I shall call this Fall ~

... and I believe we will skip Winter this year!
I apologize Minnesota.

Visions of our cabin ... danced in our heads ~

Lately, we've been spending a lot of time at a place I like to call ... our cabin! It's so cozy around the fire and just plain delightful!


Jake loves to frolic with all of his wild animal friends!


We're hoping that none of the raccoons have rabies this year!



Garrison has got to be more careful with those silly skunks!


We LOVE Bass Pro Shop our little cabin!

Sneaky ...

I snapped this shot of my two bosses sharing highly confidential information as we were having a highly confidential meeting at work ... shhhhhh.

This one was shot by the paparazzi while I was trying to work in my new(ish) blue home office ... previously called Kacey's room. Now all of the secrets are out, and you know all about my job. This message may have to self-destruct within this decade.

So sneaky.

Annual Christmas Chaos ... check!

Me & G ...

Garrison has an affinity for extra credit. If any teacher offers ANY type of extra credit ... he's all over getting it done ... and quickly! Currently, he is reading A Christmas Carol in his English class and his teacher offered an AMAZING dose of extra credit, one that would raise his grade from a B to an A+. The task was to go to the Herberger Theater in Phoenix and see A Christmas Carol and then to get an autograph from his friend who had a starring role in the play. F-U-N!


So on Saturday, the two of us hopped on the 202 and headed East. In downtown Phoenix, there are few parking spaces other than parking garages that charge $7.00 ... but it was a special day, so we parked. We skipped (but not really) across the street and into the box office. I was told that this showing was a discounted rate, but I heard the cute young voice on the other side of the glass window say "That'll be $41.00 please." I heard myself mumbling "holy crap", but it was a special day, so I paid the lad through the tiny hole in the glass window. We sat on the front row of the balcony and it was a lovely, very well done play.

Note: My definition of a well done play = short.

After the play was over, we made our way down to the lobby to find the lady in the green dress to get her autograph and seal the deal on the extra credit. Deep breath. Job accomplished! Since we were already paying to park in downtown Phoenix, I decided that we couldn't quite be done yet. We walked across the street to one of my F-A-V-O-R-I-T-E places of all time. Seriously, this place runs a close second to Disneyland for me! The Hyatt Regency Hotel, or more specifically ... the glass elevator at the Hyatt Regency Hotel! If you ever want to step into Willy Wonka's shoes for just a moment and feel like you're going to burst through the top of one of the tallest buildings in Phoenix ... as you are soaring and seeing the sights of the valley for miles around, then you just have to do this!


We rode that elevator up & down three times and then headed back over to the parking garage to pay our $7.00 and head home. It was a lovely day. G was super happy to have achieved such extra credit and I was happy that I got to spend some alone time with him.


On the way home, I started wondering about all of the other kids that clearly would not be able to afford such status from the teacher. This was a pricey request! I am glad that I was able to have this day with Garrison and to be able to give him something that meant a lot to him, but if I was not able to do this ... I think I would hunt down that teacher for putting such ideas in my child's head! And really ... what did the student actually have to do to obtain these points?

Parking on the third floor of a concrete garage = $7.00
Seating for 2 at the Herberger Theater = $41.00
Riding my favorite elevator with G = $0
Achieving such extra credit in Junior High = Priceless $48.00

Singing lots of praises today ...

Things have been rather busy around here ... and I think I'm SO CLOSE to having a roof that no longer leaks ... as well as some bonus work that Gary threw in for good behavior! Praise to the men who had any part in repairing our roof that has leaked many lagoons for about six years! Praise to my sister who stayed at our house during the last Monsoon storm (while we were in the lovely land of Catalina Island soaking up the sun) as she managed to move furniture that would have been damaged and commenced with monumental loads of laundry after the mopping up process was over. Praise to my Dad for teaching my brothers how to create beauty and shelter out of wood and callused hands. Praise to my brothers for always taking good care me. Praise to my husband who knows how to do just about ANYTHING ... and has the energy to get it all done. Boo yah! It totally makes me not even care that he stayed out until 2:00 a.m. playing poker last night!

The man never quits ...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Arizona could have never prepared him for this!

Matthew & Kaelin -

Today, little Matthew was walking through an art gallery in downtown Mesa with his cute little girlfriend, Kaelin. After looking at all of the exhibits, they came upon this HUGE & hilarious picture that was placed on an elegant easel ...

then he got down on one knee ... and asked her to marry him!

In March, I will be another mother-in-law!

Congratulations you two!!!

Petey loves Matty ~

One of our little Chihuahuas is smitten with Matthew. When Matt moved away, Petey would get so excited when he would come back to visit, and he would follow him out to his car with high hopes of a field trip to Matt's house. His favorite were the sleep-overs!

Well, Matthew has moved back home for a short spell ... and Petey couldn't be happier. He follows his big brother from another mother around the house ... and look at this -

Petey waits outside of the bathroom for his Matty ...

and he waits some more ...


until he finally comes out and they are reunited once again!
This puts a little spring in Petey's step.
Zoey doesn't get it.
It's true love.

Mourning women ~

What do women do when they're mourning
and they need to do something ...
ANYTHING?

They bake.
We gathered our sad selves together
and made 11 lasagnas in less than an hour.

That's what we do!

Reverent Soldier

Today, I can't help but liken our full-time missionaries to soldiers. Our young Mormon men and women who leave all that they know behind them for two years to serve the Lord are much like the men and women that we see in uniform on the news every day. Our military people are putting their best feet forward to valiantly help save our country. And while Mormons have many soldiers serving our country as well, our young missionaries are putting their entire souls into saving our world and our brothers and sisters in Christ. When we lose a soldier, people line the roads waving flags and their services include every honor that they deserve accompanied by that 21 gun salute. When we lose a missionary, it's much more quiet.

Today, I salute this young man.

Nicholas Taylor Ferrin
8/4/1989 - 10/17/2010

You have made us so proud, Nick. We watched you grow and you inspired us as we attended your farewell. We didn't know how symbolic that day was, but we know now that all who attended were in the presence of a Celestial man in the making. Thank you for making us laugh. Thank you for being real. Thank you for showing us how to conquer this life. We love you and will miss you.

Nick was our friend. He was serving from our ward in Portland, Oregon when he suffered a Brain Aneurysm on Saturday. His parents flew up yesterday to say goodbye to their son. We are all so saddened by this and hope that you will join us in prayer on behalf of this amazing family.

Fancy News -

Occasionally, I catch myself wondering why I live in Arizona (except for the fact that my whole family is here - and they have been here for a million years). Then ... out of the clear, blue sky I get zapped in the face with the answers.

A couple of Saturdays ago, it was miserably hot and it was October. I almost quit. I almost packed it up and moved up North, or over East, or anywhere but here. And then it happened! A dust storm rolled into town and brought a few sprinkles with it. Since then it's been delightfully cooler and we've been blessed with rain ... AMAZING RAIN ... and even some hail! I believe the worst of Summer is finally over. This is the time of year that I live for, and it's the time of year that other parts of the country are prepping for freezing pipes and snow chains. No thank you.

Another thing that we have around my little piece of this world is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G medical care. If you need a titanium plate in your head (like the one that I sport around in) ... we have Barrow's Neurological Institute. If your child is in bad shape ... we have Phoenix Children's Hospital (a shout out to Ben ... a Doctor who reads my blog)! And if you just need a second opinion or fantastic medical care from some really phenomenal doctors ... we have the world renowned Mayo Clinic. People have been known to travel for days to get to these facilities, and they are all a swift 30 minutes from my driveway.

This was Julie at the Fancy Mayo Clinic.
She thought she was getting a pedicure instead of a consult
in our fancy doctor's office.

Well, it finally occurred to me that I needed to utilize my options. So I made a couple of visits to the ole' Mayo Clinic. After lots of fancy blood work and a couple of educated consults with a lovely Dr. who specializes in Lupus ... new news rolled into town right along with that gust of cool wind. According to the fancy Mayo Clinic ... I DO NOT HAVE LUPUS.

Neat-o, eh?

And happy Fall!

Happy October!

Elder Shaker is having fun and doing great!

I'm SO EXCITED that the weather is finally changing.

Good vs. Evil ...

So tonight, I drove right past the Jack In The Box and I pulled into the gym. It was family night, and all four of us were determined to find some happy endorphins. Now that we're home and I hear my boys giggling instead of quarreling ... I think Racquetball may have done the trick.

However, I was not feeling very happy while I was in the process of accumulating those happy endorphins. Not because I was all sweaty or out of breath, but because somebody in the vicinity of my "work-out" was full of much more than an endorphin of any kind. That's right. One of the fellow members of our gym was incredibly flatulent this evening.

The first time my sensitive nose picked up on that familiar scent, I thought "oh my ... somebody must be awfully embarrassed right now". But as time passed, as well as much more gas, I realized that they weren't embarrassed at all and that they were just downright rude. It became my mission to narrow down the culprit and then I would know who to stay away from at future visits.

As my suspects each moved on to other pieces of equipment, and as the unpleasant whiffs continued, at last it was between two people ... one on my left side and one on my right. The young man on my left was jogging up a storm and I thought that this could certainly "stir things up". While the woman on my right was at a steady stroll the entire time and didn't really look the part of a tooter.

Well, the young man left and the smell lived on. It was the lady ... and I use that term loosely! She had a long, long braid down her back and at this point I was wondering if she was actually part pony ... it would have explained a lot. This woman was not healthy, and I was glad that she was trying to partake of some sort of wellness. But I'm here to tell you, from the smell of things ... she had a long way to go.

You're probably all wondering why I didn't just move. Well, because that's not how I roll. I was irritated and I had to get to the "bottom of things"! I thought that there were some unwritten rules about flatulence. The first of which being that you never stick around the scene of the crime man! Move along and create some kind of diversion! Maybe she was taught otherwise.

Anyway, I didn't let it stop me and it made me appreciate the Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin candles that I had waiting for me at home. Family Home Evening lesson ... opposition in all things. Those candles never smelled so darn good. There's no place like home.

Saturday Morning!

If you think that Kacey's things are lovely ...

... then you should go visit this sweet little get-together tomorrow morning!

Tonight ...

I drove right past this place ...

and then I drove right through this place ...

and now I'm going to go watch my episode of this ...

Don't judge me.

Love is in the air~

On Friday, September 10, 2010 ... my sister got hitched!

And this little man ... finally has a Dad.



Welcome to the family, Kent!