Sunday, August 21, 2022

             The girls got back from Girls camp and had a great time.  I am so grateful for the good leaders in our ward.  I am also very proud that Jacinda stayed the whole time and was able to manage her anxiety.  That is a huge step.  Here are the girls just before leaving.  They had to say their “goodbyes” to Fozzie since they would be gone for a whole week.  Seth and Teagan also are saying their “goodbyes” to the girls.

Had a great time in California visiting Chris and Tricia.  On the way down we stopped in Parawon and visited uncle Gary and Aunt Jacque. It was so fun to hear their missionary stories about South Africa and Prince Edward Island. I could tell they really loved serving in these different areas. Jacque is such a lively person.  It is always so fun to hear her talk. Especially when Gary is sitting next to her. She likes to brag about Gary and all the things that he did as a young boy. One story was about Gary finding some paint in his neighbor’s garage and then painting his driveway.  After she tells the story, she turns to Gary and asks him to verify it. Gary and just looks at her with his eyes wide open and shakes his head and smiles with embarrassment.  It is fun to be with them.  They are a great couple.

Our next stop was Grandma Grandpa Butterfield's house. That was a neat experience because I got to sit with Papa John and listen to his stories about the Vietnam war and the approach, he takes to teach art to his students.  He does not make them memorize dates, paintings, and artists.  Instead, he shows how the artistic behavior was derived from the cultural events of the time.  It was fun to hear him speak about the things of interest to him. Tim got to play the piano for Tracy, his sister, and his mom and they enjoyed it thoroughly. Tracy really responded and was touched by the hymns Tim played.  The kids loved playing with Chico, the dog.  They were going through Fozzie withdrawals.

The next stop was Chris and Tricia house.  We arrived at 1:00 in the morning and went straight to bed. 

Later that morning, it was so fun to visit with them and spend time with them. We went to a train museum, the Mormon Battalion visitor center, Handel’s ice cream, and had lots of beach time. We stopped at parlor donuts for some gourmet goodies.  We also went to the Rip Curl outlet to buy some clothing to remember our trip. Tim got stung by a stingray at the beach. The lifeguard gave him a hot pack for his sting, but the hot pack wasn't as hot as the sand, so Tim just stuck his foot in the sand to break up the toxins.

We brought a raft to the ocean.  It is a riot riding the waves and trying not to tip.  We enjoyed lots of boogie boarding and skim boarding.  I also got to read a little bit in the California sun and the kids got to fish and caught some thorny back rays.

The kids filled up a gallon jug with shells.  On the way home, the shells smelled so bad, we had to tie them to our car’s back door.  We also stopped in Vegas and said hi to Xavius.  He brought out gummies to share with everyone.  My kids love gummies.

            We are gearing up for school to start.  It has been a fun summer filled with workbooks, mowing Lagoon, lawns, swimming, and having cousins over.  We love it when Canda stays and plays.  She, Teagan, Xadia, and Fozzie like to walk to Fiiz for a soda and a pup cup (whipped cream with a dog bone).  I usually pick them up and bring them home since it is a 2 mile walk uphill back home.  It is so fun how well they all play.

            We finally got our pool slide attached.  The backyard is slowly coming together.  Yesterday I had a breakdown.  I was overcome with emotions of the theft that had occurred.  I cannot believe the amount of money Mountain Lumber stole (they spent our funds on other projects).  Thank goodness Tim was there to comfort me.  Some days are better than others, but it does keep me up at night.  I am baffled at how shady and dishonest people can be.  And how other people will lie for those shady people.

 

Sunday, July 24, 2022

            Summer is half over and we have been having a good time.  July 4^th, we went boating at Pineview reservoir.  Lance and Kade Stubbs along with Edmund Clinch were able to join us.  Matt and Mimi rented a boat, and the kids had a great time scurfing, water skiing, and tubing.  All was going well until the tube popped.  The kids hit a big wave and the impact caused the tube to pop.  No one was injured thank goodness.    It was fun visiting with my siblings and watch the boys dig holes and bury each other.  The big joke is that boys are kept busy by digging holes or throwing rocks.

              It was so fun having the cousins join us for a few days.  They originally flew out to go to the All Stars Camp in the Uintah’s.  Then they stayed a few more days.  We went swimming and shooting.   We got concretes and watched fireworks.  Lance was super helpful always asking what he could do to help.  Kade loved being on the dirt bikes and Edmund was always catching up on his sleep.  They are such fun boys.  McCabe is cracking me up.  He is constantly looking at himself in the mirror and flexing.  Then he will come over to me and lifts his shirt and contort his body to say, “see mom, I got some definition.”  He is really into his looks right now.

        We love having cousins over.  Xavius and Canda got to spend the night at our house.  We decided to make chocolate dipped strawberries.  Canda told me all about how her mom makes cookies with a double boiler.  She was ready to instruct me every step of the way.  I did not follow her mom’s method.  I melted the chocolate chips in the microwave.  The kids oversaw washing and dipping the strawberries.  Xavius was ready to eat the strawberry right after it was dipped.  I told him he had to wait for the chocolate to hardened.  He was a little bummed but enjoyed the strawberries immensely once they were ready.  Chocolate was all over the kids faces.

          July has been a tough month for Tim and me.  Our contractor ghosted our project.  He has done more harm than good.  We are left with a huge cut in the mountain.  The cut is bigger than the plans had dictated.  Come to find out, the contractor we hired was using someone else’s license.  Insurance will not cover his negligent work.  It is very frustrating.  He does not have much money for suing.  I feel like the system has failed us.  Back in November, we checked the company on the department of licensing website, BBB, and on Google Reviews.  Nothing bad was noted.  Fast forward eight months and there has been fraud and deceit.  We took a drive to Nephi Utah to check out his other projects.  Looks like the HDO forms we paid for (and did not receive) were used to build two of the homes.  Yes, he is getting cited from DOPL but we are left more costs to fix his error.  My heart is filled with anger.  I have not been sleeping well.  Today I went to bed at 5:00 am and got up at 10:30 am.  My thoughts are constantly consumed with how we got ripped off.  I had a good talk yesterday with Ann Marie Ballard.  She said, when we let God prevail, it is not always what we expect but it is His perfect plan.   I really appreciated her words.  I am learning and trying each day to be happier and to get over this bad experience, but it is hard.  This has been a very challenging trial.

             One of my favorite Sunday activities is to take a walk with the family around the temple.  There is a house with a shark in the tree.  We don't know the story of the shark.  It has been there for years.  Teagan had to get a picture.  On this particular evening (7/10/2022) the sunset was beautiful.  We like to look at the colors and the mountains in the distance.  We live in such a beautiful place.

        Free slurpees!  Every July 11^th, 7-11 gives out free slurpees.  We just happened to be on of the patrons on this fabulous slurpee day.  It was quite refreshing considering the temperature was around 100 degrees.

        Saturday July 16^th, Jacinda and I got to walk in the Bountiful handcart days parade.  She was handing out flyers and lollipops to onlookers advertising Little Shop of Horrors for Bountiful High theater.  She had a great time.  The kids are a good bunch.  I am impressed at how much they take care and look out for each other.  One boy, Xavier, gave his shirt to another person because they were one shirt short, and he did not want her to feel bad.  How kind was that?

       Teagan decided to cook breakfast.  He wanted to make egg muffin sandwiches.  He cooked the eggs in a cupcake pan.  It took about 20 minutes for them to bake.  Yes it would have been faster to cook them on the stove top but it was all about the experience.  He felt like making the breakfast like a campout.

      We went to the Provo Rec. Center on Thursday to keep cool.  The temperatures have been in the low 100’s.  The kids had a great time swimming and going on the waterslides.  After, we went to Macey’s for a kong kone.  Teagan was brave enough to get the one pound of ice cream.  He did not finish it but sure had fun trying.  My ice cream was melting faster than I could eat it.  By the time I got home, I was a spotted ice cream mess.  It had dripped on my shirt and lap.  At least the ice cream tasted good.

      Dog days are here.  Fozzie is getting more comfortable with the pool.  He climbed on the boogie board and Xadia took him around the pool.  He likes the sun bench but does not like the deep part of the pool.

      I love these primary kids.  They did a great job singing the handcart song in sacrament meeting today.  I know our pioneer ancestors would be proud.

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

        School has ended and summer has started.  Here are the kids walking down to school.  This was Xadia’s last time walking to elementary school.  She is now in 7^th grade.  

Here are a few pictures from her graduation.  She is standing with Natasha and Izzy who are some of her best friends.  The other picture is with Walker.  She has known him since pre-school.

              I caught Jacinda getting into the fridge.  I don’t see her much during the summer.  She is either working or hanging out with friends so I decided to snap this picture while I could.

              McCabe and Jacinda went to FSY.  Jacinda had to come home early because of allergies.  McCabe stayed the whole time and made a lot of friends.  He was wiped out.  I caught him sleeping on the couch during the day.  He never does that.  He was very tired.

              Summer brings swimming parties and campfires.  We love having the neighbors come swim in our pool.  It has been a lot of fun but also a lot of mud.  Unfortunately, the backyard is not coming together very quickly.  In fact, our contractor left us high and dry with a lot of damage and their insurance will not cover it.  What a joke!

              Early June we got to go to the sidewalk chalk festival.  It was so fun seeing everybody’s creations.  We saw two of Jacinda’s friends there, Carissa and Tommy.  It was a hot day but we had a good time.  Teagan really liked the knock off chalk art of Lighting McQueen and the saying of “Kachoo” instead of “Kachow.”  We stopped by Blacksmith on Main Street and got some ice cream.  It made the day more tolerable.

              Xadia and McCabe went on a trip back east with cousins.  They are visiting church history sites and early American history sites.  They are having a great time.  Xadia is doing a great job taking lots of pictures.  Teagan joined a non-competitive swim league.  He is doing a great job improving his swimming techniques.  Gabe Haddock is also in his class.  He is having a lot of fun.

              I love where we live because we see lots of neat things.  Here is a huge moth hanging out by our front door.  The antennae look like feathers.  It is so amazing.

              McCabe along with Kade and Lance Stubbs are going to the “All Stars” camp out.  They are leaders this year.  It is a great place for them to strengthen their testimonies and teach other young men about gospel principles.  We drove to Heber and sent them on their way.  Meanwhile, Teagan, Xavius, me, and Tim took a walk around the area.  There were so many mosquitoes.  I am glad we had on bug repellant.  We did not get bitten but they still hovered near us.  Tim spotted a hole in an Aspen tree.  You could hear the chirping of baby woodpeckers in the tree.  It was quite magical.  Xavius and Teagan had a great time posing and walking through the wildflowers.   Teagan stopped at every laying log for a picture.  He also had his whittled knife which made the picture extra special.

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

             What a crazy time we live in.  The average gas price in Utah is $4.59/gallon.  It is so expensive.  It costs about $125 to fill up the suburban (ouch!).  There was a mass shooting yesterday at a Texas Elementary.  Eighteen children and three adults died because an eighteen-year-old open fire with some assault rifles.  It was truly a tragedy.  The NASDAQ is down 28%.  I am grateful for the peace in my home even though society is a bit unnerving.

              A follow up from my last post, I had a great audition for Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat but did not get a part.  Hopefully I will be able to audition for other performances.  We are working on our backyard.  Teagan likes to help Tim.  I love this picture of Teagan wearing Tim’s boots while he helps Tim.  They are so big on him, but he does not mind if the mud stays off him.

              The pool is in the backyard and the kids love swimming in it.  The temperature has been in the high sixties.  It is too cold for me.  I am waiting for this weekend when the temperature will be in the eighties.  The kids love to boogie board in the pool.  They throw the boogie board and then jump on it like a surfboard.

              We love being outdoors.  Saturday morning, Teagan, Fozzie, and I took a little hike up to the stream.  The water was ice cold.  I stood on the bank while Fozzie and Teagan took a dip in the water.  Once Fozzie is wet, he gets energized.  On the way home he kept running and inspecting all the plants and insects.

              School is coming to an end.  We got to attend an awards ceremony for McCabe.  He was awarded the information technology award for his knowledge and received a nifty eagle trophy.  He also got a medal for having a GPA higher than 3.45.  Before the ceremony, he asked Tim not to embarrass him.  However, when McCabe walked up to receive his award he was smiling and pointing to his friends as he cocked is head to the side.  He looked so cocky.  It was almost embarrassing for us, the parents.  But we love him anyways.

              As temperatures increase, Fozzie pants and lays on cool surfaces a little more than usual.  It was time to give him a haircut.  I usually cut his fur.  McCabe suggested that he has a fuzzy ball on the end of his tail and that he looks like he is wearing socks.  Well, the dog stays a lot cooler now but it looks like he is wearing moon boots.

              One of my many passions is sewing.  I have this cute sweater jacket that I can only wear for a little while because it is a sweater but it has short sleeves, so my arms are cold.  I decided to use the original article of clothing as a patter and make a jacket I could wear more often.  The black jacket is the original and the purple jacket is my creation.  I also love to bake.  This past week Teagan and I made Texas shaped sugar cookies.  They were so yummy and so big.  The rest of the kids were at a fireside.  So Teagan and I had a baking spree.

              Xadia is graduating Elementary School.  Today was the last day I walked her to sixth grade.  We take the dog with us and then I walk home with Fozzie.  On our way, we stop and pick up the McPheters.  Izzy was still getting ready, so I snapped a picture with Kade, Xadia, and Teagan.  Oh how I love these kids.

Monday, May 3, 2022

              A week has passed.  It does not seem like much has happened.  My theatrical audition went well.  At least when I started singing.   When I introduced myself, I completely forgot what song I was singing.  The pianist had to remind me it was, “I got the sun in the morning” (from Annie Get Your Gun).  I was pleased with my audition.  Unfortunately, I did not get a role but that does not bother me.  It takes guts to do what I did and besides, there was some amazing talent in the room.  I am sure It will be a great play. 

               We took Teagan out for his dinner night.  He chose Texas Roadhouse.  We had to wait 1.5 hours to be seated.  So in the meantime, we went home and did some work on the backyard.  It is slowly coming together.  There is a lot of little things to do right now such as placing electrical, gas, low voltage wires to make sure the backyard is the way it we want it.  I love when Teagan helps Time because he will wear Tim’s boots which are 6 sizes too big.  He also decided to wear the boots to Texas Roadhouse.  At first, I was going to have him change but Tim convinced me to let it slide.  We had a great dinner.  Teagan was so full from the butter and rolls, we had to take his steak home.  He kept laying on the bench saying, “Oh I am so full.”  I love having these little moments with the kids.

               As the warmer weather approaches, we like to have campfires.  We live in such a beautiful place.  We sit in our backyard and watch the sun set as we stay warm by the fire.  Occasionally kids will roast some food.  Teagan decided to roast some frozen Rhodes dinner rolls.  It was not successful, but he enjoyed making a doughy mess.  Tim likes to start the fire either lighter fluid or a blow torch.  On this particular evening he went with the blow torch.