Tackling THE Project!

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

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...

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

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...

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

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...

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!)