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.