Sunday, August 31, 2008

I am not a Monkey...OR an ape!!

I have a MAJOR gripe. I just don't get it - well... actually some other people just don't get it.
We spent some time at the local museum of Natural science...
I had a really hard time going through there with my kids subjecting them to stupidity.
So... the Bible tell us that the earth, plants, animals, water, man & woman EVERYTHING was created by God, or Heavenly Father.
As we walked into the museum we were immediately subjected to the "Big Bang Theory." I'm sure the other parents really appreciated me telling my children that this is definitely not what the Bible tells us. (I don't believe the word "Bang" is even used within that text.)
So...we continued on our merry way...and once again, I was subjected to SEVERAL displays which truly show us how we all evolved from APES. I even took a picture so that people don't believe I'm just spouting off and complaining about nothing.

Ahhhh... the family tree..



Geneology anyone?


I really don't think that this is what genealogists had in mind...

JUST FOR THE RECORD...I MOST EMPHATICALLY DID NOT COME FROM A MONKEY... NO WAY, NO HOW, (no matter what my brother says.)

Slideshow of our Vacation

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Monday, August 25, 2008

I Looked out my window and what did I see?

Unfortunately, it wasn't popcorn, and it wasn't a new car. Along those same lines, it wasn't a bear, and it wasn't a coon, elk, or deer -
We HAVE SKUNKS! (And he wasn't skanking for any MDA people out there)



Yes, we've had raccoons, and we've had deer and elk. We now officially get to add skunks to the list and try to figure out how to get rid of them. We've seen several (and smelled them) all summer long, but never imagined that they would be under our porches. Yes folks, that is plural - front and back. Tonight we watched one saunter all over the back porch looking for treats, and listened to, saw and smelled a skunk fight under the front porch. The loser then left. My photos didn't turn out very well through the glass door, so I found one that looked exactly like our little guy. By the way from a distance - he was very cute.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

More summer fun




So, several ladies in my area get together once a month in a recipe club. Everyone submits their recipes, and then they bring their creation for everyone to sample. This month's theme was appetizers. My little one was a great help to me this month. She cut off all of my crusts, and flattened all of my bread. Here's the recipe I submitted courtesy of Taste of Home:




Asparagus Appetizer Roll-ups
Serves 6
• 12 slices white bread, crusts removed
• 1 container (8 ounces) spreadable cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onions
• 8 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
• 24 fresh asparagus spears, trimmed
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
(I added a little bit of ranch dressing mix to the cream cheese mixture to make it extra tasty)
DIRECTIONS
Flatten bread with a rolling pin. In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, onions and bacon. Spread mixture over bread slices. Cut asparagus to fit bread; place two spears on each bread slice. Roll up bread and place, seam side down, on a greased baking sheet. Brush with butter; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Bake at 400° for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve immediately. Yield: 1 dozen.

So - of course, we've been doing swimming lessons for the past month. I am happy to say that both of my children advanced in their levels. One would be able to save herself if she needed to, the other still has some work to do, but at least the girls have gotten some pool time this summer!




We spent the other day (once again) in one of my villages. We went to lunch first and then in the village we listened to my friend play banjo.


Someone sang and yodeled to us with his accordion, and really big alps horn...I have no idea what it was called!



We played at the children's museum and then (as always) in the golden river!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Shingles

I wish I could come up with something much more interesting, but here it is.
I am now hydrated and recovered from youth conference (I think). I have a new calling as the primary chorister, and am dog sitting a dog that loves me (I wouldn't say the relationship is totally mutual) in a house that is being left unlocked for 5 days.. If you don't hear from me for a while, the burglar must have gotten me!
Yes - I lead an extremely exciting life. Onto the shingles.
On Sunday a friend came over and needed some help from my husband - our friends' wife has the shingles.. they took her to the hospital in an ambulance it was so bad...My husband said she was REALLY bad when he saw her - he couldn't believe it.
So I went over to visit tonight. After I kissed her cheek as she received me into her home, we chatted. During the conversation, she told me that she was contagious...
Now I itch and am sure that my skin is raising..
I must be mental. I'm going to go wash my face..

Thursday, August 7, 2008

The Trek

We are back from an amazing experience. What a blessing it is to take time out of life for spiritual rest and remembrance. Three years ago, we went on the same trek, to the same place, even with some of the same youth. For some reason however, this trek was SO different. I'm sure the difference was me - but it is something that has become very special to me.

We left our girls with some friends in our ward - thanks SO MUCH!! We are blessed to have them as friends that we feel comfortable leaving the girls with. We had dinner with them on Sunday night and then left the girls there. We got up VERY early on Monday morning and met everyone at 6:00 am at the church. Drove to another pick up
spot and approximately later arrived at our destination - Martin's Cove in Wyoming.
There, we were divided into families and the fun began. At first we were pretty apprehensive. Our 8 'kids' didn't appear to like each other, get along, or want to even be near each other. I think our thoughts were along the lines of - oh brother - what have we gotten ourselves into? Three days of this might be pretty tough. However, we packed all of our belongings onto the handcart.

We had a brief orientation, where inside one of the cabins I was able to locate some of my ancestors. I learned that my ancestor WS was 33 years old when he traveled through Martin's Cove in 1856. Approximately one week prior to his arrival there, he had buried his 2 year old son after crossing the North Platte River (now near Casper) and then while there in the cove, he buried his wife R who was 31, and a newborn baby boy who was premature.

Well, we as we traveled, our stuff constantly fell off of the cart- it was ALMOST humorous. We arrived and figured out our tent situations and got our camp set up. Had dinner, watched the kids do some square dancing, had a devotional, and then we had a family home evening around the campfire. We asked our kids to share a pioneer story, or a favorite scripture story. I was grateful as they began to open up and share some of themselves with everyone. We had a beautiful sunset, and the stars were gorgeous.

As we went to bed, the wind picked up - it was CRAZY. Sometime after 1:00 it died down and we were all finally able to get to sleep.
The next morning we hitched up our handcarts and traveled to the Veil Bridge which connects the present with the past. The original land owner requested that his posterity never allow a plow to touch the ground there, and so the landscape is the same as it was back in the 1850's. We had a devotional in Dan's Cove, and then spent time in Martin's Cove. When President Hinckley dedicated the Cove in 1997, he stated that the spirits of those who gave their lives there were there. Although Wyoming doesn't have a temple, this land was dedicated as a temple and hallowed ground - made hallowed by the sacrifices. While in the Cove, I had some very distinctive experiences, and I think I took care of 6 months worth of crying(and for the record - I really don't cry.) It was a very special experience for both myself and my husband.

Later, we had the opportunity to cross the Sweetwater river. The young men were given the opportunity to carry people across the river if they so desired - which I believe was a very special experience for many of the, and then the men were called away to the Mormon Battalion. The women had a short devotional with a very interesting topic. It was pointed out that most women at some time in their lives will have to pull their carts on their own. Whether through lack of finding a worthy mate, divorce, or death the likelihood is great. They talked about the similarity of the YW values as pioneer values, and then - the Young Women were asked to pull their carts on their own. The men lined the path, took of their hats and silently watched as these strong young women carried all of their belongings as well as a 'sick' person up the steepest and sandiest hill. My young sisters told me it was the hardest thing they had ever done in their lives.

Most were hot and tired when we got back to camp. My daughters and I slipped away to quickly shampoo our hair, and then we were informed about a last minute change of plans which allowed us to go (girls first, then boys) play in the river for 30 minutes to cool down. That was a blast!

We then had dinner, more square dancing, a fireside, then a bonfire testimony meeting. That night after the kid's chatting died down, the wind picked back up - it was another tough sleep night.

In the morning, we broke down our camp, and reloaded our cart. One of our daughters had a great idea on how to do it, but the stuff STILL seemed to fall off - just not as often as previously. We started talking about movies and everyone finally started to really laugh, bond, and have lots of fun together. We got back to the pick up area a little bit early, and had some extra time, so 4 of the youth in our family and we decided to go an extra couple of miles and visit Devil's Gate. What a BEAUTIFUL area - probably the most pretty of it all - definitely worth the extra mileage! Afterwards, we loaded up and headed home.

I'm so grateful for the wonderful experience we had. We really were able to connect with several of our 'children' and it was truly and amazing experience.
Although - the shower and clean bed were REALLY nice last night too! I must be getting older, cause I really like my own bed A LOT!

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Happy Birthday!

Today we celebrated my sweetie's birthday - once again he is as old as me, so now he can't tease me about how old I am!
We had a little party tonight - we got back from youth conference and went to pick up the girls at a friend's house. She had (oh so graciously) made us some dinner, decorated, helped the girls buy some gifts, and picked up the cake and ice cream for us! So - we had a little party - the whole youth conference thing sort of threw us off, but we love him!


Every night at dinner, he says to the girls, "well, the reason why we've called you here together...is to tell jokes!" Unfortunately, the jokes aren't always quite as funny to the rest of us as they are to him. As such, our youngest daughter gave him some Laffy Taffy for his birthday - I'm sure hoping to help him!

Our other daughter got him a great pig toss game - which I'm sure she is very excited about, since I got that game when I was her age and LOVED playing it at Bear Lake with my little brother all summer (remember that?)


I think his favorite present was his shower, shave, picking up the girls, and a clean bed in his own house!

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Correction

For all of those out there keeping score - I actually won $16.00 at the county fair!

Friday, August 1, 2008

Getting ready

So, some of you may know that I've been talking about square dancing lately. No - it really isn't because we've suddenly taken it up - well...kind of, but not really by choice. Next week, we are going to Youth Conference and will be spending several days pulling and pushing a handcart across the wind swept plains of Wyoming.

We were asked to teach our youth how to square dance prior to going - so we became overnight officianados..except we still don't know what "allemande" means. I made some beautiful bloomers this morning and will now begin with a nice bonnet, apron and skirt...
We did this trek about 3 years ago, so it will be interesting to see the differences between the two. My grandmother gave me some information on one of my ancestors. As he crossed the North Platte river, his 4 year old son died. Shortly thereafter, in Martin's cove, his wife and premature son also died. The ground was so cold, they struggled to dig graves for the burial so that the wolves wouldn't get the bodies. This man almost literally gave everything he had to follow the prophet and the brethren. Interesting how difficult it is for us today to do the same thing. Something to think about while I "push and pull and go merrily on my way to the valley-o!"