The Last of the Hohos

The terrible horrible no good very bad news came out today that there would be no more Hostess products. Grandma Penny and granddaddy were down for Cody's farewell and they made a run to Lin's to see that was available.  This was the last of the HoHo's. It's a sad day for our country.

Kyle Brandt is 14 Months Old

My Little Worker Bees

This week Caleb had the great opportunity to do service twice.  He needed the service hours for his next rank in scouts and this week there was alot to do.  Tuesday the kids all had the day off from school so Don and Caleb went to help pick pomegranates at Brother Artus' home.  Not only did they pick them but they squeezed the juice out of them with the Bishop's turbo-juicer!  Caleb was covered in pomegranate juice.  The shirt didn't survive, the shorts did with the help of Spray and Wash, repeatedly.  On Saturday morning there was another service project picking pomegranates at Sister Waite's house so Don and all the boys-except Kyle of course-got up early and went over to help there.  It was not as messy of a job this time.  The Bishop had been helping so many people pick their pomegranates that his tress were still full so after helping at the Waite's house they went to the Bishop's house.  Caleb got his service hours in, we were able to help several people in our ward and we got a gallon of pomegranate juice out of the deal.  

Connor spent his week helping lots of people too.  He helped move furniture for Sister Whipple so her carpets could be cleaned and then he helped move it back for her.  He helped with the pomegranate picking Saturday morning and then worked his fanny off in our front yard getting it ready for the big weekend next week.  

We Voted!

Don and I took advantage of the early voting that was available here on October 29,  We had planned on doing but when grandma called and said that they were giving away free ice cream scoops for those that voted early it was an even better idea.  We went down to the community center in Overton and walked right in to vote.  After we were done we were given an I voted sticker for each of us-even the kids.  That was our ticket for the free ice cream.  There were quite a few people at Inside Scoop taking advantage of the freebie!  That was very nice of them!  Connor and Caleb didn't feel the need to be patriotic that day and go with us so they missed out.  So now that we voted and the election is over I feel the need to write a few words about it.  I have never in my life been so saddened and sick over the results of an election.  I have never felt like what is at stake has such a huge impact on my and my children.  I have never cried tears over an election other than maybe the one I lost in 5th grade running for 6th grade class president.  I felt sick all night long after the numbers came in and just could not believe the idiocy of this country and lies and the entitlement attitude that is so rampant and led to the results of this election.  I feel that there are so many that are flat out deceived.  I was doing my normal reading in my scriptures that night and I just happened to be in the first few chapters of Mormon.  Oh that was quite a coincidence. This verse in particular was very interesting.

15 And it came to pass that my sorrow did return unto me again, and I saw that the day of grace was passed with them, both temporally and spiritually; for I saw thousands of them hewn down in open rebellion against their God, and heaped up as dung upon the face of the land. And thus three hundred and forty and four years had passed away.

That was pretty distressing to me as was the rest of the entire book of Mormon.  I think that last few chapters of the book of Mormon are about the saddest in the whole Book of Mormon when all of those hundreds of thousands of people are killed and Mormon is left alone.

Anyway back to my lamenting the election.  Don and I talked about it at length and I read him those some of those chapters in the book of Mormon. The next morning I woke up and had really hoped that something had happened over night to change the state of affairs.  It was not to be.  I spent the morning really sad and worried about the safety and future of my family.  During the morning when I was doing my regular housework I had the words of the song "Be Still My A Soul" run through my mind over and over.  I felt so much better after that and I knew that Heavenly Father was in charge and that He will take care of us.  I talked to many of my friends through texting throughout the night and they all we're feeling the same way.  I'm so glad that the election is over!  I don't know if I could have handled much more of those political ads and the phone calls and seeing all the signs plastered all over the place!  A few days later I got an email from Dottie that made me feel much better about things.  It actually just reinforced a thought that I had had about the fact the even if Mitt Romeny would have won he would not have been able to turn this economy around or save this nation and that it could backfire on the church in the respect that he is member of the church and he would be blamed for the continued failures.  

I spent the rest of that week bottling beans like nobody's business.  Not that it wasn't important before but food storage, water, fuel and guns are at the top of my wish list.  God bless America and may He have mercy on us.  

Happy Halloween

We had a busy Halloween! The boys had early morning seminary as usual. Cayden had early morning tutoring and a little party. I made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for him to take for his group. It was the cake mix kind so that made it easy. After tutoring Cayden goes straight to school so we had his costume ready to go in his backpack. I spent the morning getting ready for his party because I was assistant room mom. Don had to run to the store for me to get the donuts for the class party because I just ran out of time. Poor Kyle didn't get a good nap because I only could lay down with him for just a few minutes before I had to leave for the party. He did fall asleep but not for more than 45 minutes. Then when he did wake up. Don was out in the garage on the phone and Caleb didn't hear him crying so he was pretty upset and crying on and off for about an hour after that. Cayden and I had his class party that started with a school wide parade around the black top. October here is always so hot! These kids are all layered out in their costumes and the makeup is running off their faces.  Still they traipse around the playground clomping and stomping to the music of Monster Mash to show off their finery. The actual party begins after that.  I was in charge of the donut on a string game.  The kids had a great time with that!  I should have taken a queue from my friend from years ago though who used mini Hostess donuts.  It was $18 for 3 dozen donuts!  Ridiculous!  I also put together a Trick or Treat game where they had to draw either a trick or a treat paper from the bucket.  If they drew "trick" from the bucket, they had to do a trick like "walk like a mummy" or "cackle like a witch" before they got their treat.  If they drew the word treat, they got a treat.  I had another mom run that game and she said that the kids loved it!  The kids also played Bingo and ate a ton of junk!  After the party we headed home to get ready for Trick or Treating.  I made our traditional Halloween pot of chili and corn bread muffins.  At about 6 we headed out to beg for candy.  We pushed Kyle around in his "clown car" and he looked so cute!  We only went around our neighborhood because seriously who needs that much candy!  Then we went home and handed out candy until about 8:30.  Our neighborhood always gets slammed.  Around 8 I took Kyle and Cayden to see Grandma and Aunt Dena.  There were cars lined up along our street and even some trucks pulling trailers full of kids.  We went through a ton of candy!  Caleb went to a friend's house to watch Insidious for the hundredth time and Connor decided to forego the festivities this year and work with Grandpa instead.  Halloween was on a school night so we didn't stay up too late.  Most years the kids have the day off of school because it is Nevada Day.  Nevada Day was celebrated the previous Friday so they got a 3 day weekend.

A Week of Miracles

We are getting closer and closer to the time that Cody leaves on his mission.  We have been busy and so has he getting ready.  There were many miracles that took place in regards to Cody's mission and preparation. The first miracle happened the weekend of October 19.  We drove up to Provo on Thursday so that I could help Cody get going on all the shopping that he needed to get done. Cody and I headed out Friday around lunch time and went to the bank so he could get his money. Our first stop after the bank was Cafe Rio for lunch. After that we went right to Mr. Mac in the mall.  Cody had been there the week before and been met by a salesman who talked with him a bit.  When we got there he was called over to help us since he had previously talked to Cody.  I guess they work on commission.  We spent about 45 minutes in Mr. Mac. The salesman was very helpful, knowledgeable and efficient.  Cody got all his suits, ties, shirts, belts, socks and a nice coat, scarf and gloves.  Now here is where the miracle occurred.  We did not tell the salesman anything about how much money we had or what we were looking to spend.  As he was writing everything up on the sales slip, I started counting the money.  When he showed us the bill, I counted the money again and then I handed the money to the man and asked him to count it.  The total bill was $1210.59.  Cody had $1211.  I am not kidding!  We walked out of that store with all of the clothes that Cody needed and had .41 cents left over.  That to me was a miracle.  I told Cody he better get on his knees and thank Heavenly Father because I sure was going to.  I didn't tell Cody at the time that he had some money from his Grandma Dottie but he needed to use that for all the other toiletries and small miscellaneous items that we went to get at Target. After a long afternoon of shopping we headed back to Grandma's with Cody's list almost complete. We had to head home on Saturday morning because I needed to be back for our Primary Presentation on Sunday.  We took Cody to breakfast at Mimi's on the way out.  The next week we headed back to Provo on Friday so we could be with Cody when he went to the temple on Saturday.  The next miracle occurred Friday night.  I had been prompted a few times earlier in the week to call the temple and confirm Cody's time but I didn't do it until Friday night when we were almost to Nephi.  It was about 6pm when I called the temple.  His reservation was on the books but then the sister reminded me that he needed to bring his two recommends.  i called Cody at work and asked him if he had his two recommends.  He said that he had one recommend.  I had him read me everything on the recommend and then send me a picture of it.  It was only part of the recommend that he needed.  He needed another part that should have been attatched to that recommend that was for his own loving ordinances.  I called our Bishop to confirm what I already knew-that we didn't have the right recommend and Cody tried calling his Bishop.  After about 30 minutes of Cody trying every way to get a hold of his Bishop with no luck, I told him to call his Stake President.  Well as luck would have it, his Stake President was in Philadelphia.  Cody told him the problem and the Stake President said that he would call his first counselor who he hoped could help.  Of course this whole time I am getting a little concerned.  We were down to 14 hours before Cody was supposed to be at the temple and we didn't have what he needed.  The first counselor called Cody and told him that they would make sure that he got what he needed and that he was available all night.  He said that he would start trying to track down Cody's bishop and counselors to get it figured out.  WE pulled into grandma's house about 7pm and before I let anyone our of the car I told them that we needed to have a family prayer and ask for help because at this point only Heavenly Father could help us.  Cody came home from work about 7:30.  He told us that he was going back to the Stake Center at 9:30 and there would be someone there to sign the right recommend.  The first counselor in the stake presidency and the second counselor in the bishopric met him there and with the approval from the stake president, signed the right recommend for Cody.  Oh Mercy!  Bright and early Saturday morning Cody and his dad headed for the temple.  The rest of us followed for the session at 10am. Connor and Caleb took care of Kyle and Cayden at grandma's house.  There were lots of people there to support Cody.  Grandma Penny and Granddaddy Larry, Mawmaw and Aunt Pam, Grandma Dottie and Grandpa Don, Aunt Dawna, Aunt Dawna's granddaughter Summer and her husband, Cody's friend Megan and her husband, Uncle Chris and Aunt Anne, Uncle Ryan and Aunt Suzanna and my good friend Amy Marshall who drove up from Panguitch. Amy's husband even waited in the car with their kids so Amy could come into the temple.  It was so great to be with everyone in the temple.  We met everyone for lunch at Brick Oven later that afternoon after we all picked up the kids so they could come.  It was a very special day and I am so grateful we could all be there with Cody.   

Another Crazy Week October 8-14

This week has been super crazy as usual. -Cayden got sick with a cold on Monday and it kept getting worse. I ran him to the urgent care Monday night because his eyes were super swollen and puffy and started to look like Connor's had on Saturday when Don took him the urgent care. The doctor gave him the same meds as Connor but it was too late to go the pharmacy because they were closed so we started him on what Connor already had. He didn't go to school on Tuesday because he woke up feeling pretty bad and had a croupy cough. He started to feel better in the afternoon and I should have sent him to school because he totally went OCD all over the house. I had to lay down with Kyle and when I got up he had put away all the toys, moved all the barricade/barstools and kitchen chairs back to their places, put away the dishes, cleaned his room, wiped down his bathroom and wiped down Connor's bathroom and threw out a bunch of stuff in Connor's drawers. It was Connor's toothbrush, toothpaste, and mouth wash and he even threw away a book that was in the drawer. He took all that stuff directly to the garbage can outside and other than the book, I left it all. Connor was not happy about any of that! I was a little frustrated too because straightening is one thing but emptying drawers and throwing things away unbeknownst to me is another. Cayden went to tutoring and school on Wednesday. -Tuesday Don went to Oklahoma. Caleb had some friends over after school. There were some interesting girls who showed up at the door after calling the house. I had Relief Society that night so Grandma watched Cayden and Kyle. Connor and Caleb went to the Powder Puff game at the high school. It was Homecoming week. Kyle had a late power nap while I was gone and wouldn't go to sleep until around 11. He must have had a stomach ache because he was up all night long just crying and crying. He acted like he was going to puke and I pulled a pillow case off the pillow and put it under him just in case until I was able to get a towel and a bowl. He crawled all over me all night and I finally went to sleep around 3 I think. Wednesday-I had to get up with the boys for Seminary and to get Cayden to tutoring and my wonderful friend Shelby took my turn for pick up. Kyle went back to sleep around 7:15 and I was so glad to not have to wake him. After getting some laundry started, cleaning up the kitchen and making Cayden's lunch I was able to lay back down but that only lasted for an hour. Kyle woke up at 9:15. I was supposed to have a Primary meeting but was worried about Kyle being sick and I was exhausted! Thankfully we canceled that meeting! I picked up the boys from school after picking up prescriptions and going to the dollar store. Caleb met with the Bishop for a temple recommend interview and Connor worked with Grandpa. Thursday-It rained and rained and rained here. After school Connor was a little stir crazy because there was not much to do inside. Grandma and Grandpa had to go to Vegas so he didn't go over there. He did some OCD cleaning too but mostly to avoid having chores on Friday. He cleaned his room and bathroom and did some other chores so his weekend would be free. He was a little perturbed because Caleb had friends over again. Don came home and brought us Brio for dinner. Connor went to a birthday party at Nephi's. One of the few that he has ever been too. He actually stayed until 10. I have to give him more credit for acting appropriately sometimes. I am always worried about preventing any problems beforehand so I don't give him opportunities to even try. After all that rain the weather has been so lovely and cool. We have the house open at night and part of the day. I even put Kyle in pants and socks. He started with a fever and a runny nose. Friday-We were all exhausted from a busy week. Kyle got up early but went back to sleep around 8:30. For some reason Connor and Cayden got up while we were still asleep and ended up going to grandma's for breakfast without us knowing. Friday was a lazy day because the kids didn't have school. Kyle was still sick with fever and was pretty clingy all day. Caleb went to the football game with friends, Cayden went with Aunt Dena and Don took Kyle up to game after half time. That was Kyle's first football game. Since it was Homecoming, there were alot of people there and lots of politicians coming out from Vegas. Funny story-Connor was with Grandpa and Grandpa saw Dean Heller-who is running for Congress. Grandpa introduce himself and then introduced Connor to him. These are Connor's words. "Well you are better looking than Shelly Berkley!" Shelley Berkely is who Dean Heller is running against and there are lots of ads on TV showing Shelley Berkley and she has had so much plastic surgery that she really does look terrible. The people that were with Dean Heller were almost rolling on the floor they were laughing so hard. Glad my son is so politically minded! Saturday-Caleb got up early and went do baptisms for the dead in Las Vegas with the youth. Connor went shooting and to breakfast at McDonald's with Gene. Don took Cayden into Vegas to see Hotel Transylvania and to get a haircut. We have been trying to give Cayden some one on one time with each of us because he has said and been showing that he is feeling a little left out since Kyle came. He even said to Uncle Chris that since Kyle was born he has sucked the fun out of everything. I know that I have less time and patience with Cayden because of Kyle so we try and do extra things to make up for it. Kyle had fever all day again and tonight it was almost 102. I don't know what to make of it and texted Dr. Chris for medical advice this morning. He has no other symptoms and really doesn't act like he feels as terrible as you would think a high fever would make him feel. I had to make cookies for Primary and do a bunch of computer stuff for Primary so I worked on it on and all the while taking care of a sick baby. Don also went to Babies R US to get some good baby gates because Baby Daredevil is climbing up the barricades and trying to get over them. Tonight after Don and Caleb got home Don and I went up to the St. John's Fall Fiesta for some mexican food. When we got back, Caleb went to Inside Scoop and to the Homecoming dance with a bunch of friends. He wanted to dress up and since he only had white shirts and ties for church he has decided that he needs some fancy clothes for socializing. He is getting so tall! He needs new shoes all the time it seems! Sunday was busy for me because we were trying to get ready for the primary program happening on the 21. I had to get to church early to get copies made and get some chairs set up on the stand so we could practice up there before we went to finish practicing in the primary room. Then after that craziness with all the kids in the primary room we had to come back later that afternoon at 4 for a full run down. It was a long Sunday. That was quite the crazy week!