37?!

Lori turned 37 on September 8th! She still looks so young that it's hard to wrap my mind around her being that age.

She actually had to host her own party so Randy and Adam could install a peep hole and a storm door for her.

Apparently it's amazingly easy to install a peep hole...who knew?

Even though the Home Depot video I watched said the storm door was only a 2 out of 5 scale of difficulty it still took about 2.5 hours to do and Randy had to go back the next day to finalize the fit.

Lori requested super nachos for her party food and I must say this was a great choice. My mom made some fabulous shredded pork to go with them. I made quesadillas for those who wanted them, but had to wonder why I would decide to make something that involved me standing over a hot griddle for a long time. The simplicity of the task is opposite of the sweatiness of the task.

Andrew kept a low profile upstairs in Lori's room away from the crowd, but did surface for some pizza and ice cream.

Miscellaneous Monday

It feels like my whole life is one big Miscellaneous Monday post!

I don't remember what song was playing, but these two cracked me up by unexpectedly breaking into some coordinated dance moves! It was so funny!! I had time to grab the camera and catch this shot of them on the tail end of one of the moves. This is not usual behavior so it was highly amusing.  

One Sunday afternoon as I was rushing to get out the door to church, I grabbed my purse so I could get my house keys out of the back pocket. Usually I just dig around blindly to find my keys, lip gloss, or gum but this time I took my purse off the bar stool where it was hanging and set it on the table. I looked down and saw this very ample spider web!! Ew! The thing is that I had used my purse just the night before, so this was a very new web! I was totally flummoxed by this discovery and chose to leave the purse there and go to church without my house keys...needless to say I had a hard time focusing for the first few minutes of church! Fast forward like 5 hours later when I showed Randy the web and implored him to investigate when sure enough he said, "oh there he his!" and proceeded to retrieve and kill the offending spider! D-I-S-C-O-N-C-E-R-T-I-N-G!!!

Here is one of Whitney's latest Barbie creations based on ideas she has seen online.

My mom and I spent a sweaty couple of hours being roasted alive at Landon's football game last Thursday. It was in the 90's that day plus we were sitting on metal bleachers in direct sun. It was NOT pretty! We used her blanket to cover our very pale white legs and then huddled under an umbrella. It was a labor of love for sure.

But he's so cute we just had to be there!

Whitney showed her support by drawing on her hand, but pretty much complained the whole time we were at the game. She ended up finding a tree to sit under, but since she has no interest in football it really wasn't the best idea for her to come with us (I gave her a choice, but I think she hoped we'd get food on the way home...we didn't).

Bella spent the night with us Friday night and the girls wanted to  go see the One Direction Movie on Saturday. We agreed to this in exchange for some weeding (very generous offer on our parts) and Bella happily agreed (even though she'd already seen the movie!), Whitney balked and complained and pushed Randy and I to the very edge of our sanity (this has been happening a lot lately). Needless to say we won't be making any arrangements like this again!

 

Lori turned 37 this weekend but still looks like she could be my love child from a high school romance!

Landon has officially passed her in height!

Sunday Thoughts

So today was the big day...after 7 weeks of thought and preparations it was finally time to give my talk. I had been totally calm up until this morning when the butterflies got busy and then while I was sitting on the stand I experienced some serious adrenaline (like save a baby from a burning building adrenaline) and heart palpitations (I'm not a fan) so it was a relief to actually get up there and give my talk. Here are some tidbits...

President Kimball said, “What gods do we worship? Modern idols or false gods can take such forms as clothes, homes, businesses, machines, automobiles, pleasure boats, and numerous other material deflectors from the path to godhood."

Satan’s distractions are even greater during the week when we are away from church and have thousands of things vying for our attention. What are you distracted by? Do you spend too much time watching TV, working, exercising, reading for pleasure (guilty!), checking Facebook, shopping, sleeping, talking on the phone, checking sports scores, playing video games and so on? None of these things are bad on their own, but they all have the potential to distract us and keep us from doing the things that let the Lord know He is our true focus and only God.

1 John 2 :15 --Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Dallin H. Oaks said, “We look first to our Savior Jesus Christ. He is our model. Our model is not the latest popular hero of sports or entertainment. Similarly, our most precious possessions are not the expensive toys and diversions that encourage us to concentrate on what is temporary and to forget what is eternal. Our model—our first priority—is Jesus Christ. We must testify of Him and teach one another how we can apply His teachings and His example in our lives.”

A Girl Can Dream

On Saturday we drove 45 minutes to the backside of Heber for a day of fun with our extended family at their "cabin". We had never been there before because we missed last year's day of fun, so I didn't grasp the size of their property. It turns out they have 400 acres of awesomeness for their family to enjoy. 

We spent the few hours we were there down near the water because that's where the boats and the sand are.

Landon and Austin took the canoe out for a paddle around the pond.

My sweaty face was glued to my camera almost the entire time we were there. Taking pictures in such a beautiful place is part of what makes it enjoyable for me.

Even dandelions are beautiful!

Apparently my uncle really hates thistle, but it looked kind of pretty to me. Of course, I'm not the one who has to clear the trails full of it to make it feet-friendly for visitors.

I notice more when I've got my camera with me.

A bunch of us hiked up to a waterfall on their property. I managed to do this in flip flops, but I wouldn't recommend it if given other footwear choices.

Landon, Austin and my 2nd cousin Paige scrambled up the waterfall and got nice and muddy.

This is Landon after his descent as he finished saying "awesome".

They showed us their natural spring and we got to drink out of a ladle they keep there.

This may be my favorite photo of the day. I absolutely love the way Ashley walked without a care in the world with her "sword" in one hand, a blue Tootsie Pop in the other, her ragamuffin pig tails and a Band-Aid on her elbow...too cute and oh so very five!

I think Whitney and the other girls could have played in the sand all day long.

Oh Ashley.

I wandered around trying to capture the beauty of the wildflowers everywhere. It was glorious, but hot.

Red faced and sweaty...I felt so pretty.

I found a tree with my name on it! It actually said Jillian, but I cropped it down to suit my fancy.

When I wandered back from my walk the group had gathered to say prayer over dinner, it was a sweet scene especially with little Noah losing his swim trunks in the distance.

I love this shot!

Randy was really enjoying the salsa but ended up bringing a bunch of it home on his shirt.

Everyone (except me and Robyn) roasted wienies for dinner.

I still found plenty to eat.

Whitney and Ashley claimed the swing.

A storm rolled in as we were eating dinner so we had to finish quickly, clean everything up and make a hasty departure. It's probably for the best though or they may never have gotten us to leave!

**Can you imagine owning a place like this?

Would this be a dreamy place to you?

Do you enjoy nature?**

Comment Window Tidbit: My new wake up time is 5:30am, so I slept fitfully (much like I do when I have to wake up for an early flight) and will probably have to rely on adrenaline to see me through the day.