Our Elder

Today we got a call from our stake president.

He said Elder Steve's mission president had just called him.

That is enough to make a mother's heart stand still.

But this is a new president.

He told of what a wonderful missionary Elder Steve is.

He complimented him on his leadership skills.

What a pleasure it is to have him serving.

That is enough to make a mother's heart smile.

Let the Season Begin

Testosterone flowing.....
Saturday night widows we have become.......
Go Devils!

Political Discussions

Do you want to know what the youth of America are thinking? I live with many of the youth of America and this was the discussion about five minutes ago.....If this man gets to be president-heaven forbid---and if he were to die in office, (heaven forbid-don't wish that on anyone!).....

This man would be president (heaven forbid) and if the unthinkable happened...This person would be president!!!

(straight from the lips of Ames.....)

WE'RE GOING TO DIE!

Update on Elder Steve

Guess what I got in the mail today???????

Another memory card from The Elder......

Yippeee!

So here's a few to share on how he is doing....okay-a lot.

Last photo taken-dated 8/23....nice leg Steve.

Um, anytime you see a companion on the side of the road with toilet paper, it can't be good. Trust me-the rest of the photos are not for public consumption!

Uh-oh. He didn't tell me about this.

What happened to his bike-did it shrink?

New forms of missionary transportation? He must've converted to Southernism. I heard everyone in Tennessee owns a riding lawnmower.

Sweet car.......wow-did he grow?

Hey-he's learning how to cook!

Oh no-he's sleeping on the floor??????

Looks like he is eating well.

And I guess he doesn't need any new clothes.

Meeting lots of interesting people, in um...interesting places.

Is he getting a little desperate?

Ah, that's what it's all about!

We will now return you to our regularly scheduled programming....

Garden Ramblings

At this stage of the summer in the desert-the name of the game is survival. Here are a couple of flowers that have managed to survive the heat and my neglect.

Vincas-periwinkle. Absolutely not my favorite flower. They leave a nasty virus or something in the soil that kills petunias after them so I guess I will forever have vincas in this pot. But I have a great deal of respect for anything that continues to bloom when getting blasted with a direct hit of the afternoon sunshine every afternoon.

Zinnias. Surviving and thriving next to a wall facing the south. They are so happy they are climbing out of the box and ready to dive into the garden box next to them. Say goodbye-they will be leaving me soon to make space for something new....

Garden boxes-coming along! I am so excited. Pretty soon there will be pretty red brick on top and then we have to go get some more dirt and good stuff to build up the soil...oh, and connect the water. I guess that means I will have to go to work.

College UPdate

me: How was school?
Bubba D: Fine.
me: Did you like your classes?
Bubba: They're fine.
me: Did you know anybody in your classes?
Bubba D: No.
me: Do you have any homework?
Bubba D: Maybe (this means yes)
me: Are there any hot girls in your classes?
Bubba D: yesssss.
Bubba D: I need $233.oo for books.

Can you get a sense of how school is for him? No? Me either.

Me: Thanks for asking what I am taking.....I am taking Spanish 225 this semester. I can only handle one class at a time. This one is (a-hem) a more upper division class, of which I am way more intimidated about because there are several RMs from Spanish speaking missions and others who have lived in Spanish speaking countries........so I will really have to work my "old lady" brain this semester. Wish me luck...

True Story

In honor of the beginning of the Democratic National Convention, I present the following true story-I was a witness-I heard it first hand.

A mother is giving a talk in church. She quotes her son. He says" Mom, if Obama gets to be president of our country, then we would be an Obamanation."

true that kid, true that.

Twins

Can you tell why we are twins? (please ignore the truly frightening look to my neck and enlarged nostrils)

We are both starting college today!!

My baby boy is starting college today {sniff}

But I did have to tell him that his shirt was on inside out {giggle}

At least he still needs me for something!

Classic Quote-Too Good Not to Share

"But Grandpa, if we don't turn on the water, how are we going to make chocolate cake?"

Happy Birthday!

Twenty years ago, TL confided to me that he had had a dream while on a mission that he was to have 7 children. This was the first I had heard of this, and as I was in the midst of taking care of 5 children, including a very colicky new baby my reply was,

"you're nuts."

I was wrong.

He was right.

15 years ago, with the cord wrapped around her neck a couple of times via C-section delivery-our little "sopresa" arrived.

She is my little girl after two big boys .

She is the "caboose."

She is the "lucky number 7."

She is the "seven is heaven."

She is beautiful, extremely talented and good at pretty much anything she decides to do. It seemed like she was little forever and then all of a sudden, boom, she's half-way grown up!

So happy birthday Miss Liss!

It's Over!

Final completed today for on-line Spanish summer school class!
Note to self: Never take another language class on line.

Grand Excitement at My House!

My new garden boxes in progress! I'm so excited. Our winter garden is going to be awesome! (I hope♥) There's not any time to blog today-I'll post more photos as it progresses.

PeOpLe I lOvE

This afternoon I went in my bedroom to have a tiny little rest-and I woke up 10 minutes later and my house was full of people-scrounging for food and using the internet and....Hey-let's go to mom's house and scrapbook in her cool scrapbook room! (the end results were very cute)
See this cute face? This is one of the "Tres Yernos", aka son-in-law.
Why is he smiling so big?
Because he wants to show off his braces?
No.
Because he loves it when I take his picture?
No.
Because he has a fabulous red tie?
No.
It's because he just scored a 21 on the DAT test!
Average score for DAT test: 17 at the testing center.
Average score for acceptance into dental school: 19
YEAH! Pretty soon he will be scraping the gums of the family!

Short n Sweet

I ♥ Coldplay
(thx Jess!)

P.S. Coldplay is a band.......the lead singer is married to Gwyneth Paltrow.

Zapatos (means shoes in Spanish-I couldn't think of a tricky title)

I'm not really a shoe person....I mean, I like shoes. My heart can kind of skip a tiny beat when I see a shoe sale...but I really don't have a closet full of shoes. Case in point- The "clog" phase. When I find a pair I like-and I really like Clark's-I wear them to DEATH. (hence the scuffs)Your basic summer sandals. Notice a disturbing trend here? Brown, black, brown black...oh.....with the occasional

Blue.

BrownBlack.

Well, these are shiny patent leather. One cannot wear spiky heels on Sunday when one is in the Primary presidency. I just isn't done-plus it would kill my back!

(By now my kids are saying....muuutherrr, you really do have too much time on your hands!)

A few flip flops thrown in for good measure. Oh.....these are black.

So when I had to have a pair of shoes really fast for an event, TL bought these little beauties......

Ahh.......They are absolutely adorable....and fun to wear...except if you have to walk very far......it doesn't work....and I guess they do have....brown and black.

Experimental

First attempt at revising a recipe to be wheat free, gluten free, egg free, tomato free, milk free recipe.

It was a rousing success!!!!

Lemon chicken-I used some interesting substitutions for 1/4 c. wheat flour and 1 egg and 1 T ketchup.....brown rice and home grown green beans.

And guess who's jumped on the good nutrition bandwagon??

Child who shall be nameless and faceless.....hint....

Youngest child, female, on the swim team, reading me her nutrition requirements to be at peak performance for the team..

Hmmmmmm........(thanks coach!)

My Kneecaps are gettin' Wore out

I've been praying a lot these days for a couple of my kids. Not that I don't pray for all of them every day-it's just that sometimes there are a few that need some extra pleading from their mom to the heavens above....(God listens to the pleadings of mothers, right?)

This is a picture of my sweet girl moments after she told us:

"I'm Pregnant!"

Sadly, it was not to be.

It has been so hard to watch her suffer through the loss of this pregnancy. It happened to me years ago and it's awful to watch a child suffer through the same thing-a couple of my other girls had the same experience. She wrote about it beautifully in her blog, quoting a scripture,

D&C 58:3 "Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation."

It's hard for a mother to watch her children suffer pain and distress. It's almost more than I can bear. Somehow it's easier to suffer my own pain and distress than to watch my kids suffer..

Oh God, how didst thou watch thy Only Begotten Son suffer and die for me?

Advice from Elder Busche

Enjoy....I saw this on spin's blog (see my sidebar)

A New Challenge

In the process of seeking for answers to help improve TL's health after our recent 2nd bout of meningitis-we met and consulted with a naturopathic physician. Today we just got home from our most recent visit and we are in shock.....

He had a test for 100 different foods to see if food allergies might be creating problems with his immune system and lack of energy and not much weight loss success......There were 25 positives, the most significant being wheat, cow's milk, eggs and yeast. Sadly, tomato and chili peppers are also on the list which makes salsa a no-no.......even OATMEAL was on the list.

So now I am on a quest to figure out how to nourish him and avoid all these foods. I confessed to the dr. that just the other day I had made him oatmeal with cinnamon, walnuts and brown sugar, topped off with cow's milk......all on the allergy list! The dr. cracked up and said,"you're killing the poor man."

So I am going on this allergy diet too to see if some of my ailments might be allergy-related....

So wish us luck-and if anyone out there has any advice, experience or whatever.....in dealing with food allergies-I'm all for it. My next google search is going to be "allergy free cooking."

Happy Birthday

Twenty-nine years ago I was in labor. Right now, at this moment. I had just woken up and realized-hey-we are going to have a baby today! I was shocked because it was three days before my due date. What greater gift could a nine month's pregnant woman ask for in the blistering August heat? (and in a house with no AC-just an old-fashioned "swamp cooler.")

This is the result!

I have vivid memories of this photo shoot-he kept tipping over in the chair-he wasn't sitting up very well yet, and he would giggle every time he tipped over. We had so much fun at the time and I loved the photo results!

About a year later.....look at those curls!

These next two I think are hilarious. The school photographer was doing some "tricky" stuff and he caught him peeking just as the shutter clicked. And I can just hear the photographer saying, "don't look at me, look away". This is the result...................

I couldn't resist buying the package-it was too funny.....

A few years later-my studly football player

Fast forward a few more years....with his lovely bride....

And fast forward even a few more years after that......his 3 adorable little kids.....(I think we need to update that photo, guys)

Happy birthday to my first born son! I love you!