Primary Ideas!

Today I got to visit another ward's Primary (for ages 3-11) to watch Elora give her talk. So while there I noticed something interesting on the back of their piano. (the back of the piano actually faces the children)

It looks so organized and also colorful, and serves to cover up the wooden slats in the back of the piano.
Take a look:Here's a close up of some of the pockets:


Also something else that was really fun.
The chorister gave each child a painted Popsicle stick (more the size of a tongue depressor)
She had them all painted bright colors with a ribbon attached to each one.

Then she let each child "lead" the music from their chairs...with all the colorful ribbons swaying everywhere. So pretty, so happy, and the kids keep busy while learning the songs!

Here is just a very short clip to help describe better. I didn't want to disturb their meeting so I just took it very discreetly, and quickly, but I think you can get the idea.



What in the world is going on in Logan's garden?

Last night when Den and I went to pick up Austin and Macie, to take them out for their birthday dinner, I was surprised what I saw outside.

I always look to see how Logan's garden is doing, but I did not expect to see all those little red things out there!

So I asked to whoever was listening,
"What are all those red things doing in the garden??!" I think it was Amy who answered, "Those are rocks that Logan painted red."

Okay.

But why?

She said the theory is "by the time the tomatoes come in, the birds will think they are all red rocks, and they will leave them alone."

(Then Karen, his mother in law, said, "Logan is hoping those birds break their beaks on the red rocks.")

Where did Logan find time to paint all those rocks?

I applaud him for his creativity. Keep us posted on this Logan.
I guess it's all about trying to outsmart the animal and insect kingdom.


Logan was too busy last night to explain much to me. He was making what he calls a "zucchini surprise" for his family's dinner. Zucchini, ham, eggs, and cheese. I heard later that everyone loved it. Amy made this salad. Everything came from the garden except the cheese and tomatoes.

And while they were all eating the beautiful garden food, we took Austin and Macie to Red Robin's.
Austin is a such a good big brother to his little sister Macie.
I heard him say things like , "Don't color (the menu) until you have decided what you want to eat." He also helped her choose what she wanted, and held her hand both into the restaurant and outside again.

Sorry Austin and Macie, that we were 2 months late this year taking you out.
But we had a great time, didn't we?

Kylie's turn is next.

On a side note: Logan gave me a bag of greens he picked from his garden plus some more zucchini. Tonight I blended some mayo and a little mustard with some tuna. Then I mixed this up with a bowl of greens and raw zucchini plus I added a cucumber, carrot and celery, and a sliced hard boiled egg and this was dinner for Dennis. He kept saying how much he loved it. And he ended with, "Compliments to the chef and the gardener."

I just put Logan's greens along with an apple (and some ice and water) and blended it in my Vita Mix for me. LOVED IT!! I had tuna on the side with some couscous.
Thanks to Logan and his garden, for another great dinner!!

I got Amy's permission to show you this

I show this with all the love in my heart.

First, before I do....tonight after we brought Austin and Macie home from their birthday dinner (more on that in another post)...

I caught this sweet picture of Laurynn and Macie holding the twins

I asked them to turn around so I could capture the babies' faces.

Something about Jonas just makes me laugh. I've been calling him a math professor, or a "man child". They are both so darn cute, but Jonas also has an interesting look about him. Karen (Amy's mom) and I kept laughing.

I kept thinking....who does he look like? I know that look somewhere! A munchkin?? Karen said he looks like a little elf.

On the way home it hit me..."Den he looks like one of the Lollipop kids from the Wizard of Oz!"

So take a look at this video from the Wizard of Oz and tell me if you see it too.
(I think they have changed the words slightly, but you get the idea.)


Julie's family baby shower

My niece Julie is having a baby in August!
So my sisters Robin and Peggy gave her a shower on Saturday. It was "a girl thing"....so all the daughters of the guests were invited.
Here's Julie practicing with Téa.


I had to round up all the little girls from down the hall playing. They weren't sure what to do at a baby shower.
I think we had more little girls than we did mothers.
Playing the game of 'guess what is in the baby food jar'

And below, the game of 'tear off as much toilet paper as you think will go around Julie's tummy'

I wish I had thought to take pictures of all the lovely food, but I tend to get lost in the moment at baby showers. By the time someone reminded me, there was one foot cookie left. Isn't it cute?

Julie looking beautiful and happy as ever. I sure wish she did not live so far away (Colorado!)
But thanks to her blog, I'm looking forward to LOTS of pictures!
Kylie looks like a Mom balancing the baby while doing the game.


I think Amy has had it with her life. All that getting up at night with twins and taking care of their 5 other kids has finally gotten to her.
Just kidding!!
Not sure what that picture above was about. Whatever, she recovered quickly.

Some of the guests:
Amy, Robin (sorry about your head), Erin, Suzanne (Julie's mom), Wendy and Jonas
Susan, my sister Heidi, Kylie and Téa

We missed Julie's other cousins, including Carly (shown here yesterday at the beach with her family)


I hosted another baby shower for a friend last Friday. 24 women came for lunch. I was worried about the food...I always do...will they like it?. etc. Well I noticed about 3 women at the end of the party going over to the table and wrapping up food and putting it in their purses to take home. I like people to feel comfortable in my home, to just help themselves. Made me feel good.

A Day of Goodbyes and Hellos

On the way home from Visalia today we found the above sign along the way. It was worth a good laugh, and a, "Turn the car around Den and go back so I can take a picture of that sign." I wonder about the poor soul who wrote it.

But that's not what this post is about.
It's about my nephew Nick who got called to the Argentina Meuquen mission!As you can tell, I don't think he enjoyed having his picture taken, but he was sweet about it anyway.

Den and I left home about 8am, heading for Nick's farewell. We took Austin and Chandler with us being Logan and Amy can't fit all the kids in one car since the twins have been born.

So Logan and Amy and the other 5 kids were right ahead of us the whole way there.A good cozy family feeling.

Chandler suddenly said he was feeling car sick.
Thankfully I had my sea bands with me. They seemed to help him within about 10 minutes.
Logan and the kids back together again. Not sure where Amy was at that very moment, but I know she was there.

I have to admit that my favorite part of the day was this:Holding them both at the same time all snuggled up together brings tears to my eyes.
Oh how blessed I feel. No words justify my feelings.
Like I told Amy today, "First comes the trial, then come the blessings."
To which she replied, "And the trials make the blessings even sweeter."

After our church service we all went to my brother John and Suzanne's for a great feast.
The Roziers always have the best potlucks.
With salads as beautiful as this one:I am putting a picture of this in my recipe book. I love the combination of colors.

Nick will be flying off to enter the Missionary Training Center on June 10...the same exact day his grandparents (my parents) got married 58 years ago.

As I sat listening to his wonderful talk today, I couldn't help but think back to the times when I was the parent of a son happily getting ready to go on his mission. The feelings of separation, to me, felt brutal at first.

But then I soon started noticing the blessings. And did they ever come!

What a great 2 years that was for them, and for our family.
That feels so trite to say now. But they really were 2 GREAT years times 4.


We also went to Nathan Barnes mission homecoming today!
He just returned from the Oklahoma Tulsa mission.
Welcome Home Nathan!!!

We also stopped by the 'going away party' for Mark and Miranda Roberts and their 3 children. They are leaving this week for Puerto Rico for FIVE YEARS because of his job.
What a special dear-to-my-heart family.
But like Miranda and I were discussing tonight...because of blogs it's never really goodbye.
Besides, I refused to say that word today.

We found a way to get rid of wasps!

No chemicals
Environmentally safe
No maintenance
No dead wasps

Dennis came home from Utah a few weeks ago with an idea on how to get rid of our wasps. We have several nests around here apparently, and he even got stung by one a few weeks ago when he was taking out the trash. It seems anytime after 10am the wasps come swarming. Even when I pull weeds they are hovering around.

So he comes home and tells me about this plan he found. He brought home 4 fake wasp nests. He said, according to the package they came in, they will rid your property of wasps. The theory is, wasps are very competitive... if they see a wasp nest in your yard they will go elsewhere to make a nest.

Somehow I just could not grasp wasps thinking this all through.

Apparently wasps really do think. We have had these fake wasp nests here a week now...and the wasps are no where around! They seem to be totally gone. We even went outside today and shook trees and bushes they normally reside in, and NOTHING HAPPENED.Do you see the fake wasp nest right behind the tree?

It took ours about 3-4 days to start working.

Oh how I would have loved knowing about this idea when my boys were small. We had to give up on swimming and playing outside at times because they would just not leave them alone.

I've heard they can be found at Lowes, and other home improvement stores. Or you could try googling them and order online. The ones we have are called, "Bee Free Natural Wasp Deterrent" Den bought them 2 in a package for $8.99. He placed 2 in our backyard and 2 in our front.

I have read that these fake nests do not keep bees away however. But the way I see it, we need bees.

Now if I can just find a cure for earwigs...or what we call "pincher bugs". I have never ever seen a crop like I have the past month or two. Often times when I go into the kitchen or the bathroom I will see one. I don't see ants, or any of other bugs in our house, just earwigs. Lots of them.Anyone have an idea for getting rid of them?
I really don't want to spray chemicals in our house.

From today's newspaper...

Dennis says this is me.

I have many memories doing something similar.
Not sure how many times my sons were aware of it.

When Brock went to his first drive in movie with friends, I asked his Dad to secretly follow him there and park near him. Not that we didn't trust Brock. That was not the reason. We just wanted to make sure no one bothered him.

Or the time Tyler wanted so much to ride the school bus home. Can't remember how old he was but I think it was at least 3rd grade or older, when I finally let him. I was so nervous that in following the bus I actually ran a stop sign. When the cop stopped me I cried and said I was sorry,"but this was my son's very first time going home on the school bus and I was trying to follow him." He felt sorry for me, and put his ticket book away and just said, "Well don't do that again."

Or Logan's first party he went to where there were girls present. To a house I did not know the family. I sat out in my car out front. I gave him about 30 minutes and then I knocked on the door and said it was time to go home.

Or the cast parties of McKay's that I would attend. I was usually the only parent there.

Not exactly my proud moments as a parent.
I guess we just all do the best we can at the time.

Amazingly my boys all grew up to be independent confident adults.

If I had to do it all over again, would I not be so protective?
Not unless I was given a different heart.
I guess they survived me, and I survived raising them.

What we do when we don't feel well

We have a tradition in our family.
It's been going on for decades.
I think it started when my sons were babies.

When any of us are not feeling the best, I put chicken soup in our crockpot.

Yesterday I woke up to my nose and throat itching, and just not feeling terrific.
May is my challenging month for allergies.

I'm allergic to Star Jasmine, and they are in full bloom right now.
Den chopped all ours down a few years ago, but I don't think he got them all because look what's back:


So I started up the Chicken soup with this:

or you can use any kind of chicken broth...at least 32 ounces or more.

Then I just add to it, whatever I have on hand.
Yesterday it was:

About 1/2 cup - 1 cup each:
red pepper
peas
carrots
spring onion
corn
celery
red potato

I also add:
1/2 t dry basil
1/2 t oregano
1 t salt

I throw in some left over chicken from my freezer.
When I don't have that, I use canned chicken. It works just as well.

About an hour before we want to eat I cook some brown rice or egg noodles separately on the stove, and then add it in the crock pot.

We love it and it seems to cure anything.

The weekend happenings

We had relatives in and out of our house most of the weekend.

Thursday we had my brother Richard with us.

Friday we had Richard and my niece Natalie

Saturday night when Den and I went to bed about 10pm we didn't even know who we would wake up to. We knew it would be family, as they had come to town for a wedding, but we weren't sure who.

I suspected it would be Jason so we started up the waffle iron.
Richard said, "This is the best waffle I've ever had." (he told me to write that)


Saturday I attended North Stake's Enrichment and got to hear my sister in law Wendy speak. I like her quote of "treat friends like family, and family like friends."
She was total entertainment, as always.


My niece Natalie and I went to see the babies.
She was smitten like the rest of us.


Lots of visiting time.
I got to see all Natalie's pictures from her trip recently to Korea and Japan with her brother in law, Jason. They found a good deal for this trip, and 48 hours later, went for it.
I couldn't get over the mass of people on the streets of Tokyo. (below)


Cami stopped by so Grandpa could kiss her. Our sweet little Camers still does not have her strength quite back since her surgery. What a sweetheart she is.

Elora and her 2nd cousin Hailey just picked up
where they left off last visit.



And look what they got at Elora's school carnival.



Even got to spend some time with my niece,
Lindsay, the Master graduate.
She's checking out my Outlier book.

Logan cooked his first zucchini from his garden!!
(in his RN scrubs, all ready for work)

That's it for this time.
Téa said no more pictures!

Look what happened last night

  Just a little pre-graduating gathering for our DIL Amy.... Not everyday a Mom of 7 and a Grandma of 7, graduates from college. It was not ...