One of those days...

Have you ever had one of those days when you need a very, very large bowl of ice cream with all the toppings you can possibly find by 2:00 in the afternoon? That's what kind of day I am having!!

*There are times when parenthood seems nothing but feeding the mouth that bites you. - Peter De Vries*

Do you believe in magic?

I love Sunday afternoon naps! This year church is at 1 p.m. so we don't get to take naps as often as I would like to. Today, because of Stake Conference, we were able to practice this sacred ritual! Peter and I were snuggled together in my bed and the silly kid was wearing shorts. I put my arm on his leg because it was freezing and he said "Wow mom, when you put your arm on my leg right there it warms up my whole leg! You must be magic!"

Dancing Queen

I love to dance, all kinds!!

For Valentine's day Alan and I went out to eat with the Perks and the Loveridge's to Sakura's Japanese Stake House. It was a lot of fun having them cook everything in front of us and put on a show. We all got to pick an appetizer of either chicken livers, mushrooms, or shrimp. No one was excited about any of them except Alan so we all gave ours to him who ate shrimp and mushrooms and was happy as could be. I caught the little piece of steak in my mouth that they threw at me!! My claim to fame! We also saw Hannah's 3rd grade teacher, Mrs Vernor.

Afterwards we all went to the Stake Second Chance Dance! I love getting all dressed up, putting on a skirt that twirls, and painting my toe nails because of course, you have to wear strappy shoes. It is the only time I can get Alan to take me dancing. They had a live band. There was a time when Alan knew all of the moves for different dances like rumba, waltz, foxtrot, swing, tango, cha cha, etc. But he still remembers more then I will ever will! We had a lot of fun dancing the night away. Happy memories!!

President Gordon B. Hinckley

President Gordon B. Hinckley

Prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Today I attended the funeral of this great man via sattelite. Listening to the stories and hearing the fond memories the people who walked and talked with him daily made me want to know him even more then I do. What a legacy he left for all of us. I liked the way they stated it at his funeral, "That he left imprints on us all." He was a humble servent of the Lord, ready and willing to do his Father's will.

I loved his humor, especially since humor is a huge part of my life. He never missed a beat and always had something clever to say. It made me smile when his daughter said that many times he was laughing so hard at his own story or joke, that he had a hard time finishing it.


I loved listening to him speak. He was always so positive and spoke of the love that he had for each of us as well as the love Jesus Christ has for each of us. Repeatedly he would tell us to love and serve each other. He always urged us to live better lives, and to be bold and strong in our beliefs.

I had the opportunity to be in his presence a couple of times for conferences as well as firesides. On one occasion I had the honor to meet him and shake his hand. I was a couple of feet away when President Hinckley and his sweet wife walked by. The first thing I noticed is how short they both are. I felt like a giant!! The next was the feeling of the room: it had changed. I don't know if anyone could meet this man and not know that he was special and how close he is to God. When I shook his hand, he didn't let go of my hand for what seemed like a long time, especially for a handshake. I surley wasn't going to let go! I almost felt that he was scanning my soul. It was an awsome feeling to be so close to a prophet of God. His touch was gentle and his skin soft. His eyes were kind and loving. I was grinning from ear to ear, I could not have been happier.


He was a prophet of God but he was also a man, with a wife, and kids. The story I liked the most about President Hinckley is one that he tells........I was fixing the roof of our home when my wife came out and said, "You are 82 years old (I don't remember exactly how old he was, but it pretty close) you are going to fall and break your neck. Get down off of the roof!" He said "I did what any husband would have done. I ignored her." He was real and had nothing to hide.


It has been interesting watching my children digest the news of his passing and to witness their emotions and their sorrows. It has made me realize that we need to base our testimonies on the principle that we live in a time that God speaks to men through revelation and through his prophets and that I know that these men were prepared and called by God. I know this principle to be true and it doesn't matter who that man is, whether it be Joseph Smith or Gordon B. Hinckley, the Lord will always have a prophet to be His mouthpeice and do His will. I will miss President Hinckley but I am truly grateful to know that we will shortly have another prophet who will be chosen and called by God to lead and guide us through these troubling times.

One step closer to the real world......

CONGRATULATIONS ALAN!!!
Alan is now offically a Ph.D. canidate, which translates to: he has completed everything that he needed to, classes, papers, etc., and jumped through all of the hoops, so all he has left is his dissertation. In a year and a half we will be closing the door of Alan's schooling. We are going to make sure that it is barred, and that the key is lost forever, never to be opened again. Don't get me wrong it has been a good experience, but it has also been trying.

I am very proud of you, Alan! I love you so very much! Oh, happy day!!

Some Peoples Kids.....

On Saturday night (12:00a.m.) while Alan was looking up movies and actors (as he does after every movie) he heard a terrible noise and couldn't think of what could possibly make that kind of noise. He shortly realized after the noise continued that it was our MAILBOX!! He rushed out side, grabbed a large stick, and went running after the kid or kids who were beating our mailbox. He never saw the kid or kids who did it, but heard running footsteps and then a front door slam. We live on a dead end street toward the end and there are maybe 8 houses past ours. Most of our neighbors are also retired and there aren't many with teenagers...

He knocked on the door (12:15a.m.) and a kid around age 17 answered the door. He had a heavy coat on. The tempeture outside was in the high 20's or low 30's. Alan asked him some grueling questions. He denied them all, including is there anyone else home? (Alan could hear people talking in the background, he also saw a car pull up before he decided to go to the door.) We had the cops (1:00a.m.) come and dust the mailbox just in case they actually touched it. It didn't seem very hopeful that anything would happen, even with Alan pointing at which house the perpetrator lives at. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.


We found out that they also got two others on our street. Which was actually comforting, because then we knew it wasn't aimed at us. It was just some punk kids, who had nothing better to do. And call it premonition or inspiration but both Alan and I separately thought about kids bashing in mailboxes and we both concluded our thoughts by being glad that it would never happen to us because we always have cars parked out in front and somewhat close to the mail box as you can see in the pictures. So much for the false sense of security!!

First Laugh

Snowy day

We got our first real snow today!! It's always fun to get all dressed up in your snow gear and go trekking outside, in a magical white world. I took Eden out and put her in the snow so that I could get some pictures. My neighbor, Grandpa Dan, came out and asked if that was a form child abuse?! It was a fun time had by all!

Happy Happy Birthday Joseph Dear...

The Power of a 4 year old!

The day and a life of a newbie 4 year old

Wake up: Mom says, "Happy Birthday!" Joseph says with a huge grin, "Happy Birthday!"

Go get pictures taken: Photographer asks "When's your Birthday?" Joseph answers with his arms stretched out, palms up, neck flexed, "TODAY!"

Another store: The cashier said, "How are you today?" Joseph responds quite loudly and enthusiastically, "Good, and today's my Birthday and I am in primary!!" Cashier looks at me for confirmation also with the question of what is primary.

Sleep Over #2

On Monday Hannah brought home a paper that said she was one of the top 20 readers over the Winter Holiday! I was shocked to say the least. Pleased, but shocked. Hannah loves to read and is very good at reading. I guess in this aspect she takes after her Mom.

The prize for being one of the top 20 is that you and a friend get to spend the night over at the school with the principal!! Sounds thrilling doesn't it!?! Well to a third grader it couldn't get any better. The only catch is that they strongly encouraged parents to come. I knew Alan wasn't going to go, so that left me.

It actually wasn't that bad, I was dreading it. They played games, watched "Night at the Museum" and had a bedtime story by Mr. Fitzgerald (the principal). He read his favorite book, The Giving Tree. At 10:30 they told everyone that they could stay up and read but they had to stay on their sleeping bags. We were in the gym / cafeteria. Do you know how well sleeping bags slide on a floor like that? The kids were off the wall, they were so hyper even without sugar!! (No snacks or treats were allowed). In my opinion they should have loaded them up with sugar upon arrival and then not given them any more so that they would have their sugar high and then crash. There was one of those emergency lights that made it so it wasn't dark whatsoever, so at about midnight they moved all of the kids into the Library to sleep. At about 1:30 one of the 6th grade girls asked me, "Are you ever going to go to sleep?" I look at her smiled and said, "Nope!" I did eventually sleep, with only 3 kids left awake. I just hope it was a memorable experience for Hannah!

ME

Have I ever mentioned before that I love ME?
Have I ever mentioned that I think I am HILARIOUS?
I find myself giggling all the time at how clever I am!

Slumber Party with the Ladies!!

One of the ladies, Gwyn Nichol, from our ward is moving within the month. We decided to create one last memory for her. We told her that we were going to take her out to eat for her going away party. We went to The Cheesecake Factory and had some yummy food!! We had a great time and could have called it a night and been happy, but what could be better then having a never-ending night with 5 fabulous ladies (+2 well behaved babes). Lynette Loveridge (+Brinley), Michelle Dean, Debi Perkes, Gwyn Nichol, and Me (+Eden), all went to a hotel in town. I have not laughed so hard nor stayed up so late in a long time, and everyone discovered that I get really giggly at 3:30 a.m. We ate lots of goodies, drank Diet Coke with lime and played the game Loaded Questions. At about 3:40 we got a knock at the door...I opened the door to a cop telling us to keep the noise down. The crazy part is that at the time he came it was very quiet, everyone was in the bathroom brushing their teeth, and the babies were sleeping so all he could see was me in my pj's and a couple of car seats. He said "The walls must be really thin so if you can keep the noise down that would be appreciated." I think he felt really dumb, and of course I acted as though I had no clue what he could be talking about! We got a kick out of it, 5 Mormon women getting the cops called on them! We did end up getting a couple hours of sleep. It was so much fun that it was worth the sleepiness the next day.
I will miss you Gwyn, you are so awesome and I wish I had your vocabulary, even if it would make me a "nerd"!! Thanks for always being wonderful and for all of the times that you were there for me. I appreciate it, you are a wonderful friend. I can't wait for your blog!! Watch out Oregon, Tiny Fists of Fury is coming your way!!