OOOO! AHHHH! OHHHH!
Bob has been very busy. He started yesterday by getting the nativity up and finished up with the lights in the bush and on the roof. It's important to get them up early here before the snow starts. Bob is all done now and he is very relieved too; since he starts work on Monday and won't have as much time on his hands any more.
There is snow in the forecast for Tuesday, but that's happened before and I haven't seen any.
Hooray for Devon! He is joining the world of car owning peoples. This is huge for him, we are so happy. He went with Brian to look for a car and this is what he found. I remember when I got my first car and the freedom that I felt, the independence is awesome.
He had most of the money to put down on it and was able to do three post dated checks for the balance. Now he won't have to use his moms car to get to and from work. Way to go Devon! I really like the color. We are so excited to see it tomorrow, maybe he'll take us for a spin?
Today we went over to take pictures at Mom and Dad's remodel site. Tom and Wade and other various workers have been hard at work today (Bob, David, Todd and Ben did a lot of work earlier this week). It is so wonderful to see things get closed in so that bad weather doesn't do any damage. Things are really coming together and it is getting easier for us to capture their vision. It's good to see them reach this milestone and we look forward to the completion of this project. I think that Tom put it best when he said that this would be a memorable project for all who have helped. It's good to see all of the brothers working so hard together.
Our son Chris still lives in Vancouver and I was concerned that he wouldn't have a nice turkey dinner. I shouldn't have worried, he and his room mate Scott decided to make their own turkey dinner. He cooked a 20lb bird. His text came with this picture attached and said "my first attempt
at a turkey went well." I'll say it did, he figures that he will have turkey sandwiches until Christmas. I'm just beaming, I'm so glad that he had a good experience even though I wish that we could have shared it with him.
We had a great Thanksgiving too, loads of people. We all fit in Kathi and Jacks garage. We had marvelous dinner entertainment provided by David and a lot of laughs. The food was stupendous and I don't think that any one left hungry. I'm really grateful that Bob's family is here and that we could get together. The only one who couldn't make it was Devon, he had to work. Brian and Heather took him a plate of food though, sometimes that's just the way it works out.
Tonight we celebrated Brian's birthday. As per our family tradition he picked what we made for dinner. This year he wanted cheeseburgers, Grandma made potato wedges to have on the side. I think that this was a good choice that was enjoyed by all.
After dinner we continued a game of Phase 10 that we started last week. We still didn't finish the game but we had fun playing a few more rounds.
When Brian was opening his present he promptly put the bow on his head. HeeBee said he was acting like Chris. Brian said if it were Chris he would tie it around his head like Rambo. I said hold it I want a picture for the blog. He got three seasons of Smallville and when it gets here he will have the new Ender's book.
He requested a Funfetti cake and we had strawberry ice cream. I wanted to load up the cake with 25 candles but we ran out of time so I put 2 of one kind of candle and 5 of another. He was able to blow them all out so I'm sure that his wish will come true.
Hey everybody! We've got some good news, Bob received the written offer yesterday and he faxed his acceptance back this morning. He could start by December 1st. Hooray! Now all he needs is a Government Security Clearance. We are praying that all of that goes through for him. It is so wonderful to see the hand of the Lord in our lives. It's very humbling, I am so grateful for all of the things that I have learned as we have waited patiently for this blessing.
On a lighter note the grocery store that we shop at has been giving turkey vouchers for every 25 to 50 dollars that you spend. Laura (Bobs sister), Bobs Mom and I all pooled our vouchers. We had $12 all together, while I was waiting in line a woman asked me if I was using vouchers and if I would like hers (she got her turkey some where else). She had $5 in vouchers. We got a 23lb bird for $2.53. Amazing!
Here is Bobs handiwork, he is taking the pictures that we took at Sadies and photoshoping them into a better background. I think that this looks great! It will be a fun photo to remember the evening anyway.
Today Bob is over a his Mom and Dad's build site doing what he can to help with the construction of their new home. I am here recovering from a nasty case of the flu. I really do feel a lot better today. Although I am getting tired of soda cracker and Gatorade. The good news is that Bob will be getting an offer for a job from one of the companies that he interviewed at last week. The recruiter called him to let him know that they were putting together the package and he should hear back from them soon. Hooray! I know its not nice to bury news like that in a post with a picture about Sadies but that is how it turned out. I will keep everyone posted, thank you for all of your prayers on our behalf.
If you can only read one book this holiday I recommend this one by Glenn Beck. It's called The Christmas Sweater and it is sooo good! I started last night and I am half way through. Here is a excerpt from the book:
"He was quiet a few moments as he collected himself. When he spoke again, his voice was soft. "When I showed you all of this work the other day, I said 'we' were going to build a new chicken coop. I didn't say 'I,' and I certainly didn't say 'you'. I never intended for you to do all this work yourself. You just assumed it. When I offered to help, you told me 'not to bother.' If you remember correctly, that is the first time I asked you to let me know when you were done. I didn't mean done with the chore, I meant to let me know when you were done moping around. When are you going to be done feeling sorry for yourself? Done thinking that the world is against you?
"The world isn't against you, Eddie," he continued. "You are against you. You have to realize that no one is meant to carry the load alone. We're all in this together. Once you realize that you can ask for help, your whole world will change."
I feel changed by what I have read already. I think that I have been moping around feeling like I can't get into the Christmas spirit, I see now that Christmas will be as merry as I make it. It may be different from any other Christmas I have enjoyed... if I want it to be it will be the best Christmas ever. This may be the Christmas that I get to offer more service to those around me and have more of the meaningful true Christmas spirit moments that the Savior wants for me. Maybe, just maybe if I let Him the Savior will orchestrate the most beautiful Christmas that I have ever had. He could do it for you too, will you let Him?
Heather and Brian have their tree up. It looks very pretty, I can't wait to see it in person (I'm sure that this picture from the cell phone doesn't do it justice).
I'm going to get our tree put up the day after Thanksgiving in keeping with our family tradition. I think that having it up will help me to feel more of the Christmas spirit.
This has been quite the day. We got up at 7:30 am so that Heather could
make chocolate chip cookies as a thank you for Aunt Kathi for letting them ride horses out at their house for Sadies. Heather didn't even think that she would be able to go out and ride horses because she had a volleyball game, they lost the game and didn't advance so she was able to come.
Not all of the couples were able to come and ride horses but those who did had a really fun time. We got some fun pictures. Heather's date had to cancel because of work so we got pictures of her roping all of the guys. 
They had a picnic lunch and then a whipped cream fight. The guys ended up ganging up on Liz (Heathers friend) while the rest of the
girls hid in the van...Heather did jump out, not to help Liz but to take a picture.
Later after we got home and made corn bread to go with the chili we headed off to the church building to set up for the dinner. Everything was wonderful the group of 13 got to eat dinner together and then they turned on the music and started dancing. Heather was reserved at first but then joined in with all of the dancing. One of the young men that was there gave Heather some dance instruction and she really looked like she was enjoying the lesson. This group are all good friends and danced with each other and helped each other lea
rn different dances. They just looked like they were having a good time. Heather looked so cute in her Sadies clothes, I don't know if she was aware of it though.
At one point Heather got swung around by one of the guys, she also had a piggy back ride and did a trust fall. I think that Heather is the smallest little feather weight and she got picked up more than once.
Right now she is at Liz's house watching Get Smart with the group. I think that she will be glad that she didn't miss out on this experience.
Tonight was Fab Friday in River Ridge 3rd Ward. I was very busy, I think that the puppets and gift tags were the most fun to make. The temple tile is the Mt. Timpanogos Temple, I thought that we should have something to balance all of the Portland Temple pictures that we have.
Heather was off at a friends planning Sadies so I went by myself this year, I may not get her to go with me again until she's grown and married. They served soup and rolls for dinner.
I worked in the nursery for 40 minutes and still finished all of my projects. I feel mostly shy and self conscience with my ward, I'm not really sure how I fit yet. I'm lucky that everyone is really nice and seem to be understanding of my quietness.
I learned how to make a really fun microwave cake tonight. You take 1/3 cup of cake mix and a 1/4 cup of water mix it together in a paper bowl or regular bowl until smooth. Cook in the microwave for 1 minute. Top with chocolate chips, nuts, marshmallows, caramel or whatever else sounds good and put it in the microwave for 20 seconds. Serve with ice cream. This was so good. I came home and made it right away for Bob and Mom and Dad.
Heather got an answer from Mike (the guy she asked to Sadies) it's a yes, in case you couldn't tell (I couldn't until I put it here in the blog). Hooray for Heather!
I know that she is going to have such a fun time with all of her friends.
Bob and I are going to take pictures of all of her friends then drop them into this 8x10 page I made in my scrapbook program. For $5 each all of the gang can have a keepsake photo.
I found the cowgirl on line but I needed a cowboy the only one that I could do anything with was the drawing below. I used the custom and magic wand tools to make him look the way I wanted him to.
Heather tried out for the Orem High School Girls Basketball team on Monday, unfortunately she found out yesterday that she didn't make the team. There were 34 girls and only seven made varsity and seven made junior varsity. They have a C squad but only Sophomores were selected for that team. Heather was really bummed out about it. She said that some of the girls that made the team weren't as good as some of the girls that were cut. There is s bright side to the story, now she can play with the young women on the church team.
Don't worry Heather you are still our "Hot Shot"!
I was just experimenting with the tools and I made this really cool flower and paisley. I didn't have any current pictures that they would match so I dug into the archives and found one of our wedding photographs.
I really like this picture, the look on Heather's face is so beautiful and genuine. I think that she looks happy. I like to remember this picture, especially now when she has become such a teenager. Right now she is going through those growing pains of becoming her own person and I wish that I could hang on to the days where she needed me more. Maybe it's me that is having the growing pains.
Anyway I just thought I'd share a picture from the happiest day of my life.
Last week we found out that Devon received a promotion to Supervisor at Wal-mart. Way to go Devon we are so proud of you.
He works at the Pleasant Grove Wal-mart and I think that he does a really great job. Every time that we have gone in there he seems to be really helpful and courteous.
I am sure that with the holiday season upon us, all of his talents and patience will be put to the test. I know that he will be able to rise to the retail occasion and be a great example to those he supervises.
My sister Mardi just sent me an e-mail with this picture in it. Wow! The person who created this tree used what appeared to be pvc pipe in the center and heavy gauge wire to attach the Mountain Dew cans.
I don't think that I am willing to commit to drinking the amount of 7up it would require to make a tree of my own...so I will just enjoy someone elses creativity. There were pictures of the process and I wasn't so sure I'd like it, then I got to this picture and when it's all lit up I think that it looks really pretty.
I'm so excited for Christmas and getting to put up the tree. It's one of my favorite holiday projects. I still need to figure out what I will do for our ornament this year (I make or buy something new for each member of the family every year) I'm sure something will come to me in the St. Nick of time :)
Its the WONDERFUL, the STUPENDOUS, the AMAZING Bob! Yes he can lattice pie. Isn't he awesome?!?
We decided that we wanted to have pie after dinner tonight... so I said why not? I made the pie crust recipe that my mom taught me how to make and rolled it out, put it in the pan, dumped
in the pie filling and then my amazing husband came up to handle the top.
On his way home from taking Heather to mutual he stopped at Harmon's to get some ice cream. When he came home he handed me the ice cream and said "what's wrong with this picture?" I couldn't see that anything was wrong. Evidently all of the ice cream makers have changed from 2 quarts to 1 1/2 quarts, that way they don't have to increase their prices. He said that it is the beginning of the end for America.
Today we wanted to do a craft project. So we decides to make a turkey for Thanksgiving. We traced around his hand with a pen, then we got out poster paints and crayons to color the turkey. Last of all we decorated the turkey with dry beans and macaroni. He said that the turkey's name is Tom and he is for our Thanksgiving dinner.
This was such a fun project that we glued beans to color book pages. I colored them with crayons and Ashton glued on the beans. His favorites were the split peas (I guess those aren't technically considered beans... Oh well).
I made a little video of him talking about his turkey but I couldn't get it to upload. I will post it as soon as I can. What a fun day!
Heather worked on her creative invite to Sadies tonight. I'm sure she will have plenty of opportunities to hone her skills as she finishes out her years in high school. The mini hay bale sheds a lot so she is going to wrap it up in a blue bandanna. I'm so happy for her to have this fun experience, she will be with friends and just have a good time. I'm so happy that she is more level headed about it and is just interested in having a fun time.
Way to go Heather, we are so proud of you!
Yesterday Heather went with a couple of her friends out to Aunt Kathi's ranch to scope out the good places for her and her friends to take pictures with their dates for Sadies. Here is Heather riding one of the horses, its a good thing she has been on a horse before. I think that she looks pretty confident and will be able to encourage confidence in her friends that may not have been riding before.
Later today she will be working on her creative way to ask her date. We got her a little mini hay bale and she is going to make a little flag/banner to put in it that says "Hay ____! Will you go to Sadies with me? She will be giving this to him on Monday. More details and pictures to follow.
Her group of friends are pretty creative, some of them (like Heather) cannot afford to go to the actual dance at the school so they are going to go out to Aunt Kathi's in the daytime and ride horses and take pictures. They will have Subway sandwiches as a picnic lunch. Then they will go to their various houses and get dressed for a dance. They have decided to reserve the gym at one of the chapels here and have their own mini dance/Sadies party. I am evidently providing the chili and cornbread dinner for 14 friends. Bob and I will stay around as chaperones for their fun night. Bob and I are also trying to find a way to use my creative memories software to make prints of the pictures for the friends who want them as part of their night to remember.
Now all we have to find is a pair of cowboy boots for Heather.
Yes it is that time of year again...when I bid a fond farewell to the Halloween decorations as I pile them on the kitchen table to be packed away until next year. Bob is taking down the outside decorations so I decided I had better get the inside ones down as well. It's so much more fun to put them all up, it seems like work to put them all away.
The good news is that all of the pumpkins and fall leaves can stay out and I will add the pilgrims and Indians to them. I have one turkey but I think that I need another one. I might try to make a fabric soft sculpture turkey to put in this one lonely blank spot downstairs. I'll have to let you know how that goes.
I am soooo happy! Last week I got a card in the mail from my buddy Conner. He sent me these awesome pictures. It took me a while to get over to the Wal-mart to get them put on a disk so that I could blog about how excited I am.
I wish that we could see one of his soccer games but it is great to see him in his gear at practice or before a game.
Today we have snow! Hooray! Heather brought the camera to me when she heard me get up. She said "I know you'll want to blog about it". She was right but I went back to bed for an hour after family prayer and took these pictures after I was up and dressed.
We got the spider from Halloween down on to the porch...but the snow blew in on it and 
turned it white. I had on my boots and hat and scarf and coat. It's hard to take a picture of yourself, I always feel so stupid taking my own picture that I end up looking really goofy.
I came back in the house and made my favorite breakfast, Dee's hot cereal and hot cocoa.
I was able to sit at the table on the kitchen and watch the snow falling down. That is what I like to do best. I'll probably be sick of the snow...later, but right now I love it.
It's been a while since I was able to post, so I have a little bit of catching up to do.
On Saturday Bob was able to help Brian and Heather with their move. They have a cute basement apartment in home out in the stix of Lehi, the proximity to Heather's job at the new Fred Meyer Jewelers makes this the perfect spot for them.
Before they moved they had talked about having Sunday Family Dinner at their place, but during the move they weren't sure that they would be settled enough to do that. During Sacrament Meeting Bob got a text from Brian inviting us over. WHOO HOO!
After church we waited patiently while the pot roast cooked in the crock pot and then at the appointed time 6:15 we loaded the banquet table, eight chairs, service for four and all of the dinner fixin's into the van and headed for Lehi.
We stopped to pick up Devon on the way and had to make another stop to retie the table to the top of the van but other than that it was an uneventful drive their. We pulled up to the house and crept 
around to the back and then went down the stairs to the basement entrance. The home owners little black dog came out of the garage to greet us. I'm just glad it was a little dog and not a German shepherd.
We took a quick tour around the place. They have a very large and open living room, kitchen and dining area. It is very nicely lit with recessed lighting and has a very warm feel. We walked down the hall to the bedroom which is very good sized with a nice closet. There is a stacked laundry area on the way to the bathroom at the end of the long hallway. It is a very nice living space.
Heather tried to exit the storage area by the window in the wall. It looks like she lost her balance and fell out. This was probably a child's play area previously, you normally don't see a dutch style door on a storage room.
The kitties Rita and Zelda seemed pretty happy to be in a home without dogs. Although they were still pretty shy about comin
g out to see the company.
We had a great time having dinner there and HeeBee and I look forward to going over there to bake cookies for Christmas.
Last night we went over to hang some curtains on the living room window and have plans to make pretty calico valances for the kitchen and living room. I love a good project.
Here are my latest pages. I'm going to have to post them in two posts. I'm sure that you can see that I am having so much fun! Sure its taken a lot of time but when Bob is away from the computer, taking a break from job searching than I need to scrap-away!
Thank you Becki, Ami and Mardi for sending so many great pictures my way!
