Keys

When Duff and I were dating and it had turned serious, his dad pulled me aside and wanted me to know that his son had a hard time with keeping track of his keys and wallet. No problem: he'd be marrying me. Right? Miss 'Everything Is In It's Place'. Haha!

We have a 'place' in the laundry room for keys. A rack with a hook for each family member. It is where keys, wallets, purses go when you are home and not out. Right? You walk in the door, it is right there. First thing you do when you come in, last thing you grab on your way out.

Fast forward to 2 weeks ago. We bought our car 2 1/2 years ago. It came with 2 keys and fobs. I LOVE fobs. It is so nice to be able to open the back door and load things. It is wonderful to be able to push a little button and unlock the doors. But let's be honest--they are big and bulky for a key chain/ring. I don't mind. I'm a woman and I have a bunch of keys all together. They are all in the same place and the group of them are easy to find in the bottom of my purse. Men don't like all that bulk. Especially in a pants pocket.

About 6 months ago he misplaced his key for the car. No problem. That can happen. We still had one. This however meant that whenever he used 'my' car (or anyone else for that matter) the individual key and fob came off my ring. Less bulky, remember. Long story short, despite my kind reminders/protests to please keep all my keys together, it went M.I.A. and we discovered that fact on Christmas Eve. Just imagine for a moment having a perfectly good car and not be able to use it! At the holidays no less. Thank goodness we had Shaun still home and Josh and Meredith here with their cars.

So what do you do to replace a key? It's harder than you think! Fortunately, the car was in the garage and not locked. We could get the registration out and go to the dealership and prove that we owned it. To which they will cut you 'a' key (for a significant price) that may or may not sync up to the security mechanism to identify the key to turn on the car. To sync it up, the guys had to push the car out of the garage. Then you have to drain the security system power, which is the battery, then hook up this battery charger thingy (yes, which we had to go buy... remember: we couldn't use jumper cables because the car doesn't recognize the key to turn it on...). Hopefully at this point it tricks the car into identifying the key and it will turn over and start. Mission accomplished! It worked, with some conditions: the car still doesn't really recognize the key, so you have to try it several times and take it out of the ignition and turn it over then reinsert it and try again.

This was my day yesterday. I had several errands to run. I had planned them out systematically. Go here first, then there, over here, back there on the drive home. I should only be gone about 90 minutes. Well, 4 1/2 hours later, I arrive home practically in tears! The dang car wouldn't accept the key! Every place I went to it took longer and longer to start the car. Totally embarrassing at the car wash. I didn't realize, but your car is turned on/off 4 times during the process. To vacuum, to go through the wash station, to move it from the washing to the drying/detailing, and then to leave. It took forever and the employees were quite frustrated/annoyed. I left a larger tip than I normally do. They deserved it.

Finally I ended at the pharmacy and grocery store (thank goodness they are in the same center. I could just walk from one to the other.) I loaded up my groceries and the car wouldn't start. Again, and again, and again. For 35 minutes I tried to get that car to start. I watched many people come, shop, and leave in the time I was just trying to start my car. I even have a blister on my index finger from all the attempts. I finally called Duff who was flat in bed still with his back out. That's what I was at the pharmacy for. His anti-inflammatory and pain meds. He crawled down the stairs, got into the b-mer (cool looking/acting car, but not comfortable to get in and out of at all), and drove over so I could unload the groceries and come home. Of course, as soon as he pulled up it started! Like a sick child you have been up with all night and when you go to the doctor they smile and act fine.

All of the story aside: while I was sitting there pondering about the car not working and how hard and frustrating this was, it came to me about having the right 'keys'. I thought about priesthood keys, the keys of callings. We have to have the keys through the right authority and worthiness or they don't work. Aha.........'Knew' that. Nice for the object lesson/reminder.

And yes, we are calling the dealership back today for further direction!

Happy New Year, 2009!

Happy New Year!

Hurray for a fresh start. I'm looking forward to 2009. Last year was one of the best and one of the worst years of my life. We had 2 children get married to GREAT people. We got to support our favorite college team a lot. We made a LOT of progress on our emergency preparedness. We got to visit the cabin more than we thought. We had great experiences with family and friends. We have no debt except for our house. But we had some of the hardest times this year too. I guess now that I am typing this I could probably count those as 'best' things in a sense. Because we grew.

We learned. We stretched (big time). We gained knowledge. We felt. We became more flexible. We juggled more. We became more acquainted with grief, compassion, humility. We had to place things in God's hands after all we could do. We had to 'let go'. We embraced. We prayed more and mightily. We leaned on each other. We rallied. We trusted when we didn't know if we should or could. We fought. We cried. We laughed. We made up. We served. We lost family. We gained family. We rejoiced. We celebrated. We closed chapters. We opened new ones. We became more educated. We loved.

We gained experience.

Guess we are ready to start it all again!

Are You Ready For Christmas?

This is one of my most favorite Christmas pictures. One day I'd love to have a large framed one hanging in my home all year long! Today was a great day. It just flowed from one thing to the next and was full of the Christmas spirit.

We had our Christmas sacrament meeting program today. We could have all gone home after and been truly upifted. The program, music, narration was full of the spirit. The program began and finished with the big question: ARE YOU READY FOR CHRISTMAS?

That is probably the most asked question during the holiday season. I know I ask it regularly. But the answer that was given today was the best I've ever heard!

We are not ready for Christmas when our list is crossed off. We are ready when we feel the Savior's love and are at peace.

Gee, and I was doing so well with the 'list'! Haha! All that said, I have felt a different feeling this year. Not so hectic, I guess. Less stressful. We slimmed down our gift giving by 1/2 at least which uncomplicated a lot. Less to buy, less to wrap, etc. We didn't go to every party we were invited to and spent more time at home with family. I started early in the fall putting together and gathering presents. We've watched more Christmas movies and I've had Christmas music on 20 hours a day it seems! It's just hard to make a bad mood last when Christmas music is playing, don't you think?! A new Christmas story daily. Prayers increased.

So: Are You Ready For Christmas?

(Duff moved wrong and his back is out again. He stayed home today, which is soooo not like him. Griffin and Katrina came down from Hollywood and went to church with us and had dinner. Christine's friend, Alex, went to church too and is spending today and tomorrow with us. Cute girl from school. Koelliker's came by with our favorite gift from them: Brett's homemade fudge. A few years ago they started bringing us some other gifts for Christmas, which we loved, but we all agree: the fudge is the BEST gift from them! We all sat around the fireplace getting warm, laughing, talking, helping Christina decide which shoes she wants to wear with her wedding dress on Saturday. Love that girl! Christine and Alex made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. It was so good. What is it about yellow cake with chocolate frosting? Hard to resist! Today is also Quincy's 11th birthday. I clearly remember the day she was born. It was a Sunday, just like today. Brett called in the morning saying he was taking Kim down to the hospital. Could I come and help get the other kids ready for church and take care of them for the day? Yes. We got the call that Quincy had arrived during dinner. Brett gave us a list of things to get from their house and bring down. We had to take 2 cars of course with 11 kids to get down to Mission Hospital (ours and theirs)! She was the cutest little thing. All wrapped up in pink. You could pick her right out--she just looked like a Koelliker in that nursery. They brought her out to Kim and it was sweet to watch their family meet their new little sister! More rain is coming tomorrow. Yahooie!)

Monday Menu

What a day!

• Garbage cans out.
• Sweep up garbage can area behind the gate.
• Wash out kitchen garbage cans and dust pan.
• Clean out kitchen trash cupboard.
• Wash down driveway from all the leaves, debis and dust from Santa Anas
• Clean gutter in the street in front of our house.
• Water all the pots, well.
• Work in the garden, what's left of it.
• Clean out the fireplace--nasty job!
• Vacuum tufting in ottomen--large!
• Bag 50 lbs. of chocolate chips into 5 lb. increments and freeze.
• Clean out garage freezer for the chocolate chips.
• Wipe down outside of front door.
• Play with the dog.
• Laundry.
• Pick up carpool.
• Dinner.
• FHE.
• DWTStars.
• 5 word searches--I'm trying to keep my mind alert! haha!
• BED!

Hand Written Letters

It's been a great day. Beautiful blue sky, no clouds. But way too hot for November for me! There's just something wrong when it's 90* in November.

Got up and put the brisket in the oven. Got out the door for church.

The RS lesson was so uplifting. It was on letters that Joseph Smith wrote to Emma. I'll bet he never thought they would be in a lesson manual one day! And yet here they are. I gained so many insights from them. What a tender, thoughtful man. Good father. He was probably gone more than he was home, and yet there is no question as to his devotion and love. It lent many insights into Emma as well. I also came away from it with an appreciation for the trials they faced since we have experienced persecution the last few weeks after the election and how they supported each other in them. A phrase, sentence, words of encouragement however small mean so much and can strengthen commitments.

In our day of technology it is easy to forget how much a handwritten letter or note means. Think about it: what is the first thing you open when you get the mail out of the box? You leave the bills for last and jump for the letter or note! Right? They didn't have our quick communication capacities back then, but I'm impressed with Joseph's ability to know just what would make Emma be uplifted.

Home. Dinner, which was soooo good. Haven't had that dish in a while. It was in the freezer and so I used it. I'm trying to be more creative in using what I already have. Kim K. came over with my Enrichment night stuff so she could show me how to do them since she asked if I could help tomorrow night. I was really excited. When she left I dove in and got them ALL done. It makes me feel like I'm more prepared for Christmas since they were all gifts. Then off to take Christine and Amanda to Sing Noel practice. From there I went and visited with a shut in friend and took her some visiting teaching things. She writes to all the sisters in the letter district each month. She does a really good job and she likes feeling like she can contribute and have a calling. Then to Jamie's so she could show me how she does her banners. I am in charge of the family craft this year for Thanksgiving and we will be doing these. They are so cute!

Home. Put some cookies in to bake, flipped through the channels and saw The Notebook was on. It had already started, but I finished it out. It dawned on me that this story is 'hand written' in a journal kind of like the Joseph and Emma letters..... I could watch that over and over.

I should mention that there are fires again. Fortunately not too near us this time. Threatening fire really scares me. I feel so badly for those who have lost their homes and so much of the earth scorched by the wind-driven flames. Darn those Santa Anas that dry everything out and blow like the devil.

Sunday Journal

The time changing always throws us off for about a week or two until we get used to it. Today was no different. I was wide awake at 6am and kept trying to make myself go back to sleep for another hour but not very successfully. I am by nature not a morning person. Every fall when we 'fall back' with the time, I have this same talk with myself about just going with it and getting up early and maybe, just maybe it might help me turn into more of a morning person! Hahaha!

I got the roast chicken dinner in the oven today before our meetings so we could eat shortly after we got home. It was Fast Sunday today and we had Amanda with us for the day and Duff didn't have any meetings which totally threw me off. It is hard to remember having him around on a Sunday morning. Most of our married life he has served in callings which have early morning meetings and I have my own Sunday morning routine getting myself, the family, and dinnner ready for the day!

Church was good. I want to make sure I post about something that I have never experienced before in my 52 years. At the end of sacrament meeting the Bishop stood at the pulpit and thanked the congregation for all the hard work we've done for the election on Tuesday. And then per direction from Salt Lake to the Stake to the Bishops, he said the closing prayer for the meeting. He asked for the powers from heaven to be upon the people that their hearts may be softened to the whisperings of the spirit for this election. That Prop.8 would be able to be passed. That traditional marriage would be preserved not redefined. That whatever the outcome would be that we would have peace to know that we did our very best and would be blessed for it. It was powerful! The spirit of unity between us in the meeting was strong.

The phone calling started today. Our shift is on Tuesday from 11am-5pm. We will be calling the undecideds during that time and encouraging them to vote in favor of the proposition. Surprisingly, I thought I would feel nervous, but I don't. I feel very peaceful about it.

Fun Facts About My Life

Angie had this and I thought it was kind of fun. Here are some facts about me in a nutshell. At some point it would be fun to expound on each one!

Copy and paste the words.
Bold the things you have done...

1. Started your own blog 2. Slept under the stars 3. Played in a band4. Visited Hawaii 5.Watched a meteor shower 6. Given more than you can afford to charity 7. Been to Disneyland 8. Climbed a mountain 9. Held a Praying Mantis 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 17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty. 18. Grown your own vegetables 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 (Who is really going to answer this truthfully???) 27. Run a Marathon 28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice 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 Michelangelo’s David 41. Sung karaoke . 42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt 43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant 44. Visited Africa 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 63. Got flowers for no reason 64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma 65. Gone sky diving 66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp 67.Bounced a check . 68. Flown in a helicopter 69. Saved a favorite childhood toy 70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial 71. Eaten Caviar 72. Pieced a 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 88. Had chickenpox 89. Saved someone’s life 90. Sat on a jury 91.Met someone famous 92. Joined a book club93. Lost a loved one 94. Had a baby 95. Seen the Alamo in person 96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake 97. Been involved in a law suit 98. Owned a cell phone 99. Been stung by a bee 100. Talked your way out of a ticket

Weekend Wrap-up

A great day. We had a fabulous sunday school lesson on Samuel the Lamanite followed by a wonderful RS lesson on reaching out to the one.

Duff had presidency meeting until late into the afternoon. So I got a chicken in the oven and a bite to eat quickly and then out the door for the remaining visiting teaching interviews at Julia's. They went well. We are going to meet tomorrow morning and each go over the information we gleaned. We have good sisters!

Christine had a youth leadership training meeting and by the time we all got home and ate dinner it was 6:45pm! The roast chicken dinner sure hit the spot! Shaun and Christine cleaned the kitchen and put all the food away, and then Chrissy got a hankering for a pizzookie. She and Duff put the 'cookie' all together and we enjoyed it nice and hot from the oven in the cast iron pan with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I wound down on the family room couch flipping between the two movies Father of The Bride !! and The Fugitive. I woke up and realized I had fallen asleep and headed up to bed to find my early to bed hubby completely engrossed in a book. The last time I looked, the light was still on at 12:40am!

Just Stuff...

Today was a day of just getting 'stuff' done. All random things. Straggling laundry, my vt over, plane reservations, paperwork catch-up, phone calls, etc. A lot of things but not really anything that made it feel like I accomplished much.

Christine came home not feeling well after school and still had a project to put the finishing touches on and a test to study for.

Worried about Prop 8 passing.

Some days are just like that.

Monday Madness

• Flew home early this morning.
• Christine to school.
• Go through phone calls.
• Prepare for Visiting Teaching Interviews tomorrow morning.
• Ran to the scrapbook store to get the things to make the handouts.
• Stop at Staples for a P.E. binder for Christine and poster board for her 1st project.
• Start handouts for the interviews.
• Talked to Mike and Natalie.
• Played with Darla, who missed us a lot!
• Pick up carpool.
• Dinner.
• Finish handouts.
• Christine studied for science test.
• Watched DWTStars.
• Enough all ready! Going to bed!

Way Too Early!

This is really what it looks like out my window!

Good Golly! Why oh why do I keep doing this early flight???

I have to have EVERYTHING ready before I go to bed. Well, that's a good thing actually. But then I have to get up at 4:45am to leave by 5:15am to get to the airport by 6am to board at 6:30am to fly at 7am! I am not a morning person. I know this about myself. But it gets me here without a layover and not when it's dark to be in the airport by myself getting the car. Whatever happened to the 11am flight without the layover??? Oh well, I did it and quite well if I do say so myself.

Had a little shopping trip on the way up. Stopped at Kimball Junction at the Wal-Mart to look for some pajamas for Christine so she doesn't have to keep bringing them. We have been working a little at a time to have what we need already here so we don't have to bring everything with us each time. Duff and I are pretty good now--he a little better than I. No more toiletries or personal items. He even has clothes that he can just leave here so he only packs his briefcase with church and work items and he's done! I'm almost there. Anyway--so got the pj's. Then looked for some BYU fabric and at the sewing machines. No fabric, but some great deals on machines.

Walked leisurely through Pier One and a furniture and accessory store for mountain homes. It was so fun to go at my own pace and soak it all in. My dear hubby is NOT a shopper. Then came 'home' and got the water turned on, etc. The weather is really cooling down. It was only in the mid-60's at the heighth of the afternoon. So pleasant!

Ate leftover soup for lunch, a tuna melt for dinner with an apple. Super simple but oh so good. Had a nasty headache, so I layed down on the couch for a minute and fell sound asleep. Woke up to the phone ringing and it had been 2 hours! Guess I needed that! Got the laundry we had left all done. Lit some pumpkin and spice and apple candles for the evening and hunkered down with a Paula Deen magazine full of autumn recipes and articles.

Enjoying the quiet, but missing the family. Glad they will be here tomorrow night!

Fab Friday

Well, we are here! What a difference 14 days makes. Much cooler, tons of fall color on the mountains. Autumn is in the air. When we came out of Smith's yesterday afternoon with a few 'weekend provisions' you could just feel it in the air! Ahhhh, just love this time of year.

Natalie and Robert came up last night and I put on a pot of Clam Chowder. It was appropriate for the the weather, and Duff had a hankering for it and I was happy to oblige! Natalie did a puzzle and I did some relaxing reading and the guys watched--you guessed it--football. Tomorrow is the big BYU/UCLA game and we are rooting our little hearts out. GO COUGARS!

****I just wanted to note this. We flew on 9/11 to get here. Both airports were eerily empty. We raced to get to Long Beach only to pull right in to a parking spot, not one line to wait in, and the concourse completely empty, except for our flight. I don't even think our flight was full. Then in SLC, it was like a ghost town when we landed. We kept commenting on how great this was that there were no crowds and how we 'lucked out', only to wonder later on the drive up the canyon if the lack of travelers was due to it being the anniversary of 9/11. It was definitely not your normal flying experience by any means. Duff went down and picked up Vince S. and Mike K. who are our guests for the weekend. They both graduated from UCLA, and are Duff's right hand co-workers and friends. Both airports were busy today. Hmmmm....That day in 2001 changed so much forever.*****

Catch-Up!

We got home from Utah late Sunday night. The drive went better than expected: absolutely NO traffic through Vegas or on the other side of it. Whew. We almost stayed another day and then realized that it would be holiday traffic Monday afternoon/evening and that stretch of the road would be a parking lot. It may not seem like big news to others, but this is the WORST part of the whole drive because of the Las Vegas traffic and those of us who travel it frequently know that you plan the entire drive based on what 'time' you will hit Vegas! It's even the most asked question amongst friends and acquaintances: How was the Vegas traffic? Haha!

We spent Monday recuperating and getting back into the swing of things. Most importantly gearing up for the first day of 8th grade for Christine on Tuesday. Ohhhhh, (moan). One more year until high school. One more year off before we start early morning seminary (again). 15 months until she starts DRIVING! I feel like I'm getting older by the second. On the other hand, it is really nice to have more interactive and meaningful conversation with her. She IS growing up, and doing it nicely so far.

I was going to apologize for not blogging for the last little while. But decided I won't. I appreciate all the phone calls and emails asking if I'm okay. I am. It has just been so nice to take some time off and kind of be disconnected from cyberspace. I've been reading books, watching sunsets with my kids from the deck until the last speck of light is gone over the mountain, relaxing, pondering, walking, watched the Olympics, helping Nats and Rob move and get settled, and enjoying some down and quiet time, taking some 'time out' so to speak. We have a very hectic schedule coming home with a lot of big things again coming up and we've loved the small season to regroup.

I am going to attempt to journal the last two weeks and now that I know how to work the 'post options' I can put them all in the right place! So stay tuned!

The Closer

Okay. I have always been into 'who-done-it' books and shows. I love a good mystery to solve. I quickly got hooked on the TNT show The Closer with Kyra Sedgewick. I've always liked her anyway. My girls are into this program too. So while Duff and Mike headed back to Provo to make a final decision on the tv for the family room, Christine and I settled in and cozied up on the couch with Darla for another new episode! Christine is good at making predictions and quite often is right on with solving it.

Earlier in the day we went down the canyon to run some errands and stop over at Natalie and Robert's to see what we could do to help. They had a good first day of school. The law school starts a whole week earlier than everybody else. Homework already for them. Went to Costco to look at their tv's. Liked them a lot, but didn't realize they were kind of expensive. It's Costco, right? So we headed over to Best Buy and had much better luck. We just didn't have the right measurements we needed. Darn.

Next, over to Knee Shorts. We have to take advantage of this kind of shopping while we can! Duff and Mike got some great shorts, Christine got some great cami's and tops for school, and Mike found a BYU t-shirt for Adrianne.

Back up for dinner from Dairy Keen with a scrumptious peach/raspberry shake and then home. After dinner, the guys decided to head back to Best Buy with the complete measurements of the cabinet for the tv.

Gosh, it's so peaceful here up on top of the mountain. Last night we sat on the deck and watched the sunset until the last speck of light was gone. It was absolutely quiet with just a breeze coming from the south. I could have fallen asleep in the deck chair. Ahhhhh.

Yes, I'm Still Here!

Oh, I can hardly believe it's been a week or so! Natalie flew 'home' to socal last Friday morning because none of us thought through enough the rest of her packing up to move situation. She and I spent the next two days repacking all their wedding gifts, consolidating things in boxes, labeling, and dividing into rooms all their things. WHAT A JOB! I had forgotten how involved moving really is.

We 'cleaned up' and went to Matthew K.'s wedding reception that Saturday evening. A darling couple. The reception was in the Gardner's backyard and literally there wasn't even standing room, so we all decided to head out and grab some dinner at Wahoo's for some authentic fish tacos. Apparently many others that had gone to the reception had the same idea and so we had a good time visiting with everyone at the restaurant that we would have otherwise been visiting with at the reception.

Sunday morning we got the truck loaded and used absolutely every inch of available space inside and out. Duff and Brett K. covered it over with a good tarp and bungy cords and Natalie, Darla, and I were finally ready to head on out. As with most trips, we left later than we had planned, but it turned out okay.

We had a very nice drive. I just set the cruise control and we hummed along. Got great gas mileage--went all the way from home to St. George on one tank with some to spare. Hallelujah--we debated on whether to stop in Vegas for one last chance at In-N-Out and decided that we were making such great time and weren't really hungry yet that we would keep going. But when we got to St. G, were thrilled to discover that they now have one in Washington off the very same exit that we use to get to our property!

Got to Jennifer's to pick up Christine around 9pm (she had been there for the week visiting and hanging out with her cousin, Taylor). Surprise! Another of my cousins, Leslie (from Twin Falls, ID) was down, so we had a GREAT and long OVERDUE visit. The 3 of us just picked right up where we left off and made the most of the next hour, before the girls and I headed up the canyon for the cabin.

Funny thing: As soon as we pulled into the south driveway and turned off the motor, Darla hopped right out, ran inside, went straight to where we keep her dish and stood there anxiously looking at us like " well we're here, please get me something to drink!" Then she ran into our room to her kennel and barked until I opened it and she could get all her 'babies' out and then ran all over the place playing. She knows this place and likes it too.

Truly--I don't think I realized how tired I am. For 3 days I literally did practically nothing. I slept, sat, watched the Olympics, read, etc. I kept thinking--get up and do something. Then I went over things in my mind: 3 weddings in a year, Duff's mom passing away, my parents health, church callings, Duff's struggling business in this economy, and Shaun's illness ever present with some difficult turns lately, and I felt the spirit tell me that this time is a gift to regroup, rest a bit, and to do things in wisdom and order. Wearying yourself in well doing is important, and now is a season to balance that out.

When I let that sink in, I could feel myself relax. By Friday night I could feel strength returning. Yesterday I felt much better. I finally grocery shopped (I got really creative with what we had here in the cupboards and freezer!), cleaned out the south garage so we could park in it (it had been the storage unit for all Robert, Natalie, and Shaun's college stuff), watered trees, walked with the dog, and deep cleaned the kitchen, took all the trash down to the dumpsters. It felt sooo good.

Duff, Mike, and Christine stopped in Provo at Natalie and Robert's with all the rest of their gifts,
unloaded, and headed up the canyon. That was one of the best sounds in the world when they honked as they turned the last switchback and came up the street! Darla and I ran out to greet them and we all fell into each other's arms, hugging, laughing, and crying to be together. There is nothing like FAMILY. It's been quite a week for all of us. Which brings me to this:

To each and every ONE of you--Dad and I LOVE you all so much. Each of you is unique and special. Something is missing when we are all not together. This life takes us in many directions where that is not always possible, but let's make a promise to each other that we will do WHATEVER it takes so we will be together forever. Sometimes in this life things seem difficult, but the real tragedy would be not being together eternally. We can make it!

Wednesday

More of the same. Nats and Robert down in Provo getting settled.

The contractor was here prepping the game room for the new floor installation. Nicole was also here. I asked both of them to meet me here at noon to go over a final calendar for completion. This has drug on longer than we have wanted. It went well and we are all on the same page. Even with a little padding, the finish date is set for October 18th. Realistically, that may not happen in the world of construction, so we shall see. But I am optimistic. We really needed a bathroom down there! If the finished product will be as cool as the paint job than it's going to be awesome! The floor will be done next Monday. It is a floating cork floor. Looks pretty nice!

I took Christine to the airport so she could fly home for school registration tomorrow. While I was down that way I found myself drawn to Gardner Village, of course! I was able to walk around on my own time meter and visit shops. I picked up some cross-stitch projects, a couple of small framed items for the new shelves here, and some bakery items from the Naborhood Bakery to bring back here. I sat and watched the ducks in the stream. It was early evening and gorgeous. A great treat to relax and ponder. I've been wondering why and how we get so busy that we don't do more of that. It is a good thing. I had a fine drive back to the cabin, where we warmed up some leftovers for dinner and watched the Olympics.

(Subliminal message: Shaun, I love you...)

Tuesday

Today was a lot like yesterday. Christine is in a MUCH better place. Wow, I have my daughter back instead of someone/thing else! Oh, growing up.

Nats and Robert took the truck and met some friends at their apartment to unload everything. Natalie heard back from the financial aid department and she is good to go with her tuition. That is a relief for them. Robert should hear shortly on his. That way their loans will go more in the living expense category instead of tuition.

I had a horrible headache yesterday. Today that is gone, but I'm still so out of it. Christine and I did some tidying up and took on the task of getting the trees watered. For many years, they had not been taken care of very well--very minimally if at all. You can see where many were lost and just cut off at the base. It makes me sad. So little by little we are getting the landscaping back in shape. Last year we cleared out a ton of scrub oak that had just been running amuck. The trees have space now and are beginning to thrive. We had a LOT of new growth this year and they look 'happy'. My family thinks I'm nuts, but I go out and talk to them and touch them and take care of them. They may be skeptical, but I believe it's working! Haha! Their branches point up and out now and are more full. The quakies leaves just dance in the breeze. Okay, maybe I am nuts! In all the scrub oak clearing, we found some little groves of Maples that we didn't realize were there. They are just thriving. Lush and full this year and we have discovered some new ones starting. Such a different landscaping than at home in CA. I enjoy the difference and the blessing to experience both.

I found some Tilapia in the freezer, so I cooked that up for dinner. Had canned green beans from the food storage. Not a favorite with the family, but I love them. Made some noodles and dressed them up with some butter and a little parsley, thyme, salt and pepper. Not a bad dinner for no grocery shopping.

More Olympics. Track and field has started this week. Some people don't like that as much as the swimming and gymnastics. I love the energy of a good race. I love the hurdles. My brother ran track in high school and I so enjoyed going to his meets. He did the hurdles and relays. So that part of the summer olympics takes me back to those happy times. I've really become a couch potato with the Olympics this time. Go USA!

Monday

Too dang pooped to do a thing! Guess it's a 'sign' of starting to get a little older. Dang it!

Really didn't do much of anything. Last night I parked in the garage and left the truck loaded. No reason to unload everything just to pack it up again. We just pulled out our very small pieces of luggage very carefully from the back seat of the cab. We had no room to pack much personal things. ( I will be doing laundry regularly...) Christine sat inbetween Nats and I in the front seat with her small suitcase behind her head on top of everything else in the back of the cab. It was late and she fell asleep with her head on my shoulder. Ahhh, love those moments. She can be so 13, and then so little girl again. There's nothing like a mom, I guess.

Natalie and Robert took care of externship paperwork, financial aid paperwork, and went to buy all their books and sell back last years books. They went to the law school where there are a lot of 1L's who started today with orientations, etc., who were more than happy to purchase the books at a much reduced price than they could get them from the bookstore. Very smart on Robert's part, because he and Nats got more money for them than if they would have sold them back to the bookstore. And newlyweds need money!

Christine slept until noon. Jenn warned me that she and Taylor basically ran at full speed everyday and didn't get much sleep. I remember those summer fun filled times! So I just let her sleep. Last night when we got here, she lost it. She didn't know which end was up, she was crying, loved everyone, hated everyone, wasn't going to sleep in her bed, only on the couch, and then finally ended up with me in my room. She was a much different gal today after a good sleep. Much happier! Whew! After all that, she still took a nap on the couch and fell asleep at 8pm. I've tried to move her to the bed, but I can't even rouse her, so I'll just let her stay there. She made some amazing chocolate chip cookies earlier tonight. She is really getting good in the kitchen.

I'm going to watch the news and then more Olympics. I'm tired, but not sleepy, if that makes any sense at all. I can't seem to do much. Why?

Do You Hear What I Hear?

We woke up today, and I said, "Duff, listen to that!"

He rolled over and said, "What?"

"Do you hear that?"

"No."

"Exactly! It's QUIET! and STILL!"

We never got out of our jammies today. Just now brushed our teeth. Got the trees good and watered, light bulbs changed, napped, read. Ahhhhh. Sweet Divine Goodness!

Where Are We?

We got off the plane, headed up and over the mountain, stopped and got corn on the cobb, tomatoes, and Green River Watermelon for lunch at a roadside stand. De-lish-ous!

Yes, you guessed it! We are in Midway at the cabin. Just Duff and I! A little R and R after the wedding and some BYU football 'business'! Tonight we are going to a dinner with Bronco Mendenhall and Robbie Bosco. Duff is in heaven!

I'll report back later!

(Okay--I had NO IDEA! Yeah, we went to a football dinner all right. There is this new booster group at the Y called the Coaches Circle and Duff told me a while ago that he joined us up, but I just assumed it was part of the Cougar Club. Well, it is, but an additional part. I really didn't pay that much attention to what he was telling me about it at the time. Well,it was their 1st Inagural dinner last night and that is what we went to. There are only 148 members or something like that. There were about 100 of us there last night. We ate in the Blue Zone room under the west bleachers at the stadium. Tucanos catered. YUM!

We sat down, and a couple comes over and asks if they can join us at our table. We said of course! Turns out the guy was Oscar Mink and his daughter and he served his mission with Duff in Colorado! Boy did they have fun reminiscing! But I guess what I was not prepared for was that LaVell Edwards and his wife were there, Robbie Bosco, Tom Holmoe, Bronco Mendenhall, and Dave Rose (bball head coach) were all there sitting one table away. Oh, and also President Samuelson and his wife. You know, just an ordinary day in the life of Don and Cindy--NOT!! They had highlight video playing as we arrived on big flat screens all over the room. We got 'stuff' to take home too. And they even thought of us wives: Big Salt City candle jars! (which the candle lover in me was very excited about along with the football) They all gave speeches, updates, and then a Q & A where we could ask any questions we wanted. We learned some very interesting facts, information, and perspectives!

While we were in the buffet line, we met a man whose sister is a big time politician in our neck of the woods. Our boys all have recognition certificates for their Eagle Scout from her. Anyway--he asked us where we stayed when we come up. We told him we have a cabin here. He asked where, and it got around to the fact that we bought it from BYU/church. His eyes got wide and he asked us if it was Cougarhaven. We said, yes. He told us that he had been there before and loved it and that 'they' are really missing not having it anymore! He kept saying, so you're who bought it, so you're who bought it. He was happy that we were BYU fans and would carry on Cougarhaven!

So, what an evening! I guess I better pay more attention when Duff signs us up for things!