A Room with a View Continued....

Scott reminded me a couple of weeks ago that I needed to update the pictures of the Oquirrh Mountain temple progress. It's been a while. I think that there are only about 6 months left to go. It's looking pretty close on the outside.

It was supposed to be done this month, but took a little longer, which I'm glad it did. Hali will be 8 in a couple of weeks and I really wanted her to be old enough to attend the dedication. I think that it will be exciting for Regan and Hali to attend, especially since this is the view from their room!

For Those Of You Curious.....

I was cleaning the pictures off of my camera this morning and noticed that I had inadvertently gotten a picture of Porter's girlfriend, Natalie (yes, he finally found out her name), at his Western Days party at school.


She's the little brunette with the braids and pink cowboy boots. I have to say he's got good taste, I think she's adorable!

Oh, by the way, he informs me every day after school that he hasn't kissed her yet. That's good to know, buddy.

This Is What Happens....

..........when you let your four year old dress himself. HEHE!

Merry Christmas And Happy Birthday!

So everyone knows that I LOVE to sew. I've been doing it since I was 12 and really think it's my passion. I have two sewing machines and would have three if I had an extra 3 to 4 thousand to buy me an embroidery machine. Oh, yeah. I want me one of those. Anyway, one of the kids was fooling around by the sewing machines a couple of months ago and accidentally knocked my serger off the table. It got pretty dinged up and bent, but was still in working order. But then the blade that cuts the fabric became dull. I looked EVERYWHERE for a replacement. I drove around the Salt Lake Valley and looked online. My machine was just too old. I think its like ten years old and I bought it on sale and it's some brand that they don't even make anymore. So basically, my machine was pretty useless.

Today I couldn't stand it anymore and took my Christmas money (hey, I'm in charge of doling it out, I can do whatever I want with it!) and went shopping. Unfortunately, prices seem to have gone up. So, I just HAD to go over my budget. I just figure my Birthday is only a couple of months after Christmas, this will count for my birthday, too.

And it sure is a beaut! It's so much quieter than my old one. Not to mention it's not bent. Nor is it missing pieces. Now I just have to threaten the kids with their lives and it will stay in this shiny, new state.

Man, Scott sure is getting off easy this year.

My Brilliant Hubby!

So you all know that a couple of days ago I was devastated by the loss of the diamond in my wedding ring. It was awful. Regan told me how uncomfortable it was for her to see me cry! I guess I don't do it often. Anyway, my honey, in a stroke of genius made a suggestion to me as I sobbed on his shoulder.

See, maybe three years ago, my wonderful dad upgraded my mom's diamond earrings. Meaning, he bought her some ginormous (I know I misspelled that one and pretty badly, too, because spell check has NO suggestions!) ones to replace the respectable sized ones she already had. I just happened to be visiting on this momentous occasion and kindly offered to take the old pair off her hands. She graciously agreed.

Fast forward to Tuesday night and my husband makes the suggestion (as I'm wailing over the fact that we don't have an extra 2 grand lying around to replace what I lost) that I use one of the earrings my mom gave me. They just happened to be the same size (roughly) of the diamond now swimming on the bottom of a pool. BRILLIANT!!!

I rushed over to the jewelers on Wednesday and picked up the finished product today!

My ring looks brand spankin' new! They re-brushed and polished the ring and it looks like the day we bought it. And all for the lovely price of 53 dollars!!!! Thanks Mom and Dad! Those earrings turned out to be lifesavers! Now my hand doesn't feel naked!

So Funny!

Yes, I have too much time on my hands! I thought the political one was funny, but Porter as Troy Bolton is CLASSIC!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Jib Jab

I found this on my friend, Christi's blog and it made me laugh! So I thought I would make my own! I hope this makes you laugh, too.

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

I'm Devastated.

After my water aerobics class tonight, I was getting changed in the locker room and discovered something. This:

That would be my wedding ring, missing one vital piece. Somehow during my class the diamond on my ring fell off into the pool. The chances of recovering it are pretty small.

I'm really quite surprise by how upset I am over the loss. I feel like I've lost an appendage or something. This ring has been on my finger for more than 13 years at this point and has worn a groove onto my finger. I know that we can replace it, although, it's not happening any time soon, but there is so much sentimental value attached to this ring that I'm just devastated. I know, it's just a stupid ring, but I'm really just sad. I'm sure I'll get over it, but again, I'm just sad.

Pumpkin Night

We finally got around to getting and decorating pumpkins!! We are usually earlier than this because Halloween just happens to be my favorite holiday, but this year just seems to be really busy! We've been so busy that I only made ONE costume this year and bought the other three!

GASP!

So tonight for family night we let the kids decorate their pumpkins. I found these really cute plastic stick-in things at Target and loved them for their non-mess. No digging out slimy seeds for this woman.

Regan got Dracula:

Hali got a princess: (surprise, surprise)
Porter got a pirate: (repeat the surprise)
And Zoey got Frankenstein: (who looks cleaner than her)
The kids loved the easy decorations (they don't like the slimy seeds, either) and Zoey got really attached to hers. She cried and cried when we put them outside on the porch. I guess we'll be making daily trips out the front door to visit.

Have You Ever Had One Of Those Mornings....

where you finish getting yourself ready, the kids are all in their swimming suits for swim lessons and you saunter down the stairs thinking, "Wow. We are actually going to be on time today! Maybe even early!" And you turn the corner to find the youngest child is still in her pajamas, saggy diaper and hair sticking out all over the place. Then you think, "Crap. We're going to be late, again." Ever have one of those? Yeah, me neither.

The Ladies Man

On Monday afternoon, I picked Porter up from school and he announced to me that he had a girlfriend. The conversation went something like this:

Porter: "Mom, that girl with her hair down, hers my girlfriend."

Mom: "Really. What's your girlfriend's name?"

Porter: "Um....I don't know."

Mom. "Oh. Does she know she's your girlfriend?"

Porter: "Yeah, hers knows I'm her boyfriend. I waved at her and she waved back."

(Trying desperately not to laugh) Mom: "So, because she waved back that makes her your girlfriend?"

Porter: "Yeah. And when I kiss her....."

Mom bursts into laughter and interrupts that thought.

Porter: "MOM! What are you laughing at? I'm not a baby anymore. Sheesh."

Mom: "Have you kissed her, yet?"

Porter: "No. I will kiss her at a wedding."

Yes! The brainwashing is working! No dating until 21, no kissing until the wedding!

I had to remind Porter today that he needs to find out his girlfriend's name. That's usually a smart move. I also found out today, that Porter apparently bit her (and got into trouble at school for it) so that she would be his friend. Wow, buddy. Way to go! He's real smooth, that one.

A Little Pick-Me-Up

I've been really following the Presidential race this year, as I'm sure everyone out there is. And with the media the way it is (totally biased!) and with the economy going down the toilette, frankly, I've been getting a little irritated and kind of freaked out.

So, I was really looking forward to General Conference this last weekend. General Conference, for all you non-Mormons, happens every six months. We have a weekend where we hear messages from our church leaders. Things that are uplifting and give us guidance on how we should live our lives.

I so needed to hear these wonderful messages this weekend. I always feel so much better and calm when I hear our Prophet's words of wisdom. I'm looking forward to the conference edition of the Ensign (a magazine) so that I can really go over what was said. I really needed this little pick-me-up!

I Just Can't Keep It A Secret Any Longer...

No, I'm not pregnant. That's not ever happening again.

I'm just about done with Hali's baptism dress! I wasn't going to show it off until the big event in December, but I just can't keep it to myself.

I followed a pattern from a magazine I get. But I did a little tweaking. See, I was almost done with all the embroidery and Hali decided that she wanted a dress just like a girl at church. Excuse me?! You change your mind after I've done all this work?! So we compromised and changed the sleeves.

Here is the Dress in the magazine.

And this is the final product.


(If you click on the picture, you can see it more in detail.)
The only thing I need to do are the buttons in the back, but it's basically done! Naturally, Hali will have her hair brushed and cute for the baptism.

Olden Days Porter and the clan

This is what Porter may have looked like in the late 1800's attending school.

Western Days

I love Porter's preschool. He's actually the third of our kids to attend this school. When Regan was ready to start preschool, she was already really smart. I wanted to find a place that was more than a glorified play group and found Challenger. It's really academic, but is so much fun, too. About once a month they have some kind of party day. September is Western Days. The kids get to dress up as cowboys and play games and sing songs about the Old West. Parents are invited that day to join the festivities.

There is something about this picture that makes me think of my dad.
First of all, my dad is a farm boy. He loves the old westerns. And I have in my memory somewhere a picture of my dad leaning up against a wall with a bunch of his friends. It's an old black and white and he's squinting into the sun, just like Porter. The whole posture thing, just makes me think of my dad as a kid. Mom, you'll have to let me know if you have something like this.

They had a little program, where each class room got to sing a song. Porter's class sang "Home On The Range". It was so cute. Then they got to play the Hokey Pokey. Porter was just a little bit slower than everyone else.
It was really nice to spend some time with just Porter and me. It's always interesting to see how your children act in a school setting. Porter was actually pretty good. But he is a talker. He so didn't get that from me!

Suffering From Withdrawl....

We've done a lot of camping this summer, but haven't for a month or so. I think that maybe somebody would like to go again.