been busy...

sorry it's been so long. I've been keeping pretty busy. Doing what????

* Christmas preparations. (kind of goes without saying eh?)

* major de-junking project. This would be FANTASTIC - if it were my OWN house, but it's not. My neighbor moved back east, and she is a total HOARDER pack-rat. Her health is not good, and the move got the best of her. they had some trouble with scheduling, and the moving company ended up scheduled to come AFTER the date when they had purchased tickets to fly out. She asked if I would be in charge of letting the movers in. Sounds simple enough right? Ended up being much more than that. We are going to try to get financing to purchase her home (better floor plan than our current home) She agreed to a lower sale price of the home in exchange for us doing the directing of the move, and sorting through TONS AND TONS of stuff to either take ourselves, throw away, or donate to DI. It has been really crazy. Tim and I spent about 4 hour over there on Saturday and finally finished sorting out the garage. Have lots to take to DI, which I hope to do on Tuesday or Wednesday. Now we are starting on the CLEANING part of the job. My mom and dad came over Saturday and helped for about 3 hours. The house looks tons better all ready. coming soon we'll call in someone to clean the carpets, and have most, if not all, the walls painted. I don't think I'll be doing a lot there this week. I'm going to try to focus on Christmas instead. (easier said than done. I really have an inner drive to get it DONE so it isn't hanging over my head. If anyone knows anyone who wants to buy or rent a home in my area - let me know... if we are able to get finacing for this new house, then come January I'll start moving my stuff over there, and we'll list this one for rent and for sale - and just see what come of it... Right now the market just isn't really great for selling. People are startign to buy homes again, but they are all looking for the "short-sale" or "super deal" - so who knows how it will all play out.

* regular day to day stuff.


Not an excitiin post I know, but it is what it is. If I don't get back here before Christmas, hope ya'll have a super good one!

The "Bubble Machine"

On Saturday we went with our friends, Aaron and Holly, to the Festival of Trees. In the kids area, they had a super cool Bubble maker thing. (don't really know what else to call it) Tim got videos of each child's turn. Pretty cool stuff. (I'd love to make one for a primary activity or a birthday party, but truth be told, it will probably never happen...)

So here you go... Enjoy!

In the presence of ROYALTY...

A funny thing happened at Family Home Evening tonight. 4 year old Bryan was teaching the lesson (which is always an adventure in and of itself) and when the "lesson" was over, he was calling on people who wanted to share their testimonies or say anything else. Katrina was raising her hand, and he called on her.

(Katrina) "Bryan, may I bear my testimony?"

(Bryan) "Yes, you may, but you can call me KING Bryan."

I think giving the lesson and being in charge of calling on people went to his head. What do you think?

dead mouse = hunger strike

Aaron went on a self imposed 24 hour hunger strike today. I had success with the mouse trap and the world is now short one mouse. Aaron was in the kitchen when Tim discovered the tripped trap, and he was VERY sad about the whole thing, crying and carrying on about how cute the mouse was and this was just so horrible and blah blah blah... then he went on a hunger strike, saying it just wasn't fair for him to be able to enjoy eating food when the mouse had to be dead.

I sympathized for a few minutes - yes, the mouse was cute, in a mouse sort of way - but NOT IN MY HOUSE, eating my food, and contaminating my food storage! I tried to explain that to Aaron, but his response was simply that he'd rather let the mouse eat ALL the food storage than kill it.

I finally told him that if he wants to spend HIS money to buy the humane traps, then I would use them instead and I would just make sure I drove the mouse far enough away that I could be certain it wouldn't ever come back. So far, no new evidence of more mice, but experience tells me that where there is one mouse, there are usually more, so I'm going to stay vigilant for a bit longer to make sure there's no more lurking around. I'll just make sure Aaron is at school before I check the traps...

EEEWWWWW!!!!!!

The cold weather has apparently sent the mice looking for warmer places to settle down for the winter. Aaron told me the other night that he thought he saw something mouse-like running in the kitchen, but I thought it was his imagination... UNTIL this morning when I found EVIDENCE of the little bugger(s) in my pantry.

HEAR YE HEAR YE MICE - you are NOT welcome in my home!

I went down to the grocery store tonight and bought an arsenal of mice killing weapons. Hoping for quick resolve of the problem! I worked WAY to hard gather my food storage this past year to have the little critters nibbling away at and contaminating all my food! GROSS!!!!

And just so you don't give me a hard time about my methods - like my son Aaron is... I tried the humane way once, catching the mice in a live trap, then hiking up the hill and releasing it. I swear that little mouse beat me back to the house every time. I caught a mouse everyday, until once when I set it free, Jasmine happened to see it and kill it. Never caught another one after that, nor did we find evidence of any more mice, so I figured I must have been catching the same mouse over and over. Not playing that game again...

Sunday Gratitude

OH MY HECK! blogger is being really dumb. for those of you with google reader (or another automatic feed) - I apologize if you keep getting blank posts. I promise I'm not doing anything out of the ordinary. It's just that every time I hit enter - it publishes the post. Go figure!

Anyway - back to gratitude.

This is a bit difficult for me tonight, because I've been in a horrible rotten no good very bad mood for the past couple days. (I think it's just hormonal... please please please let it just be hormonal!!! I will DIE if this is a permanent state of mind and part of my personality!) My poor hubby and kids!

Today I am grateful for

* a screaming great deal I got on a Christmas gift that Aaron is going to LOVE! It was a good deal to start with, then Tim talked them down $10 more dollars. WAHOO!!! (don't ask... you have to wait until Christmas)

* a good deal on a Christmas gift that Bryan will love!

* for good friends who were driving up to Layton and took the extra time and effort to pick up the said gift for Bryan. (I found it on KSL.com and really wanted it, but not enough to DRIVE to Layton... THANKS Aaron and Holly)

* for kids that make me smile. Today in the middle of sacrament meeting, someones baby (or maybe it was a toddler, I wasn't really looking) started making a wailing sound. Bryan, in his ever so "soft" PLAYGROUND VOICE announced to Holly, "that sounds like a fire truck." Apparently it carried far enough that it was brought up again in YW's - one of the girls commenting about how funny it was...

* good books. Just finished "Goose Girl" by Shannon Hale and I really enjoyed it. I liked the first book of hers that I read a few years ago, "Princess Academy." I think I may want to buy them - I know Katrina will LOVE them in not too many more years.

* BED. It is still pretty early, (for me at least) and I think I'm going to sign off here and get to bed before 10.

Be-lated Halloween

Around the 1st of October, Tim hauled out the Halloween stuff and decorated the house. In the course of that - out came the costume box and and everyone had fun trying on different costumes, trying to decide what they wanted to be. Here are a few of the "maybes."



And now we come to Halloween night. The FINAL winners are: Bryan as Simba, Katrina as a witch, Aaron as a bat, and Caleb as bat baby...



(obviously having some trouble with the sun coming in through the windows - lets try outside...



"oh yeah mom - this is SO much better - now we are all BLIND!"




and this last picture was added after the fact, since when Aaron saw the post he said, "but Mom, where is the picture where I am jumping in the air? So - HERE is the one with him jumping in the air. Kinda hard to tell, I know, but trust me, he is.



What adorable children I have!

government health care...

A friend sent me this today and I liked. I believe that changes need to be made in our health system. I do NOT believe, however, that a government run health system is the answer. not even CLOSE!!!!!

Here's the email (with a few minor alterations) -

To President Obama and all 535 voting members of the Legislature,

* The U.S. Post Service was established in 1775 You have had 234 years to get it right and it is broke.

* Social Security was established in 1935. You have had 74 years to get it right and it is broke.

* Fannie Mae was established in 1938. You have had 71 years to get it right and it is broke.

* War on Poverty started in 1964. You have had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor" and they only want more.

* Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965. You have had 44 years to get it right and they are broke.

* Freddie Mac was established in 1970. You have had 39 years to get it right and it is broke.

* The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. It has ballooned to 16,000 employees with a budget of $24 billion a year and we import more oil than ever before. You had 32 years to get it right and it is an abysmal failure.

You have FAILED in every one of these "government services" you have shoved down our throats while overspending our tax dollars and you want us to believe that you can be trusted with our HEALTH??? NO THANK YOU!

Fun at the Dr's

Today I got to spend 4 hours and who know how much money to be told, "hmm, we don't know. take him home and keep an eye on him. If he gets worse, bring him back in."

so, with that little teaser, here's the story.

About 10:30 this morning Bryan swallowed a little rubber ball thing. Came off of a toy where there is a plastic man with stick balls for each hand and foot. You throw it against the wall, it sticks then walks itself down the wall, slinky style. Apparently the toy had broken, Byran found one of the little ball things - and swallowed it! Right after swallowing it he was hacking, coughing, and wheezing something fierce. Then he seemed okay again and I figured it had passed on down tot he stomach and would make it's way through - if you know what I mean. I called the dr's office and the nurse confirmed that I should just keep an eye on him and she gave me a list of things to watch for.

At about 2:30 he started complaining again that his throat hurt and he was wheezing again. He was coughing and wheezing - he sounded like he had croup. I called the Dr's again and at 3:00 I was on my way to the dr. They confirmed that he sounded like he had an obstruction - so they sent us to the hospital to get a barium swallow test to see how large the thing was and where it was stuck, etc...

The Barium Swallow test reveled NO blockage. Interesting, since he was still wheezing and complaining of pain. The called the Dr and told him the results. Then the Doc ordered a couple chest x-rays to see if it maybe he breathed it in rather than swallowing it. more waiting while they had the tests read. Nothing there either.

So - despite the fact that Bryan is wheezing like he has croup and he fusses about every 30 - 60 minutes of pain, we are home, an we are assuming that everything is fine. The doc prescribed a steroid to take down any inflammation that would be causing the wheezy croupy sound. His best theory right now is that Bryan was already coming down with croup - or something like unto it - and it just "happened" to decided to magically show symptoms after the sticky ball swallowing incident. (he had a slight temp of 100*)

The bummer for me - besides wondering if there is some sticky foreign object lodged somewhere in my son causing trouble - was that we had family plans tonight that we ended up having to cancel. Oh well. That's life.

thankful to be done... until next year

Today was the annual Primary Sacrament meeting program. (my 4th as chorister) As usual, the practices (we only had 2 this year) were chaotic and crazy, yet it pulled together in the end and it was a great program. A few little glitches along the way... like the announcements and sacrament taking longer than usual, and me sitting there starting to panic ... planning where to start cutting out music... I told the pianist we were to going take every song up a few notches in the tempo department, and to look at me before each song, so I could signal to him how many verses we would be doing. (playing it by ear as I gauged the clock) It went well. In case you are wondering, (and I know you must be) here are the "stats" from the program. 73 children were there and did their parts. (79 possible, so it was a pretty good turnout) I would guess that 80% of them had their parts memorized. We sang 10 songs in the program, plus senior primary did 3 more songs as prelude music. In total, they sang 27 verses of music. They did an AWESOME job! I felt bad that I had to cut off verses of several of the songs right there at the last minute, (I took out 5) but I guess that's just the way the chips fell this year.

You should have heard them sing "How Firm a Foundation." We did verses 1,2,3, & 7 and man oh man - they sang with POWER! It was so great! It was so great to hear them building up the "I'll never no never, I'll NEVER no NEVER, I'll NEVER NO NEVER NO NEVER FORSAKE!!!"

For the closing hymn, the children sang Families Can Be Together Forever, with the congregation joining in on each chorus. It was really amazing. (lots of blubbering mom's - plus a few teary eyed dads - out there in the congregation during that song)

Another fun thing we did this year was that the bishop asked us to have two 11 year old children, one boy and one girl, lead the music for sacrament meeting. Keiffer D. led the opening hymn, and Allie S. led the sacrament hymn. They certainly weren't perfect and polished conductors, but I was pleased with how they did, and I was actually surprised at the impact having them lead seemed to have on people. I had lots of people comment to me about how special it was to see them up there leading the hymns. They were both pretty nervous. I was proud of them!

All in all it was a good day. I am super tired - it was long a rather difficult weekend, and I am ready to go to bed!

As a little side note, as part of the prelude music, I had Aaron sing with 3 other kids the new song for next year's program. It is titled "I Know That My Savior Loves Me." and I just love it. Aaron loves to sing and I think he is really quite good, but he gets super shy and nervous, so I asked a couple other kids to sing with him rather than putting him on the spot alone. It's too bad he gets so shy, because he stayed as far away from the mic as he could, yet he really has a beautiful, clear voice, and I would have like to be able to hear him better. Oh well. I was proud of him for having a desire to do it and for learning it so well.

Speaking of side notes and singing - Caleb is standing here next to me while I type, and he's singing away. Apparently they must have sung "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam" in nursery today. It's ADORABLE! - I keep trying to be done, but I have to share - Caleb just switched songs. Now he's singing "I love to see the temple," but instead of the words, he's singing "ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma..." continue on, all the way to the end - singing ma (aka mom) to the tune. I just love this boy! Although right now I'd probably love him just a tad more if he were ASLEEP!

OK - enough of this - I've got to get to sleep. 5am comes awfully early in the morning!

Choose you this day...

Anne Bradshaw had this on her blog this morning. I almost skipped by it - then stopped and decided to take the time to watch it. (3 whole minutes of my day) I'm so glad I did. It was a message that I needed to hear. (now I just need to figure out how to post it on here...) Okay. I give up. I don't know how to post something from youtube onto my blog... and it isn't worth the time it would take for me to keep trying to figure it out! You'll just have to go to the link yourself. Sorry.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Cw8I8eukaI


Now I am choosing to get up and get to work!



WAHOO!!! thanks Sandra - I knew it had to be something simple that I just couldn't see. Now it is here on my blog and you don't have to use the link...

Just point me to my bed!!!

Man am I worn out! Today was as crazy as I expected. We had our first practice for our primary sacrament meeting program - which is next week. My pianist was home sick, so I had a new person playing for me - who was sight reading 3 of the songs (the ones not in the primary song book) The kids were either totally hyped up with the Halloween sugar coursing through their veins, or else they were in a post-sugar/up too late stupor. It was really CRAZY! One more week. Then I can go back to playing, singing, relaxing and just plan having fun with the kids - without the added program stress - for another year.

I want to post our Halloween pics, but they are still on the camera - and I have a video of Caleb that I am DYING to post, but IT is also still on the camera; so you will just have to wait in eager anticipation for those - and settle for a shortened gratitude list

1 - I am thankful that it is bedtime.

2 - I am thankful that Tim was so patient tonight and took over all kid and house related duties for way too many hours while I went to choir practice, then ran around doing primary stuff and visiting teaching stuff.

3 - I am thankful that it is bedtime!

4 - I am thankful that it is not my week to drive carpool.

5 - I am thankful that it is bedtime - RIGHT NOW!!!! (g'night!)

(PS - I am NOT grateful that now I have to wait a whole year for the next FarWorld book to come out. I just bought and read Land Keep - (the second book in the series by J. Scott Savage, you may recall from these posts how we first got into the series) and I almost wish I had waited to get into the series until ALL of the books were out. I just hate waiting!!!)

bean museum

It was a good day. My mom came over and watched Caleb and Bryan while I went to volunteer with Aaron's class. Then we drove her back over to the Bean Museum (BYU) so she could do her volunteer work there. (pinning bugs for the entomology dept) Since we were already there - I took the kids into the museum. I didn't realize how long it had been since we were there - but apparently it's been a while. Bryan didn't remember ever being there, and I don't think Caleb's ever been. They both loved, loved, loved it!
At the end of our visit, I let Aaron and Katrina walk through the gift shop. I told them I wasn't going to buy anything but that they could get prices and decide what they wanted, then earn the money and I would bring them back. I think I'll get some good mileage out of this -- they were tripping over themselves tonight trying to help and be good. I liked it - A LOT! Let's hope it lasts. Aaron's trying to earn enough for the microscope - ($35.00 plus tax) So I'm thinking if I can keep him motivated - this will be a good thing!

I'm exhausted. Gettign up at 5am is KILLING me! (but it's great to have time to visit wiht Holly again. I've really missed that. The exercise is just an added bonus...)

Sunday Gratitude

When I got my "blog book" - I really liked re-reading my Sunday gratitude lists, so I think I want to start back up again with them.


Today I am grateful for

* ice cream. (don't ask me why - it was just the first thing that popped into my mind. My Grandpa Allred LOVED ice cream and I think it's in my genes. (I know it's evident in my jeans)

* strong hubby and neighbor. (we rearranged some rooms yesterday and I was SUPER thankful when Aaron B. came down and helped us move the heavy couch back downstairs.

* central heating (and air). We haven't turned on the heat yet, but it's been chilly enough that I keep thinking about it. I am just thankful to know that at any moment I can go flip the switch and "ahhhhhh - HEAT!"

* music. I love good music. I love to sing. I love hear my children singing. (and my "primary kids") Music touches my soul in a way nothing else can!

* Good books. I just finished "The Great and the Terrible" series by Chris Stewart. I really enjoyed it. now when I have negative thoughts I am totally like, "hey, you evil spirits - get away from me. I WILL NOT listen to you!"

* sleeping in. Not that I get to do this all that much any more, but it is fore front in my mind since starting tomorrow, I'll be getting up at 5:00am to go exercise with Holly. (yuck! the exercise & early morning, not Holly;)

* family fun time. we took the kids to pumpkin land yesterday and had a fun time, even though it was rainy and cold - and the kids were wet and nearly frozen by the end... it was still lots of fun and I enjoy those times when we can all just relax and play together. We don't do it enough.

my "deprivation demons"

Something happened to me today that I found intriguing - and perhaps even eye-opening. I will attempt to make a long story shorter...

the background - Aaron struggles with school - reading in particular, and that has affected his confidence levels in every other area... I took him to a tutoring center last week for some assessments, and today I went in to get the results and their recommendations. They didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. (which I guess is good...) He's about 1 grade behind in reading, 2 grades behind in spelling, and in math he tested above average in 4 of the 5 "math areas" but in the "number sense* area he scored a 20%, which brought his overall math score to 53%. (just a smidgen above average.) I'm telling you - he is a smart kid - reading has been such a challenge that he's convinced himself that he is dumb! I wish I knew some brainwashing skills so I could just erase those thoughts and replace them with positives.

Anyway - I digress. The center recommended 1 session a week of math tutoring and 2 sessions per week of reading help. Then they hit me with the cost. $40 per session. that's $120 per week. $480 per month!!! Hello - I don't have that kind of money. It is so hard for me, because this REALLY is important. He has to get caught up now or he will hate school for the rest of his life and we are looking at a nightmare for the next 9 years - if he hangs in that long!

I digress again. I will blog another day about what I'm going to try doing - but that is NOT the point of this post. the POINT is what happened to me when I talked to Tim about it.

Now, when I was talking with the owner of the tutoring center and I realized how much money this was going to cost, I knew in my heart we didn't have it. Maybe deep down in my subconscious I kinda hoped we could figure out a way to make it work or something - but I knew we couldn't really afford right now to pay for this. That's why what happened next was so strange to me. I got home and talked to Tim about it. He said, "we can't afford that. Even if we pulled Katrina and Bryan out of gymnastics and pulled Aaron out of art classes, even then I'm not sure we afford it." Instantly my body went tense, I felt sick to my stomach and angry and hurt and upset and who knows what-all emotions started boiling around in me. It was strange, because I knew that what he was saying was correct, but my reaction was so physical and so strong. For about the next 3 hours the feelings continued to harass me and I sulked around the house, looking for food to shove in my face. I just couldn't seem to stop myself. It was awful.
I had a brief flash of clarity - that many times when I go nuts and spend money - or just can't stop eating, especially junk food, or even when I stay up late, even though I am so so tired and I know that the best thing for me would be to go to bed; it is most often because I somehow felt deprived of something I wanted.

I realize logically how silly this is. I am certainly NOT deprived. Not by any stretch of the imagination! I have more food than I need. More clothes than I need. I have a home, vehicles that run, 4 wonderful children, a great husband who works so very hard to provide everything that we need... plus many, many things that we want. I understand that and can SEE that. That's why I thought it was so strange when my body literally - physically and mentally - freaked out. It was really bizarre -

I'm hoping if I can process this new information and try harder to identify what's triggering the "deprivation demon," that I will begin to be able to tame the beast.

what a nightmare... or NOT!

Bryan said something today that made me laugh. (He actually said the same thing about a week or so ago, but I had forgotten about it. I won't forget it this time... since I am 'back to blogging')

I was driving the kids to gymnastics and got stuck in a traffic mess due to road construction. I said, "this is a nightmare!"

Bryan immediately corrected me. "No mom. It is daytime. That means it's a "day-mare" It is a nightmare if it is a night. If it is day time then it is a day-mare."

I stand corrected!

making a comeback...

I need to make a blogging comeback. For all intents and purposes, I took the summer off from blogging. (I have continued reading all of your blogs as they are fed to me through my google reader...) Now I need to get back on the horse! I'm not exactly sure why it so difficult for me to find the time to blog. (or do all of the other things that I want to do...) Anywho... I am going to try to be a bit more regular in my blogging.

Monday was my birthday and I was excited to find that Tim had printed out the first two years of my blog into a book. It was so great! (I've been looking into it for a while now, but never actually did it cause Tim wanted to see if he could find a better price. Apparently he did, cause I now have a "fickle pickle" book! My kids were loving it. They spend the evening looking through it at the pictures and reading some of the posts. Best journal I've ever kept! As I said, I need to get back to it.

I've seen it happen to so many people - they get on facebook and their blogging just dies. I got onto facebook about a month, maybe 6 weeks ago. I don't do a lot with it, don't play any of the games or do the quizzes, or any of that stuff, in fact, I hide them as soon as I see them in 90% of the cases. I don't post there all that often either. but it still have taken away the time that I may have spent posting a more lasting blog entry. My overall feeling is that facebook is a nice way to find people you haven't seen in years and years and it turned out to be a good way for people to share in long distance grieving with the AF band accident and subsequent death of their teacher, but over all, I feel like it isn't really as "connecting" as blogging is. It ends up being so much more superficial and trivial. (saying that out loud makes me laugh at myself... like I am so "deep" and "complex" in the things I blog that I can call something else superficial...ha ha ) it's more the fact that I use blogging as my connective journal. Journal entries for me, that friends and family can share along in. I generally don't put things on here that are super sensitive or super personal, because it is such a public forum, but it is such a great way to share the happenings of my life.

SO - all of that to say... I'M BACK. (i hope... what that means is you should be able to expect my 1 - 3 posts per week (if I don't fizzle) all full of such exciting things as what housework I did that day, any funny tidbits from the kiddos, and maybe an insightful thought here or there.

Thanks to my "other mothers"

As you know from my last post, I spent tonight in the BYU stadium cheering on my former High School Marching Band. If by chance you are interested in how they did - They were fantastic! Heather would be very pleased! They looked sharp, the lines and formations were clean and precise, and the music was really incredible. (The horn line was amazing!!!) I really liked the music selection and the show design and theme. (much better that the last one I went to see..."through the eyes of a child"... I didn't care much for that one, personally...) Anyway - that's not what this post is about.

Back in my high school days, 20+ years ago, I didn't really have a very good relationship with my mom. I always felt like I fell "short of the mark." I never felt like I was "good enough." I think that is one reason why I tended to "collect mom's." Mom Harper, Mom Liddle, Mom Larson, Mom Reed, Mom Turner, the list goes on... College came along and I adopted Mom Corry and Mom Seegmiller... One mom that I always thought highly of, and recently reconnected with via face book, is Mom Woffinden. She commented on face book that she wanted to find me at the competition and give me a hug. I looked and looked through the crowd but couldn't find her - there were just so many people....
I circled up with the group singing "friends are friends forever," and just as the 2nd verse started, I looked across the circle and there she was.

Mom Woffinden.

I left my spot and moved next to her. She put her arm around me and gave me one of her great "band mom hugs." The next thing I knew, I was bawling like a baby. It surprised me. We finished singing the song, talked for a few minutes about this, that, and nothing, then I started the long hike back up to the Marriott Center where my van was parked. As I walked, I had lots of time to think about my strangely extra-emotional reaction to seeing her and getting that hug. I began to realize how all of those "moms" that I collected, had filled a great void deep inside of my heart. Through them I felt cared for, encouraged, accepted, and 'good enough.' I felt loved.

It has been 20 years since I graduated from High School. 20 years since I've seen Mom Woffinden. Yet when she put her arms around me, I felt all that love and acceptance and safety come rushing back. I had no idea how deeply those adopted mom affected me. I had no idea how desperately I had needed them.

Although none of them read this blog, I just wish to express how truly, truly grateful I am for all the "other moms" who stepped up in my life to support me and accept me, love me and encourage me when I needed it. THANK YOU!

To those of you who find yourself being "adopted" by children who are not yours by birth - It may seem like just a passing thing that means nothing -- but you never know. You may be having an impact on them that is deep and lasting. An impact that you may never know about. In fact the "adopted child" in question may never know the powerful influence you are having on them; unless maybe, perchance, 20 years from now, life will bring you back together, and you will have occasion to put your arm around them again, and their tears will flow as they realize the depth of influence for good you were in their life.

In Memory of...

I went to American Fork High school. I was proud to be a member of the marching band for three years. I know that in some schools it is isn't "cool" to be a "band geek," but that wasn't the case at my school. Our band was one of the best in the state, and it was a family. Seriously, if you were in the band, you were family.
The kids in the band were good kids. There weren't drugs or wild parties... well, ok, the year Julie and I were the flute section leaders, we DID have some wild section parties, but they were the CLEAN kind of wild. (not much sleep and a little bit of T.P. here and there...) Just good clean FUN! Those relationships I made in band run so deep in my heart. That is why I have been in a little bit of shock since I heard the tragic news that on the way home from their competition in Idaho, one of the buses rolled and the woodwind instructor was killed.

I was in the band the first year we took that trip to Pocatello to compete in that particular competition. Heather Christensen, the chaperon who died, was in the band with my younger brother and sister. She was one year younger than my sister, Laura, and she was Drum Major for my brother Mark. She went on to be drum major at U of U and Mark marched with her again at that time.

While it may seem strange to some, that I feel so deeply this loss of someone I don't even know, it really isn't strange to me. The American Fork Marching band IS a family. And this weekend we lost one of our own.

I remember so clearly one particular event. There was a girl in the color guard who's mom was dying from cancer and had been unable to attend any of her performances that year. Her mom died right before the BYU competition. I remember we marched onto the field, then as we stood there waiting to start, the announcer said, "The American Fork High School Marching Band would like to dedicate this performance to Monet Tracy, who's mom WILL get to see her performance tonight." I remember marching that show with tears streaming down my face. It was an amazing experience for me.

This Tuesday is once again the annual BYU invitational, and the band will be marching in memory of Heather Christensen. I can't wait to be in the stands - and in some small way, share the moment with them. I can't wait to go out to the parking lot after the show adn stand around the band as they "circle up." I want to feel a part of them again, and let them realize that they are part of something bigger - something that will be a part of them for the rest of their lives.

We are family.


(this is a song we used to sing)

Packing up the dreams God planted
In the fertile soil of you
I can't believe the hopes He's granted
Means a chapter of your life is through
But we'll keep you close as always
It won't even seem you've gone
'Cause our hearts in big and small ways
Will keep the love that keeps us strong

And friends are friends forever
If the Lord's the Lord of them
And a friend will not say never
'Cause the welcome will not end
Though it's hard to let you go
In the Father's hands we know
That a lifetime's not too long
To live as friends

No a lifetime's not too long
To live as friends

Alien dad, half-alien mom...

Aaron said a funny thing today, just had to write it down before it disappeared from my brain forever...

Background: Tim has had a "good dad" week. He's been trying to play with the kids more, etc... One night we got home from somewhere (don't recall where we were), but Tim was in the kitchen picking up and he had some 'jammin' music on and he started doing a funky dance when the kids saw him. They laughed so hard and joined into the dance fest. It was hilarious to watch, and soon I heard Aaron saying that an Alien had taken over dad.

This morning the alien apparently returned to Tim's body, because Aaron and Tim ended up in a major wrestle fest on my bed. (While I was still in it - by the way!) Aaron was having so much fun that he asked Tim "can we do this every day?"

So - after swim lessons I told the kids I would take them out to Del Taco for lunch - school fundraiser, where a portion of the sales from yesterday and today go to the school - On the way, we made a "deal" that if everyone helped get the house picked up after lunch, we could go on a hike this evening to enjoy the changing leaves. (although to tell you the truth it is just about KILLING me! I just want to stay home tonight, glued to the radio, listening to the BYU/Florida game.) Aaron's vote is to hike to Stewart falls, but we'll have to see if Tim and I feel up to carrying the younger two kids on that hike.

ANYWAY... we're driving to Del Taco and I hear Aaron in the back seat,

"Now we have an Alien dad and a 1/2 alien mom."

I laughed, "only 1/2 alien mom?"

His reply, "Ya, you are taking us out to eat and hiking, but we still have to clean the house first."

Children's Choir/stake conference report

Yesterday was our Stake Conference and the "big day" for the children's choir that I was asked to lead. As I said before, I felt totally overwhelmed and unqualified to lead this choir, but I said yes anyway. We practiced with the kids once a week for the past month and the work and worry paid off -- THEY DID GREAT!

It caused me way more stress than it should have, and I felt nauseous over it several times - but it is done and it went well. I think the stress affected my immune system, because I woke up Sunday Morning with a nasty head cold! I took some Musinex, loaded my bag with tissues, and right before I left home I drank a hot honey/lemon tea with a healthy amount of cayenne pepper. (my preferred remedy for sore throat) I survived - but today I have been totally miserable! stuffy and achy and exhausted

The children all wore white; they looked like a choir of angels up there - and the sound matched! We ended up with about 120'ish kids. Even with the choir seats filled, at our final practice on Saturday, I got a little worried about them being loud enough once the tabernacle was filled - especially on the lower level. During the practice, the adults that were helping reported back to me that they could hear the kids okay on the balcony, since the sound naturally goes up, but it was harder to hear them down on main floor.

Tonight I was talking with my next door neighbor (and in a different conversation the neighbor across the street) and they each made a comment (unsolicited) about how well the choir did. I jumped right on it and asked where they had been sitting. I was THRILLED to find out that they were sitting in the back on the bottom level. HOORAY! They said they could hear the kids AND understand the words they were singing AND they heard both parts on the sections were the kids divided!!!! HOORAY HOORAY HOORAY!

There was one little glitch in particular ... while we were singing the closing song, I looked over and saw this little girl, CLIMBING on the railing...and sliding down it until she got to the seats in front of her, then scooting back up and doing it again. There was nothing I could do - and since we were singing, all the leaders were watching ME - not looking around at the kids - so none of them saw her. I just said a quick "please don't let her fall... it's a good 10 feet..." then went back to concentrating on leading the choir. She didn't fall - so it's all good. (I'd LOVE to know what her mom thought while all this was going on...)

Another fun element to the day was when the stake music chairman called me earlier during the week and asked if I would conduct the intermediate hymn as well. I said that would be fine, but since he didn't mention the opening hymn, I thought I should clarify.
me - "Will I be leading the opening hymn as well?"
him - "the choir is singing the opening hymn."
me - "um, no, we are singing prelude and then a song after the business portion of the meeting..."
him - "no, my understanding is that you are singing prelude that will take the place of the opening hymn."
me (thinking - "are you kidding me? that doesn't make sense at all! PRElude beans BEFORE the meeting. it does not take the place of the opening hymn.") I said, "I'm not sure that's accurate. My understanding was....blah blah blah... Would you please check on that and confirm it for me, then let me know?"

SUNDAY MORNING he called me back and confirmed that there would be an opening hymn and would I please lead it. Turns out the song was "Guide Us O Thou Great Jehovah" hymn 84. I looked it up. oh great - it has a tricky fermata. You know... everyone sings "lead us til the savior comes" -hold soprano while alto and men sing a slower tempo - "savior comes..." then the fermata, then bring everyone back in.) The problem is that I don't do the leading with two hands thing very well. I had been practicing leading the choir number for a month - and I still sometimes (often) had my hands going the wrong way when the kids were singing two different things at the same time...) I had been practicing enough that Tim had starting laughing at me, since it seemed that every time he turned around I was leading some song - I tell you - it was crazy, I couldn't sleep at night. I'd find myself lying there in bed leading the songs, trying to get my two hands to work right.

I am so relieved that it is over and done with, and I am grateful for the experience. I am so thankful for the support that I received from so many people. I could NOT have done it without them. Examples -
my visiting teacher, Rebecca M. sings with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, AND she was a music teacher in the local elementary school for years, AND she now teaches occasional classes at BYU - teaching other people how to direct children's choirs and teach music to children. SHE has all that experience and knowledge - yet they asked ME to do it. She was so supportive. She came to every practice - not to take over, but to be there as a support to me. She was available all along the way to answer questions I had, to help conduct breakout groups when I decided I wanted them to sing the song in two parts. she answered any questions I had, but was always so careful to make sure I was in charge, and that she was back up.

My friend Jenny S. was there the day we first tried working out a seating chart. It turned into a chaotic disaster, and I needed to start running through the songs so I just handed Jenny the seating chart and said, "will you please just write down a rough idea of what ward is sitting where." From that moment forward, I didn't have anything to do with the seating - except making "executive decisions" when needed. She totally handled it. and did it perfectly.

I was touched by the looks of support that I got from all the other leaders that were there. (we asked each ward to send 1 adult per 6 - 7 children) Even when my hands would go the wrong way, I sang the wrong words, got my verses mixed up, forgot cutoffs, etc... I never once felt anyone thinking "what is she doing up there. She doesn't have a clue what she's doing." I only saw understanding smiles, and 100% support. THANK YOU!!! (none of them actually read this blog, but I am very thankful and want to express it.

I am totally worn out, and need to sleep, but I had to be up late processing the last batch of Salsa I bottled tonight, and I wanted to take the time to record this. I recognize that this is way more information than any of you are really interested in, but it's my JOURNAL blog - so you get the details...

driver fatigue -

No, I'm not talking about driving while drowsy. I'm talking about the fact that I REALLY got tired of driving around today. Felt like an underpaid taxi driver. here was my list for today:


7:50 - 8:15 drove carpool to school
11:45 - 12:10 drove kindergarten carpool to school
1:30 - 1:40 drove back to school to volunteer
2:50 - 3:00 drove back home (luckily I stay until school gets out, so I didn't have to make another trip)
3:55 - 4:10 drove Aaron and TJ to scouts
4:20 - 4:25 drove Katrina to a friends house (just a bit too far to walk for a 5 yr old alone, and since Bryan was still sick, I didn't feel like we could go on a family walk...)
5:00 - 5:20 drove to pick up kids from scouts, and picked up Katrina on the way home

I feel like I spent the day in the car. Blech! I realize that this isn't much driving for a lot of you, but I am just NOT a "run-around-in-my car-all-day" kinda gal. I really hate to have to leave my house. If I DO have to go out. I really do my best to get everything done all at once. I like to leave the house ONCE and once only!

We added another family to the carpool this year, and we each drive to and from school every day for a week. This new carpool situation is going to be crazy on the weeks that I have both regular carpool (morning drop off and afternoon pick up) PLUS the kindergarten carpool - but on the plus side, after this week, I won't have to drive the drop off/pickup for 3 more weeks - so that will be nice. (kindergarten carpool there is only one other girl, so that will be every other week - but hey - anything is better than nothing!

I'll admit that the whole driving thing is one down side to going to a charter school instead of the neighborhood school - where Aaron could ride his bike or walk... but for our family, the benefits have far outweighed any inconveniences. (not to mention that most of the kids in our neighborhood who go to the neighborhood school - STILL drive their kids everyday - but that's a post for another day.)

I don't know what's going on with me right now (hormones maybe??), but I am NOT feeling myself. Granted, it has been a crazy couple of weeks, with scout camp, camping, school starting, illnesses, etc... but I feel like I am falling apart. I'm thinking they need to lock me away in a padded room for a while...



Every little thing sets me flying off the handle. Typically, I am not easily offended. The past few days I take everything personally and EVERYTHING anyone says or does sets me off. WHAT IS GOING ON!?!?!?!



I feel like I just want to pull my head into my (proverbial) shell and hide out for a while. (unfortunately, life doesn't cooperate with that - each time I pull in - LIFE (kids, pets, housework, laundry, callings, neighbors, school, etc...) starts banging on the shell.

I'm hoping this passes soon!

family reunion'ish camp out

This past weekend we had a great family camp out up at Lost Creek Campground in the Uintas.

I could paint the trip with my rose colored glasses and only tell you about all the fun activities we did, beauties of nature, and how the cousins just loved running free and wild - playing with each other non stop from breakfast 'til bedtime... (some pictures to illustrate)

Some of the cousins - Bethany, Bryan, Aaron, Caleb,Abraham, Katrina, Adam, Mosiah, and Paige - up at Wall Lake. (a mile long hike isn't long, but it sure seems long when you are hiking with an 18 month old, a (barely) 2 year old and two 3 year olds)

Bryan out on Lost Lake. (Dallin and Adam are in the boat in the background)

Dallin riding the ATV (pre-tree accident)

That's MY Tim - "King of the log"

Some awesome moose that were eating breakfast right by our tent on Sat. morning

or I could be the "glass 1/2 empty" person and tell you the negatives of the trip, like when the atv snapped 2 tie downs and "drove" itself off the trailer and into a tree, or how it rained at least once a day, and how we nearly froze ourselves packing up in a SNOWSTORM...

smashed front end - after running into the tree

starting to snow as we packed up camp

starting for home... with the heater going full blast to thaw out our fingers...)

I guess I'll just say that I had a good time and I'm glad we went. NEXT time I will pack more clothes for the kids - Aaron was ALWAYS wet), more warm clothes, and more water proof stuff. (It's been too long since I've camped in the Uintas and I forgot how unpredictable the weather is up there...)

LONG day - but productive

My day started WAAAAYYYYYY too early this morning. Caleb decided he wanted to get up at 2:45 this morning, and he just wouldn't go back to sleep. I gave in and turned on the TV - did you know that Sesame street is on at 3am??? I guess my child isn't the only one who gets up in the middle of the night. I drifted in and out of consciousness on the couch while Caleb alternated between watching TV and crying at me because he wanted something that I could never figure out what.

Tim woke me up (still on the couch with Caleb sleeping on my chest) at 6am so that I could get ready and be out the door by 6:30. I got to my mom's at 7 and started picking tomatoes. a gazillion tomatoes later, okay, maybe not that many, but we did fill 5 buckets - the big paint type buckets. are they 5-gallon???) anyway - it was a lot of tomatoes.

Then mom and dad helped me juice 3 of the buckets before I came home. That juice completely filled up 2 - 21 qt pressure canners, which I used to transport the juice back home.

I then spent the entire day canning tomatoes. I did spaghetti sauce, salsa, and pizza sauce. It took so long because of the spaghetti sauce - you are supposed to let it simmer FOREVER. Anyway, I finally gave up on it ever getting as thick as I wanted, and I just figured I could thicken it when I eat it! The trouble was that the sauce was boiling down int he two pressure Canners, so I couldn't process anything else while I was waiting. (I could have used my hot water bath canner - but my stove top couldn't accommodate any more than the two canning kettles that were already going...

Only had one major catastrophe. As I was holding up one jar next to the kettle to make it easier to fill, for whatever reason - the bottom of the bottle just fell right out - splattering almost a full quart of boiling hot spaghetti sauce all over. Luckily, this wasn't at the same time that Caleb was wrapped around my legs whining to be picked up. Also lucky for me that I had on a heavy duty apron, that absorbed most of the burning liquid. I did get a few small burns on my feet - I had shoes on, of course, but there is a netting type material over the toe portion, and it got me there, as well a a couple other spots.

The last batch just finished processing and I am waiting for the pressure to drop, then I am going to bed!

here's the grand total for the day (which in reality doesn't seem like very much when I consider that it took me ALL DAY LONG!!!! - Quick frankly, I think I'd rather just go BUY what I want in my food storage - but there is a feeling of accomplishment to look at those bottles all lines up - and to hear the seals popping as they cool down, and I am proud of the fact that I am gaining a few skills.... I just wish it wasn't so time consuming.)

Anyway - enough rambling on - here are my totals:

spaghetti sauce - 21 qts (plus 1 1/2 qts that we used for dinner tonight)

pizza sauce - 7 pints (this was an experiment, but I really liked how it turned out, so I am going to make some more...)

salsa - 9 qts and 13 pints - (yes, I am aware that I can just count 2 pints as a qt. and say I did 15 1/2 qts - but that's NOT what I did. I did 9 qts and 13 pints!!!) - I guess I get a little extra cranky about non important things when I'm tired eh?

So - there you have it - the super exciting , can't live without knowing, report of my day!

children's choir

(help - I can't figure out why my post is in two different fonts... oh well - who cares.)

I was asked a couple weeks ago to be in charge of a children's choir for our upcoming stake conference. Believe me when I say that I am TOTALLY out of my comfort zone! but I said yes. Tonight was the first rehearsal, and I couldn't finish eating my dinner - I was SO nauseous. I was so nervous about the whole thing that I really seriously felt like I was going to throw up!

On the way to the practice, I tried to help myself feel better by singing the song from the sound of music, "i have confidence." I don't know that it helped me a whole lot, but it made the kids riding with me laugh so I guess some good came of it...

Anyway - our first practice went REALLY well. much better than I thought it would. I am feeling much better about the prospect of actually pulling this thing off. Next week we are going to attempt to pull a group of kids out and teach them a simple harmony part. It seems simple enough (to me) that I think the kids can learn it, and it will really add a depth and beauty to the music, but it is not essential, so if it gets too complicated, we'll just keep it in one part and call it good.

Well - that's the report for today. I should tell you about the ward camp out that we went on over the weekend, (it was very nice) but I am too tired right now and I need to get my whiny sleepyhead Caleb to sleep so I can get to bed myself.

Aaron's HOPPY Birthday

For Aaron's birthday, We had Grandma and Grandpa Mellor (and Aunt Kathy) down for dinner. Grandma and Grandpa brought Aaron a present that was the present of the year!

Introducing...........

Freckles.

(Aaron told me a few days ago that he wants to change the bunny's name to George.
Short for Curious George - I think I'll keep calling him Freckles.)

He really is the sweetest bunny. He is fun to watch and SO SO SOFT! We love him! (all except Jasmine. she is NOT loving poor sweet Freckles/George.)




Once I knew that Freckles was on his way, I needed rabbit stuff (food, bedding, etc...) but didn't know how to get it without tipping Aaron off as to what was coming. Aaron and Holly to the rescue! I called Holly, told her what was going on, and she went shopping for me. Now if that's not a great friend - I don't know what is! They came by, brought all of the needed rabbit supplies, and got to meet Freckles. (thanks Aaron & Holly!)

a great 24th of July

Golly gee - it really is hard to blog in the summer. I am really getting behind... oh well. I'm here now, and I'll tell you quickly about our day yesterday:

We had a great 24th of July. Tim had to work, but I told the kids I'd take them swimming if they worked hard in the morning and got their jobs done and the house picked up. We met Angel and 3 of her kids at a the pool. We played hard for 3 hours. The kids had a ball - Poor Caleb was so tired by the end that he was just about falling asleep in the pool. (he was sound asleep before we got back to the freeway.) We went home, changed, packed up dinner fixin's and headed back out. We went with our friends Holly and Aaron and the Howlett's up AF canyon for a BBQ. (Tim met us up there.) It was great. I haven't been up AF canyon for a LONG time - I had forgotten how much I like it.

When it got dark, we packed up and headed for home, making one more brief stop back at the Howlett's to watch Steven light off his fireworks. (Aaron set off about 1/2 of his as well. We'll do the rest here at home tonight.) It was a long day, finally getting home about 10:40, then having to carry in all the kids who were SOUND ASLEEP - but it was lots of fun!

I took a few pics up the canyon, but of course I still don't know how to get them off my camera, and if I wait to do this - who knows when I'll get back to it. so here it is without the pictures.

A little side note. I finally battled my facebook phobia and I reactivated my account (again, for the 3rd time) and I have left it activated for a whole week now. (the previous record for my account being activated was about 10 minutes) Am I amazing or what? I don't really 'get' it - the whole facebook thing, but I am there.

Super great science Party!!!!

I won't go into the whole story of how it came about - but suffice it to say that I have the GREATEST neighbors in the world! Fred and Christie are both Chemistry teachers at local High Schools and they volunteered to help put on a chemistry party for Aaron's birthday. (truth be told, Christie volunteered, and Fred good-naturedly went along with the crazy idea.)

The plan was for them to do about 30 minutes worth of "cool" demos - with "real" chemical stuff, and then the kids would do a bunch of hands on chemistry experiments with more kid-friendly type chemicals. (think baking soda and vinegar, mentos with diet coke, dry ice/balloon bombs, etc...) What happened, was that Fred and Christie ended up being the party! It was ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC. The demos went long, because they let the kids participate in most of the things. The kids thought it was "awesome! (Tim, Jenny, and I - the "grownups" also thought it was totally awesome!) I mean, seriously, how many parties do you go to where they light off an explosion right in your hand, you get to blow SQUARE bubbles, or hold a match and soon find your entire hand engulfed in flame - yet you don't get burned??? It really was incredible!!! You know it was fun - when we never got around to opening presents and nobody even noticed - not even the birthday boy! (He opened them after everyone had gone home.)

After the demos, the kids got to make their own "gak," and made their own "ice cream in a Ziploc baggie."

Here are a few of pictures from the party and a couple of the shorter videos. ENJOY - we sure did!

THANK YOU FRED AND CHRISTIE!
THANK YOU - THANK YOU - SO MUCH!

My amazing mad scientist neighbors

scientists in training

making ice cream (by tossing it back and forth)

Tuesday's thoughtful tip

Yup, you guessed it, I'm combining them today. (I'm finding that if I actually take the time on Tuesday to post a "tip" (ya, all of two times now...) that it is really hard for me to take the time again on Thursday to be thoughtful - even if I do have some thoughtful kind of thoughts...)

So - here is the tip -

BE YOUR OWN BEST DOG!

or

Be the best YOU that YOU can be.

or

You aren't expected to be a hunting dog AND a hospital dog -
Just be what YOU were meant to be!

(you get the idea, use whatever words you want...)

and now, if you have more time to read, here is the story (the thought) behind it.

In church on Sunday, my friend Jenny shared some thoughts that I needed to hear. She was talking about her neighbor's dog, Cocoa, who is a "working dog." Cocoa has been trained and certified to go into hospitals and nursing homes to give love and comfort to people. (this is not Cocoa, but the same kind of dog and pretty much just as pampered, Cocoa is just more brown...)


The neighbor (Christine) had come with Jenny to a family dinner and in the course of the evening, Jenny's brother remarked that while Cocoa was very good at giving love and comfort to people, he would make a LOUSY hunting dog.


Jenny then paralleled how each of us in life is good at different things. While some of us are good at one thing, we aren't so good at something else. and vice verse. AND THAT IS OKAY!

Then Jenny and I were talking yesterday and I asked for her advice. I told her how frustrated I was that no matter how hard I try, I just can't keep on top of the housework. When the house actually does get picked up and looking nice (either by myself or the house cleaning help,) I just can't maintain it! It drives me crazy! She has 3 kids, and yet she is organized and her house always looks picked up and ready for people to walk right in. We talked about it for a while and I thought it was hilarious the direction the conversation went.
She tried to make me feel better by pointing out things that she struggles with but she thought I was good at. The first one she said was "good at managing money." I laughed right out loud! I hated to burst her bubble, but while I can MENTALLY understanding how to save money, I can't do it. I get totally stressed out when Tim and I have to discuss finances. Luckily Tim is EXCELLENT with money and he covers for me and is patiently trying to train me to be better.

Another thing that made me laugh was when she suggested that I might be extra critical of myself because I spend so much time with my friend Holly, who is an excellent housekeeper. Jenny said something along the lines of it might be discouraging to me to hang around with Holly because she was so "perfect." I just had to laugh, because I am good enough friends with Holly that I know that even though she IS a great housekeeper and super organized and she is an all around super great person - I also know the struggles and insecurities she has.

I guess it all comes down to the fact that what we see on the outside isn't necessarily what's really going on.

Just as Cocoa would never make it as a hunting dog, I don't know that I will ever make it as a super housekeeper. I am getting a little better, I think. And Tim and I are trying really hard to get the kids trained into some better habits, but it is slow going. and that is OKAY! We are moving in the right direction.

I just need to figure out what kind of "dog" I am, and then be the best I can at that!

Tuesday's Tip

My tip for today is this:

If you ever decide to introduce a bit of specific structure to your blog, say for instance a "Tuesday's Tip" or a "thoughtful Thursday," you must either be much more organized and structured than I am, OR you should NOT introduce it at the beginning of the crazy, busy, days of summer. WAIT until fall, when kids are back in school and life slows down just a teeny tiny bit...

(maybe it doesn't really slow down all that much, but school forces quite a bit of structure into the lives of people like me... and I think that is probably not all bad, if ya know what I mean.)

crazy weekend part 1 - the wedding

Our sweet niece, Jenny, was married in the Salt Lake Temple on Saturday, June 20th. (yes, this is a week late...) It ended up being a bit crazy, since we had lined up someone to watch the kids while we were upstairs for the sealing, and that person had to cancel at the last minute due to sickness. We just went up as planned, and Tim stayed downstairs with the kids and I went up to the sealing.

Jenny looked beautiful. The sealer said some inspiring things that I am hoping will make it into my next "thoughtful Thursday..." It was a beautiful ceremony and we wish Jen and AJ a very happy life together.


Here are some photos:




Tim and the kids took some photos while they were waiting too...