Plain Jane

Thankful 6

2011-11-26T22:42:00.001-07:00

Today I am thankful I survived the week. It was a busy hectic one.

Well, one problem with going back and adding my posts from Facebook. It has been a couple of weeks, and honestly I don't remember exactly why the week was so hectic.

I a guessing it has something to do with Stake Conference and the meetings that Jim had that week.

It might also just have to do with the fact that I have 2 teenagers, and one preteen at home. A son serving a mission and a married son and daughter in law who are soon to be parents.

It could also have something to do with my job and the crazy situations that I deal with day in and day out.

Whatever it was, I survived.

We are now on to other weeks that we are needing to be survived.

Thankful 5

2011-11-26T22:24:00.001-07:00

"Today I am thankful that my rolls turned out."

This week-end was our stake conference. We had a dinner for the stake presidency and their wives and our visiting general authority. I was asked to make rolls for the dinner. I am a novice. I was stressed about making them. They turned out beautifully.

Around 4:00 pm my sweet husband called and said, "I don't want to stress you out, or ruin your night but....You have been asked to share your testimony tonight at stake conference."

Did I just call him my sweet husband?

Holy Cow, that was so scary!!

I haven't ever spoken in stake anything. There was a lot of people there.

My heart was pounding and my knees were shaking. Why is it that when Jim gets up to speak, he makes it look so easy?

I spoke on God's plan being greater than my plan. How all of the really big and important things that I wanted to "plan" God often had other plans for me and my family.

I reflected on the trial of the last 2 years. My plan would certainly have been that Jim would of found employment a long time ago. I am trying to have faith and trust that God's plan will be greater than that. That for whatever the reason, or the lesson to be learned, it will be what is best for me and for my own personal growth.

I would of been happy just having to stress about making rolls.
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Thankful 4

2011-11-26T22:10:00.001-07:00

"I am thankful for my beautiful daughter in law. She is going to become a mommy any day now. We are all so very excited for the arrival of Sweet Baby James!"

We are so anxious for the arrival of our first grandchild. It really doesn't seem possible that Tyler is old enough to be a Daddy. It just seems like yesterday that we were anticipating his arrival.

It is so amazing how times goes by so quickly.

Although I am sure that Emily would tells us differently about the last 9 months!

Jim was very honored when Ty and Em called on Fathers day to tell him they had chosen a name for the baby.

We then started calling him

Sweet Baby James.

Thankful 3

2011-11-24T10:21:00.001-07:00

"I am thankful for friends who love and support me, and make me laugh"

I have been blessed with some wonderful friends.

Friends that it doesn't matter how many weeks/months have gone by, you can just pick up right where you left off.

Jan~

Friends that you can lean on and get support from.

Janette~

Friends that make me laugh until I want to cry.

Char~

Friends that still love you even when you rope them into doing crazy things.

Karen~

Friends that love and support you, even when you have lost all of your marbles.

Michelle~

Friends that no matter what, offer support and hope for the future.

Friends that are willing to take you with them on this journey of life.

Karin~

Friends that let you talk and sort out your feelings while they listen and offer support and hope. The type of friend that hours can go by and you realize that you're the one doing all of the talking, while they are listening.

Gina~

I have been blessed with many wonderful friends. Friends that turn into family. Friends that love and support you through the good and the bad.
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Thankful 2

2011-11-24T08:11:00.001-07:00

"I am thankful for my children, and that God's plan was greater than my plan. I can't imagine life without them".

I have reflected on the whole my plan, God's plan... God's plan has always been

better.

My plan was to get married have babies every couple of years and live happily ever after.

Not a bad plan.

God's plan was to test me, to put me through the refiners fire. To give me the things that I needed to stretch and to grow.

My plan never included 6 miscarriages.

My plan didn't include pain and heartache and disappointment.

God's plan included taking a journey that led us to adoption.

For that I will always be grateful.

Thankful: 1

2011-11-24T07:23:00.004-07:00

I am thankful for my husband, he is the best thing that ever happened to me.

Really he is.

I can't imagine life without this guy.

He has more patients than anyone I have ever met.

He is always positive, it takes a lot

for something to get him down.

When we met 27 years ago, I must admit that I wasn't sure....Eternity is a very long time.

I do know that I was given an undeniable answer from a loving Heavenly Father.

Boy was he right.

Jim is the perfect husband for me. I am one lucky girl to get to spend Eternity with

this guy.

The last two years have been hard.

The last two years of unemployment have taken a toll on me and our little family.

How many times do you think Jim has complained? If you guessed zero then you

would be correct.

Jim has so much faith, and hope and trust in God's plan.

He has been my rock!

Twenty-Seven years!

I look forward to another oh, lets say billion years with this man.

Thankful

2011-11-24T07:11:00.003-07:00

Over in the land of Facebook an epidemic of gratitude has been stated from status to status.

It's one of my favorite things about November.

Taking time to pause and reflect on all that we have been blessed with.

I have tried each day to count my blessings.

I don't want to forget the feelings and thoughts I have shared.

I am going to transfer those thoughts from Facebook to my blog.

If you read my updates on Facebook you might want to skip the next 30 posts.

Who am I kidding? I have been gone so long I am sure no one even checks the blog.

But....maybe one day a grandchild, or great-grandchild might want to know what his grandma was thinking and feeling in November, 2011.

Test

2011-11-20T20:58:00.002-07:00

This is a test to see if this still works, and to see if anyone is even out there anymore.

I have been gone awhile, not on purpose, but life gets in the way of life sometimes.

I plan to do better.

There are things going on that I don't want to forget.

Schools Out, For Summer

2011-05-27T08:04:00.000-07:00

         Where has the time gone? This school year really seemed to fly by. I have to say that I am really blessed that my children have such great teachers that not only teach them academics, but also take the time to teach them values and why it is important to be nice and kind.
      A couple of my children have learning disabilities, things that come naturally and easily to some can be a struggle. I am so proud of them for working so hard and never giving up, even when it seems too hard, or confusing.
     It can be hard on a mother's heart to see your child work so hard, and not have that reflected on the assignement, or on the report card. To see them feel bad about their grades is not always easy to take. I wish there was a grade for their efforts, because it would be A+.
     I want them to know that I am proud of how hard they worked this school year, but even more importantly, I am proud of the awesome people they are turning into. I am still not able to wrap my mind around Tori headed off to High School, and Coleman entering Junior High School, and my baby going into 5th grade. I do know that they will continue to work hard, and that they will continue to make me proud!

For now, lets ENJOY being out for SUMMER!

WANTED

2011-02-16T20:46:00.000-07:00

Goldfield Ghost Town.
We had a great week with Grandpa and Grandma. One of the highlights was visiting the ghost town. We enjoyed a beautiful day of sunny weather and 80 degrees. I have to say I LOVE Arizona's winter weather. I could be happy with this weather year round. I guess we do have to go through the bad to really appreciate the good.

Snow Fun!

2011-01-23T11:40:00.000-07:00

We spent two weeks in Utah over winter break! We were lucky enough to be there during several big snow storms. The kids had so much fun sledding, having snowball fights, and making snowmen and snow angels.
Dallas is having just as much fun in South Dakota playing in the snow, and enjoying the below zeros temps. Poor Arizona boy is freezing!
A nice man that lives on my parents street pulled the kids around on sleds behind his tractor. It was about 7 degrees that day. No one seemed to mind.

We had a blast getting to spend time with Tyler and Emily. We went to the "pie" for pizza,and we even wrote our names on the wall. We then went to to Temple square to see the beautiful lights.

This is my favorite scene of all times. I love how beautiful this looks on the reflecting pool.

Yes, that is Dallas with a very large snow man?

Resolution

2011-01-16T10:29:00.000-07:00

res·o·lu·tion [rez-uh-loo-shuhn]
The act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure, etc.

I have decided that I need a course of action. I have thought about my New year resolutions for a few weeks now and I am ready to put them into writing, and make them happen.

* Find joy in the journey~ life often throws us curve balls. It doesn't always go as planned. I am resolving to find joy along the way no matter the circumstances. This last year has been a challenge. As I reflect back on the journey I am amazed at the blessings we have been given. I want to be more aware of the blessing and less focused on the challenges. We are so blessed in so many areas of our lives. That is what I am going to choose to focus on.

* Blog more~ I started this blog when we moved to Arizona so our families could see what we were up to. I have been slacking and have not blogged as often as I would like to. I want to remember events and thoughts and feelings that I experience. I am resolving to blog weekly. I know that is a resolution just waiting to be broken...I am going to make it a priority and try hard to make it happen.

*Clean out the closets~ My friend Jenny made this one of her resolutions last year and I am going to steal her idea. I want to get organized and dejunk! It amazes me how quickly stuff creeps in and takes over the closets and other areas of the house. I don't need all of this junk...I am going to tackle the closets one at a time and get organized!!

*Scrapbook~ I am really good about collecting paper and scrapbook supplies, I could sit down and scrapbook for days on end and not need to buy a single thing. I really enjoy scrapbooking, I love being creative. When I started working a few years ago I decided I didn't have time to scrapbook and I have gotten really far behind. I want to make time this year. I want to work on them on a regular basis. I have started by cleaning and organizing my scrapbook cupboard. It looks so good. I need to organize the pictures next and get all of the pictures printed that I have taken the last few years. I am going to tackle this project a little at a time. I feel overwhelmed just thinking about it, and know that is the reason it has not been a priority. I am resolving to make it a priority this year.

*Scriptures, Prayers, Temple~ You know the "sunday school answers" I resolve to make these a priority. I know that when we put these things first, we have time for all of the other things.

*Laugh more~ Laughter is the best medicine!

*Learn to muscle test~ I have wanted to learn how to do this for a long time. I am not sure why I have not had the confidence, but I am determined to learn and become good at it. I have been reading the book "The emotion code". This book talks about releasing trapped emotions and negative energy. Jim likes to call it voodoo medicine. Over the years I have seen some shifts in my health and mental well being by using energy medicine. I am excited to learn to muscle test and be able to release some of the "baggage" on my own.

I know there are a lot of other things I could/should be working on this year. I am going to start here and see how it goes.

Wish me luck!

Much to be Thankful for

2010-11-25T12:41:00.001-07:00

Monday Jim was blind sided with the news of a lay off at his new place of employment. We didn't see it coming. He knew that business was slow, but didn't think his job was in jeopardy. Many people lost their jobs. The work did not show up like they all had hoped for.

It kind of feels like dejavu.

It was last November that we were hit with the same devestating news of being unemployed.

I really, really, really did not want to go through the holidays again this way.

What is there about this trial that I still need to learn?

Do I still need to work on faith?

Or perhaps gratitude?

Maybe my Heavenly Father wants me to grow and stretch and come to know him even more?

Today I am not going to think about the stress and worry of this new little road bump in our game of life.

Today I am going to count my blessings.

In no particular order..

My husband, who is my rock! My children, who I adore and miss (Tyler, Emily,and Dallas) My parents who taught me right from wrong. My 10 brothers who mean more to me than I express to them. Their beautiful wives and the wonderful 50+ nieces and nephews I have. The countless friends who make going through life fun and rewarding. My job at the school working with some very special kids. The great teacher who makes everyday an adventure, especially when we go from one melt down to another. The great co-workers and the community we enjoy on a daily basis. The knowledge I have that my Heavenly Father loves me. My Savior Jesus Christ that died for me. My cozy home that is filled with love. My health and the health of my husband and family. My freedoms. The food that is always on the table. My inlaws and their examples, for raising such a wonderful son. That my needs are always met. And many, many more.

Today I have adopted this motto.

Elder Brignone

2010-11-11T08:38:00.000-07:00

September 22, 2009

Eric, Dallas and Caleb

Dropping Dallas off at the Missionary Training center

Dallas with his MTC companion Elder Neff.

Dallas and Elder Horrocks Elder Horrocks is his trainer and is from Pocatello Idaho. Their first area is McLaughlin South Dakota.

Dallas with his mission president and wife the Laytons.

Dallas is loving his life as a missionary. His first area McLaughlin, South Dakota, is a very rural area with the population being about 700 people. He is on the reservation. He loves his trainer, and they seem to be working very well together. We love hearing about his experiences each week. Although we miss him like crazy, we are proud of him for serving!

Volleyball, Volleyball, Volleyball

2010-10-31T08:51:00.001-07:00

Tori #20

I love seeing my shy, quiet daughter come alive on the Volleyball court. She is an awesome player and loves every minute she in on the court. She eats, breathes, and dreams volleyball.

Way to go Lady Mustangs!

My Favorite Spot in Arizona

2010-09-29T21:22:00.000-07:00

Tonto Natural Bridge has become my favorite place to visit in all of Arizona. We decided to have one last outing with Dallas before he leaves for South Dakota. The weather was beautiful and the hike was lots of fun. I don't think I would ever get tired of visiting the bridge. It is hard to capture it's beauty, it is so amazing in person.

He took our hearts with him

2010-09-29T19:13:00.037-07:00

DALLAS PORTER BRIGNONE

Called to serve in the Rapid City South Dakota Mission.

Saying Good bye is hard on the heart.
Tori said good bye before we left for the airport due to volleyball practice.

Aly's first letter told Dallas that the MTC was not his home, and for him to not forget that. She also said "I miss the crap out of you!"

I am going to miss this face!

Coleman is going to miss having a brother to hang out with.

Jim is going to miss having another man around the house.

Dallas saying goodbye to Tyler.

I am going to miss everything about this boy!

South Dakota, take good care of my boy.

GIVE AWAY!

2010-08-07T12:46:00.000-07:00

My friend Char who I adore, from the blog "Crap I've made" has hit 1 million visitors to her blog! So, she is celebrating with week long give aways. You should head over there and check it out.

I am giving away some flowers that I made you can find them here Go ahead... go check them out, and then check out all of the other fun things people are giving away.

Aly's New Camera

2010-08-05T08:04:00.000-07:00

Alyson got a camera for her birthday.

When I uploaded her card I laughed so hard at all of the pictures she had taken. Here are a few of my favorites.

The Call

2010-06-22T09:16:00.000-07:00

Came while we were still in Utah. Dallas opened it all alone and then called to tell us that he has been called to serve in the...

South Dakota, Rapid city mission.

He is very excited and will be a great missionary! He leaves on September 22nd.
We are very excited for him and know he will do great!

Waaahhhh!

2010-06-16T10:48:00.000-07:00

So, I had this perfect little plan for Dallas and his mission call. The plan did not pan out like I was wanting it to. In a perfect world the mission call was suppose to show up this week, so Jim could bring it to Utah where the rest of us have been for the last week and a half. We would all be together and he could open it here. The call didn't come. Dallas flys back to Arizona tonight. The rest of us will leave on Monday. My guess is the call will come sometime between when Dallas gets home, and before we get home.

Dallas says he is not waiting....I tried and tired to change his mind. My mama heart is a bit sad that I won't be there to see his face as he reads about where he will be serving for the next 2 years.

Dallas thinks it will be really cool to open it by himself and then call us and tell us what is says.

Anyone want to guess where that will be?

Besides all of that, we are having a lovely time in Utah. The weather has been cool and refreshing. Don't miss the 112 we left in the Arizona desert. We've had lots of rest and relaxing. Hanging out with family and friends. It has been a good visit. Looking forward to the wedding on Friday of my nephew.

Hopefully I will post soon about a white envelope in the mail from SLC.

Adorable

2010-05-14T13:07:00.000-07:00

I have my fingers crossed for a chance to win this
Isn't it adorable?
I wish I was clever enough to make one. ....sigh....

I Hope They Call Me On A Mission

2010-05-12T17:10:00.000-07:00

When I have grown a foot or two. All photos were taken by younger brother Coleman.

We are anxious to see where Dallas will be serving his mission. He just completed all of his paperwork and doctor appointments and Bishops interview. After his final interview with the stake president they will be on their way!
Not sure this mama heart is ready, but Dallas sure is!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!

2010-04-12T07:01:00.000-07:00

I am not ready for this!

High /

Low (°F) Precip. %

Today

Apr 12 Partly Cloudy / Wind 83°/52° 10 %

Tue

Apr 13 Partly Cloudy 77°/51° 0 %

Wed

Apr 14 Sunny 86°/55° 0 %

Thu

Apr 15 Mostly Sunny 90°/60° 10 %

Fri

Apr 16 Partly Cloudy 87°/56° 10 %

Sat

Apr 17 Partly Cloudy 87°/58° 10 %

Sun

Apr 18 Partly Cloudy 85°/56° 0 %

Mon

Apr 19 Partly Cloudy 88°/58° 0 %

Tue

Apr 20 Sunny 89°/56° 0 %

Wed

Apr 21 Mostly Sunny 85°/55° 10 %

Today I am counting my BLESSINGS

2010-03-28T15:33:00.002-07:00

I am not sure why at times it is hard to see all of the good around me. I think that when I am going through trials or tough times I lose focus on what is really important.

I tend to wallow and feel sorry for myself; think that everyone else has things easier than I do.

I think if I was to take a moment and look outside of my little bubble, and see what others are facing, I would realize how blessed I am. This weekend, I found out that a couple of people that I care about are dealing with their health. One of them is a long time friend that was told she most likely only has a year left to live. She was asking for help and support so she could go and be with her children and grandchildren one last time. One last time. What would that be like? How would that feel? It is beyond my comprehension.

I am blessed with good health. My family is too. This week I had the ~~privilege~~ opportunity of having a couple of procedures; they scoped my stomach and checked out my colon. As I was waiting for Jim to join me in the waiting area before they took me back to the OR I thought for a brief moment what if this was goodbye. I know all of the nurses and staff thought I was nuts as tears were rolling down my face. They asked me if I was nervous, I just said that I was. It was easier than explaining the sudden fear of "what if this was goodbye". Of course I lived through my procedures, and during the process had an overwhelming love for my husband and family.

I have a husband that loves me more than I really deserve. I am not an easy person to live with. I get hormonal, and wishy washy, and stressed, and freak out every now and again. Do you know what he does? He just lets me be me, lets me get it out of my system, and he loves me all the same. He doesn't judge, or condemn. No eye rolling, or telling me that I am being stupid.

He just lets me do my thing and then he gives good advice and wise counsel when I need it most. Somehow he seems to know when I need it too, because sometimes I just need to get things out, and I need him to listen and not comment. After 26 years of being married, he knows just what to say and do. I probably don't tell him enough that I appreciate him. I really am blessed that we were brought together. He is my greatest blessing.

Twenty four years ago I was pregnant with my first son Tyler. The anticipation of adding to our family was very exciting. When we got married I told Jim that I wanted 12 kids just like my mother. We didn't really try to prevent pregnancy much after Tyler was born. It took awhile to get pregnant with him and so we weren't always careful. After a few years of this we became concerned. We started fertility workups and went from just not being careful, to actively trying to conceive a second child. Five years went by and Dallas joined our family. I don't know if it was because it took so long to get him here, or if I would have felt the same if he would of came 9 months after Tyler but I was just over the top in love with this little baby. He and Tyler were my world and my greatest JOY!

After many more years of trying to add to our family, and many heartbreaks and disappointments that followed multiple miscarriages. God led us down a path that I hadn't really thought I would take. That being the path of adoption. When Tori joined our family, she came and healed a broken heart. Mine.

Shortly after Coleman came and turned our whole world upside down. I mean this in the very best way possible of course. He is a great blessing to all that meet him. That smile, and that laugh he is so contagious. What a blessing, to be his mother.

After a couple more devastating miscarriages, I was done. We would be content with the 4 wonderful children that we had been blessed with. I would not be able to handle another loss. My spirit was not strong enough to go through that heartache again. I stopped praying to feel that life of a baby inside of me, I stopped praying to be pregnant just one more time. I stopped wishing and dreaming of having that experience.

Five months after my last miscarriage I found myself pregnant again. I had never gotten pregnant in such a short amount of time. I didn't allow myself to hope, dream, or pray that this would be the one that would stick. I convinced myself that it would end like the 6 others. A painful loss and broken heart.

I reached the 14 week mark, the point where my last pregnancy had ended. My doctor kept telling me he thought this one was going to stick. I didn't allow myself to go there. I thought that not caring, wishing, hoping, would make it less painful when it all came crashing down.

Weeks turned into months. Nine months. My prayers were heard, not on my time table, but on Gods. Alyson completed our family. I was for the first time content that my family was all here. I knew that God's plan for me had been completed. Being the mother of five children was exactly the way it was suppose to be.
Today I am counting my blessings.

The blessing of having a devoted, faithful, committed husband who loves me and supports me.

The blessing of being a mother to five beautiful children.

Happy Anniversary Baby

2010-02-14T15:20:00.000-07:00

I've got you on my mind.

Post It Notes!

2010-02-03T20:03:00.001-07:00

Blur

2010-01-27T20:44:00.000-07:00

That was the last 2 weeks.
My parents have come and gone. We had such a great time with them here. We got a lot done, and I miss them already.

I got so spoiled, I would go to work, come home to a clean house, laundry caught up, and dinner started. Not to mention all of the socks in that overflowing sock basket...all have mates! I don't think my kids know what to do here. Open your drawer and pull out a pair of socks, what? I thought I had to sift through the basket, leaving half of them on the floor to find a pair of socks. (please tell me I am not the only one that hates matching socks)

My Dad and Jim worked very hard in building, tilling, hauling, and planting the garden. They built grow boxes that are now full of plants and seeds waiting to sprout delicious veggies. They also took out many trees/bushes/plants to make this all happen.

Mom and I got the Karl Guymon quilt on the frames. (Jim tells me this is forever going to be the name of that quilt). Here is the back story.
26 years ago, I sent Karl Guymon off on his mission. Pledging my love to him, and that I would be here when he got home 2 years later and that we would get married.
I started a King sized quilt to keep me busy while he was gone. (I met Jim while he was gone, and married him) The quilt is all cross stitched, I got about 3/4 of it done, and then put it away. The last time my mom was here I showed it to her. She told me I should finish it. I told her that SHE should finish it. She said she would love to work on it. She took it home, and got the entire cross stitching done. She brought it with her, and we got it put on the quilt frames...there are quilting marks that now need to be hand quilted. We got a row done that is about 12" long by about 20" wide done. Did I mention that the quilt is 108x114? At the rate of the cross stitching, my daughters will be finishing it for me in another 26 years.

It really is beautiful and I hope to make some good progress on it. I would love some help with it. So, pop on over and quilt with me!

It was a busy 2 weeks and I was sad to let them leave. I keep telling them that we are going to build them a room out back, so they can spend the winter with us. I don't think my Dad was ready to go back to the cold and snow.

Pictures of the quilt and garden coming soon.

One thing always leads to another

2010-01-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

My parents are coming for a visit next week. They want to get out of the freezing temperatures and enjoy our sunshine. I decided to do a little deep cleaning over the break so my mom wouldn't see all of the dust bunnies that multiply like rabbits (ha ha) on a daily basis.

I talked Jim into helping me with the kitchen. I wanted to organize and clean out all of the cupboards. I started with the built in shelves that I keep all of my ~~crap~~ cute things on. Once I pulled everything off, I couldn't put them back on the way it looked. I knew that a fresh coat of paint was in order. Jim and I debated on a color. (they were white) we finally decided to paint them black. Below the cabinets is a built in desk. I painted them as well. Jim was putting new pulls on the drawers and as I went through his stash of pulls I found some black/metal pulls that I wanted to change out the brass pulls that are on the rest of the kitchen cabinets. I took all of the old ones off, and replaced them.

The white cabinets that I have done nothing with since we moved in two years ago, afterall I am married to a cabinetmaker, and he keeps telling me that he will get to them thus the reason that I have not done a thing with them, (catch all that?) really needed a makeover.

I begged and pleaded and coaxed Jim into just putting a fresh coat of paint on the doors. Nothing else. Ha! He should of known better. I couldn't leave the face frames and moldings untouched. So, the cabinets all got a fresh coat of beautiful white paint. YAY!

Now, my kitchen is all turned upside down. Everything is out of place and I am out of time.. Christmas break is over, and tomorrow I return back to work (sigh)

I know that Jim believes that this was my evil plan all along, I swear it wasn't. It's just that one thing always leads to another when it comes to home improvement projects.

When things are back the way they should be, I will share some pictures of the results.

Dear Santa,

2010-01-03T15:22:00.001-07:00

Thank you for the beautiful gift!! It was such a surprise to find on my porch.

The dishes are lovely, and totally brightened up my christmas dinner table. I have tried and tried to figure out who you are, and have not been able to.

A big thanks to whoever you are! It made my day!!

Dear Aly,

If you are going to mess around with my camera, you might want to delete the evidence first.

Love, Mom

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T12:50:00.002-07:00

As I have sat and thought about the events that have taken place in my life this past year, I feel an overwhelming amount of love. I feel the love of my Savior Jesus Christ, my husband, my wonderful children, my parents, family members, and friends.

When Jim lost his job in November I felt dread and gloom. I felt sorry for myself, and felt like curling up in a ball and crying until this all passed. Why did this have to happen, why us, now what, how will we survive? All thoughts that I dwelled on. All around me was others that shared their misfortunes..."we were out of work for a year", "the construction industry has never been so bad" "we had to walk away from our house when we lost our job". Doom and Gloom.

To make matters worse, the holidays were quickly approaching. I did not feel very thankful as Thanksgiving came. I tried; I even started posts here that had me listing things I was thankful for. As my good friend pointed out to me...you didn't even last the week with things you are thankful for. My heart was not in it.

Thanksgiving Day came and brought visitors. Joe and Cindy! Cindy brings a breath of fresh air with her everywhere she goes. We had a lovely time, and my heart was lifted. We were also blessed by a couple of friends from work with gift cards to take care of thanksgiving dinner. I felt that God was aware of me...through others he blessed us.

After the long weekend, December grew closer and closer. Dallas came home from work stating that a co-worker also works for the fire department. They were going to place our family on the list to receive help with gifts for the kids. I felt blessed and relieved. Everything would be okay.

A couple of weeks later, Dallas informed me that the fire department was not able to help any more families. There are so many in need, so many out of work and unable to provide Christmas for their families. My heart sunk and I thought about Christmas morning. Would the kids understand, would they be okay with a much smaller Christmas?

My 8 year old told me time and time again, that it didn't matter if Dad was out of work, Santa brings the presents anyway. I know as she said these words she was looking for reassurance that Christmas would be the same. That, she would be surprised as she woke up Christmas morning, and saw that Santa had found his way to our home.

Thinking about the disappointment added to my stress, I felt myself falling deeper into the poor me black hole.

I had heard these saying many times..."God never gives us trials without sending us a friend to see us through" "It is through others that God takes care of our needs".

What we experienced next has left me with no doubt that God is aware of me and my family. He loves us, and knows our limits and our needs.

My sister in-law contacted me to let me know that the cousins would be taking care of my children for Christmas. Instead of exchanging gifts this year, they were sending them to their Arizona cousins. I was also given a few things from the school, many had opened up their hearts to help others, and we were given a few items to put under the tree.

Through out the week, many surprises were left at our door. Cards and letters arrived in the mail with words of love, and support. Help came from those that love us.

I have been so overwhelmed, and full of JOY! Christmas really is not about what is going to be under the tree. Christmas isn't about the lights, or the decorations. Christmas is about a baby boy that was born in a manager, those many nights ago. Christmas is about listening to the whisperings of the spirit, and being his hands for someone else.

Perhaps, it was my heart that needed to be softened. Perhaps my loving Heavenly Father knew that in order to do this, it had to hurt a little bit. I have been humbled. I have been overwhelmed with the knowledge that my heavenly father loves me. He is aware of our situation, he sent angels to bless us.

My Christmas wish is that each of you has felt the true meaning of Christmas this year. I know without a doubt that Jesus is the Christ. The he lives, and we will live with him again. I am blessed beyond words. I can never repay the debt, but hope to one day try.

Thankful my car is fixed!

2009-11-24T20:34:00.000-07:00

I have been without a car for so long, I don't even remember when it stopped running. I do remember that Jim was hesitant about spending any of our savings on a new one, and wanted to try and see what he could do to get the suburban running again. I am thankful for his wisdom and that we didn't touch our savings account.

The engine had to be rebuilt,and it was a long and slow process. But today after the help of some very wonderful people the last of it was put together and it is up and running again.

Sundays had become a little hectic trying to get everyone to church and Jim to all of the places he has needed to be. Not to mention that tiny little fact that we didn't all actually fit in the Toyota.

YAY for two cars again, YAY for wonderful people that came and helped just because they are nice like that.

Thankful for Family

2009-11-19T21:47:00.001-07:00

Today I got the very sad news that a friend of mine lost her father today. It was very shocking and not expected at all. I have thought of her all day today, and I have thought about my own family.

Life is fragile--how quickly the ones we love can slip away from us.

Tell your family that you love them. Show them by your actions.

Set aside any differences you may have with a family member. Life is too short to harbor ill feelings.

Do the ones you care about know it?

I am thankful for family. I love you!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-15T17:13:00.000-07:00

I want to count my blessings everyday between now and THANKSgiving. Please join me on your blog and share what you are thankful for.

Today I am thankful for friends. I have been blessed with great friends that love me and accept me for who I am, flaws and all.
This week after sharing the news of Jim losing his job, my friend said that she would embark on a 2 week fast giving up all sweets, junk food, and eating out in behave of Jim and a couple of others who are out of work. It warmed my heart to know that she would do that for me.

I am thankful for friends. xoxoxo

What a Week!

2009-11-14T21:01:00.000-07:00

I am not even sure where to start with this post. So many feelings, so many emotions, so many changes.

Sunday, Jim was sustained and set apart as the second counselor in the Stake Presidency. It was a very emotional and overwhelming weekend. I know this will mean some changes and sacrifices for our family. I was blessed with an undeniable feeling from the spirit that let me know this was a call from our Heavenly Father. It's hard to put into words the feelings that I experienced as he was called on Saturday, as well as when he was set apart. I know this will be a blessing for our family as we do all we can to support Jim in his new calling. I am not sure I am ready to wrestle the kids alone each Sunday, but I am thinking it will be a bit easier than when he was Bishop and they were all so little. Our previous stake presidency are great men, who have done a wonderful job leading our stake for the last 10 years. They have left some big shoes to fill.

Thursday, Jim was let go from his job. The company that he has been working for was hit hard by the changes in the economy. His job has been hanging by a thread for the last year...the thread broke and he and many others were let go. He has had to personally lay off around 80 people over the last year, and he experienced being on the other end of that this week. It looks like the whole company will be closing their doors in a few weeks unless something drastically changes.

I am trying not to freak out, but deep in my heart I am pretty nervous. I know that I need to have faith, and hope and trust in God that he will provide and take care of us. I know that we will be alright, I know that this experience will help build our faith, and teach us things that we might not learn any other way. I know all of these things, I just need to be able to truly believe them. I have gone from feeling that it will all be okay, to feelings of despair and gloom. I don't know why we are experiencing this struggle at this time, or how long it will last. I hope that whatever happens I can keep my heart soft and my mind open to whatever it is that I need to learn from this.

When Jim was being set apart I was listening very closely and praying in my heart that they would bless him that all would be okay with his job, since we knew this was a possibility that this could happen. In his blessing he was told, "I bless you with good employment" I am holding on to that blessing and will try to stay positive.

I do have to tell you what an amazing son I have. Dallas has been working full time saving for his mission. When we let him know that Jim had lost his job he told us that he would turn over his paychecks to us and help out in anyway he could. I was so amazed at his willingness and how his only thoughts were for his family, and not at all for himself. I don't know what we did to deserve such amazing children, but we have been so blessed!

So as you can imagine it has been a rollercoaster of emotions this week. I know we have much to be grateful for, and I know that as we do our part that the Lord will bless us.

Here is a picture from last Sunday.

Elder Lees is on the right, and Elder Sitati is on the left. The new Stake President is in the middle.

Start to Fall Break

2009-10-12T10:25:00.001-07:00

Jim's buddy from work came over this morning to help Jim with the car. He found out the kids were on Fall break so he brought his bike to give them all a ride.

Alyson and Rob Coleman and Rob (guess who wants a bike now?) Yep that would be Cole!

Biker chick Tori, She love, love, loved it!

And somehow they talked me into going for a ride. I just got back from runing so I look my finest. Bleh--oh well- it was pretty fun if I do say so myself.

Here's the Story, Morning Glory

2009-09-26T21:39:00.000-07:00

12 years ago we opened our doors and our hearts to a pink little bundle of joy. We had made the decision to be foster parents and had high hopes of adopting a baby one day. Jim came home from work and told me that he had gotten a call that day from our caseworker, and she had four children that she needed to place. I immediately told him that we could not take four children...we didn't have the room for them, and we were not licensed to take four anyway. He laughed and said that she only wanted us to take one of the four, a baby girl who was 3 weeks old. She was currently in a short term foster home, and we needed to call the foster mom and make the arrangements to go get her. Jim gave me the number and I secretly called the foster mom to make the arrangements. I told Jim I was going to the store, and when I came home I asked him to help me bring in the groceries. Instead of groceries, he found a soft, pink, adorable little baby girl in the back seat of the car.

This little one healed my broken heart. After many miscarriages, she had come to do what I was not able to do for myself. I felt strongly that she was to be apart of our eternal family. The caseworkers kept reminding me that she was going to be going to a relative in Idaho and to not get too attached. (Right, like you can really do that) I will spare you the details, but it was the roller coaster ride of our lives as the judges, caseworkers, attorneys, foster parents, and birth parents all tired to determine what was best for this little one. My faith was tested time and time again. When I lost all faith, there was only HOPE to get me through the stressful times. When she was 11 months old, we dropped her off along with our hearts for a trial placement with her birth family. All four children were sent back to the birthparents to see if they could parent their children. I have never felt such a loss as I did at that time. We grieved for our baby girl. We were devastated,

Twenty very long days past, and we received a phone call from her caseworker. They were removing the children; did we want the baby back?? Did she even need to ask? A year and 3 months went by that were followed by many more ups and downs. Until the judge had made his ruling. Parental Rights have been terminated. We were free to adopt this little angel, and have her sealed to us FOREVER
And we all lived happily ever after...right?

Tori's birth parents started contacting her older birth sister when she was about 15. They would come to her school and take her to lunch; they bought her a cell phone and told her to call them anytime. She became a very confused and mixed up girl. They started tell her lies about the reasons she was adopted, that they didn't do anything wrong. She believed them, and ran away. She ran to them, the police returned her, she was unhappy and made everyone around her miserable. She ran again a year or so later. They didn't stop her, she was close to 18 and she made the choice to go back with the birthparents. It broke the hearts of her adoptive family. She has made a lot of bad choices, her morals and values went by the wayside.

Last week this birth sister contacted us. By email, and then again by a message on facebook...the message listed our address and asked if that address popped out at us.

My heart was icy cold with fear. Would they ever try to illegally come and take my daughter? Why was she contacting us? Had the birthparents put her up to this? I could not bear that thought of loosing my daughter again. I know my heart would not be able to handle that kind of pain.

I don't believe that they know about my blog, but I couldn't take any chances...So, we have taken all kind of precautions to keep her safe, and having my blog private is one of the changes we have made.

When we moved to Arizona 4 years ago, we weren't sure why we were lead here. But as time goes by we have seen the Lords hand in this decision to move here. As much as I complain about the never ending summers with crazy hot temperatures, today I am grateful for the distance.

Plain Jane is Going Private

2009-09-20T06:55:00.003-07:00

If you would like to be added to the list please leave me your email address.
I am sorry to do this, but it has become necessary.

Labors of Today

2009-09-07T17:03:00.006-07:00

I wanted to add a splash of color to my front porch.

Here is the before picture And here is the after...I painted the star, door and flower pot RED!!

Gosh that sun is BRIGHT--sorry for the washed out pictures from that

bright, bright Arizona Sun.

HOME SWEET HOME

Counting down the weeks until it is actually cool enough to sit outside and enjoy the porch!

Fun Run!

2009-08-23T14:41:00.003-07:00

Several of us wanted to run a race for the 24Th of July celebration (state holiday in Utah)
Instead of paying the 30.00 entrance fee x many people, we decided to have our own Porter family race. We had a one mile race for the kids, and a 5k for most of the family and a 10k for a couple of crazy people (Joel, Jim)

Here is a few of the grand kids getting ready for their race to start.
And, if your son leaves his shoes at his cousins, no worries, he can always wear his church shoes to run in. Caleb coming in after the 5K.

Tim and Joel the professionals.
Jim 5k down, 5K more to go!

Deanna and Jane coming in the finish line.What? You think we cheated?? Here is what I have to say about that!

Okay so we did cut it short, and only ran 2 miles. But, hey I live in Arizona...how am I suppose to train when it it 115 degrees? All of you Utahans have no ideas how nice you have it, with your cool nights, and even cooler mornings.

The group starting

Look at these cute little Water Girls, they passed out water to the runners as they went by.

We all had a great time. We are putting a family team together for next years Ragnar Relay Wasatch back race. 180 miles running day and night from Logan to Park City.

I am ready to start training, call me crazy but I have missed having a running goal to work towards.

I just need the weather to begin the cooling trend that we all anticipate every October.

Four Generation Quilt

2009-08-05T09:10:00.003-07:00

This is the quilt I made for our family reunion. The quilt squares were my Grandma Dicksons, and after she died I inherited them. Tori and I sewed the squares and my mom helped me lay it all out and her and Aly helped tie it. Mom bound it for us. It is a very sturdy camping/picnic quilt. I loved that 4 generations helped make it.
We have a drawing for the quilt at each reunion, and whoever wins has to make the next one.

Kristie and Orrin got this quilt. I hope they enjoy it.

I will have to take a picture of the one that I got, it is beautiful and looks so nice on my bed. I just got it...it took a little longer to complete, but it is great!

All BecauseTWO people fell in LOVE

2009-08-02T12:06:00.010-07:00

Fifty years ago my parents were married. We celebrated as a family this wonderful accomplishment. Twelve children joined this union through the years

Which resulted in twelve spouses.

Are you still doing the math?

2+12x2

Add in+50+4+3 for grandkids, and spouses and great grandkids

= 83!

What a legacy these two people have created. The Porter Party is now up to 83 with one on the way. And continues to grow as grandchildren are married and great grandchildren are added to this legacy.

(click pictures for a larger view)

Summer Time, Summer Time, Summer Time

2009-07-31T09:11:00.005-07:00

Fun!!

There is only one thing to do when the temps are above 110. Stay cool at the pool.

Trek

2009-07-12T20:29:00.011-07:00

Luna New Mexico

I am not sure if I can put into words all that we experienced during the 4 days of our pioneer Trek. The last year of planning and worrying, and stressing were all worth it as we saw the youth of our stake drawing closer to our Heavenly Father through this amazing experience.

Jim and I were part of the Executive committee, one of our responsibilities was the Spiritual programs/Music. This first picture is the spiritual committee that we were privileged to work with. All of them were a great asset and we couldn't of done it without them.Dallas and his friends. Jim announcing the musical number...Alyson and Landon. Alyson sang "Somewhere there's a mountain". She worked so hard on this song. She sang it for 300 people. She was so scared, but did such a great job. Aly and Mom after her song...Aly broke into tears and sobbed when she was done, when I asked her what was wrong she replied, "I don't know". It really was so touching to hear her sing, and she was so brave to sing for everyone.

The trail.

Looking out over the camp. There was 21 families with 10-12 kids in each family.

Jim with the stake presidency before one of the devotionals.The men in Dallas' family praying for the girls before they started the "Woman's Pull". I saw this scene many times the 4 days we were on the trail, I was touched to see the families putting their faith and trust in God.Dallas!Dallas' pioneer family. The Newitts

I will never forget these 4 days. I gained a greater appreciation for my pioneer ancestors. The sacrifices and struggles that they went through to have the freedom of religion, to worship in a place free from persecution did not come without it's many trials and struggles. To walk across the plains to find their Zion is beyond comprehension. They endured more than I could ever think possible. I will forever be grateful.

Taking Off (again)

2009-07-06T07:29:00.002-07:00

Since school got out the end of May, we have been on the go.
First was Trek, which was amazing, and wonderful and lot of hard work. I have some awesome pictures to share....one of these days.
Next stop was a drive to Utah to get Tori, who spent 3 weeks with Grandpa/Ma and who went cousin hopping. The weather was 65 and rainy all week, it was HEAVEN!
This brought us to the final preparations for Girls Camp. We worked fast and furious to get everything done and ready for a fabulous week. I have pictures of that too...that I have plans to upload...one of these days.
And now, we are heading for the cool mountain air of Mt Graham. We are going with good friends for some rest and relaxation...but most importantly we will be leaving the 108+ Humidity behind us. It is monsoon season here, and it is very, very, hot and sticky!!
We will be back at the end of the week to wash the clothes to repack them for our trip to Utah to celebrate my parents 50th Anniversary.

So, my poor blog is neglected once again. And you would think that having the summer free from work, that I would have more time to blog and stay connected with family and friends.
When you live in Arizona it is essential that you find every way possible to beat the heat...which usually means, leaving the valley.

Until then--stay safe and COOL!

It's Official

2009-06-09T09:01:00.004-07:00

Trust me, Dallas is there in the group of graduates....somewhere. There was close to 900 kids in his graduating class. Graduation was held at ASU's arena.

The proud parents. (Don't mind Jim and the beard he was growing for trek)

And not sure who took this one, sorry to all of the tall men in the family that got their heads cut off.

Celebration

Sunrise, Sunset

2009-06-08T08:57:00.004-07:00

Is this the little girl I carried, is this the little boy at play?

I don't remember growing older when did they?

When did she get to be a beauty, when did he grow to be so tall?

Wasn't it yesterday when they were small.

I am not sure how the time has slipped by so quickly. It seems that it was yesterday that you made your appearance into the world (2 weeks late, I'll add) And now you are grown, and just completed your last year of High School.

We are so proud of you for working so hard, and for setting goals to graduate early and for accomplishing that goal. I know that as you continue to work hard, that you will be able to do anything you set your mind to. (Eagle Scout)

We love you Dallas and we are blessed to be your parents!

Dear Blogging Friends

2009-05-14T06:42:00.003-07:00

I PASSED THE TEST! Thanks for your good thoughts and prayers!

Please hang in there with me for one more week. Then school will be out for the summer. (okay not the summer, as we all know that summer does not end here until Halloween) But, I will have 2 months off. I will have a lot more time on my hands to do things like Blog, and visit your blogs that I have been neglecting.

Next week is High School Graduation for Dallas, and we will be having Alyson's Baptism. Tyler will be flying in for 48 hours, and my parents will be here for the week.

Jim and I are also smack dab in the middle of the final phases of our stake pioneer trek. Which will take place the week after school is out. It has been very all -consuming, and I know it will be very rewarding for those who will be participating.

When it is over I just might be able to breath again.

Wanted

2009-05-12T21:53:00.003-07:00

Your Positive thoughts and prayers

Tomorrow (Wednesday) I am required to take a test for my job at school. Since we are going to be a full Title 1 school, we are required to have 60 credit hours of college, an associated degree, or to pass a parapro test. It has been a LOOOOONG time since I was in school.

It has been a very long time since I have had to study and retain useless, I mean important knowledge.

I am just a little bit stressed. Okay, make that a lot.

Pray for me!

Oh Boy...another teen driver

2009-04-29T20:43:00.002-07:00

Dallas got his drivers license today. Here he is before the road test.And here he is after! He passed with flying colors. 100% on the written and 100% on the driving.
Now you can't tell me that I didn't warn you!

Enter to win

2009-04-23T17:57:00.002-07:00

here. http://crapivemade.blogspot.com/2009/04/my-baby-turns-one-tomorrow.html

My friend Char over at Crap I've made, is having a give away. You seriously need to check out her cute blog, and all of the cool things she makes. She is very talented, and you will be glad you stopped by.

See Jane Run

2009-04-18T21:49:00.004-07:00

Jim and I before the start of the race

My friend Amy that I work with.

Jim and I after the race.... We did it!

A little bit about the race, and about Pat Tillman.

Pat Tillman's friends and family created Pat's Run as a way to celebrate Pat's passionate legacy. Pat's friend and former head trainer for Arizona State University, initiated and developed the concept of a 4.2 mile run/walk around Arizona State with a finish on the 42-yard line of Sun Devil Stadium (#42 was Pat's number while a Sun Devil). Perry wanted the event to be something physical, outdoors, and open to all saying, "With Pat's Run, people are motivated to exercise and do something positive for themselves, while honoring Pat's memory, sharing their stories and ultimately being an inspiration to others."

Pat was an incredible athlete, who served our country.

In the evening of April 22nd, 2004, Pat's unit was ambushed as it traveled through the rugged, canyon terrain of Eastern Afghanistan. His heroic efforts to provide cover for his fellow soldiers as they escaped from the canyon led to his tragic death.

It was an honor to run today along with 20,000 others.

Tori, Tori, Tori

2009-04-04T20:26:00.003-07:00

At 4:45 pm yesterday I get a phone call from one of Tori's friends. "Tori fell off her bike, and I think she broke her wrist". Me: "ummmm ok, can I talk to her"? Friend: "no, she is crying too much". Me: "just put the phone to her ear". Friend: "she can't talk" Nice lady who stopped to help: "I think your daughter injured her wrist, here is the address to where she is". Me: "oh, I guess she is not just being a dramatic tween".

So...I go pick her up and there are 3 friends, and 3 adults standing over her. Her arm is all swollen and she is in obvious pain. I take her home, and Coleman rides the bike home. Dad takes a look at it, and confirms that he also thinks it could be broken. So off to spend our Friday date night at urgent care. 100 co-pay and many xrays later confirm that her arm is broken in 2 places. OUCH! She is our first child to break a bone. They put her in a temporary cast, and told us to find a orthopedic on Monday to cast it.

Lucky for her she broke her right arm, and she is left handed....Unlucky for her, she plays club volleyball, and they have regions coming up. She is a good little player, and she will be missed by her team. Knocking on wood that she is the first and last to break a bone in our family!

Butterfly don't fly away, fly away, fly away home

2009-03-28T07:17:00.005-07:00

During spring break we took a trip to the Botanical Gardens. The favorite, the butterflies! We actually went through twice the kids loved it so much. There were butterflies everywhere. They were so BEAUTIFUL!

Give Away

2009-03-17T18:40:00.003-07:00

Go to my friend Emily blog at http://emlouisa.com/ And check out the give away she is having!
I love my burner, and would love to win one.

Good Luck!

Front Porch

2009-03-16T18:09:00.004-07:00

Over the last few months I started collecting old chairs whenever I would see one put out for the bulk trash pickup. I had a vision of painting all of the chairs white to put on the front porch. I am really excited how they turned out. Of course Jim did his magic on them, and they are now all sturdy and stable once more. I found different red prints that I liked and we went to work.

Here is a close up of each one.

Being that we live in Arizona, we get a lot of opportunities to sit on the porch. I retreat to the porch often to talk on the phone, hide from the kids, read a book, or to sit and think.

Today Jim installed a mister system that will allow me to sit on my porch in the heat of the summer. It is amazing how that little mist can really cool things down.

So, stop on by and sit a spell. I'll even squeeze us some fresh lemonade.

How we celebrated our 25th

2009-02-27T09:52:00.006-07:00

On Friday February 13th, my friend offered to take my kids for the weekend, if we wanted to get away. As usual we couldn't make a decision of what we wanted to do until Saturday morning.

We decided to go to San Diego. Monday was presidents day, and we both had the day off of work. So we quickly got packed, and the kids packed, and we were on the road about noon.

We made a quick stop in Buckeye to drop Tori off at her volleyball tournament.

It had been several years since the 2 of us had been away together. It was LONG over due.

Neither of us had been to San Diego before, and looking online at hotels, we were not sure where we wanted to stay. So, we decided that we would just find a place when we got there. We got in around 7:30 pm and started our search.

We started on HWY 8 and went until it ended, and stopped at every hotel along the way....NO VACANCY at any of them! It was valentines, and a long weekend and it seems we were not the only ones that had chosen San Diego for our get away. We turned around and started going back the way we came to see what we could find. We drove for an hour, stopping at all hotels/motels/dumps/dives. NOTHING!! The next town was 90 minutes away...it was already 10:30 pm, we had been looking for 3 hours and could not find a thing. At one of the rest stops Jim had picked up some hotel coupon books. We pulled over and started calling all of the hotels in the books. NO VACANCY!

I called and talked to one guy and was told that he had one room that was reserved, but the lady had not shown up yet. If I wanted to call back in 30 minutes I could see if she had shown. Jim called him right back to see if he would get any other answer from him. He told him the same thing. Jim started calling him every 10 minutes to see if she had checked in yet. Finally he said, I guess she is not coming you can have the room. At this point we were 45 min away. We told him that we would be there, and to PLEASE not give it to anyone else. We pull up a little before midnight, and found out that he was true to his word, and we had a place to stay for the night.

The only room he had was a smoking room. (ick) so we found a store and bought air freshener to try and mask the smell of the smoke. It didn't really help much. But we were pretty happy to have a place to sleep. By this point we were starving, and the only place open was In and Out Burger. We got there a little after 12, along with every other teen in the area. It took 40 minutes to get our food. It was getting pretty comical at this point!

Here are the pictures of our lovely hotel, that they charged us double to stay in.

We decided to try and find somewhere else to stay the next night. We were anxious to go to the coast. Jim grew up in Seattle and really misses the ocean. So we headed North on HWY 101 and stopped at several beaches and explored lots of little coastal towns. The day was cloudy and only about 55 which brought out all of the surfers. The waves were perfect for surfing. It was a lot of fun to watch them.

There are a lot of really cool houses along the beach. I can not even guess at the cost of them. But they were beautiful to see.

We had such a great time being together. We were well relaxed and rest when we got back. I can't believe that 25 years has gone by so quickly.

I am the luckiest to have married my best friend. Jim takes such great care of me. I can not imagine my life without this amazing man by my side. I can't wait to see what the next 25 years will bring!

Toby

2009-02-22T21:38:00.002-07:00

Toby is our puppy. He joined our family about a year and a half ago. He is a good dog, and the kids adore him. He misses all of us when we leave for school and work. He is always so excited when we return home. As of late, when we pull into the driveway, this is what we see. Toby hanging out on the roof. It is nice and toasty warm there, and so he hangs out there all day long. Not to mention the great view he has from up there. We live next to the JR High and he is the topic of many kids as they come and go. A day doesn't go by that someone doesn't point out to me that my dog is on my roof.

We have a roof top deck on the side of the house, and he climbs up the back stairs to the deck, and then crawls under the railing and parties on the roof. Even though he has done it many, many times, I still laugh out loud every time I see him there.

I had a conversation with the dog catcher about how dogs have to be on a leash if they are in the front yard. I asked him what if they were on the roof, do they need a leash then? I don't think he really thought I was serious asking this question.

MORP

2009-02-22T13:57:00.004-07:00

Dallas got asked to Morp by Erika one of my cute Young women. This is how she asked him...and then she put one letter of her name in each almond joy and he had to figure out who was asking him. He replied by toilet papering her room and made a poster that said, Since I "gotta go" I am glad it is with you.Dallas and Erika The whole group! Rendy is in the red shirt and she is also one of my young women. Landon is in the light blue shirt...he is our home teacher, and a good friend of Dallas'.

They made pizza, and went to the dance and then made dessert after the dance. Dallas had a lot of fun, and Erika said that she did too.

Randomness

2009-02-07T14:40:00.002-07:00

I posted this on facebook. I have blog fog and so I am posting it here too.

Just 25 random things about me.

1. I love when I am the only one home. But not all night. I don't think I have ever stayed anywhere all night by myself. As long as someone is here by about midnight then I am OK.

2. I have 10 brothers, and only one sister. She just happens to live a million miles away from me. I always feel bad when my friends get to hang out with their sisters...I wish mine lived close, we would have a lot of fun together. Seeing her once a year is not enough.

3. We had a moment or two in high school when we didn't get a long so well....she kicked me out of our room, and we each had our own rooms. That was a huge sacrifice for my 10 brothers who shared rooms.

4. I always wanted to have 12 kids like my mom. That all changed after it was so hard to have just one.Now, I know there is no way I would have the patience for 12. My mom is a saint!

5. I worry a lot. Mostly about things that don't matter.

6. I wish I could do over the time in my life when my dh was bishop. It was such a hard time for me with a newborn, 2 and 3 year old, and PP Depression that took an intervention from my mom to finally get some help. If I could do it over, I would complain less and support more. (not saying I want another chance... that is for sure!!)

7. I have over 50 nieces and nephews! and I am too lazy to count them all and tell you an exact number.

8. I love chocolate, once I gave it up for a year to prove to my SIL that I could do it. She paid me 50.00.

9. I am already dreading summer. I thought Utah was hot, but now we leave AZ and go there to get out of the heat.

10. I really enjoy my job. I work with the best kids ever. The things they say and do are so funny some days. One of my favorites was when we took a student to the time out room, and he got naked, and then started asking God why he had forsaken him and allowed him to go the time out room. How can you not love kids like that?! They truly are the best.

11. I spent 4 hours doing yard work this morning. It was actually pretty relaxing...I love being outside.

12. I am generally pretty shy until I get to know someone.

13. I hate making phone calls, I try to get my DH to do it for me. I even hate to call in take out orders. We always make deals, if he calls it in, then I have to pick it up.

14. I am planning on running another race in April. I have been such a slacker since Christmas. I really need to get to it again.

15. I really hate that my son and his wife live so far away from us. I miss them a lot. Once they have a baby I am afraid I will be pushing for a move back to Utah. Today is their one year anniversary!

16. I feel unsettled all the time. I always think the grass is greener somewhere else. I hate feeling like this. And really want to feel content. I just haven't figured out how to make that happen.

17. I use to sneak out of my bedroom window at night...my room was next to my parents. I never got caught once! I was always so scared that my dad would be sitting on my bed when I climbed back in the window. I will kill my kids if they even think about doing something like that.

18. My 2nd son has been arrested. He lit a bag of flaming poo and put it on someones porch. It was not funny when it happened, we can laugh about it now.

19. My first job was at Winchell's donuts. I still crave hot apple fritters some Saturday mornings

.20. I get bored with my hair, and can never decide if I want to grow it out, or cut it. I like to change it, but usually just end up with some sort of bob cut.

21. I got married on valentines day. And this year will be our 25th anniversary!

22. I hated going to Sunday school when I was a teen. I was the only girl, and the boys were so mean to me!

23. I loved being a foster parent, and every now and again think about doing it again. I just want to take the newborns as a shelter mom, until they find placements for them. A couple of years ago we took the training but things went a different direction with my job at the school, and my church job

24. I really love working with the Young Women in our ward. I feel like I am just getting the hang of things after 2 years, and worry that they will release me not that I am getting comfortable.

25. I have never had a speeding ticket. And hope to keep it that way!

Winter Formal

2009-01-29T18:35:00.001-07:00

I am a little bit behind here. Dallas with his date Christine. They had a really fun day date and played amazing race. They had things that they had to do, as well as get pictures of. His team won! They won QT gift cards.

Christine is such a great girl, they had a lot of fun at the dance.

Shuffle board anyone?

2009-01-24T16:36:00.002-07:00

The very talented husband of mine made this shuffle board for Christmas. Of course these pictures don't do it justice, but it really is beautiful. He made it out of Walnut and Maple.
Jim and the kids have had a lot of fun playing it. Coleman is probably the best competitor that Jim has. (Don't tell Dallas I said that) Coleman is just naturally talented in the athletic department. (shuffle board is a sport right?)
Is it an event in the Olympics? Because my little Coleman could start training!

OK I googled it, and Shuffle board is not an olympic sport...but many think is should be, since curling is...

There you have it....so stop on by for a game or two.

Perks

2009-01-15T06:58:00.002-07:00

One of the great things about living in Arizona, is that while the rest of the country is buried in cold and snow... from my front porch, I can enjoy this! And all I want of these! A tall glass of fresh squeezed grapefruit juice is definitely a perk!

Anyone up for a visit? Have I mentioned that is is sunny here 325 days of the year?

I know, I know come July I will be singing a way different song, but for today I am loving it here.

Picture of the day

2009-01-13T19:05:00.005-07:00

My brother Marc has been going through all of my Dad's old slides in preparation for their 50th Wedding anniversary celebration we are having this summer. Since he has started making them digital, he has emailed to all of us a picture of the day. Oh the memories that these have brought back. We use to have some great FHE watching slide shows. My Dad took a lot of slides back in the day.

Picture #1 This is my two big brothers. Joel and Pat We lived in Seattle at the time.
Picture #2 This would be yours truly... I believe that I was about 4 or 5 in this picture.

Picture #3 is of my two brothers Sandy and Chris. They are the two brothers directly below me.

Picture #4 This is another shot of Chris. This was taken in SLC, shorlty after we moved to Utah from Washington.

Picture #5 Now this is an oldie but goodie.... I am sure that my sister is going to kill me for posting this. I might even have to put it on facebook for all of her friends to see. Hmmm maybe I can be bribed not to... (dino-sours) Hee hee just a little treat I fell in love with while we were in Canada this summer. OK this is my one and only sister Beth....back in the good old days, the 80's ruled! And see that little pesky brother in the background? Yeah, I have 8 of those...this particular one is Marc. They were always on their best behavior when you had a guy picking you up for a date, or other important things like that. (NOT!) Just seeing him in the background with his tongue stuck out just tells it all...oh the memories!!

Picture #6 This is Marc...as I was working on this post, he sent todays picture. And it is of him. Marc is # 11 in the family. #7 Tom and Orrin, in the back yard next to the chickens. If you remember the pictures I posted of my Dad's garden from this summer, you will see that it has come a LONG way. My mom made all 12 kids matching shirts. We use to wear them on family vacations.

I will have to add to this post as my brother sends us our picture of the day. It has been really fun to open up a new email everyday, and see what he has dug up.
It is fun to see that we've all come along way...My how time flies. I have been aware of that lately...not sure why. Maybe it all started with, The-picture-of-the-day.

Camelback Mountain

2009-01-10T20:06:00.005-07:00

One of the things on my list to do during the winter break was to go on a hike. I couldn't talk my family into going with me. But, I did what any other determined girl would do, and found a friend to come along with me. Karen is always up for anything. She has lived in Arizona her whole life, and had never climbed Camelback Mountain. I was happy to have her come with me.

It was really fun. Really pretty, and really challenging. I think I was sore for the next week. Karen, not so much. Here are some pictures from our adventure. Oh, and I should mention that we went on New years day, along with half of Phoenix. The parking lot was full and we waited for 30 minutes for a parking spot. It was worth the wait. Such a fun hike.

This part is so steep that there is handrails to help you up...good thing, couldn't of done it without them.

Yay! We made it to the top. You could see all of Phoenix...it was so pretty!!

Year in Review

2008-12-30T17:46:00.005-07:00

Answering these questions each year is a great way to keep track of your life a year at a time.

What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before? I drove to Canada to visit my sister, 4 days of driving. I was away from Jim for a month...don't think I want to repeat that one.

Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Not sure if I really made any. I did have a few running goals that I made and kept. I have set a new resolution to be 100% at prayers, reading from the BOM daily and smiling. The general yw presidency has challenged all of the YW to do these 3 things 100% off the time.

Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes! I have some new nieces and nephews. No grand kids yet though.

Did anyone close to you die? A couple of Elderly people in our ward died, but no family members.

What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? Being content.

What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Feb 7th. The day I got a beautiful daughter in law.

What was your biggest achievement of the year? Running a 5k. I have never run before in my life.

What was your biggest failure? Letting stress get to me.

What was the best thing you bought? Our House. (technically it was at the end of 2007)

Whose behavior merited celebration? Jim's for all of the support he gave me while I was gone this summer. He was so great about me getting to go and spend time with my sister.

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? My own, I don't have to elaborate do I...this is my blog so I will say NO!

Where did most of your money go? The wedding, and my trip. Oh and the dreadful car repair that had us stuck in Paige AZ for a few days.... (and all of the day to day stuff)

What did you get really, really, really excited about? Tyler marrying such a great person.

What song will always remind you of 2008? "If you're going through Hell keep on moving"

What do you wish you'd done more of? Go to the Temple.

What do you wish you'd done less of? Being frustrated with the kids.

How did you spend Christmas? At home with the 4 kids. It was quiet and relaxing. And a little depressing to not have Tyler and Emily here.

What was your favorite TV program? The Biggest Loser, I get so motivated watching that show.

What was the best book you read this year? Life is so good.

What was your greatest musical discovery? I am not sure I have one, but I have loved my new Ipod!

What did you want and get? New travertine floors in the kitchen, and hardwood in the family room.

What was your favorite film of this year? Mamma Mia I don't see a lot of movies.

What did you do on your birthday? I was suppose to go on a trip to LA to go and see Wicked, but my friend that I was going with had to cancel. So the girls and I went to CA while the boys were at the Fathers and son outing.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? business casual for work, PJ/sweats for home.

What kept you sane? Getting out of Arizona for the very unbearable hot month of July.

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I don't get too excited about celebrities. (Jeff probst)

Who did you miss? Besides Tyler and Emily? The rest of my family, and a few kindred spirits.

Who was the best new person (people) you met? Becky. I have not actually met her, but got to know her from her blog. I felt a connection with her the first time I visited her blog. She is the sister of a friend of mine.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008? Life is fragile and can change in an instant. Make each moment count. Reading the blog of a teacher I work with as she writes about her breast cancer has really had an impact on me.

I am excited for a great 2009!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

2008-12-24T22:50:00.006-07:00

With Love From My Family To Yours.
May your heart be filled with PEACE and JOY

Badness

2008-12-13T20:26:00.003-07:00

Boy, I am on a roll...two posts in one night.

Last night we had Tori babysit Cole and Aly for a couple of hours while we were out. She has watched them before, but only for 15-30 minutes at a time. We gave them all instructions, and hoped for the best.

When we got home, this was the note that we found on the chalkboard.

It is kind of hard to read, I tried everything to get rid of that glare.

At that top it says BADNESS with a check mark.

Then 3 squares with their names in in for the check marks.

At the bottom it says no yelling, no bad names.

I am happy to report that no one had a check mark by their name. That chart cracked me up. Maybe I need to take some parenting tips from my daughter.

Caught with Character

2008-12-13T19:18:00.004-07:00

Once a month our school honors kiddos that show excellent behavior in one or more of the 6 pillars of character. One student from the school is awarded a bike from the Kiwanis. And 4 or so other students and staff are awarded a character counts t-shirt.

Alyson's teacher talked to me last week about my daughter. Their class was doing a class play, and Alyson was paired up with a darling little boy who has autism. She took it upon herself to help him out, and to make sure he got to where he needed to be on stage. The autism teacher told me that Aly doesn't look at him like, "oh he's cute like a baby turtle" She treats him like any other kid, and is nice to him, because she is a kind little girl, and she likes him.

I had several teachers and staff members tell me how sweet she was with him, and how impressed they were with her. It was so nice to hear that about her. She really is a kind and loving girl. (most of the time, when she is not being the princess) Before we can leave school for the day she has to make her rounds to hug all of her favorite teachers and everyone in the office.

The day of the school play, Aly and her little partner were so cute. They both did a great job. I got to see the play twice! For the evening performance Jim took Aly and I went to enrichment.

I asked Jim how Aly did in the play, and he informed me that she was awesome, but her little partner had a rough time. I guess he was tired, and cried inconsolably the entire play. Aly tried and tried to help him.
One part of the play they are suppose to join hands. And her little friend had hidden himself inside his shirt. But, for that part he stuck his little hand out for Aly to grab. Jim said everyone there was so touched by the way Aly helped this little guy. Aly's teacher told me how proud she was of her, and I was bummed that I had missed it.

Her teacher then told me that a parent of a student in another class called the principal to tell her how impressed she was with the little girl that tried so hard to help that little guy during the play. Of course her teacher is crying when she was telling me this story, and being kindred spirits I of course was crying too.

Wednesday we had our monthly flag ceremony, and the principal was there to pass out character counts awards. Aly received a shirt for following the character of CARING

What a proud mom moment that was. What a little sweetheart I have been blessed with.

Aly getting her shirt.

Aly with the best teacher in the world. Mrs Dunton.

And Aly with our amazing principal Mrs Rogers.

Joy To Everyone!

2008-12-07T20:33:00.006-07:00

This is a must see. My sister in laws brother wrote this, the ever talented Stephen Jones.

http://joytoeveryone.com/index.htm

I tried to get the video right on my blog, but blogger wasn't cooperating.
Please take a minute and view it, you will be glad you did!

I AM THANKFUL FOR

2008-11-27T18:38:00.004-07:00

Everything!

Before we could dive into our Thanksgiving feast Alyson said, "we all had to say one thing we are thankful for". When we got to her, she said "everything, I really am thankful for everything". She said that with her big brown eyes sparkling, and her cute little irresistible dimples on those rosy cheeks of hers just begging me to doubt her. I couldn't. I knew she meant what she said.

It left me thinking and pondering all that I take for granted.

My health. I have been doing a lot of reflecting about this lately. One of the teachers I work with was just diagnosed with breast cancer. One day she was fine, the next day she was given this tragic news. I have thought a lot about this. How I tend to take my health for granted.

I had Cole into the doctor last week. After the visit, the doctor asked if I wanted to have him get the flu vax while we were there. He also told me that I should bring the girls in too. We have been going to him for a year now, and the girls have not been in. I explained to him that they just don't get sick very often. What a blessing! I am thankful for my health and the health of my family. I know that I often take for granted how blessed we are to not have any major health problems.

My Family. I really, truly am blessed with the most amazing family. When we got married, I had this little plan for us. I was going to have lots of kids, and I wanted them to be about 2 years apart in age. No where did having multiple miscarriages fit into my plans. Or having 5-6 years in between each child. Adoption? I hadn't even thought of it, or imagined I would one day be a foster parent. None of those things fit into the little plan I had made for Jim and I.

I am thankful that God's plan was better than my own. What a blessing each of my children are. I can not imagine my life without any of them. Adoption is an amazing way to build a family.

I am blessed to be a mother (and mother in law) I could not have made a better plan than the one God made for our family.

My Husband. For all of you that know Jim, know that I am one lucky girl! He treats me better than I deserve. I can have a terrible day, and he knows just what to say and do to make it all better. He never judges me. He only supports me and takes such good care of me. He can build and make just about anything. I love how talented he is, and how he makes any project seem easy. He is a great father, and we are all blessed to have this great guy in our lives. I know we take him for granted, and don't tell him often enough how amazing he is. I love you Jim! I am blessed to be married to you forever.

The rest of my family. 3 Years ago we moved from Utah to Arizona. I was not prepared to feel so homesick. I have a wonderful family. There are a lot of us. 2 parents + 12 children + 12 spouses + 50 nieces and nephews. 8 of the 12 all live in Utah. I know I took for granted the blessing of having family close by. I am thankful for the love and support we all give each other. Even with many miles between us, I know that any of them would do anything for me.

My parents are here to spend Thanksgiving with us. It has been so nice to have them here. It has made the holiday perfect to have FAMILY here with us.

My Friends. I am blessed to have such great friends in my life. Friends that know all of my deep dark secrets, and still love me. I am also blessed to stay connected with my friends and family through the Internet. Recently I reconnected with http://jennysdailyblessings.blogspot.com/
We had lots of good times together when we lived in Massachusetts.
I think I also take for granted the friendships I have. I need to be better about showing my gratitude to my friends.

My list really could go on, and on. I have so many blessings in my life. I am thankful for EVERYTHING. I am thankful for that little brown eyed girl that insisted we all take a minute to tell what we are thankful for.

I DID IT!!

2008-11-23T09:00:00.004-07:00

I ran my very first race!! I have been doing the Couch to 5K training program for the last 10-12 weeks. Starting off running for 60 seconds was difficult for me. I have never run before and was pretty excited with each week that I accomplished my goals.

I ran the Gilbert Days annual 5K

My friend Karen and I. We would often meet at the track early in the morning, or at the end of the day, whenever we could squeeze it in.
I didn't know that Jim was taking this picture. My little cheering section, Coleman and Aly.The start of the race!

This is my friend Karen coming in. She has been running longer than me, and came in 4 minutes ahead of me... her time was 32 minutes.

Now, I have to explain that here in Arizona, when the sun goes down, it is down and dark so quickly. I finished 4 minutes behind my friend, but this picture makes it look like hours...LOL! My time was 36 minutes!! My goal was to finish it, and to not walk...and I did it!

Yay!!! We did it.

It felt really good to set a goal and accomplish it. My next goal is to work on being able to run a 10K. I am waiting to experience that runners high you hear about. So far it has just been really, really hard. But I am going to keep going.

NOTES BY ALYSON

2008-11-13T20:48:00.002-07:00

Tonight during our scripture time, Jim told Alyson to take notes and write down whatever made her feel good. Here is what she wrote.

Mosiah chapter 11
I feel good when I hear Coleman read.
My brother and my Dad is cool.
My Mom is cool.
Dallas is kinda cool.
Victoria is nice.
Tyler is so, so nice.
Emily is so, so, so, so Cool.
Coleman is kind of cool too.

Love that girl!

THINGS I HAVE DONE

2008-11-09T11:41:00.002-07:00

Things I Have Done

Bolded things = Things I've done.
I have seen this going around , so I thought I'd jump in for fun.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (also Disneyworld)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child (2!!)
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (they won't take mine)
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle - SCARY!
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous (rupert from letterman) does that count?
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Okay, now do this and let me know so I can come and check out your lists.

Broken Hearted

2008-11-05T06:24:00.003-07:00

This is Aly...She is 7.

They got to vote at school for who they wanted for president.

Alyson voted for McCain.

Her reasons.... She told me that the other guy wanted to stop fighting, and McCain didn't, and if we don't have the war going on then people are going to come in and take over our country. She was also worried that Obama being a different color was going to get shot and killed, and then we would have no one to be the president. Also her friend Olivia was going to vote for McCain, and so she knew it must be the right choice if Olivia was voting that way.

As the results were coming in last night, she was upset that "her guy" wasn't doing so well. After a couple of hours of watching all of the results, she went into her room and cried. She was so sad that McCain was not going to be the next president.

Who would of thought that her little 7 year old heart cared so much?

It did open up some great discussion.

Contentment

2008-10-29T21:54:00.002-07:00

There is a blog that I love to read, it belongs to one of the HS seminary teachers. She was Dallas' teacher last year. She is great, I am always inspired when I read what she has to say. This morning as I read her blog, It gave me lots of reasons to stop and think and reflect.

This the quote that she shared.

"The life you live externally is nothing more than a reflection of what's going on in your mind." (Marianne Williamson)

Here are a few of her philosophies on contentment, I want to adopt each and every one.

Be still.
Know God.
Make your bed every day.
Pray.
Pray always.
This is the mastery of thoughts.
Be kind to everyone.
Especially yourself.
Study and ponder the scriptures first thing in the morning.
Find ways to talk about and live what you study each day.
Respond quickly to promptings.
Say I love you as often as possible and really mean it.
Look people in the eyes when they're talking to you.
Treat the one you are with as if they are the most important person in the world.
In that moment, they are!
Take a good long look in the mirror every day.
Be sure to make eye contact with yourself. AND don't pass judgment.
Look for hints of greatness in yourself and others.
Vocalize it.
Eat healthy
.Exercise daily.
Feel the sun shine on your face for at least 10 minutes a day.
Never give up chocolate. Ever!
Try to listen more than you talk.
Remember that someone always has it worse than you.
Get over yourself.
Laugh every single day. The harder the better.
Read a conference talk or Ensign article every day.
Never hold back a positive comment, compliment or thought.
BUILD! BUILD! BUILD!
Trust that life is divinely guided and is happening exactly as it should be.
Say thank you.

If you are ever in need of being inspired, pop on over to her blog!
http://jabrink.blogspot.com/

The Best Ever

2008-10-20T17:38:00.003-07:00

I just made the best Soft Ginger Cookies.
Really...they are so yummy!

I have a friend that makes the best cookies in the world. We went to visit them last night, and I am always too intimidated to take her cookies. Well...I was pretty darn excited to take these Ginger cookies to her. And guess what? She asked me for the recipe. I just have to share so you can partake of their goodness.

SOFT GINGER COOKIES

4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup robust (dark) molasses
1/2 cup pure vegetable shortening
1 large egg, beaten to blend
1/2 cup boiling water
Additional sugar

Preparation

Combine first 8 ingredients in large bowl. Add molasses, shortening, and egg. Using electric mixer, beat until well blended. Beat in 1/2 cup boiling water.
Chill dough 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Roll chilled dough by generous tablespoonfuls into balls.
Roll in additional sugar to coat.
Place dough balls 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake until cookies are puffed and cracked on top and tester inserted into center comes out with some moist crumbs attached, about 10 minutes (do not over bake).
Transfer cookies to racks and cool.

I need a break from my fall break

2008-10-18T21:43:00.003-07:00

I am so pooped! We had the week off from school/work. And it was not as relaxing as it should of been. Oh well. I got a lot done and that makes me happy.
Monday was our big 9 mile hike phew--that wore us out.

Tuesday Dallas and I started painting his room. His room was added on from the original part of the house, and is has brick walls. They were white and boring, and we painted them this great brownish color. Too bad I can't share with you the name of the paint, since we just made it ourselves. I bought 4 different quarts of mistinted paint from Lowes, the can that are 1$ each, and then mixed them all together. Love the color! Now painting on brick is a pain in the butt. UGH, it took a lot of paint and a lot of rolling. We were one wall short...back to Lowes. We found another great paint color that actually looks great with our brownish color. It is some shade of blue. Dallas loved it, I liked it so we bought it.

Wednesday we painted all of the crown mold, baseboards, closets, doors, windows etc. Then we got this great idea, lets take out the big closet that closes off the room so much. It is basically an extra closet that was more in the way than it was useful. We got out the huge hammers and started pounding. Taking out the closet led to other things....the carpet under the closet, was not the same as the rest of the room. It was this funky striped stuff. Now what? Dallas began to investigate and discovered that under the carpet was stained concrete floors like the rest of the house. So, we made and executive decision, and yanked up the carpet. Holy hard work batman!

Thursday, I actually went into work to help our new teacher set up the classroom. Our former teacher is trading places with our new teacher, and we didn't want the kids to freak out when they came to school Monday.

Friday we played a little in the morning, and in the afternoon we put the room back together. It turned out pretty darn cute if I do say so myself. It will be acceptable for when Grandpa and Grandma come for Thanksgiving.

Saturday was catch up day from neglecting the house all week. Jim planted the winter grass, and worked in the yard. And here I sit all tired and looking forward to the sabbath and having a day of rest. ;)

How was your week?

Oh yeah, and I have been doing this. http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml
I am on week 6!!

All the way to the top, and don't ever, ever, stop

2008-10-13T19:32:00.007-07:00

Today was the first official day of Fall Break. We have the whole week off of school/work. (except for dear ole' dad) But since Jim has Mondays off each week, we chose today for our family outing. Our destination was the Peralta trail, in the superstition mountains. 4.5 miles to the top and 4.5 miles to the bottom. And we made it! It was such a beautiful day. It was 51 degrees when we started at 8:00am. We had a cool front come in, and we loved it. It was about 75 when we got done at noon.
Here we are at the start of the trail head.
Can you tell how excited Alyson was for the days adventure? I think Dallas was not quite awake yet!

We named this formation Turtle rock. Do you see it?
One tired mama... I should mention that I am fighting a head cold. Made it a little more challenging for me.

Go Coleman Go!
Jim contemplating the meaning of life, either that or he was pooped and taking a rest. Dallas and Aly-- I think these two are part mountain goat.

Such cool views every turn we made.The top!! We made it!! It was long and hard, but so worth it. It was beautiful at the top.

The view of Weavers Needle. You can't see it from the road, you have to take the steps to enjoy the beauty. It was such a welcoming sight for our weary legs and lungs.

Dallas, is so awesome! He made this hike seem like a walk in the park. He went all crazy on us and ran all the way to the bottom.
What a great day we all had. He had a picnic lunch waiting at the bottom. What a great way to start off fall break.

Bounty

2008-10-13T19:28:00.003-07:00

I placed a bounty on my camera. Ten bucks!
I know that is a lot, but I searched everywhere for it and could not find it.
I figured that ten bucks was a lot cheaper than 400 that I would have to fork out for a new one.

So, Miss Tori was the winner! She found it in the couch, down under the cushions. (wonder how it got there?)

Now I get to play catch up!

Char, just for you!

2008-10-13T19:17:00.004-07:00

Before... This is my table. It use to be green. (this is also my old house) And, After. It is now barn red. It goes nicely with the "warm muffin" yellow walls.
Before...this is the lovely indoor/outdoor carpet that use to be in the kitchen. Who puts carpet in the kitchen anyway?
After... the lovely travertine that Jim installed. It looks so nice! And mops up so easily. I love it!

Does anybody know...

2008-10-11T15:38:00.002-07:00

Where I put my camera?

I wish I could find it, I have lots of cool things to show you.
Like the rest of homecoming pictures, and the cute things I did to the roof top deck so the kids could have dessert up there.

The progress of my kitchen. The travertine is all done and looks awesome. We painted the table and chairs barn red, and I think they turned out darling. Jim started today on the new cabinet doors.
Dallas, turned 17 and you just have to see how good lookin he is. And the braces are doing their job. His teeth look great. He is growing up into such a nice young man.

Today is the start of fall break. YAY! We have lots more projects planned and hope to have a little fun too.

If I do find that little camera-- I promise to come back and share the pictures!

Family Home Evening Funny

2008-10-06T20:25:00.002-07:00

Jim was asking the kids if they knew who Moses was, and what he did to the red sea.
Alyson pipes up and says "turned it blue"?

Coleman was reading the scripture Mosiah 5:14

"And again doth a man take an ass which belongeth to his neighbor and keep him"....

this is how Coleman read it "And again doth a man take an aswhich".... I don't think I will ever read that scripture again without thinking of that! LOL!!

Homecoming Part 1

2008-10-04T16:21:00.003-07:00

These are pictures from the day date for Homecoming. Dallas took the cute Kait. They went cliff jumping/swimming for their day date.

Stay tuned for other pictures from the dance and other activities...(once I find my camera)

It seems that I misplace my camera often.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

2008-09-29T20:09:00.002-07:00

I just have to say how grateful I am for your comments. Each one meant a lot to me. I loved the advice that you each gave me. VB I appreciated your concern and hugs today, and your kind words meant a lot to me. And Jenny-- gosh you are so wise, I just felt like I can do this when I read your comments, minute by minute I loved that!. It also was comforting to know that I am not alone. Thanks for the hugs from each of you, and for taking the time to comment. It's been said that God never gives us trials without giving us a friend to see us through.

I am happy to report that I am feeling quite a bit better.

I recommend the following that helped me dig a little bit out of my hole.

*Sobfest, You were right Cyl and Sheri I really did feel better after a really good cry.

* Priesthood blessing My wonderful husband gave me a blessing, in it he told me that I needed to strengthen my spiritual core, and that all else would fall into place.

* Dancing on the roof deck with my husband to Michale Buble.

* An amazing talk by President Uchtdorf. Telling us to create JOY and compassion, that is where we will find true happiness. To look outward, to serve and lift others. I just felt so good after hearing him talk. He told us to not be so hard on ourselves.

*Listening to BYU Young ambassadors "Come Unto Him" on my bed, in the dark with my Ipod. The music just lifted my spirits. Especially the song, "Let him heal your heart" (the words are below)

Who can know the heartache you are feeling deep in side? Who can know the burdens you've carried all your life. Darkness fills the daylight and the road is much too long. Where are heaven's answers and the strength to carry on? When the night is lonely and your pride and fear depart. When the tears have fallen and the questions fill your heart. Think of how He loves you, how He longs to bring you home. Reach out for His guidance. He has walked your path alone. Let Him Heal your heart. Remember every promise He has made. Reach into your soul and forsake a life of sin and He will shine that light inside again. Let Him help you start to live again and feel His endless love. Let Him hold and teach you-- love and reach you. Let Him heal your heart. There's no simple challenge. Every road is not the same. But every wrong decision is forgotten if you change. Feel His warmth surround you. See His arms are open wide. Know that He stands ready when you start to change your life. Never doubt His goodness. Don't believe that it's too late. He sees your every struggle and he knows the trials you face. Follow and believe Him. Put your trust in Him again. Change your heart forever. Let the miracle begin.

I know that when we put our trust in him, that is when we can and will feel the peace again.

I could use some advice

2008-09-26T19:56:00.004-07:00

How do you stay positive when many around you are negative?

How do you deal with stress when the last straw was placed on the camels back a few straws ago?

How do you dig out when you are in that "place"?

What is it that you do when you feel like you can't continue, but have no energy or strength to change the course you are on?

In case you couldn't tell I am feel a bit overwhelmed with all that is on my plate right now.
I would love to hear the things you do when you are feeling this way.

Oh, Canada!

2008-09-21T16:58:00.007-07:00

Now that the painful memories of the endless drive in the car have past, I can blog about our trip to Canada.

It was so crazy, and we tried so hard to get the visa for Coleman. We thought we were going to pull it off. I got his passport back from the Marshall Islands in time to send it to LA with my friend who was going to visit her sister. We completed all of the paperwork and had someone that could deliver it to the visa office. We found out 2 days before we were scheduled to leave that they wanted 5 other documents, it was not possible for me to get them all in time. It was so frustrating for all of us. We had a back-up plan in case everything did not fall into place, and that was for Coleman to spend time with Jim's brother and his family. They live on a farm, and they were also attending family woodbadge camp that he was going to get to go too. He was pretty excited about hanging out with them. So our excursion just turned into, just me and the girls.

There was several times leading up to the trip that I called Jim and tried to get out of going all together. I missed him like crazy, I felt bad that he and the boys were not going with us and I was worried about 3 days of driving by myself. But time and time again, he told me that he knew without a doubt that this was something I needed to do.

I am glad I went, it was really, really hard, yet really, really worth it.

I uploaded my pictures, and they loaded however the pleased. So I am just going to go with it instead of rearranging them.

We went several times out looking for wildlife. We saw lots of deer, and Elk, but never did see a moose. The kids claim they say a bear one day. When Jason went to check it out, he did see evidence that an animal had been out in the "bush" but he is guessing it was a moose, not a bear.

Tori and Aly LOVE Uncle Jason. They hung out with him every chance they got.

We went down to the river one day, the kids caught frogs. They had a blast swimming with their cousins and the fishes.

So, on the last night we were there, my sister Beth and I decided that we hadn't really taken any pictures of us the whole week we had been together. So we first tried to take one ourselves, that didn't work out too well, so Jason took a few others for us. He just started snapping, not really waiting for us to be ready for the camera.

Once we entered Alberta, it was wide open prairie, and beautiful farmlands.

One of the prettiest things I saw was the canola fields(as in canola oil). The Bright yellow flowers were so beautiful. These pictures really do not capture the beauty. We passed acres, and acres of canola. I had never seen canola fields before. It really was stunning.
These 2 dogs got lots of love and attention while we were there. Duke and Shy. The kids ran them ragged. My sister said they were pretty lonely after we left.
Did I mention that my sister lives in Beaver Lodge, Alberta? Home of the largest beaver in the world.

We had a great time, it was so nice to get away and to connect with my sister again. I always feel cheated that the only sister I have moved many miles away. I always feel bad when I see other sisters hanging out and getting to spend time together, I have always wished that there was not thousands of miles between us. I needed this trip to have those experiences. As hard as it was, it was equally as wonderful to be together.

The trip home was exhausting...4 days in the car was so long. I was so thankful that my parents went up as well, and we could follow each other. I couldn't of done it otherwise. I am sure that they would of had a much more leisure drive without us tagging behind, but we made lots of great memories. We also got to see Tyler and Emily on our stops in Utah coming and going. They are doing great. And Alyson got her big brother fix!

I had never been so happy in all of my 24 years of marriage to see my husband again. We were apart for 4 weeks. I missed him more than I can even explain. The minute I saw him, I started to cry and just couldn't stop. I vowed to never be apart that long again. Ever. It is true absence does make that heart grow fonder. I learned a lot about myself and had a lot of time to reflect and to ponder. I am not ready to get in the car anytime soon...but I am sure one day I might be.

Happy Birthday Coleman!!

2008-09-13T22:07:00.004-07:00

I know that I am late...so, that seems to be the trend around here! I had to share this picture of Coleman. He had just turned one. I wish I had some baby pictures on my computer, but that was back in the day when digital cameras were so new, and not too many people even had one. Here we are 9 years later... Coleman on his 10th birthday. He is such a handsome little stinker.
Do you see the mischief in his eyes? Oh trust me it is there.... Cole is good at being a little mischevious, he keeps us on our toes, and keeps us laughing all the time.Jim has a buddy at work that wanted to come and take Coleman for a ride on his bike for his birthday. He first made him put on a tattoo and a biker hat and sunglasses. He had a blast.
Of course Alyson wanted in on the action too. I will get to her pictures, but this post is all about Cole.
Happy Birthday my sweet 10 year old. I hope the next 10 years are even better than the first 10. We all are so blessed that you joined our family. You are amazing and such a great boy. We love you. Keep being you! (I know, who else would you be, right?)

I would never be annoyed with Montana

2008-09-12T05:40:00.005-07:00

I am finally getting to some of our summer vacation pictures. Coming from the desert of Arizona, Montana was a little bit of Heaven! It was absolutely beautiful!! These are pictures of Flat head lake, and Glacier National park. As we were driving through the park, Alyson announced that she wanted to move to Montana, "I would never be annoyed with Montana" were her exact words. Most of these pictures were taken from the car, and the photographer, Tori.

This was our favorite waterfall in the park, it is called the weeping wall.

I wasn't sure the girls would really appreciate the beauty and wonders of all that we saw, and I was so pleased that they did. It was one of the highlights of our trip.

Stay tuned for more pictures of our trip, next stop Canada.

Grandpa's Garden

2008-09-06T13:22:00.006-07:00

My Dad has always been a gardener. How I wish I had just a little bit of his green thumb. We enjoyed lots of yummy things out of his garden during our visit last month. The kids loved going out to help pick and weed in the garden.
Alyson helped Grandma pick strawberries every morning. I think she ate as many as she picked.

Aly and Grandpa Porter. Alyson sure misses you!

One day I am going to have a garden that looks like this. Even if it is just in one of my dreams.

I am guessing that I will never be able to grow a garden like this in Arizona. I just can't figure out how to keep things alive in the 115 degree days.

Nor do I want to be outside very long to weed either. I am thinking about trying a winter garden for the first time. We'll see if I get to it. Grandpa is coming for thanksgiving, perhaps we will get some lessons.

Happy Birthday Tori!

2008-08-30T20:09:00.009-07:00

Technically her birthday was in July--But I am still playing catch up from my month long trip.

Tori actually got to celebrate her birthday 3 times. The first time was in
Arizona with the family, so Jim could celebrate with her. The 2nd time was with all of her girl cousins in Utah. They went and got make overs at the beauty college. There is tons of pictures of the girls here. They had so much fun, and were beautiful. I thought this was a good way to share with the family. Feel free to copy them to your own computers.
The 3rd party was in Canada and we celebrated with Grandpa and Grandma, and Uncle Jason and Aunt Beth.

I don't know about you but it does not seem like 11 years have gone by since Tori joined our family. I sure can't imagine life without you. You are such a beautiful young lady. You bring so much fun and happiness into our family. You are amazing and talented and a special daughter of our Heavenly Father. I love the lady you are growing up to be.

In Trouble

2008-08-20T06:36:00.002-07:00

Yesterday a friend and I were running errands. Her 2 kids stayed at my house to play with my 2 kids. Apparently they played a little game of "truth or dare" Alyson was dared to kiss the other boy that was there playing with Coleman. She kissed him.

Jim and I talked with all of them about this, and how you don't dare someone to do something you are not suppose to be doing, blah, blah, blah.

Jim asked Alyson how many boys she planned on kissing before she got married (if you recall the kissing the boy on the bus story)

Alyson shrugged her shoulders, so Jim asked her again... her reply "I don't know, I don't know how many cute boys there are in the world"

Overheard at school this week

2008-08-15T22:33:00.003-07:00

Incase you didn't know, I work with the best kids ever! I work with kids that have Autism. I love my job, with all of it challenges and all of the rewards.

"I can't do my writing I am not smart"..."yes you are" "No really I am not smart, I gave all of my knowledge to God, it was my gift to him."

Why did you just kick her chair?.... "Because she was just sitting there being cute, and I Hate cute"

"I have just been pretending to be good, and I am not going to be good anymore"

"Hey, tell it to the judge"

Phone call from the secretary...."If you are looking for your student, she just checked herself into the time out room, she asked me to set the timer for 10 minutes."

I know there is more, I must write them down as they say them because I forget.

Never a dull moment.

One Word Tag

2008-08-07T18:46:00.002-07:00

One Word Tag
I got this tag from Stephanie's blog (for better or worse)

Consider yourself tagged if you are reading this!! Come on, I know you wanna.

1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Significant other? Jim
3. Worst bad habit? yelling
4. Hair? blonde
5. Favorite food? chocolate
6. Your favorite thing? clean house
7. Your dream last night? lost kids at school
8. Favorite drink? water
9. Dream/goal? read scriptures daily
10. Room you are in? family room
11. Your ex? don't have one uless you count a boyfriend from 25 yrs ago
12. Your fear? car accidents
13. Where do you want to be in six years? content
14. Where were you last night? Target
15. What you're not? skinny
16. Muffins? blueberry
17. Wish list item? kitchen
18. Where did you grow up? Utah
19. Last thing you did? make dinner
20. What are you wearing? skirt
21. Your TV? off
22. Your pets? dog
23. Your computer? broken
24. Your life? wonderful
25. Your mood? tired
26. Missing someone? friends/family
27. Your car? Suburban
28. Something you are not wearing? shoes
29. Favorite store? Christopher and Banks
30. Your summer? HOT!!!
31. Love someone? many
32. Last time you laughed? today at work
33. Last time you cried? Monday at work

4158.63

2008-08-02T07:32:00.002-07:00

Miles driven in the car, and we are home!

I have never been so exhausted in all my life.

As soon as I catch up on life, I will have to share our adventure.

4 days until school starts...I am so not ready!

We're not in Arizona anymore

2008-07-06T08:25:00.002-07:00

My kids are freezing here in Utah.
Alyson asked me the first night we were here if it was always so cold in Utah.
(I guess she doesn't remember our last trip in February)

The funny thing is, it is 95-100 here.
Which I never thought would feel so nice!

We had a nice trip here. It was so nice to have Dallas help me drive.
This was the most he has driven since he got permit. He did great.

The kids are having a lot of fun hanging out with their cousins, grandparents, and aunts and uncles. It has especially been nice to hang out with Tyler and Emily!

I took a ton of pictures of my Dad's garden, it is amazing! I wish I had a garden as lovely as his.
If I can figure out how to get pictures on to my moms computer I will post them. Alyson and Tori helped grandma pick 3 buckets of strawberries our first morning here. They were so sweet and yummy. We've had a few other things from the garden too.

We're going to church in my parents ward today. It is the same ward that I grew up in. It should be fun to see everyone again. Although every time we go there are less and less people that I know....old age does that!

Stealing Melanie's idea and including 3 things I am thankful for at the end of each post.

_______________________
1. My supportive husband
2. Family
3. cooler weather

Saying Good-bye, Harder than I thought

2008-07-02T13:30:00.002-07:00

So, we have been counting down the days until we leave on our big adventure. We have been more than excited to get out of the HEAT, and enjoy the cooler days and nights in Utah. But even more than that, the excitement of our big adventure of driving up to the great North....CANADA. Where the sun shines 19 hours a day, and the air is cool and clear.

All of this is so exciting, and an adventure we are all so happy about embarking upon.
There is just one small problem, well two problems. The biggest problem, is we are taking this adventure without the man we all love and adore. He will be home, in the miserable heat all alone. We have been apart many times before, for a week or two, but never for a whole month. And I have been pretty sad all day just thinking about saying good-bye.

And much to my surprise, I am a little bit sad about leaving my home and life here. Now that is huge for me....the girl who's heart has been elsewhere, and hasn't committed to my life here in Arizona. For me to be a little sad about leaving here is kind of surprising to me. I was not expecting to feel this way.

I am thinking that all in all this trip is going to be good for me on many different levels.
If the old saying of "absence makes the heart grow fonder" is true, then this may turn out to be the perfect solution to help my heart find JOY here in Arizona.

My other problem, is the fact that we are leaving in the morning, and still have not received Cole's passport. Which just delays us in applying for his Visa. It is out of my control. I have to let it go, and trust that what ever happens, happens. If it doesn't come, then I know Cole will be in good hands with his Aunt and Uncle and cousins. And that he will have his own adventure camping at Island Park. But, dang it... I want him to come with us. After all, it won't be the same without having someone to tease, torment, and harass their sisters. No one to sing, and entertain us. No one to make us laugh and cry all at once.

Good Bye for now.
Maybe we will be bored enough to blog while we are at Grandmas. If not we will see you in August.

If any of my friends are feeling kind and generous feel free to invite my husband over for dinner...he just might be missing his family a wee, tiny bit!

I feel so LOVED

2008-06-27T21:03:00.009-07:00

I am back from girls camp. It was a great experience, and I think it will be remembered by all that were there for a long time to come.

Every night when we would get back to our cabin I would have at least 5 messages from Aly, telling me how much she misses me, and loves me, and can I please come back home now.

When I got home, I found this on my car. It made my day!

I feel like my bucket was filled and I am rejuvenated. I came away with a greater love and appreciation for our prophets. Our theme for camp was "come listen to a prophets voice".

I think the one experience that will stay with me for a long time was during our morning devotional someone had shared some thoughts on the prophet Joseph Smith. As she finished she sat down and then there was a little pause. We all just sat there wondering if the devotional was over, and if we were to get up and leave, or what was going on. Then out in the woods we can hear someone singing. He gets closer and closer and a young man is singing "Joseph Smith's first prayer" He is dressed the part. He enters into the area where we are all sitting and sings all of the verses of this song to us. He sings it as Joseph would, singing "I saw the father and the son" It was very moving, and touching to feel of his spirit as he sang to us.

It is funny that in AZ they sing a lot of different songs than the ones that we would sing at camp in UT. It was fun to learn new songs, and I taught them a song from my camp days. The silly camp songs would run through my head as I was trying to sleep each night. "style the mullet, and let me see your funky chicken" to name a couple.

I do have to share a couple of pictures for the Askin girls... these are pictures of our Bishop. Bishop Askins was asked to be in the "Bishops Idol" contest. He was such a good sport and the girls just loved him! I don't think I will ever think of popcorn popping on the apricot tree the same again. All of the bishops sang this song, but had to sing it in the style of the costume that they were given. Bishop Askins was the king!

It is nice to be home, and now I can catch up on my sleep before we take off for our next adventure! We are getting excited for our trip to Utah, and Canada.
If anyone would like to add their prayers to mine that Colemans paperwork will all come through we would appreciate it. We are cutting it close for getting his passport and visa back in time for our trip.

Make today, your best day!

I'm Off....

2008-06-23T06:15:00.002-07:00

To girls camp! See you on the flip side.
Someone tell my kids to play nice.

Best Day Ever

2008-06-19T17:05:00.006-07:00

A couple of days ago, Alyson and I spent all day long canning salsa.
We ended up doing 18 jars that day, we also did about that many jars last week as well.

I even used the hot peppers from my garden. (too bad the tomatoes weren't, I haven't figured out how to grow them in the desert)

As Aly was pushing the tomatoes through the grinder she said to me, "this is my best day ever!" She lasted the whole day with me, and was actually a big help.

One of my darling children lost my card reader, or I would show off the finished product.