Carly Quotes

See..... I was never afraid of Jaws unless I was sitting on the toilet... -Carly 10/10/08

This was her reply upon being questioned if the movie "Jaws" ever scared her.

Carly's always had toilet issues. Self-flushers were the terror of her preschool life. Outhouses were the bane of her grade-school years. We almost left a ward camp-out when she was 7 because she refused to use the outhouse and Mark was afraid she'd pee in the tent.

"Rachel, that would be great if you were IMPALED"

-Carly August 2008

We were all at girls camp.  I was half asleep, but when I heard that I sat up in my cot and said "What did you say?"

She replied, "Well, I think it would be fun if she was impaled. I could wheel her around the school in a wheelchair all day"

......long pause while I consider everything that is wrong with that sentence.......

I questioned, "do you mean IMPAIRED?"

Carly: "...oooohhh! yeah, I think that's what I meant. What does impaled mean?"

And if you want to hear her singing with her "Acapella" group last week at a choirfest go to the link below. My favorite song of the three is "jericho"

http://sites.google.com/site/ljhschoirfallfestival/orem

when you click on that site, there are 3 downloads available that say Orem jr. high. The first one is a different choir but the 2nd one and 3rd ones are her choir. Let me know what you think.

cooking 101

So did you know.....

That if you whisk cornbread batter 

Really Really Really fast......

and you DON'T hold onto the bowl...

It kind of splatters ALL over the place?

Rachel Knows.     Now. 

Passing The Big windy Torch

This is Burl.  He was the most wonderful Grandpa ever.  He gave the best bear hugs.  He had the best laugh.  He gave the most touching prayers. He knew the hardware store with the best candy selection.  (you know gummy burgers and coffins full of candy bones...)  He was the Best indian bead & dinosaur bone hunting/dirt road finding/wood toy making/ adventure guide for grandkids there ever was.  I miss him.  Wish that was me in the picture but it's not.  It's my sister Jennifer.  IF I had  a scanner I could have scanned pictures of him and I from my baby book.  *sigh*  IF Mark reads this that would be a big holiday hint wouldn't it!  Anyhoo...

As far as I know Grandpa Burl coined the phrase "Big windy".

Here is an excellent definition of the Big Windy created by my very witty Brother Matthew who might, indeed, have been the inspiration for the phrase.  He put this on a shirt he made for Jacob who has been known to blow a few big stories from time to time.  The examples cited in the definition are actual big windies told by Jacob to his primary class and his 1st grade class. 

big.win.dy/big ˈwindē/

noun [Wyoming English, 20th Century]

1. A fanciful or greatly exaggerated story of considerable size, magnitude, or extent that it is often not believed by any one other than the story-teller (e.g. "my mom has a pegleg")

2. An absurd story characterized by windiness or resemblance to wind in speed, force, or variability (e.g. "my dad can catch a tiger with his bare hands.")

It seems the winds of change are blowing the Big Windy title a new direction....

A passing of the torch, if you will......

to a new purveyor of windiness

Of course we'll keep it in the family

Storytelling is in our genes

Within the last 2 weeks:

To His primary teacher:  My mom's been crying all day.  She's really sad.  She just had a baby a day and a half ago.  She had to leave her in the hospital.  We named her Rocky.  

To His Kindergarten Teacher:  My Dad died yesterday.  Teacher: "was it an accident?" Mason: "no, he just got really sick".  Teacher: "Is your mom coming to work today?"  Mason: "I think so".

To His Kindergarten Teacher:  "It's my birthday tomorrow!"  Teacher:  No, it's not, I know  you are in May.  Mason:  Punches down fist; "Aww!"

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman

I wasn't expecting the refrigerator climb and honestly, I was amazed he could do that and was not very good at remembering to straighten out my camera in time. Then I accidently hit the stop button and he wouldn't do it again.  

He was in imagination mode all day.  He had his fireman jacket and helmet on first.  Then those were unceremoniously tossed to the floor to make room for spidey.  Later he was decked out in his cowboy hat and belt/holster hunting down bad guys.  

Good Times!

Sing for your supper

Tonight we went to a concert put together by Mic, a boy from our ward.  The concert was part of his Eagle scout project.  Admission to the concert was food.  He is putting together holiday dinner kits for those in need.  It was requested you bring instant potatoes, stuffing mix, gravy packets and canned vegetables.  

The whole family attended.  Before it started Samantha started....  She was in argue mode.  She demanded "why are we here?  Is there someone that we know? Why did we come?"  I took the program and patiently went through the whole thing.  

"See Samantha, this first group is a choir from the high school that Carly will be attending next year.  They are going to sing 3 songs.  Next is a girl that is Braydon's  (a classmate) cousin.  She's going to sing a song.  Then we will hear a boy named Micheal sing. ( I pointed him out as he was 2 rows in front of us.)  He sounds a lot like Josh Groban and he's going to sing some of his songs.  Then there will be a guitar group that will play a song.  Last Mic is going to play the piano.  He's very very good on the piano and writes his own songs.  He is sister Lopp's oldest son.  He organized this concert to collect food for people that don't have enough money to buy their own food.  Remember the food we brought?"

I thought I gave a lot of detail and gave a thorough explanation.  Her response was "so Reilly's going to sing?"  (Mic's younger brother who did not figure at ALL in my explanation)

I said "NO, Reilly is not going to sing".  She started in again.  "Then why are we here?  Who are we going to see?"  There were a couple more exchanges of me trying to explain and her tenaciously adhering to her original question.

I felt like an adult in a charlie brown movie.  "All she heard was "Wah wah wah wah wah"

To Save my sanity I switched seats and put Mason between us.  That of course did not go over well but now she was sitting by Mark and it was his turn.  

Once the concert started she was engrossed and Mason kindly switched seats with her and so she was back to sitting next to me.  She snuggled under my arm so I knew I was forgiven.  

The music was great and it was a nice evening out.  After Mic's piano numbers she started yelling.  

after song #1 she yelled "Good job Mic!"

after song #2 she yelled "That was relaxing"

After song #3 she yelled "That was cool and relaxing"

after song #4 I shushed her. 

After the concert she begged for a pen to get his autograph. 

When he becomes a famous pianist we'll say we knew him when.....

She's very interactive at concerts.  This summer we took all 3 girls to see Jordin Sparks at an outdoor theatre.   While setting up a song, Jordin asked the audience "How many of you girls out there have liked a guy and found out that he liked your best friend?" I looked over and there was Samantha raising her hand and nodding her head.  

I looked at her....

"What???!!!!"

She smiled sheepishly and said "well I have!"

CarCar & Baby Rachel: Then and now

October 1997

November 19, 2008

Tagged by Julie

Okay so a WHILE ago I was tagged by Julie but I was so overwhelmed by Halloween preparations and Halloween postings that I put it on the back burner but I promised I WOULD complete it so here I go. 

I am supposed to list 6 things I value and 6 things I don't value and tag 6 unsuspecting friends to do it too.   Okay.  Here I go.

1.  I value Eternal perspective.  Knowing where I came from and where I'm going and how it all fits together is of great value to me.  When things are hard; parenting, marriage, repentance, etc. it has helped me to understand the big picture.  I still make mistakes but I get it right a lot too I think.  

2.  I value Prayer.  I'm still learning a lot about how to really depend on the Lord. I would like to be able to say as Nephi did:  

2 Ne. 4: 34  34 O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.  

but I'm not quite there yet.  I trust too much in the arm of flesh but prayer is helping me to understand how to depend more on my Father in Heaven and my Savior, Jesus Christ.  As I test him by going to him with my challenges in prayer, I have had my prayers answered and I have watched as my children have prayed in faith and been granted help, answers, peace and comfort as well.  It's true!  Our prayers are heard.  They are answered- sometimes in ways we struggle to see/understand and sometimes the answers are obvious and affirming.

3.  I value Mark.  He is loyal.  He loves me.  He respects me.  I know that I can depend on him to protect me and to take care of me always.   One night, about 8-9 years ago, I went to drop off something at a friends house.  I saw her husband building elaborate forts with his children.  There were lots of blankets strewn about and the furniture was all pulled out in disarray.  I  began to fret that Mark was not a fort-building- disarray-loving kind of dad.  Then I was granted a gift, a little revelation, from a loving Heavenly Father, who I believe was patiently trying to teach me about marriage and gratitude and attitude.  The thought came to my mind "but if he was a fort-building disarray loving guy he wouldn't be something else that he IS."  What would I give up?  His joy.  The way he makes me laugh when I'm mad that diffuses our fights. His amazing work ethic.  His musical talent. His absolute devotion to the gospel of Jesus Christ.  That he likes to go on weekly dates and has made that a priority in our 16 years of marriage.  That he is not a brooder or a worrier which has helped me to try to change those habits in myself.  No.  I would not trade any of those things so I try to remember to Love him for what he IS and stop worrying about what he ISN'T.  

4.  I value my children.  They are wonderful, beautiful, unique little people with such gifts and talents and struggles.  I learn from them every day.  Without them I would not be a mother which was really all I ever wanted to be when I grew up.  I could go on an on about them but that's what I do every day on this blog so I'll stop right now.

5.  I value good food.  A little too much!   My waistline is much larger than I wish it were.  My favorites:  A nice CHICKEN SALAD with lettuce, grilled chicken, cucumbers, celery, green onions, chowmein noodles, almonds and sunflower seeds and tangy oil/vinegar/sugar dressing; chips and fresh tomato salsa made with lots of CILANTRO with sourcream and Guacamole on the side; home made french fries, Roast beef dinner with mashed potatoes, gravy and carrots cooked with the roast; my grandma's crazy cake, Russian drips and beef stew; my mom's spare ribs and saurkraut over mashed potatoes, her scones with butter & honey & her ham and bean soup is always so much better than mine; my dad's Mexican Delight AND HIS BEEF OR HAM SANDWICH SPREAD (Bring it on sibs-I can take you) ; Mark's dutch oven BBQ chicken;  enchiladas; homemade bread with butter, strawberries, frozen peaches; crisp cameo apples; homemade ice cream.  oh! I need to stop.  I'm hungry.

6.  I can't quite decide between beautiful music and Hot water so here you go.  They split #6.  There's nothing like a hot bath to relax in and take away the chill when you've been out in the cold or inside in the cold as my visiting family from warmer climes would venture to say...

There's nothing like great music to relax, edify, get you moving, etc.  

Now The 6 Things I Don't Value:

1.  Name brands.  I've not been a name brand kind of girl since I had to have my "Guess" jeans in high school.  I just don't really care all that much about what other people think I should have. I want to look nice but I don't need a particular name on my clothes to feel pretty.   I don't worry about it with food products either.  There are a few things I have found that are truly better with the "name brand" but usually I'm a whatever is cheapest or on sale kind of girl.

2.  Critters in my house that don't belong.  This includes the 2 mice we seem to get every winter, the cockroach in my dorm room in Hawaii, The ants that invade every spring and ick! the earwigs that I find lurking in the damp dirty rags in my laundry hamper, in my drains and crawling on my carpet in the spring and fall.  

3.  Cleaning Bathrooms.  I've always hated cleaning bathrooms.  I don't mind washing dishes.  I don't even mind ironing if I let it build up and I can put on a good movie and iron it all in one shot but bathrooms, I hate.

4.  People who don't follow the signs at the school parking lot.  People park where it says don't park, people stop their cars in lanes that are supposed to be moving and get OUT to go get their kids.  I really like it best when People follow rules overall.  If people obeyed the rules in the school parking lot and everywhere else life would be so much simpler.  Wash your hands before you make my dinner at the restaurant.  Nobody gets hepatitis.  Follow the rules when you get/offer home loans, no housing crisis.  No crippling bank failures.  sigh.  Following the rules is a good thing.

5.  Seafood.  I don't really like anything that comes from the sea.  No shrimp, no oysters, no scallops, no lobster, no tunafish, no sushi, no octopus. I mean, should people even be eating octopus?   Mark loves Lobster, shrimp, Salmon and fish in general.  Poor guy.  He doesn't get it for dinner very often.  I did however like the fresh fish we caught in Minnesota this summer.  My dad coated it in cornmeal and fried it and we squeezed lemons on it.  I think it was Northern pike & Walleye.  I liked that.  

6.  Calories.  They should not even exist in my perfect world.   

Okay, no pressure....

but I tag Maury, Emily, Heidi, Judy, Jena and David; nevermind... this post was too long, DAvid will never get to the end so instead I tag Karen!

For my Father

Who objects to corn in his soup.  For once, we agree Daddy.

Yes, he proceeded to eat it and say Yummm! I like it!

It was Halloween.  I just ignored.  Whatcha gonna do?

Put another dime in the jukebox baby

As per your request....

Rachel doing her Physical Fitness Rap.

Last but not least.... The Rachel

Practicing her pout

She opted to not wear the white face makeup to school. She worried it would be too itchy. I think she made a wise choice. We did paint on the hot pink eyeshadow, dark lipstick, eyeliner & darkened her eyebrows. She looked great once again. I took these as she headed out the door to junior high.

In her drama class recently she had to come up with a "rap" for a public service commercial with 2 classmates. They chose physical fitness as their theme and wrote the following rap which they performed in class. They got a great response from the teacher and their fellow students and, I must admit, from me. I already made her do it for Matthew & Emily when they were here and I'll probably make her do it for David & Jena when they come this weekend. I think it's pretty clever. She makes me laugh and yes... I "jiggle jiggle like that" while I do it. oh well. I guess I better take her advice and get physically fit sometime soon. Enjoy the rap, I'm going to go look for my skinny pants.

Physical Fitness Script: (as you read remember it's a rap, they're not stuttering without purpose)

Wha-wha-wha-what’s happenin’ dude?

Wha-wha-wha-what’s go’in on with you?

Phy-phy-phy-physical fitness.

Could we be a witness?

Just as long as you’re not a cow.

Would you show us how?

Well first get away from that cheesecake, and go outside for goodness sake!

But what if your belly is full of jelly?

Well, don’t be lazy!

Just go CRAZY!

or do what’s best and get lots of rest.

Don’t be a lumpy sack!

Do some jumping jacks!

Don’t be a captive of the in-active

I went w/ my friends in my mercedes

and my mom said “Hey, why don’t you walk ladies?”

She said exercise is right cause it makes you tight

Burning calories all through the night.

Soda, chips, candy and all of that...

Just makes you fat!

Jiggle, jiggle like that...

So pass out the veggies.

Hold on the sauce.

That’s how you can achieve weight loss.

Take a chance...

Go and dance!

And that’s how you’ll fit in your skinny pants.

Stay out of Burger King!

Then your wallet will say...

CHA-CHING!

You’ll have $ to buy more clothes

Rows and rows of the coolest clothes!

So if you’re eat’in right...

And keepin’ it tight...

Then you’ll be a witness of Physical Fitness.

Cowboys and Indians

"Bring it on bad guys"

"Sherrif's here to rock your world"

"with my frilly socks"

I've got to separate Mason and Samantha's socks from here on out. I keep them in the same drawer downstairs next to where we kick off our shoes.  It's just easier that way.  I almost didnt' catch this little faux paus.  He couldn't find his dang tennis shoes so he's wearing these water shoes ( I know,  I am one fabulously organized mother) which showed more sock than I liked,  so I said "hey, lets put on some black socks, they'll look better."  Then I looked a little closer and said "Mason, you can never wear these socks again! They are girl socks"  He saw no problem with them and proceeded to throw himself to the floor in a sign of exasperation over the whole sock change request.

Later on, he's sporting the requested black socks.  A much better look for a serious sherriff wouldn't you say?

He's even caught himself an indian outlaw

She's probably half cherokee and choctaw

Maybe a little Chipewa, but definitely one of a kind!

Dance like no one is watching....

You'd dance too if you found the perfect orange socks mere hours before your Velma deadline.  

You'd tango....

You'd boogie

Down...

You'd Twist....

and shout...

"jinkies! Scooby snacks for everyone!!" 

And maybe, just maybe, she'll even solve a mystery or two.  With these socks... She's invincible!

The Clone trooper and the superfluous use of exclamation points!!

So this was Jacob's costume.  We looked on the internet so I could determine exactly what it was he was talking about.  I had never heard of a "clone trooper".  I had heard of "storm troopers" but this clone trooper thing was new.  There are apparently several different types of clone trooper with different colors on the costume signifying different ranks, jobs, etc.  This blue one was my favorite one. ( I especially liked the little skirty..ahem... kilty thing around the waist.  Hey boys need a little modesty too when they're wearing white costumes)  It is the "Captain Rex" clone trooper.  We found it at the beginning of October at Halloween USA just down the street from us.  He was soooo excited.  I made him keep it in my room so it wouldn't get "accidently worn" so often it was ruined by Halloween.  Now that the big day is over, it's all his.  He can dress up to his heart's content.  I think he looks pretty cute.  

And very very serious about saving the empire..

and then just dang cute again!

This next part might only be of interest to grandmas, Papa's, uncles and aunties.  He wrote a story for school.  It was supposed to be a "scary story" and they were to get it edited and published in time for Halloween so they could read it to the class that day.  On Thursday night he was very stressed out about getting his story finished.  He was a little behind because he had written so much.  His rough draft was 15 pages.  He could either write it out nicely or type it.  So upon being begged, I agreed to type it for him as he read it off to me.  I thought it turned out pretty good.  He has some good detail and I especially like his idea to end it with an epilogue.  He is quite proud of it.  So if you want to read a 4th grade spooky story here it is-- ( oh and during the typing process, I seriously talked him OUT of a few exclamation points.  It was like pulling teeth. Eventually I stopped trying.  It's his story.  It's 4th grade and dang it! the story is! super! exciting!!!)

This morning he added a couple of "wows!" in appropriate places so he could submitt it to the national PTA Reflections arts contest. The theme is "wow". I think it fits. Dont you?

The Lost Church

One time my mom yelled up the stairs and said “Hey Jake!” I called back “Yeah?”  Then she said back, “We’re going to go to Germany to visit your grandparents!”  “Aww Mom!” I called back, “come on it’ll be fun!  Besides we’re going on Halloween eve!” my mom said back “I don’t want to go mom!”  “They have a big neighborhood!  You can get lots of candy!”  I hesitated “well I guess it will be okay.”  My mom smiled.  “We’re going tomorrow morning so get packed!”  I dashed down to the basement and I grabbed my suitcase off the basement shelf and I flew up to my room.  I opened my door and dashed to my dresser and I hauled my drawers open and seized 5 pairs of underwear, 7 pairs of pants, 3 shorts, 7 t-shirts, 8 pairs of socks, 4 pairs of jeans and 4 pairs of shoes.  i folded them neatly and tucked them in an orderly way.  Then I remembered the reason why we were going.  “My Halloween costume!” I said with bright eyes.  How could I forget I said to myself as I ran into my moms room.  I plucked my Obi Wan Conobi costume and scurried back to my room and put it in a little pocket in the front of my suitcase then my mom yelled up “You packed?”   “Yeah!” I yelled back “You want to go out for dinner tonight and get some ice cream?” My mom called back up the stairs.  “Oh yeah!” I yelled back “Then lets get moving, hop in the car!” I scurried down the stairs and I said to my mom while we were walking out the door “don’t you need to pack?”  “I already did.” she said smiling.  Then I went in the van and we drove to Olive Garden.  When we got there we first paid, went to our table, ordered, and then ate.  My mom got eggplant parmesan and I got spaghetti.  Then we went to Arctic Circle and got ice cream. I got a twist and my mom got vanilla.  Then we got back in the van and hurried to the airport.  We waited for three hours!  Then finally we were loading on a plane to Germany.  Then we took our seats in first class.  It was awesome!  We even got a one hour massage!  Then after seven hours we got to Germany.  Then my grandparents came 15 minutes later and picked us up at 9:35 am.  Then my grandparents came to their house.  It was huge!  It had 10 bedrooms, a kitchen as big as our family room that was 20 feet long and 10 feet wide.  Their family room was as big as our classroom, and 7 staircases.  Guess what? They even had a WII, Xbox 360, Gameboy, Lego rom, and every video game you could imagine!  It was magnificent!  They had even got me a laptop!  The house was clean, nice, and looked like it was just built.  My mom and me were dead quiet and astonished!  My grandma led us room to room and their backyard had all the equipment you could think of, even a waterpark, a big park and a huge garden! It was even a hundred square miles wide and long.  I was so astonished I wanted to stay here forever.  I also thought I would have so much fun staying here for a month!  “I wish I could live here” I said aloud.  My grandma chuckled.  “You can when you’re older.”  My mouth dropped open.  “Really!” I said.  Then my grandma said, “sure, as long as you take care of everything.”  “You bet I will!” I said back.  “Good, now which room do you want to stay in?”  “I’ll think I’ll stay in the room 8.”  (It used to be a hotel but when she retired she added all the fancy stuff)  Then my mom said “Where’s grandpa?”  “He’s at work still” said grandma.  “Not for long” said a voice.  It was my grandpa pulling up the driveway in his Toyota truck.  Then we all went inside and ate lunch.  We had turkey sandwiches.  MMMMMMM!  After we ate my grandpa led us up the spiral stairs to room 9 and 8.  I flew in my room and flopped on the bed.  It was neat.  It was sparkling clean but I thought it would be pretty dusty because nobody lived in it but it was great.  When I flopped on my bed I felt something hard under my bed.  I got on my knees and looked under the bed.  There was this huge wooden chest and when I opened the chest as big as my bed I found every toy that I liked plus some barbies for girls that would visit I guess.  It even had a big screen T.V.! Then I ran down stairs and out the back door to the water park and started to play. I went on all the rides  then I saw over a hedge a little forest in the distance,” I’ll explore it tomorrow after I go trick or treating.” I said aloud.    

Then my grandpa yelled “dinner!” Then I ran in the house and flew up stairs and pulled on dry clothes. The next day Halloween I made two friends Shelly,Dain and Nick.They were astonished with everything my grandparents had.  They loved the waterpark and pool and Shelly loved the garden.  (I wasn’t really surprised)  Then at 6pm we asked our moms if we could go trick or treating together in a group and they all said “yes”.  Then we all met in an old tree house I found in the woods.  Then when all our moms said yes we all went to grab our costumes and meet back there.  When we got our costumes on and we met at the tree I was Obi Wan Conobi, Dain was Anakin Skywalker, Obi Wan’s apprentice, and Shelly was Padme, Anakin’s girlfriend.  We were all surprised to be from the same movie.  Then we went into the woods and started exploring.  We found little wooden swords lying around.  We even found a bombing shelter!  “It must be my grandpa’s”,  I said to them.  As we turned on the light and went down there was food, blankets, an oven and water.  It looked like their kitchen, it was even as big as their kitchen!  And then I went back up because I thought I heard my mom yelling for me.  I started walking back when I slipped and fell into a hole covered with leaves and brush.  Then I fell down, down, down.  I hit the ground with a large painful thud!  Then I got up very slowly, rubbing my back and bum.  Then I found out that the floor was made out of cement!?  Then I heard the wind and the rustle of leaves behind me.  Then I slowly turned around and before my eyes made of pure scorched black stone was a medieval church!  It was covered in cobwebs and it had bones everywhere!  And at the entrance I could see skeletons lying by it holding the doors to make them open.  One skeleton had a brown cloak, a rope around it’s waist and big hood. I was pretty sure it was a monk.  Then I silently, like a mouse, tiptoed into a room I supposed was the primary room and then I saw 7 golden crosses lying near a golden stand and another monk skeleton reaching out, standing on it, like he was preaching.   (Which he probably was.)  Before my eyes, scattered about the room, were Bibles lying open and a rusty old piano in a corner, covered in cobwebs, like everything else.  My eyes went bugged out as I looked at 20 different skeletons of children with clothes rotting away.  Then I cautiously speedwalked into the sacrament room and as I saw this the hairs on my legs, back, head and arms stood up like a spiked club.  The sacrament was passing in mid air!!!!! And it was passing to skeletons sitting in scorched, black, wooden chairs.  I saw a couple of skeletons of dogs chained to the wall.  In all the skeletons they had arrows, daggers and swords in them!  Then I hustled, scared to death, into what I thought was the young women’s room and just like the primary room, there were Bibles and golden crosses covered in dust and scorched black bones and then as I was looking around I saw the skeletons start to move!!!  My hair stood up like I got electrocuted.  Then I broke into a breathtaking dash and while I was running in the hall saying to myself it didn’t happen I tripped and a dagger stabbed my leg!  I stumbled painfully into the young men’s room.  I took the dagger out, blood streaming from the wound and then skeletons, pearl white, with arrows in them all started walking toward me.  Then I ran as fast as I could with my leg. Then my head smacked a shield and I fell to the floor and my eyes felt dizzy.  Then I woke up with the sun streaming through my bedroom window and then I saw my mom leaning over me.  “Are you okay?” my mom asked.  “yeah, I think so”, I said back, groaning.  Then Shelly and Dain walked in, “Hey Jake!” they said cheerfully.  “We found you unconscious, lying near a hole, sprawled out and your leg was really hurt like you got hurt by an arrow or something”, said Dain.  Then Shelly said “you’ve been unconscious for 3 hours.  We trick or treated for you, if you dont’ mind.  We got you some candy.”  

20 years later......

On Channel 5 news....

Thank you Sandy for discussing the weather.  Now! on Channel 5 news, we bring you the story of Jacob Bocanegra, famous archeologist, who found the lost church of Churu with the story he has told about since he was 9 yrs old that he fell into a hole and went into the church.  Many people believed it was just a story from a big imagination but now people know it’s real because he showed us what he saw and we found the bloodstained dagger that had pierced his leg 20 years ago.  

THE END!

by Jacob Bocanegra

what my kids ate for lunch on Halloween....

Okay, so I got a little silly Thursday night as I was getting the lunchboxes & bags ready for Friday morning.  I usually get as much as I can ready the night before so our mornings go more smoothly.  If I don't take this little step we have a really hard time making scripture study time.  So, all alone in  my kitchen, I started having way too much fun thinking of a spooky lunch for the kids.  This is what I came up with.....   (I put labels on everything)

Monster blood

Mummy bones

Witch eyeballs

Samantha got a bag of little "ghost friends"(ummm sharpie ink is nontoxic right?)because I didn't know if she could handle what I thought up for the rest of my little monsters....  

which was a little bag of ghost poo and bat poo

he he he....

This is my sister talking....

I found this on my sister's blog today.  And since I am too tired to find out that nifty way of linking another site by a word, I just copied and pasted it right out of hers.  I needed to hear this message today and thought many of you would benefit as well.  Maury is a high school english teacher in Las Vegas.  She's awesome.  I love her. 

An Anchor to the Souls of Men

I must admit, I've felt a lot of anxiety and fear about the future over the past couple of weeks. Living in Las Vegas right now it feels like you can't go a day without hearing about someone who's lost or is losing their home or job. We had meetings last week about how we will cut millions from my school district's budget, and of course the cuts made will impact the kids more than anything. It's easy to be worried and depressed all of the time.

All of this made me think of a fireside I attended at BYU where President Howard W. Hunter, at the time the President of the Twelve Apostles was the speaker. At this fireside, a mentally ill young man decided he would hold President Hunter and the thousands in attendance hostage until President Hunter read the man's declaration. President Hunter was very old and so frail that he'd needed help to get to the podium, and yet as the man yelled at him he simply held on and repeatedly shook his head, "No." When the man had been subdued President Hunter collapsed to the floor and the Stake President in charge of the meeting told us, "We're going to sing a hymn and then we'll all go home." President Hunter tugged on his pant leg to tell him that, no, we would continue. After singing a hymn he was once again helped to the podium where he gave one of the most incredible talks I've ever heard. 

Whenever I start to despair I remember the words that prophet shared with us that day. I thought I'd share a few with you today.





An Anchor to the Souls of Men
-President Howard W. Hunter
Given at BYU, February 7, 1993

"I am here tonight to tell you that Despair, Doom, and Discouragement are not an acceptable view of life for a Latter-day Saint. However high on the charts they are on the hit parade of contemporary news, we must not walk on our lower lip every time a few difficult moments happen to confront us. 

I am just a couple of years older than most of you, and in those few extra months I have seen a bit more of life than you have. I want you to know that there have always been some difficulties in mortal life and there always will be. But knowing what we know, and living as we are supposed to live, there really is no place, no excuse, for pessimism and despair. 

In my lifetime I have seen two world wars plus Korea plus Vietnam and all that you are currently witnessing. I have worked my way through the depression and managed to go to law school while starting a young family at the same time. I have seen stock markets and world economics go crazy and have seen a few despots and tyrants go crazy, all of which causes quite a bit of trouble around the world in the process. 

So I am frank to say tonight that I hope you won't believe all the world's difficulties have been wedged into your decade, or that things have never been worse than they are for you personally, or that they will never get better. I reassure you that things have been worse and they will always get better. They always do--especially when we live and love the gospel of Jesus Christ and give it a chance to flourish in our lives."

"I want to say to all within the sound of my voice tonight that you have every reason in this world to be happy and to be optimistic and to be confident. Every generation since time began has had some things to overcome and some problems to work out. Furthermore, every individual person has a particular set of challenges that sometimes seem to be earmarked for us individually. We understood that in our premortal existence. 

Prophets and apostles of the Church have faced some of those personal difficulties. I acknowledge that I have faced a few, and you will undoubtedly face some of your own now and later in your life. When these experiences humble us and refine us and teach us and bless us, they can be powerful instruments in the hands of God to make us better people, to make us more grateful and more loving, to make us more considerate of other people in their own times of difficulty."

"This faith and hope of which I speak is not a Pollyanna-like approach to significant personal and public problems. I don't believe we can wake up in the morning and simply by drawing a big "happy face" on the chalkboard believe that is going to take care of the world's difficulties. But if our faith and hope is anchored in Christ, and in his teachings, commandments, and promises, then we are able to count on something truly remarkable, genuinely miraculous, that can part the Red Sea and lead modern Israel to a place "where none shall come to hurt or make afraid" ("Come, Come, Ye Saints," Hymns, 1985, no. 30). Fear, which can come upon people in difficult days, is a principal weapon in the arsenal that Satan uses to make mankind unhappy. He who fears loses strength for the combat of life in the fight against evil. Therefore, the power of the evil one always tries to generate fear in human hearts. In every age and in every era fear has faced mankind. 

As children of God and descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we must seek to dispel fear from among people. A timid, fearing people cannot do their work well, and they cannot do God's work at all. Latter-day Saints have a divinely assigned mission to fulfill that simply must not be dissipated in fear and anxiety."