Let's Hike!

Hiking today.

They had walking sticks to use.

Even Grant had one. 

A little fun fort/teepee.

Joyanne, Ambree, Jaden

We went with cousins.

Adam, Daddy, Grant, and Jaden

Hiram and Amara

Here were some of the petroglyphs we saw.

Pretty neat Indian drawings. 

Daddy held Grant the whole way.

Strong good Daddy!

Tonight we girls went to an Achievement Days "Punch Party".

They talked about manners, like not texted or talking on the phone when driving.

Being with my sister-in-law, Carol, and her family has been enjoyable.

Sometimes I get so uptight about situations like a lot of kids around playing wildly or fighting or screaming or whining.

I've learned that I have to say I'm okay and then act okay and then usually I feel okay.



We Work, Work, Work!

We worked around the house and got most of it cleaned up.

My sister-in-law, Carol, and her family came this evening.

We are excited to have them come visit.

I miss my friends back in Idaho.

Congrats to Gina and their new addition to their family.

Your baby is adorable.

I have friends here, but not like back home in Idaho.

Today I reminisced with my mom about how great our neighbors, community and ward were back home.

I spoke with Grandma Anderson yesterday and I just wanted to come back.

I know we are supposed to be here in Utah.

The Lord guided us here and made it possible.

I really like it here too.

But I do miss the people, the friendships.

Someday we will come back.



A Caring Dad

Hiram was having a hard time with his siblings this morning.

Daddy took some time to sit with Hiram and talk with him.

Daddy shared how much he loves and cares for Hiram.

To spice up our night tonight we did a read-a-thon.

I popped 2 bowls of cheese popcorn and read the book "Snot Stew" to the kids.

Then they enjoyed reading their own books. 

I believe in living who you truly are, who God intends you to be.

Ginger - the New Pet

Earlier this afternoon, Jaden spotted a little brown bunny hopping around our backyard.

He told Joyanne, but she didn't believe him.

Then she saw the bunny herself.

She tried to catch it to no avail.

Noah, then proceeded to attempt to catch it, but no luck.

So then Noah and I tried.  Still no.

So Joyanne, Noah, and I cornered the bunny and I caught it.

We decided to keep it unless anyone comes looking for their lost bunny.

We named it Ginger.

I finally, finally got my counter cleaned off tonight.

It won't stay this way for very long, but Yipee!!!

The stove looks pretty good too, after a good scrubbing with the cleaner "Bar Keeper's Friend".

A little bit more scrubbing another day and it will look as good as new.

Memorial Day

I would wish you a "Happy" Memorial Day, but that sounds a little funny.

I think of Memorial Day as a more solemn occasion.

A day to remember those who have passed on.

Both of my grandfathers served in World War II.

My paternal grandfather was actually at Pearl Harbor the day it was bombed.

It was on a Sunday and my grandfather was given leave to go to church.

But I think the guy who replaced my grandfather sunk with the bombing of the ships.

One of my dad's earliest memories, when he was about 2 years old, was having his dad show him around one of his ships.

We are far away from any family graves so we did something a little different to remember others.

We went to the cemetery near our home.

We bought flowers and put them on graves that had no flowers, especially the older graves.

Then we played a little game.

We went around to see who could find the oldest grave.

I think the oldest we found was from someone born in 1811.

Then we went around to try and find a grave with our first name on it.

We also took some paper and crayons and engraved the fun designs or pictures onto the paper.

I've seen a few sayings to remember that today is not National BBQ day, but we did grill up some hamburgers and hot dogs.

I used the grill all by myself since Daddy was working and the meat turned out all right.

The kids had fun running in the sprinklers, jumping on the trampoline, throwing balls for Trixie, and blowing the bubbles Aunt Linda gave us.

Thank you, Aunt Linda!

Baby Blessing

My nephew, Dante, was given a name and a blessing by his father (and my brother) Brent.

I felt lucky to be there and see.



Such a sweet baby!

I went to my Mom's ward after to listen to her give the Relief Society lesson.

She did a great job and the spirit was there.

 How happy our family was to be home and be together again.

There's nothing like the comforts of your own home.

I can't wait to crawl into my own bed tonight and sleep!

Soccer, Hiking, GRANDPA, S'mores

My nephew, Cameron, is quite the soccer player.

We went to the last game of the season for him.

His team won 8 points to zero.  Cameron got a few good kicks in.

Daddy went hiking again with the kids by a lake.

What fun all this hiking!

 

I cleaned under my sister's fridge and the wall behind it.

I also cleaned the top of her stove and the wall above.

The highlight of my day was visiting my 95-year-old Grandfather and Grandma.

My son, Jaden Maxwell, has my Grandfather's first name for a middle name.

I love my Grandpa!

He was and is a great man.

I recorded our visit with him and Grandma Shirley.

This will be a special memory.

My Grandpa has a hard time hearing and can only see shadows.

My Grandma is losing her mind.

She repeated a story 4 times in our 45 minute visit.

Which would you rather lose?

Roasting marshmallows and eating s'mores was a great way to end the day.

Warm baths and cozy beds bring on the comforts of sleep.

Family History

Pictures are uploaded. Yay!!!
What a good day!

I helped my sister clean and organize a bedroom and cleaned out her refrigerator.

Joyanne, Noah, and Hiram had fun hiking with Daddy and seeing petroglyphs.

This evening I took my parents out to dinner and dessert for their birthdays and Mother's Day and Father's Day.

We had fun chatting.

Afterward I gave my mother a backscratch, massage and foot massage while visiting some more.

Then I went in and listened to my Dad share stories about when he was young.

He shared so many stories, and then we talked about Family History and about how important it is to know who your ancestors are AND their stories.

I'm excited to find out their stories and type them in to Familyhistory.org.

My dad's mom died when he was only 5 years old.

My dad says he remembers the night she died.

She started to cough hard, then coughed up blood.

The next morning when he woke up, he was told that she died.

He stayed with a neighbor who was a chain smoker for a few days.

He remembers the dad smoking so much and making circles puff out of his mouth into my dad's face.

I love family and am excited to learn more.

I also saw a picture of myself as a crawling baby.

My mom doesn't have hardly any pictures of me as a baby being #11 out of 12 kids.

I was thrilled to see one of me.

My Sister's Wedding

What a beautiful, special wedding my sister, Becca, had.

I loved meeting all the wonderful people that care for my sweet sister.

Becca has such a good husband who will cherish her.  

I felt privileged being a bridesmaid and loved having an occasion to get all dressed up.

My Prince Charming did amazing caring for all the kids today while I helped out.

I loved seeing 2 of my cousins tonight, Emily and Alison.

I think Alison and I look a lot alike.

Joyanne made a beautiful flower girl.

James was a handsome ring bearer.

It was truly a magnificent day!

Cookies, Cookies, Cookies!!!

With a batch in the oven and one more batch to go, I'm almost done.

I have been baking cookies since 9:30a.m. this morning.

By the time I'm done I will have been baking for about 3 1/2 hours.

I will have over 100 cookies baked and ready for my sister's reception.

I hope they taste good.  My kids sure like 'em.

Grant and James have new hats.

They are pretty good about wearing them and they sure look cute in them.

Life is good, life is grand, especially when someone holds your hand!

Uplifting Thoughts

I just had a wonderful conversation with my prince charming. (And he is really charming!)

I had some neat experiences today.

I read my scriptures this morning and read in the New Testament in Mark.

I read how Jesus ministered to the people.

I always thought of ministering as preaching and teaching, but he ministered more as serving and helping.

I truly want to try to be like the Savior.

I prayed for ways to minister to others.

I had an enjoyable talk with my sister, Becca this morning.

She's getting married in 2 days.

I'm so excited for her and feel honored to be able to be there to witness this wonderful occasion.

I felt like I was able to help her by listening to her and be there for her.

I love how I also get to be blessed by helping others.

I feel closer to my sister and loved.

I helped out Daddy by cleaning up the garage a bit.

I served my kids by making them a delicious dinner of Noodles Cordon Blue, Corn Bread and Salad.

I honestly didn't feel like cooking much and was searching for something easy.

But I decided to work at it and make something good.

In the end, it was easier than I thought and it sure tasted good.

I feel blessed and loved by the Lord.

I feel Him watching over me.

When I feel this way, I just want to make sure I'm keeping the commandments and keep trying to do good.

I love the Lord and hope I can be like those "fishers of men" and help others come unto Christ.

Singing and Jumping in the Rain

My kids were jumping on the trampoline and singing while it was raining.

I thought about stopping them, in case they might get sick.

Then I realized it's great to have a few carefree moments to just let go and sing in the rain.

I wanted to come out and join them. 

I have true empathy for anyone who gets migraines.

I got another one today.

I believe it's because of the hard workout I had this morning.

I need to slow down and start out slower.

I felt so good and just wanted to give it my all today.

I'm paying for it now!

I'm grateful for how much I was able to accomplish today.

Laundry, shopping, cookie dough made and even a couple games of hide-and-seek with the family.

Happy Days!!!

Bracelets

Yesterday Daddy bought 100 feet of paracord rope.

Tonight we made scout bracelets, survival bracelets or cobra bracelets.  Whatever you wanna call 'em.

They are fairly easy to make and fun.

Daddy just looked on "Youtube" to see how to make them.

Thanks to Hiram for asking and motivating us to do this.

I love the feeling going to church brings.

The spirit is there and teaches things even the teachers or speakers don't.

I don't think we realize how much we are really learning when we go, even though sometimes we don't think we learned anything.

I'm so grateful for the Sabbath Day and a day to rest.