Time Meme

11 years ago I was:

- enjoying being home after my first year of college
- camping with my family
- spending a week in NC
- working at babysitting a lot
- getting excited about going back to BYU
- watching Twister, Mission Impossible
- listening to Dishwalla, Smashing Pumpkins, Metallica
- reading The Alliance

6 years ago I was:

- vacationing in CA
- newly pregnant with David
- working at Beehive Clothing Manufacuring
- getting excited about quitting my job
- reading Parents Magazine
- watching rented movies i.e. "O Brother Where Art Thou?"
- listening to lots of country

2 years ago I was:

- going to girl's camp
- weaning Timothy
- getting ready to visit my family in CA
- going to my 10 year reunion
- working on scrapbooking
- getting excited about David starting preschool
- listening to kid songs
- watching Dora way too much
- reading library books to the kids

Yesterday I was:

- shopping at Target
- watching Edward until Maya was done with her ER shift at 10:00pm
- doing FHE about respect (Edward answered lots of questions, and then told us he didn't believe in God)
- balancing the checkbook
- working on my patience
- getting excited about my anniversary
- rereading Deathly Hallows
- listening to a great new radio station I found
- watching Robin Hood (well, it was on while I was doing to checkbook)

Today I am:

- celebrating my 8th anniversary
- blogging
- doing laundry
- going to the Mariners game
- working at planning a great dinner
- getting excited about Aaron's family coming up this weekend
- reading Deathly Hallows again
- listening whatever is on the radio
- watching whatever the kids choose

Tomorrow I will:

- blog
- take the kids to the park and wading pool (I love playgroup!)
- enjoy some chocolate (that I gave to Aaron for our anniversary)
- go for a walk
- work at getting the house ready for guests
- get excited about family coming to visit
- read Deathly Hallows again
- listen to whatever is on the radio
- watch whatever the kids choose

Thanks Natalie

UNO

Only rule: you have to answer with ONE word.

1. Where is your mobile phone? purse

2. Relationship? wonderful

3. Your hair? curly

4. Work? kids

5. Your sister(s)? close

6. Your favorite thing? music

7. Your dream last night? bizarre

8. Your favorite drink? fizzy

9. Your dream car? bigger

10. The room you're in? family

11. Your shoes? flipflops

12. Your fears? failing

13. What do you want to be in 10 years? thinner

14. Who did you hang out with last weekend? family

15. What are you not good at? patience

16. Muffin? blueberry

17. Wish list item? car

18. Where you grew up? California

19. The last thing you did? walked

20. What are you wearing? capris

21. What are you not wearing? shoes

22. Your pet? none

23. Your computer? great

24. Your life? busy

25. Your mood? content

26. Missing? friends

27. What are you thinking about? food

28. Your car? Saturn

29. Your kitchen? clean

30. Your summer? fun

31. Your favorite color? green

32. Last time you laughed? morning

33. Last time you cried? weeks

34. School? done

35. Love? family

Thanks Mindy

8 Years Together

Today Aaron and I celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary.
It has been 8 wonderful years. This post is more for Aaron than anyone else.
Here are a few things I remember about that day.

• Breakfast with my family that morning
• Sitting in the celestial room waiting for our guests
• Seeing you across the altar
• Trying to listen to the sealer, but being awfully distracted
• Our first "real" kiss
• Your serenade at the luncheon
• Grandpa G* taking us aside at the luncheon and giving us a wad of cash!
• Introducing our families
• 
  
• 
• Your mom's honeymoon basket full of our favorite treats
• Relaxing at your parent's
• Enjoying the reception
• Getting funny looks from strangers as we drove around our "Just Married" decorated car
• The beautiful B&B you found and surprised me with
• Finally being with the one that I will love and cherish forever

All Done

I just finished!!! Absolutely Amazing!!! Can't wait to discuss it with others!!!!
I also bought books 3 & 4 this week - the hard cover editions were clearenced for less than $3 With shipping they were about $5 each!!!

Happy EARLY anniversary to me!!!

Today a package came today while I was at the beach with the kids. It was from Amazon.com so I opened it. Guess what Aaron got me for our anniversary?!!!! The new Harry Potter book!!! I was feeling guilty that I opened it and it was supposed to be a surprise. But then Aaron usually tells me if he is expecting a package that I shouldn't open. When he called a few minutes ago I told him a package had arrived for him. He told me that I should open it because it was for me. So I told him I did. "Happy Anniversary!" he said. I was so excited. Because knowing that book was in there for the last 2 hours and not knowing if I was supposed to read it was KILLING ME!!! So I'm off to read now!

Happy Anniversary Valerie and Christian

Today Aaron's sister and BIL celebrate their 4th anniversary. Valerie and I hit it off right away when we met 8 years ago and her dating timeline with Christian is similar to mine and Aaron's. In fact their 1st date was one day before the 4th anniversary of our first date. They got engaged about 6 weeks later just like we did and their anniversary is 6 days before ours!
They have a cute little pug named Maddie and would love to have children someday (they hope sooner than later). They tease each other incessantly. And have a lot of fun. I'm glad to have them close by, even though it means Christian will miss his family dearly. I hope they are having a wonderful anniversary.

Running update

I did pretty well last week. Saturday I was up to 2.75 miles. Sunday I took a day off and Monday I was exhausted, but ran anyway. That's when my knee started getting really sore again. I think I may have pushed it too soon. So I'm scaling it back a bit. I'll still be out for about 30 minutes, but at a brisk walk instead. I get in about 1.5 miles. I guess pounding the pavement isn't good for me anymore. I guess running hurdles in high school did me in for bad knees! I didn't have a problem 6 years ago. Maybe I'm just getting OLD! No, I still feel young, but my knees just aren't what they used to be.

Random thoughts

New Calling

Aaron got a calling Sunday. He's the assistant ward clerk over membership. I'm just glad he doesn't have to go to all of the meetings! But he will have to stay later at church. Maybe that will give me a good excuse to stay for ward choir. We'll see. I don't know if the kids will behave at choir. We don't have a nursery for them to play in because the next ward is using it.

Princess?

My boys watch Dora the Explorer. They love the episode where she turns into a princess and her hair gets really long. They also watch Backyardigans and there is an episode where Tasha pretends to be Princess Cleotasha and sings a song called, "I love being a princess." Timothy the other day was playing with my hair. And he said, "Mommy you are princess! Do you love being a princess?" I'm guessing he combined the ideas of the two shows and figured that if I had long hair I must be a princess, and that I must love being a princess!

Visiting Aunt Valerie and Uncle Christian

On Sunday we went to visit Valerie and Christian in their new place. It's less than an hour drive. We enjoyed a great dinner of Christian's famous quesadillas. And Valerie had made some cookies as always. The boys love to play with their dog Maddie. But they really didn't know how to let her rest. They were getting stir crazy in their 1 bedroom apartment so we went outside and found a little playground in their complex. David went across the monkey bars all by himself for the first time! Usually he wants me to help him. But he didn't ask for help until he was on the last bar and we encouraged him to finish and he did!

Ward Pioneer Day Activity

Last night we had a ward FHE activity. It was a BBQ and "baked goods" contest. It was little chilly and damp since it had been raining all morning. But we had fun. After some hamburgers and hotdogs, salad and soda we enjoyed a short program. The judges (three guys- one from each priesthood group- a priest, elder and high priest) tasted all 25 entries then voted on 5 categories while we got to sample them. I had entered Leslie's Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie. I knew that recipe had won other contests, so I secretly hoped it would win something! After tasting the other entries I wasn't sure I would get anything. There were some great desserts. Someone even entered some store bought wafer cookies lol! Well they had categories for "The Must Have Dessert" - some delicious lemon bars, "The most Heavenly" or maybe it was divine or something like that - a moist raspberry chocolate cake yum!!! Then there was "Best secret ingredient" - cupcakes with cookie dough in the middle - wow! "Best decorated" or something - a beautiful carrot cake that had a covered wagon on the top -very colorful and went with the theme. "Most Healthy" - yummy blueberry cobbler. They also added an honorable mention - an apple crisp. After that I thought I wouldn't win, but lo and behold "Best Overall" was my Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie!!! Thanks Leslie, it really is an award winning recipe! Check my recipe blog for the recipe! I forgot to take a picture before we left, but since there were 25 entries it wasn't devoured! Here's what was left at the end of the BBQ.

Oh and one last pic.

Timothy eating icecream last week

Sorting quiz

As with Emily I too am waiting to see the movie and read the book (hopefully sooner than later). So I tried her link. Kind of fun!

Which Hogwarts house will you be sorted into?

I was also very close to being Ravenclaw.

Amazing photos!

So have you seen Brekke's digital portfolio??? Isn't she amazing? I guess that's why she studied photography in college!

Happy Birthday Jenny

Today is my cousin Jen's birthday. I can't believe I don't have a picture of her on my computer!!!

Growing up we called her Jenny, but she goes by Jen now since she is turning 27! She is a journalist and works for a paper in VA. She went to USU and had a blast. She wrote for the paper there and I remember reading the article she wrote about her dad who works at the Pentagon. He was there on 9-11 and it was nerve wracking to wait for him to call and tell us he was okay.
Jen and her family used to live in SoCal and we would go see them every so often. We would take Disneyland trips and visit the zoo etc. I remember when she was about 3 that she had a non-speaking part in a Daytime Soap Opera. She was one of the kids at the hospital during a Christmas party. She is the only cousin I have that is close to my age so my sister Tina, Jenny and I would hang out when we all got together. We had a lot of fun together. After they moved to VA we didn't see them as often, so I really enjoyed having her around while we were all in UT. Jenny you are smart, strong-willed, funny, a great example to your sister and others, happy, generous and just plain fun to be around! I love you! Happy birthday!

Nail polish and blackberries

Last night Timothy said he needed a band-aid and wanted to get it all by himself. He was in the bathroom a little too long so I went to check on him. (Note to self: don't leave the nail polish where the kids can get to it). Timothy had found a bottle of nail polish and remembered watching me paint my toenails last week. So he decided to paint his toenails. Luckily all that got painted was one big toe and one finger. It didn't spill or get on the floor, carpet etc. But I had to snap a couple of pictures.

And on the way home from the park today we walked past the ripening blackberry bushes and picked some. These were only a fraction of what will be ripe in a few weeks. I only picked the ones that were really ripe, and that I could reach without getting scratched up. If I'd had the right clothing (long pants and long sleeves and gloves) and a step stool or ladder, I could have picked 3 times this many - maybe more. But this will do for today!
Timothy picked a few not so ripe ones and ate them anyway. I don't think he knows how to eat without making a mess.

Running update and Target

So I'm slowly getting back into it. During the year before I got pregnant with David I had a good routine. I ran 5 days a week for about 40 minutes or so. Since I did a lot of hills that usually ended up being about 3 miles. I'm really not that fast. But I wasn't trying to be fast, I just needed the cardio and strength. Believe it or not I lost 35 pounds over that 1 year period (combined with a sensible diet of course). Perhaps I can do the same this time.
Last week I ran 4 days (I take Sundays off and I don't run if Aaron is post call). By the end of the week I was running 2 miles. I ran on Tuesday 2 miles again (Monday I was dead tired after waiting up for my brother) . Aaron was post call today. So I'll get going again tomorrow.
I hope I finish out the week on a good note maybe add some mileage and time to my workout. I do crunches and a little weight lifting when I get home. Now I just need to get to bed early on Aaron's call nights so I feel like getting up and doing the crunches and weights in the morning. I can't do cardio with downstairs neighbors, but hopefully those days I'll get out more with the kids.

Today I scored big time at Target clearance!!! I got the kids some rain jackets for $2 and boys jeans for $3.24!!! I bought 4 pair and now I wish I had bought more. But they only had size 4, 5 and 7. Now maybe they'll go walking with me in the rain. No more excuses! I just have to layoff the ice cream and baked yummies!

Family

The last two days we have had more family come visit. I am so happy to be closer to family. Not only can I visit them, but they are more likely to visit me. Even my parents with their limited mobility can come and visit me! My mom, dad and brother Scott arrived late Sunday night and left after lunch today. We were the third stop on their 2 week road trip. It was great to see them and have them see our place and interact with my boys. I didn't get too many pictures (my mom did). I really enjoyed the way my dad played with Timothy and got him to belly laugh, without tickling him. I was reminded of how patient my mom is, especially with active boys like mine. Scott was a big help especially when I needed to run to the store or go out for a minute. I usually don't leave the kids in the house alone, but I could leave them with Scott!! Thanks so much for coming to see us!!! I can except a short visit because I know I'll see them again soon. They have another road trip planned for October during my mom's break from school.

In other news. Not only are Nathan and Amy (Aaron's brother and sister-in-law) moving here we found out they will be moving into our apartment complex! We look forward to helping them moving in in about a month. I love being close to family!!!

new blogger

Brekke has joined the ranks. Check out her blog.

Happy Birthday Sara

Today my sister Sara turns 25!!! Sara and I often shared a room together growing up. She is one of the most agreeable and patient people I know. She is truly a middle child!!! She wants everyone to be happy. And tries to please everyone. Although she is still sane and knows her limits. I have fun memories of Sara and I.
I was a science camp counselor when she went to science camp. I wasn't her counselor, but I knew most of the girls in my cabin because they were friends of Sara's.
One summer while taking a water aerobics class people asked us if we were twins. We thought that was ridiculous since she was 16 and I was 21! But we agreed that if anyone else asked us we would say yes and tell them we were 18.
I often tagged along with her and her friends as a "chaperone". We went camping and to the fair and concerts. (Blink 182 - before they were big!)
We would stay up late at night and talk whenever I came home from college.
Sara is giving, loving, fun, smart, organized, and caring. She graduated from BYU-I a couple years back and is now working at a hospital in ID. And she wants to go to nursing school because she is "bored". No, that's only part of it. I think she would be great at it. And I wish her luck as she starts her program. Sara I hope you had a wonderful birthday!!!

More randomness in pictures

My herb garden is growing!!! David claims it is his. Well I guess David and Aaron plated the seeds and transferred them I just water them But I still claim them!

This is what David looked like as he fell asleep on July 5th

As we tried to find things to do we made these little crafts.
Okay, Timothy picked the paper and I put them in.

Aaron and the boys with the first paycheck!!

Thursday instead of taking a nap Timothy did this!!!

Notice all the empty shelves.

And this is what happened when he was "helping" me clean up.

Senior Year Meme

This has been sitting in my saved posts for a while, but I was waiting to find a senior picture to scan. This isn't my favorite, but it was a senior picture (after I got my braces off).

1. Who was your best friend? Noelle G* (now M*).

2. What sports did you play? Just track (hurdles)

3. What kind of car did you drive? 1985 Silver Toyota Camry

4. It's Friday night, where were you? With Jason :(

5. Were you a party animal? No

6. Were you considered a flirt? Maybe

7. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? At school- just Chamber Ensemble (Auditioned choir of 29). Out side of school I was in a teen performing group - dancing and singing.

8. Were you a nerd? Not really. I took hard classes, but I wasn't a top student.

9. Did you get suspended or expelled? No

10. Can you sing the fight song? No

11. Who were your favorite teachers? Mrs. F* The best Government teacher. Gary W* - choir director. and Mrs. T* - My math teacher that I TAed for my senior year.

12. Where did you sit during lunch? In the choir room if it was raining. Outside on the lawn near the amphitheater on nice days, or sometimes I would go home for lunch.

13. What is your schools full name? Lincoln High School.

14. School mascot? The Trojan.

15. Did you go to Prom? Yes, has to drag my boyfriend. It wasn't that fun.

16. If you could go back and do it over, would you? High school it self was great it was my life outside of that that I wish I could change.

17. What do you remember most about graduation? It was hot. I got to sit next to my good friend Rachel R*(when they read the names in alphabetical order they took one from each side. So one person was alphabetically between us, but was sitting on the other side) My choir sang the National Anthem.

18. What was your favorite class? Chamber and AP Government.

19. Where were you on senior skip day? Senior cut day (as us Californians called it)? Didn't know when it was. It's not exactly condoned at my school. I didn't go on our Senior trip or Senior Nite at Disneyland (I went two other times that year)

20. Did you have a job your senior year? No, I had a lot of responsibilities at home (chauffeur mostly).

21. Where did you go most often for lunch? Didn't eat out much, mostly stayed at school, or went home.

22. Have you gained weight since then? Yes.

23. What did you do after graduation? Graduation sleepover party at Noelle's. For the summer I worked at a Cub Scout camp as the head cook -fun but stressful!

24. Who was your Senior prom date? Jason P*

25. Did you go to your 10 year reunion? Yes. One of my friends was on the committee, so I got to hang out with him and many others. I'm glad I went. Wish there were more there. I left after it was apparent people had been drinking too much. Aaron couldn't go he was on Family Medicine that month. I also got to visit my family for 10 days.

random thoughts

Continuity Clinic

The cons: Aaron has a continuity clinic once a week that is a bit of a commute. Getting there on Thursday afternoons isn't too bad, but I fear that the commute home during rush hour traffic could mean a long day for both of us. He just found out that his month of Continuity Clinic is at the same office that he goes to every Thursday. That also means I will be stuck in the neighborhood for most of that month. Another problem is that month spans the time that David starts school. We only have one car and it is 2.3 miles to David's school. The bus can take him to school but since I have elected to have him go half say I have to pick him up.

The pros: If David ends up at the closer school then it won't be a problem I can handle the .5 mile walk. Aaron will only have to go four days a week and he doesn't have any call during that month.

So we wait it out and see if we need to rent a car ($$) or if he rides a bike (on the path, next to the freeway, over a bridge - an hour ride EACH WAY) or take the bus (even longer than the bike ride!)

PAY DAY

Yesterday was payday!!! Aaron will be picking up the check today since direct deposit isn't in force yet. The check is only for a week and a day of work, but it's his first paycheck for residency. YAY!

Family nearby

Aaron's sister Valerie, and her husband Christian, just moved (on Monday) about an hour away and she is coming to visit today. I am excited to have family nearby. Finally after 4 years of spending $1000s to see family every year- a road trip for a few hours is nothing! Speaking of road trip my Mom, Dad and brother Chris may come out next week. I can't wait!

Where's the rain???

The first few weeks I was loving the weather here. It rained 5 or 6 times and it was refreshing. We haven't seen rain for 3 weeks!!!! I am missing the rain. While my friends in TX are being swept away with an over abundance of rain, we are drying up. The grass that is usually green all year long is dry and brown! And it is over 90 today. I wouldn't complain if I had A/C. But alas, most housing here doesn't have A/C because you'd only need it for about 3 weeks out of the year. Well that's right now and it's not very pleasant. I miss the pool that was yards away in H*. Ice cream is definitely in order! And no cooking!!! On the bright side there's a 10% chance of rain next TUESDAY!

Call days

Aaron was lucky to get 2 hours of sleep on his first call. We thought it would get better, but since then he's had 20 minutes, 15 minutes and 0 minutes. He is exhausted. The nurses think he's crazy because he doesn't drink coffee. I'm glad he's been able to come home and sleep for a few hours. Next he has ER and they decided as a group to have one entire weekend on call (it's shift work so he can come home and sleep) so the remaining 3 weekend would be call free. What a great idea - except Aaron has a weekend call to end this rotation and was scheduled to be on call the first weekend of ER. That would have been 19 straight days of work!!!! Luckily he talked to another resident who was willing to switch call weekends with him.

Exercise
It's about what I look like except more shapely and add a red face.

So I have been really lazy since I got here. I picked this week (of all weeks) to start exercising again. Since the sun is up so early and Aaron doesn't usually have to go to work until 7:00 I decided to start running again. We have a beautiful 14 mile trail one block from our home. So I ran 1.3 miles on Monday and 1.3 miles today. Okay I know that's not much, but I don't want to over do it (I've had sore knees in the past). And I still do crunches and lift weights when I get home. And this morning Aaron had to leave by 6:15 so I went running at 5:40 am!!! Hey it's light. But I couldn't be gone for long. So I hope tomorrow I'll be able to go a little longer. I am a little tired, but I know I'll start feeling better and have more energy in the long run. I figure if I make it public maybe I'll be more inclined to keep it up.

David

David is really pushing my buttons lately. He knows that jumping in the house upsets me. So his latest fits have included jumping as loud as he can. Hopefully after a few more timeouts that will stop. Quiet time is no longer. I can't get him to be quiet. I used to be able to go in my room to work on the computer in peace. Now that the computer is in the family room David is NEVER quiet. His mouth never stops. I am not exaggerating. Okay maybe a little. But he will not leave me alone. I just want an hour to myself. Is that too much to ask? I will give him something to do but it will last 15 minutes (with mouth still going) and then he constantly bugs me for something else to do.

He is absolutely intrigued with all of the airplanes he can see. We hear them all the time in H* but we are on the top floor on a hill with large windows facing the air traffic. For two days he counted how many planes he saw. There were many more he didn't see. He has to tell me every time he sees a plane and insists that I come look at it. He also loves it when jet planes make contrail - I had to look that up. He kept calling them jet lines, and I know that wasn't right so I googled it. I love technology! We also see a lot of these seaplanes!

Okay so I think I've blogged enough now. I am way behind on my recipe blog, but that will have to wait until Aaron is on call. David needs some attention since quiet time is over and Timothy is still asleep.

Dinner Conversation

Tonight at dinner David was asking questions about bumblebees.
Timothy gave his 2 cents and said:
I sawed it. It went 'round an 'round an 'round an 'round an 'round an 'round.
Me: Really?
Timothy:Yeah. Is that pretty awesome?
LOL!!!!

Cute cousins

Here's some cute pictures of my little nieces

This is Hali all decked out for 4th of July

Here's Elizabeth hanging out

And cute Elizabeth again

Celebrations

Yesterday was full of fun ways to celebrate the 4th of July! We were blessed to have beautiful weather. Typical S* weather for July 4th is 60 and rainy. Yesterday it was 82 and sunny!!! Another blessing - Aaron wasn't on call so he didn't have to work!

Part I -We started with dropping off Aaron at the church at 7:00 then coming back home so I could finish my pretzel salad and shower. We made it to the church at 8:00 (I love that the building is so close) for our pancake breakfast. We saw friends from the ward and met people from the stake. Someone whipped up some blue pancakes to go with our white ones and we had plenty of blue and red fruit i.e. blueberries, strawberries and watermelon. And they threw in some cantaloupe for good measure. Someone even thought of chocolate chips! Yum! So Aaron flipped pancakes and socialized while I let the kids run around the gym so I could socialize too. They were pretty well behaved.

Then on to part II. We wanted to experience a small town parade. So we went about a mile north to a parade that we read about in our community newsletter. Before it began Timothy had to go to the bathroom. (I guess I should have had him go before we left) So I ran him back home and got there 5 minutes after it started. It was over. Yep, that was it. One fire engine 3 police cars, two vintage cars and about 30 kids riding their bikes.

At least David got to enjoy it!

Apparently it was their first neighborhood parade. They did have ice cream bars for everyone. The kids got to climb all over the fire engine and David and Timothy gave us a hard time when we told them we had to leave. When we got home Aaron crashed (he was post call on Tuesday) and we ate lunch. Then Aaron woke up and Timothy napped.

Part III- some of Aaron's fellow interns (that weren't on call) got together at Johannes and Stacy's home for a BBQ. We brought some root beer and the pretzel salad. We enjoyed hamburgers and lots of yummy things. Someone made a delicious berry tart. We had a lot of fresh fruit yesterday. There was cantaloupe, honeydew melon, strawberries, raspberries, and blue berries! We were there for about 4 hours and the kids were mostly good. Johannes and Stacy have two golden retrievers. Cody was fun and playful and David and Timothy had a ball with him. Cody's younger sister was still young and not too fond of the crowds especially the kids, so she stayed inside mostly. David spent almost the entire time trying to get the dog to play with him, but Cody was mostly just interested in the food that David had. David found the stash of doggie toys and tried throwing them for Cody, but he didn't want to play. But when David had food and didn't want the dog around that's when Cody followed him. Cody was smart to realize that David was the most likely to drop food. It was fun to get to know some of the interns and their spouses.

The kids were inside watching a movie

Part IV- Our neighbors downstairs told us about a nearby park where we could watch the fireworks show. There is a huge festival on the water, but it's impossible to find parking, and too far to walk. So instead we to the park around 8:30 and staked out a good spot. It was fun to visit with the other families and let the kids play at the park at 9:30 at night. While we waited for the shows to start someone set off some fireworks on the field next to the park. I can tell I'm getting older because, instead of thinking "Wow that's so cool to see them so close", I was thinking, "What are they thinking? That's not legal, or safe. They could set something on fire."
The cool thing about this spot was that we could see two different shows at one time. One of the interns on call (she got off at 10:00) joined us with her husband just before it started. We brought a little radio with us to listen to the music that was synchronized with one of the fireworks shows. It was so fun to see how much the kids enjoyed it. They danced to the music and oohed and aahed. It was well worth the lack of sleep. It was almost 11:00 pm when we got home. (As I write this David just fell asleep on the couch!!!)

The picture is a little fuzzy, but that's the view we had for the fireworks- just over the horizon.

It did get a little chilly after the sun went down.

So that was a fun filled 4th of July celebration. I hope next year Aaron's not on call again! I'm not sure I'd attempt all of those by myself!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my Mom's birthday! We don't need to say how old she is, but that she is older than my Dad;) I was blessed with the opportunity to give a mother's Day talk this year in my ward in H*. She doesn't know this yet. But afterward I had a few people tell me that I should record that talk for my family history and that it was an inspiring story. So here are some excerpts from that talk. This may be a repeat for those of you in the MWII ward.

My mom is a great example of determination. She had polio as a young girl and was told she would never walk. With her mother's determination she did learn to walk again even with her right leg and foot shorter than her left. She was often teased but other because of the braces she wore on her legs. She had one good friend in elementary school (who my mom found out later was LDS). Despite her challenges she was still on the pep squad, participated in Girl's State and was Queen of March of Dimes.

My mom went to college in her home town, but the summer after her freshman year she went to CA with some friends. That is where she was introduced to the church and learned about the gospel. She wasn't baptized until she came back to Montana. (That's another story altogether).
My mom learned to drive a car with her left foot. She moved to Utah to start a teaching career. There she met my dad and they married in 1973. My mother had been told that she would never have children, and was very happy to have her first girl in 1974. She now has 7 children and 4 grandchildren.

She is a wonderful mother and grandmother. She has so much patience. Especially with my boys. She taught David how to hold a pencil and draw a smiley face when he was 2!! She is so good with children. She was always doing something beside just being a mom. She has either had a side business or tutored. She kept up her teaching certification and began to tutor when most of her kids were in school. When my dad had a stroke 7 years ago she began teaching full time. She went back to school and got an additional certifications. She is now a resource teacher a a local charter school.

She is also a wonderful wife who is patient with my dad. He can't do everything by himself any more, so my mom does a lot more than she used to. She also knows her limits and a lot of the physical things have to be done by my siblings who are still at home or live nearby.

So these are some of the things I mentioned in my talk (I even added a couple more that I just thought of). I know she isn't perfect, but my mom is a great example to me. I love her so much, and I am grateful for all that she does for me and my family. Happy birthday Mom!

Happy Independence Day

As I recently mentioned today is one of my favorite holidays. I think it's great that there isn't much commercialism. It's not like it's about the food, or presents. If you celebrate it's because you are glad to be in America. I have been a lot of places for the 4th of July. But we always celebrate it. Growing up our city didn't allow fireworks, but we would would usually watch some kind of fireworks display. Even when we went camping there were fireworks not too far away. We were down in So Cal one year for my grandfather's funeral and saw a fabulous display there.

My father and grandfather (as well as other relatives) served in the military. My dad is one of the most patriotic people I know. The flag is very sacred and we fly it on many holidays. When I think of my dad I think of his love for the bald eagle and the symbolism it holds.

As a little girl I could expect my dad to bear his testimony on the first Sunday in July. I guess that's why I found myself doing the same thing this last Sunday. I know I am not as eloquent as many authors out there, but I will try to express some of the feelings I have.

I am so grateful to live in a country that allows us to have so many freedoms. Especially the freedom of religion. I know that the Founding Fathers were inspired when they founded a country where people could choose how to live. I understand that means that many chose to live differently than I do. We have the freedom to vote. We all have a say. If we had a better voter turnout I wonder how different the legislation would be.

I am grateful to all those people who have sacrificed their time, careers and their lives to serve in the military. In order to keep our freedoms and to help others obtain freedom, we must have people who are willing to fight for it. Without those willing to fight we wouldn't have our freedoms.

I hope you all get to celebrate in some way. Whether it is pancake breakfast at church, a big or small parade, a fun festival or a fireworks display, enjoy the holiday and remember what it's all about. Happy Independence day!!!

Yet another one!

Here's another one! (PS it's my 150th post!)

Two Names You Go By
1. Mom
2. Emma

Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now:
1. khakis
2. maroon shirt

Two Things You Would Want in a Relationship:
1. Laughter
2. Time

Two of Your Favorite Things to do:
1. play games w/ the kids
2. read

Two Things You Want Very Badly At The Moment:
1. a quiet house
2. brownies

Two pets you had/have:
1. Dog
2.

Two people who will fill this out:
1. Not sure
2. Unknown

Two things you did last night:
1. blogged
2. ate ice cream

Two things you ate today:
1. loma saltado (minus the fries)
2. Honey Nut Cheerios

Two people you Last Talked To:
1. David
2. Aaron

Two Things You're doing tomorrow:
1. Going to a July 4th pancake breakfast
2. Going to a neighborhood July 4th parade

Two longest car rides:
1. P*, UT to H*,TX
2. H*, TX to S*,WA

Two Favorite Holidays:
1. Christmas
2. July 4th

Favorite beverages:
1. Water
2. Root beer

More kids books

Do any of you remember watching this film in elementary school?
I'm pretty sure we watched it EVERY year, if not more than that! When I saw this book at the library I had to pick for my kids. I love it. We always laughed when we had to watch it again and again. But it brings back great memories. It's a cute story about a boy in Paris who finds a red balloon that follows him like a loyal pet. And we all tear up when he gets picked on the the neighborhood boys. You should check it out. The photos were taken during the filming of the movie. You can also buy it here.
What I love about the movies is that it's in French, but there are no subtitles. The voices are low enough that you really can't make out what they are saying anyway. But you don't have to know what they are saying. You can buy the movie here, but getting it new it's really expensive! Just check out the book!

new calling

I'm really glad I got to know people at enrichment, because I won't be going to Relief Society classes on Sunday for a LONG time! I just got called as the second counselor in the Primary presidency.
As much as I love kids, I am really going to miss my RS class every week. I've never been a counselor in anything (except when in was in YW - as a girl, not an adult). So I really don't know what I am doing. I hope I figure it out quick. I may have to pick the brains of some of my you primary veterans!!! I guess I'm in charge of the junior primary ( I hope David behaves with me in there) and the quarterly activities. I'm sure there's a lot more to it (like sharing time etc.) that I will learn as I go along. The last time I had a primary calling was 8 years ago and Aaron and I were CTR 5 teachers! I really hope I can do this.