Pioneer day...

Today is pioneer day. A day to commemorate the LDS pioneers arrival here in the west. Our town puts on quite a celebration with parades, bbqs, rodeos, fireworks and such. The celebration was last weekend but, oops, I didn't get any pictures. Here's one from last year's parade, where we represented a pioneer family on our ward's float.

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As part of the celebration, the town's paper did a whole spread on the early settlers of this area complete with old frontier recipes.

At dinner the other night Jamie informed us that she would not like a pork chop because she was no longer going to eat animals. Alrighty then. She then started asking us about all the animals we eat. She asked if people eat skunk and we said that we didn't think so because they would be too yucky to eat. Well that very night we got a copy of the recipes in the town paper and this is what we found...

French Fried Skunk anyone?

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I am so grateful for the faith and sacrifice of my pioneer ancestors. I owe them so much for paving the way for me to be able to live and worship in a manner that brings me such unmeasurable joy.

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And by the way, Jamie's vegetarianism was short lived. When she saw how much the rest of us were enjoying our pork chops she quickly succumbed to the temptation and is a happy meat eater once again.

Baby grass and toes... final installment

July 22~ GRASS

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LOOK!

WE HAVE GRASS!

I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL IT'S THICK ENOUGH
TO GET MY LITTLE TOESIES INTO IT!

Scripture power...

In my quest to learn how to embrace my new life and to be happy with where I am (which, let me tell you hasn't been easy) I have read many 'self help' books to try to find that missing piece to my emotional wellness puzzle. While I've had several 'Ah- ha' or 'light bulb' moments through my reading the effects never last. Once the light bulb dims I find myself feeling just as flat, sad and lost as before. So what's the answer? It's something I have known all along, a tool that I have used and cherished enough in my life to be able to stand as a witness of its life changing power. And yet, even knowing all of this, I've been resisting it. What is it you ask? It's....

SCRIPTURE POWER!

I love the scriptures. We are commanded to “feast upon the words of Christ”, to “experiment” on the word, to “hold fast unto” the word, and to “live by … every word of God". I love this counsel and I know that I am happiest when I'm doing these things.

Yesterday I earnestly prayed to know what I needed to do to be happy and as I studied throughout the day I came across an article in the July issue of the Ensign called,

Change and the Virtue of the Word
By Elder Keith R. Edwards Of the Seventy

In this article Elder Edwards speaks of the power that the word of God has in helping to change lives.

The entire article was wonderful, but it was a quote by President Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, that really jumped out at me. He said:

“True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior.”

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After reading this I remembered an article I had read in the June Ensign where a woman shared with a friend her testimony of the power of the scriptures.

She asked him, "Do you remember all of the self-help books I had on my bookshelf at home." He did. So she told him, "Since I joined the Church, I have never read another self-help book. The only book I get my answers from anymore is the Book of Mormon."

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I too have a testimony that the Book of Mormon, the Holy Bible, and the other books of scripture have every answer that we will ever need to enjoy happiness in this life. I have witnessed its power time and time again in my life. I know that the scriptures contain the word of God and that if we feast upon His word we can be filled with immeasurable peace, the peace of Christ, no matter what our circumstances in life may be. I am making it my goal to study the scriptures everyday and I can testify to you right now that in doing this a mighty change will take place in my heart and in my life. I know this because I have tested it, I have lived it and it is true.

I invite anyone else who is struggling in any way in their life to do the same. “Feast upon the words of Christ”, “experiment” on the word, “hold fast unto” the word, and “live by … every word of God”.

I'm starting today, care to join me?

Love that shade...

July 15 ~ SHADE

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After spending most of my married life in new construction with nothing but little baby stick trees, I was looking forward to moving to an old pioneer town and enjoying gorgeous, mature shade trees. I love mature trees. But wouldn't you know that Rick and I would fall in love with a home that was only four years old in a newer part of town.

Our home has beautiful landscaping but none of those giant shade trees that I had dreamed of.


But I do enjoy my favorite shady spot here on my front porch. I love to sit out on my rocking chair in the cool shade and watch my kids play. It's a bit of heaven on earth.

And of course I can't talk about shade without mentioning my love of 'shades'. I don't go anywhere without them. If you don't see shades on my face you're sure to see them on top of my head. I love, love, love them.

Never say Never....

Here is a picture of a three day old sunburn on my daughter's shoulder. That's right I said sunburn and my daughter in the same sentence.
There is a law of nature (and I know I'm not the only one that this happens to because my sis-in-law Mindy and I have spoken of it many times) that whenever we use the phrases, "I have never" -or- "I would never" -or- " My kids have never" -or- "My kids would never", a signal goes up. A beam toward heaven that says "Order up! One piece of humble pie please". Then suddenly the child who never throws a fit at the store throws a whopper in the middle of the isle the next time you're there, the teen who's never late for curfew strolls in at 1:00 a.m., and the mother who proclaimed in a blog post that she was so "proud" that her kids had "never" been sunburned suddenly forgets all about sunscreen after 17+ years of always slathering it on.

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We just got back from a wonderful trip to see my sister in Tucson. We had a great time, but when Paige, Easton and Jamie went out to swim I forgot all about the sunscreen and they got burned. I felt so bad for them and mad at myself for forgetting something so basic. Listening to them fuss on the ride home was so hard for me because I remember all too well how badly that hurts. I cringe just thinking about it. Oh well opposition in all things right. Maybe now that they know the bad they won't fight me the next time I bring out the sunscreen.

On a happier note, while in Tucson my sis Larisa gave us this awesome Love Sac. Look how ginormous it is. I've always wanted one of these but couldn't afford it so I was more than happy to take it off her hands. It's in the garage right now, but as soon as I get the cover dry cleaned this is sure to be the favorite reading and movie watching spot.

Paige has already started using it as her reading spot. She's reading Twilight and so far she is definitely a member of "team Edward". She thinks he's soooo hot!

Hope the dogs enjoy their time cozying up with Paige because as soon as I get this baby cleaned it will be off limits to little doggies and their shedding fur. They sure are cute though.

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We also had a great time hanging out and shopping with Jillene and her family on our trip. Thanks everyone for putting up with us. We loved seeing all of you!

Hooray for water or Baby grass and toes continued...

July 8 ~ WATER

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Last week I sang praises to the sun for its role in helping my baby grass to grow. Well this week my shout out goes to its counterpart the beautiful, refreshing, life giving ~ da, da, da, da.... WATER!!! Just look at how much my baby grass has grown this week thanks largely in part to this wonderful element.



My backyard is actually starting to look green. I'm so happy. Thank you water.
And I also thank you for your ability to get things....

CLEAN!!!

Look at the mess I made while painting yesterday. The mess was actually much worse than this. I accidentally dumped paint into my lap and it soaked my favorite painting pants, my legs and my foot. My pants were dripping so I quickly took them off, but I couldn't stop painting (I was in a zone) so I just continued to work in my skivvies. Marlee came in and said, "Um, mom, don't you think you should put some pants on?" Alright, alright. I got some pants on, but I didn't have time to clean my foot so this is how I walked around all day. But thanks to my good friend water all will be made clean again (except for my favorite painting pants, not even water can save those~ boo, hoo).

And I couldn't complete a post about water without recognizing it as my favorite drink in the whole wide world! Ahhh! There's nothing better!

God bless America....

We had a very nice fourth of July. We spent the day hanging out, playing on the slip-n-slide, and just enjoying being a family. In the evening we went to my sis -in-laws parent's house for a BBQ. After eating we gathered around their fire pit and enjoyed interesting conversation and made smores and stick bread (homemade bread dough wrapped around a foil lined stick and roasted in the fire. Delicious). They live in a lovely neighborhood and have great neighbors. We met two very nice couples and really enjoyed getting to know them.
One of the couples were 80+ year old newlyweds. They were so funny and interesting to talk to. They said that they had been engaged back in 1944, but he got cold feet and the marriage never happened. They remained good friends through the years and at one time they were even related through marriage (cousins). They have both lost two spouses and now after all of these years they are married to each other. They were so cute and he is a veteran of WWII so it was nice to get to talk to him about that during the celebration of our nation's birth.
His wife teased him about the little (and I mean little) star tattoo that he got on his hand during the war. He said it is so small because he sobered up while he was getting it and didn't want anymore. His wife laughed because in his old age, the star has lost its shape and just looks like a little black blob. She wondered what all of the young people who are covering themselves with tattoos are going to think when they are 80 and can't even recognize what the pictures used to be. It is sure to be ugly. I'm just glad that tattoos weren't popular when I was a youth because teens never think about the future. I know I wasn't thinking about the future when I lay out by my pool slathered in Crisco oil and fried myself silly. STUPID! And the really stupid thing is that I did it more than once (sure it's going to turn into a tan~ idiot).

On July 5th we went to the park and enjoyed an amazing fireworks show (why July 5th? I don't know. Weird) In "the valley" we always watched the fireworks from a parking lot or roadside far away because it was too hot to go early enough to get a spot up close, so it was a treat to get to sit in a nice cool park right where they were letting them off and enjoy the thrill of feeling the boom and watching the fireworks rain down right over our heads.
I love my country and I love this time to remember the sacrifices that were made so that Heavenly Father's great plan of happiness could be carried out to the fullest. My life has been blessed everyday because of it.

It's on...

My two oldest girls and I have started a reading contest. Who ever reads the most books or pages before school starts wins (we haven't determined the prize yet). We just started the competition and have all finished our first book (thanks to the fact that I spent this entire day reading. I've never done that before and it was fabulous).

My first book was Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I've always loved Jane Austen stories, but this was my first time reading one and oh how I loved, loved, loved it! What a brilliant author. I was sucked in from the beginning and couldn't put it down. It was so good that I couldn't wait to get to the end, but when I did I was sorry that it was over. My one consolation is that the book I have is "Jane Austen The Complete Novels" so I can start on another one right away, but which one? Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, or one of the others? Hmmm.... I guess there's no wrong answer. I'm sure they're all amazing.
What is your favorite Jane Austen Novel (or movie as the case may be)?

The fabulous summer sun....

I missed out on all of last months SPTs because June ended up being so, so busy with girls camp, the pioneer trek, a family vacation and a family reunion. Crazy. But things have calmed down (for now) so I'm excited to get started with July's challenges. This month we are focusing on five elements of summer....

July 1~ sun
July 8~ water
July 15~ shade
July 22~ grass
July 29~ ice cream

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*SUN*

My favorite thing about the summer sun is that it comes up so early. I love waking with the sun. Especially here in my new town where we still enjoy cool mornings and evenings. I love the way the earth looks and sounds in the early morning. Everything seems brighter and fresher when it's bathed in morning dew.

This morning I stepped out onto my back porch to check on the progress of our newly planted backyard. The bright sun behind me helped to cast this shadow of me across the ground and I thought, Perfect! For those of you who are not familiar with the rules of the SPT challenge, we are encouraged to include a picture of at least some part of ourselves in every post. If you read my previous SPT posts you may of thought, "My does this lady like to take pictures of herself." But the truth be told I hate to take pictures of myself, but I do it as part of the challenge. So to be able to get away with a shadow shot today was fabulous. Especially because, though the earth may be most beautiful at the crack of dawn, I most certainly am not.
But onto another reason why I love the sun. I love the sun because it helps things....

GROW!

I was so excited to look out and find little baby grass growing in our yard this morning (my toes count as part of the self portrait too). This is our first time planting a lawn. In the past we have always put down sod and presto~ instant yard, but with the economic state being what it is these days (I'm sure many of you can relate) we decided to save money and plant seed instead. It's going to take patience, we might not even get to enjoy it this summer, but there's something very gratifying and even a bit exciting about watching it come in. Especially for me~ the girl with no green thumbs.

And he's off....

Yesterday Landon woke up at 5 am and headed down to "the valley". It was his first time making the drive alone and I was a little nervous about it, but I knew I had to let him go. He's 17 and will probably leave for college next year then in two short years he will be off on a mission to who knows where in the world. I know allowing his independence now is important preparation for him (and me) for when he is really off on his own. But even knowing all of that I was still very happy to receive this text from him.....

It says, "Hey I made it in one piece." Music to a mother's ears. In "the valley" he met up with his friends and they headed up to Utah, on their own with no parents. How's that for independence? So I was very, very pleased to receive this text last night....

It says, "Hey I'm in Utah now." Whew! The major driving is over for now and everyone is safe. Now if 17 year old boys can stay out of trouble for a week on their own all will be well. I told Landon to keep me posted so hopefully I'll be receiving many more of those mind easing text messages throughout the week. I love being a mom. Each stage of my children's lives bring new excitement. It's a never ending adventure.

Home from Vegas....

I didn't get my camera out until we were leaving. We snapped these shots in the condo just before checkout.

Vegas was a lot of fun mostly because of the company of family and friends. Visiting the strip was interesting, but being with kids really accentuated the SIN of Sin City. There were times we had to tell the kids not to look down because the streets were littered with nasty "girly" cards and my nephew said, "all of the buses here have girls on them." That part of Vegas has gotten worse from when I was there last (about nine years ago). While the buildings and sites are impressive, I miss the old Vegas of my youth. The strip of neon and flashing lights when you entered town was magical. We drove down the old part of the strip near Fremont Street and while it was fun to see the old glitz, the area has gotten pretty trashy. If I was wealthy enough to go see all of the great shows, Vegas might seem a little more appealing, but as for now I don't really care to go back again.

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Hanging out at the condo was fun though. We swam everyday and Jamie and Waylon got great tans and other than a few pink shoulders, the rest of us avoided sunburn. Hooray! One of my great accomplishments as a mother is that my kids have never been badly sunburned. Marlee often asks me if I think she will look like me when she gets older. I tell her that she will look much better than I do because she has never been sunburned. They say most sun damage happens before we reach 20 and Marlee will be 15 in Oct. so she's on a great road to avoiding that nasty sun induced premature aging, lucky girl! Paige will be 13 next month and her shoulders just recently peeled for the first time. She said, "mom something really weird is happening to my skin." She didn't even know what it was to peel. I sluffed off my entire body of skin like a snake several times a year when I was growing up. Rick and I both have one foot in the grave from all of the sun exposure we've had in our lives. I'm so glad that my kids have been protected from that. It really does make me proud.

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Speaking of swimming~ I had a funny conversation with Waylon at the pool one day. He was sitting on my lap facing me and he said, "Mom if you eat all of your food your boobs will get bigger." (we always tell him that his muscles will get big if he eats all of his food. I guess he figured the same applies for boobs. Don't I wish!) I told him that no my boobs are just small and they are going to stay that way. He said, "Well Aunt so and so (name left out to protect the innocent) has really giant boobs." I said yes she does and he said, "Yah, they go boom botta, boom botta, boom botta."

What?!! Where does he get this stuff? I told Rick not to be surprised if when Waylon starts dating he brings home girls with a lot of "boom botta".

The only gambling we did in Vegas is when we bought this circus ticket a day in advance for my sister. We gambled on whether or not she would still be there the next night to go with us. We lost. She went home a day early and we were out the $19.50 we spent on the ticket. Oh well I guess a twenty dollar loss in Vegas isn't too bad. The circus was fun though. We went with our good friends the Crabtrees. They live in Nevada and it was so great to see them.

All in all it was a wonderful trip. Oh how I love summer break!

Pioneer Trek 2008

Landon and Marlee went on a Pioneer Trek Thurs. June 5th- Sat. the 7th. It was a difficult but amazing experience for both of them. After hearing all of the horror stories of the trip, like the fact that they didn't get to camp the first night until two in the morning, I thought for sure they would be very grumpy when they returned home. But when I went to pick them up at the church I saw nothing but smiles from them and all of the other youth and leaders. It was very touching to hear a beautiful chorus of "Come, Come Ye Saints" coming from the buses as they pulled into the church parking lot. I'm so proud of my kids and grateful that they were able to have this life changing opportunity.

Before the trek they were all clean and spiffy and ready to tackle the world (We found Marlee's dress at an antique store. It's a Jessica McClintock Gunne Sax dress from the seventies. And it just happened to be her perfect size. We got very lucky on that one.)

I love this after picture. They're not really mad, they just posed this way because they said that pioneers didn't smile in photos. I think if it was taken in black and white it would look quite authentic.

They were dirty, tired and hungry, but spiritually enriched and forever changed.

Happy Birthday Larisa!!!

Today is my sister Larisa's birthday. I can't post a picture right now (my scanner is broken), but I wanted to wish her a Happy Birthday anyway because I love her soooo much!
Happy Birthday Larisa!

THE HUSBAND TAG....

Tag, I'm it....
I've been tagged to tell a little bit about my hubby, so here goes...

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A- Automobile of choice? Shelby Cobra


B- Born? July 14


C- Cookies or Candy? Cookies- white chocolate macadamia nut


D- Date of Choice? Going out to dinner.


E- Essential Item? Food and water


F- Favorite Foods? Blackened prime rib from Charley Clark's and Barro's pizza and wings


G- Gas or Diesel vehicle? Gas


H- Hobbies? Racquetball, computer games, cooking


I- Ice Cream Flavor? Black licorice


J- Job? Business owner~ sign shops, car washes and storage units


K- Kids? 2 boys, 4 girls


L- Last Vacation as a couple? Flagstaff


M- Morning person or night owl? Both


N- Number of Siblings? 2 brothers


O- OCD or sloppy? In between


P- Pet Peeves? Stupid drivers, telemarketers


Q- Quiet or Loud? Loud


R- Restaurant? Baci Italian Bistro (best little hole in the wall on the corner of Williams field and Power in Gilbert)


S- Sports? To play: racquetball, tennis, basketball~ To watch: Ultimate fighting and basketball


T- Tight wad or spender? Both


U- Unknown Fact about him? He's not really bald, he just shaves his hair in a circular pattern~ and he's a computer genius.


V- Vegetables? Fresh corn on the cob


W- Worst Habit? Drinks too much soda


X- Xtra Curricular activities in high school? Football, basketball, track,~ parking at Patterson's pond.


Y- Your favorite things about him? He is a hard worker and helps a lot around the house. He adores me and tells me I'm beautiful everyday. He is selfless~ sports and "guy" activities always come second to family. He is generous and loves to help people. He is a people person and has a great sense of humor. He encourages me in all I do. I could go on and on, he's just the best.


Z - Zodiac Sign? Cancer
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Tag, you're it!!!

Summertime fun....

We had a great time at camp with only one minor incident where I found myself seeing red. I do love red. It is absolutely my favorite color, but I rarely get riled up enough for red flames to fill my eyes the way they did the last day of camp. In fact when I told Rick and Landon about it at the dinner table that night they both looked at me in disbelief and said, "You yelled at someone?" Yes I did (well talked very sternly that is), but it was for a justified reason that I would love to share but can't because I live in a small town and that would be gossip so I will refrain even though it's an interesting story.
With camp out of the way, I now need to get very serious about getting my two oldest ready for the pioneer trek that's going to take place in a few days (A FEW DAYS!!!) I still have to modify two dresses, sew some bloomers and an apron, find a hat and take care of a bunch of other stuff that I have blocked from my memory at this moment because it's just too darn stressful. I also failed to read an instruction letter until this morning that asked for parents to write a special letter to their kids and turn it in by May 31. Hmmm, it's now June 2nd....
Good times! I can't wait until the madness is over and I can enjoy myself on a real vacation. Soaking up the rays and pigging out at the buffets with my family in Vegas baby. Thanks Ben and Mindy for putting the "share" in time share. It's gonna be awesome!