Family Funnies

This morning during family prayer Connor was saying it and he said and I quote "please bless us to love and not torture each other". Hmmm did he really mean torture or was it supposed to be torment. Sometimes they act like they are being tortured by each other. By the way-that prayer only lasted up until bedtime when Connor and Caleb have to sleep in the same room as each other. Last we checked Caleb was standing in front of his dresser with his arms folded, his back to Connor and when Don went in there for like the billionth time Caleb said and I quote "I am not sleeping in here with him." Apparently he will be standing all night in front of the dresser.

Another one-yesterday Cayden was singing I am a Child of God and he said " and He has sent me to Jennifer". He says it like deneder. Melt my heart and what a kick in the pants-I better do better!

Tonight was the Classic Caleb Comedy Show-this child is soooooo stubborn. He got fussed at tonight because he was copycatting Connor ever so quietly and when he got caught he manufactured some tears and said that Connor was trying to throw him down the stairs. When I said that was interesting because Connor was buck naked in his room getting ready to shower at the same time that he was supposed to have been murdering Caleb he got mad and amid a jumble of (interject serious sarcasm here) "I Love you mom" and "you're the greatest" he said "What's your problem? You don't even care if I am being killed" like I did not even care that he was being shoved to his death. Well that was just about enough from our drama king so I fussed at him about not talking to me that way. Well he showed me-he did not talk the rest of the night. During scripture study we take turns reading 5 verses and he usually goes first but he apparently did not need to have his book open to read so we skipped him. Then when it was his turn again, he was not ready so we skipped him again. The next time around he had his book open and when I told him to go ahead, he started reading monotone in a very quiet voice so that noone could hear him. I stopped him and we skipped him again and said that when he was ready to read he could let us know. Seriously this child did this same thing (mumbling monotone) each time it was his turn. It was laughable! (we were trying not to laugh at him though because that just makes him more mad). So we finished scripture study and did family prayer and then sent them to bed. Well sometime while I was tucking in Cayden, Caleb decided that he wanted to communicate but he still was not going to talk. I found a note on my bed that said this "Do not want. From ?" The note was laying on top of a lanyard thingy that Don got yesterday at the show he was doing in town and he gave them to the boys when he got home. Hmmm I wonder who could have written the note-the family mute? Don and I had a good laugh and then a few minutes later Caleb came in with another note for me. I read it but then said that I only talk to people who talk to me. He huffed out of the room and then the fun started with Connor. (see above). Don thought that he would go in to Caleb's room and tell him in overly exaggerated sign language like a mime "I love you" and then acting like a mime pull himself out of the room on a rope. If this is hard to understand wait it gets funnier. I thought that Don was hysterical and when he did that to Caleb there was no laughter but Caleb was trying not to smile with his blanket pulled up over his mouth. And now the best part-a few minutes later Caleb comes out to the family room and gives Don another note-torn from a book in his room that said-Not funny dad. I am still laughing. This child is lucky that he is not getting smothered in his sleep tonight because his parents were in a much more jovial mood to deal with his theatrics tonight.

And not to leave Cody out-he and I have good time quoting " So I Married an Axe Murderer" in our scottish accents mind you and also quoting an episode of Psych where there is a scottish woman who talks about her "bassett hound named Uncle Jimmy". For the full effect say that outloud in a scottish accent. (did you do it?) I bet my brother did! :)

Occasionally there are times that I don't want to sell my kids on Ebay and they are actually quite entertaining.

PS-Caleb has spent the last 30 minutes on the laundry room floor because he is not sleeping in there with Connor.

FHE or Bust

So last night we had FHE. For once I can actually say that it went really well-the only thing that could have been better was if Cayden would sit his little booty down and stay there! I had a few things planned but we did not get to them all because we actually had a good family discussion. We started the night talking about President Hinkley and where he was now. Basically the plan of salvation in a nutshell. Then I did a little object lesson with my hand and a glove about the resurrection. ( Elder Boyd K. Packer showed this along time ago) It was mostly for Cayden's benefit I thought but all he thought was that he needed to go and get a pair of gloves too. Connor and Caleb listened though and I think that they really understood what I was doing. The plan after that was to get into the Preach My Gospel book and talk about the Resurrection further and then go through the Ensign, New Era and Friend magazines and find things from President Hinkley but first Cody wanted to understand how the next Presidency was called-when I say understand I mean that he wanted to tell me how it went. He was not quite correct and it took a few minutes to convince him that his parents aren't complete idiots and that we do know a little bit and we have been around a little longer than him. Once we got that out of the way we took turns reading out of the Preach My Gospel book about the Resurrection and looking up some scriptures that went with the section. Our Stake Presidency has asked that we use Preach My Gospel in our FHE this year and utilize it more. Our lesson in RS on Sunday was from last General Conference from Elder Kopishke about Preach My Gospel. A few years go someone in our ward purchased a book for every member in our ward to have one as a Christmas gift so all of us have our own copy. We have used it in the past a few times for FHE but we want to be more diligent in doing what we have been asked so every FHE so far this year we have done something with it. There really is so much information in there. It is amazing. Another huge effort and blessing from President Hinkley. FHE went so well that it was actually 8:40 before we got done-that has to be a new record-like and hour and half of real, quality FHE. Hopefully it won't be another 10 years before that happens again. I love the gospel-it is so cool!!!

Follow the Prophet He Knows the Way

Like so many others I was stunned and saddened to hear of President Hinkley's death last night. I know that Sister Hinkley came to get him. He has been the prophet almost all of Connor, Caleb, and Cayden's lives and almost all of Cody's. He was an amazing man and to quote my mother-in- law "There will be hole in the universe now." I am so grateful to have the gospel and I am glad to know that the Lord is in charge. There will be voting or popularity contest-the church will move forward as it always has and there will be no confusion as to who succeeds him. I am grateful for all of the many wonderful things that President Hinkley did for this church and for the gospel. He has had a great impact on my life and he will be missed.
We love you President Hinkley!

Hoop It Up!

Cayden actually got on the court with his team to play basketball last night. He didn't actually touch the ball but he was out there the whole time and he walked (not ran) up and down the court as the game went on. He had his back to the action most of the time and seriously was looking at me smiling the whole time. His coach had to take his hands part of the time and almost pull him down to the other end of the court and at one time I saw her holding his arms in the air to help him guard the other players. Oh well at least he is out there and he is not fussing about it. Maybe baseball is more his speed!



This is what he was doing most of the game-smiling back at me.



Cayden in his basketball shirt.

Cayden's coach saying "You can do it! Come on!"





Cayden standing there again. Silly Kid!

Happy Friday!!!

It's Friday-Yippee!!!!!!
10 reasons why this week has not sucked as bad as last week and why I am thankful.

1. Don is on his way home! He got an earlier flight because they stayed and worked their tails off last night so that they would not have to stay all day today!

2. My kids don't have school today!

3. I got to sleep in.

4. I got to sleep in my bed all by myself. Connor, Caleb and Cayden slept over at Dottie's house last night.

5. I helped the lady who cleans my house yesterday find a doctor for her son who is hypoglycemic. I also gave her some strips for her son's blood sugar meter because they are soooooooooo expensive and they had run out and they didn't have a prescription.

6. The hot water heater is officially fixed. It was the thermostat not the elements. A guy in our neighborhood owns the plumbing business that put in the plumbing when we built the house so Don told him Sunday what was going on and he sent someone over to fix it. For free!!

7. I don't have to do scouts for another week.

8. I only have 6 scouts as opposed to 9 that I had last month.

9. Cayden played basketball last night.

10. I went to Adult Religion yesterday-basically seminary for the old people.

How Many Cupcakes is Too Many or Ode to a Funfetti Cupcake

So last week when Cody has his party I made Funfetti cupcakes with sprinkles for him and his friends. Huge mistake! Since then we have made cupcakes 3 more times. No, I have not eaten all of them. Some got eaten at the party, then Cody made some on Sunday but they were really little so eating 2 was only like eating 1 ( he only filled the liners partly full so those cupcakes did not even raise over the top of the liners). Then I made some more on Tuesday because I felt like it and then because there was not quite enough Cody made another batch yesterday because his Teachers group came over last night so I could get them all started on 2 merit badges. Of course we had to have a treat for them so we needed more Funfetti cupcakes with sprinkles. I am a good mom! But seriously, should you eat a cupcake for breakfast and how may cupcakes is too many to eat in one day.? So how many did I actually eat yesterday? If I tell you I'd have to kill you. One more question for you to ponder-is it considered breakfast if you eat a funfetti cupcake at 6:00am?

Single Parenting

Don is in California this week. He left Monday and will be home tomorrow night-Friday. AARRGGGHHH! He has to go somewhere every week for 5 weeks straight and they are not just overnighters like he tries to do. Some of his trips are at the least 2 nights away but then like this week there are others that are the whole week long. It has been a long week but the kids don't have school tomorrow so that is good. We can all sleep in! Hooray!!

Good Thursday Morning

So it is 7:10am and I don't have time to shower before I need to get the boys up so what else could I do? Hmmm I know I can blog again! Who needs to do laundry-not me that can wait! I got up with Cody this morning at 5:30 and as unusual as it seems I did not go back to bed after he left for Seminary. I swear if this early morning seminary thing does not kill me (or him) it will be a miracle. I really should stay up after he leaves in the mornings because then I have plenty of quiet time to read and study my scriptures. Our Stake President has asked everyone to read the Book of Mormon all the way through by our next stake conference which is June 1. I printed out a schedule from LDSScriptureTools. com (thanks mom) so that we could stay on top of things. So far its worked. We have missed probably two days and those have been Fridays but we have caught up on Sundays. It seems to be working-I really am putting President Benson's quote on the Book of Mormon to test. "There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path." That is from the January 1992 Ensign. Also I try to remember what President Hinkley said when he asked everyone to finish the Book of Mormon by the end of the year 2005 "Without reservation I promise you that if each of you will observe this simple program, regardless of how many times you previously may have read the Book of Mormon, there will come into your lives and into your homes an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to His commandments, and a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God." I am holding them to their word!

Hooray For the Red White and Blue Or Mitt Romney for President

So Saturday was the Nevada Caucus. "Hmm what's that?" you say? Well don't ask me but I did my civic and church duty (we were asked by our Stake President to participate) and went up to the high school Saturday morning to "vote". The guy in charge was basically clueless and was totally unprepared for all the people that showed up. He was told to plan on only 10% of the registered voters to attend. Boy were they wrong! "Who are they" you may ask well I don't know that either but they are obviously "the powers that be" and the guy that was in charge was GOP-whatever that is. We were all herded into the library like cattle to stand in lines to show our ID to whoever was sitting at the table with "the list". After wards each precinct was sent to a different room because there was not one room big enough for everyone. Our precinct went to the auditorium. The GOP sent only one guy to run this whole shindig and so he had to run around from room to room trying to run things, answer questions etc. They did not have enough ballots-people in one room were seriously tearing them in half so that there was enough for everyone to vote. Then after the "voting" he asked for "delegates". Apparently delegates are people who go to the County Republican Convention in Vegas to, and here is where it gets more murky-find those who feel the same way that they do about whatever issues are important to them and then once we have determined who is the best speaker out of them all-they get to go to the State Republican Convention and then the same thing happens and those who are chosen go the National Republican Convention later this year. Apparently we are not talking or pushing for the candidates but "the issues". Guess who is a delegate from Moapa Valley-yes yours truly along with a few of my friends-one of whom was the instigator and the one to convince us all to go. We are actually alternates but we were told that we definitely would be going because once all the slots are filled from here then they start looking at the slots in Vegas which will probably not get filled up and so then we go as delegates from those precincts that are short. Who knows-I don't understand the whole thing but Don said maybe I could get a new outfit for the day-and shoes and a purse:) My friends and I are all going to ride in together and go to lunch and stuff so it should be quite entertaining and hopefully a little more organized then out here. By the way in the voting Mitt Romney blew everyone else out of the water. Go Mitt!!

Party like a Rockstar (or else a bunch of teenagers anyway)

Steven Abbot the funny one, Daniel Gourdin who won the Do You Know Cody game

Dinner, and Daniel and Sterling who are all the tacos!

Snow Tunnel Cake and Funfetti Cupcakes

Megan and Allison, and Sterling (behind paper) and Ryan

Cody and mom, Cakes and candles

Light em up and lots of presents

Cody has his 15th birthday party on Friday night, January 18. He invited 12 friends but only 10 of them could come. Darn! The other boys went to grandma's house so as to not disturb or irritate the teenagers. The festivities started at 5:30 with a "Do You Know Cody" game. I made a little questionaire with multiple choice answers about Cody. His good friend Daniel who has been friends with him the longest of the bunch got the most right. He got a bag of dums-dums for not being a dum-dum as his prize. Then there was lots of food-pizza, chicken wings, mini tacos,(I think that Sterling ate almost all of those) chips and soda. We ordered 2 huge pizzas from the pizza place here in Overton-yes there is one and they actually delivered the pizza. The pizzas were 24" across-take your arms and hold them out in front of you making a circle and don't touch your fingertips together. Leave about 10 inches between your fingers and that is how big the pizzas were. I forgot to take a picture of the pizzas. Oops! After the kids ate ( and Don and I listened to their bizarre conversation-Don had to keep his back to the crowd so that they would not know that he was laughing at what they were saying) After the food fun we sent to kids on a scavenger hunt around the 2 neighborhoods. WE gave them glow necklaces in an attempt to keep them safe. They ended up throwing them at each other later in the night and when Caleb and Cayden came home they collected them and I ended up with some in my bed through the night. It was pretty cold outside (yes I know that cold is relative) and some of them did not have jackets but noone complained and they all had a good time. I made up the scavenger hunt and had points for different items and whoever got the most points at the end would win. It was pretty close so I gave them all bags of candy. They did say that alot of people at the houses that they went to said--arrgghh this happens every weekend-meaning the scavenger hunt thing. That is technically not true only the last 2 weekends. If you don't like it then don't live in a subdivision. Noone was rude to the kids so I was glad about that anyway. After the scavenger hunt Cody opened all his presents-cash and gift cards from his friends, XBox 360 Live, Scattergories (they like to play that when they get together), Die Hard and Bourne Ultimatum DVD's and some clothes from mom and dad, then he blew out the candles on his snow tunnel cake (tradition) and we ate that and Funfetti cupcakes. Then the kids played Pictionary for an hour and a half. The things to draw on the cards from the actual game were really hard so I spent that whole time writing down different words for them to draw while Don kept time on the little hourglass thingy. It was pretty funny and they had a good time-side note for my family-do you know that Celebrity Jeopardy is on You tube? I did not know this and these kids are quoting different lines from the show while they are guessing what is being drawn-"a leather glove", I'll take Charleston Chews for $2000", "Mr. Connery", "a number between three and five-threve" and so on. Cody has this one friend-Steven-who is a hoot. He is quite clever and quick-He calls me Mrs. Cody Adams' mom ma'am. Anyway I thought that they would get bored of Pictionary pretty quick but they didn't. At 8:45 I told them that I was braindead and could not think of any more words to write down for them to draw. The original plan was for them to watch Transformers but it is over 2 hours long and it was getting late (party to conclude at 9:59) so they just watched the new episode of Psych. At 9:59 I asked who needed rides home. Party over! Cody said that he had a great time and he was sure that his friends did too. They are all good kids and there was not one naughty or inappropriate thing said or done all night long. They talked about seminary and being mormon and stuff like that. Even the girls were not all goofy and stupid around the boys like grouping together and whispering and giggling and stuff. Cody asked if we could have a party again this week here-um no your birthday is over-go to someone else's house. It was a fun night and they are still talking about it.

A Scouting We Will Go

Thursday night was Cub Scout Pack Meeting. Connor was awarded his Webelos badge and about 10 activity pins, the Faith in God patch and a bunch of belt loops. He had the most awards for the whole night! Go Connor! He has been working very hard to finish up his Cub Scouting stuff because last week he turned 11 and will move into the 11 year old scout group. He will be having his Arrow of Light Ceremony in March probably. They were going to do it this time but there are 2 other boys whose birthdays are in January. Those two are not quite finished with all the requirements and they wanted to do the Arrow of Light for all of them at the same time. Connor has had a great scout leader for Webelos. It is my friend Susan Waite whose husband died in July. She did not want to be released from Webelos and she still has continued doing a great job even in the midst of her huge crisis. Webelos is the hardest of the cub scout areas to do everything and takes a lot of work. She did it though and I am really impressed with her.

Caleb earned his Bear badge and 1 gold arrow point this time. Caleb does not turn 10 until June but he has earned his Bear badge already so everything else is just gravy. I am the Bear leader and I worked hard with him and my group to get as many boys their Bear badge as possible. Two boys in my group left in December and so we had to hustle to get it all together for them. I was only put in in October so it was alot to do. Some parents (one of these boys in particular) think that the den leaders should be totally responsible for their (these parents I'm talking about) kids earning all the stuff in Cub Scouts. I don't think so. Especially in the Bear den where alot of stuff you have to do at home specifically. It makes me crazy that there are those who think like this and in the church no less ( and she actually said this to me)-"the other leaders just did not do anything and did not keep track of what he was doing in scouts and I knew that we were getting close to his birthday and so I wasn't sure if he would get it all done". Whatever! I don't think so-it is not my job to move your kid through scouts all be myself-I have my own kids to work with. Yes I am the Bear leader and I hold den meetings but even if I did it every week of the year there still would not be enough time to get everything done not to mention the fact that there are numerous things to be done with the family. We were having scouts on Monday's because that seemed like the only "free" day because of sports and stuff but Monday's are just a nightmare for me especially if I try and "keep the Sabbath Day holy" Trying to get the house back into shape from the weekend, all the laundry, phone calls, and FHE is alot to do anyway without throwing 9 9 year olds into the mess. There really is not a good day to do scouts because there is basketball and gymnastics that alot of my scout boys are in and my kids have lots of stuff and of course everyone has a million kids going a million different directions so it is hard to figure it all out. I wanted to do it on Thursdays but this week is ward temple night so what do I do? AAARRRGGGHHHH
(Stepping down from my soapbox now)

Connor and mom, and Caleb and mom at Pack Meeting after their awards. (They each got to pin the mother's pin on me)

Connor's Birthday

Madden 08 for XBox 360, Connor and Caleb at Red Robin for the birthday dinner, mom and dad at Red Robin-note the Wrangler's gear on mom.

The actual Red Robin singing Happy Birthday to Connor with some of the staff, Connor and Caleb with the Red Robin, Connor at the hockey game with the treat that Duke the mascot "stole" for him.

Go Wranglers! and the mascot Duke who is a green bull with yellow horns. Kind of hard to see because he is so far away. He ice skates and throws Tshirts and comes into the crowd.

Friday Connor did not go to school on Friday because there was a field trip that he did not want to go on so he spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's, had birthday pasta for lunch and then came home to open his presents. He was so excited about his presents that he did not want to wait until dad got home but mom made him wait. He got Madden 08 for the XBox (a football game for all those who are not up to speed) a wind breaker vest-camoflauge color to match his hat. He said he wanted to wear it hunting. He got some other clothes, and another game for his DS. We left for Vegas about 4:30 to go to dinner and then to the hockey game. Cody stayed home and took care of Cayden. Last year we took a bunch of his friends to dinner and to the hockey game and it was crazy. We have decided that we will do friend birthday parties every other year. He could not decide where he wanted to eat but really did not want to be late to the hockey game because the teams practice up until 20 minutes before the game starts and then they leave the ice. 2 minutes before the puck drops they call out the starters and they run onto the ice to set up. Connor always likes to cheer for them coming out. Anyway so he decides on Red Robin because it is pretty close to arena. We get there and order our food and Connor tells the server that it is his birthday-we know what that means-singing! After we had finished eating we were waiting for the check and guess what-the actual Red Robin-of which we did not know even existed-came out with a group of servers. They gave Connor an ice cream sunday and they sang to him. You should have seen his face when they came out and stopped at our table. As we were leaving the Red Robin was sitting by the door and so we stopped and got a picture of him with the boys. We drove to the arena and went to get our seats. Mom stopped to visit the ladies room while dad and the boys headed to their seats. When mom got to our seats Connor was all smiles. As they were walking around the corner they saw Duke the Mascot at the cinnamon nut shop. Of course Connor ran over to see and said " Hey Duke! Today's my birthday and the Wranglers are gonna win! Yeah Duke!" Then the Duke put his arm around Connor, reached over and grabbed a bag of nuts (very sneaky like the people running the shop could not see him sneaking Connor the nuts) and then he patted Connor on the head. Connor was thrilled. To further make his night the Wranglers won the game in a total shut out 5-0 and because they scored 5 goals to spell the word TACOS we all got coupons for a free taco at Del Taco. Dad also let him and Caleb do Chuck a Puck. That is where you buy soft hockey pucks that have numbers on them and during one of the period break they let everyone throw them onto the ice. Whoever gets closest to the target in the middle wins an autographed jersey. We did not win but they had fun chucking their pucks. Of course, they got lots of junk-popcorn and nachos and soda and mom's cinnamon pecans. It was a great birthday for Connor. Thank you to everyone for the gifts. He appreciates it!

This is Connor freaking out when the Wrangler's scored their first goal or maybe it was the second. Grandma Dottie called right in the middle of the mayhem and got an earful I think! You may want to turn down your sound!

Happy Birthday Cody and the Top Ten Reasons Why Cody Adams Rocks!

With his two new XBox 360 games from Uncle Chris and Auntie Anne, (posing just like Uncle Chris-do you see a resemblance?) Birthday cards from Aunt Suzanna and Uncle Ryan (thanks for the moola) and his new back pack from Aunt Dena and Uncle Chris Zundel. Thanks everyone for remembering him.

Today my teenage son turned 15-yes I would like to throw up-does anyone have a bucket? He is super good boy and we are so glad to have him in our family. Happy Birthday Cody! We love you! He is having a party Friday night with his friends-Food, Pictionary, Scavenger Hunt and Transformers. Pics to follow.

And now the Top Ten
1. He is very helpful with his brothers. He especially loves Cayden and plays with him enough to make him scream. He definitely is the oldest child and his mother's son as he is quite authoritative and occasionally bossy.
2. He is good student. He had semester exams today and stayed up til 2am studying.
3. He does not complain about early morning seminary-he got up and went this morning even though he was studying all night. He has to be up by 5:30-what a good boy!
4. He is an awesome debater as seen in his numerous wins at tournaments even taking first place once. This is his first year and he is doing great-hmm learning to argue better, a good idea?
5. He is a fabulous piano player. He has not been taking lessons now for about 9 months but he still plays quite regularly. He can play quite a few songs Phantom, and Les Mis, mostly self taught.
6. He likes musicals and Broadway shows-He has seen Phantom twice in Vegas and wants to go again. After Don and I went to New York and saw Les Mis I was listening to it for days and he decided that he likes it too. He has both on his IPOD and listens to them all the time. Auntie Calley has him currently listening to the musical Hunchback of Notre Dame in French.
7. He is an avid reader and finishes books faster than me (sometimes) He has read just in the last few months Hunchback of Notre Dame (in English), Les Mis and Count of Monte Cristo. Of course we have to throw in all of the Wheel of Time books that he has read 1000 times. He even read Twilight and liked it.
8. He takes care of mom and the house when Don is gone-the man of the house so to speak.
9. He is a great example of what a good Priesthood holder should be. His teachers and others are always commenting on how polite and respectful he is and what a good example he is to the other young men. He knows his stuff at church too.
10. He is a homebody. He would rather stay home and play XBox or computer games then 'hang out" with his friends.

Cody Michael Adams-You Rock!

And now for Count Your Blessings

So today has been a better day so far-I can actually laugh about yesterday-thanks Su, Mom and Ashley for their sweet comments (big internet hugs) You are all at the top of my blessings list! This blogging thing is quite therapeutic.

So How Was Your Day? or Jenni and the No Good Very Bad Horrible Day

So Don left for Denver today at 4:30 this morning-not a good start to the day.
At 7:10 Cody called and said that he had left his PE clothes and his birthday invitations home and I could I bring them to him. I threw on my slippers and jumped in the car to get to the high school and back before 7:30 when I needed to get the other kids up. OK not such a bad start but it gets worse. I got the other boys out the door on time and jumped in the shower because I wanted to go to the temple but get home before the boys did. I was in the shower for about 5 minutes when the hot water started to go-no big deal I thought because I had started the dishwasher and thought that maybe that was where all the hot water went. So I hurried out of the shower, got dressed and headed to St. George to go to the temple. I got there and turned the corner to drive into the parking lot and it was empty-and there was a sign on the door that said closed. Nice! I called 411 and had them give me the # to the temple so I could call and really confirm that they were closed and not just all out to lunch or being translated or something. Yes, the very nice lady told me that they were closed until the January 21. Super! I was totally bummed and of course started to cry because I really needed to go to the temple today and I had driven for an hour to do so and couldn't. I drove around St. George and did a little shopping-Cody is having a Bday party on Friday night so I got a few things for that blah blah blah. My last stop was the Great Harvest Bread Store. I like their bread but what I really wanted was their pink frosted sugar cookie that is mostly butter frosted with butter-they were out-it was not even 3pm there and there were no pink cookies. What is going on? I drove home in time to get the kids and go to the dentist-thankfully only one cavity between them (it is an old one that needed to be filled in the summer but they canceled the appointment and I forgot to reschedule so technically no new cavities). Caleb has plugged the toilet with booty wipes because there was no toilet paper in their bathroom. It is so bad that Don may have to take the toilet off-he is the toilet removal king because there have been toothbrushes, and cars and all sorts of fun stuff get plugged up in there thanks to my curious boys-but of course Don is in Denver. So negative one working toilet-thank goodness for 3 others. Anyway tonight I had forgotten about the whole hot water thing until I put Cayden in the tub after dinner-where I did dishes again- and there was not alot of hot water for him. I checked the fuse box-it was fine, checked the water heater itself and it was humming along so I called Don's dad. He came over and had me run all the hot water out-I had the other two boys shower and then he unplugged the wires to one element to see if the other heated up. If the other did heat up then we would know that the one that he unplugged was bad. He stayed here for an hour or so and said that he would come back tomorrow after he gets back from Vegas and just wait and see what happens-if the bottom element is really out then we will have to empty the whole water heater and put in a new one which he knows how to do but it will just be a pain. So just to sum up-Has anyone been keeping score? (Insert a huge and loud buzzer from a gameshow here)

Don in Denver
+ St. George temple closed+$70 for gas + $10 for food + $100 at Target + $100 at Seagull Book
-No pink cookies+$20 on bread that I did not need (but will take to my visiting teaching ladies if I can get over there before it all goes moldy)
-No hot water+cold shower
+ Clogged toilet(lovely)
= loss of my sanity (very costly) So how was your day?

I am really tired now but hopefully tomorrow's post will be entitled -Count your many blessings or How not to have an mental break down when your husband is out of town. Has anyone seen my marbles?

Top Ten Reasons Why Connor Adams Rocks!

Birthday pasta at grandma and grandpa's house, dinero from Aunt Laurel and Uncle Jim, dinero from grandma and grandpa
Harry Potter for his new DS from Uncle Chris and Auntie Anne

1. He is the most hardworking child you have ever seen and has been since he was little. He would rather pull weeds or shovel dirt than watch TV. He asks about chores for Saturdays and quickly gets them done so that he can play.

2. He is very concerned about others-he is the only child of mine that consistently gives me birthday, Christmas or Mother's day presents that he has picked out or told his dad that he needs to get it for me. I got a lovely pink ring for Christmas-and last Christmas he bought me a bracelet from a student store at school with his own money and did not tell anyone what he had done until Christmas morning and I unwrapped it. He helps others in class and worries about other's feelings going so far as to tell the teacher that so and so has been mean to so and so and they might be sad.

3. He tries to do his best and he does not quit! He spent over 24 hours building the playhouse outside with his dad. None of his brothers wanted to help.

4. He knows that he is going on a mission and he already is a missionary now. He talks to the neighbors about church. He was given a missionary assignment in Primary a few weeks ago where the kids were given 2 copies of a lamb. On the first lamb they were to write their name and then on the second one they were to write the name of a nonmember. Then they were to take the second sheep to that nonmember and give it to them and tell that that lamb represents all of us and that Jesus is our shepherd. The minute that he got home from church him and Caleb wanted to go across the street and give their lambs to two of our nonmember neighbors.

5. He hardly ever complains about his diabetes. Even though he has to have numerous shots during the day and constantly check his blood sugar by poking his finger he does not fuss about it.

6. He is willing to try new things-sports, rollercoasters, new foods, etc

7. He can drive the Rhino by himself. He can entertain himself for hours outside driving or riding around in the Rhino with Grandpa or on the 4-wheeler.

8. He loves his family. He always wants to give and get hugs.

9. He says funny things and everyone of his teachers have loved having him in class. I saw his teacher yesterday at Parent Teacher Conference and she said "he is a joy to have in class".

10. He remembers everything! He remembers to get Caleb's lunchbox from school when Caleb has forgotten it! He remembers things that I say or what I say that we are going to do and reminds me when I forget. He remembers FHE and family scripture and prayer at night.

Happy Birthday Connor

To is Connor's birthday and he is 11 years old. Oh my gosh can I please throw up! I can't believe that he is that old-he will get the Priesthood in 1 year! YIKES!!! We are going to a hockey game in Vegas tonight for his birthday-he is a ginormous hockey fan-ok so he loves most sports! Hopefully I can get around to posting some pics later. Go Wranglers!

A Lesson from TV

Who knew that there could actually be a morally uplifting, lesson teaching show on TV these days? Ok so it is not a new show it is actually a very old show that is on reruns on TVland but hey atleast it is still on. I am talking about The Andy Griffith Show. It is on a couple times of day and I was trying to find something to watch last night other than Grey's Anatomy (which I love but have decided as a New Year's Resolution that I need to try and follow Article of Faith 13 more-so bye-bye McDreamy) and I started watching Andy. The episode was called "A Date For Gomer" and really was just the sweetest thing. Andy and Barney wanted to take their girls to a dance but one of the girls had a cousin in town and so the girls would not go unless the boys could find a date for the cousin (Mary Beth). Now here's the thing-Mary Beth would not be considered the most lovely or beautiful of girls. Homely would probably be the word. Andy and Barney are trying to get Gomer to take Mary Beth to the dance but as they are trying to convince her to go they are saying how nice she is and smart and funny but Gomer keeps trying to interject with "but is she pretty?" Andy and Barney just sort of nod and interrupt with she is really nice and so on avoiding the whole issue of her looks. So anyway Gomer agrees and when they get to the house the night of the dance to pickup the girls it is sort of awkward. They all sit down on the couch and they are making goofy small talk about the weather. Suddenly Gomer jumps off the couch and runs out the door saying he has to go and do something. So of course they all are thinking that it is because he does not like Mary Beth and the other girls get mad. Mary Beth pretends that she has had a headache all day and would rather stay home anyway and the others should just go on to the dance and she will go to bed. The girls don't want to go and think that they should stay with Mary Beth but she convinces them to go. Andy, Barney and the girls get in the car and go to the dance but they are all angry. They get to the dance and one of the girls won't get out of the car and so their evening is ruined n and they decide to go home. Here is the kicker-after they have all left we see Mary Beth sitting on the couch reading a book and the doorbell rings. She answers it and it is Gomer with a box with a ribbon it. She says to him "Oh you came back" and he says " I'm sorry it took so long but I had to go to a few places to find one that had a little bit of pink in it." He hands Mary Beth the box and she opens it to find a corsage. Gomer said that he saw that the other girls had a corsage and Mary Beth didn't and he wanted her to have one too so that's why he ran out. (he says this all in his obnoxious southern accent) Anyway they decide that they don't want to go to the dance and they start dancing in the living room when Andy and Barney and the girls come back and find them. Of course all's well that end's well! Gomer did not run off because he did not like Mary Beth he ran off to get her a corsage so that she would feel part of the group and not left out. The whole time I am watching this I am thinking of 1 Samuel 16:7 "For the Lord seeth not as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." Gomer saw the inward appearance of Mary Beth. YAY Gomer!

A Fabulous Book on CD

Don's mom gave me a great gift for Christmas this year, one that I have already used alot. It is the book on CD by Sheri Dew called None Can Take Your Place. It is just the greatest, most profound, spiritually motivating and uplifting thing that I have read or listened to since General Conference. I highly recommend buying the book and or the CD and listening to it over and over again as there is just so much to be learned and understood. I downloaded it to my IPOD and have listened to it on the way to Vegas, Mesquite, St. George and while I am in the house doing laundry and stuff. Sheri Dew just has a way of saying things exactly as they need to be said and she does not mince words. She is an awesome example of the woman that I am trying to become! So go and get it!