Webster World

Very Thankful

2009-12-31T17:37:00.000-08:00

This post started out in my mind several weeks ago. Jadon has been singing all over the place. The more I heard him sing the song, “Thankful,” the more I could not get my mind off it. “There’s so much to be thankful for.” It’s true. I began pondering and thinking.

Then I participated in a chat with Mark Effinger and his mom. I watched these two express love and hope even though they had been through some tough stuff. I became more thankful....for my own family and for others who move past difficulty into something more peaceful.

Then I read an article by my friend, Julie, at Digital Marketing Diva. She talked about believing and beautifully brought the story of Christ together with the goodness of Santa. Then the song, “Believe,” kept coming to my mind. Jadon sings that one, too, and I hadn’t readily listened to those words until I began listening to him sing over and over, “Believe in what your heart is saying. Hear the melody that’s playing. There’s no time to wait. There’s so much to celebrate. Believe in what you feel inside you. Give those dreams the wings to fly. You have everything you need, if you just believe.” Powerful. True. I could do a whole article on this (and may). These, again, deepened my gratitude.

Then just yesterday while looking for recipes, I came across The Pioneer Woman. While browsing around in the recipes, I started reading about her. I became enraptured with her story and family. I guess growing up around farmers and ranchers, this story had a tender spot in my heart. I began to think about my husband and the good man that he was and our relationship and story, and gratitude came oozing out again.

Then I woke up this morning to this beautiful winter day. I truly have so much to be thankful for, so I am sharing a video with you– music compliments of my son– and pictures of all I am thankful for!

PS. Turn off the music on my blog page so you can hear this video without confusion

Winter Days & Misty Mornings

2009-12-31T16:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday driving home from the store, I looked down the road into the little beautiful valley I live in. It was an overcast day–a wintery, gray/white sky kind of day. I LOVE these days. That break from the constant sunshine days, but more importantly, that warm nostalgic feeling kind of day. When you drive down the tree-lined street that in the summer it provides a beautiful umbrella of green leafy shade, but in the winter you see bare trees with dried orange leaves still hanging from them. You see leaves dancing in the street with the breeze. You can see through the trees into the surrounding hills and homes. You can see the old pioneer homes, the smoke coming from chimneys, the dirt in the garden tilled and waiting for planting, and somehow you can see calm and peace. There is so much beauty and comfort for me on those days. I am overwhelmed by the gratitude I feel for this beautiful little valley, the people who live here, and the ones who sacrificed for me to have it all.

Just when you think you have seen it all and experienced that beauty, you wake up to a misty morning. Or as my 14 year old said, “are we sitting in a cloud?” Yes, we are. We are sitting in a Norman Rockwell painting. So being the pansy to cold that I am, I grabbed my daughter’s pink snuggie (courtesty of fore-mentioned 14 year old brother), and ran outside with my camera. It was so beautiful and serene.

I wished I had grabbed my camera when I took the 14 year old to basketball practice, because it was the most beautiful scene down main street. With limited visibility, you could just see bare trees silhouetted against this misty gray/white backdrop. It was breathtaking. Of course, by the time I got back home to grab my camera, the sun had come up and chased most of it away.

But I just had to share a taste of the beauty of my home!

Christmas Day

2009-12-31T15:30:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day is just always so fun! Especially when you have a little one who is experiencing their first Christmas. It was a very relaxing Christmas. In spite of economic conditions, we were blessed to have salsa money pay for our Christmas this year. Although scaled down, we still felt very blessed. Here are some pictures of our day.

Aside from Paul dropping a blender full of pancake batter, then dropping an egg on the floor, then dropping his pancake off the fork; and mom dumping hot bacon grease down her hand and burning it terribly....we had a GREAT Christmas Day!

Christmas Eve

2009-12-31T14:00:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how you can leave practicing for the Christmas Eve Program with your kids saying, "it just doesn't feel like Christmas Eve," and you think the same thing, too.

Then magically something happens. You show up at the Christmas Eve program, and see little angels, wooden soldiers with red circle cheeks, reindeer, and frosty's. You feel this excitement and buzz in the air.

Then the program begins. The excitement builds to see your own child. And the giggles and laughter from the crowd watching that one performer who tends to "add a little something extra" to their performance.

Pretty soon, the program is over and you get all jittery, just knowing that soon Santa will come a jing-a-linging through the doorway to the gasps, shrieks and wide eyes of the little ones.

Waiting your turn for Santa can be almost excruciating-- especially if you're one of the older ones.

But there is nothing like watching that little one's first time on Santa's knee. It's a magical night and when the programs all over, THEN it feels like Christmas.

This year Kameron was a wooden soldier and did a great job.

Britton got to "dance with girls," so he was even more excited. I was in charge of their group and those boys really stepped up to the plate and did an awesome job!

Even Jadon got to sing a number between scene changes.

I was wondering how Palo would do on Santa's lap this year, but she actually did really good. I thought she might scream and bawl.

Following the presents, we headed to Grandma & Grandpa Frei's for our dinner and visit with the family while the little ones played with their toys. It's always such a fun time!

We came home and opened our pj's. While we got this cute shot of the boys, the rest of us didn't quite get gathered for a photo. You'll just have to observe them in the Christmas photos.

One of my kid's favorite things to do on Christmas Eve is to all sleep together in the same room.. When they started this, they wanted us to booby trap them in. Booby traps get pretty lame when you are tired and trying to set traps after midnight. But we usually get them pretty good. I'm guessing this will be the last year they stay together. Here's a cute picture of them getting settled.

Christmas Snow

2009-12-31T13:30:00.000-08:00

The beautiful thing about living in Santa Clara is that it snows just enough to enjoy it, but not live in it. And it snows so much around you that you can drive to it and have some fun, then come back to your toasty fire!

Christmas Eve morning, after the program practice, we headed to Pine Valley with all the warm gear we could find. Did you know that it 250 lbs of clothing and 3-4 vehicles to transport you and your warm winter gear??!! You also feel like the Pilsbury Dough Boy after you have enough layers on to think you can get out of the car and keep warm for 5 minutes-- IF the sun is shining. If the wind is blowing, you only get 30 seconds. By the way, it takes 2-3 hours to pack, 45 minutes to get there, 20 minutes to get dressed when you get there, and 10 minutes of sledding before you are freezing and ready to go home and spend another hour unpacking and two days washing clothes and drying out things.

Well, the sun was shining, but there was a nice cold breeze blowing, so Palo didn't last very long outside. I took her back to the car, but was able to snap some good pictures first. Then left my camera to whomever to get some more shots.

Lorenzo (Misi's brother) crashed into the tree first thing. Then Britton crashed into the nice girl trying to help him out. (Turns out is was our cousin, Courtney Jones.) I'm still wondering if Lorenzo broke his foot.

According to reports, Whitnee had a nice wipeout and retired her sled after the fact.

Kallan still has a nice scrap on his shin.

I'm sure Britton and Kameron both need chiropractic appointments. You can see them airborne a couple of times.

All in all, it was a fun hour in the snow!

Christmas Gifts

2009-12-31T13:00:00.000-08:00

I had the privilege of watching a tremendous group of young men participate in the real spirit of Christmas.

Kallan has a teammate who moved in from Kansas City this year. He is on the basketball team with him. According to one of our sources, he hasn't had Christmas for 2 years. I believe he's come from the inner city life. These young men have really stepped up to the plate to become his friend and invite him over. When finding out that he hadn't had a Christmas, the boys pulled together and decided to do Christmas for him.

I got to take them shopping and laughed so hard, yet cried. They were so excited to get stuff for him and to make him happy!!

Then I brought them to my house to wrap. Oh boy! Was that ever comical! Mykelle and I couldn't stop laughing. Clearly, learning how to wrap presents has not been high on their list. You have to have A LOT of wrapping paper and tape and wrapping paper. Any random large size of paper should usually work when wrapping. We got such a kick out of it that we had to take pictures of the wrapping party.

Lots of wrapping paper.....

Sadly, when we went to drop the gifts off, he wasn't home. That was okay. What it did for the boys to bring them together and the spirit they felt will probably remain with them a lot longer!

It was truly another great gift for me to witness at Christmas.

Christmas Music

2009-12-31T12:31:00.000-08:00

One of the best things about being a Mom is following your kids around watching everything they are involved in. For me, there is nothing more fun that sitting at a ballgame or watching my kids perform. Christmas was a wonderful time this year because I got to listen to Jadon sing quite a bit. He had some great songs with great messages that brought the spirit wherever he went.

He loves feeling the spirit of giving so much. Ever since those Madrigal trips to SLC, he longs to have that same feeling over and over. This year, being out of Madrigals, he had to create his own opportunities. He got with a group of his friends on Monday the 21st and they spent the day singing all over-- rest homes, individual people, and the hospital. He had a neat experience at the hospital, especially up in ICU. He said that several people starting crying and they were turning their computer webcams to capture them.

In the evening, they went to the Visitors Center to sing. We took the family over to listen and to view the "Reflections of Christ" display and the temple lights. The kids were very welcomed by those there.

As they had Jadon sing, "Mary Did You Know," I looked at him standing there in front of the Christus and heard him sing, "the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again. The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the Lamb." Here was the Savior with His arms outstretched as if He were beckoning my song. And my son singing, no testifying, of His very life. It was so incredible. The only camera we had was Sue's iphone, so they aren't the most professional pictures, but at least we captured it.

I wondered as I watched if Jadon could see the reflection of the Savior looking at him in the windows he was facing. It was pretty incredible!

The Sister working there stopped Paul and I at least 3 times and asked him to come back and sing.

Christmas Booby Traps

2009-12-31T03:00:00.000-08:00

As I left off from my Christmas Eve post, I was explaining about this Booby Trap thing. Sometimes we are a little more creative, but the fact is that after midnight, we are just plain tired. I had great ideas for this years booby trap thinking it would probably be the last, so I bought a bunch of stuff. Paul was too tired, so he made the final decision. Turns out that it was still successful.

Paul hung a sheet in the hall way then hid in the closet just behind the sheet with an air horn. I had a bottle of sill string just around the corner.

We could hear the kids coming out and trying to decide who would go first. It was finally voted that the youngest should go first. I'm sure that's because it is like 8 votes to 1 that way. So Kameron was chosen. All he did was stick his hand on the sheet and begin to pull it back when Paul laid on the horn.

With a great scream, Kameron fell to the ground and quickly moved himself away from the front of the line. As the others began to make their way through, I showered them with silly string.

I would have pictures, but since my closer up lens was dropped and broken in Puerto Rico, I would have had to stand in Ivins to get the shot of them coming out Christmas morning. Also, it was too dark, and since I don't know how to run my camera well.....I just decided to man the silly string can.

Still proved to be entertaining!

Christmas Tamales

2009-12-18T08:01:00.000-08:00

I had such a blast on Wednesday!! I went to Erin Mylroie's to learn how to make tamales. It was easy and fun! Well, it's fun if you have someone to visit with while you're making them! Erin is amazing....teaching her kids while we were working away. I wish MY kids were being homeschooled by her!! At the end of the tamale session, I realized that I hadn't taken one picture of the two of us making tamales. Although I was sad to not have the memory, I really wasn't too sad because I hate having my picture taken. And since I went over with no make-up and my hair up in a clip in that "I'm ready to go to work" fashion, it wasn't such a photographic moment.

We did, however, take pictures of our tamales in a can for Erin's blog, so click on this link and read about our day and get the recipes.... you'll be glad you did!! http://prudencepennywise.blogspot.com/2009/12/it-wouldnt-be-christmas-without-tamales.html

More Football

2009-12-07T07:34:00.000-08:00

Football just keeps going on and on.....Both boys played in the Christmas Classic this last weekend. They had a great time!

The Friday games were REALLY cold! Britton's team lost on Friday 12-7, but then played the same team on Saturday and won 26-0, so we're not sure who took first place. Kameron's team won both games taking the championship. The exciting part was that they beat Dixie 19-0. We lost to them in the regular season and the other 4th grade team lost to them in the championship. Since we combined for this tournament, there was a real desire to win!! They were pretty excited. Kam recovered a fumble.

Britton had at least 6 including a sack or two. They are quite the players! You can see pictures of their games by going to this link: http://asp.smugmug.com/Snow-Canyon-Youth-Football. Kameron is #85 on the 4th grade link-- lots of photos of him. On the 5th grade white links, Britton is #84.

Fun to watch!! Nice job, boys! Now we can move on to basketball......

Thanksgiving

2009-12-07T07:24:00.000-08:00

Paul, Britton, and I spent Thanksgiving in Vegas at a Football tournament. We had a relaxing day....weighing in at 11 am and then waiting around to play at 4 pm. We went to one of the few restaurants we found open and had lunch. Britt did a good job and their team won their game.

Meanwhile, everyone else had dinner at our house. Paul's sister, Ginger and all her kids and grandkids (but Kalee) were here for dinner. Paul's mom and sister, Julie, came with their families, too. No one managed to take a picture, so all you get for Thanksgiving pictures this year are of football. ;o)

Britton played again on Friday, so we headed back down again. They ended up winning their division and got a really BIG trophy! I managed to slip in an hour's worth of shopping and picked up a few deals, so it was a nice head start on Christmas.

Dancing with the Stars....

2009-12-06T19:49:00.000-08:00

It's a proud moment in every mom's life when her son becomes a "He-schelle!" To see those new talents come to life is quite extraordinary. It's even better when the sisters come and watch! Mykelle, Whitnee & I had a great time going to the Powder Puff football game and watching Kallan perform with his buddies. Here is a link where you can watch it. Kallan is on the left in purple leggins. Here's some photos, too! Enjoy! Get a tissue! It'll bring a tear to your eye! ;o)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2IizIjquhk

Pre-Thanksgiving

2009-11-29T09:24:00.000-08:00

Monday before Thanksgiving, Jadon sang at "Dance for a Cure" at the High School. Mom and I went and watched him. The two little boys had football practice.

Tuesday I went shopping. I had another great coupon day! Spent $30 and saved $167. I couldn't believe all I got for $30! It was SOO fun!!

Wednesday was a busy day!! I went and helped out at Kameron's Mountain Man activity until 11:30. Then I headed to the HS football field. It was the powder puff game and Kallan was a "He-schelle." It was quite the adventure!! They stole the show, that's for sure!!

After a Subway sandwich, I cleaned out the fridges, mopped the floors, and tidied up.

The evening was spent making pies with Mykelle. We made 2 pumpkin, 1 mixed berry pie, 1 Key Lime pie, and 5 cheesecakes.

It was one of those beautiful winter evenings with a fire, a clean house, and a movie! I love those peaceful nights!

Coming Home

2009-11-29T09:19:00.000-08:00

I was really glad to be home. My kids were amazing. Mykelle is incredible and the kids like her better than me. She ran a "tight ship." The house was immaculate when I got home and according to the kids, it was that way the whole time we were gone. Maybe the Webster's are turning over a new leaf! Thanks to Mykelle!!

There is no greater gift for a parent than the gift of good and righteous children. I feel so blessed to have the wonderful kids I have!

I found out that I could do whatever I wanted and my kids would be okay, providing Mykelle was around. But then I would miss out on so much. I'm hoping I can still provide something in my home! ;o)

I had a busy week ahead of me when I got home!
Tuesday I was in charge of the book review in our ward. We reviewed "Hidden Treasures" by Leslie Householder. I had a blast with this discussion! It was so fun!

Wednesday I had a Night of Excellence to attend.

Thursday was our Stake YW Leadership Training. I spent Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday dumpster diving, carving rocks and painting rocks for the event. For some reason, everything else fell on this night, too. Kameron had a football party. Britton had football practice. Kallan had basketball practice. Paul had roundtable and Mykelle had a volleyball game. Jadon was singing at our meeting. Paul received a text that Kallan had a parent meeting at 6:00 pm. Oh yeah, and the two little boys had a piano recital.

So Britton missed football practice and we had Mykelle take him to the recital. Paul went to Kallan's basketball meeting, then went and got Kameron and ran to piano, then he brought them home and went to roundtable. I left at 5:00 and got home after 9:00 pm. What a day!!

Saturday we cleaned the food storage room, started the Christmas lights and cleaned the house.

Sunday Jadon sang in the 2nd ward, then in the 1st ward, then at the Jubilee of Trees. He did an amazing job!! It was quite the week!

Bookpublishing Workshop

2009-11-29T09:05:00.000-08:00

So I got up Wednesday after about 3 hours of sleep, got the kids off, cleaned out part of my suitcase and repacked. Ran mom to the Dr., then came home and got ready to leave again. This was a BIG stretch for me. I've never really left my family by myself except for the Mentor's Training I attended, plus I had already been gone several days, but since I won this $2,000 workshop, and Paul and I felt like it would be a great opportunity, I went.

It turned out to be a great weekend. I met some amazing people with some great stories to tell and others who had great things going for them. It was a privilege to have attended. I learned a lot, now have to settle my brain down and implement them!

I wrote a little about it on my other blog, www.allaboutbecoming.com. You can read about it there. Very grateful to Leslie Householder for the gift!!

While We Were Gone

2009-11-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

There's always a few things you miss when you are gone. The exciting thing was that Kallan made the 9th Grade Basketball Team!

The other thing was that mom hurt her knee and was flat on the couch from Monday on, so when I got home on Wednesday, I took her over to Scott Parry's office. It turns out that she had a torn meniscus and needed knee surgery. I can't figure out why these things happen when I will be gone and the least helpful, but fortunately, my kids were there for her and were good help to her. She had surgery on Friday. In addition to the tear, she had some floating cartiledge and a fatty lump that they took care of. She was actually doing better after the surgery than before. She's a trooper!

Puerto Rico Day 6- Tuesday Coming Home

2009-11-28T15:53:00.000-08:00

The nice part about this day was we were the last ones leaving. We didn't leave until 2 pm, so we were able to go down to the pool for an hour or so. I thought it would be stupid for me to go to Puerto Rico and not come home with any kind of sun tan/burn. Fortunately, we were able to get some sun. We packed our stuff and set our suitcases out, then went down to the pool for a bit. When I got back to the room, I realized I had packed my garments in my bags, so we had to get our bag and I had to change before they loaded them in the bus to head to the airport.

Travel was good. I felt bad for Eric with his shoulder. He was in a lot of pain, but didn't complain at all.

In Houston, our flight was delayed so we were even later getting home!! Didn't get home and in bed until 3 am.

Puerto Rico Day 5 Monday

2009-11-28T15:49:00.000-08:00

Monday Paul & I cancelled our tour and decided to just stay at the resort and get some sun, relax, read, and write. It was a great plan except for that sun part. It was cloudy and rainy the whole day. The nice thing about Puerto Rico is that even if it is raining, it is still warm, so we went down to the beach anyway.

Joni & Eric were down there and Sis. Dalton and her hubby were walking on the beach, too. So we all sat down and started to chat. I asked Sis. Dalton a bunch of questions and we got to visit and listen to stories. It was so much fun! We had a blast and I learned a lot. I was really excited to hear all the fun new stuff they are coming out with-- especially for personal progress!

Sis. Dalton wanted to come to our Stake Training, but was flying straight from PR to the east coast where she stayed until the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Later that day, we went to a dinner at a really nice home in the rainforest. By really nice, I mean a REALLY nice outdoor type home. Pretty incredible. We had a big buffet dinner and Eric and Joni went for a walk. When we got back to the hotel, I got a text from Joni needing some ibuprofen. Eric had fallen on their walk and hurt his shoulder. (The diagnosis now that we are home is that he tore his rotator cuff and will be having surgery Dec. 11). So I don't know if the trip was that great for them. ;o)

It was one of my favorite days-- just visiting with others and feeling the spirit is so much fun!

Puerto Rico Day 4-- Sunday

2009-11-15T16:28:00.000-08:00

* The pictures aren't loading, so I will keep working on that, but will at least get this up here!

We had another tremendous Sunday experience while traveling! I am so glad I followed the prompting to call here and see what we could do to help the members out. It turned out to be a great blessing. Young Women’s was first, so we went in. There were a bunch of us there—Darla Silcox, another gal that I didn’t get her name, Sheri Dalton, Elaine Dalton, and Joni and I. There was only one young woman there (Rosalin). Two more had been baptized a week or two ago, but they were headed to the states, so weren’t in attendance. Neysha Lespin had come to YW, too. She was the sweet gal I had been making the arrangements with. I'll tell you, this is one SHARP gal! She has a powerful spirit!! She came in to help us translate. The sweet gal teaching the lesson (Ana) was nervous, but did a great job. She talked about how the scriptures are important part of our lives. She said that she used to be Pentecostal, and she KNEW the Bible, but she felt that she was lacking answers. When the missionaries started teaching her, she found the answers in the Book of Mormon and in the Gospel. She asked us all to describe the scriptures in one word—that was a toughie! Here were some of the answers:

1. Energy of Heart/love

2. Hope

3. Faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ

4. Light

5. Hope

6. Indescribable joy

7. Peace

8. Answers

9. Strength

Ana, the teacher, said that she had gotten married, then baptized the next day with her son and husband. She hasn’t even been a member one year. We were all so surprised!

She told of having confusion in reading the Bible—why would God give us the commandment to not kill, then tell them to kill all the other people around them. When the missionaries explained about Nephi and Laban—better that one man should perish, than a nation dwindle in unbelief, it gave her such great understanding and she apologized to God for questioning Him. ;o)

She then told us that with the economy the way it is that her husband is working two jobs and she has had to work, too. She told her husband that they just need to keep paying their tithing and focusing on the Lord and reading the scriptures.

This sweet little thing had such a powerful testimony and you would never believe that she was a new member. Her teaching techniques seemed as if she were taking them straight from “Teaching, No Greater Call.” She was delightful and really brought a great spirit.

Then Sis. Dalton stood up. She said that it seemed that no matter where she went “the same picture pops up everywhere she goes and it was right there (pointing to the picture in the corner that I hadn’t even noticed .) It was a picture of Esther. She said that her message was that “You HAVE come to the kingdom for a time such as this.”

She told them that they were special spirits and they were strong. Satan would try to tempt them, but they were strong and beautiful. She said it was not by chance that we were there and that the tender feelings we were having were because we knew each other before and this was a reminder of our meeting in Heaven.

She said that their lights just shine. They shine so bright that everyone on the streets of Puerto Rico must think they are movie stars. She thanked them for being pure and virtuous.

She told of a YW who lived in the states in difficult circumstances just like they were living in. She asked this young woman what she did to remain virtuous & pure. The YW told her that she wore her Young Womanhood Medallion around her neck and that if she were having bad thoughts, she would touch her medallion to remind her. So she told her/them to get their medallions and to wear them.

She told them that they were not alone and that angels were with them.

The Prophet knows she is here and she will report back to him of the good here.

After we closed the meeting, I gave them their bookmarks. Then I gave them the bracelets and told the story of David and Goliath and how these stones were like their values and shared my talk with them in the short version. I then gave them the touch gold sign and told a little about that. They were excited. Sis. Dalton is really excited about it, too. She said that she thinks the whole world should touch gold! I’m pretty excited about it. I knew she would love it. It really has brought me comfort because I have been searching for a way to teach and help my sons with virtue and especially avoiding pornography. Since they understand the power in touching gold, I knew this would help them.

It’s been a pretty fun day! I love it when the spirit is strong!

We also brought dresses, baby clothes and the new Spanish bibles to them. A lady who was with us told me that on the way home, the gentleman with them just kept looking in his book and touching the pages and reading. She said they were so thrilled with the new bibles. I guess they’ve been working on the Spanish one since 1979, so they are elated to finally have a copy!

The sweetest thing was that they had refreshments for us after church. Not only were they GOOD, they were so refreshing. It was fun!

There was this one sweet sister who greeted us when we came, and then was helping with the food after. When she greeted us, I was at first a little judgemental. This sweet lady had the most crooked nasty teeth. Some on the bottom were missing. But there was this spirit about her. As quick as the first thought came, another came that she was his daughter and was here doing good work. Oddly enough, Suzanne Francom told me that in RS they told her story. She’s only been back in PR for a few months, but she lives in the Ghetto. She plays her church music really loud during the day and reads her scriptures. All the people in her neighborhood (including drug dealers and gang leaders) asked her what the music was and why she was doing what she was doing. She’s told them that it was because of her religion and told them about the church and these characters have great respect for her and take care of her and protect her. However, it really isn’t safe for anyone to come and visit her, so when her visiting teachers are coming, she gets a hold of these ruffians and tells them to leave so they can visit her. And they DO!! Quite a cool story!

Another story I was told later was that Lilliana, the Branch President’s wife and Neysha’s mom, drove them home and told them the story of their recent marriage and sealing. She said that they were both divorced and were attending the singles ward. Lilliana knew the first time she met him that this was to be her eternal companion—her prince. But he never got it. She said they would talk and talk for hours at each activity. He would tell her there is no such thing as eternal love. Evidently he was still so hurt by his first marriage. Then one day, he showed up at her door and told her they needed to get married. She said it blew her away because there had been no discussion. She was so happy and so was he. They had been to SLC during the April Conference and were sealed. The irony of this is that during sacrament meeting, Lilliana was the closing speaker. She had taken her little girl up on the stand with her and handed her off to him, the Branch Pres. I happened to see the cutest interchange between him and the little girl. He was playing with her with his tie—having her blow on it and it shrinking. She kept wanting him to play and he was just grinning. I found out later that it wasn’t even his daughter. But was a tender moment for me to see, then hear the rest of the story.

Lilliana kept telling these people how grateful she was that we came and was in tears the whole way home and didn’t want us to leave. She said that they look up to the people in Utah so much and they were so grateful that there were people here that were showing them that couples can be happy in marriage. I was so surprised and so grateful that we were there and could lift them unbeknowingly. She also expressed gratitude that they could serve us. Isn’t it interesting how these small acts can mean so much?

Another amazing day in the Lord’s kingdom!

I will say this—every time I travel, I become more and more grateful for the country and especially the place I live in. I think the Lord has put me in the choicest spot of the vineyard! I am very blessed!

Puerto Rico Day 3-- Saturday

2009-11-15T08:07:00.000-08:00

Saturday, Paul and I went on a zip line excursion. The Dalton’s son and dil, Matt & Sheri, were with us. It was a lot of fun talking to them and getting to know them. They are close to our age, so we had a lot in common. They were married later, and have 3 little kids. It was fun to visit with them.

The zip line was fun. I wasn’t nearly as scared as last time. I really enjoyed it. The worst part was walking back UP hill. Boy, it was a work out. Kind of like cardiac hill—it was muddy, too, that added to my enjoyment. At least I felt like I was getting a good workout.

The guide stopped in between runs and told us a little bit about the rain forest. One of the things that struck me as a great lesson was him telling about a particular kind of tree. It grows slowly because of lack of sunlight, but when the hurricanes or strong winds come through, the upper branches of the canopy break off. This allows sunlight to come through for a short time. In two or three days, the tree will grow two or three times its size. It has unprecedented growth just from the sun. I couldn’t help but think of how some of us are like that. We just eek along, growing slow and steady, or perhaps not much at all, but when the light of the Son comes and hits our life just right, we can grow at a rapid rate. I feel like that is what has happened to me in the last few years. But I have also observed it in others, too. Anyone who accepts the gospel can have those large growth spurts due to the light of Christ entering into their lives. (Oddly enough, there was perfect example of that in church on Sunday—story coming up.)

When we arrived back from the canopy tour, we quickly grabbed a burger. May not seem out of the ordinary, but we got the burger at the little shack on the beach/pool area overlooking the ocean. The weather was perfect, and it was this beautiful calm warm night. I was sitting there with my sweet husband, and I thought of how blessed I was to be able to enjoy this small moment and reflect on the beauty of God’s creations.

We then took off to the Bio Bay tour. It was the coolest thing!! We were put in kayaks in the dark and paddled across a little bay area, then through a channel. Now this channel was lined with mangrove trees. So imagine yourself in the pitch black paddling in water with trees on both sides and you have no idea where you are going. There were glow bracelets on the front and the back of the kayaks so you could follow them. Now here’s the cool part….the fun of Bio Bay….there are little microscopic critters that light up when they are disturbed much like fireflies. So every dip of the paddle and the movement of the boat lights up the water. You can stick your hand in the water and swish it around and it lights up. I’m telling you…it’s cool! I wish you could take a jar and take some home. However, they only light up at night and they die off if not in their natural environment. Pretty cool! Also kind of a fun possibly spooky experience to paddle in the dark down a canal of trees.

Puerto Rico Day 1&2

2009-11-13T08:04:00.000-08:00

Well, we started out our trip to Puerto Rico in true Webster fashion---late and missing the plane. I was so frustrated that no one would even TRY and help us get on. Everyone just kept saying, “you won’t make it.” Regardless, we ended up staying the day in Vegas. The Christensen’s, Eric & Joni, were with us, so I felt really bad about making them late. We went to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, then got a room at South Point and had a nap. I rested for an hour or so, but mostly spent my time doing my power point presentation. It really turned out to be a blessing because I may not have gotten it done while here, and I am presenting on the 20^th, so there was that good that came of it.

We arrived in Puerto Rico on Friday evening. Changed clothes, had dinner and walked around the resort and visited with Eric & Joni.

Halloween Dinner

2009-11-12T21:36:00.000-08:00

I had our Halloween dinner on Sunday following Halloween. Too much craziness to do it before. I decided to do a body again, just for fun. Mostly because I found some other cool body part recipes that I thought would be fun to try. I have been doing "orange" dinners for the last few years, so thought it would be good to surprise the kids with something a little more fun. Besides, Misi & Tiffany hadn't yet experienced one of our weird dinners yet.

I decided to do real BBQ ribs for the ribs and found a cool recipe for intestines that I tweaked to our liking. I did a little twist to the breadstick bones, but my favorite part was the heart.

I found this cool recipe for a jello heart will real "blood" to ooze out from it. I couldn't find a heart mold, so I got creative and made one out of bread bag. It turned out really cool and realistic.

The only downfall was that I made the "blood" a little thick so it didn't ooze properly when stabbed with a knife, so I had to grab it and squeeze it all over the heart. Which brought on the second problem-- it made Tiffany sick.

I gave her the disclaimer in the beginning that she didn't have to eat anything that bothered her, since I've been in her spot before. She was doing good until the blood ooze thing. I felt bad. The good news is that she will be able to enjoy other Halloween and April Fool's dinners when she's not pregnant and miserable. It's hard to phase Misi. Between Samoa and the Phillippinnes, he's already eaten all of the weirdest real stuff anyway.

Turned out to be a fun meal. Kameron's favorite part was the Orange drink. Funny!

Halloween

2009-11-11T22:13:00.000-08:00

Why is it that you have to have 2-3 costumes per kid just to get through Halloween? It started off on Monday with Kam having a birthday party that he had to dress up for. We didn’t have costumes figured out yet, so the girls dressed him up as a hippie with my tie-dye shirt and the Jamaican Dred lock hat and some cool sunglasses.

Come Thursday, Kallan had a dance at the school. He dressed up like a volleyball player. The girls did a good job of making him look sweet!

Friday came and Kallan’s “real” costume was to be “Hot Rod.” Mykelle and I stayed up till midnight getting that bugger ready. Because Kameron could never decide on a costume, we bought him the “Wheaties box” from Walmart, so he went to the Halloween parade as that. Britton was sick, so he had to miss school and was bummed.

Saturday (after two football games) came costume time again. Whitnee and Mykelle had landed some good stuff at the DI.

Misi dressed as a college football coach (go figure). Palo looked so cute as Tigger.

Paul dressed as a blind ref.

Britton went as a mad scientist.

Kameron went as the volleyball player.

Jadon dressed as a beat up nerd.

I went as a hospital patient with a “breezy” hospital gown on. Paul was worried that I’d offend someone, but the first warders just thought it was hysterical.

After all the Halloween fun—the party was not as busy as last year—we came home.

Arrow of Light

2009-11-11T21:23:00.000-08:00

Britton received his Arrow of Light Award on a nice chilly night for Pack Meeting. It was a really neat night with George Mackley who was dressed and talked to them about what it means and to challenge them to go on to earn their Eagle in Scouting.

We were pretty proud of him! Nice job Britt!

2009-11-04T19:34:00.000-08:00

Britton is a great football player. He is finally loving the sport and you can see why from this sack! He gets at least one a game if not more. He plays right guard on offense and is a linebacker on defense. His highlight was an interception and a nice run back where he almost scored a touchdown. He has been so fun to watch! Nice job, Britt!

Kameron Football

2009-11-04T19:24:00.000-08:00

Nice fumble recovery!

Kameron is loving football and he is a great player. He is the center and does a really good job. On defense, he is a defensive end. He loves it when he gets a sack!! Here he caused a fumble and I believe he recovered it! He probably has the most disciplined team out there. They are good and fun to watch!!

Kallan Football

2009-11-04T19:22:00.000-08:00

We've had so much fun watching Kallan play football this year. He is playing Defensive End and is doing a GREAT job!! He's #84. He's been working hard and has such a great love for the game and his team. It's been a great year!

Our Big Surprise!

2009-11-02T09:15:00.000-08:00

While eating dinner at Swiss Days, this mysterious package showed up on the table with a tag to "The Webster's." Inside was a bunch of envelopes with everyone's name on it and instructions to not open it until everyone was together. We were excited and wanting to see what it was. Kallan had left and we didn't know when he would be back. Misi was on his way, so we decided to open it up. We all had a puzzle piece and when we put them all together, it was a note telling us that Wes & Tiff were having a baby!! We were SO excited. So we get to welcome a sweet little spirit into our family in April! It doesn't get better than that!

Swiss Days

2009-11-02T08:05:00.000-08:00

Swiss Days was a blast this year! We decided to run the 5K as a family. So some of us were "training" to do it, others just ran for the fun of it.

We started off Swiss Days on Friday afternoon. The kids went to the "hands on" for a little bit. Jadon sang for an hour.

Britton told the John Stucki story up around the mural, then we had dinner. We received a BIG surprise at dinner. I'll post about it next...so keep reading.....following dinner, we went to the SCHS Homecoming football game.

Saturday was a fun/busy day. We started out with the 5K. Kallan ended up coming in first in the family.

I was last, but planned to be. I ran/walked/visited and really enjoyed myself. Jadon and Britton were the only two who didn't run. We had a good time and decided we all needed to improve our times for next year. Paul's goal is to beat Lainee's time. He is so funny.

Following the 5K, we raced home and got ready for the parade. Mom, Lainee, Whitnee, Mykelle, Dennis & Bryce/Kalyn all helped on the float this year. It turned out really cute and we won a trophy.

Following the parade, we listened to Grandpa talk about the history of Santa Clara. Then Paul headed to Cedar to Kameron's football game. I went with Jadon to sing another song or two at Swiss Days, then I headed to Pine View for Britton's football game. Long days, but a fun weekend. We love Swiss Days around here! Especially since the cousins (Sue's kids) are always here!! Such fun!

Car Sandwiches

2009-10-22T06:42:00.000-07:00

It's an interesting thing when your phone rings with a number you don't recognize and your son says, "Hi Mom." So you ask him what phone he is calling from and he says, "The paramedics." In my family that could be a joke they are pulling, but in this case, Wes had been in a little accident and his phone was flipped off his lap in into the air vent. Which is really kind of funny and a feat of physics.

Wes was coming home from work and I had been talking to him because he was coming to make Philly Cheesesteaks and I was at the store gettting his stuff. Evidently, someone from the Czech Republic was trying to turn left off the Boulevard onto 200 E, but didn't get in the turn lane and stayed in the left lane. Wes had looked ahead and seen what was going on, so had the car in front of him and they were honking at him. However, the truck behind Wes had switched lanes and didn't see they were stopped until too late. They hit Wes and pushed him into the car in front of him, who went into the car that was stopped in the wrong lane. Wesley's long legs were smashed into the dashboard and were hurting, and he had a scrape on his arm, but all else was well. Nothing too serious, except the car is totaled.

After a stop to instacare, he and Tiff came by for the cheesesteaks. As he passed by me to go home, I had this very strong impression/voice come to me that said, "you need to get down on your knees and thank the Lord for sparing your son's life. He has a great work to do and he was blessed this day." So I did. I knew that some of that was because of his new calling, that he had a great work to fulfill. I am so blessed to have such good and righteous children!

Round Up

2009-10-21T13:20:00.000-07:00

Since we haven't taken the kids to the Round Up since they were little, it seemed a good year to go. First we had Japanese Exchange students here, so we thought they'd like a little taste of Western America. But the real reason for going was to hear Jadon sing the National Anthem! What a privelege and a great opportunity for him. Before we left to go, Mykelle told us that she's never been to the Round Up before. Amelia Hunt was down for Kaely Wardell Mitchell's wedding, so they decided to go to the rodeo together. Imagine Mykelle's surprise when Amelia said, "We are riding our horses in the opening." So not only did Mykelle get to attend the Round Up, but she got to do it in a way none of the rest of us have-- on horseback in front of all the crowd. She had a great time!

Jadon was the one who really stole the show that night. What an incredible experience and privilege for him! There was such a strong patriotic spirit present after the ceremonies that Jadon was choked up trying to sing. First they brought in a covered wagon and talked about the settling of the area. Then they brought in a Howitzer that drove to the head of the arena and stopped. The covered wagon pulled further in front of in and out of the back came firemen, policemen, and guardsmen who unfurled a large flag. At that point, more guardsmen came on and formed an arrow point, then a bunch of flags carried by a lot of people streamed in on each side of the arena. At that point a Blackhawk helicopter came and landed in the baseball field next to the arena. It was so incredible. Jadon walked into the arena between the Howitzer and the large flag and sang. It was a perfect evening and he was incredible!!

Out of the Mouth's of Babes

2009-10-21T12:41:00.000-07:00

Lorenzo Tupe (Misi's little brother) and Kameron were having a chat on the way to the store with Paul. Kameron asked Lorenzo if he was going to let his wife buy her own stuff. Lorenzo said, "Of course."

Kameron said, "Well, what if she wants to buy a car?"

"DUH!! It'll be her money. She's gonna be working, and I'll still be looking for a job!"

Can't even find a response to that.....we all just keep laughing!

First Day of School

2009-10-21T12:37:00.000-07:00

Oh, the first day of school. This year, I wasn't quite ready. It was really more enjoyable having the kids around now that they are a little older. They were working at the farm, making chips, cleaning, and doing all that fun swimming, playing and such that summer brings. Summer just seemed to go by too fast! But alas, the first day arrived. Still a little melancholy from Britton's birthday, I realized that next year, Kam will be in 5th grade and I"ll no longer have a student at Santa Clara Elementary. It's been 19 years (so far) that I've had a kid there. It will be strange and yet, good all at the same time.

Here's some shots of the first day. Britton's teacher is Mrs. Simkins. So far all the Webster's but Whitnee (and Kam) have had her. He was excited because his best buddy, Tanner Nelson, is in his class.

Kameron's teacher is Mrs. Bundy. Britton had her last year and they really like her. Kameron was lucky to get a bunch of friends in his class this year. In the past, he's been lucky to have one friend. This year he's with Seth Smith, Cole Griffin, and Austin Demming.

Kallan is in the mighty 9th grade this year. Technically, the first year of high school, so sports are on a new level. He is getting quite tall and is pretty well built from spending time in the weight room and training. Kallan has the funniest personality and keeps us laughing all the time. He's handsome and kind....I'm sure the girls will be hanging around a lot!

New Callings

2009-10-21T12:05:00.000-07:00

Just when things were crusing along all fine and dandy, we received a call one Sunday morning. Paul came into the bathroom where I was just getting dressed. He said, "sure. We can be there in a half an hour." Scrambling to get my hair done, we scurried off to the Stake offices to meet with President Harris. I'm thinking it's something to do with Paul's scouting, but turns out, I had the hot seat.

Pres. Harris asked me to serve as 2nd Counselor in the Stake Young Women's. I was in shock.....I said, "well, I've never been in Young Women's before. Does that matter?" He said, "nope!" Then I started to cry as I looked at Paul. Paul responded for me, "She's always loved the Young Women...."

Feeling overwhelmed and still in shock, I told the kids. Wesley gave me great counsel...."Let's see, you've never been in Young Women's except for Girls Camp, right?" "Yes." "Well, look at it this way, mom, you will totally be working on inspiration."

That was so profound! Scary for the fact that I have to be in tune to rely on inspiration, yet comforting to know that I will be guided instead of using "my own experience." I felt so blessed to have such an in-tune son!

So, a couple of days later imagine how surprised I was to see Wes and Tiff come over in the evening. We were getting ready to do the kids "back-to-school" blessings, when Wes came and asked for a blessing, as well. Turns out he was just called as the new Young Men's President of his ward and needed to turn in counselor's names the next day. Now this ward had just been reorganized the week before and was a mixture of 3 different wards. They didn't really know anyone. Besides the fact, he's only 24......

I guess I shouldn't feel "prouds" as a mom, but I sure was. Wes is an incredible man. I have always known there is something great about him and I've often thought how enjoyable it will be to watch his life unfold. Fortunatly, I was able to give him some good advice I had recently received, "Well, look at it this way, you will totally be relying on inspiration...."

Britton's Birthday

2009-10-21T11:50:00.000-07:00

Britton's birthday was so reflective for me this year. I'm not sure why that is so, but all I could think about is "WOW! Next year, he will be 12!! He'll be a deacon and will be passing the sacrament. It just seems so weird. Growing up-- it just makes me melancholy sometimes. So here's my Britt-- 11 years old, a boy scout now, smart, funny, talented, sensitive....just a good kid with a very bright future!

And he LOVES legos!

What happens when Dad's gone to Scout Camp....

2009-10-13T20:52:00.000-07:00

So Paul was gone to scout camp and I went shopping with Jadon and Kameron. After leaving Walmart, on the way to Costco, we passed some people who had free kittens. I couldn’t stop then, but told the boys that we should get a kitten from the Animal Shelter so we could save a life. I’m thinking that they’re free and we could do some good.

So on the way home, we stop at the shelter and I let the boys each pick out a kitten. Kameron picked up this little orange kitten who was just weaned from it’s mom and said, “Mom, look at it’s eyes.” Okay, so how do you not get a kitten when your kid says that??!! Besides, it was true! There was something about those eyes!

When we got to the desk, we found out that they were $60 for boys & $80 for girls. I nearly had a heart attack, but had some of my salsa money with me and something just told me that I needed to do this. So I did. I paid for the sweet little thing, then paid for it again and again as each member of my family gave me a hard time for paying money for a kitten that they could get for free anywhere.

It's true, but as I said, something really told me that I needed to do this. It has been a great decision. This is the cutest cat. He is so funny and playful and we are all loving him. Even Paul's warming up to him a little bit.

Scout Camp 2

2009-10-13T20:29:00.000-07:00

There were just so many fun pictures, I had to include a few more. Here is one night's set up. I couldn't help but notice the mud. So fun!

This is a classic. The boys were taking rocks and putting them in/on Cam Ence's backpack. He didn't even know until he sat down later and went to get in his backpack. He said he wondered why it felt so much heavier.

I haven't figured this out yet. Not sure if there is a cow-tipping merit badge I'm not aware of. Must be near the suntanning one! ;o)

This is what it's all about!! Dad's, sons, mountains, God's handiwork. Priceless!

Scout Camp 50 Miler

2009-10-13T13:35:00.000-07:00

Scout Camp! Two words that can conjure up all kinds of mental images. As a mother, I have loved watching my boys grow through the experiences of their scout camps. They have loved them and have grown so much as young men by attending them. This years was no exception. Paul is still the scoutmaster (which I love because he is with my boys so much) so he headed up this years adventure of a 50 mile hike over Cedar Mountain. Britton was even able to go up for a couple of days as an 11 year old scout.

Some days the walking got kind of monotonous and boring, but at times it was difficult and hard. They happened to pick the week that it rained almost every day, so that provided another great experience for them.

Hiking around Navajo Lake. A LONG Day!

Hopefully, they are staying on the right trail and not getting too far ahead of the group!

Nice background AND a nice time to show off those sexy bod's!

Britton & Dylan's shelter.

One of their best memories is doing the "polar bear" where you have to dunk completely under the freezing snow-melt water. Choice photo op.Britton-- Polar Bear

Kallan-- Polar Bear!

The Great White Polar Bear! Oh yeah! It's a vision!

Scott Parry's picture shows him completely dry. I am assuming he pulled out the "I'm a Dr. and need to keep myself strong to help anybody who gets hypothermia" card to avoid it. (I'm having a hard time uploading, so I'll just tell you about it.)

Then there's the pranks and tricks of boys who can't resist taking down a leaders tent or loading their backpack with rocks totally unbeknownst to them until they stop and take their backpack off.

Hard rain storms, potato guns, answered prayers, and a lost Bishop are included in this years bank of memories.

If suntanning were a merit badge, Kallan would have received his!

Oh the fun of Scout Camp!!

Hummingbirds

2009-10-13T13:18:00.000-07:00

We have this cute little hummingbird that has made her nest on the wire hanging from the back porch. It is right out the window from the family room, so we can watch her all the time. She has had this nest for a few years now. It is so fun because this nest is so tiny. Even more fun is when the baby pokes it's head out and begins to fly. This year was a treat because there were TWO babies. We caught them looking out of the nest and Paul was watching them to see when they flew from the nest hoping to keep the dogs from getting them. They are SO cute!! Here are the photos of our "pet birds."

You can see them standing on the edge of the nest getting the courage to fly.

Summer Fun

2009-10-13T12:57:00.000-07:00

Here's just a few photos of our summer fun. Most days are filled with housework, piano, video games, and SWIMMING! Isn't it a great blessing to have a pool-- and to have a great family!?

They especially love those night time swims!

Jadon & Natalee Hunt

Football Haircuts

2009-10-13T12:51:00.001-07:00

Football is just one of those things that increase the testosterone flow around here. Kallan has been very excited to start his high school football career. They have a great group of boys who have big hearts, a good work ethic, and a competitive drive. This group of boys decided they would do official football haircuts early in the summer during their training time. Here is a picture of Kallan getting his hair cut. Some others sat down and had theirs done, others did theirs earlier. Just wouldn't be football with out a good buzz!

Baseball

2009-10-13T12:34:00.000-07:00

Britt was the only one who played baseball this year. It was fun to watch him in his first year of Major League.

5th Generation

2009-10-08T12:50:00.000-07:00

I can't recall many times when you see a 5th Generation with BOTH grandparents. I think it is pretty neat and amazing. Here are some photos of Grandma and Grandpa Frei's 5th Generation. We took them on Mother's Day, I believe, or maybe it was Grandma's birthday.....sometime in May. This is why you blog consistently and not try to play catch-up! ;o)

Palo's 1st trip to the mountain

2009-10-08T11:21:00.000-07:00

Just a few pics of Palo's first trip to the cabin.

Pinewood Derby

2009-10-08T10:59:00.000-07:00

The Pinewood Derby was conveniently held the week after Grad Night. Paul not only had to help me construct everything, but he also had not one, but TWO pinewood derby cars to build. Personally, I think Paul is incredible. He didn't even complain! The boys had a blast with their cars. Britton was playing baseball, so Kameron had to run his car, too. When we arrived from baseball, we learned that Britton's car had won 2nd place. How many years and how many cars has it taken to finally place??? A LOT! There's this happy/sad feeling about getting to the end of our pinewood derby days. This was Britton's last one. Nice job, boys!!

Grad Night

2009-10-05T14:23:00.000-07:00

Grad Night.....so much to say. What a tremendous experience this was for me. I had such a blast creating, building, carving and painting. I just loved it! Even more than that was the tremendous experiences I had that taught me, even deeper, about the laws and principles that govern us. I couldn't believe how many things came to us that we needed, or how the inspiration came to us as to who to get or how to build something AND how it came so EASILY.

On top of all that, I met some tremendous people and made some great new friends. I will probably post an experience or two on my new blog, so watch for that to be coming soon. Here are some photos from grad night.

Bull pen (corral) looking toward the dinosaur entrance.

Front of the gym-- Egyptian Wall.

Western Wall-- middle part.

Roman Wall

Space wall

Jadon's Seminary Graduation and High School Graduation

2009-10-05T14:10:00.000-07:00

Jadon was able to sing at Seminary Graduation and at Graduation. What a treat for him to be able to share that gift with his classmates. It was a fun time!! Congratulations, Jadon!

With Grandparents after Seminary Graduation.

Singing with Cierra Beers.

Oh happy day!! You did it!!

With his buddies, Jared Radmall and Adam Hansen.

Mural Dedication and Veggie Bouquets

2009-10-01T13:06:00.000-07:00

I attended the dedication for the mural in the City Office Building. It really was a great event. The artist, Julie Rogers, really put her heart and spirit into this painting. It was so uplifting to hear the stories about the painting and the models she used. You could tell there was a tremendous spirit from the other side assisting in the work.

The story of mom was really touching. Mom had a hard time wanting to be a model, but after several times of being asked, mom finally consented. It turned out to be a really great experience for her and for the artist. Julie said that mom just carried with her a spirit of love of

her heritage and love for this town that she needed to capture. Mom person is front and center in the mural which was really hard for her because she likes the "background." Julie also told of the day that mom came to be painted. She said that she felt an influx of people from the other side follow mom up the stairs. It was very touching to hear the story. Julie commented on how much those ancestors must love her to be such a strong presence when she arrived.

As Julie told about Grandpa, she recalled driving down the street and seeing him out plowing the field with his REALLY old plow. She knew there was something special about him, but she couldn't forget his grin. She realized how happy he was and how it showed on his face while working.

Something that really touched me was that she said that after she finished taking photos of Grandpa, he offered her a beautiful "bouquet" of radishes. She said she had been given bouquets of flowers before, but this was so beautiful to her.

I couldn't help but think about how ungrateful I have been. Here is someone who saw a bunch of radishes as a beautiful bouquet. I realized that I needed to be so much more grateful for the bouquets I have received in my life over the years. Not only have I received many beautiful bouquets of garden fruits and vegetables, but I have been given so many more sweet ones. I've

been given dandelion bouquets, rock bouquets, bug bouquets. I've been given bouquets of the spirit, such as someone cleaning for me or thanking me for dinner.

Just a couple of weeks ago (mid September I'm talking here), I was sick in bed. I couldn't even get up. We had two exchange students from Japan here, so I had sequestered myself so I wouldn't spread germs. Paul had left for work that Tuesday morning, but didn't know how bad I really felt.

Some time in the afternoon, the doorbell rang. I felt too crummy to get out of bed, thinking it was probably the UPS man, so I didn't get up. The doorbell rang again. There was a part of me that was agitated that I had to get up, but as I went to the door, there was the florist with a big bouquet of flowers. She had forgotten the note, but told me they were from my husband and he hoped I was feeling better. I was nearly in tears. I was so mad at myself for my selfishness. Here I was angry about getting up. I would have missed this beautiful gift. It really meant more because I thought Paul was kind of mad at me at the time anyway. I feel very blessed to be married to a good man.

I am also grateful to understand the true meaning of bouquets. I hope we can all become more grateful and appreciative. Not only do we receive these bouquets now, but this beautiful valley is a gift from those who sacrificed and went on before. That was the message of the day of the Mural Dedication.

Mom & Grandpa between their "pictures."

Field Day

2009-10-01T12:34:00.000-07:00

Here are a few shots from Field Day. This is Britton's last one. Next year with Kam will be our last one. There's a titch of sadness in that because they are growing up so fast.

(Britt's in the dark blue shirt.)

Britt ran the long distance 800 M race this year. He started out on a good clip, then got a little tired. He's quite the runner now, though. He also did the Standing Long Jump. I think he placed in that one.

Kam did the softball throw and ran, too. It was a nice day!

Kameron is in the white.

Jadon's Senior Ball

2009-10-01T12:24:00.000-07:00

Jadon went to Sr. Ball with Marissa Potter. It was fun because I was working with her mom, Kayleen, as co-chair of grad nite. They had a great time. The Stanley's had a great Chinese food dinner at their beautiful home. Even more fun was the pet duck that Tracy got for an Easter gift. Such a cute little thing! A fun night for Jadon!

Easter

2009-09-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

Chronologically, Easter would be the next event to get posted on my blog.

I LOVE Easter. I am so grateful to have such great traditions handed down to me. Coloring Easter Eggs is one of those really fun things. Sue and her family always come up. Randy & Wes have to put together a "Priesthood Egg." (It got that name because it took two brethren to make it.) Paul usually makes his ONE egg. And we all love to see how pretty our eggs are. I almost hate breaking them!

The Easter Egg Bust is another of those great traditions. It probably has no rhyme or reason to it, but we love it anyway. We also get to see a lot of other people/family that way. What a riot!

(Dalton's first egg bust. May have been Misi's, too. Can't you see the concentration in their faces?)

This year, we did a little Egg hunt at Grandma Vicki's store. Aunt Sue always gets good stuff and the kids had a blast!

Somewhere in all of this the Easter Bunny makes his way, too, but for us, the fun of Easter is in the eggs, egg hunts, egg busts, and just being together!

Catch-up time

2009-09-30T11:21:00.000-07:00

So I've been a slacker ever since I was working on Grad Nite. And I'm one of those "Personalities" that has to go back and put everything in and in chronological order, so it's put me off a little more. I'm trying to enlist my daughter's to help me. But most likely, it will be stuff I have to put in and write about. I'm gearing up.....I'll probably need prayers for this . ;o)

Are you Smarter than a 4th grader?

2009-04-05T08:54:00.000-07:00

Here is yet another vocabulary/math lesson from my 4th ("I should be 5th") grader. The other day Britton asked me, "Mom? Which shapes do not tessellate?"

"What does tessellate mean?"

"It means you can trace the pattern over and over like a hexagon."

He explained to me that bees tessellate by making their honeycomb in hexagon shapes.

Okay, how do you parent this when they are smarter than you?? I even had to look this up in the dictionary to know how to spell it!

Some funnies from the CA trip

2009-04-05T08:44:00.000-07:00

We were driving along chatting. Paul told Misi about his employee that crashed in Vegas a few years ago. Whitnee said, "yeah. He was a stalker. He stalked me and Mykelle." Paul said to Whitnee, "spell 'stalker.'" She said, "s-t-o-c-k..." I said, "nope." She then said, "Oh yeah, it's the s-t-a-l-k-e-r one." Then Paul hands me his cell phone and pulls up a text message from Mykelle a few days before. It read, "I can see you pulling into____. I'm behind you." To which Paul replied, "STOCKER!" Yep! He's the spelling champ and loves company in his world. That's why he picked on Whit.

A while later, still driving along, Paul asks me, "how do you spell Arby's?" I can't even respond to that one!

And the best of all....I am navigating and reading the streets we should pass to get to our turn off. Paul is looking at street signs and says, "what about NINth street?" (Think sin, tin, fin, bin sound for NINth street here.) With out looking up, I process it for a second till the light bulb clicks on and I said, "do you mean NINTH (9th) street?" He rolls his eyes and we laugh for a LONG time!

We are a special family!

Weekend In California

2009-03-23T08:30:00.000-07:00

We had such a great weekend in California. We left early Thursday morning and arrived at our "hotel" around 1:00 pm or so. The Miller's hooked us up with this great condo. It was so nice! We felt like stars!

After loading our stuff in the rooms, we headed to the beach to meet Sue & Randy. The weather had said that this was going to be a nice day at the beach. By the time we reached it, it was cloudy and cool. Probably in the low 60's. There were still a lot of people out-- some surfing, playing volleyball, and just hanging out. The kids did get in the ocean and swim a little. Sue's Kelton would walk up to the waves and as they would start coming in, he would run away from them. It was funny to watch. Some nice person let the boys play with a football, so they played 500 for a while. They also played in the sand building things.(Isn't Palo cute??!!)

After we left the ocean, we went back to the condo and played in the pool and hot tub. Then had pizza for dinner.

Friday we went to Knott's Berry Farm. We had a blast. There were some great rides. It is not nearly as crowded as Disneyland, so they were able to ride a lot of rides twice. It was Mykelle's 20th birthday, too. Here are some great pictures of our day.

The last ride of the day was the "Accelerator." They had been trying to get on it all day. It wasn't running for a while, then we would see it off and on. We went over a time or two. One time the line was huge, so we went to some others first. At the end of the day, we decided to see if we could get on it. They said that it was closed. We went to the end of the line and after some coaxing, Sue went up to them and asked if they could fill the seats on the last ride. Only Jadon, Kallan, Britton, and Dalton made it on. We have some great video footage of it. This ride goes from 0 to 80 mph in just a few seconds. It shoots straight up into the air, then back down. It is a rush just to watch it! We found out that it had been down for 31/2 months and this was the first day it had even ran, so we felt lucky to have even been on it.

After Knott's Berry, we went to Cheesecake Factory for Mykelle's birthday dinner.

Saturday morning, we slept in, cleaned up, packed and came home. It was a fun weekend!

Palo's Blessing

2009-03-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

How can you not love a face like that???!!!! I am totally prejudiced and in love with this little girl! I just adore her! She was so sweet on her big day.
We had so many people there in support of her! I'll bet we fed 50-60 people. They were all over in the front living room, great room, kitchen, upstairs and back yard. It was a beautiful sunny day filled with lots of family, friends and food. Good thing the Tupe's were cooking-- YUMMY!!
It was so cute to see this little girl in the giant arms of her Tupe uncle's! So sweet!! They all just loved her!
We were grateful for our family's support as well--even though we were clearly outnumbered! We can still eat and party with the best of them!

Changing Seasons-- Ball Seasons

2009-03-10T13:09:00.000-07:00

Basketball season is now over and we are on to baseball. Kameron and Kallan played basketball and had great seasons. Britton is the only one playing baseball and tryouts were yesterday for Major League, so we should know today or tomorrow if he made it. We sure love watching the kids play ball!

Dad's, Scouts & Cakes

2009-03-10T12:52:00.000-07:00

Why is it that everything always falls on the same day around here? This year the Blue & Gold Banquet was on the night of my "Stickman Class." I was really staying pretty calm, all things considered. We baked the cakes the night before and I frosted them-- Kameron's white, Britton's yellow. Britton wanted to make a spongebob cake and Kameron wanted to make his favorite book. After a run to Hursts for some cake supplies, we had about one hour to pull off TWO cakes. I thought we did pretty good, all things considered. I didn't get a picture of Britton's cake because he took it over to the church before I got my camera out. I hope someone in the ward has a shot of it because it was cute and he did it all himself with some fondant and edible markers. He made spongebob's face. Kameron had a little more help from mom and dad. I rolled and cut the fondant, Paul drew the picture, Kameron "painted" the book cover red with some red water since I couldn't find any red fondant. Personally, I thought they both turned out cute.

They had a good time at the dinner. Kameron got his Wolf award. He has been waiting for it for a long time. He tried to become a Wolf in one week. ;o) Hope he keeps up his enthusiasm.

Britton got a lot of activity pins and they both got some belt loops. You have to love scouting!

Paul's 46th Birthday

2009-03-10T12:43:00.000-07:00

Paul celebrated his birthday just the way he wanted-- on a quiet Sunday with his family gathered around. It was fun to have all the kids home and be together. I couldn't convince anyone to wrap his presents nicely. This is what I got-- The biggest box they could find to hold his clothes with a newspaper taped to the top. Well, they did wrap a couple of things separate-- rolled them up in newspaper. You can call this frugal OR just plain old white trash!

The funny part is that I asked Paul for some money to go get him something for his birthday and he handed me the Kohl's card his mother had given him for Christmas. So essentially he got his Christmas for his birthday. Now THAT is a trick in frugality! ;o) Just so you know, I did spent a chunk extra to get more clothes since he REALLY needs some. But his mom did get a kick out of us using her Christmas for his birthday.

Jr Prom

2009-03-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of shots of Jadon & Natalee Hunt for Jr Prom. Our kids grew up next to the Hunt's, so it was fun for him to ask Natalee to the dance since they had grown up playing together. They looked so cute and had a blast! That's what friends are for!

Jadon's Concert

2009-02-14T09:01:00.000-08:00

Last night Jadon sang at the tabernacle. It was his vocal coach, Brodie Perry's, concert. Jadon sang one number, and by our prejudiced opinion, stole the show! Here is the video. I need to preface by saying that the reason for the opening comments is that Jadon went to the mic and had to raise it because he is quite a bit taller than Brodie. Jadon said, "I'm a little taller than Brodie, so I have to raise this up" sort of a comment and everyone was laughing. That's why Brodie commented about his lesson coming up.

Since I can't figure out how to post it on here yet, here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU8eHJ01yA0&feature=channel_page

Homemade Yogurt

2009-02-10T07:02:00.000-08:00

I have found a new and exciting trick-- Homemade Yogurt. I guess it was taught in our Enrichment meeting in November when I missed, but Annette Bashford took it on and learned how to do it. I went over the other day for a taste and a lesson. I will tell you it is SOOO good and very easy! It is a great way to use your food storage. My family just loves it! I have had fun playing with different flavors. The vanilla is really good. I also like the banana with some bananas sliced in it. I really want to try a vanilla bean, just because it sounds good. When you freeze it, it is like golden spoon yogurt. So Fun!!

Here's the recipe:

20 Cups Hot Tap Water
5 Cups Powdered Milk (from cannery-- not Morning Moo's)
4 Cups Sugar
1 Cup Start (use Dannon Plain Yogurt-- or borrow someone's start)
2 tsp. Vanilla
Flavorings-- (I use oil flavorings that I got at Leavitt's Magic Mill and/or Hursts.)

6 quart jars & 1 pint jar

Place start on counter to bring to room temperature.
Put hot water in large stock pan. Put on stove and turn on heat. Add powdered milk and mix with electric hand mixer. Add sugar and whisk in. Put thermometer in pan and begin heating to 180 degrees. I stir constantly so it doesn't burn on bottom. When temperature reaches 180, turn oven off and leave it too cool. Do not touch it until it cools to 115 Degrees. It takes 1 1/2 hours to cool to temperature. Yep! Just let it sit.

When it cools to 115, add vanilla and start. Mix thoroughly with whisk. Pour into clean quart jars. When in jars, add flavorings and colorings if desired. Put lid and ring on, then place in "incubator." (My incubator is a styrofoam ice chest with a polar fleece blanket (1 3/4 yards).) Place bottles in incubator and cover with fleece, then place lid on top. Let sit for 7-9 hours. (If you make this around 8 pm at night, you can have it in the incubator by 10 pm and can wake up and put it in the fridge.
After it has processed for 7-9 hours, take out of incubator and put in fridge to chill 3-4 hours. Drain off liquid before serving. You can put it in little Glad 4 oz storage containers for individual servings. They can be placed back in the fridge or frozen. They make great little snacks for school lunch. The frozen ones defrost to just right by lunch time.
You can also add fresh fruit to the bottom of your container, then add the yogurt on top. Bottled fruit or jams are great to put in the bottom and then mix in, as well as fresh fruit. They are so yummy and easy.

The pint jar is to be used for your next start, so don't eat out of that one and make sure no one else does!

Tip: If you are using lemon flavoring, it is really strong. You only need about 3 drops. The peach, strawberry, and banana all need about 8-9 drops of flavoring. We just tried strawberry/banana with 4 drops of each, so we'll know how it is by tomorrow. I'm going to go get some other new flavors as well. (The strawberry banana is good. If mixing flavors add 3-4 drops of each flavor.)

Try it! You'll like it! The milk is fat free and it only costs 50 cents a QUART!!! How can you beat that??!! Plus, you get to use your food storage! Now we can survive off wheat bread AND yogurt! Isn't that a plus??!!

Update

2009-02-10T06:56:00.000-08:00

Here is just a little update on the family. We have really just been busy with school and work. Our Exfuze business is growing so rapidly. We have over 160 people in our group right now and we are working hard to help them all create some great income. The counter top business is actually still busy for right now. We feel so blessed to even have work. We're not sure what will happen next month, but for now, we are glad to have what we do.

Jadon is working on his Eagle project. He will also be singing a lot this week. He sings the national anthem at the basketball game on Wednesday. He has competition on Thursday and will be singing in the concert with Brodie Perry at the Tabernacle at 7:00 pm on Friday. Saturday is Jr. Prom. It is also our Stake Conference.

I am also trying to help Britton with the history fair. I've also started on Grad nite. Needless to say, I am running very ragged right now. Trying to keep my brain about me.

Paul's birthday is Sunday, so we will have a nice dinner. It will be the perfect day for him just to have his family gathered around.

The Greatest Gift

2009-01-23T21:21:00.000-08:00

We received the Greatest Gift on the 21st. A sweet granddaughter was born to Whitnee & Misi. Her name is Palo. She is named after Misi's great great great grandmother who was a Princess to the King in Samoa. I think she is so beautiful! But I guess all grandma's think their baby is the best!!

Whitnee did such a good job in delivery. (Thank you epidural!) It made all of our experience great. I have never seen such a tender and sweet husband and father as Misi. He is so kind and sweet in taking care of Whitnee and he just adores this little girl! I can tell you that NO ONE will mess with her! We do not want to face her dad!!

Everyone in our house is pretty excited. Paul and I are still having a little trouble with our new titles, but LOVE having this little sweetie around!

One of the most tender experiences was seeing Grandma and Grandpa Frei with her. I don't think I've seen Grandpa smile that big and for such a long time. You couldn't wipe the smile off his face. Whitnee wanted her dressed in purple just for Grandma Frei. It was so cute because Grandma was dressed in purple, too. It isn't very often that you have a 5th generation with BOTH grandparents! It was so touching!

Whit is pretty sore. She hurt her tailbone in delivery, so she is not moving very fast. She's doing better today, but we can't miss painkillers. She is such a cute mom. She is so good with her and is going to be a great mom.

We are having a hard time not taking a thousand pictures. They are just so darn cute when they are this tiny.

You can read about all the details on Whitnee's blog.

Christmas

2008-12-31T21:01:00.000-08:00

We had such a great Christmas! Our family was in charge of the Christmas Eve Program, so that added a little fun to the holidays. It turned out pretty good, I think. Jadon and Wes were missionaries at Rockefeller Center. They sang I'll be Home For Christmas and Jadon sang Mary Did you Know at the end.

We were able to help a family for Christmas this year that turned out to be a neat experience. We Just had a great time having everyone home for Christmas. We know it may not last very long, so we treasure those moments. All the kids slept in the game room. I guess it was quite the fun!
We had a friend of Amanda's here, too, to experience a real American Christmas. She was sure sweet.

A touch of snow made it quite the Christmas this year!

How to Create a Password

2008-12-30T17:05:00.000-08:00

Kameron was playing a game on the computer and needed a password. The instructions said that it needed to be 5 characters long. After being frustrated that it wasn't working, Paul came over to help him out. The problem was that his 5 characters just weren't working. Here are the 5 characters: Sleepy Fish, Big Bubbles, Magic Cheetah, Hyper Skunk, and Jumping Cheetah.

Yes, we are still laughing. But now you all know how to create a really good password!

An amazing week in SLC

2008-12-15T15:25:00.001-08:00

This weekend has been a glorious gift from God! I have witnessed God's hand in so much this weekend. The spirit has been so strong and I feel so blessed! I thought my heart would burst with joy.

I actually came up to SLC Thursday afternoon. The kids came up early on Thursday and had been singing at a few places before I arrived. I met them at the hotel, then went with them to sing at the Department of Transportation which was actually down by Mykelle's apartment. Following that, we went to a concert called "The Soul Messiah." It is was an upbeat "gospel" version of "The Messiah." The conductor for it was a guy named B. Murphy who sang with "the Platters." It was upbeat and fun.

Hartvigson School for the Disabled

2008-12-15T15:13:00.000-08:00

Friday morning, we boarded the bus and headed to the Hartvigson School which is a school for severely disabled kids. Mr. Reimer told the kids to watch in the audience for someone they could go say "hi" to after their performance. At the end of the 3rd song, "Sleep Little Jesus Boy," I noticed Jadon and Jared wiping away some tears. The words were touching and as the kids thought of them and looked out, they were touched. During the song, "December Child," Jenny Lee started to cry. She sobbed through the whole song. There are some words in that song that are something like, "the world laughs and makes fun of you Lord, and they laugh and make fun of me, too." I imagine that when you are thinking of those words and looking out into these faces of kids who have been through that, then you can feel the spirit of what was happening.After the performance, the kids went out and talked to some of the kids there. We found out that they were preparing for a prom that day and that they were teaching the boys to ask the girls. They said that the boys were all nervous. It was so cute and sweet to see what was happening there. There was a neat spirit knowing that they lifted them up that day.

RS Building

2008-12-15T14:51:00.000-08:00

We were through a little early, so I called to see if we could get into the RS Building a so Jadon could practice his "Mary" song. Sis. Dalton's secretary, Amanda, said that would be fine. As we went into the building, there was such a neat spirit there. It was this beautiful building. It felt like the celestial room in our temple. One of the workers there said to me, "They don't let just anybody play this piano. You must be special." As the group started practicing, the music just permeated the walls and filled the building. It was soo pretty. The choir ran through a couple of songs, then Jadon went over to the piano to practice his song. Just as he started, Sis. Dalton came down the stairs and into the room. She gave me a big hug and had tears in her eyes. She went over to the kids and said that they could hear the music all the way upstairs and it was so beautiful. Also entering the room was some of the secretary's and workers in the building. Then came in Sis. Thompson and Sis. Allred, counselors in the RS General Presidency. While the others were entering the room, Sis. Dalton went to each of the moms and started shaking their hand and talking to them. She went to Julie Wiest first and Julie was just in tears. I'm not sure what she said, but Julie was touched.

I had Sis Dalton get all the ladies to sit in front of the choir. We parents hung to the back. Sis. Dalton introduced Sis. Allred and Thompson to the kids. Then they began to sing. I think Cierra Beers cried through the whole performance. After a couple of songs, Jadon came up to sing "Mary Did You Know." I could tell he was a little emotional and to top it off, Adam had never played the song and Jadon hadn't practiced with him. Mr. Reimer was over at the piano trying to follow the music and show Adam where to go. Jadon was singing beautifully, but I could tell he was a little emotional. He cracked a little on the really high note because of it, but it was still good. After his song, Sis. Allred said, "I just have to tell you this story. I had three grandbabies born in December. One on the 22nd. I had bought the books for my kids with that story. We read the story and were all in tears when we read the part about "kissing the face of God." I just want you to know that that song is really special to me and you sang it so beautifully. Thank you." Of course, I was crying and thought that I was glad she didn't say anything before he sang!
The kids sang a few more songs and the sisters were just loving them. When they finished Sis. Dalton stood and had the kids applaud their parents. Then she mentioned Mr. Reimer and how she noticed that he wanted the kids in the spotlight and would move to the side so they could be seen. She said that she could tell he cared more for the kids than for his own recognition. She said that Christ was that way and was grateful for his humility. She went around the room showing gratitude. Then she asked Sis Allred and Sis. Thompson to say something to the kids.

Sis. Allred bore her testimony of the Savior and how these kids had brought such a sweet spirit. She was grateful that they were sharing the message of Christ and His birth to others. She was grateful for this wonderful time of year to remember the real reason for Christmas.

Sis. Thompson was so cute! She told the kids that she didn't want to come to work that morning. She said that the work they were doing right now was a lot of writing and it just didn't sound too fun. She said that she was so glad that she came to work that day and now she knew why she came. She also told them that they had a wonderful gift that not many had. She said that singing was not one of her "gifts." That she was allowed to sing at Girls Camp and in the shower, but her family asked her to keep her "gift" to herself. She then bore her testimony of the Savior.

Then Sis. Dalton spoke to them. She told them that they were such beautiful singers. She had them turn and look at a picture behind them that had angels descending in it. She said that that picture reminded her of them because she knew that they were not singing alone. She said that the angels were singing with them and that as they sang of Christ that the angels would always attend and sing with them. She could hear their singing all the way upstairs.

She then told the kids that they were truly a Royal Generation and were saved for this time. She said that this was time for the youth of the church to Arise and Shine. She told about the celebration video that they just produced with 42,000 kids. She asked them if they had heard that there was a new value out. It was the value called "Virtue" and the color would be gold. She said, "Young men! You are not off the hook either, because YOU are the guardians of Virtue. You are to protect and guard the virtue of these young women."

She told them about the 3 things they were committing the youth to. "To arise and shine, we are asking all the youth to first, say their prayers morning and night. Will you commit to that?" She said, "I committed Sis. Webster to this last month." Then she gave me the thumbs up sign. I gave the thumbs up back. Then she took her finger and pointed to the kids and began to move around the room to see if they had their hands raised. She turned and looked at the ladies seated and watching. No one had their hands up and she looked at them and was trying to get them to raise their hands and commit. They were like, "OHHH!!" and hurried and raised their hands. She circled past all the parents to make sure we had our hands up, too. Then she said, "the 2nd thing is to read 5 minutes from the Book of Mormon every day." She went around the room again for commitment. "The 3rd thing we are asking is that you smile everyday." At this point, I was trying to delete old pictures off my camera because the card had filled and I wanted to get as many pictures of the kids and her as I could, so I wasn't paying great attention. But heard some giggling and Sis Dalton say, "Whose dad is this??!!" Mike Stanley raises his hand, bows his head and covers his eyes. Sis. Dalton said to him, "will you please watch your dad and help him with this one!" It was funny because his dad is constantly cracking jokes and is smiling ALL the time. He is a real character. So we were all laughing. Following their commitment, Sis Dalton told them that they need to be better. She said, "I can tell that you are probably all perfect, but we need you to be better-- to be the BEST and to rise above the world." She said that they had given her the sweetest Christmas gift-- One she would always remember. She quoted the poem that is something to the effect of "if I were a shepherd, I'd give him a lamb....... I'll give Him a gift. I'll give Him my heart." She said that she was giving her heart to them as a gift. She also had made book marks for them. On one side it said "100%" On the other it had a picture of someone running (think street sign figures here) and arrow facing right and then a temple. She wanted them to hurry or hasten to the temple. She then bore her testimony of the Savior.

Following her talking, all the ladies got up and Sis. Thompson and Allred shook the kids' hands. Sis Dalton went through and hugged EACH kid. She went back to the parents and visited with Mr. Reimer, too. At some point, (I think when they were singing a song she had missed), she stood by me and said that she loved Jadon's song and that you could feel the purity of him coming through. I was in tears as she spoke. I told her that if she ever needed a singer, to call us. When everyone was clearing out, she went up to Jadon and gave him a hug. She told him what she had said to me, that she could feel his purity and goodness that comes from within. He had tears in his eyes and she hugged him. She said to him, "it's time for our youth to Arise and Shine. Can't you just feel it? It's time to step up and be better and prepare for something big!" I looked at her and said, "Christ's coming." I can't remember her acknowledgment of that (meaning if she nodded or commented), just that an understanding passed between us.

We finally cleared out. The others had headed to the bus and Mr. Reimer had said before he left that the bus would be right outside the building. Jadon and I walked out and sat on the bench. I put my arm around him and commented on what she had told him. He said, "Mom. I just don't want this to end. This feels so wonderful." I told him that now he knows what it feels like, he can create more opportunities just like this.

Primary Children's

2008-12-15T06:50:00.000-08:00

We were now running a little late-- mostly because we didn't know how to get to Primary Children's. We found it, and hurried out of the bus. The kids set up right inside the front doors and the miracles just kept coming. The location inside the door is right by the cafeteria. The reception desk and ER admitting was right there, too. There were a lot of people moving in and out. Right in the beginning and boy in a wheelchair came up with his mom and two brothers. I moved and gave them our seats right in front of the choir. This family sat there the whole time and were SO attentive. They clapped after each song.Shortly after this, I looked over and saw Ellie Wiest talking to a girl. It happened to be Brandy Phillips who is in her ward. Brandy is a 16 yr old and SCHS and has Hodgkins. She had just finished up chemo treatments and was headed home with her mom and dad. Ellie got to talk to her for a few minutes as they listened to the kids sing. What a treat to be able to sing to their friend.
A while later a mom came through with a toddler in a wagon and watched for a few minutes. Then a lady in pajamas and in a wheelchair came and watched.
During the last song, and boy in a wheelchair was pulled up right by me. His mom was next to me and I assume and hospital worker was on the other side. This sweetheart had a shaved head with a big horseshoe shaped cut and stitches on the side of his head. He looked a little down. They had gotten there right at the end of the song. Mr. Reimer had thanked everyone and told them that was our last song. I turned to them and said, "Oh darn! You just got here!" The lady looked disappointed. So I went over to Mr. Reimer and said, "this young man just got here. Can you sing a song for him?" He came over to the boy and asked if he had a favorite song. He shook his head and said "not really." Someone by him said, "sing him something cheerful." So Mr. Reimer went over to the choir and told them that they were going to sing to the boy. The whole choir turned toward him and sang "Joy to the World." Part way through the song, the boy's dad walked in. The mom said to him, pointing at the choir, "they are singing to him!" The dad looked at her, then moved to the side. You know when you catch a moment when no words pass, but you can just feel what they were saying to each other-- an understanding passed between them. I moved to the side to get a picture of the whole scene and as I did, I could see through the camera, this lady next to the mom look at her-- again with no words but something passing between them that said, "this is for you and everything is going to be okay." She put her arm around the mom, and the mom touched her hand on her shoulder. (You'll be proud-- I got that picture.) I was just in tears AGAIN!! Following the song, the kids went up to talk to both boys in a wheelchair. The last boy I found out was Nathan. He had had a seizure and when he got to Primary Children's found out that he had a brain tumor. They had operated and removed it and he was just going home. The other little hispanic boy that was there at the beginning was Jesus. He was 10 years old and his brothers were 11 & 4. The kids talked to him. Jadon asked him if he liked it. He said he did. I'm telling you. It was just SO touching!!

And I forgot to mention, that the Jazz Dancers walked through and so did Memot Okur. I didn't see him because I was busy watching the others. But Jared Radmall saw him and said he wanted to run out and talk to him!

While we were waiting for the bus, the kids just could not refuse a snowball fight! Yep! Here they are in tuxes and dresses and snow! You just can't refuse snow when it is sitting at your feet and you have a little extra time!

Afternoon & Evening with Madrigals

2008-12-15T06:41:00.001-08:00

Lunch
We left Primary Children's and while waiting for the bus, the kids had a big snowball fight. Yep, in dresses and tuxes. Quite the scene. We ate lunch at "The Pie" on University Campus. And I have to tell you, it is REALLY good pizza!

Following lunch, the kids had about 45 minutes of free time before reporting to the Assembly Hall for practice. I wandered with Julie Wiest and Kristen Risener. It was chilly, so we walked to the North Visitors center to visit. As we were walking, Kristen was telling us that she was called as the Stake Camp Director and she was having trouble getting a counselor on board with her. She said that she saw this iron rod idea on the internet that had a "Hold On" song with it. I chuckled and said, "that was ours." She said, "What?" I said, "that was the song I wrote when we did the iron rod." Needless to say, she had a lot of questions, so I told her all about it. Another cool thing happened as we were walking to the visitors center. Over the sound system, we heard, "And it came to pass that in those days, there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed......" There was a big nativity between the North Visitors Center and the Tabernacle. Julie hollered, "Hey wait a minute!" We all stopped. She said, "That's my dad!' It turns out that her dad had recorded a lot of things for the church before he passed away. I thought that was a neat tender mercy. Probably just to let her know she was being thought of!

Afternoon & Evening
As we arrived in the Assembly Hall, the kids were practicing some songs. They had ended a song and a gentleman stood up, clapping, and yelled, "BRAVO! BRAVO!" We found out later that this was the composer of the song. He was Clay Christiansen the organist for the tabernacle choir and that was the arrangement he had written. He told the kids that they had sung it so beautifully.

Also seated in the Assembly Hall was B. Murphy who had conducted the choir the night before. He went up the kids when they were done and talked to them and took pictures with them.Following rehearsal, they sang in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Boy is that a pretty place??!!

Then they headed to the South Visitor Center. They had the most beautiful backdrop to sing with. (Actually it was to their side) but it had these HUGE glass windows that looked out at the temple. The temple was lit up and so were all the lights on the trees. It was the most picturesque setting! During the last song, the boys just started laughing. I was trying to figure out what had happened. I later found out that one of the boys sang, "Do you see what I hear?" Mr. Reimer mouthed to them, "For The LOVE!" because he had lectured them earlier on the bus about singing the right words because Jadon had sung the wrong ones earlier in the day.
We had a few minutes to wait until the last concert in the Assembly Hall. Jadon and a few of the kids decided to carol on temple square on their way to the Assembly Hall. People honestly stopped and listened to them. It would have been better if they knew what they were singing.

When we got in the Assembly Hall, we came in just as another group was finishing. They were singing the "Hallelujah Chorus" and didn't sound very good. When we started the guy who opened asked the congregation to not take photos or videos. The kids began singing. Adam Hansen played the Organ. The kids sang their hearts out. It was a flawless performance. I thought it sounded like a mini MoTab. At the end of the performance, the gentleman who conducted went to Mr. Reimer and asked him if he knew anyone who had a camera. Mr Reimer was thinking that I was out there taking pictures and we were in trouble. Finally, after asking a couple of times, he said that someone needed to take a picture of the group. He came to the microphone and said what a great performance this was. I'll bet there's some parents out there who are proud. I think you need to get a picture of these kids." So we were able to get some pictures. (Well, I didn't because I didn't get my camera out quick enough.) As we were leaving two different people that were working there told Mr. Reimer that they weren't supposed to say anything to the groups, but said that this was the best performance they have had all year. Bear in mind they said that there were over 500 performances on Temple Square between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Isn't that cool???

Saturday
It was snowing when I left Salt Lake. I tried to hurry and get ahead of the storm. It actually snowed until just after point of the mountain, then it was clear all the way home. Very windy, though. The choir didn't leave until 1:00 pm. They stopped at SouthTowne Mall for lunch, then got back on the road at around 2:30 pm. The roads were so bad that they had to drive really slow and I think actually got stopped at one point. Jadon said there were cars off the road all the way down to Nephi. I think they were in snow until past Cedar. They didn't get home until 10:30 pm. That is 8 hours from SLC to home. Crazy!

Jadon's gift

2008-12-15T06:38:00.000-08:00

Jadon texted me Saturday on the way home from SLC and said that he has been feeling like he needed to go sing to Bro. Ence (Kenny). He was talking to kids on the bus and because Sis. Dalton had told them to share their gift, they decided that they wanted to keep singing. So I called Susan and asked if they could come and sing. We went over this afternoon and had another great experience. The gal on the violin and the guy on the cello also came. They had a small group of them come. They sang beautifully and Susan was crying and so was Kenny. The kids had tears in their eyes, too. So did Paul, Mom and I. It was pretty neat. Susan had actually asked if they could give him the Sacrament since no one had come after church. Jadon and David Allred administered to him, then they sang. Susan's daughter was crying, too. It was such a neat experience. I realized that the kids were trying to keep creating the feeling they felt that weekend. How blessed I feel to be a part of it! My camera wasn't working, so I didn't get any pictures. I wish I had some because it was so sweet.

Kameron's Concert

2008-12-15T06:26:00.000-08:00

Thursday morning before I left, Kameron mentioned that he may have a concert that night. It ended up being true and I was in SLC. Mykelle & Kallan went in support. Mykelle has some great video footage. We have been laughing so hard. Since I'm not sure if I can load the video, I will just post a picture. This picture tells you what the video was like.

Big Bang Theory and Fireplaces

2008-12-10T20:30:00.000-08:00

So I'm sitting at the computer the other night and I hear this loud BANG! I turn around and Britton is standing by the fireplace and the fireplace doors have blown open and Britton is looking a little funny. I yell, "What is going on?" Jadon walks over yelling, too, and we realize that Britton has thrown an old bic lighter (dollar store version) into the fireplace.

Now it really is funny except for the fact that I walk over there and see this huge log in there and realize that the wood could have blown out, the doors could have blown off, and the whole fireplace could have blown to bits. So I am mixed with this 'gratitude it wasn't worse,' 'I'm gonna beat this kid', and 'this is hysterical' emotional roller coaster going on. I mean really, does our family have to test EVERYTHING so we can pass on "what not to do when raising children" information for all of you??!!

A Discussion in White Teeth

2008-12-10T20:24:00.000-08:00

The other day Mykelle, Whitnee, and I picked up Kallan from school. We were waiting for Amanda to come out and somehow there began a discussion about teeth whitening. Kallan made some comment about the Chinese not having white teeth, then he said, "what are they smoking over there? Cabbage?"

I thought we were going to die laughing. Really! Cabbage?? Where in the world did that come from? So now we all say, "What're you smoking, cabbage?"

Now you can all share the phrase with us.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-03T08:51:00.000-08:00

We had such a fun Thanksgiving! It has been a long time since we have been all together with the Whipple's. We were able to have a great dinner and get to visit. I think I had more fun looking at all the kids and just marveling at how they were so close in resemblance to this parent or that. It was just so enjoyable and joyful!

Believe it or not, I was so on top of things that I got to go watch the "Turkey Bowl" for a few minutes and shoot some pictures. They had a lot of fun. Misi was running for touchdowns. Wes had a couple of interceptions (this was all during the time that I saw so I don't know about the second half stuff). Brady had a nice reception and ran backwards for a few yards until he realized that no one had pulled his flags. Even Jadon and Kallan had a couple of nice plays. Paul was right in the thick of things as usual. What fun!

We also had fun with the basketball game at the church that night. Let me just tell you there were a lot of sore people by the next morning! Enjoy some pictures from each of the events of the day.

Beauty & The Beast

2008-12-03T06:59:00.001-08:00

If you missed this play, you missed a GREAT one! The kids did such an amazing job. Everyone we talked thought this was the best play they have done at Snow Canyon. Each character did such a great job-- they were ALL stars!! Enjoy some pictures.

Corfu, Greece

2008-11-14T03:30:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning with a fever and feeling rather warm. I got up about 7:30 am and went upstairs and walked around the top deck. I did a mile walk. It was awfully pretty in the morning. I think it was Greece on one side and different islands on the other. I had a good walk, then came back down to the room. Paul woke up about 9:30 am, then we headed down to breakfast. We didn’t dock in Corfu until 12:30 pm or so. Our tour left at 1:00 pm
Corfu is another Grecian island located off the western coast of Greece and Albania. It is a prettier island with a lot more greenery. The houses and buildings are more of look of Venice as the building style and color is similar to Venice.
First we went to a old home that was once owned by someone I can’t remember, but is now owned by the government. It was a pretty home– large for the time period, even for now, I suppose. The view was really beautiful.
From there we went to the main part of town. We walked through the streets and went into one of the churches there. It was pretty interesting. After that we wandered through the streets into different shops. We stopped at a little café and had a gyros sandwich (pronounced "yee rows"). It was pretty good. There was a cute little fruitstand there. Well, actually it is a marketplace where there is a lot of stuff for sale. Interesting and fun. The streets are very narrow.
We came back on the ship and Paul wanted an ice cream, so we headed upstairs. I had a little salad. Sheldon and Carma were there having a burger and a salad. Joni and Eric showed up, so we had a snack and a fun visit with all of them. We came back to the room and I started chilling and fevering. I sent Paul to dinner without me. Sheldon had some oil, so he and Paul were able to give me a blessing, which helped.
We are glad to be headed home, I think.
Tomorrow we will be at sea, headed back to Venice for flights home.

Santorini, Greece Day 5

2008-11-12T23:55:00.000-08:00

I woke up at 6:30 am this morning. Partly from this nasty cold I started in on a few days ago. I looked out the window to see where we were at. I saw these sheer cliff walls and what looked like snow on top. As I looked closer, I noticed they were HOUSES, not snow. WOWEE!
What I learned today is that Santorini is one of the Greek Islands– probably the most expensive real estate in Europe. It is actually the top edge of a volcanic crater– the center of the crater under water. The water is so deep by the sheer cliff walls, that the ship has to anchor further away and tender boats take you from the ship to the island. There is one spot on the island where cars can come down to the shore– that is where they took us. On the way home, you can either take a cable car (like a ski lift), ride the donkeys, or walk down the steps leading down the cliff walls. The towns on Santorini are built on top of the cliffs or crater top. It is all volcanic soil–lava rock, pumice stone, etc. There is hardly anything green growing due to lack of water. They catch water in cisterns during the rainy months and rely on the fog that settles on the city almost everyday for the moisture to soak into the pumice that holds the moisture so well. Their electricity is generated from diesel fuel generators. All their food and products are imported. They do grow grapes, tomatoes, and one other thing I can’t think of right now.
The homes are built right inside the volcano wall. They just cut out some space and put a door over the front of the opening. There are quite a few homes on top that are normal homes. Almost all homes are white stucco with blue roofs. There were a few places that were a light yellow/cream color, a light peach color, and even a couple of light blue. It is 98% Greek Orthodox and 2% Roman Catholic. Almost every family builds their own church if they have the property. In the town of Profit (population 240) there are 40 churches. All churches are white with blue roofs. The blue symbolizes the sky or the place in which God lives. Their main industry is tourism, of course. The wind blows all the time. It was an interesting place. Very beautiful in some respects, but rather bland in others– with no greenery. I don’t think we saw any grass, for example.
We visited the city of La which is on the tip of the island. There were some beautiful homes there and a gorgeous view. Then we went to the highest point on the island for some really pretty pictures and an amazing view of the island and those surrounding it. We stopped at a restaurant for an appetizer plate of Greek foods. Some were good, some were not so good. They had these pitchers on the table of what looked like apple or white grape juice. We were a little scared to try it. Some guy took a sip and told us it was apple juice, so Joni tried it, well, let’s just say it wasn’t and now she’s wondering if she needs to see the Bishop. ;o) From there we went to the main city of Fila. We shopped around a little bit, then took the cable car back home, joking about Joni’s drinking problem for the rest of the day.
I came back to the cabin and crashed. This cold is a little miserable, so I needed to try and rest it off a little bit. It helped a little. Dinner tonight was formal. I made it there, but really, I’m not hungry and don’t care if I eat. Pretty good for being on a cruise, huh? I set a goal to not gain weight on this cruise as I really can’t afford any more, so I guess I got my wish. ;o)
We get to sleep in in the morning as we won’t be to Corfu, Greece until noon. Our excursion is at 1:00 pm. Corfu is another Grecian Island, but supposedly more green and lush. It is also a much bigger island. Should be a fun day, then it will be at sea and back home. Truthfully, I am right about to the time that I am ready to be home. I’m only good for 7 days max, so I’m starting to feel it. Especially when I read my note from Whit about Jadon chopping his finger nearly off and her having a bad glucose test. Although I don’t miss laundry and mopping too much, I sure miss my family.
Until tomorrow.....

Kusadasi & Ephesus Turkey Day 4

2008-11-11T09:58:00.000-08:00

Today was a wonderful day. We woke up late again as our wake up call didn’t work. We got up at 8:00 am and had to be to the excursions by 9:00 am. We hurried and ran up to breakfast. The Wittwer’s, Dalton’s, and Christensen’s were all there, so that was fun. We all finished up breakfast and headed down to the buses.
For the first part of our tour, we headed to Ephesus (correctly pronounced "eh FEH soos") (I had to think of "Festus" and " Dr. Suess"to get the sounds down) to tour the House of the Virgin Mary. This is supposedly the house where Mary, the mother of Christ lived following His death. She came here with John, the Beloved, whom Jesus said, "behold thy son....behold thy mother" to. So John took care of Mary and brought her to Ephesus. Ephesus at the time of Christ was a large city of 250,000 people and in the Roman Empire. They came because the large number of people would give them a great missionary opportunity. However, they also didn’t like Christians very much, so Mary’s home is built in the hills away from Ephesus and secluded where it would be harder to find. As a matter of fact, the story goes that a nun had a dream about this house and saw Mary and knew it was her house and where it was located. The nun lived in England or something, so she never visited, but her story was written in a book and years later someone who had read the book traveled and began looking and found this place in the exact detail as given in the book. Earthquakes and time have destroyed much of the home, but a lot of the foundation was there, so a replica was built atop the old foundation. It was pretty interesting. I really wanted to feel the spirit there, but it is a little weird when there are candles and statues and such– more like a shrine. Sis. Dalton came up to me (she was on the other tour, but saw us there) and said, "didn’t you just feel the sweetest spirit in that place?" So then I felt really bad, so I went back through and just tried to reflect on how Mary would have felt living there after seeing her son die. That was a little better for me, but I am a reflector and often feel things after I have done them and begin to reflect.
Our second stop was in the old ruins of Ephesus itself. WOW! What a place! I could have stayed there for a couple of days just wandering around there. There are so many things preserved and still being uncovered in that neat place. The library was HUGE and just Awesome! Then we got to stop in the theater (Colosseum). This is where Paul preached to the Ephesians. I stopped and sat down and read Acts 18 & 19 while there. That was REALLY cool! It was interesting trying to imagine Paul preaching to the vast number of people who were so wicked and idolatrous. They had many Gods. The one they loved in Ephesus was Artemis (or Diana, the goddess of fertility). There were a lot of statues there because of their worship of Gods. The Theater holds 24,000 people. WOW! For back in that time, huh??!! I couldn’t help but think of the Conference Center... I just loved this place.
After Ephesus, we went to lunch in a little town called Sirnce (pronounced SHA rench JAY) or something like that. It was a cute little place in the hills where they grown olives, peaches, grapes, and such. Turkey is also one of the biggest producers of figs. We had a salad that was different from ours, some olives, and eggplant something, and some really good bread for appetizers. The lunch was a lamb kabob, a chicken kabob, and couple of Turkish meatballs, some rice and french fries. For dessert they served melon and Baklava– which was really good and very rich. We were told that Baklava originated in Turkey and the Greeks stole it– kind of funny. Our guide said, "how could this be Greek? Only we produce pistachios and hazelnuts. We are the largest exporter of hazelnuts. The Greeks don’t even have them." Then she said she couldn’t talk for a minute because she was mad. She was laughing and so were we. Oh, the country rivalries. We did mention that we liked Memot Okur, just so we could get in good with the locals. A couple of people told Brian Paxman (who runs the blimp at the Jazz games) to tell Memot "hi" for them. Yep, you bet– the next time we see him, huh?? Funny!
After lunch, we visited St. John’s Basillica. This is the ruins of an old church that they said John the Beloved died at, but they could not find his body. (Go figure– he’s still around according to our scriptures, huh? AND if you go see Forgotten Carols......) Well, it was a neat place. She said that the "legend" is that John was visiting with God and He told him that he would not be here for much longer, so John dug a hold and laid in it until he died. A few days later, some apostles found the hole and a smell, but did not find John. There were supposedly some caskets uncovered, but I didn’t hear the date as I was contemplating that he was translated, so I’ll have to check Sheldon Wittwer’s notes on that and update later. Anyway, the ruins were still pretty cool and they looked out toward the old city of Ephesus and toward the hill where the House of the Virgin Mary is, and also toward the Mediterranean Sea.
After this stop, we went back to Kusadasi (pronounced "Koosh A dawsee") and went to a store where they make carpets. We watched how they grow the silk worms, then kill them, then spin the silk. There is one mile of silk in each cocoon. He showed us the various natural dyes that they use to color with. I was pretty tickled to see our good old red root among them, as well as saffron, indigo, daffodils, and even rock salt. Then we saw the lady who was tying knots and creating a rug. WOW! What a process. We could have bought a rug really "cheap." You know, they are on sale since we are one of the last boats of the season and they are trying to get rid of stock. One couple bought a 4x6 rug for $1,100 and they threw in three purses, too. Yep, we have to get blinds first. But it was fun to know that Turkey is the capital of the world for handmade rugs. Pretty neat.
Now we are back. Paul is up on deck getting photos of the port and eating ice cream. He hasn’t come back since I started typing, so I assume he found someone to visit with. We will go to the show at 8:15 pm, then to our 9:00 dinner.
Tomorrow we are in Greece......until then.......

Picture 1: Library in Ephesus

Picture 2: Theater in Ephesus

Picture 3: House of Virgin Mary side view

Picture 4: Roman Latrines-- they were only for the men-- a 42 holer

At Sea Day 3

2008-11-11T09:54:00.000-08:00

Today we were at sea so it was one of those sleep-in relaxing days. We actually didn’t wake up until 9:30 am and had to race to get to breakfast. After breakfast, we came back to the room. Paul started to read and fell asleep for a couple of hours. I started typing–working on my book and on the blog. About 2:00 pm, I finally woke Paul up. We called the Wittwer’s and met them on Deck 9 for a round of miniature golf. We were laughing so hard Paul couldn’t quit crying. Of course, I have mini-golfed about twice in my life, so I was taking several strokes per hole. About hole four I started to show some improvement and Sheldon complimented me about my improvement for having never played. The next hole, Paul and Sheldon were saying that we needed to hit it a little harder, so I did and banked the ball off the wall for a hole in one. It got a lot funnier from there. We had balls jump a few of the greens for a great set up two holes later. Paul actually got a hole in one, then about 15 strokes on the next hole. Needless to say, we were laughing pretty hard by the time we got done. One of those "guess you had to be there" moments.
After golf, we went and had a snack. Paul, Sheldon & Carma had a hamburger and fries. I had fries and a salad. Bro. & Sis. Dalton came up and she had fries and an ice cream, so we all felt a little better after that. We sat and visited for a long time. Sis Dalton shared some exciting news coming up for the YW and YM. They just finished filming a video on Thursday night before we came that is for the youth. She said the video will be out for New Year’s, so we are looking forward to it. She told us that they are challenging the youth to commit to 3 things– and Sis. Dalton made us all commit if she told us–Here it is, so I hope you are ready to commit, too:
1. Say your morning and evening prayers everyday.
2. Read from the scriptures for 5 minutes everyday.
3. Smile everyday.
She talked about the youth and the great strength that they have. We visited about Costa Rica and had such a neat discussion with all of them. The Christensen’s (Joni & Eric from St. George) came walking up and they sat down and shared with us, too. They told us about their experience and call as missionaries as a young couple with two kids. Then she got pregnant just after they entered the mission field. They served in Adam-ondi-ahman. It was a really neat story– and funny, too, when she told about wearing a Missionary Badge and being pregnant– all the looks and the stares and stories. Pretty funny!! She said her brother told his wife on their first date that his sister got pregnant by another missionary. Isn’t that a crack up??!! Anyway, it ended up being a really spiritual and neat evening.
Because we were out on the deck, we were freezing, so we all ran back to our cabins and got in the hot showers to warm up and head to dinner. It was formal night. Which means we wore what we could find from our kids’ weddings. ;o)
I was pretty tired, so I crashed. The waters started getting rough while we were on deck and it was a little rocky all night. I woke up in the middle of the night listening to the wind and feeling the rocking. I had to peek out the window just for fun.
It was a great and relaxing day.

Dubrovnik, Croatia Day 2

2008-11-10T03:08:00.000-08:00

We didn’t get to bed until midnight last night. We have the late dinner–9:00 pm. Following dinner, we found Dan & Dusty Hawk as well as several other friends. Paul sat and chatted with Dan and Dusty for a while–just laughing his head off at them and reminiscing. After dinner I came back and wrote about our day– thus the late night. Paul found a football game on and watched it, but I didn’t know that until today– I was out cold!

I slept like a log and when I woke up, I noticed the sun was up and so was Paul. I looked at him and asked what time it was– 9:30!!! I jumped out of bed and raced to get ready as our tour started at 10:30 am. When we got up on deck, I was blown away by the beautiful port we were in. Dubrovnik is a city built in the hills in the bay of the ocean. The port was surrounded by these beautiful mountains and an giant bridge off to the side of the ship. It was such a clean and beautiful looking town. All the buildings seemed a white/cream color with orange roofs–very clean and neat.

As we boarded our bus for the tour, we were taken into the old part of Dubrovnik– the city walls. This wall was built hundreds of years ago as a protection to the city. There are houses and churches inside the walls which used to be the town. The homes, businesses and churches are still occupied today and is a very bustling place. While walking the walls of the fortress, we were able to listen and talk to our guide a lot. Just as we entered the old town fort, there was a map that showed all of the destruction caused from the war that started in 1991. I asked her a lot of questions about the war. She was there during the outbreak and you could feel the pain of it in her eyes still. I knew it was important for me to understand what had happened here. She told of them going to the bomb shelters and living there for 5 or 6 days with no food, water, or power. The Bosnia-Serbian border is just miles away and the military had placed forces on the hill just above the fort while the ships in the harbor were firing on them as well. They were also being fired on from the air. The ships were blocking any humanitarian aid from getting through until finally (after five days) a Jewish group from Zagreb (the capital city) was able to get past the ships. However, all packages were gone through to take out newspapers and batteries for radios so they could keep their communication cut of and keep them in fear. It was so interesting to hear from someone who lived through it what it was like. It was hard for her to talk about it much because it is still very vivid. We also learned a lot about the history of the country. It was very interesting. Tourism is 85% of the economy in Dubrovnik, so they are very hopeful that our new president will help things out in America. (I told her that we weren’t too sure about that.) She said, "don’t tell me that! We depend on America." WOW! Do you realize how blessed we are and how the rest of the world really does depend on us in so many different ways??!! It was a big lesson for me. I was very touched by these people who have lived through a war. It made me wonder if they were the ones who, in the pre-existence, chose a "hard mission." Makes my life appear much easier. So today I am very grateful. Grateful for a good country in spite of its troubles and grateful to live where I live and for the gospel in my life!

You will love the fact that part of our tour was a "taste of the country." Our taste was at the "Wine and Bar Tavern" inside the old city. Paul and I thought, "this will be great to tell everyone that we attended the Wine Bar Tavern on Sunday." You’ll be glad to know we didn’t sample the wine, but got to taste some bread and cold cut appetizers and had a cute bottle of orange Fanta and some bottled water.

Upon returning to the ship, we took some pictures of the port, had a snack, then came to the room so I could work on this post. We read our scriptures and I started to fall asleep, so I had a cat nap. Then we got dressed and headed to dinner. We had dinner with Dan & Dusty, the Wittwer’s, Brian and Jen Paxman, and Spencer Egan. We had an enjoyable time. The entertainment tonight at 11:15 pm was an Elton John impersonator. He was good and it was fun to sing along with the fun songs that we know!

We just called the kids and got a little bit of an update. It appears Kallan and Britton lost. Kameron is still in– playing in the championships next Saturday. Jadon went up to State volleyball. He sang the National Anthem for the State game. Ticked that I missed that one!!! He said that Snow Canyon won state for a 3rd year in a row beating Dixie again (for the 3rd year in a row.) Mykelle said her team lost so they are headed to Arizona tomorrow for a Tuesday play-in game. Jadon said the primary program went well, but didn’t give details, so I’ll have to get filled in on that later. It costs us 40 cents a minute for the internet. We used Amanda’s SKYPE to call home. Just isn’t very cheap, but glad to hear voices and get back in touch.

Tomorrow we are at sea all day. Tuesday we will be in Kusadasi (Ephesus) Turkey.

Venice, Italy Day 1

2008-11-09T07:05:00.000-08:00

We left Las Vegas at 8:00 am our time on Friday. We flew to New York and had a 4 hour layover before leaving for Venice. We arrived in Venice at 9:30 am (Venice Time) which is 1:30 am our time. We boarded the buses and were driven to the ship dock. We got our room keys, put our stuff in the Conference Room, then headed out to see Venice. We were with Sheldon & Carma Wittwer, Eric & Joni Christensen, Elaine & Steve Dalton, and Bob & Stacy from Boise.

We took a water taxi from the docks to San Marco Plaza in Venice. We walked up to the plaza and looked through the shops. We then exchanged some money for Euros so we could ride the Gondolas. Six of us took a Gondola ride for a half an hour through Venice. It was so fun. The houses are very old, but it is a very clean city. There are little barnacles attached to the block near the water line. After our lovely Gondola ride, we raced back to the plaza to get some pizza and get a couple of gifts. We found a cute little shop and grabbed a little individual pizza. It was good. We then had to hurry back to catch the water taxi. We taxied back to the ship, got all loaded, participated in the Emergency Drill, then went to the top deck to get some photos of the city as we left port and sailed past. It was really pretty.

After standing on the top deck for a half and hour or so, we were freezing, so we came back and showered, then went to the evening show and to dinner. We’ve had a really fun day–a couple of hours in Venice and reacquainting ourselves with some dear friends. We are SO tired–I’m having a hard time typing.

Here are a couple of funnies, though. You know how I get sick of EVERYBODY thinking that Paul looks so young? Well, yesterday Bob asked Paul if he was Sheldon’s son.
Paul, always the comedian, say loudly while we were in the hall passing people, "Well, lets go get in our hot tub." That’s funny because the rooms are very small. The shower is about a two foot by two foot triangle shape in the corner. When you turn the shower on, it sprays the toilet. The other great thing about the shower is that the shower curtain sticks to your butt and back because there is so little room. That’s a lovely feature! (Said with my best Brian Regan refrigerator salesman voice.)

I’m cracking jokes, but actually we feel REALLY blessed. One group of 30 had to stop for a light repair and missed their connecting flights and were flown directly into Dubrovnik. There were several couples who lost their luggage. One couple REALLY lost their luggage– there was a fire in the hull of their plane and their luggage was burned. So we are feeling really blessed to be in such a great situation with a shower curtain sticking to our rears.

Tomorrow’s stop is in Dubrovnik, Croatia. We are taking a tour there. Until tomorrow’s report......Ciao!

Kameron's first place story

2008-11-07T14:33:00.000-08:00

A week or so ago Kameron was working on writing a story. He was at the counter writing and reading it to his dad. I could hear he and Paul talking about ideas as he wrote the story. I thought it was for his class and noticed he was taking his time and doing a good job. Last week he said, "Mom, can you help me type this story? I have to turn it in tomorrow." So I helped him type it up. The next morning he called me from the school and said, "Mom! I need you to come up and sign my story so they know I wrote it." He mentioned something about Reflections. I talked to the secretary and found out that he had, indeed, entered the Reflections competition all by himself.

The other day, we got a phone call telling us that we needed to be at the Assembly on Friday morning because Kameron was getting an award. Since we were leaving, we had to send Grandma Vicki and Tiffany to take pictures. I just called home and he got a first place ribbon and gets to move on. There may have been only 6 enteries, but I am so proud of him that he did it by himself. Congrats, Kam on doing such a great job and having initiative!

Perhaps I'll be able to post the story later. Signing off from the airport in New York.......

I'm leaving on a jet plane...

2008-11-06T22:20:00.001-08:00

Okay, I'm pooped and hopefully packed. We leave at 4:00 am for our trip. We seem to be missing all kinds of things-- SEP's, a surprise for Kameron that I will report on later, football games, a choir concert, the primary program, Mykelle's playoff game. Makes me wonder why I am going......but the arrangements are all made and I'm sure they will survive even though I just found out about SEP's which means they will be out early all week. Oh great! Hope to be posting soon!

Denise

Speaking of Scary......

2008-11-06T22:12:00.000-08:00

Monday night we were working at the High School on the set for the play. Paul left to his ball game and I was still at the school. When I got ready to leave, I couldn't find the keys that Kameron had taken to get in the car. Kam had left the lights on inside the car, too, and I had just had a dead battery the day before. I called Paul but didn't get an answer since he was playing ball. So I went home with Jadon. Paul called on his way home and was upset because I couldn't find the keys. He stopped by the HS on his way home and there were the keys right inside the keyhole on the door. (Who'd have thought to look there??!!) So they now could bring the ar home, but Paul was faced with no driver (with a license). So he let Kallan drive the Sequoia home. OH YEAH! That's what I mean by SCARY! Paul had him do a test drive around the parking lot. Paul said he was zooming around going a little faster than he should. Kallan said he was trying to figure out the brakes. So they headed off and Kallan honks at his dad. Paul backs up and rolls down his window. Kallan says, 'Wait! I have to put my seatbelt on." Good thing it was dark and there was not a lot of traffic on the road. As Paul drove off, he told him not to forget to use his blinker. He yelled back, "what??!!! How do I do that??!!" Ohhh, the fun!

Halloween

2008-11-06T21:56:00.000-08:00

Halloween Day started off with me running to Kmart at 8:00 am to pick up a shirt and pants for Kameron's costume. I dropped him off at school, then ran home to shower. I made it to the school Halloween parade just in time. I watched with Gavin, Lainee, Tara Landis, Brooke Ence, and Tiffany Newby. We had fun all there watching. I totally missed Britt, though. None of us saw him come through, so I went to his class after to get his picture. Preston was excited to go with me and see him.

That afternoon I went to Kallan's class play. He did a good job. Then it was home to get ready for the evening. Kallan got all dressed up and went to a party with Weston Wilson and a bunch of kids. He looked pretty darn funny. Nola said he looked like an old man.

Jadon went with Jared Radmall and Alec Bracken. They were a bunch of old women and looked pretty darn hysterical. The funny part was when they got home, their feet were aching because they were wearing Mykelle's shoes. Alec had them buckled so tight that he had a line across his ankle. Jadon was in flats and was still complaining about his feet, too. Pretty funny!

The highlight of the night was the ward Trunk or Treat party. They had a big ward bash in the cul-de-sac below the post office. They had a popcorn machine up, a cotton candy machine, hot dogs and chili, a spook alley, homemade rootbeer and lots of candy. We all brought our candy dishes and handed candy out. Britton had a full bag by the time we were done. It was fun and there were a lot of people! After that, Britton went trick-or-treating with Hunter Hammer and his family. Amanda went with them so she could experience REAL trick-or-treating. Kam was pooped and came home. They ended up with a HUGE load of candy and had a great night!!

Mykelle & Volleyball

2008-11-06T21:44:00.000-08:00

Paul and I went to SLC last Saturday for Mykelle's Sophomore day. It was fun to watch her play. Jadon was supposed to sing the National Anthem, but when we got there, the guy in charge said that he didn't find out until Saturday morning and he had already booked a guy. I was thinking, "well we came all the way from St. George. This guy could drive across town again more easily." However, it was too late, so Jadon didn't get to sing. The good news is that Mykelle got to play. After the game, the girls signed autographs in the all, then we all went to dinner and came home.

My computer isn't reading my picture card, so I will post the pictures later.

All RIGHT! THAT'S IT!

2008-10-30T10:34:00.000-07:00

As I came in from my RS visits last night, Kallan said to me, "Mom, you are getting a Grandma's Butt!" Crushed beyond measure, I quickly replied, "Well, it's about time because I'm going to be a grandma!" Can you imagine the NERVE of that kid??!!! If that's not enough incentive to start an exercise program, then I don't know what is! So I dutifully got up this morning and started back into a routine--starting small because truthfully, I am out of shape.

So in revenge, I am posting this great picture of Kallan dressing up Sunday night when I was working on Jadon's stuff. Amanda was laughing so hard! I said, "just wait till Whitnee gets here! You will never stop laughing!" Kallan is Whitnee's prodigy. When Kallan came in, someone asked him who he was supposed to be and he replied, "Whitnee in 10 years." She wasn't too thrilled with that, so on behalf of Whitnee and I, enjoy these photos of Kallan!!!

Love,
Grandma Butt

What's happening

2008-10-30T10:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, just a little more family update. I have been working feverishly on Jadon's costume and on the set at the school. I'm done with the costume, just need to finish helping on the set. Here is a sneak preview of Jadon. Before you get too excited, I only made the feet and gloves, the rest we got from Tuacahn and St. George Musical Theater. Mark your calendars for the play-- Nov. 20, 21, 22, & 24 at 7:30 pm. Britton is playing "Chip" but is double casted, so I'll have to see what nights he plays.

Paul and I will be going to SLC on Saturday to watch Mykelle play. It is Sophomore Day-- her last home game as a Sophmore besides their playoff games coming up. I will be teaching YW's on Sunday. I'm pretty excited I was asked to sub!

Paul did get a deer- -a small one. He finally has it all cut up and in the freezer.

Next Friday Paul and I will be leaving on our Midwest Floor Trip to the Mediterrarean. We start out in Venice, Italy, then sail to Croatia, Turkey, and Greece. Should be exciting and fun. If I have computer access, I will post on the blog just for fun!

The kids primary program in Sunday the 9th. Wes and Jadon are singing a harmony part with the primary for the closing song. It is SOO pretty. You're all invited to come, since Paul and I will miss it! Darn!

Pumpkin carving

2008-10-30T09:56:00.000-07:00

Sunday we had our Halloween dinner. I did spider steaks, mashed potato ghosts, orange jello, squash, carrots, orange sherbet punch, oh and pumpkin soup. It was fun. Later that evening, we carved our pumpkins. This was a first for Amanda. She had a lot of fun. What was really funny is that Kameron did not want to stick his hand in his pumpkin and clean it out. Finally, when no one else would do it, he did. As you can see in the photos, it wasn't his favorite. We did keep our pumpkin seeds and I roasted them the other night. Yummy!

Football news

2008-10-30T09:49:00.001-07:00

The boys are really doing great with football. They've all won their last two games. They have their last game this weekend, then go into the playoffs and championships. I'm not sure how they are all standing for that and will have to update that later. I did get a great shot of Britton's quarterback sack. He had 3 of them, I think. Two of them were back to back and he said he injured the quarterback on each one. ( I think he sacked one who was hurt, then they put another in and he got him, too). Whatever the story, he was proud of himself. ;o)

Kameron had his leg stepped on and jammed his thumb tackling. So he had a couple of little injuries himself.

Jadon's All State Choir

2008-10-30T09:44:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago, Jadon sang in the All State Choir. Amanda and I went up for it and it was AWESOME! The music was so fun and beautiful. Jadon was sitting right next to the organ pipes (can you see him in the center?) Of course, he said he couldn't hear anything after the organ solo. He really had such a good time, and we did, too. It was a fun weekend as it snowed up there. It was so pretty seeing everything covered in a layer of white-- then coming home to where it was warm! ;o)

Congrats to Jadon and the great job he is doing and the fun weekend!

Tagged

2008-10-30T09:36:00.001-07:00

Okay, Whitnee tagged me to put up a picture. The rules were to go to my pictures folder. Go to the 4th folder and pick out the 4th picture. So here goes....now this could be scary, because you just never know what the Webster's are storing and which person had the camera......Okay, that was very random. A photo of Mykelle playing volleyball in the summer games. But there you have it. Now I am supposed to tag 4 people, but I don't know that many bloggers. Lainee, Aubrey & Bradi, you're all I've got. Have fun!

Canning Queens

2008-10-06T07:21:00.000-07:00

I spent yesterday evening with my sweet daughter-in-law bottling peaches and pears. Grandma Vicki helped, then Amanda came in wondering what we were doing. We bottle 96 quarts of peaches and pears. We have two more boxes of peaches and pears to go, but ran out of bottles, so we'll be back in business again, soon. Amanda was so funny. She was helping peel peaches and said she felt like the picture she saw in the Lion House in SLC of the ladies gathered together working. I told her that this was her "pioneer moment" but just wait until we start making quilts for the new baby! We couldn't get anyone to take a picture of us working hard, though. Tiff and I may stack all these bottles and take a picture because we are proud of our work! The bad news is that my counter cracked from the heat of the jars last night. Interestingly enough, I cannot feel or see the crack this morning. Don't know what that means-- overnight healing??!! ;o)

Philly Temple

2008-10-06T06:21:00.000-07:00

I just had to jot a note about the excitement over the announcement of the Philly Temple. You see, when Wes first went out on his mission, the numbers for conversions were among the lowest in the states. A new Mission President came in a month later and really got things going. He told the missionaries that there was 6 million people in that city and they could find 500 to baptize. They reached that goal, then set one to double that-- 1,000. They reached that goal, too. They went from one of the lowest baptizing missions to one of the highest. Wes had told us that Pres. & Sis. Fillmore's goal was to have a temple announced in Philly before they left. They worked really hard and were even looking at property for a temple-- one spot was in downtown in an office building to be built in the style of the Manhattan Temple. Wes said that they also had property in Valley Forge. The Fillmore's were released in July of last year. The Fillmore's had no idea this temple was being announced. She told me in an email, "I was so stunned that I screamed and burst into tears and didn’t even hear the location of the 5^th Temple announced."

My heart is just so full because I know that Wes was a part of bringing those people into the gospel that made it possible for this temple to be in their midst. I have watched them work hard in that mission to have the people ready for that temple. Wes said that this will boost missionary work so much now.

I am just so excited that I had to share my joy and appreciation to the Lord for such a wonderful blessing. Hopefully this will lift the people and bring the "slums" out of their life and help them reach for something higher.

Another Britton Football Funny

2008-10-06T06:17:00.001-07:00

After Saturday's game, Paul told me that Britton said to him, "This has been a really rough year for me, but at the end of the season, I'm going to be a Master Football Player."

Another week of Football

2008-10-04T20:35:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day for football if you don't count the weather. Kallan played at 8:00 am this morning in the pouring rain the whole game. It was cold! The exciting part was that they won. The best part was how great Kallan played. He is the center and comes up against some pretty big boys. Today he was lined up against a kid who was probably a foot taller and at least 50-100 lbs bigger. Kallan was just moving him out of the way and the kid was getting mad. He spent the rest of the game wrestling Kallan, body slamming him to the ground, smashing his head into the turf, smashing his pads into the turf, wrenching his neck with a face mask. That Kallan had gotten into this kids head and he spent the whole game ticked at Kallan just trying to get him. He only got three tackles the whole game. Here's the reason why it was so great-- I found out at the end of the game that Conley Gali had told Paul that this kid had gone to Vegas recently for a weight lifting competition and had won in two areas making him the strongest 13 year old in the nation and MY boy was handling him! Guess you can't tell how proud I am of him. You can actually watch the games of Kallans online at www.ksmproductions.com. User name is warriors. Password is championship. We're excited to rewatch that one! They won 12-6, but Pine View only scored with about 30 seconds left in the game when we fumbled.

Britton's team played the other Snow Canyon team today. It was a great match going back and forth. They won by four points (2 missed conversions and a safety.) Britt did a good job today, too.

Kameron's team won as well, so we were 3 for 3 today in the positive. Kameron is playing defensive end and this week they also began playing him at center. He wasn't too thrilled at first. He came home from practice and said, "they CREAM me when I hike the ball." He actually did a great job today and did a good job blocking after the snap.

Amazing Grace-- Jadon

2008-10-04T20:24:00.001-07:00

Jadon sang Amazing Grace in Seminary the other day. It was awesome! Amanda recorded it for me. This is one of my favorite songs--version anyway. I've been waiting a long time for him to sing it. I was excited that he made it his own arrangement and added some stuff. I just LOVE listening to him sing! This is another great reason why I love being a mom!!! Great kids!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-5A34ppT40

Jadon's Homecoming

2008-10-04T20:18:00.001-07:00

Jadon is at Homecoming tonight. He wanted to take someone who might not get asked, so he took this sweet little exchange student from South Korea named Minn. She is a cute little thing and was SO excited to go on her FIRST American date! They looked really cute and were having a good time They ate at the Bracken's house and I fixed Parmesan Chicken with browned butter noodles and bruschetta. Other moms did Caesar salad, homemade French Bread, and Chocolate Mousse. I think it turned out great!