Mason Family Christmas Letter 2008

Christmas 2008

To sum up. . .

Laena's a senior in high school, vice president of the girl's choir, and looking forward to college. Working again at MickeyD's, and dating King Julian.

Clinton is a junior this year, working at Pizza Hut, and studying 3D Animation at the Tech Center.

Eric is also in eleventh grade. He's working on his Eagle Scout project, a massive food drive, and enjoying his job at the local movie theater.

Tommy's over at the middle school. (I can't believe we have all these big kids!) He's been having fun tearing Charlie's 'parts truck' a-part, got his Life Scout rank, and started up piano lessons again.

Aleia is the life of the party, full of energy and excitement. She was recently picked to help lead the 3rd grade, as a chorister, in the Majestic Elementary Christmas sing-along! : )

Jefferson has started Kindergarten, loves to play with his friend Evan, and digs cars.

Lincoln, (aka The Binky), is growing up fast, learning how to talk, and climb, and make messes. : ) We love our Binky! What a cutie!

Charlie's finishing up school, for now, and Amy is ever holding down the fort here at home.

I'm thinking about taking a class or two in the spring, and Charlie's thinking about taking a break. : )

Between Scout Master responsibilities, the 7 kidlets, Coca-Cola, school, church, and household stuff, we would have to agree that we do have our hands full.

Happy Holidays! Love, The Mason Family

Christmas Eve!

My favorite day of the year! It's here! It's been a great day so far. . Laena is over at McDonald's, sporting her Daddy's very special Santa Claus hat, on loan from the man himself. : ) Charlie took all three big boys to work with him today. .  He'd volunteered to help merchandize at a local grocery store this morning. (Translation: pull product from the back room and stock the shelves.) The four of them dressed up, for a little while at least, in candy striped red and white Coca-Cola work shirts. It was a sight to see! Of course Tommy and Clint thought the shirts looked too much like. . pink. So that didn't last too long, but at least I got a picture! Charlie thought it would be good to get the boys up early, so they could experience the joy of distributing soda to the masses this Christmas! They blew through the drive-thru at MickeyD's, grabbed some sausage biscuits, hollered hello to Laena, and they were off! On their merry way. . : ) Working together as a family, and making some great memories! Aleia and I plan to paint our nails, and make cookies for Santa!  : )

Last night Charlie and I drove over to the Jordan River Temple. It's amazingly beautiful, silhouetted in stark brilliant relief against the black velvet of the winter night sky. It's all white, with vertical stained glass running from top to bottom. Love it! We then finished up some last minute Christmas shopping, while Laena babysat. Swung by and picked Eric up on our way home. It was perfect timing. He was just getting off work, and toting another enormous bag of theatre popcorn for Clint to use as 'cushion' for one of the presents he's still gotta wrap. . We might try to make a whole lot of popcorn balls with whatever's left over. . . : )

Contest Winner!

Finally! We've posted a video announcing the results of the Christmas Sweater Contest. Some lucky guy or gal will win a copy of our favorite radio talk show host Glenn Beck's latest publication, The Christmas Sweater, personally signed by the man himself. Yes, it will be a Merry Christmas! Signed, sealed, and delivered. And would the winner please contact me ASAP with his/her mailing address, so we can send him/her this lovely gift! Thanks again, and Happy Holidays!

Christmas Sweater Contest!

Some of you may have noticed the lovely red and white Glenn Beck ad/reference here on my blog. So pretty! So festively decorated! : ) Hey, what can I say? I'm a fan.

As luck would have it, I happen to have access to a signed copy of Glenn's fabulous new book, The Christmas Sweater, just recently released! I was planning on buying tickets to the corresponding simulcast here in a week or so, but in keeping with traditional December craziness, our girls' Choir concerts/sing-a-longs, by sheer coincidence, happen to land on the same 2 nights. ARGH! Needless to say, I have mixed emotions.

So all right, Glenn. . . You're pretty popular, ain't cha? Of course you are! People lining up all over the country to see your show . . You're a pretty cooI guy, right? I sure think so. : ) You brighten my chaotic afternoons! You're one of my favorite people. Radio show rocks!

So. . maybe we'll do a little contest, here on my blog. . to help ya out. As if you needed any. . . But I don't mind plugging your latest gift to mankind, because I'm just that kinda gal!  : )

How 'bout this: Everybody who leaves a comment, with their favorite quote, (be it inspirational or otherwise), here on my blog. . . will be entered in a fun little holiday contest! And who will win this signed copy of Glenn's fantastic new Christmas novel? The lucky person whose name my 6 year old picks out of a hat at the end of next week. Say, Friday night, December 19th? Be sure to check back for the video drawing!

All righty then! Sound good? Yeah, I thought so. : ) Who could pass up a chance like this? It's fabulous! A fun, entertaining, and inspirational holiday treat! Just leave your favorite quote, and your email, as an entry here in 'comments'!

Good luck to you all! Merry Christmas!

This Is Why . . Piano Lessons!

Christmas Concert

Last night we took the whole family to Laena's 'Winterlude' Choir Concert. It was beautiful and inspiring as usual. One of the most touching moments, however, was unexpected. You hear about this type of thing happening, you see it in movies, but only occasionally does something like this touch you personally.

About halfway through the concert, which was made up mostly of Christmas songs, Mr DeHaan, the instructor/director walked up to the mike and announced to everyone that one of his Madrigals, one of his most talented students, Jeff, had just been in a car accident and wouldn't be able to perform his solo that night. He wasn't going to make it to the concert. He's okay, apparently. . . He's alive . . . but he hit his windpipe on the steering wheel of his car, and his father had requested that his teacher make this announcement, in the hopes that everyone would keep Jeff in their prayers.

This information was rather sobering, because this boy. . . is amazingly talented, and sweet, and needs, as Kelly DeHaan stated, and I know that everyone who's ever met Jeff agrees, 'to be singing to us all, for the rest of his life!' It is terribly unfortunate that something like this had to happen to such a good kid, especially at this time of year. But, on the flip side, events like this do pull everyone/our community family, together, united, unified, in a cause that is inherently Christ-like. We all want to express love, and administer relief.

Here's a little sampling of Jeff's inspirational talent. I've posted this before, and should probably have recorded more, but nevertheless, here he is. . .

Christmas

A Christmas Message From LDS Missionaries

NYC!

Well, we're back! Back from New York Citay!

After a long flight home, we've caught up on our sleep, and are back in the swing of things! It was so much fun. . . We were privileged to stay with my very hospitable cousin Daniel and his lovely wife Diane, who, it turns out, grew up with our very good friend Brooke Rail! It's such a small world, and it seems more than ever that we're all one big happy family, especially at Christmastime. : )

New York is beautiful this time of year, as everyone said it would be. Daniel and Diane live on the upper West side, so we got to stay in a really nice part of town, within walking distance of Central Park, the fabulous West Side market, and the famous Tom's Diner from the show Seinfeld. Charlie and I had a lot of fun walking around, taking in the sites, experiencing the museums, parks, the holiday decorations, and of course . . the Subway. : ) There was no snow. . . It was just cold, and very windy, which added significantly to the cold. We learned fast that it was best, nay essential, to wear gloves and hats, and sometimes scarves. Thankfully, Diane, with her generous nature, lent us hats, as we hadn't brought any.

Over the course of the weekend, we saw Times Square, tasted New York cheesecake, enjoyed the unbelievable architecture, got to ride in several taxis. . . truly a trip we'd love to experience again! But next time, minus the 'red-eye' flight, which I can't seem to recover from. . . at least not quickly enough. Silly pansy that I am! I must be getting old. : ) Imagine that, needing to sleep. . . I did miss the kidlets, but we got along okay. . Thank Heaven for cell phones! Aleia called us at about eleven, her time, Friday night, just to say that she missed us. : ) So cute!  Charlie had given them all business cards with his mobile number.

But what a trip! : ) It was great fun. We got to see a lot of the sights and sounds of New York! Naturally not all, because of course it would be impossible to catch everything in just one weekend. . but it was magical! There's so much to see! Charlie wants to go back and check out the Statue of Liberty, and more of the southern end of Manhattan Island. . . maybe catch a taping of Saturday Night Live, or a Broadway show. . . The possibilities are endless! But I think we both agree that the best part of the trip was the NY pizza Daniel brought home Saturday night. : ) Good stuff!

We'd better get to saving up those frequent flyer miles. . . And if things keep going the way they have been the past couple of years, we'll be back there in no time! Here's to traveling around the country, visiting friends and family, and most of all, weekend getaways with your sweetheart! : )

First Week of December Craziness!

Well, Thanksgiving was fun! It was nice to be with family. We buzzed over to my brother's place across town in Sandy, where we met up with Hyrum's little clan, and 3 of our other brothers. 2 had flown up from Phoenix, and Matthew drove up from just over the point of the mountain, in Alpine. He had to wrap a few things up, technicalities with his Doctorate from BYU, and then he and Mark were off to DC!  United States Navy, here we come! Mark flew up from Meckeeko last Friday so they could drive out together.

Anyway, we had fun on Turkey Day. Good times! I was grateful to be there at Hyrum's and Kim's, with so many of my original family members. Five of us siblings, and then Mark made 6! : ) The 2 little buggers won't venture out of Kirksville, the pansies. : ) It's nice that Nathaniel and Benj have no problem traveling. . . Saturday, the 5 boys went down to visit Grandpa Tanner in Springville, and Grandma Bartholomew in Provo. If we'd known about it, we could've hooked up with them, since we were picking Clint up from Spanish Fork anyway. . .

Saturday night Charlie and I went out on the town. Yay! It was his birthday on Sunday, so we figured we'd better party it up the night before. Dinner and a movie, a restaurant with Western decor, a familiar ambiance. . . And it was fun driving around. Unfortunately, I had to do sharing time the next day in Primary, at church, so we couldn't stay out late, which was a bummer. However, I've found, in my old age, that I don't mind so much getting to bed early. Say, eleven or so. . . Snicker.

Monday we put up our Christmas tree, and made it a Family Home Evening activity. It was fun seeing Charlie and the kids drag out the big, gigantic cereal box, pull out the faux evergreen boughs, sort the branches, and then see the tree take shape. Sigh. : ) Hmmm. . . Christmas! With all it's magic and romance. . All we need now is hot chocolate! With marshmallows. Except Charlie and I are trying out this no carb diet just now. . . Yuck.

Tuesday Uncle Mark came over and spent a couple of hours helping Laena with her college applications. . . He brought a Christmas present for the family, the first to go under the tree. : )

Wednesday, Laena, Aleia, Diego, Stephanie, and I drove up to the girls' Choir performance downtown at Temple Square. They got to sing there at the Assembly Hall. It was amazing. Sadly, they don't allow photography, or video taping of any kind. I was rather put out. Not happy about that at all! But it was amazing to watch. I drank in the waves of rich, acoustically perfect sound. The kids passionate singing was just . . . breathtaking! Ear candy. I was on cloud nine! And to top it all off, Scott finally remembered Charlie's cupcakes! : )

Thursday, I went out to lunch with Charlie and his co-workers, to celebrate his belated birthday. My mother called just before we left. Apparently Matthew and Mark had left for Washington, and were hitting Lincoln, Nebraska right about then. . . We had a good time at lunch. : ) Charlie was cute, with his Burger King - Birthday Boy crown somebody had picked up. . . It was fun seeing the gang from the office. On a different note, Thursday night, the hubby man had his Physics final. It'll be nice to be done with that class. 

Friday, for whatever reason, I was really pretty stressed out. . Something about the Binky snatching the ornaments off of the tree repeatedly and throwing them to the ground, maybe. . . We were thinking about going to the Festival of Trees that night, but I was too dang frazzled, so we ended up hitting Costco instead. Chuckle. I don't know how that's really any different, but ne'er the less, there we were. : )

I still want some of that wild mushroom soup from Zupas. . . That was soooo yummy! Mmmmm. . . : )

Saturday was just a whirlwind of Winter madness. We had about 5 activities to juggle that evening. . . pretty much all at the same time. Saturday morning Charlie and Eric dropped off a huge load of canned goods, etc, at the Food Bank. Then, later that afternoon, Lea went caroling with the Activity Days girlies. 'Bout this same time, after shopping and getting the little kids' pictures taken with Santa Claus, I had to get ready for the big Coca-Cola Company Christmas party. Charlie sent all the young'uns off to play at the neighbors', so we girlies could have some peace and quiet. He even got me flowers and a card. What a sweet guy!  : ) Then the real craziness began.

Saturday evening, Laena had a Choir gig, turns out at Keith and Marcia's ward Christmas party, and I was supposed so look fabulous, so we both had a lot of hair and make up to do. It's fun, once a year, to dress up nice. : ) And then we were off! It was a mad dash. Clint had to work, we dropped Eric off at the theatre, stopped by the Sundberg's surprise birthday shindig, picked up the Olschewski's, and headed up to the hotel downtown. (Is that a contradiction in terms. . ?) And the party was on, Baby. Wahoo! Saturday night grown-up time. Fun, fun, fun!  : )

Now all we have to do is figure out whether or not we want to drive halfway across the country for Christmas! Oh, and details for the big New York trip this weekend. . . Yiiiiiiipe!

Jingle Bell Rock!

I can't believe they forgot Charlie's birthday cake AGAIN. This is the 3rd year in a row. It always happens. . . I guess that's what he gets for being born at midnight, just a couple of days after Thanksgiving. . and just a couple of days before Christmas shopping gets going in earnest. He's sort of caught in the middle - stuck between the aftermath of Turkey Day, and the official beginning of the Christmas Season. Just when people are thinking of everything else. Everything . . but his birthday. Laaaame. : )

Coca-Cola has a tradition, really a very nice tradition, there in the office, where they take turns picking up everyone's favorite cake for their respective birthdays. They also go out to lunch, usually to La Frontera for Mexican food. I think they call it 'Birthday Burrito'. It's a great idea! Don't get me wrong. I love it just as much as the next . . gal. I just wish they'd somehow remember . . to remember . . Charlie's.

Sigh.

Anyway! Charlie's 39th birthday was this Sunday past . . last. We had a great time Saturday night. Christmas lights, dinner and a movie. It was a lot of fun. : ) Unfortunately, I had to do Sharing Time in Primary the next morning, plus I was sick, so we didn't get to do much on his actual birthday. . .

Janet Wayman did bring over some of her famous cookies. . chocolate chip big ones! Just in time for my diet to start! : ) Then, I believe it was on Tuesday, our neighbor Hyrum brought several cases of canned goods over to the house, for the Utah Food Bank, and Eric's Eagle project. . . It was really very nice of him. We have great neighbors!  : )

Troy Bullard even took Jeffy and Evan out to lunch at Denny's on Friday! Jeffy was sooo excited! And so cute! Who'd have ever thought that a corn dog and chicken stars could put somebody in such a good mood. : )

King Julian and The Big Christmas Party

Sunday night I was perusing Facebook, that evil web site, opiate of the masses. Or at least the middle class, as stated by a recently addicted friend. Just taking a 5 minute breather, checking things out, seein'  what's up with all my 'friends'. . . I noticed, interestingly, when scrolling down the page, that Laena's good buddy Diego proclaimed to be 'the happiest man alive'. They've been spending a lot of time together lately, so I thought I'd better ask.

I leaned back in my chair, and called her name. "Laena. . ."

She and Diego, hereafter known as/referred to as King Julian, (making reference to his middle name), have been hanging out a whole bunch these last few months. . .

She didn't answer. I had to jog it downstairs, and knock on her door. When she opened it, I asked her. "So Boogsie. . Why is Diego the happiest man alive?" At this point, she broke into a wide grin, and gave me the traditional "Why do you ask?" just slightly on the defensive. . Naturally, I rolled my eyes for effect.

"Oh, no reason. . I just happened to notice his dash there on Facebook. I read that he is evidently now 'very happy'. Why do you suppose that is?"

"Well, we're not engaged, if that's what you're thinking. . ." Still grinning.

Honestly, I have to say, the tightness in my gut relaxed a little bit, but I still wasn't entirely satisfied. I leaned against the door frame.

"So what's up?"

"Well, (and she accented the word by making quotes in the air) we're . . 'dating'. . ."

I breathed a sigh of relief, sort of. I mean, we'd figured as much. . .

"Well, we already knew that. ." I commented with mild sarcasm. . .

To my surprise, Laena burst out laughing. Apparently, she thought that me noticing his 'status' on facebook was the most amusing thing ever! She had to call and tell Diego. Ha ha ha ha ha. Very funny. And when was she planning on telling her mother, I would like to know. . ?

Fortunately, he's a good kid. Very relaxed, pretty solid. So we're not too concerned. I guess she is a senior in high school. . . Cringe. Oh, how I hate to say that out loud. Gag. How could this have happened?! Where did the last 20 years go. . exactly?! Sheesh.

On a different note. . but not really. . .

This weekend we're going to Charlie's big Coca-Cola Christmas party. There are about 6 different activities scheduled for Saturday night, but we're only gonna make one or 2 of them. Thankfully, our teenage daughter hardly ever reads my blog, so she won't know in advance that we're getting a hotel room after the party. Coke makes discounted rooms available every year, encouraging people to stay over, if they want to. Say. . . if they need to get away from the kids, and the craziness, maybe go on a nice, romantic date. . . Wow, what a concept!  : )

Anyway, we didn't want Laena to know about this prior to said romantic date. That way she has less time to set up a house party, invite the neighborhood over. . You know the drill. Like Charlie said:

"She's pretty quick as it is. . We don't want to give her any . . . lead time." : ) Chuckle.

She's had it before, and frankly, has gotten waaaaay too creative. Not that I'm terribly surprised. . . I was, in fact, a teenage girl once myself not so very long ago. . And, as many of my friends can attest, I was pretty creative . . also. . .  : )

Sigh.

Well, you know what they say. . . It's every mother's curse. Echoing in our ears, even now. . . (Cringe again.)

"I hope you have a child. . . JUST LIKE YOU!!"

Not this Christmas!

Thanksgiving Eve

Last night we all graced, with our illustrious presence, the quarterly Stake Scout Court of Honor.

: )

All three big boys were awarded some type of . . . award. It was fun to take pictures, which of course will be posted shortly. These boys are growing up way too fast. . Sigh. . .

Currently, I am attempting to make pies. And rolls. And cheesecake. . . Well, not yet, but it's in the works!  : )

Earlier, it was fun, watching the girls rockin' out to the Hairspray soundtrack in the kitchen. Such a feel good, jazzy album! I'm making pies and going crazy, but we're having fun doing it! : ) Should be a good holiday tomorrow. . Charlie picked up my brothers Nathaniel and Benj from the airport last night about eleven. We're going to Hyrum's and Kim's, across town, tomorrow . . to hang out, chow down, and veg. Probably we'll play some cards, and break out the board games. . . Party animals, I know. Pretty low-key, but also pretty stress-free.  : )

This afternoon, Charlie drove Clint down south to meet his friend Morgan and Co. It's Morgan's birthday on Friday, and we have graciously consented to allow Clint to spend the holiday with M's family, the Burrs, who used to live 2 houses down, and recently moved.

Also this afternoon, Laena decided to 'get a gym membership' with a couple of her friends. . so now she's headed off to a Young Women's activity, and then an aerobics class with Clover. : ) We'll see how it goes. .

Personally, I'm ready for bed. Exhaustion has all but taken over. Sadly, we still have to run to the store to pick up a few last minute items. . . but I suppose that's par for the course. Big sigh. Mmmm . . .

That's right, Baby! Thanksgiving is here! Almost. . .

True Blue!

Following the aftermath, and in the wake of . . . last weekend's tragedy, I would just like everyone to know. . . that I am still a die hard, true BLUE fan! : )

HA! That's right, Baby! BYU all the way!

Rowr! GO COUGARS! Wahoo!

Mary, Did You Know?

Saturday!

Saturday I spent the morning with Eric, picking up donations for his food drive Eagle Scout project. Already exhausted, you can imagine how excited I was about spending the rest of the day at Charlie's brother's big anniversary party. It turned out okay, pretty cute actually, but man, it's a blinking chore to get all those kids all ready for a Sunday-caliber event. The renewing of the vows. Probably me and Charlie will run down to Vegas, if we ever get that bug, like we should have done in the first place. It was fun, don't get me wrong. . but it seems like an awful lot of time and money spent, and a lot of annoying relatives to have to deal with. Just kidding. .

Saturday night, being as I'd procrastinated again, something I'm just incredibly good at, I had to try to put together an activity, lesson, some sort of learning experience for 'singing time' on Sunday. Yiiiike. . .

Sigh.

Turned out pretty good, all things considered, but Mama didn't get enough sleep Friday, or Saturday, and was exhausted most of the weekend. This is why . . the Sunday afternoon NAP! : ) Yeah, Baby!

Thank Heaven the big kids had a get-together around seven. . .

Bella's Lullaby

Popcorn and Sesame Street!

Mmmm-hmmmm, Twilight! It was amazing, just like we expected! Sure, they tweaked the story a little bit, but hey. . . it's all good, ain't it?  : ) Yes, oh yes it was. Hee hee hee hee hee! Soooo much fun! Laena and company went right after school on Friday, and Charlie and I raced to the theatre right about four. . Literally raced, you need to understand, not because I love to drive my cop car fast, (Charlie was driving anyway), but because I had forgotten the blinking tickets! Left them on our headboard at home. . DANG it! Turns out the theatre wasn't as slam-packed as we'd thought, still being afternoon and all . . so we got pretty good seats anyway. Wow Mama, that show was good! We enjoyed it thoroughly. Probably me more than Charlie, but . . what are ya gonna do?  : ) Yowsa!

I had been running all day, actually, with early day at the school. . picking Jeffy up at 10:45, only to learn that today was the Birthday Table, and we had to stay for lunch. I thought I would never get Clover's cake done in time. . . Sigh. Then the baby wasn't feeling real great, and we had last minute shopping, and piano lessons. . . I barely got the birthday cake decorated in time. I was frantically poking M&M's into the blue and white frosting, when Charlie called and said "Be out front in 2 minutes!" Aah! I left the rest to Eric and Tommy, grabbed my coat and ran. . which scatterbrained rushing would obviously explain the forgotten tickets. . I guess. . .

Laena called later on, and handed the phone to Clover, who apparently loooooved her cake, and my Sesame Street approach to decorating. . . I had to chuckle and shake my head. We just threw it together. But now I'm getting requests!  : ) Who'da thunk.

Back to the movie. . . It was kinda funny. During the previews, I must admit, we talked too loudly and too much, busting out laughing at times, but my favorite part was the popcorn. I've always liked to eat it with my tongue, as weird as that may sound. . but it's great fun, after you've snatched your overpriced bucket of America's favorite move-time snack, to curl up in the flip down chair, and see how many kernals you can pick up with your tongue. That way, a person doesn't get their fingers all greasy!  : ) LOVE it! I tried to get Charlie to partake, just a little. . . (he's been on this no-carb kick for about a week now), even citing that . . "C'mon Charlie. . Popcorn isn't really carbs. . It's kinda like . . a vegetable!" Not very convincing, but he was nevertheless amused. . . Ha ha ha. We were getting a little out of hand, like a couple of kids.

"Hey. Aren't we supposed to be, like, mature, responsible adults. . ?" I queried tentatively.

"That's never stopped me!" he calmly remarked, with his usual sly grin. . .

HA ha ha ha ha!

Absolutely! : )

On a different, Thankgiving-ish type note, Aleia is putting on a little impromptu play, here in our living room. She's dressed Jefferson up as a turkey, by taping different colored socks to the back of his tee-shirt. . .

Lea is currently narrating. . .

"They ate so much food that they were enormously fat! It would take them a whole year to get skinny again. . ."

Jeffy was made to curl up in a ball on the couch, turkey-style.

"And that is the story of 'Gobble, Gobble', the Turkey! The. . End!" she yelled, reminding me of Imogene, and the classic play The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

And They Called It . . Puppy Loooove. . .

Saturday morning Lincoln woke up about 6:30. This was not authorized, or desired, especially considering the fact that I had been, of necessity, required to pick Eric up from work about 12:40 - MIDNIGHT. I've said before that I don't do well without sleep, and baby, that was no joke. Sadly, I've gotta have my 7 or 8 hours, or the ole brain just clean shuts down. . . I get dizzy, doze off while driving. . all sorts of fun things. Anyway, on the flip side, I got to spend an hour snuggling my Bink, who wanted to play 'puppy' more than sleep. . . It was so cute! He kept pretending to bark, something that he's never done before, (arf, arf, arf!) and then he'd pant, and lick my face with his tiny little tongue. : ) Adorable, yes. . but I had enough baby slobber all over my face to last me a while. . . My favorite part was when he'd break out in full giggle, thinking it was just soooo amusing that I thought he was a puppy-dog. : ) My little baby puppy! Puppy Love indeed. These are the moments, my friends. . .

School Clothes!

About a week ago, Jeffy decided that he needed new shoes. He wasn't kidding. I think that kid must've set some sort of a record for wearing them out. His favorite sneakers. Now we had to go pick up another pair. . .

He found some, naturally, in about 3 seconds flat, once we got to Target. .

"Hulk shoes! I'm gonna try 'em on!" he yelled. So, after 5 minutes of scrambling. . checking his shoe size on the rug, and stuffing his relatively small feet into the correct pair, Jefferson had scored himself some new green and white Hulk shoes. With shnazzy black laces, that he refuses to tie. (It's evidently 'not cool'.) How young do they worry about this type of thing anymore?! The boy is barely 6 years old!

Anyway, The Incredible Hulk! Yeah!

Last Saturday Laena took Aleia out to Jordan Landing for some much needed sister bonding, 'girl time', as it were. . Laena ended up buying her little compadre a couple of things, among them a new Hannah Montana shirt for school. Wahoo! Yay! Lea was in her element. The thing is, this particular Hannah Montana shirt . . has a little button on the left hand side, just above the hem, that a person can push. . and then the shirt will sing a little song. A 5 second clip of a Hannah Montana special. Monday Lea of course wore her new found 'best thing ever' to school. Sadly, the shirt kept 'singing', somehow, in class. . . perhaps with the help of some overly enthusiastic, if not mischievous, friends. . . which earned her an unheard of after-school detention.

In the 3rd grade.

Really?

I wasn't too happy. The next time my 8 year old daughter doesn't show up after school lets out, or they want to keep her after for some reason, the teacher . . had better call. .

That's all I can say . . .

Who ever thought of . . singing shirts . . anyway?

TWILIGHT Baby!

 

I . . cant' . . wait . . to see TWILIGHT this weekend. Mama Mia, it's gonna be good! Yee-hee!

 

Nay, Faith! Pirates. . .

The other day, I called Tommy upstairs, asked him if he was ready for school, ready to go. . . What came out of his mouth? Something I sure wasn't expecting to hear. . .

"Nay, faith!" he said, as he half walked, half stomped up the stairs.

I couldn't believe it. Guess he did actually pay attention during the 6th grade Shakespeare Play. . .

Who'd have thunk?  : )

Then, last night, I was playing taxi service to a truckload of kids of all ages. Laena made Anthony sit in the front seat for some reason. . We were talking about movies, blah blah blah. . . Jeffy said he'd like to watch a particular show on the computer.

CA boy in the front seat commented that he didn't think that one was 'out' yet. . I grinned and let him in on a little secret.

"Well, we sort of steal them from pirates."

The poor kid laughed out loud. I guess he thought I was kidding. . .

We had just pulled in to a parking spot in front of Game Crazy. The kids climbed out of the car. Just before the doors were closed, Jeffy yells out:

"Look! There's a pirate right next to our car!" He was excited.

Gyahh. . . Thankfully, the big kids ignored him, as they were almost safely to the store entrance. Because there was, in fact, a very large, rather well-built biker-guy, waiting to step up into his . . -also very large- Chevy pick-up, about a foot away from shotgun. Not that I have anything against pirates, but I suddenly felt the urge to slide my left hand up the driver's side door. . so as to click the lock button.

I know. Silliness, really. . And he did have a nice red bandanna tied around his head. . .

Festive!

But you never know with pirates these days. . . And you can't be too careful.

Kid Quotes!

Charlie and I walked in the door after our little trip up the canyon. I closed the door, we said hi to the kids. "How ya doin' Tommy?"

He looked up and grinned.

"Well, just as miserable as before. . . But I'm optimistic!"

Ha ha ha ha ha!

The other day, Clinton was picking on Eric, apparently trying to play Bart 'n Homer, only poor Eric was Bart. . "Why . . you . . little. . !"

Eric wasn't happy, and told me so. I was distracted.

"Be nice to your brother!" I yelled in Clint's direction. "Come here this second! You need to apologize right now. . and give him a smooch" I threw in/added for good measure. .

"I'd be okay with a hug, or a high five. ." Eric commented brusquely, while heading out the door. . .

Hee hee hee! Those boys are just hysterical.

Last night, at bedtime, Tommy last came out of the bathroom after brushing his teeth.

With a Frazier-esque air, he bellowed out "G'night Young'uns!" in his best 13 year old, recently deepened voice, before swaggering off to his room. Reading in bed, we were caught slightly off guard. . Couldn't help but chuckle.

Okay, we were Laughing Out Loud!

He's so dang funny! That boy makes me laugh. : )

addendum:

Just now, Charlie and I were smooching in the kitchen. The kids were/are busy making cookies on the other side of the room. Tommy noticed, and in the midst of his instruction to Jefferson, said, not really under his breath. .

"And hey Jeffy. Go stop that war over there. ."

: )

Same thing happened the other day at Laena's birthday party. Except this time Boogsie's little friend Stephanie commented matter-o-factly, on her way out of the room. .

"That's nice to see. . Usually married peoples don't show affection. . ."

Snicker snort. Ha ha ha ha ha!

The baby is now just over 2 years old. Thomas overheard us talking about potty training. .

"You need to get him a potty trainer. . ." he interjected, cutting me off. (Naturally, I was thinking potty chair. .) "Kind of like a . . personal trainer?"

Sure. : ) Then light dawned. . Is there some kind of a service, someone we could pay. . ?

Aftermath. . .

Amy is of the opinion that this synthetic spider web, cobweb lint-fluff stuff she’s still picking off of everything, is probably just about as annoying as Easter grass. Well, if not, it’s a close second. .

I must’ve thrown away about a dozen plastic toy spider rings. . . When will it end?

Thank Heaven the kids have almost finished off their pillowcases full of candy! The dentist is gonna love us tomorrow. . .

To Go, or Not To Go. . .

Charlie called earlier, from his cubicle at the office.

I mentioned that gasoline is now under 2 dollars a gallon! He said:

"Wow. No way. Where?"

"Somewhere. . ." I glanced at the baby, who'd just gotten into Aleia's Halloween candy stash, suckers in both hands. . thought I'd give it a whirl. "Hey Honey, I'm thinkin' Christmas. . . We hop in the Suburban and cruise back to the Heartland! Whadaya say?"

I could tell he was rolling his eyes.

"No. I'm thinkin' . . we take those water barrels, and fill them up with gas. . ."

I had to laugh out loud. : )

Charlie . . .

He always knows just what to say.

It’s Magical!

“Christmas, Christmas tiiime is here!  Time for joy and time for cheer. . .”

It’s all over the radio.

I am so disgusted to learn that Glenn Beck’s gonna be in town December 6th. Why, you ask? Aren’t I a fan? I’ll tell you why. Because December 6th also hosts Charlie’s Coca-Cola Christmas party, and Shawn and Michelle’s anniversary get-together. Unbelievable. Sigh. I suppose it’s typical . . for events to fall on the same day, for everything to happen at once. . . but how annoying!

Chuckle.

And the Holiday madness . . begins!

Charlie will inevitably turn into the Grinch sometime around Thanksgiving, or the week after. . . He’s kind of got this Holiday ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ thing goin’ on. . I’m pretty sure it’s the combined stress of yet another birthday, and having to pull off, again, the annual Christmas extravaganza for his family . . of NINE. : )

Wow. When you say it out loud, it does seem a little bit overwhelming. . .

But nah. . . It’s all good. Everything will be okay. Because the magic of the season, the magic of Christmas . . sort of overrides any challenges that we may encounter, be they large or small. It happens every year. Something will come up, we’ll be wondering how to pull things off . . and then a somehow, a small miracle will occur, and make everything all right again. . . Maybe a neighbor will lend ya a snow shovel when yours snaps in half. . whatever! Puts the sparkle back in your eye, the spring in your step. . or simply gratitude back in your heart.

Christmas!  : )

Flags

Charlie is out right now, ‘doing flags’ with the Scouts. Such amazing dedication that man has! When I think of the early hours, 2, 3, 4 o’clock in the morning for like 9 years, or something like that, the innumerable campouts with the boys. . . It’s blowing me away. He’s out there right now, out front, in the dark. . directing 3 different vehicles, and I’m not sure how many boys. His truck’s running out in the middle of the street. .  If I peak through the blinds, I can vaguely make out headlights. . Tommy walking toward the house, carrying 2 or 3 flags. . I can hear hear the action, muted though it is, from in here. Charlie gets it done. : ) He’s always been an early riser, unlike me. . Driving for Coke, prepping his 18-wheeler in the dead of winter. . down at Brick Oven in Provo, when he was a cook, food prep at 6am. . . Ever since the restaurant up in Idaho, that boy knows what it means to hop out of bed and make it happen. I guess we need to thank his Grandma Doris. He always said she was the one who taught him how to work.

Today they’re out there planting flags in all the neighbor’s yards. Many times, lying in bed, I can hear the tink, tink, tink of the rebar being pounded into the cold, hard ground. And then they’re on to the next house, and the metallic rhythm fades, becomes fainter, as they hurry off into the neighborhood. . .

On Veteran’s Day, the people here remember, when they awake and see the flags flying, billowing in their front yards, that patriotism and honor, and valor. . live on.

It’s truly awe-inspiring. . . to think about the gift that countless men, people, gave. . . so that we, in the here and now, might enjoy freedom. Freedom to live, to speak, to worship. . We are still free to think, free to hunt, free to act. . . free.

Veterans, now and in the past, have -and are- painting our future with their blood, sweat and tears, a future made brighter by their sacrifice.

Meatballs

Tommy wants to make spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. He's in the kitchen, playing with raw ground elk meat, making little . . sculptures.

"It's squishy." he remarked, semi-enthusiastically, with the gleam of new discovery. "It's so gross. Like walking through mud with bare feet." He looked up. "Ya know how the mud squishes between your toes. . ."

I made a face. 13 yr old boys sure know how to make conversation. . .

"I've never been . . so much into . . raw meat." I felt very slightly ill. "Ickety! You're like half-way up to your elbows in  meat goo. ."

"You have no sense of fun. . ."

Tommy scrunched up his nose.

"Ew, it's soo cool. ." He grinned wickedly, awestruck. "Nice and moist. . and . . yeah!"

I shuddered, and left the room.

He continued to squish and shape. "This is great!" I heard him yell. "I'm a genius! These will be the best meatballs ever!"

Yick. Yeah, if he'd ever quit playing with the stuff. . .

Birthday Week!

Thursday was Jefferson's birthday. Saturday was Laena's. Friday night we had about 80 kids running around over here, a full blown party downstairs and in the backyard, and I was surprisingly okay with all this. . They were mostly Choir kids after all, so what could go wrong. : ) Between perky serenades, marshmallow roasting, and impromptu acoustic guitar performances. . . Well, it was actually quite relaxing. Laena had set up some cast iron fire pits on the patio out back, and Charlie had built campfires. It was nice. Nice to sit there, nice to see the warm orange glow light up the kids' faces, nice to hear the gentle twang of the guitarra. . Laena's party was a lot of fun. : ) I just wish I'd recorded them all singing Happy Birthday! Talk about harmonious energy! Breathe it in, Baby. The strength of youth. Beautiful.

Wednesday, the four big kids, Laena, Clinton, Eric and Tommy, all drove downtown to participate in the taping of the big First Night Utah performances. . . Or tried to. . Laena's car got stuck in gridlock, her group didn't make it in time. . They went out for ice cream, I think. Thankfully, Eric took pictures.

I don't know. . . If that boy steals my camera one more time. . . Chuckle. .

Charlie and I visited Jeffy's Kindergarten class Thursday lunchtime. He had fun passing out suckers to the kiddies. .

We had Jeffy's little B-Day partay Saturday afternoon. We had asked our neighbors, Dan and Marcie, if they could let the kids ride horses over at their place for a bit. Friday Dan called and said it was too muddy. It had been snowing all week. A little later Marcie called back and said that it would be okay. At this point, we were prepared for anything. Jeffy was pretty excited! I popped him out of the tub just as the kidlets were starting to show up. Charlie made up some cute games for them to play, off the top of his head, while we were waiting for everybody to get there. Tried and true, the three legged race, which is always cute with 5 year-olds. . 'Let's see who can keep the hot wheels car on the top of your head the longest while racing' . . game. It was good fun. : ) Jeffy was having fun, and that's what counts.

I was a little annoyed to discover yet another dead bird on our front lawn. . undoubtedly a 'present' from our blinking cats. Feline fur balls, Eric calls them. But  seriously? For a birthday party?! I was thinking of maybe . . something a little less gory. Maybe with ribbon. . . Gyaahhh. . . Such carnage. Rolling my eyes, I scooped it up with a shovel, and tossed it in the trash.

After a bit, we all piled in the vehicles, and drove over to Marcie's. She was great about welcoming the little buggers, and instructing them in matters of safety. What a gal!  : ) Then, with Charlie's help, she led them around the corral several times each! We have sooo got to get that chickie some soda! At one point, Charlie was racing the babies around the lot in Marcie's double stroller. . So much fun! Red, their red heeler, lay down and let the kids pet her and scratch her tummy. : ) Does it get any better than this?

After the horsey adventure, Kaleb's mom Brendy and I were driving back. She noticed Charlie's Top of Utah Marathon sticker on the back of the Suburban.

"So who ran the TOU Marathon?" she asked.

I told her how Charlie's a runner. . filled her in on his St. George adventures. . . She apparently ran the crazy marathon up in Park City a few years back. We talked about how nutty it is. . to pay these people like 50 bucks to enter the race in the first place.

"And then when you're done, they give you a T-shirt, and like. . . some fruit." : ) she said. A wry chuckle. . 

Are they kidding?! 26 point 2 . . freaking . . miles. Sheeeaaahhhh!  Not me! I'd fall flat on my face. No joke.

Sigh. Well, to summarize, because it would take about 16 pages to really do in justice, this has been a full week indeed. Election Night fiasco, Parent Teacher Conferences on Wednesday. . . It's a wonder I ever get any sleep!  : )

I'm sure we'll recover eventually. . . Thank goodness Charlie was on vacation.

Birthday Girl!

High School Musical 3 Rocks!

Tonight Aleia and I caught a pretty cool flick. You may have heard of it. .

High School Musical 3! Wahoo! Sooooo good! We literally ran through the theatre so we could get good seats. Lea was so stoked, so exited! That girl is a performer, and lover of plays, if there ever was one. Sooooo jazzed about the show. Her preschool teacher told us we'd better get her into theatre at the first possible opportunity, because the girlie has talent! We heartily agreed. : )

She's also pretty good at planning parties. Inviting all her neighborhood friends over without telling us . . .

Anyway, the movie was fantastic! Loved every minute of it. Yeah Baby, yeah!

Aleia chatted all through the previews, antsy as she was to see the show. . Finally it began.

"Oooh, it's starting! Mama, we've gotta be quiet!" Bouncing in her seat.

I smiled a little, gave her a sideways glance. I was just munching popcorn, and hadn't said a word. : )

I love musicals! Jazzy dance numbers. . fun songs, tapping our toes to the music. . . Laced of course with plenty of high school drama. . .

It was fun to try to pick out Laena's friends out of the choir in the graduation scene at the end. : )

We were still pumped when we got home. Tommy asked how it was.

"Was there a musical in the movie?" he inquired with interest.

"Really?" I grinned. Was there a 'musical' in the show? In the musical, High School Musical, did they have a musical? A little play with songs and dances? Why ever would you think THAT? Ha ha ha ha ha!"

Okay, I can be a little obnoxious at times. . .

Tommy and I have a lot of fun joking around. : )

Winter

I love this time of day. . More specifically, I love it when it's been snowing, and then the storm subsides, the clouds break, blue sky appears, and the sun hits the snow covered mountains. : ) It's breathtaking. So beautiful. Gives you the idea that life is good, hope is alive, and many things are still possible. Gives you energy. A recharge, if you will. I love the mountains. They stand as a witness that solidarity, faith and unchanging principles govern the Universe.

Always.

I am so glad that we have the privilege of living here in the tops of the mountains, where joy abounds, optimism prevails, where tradition and faith remain strong. : )

The Holiday Season is upon us, and with Heaven's blessings, it will be a good one. The political angst past and gone, may we unite as a nation, and as a people, and look forward with bright anticipation to remembering Christ Jesus, our Savior and King.

Snow!

It snowed all day today. We woke up this morning, looked out the front window, and saw a whole lotta snow! It's amazing how the seasons change so quickly. . . Sigh. This weekend has been a blur. . .

Yesterday afternoon, we were out in the yard, just pulled in from running some errand. . . Charlie spotted Steve from across the street.

"Hey Steve! Didja vote?" Charlie yelled, grinning.

"Sure I did!" Steve responded, chuckling. Steve walked over, and they chatted for a minute or 2.

"Well, now you can complain!" Charlie grinned. I guess he meant because we didn't vote for the yayhoo who ended up winning.

That's right, Baby! When it all goes flying to h. . e. . double hockey sticks, we'll get to say 'We toldja so."

Pause.

Somehow, that just doesn't seem very comforting. . .

Monday

Okay, my brain has apparently reengaged. I now recall what we did on Monday! Yay!

Mon morning, Charlie and I drove out to WEST West Jordan, to a really nice, peaceful area, where Charlie got measured for his tux. Why does he need a tuxedo, you ask? His brother and sister-in-law are having a big anniversary party in a couple o' weeks, and they've decided to renew their vows! There's so much energy going on over there, I get tired just thinking about it. Anyway, C was lookin' pretty good there, in his black suit with royal blue vest, etc. .  : )

Monday afternoon, we took Clint up to Salt Lake to pick up his class ring. Sigh. That boy is a hoot. Instead of putting drums on the side of the ring, that he played in the symphonic band. . maybe the school mascot. . . he decided to engrave lions on either side. Why, you ask? Something to do with a VIDEO GAME. Seriously? If I had any extra cash, I'd get him a proper ring for Christmas or something. Silly boy.  : )

On the way home we stopped by Target to pick up a couple of things. You know how it goes. . You walk in there, thinking that you are only going to be a few minutes, and about an hour and a half later, you finally drag yourself, and 3 or 4 kids, out of there, the kids still whining about something they'd like to purchase. : ) I found some more fantastic snowflake Christmas plates! Wahoo! Clint filled out an application. We'll see what happens. . .

Monday night, Charlie got the cooking bug, thought he'd up and make meatloaf. Elk meatloaf, actually. . It was really, really good. Charlie used to be a cook down at Brick Oven restaurant in Provo. While there, he learned some skeels. . . : ) He's been talking about trying a new recipe for a couple of weeks now, and this was the night we finally got to experience the magic! Yum, yum, yum! Wow, he cooks, and knows how to swap out a transmission! What a man!  : )

Election Night

Tonight is Tuesday, November 4th, Election Day. We'd heard about the lines at the voting locations. . . Turns out there were none. Of course it was pouring down rain, but we breezed in and breezed out, chatted with some neighbors, visited the kids, and that was it! Pretty painless, actually. All in all, a rather pleasant experience. : ) Except that poor Aleia smashed her finger in the door of her 3rd grade class room. . .  Awww, my baby.

We'll see how it goes with the election. Several of the polls up and down the east coast are closing now. . I am so sick of all the hoop-la. All the silliness, all the fighting. . We're down to the wire, people. It's time to quit messing around, light a fire, get out there and vote! I don't plan to stay up till the wee hours of the morning to see who finally won. . I'm just too exhausted.

Charlie and I ran over to Toys 'R Us today and picked Jeffy up a Speed Racer Helmet. He's been wanting one for a while. . We also attempted to pass out birthday party invites at school, but somehow managed to miss half of the kids. . . We'll try again tomorrow. Laena, of course, has all that under control. . . She's had her invitations printed for weeks. What is it with those girls? 

Halloween!

Wow. It's been a crazy week! Absolutely nuts. So much going on, I could hardly take it all in. Thursday the elementary school had it's annual Halloween parade, where the kids, with their classes, get to walk between chairs set up in a serpentine pattern, showing off their costumes for their Moms and Dads.  : ) It's fun to see all the cute costumes! This year it's down to Aleia and Jefferson, our beautiful angel, and swarthy buccaneer. It's interesting how many of our adult friends have kids the same ages as those two. . 5 and 8. I love the Halloween Parade! It's such a fun tradition!  : )

While we were there, I was surprised to see our neighbor Eliane, a Brazilian gal from down the street, who just had a baby, and who's been in the hospital off and on for the past 4 or 5 months. The complications that gal had to deal with! Placentia previa, where it the placenta blocks the cervix, making it impossible for the baby to be born, then the placenta itself made it's way through her C-section scar and attacked her bladder. I'd never heard of this happening until just last year. And I've had a bit of experience with pregnancy and babies! Anyway, during and after delivery, she had to have a hysterectomy, and lost 8 to 10 pints of blood. Surgery went on for many 9 plus hours, and the doctors almost lost her, more than once. I was soooo glad to see her! She's one of the sweetest, most optimistic people I've ever met. Such energy, and such faith that woman has! She's amazing.

Friday, Halloween day, the kids were out of school. Teacher work day or some such nonsense. : ) But it was good. . The kidlets were way hyped up. They got to stay home from school and gear up for Halloween! Wahoo! Excitement was in the air, the weather was perfect, and we were ready to go! But of course we had to wait until nightfall. . . Friday morning, I took Eric, Clint, and Tommy over to Albertson's to work on collecting some more donations for Eric's food drive Eagle project. It went well. The manager guy was way nice, and some lady even dropped off an entire cartful of food, just her alone! : ) What a nice gal! Nick and Richard showed up for a while to help out and support Eric. . Such gorgeous weather I haven't seen on Halloween for several years! Cool, clear, and just slightly breezy. It was great!

Of course Lea had to throw a big neighborhood Halloween party Friday afternoon. . She'd made invitations weeks ago. It was a lot of fun. : ) Candy, pinatas, bobbing for apples. . (I think we've been watching a little too much Snoopy.) We had a dozen or so children running around in our yard all afternoon, in and out of the house. . Scary stories, fun little Halloween movies. . All-American holiday tradition! That's what it's all about, Baby! NOT the Hokey Pokey. ; )

Trick or Treating was great, largely because of the aforementioned weather. . Charlie, the bowling pin, led out, and thankfully dealt with our darling little Binky. That little bugger loves his Daddy, and will cooperate for him long before he'll work with me, so this made things a lot easier. We made our way up and down the street, waiting for the 2 yr old straggler, and calling out the the over eager middle sized kids who couldn't seem to keep from running. If only we could figure out how to harness that energy. . .

Later on, after Laena and Diego were had gotten back with Aleia, and Clint was home from work. . Tommy and Eric had wandered in with their spoils, and Charlie had convinced Jeffy to call it a night. . It was bedtime for the kids, and we were on our way! Wahoo! A night out on the town! Charlie picked up his Austrian work buddy Joeshi, (Josef) from his hotel, and we were off to the club. He picked an interesting one this year. . Normally we wouldn't indulge, but you have to keep in mind that Charlie used to be a dancer, and every once in a while he still gets 'the bug'. He went as a bowling ball, still wearing the costume that Cheryl had made for all the office workers. Well, all the office workers . . but one. : ) True to character, I was a cowgirl. Charlie's friend Anoop, from India, showed up after a bit. Charlie and I did a fair amount of dancing.

"I've never danced with a bowling pin before. . ." I commented. Or rather, yelled, because the 'music' was so dang loud.

"I've never danced as a bowling pin before!" He grinned, still shakin' it out on the floor. The place

Picasa Content

was packed.

Bustin' a move is just about Charlie's favorite thing to do. : ) He's pretty good, too. It's fun to watch. We had a good time. Joeshi is a lot of fun. He dressed as a jester. We now have a place to stay if we ever visit Vienna, and we are officially invited to Anoop's wedding in India on December 5th. Personally, I'm thinkin' that New York is gonna be about all we can handle this Holiday Season. The night ended on a good note. . I got to drive a brand new Mustang! Naturally we were the designated drivers. . . : )

I told Charlie that he was a cute bowling pin.

"I bet you say that to all the bowling pins!" was his snappy response. . What a fun guy! : )

Saturday Charlie was actually home. . We spent most of the day recovering, puttering around the house, playing with pictures. . trying to get in a cat-nap. . .

Aleia was gone half the day. . She had her Achievement/Activity Days activity with Sharon Masters, down the street. She's so amazing! All the girls love her! Then she ran off to Lisa Bullard's birthday party, over at Classic Skating, and was gone for the rest of the afternoon. Sunday was interesting. . Our last time in the 'other' building! They're finally done remodeling our normal meeting house. Wahoo! : ) And I actually got to congregate with grownups! The men took over the Primary, so that all us ladies could have a meeting together for once.

This week Charlie's on vacation. I don't really remember yesterday. . . We have another crazy week ahead of us. . . Jeffy's and Laena's birthdays, and then Wednesday night the 4 big kids, with all the Youth, are going downtown to the Conference Center to record the First Night New Year's Eve program, that'll be broadcast to all the LDS Youth, the world over, on December 31st. Pretty cool! : )

Earlier, Charlie walked into the kitchen and asked that age-old question.

"Who's killing bagels . . in the oven here?" He frowned and surveyed the damage.

"Oh! Those are miiiine!" Laena yelped from the other room.

"What'd that bagel ever do to you?" Charlie demanded, slightly annoyed. Laena's notorious for turning on the broiler in the oven, and then leaving and forgetting all about it. : )

And life rolls on. . .

Inspiring. . .

I am very concerned about the direction in which our country and it's . . policies are headed. In order to stop this onslaught of evil, we need to band together, buoy our faith, and become united in our efforts. We cannot break ranks. Vote for Conservative values on November 4th. Let your voice be heard.

5 More Days. . .

http://matthewwildertanner.blogspot.com/2008/10/marriage-between-man-and-woman-is.html

Below is a letter from the financial director of protectmarriage.com.

Dear Friend,
This is it.
Right now, we are making the final decisions on where best to expend our resources to win next week. And since our campaign manager Frank Schubert sent you this urgent appeal to save the institution of marriage, thousands of you have generously donated $1,138,134 online through ProtectMarriage.com. Combined with our $1 million matching challenge (which has now been met – thank you!), we are within sight of our $3 million goal.
Because of your generosity, we were able to add significant funds to our advertising buy over this past weekend and this week. Because people are now seeing our ads more often, they are responding, and we have recaptured momentum. We're starting to see an upward climb in the polls!
But we aren't there yet.
Even with this amazing outpouring of support, WE ARE STILL BEING OUTSPENT BY THE NO ON 8 CAMPAIGN BY AT LEAST $1.5 Million. If this continues through Election Day, the institution of marriage WILL be lost in a multi-million dollar blizzard of lies and distortions funded by a last minute flood of cash to the No on 8 campaign.
We cannot allow this to happen.
We have come too far, and fought too hard, to let this election slip away from us in the final week. Now with Prop 8 a dead heat. Right now, whatever you are doing, we need you to stop and make whatever gift you can to preserve the institution of marriage. We cannot fall short -- or the truth will be drowned by millions of dollars paying for the No campaign's lies in the last 7 days.
Please read the message below if you haven't done so. Forward it to everyone you know. And most importantly, please ensure you act right now, with whatever gift you can make to save marriage.
The time to act is now.
Steve Linder
Finance Director
ProtectMarriage.com - Yes on 8

I have to admit, I find myself becoming more emotional, the closer we get. . . Better get on our knees, people.

This is it.

Whirlwind Weekend!

Where to begin. . We just got over one crazy weekend! I suppose it's typical for everything -all your activities, plans, events- to fall on the same couple of days, but this was way over the top ridiculous. Aaaahhhh!

Friday afternoon, I came home after picking up Tommy and Aleia from piano lessons, and flopped on the couch, exhausted, only to realize that my weekend . . had just begun. No relaxing pizza/movie night for us! First, there was dinner. (Ha! More like grab a bowl of cereal or a sandwich and run.) Then we got to taxi all 3 big kids off to their respective places of employment. Opening night for High School Musical 3, so Eric was in for a long evening. . . Aleia and I went over to the church for the big Craft Night. . She had a lot of fun making hair bows from ribbon. I had a lot of fun hanging out with adults, sanding blocks of wood, and turning them into Halloween decorations. Tried to get to bed early, with no such luck. Of course McDonald's had Laena stay late, even though she was taking the ACT Saturday morning. . Buncha punks. Thankfully, Charlie was around to pick up Eric some time after eleven, cause I was passed out cold with the baby and Jefferson.

Saturday morning, we were up early. I ran to the gym, and ran back. Charlie dropped Laena off at the school, armed with pencils, calculator, and words of encouragement. Clint, Eric, and Tommy were herded out of their beds, much to their vehement disgust. (It's the weekend after all. . we should be allowed to sleep in!) They were made to don Scout shirts, round up some boxes, and we were off on a quest. Eric's Eagle Scout project kick-off, a food drive for the Utah food bank. While we were out picking up donations, with the help of our good friend Jack, we noticed that one of our neighbors had left a case of beer on his porch, presumably knowing that we were out collecting . . food. Pretty funny! Charlie and Lea headed off to the church for the big Daddy/Daughter activity/brunch. Poor Chuckster had to sort of bounce back and forth, for the next 3 hours, between grocery store and church gym, trying to pull off some serious multi-tasking. Clint and Eric wanted to go check out the Anime convention Saturday afternoon around 1 pm, but Charlie put his foot down when we found out that it was $20 a ticket, just to get in. . Wrongo!  : ) Then it was off to Orem, for the big wedding! We scrambled to get ready. . . hopped in the cop car, and took off. Laena, Clint, and Eric naturally bowed out, claiming other plans. . (Teenagers these days!) Our Laenabug's the Belles Voix Choir VP, and didn't think she should miss the big Choir Halloween Party, which she had organized/put together. From all accounts, she had a lot of fun! Complete with plenty of high school drama, punch and cookies. : ) Clint had forgotten to ask off work at Pizza the Hut, and Eric had another big night at the movie theatre. Yeesh. Well, if we didn't get to have so much family time, at least we only had to take one car down south to Narhea's nuptials. . . Old friends of the family, those. . It was nice to see everybody again. . Her dress was beautiful, the church was quaint, (built in the 1800's) good food, etc, etc. I just felt bad that we hadn't been able to get down to Manti earlier that day for the actual temple ceremony. . Sigh. I guess when you're this busy, you can't do everything. . gotta pick and choose.

Saturday night, we dragged back in the front door, void of much energy, having fought and chased a cranky 2 yr old most of the evening. . A 2 yr old, I might add, who recently has been prone to regular car sickness. .  : ) Yay! Did we collapse into our beds, you ask? Were we finanlly able to call it a night, and get some rest?! Sadly, no. We had to wait up for the teenagers, who as everyone knows, love to take their sweet time coming home at night. . One of the joys of parenting . . that I could seriously do without. Yawn. . . Anyway, baths, stories, picking people up. . . a little political debating on Facebook, brushing of teeth, and we were finally there! Bedtime ritual over! Glorious, beautiful sleep! But wait! Tommy the Tominator simply has to stay up and watch . . The Incredible Hulk! And can't seem to remember to keep the volume turned down. . . At this point, I just didn't care. ZZZZzzzzzzzz. . . .

Somehow we survived Sunday. . . I'm sure you've all heard the old saying: "You can take the family to church, or you can stay home and keep the Sabbath Day holy." I honestly thought, a couple of times, that I was gonna crack up. Just get me through this meeting, I prayed. And Charlie. . Help me not to kill these kids!   : ) Chuckle. Anyway, we made it. And, through a fun twist of fate, we got to hang out with our good buddies Mike and Jamey Rail, who were up from Alabammy! Well, and . . Salt Lake. . . Their brother Dave got married again this weekend. I'm assuming Saturday. It's been way too long!  : )

Yesterday I had an eye appointment. I really need something for dry eyes. . It's just way too much of a desert out here. The good news is. . I still don't need glasses!  : ) Yippee! Last night we carved pumpkins for Family Home Evening. . It was a lot of fun. Tommy went to town on one of 'em, carving out a perfect rendition of my least favorite Star Wars character, Darth Maul. Yuck. Pretty cool pumpkin though. . . Or should I say . . spoooky Jack O' Lantern. . . . : ) Charlie's friend Joeshi, from Vienna, is in town this week, sister city, Coca-Cola software. . . So big C, with some of his work buddies, ended up taking him out to dinner. Those punks. Out on the town, livin' it up. . Sniff, sniff. . without me. . . (Ha ha ha) (Really, I'm not into office politics.) Charlie's wanting to go out again, on Halloween, but we can't decide where. . I'm all for Park City, personally. . . Also, check this out! He scored 4 - eight hundred dollar apiece - tickets, court side, to the Jazz game Thursday! First game of the season. Those PUNKS! He was supposed to get 6. So guess who's staying home. Grrrr. . . Guess you gotta entertain the Viennese colleagues. . .

But hey, it's okay. I don't much like basketball anyway. (pout, whine) Hee hee. JK!

Now, On to the rest of my day! On to more adventures, with Super-Mama!

Sure. . .

Fight On, My Brother

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/17313/

Back Rubs and 'Smart Cars'

Earlier today I was picking Tommy up from his piano lesson. He mentioned something about needing a back rub. It went something like this:

"Aarrgh. ." (stretching) "I need a massage."
"Really. . Piano lessons that rough today?" (Ha ha) "Hey, Jenny gives back rubs. . . 'Course she's down in Springville. ."
"Jenny. . ."
"Yeah! You could give her a call. . ."
" 'Jenny' ", he warbled in his best grown voice. " 'Could you come up and give me a massage?' (More stretching and grinning) We were driving now. . " 'And could I get some fries with that?' Ha ha ha."

Tommy is such a little jokester. : ) Like father, like son. . .

One minute later, we had to stop for a red light. Across the intersection, directly in front of us, a couple of cars back, sat one of those 'smart cars'. It seemed oddly out of place, like an over-zealous 8th grader at the Senior Prom. I snorted audibly. Or maybe it was more of a chuckle.

"What?" Tommy asked tentatively. .
"Look at that tiny little car." I snickered.
"Where?" For all his quippy little comebacks, he sometimes doesn't catch on right away. It was bright yellow, for Pete's sake! If not incredibly small. . .
"Are you kidding me?" I gestured toward it with my left hand. "That crunch-box of a roller skate! There! Across the street! I was thoroughly amused. "How can you miss that?"
He caught a glimpse of it and grinned. It' s fun to tease Tommy. He's a hoot. :)
"It's a good thing we're not driving the Suburban, on a dark and stormy night. . . If we hit it, it'd be like, 'Look, another squished soda can! That's one crusty piece of metal! Boy, oh Boy!' "
That's my Tommy! He's just cute. : )

Sigh.

And I'm just tired. So we'll see ya later! Signing off for now. . .

I think I could use a back rub. . . "Jeeennnnyyyy!"

Autumn Festivities

Looking out the window here, I'm counting . . eleven kids . . in our yard, and not one of them is mine. . .  : ) Since the leaves fell off our maple tree out front, Lea and Jeffy have recruited the whole neighborhood, it appears, to jump in an enormous pile of brilliant yellow ruffage. . Then they disappeared. I found them in the kitchen, attempting to smuggle granola out to the crowd. Granola, you ask? I don't understand it either. Apparently, they feel that it's an appropriate snack, considering the season. . Chuckle. The energy those children stir up! A full blown leaf fight is going on out there in our yard, and the funny thing is, 'most everybody's laughing! : ) Ya can't buy moments like these!

Meanwhile, Tommy is attempting to make a 'meat smoothie' back in the kitchen. I reiterate: "Elk. It's what's for dinner." Except that's not the only thing. . That boy wants to combine taco meat, bologna, bacon, etc in the blender, add some spice, (as if it didn't have enough flavor already), and drink it down. Yuck. I'm not really sure that 13 year old boys should be encouraged to be quite so creative. . should be let loose around electrical appliances. . .

On a different note, Laena came home sporting a new hair style yesterday afternoon! I thought she was going for a 'trim', but she came back with a 16 inch ponytail, NOT attached to her head. She had cut off all of her hair! Her beautiful, flowing, golden brown locks! Gone. Aaaahhh! Well, actually the gal across the street helped her out some. . Sigh. My neighbor, Mrs. Utah - 1st runner up, is not only a six foot tall Venus, she also does hair.  : ) And a pretty savvy cosmetologist she is too! Our Laenabug looks very cute and bouncy, and is in a mood to match. I guess she was ready for something new, a new idea, a new look. She's been batting it around for a couple of months now. . I guess it was time!  : )

Looking ahead, I'm currently gearing up for the big wedding this weekend! And Eric's Eagle Scout project kick-off, and the Daddy/Daughter activity, and the big Halloween party. . . (snap). Woosh! (Reelin' it back in. . ) Wait, I forgot the ACT Saturday morning, and the big Anime get-together downtown tomorrow night. . . Hmmmm. I'm loving all this excitement, but some days, I think of how nice it would be to just curl up in front of a fireplace, on a nice comfy couch, and go to sleep. Or maybe watch an old movie. . . Hmmm. : ) One of these years, we'll have to invest in a fireplace. . . Sigh.

Our Binky, I've just noticed, who recently turned 2, and who is appropriately going through that traditional 2-yr-old naked phase, has once again discarded his clothing/diaper, and has, while my back has been turned, succeeded in single-handedly destroying our living room. Crayons and popcorn are strewn everywhere. Shoes, books, and toys 'decorate' and add personality to our otherwise boring . . floor space. I have to hand it to him. . The boy has talent. : ) It's always an adventure!  : ) Personally, I'd prefer a little . . order. As Super Grover says on Sesame Street, "The Feng Shui, has fang shwent. . ." That's right Baby! Chaos reigns supreme!

I love Fall. Gimmee some hot chocolate, a fleece blanket, and a big Charlie to snuggle. . . bunch 'o kidlets running around. . . It's Heaven Baby!  : ) Right here at the homestead.

White and Nerdy

Check out Donny Osmond! See if don't die laughing.  : )

Munchin' Marshmallows!

Jeffy was hungry. He'd announced it to everyone present.

"Let's see. . . What do we have to eat. . ." I rummaged through our snacks, looking for something easy and quick. I needed to make dinner! "Marshmallows! Huh. . ." I pulled them out of the cupboard. "But what are they for?" I mused, imagining some elaborate Scout treat in the works. Maybe Charlie was saving them for a camp out.

"It's . . for us to eat." Jeffy explained patiently. : )

He and Binky sat on the kitchen table, their little legs dangling over the side, just above the bench, as they gazed out the window into the back yard and munched. . . After a while. Jeffy was done. He handed the bag of marshmallows back to me.

"Are you finished?" I asked. A reasonable question. . .

He proceeded to hop down, with my help.

"I'm full of it." he stated without a second thought, running off to play. : ) Not really, of course. . .

That's our little boy!

Autumn Fun!

Well, what to do. . . I've thought of several hilarious 'bits' for my blog here over the past few days, and now I can't remember a one. . . Old age is setting in early, it seems. Or maybe just my memory's going. . . ; )

Last Monday we went to the pumpkin patch, down the road about a mile or so. . It's a family tradition! We do it every year. : ) Unfortunately, this year it was freezing, but we still had a good time. . . The kids love to pick out pumpkins, still in the field, and then they rip it up, goin' through the little 'market' tent at the Pumpkin Patch entrance. They have some produce there, treats. . and some really cool gourds! It's a fun Autumn activity.

 

Later on Monday evening, we got to attend Laena's Fall Choir Concert over at the high school. It was fabulous, as usual, director Kelly DeHaan being one of the most talented musicians this side of the Mississippi. : ) I tried to get some video of the performance, but wasn't able to get much. . I did the best I could with a cranky 2 year old pulling on my arm half the time, and whining. Sigh. There is some AMAZING talent in our young people over there. . . Just heard that they're putting together a show, entertainment of some sort for the First Night activity downtown. Mr. DeHaan is always being asked to these things together, because of his unbelievable piano/vocal/organizational skill, and, more importantly, his ability to connect with the kids. Sigh. I just feel bad that Laena didn't get the message, back in August, when the West Jordan Concert Choir was asked, as sort of a last minute favor, to do a cameo appearance in High School Musical 3, filming across town. Double sigh. I don't know if we were out of town, or it was because she'd changed her phone number, but we missed it, and she was bummed. Lost her chance to shine on the silver screen. And her little sister probably would've been able to get on the movie set and watch them filming! Don't tell her that though! All heck would break loose. : ) But hey, we'll get to see it in theatres THIS WEEKEND! So go and check it out, everybody! And you can all say that you almost knew her when. . .  Sob. . Chuckle, sob. . .

 

Lincoln's birthday was this month. . He's 2 now. He was actually due on Columbus Day, 2006, but the doc was nervous about our big, huge babies, so he took him 2 weeks early. Hmmm. If I could do that one over, I don't think it would go down quite the same way. . . I mean, so we have 9 and a half lb babies . . consistently. That's not that big! And his lungs might not have been as fully developed as they could have been! Just because Aleia was ten pounds, fifteen point eight ounces. . . Pshaw! What a bunch of pansies!  : )

Laena's and Jefferson's birthdays are also coming up here pretty soon. . . I refer to them as our second set of twins. Jeffy was due on Laena's 12th birthday, and they look just alike! : ) He ended up being induced 2 days early, however, because the doc was going on vacation. Jeez. . . Well, this way Laena lucks out and gets her own day to party! November is a big birthday month in our house. Charlie's on the 30th, so that makes 3. . . We also have a bunch of cousins, etc who claim as their advent the coldest month of Autumn. Jeffy, the last couple of years, has inadvertently had a 'political party', because his birthday has happened to fall on . . election day!   : ) Chuckle. Yep! I'm tempted to have everybody dress up as their favorite candidate! Ha ha ha ha ha! jeffyjeffyjeffyjeffy (He had to write his name.)  : )