My Open Book

Hello Out There.....

2012-01-25T10:35:00.000-07:00

My last post was called "Remember the Rain." Since it rained again now, I decided to write again. Not really. I love to write, and I have missed this blog. Since I started taking classes a year ago, I have not taken the time for this like I used to. I can't believe I only have 22 posts for all of last year.

The big adjustment I have been making right now is having Kaitie and Ally move away in January. Yes, Kaitie had been gone already. She spent a semester at BYU-Idaho. Kaitie decided that she and Idaho were not a perfect match, so she transferred to ASU. It was better than great having her home for the holidays. On January 2, Ally took her to Tempe and moved her into a house near the campus. What a difference from having a big family trip to Idaho and a big goodbye scene! I have to say it feels good knowing that she is only three hours away, instead of fifteen.

Here are Ally and Kaitie, the morning of January 2, about to leave the driveway.

Ally returned home a couple of days later, and on January 6 she moved to the Salt Lake City area. Jeff drove up there with her and flew home after she was settled. She found a part time job, and is still looking for THE job. I can't imagine moving to cold country in January, but Ally seems to be up for that challenge.

It is good and bad watching my kids go out into the world. I am proud of them. I miss them. I don't want them to be home. I do want them to be home. I want them to want to be home. I want them to feel competent and independent enough not to want to be home. Have I made myself clear?

Remember the Rain?

2011-10-20T07:33:00.001-07:00

It has been extra hot, for what seems like ages. I am going to share a couple of pictures from when it rained for ten minutes, two weeks ago. Yes, in the desert we have to record our memories of rain and then relive them from time to time.

When it rained, only Emilee and Ally were home. They aren't little kids anymore, but they ran and played in the rain with childlike delight. I did what any mom would do when her babies are playing in the rain....I got a camera.

It was fun to watch them play. Unlike when they were little, I could let them run in the street if they wanted to...and they wanted to.

Oh, and I could let them fight without intervening. I used to think they would outgrow this need to fight, but I was wrong. Thankfully their goal is to annoy and entertain, rather than to harm.

It stopped raining as suddenly as it started. Here is Ally, trying to convince Em that they should dance in the driveway. Can you see that Emilee is not so sure? But as they started to dance a little, the rain started again....

And then there was no stopping the dancers......

Now I have relived the rain, and I feel better.

Me, Me and Me!

2011-10-02T17:28:00.002-07:00

I guess I am very self absorbed today. I added a Pinterest button on my sidebar, so I have been trying to get started on that.

I have also been trying to decide on a new facebook profile picture. This is important work ;)

I was going to put in the first picture here:

Emilee said no. I thought it was fine. She says it reminds her of someone from school, so I shouldn't put it in. I don't even know the person from school, so I am not sure what it has to do with me. She said I should put in this picture:

I am not as sure about it. It is fine. It does represent me right now, sitting at the computer and doing lots of homework, but I don't know...

The other one Emilee wants me to put is this:

This is me, and my new car. It is my first new car. I never thought I would have an actual NEW car. I told Emilee I didn't want to make a big deal of my car on facebook. Oh, I will probably write a status about it, but not have it as a profile picture. That would be bragging.....like I am right now:)

I think I will go for a drive now....

All Six of Them

2011-09-26T08:55:00.000-07:00

For the last few days, I have been writing again, and attempting to catch up. I guess I started with the most recent and am now moving backwards. We stopped for the day in Salt Lake City, on the way to take Kaitie to school. It was fun to spend some time with Ryan and Brittany. For awhile, all the kids played Monopoly Deal. Ryan and Brittany introduced this game to us last Christmas and it is a lot of fun. We also went miniature golfing later that evening. I regret that I didn't take any pictures of that! (Riley got a hole in one, and she was the only one to do it.)

So here is a picture of the six of them playing cards. It is actually a two second video. I got a new phone for my birthday, and was still getting used to it when I was taking the picture. I didn't realize it was on the video setting.

Yellowstone

2011-09-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

I have written about this place a few times in recent years. I almost decided not to include this post in my attempt to catch up. I decided to just write a quick thing, and include a few pictures.

First, here are all my girls together right before we left Rexburg for Yellowstone. It was a stunningly beautiful day. I needed my sunglasses to block that bright sun.....and to keep my tears mostly to myself.

At Yellowstone, we knew we needed to go to Old Faithful first. Ally had never been there. While we were waiting for Old Faithful, they announced that another less faithful geyser was about to blow. It is called the Beehive geyser. It is close to Old Faithful and was quite a sight to see. It was fun to watch with Ally, and she gave audio that went along lines like this, "Ten thousand years will give you such a crick in the neck!"

We went to the Midway Geyser Basin, one of my favorites, at sunset.

Emilee decided to get in a little "owling." If you are "owling" around your mother though, you don't get to perch on the rail right over the river....just next to the river.

Ally wanted to see waterfalls, so we went to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

This makes me want to go back to the "if you know us" post. If you know Riley well, then you know she is afraid of heights, and was nervous just looking over the edge. It is funny how the kids are all so different. Ally and Emilee would have hiked right down if given the opportunity, and Riley could hardly stand to even look.

For a little while, we didn't know where Ally was. I was not worried, but Riley sure was. When she came back, to show us the new and awesome view she had found, Riley was so relieved to have her back.

This isn't the most usual sight on our family trips. I don't know what these two were in agreement on here, but I had to snap a picture so that I would have proof.

This picture is at what is called The West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake. See the elk, just sitting a few feet behind Emilee and Ally?

I love this picture!!

After Yellowstone, and on the way home, we stopped to see how Kaitie was settling in. We took her to lunch, and then really left this time. The miles home felt so long to me, as they represented a big distance between me and my awesome girl. Thankfully, it is just a physical distance.

Last Saturday

2011-09-24T11:50:00.000-07:00

Riley and Emilee both take dance classes. Between the two of them, I do something dance related six days a week. Last Saturday I took them to a day long hip hop festival. Riley was pretty reluctant. I told her it was just something to try, and have fun with. The instructors who came into town for the festival, dance for music celebrities like Beyonce. That got her interest a little.

She was fine, but not very enthused through the day. I wondered if the whole dance thing was just not right for her.....

Riley perked up when they danced with the young man who plays the green power ranger on the tv show. You can see him a little up in the front. The kids really responded to him. Okay, practically every female in the building responded to him. There were people hanging in the doorways, and cameras flashing more than any other time in the day during this little dance.

I thought the day was fun, and Emilee really liked it. Riley informed me she just does not like hip hop. I understand.

Here is Emilee after the night performance....she had a really fun day and evening, but she was exhausted.

So, this week I popped into Riley's tap class. I wanted to see if she appeared unhappy in class, like she did in the festival. I was glad to see that she was enjoying herself, and performing correctly. I will just have to pay attention to her preference next time. (I don't think she will go to the festival again, even if it means she will have to miss that power ranger guy.)

If You Know Us Well

2011-09-23T13:07:00.001-07:00

Here is a picture of Ally, Riley and Emilee at Yellowstone Lake.

If you know Jeff well, it is no surprise to you that we took yet another trip to Yellowstone when we took Kaitie to school a couple of weeks ago. He loves it there!

If you know me well, you know that I don't mind having the girls miss a week of school if it is for a good cause.

If you know Riley well, you know that she was kicking freezing water at her sisters, even though she was asked not to.

If you know Ally well, you know she is with us right now even though her mission wasn't scheduled to be over until next year. A couple of posts ago, I referred to the fact that she was in a little car accident. Her knee took quite a beating. She went to some physical therapy while she was still serving as a missionary. The care that she needed though was not consistent with the work required as a missionary, and she is home for awhile. She has not made a decision about whether she is going back or not. She still has lots of medical appointments, and it is not time to decide yet.

If you know Ally well, you know she was not all the way happy at Yellowstone. She wanted to run around and play. She wanted to hike. She is limited right now, and that is hard on her. She has always been very active and athletic.

If you know Emilee well, you know she was happy at Yellowstone. She loves the outdoors, and was not unhappy about being absent from school.

If you know Kaitie well, you know why she is not in these pictures. We asked her if we should visit Yellowstone before she was dropped off at school or after. Kaitie chose not to go with us. She loves us, but not Yellowstone so much. She was eager to get her apartment set up, and get ready for her own new adventure.

If you know me well, you know that I felt a little like Kaitie about Yellowstone. It is an amazing place, but we have been there a few times lately, and I am ready to explore something different.

If you know me well, you know that I still had a nice time with my family! AND you know that I stayed out of most of the pictures, but here are a couple with me in them...

AND If you know Jeff well, you know that he did not touch a razor on the whole trip.

Transition

2011-09-22T13:35:00.000-07:00

I wanted to bake bread on Monday. I used to do that a lot, but I haven't for a few months. I thought I had everything I needed, so I got started on it. I went to the cupboard for some white flour. I make wheat bread, but I use a little white. I had less than a cup of white flour. I didn't know. My cupboards and I have been out of touch lately. For awhile I had a personal chef and shopper. Who has that? Well, the rich and famous, but not people like me.

I did not set out to have Kaitie do all the shopping and cooking. It started with a few errands here and there. She liked the errands, and I liked not doing them. At first I sent her with my lists, then we did lists together, and then she made lists herself. The same thing happened with the meals. I did them, then we did them together, and then she did them.

Two weeks ago, she started her freshman year of college. She is a thousand miles away from home. I miss that shopping and cooking. I also miss her singing around the house. I miss her laughter, when she would show me something outrageous on the internet. I miss her crazy moods, and her softer quieter ones too. Thankfully, in the 21st century we can keep in touch easily. I can still get in on those moods and laughter a bit.

I always tell my kids that I want them to leave home for school. It would not be good if they were still hugging my legs like they did once upon a time. That doesn't mean it is easy, or that I love it. The transition is hard for me!

I am proud of her, and know that she will do well out there. She is doing great with her transition, and I need to get busier on mine.

Here she is, in her new place.

I have so much more I want to write about. If it goes as planned, I will catch up writing about this year in the next few weeks. If not, then I will probably do a post sometime in 2012:)

Kaitie's Senior Duet

2011-06-18T14:35:00.000-07:00

Kaitie and her friend Garrett sang a duet at the end of the year choir concert at school. Their song is called, "Somewhere Only We Know." I think they did a great job!

Here is close up picture of them, since the video was from kind of far away:

Six Month Mark!

2011-06-01T10:27:00.000-07:00

Today is June 1st, and that means Ally has been on her mission for six months now. She has one year left. I guess it would be silly to start counting down now. Let's just say that tomorrow it will be less than a year....

We talked to her via Skype on Mother's Day:

It was good to see her! (And you can kind of see us in the lower picture, crowded around the computer.) She seems great. Our conversation was short. She said she was allowed to talk for about forty minutes. I think we maybe got to forty five...

Here are some pictures of her from her last area. These are definitely not in any proper order. She can straighten me out sometime.

Isn't she cute?

She said that a guy drew this of her in about three minutes!

Apparently it is not all work out there!

Yes, she was on crutches for a few days. She had a little incident of getting backed into by a car. She seems to be improving, but has had to go to some physical therapy.

Ally and her missionary companion taught this cute girl (in the middle) and she was baptized.

This is outside the temple in Los Angeles. These are all of Ally's missionary companions so far, except her trainer.

One day, Ally and her missionary companion got ambitious and wrote lots of letters. She said it would be nice to get this many! If you want to write her, the mission address is:

170 W. Duarte Road

Arcadia, CA 91007

(That is the address of the mission, and the letter will be forwarded to her from there.)

Hopefully now in the next few days I will catch up about Kaitie, her concerts, her graduation, and lots of other things!!

Don't You Miss Her?

2011-05-04T09:13:00.000-07:00

Don't you miss this girl?

I do!

I am so excited to talk to her on Sunday....Happy Mother's Day to me:)

Soon I will post some new missionary pictures of her, so you can see what she is up to these days.

The Latest.....

2011-04-14T14:10:00.000-07:00

It has been two months, and I just have to pop in here with the latest thing, and do the catching up later!

Ryan graduated from BYU-Idaho last week. He even spoke at the convocation for the College of Language and Letters. I guess that makes sense for a guy who majored in Spanish Education, minored in Russian, and went on a mission to Mongolia!

Ryan gave a great talk, mostly focusing on gratitude. Well, I am grateful for him.

So, of course these two pictures were taken at his convocation on Friday evening, April 8.

(Imagine the appropriate music here....)

This picture of Ryan and Brittany is from Saturday morning, at the BYU Idaho center, where the main commencement services were held.

We took lots of pictures on both days. Brittany put on her cap and gown too, since she just graduated in December. My mom said that these two are the Dynamic Duo, and she is right. Ryan is taking an LSAT course right now, and he and Brittany are both employed. Woo Hoo! This picture symbolizes them jumping OUT of BYU Idaho.....

...so what does THIS picture symbolize? That would be Kaitie jumping IN. Kaitie had been thinking about this for awhile, but had not quite been ready to make a final decision about where to go next year. While we were there, she decided to really go for it. She accepted her invitation there. We even found her a place to live. (Imagine me wiping a tear here....but being really happy too, I promise.)

Even Emilee started pondering her future.....

More soon!!

".....It's Alarming How Charming I Feel..."

2011-02-13T09:25:00.002-07:00

Jeff and I took some of our new found freedom (see last post) to San Diego last month. We had a wonderful weekend at the Paradise Point Resort. We attended the San Diego Temple. We ate chioppino at Baleen. We went to see West Side Story at the San Diego Civic Theater.

West Side Story was not quite as amazing as I wanted it to be. There seemed to be a sound system problem. I couldn't catch all the dialogue. (Well, I couldn't catch some of it because it was in Spanish.) Still, it was so fun to get dressed up and go to the theater. And those classic songs! I thoroughly enjoyed them.

I missed my girls a little bit during the show. Emilee would have been obsessed with the choreographed fighting.........well, and all of the other dancing too.

Kaitie would have loved Maria's beautiful soprano voice..

I didn't miss them for much of the weekend though. Much as I love them, I was having a nice getaway....

"........Feel like running
And dancing for joy......"

".......For I'm loved

By a pretty wonderful boy......"

(Do you know which song those lyrics are from?)

A Very Exciting Day

2011-02-13T07:42:00.000-07:00

There was a day in December that was nearly as exciting as Christmas.

Kaitie took her time, much more than I expected, to get around to getting a license to drive. She finally got it a few days after Christmas. My life changed that day!

I can hand Kaitie a debit card and a shopping list and know that things are going to magically appear in the cupboards. There are days when she not only brings home groceries, but transforms them into a delicious dinner. She and I have worked out a pretty good system for all of this. It is good for her, and it is fantastic for me.

Emilee took these pictures a few days before Kaitie got her license. Kaitie was nervous that she wouldn't be able to pull her tire into the "L" during her driving test. We went around and around our neighborhood, and kept returning to the "L" she drew in the street.

Riley was very excited about Kaitie being a driver. She knew that I would say things like, "Please take your sisters to piano lessons." The best one lately was, "Do you have time to take Riley to pick out some valentines?"

The Big Day Finally Arrived....

2011-01-29T08:57:00.003-07:00

Christmas 2010...we spent it in Utah. Ryan, Brittany, and Brittany's sister Mellany met us at the home of my parents. Six stockings were hung by the chimney with care.

Before I write more, I want to give the smallest bit of background.

Since my children were small, they always slept in the same room together on Christmas Eve. This tradition goes back to my own family with my brothers and sisters. I remember straining to hear any possible jingle bell or boot on the roof...and then trying to convince younger siblings that I had heard something. It was always a long night, but very exciting.

Anyway, a few years ago my own kids started making up strange songs to go with Christmas morning, while they waited for the long night to pass. The one that immediately comes to mind is, "Gotta get up, gotta get going...I'm gonna see some presents of mine." This is from an old Winnie the Pooh cartoon theme. The kids would come into our room, and surround our bed and sing the song they made up in the night. Of course they were anxious to get into the living room. They weren't allowed to go in until we were up. I know there were other songs, but I can't remember any of them right this minute.

In recent years, my mother in law has spent most Christmas Eves sleeping at our house. Did they have to surround her bed and wake her up? No, she would come in with them to wake us up! She even took pictures of us as we were just waking up sometimes. Those are really attractive. We invited her to come to Utah with us this year, but she turned us down. I guess she has had enough cold weather Christmases.

Christmas morning 2010, the kids did not wake us up. I was up. I was excited for the day. Jeff and I were sleeping upstairs. I started texting Kaitie before 6:00 am to see if the kids were up and ready to run up the stairs. They were having a hard time convincing Ryan and Brittany to get up. Funny! The girls couldn't believe that their brother who used to make up the songs and wake everyone up wasn't anxious to get into his stocking in the predawn.

Ryan did come up with a song for them. "You're a mean one, Ryan Snow......I wanna smack you with a 39 1/2 foot pole....etc." Awesome!

Before 6:30, the kids were all at the bottom of the basement stairs ready to run up.

They were not all excited for their pictures to be taken! This is so much cuter than the ones that have been taken of me when I wasn't ready to get up though....

And they're off!

We had such a nice time checking stockings and opening gifts. Riley was the "elf" who handed out the gifts, and we actually opened one at a time, while every one else watched. We always mean to do that, but it doesn't always work out that way.

And then, I had to pace, stew and be distracted by others until it came. Until what came, you ask? The phone call from Ally, of course. We didn't have a prearranged time. We knew she had arrived in California on the 21st, but we didn't know much that was going on with her. We were anxious to hear details. This was her first Christmas away from home.

Finally about 2:00 in the afternoon my cell phone rang. We put her on speaker for a little while, and then passed the phone for everyone to have a short conversation with her. We only spent about a total of 40 minutes. It was so good to speak to her. She sounded good, and that was the most important thing.

After The Call, we headed for the snow. Emilee had been so anxious for some snow and there wasn't any in town. My dad was determined to find some for her.

We found some. My mom took this picture of the rest of us. I was wearing my first beanie. I don't like beanies on anyone, especially myself. Ally got us scarves, beanies and mittens for Christmas before she left and made me promise to wear mine and take a picture. I had no choice.

Here is my cute mom and dad. They took such good care of us on this trip. I told them I especially enjoy visiting them, because it is the only time I still feel like a kid.

The next picture is pretty scary, but I am putting it in to illustrate the point I just made. I was cold. My dad took his beanie off, and put it on my head. He took his extra vest off, and put it on me. I felt so taken care of......

....and I looked like a gnome.

That tall beanie, and that vest that made me look like I had no neck.....not a beautiful combination. But I felt warm inside and out.

The kids played a lot.

You knew this had to happen.....

Aren't these two just the cutest?

And these two think they are cute too. Even when my mom, dad, Ryan and Brittany had left, and the rest of us were wet and freezing in the car, Jeff and Emilee kept playing. They built a snowman, and posed in this their traditional triumphant pose.

The kids were still in good spirits on Monday when we drove home. This is not always the prevailing car mood. The girls played Riley's new game of Hedbanz (as seen on ICarly.) I played too, part of the time, until my neck hurt from turning around too much.

Ryan, Brittany and Mellany left the same day we did. They were glad for the short trip back to their new place in Utah. I thought my mom and dad would sleep for a couple of days after the long holiday weekend with company, but they got on the road too. They keep pretty busy. We all appreciate those two so much for all they do for us!!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas....

2011-01-28T14:21:00.003-07:00

Months ago, Ryan called and asked if we would be able to have Christmas in Utah. My Mom Brain went to all the reasons why it would be difficult. I didn't let my Mom Brain speak though. I answered him that I would talk to my mom and dad about it. They have a summer home in Utah. I didn't know if they would really want to go to their summer home in the winter.

Ryan and Brittany knew they were going to be moving to Utah from Idaho right before Christmas. Brittany would be graduating from BYU-I, on December 18. (Yay Brittany!) Then they needed to move to Utah so Ryan could do his student teaching which would complete his last semester. (Yay Ryan!) It was going to be much more convenient for them to take a short trip for Christmas than a long trip. I thought that as I spoke to my parents, Jeff and my daughters that I might get a negative response. I was quite wrong. They all liked the idea, and they won my Mom Brain over.

I am so glad that Ryan came up with this. It turned out well for all of us. A bonus was, that Brittany's sister Mellany (a year older than Kaitie) went to Brittany's graduation, and stayed on to have the holiday with us.

One thing we always do when we go visit my parents is feed the deer. Can you see all that are in the background? They weren't bold as this one here. He is playing it cool for the picture, isn't he? But he ended up eating that apple...and many more.

It was awesome that this guy had some good antlers on him. He reminded us of a reindeer, although there are definite differences. It was fun calling him Dasher and saying we were helping him get some energy for the big job he had coming up that evening. Although even Riley knows what does and does not fly at Christmas time, it was still so great!

Ryan and Riley really get back into the teasing and playing thing when we are all together. I like it.

I liked this too. I had gone and bought six silly stockings at Target. I didn't want to bring the ones we always use, because I wanted Ryan, Brittany and Mellany just to be able to take theirs with. I hoped they weren't too old to get excited about stockings. I hoped that they would easily be able to decide which stocking was for which person. I loved watching the stocking negotiation. When the important decisions were made, they wrote names on them.

Riley was thrilled to hang them up on the fireplace!

After this, we each opened one present, read from Luke 2, and had a short concert down stairs. I really missed Ally, but other than that it felt so perfect.

Emilee desperately wanted snow, but that just didn't happen. Ryan and Brittany wanted to sleep in the next day, but that just didn't happen. The getting up in the morning negotiation was a little more difficult than the stocking negotiation. We finally agreed we would get up at 6:00......

The adults went to bed upstairs and the kids went to bed downstairs. (Okay, I am calling Ryan and Brittany kids, because they are to me. I know that they are also adults. They had their own room downstairs. The rest of the girls had a big room together.) So two thirds of the kids were excited to run up the stairs the next morning....

Choir

2011-01-21T14:25:00.000-07:00

In my last post, I wrote about Kaitie being in a play. That was not all she was involved in, in the month of December. She is in Performing Choir, in high school. (I wrote a little about that in October.) I am so grateful for the program she gets to be a part of there. The director is ambitious, and creative. He has these kids singing music most of them would never learn to appreciate unless being a part of this choir. The variety of music reaches across many different cultures and time periods.

Here is a sample from the December concert. This number is pretty traditional for Christmas. At about 4:50 in the video, they start a new song, "Carol of the Bells." It was one of my favorite of the concert, but there is just a tiny bit of it on this clip. You will notice there isn't applause at the end of the first song. That is because the audience has been instructed to wait until the end.

Can you see Kaitie all the way to the left?

Now this next one has a little more of the cultural diversity I was talking about!

(Thanks for the clips, Ericka!)

Here is Kaitie after the show.

Now, Emilee was in also that show.. She is in Beginning Choir. She enjoyed it as well. The reason I don't have a picture of her, is because she doesn't have one. I helped myself to this one of Kaitie from her Facebook page. (I have been doing that lately.) Like I said, Em didn't have one for me to borrow.

Kaitie also sang in a community performance of The Messiah. It was really great!

White Christmas

2011-01-19T11:39:00.000-07:00

I am still catching up with my December posts. Think I will finish before Valentine's Day?

Kaitie joined the local cast of White Christmas a little late. She was recruited to be in the chorus. She loves to sing. I don't think it was a huge challenge for her to catch up in the singing department.

As we all know, the chorus also dances. She doesn't love that as much. It put her out of her comfort zone a little to catch up in the dancing department. I loved watching that so much. It is awesome to be outside of the comfort zone sometimes.

It wasn't just that outside-the-comfort-zone thing that made me enjoy the dancing. She would get this look on her face that reminded me of Kaitie when she was a little girl. It was some sort of combination of worry, and determination combined with pure joy. Glimpses of that expression made the whole thing for me. Okay, I also didn't mind that the rest of the cast was very talented and fun. It made the show enjoyable for me, and a good experience for her.

The show ran for the first two weekends in December.

(In case you don't spot her right off, she is the tallest one in the group on the left. I snatched this out of her facebook pictures, so I know it isn't amazing quality.)

Farewell to Ally.....

2011-01-17T09:31:00.002-07:00

I have been writing about the early Christmas we had with Ally before she left for her mission. I wrote about November 26th and 27th.

November 28th was Sunday. Ally spoke in church that day. I was so happy to have many family members join with us to hear her speak. Riley, Emilee and Kaitie were planning to sing "I Believe in Christ," that day as well. I packed tissues galore because I thought I would cry and cry.

The musical number turned out nicely. It was sad that it had to go on without Emilee. She had been so sick over the weekend that her voice was shot. My sister Natalie sang alto in her place. Riley sang her solo part clearly. I was so pleased. She was reluctant when we first started to practice. Kaitie sang the soprano beautifully. I am not bragging...just stating.

I was proud of Ally as she gave her talk. She spoke with grace and confidence. I wondered how she became this amazing young woman. I was nothing like that at her age. She seemed so ready to go and take on all the challenges of a mission.

As it turned out, I only cried once during the meeting. It was during the blessing of a baby, who is unrelated to my family. Strange? Yes. Well, but it took me back. A little baby girl was being blessed. This little girl is the second child in her family. The first child is a sweet little blond boy. Like I said, it took me back. When Ally was blessed, 23 years ago, that is what my family looked like. I can't even describe the emotion involved. It's not like I want Ally to be a baby again.

After church, the family group gathered again at our house. It was time for food, and then some goodbyes...

Here are just a few of the pictures of family members who were here with us:

There will be a new cousin for Ally to meet when she comes home.

Speaking of cousins....

Ally wanted a picture with all the kids. Here she is with her sisters and cousins. This is not all the grandchildren in the family, but nearly....

Monday and part of Tuesday, we packed and packed some more. It was hard to fit everything she needed into her suitcases. We ended up shopping for bigger suitcases.

Tuesday afternoon, Jeff, Ally, Emilee, Riley and I took off for Phoenix. Kaitie stayed home because she was in a play that was opening that weekend.

First stop for us on Tuesday evening was the home of Ally's stake president in the Phoenix area. He was the church leader Ally worked with to prepare for this mission. They met off and on for months. It was our first time to meet him. He was everything she had told us. He was warm and kind, and seemed so genuinely happy to see her again. While we were at his home, he gave her a blessing....we call that being set apart. It was so beautiful and comforting. At that time, Ally was considered officially to be a missionary. (I regret not taking a picture that evening.)

After Ally was set apart, we headed for a hotel near the airport. Ally's flight was leaving at 7:00 the next morning. While the rest of us tried to get some rest, Ally visited with a friend....one of her very best ones.

These two have known and loved each other for a long time, and certainly always will.

Here are the girls in the lobby of the hotel in the predawn. I was trying to be cheerful, and wondering how I was going to hold it together. Airports are terrible. Saying goodbye is terrible.

Doing all this in the predawn is terrible...and you are uglier than usual while you are doing it. Well, that was the case for me anyway. We took a few pictures, and they are well....terrible/unsharable.

At the airport we saw other families with LDS missionaries, but they were all boys. They were so easy to spot. A young man in a suit, parents close by, lots of tired kids, and lots of pictures being taken.

We said goodbye at security and watched her until we couldn't see her anymore. We held it together pretty well. I didn't want to burden Ally by being over emotional. Riley handled that area all by herself. After we said goodbye, Jeff and I took the girls to the airport Starbucks for hot chocolate. Riley was smiling soon. I texted Ally a picture of Riley smiling and it made her feel a lot better. Yes, Ally still had her phone at that time. Missionaries don't carry personal cell phones, but she kept hers for the trip, so we were in contact until she actually entered the Missionary Training Center.

We figured out which plane was Ally's, and we watched it until it was completely out of sight. Since we were texting, we knew which window to wave to...

In Utah, Ally was picked up by another one of her very best friends. Her friend delivered her to the MTC, and then mailed Ally's cell phone to me.

Here is Ally as a missionary. They travel in twos, you know. This was her companion in the MTC.

Now, Ally is in California. You can follow her adventures at http://allyinarcadia.blogspot.com/

Our Pretend Christmas Day for Ally.......and....Lots of Little Cousins

2011-01-16T08:04:00.001-07:00

The morning of November 27, was Christmas morning at our house. Santa even came the night before. Well, he only came for Ally. Apparently she was good enough all year to receive this extra trip on his part. Each Christmas morning, our kids line up in the hallway in age order before they run into the living room to see their gifts.

Here is Ally....lined up in age order.

We had a joke about her possibly getting band aids and Advil for Christmas, because those things were included on a list of suggestions for parents to send to missionaries for Christmas. Sure enough, Santa brought those things.

We all got to open our presents from Ally. She got us each mittens, scarves and beanies for the trip she knew we would be taking when the real December 25 rolled around. (We really missed Ryan and Brittany at this whole early celebration, but they got to be with us on that real December 25....I will write about that soon.)

Ally particularly liked this gift from her dad, which reads Property of the California Arcadia Mission.

After our fun morning at home, we moved on to the big party, at my parents' house. We kept with our traditions of eating tamales, and having a pinata.

Here is Riley, taking a crack at it!

Soon after Riley, came Emilee. It was so nice having Em join the party, as she had been so sick the previous day. Almost the whole time people were over for Thanksgiving dinner, she was in bed in my room. Poor girl!

Kaitie hit the pinata so hard, she broke the stick!

Soon the pinata followed the stick and was broken into pieces all over the ground. The kids were like a flock of seagulls on bread crumbs....quick and thorough.

Even the babies got into the act. (Look down a couple of pictures, and check out these two having a little cupcake fest.)

Then, came was the traditional wearing of the dead pinata pieces....

And then there was a little party celebrating the pretty close first birthdays of these two cuties.

We had the cousin gift exchange. (We drew names previously.)

We had our usual adult white elephant gift exchange, where my sister received these exciting pajamas. (She didn't even end up with them....someone actually took them from her in the game! That is a whole other story....)

Then we had a little game of charades, in which I was trying to let my parents know that we were all taking a trip to Big Bear this summer to celebrate their anniversary. Don't you think I look like a big bear? My mother was guessing gorilla. I don't know exactly how to take that. Also, how should I take Jeff here? See him in the right hand corner looking so proud to be my husband?

I am grateful for this big, crazy family. I love their willingness to move things around for us and celebrate our early Christmas with Ally.

Our Pretend Christmas Eve with Lots of Little Cousins

2011-01-14T14:37:00.000-07:00

'Twas the night before Christmas.....

No, not really, but it looked like it.

The date really was November 26. So you could say, " 'Twas the night after Thanksgiving....."

As I wrote in my last post, we had 35 or so people over for Thanksgiving dinner, and then immediately switched to an early Christmas Eve.

The house was filled with cute little cousins.

Okay....kids of all ages:)

We had a Nativity play. I love this happy little shepherd.

We had four wise men, because each one of these guys wanted to point to the star and say, "The Staaar..." (Think Toy Story....The Claaaaaw.)

My youngest sister not only helped me dress all the kids, but graciously consented to be the donkey.

You have to love it when the donkey ends up holding baby Jesus.

Here is the whole group...I think.

So sweet!

After the play, we had a talent show.

What a great show we had!

Next post, Our Pretend Christmas Day for Ally.......and....Lots of Little Cousins.

Still Reaching Back to November...

2011-01-13T13:11:00.000-07:00

Ally was home, and we all spent as much time with her as we possibly could.

This was actually Emilee's idea, but you can see that Ally was fine with it too.

One part of our celebration, was watching Emilee dance at the Christmas tree lighting at the mall. (At the time, I didn't realize that this was the last event she would be participating in for that dance studio. We have changed to a different one now. As I told the old studio, there were no hard feelings. We just needed to explore our options.)

We did things a bit out of order. While most people were enjoying their turkey dinners on Thanksgiving Day, we decorated our tree. We actually ate fast food that day, since we were preparing for our big celebration that would last the weekend. (I think we were in line that night with people who had burned their turkeys and/or don't care much for the holidays.)

The day after Thanksgiving, we had a big dinner at our house. I think we ended up with 35 people in all. Six of my brothers and sisters came....we missed the other two LOTS. I took this little picture when the kids were just getting started.

After Thanksgiving dinner, we switched holidays. We made a quick shift to Christmas Eve. Well, that is what is was, for Ally. Since she was going to the Missionary Training Center, on December 1, it was only right that she should have a bit of Christmas at home first. I loved how my family came through for this event for my girl!

Anyway, that is what my next post will be: Our Pretend Christmas Eve with Lots of Little Cousins.

So, It Has Been Awhile.....

2011-01-06T07:27:00.000-07:00

Recently I told my mom I would get back to this blog soon. She responded, "So it won't say Blast from the Past anymore?" Right. That won't be the top title. Since I am reaching back to November in attempting a little bit of catch up, it still feels like a bit of a blast from the past though.

November was so much about Ally. We wanted to spend as much time with her as we could. We needed to make sure to get things ready for her mission. The day she left was December 1, and I will get to that in a post or two.

I decided to share this piece of November, because the pictures are so fun. I can't even take credit for them, although I would like to.

The day before Thanksgiving, Ally's friend Mandy came to visit her from out of town. She wanted to have one last visit with her before her mission. A couple of years ago, I wrote a little entry about these two. Yes, you should click on that link. There is a picture of Ally as a bridesmaid at Mandy's wedding. There is also a picture of the two girls in matching outfits when they were babies. It is worth your 30 seconds to take a quick look!

A fun addition to this particular visit was Mandy's sister. She is a little older than Emilee and a little younger than Kaitie. She is nonstop adorable, and the girls had a blast that day.

Their trip to the mall started out normal enough, but then they got going....

It became a tea party....

They made all kinds of new friends....

They had an amazing time!

At home, they played a really funny game of Moods.

I think they might get upset with me if I shared the pictures of the Truth or Dare game that followed.

Anyway, that is a tiny piece of November with Ally. I have lots more coming.

It feels good to look at pictures and write a little. I'm sure it will feel good to catch up with reading blogs too. If I haven't been by yours for awhile, it is not a lack of love! I'll be by soon:)

Blast From the Past

2010-11-15T07:00:00.003-07:00

Jeff, Ally and I were supposed to go to San Diego on Saturday. Riley changed our plans by throwing up each and every hour on Friday night. You didn't want to know that? Well, I will spare you the exact details. Since we had time at home we weren't expecting to have, Jeff put up the Christmas lights.

Yesterday, Riley didn't go to church, but did start feeling better in the afternoon. She got up and practiced the piano. She picked out the one finger version of Jingle Bells. She told me she must be out of her mind. "This is supposed to be the month for turkeys," she exclaimed. I personally like getting to Christmas things early, but she has always been funny about it. Here is a little post I wrote about her four years ago, when she was four:

My older girls started singing Christmas songs in the late evening of October 31. They are into it. We love seeing the early decorations going up, well, I thought we all did. For me, it is a reminder to stay on top of it. It helps to get organized so I won't go crazy next month. I like enjoying a long season. I don't mind that the stores decorate to try to make more money. Our country is built on that. Make it if you can...right?

We went into a Mervyn's on Saturday night, and Riley exclaimed, "What are they thinking?" It was beautifully decorated, and you would think that a four year old would be delighted. Maybe she is like one of our relatives who called a radio station to inform them that she will NEVER listen to them again, because they played a Christmas song the day before Halloween. I, for one, cannot imagine caring about that. When I hear people complaining about Christmas displays, I think of cranky, old scrooges. But Riley? It baffles me.

Well, another issue Riley has, is with Santa. One afternoon, I was playing Christmas songs, on my new piano. I was singing too. I had Riley sitting by me, and I thought we were having some nice bonding time. Suddenly, she put her hands over her ears. She said, "I don't want to sing any more songs about Santa." What? She said, "I don't want him to see me when I am sleeping." I had to stifle wild laughter. Think of how these lyrics might creep you out, if you really thought about it...."You better watch out, you better not cry. You better not pout, I'm telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to town. He sees you when you're sleeping. He knows if you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake." I am not allowed to sing, "Up on the housetop, reindeer pause....out jumps good ole Santa Claus...."

Riley does love songs about Jesus though. She is going to be good at "Silent Night" and "Away in a Manger" by the time December 25 does roll around. She is a good singer, and I guess she is not going to waste her talent on Santa. This just might be good for our whole family. We will focus better on what Christmas should really be about. As a side note, Riley is going to sing a little solo this Sunday in church. The kids are putting on a program, and Riley is going to be one of seven kids who each sings a verse in a song of Old Testament prophets. She will sing the verse about Jonah. She has practiced without showing fear, and seems to adore the microphone. I am dying to know what she will do in front of a full congregation. Emilee has a verse too, about Samuel. She sings very well, but is not excited like Riley is. Okay....back to my regular post.

Well, with my older kids there were usually a few times during the Christmas season that I would correct their behavior by reminding them about Santa. I think with Riley, I might just have to threaten to sing about Santa, and her behavior will likely improve.

Just to give you an idea of Riley from back then, this was my Christmas card in 2006:

New Tradition

2010-11-12T06:24:00.001-07:00

Voting was the last thing on my mind when I turned 18 years old. At that time, I was glad that my vote was the only one being processed when it came to deciding what time to come in at night.

I still didn't vote when I was 21. I should have been more grown up by then. I could have voted for Ronald Reagan in 1984. As it turned out though, he didn't need me for the victory.

I was nearly 30 years old when I actually registered to vote. By this time, I had two little children. I decided I would help them to be more civic minded than I had been.

Back then, Kids Voting was a new thing. It was actually started very close to where we lived at the time. Our kids could come with us to vote, and cast kid ballots of their own. We all enjoyed this experience. (I remember that in 1992, six year old Ryan voted for Bill Clinton for the very important reason that he thought Al Gore looked a little like Jeff.)

Our family started a tradition back then of discussing the candidates and issues, voting together, and then going out for an Election Day Breakfast. We did that for years. Sometimes the kids were late for school because of this tradition. We got some curious looks from school secretaries when we explained the situation, but no one was ever critical.

Now I know Kids Voting still exists, and that some communities go with it more than others. I just haven't seen it for a really long time. Even when it wasn't present anymore, we continued our election day traditions. We could still discuss issues, and celebrate our vote together. The last couple of years, it started to really lack something. I can't identify the exact issue. I just know that our tradition ran its course. I love what we did, and now I love that we stopped doing it.

Why do I love that we stopped doing it? Because this year, I think we found a new tradition. I requested early ballots. It was awesome sitting with Jeff and going over the ballots in detail. We talked each other into some things, and out of other things. I appreciated his explanations about certain wording in the issues. I expect to do it this way for a really long time. We didn't involve the kids this time, but we'll figure them in somehow in the future. Maybe I will put Riley in charge of making me a sticker or something....I did miss getting a sticker;)

I meant to write this yesterday, so I could express my appreciate to all veterans who made my vote possible. Well, I am late for that, but still very thankful today.....

Halloween

2010-11-05T05:37:00.002-07:00

It was easier than ever getting ready for Halloween this year. Riley was a witch in her dance recital in the summer, and was thrilled to wear the same costume. She wore this to school on Friday of Halloween Weekend, and to the church trunk or treat on Saturday.

Here is a picture of Riley and her cousins at the trunk or treat. I was having trouble with my flash, and it took a little while to get a picture so the Witch and the Aloof Rock Star don't look quite as good as in their original poses. I believe the Zombie makes up for it though! Isn't she great?

While the rest of us were at the trunk or treat, Kaitie...a pirate....was at a party with friends.

On Sunday, Ally passed out a little candy to the trick or treaters. The highlight though, was our traditional Halloween in the Hallway. I wrote about it in my last post....

Here are some of the characters I saw in my hallway last Sunday:

Each time there was something especially amusing. In this round, that scary white thing on the left was silent. No matter what anyone said, the response was only given with the eyes....frightening eyes. It was hilarious.

We have so many costumes these days. Riley is wearing the pirate costume she wore at the end of the school year in second grade. She used the ship she made as the candy container in this round.

For years I have been trying to get Emilee to dress as Dorothy. She won't do it in public, but she said I should be happy now that she has at least modeled the outfit for me.

What is Ally in this picture, you ask? Well, she said she is her 15 year old self! (It was a short dressing-in-black stage she had.) Emilee said she was a different kind of Cinderella. Kaitie is a Hershey's Kiss, and Riley is a fairy princess.

When I opened the door this time, I was greeted with Ally singing:

You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain
Too much love drives a man insane
You broke my will, oh what a thrill
Goodness gracious great balls of fire!

And then the "show girls" popped out from behind her....

Silly show girls!

Ally was trying to get her Grinch costume together here, but she could only find the hat and the dog. She ended up putting on a robe and saying she was Mrs. Claus....and she wasn't feeling well. Riley was a beautiful princess. Edward and Bella showed up too. They didn't say much, but really...do they ever?

I thought the game would continue, but after this the girls pretty much attacked the candy bag and called it good.

All of My Girls....

2010-10-29T09:47:00.000-07:00

...have brown hair now.

Kaitie's new shade is even darker than Emilee's this time. I think it is cute. Soon I will have a picture of all four girls together. If I hurry, I will get that done before Emilee goes red again.

A Really Funny Game....

2010-10-20T12:26:00.005-07:00

Halloween is not my favorite. It is fine, but not a big deal to me.

In 1999, Halloween was on a Sunday. We did costumes and candy on Saturday, and imagined that we were finished with the thing. Well, I had restless kids on Sunday. Ryan was 13, Ally was 12, Kaitie was 6, and Emilee was 3. We keep things pretty church and family oriented on Sunday, and I wondered what I could do to help the kids get through the afternoon at home. And, what could we do together that they would all enjoy? A game was born, called Halloween in the Hallway.

Jeff and I took the candy into our room, and the kids could knock on the door to "trick or treat." That doesn't sound too exciting, does it? The real trick was, that they had to be dressed as something different each time they knocked. It turned out to be so fun!

I wish I could find more pictures from 1999. I can only find these two:

I can't remember what everyone was trying to "be" here, except Ryan was a blind man, with a dog.

There should be sound effects for this picture. I know you don't recognize this group as The Backstreet Boys. They were singing, "I Want it That Way." The game turned out better than I imagined, because the kids got into it together, and helped each other have a really good time.

When Halloween fell on a Sunday again in 2004, the kids were older, and even more creative. Here are a few examples of what I saw when I opened my bedroom door. (Riley had come along by then, but we were mean and did it during her nap time.)

(Right here Kaitie is saying, ".. harsher punishment for parole violators, Stan.")

Even though Halloween is not my favorite, I am really looking forward to October 31 this year.

Lady Lucille...

2010-10-19T11:53:00.000-07:00

Six months ago, I went with Kaitie to audition for two plays. She and I sat nervously watching people deliver monologues and sing without accompaniment. I don't think she knew how nervous I was. After all, I didn't have to do anything. As for her, she also appeared very calm on the exterior. I just know her.

At the first audition, when it was her turn, she went through her short, cute monologue pretty quickly. The directors looked pleasant enough during it, but I couldn't judge any reaction. Then, she sang. Both directors started scribbling notes down, while hardly taking their eyes off of her. She prepared a song that sounded amazing. For her singing, I would say she got the best reaction of the evening. Remember, I watched the whole thing. Kaitie had a similar experience in the second audition. She ended up singing a solo in the play connected with the second audition. That was in May.

The first play was "Once Upon a Mattress," which was put on out at the college. Kaitie did not play a main part, but was in the chorus as a lady in waiting.....Lady Lucille. I didn't even know that was her name until I read the program.

I was proud of Kaitie as I watched the play these last two weekends. She delivered her lines well. I expected that she would. I could hear her specifically, and know that she can stay on the music even on stage. I knew she could do that. Watching her dance was a highlight for me. I told her that was the best of all, because it is well outside her comfort zone. It is impressive to me that she had the courage to do what does not come naturally to her. She did a great job.

Here is Kaitie joined on both sides by the other lovely ladies in waiting....

Choir Girls

2010-10-16T18:10:00.000-07:00

Kaitie and Emilee are fortunate enough to be part of an excellent choir program in high school. There was a concert last week, and it did not disappoint.

Kaitie wears the black Performing Choir dress, and Emilee, the black and white Beginning Choir combination.

This is what the beginning choir looked like from the audience....lots of kids!

I was pleased that Emilee's spot was on the end of the row, so I could get a decent picture.

And, what luck! Kaitie was also on the end of a row. I love it when that happens.

The Beautiful Shoes

2010-10-15T08:58:00.001-07:00

Emilee started dancing with a nearby studio about three years ago. It has been hard work, being a little bit older of a beginner. (Well, she danced when she was little too, but back then it wasn't about dancing, it was about cuteness. She missed lots of years in between.) One Friday evening in September, Emilee got the news she has been waiting for. She was finally allowed to get her pointe shoes!

Those shoes are not available locally. We didn't waste time though. The next day, Emilee and I took a quick trip to the Chandler Mall. I am not much of a shopper, but if I have to go to a mall, this is the one to go to.

I took this picture outside of the dance store, with my phone.

Ally lives over there, so she met us that day at the mall. After Emilee was fitted for her shoes, we looked around for "missionary wear" for Ally. Emilee and I had all kinds of opinions to share.

Em was horrified when she found out how few outfits Ally was going to be able to take. Here she is, offering Ally some comfort. (It is not that bad at all....like 8-12. Do I even have that many?)

And here are the beautiful shoes.

You Say It's Your Birthday.....

2010-10-13T14:18:00.000-07:00

For a little stretch in August, we went from one birthday to another. Here are the quick highlights:

Riley was thrilled to turn eight!

We had just a small party, as we knew we would have a bigger celebration for her baptism.

Kaitie had one friend over to help her make the cake. I loved having this particular friend over, because she jumped up and down with Kaitie the day that Riley was born. They were fourth graders when they received the news at school. They screamed and chanted, "Riley Rebekah, Riley Rebekah...." It was fun to hear them reminiscing about that.

A couple of days after Riley's birthday, we had Ally's birthday. She was excited a few days before when she and I exchanged texts about what she wanted for dinner and dessert. Real home food! She placed her order for brownies, instead of cake.

Ally also got her sisters to stand together for a picture. This is not easy. They agreed to do it because it was her birthday.

I think Ally's favorite birthday moment was when she beat her dad in a game of ping pong. He doesn't let people win. The kids work really hard for their rare victories.

Just a few days later, we traveled to Phoenix for another birthday. My niece was turning two years old.

My sister put on a really cute Minnie Mouse party for her. This was the moment she almost didn't blow out her candles. It only took a tiny bit of convincing, and she did it.

This isn't the birthday girl, but another two year old niece, having a little chat with Ally. Don't you love those little Minnie cupcakes?

This is just an idea of how crazy the Cousin Pool was, later on that afternoon. Everyone had such a great time! Riley was so unhappy with me when we had to leave.

Kaitie and Emilee did not come to Phoenix with us that day. They were a bit vague when I asked them what they had done all day. I didn't have to wonder long....

The day before my birthday, which was the day after the Phoenix trip, they had me stay in my room for awhile. After a long wait, Kaitie came in and told me to close my eyes. She handed me a shirt and told me to put it on without looking. You have no idea how funny it is to do that! Then she led me to the family room, where I was issued a necklace and sunglasses. "Birthday" by the Beatles was playing in the background. My family was having a 60's party for me.

The day before, they tie dyed a shirt for me. They also walked (in August heat) to get me an amazing carrot cake. They made posters and plans. It is a good thing I didn't get mad about the being vague thing. I would have felt terrible!

I love these funny girls!

I Did it My Way....

2010-10-09T08:27:00.000-07:00

A truck loaded with pears from Oregon arrived locally awhile back. Since then, I have heard much talk of preserving pears. I have seen beautiful displays of shining jars lined up, and ready to take their places in the Museum of Preserved Pears. I wanted to join in somehow.

Well, the half a box we ate fresh is just a distant memory now. They were really good.

I preserved the remaining half box, and now it looks like this:

So, I didn't pay enough dues to be a Gold Club Member, or whatever that highest membership is called, but I hope this gets me "in" on some level.....;)

How Can This Be Two Months Ago?

2010-10-08T12:13:00.004-07:00

School started this year for Riley on August 9th. These two months have flown by, leaving me feeling almost confused. I remember when time felt like it dragged on, each minute making itself fully known to me. Now it swishes by, and I have to consciously register it, or it will just be gone. Strange.

Anyway, it seems that every year, the weekend before school starts we are out of town. My kids have missed school open houses often. They have had to dig at least a thing or two out of a suitcase to be ready for the first day of school. This year, we went to a quick family reunion in California.

The reunion was for my dad's family...his brothers and sisters and their families. That would be quite a group, if the total would come together. Even a fraction of the group added up to quite a few people!

This was one of those quick road trips where the drive time is almost equal to the time actually spent visiting with family. What do we do to make drive time bearable?

Well, we stopped for a little bit of shopping....just a little bit. Riley got these new shoes for school. Then she spent a long time in the car learning to tie them. I know she is a little old for that, but she never had tie shoes before.

When I took a picture of this little tunnel, Emilee was frantically trying to call Ally on her cell phone. My kids hold their breath when we pass through tunnels. Do yours? Mine have taken it up a notch, and try to get someone on the phone to hold their breath too. Ally didn't answer, so she didn't get the pleasure this time....

I started drawing faces on toes when Ryan and Ally were little. I know it is weird. This is a very entertaining activity though. It is very hard for feet to stay still while a different face is being drawn on each toe. This becomes especially difficult in the car. Riley and Emilee really wanted me to do it though. One time I said, "Don't look now, but I think I just drew a picture of Grandpa." (Just kidding, Dad!)

Once we got there, we had a nice time catching up with family we hadn't seen in awhile. We ate good food. Jeff, Kaitie and Emilee played some volleyball. I should have taken a better variety of pictures. It seems I mostly took my camera out at the beach.

The beach was definitely a highlight for us.

My fun cousin, just younger than I am, got all decked out in her wetsuit so she could play with the kids in the freezing cold water. Notice the kids don't mind the cold. That is Riley out there on the right, getting some boogie board instruction. She and her second cousin, who is on the left had a blast out there!

Although Riley was nervous at the beginning, it didn't take long to get going!

It was cousin time for me too. These are two of the best in the world!

I loved seeing my cousin as an adorable grandma.

Emilee and Kaitie stayed on the shore for awhile....

....but soon they got some boogie board time too.

Success!

There is always a talent show at our family reunions. This picture is blurry, but not so much that you can't tell what the "accessories" are in this picture! I love these girls. I said to my own girls, "Now maybe you understand my family a little better....."

September 4, 2010

2010-09-28T14:00:00.010-07:00

Riley turned eight in August. I haven't even written about that. There is so much I haven't written about. Anyway, for us, eight is the age to be baptized. Jeff and I wondered when we should schedule her baptism. We knew we would really like to have all of our children there. Ally only lives three hours away, but Ryan and Brittany live in Idaho, so we knew it would take some planning.

Ally had been waiting for her mission call, and at first we thought we might have the baptism in connection with a missionary farewell for her. But we knew that might make Riley have a long wait for her baptism. We finally decided to have the baptism on Jeff's birthday. You see, it wasn't just any birthday, but a milestone birthday. We thought it would be fun to bring everyone together for that birthday.

I started hoping that Ally's mission call would come on September 3, so she would bring it with her and open it at home. I had really thought it would come before that, and she would just open it and call us and tell us about it. Each day it didn't come, I thought maybe we would get to be together when she opened it. Well, September 3 came, but not the call. She came home for the birthday a little disappointed not to have the call yet.

Because Ryan just started a new job, he had very little time he could actually be home. We flew Ryan and Brittany in, late on Friday night...September 3. (The first thing Ryan did when he got home, was eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I loved it. I used to have to limit him to one of those a day, or he would have eaten it for all of his meals.)

Saturday morning, we had a breakfast party for Jeff. We had pancakes, and black balloons. He opened his gifts, including a snake from Ryan. Okay, a toy snake. It is a running joke that has been going for years. At many gift giving times, Jeff and the kids used to tell each other that they were getting snakes as gifts. (None of us around here love snakes, so this was never a good thing.) Quite a variety of pretend snakes have been given.

Jeff loved his little party. He thought he was done with his portion of the celebration for the day. He had a little yet to come....

Since we were all here, we had our family pictures taken that morning. (Thank you, Jennifer Butler....my favorite photographer!) We just did them at home, since it was hot out, and the day was busy.

So, here is Ryan and Brittany. They have been married a year now. My mom walked in while they were being photographed and said that marriage really seems to agree with them. Yes, they look great!

I love this shot of Kaitie and Emilee.

Riley felt so beautiful in her baptism dress!

Right before we started this photography session, Ally got a call from her roommate. A big white envelope had come in the morning mail. The mission call! Ally said that this roommate was babysitting, but when she was finished, she would fax Ally the contents of the envelope. We were all so excited!

And here is the whole group. We were having the least cranky photo session of our lives. Amazing, but true...

After pictures, Jeff left for the church to go fill the baptismal font. While he was gone, we set up a few extra things for our after-the-baptism gathering, that he didn't know about.

So, here is my girl at the church. She was getting a little nervous...

This is one of my favorite pictures...the classic Dad and daughter baptism picture.

I thought I would cry and cry during this baptism. Riley is my baby. I thought I would feel emotional about that. Jeff conducted the meeting. My parents gave the prayers. Ryan and Ally gave the talks. Kaitie and Emilee sang, "Beautiful Savior." (Oh, I played the piano, if you were wondering.) I thought that watching my family take part in Riley's special day would be more than I could handle. The only time that tears really came to my eyes was right when she came up out of the water, and walked back up the stairs to me, so I could help her get dry and change. She was filled with joy and exclaimed, "I'm baptized!" She was so pleased, and her happiness was so sweet. Then she added, "What was I worried about?" I love my little girl.

We invited our family and friends who were at the church to come back with us to the house for cake and snacks. I regret that I don't have a picture of that group. Some of our family traveled to be with us. I really appreciate that.

Jeff was the last one to come home, since he had to see to things at the church. When he walked in, we had a house full of people singing Happy Birthday. It was awesome. Then, we led him past Riley's cake......

.....to his cake.

Kaitie helped me pick this out. Don't you love it? (We wanted age, but not death...)

We had Riley's cake set out in the middle of the room, with a white cloth and white flowers. We had Jeff's off to the side, in a much darker setting. He was very surprised. It was just the right amount of celebrating for him. We had fun, but most of the day was about Riley.....well, until it was about Ally...

We had all waited so long for this call. Ally's roommate hadn't been able to get away to send the call. We asked her if she could scan and email it. We should have asked that from the beginning! When it came, Ryan printed it out...without looking...and even put it in an envelope so she could open it in front of everyone. As you may have read in my last post, she was called to Arcadia California, and will go into the Missionary Training Center on December 1st.

As Ally read that call in front of a group of family and friends, there were loud cheers and so much excitement. If she had received the call on any other day, she would not have had such a group with her. As hard as the wait was, this was such a wonderful day for her to receive that call. I'm so proud of her. Well, I am proud of all my kids.....

....even when they act like this. (This picture is a cheesy reenactment of a real water throwing scene.)

Ryan and Brittany left as quickly as they came. They were back on a plane, first thing Sunday morning. They were exhausted. I think we all were. We packed so much into just one day.

And the Winner Is......

2010-09-08T12:16:00.000-07:00

.....well, wait, I need a minute to explain..

Ally doesn't like finding out important things online. Her friends know that if they have big news, they better get it to her personally. So, she feels the same way about announcing things. I was banned from any blog or Facebook announcing for the past few days, so she could speak to some friends about her mission call. And Ally has so many friends! Ally has more friends at her age now, than I have had during my whole life added together, and I am twice as old as she is. (Oh, you want to be technical about that age thing? I don't....) So, it has taken Ally awhile to talk to everyone she wanted to talk to. She hasn't actually talked to every person she wants to talk to, but she is working on it....

Saturday was a huge day here. I am only giving the short version at the moment. We had Riley's baptism, and Jeff's 50th birthday. That was a lovely combination. We were able to gather some of our family and friends for this big day. Ryan and Brittany even joined us! While Ally was here for all that, her mission call arrived in Tempe, where she lives. Ally didn't want her roommate to just open it and read it to her, she wanted to open it for herself. Her roommate was going to fax it, but couldn't do it right then. Finally, her kind roommate scanned it, and emailed it to us. (Wow...I just made a long story very short.) Ryan printed it (without looking) and put it in an envelope for Ally to open in front of the group.

Ally was called to serve in Arcadia California, and report to the Missionary Training Center on December 1. My grandma went to Arcadia on one of her missions, and I need to learn more about the time she spent there. Ally is happy that she will be speaking English, and that she will not be buying snow shoes. That is fairly close to home, but as one of her friends put it, "You can't ask for anything better than Southern California."

So, I have pictures and details and so many other things to write about. And I will do just that very soon.

I have one more item of business to take care of. There is the matter of the guessing, and the prize!

And the winner is.....

Ryan and Brittany Snow! They made a list of five places in their comment, and California was their fourth choice.

Ally and I had decided already to make the prize related somehow to the area she was called to. The following prize has been sent to the winners:

Care to Make a Prediction?

2010-08-31T21:31:00.002-07:00

I have predicted a few things correctly in my life. I predicted that my first child would be a boy. I was 100 percent correct on that one. I am not however still 100 percent on "child predicting." I predicted that each and every child I had since then would also be a son. As you probably know, my next four children were daughters. I got to be 100 percent correct for 19 months, and then my percentage went down and down from there.

So, while I have predicted a few things correctly, I have predicted MANY things incorrectly.

I have an example, in this post about Mother's Day weekend. I stated that Ally's mission papers had been turned in. I said that I predicted that her call would come in closer to three weeks than six weeks. My poor prediction record stands.

I have it on pretty good authority that the call will be arriving soon now. I have told Ally that I predict that she will go to Georgia.

Jeff has made a list of guesses which goes as follows:

1. Montana
2. The Dakotas
3. Toronto
4. The Czech Republic

Kaitie says Ireland.

Emilee says Italy or India.

Riley says Florida.

Care to make a prediction here? Ally says we should give a prize for whoever guesses the closest. There you have it. I don't know what the prize is, but she says we should have one and so we will.

Don't take too long to think about it. Ally thinks it may even arrive tomorrow.

A Month Ago....

2010-08-27T07:20:00.002-07:00

A month ago today we left for church camp. How a month has flown by already, I will never know. When I got back, I wrote here that after I caught up on sleep and laundry, I would share a little about the experience. If I really wait until I am caught up on laundry, it will be quite a wait yet....

Camp was short this year, just Tuesday to Friday. We packed a lot into those days!

First of all, the theme for the whole camp was "Survivor." Our scripture was Joshua 1:9: Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Each group was to bring a totem pole. Ours was GREAT, thanks to a very creative father of one of our girls.

Speaking of creative, I owe so much of this year's camp success to the other adult leader of our little group. Megan is amazing! Here she is, with her cute daughter. (I wish this picture wasn't blurry. Just pretend it is supposed to be that way, for effect....)

The minute we arrived at camp, and needed to unload our things, the rain poured out quite a greeting. Startling thunder and lightning moved us along pretty quickly. I thought the girls, in their squishy wet shoes might get discouraged. Do they look upset to you?

A thing that struck me this year, was the togetherness we enjoyed at camp. We had our little group of eight girls and two leaders among many other girls and leaders. While we enjoyed friendship and activities with the other campers, our group really bonded.

With our Survivor theme, we chose the silly name, "Janes of the Jungle," for our group. These pink Jane shirts really stood out. I love them. I love how they look on film! Right here, the girls were on their way to breakfast. They hadn't been up long. What are the chances that eight sleepy girls are going to breakfast, and there is not a cranky face in the bunch?

And this is a post hike picture. Again with the cheerfulness....I'm telling you this group was so awesome.

I guess this is the only picture I have where someone looks upset. They had a very good reason. They walked into camp in the middle of something very frightening. For some reason, Megan asked me if I remembered the show, "Sigmund the Sea Monster." I replied by singing, "Sigmund the sea monster, and Johnny and Scott are friends."

This led to talking about the show, "H R Puffnstuff." Did I spell that right? I will never know. But did I sing it right? I assure you, I did. I started singing, "Once upon a summertime, just a dream from yesterday...." I kept singing, although it was hard because Megan and I were laughing so hysterically. Girls were staring at us, as if we were out of our right minds. There was some sleep deprivation involved. So, in the middle of all this, our two daughters walked up and they were horrified. I told them I would stop singing, if I could take a picture of their distress. I didn't get to sing about the part where Puff arrived and saved the day.....

Our girls ate together....

I couldn't even get a cranky picture when they had to take their turn doing chores!

We had fun on skit night. We performed our own, "The Legend of Word of Wisdom Island."

Fun stuff!

Here they are enjoying a little hike together. I stayed behind to take this picture. Yeah, that's why I was so far behind. I like that version of the story, and think I will keep to it....

The Last Pair

2010-08-26T14:24:00.001-07:00

So, in the last post, you could see that Riley had her ears pierced. That was the day after her eighth birthday. I let my girls choose to get them done if they want to, when they are eight. Ally waited until she was eleven. Kaitie, Emilee and Riley were more anxious to get to it.

Another thing my kids start when they turn eight is piano lessons. This one is not a choice. I insist on years of piano. Their other instruments and activities are up to them to choose.

So, I was planning to take a picture of Riley when she was on her way to her first piano lesson. She was cute with her armload of pink piano books. Well, she cried in the car. She was not crying about piano lessons. She was anxious to go. She was being dramatic about another matter. I decided not to take a picture.

Well, Riley and Emilee ended up knocking on the door for an extra minute, and I took this picture out the car window.

And then I cried.

My emotions took me by surprise, but I suddenly had so many memories. I remembered seeing Ryan and Ally knock on this door. Then Ally and Kaitie were the ones. Most recently it was Kaitie and Emilee who went to lessons together. Now it is Emilee and Riley. It occurred to me, as if for the first time, that Riley is the last one.

My tears were not only for the fact that my baby is growing up. Believe it or not, they were also tears of gratitude. Those insisted-upon piano lessons were not generally easy. My kids did not always knock on that door in a great mood. It was like much of life, that is difficult and yet worth it. What the kids did not enjoy when they were younger, they have thanked me for as they have grown up. What mom would not be grateful for that?

(I am also grateful for their good teacher who has dealt with us for all these years!)

One Tiny Difference...

2010-08-25T07:48:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted lately. I can't seem to find the rhythm yet to this new school year.

I think I will catch up by doing a little series of mini posts. They won't be chronological even, just a product of my current mood....

So these "before and after" pictures are of Riley from Saturday:

Before

After

Just one tiny difference.......do you see it?

The Last First Day

2010-08-10T06:36:00.000-07:00

Kaitie was very excited to tell me that today was her last "first day." She is a senior. Oh, she'll have more first days alright, but I probably won't be there to take her picture at the door. I told her that I would certainly guilt her into taking pictures and sending them to me. It is sure a strange thought, and not a very happy one.

Today is HUGE first day for Emilee. It is her first day of high school. Every year it seems like one of the kids is more stressed than the others. This year it is Emilee. She is the one starting a new school. (Kaitie and Riley are each in the fourth year of going to the same school.) I think she will like it. I can't wait to find out!

Yesterday Riley started third grade. We went early to meet the teacher, as we were out of town for the open house on Friday. Riley wasn't very worried about missing the open house. She told me that she knew where all the third grade classes were. She said, "I don't know where all the fifth grade classes are, but I don't need to know that until fourth grade."

Riley and I saw lots of people we knew. We hugged her teacher from last year. We found her desk, and then met her teacher. When I said, "Are you ready for me to leave now?" she didn't hesitate much. If we hadn't missed the open house, I don't think I would have had to go in at all. She came home exhausted, but happy.

I hope Emilee comes home that way today. I am guessing she will.

Back from Camp

2010-07-31T06:58:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful time at camp this year. I just love these girls! After I catch up on sleep, laundry and various other things, I will share a little more....

It's Not Over Until the........Dad Shaves

2010-07-25T05:00:00.002-07:00

As much as I enjoyed driving down the whole state of Wyoming, as I wrote about in my last post, I paid for it. I woke up the next morning in our Evanston hotel, with such a stiff neck and shoulder that I could not turn my head. I knew I would not be driving anymore. We didn't have too much planned for our trip that day. We were on our way home. We were going to be back to my parents' home by afternoon.

Well, when we got to the Park City exit, which we were not planning to take, Jeff spontaneously took it. He said, "Let's take the kids to the Alpine Slide!" I wanted to say that although usually this would be a great idea, me and my neck would not be able to deal with the Alpine Slide. Instead, I agreed that we should go. I figured that no matter what we did, my neck would hurt. Why should that ruin everyone's last day of vacation?

I called my mom, and told her we would be a lot later than afternoon. We didn't actually arrive at their place until almost midnight.

On their first trip down, Jeff and Riley rode together.

And there is Emilee and Kaitie too.

As soon as they were down, they got back in line, and rode back up to the top.

Riley didn't ride with her dad anymore. She loved riding on her own.

Those two dots on the Zip Rider are Emilee and Jeff.

There is Riley, watching her dad coming in for a landing.

I took a few pictures. I wandered around. I made calls. I sat in the shade and watched people. I shopped a little. After some hours, Kaitie came to be with me. It was a decent enough day for me, and a GREAT one for everyone else.

My mom was still waiting up for us when we arrived. All of us love staying at their summer place.

The next morning, we went to church with my mom and dad. After that, we drove all the way home, in time to see this sunset.

This is the last picture I took of Jeff with his "vacation face."

At our house, we know the vacation is over when the dad shaves......

Last Yellowstone Day.....

2010-07-24T13:28:00.001-07:00

We started off our last morning in Yellowstone, by seeing a bald eagle. It was hard to get a picture of him at all, but Emilee captured it a little better than I did:

This last day of Yellowstone, really consisted of driving through it and taking the southern exit toward Jackson. Well, we made one big stop, because the girls thought they might like to swim before we left.

Before I go on, I want to write about Riley for a second. She is seven years old. In some ways, she acts younger than that because she is the youngest in the family. In some ways though, she acts much older. Riley packs to prepare. She thinks ahead (for "emergency" situations) more than any seven year old I have ever known. When we needed band aids, Neosporin, sunscreen, or cortizone we knew Riley would have what we needed in her backpack. I believe she always had extra batteries as well. She was the first to let us know when we needed to stock up on water bottles again. What a girl! I just wanted to add this bit of information, because I refer to "our favorite nurse" during this slide show of our stop.

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As we finally drove south, the clouds gathered. We were going to stop for a picnic in Grand Teton National Park. Well, it rained all while we drove through there. We ate some snacks in the car, but we didn't really stop until it was clearing up.

The mountains were amazing in the background. This picture doesn't do them justice. It just shows that the weather was very different than the morning. I had never seen these mountains before. Jeff told us he floated down the Snake River right by those mountains when he was younger. This was nostalgic for him.

I tried to capture it from the car window. Emilee and Riley said they thought that was where the Grinch lives!

They loved getting a little cold.....

We finally stopped for our picnic in Jackson. I hadn't been there before either. I know we want to go again. Our stay there was very short.

We went to a visitor's center. The girls checked out the animal displays. We had been seeing live animals in Yellowstone, but not standing next to them and seeing how huge they really were.

Or how scary they really were!

I just had to take a picture of the antler chandelier.

Soon, we were on the road again. Our reservation that night was in Evanston. I drove that day. Wyoming is gorgeous. I like driving in places where I have never been. I like not knowing what is coming up around each bend and turn of the road....

Just Another Day in Yellowstone....

2010-07-24T00:09:00.002-07:00

On our second Yellowstone day, we first went to the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake. This is a really beautiful area.

We couldn't figure out why this stunning blue pool was called "Black Pool."

Traveling from the West Thumb to Fishing Bridge, we took this picture out the car window.

This is Yellowstone Lake from another view. That thing is huge! Riley had a Jr. Ranger page that gave her ideas what animals to look for. There was also a place on there to tally how many animals she saw. She was really into this activity. She was hoping to see a pelican in this area.

Although I knew what was going on in Riley's mind, I could not say the same for what was going on with Kaitie and Emilee right then.

When we got going again, the road we traveled on was next to a river. I saw what I thought for a minute might be a duck, but it turned out to be a .....

pelican!

Yay! My girls teased me at how I exclaimed about that pelican. Hey, I was excited for Riley to get to see what she was looking for.

We even got out of the car to see that pelican, and take that picture of it. If we had audio with this picture, Kaitie could be heard quoting Nemo a time...or two...or three, "That's not a duck, it's a .......PELICAN."

So, did you see the news about the woman who was just attacked by a bison at Yellowstone? She unwisely got too close to the animal, and she is lucky to be alive. We looked at the bison from some very safe distances....

Can you see the black dots in the background? I loved looking over at the hills covered with bison. I imagined that is how they looked when this land was first discovered. (I think Riley added hundreds of tally marks to her page here.)

Okay, we saw this one, and several others up close like this. I didn't zoom or crop here at all. This was right out my car window. There was a group of bison that swam across the river, and got out to walk across the road. I spoke to a woman on a motorcycle out my window as these huge animals walked by. The woman was about ready to climb into our car with us!

This is in the canyon area. We loved this waterfall. It seemed to have green and white stripes.

This is down the river a bit from that waterfall. This is The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

One more Yellowstone day to go.....

Yellowstone

2010-07-23T09:24:00.002-07:00

The next part of our summer vacation, after seeing Ryan and Brittany in Rexburg, was a visit to Yellowstone.

Two years ago, I had my first trip to Yellowstone. Jeff and I were there that summer with just Emilee and Riley, while Kaitie was in Utah at EFY. (Ryan actually joined us for one day in Yellowstone that trip too.) So this was Kaitie's first visit to Yellowstone.

(Side note: Ten years ago, we took the kids on vacation to Hawaii. We went to Oahu and Maui, so we didn't even get to half the islands. I'm not complaining, of course. It was an amazing trip. I recently expressed the desire to go back. Jeff said he didn't feel the need to go back to Hawaii, because he had already seen that. When we were planning our summer vacation, he said he really wanted to go back to Yellowstone, even though it had only been two years since our last trip. He said he didn't get a chance to see all of it. I don't think our Hawaii conversation is over yet.)

When we got into the park, we did what tourists do and headed straight to Old Faithful.

The benches were mostly taken, so we found a little spot right on the board walk, to wait for the big event.

Old Faithful still looked like this, and we knew it would be awhile yet. (Actually, we really knew from looking at the big clock which tells the approximate time of the next eruption....)

Jeff and Kaitie went and found treats for us, while we waited. (I remember last time we were there it was gray, cold and rainy, and people were eating ice cream. I thought it was crazy! The ice cream was great on this very warm day.)

It wasn't long before we got to see the show we were waiting for!

Next, we went back to the Midway Geyser Basin. I wanted to see the Grand Prismatic Spring, among other things. I took this picture of Jeff and the girls because I thought it was the last I would see of them for awhile. They were going faster than Riley and I were.

Riley and I stopped to enjoy the steam, even though it was a hot day. This was by the Excelsior Geyser. I guess it used to erupt, but hasn't since sometime in the 1800's. A lot of steam comes off of it, constantly. Riley thought it was a little spooky.

This is the Grand Prismatic Spring. Of course I didn't take this picture, but I just wanted to show the aerial view.

This is how it looks from the boardwalk that runs next to it.

We did catch back up with Jeff and the girls, but it was when we were all on our way back to the car.

I liked this view that overlooked the river, especially with these two in it!

This is one of the places where the boiling water runs into the river. I went down to the river on the other side, so I could feel the temperature of the water. It was just as I thought it would be....warm, and comfortable....the right mix of hot and cold water.

More soon......

The Time Has Flown

2010-07-21T09:00:00.000-07:00

So, in my last post, I wrote that we had a mini reunion with Jeff's family in Salt Lake City. Ryan and Brittany joined us for the afternoon. They mainly did this because Ally was flying out of Salt Lake City the next morning, rather than continuing on to Idaho with us. She had to get back to work.

We went to the Salt Lake City airport the next morning, and said goodbye to Ally. Well, she and I exchanged many text messages, as she endured the airport madness, and I crossed from Utah into Idaho.

We were trying to hurry to Rexburg, because we had only a couple of small windows of time to see Ryan and Brittany. We arrived perfectly to check into our hotel, and then pick them up for lunch. After our big burgers at Big Juds, we had a quick tour of their apartment. Their place seemed just right for their circumstances. Modest, but livable. Cute, but with enough issues that they will have stories to tell about it in the future. (Jeff and I started out our life together as students. We still tell stories about the first couple of places we lived.)

Ryan suggested to us some activities for the afternoon. He had to go to work. As we walked back to the car, Jeff asked the girls what they wanted to do. They surprised us by asking if we could just go back to the hotel. They were exhausted from our trip so far. We ended up resting for awhile, and swimming at the hotel.

That night, we returned to Ryan and Brittany's place, where she had prepared us a really good dinner. It was a nice, relaxing time where we ate together again and did some more catching up. It is strange how quickly this year has flown by. Ryan and Brittany have their first anniversary coming up next month.

This is the picture I took of them, right before we left that night. Aren't they cute?

Picnic

2010-07-16T10:00:00.003-07:00

The reunion with my brothers and sisters (last post) ended much too soon. We had to be on our way though, to yet another reunion.

We had told Jeff's mom that we would be passing through Salt Lake City, on our way to see Ryan and Brittany in Idaho. We let her know that we would only be there for one day. Apparently she got right to work in planning a mini reunion for that day.

We met at the park at noon, and stayed until the sun was nearly down. It was a really nice day.

Riley was especially happy to see her Grandma.

Riley was introduced to the homemade foosball table. I don't know how old that thing is, but it is still fun to play with.

I don't know the name of this other game we played (ladder golf maybe?) This picture doesn't show it perfectly.

Maybe you can see that Kaitie is on the right hand team, and is taking her turn to toss the little rope that has a golf ball looking thing on each end. She was on a team with her cousin there in the blue shirt. Emilee is way to the left, with Cousin's Girlfriend, waiting for their turn to toss.

What? Who is this? Ryan and Brittany! We were on our way to see them in Idaho, but they came for the picnic in Salt Lake City as well. It was such a bonus.

Ryan came, so he would have a chance to see Ally. This was the last day of vacation she could spend with us. She had to get back to work. She flew back to Phoenix from Salt Lake City, rather than continuing on to Idaho.

Of all the teams that played this silly game, I might have liked this one the best. I loved all the teams, of course. Ryan and Riley though, have a 17 year age difference. They don't get to interact that much. I enjoy seeing them get a chance to bond here and there.

Like this!

We had some water fighting too.

The girls almost wouldn't pose for this picture, because I had a camera in one hand, and my water gun in the other. They thought I was trying to trick them!

Riley played with cousins she hasn't seen a lot.

It didn't take them too long to break the ice and get playing.

I found that I was in trouble when facing these partners in crime!

I was in even more trouble when Ryan ditched the little guns in favor of throwing whole cups of water. There aren't pictures of that, because I had to defend myself.

I found the best protection of all was to hold this sweet little girl who I met for the first time on this trip. Did you know I am a Great Aunt? (I've been that for nearly as long as I have been married actually. Jeff is the youngest in his family, so the dynamic is very different than in my family.)

Here is Riley having a talk with her uncle. This is as cute to me as watching her play with cousins.

It was also nice to see Jeff having the opportunity to catch up with his family. Since his mom has started spending winters in Arizona, we just haven't gone to Utah as much as we used to. I guess we need to do that a little more. We appreciated that mini reunion.

(Ryan and Brittany had to go home a little early. They had so much to do. I nearly cried when I realized that we hadn't taken any family pictures. I had fully intended to get pictures of all of us together, and I let that get away from me.)

Family Reunion!

2010-07-15T10:33:00.001-07:00

Okay, this is my first Smilebox slide show. I hope it turned out! This is from the next phase of our road trip, which was a great family reunion with my parents, and brothers and sisters. We were missing my youngest brother and his cute family SO MUCH.

(There are a lot of pictures here, but you don't have to wait for them to change. You can click through three days of a reunion pretty quickly, if you do the clicking yourself.)

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Road Trip!

2010-07-14T11:38:00.002-07:00

This summer, Jeff and I had been on a few little road trips....separately. That was fine and all, as that is what the situations called for, but I enjoyed our latest little vacation the most because we went together. Ally joined us for half our trip, and we were able to visit Ryan and Brittany. That covers the most important parts, so I could stop right there, but you know I won't. I will post too many pictures, and make vacation posts for days...because that is the kind of girl I am.

We spent our first night in St. George Utah. It just seemed like a good place to stay the night before we went to Bryce Canyon. Last year, the girls and I went to Bryce Canyon but Jeff wasn't with us. The girls really wanted him to hike with them there.

Late at night, in the hotel in St. George, Riley stated, "I don't seem to be very excited in this hotel. I think it is because we aren't going to Disneyland tomorrow." As I laughed at that, I wondered if she would drag on this trip because there weren't going to be characters and exciting rides....

Riley and I definitely have different definitions of "exciting rides." An exciting ride to me is one where someone else is taking care of all the luggage, and I don't have to do all the driving!

I took this picture while the tall people took care of the luggage on top of the car.

It was so great having Ally with us on the trip. She always adds an extra dose of fun. (The girls are nicer when she is there too.)

Bryce Canyon is beautiful and amazing.

My girls are beautiful and amazing too!! This might be the only picture with Kaitie and Emilee together. Kaitie mostly stayed back to hike with me. I am not as adventurous as the rest of my family, and I walked pretty slowly down the steep trails:

I was usually at least this far behind the family. As I walked down, I started to get pretty nervous about going back up.

I caught up with them a time or two, when they stopped to explore. At this stop, I had a nice conversation with a man from France. He practiced his English on me while he spoke of many places across the United States he had hiked. He said Bryce was his favorite.

At the bottom of our little hike, I informed my family that I needed to be in the picture. I told them that I was afraid that this was the last time I would ever be seen, because I didn't know how I would make it back up that steep trail.

As it turned out, Ally and the girls hiked to the top relatively quickly, and Jeff hiked slowly with me. We stopped a shameful number of times to rest. At each stop while I apologized he said he didn't mind having extra time to enjoy the canyon. He is the nicest person I know.

By the time we got to the top, Riley was done crying. Yes, they had to push her along to get her to the top too. It did turn out a little like Disney, I guess. I don't know if a kid can get through a day there without crying a tear or two by the end of the day.

We even managed to see Chip...or was that Dale?

We Didn't Even Mean To...

2010-06-30T06:09:00.000-07:00

Last November, I watched the early showing of New Moon (the one BEFORE the midnight show) with two daughters, a friend, and my sister. We sat in the third row in the center, because we came a little too late to get five seats in a row a little further back. This hadn't been the exact group we intended. It is too long of a story to go into right now. It doesn't even matter. It was a fun group, and we loved it...third row and all. (That link has a bunch of stuff from last November, our New Moon picture just being one of those things.) We appreciated the people who made that fun evening possible.

Last night, I watched the early showing of Eclipse (the one BEFORE the midnight show) with two daughters, a friend, and my sister. We sat in the third row in the center, because we came a little too late to get five seats in a row a little further back. This hadn't been the exact group we intended. It is too long of a story to go into right now. It doesn't even matter. It was a fun group, and we loved it....third row and all. We appreciate the people who made the fun evening possible.

This is the picture I took in line outside:

We had a great time!

A Surprise Birthday Celebration....

2010-06-25T10:42:00.002-07:00

You might know that I am the oldest of nine children. If you didn't know before, you know now. I have five younger sisters. (I have three younger brothers too, but this post is not about them.) My sisters are beautiful, wonderful and fun.

One of my sisters turned 40 this week. We arranged with her husband to go over and surprise her for her birthday. It was a quick trip, but so worth it. My Oregon sister could not join us, and we missed her terribly!

So, four of us met down the street from the cute LA area home, for the surprise kidnapping. We each wore a bow to demonstrate that we WERE her gifts. I regret that we don't have a picture of the four of us walking down the street to her house! The Birthday sister happened to catch a glimpse of us from her bedroom window before we got to her door. She started screaming at us, "I'm going to kill you guys! I don't understand what is happening!" I'm laughing so hard as I type the phrases. She is hilarious. When our Oregon sister called, the Birthday Girl exclaimed, "I'm covered with witches!"

We caught up with her husband and kids for a little bit while she packed an overnight bag. They have such a great family.

Her oldest son would not pose for a picture. He is a man now that he is seven, you see. I love his cute seriousness.

I got a great pose here, and a tour of the Bendaroo creations.

This sweet one was not so sure he wanted his mom to leave on her birthday.....

The youngest isn't quite two, but she has hair like my kids didn't have until kindergarten. She also says things like, "Thank you for the wonderful dinner." Amazing.

We went out to dinner. This restaurant was so perfect. The ride to get there wasn't perfect, as we really did it the hard way. The hard way consists of driving while someone is saying, "No, turn here...I meant there...I don't know what it is called, but there is a lake....now what do we do?.....I think we can turn around here....." And then we really found it, and it was the best, and worth it. See how beautiful my sisters are. The birthday girl is on the right. Everyone should look so great when she turns 40.

Our party of sisters also included two babies. They behaved so well. You can see we were having a little chop stick concert here.....

See that happy little baby face?

My sister's husband bought a cake to send along with us. Chocolate orange flavor...to die for.

Here they are, in our hotel room, getting ready to enjoy that cake.

We laughed a lot, and slept a little.

The only picture of the next morning that I will share is this:

I sat on the floor in the morning with these two sleepy little girls. They entertained me well, while one mom showered and the other went to get breakfast.

The party broke up much too soon. We were all on the road back home before we wanted to be. The road trip itself went by quickly though. I had one sister with me, who never lets any conversation go dull.

I found this surprise at home:

My girls were waiting for me with a nice dinner served on a beautiful table. Kaitie didn't want to be in the picture, but she did so much of this, and served me too. I just love all the girls in my life.

(I love the boys too, of course. Girl time has just dominated my summer so far.)

Dance Recital

2010-06-23T07:21:00.001-07:00

Last week was the annual dance show. This year they performed Snow White. I really enjoyed it. Emilee was in four numbers, and Riley was in one.

This year I was not a room mom for Riley. By the time I reached the sign up sheet, her class was taken care of. We talked about how she is seven now, and not four. She didn't really need me to be there. It was so EASY not being in a room full of little girls and stressed moms.

Emilee's class still needed a room mom, so I signed up for that. There was plenty to do, being a room mom for the older girls, but it was fun. It wasn't a babysitting job....for the most part.

Even when I was Emilee's room mom, I went out into the hallway back stage to see Riley lined up and ready to go on for her dance. She was so excited. My stage pictures of Riley didn't turn out well at all, so I am glad I popped out to see her and get this picture anyway.

There was a little down time with Emilee's group. I thought it was a great time to get a picture or two.

She wasn't as sure about the picture idea. This is her "really, Mom?" look.

Emilee's stage pictures turned out a little bit. She is in the center, in the back, in case you couldn't tell. This is the tap dance to "Working in the Coal Mine." I loved it.

Emilee is at the far left in this one. It was called "The Chase." It was the last number in the show.

Em is on the right in this one....

This picture was taken after the last show, on Saturday night. We had so much to be happy about. Ally was here. The show was really well done....and, it was over:)

Third, and Last, Trip Post

2010-06-19T08:43:00.002-07:00

This is my third post about our little trip to Utah...

Riley loved visiting Grandma S. in Salt Lake City. Grandma is not the only reason Riley enjoyed her visit.

One of Riley's cousins is living at Grandma's at the moment. (This little one is really the child of Riley's cousin...so she's a second cousin..?.)

There are also a couple of very entertaining cats. I think the cat was entertained as well. Riley played like this for a LONG time.

And no trip to Grandma's would be complete without a visit outside to see Blossom. She is a desert tortoise. This picture of her is about as good as no picture at all of her!

On Thursday of our trip, Riley and I took Kaitie back to Provo to spend two days staying with her friend. Riley and I got a hotel right there by BYU campus for the last two nights.

And we continued to have some nice girl time:

(I was amused in the nail salon to find someone there from home! She had her daughter with her too. It was funny to catch up a little when we were seven hundred or so miles from home....)

Friday we went back to Salt Lake to visit two more small cousins.

They had a nice time together, while I had a nice visit with their mom. Soon their dad (my brother) came home too. I felt fortunate to have them all to myself for a few hours. The girls cooperated with this picture, but you can see they did not like the interruption. Aren't they so cute?

These pictures in the car show how I usually see their little faces....

See, on Saturday morning, after I picked up Kaitie and Emilee, these two joined us for the trip to my parents' house.

Saturday afternoon, my parents took us to see the deer. It is a thing we always do when we go there. Often the deer just run away. These were particularly friendly.

I took this picture from inside the car. It was before I knew the deer were going to come and eat an apple out of each hand there. I wish I had been in the position to get a better picture. I jumped out of the car after this, but most of the apples were gone by then.

This happens to be Kaitie's hand....

This sweet one started looking at my camera as if to say, "I'd like to sample that one now...."

Sunday morning, we all went to church.

I love this picture of my parents and the girls.

After church we got back on the road and drove all day to get home. We had a nice trip, but I was so glad to be home again.

The Trip....Continued

2010-06-18T09:07:00.003-07:00

This is a continuation of my last post, about Emilee's trip to EFY, except this part isn't about Emilee at all.

So, I had dropped Kaitie's BYU friend off at her grandma's house, and left Kaitie with her Roosevelt friend. I was kindly invited to stay at each place, but I didn't feel like I should. I wanted to let people have the visits they wanted to have. It wouldn't have been the same for them if they had to entertain me too.

So Riley and I set out on our own. We drove to Vernal, because it was there. It was another 30 or so miles east. I wanted to see the LDS temple there. I knew it was a hundred year old tabernacle which was converted to a temple in the 1990's. I also thought we might go to see something dinosaurish.

I thought the temple was pretty. Riley wasn't very excited to walk around there. I told her if she could look halfway pleasant in a picture we could move on.

By the time we were looking for anything else to do, everything was closed. We saw some nice dinosaur statues on the main street. I would have gone to a museum if we had found something open. We would have ended up with more pictures like the one above though, with Riley smiling just so we could move on.

As I drove back to Roosevelt, I realized I was really tired. I decided that I needed to figure out where we would stay for the night. Next, I imagined myself trying to go to sleep while Riley bounced all over the room. We stopped at a grocery store for emergency supplies. She ended up picking out a pad of paper, new markers and a box of Club crackers.

Riley did bounce around the motel room for awhile. She always loves to check out every detail. Since I knew she wasn't going to settle for awhile, I thought I would find her something on tv. There was nothing on that was meant for kids. We finally ended up watching three episodes of "Cake Boss." I had heard of it, but had never watched it. As Riley settled in, she broke out the markers and started drawing lots of pictures of flowers, trees, birds.....and cakes.

Tuesday, we picked up Kaitie, delivered her friend back to Provo, and went on to Salt Lake City. The activity was about to turn more Riley friendly. For starters, we stayed with Grandma S. Tuesday, we were fed well, and just enjoyed visiting.

Wednesday, we went to the zoo.

Riley so loves spending time with Grandma S. In this picture, she also wanted to make sure her elephant cup was visible. Zuri, the new baby elephant, was the star of our visit.

We stopped by this exhibit a couple of times. What is it about a baby? She was just fun to watch. When the mom and baby would interact, Kaitie told me it made her think of Dumbo.

When Zuri did funny little things like this, Riley just cracked up.

Kaitie wasn't all that thrilled to go to the zoo. It wasn't a highlight for her, of course. She does love animals, and liked it a lot more than she thought she would.

Riley doesn't like animals in the same way Kaitie does. She gets a lot more nervous. She actually cried when I tried to get her to look at a snake. It was through glass! I told her it was the perfect opportunity to see one. She would not look.

When we went to the playground, Riley wouldn't even go down this slide as it meant coming out of that mouth.

It is not that she didn't want to slide. She enjoyed this non-snake slide very much.

We spent a lot of time looking at this monkey. He was small, and cute. I think Riley likes animals with faces she can relate to.

After our day at the zoo, we stopped at the This is the Place monument. It is right next to the zoo. The day was beautiful, and we weren't ready to go home yet. This is where the pioneers looked out on the Salt Lake Valley, and realized that they had found their new home. We didn't go to the pioneer village, we just walked around the statues for awhile. Okay, we also checked out the souvenir store.

Riley loved this place. She had me take so many pictures of her. (What a difference from a couple of days before, in Vernal.)

I liked these pictures of Kaitie and Riley, even more than the statue pictures:

If the girls were wishing for a good dinner, these wishes came true. We wrapped up this day, with Grandma taking us up the canyon to a cute little restaurant.

My wishes were for happy girls. Mine came true.

The Beginning of Our Trip....

2010-06-13T08:04:00.003-07:00

Months ago, Emilee started talking about wanting to go to EFY. Those letters stand for Especially for Youth. It is a week long church activity for teens. These sessions are held all over the country at different college campuses. The kids live in dorms, and spend the week in classes, workshops, service projects and dances. Emilee talked me into it.

Two weeks ago, after church, I packed up my girls plus one friend of Emilee's and took off for Provo Utah. We stopped that night and stayed with my parents. They live in Utah in the summer.

Here is Riley the next morning. She thought it was funny that Grandpa and Grandma had lots of tomato plants inside. Their back porch was like a green house. Riley didn't get to admire the tomatoes for long. We had to get back on the road early.....

...so I could drop these two cute girls off for a week of fun on the BYU campus. And, of course, Emilee had arranged to meet....

....these two cute girls! What a Fabulous Four this is!

Once I got Emilee settled into her dorm, we said goodbye for the week. Kaitie and I had some loose plans but nothing exact. Kaitie had two friends she wanted to visit. We were going to see her friend who just moved to Roosevelt, Utah. The plan was, to make that visit at the beginning of the week. Then at the end of the week, Kaitie would stay with a friend in Provo, who attends BYU. After we dropped Emilee off, Kaitie decided we should at least say hi to the BYU friend while we were there.

We not only said hi, but then kidnapped her to PF Changs for lunch. The kidnapping didn't stop there. When she found out we were going to Roosevelt, she said her grandparents and great grandparents lived there. She came along with us, to have a visit with them. She added so much fun to our drive:)

I never had been to Roosevelt before. It is about two hours east of Provo, and I had never had a reason to drive that way. We needed that fun added to our drive more than we even knew. There actually aren't all that many reasons for driving that way. Apparently you just do it out of love for friends...which is what we did. After dropping off Kaitie's friend with her cute grandma, we went and found...

.....Kaitie's friend who just moved to Roosevelt. The girls had a happy reunion!

And that was only Monday. I guess I will have to write the rest later....

Ahoy, me Hearties!

2010-06-10T23:00:00.037-07:00

The end of second grade at Riley's school means having a really fun unit on pirates. Now, she was out of town last week, and missed part of the pirate fun. (Pictures and posts about last week are coming soon.) Riley was back in time for the important pirate festivities.

Riley took her ship to school on Tuesday. She and Jeff started making this a couple of weeks ago. They drew up their plans, shopped for materials together, and did the work together. She was very happy with it.

That front flag came out before Riley even made it to the car that morning, and I was concerned. She glued it in at school, and said it was fine.

Today was the day to dress as a pirate and have a party. Did I run out and buy this costume? No, she already had it. She got it for Christmas. I know that might sound strange! She has a lot of fun dress up stuff though.

You can see, she is trying to get her pirate attitude on.

Riley said her pirate name was Bella Night. I thought it sounded Twilightish, and that she got the idea from her sisters. She said the teacher gave her the name.

I can't believe the end of second grade is here.

Recipes

2010-05-29T17:12:00.003-07:00

As requested, here are the recipes for the camp breakfast we had a couple of weeks ago:
(The entry and pictures are a couple of posts down.)

Giant Cinnamon Roll

2 1 lb loaves frozen bread dough
1/2 c butter, melted
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c chopped pecans

Line Dutch oven with foil, and spray with Pam. Flatten thawed dough, and cut each loaf into four pieces. Form each piece into a rope about 18 inches long. Brush each rope on all sides with butter. Stir together sugars and cinnamon. Place mixture on a sheet of foil or a cookie sheet. Roll a rope in sugar mixture and try to coat evenly. Shape rope into a coil in the center of the Dutch oven. Roll another rope in sugar. Attach to the end of the first rope in the pan, and continue coil. Continue coating ropes, and wrapping them around to form a circle that fills the pan. Sprinkle remaining sugar over coil. Sprinkle with chopped nuts. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30-40 minutes. Bake at 350, for 30 minutes.

My notes:

I usually use frozen dough, but I mixed up some white dough that morning for the activity. I made too much! That was not terrible, as the girls really seemed to enjoy eating that dough. Also, we only sprinkled nuts on half the cinnamon roll. I did not bother to let the dough rise. We were in a hurry, and it turned out fine, because it wasn't frozen at all.

To get 350 with the Dutch oven, I used about 28-30 briquettes. We put about 10 on the bottom, and the rest on the top. We burned it a tiny bit on the bottom in the middle, but not much....

Kaitie made a big bowl of cream cheese frosting that morning, and so each girl could add her own frosting. This is the recipe we used for that:

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 c butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
3 c powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon milk

Combine all ingredients until smooth.

My notes:

This frosting is too good. We doubled this recipe. We knew that we would need plenty, and we were right.

The eggs and bacon we made in the muffin tins were just that...eggs and bacon. I cooked the bacon at home. I didn't cook it to crispiness, so it would be easy to place around the edge of the muffin cups. We sprayed the tin with Pam, placed the bacon in, and cracked an egg in each cup. We just cooked that on the grate, over the fire, until they seemed done. We just had to move the tin around a bit, so it wouldn't get overcooked in any one spot. I thought it would be fun to make each one "to order," by putting cheese, potato or onion in with the egg. We didn't end up doing that, but I still may try it sometime.

If anyone tries these, let me know how they turn out!

Saturday

2010-05-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Emilee and Riley had picture day at the dance studio. They have a show coming up next month. Emilee is in a few different dances, but this costume is by far my favorite:

Riley is in only one dance, and here she is, ready for hers:

I told her we will not have to shop for Halloween this year. We are good to go for that.

The girls consented to a couple of poses together:

It wasn't long though until the poses started looking like this.....

and this.

Those are better than the poses of Kaitie on Saturday night. I have nothing. Kaitie was in a little show out at the college on Saturday night. It was a reader's theater type of thing. It was locally written material. Kaitie had only a handful of lines, oh, and a startling scream. She sang one solo.....I better add that it was not connected in any way to the aforementioned scream. I thought she did a nice job. She hasn't done much acting, and this was a place to begin.

That Time of Year

2010-05-21T07:44:00.001-07:00

It is that time of year again, when my attention turns to....

Girl's Camp.

Although camp itself is not until July, a lot of preparation will be happening between now and then.

We started with our pre-camp cooking certification last Saturday. We met at 8:00 am, to make an awesome breakfast.

We started with a normal fire...the kind that is started with a match. That's easy enough.

Soon, we had eggs and bacon going. This was a fun variation, in the muffin tin, that turned out pretty well. (I brought a lot of fruit, in case the eggs didn't go as planned. The combination made a nice breakfast.)

After the eggs were history, the girls worked on other things. They started a couple of flint and steel fires. That was exciting for them! I'm sure their shouts of joy were heard all over the neighborhood. They didn't know if it would really work, but it did. They tried to start a fire with a magnifying glass, but that didn't work. Some of the girls put together first aid kits. Everyone was cooperative and helpful. I love these girls.

The last thing we had, was something that has become a favorite tradition for our pre-camp cooking certification:

The Giant Dutch Oven Cinnamon Roll never fails to please. I hardly helped to make it this time. The girls are getting pretty good at it.

Music to my Ears

2010-05-20T14:21:00.003-07:00

I don't know exactly when Kaitie decided that she really liked to sing. She talked very early, and I think singing followed immediately.

When she was younger, maybe five or six she sang a duet with a boy in a church program, and she did really well. She stayed on key, even when she was nervous. I knew then, that she could do something with it if she wanted to. She made up a lot of songs when she was little. It was an outlet for her.....a safe way to express her feelings.

Now, Kaitie has a great private voice teacher, and really tries to put into practice the things she is taught.

She also really enjoys her high school choir. They sing a variety of music. The combination of culture, spirit and fun is impressive. At her choir banquet, she won the award for Outstanding Soprano. She wasn't expecting that. I, on the other hand, wasn't surprised at all.

This picture is from Kaitie's choir concert last week. It was great!

I recently went with Kaitie to two musical auditions. When I told her after each one how well I thought she did, she pretty much answered that I just thought that because I am her mom. Well, being her mom does make me prefer her as a person, no doubt. I don't think it impairs my judgment on the music though. When my kids perform anything, I don't see it as perfect. I truthfully think I see all the flaws pretty clearly. I know what they practiced. I know what they meant to do. I wince with each mistake. I am so well aware of every error. My kids think I am blinded by my love for them. I would say that the opposite is true. I see (and hear) them with magnifyers!

I look forward to her upcoming performances.

Mother's Day Weekend

2010-05-18T14:07:00.005-07:00

The day before Mother's Day, we drove east. We picked up Ally in Tempe, and continued driving east to Thatcher. Ally went to school there a few years ago. We walked around the EAC campus for a short time, but that was not the main reason for our visit.

Quite close to the EAC campus, we had smoothies at this not-quite-open restaurant:

It was nice to have a little visit there with the Blair family, who used to be our neighbors. Emilee was especially glad to wish her good friend a happy birthday that very day!

If our smoothies were any indication, that place is sure to be a success!

Next, our family enjoyed a tour through the Gila Valley Temple.

Kaitie was with us, but wasn't in the mood to be in the picture, so she took this picture.

LDS temples are generally closed to the public. When they are first constructed, and before they are dedicated, the public is invited to tour through and see the beautiful rooms, and learn a little about the purposes of the temples. We like taking our children to these open houses, as children do not usually get to go to the temple. They enjoyed seeing the lovely artwork, and amazing chandeliers. I think each one felt a little of the peace that exists there. It was a good experience.

I loved this picture of Ally. I told her she should submit it with her mission papers. She said it wouldn't conform with the guidelines for the required picture. (I pretty much knew that.) On that day, she had her mission papers ready to submit, except for the picture, so that was on my mind.

That evening, we drove back to the Phoenix area. Although we stayed in a hotel, my prepared family brought me gifts and breakfast in bed for Mother's Day. It was SO nice. We attended church at noon. After church, we went to see my brother, and his family. We had a great time there. We actually played Clue. I hadn't played that for so many years. We played that growing up, and it was perfect for the afternoon. I even won. Mrs. Peacock did it...in case you were wondering. My sister from Winslow and her gang joined us, and that made it an official party.

My sister in law made the most amazing meal for us. We mentioned that Ally needed only a picture to complete her missionary papers. I figured I would take a few and hope for the best. Well, we mentioned that to the right girl. Before I knew it, a mini photo studio appeared before my eyes.

This picture of my cute niece shows how mini it is.

Ally sat in a little pink chair. It was fun and funny, both.

And the final outcome looked like this:

Those mission papers are turned in now. Ally was told that in three to six weeks she will receive her mission call. I am so excited for her. I predicted the call will come closer to three weeks than six. Maybe that is just my wishful thinking. It will be so nice to know how to help her to prepare!

Oh the Life of a Mother....

2010-05-06T14:21:00.006-07:00

This is a continuation of the story I started writing yesterday. It is about when I went to stay with Ally when she got her wisdom teeth out.

As I said, the first day (Thursday) she was injected with happiness. That didn't last.

The second day she said, "No more happiness...." (Brian Regan)

I started calling her pain medication a "bottle of the will to live."

Our world turned clockless, which is quite surreal. I pulled the heavy curtains so Ally could sleep whenever she wanted to. I read a lot, and I also slept at odd times. I tried to keep her in ice packs and medication. This was so different than my normal life which is very clock driven.

We found a KFC, so she could eat mashed potatoes. When we ordered just a side of potatoes at the drive through, the deep voice on the other side came back with, "Can't I sell you anything else?"

We found a Wendy's so Ally could continue enjoying her love of vanilla Frostys. I never had one before. They aren't bad.

This second day (Friday), I learned that Riley had thrown up at school.

Jeff had called my mom and asked if she could pick her up from school, and take care of her until Emilee was out of school. My mom was so great to do that. I was sure that Riley had just eaten something crazy, and that she wasn't actually sick. I was so wrong. Riley was sick for the rest of the day, and into the night. Not only was Riley sick, but so was the clothes dryer. That was not a good combination. Bad laundry was piling up.

The third day Ally and I went for a drive. We ended up visiting a cousin of mine who showed us her new house. I loved having that little visit. Ally still wasn't feeling wonderful, so it kind of maxed her out. Our other planned visits didn't work out, and I decided it was just as well. Ally needed to rest.

I was supposed to go home on the fourth day, but Ally woke up SO miserable. She felt so awful that I think she actually caught glimpses of herself having a completely different life in an alternate time line... (If you are not a Lost fan, just move on. Don't worry about that line at all.) I wasn't sure what I should do. I found out that my mom had gotten sick, and that Kaitie was sick. I thought maybe I should go home. I felt so torn.

I was texting my mom and Kaitie that morning (Sunday), in order to try to be quiet and let Ally sleep. Kaitie was so sick, but said she thought maybe I should stay with Ally one more day. My mom texted me, "Oh the life of a mother...." She was referring to my little situation, I knew, but it made me think of hers. I realized that her little Game of Life kids are scattered much more than mine are. (This is a reference to my last post.) Her life of a mother was helping me to be able to take care of my life of a mother. I appreciated her so much. I knew that because of her help (and Kaitie's unselfishness) I could stay with Ally for one more day. I called the front desk of our hotel, and extended our stay.

Monday was a turning point for Ally. We were able to get presentable, and check out of our room. We went on some errands, and I took her home and got her settled there. The extra day made a world of difference to her.

I got on the road to go home in the afternoon. Riley was feeling better, but by then Jeff and Emilee were also sick. My amazing mom was feeling better enough that she picked up that bad laundry, and brought it back clean and folded. She did that for me. She did that so I wouldn't have to come home to that kind of insanity. She told me my work was cut out for me as it was. It was the kindest thing she could have done for me.

When I came home to find Jeff, Kaitie and Emilee feeling so sick, I kind of wanted to head back to Ally's. I expected to get sick too. Fortunately it was not my turn for that. The people, (and the dryer) were all well again by Wednesday. Ally got back to work on Thursday. It was good to get everything feeling normal again.

I will update about Ally when she gets her mission papers turned in. As you can imagine, my feelings are very mixed on that subject. I am excited for her to go and serve the way she has wanted to nearly all of her life. BUT it will be hard to have her further away than she already is. Oh the life of a mother.....

I Will Just Have to Call This Part One.....

2010-05-05T11:02:00.001-07:00

When I was a kid, and I liked to play the Game of Life. The way I remember it, we didn't even play to the end of the game that often. I don't have too many memories of retiring to that Millionaire space. I guess that is good. I won't have unrealistic expectations about this. What I do remember is the beginning of the game. That's where it all happened. You got your job, your salary, your house, and your pink and blue plastic children. I loved acquiring those little child pieces! I liked my car to be full of them. It was better than the colorful money. But here is where the unrealistic part sets in. During the game, those pieces stay in the same car with you. They don't climb into other cars and go other directions. The Game of Life didn't prepare me well for that.....

I could write posts and posts about what it is like to have one of my pieces in a car of his own, a thousand miles away. Another day I will do just that!

This time, it is about Ally, also in a car of her own, two hundred miles away.

A week and a half ago, I went to stay with Ally for a few days.

I left here on a Thursday morning at about 4:45, and drove off into the sunrise. Didn't I just write that? Yes, that is close to a line from my last post. This was five days later than the day I went to the airport. My car is starting to know the way over there by itself.

I met Ally at the office of her oral surgeon. We had a few minutes together. She wasn't really that nervous. She had actually been looking forward to this day. She was happy to be taking steps closer to getting her mission papers turned in. Ally was also looking forward to us spending some time together, even though she would be in recovery mode. Her words: "We always have fun, even if we aren't happy." That is good. I told her we would be doing even better if we could state it the opposite way. Think about that.

Then Ally was called back to get her impacted wisdom teeth removed.

An hour or so later, they called me back to sit by her in the recovery chair. They had told us earlier that she wouldn't need a follow up visit, but now they wanted to schedule one. They had told us earlier that she had enough prescriptions, but now they wanted us to get another one. They had a rough time getting that last tooth out!

Ally couldn't talk, as her mouth was stuffed with gauze. I feel a little queasy just typing that out. There are just certain things I am not good with.

Ally tried to communicate with me by drawing in the air. She drew this thing, with both hands. Each hand made a dot, and then a semi circle. I was slow to get it.

It looked sort of like this:

"A mustache?" "A butt?" "The letter W?" I questioned, for a minute, before I got that it was a smiley face. She was just drawing it with two hands like a choir director. She was telling me she was happy. I was amazed she could be happy after this surgery. "She's so amazing," I thought. "She is so excited to turn in her papers that even this can't make her unhappy." Although that is kind of true, it sure wasn't the reason for her mood. She was so full of nice medications at the time, she couldn't help but draw the double smiley. She wrote me some notes too. I will amuse her with those someday.

Soon, we were escorted out to our car. I had reserved a room just a couple of miles away. I thought about staying with her at her place, or staying with nearby family. I decided not to share a bathroom with all her roommates. I decided we would visit family rather than staying with them.

I was grateful that the hotel was granting us a super early check in. I was sure Ally would want to sleep the day away.

I guess when you ask for a favor at a hotel, you don't get the nicest room they have. I think we had the only room without a balcony. We also had the bonus of finding a doll head sitting on top of the mirror. Is that not creepy? I got rid of it right away, of course.

I was sure Ally would want to sleep for the rest of the day, but I was wrong. She was still full of some magic medicine. She wanted to fill the new prescription, and find nourishment. She still couldn't talk to me, because she kept that gauze in place. She typed me lots of messages on her phone.

We went to Walgreen's for medicine, yogurt, pink milk (strawberry, but Ally called it pink milk when she was a little girl) and pudding. We found a smoothie place. Yay!

Back at the room, Ally couldn't feel her mouth at all, and I had to help her pour that smoothie down her throat. We laughed until we cried. She was right. We were having fun.

No time to finish this now. I will just have to call it Part One, and come back later.

Two Weeks Ago

2010-05-01T09:36:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Emilee and I took one of her friends to the airport in Phoenix. We got up at four, hit the road at 4:30, and drove off into the sunrise.

I drove chauffeur style, alone in the front, while the two girls rode together in the middle seat. I thought they would sleep. What was I thinking? They talked and laughed the hours away.

It was easy enough to check in at the airline. We wanted to wait until the last minute to send her through security, so her time alone would be short.

I looked at books and magazines, while the girls wandered and played. They didn't want to eat, but they bought some very expensive gum and mints.

Since they got up at four, they didn't want me to take pictures. I amused myself by trying to play paparazzi. My pictures didn't turn out well at all!! I am including them here, just so you know what I am talking about.

The girls did let me take this picture, because they really liked this exhibit called Recycle Runway. I liked it too! If you look at the link, take a quick peek at the photo gallery link. The dresses are amazing!

After saying goodbye at security, Emilee stayed at the airport until the "I'm boarding" text message came.

Emilee and I spent the next few hours shopping. I could write a couple of posts just about that. I don't enjoy shopping itself, but I had a great day with Emilee. It is hard these days to find modest clothes. I appreciate her effort to do so. That effort takes time, and so we put in the time.

One funny thing that happened, is that she ran into a friend of hers from home. What are the chances of being in the same town (three hours from home) at the same huge mall, and at the same store at the same time? They shopped alone for awhile, and I had more time on my own. (No pictures this time. I actually bought a couple of things for myself.)

Besides a cute swim suit and a nice dress, Emilee and I took away a couple of great things from this day.

1. We are so lucky! Who else gets to say that they helped Dorothy get back to Kansas? (You think I am kidding!)

2. We LIKE each other. Near the end of our car ride home, Emilee exclaimed, "I didn't even use my ipod today!" Our conversation and fun filled her entertainment needs:)

Quick Update

2010-05-01T08:16:00.000-07:00

I wrote about Riley's preparation for Track and Field Day on Thursday. I wrote about her attention to each detail.

She came home in a bad mood.

There is a risk in planning the details the way she does. As Riley planned, she overbuilt the event in her mind. (Okay, Detail People....you know who you are. Do you do that?)

Riley came into the house that afternoon, and told me that she didn't win anything. She is not a very driven runner, so that didn't come as a shock to me. Last year though, she did do well in some of the silly events like the shoe kick. She expected to do well in SOMETHING. Apparently, it didn't go that way.

I got her to sit and talk with me for awhile. I asked her about the events. She told me that they threw bean bag turtles into fake toilets. (Wow?) She missed every time. I told her that her turtles were luckier than the others! We got to laughing about that. We told Emilee about it. We told Kaitie and one of Kaitie's friends about it. With each sharing of the story, her mood got lighter.

I found out one thing her preparation was good for. Riley took everything she was supposed to take, and then some. That little Propel she had, with the blue ribbon tied around it, went to another little girl who didn't bring much. I reminded Riley that was more important than Tug O War!

It's All in the Details

2010-04-29T14:23:00.001-07:00

In my last post, I wrote about some similarities Riley and I have in personality. In this post, I will discuss some of the differences.

Today she is having Track and Field Day at school. I hope she is having a good day. She really tried to make sure to be ready.

As usual, Riley was pleased to enjoy a non uniform day. She knew exactly which shorts, shirt, socks and shoes she wanted to wear. Her teacher suggested that the kids not wear dark colors. Riley went with lighter colors, worrying a little about some of the dark pattern in the clothing. And there it is. The issue. She is so literal. She cares too much about detail. I am positive that I care too little about detail. I'm sure I would be a much better person, if I could focus more on detail. But I am not interested in being quite so literal!

She informed me that she needed extra drinks and snacks. I found her some chips and some grapes. She then told me that she needed three snacks. I packed more grapes, and told her that double grapes plus chips equals three snacks.

Since it was going to be a little cooler, Riley's teacher told the kids to wear a jacket today. (But steer clear of that black shirt!) Riley didn't want to be too warm or too cold, but wanted to follow the jacket instruction. I found her a nice light jacket that used to be Emilee's, and that worked out. We just had to roll the sleeves a little.

Enough yet?

No.

Riley wanted a Sharpie to label her Propel. I couldn't find a Sharpie for her. I convinced her that if we tied a blue ribbon to her Propel, then she would never forget which drink was hers.

Just when I thought we were ready, with the hair, clothes, and snacks, she wanted sunscreen. That should have been easy. When I opened the cupboard where it should have been, it was not there. I told her that we would just use my Mary Kay moisturizer which has sunscreen in it. She was doubtful, but I think that probably worked just fine.

I can't believe she is coming home at the regular time today, because I felt like I spent enough time getting her ready today that she should be gone for Track and Field Weekend.

I think when I had days like this at school, I just went. I probably never worried about what I needed until it was too late. I don't think I read the notes that my teachers sent home. I know that if I read them, I did not stress about the details.

I guess I am still not stressing over them much, if I can't even find a Sharpie or any sunscreen.

Anyway, here she is!

I sure hope she is having a good day.

Lots more to catch up on here, from the past couple of weeks. I hope I write it really soon. (I also hope to get to some blog reading.)