Sister Rietz - 5 months out!!

Clearly I am a rookie missionary mom, because this day marks Amber's 5 month mark, and I only thought it had been 4.  Maybe I'm not so much a rookie, as just a bad time tracker.  At any rate, it has been 5 months since she entered the MTC and almost 5 months since she got to California.

Amber and 2 other missionaries in her area had birthdays in the same week.  Here she shows her talent at Pin the tag on the Elder Game.  (I cannot get this picture to move.  Pretend it is further down the page)

Here is a brief summary of her mission, including a few pictures.

Amber has been in Hesperia, California since she left the MTC.  The town is on the edge of the Mojave Desert, and if you are paying attention, it has occurred to you that she has been there all summer.  And yes, her only transportation, aside from a few rare exceptions, has been her trusty bike.  I believe she calls it Gideon -Moroni, or something along those lines.  She and her companion put on about 40-50 miles a week.

I haven't heard much about them lately, but Amber did not have much appreciation of the famed "Joshua Trees" which the area is known for.  We can safely assume this is not a hug of affection.

I find it ironic that she loves riding her bike so much.  (Which she does.  She feels like she can eat dessert when she puts so many miles on it each week.  :)  I tried a few times to ride with her before she left and after the 2nd ride, she was done!  I guess I was the wrong bike riding companion!

The only injury, so far, is from her bike.  It required stitches.  Sis. Moon got to put one in, which they both thought was pretty noteworthy.  Sadly, the stitches fell out early, the wound didn't heal well, and she'll have a trophy scar to show for it.  You may see at the very left of the picture another scar.  That was before her mission, but as you can see, this leg has had a hard life.  As Amber said, it was only a matter of time until she had to use the mission insurance. :)

Until a few weeks ago, Amber's companion was Sis. Moon.  She was an ideal biking companion. They have many things in common, and were a good companionship.  They worked hard, and had a lot of fun on the side.

Service is a huge part of being a missionary.  They

Our Sister Rietz loves animals, but this armoured guy full out charged her, and did not make a very good first impression!:) 

 

If she looks older in this picture, its because she is.  Our sister missionary is now a 20-year old!  How did that happen?  She was sick on her birthday, and members of the ward brought her these supplies to help her feel better and "more at home".  She had a very hard time resting while she was sick.  Her missionary zeal made it hard.

Amber is a hard-workin', rule-keepin', fun-lovin' missionary.  We are so proud of her. The growth we have seen, and her love of the gospel and the people they teach is wonderful.  She only has 13 months to go!  That is hard to believe!!!

Catching up

It has been a busy month!!  Holy Cow!!  I'm behind in many things, and this blog is one of the victims.

So, here is a quick photo recap of the past two weeks.  

Sister Rietz is thriving on the edge of the Mojave Desert!  It looks like she has finally embraced (Ha!) the Joshua Tree that she initially hated so much!  She and Sister Moon survived her first transfer and are still companions.

Sister Osborne left for Chile, via the Mexico MTC!!  We are so excited for her.  We had to hop from our ward to hers to hear her talk.  Trev and Kristin both agreed they could get into ward-hopping.  (Trev even said he's pretty sure he could be a High Counselor!  :)

We got to go boating with our good friends, the Burrups!  It is incredibly difficult to get together with them.  It probably won't happen again this summer, but it was a great evening.  The water was a little rough for some water activities, but as you can see, it was perfect for tubing.

Trevor turned 14 last week so that means several things...

It means we got to have the yummiest pasta dish for his birthday dinner!  (I strongly encourage you to try this tasty dish.  I'll even give you a link to click on.  You may be tempted to skip the zucchini, but we are here to tell you, this recipe benefits from every chunk of that grilled veggie!)

It means Trev got to head off for his first High Adventure activity yesterday!  They are hiking the Seven Devils loop, and this mama was nervous, but sent him off anyway.

It means there was a good excuse to get his friends together for a "Surprise" party to play frisbee golf, goofy golf, eat pizza and throw the golf balls up into the trees!  (Boys!!!)  (Side note - see the smokey hills in the background?  That day the valley was socked in with smoke from some of the 55 fires burning in Eastern Washington and south of us in Idaho. It was crazy smokey!!!)

It means Trev got to try his hand at homemade beef jerky.  Apparently, this is quite the art, there are many spices to choose from, and it works easiest with a jerky gun.  Who knew such a thing existed??  Although, I have lived in Idaho for 24 years, I should have known that!

 The kids and I got a chance to attend a fireside by Noelle Pikus-Pace.  See her Olympic medal in the picture?  She was the silver medalist at the Sochi olympics in the Skeleton.  She was a great speaker, who had some good advice for the kids.
1- Where are your sights set?  She talked about setting goals, and how you will end up where you set your sights.
2 - You can look back or you can move forward.  After a devasting accident involving a 4 man bobsled and her leg (guess which was the loser?) she had to decide which way to go.  She chose to move forward.
3 - Hold on to your sled - which she likened to the iron rod.  She knew if she held on to her sled she would make it through the course, although not always riding on the sled.

She was very gracious afterward and took a lot of time to take pictures with anyone who wanted to after she was done speaking.  I think my favorite part was the replay of her final run, then realizing she had won the medal and celebrating with her family!  The Olympics always make me cry, and this was no exception!  It was a really great evening.

Along with the above pictures, other things that have happened this month are
-another really sad funeral for a 14-year old boy
-continued nurturing of 90+ pheasants
-Girls' Camp for Kristin (so hot and dry but so fun!)
-so many people moving in and out of our ward it's hard to keep track, meaning many opportunities to help people get ready to move and getting to know the new ones!
-the continuing yard project in which I unknowingly drove a stake right through the pvc pipe, and thus created yet another phase to the project in which we (ok, John and Kristin) had to repair the pipe.  You should know that just looking at the piece of pvc pipe speared by the stake they took out made them smile the rest of the night!!! (I'm just here to help!)
-the launch of our Etsy store, Clabeau, which deserves a post of its own, so be looking for that soon.

And lastly, do you feel the breeze?  The winds of change are a-blowin'.  (more about that soon as well!)

This week's recap

Friday I was finally able to donate blood.  I tried 2 weeks ago - my iron was too low.  I didn't make it back the next week to try again.  The Monday after that, I went to the donation center and tried to be a walk-in.  They were busy and it would have been a long wait.  I signed up for the LCSC blood drive the next day.  I found a parking spot, no small feat, found the SUB, another big accomplishment, found the donation location, and was told the computers were really slow, and would I be able to wait?  I could for a bit, so I settled in with my book on my iPhone.  15 minutes later, they shut down the drive.  It was just going too slow!!  Arrrgghhh!  So...I went to the donation center yesterday as a walk-in again.  They had a spot for me, and they took my blood sample.  The first one was low, but they tried the other hand.  Success!!  I was in the range, and soon was hooked up to a bag collecting my blood!  Yay!  I have set a goal to donate 6 times this year, and I was running out of chances!!  So glad it worked out.

Its been snowing!  Thursday night it started, and we woke up to a blanket of white.  It stopped during the day, but this morning, we woke up to a fresh layer of snow.  John and Trev went to the Klondike Derby (winter campout with competition built in) and they had plenty of snow at the campground.  They got home safely with all of their fingers, toes and ears.  I knew they would be okay, but I was a bit worried they might get a little frostbite. In the end, all the scouts made it home, safe and sound.  Kristin has had some good driving in snow experience.  The sad thing for this mama is that in the past, we have dropped everything to make sure we take advantage of the snow, and get ourselves out to sled down the hill.  You can see from the picture that there is not a track to be found in our snow!  Sigh!!  Trevor was gone, and Kristin wasn't going to go without him.  Yet another sign that my kids are growing up!!

Speaking of which, it was Kristin's birthday this week.  Sweet sixteen!!  We had her family dinner Thursday.  The usual for her - Bulgogi, potatoes (two kinds), corn, crescent rolls from a can, jello and green pie (two this year)!!  Friday, I threw her a surprise party!  She said she was a little suspicious, but I think the girls popping out from behind the dining room table and out of the kitchen still surprised her.  Pizza + the Frozen soundtrack + a lot of noise + cell phones = a good time.  They didn't even want the hot fudge sundaes I had ready to go, they were enjoying themselves too much.

Guess who was Student of the Month for January?  So proud of him!  He is keeping up the tradition of being a great kid at the Jr. High.  You will note the name of the Jr. High.  Their mascot is the Braves.  Someone from the tribe proposed that the mascot should be changed, so it went before the school board.  Don't know how that went, I will be interested to see.  Apparently the mascot used to be the Savages, which I can see might be negative in some people's opinion.  I actually think Braves is pretty positive and not derogatory in any way.  It is surely not as un-politically correct as the Orofino Maniacs, so named because the Idaho State Mental hospital was located there for many years.  No one has ever complained about that???  Hmm...

Our son-in-law, Brandon is in Dubai for a training meeting sponsored by his employer.  Kristin knew about this man made island off the coast so we told Brandon to get a picture of it.  Little did we know he would actually be staying on it!  What other adventures are in store for him?  Who knows???

This little guy just keeps growing.  We are looking forward to him and his mom visiting for a week.  Chelsie got her tonsils out, so she'll be here with Carter while she recuperates for a  few days.  Such a sweetie!!

And then there was one...

...piece of cake that is.  My birthday cake, baked by Kristin, with homemade frosting made by me and Trev.   It was a really yummy cake, and I know others thought so also, as I think I have only had 2 pieces.  Hee hee. As I was making the frosting, I wondered why I have been possessed in the past to purchase store bought frosting!!  Such a waste when a person can easily whip up some butter (1/2 cup) add about 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, a few tablespoons of cocoa, 1 - 2 tablespoons of milk, and a splash of vanilla!  After whipping that until its very fluffy, nothing can compare!  (my veiled recipe is because I may have gotten that recipe from someone who said the person they got it from didn't want to share it.  Although, the cocoa is my modification, so its all good, right??  :)

At any rate, I am now one year older (plenty of evidence on that count) and I would hope one year wiser, (time will tell on that one.)  
I thought of sharing a list of 51 things I have done/accomplished in my life, but will spare you that, and just say that I have lived and continue to live a blessed life full of people I love and who love me.  I have the Gospel in my life, and the knowledge that Heavenly Father loves me enough that he let his son give his life so I could have the Atonement to use to someday live with him again.  I have a warm home to come in out of the cold, and I have safe water to drink, and more food to eat than I need.  I also have the blessing of health which I realize more everyday is HUGE!!  I often think as I pull on one of my favorite sweatshirts, Life is Good!! which is the saying on that favorite sweatshirt, which if you look in the mirror and read it says "boog si efil!  I'm weird, I know!!!
Here is something that cracked me up as my birthday approached...I saw somewhere (probably Facebook) that there are so many birthdays this time of year because 9 months before is Valentine's Day.  After I read that, I began to realize there are a lot of people I know who were born around this time.  It does make me chuckle...

Happy Birthday Chelsie!!! - day 13

Happy Birthday, Chelsie!!  #24, and going strong!  She is smart, funny, has a strong testimony, is a great wife, and will be a mama soon. (She is ignoring the fact that she was a really crabby baby and relying on the knowledge that Dallin was a very happy baby!  :) She works hard, plays hard, and loves life. (If you don't believe me, just look at this picture...it is indicative of Chelsie and her husband, Dallin.  They love to goof off.)

Despite being a crabby baby, she got over that, and for the most part has been a most pleasant family member.

Chelsie spent many, many hours on the soccer field.  She started in Kindergarten and played all the
 way through her Sr. year in High School.   

Dressed up in their wedding clothes at Allison and Ryan's Mexican Fiesta reception.

Of course, I could go on and on about her, and these few pictures don't really tell her full story, but in the spirit of shortness and sweetness, let me just say how much we love her and are so grateful she is in our family, and how much I love that I get to be her mom!! 

Here's to many more, dear Chelsie!  We love you!!!

A Spring re-cap

We have had some beautiful mornings.  Look at that lovely pinkish cast on the  hills of the canyon.

 I love how the sun is illuminating part of the distant hills, and the trees in our yard.

Trev received his Star Scout rank at the last Court of Honor.  I love the tradition of the  saluting the mom with a kiss.  You can tell Trev loves it as well!  ;)

John celebrated his birthday last week.  Here he blows out the candles on his Sour Cream Blueberry Pie.

I finally caught Amber and her partner, Garrett, before their match.  They won!!

Trev talks strategy with his buddy, Sam, before their soccer game.  Whatever they talked about worked.  Trev scored 3 goals and they won, 6 - 0.

Decorating Easter Eggs, big kid style.  Trev and Kristin both tried their hands at blowing  out their eggs.
A big kid note, Amber declined to participate.  :(

Here is one of a couple of penguin eggs Kristin decorated.  She had a theme going.

And now we see the demo of Trev's homemade slingshot in action.  That is an egg in the  launch area.  Not seen - the egg ending up on the deck, Humpty Dumpty style.  Sometimes, your experiments just don't pan out.

Cuz when you're 15...

A bonus present!!  When Mimi found out Kristin loves Cool Whip, she happily donated this tub to brighten Kristin's night.

Yesterday, Kristin turned 15!  I tried singing the Taylor Swift song to her, but I either did a really bad job or she really, truly doesn't like that song, because she asked me to stop singing.  The celebration went on nonetheless.  

Aloha Grilled Chicken Quesedillas (thank you Ashley and Brandon), baked potatoes(??), and green pie (fresh lime pie, officially) was her dinner choice.  Trev and I grilled them on the new bbq and they worked up much faster and turned out pretty great.  YUM!!! Good choice!

Speaking with a well-wisher (Alli) while unrolling her present.

All Kristin wanted for her birthday, was money!  So that is exactly what she got.  She was thrilled and I can't remember when I've had an easier time shopping for an at-home birthday celebration!!  Win-win!!






I'm not sure why, but Kristin was very excited for this birthday!  For several days before, she made sure we knew how many days until the big day, maybe she was afraid we would forget!!  :)

Hopefully, it was a birthday SHE won't soon forget!!

Fourteen Things to Note (plus one more)

My victorious candle extinguishing job!  There aren't 50 candles, but there were enough!  (Note the Scrabble tiles in the foreground!  My opponents probably let me win since it was my birthday!  NOT!! :)

Our picture perfect turkey on Thanksgiving!  Too bad we couldn't eat it right away, as my new meat thermometer did me wrong and it wasn't cooked all the way.  Luckily, we had turkey #1 at the ready.  And it was cooked!

Dallin is always up for a project!  He hung these fabric covered boards for me above the stairs.  I love, love them!

We took a hike down by Hell's Gate State Park.  It was a drizzly day, and thankfully the rain held off until we made it back to the car.  We made it to the top and had a lovely view of the river, and Tammany Creek Road.

We spied this majestic creature on our way down.  He didn't stick around long after  he spied us.

I truly think this is the largest tumbleweed I have ever seen!!!

The girls' Hobbit House

The boys' Male Mansion.  May I introduce you to Ryan?  He's the male on the right.   He came to visit for a few days before heading home for Christmas.  ( He mainly came to visit Alli, but he was a good sport and hung out with the rest of us also.  :)

The Male Mansion is full of all things "male".  We just have to use our imagination to see them.   See the sign on the Hobbit House? It says "No admittance except on party business."

Alli's 21st Birthday!  Strawberry Rhubarb and Banana Cream Pie!!

At Locomotive Park.  Cold but very pretty!  

Christmas morning post-present opening

The puzzle project, completed.  You can't tell, but the puzzle pieces are made up of tiny pictures!  It was hard, but the crew worked diligently and completed it in a few days.

A portion of the Grinch quilt.  My goal was to finish it before Christmas, so while Alli and Kristin made the Clam Chowder for Christmas Eve dinner, I finished the binding!  I LOVE this quilt.  It may be one of the top 3 favorites I have made.  (One of the many things I love about it is the pearl cotton I used to quilt it.  I think the bigger stitches suit this quilt perfectly.)

I couldn't resist including a picture of the whole quilt!   I think I will have to talk myself out of keeping it out all year!!
That is how much I love it!!