I had an interesting phone call this morning. Around 10 am my cell phone rang... I looked at the caller I.D. and it said that "dad's cell" was calling. I had been under the impression that my mom had kept my dad cell phone and number. I was ready to be very upset for calling me from that number cuz my heart sunk when I saw who was (or who I wish) was calling. When I picked up the phone, I said hello and it wasn't a very nice hello either.

A man on the other end of the phone said... hi, someone keeps trying to get ahold of someone at this number and it's not me. I wondered if you would know why.

The guy was thoughtful when I told him that my dad had passed away this last April and it was probably a buisiness contact who hadn't heard that he had passed. He was so kind and said that he was sorry and I could call my dad's cell phone anytime I wanted and he would make something up.

So, I'm not sure what to say. I haven't blogged in a while and there isn't really a whole lot going on except for my bad attitude. Working on it!!

I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas. It is an amazing -4 degrees here with lots of snow and ice.

First things first... My many thanks to my friend J.T. for fixing my computer problems. He was able to help get me up and running again. It required stealing my kids computer and downloading all my stuff over, but he did it. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

On Friday my computer decided it had had enough of trying to fight off the virus I somehow received a while back and didn't know about.

Now to get back up to date. I' am so far behind. Now that I have come back from my Twilight reality, I am itching to get back into it. It is all I can do to now pick up the first book again. Yes... I am obsessed. I even got Jim to go to the movie and he liked it.

We had a great thanksgiving. We were able to go and spend time with my dad's side of the family in Brigham city and then headed up to the cemetary to visit his headstone that was recently put up. It turned out really nice. Then we went and visited with my mom's mom and family. That was nice too. I needed these visits. I'm so greatful for family. I am so blessed to have been put with this family.

I will find and update pictures soon. I HAVE to catch up on laundry and dishes first.

Appologies

Okay, Okay. This is an appology to all those of you whom I mocked and teased for becoming so involved and obsessed with Twilight. I just spent the last six days reading the four book seious and can finally see what all the hype is about. I do not like reading, but I became so overwhelmingly involved in this story that I am now an emotional wreck trying to find a way back into reality. PATHETIC!!

So, again. Sorry!

Happy Birthday Danaca!!!

I'm a little behind of this one. I don't have a lot of time lately to just sit at my computer. Danaca's birthday was on the 12th. She turned 10. She is an amazing girl who lights up peoples lives. She loves school, reads for hours on end and will make (has already made) an amazing babysitter. We love you Danaca and hope you had a great B-day amid the chaos in our lives right now.

Sorry... most of her pictures are in a scrapbook and will take some time to get to.

NERVOUS ABOUT WINTER

I would love to just sit here and write about how bad life sucks sometimes, but that wouldn't do me any good. All I would be telling the Lord is that I am incredibly ungrateful for all of the wonderful blessings in my life. I am desperately trying to count them all right now to keep me from becoming anymore bitter and angry than I already am.

So far... every season of this year has brought about something tragic for my little family. Spring was when my dad died, and then summer, my grandpa. Now for fall, Jim has lossed his job. I would love to go into details, but it will only send me into a more angry state of mind... counting my blessings, counting my blessings, counting... counting.... Suffice it to say that after 8 years of hard work and dedication with the Olive Garden, all it took was a brand new director who came here from somewhere in the midwest and brought over several of his old employees, one of which was a manager who he put in Jim's resturaunt and was only concerened with becoming the new G.M. This manager saw an opportunity to get Jim in trouble with something he didn't even know he was doing wrong and that "was all she wrote." The funny part is that Jim has hated working there for several years and asked the Lord on several occasions to help him find a way out.... I guess his prayer was answered. Does anyone else find that as comical as I do? Jim is very much at peace and comforting me in all of this. That's so sad!!!

So.. about those blessings. How grateful I am for the Gospel. To have a testimony and know that Jesus Christ lives, he is mindful of my needs and we are somehow suppose to learn something from all of this. I have a wonderful husband who is willing to work hard and honors his priesthood. Our kids are such amazing spirits and bring great joy into our home. We are blessed to be part of a great ward and have made many friends.

I went to the temple today hoping for some kind of clarity, and you know what I came away with...? The only thing that was made clear to me was that I need to go to the temple more often. I laughed a bit about that.

So, you can see why I would be a bit nervous about what winter is going to bring our way.

All I'm going to say on the matter is that I truely thought and hoped America was smarter than that.

I need two empty chairs...

Kailyn had her baptism interview Sunday with the Bishop and when Jim and I came in afterwards he asked her if she was going to have any family or friends coming. I will never forget how tender this next moment was. Kailyn was very serious and said, "My grandpa Hadfield and grandpa Sparks died this year and I need to have two empty chairs for them." Our sweet Bishop told her that he was pretty sure they wouldn't need chairs, but they would surely be there and probably would have the best seats in the house.

Together Forever, No matter what!!

If there is anything I've learned over the years, it's that Jim and I can get through anything. We've lived a fairly "easy" exhistance really, compared to some and I am constantly going back to the promise that the Lord gave us that he will not give us anthing we cannot handle. I hear about the last days, the things to come, the trouble that my generation is going to see and it does make me nervous, but we CAN handle it. Trust in the Lord! There is a greater plan.

I am posting an email that I received from a friend of mine. She puts things into perspective... Some of the email I have kept out to keep it reasonable in length.

Dear family and friends,
Early this morning at about 1:45ish we were woken up by our good neighbor pounding on our door and yelling loudly to wake us up! He was there to quickly inform us that there was a fire on our mountain, and we needed to get up, get the kids out, and get ready to defend our home.
Our family knows how wildly dangerous and destructive fires can be, but we also know, with a sure knowledge, that heaven isn't far away. Modern miracles happen. Prayers are heard. Angels are sent to help us when we need them most. And, most importantly, no matter how prepared we are it is still not enough without Heavenly Father's help.
Early this morning, a few good men showed up from the church to help Ty fight and defend our home. Ty has spent countless hours, and years preparing for events such as these. He has thought of every little thing doing whatever he can do to be self-sufficient and prepare for the worst. It calms us, somewhat, knowing we are doing everything we can, but it still feels like it is not enough when faced with the massive force of fire.
Not too long into the night and other fire-fighting forces began to pour in. Because this fire was the only fire in the area, many resources were sent from all over to help out. I watched as an army of fire fighters pulled their forces together and faced the fire monster head on. They formed a protective line of defense and did what they were trained to do in these situations. They proceeded to back-light the fire to form an area that they could contain the fire in. Still, with the winds and heat as strong as they were, nothing was a guarantee. As I looked though borrowed binoculars, I was amazed at how many firefighters were on the ground fighting this beast. There is strength in numbers. Without a doubt, there is strength in numbers!
As I watched and prayed through those many hours, a lot of thoughts went through my mind. This wicked fire and its destructive power reminded me of the destructive forces we face right now in our state and in our beloved nation. I know and realize that Satan and his evil forces have always been around through all generations of time, but boy, it sure feels like the heat has really been turned up lately. Every day I wake up and feel like we are all being asked, quite literally, to fight off the fires of the adversary and to defend truth and righteousness with all our might. I don't know about you, but fires scare me to death! I feel like I have no control over them. Mostly, I just feel overwhelmed and want to run away and hide. Who really wants to face that kind of monster head on anyway?
Well, I hope and pray that as we fight for truth and righteousness that we will not fear, or run away. I hope we can unite our own families, our neighbors, our wards and stakes, and our state and nation. Moral and good people everywhere need to unite together and stand for truth. The silent majority can longer have the luxury of being silent anymore. Together, we need to fight the evil and destructive forces that face us head on and not back down. We can do this not with anger or malice, but with real humble strength, and with a peaceful confidence.
United we stand, divided we fall. There is strength in numbers!

So I tried to find some pictures online but couldn't. My mom called me early this morning to tell me she was okay... I wasn't aware you weren't ok, I said. She proceeded to tell me that there was a very large fire in her back yard. OKAY, SCARY!!! I'm affraid of a lot of things, and fire is for sure high on that list. She gathered all of her pictures and loaded her car with the things she thought were important and her neighbor came and helped spray the hill in her backyard with water. I believe the fire was on the other side of a gully that was directly behind her house. There were a couple other houses up on that hill and if I can get permission to post it, I got a really neat email from one of those home owners. The fire was put out successfully and evacuation was not necessary, thank goodness.


On a side note.... I heard someone say something the other day that really struck me and made me want to really pray about who I am going to vote for in this election. Many people, including myself have said... "All we do in an election vote for the lesser of two evils". Neither candidate being of any great character. Well, voting for the lesser of two evils is STILL voting for evil. Think about that one!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAILYN

This beautiful girl turns 8 tomorrow and how proud of her I am! She is sweet and kind and funny and extremely dramatic. Kailyn, you have some wonderful qualities and I am so glad that you are a part of this family. Happy Birthday.

I didn't have a very good camara or take very good pictures when you were little so I'm still looking for some that I haven't scrap booked and can scan.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIGHTON

My baby turned 4. That is CRAZY!! What a joy he has been. I love my girls, but there is something so great about a boy. Something so different.

13 years. Holy cow! It's funny to me that it seems like only yesterday, and yet I feel like we've been together forever. Jim and I celebrate our 13th anniversary tomorrow. It has definately had it's ups and downs as all good marriages do, but it has been a great ride. I am not in a sappy mood at the moment, (and I'm pretty sure he'll never read this), but I hope that Jim knows how wonderful I think he is. So often I think about how blessed I am. I married a man who is patient with my flaws, who will cook so that we don't starve, and allows me to have "my time" whenever possible. He even helps pick up around the house and does his very best to make me happy. If I sit back and really think about it, I am spoiled. We have made it work and showed a lot of people that we were meant to be together. I am grateful for the triangle we formed with our Heavenly Father when we were sealed for time and all eternity. He is the center of our marriage and our home.

Thanks baby for a great 13 years!! I love you more today than yesterday and less than tomorrow.

So it's football season and because my husband is a Bears fan, so are my kids. They wear their jersy's for every game and love to sit and watch football with their dad.

The other day my 4 year old son blurts out, "mommy... Jesus wants us to play football." I have to say I was quite amused. I asked him why Jesus would want us to play football and he said something like, "I don't know, I think it's good excersise."

Stop and watch the leaves fall

I absolutely love this time of year. Minus the fact that it comes around so quickly and it means that another year is almost at a close. Can anyone believe that we are almost finished with 2008 and moving into 2009. Where does the time go? Have you ever thought about it? Where did it go and why so fast? What are you doing with it? It's not the time of year to stop and smell the roses, but instead how about stopping to watch the leaves fall. We have become a gotta have it now society and it is sad to me that we have falling into the belief that everything has to run 24/7 in order to make more money. I wish we could do something to change the way the world views our "day of rest" and how valuable it is and should be to our society. I truly believe we would be a more blessed people is we could observe it the way it was inteded. Sorry for the soap box.

So I have to say that this weekend was a tad bit crappy. On the 14th, it was my dad's 5th month of being gone. To top it all off, it was stake conference (my dad was big into stake conference, being the stake president) and the mission prez and his wife spoke as well as singing called to serve (one of my dad's favorites). So needless to say, it was a bit emotional and I have decided that I will probably just never do well with stake conference.

How grateful I am for the plan of salvation, for the love of my Savior and the testimony I have of His will and plan. I was blessed to come to a family who loved the Gospel and taught their chidren to love it too. I hope to be the kind of parents that mine were and are. My mom's example of strength and faith is overwhelming. I'm not saying she doesn't get lonely, but she is striving to know the Lord's will and stay close to those things that give her comfort, prayer and scripture study. She is amazing to me. I miss my dad and long for him to call me "beepers" and tell me that everything will look brighter in the morning. (It's time for a phone call Jimmy!!)

So the pictures don't do it justice! This has been our project for the past year and more so this summer. It is so time for it to be done!!!! Jim has worked so hard and been so good to let the kids get in on the fun. The blue room is going to be Kailyn's and the pink one is Danaca's. The red room is the theatre room and the brown room withouth the beadboard is my scrapbook area. The other brown room with the beadboard is the family room. We are going to start moving stuff down this week. Sooo excited.

It's almost complete

LOOKING FOR A GREAT BABY GIFT IDEA ?

Look no further. Check out this website for My Tiny Sweet Cheeks. Click on the post below that says my tiny sweet cheeks.

So all of a sudden, I have no background. I need to now where to go to get a good background, my blog looks stupid! I was using cutest blog on the block, but apparently they are no more. HELP!

Life as I know it...

So two weeks ago our ward was split. It was a much needed split because we had too many people to keep track of. The following Sunday I was called into the Bishops office and he asked if I would accept being released from my current calling as a relief society teacher. I was incredibly reluctant to answer his loaded question. Let me back up for a second...

My dad has always teased and asked when I was going to be in the relief society presidency. Any time I called him to tell him I was asked to serve somewhere, he would immediatly go for relief society. I would tell him that he was crazy and not to wish that on me, I was fine doing what I was doing.

Well, sitting in the Bishops office he asked if I would accept a call as the first counsilor in the R.S. presidency over enrichment. As I accepted and told him I would "love" to, I sat thought about my dad. I told the Bishop that anyone who wanted me in a presidency was crazy. When I got home from my interview I wanted so bad to tell him about my new calling. I knew it wouldnt be the same, but to satisfy my need, I called my parents home phone. (As some of you know, we've asked mom not to change the message cuz it's dad's voice) When I heard the beep I proceeded to tell my dad all about it. Dumb, huh?!

So, needless to say my schedule just got shuved into overdrive and life as I knew it no longer exhists. I hope and pray that I can keep it all together. I was overwhelmed with the immediate love and concern that I have for the sisters in my ward, and a desire to help them in anyway I can.

Wish me luck!!

Where to begin...

Since my last post was talking about all the craziness, now I'm going to post pictures. While Jim's dad was visiting I was able to take a 3 generation picture. And the girls got a picture with their cousin Bailey.


These next pictures are from when my sister was here and we went up to m Uncle Kelly's house to play with the horses. The kids chased the chicken, picked and ate fresh raspberries and got to ride Felice.





When all our company went home I left town. I went to Syracuse to scrapbook for a weekend with my friend Kimberli. Once a year (Mother's day weekend) we get together and scrapbook all day and night. Well when my dad passed away in April Kimberli suggested we move the weekend to August. I was so grateful that she didn't expect me to go thru with it and didn't make me have to be the one to postpone it. It's been 4 months and I am still having a hard time scrapbooking pictures with him in them. Kimberli completed 4 beautiful layouts and I was able to get thru 9 mediocur ones.

Craziness

This last week has been filled with pure craziness. Last Saturday, Jim's dad, brother and sister in law and their 2 kids came to stay until Sunday. They came because Jim as well as 4 others from our ward were ordained to the office of High Priest. They also announced that our ward would be split. But don't get any wild ideas. There has been NO calling attatched!!!

Jim's family left Sunda night and my brother and sister in law and their 2 kids came and stayed until Tuesday afternoon at which point, my sister came and is staying until Thursday night. When she leaves, I go to work and the next day (Friday) I get to go scrapbooking for a weekend.

It has been fun. My sister and I got to spend my birthday together, which we haven't done in years. We watched home movies that my dad made. He also made a video of him talking about some of his memories. It was soooo great.

Evolution of dance

I can't figure out how to get a utube video to play on my blog, but go to the link and watch. It's histarical.
www.evolutionofdance.com

My friend Bobbi sent this to me in an email and I thought it was funny, so I'm sharing.
PREGNANCY Q & A
Q: Should I have a baby after 35?
A: No, 35 children is enough.
Q : I'm two months pregnant now. When will my baby move?
A: With any luck, right after he finishes college.
Q: My childbirth instructor says it's not pain I'll feel during labor, but pressure. Is she right?
A: Yes, in the same way that a tornado might be called an air current.
Q: When is the best time to get an epidural?
A: Right after you find out you're pregnant.
Q: Is there anything I should avoid while recovering from childbirth?
A: Yes, pregnancy.
Q : Do I have to have a baby shower?
A: Not if you change the baby's diaper very quickly.
Q : Our baby was born last week. When will my wife begin to feel and act normal again?
A: When the kids are in college.

Memories

THIS SEEMED LIKE FUN.
Here are the directions:
1. As you comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Have you ever been walking along and had an overwhelming sense of satisfaction about your life. That happened to me the other day and it was a really great feeling. I had been thinking about where I am in my life and if we should have more kids. As I walked out of church one Sunday behind my kids, I looked at them and felt completely satisfied. Like, I wasn't missing out on anything. It was kindof wierd. Anyway, just thought I'd share.

Catch up..

Jim, his dad and mom took the kids and went to Yellowstone for Father's Day weekend. I stayed home to work. It sounds like they had a blast. They were all very impressed with all the animals that were out. They even got up close with a bear. There was a park ranger on the side of the road with his hand on his holster.

Danaca and Kailyn played on a fast pitch baseball team. A couple from our ward were the coaches and asked if they would like to play. Never having played baseball, I was a little aprehensive, but they had a blast.

On Thursday we went boating with my friend Kelti and her family. It was a beautiful day and the water was nice and warm. I didn't wear a bathing suit because I am not a fan of what they look like on me, but it didn't matter. I ended up in the water along with Kelti and Melanie (Kelt's sister-in-law) after a long and difficult tube ride. I was assured that by sitting in the middle I would be safe and not get wet. But I knew that I would get splashed. Kelti's dad was determined to not only splash us, but dump us. I am now very aware of several muscles that I haven't used before trying to hold on for dear life to a three man tube. It was crule and I got wet! Total blast. Thanks Brother Bowman.

Do you ever feel like life is running you over? I feel like this guy in white. How do people find time to accomplish anything that feels productive. I feel like I'm going a hundred miles an hour and getting no where. It's starting to get really frustrating. I consider myself to be a fairly organized person, but I can't keep up and I don't even do as much as some others do. How do you do it? How do you keep it together?

The scary thing is... this has been my easy season at work. What am I going to do when it get's busy again? We are also changing out signing process. It's going from easy to confusingly easy and I'm way nervous about our first few tries. I know that when we get it down, it will be good, but getting to that point will be interesting. Wish us luck!!

Pictures

Check out the latest pictures I had taken of our kids. They are on the right under the temple.

So is it a bad thing to have picked who you are going to marry at the age of 3? We went and spent some time with my friend Kimberli and her family and while we were there, Brighton (my 3 year old) and Bella (her 3 year old) said they were going to get married in the temple when they are older. Guess we'll see what happens. It didn't help to have older siblings eggin it on.

Monday's...

As most of you know my dad passed away on a Monday morning. What is it about this day? My mom's father passed away this morning. Another Monday.

We (the kids and I) went to Brigham City this weekend and stopped over to see my mom's parents. I don't get to see them very often and the mere fact that I made the decision to go down THIS particular weekend... my grandpa has been very sick for a long time but has continued to hang in there. I'm not sure he even knew I was there, but I went and just sat in his room for about an hour. Tender Mercies!

This picture is my grandpas legacy. We are only missing 2 babies and a husband who weren't in exhistance when this picture was taken. This is a very special picture. My grandma had said for several years that if my grandpa lived to be 80 we would have a big party and family picture. Our family is spread all over, but this is all of us!! I absolutely love this picture. We are all infront of my grandparents house with my favorite tree in the picture. My grandpa turned 81 this last Sunday.

Mock me if you must!

For those of you who have heard me say that I am not a big fan of reading... I found a book. Sadly, it's a kids book, but were taking baby steps. It's probably an very easy read for you Twilighter's out there, but this is one that my kids and I are reading together before nap time. It's called The Mysterious Benedict Society. It's very intriguing and mysterious!!

Birthday and Father's day in the same month.

Today is Jim's 36th birthday. I found a couple of pictures from his MUCH younger years. He's had some pretty great accomplishments thru the years, but his greatest accomplishment are his four amazing kids, who love him to the moon and back "and then some". Thanks Jim for being a great dad and husband and my best friend.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!

"The Bird"

I remembered the funniest thing that happened a couple of Sundays ago. I went to pick Brighton up from his primary class and his teacher was really excited to have him show me what he learned in class. Brighton wasn't sure what he was talking about and I could see his teacher behind him putting up the "I love you" sign with his hand. Well, Brighton stuck up his middle finger and flipped me off instead. I said "oh, so that's what your teaching him in primary... nice!" They were embarrased and we laughed really hard. It was so funny. He just couldn't get his fingers in the right place at the right time.

ONE WORD TAG

This was harder than I thought. Some of these questions require more than one word. Good luck

1. Where is your cell phone?. . . . . desk
2. Your significant other? . . . . . . ..Jim
3. Your hair? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .boring
4. Your mother? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..amazing
5. Your father? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . missionary
6. Your favorite thing? . . . . . . . . . .
7. Your dream last night? . . . . . . . LOST
8. Your favorite drink? . . . . . . . . . .Pepsi
9. Your dream/goal? . . . . . . . . . . . .Basement
10. The room you're in? . . . . . . . . . Kitchen
11. Your hobby? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .scrapbooking
12. Your fear? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . survival
13. Be in six years? . . . . . . . . . . . . . debtfree
14. Where were you last night? . . . work
15. What you're not? . . . . . . . . . . . .ambitious
16. Muffins? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .chocolate chip
17. One of your wish list items? . . . finished scrap room
18. Where you grew up? . . . . . . . . . Cucamonga
19. The last thing you did? . . . . . . . breakfast
20. What are you wearing? . . . . . . .p.j.'s
21. Your tv? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .sweet
22. Your pets? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .non-exhistant
23. Your computer? . . . . . . . . . . . . . love
24. Your life? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .work in progress
25. Your mood? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ever-changing
26. Missing someone? . . . . . . . . . . . my dad
27. Your car? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .gas hog
28. Something your not wearing? . .bra :-)
29. Favorite store? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kohls
30. Your summer? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . fun
31. Like someone? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .mom
32. Your favorite color? . . . . . . . . . . red
33. Last time you lauged?. . . . . . . . . yesterday
34. Last time you cried? . . . . . . . . . .yesterday
Everyone who reads this can consider themselve tagged! Let's see some answers.

5 things-

5 things on my list of things to do today:
1. Get up. (this is a tricky one)
2. Go for a walk.
3. Finish the laundry I started 3 days ago
4. Clean some part of my house
5. Go to work at 8pm
5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Chocolate shakes
2. Hot chocolate with english toffee and whipcream from the coffee shack
3. Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
4. Peach cobbler
5. yellow cake with chocolate frosting
5 things I would do if I suddenly became a billionaire:
1. Finish our basement
2. Finish our yard
3. Pay off my house and other debt
4. Go back to Fussen, Germany and take the kids
5. Let Jim stay home and work on his screen play
5 places I've lived: (this is only 5 of 18. Not in any order)
1. Tooele, Utah
2. Spokane, Washington
3. Omaha, Nebraska
4. Round Mountain, Nevada
5. Logan, Utah
5 jobs I've held:
1. Sir Speedy Printing
2. Old Navy
3. Flying J Corporate
4. KOHLS
5. KOHLS
5 things people don't know about me:
I'm not sure there is anthing that people don't know about me. I'm pretty much an open book.
5 people tagged:
Sarah, Emily, Chelene (if she ever sees this), Dayna, Bobbi

first day of summer vacation

I had all these great ambitions for today. Get up, go for a walk, get ready for the day and then take the kids out and play. Well, I got up. It's almost 10 am and my ambition is gone. Not cool. It's going to be a long summer if I don't get it together.

I need your opinion

I got really bored and didn't have anything fun to post, so I changed my background. I'm not sure if I like it. Let me know what you think. Should keep it or change it.

Another soggy day

I don't have a whole lot of anything exciting to add. Today was again wet and yucky. My brother and sister in law ended up coming to stay for Sunday night and visiting for a while. It was really fun to see them. We wanted to go to the cemetary and have a picnic with my dad, but it was way too wet to throw down a blanket and pull out the K.F.C. So we'll wait and maybe try for Father's Day. One of my dad's favorite things to do was go and get some picnic food (a.k.a. Kentucky Fried Chicken), spread out a blanket on the family room floor and have a family picnic. He wasn't much of an outdoors type, but it is and always will be a great memory.

Let's see... we went and saw Indiana Jones on Friday and I have to say, it was a little disappointing. I liked it, but I guess I had better expectations. Other than work, I haven't done much this weekend.

Is it ever going to be summer?

Ya know... it's almost June and we went from 80 degrees to 43 degrees over night. No snow yet, but at this point I'm not sure I'd be suprised. Everyone is trying to put in their yards, but it's been so windy and rainy. Sad. We on the other hand are stuck down in the basement trying to get that wonderful project done. Don't get me wrong... I've very excited to get it finished, but there isn't a light at the end of that tunnel yet.

Britney got tagged.

A- ATTACHED OR SINGLE: "Uhhh... single?"
B- BEST FRIEND: There were too many to list.
C- CAKE OR PIE: Cake
D- DAY OF CHOICE: Friday's, cuz it's candy day at school.
E- ESSENTIAL ITEMS: "my sisters and brother"
F- FAVORITE COLOR: Red
G- GUMMY BEARS OR GUMMY WORMS: Both
H- HOMETOWN: Idaho Falls, Id
I- INDULGENCE: "Airheads"
J- JANUARY OR JULY: July (that's not surprising living in Idaho)
K- KIDS: none
L- LIFE IS INCOMPLETE WITHOUT: "daddy. Oh, and mommy" (glad I was on the list even if it took a look for her to figure out that I should be on there)
M- MARRIAGE DATE: "July 20th" WHAT!!!??? Your only 5.
N- NUMBER OF SIBLINGS: 2 sister and a brother
O- ORANGES OR APPLES: oranges
P- PHOBIAS OR FEARS: "strangers"
Q- QUOTES: "I love you to the moon and back, then some. Oh rats, why didn't I think of that"
R- REASON TO SMILE: "my family"
S- SEASON: "summer"
T-Tag: Josh Gordon, Kate Larson (not sure how you spell Kaitlyn), Kylie Hadfield
U-UNKNOWN FACT ABOUT ME: She loves pretending to be a dog.
V- VERY FAVORITE STORE: Somehow I knew she would say Walmart. So sad!!
W- WORST HABIT: "Not listening to my mom." She has very selective hearing.
X- X-RAY, ULTRASOUND, OR MAMMOGRAM: She's had to have a couple of x-rays when she was a baby for a syst on her tailbone
Y- YOUR FAVORITE FOOD: speghetti
Z- ZODIAC: NO IDEA what that is.

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA

GREAT movies! I have really enjoyed picking out his theories and looking for the insight he gives. For example the sisters are talking about why Aslan hasn't been seen by anyone and the older sister says that he has already proven himself to us, maybe he's waiting for us to prove ourselves to him. It made me think about our Savior. He has already proven Himself to us... He's waiting for us to come find Him and prove ourselves. There was a lot of stuff in there just like that. It was great!

My little linace

This little boy has so many blankets. We counted them all one day... all of his favorites anyway, and we came up with
7. He sleeps with them all!

I found the only pictures we have taken of our house so far and decided to post them. We moved in November 1st and I haven't taken any other pictures yet. I'm waiting for my house to be clean to take the pictures. So... I might be waiting a while. I can't get caught up. We really liked our builders and consider them friends. (hopefully they feel the same way) It isn't a big house, but it fits what we need. I decided along time ago that I didn't want a big house cuz it's more to clean. I'd rather spend my time doing something besides cleaning. (sorry mom) I also didn't want a two story. I hate vacuuming stairs. We do have an unfinished basement that we are currently trying to finish and that will be enough stairs. I've also noticed that there aren't very many two story houses around here. I wonder why? We put our masther bedroom on one side of the house and the kids on the other side. I so love that! Now I just need to get the girls a quieter alarm so that I don't have to hear it all the way across the house. Now that it is nice outside, maybe I can get some better pictures of the outside. We have a lot of beautiful dirt to look at.

OUR HOUSE

I can't tell you how BLESSED I feel to have so many wonderful people in my life. There are some great people who were around when I was growing up and everywhere I have moved, Heavenly Father has put more great people in my path. This has been a very bittersweet time in my life, when people who I haven't talked to, or seen in YEARS have gotten in touch to let me know that me and my family are being thougt about. THANK YOU! Those who I have met along the way have been so supportive. I consider myself lucky to have so many great friends and I'm excited to get back in touch with so many people from my past. Thanks for all your great comments. I love to read them.

Okay. Let me explain. I was scrapbooking today and have had several people comment on how down I seem. Sorry about that. I just don't have a whole lot of anything going on that isn't sad. So my friend Gina suggested that I throw stuff on here that is totally out there. This was the first thing I could think of. We went to see Iron Man a few days ago and what an awesome movie. I thought this was a great picture of a machine. I can post "hot machines" and not offend my husband. He can't get mad cuz I think a machine looks good.

So Unrealistically Hot!!

I'm so glad today is almost over. It's been an aweful day. Everyone has been all over everyone else's nerves. Fighting and bickering all day. Jim has been at work all day because it's mandatory for every manager to work mother's day. (yes... i'm a little bitter) There isn't any mandatory father's day. So besides having a crappy week, this particular day has been especially crappy. I did make it through my relief society lesson, but barely. I cried and coughed my way through. It wasn't anywhere close to what I wanted it to be, but it's done. My cold is moving down into my chest, (no jokes Kelti) and it hurts to cough. I'm hoping I can kick this soon.

Yesterday was my parents 34th anniversary and like the aweful daughter that I am, I thought about it all week and yesterday came and went and I didn't think about it once. I'm sorry mom. I miss my dad so bad today.

Tomorrow is a new day!! I'll try to be less depressing.

Nothing exciting...

Well, I wish I had something exciting to post about. But this week has consisted of me stressing over my relief society lesson that I get to give on Mother's day and then getting really sick on Wednesday and not getting out of bed for 2 days except to go to work. I still feel like trash, but I'm moving around. (Laundry had to get done at some point)

I'm feeling a little more confident about my lesson, but it's not Sunday yet. We'll see what happens.

What's Father Cat?

Okay. I should have been a bit explicit about what father cat is. I had several people ask. Father cat is what we called our family time nap. I don't know where the name came from exactly, except that my dad was the one who instigated it.

The art of a good nap

So who doesn't love a good nap? In my family growing up we played "father cat". As an adult I love the oppertunity to take a good nap, but I often wonder if, as kids, we fought with my parents the way my kids now fight with me to take a "good nap". Looking back though... I really miss those Sunday afternoons of playing father cat.

Getting prepared

http://store.honeyvillegrain.com
Lately, Jim and I have been talking a lot about our food storage, which I think everyone has thought about or talked about at one time or another. Our problem as always been just getting started. Food storage isn't just for a natural disaster. We are in the last days and our economy is shakey. So what happens if there is problem with the trucking industry because of gas prices, or you loose your job. So I'm throwing this link to Honeyville Grain. It's the company my dad worked for for 34 years. They have great hot cocoa mixes, (like Stephens, only a lot less expensive). They have some fun smoothy mixes, cake mixes, scone mix (which is so good), muffin mix, and a bunch of stuff for food storage. They have a bunch of freeze dried and dehydrated fruits and veggies too. We've got to start somewhere right...?

TAG... YOUR IT!

Two Names You Go By:

Becky and Becky

Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now:

Sweats and a t-shirt (cleaning day)

Two Favorite Things To Do:

Scrapbook and Eat out

Two Things You Want To Do Very Badly At This Moment:

Take a nap and get something good to eat

Two Favorite Pets:

Not a fan of pets at this point in time

Two People Who Will Fill This Out:

Holly and Mindie (YOU'VE BEEN TAGGED)

Two Things You Did Last Night:

Played on my blog and payed bills (exciting I know)

Two Things You Ate Today:

Little Ceasars bread sticks and ...that's all I've had today. No wonder I'm hungry.

Two Last People You Talked To:

Danaca and my mom

Two Longest Trips You Taken:

Idaho to Europe and Nebraska to Washington state

Two Favorite Holidays:

Christmas and Thanksgiving

Two Favorite Vacations:

Our trip to California just before my dad died.

Two Favorite Drinks:

Pepsi and Hot Chocolate

Our trip to Europe

A year ago in March Jim was given an opportunity to go to Europe. Specifically Italy. There is an Olive Garden in Tuscany somewhere and he spent a week doing some culinary training. He had a blast! They spoiled him rotten. I was able to join him the following week and we went from Italy to Switzerland to Germany to Austria and back to Italy... in 8 days. NOT RECOMMENDED! Take your time! I would love to endulge in the details of my part of the trip, but there isn't enough computer space to tell of my nightmarish adventure. But, to give those of you who haven't already heard about it a taste, I sat on an airplane on the tarmat for 11 hours at JFK and then they ended up cancelling the flight. This was after my flight has been delayed or cancelled at least twice. They lost my luggage and Jim put the wrong gas in our rental car my first day there. (yes.. that means we killed the car and had to pay to fix it) But all in all, there were some great things too. Our favoite place was Fussen, Germany. We visited the castles and it had snowed 36 inches while we were there. It was so pretty. We hope to someday take the kids back there. I also really liked the Trevi fountain in Rome. To realize how old those places are. They were around when Christ was on the earth. It's an intersting feeling.

Well, I guess it's time to get back to reality. Only... what if I don't like my new reality. There is definately a different feel to each day. My dad was a bright light in my life and I will miss the short but sweet phone calls to just say hi! I have to find a way back to my personality.