My FFA Adventure

 Just over a week ago Eddie and I set out on a

wonderful adventure to Denver, CO

for a high school FFA trip

- I was scared spitless

and Eddie was, well Eddie, he didn't care.

I imagined a trip from H - E - Double toothpicks.

A 9 hour bus ride with over 50

teenagers!

Thank goodness, I was totally mistaken.

What a great group of kids and what

a luxurious way to travel.

DVD hook ups and I-pods made

travelling light years away from 

back in my day!

The ride was blissful :)

I even got to read a book

Sierra and Stevie sat semi-close to us,

but far enough away that I couldn't slap

them every time they "fell asleep" on each other.

which happened a lot.

Each day we were in Denver our itinerary was

chuck full of "educational" things to see and do.

And we started early every morning and went

until late at night.

The advisors wanted to keep those kids

hoppin' to keep them out of trouble.

I got to take a few pictures before my 

camera battery died on me. :( 

We got to visit the

PRO RODEO HALL OF FAME

Here is Summer, Chris (not quite sure what

he is doing to that cowboy poster), Sierra

 and Stevie. It was a fun place to

visit. Thanks to "8 Seconds" I knew

two of the inductees - Lane Frost and Tuff Hedeman.

Eddie enjoyed himself- 

he's an old FFA member at heart.

This is a group shot of the kids from our 

chapter. There was only 12 from our school, 

but we traveled in a caravan of 3 buses with over

140 students total.

In front of the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame.

We spent quite a bit of time at the

National Western Stock Show.

Picture in your mind the state fair in a BIG

building with cows and such in the basement

and vendors and freaks on the main floor-

now imagine the smells all mixing together-

that's the NW Stock Show.

We spent a part of 2 days at it.

There was a bright spot-

we found the Roy Rogers and Dale Evan's

nudie car there.

Not sure why it's called nudie,

but we liked it, mostly because of it's

name, so snapped this picture. 

Then my camera died.

We went to the Denver Museum of Natural History

cool

We went to the Denver Mint

cool

We went to two, TWO, 2 rodeos

(we had the option to go to the 

stock show again- we picked the rodeo)

cool

We went to the Denver Bass Pro Shop

cool

We also went to eat at 

CASA BONITA

which looks awesome

but, wasn't so good.

Especially since this was 

the night before our 

long bus trip home with a ton of

kids (boys) who ate Mexican food.

Over all we had an unexpected mini-vacation

and a wonderful time.

I discovered Sierra has great friends

and teachers. 

I also found out that I still have

the energy to out do the teenagers :)

My Clothing Declaration

A few days ago I was watching a home

makeover program on HGTV

(my favorite go to channel

when there is nothing on TV).

The expert designer asked the lady

homeowner to go to her closet and

get some of her

"favorite" 

clothes so she could 

sneakily view them and get a sense

of the homeowners style. She would

then design that home into a beautiful

custom look that would fit the owner perfectly!

That set my mind to thinking :)

If I were asked to get some of my

"favorite" 

clothes, what would my

home makeover turn into?

Right now- my favorite clothes are those

that are cuddly, warm, cozy,

loose fitting, and comforting.

In fact my favorite article

of clothing right now is the ugliest thing

I own. It's a tan wooly-like shirt

with teddy bears on the front my 

mom got me at the Cracker Barrel.

(I hate teddy bears- lol)

It's not quite as ugly as this one- but close :)

you know the one....

So- would my make over be all DI rejected stuff?

A bear den?

Trailer trash decor?

Maybe the expert decorator would

look at my shirt choice and then look

around my house and say, "I think your good!

No need to change a thing!"

On a more serious note-

It did make me really

look at my clothes and think-

What would I take to show this decorator?

I think I own 2, maybe 3 things I LOVE.

And I have a closet full of clothes.

All my married life, I have had to be frugal,

and penny pinch.

So usually my shopping trips have been

at the clearance racks, DI, or

ward clothing swaps.

I'm not complaining- that's how I've

made my money stretch so I could stay home :)

Rarely have I purchased something I LOVE.

It's usually the right price, size, length,

color, it was available, on sale,

or free.

But then I'll get it home, wear it a few times,

and hate it. So I have a closet of

clothes that belong on the "Island of 

Misfit Toys/clothes".

I am probably not even saving money 

at this rate.

So as of this moment-

I declare (with my fist raised to the sky!)

to never buy or take anything I 

don't LOVE again!

I'm sure my kids are thinking to themselves-

that's what you ALWAYS told us when we went school

shopping- if you don't love it, don't buy it.

I guess I've been living a double standard :)

Think I'll have a clothes purging party!

Anybody need some gently used clothes?

 I am keeping my teddy bear shirt- 

it's too stinking cold to be without it.

My Girls

This is my blog and I can say what is

on my mind :)

On my mind right now is 

how proud I am of my girls.

(my boys too, but today let's 

discuss the girls)

I just read Lisa's blog-

http://thefabfam.blogspot.com/

what a great mom she is.

So tender with her kids.

She has taken the talents she

has been blessed with and magnified

them 100 percent.

Log onto 

http://lisashandmadecards.com/

to see for yourself.

She can make or do anything

she puts her mind to-

she is fearless.

Kira's blog is amazing too.

http://thelifeofabundy.blogspot.com/

She too is a wonderful mother.

She has three little kids,

lives far from home,

and yet makes her home for her

family a bit of heaven.

She has the strongest testimony

of anyone I know-

it's scary how spiritually strong and wise she is.

Sierra doesn't blog, yet,

and she's not a mom yet either,

but she is everything you wish your

 17 year old 

daughter would be.

Did you know she reads 5 pages

of the Book of Mormon every night

with her parents?

She does it because I have a RS challenge

to read the BofMormon before

April 19th and because the Bishop

challenged us to read everyday as a family.

He also challenged us to pray as a family

twice a day.

(we've tried to do this before, off and on as a family,

 but this kid really

cooperates)

So she gets up early to pray and to still

have time to get ready for school.

That is amazing.

She is so obedient.

I am always in awe of my girls

and what they have accomplished with their

lives. How creative they are, what good

cooks and housekeepers they are.

How wonderfully spiritual and temple

attending they are.

They each take their callings

seriously and fulfill them with dedication.

I count my blessings everyday that

Heavenly Father sent me these

sweet spirits who I am so

proud to call my

daughters.

I Think I'm Losing It

      So I just got a phone call from my sister asking what time my mom will fly into Long Beach. I, very nonchalantly NONCHALANTLY,  say "Oh, it's about noonish- let me look it up. blah, blah, blah" I knew, knew, KNEW she flew out on Thursday around noon. Ummmmm, no, let me look at the itinerary again- 

"she'll fly out at 6:10 pm.........

TOMORROW!!!!! 

oh my heck. 

Talk about PANIC!! 

We are not even close to being ready for her to leave. Things take time, time when dealing with her. 

     My stomach hurts. I would have received a phone call tomorrow evening from my sister, "did everything go okay getting mom on her flight?" And I would have been sitting at home thinking, huh? 

    Thank goodness my sister called. Thank goodness mom got to hang out with her siblings tonight, that their get-together wasn't planned for tomorrow night. Thank goodness mom was WITH her sibs when I gave her the news, or I might be typing this with only one arm or without my teeth :) She took it like a man with her sibs there :) 

   I really think I am losing my marbles. I am just so grateful that someone is watching out for me. I really need a break.

I Made It

This is not a very high quality photo-

but it says what I am feeling right about now.

After months of preparation, crafting,

wrapping, cooking, shopping, planning,

cooking, shopping for my mother's gifts to give out,

cleaning, cooking, going to parties,

throwing parties, cleaning before and

after parties, cooking, and trying to 

please everybody-

 I'm pooped.

As one sister said during RS's

"good news moment" today-

there is 364 more days until Christmas :)

It's a bit of a let down,

but also a huge relieffffffffff-

Christmas 2010 is now

a memory.

I really want to be more organized 

next year and way thinner

so I look better in all those 

candid photos being snapped!

Gingerbread houseapalooza

We've had a family tradition of making

gingerbread houses the week before Christmas

at our house for the last, oh I don't know,

too many years now. Each year I think to myself-

I'm not going to stress myself out trying

to make homemade houses this year!

But someone always brings up the

question- when are we making houses?

So, of course, if someone really is

excited about making the dang things,

I'll make them. And I'm always glad I do :)

We had a heck of a group make them this

year! All my kids (but one whom I won't

name, since she moved away to Iowa-

but if you look at her blog, you can

see she's carried on the tradition!

With amazing houses of their own

I might add :)

 As you can see- our gingerbread is 

really good! Good enough to eat

as Will is demonstrating.

He tried a little bit of everything

in front of him!

Our official food tester :)

 When we weren't looking- Mags

grabbed the spatula out of the frosting

bowl and started licking it!

The frostings pretty decent too :)

(Mallory thought it smelled bad while it

was mixing. She asked me if it smelled 

bad because it wasn't finished cooking yet. 

When I let her taste it, she thought

it smelled okay then :)

 Some of our finished products-

Lisa and kids-

Mal did almost all the decorating by

herself! I hope you can see the 

cheddar bunnies in the windows :)

We raided the pantry to get the 

decorating goodies.

As soon as the picture was taken-

Mal ate all the candies off one side

of the house! (I love being a grandma!!

eat all the candy you want!

It's Christmas :)

 Here is Sierra's house. 

Each year she picks a different 

holiday theme to decorate her house.

A few years ago she did a white trash

trailer house, last year was a farm.

This year she picked to do a jail house.

What says Christmas more than

bars on the window?

 In the front is the "inmate" with

a ball and chain attached to his leg.

The back is protected by the guards

with pretzel guns.

Can't wait to see what next years theme is.

 Brad, Ash and Mags did the most colorful

house! See their black snowman on the side?

He has a big red nose :)

Isn't is amazing that Brad can't look

like a normal boy?

 Look how cute Tommy and Sophie's house is.

And how very symetrical it is too :)

Tommy did the chimney and smoke that's coming

out. Then he just bugged the heck out of Sophie

the rest of the time. See her cute pink snowman

with dreadlocks? You should have seen what

Tommy tried to put on the snowman's head!

We'll hope this marriage lasts :)

 Here's Mags with his tongue out again!

When they were leaving and he was giving

Grammy a kiss goodbye- this is what he 

looked like too, only aimed at Grammy's face.

Maybe a little too much sugar? hehehehe

 Here is Eddie throughout the whole house

making party. Doesn't he look enthused? 

We had a blast and I'm glad we once again

made houses. But I don't know if I'll

do it again next year!! ;)

 Just a bonus story-

Because of a crazy fluke and an

ancestor who looked to his families future-

Eddie, all his siblings and their spouses 

have burial plots

by each other. 10 spots. 

Eddie is demonstrating

below where his plot is. a little creep you say?

I agree! Plus knowing and seeing where 

I will someday

be "laid to rest" is MORE than a bit creepy!

But he does look cute, eh?

 And this picture is for Kira-

look how cute Mallory is on Santa's lap :)

Merry Christmas 

all my dear friends

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Just a few Ho, Ho, Ho's

The time to blog is very slim-

but I thought I'd share some

Holiday cheer :)