Choose the wRight

Texas

2011-11-11T11:05:00.003-06:00

Green bag: hand-me-down from Kimberly,

San Antonio river walk: beautiful,

spending time with Laura's family: priceless!!!

2011-10-03T08:45:00.003-05:00

Inspite of my fear that Amy will "fall off her rocker" when she sees that I have posted again so soon; I want to share a picture of our new garage floor! I also can't forget to mention the new painted white walls. We love the new look! It is so bright and cheerful I almost wouldn't mind taking the trash out! But don't tell my husband! Plus it forced us to dejunk the garage. The cement was beginning to show some wear. A man came and prepared the surface, painted it and then throw confetti all over it and finally sealing it. It's funny how we can't stop looking at it!

2011-09-27T12:14:00.002-05:00

I love this picture of my siblings! I loved growing up in a big family! That is why I wanted a lot of children. My mom made it look so easy. (Well it wasn't easy but it was worth it!) I love you guys!

Queen Syd

2009-10-20T08:47:00.009-05:00

It has been so long since I posted that I'm not sure I remember how to do it but since my faithfull friend called me yesterday and left a sweet message on my answering machine I decided to do an ode to Queen Syd. (when my kids were young Syd flew from Seattle to visit us here in Rockford. I asked my kids to treat her like a queen and ever since then we have called her queen Syd) -

1. Syd and I had an home economics class together in high school. Once when we were making cookies in class she accidentally drooled in the batter! For real! I think we still ate them.

2. Syd is the one that got me started on facebook. Amy did the grunt work of setting it up for me!

3. Every time Syd comes to visit she brings my favorite treat- Dark chocolate!

4. Syd and I also had choir together in high school. I won't tell you how we would skip choir when we had a sub and go to Syd's house and make mexican hot chocolate. Oh wait, I just did. Anyway, last time she came to Rockford for my daughter Kimberly's reception I convinced Syd to perform a musical number with my daughter Amy and I at church. After we sang my friend's little boy turned to his mother and said "Mommy, that pretty song!"

5. Syd has made my beautiful master bedroom draperies and helped Amy sew up my kitchen curtains that I started but hadn't finished!!!

6. She always beats me at rummikub.

7. Syd and Amy started dejunking my house on one visit and I had them stop because they were so good at it; if you know what I mean!

8. One of our most remarkable memories together was helping Amy take her twins on their first airplane flight from Salt Lake City to Chicago. You might think that that doesn't sound so hard, but It was!!! : ]

9. Our road trip to Nauvoo Illinois was super fun even though we got lost and visited an extra State (Iowa) that Syd had never been to. We crossed the Mississippi river twice in one day!

10. Last but not least was Syd's visit to Rockford the same time Kimberly and Skyler started dating. Syd told Kim from the start that if she wanted to be happy for the rest of her life- marry Skyler; and she did!

Ode to my Grandkids

2009-08-23T18:43:00.005-05:00

I have the cutest grandbabies ever! Here's a cute pic to prove it!

Ode to Cyrena

2009-01-12T12:01:00.002-06:00

I was tagged by my friend Cyrena to answer some questions and post it on my blog but I'm switching it up a bit and posting my 8 favorite memories of Cyrena! Here it is...

1. Cake shake Thursdays! (good thing this one didn't last long)

2. Grocery shopping together!

3. Attending the grand opening of Toys Are Us!

4. Trying to out do each other on the treadmill!

5. Playing restaurant with my boys as the waiters!

6. Babysitting her little guy while she went to California!

7. Going to the Apple Orchard!

8. Cyrena driving Wesley to fencing class more times than me!

9. ( I'm adding a bonus) - her cheerful hello whenever I call her on the phone!

10. (okay, I thought of another one) When we went shopping with Lynn while the men went to general conference priesthood session!

Thanks Cyrena for making 2008 so fun! Can't wait to see what memories we can make in 2009!

Vacation anyone?

2009-01-09T09:23:00.002-06:00

I love to get away on a trip. My husband just shakes his head at me. It is a good thing we have travel benefits! I didn't know this about myself before I was married. Although growing up I did pack a month early for our family vacations! I would get so excited I would make myself sick. I'm afraid my daughter has the same bug. She called yesterday for me to book her on a flight to Phoenix to visit her big brother. She said, I don't know what it is I just need to get away every couple months! : ] So if you had a chance, where would you go to get away?

More details to come

2008-12-06T08:41:00.002-06:00

Last night I woke up at 2:30 am to read the text that Laura sent me that Amy had the babies at 1:02 and 1:05 am Utah time. All I know is that Hailey is around 5 and 1/2 lbs. and Brady is about 7 lbs. He has lots of hair. I'm waiting to talk to Amy. Now that I'm awake I'm afraid to wake her. So the winner is Great Grandma Carolyn! She was off by only 3 hours!!!

How much longer must we wait?

2008-12-03T15:43:00.003-06:00

Okay, Amy is still pregnant! Even though 90% of twin pregnancies have delivered by now! So I want everyone to place a guess as to when those babies will be born and the closest guess will get a prize. Please guess date and hour! It might help to know that her due date is December 22 but some doctors don't like twins to go past 38 weeks which is this coming Monday. She said that hers would be fine with that though. May the best guesser win!

Fall colors

2008-10-27T22:22:00.002-05:00

I took a walk today; it was cold but beautiful! This is what I saw! I took this picture myself! I'm looking forward to winter because I will become a Grandma! I only have about a month left to wait.

News Feed

2008-10-26T18:14:00.002-05:00

Sometimes my family gets the latest family news during family prayer. I don't mean to forget to inform them about important updates but when I start to pray these important issues come out in the form of requests and/or gratitude! It dawns on me as I'm about to say something that it will be the first time that some of them have ever heard this information but I still need to pray about it. They often feel a little left out like I've been keeping them in the dark but with all the different schedules- what can I say! Well my daughter was home visiting this week, and one of her friends was over for breakfast. My husband was at the gym working out. Kim was making waffles while I was waiting for the waffles. Her friend was getting a head start on breakfast by reheating a previously pealed boiled egg in the microwave oven for 20 seconds. He took it out of the oven and sprinkled salt on the egg. As he bite into the egg it exploded out of his mouth, all over the counter and burnt his lips. He rinsed his mouth with cold water for awhile, said that he was fine. So we sat down to eat our waffles. Just as we were about to pray my husband walks in and we invite him to have prayer with us. Without telling him what had just transpired I began to pray. I wanted to pray for this young man's lips but knowing that it would be confusing, at the least, to my husband I prayed that he would be blessed from his accident!

Are my feet growing?

2008-10-21T06:13:00.002-05:00

Have you been shoe shopping lately? Either they are changing the shoe sizes or my feet are changing! I don't understand it. My shoe size got bigger once durning my child bearing years but why now? I'm in my forties; I have never heard that this is one of the signs of aging. My old shoes still fit me. Why am I suddenly a size bigger? Well, I have gained 8 lbs. this last year. : [ Could that be it?

When will I learn?

2008-10-08T08:40:00.002-05:00

If you want to hide a special treat from your family you must put it in the veggie drawer in the fridge. I forgot this and put the spray whip cream in the shelf on the door of the fridge. I tried to conceal it slightly but it didn't work. They found it; they don't just top something with it, they spray it directly into their mouth. I only got a single serving of it on my hot cocoa. I was going to share it with them, at some point. ; ]

I'm back!!!

2008-09-19T08:22:00.003-05:00

Ok, I guess I will say something. I don't know why I have been absent for so long. Partly because my daughter made me a facebook. Before that August was full of things like girls camp, helping Kim with Amy's baby shower (which turned out me mostly doing it), moving Amy and Mike up here for a week before helping them move back to Provo, and attending BYU education week (one of my favorite things)! School has been going well for my last two teenagers. One is highly dramatic and (the youngest is just the opposite). Sometimes when the house is fairly calm he will blurt out, "will everyone just calm down, calm down!" (He never says that when he is down in the basement pounding away on his drums!) Then if I drive him to the bus stop we will just be sitting there in the car talking, waiting for the bus (which we can see coming from a block away) when he will exclaim, "Oh no!!!" Then he jumps out of the car and runs to the bus. I heave a sigh of relief (that I don't home school them), JK, and drive back home.

What do you cook?

2008-07-12T10:13:00.004-05:00

I think my dear friend and favorite blogger, the motherboard (from her blog crazyland), is sending people to comment on my last posting so I will feel like I can move on, since it has been so long since I posted anything. : ] (Thanks for all your comments dear blogging friends!) I'm trying to write this with an eye migraine. I don't get a headache with it, just a flashing squiggly disturbance in my vision that takes 20 minutes to disappear. So that no one worries- I've talked to the Doctor about it and had my eyes checked in the past and It is okay. And thanks to drummer boy who used the computer right before me in a wet swimsuit without warning me; my bum is now wet. Anyway I just wanted to say that I actually enjoyed making dinner last night! It is a big deal because I hadn't wanted to make it for a while. Cooking use to be one of my joys but now it is a chore and so I was thrilled to have fun cooking last night. I made homemade mac and cheese. What do you like to cook when you don't want to cook???

A constant battle

2008-06-19T13:57:00.003-05:00

I dread cutting my boys hair! It has always been a battle. When they were young they wouldn't sit still- now they just complain the whole time; that is if I can actually get them in the chair. Sometimes I actually break down and pay someone else to do it. I don't want to discourage my younger friends (who struggle with their two year olds) but the struggle never goes away. To make things worse they even get too big to pick up and carry over your shoulder. In-fact when they are teenagers they pick you up and carry you over their shoulder! No joke, Chris did this to me once and ran outside with me. It was embarrassing. Anyway the battle is over for today with whammy boy at least for another few weeks but watch out drummer boy you are next.

Well done!

2008-06-16T13:02:00.002-05:00

It has been so long since I posted, I almost forgot how. My daughter Amy and her husband Mike just graduated from NIU. Amy earned her masters in marriage and family therapy and Mike his bachelors in accounting. They are excited to be done and are looking forward to the arrival of the twins! For pictures of the twins go to Amy's blog thurstythoughts.

My American Idols

2008-05-21T11:40:00.004-05:00

Here are three of my top American Idols! I might be partial but I think they have amazing voices; not to mention musical talent! As you know our oldest son, Chris, came to visit last month. It was fun to see my three sons play music together. It seems like yesterday Chris was in high school and Drummer boy & Whammy boy were just 5 and 3. Now ten years later I wonder where the time went. Watching them play together is like seeing my life flash before my eyes!

What is your fear?

2008-05-13T11:12:00.003-05:00

It was scary but I did it- I cleaned out my fridge. I have been putting it off for awhile; which made it even worse. I hate wasting food so I postpone tossing out my leftovers even when they are to old to eat. There is this battle going on in my head between "is it still safe to eat" and "but I can't throw it out because that would be wasteful". I know a women who never saves the leftovers. When I first heard that I thought that she was crazy but now years later I think about all the food I had to eventually toss out any way and then wash and sterilize the containers from the mold- She was smarter than I gave her credit for.

Chicago

2008-05-03T18:59:00.003-05:00

I haven't been to downtown Chicago for... well I can't remember the last time. Anyway, a friend invited me to ride with her to Chicago for a eye doctor appointment. While she saw the Doctor I went shopping. The weather was great! I went to the Crate and Barrel store and found a cute top at the Ann Taylor Loft! We ate lunch at Ed Debevic's where the waiters are rude for the fun of it. I had a butterscotch malt and turkey reuben sandwich. It was a fun day.

Chocolate dipped Strawberries

2008-04-28T09:10:00.004-05:00

This picture is actually from Christmas 2007 when we were all together in CO. But I thought it would be fun to post here. Hint- Hula girl is the one with long dark hair in this photo.

I love it when people come to visit because it gets me motivated to clean my house. This weekend daughter number two and her honey stopped by for a two night visit on their way east to work for the summer. While her husband slept to recover from the long drive she and I went on a short bike ride!

Sunday Mike and Amy came up to visit too. We sang Happy Birthday to Mike. We had fun Sunday night making chocolate dipped strawberries when Laura's friend from high school stopped by for a visit. I think we should make it a family tradition every sunday night- Chocolate dipped strawberries!

Hawaii

2008-04-22T10:34:00.011-05:00

A week before spring break I received a text from daughter number three (which will be know as hula-girl from now on) which said that she was home sick. Being the self-sacrificing mother that I am, LOL, I said, "I'll be right there." It was nothing short of a miracle that all three of us flew standby during spring break and we are very grateful! It took two trips to the airport but we finally made it.

Notice, in this evening photo, the beautiful LDS Hawaii Temple in the back ground. Yes, drummer-boy is really that much taller than the rest of us. (youngest son wants to be known on my blog as whammy-boy)

We didn't climb any coconut trees, like this guy, but we had a wonderful time. We even saw Hula-girl perform twice on her cello (which is why she is all dressed up in the temple picture).

We had so much fun drummer-boy almost didn't

come back with us.

Dreams come true

2008-04-19T22:37:00.004-05:00

Friday I signed up for beginning adult ice skating lesson's! To quote daughter # three (when she was 6) starting her first ice skating lesson, "I hope they don't ask me to try a triple lutz".

Anyway I also want to know -Is it okay to learn to ice skate when you are going to be a grandma in 8 months!!! Thank you oldest daughter and her better half ; )

Oldest Son is in town for a visit this weekend! He has been doing some major exercising since I saw him at Christmas and looks great! He is my new inspiration. Next week I will find out how my cholesterol is doing. I'm sure I need to be hitting the gym too.

Testing 1, 2, 3, testing

2008-04-14T16:39:00.004-05:00

I finally, with Amy's help, figured out how to write something on my blog "myself" and of course now everyone here wants their turn on the computer. I wanted to share my adventures in Hawaii but people are breathing down my neck. So for now I will just tell what is happening tonight for family night. Drummer boy is making dinner. He had me buy ingredients for Pad thai!!! Pregnant sister gave me FHE treat idea... Kraft readymade cheese cake filling. Of course I'm figuring a way to add chocolate to the treat. If it looks good I'll even take a picture. : ) Amy will really be impressed. Just don't hold your breath (it may be awhile).

Vacation Addiction

2008-03-21T13:54:00.002-05:00

Life is tough when your addictions are legal...you just have to give in and go!

Enjoying the open seas!

Such a great view!

Keep hydrated! Lots of fun yet to be had!

I still don't know why Dad's head isn't inside the shark, that would have been a GREAT picture!

So, because mom is currently en route to Hawaii with the boys and thus too busy to blog, I have posted this post and started this new blog for her because she lost her password for the last one. I hope you enjoy the warm pictures and remember that Spring is almost here!

~Amy