TJ's Bloggin Spot

Atypical Christmas

2012-01-16T21:02:00.001-08:00

This was not a typical Christmas. Everything about it was atypical. It might have been because of the spring-like weather we had during December or because we were so busy with work, church, and ball games that I didn't even have time to shop. I also didn't make Christmas candy or send out Christmas cards (for the first time in 20 years!). We did put our Christmas decorations up early and began listening to Christmas music in November, but the Christmas spirit eluded me throughout the season.

Even Christmas day was atypical. The kids decided they didn't want to open any gifts until after church, so there was no anticipation or waking during early morning hours (did I mention that this is our first official year of not having to hide things, sneak around, or lie about Santa? They all know the truth... and the magic is gone). We didn't have our annual Christmas breakfast, but ate sandwiches at noon when we got home from church instead. Anti-climatic.

We also decided to have an unplugged Christmas this year which might have contributed to the ho-hums. The kids could ask for anything they wanted, as long as it wasn't an electronic of any kind. Without being able to ask for i-pods, cameras, cell phones, or gameboys, they didn't know what to ask for. As a result, their lists were simple and the items on them, inexpensive. At first I felt bad about this, but in hindsight this decision turned out to be a tender mercy. Korry was laid off from his job on January 1st so we were grateful that we hadn't gone overboard or spent too much money. It's funny that I spent so much time trying to find the spirit and it was watching over us all along.

Taylor's List: guitar case, basketball, TOMS, Nutella

Kaycie's List: scrubs, new coat, chick flicks, music, clothes

Jaymon's List: Lego Hogwarts, CARS cars, basketball, ski coat

Lyndsie's List: G-2 pens, makeup, nail polish, basketball, beanbag, coat

Merry Christmas 2012!

Hey, Santa

2012-01-15T14:54:00.000-08:00

The Jordan Family Christmas Party was held at Margie and Jerry's house this year. In a rare display of enthusiasm, Elliott dressed up like "Santa" and had each of the kids sit on his lap as he gave them a handmade wooden gift. It has been so nice (the past two years) to get together with the Jordan family again. I think JoLynn would be happy to see it. She's been gone almost eleven years now which is hard to believe in many ways. It's hard to believe it's been that long and some days it's still hard to believe that she really is gone. I hope she was watching this Christmas. I think she would be proud of her grandchildren and happy to see what great kids they have all become.

Kaycie

Taylor

Lyndsie

Jaymon

Unseasonably Fun

2012-01-02T18:01:00.000-08:00

The weather here in Utah (or rather the lack of it) is a bit unsettling. We've had the driest December in recorded history and highs close to 50 degrees. I don't know whether to be afraid or celebrate.

Today Amie and I took Jaymon, Brennan, and Jackson snowboarding at Sundance as a final hurrah before school starts back up tomorrow. My friend Stacey (Jackson's mom) and her daughter Gracie met up with us later in the afternoon. The weather was spectacular enough to make up for the lack of snow and we all had a great time. It was thrilling to reconnect with a sport I love so much.

While I was in the mountains on the slopes, Korry was down in the valley, hitting the greens, golfing 18 holes with a couple of old friends. He too has been reconnecting with a sport that he loves. In fact, he's been a golfing fanatic the past few months, golfing 18 holes on his birthday (Dec. 2), on New Years Eve, and again today.

I hope this will be a theme for us in 2012...to reconnect with the things, the people, the places, and the activities that we love the most.

Remember Who You Are

2011-02-27T23:56:00.000-08:00

Lyndsie has a new Sunday School teacher that she adores. He told the kids the first week of January that he only has three rules they have to live by each Sunday which are, 1) Bring Brother Pexton Chocolate 2) Show up for class 3) Bring Brother Pexton more chocolate.

Sounds simple enough to me, though every Saturday night Lyndsie (who still takes things literally) is wanting us to take her to Reams to buy candy bars.

Tonight, at New Beginnings, I was chatting with the above named Sunday School teacher and his wife. I mentioned that I was going broke buying candy bars, and wondered if he had any more rules we needed to be aware of.

He didn't, but he did warn me about a few "life lessons" that he plans to teach the kids...

"Marry someone HOT and teach her how to be nice because you can't marry someone nice and teach her how to be HOT."

And my personal favorite....

"Remember who you are....and don't let it get you down."

I approve :0)

Old Stuff

2011-02-20T21:07:00.000-08:00

Sometimes living in an old house can get discouraging. If you look too closely at anything you begin to feel a desperate need to scrub it, though it won't do any good. Well, this week my girls had an assignment in their photography class to take pictures of "Antique" things...or in other words "Old Stuff". We certainly don't lack for old things around here, so they had fun taking pictures all around our house and yard. Their pictures turned out really great (Taylor even won the "best picture of the week" award) and it was fun to see our "old stuff" from a different perspective.

My Version of H. E. Double Toothpicks

2011-02-02T23:47:00.000-08:00

It seems one time I heard this idea that if you die (and instead of making it to the celestial kingdom you head in the opposite direction) that HELL (oops... sorry kids, H.E. Double Toothpicks) will be customized especially for you. For example, if you were an alcoholic, your version of hell will be that everywhere you look you will see drinks, and people drinking, and people tempting you with drinks, but you won't be able to take a single drink...not one drop!

Now, I'm going to bird walk for a minute, but stay with me here....I promise it will all come together.

Have you ever been at an elementary school on an especially cold, rainy, or snowy day during recess? It is called "Inside Recess". It happens three times a day. To paint you a mental picture, it looks something like this...

* Imagine 500 assorted game pieces thrown all over the floor. Little plastic battleships, pawns from a chess game, small, smiling cardboard-cut-out children from Chutes and Ladders (but the little plastic thing that makes them stand up is missing), UNO cards, Go Fish cards, red checkers, black checkers, checkers from a Connect Four game, Jenga blocks, monopoly money...you get the picture.

* Next imagine 100 first graders who seem to have no recollection of ever playing with any of those game pieces, don't know how they got on the floor, and don't feel a need to clean them up because "I wasn't playing with that!"

*Let your imagination take you to the corner of the room where 5 rambunctious boys are using the bean bags from a Toss-A-Cross game as weapons to physically assault one another. But don't worry, only one of them is bruised and crying.

*Just think of children (about one every second) asking, "Why can't we go outside? When is my bell going to ring? Is third grade suppose to be in here? Can I go get a drink? Can I go to the bathroom? Can my friend go to the bathroom? Can you tell someone to play with me? Can you tell that kid to let me have a turn with the Bop-It? Have you seen my friend, she has brown hair?"

*Imagine coughing. Lots of coughing, oh... and sneezing too. Coughing and sneezing in a confined space by multiple children all at once.

* Picture a clock that slows down with every passing minute. Picture yourself counting to 60 then looking up and only 20 seconds has passed and there's still 20 more minutes until the bell rings.

That my friends, is my version of H.E. DOUBLE TOOTHPICKS! And THAT is what my colleagues and I have been doing almost daily since December. Do I feel like I'm living in H.E. Double Toothpicks? No, because I love my job and even love those coughing, sneezing, messy, rambunctious children. HOWEVER...

I am going to live very righteously. VERY RIGHTEOUSLY. Because, if that is what hell is, I don't want to go there. EVER!

Cookbookaholics Anonymous

2010-11-09T22:43:00.000-08:00

Everybody seems to be addicted to something these days and for me that would be cookbooks. Like a drug addict, I will take them any way I can get them; hardback, paperback, ward cookbooks, in magazine form, etc.
The saddest part of my addiction is that while I continue to uncontrollably purchase cookbooks, I haven't actually become a USER.
Here's what I mean. I love the cookbooks. I look at the cookbooks all the time (I can't stop). I write down the recipes I want to fix on little sticky note pads. BUT THEN I NEVER ACTUALLY COOK ANYTHING!!!
My diet today consisted of the following: 1 piece of carb-filled white bread with a little pb & j spread on it, a snickers candy bar, gold fish crackers, string cheese, and Frito's with chili poured over the top. I washed all that healthy grub down with a diet Dr. Pepper that someone gave me because they felt sorry for me. You see, I've had a terrible cold for about two weeks now and my eyes and nose have been watering so badly that I probably look like a drug addict instead of the cookbookaholic that I really am.
With all this healthy eating I've been doing I can't imagine why I'm not getting better. Well, at least I've finally admitted that I have a problem. That's the first step to recovery, right?

Hi....I'm Teresa and I'm a cookbookaholic.

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

2010-09-20T21:54:00.000-07:00

Don't Ask!

Let's just say, don't ever buy the $4.99 pies at Reams. They don't taste very good, so your kids will get other ideas.

Yesterday and Tommorrow

2010-08-22T21:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was standing here....

Doing this...

and living here....

and seeing this every morning...

And spending time with him....

I was drinking this....

And eating this...

Tommorrow I will be here...

This is probably what I will eat...

It's not good or bad. Just a sad reminder that summer is over and it's back to the drawing board. Luckily I love my drawing board. Still, I have a hard time letting go....
of summer.

Baptism Gift Idea

2010-08-22T20:29:00.001-07:00

Wanted to share this cute idea for a quick, easy and inexpensive baptism gift. Simply buy a white towel and attach the following poem.

My Baptism Towel

This baptism towel is to help remind you
Of your baptism day all the years through.
When you come out of the water all clean and pure,
Dry off with this towel and you can be sure,
That you are as clean as this towel is white.
And the Holy Ghost will be with you both day and night.
For the Holy Ghost is your gift after the laying on of hands,
And will be a comfort and a guide if you obey God's commands.
This CTR emblem will help remind you to be strong
As you continue to learn right from wrong.
When your towel becomes soiled, remember that we, too,
May sometimes make mistakes and we've been taught just what to do.
Just as you can wash your towel so it can again be clean,
The wrongs you make can be washed away and never again be seen.
Your Heavenly Father loves you, remember always to pray,
And He will be beside you for forever and a day.

The Hammock Story

2010-06-22T21:32:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there was a mom who tried to sneak out to swing in her hammock. You see, she was very tired, and a cool breeze was blowing. She had never swung in her hammock since hanging it more than a year ago. And the thought occurred to her that no one would see her out there swinging under the big pine trees. So she went, armed only with her camera and a dream of a few minute's peace.

The mom settled in to the hammock and aimed her camera upward.

She noticed how the light filtered through the branches of the pines. For one short moment she thought to herself..."hmmmm, this is nice."

But this peaceful bliss was short lived. Suddenly, through the branches came A GIRL!

The girl sat down on a chair and started doing this....

and THIS....

AND THIS!!!.....

While the whole disruption was quite entertaining, the mom still longed for a little peace, so she told the girl that while she "rocked the house" she should really "go back in the house" and do her chores.
The mom had just settled back in, when along came....ANOTHER GIRL!

Now, this girl had a sunburn and apparently the sunburn was hurting.

And even though the mom had given the girl ibuprofen and rubbed aloe vera on the sunburn, more complaining, whining, and whimpering was needed in order for the girl to feel better.

The mom had no sooner sent girl #2 in for more aloe vera when she heard a strange rumbling, buzzing noise in the yard. It came closer and closer.

At first the mom couldn't tell what the strange buzzing sound was, but then she saw him...it was a man with a LAWNMOWER! How did he get out here?

Pretty soon everyone gathered to see the unusual spectacle...a mom trying to relax in a hammock.... HOW SHOCKING! They had to put a stop to it.

And so the mom, still tired and feeling very much defeated, got out of the hammock and went back inside to lock the bathroom door and continue her quest for a few minutes peace.

The End

PROLOGUE: She didn't bring her camera in to the bathroom, just her pillow.

Oh yeah...that's right!

2010-02-04T23:48:00.000-08:00

Here are all of the pictures I took of the kids at Christmas....

Oh wait........I didn't take any.

Not One.

Worlds greatest mom award comin' right at me any minute. I can feel it.

P.S. Does anyone know anyone who can get me a killer deal on a laptop? You should see me right now typing with one hand while precariously pushing and holding the frayed power cord into the side of our broken, old, junky computer just to get enough juice to type these few measly words.

Can't. Go. One. More. Day. Without. Computer. Help!

ca

Pictures With Shannon

2009-10-04T21:05:00.001-07:00

It came!

2009-09-22T20:09:00.003-07:00

Guess what came in the mail today?

So it's officially published. Jaymon asked me, "Mom are you famous now?" So I told him the truth.....

.....that yes I was and he would probably be seeing me on Disney Channel any day.

Tonight as I flipped through it, I still had a hard time believing that I actually finished it. Every page, every paragraph, every carefully chosen word represented hours of writing, reading, research, heartache and frustration.

My thesis and I have a love hate relationship

LOVE!

HATE!

Either way, It's D.O.N.E.

Just to get rid of the cats

2009-09-21T22:35:00.000-07:00

Flat Stanley and his American Girl"friends" - Chicago 2009

I haven't posted for three weeks and so every time I see my link on other blogs I see a picture of our cats. I hate cats. I'm sick of that picture. Please don't think I'm a cat lover. This post is just to get rid of the cats. I'm even including a random, non-feline picture for good measure.

Going, Going....

2009-08-27T22:37:00.000-07:00

For those who have casually mentioned that you might be willing to take a darling, sweet, irresistible kitty off of my hands, now's your chance! All 5 are going on KSL starting next week. If you were serious about wanting one, let me know.....

Get them now while they are still cute!

Cute Custom Layouts

2009-08-26T21:53:00.000-07:00

For those of you who follow Kristina Pulsipher's blog, you have probably noticed the darling header that she has, which was designed by April at aprilshowersblogdesign.com.

Well....April is doing a giveaway for three blog design layouts. Visit her site and enter to win. Her designs are so fun! I want to have her design something for my food blog...

Visit her site and tell me what you think!

Despite...

2009-08-15T11:34:00.000-07:00

Despite the chaos of finishing my thesis, we managed to have a little fun this summer. Would you believe that I have taken almost 1,000 pictures over the past two months? Here are some highlights. We are going retro here, from graduation backward...kind of the way I wish I could rewind the summer and play it again! So bummed to be going back to work this week.

My girls! Wendy, Karen, Jessie, and I walked in the procession to the Marriott Center on Thursday, August 13th. I can't tell you how glad I was that we all finished late and were able to be together for this special occassion. The four of us have been to hell and back and survived. WE ROCK!
Yes...we were similing! I love these pictures because you can see the total happiness and elation on our faces. This is what it looks like when the weight of the world comes off your shoulders!
Awww....Korry and I at graduation on Friday, August 14th. We celebrated our 18th anniversary earlier in the week (Monday, August 10th). We spent Monday night at Sundance, but I didn't get to rest and relax because I was up until 5 am trying to finish a paper before graduation. Poor Korry!
Graduation day at BYU - Thanks Mom, Dad, Margie & Ramona. It meant so much to me that you came!
The Fam
Look at these kids! Two are now taller than me. I only look taller than Taylor because of high heels and that hat!
The weekend before graduation we took a trip to Flaming Gorge with the Jensen's to raft the Green River. We had a great time, but it was SO COLD...only 68 degrees! Korry started a water fight on the river and we were all frozen by the end. This picture is Lou and Camri on the hike down to the river.
Amie and Karlie hiking to the river.
The Jensen & Jordan families.
The kids, right before the river. I was so bummed that I couldn't take my camera on the river. It was gorgeous!
Here is my "Best Mom Ever" picture. The day we returned from girls camp, we (me, my kids, margie and her kids) drove to St. George and then on to Vegas for the Jo Bro Concert. It was a highlight of the summer. WOW. The Jonas Brother's rocked the house and yeah....I'm a cool mom. This pic was taken at 1:00 a.m. after the concert.
Here I am on the high ropes at Heber Valley. I had the pleasure of being the assistant camp director and going to girls camp with Kaycie and Taylor this year. Camp D.I.V.A. (Divine Individuals who are Virtuous Always) was our theme.
Making dog tags here. I love this picture of Kaycie. She wore these fake Harry Potter glasses the whole week (don't ask me why). What a silly!
Skit night with our cabin. This is Kaycie's theatrical debut....she's the "TREE".
Our darling Young Women at the waterfront.
Taylor, Amberlee & Rebecca canoeing
Oh behave!
Taybee Baby
Taylor coming down the zipline after the ropes course.
Kaycie on the zipline after the high ropes.
Challenge course games.
Andrea and Dan came out in July and we P.L.A.Y.E.D. Another highlight of summer was their visit. Here's Korry, fourwheeling at Little Sahara.
Dan catches some air.
Korry and Dan after a long day of riding.
Preparing the boats for a run down the Green River at Flaming Gorge.
Andrea and the kids just before our river run.
Playing in the water at Flaming Gorge.
Andrea and Dan
Korry cheers after he manages to "dump" Dan off the tube.
Dan, getting dumped off the tube.
Jaymon, Taylor and McKayla tubing.
McKayla, Andrea and Emma get ready for a tube ride.
Korry and the kids, chillin in the boat.
Jaymon playing on the shore at Sunny Cove.
Andrea and Lyndsie...no hands!
Jaymon takes a leap off the cliffs at Sunny Cove.
Taylor takes the leap!
Lyndsie takes a bigger leap. Lou is such a water bug. In fact, she got so sunburned this day that she couldn't come down the river with us the next.
Here I am, taking the leap off one of the higher cliffs. You can't imagine the guts it took for me to do this. I stood at the top of the cliff for almost 15 minutes before I actually jumped. But I did it! And only managed to say two bad swear words in the process. Yeah me!
Lyndsie takes her first jump
Dan takes the leap!
Lou, McKayla and Taylor on the tube.
Tay tries tube surfing.
Fun at Sunny Cove.
Jaymon, Emma and McKayla.
We met at Kelly's Grove for a Sunday BBQ. Sue and her family came and we all had a nice visit and tons of great food.....which reminds me....I need recipes Heather and Sue!
Oops - sideways but still cute. Emma and Mckayla.
Korry, the Brindley Family and Hilary.
Tyler, Asher, Jaymon. Happy Birthday Asher!
The girls at the Ute Stampede in Nephi. We actually had a great time at the rodeo this year. The clown "Wild Child" was hilarious and there were some injuries and other exciting adventures. Welcome to Utah, Andrea and Dan.
Kaycie and Emma.
The Fam at the Rodeo
The Fourth of July this year turned out stormy and cold. Our beloved fireworks were cancelled, which really put a damper on the day. The kids had fun at the park and Korry and I enjoyed our planned "cheat day" from our diet by eating lots of delicious food like sugar cookies, cheeseburgers and fries and macaroni salad. YUMMO!
Jaymon tries to climb the grease pole every year, but it got the best of him once again. Maybe next year.
Jay's loot of toys and prizes at the Nephi Park.
This summer we had LOTS of cousin sleep overs. These two boys would live together if they could. We love little Jayden. He's the next best thing to a little brother Jaymon could have. On this night, I caught them wearing the girls Oobies while they watched Transformers.
Silly boys.
Here's Taylor at her piano recital in June. She loves her new piano teacher!
Taylor played Minuet in G and Washington Marching Band and I Love to See the Temple.
Jordan family reunion at Jim and Shirlene's.
The boys at the BBQ.
Art City Day parade. It's so fun to sit down at Custom Carpets for the parade. Uncle Jim walks around with an unlimited supply of Otter Pops for the kids. What a great way to kick off the summer.
Korry with little Elliette, Ryah and Shirlene.
Ash & Elliette
Shirlene, me, Jeanette and Eliza.
Otter Pops from Uncle Jim.
Mindi and the kids came over to the parade. Ethan and Syd are getting so funny! They make us laugh.
The weekend after school got out Korry took the girls on their second annual Daddy Daughter campout with the Smaldones and Taylors. They caught some fish, did some four-wheeling and had a great late night adventure when Korry dropped a latern, broke the glass and popped the air mattresses.
Fishing with Kaleia and Ashlynn.

What part of "WE" don't I understand?

2009-06-22T09:37:00.000-07:00

There is a strange phenomenon that occurs frequently at my house. I lovingly call it the "WE" FACTOR. The person who most often engages in "WE" FACTOR behavior is my husband.

Let me explain....

Dishes are PILED in the sink and my husband walks by and says,

"WE need to get these dishes cleaned up! They've been piled here for two days!!!"

Now, here's the part I guess I don't understand. HE has seen the dishes there. HE has been home for two days and I haven't. HE could have cleaned them up at any time, but DIDN'T.

So can someone please tell me why HE said, "WE"?

Here's another example,

I get home after a long day at BYU. I walk in the back door and he says,

"WE need to get these kids fed. They are STARVING!"

To which I reply,
"Really? I mean, REALLY? Seriously, how long have they been STARVING? Because WE should have fed them about three hours ago!"

Here are a couple more for your enjoyment....
WE need to organize these cupboards! WE have got to do a better job of folding the clothes as soon as they come out of the dryer! WE cannot keep leaving scrapbooks stuff on the kitchen table! WE can't keep letting the wash pile up like this! WE need to start eating dinner earlier! WE need to vacuum under these couches!

Could it be that WE actually means Y.O.U.?

My husband just knows that if he replaced the WE in any of those statements with YOU he would have a black eye and another herniated disk in his back.

I mean, come on, what part of WE does
he think I don't understand?

P.S. (Love ya Babe, I mean it! Just stop saying WE, o.k.?) oh, and WE need to wash the cars and mow the lawn today!

Can I just say....

2009-06-16T11:03:00.001-07:00

Can I just say that I just wrote the last word in the last chapter of my thesis !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now mind you, this doesn't mean that it's done, done, but it means that from here on out it's all about revision, but not about creation...and for me, creation is the HARDEST part!

My data review meeting is this Thursday and it looks like my defense will be scheduled for July 1st. I'll do final revisions after Thursday, print and copy that puppy for my committee...send it out into the great blue BYU yonder and then wait until July 1st.

The clouds are lifting, both on our happy little valley here in Utah county and also in my no-so-happy-lately life where the DARK THESIS CLOUD OF DOOM has been hovering for so long that I may not know how to function once it's gone.

I think I'm getting my sense of humor back. Today Korry was watching the Simpson's and I could hear it blaring as I finished writing chapter 5.

From what I could gather, Bart was running away to Utah to get married.

I heard Marge yell,

"HOMEY! WE HAVE TO GO TO UTAH AND STOP BART FROM GETTING MARRIED!"

to which Homer replied,
"WOO HOO! LET'S GO TO UTAH! I LOVE CAFFEINE AND MONOGAMY!"

Now THAT's some great writing!

K, I'm heading out now to celebrate my last words by going on a 4 mile run. I KNOW...can you believe it? Neither can I!

Not Even Close to Mostly

2009-06-14T21:53:00.001-07:00

How sad is it that I have been working on my thesis for three years and I'm STILL NOT DONE?

Pretty SAD!

How sad is it that I spent over 7 hours revising today (yes, on SUNDAY) and I'm not even close to mostly finished?

Pretty SAD!

How sad is it that I have been eating FLAKES of romaine lettuce and Protein bars all week and gained two pounds?

Pretty SAD.

How sad is it that I am feeling restless tonight because I DIDN'T go running?

SAD!

I'm Feeling A Little Charlie Brown!

For Andrea...

2009-06-05T23:58:00.000-07:00

3 pics above are of hiking at Red Rock in St. George this past January.

These three pics (two above, one below) were taken at our favorite park in St. George. It's near the Bate's condo.

These two pics (aboe and below) were taken at the Spanish Fork Reservoir. It's only about a 5 min. drive from our house. We could do a day trip.

Can't Give Up

2009-05-16T21:46:00.000-07:00

Haven't done much blogging lately because ....

....these things are very hard for me.

And this time I can't give up!

Gotta Love John Schmidt

2009-04-24T20:41:00.000-07:00

It starts & ends with Family

2009-04-20T12:09:00.000-07:00

We are home from Chicago, happy and exhausted! As we were driving down to my mom & dad's yesterday we were discussing our favorite parts of the trip. Here's what everyone had to say...

Korry: Being with Uncle Dick & the family. Riding go carts with the boys.
Kaycie: Playing with baby Ethan, meeting Brian and Rebecca and going to museums.
Taylor: Getting to know Ashlyn & Kinsley. Hanging out with Brian and Rebecca.
Lyndsie: Playing with Emma & the kids.
Jaymon: The planetarium and the idea factory at the Science & Industry Museum.
Teresa: Dinner at Geja's with the grown ups (such a wonderful night!) Church on Easter Sunday.

Isn't it funny that we went to the Sears Tower, Grant & Millenium Park, the Magnificent Mile, Navy Pier, Adler Planetarium, the Field Museum, the Museum of Science & Industry, the Art Institute, Lego Discovery Center, and countless shops and restaurants, yet our favorite thing about the trip was spending time with the family?!
It was wonderful to reconnect with everyone.
Emma is growing up and is so incredibly smart. She is only in Kindergarten and is such an amazing reader! She has more expression in her reading than many of the teachers I know :0) We got to be there for her party and watch her blow out her birthday candles! She even read us a bedtime story, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss.

Baby Ethan is a dream baby. He is so good, and kept us all smiling, laughing and fighting over him throughout the trip. Kaycie got some hilarious footage of Ethan laughing and screaming...I'll have to post it later. Korry wanted to bring him home in our carry on. It was wonderful to see Erin & Dennis and to finally meet their girls. Taylor and Ashlyn hit it off and were best buddies while Kinsley had fun playing with Lyndsie and Emma. Their girls are so well behaved and polite. We were sad when they had to leave on Sunday afternoon to make the long drive back to Evansville.
Kaycie & Taylor haven't stopped talking about Uncle Brian and Aunt Rebecca. They were excellent tour guides and went out of their way to make our trip fun. They showed us around the city, went to museums with us and were a constant source of information and good food :0) One evening we visited Rebecca's office in the city where she works at an architectural firm. I was so amazed to think about the work that she does every day (she is currently working on building projects in Dubai). She uses more brain power in one minute that I do in a year. Brian is also an architect and is so much fun to talk to. Again, I wish I had half his brain power.
I have a lot of pictures I need to upload from Kaycie's camera so that I can get the FRONT of Rebecca on here instead of just the back!

I was so glad that we got to spend some time down at Dan & Andrea's on Saturday and Sunday. Easter Sunday was so relaxing. Andrea had made tons of delicious food for Emma's birthday and we were able to just hang around and visit and watch sports while the kids played. That is my idea of a relaxing weekend. Andrea spent the day with us on Thursday. We went to Navy Pier and the Art Institute. In the evening, Korry, Dan and Uncle Dick went racing go carts which was the highlight of the trip for Korry (even though he was one of the slowest racers...hehe).
The best part of this trip was that we were able to surprise everyone. Only Linda and Dan knew we were coming and had worked everything out for us to stay at Dick and Linda's. When we arrived on Thursday afternoon, we snuck all of our bags in to the house and then left and waited for Dick and Linda to get home from work. Then we just went to the front door and knocked. I think Dick was surprised to see us standing there. First he slammed the door on us and we all started laughing. The next night (Friday) was Dan and Andrea's 10th Anniversary, so Dan arranged a dinner in Naperville and told Andrea they were dropping the kids off at her mom's. When Andrea came in the back door, Korry and the kids surprised she and Emma. The next day (Saturday) we drove out to Dan & Andrea's where Erin, Denis and the girls were staying. Rebecca came down with her mom and dad and so we surprised everyone that morning again and then Brian later when he arrived at Emma's party. They were all such great sports! By the end of the week we were all completely exhausted and sleep deprived, but that's what makes for a great vacation, right?!
I was so glad that our kids got to know Dick and Linda better and spend time with their family. It meant so much to Korry because ever since his mom passed away, we have felt a little disconnected from the Daniels family and we miss them so much! I am feeling so glad that we reconnected!

2009-04-20T11:54:00.001-07:00

HA HA Moment Giveaway

2009-04-08T14:36:00.000-07:00

I'm sick of Oprah and her Ah Ha moments. I think I'd like to have a "HA HA" Moment!

So let me tell you a little story....

Erik Weihenmeyer (a former 5th grade teacher) was the first blind person to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. He spoke at a convention I recently attended about something he calls Optimistic Pessimism. This strategy helped his climbing team find humor as they fought for the summit. What could ever be funny about not breathing and your nose turning black and falling off, I will never know, BUT this strategy is quite fun.

Let me explain how it works ..... the key is to use the words, "BUT AT LEAST".
Erik and his team would say things like, "I can't feel my toes, but at least my nose is turning black." Here are a few of my own examples:

My husband doesn't have a job, but at least I still don't know where I'm teaching next year!
The economy really stinks, but at least gas prices are starting to climb again.
I've recently gained 10 pounds but at least spring will soon be here and I won't be able to hide under a hoodie.
My thesis is nowhere near complete, but at least I'm still going to spend hundreds of hours finishing it.
My house is a disaster, but at least I still have mountains of laundry to do.

PRETTY FUN, HUH? I knew you'd like it.

So go ahead...post a comment and try some pessimistic optimism. In fact, I'm going on a little vacation this week to Chicago and in honor of Oprah, I'll bring back a souvenier from the "Magnificent Mile" (where guests of the Oprah Show stay BTW) to the person with the BEST optimistic pessimism comment!

Sounds Like A GIVEAWAY. Oh...Goodie, Goodie, Goodie...

Homechurching Just A Dream

2009-04-05T00:11:00.000-07:00

For those of you who remember back to my fall post about "homechurching", sadly I need to tell you that the dream has died. Not only will I still be attending church every week, I was just called to be the first counselor in the primary presidency. So now I get to go to church AND teach sharing time while I'm there (yay me!)

Gone are the dreams of sleeping on my couch for three hours with the scriptures over my heart.
Gone are the dreams of remaining humble by staying in my pajama bottoms all day.
Gone are the dreams of watching Music and the Spoken Word as I cook waffles and drink orange julius.

Ah....Homechurch, you were never really mine.

So I got a new calling....

2009-03-17T23:18:00.000-07:00

When the bishop calls and asks if you can come in for an interview on a Friday night at 5:30, RUN. FAST. In the other direction! Because here's the deal....

Why can't they just wait until Sunday morning? Or Sunday afternoon? Or next Sunday? Or Wednesday night when the bishopric normally meets?

The answer my friends is that the calling can't wait until then.

So, yeah - I got a new calling....

and you're going to laugh!

Takes the cake

2009-03-13T18:28:00.000-07:00

My scouting adventures have led me to my first Blue & Gold Banquet. In case you didn't know, this is a night where the boys are recognized and given awards, you eat lasagna and green salad and then you clean up and go home. The one saving grace of the night is....CAKE!

Each of the boys worked with their dads to create a cake for a cake decorating contest. Now THIS is something I can get in to. It ended up being really fun and the boys had a good time. So that's what it takes...It takes a cake....
Korry and Jaymon decorated this race track cake. They had a great time and Jaymon won an award for the "fastest" cake.
Jaymon earned his Bobcat and helped out with his first flag ceremony. AW...doesn't he look great in his new scout uniform?
Here are some of the creative cakes the boys/dad made. Check out Obama!

Laman and Lemuel

2009-03-02T21:07:00.000-08:00

Growing up as a Moore meant that every Monday night was family fight....er....I mean family night. Instead of listening to the lesson, we all poked, pestered, argued, kicked, giggled, crawled, flopped around, whispered, or slept. When especially angry over our family night behavior my dad would resort to guilt ridden statements like,

"You all are a bunch of Laman & Lemuels!!!"
Or my personal favorite....
"The spirit WAS here, but you've successfully driven it away. Congratulations!"

This never really did change our family night behavior, but it did give me a long-standing complex that I'm a "Laman" not a "Nephi". I use to secretly wonder if Laman and Lemuel were as bad as they sounded or if maybe there was another side to the story. Like maybe Nephi was super bossy or was secretly pestering his brothers because he knew how to push their buttons. Maybe Laman always got in trouble because he was the oldest and Nephi got away with everything because he was littler and cuter. Hmmmm....I still wonder.

Fast forward twenty years. I've planned ahead. The scripture, lesson and heartfelt story are ready to share. An orange cheesecake is chilling in the fridge. (about now you are thinking I'm pretty on the ball right?) Well, the truth is, nothing really has changed except now I'm the grown-up and designated guiltER.

It takes ten minutes to drag everyone in because they are doing other important things like shaving their legs, watching i-Carly, or cutting up millions of tiny pieces of paper (a.k.a. dinosaur food) to feed their plastic T-Rex.

Once gathered, my kids poke and pester and argue and kick and giggle and crawl and flop around and whisper and sleep. I could tell them the most insanely spiritual thing....

"Kids, today the prophet himself called me to talk about the second coming, which is tomorrow."

I swear my kids would reply, "hahahahahahahahaha....stop touching me!.......someone at school threw up today........hahahahahahahahahha."

Despite this bad behavior, I have yet to resort to the Laman/Lemuel Complex and I've never once accused my kids of driving out the spirit.

Because the truth is, even when family night isn't perfect, the spirit still seems to stick around.

Maybe it wants a piece of the orange cheesecake.

Just a little worried....

2009-02-17T00:35:00.000-08:00

I don't usually get political here, but I just have to. Maybe I've been watching too much CSPAN and MSNBC with my good friend Jackie, but I have to say that I think the economic stimulus plan is a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE mistake.

This week on the news, I've heard that....

What the government is spending on this stimulus would be enough money to pay off 90% of the mortgages in this country, and.....

Only 35% of the money is actually going to taxpayers and tax relief, and.....

Millions/Billions of dollars are going to special interest groups, and.....

Many are predicting a Depression broader in scope and consequence than the 1930's!

I'm just a little worried....

Obsese Giraffe is NOT Funny!

2009-02-10T21:45:00.000-08:00

So tonight my kids are having a fit over this funny picture on YouTube..... I mean, they were knee-slappin-belly-laughing-rolling-on-the-floor-laughing. I walked over and took a look.....

Poor thing! I know exactly how he/she feels....AND.....

It's NOT funny!

Only Happy Thoughts

2009-02-08T21:44:00.001-08:00

I have been so down-in-the dumps the last couple of weeks and I don't even know why.

O.K., that was a lie....I TOTALLY know why, but I'm just sick of thinking/talking about it. So I'll just spare everyone and think only happy thoughts. Here goes...

I've watched LOTS of GREAT ball games this week.

We decorated Valentine's Sugar Cookies. YUMMY!

I found some Christmas Decorations for 90% off......

And turned them in to Valentine's Decorations.... Am I creative or what???

J.J. got Baptized last Saturday (MY BABY!!!)

He looked so handsome in his new suit. He was excited that his primary teachers and his teacher from school, Miss Ott came. It made his day. Many friends and family came to support us and we are grateful to everyone who shared J.'s big day.

After the baptism, we had a lot of fun
Sledding with Family & Friends and Jolley's Ranch

It was a GORGEOUS day. We couldn't have asked for better weather.

As we were leaving Jolley's in the afternoon I saw this snow angel that one of the kids had made. I had to take a picture. I wish I could have captured how the sun made the snow sparkle like a million little diamonds. So BEAUTIFUL!

Give and Take

2009-01-26T14:08:00.000-08:00

I've decided to stop calling the things that are happening in my life good luck and bad luck. Really it's all just a big jumble of ups and downs... give and take.

Consider today for example:

First thing this morning I went to plug in and charge my computer and couldn't find my power cord. I searched everywhere for it, then suddenly realized exactly where it was: plugged in to an outlet in a basement classroom at the Park City School District Office where I taught at a workshop on Friday.....GREAT! That's only a 160 mile round trip drive...noooooo problem!

I decide to take the easy way out and just go buy a new power cord. So I call a few places and find out that a new Mac power cord is $120! Are you kidding me?! Plan B - call Park City District Office and beg someone to look for my power cord.

The day gets worse. The teacher I was suppose to be working with forgot I was coming and was totally unprepared. The morning didn't go well and I had a sinking feeling that unpreparedness was the rule in that classroom, not the exception. No one from Park City District calls me back. I'll mention now that I am scheduled to teach a 2 1/2 hour workshop first thing in the morning and every document I need is saved on my now dead computer.

I decide to swallow my pride and drive over to BYU and visit the I.T. department where I am now considered "a regular". I'm totally embarrassed and wishing that I could be the perfectly-organized-never-make-a-mistake-keep-track-of-everything kind of person that I really want to be. I start thinking of good stories/excuses that I could tell the I.T. guys such as... "someone STOLE my power cord!"

I stop at Shirley's Bakery to grab some dinner rolls because I have a punch card that is all filled up, which means I get a free dozen. When I go up to the counter, the girls says, "If you want, you can get a cookie decorating kit instead of a free dozen rolls. It's a good deal because they cost $8.99 normally, but you would get it for free." SCORE! I end up with a dozen rolls and a sugar cookie decorating kit for under $4. Family Night Treat....check!

I drive to BYU, run in to the I.T. department and find yet another very nice, helpful technician. I opt for honesty and tell them what really happened to my power cord. The technician doesn't blink an eye and pulls out a brand new ($120) power cord and hands it to me - no questions asked.

As I head out to my car, my phone rings. It's Cindy from Park City District. She found my power cord and is overnighting it. Thank you, Cindy!

I make it home and settle down to prepare for my workshop when the phone rings. It's the dentist office....wondering if my kids are coming for their check-ups at 3:00? I glance at the clock...it's 3:32. GREAT! Here we go again!

At least we will have some fun valentine sugar cookies to decorate when we get back.

Too busy to blog?

2009-01-17T14:26:00.001-08:00

Did I just say I am too busy to blog?

It's sad but true.

Our cat is dying, my thesis is upon me, J's baptism is next week and my house is a disaster (that's what happens when your husband becomes unemployed and decides to "get organized" by pulling everything out of cupboards and drawers).

I also have craft/scrapbook/jewelry making projects calling my name and a food blog that I am mildly obsessed with.

So this week, I want to quickly share three quotes that made me think-slash-smile:

#1 Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us. We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. We were born to manifest the Glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some; it's in all, everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. ~ Marianne Williamson
Kaycie shared this with us at family night on Monday

#2 By celebrating what's right with the world we find the energy to fix what is wrong. ~Dewitt Jones
I heard this quote on a YouTube clip I watched called "Celebrate What's Right With the World".

#3 I'm not afraid of dying, I just don't want to be there when it happens. ~Woody Allen
Went to see Marley & Me and this quote popped up on the screen before the movie started.

A little tender mercy

2009-01-09T20:01:00.000-08:00

Today I almost kissed a man who is not my husband....And you would have almost kissed him too if he FIXED YOUR COMPUTER AND SAVED YOUR HARD DRIVE!!!!
The Geek Squad's got nothing on the cute, young computer guy at BYU who spent three solid days trying everything on my crashed computer until he figured out how to save my files. He is a miracle worker! I didn't kiss him, but I did buy him a gift certificate and offer him my first born child.

Then I almost hugged the girl who works at Jumpin' Jacks. We had a belated birthday party yesterday for Jaymon which was planned long before we found out Korry was loosing his job. When I went to pay, the girl behind the counter said, "I'm just going to give you the family deal today" and charged me $20.00 instead of $50.00!

Then I did hug and kiss Korry when he told me that he had talked some good friends of ours in the mortgage business and that they are going to help us refinance our home loan to a lower interest rate, saving us tons of money in the long run and cutting down our taxes and monthly payment.

The Beatles say it best.....

EVERY THING'S GONNA BE ALL RIIGGHHTT!!!!

How grateful I am for a little tender mercy.

7 days ago

2009-01-07T14:24:00.001-08:00

We have lived exactly 7 days of 2009 and I'm ready to rewind.
It was only 7 days ago that my biggest concern was deciding what kind of dip to make for our New Years Eve party.

In the past 7 days.....

I wrecked my car and found out our insurance has an $800 deductible
Korry officially lost his job after months of holding our breath.
My computer wouldn't turn on yesterday and today I found out the hard drive crashed, taking with it about 1200 family pictures, every document I've created in the past three years, 9 semesters of BYU student grades and data, and the most current draft of the thesis I have been working on for 2 1/2 years.
Kaycie arrived home from school, walked into her bedroom and splashed when she stepped on the carpet. An outside pipe had frozen, broke, then ran all day and flooded our basement.

Seven days ago everything was fine.........

Alot can change in 7 days.

Dramatized

2009-01-04T16:40:00.000-08:00

So yesterday.....

Taylor says: "Mom, I think when we left Jaymon at Denny's it really dramatized him."

I say: "I think your right Tay, because it dramatized me too".

So then....

We went tubing at Jolley's Ranch in Hobble Creek Canyon and on the way up I got in a car wreck !!!!!!!!! :0(
A truck stopped in front of me and when I hit the brakes, I started sliding on ice, couldn't stop and rear-ended them. My van got totally crunched. TOTALLY CRUNCHED!!!! It's my first big wreck.

I am totally DRAMATIZED!

Don't Ever Leave Your Son At Denny's in St. George!

2009-01-02T20:13:00.000-08:00

If you ever stop to eat at Denny's in St. George, don't drive off and leave your little boy there, O.K.?!

I mean, come on! Just because he went in to the bathroom right as you went up to pay and just because he had to go #2 instead of #1 and was in there a little longer than normal, STILL... That's no reason to load up the car and drive away and not realize for about 2 miles that he isn't in the car.

And don't even try to apologize to him when you TEAR back into the parking lot and find him crying on the sidewalk. Just admit that you are a terrible parent and move on with it!

JUST. DON'T. EVER. DO. THAT. It could scare both you and him to DEATH and give you nightmares for weeks and weeks to come.

Happy #8

2008-12-29T22:18:00.000-08:00

It was J.J.'s 8th Birthday yesterday and it was such a fun, relaxing day. We decided to keep things low key and just enjoy the day with our family. J requested spaghetti with NO MEAT and garlic bread for his birthday feast. I was happy to comply with this super-easy request. During dinner everyone in the family went around the table and told J.J. why they loved him. It was really tender and I found myself wiping a tear or two with my napkin.

J. also had to meet with the bishop today for his baptism interview and Korry and I were laughing because the bishop asked him if he knew why he was getting baptized and Jaymon replied, "yeah, it's to wash away the sins from all of those bad things that I have accidentally done by mistake." The bishop started to chuckle a little and then told him, "hey, even your mom and dad make mistakes, so don't feel bad." Then Jaymon started saying, "Yeah, my mom already made a mistake today." I quickly interuppted him becuase I knew he was going to tell the bishop right then and there about all the swear words I said prior to going to sacrament meeting!

Since J. loves to cook with me, I thought it would be fun this year to spend part of his birthday helping me make and design a birthday cake. I almost bought one at Sam's Club, but then decided that the memories from making a homemade cake with mom would be better. We decided on a chocolate cake with white frosting and snowman decorations. This was such a fun tradition that I wish I had been doing it with all of my kids for all of the past years. The snowman cake was almost too cute to eat.

We ended the day, by watching Princess Bride as a family and enjoying cake and ice cream. What a wonderful 8th birthday for an amazing little boy!

Dear Santa....I want an Air Hogs helicopter and some CARS cars.

Eating Santa pancakes the day before the night before Christmas.

Decorating a birthday cake with mom 12/28/2008.

Dear Jay.J.

You are our little December baby. I want to write a little about the night you were born. It was a few days after Christmas and I had been having contractions throughout the day. Aunt Mindi called and asked if the girls wanted to come over to her house for a sleepover. Mindi and Jason picked up the girls around 6:00 p.m., so dad and I decided to go out to dinner. We were living in our brand new house in Payson (we had only moved in about a month before Christmas). I went in to our walk-in closet to get my shoes on and all of the sudden my water broke! I quickly jumped into the bathtub and yelled, "Korry!!! We're not going out!" He yelled in, "Why?" and I said, "Because we're going to the hospital!"
We hurried over to Utah Valley Regional but I wasn't in very much pain or having very many contractions. Dad and I were talking trying to decide if we should call Grandma Jo. She was so sick with cancer and we knew that she wasn't going to have very much more time here on earth with us. She had always wanted to be invited to see one of her grandchildren born, so we called her.
Once at the hospital, everything went very smoothly. We got checked in, they called the doctor and my contractions started getting closer together. Not long after we got settled in our room, Grandpa Jordan and Grandma Jo arrived. Grandpa was a little hesitant to come in the room, but he stood just outside the door. Grandma Jo was a whole different story. She was right there with the doctor and watched as I pushed a few times and then you were born. I remember that she just kept saying, "Oh my goodness! I can't believe this! I can see his little head!" Dad and Grandma were laughing because you were so big! 9 lbs. 10 ounces. The nurses wrapped you up and Grandma Jo was the first one to hold you. That was a very special moment for all of us because only a few months later, on March 3rd, she passed away.
We stayed in the hosptial for two days, just you and me. Lots of visitors came to see you, but no one was more excited than your three big sisters. I was flooded with a chorus of, "Can I hold him? Can I hold him?"
While we were filling out paperwork at the hospital, dad and I were having trouble deciding how to spell your name. We decided on Jayman. Well, after a day or so of thinking about it, we were worried that we had made a big mistake and we wished we had spelled it Jaymon - with an "o". So a few days after you were born, I had to go down to the county building and have the spelling of your name changed to the way it is now spelled.
When I think about you as a little boy, I picture you with a car in each hand...then later dinosaurs...then bionicles....and now colored pencils.
Jaymon, you are such an amazing little boy. Dad and I love you so much. You make us laugh and smile every day. You have always been quiet and introspective. When you were small, I loved that you could play all day with cars or toys and totally entertain yourself. You are always happy and busy. I think you are an amazing artist and are so smart to be able to put together legos and blocks and puzzles and bionicles like you do. I know that life is crazy being around all of these girls, but you handle it so well and are such a wonderful part of our family.

I love you! Happy 8th Birthday!

Mom

What? It's over?

2008-12-29T21:11:00.000-08:00

Can't believe that Christmas has come and gone. Words cannot express the happiness in my heart this year because of a TWO WEEK break from work. We still have one more week until the madness begins again. We are packing just now, getting ready to head south for our annual New Years Celebration. We are packing swim suits, tennis rackets and hoping for the best.

Here are a few Christmas highlights:

12/16: Kaycie knocked our socks off singing in her annual Christmas Concert with her choir group "The Footnotes". She danced with a boy and was so excited that she nailed "the lift". It was a true dirty dancing moment.
12/19: Taylor performed in her school "Winter Solstice" program and did her speaking part flawlessly. For a school program, I must say that it was quite impressive. Thanks Mrs. Davis!
12/20: We attended the Moore Family Christmas Party at the old Spring Lake Church. We love the Moore Family and always have good food and good fun. Andrew gave us all a laugh when he went running up to Santa and climbed right up on his lap. He was mesmerized by Santa. I think he would have climbed in Santa's sack and went home with him if he could have.
12/21: Kaycie and I performed with our ward choir both in sacrament meeting and again that night at a Stake Choir Showcase. Our choir director is awesome and I think we sounded pretty darn good. We sang, Mary Did You Know, Star of Bethlehem & Do You Hear What I Hear. Yay 9th Ward Choir!

12/23: After years of waiting, we finally had another Jordan Family Christmas Party! We all met at the BYU games center and enjoyed lots of pizza, snacks and bowling.

12/24: I let the kids plan the entire day, start to finish. We started out going sledding and drinking hot chocolate at the "Purple Park". We headed home and decorated gingerbread houses, which didn't turn out too well because our frosting kept getting hard and drying up. We fixed a big dinner of chicken pasta, salad and hot rolls while the kids blew up air mattresses and created an "ELF" inspired wonderland out of their bedroom (this becomes the Christmas Eve Headquarters for playing games, watching movies and anticipating Christmas morning). Mom, dad and Kenton came over and we drove out to Salem Pond to make a wish on the bridge (as is our annual tradition). We also did a quick drive through of the Spanish Fork light show and realized that our kids are just getting too old for that. We delivered our last gift for the 12 days of Christmas and it was Korry's night to deliver. Right as he snuck up to the house, all the little kids came running outside to sprinkle "reindeer dust" in the snow and he totally got caught!!!!

12/25: The kids started stirring around 4:30 a.m. (did you hear me? 4:30!) Korry "nicely" told them to get their hind-ends back in bed. Finally around 7:00 we gave in and let them come upstairs. We made our big traditional breakfast and enjoyed many guests througout the morning. I love cooking on Christmas morning. It seemed that we had just cleaned up breakfast when it was time to pack up and head down to Nephi for the Moore Christmas dinner. We arrived to find out that my dad had bought us.....A real live DOG for Christmas - not cool! I won't say much here other than it ended up that my dad bought HIMSELF a real live DOG for Christmas.
12/27: Dave & Sonia invited the elders quorum presidency over for a Murder Mystery dinner. Of course Sonia had a beautiful dinner for us and we all got to pretend to be horrible, enethical characters for a night, so it was a blast! I was so happy when it turned out that although I had TRIED to murder Flabbius Corpus, I wasn't actually the one who murdered him...Donelle was :0)

12/28: I had to teach Gospel Doctrine. It's the first time I have ever had to do that and I was scared to death. I lived (don't know if I made sense, but I lived). I wanted to metion it here because if you haven't read Moroni lately, you should go straight and grab your scriptures and read it. Especially Chapters 7,9 & 10!!!! WOW is all I can say. Moroni rocks!

12/30: Took down the Christmas decorations: Y.U.C.K! I'm glad that's over.

Merry Christmas to Me!

2008-12-20T21:15:00.000-08:00

It's not even Christmas yet and I'm already getting spoiled. Here are just a few things that are making me happy this holiday season:

1) Microfiber dish cloths (they come in a package of four at Harbor Freight in Orem - LOVE THEM!)
2) Ward Cookbooks (best recipes EVER!)
3) Bath & Body Spiced Cider Wallflower
4) Gooseberry Patch "Christmas All Through The House" Book
5) Rubber Spatula's with little Santa faces!!!! :0)

Thanks Tamra, Mom, Mary, Katherine & Korry! Just looking at this picture makes me happy!

Jordan Family Newsletter 2008

2008-12-14T23:48:00.000-08:00

Last week I asked my friend's four-year-old daughter, Chloe, what she wanted for Christmas. Chloe held out her arms and rocked them back and forth, then simply replied, "a dolly". My heart gave a little pang and for a moment, I didn't know why. Regret maybe? Longing? Sitting just across from me at that moment were my four beautiful children, three of whom are now considered "tweens". It was just yesterday, wasn't it, that they rocked their own baby dolls? Now they want I-pods so they can "rock out".

This has been a year of transition for our family. My girls are sharing clothes and shoes and every time I turn around, my mascara has gone missing. It's hard to accept that Kaycie is finishing up her last year of Junior High, and Taylor, her last year of Elementary School. Two Young Women. Lyndsie is standing somewhere between childhood and adolescence. Wanting so much to be just like her big sisters, but hanging back a little too. The little girl is alive and well in her and I'm content to keep it that way. In only a few weeks, Jaymon will be baptised and our baby will be eight. He was so proud of himself last Sunday. He came running in to the relief society room to find me as church ended and proudly announced, "MOM! I was good today!" I looked at him and asked, "Is this the first time you've been good?" and he said, "No, this was like my third time!"

For Korry and I, this has been a year of contentment and productivity. We've said more than once that we'd like to freeze-frame our family at this moment and just keep it here for a while longer. Push pause on the life-remote.....oh, if only we could.

This spring Korry and I worked side-by-side in the yard, planting and pruning and getting ready for summer. This summer, we decided to for-go a family vacation and buy food storage instead. Given our current economy, it was a decision we will never regret. This fall, we enjoyed the fruits (and vegetables) of our spring and summer labors. There was something this year about the harvest that made me feel so grateful for this beautiful earth and for all that God has given us.

Now winter is here, and instead of barbecues and night games, we're snuggled on the couch watching movies. Last night we watched School of Rock and laughed all over again when Jack Black tells the parents of his students, "Your kids have touched me; and I'm pretty sure I've touched them too."

Basketball season starts in two weeks and we are ready for the busy nights. Just another season to enjoy. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Basketball. How lucky are we?

All through the house....

2008-12-14T23:42:00.000-08:00

My Other Blog is Better

2008-12-14T23:37:00.000-08:00

If you're scrolling around on this blog, quit wasting your time. My other blog "gatherroundourtable.blogspot.com" is so much better. I just uploaded some new recipes today, so you'll have to check it out.

Look to your left and click on the link if you want to see some darn cute cupcakes.

Christmas Orange Memories

2008-12-10T23:08:00.000-08:00

Just last week I was feeling sorry for myself because I can no longer buy a good tomato in the grocery store. Even the "vine ripened" varieties are starting to look not-very-ripe. I guess I was too spoiled with my home grown tomatoes this summer and fall. I miss them terribly.

But then tonight, I peeled and ate my first Christmas ORANGE. Sweet & heavenly is all I have to say about that. Isn't it wonderful that when one delicious fruit or veggie goes out of season another comes in. I will be blissfully eating oranges from now until February.

Here's why I love oranges:

They smell delicious when you cut or peel them. The smell is almost as attractive as popcorn. That is why I hide when I peel one. Otherwise lazy non-willing-to-peel members of my family come lurking and I end up with only a slice or two left of my hard-peeled orange.
They remind me of Christmas. Growing up, Santa would always come to our ward party and bring each child a little brown paper bag filled with peanuts in the shell, an orange and those jelly filled chocolate rings. I loved to suck on the salty shells of the peanuts and then peel and eat my sweet little orange. Ah...memories.
They look pretty in the fruit bowl with the apples and bananas (orange, red and yellow)
They are only 1 point so I can eat 2.

Oh yeah.....and they are healthy! Yeah for ORANGES!

Where You Been?

2008-12-08T23:01:00.000-08:00

When Jaymon was little, he use to ask me, "Where you been, Mom? Where you been?" Sometimes I wasn't even sure myself. I have been swamped this week, but want to quickly recap "Where I been"....

Monday night (12/1) Worked all day. Went to Sam's Club. Lost my keys. Stuck there for over 2 hours. Almost cried. Saw some family friends who lent me their phone. Someone finally turned in my keys. Tender mercy.

Tuesday night (12/2) Threw a surprise party for Korry's 40th b-day. Tons of friends and family came. Great night. Exhausted.

Wednesday night (12/3) Went shopping with Korry in SLC and then to the Jazz Game (great seats too!). Jazz lost. Korry's truck almost broke down. Rented "Baby Mama" from RedBox and watched it on the way home while eating ice cream and hot apple pies from McD's.

Thursday night (12/4) CRASHED on the couch. The Office @ 8:00. Bed by 9:30! I love SLEEPING.

Friday night (12/5) Kids went to Gma's & Gpa's for weekend. Saw "Australia". 3 hours! I loved it, Korry hated it. Home at 11:00 CRASH.

Saturday (12/6) Christmas shopping at U.V. Mall. One word: YUCK! Ran errands. Two words: Yuck, Yuck! Decided to go down and stay overnight at my moms and help her decorate for Christmas.....YIPEE HOME CHURCH tomorrow!

Sunday (12/7) Oh wait, no home church. Mom & Dad's church is at...9:00 a.m. UGH. Went to church. Enjoyed it. Stayed all three hours. More fun when there are new people to watch and no one cares who you are. Big Sunday dinner, crackling fire, nap on couch, Christmas music...Sigh.

Monday night (12/8) Girls "evening out".... Dinner at Joe Bandito's. Good conversation. Good friends. Happy Birthday Donelle. Home by 8:00. Family night....well, at least we were all in the same room at the same time. Now it's midnight and I'm still working on my final grades for my BYU kids. So tired.

It's December.

Happy Birthday Kor!

2008-12-02T08:11:00.000-08:00

Dear Korry,

I don't know whether to say, "Happy Birthday" or "My Condolences". 40 years - WOW! I just want you to know how much I love you and how grateful I am to you for being a wonderful husband and father. You are my best friend and I hope you have an AWESOME day!

TJ

Post Thanksgiving Par-tay

2008-11-29T17:38:00.000-08:00

The kiddies at Temple Square

Wheels & Family

Suite at the Jazz Game

Jazz Fans!

B8 Family

The Fam

We partied this weekend in SLC, with our favorite friends the B8's and Wheels families and as always, had a blast! To celebrate his 40th birthday, Wheels invited our family to watch the Jazz game from a suite. We had a delicious catered dinner and enjoyed the game while munching on nachos and popcorn. It was SO FUN! Everyone should have the chance to do that at least once. We stayed overnight in a hotel and of course the kids stayed up way too late and were grumpy today, but it was worth it. We all went to lunch at Training Table because we were craving those cheese fries with dipping sauce. After lunch we went to Jordan Commons to catch a movie. The kids went to Bolt 3-D and the grown ups to Four Christmases (funny, but NOT for kids). What a GREAT weekend! I am going to hate going back to the grind Monday morning!

Turkey Day Laughs

2008-11-25T16:19:00.001-08:00

Ha ha ha!!!! Now THAT is funny! Sesame Street has never disappointed me in 36 years.

I want to take just a minute to give thanks for....

My husband & children
All of my extended family
Amazing friends
Freedom
Laughter
Good health
Good food
A wonderful career that I love
The gospel, the scriptures, the atonement and the ability to exercise faith
Music and books that fill my brain up with good stuff
Movies and t.v. shows that hit the spot when my brain needs a break
Warm blankets on cold nights and soft beds every night
Having all of our basic needs met plus a little extra left over for fun

What more does anyone really need?

Something About Mary

2008-11-23T21:34:00.001-08:00

Is anyone else in the blogworld concerned about Mary? Her glob of blog "committed suicide" yesterday and I have to say that I am most concerned about it.

It was one of the funniest, wittiest, most creative blogs I have ever stalked. I really hope she is just playing a big joke on everyone (and if she is, that is one of the funniest, wittiest, most creative ideas EVER!). But truthfully, I worry that...

Her husband is making her choose..."It's the blog or me honey, the BLOG or ME!"
She is secretly tired of reading the 200+ comments on every post.
She came to the meet and greet, didn't really like any of us and is going incognito, starting a new blog, and making new blog friends under an assumed name.
The KSL investigative report on the dangers of blogs really got to her.
She has been abducted by aliens.

SERIOUSLY, her blog was SO much better than other, more make-believe blogs. I was BLESSED to be a follower. I hope she resurrects it.

Have you ever?

2008-11-21T21:05:00.001-08:00

Have you ever....

Thrown away perfectly good change (nickles, dimes, quarters, pennies) that you swept up in the dustpan simply because it just seemed worth 37 cents to not have to stick your fingers into all those crumbs, dirt flakes and wads of hair to dig the money out? Or maybe it just seemed like too much effort to bend down and pick the nickel up off the floor?

Pretended that you do household chores that you really don't do? For example:
Friend says, "Man, I am so BAD, I only wash my sheets like every two weeks!"
You reply, "I know! Me too! Don't worry about it."
Truth: Your sheets have not seen in the inside of the washing machine for more than two months...maybe three.

Used your kids as an excuse to get out of something that you really should do. For example:
Friend says, "Are you coming to Enrichment Night?"
You reply, "I want to SOOOO bad, but my kids are just having meltdown tonight. I should probably stay home...you know, FAMILY FIRST."
Truth: There are three back episodes of Desperate Housewives on the DVR, just calling your name.

Blamed your husband or kids for loosing or misplacing something that really YOU lost or misplaced and then you realize it, but never apologize?

Bought something that you really shouldn't and can't afford simply because it pisses you off that you really shouldn't buy it or can't afford it?
You say, "I'm so sick of not having any money, I'm going to buy myself that $50 Dolce Gabanna New York Knock Off Purse. In fact, I'm going to buy 2! Maybe I'll give one to my sister for her birthday!" But then you don't?

Have you ever done these things? If so, shame on you. I've never done ANY of these things:0)

Bloggers Block

2008-11-20T15:30:00.000-08:00

I have started four different posts over the last few days and have erased every one. I think I'm having bloggers block. Maybe tonight, after I take my daughter Kaycie and friends to the Twightlight premiere, I'll have something interesting to talk about.

I just can't wait to stand in line for three hours with a bunch of vampire crazed middle-aged women (somebody KILL ME!)

I think I'm going to wear my Team Jacob Shirt. Maybe a good confrontation is just what I need to get the creative juices flowing.

Look at this picture. This Edward Cullen looks less like a vampire and more like a man with a bad case of the stomach flu. And that hairdo is very reminiscent of Donald Trump. And one more thing...isn't Bella supposed to be awkward, flawed and less than beautiful? Wasn't it just her blood that attracted poor Edward? That's why all the tween's love this book. It gives them hope that someone kind of homely could land someone gorgeous and semi-Godlike. Now the movie is going to ruin everything! No tween I know can compete with that picture.

Don't know if I can handle this. I'll update tomorrow on how it went to go 24 hours without sleep.

And it came to pass...

2008-11-16T00:51:00.001-08:00

"And to came to pass that the stock market tanked, the housing market tanked and the construction world as it was known turned on its head. And in those days there were many who declared bankruptcy and many who owed others money and didn't pay. And many honest men who turned away from honesty. And in the world of construction there were many who did lament and cry; for their homes were lost and they knew not how they would feed and clothe their children..."

So Korry found out this week that he needs to start looking for another job. *GULP* There are several companies that owe my husbands company money (we're talking close to a million dollars). We have known this for a while, but just kept hoping that something would work out and some money would start coming in. The companies that owe are either going bankrupt, refusing to pay or can't get loans from the bank because the value of their property has decreased in the year it took to build and finish the project. I have been astounded at the dishonesty that exists in the world of construction. One company has known for a long time that they weren't going to qualify for the remaining bank loan they needed, but they lied and falsified documents, so the workers kept working, finished the project and are just now finding out they will probably never be paid. And guess what? The dishonest people have their buildings complete (condos) and are renting them out and making money off of them, knowing that they still owe over half a million dollars to the builder. And guess what else? The multimillionaire owner of the condos is a Stake President!!! How can he sleep at night?

It is devastating because there are people (FAMILIES!) all down the line from plumbers to drywallers to landscapers to brick layers that can't pay their bills and are going to go under. There are probably 20-30 families/businesses that will be effected because of this.

It makes wonder where the 750 BILLION DOLLAR bank bail out money is going....maybe to pay big bonuses to the banking execs so they can hurry and move out of the country while their Swiss bank accounts are still good for something.

So I am stressed and basically freaking out to the max because Christmas is in one month. We are going to be fine, and I know Korry can find something else, but he loved this job more than anything else he has ever done. I can honestly say that in the last two years he has been completely happy. Which means the whole family has been completely happy.

I can also honestly say that I'm just not in the mood to be mega poor again! That is SO selfish, but it's true. We've done it before and we can do it again, but I just don't want to.

Someone at church last week said this, "It came to pass...it didn't come to stay". Well this little trial can't pass soon enough. I HATE MONEY! Especially when I don't have any.

Now, because I need to laugh, check out my post from last Sunday (below). I posted some pics of me at HOME CHURCH! Pretty sweet, huh? You should definitely try it :0)

Home Church Anyone?

2008-11-09T08:13:00.000-08:00

Yes, in case you're wondering, that IS an ipod there on my lap. Of COURSE I'm listening to digital scriptures! And confessing my greatest sins in my diary just like Catholic people confess to their priests. See, I am so totally accepting of other religions!

Sleeping. This is what you do during the second "block" or second hour of home church. It is truly a spiritual experience! See how I am sleeping with the scriptures over my heart. Awww, how special is that? Pretty special.

Scripture study with a splash of Martinelli's Sparking Apple-Grape Juice in a fluted cup....What? NO! What are you talking about? That is NOT a Martha Stewart Magazine. I would never read that EVIL Martha Stewart on Sunday!

I've been wondering this morning.... if there is such a thing as home school, shouldn't there be home church?

Imaginary person: "Hey are you going to church today?"

Me: "Oh, you must not have heard, we've decided to HOME CHURCH our kids. We just can't trust PUBLIC CHURCH. Home churching is SOOOOOO much better."

Can you tell it's Sunday?

BTW - there was a newscast on this week that has my entire family freaking out. My dad called me and told me to delete my blog, get our "REAL" names off, and start praying that someone doesn't steal my identity and kidnap my children.

I blew him off, but in reality I'm a little scared. What do you think? I HATE private blogs, but I'm tempted.

Dropping off the face of the earth

2008-11-09T07:26:00.001-08:00

Well, I can tell it's November. I've dropped off the face of the earth.

November is by far my busiest month thanks to my job at Zoobieville. I haven't blogged in over a week - what a CRIME! Right now I have ALL of my students out working in the schools and I get the pleasure of supervising (er...babysitting) all of them. This means that I did 21 formal observations this past week plus 31 more hours of paperwork to stay on top of it all. I watched so many lessons (good and bad) last week that I am having nightmares of the teacher on the old Charlie Brown cartoons (whaa...whaa...waa,waa,waa,waa). Actually, my students this semester are awesome. I've been their supervisor for almost a year now, and I'm going to be sad to see them go. I just wish I wasn't so swamped.

The other thing that put me over the edge is my new calling as a scout leader. I had my first den meeting last week and the boys were completely out of control. Being the school teacher that I am, this is SO NOT O.K. with me. We are going to have a little come-to-Jesus meeting talk next week. As if the den meeting weren't enough, I also have about six other scout meetings I am supposed to go to (round table, pack night, district training, fast track training)....um, I don't think so! I don't need people teaching me how to do the watermelon handshake and how to give a "big round of applause". Have mercy!

I was also on the food committee for Enrichment Night this week. This means I had to make food, set up chairs, decorate tables, take down chairs, clean up food and go home. At enrichment, we had to bring an item in a paper sack that represented something about yourself. I brought a wooden spoon. Everybody thought I brought it to represent that I like to cook, but they were wrong. The spoon I brought is 17 years old. I got it for my wedding and it's looking pretty darn shabby (just like me!). In addition to stirring lots of soups and sauces, the spoon has also seen the behinds of each of my four children, representing that I am not the perfect mother but I am a good cook :0)

Rainy Day Sundays

2008-11-02T08:36:00.001-08:00

Woke up to rain today AND set my clocks back an hour....life is GOOD!
My mom gets super depressed on rainy, cold days, but not me, I LOVE THEM. The only bummer is that I don't get to stay in my jammies all day curled up on the couch watching movies. Korry is super sick and is staying home from church. I'm so jealous that he gets to stay home AND has a good excuse.

I really do like church, but getting there is never an easy task for me. It's a lot like going to the gym. Once you get there and are done with it, you stand back and say, "AHHH, that was good" but finding the willpower to actually get there in the first place is challenging.

Last week a return missionary from our stake spoke about his experiences in the Zimbabwe, Africa mission. It was truly eye opening and sobering to realize how so many members of the church there are suffering and dying. I definitely need to be more grateful and count my blessings more often. His talk left me wondering how I (little old me) was so lucky to end up in this life, at this time, in this place. That is no small thing. How can I ever be grateful enough?

So I'm heading off to church now with a smile on my face, a roast in the crockpot, an extra hour for a nap and a good movie tucked away for later. Do I deserve this? Probably not.

Costco Rocks Sarah Palin Style, "You Betcha (wink...wink)"

2008-10-29T23:07:00.000-07:00

I am elated tonight for the most materialistic reason. Here's the short version.

2 1/2 years ago we buy a house, get some extra $, hubby splurges on a $2,000 plasma t.v. (buys it at Costco and takes flack from everyone for buying electronics at a price club).
After 6 mo. t.v. starts doing crazy things (half screen black, turning on and off by itself). We live with it.
At 18 mo. of age, t.v. turns itself off and never back on (so I guess it committed suicide).
We take it to a t.v. repair shop and are told the part to fix it costs $1400 + labor (far more than the t.v. is now worth).
We say, "NO THANKS", pick the t.v. up and it sits in our garage for 3 more months. We can't part with it. It represents our attempt to keep up with the Jones's and reminds us of our failure to succeed with that.
We pull out the trusty 17 year old t.v. and set magnifying glasses around our living room so that we can see it.
I commiserate one day when a neighbor says, "Hey, didn't you guys use to have a big flat screen t.v. in here?"
Intelligent neighbor then says, "You should try taking it back to Costco - they are awesome with returns."
I say, "No! Are you serious? It's been over two years now!"
I ask Korry, "Do we still have the receipt from Costco." Miracle happens, he says, "YES! I put it in with all of our appliance warranties when we were remodeling."
We go to Costco today, cross our fingers and walk out 20 minutes later with a BRAND-SPANKIN-NEW 42" flat screen t.v. NO HASSLE. NO QUESTIONS ASKED.
It gets better. When they went to do the transaction, our Costco cards had expired....a year ago! They let us renew the card and then gave us a $1700 television. What the?!!!!

I LOVE COSTCO. It represents the American Dream, you know, the dream that someone always bails you out when something crappy happens. I mean, my jaw dropped when they said, "No problem, go pick out which T.V. you want."

So today I'm happy and endorsing COSTCO. Go there. Buy electronics. Buy a chocolate cake. Buy cute Christmas gift tag sets. Get a churro on your way out. Their churros rock!

And the winner is........

2008-10-26T08:23:00.000-07:00

It is 9:24 a.m., and yes my friends, I am getting ready for sacrament meeting. Korry has to speak in church, so even though it is my greatest birthday wish EVER to stay in bed all day, I am following the plan and being major obedient like TAMN :0)

Last night I created a ticket for each person who commented on the posts about the "Etsy" aprons. We took the tickets, folded them in half and put them in a popcorn bowl. Chances to win were 1 in 23.

Only moments ago, my daughter, Kaycie, drew out a name and THE WINNER IS.........

Mortensen98!!!!!!

Hip, Hip, Hooray! The great thing about Mortensen98 is that she is just getting into this blogging thing and learning the ropes, so I hope this apron will inspire her to start blogging about her AMAZING life!!!!

NOW - for the second winner. I looked back at my original post in which I asked you all what you thought about the word ETSY. I then read through all the comments. It was so hard to choose the "wittiest" comment because you are all EXTREMELY WITTY, FUNNY and HILARIOUS. I especially loved the postee who solemnly swore to wear the apron and nothing but the apron (along with high heels and pearls) whenever she was in the kitchen. Now THAT is funny! However, because of her unique analysis of the word "Etsy", the winner of the "wittiest comment" post is (drumroll.................)

Donelle!!!!!

For those who missed her post, here's a recap:

"Okay my friend I love this word. I did some research into it and here are a few reasons why one (me in particular) would love such an "Etsy" Apron!

you would be receiving a unique item that was not mass-produced. Even if the same product may be made a thousand times each will be unique in some tiny way.

If you buy or receive a handmade item, you help someone live their dream.

When you receive a handmade art object you are also getting a piece of the artist’s soul.

And last but not least, handmade items appeal to trend setters, not trend followers.

Basically in my own words, you are a trend setter not a follower who is sharing your soul and living your dream in unique and special ways!

Take care-Donelle"

Sorry to those who didn't win. If any of you can convince my husband to make more money so I can be a stay home mom, I will make you ALL an apron.

This is starting out to be a great birthday!

Mary's Most Embarrassing Tag

2008-10-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

My friend Mary tagged "EVERYBODY", So I'm counting myself as everybody. I can't remember all of the different tags, but here are the five pics I could fit on this post. Here goes:
Self Portrait: There I am, the second ghost on the left. Seriously, I can't post a pic right now because I'm standing in my kitchen in my garments. :-0

What are your kids doing right now? Sitting on their BUTTS watching High School Musical 2.

Kitchen Sink: I HATE POTS AND PANS. I usually tell myself that I'm letting them soak, but really I'm trying to get out of washing them. Oh - there's my Pepsi Refill Cup - I've been looking for that.

My laundry room. Ha Ha. I'm not showing the dryer side of the room that's a whole other pic. Can you believe my house is so old that my washer and dryer aren't side-by-side. Poor me!

My Fridge: Inside you will find all five food groups: birthday cake, coke, mayo, eggnog and ranch.

I Tag: everybody whose house is not cleaner than mine.

The Beagle is Back!

2008-10-25T11:12:00.000-07:00

Just had to post these picks of Kaycie and her best friend as they headed out for the Halloween dance Thursday night. They looked so cute. Can you believe that SNOOPY is trendy again? That dog really gets around :0)

Happy Birthday Taylor! HSMVIP

2008-10-25T10:16:00.000-07:00

Dear Taylor,

I had so much fun planning your birthday party this year. I think your friends had a blast and so did I. Your friends are such cute girls, which is a compliment to you and the kind of girl that you are. You are warm, kind, funny, sweet, and I am so lucky to be your mom.

I remember the day you were born like it was only a moment ago. Even though it was October, it was snowing that night. I like to joke that you kicked your way out into this world. I was lying on the couch watching t.v. around 1:45 a.m. on October 24, 1996. Dad was still at work and I was waiting for him to get home.

I had gone to the movies with aunt Margie and Grandma that night and had been having contractions and not feeling very well, so I was waiting up. Kaycie had been asleep for hours. You kicked me really hard and my water broke, right there on the couch. In an instant I rolled off the couch and army crawled into the dining room onto the hardwood floor. I just lay there for a minute not really comprehending what had just happened.

Then I was hit was a contraction that hurt so bad, I couldn't even move for a few seconds. I managed to get to the phone and called dad. He told me he was already on his way. Then I called Aunt Mindi to see if she could come stay with Kaycie (she was still living at home with Grandma and Grandpa then). She answered the phone after one ring even though it was 2 o'clock in the morning. She wasn't asleep and had been up watching Nick At Night! The funny thing was that she drove from Payson and ended up beating dad there.

By the time dad got home, I was having solid, PAINFUL contractions. As soon as he pulled in, I headed out to the car, but dad told me that he needed to get changed "real quick". Well, I was standing at the bottom of the stairs enduring one painful contraction after another and dad was taking FOREVER. Then I heard something. The shower was running! Dad was upstairs TAKING A SHOWER!!!! I pretty much freaked out then because my contractions were only 5 minutes apart and lasting a grueling minute or more. I started yelling, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME???!!! IF YOU DON'T COME NOW, WE'LL BE HAVING A BABY ON THE KITCHEN TABLE!" I was also saying some swear words that we'll pretend never happened :0)

We finally made it to the hospital and got checked in, but I don't really remember anything because the contractions were hurting so bad. I was pacing around trying really hard not to say more swear words :0) When I finally got in a room and got checked in, I was already dilated to a 7. By this time, it was about 2:45 a.m. and I was begging for an epidural.

When the anesthesiologist came to do the epidural, she couldn't get it work and had to poke my back four or five times. I looked over at dad and his entire face was white. I thought he was going to pass out. Finally, we got it all worked out and the epidural started to work. I can't tell you how amazing it is to be in so much pain and then have it suddenly go away!

For the next hour, dad and I chatted and laughed and watched t.v. We talked about your name, which we had already decided would be Taylor (your name was the easiest for us - we had decided on it several weeks before you were born). I remember that dad was eating M&M's and reading the newspaper while we waiting for Dr. Nance to get there. Once he arrived, I only had to push two or three times and there you were. It was a little before 5 a.m. and it had been less than three hours since my water broke.

When the nurses bundled you up and handed you to me I felt so happy and peaceful. I can't explain it very well, but it feels like your heart is swelling up inside of you because there is so much happiness in it. I couldn't wait for Kaycie to see you, I knew she was going to be so excited. The nurses came and took you to the nursery, but after only one hour, I called for them to bring you back and I kept you in the room with me for the rest of the morning. This is a funny thing to remember, but one of my labor and delivery nurses brought me a Coke and some Pecan Sandy cookies. Now, whenever I eat Pecan Sandies, the taste reminds me of the night you were born.

I remember having a really good experience at the hospital (good nurses, excellent care, etc.) Totally unlike Kaycie's birth at Payson Hospital. During the day, everyone came to see you, Grandma, & Grandpa Moore, Grandma Jordan, Margie, Mindi, Kenton, JoElle, Kelly & Buddy. Dad took Kaycie out to the mall and they bought you the CUTEST outfit from Gymboree. When Kaycie came for the first time, we handed you to her and in her cute little voice she said, "Oh Mommy! She's so tiny!" and then she giggled and kissed you.

Like I said, it was snowing that day and I lay in the warm hospital room, watching the snowflakes coming down and counting my blessings that you were healthy and strong.

I stayed in the hospital for two more days and then we brought you home. As you know, you were born around Halloween and we had a lot of candy lying around the house. Well, on your first day home, I went to the kitchen and when I came back, there was this big brown "thing" in your mouth and you were sucking on it. I looked at it and thought, "What the heck?" I grabbed it out of your mouth and realized that it was one of those giant sized Tootsie Rolls. Then I noticed the wrapper on the floor. KAYCIE. Yes, your big sister had opened and fed you a Tootsie Roll when you were only three days old. It was so funny that I couldn't even get mad.

Well Taylor, I want to write a lot more, but this will do for now. I hope you had a wonderful birthday! I love you so much.

Love,
Mom

Gift Bag Contents

HSM3VIP Gift Bags for the party guests.

High School Musical 3 premiere.

Hope you like your guitar! I can't wait for you to start plinking out some tunes on it.

For those who've been asking

2008-10-21T19:21:00.000-07:00

For those who've been asking....

I am doing the APRON GIVEAWAY on my b-day. SUNDAY, October 26th. I will be doing the drawing at exactly 11:00 a.m. (right during Sacrament Meeting - YAAAAYYYY!!!!!!)

Reminder:
* 1 loverly apron will be given away on a drawing (the winner can choose either the pink or the green one)
* 1 loverly apron will be given away to the person with the wittiest comment (that apron is a Darling Vintage Christmas Apron with SPARKLY rick-rack!) ~I'll post a pic asap.

For those who missed out, see post below or leave a comment on this post and I'll enter you in the draw-ring.

A Year Ago

2008-10-20T21:47:00.000-07:00

The Jordan & Wheeler families last year in Disneyland on Halloween Night.
Whenever Jaymon sees this picture, he asks, Mom, are you suppose to be Captain Barbosa? LOL

AWWWW! How cute! If you haven't been to D-land in the fall, every inch of it looks this fun and festive. I LOVE IT!
(Old digital again, sorry! Here's a pic of Captain Jack Sparrow and his "Mini-Me"

This time last year, I was planning and preparing for a SURPRISE DISNEYLAND TRIP. It was such a fun vacation because our kids had NO IDEA what was going on (they thought we were going to St. George for the weekend). You should have seen their faces the morning we headed out, drove South instead of North and announced "We're going to Disneyland!".
Last Halloween night, we were partying at Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Bash. I don't know if it's possible to be homesick for Disneyland, but I am. We are going to recycle the costumes, but it just won't be anywhere near the same.

Let the games BEGIN!

2008-10-18T21:09:00.000-07:00

As I sat munching on my Honey Bunches of Oats this morning, I looked out my kitchen windows and SCREAMED....

Me: Korry! Come here! Look!!!!

Korry: What's wrong?

Me: LOOK! (picture me pointing out the kitchen window at the house across the street)

Korry: Oh my hell!

Here it is in all its' glory, an ANTI-OBAMA-JOSEPH-SMITH-PROPHECY sign. But it's only half the story. The next picture is the front lawn of the house right next to this. It's the front lawn of my good friend who is a die-hard democrat. Notice the Obama signs in her yard and window. Notice also that her teenage daughter got "Heart Attacked" last night.
This neighbor loves Obama so much that she makes carved Obama head necklaces, sells them at the farmer's market and donates the money to his campaign. My democratic friend is an amazing women who I totally admire. I'm sure she said much more than "Oh my hell" when she saw this sign.
So let the games begin. I am going to make a gigantic sign that says "ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE!" and see what happens.

I used to be a photographer

2008-10-18T20:36:00.001-07:00

In another life I was a photographer. It happened after my mother-in-law gave me some money and I bought my first expensive camera. It started with me innocently shooting candid pictures of my children, nieces, nephews and a few family friends. The next thing I knew, I was busy with engagements, bridals, weddings and family photo shoots. It was only fun for so long and then became quite time consuming and stressful. I was also growing frustrated with my non-digital camera equipment and was constantly wanting to upgrade (I wanted a medium format digital Zeiss with a 28-400 zoom lens that cost $8,000!)...so I gave it up and have never looked back.

But every once in a while I get roped in to doing a photo shoot, and it mostly happens when I feel sorry for someone who doesn't have much money to pay a photographer. Growing up poor left me with this huge place in my heart for those who are trying to pull off a half decent wedding with no money. It's a place that won't let me say no.

So today I took pictures for an old friend, who is 36 years old and has finally found the man of her dreams through Internet dating. It felt so awkward being behind the lens again. I was NOT happy with the lighting, NOt happy with my new digital camera , NOT happy with my crappy lenses. So I just gave up and took over 200 pictures in hopes that they would find at least ONE they can use for their announcements.

The bright spot of the day was hiking to Bridal Veil Falls with the kids and my parents (Korry was at an Elders Quorum Golf Tourney). So here are the pictures that I am most happy with. My darling, sweet kids.

Shame on you, TLC!!!!

2008-10-17T08:02:00.000-07:00

So I will begin here by admitting that my children LOVE the TLC show John & Kate+8 (I have opinions on the show, but that's another post). I also enjoy the show Little People, Big World and continually try to get Ramona to watch it despite her phobia of dwarfs and midgets :0). And come, on, who doesn't love Stacey and Clinton? (or is at least willing to admit that they have stopped buying horizontal striped shirts since watching What Not To Wear).

HOWEVER......The new TLC show called 17 KIDS AND COUNTING has got to be the LAMEST, MOST RIDICULOUS, PUKE-YOUR-GUTS-OUT show I have EVER seen. Shame on you, TLC!!!!

The Duggar Family BEFORE TLC

The Duggar Family AFTER TLC - awww, don't they look....normal?

The show is about this family with 17 (going on 18) kids who all came from their mothers "womb". The mother skips around her million dollar house (which TLC built for them) explaining all of her wonderful organizational strategies and then leans in to listen and comment on "the children" as they play piano/viola/guitar/flute/you name it. ALL 17 of the kid's names start with "J" (josiah, jospehina, jebadiah, etc.). The children (who, by the way, are homeschooled, don't watch t.v. [even though they are ON t.v.] and think rock and roll music is BAAADDD) are practically slaves, but are creepily happy about it. The best part of the show is "evil" cousin Amy who carries an I-POD and is constantly being interviewed because she is the only normal child in the house.

The episode I just saw was about a visit from the family's best friends "The Bates" (also an 18-kid family) and all of them looked like they just arrived from Colorado City! I was wondering if they traveled by covered wagon and if there was another wife and more children hiding in the back of it. Throughout the show, the Duggar mom was showing off the house while the Bates mom worshiped her every move. They kept hugging and verbally counting their blessings. BLECH! BLECH! and more BLECH!

The scariest thing about this show is that I had a deep, silent fear that they are going to turn out to be mormon. If they do, it will be one giant leap back in the wrong direction from our attempts to help the rest of the gentiles see that we aren't a poligamist-loving-anti-christ-cult.

Check it out, BUT ONLY ONCE. We don't want to improve ratings here. And I will personally pay someone, (Christina, you like to investigate things, maybe this is your next assignment) to find a "Families Are Forever" plaque on the wall or a Greg Olson print hanging somewhere so that I can confirm my fears.

This show is so bad, it makes Kate Gosselin seem normal!

Giving you the giveaways....

2008-10-15T22:26:00.000-07:00

I've run across a couple of fun blog giveaways! Check out these sites:

http://jillenecox.blogspot.com/ (giving away cute jewelry!)
http://vschmidt.blogspot.com/ (giving away various darling "stuff")

Happy blogstalking!

More pics from below

2008-10-12T10:28:00.000-07:00

We made caramel apples this week. My favorite part is the apples which came straight from my mom's tree and didn't cost me a cent!
Kaycie cheered at her last football game Friday night. We've had so much fun going to her games. Her team has gone undefeated(I'm sure it's because of all the unbelieveable cheers from the sidelines). These are the posters she made for some of the football player's lockers. Go Devils! My roses are BEAUTIFUL right now. It was going to freeze on Sat. night, so I went and picked everything. My friend Kelly was having a luncheon after her daughter's baptism, so I was able to use the roses to make some centerpieces for the tables.
They smell as good as they look. I am so grateful to Evelyn for keeping such a beautiful yard that we now get to enjoy....and for passing her love of gardening on to Korry.
Eat your heart out Martha Stewart! I have pretty flowers in my yard that I took care of all by myself... PLUS I'm honest.

Into the grey

2008-10-12T08:34:00.000-07:00

I posted earlier about finding hope and joy in all of the uncertainty that is around us (see below). So today, I am walking "into the grey" taking time to count my blessings. Here are all of the things I have to be grateful for JUST THIS WEEK. #1 We decorated our yard for Halloween. The kids had a blast! Lyndsie is such a HAMBONE (pic above)!
On Thursday night, Korry didn't get home until about 2:00 a.m. Kristie and Brooke came over to eat doughnuts with us around midnight and while we visited, we hatched a plan to keep the kids out of school the next morning and go to a late breakfast at Cracker Barrel with the dads. I am so grateful to have Korry home safe once again!
It was SO COLD on Friday morning and we haven't gotten into the habit of wearing our coats yet. Here is Jaymon with Nick, Alex and Ben, trying to stay warm in the Cracker Barrel parking lot while the grown ups visited. Regardless of the cold, I'm grateful for the changing seasons.
We went to our Pumpkin Patch on Saturday and all of the kids picked a pumpkin. Later, I visited Ashley's Website and got a bunch of cute ideas for decorating the pumpkins. I love the possibilities of the Internet!
I love these candy jars because they remind me of something you would find in an old apothecary. But the reason I posted this pic is because Halloween season is the only time you can buy entire bags of vanilla Tootsie Rolls. They are MY FAVORITE! If you haven't tried them, you must.

Soccer

2008-10-12T08:24:00.000-07:00

Jaymon started playing soccer last week down at Regan Academy and he LOVES it! He has turned in to a soccer fanatic. There are three men (one is from Spain, one Portugal and one from Brazil) and they are starting a new soccer league that will eventually compete with HC storm. They teach drills, skills and then play a pick up game at the end. We love it because the coaches are AWESOME and they are going to continue through the winter, playing on indoor courts. If you live in the Springville Area, you should check it out!

Hope Amongst Uncertainty

2008-10-11T22:22:00.000-07:00

On Thursday afternoon I broke slacker tradition and attended the monthly honored alumni lecture at BYU. I must have been inspired because the theme of the lecture was "Thriving in Uncertainty". Kristen Cox (that's her pictured above) talked about living in a time of uncertainty and going forward with hope.
The first impressive thing you should know about Kristen is that she just ran for lieutenant governor in Maryland and is a well known politician and advocate for people with disabilities. The second impressive thing about her is that she is a busy, active, working mom (two teenage sons) and active member of the church. But the last impressive thing you should know about her is that she is blind.
It was so inspiring to hear her talk about going blind (which happened mostly in her early twenties) and how she had to accept it and make a conscious choice to live with hope. She spoke about trials and "dark periods" in life and how inside of all of it lies opportunity that we are often too stressed, depressed, anxiety-ridden and sad to notice. She said, "Yes, life is hard. Yes, we have no idea what the future holds. Yes, our economy is falling apart. Yes, the world is an uncertain place." Then she gave some advice:

1. Manage discomfort
The times we face ahead may cause us some discomfort, but it isn't anything we can't manage. She told about going to "bootcamp for the blind" and the discomfort she felt when she was dropped off in the middle of a park in Washington D.C. and had to find her way out. It took her all-day to get out of the park and was the worst day of her life, but she LEARNED something that day, and each day after that got easier because she learned to manage the discomfort. She suggested using "Flashlight Planning". For example: Suppose everything had gone pitch black, and then someone handed you a flashlight. Sometimes all we can do is shine our flashlight on what is right in front of us and then move forward to the next thing and then the next. Under those circumstances, you would navigate the environment by taking one thing at a time. She said, "Don't let the environment dictate your life - create your own environment and shine the flashlight where you can, and then do what you can."

2. Walk confidently into the unknown
You can't just sit there (she told us that she's tried it and it doesn't work). She told the story of Christ walking on the water and how Peter stepped out of the boat, but then fell. She explained that the great thing about Peter is that he was willing to step out of the boat. Yes, he fell, but Christ came to help him out. She then told about a day she was out running (yes, she is a runner too) and she fell straight down a manhole and plunged into water up to her chest. It hurt, it was awful, she cried and was stuck down there for a long time, but eventually someone found her and helped her out. In her words she said, "you won't be stuck in the manhole forever, so don't be afraid to go running." She suggested changing "if" statements to "how" statements. For example, don't say, "What will we do IF we loose our 401 K?" Instead say, "How can we prepare for a financial crisis?" She said it all comes down to making a choice to either LIVE A LIFE OF FEAR or LIVE A LIFE OF FAITH.

3. Appreciate the world's complexity
She talked about the financial crisis on Wallstreet; it's COMPLEX! The war in Iraq; it's COMPLEX! The election; it's COMPLEX! She explained that some scientists have studied chaos theory and found that in the most chaotic of events, there is an underlying (amazing) order to it all. She told us that "God is in the details" and that at some point we realize nothing is black and white, but rather "a whole lot of grey". She explained that she has chosen to live a life "in the grey", accepting that there are a million different ways to get from point A to point B. Some people sit around and complain and some people stay busy finding the ways from point A to point B. She explained that if we are willing to take "deep dives" (willing to accept change, willing to embrace complexity) that we will see things below the surface that no one else can see and that will lead straight to OPPORTUNITY. And opportunity will lead to HOPE.

I loved the message; that although we are faced with much uncertainty right now, God has not taken away hope and opportunity. It is still there, we just have to look for it in different ways than we have in the past.

Sorry for such a long post, but I hope someone out there can benefit from these words as much as I did.

Funny, Funny You-Guys!

2008-10-08T22:44:00.000-07:00

Your comments are making me laugh so much I just might have to make you ALL an apron (I wonder if my little Kenmore sewing machine from ShopKo can handle it?)

So here's what I 'm going to do. ON MY BIRTHDAY (October 26th), I will put all the names in a hat and have a non-biased drawing. Don't worry, I'll have my daughter Kaycie do the drawing (she is the most honest and spiritual person in the family :0)). Then I'll post the winner and either deliver/send it to you. I have another cute apron that I haven't posted a pic of yet and I'm going to give that one to the person with the "wittiest" comment.

So fun! For the first time EVER, I can't wait for my birthday.......

TJ

It's the "Etsy" in me...A BLOG GIVEAWAY!

2008-10-06T21:19:00.001-07:00

Sorry - crooked pictures - I took these with my old digital.

On Saturday, my sister asked me what the word "ETSY" meant. I tried to explain it, but decided I better officially look it up. Imagine my disappointment when I found out that it just means "HOMEMADE". Very anti-climatic.
Even still, you should see the "ETSY" aprons I made this weekend down at my moms. They are very....HOMEMADE. Still, they look kind of retro and fun. I think I might do a GIVEAWAY on my blog and give one away to someone who posts a great comment regarding their thoughts about this elusive word "ETSY". It's so trendy. And so are BLOG GIVEAWAYS. So here it goes. My first very lame BLOG GIVEAWAY. If you want an apron, post a comment!

Blogstalking....Again!

2008-10-06T21:11:00.000-07:00

Check this BLOG out......

A blog with full color pictures of how to do your daughter's hair? Get out! I wish I'd had this when my kids were smaller! Check out the sidebar with labels for BUNCHES of different hairstyles.

www.shedoeshair.blogspot.com

Amazing! Someone has put a lot of time and effort into this blog. Thank you, someone!

Needs and Greeds

2008-10-01T20:07:00.003-07:00

So last week I sent a letter to Senator Orrin Hatch just to put my two cents in about this whole "Bail Out" mess. To my surprise, one week later, I got a letter back. I was happy to hear his explanation about the situation and also to hear that he voted AGAINST the bail out because he felt that it was going to benefit people who didn't need it and hurt people who did.

My cousin Megan posted a comment the other day about Needs and Greeds. She said something about our country being so busy filling it's greeds that it soon won't be able to fill it's needs. So true! What are we going to do? I think I'll start by going on to Seriously So Blessed to buy one of those T-Shirts that says, "MATERIALISM MAKES ME CRY!"

I'm writing in Charlie Brown For President!

Moore Family Night...not MORE Family Night

2008-09-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

Looking for the Lost Sheep

Our house is small, no mansion for a millionaire. But there's room for love and that's all I care!
Korry made over 200 scones Sunday night! He is a pro (recipe is on my FOOD BLOG)

On Sunday we had the entire Moore family over for family night. The kids prepared a great lesson centered around the theme, "The worth of souls is great in the sight of God." They were nervous about doing a lesson in front of so many people, but pulled it off beautifully (and passed off goals for their Faith in God project...I'm so sneaky :0) Korry cooked about a million scones and I made some homemade doughnuts, which was really fun; I've never done that before. The recipe is on my food blog (www.gatherroundourtable.blogspot.com). The whole event got my family to massively clean the house, so that was good too. The Moore family has been getting together every month for the past I-don't-know-how-many years...A LOT! I LOVE my Moore Family and I'm so glad that we have kept up that tradition. Thanks for coming everyone!

One Productive Day

2008-09-20T21:40:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the vintage aprons I've been making. Each of the girls picked out their fabric and it's so funny how thier fabric matches their personality!

Today I....
Went to breakfast at Cracker Barrel with Korry, Kaycie and Lyndsie.
Played 10 games where you skip the golf tees on the triangular block of wood. Lost.
Helped Lyndsie pick out a birthday gift for her cute little friend Emma.
Bought a new cookbook called Harvest Kitchen.
Went to Sprinkler World with Korry and looked at Department 56 houses with the girls.
Shopped for fabric at JoAnn's.
Saw Ramona sitting out on her front porch and stopped to visit with she and Mike. Solved the problems of the world in 20 minutes.
Looked at a red, vintage Volkswagen Bug that's for sale (Korry wants to buy it for Kaycie - he can't).
Drove around neighborhoods in Springville listening to Michael Kelsey and enjoying the cool breeze from Korry's sunroof.
Got rained on.
Made two retro aprons start to finish (three more to go).
Made a fall tablecloth.
Picked peaches at Shirlene's.
Visited with Reed and Jackie for about an hour. Jackie has shingles and is feeling awful.
Made homemade Tomato Basil Soup (like Zuppas) and grilled cheese sandwiches.
Took Lyndsie to her birthday party.
Watched Camp Rock with Kaycie.
Took Kaycie to play night games at her friend Ali's.
Missed Taylor and Jaymon....called Mindi to see when they were going to get back from Nephi.
Cleaned up my crafting mess and dinner mess.
Welcomed Tay & Jay Home.
Visited with Mindi
Laughed when Mindi accidentally drove off with my cat in her van.
Made little homemade ghosts with Tay & Jay and hung them in their bedroom window.
Ate peaches and cream with Tay & Jay.
Talked to Korry about a little scout from Mapleton that was killed out at the sand dunes.
Picked up my computer and started blogging........

A funny thing happened.....to Mindi

2008-09-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

I have to blog about the funniest thing that happened tonight. Mindi came over to bring Taylor and Jaymon home. They had all been down in Nephi at my mom and dad's this weekend. She stayed and visited for a few minutes, then I walked her out to her car where we visited for a few minutes more before she headed for home.
Well, she had no sooner driven away, when suddenly we heard her coming back up our front walk kind of freaking out. Apparently, our cat Bella had climbed into her van unbeknownst to any of us while we had been visiting. So....Mindi goes driving down the road and all of the sudden Bella jumps out (she is a SOLID BLACK cat, which is freaky in and of itself) and scares the %$#&*$ out of Mindi as she is driving. It practically gave her heart failure. I swear that cat is a menace! Poor Mindi.

10 reasons I LOVE Fall!

2008-09-20T20:54:00.000-07:00

1. Walking right outside to pick fresh peaches, apples, tomatoes, herbs, corn on the cob and other harvest fruits and veggies ....YUMMO!
2. Straightening my hair and having it stay nice all day.
3. Wearing hoodies, sweaters and jackets again.
4. Watching thunderstorms.
5. Anxiously awaiting T.V. premiers (The Office, Biggest Loser, Desperate Housewives).
6. Watching my kids as they get out the Fall and Halloween decorations....they have so much fun.
7. Making warm, hearty recipes again (soups, stews, casseroles, apple crisp, pumpkin cookies).
8. Watching the mountains turn a million shades of red, brown, orange and yellow.
9. Going to craft fairs and scrapbook expos. I get a creative, crafty bug every fall.
10. Looking forward to the "Big Three" (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas).

And the fog begins to clear

2008-09-19T17:54:00.001-07:00

Lately I've spent a good majority of my brain power trying to make sense of "the American Mess". I have friends and family who've been arguing over Obama and McCain for a year now. The election is weeks away and I still don't know who to vote for. Obama is too much and McCain not enough.
Should the taxpayers bail mega financial corporations out of bankruptcy? Every time I think about it, I start imagining the top executives of those companies lounging on exotic beaches, wearing Dolce & Gabbana and drinking Chateau Lafite. I think about these things while I'm scrubbing my toilet or when I glance at my Eiffel Tower clock and realize that I am never going to make it to France.
Should the government bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac because millions of Americans were greedy and bought homes that were thousands of dollars more than they could reasonably afford? I think about this every time I pull into my garage and can't lift my tailgate because the ceiling is too low.
Today, I was thinking about all of these things and the fog began to clear. I was sitting at the Nebo District Office in the IT department as one of the technicians was showing me how to use the new Internet tool, Moodle, for my thesis project. He was showing me how he chats live every Tuesday with a friend in Argentina. That's when it hit me. America, without even realizing, has become part of the WE.
Here's what I mean. For so long WE, were IT. The top dog, the best in the world, the financial giant, the strongest, the best, the everything...we were IT. But those days are over. They won't soon be over, or one day might be over, they are OVER. We hear it all the time: globalization. But we don't even realize what that means. Today, I began to.
This is going to sound crazy, but I could picture this giant wheel and at one time America was the hub of it. Now we are just a spoke, turning around like all the other spokes. WE are just part of the global WE. And WE don't know how to deal with it.
These are deep thoughts...but don't call me Jack Handy. Let me just say that I realized today that if we want to survive and teach our children how to survive in the future, we have to teach them the language of information. They will need to navigate the internet like never before, learn to weed out false information from good information and learn to connect to others in ways that have never been done before.
I am totally freaking myself out here. What do you think about all of this?
P.S. Please don't try to talk me into voting for Obama or McCain. I have heavily researched both :0) Love YA!

Drowning in deep water

2008-09-09T21:40:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel like you're drowning in deep water and bailing yourself out with a straw? O.K., O.K., so I stole those lyrics from a Jewel song, but still. She goes on in that song to say.....

"Your hope's in the sky,
but your heart's like grape gum on the ground.
And you wake up, to realize,
that your standard of living somehow got stuck on survive..."

Well, that's how I feel every time I walk in my house after a long day of work. I seriously cannot keep up! My kids just frolick from one huge mess to another. Yet, I know so many women whose homes are always completely SPOTLESS....ALWAYS!!!! I want someone to tell me how...HOW? I can do a lot of things, but a spotlessly clean house 24/7 is completely out of my comprehension.

PS: My house is a huge mess right now. I'm talking dishes-piled-in-the-sink-syrup-stuck-on-the-table-clothes-and-shoes-
everywhere-bathroom-smells-garbage-needs-dumping messy!

Oopsy! And six random things tag

2008-09-09T18:46:00.000-07:00

Oopsy! I got on my blog today and realized that I accidentally had some posts that were meant for my food blog (all fixed now)! If you want to visit my food blog, look for the link "Jordan Family Recipes" on the left hand side bar or visit www.gatherroundourtable.blogspot.com.

So the next item of business is a tag from my friend Ramona where I write six random things that no one knows about me. Here goes....(this is hard because I am such a blabbermouth that everyone probably knows just about everything).

1. I DON'T SLEEP. I joke about this a lot, but the truth is, I have a SERIOUS problem with insomnia that I blissfully ignore. If I can be asleep before 1:00 a.m. that's a good night. I figure, why just lay there? I get up and "do stuff".

2. I have had a steady job since I was 8 years old. I started out babysitting around the neighborhood, but by age 11 was basically a full time summer nanny for the Hiatt family. The parents were both nurses at Payson hospital and had three kids I watched 3-4 days a week, all day. Here is a list of the jobs I've done: babysitting, hauling hay, Roy's Frostee Freeze, Payson Fruit Growers (cherry sorted for school clothes), stuffed envelopes for Ruth Hiatt (10 cents an envelope), janitor at Payson Post Office, Payless Shoes Salesgirl, waitress at Family Tree Restaurant, secretary at Valtek, had a booth at MANY craft fairs over a 3 year span (to earn Christmas money), 2nd Grade Computer Tech at Westridge Elementary, secretary for Education Department at UVSC, 4th Grade Teacher (Park, Spring Lake, Park View), Literacy Specialist (Nebo District), Summer Tutor, CFA at BYU! Whew....no wonder I am so tired. I have already been working for 30 years! I should be retired by now don't you think?

3. I got married when I was 18! Korry practically robbed the cradle :0) He was a super awesome returned missionary and I was SO YOUNG! However, I have no regrets and never once felt like I wasn't ready to be married. However, I have finally accepted the fact that I may never make it to Paris (the culinary capital of the WORLD!)

4. I have LOVED cooking since I was a little, little girl. I use to (and still sometimes do) pretend that I am on a cooking show!!!! When I was about 8, I invented a recipe. I crushed up taco shells from our food storage, sprinkled taco seasoning on them and then tossed in a bunch of shredded cheese and olives. I would stir it up and eat it. I seriously thought I could win a cooking contest with that recipe. I also use to have a recipe for homemade Dr. Pepper! I swear it tasted just like the real thing......well, almost :0)

5. I hardly ever cry (except for one long year in 2004 when I was sick for 9 months and had a mini-nervous breakdown). As I sit here, I can't remember the last time I had a good cry. It's been at least a year. I do tear up on movies and sappy commercials, but full blown crying isn't really me (am I an ice queen?) I'm like Cameron Diaz on The Holiday.

6. I hate my freckles. I have always hated them. In fourth grade I made "freckle juice" after reading that book and then fasted and prayed that my freckles would go away. They didn't. I use to always recite, "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." I also hate being "blessed in the chest" (as my grandma would say), but that's a whole other story and all I have to say about that.

O.K. So my skeletons are out..... I tag....Margie, Mindi, Hilary, Kenton, JoElle, Marcy B.

Farmers Market Finds

2008-09-06T19:06:00.001-07:00

I was cooking this afternoon and glanced over at my counter and thought how awesome it looked piled with fresh food from the Famer's Market. I am feeling so ORGANIC I could practically be best friends with Kate Gosselin.
I talked Lyndsie into getting up early this morning and going over to Provo with me because I heard they have a good Farmers Market. I can't believe the delicious things they had there! I bought a huge bunch of gorgeous, fresh basil for $1! Did you hear me?....$1. I am in heaven. I bought fresh nectarines, fresh peaches, zuchini, banana squash and jalapenos for a fraction of the cost of the grocery store. I was having so much fun, I called Kelly and she and Breanna came over and joined us. We bought big loaves of hot (did you hear me?....hot!) homemade bread and I met this cute couple that was selling loaves of coconut bread and so I bought one. When I got home and tried it, I wished I had bought about three more - oh man - SO GOOD. We got fresh mango smoothies and homemade tamales that were to die for. I can't wait to go back next Saturday. If you haven't been to the Farmers Market yet, I'll meet you there at 9 a.m. next week!

Freedom in Simplicity

2008-09-03T17:53:00.000-07:00

"In SIMPLICITY there is FREEDOM. Freedom to DO LESS and ENJOY MORE."

I read this quote in a book a few years ago and I haven't forgotten it (you know, one of those "AhHa" Oprah moments). Well, at the end of the summer my kids informed me that they all wanted to quit piano lessons. They haven't been learning much and aren't having fun. Then Lyndsie broke the news that she didn't want to sign up for dance this year. I asked her, "Lou, what are you going to do if you don't dance?" and she replied, "PLAY!"
Jaymon was going to sign -up for soccer but got cold feet and backed out at the last minute. All three of the younger kids announced that the only thing they want to do this year is city league basketball, which doesn't start until January. It was like they had discussed it beforehand and came to me as a united front. Three kids united in freeing themselves from the craziness of sports teams, music lessons and dance competitions.
I am having such mixed feelings about this! What will we DO if we aren't DOING anything? Is that even allowed in this world of Mormon overachieving families? Part of me feels like the worst mom in the world yet the other part feels really, well...FREE.

If I do the math, it looks good on paper:
Piano Lessons $155 a month
New Piano Books $30
Dance $93 a month
Soccer $35 fee
Soccer shoes & gear $60
Treats for the soccer games $15 a month
Gas to drive all over town and back for a month $100+++++
I basically will be saving at least $300-$400 a month! UNBELIEVABLE!

Well, the other night, we were feeling a little bored, so we drove over to Robert's Crafts and everyone walked around and found a little "project" to work on. Jaymon got a coffee mug art project, the girls got planners for school with little packs of stickers they can use to decorate their planners and I got materials for a crafty little pencil holder. It cost about $7! We came home, made enchiladas and spent the night talking, listening to music and working on our projects. It was so FUN!
Kaycie is doing cheer and has a game this Thursday and we are all SO looking forward to going. It's the only thing on our calendar this week and we've already planned to have a taco dinner beforehand and then walk down to the high school with our blankets at 6:30. It's only been a couple of weeks, but we are definitely "doing less and enjoying more". I am way excited about this new adventure. Imagine that....FREEDOM!

K.A.Y.C.I.E. That's the way you spell Kaycie!

2008-09-01T22:17:00.000-07:00

Kaycie cheered in her first game this Saturday against Timpview. Springville won by two touchdowns.

Go DEVILS! Korry is so proud that Kaycie is a Springville Devil!

And the band played on...

2008-09-01T22:00:00.000-07:00

This Sunday was the last Payson Band Concert. We always enjoy spending warm Sunday evenings at the Payson Park listening to the band and visiting with friends and family. This week we invited our good friends Reed and Jackie Johnson to come along. It was cold and windy, but hundreds of people still came out. We were just settled in and tapping our toes when it started to rain; first a drizzle, then a downpour. We barely made it back to the cars with our chairs, blankets and treats before getting soaked.
Korry had to book it on his crutches when it started to rain. The cast comes off in two more days!
Lyndsie & Tyler with their 3rd cousins, Jasmine and Addie.
Taylor and Kaycie love meeting up with their old Payson friends. Here they are with Taylor's friend Alex.
The last band concert marks the end of summer. I hate to see it end.

5 Things I Should Do Today

2008-08-25T16:03:00.001-07:00

In honor of my friend Margy and her creative blog, I decided to copy her format and write 5 things I should do today.... here goes.

1. Pamper Korry a little more and stop laughing when he gets mad and throws his crutches. He is such a great husband and I need to be more understanding of how frustrated he is being "grounded".
2. Have family night. It's funny because I always tell my kids that they can't play on Monday night because it's "Family Night" but then we never do anything. We never have a lesson or read scriptures or anything really. We just sit around saying "Well, it's family night." Sometimes we go get an ice cream, but that doesn't really count does it?
3. Go to sleep early since I start work tomorrow! UGH! I hate going to bed early. I do some of my best work between midnight and two. I better take one of Korry's phenegran pills....jk.
4. Go to the gym....since I haven't been in over three weeks! I'm such a looser...er...I mean a gainer.
5. Make dinner. Isn't it ironic that someone who loves to cook so much can never figure out what to make for dinner. I have lots of fresh garden veggies ripening in my backyard, so .....maybe I'll call for a pizza. :0)

Back to Skull

2008-08-24T20:59:00.001-07:00

Kaycie is a FRESHMAN! I didn't even take her on the first day, she just rode in the carpool and wasn't even nervous. She is going to have a busy year. She is cheering on the 9th grade cheer squad, is taking honors English, Algebra I and made the advanced choir. She also started seminary and has been coming home every day to read her scriptures before starting her other homework. She is such a good kid, I bet she sometimes wonders if she was born in to the wrong family. Honestly, there are many days that I don't feel worthy to be her mom.
Jaymon started second grade and I am so excited because his teacher is one of my darling and talented BYU students, Kim Ott. He didn't want me to walk him in to the school on the first day, but I managed to sneak this picture right before the bell rang. He seems so grown up to me all of the sudden and I now have to beg him to give me a hug. He just looks at me like, "Mom, give me a break!" I guess I am no longer cool.
Lou Lou has started 5th grade and has her first boy teacher, Mr. Duncan. Since the first day of school we've heard nothing but talk about her awesome teacher and all the new friends she is making. She is such a social butterfly and is so bubbly and fun but sometimes her socialitis gets her into trouble. She almost gave us a heart attack the day of Korry's surgery when she never came home from a birthday party because she had run off to play with friends without telling anyone where she was going. I was stuck at the hospital and my friend Kristie, along with Kaycie and Taylor spent the day searching for her. She got grounded over that one.
Taylor is in her last year of elementary school - 6th grade. She has a fun, organized teacher and is looking forward to a great year. On the first few days of school, Taylor met a new friend named Hannah and has been talking about her all week. Well....on Friday, Kaycie was over at her good friend, Maddie's, house and began to put two and two together and realized that Hannah is Maddie's little sister. They live just down the hill from us, and I'm hoping that Tay will finally find a friend who lives close. I can't believe that there are nine boys her age in our ward, but not a single girl!

When my kids were small, they use to watch this show called Pooh's Grand Adventure. In the movie, Pooh and his friends are searching for Christopher Robin who has gone "to SKULL", which they decide is a much formidable place. Oh how I miss those days of Winnie the Pooh! My kids are growing up so fast on me that I feel like I am spinning. This week, part of me wanted to keep them from going "back to SKULL" but I realize that there is equal happiness in this new chapter of life and I must accept and enjoy it. So we are officially BACK TO SCHOOL.

Back to School, Mama Mia, Korry's Owie, Anniversary and Steph

2008-08-24T20:09:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, the kids started back to school. They were all a little nervous to be starting at a new school this year, but I think the move to Sage Creek was the right thing and they all are having fun and are making some new friends. After I dropped the kids off, I spent the day with Ramona. We were a little late leaving because I had to get Korry settled, make him some chocolate chip cookies and help my friend Sonia download some pictures for our girls camp party. When we finally got on our way, we went to see Mama Mia which was corny and hilarious and fun. Then we went to this new etsy art shop in Provo called the Coal Umbrella. We found cute rings there for $6. I was sad to think that this will be my last year of hanging out with Ramona on the first day of school. Next year I will likely be back to work in the disrict and won't have the freedom I've had the past few years. I am going to enjoy every minute of this last year at BYU.

Korry had surgery on his leg on Monday and he's been down for a week which is driving him crazy. He's been hurting and restless and just a little grumpy....just a little :0). We didn't realize that he would be in a cast from toe to knee and the original 2 weeks off has turned in to 3 weeks with the cast and 3 weeks in a boot and then 3 months of physical therapy. Korry has been entertaining himself by telling people that I beat him up or kicked him. He will sit out on our porch with his crutches and then when people walk by and ask, "Korry, what happened to you?" he points at me and says, "She kicked me". Very funny.

On August 10th we celebrated our 17th year together. Korry spoiled me rotten with flowers, an 80 gig IPOD and a delicious dinner at Magelby's (our tradition). I had been so wrapped up with girls camp that I didn't get him anything! I promised him waffle cookies but havn't taken the time to make them yet. I owe him so big time. He is an awesome husband and I am so lucky (I'm "SERIOUSLY SO BLESSED!")

My cousin Stephanie got home from her mission on Friday and the whole Moore family met at a park in Lehi to welcome her home. Today we went to hear her speak in sacrament meeting back at the old Spring Lake church. The minute I walk in that church I am flooded with a million memories. I had a lot of good times in that church when I was a teenager. To be there felt like going home. Later, while we were having a luncheon in my Aunt Joy's back yard, I suddenly felt so overwhelmed by how much I love and miss living in Spring Lake. It will always be home to me.

Stephanie gave a talk today that resonated with me - I even took notes. She told about her mission motto which she and her companions would recite each day. It helped through some hard times on her mission:

Obedience is the price

Faith is the power

Spirit is the key

Love is the motive

Christ is the reason

Joy is the reward

It is a formula of sorts of how to live and it made a lot of sense to me, though I do struggle with the first step of being obedient from time to time. I can't believe how much Steph has grown and changed on her mission. It was awesome to see her again.

To all the girls.....

2008-08-09T09:31:00.000-07:00

To all the girls of Hobble Creek Stake, Campsite Esther 5C who will visit this blog to see your pics, I just want to tell you all one more time what a priviledge it was spend the week with you. You are all beautiful, smart, talented, funny, amazing girls and I learned so much from you. I hope you will continue to scatter sunshine everywhere you go and to remember the friendships you made at camp. This year at school, remember to turn around every once in a while and watch for other girls who are on the outside looking in. You are all so warm, caring, kind girls, I know that you can bring others in and help them feel included. Thanks for being SO AWESOME! Sister Day and I were saying on the ride home that we never once had to get after anyone and how much we appreciated that you jumped in and helped with anything we asked and always offered to help even when we didn't need it. You made our jobs so easy and enjoyable...all 12 of you! We love you so much and hope that you will keep in touch. Esther 5C ROCKS!!!!!!

Heber Valley 2008

2008-08-09T09:29:00.000-07:00

S.U.N.S. Stand United and Strong

2008-08-09T07:10:00.000-07:00

I was so lucky this year to be called as the assistant camp director for our girls camp at Heber Valley. I cannot tell you how much it warmed my heart to see the time and money that has been invested there strictly to benefit the young women of our church We were told the story that a small parcel of land was going to be purchased for a girls camp site, but when President Hinckley visited the site, he told his advisors to "buy the whole moutain!" and then dedicated the entire project for the young women. Sniff, Sniff...I LOVE PRESIDENT HINCKLEY! Heber Valley Camp is truly one of the most remarkable and well desigend projects the church has ever undertaken.
Our theme this year was S.U.N.S (Stand United aNd Strong). The theme revolved around the sun and the Son. My new stake here in Springville is so organized and creative, it was unbelieveable. It was a stake camp, so we stayed with girls and leaders from several differnt wards so that we could get to know each other. Each day they focused on a different aspect of the sun (sunflowers, sunrise, sunshine and the Son of God. I couldn't believe all of the fun ideas and activities they came up with. Sorry if this seems like a travel log, but I just want to remember everything we did!

MONDAY We arrived at Heber Valley and unpacked in our BEAUTIFUL Campsite, Camp Ester. After orientation we had lunch (our stake provided all of the meals) and then hung out in our cabin to get to know each other. When I first met all of the girls in my cabin before coming to camp, I was really worried that their personalities would clash and they wouldn't get along. I was SO WRONG! Before coming to camp, the other cabin moms and I (Tina and Tylynn) had been praying for the girls. Our prayers were truly answered because we ended up having the BEST cabin ever. The girls were darling and we didn't have a single minute of discontent the entire week. They just loved each other and got along and it was WONDERFUL! They were AWESOME! Monday night we had a fireside and a local seminary teacher came and spoke about the temptations that are facing young women today. It was so fascinating because he talked about how boys are often led away from the church by things like drugs or pornography. He explained that those are tools that Satan uses to drag boys down. Then he asked the girls, "What tools does Satan use to drag girls down?" He had girls come up and say what they thought and I was shocked to realize that everything they mentioned (the media's portrayal of the perfect body, gossip, jealousy, expensive clothes, popularity at school, etc.) all had to do with destroying a girls self-esteem. I was totally struck by that because it is 100% true. Satan can drag girls down by destroying their self-esteem. Our theme on Monday was sunflowers. When we got back to our cabin, the YCL's came and read some facts about sunflowers and how they related to us following the Savior. We had the cutest YCL's and each of them bore their testimony to the girls and it was amazing. You could feel the spirit in our cabin and I was so touched by these young teenage girls and how strong their testimonies were at such a young age. They gave each girl a sunflower clip to wear in their hair. Later, our girls took the beehives on a snipe hunt. It was hilarious. I have the entire thing on video, I'll have to post it when I can.

Tuesday & Wednesday
Did I mention that Heber Valley has HOT showers and electricity? The leaders in our camp would all get up around 5:30 and shower and then sit out under the pavillion doing our makeup and talking. It was so wonderful to hang out with the other leaders and get to know them. One morning, a 5 point buck and several deer wandered through camp. One deer came right up to us just as I was putting on my mascara. It just sat there staring at us. It was probably thinking "HOW WEIRD ARE THESE HUMANS?!"
The girls spent two days going to different rotations. I unfortunately got stuck teaching first aid and didn't get to see much of the other rotations. They had girly girl time where they did manicures, pedicures, face masks and learned what colors looked best on them. At one rotation, they learned a camp dance to the song "I've got a pocket full of sunshine" by Natasha Beddingfield. They also went to classes on first aid, orienteering and mountaineering. They had a cooking class and got to do a craft which was a beaded bookmark for their scriptures with a little sun charm hanging on the bottom. They also got to go to a challenge course and do ropes courses, which I heard was really fun. The truth is, I was totally bummed that I didn't get to go! Maybe next year.
On Tuesday night, the girls did skits. They were hilarious. We were given a MormonAd and then 1 hour to portray the message from the mormonAd. Our girls planned a funny skit on the theme "Take Time Out For A Mission". It turned out really cute. Every skit was so funny, we were laughing the entire time. The theme on Tuesday was sunshine and the girls were given necklaces with little suns on them and they were to do acts of service for other campers and then give them the sunshines. We called it "scattering sunshine". We also played a game one night where we got into teams and had to think of as many songs as we could that had the word "sun" in it. Then we had a singing competition to see which team thought of the most songs. We were playing it for over 30 minutes before we ran out of songs. It was a hoot! On another night, brother Frampton came up and talked to the girls about how to avoid temptation. Right before his talk, the girls sang their camp song Steadfast in You by Jenny Phillips. I was so emotional hearing all of their beautiful harmonizing voices that I couldn't even sing. Every leader just sat there and cried.
For devotional, the YCL's brought little journals for the girls on Tuesday night. They had us sit in a circle and pass around our journals and write nice messages to each other, then we sang "Scatter Sunshine". On Wednesday, they read a story called the Parable of the Princeses and gave each girl a princess bracelet to wear. The stake gave the girls T-shirts and matching backpacks too.

Thursday
Thursday was ward day. Sonia and I had been excited all week because we got to plan everything for that day. First, we made magnet boards and scrapbook pages. We were all sitting around painting and singing show tune songs and it was SO FUN. I didn't really know many of the young women in my ward prior to going to camp, so I really enjoyed hanging out with them. I got to know one of the girls in our ward who just graduated from high school and who had come up as a cabin mom. She reminds me alot of myself as a teenager. I had so much fun with her. She is a BLAST.
During free time, the girls played board games and played a really fun cup game. Later in the day we went on a two mile hike to the waterfront. When we got there, I looked over and I saw one of my very best friends from high school! She was up there with her ward from West Jordan. I haven't seen her for a couple of years, so I was excited to talk with her.
We went on canoes and paddle boats out onto the lake. It was beautiful and once everyone was out on the water, the missionaries stationed there blew a horn and had two minutes of silence on the lake and asked us to think about the scripture "Be still and know that I am God". It was so amazing to be floating out there amidst all this beautiful scenery in silence. While we were on the lake, a huge bolt of lightening struck nearby (it had been cloudy and overcast all week). We all had to get off the lake FAST and just as we were all safely off the lake it started POURING. We all ran out in the rain and started dancing and singing "Singing in the Rain...just singing in the rain." It was raining so hard, we didn't get to hike back to camp and had to shuttle back in cars. It was fun though because that gave us more time to play games. The girls taught the leaders the camp dance. We also played a rope game that simulated Lehi's Dream and each team had to make it to the tree of life with their family.
For dinner, we make navajo tacos and scones. While we were making dinner, the girls used the ropes from the game to jumprope and do double dutch. They had so much fun! The bishopric came up and I was so excited because Korry came up and helped with dinner and stayed for testimony meeting. I loved having him there and Kaycie was so excited that he came up. Truthfully, I had asked him to come up because throughout the week I had been having trouble with dizziness. I think I have an ear infection and on Wednesday during our first aid rotation I had gotten so dizzy and sick that I had to go back and rest in the cabin for a couple of hours. Korry decided to come up on Thursday so that if I was still sick, I could ride home with him and get to the doctor. Luckily, I was able to stick it out and stay until Friday. After dinner we sang around the campfire and had testimony meeting. The girls in my ward have such amazing testimonies. Usually at girls camp, the girls just get up and say how much they love their friends, but these girls truly bore testimony of the savior and of how the gospel influences and directs their lives. They are the most spiritually strong girls I have ever worked with in the church. Of course we all cried through the entire thing and had swollen eyes and headaches by the end, so it was definitely a successful testimony meeting.

FRIDAY
On Friday morning we packed up, cleaned up and headed for home. It was so bittersweet. I was SO TIRED and ready to come home, but I also hated to leave. In only one week the girls in our cabin had grown so close and part of me didn't want to leave at all. When the bishopric came up on Friday, Sonia told him that he can't release us for at least one more year, so next year I will get to come back with both Kaycie and Taylor. I can't WAIT!

Moore Family Reunion

2008-08-09T07:08:00.000-07:00

Heber Valley - Temple in the Mountains

2008-08-08T18:26:00.000-07:00

I just got back this afternoon from girls camp. I am exhausted, but renewed. I had such an AMAZING experience there. Words cannot even express it. I feel like a different person. Friends have told me that Heber Valley is a temple in the mountains and it is absolutely true. There is a spirit there that you can feel the minute you enter the camp. I am going to blog a lot more about the week and post some pictures, but I am so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open right now.
When I got home, I had an e-mail from my friend Ramona, who sent me a video clip called reflections of Christ. Check it out. The photography is unbelieveable!

www.reflectionsofchrist.org

Going Retro on July

2008-07-31T07:11:00.000-07:00

I'm going retro here. I've been taking pictures and we've having adventures faster than I can blog them. Here is a lame attempt to capture a few highlights from July. I have to say that the thing I love about summer is simply being with our friends. There is nothing better than a great conversation with friends and we have been lucky this month to have spent time with the people who mean the most to us. We made a decision NOT to take a big vacation this year to save monety and truthfully, we haven't missed it. This has been a fun, fulfilling summer.
***Watch for slide shows on my side bar. I have SO MANY great pics I need to share. Jaymon climbs the greased pole at Nephi city park on the 4th of July.

4th of July

The day started with a great breakfast at Gary & Sandy's (pancakes, eggs, sausage, fruit, YUM). They have a tradition to cook for the neighborhood and it's always a fun event. We headed to Nephi to enjoy the splendors of a small town celebration and it did not dissapoint. We spent the day in the park. While the kids played carnival games and won prizes, the adults browsed the bake and craft sales, watched the quilt auction and drank Pepsi while listening to live entertainment. Oh - I can't forget the traditional greasy burgers and fries from Lynn's Drive In. We enjoyed an evening BBQ at my parents house with Susan, Gary, Nadine and their families. The day ended with a BANG - literally. Because of our wonderful experiences last year, I FORCED everyone over the high school to lay on the grass under the fireworks. We were so up close and personal with the fireworks that one misfired and exploded right by our blanket, leaving a crater in the grass and us scattering in all directions. It was an event we will not soon forget. Luckily no one got hurt and you can bet we are going back next year for more excitement.

In this picture, we had just returned from the fireworks where we were almost "hit" by a stray firework.
The Jordan "Family Reunion"

I put parentheses around the words "Family Reunion" because the truth is, there is not or never has been such a thing as the Jordan Family Reunion. JoElle was up from California and wanted to get together for a BBQ, so Shirlene graciously invited everyone over, we ate, took some pics and the kids played. I wish it twer different, but it tis not so. It will most likely be the only time this year that we see some the family, which breaks my heart but is a reality.

Pioneer Day

In keeping with tradition, we enjoyed the parade on the Samuel's front yard. Nothing much to say about the parade - advertisements, politicians, and more advertisements. The reason we go to the parade is to see old friends. Sara, my old principal was there and I always love visiting with her. I also got to see my friend Jana, so it was all good. After the parade we hung around under Mike and Ramona's big tree, visited, waved to passing cars, drank pop, ate pizza and laughed. Somehow during the day the kids "disappeared" one by one. Jaymon headed off to the carnival on a golf cart with Mindi and Jason and the girls found the Bate family and went to their house to play. Of course, Korry and I hurried right home to......mow the lawn and make cupcakes...I'm serious! Isn't that sad?

Cul de Sac of Fire

We spent Pioneer night at the Bates enjoying a carne esada feast and participating in the cul de sac of fire, which is a fun filled event where the moms sit on lawn chairs, the dads light Sam's Club fireworks ten at a time and the kids run around and burn themselves on sparklers. Kelly had invited some of her old neighbors like Ron and Tina so it turned in to a regular party. Around 11:00, as it was time to leave, the kids manipulated all the grown ups into having a Rock Band competition. Of course the kids kicked our butts. Korry and I had never played before and we were quite a sight with him on drums and me on microphone. Good thing we had Bud on guitar to back us up :0)

Other Noteworthy Adventures

Korry and I snuck away on a Sunday night with our good friends Bud and Kelly (Lyndise and Jay went to Mindi's; Taylor and Kaycie went to Margies). They have a cabin in Scofield and all Bud wanted for his birthday was a steak dinner and a night away. We were the lucky tag-alongs and enjoyed a great meal, a relaxing evening and a nice visit with our friends. We watched the movie Vantage Point, which I really liked. Unfortunately, my temporary crown fell out while eating the steak dinner and we had to hurry home on Monday so I could get to the dentist.

One Sunday, we invited the White's and the Sleight's over for scones. Shirlene was doing irrigation, so of course the kids played in the water for most of the evening and got soaked to the bone. Jason and Randalee ended up staying late and we talked out on the patio until after 11:00 while the kids huddled in blankets inside and watched The Food Network Disney Cake Challenge and John & Kate +8.

Another Sunday night Mike and Ramona and their boys came over for a Lasagna dinner and to watch the race. The kids played on Webkinz, played hide-and-go-seek, murder in the dark and watched funny videos on YouTube. The kids were so entertained that Korry, Mike, Ramona and I talked out on the porch until almost 11:00. The day had been overcast and toward evening it started raining, followed by lightening and thunder. I LOVE thunderstorms. I can't think of anything better than a cool breeze, the smell of rain and the conversation of good friends. Ramona brought brownies and ice cream for dessert, YUMMO! It was such a fun way to spend a Sunday evening.

During July we went to the new Payson Pool twice with my friend Tamra. The new Payson Pool is AMAZING...I will never go anywhere else. On both occasions the kids played all day while the grown ups sat by the shallow edge of the pool and talked...and talked...and talked. On our second visit to the pool, Mindi and Jason came along. We also had Asher with us because we had been tending him for a couple of days. Well, Mindi's little boy Ethan (9months old) threw up in the pool, closing it down for more than 45 minutes. It was quite an adventure.

One afternoon, the kids and I went to the reservior with my new friend Margy and her son Jack. At first he kids were shy, but they warmed up and had a great adventure pulling mountains of "seaweed" from the bottom of the lake. It was stinky and disgusting and wonderful. The best part for me was visiting with Margy on our lawn chairs. We didn't leave until the sun was setting.

Springville City has a movie in the park every Monday night and we've made it down twice to sit on blankets and watch Shrek 3 and Open Season while hormonal teenagers run amok and talk so loud that you can't hear the movie.

My cousin Megan was here on stop-over as she is moving from Alaska to Arizona (big CHANGE). She spent a better part of the month with her mom in Spanish Fork and it is always fun to spend time with her and see her girls. I remember that when we were little kids, the highlight of our summer was seeing Megan and my Aunt Susan (who would travel up from California). Megan is an only child, but I have always thought of her as little sister. I don't know if she knows that, but she will after she reads this post :0) (Love Ya Megan, I'm glad you're settled and loving your new home!)

St. George Week

2008-07-29T14:51:00.000-07:00

Last week we finally made it to St. George. Kaycie invited her friend Emmali to come with us. We stayed in the new La Quinta which was super nice and not busy. We intended to go hiking in Zions, but the 110 degree temperatures kept us close to the pool for the entire week. It was a nice change of pace. Since I've been doing Dave Ramsey (Total Money Makeover), I decided to make a goal and not eat out during the trip. I had two big coolers in our hotel room and we made it through the whole week and actually ate pretty well. We planned for one night out at Texas Road House and let me tell you how much more we enjoyed it knowing it would be our only big splurge. During the week we had hoagies, taco salads, chicken wraps, pasta salad, etc. I was so proud of us! It was awesome to realize that we could go on a trip, have a great time, eat well and spend so little money.

On our last night, I took the kids to see Les Miserables at Tuacahan. We LOVED it. Eponine stole the show completely. She was AMAZING. When she sang "On My Own" the entire audience was captivated. She was crying and singing and I was sitting there thinking how wonderful it was that my kids got to "feel" a broadway show at such a young age (I was 26 the first time I saw Les Mis). When Marius was holding Eponine in his arms while she is dying and they sing "a little drop of rain" OH MY - Break out the KLEENEX! We have been listening to our Les Mis soundtrack non-stop. For those of you who read my blog and have been toying with the idea of going down to see the show, stop thinking about it and JUST DO IT! You can bring your own food and stay in a cheap hotel and see the show and it won't be too expensive. It's totally worth it.

Liberty Park Fountains

2008-07-29T14:42:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City at the Moore Family Reunion. The kids could have played all day in the water. So fun!

Must Read Post: Team Hoyt will change you

2008-07-25T10:05:00.000-07:00

Last semester at BYU I attended a guest lecture and heard a man speak who was LDS and had worked as an ESPN journalist. He had been assigned to cover the IRONMAN competition and to write about the Hoyt family (Dick and Rick Hoyt) as they attempted to complete their first IRONMAN competition in Hawaii. I will tell you that there was not a dry eye in the audience as he told their story. You MUST watch this video and also visit the Hoyt's website (www.teamhoyt.com). Their story is life-changing-inspiring.

Keep in mind:
*Rick is a spastic quadriplegic, cerebral palsy, non-speaking person.
*When Rick was born, the Hoyts were encouraged to place him in an institution and were told there was no hope for his development.
*Dick and Judy Hoyt have spent their entire lives advocating for independence and inclusion for their son.
*Rick is now a graduate of Boston University!
*Ironman competitors SWIM 2.4 miles, BIKE 112 miles and RUN 26 miles.
*No one can help them or they will be disqualified from the race.
*They will NEVER win the race, only finish and improve their time.