Another School Picture

Yes, we now have a third school picture for Diana this year. The school takes the class picture in the spring and they always take another individual picture at the same time. This is just one more way that the school is trying to push me over the edge to financial ruin. I only bought the very smallest package. This time there were no surprise accessories showing up in the finished product, however I question the choice of outfit. Since I have long ago given up the notion that I have any input in this area, I am not disappointed. Check out the attitude shot, with the hand on the hip. And I do like the fact that she is wearing her glasses. At least we will know that she did own a pair of glasses, even if they seem to be lost much of the time.

Birthday party make over!

Last Saturday, Diana went to a birthday party. This is what she looked like when she came home. This party consisted of going and getting your hair and make up done. According to the Diana it was about the best party she has ever been to. There

was also singing and dancing involved. I am glad it was fun, but I was a bit alarmed that she came home looking like she was sixteen. It is bad enough that she already thinks she is that old, she doesn't need to look that way as well. The place they went is called "Justice for Girls". I have never heard of it, but I guess it is a store at the mall that sells clothes, but then they also have a room in the back where they give makeovers. I don't know if you can see it in the picture, but her hair has a lot of pink sparkely stuff sprayed in it.

Where there's a will, there's a way!

Last week, Jared's lacrosse coach told him about a store closing sale going on at Sports Authority. This in turn led to him stalking me around the house until I took him to see what was on sale. The item he really wanted was a net to practice lacrosse. They had one which was meant for base ball, but would work for lacrosse as well. This net was originally $149, but it was on sale for just $30. The fact that we had come shopping, in my small car instead of the van did not deter us from making our bargain purchase. Jared informed me that I should be better prepared like Dad, and have rope in my car. Point well taken. We did attempt to get it to fit inside the car, but there was no way that was going to happen. So instead we just put it on top and each of us rolled down the window and held onto it all the way home. A few times it seemed like it might slip, but somehow we managed to get it home and intact. Now Jared can become an expert player in no time!

Flash Flood

One of the coolest things at the Springs Preserve was a flash flood demonstration. We were standing on a platform and witnessed how fast a flood can happen when it rains. I thought it was pretty cool. In fact the kids thought it was so fun that they had to do it twice. So here is a short little video of what we experienced. Notice how many times I ask the kids if they got wet. Geez can we say annoying mom or what?

Springs Preserve

On Tuesday, a bunch of people from our ward went to this very cool place called the Desert Springs Preserve. It is a kind of museum/park where you can learn cool stuff about the desert. The fact that there is cool stuff to learn about the desert is news to me, but apparently there is quite a lot to learn, because we were there for 5 hours and did not see everything. We did have a lot of fun and this was due probably to the fact that we were there with other good friends. Here are some of the fun pictures that I took. One of the kid's favorite places was the outside playground. They played there for what seemed like forever. Afterwards, the younger kids were pretty tired. One of the kids we were with is named Jared, also. It is kind of interesting, but my Jared has a special bond with his younger namesake. He volunteered to give little Jared a piggyback ride. So here is a picture of the Jareds. I sometimes call them Jared squared. It was a very fun day for the kids and helped fill up the boredom of spring break. Here is a picture of Diana next to what looked like the skeleton of a wholly mammoth. One thing I have to say is that is was one of things that by the end of the day you can barely walk to bed. But usually there is some price for a fun time.

Green Eggs and Ham

Here is one good thing about living in Vegas, people do come to visit. This weekend is the basketball championship tournament for the Mountain West Conference. Yeah, for BYU making it to the finals. This may surprise some, but I am not that big of a basketball fan. Of course since it is BYU, I am rooting for them to win, but it is just not the same as football for me. However, the good news is that my aunt Sally Sue and my cousin Dean came up from Mesa to attend the game. Marion and Jared were on a campout, and Trent spent the night at a friends house, so we had more than enough room. Sally was kind enough to take Diana and I out to IHOP for breakfast this morning. Diana was so excited because she has seen the commercials advertising the Green Eggs and ham and Who cakes. She also got this Who drink, which was sprite with blue and red jello chunks floating in it. Go figure. Here she is preparing to enjoy the festive feast. And here is a close up of her food. It turns out she does not like Green Eggs and Ham, not in a box, not with a fox, not in a house, not with a mouse. But she did thoroughly enjoy the Who cakes. Above is a lovely shot of my aunt and cousin. Thanks Dean, for the wonderful shot of SEE food. Come again any time, and GO COUGS in the championship game this afternoon.

Service Project

Last weekend as part of youth conference we participated in a service project for two families in our ward. They both live on the same street, which made things easy. We pulled all the weeds at one of the houses and helped with some house cleaning at the other. We went to the first house and when the door opened, a little dog came out. She started smelling all of us, and before we could do anything, the dog hiked up its leg and peed on one of the leaders leg. It kind of made the event more memorable, but maybe I can say that, because I was not the one that was peed upon. We have a great bunch of youth and it was good to be able to spend so much time with them last weekend. And the two families in our ward were very grateful for the extra help. It is amazing what many hands can accomplish in such a short time.

My Cello Player

Here is a great picture of Jared with his cello. I love it, especially because it is one of the rare pictures of him with out a funny look on his face. I am proud of him and his hard work to master this instrument. High five, and keep up the sweet music making.

Pat's Ponderings

At institute this morning, the teacher gave us this great quote. I thought I would share it with all of you. It was given by Sis. Marjorie Hinkley:
"It is not intended that our lives should be a succession of confused, wearisome, frustrated days. Rather, it was intended that they should be orderly, fruitful days of true joy. Do not allow yourselves to become trapped or pressured by involving yourselves in too many activities without being sufficiently discriminating. This does not mean, however that you should have nothing in your hands but a broom and a dustpan and nothing in you head but laundry procedures and economical casseroles. Be creative. Reach out and embrace the things this wonderful world has to offer. The danger and challenge is that much of what we do does not have eternal consequences. Much of the time we are running to and fro and spinning our wheels. Choose carefully each day that which you will do and that which you will not do, and the Lord will bless you to accomplish the important things that have eternal consequences."
I suppose that this goes right along with Elder Oaks "Good, Better, Best" talk from last conference. I am glad for the reminder to stop the hamster wheel for a moment and evaluate what it is, that I am letting use up all my energy.

Fun in the water!

For any of you in colder climates, this may be hard to see. Avert your eyes. Diana and our next door neighbor got the trampoline wet today, so they could jump higher. It is not what you would call hot, probably mid seventies, but Diana just had PE at the end of the day. She was very hot from running in the sun. So she was glad to have a little bit of cooling off. Maybe we can get the pool up and running by next week, for spring break.

Super Stalker Strikes Shamelessly

OK, here are the further details that I did not get a chance to post on Saturday. And here is the picture of my autographed football. I am not sure if the picture even does it justice, but Coach Edwards has a great signature. Now I need to get myself a special case to put this football in and never let anyone play with it. Coach Edwards and his wife, both gave wonderful talks about this year's Mutual theme "Be steadfast and immovable". Coach Edwards talked about making the most of what you have been given. He used Ty Detmer as an example of this. Ty did not have the physical attributes of a normal football player, but he had such a great mind for the game that he made up for what he was lacking physically. Several of the kids talked about the talks in their testimonies last night, so I am glad that they enjoyed it as much as me.

Speaking of enjoying it, I am friends with the Bishop in the other ward in our building. He was there watching me "stalk" Coach Edwards. It got back to me that this Bishop told his wife that he thought I might have scared Coach Edwards a little bit. Then he told his wife "I think Sis. Hammond might even be a bigger BYU fan than Coach Edwards, himself." Isn't that hilarious? So, yes, I will now be answering by my new pseudonym, given me by my sister-- "Super Stalker".

Our roadshow did turn out well. I have decided that things like roadshows and girls camp are a lot like giving birth to children. There is often a lot of pain, crying, and screaming involved, but once it is over, you think it was worth it. Oh, and yeah, you don't really want to do it again. The theme for the roadshow was Broadway musicals and Disney. Now this seems to be right up my alley. But we did not make a musical version of Napoleon Dynamite, nor did we do some remake of Fiddler on the Roof. What was decided, before I came into the equation was to do something like Stomp out Loud. We hoped that this would appeal to the boys more than singing and dancing. The final product was called Seminary Stomp, where we made lots of different noises using things found at seminary. I should be getting a copy of the video that someone took, but I don't have it yet. Like I said things went rather well, other than the fact that we never once had everyone at a practice at the same time even once before we performed. And to make things more fun, the three main boys with a drum solo that was half of the show, barely made it there in time. But all in all, the kids had fun, the show was a success, and the best thing that can be said is that it is OVER. Except the RS asked if we would perform at their enrichment on Thursday night and we said, YES. What were we thinking. So we will have to try to get everyone to do it one more time, which of course will never happen. But that is OK, the leaders will fill in for the kids that don't show up. I have decided that trying to get all the youth in one ward, in one room, at the same time, is harder than trying to get ants in a jar with no lid. There, that is more than enough murmuring and nay saying. But I am happy that I don't have three practices to go to, this week.

Best Day Ever

So today all my dreams from this week came true. Yes Coach Edwards did love my book. I showed it to anyone who would look at it, and even some who didn't want to see it. My stake president said that he was a bit worried about me, but he did love my turkey bone picture. How could he not? Coach Edwards gave a great talk and so did his wife. I even got a football signed. I will post pictures of that later. Now I have to get ready for our Roadshow performance tonight, which is the end of the youth conference festivities. I was called to be the assistant director and will be soooo glad when it is over. There is much more I could say about that, but I don't have time right now. Then I even got Coach Edwards to pose in a picture with a bunch of the young women in my ward. Notice me in the very back, standing on my tip toes. I am now off to Sam's club to get some pictures developed from this morning to put on a board for tomorrow.

Too Funny

Check this out, if you need a laugh. I saw it on another blog, thanks Jen.

http://media.putfile.com/Al-Mormons

Fauxhawk

For any of you who are not aware of this new hairstyle-here is a picture of Trent modeling the fauxhawk. I am not sure how it is spelled. It is only recently that I myself was made award of this term. It is interesting because Trent has let his hair get a little bit longer on the top, but has still wanted the edges trimmed up. I think it looks quite nice.

Inconceivable Newsflash

Last weekend, I found out some fabulous, exciting, thrilling, extraordinary, incredible, staggering, astonishing, and amazing news. And I don't even think those adjectives adequately describe the happiness and jubilation I feel about this news. So what could make my heart beat so fast you might ask? It is the announcement that the speaker for this weekend's youth conference will be Lavell Edwards and his wife Patti. For any of you living in a cave, Lavell Edwards is the previous head coach of the BYU cougars. Yes, when I heard the news, I was thrilled beyond belief to the point that jumping up and down was required. Every time I think of it, I am just filled with impatience for this Saturday to get here. And just think of the awesome opportunity for me to improve upon my stalker abilities? Oh, it makes me giddy with anticipation. I have taken all of my pictures and autographs, including the famous turkey "Y" bone and put them into a fun little scrapbook. Do you think Coach Edwards will like my book? And will he be willing to pose with me for a picture? I don't know how I will sleep on Friday night. This is big people. Very big. So just wait until Saturday night, I will have a fun thing to post. Yeah, for wonderful blogging situations.

Bathing Beauties

I have been going through some of my pictures lately. In doing so, I found this shot of me in a bubble bath. It reminded me of the picture below of Diana. Strange how many mother daughter pictures I am finding. And it is interesting that I did not even plan to duplicate a picture of myself. If only I had planned it, I am sure that I could have many more such similar pictures. Curses, think of all the missed opportunities for blogging. How lucky I am to have such a sweet little girl to keep me company. And please don't comment on the fact that Diana is bathing with candy in her mouth. I'm sure that is not a good parenting technique. Perhaps this was taken the day after Halloween. That must explain it.

What's for Dinner?

Here are two new recipes I have tried recently. I give both of them two thumbs up for both taste and ease of preparation. The Chicken Tetrazzini is from my friend Elizabeth and the Chicken Lickin one is from another blog. If you are like me, you are always looking for something new to make for dinner.

Chicken Tetrazzini

1/2 c. Butter
1/2 c. Flour
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
2 c. Chicken Broth
2 c. Whipping Cream
4 Tbsp. Cooking Sherry
4 Boneless Chicken Breasts,
1 7 oz. package Angel Hair Pasta
1 carton of Sliced Mushrooms
1/2 c. Grated Parmesan Cheese

Melt butter, blend in flour and seasonings, cook over low heat, stir until smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in broth and cream, heat to boiling stirring constantly. Boil and stir one minute, stir in sherry. Cook and drain pasta. Pour pasta in ungreased casserole dish, then put chicken and sliced mushrooms on top of pasta. Pour white sauce on top and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Chicken Lickin

-8 chicken legs, thighs or breasts
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground Ginger
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 can (16 oz) whole tomatoes
1 can (4 oz) sliced mushrooms, drained
1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)
Rinse chicken parts and pat dry. In skillet, melt butter and brown chicken quickly on both sides. Place chicken in crock pot. Stir together remaining ingredients except cream and pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or high 4 to 5 hours. Just before serving, stir in heavy cream. Serve over hot spaghetti.Serves 6 to 8

Classical Humor

This is a funny video. I hestitate to post this because there are several bad words towards the end of it. So just don't watch this with your kids around, until you see where to turn the sound down. Or skip it altogether.

Joke for the Day

A local priest and a pastor were fishing on the side of the road. They thoughtfully made a sign saying, "The End is Near! Turn yourself around now before it's too late!" and showed it to each passing car. One driver who drove by didn't appreciate the sign and shouted at them, "Leave us alone, you religious nuts!"
All of a sudden they heard a big splash, looked at each other, and the priest said to the pastor, "You think maybe we should have just said 'Bridge Out' instead?"

It's raining frogs.

When I opened my front door this afternoon, this fell to the ground. How cute! A little frog. The note says "Hoppy Leap Year, to a "toadally" cool family!" This is from my fun, clever, creative friend Shawna. I already knew you were a rock star, but seriously "you rock". Thanks for the little surprise.

Leaping Lizards!

So Happy Leap Day! Here it is, a special day we only get to experience every four years. What are you going to do with your extra day? I am looking forward to catching up on things like sleep. Oh, and I guess I could throw some housework in there also. Then there is the scout camp out I need to help Jared get ready to attend. Usually he is very self sufficient. But of course this time has to be the Klondike Derby, where they are going up to Mount Charleston to camp in the snow. So you are suppose to have all sorts of warm clothing just so you won't die of hypothermia. Of course Jared has out grown anything we had last year. I may be able to borrow some boots from one of the young men leaders. That would be great. I am hoping to go to Savers and find some other things that will work. Wish me luck. Then so I won't be bored, I am in charge of the food for a baby shower tomorrow. I have assigned people to bring things, but not as many as I should have due to procrastination on my part. So I will just do it myself which at this point seems easier than trying to ask someone else at the last minute. So obviously I am very glad to have an extra day to get things done.

What's your color?

So I decided to give in and take this color test. I have been seeing it on other's blogs and thought I would give it a try. What do you think? Does the description fit me?

What's Your True Color?

My Result: Orange

You're a bold, confident orange. A warm, powerful color that indicates a strong, welcoming personality, orange is the mark of people who are social and extroverted by nature. Vibrant, with an upbeat attitude, you have a bright, inviting demeanor. Energetic and fun-loving, you're a real friend-magnet. Your easy charm and unassuming manner make you the sort of person people want to meet and get to know better. Well-rounded and fun to be around, you enjoy helping others, so it's no surprise that orange also symbolizes attraction. Orange is an extraordinary color — for an extraordinary person.

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=colorogt&c=50652

More fun at school.

So just in case you might think it is look like a "psycho rock star" day at school today, I will tell you that it is not. Instead it is just plain crazy hair day. Diana's appearance could work for the rock star day. We will have to keep that in mind, if that ever comes up. Of course there had to be drama this morning that involved us running to Walgreen's to buy hair color. This was after I had already driven Trent to school , and then Jared. Ah, good times. I think in the end Diana was satisfied with how it turned out. I am not quite sure what is up with her choice of outfit. Sometimes I miss the good old days when I was in charge of what she wore each day. Oh, well. Then there is a picture I took of her with our next door neighbor. It is kind of hard to see in the picture, but our next door neighbor has her hair sprayed in blue and green stripes. I probably lost some mother points for not having styled Diana's hair some special way. But hey, this is what you get 15 minutes before you have to leave the house. Tomorrow is Pajama day. That is something I can get behind. It sounds pretty easy. I wish every day was pajama day. Sometimes for me it is. :)

Howdy, Pardner!

This week is Nevada Reading Week. This is a thing designed to torment mothers with special requirements for their children to wear each day to school. Yes, today is Western Day. Here is Diana looking rather cute I have to say. Of course we did not have the boots or the hat, which required a trip to Wal Mart last night in preparation for today. Oh well, maybe we can use it as a Halloween costume next year.

Tagged, again!

Hurray, I got tagged by my cousin Emily, so here goes it…

1. What were you doing 10 years ago? Boy, it is hard to even remember yesterday, let alone ten years ago. Let's see Jared was almost 4 and Trent would have been almost 7. That would mean that Trent was in first grade and had to be at school at 7:50 in the morning. Yikes, for a kid who is not a morning person, this was a monumental task every day. Sometimes I would have to carry him to the car kicking and screaming. Jared and I were attending a mommy and me preschool. We went to this from 9 - 12 on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. This was one of the best things I have ever been too. They had really fun field trips and Jared got to fulfill his dream of riding on a school bus for the first time. I loved going as well because I made some really great friends. When you spend 9 hours a week with people, you bond together. I was very sad that I never found the same kind of thing anywhere is Las Vegas.

2. 5 things on my to-do list today?- Get all three of my kids to go to school, something I did not manage to do last week, dishes and clean bathroom, host playgroup in my backyard for ladies in my ward hence the need to clean the bathroom, go to lunch with RS Ladies who Lunch, pick Jared up from school and take him to visit his orchestra teacher at his old school, try to get Trent's car to the mechanic so we could be back to a 3 car family instead of 2.

3. 5 snacks that I enjoy:- bagels with strawberry cream cheese, home style pop secret popcorn, chocolate chip mint ice cream in a waffle cone, Peanut M&Ms, and Swedish fish.

4. 3 bad habits:- Not saying no to people (including my kids) when I really should, due to lack of time and resources on my part, Spending time on things I want to do instead of the things that need to be done, like housework. Not being able to pass up a good deal, even if I can't afford to save the money.

5. What would you do if you were instantly a billionaire?-Pay off our Mortgage, Pay off other debts like new car payment since accident, Set aside money for my kids to go to college -Spend a time in New York attending as many musicals as I wanted --Redo my pool, and continue inviting family, neighbors and friends there often throughout the summer-Travel to Europe, England, and Australia. Get new furniture for my house since pretty much everything I have has been given to me.

6. Places I’ve lived: Philadelphia PN, Provo UT, North Hollywood CA, Tacoma WA, Kent WA,Provo UT, Riverside CA, Upland CA, Las Vegas NV.

7. Jobs I’ve had:Baby Sitter, Statistician at track meets, office help during summers at Britanica, internship at accounting firm, Telemarketer at Future Lines shoe company, Wife, Custodian at BYU at 4:00 am in the morning, Staff Accountant in Salt Lake, Controller at Excelsior Hotel, Accountant at SMA machines, Mom with the innumerable number of jobs required, Las Vegas showroom manager for Global Views, Administrative assistant for Janice Cambell.

8. 5 things people don’t know about me:-This is hard because I am pretty much an open book and there is not a lot people don't know about me, especially those who read this blog. When I was twelve I sat on the top of the fountain at Seattle Center as part of a bet. I never had stitches until I was 30 when I tripped on a speed bump in a parking lot while walking. I have never broken a bone. (Knock on wood so that I don't fall down my stairs today and break my leg) I wish I could sing well enough to sing in a Broadway musical. One of my unfulfilled dreams was to be on the Young Ambassadors from BYU.

Another Joke

Dear God, so far today, I've done all right. I haven't gossiped, and I haven't lost my temper.
I haven't been grumpy, nasty or selfish, and I'm really glad of that!
But in a few minutes, God, I'm going to get out of bed, and from then on, I'm probably going to need a lot of help.
Thank you! Amen.

I received this newsletter from Ohana Family Search software company. I thought it had some nice sentiments, and so I am passing it on to all of you.
This is what the person writing the newletter had to say:

"I was sitting in a training session for the new FamilySearch website at the Utah South Area Family History Training Center when we learned that President Hinckley had passed away. At first, there was great sadness for the loss of this great Prophet but as they continued to teach us about the new FamilySearch website, I had a very warm comforting feeling that he had taken very good care of us.
"One of the most troublesome aspects of our temple activity is that as we get more and more temples scattered across the earth, there is duplication of effort in proxy work. People in various nations simultaneously work on the same family lines and come up with the same names. They do not know that those in other areas are doing the same thing. To avoid such duplication, the solution lies in complex computer technology." President Gordon B. Hinckley, Conference Report, October 2005
I thought about what we were being taught...
We need to change our way of thinking
*From: ME centered to WE centered
*From: MY ancestors to OUR ancestors
*From: There is one right set of data to There are multiple opinions, many of which may be right.
* From: More than one opinion is bad To: More than one opinion creates a dialog and makes the record more findable
* Working together WE can make OUR family history as accurate as possible.Remember this is not MY database, but the Lord's database.
(Taken from a class taught at the Utah South Area Family History Training Center in Provo, Utah)
So, as a tribute to this great Prophet's legacy, we should make sure we carry on his great work. Make sure our databases are cleaned up, documented and ready to do our part to make sure this new website is accurate and complete. Let's not leave even one ancestor behind.
~ Diana Olsen ~
The only thing I can add to Diana's thoughts came from John Vilburn after he read her tribute. "Ohana means family. And family means nobody gets left behind ... or forgotten." (A quote from "Lilo and Stitch")
Cina Johnson

It was announced last Sunday, that this Saturday, our temple district will be able to go online to the new Family Search system that the church has been working on. I am excited to get up to speed on this new system. The spirit of Elijah seems to be working on me lately and so I think I will try to spend more time in the family history area of my life.

Joke for the Day

An elderly man lay dying in his bed. In death's agony, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favorite chocolate chip cookies wafting up the stairs. He gathered his remaining strength, and lifted himself from the bed. Leaning against the wall, he slowly made his way out of the bedroom, and with even greater effort forced himself down the stairs, gripping the railing with both hands, he crawled down the stairs.

With labored breath, he leaned against the door-frame, gazing into the kitchen. Were it not for death's agony, he would have thought himself already in heaven: there, spread out upon waxed paper on the kitchen table were literally hundreds of his favorite chocolate chip cookies. Was it heaven? Or was it one final act of heroic love from his devoted wife, seeing to it that he left this world a happy man?

Mustering one great final effort, he threw himself toward the table, landing on his knees in a rumpled posture. His parched lips parted: the wondrous taste of the cookie was already in his mouth, seemingly bringing him back to life.
The aged and withered hand trembled on its way to a cookie at the edge of the table, when it was suddenly smacked with aspatula by his wife.

"Stay out of those," she said, "they're for the funeral."

A Special Anniversary

Eight years ago today, we were able to take Diana to the temple to have her sealed to us. It was one of the best days of my life. I have prepared a short movie in memory of that great day. It is so fun to remember such special days. I loved the way Diana's dress turned out, especially the bow in the back. I just added that because it wasn't part of the pattern. As someone in my old ward used to say, I needed to go to bow therapy at that time of my life. It is kind of hard to believe that eight years ago, I actually used my sewing machine for more that holding clothes. We were so lucky to have so much family and friends share that day with us. Here's to the memories.

I've been tagged

Several friends tagged me on their blog and so I thought I would try to answer these questions.
How long have you been together?24 years, 23 1/2 years married
How old is he? what does that have to do with anything?
How old are you?none of your business
Who eats more? this is awfully personal
Who said "I love you" first? me
Who is taller? Marion, how else could he be tall, dark, an handsome
Who asked who out first? This is a long and complicated story, the reader's digest version is that Marion's brother, John called me up, and asked me out pretending to be Marion. Marion came on the date with me. We went to see "The Man from Snowy River" at the Wilkenson center. Ahh what a great movie.
Who sings better? if desire and enthusiasm counts, then me
Who is smarter? definitely Marion, but then I was smart enough to marry someone so smart, so what does that make me?
Who had more speeding tickets? Definitely me, although before a year ago I could say neither of us. I got my first speeding ticket driving home from Utah on a Sunday when I was trying to make it home in time for church. Do you think that is a good excuse?
Who does the laundry? me, I actually get a strange sense of satisfaction when everything is clean and put away every Saturday and like some of my friends, I am a control freak and don't want to share this job with anyone.
Who does the dishes? usually it is me, sometimes it is nobody and that nobody person doesn't do a very good job
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? me
Who pays the bills? We trade off between who is home the most and has the most time, right now it is me
Who mows the lawn? usually it is Jared, what else are kids good for
Who cooks dinner? well this rotates between me, some fast food restaurant, or FFY- fend for yourself, Marion is great at just finding something to eat.
Who is more stubborn? I am never stubborn as long as I get my own way
Who is more sensitive? gee you want me to cook dinner and be sensitive
Who has more friends? That would me, being the social butterfly that I am, but Diana is giving me a run for my money
Who has more siblings? We both have 7 siblings, I have 3 sisters and 4 brothers, while Marion has 6 brothers and 1 sister, also interestingly enough we are both the oldest children in our family.
Who wears the pants in the relationship? I'll answer with aquote "A compromise between a husband and wife is an arrangement whereby they agree to let her have her way."
Who are you tagging? Anyone with the inclination and time. Many of my friends have already done this and so I am late entering this tagging game.

Snake Escape

Note to self: Next time Jared calls to me "Mom, can you come and help me?" I should turn and run away. Tonight I made the mistake of coming to see what Jared needed. We were the only two people at our house this evening. So Jared needed me to hold this plastic bag with his two snakes in it while he cleaned out his cage. This is the lovely face I made during the procedure. Jared assured me that the snakes could not climb up the slippery bag. I questioned him as to why it was necessary for them to be in a bag, to which he replied that he could not find the top of his smaller snake container. Given this information, I figured that I would rather hold the bag of snakes than have them accidentally escape and be loose in my house. So I was sitting at the top of the stairs holding a bag of snakes and talking to a friend on the phone. Jared decided that it would be funny to jump out and yell at me as if the snakes were attacking me. It worked and I was very startled. Later on, I was in his room and arguing with him about some procedure of the cage cleaning. I looked away from the bag I was holding and when I looked back, one of the snakes had his head poking from the top of the bag. Forcing myself not to just drop the bag and run, I somehow managed to get the snake back to the bottom of the bag. Yikes, that was a close one. At lease it kind of freaked Jared out as well. And here is a picture of a snake trying to climb up the side of the bag. So, obviously Jared's theory was wrong.

Shopping at Sam's Club

Last night Diana and I went to Sam's Club because we were out of a few of life's essentials. You know a carton of cotton candy and a package of huge muffins, essentials like that. Actually we were out of printer paper and this was the catalyst for our trip. As I was trying to print my tax return, I was completely flabbergasted to find that we did not have even one piece of printer paper left. How is that possible? Inconceivable! A case of paper seems to last forever and so it is hard to keep it on the radar as something that runs out occasionally. Anyhoo, off we went for a "few" things.
Right when we got there, Diana asked if she could get a churro. This for her has been a quest for past few months. It has been her own personal version of the search for the Holy Grail, because we have been there so many times when Sam's was out of churros. This has been a source of great disappointment on her part. Ah, the trials of eight year old life. So you can imagine Diana's excitement when there actaully were 4 churros left. It was so cute because she had her purse and paid with her own money. She was thrilled with this because I never want to waste money on a drink, but she was willing to waste hers and so I let her. Here is a very cute picture of her with her purse, churro, and very large drink. This was actually great because she was occupied with her purchases and did not ask for too many extra things while we were shopping. Well , except the cotton candy and muffins. Because chances are if you take a kid to Sam's Club, she is going to ask for a muffin.

Better Late Than Never

I had hoped to get this posted on Valentines Day, but it didn't happen. I'm not sure why. I did get lucky and only had to make copies at the school for an hour and a half instead of three hours. Then I went and got a hair cut. On my way home I was driving by Marie Calendars and guess what? It is pie sale month again. Who knew? Not me. Well what says "Happy Valenties Day" better than some pie, so I stopped and stocked up on that scruptious treat. Woohoo! Then Diana had to go to choir and so we did that. All in all it was a pretty low key day, but that is nice. Hope all of you had a nice celebration as well.

Thanks

A big thanks to all of you who have voted for Trent's band. Right now it looks like they are in second or third place. This is great. He is excited about how many votes they have recieved the first day. I credit all of you for this, so thanks again. Since the voting is open until March 19 anyone else you can get to vote would be great.

Othodontist Blues

We went to the orthodontist yesterday, AGAIN. Jared first started seeing people for consultations in the spring of 2003. Yes, that was almost FIVE years ago. He first actually got the braces attached to his teeth in August of that year, so he has only had the braces for four and a half years. That is an awfully long time to be going to an appointment about once a month. Originally we were given the estimate that it should only take 3 years to be done with those painful metal devices. Well those three years have come and gone. Last fall they said that perhaps he would be ready to have them off in February. So it was with much anticipation on both my part and Jared's that we went to yesterday's appointment. Our hopes crashed to the ground like a water balloon, when they said that it would still be 3 or 4 more months before he would be done. Oh well, at least he should get them off before high school. And really what else would I do with my free time if not to drive him to the orthodontist all the time.
Diana also had an appointment yesterday. Happily the doctor said that she doesn't need hers for at least a year. At least there was some good news. I was talking with the doctor and asking if he thought that Jared had gotton his braces on too soon and that was why it was taking so long. He looked at his chart and replied that he didn't think it was too soon and that on average people take three years. He said that they hate to have people on the 5 year plan. He also told me that when I talk with others, I should not mention his name when telling people how long Jared's braces were taking. I though that was pretty funny. It was obvious that he feels pretty bad that it is taking so long. In the good news department, we were charged a flat fee at that beginning and so we have not had to make a payment for the past 3 years. The deal was that no matter how long it took, we would not have to pay any additional fees. Maybe the doctor feels bad about that also, that he is not making an new revenue off of us. Also having kids so far apart in age is kind of sad because Diana will probably get hers right after Jared gets his off. That was poor planning on my part. My brother's 3 kids are all having them at the same time. While this is outrageously expensive, at least it is time efficient to take them to appointments at the same time. I will have to plan better next time.

Vote Now

Ok, we need everyone's help to vote for Trent's band. Go to the website http://www.xpozlv.com/ and click on the link to the left that says, "battle of the fans". It should be to the left of the page. Then they should be the top band on the right side. They are called "5 Minute Hero". Under the picture there is a button that says "vote for this band" in red. I hope this makes sense. I think their poster turned out really great. Trent helped put it together. He is kind of the manager for the band. Their performance date is February 20th, and that is coming up soon.

A Day of Miracles

Yesterday something miraculous happened. I cleaned out my fridge. I know for most of you this is nothing out of the ordinary. But sadly for me it is a stupendous chore requiring superhuman powers . Slowly since I stopped working outside of the home, I am trying to get on top of things around here. Once I had managed to clear a path through the house, I thought I would move on to the daunting task of the fridge. I can not say when I last did this task, which is scary enough to admit to the public. It might explain why I found an unopened quart of whipping cream with an expiration date from June last year. Part of the reason for this would be that time seems to moving at warp speed. I seem to be running behind yelling "wait for me". Well so now for at least a day, there is nothing sticky spilled on any of the shelves of my fridge. I would say that deems labeling this day as extraordinary, amazing, fabulous, and wonderous. The thesaurus even gives the word thaumatiguric as an synonym for miraculous, so I guess that would apply as well. Anyone every heard of that word? Or in other words having a clean fridge is a good thing.

Something to Anticipate

A very happy, exciting thing happened today. I registered for BYU Women's Conference that is in May this year. This will make the third year in a row that I will be able to attend. This is one of the highlights of my year. Since it is something I am looking forward to with anticipation, I decided to put this fun little ticker on my blog. That way I can count down the days until my bucket filling retreat. Let me know if any of you are going, see ya there.

Puzzle Mania

So besides being sick and working in January, another reason I didn't post as much on my blog is named puzzel mania. I am pretty much addicted to putting puzzels together. Marion got me a very fun puzzel bundle containing 10 new puzzels for Christmas. Here is a picture of one of those puzzels. This was a way fun puzzel to put together because it went together in an evening. Also I love the picture on it, which is Broadway in New York. This is a place that I would love to visit someday. Sometimes it is fun to have a challenging puzzel that takes a while to get together, but other times it is rewarding to be able to pick up each piece and put it where it goes. Also it is great because I can use my scrapbooking table in my room to do my puzzels. This means I can lock myself in there and work on them while watching TV and I don't have to move it for dinner time. So hurray for hobbies that make life interesting.

Strange Sighting

Ok, a few weeks ago I heard this very strange noise when I got out of bed . It sounded kind of like someone coughing and it was coming from Trent's room. This was cause for alarm because Trent had already left for school that day. Imagine my surprise when I went in his room and saw this strange looking bird on the roof outside his window. Of course the first thing I did was run and get my camera. Got to get blog material where you can, you know. I was hoping that I could capture the strange bird call, but of course the bird refused to perform. It did however perform another bodily function for my benefit. And notice at the end of the clip, one of the illegal alien felines that has set up camp at my house. Does it make itself useful by catching this bird? No. Through some research, I think that this is a ringneck pheasant. I did find a website with a recording of a pheasant. But I could not figure out how to attach it to my movie. So if you really want to hear it, go to Wikipedia and you can hear it here. http://www.nps.gov/archive/wica/Bird_List.htm This is really pretty much what it sounded like. I wonder why a bird that can fly would decided to live in Vegas?

Humorous Misunderstanding

A minister’s widow, who was old-fashioned, was going camping for a week in California. She was nervous about the bathroom facilities and decided to write a letter to the campground owner. But as she was writing, she couldn't bring herself to write “toilet.” After much thought, the widow settled on "bathroom commode,” but when she wrote the word, it still sounded too coarse. Instead, she referred to the bathroom commode as "BC” after the first page of the letter: "Does the cabin where I will be staying have its own BC? If not, where is the BC located?" In the process of filing, the campground owner lost the first page of the letter. Without noticing, he left the remainder of the letter on the desk of his staff manager who found the letter and was baffled by the acronym. When he asked his wife what BC meant, she remembered the widow’s husband was once a famous Baptist preacher. "Oh, of course!” exclaimed the staff member. “BC stands for 'Baptist Church!'" He immediately wrote a response to the widow’s letter:

Dear Madam,

I apologize for the delay in answering your letter, but I have the pleasure of informing you that the BC is located nine miles north of the campground and is capable of seating 250 people at one time. I admit it is quite a distance away if you are in the habit of going regularly, but no doubt you will be pleased to know that a great number of people take their lunches along and make a day of it. They usually arrive early and stay late.
The last time my wife and I went was six years ago, and it was so crowded we had to stand up the whole time we were there. It may interest you to know that right now there is a fundraiser planned to buy more seats for the basement of the BC.

I would like to say that it pains me very much not to be able to go more regularly, but it is surely no lack of desire on my part. As we grow older, it seems to be more of an effort, particularly in cold weather.

If you decide to come down to our campground, perhaps I could go with you the first time, sit with you, and introduce you to all the folks. Remember, this is a friendly community."

Best wishes,
Ethan Smith
Campground Manager

Five Minute Hero

I am not sure if I have written about the band that Trent is playing in right now. Their name is Five Minute Hero. Trent is the bass player. Here are some pictures from their first performance which was on New Year's eve. It was a contest and they came in second. They were very thrilled with that because it was their first show and they only lost by 5 votes. One of the highlights of the evening was the largest "Wall of Death" ever according to Trent. I myself being a nerd and a parent was unfamiliar with this term. Trent educated me that this is a process when the kids line up in two lines across from each other and then run together and crash into a large pile of humanity. One of Trent's friends hurt his leg during this fun thing and it is still sore weeks later. Go figure what kids think is fun. Now the band is going to compete in another Xpoz battle of the bands kind of thing on Feb 20th. The prize is a slot at Xtreme thing which will be a big break for the band. Thousands of people attend each year. The winner will be determined by presales of tickets and online voting. So when Trent gets the info on the website to vote I told him I would post it on here and all my readers would probably help vote for him. Look for that in the next few weeks.

Parenting in the 21st Century

This morning my alarm went off at 6:00 am and I listened to an alarming quiet house around me. Usually Trent is on his way out the door by now. I went to his room and tried to wake him up, no luck. Then I went to Jared who just mumbled something unintelligible. I returned to my warm bed and wondered what to do. Jared has that awful cough thing that is going around and he missed school yesterday. Last night I thought he said he felt better and was going to school. Then a brilliant idea came to me: I would speak their language, I would text them to get up. So this is what took place over the airwaves:

6:17 Me to Jared: wake up
6:19 Jared: I am not going
6:21 Me to Trent : wake up
6:27 Me to Trent: please wake up
6:28 Trent: Hold on
6:29 Jared: My stomach hurts bad
6:29 Me to Jared: Are you going to throw up
6:30 Jared: I dont know
6:30 Jared: My throat and my stomach hurts bad
6:32 Jared: What can i eat
6:33 Me to Jared: cereal bagel oatmeal
6:38 Me to Trent: how about now
6:39 Trent: I'll get up soon

The good news is that all of this took place from the warm confines of my bed. It was not effective in getting them to school, though. Trent has got a really bad headache. I think maybe he has that sinus pressure part of this bad flu bug going around. At least today is the day he has two orchestra classes, so he won't miss that much school. So once again I get to have kids home all day. At least Diana went today, that is good. One out of three is not so bad right?

White Hankie for the Prophet

Even though I already wrote a post about the passing of Gordon B Hinkley, the funeral on Saturday brought up more thoughts that I wanted to record. As I watched the funeral procession I found myself wishing that I could be standing on the street waving a white hankie. So this post is a symbolic "white hankie" for a man whose footprints will be indelibly imprinted on my heart. The dictionary defines indelible as: 1.making marks that cannot be erased, removed, or the like: indelible ink. and 2. that cannot be eliminated, forgotten, changed, or the like: the indelible memories of war; the indelible influence of a great teacher. I think that pretty well sums up how I feel about President Hinkley. The words of one of my favorite songs from the musical Wicked come to mind. Those lyrics are "because I knew you, I have been changed for good." That is another sentiment the I feel strongly about the former prophet. It is interesting because I was actually able to shake hands personally with both President Kimball and President Benson, but I was never even ever in the same meeting with President Hinkley. This does not seem to matter in the smallest with the connection and influence he has had on my life. For that I will be forever grateful and blessed. Also as I watched the funeral when Pres. Eyring was speaking, I marveled at the eloquence of the words that he was saying. I wondered how to these men always say just the right thing. The thought then came to me that it was really the Lord speaking to all of us, when any of the men speak. I realized how blessed we are by the Lord through each of these wonderful men and that I often take that for granted. Now I look forward to seeing how the Lord will touch and change my life through President Monson.

Pat's Ponderings

This past month has been a difficult one for me. I have found my self caught up in the "thick of thin things" and stuck in the "middle of this mortal muddle" as Neal A Maxwell would say. The cares of the world have managed to press out things of a spiritual nature. Last week at stake conference, I found myself pondering on some of the choices I had made and wondering if I had chosen good things instead of the best things. I told myself that if I could just make it through this week, I would redicate myself to doing better. Recently I read an article about dealing with adversity in life. What do you say to someone who has lost their job, their home, or even their spouse. The author of this article said that the magic words were to "Begin again." No matter what mistakes we make, it is never too late to begin again. And I guess that is the beauty of having a new year, the opportunity to begin again. I heard a talk at women's conference that compared this to the sacrament prayer, if the person saying the prayer makes a mistake, they just begin again. No one demeans them or berates them publicly. Really we all understand and are rooting for the person to succeed. We need to treat life the same way. I tend to pour too much energy into feeling bad about the mistake, instead of putting that energy into just beginning again.

The View from the back

In answer to request to see the back of my hair cut, here it is. I did indeed have Diana assist me in this endevor to see what the back of my hair looks like. Actually I gave it a shot by myself, but failed miserably as my arm strength is something akin to a wet noodle and by trying to hold the camera over my head I kept accidentally pushing buttons that were changing the settings. So taking pictures of the back of your hair definitely goes on the list of things not to do alone. In fact I have two options with this new hair doo. It can be flipped under or up. When I first style it, I try to make it flip up, but having a mind of its own, the next day it decides to flip under. Either way I suppose it is better than being bald, so I will take it.

New Haircut

About two weeks ago I went to get my hair cut. It had not been cut since October, unless you count the couple of times that I have taken scissors to my bangs in an act of desperation. So to say that I was past due for a cut would be an understatement. Usually when I get to this point, I go in ready for my head to just be shaved bald. I don't know if it is just me, but I seem to go along pretty much liking and tolerating my hair, and then boom one day I wake up and just hate it and can't take it anymore. Strangely I do not have a regular hairdresser. This probably explains a lot of my problem So on the day that I feel the uncontrollable urge to shave my head, I instead take myself to the nearest super cuts. This time I seemed to have scored a winner. I went in and asked for an A-line kind of hair cut. Also I am straightening my bangs, which I did not used to do. Here is a picture I took yesterday before church. I am not sure that it adequately shows how it looks. Several people have commented that I look like I have lost weight. The scale does not seem to agree with this consensus. I think that it is just my hair that has lost weight and that by having flatter hair, it makes me look skinnier. Whatever the reason, I will not look a gift horse in the mouth.

Lawrence Lacrosse Lions

Jared's lacrosse season is about to start. His first schrimage is this Saturday. He looks pretty tough in his uniform, don't ya think? They are practicing 3 days a week after school and on Saturdays. This has added a bit to my car pooling duties. Gratifully, my next door neighbor is playing also and so we can share the driving. This is keeping him is good shape and out of trouble so that is probably all for the best. I just don't want to think about the season starting with two games a week to attend. So I will not think about it now.

Orchids

One of the fringe benefits of my job is that I get to bring home the fresh flowers after the show. This time I came home with 7 live orchids. I have never had orchids before. They tell me that they will live for a really long time. I had to pot them into something. I used every container I could find. Here is a picture of a few of them. They are quite pretty and add a nice touch to my family room, although they are probably a bit sophisticated for my home.

Yay, I'm back to only one job!

Yes, I am very happy to report that after 3 weeks of working way to many hours, I am back to being "JUST" a mom. Last week I worked 55 hours and in the two weeks before that I worked 74. And believe me, my house shows my lack of attention. It was an interesting experience and over all I did survive better than I thought I would, thanks to the help of my dear husband. Now if I can just catch up. I feel like the month of January just disappered due to the fact that I was sick for the first week and working for the last 3.
Some of the time at work it would be slow with no customers. The other employees would ask me what I did when I was not working there. I would reply that I am a MOM when I am not working for Global Views. This would bring some interesting reactions and I could tell that not everyone values this profession as much as the Lord and his prophets do. I have spent some time pondering this.
Yesterday I gave a lesson to the laurels about preparing for marriage. It worries me that so much of what they have learned about being a wife and mother does not make it seem glamerous enough to be at the top of their list of things to be when they grow up. And I wondered about my own attitude. Will my own children learn by watching me, what an important job this is? Or will my often frustrations be all that they remember? Something to work on, I suppose. And so I came away from this job with a renewed dedication to my chosen profession of mother and wife.