Returned With Honor

My sweet baby brother returned home from his mission to North Carolina in December, and it was such a great experience to be there waiting for him in the airport. Well done T.J.!

Confessions Of An Exercise Dropout

So I'm starting a new blog.  Why you may ask since I already have a hard time keeping this one current?  Well I have a new mission, and it is to lose a lot of weight.  I have lost weight several times in the past and I always need accountability in order to make it work. I know that my pride will not let me quit this goal after I have announced it to the world so here goes.

My motivation in starting the new blog is to spare my family and friends having to hear about it all the time.  This way I can put it out there and still feel accountable (or prideful), but not drive everybody crazy.  Seems like a win win to me.

The new address is: http://www.exercisedropout.blogspot.com/

Pumpkins

Yes, I know I'm a pumpkin carving goddess.  Enough said.

(my creepy cauldron pumpkin)

 Rodger and Dean carving it up.

Alec just wanted to read his book. 



Big Birthday Boy

It's now official, I'm old.  My son has turned 12 and I am only one step away from the seniors center.  I've heard once they are teenagers it's all over.

Alec had his 12th birthday and I can't believe he's been my boy for 12 whole years!  I still remember taking him home from the hospital stunned that someone believed I was capable of taking care of him.

Alec is a great boy.  He has a heart of gold and is always helpful to others.  He also has terrific manners and always lets girls go first and opens doors for them.  He is good to his little brother and is always concerned with making sure everyone is happy.  He is a good student and works hard at school.  I'm so proud he's my boy. 

He also finished up his 2nd class scout badge on his birthday and so now we are working on first class.  We had a family dinner after scouts and Alec picked Mandarin Chicken and chocolate cake for his birthday meal. 

We also had more parties on the weekend when more family came to town for his Priesthood ordination, unfortunately I didn't take any pictures.  We are so very proud of you son, and so blessed to have you in our family.

Oh To Have The Problem

So we have some friends that have property a bit off the beaten path.  They have been trying to decide for awhile if they are going to build a home on this property or not.  It has some drawbacks since it's a ways out of town and doesn't have any type of utility lines. Oh, and the road is pretty much a dirt track.  That would be swell in the winter.  But what I wouldn't do for these views.

My boys have apparently be watching waaaaay too much Man vs Wild, and Dual Survival, because the first thing they wanted to do was find shelter, and build a lean-to.

Free Ski Passes

Last year the boys got to go on their first ski trip with the Alpine School.  Everything was paid for including the instruction, and the boys had such a blast.  I am not skier.  In fact, the one and only time I've been on the mountain I knocked my date and myself off the ski lift.  So I am thrilled that they enjoy it so much. 

Lance and Kristin clued us in to the free kids ski lift passes that Sunrise offers every year, and so away we went.  Part of the deal included buying a day lift pass, and we all had a great time riding the ski lift all the way to the top.  It had snowed the night before and everything was so beautiful.  My hands were frozen as I was taking pictures the whole way up, but it was so worth it.

We also had an impromptu photo shoot in the changing leaves, but decided we were too cold to take much time.

Conference Weekend

Around here we live for General Conference weekend.  That means that Rodger doesn't have Sunday meetings, and I don't have Relief Society stuff.  We seem to have made it a tradition to go down to the valley and hang out with my Mom.  We play games, eat tons of yummy food, and of course watch conference. 

There are usually projects that accompany the conference watching and this year we changed things up and decided to do a puzzle.

This was the first puzzle (notice I said first),

We worked on the balloon puzzle the whole first day and got nowhere fast.
We gave up and moved on this much smaller and more doable puzzle.

We also made these fabulous Pumpkin Cream Cheese muffins.  I got the recipie from http://www.notsoidlehands.blogspot.com/

I also got to try a new restaurant.  I think it's my new favorite. 

County Fair

It seems like it took forever for the fair to come this year.  Maybe that's because we had two 4-H animals this year instead of one.  The boys were definitely ready for a break from school, and Rodger and I wanted to have some fun also.

The fair is like a mini vacation (sort of) because it's a break from the regular grind, but it's a whole lot of work in and of itself.

We were totally sweating the goats weight right up to the weigh in day.  He was just puny from the start, and we had such a hard time getting him to eat.  We were so surprised when the man reading the scales announced 70 lbs. on the dot!

The life of Gondor

We finally got everything squared away and settled in for 3 long (and hopefully peaceful) days in St. Johns, but it just wasn't meant to be.  Despite the hours upon hours (Lori and Grandpa can attest to this) of work we put in with those hooligans, both the lamb and the goat went berserk at the fair.  Alec really had his work cut out for him because neither animal would relax and work with him.  He got dragged all over the place while we practiced and both animals were BARELY contained during the judging and sale.  I am so proud of the way he handled himself and kept it together during all the drama. 

The life of Rohan



Hopefully we won't have to do it again next year, but I won't hold my breath.

We did have lots of fun on the rides after everything with the animals was said and done though.  Alec is a daredevil and ready to ride on anything.  I think he gets that from me.  Dean is a bit more cautious, but not about to admit to being scared in front of his friends.

Fireworks

I have wanted to take pictures of fireworks for a long time, especially since we have such a great show here in RV every 4th of July.  Unfortunately I have never had them turn out.

I decided this year was going to be different though.  I reviewed several photography websites that taught how to do it, I got a new camera, tripod, and timer, I carefully set up my equipment long before showtime, and I meticulously shot so much through the show that I didn't get to see anything at all with my own eyes.  And dang it, they still didn't turn out exactly like I wanted!  They are still better than anything I'm managed to get before, but I was hoping for something more dramatic.

 

I guess there's always next year.  Maybe I need a different lens...