Doughnuts for Dad!

Grandpa got to get up early this morning to go with Carsten to the Middle School. It was "Doughnuts for Dad" day. It was a day to read and eat doughnuts.

They had lots of books there to read. It was a way for the school to have a reading activity with their dads or grandpas or uncles, etc. There were carts of books to choose from so they picked one and sat down to read it. When they opened the book they discovered it was a picture book that had maybe ten words in it. They made the best of it and looked at the pictures.

Of course, they did have a wonderful treat - a doughnut! Thanks Carsten, grandpa had a great time.

Labor Day Outing 2010

   Wow! What a beautiful day we had. We finally left the house around 9:50 AM and headed to the mountain. We went to Pole Creek Cave. We met up with the rest of the family in the parking area and then walked down to the cave. It was a little wetter inside than last year at this time, but it was still fun.

   We had to drag Mallory into the cave. She got to the entrance and decided she didn't want to go in. But, after we got her in and had walked a while, she settled down. Little David was scared of the dark for a while too. Then he too decided that it was ok. Most everyone had an enjoyable time.


   This was Laurel's first time doing something like this too. It was fun watching her and Courtney explore every place they could. They had a couple of big scares while they were in the cave. They swear they met up with a bat, but no one else saw it even when they tried pointing it out. The next big scare they had is when they went exploring in one of the side crevices and when they came out, they met up with some real scary people that jumped out at them.


   After being in the cave we had a picnic! Hot dogs, salad, chips and drinks. It was really fun. It wasn't too cold and not too hot. The fire was just right for roasting the dogs! Some of the big boys enjoyed shooting pistols and the kids were running everywhere having a blast. They even tried building a small log cabin that no one could fit into, but Bodie made sure it had a great doorway.


   We ended the trip up the mountain with seeing the Sinks. There were many wild raspberrys. They were delicious. The water fall was beautiful. Everyone enjoyed climbing all over everything. The hole in the mine was another fun place everyone had to go see.

Enjoy the pictures!

Story from the past.

I was going through some old papers and I found a story I had written many years ago. The writing isn't too grand and there are mistakes, but I thought some of you may enjoy it!

The Incident I’ll Never Forget!
Five A.M. Yes, it sure does come early. You probably think I am going to work at this time or something. But, no I don’t. I’m a tired teenage girl, a sophomore in high school no less.

Well, the reason I get up at this time in the morning is to go to a religion class called seminary. It is held at the church and starts at 6:15 in the morning. You know how long it takes a girl to get ready to go somewhere, and especially in the morning with she’s tired.

With two other sisters getting up at this same time to get ready, and you know all the things we girls have to do to beautify ourselves so that we just might have one or two guys look at you once in a while. Well, you really have to be organized, like taking turns in the bathroom. Putting on makeup can be quite a chore, as you have to put it on just right and to do that it take time.

About an hour after I got up I finally got my turn in the powder room. This certain day I didn’t have very much success on putting on my mascara. For some reason it just wouldn’t go on correctly. Talk about troubles! I had them then! Nothing worked.

Finally I got that over with. Time now to brush my teeth. I opened the mirror cabinet and grabbed my toothbrush. I picked up the mint toothpaste and squeezed it onto my toothbrush. Running a little bit of water on it I looked into the mirror. Being in a hurry I started to brush my teeth vigorously.

All of the sudden I felt the floor move. In my mind I thought of one word. Earthquake! For a minute I didn’t think it would be a very big one so I kept on with what I was doing. The ground was shaking even more. I could only register in my head to do one thing. So, I swallowed the mint toothpaste. It burned all the way down until it hit my stomach. And even then it still burnt. The next thing I knew, the light were out. I was so frightened that I ran to the doorway to my mom and dad’s room. From the doorway I leaped into their bed and landed between my father’s legs. I clung on to them and yelled, “Daddy I’m scared!” I hid my head in the covers. For some reason being by my dad and hiding myself into their covers I felt safe.

At the time I took a hold of daddy’s legs he was trying to get out of bed. After finally fighting me off he made it out of the door.

I followed mom out of the room and found my dad again. I took a hold of his clothing at the shoulder and hung on for dear life. He called across to the other side of the houst to my two sisters and told them to stand under a door frame. He then turned to the rest of us and told us to do the same. Soon everyone in the house was terrified and especially me. It soon quit. We asked Dad if we should still go to seminary. He told us to go.

The earthquake felt like it lasted at least three minutes. But, the news reporters on TV had told us different. It had only lasted one minute. On the ricter scale it registered 4.5. For the next two months, I was still scared. We had aftershocks that were pretty bad. This incident was one I’ll never forget. Being able to go through an earthquake like this was a terrifying experience.

A Day at the Zoo!

On Monday of this week, I went to Rockport to see the Taylors! We went to the Hogle Zoo. It was a lot of fun! We saw the elephant show and then we went over to the Bird show. It was very good. Some of the birds were very beautiful and some were very interesting. We had a great time. They even had a bald eagle. See for yourself!

Where has the time gone?

I guess it has been a while since I have posted anything. Life is just too busy!

Since the last post, the major thing that has happened is - We got this letter in the mail from the Vernal Temple Presidency. Oh No!!! Uncle Norman Angus turned our names in over a year ago for us to be temple workers. They finally decided that we should do it! So, we went to the interview and found out that Brent would start serving in the temple the first week of May, but I wouldn't start until June. We have been serving in the first shift of the day in the Vernal Temple. We have to been there and dressed for prayer meeting by 6:30 AM. (Thank goodness they took that first session away or we would have had to be there by 5:00 AM.) Anyway, we now serve together. It is a two-year calling to serve. Because I need to go back to my job in August, we will be changing our shift to the Thursday night schedule. Wow! did I mention how many things there are to learn when you serve in the temple? Lots!!!

As soon as June got here, we were tending grandchildren.  Boyd and Emmy went off to California and their children stayed here at our house. And when one family of grand kids is here, you just have to invite more so they can all play! They had a great time playing in the backyard with cousins. Of course, we also celebrated a birthday while they were here. That was fun too!

 There are many days that children can be found at our house. On one occasion, Hailey and Lily were having fun dressing up! Thanks to Laurel who supplied the princess things for them to play with.

July came, and we were still running! I enjoyed time with Shari and Mom in the first week of July. Then as the month went by, Shari and David came to visit for a weekend. That is when Shari decided I should finish some quilts that I had started a few years ago. So, we worked on it. I did the sewing, while Shari did the ironing. Then we got it partway put together! Now the problem is, should we make it for a boy or a girl? Time will tell and we will know on August 17th, so, the quilt gets set aside again! ;) But we did make good progress while we were working on it.

Then it was time for another birthday! We have lots of them! Jason and Jared's birthday was next followed by Claire, and then Bodie! All in one month. Well, needless to say, I only have pics of Bodie's birthday. I guess I was not thinking when I didn't take pictures of Jason, Jared and Claire! Here is the celebration:

Swing Set

Wow! It took five people to get this swing set standing. I couldn't find my camera while they were doing it or I would have more pictures. It was scary to watch! I tried to help them by pulling on the rope, but then I got scared and got away.

Some of the grand kids were at the house as they were working on it. It was hard to keep them back away from it. We primed and painted as fast as we could before they put it up. I don't think it is a fabulous job on painting, but at least it has some paint on it. Brent said he would just put the scaffolding up and let the girls paint it. He was being very generous, right?

Well, anyway, the kids will love it and I will love that they have something to play on. Here is a picture of the starting of a great swing set!

Break Time!

Saturday was great! I ran away from home and met up with Shari. We headed to Salt Lake City and went to the Southtowne Expo Center. We had free tickets to get in so we went. Here is where you can read about it: What a Woman Wants Show

After the show we went off shopping. It was a great day. We were shopping really fast, but we did get things done. It was a lot of fun being with Shari. We wish Tyra Lyn could have joined us, but she wasn't able to get away. Maybe next time.

Pictures of the party for Sue's Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Here's the cake, and the cute grandkids LOVING their balloons from the party! :)

Pictures from Girls Weekend!

This is the boat that Emmy REALLY wanted to see, and she accidentally hit her head on the glass because she got too close! :)

Death masks of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.

The first little hymn book! Look how small it is!


Just some homemade instruments.


Future General Primary President, Sister Tabitha Timothy practicing for her conference days!


The gold plates!!!! Emmy is in awe. ;)



I wish I would have taken some pics from dinner, but I forgot and there was TOO much going on! Hope you enjoyed all the fun pictures!

Shari

Girls Weekend!

This weekend we had a great time, but we missed you Amy! Friday night we went to Tuconos. It was a great feast. I think I had three favorites. Sirloin Tip Roast, all the drinks, and the roasted pineapple. Yum!!!

After dinner we made a quick dash to the mall for Emmy to get a couple of things she needed. Then we were going to go to the show, but the show times were not cooperating. So, we ended up at Emmy's house to watch a DVD. We had to wait a bit for Boyd to finish his movie so we just visited. When it came time to watch a DVD, Boyd told us to watch at least 10 minutes of the movie he was watching. The deal was, if we didn't want to watch it after the first 10 minutes, we could change the movie. Well, we ended up watching it all the way through. It was called "Ink Heart." It was very interestingly good. Kind of a fantasy movie.

The next morning we all got ready and headed to Salt Lake City. We then went to the LDS Church History Museum. It was really nice. They have some original paper documents of some of the revelations and some of the translations of the Book of Mormon. It was really cool to read these scriptures written this way. The exhibits were really nice. I think some of the ones I liked seeing besides the manuscripts were the large angel Moroni that came off a church in the Washington D.C. area. Also, the latter-day prophets display was really fun to see.

We had so much fun at the museum that we didn't have time to go to the home and garden show that was going on. We would have had some time if some of us didn't have to get back to Roosevelt for the adult session of stake conference. So, after seeing the museum, we went to lunch and played at the South Towne Mall. Then it was off to Sam's Club to get some needed supplies for home.

We were running a little late by the time we got back to the Orem area. Tabitha and Shari needed some things from Michael's Craft Store, so that was our final stop before we picked Laurel up from Grandma Holman's house and headed home!

It was a fun trip. Everyone is looking forward to our next Girl's Weekend! Some are hoping we can include a trip to the temple on the Saturday morning before we go have fun doing other things. I think this will add a good element to our weekend. Thanks girls! Hope everyone will be able to go next time!

Surprise!

Saturday was a big surprise. When we came home from the temple I looked around our house to see the cars that were there. Tyra's, Shari and David's, and Steven's car was there. So, I knew they were here visiting. There were more at my house then cars. They did a good job hiding the cars and dad did a good job not driving by Jared's house where all the cars were hiding. When I walked in, I soon found out there were many people in my house! Almost everyone was there! (We missed you Boyd and Emmy, and children, but we understand you weren't able to make it because of Emmy's brother's baby blessing.)

The house was decorated and everyone came out and said "surprise!" It was a great surprise! You made my special year great. (Born in 1955 and turning 55 this year!) And, you should have seen the cake Tabitha had made. It was a scrabble board!

There were things going on that day that I didn't ever pick up on. Like David stealing the scrabble game with it sitting right by me. I never saw him take it. And the night before, when I mentioned going to the temple with Shari and David early in the morning, I almost ruined their plans. Brent informed me right away that he had made arrangements for us to attend our ward session time, so I gave in and agreed to go in the middle of the day even though all our company would have to be on their own and we wouldn't be very good hosts by leaving.

In this picture, you can see one of my gifts! Do you think I will run out of 1 teaspoons again? Also, a bonus of 1/2 cup measuring cups that always seem to disappear too!

Fun! Thanks to all my children! It was a lot of fun and a great surprise!

Primary Chorister!!!

I am the Primary Chorister. Wow! What a job! The older kids that can sing won't sing most of the time. They have learned to start singing when I give them the look. I expect all the kids to sing.

I taught them the new song for January without showing them the words. I almost think they learned them way better that way. This month's song is "He Sent His Son." I talked about the scriptures that go along with the song first so they could understand the song more. Last week I finally let them sing the whole song.

This week, we are going to really buckle down and learn the words to the song. I will have them sing it and sing it until they know the words. Then next week, we can play a game as we review the song. I am hoping the Jr. Primary can learn the words really well.

I told all the primary kids that if they learn all four songs that are scheduled to learn by the end of March really well, I will bake them some cookies! It worked really well with the Sr. Primary, but not so well with the Jr. Primary. They are a little bit young.

Just wait till I let them know we are going to learn all nine verses to "Follow the Prophet!"

Our Happenings

It is snowing again! I was hoping Spring would hurry and get here, but we do need the moister. We have had snow on the ground since Thanksgiving. It has also been very cold.

Wow! I had shoulder surgery the last week of December. I now have most of my range of motion back. Still working hard to get it. Still can't lift anything over 5 pounds either. I am progressing every day.

For the last while, Brent has been in and out of Afib. He is trying to get the medication right so he won't go into afib, but his heart beat can't be too low either. At the moment he is in afib again, but we are hoping it will come out of it in a couple more days.