blog fog

I promise I am not dead.
Though I would really
love to climb in bed!

I can't wait for May to end.
Perhaps June will bring
a better trend.

I often think of things to blog.
Kids activities keep me
spinning on a log.

I am not too good at poetry.
It's where in high school
I received my only D.

My sincerest apologies to those that were subjected to the above post. Love ya!

Extra! Extra!

Monday evening, three future homeowners of the Jacob's Lane housing development met for the official groundbreaking of their homes. The first home is expected to be started in two to three weeks.

The event included a meal featuring, roasted hot dogs and smore's. After the meal, each family posed for pictures with ceremonial golden shovels. The evening was a great success. The families are looking forward to the completion of the development.

fast and furious

On Friday afternoon, Hubby and I rented a car and sprinted down to Boise to watch our nephew, Alex, play in the state high school baseball tournament. They were ranked first, having lost only two of their games this season. They were favored to win, and Tom wanted to be there to cheer him on. I wanted to go to be with him and see my sister. We were also wanting to spend time with Tom's older brother, his wife and two of their kids.

Unfortunately for Alex, the game did not go as planned. They lost the game Friday night which put them out of the running for first place. They played a very exciting game on Saturday and took the third place trophy. My sister took some time out of her busy Saturday to hang with me for a couple of hours. I miss her, and enjoy being with my only sibling. Because of time, I didn't get to see her four kids. Hopefully, I'll see them soon.

We were brave and left our kids home alone. On Saturday Cameron made crepes for breakfast. His mission assignment went over great with everyone. He pulled out my largest frying pan to try to break a record for the largest crepe.

Courtney, knowing me, thought I would like pictures documenting the momentous event.
We returned home Saturday night, grateful for friends who kept an eye on our kids and went above and beyond the call for them. The kids are ready for us to go again!

It was a fast and furious trip, but well worth it.

I'm glad they're going on a mission!

This week, my two oldest are serving missions in seminary. Bishop Peterson gave each student an official letter calling them to serve. Cameron was called to the Johannesburg, South Africa mission, and Courtney was called to the Atlanta, Georgia mission.

They get points for what they do during the day. I am loving the cooking and cleaning.
One of their assignments was to write a Dear John/Jane letter. It's probably hard to read. Cameron's basically says he is to busy baptizing an entire village to think about her. Courtney had to burn his picture because it was to distracting.
Apparently, this is how you learn the language for the Atlanta mission.
They are not supposed to watch t.v., listen to the radio, play video games or be on the computer. (Courtney is NOT happy about missing American Idol. Luckily, she can watch the finale next Wednesday.) It is nice to have intellectual, spiritual and deep material around for them to study and increase their knowledge of the gospel. It took both of them to figure out the word find.
So far, they have worked out a deal where Cameron cooks Courtney breakfast in the morning and Courtney will cook dinner. Yay me! Last night she made tator tot casserole. Tonight she is making Chicken enchilada casserole. Courtney will clean the bathroom and Cameron will clean the kitchen. Yay, Yay me! They are also going to do a load of laundry a day. Yay, Yay, Yay me! (Does anyone know where I can get some good Bon Bon's?)

The Hardest job I've ever LOVED!

"Bye, I love you! Have a good day" I call out the door as she hurries to the bus stop.

"I love you too!" She turns and blows me a kiss.

I know she does. I know all my kids love me. I have a drawer full of homemade cards that tell me they do. I have gotten thousands of slobbery kisses and tons of hugs in my eighteen years of being their mom.

But they cannot even begin to understand MY love. From the moment I held each of my four infants in my arms, I adored them. When I saw their tiny fingers and toes, my heart could barely contain what I felt for them. If I close my eyes, I can still smell that sweet baby smell. I can see them sleeping peacefully. I can hear their first cries. I can feel them nestled in my arms as I nurse them. Oh, how I miss it! It really did go too fast.

It hasn't been easy. The sleepless nights that left me exhausted beyond exhausted. The time I spent holding sick kids hoping they would be O.K. The guilt that is part of mom DNA. I know I haven't been perfect. I'm sure they have plenty of material saved up to take to a therapist in a few years. (The hours of listening to my beautiful arias is one shot to their Psyche.) I hope they will never doubt my love for them. And maybe, one day, they will understand my love, when they become a dad and moms.

Prom continued

Yesterday, I posted pictures from prom Saturday night. In the newspaper, it said that every high school but one was having their prom on Saturday night. Cam and his friend Scott had grand plans for places to go for dinner. As the date approached, they realized that getting into any restaurant, would be nearly impossible. Scott's mom, Cindy, had a great idea and I assisted.

We sent them on a scavenger hunt! The first clue: "Oscar the Grouch lives here. Look for the "sandy whirlwind". (dumpster at the Dust Devil stadium) They didn't get it and had to come home for more help. That clue led them to the mustang at Mcgee elementary. That one led them to CBC and the next clue said: This place not only feeds your stomach, it also feeds your spirit. Cameron called and said,"Mom, we are at the Stake Center..."
"No! Think lunch!" I yelled. They eat lunch in the Seminary building every day.
They were running out of time, because earlier, Cindy and I had paid for them to play a round of miniature golf as part of the hunt. The course was closing and they were taking a lot longer than we thought they would. We had them skip the playground of dreams and head to the mini golf place.

While they were running around, Cindy and I,and Court and Michelle, went to the mall's food court to set up a table for them. Scott's date is a vegetarian, so the food court made sense. She could have whatever she wanted.

When the kids got to the mini golf place, they were told it was too late to start a game. They refunded their money and gave them their final clue: "In the middle of the largest river, you will find a place where you can get a napkin". Check this out. The kids love it and watch it over and over, yet they didn't get the clue! They called for help when they got stuck. We were hiding in a corner of the food court when they showed up.

They could pick from so many choices, yet they all chose pizza except Scott who went for seafood. I went over to snap a couple of pictures before they ate. As I was walking away, I turned back in time to see them bowing their heads to say a blessing on the food. What good kids! An older man came to us and commented on how kind the young men were to the ladies. How they held the chair for them and gentlemanly they were. Another older man commented on their modesty as we were cleaning up. Their were actually quite a few prom goers that had the same idea, minus the fancy tables. We had fun and they said they did too.

Prom 2008

Finally!

Nuff said!

The Ginzu car trip

Today I picked up my elderly Suburban from the auto repair shop. With over 175,000 miles, every mile we squeeze out of her is a blessing. We are so in love with not having a car payment, that we will drive her as long as we can, and put everyone we know on our emergency "come pick me up 'cause I'm stranded" call list. (Thank goodness for cell phones) If it weren't for the family reunion a couple of years ago, I would have very few complaints with the Burb.

We were pulling our tent trailer to Tom's family reunion outside of Burley in early August. I was a little on guard, because at the same trip the year before, the fuel pump had gone out in the middle of the night outside of Mountain Home. Tom's brother drove from Burley in his expedition and towed us home. While we waited by the side of the road, the semi's would pass us and shake us. It was not a pleasant experience.

Forward to the next year, we had gotten off earlier, it was nice to travel in daylight. The closer we got to Burley, the more I was able to relax. We were within forty minutes when Tom noticed something wrong. He saw oil spraying out the back and onto the tent trailer. He pulled over and quickly realized, our transmission was shot. We hobbled into Jerome, found a repair shop, poured transmission fluid in and limped into Burley. An arm and a leg later, we thought all was good.

BUT, That's not all
During the reunion at the family cabin, Cam and Tom went exploring a nearby mountain in the Burb. When they were coming back and almost to the cabin, Cam told his dad that he had no power. They coasted into the driveway. After investigating, he decided it was the fuel pump (again!) The cabin is about 45 miles from Burley. He called a tow company to have it towed into town. Another arm later, we thought all was good.

BUT, that's not all
As we were packing up, getting ready to head home, Tom took the two little girls to the park one last time. They played for awhile and on their way home, he couldn't steer. By then, we were ready to use the guns the adults had been using for target practice, to put the burb out of her misery! (and ours) When Tom popped the hood, a belt had disintegrated and another part had melted. Tom's mom let us borrow a car to pick up the parts. So a trip to Burley to pick up the parts and head on back to fix it and be on our way. Of course, the belt was the wrong size! At this point, it needs to be made clear that the language used has been repented of. We hop back in the car, head towards Burley when we see a tiny shop not far from the cabin. We stop in and, luckily, they have the right belt and were happy to sell it to us for twice what it was in Burley. Yay, us! Tom, put the car back together. I no longer thought all was good.

BUT, that's not all
The store that sold us the fuel pump the year before, said we could bring it back and get our money back. We packed it in our trailer at the cabin. One of the girls wanted a pair of shoes, Tom pulled it out, set it on top, and got the shoes. When we got to the store, the fuel pump was nowhere to be found. We were beyond frustrated at this point. After driving back to the cabin and searching all along the way, we finally gave up, defeated, and headed home.

BUT,that's not all
On the way home, I was on edge. Every little click, bump or sound had me convinced that something else was going to happen. We made it to La Grande when the car shuddered. I started laughing! What else could I do? Shockingly, it wasn't the burb this time. One of the tires on the trailer had separated and blown up. Because it was so big, Tom had a very difficult time getting it off. After much effort, he finally got it off. Luckily, this happened in La Grande where there is a Les Schwab. Tom changed the tire, and we continued home. Now, not only was I waiting for the burb to fall apart piece by piece, I was waiting for the other tire to blow. When we pulled into the driveway, I threw open the door, jumped out and kissed the ground. I was home! I never want another trip like that again. With the money we spent on car repairs, we could have flown to Disneyworld, and stayed in a nice hotel for a week! That's another reason we are keeping the Burb. We put so much into it, we want to get more out of it. Strangely, Tom can't understand why I don't want to take it on a long trip ever again!