Pictures catch-up

I just noticed that there were a few pictures missing from this blog- and although I am great at procrastinating things, I'm also great at feeling guilty about it until I finish up the procrastinated things.  So, because today I have the time, AND the energy, AND I remembered I was supposed to do this, and I managed to do ALL THREE of these things at the same time, here we go:

This is from a short hike up the canyon from our rental house, which I bothered the family into taking so I could scout out the picnic area.  I had no idea what was up there, and we had planned a youth activity there for the following Saturday.  I wanted to check it out before the actual event.  In case there were bears or something, which there were NOT.  Just many gorgeous maple trees and birches, and a nice and easy hike.  There was also a difficult and slightly dangerous hike across the rock slide.  Which one do you think my family opted for?  (I'll give you a hint: it involved the rock slide.)

Next is the deer Jared bagged.  He was inordinately proud of this buck, and I'll let him tell you the story about the long and difficult hunt, and how he found it after he'd finally given up and was headed back to the car.  (okay, so I told it.  His version has more details, and the excitement of the chase mixed in with the facts.)  Also, he's paid to get it mounted, and I already picked out an appropriate spot for it above the fireplace.

 These next two are Morgen and Hyrum, posing before their latest karate testing.  They were both awarded orange belts, and are getting much better at hitting their forms correctly, as well as paying attention in class.  I'm proud of their efforts!  The poses were their idea :).

 If you did not eat Thanksgiving dinner with my parents this year, you missed out on so much great food!  And you also missed a very exciting puzzle challenge, and some pretty good company.  This is the delicious pie I brought:

 (there were other pies, but this one was the prettiest of the ones that were made by me.)
And lastly, here is what I did today:

This is another reason why I enjoy winter so much.  I can bake to my heart's content, and all it does is make the kitchen feel more cozy.  Those loaves were made using my Grandmother Giles' bread recipe.  It makes pretty darn good bread, BTW.  You know, just in case you were wondering.  (and if you know where I live, and want to drive over, you're welcome to a taste.)

Gratitude List:
* We had to speak in church last week.  As a family, it was easier than doing it alone, so I'm glad that we got to do it together, and that we won't need to do it again for a long, long, time.
* I got to sleep in on Saturday.  I also got to have a nice, long, relaxing bath on Saturday.  Then we all watched Avatar: The Last Airbender all day long (there was a sick child to pamper) and had pizza and soda for dinner.  (except for the sick child, who had tiny amounts of ginger ale and no pizza at all.)
* Most of my Christmas decorations are up, and I've broken out the Christmas music.
* We have enough room in our house to have a Christmas tree up without having to move any furniture.  This is a true luxury for me.
* Overhearing Morgen talk about an "intervention," then an "interlusion" (sic).  She meant an intermission, as they were putting on their version of "The Nutcracker Ballet," complete with music and creative costumes.
* I have a lovely yarn stash.
* I also have a lovely craft room (or the beginnings of one) thanks to my husband.  I have lights and power.  Oh, and shelves!  Now I just need to unpack everything...
* Freshly baked bread.  With real butter and local honey, it  is  was delicious!
* New boots- not snow boots, just boot boots.
* My kids are not yelling, screaming, fighting, or angry right now.
* I unpacked another box.
* Daily scripture study, to keep me centered and focused on what is truly important in my life.
* 3 reasonably healthy kids (who are all suffering from colds, but who are also not throwing up anymore).
* A handsome, handy man who built some walls, hung some sheetrock, strung some electrical wire, and mounted shelves to the wall, so my craft room would be ready by this week.  And he did this instead of working on his truck, which could really use some work.  He is awesome.
* My faith in God.

Why I love winter

Snow.

Actually, lots of snow.  And hot cocoa, and marshmallows (sometimes), and being forced to stay home because
the blizzard that ate my house
is coming and nobody is allowed to drive anywhere.  One of my favorite things about winter is the snow days.  I have my knitting (and laundry to fold, but that's boring), and movies to watch on Netflix, and lots of hot cocoa.  I don't have to go anywhere, our heat is working, and there's plenty of food in the house.  I could probably last a week!

Anyway, it is no longer snowing here, and I am not as excited about shoveling as I should be, I guess.  But I love this weather. 

Gratitude List:
* Snow.
* and Winter.
* Books to read.
* My kids are not fighting right now.
* hot cocoa.
* hot showers.
* Jared is on the ground safely.  (not home, because yesterday's snowstorm hit shortly after his plane landed, but he's safe.)
* Good visits with family.
* A nice big house with plenty of room for visitors.
* No school today, so no driving kids around.
* Audiobooks- right now we're listening to "The Books of Umber: Dragon Games" but we also got "The Candy Shop Wars." 
* Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming soon.
* My kids are mostly well-adjusted (notice I do not claim they're normal), and I love them very much.  (Except when they decide that a JUSTICE LEAGUE marathon is a wonderful idea.)
* Holding my newest little nephew, and talking to his brothers.  I love the things I learn from them!
* God is good. and I am so blessed.

Snow!

Jared spent last week hunting elk.  Well, and moving stuff, and putting up shelves in the garage so we could store things on the walls instead of the floor of the garage, thus leaving room for a CAR in the garage.  But other than that, he's been taking it easy (or not).  He finished the shelves Saturday, just in time for two days of rain, followed by snow last night.  As usual, his timing is impeccable!

I've been unpacking slowly, while also keeping this new house semi-clean, organizing things, doing laundry and cooking, and meeting our new neighbors.  I'm just down the road a bit from my mom's Aunt Nadine, and I stopped by today to visit with her.  She had some wonderful stories about her mom (my great-grandmother) and brother (my grandpa), and also about my own mom.  She remembers that whenever Kaye (my grandmother) would find a new recipe she wanted to try out, she'd cut out the recipe, give it to my mother, and also give her enough money to buy the ingredients.  My mom would go to the store, buy the food, and return home.  Then she would make the recipe for her mother.  I know that my mom likes to cook, and that her mother taught her to love cooking.  Having this story about my mom when she was younger is a sweet reminder about the power that parents have in the lives of their children.  Anyway, I had a nice visit with Nadine after I dropped kids off to school. Now I'm avoiding the laundry that needs to be folded :)

Today I have:
* made a list of errands I need to take care of tomorrow.  Mostly they involve getting supplies for Morgen's class Halloween party (which I am in charge of coordinating).
* cleaned my bathroom and the guest bathroom.
* moved a bunch of empty boxes to the basement.
* eaten a lovely bowl of homemade chicken soup, left over from the other night's dinner.
* talked with my neighbor Bob about getting old and staying active (he was outside doing laps up and down our street).
* eaten some oreo cookies dunked in milk.
* researched some cleaning supply recipes on the internet- I absolutely LOVE having all that information at my fingertips!
* found my stash of birthday cards and mailed (late) a card to one of my nephews who is 4 years old today.
* checked my email, done some laundry, read scriptures, cleaned the kitchen,  showered, and backed my SUV into my garage without any help at all.
* found that one of the kids put something red into my counter-top fountain. Grrrr.

And, here's the Gratitude List:
* The snow on my driveway melted without any shoveling help from me.  Hooray for beautiful snow, and above-freezing temperatures!
* The hat and fingerless gloves I made last fall are still just as toasty warm as I remembered them being.
* My washer and dryer are working quite well.
* My dishwasher, while not as cleverly designed space-wise as the one in our rental house, is extremely good at cleaning dirty dishes.
* Jared and I went for a walk last night (getting to be a regular nightly thing with us), in the snow, and it was gorgeous and quiet and peaceful and fun!
* My church has free podcasts of General Conference.  It's a wonderful way to listen to the counsel given by my religious leaders again, and keeps me distracted while I'm cleaning house.
* iTunes and iPods- well, really, the whole Apple technology thing.  That company has the best ideas!
* I know where my postage stamps are now.
* Another box has been emptied!
* Friends and family who love and support me and mine.
* Watching Annie (the puppy) experience snow for the first time.
* God is good.  I am so blessed.

Moving In

So we're moved in, but not unpacked yet.  I do have internet access again :) but am pretty busy finding things.  Church on Sunday was interesting.  M got dressed fine, as did I.  H was missing his belt (I found it in my room), Jared's dress shoes went missing (found those in a duffel bag).  We couldn't find W's shirt or trousers, and we ended up being 20 minutes late to the meeting (they were both in the pile of clothes in his room).  Church was bittersweet- we'll still see most people, as we just moved across the valley to a different town, but it is hard to leave friends.

Gratitude List:
* New House!!! 
* I know where all my yarn is, and most of my scrapbooking stuff as well.
* We've met some of our neighbors, and they're very nice. So far we've gotten cookies and pumpkin bread.  I could get used to this!
* I have internet again.
* My bathroom is mostly unpacked.
* The kids all have curtains and beds, and they're working on unpacking their belongings.
* We have a gas hook-up for our dryer now, which means I can dry my wet clothes.
* I have a stack of empty boxes in my living room (this means I am actually making some progress moving our stuff into this house).
* The kitchen is unpacked- hooray!
* Lots of family help when we moved.  I have a wonderful family!
* A new nephew- Jared's brother and his wife just had their 3rd boy :)
* my faith in God.
* I am truly blessed.

WE GOT IT!!!

We are signing papers on Friday, and moving next week!  *sigh*  Our new Home Sweet Home :)

**if you want my new address, send me an email.

House Pics

Here's the front of the house we are trying to purchase:

Here's the family room:

Here's the kitchen:

And here's the dining room:

We're still waiting to hear back from the appraiser, and inspector, so we haven't signed any loan papers yet.  But this house is beginning to feel like our new home :)

In other news, both of our vehicles are currently in the shop, waiting for repairs.  Murphy found out we were buying a house, and is trying to move into our spare bedroom!  Thank goodness for our emergency fund, and for rental cars (even when they stink of smoke). 

Gratitude List:
* Cool fall weather- my favorite!
* Our almost-new house (although packing is NOT on my list of things I enjoy).
* Car repair shops.
* Emergency funds.
* A sense of humor.
* This weekend is my church's 180th Semi-annual General Conference and I'm enjoying the spiritual messages I've heard so far.
* Jared's parents are in town, and we get to host them today and tomorrow.
* God has blessed us so much.

House!

Just a quick update- we're under contract for a house!  Now we just need to wait for the loan papers to be approved...

Oh the cute!

These are our puppies:

Morgen loves them very much.  They love running very much.  The two are not always compatible...

Here's another pic- one of my favorites:

Don't you want to take her home, and love her and pet her and call her George? 

I do. 

(Except I call her "Wings" instead of "George."  Oh, and she's already at my house.)

And, just because last night we had to turn on our furnace (gasp!), and it is therefore Officially Autumn, I made cookies today:

Gratitude List:
* Fall weather!!!
* Leaves are changing colors
* School is in session
* Puppies are growing, and are even more cute than last month.
* Cool weather, so I can bake without melting myself in the residual heat from the oven.
* homemade chocolate chip cookies
* fresh (from the grocery store) salsa
* a new knitting project that I am excited about! (and afraid I'll jinx it if I share, so I'll wait a bit)
* we are looking for a house to buy, and put in offers on 2 properties yesterday.  (crossing my fingers and praying for one of them to be accepted)
* My house is (mostly) clean and tidy.
* I have freshly washed laundry to smell.  (and to fold, but the smelling part is better)
* homemade chocolate chip cookies (because they're so awesome they need to be mentioned more than once)
* good music.
* good books.
* family and friends who love and support me and my family.
* We are blessed.
* God is good.
oh, and homemade chocolate chip cookies.   With cold milk

Randomness

I introduced my kids to the Blackadder a few days ago.  This has led to much singing of the theme song, with one minor change, around my house: "Black bla-a-a-der, Black bla-a-a-der, mumble mumble mumble la da da-a-a!"

While talking about King Solomon requesting wisdom from God, we asked the primary kids what *they* would ask for, if they could have anything at all.  Some of the answers were expected- more wishes, to be rich, to have a self-cleaning house (I really liked that last wish myself).  One of the kids blurted out, "I want a pretty pony!" which made me laugh so hard I couldn't write it on the chalkboard!

I used the yarn of doom and started knitting socks today.  I left everything in a neat pile by the couch, and took a nap.  While I was napping, Jared took the kids to the park, leaving me alone in the house, asleep.  Somebody (we don't know who) apparently snuck into the house and made a spider-web with the sock yarn.  If we had cats, there would be no mystery.  But we have dogs, and they are unable to open doors as of yet.  The yarn was wound all around the piano legs, kitchen chairs, and table, which forced me to frog *another* pair of socks.  This creeped Jared out a bit, but it made me laugh.  He thinks it was a person.  I know that it's the yarn.  Cursed yarn!

Gratitude List:
* Funny random things to make me laugh.
* I had to speak in church today, and I survived!
* My family.
* Yarn.  Even if it *is* cursed yarn
* A violin duet played by 2 14-year-olds that was beautiful enough to bring tears to my eyes.
* God.
* home-made chocolate chip cookies.

Looking

We are now looking, officially and with money in our hands, for a house.  We spent most of today driving around with our realtor, and discussing the pros and cons of each house/property we viewed.  I completely fell in love with an older (1930's era) home on 2 acres, but the floor plan was absolutely not workable for our family.  *sniffs sadly*  It would be the perfect home for a grandma, though.  The upstairs bedroom has closets built under the attic eaves, and they are perfect playing places for kids!  Anyway, after spending about 5 hours walking through multiple houses and properties, we think we've narrowed it down to 3 very different houses.  2 are move-in ready, with about 1/4 acre lots.  1 is a huge fixer-upper with 2 acres of property.  And we really want the larger property, but we'll have to see. 

Oh, and the dishwasher needs another vacation.  It's given up removing anything from our dishes.  *sigh* So it's back to hand-washing dishes again. 

Gratitude List:
* all puppies are healthy and reasonably well-behaved.
* all kids are also healthy and reasonably well-behaved. ;)
* There is a nice, cool breeze blowing through my house, and I'm pretty sure I'm done with the A/C until next summer.
* Gorgeous mountain views outside my windows.
* We are financially able to look at purchasing a house.
* My house is reasonably clean.
* My kitchen sinks are shiny clean.
* I'm caught up on laundry again (this is a direct result of having kids in school all day).
* I had a delicious dinner last night, cooked by my oldest son, with a little supervision from me.
* God is good, and I am blessed to have a life that I enjoy.

Out of hiding

Summer hasn't been the best time for blogging this year.  We have been away from home, and altogether too busy when at home.  And, not that the hustling will disappear, but it will be structured differently once school begins.  I have a 7th grader.  This year will be full of new experiences: our first time with multiple teachers (one per class), and different lunch schedules, and this year he'll be leaving almost an hour before his siblings, and be back an hour earlier as well.  Oh, and he'll be wearing his snazzy new glasses.  Yes, my oldest child needs glasses.  *sigh* And he's up to my height now.

Morgen has yet to find out who her 5th grade teacher is.  I don't have her user name or password (and the ones she remembers aren't working), and this is incredibly frustrating to her.  All of her friends know their teachers.  Plus she got sunburned at the lake on Friday, and is grumpy about that as well.

Hyrum's teacher sent us a nice letter, along with information to fill out for their VIP week.  He's all set, and excited to be seeing his friends again. 

I am a bit nervous.  I've been teaching the 9-10 year olds at church, with Jared.  We team teach, and take turns attending the adult class.  Last week, I was asked to accept a different calling.  I am now the 'person in charge' of the 12-13 year old girls.  This is intimidating and a bit scary for me.  I know this is what I'm supposed to be doing; I felt God's spirit approving this.  But the last time I was in this program was when I was one of the 12-year-old girls!  I very vaguely remember that age, and I am overwhelmed.  Thank goodness that my Heavenly Father has promised me the support and strength I am going to need!

Okay, family stuff:  we had our last Family Reunion of the year.  This one is for my maternal grandfather's parents and all their descendants.  We had a wonderful visit, and I saw some cousins I haven't seen in awhile.  My great-uncle Calvin shared some of the mischief that he and Glen got into as children, and told some funny stories about the family.  I am so glad to have that connection to my ancestors. 

Saturday, Jared and I spent a few hours driving around and looking at houses.  We looked at the houses that are currently available, and came up with two different game plans.  We found some lovely houses at the bottom of our budget, and they are all between 1/4 and 1/3 of an acre.  We also found a few houses that come with 2-10 acres of land.  Those are right at the top of our budget, or slightly over it, which would make it harder for us to meet our other financial goals.  So right now we're debating what would be the best decision for our family.  But *squealing for joy* we are finally looking for a house to BUY!!!  Hooray!

**this is in no way a solicitation for anything; just a way to let y'all know that you are welcome to participate in any way you feel is appropriate.  Myles' birthday is Sept 29th.  He would be 4 years old.  We're planning to take some new clothing to the LDS Church's Humanitarian Aid Center in Salt Lake City, Utah as a way to honor and remember our angel boy.**

Gratitude List:
* School begins on Thursday.  I am beyond thrilled to have a reliable and safe school environment for my kids.
* My new calling in the Young Women's organization. 
* The overwhelming love I have felt today from my Lord, Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father.
* A husband who loves and supports me.  He is truly a gift in my life.
* I know I will see my son Myles again in heaven.
* I have 3 beautiful children to raise.
* My family isn't perfect, but I have no doubts that they love me and support me.
* Cooler temps here, and not as much need for the A/C.  This is balanced by the fact that we will soon need the heater on.
* Lots of lovely food to eat.
* Paper!  I love that we have so much paper to draw on, take notes on, make awesome paper airplanes with, wad up and throw at our siblings in church... Okay, maybe not that last one.
* Books.  I love books.
* All the music that is free, or that I can purchase.  Sometimes I feel spoiled by how much is available. 

Thankful

Just a quick post, because we've had a lot of rain (for our area) today, and I am grateful for the water.  I miss those sudden rainstorms that we had all the time in Iowa.  I love the smell of the air right after a rainstorm. 

Puppies are all vaccinated, and *sniff sniff* ready to head out to their new homes this weekend.  They're also in the garage right now, as it is a bit chilly outside, and I could see them shivering when I went out earlier.  With all the rain today, it was actually too cold to have the A/C on!  But the storm is over, for now, and the sun is shining, and life is pretty good.

Gratitude List:
* Rain!  We can always use rain here :)
* Puppies who are cute and cuddly, and who are also learning how to climb stairs and dig holes and get into the neighbors' yards ... (this age is where I am reminded why we don't keep all the puppies ourselves)
* A reliable car.
* Allergy shots.  I've been taking them for almost 2 years now, and I am much less prone to allergy attacks.  Now if I could only do something about those mosquitoes...
* Good music on my ipod.
* lots of kids to play with mine.
* Good friends and neighbors.
* Audiobooks.  They make car trips almost fun!
* A loving and supportive extended family.
* I have 3 healthy, relatively happy, children.
* I am still taller than Walker (barely)!
* God is good.

Downstairs

Right now, it is hot outside.  Just for the afternoon, and there are plenty of cool spaces to retreat to, but it means that our downstairs is getting more use.  There are blocks to build cities and weapons and vehicles, there are movies to watch while curled up on the couch with a blanket, and a punching bag to attack.  But outside, well, there are puppies outside.  :)  Puppies like this one:

and this one:

So, every morning, while it is still cool, I hear yips from puppies and kids outside in the back yard.  We still have all 7; at least until next Saturday.  They are growing up too quickly :( and will soon be leaving us for their new families.  In the meantime, we get to play with them, just to get them used to people ;).

One of the puppies has had an eye infection.  We have to administer eye drops 3 times a day, and he's such a calm thing, he lays in my arms and holds still while I squeeze the drops into his eye.  The infection is almost gone, thank goodness! 

So far, we have names for all the puppies.  Most of the names reflect their markings: One-stripe, Two-stripe, Angel Wings, Goose-goose, Hammer Butt, and Heart Head.  One of the males is Buffness (because he is still obviously the biggest puppy), even though he has a mark on his rear end that looks like a pistol.  Anyway, we're trying not to be too upset that we cannot keep them all.  *sigh* 

Gratitude List:
* I have a wreath on my door.  A $1 willow form from the dollar store, plus 2 fat quarters of red material and some left-over yarn, and I have a nice looking wreath!  Bonus is that I didn't have to spend much money on it- just an hour of my time. (and no, it isn't centered in the picture.  I fixed that afterwards)

* Audible books :) and the opportunity to listen to all sorts of books while I am working out or cleaning or knitting. 
* Kids who are old enough to clean up after themselves, and who don't whine (much) about it when they're reminded by their mother.
* Having a delicious dinner last night of crawdads, grilled chicken, and lots of fresh corn on the cob.  I love summertime!
* That my husband is a good cook, and that he cooks frequently.
* Enough craft supplies to keep my children busy for at least a year.
* A clothes washer, so I don't have to scrub them by hand.
* That I can actually keep indoor plants alive (sort of).  If I see them every day, I will eventually remember to water them ;)
* I have a wonderful husband, and three beautiful strong children, and they are all healthy.
* knitting supplies and a knitting community to keep me inspired.
* page kits for scrapbooking.  I finished 4 pages yesterday!
* Kind friends and family, who offer love and support.
* I am so blessed in my life.
* God is good.

Two things

Well, actually, there are four things :) but two *groups* of things, so that's how I came to the "two things" title. 

Thing(s) one:

I have started these socks several times. (it's okay if you don't see socks up there.  I do, and that's all that matters right now)  First, there was an attempt to cast on two socks onto two circular needles.  That failed miserably.  Then there was a cuff-down attempt at one sock on one circular needle.  I accidentally pulled my (size 2mm) needles OUT of the sock, which resulted in another fail.  Third came the toe-up socks knit one on each circular, but consecutively.  I had one sock completed, and the other sock finished up to the rib cuff, when I decided that the fit was wrong, and I could fix that if I frogged *both* socks, and *started again*.  No, I am not insane.  (and no, I have not been professionally assessed.  It's purely a personal observation here.) 

Soooo, this time I am knitting two socks toe-up on two circular needles.  Success #1: casting on both socks correctly, and remembering what kind of cast-on to use, and how many stitches I decided I wanted to begin with, *and* how I wanted to increase to make the socks less "wicked witch of the north's shoes" -looking at the toes.  Success #2: I accidentally pulled 1/2 of one of the socks off my (size 2mm) needles.  But, I was able to thread the needle back through all 29 stitches, and continued my knitting without saying *one*single*curse*word* out loud.  Hah! (and no, I'm not telling you what I was thinking at the time, although the immediate oral ingestion of chocolate was quite helpful.)

Thing(s) two:

These pictures have been on my scrapbooking table for 2 weeks now.  I couldn't think of what I wanted to do with them, aside from sticking them onto paper with adhesive, that is...  So they sat, and mocked me, and I avoided that craft room for *days* just so I wouldn't feel the pain of my design defeat.  But today, well, today was different.  I remembered that I had saved some stickers from another Easter page I did back before I moved to Utah.  (that would make these stickers at *least* 7 years old, BTW)  And, after I found them again, I remembered some paper that I *thought* might coordinate, also in my stash, along with some matching ribbons.  One hour later, I had a decent (IMO) LO done, and the mocking had ceased.  I even added journaling :)

So, while yesterday was a long and grumpy day, and nobody but me is to blame for that, today has been a sunny, productive, and quite satisfying day.  And it's only 3:30pm.  Things can only get better  

...I hope


Gratitude List:
* I have a huge amount of crafting supplies, and an entire (if quite small) room to store them in.
* Puppies are all healthy, and surviving the neighborhood children fine.  (even the puppy who was dropped on the cement, and landed on her head.)
* The garbageman came today.  (we had a *lot* of stuff for him, and he took it all, bless his heart!)
* The three (or sometimes four) weeks that we have really hot weather makes the A/C unit extremely popular right now.
* I told Morgen I'd pay her to clean up after the puppies, and she did.  She washed out the plastic insert for their kennel (covered in puppy poo), picked up more puppy poo from their day-time enclosure, and gave all seven of them *baths* (okay, that may have been a little above and beyond what I was expecting).  *And* she was cheerful about it!
* The local library, which allows us to come every single week and check out books for *free*.  (plus, they have A/C.)
* Today, I did something that will *stay* done.  Unlike the laundry, and the dishes, and the vacuuming...
* Prayer.  It works.
* God is good.

Family Fun

Friday we met up with Jared's brother Nate and his family, along with Jared's parents, and went out to eat.  We went swimming after dinner, which the kids all loved!  I think they must be part fish :)

Then we had ice cream cake and celebrated Morgen's birthday (a little bit late). 

Here's my favorite picture from their Uintah backpacking trip:

They ended up leaving a day early, even though the fishing was pretty good.  There were too many mosquitoes, and not enough DEET spray to scare the nasty bloodsuckers away. 

Gratitude List:
* Family who will make time to visit with us at the last minute :)
* Kids who like to play with their much younger cousins.
* good food
* portable knitting projects
* Everyone is reasonably healthy and happy, and admits that they had a good time.
* Puppies! 

* Faith in God and His plan for me.
* Good music :)

More crafty goodness

When we returned from our San Francisco trip, I discovered that the internet was not functioning.  Fortunately, I can check emails from my phone, but reading blogs and posting things to my blog and/or craft groups is not something I enjoy doing from my phone.  So, Monday last week the repairman came and replaced the modem.  Success!  and I was reconnected to my online community.  I uploaded all my photos, and posted to my blog, and knit and scrapbooked some projects. (I haven't stopped scrapbooking.  I did spend almost a year working only on cards, and picked up working on my LOs again in May.)  Anyway, I took pics of my recently completed LOs to post, and the internet was down again.  Obviously, it is working once more, thanks to a Saturday visit by the repairman.  And now, the proof of my scrapbooking efforts:


These are 3 LOs I completed before my SF trip.  :)

Pictures of Morgen with her lizard, Perky.

Pictures of us sledding/tubing down a nearby hill.

Pictures of us doing family things.

I have also been knitting, though :).  I started this hat:

on Saturday.  We had planned to be at a family reunion all day, but Hyrum threw up right as we were serving breakfast (he'd only had orange juice, so not a completely disgusting mess), and I ended up leaving Morgen with my in-laws and taking Hyrum home.  And, being completely bored, I decided to try to knit a baby hat for the baby shower I was attending Saturday evening.  I had to take several breaks (internet repairman coming, laundry for the upcoming hike into the Uintahs, etc), but I managed to almost complete the hat.  I had a few decreasing rows left, and I needed to weave in the yarn ends once I finished the knitting.  But, it was time to go to the shower, so I packed it up (along with the "real" gift I'd purchased for my friend's baby), and headed over to Salt Lake City.  Normally the drive is about an hour.  I gave myself an hour and 15 minutes, and thought I could finish up the hat after I arrived, and tuck it into the gift bag.  Sadly, I ran into a HUGE traffic delay.  As in, it took me 70 minutes to travel 15 miles.  I have seen traffic like this before.  I was in California.  This sort of thing NEVER happens to me here!  (except that it obviously did on Saturday)  Fortunately, I had my knitting, so I finished the hat while I was waiting in the car, and was only an hour late to the shower.  See, there was something good about the delay :)


Then, today I decided to rearrange my small stash of yarn.  I wanted to get a better idea of what kinds/how much I have, and I knew I had a few partial balls left over from projects.  This is what I'm working on now:

It's a stash-busting scarf, made on ridiculously big needles (size 15 american, or 10mm), with two strands of DK-weight yarn.  I have no idea who will be receiving this gorgeous work, but I'm sure they will be thrilled and humbled when it is presented to them. 


Gratitude List:
* Jared made dinner today :)
* fresh chard from my in-laws' garden
* a great (if shorter than I expected) visit w/family at the family reunion Saturday.
* Walker had an excellent experience at Scout Camp this year.
* My internet is working again!
* A new podcast about knitting ( Sticks & String ).
* Knitting to do when traffic delays prevent me from reaching my destination as planned.
* Scripture stories that inspire me to be a better person.
* Lovely weather today :)
* Cute puppies, and cute kids that wrap them up in old dishtowels "just in case" they get cold.
* My family.
* My friends, and the opportunity to visit with a few of them last night.
* God is good.
* I am blessed.

Summertime continued...

***back from karate, and temporarily ignoring both the huge pile of laundry and the adorable puppies***
When I knew we were spending 2 weeks in San Francisco, I did some (okay, a LOT) of research, and ended up buying a CityPass for myself and each of the kids.  Total was about $180, and we switched out the tour of the Bay to a tour of Alcatraz Island.  (It's a listed alternative, but we had to pick up the passes from Alcatraz Tours.)  Anyway, this gave us tickets to 5 different attractions, with some of them being choices between two or more different venues, like the tour of the Bay OR the tour of Alcatraz.  We didn't care for the Aquarium on the Bay- too small, and not a lot of things to see.  We also skipped the Museum of Modern Art.  I wanted to go, but nobody else was interested.  From experience :) I know that trying to enjoy anything with reluctant children is impossible, and very often painful, and so I removed that from my "List of Things to See."  Overall, though, the 3 attractions we enjoyed (Tour of Alcatraz Island, California Exploratorium, and California Academy of Science) were more than worth the price we paid (total admission price for an adult= $67).  Plus, the free week of bus/cable car rides was a nice perk!  

Now, back to the pictures :)

As you can see, I am having difficulty posting vertical pics again.  Happens every time Blogger or Picasa updates, so bear with me :)  I'll try to stick to horizontals for this post, but needed to have one pic from the Exploratorium, and this was the best of the pics I had.  Huge warehouse, full of hands-on activities for all ages.  Seriously, all ages- adults without kids (normal ones, not just the creepy pedophile-looking ones that seem to haunt all children's attractions here in the USA), teenagers, toddlers, and of course family groups.  We spent over 4 hours in that building, and STILL didn't make it to all the exhibits.  The only complaint I have is that the food they sell is expensive, and while I understand that organic free-range chicken is worth more money, I wasn't sure it was worth that much more.  So we left when the kids were more interested in eating than in staying to play.  This was an awesome place.  It was well-run, and interesting, and EVERYTHING was hands-on.  (plus they had a fiber section, with real people weaving, spinning, and fluffing fleece.  That totally made my day!)  I don't know if I would ever get tired of visiting the Exploratorium, as long as I could bring my own lunch :).

This is China Beach.  Behind the kids, you can sort of see the pilings of the Golden Gate Bridge through the fog.  Beautiful, slightly chilly, day at the beach.  We had this entire cove to ourselves :) which made for lots of screaming and chasing of siblings.  Everybody had what they most wanted here.  Walker had plenty of space to build a huge sand/rock castle, and chase his brother and sister around.  Morgen found some crabs, and built them a crab house.  Hyrum got to run and play and found several long sticks he used as swords, and as rather long pencils to write things in the sand.  And me?  Well, I got to see my kids having a wonderful time, and I also got to knit, peacefully, for a few hours.  Bonus: the parking was free :). 

No pictures of this next event, but a lovely family from the church we attended while in CA invited us over for dinner after the service.  We didn't know them, and they didn't know us, but it was a delicious dinner, and we had a lot to talk about.  My kids played nicely with theirs, and it was much better than hanging around our hotel room and watching the TV.  There are nice people everywhere, it seems!

Jared was able to come with us to the California Academy of Sciences.  Again, a wonderful place, although their exhibits lean more to "look and learn" than "interact and learn."  This pic was the funniest (to me) part of our experience there:

 That is my husband's head, and yes, that is a butterfly perched on top of his hat.  It stayed there through several levels, and we finally managed to remove it (gently, of course!) when we took the hat off Jared's head so Hyrum could get a better view of the butterfly.  It didn't like the downward movement of the hat, I guess. 

That pretty much sums up our SF trip.  Lots of riding the BART, and walking around SF, and beaches, and swimming at the hotel pool.  We had an exciting surprise waiting for us when we got home, too!  Our dog had her puppies, a bit early, (and the neighbor who was feeding her did let us know when they arrived) and they were waiting in the garage with their mom when we got home. 

Kachina had 7 beautiful, healthy puppies.  4 females (2 liver/white, 2 orange/white) and 3 males (all orange/white).  She is doing well, if a bit ragged from the constant feeding and cleaning her pups require.  The puppies are growing too fast :) and as you can see, are well-fed and content.  They are currently the star attraction for my kids, all of whom can be found petting and holding their favorites when they should really be cleaning up their rooms.   

Moving on...  Here are some of the things I've been knitting on this summer.  There are several dishcloths, mostly the waffle-weave pattern. 

That's because 1-I have the pattern memorized, and 2-dishcloths travel easily.  I am also working on this blanket:

I have entered the "black hole" stage of knitting (see the YarnHarlot's explanation for this very technical knitting term) with this project.  Actually, I'm debating whether I should pretend that I actually meant to make a beautiful, if rather rectangular, shawl.  Then I could cast off and call it finished.  :)  But I haven't quite used up all the skeins I bought for this project, and (amazingly enough) the yarn is still available for purchase (although I may have jinxed myself by typing that just now), which more or less means that I feel obligated to continue knitting.  Even though, no matter how many times I measure it, it is still as big as it was two skeins ago.  Like I said, black hole.

Now, this week has been much more quiet than normal, as my oldest son is at scout camp until Saturday.  In order to attend, he had to get a physical, and the results of that are: 63.5 inches, 106 pounds; completely healthy, quite tall for his age, and a bit under the ideal weight for his height.  I am not quite sure how my cute little 8-pound baby got to be so big, so quickly.  But I am grateful that he is clever and independent, and not afraid of hard work or new experiences. 

Gratitude List:
* 3 healthy, happy, intelligent children.
* 7 healthy puppies and a healthy mother
* Jared is working at his base this month, so no traveling for him, or us.
* Next week is the back-packing trip in the Uintah Mountains, and all the kids are old enough to go! 
* Morgen and Hyrum have played several games (without me suggesting any of them), and they are playing ther one right now, nicely, and having a wonderful time. :)
* We have gorgeous weather today- hot during the day, but cool in the morning, evening, and all night long.
* I tried 2 new knitting patterns for dishcloths, and they both worked out like they were supposed to.
* I've gotten a lot of scrapbooking in this summer, and I think I found my groove :) again.
* Audiobooks for long drives with my children.
* Good music, and interesting podcasts, and an ipod to store them.
* Wonderful friends and neighbors, and a loving and supportive family.
* A husband who has a great job, and who loves and supports me and our family.
* Enough food to eat, clothing to wear, and a house to shelter our family.
* God is good. 
* I am blessed.

Summertime is...

Well, I've made it almost a month without killing or selling any of my children :)  We spent two weeks in San Francisco, courtesy of Jared's work.  He was acting as back-up to another scientist on a military unit based in Northern California, so he had to ... WORK ... while we were there.  And I could write an entire essay on all the fun things we did, but I'll limit myself to pictures.  You can thank me later.

We spent time at different beaches- this was at Half-Moon Bay. Each of my kids decided they were too cold, and then buried themselves in the sand to get warm. Then they complained all the way back to the motel that they were itchy. Wow, that's a big surprise :)

We also spent a day hanging with my SIL, who was in California the same week we were. :)  We went to the Aquarium (awfully small for the large admission fee), then wandered around the city and found a neat little Japanese stationery/toy store.  I may or may not have bought several of these kits there:

They're addicting! And the kits come with instructions, mostly written in Japanese, with lots of pictures and arrows (good for the non-Japanese-speaking customers).  They are also a great distraction for long car trips (say, from San Francisco to Salt Lake City), and you can make 3-D things with them.

This is our family on a hike we took through Coyote Hills.  Notice that Walker is almost as tall as I am.  He really is, too.  *sigh* I have exactly 1/4" of height on him, but I'm betting that will not last out the summer.  Darn it.  I really thought that, given my height and Jared's, my children would stay shorter than I am for quite a while.  I am doomed to disappointment in this area, it seems.

***interrupted to take kids to karate :) but I'll finish up in the next post...

Oh dear

Well, the last day of school is tomorrow (gulp), and I am excited to have the summer to spend w/my kids!  But, and this is pretty big, I am also worried about keeping them out of mischief.  You know, the endless whine of "I'm bored," really means "I need a job!"  So I am compiling a list of jobs for my kids to do.  We have a couple of trips planned this summer- one to visit my in-laws, and one to San Francisco.  That one will be cool, if I can just figure out what sorts of things we should be looking to do there.  I've already ruled out the nude beach...

Our dog is definitely pregnant.  She's beginning to waddle, poor thing, and mostly she wants to sleep in her kennel all day.  I am sympathetic, because I remember that feeling.  Her puppies are due the end of June, and the whole family is excited to see them already.

I finished my socks.  Well, I completely finished one, and finished the other one to the leg.  Then I looked at my finished sock, and while I was proud that I finished it, I didn't really like how it looked or fit.  So I frogged it :) and I'm starting it over again!  Jared shook his head when I told him about that.  But I did learn a lot from the experience, so even though I have no socks to show for it, the time wasn't wasted. 

Gratitude List:
* I am so glad I only had one child at a time, and that I won't be getting pregnant again (barring Divine intervention, that is).
* Puppies.  They're adorable, once they stop pooping on each other!
* Summer is finally sort of here.  It is still in the 50's in the morning, evening, and all night, but temperatures during the day hit 80 degrees this week!
* swimsuits that are comfortable and flattering, at the same time.
* IKEA- I love to walk around inside that store, and I almost always see somebody I know there.  No, it isn't in my neighborhood at all, so it does require a special trip.  But that brings up my next "thankful for" item:
* Driving in my car by myself.  I am in control of the radio, and I can roll the windows down if I want to.
* Computers, the internet, and my iPhone.
* My husband.
* Kids who can cook.
* My family is awesome :)
* Good friends and neighbors. 
* God.  I can feel His presence in my life, and I am so grateful for that.

Whew!

Well, we made it through soccer season without anybody going insane [that would be me].  However, I have to say that I don't enjoy being that busy.  It wasn't so bad last fall, when the fields were near each other but on different sides of the complex.  That was a 5-minute walk, or a 2-minute run, to get from one game to the next.  But this year, the games were at different locations- about a 5 minute drive away from each other, but I had to add another 7 minutes for getting out of the parking lot at one place, and back into the parking lot at the other place.  Anyway, with karate going on Monday and Wednesday, and soccer on Monday [practice], Tuesday [game], Friday [practice], and Saturday [game], plus piano lessons on Saturday, I think I'm burned out on kids' activities for a while.  We're going to keep going to karate- we have optional classes on Tues/Thurs that I want my kids to participate in, both for the exercise and because they teach different techniques and styles on those days.  But I'm not doing soccer again.  Not this way, anyway. 

We have had such beautiful weather the last few days- it's always cool in the mornings [that would be the result of less humidity in the air to hold the heat, plus being up so high above sea level], but it warms up quickly and we usually get a light, cool breeze in the afternoons.  It's just perfect for walking around outside!  Today is looking cloudy, and while I appreciate the water, I wish we could schedule that for the night-time, and enjoy our sunshine all day long :)

Still knitting- I have 2 socks on needles right now, and I'm feeling pretty good about what I've done so far.  This is my first pair, and it has definitely been a challenge.  I'm using small needles [2.5mm] and light-weight yarn, which means I have about 11 stitches per inch of knitting.  That's a pretty small gauge, and compared with the chunky yarn I use for hats [that knits up about 3 1/2 stitches per inch], it's rather slow progress.  I am seeing visible progress, though, so I'm enjoying it.

I found "Bones" on Netflix the other night.  I enjoy it :) but I sure wish I could show it to my kids.  They love mysteries, and puzzles, and would like this show, I'm sure.  I'm just not comfortable with the bodies in situ, before the bones are cleaned.  Seeing all the burned, dismembered, and otherwise mutilated bodies is sometimes too much for me, and I have to listen to the audio instead of watching the show during that point.  LOL, we're working our way through the BBC's "Miss Marple" series instead.

Gratitude List:
* Rain [even if it is inconveniently timed] so my plants can drink.
* Gorgeous bulbs that are blooming in my kitchen window, and reminding me that springtime is here, even if it is snowy just up the hill.
* Movies to watch in my basement while I finish tying a quilt.
* Figuring out a new knitting recipe [for those socks] and having challenges enough to keep me interested without frustrating me to the point of quitting :)
* Finding a new TV show I like to watch.
* I'm still enjoying my iphone.
* Putting on a pair of pants, and realizing that I've lost an inch around my waist.  Hooray for exercise!
* Having Jared here for a whole week :)
* My new vacuum really sucks LOL, which is a good thing in vacuums.
* I have a dryer, so I don't have to drape my wet laundry all over my house to dry it.
* I have plenty of food [probably too much of that], clothes to keep me warm, cars that work, and we are all healthy.
* God is good, and I am blessed. 

Serendipity

Surprises, in general, are not my favorite thing.  I am a planner, a list-maker, and a researcher-of-vacation-spots.  I deal much better with things when I feel like I know what to expect- not that anybody can fully prepare for anything.  Anyway, there are very few things I consider a "good" surprise, and one of them happened yesterday!

My sister lives in Iowa, near Iowa City, and she called me and wanted to know if she could stop by and visit us for a few hours.  She was unexpectedly in town, and I was thrilled to be able to see her and her kids :)

We cleared our family schedule, which meant we missed a few planned events, but nothing earth-shattering.  We got to play frisbee, Cooties [well, that was more of a Cooties war than an actual game], and Sorry! and used the air hockey table to host an air hockey tournament.  We topped it off with brownies and ice cream, and wished that they could stay longer.  [IMO, wishing the visit could last longer is the mark of a good visit]

Those sort of surprises I love.  :)

Gratitude List:
* leftover brownies for breakfast!
* A beautiful, sunny day today.
* Jared is in town this week, which means I get to see him every single night.  That's a good thing.
* Free iPhone apps.  Even if most of them are used to tempt you into buying the "full version" app, I love trying them out.
* I found a flattering swimsuit for our summer trip to San Francisco.  The "hunting for the suit" was frustrating, which made it so much more rewarding when I finally succeeded.  AND, it was on sale.
* Seeing my sister, and her kids, and watching my kids play with their cousins.
* Making progress on my UFO list.  The tree skirt is all pieced, and only needs to be quilted before I sew the binding on it.
* Dandelions.  I know they spread like, well, weeds, but they are so bright and cheerful they make me smile anyway.
* A new vacuum with suction that works.
* Laundry directly from the dryer, still warm and soft.
* Netflix instant play option- except that I dither for 30 minutes before I find something I want to watch!
* God is good.
* I am blessed.

iphone

you phone, we all phone from our cell phones!  Okay, not the best rhyme [rather lame, actually], but I do have a new phone!  Same phone number [thank goodness], but different provider- AT&T- and, it is an iPhone!  So much fun to play with...

So, I was paying for wireless back-up of all my phone information.  However, when I signed up for it, Sprint only required that I be signed into my sprint account online to access the information.  After my phone died, I tried to access that back-up information online, and discovered that Sprint now required an additional password to access my wireless back-up.  Since I didn't choose the password, Sprint assigned one to me.  However, they never sent me any information about the password.  When I tried to reset the password online, the computer program sent the new password to my PHONE. [yes, that would be the one that is dead and never coming back to life].  Well, I thought if I called I might have better luck.  Hah.  Nope.  There was no person with the power to reset my password and send that info anywhere except my phone.  Not even the email address, or the other phone line on the account, was an acceptable option.  AARGH!

Long story short, after 5 hours on the phone with Sprint, I decided I would rather rot than give them any more of my money.  So I have a new iPhone [so fun!!!] and the same phone number.  My phone is sad and lonely, however, without all the contact information for my friends :(  Which means, if you would be so kind as to call me or email me with your phone numbers, I would be forever grateful!  And I am also being slightly more prepared this time, and backing that information up myself in 2 different places besides my phone.  Thank you.

Gratitude List:
* that I have a new phone
* we are all healthy and reasonably happy
* Jared is home this week!
* sort of spring weather again- no snow, and dandelions galore on our lawn
* I am so blessed in my life.
* God

I didn't mean...

I really didn't mean to take such a long break from the blog!  We've had some interesting things going on, starting with several trips away for Jared.  He had fun, but missed us.  We missed him, and started soccer in addition to karate, leaving Fridays and Sundays as our only non-sports-containing days. We are spending a lot of time driving places, and not so much time tucked away at home.

Then there was our exciting and very windy trip to Goblin Valley over spring break.  The wind [hah! maybe in honor of "spring BREAK?!?"] broke our tent pole the first night.  Our metal tent pole.  The one holding up the corner that I happened to be sleeping in.  Yep. That was thrilling.  So was the constant dust blowing into the tent, my clothing, my hair and eyes, oh, and my knitting.  Excitement all over.  Totally makes me grateful for solid walls and a washer and dryer.  Oh, and for hot running water, and a mattress, and wool socks.  Now, I realize that this sounds like I didn't enjoy myself.  I did, really I did!  I just think that normal camping stuff isn't as entertaining as the unexpected camping stuff.  So.  On our way out of Goblin Valley, we took a hike down Wild Horse Canyon, thinking it connected to Bell Canyon, and planning to hike back up Bell Canyon and over to our car.  Surprisingly, Wild Horse Canyon never met up with Bell, leaving us to retrace our footsteps back out.  Gorgeous slot canyon, BTW, even with the unexpected twist.  Turns out that LITTLE Wild Horse Canyon is the one that connects with Bell Canyon.  And isn't that surprising?  Two 'wild horse' canyons and they're within a mile or so of each other.  Oh, and FYI: when hiking slot canyons with your 4-legged friends, please be prepared to lift and hoist [or drop and catch] them in the places that have hand-holds but no paw-holds.  Thank you.  Also.  If you're a thirty-five-year-old woman who hasn't back-packed in a few years, please expect that your hips will burn with the fire of all those skipped workouts after you hike for 5 hours with a moderately heavy [30 pounds or so] backpack full of things you really didn't need in the first place.  Like your almost-12-year-old son's extra water bottle [full], and your knitting [which didn't weigh much, but was also completely unnecessary].

The same week we returned from Goblin Valley, Jared took Walker out to the north field to drag it.  Basically, cow poop dries as it gets older, and the grass cannot grow up through it, and dies underneath it, leaving all sorts of dead spots in your pasture.  Nasty things, dead spots.  Anyway, if you drag a metal grate behind your car, you can break up those dried-up cow poop piles, and then the grass grows nicely all spring and summer.  Walker got to drive the car.  He didn't hit anything.  Jared also drove the car.  He hit the fence.  *giggling*

Sometime between the pasture and the slot canyon, our dog lacerated the webbing between her first and second toes on her left front paw.  I took her into the vet, who sedated her and x-rayed her paw to ensure there was no bone infection.  Then she cleaned out the paw, stitched it up, and wrapped it good.  Lucky Kachina also got a "cone of shame"  [if you haven't seen the movie, UP, you should.  just for that, and the squirrels] so she wouldn't undo all the work that the vet did to fix her paw.  We had planned to drop her off at the breeder's house, and get her pregnant, which meant I asked the vet about seventeen times if Kachina would be all right to be bred, or if we should wait until she goes into heat again.  Thankfully our vet is quite patient, and reassured me, seventeen times, that our dog would be just fine, and we could safely breed her.  I'm sure that made Kachina so happy :).  BTW, she is home again, and the paw looks fine.  I've been giving her antibiotics in pieces of sausage, which she takes like the angel she really is.

While she was at the breeder's, we had Walker's 12th birthday.  Yes, that would be my oldest child, who is less than two inches shorter than I am.  *sigh* Where did all that time go?  Walker had an interesting 'day of birth' this year- first, he "got" to attend a karate belt test event for his brother and sister [not his first choice for a birthday celebration]. Then, while we were at the karate testing, he heard that his aunt had a baby girl [Eliza Kate] on his birthday- that was probably his favorite present this year! And, it snowed. He was less than thrilled about the snow. He did get to choose a restaurant for us to eat at, as a way for me to make up for the 'no birthday party until Sunday when we can have a huge celebration with dad actually here as well as family and friends.' Oh, and Hyrum and Morgen skipped a level in their testing [because they've worked hard and actually know the forms they needed to know] and both earned their gold belts. Yippee!!


Sunday last week, we invited all our relatives over, plus a few people who helped Walker as neighbors, friends, and scout leaders.  [when boys turn 12 in our church, they can- after an interview with their church leader to see if they're ready and able to handle the responsibility- be given the Aaronic Priesthood.  It's a pretty big deal.]  So, I had food cooked, and people bringing more food for the dinner afterwards, and lots of plans about what was supposed to happen that Sunday, and [of course] Jared got a call from work an hour before church, and had to report to his unit headquarters.  Things worked out, and he was able to drive his work truck back to the church in time to participate in Walker's ordination.  I'm calling this a miracle :)  We had a lot of good food, and wonderful visits with our family and friends. [those who could come, thank you!  those who couldn't, we missed you!]

Kachina is back home, and the vet says her paw is healing well.  It looks a lot better, and she isn't favoring it at all, thank goodness.  And, if the breeding took, we'll have puppies around the end of June.  Hooray! 

It snowed again last Wed.  which was the two-year anniversary of the day we lost Myles.  But that's a different post.  I'll just say that we are doing well as a family, and we miss him every day. 

With soccer, and piano, and karate, we're not home very often these days.  Thankfully, soccer season is quick- only 8 weeks- and we'll have a little more time to play when summer comes.  In the meantime, please don't call my cellphone [if you were planning on calling me anytime soon].  It had an unfortunate accident.  I'm not sure what, but I suspect it was having an affair with the vacuum, and they must have watched "Romeo and Juliet" because the vacuum died, and now my phone is also dead, of unknown causes.  And, because Sprint has this stupid rule about renewing contracts when you buy a new phone, I haven't replaced it yet.  *sigh* 

Tomorrow is soccer [again] and piano.  I'm hoping for warmer, snow-free weather :)

Gratitude List:
* an extra cellphone I can use in case I really do have an emergency.
* that my husband is calm, and doesn't care if I choose to buy an expensive cellphone to replace my old, dead one.
* that he also doesn't mind if I replace the old, dead vacuum :)
* we have good friends and wonderful family members, who are loving and supportive.
* I have a new niece!!!!!!!  [and she is absolutely adorable :)]
* all those modern conveniences [dishwasher, bed, central heat, solid sturdy walls and ceiling, washer/dryer, hot running water, cars...]
* I can go camping, and have a wonderful time, and then come back to my nice, modern home.
* my pioneer ancestors, who traveled across the ocean and most of the United States of America so I could live in a beautiful country with so many material blessings.
* cars that run, and run well.
* that an emergency trip to the vet is not a financial emergency [thank goodness for getting out of debt!]
* Kachina's paw is healing well, and we might [!!] be getting puppies in June :)
* Walker is 12 years old.
* online photo services, and 3-day mailing.
* trips to the temple.
* my parents are well.  So are my in-laws.  I'm thankful for their continued good health.
* God is good.

Short and sweet

Jared's home ;) for a bit, anyway, and we have spring break next week!  So, the days Jared isn't working we will be camping and hiking in lovely [during the day- it's downright creepy at night, though] Goblin Valley.  Today we loaded up on our camping supplies, and Jared double-checked all the equipment.  He's also cutting some firewood for us to take, since Goblin Valley is a state park, and there isn't much wood there anyway.  I am so excited, but I keep debating what to pack,  and wondering how many pairs of underwear I really need.  Because a ball of yarn is approximately the same size as my wadded up underclothes, and I really think the yarn will be more useful...

Also, is it wise to attempt to knit while hiking? 

I have actually knit while driving. [Nobody else was with me to stop me, though.  Or make fun of me, either.]  I was at an overly long stop light, and my knitting was right there, on top of my purse, and I got a whole row done!  I did put it down before attempting to steer.  But this brings me to another random point.  Jared and I both like to drive when we go on trips.  Sometimes we end up racing to the car and fighting over who gets into the driver's seat at rest stops, which is a lot more amusing for the other people watching us.  Anyway, I have realized that I would rather knit than drive, which [along with the discovery of audio books] has made a significant contribution to the peace- and safety- of our recent car trips. 

So. Gratitude List:
* All the snow that fell over Easter weekend has melted.  The grass is thinking about growing, and my daffodils are blooming.
* Jared is home. 
* Jared left his jacket in our bedroom, and I wore it :) because it smells like him.
* Walker got his 7th grade registration papers the other day.  Yes, he's growing up quickly.
* Oh, and Walker also brought home a report card: highest grade was an A, lowest was an A-.  I am so proud of him!
* Morgen got a great report card, and she also got a perfect attendance certificate for this past term!
* Hyrum also earned perfect attendance for this past term, and his report card was excellent.  Well, except for his handwriting.  That needs some work... :)
* I finished my last art class on Wednesday.  I'm sad to be done, but I already volunteered to teach next year, so I'm looking forward to that!
* Camping!  I know it's dirty, and we'll all smell funny when we get home, but I am excited for this trip. :)
* Wonderful spiritual messages from the prophet and other church leaders during our General Conference last week. 
* Watching my daughter take her lizard outside for some sun :)
* Family
* God

And snow returns

Not sure whose idea this was:

... the snow, I mean, not the kids hunting for Easter Eggs.  I know who to thank [blame?] for that.  A gentleman in our church group puts this hunt on each year, and invites all the neighborhood kids over on the Saturday before Easter Sunday.  We had fun, and the kids were excited about it, but Hyrum and Morgen had a hard time getting to some of the eggs, since they wore sandals!  

Currently, this is what I'm knitting on:
 

I tried to make a fingerless mitten about a month ago, and was less than pleased with it.  I frogged that mitten, and knit some dishcloths while I cleansed my knitting rage ;) at the non-cooperative yarn and pattern.  I found another pattern, altered it to work with the cables I wanted to include, and made notes of what I changed while I was knitting.  The last few times I've changed a pattern I've been sure I could remember the changes without writing them down.  This time [now I know better] I wrote down the changes on the pattern.   The first mitten is finished, and it fits!  I worked on it while I was listening to General Conference yesterday and today.  I have the second mitten on my needles now, and my goal is to finish that one before Jared gets back from New Mexico this week.

Hyrum was pretty upset that the Easter Bunny didn't leave eggs for him to find in our yard this year.  I told him that I thought the bunny must have left the snow instead.  That did not help.

Gratitude List:

* The wonderful, spiritual messages I have been blessed to hear this weekend as part of our church's semi-annual General Conference.

* My MIL had a health scare last week, but she is doing well, and home from the hospital.

* I love seeing new little green grass blades sticking out of the snow drifts.

* Spending today with my family, eating good food and playing fun games.

* Central heating for those unexpected April snowstorms.
* A lovely spontaneous visit with some good friends on Friday.  And no school for my kids, so they could come, too.
* Still loving the debt-free life!
* I finished a mitten, and it fits me!
* Art class is this week ;) and I'm already excited about our project.
* I found some lovely sock yarn on Saturday.  I bought it.  I have a [free] sock pattern, and this new project is going on my "to do" list.  Just because it's spring, and I would like to try knitting socks.
* No major allergy attacks this spring.  Maybe this is because there is still so much snow on the ground, but I'd like to think it is partially because those allergy shots are really working!
* I found some sheet music online that was no longer in print, and unavailable through my music store.  Bought it, downloaded it, and printed it- hooray!
* Beautiful weather.

* God is good.