GIRLS NIGHT OUT

Lena and Megan came to spend the night. We had a ton of fun. We came home and played "Designer World" or something like that. It was a blast. We then had a game of darts. Watch out if you ever play darts with Lena she is wicked. Then we stared the movie "Baby Momma" Everyone fell fast asleep. We woke up early on Saturday morning to go to no other than "Karen's" for french toast and Bacon and the best hot cocoa ever. Then John and the girls hit DI and the Thrift store while Mandy taught class. After class, we went to the dollar store to find a bunch of Easter stuff that we hope the "Eddie Bauer" french for Easter Bunny, (this is what happens when you tell a white lie to the five year old to keep them believing in the bunny)finds and brings to Grandpas on Sunday the 5th to our "Family BBQ." We made it home in time for the Ward Party and had a great time.

WJDT

Everyone has heard of WWJD right? Well, tonight as we were about to rear end a car in front of us, my very observant husband was reading their license plate. I on the other hand was trying hard to hold off screaming while I could see their brake lights and them swerving to the middle of the road. As we went into the other lane of traffic to not hit the car we see a blender, toaster, crock pot, and truck pulled tot he side of the road. In the bed of the truck you can see a couch and a ton of boxes balancing on each other hanging on for dear life just trying to make it to the next apartment. If you have not ever noticed before, boxes arms are not to long and usually get tucked inside of the box. This box in particular didn't make it. So the car in front of us stopped in the middle of the road to run back and see what "pot of gold" they had just happened upon. As we drove away John decided that WJDT would become our new motto. "Would Jesus Do That?" I yelled through my closed window that maybe they could try out a new invention called a tie down and keep their load on their truck. While John thought about if Jesus would do that....

SIDE NOTE: As we had started out on our journey, a faster than ever car came up on our right side passed us and the car in front of us cut the front car off and went through two lanes to get into a turn lane. John called them a not so nice name and I laughed and asked if he remembered being at the fabric store a few weeks ago. We meet a very nice woman and her son. We became instant friends while in line buying "Necos" and fabric and by the time we made our purchase she had sent her son out to the car to get a home made butter mint for us. As we left I commented that if everyone on Earth would just let their guard down once a day the world would be a much happier place!!! After the above stated incident John PROMPTLY reminded me of this.:)

Happy Birthday MOM!!

Four or five yeas ago we had a great birthday celecration. We celebrated in just about every way. Mom got to be qween for the day. It was a lot of fun. The grandkids had a blast during a scavenger hunt and the weather was nice enough to enjoy some of the day outside.
I don't think a day goes by that I don't in one form or another think about my mom. I keep a picture of her with her crown on my fridge to remind me of the great last party we got to have.
One of the most frustrating parts of her not still being here with us it that there is a lot going on that I would like to share with her. It just isn't the same when you can't call her up or go visit with her. Dad does a great job at listening but the "MOM" view point is gone.
Even though she was very sick for the last part of her life, she kept a great attitude and loved doing everything she could. She was a good sport about having us all over to visit even when she was tired. She would sit at the table wiht us even though there was no desire to even taste any food. She even let me get into her bed and lay next to her after I had been up the canyon and I smelled like a fire. She just laughed about it and told me I was her little smoke stack.
She taught everyone she was around one thing or another. Sometimes she did it with out knowing she was doing it. All of her kids will never forget having a fresh loaf of bread to eat, or Canning anything she could get her hands on. She could fix anything. She was always willing to do anything. If someone needed something they could just ask LaRee. Some day I want to be just like her. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!! We miss you. I'll love you for always. XOXOX

71 Reasons we love LaRee

1~ She knew how to party. Even with just the 3 of us it was a blast.
2~ She made the best rice pudding:)
3~ She could do anything she wanted
4~ She taught me to use my imagination
5~ She never ran out of things to keep busy doing
6~ She loved to make Navajo tacos and invite everyone to her camp for dinner
7~ She could pull Pizza out of the oven faster than we could eat it
8~ Reading to me every night before bed was the top of the list.
9~ She always had a lap for me to sit on. Even when I was 20 years old.
10~ She will always be my mom and I will always be her BABY
11~ She loved you no matter what
12~ In her short 69 years she did what most of us won't do in a life time
13~ Smile. It makes even the bad stuff bearable
14~ If you think you can you can
15~ She would always play store. If it was only to order a drink
16~ She taught us how to compromise, hence Scandinavian pancakes
17~ It's not the things in life that are important.
18~ Flowers are beautiful. Her garden is proof.
19~ Giving the grand kids their first bath was a treat.
20~ Learning how to be self sufficient was important.
21~ Food storage is important. Even if you live in an apartment:)
22~ Christmas is a time for handmade gifts that mean a lot
23~ Late night visits with the kids are important
24~ 4th of July is a great time to have a BBQ
25~ You cant have a party with out something to eat!!
26~ It is never impossible to learn new things
27~ If you were sick she would do her best to make you feel good
28~ She made games out of planting potatoes
29~ Her fruit room was a store for the kids
30~ She was a great doll sitter
31~ She knew where to find tea pots for my tea party
32~ She taught me to love music
33~ It was ok to be different
34~ She helped make the best "forts"
35~ She loved helping others
36~ She could sew anything. My Mountain Man shirts just aren't the same
37~ Carmel corn on Sunday afternoon was a treat
38~ She could out pick any of us in "huckleberrying"
39~ She was determined to do her best
40~ She loved her rocking chair around the fire
41~ Artificial hips are not so bad
42~ Remain positive in the face of adversity
43~ She taught us how to truly embody the teachings of the savior
44~ How to feed the masses with two fishes and three loaves
45~ She could make the warmest quilt
46~ Her cinnamon rolls rock!!!
47~ St. Patrick's day is the best holiday
48~ Play dough is fun for kids and adults
49~ It's ok to be a kid sometimes..Even if you are 60.
50~ It's ok to cry. Some times it helps
51~ Having sisters is cool
52~ Being married to your soul mate is the way to go
53~ You can have fun in life even if you are in the hospital throwing up into the "pink" sink
54~ Hard work never killed anyone
55~ Cowboys make the best Dads
56~ There are no rules in the Mountains
57~ Spending time with her family was most important
58~ It does not matter how much hair you have. You can still be beautiful with out.
59~ You can not like dogs and still think they are cute
60~ Grand kids are more fun than your kids. However they link you to your kids.
61~ Neighbors are Gods secret angels
62~ Friends make everything better
63~ Never trust your daughter is taking her medicine:)
64~ Always be nice to people. You never now when you will need their help.
65~ Accept help from others even if you don't think you need it
66~ Back yard "jug bands" are a lot of fun
67~ You can always give something, even if it's just a smile
68~ You can always find time to do the things you want. You may have to make time for the things someone else wants.
69~ Lefties have "Rights" too
70~ Practice what you believe. Know what you believe.
71~ She loved everyone!! She wanted us to do the same.

Going green slumber

Today was filled with fun and excitement. We started our day at Harmon's selling root beer floats. Skyler, Jen,and Josh showed up and we had a root beer float with them. They had been at the train show. Sky had a good time. Then after a few minutes at home we picked up Zack and Mom & Dad. When we stopped by our house Zack spotted all of the "Green" decorations. He immediately started a game of find everything you can that is green. This went on all night. We attended a play at St. Joseph High School. "Little Shop of Horrors" It was a lot of fun and we enjoyed the time we spent together. After we took Gramps and Gram home we came back to Uncle Gene's for a slumber party. The best place in the house to have your bed and sleeping bag is on Aunt Mandy's side of the bed. In a few more years, Zack won't fit there anymore and we will all have to sleep down stairs.
This morning we had breakfast, played "eye spy" and made arts and crafts. That was the best part. Remember the theme from yesterday? It showed up again. We drew maps to hide for the leprechauns. That way if they find our house, they will find the map and start looking for the pot of gold. They won't bother our house. We put special "stinky glue and glitter" on them so the leprechaun will attract to the map. They like shinny stuff. Then we hid our maps out side on the front porch. We had to put them down low so they can see them. At lunch time Zack and Aunt Mandy made lunch together. It's cool to help in the kitchen. You get to get the stool out and get into the cupboards. You remember the novelty of going home to mom's and getting into the cupboards just to see what's there. When you are five it's just cool to see what different foods people have. And there is also the treat drawer. Zack knows just where to look for a great treat. After a while we went to Zacks house for dinner. Tim and Leslie made the best rib dinner. It is so nice to eat dinner with the family. It is nice to live so close to family that it seems like we get to see each other often. Thanks for a great dinner Garcia Family. Also thanks for sharing Zack with us. We had a blast and can't wait to do it again.

Dinner with the sister wives

Tonight was family night. We planned on Tuesday that we would all meet for dinner today. You know what happens...Life. Friday got busy. By 4:00pm John thought he would birth another kidney stone. It's like a litter of them now. I used to teas him about putting the stones he collected on our outings in a head stone. Now I have a whole other pile to add to the collection. So, he got in bed at 5:00pm and that is where he still is. At 6:00pm he asked for some diet root beer. No dinner because his stomach was really upset. That usually happens right before the "pea" is born.
So I went to buy root beer and some other stuff. Alisa called to make sure we were on for dinner. I met Alisa, Jamie, Janetta, Cindy and Jenna (AKA the sister wives) for dinner. We were laughing and having a good time. The waiter of the table next to us had to cut his table off from the bar because they had already had their two drinks prior to eating.
I guess that is some "wives" tale that was started by a few of our trusty law makers. If you eat food while consuming alcohol you don't drink as much and therefore are less intoxicated. Who ever heard of such a thing. I will post some photos soon that will prove that eating while drinking has no effect on your intoxicated state.
Anywho, our cute waitress was wishing that it would be that easy to put a damper on our party, But no one was drinking anything but water or diet soda. While we were laughing and teasing we helped Janetta solve her piano issue. Here's how it all started.

J: "I think I will start paining the front room. I will just paint around the piano because the wheels are broken and we can't move it"

Everyone: (start laughing) "That's a great idea. Ha ha ha ha ha.

Jenna: Maybe you can stuff the paint brush around the edge of the piano.

J: " I have a great idea. We can get a crowbar and jack the piano high enough to put something under it to move it."

Cindy: "I think I will be far away tomorrow. Maybe St. George or something like that.

After much laughter and teasing the party was over. We stood outside visiting until it was to cold to enjoy ourselves anymore.

All of the wives send their love home to John. Dinner just isn't the same with out him. We love you Janetta. We will help you how ever you want to move the PIANO:)

Winter can't be over

Last fall we came up with a list of "winter" projects. That is way to keep us busy while we are home due to the bad weather. Ok, we seem to forget that the snow and bad weather is not a deterrent to us. We snowshoed once a week,spent weekends in the mountain letting our "sled puppy" work out, took our Special Olympics athletes to North Fork, went sledding, saw Christmas lights, made tamales... So now that spring is here and we are starting to get itchy about being camping and outside all spring,summer and fall we realize that only half of the winter projects are done. So now the daunting feat of finishing the rest of the things on the list before our first camp out is upon us. The two main projects were coats for both of us. Thanks to John's Uncle Charlie we wound up with a bundle of leather that was just waiting for a project. Here is a photo of the coats. John's is now finished. Mine will be soon.

I'm being followed by a moon shadow

Friday night we were out on a date and saw the most amazing night sky. We have not seen many wonderful breath taking skys because we live in a region that has a lot of ambient light. The moon was remarkable, waxing toward full but with a beautiful gray showing of the impending fullness to come. Positioned to the north of the moon was a great bright heavenly body, Venus in her rush to hide from the night for a period of time was at her brightest in a long time. She was about 3 degrees away from the moon and to the naked eye looked as though they could touch one another. When we tried to take a picture we learned how deceptive the visual with the naked eye was. We nearly could not fit both objects in the view finder of our little digital camera. We did take a couple of shots, hopefully the description I've given will make them look as breathtaking in this post as they did for us. We will not have the chance to see this sight agin until 2010.

Red Fish, Blue fish, A happy to you wish

Happy Birthday Dr. Suess. Where would we be with out a little Dr. Suess? We would not have been able to send out Christmas cards last year. We would not be able to enjoy a story with Skyler. I would not be able to write poetry (I like it to rhyme). I would not know what was in my pocket, I would not have a cute photo of Zach in a hat two times his size, El gato Ensombrerado would not mean a darn thing, I would never get to " Hop on pop", We could never shoot "Hooray for Diffendoofer Day, Christmas would never be the same here in Whoville, Horton could never hear a Who, I owuld not know what a thorax was or why they had Stars upon thars, I would never have been able to read "youre only old once to my parents on their birthdays, Dinner tonight would have just been another meal, instead we just ate Green EGGS and Ham and laughed about everything. Hope you all had a good time today. Take a few minutes and read one of these you your "littles" It will make you happy!!!