All because two people fell in love

Spring madness

2011-03-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

Ooooohhhhh...With Spring here and Easter on it's way, it's only fitting that I share some fun ideas! We aren't fortunate enough to have craft stores at our finger tips, so the girls and I are always searching for creative ideas. Here are a few that I've found...hope you enjoy them as much as we will!

First up are the super yummy Rice Krispy Peep treats..YUM! Peeps don't last long in our house, in fact, we keep a secret stash for those times when you can't buy them. I thought these would be cute as class gifts, maybe your primary class, or treats for your co-workers (mine will LOVE me if I bring these in).

You can find them here:

http://www.lovefromtheoven.com/2011/03/27/peeps-rice-krispies-treats-for-peeps-week/

This is a super fun version of a topiary! Krystina and I had made some topiary's for V-Day out of crate paper, super cute...so when we found this, it's a MUST have for our Easter decor.

You can find directions here:

http://craftysisters-nc.blogspot.com/2010/03/jelly-bean-topiary.html

If you love the whole new 'subway' printables art you can find them all over! I found this cute one, LOVE all the colors...makes me feel so happy and excited for Easter. And although we enjoy Easter for all it's treats and fun, we also remember Easter for it's true meaning of the Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ). You can print this on your home printer, or have it printed at your favorite one-hour photo.

Find your printable here:

http://landeeseelandeedo.blogspot.com/2011/03/easter-subway-art.html

This egg photo is adorable! This will look great on any shelf, entry table or mantle...I even ADORE the felt rabbits. Super cute!

Egg picture found here:

http://auntielolocrafts.blogspot.com/2011/03/button-egg-and-stuffed-bunnies.html

Another great Spring printable-also comes in a array of colors to choose from!

Spring printable found here:

http://todaysfabulousfinds.blogspot.com/

LOVE the color spray in this fabulous wreath (can also see this done up as a topiary). Imagine this hanging from your front door, or somewhere in your entryway.

Wreath found here:

http://sheskindacrafty.blogspot.com/2011/03/ribbon-maniac.html

Last but not least....these darling little bunnies! This is an actual craft online-follow along type thing, but if you are crafty, you can make these on your own. This is on my to-do list!

Bunnies & directions found here:

http://woodyouliketocraft.blogspot.com/p/next-months-project-and-supplies.html

Hope these ideas spark your interest in creating something memorable for your family during this Spring time.

Our new HOUSE

2011-03-27T11:23:00.000-07:00

-Dan and Tucker summer 2010

Last summer coming home from church one day, I noticed this house that we had driven by week after week had gone up for sale. Dan and I had talked a little bit about the possibility of getting back into a house, but at THAT time we were also considering moving with a job promotion. Then one day he said to me "Hun, did you see that brick house on the way to church up for sale?" A smile welled up from deep down within...and I knew that our hearts were ready once again. Whether it was this house, or another house, we were ready. It was a super long process, and we were most patient and it paid off!

Our home was built in the 1920's...and then added on and bricked in the 1950's. Along with the house, we received a photo album of original photos and every bit of information ever done on the house-it's really cool! The house has true charm and character for this area and has only been owned by 5 families (none of which died in the house, thankfully). It's been very well maintained and cared for which is evident upon entering. And although there are things we are working on to make it our 'own'...we couldn't be happier. It's hard to compare my first home to this house because they are in two different categories, and YES, I still miss my first home, but this is where we are planting our feet for awhile and we feel so blessed.

Now that winter is winding down and the weather is warming up, Dan has been busy working hard getting a few spots updated. The first being the attic in the front garage. He and Kyle got up there and cleaned it out, re-wired it and laid a new floor and insulation so we could get boxes stored. They did such a great job! The second project in progress is our *NEW* food storage room in the basement...previously called the dungeon because it was dark and no one wanted to go in there. He and Kyle are just about finished with the drywall, and soon the shelving will begin! There are other projects, like the mud room, the utility room and the other 2 car garage that are in waiting-but one thing at a time! It's so nice to be able to work on home projects again, and I look so forward to getting in the yard this summer.

Front of the house: Lots of mature trees and lush green grass. Curb side appeal is great-especially here in Alliance, it's really hard to find a nice updated home that looks NICE as well...we really were blessed.

Part of the backyard...the whole yard is bricked in...LOVE THAT! Plenty of room for that ginormous trampoline of ours and still lots of room. We have lots of squirrels starting to come out-Tucker likes to chase them and they tease him through the windows...AND we have 3 neighbor dogs that like to jump the wall and come over for play time, it's funny and cute at the same time.

The patio area...although there is no sliding door to enter the yard, there is easy access through the mud room, and I LOVE the large window in the kitchen over looking the yard & garden.

This is the second 2 car garage-detached in the back...it's cool to have a 4 car garage! For now this is the only garage that will house the truck & suburban during the summer hail seasons...the front garage doors are too narrow and we can barely get the burb in by maybe 4 inches!

The dining room...favorite feature is the floor to ceiling window overlooking the front drive...I can't wait to put shutters there! Yes, that is WHITE carpeting...yikes! It's beautiful lush carpet though :)

Kitchen. This is where we spent 90% of our time, just hanging out...it's nice to have room to breathe again, AND I have a window above my sink!! Projects for kitchen are, darken cabinets, add new bronze fixtures, knobs and put granite with a nice back splash like my other kitchen.

The Family room...it's long, so you aren't seeing the full scope of it. We LOVE the fireplace, mantle, book shelves and windows-this room is an actual add on to the original home.

We are still unpacking and hanging pictures. Both garages are full of boxes that need to be unpacked or stored, and we also have our storage unit full of items that have been there since we moved here almost 3 years ago...wow, it's been that long! Sometimes it doesn't feel real, but reality is our life is here now, at least for the time being.

"Mom, I'll meet you at the garden"

2010-08-01T13:19:00.000-07:00

It was the first Saturday in several weeks that we didn't have any plans. I slept in a bit longer than usual. Kyle was walking out of his bedroom-he had been up earlier with Lyndsie. I mentioned that we should go up to our garden to water and I wanted to show him something. He got excited and said "I'll just ride my bike up and start watering, then you can meet me there". In my heart I wanted him to wait because I really wanted to see his face when I showed him that little something. So off he went. I jumped in the shower and waited for Dan so we could meet Kyle. We took a bit longer to get ready and then headed to the garden. When we got there, we didn't see Kyle so we thought we'd just back track to find him. We drove the normal route...but we never saw him. I called home a few times hoping he'd answer the phone, but he never answered. Dan and I headed back to the garden in hopes that Kyle was just riding around waiting for us...but he wasn't there. We admired the garden, picked some zucchini and figured we'd catch up with Kyle at home and go get some lunch. I knew he had his key, so we headed home to pick him up...but when we walked in the door, Kyle wasn't there, or any sign that he had been there. I saw messages on the phone so I pushed play...first two were from me to Kyle to call me, third message, "Hi this is so and so from Box Butte General Hospital". I didn't even finish the message and just hit redial. When someone answered I just asked "Do you have a Kyle Duitsman there"? She answered "yes", and then I asked what happened and she said she couldn't give me that information so I told her we'd be right there. Dan and I just didn't know what to think. He immediately got quiet and I was talking a mile a minute. As we were heading north I noticed a police car coming towards us going south and it looked as though the trunk was open...as the police car passed by, I saw Kyle's bike. My heart literally dropped in my stomach! But then it hit me, as I was trying to keep my composure that the bike looked good-as in it wasn't all bent up. So I told Dan "That was Kyle's bike, oh no...but it looked ok, it's not bent up". I believe for Dan the world was in slow motion. We hurried out of the car and into the Emergency room and told the nurse we were Kyle's parents. I think I asked again "Is he OK, what happened" and she just said "come with me". That is not what a parent wants to hear! We walked in Kyle's room, pushed the curtain back and there he was. My boy, with a silly grin on his face. Our eyes met and I felt the biggest rush of relief. Dan and I went to his side to look at his injuries..all in all he looked pretty good. Some road rash on his face and his arm was pretty beat up. Kyle kind of chuckled about the whole thing and then he told us what had happened.

Kyle's version: I went to the garden to water and waited for awhile but you guys didn't show up so I went to get a soda and started riding home. Then I thought 'hey, I'll go do some jumps at the skate park'. I was going up one of the ramps when my front tire locked up and I fell and then I heard this 'pop'. I kind of slid a ways from the ramp and my bike went flying. I laid there for a second and then looked at my arm and it looked funny. I tried to stand up and picked up my bike but it wouldn't move, then my legs felt weird and I started to see white so I laid down and started to yell out for someone to help me. These people came over to me and tried to help me up and get me out of the sun but my legs went weak and I started to see white so they just helped me lay down and then they called 911. The ambulance came and they got me inside where they hooked up my IV, asked me lots of questions and then wrapped up my arm.

After waiting about an hour, Kyle finally got his x-ray which clearly showed his fracture. The ER Dr. advised us to take Kyle to the Regional Hospital where he would see a specialty Orthopedic Surgeon. This wasn't your typical fracture he told us, this one might need surgery. The Dr. prepared us for what might possibly take place, gave Kyle pain meds and told us we needed to travel by Ambulance or the helicopter. Wait, HELICOPTER?? Are you serious. Due to Kyle's swelling and possible artery damage, his hand was swelling and he wasn't able to feel all the tests they were performing on him. That was a huge concern that he might have some nerve damage. I mean, it just kept getting better and better. I opted to drive him, knowing that the other options would really scare him-he was already pretty upset thinking he might have surgery. We got him situated in the car and off we went. An hour drive felt like FOREVER. Thankfully the meds helped him sleep the entire way.

I couldn't help notice how beautiful of a day it had been... the sky was so blue and there were all these puffy little clouds. It was so much more than just that blue sky, it was gratitude for having my son be next to me and knowing that this wasn't over yet, but he was HERE. He was safe.

We got situated at the Regional Hospital while waiting for the Orthopedic surgeon. Once he arrived we got the 411-and it wasn't real good. Kyle had a pretty complicated fracture and they were going to try method #1 to see if He could set it up in a cast, but if that didn't work, they'd get him into the OR where they'd put some pins in it. Dan and I did pretty good, watching as they poked and prodded Kyle. They hooked him up to what seemed like every machine and ran an IV. The method they chose required an Anesthesiologist to perform what they called a 'block' in his arm pit that would put the entire left shoulder and arm asleep. He was super awesome during the whole procedure! We knew he was scared, but he did really well. Once he was numb, the Orthopedic surgeon came in and picked up Kyle's arm by his fingers and hooked them up to this contraption. Once hooked up, he put what seemed like 25lbs of weights hanging from his elbow-and Kyle felt NOTHING. It was quite painful to watch though. We were escorted out while the Orthopedic Dr. worked to put Kyle's bone back into place...we waited..and waited. The nurses and Anesthesiologist came in and out of the room updating us and at one point the Dr. just couldn't get the bone to stay put. They would work on it, then x-ray it over and over until finally he got it to stay put and quickly finished casting it up. I knew he was working hard because he was dripping with sweat, but I was so happy with the outcome. They monitored Kyle for sometime from the block. We were finally released around 8:30pm...it was a long day!

Kyle will see the Orthopedic Dr. this week where he will x-ray again to see if the bone stays put...if there is any slippage, they will need to take him in for surgery and put pins in his wrist. Hopefully, with faith and prayer, the bone will stay put and we can continue the healing process.

Last night was pretty rough. Kyle is in a lot of pain and his entire arm and shoulder are aching. His hand is swollen and if you happen to touch it he just cries out. So for now, I'm just trying to keep him medicated every 4 hours until I see signs of some relief. I have no doubt that the pulling and weights and all that have added to his pain, but it needed to be done. Kyle's been lifting all summer in preparation for his first year of High School football-I imagine that as practices start this week he will be sitting it out. We are pretty bummed that he might not get to play this season, but getting him healed is so much more important. Please keep him in your prayers for a speedy recovery and mostly for the pain to subside.

Hard lesson learned. Dan and I had many conversations with the boy yesterday about the incident. I'm pretty sure he's learned a very hard lesson early on. He told us he would be a bit wiser in his decisions from now on because he is not enjoying all this pain! Smart boy. Something we need to consider as well, when he said his brakes locked up, well they did. Dan picked up his bike from the Police Dept and said for no rhyme or reason his front brakes where straight up locked and he looked the bike over and the brake lines to see what was wrong and couldn't find a reason why. What we do know, is that Kyle was protected and we are so grateful, so very grateful.

4th of July

2010-07-30T21:46:00.001-07:00

The day started out HOT HOT HOT. It got up over 100 degrees, and the clouds quickly started to move in towards the later part of the afternoon. By the looks of the sky, we thought for sure we were in for another scary storm. Luckily the clouds rolled in with lightning, thunder and a lot of rain! It felt a little like a 4th of July in WA state. Dan and the kids stocked up on the fireworks, and of course we went back for more just to make sure we were well stocked! Last year Dan missed the 4th altogether due to work, so he was super excited to get his pyro skills to work.

We have this awesome family in our Branch-they are large in numbers with extended family in the area. The jr. leader of the pack invited us to share the evening with them...we LOVE this family so it was an honor! With our fireworks, watermelon, cookies and cupcakes off we went. We were quickly greeted by the Elders, and several other friends. The food was so yummy...and it started to rain, and rain and rain. A little rain didn't stop the kids from the fireworks! From start to finish, it took us almost 5 hours to light off all the fireworks. Crazy. And for the handful that were washed out by the rain, well, those got doused with GASOLINE...Men .

Need help with your food storage...?

2009-11-16T20:18:00.000-08:00

Food Storage Made Easy

When we lived in California, we were told over and over to prepare ourselves, get our food storage in order. It took some time, but I began to work at it monthly, using a list and sticking to one or two items (for each family member). It wasn't really all that hard, just time consuming and it could be costly at times. I'll admit, I was never really taught how to 'store' food, or what to start storing first. Sure, we had many lessons, over and over about wheat, how to cook it, how to store it...but I really never considered having it because it seemed like such a hassle. Besides, we had our spoiled conveniences like Costco and Sam's club, why did I need to store wheat? Our food storage was food we ate, and while not big is size, it would have sufficed for about 4 months or so. Honestly, I really didn't know what I was doing...and so I wasted a lot of time storing items that were not totally essential. Kind of sad. We never thought about wheat grinders, canning supplies, dehydrators...until we moved to Nebraska! The week before our move, when the moving company came to do our walk through, they took note of the large amount of canned food items we had and quickly told me that they COULD NOT move those items. What?? Are you serious? With our freezer chock full of food, and several floor to ceiling cabinets in our garage full, I was forced to either purge or give away. The Missionaries in our Ward scored big time, as did one of my dear sweet neighbors. The girls and I went through each and every can of food to determine if the shelf life was expired or if it was worthy to be given away. If you must know a small tidbit of information...the whole 6+ months Dan was out of work, we relied on that freezer and food from my so called 'food storage'. What a blessing it was, and trust me, we ate good! You would have never known. Sure, we bought groceries, but it was the food I so carefully stored (just in case).

After moving to Nebraska I soon discovered that food storage is a main staple of life here. From gardening, to knowing people who know people who are willing to share thier bounty. Last year it started with a truck that pulled into town loaded with Colorado peaches, to this year where I have been able to can 30+ cases of food. Not only that, I've learned from some of the best people how to use your wheat, like bread making, how to store it, how to grind it...and thanks to some really awesome food storage blogs, I've learned some pretty nifty tricks as well. You see, if you know me, you know that I'm a visual person, hands on, that is how I learn. Recently, we were given 50+ lbs of dry beans (white & kidney)..did you know that you can replace oil in your baking goods with pureed beans? Seriously, it's the best, and you don't even know it's beans! I'll share a bit about that in a later post.

I'm so grateful for the progress in which we're going. Food storage is so very important, something I will not take for granted any more. I'm so grateful for those who have taught me, and been there when I'm not sure what I'm doing...they've guided me along the way. I'm grateful for moving to Nebraska, and for the many things in which I 've learned...canning is A LOT of work, but so worth it when you can stand there and gaze at all the jars filled with bright colors of your favorite foods! And what's even better...when you can't keep your kids out of it because they say it's the best they've ever tasted! That's pay off in itself..I mean, we are supposed to eat what we store right?

One of the blogs I follow is FOOD STORAGE MADE EASY...Talk about information overload, but in a super good way! Most of us are confused about food storage, or just really don't know where to start. These great gals take you through food storage in baby steps, guiding you along the way. They've created easy to follow lists, and tools to help you get started. You could spend hours on their site, reading and learning. If you are eager to get started, or help you back on track with your food storage, this is the place to go.

One of the most important items you'll need in your food storage (or your kitchen) is a wheat grinder. Dan and I just bought our first wheat..you betcha, I want to keep moving forward with my winter goal, which is to MASTER the art of making bread! Dan's always been the bread master, but I'm getting better! Anyways, we've been discussing the need to quickly get ourselves a wheat grinder. Then just today I got an email about a WONDER MILL giveaway from now until November 25th. Yes!! It's worth a shot, right?! This is an awesome wheat grinder, and I would be so honored to be the lucky recipient...What about you? Would you like to own one of these??

Along with the giveaway, you can also get a $30 rebate until November 25th!
That is on both, the electric grain mill or the hand grain mill...of course, we all love the convenience of electric power, but we also need to remember that at some point we could lose that electric power and would need something to get us through.

Good luck to all that enter, and a great big THANKS to Jodi & Julie, the girls who make this possible!

Disney-Pixars....UP

2009-11-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

We finally had a night together as a family (yeah, one night) so Dan and I were scouring the 'Red Box' movie trailers to see if there was anything worthy of a quality family movie night. I LOVE kid movies don't get me wrong, but sometimes it's nice to get a good chick flick or action (adult) movie (as in FAMILY ADULT). Yeah, so Dan clicked on Up and I quickly decided that was the movie we were going to watch. What an awesome choice it was! If you haven't seen this movie yet, you need to go and rent it...it's a super cute movie-one that will be bought for our house. I won't give too much away..but I've added a clip from the trailer for you to see. And at the end of this post, I've added a coupon that I just found to save $10.00 when you buy the movie-so worth buying!! Enjoy.

Here's your chance to own this yourself, or give as a gift for Christmas... Go here: Disney-Pixar Up $10.00 off movie coupon

Project Life....It's HERE!

2009-11-14T10:10:00.000-08:00

It feels like Christmas...Do you know how excited I was this morning when I found this in my email box..?? I jumped up and did a HAPPY DANCE!! Shame on me, I ordered several...and in hopes that this is continuous, meaning you can order at anytime. What an awesome gift for your best girlfriend, sister, MOTHER, daugther, cousin, child's teacher at school, you decide. How great it will be to finally put 2009 in an album, even though it may not be a picture a day, it could be pictures by the month...it's just that awesome that you can adapt it anyway you'd like! There are so many goodies in this kit, you've just got to go check it out for yourself! You'll be surprised just how much you'll get. Life gets busy, this is a way to simplify your life, and still have something that your children will cherish...your children could even put this album together, how great is that? Those are the things that mean the most, our children and I want my children to be a large part of our new year with this album..to have them journal, or add photos that mean something to them. That is a treasure!

Don't hesitate, don't waste any time..hurry over to BECKY HIGGINS and order yours today!
P.s. Just for you, Becky Higgins has free digital Christmas cards..isn't she the best!!

Christmas gift idea PLUS news on Project 365

2009-11-03T21:57:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you, but I'm always looking for fun & creative new gift ideas...especially since I'm over the Activity Day girls at church. Found these today on one of my favorite blogs- BECKY HIGGINS. If you click on the link, she gives full details and instructions on how to make these darling drink coasters. I can see many possibilities with these..family photos, words, FABRIC and so much more! Let your creativity do the work.

And this..oh my heck! A few summers ago some super cute girls in our Stake did a 'Summer Ideas' class, and low and behold came the famous Duitsman 'Oreo' cake. Got it from the class and tweaked it a bit. Although I've masted the cake, it always comes out uneven and that involves cutting and making a big crumb mess. Yuck. I'm all about smooth and easy, non-messy baking (and cooking). Today, while drooling over Williams Sonoma and all the new goodies, I found this little beauty! I'm in LOVE. Seriously. Call me crazy, but how much fun will this be? It's possible to make that famous 'oreo' cake in perfect form. Gotta add this to my Christmas wish list.

Last but not least..Much time has passed since I've even thought about Project 365. How sad huh. I kind of lost intrest once the kits were advertised for sale, and thousands of us crazy scrapbook people got excited about it, then on sale day all kinds of problems in the sales department. We were traveling to Utah that day and I spent endless hours on hold (from my cell phone)...out of desperation, I called my Mom from one of the girls cell phones to see if she'd log on-line and order for me. But to no avail, she also encountered problems with the site. Talk about BIG DISAPPOINTMENT. That fire, that passion for this project would move on. I was determined to start without all the pretty papers, cards and album (kit). As the weeks went by, I found that excitement diminishing away. I mean, where were all the goods that I drooled over, waited for and talked to everyone about? Then the kits started shipping and the internet was filled with "I GOT MY KITS TODAY", I'll admit, I was a bit green with envy! Oh it gets so much better...Some people (you know who you are) were then selling these kits on EBay for ridiculous prices, I mean crazy! I wanted one badly, but not enough to pay $300 for one that retailed for I believe $40. Needless to say, my project died a slow death. I think I made it through 12 weeks of photos that I kept on a separate private blog...it was easiest to post a picture a day, then journal. They are neatly awaiting a pretty little kit, and for me to scrapbook them!

Today, as I did my regular blog roll...I found a post on Becky Higgins-if you don't follow her blog, you might want to take a peek. She has left CK=Creating Keepsakes to venture out on her own. I am so excited!! She is one talented gal. Anyways, as I scrolled down today, she announced a new kit that is in production at this very moment! More details to follow, but this is so close and dear to her heart and I just know that she really wants to reach out to those who basically missed out, and keep this project ongoing. It's SIMPLE, it's fresh, it's so very EXCITING! This is a sneak peak of what's coming...Oh my, I can barely contain myself! Looking forward to starting 2010 with PROJECT LIFE.

Go see it for yourselves. Pass on the good word. Do you feel inspired? Where will your photos be in 2010..?

BECKY HIGGINS Make sure to click on her 'blog'

Snow Days

2009-11-01T21:48:00.000-08:00

Photography by: Lyndsie

We've completely missed Fall this year...and winter has arrived! It was snowing before all the leaves had fallen from the trees. We had 2 full SNOW DAYS (yay!)...and then a Fall break day. It was really nice to be able to stay home, enjoy the snowy cold days, eat soup, and watch lots of movies. Although the snow is pretty much melted now, and the temps have returned to the 60's, it won't be long until the bitter cold returns. We are in store for a pretty wet & cold winter!

Candy Corn Cupcakes....Yum!

2009-10-30T00:31:00.001-07:00

Photo Credit: Our Best Bites

Yum yum! Jessica and I are some what of cupcake addicts lately-always looking for fun new recipes to try out. One of my very favorite food blogs posted this recipe a few days ago...thought it was so cute! Wishing that we were going to a party just so I could make some! Enjoy.
P.S. don't forget to click on the frosting link-it's a pretty yummy recipe.

Candy Corn Cupcakes

1 18.25-oz. white cake mix (I prefer Duncan Hines)

1 c. sour cream

1/2 c. vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 tsp. almond extract

Yellow and orange Wilton food gel (about a heaping 1/2 tsp. of each)

A double batch of Perfect Cupcake Frosting and Filling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 24-cup muffin tins with white paper liners (although you may not make it to 24 cupcakes). Combine all ingredients except for food coloring in a large bowl and beat on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then beat on medium for 2 additional minutes.

Divide batter equally into two bowls; you should have about 2 1/4-2 1/2 c. of batter in each bowl. Mix about 1/2 heaping tsp. of yellow coloring into one bowl of batter and 1/2 heaping tsp. of orange coloring into the other bowl.

Divide the yellow batter evenly among the muffin tins. I used a standard cookie scoop, which measures about 1 Tbsp. I only had enough to make 20 cupcakes with the cups filled about halfway. Holding the edges of each pan firmly, bang the pan a few times on the counter to level out the batter. Repeat the process with the orange batter. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes in the pan and then allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.

My sweet Birthday girl

2009-10-20T11:51:00.000-07:00

21 years ago, 33 hours of labor, she barely entered the world with a cord wrapped around her neck 3 times. I thought she was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen (ok, I'm a bit partial).

Hard to imagine that this beautiful little baby girl is 21 today! The years have truly flown by. What a joy this girl has been in our lives, and continues to be. From the very first day she entered the world, we knew she had a sweet strong spirit. With those beautiful big blue eyes, one look and she melted our hearts. I'm so very grateful to have been entrusted with this sweet girl! What a blessing she is to our family.

6 months

2nd Birthday

4 years

13 years

HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY MY SWEET GIRL!!
We love you so much.

xoxoxoxo
Mama

Am I a Jack, or a Cat....?

2009-10-13T18:00:00.001-07:00

This is so cute! I've seen many variations of the whole 'Boo' your neighbor, but this has got to be my favorite! Start a new tradition in your neighborhood, or with your friends. We've altogether skipped Fall here in Nebraska. But what a fun family night activity! Hop on over to Skip to my Lou and check it out, pattern included. Enjoy!

How to start the “BOO” in your neighborhood

All wrapped up in a cute southern accent

2009-10-09T12:35:00.000-07:00

One of the most beautiful people I've ever met. This is Kelli.

Friendship came so easily, mostly because we are so much alike, yet so different. Our friendship sparked off of her son's Baptism when she made the most incredible turkey sandwiches with homemade bread. I can hear her say right now "Nah, it was nothing", in her cute Kentucky accent. Kelli and her husband were living on one of the Church's ranches when we met, and because of them, we quickly learned so much about the whole cattle process from calving, weaning, AI (artificial insemination) and back to more calving. It really is such a fun process, especially hands on!

Kelli has been an inspiration and a breath of fresh air. She has taught me so much over the last year! One of my most favorites is bread making. Of course I won't show that picture again, but lets just say my first batch of bread grew a boy part. Yep, that sums it up. I gave that special loaf to Kelli and she adorned it for as long as she possibly could. We laughed about that silly bread for months! Besides bread, she taught me how to be more frugal and she didn't even know it. If someone gave her something, she knew exactly what to do with it and she wouldn't consider throwing it away. I LOVE that about her! She grew a vegetable garden this summer, but sadly we had a lot of hail and it didn't take off so well (no ones did) so when friends and neighbors started giving her things out of their gardens she kindly shared with me. I am so lucky! With her help and guidance I was able to put up (can) A LOT of food this year, peaches, pears, pickles, tomatoes, salsa, pear sauce, stewed tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, grape jelly and wild plum jelly. No, she didn't give me all of that, but she knew people who knew people. One afternoon, we went to do our VT and on our way back we stopped by one of her neighbors and she climbed up on a ladder just to pick more grapes for ME. This girl never slows down, and I often wonder if she ever sleeps, but that's besides the point..there is always something wonderful cooking in her kitchen and guaranteed fresh home made bread in the oven!

One of the best qualities in friendship is knowing your friend so well, that you just KNOW when they need something to lift their spirits, cheer up their day or just to make them smile...Kelli was just that! If I needed a good laugh, she would just call me..if I needed chocolate, she would just happen to leave my favorite candy bar on the seat of my car, or in my church bag. On my birthday, she surprised me by making my entire birthday dinner & dessert and drove it all the way into town, just for me! When I say into town, I mean just that..my Mother in law can vouch-Kelli lives over an hour away, down a single dirt road, over the hills and out in the middle of nowhere. Often, she would just drop by to bring me eggs, or books, or something new to try. Lucky for me, dropping by meant that she was in town running errands and she thought about me.

They say that some friendships are for a season, this friendship is forever! I LOVE this family so so much. They are so fun to be around, especially with 4 of the most adorable boys! "If only the boys were older" the girls say. They love them nonetheless. And to be honest, I think these darling little boys have crushes on my girls, they can't get enough of them...

Recently Kelli and her family moved back to Kentucky. As in less than a week! My heart aches. But the tears I shed are for joy, and for peace, knowing they are where they are supposed to be. It was hard. Felt like last year all over again, only I was staying and she was leaving. It was terribly hard to say goodbye-so we didn't. Quick hugs as though she were returning to the Ranch, and they were gone. Even though I won't be able to make that hour trip to the Ranch, Kelli is a phone call away, and a quick email...hopefully before too long she will get her computer up and we'll be able to video chat! Nebraska does feel like a different place now, even still, I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to meet such an amazing friend and have the experiences we had. It's all part of the adventure.

Yummiest Rolls ever!

2009-10-07T12:42:00.000-07:00

*Picture courtesy of Best Bites*
The kids and I made these Sunday morning for General Conference breakfast...Oh my! Not sure I'll ever make cinnamon rolls with yeast again. We made both Orange & Cinnamon. The orange ones weren't a big hit with all the kids, but I sure liked them! When you are craving a cinnamon RIGHT NOW, this would be the recipe to use. And if you even start to wonder about the ingredients, don't worry your pretty little head, you will be pleasantly surprised at how wonderful these truly are! You'll never buy Pilsbury again.

Here is the direct link to the recipe:
Our Best Bites

FREE Class

2009-06-14T22:15:00.001-07:00

If you are like me, you love to learn new techniques. With that being said, check out this offer from Jessica Sprague

Lake McConaughy

2009-06-14T21:03:00.001-07:00

We set out to take at 50 mile drive....but, it ended up being double that plus! Another one of the day trips Dan planned for us. It was fun, but heck, it was a long drive. Poor Krystina, it was her first official day out of school and she ended up spending the day in the car! The first few hours she was happy, but after the day drug on and on she became an unhappy camper, that is, until I let her drive my car :)

Lake McConaughy, this unique lake, in the middle of nowhere, with beautiful white sandy beaches. This lake is huge! It's like no other lake I've been to...not too many trees, kind of desert like, with water that had waves you could boogie board on. And the sand...

Something else we're not accustomed to...driving on and parking on the beach! Pretty cool stuff. This will make for great camping this summer!

The sand...amazing white sand. Not like beach sand, it doesn't stick and cling to everything you own. It was sandy and grainy. It was like a desert oasis in Nebraska. It reminded me of something right out of the Sahara desert, the way it was wavy.

Sandy cliffs...If you were a sand sculpture, this would be the best place to be artistic!

Tucker got to come along (he comes everywhere now)...he LOVED the sand. I had never seen him in sand and it was quite comical. He just ran in circles, digging and throwing sand EVERYWHERE. Krystina and I had to get out of his way...it was like he was digging to China or someting...lol. Silly doggie. His whole face was covered in sand!

Tucker isn't a huge fan of water (I think it has to do with the pool at Grandma's house and the kids trying to take him swimming when he was a puppy)..but he sure enjoyed the beach.

Ok...quick funny story. Us girls were so ready to leave after hours of fun ...Krystina wanted to drive the car, and Dan wanted to go scope out some teenage boys who got their car stuck in the sand...so, he took Tucker and off he went. I drove around with Krystina for a short time, then all the sudden I see Tucker run off, and Dan was waaaaay behind him. I got worried for a minute because Tucker is not good off his leash, but we're working on it (it's a Terrier thing)...then I see Tucker disapear. All I could think at that split moment was 'oh well, there goes the dog'....Then a few minutes later Dan walks up with this very wet doggy. So here's what happened...Tucker saw a bird and decided to chase it...he ran over this sandy edge amongst the trees and landed straight in the water!!! Dan said by the time he got to the inlet, Tucker spotted him and swam back to shore. Dan couldn't stop laughing...it's so much like a Terrier to not even care about what's going on around them, all they care about is what they want. Just FYI, he didn't catch the bird, but he got all that sand off :)

Enjoying the beginning of summer

2009-06-09T00:01:00.000-07:00

We found this great new place to hang out this summer, granted the weather gets a bit warmer! This is a dam about 30 minutes from town. We've been taking the kids on adventures for the past 3 weeks on Dan's days off...they are getting a bit tired of the road trips so we chose to stay close to home.

You can camp, fish, boat & swim here. The kids are really excited about this new find, and so close to home. We've been told, this is 'the' place where all the kids hang out during the summer. Can't wait to get on a float and go lounging in the water!! Super fun.

The brave ones. Dan chased a snake, Krystina followed. They never did find it. It was an amazing beautiful first day of summer here. The sky is so blue, the clouds so white...and the scenery just gets better as the summer days go by.

As we walked along the shore line watching Kyle swim we found this little guy. Just this little froggy with the fullest stomach I've ever seen! A small reminder of what we left behind...and at that moment, the memory gates opened and flooded our minds. I'm always so grateful for gentle reminders, for all isn't lost.

As we approach our 1 year mark, the memories get better and those feelings of loss have slowly been forgotten. Life is good. Life is simple. We are enjoying Nebraska and everything it has to offer at this time. Lots and lots of catching up to do!

Happy St. Patrick's Day...!

2009-03-17T09:10:00.001-07:00

Keeping with tradition...
Decor is up, preparing our dinner early.
I did make a slight change this year...no beanies for the kids-there just isn't anywhere local to buy them and I didn't order online (sorry kidlets)...AND, instead of candy, they woke up to silly stripped socks for the girls, a fun green-t for the boy and green sprinkled donuts.

Missing Dan today-he's in Texas for the week.

Wishing you all a very Happy St. Patrick's Day !

One door closes, another opens <3

2009-03-10T09:42:00.000-07:00

All I can say is....YEAH!

Picking herself up and moving forward. Good for you Melissa.
For whatever reason, I can't blog the video clip...but it was really fun to see her so happy and dancing. She's so right, that great guy will come in his own time.

A very powerful message

2009-03-07T17:06:00.000-08:00

This is the most uplifting message. I must have watched it 10 times before posting. The message is so clear and defined. It made me cry. How blessed we are to be so loved by a loving Heavenly Father, who has given us abilities and talents too often beyond our knowledge. How easily we say "I'm not good enough" or "I can't do that"...this is so not the case. We are all creative in our own way, we each see the world differently. Creation is our opportunity in this life...Start small, creativity does not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano.

Create. Don't let the voice of critics paralyze you.

YOU WILL MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE.

All I see is GREEN.

2009-03-03T17:42:00.000-08:00

A few years back, while visiting my Dad, he let me try some of his *famous* pickled asparagus. He sent me home with his recipe, which is TOP SECRET. Every year since, I've waited for a super great sale on asparagus, which never happened. Then we move to crazy Nebraska (ok, not crazy, but I'm still no so crazy about it). And guess what went on super sale this week at Safeway (Vons for my Cali friends)....ASPARAGUS @.98lb. I nabbed up a case, and put a few on raincheck because I simply don't have the space to store it! This morning I finished gathering up all the needed supplies, including jars that I had to ORDER just for this occasion because believe it or not, it's not canning season and no one has them. My local small grocery store put in an order for me (benefits of small town living I suppose)....

Now, yes, they are much longer than needs be. After the first few jars, I cut the rest a bit shorter. Asparagus has got to be one of the most beautiful vegetables ever! I could have just sat there staring at the jars...Mmmm.

Once they were filled with all its goodness I turned them upside down until I could process them in a water bath. I was kind of dreading that part, due to the fact that I only own one large pot now, and I didn't ask my Landlord buddy if I could borrow his pressure cooker. Then low and behold, guess who shows up at my door! His sweet wife brought it in to town on her way to work...I love our Landlord, he truly is the best. And he was eye balling my asparagus, more like green, with envy! I'm guessing he'll need his pressure cooker back tomorrow for some of his own canning.

Another sight that caught my eye...the jars filled with *secret stuff* lined up on my kitchen counter. I just thought it looked colorful.

The final product. One case of asparagus=24 Quart jars of pickled asparagus.

This canning stuff is pretty fun! Now, can't wait till summer comes around as we look for other canning opportunities.

2009-02-22T13:48:00.001-08:00

I almost forgot how to log into my blog...lol
It's been quite some time so....in honor of my absence and recent Birthday, thought I'd leave you drooling!

14 layer cake.
All I can say is WOW.
YUM.

Recipe & directions can be found on Bakerella

Project 365: Day 18

2009-01-20T08:50:00.000-08:00

Tucker, Tucker. Boy, what are you doing sitting on the arm of the sofa??
I LOVE how you totally got caught, and immediately put your head down because you know your going to get scolded. I mean, it's great and all that you think your king of the mountain, but why are you forming new quirky little habits at 3 1/2 years old (in doggie world that is 21 something)...are you feeling this new found adult free agency or what? You really aren't in trouble, because I think its really cute that you enjoy sitting up there playing guard dog and all...and I know you really LOVE looking out the window to see if any cute little bunnies run across the lot and it isn't easy being a dog in an apartment.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

back to regular blogging....

I just love this face. The long eyelashes, the out of control facial hair, even the run-a-way curly on the side! Tucker is such a good doggie. If given the chance, he'd bring me home a little bunny for dinner...well, it would still be alive because his true mission is to play with as many furry creatures as he can!

Yes, and notice that day 18 (Sunday) is a GREAT representation of our life...Christmas tree STILL up and I have no plans at the moment to put it away.

For Christine

2009-01-16T19:31:00.001-08:00

Last year Jessica called and said "Mom, do you know snowflakes really are shaped like snowflakes". We laughed about that for awhile. You know, I've seen a lot of snow in my days, but I never really thought about it. You could say I had somewhat of a 'blonde' moment. Sorry, no pun intended :)

Wish I had a macro lens, then you would have really seen these up close! We had some super dry snow fall, about 8-10 inches actually. I bundled up with the camera and got a glimpse of the real snow flakes. Pretty cool huh?

Christine, this is the view from our balcony-this was just as the snow was starting to fall. It snowed all day, and all night! By morning, we had snow everywhere. Luckily it was so dry that you could just brush it off the car instead of having to scrape scrape scrape and hope you could see through your windshield.

This was two days ago. It got down to about 5 degrees during the night, and about 22 during the day. On those types of days, I don't go out much unless its to take the kids or pick them up from school. And if you notice, the view from our balcony isn't all that impressive..unless you want to see the liquor store directly across the street :) So, two days ago it was 5-20 something with heavy snow...and today, BRIGHT AND SUNNY, and 56 degrees! All the snow was melting and it was a beautiful day. I have been so focused on getting 'everyday life shots' that I've been neglecting our surroundings. Thank you for that reminder!

Beautiful, winter-y, cold, windy afternoons

2009-01-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

When Dan got home from work he was anxious to go up to the lake and get rid of about 4 full loaves of heels we'd been saving. Why don't people enjoy eating the heels of bread..??? Add that to a couple loaves we took on our trip for sandwiches that we never ate, but got put into the ice chest with apples & oranges so they smelled kinda uckie. Ducks don't care about that kinda stuff, unlike us picky humans.

It seemed like a nice winter-y afternoon, not too cold. Once we got to the lake it was FREEZING! The wind was blowing so hard that it almost blew my cap off. Kyle and I headed down to the lake to feed the ducks while Dan walked Tucker. Every time I tried to throw a handful for broken bread pieces, the wind would blow it in a different direction! You gotta love the wind. Boy was it cold!

Before leaving I noticed the sunset, and how beautiful the small taint of red was as it was setting...LOVE winter-y, cold days.

Birthday boy!

2009-01-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

Would like to wish my sweet hubby a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Project 365

2009-01-14T06:00:00.000-08:00

Yes, I borrowed the photo. It's not actually my kit. You see, like thousands of other disappointed people I too was unable to get this kit. Totally stinks! We were on the road traveling and so I called my Mom to see if she could order it for me, just shortly after it went on sale...it already said 'SOLD OUT'. So, smartie me got on my cell, while traveling through mountains and valleys in Wyoming, and sat on HOLD for about 2 hours! Come to find out, those so called phone lines were un-manned. Bugger. Talk about disappointment. I'd say out of all the kits I've gotten this was by far the one I wanted most! Ok, not the album but the actual kit (I'm not a fan of the album). Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

I think the concept is great! It's not new by any means, people have been scrapping project 365 for a few years in thier own way. What is Project 365 you ask? It is a new style of scrapbooking that is SIMPLIFIED. Instead of scrapbooking each and every big event of the year, you are taking one photo a day and journaling about it. The idea is to get down to the real lives we lead, the everyday things we do: cooking, cleaning, errands, school, work. LIFE. It's that simple. I read somewhere that including your kids on the project is great too. Assign them a day a week to take some photos and let them journal about it. It can really be a family project! I think that I'm going to add having Dan take his camera to work once or twice a month to capture what it is he does.

Even with great disappointment, my project moves forward. Not too sure yet as to the 'how' of all the materials since we live so far from any scrapbook store. So I will need to research that a bit further. Until then, I created a new blog specifically for our project 365. It will be used as my place to house my daily photos and journal until I figure out my strategy. Sorry, its not going to be public as there will be more personal info on it. But every so often I'll share an update on the project.

Last night, Dan asked me if I had taken my photo for the day...LOVE how even he is grasping this new concept!

My most favorite sights...

2009-01-13T11:24:00.000-08:00

We have always started reading to our children from a very early age (6 months). My passion for reading books to my children usually lasts until they don't want me to read in their bed to them anymore. Yet still, there are a few times when I'll hear those magical words of "Mom, will you read to me". I LOVE IT. It's such a special time to just relax an enjoy your child one on one. I've spent numerous hours with this boy reading, probably until he was in 5th grade. Then some where in between then and a few months ago he lost his desire to read. Not really sure why, maybe Nintendo?? So, we've put away the Nintendo, the game systems and all other distractions for the time being for learning opportunities.

I know how I am about books, if I don't pick them out, and I'm not interested in them, I WON'T read them. The same is true about children/teens. I think almost more so for teens, especially if there isn't an interest. Most of Kyle's favorite books consist of picture books, like National Geographic, Science, Earth, Animals, Rocks and so on. Often we will find him in his room just looking through pages of pictures and sharing with us what he's learned. I LOVE that too. The boy can get lost in a book store or Library just sifting through pages of learning.

Which brings me to this day. While in Barnes & Nobles...Kyle found a book, a READING BOOK. Not too surprised by his choice {Star Wars}, but whatever, if he wants to read then I will buy them all!

What a lovely sight, this particular night as I walked down the hall to see what this guy was doing. A pleasant surprise! As much as I wanted to climb up on his bed to snuggle while he read, I just soaked up the moment and then snuck in a kiss. Twelve year old boys only want you in their bed when, A. they are scared, B. you are tucking them in and giving them butterfly kisses on their cheeks. At least that is MY twelve year old boy!

College Road Trip

2009-01-10T15:20:00.001-08:00

We had a great time returning to Idaho! Jessica has now started her Sophomore year in college, and Krystina will shortly follow (hopefully). The family had been planning this trip for some time, especially since Krystina will be graduating in May. It was our hope, to show her how wonderful College really is (especially ALL the handsome boys)! She got super excited about College.

Our trip started on New Year's day...we traveled across the most boring state in the US! We hit some pretty harsh winds which slowed us down a bit. By evening we landed in Salt Lake City and had a quick dinner before heading to some wonderful friends who put us up for the night. Just as we pulled up Jessica's Radiator burst. Of all the luck. I mean, what a blessing that it didn't happen earlier in the trip-we would have been in trouble! Lucky enough, our friends own a dealership and got us going the next morning. THANKS AGAIN SHELLY & MIKE!!

We spent the day in Temple Square. Funniest moment was when we were parking our cars and ran into a family from our ward back home! They were there dropping off their son to the LDS Business College and recognized Kyle, then the van and knew it could ONLY be us. The kids really enjoyed the History Museum...we spent almost 3 hours there! They added another floor and it's dedicated to the building of the Tabernacle, and to each and every Prophet. Each Prophet had a display with memorabilia, President Hinckley's was full of all kinds of great things, including pictures of all the Temples that were built during his time.

On Saturday we moved Jessica into her new apartment! The girls and I had so much fun laughing..it was so nice being able to soak that all up for one last time. We took the other kids on a tour of campus and saw all the new stuff they've added this last year. Ran into a young man that used to be a Missionary in our old ward..at Walmart of all places! Checked out the new book store (where Dan made a new friend). Left the girls that night with Jessica and they had a girls night. Watching the three of them is like having triplets...I LOVE that they love each other so much and truly enjoy each others company. Dan and dropped Kyle off at our room and snuck out for a really nice dinner (much deserved may I add).

As for the rest of our trip...It was a bittersweet good-bye. We are so happy that Jessica is back in a place that she loves. She is thrilled for this new year, and for what is to come. Back with young adults her own age, a little bit more civilization, and the presence that surrounds the area. I'd live there in a heart beat!

We love you Jess, and we are so grateful for your desire to go to school and get an education. You are an amazing young woman with so much to offer. Even though missing you is hard, I couldn't be any happier where you are!

{World wide Ornament Drop}

2008-12-17T08:23:00.000-08:00

The details are simple. Make a homemade ornament between now and Christmas (I know, I'm posting this mighty late in the month, but there IS still time). Go HERE

to print the downloadable tag. Place the tag on your homemade ornament and leave it in a public place for someone to find. Before you walk away, take a picture of your ornament waiting to be found. Creating Keepsakes has set up a WEBSITE for you to post your ornaments and places of drop offs. What a great way to get our children involved and get their minds back to the real spirit of this holiday!

(Pictures by other ornament droppers)

There truly is no better way to get into the Christmas spirit than giving. Share Christmas anonymously with someone in your area. A simple act of love shared with others can bring joy into someone's life.

It's been fun reading of all the places ornaments have been left...And even better, those who find the ornaments can go directly to the website and post a comment about finding the ornaments.

This is so much fun!! Will post my ornaments & pictures soon!!

{the joys of getting lost in blogger world}

2008-12-16T09:39:00.000-08:00

It all started with an email.

That email led me to a blog, and another, and another. Please tell me this happens to YOU to...lol. Sometimes I really enjoy surfing blogs, especially those of very crafty and talented people! This morning I happened upon a super find...just in time for Christmas, but time is short so it will get added to the 2009 'To Do' list.

Getting lost in the blog world really does have its benefits, like this one:

DESIGNMOM

Just this morning, before my journey in blog land, I was gathering up all the ingredients to make some sugar cookies. The one item most necessary was vanilla extract. Wouldn't you know, it was the only item we were out of! Darn. My favorite bottle of Williams Sonoma vanilla was drained up and dry. As luck would have it, there isn't one ANYWHERE close to here. Then I stumbled upon this blog and post on how to make your own vanilla extract....and vanilla sugar, vanilla spiced almonds and info for making homemade lip balm. It is my lucky day! Design mom even linked us up to all the items needed for this project, including labels. So sweet. I love it when someone has a crafty idea and shares all the info along with it, so a HUGE THANK YOU TO DESIGN MOM (and I hope she doesn't mind me using this photo to link to her blog).

I can't wait to make some homemade vanilla extract!!

Small town festivities

2008-12-15T08:33:00.000-08:00

Shortly before December 1st, all the town decorations went up...being that we live on the main town road, we got to see it take shape. It's been super fun watching this small community prepare for the holidays. All the streets have lights hanging, there are two large lit up signs coming into town and out of town. I love to look out the window at night when its so dark and see all the lights! Downtown set up this most adorable Christmas shed (see photo second down on the left) which I believe is for SANTA himself. Not sure exactly when he's coming, but rumor has it that he will appear soon.
On a very very chilly night (7 degrees) Tucker and I ventured out for the Christmas parade. None of the kids would come, not even after bargaining and begging...lol. My most trusty partner walked with me as we headed downtown. Cold or not, people came. There were hot cocoa stands, cookie sales and people bundled up like eskimos. The Christmas spirit was alive as the young and old took to the cold streets with great anticipation of seeing this parade. I met some super nice people standing there in the cold, of course with Tucker in hand everyone always wants to stop and ask what kind of dog he is and tell me how adorable his costume was! Tucker and I got a good spot on the corner with the photographer from the local paper, and a very nice group of mentally handicapped adults. Oh they were so sweet, and so excited to see Santa! One young man kept saying 'ho ho ho'..then he'd pet tucker and continue on 'ho ho ho'...
You could hear a faint sound of Christmas carolers off in the distance. Shortly after the parade started, I felt this hand grab Tuckers leash and as I quickly turned I saw my sweet son standing there. He said he felt terrible that I came alone so he decided to join me! I hugged him for what seemed like forever then he told me I was embarassing him....go figure. Many of the local businesses made floats on or out of their vehicles, including the fire & police stations. Creativity is the key here. John Deere tractors were pulled through the narrow roads on a very large semi truck, followed by reindeer puppets, Snowmen, and Santa on a bright new shiny RED truck! There were more, but those were my favorites. On the way home, Kyle and I talked about the experience and how we should try to enjoy each and every one. I can see from the kids point of view that this might not be all that much fun, but again, it is a part of the adventure and I hope that I can teach them to stop, and enjoy all of the good things around them. Now, lets see if I can get them to go take pictures with Santa.....NOT!!

Closing this chapter

2008-12-02T11:03:00.000-08:00

With this being December, and what would have been our 10 year mark in our first home, I must finally close this chapter in our life. This has been so hard for me to overcome. I've spent a lot of time on my own, without Dan, trying to deal with these emotions about the last 7 months of our lives. It seemed like such an easy thing to do, almost exciting to FINALLY pack up and get out of California like we had talked and planned about for so many years. But I've concluded that it would have been so much easier had it gone another way. While the human in me is terribly broken hearted, my faith always kicks in and brings comfort and understanding to the events that led to this. And I know for a fact that we weren't the only ones that the economy effected, but I know that a very gracious Heavenly Father knew what was best for us. If by chance I've lost you already while reading this, that's ok, this is more for my mental health and I really want to journal my feelings about our experiences.

The last few weeks the kids have been asking to go 'Home'. I'll admit, I had a break down and cried to Dan over the phone how I myself wanted to go 'Home'. But the truth is, home as we know it isn't there anymore. And I know for a fact I only want to go home to my house, the place of our security and comfort and spacious BIG house! With the holidays quickly approaching, I can sense that the kids are longing for that comfort as well, along with our normal holiday/family traditions of living in our home. There won't be any hanging Christmas lights, the ones that Kyle would help Dan with each year, and how he dreaded getting up on that ladder, but he did it for us because he knew we enjoyed the lights. The *new* kitchen we just re-did (and spent many hours on) won't get to be broken in by all of my holiday baking! The Christmas tree that we had won't even go up this year because in our panic to purge, we purged it thinking we would buy a new one and low and behold there isn't a Sams or Costco closer that 2-4 hours! And I won't be able to enjoy seeing our tree set up in the living room surrounded by the new floors we had just put in. Lastly, the stockings have no place to hang as we don't have a fireplace to hang them from (good thing the kids are older). The scrapbook room won't be hostage to all the gifts, and all the wrapping...and the MESS!

And so, we move forward. Starting new traditions in our temporary residence. Awaiting next Friday when Daddy will come home for good and we can be a complete family again. And by the end of the month, the house will be final and a new family will take residence in the place we once called our 'safe haven' from the world. I hope they will enjoy the hard work we put into making it our own, and hopefully they can make new memories of their own. Nine years of much hard work, dedicated work by my sweet husband who labored with his own hands to make it nice for all of us. For Dan, he tries not to think about it, because for him it was done the day he walked out the door and headed for Kansas. I was lucky enough to stay behind to finalize the entire move, and say most of the good-byes. Then we go back to the faith, the one thing we held on so tightly to all those months. Knowing without a doubt that Heavenly Father would bless us and give direction to what it was we were supposed to do. We feel so blessed to be able to be on this adventure, yes without all the security of having a final place at this time to put all of our belongings. The fact is, we are all here, safe, and healthy...Good memories can take place anywhere. And while living in an apartment isn't a dream for us now, we have been able to joke about paying so little for rent!

I'm so grateful for the opportunities that have presented themselves. For a stable career, and a steady income. And mostly, for a wonderful husband that continues down the road despite the bumps that come his way. He is my rock. While he might not always say the things I want to hear, he almost always says the things that bring the most comfort to me, and hey, we are in this together!

I'll close with one final thing. A document I found on my desk top. I was so consumed with my own sad feelings that I had almost neglected to notice the kids so to speak, mourn also. This is a paper that Lyndsie wrote for school, and when I found it I just broke down and cried. It is so special to me, a keepsake that will be placed in our 'HOME' album.

Lyndsie Duitsman
October 13, 2008
Descriptive paragraph
Mrs. Ransom

California

I can still picture the day when everything was officially packed.
The change in moods, the emotions it was all there. I felt as if I was
standing on the shoreline when it was raining. It was empty and lifeless.
When it came to the last few moments of being here, that’s when it all hit
me. I would never step foot inside the only home I have ever known. I
began to walk towards my bedroom. It was dull and plain. No sign of
anyone living there, just the dark purple paint on the walls. All my
memories in this room hit my mind like a tornado. All I could do is cry.
The feeling was overwhelming. I walked towards the window, shut the
shutters and walked out shutting the door slowly behind me taking in a
final glance. I walked down the stairs. I could feel the fresh carpet sinking
in the cracks of my toes. I hit the cold hardwood floor of the kitchen. I
walked out the door into the dry California heat, and got in the car. As
much as I felt as if it was the end, it was only the start of a new
beginning.

Oh no you didn't......

2008-12-01T21:38:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Thankful

2008-12-01T18:16:00.001-08:00

For new traditions. This was our first year having Thanksgiving on 'Thanksgiving'. It was a wonderful day filled with all the joy of being a family. While it would have been more complete with our extended family, we made the most of our time. Dan and I got up early and started the turkey (a freebie from the Railroad) which was a tradition we were used to with Dan's old company. Lyndsie helped with the stuffing, Kyle sat at the table making turkey cookies (see post below) and I was mastering a new sweet potato recipe from the Pioneer Woman.
We enjoyed some favorite Christmas movies, ate dinner and had a nice lesson on 'Traditions'.
It was so nice having my husband home, watching him catch up on some much needed quality time with the kids. All he asked for was some SNOW.

A few years ago I made a 'Gratitude' tin. We filled it with strips of paper that we had all written what we were grateful for. This year, I created these small little 'Thankful' books for everyone. It is now our new tradition to revisit the previous years writings. It was kind of emotional as we each took turns reading. Kyle apparently was confused as to what 'gratitude' meant so when he read that all he really wanted was to earn his Brown Belt in Karate, I couldn't help but tear up. I LOVE moments like these, they make my heart feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and the love I have for my family grows ever so strongly.

Krystina and I set the table...you know me, I MUST go all out!

Dan probably won't like this picture, but I need to take them and have them around for me and the kids, to remind us that Daddy has infact been here, and then we don't miss him so much.

Thankful for this wonderful meal we were able to share as a family.

How so very thankful I am for all that we have. It has been a rough year, and we are moving on. We have so so much to be grateful for.

still here

2008-11-20T09:55:00.000-08:00

just taking a small break, rather neglecting my blog. so in the meantime, while i figure out how to catch up....i wanted to share a little thanksgiving fun!

Aren't they the cuttest!

Turkey Cookies

7 candy corn
2 double stuffed oreos
1 whopper
1 reese's peanut butter cup (mini ones)
1 tube of black pipping gel
1 tube of white icing
yellow & red food coloring
ziplock bag
knife
scissors
bowl

Prep:
Put your Peanut Butter Cups in the fridge to cool. If you have cold hard chocolate to work with it makes it a lot easier.

Squeeze some of the white icing into a bowl. This will be your orange. Mix red and yellow food coloring with the icing to create your desired orange. Then put that into a plastic bag and set it aside for later.

Creating:
First you will be creating the tail using 1 Oreo cookie and 6 Candy Corns. Gently, with one candy corn pull apart just one side of the Oreo. Don't don't break about the entire thing. Put a good amount of icing in between the two sides. This will help the Candy Corn stay. Place 6 Candy Corn (white side down) in between the cookie. See picture.

Take your white icing and squeeze a generous amount onto the top back of an Oreo cookie. Take the other Oreo and put the bottom into the icing to have it stand up. If it doesn't stand, add more icing! Once you have it stand put it up against something so it doesn't fall until the icing is dry. I use a thick book.

Remove your Peanut Butter Cup from the fridge. Take your knife and cut off the very bottem so you have a flat surface. Put icing on the bottom of it the bigger flat. Bump it up against the bottom and back of your Oreo cookies. See picture.

Next take your Whopper and squeeze more icing on it on one side. Place the whopper on top of the Peanut Butter Cup to make your head.

Find a piece of Candy Corn that has a nice big white end. Using your sharp knife cut the color off leaving you with the white end. Place some icing on it and stick it on your whopper as the beak to your Oreo Turkey. Hold for a moment.

Take your icing and place two white dots as eyes. Get your tube of black piping gel and place a black dot on each eye to make them come alive.

Grab your bag of already created orange. Cut a very small hold in the corner of the bag. Now, pipe feet.

*When making these with kids, it's easier to do some prep work ahead of time so they won't need to use the knife*

We made these last night for Activity Days, well, due to my illness, Jessica made these with the girls. They are super easy and super cute! When I start to feel better I might attempt to make these:

If you'd like to find out how to make these cute little things yourself, go here: Bakerella
But let me warn you, YOU WILL GET ADDICTED TO THIS SITE!! This is home to the famous cupcake pops:

The most adorable things I've ever seen and I'm waiting for my shipment of goodies to come so I can make these up with the kids :)

pumpkin smile

2008-10-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

Will forever be gone.

The cute, red-headed, freckly faced boy of mine is following in the metal smile like his Mom, and sister Lyndsie. I had to laugh at just one little thing...when I got my braces on in 7th grade, I had to have a spacer put in, and because of the fact that I sucked my thumb so hard, I raised the roof of my mouth. Consequently, the first meal I ate after so called 'spacer' was put in was a bean burrito. I know my Mom is laughing at the memory of this...with each bite, nothing was going down my throat...so I started this slurping sound, trying to suck out what had gotten stuck up in between the roof of my mouth and my spacer. It took a few days of trying to get a new eating pattern down, not to mention my sore sore teeth. Ouie. Which brings me to the funny...Kyle didn't get a spacer, but he did get a chain (bands) put around his two front teeth to try to get them pulled together quickly. Poor boy. He was in so much pain the whole weekend, and I barely heard 10 words from him. What we heard was him making this weird (SUPER ANNOYING) slurping sound at least every 60 seconds. His teeth were so sore that that's all he could do to keep himself from drooling because of the pain. Did I mention how quiet the weekend was?? LOL. What a trooper he was! Today is day 5 and he is fully recovered, eating, talking, and finally brushing his teeth again.

Pretty assistant cleaning & drying Kyle's teeth (that apparatus thingy didn't look comfortable)

Don't be afraid! Kyle in all his glory...he had all the assistants at his side (they think he's a cutie). And yes, Kyle said I could post this on my blog..he thinks its funny!

How cute. He chose blue & orange bands...Uh yeah, DENVER BRONCOS!

Too stinkin cute. All the girls in the office were oohhing and aahhing over this boy!

Enduring all the pain and the many months of orthodontic treatment, will be so worth it in the end. From the deepest corner of my heart, I look forward to the day when he smile's at me in confidence, not carrying what people say about his smile. Kids really are cruel. This is the last chapter of the great "pumpkin smile". I love you Kyle!

p.s. what do you think of his longer hair?? Oh how we miss our Castro!

Nebraska: Chronicles 2

2008-10-22T12:47:00.000-07:00

Another sampling of our surroundings.

Top left corner is Carhenge. A very interesting place to visit...just a few short miles out of town. Yes, those are real cars! Someone, or a group of some people created this artsy monument for travelers coming through. It's a fun place to walk, breathe, and enjoy the beauty that surrounds you. I couldn't get over how quiet it was, all you could hear was the corn stalks in the fields rustling with the breeze.

Bottom left, well, we'll just call him 'Mr. Ed'. Krystina and I were taking a drive and I saw these horses grazing and couldn't resist stopping. Mr. Ed came right up to me...wish I would have had some carrots to feed him! Right corner is this huge feed tower in town. For us, this is now our marker, the sign in the road that says "you are home". Even though it's not really HOME. Bottom right is a shot of the rail yard. And here are a few more...

The rail yard is pretty amazing to me. If you look closely, you will see that there are about 14 trains waiting...the majority of the trains here move coal from Wyoming and Montana. I love watching them all loaded up with about 6 engines pulling the coal. This is just one of the areas in the yard. The other area, which we should be photographing next week (family day at the yard), is the mechanical area where they pull the locomotives in for service.

This photo looks like a miniature train set, but believe me, it isn't! As I stood on the bridge taking photos, several trains passed by. Trains are like beasts...they are massive steel creatures! At night when it's late and the business on the main street below our apartment is quiet, I LOVE to listen to the trains rolling down the tracks. That clinking of the train wheels...weird, I know.

Please consider voting YES on 8

2008-10-13T15:00:00.000-07:00

The friend of a friend put this video together. I must say, it took my breath away and I started to cry. I can't even imagine how much will change if we don't stand up for what we believe in. My friend Sharla
posted about this a few days ago on her blog. She put careful consideration into her thoughts and was very informative as she listed the negatives if this does NOT pass. I stand so strongly on this issue, but please realize that people are free to chose for themselves how they want to live their lives. I ponder the future and how much it will effect the lives of our children, grandchildren and everything else that we believe, say and do. Please take a stand, VOTE FOR 8!

family day out

2008-10-02T16:44:00.000-07:00

The last weekend that Dan was home we had semi planned a trip up to South Dakota. But as the weekend approached we realized there was just still too much stuff to finish before he left again for 4 weeks. It was one of those 'spur of the moment' kinda deals. We just got in the car and drove. We ended up in Scottsbluff, which is just about 50 minutes. The drive is really pretty! A lot of farms, trees, cattle, horses and some of the oldest, coolest barns I've ever seen. Can't wait to get the kids & the camera out there to do a shoot!! We of course dragged Brandon along as our tour guide, but he is really camera shy (as you can see...little stinker). Brandon was quite the guide...everything was 'really boring' in his opinion. I suppose if you've lived here all your life one might think that, but to us new city folk, there is so so much to see!

Our first stop. It was here or Sonic and I got out voted. A familiar place from home!

And of course, the highlight of the trip (at least to me)...a vision of beauty. YES THE CORN!! Oh ok, you got me, is that really TARGET we see??? Ah yes! I felt as though I was in a dream and I asked Dan to pinch me :)

For my sweet friend Sharla. The blue skies here are amazing! This is a normal day. No smog.

Corn. And more corn. You know, most of the corn here is grown for feed.

Lake Minatare. A beautiful sight to see. I had no idea there could be such large lakes here (and to ski on). It will make for a fun summer day swim!

Look at this old lighthouse we found. We all went in and up (super narrow stairway)...and the vision of the lake was amazing!

Krystina and her beau hunk Brandon.

Danny & Kyle. They were really enjoying themselves skipping rocks on the lake. I could see fishing poles and large fish brewing in their eyes!

I was sitting there envisioning a lazy Sunday afternoon picnic, watching the kids play in the water, me and Dan laying on a picnic blanket staring at the blue sky.

My kiddos. Not the best lighting and I'm still working with my cruddy lens..but it's still cute.

My sweet family...although I could read Dan, as he stood there wondering how long it would be before he'd be able to come back with all of us. Miss you babe!

Such cuteness! Poor Brandon had played a super hard football game the night before and it was also Homecoming so he was so tired. This is priceless!

We had such a great family day together. I don't think teenagers enjoy it quite as much as when they were younger and everything was so new and fascinating. We have to remind ourselves this when we do 'spur of the moment' activities. And trust me, they will tell you that it isn't as much fun. But me, hey, I'm soaking all of this in! Every moment, every blue sky, every crop of corn, every John Deere going through town, every cowboy at church, driving slow, listening to Rascal Flatts & Tim McGraw, and breathing fresh clean air. I ask a lot of questions to those who work on the Church Ranches, or own their farms...lots and lots of questions! Hopefully soon I will have some COW photos :)

taking the plunge

2008-09-30T21:42:00.001-07:00

Again.

Yeah I know. This is the worst time of the year to start eating healthier. Quite frankly, I'm not sure there is really a better time. Tonight I took the first step to regaining control in my life. I've gotten very comfortable with no plan, and I see where that is getting me. Last year I did Jenny Craig-best program ever! I loved my consultant, and the food. I dropped about 30 lbs. Then I took that trip to Denver and got introduced to Sonic (ohhhh sooo good). While I followed my plan to a tee, I actually dropped 6 lbs. on that trip! It was 3 months later when I went back to Denver...I didn't follow the plan and never quite got back on track. Funny how even a 10% weight loss can make you feel, oh, so comfortable! So much that you think you look great until reality hits in a photograph and you ask yourself "do I really look like that". Us girls are pretty hard on ourselves and as much as I really really want to love me like this, I just can't. This is not me. Not like this. So, I've committed myself to shooting for the first 10% goal while Dan is gone and then I will move towards the next goal. And hey, if I start now I will look forward to summer all that more! The way I see it, since we don't eat out but maybe 1x a month (no places to go) this is the best time to get losing since there are no real distractions, other than myself :)

Fresh Peaches anyone?

2008-09-29T08:56:00.000-07:00

Last week while driving the girls to seminary, I noticed this big truck setting up early in the morning. There was a man putting a sign out, but I couldn't read it. So, on my way home from dropping the girls off at the chapel, I read this big sign..."FRESH COLORADO PEACHES". Oh man, I quickly turned around and headed to the bank for some cash! As I pulled up, I was greeted by the nicest man and his wife...there was a huge bowl of fresh cut up peaches (and we are talking HUGE peaches). They offered me a taste, and I quickly said "I'll take a case"! And I'm so glad I did. These are/were the best peaches I've ever had! Approximately 15 lbs. of fresh Colorado peaches. Sitting on my kitchen counter. Waiting to be eaten!

Dan and I took a trip outside of town to Wal-Mart and stocked up on new canning jars (I gave all of mine away before moving). I spent two days canning peaches. It was hard to NOT eat them before they went into the jars! And I need to give credit to my landlord who so kindly brought me his cooker thingy (the word for it slipped my mind at the moment). He is a farmer, garden grower and sadly was out of town when the peaches came to town so I couldn't get him any. Thanks Kutch!

Two cases later, many eaten fresh peaches and a peach cobbler...I wish I had gotten more, but who knew. I so look forward to other canning experiences in the next year! Over the weekend, I met a sweet kindred spirit aka Millie
(my new friend) has been busy herself canning all kinds of goodness! She's been making crab apple & grape jams! Look forward to visiting her ranch to see her wonderful garden...Hey Millie!!

picture to burn

2008-09-26T10:21:00.000-07:00

Last night.

They were supposed to be working on their sketches for art class.

I was in the kitchen and couldn't quite help myself with the flip.....

*Edited* For Christine. This is Taylor Swift "Picture to burn"

Official

2008-09-25T21:44:00.000-07:00

Residents of Nebraska!

Today was the least painful part of the process. Dan and I had to get new drivers licenses in order to get new car insurance. We headed out to lunch first at his favorite 'in town' restaurant (which also happens to be the place of Jessica's new job). Since most of the businesses are closed during the noon hour it was a nice little break, besides I wanted to check out Jessica's new joint. By the way, lunch was great! It might just be our new little "date place" once he is back home for good. I think Jessica will enjoy working there, its the hot little spot in town. Back to the topic....Dan and I got to the office where the DMV was (they are only here on Thursdays & Fridays if that tells you anything). Walking up the hall we were discussing how horrible it would be if we had to take new tests, or if they had to mail out our new drivers licenses. You know, small town chatter! We are greeted by the nicest man, he gives us a form to fill out and tells us to come in. We chatted with him for a few minutes, give him our paper work, do some signing and in less than 10 minutes we are on our way out and across the street to the Court House to finish the process!! We are always greeted with "And what brought you to Nebraska"...lol. Never in my life have we experienced this kind of customer service! Everyone is so friendly and so kind. I'm really taking a liking to this.

Things I LOVED about today:
-no long lines
-no long waiting, from line to line
-ONLY ENGLISH SPEAKING
-friendly customer service
-convenient
-stress free
-relaxing
-laughing and chatting with county workers
-a pretty new NEBRASKA drivers license (no testing required, yeah)
-a satisfied husband who's head didn't spin during the process!

New plates: Check

New license: Check

New insurance: Check

We still remain die hard fans of the Anaheim ANGELS!!! That will never change.

Homecoming Events

2008-09-18T16:54:00.000-07:00

There are some benefits to living in a small town! This week has been full of ongoing activities for the High School Students, including early dismissal all week. The week began with dressing oldies, followed by dressing for the future, boy dress like girls and girls dress like boys, dressing up and today, if you were lucky enough to be asked, the girls wore the footballs players jersey's to school. Other events have included mini Olympics, girls and boys switch sports (girls played football and the boys played volleyball), a nice BBQ lunch served to the students by the staff, Coronation for Homecoming, and the burning of the "A"...which was a really fun event. After the JV game last night and the coronation was over, everyone walked over to the football field where they held the traditional burning of the letter "A". The A stands for the school. I think this was the one event I had been waiting for all week! Kind of exciting, we don't do these things in the big city schools!

So, this is the thing...this has been an ongoing tradition for years! The students have gotten slightly rowdy the last few years so the staff fore warned then that if anyone jumped the fence they would immediately put the fire out and this fun tradition would be ended, FOR GOOD. As you can see, one of the *outgoing* senior football players decided he would ruin it for the next generations of students...he hopped the wall and ran towards the fire. Notice, the firemen putting it out. It was fun while it lasted. The students were chanting and yelling and having a really good time. So glad that we walked up to the field to see this.

This is the best part of the post!

This is Krystina & Brandon...They are going to Homecoming tonight (with Lyndsie and a boy Brandon & Krystina set her up with). Brandon is a doll! He and Krystina have a little thing going on. He comes over each night after football practice to see Krystina, wait, he comes over because he knows I'll have dinner for him too...lol None the less, he is so stinkin cute and has the most adorable personality. They have a few classes together, but I guess they met in Art class. You see, I got the scoop from my friend, who happens to be the Art Teacher! Oh how I love the small town ;) More details will follow soon....but I give this young man a lot of credit, he braved it up to ask Dan if he could date Krystina. He isn't a member, but he is Christian and the dating rules have been set firmly so we will see how things go. A funny about Brandon, on Wednesday when the boys dressed like girls, he dressed like a girl!! It was a riot...although not the most attractive girl, i still can't believe he did it. He also made the front page of the newspaper...and if I can get a copy of a picture, I'll post it..so so funny!! I asked him never to dress like a girl again (kind of scary) and that he looks so much better as a boy!

Today is early dismissal as there will be a parade here in town for the big game tonight! Brandon is trying to get Krystina to ride on the senior float...we shall see! He is very much into the spirit of this week, I LOVE IT!!

GO BLUE...
CLASS OF 2009!!

**EDITED** Here are some photos of the cute little Parade today....

Nathan (Lyndsie's friend & homecoming date) Lyndsie and Krystina

This is a part of downtown. I LOVE it. You must drive 20mph through town...I LOVE that too!

Middle School Band

The FFA 'Future Farmers of America'...this is a club at the High School

High School Band...They are VERY VERY good.

Senior Football Team (Brandon sat on the wrong side)

This is the 'Class of 1958'...I yelled out "YEAH CLASS OF 58", and some lady yelled back "wait a few more years and then you'll be us"....lol. I had so much fun yelling out! They are so cute :)

A sign read 'Future Bulldogs"...for the High School

The K-Cow (country) Radio station..the driver threw me a huge handful of candy!

The end. I love the little girl running across the cross walk and seeing all the people gather to leave. It truly was a fun little town parade! I personally enjoyed it. Earlier I had asked someone to define the word 'float'...they described exactly what you saw. I really could get to liking this whole slower paced life style :)

On to the Football game, and then the dance! The dance isn't formal, because its right after the game which works for us since we would have had no time to find a dress here...but I've been told that Prom is a HUGE deal!

karate + starbucks=

2008-09-16T10:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, do the math....

It equals 3 wonderful years of friendship with a great group of girls!

Friendships sometimes take time to bloom..but with these girls it was almost immediate. I love these girls, and oh, how I miss seeing them each day, having lunch several times a month and just talking for endless hours about everything. We are all so different, yet we found commonalities to build lasting friendships. We are all lovers of Starbucks! I think though, our favorite place to do our girl thing was at Cheesecake Factory. I am so grateful for each one of these girls and for their love & support over the last year of life trials. Ok, so I don't miss the drama at the studio...but I really miss my girlfriends! Thanks for all the laughs, the good times and for your wonderful children. P.s. Anne, THANK YOU so much for taking the hamster :)

p.s.s. you girls need to drink a vanilla bean with chocolate sauce for me!!!

A gift for my Mom

2008-09-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

Since it's somewhat of a tradition that I send you your favorite plant/flowers, I hope you don't mind the virtual kind this year. At least they will live forever, and you don't have to worry about watering them...Love you!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Hope you have a wonderful day. Just wanted you to know that we miss you and LOVE you. Wish we could be with you to help celebrate your special day..but know that across the miles you are thought of fondly today.

I LOVE you Mom!!
xoxoxoxoxoxo

Utah

2008-09-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

Moving day was surreal. I must admit, once the moving truck left we were out of the house as quickly as possible. A few neighbors came by to say "good-bye"...this was so difficult for me because I don't do goodbye's well. But their well wishes was so nice. Sad. The kids and I headed over to the hotel. Thankfully Leo (Jess's guy) was there to lend a hand and go grab us some dinner. He is such a helper, I miss him! We ate, watched t.v. and then the kids all hit the pool & jacquzzi. I took Tucker out for a walk to clear my mind, when a dear friend called and said she was there for one final hug & goodbye. I cherish this friend. She is so so special to me. The worst part of the evening was watching Jess and Leo say their farewells. It was so hard, I totally wanted to kidnap him and take him with us, but he has a great job that he is working hard to advance in so that he can transfer up to BYU Idaho.

Saturday morning came all too soon and it was time to get on the road. The kids managed to get up and be in the car by 5:55am! We were on the I-15 headed to Vegas at 6:01am. We had a really great first day in the car, as everyone was tired, sleeping, singing and just talking about the house and all the blessings that came from the experiences we had had. The kids were so positive and shared memories they each had from the past 1o years. I still have not cried about it...I know it's coming but for now I'm trying not to think about it or look at pictures until I think I'm ready to handle the flood that will be unleashed.

The drive to Utah went so fast! Although I was tired of driving/sitting. Once we got settled into our family suite at the Hotel, I just crashed! I couldn't even muster enough energy to get up and go eat. The kids relaxed watching tv. We had wanted to go downtown to Temple Square to eat and do a few tours with the kids, but honestly, I was so tired. I felt really really bad and to this day regret not just forcing myself to go. I felt a panic attack coming so rest was what I needed the most. We finally went downstairs to the restaurant and ate dinner...it was a very quiet dinner.

Sunday morning after breakfast and checking out, I took the kids downtown. We got up late, therefore missed our opportunity to do a few tours. We needed to get back on the road. I drove around Temple Square a few times, and pointed out all the highlights...then the kids begged for me to drive up through all the old homes and to show them where Dan and I stayed while we were there. It was fun, it was cute to see the kids expressions when they saw the Temple, and conference center. We will go back at the end of the year as a family, ALL OF US.

Utah: check.

Rockin Wyoming

2008-09-12T17:44:00.000-07:00

Into our 5th state in 2 days....this had to have been the LONGEST drive that seemed as though it would never end. The minute we entered into Wyoming there were fireworks stands, MANY of them. They weren't the portable ones, they were permanent fixtures. I suppose if we'd like to have a really awesome fireworks show, we all need to travel and stay in Wyoming where they aren't illegal! My trusty co-pilot Jess, tried to get as many pictures as she could for me. Wyoming is a beautiful state, desolate, but pretty. Not sure I'd want to live there personally, but for traveling purposes it was ok. We had to travel basically across Utah, Wyoming and get into Nebraska before dark (that didn't happen). The night before the kids and I googled ALL the Sonic's along our route so we'd have a place to stop and eat/snack. The first stop at Sonic turned out to be a total waste of time, well, I take that back...my trusty camera battery died and I knew that I would not be able to finish the day with no photos...so we stopped in a large town with a Super Wal-Mart and bought a battery charger, then headed to Sonic to get some ice cream. Mind you, we weren't in the boonies, this was a pretty big town...we waited and waited for what seemed FOREVER, just to find out they were out of this and that. After 45 minutes (can you believe I waited that long) we were back on the road with treats that none of us enjoyed! No one finished their ice cream, YUCK! We didn't let that spoil the rest of our day, so we broke out the treats my girlfriend Lisa packed for us. With a little sugar in my brain, I knew that I could make it a few more hours driving. You know, I have to say, Tucker was such a good boy on this trip! He is a super traveler. As the evening came to and end and it was getting dark, our last stop was again, SONIC! This time, our tummies were happily filled with warm burgers, french fries and cherry lime aides.

Wyoming: check.

Nebraska: Chronicles 1

2008-09-11T07:56:00.001-07:00

When we arrived into Nebraska it had just gotten dark. We were unable to get photos after that since I had no idea where I was going, in the dark! So, on our way to Denver a few weeks ago, the kids snapped a few photos. Mind you, these are kid photos.

This is how it played out....

Me: Can you guys try to get some pictures for me?
Kids: We are tired of taking pictures Mom.
Me: Please (in a super whiny voice) ????
Jessica: Here Lyndsie, you take them.
Lyndsie: lalalalalalalallaaaaaaaaa
Me: Oh wow! Look at that...that would make a great photo!
Lyndsie: lalalalalallalaaaaaaaaaaa
Me: Hello? Can someone take some photos??? (not whining anymore).
Lyndsie: OH ME?? Okay moma.
Lyndsie: click click click click click click click click click click click click click....
Me: Lynds, what are you taking pictures of??
Lyndsie: Stuff.
Me: Trying to be grateful that someone cares.

Later on....I found pictures of Tuckers rear that I will NOT be sharing on this blog, but hey, thanks Lyndsie :)

Here are my favorites from her shots.
Photos by: Lyndsie

Good ole' Nebraska farming. Most of the corn grown around us is not for eating, its for feeding.

You see a lot of cows, horses and more cows and more horses. Some of the prettiest horses I've ever seen!

This was just about 10 miles out of town. If you look out in the distance, you can see that it isn't flat here...we are located in the sandhills and it is an amazing sight to see.

The railroad.

Photo by: Krystina
Double rainbows! Not the best shot, but we have had several storms leaving up to 3 rainbows at a time...so cool!

Amazing sunsets after the storms.

Yesterday morning it started off at about 52 degrees, heavy fog and heavy drizzle. By noon, it had all cleared up with bright blue open skies at about 85 degrees. Then, around 4:30pm dark dark clouds rolled in from who knows where, SCARY DARK CLOUDS...they opened up an amazing thunderstorm with heavy wind & rain and it dropped to about 62 degrees. At the end of the storm we saw yet another spectacular double rainbow! These are amazing clear across the sky, all colors to be seen.

After posting these photos, I can see all the dirt and dust inside my camera...please look past those uckie dark spots :)

Until next time.....

home sweet home

2008-09-08T15:42:00.001-07:00

i know you are all anxiously waiting to see where we live....

remember, this is an ADVENTURE that will only last the next 12 months or so...then we will be once again relocating to a new state. we just can't complain at this point, $525.oo a month rent??!! yeah, 70's stylin and all!

this is the entryway...our front door is separate from the rest of the building. we have our own private hallway.

once you walk in the doorway about 8 feet, you see these stairs on the left that lead up into the art studio, laundry room, dark room and balcony. this room is about as large as my living/family rooms in the old house. like the carpet?? funky huh?! ignore that dead plant that was left for us to dump. the space will make a great room to set up tables and all my scrapbook stuff...then i can leave it out and not worry about putting it away. and there are some really nice sky lights!

we love all the canvas on the walls..it will be a perfect place to display art work.

this is part of the dark room...not sure we will set it up as a working 'dark room', but it's a great place for the kids to paint and make bigger messes! there is lots and lots of cupboards and lighting.

downstairs is the kitchen. it's not big, and not fancy, but it works! i do miss my new granite counters and island....but now we have this little shortie breakfast bar (minus all the new goodies we bought at k-mart). yeah, k-mart. i had to throw out ALL of my cleaners which meant shopping for new cleaners. k-mart will do. there isn't much storage so jessica and i got creative with shelves that used to be in the girls rooms-turned them into somewhat of a pantry to host all my pots, pans, cook books and baking items. kinda reminds me of my MIL's kitchen with all her built in shelves.

this is the dining room. lovin the fixtures?? so retro/70's. the carpet is a weird lime green color (in the evening it looks brown). we actually like the wallpaper! now, if you are not a collector of goods what would you do with that glass shelving display??

kyle had a great idea! he is now using it to display all of his bionicles...too funny!

this is part of the family room. its HUGE. lots of windows facing the main brick road that runs through town (original from the 1800's). remember, we are living in a 2700sq. ft. space above a commercial building.

this is the rest of the living/family room. i love this great room! its so big that we don't have enough furniture even with our gigantic sofa. but i love things open and not crowded with stuff we don't need or use.

this is the girls room. if you notice, there is no window, but they do have a sky light. there are benefits to not having a window..more heat stays in during the cold winters. they love all the built in cabinets and have already made it homey with pictures, memorabilia and posters.

this is the famous 'cup tub'. or also known as the cuppie. it's the funniest thing ever!! not sure what generation this came from but it is sure makes for great conversation with guests. everyone leaves shaking their heads...lol. it's a tub/shower in one but everyone is scared of it so we are all sharing the other bathroom.

kyles room. the border is blue with white flowers (needs to be changed) and the carpet is that very famous 3 inch shag from the 70's-you know, if you had it you were RICH!

the mom & dad room. it's small compared to my overly large master in the old house! i do LOVE the storage on the wall...makes a great place to store all of our books, cds and other stuff.

I have yet to take a picture of the building...will do that soon.

we have been here now for a solid week (in the apartment) now. glad to be getting normalcy back into our lives. unpacking is slow and tedious as the packing company did such a horrible job, packing kitchen stuff with tools from the garage, go figure. everything else we own is downstairs in a large commercial garage until dan and i can go through it and put it in storage.
amazing how much you collect after being in a home for almost 10 years!

the building is great. we are getting to know some of the tenants. the smoking situation is getting better as the owner put his foot down and asked that all smoking be done outside. i'm really grateful for that! it's so hard getting used to not having a garage and a yard. tucker is so confused and is having a hard time with it. but its all part of the experience...

our branch is very tiny. i mean super duper tiny. there are only 3 young women. two of which are mine. relief society consists of about 6 ladies. period. it was kind of funny walking into the chapel yesterday seeing guys dressed in cowboy attire (one sitting next to the branch pres.)..the others had on nice suits with their working boots! everyone was so nice and welcomed us with open arms...i love that. it will take some getting used to, for sure! they started a seminary program at the chapel each morning which i'm also grateful for...you know me and the whole perfect attendance thing. this weekend is a stake dance, IN SOUTH DAKOTA. not sure how that works out but that is my girls only opportunity to mix with boys since there are none here (members at least).

as for eating out, we prefer eating in thank you. lol. we've had two bad experiences with trying home style, small town joints. mcdonalds for burgers, dairy queen for ice cream and if we head into the larger city, we grab SONIC. other than that, eating out will not be happening unless we are in denver! the best shopping is in scottsbluff & chadron, both have super walmarts where we've found it to be the least expensive place to grocery shop. it's a drive (hour) but it's so worth it! i'm feeling starbucks (not coffee) deprived, seriously!! the best part of small town living, if you are looking for a certain toy during the holidays, we have them all here! well, in the bigger cities. they are chock full of stuff that clears the shelves back home, mostly due to collectors and ebayers. the kids kind of wander all over town-NOT MINE, but the other towns kids. they all ride their bikes without helmets...but then again, everyone who drives is going about 25-35 mph. it is slow here...and people watch out for kids, bikes and the elderly. it's nice. i love getting up in the morning and not feeling the rush of getting the kids to school and fighting the traffic, don't miss that at all! it is so relaxing and calm. although, i did get pulled over on saturday...jess and i had made a trip to scottsbluff to grocery shop (and eat sonic, don't tell the other kids) and on the way home i was doing 70 in a 65 zone...sheesh. it was a state trooper and he passed me going the other way, went down about 2 miles then turned around and crept up on me after about 3 minutes. his first question after getting all my paper work was 'what are you doing here'...uhm, i'm smuggling drugs and have a murderer in the back on my burban. yeah. i'm convinced he ONLY pulled me over because of the cali plates. he didn't even tell me how fast i was going-but i knew because i was cruising on cruise control. duhh. oh well, it was my lucky day since he had already written all his citations for the day...YIPPEE?!

will be driving the speed limit. enjoying the serenity and the cooler weather.

miss you all!

on the road again

2008-08-29T08:28:00.000-07:00

Heading into Denver for the extended weekend.

Dan will fly in and meet us up in Parker...we are SO SO EXCITED!!

Not looking forward to another long drive, but I'm pretty sure this one will be quite beautiful. It won't be quite as boring as that long drive through Wyoming.

Will be back to normal posting next week once we finally get settled in with regular internet.

Have a wonderful 3 day weekend!!

adventures in nebraska

2008-08-28T07:44:00.000-07:00

hi friends!

it's been just crazy since we pulled into town. i'll give you the short version.....

the original apartments we were supposed to have weren't ready, so the manager had another apartment a block from the high school for us. when i went to pick up the keys she THEN told me the previous renters had cats. uhm, i'm very allergic to cats and they send me into an asthma attack! so the kids and i went over to check it out and sure enough, my throat started to close, my eyes started to swell and my chest started to tighten up. fun stuff. so the next morning i went in and cancelled our lease!! that of course left us on tuesday with no place to live, except the day inn in town. there was another apartment but it wouldn't be ready for a few weeks. all i could do is cry. i felt so alone and at a total loss of what to do. there isn't anything here to rent. everything is old, and old is ok (temporarily) if it is clean and not smelling like cats. so later that night after going to dinner we arrived back to our room to find this wonderful fruit basket from the Relief Society! Shortly after that, the Branch President and his daughter stopped by....they are such wonderful people. anyways, his daughter offered to let us stay in her apartment until we found a place to call our own. so so generous. i felt some sort of relief but knew that with everything else, i needed to get these kids settled.

everything has gone wrong since we got here. how much must i be tested?? i will NEVER EVER move again by myself, even though i am quite capable. our mail is so screwed up that we have a few checks missing...the truck with our goods went to Wyoming and they put ALL of our stuff in storage instead of splitting our apartment items (longer story). the kids clothes are in a storage facility an hour away, and again, our mail will probably never make it after being changed FOUR TIMES!! it's such a mess. kyle is home from school today with a fever-probably from the stress of it all. everyone is on pins an needles, snapping at each other. so we called the Branch President and asked for some blessings to help calm things and help us find what it is we need to do.

yesterday morning, jessica and i went to the post office to try to get help with the mail mess when the clerk offered some names of renters in town. then this rugged guy walks in and she yells out 'hey, so and so, do you have an apartment?" he said 'YES' and offered to take us to see it. all jessica and i could do is hold our breath. a few minutes later we were walking into this really awesome old 1940 something building and down the hall was our new (old) home! it is so not my style AT ALL...but it is fun, and reminds me of something my grandparents would have lived in. it is this totally cool 60-70's style (retro) apartment. 27oo sq. ft. apartment. it is sitting above a commercial office space on the main downtown strip. it is the nicest apartment we had seen since arriving in town! all the carpet is different colors, it doesn't smell old and it's super clean. best part, it has this awesome DARK ROOM...huge, room. jessica and i were so excited to take the kids and show lyndsie!! anyways, pictures will come soon. hopefully later today. remember, i said we were on an adventure for the next year and this is such a part of it.

i'm so thankful for blessings, both large and small. i'm thankful for prayer and for wonderful small town people who have so graciously helped us in all aspects. i will write more later in regards to the town, schools and everything else...but just know that we love it here!

*EDITED* well, so there are some smokers in the building. UGH UGH UGH!!! they seem to smoke in the hallway so when you walk in all you breathe is smoke. this totally sucks. the girls sprayed almost a whole can of febreze up stairs while someone was smoking...lol. i seriously hope i can make it through the next year as cigarette smoke also sends me into asthma mode.

we are on the move

2008-08-23T21:06:00.000-07:00

literally.

we are in salt lake city tonight....will do some fun temple square activities in the morning and then will be heading into Nebraska.

i am so so tired. i'm sure the emotional aspect is playing a huge factor. we have another 9 hour drive tomorrow.

we miss you all! it was so so difficult to leave.

overcoming obsticles in the road

2008-08-19T09:47:00.001-07:00

This is how I felt this morning at 6:30 am when the alarm went off.

My car is BACK at the dealership, due to a problem with my fuel gauge. It was supposed to be fixed since its last visit last week, but after filling up my tank yesterday, it was still reading 3/4 full. Not a good situation when you are preparing for a long journey across many desolate states! Seriously hoping that they can solve this issue before the week is up.

This is how I felt an hour ago when the Corporate Agent called to tell me that 'somehow' the move dates were miss calculated and now the packers aren't coming until Thursday. It took all I had not to break down and cry. While it does give me an extra day to finish washing all the new school clothes, it puts a damper on our arrival in Nebraska. There are things we have scheduled and I am really frustrated as it messes up ALL of our reservations. So for the next hour I will be on the phone instead of doing the other things on my list for today. Trying to stay positive here!

This is how I feel right this very minute.

My head is spinning round and round with a gazillion things that have to be done. Trying to remember every little detail of things that we will need the next few months, while all the rest of the home is stored in storage. It is so hard not to be stressed, but I'm really feeling over burdened today and it's only 10am. I think its time for a family prayer. Hopefully, I can get what needs to be done today and my kids still loving me at the end of the day (crazy mama).

bye daddy

2008-08-11T21:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was pretty tough. You can tell by the look on Kyle's face it was going to be hard for him to say his goodbye's. The last 6 months have at times gone by so slow, and yet so quickly. I'd say that this day went by all to quickly. As Dan prepared for his next 15 weeks, the kids all gathered round to chat, sit and soak him up, and talk about old times in the house. This is supposed to be such a HAPPY time, and it is, don't get me wrong. It's just not a normal thing for the kids to see Daddy leave.

I am so comforted in knowing that he is so excited about his new Career. This smile says it all!
We have been stuck like glue the last 6 months, and how ironic that they were some of the best months of our marriage. We can now laugh about not having one fight, THE ENTIRE TIME of unemployment! I will miss him terribly. You hear that Danny, I miss you already! You thought I'd be partying it up once you left, no way man, there is so so much to do.

Saying good bye to Kyle...poor boy, he's going to really miss his dad.

One last group hug....

I know it was hard for you to go and leave me (us) here to deal with the move, but you know that I am more than capable (that's why you love me). No complaints on this end! We are so excited for you and will miss you each day....Looking forward to seeing you in our new hometown, how sweet that will be! I know you love us, you've worked really really hard for us, and we appreciate ALL that you do, yesterday, today and tomorrow. You are my dragon slayer!! GO ANGELS!!!
Love you babe!

*EDITED FOR DAN* You are not fat, it is the air puffing your shirt, sorry the pictures make you look larger than you are! I love you though :)

farewell froggies

2008-08-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

Saying goodbye to all our pets (besides Tucker) before the big move has not proven to be fun.

Dan and I worked really hard to get this tank going. I should say that he put most of the work into it! He had wanted a fish tank for so long and I wasn't all that excited about it. Once we got it, I fell in love and apologized to him. Yeah he makes his smart comments about the dog being our food storage and I joke about flushing the fish. Neither one of us would ever act on that, we just like to tease each other.

I never thought I'd be sad over the fish & froggies, but I was. The tank has been this amazing space of life in our family room for the last few years. It is so soothing to just sit and watch. An amazing conversation starter when friends are here...children love to just stand and stare and poke the glass pointing to the "froggies". We have watched life take place, new life start and some life pass. The most amazing event in the tank was the beta fish building bubble nests for their new eggs and then seeing them mate. Cool stuff. We've lost a few of our frogs, as they out smart us and get out through this tiny space at the top...then if you don't find them right away they sort of dehydrated and die. The cycle of life....

Two fire belly toads. Their bellies are bright orange/red.

This is one of our beta (male) he has had a very exciting life. His previous partner (female, red) died a few months ago. They were in love. We had bubble nests at least 2x a month. He would build a bubble nest, then she would lay eggs...they would both pick up the eggs with their mouths and deposit them in the bubble nest. Once all the eggs were safe, she would be on her way and his work would just begin. He would protect the nest, being a guardian 24/7. Most of the time, once he had his nest going for several days, the frogs would destroy it and the eggs would then become caviar to the fish below. Another cycle of life. On several occasions we would witness very tiny beta babies come out of the bubble nest and swim below, then daddy would scoop them back up in his mouth and deposit them back in the bubbles. That's about as far as life would go for them. Sad yes, but what in the world would we have done with hundreds of beta fish??? His new mate, well, he isn't taken by her and they don't seem much interested in mating. I guess he is fond of red heads (as Dan puts it) because the new female is blue like him.

A sight I will miss...they are like little alligators poking their heads up above the water.

Kyle's 'dojo' fish (I call them orange-sicles)

Poor Dan. I feel badly for him. Since he isn't traveling with me I cannot possibly take the tank on my own. So we decided to leave it here with some good neighbor friends who have several tanks or their own. They truly are fish lovers! We know our tank is in good hands now.

Next, the hamster, the birds (whom have a new home) and our desert tortoise, who NEEDS A HOME!

smuckers

2008-08-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

he has always reminded me of a Boyd's Bear.

he is so gentle and loving.
most patient dog i've ever known.
as he gets older he becomes more of the guardian. i love that. best feature of the Irish Terrier.
he follows me around like a 2yr. old.
has no concept of personal space.
sleeps all night.
sleeps most of the day.
loves to play with toys that make squeekie sounds (we call them squeekers).
loves to go for rides in the car.
slips and slides across the floor, especially after running down the stairs.
always alert to outside activity.
wants to catch the birds that eat our figs.
loves small creatures such as our hamster.
most people who meet him, want to keep him.

i love this dog.

one day i'd like to do a photo shoot with Erin Vey from Seattle, best doggie photographer on the planet! until then, i will get my best shots.

Rock out!

2008-08-05T20:50:00.000-07:00

This is the most hilarious game ever!

Kyle's friend & sister came over to play today and they brought their Rock Band, instruments and all. I've heard parents talk about how fun it is but I had no idea really 'what' it was. Now I know! Kyle had no clue as to what he was doing, but he caught on quickly. The back up band (singers) are HORRIBLE!! They *not the kids* almost ruined a few really great songs. Dan and I sat there laughing for almost 30 minutes, laughing at how cute it was that they were all rockin out. Secretly, I think Dan wanted to jump in and sing but he might have been afraid the kids were better?! Guessing that Kyle will be adding this to his X-mas list.

See this little girl...she owns trophies bigger than her little self! She is incredible with double Nunchucks! I love watching her get into her very serious mode, yet I love her giddy little spunky personality. So sweet.

These are some of our good friends from the Dojo (Karate studio). Great kids! I love them...they are so fun to have around. All the kids from the studio are great kids, we've been really fortunate to have met such a great group of families. We will miss them all so much, especially after 3 years of seeing each other everyday! I will miss the girls lunch dates/dinners, play dates, park dates and just their friendship in general. Cheers to GREAT FRIENDS & Rock Band!!

Mama Mia

2008-08-02T19:25:00.000-07:00

Saturday mornings=family date at the movie theater.

Today, it was just Dan, Krystina and me. Jessica slept in, and Kyle wasn't too much wanting to see what we had planned. He really had his own agenda to see Dark Knight, but I refuse to take him until Dan and I see it first. Poor boy. We saw 'Mama Mia'...cute cute cute!! It started slow for me, then picked up. We all sat there laughing, even Dan. I grew up listening to ABBA, over and over until I took a liking to Barry Manilow. Oh the phases we went through. Anyways, check out the trailer (if you haven't seen it).

blessings x 3

2008-07-31T13:15:00.000-07:00

Most of you know I've followed this story over the last 16 months. Some of you might want to just not think about it, or forget but I can't. My heart is so full, knowing that once again they have sweet babies in their arms. While the new babies will never replace Kyle, Emma & Katie...they will bring them joy. This speaks so clearly of the Love our Heavenly Father has for us. What a true blessing!

Congratulations Chris & Lori!

We will never forget Kyle, Emma & Katie.

can't sleep

2008-07-31T01:04:00.000-07:00

what do you do when you can't sleep?

count sheep. lay there and think of the gazillion things that need to be done. listen to your husband snore. think of funny things. listen to the crickets chirp. or say real long prayers.

i've been summing up my day, wondering if i could have gotten more things marked off my list than i did. i will say though, almost ALL of my scrapbook stuff is packed and ready to be loaded. you know, the important stuff must be done first...lol. we will be pulling a small u-haul with necessary items until the moving company delivers the rest of our goods. i haven't done this since jessica was about 8 months old! just glad that the suburban won't be loaded with all the stuff (junk). dan offered tucker to ride in the trailer...he's just jealous the dog loves me so much!

i've been messing around with the blog. added some new stuff. my favorite is the book carousel! the girls and i have been reading a lot this summer (including krystina, shocker). right now i can't seem to put down 'the year of fog'. it was a lucky find. my other favorite is one that i've taken in slowly but surely is 'the introvert advantage- how to thrive in an extrovert world'. my friend Christine
shared this book at our last scrapbook weekend. you know, i never considered myself an introvert until i read this book. great book for both introvert & extrovert.

last, dan and i visited with our stake president one last time tonight...such a wonderful man. i shared with him what an amazing experience we've had over the last 5 months. changes we've made, things we've learned and how much it's helped me to grow. the one thing that never failed was the complete faith i had in Heavenly Father. even on a bad day, there was still that ray of hope, peace and comfort that everything was going to be ok. dan and i talked a lot about this on the way home. it's an amazing feeling of safety and freedom. although i am not a big fan of trials, i realize there are reasons we have them in our lives. and i am grateful for trials, both big and small.

Did you feel that?

2008-07-29T12:13:00.001-07:00

5.8 Earthquake.

Man, that was the biggest roller we've felt ever here. The kids were all huddled in the doorway and Dan and I had just gotten home from running errands when the garage door started to shake. Then the car started moving as if a wave of water was under it. That's when I said, oh my gosh, its an earthquake! We could hear the dog barking and the rolling kept on. Fun stuff.

Will not miss this.

my doodlebug

2008-07-28T21:46:00.001-07:00

Do you see a pattern?

Oh how I miss my Lyndsie. My camera is feeling somewhat lonely by the lack of new photos of yourself. I'm never really surprised when an upload is finished, and half of the photos are of you! You are a fun girl. You can make me laugh and cry at the same time...You say what you think, which at times gets you into trouble, but I really admire that about you. I love your sense of style and your creative artistic eye. You make life fun, laugh-able and challenging.

I miss you baby girl! Rumor has it you dressed up the younger boys and put lipstick on them...LOL!! I can hear you and Jackie laughing...have you guys walked back down to the creek, the empty creek?? How is Josh Groban?? Tell Jordan 'Hi' for me and that I can't wait to lock him out of the house again . Hey, how many times have you eaten at Sonic? You haven't text'd me any pictures from Sonic yet...lol. I know you are having fun...give all the kids huggs & kisses for me!

Love you babe.
xoxo

Just a glimpse

2008-07-28T20:14:00.001-07:00

Last night I couldn't sleep thinking of the gazillion things on my 'to do' list when I remembered reading about www.scrapblog.com in Simple Scrapbooks magazine. Kinda liking that new website for blogging purposes! It's FREE and there are all kinds of fun dodads to play with. When you publish your pages it takes you to a page like flickr. There you can create a group of your own pages for friends or family to view. If you LOVE digital scrapbooking, you will really love this. Soon you will have the option to print your layouts. Cool. And remember girls, it's FREE! lol.
Sorry you can't open the page to see the pictures closer..but soon this blog will be covered with scores of photos from Nebraska! Dan just took a few teasers for me.

The count down is on now. 2 weeks and counting until he leaves for Texas, then he'll spend 3 months in Kansas. I am grateful for my military training (military wife that is) because even though it's been over 11 years, 4 months is still shorter than a 6 month tour over seas! He will have a few trips home, but I'm kinda thinkin that while Jessica is home for the fall, I'll be traveling to see him . And wow, look at technology! 11 years ago we could only communicate via postal mail, now we are really spoiled with cell phones, emails & live video feeds. It will go by quickly. Lets just say that they are treating him like royalty while he's gone in training, hopefully he won't get too spoiled.

Got our trip all planned out. Jessica and I decided we wanted to take the kids up through Salt Lake City to tour Temple Square and all that's good there. We had such a great time when we took her to school that we wanted to share that with the other kids. So a quick SHOUT OUT TO MISS SHELLY....I'll email you the dates and if your free, we'd love to come by for a short visit! Then we will move on into Colorado where we will hang and have some fun with friends there, do school shopping, stock up at Costco and then head up into Nebraska. Yeah, did I forget to mention we won't have a Costco???? Yup. Oh well, just means that once a month trip to the Temple will be more involved and well worth the drive.

As for the photos...one is a picture of McDonalds (can't live without that), the new church building awaiting landscaping, some corn fields and the lake that runs through town.

Happy Monday night!

birthday suit

2008-07-25T20:49:00.000-07:00

Question of the day...."Mom, can I wear my birthday suit on my birthday"? Followed by, "I'm just kidding". Such a kidder! But know that I told him he could wear his birthday suit if he chose to do so...lol.

At the end of this day I can honestly say that I think Kyle had a GREAT 12th Birthday. It started with a movie, just he and Dad...they saw Kung Fu Panda. We planned a very last minute party if you call it that with a few of his best buddies.

Then I took him out and shot some pictures of this grown up boy. He has begged me for months to let him grow out his hair this summer so I have given in and amazed at how much he really has! I kinda like him with longer hair, but if truth be told I'm really a short hair kinda girl-long hair kinda bugs me (on my boy).

Jessica and Kyle are so cute together. He loves her so much! This picture cracks me up...

A nice group of boys, some from karate, church and school. Kyle is really going to miss these boys!

The Chronicles of Narnia cake, Kyle's choice.

I did not see Tucker when I took this photo...so stinkin cute! He's just sitting there laying his head on Kyle's lap trying to be part of the party.

This is a very special gift. I'm kind of not sure I should give details, but I just think I need to be reminded how kind people can be and maybe others will read this and be reminded to be kind (in their own way). Earlier this week my neighbor called (a friend & my visiting teacher) and mentioned that her husband had just purchased this watch for their son but the son didn't really like the style. She went on to say how her husband was going to put it on ebay, but when he heard it was Kyle's 12th Birthday, he wanted him to have it. So of course, I ask her how much and she said that they wanted Dan and I to give it to him for his Birthday...so we wouldn't have to worry about $$. I just sat and cried. I mean, who thinks of this stuff? Kind people really do exist and we will forever be grateful for their kindness. Kyle was so excited when he opened this gift, super excited! How does one thank someone for such a generous gift? I didn't even know what the name brand was or anything-then I checked it out...a very nice, expensive, surfer brand. So so nice. And he LOVES IT!

Happy Birthday Son, we love you so much!

sweet friends

2008-07-22T09:25:00.000-07:00

Christine & Sharla called and asked if they could come by on Sunday with dinner...of course, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to spend time with two of my dearest friends! It's been awhile since I've seen them and I miss them so much. They made the most yummiest tacos, spanish rice (which I still need the recipe for) and beans. It was fun catching up on life, sharing new experiences and just being together. Sadly, this might be the last time I see them before the move, and there is talk about a scrap get-away (maybe) in Denver. You girls know that I love you dearly and I'm so grateful to have you as friends...and THANK YOU again for dinner!!

The crazy duo of boys.
Shortly after this photo I mentioned we were moving and (E) just about fell apart. I felt really horrible. I tried to change the subject quickly by asking him about a school report he had done on Kansas. He laid there in deep thought then raised his head up and said "but why do you have to move". My heart just broke and I could see that tears were forming in his eyes. I tried to reassure him that we won't be far and that we will still see & talk to one another. Then before I could think of something else to assure him he asked "can I spend the night"...lol. Any time kid, anytime, because he KNOWS I love him.

Look at this! Craziness. Christine had so much fun on the trampoline...I enjoyed watching her and hearing her sweet giggle, oh how I've missed our late night cackles!!

We all enjoyed s'mores by the fire.

(C's) face says it all!!
Total classic moment.

I am really going to miss times like this, although they have become fewer as we all have more kids and life gets crazier. It's been an amazing 11 years of laughter, tears and good friendship. And no matter how far I am, please know that I love you all dearly!!

Baby (C) getting loves from Tucker....so sweet!

planes, trains and automobiles

2008-07-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

Let's talk about this train. Thank heaven, my husband is now an official employee of BNSF! What does this mean? We are so dang happy!! It's been a long 5 months and well worth it.
It also means we will be relocating to Nebraska. Wow...Nebraska. That will take some time to get used to saying. I was so used to telling people we 'wanted' to move to Colorado, but we feel we still got our wish. We will be just a short few hours drive to Denver, which makes this move so exciting! This move is going to take place very quickly, as in just a few short weeks. Dan will be off to Texas then Kansas for training for 3-6 months and the kids and I will be heading up and getting some sort of normalcy back in our lives. You know, I've been trained as a military wife so this will be a piece of cake. It will be much like the life of a military family, only Dan won't be doing time over seas. He will be well grounded and just 5 short minutes to work (once school is done). That in itself is a HUGE blessing! So, the first question will be asked "is he driving trains"? And the answer is No. He will be working in upper management. Although, he will be surrounded by these big beautiful beasts. Big changes are coming our way. The kids are so excited to move where there's a small town feel and they will have an opportunity to live in the snow, who could ask for more? Anyways, if you would like to know more, send me an email or call me and I'd be happy to share more specifics. For now, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for any and all who've kept our family in prayer. We are so appreciative of your support.

I've been to the airport more in the last week than in the last year! My best-est friend Melanie came in from Denver on Saturday...they wouldn't rent her a car so I came to her rescue in Orange County. Dan flew out to Nebraska on Sunday, an adventure he will not forget. And last but not least, Lyndsie flew out yesterday for some Denver Colorado fun. She is having the time of her life now that she's on the ground again! Poor girl, she was very scared to fly alone but she braved it well.

And last but not least...poor Jess, she left Salt Lake City last night around 11pm and drove all night (with a friend). Once in Vegas as the heat of the day was approaching, her poor car over heated! Luckily she had packed several cases of water, which saved the day. Adding to that, they had no air conditioning so it was a pretty sweaty ride. She is home and safe now. Pretty tired, but we are so so happy to have her back with us. Now its time to find her a car with a tad bit more reliability (and functional air conditioning).

That's about it. We have lots of things to do now. Dan and I will be making a trip to Nebraska here in the next 2 weeks to find housing, and get the kids registered for school. As for the house, well, we have 5 offers, and we just put in the paperwork for one so we are on our way for this chapter to be closed. That's it for now.

It's official

2008-07-10T08:13:00.000-07:00

Guess I'll start with the bad news.

We thought this process was going to go differently than it has. The house is on the market for sale now, short sale that is. We have spent the last 3 months preparing for the sale in hopes that we would be able to walk away with some money even if there wasn't a job. We were so ok with that. Dan was considering going back to school full time to finish up his degree and get into a totally different industry of geology (something he LOVES). We talked about it for weeks and realized with the sale of our home we could do so without a job, at least for a short time of 3 years or so. We decided on Utah, of course where we could both attend college and do what we both so badly wanted to do. Then as the weeks passed and we weren't getting any bites job wise we concluded that maybe this was Heavenly Fathers plan....not so much. All that work we did on the house was to keep us sane during this time. I don't know what we would have done if we had not had so much stuff to do, really. I'm so grateful for the hard labor, which in turn made us appreciate all that we had so much more, and our sanity in the end. I've become somewhat of a hermit, I don't really like leaving the house, talking to people and I've gained some emotional weight. Having your husband out of work, not by his choice, due to the economy, is so so hard. While life continues for all those around you, yours just stops and slams you into a brick wall. We have survived by Faith alone. Knowing that there is a greater plan and that if we just trust and be patient things will work out, in Gods time. Patience is a true virtue. You really know who your true friends are at a time like this...they call you, check in and ask "are you ok". It's the people that I never expected who are those. The Missionaries have become members of our family, we love them so much. They always show up at the lowest moments when we feel hopeless, and that's when we know Heavenly Father hears our prayers.

On to the house.....
The housing market is not so good right now, all over the US. It's a "BUYERS MARKET". Luckily we were referred to a wonderful agent and she gave it to us straight. All the work we did wasn't for nothing, it just will not be helping us get money back. After much anguish, prayer and discussions, we decided on a 'Short Sale'. Not the funnest of sales, but it will help us move along quicker, resulting in a total loss and hence an 18 month ding in credit. You know, it's not the money loss or the fact that we are GIVING our home away, its the not knowing what's to come that leaves a knot in my gut. Starting over is like an adventure, one I am so willing to make at this point (we all are) just to move on with the next chapter in our lives. So with that said, we are officially on the market and we've had a storm of Realtors & families coming through (thank heavens the kids are gone). It's only been a week and we have four offers, which is great for the bank!

Now for the good news. Jessica will be home next week! How I miss this girl so much. She has been a real trooper throughout this crazy time. She's my fixer girl, hugger and support...only she can't be here so it kills her. I'm so thankful she's at school and has managed to keep her mind on her studies. The kids are still at Grandma & Grandpa's...at least until Saturday. They are anxious to come home, its been over 2 weeks that Dan and I have seen them! We've had so much ucky stuff to do with the house that it just worked out. My sweet friend Melanie is flying down for the weekend to hang out with me!! I need this so badly. She makes me laugh and it will certainly be good for my depression. Then next week, Lyndsie will be making the trip back to Denver to see her best friend Cassandra, see the JONAS BROTHERS CONCERT, and then she will be with Melanie and her family for about 3 weeks. It's a big trip for her, but again, I'm grateful for friends and one especially who loves my daughter/kids so much she wants to kidnap her for the entire summer! Wait, there IS more....As for the job search, we have put everything we have in this and finally we are now getting calls! See the Lord does answer prayers. Dan will be leaving on Sunday for a few days for a 2nd interview. Some of the details are fuzzy but lets just say its not our first choice! We've prayed about this, researched everything but yet we felt like something just wasn't clicking....then he got a call from another company and they too did a first interview and will be scheduling a 2nd face to face next week sometime. I tell you, there is a plan and it comes in its own time. We are so grateful that we will be able to make a choice, two different areas, two great companies that will provide a 'CAREER'. And both have education assistance so Dan will be able to finish up his schooling. Everything is starting to come together, finally.

Today I feel like I can breathe again.

escape artist

2008-07-09T18:20:00.000-07:00

Dan and I took the kids out to Grandma & Grandpa's so they could spend a few weeks soaking up the sun and swim in the pool. We were gone a whole 4 days. Like usual, Tucker made the trip with us but we left behind the rest of the farm animals, the birds, hamsters, fish and turtle. We fixed em all up so they would be comfortable and happy while we were gone.

4th day. We return home.

We were not expecting what would follow. Animals run-a-muck!

Walked in the front door and saw bird feathers scattered all over the kitchen floor (we expected that part). We proceeded to get that cleaned up quickly so Tucker could come in the house. Moving on to the fish...we noticed that we were missing and few and one had died. Dan went into the bathroom to grab some tissue and found one of the firebelly toads dried up on the floor. He had managed to escape the tank while we were gone and couldn't find his way back to water in time (they dry up quickly). This has happened before but we/Tucker usually finds them before that and we get it back in the tank. While he is handling that, I open the door to the downstairs bedroom where we had left the hamsters. First thing I see is a large piece of fabric that Krystina was using for a purse on the floor, and then I notice one of the hamsters was out of his cage. Looking closer, I discovered that whom ever it was, was now living in the closet! I opened the closet and found that little Rascal and quickly put him back in his cage.

We had a really nice evening, just the two of us WITH NO KIDS!

Got up the next morning and headed for a movie and lunch. When we arrived home by habit I will check on all animals to make sure they are ok. Once again in that bedroom we found an even bigger mess that the day before! One hamster was missing, and then I noticed that the new bag of food had been chewed into and it was nearly empty! Oh my gosh I was sort of ticked off. These animals belong to the kids, not me. Ugh. So we opened the closet door and this is what I found:

A huge pile of food, pattern pieces, fabric and chewed up paper sack. Nice.
Then I move stuff around and see this:

How could one hamster POSSIBLY move all the food alone?? I spotted the little critter, yelled for Dan he grabbed it and it squeeled. At that moment we knew we had the wrong hamster...it was the GIRL. I was shocked she had gotten out of her cage when the escapee is the male. Looking into his cage we discovered he too was missing. Great. Put it together folks...and boy&girl hamster on the loose TOGETHER??!! Well, we couldn't find him. We looked and looked tearing apart the entire room. I yelled for Tucker and told him to find the hamster (he's good at this)...within a few seconds he located him in the kitchen under the cabinets. Now we would wait until it got dark and he'll come out. So while we waited, Dan put this together....LOLLOLOLOLOLOLOL.:

Luckily we had this on hand from our frogs. Now we'll see how smart he is...NOT! The top has a wire closure and it locks, he's not going anywhere.

As for future BABY hamsters...I'll just say, they better not have done that!

It's been almost two weeks now and 'Landen' so he's called, hasn't escaped once. Thank heavens. He is a smart one, cute too!

murphy's law

2008-06-24T17:44:00.000-07:00

yup. not even marriage and the name 'duitsman' can cure this.

"if anything can go wrong, IT WILL"

you know, i'm kinda getting to liking this new roller coaster of a life i'm leading! nah, just joking.

a few days ago, krystina was on my mac book when all the sudden the screen went gray. she turned it on and off a few times when i said to her "what in the world are you doing!" she timidly replied that the computer quit on her. ugh. we tried to reboot, but to no avail nothing happened. i had always thought that macs don't crash...well, in reality, the applications DON'T. my worst fears were starting to surface. all my pictures that of course I backed up weekly, but not on an external drive. i have so many other things to be concerned with at the moment that i just tried to put it out of my pretty little head (no pun intended). dan tried to reboot, but again, it wasn't even responding that i HAD a hard drive. that's when i knew that my irish-ness was serving no such service.

made an appointment at the apple store. again, tried not to worry to much about it...IT'S ONLY A YEARS WORTH OF PHOTOS, VIDEO'S AND SOME OTHER IMPORTANT SCHTUFF. when the techie hooked it up we knew. i had to face reality. man this stinks. my heart dropped to my stomach i mean come on what else could go wrong at this very stinky time of life?? can't i get a break somewhere?! we talked for a short time about what we wanted to do and decided to keep my broken hard drive and replace it with something else so that in the near future (when it's much brighter) we can pay some super smart genius to disassemble the old one and retrieve my much cherished memories. seems pretty simple yeah? since my mac is still under warranty they would replace for free, but keep the broken hard drive and thus never being able to attempt retrieval of those memories. i surely didn't want that. so off we went.

we hit circuit city and then best buy for a new hard drive. make our purchase, drive ALL the way home and dan sits to fix me up. now he needs a very tiny star shaped screw driver (which he doesn't own, big shocker). so he goes to home depot and returns home again ready to fix me up. several minutes later he comes up stairs really upset. he tells me that as he's trying to load my computer its not reading the new hard drive so he pulled it out to take a peek and low and behold, the *new* one isn't really so new! some smart person stuck their broken down mac hard drive into the box and returned it. wow, super genius. what's even better, is that best buy didn't even check. more genius people. dan was so mad. he quickly left the house and headed back to best buy. a short time later he calls and says that he was so mad when he left he forgot his wallet! lol. what can i say, this is our luck everyday. us lucky irish/dutch. thankfully they returned it with no i.d. (smart again) and we are on our way.

*ADVICE*
people, back up your photos!! put them on an external hard drive, copy them to dvd, cd's or what have you. put them in a safe place. big lesson learned. BIG.

sweetness

2008-06-19T21:42:00.000-07:00

I dedicate this clip to my sweet Jessica.

Tonight while looking for something to watch, I saw this sweet little face.
This first time watching it, I cried like a baby! Such innocence, wonder and an incredibly darling little girl. Click on the video and see for yourself.

This was Jessica, 15 years ago! Well, minus the whole singing part...lol.
Sweet little girls, who are so much more mature than their age. Add some big ole' blue eyes and there she'd be. My only hope for this sweet little one is that if she decided to make music a true career one day, that she WON'T be another 'Brittney Spears' mess up. There is a great need for GOOD girl role models in the music industry. If only one could stay GOOD.

playing catch up

2008-06-19T11:57:00.000-07:00

We're still here :)

Just been super busy. Summer has just begun for the kids which is the one thing I long for each year...not so much right now. Keeping them busy is at the top of my list, but activities are quite limited. Last week we participated in an emergency effort to help the flood victims. At our local Bishop's store house, we helped assemble clean-up kits. We happened to be the first group through, which made us the 'guinea pigs' of the production line. It was so much fun, tiring, but fun! They had hoped we'd get about 400 done, and we quickly surpassed that number by an extra 350 in less that 2 hours! The director actually STOPPED us because they had another group coming the next day. As we were walking out the door Kyle said "That was SO much fun, when can we do it again?". Remember, this is my very kind hearted young boy. On Monday night, we were sitting and talking about the weeks activities and I asked the kids if they wanted to go back to the Bishop's store house and help with food orders...they quickly answered "YES"! So we did. Yesterday was going to be a tough day, but I knew that if the kids and I were doing something good, my heart and mind would be at peace. Lyndsie, Kyle and I got up early and headed out...when we arrived sweet Brother Yocomb (not sure of the spelling) said we were an answer to his prayer! On a side note, back in February our ward had an assignment to serve a the Bishop's store house, I was the only one who signed up-and went. Kind of sad, but our ward is not built of great servers. Anyways, for the last few months I have been going once a week (not because we are on food orders) but because it has given me a sense of purpose. It has truly helped me keep my focus and stay positive. I know personally, it's not something that you think about when it's a time of feast. And I can't help but admit how ashamed I am that service has not been a priority in my life for the last few years. I mean, service in the grand scope, not in the small. I am a natural server and love to do things for people and not expect anything in return. It has been difficult at times being a 'server' because people tend to take great advantage of it. That's probably why it's been on the back burner. Anyways..back to my story. We worked hard yesterday re-stocking the shelves as orders were being filled. Kyle & Lyndsie (not best friends) worked amazingly well, side by side guiding and helping one another. It's moments like that that make my heart swell with love and joy, and you could see the pure love they had for one another. We decided it will be on our weekly calendar for summer.

In my email box this morning I found this....

For my local Orange County friends, this looks like so much fun! This is something that Kyle would totally enjoy. Check it out!

Remember this little guy?

We called him Taco Bell, amongst many other names...lol. He found a new home with a super nice family from our Ward. They were looking for a small dog, and he fit the bill perfectly! They couldn't be happier. We miss his sweet little disposition. He was such a lover and just wanted to sit in your lap and give you kisses. Still amazed that not one person called from the fliers that we put up. I guess they couldn't love him anymore. But now he is in a home filled with LOVE.

Speaking of doggies....A quick photo shoot of our BOY doggie, Tucker.

Lyndsie is so creative! This is what girls do when the little brother is too BIG to play dress up.

And last but not least...
Our knights in shining armour.

These are our Elders. Well, three of them are. We had and Elder on loan for awhile..it gave us a chance to get to know a few new ones. From left to right; Kyle, Elder Vogler, Elder Decker, Elder Thompson and top is the loan-e, Elder Alpanalp (I call him Elder 'A'). All I can say is these are the most generous, loving Elders! While we were crazy busy in the hard-hat area, they came by once a week to provide service helping in what ever needed to be done. One week they kicked some butt pulling weeds in our yard. Dan and I thought they'd get half done, or maybe not do such a great job...but they proved us wrong, big time! We've had a really great time having them here, lifting our spirits and keeping us laughing (secrets won't be revealed).
Elder Decker was just released and went home, an unfamiliar place...His Dad is in the military and they moved to Italy awhile back. So off he went, traveling to Italy!! He will be doing more traveling and sight seeing for about 6 weeks with his family, then he will return the the US and start school in Utah. Elder Decker is an awesome young man and we miss him already! Last week was transfers and all but one left...Elder Thompson. We love this kid! So happy that he will be here in this area for awhile longer. Oh, and Elder "A"...well, it's a secret but a little someone has a little crush on him! He is one nice kid. Very friendly, LOVES DOGS, and is extremely family oriented. We enjoyed the time we had with him...who knows, maybe we will see him again .

Happy June!

if you give a girl some paint

2008-05-31T16:02:00.000-07:00

she will make a mess.
she will make designs on the walls.
she will get it ALL over herself, her clothes, and THE DOG!
she will get distracted and let the brush dry out.
she will lolly gag and take forever.
she will poke you with the paint stick.

Despite all of that....

she will be creative.
she will sing.
she might dance.
she will find her happy place.
she will say 'thanks mom for letting me do this'
she will love on her daddy for helping her.
she'll definitely pose for a great shot!
she will be happy.

2pink4u

2008-05-30T18:26:00.001-07:00

This was my dream license plate.

At the age of 17, everything I owned was PINK! Right Mom?!
I wanted a PINK car so badly. Then my very best friend bought a Toyota 4x4...in bubble gum PINK! We would cruise Westwood on the weekends, a hot spot in the valley to pick up on guys (or girls but we liked boys). You can only imagine the attention girls get driving a 4x4 truck, in PINK!! Let's just say, we had lots of fun ;)

I never got that pink car. And as the years went by, that license plate became a tad bit riskay.
So I gave up on any idea of owning a cool chick pink car, until the pink BARBIE beetle came out (you know, the little girl plastic version). It even came with a nifty little plastic VW key...lol

A few days ago, Krystina was telling me about this *NEW* Pink Bug. I figured it was too good to be true. After researching, this is what I found:

My dream car! Okay, minus the whole 'Barbie' on the side because we all know, I'm no Barbie!

Wow...look at the interior! PINK leather?? I'll be dreaming of PINK Bugs tonight!
Only 24 of these will/were made at a cost of about $24,000. Complete PINK envy.

birthday bash

2008-05-29T11:57:00.000-07:00

The most awaited day of the year, when the karate students get to celebrate (get revenge) on the Studio Sensei's. They like to call it "Sensei Brithday Bash, we call it "PIE IN YOUR FACE"!
Every month when a student has a birthday they bring in cupcakes for the class. Along with that is the pleasure of having a cupcake smooshed in your face by your Instructor! It doesn't get any better than that, well except for this....

The first victim: Sensei Joe

As he stood here admiring a dozen frosting filled eggs, Kyle snuck up from behind....

The second victim: Sensei Ned (notice cake on his back)

Kyle smooshed an entire round chocolate frosted cake into his back! It was super funny.

The parking lot quickly turned into one huge food fight. There was whipped cream sprayed, silly string flying, pudding pies, cupcakes, an entire COSTCO CAKE, water balloons, chocolate syrup, marshmallows.

The kids all had a great time! Even more enjoyable was watching the entire thing. Kyle was covered in banana & vanilla pudding!

new vaccine

2008-05-22T22:00:00.000-07:00

15 + Mother's Day

2008-05-11T17:17:00.000-07:00

Today my BABY girl is....FIFTEEN!

Oh yeah, and Happy Mother's Day to me (and you). Hope you are all having a nice day, what ever you are doing.

I got to choose what was for breakfast.
If you scroll down a little bit on that page you will see a small video clip & recipe. My family made blueberry ones and they were so so yummy! Lyndsie chose dinner and then we are making homemade vanilla ice cream to go with her TRANSFORMERS cake...lol!! Yeah, she looks really girly, but uh, really likes hangin with the boys. I'm thinking we would get something cute and pink or purple (like Disney princess or Tinkerbell). Nope. Not my Lyndsie. By the way, older girls still appreciate Disney princess stuff! Heck, Krystina wanted a 'princess' cake but we couldn't find one so she chose Ariel...then when we found the transformer cake, they had Disney princess cakes! She was so bugged. lol.

Well, I was just informed that there was a small disaster in the kitchen with the ice cream...lol
Dan's custard for the ice cream was going smoothly until he tried to chill it in a glass bowl and set that in a bowl with ice water and the custard bowl's bottom cracked and fell into the ice water! All he could say was "I just wasted 6 eggs" too funny. Poor guy, he's been excited all day to make ice cream with the kids.

Today has been a really nice day! My husband and son sang in Sacrament meeting today, Kyle made a cute flower out of coffee filters in primary, we (the ladies) received a baggie chock full of yummy dark chocolate candies from Sees, more candy passed around in Relief Society, and then as a parting gift from the Relief Society lesson we were given a new picture/print that I've never seen of Christ, more chocolate candies AND a very LARGE Symphony chocolate bar! Can it get any better than this? Maybe....my son recycled a bridal shower prize given to Krystina yesterday and wrapped it up for me (in his last years wrapping). Too funny! Oh yes, I can't forget to mention the flower pen he made me at school to which he handed to me and said it was 'scented' which I then smelt...and in came this very strong scent of AXE. This kid sure loves me! I'm sort of scared to open the 'real' gift, but its from the girls and I *know* they pick out really nice gifts! But at the end of the day, the best memories are those that come from the heart. The "I love you Mama's" and the squeezes. Just knowing that this funny bunch that keeps me on my toes constantly has been well worth the journey of Motherhood!

friendship bread

2008-05-09T09:54:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, the girls received a starter bag from a lesson in Relief Society. That bag turned into 4 more bags that turned into 16 bags...you get the point. Instead of passing all of the starters along, my dear Husband decided that 'I' could make it all and put it in the freezer so they could enjoy it. It became a huge expense not to say A LOT of time baking. I baked about 30 some odd loaves of bread, threw away a few starters and passed a few along the way. Now we are down to ONE starter bag which means every 10 days I will bake a huge batch of bread-which by the way is so so yummy!
Today I'd like to pass along a gift to you! You can find the recipe for the bread here.
The starter here.
I've even included a cute recipe attachment to pass along with your bread & starter here.

It truly is a wonderful gift to give to your family, close friends, neighbors, or the ladies you V.T. I took about 15 loaves to the karate studio and everyone raved about the bread. Enjoy.

Happy Friday!

happy news!

2008-05-05T22:21:00.000-07:00

I was just searching some news articles and came across this
very exciting news!

Pretty sure most of the world followed this very tragic loss of the Coble Family. Here is a picture of those darling little Angels:

My heart still aches for this couple. I don't think a day passes that they don't cross my mind. If I was to gain something through these children's lives, it's to love & appreciate every moment we have. I know there is a purpose and a plan for each of us, yet somehow these three little beautiful lives changed so many. Maybe that was their journey, to change us.

Today brings new hope (well as of May 1st). Not the life they thought, but a new life with three beautiful new babies sent from Heaven. I know that I am anxious to follow their story-to see a huge hole filled with love, with wonder, with LIFE. Welcome to the world babies!

hard hat area #3

2008-05-02T09:50:00.000-07:00

Slowly but surely making progress.

The floors are going in at a steady pace. My guy is such a hard worker! This is the kind of stuff he enjoys, and it keeps his mind clear. It's his 'happy' place. With only a few small set backs, and a lot of detail work, we should be finished this weekend with the flooring. Yeah! What a difference it makes. The whole downstairs looks HUGE!

The Living room:

The very messy family room:

The Fireplace:

We will be grouting and finishing it off tomorrow, then the rest of the flooring can be laid in the family room. Right now we are all dodging furniture and having the best time watching tucker slip & slide all over the downstairs! His daily routine consists of playing fetch with one of his toys up and down the stairs and since he has virtually no pads on his paws he just goes sliding across the floor..so funny!

Speaking of, here's my furry little friend enjoying a nap. He's been really great the last couple weeks with all the commotion going on. Tucker is petrified of the vacuum cleaner and all other large noisy machinery. But he's getting the hang of it and knows we won't hurt him so he's been kinda clingy and sticking close to one of our sides.

Hope you are all having a great week! It's Friday, yeah!

today's scoop

2008-05-01T21:58:00.000-07:00

A little breath of happiness. Since it is May 1st, I wanted to post some pretty flowers of appreciation to all my girlfriends & female family members. The internet was lacking of 'pretty' photos (rather one that I liked)...so when I saw this on another blog I knew it was just what I was looking for.
I so hope it is ok that I borrowed this photo! Just wanted to share these super happy flowers with my friends. It says its a kit, but they are all sold out. Sharing is caring right? If you go to this website: Kim Archer
you will find the full directions to make some of your own little happy flowers!

May is always such a great month. It's a season of celebration to women all over the world. The colors of spring are just shy of disappearing. I hope you all stop and breath in the beauty around you. Just look, its all around. As we celebrate Mother's Day this year, I will also be celebrating the birth of my youngest daughter. What a special day it will be.

In other news...My sweet boy with the great big HEART, came home from the bus stop with this sweet little furry friend today. When I opened the door he was holding it like a baby. What is it about dogs-they keep finding their way to our home?? Kyle was so happy and he told me how he found 'him, buddy' at the bus stop. He didn't want it to get hurt so he brought him home. Such a sweet boy! We don't know much about the dog other than he is Chihuahua something. He, buddy, has the longest legs on any Chihuahua I've ever seen. He is obviously someones treasured pet. He is sweet, oh so sweet, loves to sit in your lap and he will paw you hand endlessly just for a head scratch! Tucker wasn't all that interested at first, which was really weird because he just loves other animals, but this is HIS house. I'm thinking that when we got a very large gust of wind that lasted for about 45 minutes today, this little guy must have gotten out of his yard. He is just too sweet to have been dumped. My friend Carole would fall in love!! Tonight we took pictures of him, made flyer's and posted them in the neighborhood. Hopefully his owner will call and he can go home, where he belongs. Until then, the kids & Dan (surprise surprise) are loving him, 'little buddy'.

project #1 complete

2008-04-29T08:16:00.000-07:00

What you see, is seriously what it truly was! This was the MESSIEST, dustiest, grittiest job that I don't ever want to do again. For the first round, which was taking the corner off the granite I was able to follow Dan around with the vacuum and suck everything in. After that, I pretty much gave up. Stuff was flying everywhere! All we could do was put on face masks and deal with it.

While it did protect from all the elements, it was sweaty and hard to breathe. Nice glasses eh? All I could find to protect my eyes from shooting granite was one of the kids 3d glasses from a recent movie!! I'm not all make up and prettied up during home improvements...lol.

Before Kitchen:

After Kitchen:

I LOVE the newer version! It turned out so much better than I had hoped. Such a huge improvement from what it was. Krystina loves doing dishes (even more so). Her favorite part is making the sink all sparkly & shiny!

Alrighty...we've begun the next phase. Fireplace & flooring. Here are some befores:

It's a mighty mess around here. If you know me and love me, you know that I'm pretty clean and organized and messes like this drive me INSANE. Ask my kids. I am handling it pretty well, knowing that there is an end result. Besides, even the concrete floor is a HUGE improvement from the blue carpet!! The kids keep asking if the house will echo after the flooring gets laid, but we are quite enjoying the laughter that flows through the house. Tucker isn't quite sure what to make of all this. He has lost the carpet which has become somewhat of a territory marking spot. Don't ask me why. Once he saw all the carpet rolled up outside he went right over and made peace with it. Stinker.

That's about it for now. Happy Tuesday!!

do you pop out at parties?

2008-04-26T22:15:00.000-07:00

ahem...

2008-04-25T17:55:00.000-07:00

I know you're out there! I've been having all sorts of hits on this blog, so if you are stopping by for a peek, please leave a comment or just say 'hi'.

kids + camera=FUN

2008-04-20T21:38:00.000-07:00

The kids and I went out yesterday for a fun photo shoot. We drove around looking for different places to take pictures. By the girls High School there is a bit of construction going on and since Lyndsie is always telling me those big movers are going to turn into Transformers, I decided to stop and take some shots of her there. The lighting was PERFECT. Everyone else stayed in the car because the wind was blowing. Lyndsie says "Mom, why do I have to take pictures here". What I got and what you see are two different things. She is used to being one the other end of the lens so it was difficult for her to see my vision. This is a whole body shot I took and cropped in just her face. Jessica said it looks like a CD album cover. Nice comps babe, thanks!!

We took over 300 pictures! There is still quite a bit of editing and cropping to do, but here's a sneak peak at some of my favorites:

Jessica + Leo

Krystina totally cracks me up in this shot! But if truth be told, each one of their personalities are just like this.

august rush

2008-04-18T08:32:00.000-07:00

Have you seen this movie? We missed it while it was in the theater...Probably one of my most favorite movies now! This clip is where Evan (August Rush) picks up the guitar and just starts playing...he's never played an musical instrument or had lessons in his life. I get chills everytime I watch this!
Happy Friday.

hard hat area #2

2008-04-17T09:34:00.001-07:00

This is part of the kitchen after we got up the tumbled brick back splash and part of the granite. This has been a much larger project than we expected-but we are so so glad we did it! The cabinets look yellowish, which is what they really are...so our last but not least project when everything else is done (and if we get to it) is to refinish the cabinets. It's a long process of much sanding and the kitchen torn up again, but *if* we get time, it will be nice. We picked out a darker stain, one that would go nicely with the granite and new flooring.

Just another view. As you can see the kitchen island was at the time, not completed. Yesterday the rest of the granite went on and this morning we are grouting. Wait, I AM GROUTING! Dan said that he loathed grouting so he let me do it...lol. Once the grouting is done, we will be rounding off the edges and making them shine with a buffer. While I am a huge fan of solid granite counters, for a reasonable price tiles look really nice!

This guy is amazing! You give him a job and he gives it his all at 100% quality workmanship. It's been really fun working side by side, laughing and sneaking in kisses when he's working hard! I'm grateful for a husband who knows how to do just about anything (except, scrapbook). After all this work, we've decided that our next house will be just the way we want it.

I love watching him work. His hands are gentle, yet rough. He gets deep in thought and doesn't always pay attention to what I'm saying, but at the end of the day those hands go from working hands to loving hands. He rarely wears his wedding band to do any type of work (a navy thing) so when I shot this it was merely for the purpose of his hands, but then Jess noticed his ring, and said "oh how sweet Mom".

stay tuned....

needing a hug

2008-04-16T19:51:00.000-07:00

It was a very emotional reunion needless to say. Dan dropped me off so I could have the first huggs & tears. I'm so glad he drove the 'pick up circle' at the airport!! As soon as I saw her the tears started to come. Dang it, I was trying really hard to not be all teary eyed but I just couldn't help it. She pretty much dropped that bag and ran to me for the most precious hug! I won't mention how she just about broke herself in half as she TRIPPED over it first! It felt so good to hug her, feel her and smell her...you smeller's out there get this! All I could do is breathe her in and hold her. Then the sweetest words came from her mouth, the most genuine and gentle "Mama, I've missed you so much". Those are the best words every Mother wants to hear from their gone away college student. I tell you, all my girls are so different...Jessica is just so loving and tender. She's the one who always knows when I'm down with "Mama you need a hug"...I LOVE that!!

Once we finished up all the hugging we headed out to the car where she practically tore the door off the suburban to hug Dad. So sweet. This has been some of the very best therapy for him, you know, having his oldest baby girl home to love on. We took her to the usual pick someone up at the airport place for lunch (Marie Calendar's), then headed home to greet the kids afterschool. Lyndsie had made it very clear she did not want Jessica to pick her up from school because she had imagined this very dramatic reunion. And that it was!

Kyle was the first one home. He had the biggest SMILE on his face when he saw Jessica! Oh my gosh...she always calls him 'baby', like "hi baby" and he soaks it all up. They hugged for sometime. The look on his face is priceless. This is the sister he best gets along with. She pays the most attention to, hangs out with, loves on and tells him how it is if he's misbehaving. They truly have a special bond.

Lyndsie ran in the door next. I would never have imagined that these two would ever look so angelic together. That look on Lyndsie's face is well, so pure. Jess and Lyndsie have really bonded the last few months and have discovered they are so much more alike than they ever thought. They talk on the phone constantly! Lyndsie really looks up to her big sister and has found a lasting bond.

Then the silly girl came in with her high pitched voice calling out and trying to get in on all the loving. They pretty much tackled Jess down on the couch to form a sister pile. I didn't think they were ever gonna let go! Krystina and Jess have always had a close bond, but Krystina has missed Jess so much that I think it hurts her. She finds it hard to talk to her a lot on the phone-almost like it hurts more because she misses her so much. I get that. Luckily, they can pick up where they left off as close sisters do. There is so much giggling and love in the house right now. After all the hugs, the girls started to compare their sizes...oh my! ALL my girls are the same size, almost to a tee, except Lyndsie is long duck dong (tall). Jess lost some weight (she looks great) due to lack of eating and being busy at school. It's funny to me that they are all sharing clothes again and that hasn't happened since they were wee bits!!

Today, you know we've got a lot of mess going on in the house due to renovations...two weeks and counting. You know when you get to the point that you're just ready to be done with it all? I pretty much reached that today. The tile saw was going, the tv was blaring and there was just 'STUFF' everywhere! As I started to pick up the messy kid stuff which most of was Jessica's, she gently reminded me that next week she will be back at school and that I will miss seeing her stuff laying around. You know, she's right. As much as I don't want to admit it, I truly miss seeing her things where ever they lay, or pile up. At that moment, all I could do is just sit down, relax and try again to soak her up while she's home. That's when my sweet girl asked "Mama, do you need a hug"?

friday won't come soon enough!

2008-04-10T15:18:00.001-07:00

Look who's coming home tomorrow!!

We are so excited to see this girl, you don't even know. I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual, but I suspect she won't spend every moment 'with us' you know?! She's got big plans to hit the beach, hang with her best friend and uhm, well, spend some time with her boyfriend. Ok, I said it. While there are no announcements in the mail, we believe it is that serious and only time will tell. Jessica met a young man here last summer before she went to school, and although Dan and I were dead set against the relationship, it seems to have blossomed beyond our control. And that is a word now to be left out of any conversations. Jessica is beyond happy-and her guy is pretty amazing. The guy speaks 4 languages, went on his mission to Italy and amazingly beat Leukemia! He was diagnosed on his mission in Italy, was sent home to finish life and the Lord worked miracles. The kids LOVE him, he's been hanging out over here a lot lately, which we like. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to share next week ;)

hard hat area

2008-04-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

We are under construction! So, here is the before kitchen shot:

Funny how when you clean off all the appliances you can see the ENTIRE counter! Now, where to keep it all while the work is getting done is another subject.

This photo scares me (past tense). When Dan started taking down the tiles I started to panic and wonder if we were making a big mistake. I had to get out of the house and run some errands and this is what I came home to! You can only imagine my comment on that HUGE hole in the wall...which we laughed about for some time, there happens to be a very large shoe print on the wall. Obviously left there by the builders almost 10 years ago! Needless to say, once the panic attack had subsided Dan had fixed up the walls real nice in preparation for tile.

Buh-Bye NASTY OLD WHITE TILE THAT I HATE BLEACHING TO KEEP THE GROUT NICE AND WHITE!!! Oh man..does this feel good. Dan let me break some of them off just for pure satisfaction. All these years of serious kitchen loving, it needs a little 'perk me up'.

The best part of this is seeing how creative one can get while her kitchen is out of order. We did get the new sink in today so we're almost back in business. The kids were going crazy not having 'filtrated water' from our sink! I kept telling them to drink up the gazillion water bottles in the garage and then you'd hear something like this (in a super whiny voice) "but I don't like that water, I want the filtered water". Now in regards to those water bottles, my kids POUR OUT the water in them and fill them up with filtered water from home...go figure.

Stay tuned for more renovations......

a great day

2008-04-07T13:00:00.001-07:00

This sweet girl is 17 today.

I can barely believe we have another 'almost' adult in the house!

Happy Happy Birthday sweet girl! You are such a blessing to have. Your funny personality, your need to be a girlie girl and your sweet gentleness. Keep on dancing...

Dan and I often reminisce about how lucky we are to have this girl. Krystina is a very beautiful blessing, we know was sent from Heaven. When Dan was on his first 6 month deployment overseas, we were in our final last two months of him being gone. I had driven to WA state to settle in and make a home for when Dan got back. Sadly, I received a phone call from Dan's Mom letting me know that his younger brother Michael had been killed. He had just turned 19.

Well, although it was a very difficult time my husband had been gone for almost 5 months! I don't think I need to fill in the rest, except to say that even through tragedy Krystina's life brought peace and comfort in a time that was very painful. I mean if you think about it spiritually, she could have been with him before she came to earth. We don't by any means think she is more 'special' than the other kids, she just mended some very broken hearts.

Now, on to yet another Birthday wish....

Jordan, don't kill me for posting this picture but it's so you! Ok, minus the braces :)
Hope you have a great 15th Birthday kiddo.
xoxoxo

finding peace

2008-04-05T12:46:00.001-07:00

Oh how I miss this man. As we prepared for the morning session, I couldn't help but to ponder on some of the things I learned from President Hinckley. In FHE monday night, our lesson was about Temples and one of the things we discussed was how much President Hinckley wanted to live long enough to see the 100th Temple be built & dedicated. And he did just that...and more! How grateful we are for his love and dedication in seeing his goal be reached.

This is how I imagine Temple Square looks today, maybe not as cloudy...full of spring flowers blooming and trees filling in with lush green leaves. While in Temple Square back in January, I found this statue and fell in love with it! Maybe she is a Mother or Sister, but the love that radiates is amazing!

This is what it looked like in January, a bit cold and barren.

I look forward to watching the rest of conference this weekend. Thank heaven for BYU tv-you can watch conference LIVE on the internet! Oh, and also a huge thanks to friends for sending the very best conference packets for the kids :)

p.s. Jessica, hope you are having a blast in SLC and Temple Square!! Can't wait to see you on Friday!! Love you.

Spring Break is almost over

2008-03-29T20:53:00.001-07:00

It is so strange that we had two celebrations in one month, not even two weeks apart! Easter came entirely too early this year. The kids have been on spring break this week, and it went by too fast! We didn't do too much, which is OK with me, but we did have a fun family week. I bought the kids this cool lighted Frisbee that Kyle busted an outdoor light with (it was funny), we jumped on the trampoline, did some star searching, caught up on ALL LOST EPISODES, had a park day, made home made pizzas (Dans creations rocked), had a movie day and played some video games.

Guess who I caught coloring Easter eggs after much discussion about how she didn't want too!
Silly girl. This is by far one of my favorite spring activities, young or old, I still enjoy watching them create little pieces of color art. Of course, no one ever wants to eat them!

This girl drives me nutty! She is forever making crazy (as in ugly as possible so mom won't take her picture) faces and not letting me photograph her. I was so happy when going back through photos I found this.

Well, what can I say...I wanted Jessica to eat dinner with us so uhm...yeah.

We celebrated Easter on Monday. I really wanted Easter Sunday to be about the Savior and not about candy, eggs or baskets. I'm really amazed at how Easter has now turned into the new 'Christmas'. Why you ask? A lot of people we know shopped for Easter with lists their kids had made to the Easter Bunny about what they wanted. Some of the items were pretty spendy. I was really surprised. If my kids ever handed me a 'list' for Easter I think that would be the last Easter filled with fun. It's kind of sad. I realize not everyone celebrates Easter, or the religious aspect of the holiday, but in my honest opinion its way over the edge. When kids start to expect things that's when one must stop and wonder if maybe they've over done things a tad. I'm grateful for the little things. Happy that my kids appreciate what they get, and not expect more. And if that's not enough, I'm grateful that I personally didn't have to spend days or weeks shopping!

Jessica will be home in about 2 weeks...we are so looking forward to seeing her during her spring break!

keeping busy

2008-03-17T21:25:00.001-07:00

The Mommy that saves all her children's (count them...FOUR) school work, since they were wee bits might find herself in overwhelm when trying to organize it all into one place in preparation for a big move! Oh, you had no idea I was a SAVER? Uh huh. Ask my Mom, she still has most of my Barbies in her garage from my childhood! It was going through all of this stuff that made me stop and wonder....who's gene did I inherit this from? Is it just inbred in me to naturally save things? I once collected Cosmo Girl magazines from the eighties-then I ripped off all the covers thinking they'd make GREAT framed photos for my "future" kids...hahahahaha!! If only. Now, don't go confusing a 'saver' to a 'pack rat', because that I AM NOT. After going through piles and boxes of artwork, school papers, each and ever report card, certificates and memorabilia collected over the years, I began to fear that I had started something so big maybe even I could not get myself out of. In the end, we got all 4 kids done, with the help of a few extra hands and a lot of oohing and awwing we tackled the unimaginable. Lukily most of the paper stuff had been kept up to date, it was all that art work! How can you throw it away? We found some of the funniest things. It brought back so many wonderful memories of each child's experience starting school. I'm sooo looking forward to starting those school scrapbooks now!

This little machine became my best friend over the weekend. It even eats up old, scratched cd's!! Yes, I save cards too...but be proud of me, the saver, I SHREDDED almost all of them (except xmas cards with photos). Shred, shred, shred is my new motto. And if I don't get to the pile first, some other little person jumps in there and has all the fun :)

In the midst of all the chaos, I took a break to get a good laugh with my silly little funny face girl. She's got moves you've never seen! We've seen them, recently at her high school dance performace (maybe I'll share via video). Krystina is such a performer-who would have known, the little girl who's kindergarten teacher said she needed to repeat kindergarten because she wouldn't talk! Ha. Krystina just thought she was shy. As soon as we get all settled down, she's going to start pointer classes (on your tippie toes ballet). She would like to study dance and maybe one day have her own studio teaching children dance. Such an amazing goal!

*Photography by: Dan

Speaking of goals...Lyndsie had a big project this last week for the "Art Fair". She borrowed a friend, her brother and went to town. She shot both digital and film. I love watching her work and get all detailed and focused. It's a rare occurance to see both at the same time, but that's what she has found in photography. If you happen to click on this photo, you will notice it's very grainy...she shot with a few different lenses, this being the stinky one-but I LOVE this shot. She is now making a list of all the new camera equipment we need...gotta love a girls needs ;)

Life is going well. We are progressing. Hopefully we will have good news soon!

better late than never

2008-03-17T20:53:00.001-07:00

Tucker wanted to stop in and say.......(read his photo)

We are pretty Irish around here. It just wouldn't be St. Patrick's Day without LUCKY making his stop along the way. I must admit, this is the first year I have NOT bought my kids a *new* beanie for this day! Kinda sad about that since they have mentioned how much they look forward to it each year. Not in the budget right now. So, since I've been sorting and packing up stuff I decided to be thrifty and use the ones from last year (they are so cute). No complaints. In fact, one of the kids asked if they were *new*...lol!

It's days like today when I really miss Jessica. I'm so not used to celebrating these types of days without her here. I know, I know, it's not a major holiday...but it is such a tradition in our home to make it special, seeing that empty spot at the table makes me sad. So Jessica, if your reading this...WE LOVE YOU. WE MISS YOU. It's been a rough day yes, but tomorrow is a new day. Love you babe!

Typically each St. Patrick's Day I make the traditional Corned Beef & Cabbage, but this year we opted for something slightly different. We had Tritip, red potatoes & steamed cabbage. A new cut of meat for us (since I thought I had asked for FLANK STEAK, a slightly leaner cut of beef)...but it was really good. I cut up the potatoes and put them on a cookie sheet with olive oil and baked them instead of boiling, so much more flavorful. I'm pretty lucky to have kids that LOVE veggies, I sure don't remember liking cabbage as a kid!

We ended our day with grasshopper pie (mint & chip ice cream in a oreo cookie pie crust).

Hope everyone had a great St. Patrick's Day, whatever you did!

we interupt this program for an important message...

2008-03-10T08:54:00.001-07:00

i stole this picture off of jessica's blog (sorry jessica) but i thought it was funny!

so true. only in idaho would you find 'ctr' graffiti.

reminds me of an old building we saw somewhere off the 15 in idaho. it was this old, what looked like 2 story building all graffiti'd up. this wasn't your normal california graffiti of gang wars. it was missionary sign offs and welcome homes. as we drove by we witnessed a very large group of people creating art. it was way cool, wish i would have gotten a photo.

never a dull moment

2008-03-10T06:33:00.001-07:00

**EDITED** sunday morning quakes=3.1 + 3.5...today was 2 something**

seems like every year when spring arrives with the warmer weather we get a little shook up around here! Sunday morning (that is around 2:22am) being the lightest sleeper in the house, awoke to what always sounds like train in our backyard. the wind was blowing pretty hard so i summed it up to the new chairs (another man's trash is another man's treasure) had slid across the patio and slammed into the house. but then the dog began to bark, which is unusual. i sat up looked at the clock and no sooner did i lay my head down on the pillow, a now much harder shakin' came about. then the dog began to bark again. i shushed the dog wandered to each bedroom to see if it awoke any of the kids. this time i made sure to lay some flannel pants, a t-shirt and my robe at the end of the bed, just in case...lol. that is my biggest fear, having to run outside and getting caught literally in your, well, uhm, undies!!

once morning came dan got on the internet to see where all the activity was. much to our amazement, it was right under us, LITERALLY! not even a mile away. we knew we lived on a fault but not right on top of it. as we were reading i noticed someone had commented on the time...the light in my head came on and i realized that we were now running one hour behind due to the time change we had no idea happened! oh my, what a morning.

this day began like all others. all the lights on in the loft, doors opening and shutting, blow dryers blaring and girls talking. i kinda pulled the pillow over my head to avoid being completely woken up by the lights. the dog started to whine, and then 'boom' here comes that train again! funny how i can always HEAR it before it hits. maybe i have dog ears? i shush the dog again and everything continues as normal. but then tucker never gives up. you can hear him moving around out there whining and he seemed agitated. i drag myself out of bed to take him potty because any dog who whimpers at 5:00am needs to go out right? WRONG. maybe the earthquake got him all uptight? WRONG. i go to unleash him and he's not even on the couch, i totally tried to unleash a clean pile of laundry! ok, so who's vision is at it's best at 5:00am???? this crazy dog is under the sofa. why in the world is he there? is he practicing 'duck and cover?' then out of the corner of my eye i see this little white spot...and the dog is now at full attention trying to tell me something. i turn on the light and what do you know..to my surprise, there was krystina's hamster!! oh my, i love animals and all but i'm not going to pick up that squirmy little thing. poor dan, i was trying to let him sleep in today and do seminary duty but he had to get up and wrangle this little creature before the dog decided to eat it!

*ATTENTION SHOPPERS*
if, and i mean a serious if, you decide to ever get a hamster for your kids, don't purchase these types of cages! they are NOT hamster proof. do you remember the older days, where products were made to last?? these aren't that type of product. the only metal part is the wire bars around the cage. other than that, its all plastic. now, they look really nice and colorful but don't let that deceive you! lol. mr. landen decided to open up his top latch and climb out to find some fun. oh and the princess....well let me tell you about her. she actually popped her wheel out of place in order to escape. this all took place on saturday-after many long hours of searching, lyndsie decided to leave the cage door open in case miss royalty decided she was hungry (no silver platters here babe). when lyndsie went up to go to bed, she announced that the queen had put herself away!

stay tuned for more!

happy friday!

2008-03-07T16:17:00.000-08:00

considering that it's my FIRST friday off in almost 8 years (and every week here forward), i've found many things to do today. spent most of the morning researching stuff, then watched some missed episodes of big brother 9, had lunch with dan, then snuggled up on the sofa for a quick cat nap before the kids came home. even though days like these are needed, i gotta get busy doing something to keep my mind in order. received a nice box of goodies yesterday in the mail, so i think my scrapbook room needs to be cleared of cob webs so i can crank out some pages! ok, so there aren't really cob webs in the room, its more like the lack of desire to scrapbook in my head. not sure about you guys, but new *fun* products bring out
C R E A T I V I T Y. yeah?

loving jenni bowlin new products! can't wait to play with this pile of yummy stuff :)

tonight we are getting ready for some pizza and this:

we are just about at the end of season #2...hahahahaha!! seriously. because we are so busy with life, usually there is little time for evening tv. jessica turned us onto lost-you know, if you don't have tv at college you watch it on your computer! dan had been bugging me about it for his birthday back in january, so we bought him season #1. the rule is, no one can watch it unless ALL CHORES, HOMEWORK, YADDA YADDA is done (and it's a family thing so no one moves on without the rest of us). tonight will be 'lost marathon' so i gotta run cuz the kids are telling me to hurry up!

hope you are all doing well.