Rie's Corner

2010-12-12T20:16:00.001-08:00

Our new couch!

FINALLY

2010-12-12T19:25:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

I am determined to update this blog. However, since I have no photos and nothing to say, I don't think it is going to be very interesting!

This last month has been pretty full with the performances I have done with Sisters in Song. We go around to nursing homes, ward enrichment nights, etc. and I play the piano for a group of about 12 ladies. It has really touched my heart as we go around to all the seniors after the performance and shake their hands and wish them a Merry Christmas. Of course, a lot of times they just stare at us, but there have been some special moments. Several times the ladies have had tears in their eyes as they thanked us. They appreciate it so much. It has been a reminder to me this Christmas time that we really do feel happier when we serve others. Even when I haven't played my best, I go home feeling happy that we brightened someone's day. We have two more performances tomorrow and then one next Sunday night, and then we are done for awhile. I loved a Christmas card we got from Belinda Stephens in Aberdeen. It said "When Christ is in your heart, then Christmas is in the air." I hope we can all take the time this year to try to do something nice for someone who is sad or lonely--maybe that person even lives in the same house as us!

I received a sharp reminder yesterday that the best way to help people change is through positive reinforcement and sincere praise--not through criticism. Hope I can do better. Sometimes I tend to dwell on the negative, and this doesn't help anyone. I was glad for the reminder. (even though it was given completely unintentionally).

Oh guess what? I found some photos--hurray. This is our Thanksgiving dinner at Olive Garden

Messed Up

2010-05-30T14:55:00.000-07:00

Something happened to the format when I posted this. Sorry--the words and photos are all out of place. Hope you can figure it all out.

2010-05-30T14:10:00.000-07:00

The Morning After!!!

Look at Her!

Me talking to my Utah kids (woops!)

Becca loves me to take photos with her. I think I was in my pjs for this one!

The girls on the future temple site. Beautiful girls and beautiful site.

May was full of rugby, violin, temple ground breaking and grad. Doesn't KatiAnne look beautiful all dressed up for grad? She went with Stephen Crane and had a great time. I didn't put any rugby photos in because Daddy has sent lots of those I think. KatiAnne had a great season. Her team didn't go as far as they had hoped, which was SO disappointing for her, but she felt good about how she did. She is a tough player. Becca performed beautifully at a violin festival. She has her grade six exam coming up in three weeks. She says she is nervous about it, but I think I am the one who is nervous. She doesn't seem to worry too much about it.

Becca realized the other day that she is going to be home ALONE (with just her parents) for four whole years. Oh, she is depressed about that!!! What I think is depressing is that AFTER that four years, it will just be her parents at home. How I love being a Mother!! Do you all want to move back home for a little while??? I will make you some delicious food!

Really, though, I am so proud of each of you and who you have become. You bring me great joy. Always remember how much I love you. And enjoy your own precious years of having children at home. (coming soon for Lara and Sheri.)

Hey I'm back!

2010-04-11T10:32:00.001-07:00

Well, after a two month break I am finally back to blogging! I guess our trip to Maui gave me the rest I needed and I can get going again! We had a lovely time--It was just so nice to feel the sun and the warmth. I don't realize just how very much I miss it until I feel it again. We went snorkeling three times and that was so neat for me because I had never done it before. I had no idea how neat it is. The first time was great but I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have because I was just learning how and I kind of hyperventilated--I thought I had to breath constantly ! I felt a bit dizzy and sick. I did better the next time.

I did lose my $800 pair of glasses somewhere in Maui, so that was pretty dumb. At least I have a spare pair here at home to wear. I'm afraid we might have left our GPS system in the rental car as well. Those kind of things are a frustrating addition to the costs of a holiday.

You can imagine the shock to our systems as we flew into Calgary from Maui and faced a winter blizzard. Oh well--that is life, and to be honest it is always nice to be home--wherever that home may be.

We took about 300 photos so it was impossible to put them all here, but at least these give you the feeling of warmth!!

2010-02-15T14:16:00.000-08:00

Auntie Becca is sure a good help

Little teddy bear!
Wow, look at those eyes.
After 29 Valentine's Days we are still in love!

Isn't Maya a beautiful baby?
KatiAnne did Caden's hair today.

Becca Losing a Star :(

You have probably seen some of these photos before. With Daddy's SNEM's and JanaLee's ability to keep up on her blog, I feel like all the cute pictures have already been sent. So I went back to a few older ones of Maya that MAYBE you haven't seen.

We just barely got nine new pot lights put into our kitchen, so hopefully it will no longer be so dark and dingy during winter nights. (Actually, dingy isn't the right word--I love my house!). But the one thing I really missed from our last home was how light it always was. Hopefully, we have now solved this problem.

How wonderful it was to have David and Sheri surprise us again with another visit. We loved having them. They are so much fun to be around. Hopefully they have recovered from their awful day of traveling home.

KatiAnne has had a really long weekend. She has had some fun with friends and started her new job. Eventually, when KatiAnne gets up the courage she will be able to get herself and a friend into movies for free!! We are all hoping for lots of movie watching this next year or so!

Daddy gave me a beautiful pearl necklace for Valentine's Day. He is an awfully amazing sweetheart!

You would think that after four months of not blogging I would be able to think of something to write, but that is not turning out to be the case. Life just continues on--a little work, a little play, a little reading, a little piano, etc. -- but lots of love. I love you all so much. You are each precious to me, and truly are the joy of my life. Have a great day everyone, and I won't wait four more months to write.

Hairstyles, More important things.

2009-10-11T12:57:00.000-07:00

We were treated to some different hairstyles this weekend. KatiAnne decided to go Jamaican on us, and Becca just made hers extra, extra beautiful. JanaLee was quite a trooper as she put the dreadlocks in KatiAnne's hair just hours before going into labor. KatiAnne has a friend named Sam who has had dreadlocks for months. He had to shave them off last night so he could put in his mission papers. KatiAnne wanted to go to the "shaving off" party with her own dreads. She thought they were pretty awesome. Thankfully, though, she doesn't want to keep them. She found it really interesting how she was treated differently by people the two days that she had them. A good lesson in the fact that people DO judge you by your looks, but also that they shouldn't!

Much more important than hair, though, was the addition of our little baby girl (can I say "our" JanaLee?) with only a small amount of hair!! What a thrill it was to see her and hold her yesterday. And it was truly joyful to see how Caden reacted to her. It was the sweetest thing in the world to see the INSTANT love and acceptance. Of course, I'm sure he'll have adjustments, but it filled my heart to watch him. JanaLee looked great, and seems to be doing well. We can't wait to go over again and hold little ?? (hint, hint, JanaLee).

I gave a talk this morning in church. I think it went alright. It is honestly true what they say about gaining the most when you give the talk rather than when you hear it. Thinking and reading about temple worship and the blessings that come from it has really touched my heart the last couple of weeks.

Love you all. My prayers are with each one of you in your challenges, sorrow, and happy times. Never forget that the Lord is in charge and is guiding your life!

HELLO AGAIN

2009-09-08T08:34:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. What a fun summer we had. I am so sad that it is over. A few of our leaves are starting to change color already. It makes me feel sick to my stomach!! We tried to do one last "summer" thing last night. Daddy wrote you all about it, so I won't say too much more, other than that it was quite an experience. I have put a few more photos of it up. Becca was sure that we were dying on our boat ride over. The hamburgers were burned to a crisp on the outside and barely done on the inside. I posted a photo of KatiAnne's hamburger. Appetizing, eh? But we had such a fun time--we laughed alot and won't forget it very soon!! Look at the beautiful picture Becca took of the sun while we were there. I think it looks like a postcard. The other photo is of our garden. We started out with such high hopes for our garden this year. Daddy and KatiAnne built it, and we excitedly planted the seeds and watered it lovingly. Well, I think I told you all how our zuchinni plant ended up only having female flowers which means we can't get any zuchinni. Well that put a real damper on things. And then the grass started to grow--and grow--and grow. For half the summer we TRIED to weed the grass out, but we finally just gave up. You see the results. We have harvested a few peas. And who knows, maybe we'll get a carrot or two. It really is quite a sad story--oh well. Maybe next year.

We went over to meet our new next door neighbors on Sunday night. And we discovered that they had been our neighbors over in Rocky Ridge Cove for four years. And we never met them--or even saw them that we know. I got all nervous though that they heard bad things about us--cause I know some of our neighbors didn't like us (or at least our dog!). Anyway, they seemed really nice and I hope we can be good neighbors this time.

LOVE YOU ALL.

Woops

2009-07-19T14:24:00.000-07:00

I thought I would be able to edit the post after putting the photos on, and do the writing afterwards. But I can't figure out how to do it. So I'll just write separately. We had such a wonderful time in Utah. It was great to spend time together and have so much fun. We miss you all. As you know, though, the ride home was eventful and KatiAnne and Becca ended up very sick. The photo you see of our door was a "tribute" given by the girls' friends. It was as cute as ever, but after a day or so I thought I had better take it down, before we frightened all of our neighbors.

We had Aubrey with us for a week as soon as we got home while her parents were in Hawaii. One day I took them to a wig shop as they want to create secret identities for themselves (like Hannah Montana). We took a million fun pictures of them. I only added one of Becca. We also went to the Stampede where Caden enjoyed sitting in a tree and getting VERY frustrated at another little boy who also wanted a turn. Becca bought a special nail painting kit at the Stampede and you can see the beautiful results. Another really fun thing we did was to go to Denny's at 1:00 or so in the morning. It was on our summer "To Do" list, and so we did it. It was actually one of the funnest things we've done!! We all laughed and laughed.

Becca and KatiAnne both did great on their backpacking girl's camp. Just before they left I took a photo of them standing by the car that KatiAnne's friends soaped and powdered. It cost 14 dollars at the car wash to get it clean!!! I love having teenagers. (Actually, I really do!)

A Bit More

2009-07-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks

2009-07-19T14:08:00.000-07:00

Sunday update

2009-06-28T12:45:00.000-07:00

These photos show Caden in his very favorite place in the whole world "Pa's Honda". He would spend hours everyday playing in the car if we'd let him.

KatiAnne was going through old boxes and found her much loved Roman costume from grade two or something. She had to try it out on Caden. The other two photos show my attempt at looking younger. KatiAnne curled my hair with the straightener, which is apparently, the WAY to curl hair now. It was fun to have her do it.

This week I got released from being choir director. Even though I hated begging people to come to choir, there were many parts of the calling that I really loved, and I will miss it. My new calling is nursery leader. I think that will be good.

Normal Life

2009-06-24T12:53:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I'm finally back again to update you on my life. Trouble is, there is not much going on. It is just life as normal here in Calgary.

Becca had her violin recital on Saturday and did very well. She is done with lessons for the summer except that she is doing a summer institute in July and so she still has to practice. She actually has a pretty good attitude about it which is great. These photos were taken by Alex Bennion at a recent violin event. He has got his own photography company and everything.

This last week at school has been one big party for Becca--they have gone to a movie, gone rollerskating at Lloyds, gone on a forest field trip, had a barbeque, and it is only Wednesday!

JanaLee's house is still getting worked on so we get to have her and Caden at our house each day. And then Ben comes for dinner too. So it has been lots of fun. I think we will really miss them when they stop coming each day. I'm sure JanaLee will be thrilled, though, to get her own house back.

Daddy has taken KatiAnne and some friends out to the boat this afternoon--our first boating of the year. It is nice and warm today but a bit windy. KatiAnne is excited because it is the Annual Mud Fight at young women's tonight.

David had an appointment with the specialist this morning about getting his hernia repaired. I don't know what the result was because he is still working.

I am excited for our Utah trip. It will be great fun.

MY WEEK

2009-06-06T15:08:00.000-07:00

I really missed Daddy and David while they were gone this week. But I am glad they had such a great trip. Thanks to our Utah family!!

This week was spent mostly watching other people create beautiful things. First of all, Cyndy and Aubrey stayed with us most of the week because their house was getting retiled and painted. While she was here, Cyndy spent nearly three full days sewing the beautiful baby dress you see. It is for Carly's baby that was adopted. The baby is going to the temple this weekend to get sealed and then getting blessed. Wasn't that unselfish of Cyndy? I thought that showed a lot of love. She won't ever even see the baby wear the dress, but she still put so much effort into it.

Then I got to see JanaLee create another of her beautiful wedding cakes. It was her first square one and turned out just lovely. I have no photos but I'm sure she will put some up. She worked so hard on it, and I'm sure was very proud of what she created.

I watched KatiAnne turn herself into a beautiful princess when she went to Grad on Thursday. She had a great time again, and sure looked pretty.

JanaLee reminded me this week of the talk that was given in General R.S. meeting about the importance of "creating". Maybe next week I can report on something that I created.

Love you all.

Hello again

2009-06-01T13:09:00.001-07:00

Once again, I have been surpassed by my children in blogging success. Way to go, daughters!!!! I hope you all have been checking KatiAnne's blog as well--it is fun to read. Have you had problems accessing it?

Anyway, she told you about her grad so I won't--other than to say that it was fun to see her dressed up so pretty, and having such a fun time. She had such a hard time deciding what shoes to wear--(as per photos) It was a big decision!! She actually ended up wearing different ones than shown. Daddy and David just left to drive to Utah. They will stop in Cardston first and do some yard work for Grandma and then drive down tomorrow. I've been telling everyone that I'm going to party all week, but actually I will probably be pretty lonely.

Believe it or not, our trees actually got put in today! After two years of complaining about things, we finally got some nice trees. Hurray!! The ones in the back by the hot tub are still total wimps of trees and are quite embarrassing. But at least the front yard will look decent now.

I just put this photo of Becca in to amaze you all at how grown up she is getting.

Secret to Getting your Way

2009-05-10T17:22:00.000-07:00

you remember wanting to go to Hannah Montana movie and not getting there. Well, I have found the solution. Plan to go on a date with your husband. Get to the theatre late enough that the movie they want to go to is all sold out. Then happen to notice that every other movie available is not rated appropriately. VaVoom!! The only movie left is Hannah Montana. This is the way that I got Daddy to take me to Hannah Montana on Friday night. I really enjoyed it a lot and Daddy thought it was "o.k." ( he actually wasn't TOO thrilled, but he didn't complain).

It has been so fun to talk with you all lately. It makes me happy.

We had fun watching KatiAnne's rugby game yesterday. She got tossed pretty hard sometimes and hurt ALL OVER this morning. But she continues to love it. And she does well.

Becca's friend Erin finally got home a couple of days ago from her 4 month world cruise. Becca had been watching her hamster. Boy, was I glad to see that hamster go. The smell of two hamsters in one room is really more than anyone should be expected to handle. I've got to give Becca credit though--when she did change their cages she really pitched in and got right down to business.

A Few Memories

2009-05-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

2009-05-06T12:40:00.000-07:00

Back to Business

2009-05-06T12:24:00.001-07:00

Hey all,

It is time to get back to business with our blogs, eh? JanaLee and Lara have done it--the rest of us need to shape up! I don't know why we all took such a long holiday, but I declare it OVER. I have sure been grateful for the time I've been able to spend with each of you lately. It has been precious to me. Arizona was WONDERFUL, Utah was SUPER, and by birthday was LOVELY. I had fun shopping with you yesterday, JanaLee. Let's do it again! The only photos I have are just variations of ones you've already seen, but I'll send some anyway just for fun.

Daddy has been as busy as a beaver lately getting our garage all cleaned out, and our storage lockers empty. I love having him home.

KatiAnne left this morning to go on her band trip. It is really exciting this year--they get to go to Lethbridge, Cardston, and Waterton. We will miss her while she's gone. She sure has been loving rugby. Everyday she shows us her new bruises and cuts. She laughs about it but I think she really is pretty sore. KatiAnne, JanaLee, Becca and I went shopping on Saturday to find a Grad dress for KA. It was fun, and she got a lovely dress. She gets to go to two grads.

2009-03-26T19:29:00.000-07:00

Becca's play was yesterday and today. She did such a great job--I love watching her. She has so much life and animation on stage. It makes me smile to watch her. I think she really loved doing it as well. They did different scenes from teenager musicals--like Grease, West-side Story, Hairspray, Footloose and High School Musical. Way to go Becca.

Becca Nominated for an Oscar!!

2009-03-26T19:22:00.001-07:00

2009-03-22T12:32:00.000-07:00

KatiAnne did great at her swim meet. I was proud of her for doing something that was out of her comfort zone. She did well. She also made the rugby team this week and is thrilled about that. She can't wait to start tackling people. Watch out!!!

Activities of the week

2009-03-22T12:23:00.001-07:00

Why Do We Live in Calgary?

2009-03-22T12:14:00.001-07:00

Yesterday KatiAnne was wearing flip flops and shorts. Today we woke up to this. We are so thrilled to be Calgarians. Who else can claim the TOUGHNESS of character, the VALIANCY of spirit, and the MENTAL POSITIVITY that we possess. Yes, we wouldn't move from here if someone MADE us!!! We really believe that everyone should move here--if you are living in Utah, and really want to become the best person you can be, you'd better join us up here. I think it is the only way to make the Celestial Kingdom. So think about it.

Tired of school

2009-03-10T18:51:00.001-07:00

Woops, I forgot to explain one picture--KatiAnne with her biology book. But I guess it is pretty self-explanatory!

Fun around the house

2009-03-10T18:33:00.000-07:00

As you can see from some of the photos above, it has been GREAT to have daddy home more. Caden thinks it is awesome to play with Grandpa. Whenever I tried to read the above book to him, he would close the cover, crawl off my lap, and toddle over to Grandpa.

We had fun last night for family night tie- dyeing some shirts. We probably wouldn't be able to sell them (or even give them away), but we had a good time, and I now have a new exercise shirt. The girls have new pj shirts, I guess.

KatiAnne started rugby yesterday and loves it so far. She is already quite sore--and they haven't started any tackling yet. She thinks it is going to be great!

Becca has a field trip tomorrow to the symphony and so they are supposed to dress up. So she and a friend went shopping for dresses today. Becca still had quite a bit of babysitting money left from her babysitting days. She bought a beautiful dress, but it did deplete her savings by quite a bit. She might even have to start babysitting again.

David and Dad have been working super hard the last couple of days getting things tied up with Chem-Dry. They are hoping the deal goes through really quickly, because the business is drying up like crazy. Hopefully it will all work out.

Hey, everyone--have a happy day! I love you all.

CHANGE

2009-02-27T15:36:00.000-08:00

It is amazing to me how things can change so quickly. With a short 15 minute meeting Daddy's daily life has completely changed. With one or two phone calls, David's business life is going to change dramatically. (For those that don't know someone has offered to buy his business, and he will probably do the deal). In a split second a little boy lost his life when trying to cross the street to his school bus (that was in the news here). It has hit me the past day or so, how we really do not know what the future will bring--in fact, we truly don't really even know what the next hour will bring. That is why I am so grateful for my faith in a Heavenly Father who loves me. I trust Him to guide my life. That is why I am grateful for a prophet who gives us direction. And I am so incredibly grateful for a family who constantly shows love and support. I think we need to just feel such gratitude for every moment of every day, and the things we have been blessed with. I want to learn to really appreciate the here and now. I love you all.

P.S. Daddy is doing great--he has a positive attitude and is looking on this change as a blessing rather than adversity. He is a good example.

Arizona

2009-02-19T18:53:00.000-08:00

Photos from our

last trip to Arizona!

I have to admit that I am pretty excited about our holiday to Phoenix. I hadn't wanted to go to Phoenix at first because I had Hawaii on the brain. But now that it is booked, I am totally chuffed. Gary and I spent an hour or so on the internet tonight trying to choose a house to stay in. Even the pictures look warm! We are also looking for fun things to do--a NBA basketball game, etc. We sure hope you can all come at least for a couple of days.

Family Night

2009-02-15T14:18:00.000-08:00

   KatiAnne thoroughly enjoying her food
   David liked it too
   The only worthwhile thing Becca could think to do with her dinner

Last Monday it was Becca's turn to choose our activity. She chose to go out to dinner. We had earlier been talking about going to a place called the Mongolian Grill (which is a stir fry place). So we assumed that's where she wanted to go. Well, the rest of us LOVED the food, but Becca thought it looked disgusting and would eat nothing but rice. She was not very pleased with our family night activity. As you can see, she did find other things to do with her food rather than eat it.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-15T14:14:00.000-08:00

These are the beautiful flowers that Daddy got me for Valentine's Day. Aren't they wonderful? We were so busy on actual Valentine's day that we went out for dinner on Thursday night. We went to BEARS DEN, which as you know is extremely fancy and nice. We enjoyed it so much--however we were quite a bit poorer when we returned home--and also quite a bit heavier. It was fun.

Sunday afternoons

2009-02-15T13:51:00.000-08:00

If any of you ever feel lonely on a Sunday afternoon, you might feel better by realizing that this is what OUR Sunday afternoons often look like! So you are not missing much. It would be a lot funner around here if we had all of you home! We miss you all lots. We got home from Cardston last night. We had gone down to go to the temple and also to see a play that Aunt Amy was in. She did an amazing job as the mother in Fiddler on the Roof. It was a pretty impressive play for little Cardston.

Grandpa came up to Daddy and me yesterday, and asked if we knew that he had Oldsheimer's disease. We weren't sure if he was making a joke, or not, and didn't know how to react. I felt so bad.

It's fun to be a Grandma!

2009-02-08T13:34:00.000-08:00

KatiAnne and friends at the Trojan Classic

Caden trying to be bigger than he is!
Yesterday was a fun day. I really enjoyed tending Caden while JanaLee and Ben went to a movie. You will have to read Becca's blog for the update on part of it, but I had fun watching him trying to wear my shoes around. I thought he looked quite handsome. By the way, he is not wearing a dress--he is in Becca's old shirt, while his clothes are being washed. Gary and I went out to lunch yesterday at a Mongolian Grill. I loved it, and would sure recommend it as a yummy place to eat (if you like stir fries).

This weekend was the BIG TROJAN CLASSIC at Bowness High School. KatiAnne has been looking forward to this since summer!! It is a basketball tournament that Bowness puts on--but it is THE THING of the year. Daddy and I even went to watch a couple of games because KatiAnne has been so excited about it. Also, there are three members of the church on the team. It was a lot of fun and the whole school was thrilled when Bowness took first place.

David went to the temple this weekend--Good for him. He is starting to think about maybe getting his own place, but needs to figure out if he is going back to school first.

We had a visit from the city by-law officer yesterday. Apparently they have received several complaints about Roxie--actually about US not picking up her messes. I have to give Daddy credit and say that he does pick up after her--so I guess the rest of us need to pick up our socks. I honestly think, though, that people need more to do in their lives if they have time to watch out their windows to see if you pick up after your dog or not. I love you all (except for Roxie).

A Night Out

2009-02-06T08:25:00.000-08:00

Gary had amazing tickets given him for a Flames game last night--worth 235 dollars each. It was KatiAnne's turn to go, but she was loaded down with homework, and for some strange reason Becca didn't seem too interested. So I was the last minute default. It was a lot of fun to go out with Gary on a Thursday night--very unusual! The Flames played lousy, but it was still a fun night. I was really into it for quite a while, but I have to be honest--by the end of the game I just couldn't follow that puck anymore. It moves TOO fast.

KatiAnne was trying to show me how to pose for this photo--but I don't think I quite got it down. I just don't have the sixteen year old moves anymore.

Yesterday I had my first physical in quite a few years. It is always great fun. I was laying on the table in the you-know-what position and my phone started ringing and ringing. It made me laugh.

You are all doing amazing blogs. I absolutely LOVE to read them. Keep it up--that is an order!!! Love you all.

Skiing

2009-01-30T19:43:00.000-08:00

Well, we forgot to take our camera--like usual at important times. But I still have to write about going skiing today. Daddy took the day off work so he could take KatiAnne up to the mountains. Becca didn't want to go, so I was going to stay home to pick her up from school. But JanaLee volunteered to do it, and it was pretty warm outside, so my usual excuses were fading away. I actually decided to go of my own free will and choice. But I told Gary I was going to stay on the easy run the WHOLE time, and not to bother me about it. So Gary and KatiAnne went off to do REAL skiing, and I totally enjoyed my slow, easy pace. In fact, I gained so much confidence that I decided to go on the harder hill--not the HARD hill, mind you--just the hardER hill. Well, the first ten seconds of it I fell down, and continued to do so quite often the rest of the way down. I ended up getting down the steeper parts by sliding on my bottom or my back. It works quite well!!! I even pulled KatiAnne part way with me. But I have to admit, it was lots of fun, and I was SO glad I went. Next time, we are going to force Becca to come with us too. Have a great weekend everyone.

My day

2009-01-27T19:39:00.000-08:00

Another quiet day, but a good one. I just stayed at home and tried to get things done here. I had fun watching KatiAnne make and decorate cupcakes to take around and "ding dong dash". KatiAnne had two dates scheduled this week, but they both got postponed. She thought that was pretty dumb. Becca got herself up at 5:30 this morning and got her practicing done before school. It was GREAT. I bet she is exhausted tonight though. We are watching Aubrey for two days while her folks go to a convention in Canmore.

Tuesday

2009-01-27T19:29:00.000-08:00

Monday

2009-01-26T13:30:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. My visiting teacher just left. We had a good visit and decided that we need to do MORE in our lives. Her idea was to input names in the computer for family history work--like Sheri used to do. I think that's a good idea. I also have a goal to do some service for someone each week. The last two weeks I took dinner to someone in the ward--but this week I am having trouble thinking of someone. Would any of you like dinner brought to you?! I never thought this day would come, but I honestly am finding myself with time on my hands, and want to do something worthwhile. Of course, blogging is good! KatiAnne has gone snowboarding today with friends up in the mountains. It is still quite cold, but I'm sure they'll have fun. When Becca comes home from school today we are going to try to figure out some new motivator for practicing violin. And if anyone is interested, Roxie has now messed in the house two days in a row. She is not my favorite creature right now.

2009-01-24T16:24:00.000-08:00

Becca has really been missing her friend Cealy who is on holiday. She also misses her other friend Erin who has gone on a 4 month world cruise. Can you believe it? I think I am jealous.

2009-01-24T16:16:00.000-08:00

Move over everyone!! Caden is taking over the massage chair.

Saturday

2009-01-24T16:09:00.000-08:00

Hi family,

It was so fun to talk with all of you today. Hope the Utah crowd all gets feeling better. It was so cold here today--just makes you want to stay inside all day. However, we did go get some more food storage. Daddy spent the day organizing and figuring out what more we need. I made some cookies. David had one job. KatiAnne and Becca are doing things with friends. Daddy and I are going on a date tonight--to dinner and then maybe a movie or something. I was so silly last night--we started watching a movie and then ended up turning it off because it had a lot of dirty language in it. I started to cry!! Not cause I cared about the movie per say, but because I so wanted to have a date. Pretty dumb, I know. But I got tonight's date out of it, so it was worth it! Hope you all have a lovely Sunday tomorrow, and that Sheri can finally get her recommend. Good luck on your talks, JanaLee and Ben. You'll do great.

My good-looking husband, KatiAnne during exam week, and babysitting fun.

2009-01-22T18:48:00.000-08:00

2009-01-22T18:43:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone. Just thought I'd say hello. Things have been pretty quiet around here. David's business is SO slow, which means that I don't have many phone calls to answer. KatiAnne can drive herself everywhere now, and so I have much less driving to do. I actually had time today to make homemade spaghetti sauce. Wow--isn't my life exciting! Dave and I went to the gym today, and he helped me work my arms. I thought I was done WAY before David thought I was done. I thought I'd add a couple more pictures. Enjoy them!

Can't believe I'm doing this

2009-01-20T18:49:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I am actually doing a blog. Me? But it will be fun. Hope everyone will join in. Maybe I'll figure out something exciting to put on it!