fun activity until, one-by-one, we all got hurt. Thankfully, nothing too serious, we stopped before our not-so-great luck ran out. Some of us are still nursing wounds.

My only 2010 Resolution is to be better organized. Of course, that means lots of little goals to accomplish this big one, it will be a challenge for me. Lots of new changes coming in our family and we are looking forward to that.

Ya Gotta Love the Endorsements!

2009-12-15T08:38:00.000-08:00

Endorsements are always great, especially if they come unsolicited! This is what one customer wrote about Itty Bitty Soaps on her blog.

"If you are looking for something awesome to give a friend or family member look no further! Caroline has created some beautiful, healthy, handmade soaps that sound good enough to eat. I am sure their scent is divine and cannot wait until my package arrives. Seriously, I went through her list and had to stop when I had already purchased 5 bars and wasn't to the end yet. She has some wonderful Christmas scents that cannot be resisted! They would make fabulous stocking stuffers too! I can just see a big apothecary jar full of these beautiful soaps in my "coming soon" new bathroom!

I have posted this link as a permanent fixture on my blog so I can go back anytime I want and order more. Their appeal will be all year long for me! While she is working on a button, it will be at the bottom of my blog. You'll see her Itty Bitty Soap Company logo, you can't miss it...don't you just love the name of her company? Her lovely creations will be coming to you from Utah! Place an order soon and please tell her I sent you! Enjoy and pamper yourself and others with Caroline's all-natural soaps today. I highly recommend them!"

Then when she received the order this is the email she sent me.

Dear Caroline,

I got the soaps and LOVE them. Even Jim is going nuts! . . . You have a winner here! And thank you so much for the extra ones! . . . I put your link on Facebook...did I tell you? . . . Fabulous idea and so perfect for your life style too. Love everything about it! What a great adventure for you! The packaging is adorable!

It's Finally Here!

2009-11-29T23:07:00.000-08:00

After much work, agonizing and sweating the small stuff, I have finally launched my new soap company. Itty Bitty Soap Company went on-line officially on Black Friday. Why did I do it? Well, I love making soap and couldn't possibly use it as fast as I was making it, and couldn't afford to keep giving it away to friends and family, so I decided to see if I could sell it. I hope it is a success as I have tons of new ideas all the time and because I am committed to making natural soaps as easy to purchase as commercial soaps. After learning about all the chemicals and artificial ingredients in commercially produced soaps, I just couldn't buy them for my family and feel good about what we were using on our skin. Then there is the havoc these chemicals wreak on our environment - these chemicals are truly poisoning our water supply. I am no environmentalist by any means, but I've seen so much documentation about how these petrochemicals stay in our water systems I just can't keep supporting companies that willingly do this in the name of profits. Check out my soaps at www.ittybittysoapcompany.blogspot.com. You will love them.

So long, so sad:(

2009-11-26T06:27:00.000-08:00

After his performance at the AMA I can no longer be a fan of Adam Lambert. I loved him on American Idol, really loved when he sang his Mick Jagger song (loved Mick's songs, not Mick so much). But just can't have an idol that is gross - and his performance was truly gross (not to mention disgusting and perverted). This post is a little silly, but I had to do it to publicly recuse myself from being a fan, just so you know! I guess that means his posters in my scrapbook room are coming down. It was a fun ride while it lasted;).

My Sweet Mom

2009-11-15T06:16:00.001-08:00

So this is a picture of my mom and dad, taken last August up in Idaho. I received a phone call from my brother this last Friday and found out my mom is in the hospital. She hadn't been feeling well and went for some tests. I got another couple of phone calls on Saturday and found out she has cancer in her colon. The dr.'s are doing a surgery today (Sunday) to remove the cancerous section. She and dad seem so positive about this. She has had many prayers offered in her behalf and her name has been added to the prayer rolls in a couple of Temples. The doctor performing the surgery has to ordain his son to the Priesthood today, so we have to feel confident that he will be praying for his own success, I sure hope so.

This picture was taken Thanksgiving 2008. My mom is standing between my dad and Nicki. Dad is sporting a nasty bruise on his face from getting rear-ended by a semi when he was in Idaho Falls just a week before this picture was taken.

Update: Mom's surgery went well. She is now home from the hospital and doing so much better. We are now in the wait-and-see mode. Lots of questions, fears and hopes. We will keep her and dad in our prayers.

Today Was A Good Day

2009-11-01T18:09:00.000-08:00

I know, you don't hear from me for a few days, and then two posts in one day. When it rains it pours. But I wanted to share this experience with my friends and family. Today in Relief Society our lesson was about being daughters of God. Our teacher put up a little poster that said, "My name is _________. I know I am a daughter of God because ____________. Then after a fairly short lesson, she had each of us go around the room, read the poster and fill in the blanks with our names and then say why we know we are daughters of God.

At first I was a bit put off by the idea, even panicked, stuff like that has a tendency to backfire and put people on the spot, at the very least. But this dear sister did such a good job of setting it up that nobody felt awkward. I wish I had been one of the first sisters to stand up and go through this process. As it was, I was towards the end and listening to each of the sisters, all of whom I consider good friends, was so touching. I loved hearing their brief testimonies of this simple statement with the profound impact and truth that it carries. By the time it was my turn, I could barely say my name, but managed to get through it with a very short statement to the effect of knowing this because of so many blessings in my life. There was no way I could even begin to enumerate them, or focus on just one blessing. In that setting, even mentioning one blessing had me in a very emotional state. This will go down for me as one of the best Relief Society lessons I have ever sat through and one I don't think I will soon forget. It was amazing to sit in that meeting and listen to 40-50 women comment on being daughters of God, all of the comments were comments of deep gratitude.

One sister mentioned she had had a very difficult week. She didn't go into any details, but said she knew this truth because she was able just to get through the week and show up at church on Sunday. When I thought of why I know this statement is true, really all I could think of was because of the many blessings I have in my life. One sister mentioned that she knew this was true because she had many difficulties that have blessed her life. She suffers almost daily with a painful disease. She is younger than I am and I thought it was peculiar that she would consider her disease a blessing. I don't know if I could have done that. One sister mentioned that she knew she was a daughter of God because He had forgiven her of all her dumb mistakes. One mentioned that she knew she was a daughter of God because she felt His love, even when she didn't particularly love herself. One said she knew she was a daughter of God because the Holy Ghost had born witness to her that it was true. All of these, I could relate to and knew how they felt and why. I, too, have had these same experiences. I am just so thankful for the knowledge we have that we are all God's children, that He cares for us and loves us despite our most despicable behavior. I look at this beautiful world we were given to prove ourselves worthy of His greatest blessing and feel gratitude in my heart. Many sisters spoke of knowing this truth because of their loving husbands, children, parents, sibling, friends and I too, feel this. But the one that really touched my heart and I knew it as pure truth was the sister who said that she knew she was a daughter of God because He gave us His son to show us the way and sacrificed himself for us in order that we may return to Him.

Really, the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us so many profound truths and what gratitude I have for this knowledge. It is a comfort to know that we don't have to be lost, we don't have to wonder what God would have us do, and no matter what is going on in the world around us, God is over all. When evil is rampant and seems to go unchecked, that is a comforting thought. It was the best 30 minutes I have experienced in a long time. It was good to sit and think about all the reasons why I know I am a daughter of God. It is good that this truth governs, or should govern, our behavior at all times and in all places. I don't know if the sister that planned the lesson thought this would have such a profound effect on all of us, but I know it did. I think she just thought it would be nice to think about why we know we are daughters of God. I love her for her humility and for following the prompting of the Spirit. I hope you all have a good week, and take some time to consider "My name is ________. I know I am a daughter of God because _________.

Halloween Frolics

2009-11-01T17:27:00.000-08:00

So, here is our little scarecrow. We couldn't decide what to do for a costume, and I didn't want to spend tons of money for Halloween, so we decided a "scarey" scarecrow would be fun. A quick trip to D.I., a few stitches here and there, a bit of face paint and voila - a perfectly haunting scarecrow.
Trevor loved his costume, especially since several people at the school carnival didn't even recognize him and lots of people told him he had the best costume. Of course, that made him very happy.
I love this twisty locust tree by our front door. This year Kent and the neighbors thought I was crazy when I stripped the leaves off for Halloween. They fall off anyway and It thought I looked spooky with its crippled branches. I hung a few homemade lanterns on it for the little trick-or-treaters that came by, but they only lasted a few minutes. I always have visions of how I want things to turn out, but then seldom does it go as planned. The few that didn't go out and burned until it got dark were so very cute!
This was our crazy weather pattern on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday was overcast and very cold, but no snow. Friday it had started to melt and was gone by Saturday. Today it was a beautiful, warm fall day (mid 60's). I always love the first snow, even if it comes early and particularly when it melts early. I am still loving fall and nowhere near ready for winter.
We made caramel apples a couple of weeks ago. This is something that we need to practice. The caramel cooked too long and was pretty tough to bite through. But we managed to saw through a few and enjoyed some version of caramel apples. Hope you all had a frightful Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-21T15:57:00.000-07:00

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/39fw2H0u81ob3KkC

Click on the http and take a minute for a laugh. Nicki sent this to us and I thought I would share it. We thought it was pretty funny. Thanks for the laugh, Nicki!

Encouraging Words

2009-10-11T21:19:00.000-07:00

Since we were on vacation and missed Saturday's opening sessions of conference, I have been listening to them throughout the week. I loved Elder Bednar's talk about being consistent in our family prayers, family home evenings, and reading the scriptures. A few months ago, Kent and I were asked to speak during a 5th sunday combined RS/Priesthood meeting about the importance of and ideas for family home evening. Two other couples were invited to present too, a couple with young children, a couple with teenagers (us) and an empty-nester couple. In an effort to prepare for this assignment, I asked the kids which family home evenings they remembered. As I recall, they laughed and said they didn't remember any of them. Of course, I was slightly stunned, as we have had a few here and there that were memorable, or at least I thought. I really felt like I had nothing to offer at the meeting, (especially since the couple with young children brought a laundry basket full of cute cutouts, object lessons and various other items) except for the fact that we had mostly been consistent in these three things and that somehow, that consistency had a cumulative effect on our family. Your can imagine my relief when Elder Bednar expressed the same concerns. He compared each individual and daily effort to a painting of a wheat field. When standing very close to the picture all you see are individual paint strokes of gold, yellow and brown, that by themselves are unimpressive and even maybe dull. But as you back away from the painting, you see the whole picture and that each brush stroke, combined with all the other brush strokes work together to form a masterpiece. (He used a better picture, but I couldn't find it). I loved this analogy. If you wish to read the entire text of his talk, you may visit www.lds.org, click on General Conference, Saturday morning session. Very inspirational and comforting to all parents who have ever wondered if their efforts are paying off. I loved it. It was one of my favorite talks from conference. Please take the time to read or reread his talk. He was much more eloquent and he was funny at times, but his message was as timely as it is serious. We need to do all we can to protect and prepare our families.

We've been profiled!

2009-10-10T14:09:00.000-07:00

The 13 Articles of Mormon Culture

1. We believe SUVs and minivans to be our form of transportation, and in knee length shorts -- which are always nice and, of course, in multilevel marking.
2. We believe that church ball players should be punished for their own fouls, and not for unsportsmanlike aggression.
3. We believe that through bread crumbs, cheese, creamy soups, and rice all casseroles can be saved through obedience to ward cookbooks and creativity in the mixing bowl.
4. We believe that the first layers and ingredients of the Dip are: first, beans; second, cheese; third, chopped tomatoes; fourth, the gift of sour cream; fifth, olives; sixth, salsa; seventh, guacamole, that is, if you have it.
5. We believe that a Mormon should have a distinguished or a cute name, that it's appropriate to name a child after a church leader or a historical figure including an ancestor, that alternative spellings and French prefixes only add to a name, and that when referring to the names of General Authorities, middle initials should be a part thereof.
6. We believe in the same wall decor that exists in many Mormon homes, namely, framed family proclamations, vinyl lettering, inspirational word signs, family photos, pictures of temples and Jesus, and so forth.
7. We believe in the gift of re-gifting, church books, crafts, family photos, baked goods, emergency supply kits, and so forth.
8. We believe in sparkling grape juice -- so long as it is nonalcoholic; we also believe in bringing root beer and sprite to ward and all other parties.
9. We believe in all that we have scrapbooked, all that we will now scrapbook, and we believe that we will yet scrapbook many great and important things pertaining to our family, friends, pets, and vacations.
10. We believe in the literal mixing of ketchup and mayo and in the generous application of ranch dressing; that CBAs (church-based acronyms) will be used to describe YM/YW, PEC, the Y, NCMO, and CTR; that Mitt Romney will get Mormons to vote for him any time he runs; and, that the Mormons will enjoy reading Twilight and The Work and the Glory.
11. We claim the privilege of trying to identify common acquaintances with any visitor at church, and allow all other people at church the same privilege; we also believe in name dropping the names of famous people and general authorities how, where, or what we may.
12. We believe in being subject to scoutmasters, pampered chef hostesses, and the writers of the U.S. News and World Report Rankings for professional schools, and in obeying, honoring, and sustaining Glenn Beck.
13. We believe in being above average, good at crafts, optimistic, and being fifteen minutes late everywhere we go. Indeed, we may say that we follow BYU football. We believe rumors about famous people joining the church, we hope to meet the three Nephites, we have endured many pyramid schemes, and hope to be able to endure all pyramid schemes. If there is anything cheap, free, sold in bulk, or given away when somebody is moving, we seek after these things.

Ya gotta love fall!

2009-10-08T14:14:00.000-07:00

I just love fall, especially when I get to pick pumpkins from my own garden. I've never grown my own and this year we planted only one plant and look at what we got! Trevor, who loves gardening with me, has already claimed the big one.
I also tried my hand at growing squash. I planted one plant of spaghetti squash, one of butter cup squash and one of butternut squash and only three plants yielded this much squash. Apparently this is something that is pretty easy to grow! I never knew that. As you can see by the picture, the onions didn't do as well! Oh well, there's always next year. Now all I have to do is convince my family that squash is good.

What to do in Utah over UEA

2009-10-04T20:46:00.000-07:00

Our annual early fall pounding of snow/rain.

Every year schools in Utah close down for a few days for UEA. This is one union holiday that I totally support, for the simple fact that it gives us a few days off school after Labor Day Weekend. Every year I want to go and do something, but usually we just end up staying home for a few days. But this year I wasn't going to do that. I made plans to go to Yellowstone and and Jackson Hole, but after seeing the forecast for temps in the 40's and 50's, and after getting hit with a snow/rain storm here in Cache Valley, we had to scramble for options. We decided to go south, visit Scenic Byway 12, and enjoy the last warm days of summer in Canyonlands.

We stayed home on Wednesday and waited for the storm to pass. Then on Thursday we spent a good portion of the day driving and by mid afternoon reached Capital Reef National Park. We loved the amazing rock formations here in the park.

Friday morning we took what was supposed to be a quick 4-mile hike, but it ended up being a bit longer as Kenna didn't pack proper foot wear and ended up doing most of the hike bare foot. Not as bad as it sounds as her feet are pretty tough from gymnastics. She did better bare foot than she did with her shoes on.

We totally loved and were awed by the striations and the sandstone.

Trevor took this picture from the floor of the canyon. He is looking straight up and got the shot of both cliff sides. Kind of a confusing picture. As you can see, we had perfect weather - not too hot and not too cold and, no rain!

Okay, I know, the cheesy "holding-up-the-mountain" shot, but the kids loved it.

Wish I were a better photographer. With views like this, it's hard to get a bad shot, but it looks like I managed - that glare is awful.

When we checked out of the lodge Friday morning, the desk clerk suggested we go to Lower Calf Creek Falls. We debated about this a lot, considering that Kenna still didn't have proper foot wear and was getting blisters. But around 5:30 we got to the trail head and decided to go. It was mostly a sandy trail and no problem. She wore flip-flops and we are so glad we did this hike. We booked through the 6 mile hike and did the entire round trip in 2 hours and 15 minutes. It was getting dark and some of the trail was over stumps and rocks that I didn't want to trip on coming back. It was totally worth the effort. We only spent about 10-15 minutes at the falls, but so much fun and so beautiful.

This falls is 120 feet high and drops into this amazing pool. Again, I wish I were a better photographer as the pics don't do this place justice. If you ever get near this place, GO! It's an easy hike (more like a walk). It was our favorite place we visited.

The pool at the bottom is a beautiful blue/green color.

Utah's version of "The Hanging Gardens of Babylon"

These plants were growing on these cliff sides out of the rock. It was so cool. We got off the trail just as it was getting dark and drove through Escalante and Red Canyon in the dark, missing the second half of Scenic Byway 12. We had reservations at a cabin at Panguich Lake and so couldn't stop. Since we had no phone service, we couldn't just call and cancel. So on Saturday morning, we drove back to Red Canyon to see the Hoodoos. They were so much fun.

My little family of rule-breakers. They totally ignored all understood rules about staying on designated trails and had to climb almost every single hoodoo we came to that was close enough to climb. I stayed on the trail and took bad pictures!!!

I way got into the hoodoos. I thought they were the most fascinating, plus it was just fun to say "Hoodoo" and then Kenna would say "YouDo". We're pretty easily entertained.

Kent and Tervor "bouldering" on the hoodoos again.

Just can't resist one more little climb.

Here's the man. Thanks, Kent, for a wonderfully fun few days in Southern Utah. We need to make this a yearly tradition, as we didn't even scratch the surface of things to see in Southern Utah.

Regan, I took this picture especially for you. This tree has a serious "nubbin" problem.

2009-09-28T07:32:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, Trevor celebrated his 11th birthday. He informed us that Google was also celebrating their 11th birthday on the exact same day. Two great reasons to celebrate! He made it so easy this year. When I asked him what kind of cake he wanted he couldn't think of one and finally decided what he really wanted was banana splits instead of cake. He also requested chipotle chicken, a Rachael Ray recipe that is hot, spicy and sweet and his personal favorite. No problemo!

We celebrated his birthday all week long. Regan wanted to have a birthday/good-bye dinner on Wednesday night before she left and she gave him her gift that night. Then we had his friends birthday party on Friday afternoon - we took his friends goofy-golfing and they had fun.

On Thursday night (I know, these are a little mixed up), he had his very last Pack Meeting. He crossed the bridge into 11-year-old Scouts. Yay - no more pack meetings! Once they cross the bridge they get to sign it. There are some signatures from 20 years ago. Pretty cool.

Brother Parkinson welcoming Trevor to 11-year-old Scouts. Oh, this was the day Regan left for Pennsylvania and I was having quite the separation anxiety and had spent a good portion of the day crying. I knew I had to go to this special Pack meeting for Trevor, however, I wasn't planning on standing up in front of everyone with my lovely puffy eyes, swollen lips and nose (I'm just not one of those women who cry beautifully). Could have done without that public humiliation!

2009-09-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday, I thought it would be fun to make some old-fashioned honey taffy. I don't think my kids have ever had that experience and it has been a long time since I did it myself! It took a lot of work to get it to look like this, and Regan and Kenna gave up pretty quickly, but Trevor and I decided to keep pulling our taffy just to see what would happened. We had very sore hands and arms, and eventually gave it up ourselves. The taffy tasted really good and it was a fun activity. Kent missed all of it because he was taking his Sunday nap!!!
Today was Regan's big move day - a very sad day for me. I helped her pack up her room yesterday and had a few tears over it, but nothing like this morning. I completely lost it.
I was trying so hard to keep it together so I wouldn't make her sad or nervous about moving out, but just couldn't manage. I really lost it during our family prayer. She wanted to have a picture with me, but I was a horrible mess after sobbing all morning.
Kenna and Trevor stayed home from school to say good-bye to her. We will all miss her so much, but I am so happy for her to be having this opportunity. I know she will be a great nanny out in Pennsylvania. I just wish it wasn't so far away or for so long!
She promised me Christmas would be here before I knew it and she would be back home, along with Nicki, but I don't know if I can wait that long. Might have to do a New York/Pennsylvania trip between now and then. I think I am really having a hard time seeing my little birdies fly from the nest!

2009-09-16T20:23:00.000-07:00

Apparently, I'm terrible about keeping my blog current. Way back in the middle of July, Kent and Trevor went to Virginia to visit Kent's brother and his family. While they were there, they saw tons of historical sites and did tons of fishing. Trevor thought the bait was fun to play with.

Once he finally got the bait on the hook, he fished and . . .
caught a shark. They took it home and ate it - and loved it!!!
This is not the shark. Aunt Susanna talked Trevor into trying oysters - he was brave, but did not like it. He said he had to swallow a few times to make it stay down. I say, if you have to fight it that much, you shouldn't be eating it!
While they were gone having fun with cousins and fishing and site-seeing, I was home watching my little garden grow. We had tons of stuff, including some favorite herbs. This pic does not include the potatoes, pumpkins or the three different kinds of squash - or our tiny little cantaloupe.
On September 9th, Kenna turned a whopping 15 years old. The lovely undecorated cake is Angel Food, which she requested with whipped cream and strawberry/raspberry sauce - Yummy.
Here the gusty girl is blowing out the candles, and laughing at the same time. It makes for difficult candle extinguishing!
Uncle Ivan, Jack and Evie came out to visit Gma. & Gpa. McAffee and while they were here, we went boating at the Mackay Dam. It was tons of fun. By tons, I mean my sister, Lanell, and I actually got on this thing Trevor is sitting on and Carl pulled us around the damn dam. I was exhausted when we were done, I cussed enough to downgrade my hard earned kingdom and Lanell and Carl both had a good laugh at my expense. I hate getting old.
It was fun to hang out with Gma. & Gpa. McAffee. They were good sports. We even talked mom into going for a trip around the dam (in the boat, not on the tube)!
Then on Labor Day Weekend, Trevor and Kent hiked to the top of the Wellsville mountains. That is the Salt Lake in the background. It was a tough hike.
According to Kent, Trevor went up the mountain (which was pretty steep) like a gazelle, while he (Kent) barely made it. He told me that when they got to the top Trevor asked him if he thought he would be able to hike for many more years (he was serious to, not just messing with Kent). Kent hates getting old.
Trevor on top of the mountain. He said it was pretty windy up there. Good thing the wind wasn't much stronger or it would have blown this skinny kid right off the mountain.

I'll try to do better at keeping this blog updated. And I'll learn to put the text where I really want it, not where the computer wants it because it can't figure out where I want it.

New Blog!

2009-08-24T20:52:00.000-07:00

Regan has a new blog for when she moves to PA/the remainder of her time here in UT!

http://reganleighc.blogspot.com/

2009-07-23T16:46:00.000-07:00

Last night I was scrapbooking 2006 (I'm a little behind, as usual). I came across these pictures of a day we spent in SLC for Regan's 15th birthday. We went to Temple Square and loved the gardens there, we went to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and watched "Joseph Smith, Prophet of the Restoration", which we all loved, and then after that we had dinner at the Garden Room on the top floor of the JSB. It was just a great day, great memory and besides, I love these pictures of the kids!

2009-07-23T16:33:00.000-07:00

2009-07-17T15:40:00.000-07:00

No cute, fun or silly pictures this time, but something so important to us. About 5 or 6 years ago, the spring before we moved to Cache Valley, Nicki got very sick and had some pretty rough days, missing months of school at a time. Way back then, I thought she might have mono, which we tested for two or three times and the Dr.'s kept telling us she didn't have it. Well to make a very long story shorter, over the years and after thousands of dollars, we finally found someone who could help us manage whatever was wrong with her. For the longest time we thought she must have food allergies, because all the tests we ran (and believe me, they were extensive) always came back negative. We never did get to the bottom of what was making her sick, but we were at least managing it and she could function. Last weekend she called and was sick again. She had been home for the 4th of July and got strep throat, but she just never seemed to get over it and get her strength back - same old story for us. We finally found someone who could help us and after spending about an hour and a half at her appt. we found out she had three viruses, one of them being mono, that has just been low grade for all these years, and that is just the beginning of it.We are excited and very hopeful that finally, finally she may be getting rid of these viruses once and for all! She told me she is feeling better and seems to have her energy back! Just wanted to share our good news with everyone.

2009-07-14T14:42:00.000-07:00

Okay, this may seem kind of silly to some of you out there in bloggerland, but there is a sad tale in this bowl of cherries. The first spring we were here I planted a couple of cherry trees in our back yard. I patiently waited for the trees to mature enough to pick some cherries. Finally, after 5 years of waiting, I looked out my window and to my delight, saw that our two trees were loaded with these big, beautiful cherries. I was so excited that we were going to finally taste the sweet fruits of our labor. Sweet cherries, ripe and fresh from the trees. As the summer went on and those cherries got bigger and bigger, I noticed that we were getting more and more birds in our yard. They were also enjoying the cherries. Now, I don't mind sharing with my little feathered friends, but by the time the fruit was ripe enough (just barely) to eat, this was all we got - one little bowl of cherries! Next year, the picking won't be so easy, for the birds I mean. I have a plan!!!

2009-07-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

For the 4th of July, Nicki came home from school and while she was here, we went to Bear Lake for a day. It was kind of overcast, but that was okay, as it keeps the temps down. Our biggest problem was finding any bit of sand that wasn't under water. We've never seen Bear Lake so full. Our usually extensive sandy beach was under water. We did manage to find just a spit of sand that we had to wad out to and we quickly claimed it. Kent and Trevor made the obligatory sand castle while the rest of us just sat around and watched them. We also buried Trevor in the sand, which he loved and he really loves all the attention he gets from the girls. After just a couple of hours we packed it all up and headed for home. Nicki wasn't feeling well, and we needed just a tad bit more sun.

2009-07-14T14:23:00.000-07:00

Whoops! I forgot to orient this picture. But this is the cake Trevor decorate for my birthday. Isn't it cute!!!

2009-07-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

A few days after celebrating Regan's birthday, we celebrated my birthday. Lots of birthday cake this month. Trevor made my cake and did the decorating by himself and he was pretty proud of his fine work. Kent and Trevor grilled dinner for us and the girls contributed with their dishes to finish out the meal. I love having my family around and having us all together was the best part of my birthday.

2009-07-14T14:00:00.000-07:00

On June 26th Regan celebrated her 18th birthday. We actually celebrated a few days earlier because she went to Disneyland with her best friend, Whitney, on her birthday. She spent a week in Southern CA with her friend and had the time of her life. She and Whitney have become very good friends over the past couple of years. Kent and I took her out to dinner and then we came home for the cake and ice cream with Kenna and Trevor. We had a great day celebrating 18 years of having Regan in our family. She is fun to be around and always has a smile on her face.

2009-07-05T13:43:00.000-07:00

Regan has graduated from Mountain Crest High School!!! She is so glad to be finished with school. Her plans are to go to Pennsylvania and be a nanny for awhile. She went out there in February to meet her nanny family and just loved them. So now we are in the countdown. She can hardly wait to get back out there. She knows she will miss us terribly, but is really looking forward to a new adventure. The Grows, her family, have a two-year-old boy and another one due any day now. This will be a good job for Regan. She loves kids and is so patient with them. She gets hired all the time by people in our ward and one sister even wants her to stick around and be her nanny. We will really miss her, she is so happy and fun to be around, but we know that this is her time to get out and experience life in a whole new dimension. She's going to do great!

2009-07-05T13:33:00.000-07:00

Some time around the beginning of June, Trevor and Kent went to Hill Air Force Base to see the airshow. They both loved wandering around the base and seeing all the really cool aircraft. Trevor is especially interested in the aircraft and is always looking at pictures and telling us he wants to be a pilot. They don't get to many "guy" days together, but when they do, they always have a great time.

Mother's Week

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

We are a little behind on keeping this blog updated. So, the last weekend in May, I went up to Rexburg to spend some time with Nicki for Mother's week. We did absolutely nothing at the college, but had fun watching movies and talking. We did take a nice walk through the botanical gardens up there and had lots of fun doing that on Friday night. Then on Saturday, we went to Idaho Falls to do some shopping. Macy's was having some kind of open-house type event and they had a drawing for several perfume gift packages. Nicki and I hung around for several drawings, but finally decided we weren't going to win anything that day. We went to lunch and then she took me over to Maurice and Debbie's to meet up with her roommate and her mom so they could go back to Rexburg and I could head south for home. We were almost at my brother's house, when Regan called and asked if we had entered any drawings. Apparently my name was drawn right after we left, and they had called our house to let me know. So we raced back out to the mall to collect our prize because the event ended at 5:00 and it was about 4:45. We just made it and here we are with the "coveted" free perfume. I can't even remember what kind we got, I gave it to Nicki. That was a fun way to end a great weekend. One thing about hanging out with Nicki, there is never a dull moment!!!

Ahh!

2009-06-03T10:21:00.000-07:00

Last night me, Kenna and Trevor were home alone while our parents were out of town, and there was a HUGE storm that went through the valley. There was a ton of thunder & lightning, and some really really strong winds. Me and Trev went outside for a few minutes to see the lightning, and I saw this weird white thing on our lawn. When Trevor brought it over to the porch to see what it was, we realized that the wind had blown the top of the light in our yard off. It had to be some really strong wind to do that, because its pretty heavy!

Here is our poor little (and now bald) light :(

And here is the top of the light...plus my new hat :)

(this is how me, kenna and trev entertained ourselves the rest of the night.)