Wishes

Needing to send a few wishes out:

For my Dad! Bronchitis and Pnuemonia?!?! Get in BED DAD! Prayers of healing coming your way.
For Savannah, congrats on being baptized this coming Saturday. We will be thinking of you! Have fun with all the family. Wish we could be there.
For Kent and Pat Barton, they lost their son-in-law unexpectedly. Prayers for your daughter, granddaughters and your whole family.
Prayers for my young women, I never stop praying for you.
Prayers for our nephew Curtis in France. My the gospel spread and may you stay safe!
Prayers of gratitude for Jill and Colter. He got a position at PRINCETON!!!! Were we ever really worried for you? WAY TO GO! PRINCETON?!?!? YOU ROCK!

Lastly, prayers of gratitude for ice cream. It's what gets me through. :o)

PS Shelley, I did I ever tell you how cute the family reunion invitations turned out? We have it on the fridge! It got our kids SO excited. Thank you!

PPS Sarah, thanks for sending this dress. She looked so CUTE in it!

Mormon Temples

Our temples are sacred places. What we do there is not secret. It is just too sacred to splash all over. We don't need to have it printed in magazines, put into movies or on television. We hold it close to us. We respect the covenants we make with God inside the temple. And this is why it is sad to see television producers, actors and such make shows like "Big Love." It shows disrespect and disregard for all that is sacred to us as Latter-day Saints (Mormons). It also is impossible for an ex-mormon to give an accurate and unbiased view of the temple ordinances. It is like asking someone who has race issues to write a history of the civil rights movement. It would be skewed, incorrect and biased. If you want to know why we build temples and why we go there, see this video clip. The temple is the most beautiful, peaceful and spiritually uplifting place you can be on earth. It is one of my most treasured gifts to be able to go to the temple. It truly is the House of the Lord.

http://ldsmediatalk.com/2009/03/12/church-video-on-purpose-of-temples/

Wild Weekend

One knock on the mouth on the teeter totter = One really loose tooth

9 days without that darn tooth falling out + roots that won't let go = One sick looking tooth that is turning black which = A trip to the dentist

One screaming child + pliers+ a patient and kind dentist= One toothless child

One toothless child with a tooth under her pillow+ One generous fairy = One lisping little girl with an oh so cute smile

One older sister with a wild streak+ One little sister named Abby+ No Mom + carefree park time + a little too much playing = One little sister poked hard in the right eye

One sweet husband + One hysterically screaming Abby + 3 other kids = Chaos

One watering red eye + hours of crying = A call to the opthamologist which then = A scratched cornea which then = a prescription and a prayer it will heal FAST

One snow outing with 23 youth + lots of snow = lots of fun, but long time away from family

One Tri-Stake Yth Activity until 11 PM + watching kids for wifey all day = One very tired Darin who fell asleep in Sunday School

One ward council training session at 7:15 for Darin + Ward Council for Amy + One priest lesson for Darin + One block of Church + Class Presidency training for Amy + Youth Conference Committe meeting for Darin + SYC for Darin + AP/YW meeting for Darin + YM/YW meeting for Amy = One to many meetings in one day for any one couple

One wild weekend = One very MESSY house = Very tired wife and hubby

Which means I need to escape and ignore the house.
Crazy Mom = Need to blog!
:o)

Blossom Trail

One of the really great things about living here is the agriculture. I am a little biased, being a horticulture graduate, but even if I weren't I think I would love it the same. It is awesome to see it all in action. Our county isthe 2nd leading producer of agricultural commodities. In fact, we host the World Ag Expo, which is the world's largest agricultural show. Cool eh? We also are #1 for milk production. (Ahhh smell those dairies!) But we love seeing all of the orange, pummelo, tangerine, lemon, grapefruit, olive, walnut, pecan, almond, kiwi, cherry, peach, nectarine, plum, pistachio, apple, and apricot trees. Plus the endless grape vineyards we see. Did you know that there are table grapes, wine grapes and raisin grapes? This doesn't even include the acres of broccoli, watermelon, cabbage, onions, cauliflower, tomoatoes, beans, canteloupe, strawberries, blueberries, alfalfa, wheat, cucumbers, corn and MANY MANY more crops that are grown here. It is agriculture heaven. I so wish I could study it all. I know I am weird! But I am glad that our kids get to see it all in action. It is important that they understand that it takes a great deal of work and knowledge to grow the food we take so easily for granted. A highlight for us has been doing the blossom trail. It is a set "trail" that runs in February and March depending on the weather. You can drive along following the trail for 67 miles and see rows and rows of trees in blossom. "Popcorn Popping" takes on a whole new meaning when you do this! We did it several years ago, but missed last year. I don't want to miss it ever again! We had so much fun. I made a huge mistake and forgot to bring extra batteries for the camera. I had to keep turning the camera off to save juice, but I could still only squeeze some pictures out. I wish I had gotten a picture of several orchards at once. That is magnificent. I have not been to the New England for the fall colors, but I can say that this is our show! Pictures are just not adequate. It only gives you a taste. Come visit and we'll show you!!!!










We played freeze tag in an almond orchard. The pictures of us in the orachard with the white blossoms is an almond orchard. I thought we might get in trouble but the owner came by on his motorbike and told us we were seeing the best of the blossoms, that they were at full bloom. He seemed glad that we were there enjoying the beauty. We did try to be careful not to knock any blossoms off. But it was so much fun running through the trees. I have always wanted to run through an orchard and to do it while it was in full bloom made it all the more special. It was a BLAST!

Sequoia National Park

We love living so close to a National Park. We love to hike as a family. We love to go up into the mountains and explore. Despite the fact that we have been many times, we have yet to touch the surface of this huge park. However, we never fail to have a great time no matter what we find. We stopped this time at the visitor center and asked about a hike we had found in a book. The ranger told us about a hike that started at the dumping station that we might like. Yeww! It didn't sound all that inviting to start at the dump station but we tend to be overwhelmed by bodily functions so why not? You parents of young kids know what I mean right? The snot, the barf, the #1 and the #2, the diapers, the diahrrea, the WHAT ELSE can come out of four kids syndrome. Okay I am off track. We found the start and the girls had a great time hiking along the river throwing in rocks, scaring all of Darin's HUGE fish he was trying to catch. (we didn't really see ANY fish, but I am sure that he would have caught one if he didn't have 4 very loud girls giggling and screaming on the shore. :o) It was so green and beautiful. We were in the foothills and early spring is definitely the time to be there. This tree is just one of the examples of the incredible beauty we saw.

Can you believe this is ONE tree?

After a bit we came to a fantastic suspension bridge over the river.

Man I love these girls!

After crossing the bridge we hiked a few switchbacks and came across this:

A huge old aquaduct. It was AMAZING. It was so surprising. No one tells you it is there. In fact, the trail is sort of hidden. But it was fascinating. It was very full and very fast moving. It is amazing that you have no idea this huge thing is even there at all. We hiked along it for awhile. Darin saw a huge fish and of course had to throw his line in AS we walked along it. Got to love it!

It ran for miles and miles. It was creepy old. It was leaking in places and you wondered how in the world it held all of that water. We are dying to know how long it has been there and where it stops and starts. We hiked as far as we could until there was no longer a path. At least a path on the ground! The trail went up a ladder and in order to keep going along the aquaduct you had to walk on boards that were laid across the aquaduct. Can you imagine? Walk on TOP of that thing? Props to the engineers who DO walk it.

These ferns growing on the side of the aquaduct were gorgeous!

Also on the hike, there is evidence of Native American culture. The Indians in this part of the mountians relied heavily on acorns. They would use holes in the rocks to crush and grind the acorns. The holes became deeper and deeper as they used them. Here is one example that is filled with water:

We were also lucky enough to find some petroglyph up on the side of a hill. Our girls were so excited. Abby and Sarah were especially worried as to why the Native Americans were not still there. It looks like the rock is falling away so someday this will no longer be here. Parts of it have already fallen away.

It started at the dump station, but what a find!

In all His Glory

I love Darin when he is fishing. It is his passion, his love (BESIDES ME OF COURSE) and his obsession. It is so fun to see him love something so much. After all, a man in a house full of women, has to GET out and do a manly thing. This is from when we escaped to the mountians for my b-day. We hiked along the river and he threw his line in a few times along the way. We just won't mention that he got skunked. (aka he didn't get any fish.) But really it doesn't count as a true fishing trip since he didn't get to spend his full 9 hours fishing. :o) It is a 9 hour minimum or you can't say you went fishing. LOL!
This picture is perfect. He is in the zone! And looking yummy.

7th Folder, 7th Picture

Ahhhh. Let me introduce you to an important member of the family. This is Squishy Bear. Squishy Bear joined our family when Grandma and Papa Macdonald gave him to Kate for her first Christmas. And he has been a constant companion ever since. Okay she doesn't carry him around, she is 8 you know. But when she was younger he was certainly a good buddy and still is her main squeeze at night. There was only about 2 months when they were seperated. We accidently left him in Utah and we had to wait a bit to pick him up. You should have seen the reunion this was. I hope she misses her Mom that much when she leaves for college. :o) But he is famous and we had him "pose" for a picture for a school project. So here he is in all his glory. Isn't he cute? And now my "tagging" is complete. And what a fun way to document a treasured childhood friend for Kate. Thanks Carla!

Watch out Mommy!

Today Ellie was pushing the stroller at the girls' school. She believes the stroller is for her to push NOT ride in. Anywho, we started to walk over a huge drain that was covered with a grate. Ellie looked down and started to get worried. She gingerly walked over the grate and said, "Be careful Mommy. Don't fall down. Don't fall into the pot."


Oh no, we don't watch movies with princesses, mean step mothers, apples and pots. Never.

Speaking of Wishes

You will never guess what I got for my birthday. (NO CHEATING! Don't scroll down and cheat. Just guess!) Clothes? Shoes? Jewelry? Breakfast in Bed? Good guesses. And a few of those really did happen! (I even had my order taken for breakfast. YUMMY!)

But this is big. I mean BIG. Not a little gift. Not your ordinary gift by any means. Now as I say all this I hope none of you get offended. Your birthday presents, cards and well wishes were extremely thoughtful and super appreciated by me. I said on facebook, that I had never gotten so many birthday wishes before. I mean it! It was such a fun day. But back to the guesses. I mention this gift because it goes above and beyond nice. It was super generous!!!!! My sister Jill and her hubby Colter won something in a raffle. They were so excited! I mean how many times do you win a raffle? Once in a lifetime? ANYHOW, they could have taken what they won and sold it. Colter is in school still, they could have used the money.

But this shows the class of people that they are.

They sent it to me for my birthday.


Jill wanted to make sure it was okay with me, so I did know it was coming, but I kept it a secret from Darin and the girls. I had Darin open it. I have never been so excited to have someone else open my present. :o) We are in the car at the post office. I just couldn't wait. Someday I'll get the video on when I figure out our camera. Kate was screaming, I was excited and Darin was shocked!

Jill, Colter, Grant, Clark and Cora, Thank you so much. We have had so much fun! And what a truly charitable thing to do. We love it. Love it, love it!! We had wanted a Wii for so long! You made our WISH come true! You are like the fairy godmother! Biddi Bobidi Boo! THANK YOU!

Can you see WHY I had to mention this particular gift??????? I knew ya'll would understand.

Wishes

I have to say that I am a huge fan of wishes. Love them. I love throwing coins in fountains and making wishes. I still remember always wanting to throw coins in the fountain in the center court of Westridge Mall. You know all you PHX 21sters, the old fountain in center court. Ah those days. I don't do it as much. Mostly because I don't run in to many fountains and secondly, I need every penny I can save to scrounge together just enough to buy a Whopper Jr every six months. But my feelings for wishes still exist. I am big on candles and wishes at birthdays. Once a year, you get to close your eyes, make a wish and then blow like crazy! How fun is that? I love granting the wishes of my family when I can. There is something magical about it. Now that I am older, wishes kind of mix with prayers. Wishes are your hopes for something. And when I wish it tends to run into prayers. Who else grants us our dreams, but a loving Heavenly Father? Well I know they are often granted through those around us, but aren't our hands His? And who else but God, helps us so fully when wishes don't come true exactly as we had planned? And who else but Heavenly Father helps us to see that our wishes came true in ways we couldn't see on our own?
I have a few of my wishes to share, I hope you don't mind. I wanted some of you to know that I have a few wishes and prayers for you!
-For Colter, my hard working BIL. Prayers for you as you finish your dissertation and as you seek a position somewhere across this great nation. May you have guidance from above! And may my secret wish for family to move closer come true!
-For my nephew Kyle. He was baptized on Saturday. I thought of you all day Kyle. I should have called. May you know you are loved by us, and may you always remember your very special day!
-For my young women. I don't think any of them read this. But there are a few of you that I know need extra prayers. My wish is that you know you are loved.
-For my Abby. She once told me that noboday likes her. May you always know sweetie pie, that you are oh so loved by oh so many. Hang in there! You are a beautiful little lady.
-Birthday wishes for Bob, sorry we missed your day. Did you hyperventilate trying to blow out ALL those candles? Hee hee!
-Wishes for my sister Shelley and her hubby Darren, as they go to sell their home. MAY IT SELL!
-Prayers of gratitude that you weren't hurt Darren!
-One last wish. for greater patience. I hope someday that I can say I am doing better. Even if just a little.

Love to you all, those who read and comment and even wishes for those who don't. :o)

Are we funny or what?

Sarah, loves the movie Annie. I let my kids watch it a month ago. I hadn't watched it since I was a kid. I walked in during one of the times they were watching it (AGAIN) and was surprised that I didn't remember how racy it is! But I have to say, it still has incredible songs! Anyhow, Annie often says "Leapin' Lizards" in the movie. One night, I told Sarah a story and her reaction to the punch line was "Leapin' Smokers!" :o)

We went hiking for my birthday and had a great time. We managed to forget the hiking pack to carry Ellie. But I think it would have been a waste anyhow. She was all about doing it herself! (No surprise there eh?) Here are some of our favorites from that day.

Ellie:
"No Daddy don't help me. I a hiker."
"No Mommy. I a good hiker. I go hiking!"
"Help me Daddy. (her rare request for help) Thank you Daddy. You a good man."

And other cute sayings:
Ellie: "Daddy you a man."
Daddy: "Yes I am. What is Mommy?"
Ellie: "Mommy not a man. She a woman."

After waking up from her nap, Ellie found Kate in her room after coming home from school.
Ellie: "Katie! You came back! I love you Katie." A big hug followed!

Ellie: "I am go to school too. I be an owl too."

Other quick notes of interest:
Kate had her first piano lesson. She was on cloud nine. She was so excited the she practiced as soon as she got her hands on a piano, which happened to be at the Church while I set up for New Beginnings! Not once, all week, did I have to ask her to practice. YES! Love it!

Abby prays everyday for rain. It is so cute. She gets so excited when her prayers are answered!

Sarah and Abby went to the dentist. NO CAVITIES! Yipppeeee! What made me laugh though was they got battery powered toothbrushes for Christmas. They got cheapy ones from the dentist. They came home and THREW away their nice toothbrushes. I was like WHAT??? Abby, "Well we got new ones." I made them fish them out and we washed them. I know gross. At least the garbage had been emptied. There was no way I was throwing them away!LOL!

Sarah loves butter. I just found her with the whole tub. She had knocked it off the counter accidently while trying to eat it. Butter everywhere. GRRrrreeeeeeasy! Ewww! Why???? Tell me someone. I want to know.

Abby and Sarah both wanted to know how old I turned. You should have seen their horrified looks when I told them. What are they going to say when I turn 40? :o)

Okay I'll quit. I just want to remember so much of the everyday. What life was really like. And now for the answer. Are we funny or what??? It is WHAT for sure!

Can it Be?

I shouldn't complain. I read other blogs where people are suffering from burns, children needing heart transplants, cancer etc etc. But, can I complain a little? I just did our taxes for last year. We spent $9,024.53 on medical costs last year. Can it be? 9 thousand dollars gone. I guess I can be grateful that we are alive and kickin'. What a blessing health is. But what an expensive one. Healthy, but poor. That's what we are. :o)

A Powerful Bond

Sarah and Abby

Don't these pictures just make you smile? I didn't even pose them. They were doing whatever they wanted. It was so funny. I hope they will forever feel this way about each other and their other sisters. I know that I cried on the way home from the airport after dropping Emily off. I love my sisters SOOOooooooo much. I miss being with them. One of my life wishes is that Kate, Ellie, Abby and Sarah feel that same bond. Families are what it is all about!

Now don't let me leave you out Seth. Thank heavens you were in the mix. Who would have protected us? I still remember when this big old huge boy liked me at school. He was TALL! I am sure my memory makes him even taller, but I do know he was double my size. I was scared of him. I was a first grader and you were in sixth grade. You told me that you would protect me from him. I think you even went up to him and told him to leave me alone. I still remember he was waiting right by the old crosswalk by the bike rack and you were there with me. I never forgot that. Brothers are so important too. Now that I am sitting here reminiscing, maybe we do need a boy in this family after all! Errr, um, maybe Darin/Daddy will have to do. :o)

Back to my other thoughts from two paragraphs ago. I love my twins. We went to Walmart and every corner we turned, people made comments. Every once in awile that drives me insane. Yes they are twins. Yes that is why they are dressed the same, look the same, act the same, and no I didn't have two children so close together that they look the same. LOL! But yesterday was one of those days that it just made me smile. And say a few thank yous to Heavenly Father for sending them, each one and yet, at the same time. What an experience it is. Aber and Sarah Jane - You are loved!

Auntie Em, Auntie Em

Looking gorgeous wouldn't you say?

She's ready guys! :o)

Aunt Em, how we love you so
You make us smile and laugh
Our hearts are fuller
When we are near to you.
Oh how we miss you so!
Adventures we had with you,
Ones we won't soon forget.
What an example you are to us
For your heart is as pure as can be
Thank you for coming
For bring such light and happiness
Our days were brighter while you were here
And now we send our love to you
While the miles keep us apart.

We love you Emily!
We can't wait until we meet again . . . .

A New Girl

So Kate came home one day and told me that she had failed the vision test at school. I said, "Kate have you had trouble seeing at school?" "Yes" says Kate. OKAY that would have been very good to know! But we took her in and wa la- she is blind. :o) She couldn't see anything! I felt terrible. So we went in and started looking for just the right frames. I was surprised by what we ended up picking. But she looks DARLING in them. And NOW SHE CAN SEE! She was floored by all she could see. For days that is all we heard. "I can see that now. I can see that now. Wow look at that. Mom can you read that? I can!" She was reading every street sign as we were driving. It almost drove us bonkers. (in a good way.) We are so glad she can see. That same day she also got her ears pierced. She really is a NEW girl. You have to look hard to see her ears, but here she is. Oh and at the last second I decided I would try to put on some video. I don't know what I am doing so here goes. If you see video it worked. If you don't well, that means there is little hope for this technologically challenged woman.