March Madness

Our ward is doing March Madness where you read the entire Book of Mormon in the month of March. You need to read an average of 17 pages a day to complete it. I do enjoy reading, but I'm hoping that I can actually do this. I sometimes get overwhelmed in the scriptures. I let you know through out the month how its going!

Undercover Boss

There's a new show on tv called Undercover Boss. If you haven''t seen it, each week the CEO of a national corporation goes undercover in their own stores/locations to see how the nitty gritties work. Its been very enlightening. Tonight we watched the episode about the fast food chain White Castle. It gave me a whole new perspective on those who work at fast food restaurants. I realize I am quick to judge based on a stereo type.

Its nice to see that there are such good people out there in the world. The generosity of the CEOs and companies is very touching. If you haven't watched this show, I highly recommend it!

SLCC Basketball Game

My friend Katee is on the SLCC Women's Basketball Team. We have been trying to go to a game all season, but something always comes up. Well, yesterday was their last home game so we figured we should finally go :)

We went early to watch the girls warm up and we grabbed some treats from the concession stand. Conni had a blast dancing to the warm up music. She was also really excited to practice her jumping techniques. She kept cheering for the girls on both teams. We tried to teach her to follow the ball, but I think she was having more fun dancing and cheering.

The SLCC mascot is a Bruin Bear. Conni was so excited to tell him hi and he kept waving to her.

We lasted till half time (about 2 hours) and then Conni didn't want to stay in the same area anymore. We packed up and we all walked out to the car together. It was really cute - Conni was walking along holding hands with both of us and giggling.

Conni did better than either Dave or I expected. We're excited to start taking her to more and more events. Such a cutie!

What a difference the right shoes make

I originally was playing the organ in just my socks. My teacher recommended I check it out and see if I really wanted to play before I invested $60 in organ shoes. Well, I kept sliding off the bench trying to use my heel to play the notes with my feet. So I found a pair of cute dress shoes with a good heel for $11 at Payless. What a difference they make! I was able to go to the church today to practice again (thanks Mom for keeping Conni!). I didn't slide off the bench and I was able to play relatively well!

I was so excited - by the time I finished my practice session, I could play the hymn "We Thank Thee O God For a Prophet" relatively well! Only a few foot pedal errors and a little choppy. I am so excited! I was starting to get discouraged with the whole organ thing, but I was amazed at what a difference these shoes made!

Now, I must admit, if the chapel was full I couldn't play nearly as well as I did. But I am renewed to make time to practice more and keep getting better!

Thanks for letting me share my excitement!

All Caught Up!

I'm finally all caught up with pictures and videos! Make sure you read back to the older posts to see thru to the Discovery Gateway.

Thanks for reading!

Fender Bender

While driving home from Home Depot, Dave got rear-ended while stopped at a light. Luckily it was minor and no one was hurt - except my Escape!

Now I've been dealing with the other lady's insurance trying to get it resolved. Hopefully soon!

Conni's New Bed

My little girl is growing up so fast! She has graduated to a toddler bed! We put it up after Sky Trials while she was still at Grandma's. She was exhausted when she got home, but she was excited with it.

I am also excited to say that she stays in bed during the night! (For now!) She has transitioned better than I thought she would. Onward and upward!

The bed

She climbed right on when she saw it

Check me out!

Dancing

Conni loves to dance! Her favorite place is in her crib. We finally got some video to share:

Cute little walk

I love how my daughter walks! Such a cute sashay!

Taco Soup

Here is the recipe for the Taco Soup that Michelle and Emily fixed at Sky Trials. I didn't think I would like it, but I was so cold I figured I could get some in me for warmth. Its really good! I can't wait to make it!

Thanks for sharing Michelle!

Taco Soup:

2-14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes
2-14.5 oz cans of kidney beans with juice
1-14.5 oz can of black beans with juice
1 pkg of taco seasoning
1.5-2 lbs of ground beef cooked
corn (whatever quantity you want to do)
salt and pepper
sour cream
fritos

Cook the beef and then just start adding everything into a pot and cook until everything is heated through. Put the taco seasoning in the soup mixture, don't mix it with the meat. It makes it too strong to do it that way. Easy and yummy!!

Sky Trials

Ok - I'm finally posting about sky trials!

First off - what it is:
In 1975 Gerald Richards organized an event for falconers to show their birds pursuing their prey. It is held in February when the birds are at the physical best at the end of the regular falconry season.

Here's my summary of what happens:
In the middle of a field in the middle of nowhere west of Lehi, a guy takes his falcon out past the spectators. The falcon is released and has to reach a certain altitude, and then a racing pigeon is released. The falcon is judged on how high it gets, how long it takes to get up, how fast it stoops (dives to attack), and how many times the falcon tries to get the pigeon.

This is one of the coolest things in nature I've ever seen! Its crazy to watch! I tried to get some video to share, but the birds are so far away that you can hardly see them with the binoculars.

It is literally just a bunch of trucks in the middle of this field in the middle of nowhere. Many people who don't compete bring their birds to show. You get to walk around and check them out (see pics below). These guys are the nicest people! They are very willing to answer questions and share their passion for the sport.

My brother Chris is a falconer and has been attending for a while. He has invited us out numerous times, but this is the first time we could go for the whole day. It was so freezing cold! But it truly was amazing to watch these birds of prey and see how powerful and graceful they really are.

If anyone would be interested in more information or anything - let me know and I can get you in touch with Chris. He does bird shows and stuff for scouts all the time. I wish I could explain better how cool this whole thing is!

Here's some pics of some of the birds on display (sorry I don't know what kind they are):

There was one guy there who has a "trained" rooster too:

And these are my brother's birds:

If I remember right, Kaia is a Peregrine Falcon, and Tank is a Gyrsaker (sorry - don't know how to spell it :)

I am so excited to go again next year. We will take even more stuff to stay warm. Thanks again to Chris and Michelle for inviting us and for answering all our questions! And thanks to Grandma Bonnie for keeping Conni so we could go!!!

Cousins Valentines Party

My amazing mother threw a Valentine's party for all the cousins the Friday before Valentines. This was a fun opportunity for them, and also an opportunity for their parents to have their Valentine's dates. I love my mom!

Each of the kids had a poster they decorated.

Each cousin has a teddy bear at Grandma's house. Grandma made Valentine's jammies for them. Look how patiently Conni is waiting for me to dress her bear!

Making Valentines cards for moms and dads

Working away - silly Brad!

Conni and her bear

The cousins and their bears:

Bronson, Conni, Bridger, Teeni, Brad, Joseph

Just chillin'

A new favorite...

Kitchen Faucet

We have been slowly improving the house as we have funds and time to work on it. Sometimes our priorities get rearranged for us when things break. IE - the Kitchen Faucet.

We chose to just replace the faucet with one we can reuse when we redo the whole kitchen. For now it looks a little out of place with our beat up sink, but its really nice.

As our luck goes, we ordered in a faucet we liked (cause Home Depot and Lowes wanted to charge us double what Amazon would.) Dave got the new faucet installed and found out that the handle was broken - just like the old faucet. Just his luck poor guy!

Luckily, Amazon customer service rocks and sent us a whole new faucet. While it was the same design, it was a newer model and had some nicer features.

Now we have a beautiful faucet in our kitchen! Soon enough, we'll make other improvements too.

The old faucet - deceivingly operational

Reality of the old faucet - the handle falls off at the worst times

Gorgeous new faucet - with removable spray handle!

Tinkerbell

A few weeks ago I posted some of the projects I've been finishing up. Here's another project I was really excited about.

My niece Teeni's room is decorated with fairies and butterflies - especially Tinkerbell. I found this kit on clearance and just couldn't pass it up for her. I was way excited with how she turned out - the best eyes I've ever painted!

As a side note, Teeni has enjoyed this Tinkerbell. She will carry it around the house with her. She will climb up after she's been put to bed and get it off the shelf to sleep with. Hopefully it doesn't break!

Discovery Gateway

At the end of January, one of Dave's co-workers offered to let us use his family pass for the Discovery Gateway. Conni loved it! There was so much to see and do! Even though we went right after nap time, she was exhausted in about an hour or so. Her two favorite things were the chimes and the water. Here's some fun videos.

Side note - sorry about the camera work in these. There were SO many little kids underfoot it was hard to record, see Conni's reactions, and not trample anyone. We'll work on our cinematography skills!


Conni came back to the chimes over and over again.







It was a ton of fun and we hope to go back this summer when we have coupons! Thanks again Jeff for letting us use your pass!

Need to catch up

Why is it that I can only post a bunch at once? I have a bunch of pics and videos to put up. We went to the Discovery Gateway a few weeks ago and there's some fun videos of that. And of course random fun pics of goings-on. We're going to the Sky Trials this weekend so I hope to have some fun video of that. So there's some teasers of whats going on with us. Hopefully soon I'll get some free time to put everything up to share with you. Thanks for reading!

Service to my family...

One of the Personal Progress value experiences for Good Works is to record acts of service and acknowledge them in a meaningful way. I felt this would be a way I could publicly say thank you to some of the people that serve me and my family.

*Visiting Teachers: Linda and Kay are my visiting teachers and they come without fail every month. The only reason they miss is if I am too busy. They are always checking on me at church and making sure Conni and Dave are also doing well. They make a point to say hi to Conni every week. If we miss they always check with my mom to make sure everything is ok. They give a message when they come to visit, and leave me feeling uplifted and renewed.

*Young Women's Presidency and Advisors: I work with some of the funnest women in our ward: Cindy, Allison, Katee, Rebecca, Marilyn, and Kathy. We know how to enjoy ourselves. But they are also very involved with my family - especially Conni. They all love her and help me keep her happy and entertained during lessons and activities. These women all have very strong testimonies and set great examples for me and Conni. They are all hard workers who take their callings seriously. These women are all dependable and willing to go the extra mile. Cindy is always very aware of what she asks us to do - she doesn't ask us to do anything she isn't willing to do herself - and she is very respectful of our time. Each of these ladies are there to talk to when I need to vent or if there is something going on. They all have a great love for the young women in our ward. I am grateful to call each of them my friends.

*Young Men's Presidency and Advisors: I am grateful for the men that Dave serves with in the Young Men's program. They show great concern and patience for what is going on in Dave's life. They recognize the demands on his time and work with him to be able to have the greatest good for the young men.

*Mom: There's no way I can not mention my mom in something like this. She is such a great example of self-less service to me. She watches grandkids all day long - three to six kids under the age of six, depending on who is there. She loves these kids and you can tell. And just because she watches the kids during the day, she is still willing to watch them in the evenings if needed. She never complains about having them around. She offers advice about parenting, relationships, my calling, work - everything going on in my life - when she can tell I need something else. I couldn't do my calling without all the help from my mom. She is a vast resource for all things Young Women. She is amazing in her calling as Primary President. She puts just as much (if not more) effort into Primary for eight kids as she did for twenty. She is always just a phone call away. I'd have to say she is my favorite neighbor too. She does so much more that I can't even put it in to words. I love you Mom!

*Dave: I also have to mention my sweetheart. Dave spoils me and Conni. He works so hard to provide for our little family working long hours at his job. He works hard around the house trying to make everything perfect. He is SO patient with me and my projects. He is always willing to help me take care of Conni even when he's had the worst day at work. He supports me in my calling and helps when I take on crazy projects (like six foot tall crayons). He lets me cry when I just need to cry, and doesn't ask why I'm crying. Dave can always make me laugh and knows how to make most anything better. Again, there is so much more that he does that I can't even put into words. I can't imagine life without him. I love you Bear!

I know there are many, many others who serve my family regularly. These are just a few that I have noticed recently that I wanted to express gratitude for. I hope that I can find more ways to serve others and take these great examples to heart.

Organ Lesson

I had my very first organ lesson today and I loved it! I am blessed to be taking from the same lady who taught me piano. She is very patient with me too, cause my theory is awful and I don't use the correct fingers most of the time. The concept is a lot easier than I originally thought it would be. Now its down to practice, practice, practice! I'm so excited!

Finishing Projects

Like many other women, I have a very full craft room. In this craft room are many unfinished projects. Last fall we got a "new" kitchen set at a yard sale (thanks Karen!) and I got to move our old kitchen set down to my craft room. This table was soon full of Christmas projects. But once we got thru the holidays, I gave myself a challenge to finish up these half-finished projects before buying new ones. Here's a couple that I have been working on the last few weeks.

Painted wood shapes with magnets on the back

Now decorations for the front door

Perpetual calendar

I painted the figures in '99

Finally painted the numbers and holidays!

Ninja Guards

While looking for patterns for beenies and ear warmers, I came across a pattern for wrist warmers. Some days I have the worst circulation in my wrists because of my carpal tunnel, so I thought these would be fun to have. They turned out pretty well! And I can take them to Sky Trials (see next post) and have extra gloves :)

The only thing that I don't like about them, is that Dave calls them "Ninja Guards." He thinks they look funny, but agrees that the functionality for me is worth it.

Crochet away

Ever since I was little, if we were watching tv Mom had our hands busy. It drives Dave crazy some days, but sometimes I can't just sit down and watch tv. My favorite thing to do in front of the tv is crochet. Once you get going on a pattern that you can just repeat, its easy to unwind with the repetition.

In a few weeks we are going with my brother and his wife to watch the Utah Sky Trials. Its a cool competition where you watch falcons race to catch their prey. (I know I'm not explaining it totally well - I'll give you more details after we've gone.) Anyway. As you can imagine its held outside. So I decided to get busy making us stuff to stay warm. I know I could have just bought it, but it was so much fun to make all this!

Dave's beenie - I made him a matching scarf a couple of years ago

My beenie

My ear warmer


My ear warmer, beenie, and scarf

Conni's Words

Conni is five days shy of being 18 months old. She is a very bright, happy little girl, who is always investigating and learning new things. I took a couple of days and wrote down all the regular words, phrases, or sounds she uses that we (me, Dave, Grandma, and a few others) can regularly understand. I was pleased with the list!

1. Mom
2. Dad
3. Crash
4. Goodbye
5. Quack
6. Nite-nite
7. Please/yes
8. No
9. Where is it?
10. hi-yah (her war cry when she's going to throw something)
11. Moo
12. Oink
13. Hi
14. Hello (exclusively for "phones")
15. All done
16. Yay
17. Yum
18. Wobble wobble
19. Love you
20. Thank you
21. Monkey sounds
22. Howl (like a wolf)
23. Elephant trumpet

Then of course, there is the ever popular "Point and Grunt" for everything else. At least when I guess the right thing she is nice enough to say please!

I am grateful that Conni is able to talk and that I don't have to learn a different way to communicate with her. She is learning new words all the time. I love watching her face as her little brain tries to imitate what I am saying. Now I just have to get her to learn how to tell Teeni "I dare ya!" My mom's going to love that one!