Halloween 1990

McKay and Tyler
I don't know where my other 2 sons were on this day.
But these 2 were inseparable.

They would sit like this where ever they were.
If I was looking for one, I would find them both.McKay and McKenna will be here tonight from Provo.
They are flying in via Denver, Co.
Wish Tyler and Karen were also coming!

Thanks Tyler for taking them to the airport!

29 Gifts in 29 Days


Coincidentally, I started reading this book about 2 weeks ago. Then a friend told me the author was on the Today Show this week, so here's the clip, below.

First though....it's a book about a woman who was diagnosed with MS just a month after getting married. It progressed quickly to where she could hardly get out of bed or walk or do much of anything and was understandably, extremely depressed.

Her "spiritual adviser" told her she needed to give a gift a day...usually a small act of service, and it would change her life.

What I find interesting...is this is what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about. It's what we are taught every day of our lives through scripture study, through gospel study, through lessons taught at church and home. Yet, this book brings to me the knowledge that not everyone is taught this...not everyone knows this.

Having said that, on the other side of this thought...My grandmother was an atheist, yet she lived a very Christ like life. She just didn't know it. Her life was all about service and helping and giving to others.

But not everyone gets this. I found it interesting reading how the author discovered the joy of giving. My conclusion is this: We are all created in God's image, whether we realize it or not. If we do as He taught, whether we realize it or not, we will be happy.




I enjoy books with good messages and this book qualifies. However, I have to say that I've had a difficult time processing out some of her language. I've never understood why some people have to use such language. To me, it definitely takes from what they are saying. Perhaps that is why I'm slow at finishing it.

McKay and the pumpkin




See the finished product below.

Never seen anyone quite do this before....
McKenna bought the pumpkin, and McKay carved it.


The temple of course in Billings, Montana...McKenna's home town.

See the "MT" he added for Montana?
I notice you have a new shirt on McKay. Nice! Did McKenna buy that for you also?
I hardly recognized you without your math shirt.

They can sleep and eat at the same time

When Den and I went looking for Amy last night in her house,
this is what we found:
Just having a little computer time.

Our grandtwins are 6 1/2 months old now.
Jonas 16 lbs, 11 oz
Miss Téa, 16 lbs even

Watch what they can do.

Our favorite breakfast


5 minutes tops to make. Might not look so impressive but we love it and it stays with us all morning. We eat this about 4-5 mornings a week.

I wish I had introduced this to my kids before they left home.
It is cheap and nutritious.

Very simple.
Recipe for 1

I cup water
1/3 cup oatbran
2-3 T raisins (optional)

Bring water, oatbran, and raisins to small boil, then just simmer for a minute or less.

Put a large dollop of almond butter or peanut butter (or however much you want) on top. I don't like it mixed in.

Serve with milk. I use Rice Milk, Den uses Soy.

The added nut butter ups the protein and keeps you full all morning long. I have been eating oat bran for years, but just started adding the nut butter this year and what a difference it makes.

Sometimes I add blueberries or strawberries. Sometimes I add canned pumpkin. Or sliced banana or pine nuts. Whatever you like. Den just likes his with just nut butter and brown sugar.

When I first introduced this to Dennis he wasn't quite sure, but now, he claims to love it.

There are lots of brands to choose from out there, but these are the ones we use.

Oatmeal with cold cereal and bananas.
Bet you never thought of putting cold cereal in your oatmeal.

Oatmeal with apples


Oatmeal with pumpkin plus nut butterI get my inspiration from this blog: www.eatliverun.com
(minus the wine)
She shows photos everyday of what she eats.

The Mcs both have it

Last night I was going through papers in the closet, no less, and Den walks in with the phone. Right before handing it over to me I heard him say quietly into the phone,
"Okay, now listen for your Mom."

Then Den says to me, "McKay has swine flu!"

"What??! Are you kidding? Hand me the phone!"

McKay said both he and McKenna have H1N1. They have both been to the health center. She opted for Tamiflu, he didn't.

He said they are together every day recovering. What a date that must feel like. Two sickies on opposite ends of the couch.

Den and I, on the other hand, took Cami to the Pumpkin Patch yesterday. Once she saw him she did not want to let go. She insisted he carry her and when he put her down at the Patch, she would not let go of his hand.
Twice when I asked her how she was doing she said, "I'm fine."
The other 12 times (aprox) I asked her, she ignored me.
I think I was being a pest.
So have you had H1N1? I'd really like to know. And if so, were you very sick with it?
So odd having all this flu in October...

If you would like to read one woman's natural ideas on how to avoid H1N1 go HERE.

McKay's car

Was this a sign?I mean, was this a sign we would find a car for McKay? Right on this very corner was the Sacramento mission office that had 6 used cars for sale.

We had bought 2 cars from the Fresno mission in the past which we have been very pleased with. However, our mission has been out of used cars for a while now, so it was worth it to us to drive the 3 hours into Sacramento.

Plus it was our 10th anniversary.
Den and I would actually get teary eyed just saying that.
We feel so blessed to have found each other.

So he took me away for a few days to celebrate. And to possibly find a car with the insurance money, to replace the one that was totaled while McKay was sleeping. If you remember that story.

We had 6 cars to choose from,
but Dennis felt this one was the best.
Excuse me while I put pictures here
so McKay can see what it looks like.We like buying formerly used mission cars.
We know they are well taken care of,
always doing oil changes on time, etc.
And the price is always more than fair.

The missions try to sell them near 50,000 miles...this one has 48,000.
I had an unrelenting headache the entire weekend. I rarely get headaches and when I do, I have my little cures for them. But nothing worked this time.

Richard and Wendy, and also Bret and Whitney were in Sacramento this past weekend too. We so much wanted to see them, along with Hailey and Jason, but it didn't work out.

We did enjoy our hotel room in Rancho Cordova.
This time I took pictures before we messed it up.
Unlike last time. I always feel more at home with a kitchen in our room.

We found a fun place to eat.
Wish they had these here.The restaurant was decorated with all these family members' pictures all over the walls. I like being surrounded by family pictures, even if I don't know the people.


We came home with some clothes we found at the outlet stores.
It felt so good to shop without a broken foot, even with a headache.

I saw the sign below at the mission office.
Maybe it was my headache, but I had to ask what it meant.

Watch how to make ADORABLE tutus!

Den's daughter Kim was on Studio 5 in Utah this morning on KSL! We are in Sacramento today and we could hardly wait to reach our hotel so we could see her. The little tutus she makes are so CUTE.

Her sister Kris comes in with Jacob and Rachel plus the dog, who are all models.
I think Kim is a natural for TV. She is just so confident and cute!



Hailey and Elora and "a twist"?

First a commercial:
For those of you living in Utah....
Dennis' daughter Kim will be on the program Studio 5, along with 2 of Kris' kids and their dog. Something about Halloween costumes. Be sure and watch tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 16th, at 11am, Channel 5 (KSL).

Is this just Elora's wording,
or have you heard of this before?

These girls live 3 hours apart but when they get together,
they always find lots to do.
Elora is 7 and Hailey is 5 years, 10 months.

What is your opinion on this one?



You have probably read or heard about this story in the news. But what I want to know is, do you agree with what Dr. Laura had to say about it? Read what she wrote below. (Thank you to my friend Darlene for sending this to me.)

Remember, this is Dr. Laura speaking now:

Unintentional Surrogate Motherhood

October 7, 2009 on 11:21 am

"A short time into her pregnancy, a married woman in Ohio was told by her husband that he had just received a call from the fertility clinic which helped them attain this pregnancy. The clinic “goofed,” and the baby in her belly was the product of the embryo of some other couple, who now expected her to go through childbirth and hand over the baby.

This couple is quite religious and they don’t believe in abortion, so in spite of their immense personal pain, they planned to hand over the baby after it was born (they did so at the end of September, when the woman delivered a healthy baby boy).Their only request was to see and hold the baby first, as they had already formed a bond.

Shame on the clinic for making that phone call! You may be shocked at that response, but since strangers meet, fall in love, marry and spend their lives together, it’s obvious that genetics is not the prime criterion for love, or no one would be able to adopt a child.

Having been pregnant, I’ll tell you that at the absolute instant of fertilization, an intense relationship starts (and continues, in spite of morning sickness, and inevitable heartburn and constipation). This actual “birth mother” is traumatized, as is her whole family. And for what? Ownership of an embryo?

I remember a Law and Order episode where the “punch line” was that the father who raised the now-teenage boy was revealed NOT to be the biological father, and he lost custody. Shameful and cruel, I thought.

Some people think that because something is “the truth,” that it should be revealed. Not necessarily, and especially not when terrible human suffering ensues.

The “embryo” family simply could have kept trying, and there is no proof that this particular embryo would have thrived until birth in the genetic mother.

I think everyone was better off with this truth not being spoken."


Do you agree or disagree with Dr. Laura?

Reflexology with Hailey and Chickie


Very late last night I introduced my sister in law Wendy (aka Chickie) and her granddaughter Hailey to reflexology. I had only been introduced to it the day before thanks to my friend Darlene. She let me borrow her video,
"Miriam Turner's Self-Help Reflexology" I had always thought reflexology was just to help your feet or hands. I hadn't realized the feet and hands have reflex areas corresponding to all parts of the body. The special techniques of reflexology can improve the health of all body parts! For example, the part just below the toes, where the feet connects to the toes, represents the neck. So if you have painful spots there when you press, then something is not right with your neck. That was where most of my pain in my feet is. So by pressing on those painful spots or working them more, you can help your neck.

(I was "winterizing" my toes last night.
by taking off my polish but some of the polish was stubborn.)
Hailey was very intrigued by all of this. She had lots of questions. She intently listened to instructions from Miriam on the video. What a great student she is.

Hailey is such a little night owl.
She is so wide awake and alert late into the night.
But in the morning
she will put her pillow over her face to block out the sun.
Click to enlarge so you can see the detail of the charts

Cami surprised us

It was Elora's birthday last Thursday and Den and I went over to celebrate. Soon after arriving I took Cami's little face into my hands and looked into her eyes and said, "How are you?" And with my hands still cupped around her little face, Cami answered right back to me, "I'm fine."

I was stunned silent. Did I really hear what I think I heard?

Then Dennis said, "She said 'I'm fine!" Then Erin's Mom said she heard it too!! Erin also said, "You're right. I heard it too. I heard it! She said 'I'm fine.'

Brock had stepped out of the room so he missed those few seconds of shocking surprise after basically 4 1/2 years of silence.

Cami had been saying, "Hi" as her only word for over a year. Then last month she added, "Bye", "Da da" and "Pa." But then on her big sister's 7th birthday, she skipped right to "I'm fine."

She has said it several times since then,
but only when she wants to.

It was a happy evening. Also, because Elora turned SEVEN!
The video below is a short clip of our evening. Her great grandparents in Arizona miss their grandchildren desperately. So this is for them:

What grad students do for entertainment

People sometimes ask me what McKay is up to now that he has graduated.
More school.
More work.
But he has to relax, too. Take a look...entertainment Provo style.

Anne Frank


I use to lie awake at night and worry about Anne Frank when I was a little girl. Long after she was dead.

My Grandma bought me a book, "The Diary of Anne Frank" which I struggled to read since I was still very young. Grandma and I had many discussions about Anne Frank, what she went through, how she continually expressed gratitude even under the most horrific circumstances.

Imagine hiding in your attic, in fear of the Nazis. Sheer, utter terror. And yet...
she wrote in her diary:
"I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart."

I had often thought while growing up, if Anne Frank can feel that way surrounded by such evil people while spending the last days of her life in a concentration camp, then I should surely be able to.

Her father gave her a diary for her 13th birthday. Here are a few of other quotes found in her diary after she died at age 15 in the concentration camp:
"I soothe my conscience now with the thought that it is better for hard words to be on paper than that Mummy should carry them in her heart."

"I simply can't build my hopes on a foundation of confusion, misery and death... I think... peace and tranquility will return again."

Check out the 20 second clip below.
It is the only video footage of Anne Frank, taken nearly a year before she and her family were forced into hiding.

9 seconds into the film, 13-year-old Anne is seen leaning out of a second-floor window, smiling and looking down at the street to see the bride and groom.

This video footage was given to Anne's father, Otto Frank(who survived the camp) in the 1950s, by the couple in the video when they recognized the girl following the publication of Anne's diary.

Cafe Rio Burritos

While eating with the Sister Missionaries tonight they were raving about a recipe they recently learned to make. I couldn't absorb all the details so I just asked them to record it on video. (also so her mother could see how well she is doing 5 weeks out on her mission!)

I'm going to try this soon on my family. I like how the main part is cooked in the crockpot. Looks like it would be great for a large group.

Later on tonight they gave me the printed recipe:
click to enlarge

Sunday Conference at home

Last General Conference, 6 months ago, we were all anxiously waiting for the twins to be born. They arrived the following Sunday. Oh what memories.

So last weekend we got to share conference with them, and their cousins. I watched my grandchildren with such awe, and thankfulness.

Camers especially enjoyed the music!

She also enjoyed hanging out at the baby center.

Austin and Téa fell asleep IN the baby center.

How do you like his zebra mustache?

Lots of family snuggle time.

And spinning time for Elora!

And some mother/daughter time as they headed out to the car to go home after the last session.
Erin and Elora look more alike with each passing year.
Logan had to work, and we sure Missed Him
Amy, being the good wife she always is, made sure to bring home leftovers.

Thanks Richard and Wendy for having McKay and McKenna to your home in Alpine, along with numerous cousins. I tried to get someone to take pictures but no such luck. McKenna told me today they were continually fed there, and made to feel right at home.

Tyler was sick, so he and Karen stayed home and watched it alone. Hope you are feeling better Tyler!!

Every time conference is over I want to say, "No, no no no we want more."

Transcripts will be ready soon, but for now you can rewatch it on your computer here.

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 ...