Kevin and Vicki

Christmas 2011

2011-12-28T21:04:00.001-08:00

I'm thinking that I kind of liked that Christmas was on a Sunday this year. For one...I was ready for pictures, with makeup and all, instead of just getting out of bed. Also, I loved going to church and looking around and realizing how much I really loved the wonderful people in our ward. Our ward meets at 9:00 so we were blessed to have the whole day ahead of us. Connie and Peter attended their Sacrament Meeting that morning also, and was on their way to Nevada by noon. We got home from church, changed into our PJs, had our traditional breakfast (at 11 a.m.), and then went into the family room for the opening of presents, all that is, except for our exchange presents for each other. The kids were adament about not even looking at their stockings until we got home from church. Stockings are Michaela's favorite part of Christmas morning...
Connie and Peter showed up around dinner time and Levi had to show me what he got for Christmas... This kid is the "dress up King!" (LOVE the boots...)

Connie made Tibi and Landon pillowcases this year.

Landon's new wallet from Tibi.

Kira surprised all of her siblings with their own "jewelry tree." For those of you who don't know about these...I'm sorry. They have been in the family since church "bazaars" were around. Any of you remember those days? In a nutshell, the children have all called "dibs" on our family one when I die, but I told them I wasn't planning on dying, so Kira got smart and made one for everyone instead.... Smart girl. Jewelry tree = wood, fabric, Christmas lights, lots of costume jewelry, BEAUTIFUL!! (The kids are in charge of their own jewelry)

I got the only thing I wanted....a blender. Life stinks without one, I've decided.

Kira is always so cute with the nieces and nephews. They love her to death...

The next night we attempted to take family pictures. These two got a little giddy...

A cute one of the Hill family...

All the kids in order...from youngest to oldest. (Landon is happy to finally be the tallest!)

How did I end up with such cute kids?!

Kevin couldn't quit laughing....!

We needed the sun to hurry and go down for a better shot...but have you ever tried to do this with tired kids? No time for the sun to go down...

Another of the kids...

Much better lighting...Kira, Connie, and Lexie

That's better...

Love this one...

I'm the luckiest girl in the world...

Willard Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-28T18:13:00.000-08:00

Hold on to your hats because this is going to be a long one. Thanksgiving time is Willard Reunion time at our house (along with all the other Willards), which means we head off to St. George on Wednesday afternoon for a fun-filled weekend of playing, eating, picnic-ing, and staying up WAY too late laughing and playing games. Every year we stay at Randy and Penny's house in Santa Clara (Kevin's just older brother) and frankly, we wouldn't have it any other way. Our kids have grown up together, although most of them are married now with little families of their own. Penny is so good to keep our family, all of us which makes about 16 of us, plus a few other families too. We owe her BIG TIME after every Thanksgiving weekend. We usually pay her back in either cereal or treats and goodies that only stay at her house :)

Here are the kids playing a mean game of popcorn on her tramp. They used to do this at our house when they were all younger (and before our trampoline broke.)

The little ones were happy to just play in the green sand...

Next day...forgot to take pictures at our annual breakfast at the church, which includes a yummy, warm breakfast, and a wild game of "Bump Out" on the basketball court. Here is Connie and two of her kids waiting for Thanksgiving dinner.

Mmmm boy!! (The best part of the dinner are the paper plates...)

...because every year it's the teenagers that do the dishes after dinner.

After dinner, we snuck off and went to see our dear friend Carla, who we miss terribly at our festivities. It was SO good to see her and get a long-awaited hug from her.

Next day... the crowd gathered to go on a hike before heading to the park for lunch.

The kids LOVE going to the park because they finally get to do something that they LOVE to do (and they can be as noisy as they want to be.)

Look at those lovely colors on that nasty punch :)

The annual "Tibi and Tibi" picture. I think we forgot to get one of these last year...

That afternoon we headed over to "Uncle Bob's" for a fun carnival set up in their backyard. Marce was pretty excited about the marshmallow shooters!

They even had a fishing booth... (I guess you didn't have to be a "kid" to enjoy this carnival:)

All of Connie's kids wanted their face painted. Of course, Eden wanted a pink heart...

Levi gets an artist's version of the "Joker" on his cheek. Kira made good with what he wanted it to look like. Jonah had a cute sun on his...

Saying goodbye on Saturday morning. Now it's back to school, teaching Seminary, and work till we get to do it again next year. Thanks Penny! (...and Randy)

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T20:16:00.001-07:00

Some of these pictures are a little scary...not that the costumes are scary, but it's a shame these kids still think they need to go trick-or-treating! My kids will always be kids at heart, so that means that they will probably ALWAYS dress up for Halloween. It's kind of like Michaela said tonight..."at least we're not out partying!" Point taken...
Here's Colton, Tibi (really), Landon, and Michaela
In character...

Nana brought her kids over too. I love it when all the "family" kids come over. They asked what I was dressed up as...I told them I was a grandmother tonight. They just kind of looked at me...

Every year after trick-or-treating, Tibi and Michaela insist on unloading their stash of candy and sorting it out for the annual picture. Then Tibi turns into a monster and becomes the "ruthless trader" - oh my goodness, you'd better hold onto your candy or you might notice some of it gone!

Even Amar'e got into the spirit of the night. He made the cutest mummy...(see, there I am dressed up as a grandmother!)

Kick Off Your Sunday Shoes...

2011-10-26T18:26:00.000-07:00

It's official...I've been released from my stake calling. As much as I needed this to happen in my life, I will miss it terribly. We have had such wonderful opportunities to not only work with the women of the stake, but to also feed missionaries at Zone Conferences, do humanitarian work, and have a successful Day of Service this last year - among many other things. I have been blessed with two sets of wonderful counselors throughout my nearly four years there. But now I can pass the torch on to an incredible woman who will love the sisters as much as I did - and do, and will help keep the fire burning within our stake. So, thank you, my sisters. You have touched my life. I will miss you. Now it's back to studying for Seminary, and wearing a different pair of shoes. It's not that easy wearing two different pairs at one time...

Homecoming 2011

2011-10-24T19:10:00.001-07:00

Okay...yes, I'm still alive, although my life has been a little crazy lately. They called me to teach early morning Seminary this year, and let's just say that I have to schedule all other things in my day around it. I LOVE Seminary, and I have great kids, it just takes a lot of time. With that said, here are some of the pictures that Kevin and Michaela took for Homecoming Week. This, of course, was "Nerd Day" (my kids have to TRY to look nerdy, thank heavens :) They actually look pretty good! I think Landon looks a lot like his cousin, Kurtis, in these pictures. (Not in a nerdy way, of course!)
Classic...

Saturday night was the dance with their dates, after a day of frolicking outside on four-wheelers and dutch-ovening. I was in California visiting my parents and sister for the weekend, after being kidnapped by my two Utah sisters. It was nice to have a getaway, but I ended up missing yet another Homecoming/Prom of one of my kids. They just have them without me...
Here's Dirk Frehner and Rachel Dalley and Landon and Mady Messer, Tibi's best friend!

Colton and Tibi looking good...

Our valley is blessed with talented women that can take a strapless dress and turn it into a fairly modest gown. Thank you Debbie!!

The braces come off in weeks...too bad the dance wasn't scheduled later. At least they will be off for senior pictures.

Sunday School...?

2011-09-04T18:50:00.001-07:00

Okay...this is not your typical Sunday activity, but we ARE together as a family, and there was some learning going on too :) Kira came down for a few days (on her way to a CA and AZ roadtrip), Lexie and Michaela are living at home (for the moment), and they all have been wanting Landon to teach them all about the college football conferences, mascots, team colors, and venues. If anybody knows this stuff...it's Landon. This kid just soaks this knowledge up. His dad has thrown quite a few tidbits in there too, so between the two of them, the girls are coming away with a pretty good knowledge of this very important information :) So now we are all ready to get into ALL college football games, whether we like them or not. If the conferences would leave each other alone, not change everything up, and keep teams where they've been, it would have been a lot easier to keep these things straight. Oh well....on with the pigskin playing!

Finally...

2011-08-27T21:48:00.001-07:00

We have been trying to plan a BBQ with our good friends, the Messers, for months...and tonight was finally the night! These guys have been our close friends and were our right-next-door neighbors (and I mean right across the cement between our houses) many years ago, and we just can't consider them anything but our neighbors...still. Austrie has received her mission call and will be leaving soon, school starts in two days (and then no one has time), and it was a perfect day for a BBQ, so they came over for hamburgers and hot dogs (with all the other good stuff that goes with them), and then these girls played a game and laughed all night (well until about 10 o'clock...we do have early church tomorrow.) I think even Ari had a good time. She never really has been around us much, as she was born just about the time they left the "neighborhood."
Matt and Corinne and a great picture of Kevin! (He's not going to be happy I posted this...)
The "not-so-happy" crowd. These guys worked their tails off today in heat outside helping Kevin do a huge clean-up project, which lasted till about 4:00 in the afternoon. I think they were ready to go to bed at just about this time.

These two girls have been best friends for forever, and I mean since before they were born! They have been so good for each other, and have really looked out for one another. We are so glad that Mady has been a part of our family for these past 17 years.

Like I said....they do everything together.

All the way back to starting Kindergarten...

And even before that...

And this year these girls will graduate together. We also (kind of) celebrated a belated birthday for Landon, who turned 16 last week while in Arizona playing in a high school football game. Pretty uneventful, but he IS 16 now, at least. Now all we have to do is get him to study his driving skills...then we can get him up to Mesquite and finally get his permit. It's been a crazy summer...

Another Goodbye...

2011-08-17T20:51:00.001-07:00

It's another goodbye to another Sister who served here in our valley. This is Sister Gonzalez, one of our favorite people, and an awesome missionary. She left here in January, and we promised her that we would see her off, so it was another trip in to missionary transfer conference yesterday. She has been a joy to know, and more importantly, was a real boost to the missionary work when we were assigned these girls. They have since taken the sisters out, brought the "boys" back in, and the work goes on and on. It has been a blessing for Kevin to be the ward mission leader for so long - over 4 years. This is one of those perks...
Plus, we got to get another picture with our favorite guy, Elder Gibson, who served out here for only 6 weeks, but ended up falling in love with (because he was such a GREAT missionary, of course :) Those dimples are the best...

Good, Clean TV

2011-07-30T08:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, my kids are starting to tease me about this...but what can I say? I'm a succor for good, clean, make-you-feel-good kind of TV watching, and let's face it...there's not much on cable TV that fits into that category. Now my big girls are going to give me the business over this one, but I just can't get into watching a gay guy talking about fashion, or having to watch a show week after week, just to see who wins in the end, and frankly, I don't even miss watching Food Network that much, but this show... oh how it brings back the memories. When my big girls were younger, and we watched Disney Channel just waiting for this series to come on every week, that's when life was good - even for just the night. This is Road To Avonlea - a spinoff from the Anne of Green Gables movies, set in Avonlea with new characters like Hetty King, Felicity and Felix, and some thrown in from Anne also, like Marilla and Rachel Lynde, who ends up in all seven series' of the show.

When I watch these, half of me wonders how great it would have been to live back in that time - the early 1900's, especially if you could have lived on Prince Edward Island in eastern Canada. The scenery and landscape would have been enough ( I live in Nevada where nothing is green), and a simpler time would have been kind of nice...but then I think of all of the conveniences that I have today - indoor plumbing, instant hot water, an air conditioned car, and then I think that it might just be a nice show to keep watching, just for the "feel good" of it. So, now I am on my last season - season 7, where all things come to an end. I'm sad that it won't go on forever, but at least I have found something that not only made me feel good for a time, but also made me grateful for a lifetime.

Love These Guys!

2011-07-14T14:07:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, Kevin, Tibi, Colton (Tibi's friend), and I got to go into Vegas to the missionary transfer conference to go see one of the sister missionary's off to head back home. Of course, I didn't get a picture of her, but we did happen to see plenty of missionaries that have served, at one time or another, here in Logandale. That was the best part of being there - being able to see some of these guys that haven't been out here for almost a year. They are all doing great things in their areas of assignment, nothing less than what we would expect of them, and they all look great too! There were so many in this picture, that they all couldn't fit. They were all pretty excited to see us too...
Elder Gibson (my personal favorite) was one of those that got "cut off" in the picture, so we grabbed him and had our own "personal" picture taken with him before he skedaddled off to his new area. I left him with some zucchini bread and a handshake! I am such a huggy type of person, so not being able to give these guys a good, motherly hug is torture for me...

They had a good number of missionaries going home that day, so by the time they all bore their testimony, and they gave out new assignments, it was a long meeting, but well worth it. We were famished by the time we got out of there (4 p.m.), so we hopped over to In'N'Out and got us a burger and fries. It's not very often that I eat fast-food, but my tummy was growlin' so I didn't care. Here's Tibi and Colton with satisfied bellies...

One of the sisters that we went to go see off decided to extend for another 5 weeks, so we will be back for the next transfer conference to go see her off. Good thing we loved it...

4th of July at the Cabin

2011-07-05T19:45:00.000-07:00

We were able to get away out of the heat for a few days. Before we headed to the cabin, Tibi and I went up to Salt Lake area to meet up with family members for the sealing of my sister, Debbie's boy. Dad was able to perform the sealing for Craig and Breanna on Friday morning, which was wonderful, of course. At the reception that night I was able to see a cousin I hadn't seen in years, uncles and aunts I hadn't seen for a long time, and spend time with Kira and Michaela also. No pictures, as I took my non-digital camera to take pictures of the weekend events. On Saturday morning we all headed down to the cabin at Panguitch Lake to spend our annual 4th of July family time together. I ended up getting some kind of a bug which put me down in bed for a good day (Sunday), because I had been up all night throwing up. Not my idea of a vacation at the cabin...
Here's the pics that Kevin shot with his camera while I was in bed :(
Grandma Packard and Heather, my youngest sister's daughter (and the youngest grandchild)
Playing games without me (how rude...)

Some of us are okay with not playing games...
It was smart to have more than one game table in the cabin.
Presenting mom and dad with the quilt that me and my sisters made for their upcoming 59th wedding anniversary. This has truly been a labor of love, although it took us almost a whole year to get it done from start to finish.
On Monday, the guys went out fishing and caught their limits. We ate some for breakfast and brought some home too.

Teaching Landon how to gut a fish...

Good Times

2011-05-30T18:37:00.000-07:00

What can I say? Life has been good to us. We are still "kickin", we are relatively healthy, and we are still best friends, which is saying a lot now-a-days. Plus, Kevin gets to work from home, I don't have to work, and we HAVE work. So we are grateful... at least for another day!
Plus, we were surprised to have Kira and Michaela show up late Friday night, right during family prayers! All four of the kids took off to the Valley of Fire the next day for a fun hike and play day... and they didn't even come back too sunburned!

I am especially glad that it was a holiday today and there was no school. I think I am ready for my alarm clock to go on strike...although I don't look forward to the kids staying up till THEY think they should go to bed. But I sure love the "down" time we all get. So here's to summer, not necessarily the heat, but here's to no school!

"Kit Love"

2011-05-17T21:06:00.000-07:00

Today we said goodbye to Kit, our family dog that has been with us for the last 12 years. I was grateful that she stayed right at home to die, and not go off into the wild, like most dogs will. She has been battling a tumor for the last few months, and while some of you may think it's cruel - we don't take our dogs, or any other animals to the vet. We just don't have the money for it, and we feel that however long our dog can be with us, then we are blessed for that amount of time. So we said our goodbyes last night and this morning. Yes, she made it through the night, which surprised me. But knowing Kit, she was not going to leave us without letting us know that she was okay with it too. So this morning, at 5:30, Tibi went out to say her last goodbyes...she died seven minutes later.
Last night as I was taking trash out, I noticed Kit was walking very gingerly and like she was in a lot of pain. She has been deaf for the last few months, so I stroked her ear while talking to her to let her know that I was concerned. I immediately noticed blood on the back of her, on her tail and down her leg, and instantly knew that it must be the tumor finally taking over. Kevin and I got her to lay down on the porch, covered her with a blanket, and although hoping for the best, knew that she would not make it much longer. Even our cat sensed something was very wrong, and tried her best to console Kit...which I though was very sweet.

We have had many dogs at different times, but none like Kit. She was loyal and thrived on affection from us, even if it was just acknowledging that we noticed her. She would come up to you if you were sitting on the porch, and dig her nose under your arm, so that you would rub her head, or pet her - something that usually annoyed me, but that I will miss.

We actually were lucky to have Kit as long as we did. She delivered three litters of puppies for a total of 24 puppies a few years ago - which I'm sure makes her a granddog by now. No matter how old, or tired, or how much her bones hurt, she ALWAYS managed to have enough "puppy" energy to go on our walks, or a run with dad. It's like she transformed into a puppy all over again. It was the craziest thing...

Everybody loved Kit, even people that didn't "know" her. She would bark at everyone that came around (I think it was that protective "mother" in her that she never got over, even though we never kept any of the puppies she had), she would let us know that someone was around, but NEVER ever did I see her nip at anyone. As soon as you touched her, or called her name, she was your lover for life, even if you were a stranger.

I always thought I knew which kid loved Kit the most...but now I'm not sure I do. They were all so sad when I told them that she had died. Maybe it has to do with them not being here, to at least say goodbye. I do know that they are not too excited about us getting another dog anytime soon - which is fine with me. I'm not sure I ever want to go through this again.

So goodbye Kit. I will miss your barking in the middle of the night to let us know that you are keeping an eye on things. I will miss seeing you play with the grandkids, and having grandma say hello to you when they come to visit. Most of all, I will miss my "walking buddy" - walking out the door with my ipod and stretching will be pretty lonely without you jumping all over the place, knowing that we would be off on another adventure into the wild! Thank you for loving us and being part of our family...

Two Milestones

2011-05-10T20:25:00.000-07:00

This little guy has made his grand entrance into our eternal family this last week. Little Amar'e Willard Hill was born two days early, on April 30th to Lexie and Sharrid. He wasn't due until the 2nd of May, but Lexie was wanting an April baby since they already have Phoenix's birthday in May. So he made it by the skin of his teeth, and all 8 lbs. 8 oz. of him too! He sure is a cutie though, and grandma got to go to Arizona for a week to take care of mom, baby, boys, and dad too. So here's to the newest little sweetheart...
While I was gone, Tibi had her own milestone...she went to Prom with this handsome boy, Ty Askeroth. They had a great time with about 17 other couples going on an "amazing race", and then getting ready in their lovely orange duds and heading to the dance for a while, and then over to a friend's house for a late-night movie. Thank you Ty, for spending a fun day and night with Tibi!

A full length shot of her beautiful bright tangarine dress - borrowed from good friend Jordan Chappell. Jordan also did Tibi's hair for her. Thank you Jordan! (Ty did his own hair...)

While Tibi was off having a blast at Prom, Landon had his own party with some of his friends...the friends that didn't go to Prom. They called it their "anti-Prom party." You know...getting together at a friend's house, goofing off, eating goodies, and watching movies. Almost as much fun as Prom...

And I missed it all - including the talk on Mother's Day that Landon had to give. Hmmm....

It's kind of weird not being home on Mother's Day...but I definitely was doing "mother" things!

Mother Nature's Wrath

2011-04-15T10:56:00.000-07:00

Today is a "nice" day. Last week we did not have very many nice days. Last week was "Fair Week" - a week that we hope for great weather. Everything was great...except for the weather. Mother Nature is a funny lady - although at the time we didn't think she was very nice. Thursday we had horrible, bitter cold wind, not good for a fair full of vendors and goods, entertainment out in the open, and people we hope will show up. Friday we had horrible, bitter cold wind, and much of the same thing. Saturday we had high hopes of at least a warmer wind...the wind died down a bit, but it was just as bitter cold. It's not a good thing when you wake up every morning and see new snow on the mountain out your front door. Sunday, the day that none of us go, of course, was gorgeous! Not that I cared so much about us - but after all the hard work of putting on a fair (that my husband happens to be the manager of) I was very happy that we could at least see the sun, feel the sun, and see no wind. Long story short...here is what my front yard looked like after the first day of wind. I'm talking strong wind - wind that we haven't seen for a while, and we get a lot of wind living in the desert. These are palm tree "droppings" that could have done someone in had they been standing under them when they came down. These things are deadly, and they all came down in one big crash. This is the culprit tree - the pole you see is the top of our flagpole. These trees are huge!

After everyone went home from the weekend, we had another windy day, which brought down even more palms that ended up on the other side of the yard, which meant the wind had at least shifted. Yay, more work. They landed clear over on the other side of the driveway. It pays to stay indoors when it's windy...

We know what we will be doing on Saturday...

Tackling THE Project!

2011-03-19T18:16:00.000-07:00

This is the project that has needed to be done before the heat sets in - and this is no small project. Because we have had a good share of rains this last season, our yard is green, but not the kind of green we want. The weeds have taken over the place, so when we woke up today and saw that the weather was cool and breezy, we knew that today was the day. I think the clincher was when Michaela drove in from Rexburg for the weekend and called our yard a "jungle". I didn't dare take a "before" shot...I was too embarrassed. So here we are, in the middle of weed pulling, with the family and even the missionaries, who just happened to drive by and lend a hand.
Almost done!

After much hard work, and sore hands, we headed into the house for a well-deserved, though LATE, breakfast of crumbcake, pancakes, bacon, eggs, and juice. Mmm boy!

I almost feel bad that Michaela brought her guy friend with her for the weekend - he got roped into helping. He was a good sport and probably saw that it was going to take ALL hands to tackle a project like this!

Now we can at least keep a handle on the weeds that pop up from time to time. (Actually, there's really more weeds in our lawn than LAWN!)

Dad's Girl

2011-03-08T21:42:00.001-08:00

The older I get, the more I am SO much my dad...and I am SO okay with that. I used to complain about some of the things I got from my dad, but now I see that they are all things that don't matter anyway. I have come to focus more on what I DID get from dad...and I am so grateful for it all. For any of you that TRULY know me, you know that I am just as blond as my dad...eyelashes, eyebrows, and all! (Thank goodness for eyebrow dye, mascara, and self-tanner. I even got his white legs!) I got the red in my hair from him, which has turned to a nice "platinum" (I like to call it "celestial"), my freckles from him, and even my crooked smile from him. All things that I thought were nuisances, but have become so endearing to me.

I even have the rough, wrinkled, thick skin of my dad! Who would have thought that something that detailed could be handed down to a child, all the way down to not being able to close off that last finger next to the rest. Yep, dad can't do that either! That's pretty cool, I think. (At least I can grow my nails out to help the look a little...)

But with all of the "nuisances" that I've been given from my dad, my hope is that I eventually get so much more of him - the parts that I have come to love so much. How he never says anything bad about anyone. NEVER. How everything he does is for someone else. EVERYTHING. How he is so devoted to God and the cause that he would die for it. How he has always put mom first. I hope I can someday put Kevin first in all things. Sure, it's taken dad 80 years to become who he is today...but frankly, I have never known him to be any other person than who he has always been to me. Now more than ever, I am so thankful I am so much like my dad.

Another Bummer...

2011-03-01T12:18:00.001-08:00

I've decided that I hate transfers. I thought it was aweful to have to let the sisters go back in January, but this is just as bad. I usually don't get so attached to Elders, but these guys have taken up where the girls left off and outdone themselves. Our ward has had baptisms up the wazoo, and it's because of Elders like these. Well, after only 6 weeks, Elder Gibson is gone :(
We better get another Elder on fire...that's all I have to say.
Elder Arbizu, Elder Gibson, and the rest of us (minus Tibi, who had already gone to bed!) On a lighter note, this kid has finally graced us with one of his headstands!

Little Big Man

2011-02-23T07:21:00.000-08:00

This kid is getting big! He has come to spend some quality time with grandma and grandpa for the next two (or so) weeks. We are working on giving mom (Lexie) some much needed time to herself, where she can be free from dealing with a "two-year-old", besides...two-year-old's are always better for grandma! We are seeing if we can get this kid off of the sippy cup, spend some time outside, and play by himself without his big brother telling him what to do! So far, so good. Except for the fat lip he got the first day he got here. Grandma might not be doing so good...

"Super" Relaxing Sunday...

2011-02-06T16:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was our annual Stake Women's Conference. In the end, it was a beautiful conference - but not without a few glitches and experiences to go through. I am the Stake Relief Society President, have been for 3 years this month. I absolutely LOVE this calling, and hope that our stake president just forgets that I am even here. I could seriously keep this calling forever! But, alas, I know that it is inevitable that someday, I will be released. On to some explaining...
Before Christmas, I had called a sister in Las Vegas, that I didn't even know, but had heard wonderful things about, to ask her to come speak at our conference. We, as a presidency, for the past 3 years, had handled womens conference ourselves, doing different 'workshops' in a round robin format. So naturally, we thought it was time to maybe bring someone else in. We were all set to go with our theme, "Attitude is Everything!" - specifically in dealing with trials and circumstances thrown at us. In a nutshell, this is how it all went down. A week ago, on Sunday night, our guest speaker called me to let me know that her father was dying in the next day or two and that they were planning the funeral for Saturday morning (the morning of our conference). I felt worse for her than I did for us, although after getting off the phone, I immediately got on my knees and pleaded with the Lord to, at least, give me peace of mind. That's all I asked for, and then I never worried about it again, although our presidency scrambled to replace her in time. In the meantime, our musical number wasn't going to happen at the last minute, our food committee went through their own glitches (peaches on the road - tailgate accidently down, that's another chapter that we would like to forget), but in the end, had a wonderful conference. All I can say is that it pays to have a sense of humor, know that the Lord will take care of us, and that it feels great to know that the women of the stake feel the spirit of the day in spite of everything that happened to get there. Like I said...I LOVE this calling!

Letting Go

2011-01-17T18:46:00.001-08:00

We haven't had "sisters" in our area for quite awhile, so when they were assigned out here in Moapa Valley again, we were pretty excited. We love the Elders, but there's just something about sisters - for one, they get to be hugged, which is a plus for any mother or girl, and there's just a bond that you develop with them. Maybe it's a "mother/daughter" sort of thing...I don't know. All I know, is that they have pulled sisters out of our area again, after only 4 months, so these girls BOTH have to leave. We had them over for a last dinner before they pack their bags and head out tomorrow. It has been such a blessing to have Kevin as the Ward Mission Leader, and to also have Tibi, and especially Michaela, around to go out with these girls on appointments and visits. So goodbye girls, until you come back and visit us again (after July when they go home - THEY PROMISED!!) We love them like they were our own. I'm actually surprised these pictures turned out - we had all been crying!

Sister Drussell, Tibi, and Sister Gonzalez

On a happier note - we have had some pretty awesome sunrises and sunsets lately. I witnessed this beauty out my window after the kids left for Seminary one morning.

Thank goodness for beautiful things when your heart is breaking...

Someone Else's Project Done...

2011-01-02T20:19:00.000-08:00

This post is for Michaela. This project is actually FROM Michaela, and Michaela gets all the credit for it. She has had this quilt project in the works for about 3 years and can finally say that it is done. She has left for BYU-I, will start a new adventure of being a college student, and would not have had the time or means to finish this quilt for her dad. So after she left, and I had a nice long New Year Day week to have some time for things like this...I decided to finish up this quilt for her. She actually did the hardest part - she cut all of the denim out of jeans, sewed the squares together to make the top, cut and sewed the back together (except for one seam), and had it all ready to put together. So I sandwiched it together, tied it, and bound it all in one day. So Happy New Year Michaela...(and dad, too!)

CHRISTMAS 2010

2010-12-28T13:13:00.000-08:00

Christmas was good to us this year...the kids were surprised, the family was all together (eventually), and we survived the grandchildren's excitement, which translates into screaming, running, and all talking together at the top of their lungs! (wonder where they got THAT from...)
Here is Michaela with her "college" stash of goodies to get her started on her new adventure of heading up to BYU-I. Kira got herself the same stash...
Mom (au natural) with what she has wanted for a very long time, but never really asked for - her total body gym. I was definitely surprised with this one, as I had only mentioned it once in passing to Kevin. What a guy! He DOES listen after all...

The four kids pooled their money and got Kevin and I some beautiful artwork from Deseret Book. We love getting things like this that makes our house even more home-y. (Thanks Kira, Michaela, Tibi and Landon)

I think Tibi and Landon were to most surprised this year. They each got cellphones that mom told them they would NEVER get. They have proved themselves pretty responsible, and actually, WE need to know where they are now that their lives are so crazy busy! So all I can blame is myself for this gift. They are happy though, and I suppose that's what really counts. (Not that I believe gadgets is what makes us happy...okay, you see my mental dilemna with all this -)

Then it was our annual breakfast with the Chappells, and then packed up and headed over that lovely new bridge over Hoover Dam to Arizona to see our other kids and grandkids. (I swear we saved at least an hour getting there!)

Opening their new pajamas from grandma.

After sewing for 5 boys, it sure is nice to get to throw together a nightgown for a sweet little girl!

All the girls (including little Eden)

Opening our name exchange gifts. Kira was pretty excited about her "Beatles" glasses. (She's secretly in love with Paul) This year grandpa and grandma got different family gifts for the grandkids. Connie's kids got a large floor puzzle, and Lexie's boys got a huge floor roadmap for their cars. This way, the kids can go play at each other's house and have something different to play with. ( Grandma and Grandpa are getting pretty smart!)

All five grandkids (next Christmas we will have our sixth!) Lexie and Shar are due with another boy in May. After having all those girls myself, we never thought we'd end up with so many boys. Little Eden needs a girl cousin someday. She may be waiting for a while by the looks of it...

Until next year...Happy New Year everyone!

'Tis the Season!

2010-12-06T07:12:00.000-08:00

With the weather turning cold early this year, it only seemed fitting to get-a-move-on and get our lights up and decorate the tree. This is probably the earliest we have done this for a few years, although we always have good intentions. It's always the kids who get "ants in their pants" in regards to getting things done in a timely manner. Actually, Michaela is the biggest culprit (and I mean that in the nicest way!) She is the "Christmas Guardian Angel" - for everyone! Here she is helping dad string the lights on the house. (Dad's around the corner on the ladder)
This year the biggest problem was trying to find a night when everyone was home to decorate the tree. Between Landon's basketball games, and Michaela working till 10 at night most nights, it ended up being Saturday night for it to happen. And it's only December 4th! Yay for us...
The kid's favorite ornaments, by far, are the ones that Grandma and Grandpa Packard gave us through the years when he was a congressman back in Washington D.C. They each pick out their stash of White House ornaments to put up and place them where they want them. Of course, they all have an opinion on where they all should go!

Michaela putting the "star" on the tree. We have never had a real star, but this big bow has become a cool tradition. They won't let me buy a star - I know, because I've tried to and I get shot down every year. I'm okay with it though because this is how it should be...

Kevin picked up this little 6 footer last year to put in our front window. My kids think it reminds them of Target because it's red and white. They don't want any other ornaments on it. At night it looks pretty celestial, it's so bright.

THANKSGIVING 2010

2010-11-30T07:05:00.001-08:00

Sorry about all the pictures, but this is for Kira and Lexie who didn't get to make it to Willard reunion this year. Thanksgiving time is reunion time for Kevin's side of the family. This is the only Thanksgiving my children have ever known, and has been happening even before I married Kevin. The kids look forward to it every year, as this is about the only time they get to see most of their uncles, aunts, and cousins. Every family has food assignments, sleeping arrangements made, and an itinerary in hand. Our food assignment every year is to make the fruit salad for the big dinner, so here we are chopping apples, peeling pomegranates, and dumping in the canned fruit! (While Penny makes her stuffing...)
Connie, Penny, Aly, Randy, and Vicki
Randy is the brother that is closest in age to Kevin. They are a year apart. We spend Thanksgiving weekend at their house. We wouldn't have it any other way...I hope Penny feels the same way!

Heading over to Bob's house to prepare for our dinner on Thursday. We meet and mingle, while the other's finish their food assignments. We have already met that morning for a big breakfast at the church, the first gathering of the weekend.

Vicki, Lauren, and a friend she brought. (Plus little Henry!)

Last minute fixings in the kitchen.

Hazel, Parry, Randy, and Bob (sister-in-law, and all brothers to Kevin)

Everybody else can't wait to eat!

Tibi, Michaela, Landon, Connie, and Levi

The little kids even keep themselves busy till it's dinnertime...

(plus mommies Victoria and Dana)

Still mingling...

Jeff, Tibi (big Tibi), Rachel, Audrey, and Joe (Rachel's husband)

Yay! Food to the tables...

Marnie, Parry, Penny, and Melissa

Kevin can't resist taking pictures of pretty girls!

Katie, Rachel, Jensen, Natalie, and Jorgen

Kevin's only sister, Teressa. She is the youngest in the family, after 7 boys!

About ready for a blessing on the food...

Randon (looking a little scruffy), and his new wife, Kylee

Jonah took more vegetables on his plate than anything else. He enjoyed playing with his red pepper and mixing his jello with it!

Now we're full and can't move!!

But we are happy!

Evidently, no more pictures - but that night we had family night (missionary reports, family additions announced, family history stories, etc.) On Friday, we met at Bob's house instead of the park because it was so cold. We ate lunch, shot off rockets, had a treasure hunt for the toddlers and young kids, and ate Aunt Linda's toffee! Yum... Then we hung around, some went shopping, until meeting at the temple for the Christmas lighting of the grounds, then back to Bob's for our traditional Canneloni/Breadsticks (all homemade) dinner and Silly Song Night. Our family rocked (of course!) with an awesome personalized family version of "Bust a Move". Check out Connie's blog (down the sidebar) for a "live version". It's probably about the only rap song that I will ever enjoy listening to because it turned out so funny...AND TRUE!

Until next year...

HOMECOMING 2010

2010-10-23T20:24:00.000-07:00

From this...(and I would call that "holding" in my book)
to this...

This whole week the kids have been involved in Homecoming activities. Float making, powderpuff football, movie in the cafeteria (instead of the football field this year because of lightening), football games, and the Homecoming parade all happened on different days (although float making happened on EVERY day). Tonight is the end of the festivities, with the dance finishing up the long list of fun they have been having. And boy, am I tired! It has been a week of late nights, early mornings, missed Seminary, and Kira moving to back to Utah. This year for Homecoming, they decided to make the dance a semi-formal event, instead of having it after the Varsity football game. I, for one, thought that this was a better idea, as "dress up"dances are always better than "jeans and t-shirt" dances...

I wish I would have taken a back shot of Tibi's hair. It was beautiful. Michaela was a trooper and hung around to do it for her. She sacrificed her OWN fun night for her sister. Tibi owes her...

Here's Tibi with her date for the day, Brendan Watkins. He's a cross-country running buddy, and a very nice boy. They look pretty festive in their orange and black!

Landon took off to the dance also, but didn't want his picture taken, even though I thought he looked like a dreamboat! He went to boogie with all the girls who were too young to have a date. Man, I'd love to sleep in tomorrow, but it's off to choir practice at 9 a.m. instead. Maybe I'll get a Sunday nap for once. I usually don't need one. Tomorrow may be a different story...

One Big Head!

2010-10-15T19:07:00.000-07:00

This last week has been a doozie! Lexie and her two boys AND cousin, Karena, and her three boys came for a visit and a list of things to do when they got here. Karena brought her very first quilt she made with her to be quilted by a valley quilter (thanks Pat!) and Lexie brought her composed songs to have strings added. That was the easy part, although my brain was fried by the time we were done composing. It was all those cute little boys and the noises they made, the messes they made, and the running and getting hurt (including feelings) they ended up with. Well, they all left today (hense, no blogging for a week) and it is quiet...a little too quiet. Dad, Landon, and Tibi are at the varsity football game in Vegas tonight, which I was way too tired to even consider going to. Kira and Michaela are over at a house painting the theater room walls, and I am here by myself. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE being by myself every once in a while, but especially tonight. By the way, I just got my phone call (mandatory) letting me know that Lexie made it home alright. I can now enjoy the rest of my lonely night! In all of the boy's roughhousing, this is the last (I think) thing that happened before they were about to head home. This big head of Phoenix's...

did this to my table! The craziest thing is that he never cried. That kid has one big head!! So the table glass is gone until a new one can be ordered and made...in the meantime, if we're not paying enough attention, our glass of water will end up on the floor through any one of those holes!

(I still can't believe that a 2 year old's head could break 1/4" glass)

Sunday Night Singing

2010-10-10T22:01:00.000-07:00

Today was a big day. We spent the day with our good friends, the Chappells, because of Britney and Chad's little baby girl's blessing. After going to their 9 a.m. Sacrament Meeting, we headed over to their house for a luncheon and some hanging out - mostly cuddling with that cute little baby Kembrie. After we finally got home, had dinner, settled in, put some kids to bed, we sat around and did this:

It was a blast, brought back memories, and even gave us all a chance to hear Kira's song she wrote. I have some pretty talented kids, if I say so myself! (and dad's a great listener himself :)

FINALLY!!

2010-10-04T20:24:00.000-07:00

It is October 4th, and it is finally cooling off. We got dumped on today. Not quite sure which way it was coming from. At times it was heading in from the north, then later it was coming from California. Actually, I don't care where it comes from, as long as it comes - and come it did! All day! What a great day it has been...

It was a day of homemade bread and a yummy pot of homemade chicken noodle soup. We've waited all summer to have a dinner like this!

General Conference Loves

2010-10-02T17:44:00.000-07:00

As the men and boys are off to General Priesthood Meeting, I have decided to use my time wisely and blog, since I am overdue - and it's better than watching TV, which I don't really like to do anyway. I have been reading Mockingjay the last few days and need to finish it, but I rarely get the computer to myself for an extended, uninterrupted amount of time, so I thought that now is the best time for that.
There are so many things I love about General Conference. First of all, when conference is in October, that means that our weather is finally changing, and today is a day of change. It is still warm outside, but we are having dark clouds that look like they could either flash with lightening and thunder, or could dump on us at any time. I love this season, for SO many reasons. Right now I have a new pumpkin recipe cooling on the counter. There's one reason. I also love the new autumn candles that are burning in my home. The smells of fall are the best! I also love that I can sleep with my windows open. (For those of you in Utah, you will not understand this)
I am also grateful for many things today. I'm thankful for a husband that takes our son to General Priesthood meeting, that they both go together out of habit, and not because they should be there. That is such a blessing in MY life. I am grateful to hear our sweet prophet speak, as well as other general authorities that I respect so much. I am thankful for the talks of encouragement, the moments that make us all laugh, and the tender times when I tear up. Conference brings out everything in me, and I am grateful most of all, that my family is right there experiencing those same things with me.

A Relaxing Sunday Night...

2010-09-12T21:08:00.000-07:00

So let's just say that the missionaries spend A LOT of time at our house. Don't get me wrong...these guys are awesome missionaries. They are hard-working and have had a lot of success out here in our valley. They came over tonight to spend a little time here before they are shipped out and transferred to their next stop. Hardly ever in Logandale have both missionaries been transferred on the same day, but these two are either doing too well....or not! (smile) With Kevin being the ward mission leader, they have spent many dinner appointments here, stopped by to turn in reports to him, and checked in for a cool drink every now and then too. Here they are devouring a cake that we needed to get rid of pronto! What better way to spend it than on missionaries...who will eat anything! Good luck guys.

I'm Hooked!

2010-09-11T10:24:00.001-07:00

Look at all this stuff! I had heard about "Bountiful Baskets" from friends and a recent newspaper article in our local paper, but I never knew how profitable it could be until today. Yes, today was my first "official" pickup day for my very own bountiful basket, and look at all I got! At least $25 worth of fruits and vegetables for only a $15 contribution. The good news is that they are going to start coming weekly instead of every other week here to our elementary school which is just down the street from me. So if I miss a week because I'm out of town or something, I won't feel like I have to wait forever to get this yummy, fresh produce. Here in the desert, we are definitely fresh fruit and vegetable "deprived". Yay for me...

The Good News...and the Bad News

2010-09-04T14:52:00.000-07:00

I guess we'd better start with the bad news. This news involves Landon and his football game in Hurricane. I really don't know why we have to play Utah teams...they are bigger and have more kids to choose from, which means that they are better football players, or at least bigger than our guys. It also means travel time (try playing Delta sometime, yucky travel time), and time change because Utah is an hour ahead of us. This is where the whole problem started for us yesterday. Somewhere along the lines, the ball was dropped on making sure our athletic program was in sync with THEIR team on when the game was supposed to start. To make a long story short, we got a phone call as we were heading into the gorge that informed us that the game was starting right then, an hour sooner than we had planned. We knew that Landon was starting as quarterback for the first half, which meant by the time we would get there, he would be done with his half and we would end up missing him as quarterback. Needless to say, we were not happy. Who messed up on that one? And we were not the only upset parents. In the end, we found out that it was OUR school's fault, so we couldn't blame Hurricane, which is what we would have WANTED to do...To make matters worse, Landon was hit hard in the hips and had to take himself out of the game. So not only did we not see him play, we didn't even get to see him get hurt! What a waste of a drive...We ended up leaving to take him back to Logandale so that our wonderful chiropracter, Dr. Askeroth, could check him out before he was leaving the next day for a Labor Day weekend. Man do we love that guy! Landon has been walking around like a 90 year old, but is moving better than yesterday. This is the only picture I got of him, which is his "lounging around the house like the doctor told me to" shot. Good thing it's a long weekend. I guess if you can't PLAY football, you might as well WATCH it.The good news is that we got to watch Tibi run in her cross country meet in Vegas this morning. She was in the last heat, which put her running IN the heat (10 a.m.), but she did her best in spite of not feeling her best (darn those female problems!)
Here she is coming up right behind her teammate (in yellow)

Pushing to the end...

Here's to the start of another sports year!

Happy Birthday Landon!

2010-08-19T21:25:00.000-07:00

Today my "baby" turned 15 years old! Man, I remember SO WELL when this little guy was born, and it doesn't seem like that long ago. And now he is going to be a sophomore in high school this year. I am so grateful that I had these two last kids instead of stopping after the four girls (like I thought I wanted to). It was not a very eventful day for Landon, but he is still thankful he at least got a cake. Last year he didn't even get that, evidently. Bad mom...
He was also lucky to have his sister Lexie visiting at the same time as his birthday!
"Come give your mother a nice birthday kiss!"

I deserve one after all...this kid weighed 9 1/2 lbs. when he was born and about killed me!

Everyone joined in on eating the cake, of course. Right before dinner...good timing for a birthday celebration!

Marce thinks this is a good idea.

Phoenix is alright with it too...

Happy Birthday Landon!

Wedding Weekend

2010-08-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

Okay, so our "plan" was to have a nice, leisurely ride down to Carlsbad for a great weekend of wedded bliss. (And fun with the family) Everything was going great, until we reached Corona. Someone had placed a nice, big (huge) pothole right in the middle of the fast lane. Needless to say, that pothole took a bite out of our car and made the right tiebar sheer right off the wheel. It sounded like an earthquake was hitting right beneath the car. We were able to pull it over off the freeway, but the car was rendered undriveable, so we sat there at 9:30 p.m. trying to figure out what we were going to do. We had a 5:30 wakeup call to get to the temple for a 9 a.m. sealing the next morning. To make a long story short, this is ME at 2 a.m. the next morning, the morning of the sealing, FINALLY at mom and dad's house. (The look says it all...)
So with 3 hours of sleep, we get to the temple where these crazy Chappell kids end up "freezing." (I don't get it...)
Here's Parker, Jordan, and Britney (ready to give birth in about 5 weeks)

The sealing was beautiful, and grandpa (dad) did an amazing job, as usual. My sister, Lisa, and Connie are just waiting for everyone to get outside afterwards.

If any of you know my brother Jeff, you know that he LOVES to ask questions, all kinds of questions, questions that tell him everything there is to know about you. So here he is drilling Grandma and Grandpa Chappell (Val & Sharla) on what he needs to know about them. Ya gotta love him for it...

Still waiting... Grandma Packard, my brother, Chris, and his wife, Dianna. (looking at SOMETHING)

Okay, this is going to be confusing for those of you who don't really know my family, but hang in there. This is Jack, Peter's brother, and his wife Kathy. Peter is married to Connie, our oldest daughter, and Kathy is my brother Chris' daughter - which makes the brothers brothers-in-law, and the girl cousins sisters-in-law. Does that make sense?! If you didn't get all that, then just remember that Jack and Kathy were the ones who came and bailed us out on the freeway that first night, which means that they didn't get home till 2 a.m. also and had to get up at 5:30 the next morning too. That is probably easier to digest, but not quite as fun!

Here we are at the back of the temple (the freeway side that looks the coolest) waiting for the happy couple to emerge for picture taking.

The kids were waiting too. They had to wait longer than we did because they had been outside the whole time we were in the sealing.

Still waiting...

And here they come...They'll probably have to see these pictures to remember any of this!

Oh happy day! (but not quite over yet)The relieved dads. (plus Jeff)

We can go home after all pictures are taken. And that means a picture of just about everybody.

The Chappell kids, including Heather. Yay!

The grandparents. (a good-lookin' bunch)

The Willards (best friends with BOTH families, how lucky is that?!) Tibi and Landon missed this trip to California because of either not wanting to take another trip, or football lock in. You figure out which child goes with which reason...

Gotta love these father/son shots! (suck it in guys)

What a treat for Kevin and I to be a part of this day with our best friends. And to go home to do it. AND to have dad do the sealing. AND to get out of the heat. AND...

We finally left, headed back up to Carlsbad to The Hunter, where we had a delightful luncheon.

Hey, how did this picture get in here?! This photo didn't happen till Saturday night when we were finally able to sneak in a game or two. (pretend you don't see it until after the reception)

So here we are at the reception, and it looks like some good-looking guy has already found Michaela. (j/k) They actually met at a Single's activity earlier in the week. This is Sterling, who with a bunch of other friends came to California to play. They were from Mesa, Arizona and just happened to be there when we were, which ended up being a great time for these two to meet.

Having some yummy food at the reception.

Brock and Heather's cake was beautiful. (That guy on the left is Gregg going back for his 2nd...no 3rd...no 2nd....I lost count, piece of cake!)

It was a long day, especially for Kevin, Kira, and I (AND Jack and Kathy) but we made it without falling asleep in the middle of something, and still had energy to stay and clean up a bit until they threw us out. What a day...

The Last Beach Trip of the Summer

2010-08-16T19:25:00.000-07:00

We were able to sneak in a beach trip on Saturday, but ended up picking the wrong weekend to be there. Oh well, we still had fun and really did it for the kids anyway.
Grandma and Eden trying to stay warm. Evidently, August is NOT the hottest month in Carlsbad.

Kira used her creative juices and sculped a lovely mermaid for all us beachgoers. The seaweed made for pretty cool hair!

We got home from church on Sunday just in time for Michaela to come over and say goodbye before her ward started. She looked great in her purple and bright colors.

It was a great weekend. We crammed more into it than there were days, but is was well worth going. We won't be back until December 17th, when another wedding takes place. We love these girls and can't miss - these kids all grew up together, either in California or Nevada, so they are definitely family!

Sweet 16!

2010-08-09T18:02:00.000-07:00

Okay, so for probably 2 out of the last three years, Tibi just happened to be in Arizona at Connie's house for her annual trip there during the summer. So now that she is home for her birthday, her 16th one at that, she doesn't really want to do anything. I ask her what kind of cake she wants, she doesn't really want one ( she IS 16, a girl, and trying to keep her weight down...she's a measly 100 pounds!) How about going bowling tonight as a family for FHE - no.
How about me fixing you what you want for dinner - whatever, I don't care mom. So, as her mother, I'm thinking it's going to be a bummer of a birthday for her, even though she says she doesn't care. I'm reading between the lines by this time, and figure that nothing will do unless her friends are involved. So after suggesting that she can have some friends over, she gets the texts going and we end up with a house full of girls! They watch a movie, eat 7-layer dip and chips, fruit and dip, and sing to Tibi.
Thank goodness for a large family room!

Tibi is a lucky girl. She has so many great girlfriends. Some people are lucky to find one, true friend. Tibi can say that every one of these girls is a true friend, and there were some that couldn't come, so she has even more than this. Kevin and I are very lucky ourselves, come to think of it...

Out of the Heat...and into Paradise

2010-07-28T16:52:00.000-07:00

Last time I took off to Carlsbad, California I told myself that the next time I went down there, Kevin and Landon were going too. So when Kevin had a lull in his work schedule, we took off and left the heat of Nevada behind. We got down there last Thursday and stayed till Tuesday. I love being there for Sunday because I get to see my high school buddies and people that I grew up with when we go to mom and dad's ward. We got there at 4 in the afternoon on Thursday, had some time to relax and unpack and hang out with grandma and grandpa. Grandma was especially glad to see Landon...she kind of has it bad for him, I guess. I ended up waking up with Vertigo that next morning (I'm used to it, for some reason) so Kevin and Landon took off to the Oceanside pier to enjoy the surf and fisherman. I stayed in bed and slept till 2...
They found this fun houseboat down at the pier. Kind of nice for a boat...even for some houses.
I was surprised at how many people were at the beach when Kevin showed me this picture. People think that the weather is perfect in the summer for going to the beach. Little do they know that the best time to go for good weather is in January. I kid you not...
Cool picture of Landon...

They were able to watch the fishermen on the pier too. A lot of men rely on their catch that day. Any given day, there will be quite a few guys up on the pier fishing.

The next day we all got ready and headed down to San Diego's "Old Town" and took in the Mormon Battalion monument. It has recently been remodeled and was actually quite fun and informing. I loved the moving and talking pictures at the beginning. It reminded Lisa and I of The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. Who knew?!

My brother Jeff, sister Lisa, Landon, Vicki, Michaela, and Michaela's friend Marc.

At the end of the tour, there is a place to do some "hands on" activities. Michaela and Landon helped the guide play the fiddles. They really played a song too.

Lisa panned for gold (well, fool's gold)

Upstairs, in the lookout tower. (where they can see hombres coming to cause problems, no doubt)

After the monument, we walked down the street to walk through Old Town, checking out the shops and restaurants. We settled on an authentic Mexican place that filled our tummies to the brim. Yum!

One last picture before we hike back to the car.

Driving back up to Carlsbad, we snapped a picture of our beloved San Diego temple all bandaged up. It is getting the roof fixed and a fresh coat of cleaning done.

Then back to grandma and grandpa's place for games and fun. We ended up watching "The Apple Dumpling Gang" for entertainment that night. Needless to say, we just vegged and enjoyed a good laugh...

The next day we went to church and enjoyed the Sabbath Day. On Monday afternoon, Kevin and Landon took off to Anaheim to take in an Angels/Red Sox baseball game. They, of course, were rooting for the Sox, which ended up winning the game on top of it, 6-3.

Got there in plenty of time to watch the team warm up - one of Landon's favorite things to do.

On Tuesday, we got up, cleaned the rooms, washed sheets, and had to leave the 65 degree weather of California to go back to 110 degrees of Nevada. I'm still not sure why we came back, but I'm sure it has to do with work, chickens, lawn, and bills. Otherwise, I'd still be there. Oh well, we can't have everything...

Goodbye, for at least two weeks, when we get to go back for Brockton and Heather's wedding. Save us a place mom! We probably didn't even need to wash the sheets...

Better Late Than Never...

2010-06-02T20:49:00.000-07:00

I cleaned off my camera chip and found some jewels. I can't even tell you when these were taken, but I thought they were cute enough to put on my blog. (Anytime there are children involved, I can't help myself). Looks like Phoenix and Eden are giving grandpa schnookies!

And this little gem HAD to get on because we are all here, or were...

And I had to update my profile picture. (I AM a year older now...) Good thing I'm okay with it...

Memorial Day Weekend at the Cabin

2010-05-31T19:57:00.001-07:00

It was another great holiday weekend at the cabin for the few of us that got to go. The cousins had a blast and spent most of their time in the loft laughing and talking, or at a table playing games. They took some time to eat when it was time to also. Then they were off doing their own thing again...
Kevin eating his pancake breakfast in peace...

The water in the creek was the highest it's ever been. There was still snow around the valley and in the mountains, which is very rare for May 31st. We should get some good run-off in Nevada from all this water.

Landon getting some good sleep. Not much room on the couch, and he slept pretty cold the first two nights, but grandpa finally turned the heat up and he slept like a baby the last night.

One of the highlights of the trip for Kevin and I was getting to go to the Manti Temple for the sealing of Gregg and Paula's oldest daughter, Britney, and her husband Chad. It was wonderful, especially to go through a "live" session. Everyone needs to experience that once in their lives, at least. It was a great day, and we made it back to cabin in time to get in some games!

Now it's home where bags are unpacked, lawn in mowed and watered, and chicken eggs are gathered (27! Wow, those girls were busy while we were gone) The kids have two more days of finals, then it's on to girls camp, high adventure, and hopefully a trip up to Provo some time this month, then back to the cabin for the 4th of July...

I LOVE SUMMER! (except for the heat...)

An Eventful Mother's Day...

2010-05-09T18:20:00.000-07:00

First of all, my computer is acting goofy and won't let me move my pictures around, so these are all out of order. First off, this is what Kevin got me for my birthday and Mother's Day - tickets to go see Donny and Marie at the Flamingo in Vegas one of these nights. We'll blog about that after it happens. Thank you honey, and yes, I was surprised.
Our good family friend, Brockton Chappell, got home from his mission on Friday, so we headed to their ward to hear him speak about his experiences in England, and then went to their house for fun, food, and a bunch of laughing.

Of course, the teenagers head to the front of the line first. That's Parker on the left, Brockton's little brother that he says is not so little anymore. He's the one that has changed the most to Brock.

More family friends...

Kevin must have the camera, because Paula and I are back there fiddlin' with our own cameras!
(more kids in line)

Angie and baby Bentley, who ended up with a fierce breakdown later in the afternoon!
The kids took a break after all the fun to head into the TV room for a good laugh watching "Clue." They were laughing even before the movie started!

The adults did the dirty work of cleaning up. (Gregg caught with his hands in the kitchen sink!)

Michaela, Brockton, Heather (Scott and Yvette's) and Kira playing a high-maintenance game of "Last Word." Good times...

Yvette and I having a peaceful moment to ourselves. Scott, Yvette, and Heather came up to hear Brockton speak. It at least gave them a chance to leave home for a weekend. The weather was great for eating outside, but ended up a little too windy as the day went on.

It's good to see Brockton and REALLY good for the kids to have him home. They have already had a great time laughing and reminiscing about old times. He doesn't look different at all to me, not even a day older. I don't know where he stashed all that "aging" while he was gone, but it must be that he was already a brick before he left. So Happy Sabbath, Happy Mother's Day, and Happy Back-to-the-Grind tomorrow...

Donations and Darlings

2010-03-21T18:55:00.000-07:00

People are genuinely good, I have decided. The day after Lexie's article came out in our local newspaper, we received our first donation for her trip to China. I wasn't even going to check the mailbox at the post office (we use post office boxes here in little Logandale) but thought, what the heck, I'll check it today. And there was that first wonderful donation! I had to take a picture of it!! I nearly cried when I held it in my hand. I immediately called Kevin, then Lexie, then bragged about it all day to my family. It was so exciting!! People REALLY care...I think I knew it all the time.
And then here is the cutest primary class in the whole church! I have been teaching Kira's little CTR 5 class since she has been gone for the last 4 weeks. I have fallen in love with these kids SO much that I don't want to give them back. Kira has since decided that she is going to start attending the Singles Branch with Michaela, so they have to find a new teacher for these kids anyway. So why not me?! I'm hoping that our bishop and stake president will allow ME to teach these kids. I'm not sure if a Stake Relief Society President is allowed to, but I gave our ward primary president a list of the three (count them, THREE) dates that I have ward conferences to teach at, meaning I won't be there for those sweet little cherubs, but every other week I could be there. Please, please, let me have them...

Quilt for a Cause

2010-03-11T19:58:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't know, our daughter Lexie is gearing up to travel to China to have treatments for her impaired vision. To read her story about her getting to this point, visit her blog at the right of this post entitled "Lexie's ONH Journey." We are in the process of preparing for our first fundraisers, and this quilt will be along for the ride. This is destined to be a raffle item at our upcoming spaghetti dinner in April. This was as rewarding to make as all of those quilts were that I made for my daughters back at Christmas time. This quilt almost has a "spirit" attached to it, because it is for such a personal and precious cause. A cause that, hopefully, will have a happy ending to it. So here's to giving this one away...

Quality Time - Concert Style!

2010-02-21T17:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Tibi and I spent the day in Las Vegas running errands and getting some things done. We went to lunch at Red Lobster, her new favorite restaurant, and then I took the much needed time to go visit my best friend from Vegas days, Kim Talbot. We have been in Logandale for 17 1/2 years now, and it was time to catch up on kids, grandkids, and each other. It was great to see her and have all of those memories fresh in our minds. Love you Kim!We then took a drive by our last house that we lived in when we lived there. This is the Esquina house, as it has since become known as. (Did that even make sense...) Tibi and Landon never lived in this house, but the bigger girls have a lot of memories from this place.

I surprised Tibi and told her that I had gotten tickets to the Brad Paisley concert. We both love his music and knew that he would put on a great show. I have always loved his songwriting. He's so honest and funny writing mostly about his own life and experiences. Plus, he's a cutie! It was Tibi's first concert, so I wanted to make it a good one. Probably the only other person that would have been right up there on her list is Taylor Swift, but hense, she is not coming to Vegas anytime soon...

Here we are waiting for it to begin.

He started out with his song "Start A Band" just using his guitar out front with the audience and then after just a few lines of that song went immediately into "American Saturday Night" with the rest of his band and brought the house down with it. You can see him at the bottom of the picture. All of the stuff above him is on a huge video screen that he had going on for every song. Very fun and entertaining just to watch the screen...

On this song, he stood up on the ramp and played in front of the screen. Very cool...

Here's a little blip of him singing "American Saturday Night." Sorry you can't see anything, but the camera made the picture look like that. For us it was a much better picture of him!

Like Father...Like Son

2010-02-13T19:55:00.000-08:00

First off, this has got to be the most disturbing post that I have ever written. And in more ways than one. First off, these feet belong to two different people, and secondly - they are so much alike that it's scary. They are finally about the same size, which gives you a pretty good clue as to who they belong to. All I can say is that I'm happy with my own ugly feet! Take a wild guess on who's is who if you dare...

Back to Reality

2010-01-20T10:41:00.000-08:00

We spent a wonderful 7 days on the western Caribbean this last week with Vicki's mom and dad, siblings, and their spouses. We left Tibi and Landon with family friends while Kira took off herself to Phoenix for a wedding reception of a mission buddy. We flew to Miami (probably the best flight I've ever had, thank goodness) on early Sunday morning and arrived about three hours before the rest of the family. We all caught 6 a.m. flights (which meant 2 a.m. wakeup time) so that we would have daytime left in Miami with time change. Kevin and I never really went to sleep before our flight, which made it nice for me sleeping most of the way on the plane. We arrived in Miami to find record cold and wind there. Our shuttle guy complained that he finally had to buy a coat for the first time because of it. It was brutal cold. We waited at the hotel for the rest of the family to land, finally ended up together, had a relaxing Sabbath day, and prepared to board the cruise ship.

We headed out south toward Cuba on our way to our first stop. We would be on the boat all night, all the next day, and port the next morning in Cayman. It took that first day for me to get used to the movement of the boat, but after the first day, I was fine. I discovered that I needed to be at the back of the boat to get the least movement. Thank goodness that's where our cabin was, but the workout room was at the very front of the boat near the top, which got the most movement, so that first morning that I went to workout, I felt like I was going to throw up. I wanted to workout every morning on the ship (to help cancel calories that I knew I would be eating) but this was not going to work. So I decided to instead run on the track that was located on the top deck of the boat. I would rather run outside than on a treadmill anyway, so it worked out perfectly.

The ship was huge, 12 stories high, with everything you would ever need. Food was always available, and the staff was wonderful.

This is Armanz from Latvia. They have a lot of foreigners working on the ship. Armanz liked to hang out with our family whenever he could. I had taken a puzzle with me to do on the ship and he was afraid we would get it done before he could have a little time off to come and help us.

The Cayman Islands were beautiful, but crowded with tourists from the ship. We usually had two or three other cruise lines ported with us, so it made for a lot of people on the islands. We still had a great time sightseeing and walking the streets. These ports thrive on the tourists that come shopping. It's how they survive, and boy, do they try to draw you in to their store!We snorkelled around this "pirate" ship and saw some pretty coral and fish. Some of us had to get used to snorkelling, but we finally got the hang of it before the day was done. Dad even got out there with us while mom and Jeff stayed on the ship.

After each port we had a lot a down time to travel on the ship getting to our next port. We spent a lot of time on the Lido deck eating and playing games. This was our designated meeting place for almost everything.We ate dinner every night in the Washington dining room, which was very nice. We sat at the same two tables every night and had the same waiters too. The food was incredible and we tried some pretty yummy appetizers, entres, and desserts. We could order whatever we wanted, however much we wanted. One night, when Lobster tail was on the menu, my brother Scott joked about having 5 more dinners delivered, and the next thing we knew, 5 more dinners were delivered! The second port was at Roatan, a little island off the coast of Honduras. It was a beach day where we all got burnt and had to stay out of the sun for the next day. Well.....I had to. This is where we were when the earthquake hit Haiti, which was north of us by then.Mom was able to get off the ship for our beach day. She stayed in a hut right on the beach and even had waiters to tend to her. Our next stop was in Belize where we took a jungle cruise up a river and spotted crocodile, dolphins, iguanas, monkeys, and birds. We climbed Mayan ruins and enjoyed beautiful meadows.Our last stop was at Cozumel where we got off the ship and snorkeled with sting rays (yikes!) and tropical fish. We then went shopping and sightseeing before we headed back onto the cruise ship to set sail back to Miami.

The colors were beautiful. I'm a sucker for pretty flowers.

Every night after our room was remade we would find an animal made out of towels. Here's our elephant. We also had a dog and a dinosaur. The ship even sold a book that showed how to make all the different kinds of "towel" animals. We spent the next day on the ship and got back into Miami on the next Sunday, got off and headed to the airport before flying back to Las Vegas. We had a wonderful time, thanks to mom and dad, and have decided that everyone should go on a cruise at least once in their life.

Druggie For A Week

2010-01-06T19:15:00.000-08:00

I don't take drugs, hardly ever. I will stick it out with a headache or ailment until I either can't stand it any longer, or until Kevin tells me to take something. Then I'll do it just to ease his mind, or stop his belly-aching, whichever comes first. So I consider this week to be a week of "almost" sinning for me, because I have drugs and I'm going to take them! Mom and dad are taking all of us kids and spouses on a 7-day western Caribbean cruise on Saturday, and I can't walk to Miami (believe me, I would if I could) and that means that a plane and I are going to be battling it out. I'm sure that the plane is going to win. Planes and I have never been best of friends, not even friends at all for that matter. I don't do well with them. Friends never make you sick, or nervous, and you usually like to be around them. So planes are my mortal enemy. The only enemy I have really. So these two drugs are my new best friends. The patch, (which has been a friend for a while) and Xanax, an anxiety med for nerves. It's bad enough to get sick on flights, but to be nervous too - that's just not nice. They don't go together well at all, sick and nervous. So, hopefully I will relax and find myself in Miami a lot quicker than I would have made it walking. Now all I have to worry about is keeping the ship from rocking. I hope their beds are comfortable. I'm thinking that I might be spending quite a bit of time on mine.

Another Year Older...

2010-01-01T14:53:00.000-08:00

I love New Years, not because I have a chance to make a new list of things I want or need to do, but because I get the chance to reflect on the last year and figure out what I really did with my life for the last year. Not that I don't have my list, but I personally would rather make sure that I wasn't a slacker, or improving in SOME way. I came across an article in the Church News a couple of months ago that I tore out and kept because of it's sentiment. It was written by a 102 year old man that had given much of his life to others. Here's the poem that he wrote that was included in the article:
Age is a quality of mind.
If your dreams you've left behind,
If hope is cold,
And you no longer look ahead,
And your ambitious fires are dead,
Why then, you're old.

But, if in life you do your best,
And if in life you keep your zest,
And love you hold,
No matter how the years go by,
No matter how the birthdays fly,
You are not old.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-29T10:54:00.000-08:00

Christmas is always such a great time, even when your kids are older and some of them gone. We love having the holidays with the kids around, and cannot imagine it without them. It will be a lonely day when Kevin and I have to spend it by ourselves and the kids are doing their own thing with their families. For now, we enjoy every minute we have with them.

We set the alarm for a much later time this year, which was nice for mom and dad. The kids ALWAYS sleep in the same room on Christmas Eve, no matter how many there are, and no matter if there are in-laws too! It's made for a crowded bedroom almost every year, but they wouldn't do it any other way. When I was heading to bed at around 1 a.m., I could hear the kids in the bedroom singing "Angels We Have Heard on High." That has become a tradition too. They always sing themselves to sleep. Here's Kira checking out her new sewing machine...

I think Landon was the most surprised this year. He opened up this "little" present to find this...

...his new drumset!

Tibi got a new portable DVD player for road trips and hanging out in her bedroom.

Checking out the stockings. (Landon didn't let his drumset out of sight!)

Three of the kids got slippers this year.

Tibi's new Ugg slippers.

Next to his new drumset, and the quilt that Michaela made him out of all of his playing t-shirts, I think this is Landon's prized possession. His BYU football vault book, a very nice, big, full of everything BYU football informational book. Later in the day, I walked past his bedroom to find his bed made (really!) with his new quilt and his book laying nicely on top of it. That's when I knew that he had had a good Christmas! (Notice he already has his slippers on)

The joke of the morning. Tibi and Michaela have been laughing about those stupid "Snuggie" blanket thingies that are on TV and in the stores, so naturally Tibi got one for Michaela!

Mom did good and got dad the ice pink tie he requested. Do any of you know how hard it is to shop anything clothes for Kevin?! If you know him at all (past custom clothier, very fashion conscience, always looks good in anything), you know that this was a miracle for Vicki! Yeah mom!! (It will look better with his charcoal suit than it does with his baseball t-shirt, I'm sure)

One of many quilts Tibi got this year. This was a rag quilt made up from scrap left over fabrics that she has been eyeing for some time. Great for those track meets coming up!

I made each of the girls a quilt this year. I started them back in August and got them done for Christmas. It was so fun to do them, as they are my prized girls in all the world! Definitely a labor of love.

The new drumset ready to set up in Landon's bedroom eventually.

Every year we head over to the Chappells for Christmas breakfast after opening our presents. We actually started this tradition and used to do it at our house with Vicki's family, but when they all moved away we started doing it with the Chappells. They have a bigger house and more family that comes, so we have been having it at their house for the last few years. This year we expanded to "2" tables. I always make my "fake" cinnamon rolls, a recipe that my mother used to make for us, and the kids have been requesting oven pancakes lately to go with the eggs, bacon, and juice we always have. It's become a fun tradition.

Then we packed up and headed to Arizona to get to the other kids and grandkids. Christmas isn't Christmas without everyone! So into the cars and off we went...

The three oldest grandkids got robes with their pajamas this year. Levi and Phoenix got a pillowcase to match their PJ's.

The "big" grandkids opening their color and paint books.

Levi got a bunch of new cars to play with. He finally got something that is totally his. Being the third child sometimes stinks when it comes to having your OWN things. Grandpa and Grandma took care of him!

Eden opening her "My Little Pony" puzzle...

Lexie is pretty excited about her new brownie pan that gives you "edges" on every piece. Cool new product for edge-lovers! Who knew?!Kira got a sweet gift card from Peter to Sephora to get herself the makeup she has wanted to get.Connie got a sweet curlbar from her dad.

We were able to head over to the Mesa Temple to see the Christmas lights too. They had the prettiest colors, even purple, all through the grounds.

Their nativity scene was wonderful with the neatest star. You could see it from far away and all you had to do was "follow the star" to get to the nativity. It was cold, but not windy, which we were grateful for.

It was a wonderful time, but we couldn't stay forever. So back to Logandale on Sunday night in time for work on Monday. Darn those Mondays...and darn that traffic over Hoover Dam on a Sunday night. We spent over three hours getting about 15 miles down the road! Not fun, but great company...

Putting Up The Tree...

2009-12-09T06:31:00.001-08:00

This has become one of our favorite parts of the Christmas season - hanging up and decorating the tree. Tibi and Landon get it all to themselves now that all of the other girls are gone. We still have to divvy out the Washington DC ornaments between everyone, but other than that, it's smooth sailing...for the most part.

Kira is home, but let the kids do their job as she was busy doing a job herself. She was in the middle of transforming Lexie's white vans into a work of art. She is getting pretty good at doing that. She should go into business. She customs them to the liking of her "patient". (Hogwart's logo, NBA, Jackson 5 - you know.)

It was rainy and cold, bitter cold, so Kit decided that inside must feel better than outside. Of course, the rest of the family let her in. This time she didn't even wait till mom said that it was okay, evidently. She even crossed the kitchen tile to get into the family room, which is a first for her!

Dad got to sit and relax after he got the lights on the tree. That's his only job.

This year dad got another tree for the front room. My piano student called it the "Target" tree, because it is red and white. It lights up the whole room at night.

The grandkids even ended up with a little tree all for themselves!

That means we are a "3 tree family!" I guess that's kind of like becoming a 3 car family, or a 3 TV family. We are really coming up in the world, don't you think?!

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-06T20:43:00.001-08:00

Okay, I know that I am a traitor. It's been three weeks since I have blogged, which is a long time for me. And now that I am back to blogging, I have to steal all of these Thanksgiving pictures from Lexie and Connie because I was busy taking pictures while there, with Lexie's camera. We had a great time in St. George, as usual, with all of our Willard relatives. My kids have never known another way of doing Thanksgiving, and I have never in all of my Thanksgiving-ing had to cook a turkey, so it is all fine with me. I can make a mean fruit salad though...
Here are some candids, mostly for those of you who are not immediate family members, which is very unlike me...
The grandkids trying their hands at Nintendo 64 at our house before we headed to St. George. They are not good, but love to try!

Thanksgiving morning is always breakfast at the church, with a game of basketball "bumpout" thrown in. The rest of us mingle and catch up.
Kira, Michaela, and Tibi
In line for bumpout. Getting a candid shot of all 6 kids is a miracle.

All the kids were here this year, except for Lexie's husband, Sharrid, who had to work Thanksgiving day. We did get to see him on the weekends before and after Thanksgiving dropping off and picking up Lexie and the boys.

Tibi, Michaela, and Connie

Kira, Michaela, and TibiNo pictures of the actual dinner. We are usually cramped into one room anyway and can't get to our cameras. This year we had 150 Willards, the most we've ever had. That number of Willards comes from Kevin's mom and dad alone. (And I thought the Packard family was big)

Friday morning we usually spend at a park playing and eating lunch. Here's Phoenix showing Landon how to catch a ball...

Kevin loves to catch up on things with his many brothers. If you know Kevin at all, you know that he LOVES to talk, and he and his brothers come from the same mother, so when they get together - well, you know the rest. I said his mother because his father hardly got a word in with mother around! This was the first Thanksgiving without having both of them there. It's not the same without them, but we still manage to have a great time.
Brother Parry and Kevin

I snuck a picture with him while I could grab him.

Veterans Day Parade

2009-11-12T06:00:00.000-08:00

The Veterans Day Parade in Moapa Valley is always a big deal and has been for years. The kids marched in the HS band again this year, and Kevin even made it on a "float" representing the Clark County Fair, which he is the manager of. The weather was perfect and Tibi and Landon had the day off from school. It seems to me that the parade now-a-days is not what it used to be. This year we only had one band (no middle school anything this year), only HS cheerleaders, some gymnasts, 1 float (thanks to Inside Scoop, our local ice cream shop), Folklorico dancers, and about 3 horses, and then a lot of worthless advertising and cars. Maybe I'm just getting tired of the same old stuff, or the parade in general. All I know is that Kevin and I were talking all the way home about all the changes we would make to the parade to make it better. That's pretty pathetic... Maybe I just miss having all of my kids in the parade doing their different things and having two babies on my lap or out gathering candy. I had to watch the parade by myself this year. Not so fun, even at a parade.

You might have missed seeing the kids in the video. I had a hard time finding them when I was filming. Tibi almost gets cut off at the beginning and Landon is right in the middle after her. You'd think without the two babies I could have done this...guess not. Kevin is 2nd from left...another hard to see picture. I told you this wasn't the best parade we've had.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-09T22:19:00.001-08:00

Okay, so I have been waiting for Kira to post these Halloween pictures, but I'm tired of waiting and Lexie's been asking for them, so here they are:

Kira as Catwoman (gotta love Walmart's Hannah Montana section!)That is one scary chick on the left - Landon's take on a dead prom queen. He doesn't make a very good looking girl, but Kira couldn't believe how much he looked like her!

Getting 'her' hair fixed.

Michaela and Marc came up for the holidays, but they had been golfing all day Halloween day and got home too late to dress up. Bummer, because Michaela's outfit was rad!! Click here to see her.

We ended up at the Chappell's house for fun, food, and a good laugh watching "Mystery Science Theater." Better any day than watching some stupid, scary movie that will give us nightmares. One year we watched "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" with Don Knotts. That's the next best thing to watching "Mystery Science Theater." Here's Chad (Britney's husband), Parker, and Ashley (their foreign exchange gal)

Homecoming 2009

2009-10-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

Tonight we spent our time up at the high school for our yearly homecoming parade and assembly. Tibi was chosen by her classmates to be their Sophomore Princess. She asked her best buddy friend, Parker Chappell, to be her escort. They looked radiant in their formal attire, thanks to the tux shop and big sister Michaela's prom dress. Here are the snapshots and video of the night, again for big sisters who missed out on the festivities.

Landon was chosen by his bandmates to play the quads this year in the parade, which is almost unheard of as a freshman.

Tibi came by next on their class float. The weather was colder than it's probably ever been for a homecoming parade, with wind thrown in for good measure...

After the parade, we headed into the gym for the assembly where they crown the Homecoming Queen. They introduce the underclass princesses and escorts too. Here's Tibi and Parker. They made such a cute pair. (I told Parker earlier that he wasn't allowed to look better than Tibi! He's cutting it a little too close.)

Landon playing the quads in the band. He's following in his two big sister's footsteps. Very cool...

These are some "after" pictures, just random, fun ones.

Sometimes I Surprise Myself...

2009-10-20T09:14:00.000-07:00

All I can say is "WOW!!" I've never considered myself to be a "sell yourself short" kind of gal, but today I proved myself wrong. This morning after dropping the kids off for Seminary and getting a few things done, I decided to tackle a run by myself. Kira has started working now during the day and has to leave at 7 a.m. which makes our morning runs impossible. We ran a few times at night, which is very foreign for me since I am a morning workout person, but with all of us getting sick at different times and lasting longer than some, our nights have been crazy, to say the least. So after not running for 6 days, I donned my workout clothes, and trecked it outside. I had originally decided to just try a 1 mile run, since this was going to be my first time without Kira. I started running up Whipple (the hardest part for me) and thought, "This isn't so bad, and not hurting at all" so kept going. I ended up running the whole 2 miles without stopping! I couldn't believe it... All this time I've been weiny-ing out and telling myself that I would "never get there", meaning that I would never get to that point of running on auto-pilot someday. Well, here's a HUGE high five from me to me. What a great way to start off the day...

BEDTIME

2009-10-12T20:23:00.000-07:00

Today was a long day, a day after almost everyone was sick yesterday, and we are ready to go to bed. So we grab a couple of Disney books off the shelf and head into bed with our blankets to read. One grandbaby goes one way with Tibi, and the other goes another way with grandpa. And Kira heads off to help Landon with a plan for a school project. Man, it's good to have her home...

Our Quick Trip to the Cabin

2009-10-03T19:48:00.000-07:00

This last Thursday, we were able to take a quick trip up to the cabin, thanks to Kira being home to watch Tibi and Landon and get them off to school. She was kind enough to run things here at home while Kevin and I headed up the mountain to spend the night and have some fun with some of the family. The guys are in the process of building a bunk house next to the cabin that will end up sleeping 21 extra people when it is finished. Of course, the women go just for the cool weather and relaxation, so we naturally wanted to be a part of that...

Here's just hanging out around the cabin. The temperature outside was a wonderfully brisk 40-45 degrees.
More hangin' out...

We took off on the 4-wheelers when we got there and spent about 3 hours out in the countryside checking out the fall leaves and getting dirty. Here's Kevin looking like a 13 year old!

We got pretty high up on the mountain and got to a place where we could see the whole valley. That reservoir WAY DOWN there was our destination.

Getting ready to roll after a bathroom break...

Heading down the trail.

Way up there!

Checking things out. (nice pose, Chris!)

Parowan valley, WAY DOWN there...

This was hard to film bouncing all over the place, but this was heading back up.

We spent the night rooming with Scott and Yvette and laughed ourselves to sleep. Chris and Debbie's whole family ended up trickling in one at a time all through the night until around 2:30 a.m. After a yummy breakfast, we took off for home by way of Lincoln County, Nevada so Kevin could do a few appraisals and a not-so-quick project in Alamo, just getting us home in time for the BYU-Utah State game. GO COUGARS!!

One Late Night

2009-09-18T08:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we spent most of the day travelling and watching Landon's football game he played in Delta, Utah. When we finally got there, we figured out that we were only about an hour and a half away from Kira in Orem, which made it even seem stranger. He ended up having a good game, playing wide receiver now, he score Moapa's first touchdown (one of two on the night for Moapa). They ended up losing the game 22-12, but they played very well, which is more important anyway.....right?

We made it home by midnight and all slept pretty well. All I can say is TGIF!

FLASHBACK FRIDAY

2009-09-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

First off, my kids are going to KILL me, so after I post this I will probably go shoot myself before my kids can! This brainy idea came to me the other day, so it must have actually been a revelation that I was supposed to do this. Anyway, that's how I look at it...

So here we are - eight of us at 8 years old. Don't any of you go throwing up now...

Nice glasses...

This is why I dye my eyebrows...because I have none!

Connie must have all of her school photos, I couldn't find ONE!

Kira got to wear glasses like her dad. She actually had a cool pair in 1st grade that had fishline for side pieces. Try to picture THAT one...This is about the ONLY time that Lexie had long hair. The next year she chopped it off way up to her ears to go with her tomboy personality.I didn't realize that Michaela had so many freckles when she was little. People have said that Michaela looks the most like mom, except with dad's darker features....lucky her.Let's just kill Tibi now...this is the best school picture she's taken - no fair.I actually thought Landon was going to look more like me, but the older he gets, the more he looks like a blond version of his dad.

You can tell who looks like mom and who looks like dad... some have dad's big teeth and others have mom's blond features and freckles. Thank goodness we all have improved!

Happy 54th!

2009-09-09T21:38:00.000-07:00

Okay...this post is two days late and mostly for the grandkids. When they found out it was grandpa's birthday, they thought that they would be able to come watch him open his presents. First off, he didn't open any presents...and second, they live in Arizona. So this is the best you get. Kevin did order his favorite pie though, Praline Pie - plus I think he's wearing his new jeans in the picture too! Here's the "LIVE" version for the kids to feel a part of:

Friday Night Football!

2009-09-05T13:34:00.000-07:00

This is another post that is mostly for the sisters in the family. Last night was our first home high school football game. I love football season because I know that cooler nights are on their way, and there's nothing like a great hometown football game with your own team playing, concessions, and pep band. Landon and Tibi are both playing in the band this year, Tibi playing the trumpet and Landon on the quads. He is pretty lucky to be playing the drums his freshman year, so here is a sneak peak at his "quad-ing!" Parker is right behind him. Tibi was being camera shy all night, so no pics of her...

Last night was topped off by Michaela and Marc showing up in time for the varsity game, all the way from Carlsbad!

This is going to be a great year, I can tell...

2009-09-03T05:30:00.000-07:00

There....that's better.

Tibi's famous!

2009-09-02T18:58:00.001-07:00

Sorry that the picture is so blurry, but it's a newspaper photo...what do you expect? Tibi made the front page of our local newspaper today. She is the one on the left slip 'n sliding at the park for the "back to school" bash. She had a great time, especially getting wet in the hot weather and spending time with her friends. We thought it was a cute picture of her, showing her true, fun side...

First Day of School

2009-08-24T06:37:00.000-07:00

First off, this is the first year that I have not taken a "first day of school" photo - dumb! My kids are going to be mad at me, and I don't mean the kids that are going to school. Maybe I'll be lucky to get one after school today - it's still not the same. Tibi figured out this year (sophomore) that dressing up in new clothes the first day is lame, so she opted to wear her brother's athletic shorts and a plain white t-shirt (you go girl!) topping it off with flip-flops. Landon is a freshman this year, so he HAS to look good! Although he didn't really do his hair. So off they went to their first day of Seminary and we'll see how the day turned out when I pick them up at 1:05. Then home for a quick lunch and back to school for both of them with Cross Country and football practice. Here we go...

Football Lock-in

2009-08-15T13:39:00.001-07:00

This is the "after shot" - you can see it all in Landon's face. If you could hear his muscles, they would be screaming! For the last 4 days, Landon and his fellow HS football buddies have been "locked in" at the high school doing drills, weightlifting, sleeping, having down time, eating, and being out on the field having practice twice a day. It is still a hot, August summer in Nevada, so it had to be pretty brutal. He didn't get as many naps in between time as he probably should have taken, didn't maybe get as many showers as he would have needed or wanted, but he did get to hang out with his friends doing what he loves to do. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all...

ANYBODY THAT STARTS HAVING KIDS AT 40.....

2009-08-05T20:30:00.000-07:00

Man, do I appreciate what my married kids go through... I have had Connie and Peter's three kids the last three days while they are living it up in Orange County, CA. They have generally been good, but BOY, does it take just about everything out of you! This is why people were meant to have kids in their 20's and 30's. Maybe I am just used to my boring days, I don't know. We HAVE had a lot of fun though...
Connie and Landon chillin' after they got here on Saturday
Cooling off in the little pool

Goldfish at grandpa and grandma's house just taste better...

As soon as they got into Logandale and unloaded, the kids wanted to help feed the chickens.

Another "First"

2009-07-27T17:09:00.000-07:00

This is an exciting "first" for us here in Logandale. My only regret is that Tibi isn't here to join in the jubilee! We came home from church yesterday, checked on the chickens, and found that one of those beautiful girls had dropped an egg. We weren't expecting them to be "expecting" until late August or September...I'm actually surprised that they could lay anything in this heat, but I guess it can be done. After all, I "laid" both Tibi and Landon in the Nevada August heat many years ago. The eggs start coming out a little small at first, but will get as big as large eggs that can be bought at the store. That's what we wanted, BIG eggs. So you can see that they have a little growing to do!

homegrown on the left, store bought on the right
WOOHOO!!

WHERE HAVE I BEEN?!

2009-07-25T20:45:00.000-07:00

I'll tell you where I've been....right here. Well, up until recently. Lexie and the kids were here till about July 9th and after taking them back to Arizona and getting home myself, I seem to have fallen off the earth, when it comes to blogging, that is. I have been such a slacker. I guess that I am taking a summer vacation, literally...although I still seem to fix dinner and do the laundry. It has been very different not having Tibi here, just Landon and us boring old parents. Landon took off last Monday for scout camp all week, just got home this morning, so Kevin and I took a quickie trip to Carlsbad. We went to the beach, did sealings with dad as sealer, went out to dinner with all family adults, and went shopping with Lisa. And did I take even ONE picture....NO! I don't even have a good excuse either. I did happen to snap these two pictures right before we left to come home.

My beautiful sister, Lisa, and me. People are always telling us that we look alike, but even more, SOUND alike. She works at JoAnne's Fabrics and every time I walk in and start talking, the employees all freak out because they can't believe how much we sound alike. I don't get it...

And my lovely mother...she's even beautiful without her makeup on! Too bad I look more like dad. ( He doesn't look so bad without HIS makeup on either!!)

Family for the 4th

2009-07-03T14:09:00.000-07:00

This year's Nevada summer has kicked into high gear with Lexie and Sharrid and the boys coming to visit. Lexie and the kids have been able to stay all of June and through next week of July while Sharrid has come back and forth a few times for job opportunities. It has been good for both Lexie and the boys, as she is pretty much homebound at home in Arizona without a chance to get out. The boys have also been able to get outside and help feed the chickens and water the garden when the sun goes down at night. We have run errands, gone swimming, played at the park, and then come home to end up like this:
Yesterday Michaela came up with grandpa and grandma on their way up to the cabin. We decided to have our gathering in Logandale this year instead of at the cabin, something we haven't done since the cabin was built. The fireworks are GREAT here, especially for a small town...much better than at the lake, so we are excited for that to happen. Kira and Sean came in late last night. The only ones not here are Connie and Peter and their kids, but I am excited for them because Connie and Peter are going to see "Wicked" tonight in Phoenix! Here's Michaela and Tibi laughing it up...

Marce likes to try his hand at "old school" Nintendo 64 when he gets the chance.

Lexie got on Amazon and found the old "Sweet Valley High" board game that all the girls used to play when they were young. They have even made Landon and Sean, Kira's boyfriend, play - even though they have to be girls in the game (with boyfriends to find!)

Phoenix has been off his regular nap schedule a few times since he has been here. Sean is getting some good practice in in getting him to get his nap, wherever he can get it!

More to come later.....

A Long and Hard Week

2009-06-15T20:50:00.000-07:00

Some of you have heard that we lost two young women from our ward last Tuesday morning. They were part of a group of YCL leaders that were heading up to girls camp a day before the rest of the girls were to go. The ward Beehive leader, Jessica Whipple, the daughter-in-law of President Alma Whipple, was driving her Excursion with four girls in her car, and another car was taking another group up. Jessica blew a back tire just going into Mesquite, which sent her car, full of camp gear, into a sideways skid. It swerved her back into the median and flipped the car 5 or 6 times. Everyone was wearing their seatbelt, except for one of the girls, who is in the hospital now. She was critical all this week until Saturday, and is improving a little each day. She will most likely be in the hospital all summer. Another girl walked away with very few scratches on her left arm. Jessica dislocated her shoulder and is home recovering. But we lost these two girls. Heather was thrown from the vehicle, even with her seatbelt on, and was pronounced dead at the scene. Lysha was kept in the vehicle after it had rolled, but was also pronounced dead. These were girls who had just been in Relief Society opening exercises the Sunday before...Lysha had played our opening hymn, "Choose the Right." The stake decided to still head up to camp, also wanting our grieving ward to go too. We met the night of the accident at the stake center with our bishopric and stake presidency. They asked the girls and their parents if they still wanted to go to camp. They decided that they did, so they took off the next morning, with some of the parents driving their kids up themselves. I, in the meantime, was busy organizing dinner to go into the families, as our RS president was in the hospital visiting our critical girl. We spent every day either preparing food, visiting with grieving families, or preparing for the funeral and luncheon for the families. They ended up having a combined funeral for the girls and a separate luncheon for each family. We enlisted the help of each of our 13 wards for the luncheon and the visitation the night before the funeral, including our sweet singles branch, who provided help in the nursery during the funeral. It was a long, hard week for many people, including myself, but such an outpouring of willing people to help was wonderful. Our ward in mending, Sunday services were teary and spiritual yesterday, but the spirit was definitely there. Some of the girls and leaders talked about camp and how special it was for all. We will miss Heather and Lysha, but they will always be part of us and will be closer than we think.

FLASHBACK FRIDAY

2009-06-05T21:21:00.000-07:00

Okay, you can't say that I didn't warn you...These are three of the best pictures I ever took as a young mother. They make me laugh every time I see them. I don't know why we ended up taking so many pictures of the girls in their towels, but... what the heck! They are funny and you can't take them after they turn a certain age. So, here's to my 3 big girls, who are starting to take pictures like this themselves of their own kids....well, except for Kira, who better not be taking ANY pictures like this for a while!

Kira, Lexie, and Connie
Connie, Lexie, and Kira (nice posing...Lexie, you're losing your towel!)

Connie, Lexie, and Kira (yikes!) Kira, you're losing YOUR towel!

Landon's Graduation

2009-05-29T07:19:00.001-07:00

Don't get this picture wrong...Landon really IS happy to graduate from middle school and head on up to high school. By the look on his face, you would either think that he hates life right now, or is just really ready to end this school year. Our lives at the middle school are over for good, which is fine, because we will just have to deal with a high school schedule next year with Tibi and Landon as Sophomore and Freshman. Where did all of our years go?

Landon was the only boy to have TWO girls on his arm. It pays to be a "W" sometimes...

Here he is getting his diploma.

Now he just has to get through today's regular schedule of classes, then on to 3 days of finals next week...then he can REALLY smile!

Landon's Last Middle School Concert

2009-05-23T20:45:00.000-07:00

Last week Landon finished his middle school events with the Spring Concert. He has become quite the drummer. We had so many people come up to Kevin and me after the concert to tell us how fun he was to watch. He gets his little body taking off with the music, which makes it fun to listen to and him a kick to watch. These videos took forever to finally post, but they are here mostly for his sisters, who hate missing out on his and Tibi's growing up. I tried to post their first number, which was a tribute to cartoon theme songs, but when I woke up this morning, it still hadn't downloaded, so you don't get that one. (I totally forgot about "Animaniacs!") By the way, sorry if you hear an annoying humming sound throughout these, there was a HUGE fan right next to me trying to keep everyone cool. Aarrgghh...

This one is shorter and shows off his "body language!" If you wait long enough, you'll see a couple of great "drum fills."

The last song he played on was "Minnie the Moocher" - a great swing number that gave him time to relax and even talk to Cade next to him. Pretty good multi-tasking, if you ask me!

I'd say he has a pretty good shot at playing in the high school Jazz Band for 3 years like Kira did.

Fun at the Chappells

2009-05-18T21:43:00.001-07:00

Tonight we went to the Chappells for family night. We ended up eating tin foil dinners and making s'mores over the fire outside afterward. Jordan has come up with an incredible adaptation to the "original" S'more by substituting two chocolate chip cookies for the graham crackers. Much better this way. My only regret was not getting a picture of one...
Here's Brad Bledsoe and Michaela out on the swing. Brad has been hanging out with Michaela nearly every day. They have been busy making kites, sitting at the park after dark talking, and watching every episode of "The Office" to catch Brad up on the series.
Paula and me in our orange shirts...that was providential for a coordinating photo, don't you think?And Gregg, the MASTER dishwasher, busy at work.

The other kids were busy playing "Guitar Hero" in the TV room.

First Tomato and ...Corn?

2009-05-15T13:16:00.000-07:00

So, our garden is doing pretty good, especially for having to survive the heat of Nevada, and we get our first tomato...and who picks it? KEVIN. What's up with that?! I'M the one that waters it, babies it, feeds it, and HE ends up picking the first tomato that I was going to pick the very next day. Oh well, I guess I can pick the 2nd one, and 3rd one, and ...
And get a load of this, we have a stowaway! Somewhere this little corn plant snuck it's way into our garden. Funny, huh? We'll see what comes of it. Who knows, maybe we'll be eating corn with our tomatoes!

Growing Up

2009-05-12T22:30:00.000-07:00

Every one seems to be growing up around here. The chickens, the babies, MOM. Well, the chickens can grow all they want to, the kids....I expect that of THEM, but mom can slow down just a little bit on the growing thing. Today is my birthday, another year older, not bad...just another year older. The good thing about being 51 is that you have a lot of things to show for it. Other than that, I'm looking at it as just another day. You know, laundry, dinner, the regular stuff. I did get to go to Quilting Day with the Relief Society women to start my new quilt this morning. Other than that, I taught my three piano lessons, visited a ward's Enrichment Night, and got to bed late. Oh well, tomorrow is another day...

(Not good for trying to get my weight down. Thanks Gregg!) He doesn't know how to buy 1 pounders...

Goodbyes and Gobblers

2009-05-05T17:20:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have ever lived in Moapa Valley, we are losing an icon...Mrs. Kim Delgadillo, our high school band and orchestra teacher (Ms. D) is finally retiring from her position at the school to take the counselor position at the middle school. She has been directing the band and orchestra at the high school for 25 years! She said that she is starting to teach the children of kids she taught years ago. She has meant so much to not only the school, but to the community, and mostly to my big girls, as they are former "pirates". Kira, Lexie, and Michaela went through the band program under Ms. D's wings, Kira playing in the not only the band, but in Jazz Band for three years. Lexie almost idolizes her, as she had made a huge difference in her surviving high school as a legally blind student. Michaela then, and Tibi now have loved being taught by her too. My only sadness is that Landon will not get the opportunity to have a wonderful experience with her. As the principal said last night in his tribute, "She didn't teach band, she taught people." Here are all of the bands playing what has become our signature song, in honor of her, from "Pirates of the Caribbean". It was wonderfully loud! The kind of loud that sends chills up your back...

The chickens are getting bigger by the day. They love to eat scraps, except for citrus. They especially love any kind of lettuce and meat. They are finally getting used to my voice and coming around me more often. The rest of the family is not in the "circle" yet. Their loss!

9 New Girls...and a Boy

2009-04-27T19:48:00.000-07:00

Today we finally put our chickens outside in their pen. They were getting too big for the box that we were keeping them in, and they were also getting enough feathers to start flying around. I have had to catch a few of them after they have "flown the coop!" It took them about an hour to figure out that outside in a pen was much better than being in a box. They weren't sure about being confined, but after awhile, they got the hang of it and are doing well. We'll see how they handle overnight living. One thing is for sure...they LOVE table scraps! I can't wait till the grandkids get back to grandpa and grandma's house. It's much more fun to be here, now that we have the chickens to feed and watch. We won't get any eggs for about 5 months from now. They will then lay every 25 hours, which means that we will be finding friends around here that could use some eggs!

I'm not sure how we're going to name them - they all look alike!

We have also added a boy to the family, but he is only staying for a week. Landon has a health project that includes a "flour" baby, dressed and watched at all times, that gives him a pretty hefty grade for 4th semester. He was pretty proud of his new "son's" outcome, and especially loves the quote on his overalls!

YAY for Tibi!!

2009-04-20T12:57:00.000-07:00

Tibi brought home her report card for 3rd semester as a freshman. She's probably going to kill me, but I thought it was so good, that I wanted to share it with the world! She got all A's except for one B. Hopefully she can finish strong for the end of the year, because that's when the kids get paid for their good grades.

(Sorry this picture is blurry, I have a stupid camera)

Baseball Has Started...

2009-04-20T12:48:00.000-07:00

Landon has started his season of baseball. This is his last year in Little League, and also the last year he will have his dad coach him. He advances to high school next year where he will try out for the team there and have the school's coaches take over. It's been fun to have Kevin involved all these years in Landon's sports, but all good things come to an end, I guess. Here he is pitching for his team. He is pretty accurate, fun to watch, and enjoys the game almost as much as he enjoys eating and sleeping! (Actually, I'm probably not right about that...)

When Landon is not pitching, he plays first base.

Landon's the only lefty on the team. He's been pretty consistent getting on base for his first few games. He is lifting weights to get a little stronger in his pitching and hitting.

Family, Fun, Fair, and Fatigue

2009-04-14T07:36:00.001-07:00

It's been a good 4 years since we had a family picture taken, so we figured we'd better take the opportunity while all the kids were home. We got Sharrid by the skin of his teeth as he didn't get into town until Saturday noon. We even had to snatch Kevin from his fair duties to have a "dad" in the family shot. So here you have it...
Our six beautiful children

All the kids in out of order...order.
(2nd,3rd,5th,6th,4th,1st)

We have enough to do a High School Musical shot! Yippee!!

The best thing Kevin and I could EVER create

I think we ended up taking about 30 shots to get about 2 good ones. This must be one of the two...

No...it's not the sun that is making our hair look like that. That's just about what it looks like. Kevin pulls off a nice salt and pepper look, and has for years, while I am getting more platinum by the day. At least I still have my hair...

Why can't a grandmother ever get a great picture of her grandkids on Easter Sunday? This picture was almost next to impossible to capture. And I only have 5!

We got to see Kevin a few times during the day. He was a very busy "Fair Manager" during the four days of fairing. The grandkids were especially excited to see him, and vice a versa.
These two are either bugging each other or are the best of friends. Right now they are the best of friends. Hold that thought...

This happened quite a bit, with all the late nights of fun after the kids went to bed. Of course, the kids were the first to get up in the morning! Notice how Kira has her phone ready to go even though she is asleep!!

Another One Bites the Dust...

2009-04-08T20:57:00.000-07:00

One thing that happens when you become grandparents is that you finally decide to get rid of things in your house that COULD be deadly weapons. So it is with our glass coffee table that has been in the family for years, actually ever since Tibi and Landon were babies, back when Grandma and Grandpa Packard gave it to us. Back then, we were thinking "Yay, a new coffee table that looks great in our house, something that is new, something that is nice." Well, after you have grandbabies, some of those "nice" and "new" things become "nice and new bangs and bumps on heads" and are ready to be sacrificed to outer darkness for others to enjoy...others who don't have grandkids. Don't get me wrong, I know the next time my visiting teachers come over to visit they are going to ask what's different about the room, that someday we will remember how Landon tried jumping off the couch into Brockton's arms and instead hit his head on that glass table, thus landing him his first and only experience with getting stitches. Those were the days...but those days are going away. So goodbye, glass table. Goodbye and goodnight.

And now Jonah is thinking, "Hey, where's the table where I always read my books?"

YOU CAN'T MAKE ME EAT IT!!

2009-03-31T08:54:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, Chris and Debbie came and spent some time with us and got their kids before heading back to Utah. THAT was the fun and good part...the bad part was that she brought half the wedding cake with her for OUR house. I'm going to have to quit inviting her to come visit if she doesn't stop doing that. That's just the start of the cake problems. Our home teachers showed up to visit us for the month, and no...they couldn't just come visit - they had to bring a cake with them! The only good thing about THAT cake is that it had some chocolate on it. This is NOT good, as I have started working out again after a total slump. Maybe I should just wait till after the fair...

Keri & Daniel's Reception

2009-03-29T09:57:00.000-07:00

Last night, after a long day of Stake Women's Conference"ering", we headed to Las Vegas for the reception of Keri and Daniel. They were married a week ago in Utah and having their open house for family and friends down this way. Keri is the daughter of my sister, Debbie, and has been a close cousin to Michaela. We have spent many wonderful times with this family through the years, as their kids are almost the same age as our kids. It was great to see everybody and especially to see the couple so happy and in love!
The magnet board I made for the bride and groom to keep their lives organized. She told me she was hoping I had made one for her. Who knew?!

My sister, Debbie and her husband, Chris, the parents of the bride.

Kurtis and Kylene. These two have been very close to Tibi and Landon since they were all born. They get together as often as they can. We ended up taking these two home with us to spend the night and go to church with us. Mom and dad can come and get them on their way back home to Utah.

It was great to see everyone and just visit. We ended up staying for the whole thing and doing a lot of laughing and talking, AND eating. Yum!

My wonderful big brother, Chris, and his wife, Dianna. They drove all the way from Carlsbad to come to the reception. The worse thing is that they turned around and went back after the reception, which got them home at around 3 in the morning. Thank goodness for 1 o'clock church! They stow-awayed Michaela to go spend a week with Marc.
An "all girl" shot...aren't they all beautiful?!

Michaela and Keri have always been close...they are TWO of the "FIVE grandkids" that were born in the same year, way back in 1988.

"Hey, batter batter!"

2009-03-26T18:07:00.000-07:00

Tibi is into her first season of softball now. She plays outfield, and switches off positions there. Today she played in the later innings at center and had a bad wind to have to deal with. She had a great hit which ended up getting her to third base, much to the delight of her teammates and fans (us) in the stands.

They ended up losing the game, but did pretty good playing a more experienced team from St. George.

"Good game, good game..."

We are parents!

2009-03-26T17:59:00.000-07:00

Today our baby chicks came in the mail. We went in with two other couples to purchase them, as you HAVE to buy 25 chicks in a batch. So the cute little white ones are ours, ten of them, for future egg laying. My friend offered to raise them for the first 4 weeks at her house, which helps us tremendously with the fair preparations in full swing. We only have 2 weeks till fair time, which will give us 2 weeks to get our chicken coop built and ready for our babies. They all look good, so far, and are keeping each other company and warm.

This is what we're shooting for...eggs from the yard instead of from the store.

Vacation Highlights

2009-03-22T16:30:00.000-07:00

Connie and Peter and the kids took off this morning to head back to Arizona. We had a wonderful 10 days with Connie and the kids with lots of activity going on. Peter flew in yesterday to help Connie drive back today. Here's just a few highlights from "grandma's house" :

Playing the piano - I don't know why grandma's piano is so fun. They have one at home too. I guess it's because grandma lets them play whatever they want to whenever they want to...

They loved being outside and would go out every chance they got. The weather was great, and Eden even helped grandma water the garden a few times. Jonah loved to play in the dirt and Levi loved being around the animals. Yesterday morning (Saturday) we took off to Logandale Park for an Easter breakfast and Easter egg hunt that Samantha (Scott's daughter) had invited us to. Their ward was putting it on, but we crashed in on it too. The kids had a blast looking for eggs and playing with Craig and Nana's kids. Levi and Michaela just chillin at the park.

Eden looks like an orphan, but she really does belong to us! She had the egg finding thing down pretty good.

After the park, Connie took off to the airport to get Peter while grandma played with the kids at home. When mom and dad got back to the house, the kids were pretty excited to see their dad.

We celebrated that night by letting the grandkids have ice cream. I think Eden had more on her face and arms than in her mouth!

We all had a good sleep that night and before they all left this morning, grandma made them all a balloon animal to take home with them. They thought that was pretty cool...

They will be back in two weeks for the county fair, so we didn't have to smother them in goodbye kisses this time. Now it's on to cleaning the house...

Kid candids and Court of Honor

2009-03-16T19:02:00.000-07:00

Connie and the kids have been here visiting since Wednesday night. They are getting to stay until this coming Sunday, so we are having a lot of fun with the kids. Jonah is out of pre-school for spring break, so they thought it was a good time to go to grandma and grandpa's house. The kids love to get up in the morning and look for Kit, our dog. Morning is definitely their time and they are all in good moods when they get up, so seeing Kit is just icing on the cake for them. They get the house hoppin' for the day, that's for sure.

Landon is advancing at a good pace to get his Eagle Scout award. He is not on any deadline, although it would be nice if he got it before he turns 16. He got a couple of merit badges last night and also received his LIFE award, so he is getting close. He loves scouting, probably wishes that he spent more time on it, but has had to juggle many things in his young life to fit everything in. Congratulations and kudos to Landon!

Oops...let's try it again.

2009-03-15T16:35:00.000-07:00

The video had a glitch in it. So, here goes again...

Landon's Last Hurray

2009-03-14T07:57:00.000-07:00

Landon finished up his basketball season with a home game against a Vegas Middle School. Even though they lost the game, they had a great season winning most of their games. Landon has always been very good at understanding the whole game of basketball. He's had a keen eye for seeing the open man under the basket and passing him the ball at the last second. He's usually right on with his foul shots and 3 point shots too. The only thing he doesn't understand about the game is having to sit on the bench. He'll never understand that part. He loves the game more than any other player there to ever have to sit on the bench (his thinking, I'm sure).
Well anyway...here's to a great season of basketball. And on to a great season of baseball (he and dad are off to baseball practice as I type this). Here's one of his famous 3 point shots in action. He is #25.

FLASHBACK FRIDAY

2009-03-06T11:50:00.000-08:00

I LOVE FRIDAYS!! First of all, it's "Friday" - what's not to love about Fridays. Second, Kevin taught me how to scan pictures on our printer, which means that I learned something new today. I'm supposed to be doing that with my life - learning something new every day. The only bad thing about THIS Friday is that, since Kevin taught me how to do that, my kids are probably going to be mad at me on upcoming Fridays, because I am the one that has all of their growing up pictures. I do promise them, right here and now, that I will NOT embarrass them too much, although I do have a couple of pictures to post down the road that involve them, but ended up being great therapy for me. (If any of you young, overwhelmed mothers are out there, you will know what I mean) Looking back on frustrating times, through photos, is great therapy, especially when you don't think you can get through TODAY. That post is yet to come, but I promise, it will come. THIS post is the beginning of it all...(notice how red my hair was, yikes!)

OH BOY!!

2009-03-01T20:05:00.000-08:00

Kira surprised me the other day with a phone call to tell me that she was heading to Vegas for the weekend with her good friends to attend a bridal shower. She said that on the way back to Utah on Sunday (today) they would stop in and make a quick visit. When it's Kira, we'll take whatever we can get, even if it's a driveby and a wave. So we were all excited to see her, especially her sisters Michaela and Tibi. I have always been a very blessed mother in that all of my five daughters are extremely close, and I don't mean in age. Actually, they are NOT very close in age, except for Connie and Kira. They are only 16 months apart, then Lexie is 2 1/2 years younger, Michaela 4 1/2 years younger, and Tibi 6 1/2 years younger than that. (There seems to be a pattern going on there). But they have pretty much always gotten along and loved each other, especially since they have grown up, left the house, and don't get to see each other as often as they would like. (Sharing a bathroom with five girls doesn't bring out the best in girls for some reason). So we got to visit, laugh, tease (if any of you know Kira), laugh some more, tease some more, and just have a great time together. Then she was off to Utah and we are back to being a quiet, rather boring family. When Kira is around, the whole place lights up, IF we can all handle her jibing and jiving!

My 5 little joys

2009-02-24T17:01:00.000-08:00

I'm getting homesick for my grandkids. That's it, I said it. It's a long time till April when they all come for the fair. I'm not sure I can make it that long. They are the reason I take care of this body, this mind, and this insane life I'm living at times. We are two of the lucky grandparents, for we have a little of everything when it comes to grandkids. We have blue eyes, black eyes, carrot tops, and curly haired "milk chocolate" ones too. All we need is an alien! Although, sometimes we wonder if Eden came from outer space!! She's our little meteor. Oh, I can't get enough of them all. Jonah, Marcelus, Eden, Levi, and Phoenix. And the list is to grow, I'm sure. We're still waiting on Roma Jean, and hope she is up there waiting for us too. They are each so different and definitely come with their own talents and personalities, even as little as they are. Jonah is our creative one, our musical one, and loves a great beat. He is very smart for his young age, and has been putting 24-piece puzzles together since he was 2. Marce is our electonic guru, thank goodness, because every family needs one! I can see him fixing all things broken without even thinking about it. He is our quiet, reserved one. I am still trying to figure out what he is saying every time I talk to him on the phone. Eden, oh Eden. What can I say about her!? She is one of a kind. I think the best way to describe her is that "her spirit is too big for her body!" She is the life of the party when she is around. And she is taking after her mother and grandmother and ending up with a killer collection of shoes! That girl is into shoes. And then there's sweet Levi, the lover of the group. He is our precious, ice blue-eyed, carrot topped basket of sweetness. I don't listen to country music very much, but I DO like the song "Front Porch Looking In" from Lonestar. Every time I hear the words "There's a carrot top who can barely walk with a sippy cup 'o milk. A little blue-eyed blond with shoes on wrong cause she likes to dress herself," I think of Levi and Eden. That is them to a tee. Then rounding out the bunch is Phoenix. Phoenix is going to be bigger than all of them...put together! He is just like his daddy, big, but a marshmallow. He has the biggest, cutest dimples I've ever seen. And you can't get a more rich, beautiful color on a child than his is. You just want to eat him up. He is a cuddler, just a happy little guy. And he is the one that is changing the most. I guess that's what makes it hard to not see them. They are different little people every time they come.

2009-02-17T10:11:00.000-08:00

One of the blessings of not having satellite anymore is that you end up finding videos that you've had for a long time, but never watch. Sunday night Kevin got in one of his "not just any movie will do" moods, and went to the back room (the vault) to go hunting for a good movie. Out he came with "Camelot", a movie that we both grew up on, but forgot that we even had. Landon even sat down and watched it with us. I had forgotten how much music is in that movie. I remember listening to the LP (record, for those of you who don't know what an LP is) all the time growing up, as this is one of my dad's favorite movies. Uncle Von even sang "How To Handle a Woman" at our wedding reception. And who couldn't LOVE Richard Harris? Okay, so he isn't as good looking as Barry Gibb, but the guy has an incredible speaking voice...and I don't mean as Dumbledore, although he makes a better Dumbledore in my opinion, but as King Arthur...WOW! Plus, you end up feeling sorry for him. It wasn't his fault that Lancelot comes and steals his queen away. So Lance can work miracles and bring someone back to life...anybody can do that, in Hollywood. So, there you have it...I love Richard Harris! (And those smoky, made-up eyes they give him in the movie aren't bad either)

KICKED OUT OF THE FAMILY

2009-02-11T20:42:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago we made the decision to get rid of the cable in our home. It's been a long time coming on mom's part, but I also understood that it had to be a family decision. So when Kevin told me that he was okay with it if I wanted to get rid of the dish cable, I jumped at the chance. We have had a few interesting things happen since we decided to do that though...including getting it shut off. We have Dish Network, which come with the "dish" attached to your home when you have it installed. The dish is ours, always will be, and never gets taken away, because we "own" it now. I'm okay with that...it doesn't mean we have to use it. So I got online to disconnect our service, but when I look the website over, there is no where to be found a place that tells you how to do that online. So I call the customer service number, talk to a real guy, and explain to him that we have decided to discontinue our cable service. I think I put him into a coronary, because he is sounding a little dumbfounded about the whole idea. He asks me right back (after I just told him) if we want to shut our cable off, in kind of a question form. I told him again that, yes, we want to shut our cable off. He still couldn't believe it, and asked me why we were having that done (which, now that I think of it, was none of his business.) I told him that we had decided that we wanted to simplify our lives and get rid of the things in our home that were not essential. He was polite, but STILL could not figure out why. (Like you cannot be living if you don't have TV.) After a few more explanations, and he trying to give me a better package for cheaper, free months, etc., I was able to get off the phone, with our cable gone, and a nice empty dish stuck to the side of our house, forever... The crazy thing is, that a week later, Kevin got a call from Dish Network trying to talk him into signing back up for 3 months free with all kinds of goodies to go along with it. People are funny...but we are free at last! And we haven't missed it a bit - although I think that the TV is getting pretty lonely.

ANOTHER LOGANDALE ICON GONE...

2009-02-04T21:04:00.000-08:00

Tibi has already blogged about this, but for those who haven't seen or heard, our beloved Logandale church burned down today. It started at about 4 a.m. in the rear of the building, back where the Relief Society room was. They had just cleaned the carpets yesterday, and had fans all throughout the building to help dry them. At first they suspected the overload on the electricity, but after the day had gone on, they weren't sure that that was the actual cause. Federal Investigators came on the scene during the day, and were busy gathering information from local residents as to the floor plan and other specifics of the building. I called our Stake President as soon as I dropped the kids off for Seminary, and then got to work gathering food and heading down to the park across the street from the church to be ready to feed firefighters for the day. It was a long day, but very fulfilling. I came home exhausted, smelling like smoke, sunburned, and thankful for the women of our stake. I am posting these pictures mostly for my older children and relatives. I knew that it would be a sad day for them too.

Bishop Barlow with Bill McConnell, firefighter (and also 1st counselor) saving things from the Bishop's office. I thought this picture was pretty poignant.

President Robison (facing us) with his three Bishops in our building. Another solemn picture...

Bringing out the missionary placques. They all hang on the same wall for all three wards. That was providential.

Looking into the front door (as you are on the street). Notice all of the rubble inside the door where the ceiling had given way.

My wonderful helpers, Carolyn Jensen and Nikki Fessler. We ended up staying till the last truck left the parking lot. It was a long day...