The life and times of The Archuleta's

Sense of Accomplishment

2011-11-12T22:57:00.003-06:00

I started a project over two years ago and today it is finally finished...... completed.........done!!!!
YES! YEAH! HALLELUJAH!

We had two blinds left in our 6 family room windows and they were ripped, taped, tattered and UGLY!!! I was tired of buying blinds (this was the last of the second set) that just don't last, so I decided over two years ago that it was time for some ROMAN SHADES to replace them with. I priced them at different stores and even with discounts they would cost over $900.00. I just wasn't willing to fork out that much money so I decided that I could make them for much cheaper than that.

First I measured the windows then went to a local store that was having a sale on their curtain panels and bought 6. And then they sat in their cute little packages for a few months while I moved on to other things. One day I decided it was time to start work on them and opened one up, held it up to the window to make sure that it would block out the light, which is a necessity or we can't see the TV during the daytime. The flimsy little curtain panel hardly blocked out the light and their was still glare on the TV. I was so frustrated, so I folded the panel up nice, put it back in its cute little plastic package and went back to the store to return them. Remember how I let them sit in their cute little packages for a few months? Well it was just enough time that I could not get a full refund on them and I would end up loosing money. I was pretty darn frustrated to say the least. I came home and wanted to beat myself up over my laziness and not at least thinking to check the panels as soon as I purchased them to make sure they would be light blocking. I decided that I only had three options: 1- I could cry, feel bad for myself and do nothing, and just live with the ugly blinds we currently had. 2- I could give in and pay the $900.00 for someone else to do them, or 3- I could go to the fabric store, buy some room darkening fabric and sew that to the back of the panels. I decided to go with #3. So I ran to the fabric store, bought the other fabric, took it home, bought all the hardware that I would need to make them and then...................let it sit in their cute little packages for many more months.

One day when I got tired of looking at the old, ripped blinds (and the other windows that had no blinds) I was once again motivated to start on them again. I once again measured one of the windows, cut out one curtain panel and the backing and went to town hemming the cut side of the panel, sewed the backing on, then sewed all the rings on and threaded the cord and was so proud of myself for completing one curtain. I took it in and held it up to the window and it fit just right. Then I pulled the cords to make sure they operated properly and that I had done everything the way I was supposed to. To my horror, the curtain pulled away from the edge of the window a good 3 - 4 inches on both sides and let in a lot of sunlight. I nearly cried!!! I knew what had to be done, but I had been trying to avoid it because it meant a lot of extra work. There was no stability in the fabric to keep it from being "sucked in" on the sides. I would need to sew 4 - 5 pockets on each panel and insert some sort of dowel. One of the reasons for trying to avoid this (besides not wanting to do the extra work) was the dowels would not go up and down the window without hitting the chair railing that was on each side of the inside of the window. Guess what I did? I folded that curtain panel up with the others and let it sit and gather dust for several more months.

Finally one day I had had enough of the nagging in the back of my mind (maybe because it was always on the top of my to-do list) and decided it was time to just bite the bullet and get them done. I had decided that the only way to go was to cut them to extend a few inches on each side and have them be on the outside of the window instead of the inside where roman shades typically go. I measured the window "once again" and proceeded to cut another panel. Then I layed out the backing to cut it and realized that I had transposed the measurement on the panel and cut it at 56" instead of 65". This time I was not going to quit, and decided that I would just have to have a seam in it. Two of the shades would have to have seams in them....the one I just cut wrong and the one I cut months ago for the inside of the window. From there everything just flowed and I worked on it as much as I could, but summer was in full swing and I was busy with the garden and canning and other fun, busy summer activities and trying to finish up the second phase of school. But I persisted and finally they are now done. Actually they were done two weeks ago, but I have been waiting for Dennis to help me hang them. I thought it would take an hour or two to hang them. NOT! It took 4 1/2 hours.

I was so worried how they would look, because the curtain panels were so flimsy and the fabric shifted so much while sewing the rod pockets, but they don't look to bad actually. Professional looking, they are not, but they look 100% better than what was there. Two ripped and taped blinds and 4 windows with no coverings....and rather than feel a huge sense of accomplishment, I more feel a huge flood of R.E.L.I.E.F!!!!!

Now I can work start piecing quilt tops again. I told myself months ago, that I could not do anymore quilt tops until some of my unfinished projects were completed and I have accomplished that. I got two of the three quilt tops I previously made quilted and I finished the roman shades.

The blinds closed

The blind lifted half way

The blind lifted almost fully up. When they are all the way up the valance hides them.

The view of 2 different shades, closed.

P.S. Just in case anyone is even thinking it.........the answer is NO!!! I will not help anyone make roman shades, and I would not advise doing it. Even thought I love you all, the answer is still NO!

Where DOES the time go

2011-11-06T22:26:00.003-06:00

My, has it really been 6 months since I last posted? How does that happen? I do occasionally get on blogger and check out what is going on in everyone elses life, but I just get lazy and don't post. I have noticed that I am not the only one who has sort of fallen off the blogging Merry-Go-Round. About 2/3 of the people that used to blog a year ago have not posted anything for a very long time. I wonder why that is?

So here is a quick update on our family, the best I can remember.
1. We had two new grandsons born this past spring. They are now 5 1/2 and 6 1/2 months old. Amanda and Malinda are the proud mothers of these adorable little ones. They are as different as night and day and we wouldn't have it any other way.
2. We only got to go camping twice this year (well 3 times for me). I was privileged to go with Alisha and Randy's family to Bear Lake and crash their family reunion. I have only driven by Bear Lake 2 or 3 times in my life, so I really enjoyed it. We went to Minnetonka Caves which is nearby in Idaho. Our second trip was to Gooseberry Reservoir. All our kids and their families came, plus our dear friends the Dunn's, as well as Alisha's in-laws and Malinda's in-laws and my mom and her friend. We had a wonderful time. Some of us didn't want the long Labor Day weekend to end. The third and final camping trip was to Goblin Valley with Amanda and Steve's family. We invited everyone else, but due to work schedules they weren't able to come. We had so much fun hiking and playing on the "Goblins". The weather was perfect for mid October.
3. We tried to get good use out of our "Pass of all passes" by going to Seven Peaks as often as we could. We had a great time going there as a family.
4. Dennis and I went to St. George the first week of October so he could officiate for Track and Field during the Huntsman World Senior Games. He loves doing it and is a great official. (He even received a totally unexpected award from the Utah State High School Athletic Association as Official of the Year. The games put us up in a very nice condo. While he was officiating, I spent two days quilting the very first quilt tops I ever pieced together on a long arm machine. There is a store there that has about 8 or so long arm machines and you can call ahead a reserve a time to use one. They are so good about helping as much or as little as needed. The first day I needed a LOT of help as I had never ever used one before. The second day, I didn't need as much. It was a lot of fun and a wonderful weekend.
5. We had a great time going out to Mark's house the first part of June to see Taylor get baptized. We got to stop and visit with my cousin Jim and his family. It was wonderful to visit with them and see their new home. Alisha came along with us to surprise Mark and we are glad she was able to come along. We had a really great time visiting with Mark and his family. We visited Bonanzaville again as Alisha had not been there. We did went to some garage sales, but had to be careful because the car was already packed to the gills. It was wonderful to be part of Taylor's baptism.
6. We did the annual Trunk or Treat as a family again this year. I think that makes it about 5 years straight. I am so glad our ward does this (and selfish enough that none of the kids wards do it) so we can all get together and build these fun memories. The kids get so much candy that the little ones can't even carry their bags they are so full.
7. Our remodel project is all done, except for a few small things. It was done months ago, but I failed to follow through with the updating of it. I still have pictures to hang, but that is minor.
8. We hosted for the Springville World Wide Folkfest again this year. The group we hosted were flag twirlers and dancers from Belgium. Dennis and I had Neela and Ingrid, both about 20 years old. It was a wonderful but exhausting week full of activities every hour. The best things about it is getting to meet new people and in one week become dear friends, and the other is getting to watch the performances every night.

I am sure there is much more to tell, but that is all I can think of at this late hour. I will try to be better at posting and keeping you all abreast of the going ons in the life of the Archuleta's.

Another home improvement update

2011-05-17T12:18:00.003-05:00

Here it is the middle of May and 4 months into our remodeling projects and we are still not done. Anyone who knows me, knows that this is way too long, and is driving me crazy. Of course, I have had to take into consideration all the "things" I have no control over that has dragged this out.

-Time: I have a lot more time than Dennis since he works 12 hour days and has been so busy officiating track meets. So I do what I can, but there are some things I just can't do, like electrical or plumbing and lifting or moving really heavy objects. I finally finished cleaning the entire upstairs and every nook, cranny, cupboard, drawer, book, dish, etc. That demolition and drywall dust penetrates everything.

-Material: We have at times had to wait for material, or for other people, both of which we have no control.

I am waiting for Dennis to put up the "hardware", shower curtain rod, towel bars, and toilet paper holders. We are waiting on the counter top for the vanity, but part of that is my not having a color sample to show them what I "think" I want. Once that is in, the plumbing should all be done, and the few remaining electrical outlets finished up. We are waiting for the living room set to come so I have an idea of what pictures I want to hang and where exactly they should go. There is just a lot of little things that need to be done that seem to take so long. How many of you have one or more things that are still not completed after you did a job? I think one reason for that might be that we are so glad to have the "major" portion of the project completed that we move on to other things intending to get to the little things, but somehow we never get back to them. Those are the things that drive me crazy.

Some of the things I have accomplished recently (I have to list them for myself, so I don't get frustrated and feel like nothing is getting done, which is what I sometimes tend to do - forget accomplishments and dwell on undone items).
-Cleaned the entire upstairs.
-Measured, cut, installed and painted the chair rail in the sunroom that were removed years ago when we got new windows.
-Take down, wash, iron and rehang all the valances.
-Wash windows
-De junk closets in the cleaning process
-Take down, wash, dry and rehang all the light fixtures
-Wash and dry all the 2" wood blinds
-Hand turn over not one, or two, but three garden beds so far.
-Re route a garden row by moving all the dirt to fill in a walkway and create a new walkway.
-Planted tomatoes, lettuce, peas, potatoes, spinach, radishes, spinach, beets, swiss chard, kale, carrots, green onions, and more tomatoes.
-Dig up sod (this was done with Amanda's amazing help) to extend the front flower bed.
- Clean out the rest of the flower bed, cut back tulips and daffodils
-Plant lots of flowers (it felt like there were a million)
-Prune all of my fruit trees and all of dads peach trees. Helped prune the rest of dad's fruit trees.
-Sprayed dormant oil on all of dads fruit trees
-Clean out part of the garage (I need another strong person to help me move the big things into the truck to take to Habitat for Humanity).
-Repaired 4 broken hoses.
-Moved things around outside to put the small rubbermaid shed in it's new little home.
-Hung some pictures
-Cleaned out behind and under the stove.....eeewww yuck. How does get under there anyway.
-Mowed the lawns at least 3 times already.
-Pruned the roses.
-Cleaned out the strawberry patch.
-Weeded several of the garden beds.
-Weeded several of the back flower beds.
-Cleaned out the car
-Helped Dennis take the trailer to the dump and empty it.
-Write two talks.
-Tend grandkids
-Continue studying and doing homework for the School of Natural Healing
-Sew two baby car seat tents
-Mend one blanket and help with a baby car seat cover "re-do".

I am just so grateful that I have good health and am able to work hard. If I can just remember that "patience" is a trait that is developed over time and something that I need to constantly strive to learn.

Life goes on....sometimes like a tornado and other times just plain slow

2011-05-17T12:10:00.002-05:00

But the crazy thing is feeling like you are in the middle of a tornado in some aspects of your life while others, at the same time, are crawling along at a snails pace. That is what my life has felt like so far this year.

I don't think it is the busy-ness so much as our attitude at handling it. Some days I want to pull my hair out and others just go along smoothly. My attitude is what makes the difference. BUT there is one thing that seems to play a huge factor in my attitude and that is SUNSHINE. Something that has been in short supply this year so far. I am definitely ready for summer, sunshine, warm weather, and some lazy days with the family watching the grandkids play.

Family

2011-04-21T12:40:00.002-05:00

I have been sitting here catching up on some email and blogs that I haven't had time to read in.. like.. forever. The blogs made me cry. While reading them it just all hit me all that has gone on the past few months of my life and how no matter what happens, as long as we have our family, nothing else should matter. Here are just some of the random thoughts in my head about my family:
-I miss Mark more than ever now, after having him here for just a few short days (2 different times) in the past 6 months. We have always been very close, being my only son, and I miss our talks and the way he loves children, and how the grandkids idolize their "uncle Mark". I love watching how they play together and am sad that he probably won't have anymore children.
-It was truly an incredibly amazing experience witnessing the birth of our newest grandson (still yet unnamed). I love being so close to my daughters so I can help them after giving birth and holding and loving these perfect beings.
-It makes me sad for my sister who's grandchildren have all moved away and she won't be there for the first time at the birth of her soon to be grandchild.
-I envy her family and the love they all have for one another. It truly seems like a miracle, as so many people I talk to say that just doesn't happen in real life.
-I have the best sisters in the world and I am so thankful that we have a great relationship.
-I wish my children could all get along and have great love (and acceptance) for one another. Satan really does try to tear families apart and some people give him more allowance into their lives than they understand or realize.
-I have been so blessed in my personal life, to have not lost too many loved ones to that thing called death.....that is until the past 6 months. It has made me realize how fragile and short life really is....and that I need to do a whole lot better at showing others how much they mean to me. I need to learn how to shut Satan out and not let those negative (or just lazy) thoughts enter into my head. I need to say thank you and I love you more often. I need to be more focused on peoples feelings and stressing less on things (remodeling projects? for one).
- I am so thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the blessings I receive daily....for my family......a healthy body......wonderful friends.......prayer........opportunities to serve......that my trials are not those of someone else (earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding, tornadoes, cancer, loneliness, etc)....a roof over my head.....people who love me......a Savior who atoned for MY sins.....the ability to repent and be forgiven and start anew every week.....and for ALL OF YOU!

Still Here......

2011-04-18T22:28:00.002-05:00

Some of you, or perhaps all of you may wonder if I have fallen off the face of the earth. But, truth be told, I am still here, just a crazed woman, on the wild roller coaster of life. It has slowed down quite a bit, but I haven't been able to get it to stop yet. Soon...hopefully real soon.

I remember thinking last year that life was great and wondering when the next slam was going to hit. Well it hit big this year.

A synopsis:
=In three weeks: 3 deaths, 2 funerals, 2 talks to write and give, 80th birthday party celebrations (no not mine-give me at least a few decades), a new grandson, 2 trips to the airport in one day, Easter egg hunt, family dinners & get-togethers, planting a garden, spraying dad's (now mom's) fruit trees, work, and getting some construction cleaning done.
=No the remodeling is not yet fully completed, and there is still much cleaning to do.
=I think my mind is still somewhat in tack.
=I keep counting my many blessings to stay sane.

Ready for carpet

2011-04-03T21:40:00.002-05:00

We get carpet tomorrow!!!!

We are finally ready for carpet and it is being installed tomorrow morning. By tomorrow night we should have most of the furniture moved back in. It will be so nice to have the piano and organ out of our TV room. We fixed the ugly brown wall and I will try to post a picture soon. I am slowly cleaning all the remodeling dust from everything. It is a long tedious job and I have to work at it around everything else in life. I took 2 days out last week to work out in the yard. I got the tomatoes planted and covered with walls of water and I also planted kale, butter crunch lettuce, carrots, radishes, green onions and beets. I still have peas, potatoes, swiss chard and mesclun mix lettuce to plant later this week when it warms up again.

Who is this hairy man?

2011-03-27T23:28:00.003-05:00

I wish I didn't know who this was, but alas I am married to him. He has made it through the first cut to be an extra in the New Testament movies the church is doing sometime this summer. They asked the men to grow beards and let their hair grow long.

All I can say is that I CAN'T WAIT, for this to be over. He thinks it looks cool. I think that I really miss the clean shaven man I married.

There is never a dull moment around our house....with the remodeling and our house turned upside down.......living with a hairy man...........the passing of dear loved ones..........being a service missionary (which I absolutely love).........and life in general.

Grandma C., Grandma Christensen, Chuck A Grandma

2011-03-27T23:02:00.003-05:00

I got word tonight that my grandma is not going to live more that a few days, which is a good thing because she has suffered so much for the past 20 years, especially the past 6, but it is also very sad to say goodbye. I have been asked to give the life sketch at her funeral, probably because she and I have been very close all of my life.

When I visited her tonight, she kept saying she was afraid. When I asked her what she was afraid of, she said she was afraid of going. She asked me if I would go with her. She is not totally in her right mind, so I told her that I don't think I could go with her at this time, but her mom and dad and husband would go with her so she won't need to be afraid.

I am really glad that Nancy, Calvin and Kimberly came by while we were there. Calvin and Dennis were able to give her a blessing and it was beautiful. I am so thankful for the Priesthood. During our visit, there was a group of students out in the main hall of the nursing home singing hymns. I thought it was a nice backdrop to the blessing. It sounded like a choir of angels singing in the background.

Dear Grandma, I love you! Thank you for all the love you showed me and my family over the past 50 years, and for the wonderful memories: the 4th of July parade and picnics, complete with new outfits and cap guns, sleepovers, Vicks and dishtowels tied around our necks when we were sick with a cold, playing under the tent of a steady stream of handstitched quilts that we were the lucky recipients of, the camping trips, peanut butter balls, a plethora of cookies and candy canes at Christmas, you didn't read us bedtime stories, you told them to us from your head, always loving us no matter what!

How sad it is to loose 2 of the people most dear to me in the space of 6 months. Life goes on, but will never be the same! The only consolation is in knowing that they are going/have gone to a much better place where there is no more suffering and are reunited with loved ones they haven't seen in many, many years.

Still Under Construction

2011-03-27T22:11:00.005-05:00

Yes, we are still under construction. It is amazing how little one can get done when working around jobs and other of lifes everyday happenings. We were ready to paint the living room and hallway, but the kitchen still was waiting for the texture and trim, then puttying the nail holes and sanding everything. We decided to go ahead and paint the living room and hallway so I had to come to a decision on the pain (of all the choices I have had to make in this project it has been picking out the paint). Of all the sample we had up on the wall, most people picked a brown called glazed onions. I liked it as well, but thought it would be too dark for all the walls, especially down the hallway, but Dennis and Steve really liked it, so I gave in and we bought one gallon and decided to paint it on the far wall, so if it was too dark for all the walls, it would just become an accent wall. After painting it, thankfully Dennis decided it would be too dark to paint everything, of which I was so grateful, because I "HATE" the color, even for an accent wall. It doesn't look anything like glazed onions, but rather it looks like mud. Everyone that comes to the house says how much they like the color. So I went back to the paint store and picked out a whole bunch more samples, that I thought would go with the brown and we settled on one. It turns out that it is practically the same color of our bedroom, of which I absolutely have loved. I am glad that our schedule didn't allow us to paint a few weeks ago when we actually bought it because I really wanted to paint just once, which included the few walls in the kitchen that we had textured. In the meantime, Dennis and I puttied, sanded and caulked the trim and I put on the primer, then painted all the trim and doors white. Finally, last night we had everything ready and got down to the business of painting. I love the color "Plantation Beige", but still hate, "HATE", the brown. I am thinking of glazing the brown wall which will make it darker and cause the texture to stand out. It looks awesome at Steve's and Amanda's house, but they have a much lighter paint on their walls. If it doesn't work out, than Dennis has given me permission to paint it the same as all the other walls.

Dennis painting the hallway walls.

The corner of the kitchen that once used to be the second entrance into the living room. If you notice the paint under the cabinet stops abruptly and looks awful. That is going to be my next project - to add a tile backsplash, but until then it has to look ugly.

Dennis painting the living room walls. The paint looks quite different in this light. It is more the shade of the kitchen in the picture above.

The "UGLY MUD BROWN" wall. When we were picking colors that would go with the mud brown, this was the winner. I don't think it did a thing for the mud brown. Just so you know, Dennis does all the roller painting, and I get to do all the edges, corners and "cutting in".

The 1/2 bath is all painted and ready to be put back together tomorrow. The main bathroom is still in limbo until the vanity gets finished. There is still all the little things that need to be done, like paint touch up, putting up the lights, electrical outlets and switches, puttying the nail holes in the wood floor (which up until now had been covered so we could paint), order carpet and blinds, move in the furniture and decorate. I also need to clean every room in the house from all the dust that has collected from all the sanding.

Will this never end? NO, it will not. Want to know why? I have plans to redo the office, and tile the backsplash in the kitchen when all the rest is done. Somehow I have to find time to get my gardening done around all of this.

No, we are not done yet.....

2011-03-06T20:50:00.003-06:00

......But I sure wish we were. This past month Steve textured all the walls in the living room, down the hallway and the 1/2 bath. Then he did an awesome job on the trim and there was A LOT of trim. Then we had to putty all the nail holes, caulk and sand. So time consuming. It has taken us a week to paint the living room with the primer and then paint the ceiling and trim with the hi gloss white. We still have a second coat of the white to put on. Then wait for a few days for it to cure so we can mask it all off and paint the walls a color I am still trying to decide on.

I did something to my ribs and back muscles last weekend, maybe from all the puttying, and sanding, but I could not help sand the primer or really do much of anything so I read, read and read, which I haven't done for years - but I did get the last 2 books of the Hunger Games read in one week.

Dennis has some night shifts this week, which gives him more hours during the day to get stuff done, so hopefully we will get a lot accomplished. The bad thing about doing remodeling in March is it competes with the things that need to be done outside. Early spring lawn fertilizing, tree pruning, and some of the garden can be planted in a week.

We still have to get the rest of the baseboards on in the 1/2 bath and part of the kitchen and the back side of the new wall that was once a doorway is mudded and textured, then when can do our final sanding and I CAN CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN. Every room in the house needs a major deep cleaning. Walls, blinds, closets, knick knacks, EVEYTHING needs to be dusted. Windows and curtains washed. Inside of drawers cleaned and washed out. That dust has settled into every nook and cranny and will take some major work to get rid of. It will really be a spring cleaning like none other.

We are getting closer to being done on the living room, but both upstairs bathrooms still need to finished. The master bathroom is still waiting for the vanity and mirror. The 1/2 bath needs finish trim and painting, which hopefully Dennis and I can get to later this week. Soon, it will all be done and all the stress will be forgotten.

3 1/2 weeks and still going

2011-02-08T23:14:00.003-06:00

It has been three and a half weeks and we are slowly plugging along. The bathroom is now all painted (the final coat went on earlier this evening) and we are now ready for the toilet, vanity, lights and fixtures. The walls are a beige with a slight yellow tone to it and the ceiling and trim are hi gloss white.

In between coats of paint in the bathroom we continued on with the living room. Dennis took off the face of the fireplace. We were going to just sheetrock over the entire wall, but there was nothing to screw the sheetrock to around the fireplace opening, so they had to frame it in.

While they were doing that Steve asked if I wanted the doorway by the backdoor framed in as well. I thought it might be a good thing to do, since I have been wondering how I was going to keep the grandkids from running from the kitchen through the living room and back again. That is one of their favorite things to do at my house is run around the "track". I didn't want the new carpet to get dirty, so framing in the doorway seemed like a great idea. I'm glad we covered up the fireplace and added the wall because this gave us the chance to put in insulation. This wall had NONE. Look at that cute Porter, hard at work helping grandma scrape off wallpaper.

While the men were framing, I started scraping off the wallpaper. The plan was that I was supposed to just scrape off the loose stuff, then paint the wallpaper with oil based paint, then Steve would skim coat the walls. I guess this is the way people deal with wallpaper now so you don't have to spend so much time steaming it off. Once I started scraping off the loose stuff, it just kept peeling and peeling and on and on, the only thing was, what I was pulling off was just 1/2 the wallpaper. It was the "decorative" part that peeled off, leaving a felt backing still glued to the wall. If I scraped and grabbed hold of it just right, it would peel off in huge pieces. That didn't take too long. Then Dennis took down the crown molding that someone had glued to the wall and it put big holes in the wall and pulled off chunks of paint that was underneath the felt backing. I had to start all over scraping the wall to get the loose stuff off. The only thing was, that once I started scraping, the paint and felt backing just kept coming off. It was like the paint had never really stuck to the wall and was now ready to be come off. Once I got to the end of the wall with the wallpaper on, the paint just kept peeling so I kept going and went clear around the room. It took me two days to get it all done, but now I feel like we are starting over with a clean slate for the new texture and paint to adhere to. Dennis and Steve also worked on the lighting and put in a fixture in the middle of the room and two can lights in the hallway. We have wallpaper on half the lower half of the wall in the kitchen and I wanted to take that down as well, since some of it can be seen from the front door. So one night I guess I hadn't had enough scraping and started scraping off the kitchen wallpaper. It did not come off as easy as the living room had. The top layer scraped off from the felt paper, but would not tear off in nice large sheets. It took quite a bit more scraping. Then Dennis and I decided that we did not want to have to paint and skim coat the kitchen like we would have done in the living room as we had just done the kitchen about 7 years ago with all new sheetrock and texture. We talked about going to Timp Rental and renting a steamer that takes off wallpaper. I remember renting it years ago to take off the wallpaper in the small bathroom and it was a very laborious job. I was not looking forward to that at all. Then Dennis had a brilliant idea. What if we boiled water and put it in a squirt bottle and sprayed it onto the paper and let it sit for a few minutes? We figured it was worth a try.....and it WORKED! It really was brilliant, and much easier, and FREE. Yes, at this point, we are liking free quite a bit. Today, I didn't get enough of the scraping, so I started in on the half bath (the same bath we steamed the wallpaper off of 7 years ago). When we redid the kitchen and half bath back then, I had this grand idea of sponging paint on the lower half of the wall. I don't remember what the technical name for it was, but it was all the rage. Anyway, it turned out HIDEOUS!!! So I ran to the store and found some wallpaper to cover it up. Now the wallpaper has been curling up along the edges and looking really ratty, so off it came today. It really was fun, scraping off the top layer, then squirting boiling hot water onto the felt paper and watching it bubble, then scraping it off like butter. Way cool. Now we are waiting on Steve to come and tape and texture the drywall. Then we can start painting. We are also waiting on Steve to get the vanity built. Waiting, waiting, waiting. This winter has been hard on him and his family with almost no paying jobs, so that is why we decided to start our remodel so we could keep him busy. Well, he has gotten two "paying jobs" this past week and has been asked to bid on a few others. That is really good for him and his family, they need to be able to pay for their bills. So we will be patient and wait for him to fit us in. Hopefully that won't take TOO long.

Here's Amanda 7 months pregnant, helping me scrape off the felt backing. To the left you can see what the wallpaper looked like.

The sheetrock up and ready for taping and texturing.

Slow going

2011-02-03T22:05:00.002-06:00

There are pro's and con's to doing your own remodeling work. On the pro side is the money saved and that is a big deal. On the con side is the time it takes working around jobs and everyday life which can be a hassle, and means life is interrupted for a longer period of time. When it is all said and done most of the troubles are forgotten and all the time and hard work is worth the hassle.

Yesterday we painted the primer on. While it dried we went into the living and started demolition there. I was amazed how much we got done with what little time we had. With Dennis working so much at his job, we only have a few hours each day to get anything done.
The above picture is our hallway leading from the living room to the bedrooms and bathroom. There were so many holes in the walls from years of picture hanging, and these were not just small pin holes. When you put a nail into plaster it chips and leaves golf ball sized holes.
You might think we are crazy for doing demolition with furniture still in the room, but I don't have the strength in my right arm right now to help Dennis carry furniture downstairs. So, instead of waiting until help comes to move the furniture we have forged ahead. Mostly it has been taking off wallpaper, ripping off molding of which was no easy task because the crown molding was glued tight to the wall, and taking the brick off the fireplace and removing the hearth, mantle and "gasp" paneling. Yes, our house is a mixture of the 60's and 70's and is in dire needs of an upgrade. Next its time for the "gorgeous" curtains" to bite the dust. We have just saved them for last since we have wanted the privacy they provide. Do you see the lovely brass torchiere (spelling?) lamp, it is the major source of light in this large room. Thank goodness the plans call for a new light fixture in the middle of the room so we don't have to have a room full of lamps.
The picture below is our kitchen. Where else do you think we are going to store paint and stuff so it doesn't freeze. It has to stay in a warm temperature, so the garage and basement are out. I refuse to have that kind of stuff on carpet so the bedrooms are out. So the kitchen it is. There is only two rooms in the whole house not affected by the remodeling and that is the bathroom we have to use downstairs and the food storage room. I am trying really hard to be patient, stay calm and live with the disruptions for "the time being". It shouldn't be more than a month....I hope!!!!

All Work and No Play makes Jack A Dull Boy

2011-02-01T00:26:00.004-06:00

.....or so the saying goes. My sister and her husband invited us to go snowmobiling last Saturday up to their cabin. It was so nice to get away from the daily grind (and all the remodeling work) and do something different for a change. It was great to get out of the dirty, smoggy air and up where the sun shone so bright and beautiful. It was a lovely, warm winter day. Even though you see us all dressed up warm, that was for the ride on the snowmobiles. We did some snowshoeing, hiking, and visiting and just had a wonderful time. Thanks Nancy and Calvin for inviting us to go with you.

Even though one of the snowmobiles decided to break down on the way up to the cabin (which was a source of frustration for Nancy and Calvin), it gave Dennis and I the opportunity to hike out in the fresh mountain air, take advantage of the beautiful scenery around us, and get lots of exercise. Dennis and I LOVED it. We wouldn't have gotten to experience those things if had not been for the unfortunate snowmobile.

Bathroom Remodel - Update

2011-02-01T00:13:00.005-06:00

The bathroom is coming along nicely.

Backer board is now up on the shower wall and behind the toilet area.

The drywall is up and taped (although you can't really see it in this picture. The 2 rows of tile to be laid in the tub/shower.

Steve is hard at work laying the tile. If you need a tile man, Steve is the guy for you. He does a great job.

Dennis grouted all the tile today and it looks great. The walls are textured and ready to have a light sanding to smooth out the rough edges and then we start painting. I love to just stand and look at it. I can't wait to have it all done and decorated with fun colors. Stay tune, more to come.

Bathroom Remodel 2

2011-01-25T15:12:00.003-06:00

It sure takes a lot of work before progress is really seen. I had no idea it would take so long to do all new plumbing, of course in my mind I was just thinking more cosmetic when it came to remodeling. Dennis was smart in thinking beyond that and wanting all new plumbing. I will be grateful for that in the years ahead. And...redoing the plumbing wasn't just confined to the bathroom. It included the half bath and laundry on the other side of the the wall, and the utility room directly underneath in the basement.

Dennis got some tile from his mom and dad when we were visiting them right after Thanksgiving. He got just enough for the floor and we have been trying to find something to go with it for the shower. We found one tile that sorta went, but the only thing that made it doable was the decorative squares and for just 20 pieces that would have cost over $140.00 and that did not include the so-so tile. He really wanted the tile he got from his dad, but realized it wasn't going to work unless he took a drive to Arizona. So today we looked at other choices and found something that we both liked.

We still have yet to settle on a wood floor for the hallway. Apparently it is not so important now as it was last week to know the depth of the wood floor. I don't understand all of it. Hopefully Steve knows what he is doing.

Can't wait to see what fun things they will work on today. From here on out I will actually see the "cosmetic" changes.

Bathroom Remodel

2011-01-21T18:09:00.003-06:00

We have finally started remodeling our main bathroom. It has needed it for many years. It was time for the pink tub and pink flowered, peeling, wallpaper to disappear. We took it down to the studs, which was no easy chore because our house, being made in the 1960's has plaster over sheet rock with chicken wire at all the seams. Dennis did such a good job demoing it with some help from Steve and I. I wanted to help more, but I got sick that day.

Now Steve has been replacing all the old water and drain pipes with all new plastic lines. We got a bonus out of the deal. The utility room is directly underneath and in order to get to the pipes we had to take out all the junk that has been in there since we moved in. We also took down the make shift "sheet rock" some previous owner put up. Steve has moved the water heater and salt water tank to make the room much more functional. We have gained a whole new utility room with a lot of storage space.

Before too much more can be done we have to buy the shower fixtures and decide on what wood floor we want to go in the hallway. At first I thought deciding on what particular wood floor I wanted in the hallway was premature, but when they explained to me that in order for the tile floor in the bathroom to match up with the wood floor in the hallway, they have to know the depth of the wood floor. It has been impossible for Dennis and I to get together and decide on what we both like with our very different and busy schedules. I think tomorrow is the day to make many of these decisions. Now if we can find something we both agree on. Dennis seems to gravitate to the most expensive items, and our budget doesn't allow for that.

I am so glad we were able to redo the bathroom downstairs 2 1/2 years ago so we would be ready when it came time to do the upstairs bath. It takes some pre-thought to make sure I have everything I need to get ready for the day, but at least we have another bathroom.

I am so excited for it to be done and look gorgeous. Then we move on to the living room and hallway. The 80's look has had it's day and it is time for a re-do. I just hope I can stay sane with all the dirt and dust, clutter and upheavel that comes with remodeling.

Elder Patrick and Sister Jennifer Kaeron

2011-01-16T22:21:00.002-06:00

Stake Conference was amazing. We went to both the Saturday evening and Sunday morning sessions. Elder Kaeron and his wife Jennifer moved here recently from England. They were awesome speakers. You could really feel the spirit in the room. All of the talks given were very good. I am so glad we went and were spiritually fed.

Where did the week go?

2011-01-13T18:07:00.002-06:00

I feel like I have been in a whirlwind. This week has been plain crazy, but crazy in a good way. My typical routine has been like this:

4:45 am Rise and shine (Dennis has to leave for work at 5:45am)
5:00 - 5:45am Fix Dennis' lunch, make fresh squeezed juice, read scriptures with Dennis
5:45 - 6:15am Clean up Dennis' breakfast mess and juice machine, prayer
6:15 - 6:45am Exercise on the wonderful Cellerciser
6:45 - 7:30am Shower, do hair, makeup, and fix my breakfast
7:30 - 7:55am Eat and personal scripture study
7:55 - 8:05am Grab everything I need for the day and leave
8:05 - 8:30am Drive to BYU
8:30 - 1:30pm Train as a missionary - I am going to love this once I get organized
1:30 - 4:30pm Depending on the day Run errands, attend organ class, grocery shopping, shop for comfortable walking shoes
4:30 - 6:00pm Prepare, eat and clean up dinner
6:00 - 9:30pm Depending on the day: church cleaning, Class, Appt w/ Stake President, Homework for online school course, tonight is Cub Scout Round Table
9:30 - 10:00pm Prepare for bed
10:00pm DROP INTO BED to start all over again the next day

I have a sink full of dirty dishes because I haven't had time to wash them for 4 days. My floors are dirty and the furniture is covered with a thick layer of white dust. I have to not think about it so I don't go crazy, and I don't want to go crazy. The dishes will get done tomorrow (I could be doing them right now, but I HAD to check my weeks worth or emails and blogs), the floors and furniture will remain dirty until the bathroom remodel is done.

I think next week will be less busy than this one. I will have a routine more in place and won't have to be at BYU as much. Now I better go fix dinner or we won't eat before going to round table. I hope you are having a good relaxing week. Oh, by the way, have you thought about doing indexing for the church. It is a neat opportunity and pretty fun. Check it out here.

Baby, It's COLD outside

2011-01-10T21:41:00.002-06:00

It's freezing cold weather like we've had these past 2 weeks that makes me think Dennis is right when he says we should become snowbirds once he retires. I have (and still do) resist him when he says it, but it would be much nicer than this freezing cold.

We were talking with some ward members while cleaning the church building tonight and they all have snow shoes and said we should get together and go. That would be SO fun! We have only used our snow shoes once since we got them for Christmas a year ago. I love the mountains and the snow and putting both of them together with some good exercise would make for an awesome experience. I can't hardly wait!

So the initial training for the Family History Center is now over. Tomorrow I start the month-long one on one tutoring with a mentor. I am so excited! We were shown all the new and most modern equipment to help people with their genealogy research. When there are no patrons to help, we can work on our own research. I feel like I have died and gone to Heaven.

busy, Busy, BUSY

2011-01-07T21:24:00.002-06:00

I was planning on winter 2011 being a much slower pace of life than Jan 2010, but alas, it will not be. Last year I was so busy that I nearly became a basket case. When I was going through my journal New Years Day I was reminded how busy Jan - April was last year and I was tellling myself it would not happen this year. I was going to read and sew and do other crafty things that were relaxing. But what do you do when sitting in church and as the Bishop is reading a list of missionary opportunities, the Spirit whispers that this is for YOU. Two of the items from his list made me quite excited so I checked into them right after church. Now here I am not even a full week later and I have signed up and taken two of three training sessions to be a Family History Missionary at the BYU Family History Library. The other opportunity was to serve at the Provo Humanitarian Center sewing quilts and other items and whatever else needed doing there. It was not a hard choice for me because Family History is a love of mine. I have missed the time I served at our Stake Family History Library several years ago. I tried last year to get back on there, but the time slots they had available did not work with my already very busy schedule then. Now I have the opportunity to serve at the best library West of the Mississippi. I will get to know all the latest and greatest in Family History research, have access to maps, books, histories, microfiche, and all the other cool stuff they have and I can help other people with their family histories too. How cool is that!!! I am SUPER, SUPER, excited. So goodbye to the sedentary life of sewing and crafting, but HELLO FAMILY HISTORY! Can you tell I am just a little excited. Oh, and this is an actual mission. I have to fill out mission papers, have the Bishop and Stake President sign them and agree to serve two 4 1/2 hour days per week for at least one year. No problem, that is as long as the Bishop and Stake President sign the papers.

1-1-11

2011-01-01T18:28:00.004-06:00

According to the Chinese, calendar dates with all the same numbers are supposed to be very lucky.

I don't feel that today has been lucky, but it has been a relaxed, low-key kind of day, which I think is what New Years Day is supposed to be. I always felt like New Years Eve and Day were the end of a long, busy holiday season. Hopefully 2011 will be a very good year for our family.

When I woke up this morning I didn't want to get out of bed. I just wanted to relish lying there without having plans, or to do lists to accomplish. I decided it would be a great time to write in my journal some of the good and not so great things that happened in my life during 2010. As I started writing, I realized that I couldn't remember everything or even most anything, that happened, so I started reading my journal to jog my memory. 5 hours later I had nearly finished reading through mid December (and had my memory jogged quite a bit) when Dennis came home early from rabbit hunting with Randy, Steve, Brian and Clay. I'm glad I don't have many days like this, but occasionally it is good to do absolutely nothing, except reminisce, ponder, reflect or meditate.

Here is what I came up with as the best and worst of 2010.
Worst:
1- Dad's death on October 16th.
Even though I have witnessed the Lord's blessings of peace and comfort and reassurance that this was His plan, it has still been very difficult. I miss dad terribly and have felt the hole that he left with every family party or get together. Even simple things like watching my mom leave our house on my birthday and get into her car alone brought me much sorrow. I can't even imagine what it is like for her.

2- The passing of acquaintances.
Several good people died this year that had an influence on my life. Kim Turner an employee of RMWC, the company I am the secretary for. He was such a nice man and I felt sorry for the terrible time he was having going through a divorce and decided that taking his own life was the only way out. Such a waste! Ed's brother Rex Kocherhans. Ed is my boss. I met his brother Rex while on the Stampin' Up! cruise a few years ago. Many of Ed's family went on the cruise and his entire family included Dennis and I in most everything they did. Rex was one of the nicest people and so kind to us. He sang in the Tabernacle Choir. He died suddenly from a staff infection. The saddest was the death of Mrs. Meibos, the mother of our dearest friend Jeanette Dunn. The Meibos and Dunn family have struggled this entire year in taking care of Jeanette's dad who has Parkinson's Disease. The have had someone by his bedside 24/7. At one point Mr. Meibos was able to go home and Mrs. Meibos was trying to take care of him as much as she could, but she fell one day and broke her back. During the surgery to fix her back the doctors cut her spinal cord which released spinal fluid into her brain and she didn't live too long after that. It was extremely sad to see Jeanette and her family suffer through all of this and are still taking care of her father 24/7.

3- Porter getting hit in the face with a baseball bat and having his cheekbone broken, and later breaking his arm at the growth plate near his elbow. Oh, how that poor little boy suffered.

The Best of 2010:
1-My sisters, mom and I growing closer together.

2- Witnessing firsthand the miracles from a loving Heavenly Father.
When dad passed away, I saw many miracles take place. I am extremely grateful for these.

3- Seeing Mark.
We hadn't seen Mark in over 2 years, and didn't plan on seeing him until next summer when Taylor gets baptized. He was able to come home for dad's funeral and it was SO GOOD to have him here with us.

4- Charlotte Mackley.
Another blessing in our life was finding out about Charlotte. With Dennis' life long learning disabilities and the several injuries I sustained to my head years ago, we both have been struggling with different issues. Charlotte is an expert in helping heal the brain and we have enjoyed our time with her. She is such a spiritual giant and I came away every lesson feeling so uplifted even though what we were doing had nothing to do with spiritual learning. It was because of another miracle in our lives we were able to afford going to her. Because of someone running into the back of me in the truck at a stop light we received a "payoff" from the insurance a year later to guarantee that we would not sue them, and consider the matter closed. In my book, the matter had been closed the year before. Heavenly Father certainly works in mysterious ways and blesses our lives so much.

5- Tyler's baptism.
I am so glad my children are raising their children in the gospel. I am so proud of Tyler for wanting to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

6- Starting an exercise class on the Cellerciser.
This was the hardest and most rewarding thing I did. I stress too much over things and often times feel so inadequate. This was one of those times. I loved every minute of exercising with my friends. I hated every minute that I allowed Satan to convince me that I was inadequate and could not make it work. Once everyone quit for their various reasons, I couldn't muster the courage to approach more people. Among some of the reasons were: I really needed a better space than the garage, with winter coming I didn't want to leave the car outside and have to scrape windows, and it would be freezing in the garage - too cold to exercise in. There is not enough space anywhere in the house. The basement doesn't have enough headroom to jump. I couldn't afford to rent space anywhere as I was not charging for the classes. It was amazing to watch the change it made in peoples lives, but hard because I could only commit so many hours a day to exercising, I am after all just one person and can only do so much. Friends couldn't always come to exercise on my time schedule, even though they loved exercising on the Cellerciser.

All in all 2010 was a good year, full of joys and heartaches. That is what life is all about. The important thing is what we learn from all these experiences. Some of the things I have learned are: *That people are important and things are not. *We will see our family again when it is our time to depart this earthly life, but we will not be able to take anything with us except our love, faith and knowledge. *Life is too precious (and too short) to carry grudges, hatred, or bad feelings towards others. *We get so much more out of serving others that we put into it. *Hatred is from Satan and fills the soul with darkness and emptiness. *Love is from God and is POWERFUL and full of light. *My faith, testimony and family are my greatest treasures.

I hope all of you have a wonderful New Year!

5 down and 17 more to go

2010-11-11T13:47:00.003-06:00

Last night Amanda and I F.I.N.A..L..L...Y took the test for levels 200-500 of our on-line course we are taking from the School of Natural Healing......and we PASSED!!!! We are both so excited. Now we just have 17 more levels to go and 2 years to do it in. It took us over a year just to get this far. No, it isn't hard, it is just that life gets in the way and we have let this drag out far too long.

Now I am going to be up to my eyeballs in reading and worksheets now so I can try and make up time. Along with the school work, I am studying Spanish, and have started to practice the piano again. I think I will be plenty busy this winter.

Berries in November?

2010-11-10T14:10:00.004-06:00

Can you believe that I was out in my garden this morning picking strawberries and raspberries in the snow? It is amazing that on November 11 I still have any garden left. This is my first year growing either berry and I had no idea how long they would continue to produce. I think this year may be a fluke since we have had a nice long WARM fall.

Just for your info, the berries were D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S!!! Yum! Yum!

Personal Progress - Integrity #7

2010-10-31T20:58:00.003-05:00

List the issues, trends, and problems that weaken the family.
1- You are #1, deserve a break, don't let others tell you what to do.
2- Marriage between a husband and wife is old fashioned, we need to get on board and accept same-sex unions.
3- Drugs, smoking, immorality, body art & piercings.
4- Disrespect for laws and authority.
5- Lying, swearing, cheating, stealing, gossiping.

My plan to strengthen my family is to:
1- Set the example by reading my scriptures, saying my prayers, attending church meetings and the Temple, serving diligently in my callings, as a visiting teacher and in the community.
2- Love each person unconditionally
3- Establish traditions such as: family dinner and home evening once a month, picnics, playing games and doing other activities, family vacations, family reunions, family Temple days, family craft days, etc.
4-Help each other as needed: babysitting, minor or major home repairs, car repairs, rides.
5- Support each other in activities.
Just to name a few.

Personal Progress - Integrity #3

2010-10-31T20:34:00.002-05:00

I am so close to being done with my personal progress. I have just a handful left. For Integrity experience #3 I was to read several accounts in the scriptures of how individuals lived with integrity. Nephi, Joseph and Potiphers wife, Esther, Job, Shadrach, Mesach and Abed-nego, Daniel and the Lions Den, Paul, and Joseph Smith. Then I am to identify in my journal the ways these people demonstrated integrity and to think of a time when I had the courage to show integrity and share it.

I noticed when reading all these scriptures that all these individuals stood up for their belief in Jesus Christ no matter what circumstances they might encounter and in some cases even when death was the ultimatum. I am so glad that so far in my life I have not had to suffer for my belief in the Savior. I have only received blessings for following Him.

One evening a few years ago, our family was watching a movie. Within the first 5 minutes I had such an awful feeling come over me and I just got up and said that I could not watch this movie because it was too crude and vulgar. Once I said that, several other family members said they felt the same way, but hadn't quite mustered the courage to say anything. I am glad that I had the courage to do so and set a good example for my family to hopefully follow.

My Father

2010-10-19T11:12:00.004-05:00

It is with much sadness that I write this. My father passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on Saturday. Oh how we we'll miss him. We love you dad.

General Womens Meeting

2010-09-25T22:43:00.003-05:00

I just got back from attending Womens Conference at the Conference Center in Salt Lake with my daughters. We had a wonderful day together.

We went to Olive Garden for a late lunch, which was nice. Then on to the Conference Center. Alisha got tickets through her ward which was very nice. 5 years ago I was able to get tickets for all of us to go together for our first time. Since then we have tried to take turns attending at each others Stake Centers. While we were waiting for the meeting to start we visited with some ladies who live in the Salt Lake area but are originally from Venezuela.

I loved the meeting, but especially President Monson's talk. It was a good reminder for me to not be judgmental. It is something I struggle with, but hope that I am getting better at. I loved the story about the neighbor and her dirty laundry. To paraphrase: There was this young couple that would sit down to breakfast together and about once a week the neighbor would hang out her laundry and the young woman would comment to her husband, "There goes our neighbor again hanging out dirty laundry, you would think she knew better". One week as the young couple sat down to breakfast and the neighbor hung out her laundry, the young woman commented, "Wow, she is hanging out clean laundry, she finally got it figured out". The husband said, "No, I just got up early this morning and cleaned our windows." What a good visualization lesson that will be for me. I also loved President Monson's sense of humor. He is adorable. I LOVE OUR PROPHET!!!

I am really looking forward to General Conference next week. To "feast" at the feet (so to speak) of our leaders. It is such an awesome experience.

Thanks girls for a wonderful time.

Labor Day Memories - MOON LAKE

2010-09-08T13:20:00.012-05:00

The one thing we love doing most in the summer but don't get enough of is CAMPING. This year we only got 3 trips in....Memorial Day to Yuba Lake, the Lava Tubes, and Hot Springs. July 4th up Spanish Fork canyon to one of our favorite places "Tucker" and this past weekend for Labor Day we went to Moon Lake above Duchesne. We had never been there before and found it a beautiful place. It was disappointing that the lake was very low and that made for bad fishing. Saturday we decided to take a hike to the North East side of the lake to where the river comes in. We had read that the fishing is better there. It was a beautiful hike, but the end result was not what we had anticipated. All those that had their licenses carried their fishing poles and gear with them, but when we could see the edge of the lake, due to it being so low, it would still be quite a hike to the river and then another mile or more back down to the lake and it looked muddy and not deep enough to fish in. That was disappointing, so we sat down, took a snack break, then turned around and headed back out. You could see that if the lake was at it's normal high depth, the fishing would be better and the view would be spectacular. Truly a lake among the forest. Anyway, I loved the hike...the trail wound through the woods, over muddy spots with glimpses of the lake along the way, and the best part of all is I was doing it with my family. Even if the 4 year old had a major melt down and his 3 year old sister traded places with him in the carrier and all this made the going slow, it was still absolutely wonderful.

Our family prefers to camp outside of paid campgrounds. That means no running water, electricity nor picnic tables. We provide all our own via trailers with bathrooms (which we share with those that are tenting it), water storage in the trailers plus 4 or 5 - 5 gallon water containers, and generators. We love it this way, we can be as loud and obnoxious as we want and can run our generators way into the night.

Alisha and Randy found this beautiful, secluded spot

Hiking around Moon Lake

The North East end of the lake which was supposed to have the best fishing

What would camping be without one of Dennis' dutch oven cobblers

Oh, how the kids played and had so much fun.

Playing card games

Nightly trailer baths

The best part of camping....SITTING AROUND THE CAMPFIRE!

It is always sad when we have to clean up and say goodbye to another great weekend outdoors. The trip home was an adventurous one as not quite half way, Steve and Amanda's truck had a serpentine belt break and they were stranded on the side of the road for over 4 hours while we drove home, dropped off the kids, picked up a new belt and took it back to them. I am so glad we carpooled together and were there to help them out. But after the little delay we all made it home safe and sound. I'm afraid our camping trips for the year are over and that makes me more than a little sad.

Preserving the summer harvest

2010-08-17T15:58:00.002-05:00

Today I have been busy drying peppermint leaves (for herbal tea), tomatoes (aka sun dried), zucchini chips (great healthy snack), apple leather(with honey and cinnamon), and freezing sliced bell peppers (for Fajitas this winter). I feel like a squirrel preparing my stores for a long winter.

I also cleaned out the fridge which was badly in need of it. There is nothing like cleanliness, and clean windows and a clean fridge all in one week is amazing. Now to get the floors and bathrooms done.

Whoever coined the phrase "The lazy days of summer", must have been a kid. I can't remember a lazy summer since I was a kid myself. But I do love the long summer days filled with sunshine.

A day at the beach and other daily trivia

2010-08-13T20:07:00.006-05:00

What a wonderful day this has been. It seemed like a breath of fresh air after the stressful week I have had.

To start off, I exercised, which is always fun especially when friends come and exercise with me. Then I planted the new Echinacea plant I bought at Costco yesterday. I have been wanting one of these for a few years, but have been to lazy to check out the local nurseries, so when I saw the plant just sitting there waiting for me to take it home, how could I not. After I finished planting it, I decided that it was time to finally put the pink edgers around that flower bed. That was the last thing that needed to be done from roto-tilling up a good chunk of lawn this spring and turning it into a garden. Then it was on to edging and mowing the lawn. I always love how the yard looks after it's mowed.

The area of lawn that was tilled under and turned into my new garden plot. All the sticks in the ground show where and what kind of seeds are planted. This picture is sometime in mid May.

The same area as the picture above, now covered with Cucumbers, Zucchini, Crook Neck Squash, Honeydew, Early Dew, Casaba, Crenshaw, Cantaloupe and watermelons. Spaghetti and other various types of winter squash, one baby pumpkin, raspberries and potatoes.

Echinacea plant and edging pavers. The pavers are level, but the grass is not.

Then Amanda, Malinda and I met up with Alisha at the reservoir in Spanish Fork. None of us had ever been there before. It is a really fun place to visit and it is free. The water was colder than I had anticipated, but most of the kids didn't seem to mind it. The adults played in the water with the kids for awhile, then we sat on the beach and visited while watching the kids have fun digging in the sand and playing at the waters edge. What a nice relaxing afternoon. (I need to get pictures from Alisha).

Bitter Sweet GOODBYES

2010-08-04T16:20:00.004-05:00

It was so hard to get up Sunday morning. I am not a late night person, and all this week I was up way past my bedtime. But it was all well worth the sacrifices. At least we didn't have to perform on lack of sleep as they did. We fixed them a quick breakfast and were out the door. We had to have them back to the Springville Art Museum to catch a bus for the airport. It was hard saying goodbye to our new friends from Spain. As is the tradition, we sang "God Be With You Till We Meet Again". Someone had copies of it in Spanish so we sang it in Spanish to the best of our ability. If it wasn't for the solemness of the occasion, they probably would have laughed at our pronunciations.

Then they were off to Las Vegas for a few days, then on to Bountiful for the Bountiful Folkfest.

Springville Folkfest Saturday July 31

2010-08-03T17:29:00.012-05:00

This morning we all met at Alisha's house for a breakfast of bacon, sausage and pancakes. It meant getting up a little early because they wanted to go swimming after breakfast. I couldn't stay and play with them at the pool because we had a Nash Family Reunion that night that I wasn't ready for. So I dropped them off at the pool, went and got some copies that Paco had asked for of "The Star Bangled Banner", dropped them off at Alisha's house, stopped by the pool to see if everyone was having fun, then headed home to make my salad and gather all the stuff I needed to take to the reunion. I heard from the girls later that they ordered everyone out of the pool for 30 minutes due to some kid throwing up in it. Glad I wasn't there for that.

I would like to vent a frustration for just a minute if I am allowed to. Please forgive me, but I am not happy with the spinach at Costco anymore. I have been buying it in the large bags for the past 2 years now, but in the past few months, no matter what date it is supposed to last until, it always goes slimy and gross within just a few days of opening it. It is very frustrating to me. I bought a bag on Wednesday and the good until date was Aug. 5th. We opened it up on Thursday to put some in a salad Amanda was making, and by Saturday when I went to make my Spinach-Strawberry salad, it was half rotten. I spent much more time than I had planned on just washing the gross off of the good. There, now I feel better. Lesson learned, don't buy spinach from Costco anymore.

Dennis wasn't feeling much better this morning, but at least the diarrhea was gone and he wasn't throwing up, even though he was still nauseous. He had to go into work for a few hours, poor guy. He came home and rested while I finished getting things ready. Even though I left the swimming pool long before my girls, they beat us up the canyon to Mutual Dell where the reunion was being held (due to the spinach washing). Anyway, we all had a good time. It was the Blanco's turn to plan and they did a great job. We spent 3 hours doing the zip line. Everyone went down except dad and myself. I couldn't go due to my broken/cracked ribs, and dad felt he was too fragile to go. At 73 he has every right to not want to take chances and injure himself, even though some of the family tried to goad him into going down.

Amanda and A (during the ride)

Amanda and A (notice the tear streaked face - she is usually the dare devil of the group, but apparently she didn't like the zip line)

Malinda (and many of the younger generation) played like monkey's.

My mom all harnessed up and ready to go. Amanda, R, C, and T watching.

The look on P's face tells it all.

Little Miss K. didn't like it too well.

Even though he was not feeling well, Dennis couldn't pass up all the fun.

I had to bribe Miss LaLa to ride it with her mother. It's amazing what a child will do for a piece of penny candy.

Getting all harnessed up

After the zip line we had a yummy dinner of pulled or barbecued pork (no I did not eat any), rolls, spinach/strawberry salad, frogeye salad, relish tray, fresh tomatoes, watermelon, and dessert. During dinner, the Stone family sang the most hilarious song that Calvin wrote about Bob and eating. After dinner a few of the grandkids braved singing karaoke. Then the party broke up and we headed back to the Art's Park for the last performance from our beloved Spain group. We made it with about 15 minutes to spare. I was so tired, it was all I could do to keep my eyes open during their performance. After they finished I curled up on the blanket, put my jacket under my head and fell asleep, sound asleep, until it was over and someone woke me up. It was a happy/sad occasion for me knowing this was the last night of performances and we missed the first half and I fell asleep during most of the second half.

Afterwards we all headed to Carol's house and went up to the room above her garage that looks totally cool. It looks like the inside of a large old cabin and is decorated with hundreds of antiques. My dream room. She had sandwiches and snacks for everyone and the Spaniards had beer and we sat around listening to them play until 1:30 in the morning. Finally I told them I was sorry to be a party pooper, but I had to take Dennis home to bed. He looked like he had fallen asleep in his chair, but later he told me he was trying to not throw up. He had been sitting near the food table and it was making his stomach turn something awful. I actually think that everyone was glad to call it a night. We got home sometime after 2:00am, and we had to be up the next morning at 8:00 so they could pack their bags before we took them to be bussed to the airport.

Springville Folkfest Friday July 30

2010-08-03T16:50:00.005-05:00

Another day of no morning practices, so after sleeping in and a breakfast of American Omelettes we were off to play Laser Tag. We all met at Nickel City and while they played I ran some errands for work and then went back to Nickel City to wait for them and hand sewed several patches onto Miguel's cape. Then it was back home to get ready for the potluck at Carol's house. Carol lives in Mapleton and lives in a house that was built in the 1880's. It is beautifully restored. We all just sat around, ate, visited, and enjoyed the music the Spaniards played. They truly love playing their instruments and singing. After a great afternoon it was off to the Art's Park and another great night of performances. The Spaniards are very good at adapting and that is what Antonio and Javier did due to Antonio's sore shoulder. He could still dance and play the tambourine, just not throw the cape.

Dennis woke up this morning feeling very sick with the flu, but he went to work anyway. As the day wore on, he got worse, and was dehydrated from all the throwing up and diarrhea. He couldn't get hold of the doctor, so he went to the emergency room and spent several hours there. I wasn't able to be with him as I was busy with the Spaniards. He had to have a neighbor bring him home from the hospital because he couldn't drive due to the drugs they gave him, then he spent the rest of the afternoon/evening on the couch sleeping until we got home around midnight.

Springville Folkfast Thursday July 29

2010-08-01T21:42:00.002-05:00

Got to sleep in a little bit this morning, but because I let them sleep in they had a typical breakfast from Spain...coffee or milk and toast. We met the others in Payson for a day trip up Payson Canyon. First stop was "The Grotto". I had never been there before and it is a beautiful waterfall at the end of a short hike. As usual, the Spaniards carried their instruments and serenaded us for about an hour. Several of them braved the cold water and took a dip under the waterfall. Then we drove up to Payson lake and had a picnic of chicken pasta salad, watermelon, wheat rolls, pumpernickel bread, baguettes, chips, veggie tray and smore's dessert. I found it interesting that the Spaniards choose the pumpernickel bread. Some played volleyball, some took naps, and some of us had a wonderful conversation with Paco about vegetarianism and eating healthy. He and his wife are vegetarians. Then we drove up to Devils Kitchen. Then on to home for them to take a quick shower and be back at the Art's Park.

Tonights performances were once again amazing. During the Spaniards performance we noticed that during the dance part, Antonio walked off stage and when Javier turned around to do the next part, his partner was not there and he saw Antonio off stage (all of this actually happened quite quickly). We could see the obvious concern on Javiers face and he wasn't sure what to do, so he just walked behind the singers and walked off stage as well. The group kept singing as if nothing was wrong, but we all knew that something was wrong, so Alisha, Amanda and I all ran down to see if there was anything we could do as we had come to think of them as family by this time. We found out that Antonia had dislocated his shoulder while swinging his cape (these are very heavy wool capes) and they were trying to help him get it to go back in. He was in such pain. Patrice from the Folkfest took him to the first aid room and called the EMT's. They took him to UVRMC. Paco and Javier went to the hospital with him and the rest of the group hung around with such somber faces. We had no idea how long Antonio would be at the hospital, and the Folkfest had now ended, so we decided that Dennis and Amanda should take the little kids home, the group members that were with Carol and Val should go home and Alisha and I would stay since we each had someone we were hosting at the hospital and they had no other way home. Amanda's guys stayed with us and I would take them to her house when Paco, Javier and Antonio got back from the hospital. We finally got home about 1:00. Antonio was feeling good as they gave him morphine at the hospital, and his shoulder was back in place. He wad told that he had to be very careful for 2 weeks, but could never throw the cape again. After a typical midnight snack we all went to bed. I went to bed wondering how the nights events would change their performances for the rest of the festival.

Folkfest Day 3 - Wed. July 28

2010-08-01T20:47:00.004-05:00

Today we got to sleep in and then Dennis made them fried potatoes, scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast and they seemed to really like it. They had to be at BYU to play and answer questions to one of the dance classes. You can see photo's and a video clip here. While they were doing that, Amanda and I ran to the grocery store and Costco. We only had 45 minutes to do our shopping for the week and get gas. It never fears that when you are in a great hurry, that is when everyone moves extra slow. We were 15 minutes late getting back. Even though Alisha and Randy were with the Spaniards the entire time, Amanda's and I's group wandered away from them and went looking for my car. When we got back to BYU no one knew where they were. Just as we were about to panic, I got a phone call from Cesar. They had stopped at a Jamba Juice nearby since they could not find my car and borrowed someone's cell phone and called me. Thank goodness the Folkfest had us fill out wallet sized cards with our name, address and phone numbers in such cases as this. When I went into Jamba Juice to get them, they were playing and singing to the employees there. It was awesome.

We were supposed to meet the rest of the host families from our group at Nun's Park for a picnic. We ended up being an hour late due to our being late from shopping and loosing them/hunting for them. We had a good lunch of chicken (we had both fried and rotisserie chicken available and the rotisserie was all eaten and very little of the fried), potato salad, watermelon, vegetable tray and chips. After lunch we walked up to Bridal Veil Falls. They carried their instruments up with them, and after walking to a rock in the middle of the water, played a song for everyone there.

We had to leave there in a hurry in order for them to be back to the Arts Park for a 5:30 sound check (the sound people really dropped the ball the night before and made special arrangements to have this early practice before the other countries come at 6:00. Of course, we were all late once again. Tonight was another night of great (and different) performances. We got home at 12:30 and they wanted to eat for their snack what they had last night.

Springville Worldwide Folkfest 2010

2010-08-01T19:12:00.009-05:00

We just ended another wonderful and exhausting week of hosting for the Folkfest. It was an awesome experience. This year Alisha, Amanda and I wanted to all host from the same country and it worked out so beautifully. Alisha was the country chair for Spain which meant she was in charge of finding host families and was in charge of making sure all the other host families for Spain knew the schedule which was constantly changing. The country chairs host the director of the group and then assigns the performers to those hosting. I am amazed at how Heavenly Father plays a role in all of this, because as for my daughters and myself, we couldn't have been better matched.
For a more detailed account of what we did each day, check out Alisha's blog here.

All the host families minus Val's family and the Spaniards.

Antonio, Me, Cesar, and Javier

Alisha's family with Miguel and Paco (the groups director)

Amanda's family with Jose and Jesus

The Spaniards in costume which they wore quite often even in this heat.

They play such beautiful music and they love to sing anywhere and everywhere. We had two Jesus' in the group so I dubbed one as Beach Boy Jesus. He loved singing American songs and really got into it, and his voice was incredible as was all of them. What amazing talent!

Every time people come into our lives we are changed forever, and this time was no exception. Was it hard....that depends, late nights and early mornings are hard on anyone, showing our beautiful state...not hard, building friendships...not hard, constantly on the go...challenging, saying goodbye to dear friends from around the world....EXTREMELY DIFFICULT!!! What a wonderful opportunity to share this incredible experience with my children and grandchildren.

Day one-Monday July 26th...
We picked up our performers at the Springville Art Museum at 12:30pm. I was privileged to have Antonio,Javier
and Cesar
I took them home, gave them a snack and thought they might rest from their early morning flight from New York, but instead, being Antonio and Javier were the dancers they spent the afternoon practicing. (this group has been together for over 20 years. They live all across Spain and 1 in France, so they only meet together this one time a year when they travel to Festivals and play together. This is the only time the dancers have to practice). We had to have them back to the Springville Art Museum by 6:00 pm as they were performing for the Mayors Reception. Only Folkfest committee members and country chairs(and spouses) and some other invited guests were invited to attend. Randy didn't want to go with Alisha, so she invited me. After the Mayors Reception was the street dance in the parking lot where all the countries come and teach a simple dance to the host families and anyone in the community who want to come and participate. The Spaniards did not have to go to this since they performed, so they wanted to go to a local Restaurant and eat something. The closest one we knew of was the new Magleby's on 200 South and Main in Springville. Alisha, Randy, Clay, Tyler and myself ate with them and start to get to know them. We were in bed that night by midnight.

Tuesday-July 27th
Up at 6:30 am to exercise, then get them up, feed them an American breakfast of oatmeal, toast and deviled eggs(which they hardly touched), and coffee(I didn't know until just before they came that you can buy coffee in singles packets that they dip in hot water). They had to be at the Springville Art Park at 8:30 am, I think we got there at 8:50. I was always pushing them to hurry along all week. After dropping them off I had to come back home to work. We picked them up at noon and drove up to Kelly's Grove in Hobble Creek canyon for a picnic that was put on for everyone that was in anyway connected to the folkfest. The Spaniards took their instruments with them everywhere they went and always played.
After the picnic they stayed and practiced again as a group until about 3:00pm, then we came back home, they showered, rested for a bit, while I made spaghetti and lettuce salad. I picked up Amanda's 2 and with my 3 we had a car full, headed back to the Art's Park for their 6:00pm rehearsal. Tonight was the opening of the Folkfest, so Alisha,Randy and I put up chairs and blankets to save space for all the family coming later. Tonights performances were awesome. The groups this year came from Spain, Nepal, Inner Mongolia, Korea, France, Czech Republic, Paraguay, along with 3 local groups - Rocky Mountain Express(cloggers, Morning Star(Native American dancers), and Voice of Polynesia(Polynesia dancers).
We got home about midnight, fed them a snack...they all wanted toast (they love wheat bread), Cesar always wanted coffee, Antonio always had water, and Javier had milk or water.

More Summer Fun

2010-07-11T16:39:00.004-05:00

Tyler was baptized on July 3. We are so proud of him and his decision to be baptized.

Afterwards we all went to Salem Pond and had a picnic. Good food, family and friends and fun times.

Summer Fun

2010-07-11T16:08:00.005-05:00

We have had so much fun this summer. Here are some of the adventures.

We visited the Lava Tubes near Meadow, UT over the Memorial Day Weekend. We camped just outside of Yuba Lake and spent Saturday climbing through the lava tubes which was a lot of fun. We picnicked at the edge of a big white sand hill, from which several in our party got bitten by sand fleas or something. Very unpleasant for those bitten. After the lava tubes we went to some hot springs nearby. That was also fun (but I didn't get any pictures of it, DARN)
Inside a cavern

Coming out of the tubes

The kids loved it. Malinda walked through it all BAREFOOT! Crazy girl. She did pay the price when walking topside by getting stickers in her feet.

Where we started

When we were all done at the hot pots, Brian and Malinda noticed they had a flat tire. Not fun for them. It was about 7:30 at night and Meadow is not a very big town, which probably didn't even have a service station. Once they got the doughnut on, they had to drive to the next bigger town and luckily found a tire shop that had not yet closed.

Some people read

While others fixed lunch

Shooting trees with rubber band guns

The kids had fun catching fish....good thing they didn't care they were CARP!

Yes, I am still alive!

2010-06-29T12:46:00.002-05:00

It is amazing how fast time can pass by without hardly blinking an eye. I am not even going to go all the way back to February and catch up what has been going on in our lives. Mostly because I don't want to spring a sprocket in my brain trying to remember. Old age will do that to you if when you think too hard. J/K, about the old age part. In my mind I am still 25.

Last week we went to my favorite (PUN) place in the world.......LAS VEGAS, NV. Dennis had a Union seminar to go to and he really wanted me to go with him. Well, what wife in her right mind would not accompany her husband to the sin city capital ofthe West Coast? So I went with him. We had just been to this city of so much fun just last year when we met Mark, Elain and their family there. I had the best time while Dennis was in his meetings. I stayed in the motel room studying a really good book (no pun here) for the School of Natural Healing that I am enrolled in. I could regulate the thermostat to my liking which was more on the warm side and read, read and read. It was truly the best part of the trip. In the evenings when Dennis' classes were over we would make our way out the 'freezing' cold casino to the nice warm Vegas air and walk the strip looking for a new place to eat. Who needs to pay mega bucks to watch shows there when just walking the strip is a huge show all by itself. Just be careful and don't let your eyes linger anywhere, and I literally mean ANYWHERE for too long. I found that I spent a good deal of my time looking for people who were wearing modest LDS standard clothing and if I did see some, then looking for a garment line. I hope that does not offend anyone, but I really felt like a stranger in a very awkward place where I would rather of not been, and was looking for others who might share my beliefs. We thought Dennis' meetings were Monday through Friday, and so were very happy and relieved to hear the conference ended Wednesday evening. The highlight of the trip for me was going to the Las Vegas Temple. It is so beautiful and a wonderful ending to our trip. I was so glad to get home.

Friday we spent unpacking, laundry, opening a weeks worth of mail, mowing lawns, watering gardens, etc, etc, etc.

Saturday I really wanted to just go fishing. It has been over a year since we went and just hung out at the lake and fished. It is one of the few things that Dennis and I both love to do. The day did not disappoint us, and we had so much fun catching fish at Scofield reservoir. We then went on to Helper to visit Dennis' mom and dad for the last time at their house they just sold and will soon be moving out of state. Then we took a drive up the canyon to check out our favorite camping spot and that was so nice and relaxing, at least for me it was. I am so thankful we live close to the mountains and can have these wonderful opportunities.

Vaccines

2010-02-22T12:12:00.002-06:00

I have been doing a lot of reading lately about health, nutrition and vaccines. If you ever had the smallest thought about them being dangerous or about their effectiveness I would recommend two very good books.

How To Raise A Healthy Child In Spite of Your Doctor by Robert S. Mendelsohn M.D.

Vaccines, Are They Really Safe & Effective by Neil Z. Miller

Happy reading!!!

Good Works #1

2010-02-14T17:15:00.002-06:00

Record quiet acts of service I see in others and acknowledge their service in some meaningful way.

Mark is always helping out ward members in his ward. Most recently he has been helping his Bishop fix up a rental property because they are moving and need to sell it. Every time I talk to him, he is doing or has done something for someone in his ward. Last spring, he spent many hours helping with the flooding there in Fargo, mostly filling sand bags.

Amanda and Steve are always helping someone out. Often times we are the recipient of their quiet acts of service. Amanda is always thinking of ways to help someone.

Janice Piccolo visits Sister Lewis several times a week and takes her grocery shopping.

The Lynns' help Sister Lewis out by cleaning for her and doing little odd jobs around her house.

Dennis shovels the driveways and sidewalks most every time it snows.

Personal Progress: Divine Nature #1

2010-02-08T08:52:00.003-06:00

What are some divine qualities of a daughter of god?
2 Peter 1
faith
virtue
knowledge
temperance
patience
godliness
brotherly kindness
charity
she that lacketh in these things are blind (spiritually), and she that do these things shall never fall (from a testimony of and faith in Jesus Christ)

Alma 7:23-24
humble
submissive
gentle
easy to be entreated
full of patience and long suffering
being temperate in all things
diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times
asking for whatsoever things I stand in need of both spiritual and temporal
always returning thanks unto God for the things I do receive
faith
hope
charity
always abound in good works

D&C 121:45
bowels full of charity towards all man
virtue garnish my thoughts unceasingly
then will my confidence wax strong in the presence of God and the doctrine of the priesthood distil upon my soul as the dews from heaven

The Family Proclamation
I was created in the image of God
I am the beloved spirit daughter of Heavenly parents, with a divine nature and destiny.
In the premortal realm I knew and worshipped God as my Eternal Father and accepted His plan to obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress to perfection and ultimately realize my divine destiny as an heir of eternal life.

How can I discover and develop each of these qualities:

First I had to look up virtue in the dictionary. I have heard this word so many times and wanted to make absolutely sure what it means.

Virtue: conformity to a standard of right; morality; strength; a particular moral excellence; an order of angels; a beneficial quality or power of things; valor; a commendable quality or trait; a capacity to act; chastity-especially in a woman.

The scripture comes to mind "Who can find a virtuous woman for her price is far above rubies" paraphrased.

I am striving to have a moral excellence in my life, I am moral and chaste. I am constantly striving to be a virtuous woman.

I love learning and gaining knowledge.

I strive to be honest. A saying has really helped me and it goes like this: "are you going to let a nickel keep you out of heaven?" So when I owe someone any amount of money, or if the store gave me too much change, or I didn't pay for something I should have (no matter if it was my fault or the checkers) I think of this quote and do everything I can to remedy the problem.

I haven't always been temperate or patient. As I have gotten older I have improved, but it is something I am always working on. Much of the process is by gaining knowledge, praying for help and asking for forgiveness.

Brotherly kindness and charity are also areas that I am constantly working on. I know people who seem to have been born with the gift to be kind and charitable from birth, but I wasn't one of them. Some of the qualities of charity that I have struggled with are to not be easily provoked and to be long suffering. I definitely have room for improvement, but I am trying and that is what the Lord asks from each of us, that we keep trying.

I try to be diligent in keeping the commandments.

I truly believe in asking for whatsoever thing I need, whether it be spiritual or temporal.

I always thank Heavenly Father for my blessings, but I feel that I am kind of shallow in what I thank Him for. I actually prayed 2 nights ago (before studying this) to help me be more conscientious of all my blessings each day, so my nightly prayers can be more of thanksgiving. I tend to look at the big blessings and not recognize the little things. Often times when I hear other people pray I think to myself, "how to they think of those things to pray about, I can't ever think of that", then I try to remember what they said the next time I pray and can't remember. I know with the Lord's help I can improve in this area.

Always abounding in good works - I think I do this, at least I don't go around doing bad works. But I don't usually go out of my way to do good works. That is definitely an area that I need to work on. I am inclined to busy myself with things and projects and don't go looking for good works to do. If I am asked to do something, then I will do it, but I feel there is more to it than that. I know many good people who always seem to go out of their way to think of other people and do small random acts of kindness. To name just a few: Jeanette Dunn, Kellie Knowles, Betty Baker, Dawn Fox, Yeong-mi Phillips, LaDeena Peterson, Laura Pead, (these last two are Alisha's and Malinda's mother in laws). I appreciate the wonderful example of these great women.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to study this value. I know that I am a beloved daughter of God and that He loves me greatly, more than I can comprehend. One of my greatest desires is to become like Him and return and live in His presence. I am constantly striving for that goal by working on all these qualities.

Personal Progress: Knowledge #6

2010-02-07T15:43:00.002-06:00

Memorize two of your favorite hymns. Learn the correct conducting pattern, and conduct them in a proper setting.

When I was 16 I memorized "There Is A Green Hill Far Away". One of the general authorities spoke about how memorizing a hymn would help us so whenever we had bad thought enter into our minds, we could start humming our song and that evil spirit would leave. At that time I drove my dad's old pickup and it didn't have a radio, so I would sing this song over and over all the time. It especially comforted me when driving in the dark.

Last year I started practicing the piano again for several months and memorizing some of the songs I was practicing.

"Come Follow Me" and "Did You Think To Pray"

I am thankful that I learned years ago how to lead the hymns and have had many opportunities over the years to lead whenever I was asked to or there was a need.

Personal Progress: Knowledge #5

2010-02-07T15:29:00.002-06:00

Learn about an area of work or service that interests you.

I have been interested in alternative health for a few years now. At first I just listed to a radio program called "A Healthier You" on KSTAR 1400 AM on Saturday mornings at 9:00. Then I started doing research on particular topics of medical problems that I or my family had. Next I bought a few books and read them. Now I have enrolled in the School of Natural Healing which I am learning so much from. It is a two year course of home study and is excellent. It has made it all the more fun to do this with my daughter Amanda. I love learning! I love knowing that I am becoming prepared in such a way, that not only is this great information for everyday life, but in the event of a disaster when medical help for the masses is almost non existent I will know what to do to help my family and others. Since I have been learning about alternative health care, I have not had to go to the doctor in 3 years except to have cholesterol tests done. I am hoping that this last test I had on Friday will show that all the diet and exercise these past 18 months have proven successful in lowering and stabilizing my cholesterol and I won't have to go at all. I have seen my daughters use the information Amanda and I have learned and they now also haven't had to take their children to the doctor. They just know what to do when a child gets sick, and even better, what to do to keep them from getting sick. We started a book club in January so we can discuss with other people the important things that are in books written my medical doctors, that most other doctors don't want the masses to know. If everyone knew the things in these books, the doctors wouldn't make money.

Personal Progress: Divine Nature #2

2010-02-07T15:11:00.002-06:00

Understanding and recognizing divine feminine qualities in ourselves and others. The young women are to ask their mother or another mother they admire what she thinks are important attributes for being a mother.

Some attributes I have seen in women I greatly admire, to name just a few: Sybel, my grandma, and Jeanette my dear friend

patient
soft of voice
uses everyday moments as teaching opportunities
show more love and less criticism
don't worry about what other people think, but only what the Lord thinks
charitable
always willing to help others, even when it is not convenient
always thinking of others

These are some of the attributes that I am still working on, but definitely lacked when raising my kids. I am thankful for the great examples of these two women and of many others that the Lord has placed in my life.

I am grateful to be a woman, mother and grandmother and will continue striving to be better. The best thing about being a grandma is that I can recognize all the mistakes I made with my children and not make them with my grandchildren. I can love them more unconditionally and see that things will work out alright with patience and LOVE. Lots of LOVE!!!

Personal Progress: Faith - Tithing

2010-02-07T14:53:00.003-06:00

I can remember back when I struggled with paying my tithing. We were a young family and barely made ends meet. It wasn't something I was taught very strongly growing up, and with Dennis being a convert at 19, it was a new concept for him as well. We would pay for awhile, then when life got hard, we would quit, then felt we had to pay back tithing and couldn't afford to do that, and so the battle rage on within us. Finally we had a Bishop that got through to us. He read us the scripture in Malachi 3:8-11
Will a moan rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
Ye are cursed with a curse; for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.

Bishop Harding promised us that if we paid our tithing first, we would always be blessed with what we needed and this scripture would be fulfilled in our lives.
Ever since that time we have paid our tithing and we have been blessed. We have not been without our struggles (remember the post about prayer when I quit my job on faith?).
In the beginning we paid our tithing on our very humble faith and the tremendous faith of Bishop Harding. But as time when on we have developed a strong testimony of tithing and now don't ever think of it as a burden, but as a blessing. The Lord has blessed us with everything, absolutely everything, and all He asks in return is a mere 10% to keep His Gospel and this church going forward. I was glad for this opportunity to read this scripture again, as it brought back these memories and I could reflect on how much I have grown these many years.

Personal Progress: Faith - Learn more about the Sacrament

2010-02-07T14:36:00.002-06:00

For the past 3 weeks I have been pondering during the sacrament as value #4 says to do. I try to do this every Sunday, but I wanted to make a very concerted effort this time. I love the sacrament hymns as they always set the tone for receiving the emblems of bread and water. As hard as I try to ponder and focus, I find that I am easily distracted. When I close my eyes it is even worse, as I tend to fall asleep or my mind really wanders all over the place. I get as far as thinking about what I might have done during the past week that I need to ask forgiveness for in my prayers, and then try to think of ways I can improve. Then my mind just starts to wander. One week I sat in the choir seats all meeting because the choir was singing. I didn't dare close my eyes as I could easily fall asleep and anyone looking would see my head bobbing. If I looked out in the congregation then I would see particular things that would make me wander like: oh look at that pretty dress, or that child is being kind of rowdy...I'm sure you get the drift. Today, there was a toddler that kept crying. I felt for the poor parents, as they tried and tried to calm him down, but he was having none of it. Having been there as a young mother with small children, I remember how awkward it is to wonder, do I stay with this crying child so I can take the sacrament, or do I take him out and risk missing out. Finally the poor mother took the crying toddler out. I noticed that I was having a really hard time focusing and when the sacrament prayer was said, I was trying so hard to focus on it, but the crying child was so loud, it drowned out the words. After he was taken out, I noticed a tremendous difference. One thing I noticed in particular is that the Spirit is truly felt in quiet times. It is much harder to feel or recognize the Spirit when there is noise around us. I have believed for a long time that Satan uses noise to distract us. It is an easy tool for him to use on us and we must be very careful in our every day lives because we tend to fill them with popular music, Television, IPods blaring in our ears and just general noise from cars, crowds, etc. I have found that when I take some time every day and put on some quiet relaxing music I feel so much better. I am thankful for this personal progress value to help me try once again to focus more on the sacrament and constantly work on keeping my mind focused.

January Blues? No Time for the blues!

2010-02-05T09:49:00.002-06:00

January was a blur. In the past I always looked forward to January as a time to do crafts and sew. A time to relax, refresh and renew after a hectic holiday season which at our house seems to stretch from October to the end of January. I was looking forward to a nice calm relaxing January this year as well, but it just wasn't meant to be. Here are some of the things that have kept me busy:

1. I am taking an online course called "The School of Natural Healing" It is a 2 year course and there is a lot of reading involved as well as getting together with a study group to watch the videos on the computer, fill out worksheets, and have discussions.

2. I started a 12 week class to learn how to use the new embroidery software I got. Plus there is a homework assignment every week.

3. I made a quilt and pajamas for my grandsons birthday.

4. I belong to 2 book clubs and have been busy trying to keep up on all the reading.

5. To support my daughter Alisha, I joined her choral group (in Payson no less) with my other 2 daughters and we practice once a week.

6. I also started going to our ward choir after a 3 or 4 year hiatus.

7. I started cleaning out my basement. Started is the key word, but I did get rid of a lot of stuff and cleaned out some closets, but the contents now sit on the bed waiting to be reassigned.

8. I have tended my sweet grandkids.

9. Spent one day in wedding activities for my nieces wedding (of which it was a delight and honor to be included. Thanks Kim, it was a lovely day!

10. I started working on personal progress.

11. Every Saturday I went to a 4 hour class on how to improve your brain. Plus the homework from the classes.

Whew, that made me tired just thinking of it all. Now that February is here, life still won't settle down any. All the classes and schooling are ongoing, except for the brain class which ended, but there will now be some other things associated with it, I'm just not sure yet what they are. The Payson choral group goes through Easter, and there are always books to be read. I hope to get the basement finished (cleaned and organized), several craft projects that I really want to do, and gardening to get ready for (I just started a 6 week gardening class). I think I need more hours in a day, and more days in the week. But I love it all, because it keeps my mind and body active.

The Atonement

2010-01-22T09:23:00.002-06:00

This week for my personal scripture study I have studied about faith. Today as part of that I studied about the Atonement. There are so many great scriptures about it. After all the study I am to write in my journal my feelings about the Savior and what He has done for me.

How does one tell how grateful they are about something so wonderful, amazing and important as the Atonement. I cannot comprehend such great love as the Savior has for me (and you) to do this for us. The only way I can even begin to understand it is the love I have as a mother for my children, and now my grandchildren. I love them so much and would do anything to bring about their salvation. But being human, I get frustrated with them and sometimes even mad at them (heaven forbid). The Savior does not love us in that way, His love is unconditional. He patiently waits for us to get on the ball and recognize His hand in our lives. He forgives us when we sincerely repent and looks upon that sin no more. I am so thankful to know that He loves me in such a way, and it makes it easier to surrender my will to His, because He knows what is best for me and what I need to become so that I can live in His presence. My greatest desire is to be with my family in the Celestial kingdom, and to do that I need to live a Christ like life, but because I am mortal and prone to make many mistakes, because of His love and Atoning sacrifice, He can and will forgive me through my repenting and I can move on and strive to do better.

Personal Progress

2010-01-20T11:49:00.002-06:00

I have been the personal progress specialist in our ward for a year now. I enjoy the calling and have a testimony that it is an inspired program. So I have been asking myself this whole time "why don't I work on this along with the young women I am supposed to be mentoring"? Laziness I suppose is the best answer.

I have decided that now is THE TIME to begin and procrastinate no longer. So Monday I started. First I have to say that I am really excited about the new changes. I absolutely love the new book, pink and spiral bound. It is really beautiful.

I have been working on Faith this week. I am going to use this blog as my journal for the following reasons: 1. It makes me feel more committed to following through knowing that others are following this blog. 2. I hope it might encourage others to work on these areas of their lives as well (did you know that all adult women can work on personal progress and achieve the Recognition award and necklace?). 3. I have been seriously neglecting this blog for sometime and this will kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.

Value Experience #1:
I was to read several scriptures and two conference talks on faith.
Establish a habit of praying: beginning with regular morning and evening prayers.
I have had this habit of praying now for about 15 years. Before that I was very inconsistent in praying. It was because of an experience I had when I was serving as the secretary in a young women presidency that I began to change. Up to that time, you could call me a fence sitter Mormon. I had two daughters in young women at that time and the theme that year was "Experiment Upon the Word".

Alma 32:27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.

She had a beautiful picture made up by one of the leaders, and everyone in young women's was to sign it committing to this challenge. That was a turning point in my life. I felt that as a leader and mother to these young women I needed to commit. For the first time in my life, I started a regular reading program, and started praying. I wasn't perfect in the beginning, but I worked at it steadily and now 15 years later, I can look back and see the marvelous change that faith and prayer have made in my life. I rarely think about that anymore, but reading that part of Alma again brought it back to me and I am so grateful to that YW president who made such an impact on my life as an adult.

I have a firm testimony of prayer. I look forward each morning to speaking my heart to Heavenly Father and knowing that He is listening and knows what is best in my life. One time I remember was 2-3 years after changing due to that time in Young Women's, I was called to be the Relief Society President. I was also working part time and needed to, to help support our family. About a year after being called, it was wearing on me and I started praying to Heavenly Father for help. The answer I got was that I needed to quit my job. That was such a hard thing for me to do, because it meant that our family would really struggle. I finally realized that I needed to have faith that Heavenly Father would take care of us, but that I needed to take the first step. So I quit....and started praying fervently for His help. All of a sudden, Dennis started getting over time at work, where as before there had been none. Whenever money would get very tight, I would pray, and he would get more overtime. Finally Dennis would jokingly say, "Would you quit praying?" But during that year and a half that I finished serving as Relief Society President I did not work, and we were blessed to have just enough for our needs. That was a huge faith building experience on both FAITH and PRAYER. Since that time I often have my prayers answered in ways that seem miraculous.

I do have one huge regret. I wish I had realized all this much earlier in my life. Because I waited so long I failed to teach my children these important principles. Now I am trying to encourage them, but it is not the same as raising them with these ideals from an early age.

But I can pray for them, and I do every day. Watch our fam...miracles still happen!

How do you like the new look?

2010-01-18T14:01:00.004-06:00

Give myself a big pat on the back, I made a banner for this blog all by my little old self. S how do you like it? I know it is pretty simple, but it is my first attempt ever. I am such a novice at Adobe Photo Elements but I bumbled my way around. Now I need to get a fun picture that I can add. Hope you enjoy the new look.

Stake Conference

2010-01-18T12:35:00.002-06:00

We had stake conference this weekend and it was wonderful. I want to share a few things that I was reminded of. It is good that we can be reminded of basic truths because I sure can get side tracked and forget sometimes.

President Conley, the 2nd counselor of the Mt. Timpanogas Temple said that when we attend the temple we need to go with a purpose, not just to go and do the work for the dead. Maybe that is why I haven't felt the Spirit too strongly lately when I attend. I also feel better when I listed to uplifting music on the way to get me more in the spirit, but oft times I forget to grab an appropriate CD to listen to.

Our Stake President, President Young promised us that if we attend the temple more often we will be taught by the Lord, but only if we attend more often than we are not attending. I have set a goal this year to double my temple attendance.

President Young also said that we need to INVITE the Spirit into our lives. We can and will have joy and peace in our lives when we turn our lives over the the Lord. We need to be truly converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He said that is the reason why the 3 witnesses of the Book of Mormon fell away from the church is that at one time they had a testimony, but they were not truly converted. A testimony is not enough, only total conversion.

A priest Kurt Gilbert from our ward spoke and did an awesome job. He said we need to DARE to do what is right.
D -decide now what you will do in a bad situation
A -arise above the pressure of the world and peers
R -remember who you are, a son or daughter or Heavenly Father
E -be and Example. Don't be IN the in crowd, BEGIN the crowd

President Pitts of the Utah South Mission said we need to "Lean toward the light".
The light being our Savior Jesus Christ. Just as a plant when turned will lean back towards the light, no matter how many times it is turned.

President Watts a counselor in the stake presidency said we need to "Develop Christ like attributes". We should kneel twice a day and supplicate to the Lord. Kneeling shows honor and respect. Twice a day is a minimum.

President Young said "The study of the gospel will change behavior quicker than studying behavior will change behavior". I thought that was simple yet profound. He also said that we need to "Be obedient to what God asks us to do".

I am glad to know that I am on the right path, but there is always room for improvement. I know that with earnest prayer (on my knees), attending the temple more often and following our Savior I can be a better person. I am grateful to the Spirit of the Holy Ghost for helping me feel the spirit of the meetings and to be able to see those things that I need to work on for the next 6 months. I LOVE THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST!

Book Club

2010-01-17T17:34:00.002-06:00

Amanda and I are starting a Book Club. We have been reading such good books about health and nutrition, that we just want to share all our knowledge with other people, but they don't seem to be interested. We thought that maybe if they actually read the books, that they might catch the fire as well. It will great fun to be able to discuss these books with others and get their take on them and share ideas and such. If you are reading this and might be interested, the book for January is "How to Raise A Healthy Child...In Spite of Your Doctor" by Robert S. Mendelsohn M.D. It is an awesome book and so enlightening. I just wish I had known about this book when I was a young mother with babies. I believe this is just one of the "Hidden Treasures of Knowledge" I talked about in my diet blog .

When: Wednesday, January 27
Where: My house (if you need an address, email me at luvtostamp@gmail.com)
Time: 7:00 pm

I had a few copies of the book which I picked up at wholesale. They are just 5.00.

Wed - Sat Thankfulness list

2009-11-28T22:50:00.002-06:00

Wed. - Malinda and Brian finding an apartment so they can finally be back together as a family.
Thur. - To spend Thanksgiving with my sister and her family. We had a wonderful time.
Fri. - BLACK FRIDAY sales at Walmart. It was totally awesome!!!
Sat. - BYU beating the Utes!!!

I just love the Thanksgiving holiday. I love everything about it. Good food, great times with people I love. SHOPPING at 4:00am and getting some incredible deals. Eating leftovers, spending more time with family and more shopping. Who could ask for more? ..... Well maybe I could ask for one thing. Can someone please take this sore throat away. It hurts to talk and swallow, plus my ears hurt and have a loud ringing in them. Please, just take it away.

Now we are in the official countdown to Christmas. Mine and Dennis' favorite time of the year. Let the MERRIMENT begin!!!

Tues. Nov 24 thankfulness

2009-11-25T17:10:00.002-06:00

I am so thankful for good health.

I woke up at 3:00 am with a sore throat. It kept me awake for 45 minutes until I finally got up and did something about it. I gargled, took some Echinacea and went back to bed and blissful slept (until the alarm went off at 4:45 am), promptly turned off the alarm and went back to sleep for another hour. After Dennis left for work I took a hot bath and drank some Yarrow tea to help me sweat out any germs and crawled back into bed with Dennis' hot mattress pad and slept for 2 more hours. I woke up feeling so much better. I am still taking the Echinacea and gargling throughout the day, plus putting on Sen Sei. I just can't get sick right now and miss the Black Friday sales - that would be horrible.

Today I am thankful for....

2009-11-24T22:19:00.002-06:00

Flowers in winter. Dennis brought me home a beautiful bouquet of roses last Monday. I have been cutting them back and giving them fresh water about every 3 day, and half of them are still alive and they bring a ray of beauty into our home.

November 23 Thankfulness

2009-11-23T17:21:00.003-06:00

Here I am again, 5 days behind. So here is my list of 5 things:

1. I am grateful for my parents. They have taught me so much in my life. They share so much with our family from their garden and fruit trees.
2. I am grateful for Dennis parents also. Mark (Dennis's dad) thought he had a heart attack Saturday night and spent all night Saturday and all day Sunday in the hospital having tests done. They found nothing, which we are all very grateful for. It must have just been stress related. We had been up there all day Saturday helping Steve install the new countertops he made for them. We think that dad must have done too much. We are so glad he is home from the hospital with a clean bill of health.
3. Christmas music. I apologize if I have posted this before already but it is our (Dennis and my) favorite kind of music. I play it pretty loud all day every day.
4. Inflated tires. I totally take for granted the tires on the car UNTIL THAT IS....heaven forbid one goes flat. What a hassle!!!
5. The last of the melons from my garden. I think it is a Casaba or Crenshaw, but whatever it is, it is so delicious. Who would have thought that melons would last until November. It was one of those things my father taught me. (Thanks dad).

Wednesday Nov 18

2009-11-18T18:46:00.002-06:00

I decided it would be easier to make a list of things I am grateful for today, rather than try to think back a week.

1- A great, but exhausting 4 day workshop.
2- A new outlook on life
3- Another class on my new sewing machine, this time I learned some basics on machine embroidering. I am so excited. I have all these ideas in my head that I want to make.
4- I finally have ideas in my head. I have felt like I have been on auto pilot for the last year and a half. Nothing to motivate or drive me.
5- I have a new passion in my life, and I am so excited about it. I feel like a kid on Christmas eve. I can't spill the beans right now, but watch for great things from me in the next year.
6- A wonderful weekend with 2 of my sweet, beautiful grand daughters. Plus the bonus of - on Family Home Evening watching all the grandkids interact and play with each other. It is truly a piece of Heaven. They really do love each other.
7- Listening to little P. who is 3 years old recite the 1st Article of Faith. His mom has given him an incentive to memorize it. All he wants is a hamburger and a "big corn" (corn on the cob). He is working so hard and it is so sweet.
8- A clean kitchen. Since I was gone for 4 days last week and came home to company (which was wonderful), and then on Monday I picked up a large order of food storage items and it sat around the kitchen until I could get it into smaller packages, my kitchen looked like a war zone. I finally had a few hours last night to clean it and it feels SO GOOD!!!!

Tuesday Nov 10 gratitude

2009-11-18T18:43:00.001-06:00

Wow, I am so behind. Dennis and I went to a 4 day workshop last week and I have been running ever since.

Tuesday gratitude:
Looking forward to a 4 day break from the daily grind.

Monday Thankfulness....

2009-11-10T07:54:00.002-06:00

Today I am thankful for my new sewing machine. It took me a year to decide to fork out quite a bit of money for a new one. The money was a big deal, but not as much as the worry of learning how to run a new "computerized" machine. I knew my old machine inside and out. I guess that happens when I have had it for 33 years. Now that I have taken classes and worked on the machine I am not so afraid of it anymore. It is so fun. So far all I have done on it is make quilts, which is my new hobby. It's great fun. HATS OFF TO BERNINA! Now if I can just get to actually quilting the quilts.

Sundays are the best and I am thankful for....

2009-11-08T18:32:00.002-06:00

the opportunity to attend church today. I was sick the last two Sundays with the flu and I missed partaking of the Sacrament and feeling the sweet Spirit that fills each and every meeting. I wonder if we understand how truly blessed we are to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. I know I don't even fully comprehend it. It is too much for my mortal brain to understand the concept of "Christ like Love". Never having a bad thought or worse speaking those thoughts to or of others.

Nov 7 - Thankful for.....

2009-11-07T21:27:00.002-06:00

Paint, paint brushes, health and the ability to paint. I repainted the downstairs bathroom (we didn't like the other color I chose before) and painted the finish work Steve put up a few days ago. It is now complete except for handles on the vanity. Our guests no longer have to share our bathroom upstairs. I was giddy with excitement when I put the shower curtain up. Just plain wonderful. 41/2 months of working and waiting. YEA, it is now over. YEA!

Friday Nov 6 Thankfulness

2009-11-07T21:25:00.004-06:00

I am grateful for all of Steve's hard work to get out basement bathroom nearly finished. He put in the finish trim (baseboards and door moldings), caulked around the tub and shower, and cut out some tile for the shower thing to fit in. THANKS STEVE - I APPRECIATE ALL YOU DO FOR US!!!

Thankful for...

2009-11-05T10:30:00.002-06:00

Being it is November I am going to try and post something I am thankful for every day.
Today I am thankful for.....
The beautiful fall weather.

Who can not be happy and thankful for 70 degree weather and beautiful fall colors. It seems the world is in its full glory. I just love it.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T21:33:00.004-06:00

Despite having been sick for a week with the "dreaded flu", I got to enjoy some of the Halloween fun. Friday night found us at the Whitlocks annual Halloween party which is always lots of fun. Saturday all the kids and grandkids (except for Mark's family)came to our wards Trunk or Treat. I just love Trunk or Treat. I never was a fan of opening the door every 2.5 minutes. Now it is all over in about an hour, the kids get more candy than they can carry and everyone can go home and enjoy the rest of the night....For Dennis and I that meant watching the new Transformers Movie.

School season means CANNING season!

2009-08-23T20:42:00.003-05:00

I have been reading posts from many about their kids going back to school. Some are quite sad to see their kids go and others are ecstatic. When I had school age kids, I fell into the later category. I loved having my kids around, but being a working mother it was hard to leave them during the day - and they always fought with each other so much more when I worked. I also loved having a clean house for 3 or 4 hours and the peace and quiet - well that was Heavenly.

BUT

Fall not only brings school - it also brings CANNING.

Last Week: 28 quarts of peaches
Yesterday: 6 quarts and 40 pints of homemade Spaghetti Sauce

My canning shelves are now overly full...and...I still have stewed tomatoes, apples and grapes to do...oh well, I guess I will have to the find room somewhere. Forget the freezer - it is filled to overflowing as well.

Thanks to my dad for the sharing of his harvest.

Prologue - Springville Folkfest

2009-08-11T23:10:00.006-05:00

Saturday August 8th

Today was the last day of the Bountiful Summerfest and we had decided earlier in the week that we wanted to go. We had never been before and we wanted to see how it compared to Springville's Folkfest....but most of all we wanted to see "our girls" again. We left a wee bit early from my family reunion and headed North. There was Dennis and I, Alisha and her two boys, and Amanda & Steve and their 3 kids. Bountiful's Summerfest was different in two big ways that I could tell. The first was all the vendor booths they had. Close to 100, if not more (where as Springville only had about 20 or less). The second big difference was the stage where they had their program. It was set up much like a concert in the park and if you were not in the front, it was very difficult to see. Springville's is on a hill (like the Scera Shell) and is so much easier to see. I liked the vendor atmosphere in Bountiful, but really preferred Springville's amphitheater. The sound, view, basically everything was so much better.
Waiting for the performances to begin:

As soon as we got to the park we went in search of the Koreans. We found the area where the dancers go to get ready and hung around until we found someone from the Korean group. It was one of the boys and I asked him for "our girls" by name and in his very broken English he pointed to the pool and said "swimming". We thanked him and went to pick a place to sit for the evening. We decided to walk around the vendor booths and go back to the dancers entrance later to inquire about them. On our last row of vendors we run into one of the other Korean girls who was always hanging out with "our girls"....she was so excited to see us and told us to stay and ran off towards the dancers area. So we hung out there and pretty soon here comes "our darling girls". They were kind of surprised to see us, but almost as excited as we were to see them. It was a sweet reunion. We visited for a few minutes. I asked them what they had been doing all week and they said in unison "swimming". They were so excited that they had been able to swim everyday they had been in Bountiful. Then they had to leave to get ready for their performance. The highlight of the evening performances was see the Chinese do their "1000 Buddha Hands" again. It is just amazing.

The Koreans were the last on the program and since we had such poor seats, we went up front and sat on the grass so we could take pictures.

After they were done we went up to the stage and gave them all hugs and said goodbye for the second time in a week. Hye Jin was especially sad to say goodbye. Then they were gone. All the performers went back stage to get their stuff and go back to their host families, so we gathered up our stuff and headed for home. It was great seeing them one last time.

Another week has gone by and the Korean's are now all home. We have had several emails from Hye Jin Lee. We don't get much more than a lot of Thanks very much and I miss you (because of the language barrier), but we are thrilled that she even remembers us and wants to stay in touch. I will definitely do this again next year, and would encourage anyone else who wants to have a wonderfully unique experience to give it a try.

2nd Annual Nash Family Reunion

2009-08-09T23:00:00.010-05:00

Yesterday was the day for the infamous (but fairly new) Nash family reunion. This year it was my sister Nancy and her families turn to put it all together. Because we don't have enough funds in the reunion pot yet for a REALLY COOL PLACE we met at my sisters church's pavilion. Thanks Nancy (and family) for doing such a great job and having some really fun activities.

First of all we ate a great meal.

Mom and Dad Nash - The patriarch and matriarch of this great family

Why did the chicken (I mean children) cross the road(fence) Well that was where the playground was - THANKS Jason (and others) for hefting them over.

Boys will be boys - even when they are grown!

There was the treasure hunt for the kids...with a bag of candy and bubbles at the end

Water balloon volleyball - Yeah Lisa and Tony, good throw. If you read this and know Tony, you should ask him about his "water balloon boobs", which started a major water balloon fight.

We had a great time, but 2 things would have made it perfect: 1- If all of our family could have been there (we missed those of you that weren't able to come.
2- the weather (a cold front decided to roll through just before we started and it felt more like winter than summer).
Thanks again to Nancy and her family for such a great time.

Lindon Days 5K

2009-08-09T22:41:00.004-05:00

Dennis and I had been wanting to run another 5k, but up until Saturday hadn't been able to. I was going to run without paying money just for the experience and to time myself. Dennis always pays so he can get a shirt (one of these days I will make him a quilt out of all the shirts he has acquired). But today, when I found out the price was only 12.00 and that included the shirt I decided what the heck. I start out running, then do quite a bit of walking, and run again when I catch my breath and feel like pushing myself. I do this the whole 3 plus miles.

Usually I have been the one taking pictures of Dennis while he runs, so this is quite a change. BEWARE - I look awful without my hair done and no makeup.

I finished in 35 minutes and 23 seconds and felt really good. Notice the lady running behind me - it was my goal to beat her and I'm glad I did because......

......I took first in my age group 50-60 year olds. WOOT, WOOT!!! Only in a small town race would that ever happen. The second place runner in my category was the lady who was right behind me. It was worth the extra effort to push myself at the finish. (Huge pat on the back for me - Yeah Baby)

The 2 runners and 1 run/walker

Springville World Folkfest - GOODBYES

2009-08-09T22:25:00.003-05:00

Sunday, August 2

Parting is such sweet sorrow!!! Whoever wrote that hit the nail on the head. They had to be there at 8:30am to be bussed up to Bountiful for their Summerfest activities. We exchanged emails and hugs and said our goodbyes. I didn't cry until the directors of the Folkfest had the host families sing "Until We Meet Again", then the Koreans were ushered on the bus and they were gone.

GOOD BYE DEAR FRIENDS - TILL WE MEET AGAIN!!!

Springville World Folkfest - Day 6

2009-08-09T21:34:00.004-05:00

Saturday, August 1st

Today there was a swimming and pizza party at the Springville pool for all participants and host families at 10:00. My girls were super excited to go. After a quick breakfast we headed to the pool and while everyone swam (My Koreans, Alisha and her two boys, and AnnaLynne (David had to leave yesterday to go back to for work), and Amanda and her 3 kids. The Mexicans didn't swim. I didn't swim either, I figured I would be there if Amanda needed help with her little ones, which she did. Her children are not little fish like Malinda and Alisha's are. At 12:00 out came the pizzas (there were like 150 of them) and they were devoured within minutes. We had a good time just chilling, eating, and visiting.

Hye Jin, I wish the picture of the other girls had not been blurry

After all the morning fun was over we stopped by where Dennis was working and gave him some cold pizza. On the way home I took them to the Dollar Store so they could buy (Chinese made) trinkets to take home with them. Then we headed home to chill until 4:00 when they had to be at the Springville High School for dinner and other evening activities that were only for the dance participants. So Dennis, I, Alisha and Amanda had 4 hours until we had to be back to the closing night ceremonies (actually 3 hours given the 1/2 hour trip each way). We found the performances tonight for the most part were repeats of dances that were performed sometime during the week. The highlight was an encore performance of the Chinese 1000 Buddha hands. That was my all time favorite performance of the entire week. The Koreans played the same music (at least it sounded like it to me), but for tonights performance all the kids had their drums tied to them by some of the sashes they wore. The poor things were wearing their drums for hours as they were close to the end of the program. They told us (rather showed us through language barrier sign language) earlier that their shoulders get really sore. Some of the Korean girls are such tiny little things and their drums are pretty good sized.

But it was spectacular to see them marching on stage playing their hearts out. It was a bittersweet moment when the folkfest ended. On the one hand we were glad for all the driving to be over and ready to get back to a normal life, but sad to know that our new friends would soon be leaving and we would never see them again.

As was the case all week, they fell asleep in the back seat on the way home. I would have thought them utterly exhausted and would go right to bed. Wrong again. They went down to their room and I went about folding the clothes I had washed and dried for them to pack. When I took their folded laundry downstairs, they made a fuss that I shouldn't come into their room, so I stood outside the door until one of them came and got the clothes. I caught a glimpse of them sitting on the bed writing on the cards they had bought at the store that afternoon.

A while later they came upstairs and told us to sit and gestured to the couch. Then they brought out gifts. Each one in turn presented us with a gift and a thank you card. After reading the first card the other two girls told us "not read now - tomorrow". It embarrassed them to have us read the cards in their presence. We in turn gave them each a journal and told them it was for them to write about their experiences here in America. We all hugged each other and headed for bed as it was going to be an early morning wake up call in a few hours.

Springville World Folkfest - Day 5

2009-08-07T23:49:00.008-05:00

Friday, July 31

We got to sleep in again today. Thank heaven for small miracles. They did have a performance at the park at noon, but another small miracle, it was at a park only blocks from my house. The girls were getting worried that we were not leaving a half hour early, but I kept telling them this performance was very close to my house. I don't think they understood. The Koreans and Belgiums were the only two groups to perform. That meant that Alisha had to be there also. Amanda decided to bring her 2 Mexicans and come watch. Then afterwards we all went up Provo Canyon and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. None of our guests had ever had an experience like this before and they all enjoyed it. Then off on a short walk to Bridal Veil Falls because the Belgiums nor Mexicans had been their yet. We spent quite awhile there. The highlight of the afternoon was when Porter (3 years old) decides to pull his pants down and pee right there in the pond at the bottom of the falls. Talk about humiliating. Amanda must have turned about 5 shades of red.

Baby R and Baby A (cousins) enjoying the picnic

Cousins K & L, both love to eat.

Hye Ji and Se Hyun enjoying a good old American SMORE!

Se Hyun roasting marshmallows

2 men from the Mexican dance group (not the 2 Amanda hosted), they just came along for the fun.

Some of the group at the falls

Amanda and Baby R who loved the water

Malinda and Baby A who did not like the water, but isn't this picture precious

Hye Jin and Little Miss L (Hye Jin took a real liking to L and they got to be good buddies)

I sure hope he is not drinking that (and to think that some little boys pee in it:))

Malinda, Annalynne and David (Belgiums) and Little K (she is crying because she wants to get in the water)

Hye Ji, Se Hyun, Amanda, Baby R, Little L, Tyler, Hye Jin

They had to be at the Arts Park at 6:45 and Amanda's Mexicans had to be there at 7:00 so I returned the favor (to Amanda) and took them all down so she could have a blissfully longer evening at home. Most countries had different dances every night and that made it worth coming down to watch. It would have been boring with 5 nights of the same thing. Some wore the same costumes all week, but most changed them up.
Again, after the performances, the girls fell asleep in the car on the way home, but were wide awake once we got home, and HUNGRY! I think tonight is when they ate ice cream, which was weird, as they ate hardly any sweets all week.