It's Over!

Well, Christmas is over and I have to say that I am glad! I really love the anticipation of Christmas, but it seems like such a let-down when it's over. You spend at least a whole month preparing for everything, making sure everything is perfect and then in an hour, it's over. It's kind of weird...maybe I'm the only one that feels like that.

Santa was very good to us this year. I think that next year I'll let him to know to tone down a bit. We don't buy our kids much throughout the year- they get for birthdays and Christmas, anything else they buy themselves, so we do tend to spoil them for Christmas. However, it seems like the spirit of Christmas gets lost somewhere in the ribbons and bows. My New Year Resolution this year is to focus on the simplicity of life and to stop getting so worked up about the "stuff" that bogs us down. More time with family and friends and less time worrying! (Those that know me, know the less worrying is next to impossible!!!!)

We spent Christmas Eve with the Stapelman side of the family. We did a Night in Bethlehem. They made us dress as though we were really there. (Some of us were not so excited about that part!) We ate food that would have been true to the times- chunks of roasted turkey, pita bread, nuts and dried fruits, and cheese. The nativity was acted out and songs strewn in throughout the play. It was really neat. My brother, Jason sang "Oh, Holy Night" acappelo (sp?) He did a great job, it's one of my all-time favorite Christmas songs. It gave me chills.

Afterward, we went to mom's house and opened gifts with her and my brothers and sisters. There were lots of nieces and nephews, but they were all really good about waiting their turns. Steph and David had to leave early to get Brittney to work, so it seemed rather short this year. I took Traci's kids home to her and then we came home. Gary's parents stayed the night again this year so they could be here for Christmas morning. This is the third year they have come up and the kids really look forward to it. They start asking about Halloween if they are staying for Christmas Eve!

Treven woke us up about 6:30. Gary had a super hard time getting up. He kept telling us that it wasn't 7! It didn't work, so he finally gave in and got up. We opened stockings and gifts and then we had hot chocolate, homemade cinnamon rolls (thanks g.g. Wood!) and oranges. Then we got ready and went to Grandpa and Grandma Jones for Christmas dinner. Everything was delicious and we had a great time.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you all the best in the New Year!!!

Best Christmas Present Ever!

We had the best Christmas present ever about 6:30 this morning! Braquel got up to leave for work (she had to be in Burley by 7). Ellie had been really fussy and I had just laid her back in her crib, but she kept crying. I had this horrible feeling as Braquel walked out the door. I just sat in my bed and prayed that she would be safe and no harm would come to her.

About twenty minutes later, the phone rang and my heart sunk to my knees. I knew something was wrong. When I answered the phone, a little shaky voice said, Mom! Then the tears started and she said, " I just rolled my jeep on its side." I really didn't think your heart could drop lower than your knees, but in that moment, it did.

I told her we were on our way. I woke Mikayla up to sit with Ellie and we got dressed as fast as could. I called 911 and she said there was already a fire truck on the scene and a police officer was on his way. Several guys on their way to work tipped her back over. (luckily she had her seat belt on so she was very shaken but unhurt.)

I couldn't believe it when we got to the scene. The roads were pure sheets of ice and the wind had blown drifts across several spots of the road. Her car was on the opposite side of the road and facing the opposite way she had been going. She doesn't remember if she did a cookie or how she got going the wrong direction. She went into the barrow pit and through a guys fence where the car then proceeded to tip over onto the passenger side.

I can't tell you how lucky we were this morning. Once we got the paperwork done and got her home and knew she was safe, I started thinking about if the outcome had been different. We could be spending Christmas in the hospital or worse, in the funeral home. Instead we have our beautiful daughter home with us. So, thank you, God for the best Christmas gift ever!!!!

Happy Birthday, Chelsey

I guess it's finally official! My husband is moving out this weekend!!! From the time the three girls were tiny, he told me that as soon as all three were teenagers, he was moving out of the house and into the camper. He said there was no way he could live with me and three teenage girls....well, Chelsey turned 13 this morning at 2:08! I will sure miss him, but we knew it was coming to this sooner or later!

All joking aside, our baby is now a teenager. It makes me sad in a way...the time has just sped by. You think you have forever with them with they are first born and then all of a sudden, they are going to kindergarten. Then you blink and they are getting married. My mom used to tell me to cherish every moment because they go so fast, but I didn't really comprehend.

We are having the grandparents over for dinner tonight. She wanted salmon, but I couldn't find any so we are having petite sirloin, fried red potatoes, zucchini and carrots, and garlic bread. She wants homemade raspberry ice cream for dessert and I thought I would bake her a white cake to go with it. I make homemade freezer jam and this summer I did a mixed berry. It's Chelsey's favorite so I thought I would throw a little bit of that in the batter. I hope she likes it. I will be taking her to Twin on Friday to do her birthday shopping. They have finals all week and no school Friday, so we decided that would be the best time to go. Should be fun. She is having a friend stay the night on Thursday and she will go shopping with us, too.

Happy Birthday, Chelsey! Love you!!!

Not so Funny Story

One of the reasons that I do this blog is because it's easier to blog than to write in a journal for me. An important thing about journaling is remembering little things that are funny or weird at the time, but then you tend to forget. Today's entry is one of those little stories that I don't want to forget so even though it happened a couple of weeks ago, it's only now getting put down so I will remember it forever!

A couple of weeks ago, we started getting a slight snow storm. Treven couldn't wait to go play in the snow since it was the first storm of the year. He got all of his snow gear on and headed outside. He kept coming in and out of the sliding glass door and was getting my floors super wet. Finally I told him that he had to stay in or out. He got mad and said," Well, I can't make a stupid snowball anyway." (The snow was a really wet snow that wouldn't make a snowball stick together.) By this point, I had turned around and he took off his glove and threw it at me. So I told him that if he was going to act like that he needed to sit on his bed and think about it. He just stood there glaring at me so I went over and picked him up and carried him to his bed.

I told him to stop acting like a brat and he told me that I needed to stop acting like a brat. I popped his mouth (not hard, but enough to get his attention) and told him to sit on his bed and think about the way he was treating his mom. I walked out and set the timer for 10 minutes. When it rang, I went back in his room and said:

Did you think about what happened?

Yes...(he's still glaring at me at this point)

And what are you thinking?

I think I should be adopted! (dead stinking serious!!!)

I really wanted to crack up at this point because he was so sure that he had come up with the answer! I just told him that I thought he hadn't sat there long enough and he couldn't come out until he had a better answer than that!!!!! Kids...you gotta love them!

Getting the Christmas Spirit

Last year, my mom made a Christmas calendar countdown for us. There is a pocket for each of the 25 days leading up to Christmas morning and in each pocket, I tuck in a tag that says something we will do that day to get in the Christmas mood. Some days are simple, like Read a Christmas story or Write a letter to Santa. Some days are more time-consuming (especially on my part!) like Get the Christmas cards ready and mailed or make a Christmas treat and deliver to a neighbor. The kids really enjoy the countdown and I enjoy their excitement as they pull out each new tag. This really forces me to be organized at least a few days in advance, though! I have to say I'm not doing so well this week. Tuesday was supposed to be a day that Gary or I were going to take the kids to "A Christmas Carol" at the theater. However, we had two sick kids home from school that day so I feel like if they are too sick for school, they are too sick for the movies. I went to work and Braquel called and asked if she should switch some around. I said yes, pull out the next day. Well, it was make a treat. Fine, except I hadn't been to town to get supplies due to the two sick kids! I tell her to pull out Thursdays. Open the surprise gift under the tree...no gift because again, mom hadn't been to town. I tell her to pull out Fridays. Mail the Christmas cards...cards aren't ready yet because I hadn't been to town to have the family pictures copied to send out! I'm batting a thousand here!!! I tell her to pull out Saturday...visit Santa! Oh well, I guess my organization isn't always so great. I told her just to watch The Grinch and I would get the rest of the week taken care of!

I hope everyone else is a bit more organized than I am! To make myself feel better, I am committing myself to get a handmade gift done today and get one more person off the Christmas list! Have a great day!!!

Anniversary

Last night Gary and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary. Wow! We got married when I was 16 and he was a whopping 18 years old. While we were having dinner we talked about how we started so young and how lucky we are to be where we are now. It's amazing how much we balance each other out. He's such a great man...he's a wonderful father and husband. He's honest and the kind of man that would give a complete stranger the shirt right off his back. He always sees the good in people and is so positive about everything (which is great because I worry about even the dumbest things). He is definitely the rock in our family. When I worry too much, he tells me to let it go and let him take care of things. There is nothing better than a hug from him when I've had a rotten day! He's so good to listen when I need a sounding board and when he offers advice only when I ask for it.

I just can't go on enough about what a great man Gary is. You'd really have to look long and hard to find anyone that had anything negative to say about him. He makes friends everywhere he goes and he is a loyal friend- one you have for life.

So, Happy Anniversary, babe! I love you more than anything in this world and I'm looking forward to the rest of my life with you.

Top 10 Things I am Thankful For

1. First and foremost, I am thankful for having a God that loves me. Without God, my other things I am thankful for would be non-existent. He provides all blessings and without Him, I would have and be nothing.

2. My wonderful husband, Gary. We have our issues, but there is noone else in the world that I would rather hang out with. He is a man that would do anything for anybody without complaining. He works so hard that I am afraid I will lose him someday, but he does it for our family and I love that about him.

3. My kids, Braquel, Mikayla, Chelsey, Treven, and Ellie. They are my most cherished blessings. I don't know how your love grows everyday, but it does. They are my everything, my pride and joy.

4. Our health. I have been sick with a cold these last few days and I am miserable, but overall we have been blessed with health. We have never had health insurance and so far, we have always had the money when we needed it to take the kids to the doctor and such. Even when Ellie was born and she was so small, I was afraid she would have to stay at the hospital, but thank heavens she was healthy enough to go home.

5. I absolutely love my home and the town we live in. Every night when we go to bed, we talk about how much we love our house. It is so perfect for us (except we could use another bathroom, but I'm not complaining!) Our house has everything we have ever wanted. I can remember that I was so excited it had such weird things like a clothesline and bleeding hearts already started. Simple joys, but I count them as blessings.

6. I'm thankful to live in America. I think there are certainly troubled time ahead, but to be able to believe as I choose is amazing. I believe this land will be blessed as long as we continue to be a Christian nation and I am concerned about how quickly we have taken God out of our country, but it still is one of the best countries in the world.

7. My friends. We have had so many good friends for many years. We haven't had the time to spend with them since we opened the bar, but they have continued to stick with us. We have also made so many new friends in Albion. We have so many wonderful people in our lives that bless us daily.

8. Technology. Sound weird, but how bad would life suck if there were no computers to blog on, no washer to clean our clothes, no cars to get the kids to basketball practice...get my point? Also, the advancement of medicines allow us to live longer, more productive lives.

9. My parents. They taught me so much and made me the person I am today. They have both remarried amazing people and we are so lucky that the kids have so many grandparents to love them. Also, my in laws. What a family I married into...couldn't have asked for better people than Bert and Gary.

10. My love of reading. I love to read (even though I don't have time to read much now) and it has really expanded my mind. I think it's crazy that 200 hundred years ago, only about half of Americans could read.

Well, off to work I go. Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

We're Going to State!

Declo High School is headed to state tonight! Our football team is undefeated and we are playing at the Holt Arena in Pocatello tonight. I got a bartender lined up and Grandma and Grandpa Jones are lined up to keep Ellie and we are headed out soon....I can't wait. It's pretty exciting since this is Braquel's senior year. Braquel and Keven are riding up together and Gary and I are driving up with Mikayla, Chelsey, and Treven. We went to state last year (after a pretty rough start) and lost to Parma in overtime by 1 stinkin' point. Guess who we play this year...PARMA! Hopefully the end result will be different this time around. I'm taking my camera, but I think we will be too far away to get good pics. Wish us luck- these kids really deserve a win; they've worked so hard to get here!

Ellie's 8 months old

Our little stinker is one month older....I hate this part! She has learned so much this last month that I keep thinking she won't be a baby much longer. She now says dada....A LOT! A bit too much for my taste. She knows her daddy and just lights up when she sees him or hears his voice.

She sure smiles a lot, but it is really hard to get a laugh out of her. She will do a little giggle, but not the deep down belly laugh that is so funny. She must have more of my sense of humor. I don't laugh that easily either.

Remember the little lamb that she got when she was one week old. We take her picture with it each month as she gets one month older. You can see in this picture how big she really has grown since she was born!

Our little cutie!How can you not just absolutely fall in love that beautiful face?

Halloween 2009

This is Treven trying to get Ellie to look at me instead of eating the leaves! She was determined to eat anything and everything on the lawn!

Treven dressed up as a guy off G.I. Joe. I thought he looked like a ninja, but if you look closely at the cover of the new G.I. Joe movie, there is a guy that looks just like this. He had a sword type thing that he carried around and was a huge hit with all the kids at his school.

Chelsey decorated our trunk for the Albion Trunk-or-Treat. She did such a great job! We had these Styrofoam headstones and the bones. I bought this great fabric that looked like dirt and she topped it all off with some spiderwebs and some real leaves for authenticity. She was so proud of her design and felt bad when we disqualified all of the planners from being able to win the $50.00 top prize. We also had a spooky cd playing. We passed out full-size Nerds, Chewy Sweettarts, Mini Chewy Sweethearts, and something else that I can't remember. I bought 80 and we had quite a few when we got home. We also passed out Spongebob Halloween Fruit Snacks for some of the smaller kids. I had several kinds of candy bars at home for the trick or treaters here, too. A little overboard, I know, but Halloween is only once a year.

More of Miss Ellie-Funt! She is a little get-in-sky already! Everything goes in that little mouth of hers.

Gary went to Annie's dressed as a mobster (although he kept saying he was a pimp and I was the ho) Not funny, I know! I was dressed as a flapper girl so we kind of went together. Everyone really liked his costume and he played it up! His mom and dad came up to see the kids' costumes and they stopped in the bar to see us before they headed home. His mom told me to make sure I got a picture of him! He did look awfully handsome that night..glad he came home with me!!! LOL

Also new this week:

*Ellie cut her first tooth on the 14th.

*Mikayla's first basketball game against Gooding today at 4:30 in Declo

* I'm going Christmas shopping in Boise exactly one week from today!

*Treven's school is selling RADA knives of anyone is interested. They are awesome knives- I've had a set for close to ten years and I love them. They aren't really that expensive either!

*I'm off to work on some decluttering- hope you have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Treven's Room

When we moved into our house almost three years ago, it was with the intention that we would be converting our garage into a bedroom for Treven. Never happened.....until we discovered we were having another baby and we really had to do the room. I waited and waited for Gary to get everything out of the garage, and finally at 7 months pregnant, I took action. Mikayla and I spent a whole Saturday sorting through things for the DI, the dump, and the keep pile. My friend, Diana brought her truck up and we loaded it three times for the dump. It was crazy how much crap you can accumulate! Anyway, construction finally got started and we were told it would be over before the baby was born. Ellie was two weeks early, but let me tell you, we were NOWHERE near done. In fact, I dropped the check for the carpet off on our drive home from the hospital!!!!

The room got somewhat finished about two weeks after Ellie was born and Treven immediately moved his things in. Well, there was still the closet to do, the trim, the windows, and the new door that led to the outside of the house to finish, all things that were livable. Last Thursday and Friday, my father in law and the contractor ( my f-i-l's friend) came and got the rest of the windows, the door, the trim, and the closet doors on. It looks so much better. All I have left to do is retouch some paint and a little more trim that we didn't have enough of for the inside of the closet. Gary will have to hang a closet shelf and a rod. We had a plastic type closet organizer, but it looks kind of cheap so he wants to take it back and get a better one. Still, the room is done for the most part and we're loving it.

Finally updating

Wow, I guess it's been nearly a month since I last updated! Shame on me- I really get annoyed when people don't update their blogs and now I find myself in that same category.

Braquel is busy doing all the senior things. She had some senior portraits done by my fabulous sister-in-law, Robin! They turned out great! I've tried uploading them three or four times to post, but they never seem to upload...(I am about ready to trade in my new computer...I am so frustrated with it!) We ordered her cap and gown and all that good stuff. It's really starting to hit me that we are losing her. All she wants for Christmas is things that she will need for her own place. I keep telling her that she is a bad daughter for wanting to leave us, but she keeps telling me that it's part of life and I'll survive. I guess it means we've done a good job raising her, she's independent and ready to be on her own, but it's killing me! I don't even remember life without her. I don't even want to think about our family without her here with us every day.

Mikayla made the freshman basketball team so we've been getting her to Declo every morning by 5:50 am! Not an easy task for anyone that knows me! I've had a screaming headache for three straight days and I'm sure it's from the lack of sleep. I can't go back to bed when I get home because I'm afraid I won't get up to get Treven to school on time! Anyway- she has her first game on the 17th in Gooding. I'm going to try to go watch and maybe Lindsay will be cheering so we can see her, too!

Chelsey has been babysitting up a storm! Seems like she's always got someone here or she is going somewhere. She is determined to be Ellie's favorite sister so she stays busy playing with her and loving on her. Even when it's someone else's job to stay up with her until I get home, it's usually Chelsey that stays with her. Ellie will reach for Chelsey over most everyone else. She loves her so much!

Treven already hates to go to school. The boy just wants to play all stinkin' day and night! He barely gets through the door and wants to know if he can go play with his friends! He's such a sweet boy, though. He is so quick with that cute smile and deep dimple that it just melts his mommy's heart.

Ellie has learned so many new things. She says da-da all the time. She has learned to clap and she rolls everywhere now. She ends up in the weirdest of places! We took her to Kiddie Kandids at the mall and had some pictures done, but I have to say they really didn't capture her personality very well. I kind of feel like I wasted my money because I have better pics on my camera. We are having her dedicated this Sunday at church. I bought her a beautiful long white dress with lots of emboidery on it. She's going to look like a little angel.

Gary took the girls hunting most of last month. They all three ended up getting their deers. He's been cutting meat and smoking jerky for two weeks straight, I swear! It's nice to be done with it and knowing there is meat in the freezer. Braquel and Mikayla aren't too sure they want to go next year, Mikayla just cried and cried when she saw Gary gutting the deer. They both have pretty tender hearts and it really bothered them to watch an animal die. Braquel shot hers and it didn't die right away. She didn't have the heart to shoot it again, so she made Gary finish it off so it didn't suffer anymore. Keven told her it was a good thing she was hunting with her dad because if she goes with him, she has to gut her own deer. Dad just knows he has to do the really gross stuff (getting the fish off the hook, gutting deer, etc.) It comes with the dadddy territory!

I was really busy doing Halloween stuff. A couple of gals and I planned Albion's first Trunk-or-Treat. We took 5 days to throw the whole thing together, but it turned out great. We figure we served about 100 people dinner. People were really involved and came dressed up and had their trunks decorated. We even had several businesses donate for the cause so we can make next years bigger and better. I also was asked to do Treven's school party. There are roughly 25 kids in his school. I brought in sliced apples with caramel dip, juice, and dirt pudding cups with gummy worms. We played a Monster Mash game (everyone ties a balloon to their ankle and you try to pop everyone else's balloon without them popping yours first) and I had six paper bags with various foods that represented body parts. The kids had to feel the food and guess what the food was and what body part it was supposed to be. I laughed and laughed at their reactions!
We had cooked spaghetti for intestines, pretzels for bones, popcorn kernals for teeth, a dried apricot for skin, peeled grapes for eyeballs, and the best of all- smooshed bananas for brains! They all were just sickened when they reached in that bag!!!

I'm glad October is over and I am anxious for Thanksgiving. I have been so blessed in my life and I really like taking some time to focus on my blessing before the craziness of Christmas starts in. I am looking forward to the annual sister shopping trip. I'm about halfway done with my shopping and I plan to really trim the rest of the list up that day. It sure takes the stress out to be close to done!

Update for October 12-19th

Well, it looks like fall is truly here. The leaves on our trees turned orange overnight and are starting to fall and make a mess everywhere. Worse yet, it rains just enough at night to make them wet and sticky and really hard to clean up!

Gary and the girls spent a little bit of time this last week in the search for deer. Braquel and Mikayla both drew for either sex so they shouldn't have to spend too much time looking. Braquel shot at one last week, but it was too far away and she missed. Most of the deer they have run into are on private property, but several guys from the bar said they were welcome to hunt at their places so I am expecting a couple of deers in the next few days. It will be an interesting adventure for both of them. Chelsey was really disappointed that she didn't draw since she is the only one that really wanted to hunt anyway!

Treven had his last soccer game on Saturday and they did really well. He was glad it was over (as was I since it will be getting cold soon). He learned a lot this year and I hope he will want to play again next year.

Mikayla's volleyball season is over!!!!!!! We get two weeks off and then basketball season starts. Soon after that will be softball. I'm not sure when she is ever going to find the time to take drivers ed. With Braquel leaving next summer, I'm going to need another driver! (I never in a million years thought that I would be saying that!!! LOL) It would be nice not to have to drive her to practice at 6 every morning. She would be able to take herself!

Ellie finally got the hang of sitting up by herself. She would do it before, but only if she was distracted enough to not realize she was doing it. Now she just sits there until she gets bored and then she falls over and rolls wherever she wants to go. It makes me so sad that she is growing this fast.

We took the kids to Lagoon yesterday for one last outing before winter. The weather was so perfect- about 70-75. We all wore sweatshirts (except Gary) and just about sweated to death. He was smart and just wore a tee shirt. Treven was big enough to ride all the big rides so we all got to ride together. It was so fun! Ellie stayed at Grandma Lois's house all day so we didn't have to worry about diapers and naps and stuff. We went on the white roller coaster, Collosus, Wicked, Wild Mouse, the go-carts, the bat, the spider, the samurai, the parasols, the rocket, the swings, most everything we wanted to hit except my favorite the Tidal Wave. We were all set to get on and in line for the back two seats. Braquel looked down and in the third or fourth seat forward was a massive amount of puke!!!! AAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHH....nasty. I wasn't about to get on. Even after they cleaned it up, I couldn't bring myself to get on it. Too gross..... we left Lagoon about 6 and took the kids to Red Lobster for their first time ever. They all love seafood and we had a wonderful meal. We all passed around bites of our plates so we could all try everything! Salmon, coconut shrimp, scampi, lobster, shrimp alfredo, popcorn shrimp, you name it and we tried it.....love that place. We can't afford to go there often, but we didn't get too crazy with money at Lagoon so we splurged. All in all it was a great day. Wish we had infinite money and time so we could do things like that more often!

Well, I better get back to the laundry and things. Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Update Finally

Well, fall is officially here in Albion. The nights are cold as can be and the leaves are turning colors and starting to fall off the trees. It's really pretty to see, but I sure hate to think about raking all the leaves and then shoveling the snow!

We've all been sick around here. Gary had a cold and then Braquel came down with something that was a cross between a cold and the flu. Then Ellie got it, and then Mikayla and I both got it. Chelsey was right behind! I had to take Mikayla to the dr last week. She nearly passed out at school and was very sick. The dr asked if we had all been sick and I told him everyone but Treven and since he eats dirt, I doubt he will get sick! The dr. laughed and said there was probably something to that! We are all starting to feel better, but this darn cough just wants to linger around. Apparently there are several cases of swine flu in the area so I am praying that we don't get worse.

We have gotten most of the wood for the winter now. I think we are going to try to go one more time and then we should have enough. It's always adventurous when we go out. Treven has so much fun entertaining himself in the mountains. He builds teepees and forts out of the trees and is always stacking and collecting things he finds. His favorite thing to gather are rocks.

Mikayla has one more volleyball game and then she tries out for basketball. Declo had a pretty good season. They only lost one or two teams and at tournaments on Saturday, they only lost one of the five teams they played. The girls work really good as a team and they will be a force to be reckoned with as they grow older and get better.

Chelsey tried out for girls basketball for the 7th grade, but she didn't make the team. She had a great attitude though and didn't seem too upset. Secretly, I am kind of glad. She's my best babysitter and Ellie would be miserable without her all the time. If Chelsey leaves the room, Ellie will cry. It would have been insane here with Chelsey being at practice and games every day. I'm very proud of her for trying out though. It takes a lot of courage to step out of your comfort zone!

Braquel is still working hard at JB's. She has been getting out early every other day and I've really enjoyed that little bit of extra rime with her. She keeps telling me she's leaving soon and I'm incredibly sad about that. It kills me that she doesn't want to stay with our family forever. It just won't be the same without her sweet little face around all the time. She's such a joy to have around.

Ellie went with me to a scrapbook retreat this last weekend. She got so spoiled by the 20 ladies there that she won't behave now. The girls are having trouble getting her to sleep and she doesn't want to sleep in her crib now. She really got off her schedule so I am working hard to get her back into a normal routine. She was such a good girl at the retreat, she didn't hardly ever cry and she won everyone over with her smiles. She has learned to reach for people and the ladies really loved her game of going from one to another!

Speaking of the retreat, I had such a ball. I did 13 double page spreads plus four more for the challenges. We also put together a cookbook with the recipes that the women brought for the retreat. We had a wonderful time and it was fun getting to know the ladies there. What a talented group of women. It was neat to see their ideas and creativity. Definitely doing that again!!!!

Well, I guess I better get something done today. My list is a million miles long and no time to really catch up on anything! Hope you have a blessed day!

Update for September 6-13

This has been such a hectic week! It seems like I have had to go into town every day for something or another. Our Grand Am broke down and in the process of trying to figure out what was wrong, Gary broke a part for our key switch. A new one is $270 and the factory has to code the new part for another $80! I had to show them proof of identity, our vehicle registration, and take them all sets of keys for the car before they would even order the part! That was a two day process since we didn't know we would need all of the other stuff when I tried to order the part the first time!

I made 10 batches of freezer jam this week. I still have 4 more batches to go and I will be done with that. I have done red raspberry, black raspberry, marionberry, boysenberry, and a mixed berry set so far. I still want to do some peach and some strawberry. I also bought a case of peaches and a case of pears that need canned this week.

We went to get our first load of wood for winter yesterday. It was an all day job, but we got done in pretty good time thanks to our friends Jesse, Tracey, Kevin, and Diana. We had three chainsaws going and four wood packers so it actually went faster than I thought it would. There was a nice breeze so it wasn't as hot as it could have been. Going again next Sunday so hopefully it will go as well as yesterday did.

Treven had his first soccer game on Saturday. His team won 4-3!!! We had to go buy some new running shoes and some soccer pants for him after the game and I also bought him a soccer ball so he could keep practicing.

Declo had their first home football game on Friday. They whopped Kimberly 62-7! Mikayla said they scored a touchdown in the first 12 seconds.....I hate to say anything too early, but this year State is ours! We lost by 1 point at state last year so it would be really exciting to win this year!

Mikayla had her first home volleyball game on Thursday. They won both of the first two games so we didn't have to play a third. Mikayla did a great job on her serves and scored us quite a few points!! She's got another game Tuesday at home so we'll be going to that tomorrow!

Well, the dryer just buzzed so I had better get the levis folded. (Only four more loads to go today and the laundry is caught up again!)

Have a great week!

Update for August 30-Sept 5

Well, I still don't know what is happening with my computer. I have tried three different memory cards and none of them will import so I don't think there is anything wrong with the cards. I also went to Wal-mart and put all the pics from my memory card onto a cd so I could upload my pics that way, but when I put the cd in the computer, it doesn't let me import from the cd either. It's got to be something in my memory card reader. Hopefully I can get it taken care of soon.

Braquel has been working weekends again. She is really glad that school's back in and she doesn't have to work everyday anymore. The money isn't so great, but at least she has a little time for herself now. She is getting ready to have her senior pictures taken so she is busy putting outfits and jewelry together. We went to town the other day and I told her I would buy her something for her pics, but she said she wanted to wait until she knew exactly what she still needed. She's such a smart girl and so good with money....must get that from her mom!!!

Mikayla made the freshmen volleyball team in Declo and is very busy with that. She has to be at practice every day at 6:00 in the morning. They were supposed to have two games this week, but Tuesday nights game was cancelled due to double booking on Aberdeen's part. I took the night off to go watch, but instead we had a nice dinner and sat on the deck enjoying the evening. I forgot how nice it is to be home during the evenings!

Chelsey signed up for Honors Geography. Along with the regular classroom work, she has to do some extra projuects. Should be great fun! She also tried out for and made the Yearbook staff at the jr. high. I'm really excited that one of my kids finally followed in her mom's footsteps and went into annual staff. I loved it in high school and I think she will like it too since she likes to take pictures.

Treven is having a rough couple of weeks. He is not used to getting up so early for school and somedays I have a terrible time getting him out of bed and into the tub. He had back to school night on Thursday and they learned some new songs for the cook that retired and the teachers aide that moved away this summer. He dressed up in a button-down shirt and his black slacks- what a handsome guy he was!

Ellie turned six months old today. She also is rolling front-to-back and back-to-front like there is no tomorrow. She rolls until she can't go anywhere else and then she gets so frustrated. She's also doing pretty well at sitting up- she tips sideways a bit still, though. She came down with a cold last night so she was pretty miserable. This is really her first bout with a cold and she's not too sure what is happening to her.

I did a couple of scrapbook pages last Sunday for the retreat challenges and I did one more layour yesterday. Today, my neighbors and I froze corn. We had quite the assembly line going! There wasn't a whole lot of corn ready, so when we do it again in a week or two, I will take some pictures and post them...if this stupid thing gets fixed!

Have a great week!

Something's Weird

I'm not sure what the heck is going on, but for some reason my new memory card doesn't seem to want to import into my computer. It worked fine on Monday with the back to school pics, but on Thursday when I went to import Treven's birthday pictures, nothing happens. Gary says that one year of the Geek Squad came with my new computer, so I think I will call them and see what is up. I think that my memory card reader is messed up. Maybe I will try to use the USB cord and bypass the reader tomorrow. We'll see how much time I get- I have two challenges for the retreat due.

First Day of School

Today is the first day of school for the kids. It's always been tradition that I take picures of each kid before school and this year is no exception!

Treven starts his first day of First Grade! He attends school in Albion and isn't too excited about going. He just wants to play and for some reason, the teachers think he should do schoolwork and homework!

Chelsey started the 7th grade this year...she's the only one in the jr high! Last year, we had two there, but she's on her lonesome this year!

Mikayla will start at the high school today. She tried out for freshman volleyball and made the team. First game is Thursday, but it's away so I won't have any volleyball pictures until she has a home game!

Braquel started her Senior year....not too sure how I feel about that. I can't believe she is old enough to be graduating soon...she has the days counted until she moves out on her own, but Mom and Dad sure wish she would stay home longer!

Hope all the kids have a wonderful day!

Counting my Blessings

Last week there was a local man and his two sons that died together in a plane crash. I went to school with most of the kids in their family so it really hit close to home. I can't imagine losing my husband and both of my sons at the same time. I would be absolutely devastated...anyway, I have had the Mingo family on my mind and in my prayers all week.

My mom called me yesterday after the funeral and said that she really felt the need to let her children know how much she loves them and how proud of us she is. I can't tell you how much it means to hear. I have always known my mom loved us and that she was proud of us, but it still nice to be told again. In the course of our conversation, we talked about how our family is really not a huggy-touchy family. I realized that I really don't kiss my kids and tell them I love them often enough. I think they know deep down just like I did that they are loved and the essence of my whole world, but I bet they would like to hear it aloud. I'm going to make it a point to tell them or show them every single day how important they are to me. Anyone who knows me knows this will be a challenge! I'm much better at writing my feelings than saying them. It's extremely hard for me to say certain things out loud!!! But, none of us truly know how much time we have left to spend with our families and friends and I want the people I love to know they are loved.

Okay, so I have probably gone on enough for one day with my emotions! Time to put them back inside and not on my sleeve! Hope you all have a fabulous day and I encourage you all to let someone know you love them-I know I'm going to!

Roaring Springs

Time for ice cream!

This is Mikayla and I coming down the Avalanche! Pretty scary!

Braquel and Mikayla tanning on the lounge chairs. Both got a bit sunburnt and wish they hadn't laid out for so long!

Ellie enjoyed the sunshine, too. It was such a long weekend for her (her schedule was thrown right out the window), but she was so good.

Braquel, Mikayla, Nicholas, and Treven on the race track! I think Nico won the race. Treven said that was the best water slide out of them all!

We had such a dramatic vacation! Ellie started being really grumpy on Tuesday. I thought it was her teeth coming in because she was so slobbery, but she just got worse. She wouldn't smile and she cried every time I put her down. I took her to the doctor as a precaution on Thursday and sure enough, she ha a double ear infection and the back of her throat was red. The doctor put her on antibiotics and she started to get better by Saturday morning. (Although we dealt with diarrhea all weekend!)

We left for Boise Saturday morning with plans to go to the water park. It was really windy, though so we decided to do the school shopping on Saturday instead of Sunday. We hit the outlet mall and got Treven and Ellie some fall/winter clothes at Osh Kosh and Carters. Then we went to the Boise Towne Square Mall and met up with Victor and Michelle and their kids. The guys ditched us (much to the delight of all the teenagers) and went to Cabellas and Hooters for hotwings! Michelle and I stayed out of the stores most of the time because the stroller didn't work well in the midst of hundred of people in each store-it was a mad house that day. The girls all got lots of cute things and I got a few pictures of Braquel's last school shopping trip...more about that later.

After the mall, we went to check in the hotel and then we went to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate Treven's upcoming birthday. He had never been there before so we thought it would be fun. I think the older kids thought it would be lame, but they actually all ended up enjoying the night. Lina told me it was the funnest place ever. All of the big kids donated their tickets to Treven so he could get a bigger prize in the end. He ended up getting a Chuck E. Cheese baseball and mitt, a rocket, and some Pop Rocks for all of the kids. Again, I took lots of pics...more about that later!

We got back to the hotel about 10. The kids went to workout and I tried to get Ellie to sleep. We got two rooms (1 for Gary and I and the two little ones and 1 for all 5 teenage girls) They all brought treats and goodies for an up-all-night party so of course Treven wanted to be with them. I guess shopping wore them all out so they decided they would actually sleep. Treven finally ended up with us and asleep as soon as his head hit the pilllow.

We got to the water park not too long after they opened. The kids took off and started hitting the slides. I got some fun pics of Treven. Steph and David and their crew were there, too so I got some pics of them in the Wave Pool. Then I went to get some pics of the older kids in the Wave Pool and my camera kept telling me there was something wrong with my memory card-it could be damaged. It would let me do anything.....there are almost 2000 pics on that card. Luckliy I had downloaded everything up until our vacation so all I lost was the one from the mall and Chuck E. Cheese. I would have been sick if I had lost all my pics since Christmas...I hat to even think about it. (If anyone knows what could be wrong and how I could possibly retrieve the pics-PLEASE LET ME KNOW-I AM DESPERATE!) Anyway, the park is across from a Walgreens and I was going to go buy another memory card, but Michelle said she had an empty one if it would work in my camera. Luckily it did and I was able to get some pics from the Roaring Springs Water Park. It's the best I could do!

So that was our vacation. I'll post som pics of all the new school clothes later-

In the Garden...

I went out to pick green beans this morning and thought I would check on the rest of the veggie progress. There are quite a few green tomatoes and a few orange ones, but not really any red yet. If they don't get moving soon, it will freeze here and we will lose them!

These are some Italian Roaster Peppers. They are long and skinny and I think they aren't supposed to be too hot. Mostly for good flavor. They should be done soon.

These are Pimento Peppers- also not too hot and for flavor. So far, none of the really hot peppers have grown much, but they sure have lots of blossoms. It's too bad we have such a short growing season around here.

Can you guess what these are? Up and down both sides of my bean row, we found deer prints. They didn't trample the beans or eat them or anything-they must have just been checking things out, too!

These prints remind me of a story I once heard:

There was a Christian scientist and an atheist scientist doing research in the desert. One night before bed, the Christian scientist was saying his prayers and the atheist asked him, "How do you know there is a God out there listening to you?" The Christian answered and said, "I have faith." The atheist asked "Have you seen God face to face? Have you ever heard God's spoken voice?" The Christian had to admit that no, he had never seen God face to face and no, God had never spoken aloud to him.

The next morning, the Christian exited his tent and found the atheist studying some prints in the sand. "We had a camel come through here last night," said the atheist.

"Did you see him face to face?" asked the Christian.

"No." said the atheist.

"Did you speak to him and he answer aloud?" asked the Christian.

"No," said the atheist. "But look, there are footprints all around, he had to have been here."

"And that is why I have faith in God," said the Christian. "I can't see Him face to face and I can't hear His spoken voice, but His footprints are all around me and I can see where He has been."

I like to think of this story when I look at God's blessing on my life. Even the simple things-like deer prints in my garden that remind me of nature and how much I love living in the mountains. You won't find these deer prints in Burley or Rupert. Simple things like an abundance of green beans that will help feed my family all winter long. God is good! Have a blessed day!

BBQ at Woody's

Woody and Lee (our neighbors) invited us over for a Mexican BBQ Sunday. They grilled thinly sliced roast beef and layered it in a warm tortilla with a bit of butter, sour cream, chilis, and cheese. It was soooo good!

Kathy and Kim. We were having such a good time visiting with everyone that Lee had to call out dinnertime a couple of times!

Todd and Kathy. Normally, Kathy hides from me and Todd pulls funny faces, but I got a good one of Kathy. I tihink Todd was ignoring me!

l to r: Todd, Jim, Tammy, Kathy, Kim. Diana has the back of her head towards the camera so we didn't get her face.

Woody (our host) taking time out for Ellie. He was so excited to have a baby around when she was born. He's so good with her and loves to hold her and kiss on her anytime he gets a chance!

2009 Stapelman Reunion

This is a new game that all the kids wanted to get in on. Two kids (or adults, too I guess) sit across from one another with their feet up against each other. They place their hands on the stick, one kids hands on the inside and one on the outside. They pull each other and whoever pulls one over, pulls the stick out of the others hands, or tips the other one over backwards is the winner. Here is Treven playing with Clay Stapelman. He pulled him over so Treven was the winner. They had a ball doing this game. Mikayla even liked it, although she said her back was killing her after playing a few times.

This was supposed to be a picture of the boys starting the game, but somehow I downloaded the exact same picture as above. I guess I was really proud of Treven's win!!!

Some of the bigger kids watching and waiting for their turn to play the Stick Game. Note all of the sweatshirts! It had been raining the night before and it was downright freezing. Everyone had hoodies or blankets as they participated in the activities. Earlier that morning they had some relays that I missed out on, but there were a few people that were walking around limping. It was quite the workout from what I understand- they had to pull around 400 pounds of rock salt for one of the relays....glad I missed out!

This is what I bought from the auction. There is a cake mix inside of the box and the icing to match. The front flap folds down and there are three tubes of sprinkles to decorate your cupcakes and inside the star pocket are little bags with birthday party hat decorations to put on the top. Too cute. I'm going to use it for a pattern, switch up the supplies for Christmas and give them to the neighbors as gifts.

Ellie's 5 months old

It's so hard to believe that my little baby is already 5 months old! I don't know where the time went, but I sure wish it would slow down. When Ellie was one week old, she received this little lamb that was pretty much as big as she was. We took some pics with it just to show how tiny she was. Now, every 5th when she turns one month older, I take pics with the lamb again to show how much she has grown. Next month, I will post the progression for the first half of her first year.

Challenge #1 Done

I am attending a scrapbook retreat in October and to help get the momentum going, the retreat hostesses have started to issue a challenge every other Monday until the retreat. When we get there, the challenges will be judged and prizes awarded. I'm not doing these for the prizes because my scrapbooking skills are a bit lacking, but for the sake of gearing up and getting excited and to get one more page done and in a book, I am going to do each of the challenges. This weeks challenge was to make a page or card that uses up leftover sticker letters. It's hard to see in the pic, but there are three different sticker types I combined. There are plain green, white, and glittery green stickers. It was tricky getting both words out because I was short some of the letters, but I guess that's the whole idea! Anyway, the page turned out pretty well for my standards! The title is "So "LUCKY" you joined our "FAMILY" and features pictures of Ellie on her first St. Patrick's Day.

Ahhh... the lazy days of summer

I sure wish I was a kid again. Treven has spent most of his summer playing outdoors. From the second he gets up in the morning, he is wanting to go get his friends and ride his bike. Today, he went into the creek by our neighbor, Woody's house and played for awhile. When I went to check on him and his friends, they were soaked. They start at one end of the field, go through the culvert, and out the other side to end up at Woody's. There is a litttle waterfall where they can get in a little deeper and play.

Here the kids are on the other side of the culvert. There are mostly rocks leading into the culvert, but about 15 feet past the rocks is a little pool of water. As you can see it comes almost to their knees. Just the right amount of water to catch water skippers and little minnows in. It's nice and shady so I would imagine they could find all kinds of hungry mosquitos, too!

Colton and Mason had to leave, so Treven decided he wanted to take me to a spot to get some cattails. Here was a bit of our conversation on the way there:

Treven: Mom, there are some really great cattails down here and we don't have to go to Burley!

Me: Wow! Do you remember the rules about the cattails?

Treven: Sure...(thinks a minute) we don't hit dad with them because he gets really mad.

Me: That's right...it really hurts.

Treven: Dad gets so mad he might spank me so hard I can't sit down for a week!!!

Of course, there is a little inside information you need if you don't know the story on this conversation! Last summer, we went to Emerald Lake for a family picnic. Treven got several cattails and took them home. Gary told him over and over that we don't hit people with them. Treven decided it was ok to hit as long as you only hit the bad guys! Gary and I were just walking out the door to go to Annies and WHACK! Treven hit Gary right across the butt as hard as he could with the cattail. Needless to say, he got into some trouble over it. I came home a little later that night to check on the kids and he was still mad at his dad. He told me that he wasn't sure he would ever love dad again! He did get over it later that night, though.

More conversation:

Treven: Come on, Mom...let's go faster! (He starts running down the gravel road to the cattails)

Me: I can't run, Trev...I'm too old and fat (even though I do pick up the pace a bit)

Treven: (slowing down) It's okay, Mom. I'll wait up for you like a good son!

That you are, baby,,,that you are!

Concert at Annies

Deena, Debi, and Melissa all taking a shot. Debi ordered Kahlua with Tequila, but when she drank it, she told Gary that wasn't as good as she remembered! They all had pretty funny looks on their faces after they drank their shot!

These are a couple of Matt's friends that came up for Laio's performance.

We had Laio come up to Annies last night and do a tribute for Matt. We originally wanted her to come up and do something last Friday (Matt's 34th birthday) but all of his family and friends were going to the City of Rocks to spread his ashes. Laio and I decided that the 31st would work just as well so she came around 8 and played until a little after 10. She does such a great job. She has kind of a Janis Joplin type sound and she does some rock and some blues. She writes her own songs so she mixes some of her stuff with some covers from other singers. I guess she recently cut her own album in Nashville and I'm excited to buy her CD when it comes out.

Mikayla's Photo Shoot

It's amazing how fast the kids are growing up. Mikayla is only 14, but she looks so much older and more mature. It seems like only yesterday that the girls were having tea parties and playing Barbies. Now they are involved in sports and friends and worst of all---boys! Where has the time gone? I certainly don't feel any older than when they were little! I love taking pictures of Mikayla because she is the only one of my kids that will pose and let me take pics. If she sees a camera, she will say, "Wait." Then she poses with a beautiful grin and says, "OK- ready." It's fun to have someone that is willing to take the time to get good pictures! I'm hoping to get the last shoot of Braquel done within a few days depending on her work schedule.