Just a few thoughts from this last weekend and my visit with mom.
I got up there friday morning and spent a wonderful day visiting with mom and working in the yard.
I went over to town later to get mom a few groceries and as I was driving by this copy store, I thought I had better take a picture of it because nobody would believe me if I just told them about it. This was the copy store I would always go to...long before the convenience of home computers and printers. When you had to make copies for school or church, this was the place to go. The thing was, there was never anybody there running the store. You would just go in, use their copy machines and then add up your own bill (2 cents a copy!) and drop your money or a check in the metal box that was marked..."please pay here". Hence the name...Honor Copy.
Just thought it was cool that it was still open after all these years, so I thought I would stop by. It looked just like it did 30 years ago, except the printers were all newer improved models. Same little metal box in the corner asking kindly to "please pay here". It did my heart good and renewed my faith in humanity to see that a place like this can still exist in this crazy world that we live in. Maybe only in Logan.

When I went up to mothers room to get her some clothes, this is how I found her bed. Had to sit down and cry for a minute.
I asked her about her cute bed partner later, and she said he makes her feel a little less lonely.


Mom and I got up early Saturday morning and got her all ready for the day. Then I went up and turned the water in, followed it all the way to mothers to be sure it wasn't being diverted somewhere else. ( She has always had a problem with one of her neighbors that turns the water into her place when it's mothers turn.) Anyway, I got that going down through the back yard and started working in the rock garden. That last hail storm they had up there really beat up her ferns. They were all brown and broken off, so I just trimmed them back to the ground. It looked a lot better. The morning glory and dandilions have really taken over there too. I did the best I could with it.
By this time Kelley and Candice had gotten there. I was so glad that Candice could come spend the day with Grandma. She has a real gift with the way she is with older people. I can see her doing something like that with her career. She is more like Mary where I am more like Martha. She is very content to just sit next to mother and hold her hand and ask her questions about her life and patiently listen to her talk. I am always running around, cooking or cleaning or running here and there...I'm going to try to take a lesson from her, slow things down and try to pay attention to what really matters.
Kelley took over with the irrigation and did a really good job with it. I don't think it had been watered that well for quite some time. He even put aside his spider phobias and crawled back behind the chicken coop to get to the ditch so he could pull out the plug so the water could come through that pipe. That has got to be about the creepiest place in the whole yard. Sooooooo many cobwebs! That place always reminds me of the year that daddy hatched some baby chicks. He had them in this big metal cage that looked like a big cake carrier. He kept them back there behind the chicken coop and would bring them out on the lawn for us kids to look at. I remember him putting a little ball of yellow fluff into my hand and me thinking that was about the coolest thing ever.
We always had chickens ..usually between 7 to 10 of them. It was a part of my childhood and carried on till mom and dad were older. Everyday the old rooster would start crowing at the crack of dawn. Then the chickens would come out of the hen house out into the chicken run. That would mean we could go in and get the eggs. You didn't want to go in there while they were sitting on their nest. They were not nice birds and would peck you if you tried to reach in to get the eggs before they were ready. I loved collecting the eggs! You would reach in there and find the eggs still warm... it was like finding a treasure and was kind of magical every time...even though I did it a million times.
When daddy would get home from his milk route about noon, he would take whatever had been collected that day in the "chicken bucket" and go up to feed the chickens. We all thought the chicken bucket was pretty disgusting and smelly, but the chickens loved the smorgasboard of all of our left overs, and would come running after you when you walked into the chicken run with it. When I was a little girl this used to scare me to death, so I would usually watch from the other side of the fence while they had their lunch. It was always a fun ritual though ...to go feed the chickens with daddy, then when the grandkids came along, it was always the favorite thing to do with grandpa...I can still picture the kids walking up to the chicken coop carrying the chicken bucket with one hand and holding daddys hand with the other.
We all loved the chickens though, (even though mom would complain about the smell when she was having a party or some event there in the yard) and the sound of them clucking and pecking around in there was always kind of comforting to me. It was always really sad when a mink would escape from the mink farm down the road and come after the chickens. We always knew just what was happening when we would hear the chickens squawking and screaming in the middle of the night. We would lay there frozen with fear as we heard daddy fly out of bed and run to his den to get his gun and out the back door to try to save the chickens. We would usually hear the gun go off, then silence. Occsasionally, he would kill the mink, more often, the mink would kill the chickens. That was the worst part...going out the next day, and seeing a few less chickens in the pen and traces of blood where the mink had done it's damage. There would be a feeling of sadness and quiet around the chicken coop, I know it sounds crazy, but it was kind of like the other chickens were mourning the death of their fellow chicken.
I would love to have chickens here. It kind of ties you down though, just like the milk route did all of the years we were growing up. Daddy always had to be there to collect the milk...every day...rain or shine, sick or well, never a day off...ever! I guess that is part of a farmers life. The cows don't stop giving milk cause you are sick or want a vacation, or even because it's Christmas! So that was our life. I don't think he ever missed a day of work. Seriously. The consistancy was very comforting to me though and made me feel safe. I look back now and see how hard daddy worked and the sacrifices he made so we could have the comfortable life we had and live in our own little piece of heaven there in that beautiful yard. I have so many wonderful memories... wouldn't trade my childhood for anything in the world.

About 4:30, the Teina and Lynn showed up. Then Brenda and Dennis, and their family. Alan and Leslie came with Gavin and Kelsie's dog Brutis. Kelsie and Steve showed up later. Kelley had Elijah and and Gavin out there helping him with the irrigation. Pretty soon all the grandkids there wanted to play in the water too. I was sure missing Olivia. This is Lauren and Autumn, Brad and Amy's kids. I couldn't believe their baby was a year old and we hadn't even seen her yet. Now Julie has a new baby too...can't let that time get away without making some visits...my new goal is to make a better effort to stay closer to family and extended family!

Roasting hotdogs in the firepit. Everyone brought great food for our potluck so we had a real nice dinner.

We had a good visit and really enjoyed spending the time together...decided it must be a annual event, only next time we will start earlier in the day so we have more time to do more things!

Sure do love my family!

Gavin enjoying a perfectly cooked marshmallow...he is such a sweet little guy. Him and Kelley are friends for life now after Kelley showed him how to put the irrigation pipe together and told him that next week he was in charge of getting the watering done.

Bunko and Luau

This was a busy week. On Thursday, I had couples bunko here at our house. It was a fun time. Kelley had been working hard in the yard, getting some last minute things done. Seriously, I don't know how he does it. He cleaned out the wood pile, cleaned the pump in the fish pond so it would flow better, picked up Lizzy poo, mowed the lawn, planted a bush I had bought, cleaned up all the crap in the back yard, set up tables and chairs, and helped me with dinner. This was just between 5 and 6 o'clock. He was kind of in a coma the rest of the night. Go figure!
Anyway, I hope everybody had a good time. It's kind of stressful trying to figure prizes that women and men would both like and of thinking of something good for dinner. None of the men really want to be there anyway so you try to at least make a dinner they will enjoy. I did chicken fajitas and they seemed to like them. I had other people bring things to go with the dinner...Patti made a really good 7-layer dip, Kaye brought their yummy home made salsa and chips that they have been selling. Stacey brought a nice fruit platter, then others helped with drinks and candy. I had Sheri and Holli bring dessert and they brought two different kinds of cake and ice cream. That was really good.
I love the bunko ladies . It is quite a diverse group...now with women from all over the valley. It's hard to believe, but we have been playing together for about 20 years! We have been through a lot together...it's been nice to be able to share my life and experiences with these great women every month. We are all about the same age so we have pretty much raised our kids together, and gone through the same types of things together. We have gone from babies in diapers to little league and dance class to teenager trials and dating, to missions and marriages, pregnancy and birth of our grandchildren too. Then there are the joy's of being a grandparent! Now some are facing the challenges and heartache of watching and dealing with our own parents struggles in their later life. Anyway, I enjoy my association and friendship with these good women...it's kind of therapeutic just to get together and talk, and to share the joys and sorrows in our lives with these women because you know they understand because they have been through it too.

Friday, Kelley and I were running around getting everything together for the Luau. We got a ton of meat from Costco. Rick came over Friday night and started working on getting it in the marinade. He is such a big help. I don't think we could do it without him. Kelley was gone to the hospital to give Martha a blessing and I had to go to the airport to pick up Katie but Rick just stayed at our house, getting the meat ready. It is a huge job!
I was so glad that Katie could come home for the weekend. She had a dentist appointment Saturday morning, but spent the rest of the day helping us get things ready for the luau.
Saturday, bright and early (5:30) Kelley and Rick were out there getting the fire started in the pit. Then they started setting up the tents and collecting tables and chairs and a giant barbecue grill from Andreasons.
They still had time for the weekly basketball game.
The activities committee came over about 4 to start decorating. It was Vickie, Karen and Kathy. They really did a great job. The decorations were so cute,. Karen had gotten sand buckets, and filled them overflowing with brown sugar. Then she had sea shells to put all around like they were in sand. Very cute. Then they had a bunch of other cute beach decorations and blow up beach balls and palm trees and crabs and leis that really made it fun. Kelley brought out the big stereo and we put on some Don Ho and we were ready! Stacey made some great luau music cds for us to use too.
We had a really good turn out. People I had never met before came. I think a lot of that had to do with the flyer saying "neighborhood luau" rather than "ward luau" I got to meet some people who live down the street that I probably never would have, so that alone was worth it to me. It was just enjoyable to be able to sit and visit with neighbors and friends and have a yummy dinner. The people who were supposed to man the barbecue grill didn't show up so that put Kelley filling in for them. Kind of frustrating cause he was trying to do about 50 other things at the same time. I was glad that Lisle and Pat came over. They brought a fabulous potato salad.





Candice brought her friend Lisa but there was not a lot they could eat. Lots of MEAT! Candice was expecting Seth and was getting kind of concerned about him...he was supposed to be coming out on his bike, but he had some problems and didn't show up till later.
















It was fun catching up with people that you don't get to visit with on Sunday.

Thanks Candice. That was pretty much how I was feeling at that point too.

The Luau is a lot of work. Kelley does most of it. Rick does a lot. Friends and neighbors are all there to help out in anyway they can. The activities committee was a really big help too. Everyone was great to help with the food so that makes it work. It seems kind of like a thankless job, but Kelley and I both enjoy doing it and bringing the people in the neighborhood together. I figure if even one person feels more comfortable and at ease with these ward members and neighbors, then it has been worth it. I guess that's what it's all about...bringing friends and ward members closer together and making new friends too.

Whew...

Well I am glad that week is behind me. It was actually a good week, except for the repercussions of the stupid hacker on my life. After I talked to Katie and Candice and realized what was happening ( that the email had been sent to all the people on my contact list) I started getting calls and visits from people that had received this email and were concerned about me. The stupid hacker corrupted my computer with a virus, so I wasn't able to even reply to any of these people and tell them it wasn't me who had sent it. I have to say that I have a lot of wonderful people in my life though that would take the time to come over here or call me to see if I was ok. I'm sure grateful for them.

Bishop suggested that I call Mark and see if he had heard of this going around or had any advice of what to do. I did and he was super helpful. He got me an anti virus thing from his work to run on the computer that will protect it from happening again. He also checked with his FBI friend and found out that this is a scam from some people in Nigeria that has been going around...nothing new, I was just the lucky one to be selected.

Anyway I had Brian come over the other night and try to clean up the computer. Still couldn't get a new password to work, so I just gave up and made a new account.( I mean Candice helped me make a new account! Thanks again Candice!) I am super paranoid right now! I had a a week of extreme anxiety thinking about all the people who had got this email and wondering if they were responding to it. Wow, technology can be so wonderful and so distructive too.

Anyway...on to the really great part of this day...it also was my wedding anniversary. 31 years! I woke up to a beautiful boquet of flowers and some sweet cards from Kelley. Then when he got home from work and consoled me about the computer problems ( I was seriously freaking out...donkey on the edge..) he said he wanted to take me shopping for some new clothes. So we went to the mall and I found some nice things. After we went to dinner with the Mark and Kim...it's their anniversary on the same day! We went to PF Changs and had a real nice time.

I am so lucky to have found a wonderful man lilke Kelley to spend my life and my forever with. He is so good to me! He is always concerned about me and my happiness. Would do anything for me. He is a great listener, (even if he is making faces at me while I am talking), and will always try to fix whatever is wrong or help who ever needs help. He has a very calming effect on me and I know everything will be ok with him by my side. I love how he does sweet things to surprise me or just brighten my day. I love his funny stories and texts and how he can always make me laugh. I love the way he looks at me and I know he really loves me with all of his heart. I love how he is with our kids. There is a special bond and relationship there with each one of them, and I know he would give his life for any one of them. There is nothing that makes me happier than to feel the love that our family shares with each other. K.C asked us in his last letter if we would tell how we felt about being an eternal family. Well that pretty much sums it up. It is the greatest gift that I could ever receive... really, aside from my testimony, the only thing that matters; to be able to spend eternity with my family... I'm so grateful for that knowledge and for the Savior who loved us enough to make it all possible.

I don't know what I ever did to deserve Kelley, but I'm sure glad he found me and was inspired to know that I was going to be his wife! Otherwise he might have given up on me...I was not easy! All my love to you! Looking forward to the next 31- through eternity with you!

AHHHHHHHHHHH

Something terrible has happened! I got a message from Kate and Candice this morning that my email had been hacked into and someone was sending all of my contacts a message asking for money. Oh man. Don't really know what to do. Candice is going to help me get it straigntened out...I may have to change my email adress. I will let you all know. OOOOOOOoooooooo this makes me mad. I am fired up. You better look out you creepy hacker.

We had a real treat this weekend. We have been hearing for a while that we were going to be having a special stake meeting and be able to have an Apostle speak to us. Then a few weeks ago found out it was going to be Elder David Bednar.

On monday, President Child called Kelley and asked him if he could attend a special meeting on Saturday that was for the Bishops and Stake Presidencies of our area. BIshop Burns was going to be out of town so Kelley's number was up. He was pretty excited about it because they told him that there would be 2 Apostles at this meeting!

It turned out to be quite a great experience for Kelley. President Boyd K. Packer was the other Apostle that attended! They had the opportunity to meet both of them and shake their hands before the meeting started. Then they talked to them for a while, had time when they could ask them any questions , and then they taught them some more. He was there for about 5 hours. It was pretty much a once in a life time experience...pretty special.

Then on Sunday, we were taught by Elder Bednar. He was an amazing speaker. He was very straight forward, just told it like it is. He taught us things about agency that I have never even thought of before. To sum it up, we have made covenants with God. He sets the terms and conditions of the covenant(Baptism). We accepted these terms and conditions, it is not optional to just choose not to be obedient to the commandments. Jesus Christ made the plan we accepted possible with His sacrifice. We can never pay him back with anything we have because he gave us all that we have. All we can give him is our will. It was pretty powerful. He seriously had everyone in the building (which was overflowing) on the edge of their seats.

He talked about how hard Satan is working to convince our youth to follow him. He said we cannot be timid in proclaiming what we know to be true. We need to give all of our heart, might, mind and strength and example to help our families and those around us to make good choices.

President Child had talked before Elder Bednar and had told about how he had chosen to not serve a mission. He said it was the greatest regret that he has in his life. He said shortly after that he had promised the Lord that he would spend the rest of his life in His service. President Child said that he felt very strongly that he needed to tell this congregation that anyone in the right circumstances should consider serving a mission.

Elder Bednar finished his talk with the council that Every young man should serve a mission. He said they were called before they were born and this is just a fulfillment of the covenant they made. He talked about us older folks serving missions too. He said if you have your health and financial means, this is what you should be doing! He closed with his testimony and an apostolic blessing on everyone there and on our families. The spirit was so strong. After it over, it was like no one wanted to leave. Everyone lined up to shake his hand. He had the most powerful presence about him. What a great experience!. Wish my whole family could have been there. It was like Kelley said about the meeting the day before..."I can tell you what he said, but I can't tell you what it felt like to be there." My bucket is full.

Tender Mercies

Yesterday I got to experience one of Gods tender mercies. Probably sounds lame, but to me it was pretty special.
I was cleaning out K.C.'s car because Suzie and Brooke were going to come and look at it. They have been wanting to buy it ever since they found out K.C. was leaving. It was not dirty, (K.C.) is a little bit of a clean freak) but it just had some clothes and papers in it. While I was wiping everything down, it started to rain so I just pulled the door shut and sat there thinking about K.C. and everything we had gone through with that jeep. It was nice and warm in there and still smelled like him. That is another thing we have in common. We would both always be cold so we would sit in the car (no matter how hot it was) to get warmed up. Especially after church, when our building is always so cold, we would run out to the car and just sit there and enjoy the warmth of the car.
Anyway the jeep was really a good car...most of the time. It always started, even on the coldest winter mornings when he was going to school. It did have some electrical problems, and we would always say that it was possessed because the lights on the dashboard would go on and off just when ever it felt like it. We replaced all the fuses and finally the alternator, but it still keeps doing that up until this day.
I'm afraid the only signs of body damage to the jeep were inflicted by me. One time when we were coming home from Grandmas', K.C. and I decided to go to into Brigham to Peach City and get a peach malt. When I was backing out, I turned too sharp and scraped the side of the car on the pole. Then about 4 months ago, I was backing out of the garage in the Yukon and bashed right into the jeep. He was parked directly behind me and I didn't expect him to be there (there is really no excuse) I broke his bumper pretty bad on one side so it was just kind of hanging there, half on, half off. So Kelley came and pulled it right off. K.C. was such a good sport about it. He knew I felt so bad, so he was like "it looks fine mom, honestly, you can hardly even notice it, anyway, it's my fault for parking behind you." He really is about the most undemanding, forgiving, non judgemental, person I know. I mean really...what kid would not be even just a little bit angry that his mom just inialiated his bumper.
Before I knew it I was sitting there with tears coming down harder than the rain. Mostly just tears of joy and thankfulness as I poured out a prayer of gratitude that I have been able to have this special young man be my son.
When I got my face wiped up , I looked out the window and noticed that it had stopped raining and the sun was shining up from the west and there was the most beautiful rainbow that went clear across the sky. Could be a coincidence, but I like to think it was God's way of saying
"Your welcome".

Girls Camp

So about 6 months ago, Candice and I were called to be the camp leaders for the ward this year. I thought ..."ok. I can do this. It will be fun to work with Candice and Judy always seemed to pull it off without a hitch." I've gone to girls camp with our YW and as a stake leader lots of times. Easy Peasy. Not so much.
We were preparing along the way...having certification clinics, talking about the food, and activities we wanted to do. Then these last 2 months happened, and I was totally preoccupied with getting K.C. ready to leave. Right after he left, we went to Newport for10 days. We got home Saturday night and had to pull girls camp together by the next wednesday night. Before we went to Newport, I was really freaking out, so I made a bunch of calls and delegated a LOT! All the YW leaders were so great and willing to help. Candice was also a great help. She helped me plan all the food, make shopping lists, and went on her lunch hour to buy groceries with me. I know this was such a big sacrifice for her. Not only was she stepping way out of her comfort zone by accepting this call, but she had to choose between spending a few days at newport or going to girls camp because she couldn't have any more time off work. She chose to honor her commitment and go to girls camp. She was amazing up there...I couldn't have done it without her.

We all met at my house about 7, had some bagels and juice loaded up the coolers and last minute things and were on our way. It was overcast when we left, and the closer we got to the canyon, the stormier it got. By the time we got up by Kamas it was coming down pretty good. Lots of thunder and lightning! We finally reached the cabin about 9:30. It was raining so hard you didn't want to get out of your car. So we made a mad dash for it to their cabin. I was so grateful that we had a nice dry place to go to. Their cabin was really cute. Very comfortable and homey.

Mark had volunteered to pull the trailer up there for us. What a peach he is. That man is going straight to heaven. He brought Taylor with him and they helped us get all the coolers up the stairs to the cabin. After a while the rain stopped and we went out and put up tents. The girls did a pretty good job of putting them up theirselves. I was impressed that they knew how to do it on their own. After everyone was settled, we introduced the theme and talked to them about "Beeing your own kind of Beautiful" It was kind of rainy off and on all day so we did some things inside the cabin. Emily had brought all of this yarn and knew how to put it in the girls hair like extensions. They loved it and spent a lot of time doing that and making cute bracelets for each other with the yarn.

Leslie had a cute little teddy bear with a bee on it's nose for each of the girls. Also a cute blanket that Judy had embroidered their names on.

Emily and Nate brought over this cutestest puppy. Their uncle had found a batch of 8 of these puppies that had been deserted in the woods. He was really adorable. All the girls fell in love with him and carried him around like a baby. Faith wanted to take him home so bad, but dad said "no more pets!"

Leslie was given the crown and septer by her secret sister. You really shouldn't encourage her. She had all the girls bowing to her every time they entered the room.

Can I just say that I love Candice.

Shawna and her mom came up to represent the stake. As soon as Shawna saw the puppy, she wanted to have it. She said she had been looking for this kind of dog for a long time but they were so expensive to buy. When she found out they were selling the puppies for 100.00, and she could go over to Emily's Uncle's place and get one she was so excited.

Jody and Kathy couldn't come up so Shawna and I did the presentation on the new Value "Virtue" for our ward. It went pretty well except that I can't talk without bawling. I gotta work on that. After we all waved gold ribbons and sang the song "High on a mountain top" and asked the girls if they would make a commitment to try to live a virtuous life. If they would, they signed this big gold banner that we are going to hang in the YW room. It was a pretty cool thing to see.

Kelley seriously saved girls camp. We were planning on having dutch oven dinner that night. It had been drizzeling most of the afternoon so I didn't know how we would get the coals going. Kelley comes to the rescue and rigs up a cover under a big tree and gets the coals going there. We had a fabulous dinner of dutch oven potatos and barbecue chicken and pork, green salad and rolls.



This old guy really does rule.

Abbi and Marcie trying to certify on making different kinds of fires. Kelley and Larry taught them how to do it.


When Candice and I went out to get in our tent, we found our sleeping bags had gotten wet from the rain. We blew up our air matresses and tried to get comfy but that was one long cold night.

We woke up to clear blue skies friday! How grateful we all were!






After breakfast, Bishop Burns and Diane took the girls on a hike. Kelley, Carol and were a little bit behind and didn't see where they had made a turn off. So we walked around and met them at the end of their hike.

Bishop Burns had it mapped out down to the last centimeter! I love him! Him and Diane drove clear up there late Thursday night after his flight came in so they could do this hike with the girls.

After, he talked with them about how easy it is to get lost if you loose sight of your goal. He used the mountains to represent the Savior . He said if if you keep focused on trying to be like him, you won't ever go too far off the path. He said it way better, but it was really good analogy.

The girls wanted to stick their feet in the river on the way back from the hike but it was COLD!

Probably the funnest thing we did at camp was go fishing. Larry and Nate piled all of us in the back of their trucks and took us to this most perfect fishing spot. It was big and grassy and the fish were jumping all over the place.

What made it so fun was that the girls were really catching fish!

Then Nate was going to teach them how to gut the fish. His girls were the only ones that wanted to participate in that.

We made these little bees out of paper and had the girls write on them when they saw someone doing a good deed and hand it in this tree. They really got into it and before long the tree was
full of good deed bees!

Candice and I had decided to move to Lori and Carol's tent cause ours wasn't very warm. We were in the cabin fixing lunch and when we came outside, Lori had taken down the tent, packed it all away. gathered up all of our stuff and moved us into their tent. She even laid out our sleeping bags and got us all situated. She is seriously an angel.

Candice was such a good sport. Handling raw meat is not her favorite thing, but she did it without complaining and made the tin foil dinners a great success!

Friday night after dinner, the leaders got into our costumes and went out in the trees for our little presentation. Susan brought all of the girls around to each one of us and we each told our story and talked about the virtue we were representing. It was pretty powerful. Emily was Eve, Carol was the mother of a strippling warrior, Candice was Queen Ester, I was Mary, Lori was Emma and Leslie was herself...a Young Women's President. We ended up by the campfire and had our testimony meeting after that. The spirit was really strong. I hope the girls could feel it too.

I'm so glad camp is over! I don't mean to sound whiney, but that was seriously one of the hardest most stressful things I have ever done. It was real rewarding though to get hugs from all the girls and know that they had a good experience there.