Family Night...

I was counceling with my Strong Silent Mysterious Man about what we should address at Family Night. He said "Why don't we review the conference talks from this weekend"?

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Okay that would have been a great idea, except my plan this conference weekend was to listen and feel the spirit of the messages, work on my card making, and wait until the church magazine came out to read all the talk over and study them more at that time.

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So I did not take any notes! Not one! Not all weekend, did I have any notes!!!

I am horrible at remembering talks unless I take notes.

How would I hold an entire Family Lesson on something I couldn't remember?

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I was checking my email yesterday and opened the weekly letter from our Nephew the Missionary in Chile... and he had watched all the sessions of conference and his entire letter summarized some of his favorite talks.

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What a blessing! I was so grateful to have his notes to be able to review some of the talks with my family!!! One of his favorite talks, was on Unity! I read his words, and remembered some of my thoughts and feelings during that talk. So we had a lesson on Family Unity, and what ways we could be more united in our Family.

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For an activity I told the boys that we would be unified in a basket of white clothes that didn't get folded earlier in the day! They laughed at first and when I didn't they murmerrd and then I used that as an object lesson on how we could be better unified by coming together not only in the fun things, but in chores and household duties too!

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Then we were trying to come up with a fun game to play together... I suggested a friendly competition of Guitar Hero, the teenager wanted to play Last Word, and my Strong Silent Mysterious Man wanted to play Rook.

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So much for Unity!

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We finally decided to play Rook, the cards were dealt, I had an almost perfect hand and began to bid on it, the teenager raises the bid up so high, I figured he must have had the cards I was missing in my hand to make it perfect, so I let him have the bid. During the course of the hand, it became evident, he did not have a good hand, but was only keeping me from getting the bid.

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Okay, I can play that game. So the next hand, the cards were dealt, my hand wasn't as good as the last one, but still bid worthy... so I began bidding, my strong silent man was bidding really strong, so I backed out. And the teenager ran the bid up and took it again.

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As the cards began to play, it was very evident that the teenager was just throwing cards down willy nilly, and not really trying to be competitive and play the game right.

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My strong silent mysterious man put his cards on the table, walked away. I followed suite, explaining to the teenager, how unfair and selfish that was of him. And we left him sitting at the table.

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Everyone got their treat and went to watch football. Nobody was mad. But it sure wasn't the Unity I dream of for Family Night. I went in my bedroom and watch girly tv, and folded the laundry. Before too long, it was time for family scriptures and prayer and off to bed. Everyone had forgotten by that time, and all was well. There was not any aggression or tension.

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I am not sure how I could have done things differently. maybe not making a big deal when the teenager is ornery is the best way... just walk away (I almost never do that, I am always up for duking it out). Maybe I could use all of this for another lesson for another time. Not really thinking I want to re-live it again though. Maybe it was just something I needed to learn. How to walk away and be quiet.

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I guess some Family Nights just go better than others. I am not sure what to really think of this one, but I am glad it is over. I think I will give the lesson to someone else next week, and see how they do with it. I can't wait til next week! Oh Boy!

Conference Weekend...

I really really loved conference weekend.

Something I finally learned after failing at it over the past 8 years, was to plan out a menu for the entire weekend, have the right foods in the house, and write the menu on the white board on the refrigerator complete with available snacks; so food would be a no brainer all weekend and I wouldn't have to rush out and grab anything and try and get back in time for the next session.

It worked marvelously! The only problem, I ate way too much trying to stay on schedule!

(I have to learn to go with the flow better).

I got some really good ideas last month while I was out visiting teaching, that I didn't have to be totally non-productive all weekend either. So I lined out some quiet projects I could work on while watching conference (maybe too many, because I got all hung up on just one and didn't get around to anything else).

This was my card making station... all layed out over the table in front of the tv.

I had so much fun, and got lots of cards made up! I had some sewing projects too, but those are harder, so I was dreading them, and this was just fun and once I got going I didn't have to use my brain power too much.

My only worries was trying to keep the puppy tails from knocking everything off into the floor (note to self, next year do this on the big table away from the doggies).

Finally, the rowdy puppy (Taylor) settled in for her conference nap... all wrapped around the teenagers legs of course, so if he happened to move, she could wake up and get him to go play with her. It was a fabulous weekend; and very uplifting. I love, love, loved Sister Daltons message to the youth! She is awesome!

A good time was had by all!

Saturday Conference...

Today while watching Saturday LDS General Conference Sessions... it rained and poured at our house!

A perfect day to stay inside! It was cool outside and it felt so good!

I loved watching the rain come down and keep coming down...

watering all the trees and plants and the grass, and clearing all the junk out of the air.

The boys left for the priesthood session in the evening. We have a brand new ice cream shop a block from our Stake Center; so they will try it out and move their traditional ice cream afterwards from DQ to the new place. I hope this little shop has a clue and is ready for all the men that will be coming through there after the priesthood session (after all they did not make up this tradition, it has been handed down... what a great tradition).

My boys!

(finally the teenager is smiling, and now my strong silent mysterious man is being dorky trying to be tall)

The Ideal me...

The ideal me...

Rules: if you're tagged, make sure to add one more ideal "thing" to the list, besides the items that are already there. Be as descriptive and random and silly as you want.

My ideal...

Snack: Muddy Buddies, made by someone else, with just the right amount of powdered sugar on them, eaten outside, in the fall, under a blanket, watching a football game, with my Strong Silent Mysterious Man holding my favorite cocoa for me.

Day: Wake up and stay in bed, laughing, watching movies, cuddling with my strong silent mysterious man, having snacks and juice brought to us by the teenager (who would need nothing from us all day, not mess up the rest of the house, and feed the dogs without me having to ask), and only getting out of bed at 6pm to go eat a nice steak dinner off the grill.

Book: one that would instantly turn itself into a movie (I don't like to read, but I love watching movies)

Weather: a nice 75 degree day, at the beach on the Pacific Ocean, with just enough breeze to tossle my hair around

Adventure: spontaneous, maybe something at the North Pole watching Polar Bears

Music: gotta be something toe tapping, and bum wiggling that doesn't make me cry

Vacation: no clocks, all inclusive lodging, meals, entertainment and transportation-so no money is needed, ocean and mountain views, 3 weeks, adventurous



I tag: Patsy and Lindsey

More crash em up drama...

Well the good news... the visit to the orthopedic doctor went well.

Doc is a golfer... so he could sympathize with the teenager, and wanted to avoid the dreaded cast!

So he got a new splint... and Doc was nice enough to explain to me that it was a fancy "3 point pressure" splint, that would put pressure on the joint equally and keep it in place as well as a cast would.
... and that the teenager could get right back to his golf game! Yes, first things first of course. This is his xray... all four of the other knuckle joints go up smoothly into the joint... but that last one on the left jags out and that is where it is broken. It's often called a boxers break. (the teenager liked that it had a cool name, it was much easier to explain)
Oh and the bad news... the insurance company hasn't released the car yet, so in order to avoid having to sell our teenager to pay for the storage charges, we had to bring it to our house... yes, for real, here it is, and yes, he is dumping it in my driveway!!!!

fancy "3 point splint" $112

doctor visit $150

towing and storage bill $430

cast (avoided) $500

smunched toyota $3,500

Teenager Safe and in our arms... PRICELESS!!!

(really, I have hugged him everyday and it is AWESOME, I hope I never ever take that for granted!!!!)

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(However, Mom is definitely going to need a massage and pedicure when this is all over with!)

The last of the rationings...

Our neighbors went camping this summer and found a really cool hot spot for wild huckleberries.

The husband was outside unloading their trailer one day when we were out walking the dogs, so we had stopped to talk to him, and he was telling us all about it (of course he would have to kill us if we found out the secret spot, so that wasn't revieled).

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Without his wife knowing, he snuck a small sandwich size baggie out of the cooler and gave us some of these pieces of gold to have.

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They are kind of hard to find, and so small that picking allot takes some time, unless you hit gold like he did and can pick a ton in a short amount of time. But they are sooooo yummy! A real find here... and if you happen to have a cooler full of them, you would tend to hoard them too. You can find them in some of the local farmers markets, but they are priced right up there with gold.

So we brought them home and put them in our freezer; waiting until we had just the right recipes to try them in.

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I made up a small batch of huckleberry syrup and we had them over pancakes one Saturday morning! That was really good!!!

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And we meant to share the rest with my Mom and Sis when they were here... sorry guys, we forgot about them in all the excitement.

So the other night we cooked up the last of the huckleberries into another syrup and poured it over vanilla ice cream!! Super Yummy!

The photo looks like we had a ton, but really they are just covering the bottom. Trust me, everyone was counting out how many we each got, so it would be fair!

The last of the rationing... but we were so grateful to have them!

Next summer I am adding that to my "summer list"... go find wild huckleberries to pick!

The Strong Silent Mysterious Mans job...

This past weekend... My Strong Silent Mysterious Man went into his work, to catch up on a few things before Monday, and the "crazy busy" started all over again, not leaving him time to catch up... so I went along for the ride (you know; hoping for some meaningful alone time with him to talk about deep stuff).

We drove up and it was empty and deserted as he had expected... these big ol' tin buildings are creepy when they are empty!
They work on some humongous motors and pumps... some won't even fit inside the building... it just boggles my mind.
It was pretty cool to watch him balance this "thingy", I think it was called a shaft.

I made him tell explain and tell me what he was doing and what it all meant.

(pretty sure I won't get invited to go again)

Oh and this contraption, kind of intimidating huh... just don't touch the red button right?

He has a desk now... you know all the big shots get a desk, and have to do paperwork. It's still pretty clean and organized... but just give him a little time... I peaked into the top of his tool box, he hasn't changed too much. I was impressed he got a window... prime real estate in most offices!

The big shots have to push brooms now and then too!

I was also impressed with all the cute signage over the doorways so you don't get lost or wander around where you don't belong! I'm sure this comes in handy... there is definitely a woman around here somewhere!

When we left the house, we left Taylor out of her kennel so she can learn how to "guard" with Morgan. She is still just a puppy, so of course we put away all the shoes, and hid the flickers, and picked up everything off the floor that might be a temptation!

But when we got home, someone had left the pantry door open, and "someone" had eaten all the doggie treats and the packages they came in!

My Strong Silent Mysterious Man had a talk with all the suspects, and the guilty always give themselves away at our house (we are really lucky that way... even Morgan and the teenager).

So Taylor was a dead give away with the closed eyes, she could have held out a little longer, he wasn't even yelling at her!

Who could be too mad at a face like this... after all, so tempting, the entire pantry! We were probably really lucky the treats were the only thing she got into!! For Real!!!