A look at September

As so often happens, I get behind on my blog, and have to settle for a few favorite pictures to document exactly what has been taking up my time that I intend to use for blogging.  

This month has been no exception, and I give you a condensed version of September, 2015...

What would Autumn be like without soccer?  I really couldn't tell you, as I have been going to soccer games in the Fall for longer than I can remember!!  Sadly, the light at the end of that tunnel is growing brighter by the year!  The LHS girl's soccer team just celebrated the Seniors as part of their last home game on Saturday.  Seven girls who have played together for at least 4 years, and in the case of a few of them, most of their young lives.  

Ashley, Kristin, Allison and Miranda, Soccer Storm - circa 2004
(Be still my heart!!  How cute are these little girls?)  This year, these girls played teams consisting of several of their current LHS teammates.  How fun would it be to have taken pictures of all of them back then??  One more note - Kristin loved this blue uniform and wore it A LOT!!  She was such a funny duck back then about clothes!!

Kristin, Rylee and Ashley, LHS Soccer Team - 2015
A trio of beautiful girls

Michael, Kian, Ashley and Kristin, Soccer Storm - circa 2008
Hard to believe these kids are all graduating this year!!

Just one of this girl's many talents!!

Beautiful!!

They can't wait to graduate!!!

 More on soccer in a minute, but let's take a break to catch up on more September happenings...

Ashley and Chelsie came to visit and brought their 4 little guys with them!  It was great, and although it went by really fast, it was an unexpected treat to have them come!!  

We...

...went to the park and played...

...rode scooters on the pump track...

...rode scooters on the walking path...

(Carter even got in on that action)

...cheered on Trev at his soccer game...

...felt protected by our resident Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle... 

...and spent a rainy afternoon indoors, which included playing in the teepee the girls played with as children.  I couldn't help snapping a photo of the kids doing the exact thing their moms used to do...

I know I am missing T2 but he chose not to participate

We didn't do too many exciting things, but also managed to have a pizza night, watch the real-life Cinderella movie, find a house for next summer's vacation, and have a few nice chats to boot.  The girls also took advantage of a little nap here and there.  An added perk when Nonna is around. :)  The only bad part about the trip was the fact that Trevor and Kristin were both so busy with soccer, they didn't get to spend much time with our visitors.  Kristin actually skipped school one morning because she had two away games while they were here, and literally only got to spend a few hours with them.  There wasn't much we could do about that, just the way it was.  :(

Elder Dallin H. Oaks came to our Stake Conference this month!  Kristin had the opportunity to help give him his lunch for the trip back up to Spokane!  She came in the house after she got home and said..."Best. Day. Ever!".  That is music to this mama's ear!!  I'm grateful she knows the importance of modern day apostles and prophets, and what a blessing it is to have been in the presence of Elder Oaks!!

Of course, there are a few other things that have been going on this month, unfortunately, no pictures are available, but they are happening nonetheless...

Seminary is in full swing.  I'm getting to know my class, and loving it!  We are studying the Old Testament this year!!  Yikes!  I'm just taking it one day at a time.  And yes, it is still relentless, but I'm also grateful for the calling!!  It is amazing!!

Yoga is still happening, although I took an unintended break in August!  Too much going on.  It feels so good to be back at it!!

And just life in general has been moving along at a pretty fast clip!  I thought it would slow down a bit after school started, but I should have known better!  Silly me.

Kristin had a great final home game.  She assisted on both goals scored by LHS!  She has loved her time as a Lady Bengal!!

Trevor in his game against Moscow.

Another stroll down memory lane...Hayden, Cassidy, Kristin and Alyssa.  Boys and Girls Club soccer, 2006
Especially poignant as Hayden was involved in a fatal helicopter crash this summer.  A tragedy too great for words.

I made posters for each of the Senior girls.  There is glitter from one end of my house to the other, and much in between!  :)

So there is the Reader's Digest version of September.  As you can see, it was a great month!!

Complete - The kitchen remodel (finally!)

If you ask any of our kids, they will tell you, as decision makers, John and I rank between slow and downright tortoise-like.  

Our pending kitchen remodel was no exception.  I started the process in December of last year.  Although, as far as choosing materials, and most of the other details, that stuff went pretty fast.  Getting a bid was a little slower, but that wasn't the problem either.  The problem was a difference of opinion that just couldn't be solved.  I won't go into the gruesome details, but suffice to say, someone isn't entirely happy with the way things ended up, but is choosing to not be bitter, as the rest of it is lovely, and such an improvement over the "before".  

A good representation of the "before".  I'm still wondering what possessed me to choose the green laminate all those years ago!!

"After" - I love it!  Note the new chairs as well.  I love the low profile back.

Here are the countertop and backsplash close up.  We love the skinny tiles, but take note - they are a huge pain to work with.  Especially getting the edges straight for an exposed edge. 

John gets high marks for being the man in the trenches and placing each tile sheet and figuring out the best way to cut the strips.  (I tried that last part and failed miserably.  More proof that Math and I just don't like each other.)  My strong suit was piecing odd stips together, and I did a lot of the grouting.  Although, I did a terrible job of wiping off the first section, and have some SERIOUS tile scraping to do.  That grout isn't coming off without a little elbow grease!  You can imagine those little tile pieces will take forever!!!  Just a note about tiling supplies.  We tried a product called Simple Mat and loved it.  You apply the two-sided, sticky sheets to the wall, and then stick the tile to it.  It worked really well, and was much less messy than the mortar would have been.  There is enough grit left after the grouting - I can't imagine how much of a mess the thin set would have been.  We also used pre-mixed grout, called Simple Grout, which we also highly recommend.  Both products were more expensive, a convenience tax, I suppose, but we felt the extra cost was worth it.  And as for the grit, I have a feeling we'll be dealing with that for at least a week, if not longer.  You think you have it all cleaned up, but the tell-tale scratchy sound comes right back when you set an item down on the counter.  Sigh!!

My other main contribution was being the Home Depot runner, sometimes going twice in one day!  That always makes me a little crazy!  And I have at least one more trip ahead of me to return the leftover materials.  That will be made less painful when I see the credit from Home Depot on my credit card statement.

There was a happy unexpected mama moment during this project.  I put the REO Speedwagon station on Pandora and we worked to LOTS of good late 70's/early 80's music.  That is the music John and I listened to in high school (before we knew each other) and then in college (part of which was when we were dating), two good things, plus, it is such great music!!!  A huge smile come to my face when my teenagers sang along with A LOT of the songs.  They love them also!  Just a little bridge between the generations!  I love it!!!

 I love the countertops.  They are quartz, and remind me of the bottom of a little streambed.  I also do really love the tile, despite the difficulty of installing it.  (Maybe it would have been easier for someone more experienced, and some of our issues came from being tile novices.  Who knows?)  I think when my older girls see it in person, they will say, "Yep, it looks just like something Mom would like", and I do.  

The feel of the kitchen is much warmer than before.  And a little richer.  It's all so good!

And, most important of all - it is finally done!!

NEVER!!

Let's play Jeopardy.  The title of the blog is the answer.  Never.
What is the question?  When do I want to experience another day like November 13, 2014 again?

It started out like a normal day.  Seminary first thing, then kids off to school and John off to work.  I did my scriptures, got a list going for the day and was working on the "exercise" part of that list.

The phone rang, I let the machine pick it up as I was in another room and typically whoever is calling is someone I don't want to talk to - read, Telemarketer.  Then my cell phone rang.  It was Kristin.
"Mom," she said through tears, "Can you come get me?"  "Can't you drive yourself?" I asked.  "No"  "Did you throw up?"  (She had missed the day before because she was sick)  "I will just tell you when you get here."

What was going on?  If she wasn't sick the next place my brain went was to a car wreck.  Cars are always getting hit at the High School, because, its, well,  High School kids driving.

I got stuck behind a de-icer truck on the way down the hill.  Really, just the way things go, but very annoying when you feel you need to get somewhere fast.

When you come to the High School from our direction, you come up to the back of it first.  There was a kid talking on his cell phone outside the building.  No red flag yet.  Then there was another one by the trailers.  Still no sign of anything unusual.  But the curb full of cars in front of the building?  Starting to see a little red.  Then I noticed quite a few people walking out of the front doors.  Wait, some of those people are adults, with distraught looking kids.  Okay, starting to have a mini-panic attack for sure.

As I was walking to the building, I asked a women behind me, who was carrying a satchel of sorts, and appeared to be coming to work if something had happened, that my daughter had called crying, and probably some other rambling.  I assume I was rambling because she just kept saying she was sorry and that she was just getting to work.  (Now, I feel stupid about that, but I'm sure she understands.)  By the way, red flags are waving all over the place in my head.

When I walked into the building, I was in full panic mode.  Several police officers were standing around, and the assistant superintendent, Mr. Hansen, was there, kids were sitting all along the hallway.  What in the world had happened?  School shooting, bomb threat?  What???

Lance pointed me in the direction of the counseling center, after telling me that Kristin would tell me what had happened, and that she was okay.  (Whew!!  That was a good thing to hear.)

The counseling center was full of crying girls.  Not just crying, but sobbing, full out wailing and weeping girls!  As soon as I got Kristin she told me - one of the girls from her soccer team had taken her life the night before!  I cannot really remember how I felt at that moment.  Sorrow for the girls, sorrow for the parents of Devann, shock, the need to comfort, the need to cry!  No doubt more, but once I was hugging girls, that was where my focus needed to be.  We stayed a while, then it was time to go home and grieve and start to heal.

I never want to experience anything close to that again!  In this age of school shootings, and all other evil things, you just never know what could happen to your kids, but the thing is, you don't send them out the door in the morning expecting something like this to happen.  I guess that is a good thing or you would never send them out the door at all.

Such a sad, unnecessary thing to happen!  So much grief!  This is the 3rd teen suicide in our valley in 7 months.  A counselor in our ward who knows about these things is getting worried.  There is an element of contagion in suicide.  The scary thing is that the girl's parents knew she was struggling.  They were working on getting her better.  She just couldn't handle things anymore.  The other scary thing is that she was a darling girl.  A senior who had just the week before been voted most inspirational by her soccer teammates.  A girl who had been voted "Spirit of DWY" at last spring's Distinguished Young Women program.  What went wrong?  Why couldn't she get to a better place in her mind?  What does that say to kids who are have much less going for them?  If her life was so great and she still killed herself, then why should I stick around?  My life is 10 or 100 or 1000 times worse!  So goes the contagion.

Of course, no one knows what happened in Devann's mind that caused her to actually go through with it.  No one ever will.  I mourn for her friends whose lives will forever be affected by this.  I mourn for kids who may decide this worked for Devann, so it will work for them, but most of all, I mourn for the family, for the loss of their beautiful daughter, and for the unfinished life she left behind.  And this mama is grateful to have her little ducklings safe and alive.

A Matter of Perspective

It all started Friday.  I went to mail some packages at the post office in the grocery store and the clerk asked me if I had fun plans for the weekend.  I was so happy to say "Yes, we have friends coming to stay overnight!:"  Which by the way, has happened, and was VERY FUN!!!  The Woodliefs from Spokane stopped in on their way home from the Boise State shellacking of BYU Friday night.

We didn't do anything exciting, just sat and caught up on things while our kids spent time together.  They went to church with us, had Sunday dinner with us, and then headed up north.  Such a great family.

But back to my original post...

When I asked the clerk what she was doing, here was her reply, "Going to visit my son at the County Jail."  I expressed my sympathy and then she said "It's been a rough month."

Now this makes me sad on a couple of levels.  1 - I can't remember which of my children this boy is the same age as, but I know he graduated with one of the girls.  Clearly, he wasn't a big part of their lives, but the connection is there.  2 - I now know of 2 children of parents that I know who are in that jail.  The other one is also a former classmate of one of my girls.  Too close to home.

Here's where the perspective comes in.

My kids aren't perfect.  The two who are home certainly make their own brand of mistakes, but thankfully, that brand is very mild compared to what it could be.  As a matter of fact, they (as well as their older sisters) are pretty DARN GOOD.   We don't have to fight them to go to church.  We don't have to drag them out of bed early in the morning to read scriptures and then head to Seminary.  We don't have to worry about where they are because, honestly, most of the time they are home when they aren't at school.  We don't have to nag them about getting homework done.  They don't cause us sleepless nights (maybe just a few late ones.)

But here are two examples of what they did, just today...

Trevor debated about studying for his Science Test tonight.  It is a re-take, and he wants to do well on it.  We talked about it, and he wondered if he should just go to bed a little early, wake up a little earlier than usual, and review the information then.  I was able to offer him an example by one of his brother-in-laws (hey, Brandon) who often woke up in the wee hours of a Monday morning to study because he chose to not do it on the Sabbath.  He decided to take the high road and get up early.  I told him he will be blessed for his choice.  As he went back to his bedroom, he said, "Guess what song is playing?"  I guessed Choose the Right.  "Keep the Commandments" he said.  Ah, my mama heart was bursting.

Kristin came running up the stairs, changed back into her church clothes, and headed out the door to Mission Prep.  I had no idea she was interested, and honestly, maybe she's just checking it out, but my point is, she made the choice herself, and it was a good one.

Now, I'm a realist, and know that she will probably end up having to do a little homework this evening.  (It was a full weekend after all.)  And I know that at some point Trev will also make me roll my eyes and wonder what in the world he is thinking.  For tonight though, I'm going to ride this feeling of contentment that for this day, my kids had choices to make, and they made good ones.  They are so much better than I ever dreamed of being when I was their age.  (Happy sigh! :)  From my perspective, we are blessed and I'm feeling grateful for the children Heavenly Father blessed us with, and the good examples they are to me as well as their friends and classmates.
I am reminded of the following scripture.

• 

  3 John 1:4

  I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

My refrigerator door - right now

I've been wanting to do this post for a while, and when I got a new refrigerator magnet from the Dance's today, I took it as a sign that it's time to get 'er done!

I am not the sort of person to have a completely bare fridge door.  I guess I like to be reminded of the good things in my life on a daily basis, and since I can't seem to stay out of the fridge, I like the door to be a big reminder.  So if you will indulge me, I will give you a little tour with short explanations of each item. (Starting at the top left hand corner.)

Yes, that is a picture of two adorable boys with moustaches.  It is a Valentine from Ashley's family.  The caption reads..."I moustache you a question...Will you be my Valentine?"  I'm not sure I will ever be able to take that picture down!  I love it!!!

It seems that the most recently married couple makes a few appearances on my metallic bulletin board.  Allison and Ryan got married last summer, and this is a picture of them right as they came out of the temple.  It is also a reminder that I did something I never thought I would pull off.  I made her dress!  I actually still can't believe that it all worked!

John's mom had a milestone birthday this year, and this is the invitation her daughters made for the surprise party.  I know the party was back in April, but I think this is a beautiful picture of her and I especially love the border of the invitation.  It has all the roles she plays in the family - wife, mother, daughter, etc.  Its really a lovely card.

Ah, Downton Abbey - who knew you would capture our hearts as you have?  You probably can't read the caption of the cartoon, but it shows a woman in tears, with a PBS coffee mug and a Union Jack flag hanging on the wall of her cubicle.  The man says, "Why is she so sad?  And who are Matthew and Lady Sybil?"  The woman walking by says, "If you have to ask, you'll never understand."  If you are asking the same questions, I can only echo the above sentiment.  It's a Downton thing.  

Under the calendar are two magnets which really mean nothing to me other than I really liked them, so I bought them when we were at the BYU Bookstore.  

Having spent the last 4+ years in Relief Society, the next magnet holds special meaning for me.  Hopefully in those years, I honed my Charity skills, and when I call on it, it will not fail me.

Yep, you'll recognize the boys again, this time clean shaven, but hiding behind super hero masks.  This time they are joined by their little brother.  Those pictures are probably over a year old, but I still love them.

Next we come to the reason for this post.  Tucked in an orange Shutterfly envelope was this little cutie!  We love you too, little buddy!!

This is the most unusual wedding picture I have ever seen!  How did he get that high, and how did the photographer capture the shot?  I really, really love this picture!!!

5 Things to Forget Not...a good reminder from President Uchtdorf about our worth as women.  Something that often comes in handy. 

My kids bought me the magnet in the top right corner at Disney World the last time we were there. I love my kids and I love Disney World, so I'm not sure that magnet is going anywhere anytime soon!

The light blue magnets are reminders to be happy and seek joys in life.  They are OLD, and I probably should get them off, but I guess I hope they will spark someone's desire to do either of those things, including me.

I put in another copy of the picture to prevent having to scroll so far to refer to it.  I do what I can to help. :)

The two Korean magnets are from Yoon, a friend of my good friend, Sue.  They hold between them a fortune that reads "Courtesy is contagious."  One of my girls put that fortune up on the fridge after being home from college for a few days.  She no doubt felt we needed a friendly little reminder.

The final magnet is from my dear friend who moved across the country several years ago.  Aside from being a reminder of my friend, it also has wise words for all - "No matter how many cookies you consult, you will find that love is the greatest fortune"  

Of course, my fridge door holds a calendar to help me at least try to remember appts, games, meetings, etc.  It can only do so much though!  :)

And finally, the bottom door holds two drawings by T1.  Again, they are several years old, but they are keepers.  The magnet on the left is from the Bingham Copper Mine, there is also a magnet of one of the Cars characters.  His name slips my mind at the moment.  Another nod to the grandsons.  

Last but not least, there is a magnet that says "Poppins Penguins Catering".  A nod to one of my favorite childhood movies.  My mom bought it for me when we were shopping at Disneyland after Allison's wedding.  (That trip where we stayed across the street from Disneyland, but chose not to actually go to the park.  We know it sounds crazy, but we feel totally justified in our decision!)  The movie means even more to me after seeing "Saving Mr. Banks", which I know isn't totally accurate, but is probably pretty close to the truth of PL Travers' life.  I loved it.

So there you have it.  A long post I know, but just a little slice of my life right now!  As I type this, I realize I don't have anything about my sister missionary.  Hmm, I better rectify that!

Tut tut, it looks like (a lot of) rain!

 The rain started a little before 5:00 pm, and 40 mins later, it was still coming down by the bucketful.  (My windshield wipers were one full speed when I was driving.  That is how hard it was coming down!) Trev was at soccer practice, Kristin was at the river, and I had just come home from buying Duke Corn!  YUM!!  

Our gutters were clogged with leaves and not draining properly, so John donned his rain jacket, climbed on a ladder, and took them to task. There were A LOT of leaves in each one!  No challenge for John though.  He had them cleaned out before the really hard rain stopped, which was close to an hour later.  It continued to rain for a while longer, but with much less force.

Trev called about 1/2 hour before his practice was supposed to end to say they cancelled.  Not to be stopped by a "little" rain, and never one to miss an opportunity to be a goof ball, Trev seized the moment and went strolling in our flooded driveway after he got home!  He made a fine Christopher Robin if I may say so myself with his huge soccer ball umbrella and my very pretty rainboots!!  

It is a moment like this that I will miss when he's old enough that he stops doing silly little things.  (Maybe I'll luck out, and he'll be one of those boys who still retains a little goofiness with him no matter how old he is!)  Speaking of which, did I mention that the soccer practice he was at was for the high school?  Yes, my baby will start his freshman in high school on Wednesday, and plays on the JV soccer team!  Where have the last 14 years gone?  Its bad enough that Kristin will be a Jr., is playing Varsity soccer and drives herself everywhere she needs/wants to go!!!  Yes, this mama is seeing her empty nest future!  What a thought that is!!!

(I know the picture is a little fuzzy, but I didn't realize it until the storm was over, and the photo op was gone.  The skinny picture is the corner of our yard.  That poor eunonymus gets flooded out every time someone washes a car, or there is a big rainstorm.  It is a dwarf compared to the others in the row.  I'm pretty convinced that it takes all its energy to recover from its near drowning experiences and doesn't have any energy left to grow!)

A Springtime Tragedy

A few weeks ago, on a beautiful Saturday, I spent most of the day weeding around our house.  At the back of the house, in one of the bushes, I spotted this nest.  4 sweet little eggs cozy and safe.  As I showed everyone else the eggs, I would occasionally scare the mama out of the nest, but couldn't figure out what bird would lay such tiny eggs.  Hummingbird was my best guess.  Fast forward about a week ago.  I quietly approached the nest, and there was the mama, sitting on her eggs.  It was a goldfinch.  I was happy to have the mystery solved.                                                    

Fast forward to today.  Another check on the nest brought unhappy news.  There was a hole in the side of it, and on the ground I found 2 eggs that were broken.  As you can see from the picture, they weren't remnants of a hatching.  Something got to the nest, and it didn't end well.  There is still at least one egg in the nest, but I can't imagine Mama coming back to it.  So not only are there at least two destroyed eggs, there is at least one that will languish because of neglect.  So Sad!!!

This reminds me of another Spring tragedy, about 12 years ago, give or take a year.  I discovered a bird's nest with bright blue eggs inside, they were robin's eggs, I was certain.  A few days later, Kristin and her friend, Cassidy were playing outside.  I don't remember how I discovered it, but sometime during their play date, they had found the nest and "moved" the eggs, and in the process broke at least one.  I was heart-broken!!  Of course, they were only about 3 or 4 years old, and in all their innocence told me what they had done.  I'm afraid I got more upset than I should have with them.  As I said, they were just little girls, and didn't mean to be malicious.  I think my sadness was for the mama.  My mother heart broke for the loss of her babies, because that is what would happen to my heart should I lose one of mine.

Of course, this is the way nature works, and there are little tragedies like this all the time.  I just don't like being reminded of that fact.

Snowmen - creepy or otherwise

The other day when we were decorating the tree, Kristin wanted to know where the "creepy snowman" was.  This was the ornament she was talking about.  I knew exactly which one she meant, but as a mom, I don't consider it in the creepy category.      

Now, you may have already guessed that one of my children made this ornament, and you would be right.  It is from 1988, and was made out of bread dough and painted by Ashley, who would have been all of 2 1/2 years old.  This was when we lived in Oregon.  Now, you may or may not know, but the house we lived in in Oregon was OLD!!! (read - poorly insulated)  And you also may or may not know that Oregon is known for its dampish climate.  Those two elements combined did not bode well for our little ornament.  Notice how his stovepipe hat and part of his head are missing?  And the blackish tinge at the top of the hat?  The results of the bad combination I described above.  Luckily, we moved inland, and our climate is much more dry and our house is much better insulated, so no more damage has been incurred.  

This snowman napkin holder was a gift from Trev about 5 or 6 years ago.  He and his dad put it together at a Home Depot workshop.  John loved taking Trev to those, and I think was a little sad when Trev got too old to go.  It was some good father/son bonding time. 

I love this!!  As my kids keep growing, I miss their little selves running around getting all excited about the lights, and the tree and all things Christmas.  I cherish these little keepsakes that remind me of times past.  Christmas has a different feel without little kids.  (Although, I don't think there is much Christmas morning sleeping in yet.)

As such, our Christmas anticipation is a little different.  We look forward to whoever is coming to spend Christmas with us.  This year, Amber, Allison and Ryan all will be here!  We can't wait for them to come.  Of course, we would love it if the whole clan were here, but the Down Under bunch will definitely not make it home.  And unless Chelsie has the baby in the next week or so, which is pretty unlikely, they will not be making the trip through the pass as well.  No doubt, we'll be using Facetime and/or Skype to share our Christmas experiences with those two families.  Let's hear it for modern technology!!

So, as I am reminded often, I just need to move on, and while I am grateful for these little reminders of their smallness, recognize my kids for the great "big" people they have grown up to be, or in a few cases, are growing up to be.

Halloween Throwback

As I was sorting through some digital pictures, (a never-ending project) I came across these pictures from 2004.  Ever since then, I have been feeling a little nostalgic for these 4 little boys.

Trevor is the only one who still lives in Lewiston.  Jared is in Washington, Burke is in Tennessee and Dylan is in Oregon.  They are all in 7th or 8th grade, and all are worthy Priesthood holders in their Deacons Quorums.   My goodness, where did the time go???

Back in 2004, their moms and I did a home-based pre-school called Mother Goose.  I got the week of Halloween apparently, hence the pictures of them in their costumes.  

Trev was the shortest of the bunch back then, which is one thing time has not changed.  I have recently seen pictures of the 3 other boys, and at least 2 if not 3 are at least as tall as their moms.  Trev will catch up, but not yet!

Posing on pumpkins on the porch!

All ready for Trick or Treating!  If memory serves, the alligator did not last long in the house with his costume on!  It was much too hot for him, especially as he was a little hot body even without such attire.

As fun as these pictures are, it is just one more reminder that my kids are growing up way faster than I think they should.  To say I am excited to be spending Halloween with the boys from Dallas is a gross understatement.  Remember this post??  I am ready for some cute super hero Halloween action!!

FINALLY!!!

Homecoming 2012 - Princess Amber

Homecoming 2012 - Princess Amber and her escort, Trevor

Homecoming 2012 - Crowning Princess Amber with her escort, Trevor, looking on

These pictures are long in coming!  Decent pictures of Trevor escorting Amber during the LHS Homecoming Game halftime.  Pictures that I couldn't get myself, but in the effort of trying, missed seeing it happen!!  Lesson learned!  Ask someone else to take pictures of the big events.  Its more important to be in the moment!!  A thousand thanks to Jesse for getting these to me!!!

The Sewing Room Mascot

This is my thread cabinet.  Just one of the many things I love about my laundry/sewing room. John made it for me from a pattern I found and ordered.  I really love this cabinet! See the yardstick around the cabinet door?  I found those yardsticks on ebay and they are original, from West Virginia and old (circa 1950).  You can see the old fashioned phone number listed - RE 4-5511. Believe it or not, by the time I was born, they were using the present-day seven digit phone number, but I always found the letter/number combo a bit intriguing.  See the tin on the top?  That is a relic from my childhood and is quite bizarre, but I like it, always have, always will.  The mini oval-shaped box?  That really means nothing, other than I am drawn to toile patterns, and it has that toile look. The photo in the middle is one Alli took in her LHS photography class.  It is Trevor's hand catching drops of water from the spigot.  Clever and artistic.  The ribbon hanging on the side is close to impossible to make out, but that is an "Award of Merit" for a quilt I entered in the fair a few years ago - Square Deal, a wall hanging.  I remember how nervous I was when I saw the judges begin their judging process, then how happy I was to see them pull out their camera to snap a picture of it!  They really loved it!  I took it as a great compliment.  The assortment of threads are a little less than exciting, but hope to remedy soon by adding some bright spools to give a little "pop" to the cabinet.  Not really part of the thread cabinet, but another top favorite of the room is the beautiful orange walls! They are a Christmas gift from Dallin and Chelsie.  I love, love, love them!!!

Looking a little closer, you can see one of the quotes I have stuck in the corner.  Amber used that for one of her YCL favors at camp 2 years ago.  It  is a great quote, and I loved it before she used it, so I was happy she had a leftover I could have.  The other quote is about the pleasure of a bike ride by JFK.  Not such a pretty presentation, but a quote about a great subject.

But did you notice this guy tucked in the corner of the yellow thread section?   He started life as two balls of sticky tack, one yellow lump, and one obviously white.  One day, I realized he had been created!  Soooo cute!  I'm not sure which of my kids made him.  I have a guess who, but I kind of like not being sure!  I smile when I see him, and like to think he is keeping an eye on the room, just in case the scissors decide to rebel or the pins rise up in revolt.  He'll keep things in check!  Haven't thought much about a name, I'm not sure what fits him.  I will have to think about that!  I think he's pretty cute and looking at him, brings me happiness, but more than that, knowing one of the kids took time to make him for me makes me feel special!   That probably wasn't the intent of the sculptor, I have a feeling creativity just took over, but I love it when my kids do little, unexpected things for me!  The word special is often overused, which is too bad, because there is really not another word I could use to describe how I feel - special! 

It has not been a quiet week in our little town!
Homecoming week is to put it mildly, busy!  Amber has been spending hours of time on it this week - decorating the hall, planning the dance, planning and helping decorate the float!  Then to top it off, she was nominated and selected as one of the Sr. Homecoming Princesses!  Very exciting.  Normally, the girls are escorted by their dads, but John happens to be out of town, so Trev stepped in for him.  He didn't want to, but really bucked up and did a great job!  My mama heart was bursting!! (My pictures are not very good, hoping for one of the other moms to have some better ones, but these will have to suffice for now!)

Trevor received Student of the Month for 7th Grade today!  I got the letter a few days ago letting me know he was a nominee!  He is starting strong!

Kristin  came home and said she felt like a loser!  :)  Not to worry for she scored two goals in her soccer game this week!

Sign me - a mama who is grateful for kids who make her feel like a winner!

The BEST Mom in the WORLD!

So I'm supposed to be doing a post on Spring Break right now, but I though that my mom deserves a post about her, since she does a post about everyone else, but herself. So sorry mom that I am doing this, but it's time.

Things that She is Wonderful At:
-Quilting
-Cooking
(I'm sure my friends only come for her cookies)
-Being Patient
(even when we push her to the edge)
-Serving in the Church
-Being a "Doctor"
-Being motivating for Personal Progress
-Loving Everyone
-Listening
-Teaching Home-making Skills
-Understanding High School, Jr.High School, & Elementary Homework
-Laughing at all of Trevor's Pick-Up Lines
-Just Being There
-Cheerleader(Tennis, Soccer)
-Lifeguard while at the River
-Getting the Whole Family Together
-Being the Perfect Height to give (& receive) Great Hugs
-Making Us pay the Consequences of Our Actions :(
-& Just Being The Most Understanding MOM!

Everyone Who knows Our Mom knows that this list doesn't give her the slightest amount of justice. Mom- I Love you more than you can know. I'm so happy Heavenly Father sent me to live with you and Dad. Thanks for all that you do for me, from bringing me food at tennis matches, or motivating me to "tackle" my closets as the project of the week. Thanks for just being you with your laugh that brings a smile to my face. Thanks for letting eat that whole cake in a week even tho you knew I would later regret. Love you TONS, more than the Mega Loads:).
LOVE, Amber

Welcome to the Food Channel...

What? Is this becoming a food blog? You know, one full of wonderful recipes, step by step directions for said recipes, witty commentary and of course, pictures?

Well...not on your life. I just chose two photos that are pretty darn tasty looking. Although, I'm not sure there isn't witty commentary on every blog post. Its a little hard to be objective.


I've been working on really making a good homemade pizza over the last year or so. Not there yet, sometimes the crust isn't cooked, sometimes it sticks really bad to the pizza stone, sometimes it really tastes good, just doesn't look so good. But every once in a while, I make a pizza pie that really shines, and here is the proof. I honestly can't remember if the pizza even tasted good, but boy, it looks great. I just had to snap a picture.



And you say, what is on the cake? Is that really fondant? Well my friends, I'm happy to report it is. And, I'm even happier to report that the above cake is Amber's first attempt at decorating with this smooth, shiny frosting.

She decided she wanted to learn to make fondant for a YW project. I have to admit I wasn't completely on board. Fondant cakes look so cool, and even though the website she was looking at assured its reader's that fondant isn't hard, I was skeptical. So, on a quiet Saturday, she undertook the project, and the cake is her finished product.

And, in case you are wondering, it was a pretty painless project. Of course, you can't factor in the messy floor, sticky refrigerator handle, dirty bowls in the sink and powdered sugar all over the place. Those are just casualties of war when it comes to fondant. Especially since all of that can be cleaned up. :-)

All joking aside, I'm very proud of her for tackling this challenge and coming off the victor. I'm always in awe of my children when they do something that either I'm too chicken to try, or that I think is hard, or that I think someone their age isn't capable of pulling off. Amber sent me straight to AWE with her pretty polka dot cake. Simply lovely.

Graduation Day

We knew it was coming, but who knew it would get here so quickly!!!
Allison, who has had a case of senioritis for many months, finally was
put out of her misery when she graduated on May 30th! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

The day before graduation, there was an open house to celebrate all of her accomplishments and wish her good luck. Cupcakes were the order of the day,
and we had plenty (thank you Grandma Solly!!! :-) Also, guests had the choice of different frostings and toppings. YUM! It was a pretty, and tasty treat. Grandma and Grandpa Rietz came to celebrate, as well, as Aunt Dawn and Grandma Solly (already mentioned above.)


Graduation day dawned and after a morning at church, it was time to head to the events center to grab our seats. We sat in just about the right spot, and had a great view of Allison receiving her diploma. She and Sheri, a woman from our ward, and a school board member are a little blurry, but its clear enough to know what it means!!! No more High School! On to bigger and better things.


Becky, Allison, Chelsie and Kaitlyn all marched in together. You can't see their feet in any of the pictures, but if you could, you would have seen them wearing these sweet shoes. Beautiful!














So, here's a memorable part of the day...
We were sitting in the events center waiting for the ceremony to start, and waiting for two friends who said they were coming. (That should have made me suspicious, who wants to go to someone's graduation who is not part of your family??? :-) Anyway, we were sitting there, and I happened to turn around, and who do I see coming down the stairs? Its our own Chelsie. In living color!!! Close behind was Dallin, who flew her up to Seattle for the weekend. They also spent a little time in Coeur d'Alene with members of his family, and then showed up at Graduation! It was a wonderful surprise, to say the least.








When asked for quote about her graduation weekend, Allison had this to say. "Yay!" Profound, don't you think?