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I spent the evening pulling out Halloween boxes and putting up decorations. Unfortunately, I picked one of the hottest days of the past three weeks. It was toasty today, but it was fun to pull out all our stuff.  Taylor and Shaylie and their friends had fun dressing up in all the costumes, which reminded me of doing the exact same thing each year when we were kids.  I especially remember the Indian gunny sack dress and the red yarn Raggedy Ann wig.  I guess not much changes, but don’t ask my daughter if that is true….I have to tell you what she said the other day.

She (Taylor) came home from school the other day and I thought she looked especially cute. I had just bought her a new outfit and I told her I thought she looked terrific. I asked her if any of the kids in her class had commented on her new duds and she immediately gasped and rolled her eyes at me. She said, “No one comments on people’s clothes anymore. What are you from the 20th century or something?”  Well, I guess I am, but I still didn’t understand what that had to do with the price of peanuts.  Oh well, I must be getting old.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to conference this weekend.  President Hinckley is getting so old and frail looking. It wouldn’t surprise me if it was his last. I hope not though.  It also means no Primary so I get a day off.  Always nice.

Hope everyone is doing well.  Haven’t heard from too many with the posts.  Feel free to drop us a line. We love to get comments on our blog.  Love to all…

I can’t believe it….October is almost here.  I am excited to get ready for Halloween. My girls want to have matching costumes this year but they don’t know exactly what yet.  I have a new house (palette) for decorating this year so it should be fun.  I saw the cutest “snow” globes for Halloween with ghosts and flying bats. I can’t believe all the great stuff they have.

Scott made it home, and was only depressed for a couple days about his trains. It seems that most of the parts can be replaced and Percy is going back to the company for replacement too.  So all will be well.

I have been walking every morning after the kids go to school. It’s been great for me and the mornings are so cool these days. I love it.  I am trying to make this a habit for me. I just hope I can keep it up when it starts to get really cool.

Taylor found out yesterday that one of the girls in her class lives just down the street from us…so she is feeling a little better about some things.  And Girl Scouts starts tonight, so she’ll get to see her friend Emily again.

We had a really great home evening last night.  Taylor asked some wonderful questions about what happens after we die.  We got to talk about the Plan of Salvation and clear up some of her misunderstandings.  She thought only Mormons go to heaven, which is not what we believe at all. In fact, when I told her that we teach that everyone goes to heaven, even so-called “bad” people she was quite shocked.  I guess that is why it is good to have Family Home Evening…so we can teach and learn from each other.  Anyway, she is an amazing girl.  I could tell she was really trying to understand the Lord’s plan for us.  I love that about her…she has never taken anyone elses word for it, she always has to study it out and learn for herself.  Anyway….I digress.

Shaylie is doing well in school and has plenty of friends to play with, but…she misses our old neighborhood too.  I was taking her to a birthday party for one of her friends (in the old place) and as we drove nearer, she started to cry and ask why we had to move away?  Poor little girl.  She was worried that nobody at the party was going to remember her, but of course they did.  So I think she is going to be okay.

I also just had the good news that my “Making the Friendship Connection” article has been picked to be featured in the Babies newsletter from ClubMom.  That means it will be sent out to everyone instead of them coming to find it.  It’s very exciting.

Well, this post has been much rambling and random thoughts.  I hope everyone is doing well.  Love to all…

Scott’s on his way to SLC for his annual GeekFest….I don’t think that’s the official name, though.  We had a little stress before he left, mostly my fault. 

I had my primary presidency meeting this morning and several of the people had to bring their kids with them. I didn’t think it would be a big deal, we got the Big Room ready for them and thought they would just play while we met…but some escaped and made their way down to Scott’s MOST TREASURED TRAINS in the living room.  Their mom came down to round them up right away but not before the kids broke the couplers on several trains, ripped the box of the Thomas engine, and generally destroyed the whole thing.  Most of it was fixable but we will have to order and replace the couplers, if not replace the whole car.  Scott was not a happy person when I called to tell him, but fortunately, it wasn’t as bad as I told him on the phone since I was able to fix a lot of the damage.  I should have realized that the kids would not stay where I wanted them and put the trains up before the meeting.  But I didn’t.  I’ve been making a lot of these shoulda-woulda-coulda mistakes lately.  It’s not fun.  I hope I can get my act together one of these days.

The mom said she would be happy to replace what is broken, so that is good. We don’t know exactly what it is going to cost since we have to do some research to find the right parts and replacements etc.  It could be a lot or not much.  I hope not much.

Well, I hope everyone is enjoying the cooler weather.  We are!  Let us know how you are doing…Love to all!

Taylor made it back safely from the Zoo and, despite a little mix-up with the pick-up, she had a great time.  They got snowed on and had to sleep indoors rather than in tents like they planned and they visited the planetarium the next day.  Taylor had fun on the Moon Bounce, a moon gravity simulation. 

I got to see Cats this weekend out at Tuacahn.  It was very good– not what I expected to see, but not entirely surprising either.  I’d heard a lot about it over the years, including the famous song, but even  though I knew it well, Grizzelda still brought me to tears.  I went with Anissa, Mom and Anje and during the intermission some kids were going up on stage to talk to Old Deuteronomy, who apparently stayed out on stage for this purpose. Anje ran up and sat on his lap for a minute or two.  I cracked myself up by asking her if she told him what she wanted for Christmas, but maybe you had to be there.  It was fun.

All my meetings went well. I am very happy with my calling. I’ve got great counselors and I love working with the Primary children.  So far, I have no complaints. It’s been just right to keep me from getting bored all alone at home by myself during the day.  I guess I always had housework for that, but it’s not anywhere near as fun.

We have another busy weekend coming up but Scott won’t be here for it. I guess he has to go up to SLC for a meeting.  We’ll miss him, we always do.

As always, we hope to hear from all of you who read our blog. Let us know how you are doing…we love you. Post again soon…

I have added some pictures to our Photo Gallery

Shaylie’s 6th Birthday Party

Taylor’s To and From Girl Scout Camp

July 24th, 2006

Railfanning on Trip

We’ve got tons to do  or not do, depending on the situation, starting tomorrow.  Dixie Roundup Rodeo and parade (we’ve been promising the kids to go for years now), temple night (but we may miss this because of the rodeo), Taylor’s going up north on Friday night to the Snooze at the Zoo (I’m worried about the weather since it’s supposed to snow as low as the benches), Cedar City’s SkyFest Balloon launch on Friday morning (but it may be too early and stormy for this); on Saturday, Primary activity for me and the girls, Elder’s quorum boating activity for Scott (Normally we would all go to this but they are both at the same time), and Primary leadership meetings on Sunday.

Sheesh.

I’m sure I’m forgetting something too. With all this stuff, it would be a miracle if I remembered it all.  Hope we survive…I’ll post on Monday if we make it through. Love to everyone….

Five years ago, this morning I sat down on the couch to fix Taylor’s hair for school. She was in Kindergarten and the easiest way to get her to sit still was to turn on the TV and watch cartoons.  Instead of Blue’s Clues, however, we saw the now famous image of smoke pluming out from the first WTC building. 

I listened while Matt and Katie tried to sort out the details–Was it a bomb or something else less innocuous?– I immediately called Scott, thinking that he would be online and was undoubtedly following this very closely.  “What’s going on with the World Trade Center?” I asked him. “Are you watching?”  But because of meetings that morning, he hadn’t yet turned on his computers.  I was surprised to be the first to find out about this whatever it was, and as he tried to dig up information on the computer, I sat with eyes glued to the TV & ear to the phone, as we witnessed the plane fly in and crash into the second WTC building.  I told Scott what I was watching & he relayed information from the web to me over the phone. 

It is hard to think back to that time without feeling the same emotions: shock, disbelief, marvel at the insanity of people, heartbreaking pity for the people we watched as they ran for their lives away from the destruction, and incredible pride in those that ran toward it, to help and even for some of them, to die.  I remember the days and weeks that followed. How our entire country seemed to be of one mind & one heart.  Flags flew in every home, car and business.  I remember feeling so proud to be an American, despite the grief, the fear, the pain that followed this day.  I cried for weeks and weeks.  I watched the TV constantly following the stories, sobbing with the families searching for their missing ones, believing the President as he and other leaders tried to reassure us all that those lost would not go unavenged, searching for the hope in the aftermath of the destruction. 

It amazes me to think that five years have gone by. I remember it like it happened a week ago.  I don’t think I will ever forget.  I hope I never do.  I think the tragedy of that day is worth a few memories and even more tears.  I have cried a few today, though the pain is less,  and I do every time I remember that day. 

This day, five years later,  is different than that day, however. Today, my tears are tempered by the stories I see of families who have moved on and who have grown through faith and time.  I am a different person.  I have changed even though I was not personally affected, though it feels very personal.  I can see that sometimes the worst brings us the best and that we can triumph over even the most tragic of circumstances.  We are all connected and each life can have a profound impact on another, though we may not ever meet or speak.  I am grateful to have learned these lessons and to know that the sacrifice of that day was not for nothing. 

Here is a link to Tonya’s Blog entry on that day: September 11, 2001 

It was so good to see my Dad & Pam this weekend. We started out kind of slow, not a lot of activity…just catching up and visiting.  I also had a lot of primary stuff to do on Saturday and Sunday…so I was hoping everything wasn’t too boring for our visitors….but Monday we headed out to the Sand Hollow Reservior.  It was Labor Day so I was afraid that it would be really busy…and it was….but we found a nice little niche in the rocks to hang out and play.  Scott and Taylor swam out to the newly christened Desert Pearl Island and we watched as they got up their courage to jump off an almost 30 foot outcropping on the island.  Scott went first, and after about 10 running starts, Taylor finally went off the edge…It was incredible.  I’ve decided we need to get some cool water toys…an inflatable raft, or some tubes, or some jet skis…to take out there. We live so close and it was just so much fun to play on the beach…It would be terrific to spend more time out there. 

Anyway, thanks for visiting you guys.  We are so glad that you are moving closer so that we might be able to do it again and more often.  Anytime! We love to have family come and visit us! Love to all! Post a comment! We’ll update again soon…

We survived my first Sunday as Primary President.  Being Labor Day weekend, both of my counselors (and half the teachers) were out of town, so it was me, the secretary and the music people. It ended up going well, but I have to admit I was nervous.  We doubled up some of the classes.  And the sharing time lesson that I planned seemed to hold the kids attention and they seemed to like it. The great thing is that now I know that if I can get through a “worst case scenario” like today, then everything else is going to be fine.   It really wasn’t that bad, but I don’t want to imagine any situations that might be worse.  I had a good time and I think this is going to be a very adventuresome and exciting calling.

Dad and Pam are here visiting…Chad and Anissa have been over to visit off and on as well.  Tomorrow, we are thinking of driving out to the new Sand Hollow Reservoir either to stay and play, or if it is too busy, we’ll just have a look and then come back into town and go to the splash park.  We may go do Blue Bunny ice cream too.  We are having a good time visiting and catching up.

Love to everyone and hope to hear from you soon….

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of my Dad and Pam.  They called yesterday and told us they are making a trip down to St. George to visit.  It will be fun to show off our new house and neighborhood.  They will be staying through Tuesday.  It’s been a while since they’ve visited and we can’t wait!!