It seems like only yesterday

On Saturday we did some chores around the house. We have a tree in our front yard that has some bushes under it. One of the bushes had died and two of the others were looking pretty bad. Greg decided to take them out. We were standing there looking at the tree. The trunk of the tree is huge. I looked at Greg and said, "How did that tree get so big?" He said, "It seems like only yesterday that we planted it." How fast the years have gone.

Last night I was feeling really sad. I got an e-mail from the American Family Association. It's a group I like to read because they are standing up for values that I believe in. The e-mail was explaining how PepsiCo has become a huge supporter of gay marriage and is pumping lots of money into groups that are promoting it. AFA was asking it's supporters to boycot PepsiCo products which include Pepsi, Quaker Oats, and Frito Lay. These are just common everyday things. The church has not asked us to boycot anyone so I probably won't do that. But, I just sat there sad thinking about all the changes that have happened to our world in my lifetime and especially since we planted that tree and have lived in this house. What happened to the America that I love???? Whenever I see a flag now, I almost start crying. I was so lucky to grow up in such an innocent time. You didn't have to be afraid to turn on the TV. Now if you turn it on all you hear are attacks on people who are standing up for traditional values. I almost cannot believe how fast things are spiriling out of control.

I think the time is here that we will certainly stand out as being different. I also think that we will be made fun of and mocked by many. We aren't mainstream Americans any more.

Thank heavens we have our prophets and apostles who tell us to keep up hope and to press on, that everything will be ok because God is in charge. I often wonder how God feels when he sees what is happening. He loves everyone and must shed so many tears himself over the conditions here.

All I can say is I hope these little ones are very strong and that their parents can shield them from all the craziness for as long as possible.

Four years in a row....

For the past few years we've gone to Grand Teton National Park in April for a bicycle ride. They open up the main road in the park to non-motorized travel for the entire month. We love getting out in the beauty of the mountains and enjoying the peace and quiet of the park with no cars. This year Amber, Jason, and the boys went with us. I'm sure glad I didn't have to tote one of the bike trailers. It was a very beautiful today. Watch the video and you are in for a treat seeing one of the travelers.

Life at Our House

Life at our house is so much fun when the kids come over. There is never a dull moment. A while ago they started a game where the couch was the boat and Greg would pull them out of the water to get away from a monster. It's become a ritual.

Ok, I'm bragging......

But about my daughter, not myself!! I'm so proud of Melissa. This past year she has held down a job as well as gone to school. She just got her grades for the winter semester and she got all A's....not even one A-!! She qualifies for a full tuition scholarship next year.

It's fun having her home. She is working at Town and Country Gardens this summer. I hope she will learn a lot so she can teach me how to be a better gardener.

Congratulations, Melissa!!!

Picture Tag

Picture Tag

1.Go to your documents/pictures

2. Go to your 6th file

3. Go to your 6th picture

4. Post it, and blog about it

5. Tag 6 people to do the same

6. Name your picture

True Harry Potter Fans

Melissa grew up on the Harry Potter books. I don't know how many times she has read them. When the final book came out she had a great time with her friends attending a Harry Potter Party.


I'm going to tag Liz Curtis, Chennelle Curtis, Brenda Curtis, Debbie Raymond, Kayla Ehnat, and Jenny Harris. Sorry if you've already done this before.

Tears

Heather and Beau have lived with us for 10 weeks. What an eventful time we've had. We celebrated Beau's Birthday, Harlee's Birthday, and Heather's Birthday. We got to enjoy Jaycie's birth and first 9 weeks of life. We enjoyed having visitors from the Hall family come to see the new little one. We had a baby blessing and all the celebration of that. We watched Heather and Beau agonize over a house purchasing decision. We've been amazed at Beau's great attitude about his new job and adjusting to that.

It hasn't all been easy. When you are used to just two of you living in a quiet house that doesn't get messed up all that often, and eating simple meals, adjusting to having 6 people with all the laundry, toys, cooking, cleaning, tending and such is a bit tiring, not to mention keeping up with 2 small children. But we all did great and had a lot of laughs and good times along the way. This last week with the impending separation,lack of scheduling and communication from the title company, and all the work of moving has almost pushed us to the brink. But, I'm sure we will laugh about it soon.

Some of my favorite memories of the time have been watching Beau give Jaycie her bath, seeing what a fantastic mother Heather is, eating breakfast with Harlee (in fact every meal with Harlee is an adventure), and watching Beau hold Jaycie for hours. He never eats dinner with two hands because he is so anxious to hold the baby as soon as he gets home. Harlee and I have had a great time watching Dora the Explorer together. I hope she still comes over to sit on my lap and watch it with me. Listening to Beau and Harlee sing the Aladdin song together was a real treat. I will never forget the Family Night Parades. Harlee reminding me to pray at every meal really touched my heart.

Now the good news--they got a really nice house and it's not very far away. I plan on still watching Dora with Harlee and eating Cocoa Krispies with her once in a while. Hopefully I will be there to tend the kids once in a while and still get the chance to put on jammies and change a few diapers.

I wonder how Harlee likes her new bed tonight...... Sure wish I could see her in it..... I've shed a few tears today. Some of happiness for the return of peace and quiet, and many of sadness for the loss of the day to day wonderful times we've had. A lot of the fun will be gone from our house

I guess it's just Zoey and Me again in the daytime, which is no substitute for Heather, Harlee, and Jaycie. I will also miss Beau in the evenings. Of course, Greg and Melissa are pretty fun to spend time with too, so life it good!! It's fun to have Melissa home for the summer.

I want to copy Chennelle, too.

Only it's late so I will only mention one thing today.

I've been looking through some old photos of our trips to Redfish. It has reminded me of how much I love our family.

I'm grateful for nieces and nephews who are so strong in the gospel and are great examples to me. I firmly believe that each generation of LDS families get better and better. All of you are so good and I love you very much. You inspire me to be a better person.

Precious memory

Jaden slept over at our house last night. Amber brought the boys over when the guys went to the Priesthood Session. When he got here he told me that he wanted to have a special day soon. He brought his pajamas so we decided to let him stay all night. What a sweet boy he is. He snuggled up to me and watched Beauty and the Beast for the first time.

This morning when Harlee got up she was so excited to see Jaden. They snuggled on the couch and were hugging each other. It was so cute. They have a special little bond.

Wonderful Antique

Beau's mom owns this wonderful old baby scale. Their family has used it to weigh the babies, but we thought that it would be so much fun to use it as a photography prop. Margaret loaned it to us a few weeks ago but we just got around to putting Jaycie on it today. Isn't it precious. I hope she will let me borrow it again!!



We also got some fun photos of Jaycie on her blessing day. It was such a special day. She is a precious addition to our family.