Joyful January

A lady in our ward is a widow. Her husband passed away in November.  He was young, our age, and had a son on a mission and a son that is a senior in High School.  He struggled about 2 years with cancer and the cancer finally won.  I can't imagine how hard that would be to face the rest of your life with out your love.  So, the RS in our ward put a bucket outside her front door and we are spending the year filling her bucket.  They pass a sign up sheet around to make sure it's done daily, or we can fill it anytime we want.  I signed up for a day early in January.  Cynjyn helped me make a Joyful January Jar.  We filled it with quotes and the idea is to take one slip of paper out a day in January and read the quote and feel uplifted and loved.  I hope it worked, because she is loved.

I wore a dress and boots one day to school and as I walked out to my car after work to go home I looked down and just thought I looked like Laura Ingalls Wilder with my dress that was kinda like a prairie dress and the boots.  Brought me back to my childhood when I watched that show on TV and LOVED it and the books. 

A couple of ladies in our ward had an afternoon tea where several of us came and snacked and visited the afternoon away.  It was very pleasant and I really enjoyed it.  We don't get together much with our ward friends anymore and I miss those socials and gatherings and talking to friends who I only see on Sunday's usually.  It was nice and we all left saying we should do it more often.  (Back:  Amelia, Hadley, Angie, me Heidi and Cari)

Garry and the priest were in charge of YM/YW combined in January and did 4 square volleyball.  This was Cynjyn's team.  I'm grateful for Jen and taking pictures and then sending them to me so I can see the fun they had.  Garry took a few, but not cute group ones like this! (Maggie, Cynjyn, Olivia, Kimber and Heather)

Cynjyn went to the mall and bought some clothes with her bday money from grandma and friends.  She got these cute overalls.

Trey came into town and was heading back to school.  He came on Friday and spent the night and was leaving Sunday morning.  Taz had already invited Garry and I to go to Taken 3 with him, so Trey tagged along. 

Cynjyn and her friends wanted to go out to a fancy restaurant for dinner.  They chose Olive Garden.  Some of the mom's wouldn't let them go if they weren't chaperoned, so we sacrificed and volunteered to take them to OG.  (Norma, Cynjyn, Adrienne, Kate and Kaela)

We got to the restaurant and they reserved a table and we did.  It just so happened that they seated us on opposite sides of the restaurant.  Lucky for them...they had their privacy. 

We enjoyed our dinner very much and the company.

I sent Taz over to snap a picture of the girls and it looked like they were having a great time.  We finished way before them so the four of us sat out in the car playing Trivia Crack against each other waiting. 

I had to visit a ward in our Stake for their Ward Conference.  We have church 9-12 and their church was 11-2, so I went to our ward and then came home and got Trey off and then to their ward.  Garry had a nice dinner ready when I got home and the table was even set nicely with folded napkins.  I asked why so fancy and he said because he had the time!  What a guy.

Yes, It's January 12 and my upstairs banisters are still glowing with Christmas decor.  I just love them and could leave them up all year, but alas, I finally took them down the next week.

Mid terms came in the second week of January.  As per tradition, I took the kids out to lunch on the last day, Friday.  Taz chose Claim Jumper.  He filled up on bread and then only took about 3 bites of his widow burger.  Cynjyn had club sandwich and cesar salad and I had the mini sliders. 

Cynjyn wanted a cookie and ice cream dessert and it was huge.  Taz didn't eat it and we took a lot home!

Monday was Martin Luther King day and no school.  Gus invited Cynjyn Alyssa and Raejean to go to King Putt and do some mini golf and laser tag.  They were there 4-8. 

This past Friday Taz had an academic letter breakfast.  It was to honor those with an academic letter.  That means all A's all year.  They do it for the previous year. So when he was a sophomore, he earned the letter for his Freshman year.  I missed the breakfast last year because when I got the letter, I thought it was 7:30 pm and so I didn't make it.  This year I made it and so did Garry.  We enjoyed a nice breakfast put on by the culinary class and then they presented the awards.  Taz got a stripe for his letter because it was his second year (sophomore year). 

Great job and we are proud he takes his academics seriously. 

That same day I decided to make some homemade chinese food for dinner.  Mom had Instagrammed some that she'd made and I'd been craving it all week.  I have time to actually cook on Friday's so I went for it.  This was started at 4:30 and we ate at 6:00.  It is time consuming.  I pre chopped everything and then assembled and cooked as I went along.  This was for the egg rolls and they were the yummiest of the night. 

I also did fried rice, won tons and sweet and sour pork and egg foo young.  The egg foo young was o.k.  I didn't do gravy for it and I really missed that.

And finally Saturday, Cynjyn spent the afternoon with her friends at the mall and then at our house making tutu's for spirit week this week. 

And that is our Joyful January.

Where have all the blogger's gone??

Where have all the blogger's gone?  I really don't know.  I ask myself this everyday when I check my blog and NO ONE has updated in days, weeks, month's or years. 

Today at church, Cynjyn was making fun of me and my new app I got for my phone.  It allows me to add sparkle and movement to a picture.  I was so excited and she asked me why I bothered, why am I on Instagram?  So I told her why I started blogging and Instagramming.

Remember back in the day when you anxiously awaited at your mail box for a letter to arrive. Long anticipated news of those that you loved.  What had they been up to? Had anyone been sick?  Did any of them have a great accomplishment? What had happened to them that was just an everyday experience of life?  I remember that.  I first went away to college at BYU and LIVED for letters from home, letters from Garry, any news of anyone I missed.  I would call home once a week and talk to everyone, but a letter was just so exciting. 

I've always lived away from family.  I always loved hearing about what was going on with them.  It made me feel like I was there, a part of their lives.  So in 2007, my sister suggested I start blogging.  That way, I could have a written account of my life and my family's life and my loved ones that lived far away, could instantly see what was happening.  I loved the idea and this blog was born.  I did it for my extended family that I didn't get to see everyday.  An added benefit was that it also became my journal and a family history book.  A documented happening of our lives.  Soon, family members and friends started blogging and it was so exciting to see updates on my feed.  I loved opening my blog and seeing that 10 other friends and family had blogged too.  It was like getting mail!

I joined Facebook a long time ago, but never got into posting updates.  I love reading other peoples updates, but a lot of it is trivial stuff, which is great, but I also have many friends on FB who I would consider more acquaintances.  Also the aspect of how do you get a hard copy of those happenings and all the stuff you're putting out there for posterity's sake?  Complicated.  Then Instagram came along.  I immediately loved it.  Smaller and more intimate than FB.  You can be private, or public, see and like something without having to get constant updates and more actual friends on it than acquaintances.  Yes, IG was for me!  I could share something immediately happening with my close friends and most importantly my extended family!  My siblings and parents and nieces and nephews were on it and I could glimpse their lives and feel apart of them and feel close without living close by.  I loved it. 

Then something dreaded happened.  Snapchat...to me that has ruined this sharing of life.  My kids are constantly on Snapchat and snapping away pictures of their lives, and then they just disappear, gone for good, no record what so ever that anything happened.  To me that is dreadful.  Taz's friend got hurt and had black and blue eyes, she Snapchatted a photo to everyone.  I wanted to see how she was doing, but the picture was gone, lost somewhere in cyberspace, record permanently deleted.  All of a sudden, my nieces and nephews and kids were sending their photos that lasted maybe 20 seconds before disappearing.  Now they were no longer Instagramming anything...oh I saw that on Snapchat, really I want to see...oh I don't have it anymore.  UGH!

So back to our church conversation.  I started these two things to keep in touch with those I love.  Now, no one updates blogs anymore.  They are too busy, they think it's too much work.  They think no one is reading them. They think no one cares anymore. They think they've said it all on FB or IG of SC.  Well I care, I read, I want to stay in touch.  In a world where there is so much instant gratification and technology at our fingertips, we sure don't see a lot of our close friends and family anymore.  I miss that, but when they blog or IG for just a moment, I am in their world, catching a glimpse of them and what they are doing and I feel connected and in touch and I love it.  So I will continue to blog and IG and make records of my life and my family and I will continue to wonder what is happening with those I love and try to remain connected some way, some how.  If the urge hits and you have a spare moment, blog...document...record.  I'll be waiting.

Smile that frown away!

A few weeks ago I saw that Kim Kardashian said that she is seldom photographed smiling.  She posted a picture of herself and captioned it:  See I do smile...even laugh on occasion.  Not too often though because it causes wrinkles."  Well all I have to say to that is SAD.  I can't imagine a world without smiles!

Not the posed: here I'm going to take a picture...smile...but unabashed SMILES!

The kind you can't hold back. 

Smiling for the sheer joy of the moment.

Smiling because of the experience you are having at any given time.

Smiling because you are surrounded by LOVE.

Smiling because you're off on adventures...into the unknown. 

Smiling because of a crazy thing you did.

Smiling because you're having a great time.

Smiling because someone is near you.

Smiling, holding nothing back because you are experiencing pure JOY.

Smiling because you are content.

Sharing a smile, creating a memory.

These are reason's to smile.  So I say forget about wrinkles...they will come don't pass up an opportunity to SMILE!

Share the joy...make someone's day...SMILE those frowns away!
Bring on the wrinkles!

Go ahead...make my day!!

Our holiday is over

I seriously don't know what I would do without this man in my life.  He is such a good person.  He keeps our family clothed, literally.  Not only does he bring home the money for us to buy the clothes, but he does all the laundry...all the time.  On weekends and vacations, he is always doing laundry.  This is not odd to me though because growing up my dad also did the laundry around our house.  But I soooo appreciate him washing, folding and putting away the clothes...like all the time!  He deserves his break from laundry getting up the energy to put it away.  This picture is just so him.

Cynjyn wore her new cat stockings she got for Christmas to church Sunday...cutie pie!. 

It had been a pretty mild fall/winter.  It never got so cold that I turned on the heat.  But towards the end of December, the temperatures finally got low enough that we wanted the heat on.  So, we turned it on and the downstairs one never would come on. Garry investigated and couldn't figure out what was wrong.  So we all bundled up and endured.  Finally about a week later, we called a repairman and got it fixed.  In the mean time...Tanner played hand and foot like this.

Nurse Mikel is trying to diagnose Cynjyn's illness and is trying to see if she has strep.  It only made Cynjyn gag and gag...it was funny and they were both laughing so hard it was difficult to get a correct decision...but the final one was NO STREP!!

We got some Sparkling Cider from friends for Christmas.  We got two.  We drank the first one right away and the second one sat on the counter for a long time.  Finally one night, Talon wanted it but he wanted it chilled so he stuck it in the freezer...for just 5 minutes.  The next day, I couldn't get any ice out of the dispenser so I opened the freezer and the cider glass jar had exploded all over the ice maker and into it.  He had forgot about his chilling cider!

Tanner went on a mini mission this summer and when he went to Stella's house they talked about how we had tried to make tamales this summer with my mom.  Stella asked Tanner if we liked tamales and he said yes and so she promised him she'd make him some eventually.  Well that time came after Christmas and boy were they good.  They were chicken an turkey.  We enjoyed them.

Taz and Cynjyn had friends coming over in and out throughout the holiday.  This time they came and went to vball with us and spent the night.  Us adults are always delegated to sitting at the island while they get the table, but this time Mikel and Talon joined them at the table and me, Garry and Tanner got the island.  I tried a new dinner recipe that night too.  Beef tips with mashed potatoes and salad.  I had Tanner quickly try it to see if it was good and he said yes, so we proceeded with feeding them all...6 of us plus Mikel, Becca, Ryan, Andrew and Michael. 

See all the blankets and shalls spewed around...heater still broken!

It snowed.  We had snow in the forecast for a Wednesday...Taz was up by 7 to see if it happened.  It finally did around 9.  We ran outside and tried to get pictures, but it was such a light snow that the camera didn't pick it up.  It would snow big flakes for about two minutes, then small barely visible flakes.  Then big, then small.  It didn't last long either.

It accumulated a little on the swing to see that it was snow.

The "kids" were as excited as ever and kept going to the window to watch.

Talon woke up with a messy beard one morning.  Cynjyn and I thought it was so funny to see his tweaked beard that we wanted a picture.  He didn't get why it was so funny to us.

Tanner went back to BYUI on NY eve.  His plane left at 3:00.  We were all sad to see him go, but the only flights out were that day and then Sunday the 4th the day before schools started and he didn't want to get back that late, so he opted for NYE.  It also saved over $100.00 to fly out then.  So he and Taz were playing XBox up until the last possible moment. 

Cynjyn started getting sick a few days before NY eve.  She started with a cold and stuffy nose and ended up with stomach cramps and throwing up.  BUT, she was determined to go to her first stake dance which was a valley stake dance in Henderson on NY eve.  She could barely stand up straight, but pulled herself together and went with the promise that her dad would come get her if she didn't make it to midnight.  The dance was over at 12:30.  At midnight, she texted Garry to come get her, she'd had enough, but by the time he would get out there, her ride would be there, so she stuck it out the extra half hour. 

I watched mindless TV until the kids all got home on NYE.  Taz had gone to a party at Paige Lee's house.  He got home before Cynjyn by about 10 min.  I took a selfie at midnight.

This is how Cynjyn spent the rest of her vacation...sick on the couch, sleeping and throwing up.  She finally felt better Saturday Jan. 3, 2015!

Garry and I spent a morning organizing all the kids coins and putting it on an excel sheet so they were all cataloged.  It took about 3 hours, but my mom had requested it and now it's done and will be so much easier to update each year.

We took Cynjyn to the mall that Saturday to spend her bday money from grandma.  They still had Christmas up and I had a vision in my head of a picture I wanted to make, so I was snapping away  (much to the chagrin of Garry and Cynjyn).  So these pictures went from this...

to this..my one little word motto poster.  I thought it was worth their embarrassment!!

Miracles and words

In the past I have picked one little word to start my year off with. I don't recall doing it last year, but this year I've thought a lot about it. I wanted to come up with a motto rather than a word and the motto I chose is:

I really want to take this year to engage my life, not just live my life.  Engage:  Occupy, attract or involve.  Participate or become involved in.  I want to ENGAGE with my husband more.  I want to ENGAGE with my children more.  I want to ENGAGE with me more. I want to ENGAGE with my extended family more and I want to ENGAGE with my friends more.  We could all use more time engaging with each other.  It is such a world based on technology and we are fully engaged with our technological devices.  I believe that I use mine to document my family and our lives and record our histories, but still I am probably more engaged with my devices than with the actual people in them.  This year I will try to change that and be more engaged with humans than technology. At least this is the vision I see for myself.  So here's to 2015...I will be anxiously ENGAGED!

Now onto miracles:  Last Sunday Garry and Taz were going to take the Sacrament to a lady in our ward who is aged and not able to attend Sacrament meeting.  Taz decided to go to his friends ward after our Sacrament meeting to watch her perform in her meeting.  So Garry asked Tanner to go with him.  It was a super windy day and cold.  They bagged a piece of bread and set off to the house.  When they got there, the front door was wide open.  Now, it was a double door and the deadbolt was out, but the hook that combined the two doors together had come apart and the doors to the house were wide open.  Garry and Tanner could hear music playing.  They knocked and called out to the occupants but received no answer.  So they decided to go in and see if all was well. They searched the whole house and  although no one was home, nothing seemed amiss either.  So, they locked the house up and made sure the door was securely closed and headed home.  Garry called the house and left a message on the machine that they'd been there and hoped all was well when they returned.  Well, they had been out of town and they did return later that night and they were just so grateful that Garry and Tanner had gone over there. There is no way to know how long the door had been blown open, but we consider it a miracle that nothing bad happened while the house was exposed.  The lady said that they knew they were going to be out of town and had told someone to tell Garry that their mom wouldn't need the sacrament, but somehow that message didn't get relayed to Garry and we know it was the hand of the Lord protecting them and their belongings.  I am grateful that there are still miracles performed to day by ordinary people just trying to live their ordinary lives and do good things for others.