Mint and Gingerbread

This year Brooklyn and I decided to decorate our tree with some homemade ornaments.

I have done this same theme before, but it was quite a few years ago and Brooklyn was too little to participate or remember.

Our first step, make and decorate Gingerbread Men.

We wanted them very simple.

 Our second step, was to make Mint Gingerbread suckers.

We put them into little bags and tied with gold ribbon.

They turned out darling.

 I wanted to string popcorn too.  We decided popcorn would be too big of a temptation for the dog.

Brooklyn and I are happy with our result and the best part....

It smells delicious.



They Sparkle, Twinkle, Flicker and Bring Joy

I LOVE Christmas lights.

I love driving around and seeing them sparkling, twinkling and flickering.

I love the feeling of pure joy they bring.

My husband......not so much.

He loves to look at them, he just doesn't want to put them up.

For years the children and I whined and pressured him until a few years ago he finally outlined our roof in lights and added a star to the swamp cooler.

We were happy. So happy!

Last year due to extreme cold he only hung them on the lower part of the house and added 6 lit trees to the grass.

Still we were Happy.

This year....so far nothing.

He has been so busy with the book that the lights are not on his priority list.

I totally understand.  I really do.

But, I promise you this.....

By Sunday I will have lights.

How can we not?

Just look at how pretty they are...

Doesn't it just make you smile?

I am also looking forward to an annual trip to Temple Square where I can feast my eyes on lights galore.

I also love the luminaries they have there.

You should go. Tis the Season after all.

ICICLES!!!!!

My feet and hands are like icicles lately!

For about the last 4 days I cannot get my extremities warm.

So I finally pulled out the fuzzy socks.

My pink ones are my favorite.

I only have two pair, pink and black.

Upon consideration.....

They appear to be working.

I think when my feet get cold my whole body temperature drops.

So my goal...keep my feet warm.

I think I need more fuzzy socks.

My hands will have to suffer,

I really don't want to wear gloves 24/7.

Loved You Once, Love You Still, Always Have, Always Will.

24 Years I have been married today!!!
It has been the best 24 years of my life.

I look around me and see so many friends and acquaintances
ending their marriages after years and years.
It makes me sad.
I understand that everyone is not the same.
I cannot compare my marriage to those around me.
I am not here to judge.
It just makes me all the more grateful for the wonderful marriage I have.
And truly sorry for those who have not.

It has been a great 24 years.
It has involved hard work,
Communication...Lots of it.  Some easy clear and calm, some not. :)
Fun times.
Sad times.
Easy times,
Hard times.
Good days,
Bad days.
Laughter and tears.
Friendship
But overall so so much joy and LOVE!!

I am grateful for the circumstances that brought us together.
I believe it was God's hand in my life
and a blessing I am forever thankful for.
I'm lucky to be in love with my best friend.
Here's to the next 24 years.

Empty Nest

Have you ever noticed when saying this "Empty Nest" fast...
It sounds like emptiness.

Lately I have been getting a taste of what it will feel like to have an empty nest.
This is the second night in a row my house has been empty of children.

I DON'T LIKE IT!!
It just feels like emptiness.
No sound.
I have to talk to the dog or cat for conversation.

Benjamin will be on a mission in a little over a year.
Bailee will still be living at college.
Thank goodness Brooklyn has a few years left.
Hopefully by the time Brooklyn moves off to college
Linc will be home more...
or I will be lonely.

I am not ready for the emptiness of an Empty Nest.

Halloween Hater

I don't know if I have always been this way...
I seem to remember enjoying Halloween as a kid.

I really liked going to the Haunted Houses as a teen.

But now as an adult....

I am a Halloween Hater.

I really think it's the commercialism of it all.

When I was young finding a costume consisted of looking in old boxes of clothes or what you could find laying around the house.

It was easy and cheap.

Now finding a costume requires huge thought, sometimes sewing

and most often money.

I HATE spending money on costumes.

Urgh!!  I wish I could like it...

We also have the pressure of decorating.

I used to put out some things for the kids.

I need help getting in the Halloween spirit

If there is such a thing.

I don't mind the actual trick or treating...
I always liked taking my kids..

(although at our house when you reach the age of 12..no more trick or treating)

I like seeing the other kids from my neighborhood..

I like parties, if I don't have to wear a costume.

~sigh~

I think I've narrowed down my hate...

It's the costume issue.

How to choose something fun, creative

and most of all cheap.

And on that note..I am off to try to sew part of Brooklyn's costume.

should be fun with my amazing sewing skills

That's the crux of it all...

I guess I'm cheap.

My FAVORITE part of this Halloween celebration...

Pumpkins!!

And the creative things people do with them.

I would love to go somewhere and just look at a lot of Jack O lanterns.

That would be a fun Halloween.

I'm addicted...

  

I am addicted
to these......


 

 

A few weeks ago I needed a Mormon ad for a lesson.

I went to the Library in our church...

They didn't have any. :(

I of course whined to the second counselor in our ward.

A few days later he came over bearing gifts.

A whole package of all the Mormon ads.

I immediately donated them to our Church Library.

Tomorrow is the first lesson since receiving them that I get to use them.

I am so excited!!

I just love them.

There are so many great ones to choose from

and they all have great messages.

Today I also found myself spending hours

looking at Mormon Messages (video)

on LDS.org.

I am now addicted to them as well.

Oh the joys of technology.

Come Listen to a Prophets Voice

I just LOVED General Conference this weekend.

The only thing that would have made it better is to actually

be here...

 All of the talks were amazing.

I loved each of them for different reasons.

Hearing testimony of the Book of Mormon

Being reminded that we must have honest heartfelt

communication with our Heavenly Father,

Teach by the spirit.

Reminding Husbands and Wives to raise families..

Multiply and Replenish the earth.

(we haven't heard this for a while)

To Look up,
Manage your time and make good use of it.
Read and ponder the scriptures...again and again.

I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

And so much more...

I have learned that I need to take a few notes to help me remember

more details.

I also loved the humor that President Monson showed in his talk.

How blessed I am to live in a time

where prophets are on the earth

to guide us and direct us with direct revelation from Heavenly Father.

I can't wait till the talks come out in the Ensign

So I can visit them again.



A New Look

What do you think?
Is the print/font of the actual posts too hard to read?
The picture of Linc and I is a scanned photograph from our trip to Hawaii ~ so a little blurry
I need a new one of us, that I like myself in and digital version.

I have been admiring Bailee's blog ever since she changed hers.
So tonight after our Girls Night I convinced her to show me how to give mine a new look. 
She is so much more computer skilled than me.
So an hour or so later...I have a new blog look.

I think I like it!?!

Specks of Orange...

Today I was glancing at the mountains and what did I see?...
Spots of Orange!

I can't believe fall is already here.
I am going to try to enjoy natures paintbrush.
My goal....a weekend drive to enjoy the view
Maybe a picture or two.

My heart is full...

For days I have been contemplating blogging about patriotism,
My love for my country,
My gratitude for those who willingly serve and have served,
and My sorrow for those who have lost their lives in my behalf.

We are a patriotic family out our house.
We travel to sights around the world that are dedicated memorials to those who have served.
We teach our children about the sacrifice others have made, so we can live in a country where you have the FREEDOM to choose.
We have pictures and sayings hung in our home that remind us.

Everything patriotic touches my heart, makes it full
and brings tears to my eyes.
Yesterday we sat and watched as the world remembered.
Tears often streaming down my cheeks.

I often wonder what a better world we would live in
if people remembered EVERY DAY. 
Just for a moment, express gratitude daily for this great country we live in.
For the Great Men, Founding Fathers who had the foresight to do what they did.
and for the men and women who fight to uphold these rights.

Here are just a few of the places I have been, where my heart was full, just being there.

Pearl Harbor

 Omaha Beach~Normandy France

 US Cemetery, Omaha Beach

 Vietnam Memorial, Washington D.C.

 World War II Memorial

 Arlington National Cemetery

 Gettysburg

 Mount Rushmore

 Korean War Memorial

I am proud to be an American

Mind Blown

Good thing I'm not the one going back to school.
My brain is shot, kaput, fried.
I hate all the prep that comes with getting everyone back to school.
All the money too.

$$$$$$$ for...
School clothes.
School supplies.
Groceries to stock up Bailee.
Fees.  Oh the fees.
Books.  Who would think you could charge so much for a text book?

Even the husband is temporarily in school so to speak
Now, I admit he is going to class every day
but, he is doing it somewhere fantastic.
Although every time he goes there he can honestly say he experiences excitement.
First he survived 9/11
then a tornado
now an earthquake.
Maybe he should stay home.

I'll be glad when everyone is settled
and we can get back to a routine.
I'm missing the lazy days of summer already.

Fender Bender

A little while ago....
at the beginning of the summer
Linc backed his truck into Bailee's car.
The results, a dented quarter panel and a shattered gas door.
He promised her it would be repaired before she went back to school.

Last week we went to get some bids.
We first went to a local body shop located on Redwood Road for a bid...
1,200.00 big ones!!
Seriously!!  This seemed really steep.
Then a good guy friend of hers told us of a really great guy
who does great work, for a great price.
We met up with him at his shop also in Riverton
and he quoted us $500.00. 
Huge Difference~!!
Now...
I don't know if this is because of the friendship of Bailee's
or he is just a fair guy.
Either way decision made to take it into his shop today and get the work done.
We were scheduled to bring the car in today.
We wanted to pay cash to avoid a claim on our insurance.

Yesterday on the way home from I Fly in Ogden
during rush hour on I-15
Bailee was in a small car accident.
Causing significant damage to the front end of her car.
So....
to the body shop we head this morning
with a little more work than expected.
He is going to be doing both repairs now
but not for cash....
This time we had to make a claim on the old insurance.

Hope our premiums don't go up.
We are just grateful know one was hurt.

A Young Woman

Brooklyn turned 12 on July 29th.

She is officially a Young Woman.

It is a tradition in our family to attend the temple on your 12th birthday to do Baptisms for the Dead.

This is the first time our WHOLE family could go.

Brooklyn finally got to join.

Linc asked her where she wanted to go?

OF course she said Salt Lake Temple.

On the morning of her birthday we all woke at 6:15 a.m.

and made our way downtown to the temple.

It was a beautiful morning.

Linc did the baptisms and a few extra.

I watched.

And shed a tear, I'm not ganna lie.

 Three beautiful kids...

If I do say so myself.

 We were so happy when a passerby offered to take one of us all...

The temple was followed by breakfast at McDonald's

High class I know.

Then a shopping trip to get Brooklyn's ears pierced.

Another tradition.

We don't allow our girls to get their ears pierced

until there 12th birthday.

This gives them something exciting to look forward to.

I did take pictures of the event

however, they were with my phone

which I don't know how to download.

Then it was off to Barnes and Noble.

Brooklyn wanted the "English Roses" a series.

Here she is showing off her ears

and her roses.

Grandpa and Grandma Pack always send flowers

to all the granddaughters when they turn 12.

She loved them.

We then went to dinner at the place of her choice

....also a tradition.

She chose "Sweet Tomatoes".

It was a great day!!

I can't believe my baby is 12.

It makes me a little bit sad to see them grow up.

She now gets to join us for Young Women's every week.

It will be so fun to do this with her.

Happy 12th Birthday Brooklyn.

WE LOVE YOU!

The Thunder Rolls

Today the Thunder Rumbled for about two hours.

I LOVE the sound of thunder.

I love summer rain storms.

Today we had a lot of both.

Dark clouds

Thunder

and Rain.

 

It felt nice.

I was looking for a poem about thunder

and storms

and found one about story of thunder.

I kinda liked it and thought I'd share

It's cute....

As thunder rumbled, wondered I:
How come this grumble from the sky?
And lightening flashed and tore asunder,
This very sky that I stand under!
Hot and humid was the day,
In that sticky summer way;
And hot air thought it would be wise,
To take it's stifling clouds and rise.
And so the clouds of cumulus,
Gave themselves an upward thrust.
At break neck speed, they did collide,
With cold air on the other side.
Hello! said hot air to the cold,
(which made the clouds upset, I'm told)
For at their tops, in their defense,
They carried anvils, quite immense.
But hot air flashed cold air a smile,
Which could be seen for many miles,
And cold air cried in great delight,
Which shook the sky with force and might.
Clouds, unimpressed and unafraid,
Began to rain on their parade.
But people just below on earth,
Alarmed at hot and cold's great mirth,
Dropped their chores and ran for cover
To give privacy to these two lovers.
For love, although we think it warm,
Can be as violent as a storm.

The bad things about summer rain...
I just washed and waxed my car yesterday, bummer
and it makes the air humid.
Otherwise I  think I could live in a place where it rained
well...maybe only twice a week.