Patti's happenings

p365 nov 15-21

2011-01-01T09:39:00.000-08:00

Daniel & Sarah finish up their dinner theater play practice before Emily & I go in for Choir Practice.
When you get 6inches or more of snow in mid-Nov, it is hard to tell if winter is just teasing us, or here to stay. Judging from the cold we got with it, I would say fall is over, and winter is definitely here a month early.

Its cold, but not frozen yet. Snow on the trees & lake (Camillia).
We went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter VII pt. 1. On a school night? Why? Because I like the whole experience. The excitement of seeing the movie first. We did dress up in costume for HP VI, but we were the only ones who did, so we didn't do it this time.

Richard, Sarah and I went to a Fireside celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Minneapolis Stake. My grandparents joined the church in the late 40s. Grandpa Danielson was Branch President when one of the Branch buildings was built. This picture is a history of building the building written by Arnold Knapp that was there, and a picture that I brought of Arnold Knapp, Elder Ezra Taft Benson-who dedicated the chapel, and my Grandfather, Carl 'Al' Danielson.

We finally got the rotting jack-0-lanterns off the porch and out where the squirrels could have them.

Sarah relaxing on a Sunday after church.

Have a good day!

p365 Nov 8-14

2011-01-01T07:06:00.000-08:00

This sunrise beauty is right outside my back door. The leaves are completely gone off the trees by now.
Every year, the 3rd graders have to make robots for a class projects. (can I tell you that I groan whenever these home projects get sent home??) But this was Daniel's robot. It is a cleaning robot that runs on cookies and makes money. Now I need to figure out how to get one of those for real.
The cat loves to take naps on the computer desk. Especially if someone is doing work on it.

Daniel's Bear Troop visited the Police Station. They were most excited to get their fingerprints taken.

Sarah, Daniel, Emily and I went to see Clear Lake Theatre's production of 'Phantom of the Soap Opera.' I was doing dinner theatre, so I couldn't be in this one, but it was very cute and fun to watch.

We got a good snowfall on Nov 13. Enough heavy, wet snow to build a snowman. We didn't get any of that kind of snow all winter last year. Usually, when it is cold, it is just light fluffy stuff that won't pack.
Our beautiful, snow-covered tree. Winter is here (mid-November) ready or not.

later!

p365 Nov 1-7

2010-12-26T18:07:00.000-08:00

Fall colors in the morning. This time along Lake Magnor.
Another Cornfield picture. I like the cornfields I guess.
November is Catalog time. This just what came in about 3 days. Love shopping by mail and the Internet!!
The Missionaries came for dinner and a short lesson. It was nice to feel their spirit in our home.
not a very good picture, but these are monster feet meatloaves. Yummy!
Nov 6 was National Digital Scrapbooking day. I spent the day on my computer and got a number of layouts done.
Nov 7, John was ordained an Elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood. Richard and I went to his ward to see him ordained. This is us taking pictures of each other after wards.

It was a good week.

Bye!

P365 Oct 25-31

2010-12-25T18:54:00.000-08:00

Monday was the Senior High Fall Concert. . As part of that, they have a student art show of sorts where the kids in the choir do a piece about America or one of the songs they are singing. In this concert, they sang an arrangement of 'Jabberwocky'. These are Michael's drawings from the poem: The Furious Bandersnack and the Jub Jub Bird.
It rained and rained and rained for several days. These are our pre-carved pumpkins after sitting out for a few days. Nice and shiny.
So, after raining and raining, it decided to snow. Not much, but definitely the first snow of the year.
Getting near Halloween. Time for some fun food. These were the mummy dogs we had for dinner.
The Friday before Halloween I got to dress up for work. Mohawk, tatts, and blue hair and black makeup. It was quite the look.
Saturday we carved our pumpkins. Shown are Daniel's, Michael's and Sarah's. Mine was a cool C3PO, but for some reason, I don't have a picture of that. We stayed up way too late getting them done. And for what? We didn't go out on Halloween, because it was on Sunday, and no one ever comes to our house because we are way out of town.
Despite the snow earlier in the week, Halloween weekend had very mild, pretty weather.

ttyl!

p365 Oct 18-24

2010-12-25T17:03:00.000-08:00

For Home Evening this week, we watched a video by President Uchtdorf on Patience.

Sunsets over a lake can be really gorgeous. I think this one is over Lake Wapogassett.

these two pictures are the same--the birds are added to both of them, but I photoshopped one of them--can you guess which one? :-)

We had Pack Meeting in the park. We had these cool 'firepits' made out of hollow logs. By the time the logs themselves caught fire and split in half, the insides were perfect marshmallow melting coals.

We had had our first good frosts and killed my garden down, so it was finally time to get the bulbs that I got for my birthday planted. Got to do that for spring!

This is me writing my paper....ok., the mess I leave while doing it.
We had extra pumpkins sitting around the house, so Sarah decided she wanted to make pie. So we cut it up and cooked it in the microwave, and then Sarah turned it into pie. She is turning into quite the little baker.

see y'all later

P365 Oct 11-17

2010-12-25T16:16:00.001-08:00

These little guys moved into the field across the street from our house. I believe they are destined for the freezer, but they are cute!
Fall colors in the late afternoon sun are just so beautiful!

Richard took the week off to work on getting the wood pile finished. Here is Daniel 'driving' the tractor while he helps.

Here is Michael really driving a load of wood to the pile. They take the log splitter out to the woods, chop and split the wood out there, load it into the bucket and take it to the pile.

In Cub Scouts the boys were doing pushups and sit ups, etc. to work on their Bear badge. This is Daniel's unique take on push-ups.

My friend Meleda had a Witch's 'Tea' Party for her women friends and family. (This is another friend, Jennifer, in the picture). We were told to come in costume, and it was a very formal tea. It was a lot of fun!!

This is my sleepy kitty asleep in my room. Being that I'm posting this quite a bit after the picture was taken kind of makes me sad, because soon after this picture was taken (a day or two later), she went on walkabout and never returned. :-(

'till next time!

p365 Oct 4-Oct 10

2010-11-24T18:53:00.000-08:00

And now the continuing STOOOORY of life in the big cabin in the little woods... October 4-Oct 10.

Part of having a wood stove, is having to chop enough wood to last the winter. October weather was so nice, that Richard (and kids) was able to get it done with plenty of time to spare.

This week was Homecoming week. This day for the elementary school was 'Nerd' Day, and this is Sarah at her nerdiest.
the fall leaves at sunset. They positively glowed.

I have been trying to get this picture all year. Hermione jumps up on the door when she wants in. She waits until she obtains eye contact
Homecoming Night. The one halftime show that our band does. This year's theme was monsters--so they performed 'Thriller', 'Monster mash' etc. Unfortunately, I missed most of it, because I was working in the concession stand. At least Richard got video

Oct 9, My Girl Scout troop went to camp Lakamaga which got made over by older Girl Scouts into 'Spookamaga'. With different 'fright sites' for the girls to go see. The weather was perfect (near 80!!) and we had a really fun time!!
I work in the nursery at church (for the 18mo- 3 yr olds). We have animal crackers and water every week. Every week, the poor animals are forced to go swimming before being eaten. EEEWWW. They get soggy, but they really have fun doing it, and the older kids teach the younger ones the trick by example. We'll have parents mention 'he/she started dunking his/her food'. Sorry. I didn't teach them that. They figured it out on their own.

Till the next post!!
me

P365 Sept 27-Oct 3

2010-11-21T17:47:00.000-08:00

OK, so I HAVE been keeping up with my pictures, I just haven't been posting them. So, without further ado, here is the end of September/beginning of October.

Daniel can't quite figure out why his strategy for battleship isn't working. (especially if Michael knows his strategy and can plan for it.)

Daniel really love board games. Michael found this vintage LIFE game at Goodwill, and the kids have really had fun playing it.
This was really the most gorgeous fall. This picture looked like a postcard, so I turned it into one.

Cub Scouts have started up for the year. Here are the boys working on the physical fitness part of the Bear badge.

Another example of why people should come and visit in September.

Conference Saturday. We had a ward breakfast before Saturday morning session. This is the kids having fun while waiting for breakfast.

Conference Jelly Beans. What better way to stay awake, than to get a handful of Jelly Bellys with every speaker? :-)

Well, there is one week. I'll work on getting the other ones uploaded as well.

p 365 Sept 20-26 Fall is here

2010-09-26T16:27:00.000-07:00

This vista is directly across the street from my house. Really. Scenes like this is why we ended up here. It was this time of year when we were house hunting and we got hooked.

Finally got John talked into getting a haircut. LOL. Trust me, this is much shorter than it was before the haircut.

On Wednesday, our ward passed out flyers and bags for a food drive in Barron.

Thursday was our first day of Girl Scouts for the new year. I've been the leader of some of these girls since Kindergarten and they are now in 5th and 6th grade.

Find the picture of the field I took in the 2nd week of Sept. This is what it looked like after 2 solid days and several inches of rain. That's the extent of the flooding we got. Areas south of us got 10+ inches of rain and much more flooding.

Saturday we had the food drive pick up. I forget the total number of pounds, but it was a lot of food. Thanks Barron! The food shelf is very greatful.

I love fall. I found this scene somewhere between Prairie Farm and Dallas (WI) on CR A. It wasn't until I looked at it on the computer today that I found the hawk sitting on the top of the tree. Awesome.

P 365 Sept 13-19

2010-09-19T16:31:00.000-07:00

The school finally got to giving out the plaques for the 2nd semester of last year. Michael is planning to get a whole collection of these.

Tuesday was our Scout sign up. The Girl Scouts were on one side of the hallway, and the Cub Scouts were on the other side of the room. Our Girl Scouts had about a 90% re-registration last spring, so we didn't get very many girls signing up, but the Cub Scouts had a line going around the corner.

I burned my hand at work about a week and a half ago. It is healing slowly but surely. The scabby area is where it was blistered and hurt the worst. Gorgeous picture--I know. :-)

Thursday night was our first Pack Meeting of the year. Daniel is now a Bear Scout.

I had to knock out one of my other pictures this week to showcase this bit of family drama. I earlier have posted pictures of my mountain ash tree that the birds have slowly been killing. Richard decided it was time for it to come down. When we came home from the parade, (next picture) the branches were all cut off, and Sarah burst into tears. It was her favorite climbing tree. She spent time saying goodbye to the tree before Richard knocked it down with the tractor.

Saturday was the Amery Fall Festival Parade. This is the Clear Lake Band. It was definately fall, with the temperature hovering right around 48 degrees. Luckily, it was sunny.

The temps weren't much warmer on Sunday, and I decided it was time to pull out the boots and tights to wear to church to try to stay warm.

P365 Sept 6-12

2010-09-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

Sept 6 was Labor Day and my birthday. I got to work because it was a holiday, but when I came home, the family had bbq hamburgers for me and Sarah made me this cake-from scratch. She's 10. The chocolate cake was about the consistency of brownies, but it was still really good. With all the candles facing inward, it was quite the conflagration when it was lit.

This is a hay field just down the road from our house. I haven't quite figured out why they grow all the hay, because as far as I can see, all they ever do, is line the haybales up in rows, and just leave it there, where they rot & start to grow and just make little hills.

I went shopping at WalMart-a good stockup shop. These are my all time favorite crackers from them, and at only $1.85 a box, I just can't pass them up!

I have an Autumn Joy Sedum that has been in a pot all summer because I haven't gotten to putting it in the ground. It is starting to bloom, and this butterfly (nope. moth) decided it was a good place to rest.

It has been so wet this summer, that there is now a good crop of mushrooms growing. I found this fairy out there one day. :-)

Sept 11. Daniel and I went out shopping together.

Sunday afternoon I looked up and realized the sky had changed. It is now the perfect, clear blue that I like to call September Blue. It happens when the angle of the sun changes. I love Spring, but Fall is a close second.

p365 Aug 23-Sept 5 (2 weeks!!)

2010-09-05T15:25:00.000-07:00

I had some Internet issues last week, so last week's pictures didn't get posted. So if you don't mind, here are 2 weeks' worth of pictures.
Aug 23- This is one very comfy kitty.

Michael came up with this 'device' to carry in a lot of groceries in from the car at one time

The kids played softball for mutual on Wed. He says to tell you that he owned everyone. Sure, whatever you say. :-)

Richard & I drove to the temple and went over the Stillwater lift bridge. Its kind of amazing that the water level is still this high at the end of August. When it is low, you can walk down by those pylons.

I took the kids shoe shopping. I was helping Daniel get shoes, Sarah was behind me and found some, and then Michael came around the corner to show me the shoes he found. Yes, all 3 of them got the same shoes--Sarah got the high tops.

Just a very cool Pontiac I found in a parking lot.

This is a tree on our way to town. The colors are starting to change. Fall is on its way.

The town of Amery has a couple of raptor nest sites around town. This one is by the lights to the outdoor hockey rink. There is a nesting couple & chicks. I could hear them from the bank a block away.

My flower garden has a distinctly different look and feel to it as we head into fall.

Sept.1 Possibly the worst 1st day of school picture I've ever taken. And this was the best one of the bunch from this day. Oh well. Daniel is in 3rd grade, Sarah in 5th, Emily in 11th, and Michael in 9th. "Her 2 kids in high school, they tell her that she's uncool, but she's still preoccupied, with 19 19 1985."

I took Daniel to the dentist. They have it decorated for Amery's Fall Festival. I loved their sign.

My homework now that school started. Filling in all the forms. 1 per child. At least there were only 4 to fill out this year!

A very pretty sunset I came across one evening after it rained most of the day. Fall is most definately on its way. Once Sept 2 came, the temps have dropped, the wind seems to have changed, and it is fall.

Sept 5, and I found these in my garden. These are really the first tomatoes I've gotten from my garden this year. I didn't have much success with vegetable gardening this year. Of course, I really didn't put too much effort into it either as our tiller broke and it has yet to be replaced, and I didn't feel like tilling by hand.

Well, Have a great 4 day week.

p365 Aug 16-22

2010-08-22T16:09:00.000-07:00

Yummy! No, these are not cookies. They are fried red tomatoes. Use ripe, firm tomatoes, dip in flour, an egg bath, and then bread crumbs. Fry either in a frying pan, or I used my deep fryer until golden brown. Serve with crumbled bacon and chives.

For Family Home Evening, Michael had us do a marshmallow challenge
where we built structures out of spaghetti to support a marshmallow. It was a fun exercise. Richard's was the tallest, but I think mine held the marshmallow the longest.

It is late summer. The goldenrod is blooming everywhere.

I really like the white impatiens right next to the purple foliage.

Friday night, Richard & I drove the kids to Minneapolis to a dance and then we went downtown. There was a Twins game, and various other events going on, so we had to drive all over the place to find parking somewhere near Nicollet Mall. A block or so over we drove by this building. I don't even know what building this is, but I love it!! We were driving, so it isn't the best picture.

Saturday I went to a Girl Scout Leader Adult Enrichment Conference. I took a couple classes on communication, and keeping older girls interested, as well as a couple of craft classes (cake decorating and making a cement stepping stone.) In between times, there were a couple of charity sewing projects. We put together strips to make quilts for children's hospice programs, and we made pillowcases for the million pillowcase project (Ha! I learned how to do links in my blog!) The pillowcases went together so fast once I figured out the directions that I put together about 4 or 5 of them. (O.K., the pieces were all pre-cut, I just had to sew them together. But once they are cut out, they go together in about 5 minutes. Just 3 seams)

Michael has been folding and making lots of paper stars. Really cool stars. This morning I noticed they were all perched on top of the bulliten board.

Have a great week. Last full week of August/summer.

*moi

p365 Aug 9-15

2010-08-15T15:58:00.000-07:00

Aug 9, was Emily's Birthday. We had orignially scheduled her wisdom teeth surgery for that day, but with the Lyme's and waiting for funding, we kind of postponed her surgery. We also postponed her celebration until Tuesday due to other scheduling. However, I found a really cool spider web in the foggy morning.

We had Emily's birthday dinner and cake on the 10th. She is 16!! This is kind of an odd shot, but I like it for the look of the candles and the intruding siblings. I took her to see Eclipse that night. Finally. We were almost too late for it. I think there were only 2 theatres in the area that still had it playing.

Wednesday was SOOO hot. When I got home from work, we went to the beach. Its odd. It has rained so much this summer that the lake level was actually higher in August than it was in June.

Sarah had her friend come stay for a couple of days. She brought her mama cat & kittens over too. (I have a feeling they wanted us to keep them--NO) So, we had visiting cats for a couple of days. We had a kitty that looked just like this that was the mama to our other cats.

Friday night Richard & I took these 3 out to see Despicable Me. It is such a funny movie. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it. We drove there in a driving rainstorm (raining. again.) The show was so early, we got dinner after the movie. I took this picture just to show what we did, but I realized that it shows a turning point for my family. We didn't buy a kids' meal. Everyone got the regular sized meal. I really don't have babies anymore.

Saturday, we went to my friend's house where she had a Kids' Survivor-A day in the woods. They learned about what they would need to survive in the woods. How to get shelter, build fire, collect water, and trap food. Really a cool event. It was well attended. In this picture, they are talking about edible plants in the wild like plantain, lambs quarters, and dandelions.

This is the view from my porch. My camera didn't want to capture the blue of the sky, so I had to re-create it. :-)

August is halfway over. 16 days until school starts!

p365 Aug 2-8

2010-08-08T16:32:00.000-07:00

Emily came home from Utah with this rash all over her body. She also had had headaches for several weeks. Took her to the doctor's on Monday and she took one look at the rash and diagnosed Lyme's Disease. She got put on a 3 week course of doxycycline which is a pretty powerful antibiotic that make her stomach hurt. We have figured out if she eats first before taking the pill, and that seems to make a difference.

Tuesday I participated in Turtle Lake's 'National Night Out' gathering. I don't live in Turtle Lake, but I work there. McDonald's had a booth there. We had activies for kids, and information about the Ronald McDonald house for the adults. Richard brought my kids down and they had a lot of fun with different activites, dancing, free hot dogs and rootbeer floats.

The kids & I did some experiments this week. We had some dry ice and had fun with it, and this is another one... take a plate full of milk (whole works best-good fat content), put drops of different food coloring all over the milk, and then just a few drops of dish soap. It makes the milk come alive with color.

Thursday we went to a couple of parks. We went to a sculpture park, and then to a nature park. This is at the latter. They are watching for their pooh sticks to come out the other side of the bridge.

Friday was my last day as regular crew at McDonald's. I have been promoted to manager, and start that on Monday. So, I came home and retired my hat & old nametag.

I love this stargazer lily, but the picture does not do it justice. I had focus problems, and problems with little people trying to put their fingers in my picture.

Sunday afternoon--a perfect time for a game of Monopoply.

Have a great week!

P365 July 26-Aug 1

2010-08-01T19:52:00.000-07:00

This is the welcome of my phone. Monday morning I woke up and saw only that-and then the t-mobile logo. Over and over and over. It would never finish loading. I took it to the dealer, and they still couldn't help me. So I called T-mobile, (instead of having me wait on hold, they took my number and called me back-fantastic!), and ended up having to get a new phone sent to me which finally came on Thursday.

Tuesday I got my first good harvest of blackberries. I'll be getting even more in the next couple of weeks.

This bunny sits at the corner of our yard by the driveway every day just taunting the cats.

Thursday I went and toured the County Fair by myself. Everyone else was still either at camp, or driving back from Utah. These are the best things at the fair. Mini donuts. You get a bag of 13 or so hot, mini bites of cinnamon sugary goodness.

Daniel is carrying a bottle. They all came home Friday. This is a root beer bottle that they got at a restaurant called Bummer's in Sterling, CO. It is kind of our tradition to stop there either to or from Utah for dinner-depending on when we get there.

Saturday we went to the Fair as a family. This is Sarah standing underneath her entry with a blue ribbon on it. I also got a blue on one of my photos, and a 3rd and 4th place on 2 other photos. Also, despite being on my way to getting a fantastic cold/laryingitis on Sunday, I managed to still get 3rd place in the talent show.

Sunday was a little different. We just had our own Sacrament Meeting, and then a lot of us went downtown to a ecumenical service that Barron was having as part of their 150th Anniversary Celebration. We were encouraged by the Bishop & Stake President to attend to have a showing of Latter Day Saints as part of the Christian Community in the town.

Have a great week!

p 365 July 19-25

2010-07-25T17:53:00.000-07:00

This was a very quiet week with Richard and most of the kids in Utah this week. It was just me & Michael at home. We got the house picked up (and it stayed picked up). I started getting ready for the fair. These are the photos that I'm entering.

The phlox in my garden are at near full peak. They also are going to the fair this week.

As are my favorite giant daylillies.

On Thursday, Michael & I went to Rice Lake and went school shopping. We stopped at Norske Nook for lunch. Norske Nook serves good, homestyle Norwegian/American food. But they are most famous for their PIES. Fantastically good pies. I had a white chocolate/strawberry pie. Michael had a Peach Praline pie.

This little fellow came to our window, over the porch ledge, on the 2nd floor!!

Saturday we had some storms roll through, and then the sun came out. The clouds were really cool.

Today Michael went off to camp. That means I'm by myself until about Friday when everyone returns home. VERY quiet indeed!!

p365 July 12-July 18

2010-07-18T16:57:00.000-07:00

Monday Evening we went to see ToyStory 3 in 3D. This is everyone before the movie started. The movie was awesome and I cried almost the whole last 10-20 minutes. I am a boob. It was our first 3D movie and I was impressed.

This is a story of my poor mountain ash tree. I love this tree. It is right in front of the house. It makes beautiful red berries. The past couple of years, the wood peckers have been poking systematic holes in the branches and drinking the sap. This year, it is especially bad, and branches are starting to die. The insects love the sappy holes and the tree is buzzing with flies, bees & butterflies.. One day my tree will be dead. :-(

Wednesday we had several hours of storms roll through. Just as I was leaving work, the storms were clearing up. This is the back end of the storm front moving away.

Thursday night we had our ward Pioneer Day Picnic at the Rhode's house. One of the kids' favorite thing to do is to play on their handcart replica. We get slow roasted bbq pork, turkey & beef brisket, potluck & then people play softball/kickball, at the next door park, or board games like Scrabble & RummiKube. Its our annual tradition.

Friday we took the teenagers to Crystal for a youth dance. That is just about 10 min from Minneapolis. It was a gorgeous evening, so we went downtown, ate on the patio of Chipotle on Nicolette Mall. Then we just spent the rest of the evening people watching & walking up and down the street. This is a cool fountain on the street. The water was falling down the pipes.

Saturday my family left. Most of them anyway. Richard took John, Emily, Sarah & Daniel and went to Utah to his parents' house. I just got a text from John that they arrived about 2 hours ago. I stayed home to get Michael to Scout Camp next week. The two of us went to see Despicable Me last night & got home just in time for another round of storms.

Saturday night I made a banana pie for potluck . Really Yummy. Unfortunately, I left it at home, and didn't remember it until I was about 10 miles from home. So, we had to eat pie when we got home. Too bad.

It will be an odd week. Very quiet, I think.

P 365 July 5-11

2010-07-11T17:38:00.000-07:00

July 5, I went to the farmers market in Amery and got fresh corn and other veggies. Emily likes to shuck corn, so she got right to work.

Tuesday the 4th year girls & Youth Leaders went off to camp. The rest of the girls went on Wednesday. They had a blast & came home Saturday.

One of the beautiful Asian Lillies growing in my garden surrounded by the ferns that just naturally grow here.

Thursday Sarah went to her friend Emmily's house. This is not to be confused with Emily and her friend Sara. :-)

Friday we had a ward picnic at the Roper's house on a lake (Rice Lake?) It was a gorgeous evening, and Michael got to take a ride in the kayak & Sarah & Daniel went fishing.

I LOVE sunsets, and this one was particularly stunning.

Today we had a storm and as it passed, I thought, that looks like Rainbow Weather. So I got in the van and drove to the top of the hill. Sure enough, I was able to capture this beauty. If you look carefully, you can see the faint double rainbow further to the right of the main one.

Have a great week!

P 365 June 28-July 4 (half way through the year!!)

2010-07-04T15:59:00.001-07:00

Well, this week marks the half way point of the year. I've really enjoyed this experiment!

I came home on Monday(June 28) and found the tree flying a kite. (Michael had something to do with it)

Happy Birthday to John! My oldest son is 20 years old. Yikes!!! Jenny came down for the week to celebrate.

June 30, John & Jenny took the kids to the park. Jenny knows more about fishing so she helped Daniel do some fishing. He actually caught a couple. Michael & Sarah caught some too. (they brought 2 of them home for the cats, but the cats had no clue what to do with a fish)

July 1, I took the kids to see 'The Last Airbender' because they'd watched the 'Avatar' series about two-three times. On our way out of the theatre, there was a roadside strawberry stand. Oh, they were so good! But we saved most of them and made some yummy jam.

Friday (July 2), Richard & I went to the temple. We hadn't been in a while and it was so nice to get back.

Yes, the quilt top is finished!! Just needs to get to the quilter.

Happy 4th of July! I thought it was real nice of Abraham Lincoln to show up in my root beer float today. (really!!)

The weather is a bit iffy, so I don't know if we get fireworks today or tomorrow.

Have a great week!

P 365 June 8-June 27

2010-06-27T17:07:00.000-07:00

This will be a long post. I've got 3 weeks to show ;-). Between going to Utah, etc., I haven't had a chance to get things uploaded, but I have still been taking pictures, and I'm almost halfway through the year!

June 7, I got this much of the quilt put together. Now, I have a 8 inch border to stick on it.

June 8 was Alisha's track banquet. This is her being recognized as one of the seniors leaving the team. She was a long distance runner. Ran the 1 & 2 mile.

June 9, The Young Women went canoeing to get ready for camp. Michael & I even got to get out on the canoe as well.

June 10, I picked flowers from my garden. So pretty!

Friday, the 11th, Alisha packed up the car and got ready to go. This is our last family picture for a while. We left about 6pm and drove all NIGHT.

Saturday we drove ALL DAY. We even drove through Yellowstone on our way to Rexburg, ID to stay with my sister Jenny for a couple of nights. We saw these guys on our way through Wyoming.

Sunday morning we all got ready for church and discovered that all the girls were wearing black skirts. Alissa didn't really want to be in the picture, but she is one of the big girls now too!

Monday morning, we left Rexburg, and drove to Orem, UT where we stayed at my brother Carl's house. Monday night we went to dinner at my Uncle Randy & Aunt Becky's house in Salem. They live across the street from a vacant lot that is now a very nice park. Other cousins came to join us for dinner, and the kids had fun playing on the playground while the rest of us sat around and talked. It was a beautiful, warm evening. Just couldn't have been nicer!

Tuesday I went to dinner with a couple of friends from Torrance, CA who now live in Utah. We used to go to seminary and dances together. I haven't seen them for 20+ years, but thanks to Facebook, we reconnected. Barbara and Deanna & I had a lovely dinner and can't wait to get together again!!

Wednesday we went to Thanksgiving Point with my cousin Tamie and her husband kids and her mom, my Aunt Ardis. It was very nice to see them again. We went through the Museum of Ancient Life there and saw dinosaurs. Then we toured the gardens and went and saw the animals.

Thursday the girls and I went to Temple Square. We did the tour of the Conference Center and the Relief Society Building. We also heard a rehearsal of the Mormon Youth Symphony & Chorus reunion concert.

Friday June 18 was Freshman Orientation for Alisha and me (parents). There was a group meeting for all of us, then they went in their Y-groups for lunch, and the parents went to lunch elsewhere.. We got her checked into her dorm, and then there was another program in the evening. I said goodbye before she left to go to her dance.

Emily & I started home on Saturday (June 19). Traveling through Heber City, I saw a group of hot air balloons. I had to stop & take a picture.

We finally made it home about 1pm on Sunday. I took a tour of my garden and found the peonies bloomed while I was gone, but we also got monsoon rains and they about killed the flowers. I do like how they are the same color as the sweet williams that bloom at the same time, though. :-)

I came home from work on Monday (the 21st) and found Michael & Daniel having a friendly game of Battleship.

Ice cream was on sale this week. Good flavors too. S'mores, peach pie, rootbeer float, and this lemonade swirl. I believe in ice cream with stuff in it over plain vanilla any day.

Another flower shot. This is an astilbe which I could never grow in Utah, but they grow wonderfully here!! (on the other hand, there were flowers I could grow in Utah, but I can't grown here.)

We have our old couch on our porch. Kids started getting stung and we noticed more bees hanging around the couch. After watching it, I moved the cushions and found this being built inside it. Gah! Later that evening when they were all home, I pulled out the bee/wasp spray and sprayed it.

This is a picture of my favorite app for my phone--the Gospel Library. It has everything I need for my scripture study and lesson preparation (not that I ever go to Sunday School--I'm in the Nursery). I use it daily. Even Sarah has started using it to read the scriptures on.

Saturday was the Clear Lake Days parade. I've included 2 pictures for this day. Picture 1 is Sarah's Girl Scout Troop and Picture 2 is Daniel's Cub Scout Pack getting ready for the parade. Emily also marched with the band, but she really doesn't like me taking pictures. :-)

Having a big tractor tire garden may not be the most high class yard decor, but this came with my yard. I have tried many things over the years, and this planting done several years ago is working quite well now. The yellow daylillies and yellow sedum bloom at the same time and the same color yellow. Plus, the sedum is now so thick, that weeds can't grow through. And the hosta just looks nice with it..

Have a fantastic week!!

P365 May 31-June 6

2010-06-06T14:45:00.000-07:00

Happy Memorial Day! I got to spend the day at work. It was a crazy busy day. Emily played in the band at the ceremony at the cemetary. Alisha & Michael went to watch. Richard, Sarah & Daniel went and got new tires for the car.

These are my iris that are blooming. I think their coloring is really pretty.

Wednesday night Richard worked on the brakes on his car. I took a picture of the radio on the wall. This is my old boombox that I got for my 16th birthday. Now it is just a shadow of its former self, but it still plays music! :-)

Thursday was the end of the year elementary school picnic. Alisha came and joined us too.

Friday was the last day of school. Richard & Michael went to the Scout Spring Camporee, John was gone at Jenny's house, Alisha went to Valley Fair, and Emily had a potluck at a friend's house, so I took Sarah & Daniel to dinner at McDonald's and then we went to the movies & saw 'Marmaduke.' Not a bad family movie, really. Daniel really liked it.

Saturday we went to a really cool petting zoo in Amery. It had goats, fainting goats, yaks, a camel, a wallaby, a llama, tortises, an otter and other creatures you usually don't see at a petting zoo.

Alisha & Dad sitting out on the porch on a cool Sunday afternoon. It is Alisha's last Sunday at home as we leave on Friday to take her to Utah!!

Have a great week!

P365 May 24-30

2010-05-30T20:06:00.001-07:00

Monday was quite hot, over 90. It hadn't been that hot since the last week of June last year. Alisha was running at a track meet that day. Sarah & Daniel met me at the car when I got home and they were in their swimming suits. "Can we go to the park??" I was hot & sticky too, so I changed, and Sarah, Daniel, Michael & I went swimming for an hour or so before we came home for dinner. It was very refreshing.

Alisha's graduation party was on Tuesday. It rained (only a little--it poured elsewhere), so most of the adults stayed inside. The kids played games outside, and Michael manned the bonfire (which was really quite impressive) where they eventually roasted marshmallows. We had tacos/nachos and a rather nice turnout. Thank you to all who came.

Graduation over, I had to start working on my quilt again. Here are over 100 flying geese blocks, that are finally cut out. Now, time to assemble.

On Thursday I got to go to Como Zoo with Daniel and the rest of the 2nd grade. It was a perfect day of about 76 degrees, and low humidity. My friend Mary came to chaperone her daughter Elizabeth (Daniel's best friend), so we all hung out together. It was a lot of fun, though we didn't get to see the polar bears, because their new exhibit doesn't open until June 3. :-(
We went to another ward party and drove home just as the moon was rising. It was really big & orange...
I went with Alisha to a graduation party of a friend of hers at Clear Lake Park. There were a couple of dead trees that recently got cut down. This week the stumps got transformed. This one has an eagle perched on a stump, and at the bottom, it has a bear sitting at the bottom of it. The other stump will be a fish.
This is my flower bed in a rather boring state....all green. The spring flowers have faded, and the summer flowers haven't opened yet. It is rather pretty, with the long straping leaves of the daffodils and daylillies, the flat leaves of the peonies, the little, light leaves of the ferns, the pointy leaves of the wild dasies, etc.

Have a great Memorial Day. I get to work (for holiday pay), but the kids will participate at the ceremony at the cemetary.

Happy Memorial Day!

2010-05-30T15:31:00.000-07:00

Hope this works!

p365 May 17-23

2010-05-23T17:15:00.000-07:00

Monday was the best band concert of the year. The pops concert, aka the 'pie concert'. and yes, there is pie. Lots of it too. I like the concert because it shows the band progression. First the elementary band, then the Jr. High band, and finally, the High School band. After hearing the elementary band, you can certainly appreciate how well, the high school band has improved. :-)

This is my last daffodil picture of the year. They are now all gone. :-(

Wednesday night was the Cub Scout end of year Pack Meeting/picnic. Daniel recieved his Wolf badge and 3 arrow points.

Thursday night was Bacculareate/awards night. This is Alisha receiving recognition for being a part of SNAP (a group that worked with inclusion of kids of all abilities). She also was recognized for going to Girls' State this past summer, and for being an honor student.

Our ward started having Friday night fireside/picnics last summer. We've started having them again this year. Friday was the first one of the year. This is John, Michael & Richard relaxing by the fire.

O.K., its a carpet. Its a really ugly carpet. But I can see it! Its my basement floor, and I haven't seen it in at least 6 months. Alisha cleaned it up so people can go down there for her graduation party this week.

Today was Alisha's graduation. The class of 2010. I'm proud of her, and she graduated with honors as well.

Have a great week!

p365 May 10-16

2010-05-16T15:58:00.001-07:00

It's mid may, and the sun finally came out. It rained for 12 of the first 14 days of the month. Not only that, but it got warm again--We should be near 80 degrees by Thursday. YAY!!

Monday I ran to St. Paul to buy the patches for my Girl Scouts. Buying for 10 girls makes for a lot of patches!!!

I came upstairs Tuesday night and found Sarah & Daniel counting his money. He had over a dollar in pennies alone!!

This beauty is in my yard. If I put weed killer on my lawn, I would have no lawn left. One of the benifits of living in the country.

Thursday was the Girl Scout Court of Awards. They got all the patches I bought on Monday, plus I had 7 girls (including Sarah) earn the Bronze award. They worked hard this year, and I was proud of them.

Friday I went with Alisha to the Mall of America for her Senior Class trip. We went shopping and then stopped at Bubba Gump Shrimp ("Its a household name") for lunch. It was a fun place to eat. We had coconut shrimp, tempura shrimp, shrimp cocktail, and fried shrimp..."that's about it."

This little guy was in my garden when I was planting pansies in my garden on Saturday. He wasn't too excited at being caught so I put him down where he posed for a while before he hopped away.

This is my new toy. (I got it a couple of days ago, but took the picture today.) It was time to upgrade my phone, so I went android. This is a Motorola Cliq Blur. I've got my Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, etc., but the fun part is the apps. I've found pitch pipes/metronomes, grocery list makers, etc.

p 365 May 3-9

2010-05-09T19:01:00.000-07:00

On Monday, Alisha & Emily had their annual FCCLA end of year Banquet. Alisha recieved a plaque for being a member for 6 years. (for older folks, you may remember FCCLA in high school as FHA (future homemakers of America) it changed in 1999 to FCCLA(Future Career & Community Leaders of America)).

We had kind of some wild weather this week. For several afternoons, it would rain, stop, rain, stop, and with all that some really cool clouds rolled through. This group was right at sunset.

Really not the most flattering picture of me, but that's what I get for having someone else take the picture. :-) The 4th grade had their annual 'Festival of Nations.' The kids are supposed to research a country that their ancestors were from, make a report, and then display it, visual aids and a food item at the festival. All my kids have done a different country since we are such Mutts. Alisha did Sweden; Emily, Norway; Michael, Ireland, and Sarah did England. Daniel still has quite a selection of countries to pick from when it is his turn. We made a Trifle that was very well recieved.

Another picture of storm clouds.

The flowering trees are in full splendor right now (actually, this is just past their prime-the pink crabapple trees were spectacular-now they are just pretty). So, here is a crabapple next to a popcorn tree. :-) No, they are not in my yard. Click on the picture to make it larger, to see the blue bottle tree in the bottom right corner of the picture.

Yes, this is what it looks like. On the evening of May 7-the morning of May 8, we got this. Snow. We haven't had snow since February!! At least it wasn't much, and it melted as soon as the sun came out.

We got a new car! O.K., it has 130,000 miles on it, but the price was right. Dave wanted to give it to us, but he had just recently had some new parts put in it, so we paid him for that, and we now have a 3rd car. Runs a little rough, but Richard is better with rough running cars than Dave is, so we now have a vehicle. YAY!!

Happy Mothers' Day to my mother and all my sisters, sisters-in-law, and all my other mother friends!

p365 April 26-May 2

2010-05-02T17:44:00.000-07:00

Monday night was Alisha's last Jazz Band concert. She has been going to school early twice a week since 7th grade for jazz band practice. The band sounded great, and this year was maybe the first year that she also didn't have a track meet right before the concert.

There are some sheep that live about a mile down the road. I brought my camera with me on my walk on Tuesday.

I also have this lovely vista not too far away. With the morning sun coming through the trees, and the still water, it was just gorgeous.

Michael finally got his plaque for having straight A's first semester (now that the 2nd semester is almost over).

My spring flowers are really at their peak right now. Spring is so far ahead of schedule for us, everything is blooming about 3 weeks ahead of when they usually do. We just finished the warmest April on record. No snow in either March or April. Highly unusual, indeed.

On Saturday we went to a reception for a girl from our ward (Michelle Peterson)who has been at BYU for several years, and got married a week ago in San Diego (to Dustin Schleisman).

Its the 2nd of May and the wild trillium are blooming. You will see whole hills covered in them around here, but in my yard, I only have a few and I have to search carefully to see if they are still there every year. I found them today, and that makes me smile.

Have a great week!

P 365 April 19-25

2010-04-25T15:10:00.000-07:00

Alisha's 18th birthday was on the 15th, but her life is so busy, that we didn't get to having her cake until the 19th, and that wasn't until after the band concert that night, and then it was so late at night, that all we did was the candles and presents. We finally got around to eating it on the 23rd. (It was an ice cream cake, so it lived in the freezer until we ate it, we really didn't eat week old stale cake).

This is one of the fascinating daffodils in my garden.

14 inches of hair... that is what is about to come off.

For Earth Day, the school had a hair drive for Locks of Love. It took 4 pony tails to chop off my hair. Sarah and Daniel got to help cut them off. Then I made a quick trip to a local beauty parlor to get it trimmed up, and then I re-colored my roots myself.

I do like having a variety of spring flowers growing in my garden, and enough of them so that I can bring some in the house and still have a lot left in the garden.

Alisha and Emily went to prom with a group of 6 girls. They were very beautiful, and had a good time.

We had stake conference today, which meant driving to Oakdale, MN. On the way out of Amery, there is a llama/alpaca ranch. I've always wanted to take pictures of them. Apparently, they are near shaving time, because their coats are very full. They were far away when I stopped, but when I got out of the car, they ran up to the fence to come see me. I think they have very adorable faces.

Have a great last week of April & start of May!!

p365 April 12-18

2010-04-19T16:23:00.000-07:00

Day 100!! Wow!
Monday, Richard took the tractor out to the garden and plowed it up. Now I actually have to get out there and start planting.

Tuesday I went to a quilt show/dinner. I didn't take a class this year, so I didn't have a quilt to show, but it was celebrating the retirement of the organizer of the show who I had taken several classes from in the past, so I went with my friend, Mary. (how's that for a sentence?)

This is what I got with part of our tax refund. A wheat grinder!! Now it makes sense to store wheat, now that I can use it.

Thursday was actually Alisha's birthday, but she had track meet. Michael had his Jr. High choir concert. The choir where the boys are in two distinct groups: tall and short.

Is there such thing as a bad daffodil picture? They are in FULL bloom.

Daniel attended the stake pinewood derby on satruday. Here he is waiting to race. He only won two heats, and didn't place. He was a little upset, and as we left, he said, "I'm not happy, Bob. Not Happy." (quoting the insurance guy from 'the Incredibles') A lunch at McDonalds on the way home cheered him up a bit.

John spent this weekend in Souix Falls, SD at a Young Adult Conference. Sunday night I went to go pick him up from his ride's house. in the picture are: (new girl, Jordan, Jackie, John, Jenny)

It is a beautiful week.

You have a great week too!

p365 April 5-11 99 days

2010-04-11T19:37:00.000-07:00

What is this arrow pointing at? part of 10 hours of work that Alisha put in on her prom dress over Easter Break. The dress fit her exactly perfect. Unfortunately, that meant that she couldn't move in it. So, we took the seam out, and then she took the skirt off, re sewed the seams (in the lining and dress) wider, added extra to the trim, put the skirt back on, and re beaded the dress. She also sewed straps on the dress, and added a bit of tulle on top to be more modest. She did a fantastic job and saved nearly $100 in alteration fees.

This is the easter Lily that was given to me by the art teacher that I work with.

Hermione loves her boxes. Even if we have fun putting things on top of her.

Forsooth! a Forsythia! My favorite spring shrub, and I don't have one in my yard, so therefore I am resigned to take pictures of ones that live in other yards.

Alisha and Emily were in a play at school called 'Big Bad.' The Big Bad Wolf was on trial and the different characters that had dealings with the wolf were there to testify. Alisha and Emily were 2 of the three pigs. The wolf's lawyer was the 'Evil Stepmother', the plantiff's attorney was the Fairy Godmother, and the judge was the wise old woman. Also there were Red Riding Hood, her grandmother & woodsman, the 3 pigs, Miss Muffet (who turned out to be the adopted human sister of the wolf, and the step daughter to the Evil Stepmother), and old shepherd and her son, the boy who cried wolf. Cute play.

File this one under: One more project. When at the fabric store, getting items for Alisha's dress, I saw this yarn and wanted to knit. Alisha picked the colors. I work on it on my break at work, riding in the car, and while waiting for kids

Sunday brings the best day of the week. Not only do I teach music in Primary to the 3-11 yr olds, but I also get to go in to the Nursery and sing with the 18 month-3 yr olds. This is our nursery class getting ready for music time. We have pictures that represent the songs, and the children take turns picking the pictures. Its so fun!

Well, Sunday's picture marks day 99. Cool!

Have a great week!

p 365 March

2010-04-05T07:36:00.001-07:00

P365 March 29-April 4

2010-04-04T21:07:00.000-07:00

Sarah took the picture for March 29. I guess this is a better way of playing games on the TV. :-)

March 30 was Solo/Ensemble. Both Alisha and Emily participated (but only Alisha let me watch her). Emily played a clarinet solo, and was in a clarinet choir and a vocal trio. Alisha was in a woodwind choir (that gets to go to State!!) and did a flute solo, and 2 vocal solos. She participated in the Musical Theatre division, and you have to do a traditional number as well as the theatre piece.

Tuesday and Wednesday I put together a rather emotional quilt. Emma is a friend of my 4 yr old niece Ruby. Emma has had cancer since she was 2 yrs old, and doesn't look like it will be much longer for her here on earth, so Ruby's mom gathered these quilt squares from her preschool class and had me put them together.

Another sign of spring: The Red wing Blackbirds have appeared in the cattails accross the road from our house. If you have never heard a redwing blackbird's call, it is very unique with trills and chirps. I can't come close to imitating it.

The kids had Easter Break starting on Thursday. On Friday, Sarah had a friend over and they all colored eggs. They go back on Tuesday.

Saturday the Easter Bunny hid eggs all over the yard. Usually, I am hoping for crocuses in time for Easter, but this year was so warm and early, that LOOK! I have a few daffodils too!! I am loving this spring! We had absolutely NO snow during the month of March.

"Come, Listen to a Prophet's voice." We believe that the leader of our church is a Prophet of God who speaks for God in these Latter Days. Saturday and Sunday (and the first weekends every April and October) we have our Church's General Conference where we get to hear the words of Living Prophets and Apostles-other special witnesses of Jesus Christ. We spent Saturday and Easter Sunday listening to our leaders declare the divinity of Christ and give us other council for our times.

Have a great week!

p365 March 22-28

2010-03-28T21:10:00.000-07:00

I didn't set out to take a picture of a buffalo. He just sort of happened. I was riding with a friend to a meeting in the cities. We were just driving along and chatting away, when she noticed the flashing lights in her rear view mirror. "I'm getting pulled over!," she says. So, while she is finding her insurance, license, etc. I look out the window, and there is a herd of buffalo right there. Cool! So I snap a few pictures, and the VERY nice policeman lets my friend off with a warning, and we have a story to tell at our meeting. This is a picture of me posting to this blog early in the morning because while I like to try to have things posted by Sunday, sometimes it doesn't happen until Tuesday.

On Wednesday I got to chaperone the 2nd Grade to the Science Museum. 2nd grade is such the perfect age for this trip. They study dinosaurs, and then we go see them at the museum. We also saw an OmniTheatre movie. This one was on the golden ages of Arabia, which was very interesting for me, but I think it went right over the kids' heads as they kept asking "is the movie almost over? How much longer?" etc. But they had a good time. This is Daniel & friends while we were waiting for the busses.

Every year, the Art Educators in the area put on an art show for Youth Art Month. Our Art teacher picks out pieces that are done throughout the year and they get to go to the show. Alisha & Michael have both had pieces go there before. This year, Sarah's version of Matisse's 'Lady with a Green Stripe' was selected to go.

Michael's birthday was on Friday. He has a tendency to use my camera-a lot- so I got him his own camera. This is him taking a picture of his birthday cake (which is green cake with mint frosting and chocolate ganache on it.) We went to the movies as a family. Dad and Sarah & Daniel saw 'How to Train your Dragon', and the rest of us saw 'Alice in Wonderland'.

Saturday was the pinewood derby. (we got the wheels on the car at 11:00 Friday night--no matter how early they give us the car, we are not going to finish it until the night before the race.) We had a pancake breakfast before the derby, so I helped with that, and Richard helped with the weigh in. (He owns the 5 oz. calibrated weight). Daniel's car came in first for the Wolves. (o.k., there were only 3 Wolves, but he still did great. ;-) )

It had been pretty chilly all week, but my newly uncovered flowers don't seem to mind. I came home from church to find little spots of color all over the flower bed. These are the snowdrops.

have a great week!

p365 March 15-21

2010-03-23T04:10:00.000-07:00

So, I'm starting today's post with a picture of my pajamas. Why? Because a: they are my favorite. b: they are Daniel's favorite. He being short, his nose comes right at nuzzling level with the bear and he loves feeling and nuzzling the bear. Just a little memory that I won't have when he gets older.
After several days in the 60s, I thought I'd better check my garden beds. So I slogged out there through the mud to pull back some of the mulch. There they were! Little green points coming up through the mud & leaves! I felt like Mistress Mary in 'The Secret Garden.' I was so excited!

Wednesday night, after our Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner for St. Patrick's Day, we went to the church for Michael's Court of Honor. It was Michael's Court of Honor, because currently he is the only Scout in the troop. But he is progressing and recieved the Star Rank advancement and several merit badges.

March 18 was the 5th day in a row in the 60s. I took my Girl Scouts on a field trip to the humane society, and when I got home, this little guy was blooming happily in the garden. Earliest ever for this yard (I could get them to bloom in Feb. in Utah). It wasn't there the next day, so I think it got eaten.

Friday, it got cold again. But now I had flower fever and wanted some more, so when I saw a bunch of daffodils in the grocery store, I had to buy them!

Saturday we worked on Daniel's pinewood derby car. He's going for a pickup truck. I helped, Richard helped, Alisha helped, but Daniel did saw & sand. Now he gets to paint.

John spent spring break up north at his girlfriend's house helping her family move. I drove up half way (Hinkley, MN) to pick him up Sunday evening. On my way out, the sun was just going down, and made a rather spectacular sunset.

Off for another week. Welcome Spring!!

p365 march 8-14

2010-03-14T16:07:00.000-07:00

Monday March 8 was Daniel's Golden Birthday. 8 on the 8th! I made these cupcakes to take to school. I think they turned out really cute! I got the instructions on familyfun.com

I have a wii board, but I felt like I wasn't getting the best workout I could. With this program (EAsports Active) I feel like I am. Its great! I get cardio, resistance training, etc. It has a calorie counter, an activity journal, and a resistance band. I am really enjoying it.

Wednesday, I got my candles from my party. This is one of my favorite pieces that I got.

This whole week was warm & melty. (ok., it got up to 40), but the birds are coming back. I got the picture of this guy in my yard on Thursday.

On Friday, John dissasembled his laptop to do some mantainence on it. There is NO WAY I would attempt this on my own, but he did manage to get it back together. Impressive.

Saturday came, and so did my parents. Yay! They haven't been here since August. We spent the day just hanging out. This is Sarah & my dad.

My parents came out because Daniel got baptized on Sunday. My last child to be baptized. Extra special today was that John was able to do the baptism. Michael also recieved his Duty to God-Deacon award today.

(plus-it got up to 60 degrees!!-note: no coats!)

Have a great week! I hope I have some flowers this week!

P365 March 1-7

2010-03-07T16:50:00.000-08:00

On Monday, Sarah started getting serious about building her diorama about the platypus, so, we made some brown clay (colored with cocoa powder-it smelled great, but not really good to eat...), and she made platypi(?) Once she painted the beaks grey, they looked like real platypus.

I have a bag for everything. That way, I don't have to dump out the bag and refill for each occasion--I have a Girl Scout bag, Cub Scout bag, church bag, school bag, quilt class bag, etc. This is the bag for my Girl Scout leader meetings. I had a meeting Tuesday night.

Wednesday night. Alisha & Michael 'mad' at each other.

On Thursday, it was Sarah's Girl Scout meeting. We made lots & lots of little catnip filled 'mice'. In a couple of weeks, we will take them to the humane society for the homeless cats. I think they turned out really cute. (we got the idea out of the Feb. Family Fun magazine).

Friday night, Richard and I went to the temple. We also stopped at the bookstore and bought Daniel's scriptures as his 8th birthday is tomorrow.

We had Daniel's party on the 6th. This is his cake. It is a cannibal cake. See the little cakes trying to run away?

Daniel got a set of these tracks for Christmas a year or two ago. For his birthday, he got some additions to the set and an extra car. So, the old set came out too, and he had great fun today building sets.

Have a great week! It is almost 50 degrees, and the snow is melting. Yay!

P365-February

2010-03-07T16:26:00.000-08:00

My February Page

p365 Feb 22-28

2010-02-28T20:09:00.000-08:00

Monday morning I drove Richard to the airport so he could go to California for a business trip. On the way home from the airport, I stopped in Woodbury to take a picture of this townhouse. We stayed here from Oct-Dec 1998 when we first moved out here until we found a house to buy. This is about an hour from Clear Lake, which meant Richard had a long commute every morning and evening. I showed Richard this picture, and he didn't even recongize it. I said it was because he so rarely saw it in the light. It would be dark when he left, and dark when he came back. The kids & I however, saw it all the time as I homeschooled during that time, and we were there practically 24/7 except for our 'field trips' when we explored this new state and environs.

On Tuesday (2-23), Emily got to take care of the 'RealCare Baby' for her 'Planning and Decision Making' class that all sophomores have to take. This baby cries and then you have to figure out why, and then fix it. Yes, the baby cries in the middle of the night too. When John and Alisha had the baby, they were downstairs on a seperate level from me, and I didn't hear it, but Emily sleeps on the same floor as me, and it woke me up at 1:30 and 5am. Luckily, Emily woke up with it too, so I didn't have to get up! :-)

Wednesday, all the cookies came in the house to be sorted (if you haven't gotten them yet--they are coming!!)

Thursday, Richard came home!!!

Friday on my way home from work, I saw these snow formations on the side of the road. It was sunset, and the light was very striking on them.

On Saturday, we had a baby shower x5 at church, as there has been quite the baby boom in our ward lately. It was a lot of fun--and NO, I am not next!

After church on Sunday, we had the meeting for Girls Camp. Alisha will be in school when camp is, so she can't go (but she is standing in for Emily, who does not like photos). The girls are going to a new camp this year as we are now in a new stake, but the new camp sounds awesome too, with an observatory and a butterfly house!

Well, have a great week--MARCH means SPRING is coming! REALLY!!

P365 Feb 15-21

2010-02-21T19:48:00.000-08:00

February may be the shortest month on the calendar, but it really is the longest. There just isn't much to break it up, and it is just cold.

On Monday (2-15) I worked on the quilt, getting the first stage of making Flying geese. These are 2 squares 9 & 7 1/2 inches layered, pressed, and then a diagonal line drawn on them. (I then sew down both sides of the line, cut, re-layer, re-sew, cut again--lots of steps, but out of 2 squares, I can make 4 flying geese blocks) My mp3 player is in the picture because I was listening to the audio book 'Great Expectations' while working.

Tuesday brought exciting news as Alisha got her acceptance letter to BYU-Provo! She starts summer term, so she will be going out 3 weeks after graduation.

Wednesday, I started my absolutely final GE class. Advanced Writing (Eng. 315-Writing in the Social Sciences). YAY!!

Thursday night was our Blue & Gold event for Cub Scouts. We had a Happy Birthday BSA party since the Boy Scouts turned 100 years old this year. Our gifts were items for the food shelf that we brought.

Friday night I had a candle party (Party Lite). As per course of my life, not many people showed up, (and I forgot to take a picture at the acutal party) but this is a picture of the leftover Brownies that I made for the party. The bottom ones were peanut butter swirl, and the top ones were Heath bar Brownies. (there is still time to order online if you want--it will even be shipped directly to your house!!) :-)

Saturday some friends organized a tubing party. Sarah and Daniel are the only ones I got to come with me. We had a ball! The weather was great! This was not the tubing of my childhood..this was organized with a ride to the top of the hill, and groomed trails of different thrill levels. It was really a lot of fun. This was the first time I had been tubing since I was a teenager. Really...I have not been one for winter outdoor activities, but I repent. :-)

Today we had potluck after church. It sure is hard to sit through Sacrament meeting when really good smells are wafting through the building, but the knowledge that you can eat right after instead of waiting to drive home makes it worth it!

Have a great week!

P365 Feb 7-14

2010-02-14T16:55:00.000-08:00

This week I will have 8 pictures instead of 7 because I've decided to do Monday to Sunday instead of Sunday to Saturday.

Last Sunday, Daniel's best friend Elizabeth had her baptism.

On Monday the 8th Michael and I went to 8th grade night for high school registration

On Tuesday, we re-discovered the Wii Fit. Most of us have used it at least once a day since. That Wii boxing can really hurt your arms! This is Sarah doing the hula hoop.

Wednesday night I spent time sewing. I'm gonna get that quilt done! (I finished all 36 of these blocks on Saturday)

Thursday night we went to a 65th birthday party for a ward member at a hotel. They let us go swimming. I couldn't find my suit, but the kids had fun! :-)

Friday, just as I was about to go to work, I was curling ribbon, and my finger slipped with the scissors on it and hit a cup. The cup stopped the fingers, but the scissors kept going and went right into my finger. I wrapped it in a paper towel and went to work. When I got there, it was still bleeding and bleeding, I showed it to my boss and we both agreed that I would be better off heading to the ER. So off I went. 2 hours and 2 stitches later, I went back to work.

Saturday night Richard & I went to the Bishopric's dinner at church. The Bishop talked about his trip to Mexico and some of the sites that he saw.

We were supposed to talk in church on Sunday the 24th but church was cancelled because of ice. So we got rescheduled for today (which we found out yesterday). But we had all our talks ready to go. This is a picture of Michael's talk which was titled: 'Michael's Awesome Talk'.

have a great week!

P365-January

2010-02-08T19:50:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd share my finished January Scrapbook page:

P365 Jan 31-Feb 6

2010-02-07T13:11:00.000-08:00

It was the 31st and Michael thought he needed to be in my set of January pictures

Monday, Feb 1, it was time to clean out the Freezer. I took out all varieties of meat, beans & tomato sauces and made 'clean-the-freezer' Chili. Feb 2-IT's Groundhog Day!! I took the chance to watch my once a year favorite movie. Thanks to Netflix for putting it on the 'watch-it-now' list so I didn't have to go search my DVD collection. :-)
The Girls had New Beginnings for Young Women's on Wednesday night. They had a 'game show' called 'Choose the Right.' I was able to catch a picture of the hardest subject in the world: Emily smiling.
Feb 4 was the 100th day of school. I found myself getting misty as it was our last 100 day celebration. We never celebrated it when I was in school, but sometime between me being in elelmentary school, and John entering 14 years ago, it became a regular occurance to celebrate for grades preschool-2nd grade. The kids make collections of 100 objects, or bring in 100 pennies to donate, and they do all sorts of activities to show the number 100. Daniel is in 2nd grade, so this was my last 100 day.
Daniel & Elizabeth have been friends since they were babies.-aren't they cute? Elizabeth turned 8 this week & Daniel was one of the couple of guests at the party.
Saturday Sarah got her ears pierced. We do it at age 10 in our family. Sarah & I went out for lunch and some shopping as well. This is her right after the first ear, and before the 2nd.
That about does it for the week. have a great week!!

P365 Jan 24-Jan30

2010-01-30T16:42:00.000-08:00

Color Blankey turns 10! Well, actually, Sarah turned 10 on this day, but Color Blankey arrived not long after she was born. It was made by a group of friends that I e-mailed on a daily basis. (still do with some of them as a matter of fact!) Each of them made a patch and 'Aunt Sally' put them all together. It has gotten a lot of love and abuse over the last 10 years, patches have disappeared altogether, or we have rescued some of them in time and resewed them on. But Sarah loves Color Blankey still.

Richard and the boys went to go buy wood pellets the Friday of Sarah's birthday, but Saturday he was gone most of the day, and it was cold and icy, so they didn't get brought into the house until Monday.

This picture is simply-Fat cat in a too small box.

Wednesday I went to the church with the kids. These are the girls doing a scripture chase.

Thursday I had my almost monthly lunch with my dear friend Phyllis. We meet at Lucky's in Clear Lake after I'm done working in the art room. I usually get the soup and a salad or sandwich. The 2 soups of the day were Chili and chunky vegetable. I didn't really want chili, so I ordered the chunky vegetable thinking I might get a nice broth-based vegetable soup. Not. When the waitress set it in front of me she said, "this isn't chili." Really? Sure looked like chili to me. With chunks of vegetables in it. Grrr. Sure tasted like chili too. I even like chili. I just didn't want it that day. Oh well. Phyllis & I had a nice visit anyway.

Friday I was coming home from picking Richard up from work (we may be acquiring a new car this week so that we don't have to tag team drive anymore!) and I passed this sunset. The moon was rising big and full in the opposite direction, but I thought the sunset looked better. ;-)

Saturday the 30th, I took the girls down to Menomonie for a Seminary Activity. My friend Shelby drove her daughter down and we went downtown for some shopping and sightseeing. We toured the historic Mabel Tainter Theatre. It was a lovely old stone building and had recently been restored. This is a picture of some of the really cool stenciling that was in there. I'd like to go to a play there and sit in the balcony. (no, really, I'd like to be IN a play there, but I can't imagine driving over an hour each way for rehearsals)

Well, January is almost over and so is the first month of P365. What do you think? I'm having fun. See you in February!

Jan 17-23

2010-01-24T06:53:00.000-08:00

This was a busy week! (of course, when isn't it?)
Sunday we had a very long day at church. After church we had a potluck lunch, and then Richard had to get everyone's financial statements finished for 2009. We finally got home around 4pm. This is Richard driving us home.

I call this picture 'six bottles'. They are the 6 bottles I picked up at the drug store on Monday evening. Daniel had had a gross nose for a while with headaches, and then it was migrating to his ears, so he got a trip to the doctor. He got diagnosed with a sinus infection moving to his ears, so he got a 2 week course of Amoxicillin. While at the drugstore, I passed the hair color, and decided it had been WAY too long since I had gotten my hair colored, my roots were as long as my bangs, there was way too much sparkly silver showing, and I just wasn't getting around to make an appointment with Dawn, my hairdresser, so I bought my own color. I'd done it before, but my hair has grown so long it takes 3 boxes to cover my hair now. I used 2 boxes red, and one brown. (obviously, this picture was taken post coloring. It looks like there had been some sort of bloodshed before the bottles were touched)

Tuesday morning it the world was white, but it hadn't snowed at all. It was just a heavy frost from the frozen fog. Every single branch was just covered with a thick lacy blanket. This is the view UP the driveway to our house.

Wednesday night, the older kids went off to church, Richard was still at work, and John was still at school, so it was just me and the younger ones. We had time to cuddle up on the couch and read a couple chapters of the books we are reading together.

Thursday, I had Girl Scouts with Sarah. We put on a play about Ruth Harkiss who was one of the first westerners to discover the panda in China and bring one to the United States. The girls made the props, and then we divided the parts.

Friday night was Sarah's birthday party. Sarah made all the invitations and passsed them all out without me seeing her list, so I wasn't sure of how many actually were invited or would come. Luckily it was only 3 that showed up, so it wasn't too overwhelming. :-) Richard took the boys out to get wood pellets and dinner. Alisha and Emily helped me with the party. This is a picture of them playing with glow sticks...with flash & without. It was a slumber party. We made pizza, painted finger nails, they played games, had a pinata & watched a movie as they settled down for the night. They were up early the next morning and we had crepes for breakfast.

Saturday, I cut fabric, and cut fabric, and cut fabric. It is the first quilt I have started in many months.

I also got my talk ready and primary things ready for Sunday (1-24) but we got a call this morning that church was cancelled because of the weather. Well, guess we are ready for next week.

Have a great week!

Jan 10-16

2010-01-16T18:51:00.000-08:00

This is my new friend Nikia. She moved into our ward with her family this last month. She's pretty special, as you can see. She's almost 4, and very friendly.

John started school this week. Monday we bought books, Tuesday he had Student orientation, and Wednesday he started classes. He is going for a Network Specialist degree.

Most of this week it has been very foggy. It has started to warm up a little bit, which causes melting, and then fog. However, it is still below freezing, so the fog freezes on all the trees making a very pretty sight.

I love Stephen's Gourmet Hot Cocoa. It is a Utah made cocoa, and until recently, I could only get it in Utah. I even asked for it for Christmas one year. Then, recently, wandering through the grocery store in TURTLE LAKE, I found this! I was so excited! I had to buy it, so they would get more.

One of the advantages of volunteering in the artroom at the elementary school, is you get to make the projects the kids do if you so desire. I've helped make these clay rattles for a couple of years, and this year I decided to make one myself. Mine is the one with the long neck. Sarah is in 4th grade, so she got to make one this year too. Hers is the one with the duckbill.

It warmed up enough that I found a snow angel in our snowscape last night. I was told that Daniel made it. I think it almost looks like a moonscape.

Girl Scout cookie sale started today. Sarah & I spent a couple of hours out selling today. She is 20% to her goal. Being 30 degrees made for much nicer selling weather than the -20 degrees we've had to deal with some years!

Have a great week!

1st week of 2010

2010-01-09T18:07:00.000-08:00

I'm still not used to writing 2010. I keep wanting to put two zeros together in the date.

I'm still keeping up with my goal. Here's the latest:
This is my statistics class work spread all out-Jan 6. I have finished the course work, and have the 3rd midterm requested, which I need to finish before I can take the final. I went through the pre-test & I'm not ready for the real test, I'll tell you that!

Jan 7. This is a box of logs that the boys have to haul in several times a day. Richard had a friend who had a huge oak tree that fell down a while ago and he let us have it. It took about 5 of our truckloads (we have a 1 ton truck) to bring it all home. We have discovered that oak is a not very pleasant smelling tree, and the house smells when we bring in a load of wood, but it does work at keeping the house warm

Friday Jan 8, Richard and I took a night and went to the movies. We saw 'BlindSide' with Sandra Bullock. It was a wonderful, uplifting movie. I recommend it.

This is the laundry of working people. Blue & red collar workers. LOL.

Have a great week!!

new pics! :-)

2010-01-05T19:05:00.000-08:00

I've kept up with this for 6 days now. Woo Hoo! So, here are the latest installments:

Sunday we woke up to -18 degrees. I don't care who you are, that is cold. Snot freezing cold. We are averaging about -10 at night. That calls for a lot of wood in the fireplace. We shove it in there day and night. We have a wood pellet stove that works to about 20 degrees at keeping the house warm. Below 20, and we have to supplement with wood. Especially to heat the upstairs. There are electric baseboard heaters upstairs, but they are expensive, so we don't use them. So, Richard & boys cut trees (gotta love having your own woods) and chop wood and haul wood so that we can have heat. Heat is a good thing.

Monday (1/4) the kids went back to school and I drove to New Richmond to do some shopping. I've passed this tree many times and was always struck by its starkness in the middle of the field by itself.

This is my amaryllis that I have been growing since Thanksgiving. It has 4 gorgeous blooms on it, and a 5th bud as well. Very cool looking!

Have a great day!!

Project 365 2010

2010-01-02T11:17:00.000-08:00

It has really been 6 months since I last wrote??? Well, hopefully this is about to change. I have taken on a new goal for the year. It is called Project 365 and it involves taking a picture every day of the year and then posting it. I may not post every day, but the pictures will be eventually up--even if it means having to upload several at a time.

I'm hoping this project will be a good and unique way to journal about the year, and to help improve my photo taking skills.

So, here we go~~!

I'll start with New Year's Eve: It was a Blue Moon, fantastically huge and looked very cool shining through the icicles on the house.

New Year's Day: I had to work during the day, but at night, we turned all electronic entertainment off and had a grand time playing Apples to Apples.

today we dismantled the Christmas tree. It always looks so sad!!

Well, that's the start of P365 2010. Hope it will be a fun journey.

graduation parties

2009-06-15T04:27:00.000-07:00

I did not grow up with graduation parties as part of the culture. When I graduated, the only grad party I went to was an all night party at my friend's house, and it was only for the kids...no parents (except hers) were there.

10 years ago, I moved to the midwest. I was soon introduced to the tradition known as the graduation party. This involves an open house for the graduate where everything the child has ever done in school and beyond is out for display so everyone can see it (must have the scrapbooks done by graduation!!) A spread of food and drink is there to feed the guests. Cake is a must. The guests include not only the graduate's friends, but parents' friends & co-workers, everyone from church, and other social events. Guests bring gifts, mostly cash for the graduate's new life.

My first son graduated this year. Up until May, I was unsure if we were going to bow to the pressure to have a party or not. My son is not really the party type, so when I asked him if he wanted a party, I was somewhat suprised when he said yes. O.K., party planning mode in effect. Invites are usually made at a printers. Why do that when I can do them on the computer? Done. Guest list? church, friends, (no family in the area, really), and a stack for John to give to his friends. done. A friend said we could borrow their party tent to set up in the yard. Nice. We rented chairs & tables and got decorations. Ordered cake & sandwiches from Subway. Had fruit, chips & pop to go with it.

Graduation was May 31. It was a Sunday afternoon. 53 kids in the class. The ceremony was over in 1 1/2 hours. (Alisha & Emily played in the band). Very nice, not too long. And I had a graduate for a child.

Our graduation party was held June 6. John's girlfriend had helped me clean the house all week. As I was running around picking up the cake, etc., it starts to rain. AUGH!!! And it does not let up. In fact, it starts raining harder and harder. The tent is abandoned before the guests even arrive. The table with all of the scrapbooks, etc, gets set up on the covered porch. The kitchen chairs get set up in the living room. The guests arrive, and we all commiserate about the rain and eat and enjoy each others' company and everyone enjoys the display tables. By 6, everyone is gone and we breathe a sigh of relief. We did it. We threw a party and people came, and it was a success despite the rain. Everyone was generous for John and he is ready to start his next phase of life.

So, now we've entered the world of the graduation party, because unless we move, we have 5 more to plan and execute! :-)

No Santa???

2008-12-10T07:05:00.000-08:00

This year Sarah learned the secret about Santa. She was kind of sad for a while as she thought about it. But then we talked about how it is our duty to keep the spirit of Santa alive in what we can do for others and how it is part of growing up. I got this story in my e-mail today that helps tell the story of how we can be Santa. I really liked it, so thought I would share:

I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her. On the way, my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know that!"

My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her
"world-famous" cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be true.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus?" she snorted .... "Ridiculous! Don't believe it! That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad!! Now, put on your coat, and let's go."

"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second world-famous cinnamon bun. "Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything.

As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.

I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for. I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my
neighbors, the kids at school, the people who went to my church. I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock's grade-two class. Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out to recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough; he didn't have a good coat.

I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat! I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that. "Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down."Yes, ma'am," I replied shyly. "It's for Bobby."

The nice lady smiled at me, as I told her about how Bobby really needed a good winter coat. I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag, smiled again, and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat (a little tag fell out of the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible) in Christmas paper and ribbons and wrote, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus" on it. Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy.

Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially, one of Santa's helpers.
Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going." I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his door and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma.

Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobby.

Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were: ridiculous. Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team.

I still have the Bible, with the coat tag tucked inside: $19.95.

He's coming

2008-12-06T10:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday at work. The big boss was coming. Not the manager, or my manager's boss, but the big cheese, the owner of all the restaurants in our network. We didn't know when he was going to show up, he was just coming sometime that day. Needless to say, my General manager was in a tizzy trying to get everything cleaned just right and have signs up the way they were supposed to be, and make sure that everything was done the way it should have been so that she wouldn't get in trouble. As we were scrambling around, cleaning, etc. while still trying to take care of customers and do our other regular tasks, I got to thinking. (uh oh)
We knew that the boss was coming and we were fast preparing, but how much less scrambling would we have had to do, if all those tasks were taken care of on a regular basis. What if the signage that was supposed to be up, was already up? We wouldn't have had to be searching the store to try to find them. What if all things were already clean the way they were supposed to be?
I got to thinking about this and compared it to the 2nd Coming of Christ. We know He is coming, but we don't know when. It is soon, though. Are we prepared? Do we have our lives clean the way they are supposed to be? Are we living so we don't have to do a mad dash cleaning up and repenting at the end? Will He be able to look at us and say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant?" He's coming. Are we ready? Am I ready?

Its December already??

2008-12-03T09:02:00.000-08:00

O.K., I guess I'll write about November then.
Richard & I had a chance to go see some Community Theatre that I wasn't in. It was fun to just go see a play. On the 14th, we saw 'K-O-L-D Radio-Whitefish Bay' in Clear Lake. It was about a small town, northern Minnesota Radio Station whose main show was about crappie fishing. Fairly local humor, and you definitely came out speaking in that Iron Range accent, you betcha.
The next night we went to Turtle Lake High School and saw 'Hello Dolly'. It was a high school production and was very well done. The gal who played Dolly was very talented. I wish our high school would do things like that with our kids, but no one seems to want to put in the effort, including the kids. sigh. So we do community theatre instead.
We had our Primary Sacrament meeting program on the 16th. Our pianist was sick, so I ended up filling in as pianist for the program. At least I knew the songs. The kids all did a good job. It was Michael's last program.
Daniel got his Bobcat badge at the pack meeting on the 20th.

I sang at a ladies luncheon with my friend on the 22nd.
On the 26th, the kids got out of school early. We had the missionaries over for dinner. Later that night, Alisha, Emily, Richard & I went to see Twilight.
Thanksgiving Day. It was just us. We hung around the house, I made food (for several days before) and we ate.

Several of us were fighting colds (and are still fighting them, may I add...grr) so it was a fairly quiet day. Alisha did spend the morning serving at a Thanksgiving Dinner at a local church and the rest of us were watching for a girl from Clear Lake who was in the All American Marching Band at the end of the Macy's Parade. In the afternoon we went to the movies. Some saw Quantum of Solace and Sarah, Daniel & I saw Bolt. Bolt is REALLY cute!! I highly recommend it!
I sang 'The Lord's Prayer' at church on Sunday.
Then the cold which I had been avoiding really hit me Sunday night. sniff.
Have a great December!

Halloween

2008-11-01T20:06:00.000-07:00

Our Halloween Activities started last week. The Cub Scouts & Girl Scouts (there are a couple of us on both committees) had a combined Halloween Party at the school. I went as Sarah Palin, and caused a stir among the Democrats in attendance. Sarah went as a cat, Daniel as Spiderman, Michael, a wizard, and Alisha & Emily came along to help with face painting & other activities.

Halloween Day was a lot of fun too. The kids had the day off school. Richard took the day off, and had them help around the house during the day. I had to work. Or rather, Sarah Palin had to work at McDonald's. :-) Some people wished me luck on Tuesday. If I saw them whispering & pointing from a distance, I would wink & point at them. I think I have the employee costume contest nailed (pictures were taken with voting to be later). :-)

That night, Alisha & Emily went to a party at a friend's house. Richard dressed as my secret service agent & we took Michael, Sarah & Daniel out Trick-or-Treating. John stayed home. This time Sarah went as a goth 50s girl, though she said she was also being Piper Palin. It was about 45 degrees, so they lasted about 1 hour, though that was plenty of time to pull in a good haul!

Then we went & filled up the car at $2.29 a gallon. This morning I saw in the next town that it was $2.19! We filled up for less than $40! It has been a long time since that happened!

Halloween time!

2008-10-30T17:47:00.000-07:00

Having fun with the kids, we had a Halloween theme dinner tonight.

Sarah & Daniel helped me with making the mummies

the witch's hair is spaghetti squash

Sarah made the green meanies

And Alisha made our Blue Goo Cupcakes.

Afterwards, we all carved pumpkins. I waited until too late to get the $2 pumpkins from the farmers' stands, instead, I went shopping TODAY and had to pay $5 each for them! Yikes!

Emily & Michael working hard
Daniel with his finished project
Alisha busy marking a design
Alisha's finished design
Sarah's rose

This is Emily's. It is supposed to be a wolf howling at the moon, but after looking at it, she decided it looks more like a cat
So, have a safe & happy Halloween all! Our kids have the day off from school, because it was the last day of the quarter today. I have to work. On that note, one last picture of me & Ronald, who came in during my first week of work.
patti

Job

2008-09-20T17:55:00.000-07:00

Oh, by the way. I got a job. I start Monday. I will be working at the Turtle Lake McDonald's M-W-F. It isn't the best job, but at this point, a paycheck IS a paycheck, and any little bit helps. Plus, this McD's has a tuition savings/matching program which will help me with my schooling as well.
Happy Day.

ER fun--maybe

2008-09-20T17:48:00.000-07:00

I got to drive the kids (John, Alisha, Emily & a friend) up to Duluth for a youth activity. They were going to help clean up Point Park on the strip of land on the other side of the Duluth Lift Bridge. I dropped them off, and went into Duluth to do some shopping. When I got back, I was going to write my essay for my class. Well, John (& Jenny) and one of the leaders comes up to the car to tell me that John got his face cut with a shovel. He was leaning down as someone else with a shovel was going up. The shovel & face connected. It was pretty deep, so I took him to the ER there in Duluth. Not too bad. We got right in. Just the usual waiting in the room to switch between admitting nurse, PA, & other nurse, etc... We got to watch the food channel for a while, and then Bob Ross (can you say, happy little clouds?) Emily & Jenny came too, so there were lots of laughs & giggles. He got 3 stitches & a nice black eye. Then we went back to the park to pick up Alisha & Rachel. We stopped at Culvers on our way home because being at the ER, we missed lunch.
Interesting Day to be sure.

Circle of Life

2008-09-19T11:34:00.001-07:00

I realized I haven't posted a quilt picture for quite a long time, so here is the last one finished. (and that was in April!!!) I do have several in progress, though. :-)

First day of school

2008-09-03T06:50:00.000-07:00

Well, there it was. The first day of school. The last time of sending all 6 kids off to school together. John is a senior. It doesn't seem that long ago that I was dragging him into his kindergarten class and leaving him with his teacher. :-) Alisha is a Junior, so the kids will be leaving one by one very quick. Emily is a Freshman which means that I have 3 kids in high school! Michael is in 7th grade. 4 kids at our grade 7-12 school. Wow. Sarah is in 3rd grade. John was in 3rd grade when we moved here. Daniel is in 1st grade. No more pre-school/kindergarten events.
Feeling a bit nostalgic, I guess.
till next time.
me

Summer Vacation

2008-08-31T12:06:00.000-07:00

O.K., I promised the travelogue of our vacation. :-)

We rented a Suburban for our trip because we didn't think our poor van with 191,000 miles on it could make it. Plus the Suburban gave us quite a bit more square footage for stuff & people. It cost $100 per fill-up, but it could go a very long way between fill-ups. It had a DVD player in it which was great. I went to the library and stocked up on movies & some books on tape.

We left on Saturday July 26. about 6:30 am. We were in Albert Lea, MN by 9:30, and in Des Moines by lunch time. We reached Omaha by 3p. We stopped in Winter Quarters to see the temple & visitors' center. I don't know how much the kids got out of it, but Richard & I were both very touched.

We didn't feel like traveling anymore that day, so we set up camp at a KOA Kampground in Omaha. It was actually a nice set up. We got dinner there and rented some pedal cars for Sarah & Daniel to ride around. We brought 3 tents with us, so Richard & I had one, The girls had one, the younger boys had one, and John chose to sleep in the Suburban. I must have been tired because I actually slept, which for me is an odd thing to do while camping.
Sunday morning we got up and continued our journey. We had a Sunday School lesson in the car--what I was going to teach that day if we had been there. We had our lunch in Kearney, NE at a park & then kept driving. We ended up driving for 13 hours that day. YUK! We stayed at Richard's Uncle Andy's house just outside of Grand Junction, CO. We just camped all over their floors.
Monday Morning, we woke up and drove to Antimony, UT. To get there, you go to the middle of nowhere, and turn left. Unfortunately, we missed the left turn off I-70 and went another half hour until we ran into I-15. This happens to be where Cove Fort is (another Church History Site). So we stopped and took the tour there as well.
We made it to Antimony & the Rockin' R Ranch at about 2:30p. The kids found all their cousins & Richard & I were left to explore the ranch by ourselves. Kind of nice, acutally, having some time by ourselves. There were Horses, sheep, donkies, steer. A real ranch. Sarah got to ride on one of the horses the first day. Alisha , Emily & Michael went tubing down the river.

The meals were provided for us, with lots of good food. We were well fed, but our rooms were on the 3rd floor, so we got lots of exercise running back & forth to get things that we left up there.
After dinner the first day, we had our family talent show. Our family did the 'Chigga Cheer' which the girls had learned at Girls' Camp. It got the WHOLE family involved. We also saw a 'bagpipe' act, a 'Three Piggy Opera', 'Coqui song' & Judo act, 'Little Brave Elvis', and some guitar. Mom & Dad did 'I'm an Old Cowhand from the Rio Grande'. A LOT of fun! (Sarah &Alissa) ( Emily & Kaisey) (Daniel & Austin)
So, the next day, we started out by going on a trail ride. Sarah was VERY excited that she was old enough to go too. All of us went on either the first or 2nd ride except John & Daniel. I was rather saddle sore for the next couple of days.
We played at the pond for a while. There were canoes that people could paddle around, and a zip line. Michael was one of the 3 people that fell off the zip line the first day when they tried it without instruction. Luckily, Michael came out unscathed (though he did lose his glasses, but that was a different day), but my Brother-In-Law, Ben, cracked some bones in his elbow.

After lunch Richard & I joined the group tubing down the river. That was a lot of fun. A relatively slow river with occasional 'rapids' but it was shallow enough that we could stand up & re-orient ourselves if we got upended.

We attempted archery in the afternoon, but we got rained out.

Some of the kids tried the line dancing lessons. I was a bit sore & tired, so I didn't. There was live music & a dance that night.

On Wednesday morning, we went on a hike through the rocks & hills. Good thing we went early in the morning, because it really would have been hot during the afternoon.

After lunch, they had kickball. I took a nap. Then we played a dice game outside.

That afternoon we had a 'rodeo.' We learned how to swing a rope--& rope a 'cow'. We did a relay race using the horses & our new roping skills. Then we did barrel racing.

Then came the fun part. The little kids did mutton riding. They came out fairly unscathed, though there were a few tears if they got stepped on after being tossed from the sheep. Then the guys (Richard, Ben, Jeff & Steve) did steer riding. THAT was funny! Richard rode the longest (about 2.5 seconds) but he landed on his head. Good thing they had helmets on! I am sorry that my camera battery died & I didn't get any pictures of it. BUT, my sister-in-law had a burst shot on her camera & caught this of Richard coming out of the gate.

That night we had a campfire, roasted marshmallows & watched the stars.

The next morning we said goodbye to everyone & we all went in our separate directions. We went south & discovered we were only about 1/2 hour from Bryce Canyon. So, we decided to stop for a bit. We are glad we did.

Then we kept on down the road--past Escalante Park--but all we did there was stop at the visitors' center, which was a good thing because Emily got a nosebleed there & it was good to have the paper towels from the bathroom. On the the Burr Trail after a quick stop for lunch at a little campground we found alongside the road.
The trail ride was beautiful. I've trained my children well & they oohed & ahhed appropriately at the beauty of the rock formations that surrounded them. We made it to Bullfrog Marina at Lake Powell about 4:30 & we took the 5:00 ferry across the lake & then off to Monticello. We got there around 8p.

We relaxed at Richard's parents' house for a bit over a week. Richard worked, but the rest of us relaxed & played. I read old magazines, the kids pulled out all the games and went exploring. Richard threshed wheat & when it rained, he installed a level timer on his parents' well & a reverse osmosis system in the house.

Emily turned 14 the day we left (Aug 9). Not a very exciting day for her as we spent it all in the car. We had lunch by Vail, CO, dinner in Sterling, CO and we then made it as far as Kearney, NE before we called it a night. Richard ended up getting sick that night & didn't feel well the next day, so I did all the driving on Sunday as we headed home. We made it home that night about 7pm.

So--on to the rest of August. Michael got braces on the 13th.

I thought I finally finished scrapbooking last year's CA vacation, but I found another roll of film that when I developed it, had all the pictures we took at the L.A. temple. I was very excited to find them. I did this layout with one of the pictures:I also liked this picture of our family that I found.We had a ward boating party on the 16th. That night, Richard, Alisha & I saw 'Taming of the Shrew' at a local theatre. I had about 4 friends in the cast. It was an abridged version and well done. After that, I put 'Kiss Me, Kate' on my Netflix list. I love that movie!

I went to some Girl Scout meetings. One was to explain to me about the new programs that are happening this year. The next one was for me to explain it to the other leaders. Somehow, I have ended up as the Service Unit Manager for Clear Lake. Not quite sure how that happened.

I went to lunch a couple of times with some friends. I quit just saying 'we should get together sometime', and actually started calling & arranging lunch from time to time. Its been fun.

I took the kids school shopping one day. It is a little overwhelming to see the final bill of school supplies for 6 kids all at the same time. I came home a little deflated.

We had a Cub Scout end of summer picnic one evening. Michael & I had to leave early to take him to 7th grade orientation. I will have 4 kids at the Jr/Sr High this year!

Kathy & I did our performance on the 29th at willow Ridge Nursing Home. As I was setting up, I knocked a cup of water all over the piano. This piano is old, and in the long run, it probably won't cause any lasting damage that wasn't already done, but towards the end of our performance, the keys started to swell with the moisture and started to stick, so it was hard to play the lower notes. Oh well--on with the show!

Well, School starts Tuesday. Kids will be in grades 12, 11, 9, 7, 3 & 1. Fun & hectic times ahead, I'm sure!

I hope you all didn't fall asleep!

Till next time-

Patti

Back to School

2008-08-28T07:58:00.000-07:00

Last time I posted, school had just gotten out. Now school is about to start again, so I guess I'll give a re-cap of our summer.

To start with, my grandfather, Jesse Stay passed away June 17. I went to CA for the funeral. Thanks so much to Tamara and Tom who helped me with frequent flyer miles to help get my ticket. The day I left, I went to the Cities in the morning to go take 2 midterms at the Univeristy of Minnesota testing center. There was construction and I missed my exit & I ended up at the Minneapolis campus instead of the St. Paul Campus and then had to negotiate my way back there and ended up being 20 min late for my test time. Luckily, the tests weren't too bad and I had both of them finished with plenty of time to spare.

So, I had lots of time to kill before my flight. My favorite radio station was doing a live broadcast in downtown Minneapolis, so I headed back that direction. I stayed there for the rest of the broadcast time. I then went over to the Mall of America because it was right by the airport. I wandered around for a while just people watching. They had re-done the amusement park since the last time I had been there. It used to be a Camp Snoopy, but it was re-done with a Nickleodeon theme. There were some new rides including a Sponge Bob roller coaster that started out going straight up, and then straight DOWN, plus a loop and a corkscrew. I am a coaster junkie. I don't care much for rides that just spin you around and around, but give me a good thrill ride and I'm there. So, I sprang for the $ to ride it once. Good ride! Worth the $!

Then it was time to head to the airport to catch my flight. I got there about 3 hours before my flight and got situated at gate G7. A nice, quitet gate. After being there for 2 hours, I realized it was a bit too quiet and my flight should start boarding soon. Check ticket. Oh! Gate G11! So, I got up and got to the proper gate just before boarding.

I got to Orange County airport. I checked the arrival screen and saw that Steve's flight was coming in at the next gate in about 10 minutes so I waited for him to show up. Mom & Dad picked us up and we went to Grandma's house. We had some dinner and then Steve & I took the bikes around the neighborhood to see the old school & friends' houses. (we lived in that neighborhood until 1983 so I had spend hundreds of hours biking that area during my youth). Then we went to the beach & found cousins & Jenny & Carl there. We hung out until it was too dark to see.

The funeral was the next day. Thew viewing was at 10:00am. The room was full of old friends & family. Uncle Greg gave the family prayer.

The funeral was at 11:00. I conducted the music and my cousin, Trace, played the organ. Ucle Tim gave the Eulogy and then the whole family (all 4 rows) stood and sang 'Families Can Be Togehter Forever.' Then Uncle Greg, Uncle Larry, Mom, Aunt Judi & Aunt Sharon gave their personal memories. Next, all grandchildren that wanted to (about 20) of us got up and sang 'How Great Thou Art.' That was powrful. I felt like I was singing with the Tabernacle Choir. We all sounded so good together. Then Uncle Randy gave the Plan of Salvation Talk. He said that Grandpa always considered this life to be part of his eternal life and lived accordingly. Finally there was a talk by the Stake President.

The Relief Society had the luncheon for us. Can't have a funeral without funeral potatoes and jello! Dad's brother Dwight had come as well, so we visited with him during lunch.

Mom, Dad, Jenny & Carl left that afternoon. Steve left Sunday right after church. I left Monday Morning. I took a shuttle to the airport and had an uneventful flight home.

Back to normal life. June 25th I went to Valley Fair with Michael and the Summer School. It was a lovely day. We just went from ride to ride and rode all the good coasters. Sarah & Daniel went to the waterpark.

On the 26th I went to Visitor's day at Summer school. I went to Sarah's sign language class & Danile's puppet class. Then we all went to the gym & watched a juggling/clown show. That night we went to the beach for a picnic.

That weekend was Clear Lake Days. There were garage sales in town Friday. Got some good items. We had our annual dairy lunch on Friday. Free nachos, icecream, milk & cheese & crackers in town. Saturday was the parade. Alisha & Emily were in the band, and Sarah & I were on the Girl Scout float.

June 29 was John's birthday. He's officially 18. Yikes! To make me feel even older, he had his girlfriend down for the week. She lives in Virginia, MN (about 3.5 hours away). She's very nice, and all the other kids like her too. She stayed through the 5th of July. Her mom & sister came on the 4th & we all went to Amery to watch fireworks together.

I've started going to Cub Scout Committe meetings. I am also signed up as the Tiger Cub leader. The whole pack has had problems since Michael left (actually before he left) the pack. But we finally seem to have some interested leadership in the Pack, and we are getting things back up & running. Richard has now joined the committe as well. I have 11 Tigers signed up for this year!

In July we went to a couple of picnics. One was for Amery Theatre. One was a Ward Party.

The Girls went to Girls' camp the week of the 14th. They had a blast!

Michael left the day after the girls got back for Scout Camp. He had a good time & earned 3 badges. Richard & I went to pick him up on the 24th & we left for our vacation early on the 25th.

On the 24th, I did something different. I had wanted sing at the local nursing homes for a while. Finally, I realized that I had a friend from the theatre who plays piano & sings as well, so I asked her if she wanted to do it with me. We put together a little act- a Broadway Review- and we performed it on the 24th at Golden Age Manor. We have 2 more 'gigs' lined up as well, including one tomorrow. I play while she sings, she plays while I sing & when we sing together. We did songs from plays that either one of us had been in. We borrowed costume pieces & props from the theatre. Our program went like this:

There's No Business Like Show Business-Both sing

My Favorite Things-I sing

SunRise, Sunset-Kathy sing

June Is Bustin' Out All Over-Kathy sing

Can't Get a Man with a Gun-I sing

Something Wonderful-I sing

Getting to Know You-Kathy sings

I could have Danced All Night-I sing

I Can't say No-I sing

You'll Never Walk Alone-Kathy Sings

It was well received, and we had a lot of fun putting it together.

Well, that may be enough for now. I'll post later with our trip travelogue.

Patti

Jesse Stay

2008-06-17T12:27:00.002-07:00

http://staynalive.com/articles/2008/06/17/jesse-stay-no-its-not-my-name/

This is a post by my cousin Jesse Stay II about our Grandfather Jesse Stay who died this morning. It expressed my sentiments about this great man so well, that I thought I would just post this link instead of trying to say the same thing again. Grandpa, you will be missed, but I know you have far better things to do now. You and Grandma are my heroes.

2nd quarter update

2008-06-15T21:52:00.000-07:00

June 15, 2008

Looking back, its been almost a quarter of year since I last gave an update, so I thought it was time to check in. Our computer died mid-April, and we just finally got it up and running this week. YAY!!! I spent a lot of time at the library going in to check my e-mail and do other computer tasks nearly daily. So, settle in for a long read! 
April started with a heavy snowfall. About 8 inches that day, that melted down to 4 inches and a lot of mud by afternoon. School got a 2 hour delay. Alisha had an appointment at the optometrist and got contact lenses that day.
Alisha had solo/ensemble April 2. I accompanied her. She got a 2 rating.
I spent April at play practice. ‘Oklahoma’ was a lot of fun. It was easily our best production ever. We did our performances the last 2 weekends in April. We had some friends of mine from Amery theatre come and join us and now we are thinking of even more joint ventures between the two towns.
General Conference was Apr. 5 & 6. It was wonderful to be part of the solemn assembly sustaining President Monson as Prophet. We had representatives from 3 priesthood quorums, plus Relief Society and Young Women right here in our house. BYUtv.org is a wonderful resource to watch conference at home for us. We do go into the chapel on Sunday, though so we can have potluck lunch in-between sessions. 
The Jr. High Spring Concert was on the 7th. Emily was in that.
I had a quilt show on the 8th for everyone who took classes this year. They have dinner and some sort of entertainment for us. This year it was a jazz trio that a friend of mine plays in.
Alisha’s first few track meets of the season kept getting cancelled because of nasty weather. Their first one –an indoors one- was even cancelled because the weather was too nasty to travel there.
I took Michael to the Orthodontist on the 11th. Long story short, his bite/mouth/jaw/teeth are a mess. We are consulting with an oral surgeon tomorrow for options.
The 12th was FFA banquet. Emily got a gold medal for quiz bowl and her Discovery Degree.
John and I also went shopping for a suit to wear to Prom—and church.
On the 14th and 16th I got to go with the kindergarten(Daniel) and then the 2nd grade (Sarah) to the swimming pool in New Richmond. It’s a fun place with a waterslide.
Alisha turned 16 on the 15th. Wow. We had crepes for breakfast and I made cupcakes for her track meet that afternoon. Alisha had a super track season. She ran the 1 & 2 mile. Every track meet she would take another 10-20 seconds off her personal best in both races. She got the ‘most improved’ award at the track banquet.
On the 19th Michael, John & I went to do ‘Scouting for Food’, but there wasn’t great neighborhood support and it felt like a wasted drive in yukky weather to pick up one bag of food. We have a new idea for it for next year. We’ll see how it works.
Alisha left on the 20th for FCCLA State convention. She competed with her STAR event and got a silver. She was gone for 3 days.
Clear Lake had a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian come to town called ‘between Fences’ It was an exhibit telling about the history of fences and their impact on the landscape of the country. It was because of this exhibit that we did ‘Oklahoma’ now. Usually, we do our musicals in the fall. Our town did all types of things to go along with it, including the Jr. High History students did a photo essay on the history of different landmarks in our immediate area. On the 21st, they had an opening for their part of the show. Emily & I went to that.
On the 22nd I went and took my final for Religion 212 (New Testament pt. 2). I had been to this testing location a couple of times and thought I knew how to get there, but I got very lost and was about ½ hour late for my test after a nice 1 ½ hour tour of St. Paul and surrounding areas. I did all right, though. My next class is Adolescent Psychology.. I go to take my midterm this week, along with the midterm for my humanities 202 class. This time I print out a map before I go.
The 26th was John’s Prom. He had a girl from Virginia, MN (in our stake) come out for the prom. She stayed in Alisha’s room. I had a performance that night, so we all went to town, they went to dinner & then the dance at the school. I picked them up afterwards. She came to church with us the next day and our final performance that afternoon before we drove her up to meet her mom in Hinkley, MN.
Once the play was over, I slept for 2 days before life got more back to normal.
April 29th was Alisha’s Jazz Band concert. As a fundraiser (they left today to go to Washington D.C), they served soup & sandwiches, and a Professional Big Band (the Dean’s List) came to play as well. It was really a lot of fun!

April is over. Take a break and come back for May. 

John made a quilt for his creative sewing class. I quilted it and then it was shown at Clear Lake’s quilt show (may 3 & 4) where it won first place in the youth division.  I had several quilts at the show too, but they didn’t win.
May 6 was our 19th anniversary. We went to dinner at a local supper club.
May 8 was the end of year picnic for Girl Scouts. We had it at Clear Lake Park. Sarah, Emily & Alisha got their patches for the year. Well, I got Alisha’s. She was at a track meet.
May 9 was the start of Garage sale season for me. When Daniel heard that I had gone garage sale-ing without him, he said, “without me?” He had been my solo garage sale partner since Sarah was in Pre-school—so for about 4 years, it was him & I hitting the sales.
May 11 was Mothers’ Day. I got a digital picture frame. Way cool. I also got a flowerpot recipe card holder from Sarah & a pinch pot from Daniel. I have quite the collection of pinch pots now!
May 12 was the band’s annual Pie concert. They sell pie as a fundraiser during the Pops concert. All 3 bands- from Elementary to High school play.
May 18th was high school Graduation. Alisha played in the band.
I’ve been trying to get the garden planted since about the end of May, but it has been very wet this year. And cold. It is still regularly in the 60s during the day. When it warms up to the 70s or even the VERY rare 80s, it will storm and cool it all down again. We have gotten inches and inches and inches (feet?) of rain in the past month or so. The basement is getting soggy.  The garden won’t really dry out…So, it is only about ½ planted. We’ll see what we end up with this year!
On the 26th it was Memorial Day. Alisha played in the Memorial Service. I brought Michael, Sarah & Daniel with me to watch it. Daniel particularly liked the rifle fire salute.
May 28th I got to go to Como Zoo with Sarah’s class. I’ve decided I like going on field trips and being with the kids, but I really don’t like riding the school bus!
May 30th was Kindergarten Graduation for Daniel. My last one! ::sniff!:: He said, “My name is Daniel Harvey and I want to be a mechanic when I grow up!” Like father, like son.

On to June!
Our Cub Scout program in town has really fallen apart in the past 5 years or so. Well, we have a new group of leaders (say hi to the new Tiger Cub Leader) who want to make this work. So, we now have a new committee and we actually had a committee meeting and calendared the entire next school year. YAY! If we all follow through, it should be the best year Clear Lake Cub Scouting has had in about 8-9 years.
Alisha got Poison Ivy at the beginning of the month. After various creams, we finally got her on Predisone, and she is doing a lot better now!
On the 4th, it was the school picnic day. Parents get to go eat with the kids. Afterwards is awards day/ 6th Grade Graduation. Michael Graduated. Next year I’ll have 4 kids at the Jr./Sr. High and only 2 at the elementary.
The 5th was the last day of school. It was a half day. I worked in the art room that day (as I did every Thursday since January), so I just picked the kids right up from school. We didn’t have to get the 3 older ones because they all went to Valley Fair. (the local amusement park-on par with Lagoon) Unfortunately for them it got very stormy and they only had time for about 2 rides before they shut everything down and they came home early.
The girls started band camp on Monday the 9th. 4 hours a day for a week of marching and performance rehearsal for their band trip.
Summer school started on the 10th. The kids are taking fun classes like dinosaurs, art, sign language, swimming, cooking & golf. It goes for 2 more weeks.
The director for our last 3 Clear Lake plays died this week. She was only 50. I went with a contingent from the theatre to the funeral.
As I said, the girls left this afternoon to Washington D.C. with the band. They will be back Saturday.

Well, If you haven’t fallen asleep yet, there ya be! HAND! (Have a Nice Day)
Patti

OKLAHOMA

2008-04-30T12:07:00.001-07:00

There are over 300 pictures to look at, but they are a lot of fun. If you don't want to wade through them, When I get a new computer (ours crashed and I am doing this from the library), I will be scrapbooking the more pertinant ones for me and you can wait until then.
Patti

Easy Chicken Tostada Salads

2008-04-02T07:42:00.001-07:00

This is actually a test. I all of a sudden saw a button on my tool bar that said 'blog this'...So, I clicked it to see what would happen. This is what we're having for dinner tonight.

Easy Chicken Tostada Salads

March 30, 2008

2008-03-30T15:08:00.000-07:00

March 30, 2008

Well, I think spring may finally be on the way. It is nearly 50 degrees this afternoon and the snow is melting at a rapid pace. We didn’t get near the snowfall that Madison and other areas of WI got this year (Madison got nearly 90” this year!) but, it was so cold that what we did have never melted. We haven’t seen the ground since Dec 1. So, what’s for tomorrow? A Winter Storm watch! Fantastic. I love April snows—big, fat, fluffy flakes that don’t stay very long.

I have been busy busy busy. I turned the page on my calendar, and it is already full!

I finished up my Humanities class, took the final and have now started Humanities 202. Last week I finished my New Testament class and just have the final to take for it.

Daniel had his birthday on March 8 and turned 6 years old. He only wanted to invite the 2 kids from church that are his age for his birthday party, so we just invited their families as well, and had a nice get together for all 3 families.

Michael’s birthday was this week on the 26th. He turned 12. He had a friend come over on Friday when we had no school (end of the quarter), and they played the new game that Michael got for the Wii. He was ordained a Deacon today after church.

Rehearsals for ‘Oklahoma!’ are going well. I’m very pleased with the quality of production we are putting on here. It is our best ever, I think. We have some new people that have really added to our company. We open in 3 weeks. (April 18)

I’m helping in the art room once a week. I help with the 1st and 4th graders. We really have a nice art program at our school, but the teacher only has 1 arm, and needs an extra set of hands every once in a while. I’m really enjoying it.

Alisha has started track. Her first track meet is tomorrow. She also got a gold at Regional STAR events for FCCLA and will be going to the state convention in April. Her jazz saxophone choir got a 1 at the jazz festival this week. She loved being in gymnastics, and is sad to put it on hold while she does track.

Sarah had a field trip to the Science museum in March and I got to chaperone. Her and Daniel’s dance recital was at the end of Feb. I’m not sure they knew what they were doing, but they sure were cute!

Michael gets to go in for his first Orthodontic screening this month. Lucky kid is missing 3 permanent teeth, so he needs work to hold things in place or make room for future dental work. Woo Hoo!
John is on the yearbook staff so he has put in extra hours after school working on the yearbook lately. He has been taking Desktop Publishing this year and really seems to enjoy it. We need to find a career for him that goes more towards that line, I think.
Emily’s FFA quiz bowl team got 1st place in Sectionals, and then 2nd place in the Regionals. They missed going to state by very little.
Richard got a promotion at work that starts April 1st. New responsibilities, etc. We’re not sure how it will affect his hours or anything yet.

Well, Happy Birthday to Cynthia, Mom H., & Dad D.! Speaking of Dad's birthday. That day will mark the 20th anniversary of Richard & I getting engaged...
my...we were so young then!

Big Weekend!

2008-02-04T11:26:00.000-08:00

We had a busy weekend.

Sarah had her birthday party. A Slumber party with 8 other little girls. Fun was had by all!

Then Grandma and Grandpa Danielson came to visit. It was Grandma's 60th birthday and we went out to dinner Saturday to celebrate.

Sunday, Sarah was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

We are very proud of her!

Gordon B. Hinkley Dies at age 97

2008-01-31T12:34:00.000-08:00

The Prophet of my church died this weekend. This is a reflective moment of Glen Beck that says volumes for me.

Prophetic Passing

I imagine he's running to Marjorie now,
Yes, running, not waving his cane.
I see him embracing his father and mother
While they keep repeating his name.

I see him now meeting his forebears,
Brother Brigham and Joseph are there.
Sweet reunion of prophets, united by service
That only such noble men share.

I see him embraced by the Savior
While Father says, "Good and well done.
So faithful in stalwart endurance, I welcome
My noble, most excellent son."

I then hear the ripples of laughter
As he says the reception's just fine,
But he hopes that he'll get an assignment or two
Since there's no need to waste any time.

I can hear his clear voice in the stillness
At the close of this sweet Sabbath day,
Have faith and move forward — there's work to be done.
President Hinckley would want it that way.

Anna M. Molgard
January 27, 2008

January 27, 2008

2008-01-27T10:33:00.000-08:00

January 27, 2008

I’m home from church today because I’m sick. Fever, coughing, aching, etc…. Not really a surprise because Sarah, Daniel and Emily have all gone through it this week, so I guess its just a wait to see who else gets it.

Its been very cold lately. Last Sunday and Wednesday we woke up to -20 degrees. Brrr! Yesterday, though we finally got back up to the 30s, so we can stand to go outside again. Michael went ice fishing with a friend. It was a very nice day for that.

Lets see—I’m now teaching the 11-12 yr olds in church. Same age group that I also work with in Boy Scouts. Michael is in my class. Past teachers have had problems with this class because there are some –say- very active and talkative kids in there. I’ve discovered that they are just very smart. Even though some of them are relatively new members, their parents have taught them well, and if I ask the right questions, they will teach the lesson for me. The main hurdle is that I have a very autistic boy in my class, but with positive reinforcement, he can sit through primary and class without having to wander in the halls.

We started the New Year with a party at our house. We had 4 other families over. The kids all had fun. There was a friend everyone’s age there. A couple of them left before midnight, but one family stayed to ring in the New Year with us. It was a very nice evening.

I’ve been to the dentist about 4 times this month. Only once for me to get some fillings. The rest was to get Alisha to the Ortho for adjustments, and Alisha, John, Emily & Michael had other appointments—cleanings and/or fillings.

I auditioned for our community play-‘Oklahoma!’ this month. I got the part of Ado Annie. I am very excited-I’ve wanted this part since I failed the audition for her at BYU in 1987.

Alisha has been taking gymnastics lessons. After her first day at the intermediate class, they asked her to move up to the pre-team class. Now, they have asked her to compete at the gymnastics meet in March along with the neighboring school’s team. (we don’t have a team at our school). She is very excited. She has wanted to do this for a very long time.

Sarah and Daniel are taking ballet together. There is only one other little girl in the class. Their first recital will be at the end of February. It should be very cute.

Sarah had her 8th birthday on Thursday. Unfortunately for her, it was really the first day of her not feeling well with the same stuff I have. She received her scriptures and a journal. Her party was supposed to be Friday night (slumber party), but she woke up with the fever, so we had calls to make to re-schedule for next week. Her baptism will be Feb. 3.
I started a Photoshop class this week. We have been learning different techniques to use in digital scrapbooking. Now I just need a better camera to actually have decent pictures to use. My camera is only a 1MB camera, so the pictures work great for looking at on the computer, but not so well when enlarged and printed out. Here are a couple of layouts I put together this week:

We got semester report cards this week. I am just so pleased with how well John is doing this year. From Cs & Ds the last few years to As & Bs this year. I’m not sure what has made the difference. Emily also has shown great improvement.

This week (Tuesday) will be a big day for a couple of us… Michael gets to go skiing with the 6th graders. Emily has FFA Quiz Bowl at one school, and then gets to go to another school for Jr.High Solo/Ensemble. She has a clarinet and vocal solo.

Well, maybe I’ll try to get dressed before everyone else comes home from church.

Love, Patti

Cookie Time!

2008-01-22T05:22:00.000-08:00

Its Cookie time!
Hi. Our names are Alisha, Emily & Sarah Harvey. We are the daughters of Richard and Patti Harvey. We are selling Girl Scout Cookies to help us enjoy the fun activities we do in Girl Scouts. They are $3.50 a box. If you would like to, we have an option where you can purchase a box (or more) to be donated to our local food shelf. Help us fill their shelf with everyone’s favorite cookies! Order some for you and for the food shelf! Thanks for your support!

The future is now

2008-01-13T12:43:00.000-08:00

The Future Of Computing (1967)
This is how film makers in 1967 envisioned what the home computer of the future would be like in 1999 A.D.

not too far off, but I love the husband's triple consoles! :-)

December 31

2008-01-01T11:38:00.001-08:00

Happy New Years!
we had friends over for a party. 18 kids had a blast! John & friends made a snow sculpture.

December 30

2007-12-31T07:24:00.000-08:00

Today was our day to declare our tithing payer status. Daddy had clerk duties so we brought lunch to eat at the church while we waited for him.

December 29

2007-12-29T15:26:00.000-08:00

It was snowing (again) So the kids spent some quality time with the new Wii.

December 28

2007-12-28T19:23:00.001-08:00

All the kids got haircuts

December 27

2007-12-28T06:18:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to Joe!
Richard finished the counter top and re-installed the dishwasher.
He also started installing shelves in the laundry room.

December 26

2007-12-26T20:41:00.000-08:00

The Day after Christmas we woke up to several inches of fluffy, white snow.
Emily, Alisha and Sarah all have Strep throat.
Richard spent the day putting in mom's new piece of counter.

December 25

2007-12-25T10:14:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

December 24

2007-12-25T09:56:00.000-08:00

We made our first ever gingerbread house.
At night we acted out the Nativity Story.

December 23

2007-12-23T11:53:00.000-08:00

Emily and Sarah woke up not feeling well. It had been snowy and slushy yesterday and it all froze over night along with snowing some more, so by the time the rest of us were dressed and ready to go, we got the phone call that said church was cancelled because the roads were too dangerous.

December 22

2007-12-22T19:05:00.000-08:00

The kids went shopping for presents for each other.

December 21

2007-12-22T17:17:00.001-08:00

Richard and I went to Hudson to get a load of pellets for our pellet stove. The younger kids had their Christmas parties at school.

December 20

2007-12-20T18:06:00.000-08:00

Today was the Elementary School Christmas Concert.
Sarah was with the 1st & 2nd Graders.
Michael performed with the 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th graders.

December 19

2007-12-20T06:21:00.000-08:00

The older kids went caroling at the nursing home in Barron.

December 18

2007-12-18T21:07:00.000-08:00

First of all, Happy Birthday, Holly!

Michael spent tonight making Italian anise cookies for his class presentation of Christmas in Italy.

December 17

2007-12-18T21:04:00.001-08:00

Tonight was the High School Christmas Concert.
I joined in with the high school choir at the end for the Hallelujah Chorus

December 16

2007-12-17T05:55:00.000-08:00

After Church, we practiced for next week's Christmas program.

December 15

2007-12-15T19:11:00.000-08:00

I took Emily's Girl Scout troop to see 'High School Musical-the Ice tour'.

Merry Christmas song

2007-12-15T19:10:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Laurie to sending me this.

December 14

2007-12-14T14:02:00.001-08:00

Daniel's Christmas Program

December 13

2007-12-13T16:56:00.000-08:00

Alisha and mom went with the Jazz Ensemble to Oakwood Mall in Eau Claire.

December 12

2007-12-13T16:31:00.000-08:00

The fire was hot, there was stew to be simmered for hours, so mom made it on the stove!

December 11

2007-12-12T05:59:00.000-08:00

December 10

2007-12-11T06:22:00.000-08:00

my favorite song

2007-12-10T14:40:00.001-08:00

december 9

2007-12-10T09:08:00.000-08:00

december 8

2007-12-10T09:06:00.001-08:00

December 7

2007-12-10T08:51:00.001-08:00

december 6

2007-12-10T08:46:00.001-08:00

December 5

2007-12-10T08:42:00.000-08:00