Thanks for family

4:05 PM Posted In Edit This 1 Comment »
We had a great time in California. The weather was perfect. The hills were excellent for walking up and down to burn off the feast, and most importantly we enjoyed time with some of our family.



David and Lily

Sharon

Ben, enjoying some cookies and milk.

Brandon, Alex, and one of Alex's friends, Josh, trying to figure out what they are going to do next.

Brandon, with Alex, who loves to make faces when you take his picture.

This is Lora and Dan baking cookies. Don't they make a cute couple? We are all awaiting an announcement, aren't we Lora???

And here is Chris, who spent Thanksgiving in Tennessee but someone kindly took his picture and texted it to Tim's phone so we could get a Happy Thanksgiving message from him!

Hope everyone had a wonderful and thankful holiday!

Thanksgiving day travels

10:25 AM Posted In Edit This 0 Comments »

On Thursday, we traveled to Sunny California to feast with Sharon and her family. We left our home at 8 AM, which was 7 AM her time. We avoided the mass exodus of the day before by waiting to travel on Thanksgiving day. Believe me, the route from Phoenix to LA is a nightmare on a holiday weekend! While we were on the road, we saw some interesting cloud formations. Usually as we drive along the 10, there is nothing to see but blue skies and desert, more blue skies, more desert. But today we were driving after a rainstorm and there were actual puddles in the desert! That was quite a surprise. There were also these amazing clouds. And when the clouds cleared, there was snow on those mountain tops!Of course I could not pass on commenting on California's wind energy! This state has some of the highest electricity costs in the country even when they are doing all the alternative stuff our new president elect is suggesting as the answer to our economic woes. Hello! Take a look at CA and see if that is really the answer!

Two boys I won't be seeing for Thanksgiving this year.

7:38 PM Posted In Edit This 1 Comment »

Our boys are growing up. Chris is in Tennessee so we won't be seeing him this Thanksgiving. Cameron opted out of a trip to California to dine with his friend Taylor and family here in Arizona. We will miss them. But Bailey is staying home to keep Cameron company and so it is how our holiday will go this year. Kinda sad.

It never rains in sunny Arizona.......

5:24 PM Posted In Edit This 0 Comments »
Today was one of those days where you just wanted to stay in bed and sleep until noon. It was dark and rainy and cold. I had to use my headlights to drive to work at 7:30 in the morning.

I had to use my seat heater to warm my cold bottomside.
I had to figure out how to turn on my windshield wipers since they are only used a few times a year.
I had to run from my parking space at work into the building because it was so wet.
This is where I work, by the way. It is the view out of the window my desk sits under.

The sky is normally this beautiful blue color. I actually miss the gray skies and the rain so today was a nice change.
But I would have preferred it if I were in bed enjoying it.
The weather cleared off for a little while. The sun came out.

But tonight, we got another deluge and I thought these pictures, taken at twilight, were fun with the raindrops coming down in my backyard.









Click on picture above to see rain! Cool!

Twilight at the Breaking of Dawn

3:59 PM Posted In Edit This 4 Comments »
Okay, so it was not quite as early as the breaking dawn when some friends and I went to see the new Twilight movie but we did go see it this morning. At 10:20 AM. I have never gone to see a movie that early but I am not knocking it. I mean, a movie before noon is only $5! Wow, like Loretta's gas prices from 1981 which you can see here on her Nov 21 & 28, 2008 post, we are practically seeing movie prices nearer that decade too at $5. This, by the way, is the ONLY picture I took during the time we were in the theater, unlike a certain girl in this group, who shall remain nameless for fear of legalities, who tried hard to get a picture of Edward during the movie. I am not sure if she captured that before security from the theater came and told her a thing or two. I am not sure what was said as I was listening to the movie and sitting on the complete opposite side from her! She will probably be telling you a little bit about it here, never mind, I don't know if she is going to post this or not so stay tuned.

Oh, did you want to know about the movie? The movie that is making a very, very successful and rich author even more successful and rich? Well, to tell you the truth, I was pleasantly surprised that I liked it. I have read all the books. But, I really was not "getting" the rage behind them. They were OK, but not all that interesting. I mean, vampires? I have heard there is a whole genre of vampire books and fans out there. I have never been one of them. I was surprised to hear that anyone at all was! So, I guess I don't get out much. Never-the-less, given this particular author is from Phoenix, perhaps she got a lot of extra press around here and therefore I was sucked (get it???) into the whole trilogy + 1 (what do you call a group of books that are more than a trilogy?) and read them all. I am sure Stephanie Myer is thanking me about now as I contributed $2 to her fortune since I learned she makes $.50 on each book sold.

So, I actually did like the movie, as far as it goes. It has not created in me a Twilight series maniac or anything, but I was sufficiently entertained. I liked the music and I liked the stylistic way the movie was portrayed. But, I must say, as much as I miss rain here in the desert, I sure think it is way too muddy and rainy in Forks, WA.

Little Irritants, Big Rewards........

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Did you ever notice it is often not the big things that really drag us down, it is the little irritants. If a big crisis comes along, we rise to the occasion. We are of tough stock and we endure. We stretch ourselves in unknown ways. After all, we are children of God, Deity, so our heritage gives us the power and ability to do this. But, sometimes the little irritants in life can really drag us down. These irritants come in many forms, and cause us to stew inside, feeling a sense of frustration that looms in the back of our minds but we cannot really put our finger on what has got us feeling down. It might be the new fees added on to your phone bill, you know the ones that are the state sales taxes, then the county sales taxes and of course the local sales taxes. Don't forget the federal universal service fund, which is nothing more than another tax. There are the delivery charges and the energy charges and the monthly service charges and so forth as well. We find these on all our utility bills and when we get notice that each of these charges is going up, "to better align with what OTHER people are paying on their bills" you gotta wonder! Or maybe it is the drop of spaghetti sauce you dribbled on your clean white shirt and you are out in public with nary a thing you can do about it. Perhaps you just feel irritated that the replacement phone, that was replacing another replacement phone because your original phone stopped working properly after a few months, is once again, not working properly. Maybe the six visits from the appliance repair store to fix a two year old range is the thing that is getting you down. Maybe your favorite TV show is off the air or the one you were rooting for to win Dancing With the Stars has been booted off. At any rate, these things, left unchecked, can really drag a person's spirit down "faster than a cat on a hot tin roof"!

But, lest this post turn into a sobfest, or a pity party, there is hope. There are the small things in our life we must learn to appreciate and recognize and when we create the habit of doing so, there are big rewards. This positive attitude is difficult for me, but I am working on it. I liked a talk I heard recently in General Conference where Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin spoke about "Come what may, and love it!" We don't need to find blame for our misfortunes or waste time feeling sorry for ourselves. There are always going to be ups and downs in our lives and we are going to hit lots of bumpy roads. People that are the happiest in life are those that learn from the difficult times and become stronger and wiser for them. For me, I am trying to learn that less is more. That having all that our family needs is WAY more important than our family having all that it wants. And, we do have all that we need, way more in fact. Really what it all comes down to is that we need to have GRATITUDE. I have written about gratitude before but since we are moving towards celebrating Thanksgiving, I thought I would mention it again. Gratitude is a sign of maturity. President Hinckley told us that to be grateful means we have humility rather than pride, and generosity rather than selfishness. So, I get to the big reward; to have joy in this life. It is in our power to do so for it is all in our attitude towards the little irritants, and also toward those small but powerful joys!

Some of my joys are found below!

Lemons and grapefruit, ripening and turning yellow in November getting ready for harvest when we ring in the new year!
Cracking nuts during the holidays, a family favorite! Sparkling water in the desert. Palm trees on a winter's day.
And while some of you are experiencing even greater joy in this than I am, we are thrilled to see the first sign in our area to drop below $2!

What is your joy?

Counting Down

8:06 AM Posted In Edit This 2 Comments »

Do you see all the countdowns I have posted? Ridiculous, isn't it? It looks like I am counting down my life away! Really, I am not, we just happen to be at THAT time of the year! I wanted to point out Chris' countdown, however, because it was a disappointment. I had been using a different counter previous to yesterday. Then, yesterday, I got an email from Chris and he said his day of release would be Aug 12. Well, that is quite a bit later than I anticipated. He went there on Aug 8 so I though for sure at least no later than that. It is all in the timing of their six week transfer blocks and all. Anyway, he did say he would be able to get that moved a little earlier for school timing and getting to cross paths with Cameron. But, since he gave me a more "official" date than the one I had set on the calendar, I decided to change out the counter to the correct date in order to have the most accurate possible countdown for now. At the time I believe there were about 230 or so days left. Upon changing the counter, it went to only 19 days left. I fiddled and fiddled with it and the counter would not move off of 19 days left, even when I took it back to the original date! So, rather than really mislead you, or cause you all to wonder if he was going to be home by Christmas, I had to delete that counter. I put a new one up, with the Aug 12 date, and it took that time to 267 days (yesterday)! Well, that was a significantly bigger amount of days than the previous counter at around 230 days so then I went through and actually counted them out, and the new counter is the accurate one, bummer! I have been falsely led all along. But this one is right as well as the 36 days left until Christmas!


Are you ready?

Another Post for Judy.........

8:08 PM Posted In Edit This 2 Comments »

I couldn't go without telling Judy thanks for being a good sport and for reading the part about sending me a new picture, which she had her son Dennis take of her just to email for my blog! If you don't know what I am talking about, see Nov 12. Judy wanted the world to know that she was 12 years wearing nothing but Catholic school uniforms and did not know how to dress but I am here to tell you that she, Paula (her cousin), and I worked at an amazing department store, Famous-Barr, which offered an amazing employee discount, and so we were really very well dressed! She is crazy. We had way too much fun getting to know the people in the departments we liked to shop in so that they would hold clothes for us we wanted to buy during the deep discount days! Woo hoo. But, of course, Judy did not always spend her time shopping since she liked spending much more of it flirting with the boys on the dock! Hey Judy, don't you just miss a store like Famous-Barr??? (Macy's bought them out, not the same!)
Judy says I have too much free time. Maybe so. Today was not one of those days and yet I posted twice in one day! I got up, got Brandon off to school. Went to work. Came home, checked email, walked and hour on the treadmill, took Brandon to a 3:30 doctor appointment that we did not get out of until 5:00. Then I ran a meal to a friend's house who has been out of town nearly two weeks caring for her father-in-law as his wife just passed away 10 days ago or so. She was zapped and needed a break. And she kindly brought me a meal a few weeks ago when I was zapped. What a lifesaver someone else making a meal for you can be! Thank you Pam!

And Judy, I know if we were closer to each other, I would bring you a meal with all my extra time! Love Ya!

Baking Cookies

6:49 AM Posted In Edit This 3 Comments »

When my sister and I were children, we often asked our mother if we could bake cookies. She always said yes and we would skim through the cookie cookbook she had dreaming about which delicacy we would create. But those creations called for unusual ingredients, not ones we normally had on hand, and since we were baking on impulse, we usually had to settle for snickerdoodles or chocolate chip cookies. That was everyone's favorite anyway so why break from a good thing?

I guess due to the cooler weather, I have been in the mood for baking. Also, I have been burning a Gold Canyon candle with the fragrance of sugar cookies. Those candles are so real that you might truly believe someone is baking sugar cookies. Let me tell you, I never knew a candle could create a craving so Gold Canyon candles can be dangerous to your diet! So, on Saturday, I baked my heart out making three different types of cookies and trying to plug them to any takers just to not have them in the house, where I am the greatest consumer! Yesterday at church we were reminded to teach our children to be producers, not consumers. Ha ha ha, I produced and am trying not to consume!

Now I will break into this post to tell you I just got a text from Brandon, who is on the school bus as I type, to tell me that he just saw a coyote run across the road (well populated area) and head for the entrance to our neighborhood! ha ha ha This was amusing to Brandon and I am glad he shares stuff like that with me. Aren't you proud I am such a tech savvy mom that I can text my kids?

So, back to the cookies.......What cookies? They are nearly gone. But I saved a few for you and I plan to bake more before the winter is over! Yikes, come help me eat them!

NOSTALGIA WINS, I CAN'T HELP BUT POST THESE TURN OF THE CENTURY PHOTOS!

2:33 PM Posted In Edit This 3 Comments »

















Those sure were the good old days!










JUDY, JUDY, JUDY...............

2:22 PM Posted In Edit This 0 Comments »

Ha! I got a chain letter today. From the aforementioned name above! Thanks, Judy! I HATE chain letters. I bet you do too but since someone did it to you, you had to pay it forward, right?? Well, a side note in your letter said you wanted me to blog about them. So here I am and I am dedicating this post to you, my dear North Carolina friend. To top it off, the chain letter has a lottery ticket in it. I mean, what the heck does a non-gambling Mormon do with a lottery ticket, or the request to purchase six more? Yikes! I will send it back to Judy and I hope it is a winner! I might regret it forever and ever if it is, but, alas, I don't do lottery. Thanks anyway. Sounds like you could have fun with it. Judy, my dear Catholic friend from high school and college days never met a Mormon until she met me! Ha, until then, I do believe her upbringing may have given her the impression of horns and pitchforks or some such thing. She told me, when she met me, that she thought EVERYONE was Catholic. Well, St. Louis might give you that impression, right? But, it doesn't matter, we learned that we had a great time together and Judy made me laugh, all the time, and she can sing and makes one mean Lucy from the peanuts characters! And something everyone should know about Judy is that when she finds an item of clothing she likes, really, really likes, she buys one in every color! She always has had cute clothes, and lots of them. Thank you Famous Barr!
My scanner does not work and Judy lives so very far away. She has been all over this country, living from coast to coast, and all I get is a chain letter!!!! Just kidding, so since my scanner does not work, I took a picture of a picture and we all know how great that works out. So Judy, if you don't like the pics I posted, please, please, email me a new one! But here she is, my dear friend Judy. If any of you want an address to send a chain letter to................... Judy 25 years ago, and now with her hubby Dennis.

DOESN'T REALLY MATTER.....

2:01 PM Posted In Edit This 3 Comments »

Wow, I never, no never, thought I would hear these words from one of my son's mouths. I think finally I have made progress in the whole phrase about "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without!" In these times of throwaway and disposable everything, I see some thriftiness in my youngest son. Today being a holiday of sorts, Veteran's Day, where we honor those that serve our country and kids are free from the confines of school, Brandon decided to go with one of his friends and check out the new ice rink that has just opened near our house. He is a thrifty sort and recognizes the value of a dollar and asked me where those old ice skates of mine, which had actually been my mother's, were stored so he could use them. I let him know that not only would they be too small for him, but, they were women's ice skates! And do you know what he said, who cares? They are white, so what. I can save $3.50 on rental so it is worth it! Now I thought that was funny! Clearly, that $3.50 is more precious to him than his ego and he was willing to wear them to save a buck. I love it. I am a proud mother. I mean, fashion has been so much more important for his brothers. It was heartwarming to see where he placed his value. Thanks Brandon! And thanks to all those that serve or have served our country to keep it free!

THINGS JUST DISAPPEAR!

6:33 AM Posted In Edit This 1 Comment »
I used to have a slide show of Chris' mission pictures at the bottom of this blog. One day, over the weekend, it just disappeared. I thought I had the website where I got the slideshow saved in my favorites but it is not there. I cannot remember the name and have looked all over the files in my computer to try to find it in the history and/or in my saved back-up of my blog. (Do you have a back-up to your blog?) Anyway, it could not be recreated. I know this because Tim couldn't do it and since he is the resident expert in this household, it cannot be done. So now I have to find a new slide show or do something completely different.

This is not a new concept for me. Things are always disappearing. When I go to grab a chapstick out of my bathroom drawer, gone! When I reach in the refrigerator for that last can of diet A&W rootbeer, gone! When I look in my bank account for some money, ALWAYS GONE!!!

Yes, things just disappear and sometimes they are never to be found. Youth, friendships, waistline, and for some, a hairline.

But, as the old saying goes, when one door closes, another opens. And while some things disappear, other things come to the surface and take their place. New friendships are formed and new challenges greet our day. New experiences lend some excitement and new ideas come into our heads.

I think maybe when things disappear, we are forced, then, to improvise and learn something new. The old way no longer exists and so we move forward, stretching ourselves a bit more to try something new out for size and we just might find out we like the new, improved better!