A trip to the temple

Lately we've had a lot of trips to the temple. There is a new temple that was just built near us, The Oquirrh Mountain Temple. We feel so blessed to have it near by. I've had the opportunity to serve at the open a house a couple of times and we've been thru it a couple of times.

This week, since Aunt Runnie and her kids are in town, we took them to see the new temple. It was really crowded, but we enjoyed the beautiful spirit there.

Then, yesterday, we took trax up to Temple Square in Salt Lake City and had a wonderful time. We took a tour through the Beehive house, walked around Temple Square, and saw the movie at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Nonna even treated us to dinner the Cafe.



I called it a success even though HY ended up in Mini-E tinkerbelle panties, and Mini-e ended up with no panties at all by the end of the day.

Bumping into each other

I'm sure I mentioned that we've had rain EVERY day this month. And today was no exception. Sometimes is just sprinkles and other times it's hail. We never know what we're going to get. So, with the rain, comes the thunderstorms and lightning. HY is not a huge fan of these storms. He is FRIGHTENED to say the least. He runs in the the house and hides and cries. Seriously, it was out of hand.

So one day, a few storms back, he was talking to Nonna on the phone. He mentioned how scared he was of the thunder. And she said, "WHY? it's just Clouds bumping into each other!" And since then he's been fine.



Thanks Nonna!

Finally! It came.

This year I had a bit of time getting this book here for my mother for Christmas. But, alas, it has come. And she loved it. So, mission accomplished!

About 3 years ago, she & I started working on a book of her Grandparents & their posterity. We had it mostly finished but never printed it up, until now. I finished it up and printed through Blurb. It's only a soft copy right now, as I am sure that she'll want to edit a few items. But it's pretty cool. I gotta hand it to blurb for their fabulous books!

Blessings

The last few months, Farmboy and I have had to tighten our belts (as probably all of us have had to). It's not fun, but it makes us more aware of the tender mercies of God much more than we would have. We have seen a number of these blessings just recently. I would be totally ungrateful if I didn't share them & express my gratitude to the Lord for all our answered prayers.

This last Sunday, there was a knock at the door. We knew exactly what it was--a brother from the ward collecting Fast Offerings. Farmboy and I both decided to give a generous fast (every bit of cash we had at the moment). We knew that if we gave generously, the Lord would bless us this month. I secretly wondered how He would, but knew that He would.

But yesterday, I knew that our prayers had been answered (at least for a moment). My mom offered to take us to Costco to build up our year supply of food. I graciously accepted! It was such a blessing. Thank you Nonna. You'll never know the relief it has brought to my mind and heart. And the increase in faith I have in the Lord, that He knows our needs and blesses us when we do what we are asked to do!

Christmas Past

I'm not a huge decorator, so I'm always so grateful that Farmboy begins the set of Christmas in our house. He puts up ootles of garland and sets up the tree (which we all decorate later). I would never get it done on my own mostly because as I'm putting it all up, I think of how I'll have to take it all back down in a month. But once it's up, I'm so glad.

When I saw this post, I knew that I wanted to journal a bit myself on the favorite Christmas decorations in my own home.

This is definitely one of my favorite ornaments on the tree. It was given to us by Uncle JB & Auntie T HY's first Christmas.

This ornament reminds me of my childhood. My mom had some old wooden ornaments on our tree when I was a kid. When she went on her mission, she gave a bunch of her Christmas decorations to us (for storage) & I found this one in the bunch.

This is a fairly new addition to our Christmas decor. Farmboy begged and pleaded with Santa to bring him a train set last year. I guess he was a good boy because this is what appeared under the tree Christmas morning of 2007. Our kids love it!

Here's Mini-E's first Christmas ornament. This year we found that many of the ornaments were disappearing & we later found them in the garbage. It wasn't until a few days later that we found the culprit. Miss E herself was chucking the. I saved this one!

This is my very first Christmas ornament (that truly belonged to me). Given to me in 2002 by ONEHM. I cherish it for every memory I have with that angel of a woman.

My handmade stockings! I love these. Not everyone has beautiful designer stockings. But I do because I have a very sweet and talented Sister. Aunt Runnie made us these stockings years ago. When we added Mini-E last year, she graciously gave us a matching one from her own family stack! She is the most generous person I know. I love how beautiful and one of kind these are.

This last item is a true treasure. It's a hand carved nativity scene from Madagascar. Nonna sent it home from her mission one Christmas. I look at the detail and think of the time and talent that must have gone into making it. And I love love love that Mary is holding Jesus!


As I look around my home, most of my favorite Christmas things remind me of my mother. She wasn't a big holiday or birthday celebrator, but when it came to Christmas, she went all out. In her own way.

She loved to decorate the tree as elegant as she could. The lights on the tree had to be strung just so that you didn't see the wire and every inch was covered evenly. She is quite eccentric and so we never knew what new things she'd bring home-- Glass balls that she's bought at the day after Christmas sale where a given. As we got older, the items became even more beautiful. I suppose because we were less likely to break them.

One year she even bought a white flock tree. I guess she was trying to bring Az a white Christmas all on her own.

Each year, one of my brothers (usually L the great) would dress up as Santa and we'd go caroling around the neighborhood.

The lights on the outside where always a treat as well. One year we changed the lights on the roof each night creating a new design. We even sat up there ourselves in black and twirled lights for the passer-bys. Priceless memories.

She wasn't about a lot of presents but she always made Christmas special and memorable. I hope that I can create the same wonderful magic for my children that she created for me.

Down the Toilet

Halloween was never my mother's favorite holiday. She saw it as one of those "evil" holidays that just introduced her kids to pillow cases full of candy. AND Candy was never a good thing in our house. You couldn't find junk food to save your life! Did I ever tell you the time that we dug through the dumpster of a health food store that had gone out of business? We ate rice cakes for YEARS! Well, it's a good story, but I must stick to one at a time.

Anyway...Halloween...candy..
Every year after the usual door to door candy acquiring, we'd sit down in the front room (don't ask why we picked the nicest, whitest room in the house...but we did) to sort through our loot.

My brother, Queezly, always managed to trade me all his caramel squares for my good candy bars. It was like his right as my older brother to take anything of mine that was good. I was allowed to exist one more day if I payed my dues. jerk

After the trade, we hid our pillow cases full of candy any place that Mom wouldn't find it.
We knew that if she found our stash--it'd be gone forever.
DOWN. THE. TOILET.
She felt strongly about the over consumption of candy. Very Strongly.


I'm thinking, she wasn't that far off, was she?

'Tis the season

I'm not sure I mentioned that we had a garden, oh wait, yes I did. Well, do to the cold weather, we had to take all of the good stuff & not so ready stuff off the vine. We stuck the green tomatoes in our basement on crates to let ripen. It really does work. So as these puppies come ready, we begin the process which my sister CC absolutely hates (Nonna doesn't like it when we use such strong words so in front of her we'd say something like: She doesn't "prefer" ...canning). Well, the last couple of weeks, I've spent a few days helping Nonna & Aunt CC can salsa and tomatoes. We've got over 100 jars and many more still to do as those 300 lbs of green tomatoes in my basement become ripe. Ah! My favorite part is the red gook under my fingernails.

But as the Lord said, If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear...

We've got a busy week ahead of us.

Wednesday:
Visiting Teaching
Temple Sealings with Farmboy (find a babysitter)

Thursday:
Joy School/Daddy's Day @ the Farm
Enrichment, sing

Friday:
Halloween Mini-Shoot all day
Farmboy's family Halloween Party

Saturday:

2 morning shoots in Provo Canyon

Recital practice
Date with Farmboy (find a babysitter)

Find time to practice Flash shooting for Ward Fall Festival! Ah! I'm having the nightmares.

BTW: If anyone is still interesting in the Mini-Halloween Shoot this FRIDAY the 24. I have an opening. Email me or leave me a comment. Here are the goods.

Birthday Bash

For Nonna's Birthday, we had a girl's night out! Aunt Lala, Aunt CC, Nonna, & I went to dinner first and then to a play in Orem at the Hale. Ieda! Fabulous. It was incredible. Aunt Lala and I sure thought that a few of those bad boys looked like 80's band stars! I guess that's the point.

Mom

Happy Birthday Mom!
Thank you for being the friend I always need...
the mother I want to become...
and the gift that I treasure.

I love you!

Egg-cited

Since Sunday is Easter, we just had to get down and do some hard work today. We spent the hour before lunch dyeing Easter eggs. I didn't think that I was going to do this this year because it really difficult to do with 2 small children. But Aunt CC & Nonna came over with the kids & they made it more than do-able. They made it ENJOYABLE. And I'm pretty sure that's the way it's supposed to be. HY thought it was the best. And Aunt CC waited on him hand & foot (which he loves). We are so egg-cited for the big day.

Check out some more cool photos HERE!

52 Blessings: INPO (3)

I know I'm really far behind with the 52 Blessings (like 4 weeks behind). But this girl inspired me to be better. And this post brought me to my knees in thanks for the blessing that I have in this life. Thank you for reminding me who I am & what I want to be.

Recently, I've been reminded how fragile life is. My good friend lost her mother just this past week. Today is the funeral & more than anything, I wish that I could be there with her to help bare some of the burden. What do we have if we don't have each other?

It has made me reflect on my own good mother. She is a gift for heaven to many people, but especially to her children & especially to me.

Idea Scraplifted from Onehm--but with permission from Tangie Baxter lift challenge.

{paper & embellishments dsf-retrodiva}

Text: She may appear to be common but she mystifies.

Stuck

Today I had a few minutes to fix some pages that needed a bit of work. I was pleased when I finally found the right look for this photo of my grandparents (on my mother's side). But, I'm stuck and I need some help. I need a title. I've been thinking about "Legacy" or "my legacy"...or ...ya, I'm stuck. Also, I don't know if it needs any more embellishments. What do you think? I am thinking of giving it to my mom for Valentine's Day...or Mother's Day if I don't finish it in time.

Memory Lane Monday

About 7 or 8 years ago, Nonna & I took 3 trips in 1. I had just returned from my mission & of course wanted to go back. She wanted to do some geneology in France. And my mom's sister, Aunt X (for Excentric) needed to go back to Dubai to fix a statue in a hotel. So, we decided to do all three in 2 months time. Here are few of my favorite moments in Dubai (one of the 7 Arab Emirates) & Oman (a place where my aunt used to live).

Yep, that red face is me. And if you doubt it...check out those ankles. It was so so so VERY hot in the Middle East. I thought I'd melt every day. And that means something coming from an Arizona girl.

This picture was taken in Oman.

Don't really remember what it was we were up to.

Patti (a friend of my aunt's) came along for the tour.

Here's the hotel & one of the many statues that my Aunt X was commissioned to do for them.

If you are thinking that that's my mother...you'd be off by about 19months.

This picture was taken in the souther tip of Oman (very close to Yemen).

These were some cliffs on the edge of the ocean.

Natural Geisers.

An older gentleman offered my mother a fair share of livestock if I would be his 3rd wife.

These are just a few of the hundreds of pictures that I took while on this trip. I've seen the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Venice, & Paris...but I've never seen a land quite like this. Incredible! Unforgettable! Memorable!

Top FIVE Tuesday

Here are the Top 5 Things we LOVE about the ZOO!

5. Very Cool Lion Drinking Fountains

4. The monkeys......ooooh, more monkeys...

3. The Pacing Leopard ....watch the video & see why.

2. Family: We got to go with Aunt CC & kids & Aunt Lala & kids AND our favorite Nonna!

I love that Aunt Lala is nice & tall with the rest of us midgets.

And the #1 thing: THE TRAIN! HY absolutely Loved the train. I knew he would & thankfully we did this last...or he'd have insisted that we go again & again! Did I mention, it's only a $1 to ride? When he woke up from his nap (on the car ride home) his first words where, "choo choo"---no joke.

It was such a beautiful day at the Zoo...probably in the high 60's...we almost wished we'd had t-shirts & shorts... Here are few more of my favorite moments of the day:

Mini-E reading about the elephants & deciding where we should go next.

Little W. aka thumb sucker.

These 2 cousins have become such good friends in the last little while. It's amazing to think they are related when you see their coloring! Here they are looking at the bears...

And here are the bears looking at them...

Top Ten Tuesday

These are the Top TEN reasons that I LOVE living near family:

10. Aunt Lala lets us "drop in" whenever we want. And look at what these 3 boys are doing. Cowboys with plastic hangers. I guess that where HY learned this as well:

9. We get to hang out with these kiddos & make lasting memories in a wet pumpkin field! Can't beat that for fun.

8. Built in Babysitters: Lovin'H just loves our Mini-E. And HY can't wait to see Super-K!They are always willing to watch our little ones at a moments notice. Even if it means putting off homework.

7. On Friday we got to go to a Bridal Shower & visit Grandma & Grandpa Great F. I love that Mini-E & HY not only have Great Grandparents but get to see them on a regular basis.

6. Play Dates with Cousins: Today we hoped in the car & visited Aunt Lala & her kiddos. (We had so much fun the last "pop in" that we decided to schedule an appointment for FUN. And that's exactly what these 2 boys had...F-U-N!

I love that I got this picture of Boy-O.
It's rare to find him pleasant for the camera.

5. GRANDAD! Need I say more. We love to visit Grandma J & Grandad Grey up in Midway. This past week we had a blast Carving Pumpkins with him & Aunt CC's kids. Oh the drama.

4. Parties Parties: There's always a party when family is around. We try to celebrate every chance we can. Wether it's dinner on Sundays or Birthdays at the Lodge, we are always up for a PAR-TAY! And that means FOOD! Yum.

3. Lots of Mothers: Here's a classic picture of Aunt CC & HY. He just loves the extra mothering he gets from her. And Nonna can work miracles with HY in church.

2. We get to see Aunt Little S now that she's going to BYU. Which gives Grandma Suz & Grandpa S just one more reason to visit us!

And the #1 Reason I love living near family:

Makes me feel like I'm home.

I have always considered myself an AZ girl.

But home is wherever the family is! (unless they decide to move to Alaska)