Monday's Musings

Bet you thought I would skip my Monday's Musings....since it is Halloween and all. But this one has been simmering in my mind since the day I read it. When I read this scripture -- found in the New Testament in Ephesians Chapter 4 -- a few weeks ago, it just jumped out at me.
29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.



31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:


32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.


Is everything out of my mouth edifying? Is there every bitterness or wrath in my heart or words? Yes, too often. This is a powerful reminder to me to be kinder and more forgiving of others.  To watch more carefully the words that come out of my mouth. I just loved it. So simple and clear.

Oh, and Happy Halloween!!! Time to get the Pumpkin Stew out of the oven and start partying!

8 weeks to a Better You

I am doing the "8 Weeks to a Better You" Challenge. Some of you may remember me doing this last year in October/November. The challenge has 10 points or rules. You earn a point for each of the rules that you do each day. I thrive on the structure (I am a crazy list maker) and it MAKES me do the things that I should and want to be doing anyway. It started today (yes, the day before Halloween) and it ends on Christmas Eve. Crazy, huh? I may be crazy, but I really need to do this....for myself.

My sister Janelle and one of my best friends, Jessica, are doing it with me. Yay! Having friends who can sympathize helps a lot. I look forward to pushing myself and forcing myself to make better decisions (mostly in what I eat) than I have been doing lately. The challenge also incorporates some non-physical things. It is a great whole life make-over. After last years challenge I loved the non-food related parts so much that I incorporated them into my life and have been doing most of them daily for a whole year now. Wish I could say I loved the food parts enough to keep doing those! Maybe this time, those will stick!

So wish me luck. Here are my Challenge Rules:
1. Get 7 hours of sleep
2. Exercise 45 min
3. Drink 8 glasses of water (64 oz total)
4. Eat 2 fruits and 2 veggies
5. No Junk Food or Soda (this is open to lots of interpretation which I won't go into here)
6. No sugar
7. No eating after 8pm
8. Write in your Journal Daily
9. Read spiritually uplifting stuff for 15 min
10. Do a "Random Act of Kindness" or service

Oh, and important thing to note....the thing that makes this challenge bearable is that you get a Free Day once a week where you don't have to do any of the rules. That day is heaven!

The motto or mantra of this challenge is YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS. I am set to prove that to myself, yet again. Doing a holiday challenge will be brutal...but I am ready.  Bring it on!

Halloween Here We Come

I may not be Halloween's biggest fan...but I try. I try to make it fun for the kids...I try to set family traditions that they can look back fondly on...I try not to complain TOO much about the pain, annoyance & trial of finding costumes for 4 kids. I did break down last night and text "I hate Halloween" to Eric after walking out of the 3rd store empty-handed in our quest to find Mason a costume last night. But we finally met with success at the 4th store so Halloween and I are back on speaking terms.

But here are a few of the Halloween traditions we do embrace -- funny how they all involve eating! I guess snacks and candy is at the heart of Halloween, right?

CARMEL APPLES

I forgot the popsicle sticks...but plastic forks work just as well...maybe better.

Then Eric decided to channel his inner baker and made the apples all gourmet. YUMMY!

SUGAR COOKIES

We had the Lawrence cousins over for this annual event

Kaiden dug right in

Kendal had a little mishap with the sprinkles. The more the better, right?

Kayla was a happy camper with her candy corn cookies.

Sadie showing off her creations

Colby being a pig. Oink!

Mairin (my almost daughter) & Renae

Mason made a self portrait pumpkin

What a delicious sight. We gave away a few plates to new neighbors

to prevent us from eating TOO many.

 Chocolate Suckers

We have these fun candy molds that we love to fill every year.

Walmart even had some good Halloween colors this year in their Wilton Candy Melts.

Sadie's ghost

Colby attacking his spider

Renae's Jack-o-lantern

Mason's....uhhhhh, I'm not sure. A broom, maybe?

The Witch Is In

A fun project I made at a Super Saturday craft day.

I may leave it up all year...to warn people to beware when I am feeling "witchy"

Halloween Flashback

And this is a flashback from the far, far past.

Try 1986 -- I was 10. 

I distinctly remember Kenny wearing that outfit...a lot. Not just for Halloween! 

Monday's Musings

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I've been challenging myself to read something Spiritually Uplifting for just a few minutes everyday. I read scriptures, biographies of religious leaders, church magazines, etc.  While some concepts are LDS (or Mormon) specific, more often than not I find amazing universal truths that could pertain to anyone. Often I read something and I think -- who can I share this with? Or, wouldn't so-and-so really relate to this thought? Or, what's-her-name really needs this message in her life right now.  Or maybe it is just a message that is meaningful to me and I want a place to write it down. Anyway...this is my Uplifting or Thought Provoking post henceforth to be known as "Monday's Musings."

This is a favorite quote of mine by Marjorie Pay Hinckley -- the wife of one of the former Presidents of our church.

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schenk's lawn. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."


This captures how I hope to live my life. I love it!!!

First Snow

We had our first snow of the season on October 6. It was during our kids' Harvest Break. They had 10 days off school so that the farmers could get the potato crop in. Many of the high schoolers work long grueling hours that whole week (or they planned to) but the weather did not cooperate. We had rain the first half of the week and then snow. Sad for the farmers...but it was so fun for the kids. You would think that they would be sick of the stuff. Nope. They were so excited. And I'll admit, I was too. The first snow fall is special. Kind of magical. And the fact that it all melted away in 2 days made it perfect!!

Looks just like a dusting of powdered sugar

I think it is safe to say: the flowers are done

(at least the front row)

Our trees haven't even turned fall colors yet.

But the red & green makes me think of Christmas!

The kids wanted to get all bundled up and play in it.

They soon found that there just wasn't enough for sledding or snowmen.

But they still had fun.

There was enough snow for snowballs. Yay!

But lest you feel jealous (or sorry for us) just know that we have had lovely weather every since.

Cool, crisp, perfect fall weather. I couldn't ask for anything better.

Visit from Cousins

My cousins Wendy & Cheryl came to visit us at the first of the month. Their husbands' had to work, but their kids were out of school for a week or two. They were going to make a trip to Yellowstone and decided to visit us on their way up. I love that we are only an hour and a half from Yellowstone so we are everyone's convenient stop off point. 

I rarely see my cousins. I would guess that I've seen them no more than 3 times in 10 years. Our kids were practically strangers, but that didn't prevent them from having a good time. It only took a few minutes for them to all become friends.  As for my cousins and I -- we had a great time staying up into the wee hours of the night chit-chatting and catching up. It was so much fun.

My cousins -- Wendy & Cheryl

We had a nice BBQ

Dessert was yummy too.

After dinner we headed across the street to our "2nd backyard" -- the church

The kids pose for a nice picture

And here are the kids in their more natural state -- crazy!!

After some debate, it was decided that Mason would continue on with my cousins to Yellowstone.

He was going to stay with them for 2 days and then we'd go pick him up.

He had a great time and was quite the little tour guide.

We drove up for an evening of swimming, pizza and to pick up Mason.

This photo here was taken as the 2 liter of soda is exploding all over me.

The kids had a ball in the pool.

Fun!Fun!Fun!



Wendy & Cher -- We are so glad you decided to include us in your fun. Thanks girls! And thank you for letting me steal all your pictures. I don't know where my camera was. Come again, anytime.

Canning in Logan

I took a quick trip down to Logan UT the last weekend of September. I went to visit my sister Janelle -- we were going to can peaches & pears -- and she was blessing her baby in church on Sunday. I decided to take my 2 girls down with me to play with her girls. We had a great time and packed in a lot of fun.

Janelle treated the kids to a treat from the ice cream man.

I don't think my kids had ever done that before.

They thought it was so cool.

Ya gotta love things that turn your tongue blue. Ewwww.

Sadie & Maddie are just a few months apart & had a great time

Here are the fruits of our labor (no pun intended).

It was long hard, back breaking work...

but I love eating home-canned peaches & pears in the middle of winter. Yum!

 After a long hard day of canning, we spent a long hard night cleaning.

Janelle was having a party for her inlaws after church on Sunday

and we needed to get the house in spit-spot shape.

We scrubbed & scoured & tidied and when all else failed -- we hid things!

It is kind of fun to clean a house that isn't your own. 

Sunday, Baby Becca was blessed. She is a doll. She is so sweet & mild mannered.

I don't think I've ever seen such a mellow baby.

Beautiful mommy & baby

Renae was a BIG help with the kids & the baby while we were canning.

She loves babysitting & we loved having her.

Not pictured: My sister-in-law Amy & her daughter Abby came over for a visit our first night there. We had some good chatting time & enjoyed some Blue Aggie ice cream. On the other night, Janelle & I went to the General Women's Meeting for our church. It was so fun to go with my sister and to hear the inspiring & uplifting messages for the women of our church. Thanks for letting us come Janelle. We had a great time.



Sadie's Prayer

Sadie says some of the cutest prayers. This was tonight's prayer:

Please bless Mommy, because she will be all alone tomorrow. Help her to not be lonely while we are all at school.

Ahhhhhhh. If she only know how I treasure those 2 hours, twice a week of "lonely time!" Someday she'll understand.

Office Makeover

In lieu of raising our rent for the last year of our stay here (our contract ended in July) -- the home owners asked us if we would be willing to put in wood flooring in the office instead. We were MORE than happy to comply. The laminate flooring was much cheaper than a year of raised rent would have been. And we were excited to get rid of the sick, nasty, 70's shag carpet that we had been putting up with for the past 2 years.

BEFORE

 This stuff was so gross -- not just the color --

 but the fact that it was about 40 years old freaked me out.

There was NO "5 second rule" in this room.

If you dropped something (most likely you would never find it, but if you did)

it went straight to the trash.



DURING

It was a lot of hard work. Although I did none of it.

I kept offering to help, honestly, but Eric and Mason were all over it.

Male bonding or something.

AFTER

The finished product. Isn't it lovely?

It is like a whole new room.



Labor Day Weekend -- Bear Lake

Yes, I am still a month behind. Can life just stop and let me catch up??

Well the Tuesday before Labor Day my Aunt Marde called out of the blue and asked us if we wanted to join them at their cabins at Bear Lake for the weekend. Wow! We had no big plans for the holiday weekend -- except some household projects -- so we took them up on their generous offer. A few phone calls later -- it was a mini-family reunion in the works. Both my sisters and even my mom (for a few hours) were going to come out. What sparked this whole trip was my cousin Jared returning from his mission in Chili and wanting to get out on the water and get in a quick fun trip before he started back at school. Thanks Jared for getting the ball rolling.

We had a delightful weekend. It was short, sweet, perfect. The weather couldn't have been better -- for the most part -- and the crowds were much smaller than in the summer months. We had a great time. Here are some highlights (via photos):

Saturday was Beach Day -- lots of sand & sun. My mom was only there for a few hours and my sister Janelle for a few more. But we packed in the fun.

My sisters & I 

My mom with 9 of her 11 grandkids

Mason & Jared building sand castles

Sadie & Sienna jumping waves -- love the action shot

My Aunt Marde & my mom cruisin on a wave runner

Sunday we went to the local church there in Laketown. We lucked out and saw Elder Quintin L. Cook (a General Authority of our church) there & we even got to shake his hand. The kids were impressed.

A quick snack before church. The kids were singing all the church songs they knew.

It was a priceless moment.

Mason fell in LOVE with the motorcycle there.

Eric taking the little kids for a ride on the quad.

Mason -- speeding away in the golf cart. Top speed -- 5 miles an hour.

Monday was our boating day. There were foreboding clouds and lots of wind, but we outran the storm and managed to find some sunshine and good weather on the other side of the lake.

Captain Eric was a speed-demon boat driver. He loved it.

The girls loved just cruisin on the boat

Eric took the boys out on the tube -- Colby wanted MORE speed.

Mason was a bit more cautious.

Here is where it all went wrong.

Colby was driving the boat (yes he was on my uncle Ross's lap)

but he still had control of the steering...which leads us to my story...

I was out on the tube with Sadie & Maya. We were going SLOW (as they requested). But when you are going slow, turning is not good. The line went slack and then pulled taut again...next thing you know we were diving face first under the water like a submarine. It was very scary. Sadie was stuck under the tube for awhile...as I swam to grab her, I watch Maya drifting farther away. I knew we would be fine...we all had life jackets on. But I was still scared. When I finally had both girls in my arms they were kind of pulling and grabbing at me (out of fear)....I got pushed under a few times. I choked and swallowed water -- I'll admit...I started freaking out. The lake is almost 200 feet deep and the boat was still a swim away. Eric saw the panic on my face and jumped in, off the bow, to save us. My hero!! All ended well -- but it was a memorable tube ride.

Our moment of drama notwithstanding -- we had a wonderful trip to Bear Lake. As always. Thank you Marde & Ross for being such wonderful hosts.