Our Latest Comings and Goings

Hummingbirds

2011-08-14T13:55:00.000-07:00

We have had another good year for hummingbirds. Seems that every time there's a fire, we get hummingbird refugees. This year is no exception. I have tried to capture what our typical day has been like for the past few weeks. I'm a novice at video. Sorry for the jerky movements. Helps if you have good equipment too, which I don't have. As you can see, we have 2 hummingbird feeders. One holds 32oz, the other one 10oz. We've been filling the smaller one about once a day. And the big one about every other day. Although in the last 24 hours we have filled the smaller one twice. For a little background about some of the hummingbirds, there is one or maybe more than one who seems to guard the bigger feeder. He'll sit on a strand of the christmas lights on either side of it. It appears that it doesn't allow as many hummingbirds to feed from it, which would be why we fill the little one so often. We have 2 feeders on the front porch too but don't get near the activity as these 2 back ones. This morning before we left for church, Mike filled the little hummingbird feeder. When he was putting the feeder up, it didn't seem that the birds had any fear of him. They just kept coming anyway. So while one was feeding, Mike slowly raised his hand up to try and touch one. And he did!! He "pet" it twice on it's underside before it flew away. Amazing!! Be sure to turn your volume up all the way to hear yelling at each other and all the noise they make. We just love it!

Be On Your Guard!

2011-01-03T08:23:00.000-08:00

I, Allie, am now of dating (and driving) age. So, stay off the roads and lock up your boys, or you might wake up with a banged-up tailgate or a missing son (or both!).

Why?

2010-08-13T15:26:00.001-07:00

Why do I even have a blog? I have no idea because I rarely update. I figure no news is good news these days. Catch my drift?!? We are job hunting. That's about the only new thing. We are anxiously waiting to see where Mike can get employment and if we have to move.

The End.

The Phantom of the Opera

2009-11-09T20:19:00.000-08:00

What an awesome musical!! All of us went to the ASU Gammage Theater to see this production. Anna's critique..."I liked the movie better." WHATEVER! Live is always better. I guess you could say that this year's entertainment theme has been plays. We saw Snowflake High School do Oklahoma, which was so good. They have so much talent there! Now, we anticipate going to see You're a Good Man Charlie Brown this weekend at the Snowflake/Taylor Northern Pioneer College campus. I hope it's good!

Family Pictures

2009-10-15T21:57:00.000-07:00

The Wreck

2009-10-14T11:58:00.000-07:00

Introducing......Our new car! We are absolutely loving it so far. We needed new tires on the Pilot, it had a few scratches and a dome lightbulb was out. I guess we figure this was the only way we'd get stuff replaced or fixed. I'm actually happy to be rid of my leather seats. They are freezing during the cold months...which is 9 months out of the year, or so it seems.

What an adventure! And as I like to quote from The Little House on the Prairie books, "All's well that ends well". I feel so incredibly blessed. My first thoughts were, "We are so lucky!" But I know that luck had nothing to do with it. Yes, we had a safe car. Yes, we all had our seat belts on, sleeping at 4am. I know our Heavenly Father was watching over us. How else could we all have survived a rollover???

Looking at this picture just now makes me see that there were more windows busted out than I thought. WOW!

The internal structure held up beautifully! (See the orange cheetos? They were all over the car)

Anna got a nice goose egg and abrasion...probably from luggage hitting her.

Her cuts from climbing out of her broken window and climbing back in through the back

busted-out window.

Mike's air bag burn. It's healing nicely thanks to the wonderful salve they gave us for Anna at UVRMC (our favorite hospital in the whole wide world!)

Fortunately, it didn't "mess" our plans up too much. We did everything we went to Utah to do. We attended our Book of Mormon Evidence Conference in Midway, UT and we went to the Sunday morning session of General Conference.

Book of Mormon Evidence Conference

2009-10-13T12:53:00.000-07:00

Midway was beautiful conference weekend. We attended a Book of Mormon Evidence Conference. We had heard quite a bit of the material before but it's always a good refresher. There is so much compelling evidence that the Book of Mormon took place in The United States. If you are interested in learning more go to http://www.bookofmormonevidence.org/. We had a sweet room, alot bigger and fancier than expected. And we paid hardly anything for it.

Look closely at the bottom....Raymond, Jen & Mike

Joseph Smith's sword, shown for the first time ever.
We stayed at the Zermatt Resort in Midway, UT
A huge, posh four poster bed. Mike doing what Mike does best?!?

The yummy seafood buffet

Going Green

2009-09-30T13:27:00.000-07:00

I think we are really helping global warming?? I'm just SO concerned about it. If you can't hear, it's tongue and cheek. I do, however, have a problem contributing to so much landfill waste. So in the interest of the environment and $$, I have chosen to recycle...ALOT. Well, Mike helps out quite a bit. I'll give credit where credit is due. Since he travels to "the valley" every week, we save all our plastic, metal, etc. and send them down with him to put in the city of Gilbert recycling bin my parents have. We don't really have that kind of recycling in our town. Good think it's clean garbage. We do have paper recycle. Our sanitary district needs it to compost our waste. Yea, pretty gross. I know first hand, having gone on a field trip there. Smelly too. There are a couple of places we can drop it off and it's usually always on our way to and fro. You probably ask, what's the $$ interest? Well, I'm glad you asked. We cancelled our garbage service, saving us $20 a month. We recycle so much that we only have one garbage bag full a week or 3 walmart bags. I recycle there too. I use my Walmart-type bags as my garbage bags. Although Walmart and Safeway, both, have recycling for extras of those too. I take my extras there. Anyway, our good friend Raymond started recycling paper too and now we share his garbage. Or we use our neighbors across the street who is more often then not, staying in their home in "the valley". They don't mind that we use it and we are grateful. You may ask, how does the garbage company feel about this? Answer: They don't mind at all. I called and discussed my options with them. They do have other plans, like every other week garbage pick up. When I asked them about sharing a can, they pretty much said, Go for it. Work it out with your neighbor and it's good with us. So, the moral, where there's a will to save 20 bucks, there's a way.

Tidy and Not So Tidy

2009-09-29T22:12:00.000-07:00

I'm sure this scene looks very familiar to many of you. Anna and Amelia share a room. Poor Anna. This is what their beds look like on a daily basis. Anna's is the bottom bunk and Amelia's is the top. I can so relate. My sister, Janette, and I shared a room. You could practically see a line drawn down the middle of the room. Her side was so cluttered and mine was so neat and tidy. I feel your pain Anna. Unfortunately, she has inherited this compulsive perfectionism from both her parents. I will find her up at night getting things just so. When I tell her it can wait until tomorrow she says, it will drive me crazy. I have to do it now. Again, poor Anna!

28 Bottles of Peaches on the Wall

2009-09-01T12:32:00.000-07:00

Yup, I canned peaches. Count 'em. There's 28. Since I have limited storage space, I decided to put them above my cupboards in my kitchen. That way I can see how beautiful they are all the time...and so can everyone else. Again, I'm so vain. Since I put the peaches up there, I decided to put everything else. I pickled some beets, dilly beans and made 3 kinds of jam. Strawberry, Apricot Pineapple and Cantelope Peach. I think my "sugar" food storage is leaps above the stuff that will really fill you up, ie, legumes, wheat, etc. But I just can't resist jam. When in crisis, I'll just have to say to my family, Gather 'Round the Sweet Stuff.

Before

After

I'm So Vain

2009-09-01T09:49:00.000-07:00

I actually did it. I can't believe it. I had toyed with the idea of removing the mole on my chin and finally did it yesterday. I mentioned to Mike that I'd like it off along with another mole. So we went to the office to take care of some other business and ended up taking both off. Mike has a soft tissue laser which makes it easy to remove moles, skin tags, etc. I was really anxious about the one on my chin. I don't know why. Maybe because it's been a part of me for so long. Amelia even said, DON'T DO IT! When all my girls were babies, they noticed it and played with it while nursing. Sometimes at the office we have mole removing parties. Debbie said that last week when business was slow, she called her husband and sister to come in and have some things removed. So if any of you who want anything done, come pay us a visit.

Summer Campfire Fun

2009-08-28T10:52:00.000-07:00

I love where I live. We live where people come to camp. Hence, we have made a fire ring in our "side" yard. Since a lot of the Utah family hasn't been here, I'll give a brief description. We live on 1/3 of an acre, not a square 1/3. It is fairly long and narrow. Our back yard isn't very deep. We originally fenced it so the kids could play in the back and I have piece of mind knowing they weren't wandering off. Now it's to keep the dogs in. We do have a bit of "yard" to the side of our house which isn't fenced where we have our wood pile and a second driveway should we need it. Since we don't use the driveway much anymore because it's pretty washed out from monsoon rains, Amelia and I made a fire ring. I decided I wanted to do this because a lot of our friends have one. But their homes are more off the beaten path. Ours is very visible and I've been afraid that if we attempted this, we'd for sure have a visit from the fire station. Since one of the captains is in our ward, I asked him what the rule is. He said that we are allowed one warming/cooking fire without a permit. AH-HA! I can legally do it, even if someone calls the fire dept. So for Friday night, I made plans to roast hotdogs, made 3 bean salad, corn on the cob and make s'mores. The girls got to invite one friend each. Unfortunately, Mike was traveling home from his job in Mesa. I needed a friend so I invited Raymond, who would have been invited anyway. I was really anxious for this bonfire, and a bonfire it was. It also wasn't very cold. It was so hot that we had to sit several feet from the fire until the sun went down. All in all, with good food and friends, it was a blast. We can't wait to do it again.

Singing Girls' Camp songs

You Go Girl!

2009-08-15T11:04:00.000-07:00

Amelia participated in a Triathalong on August 15th. She hadn't trained much except for doing track in the Spring, swim team over the summer and leisure bike rides through the neighborhood. I am just so proud of her for just wanting to AND finishing it. She swam 175 yds, biked 4 miles and ran 1 mile, in that order. Allie decided that she'd run with her, since we didn't know we could bike or run along side her before we arrived. Even after all the events Amelia had done, Allie still couldn't keep up with her. (Running just isn't her thing.) Way to go Mia!

Don't know this first girl, Amelia, her good friend Nicole & Allie

Utah....There We Came

2009-08-06T11:11:00.000-07:00

One thing led to another, which led to another, which resulted in a 3 week summer vacation to Utah. I can't think of a better way to spend summer break than with family. We had a great time. It was nice to not be rushed and to cram so many things in. We started our trip with a family reunion with Jen's family and ended it with a family reunion with Mike's family at Bear Lake. Since I'm not Elisha, I didn't get many pictures. And when I did try to take some pictures, some how I got sand in the zoom of my cheap, point and shoot camera that it wouldn't take pictures and still won't. So I rely on my cell phone for nice, grainy pictures. We had many fun things we did with family in between the reunions...4th of July parade with Shan and Matt's family, fireworks with Matt and Elisha (thanks for the s'mores!), a missionary farewell with yummy roast beast, sending a missionary to the MTC and many other things I'm sure I'm forgetting. I want to share some of the things we did on our own that you might not be aware of. Mike and I attended the temple 2 times in one weekend, the Logan and Bountiful Temples. Allie got to do baptisms at Logan as well. Allie and I also did temple work at the Salt Lake Temple. Allie spent the night with Stefanie to do baptisms early the next morning before Stef had to go to work. I woke up at 4AM to attend the 6am session, so I could be done at the same time Stef and Allie were, and hopefully see General Authorities walk down the hall to a meeting, which they never had. But that's okay! We enjoyed the temple in all its glory. So that made it 3 times for Jen and 2 times for Allie. We were on a roll. We also went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. Let me pause for a moment. Being there in Utah and making a point of attending different temples and pointing the different temples out to the girls really made a difference in our trip. I realize since we've been home what a spiritual lift I had gotten during that short 3 weeks. On our trip home we passed 9 temples. WOW! I just think that's incredible. I wanted the 2 younger girls to feel the spirit of the temple and to have a picture in their mind of what temples look like. So when Mike and I go to the temple, they might be able to visitualize it and remember how they felt when they were there. What a neat experience to share with them.

Just love those doorknobs! The Garden of Eden Trees

Oquirre Mountain Temple

Hiking to Mt. Timpanogos Cave is an adventure we are all glad we took on. It was only 1 1/2 miles but it was straight up and, of course, straight down. It was tougher than I expected but well worth it. Once we left Timp, we drove to Provo via the back way through the canyon. It was so beautiful, but very windy and made Amelia car sick. We drove by Bridal Veil Falls, the Provo Temple, the MTC and, of course, we had to visit the BYU Creamery. Not before we ate at Olive Garden, on the corner of University and 2200 N. (I think that's the address). That building holds significance, in that, it used to be the Tepanyaki, where the shrimp bounced off Mike's forehead, during a celebration following his brain surgery. BYU Creamery
Fry Sauce....only in Utah
We had a quick tour of the Church History Museum, Temple Square and the Conference Center. (Thanks for coming with us Emma. Hope you had fun.) Now for a funny story. We had walked around the Museum and Temple Square long enough that we needed to feed the meter before we went to the Conference Center. When we got to the car, Amelia jumped in. She was waiting to drive there. Well, little did she know that we were parked right across the street from it. When I told her that she said, that's not THE Conference Center. Allie and I kept assuring her it was and she still didn't believe us even when she saw this sign. When we walked in, a sister greeted us and said "Welcome to The Conference Center." Amelia still didn't believe her. The only thing that convinced her was when we walked in to the huge room where everyone sits. THEN she believed it. What a silly girl!

The view from the Conference Center Roof

Church History Museum - They asked, "He's that big??"

In the Tabernacle

Cherry Pickin' Fun (Thanks Katrina!)

Total Picked: 220lbs Total Earned: $70 Total Fun: Way Too Much

Puppies getting lost in Grandpa's garden (I thought there was going to be another heart attack) How Sweet It Is
Our trip was full of so many wonderful things, I'm sure I've missed some of them. Some of these pictures describe what we did, even if it wasn't bogged about. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for letting us intrude for so long!

Our Family Night Activity......

2009-08-04T10:57:00.000-07:00

We have started a new FHE system. We have our lesson on Sunday night and then the activity on Monday. So last night it was my (Allie's) turn to do the activity. I had kept telling the girls "Oh, you guys are going to LOVE my activity!" However, I had just told the girls what the "activity" was going to be when the phone rang. We usually don't answer the phone on Family Night, but Dad said it was bishop so he answered it. We all listened, not very intently at first. Then Dad came back to the living room and told us that we needed to get our school backpacks and pack anything we held dear in it. It had to fit in the backpack and we couldn't have anything in our hands. He said we had to leave in ten minutes so we needed to hurry. Unknown to the two little girls, we had already planned this beforehand and that this was the activity. The girls did a lot better than we thought they would. I thought they might have complained or just plain freaked out, but they did really well. We got in the car and drove off and that's when I told them. They were a little bit mad at first, but after a while they decided that it was a good activity.

Sadie......Again.

2009-08-04T10:41:00.000-07:00

As you all know, Sadie welped her first (and last) litter towards the end of May. She had hardly any complications except for the fact that we think she retained a placenta......not good. If a placenta is retained it can cause infections. She is still bleeding and we think it is because of a retained placenta. So today we took her in to be spayed....and it's a full hysterectomy so it would take care of the whole placenta deal. The upside is that she will stop bleeding and never have another heat again which will make both our lives and hers so much better. The downside is that she will never be able to have another litter :( She wasn't aloud to eat anything after 6pm last night so this morning she was freaking out and wouldn't calm down. We all felt so bad for her! But we know it will make her life better in the long run. P.S. This post was written by Allie.

It's a Sad, Sad, Sad, Sad Day

2009-06-03T14:37:00.000-07:00

This reads: Here lies Little Girl.

Born 5-21-09

Passed 6-2-09 8:55am

We loved her :(

"Little Girl" is on the left. "Big Girl" is on the right. HUGE size difference.
It definitely was a sad morning at our home, yesterday. The runt of our litter, "Little Girl" passed away at 8:55am. She was loved by all who knew her. Especially Anna. She had a rough time, as you can see. She cried off and on all day. She and Amelia set up a "viewing". Besides flowers in the shoe box, they had a guest sign-in sheet. Kind of morbid, I know. But I guess it goes to show that they have been to a few funerals in their short little lives. We are in mourning. I just think Sadie had way too many babies to thrive for as little as as she is. The other morbid part is, that for a split second I thought, Darn..there goes at least 600 bucks!
Since Allie is attending EFY this week, she didn't find out until she got home last night. This is the note Anna made for her out of play dough. It's so sad! It's a great life lesson but as a mother, it is hard to see your children so sad. In case you are wondering how EFY, here's the scoop. EFY has been brought to our area. There are 4 stakes involved. It's close enough for us to drive her daily. It's only to the Show Low High School, about 10-15 minutes away. We have neighboring stakes that are participating and it is not convenient for them to come every day. We volunteered to house 3 girls. Needless to say, we have a houseful of teenage girls this week. It's all good!

P.S. As I was finishing this blog post, "Little Boy" passed away. We chose to bury him with his sister. May they rest in peace. (Shoot...there goes another 500 bucks, at least!)

The Puppies Are Here

2009-05-26T11:44:00.000-07:00

Before

After

These are the new arrivals! They came Thursday, May 21st, starting at 7:50pm, delivering the last puppy at 10:41pm. She had 5, but we only have 4 living. That 5th one was still born. We have 2 boys and 2 girls. We've named them, Big Girl, Big Boy, Little Girl and Little Boy. (I don't want any of us to get too attached to these little things since they will be sold!) Sadie was a champ! She never freaked out, panted, whined or anything. She just popped those puppies out like it was nothing. They are so tiny. If you can believe, they have really grown in the last few days. They are still like little mice. The girls and the whole neighborhood are so excited. We have visitors on a daily basis. Sadie is doing so well. She could be awarded "Mother of the Year". She is so attentive. I couldn't be happier. I invisioned needing to hand feed these little critters every 2 hours. Thank goodness I don't need to. Whew!

Tails....or no tails....that was the question.

For the faint of heart, don't read on. As customary with Yorkies, their tales are usually docked, ie, cut off. It needs to be done within the first day or two of birth or it's too late. So, Mike being the courageous guy he is, read up on it through the internet, got the cutting board and butcher knife out and did the dirty deed. Of course, they were a bit wiggly and needed a second hand to hold the tails. Oh, it was horrible. Anna and Amelia were crying. I was holding the tail with my eyes closed and ears plugged with a shoulder and my other hand. Unfortunately, I could still feel when it was cut through the tail. Did I say it was horrible?

With tails

Without Tails
I should have layed a ruler by these too. They're not even an inch!

CONGRATULATiONS, OUR ALLiE GiRL !!!

2009-05-15T11:27:00.000-07:00

(I'm starting to feel like Michael Phelps now.)

Ok. So, every year there's an awards assembly. I get the usual letter from the school notifying us that Allie's receiving an award and that parents should attend. Allie usually receives an award or two. I was able to go this morning with our adopted grandpa, Raymond Johnson. (Bummer that Mike was working in Mesa today and had to miss it.) Allie started receiving award after award after award. Her friends were starting to joke saying, "You should receive an award for getting the most awards!" To make a short story long, the assembly was dragging on and on with all the sports awards, etc., that I was ready to leave. I even asked Allie if it was ok that I left. She consented. But I was with Raymond and he had driven. I asked him if he wanted to go but he didn't really answer. Maybe he didn't hear me or maybe he was just ignoring me. I'm not sure which, but we ended up staying until the bitter end. Although the end wasn't bitter. It was very sweet. The last award presented was by Principal Webb for the Student of the Year. And it was awarded to.....OUR ALLiE GiRL!!! We were both sooooo surprised. I cried, making Allie cry (and she cried for almost the rest of the morning because she was so overwhelmed). She has worked so hard at her school work and in all she does. Rarely is she recognized publically. I was so thrilled (and proud) for her. Her name will live in infamy, being engraved on a plaque that hangs in the school.

WAY TO GO, ALLiE!!!

I'm gonna be a Grandma

2009-05-14T13:04:00.000-07:00

I'm too young to have grandkids, or granddogs, in this case. Sadie is getting so big. A dogs gestation period is 59-63 days. Tuesday, May 19th, is day 59. We should be seeing puppies pretty soon! Sadie seems so oblivious to whats going on. She has gotten slower, not so excitable and sleeps all the time. (Lucky dog, no pun intended.) Sadie doesn't look so cute since I've given her a substantial haircut. I figured it would be more hygienic?? The difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut is a few days....for humans. For this Yorkie, it's a few weeks. These puppies are going to be so cute!!

2009-05-06T09:22:00.000-07:00

We are expecting!!!

Puppies that is. During one of our windy Sundays in March, the gate got blown open and let both our dogs out. The day before, bikes got put inside the gate and not latched well enough. Unfortunately/fortunately, Sadie (the Yorkie) was in heat. She made her way into the neighbors house through their doggie door. She was inside and "connected" with their dog (thank goodness theirs is a Yorkie, too) when they got home from church. What a nice National Geographic scene for their family! We should have puppies in a couple weeks or so. The girls are thrilled. I'm not sure I feel the same. I am excited for the cuteness, but not the work. And then I'm worried about how Sadie will do. She's only 7 lbs. It's her first time. Ours too. Overall, we're excited and the anticipation is killing some of us! Any guesses as to how many she'll have??? Or how we're going to get rid of them? Any takers?

2009-05-05T09:53:00.000-07:00

HAPPY CINCO de MAYO!!!

It's a big thing in Arizona. Not necessarily our area, but in parts of Arizona they have Cinco de Mayo festivals. One of which Allie had to miss during the Spanish Club Field trip to make it home for her piano recital. If it were my choice, I would have skipped the recital and stayed to have fun.

My New Business

2009-03-18T16:16:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, I've started my own business with NuSkin Enterprises of Provo, UT. I live in a small town and have done a bit of leg work. It is starting to pay off and I'm really excited for this opportunity. It is my dream to make it to the top. These are some of the products.......

This is the primo of the primo in the anti-aging world. NuSkin has patents on these and is on the cutting edge of this technology, all backed up by science. It definitely is....

THE DIFFERENCE DEMONSTRATED!!

My Best

2008-12-28T19:39:00.000-08:00

These pictures are very old but they are the latest I have of my girls. In order, Anna is at the top. Amelia is, literally, the middle child. And then there's Allie

I believe they were taken in the fall of 2008. Since, Allie has donated her hair to locks of love. I will have to update hers soon. I'm not Elisha, so this is the best I can do with the camera and my UN-know how.

2008-11-17T12:58:00.000-08:00

I know it has been a while since Elisha posted this on her blog. I had copied and pasted it and saved it as a draft. I'm sorry I haven't posted before now. This is a list, highlighting the items you have done, which demonstrates what a blessed life you have led if you have done any of these things. I feel very fortunate to have done many of these. And there are others not on the list. I thought I'd share mine.....
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars - when I was a young girl, visiting my cousins in UT
3. Played in a band ....at school - I played clarinet
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland /world - only 3 times. We want to go again!!
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis - and it bit me!
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning - from left over KFC in college
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables - only tomatoes
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice - does the Venetician in Vegas count?!? Then no.
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt - probably. But I've seen one erupt in Iceland.
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa-Morrocco
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching - on my honeymoon
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving - never in a million!
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp - driven by one
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar - not caviar but escargot....YUCK!
72. Pieced a quilt - a jeans quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - I count catching and steaming crawdads
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life - I had to do the Heimlich on Allie when she was 2 or 3
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous - President Monson counts!
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake - I'm pretty sure I have.
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Whistle While You Work...

2008-09-22T09:39:00.000-07:00

I am now gainfully employed. My neighbor and friend owns a silk screening business. She has been getting so many orders, with no advertising. She finally broke down and decided to hire someone to help. And that someone is me. It's a fairly posh job. Besides the fact that I'm on my feet most of the day, I get to go in after my kids go to school and come home when they get home. You can't ask for better than that. I love my job and my boss! Thanks Leslie!

Thundercake

2008-09-07T19:30:00.000-07:00

Thundercake by Patricia Polacco is how we were introduced to thundercake. I have read this book to the girls over the years. But not until today, did we make the cake, the recipe being in the back of the book. There is an unexpected, weird, secret ingredient. I guess you'll have to read the book to find out what it is. The cake was/still is delicious. Especially delicious paired with MarGene's fudge frosting.

I didn't want monsoon season to pass again before we missed opportunity to make thundercake again. We have had a terrific season with lots of rain. Sometimes the storms bring really loud thunder, hard and fast rain and hail. I rather enjoy it. I love the smell of rain. The book, however, is about a little girl who is afraid of thunder. Her Babushka helps her overcome her fear by gathering all the ingredients for the cake and then baking the cake, getting it into the oven just in time. What a fun story.

Summer's Abundance

2008-09-03T20:34:00.000-07:00

Mike helped me make 6 batches of peach jam! I went a little peach crazy. I got so many peaches then realized I had so little time to take care of them. Since I had 6 boxes of pectin, we made jam. We froze the rest. I think it will equal to about 8 gallon bags of frozen peaches. I guess we'll be eating alot of peach pie and cobbler this winter!
I also put up 4-5 gallon sized freezer bags of roasted New Mexico chilis. I wish I could get a good picture of these. I think I like the smell of fresh roasted chilis almost more than I like to eat them. They smelled so good. Our little white accord smelled like roasted chilis for days. (Mike wasn't too happy about that.) I have already made delicious chili rellenos with them. Oh, how I love summer's abundance!!

Memorial Day Weekend

2008-08-31T21:09:00.000-07:00

Oh how we look forward to Memorial Day weekend, just as we do Labor Day weekend. Our friends come up from "the valley" to go camping and we get to spend all weekend with them. Not much happened except for enjoying each others company and the rain. Tyler didn't fail to provide entertainment with his untraditional pets, Biscuit (the brown goat) and Gravy (the black goat). I am so glad my dad, mom and brother, Jeff were able to join us. I can't believe Jeff went on a zip line again. When he was a little boy, he fell off of one, breaking both his arms and cracking his skull. He even rode it in the dark. It was alot more exciting than riding it in the day. The darkness just added a new dimension to it. As usual, I didn't take enough pictures.

Thanks, again, to the Rowley family for allowing us to tag along!

Our New House

2008-08-29T20:47:00.000-07:00

Mike has taken on the adventure of building a new house. A new dog house that is. Once it was finished and put in the back yard, I was sure he needed to get a building permit before he started. It is so big and Chloe loves it. It is insulated and equipped with a warming light to keep our little cutie warm through the winter. What was so amazing about the whole construction was how we acquired the materials. Mike was able to use alot of wood he already had. Then what he did need to buy, he got from the scrap pile at Home Depot, only costing 51 cents a piece. Didn't Mike do a great job?!!!

Summer Critters

2008-08-27T20:21:00.000-07:00

Summer and monsoons bring us many opportunities to find cute little critters for the girls to enjoy. One night I went outside just after a big rain and found this on our back porch.....Boy, did I scream. It wasn't huge, but I've never seen a salamander on my porch or in my yard before. It really surprised me. While Anna and Amelia searched for grasshoppers to feed it, they found these two little cuties......
We call them horny toads. They really are horned toad lizards. These two are babies. We put them in the "bug catcher". They just sat there looking out like this, almost as if they were watching a movie. They didn't move or try to get out. They were so cute to watch. The girls really enjoy finding these little critters. I know Amelia can't wait until fall so we can catch tarantulas again.

Creative Aprons

2008-08-09T19:35:00.001-07:00

Aren't these two aprons cute?? I made them out of little dresses that were just a little too small for Anna but I couldn't bare to get rid of them. Within seconds of her trying them on, I got the brilliant idea of making them into aprons. That way, I could still see them. All you do is cut or seam rip up the back. Surge or zigzag stitch along the edge, if needed. Then sew a ribbon flush with the top back edge. Vua, la. There you have a cute, simple apron.

Misc. Family Pictures

2008-08-09T15:14:00.000-07:00

This is a hodge podge of different family pictures. I just wanted them for the record, since this is my form of scrapbooking.

Watching a movie with our adopted Grandpa, Raymond

Our cat Lady

Our little Yorkie, Sadie, sleeping on Anna's laundry. 12/07 Chloe, our Golden Retriever Sadie and Lady in the same place at the same time, amazing! 1/08

Amelia's school Christmas party outfit - she's Cindy Lou Who. 12/07

Mike snoozing. 6/07

12/07

Anna wearing her reverse headgear. 6/07

Anna's eczema is really bad, poor thing!

Anna treated for molluscum. She's even smiling. Again, poor thing! 2005 The day Allie and Anna got braces. 4/13/07Anna, Our little princess. 9/07
A cool bird's nest in my parent's yard. 3/08 Field trip to the Williams Fish Hatchery. 4/07
The first time my hair turned purple, on accident. 10/07The second time my hair was purple, but this time on purpose, because I liked it. 4/08

Saying Bye. Uncle Brian is going to Abu Dhabi. 1/08

Free At Last....

2008-08-07T21:52:00.000-07:00

Free at last, free at last!! School started yesterday. It is good but sad. I'm glad to have time to update my blog. I am sad because I miss my girls. And some of their adjustments to new schools, teachers and friends is hard. All three of my girls are having to navigate new buildings. Amelia and Allie actually are in a brand new facility. It is very nice. Anna moved into an already existing building but it is still new to her. She also no longer rides the bus with Amelia. She rides alone. The change seems hardest on her.

First Day of 3rd Grade

Anna's Cute New School Shoes

First Day of 8th & 5th Grades

The Girls' New BookBags

They are pretty darn cute, if I say so myself! Oh, I just did!

Another Trip to Gilbert, AZ

2008-07-29T16:12:00.000-07:00

Since Mike and I went on the River Rafting Trip with Allie and our Young Women, Amelia and Anna needed someone to tend them. Thank you Mom, Dad, Cheryl and Janette for all taking care of my kids. Looks like they had a great time until I could get "down there" to pick them up and spend a few days, too.

I was able to arrive just in time to attend Maren's baptism. It was nice to have Steve and Janette there.

Janette's daughter, Bella, and I hit it off. Of course, I loved every minute of it! Having a little puppy to help her warm up to me doesn't hurt either.

Mike helping Bella get ready for bed by singing Mairzy Doats.

Can you see why I married him? Bye everybody!

Rafting the San Juan River in Utah

2008-07-25T15:03:00.000-07:00

Rafting the San Juan River was a blast with our Young Women. It was a privilege for Mike and I to chaperone. We carried EVERYTHING on two supply rafts, all our camping equipment – tents, air mattresses, pillows, the pee pee tee pee (which doubled as a shower tent – a shower never felt so good!), food, camp stoves. You know, all the important stuff! We kayaked, played in the water which made me feel like I was in the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie. The water was so silty and brown. I was really leery about going in. But once the day heated up, it was a refreshing dip in the “watered down chocolate”. We had fun splashing and capsizing each other, camping and seeing Indian ruins. It was pretty awesome. Unfortunately, all the pictures from the river got lost. I have a few before we got started. Maybe you can see how dirty the water was.

Quaint Christopher Creek

2008-07-19T14:39:00.000-07:00

Christopher Creek is a quaint little town here in Arizona. It is about halfway between here and Phoenix. We were invited by our Kerr Cousins to go with them to their cabin for a few days. It was a fun girls retreat! We stayed up late, ate great food, went to “the candy store”, “the car wash” (an area where creek water runs over the road), crawdaded (we didn’t catch anything), did crafts, watched movies….just had a great time. It was paradise and it was hard to leave. Thanks, Christine, for inviting us. Let’s do it again sometime!

Making Borax Crystals

The Crystals

There's a cool story behind these boots but I can't remember it. They are Christine's dad's. They are a decoration in their cabin, now.

Summer Vacation to Utah

2008-07-04T15:04:00.000-07:00

One of our three “valley” trips in the month of June was tacked onto the beginning of our trip to Utah. Mike had a 3 day CE course in Scottsdale. We opted to stay at a hotel, instead of staying with my parents, since it was right down the street from The Center. We loved swimming and just hanging out. Besides swimming a lot, we slept, ate and watched a lot of The Price Is Right and SpongeBob (it was the only thing on).

Anna, Allie & Amelia watching Spongebob

We arrived in Utah the very same Saturday that Anna got baptized. It was a treat to have all the Snow Family there as well as some from the Petersen side.

Front -Maren (cousin), Amelia, Samuel (cousin), Anna

Middle - Allie, Cheryl (sister), Jen

Back - Mike, Dad, Jeff (brother), Mom

The only pictures we got of our Snow Family was from the Sunday family dinner, the day after the baptism. Jeff was able to join us. As you can see, the kids had a great time playing "Kill the Candy Bar". One of my favorite parts of Snow Family dinners is sitting out on the deck and talking.

Allie stuffing her face with chocolate

Mike's mom and dad, and of course, Mike himself

Jen & Jeff One day was devoted to the cutest and funnest tea party ever. Yes, I said funnest! I felt like a little girl again. We all wore our cute little hats, played games, painted nails and ate great food! It was a blast! See for yourself. The night before the Tea Party, the girls had a special sleep over with Uncle Jeff. They didn't get to bed until 2am. Crazy kids! You included, Jeff. You're a great uncle, Fred!

MarGene, Mike's Mom

Anna (in the pink hat with the white bow)

Allie, wishing she could have a cookie before lunch.

Allie, Amelia and Emma (cousin)

This is what Mike and his dad did during the Tea Party....watch TV and sleep.
Another day was devoted to boating at Pineview Reservoir with the girls’ favorite, boat owning Uncle. The girls swore Uncle Mark was trying to kill them by pulling them behind the boat on a tube through the boat’s wake, bouncing them every where, including into the water. A great time was had by all. I’d do it again! Allie and Amelia got the surprise of their lives when they got to go to Lagoon with Uncle Matt and Aunt Elisha and cousins Ryan and Kyler. What a pleasant surprise! They got to hang with the cutest cousins for half of the day and the other half they hung out with another cousin, Chase, unchaperoned. How grown they felt! Thanks Matt and Elisha.

Temple baptisms were a highlight even though I only accompanied Allie to the Bountiful temple. It was nice to be there in the quiet, peaceful, air conditioned atmosphere. I was able to get caught up on my Sunday School lesson reading.

Since my in-laws have their house up for sale, I didn't know if we'd be back to this house the next time we visited. I took the opportunity to take a few pictures. This is probably my favorite wall of their three story house. There are alot of family pictures, both old and young, color and black and white. It's pretty impressive.

Mike would love to inherit this painting....hint, hint

Girlfriend Weekend

2008-06-23T14:31:00.000-07:00

I got to go on a Girls’ Retreat with some girlfriends I haven’t gotten together with in over 16 years. We used to hang out in Maryland. Boy, was it amazing. Stephanie (the blonde that isn’t me) and I have known each other since we were 2 years old. Lisa (the one with dark hair) lived in our stake. We became acquainted during our teenage years. Then we became closer once we hit college age. Lisa now lives in Kentucky. Lisa and I planned to meet up in “the valley” to surprise Stephanie. Stephanie was performing as the lead in the Hale Theater, Gilbert, AZ, as Ruth in “Dear Ruth”. Lisa and I showed up at her play one, Thursday night. Boy did we surprise her! She couldn’t believe we were there in flesh and blood. It was great! The play was great too and Stephanie was awesome! WOW! We hung out for 4 days together, giddy as school girls. What a cherished memory!

Krazy Kid Quote!

2008-06-13T21:55:00.000-07:00

Today, I told Amelia she needed to go with us to the pool and wait for me and Mike while we do water aerobics, as kids aren't allowed. She said, "You didn't give me enough notice." Notice for WHAT??? To rearrange her schedule? We got a good laugh.

Summer Swim Team

2008-06-02T14:25:00.000-07:00

Allie and Amelia participated in the Show Low Sharks swim team again this summer. Anna usually does, but she was a little burnt out and opted out. She said going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth is really boring. She did manage to sneak into the pool for a dip, a few times. The girls competed in two swim meets, doing very well for themselves. Not only did they place in the top 3 sometimes, but they beat their own best times, several times. Way to go!

Allie is employed!

2008-05-31T14:11:00.001-07:00

Listen, one and all!!! I, Allie, officially have a job. It is at the local restaurant, Mama Bears, which is owned by Jineane Ford (anyone know who that is? If you get it right, you get a free lunch at Mama Bears, courtesy of Allie. Just Kidding!!! I don't have that kind of money right now.) Anyway. I am a hostess and a buser when needed. I love my job!! It's so fun being their and getting to interact with people I don't know. (I know, shocking coming from me. I'm super shy. Well, I'm trying to get over that, and it's slowly happening.) I'll try to post pictures later. I've only been on the job three nights.

Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-23T21:47:00.000-07:00

Right as school got out for the summer, it was Memorial Day Weekend. Our good friends, The Kerr’s, aka, Our Kerr Cousins, came up to camp. Needless to say, the only camping out was on the living room floor. Unfortunately, over half of their family got sick and had to call the weekend short. On the bright side, Christine’s family still actually camped on their property and we got to visit them daily. How we all look forward to this! (I didn't take many pictures this time, darn it.)

Pictures from last year

Crazy May Weather

2008-05-22T17:22:00.000-07:00

Here it is, May 22nd and it's snowing! CRAZINESS! Tomorrow is supposed to be our last day of school. Tomorrow is a makeup day for an extra snow day used during the school year. Wouldn't it be crazy if it got cancelled on account of snow?!?! I really want it to happen. Talk about ironic!

May Post

2008-05-22T11:29:00.000-07:00

Hello, one and all. It's time for my monthly post. So much has happened, yet nothing. This last month of school has been crazy, besides having a birthday and Mother's Day. I posted the picture of my Birthday/Mother's Day/Anniversary present Mike gave me and that I gave myself. I found this bedside table at a thrift store for eight bucks. It had several layers of paint on it, one of which was mint green. I have been wanting to get it stripped and refinished ever since I got it in Oct/November-ish. So, finally, for my birthday, Mike refinished it. I just love it. I couldn't be happier.

Tomorrow is the girls' last day of school. What a welcomed change that will be. I'm tired of schedules, making lunches, getting kids on the bus, etc. It will be nice to have them home. But I also know it will be equally nice to send them back in August. August 6th to be exact! Can you believe how early we start here? It's obsurd! C'est la vie.

Here's a run down of all the events that have taken place in the last month or since my last post. General Conference, AIMS testing for the girls at school, the first day of baseball season, 2 orthodontist appts between Allie and Anna, Stake Conference, Allie took the ACT and got an 18!, 3 friends baptisms, dinner with friends, jump rope club, volunteering in Anna's class 3 times, going on 4 field trips, 7 piano lessons, an awards assembly, youth temple trip, a talent show, writing 2 letters for teacher requests for next school year, a volunteer breakfast, honor roll breakfast for Amelia-which she sang her talent show song at, Young Women's auction fundraiser for girls camp, 7 Drs. visits between me, Mike, my mom and our adopted Gpa Raymond Johnson, 2 field days, 1 music program, 1 business luncheon, 5 house guests for 3 days, 1 house guest for an additional 4 days, a piano recital, 2 temple sessions, 7 bdays that we actually remembered to acknowledge, Mother's Day, an ice cream party at school which we had to supply toppings for, assisting Mike for 3 afternoons, an orchestra concert. I'm sure that's not all but it's a good start.

I'm hoping summer brings a little more R&R than the last month and a half has brought. I look forward to being with my girls and Mike, and extended family.

Flagstaff Arboretum Field Trip

2008-04-24T14:16:00.000-07:00

Mike and I keep plugging away.....Mike in the Bishopric, me, the ward organist....trying to balance work (the business/practice), church, family. It's the same ol', same ol'. Except, the end of the school year is drawing to a close. And that means ALOT of field trips, music programs, talent shows. It's starting to get crazy. I'm going on 2 out of the 3 field trips scheduled for this week. The reason I'm not going on the 3rd one is because it's on the same day as another one. Mike is going to try to go on that one because it is to some Anasazi ruins. That should be cool. I get to go to Flagstaff with Amelia. It will be so much fun on a bus, 3 hours there and 3 hours back. UGH! It is going to be a long day. I'll let you know how it goes.

A few days later.......I'm letting you know how it went. It was really fun. There was a cool raptor show, an outdoor classroom to look at water creatures under magnifying glasses and lots of plants. Funny how that is, since it's in an arboretum, eh?

April Fool's Day

2008-04-22T14:29:00.000-07:00

I made an awesome April Fool's dinner. I made meatloaf in muffin tins, frosted with colored, instant, mashed potatoes. For dessert, we had rice crispy treat sushi. As I didn't want to give anything away, I gathered everyone for dinner. We said a prayer, yet there was no food on the table. Mike says, yum, this looks great! It took several seconds before everyone rememebered it was April Fool's. I finally brought out the food and they were still tricked. :)

Studious Allie

2008-04-13T14:22:00.000-07:00

Allie is working on Personal Progress. She hadn't been working on it because it seemed so overwhelming. Well, one night, after FHE, after everyone went to bed, I sat down to really look over some of the goals in the Personal Progress program. Once I got into it, I realized she had done alot of things without even realizing it. Especially with the 7 - 10+hours projects. She has 6 out of the 7 done. A couple of them she still needs to write it up. But she is really gung-ho now. Alot of the "little" value experiences have already been done too. They just need to be journaled. She has a goal of completing the WHOLE program by fall. The YW Presidency has planned a fall trip to St. George to do baptisms for the dead for all those girls who have completed Personal Progress. And Allie really wants to go. She is so driven that I know she'll do it.

A Walk In The Park

2008-03-24T15:55:00.000-07:00

An enjoyable walk to the park in my parents' neighborhood.

What a cute little couple!

Ski Field Trips

2008-03-18T08:38:00.000-07:00

I went on two ski field trips in the month of February...with Allie and Amelia. Of course, Anna had to tag along to one of them. It just wouldn't be fair. Our school starts ski field trips in the 4th grade. It's pretty awesome. It's cheap too, $15 for lift ticket and ski rental. The chaperones go for free. It doesn't get any better than that. I will post pictures soon. The sad thing is I broke my camera when I went with Allie. It fell out of my pocket onto a metal step/stair. Cracked the screen to see what you're taking pictures of. It still takes pictures. I just don't know what they look like until I download them. Feels like film again. I'm pretty sad about the whole thing. Maybe Santa will bring me a new camera.

Funny/embarrassing story. We go to the temple on Friday only to find out our recommends expired in February. There was talk of Mike being in the bishopric. One of the brethren said, if they're expired, they are expired. You can't come in. (Not in so many words, but that's what he meant.) The temple president is called down. I, Jen, give him our bishop's cell phone number from memory (kind of embarrassing. But the story is, his wife is my good friend and their numbers are one digit different. What can I say, I'm just good at remembering phone numbers.) Anyway, we are let in. The brother that was telling us that our recommends are expired and we are, basically, out of luck, then asked us to be the witness couple. Needless to say.....all's well that ends well. It was a nice session and we made a memory. Here's another cool thing. I got my interview for my new temple recommend on Sunday......from Mike. How cool is that?!?!?!?

Disney Cruise

2008-01-28T19:31:00.000-08:00

Our family went on a Disney Cruise. What a blast it was! I don't think vacationing will ever be the same again. How can you top this one?? We had so much fun. Amelia still cries because she wants to be on the ship. I completely agree. I wish we could live on the ship....no cooking, cleaning, laundering towels, dishes, bedtimes....it's awesome! We have so many favorite things about our trip that we can't pinpoint any one thing. The meals were awesome. The desserts were scrumptuous. The activities very fun and well planned out. Disney's private island, Castaway Cay, was so fun and beautiful. Fun with friends is a definite high point. We went with Mark and Christine and some of Christine's family. It was such a blast! I hope we can do it again.

The Bon Voyage Party

Yummy Food!

Trying Escargot For The First Time Great Desserts!

Snug As Little Bugs In A Rug

Cheeky Little Monkeys

Allie becoming a Bahama Mama

Even Better Company

Rejecting the Escargot Superb Entertainment One highlight of the cruise was meeting Ron Pearson. He has performed on The Drew Carey Show, That 70's Show and some others. He performed our first night doing comedy and juggling. A few days later, we ended up sitting by him and his wife during the Disney Sea University graduation that the kids were involved in. They were very fun and personable to talk to. I hope his career takes off. I can't wait to watch! Check him out at http://www.ron-pearson.com/. Graduating from Disney Sea UniversityAnother highlight of the trip was meeting Flo in Triton's, a restaurant aboard the ship. She is a lovely girl from England. We thoroughly enjoyed our short time with her and plan to keep in touch. She was so fun and had such a cute accent!

Dining in Animator's Palate We had a few hours after the cruise and before our flight home. We took the opportunity to stop by The Downtown Disney District at Disney World.

A Solemn Gathering

2008-01-26T12:26:00.000-08:00

Mike, my sister, Cheryl, and I had the opportunity to attended a funeral for a beloved family friend. Carolyn Larsen's passing was not unexpected due to her failing health over the last year. It was so wonderful to be reunited with their whole family and other friends at her memorial service. A highlight for me was being able to participate with the music on the spur of the moment. As musical as their family is, they had not arranged for an organist and chorister. I was able to lead the opening hymn. As the service progressed, I felt that I really wanted to play the closing hymn. When I was 17 years old, a senior in high school, I was called as the ward organist. I, then, thought that it was because there wasn't anyone else. I now know I was being tutored for my future church service. I am now the ward organist. Carolyn was the ward chorister, by my recollection. Even if she wasn't officially called as such, she did lead an awful lot. It was under her wing that I learned to play hymns at a proper tempo. If I didn't start a hymn at the tempo she wanted, she would wave her arms fast enough and sing loud enough that I had to follow her. Because of this endearing experience with Carolyn, I really felt like I wanted to do this last thing with her/for her. I had to ask the lady who volunteered for the opening hymn if she would mind allowing me to play the closing hymn. She agreed. I feel priviledged to have been able play on this occasion. It wasn't a planned thing on paper, but I feel it truly was the plan. This memorial service, besides being funeral like, was so uplifting because of the few words that were spoken, the spirit that was there and the beautiful music shared by friends and family. Many musical numbers were performed by the children and it was of top notch quality. What a priviledge to be in attendance. I hope that I can, some day, be memorialized the same way as Carolyn was!

Happy Valistis Day

2008-01-14T13:39:00.000-08:00

Allie used to spell Valentine's Day as Valistis Day. So, now, every Valentine's Day we always say, Happy Valistis Day. I usually try to make a nice dinner and set the table with red, white and pink. We invited our adopted grandpa, Raymond, or RJ as Mike likes to call him.

I've Been Tagged

2007-12-27T21:01:00.000-08:00

The RULES:A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

I don't know 6 people with blogs besides my sisters-in-law. And I believe Shannon already tagged them. I'll play along anyway by listing my 6 things.

1. In dental school, my diaper bag was nicknamed "The Barney Bag". If any of you don't know what the Barney Bag is, I'll tell you. Barney had a bag that he could pull anything out of. Anytime a group of moms would go anywhere and needed a bandaid, tweezers, tissues, etc., I'd always get asked. Even though I don't have a diaper bag anymore, I still carry stuff in my purse to make my life and others lives more comfortable. I will make a list of of the things I carry.......crystal light to go packets, mini mag light, calculator, 2 tubes of lipgloss, small container of aquaphor, hand lotion, cellphone, tic tacs, gum, wallet/planner (with ruler, pencil, pen, postit notes, stamps, Anna's eye patch, pictures my kids have drawn for me, Relief Society phone directory), little crocheted bag with hard candies and Ricola cough drops, tin of hard candy, sunglasses in a case, camera, large crochet bag with safety pins attached to it containing neosporin, tampon, foldable scissors, tweezers, fingernail clippers, kleenex, an extra pair of earrings in case any one of us get out of the house without any on, bobbypins, hair rubberband, flossers, superglue, chapstick, nail file, orange stick, ibuprofen (pills and chewables), gas x, listerine strips, cuticle scissors, antihistamine eye drops, saline eye drops, hand sanitizer, orthodontic rubberbands for Allie, mirror, facial powder, Pepcid AC, peptobismol, pseuphedrine, an antihistimine and an alcohol prep pad. (All this should count for all 6!!!)
2. I love my dog, Sadie. She sleeps with me every night. I didn't always loved her. In fact, I used to hate her.
3. I love watching and going to Arizona Diamondbacks games.
4. Yesterday, me, myself and I spent 6 1/2 hours at the DI in Centerville, UT. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I found lots of great things. My best find was a Ralph Lauren 100% Cashmere sweater for $5. Other good finds were Espirit boots for $6, American Eagle jeans for $6, Calvin Klein for $5.
5. I absolutely love baklava and pecan pie!!!
6. My biggest pet peeve is hair that is not attached to someone's head. I had walking across the floor and getting a hair caught in between my toes. Or wiping up a pill on the floor and getting a hair. Or, last but not least, that stray hair in the bathroom sink.

Christmas in Utah

2007-12-24T21:26:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas vacation was spent in Utah. We were able to do so many fun things. One of which was ice skating. Another was burning a turkey to a crisp in the deep fryer. And last but not least, dropping a turkey on the floor. Mike's brother, Matt, has a Christmas Eve birthday. The family always gets together for a birthday dinner. Matt asked for a deep fried turkey. As you can see, he got one. He also got a few other gifts, one of which he is wearing at dinner. The pictures will tell it all!! Besides turkey pictures, there are other pictures such as our travels to Utah, baby Grace, who got blessed while we were there, Christmas morning and other cousin pictures.

The girls got a letter for Christmas stating their big Christmas gift is going on a Disney Cruise. Even though you can't tell it here, they were ecstatic!

Merry Christmas

2007-12-20T05:52:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! We had our first significant snowfall a few weeks ago. We sure are grateful for it.....helps with reducing our fire danger. For this snowfall, the girls had school cancelled. I'm not sure why. They enjoyed having a day off to play in the snow. We are excited to see our Utah family. See you real soon!

Spanish Club Field Trip

2007-12-18T08:10:00.000-08:00

Mike and I chaperoned Allie's Spanish Club Field Trip. Of course, I had to volunteer Mike because he wouldn't have done it himself. And, of course, he had a good time. We went to Phoenix to 3 Mexican markets. The students got $5 or $10 at each place to purchase something using Spanish. Allie commented that it was a girls type of trip because it was so fun shopping. I have to say, I really enjoyed myself too. Allie, along with 3 other girls were in our group. Mike had his own group of 4 boys. We didn't get alot of family time but it was still fun! We are getting excited about our Christmas plans. Christmas is in 7 days and we are leaving in 3 days. The girls can hardly contain themselves. They can't wait to play with their cousins. I myself am just hoping for good travel weather. Once we get there, I'll be able to relax. This will be a much needed vacation, as we haven't had one since March.

Christmas Festivities

2007-12-05T12:19:00.000-08:00

One of the joys of Mike being in the Bishopric is he gets volunteered for things he wouldn't normally volunteer for. The pictures to the right speak a thousand words. This game was to see which wife could stuff all the balloons from the black bag into your hubands' snowman suit, put the scarf, hat and nose on the fastest. Since all the balloons didn't fit, we had to pop them once the suit was full and start again. I thought they looked very cute at the end. It was alot of fun.

We haven't had much winter weather yet. It just doesn't "feel" like Christmas. The girls are looking forward to a White Christmas. I hope Grandma and Grandpa can deliver!

Would You Rather...?-The Funniest Game EVER!!

2007-12-02T16:16:00.000-08:00

On Friday I went over to a friends' house (they're twins) and we played the funniest, silliest game. It's called Would You Rather...? and it is SO fun!!! It has bizarre, outrageous questions like: "Would you rather live in a world where you need a quarter to get into every bathroom (including the one at your own home) or where each bathroom only has one square of tissue?" or "Would you rather be trapped in an elevator with wet dogs or with 3 fat, sweaty men with bad breath?" It also has challenge questions with different categories. My favorite was the "Would You Do It?" category. You could choose 1 of 5 or 6 options like: "Turn your bottom to the group and shake and bounce to the beat of music for 60 seconds" or "Continue playing with a spoon in your mouth for 2 full player turns" or "Drink like a dog, lapping water from a glass for 30 seconds". This game was SO hilarious!!! If you have not played it, you need to!! - Allie

2007-11-30T14:20:00.001-08:00

Guess what!!! My math grade is the highest in the class at 97%!!! Plus, I have over 100% in both Language Arts and Spanish. And, I'm like 2 chapters ahead in my Social Studies class (trust me-that's a lot!!! they're REALLY slow) because I'm "such a dilligent worker" as my teacher would say. And everybody thinks I'm like a grade idol or something because some people yelled my grades out to the whole Language Arts class. It was so embarassing!!!

2007-11-30T13:38:00.000-08:00

We aren't too good at this yet. It doesn't seem like alot happens in a short amount of time that is blog worthy. To update you a little about us.....
*Mike still enjoys sleeping any chance he gets.
*Jen keeps busy just staying on top of household stuff. I am so glad I don't have to go into the office on a regular basis. I am looking forward to Christmas baking and visiting the Utah family for Christmas!! A little over a month ago, I got my hair done, as I usually do. It turned out mostly purple. I was worried at first but with a few hair washings it has calmed down. I still have a few streaks of purplish here and there.
*Allie has just compiled her own recipe collection for a Young Women's in Excellence project. She has learned how to make the infamous "Runaways". They were a huge hit, as always! Allie has learned to straighten her hair and loves doing it everyday, in my bathroom, at 6am.
*Amelia loves going to swim team which has recently started back up again. She impresses me because when she was younger she hated the water and wouldn't put her face in it.
*Anna has amblyopia, which in layman's terms is a lazy eye. The poor dear not only has to wear glasses but has to patch her strong eye to help the weak eye become strong. We are towards the end of the window of opportunity. She, like Allie, has inherited some undesirable genes. Poor Anna has a chronic stuffy nose. Luckily, I have found a doctor who is treating her with allergy drops which are working wonders. Then there's her narrow dental arch. She has been in a palatal expander until a month ago. It had to be removed because of decay. (Go figure!) She'll get a new one after the first of the year. To top it off, she has eczema which we have to stay on top of daily. She is a trooper. I am proud of her!
*Our extended family.....Chloe, Sadie and Lady. Chloe is a golden retriever. Sadie is a yorkie and Lady is a calico cat. We love them all but only Sadie is allowed to sleep inside at night. We're thinking we'll bring her with us at Christmas??!!

I, Allie, a true Hubbard

2007-11-26T16:11:00.000-08:00

I, Allie, am a true Hubbard. I have officially plucked and waxed my "eyebrow". Let me tell you, it's not easy, fun, or painless being a Hubbard girl with "the brow".

I Finally Did It!

2007-11-22T17:55:00.000-08:00

I finally created a blog! (Thanks Elisha) I so enjoy reading and catching up with Elisha and Shannon's family that I thought I should do the same. I'm still learning how to do this. Any suggestions or comments are welcome. I hope to post some pictures soon. Until next time.....

Happy Halloween

2007-10-31T15:25:00.000-07:00

We, or shall I say, Amelia, Allie, Anna and I like to dress up for Halloween.We have to force Mike to put on a costume. Needless to say, he looks pretty awesome (and handsome), in spite of all the complaining. The first few pictures are from our ward party. The last couple are from our community Trick or Trunking. We did it to promote our dental office. We didn't get one patient from it. They obviously only wanted the candy.

Polly, Sharla & Jen

Debbie, our Office Manager

Debbie's husband, Phil, as the toothfairy.

Fabulous Fall

2007-10-10T16:35:00.000-07:00

Fall is so fun. One of Amelia's favorite things is the tarantula's that come out. The fall is their mating season. They can be seen crossing the road, on the porches, just anywhere. We usually catch one or two for observation, then let them go after a couple of weeks. It's our catch and release program.

The Wild West Museum

2007-01-03T20:06:00.000-08:00

These girls had the brilliant idea of making their bedroom into a Wild West Museum.