Wilkins Watch

Update #4

2010-01-01T22:43:00.000-08:00

Monte grew an 87 pound pumpkin this year and carved it for his new apartment porch, the only problem...it was too big! He had to bring it back to mom and dad's and leave it on their front step for Halloween. What a rockstar pumpkin grower!

Devin went trick-or-treating with Ben and Tucker on a beautiful Halloween day!

Update #3

2010-01-01T22:11:00.000-08:00

November 29th was the first concert in the tabernacle after the Christmas lighting on Temple Square. Our choir was honored to be invited back and perform the opening Christmas concert of the 2009 season.

My sister Elizabeth and I are in the lower right hand side of these two pics.

Ariel in the yellow lei, me on the right front row and Elizabeth behind me on my right.

Sister-in-law, Ellie, heads into the Tabernacle for our dress rehearsal.

Ariel in yellow lei, my mom in the purple lei, and

my sister Elizabeth in the glasses.

Queen of all Slackers Has Returned

2010-01-01T18:16:00.000-08:00

I confess...FACEBOOK has totally destroyed my will to blog! There, I said it! But, being that today is January 1st, 2010, it seems as good a time as any to catch-up, update and re-up my committment to my blog.

Update #1
-Camera is broken! It will get to be fixed (or replaced) if I'm to have any hope of all at keeping this New Year's Resolution.

Update #2

-The 2nd annual Cousins Christmas Par-tay was held at the Wilkins' house again and another fun time was had by all! The cousins watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, ate pizza and drank rootbeer floats, slept over, had a yummy breakfast in the morning (compliments of Uncle Rog) then decorated ginger bread houses together...-everyone except James, I guess he grew too cool for such things this year. :(

I wasn't going to do it again this year until Liz told me that they were walking through the store one day and Little Ben said, "Mom, we have to buy that right now for the cousins party this year!" He was pointing to a gingerbread house. How could I possibly ignore that?

Shelby saved the day by making 7 batches of frosting for all the house decorators!

Tucker's Birthday

2009-08-11T10:43:00.001-07:00

Because my sister, Elizabeth, and her two cute boys live just six houses down the street from me, we get to spend lots of fun family time together. Here's a little snippet from Tucker's birthday on August 6th. He's already 2 years old! It seems like just yesterday we were anxiously awaiting his arrival before school started that year...

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Ariel's Quilt from Grandma Bonnie

2009-08-01T20:44:00.000-07:00

Now that Grandma Bonnie is finally feeling better after her car accident (oh yeah, I need to post that story too) she had a chance to present Ariel with her graduation gift. The quilt was about half-way finished when the accident happened so our great family friend, Mollie, took the quilt to her house and helped grandma finish it for Ariel. Grandma Bonnie is eternally grateful and Ariel is so happy with the way it turned out! Thank you Grandma, for another stunning piece of work. We feel very lucky to be blessed with so many of your beautiful works of art, from the Easter & flower girl dresses you made when the girls were younger, to the Christmas P.J.'s you spoil them with every year, to the baptism quilt for Devin, and now this beautiful graduation quilt. You are one TOP NOTCH Grandma!!!

Happy Birthday Devin

2009-08-01T20:36:00.000-07:00

Today was Devin's 10th birthday! I'm especially excited about this one because he will be in 5th grade this year. He will be in the class right across the hall from me and there are only 2 fifth grade classrooms at our school. We do lots of switching and intermixing for various activities. That means I will get to see him in action and be right on top of his homework for the next 10 months. Here's to hoping we can survive the upcoming school year...Happy Birthday Dev...we love you tonzzzzzz!

Boy Cousin Sleepover

2009-08-01T19:04:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, July 30th, we had a boys only party/sleep over with cousins. We had a lot of fun;

playing with "Sam" the puppet, "How's it goin' brothahs?"

splashing around in the water,

watching Peanut catch his very first mouse,

jumping on the tramp,

eating pizza for dinner,

playing video games,

WHAT THE..???...

and building marshmallow shooters for a fun game of war!

Tucker thought it was a brilliant way to eat marshmallows from a fancy tube!

Oh, we have so much fun with our cousins!!!

Ariel's First Car

2009-08-01T18:53:00.001-07:00

This week we broke down and co-signed with Ariel to get financing for her first car. This is a pic of the kind of car she got. It's a 2002 Toyota Echo, gets 32-37 miles to the gallon and is in excellent condition! We saw it on Ken Garff's Internet Site and by the time Ariel and Roger got to the dealership to test drive it, someone else had gone before her and someone else was scheduled after her! The price on the internet was listed at $6,000.00, but Roger worked his magic and talked them down to $5,300! Ariel's car payments should be around $140-$150 per month and insurance will be right around $70 per month. We are all EXTREMELY happy she has her own car now...

Monte and Alisha's Engagement Day

2009-07-25T09:29:00.000-07:00

On July 11th Roger videoed Monte's proposal to Alisha so I put it together with some music, words and hearts and posted it here.

My little brother, Monte, asked Alisha to marry him at the end of the auction at our family reunion. You can't understand what's being said on the video so I'll explain it a bit.
Alisha thinks Monte is bidding on an iPod, but during the day when she wasn't looking, he put the ring inside the container. She is obviously not pleased with how high he is bidding...most things at the auction go for $5 -$25 and he was getting up to $60, then $80, then $100 and so on. You can tell she’s getting more and more upset each time he makes a new bid because she hits him and tells him (through gritted teeth) not to bid one more time. Finally, when he makes the winning bid of $120 (I think) he takes her up to the front, gets down on one knee, grabs the wrong hand (hee, hee), then she says, "You're going to do this here?" He said, "Will you marry me?" And the rest is...well, you know.

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An Afternoon at the Gallivan Center

2009-07-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

Ariel and Eryn spent the early morning hours of June rehearsing with the Granite Youth Symphony. They were practicing mostly patriotic music to play while on their summer tour during the first week of July. They had a couple of weekday concerts downtown at the Gallivan Center so one afternoon I gathered up the boys, got on Trax and made an afternoon of it!

We're boys...we'll take any excuse we can to ride the train downtown!

We enjoyed tasty snacks and drinks,

watched Eryn play the piccolo solo in 'Stars and Stripes Forever,'

applauded the excellent sounds of the Symphony,

played on the bars,

chased each other around the park

watched people walk their little doggies,

and had the most fun of all running and cooling off in the wonderful water fountain!

Outstanding concert girls!

Lions and Tigers and Bears..Oh My!

2009-06-18T16:35:00.000-07:00

It's summertime and that means none other than using our imaginations on a rainy day indoors.

After too much quiet in the living room one day, this is what I came out to find. ALL of the chairs from upstairs (including the piano bench) had been taken hostage to create a cave for a picnic and a game of Pokemon Sorry. (Boy, I've sure developed a lot more patience in my old age!!!)

A Big Mess -Before and After

2009-06-18T15:33:00.000-07:00

So, umm, ya... This is (was) a little peek into my kitchen pantry. (I can't believe I'm actually owning up to this mess!!!) These pics were taken about 20 minutes into the dejunking process, so some items had already been taken out and moved to the counter or the garbage can. Better late than never with the camera. right?!
On Monday, after a big shopping trip to Costco, Roger and I had finally had enough of our messy, cluttered and disorganized pantry! Before we even brought the groceries in from the car, he went to the pantry, pulled EVERYTHING out, made piles of items we never use and threw away MANY outdated items. That left us with less than half of what was in there to put back which in turn, gave us plenty of room to store the groceries from the Costco trip. WHAT A MENTAL RELIEF!

Don't some things hang around buggin' you forever until you finally take care of them? After the mess has finally been dealt with, it feels like 10 years of stress and frustration just disappear into thin air! Thank heavens my husband and I got a wild hair at the same time Monday night!!! Now we are the proud owners of a dejunked, cleaned out and organized pantry! Can I get a Woo hoo ?!?!?!?

"My second favorite household chore is [cleaning the pantry]. My first being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint." ~Erma Bombeck

"Housework is something you do that nobody notices until you don't do it." ~Author Unknown

We Love the Rain!

2009-06-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

"I am a mushroom on whom the dew of heaven drops now and then."
We have had so much rain this June, little surprise visitors are starting to pop up all over our lawn!
Can we eat these things?

and the New Kitty's Name is...

2009-06-11T22:19:00.000-07:00

Peanut! After a few weeks of trying to find out if the new kitty is a boy or a girl we decided to google it! Turns out (according to the lovely sketch on Paws Online Info.) our kitty is a boy. We had kinda been stuck on Peanut anyway so I'm glad it was a good unisex name. Any tips on raising boy kitties would be greatly appreciated. Peanut is still so cuddly, playful and good natured, especially with the little kids! We're falling more and more in love with him every day.
He likes to dart outside when someone opens a door. The other day we thought he'd gotten out without being noticed. The kids scoured the house and couldn't find him anywhere. They started searching outside in the front and the back along a very busy road behind our house...all to no avail. They were becoming quite distraught by this point. Soon, Ariel came home from work and went down to her bedroom to change and who should she find burried under the blankets on the bed? You guessed it...Peanut! That saved us much weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth!!!
He likes to hang out with me when I'm on the computer, sometimes on my lap, sometimes in back of me and sometimes right in front of my working area!The other mishcheivious thing he's done is chew the leaves off of two of my potted house plants and knock another one off the cupboard, dirt, pot and all! You can imagine the mess that was!!! Luckily it happened in the kitchen so sweeping up the mess was a LITTLE bit better than having the dirt spill into the carpet. Let's hope he doesn't get into too much more trouble or it's gonna be LONG summer!!! ;D

High School Graduation

2009-06-10T21:51:00.000-07:00

Ariel graduated from Highland High today! We are so proud of her and the accomplishments she made in school. Now, on to the next chapter of her life...

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Another Concert in the Tabernacle

2009-06-07T12:02:00.000-07:00

My husband, dad and two brothers got to sing in the tabernacle on Saturday night. They were part of a 260 voice choir under the direction of Merrilee Webb accompanied by Kelly DeHaan & Bonnie Goodliffe! You'll hear one of their songs as background music to the photos. Fun music, fun time and fun memories!

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Happy Birthday, Toni!

2009-06-06T12:36:00.000-07:00

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Can You Hear Me Now?

2009-05-23T10:40:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday Little Ben woke up with a very red, puffy, swollen ear. He wasn't bothered by it and didn't seem to be in any pain, he just didn't want anyone touching it! Liz doesn't know what happened, but she's suspecting a bite of some kind. She took him to Insta Care to have it looked at. They gave him some amoxicillan (sp?) and marked with a pen where the swelling had spread. Then they sent him home with Liz and told her to watch the ear carefully to make sure the swelling and redness didn't spread any farther. Luckily now, a week later, the swelling and redness has almost completely disappeared. The only thing left is a little bit of peeling skin on the outside of his ear that looks like the remains of a blister or sunburn. Has anyone ever had an experience like this before. We're all wondering what in the heck happened!?!?!?!

New Kitty

2009-05-23T10:25:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I am posting this, but yes, we broke down and got a new kitten this week. We told Devin if he could earn straight A's this year he could get a pet. I know it's not quite the end of the school year yet, but I've been keeping an eye on his grades at school and visiting with his teacher and he's pretty confident that Devin's 4th term grades will be straight A's again when school ends 2 weeks from now.
The kids were shopping at Smith's on Thursday and a college kid was in front of the store trying to sell ($15) the kitten before he moved on. He was taking care of it for a friend, blah, blah, blah...I don't really know the rest of the story, but here he is. He is very calm and good natured. He's already litter box trained and he's good around the young kids. He doesn't seem to be scared of them or bothered by them at all. Now if we could just decide on his name. We're still going back and forth between Tigger, Simba and Peanut. Which name do you like best?

Mowing the Lawn

2009-05-23T09:26:00.001-07:00

I guess 9 going on 10 is old enough to start earning some money by mowing the lawn in the summer.
Roger has decided to pass the lawn mowing torch to Devin this year. Here's hoping (praying) we don't have accidents or injuries to any body parts. One chopped hand is enough for the family!!!

Remember this? These are pictures of Roger's hand after a very bad accident at work when he got cut by a large saw blade...Before:

After:
He almost lost his right index finger in the accident. The saw blade had cut clear through the bones to the palm side of his finger. In fact the surgeon asked Roger if he really wanted to keep the finger because he (the surgeon) was in favor of amputating it. Roger said, "Yes, please do everything you can to save it." After a very long 4 hour surgery, inserting many pins, screws and a metal plate, the finger was saved. Roger doesn't have much use with that finger now. He can move it up and down, but he can't bend it at all, even to grasp a pen or pencil when he writes. Still, I think he's glad to have it no matter what it looks like. It just does something for your psychie, you know?!

Missing In Action

2009-05-23T08:31:00.000-07:00

Yes...I know, I have not been posting quite as much as I used to. Confession time...are you ready? I am completely addicted to a fun little game on Face Book and that's where I have been spending the majority of my free time these days!You create your own happy little farm, complete with fruit trees, crops, animals, barns, fences, ponds, etc. You can (but you don't have to) invite people to be your neighbors and help each other harvest crops, weed, water and rake for each other. You plant crops that take anywhere from 4 hours to 3 days to grow. If you hire someone else to harvest your crops, you both make money. Then you go to the market and sell your harvested crops. With the money you make you can buy more seed to plant and expand your farm as you go. It's so much fun being neighbors with people you know because you can chat with each other while you work on the farm together. It's a total blast! If you need any pointers or help getting started with your own farm, just let me know. I would be happy to help you!

Food Done Right on Cinco De Mayo!

2009-05-05T17:04:00.000-07:00

We're so excited!!! Ariel and Eryn have moved in with us until the end of the school year. Their mom recently moved from Sugarhouse to Suncrest on the top of South Mountain/Draper.
They have 5 weeks of school left to finish and our house is a bit closer to their high school than their mom's house.

Last night for FHE we had a big family planning session to re-establish some House

Rules and create a rotation for cooking, doing dishes and sharing the Wii.

Tonight was Ariel's night to cook. She made Stir-fried beef and bell peppers with rice and it was delicious! Do you have any idea how wonderful it is to have teenage girls who are willing to pitch in and help? Not only that, but make meals that taste delicious too?!?!
It was also Eryn's night to unload the dishwasher but Devin woke up early this morning to unload it for her as a surprise for her when she got home from school (even though it was his turn to load the dishwasher after dinner tonight).

Maybe we're still in the honey-

moon phase, but I think this rotation thingy is going to work out splendidly! (Signed, Very Happy Mom of 3 Awesome Kids!) Happy Cinco De Mayo everybody...YAHOO... mom didn't have to make dinner tonight! Tomorrow -10th wedding anniversay for Roger and I. :>)

So Easy a Kid Can Do It!

2009-04-30T19:23:00.000-07:00

You gotta love those cookie dough, school fundraisers! The question of "Do we have anything for dessert tonight?" was answered with, "We sure do if you want to make it!"

So here's Devin making dessert tonight with his fundraiser cookie dough in a tub.

Let's Go Fly a Kite

2009-04-28T20:26:00.000-07:00

If you saw my Easter Savenger Hunt Post, you saw Devin and Ben finding some easter goodies. Devin got a nice two-handed kite at the end of the hunt and since then he's been waiting for the right weather to take it flying. Today after school was the perfect day and after a few pointers from dad, Devin finally got it up and flying. He was so pleased with himself that we had to catch a snippet on video!

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Pampered Chef Birthday Party

2009-04-22T17:58:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Roger's 40 something birthday. Since it was a "school"night (and also the greatest TV night of the week), we decided to put off going out for the usual birthday dinner until the weekend.

Liz has just started selling Pampered Chef and she wanted to do a "practice run" before her first big party this Saturday. My incredibly sweet, wonderful stud of a husband agreed to be part of Liz's first guinea pig group and went with me to her house for a Pampered Chef demo/dinner party.

As you can see he pitched right in and and got busy putting the appetizer together with Devin & Gramps. It was a delicious stuffed won-ton with a cheesy artichoke filling.
We also made a tasty Garden Cheese pizza on the Pamered Chef Bar pan/stone. It was so yummy!

Even Little Ben got to help with the food prep.

Thanks, Liz for feeding us on Roger's birthday, and thanks Rog for being such a great sport! You're the best friend/husband a girl could ever want! Happy Birthday Sweetie...

My First Award!

2009-04-20T20:08:00.001-07:00

Karma Award...
These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind of bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

This is too fun! Thanks to my cousin, Roberta Clark, for recognizing my blog in her Karma Award. I love keeping up with friends and family this way.
http://grandmaturtle.blogspot.com/

http://lynsie-adam.blogspot.com/

http://theborupfamily.blogspot.com/

http://mycrazydailys.blogspot.com/

http://helmerfam.blogspot.com/

http://jeffandsheilahay.blogspot.com/

http://www.tilyge.blogspot.com/?zx=a94f0bd47d0fea1b

http://buckleysbusines.blogspot.com/

It Really Works!

2009-04-20T19:29:00.000-07:00

Tonight we had dinner in the backyard on our patio and guess who showed up for dinner??? The WASPS of spring, that's who! On Sheila's blog, I recently read about all the many uses of Bounce dryer sheets and one of the uses was to keep bees and mosquitos away.
So we decided to do a little experiment with the Bounce dryer sheets and see if it really worked to keep the wasps away. Guess what? They really worked! We layed the dryer sheets around the table and the wasps were held at bay. We saw the wasps hovering around but they stayed around the perimeter and didn't come near us or our food. It was TOTALLY AWESOME!!! Just thought I'd pass it along in case you want to throw some Bounce in your picnic basket this year.

Does This Strike You A Little Funny?

2009-04-15T15:34:00.000-07:00

I was correcting paragraphs my students had turned in today and I came across one that made me laugh out loud. "Allie" wrote her paragraph about boys and why they are stinky and weird. Here's what she wrote in her paragraph:
"Most boys or guys are just looking for a popular or pretty girl. They are not really looking for a girl with a good personality or a sense of humor. They don't really care about any of that stuff. I guess they are just in it for the population." I just had to share it because it was a great, entertaining moment of my day! (I actually see a lot of these little "funnies" from my 5th graders...aren't I lucky?!)

Christ is the Reason for this Easter Season

2009-04-12T12:24:00.000-07:00

I would like to add my testimony to the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when they testify that: "At this Easter season of hope and renewal we testify of the glorious reality of the atonement and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The empty tomb brought comforting assurance and provided the answer to the question of Job, “If a man die, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14).

Because of the Savior’s resurrection we will overcome death and become the beneficiaries of His mercy and grace. In a world of trouble and uncertainty, His peace fills our hearts and eases our minds. Jesus is in very deed “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

We give our sure witness that Jesus is the Christ. Though He was crucified, He rose triumphant from the tomb to our everlasting blessing and benefit. To each member of the human family He stands as our Advocate, our Savior, and our Friend."

2nd Annual Easter Scavenger Hunt

2009-04-12T11:49:00.000-07:00

Last year, on John and Kate Plus Eight, I saw Kate plan a Valentine's Day scavenger hunt for her eight kids. I decided to try the same idea for Easter last year and the kids just loved it! I hadn't really thought about doing it again this year but a few days before Easter, Devin started saying that he couldn't wait for the scavenger hunt again this year. So Saturday morning (when I wanted to be sleeping in) I got up and put together another hunt for Devin and Ben (thanks, honey for putting all the eggs in place). We thought Kayla was out of town, but she showed up right as we were hiding the clues for the hunt. Here are some little snippets of the scavenger hunt that has accidentally turned into an annual Easter event.

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Easter Fun With Cousins

2009-04-11T21:05:00.001-07:00

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A Little Spring Break Trip

2009-04-11T21:02:00.000-07:00

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Mentholatum

2009-04-11T09:33:00.001-07:00

As far back as my Grandpa Buckley, I can remember our family being addicted to Mentholatum...okay, maybe addicted is a harsh way to put it, but I would be willing to bet that

at this very momemt at least 4-5 out of 7 siblings, in addition to my mom, has a jar of Mentholatum in his/her possession. My jar is in the drawer of my nightstand, right beside my bed, because I have to put it on my lips and in my nose every night before I go to bed. I even take it with me on vacations so as not to interupt my nightly ritual! If I forget to pack it for a vacation, I have to buy a new jar where ever we are. It's just like putting socks on before shoes for me.

That's what makes this story of Little Ben (my sister, Liz's little boy) so amazingly cute!

I have this spot on the wall in my kitchen where the rubber door stop has fallen off. It doesn't look very nice and needs to be repaired soon...(honey?). Well, recently we've caught Little Ben touching it with his finger and then rubbing his lips. One day when Liz asked him what he was doing, he said, "I'm putting Mentholatum on my lips." I guess in his four short years of life he's picked up the family tradition to carry it on in the next generation.

The Good Wife's Guide -1955

2009-04-08T15:14:00.000-07:00

Oh my, have we ever come a long, LONG way!!! See what you think of this little "dittie" that was published in Housekeeping Monthly in 1955. Are you doing all of them like I am???

To be a good wife:

1. Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready, on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal ( especially his favorite dish) is part of the warm welcome needed.

2. Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you'll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.

3. Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.

4. Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives. Run a dustcloth over the tables.

5. During the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering to his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.

6. Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum. Encourage the children to be quiet.

7. Be happy to see him.

8. Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.

9. Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first - remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.

10. Don't greet him with complaints and problems.
Don't complain if he's late for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through at work.

11. Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or lie him down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.

12. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.

13. Don't ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.

14. A good wife always knows her place.

Saturday Morning

2009-03-28T16:55:00.000-07:00

Fun times again at the Wilkins' House on Saturday morning. Roger and Ed (a neighbor across the fence) spent two and a half hours shoveling dirt. We've had a huge pile of top soil in our garden area for 2 years. When we laid the patio in the back yard, we had to remove a grundle of sod and top soil to properly level the brick pavers for the patio. We didn't have a plan for all that extra dirt so we just started dumping it in the garden spot. Um, ya...it's really been there for two years.

Finally Ed said he would take the dirt to plant flowers around the border of the fence in the apartments behind our house. So today, in the wonderful cool March air, they shoveled and

shoveled, hauling load after load of dirt across the back fence to the apartments. They took down a section of fence to make the job a little easier.

Brayden, Parker and Little Ben also had a sleepover with Devin last night. They spent the morning playing All-Star Wrestling on the tramp while Roger and Ed shoveled the dirt out of the garden. Pancakes and eggs for a late breakfast helped fill them back up after two and a half hours of jumping.

Fun times on a Saturday morning!

Big Bad Musical Slideshow

2009-03-28T16:48:00.001-07:00

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Big Bad Musical -Tuesday Night

2009-03-21T20:01:00.000-07:00

It's time for Devin's Musical! It will be presented at our school at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday March 24th. We would love to see you all there. You're all invited to come!

Passing on the Bread Making Torch

2009-03-21T19:05:00.000-07:00

Today we spent the afternoon learning a precious family recipe from Roger's sisters, Ellie and Ruth. Roger, Ellie and Ruth always tell stories of their dad making bread for the family while they were growing up. Today Ellie and Ruth gave us a demonstration on the fine art of bread making and 2 other dishes we could make with the dough. They also showed us an enchillada dish made with food storage ingredients like black beans, TVP (texturized vegetable protein) with dried onions, white bean powder and chicken bullion soup base. It was so
delicious! On the 3rd Saturday of each month we are going to can things like flour, sugar, powdered milk, wheat, beans, grains, honey, etc. to slowly build up our food storage. After we've canned what we brought for the day we will make a recipe using food storage items and eat together. We had such a great time today that I already can't wait for next month's classes! Thanks Ellie and Ruth for your hard work and effort today. You taught 3 young ladies a very wonderful skill and we are very thankful and appreciative! We love you!
Is there anything better than homemade bread fresh from the oven?

Filling the dough with cinnamon/sugar and brown sugar for cinnamon rolls.

Preparing the dough for braiding. Fill the center with anything savory like chicken and vegetables, ground beef and vegetables, or something sweet like jams and jellies. Today Ellie filled it with ground beef, carrots and peas and served a cream of chicken soup gravy over the top. Yummy!

Three very happy little

"Taste-Testers!" They were well fed today.

Fun St. Patrick's Day Dinner

2009-03-21T18:55:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness! This year for St. Patrick's Day, Roger made a traditional Irish dinner of corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and carrots. It was so delicious we just could not belive it!!!

Between the two of us, in 10 years of marriage, we have never cooked corned beef before. The beef comes with a seasoning packet that you spread over the meat. It gave the meat such wonderful flavor. The recipe said to pile everything in the slow cooker and let it go for 8 hours. How easy is that??? By the time we all got home from work and school it was ready to eat and the house smelled incredible. I've posted the easy recipe for your enjoyment if you'd like to give it a try. Happy St. Patty's Day!

INGREDIENTS
1 medium onion, cut into wedges
4 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 pound baby carrots
3 cups water
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (3 pound) corned beef brisket with spice packet, cut in half
1 small head cabbage, cut into wedges

DIRECTIONS
Place the onion, potatoes and carrots in a 5-qt. slow cooker. Combine water, garlic, bay leaf, sugar, vinegar, pepper and contents of spice packet; pour over vegetables. Top with brisket and cabbage. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or until meat and vegetables are tender. Remove bay leaf before serving.

Little Ben Turns 4

2009-03-21T18:39:00.000-07:00

We had another fun time with cousins at Little Ben's new favorite place... Jumping Jacks! He insisted on having his birthday party there this year. These kids grow up so darn fast!!! Happy Birthday Little Ben!
Recently he's been learning the 50 states song at his daycare. So far he knows all the way up to Virginia with a little hand action to go along with each

state! In just one more year he'll be off to Kindergarten and he'll be smarter than his whole class...hee, hee, hee! Biased Aunt, who me? No way!!!

One of Six Winners In His Age Group

2009-02-28T15:02:00.000-08:00

Devin entered the school science fair this year. His age group consisted of all 1st through 4th graders who took the initiative to compete in the fair.
He studied hard and learned all he could about how Vitamin E helps to slow the aging process.

He/we put all the research & info. together and prepared to make a speech for the judges. When it was his turn to be judged, the judges asked him what his question was and where he got the idea...(which was from a book at school). That was it!!! Then they moved on to the next contestant. He wasn't feeling very confident, considering the limited discussion he was able to have with the judges.

In the end, I guess the judges liked it! He was very thrilled and relieved to hear his name called as one of the six winners from his age group. I've posted Devin doing his practice presentation at home the night before in the previous post. I thought he should get to share all of his hard work with someone!

Be sure to notice Roger's new teeth in this pic. He's been trying to break them in "gently" for the past couple of weeks. What a great new smile!

Devin "Gets Back on the Horse"

2009-02-16T18:30:00.000-08:00

For those of you who follow our blog, you'll know that the last time Devin went skiing, he took a horrific fall on his first run down the mountain. The ski patrol had to transport him off the mountain. After a brief examination they decided to send him in an amubulance to Primary Children's Hospital because he was complaining of back and neck pain. It turned out that everything was fine but ever since then he's been terrified of skiing thinking every part of the mountain was as steep as that first run was.
Roger had the day off today so he went back up with Devin and skiied backward the whole day staying with Devin to help build back up his confidence. They had a wonderfual day and Devin has a changed attitude toward skiing. (The next installment will feature Roger with his new teeth!!!)

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FHE With Cousins

2009-02-16T15:18:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago Liz told us about this new place she had discovered in West Jordan. She suggested we meet there with the cousins for a Monday night FHE. It was a great place and the kids had a blast playing on the giant equipment together. Little Ben loves this place so much that he wants to have his birthday party there in March, so in just a few short weeks we get to go back there again for Ben's 4 year old birthday party...HOORAY!!!

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Big Bad Musical

2009-02-16T14:11:00.000-08:00

Our school is working on a musical called, The Big Bad Musical. The storyline is The Big Bad Wolf on trial for the crimes he committed against The 3 Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Boy Who Cried Wolf. With much weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth I convinced Devin to audition and wouldn't you know it, he landed the role of The Big Bad Wolf!!!
We're so proud of him. He's got a great singing voice and he's a little on the dramatic side (I have no idea where he got that from) so we know he will be an outstanding Big Bad Wolf. We've been working on the script and trying to get his lines memorized, and he's also got 2 solos to sing in the musical. Lots of work ahead of us, but he's a natural at this stuff! Come and see it if you can, March 24th, @ 7:00 p.m at our elementary school.

Class Valentines

2009-02-12T19:48:00.000-08:00

Well, the valentines for Devin's class are finally finished! And since they were so cute...I decided we needed to make a set for my class too. It ended up taking our whole Saturday afternoon and 2 more hours tonight to get 50 of them made! But...they're finished now and we're both very excited to pass them out tomorrow!

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Superbowl XLIII

2009-02-01T21:15:00.000-08:00

My brother, Merrill, has been a serious Pittsburgh Steelers fan as far back as I can remember, even as far back as our Jr. High School days in Wyoming. The last few years have been great for him because his Steelers have made it to the Superbowl a couple of times. This year he and his wife, Cindy, hosted a great party at a place called Noahs in South Jordan. There was plenty of room for everyone to relax and have a great time enjoying the game. Here are some pics of our fun get together today.

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Settlers Mania

2009-01-25T17:30:00.000-08:00

We are addicted to this AWESOME game!!! Monte turned us on to the game and since Christmas, we have probably played this 2-3 hour game at least 5 times each week. Most Saturdays we have played 1-2 games. It has done wonders at bringing our family together for some good quality playing time.
Settlers of Catan is a multiplayer board game designed by Klaus Teuber. It was first published in 1995 in Germany. Settlers was the first German-style board game to achieve popularity outside Europe. Over 11 million games in the Catan series have been sold, and the game has been translated into twenty-five languages from the original German. The game has rapidly become popular in part because its mechanics are relatively simple, while its dynamics are quite complex. The game is well suited for family play, since no one gets eliminated, and players who are behind can strive towards goals that are within their reach.

Report Card Time

2009-01-25T17:19:00.000-08:00

2nd term report cards came home last week and Devin earned another "STELLAR" report in 4th grade!

He earned straight A's in all his academic classes, straight "H's" in his citizenship, and straight "E's" (for Excellence) in his Gifted and Talented pull-out program.

We are very proud of Devin and his efforts to be the best student he can be!

Love ya, son...mmwwaahhh!!!

Things That Make You Go Hmmmm....

2009-01-25T16:28:00.000-08:00

Have you ever come home to find strange, unidenti-
fiable food items sitting on your kitchen counter?

Because my husband went to Taiwan on his mission, I have come home to many suprises over the years. Here are just a few of the items that have shown up recently.
To me, the top pic. looks like some kind of leafy vegetable stem, but if you look really close, the supermarket label reads "MEAT DEPARTMENT!" What is that supposed to mean? Hmmmm......

Clearly this is some kind of drink, I mean it looks like the same kind of can you might find a Diet Pepsi in, right?! Maybe it wouldn't be so scary if Icould read Chinese, but by looking at the picture on the center can I can't imagine that I would pick that up and drink it...would you? The can on the right reads, "Basil Seed Drink." Oh, that's better! Sounds delicious right?! Hmmmm......

Once again, being able to read Chinese would be very helpful. Two items that obviously came from the "real" meat department, but they don't have to be refrigerated? Sounds suspicious to me. What do you think? Hmmmm......

Has anyone seen these items floating around your kitchen or pantry? No??? Hmmmm......

My Dad's Demolition Derby

2009-01-22T20:41:00.000-08:00

I'd like to be posting some good news after having to put the family dog to sleep last week, but it seems we're not quite there yet! Take a look at my dad's truck after his accident on Monday morning.

The inversion meant a foggy drive to work for people along the Wasatch Front on Monday. In Utah County, it resulted in a big traffic mess that resulted in I-15 being closed along a five-mile stretch for more than four hours.

Southbound I-15 in Utah County was closed at MP 260, south of Spanish Fork due to a crash just before 9:00 Monday morning. It started out when two semi trucks collided, (my dad was driving the red Semi) and within moments there were three other accidents. In all, seven vehicles were involved as drivers scrambled to slow down or get out of the way of the accident ahead.
No one was seriously hurt, but one person (MY DAD) was taken to the hospital for cuts and bruises.

At the time of the accident, visibility wasn't much better than a quarter of a mile. At freeway speeds, it can be difficult to safely slow down or stop if there is an incident ahead. Just before noon, even with much improved visibility, there was another crash where the traffic was being diverted. It wasn't until after 1:00 in the afternoon that UHP had the freeway reopened.

Dad went into the fog driving only40 mph. He was met with a split second decision to take out the silver car with people inside, AND the cab of the jackknifed Harper truck with the driver inside. Instead he chose to put his truck and his life on the line and went up the other side of the Harper truck to avoid all of the people...to me, a true HERO! Dad was the only person taken to the hospital. The EMT's insisted after seeing the condition of his Semi. They didn't know how someone could have managed to be unharmed in that mess. The only thing really messed up was his truck. He only had a cut on his finger that required three stitches and wasn't sure he needed an ambulance ride for that. A testimony of prayer for all of us! Dad could actually feel a higher power guiding his truck to a softer landing than he anticipated.

Here's a link to the news story from KUTV:
http://www.kutv.com/content/news/local/story/Freeway-Back-Open-After-Nasty-Accident-In-Utah/za5e3lybFk68pZAfTfIpWg.cspx

Goodbye Old Friend

2009-01-11T16:33:00.001-08:00

My little brother, Monte, had to do a very brave and difficult thing yesterday. He took the family dog, who has been around since Monte was 3 years old, to the humane society to be put to sleep. Missy's been with the family for about 17 years so that would make her somewhere between 100-120 in dog years.

Missy was starting to look her age and have many health problems i.e., loosing her fur, her hearing, her zest for life and she had a terrible cough that was keeping her up most of the night. She also recently developed a growth on her chest that was changing the shape of her back and made it painful for her to walk. She's had many brushes with death over the years. She was reported to the pound by the mailman 4 different times because she was so "FEROCIOUS" that he wouldn't drop off the mail while she was barking (the mailbox had to be moved out to the street because of her), she was hit by a car one time while she was out with Monte on his paper route, she'd gotten into some anti-freeze one time, she began dragging her back legs as if she'd had a stroke one year and yet she still kept on going. She's been like a cat with nine lives. Mom and Liz offered to go with Monte and give him some moral support at the humane society, but he wanted to go alone. Liz was able to give quiet support in the back yard as Monte said his goodbyes and laid Missy's body in the ground to rest.

Monte chose to bring Missy back home to bury her in her favorite
"barking & treat sneaking" corner of the yard. She would always run out there to bark at and with the other dogs. Eventually we found out the neighbors (Walt & Pacita Miles) were giving her treats and snacks from the other side of the fence. It looks like Missy fooled us all and had the neighbors trained to feed her on command.

The humane society gave Monte a thoughtful poem to bring home and read every now and then which tenderly reads that Missy will be running and playing in a better place now, but every so often she will look back longingly, wondering where her longtime pal is. She will wait for Monte at the rainbow bridge and when they meet again, she will remember him, run to him, jump up and down and they will cross the rainbow bridge together.

Missy 1992-2009
Goodbye, Old Friend. We will miss you!!!

Favorite Holiday Activities

2009-01-05T17:33:00.001-08:00

I asked my family what they most look forward to during the Christmas Holidays. They all said, "Being together with family." So I asked them to pick the next thing they look forward to the most and here's what they all said (including me):

Roger -Putting together 2-3 puzzles

Toni (me) -Learning and playing all kinds of new games.

Ariel -(other than being with or texting Anthony) Catching up with cousins, exploring new video games and sleeping in!

Eryn -loves the "friendly" competion of all the activities going on. (She's extremely competitive!!!)

Devin -No suprise, loves all the parties, places and events to go together!

New Year's Eve with Family

2009-01-05T17:26:00.001-08:00

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January 2, 2009 Sledding with Cousins

2009-01-02T19:27:00.000-08:00

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Ski Day in Park City

2008-12-31T12:36:00.001-08:00

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Why You Should Read the Directions!

2008-12-29T22:16:00.001-08:00

I'm happy to report that after checking out the Rockband Support website, we discovered why our microphone wasn't working!!! We didn't know a controller had to be plugged in to operate the microphone. We must have missed that in the directions somewhere. The website told us to try plugging in the controller before we returned anything and voilla...it worked! The great thing about it is, now 4 people can play at one time. That means we only have to rotate one person in after each song. We're so happy nothing was broken except for the reading directions step!

Christmas Morning

2008-12-27T17:23:00.001-08:00

The music you'll hear with our Christmas morning pictures is from a group called Celtic Thunder. We had not even heard of them until Ariel gave her dad one of their CD's for a Christmas gift. We all LOVE them so I put one of the songs from the CD with our pics. Hope you enjoy. The song is called Come to the Hills and it's sung by the youngest member of the group...the 14 year old!!!

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Christmas Eve

2008-12-25T00:09:00.000-08:00

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Cousin Shelby's Choir Christmas Concert

2008-12-22T21:52:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, I know a little bit about music and teaching. Because of that, I can be a harsh critic when it comes to being an audience member at any given concert. I was very impressed with my niece, Shelby's concert at Sunset Ridge Middle School in West Jordan last week. Her choir director had 6 or more, large groups, including 2 bell choirs perform in under an hour. The individual groups knew when it was their turn to line up out in the hall to be ready to SILENTLY come on stage without delay between groups. The director accompanied and directed every single song on the program except the solo she sang, which was fabulous. I enjoyed an excellent evening of singing by well behaved, well directed and well organized middle school students. My hat's off to Shelby's AWESOME teacher!!! That's the way it should always be. :>)

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Officially Ready for Christmas

2008-12-22T20:41:00.000-08:00

I've been AWOL from our blogspot during the last week for the same reason I'm sure most of you have been AWOL...
Even though we (Roger and I) are feeling much like this picture, I'm so excited for Christmas! I even had trouble staying asleep last night! Now what kind of mom behaves like that?! (Insert voice of cute boy on the Disneyland vacation commercial) "I'm too excited to sleep!" Tune in next week to see the juicy details of what I'm so excited about!!!

Costco Gas

2008-12-22T20:28:00.001-08:00

A half a tank of gas cost me 8.50 tonight!!! Gas was 1.30 per gallon at Costco, so we topped of my tank while finishing the last of the Christmas shopping. What a way to "wrap it up!" (pun intented)

Awards from the Cousins Party

2008-12-15T15:31:00.000-08:00

To encourage positive behavior and cheerful attitudes while having 8 kids here for a sleep-over last weekend, I posted certificates around the walls with special awards on them. I was worried about sharing, having enough space and playtime during the party/sleepover. I showed the awards to the kids as they arrived at the party and told them if they earned an award, they would also receive a gift to go with it. Who knew it would be that easy? The kids were so helpful and kind to each other that I almost couldn't belive my ears/eyes! Not only that, it lasted the entire time they were here!!! That made the event so much more enjoyable because we didn't have to referee/break up fights, give time-outs and/or take things away, etc. etc.

Here are the awards the kids earned:

Little Ben
Best at Sleeping Upstairs Without the Big Kids

Parker:
Best Direction Follower
(He was the last decorator(er?) standing with his gingerbread house! He stayed with it until the very end of the party!)

Kayla:
Most Helpful
with the Little Kids

Brayden:
Most Kind with Words and Actions

Devin:
Best "Go-fer" Helper

James:
Most Positive Attitude
(Here he is finding some time at the party to type a report for school. Now that's the spirit!)

Shelby:
Most Cheerful

Eryn:
Best at Keeping Things Organized

As you can see, they're beautiful kids anyway. This just gave me a chance to recognize each one of them for something a bit more special. It wasn't hard to come up with ideas because they are INCREDIBLY AWESOME human beings and I love 'em to pieces!!!

Hooray! It's our 100th post and we had fun, Fun, FUN!!!

2008-12-13T18:37:00.001-08:00

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Cousins Decorate Gingerbread Houses

2008-12-13T17:18:00.001-08:00

Christmas Concert at Highland High

2008-12-11T21:42:00.001-08:00

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Cheap Gas Hits Again! -Want to Play Another Game?

2008-12-09T20:23:00.000-08:00

Are you ready to play "Predict the Lowest Gas Price" game? If you are, make a comment under this post of how low you think the price for Unleaded gas will hit before it starts heading back up again. I'm going to say.... hmmm, I'll get back to you on that.
P.S. Who cares if we're wrong, this is just for kicks and giggles!

Hey, You Buckley Cousins...

2008-12-08T17:41:00.001-08:00

To: Shelby, James, Brayden, Parker, Kayla & Ben

From: Ariel, Eryn & Devin

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Infused Oil and Vinegar Bottles

2008-12-08T16:28:00.001-08:00

They're beautiful, aren't they? Last night at the Wilkins Family Christmas Party, I bought one at the family auction for $8. It came with a great recipe for artichoke dip that called for some of the oil and vinegar from the bottle. Too bad no one brought the bottle in the house last night with the rest of the things from the party, because on the way to school this morning, not too far out of the neighborhood, Devin and I heard a strange thump in the back of the car. Suddenly we began smelling the pungent smell of vinegar wafting up from the back. Yep, you guessed it, the strange thump was the oil and vinegar bottle tipping over, blowing it's top and spilling out all over the back of the car! Does anyone have any ideas how to get that smell OUT OF MY CAR?!!! ...Sorry, Aunt Vicki!

Wilkins Family Christmas Party

2008-12-07T21:20:00.001-08:00

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Saturday Haircuts...AKA: Bonnie's Got Mad Cosmotology Skills

2008-12-06T18:40:00.000-08:00

Today, Eryn and I had Bonnie cut (and color for me) our hair. Bonnie went to High School with my little sister, Liz, and she (Bonnie) is the best beautician in the West!!! While we were there I thought Roger and Devin were "running errands." SUPRISE! They got hair cuts somewhere too. They're both a bit on the short side, but boys do super short much better than girls!!! It's just hair...it will always grow back, right?!

I don't know what I'm going to do while Bonnie takes 8 weeks off to spend with her new baby!!! I'm just going to try and hold out til she's back in business.

Book Club has a Christmas Party

2008-12-06T17:17:00.001-08:00

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Ward Christmas Party

2008-12-05T22:00:00.000-08:00

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Festival of Trees

2008-12-05T21:32:00.000-08:00

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Santa Joins our "Spot the Cheapest Gas" Game!

2008-12-04T22:10:00.000-08:00

Tonight on the way home from the Festival of Trees we had another "cheap gas" sighting! Just off 90th South and State Street by the Southtown Expo Center, we found gas 6 cents cheaper than yesterday! There were 14 cars waiting to fill up at this station. It was AWESOME!!! Even Santa couldn't resist!
We put 9 gallons in my truck for $13.25. Last summer that much gas would have cost around $36.00. YIKES!!!

I'm Trying Something New

2008-12-03T21:20:00.000-08:00

I'm going to be trying the "Smilebox" website for my future slideshows because I love the fact that I can put my pics in scrapbook form!!! The smilebox website also has the option to print out the scrapbook pages to keep together with my blog entries in a family journal! I haven't figured out a way to print my slideshows with the other website I was using. I'll see how it works. I may end up switching back and forth between the two.

Devin Gets Geared up to Ski

2008-12-03T21:01:00.000-08:00

The 4th graders are going skiing at Solitude tomorrow. They are so excited! Devin just had to get all dressed in his gear and practice his postions tonight to make sure everything was lookin' good. Let's hope they have some snow to ski on when they get up there. ;>)

8 Cents Cheaper Than My Last Post

2008-12-03T20:52:00.000-08:00

I had to post this because I'm still playing the "Spot the Cheapest Gas" game! Are you? This was on 4700 South and about 300 West. It's worth the drive there for that price of gas! I'm lovin' it!!! (~Oops, that's McDonald's slogan these days, isn't it?)

Angel Tree Shopping Spree

2008-12-03T20:05:00.001-08:00

We began a new Buckley Family tradition this year.
For the past several years the brothers and sisters in my family have always drawn names and done a gift exchange for each other, but lately we've been noticing that it's harder and harder to buy for each other because we all feel so blessed and not wanting for anything. My dad has been talking about doing something charitable for others for a few years now, and for some reason this year we finally decided to drop the gifts for each other and see if we could just go out and make a difference in the lives of others. Normally we spend $40-$50 on each other and when you times that by 7 kids and mom and dad, it comes out to be a healthy sum of money.
Liz had to go two different places to get enough angels for us all to have some. Monte got a couple from the Cyprus Credit Union where he works and Liz got the rest. They brought them to the Target at Jordan Landing and layed them all out for us to puruse. Once we chose the angels we felt drawn to, we took off as families to load our carts with "goodies." We had sooooo much fun shopping! It felt warm and tingly knowing that the items we were purchasing were going to someone truly in NEED! We all met for a simple dinner at Wendy's afterward and chatted about the experience. Overall, I think everyone enjoyed the experience and learned a bit more about themselves by thinking of others. We're thinking the first Monday after Thanksgiving now has a new Family Night Tradition!!!

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Blessing day for Aspen Lee Buckley

2008-11-30T12:22:00.000-08:00

Matt and Julie blessed Aspen today in Merrill's ward. We feel incredibly happy that Matt, Julie and their kids were able to be here and spend time with us over Thanksgiving so we could get to love and hold their beautiful new baby. How awesome that Merrill's bishop would allow them conduct the ordinance in his ward! Many family members on both sides were in attendance!

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Good News -Gas Prices

2008-11-30T10:16:00.001-08:00

It's become a game now to find the station with the lowest gas prices. How fun is that? I snapped this pic. Sunday morning on the way home from Merrill's, in West Jordan. What are the gas prices in your neck of the woods today? I don't remeber gas prices ever being this low...at least not since I've had to pay for the gas! :>)

Decorating for Christmas

2008-11-29T23:50:00.000-08:00

We got an early start with our Christmas decorating this year because all the kids were home on a warm, Saturday afternoon (November 29). Here are several pics of our busy day!!!

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Characters from Loaded Questions Game Come to Life!

2008-11-29T15:04:00.001-08:00

One of the games we played on Thanksgiving day was called Loaded Questions. In every round you respond to a question with a lie, the truth or something in between and one person has to guess which player gave which answer. For some reason, Ariel got stuck on Hannah Montana answers and Eryn got stuck on British answers. So these pics are a shout out to their game characters. Hee, hee, hee...

Create your own FACEinHOLE

Create your own FACEinHOLE

Create your own FACEinHOLE

Create your own FACEinHOLE

The Hand Squeezing Game

2008-11-28T17:47:00.000-08:00

This game is a family favorite! We always play it when we're all together because with a bunch of people, a die, and a small object to grab you have everything necessary to play.

The object: Be the first team to rotate all of your team members through each position and back to the original starting position before the other team does.

How players move: Teams join hands under the table. The die roller (Gramps) shows the first team member from each side a designated number on the die. Gramps begins rolling the die in quick succession, one roll after the other. When the designated number comes up on the die, the person at the front of each team can send a hand squeeze to the next team member and that team members sends a squeeze on to the next and so on. The team whose hand squeeze gets to the end of the line the quickest, has the best chance of grabbing the item first. The team who grabbed the item first gets to move one seat down the row. However, if you make a mistake and send a squeeze at the wrong time or without the designated number on the die being rolled, your team has to rotate backward one seat. This happened to Devin's team in the video. :<(

Thanksgiving Day

2008-11-28T12:41:00.001-08:00

These pics show the thing I am most thankful for, my family; husband, children, dad, mom, sister, brothers, sisters in-law and especially gorgeous nieces and nephews (along with a delicious Thanksgiving meal that everyone pitched in on and put together).
-2 of my sisters, Amy and Carolyn, and their families weren't with us this Thanksgiving...*sigh* ;<(

We LOVE to play games together during the holidays, so you will see lots of that going on. But mostly, it's just us being together, loving and learning how incredibly thankful we are for each other all over again. Our Heavenly Father loves us abundantly and has blessed us with a remarkable eternal family.

Thanks goes to Josh Groban and Merrill for the finding the perfect song to go with our Thanksgiving pics. (Great music is also on my top 5 list of things for which I am thankful!)

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Found the old Flu Shot Picture

2008-11-28T12:32:00.000-08:00

The picture was in Devin's school keepsakes book, a little wrinkled and folded, but I thought you'd like to see that I was not exaggerating about the look of torture he had on his face. That's why I was worried about his flu shot last week!!!
(I was trying to be supportive and calm his nerves, but it looks like I was laughing my head off! Hmmm...go figure!)

3rd Grade Reflections Entry

2008-11-25T20:30:00.001-08:00

This posting is out of order and a bit late, (it goes with the Reflections postings) but it was just found in Devin's room tonight! This is his 3rd grade art entry. The top 2 pictures go together and the bottom 2 go together. The Reflections Theme that year was, "I Can Make a Difference."

"Staying up late playing video games is not a good choice for kids who have school the next day!"

Flu Shots, Anyone?

2008-11-25T17:56:00.000-08:00

Does anyone remeber the first time I took Devin to get immunizations before he started Kindergarten? If not, there was a picture of him in the Deseret News the next day screaming his head off (he had just turned 5 years old). He was positive he was going to die from the stab wound of the needle! The newspapers were there taking pictures because it was a free clinic and they were doing a story about childhood immunizations.

Today it was time to get a flu shot and I was extremely worried about a repeat performance of 4 years ago. I'm here to tell you I worried for no reason at all. What a difference 4 years makes! Devin sailed through it like an old pro. YAHOO!!! : O Maybe getting his shot at school with his friends standing in line watching, made the shot less painful somehow. ; D

Here's how the flu shot came about. After school today our PTA sponsored a fun little family activity night. They collected food donations for the Food Bank. For every 5 cans of food donated you were given a ticket for a drawing for fun little prizes. The Grizzly mascot, Grizzbie, made an appearance, the radio station 97.1 -KZHT was there to entertain the crowd and give out more prizes, the PTA sold pizza and hot chocolate, and flu immunizations were offered. The only thing we didn't do was "trot" around the track a couple of times for the turkey trot. Oops!!! Oh well..there's always next year.

Our Son is Growing Up!

2008-11-23T15:45:00.000-08:00

I don't know what makes a kid finally realize, "I've had enough of this mess, I'm going to clean my room without being told/forced to, and suprise the heck out of mom and dad!" Today it happened to our awesome 9 year old, and here's the proof. It was time for sheets to be washed, so I asked him to take them off his bed and put them in the laundry. When the sheets came out of the drier, I gave the bedding back to him and told him to make his bed. That's the best part about these pics. He made his bed from sratch, from the mattress cover, up to the fitted sheet, then the flat sheet, the quilt and finally the pillow cases at last! Then he just continued on with the rest of his room including vacuuming! What a happy little suprise for mom and dad. Way to go, Dev!

(He took the pics himself ; D)

Releasings and Sustaining

2008-11-23T15:13:00.000-08:00

In the past two weeks Roger and I have been released from some of our church callings. I was released as a Relief Society teacher after 2+ years in that calling, and Roger was released as Ward Choirister after 2+ years also. Now we'll be able to sit together as a whole family again.

Roger's new calling is the Gospel Essentials teacher and now I'm down to organist/pianist in Sacrament meeting and Relief Society along with primary music coordinator! ~Whew~

4 Ingredients & 4 Steps Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-11-23T14:41:00.000-08:00

This pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe is so stinkin' easy that anyone can make it! Our family absolutely loves these cookies and mom loves the 4 ingredient, 4 step process for easy prep and clean up purposes! : D

(One large can of pumpkin, 2 spice cake mixes, and 1 bag of chocolate chips)

Dump all ingredients into a large bowl. (Okay... I cheat and use 2 bags of milk chocolate chips for extra yumminess!)
Mix until blended

Spoon on to cookie sheet

Bake @ 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes

EAT AND ENJOY!!!

My Nemesis

2008-11-23T13:50:00.000-08:00

nem⋅e⋅sis /ˈnɛməsɪs/ [nem-uh-sis] –noun
1. Something that a person cannot conquer, achieve, etc.
2. An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome.
3. Classical Mythology. The goddess of divine retribution.
4. An agent or act of retribution or punishment.

This is my nemesis in the house! Oh sure, it may look all clean and innocent now, but you should have seen it a few hours ago! And...the minute I fix my hair again tomorrow...it will be dirty all over again. Not to mention, this pic. shows only half of my nemesis!!!! This mirror is actually double that size, continuing on to my shower, taking up the entire west wall of my bathroom!!! Who's BRILLIANT idea was that???

As if the hairspray, flat iron smoother spray and Lysol disenfecting spray don't wreak enough havoc on their own, just look where the sink is! Any little splash of water, toothpaste rinse, mouthwash rinse and/or liquid soap bubbles, splatter right up on to the mirror every day!

This mirror is only 100% clean for about 30 seconds every 2-3 months! I just can't stand to clean the monstrocity every single day, just to have it covered with spots, splatters and spray remnants the next day! P.S. The 80's called...they want their mirror and their lights back!!!

Roger's New Glasses

2008-11-22T18:50:00.000-08:00

What a great husband I have! He is ALWAYS so thoughtful this way. Just look at what he came back with from his errands today. He knew I had been waiting to see the Twilight movie and when I got back from the show today I had mentioned that I really enjoyed the music and would like to get the soundtrack. Low and behold when he returned from what seemed like an awfully long time to run to Smiths and back, he suprised me with the Twilight sound track! What an AWESOME guy! -Oh yeah, and he got new glasses yesterday too...what do you think? I think they're "fab." He picked them out all by himself! ~Love him!!!

Twilight the Movie

2008-11-22T16:04:00.001-08:00

We finally made it to the long-awaited Twilight movie! There were 10 out of our 11 book club gals there and a couple of extra friends.

Most of the audience had definitely read the book because we all chuckled at the parts which were inferences from the book.

For me, the movie was okay but the soundtrack was great and I'm sure I'll be buying the CD very soon!

The theater was full of mostly girls/women and a few lonely guys. (At the Thursday midnight premier, some of the movie theaters gave out free candy to all the guys in the audience!)
(Bonnie, Toni and Elizabeth)

The bad news about being a big book reader is, the books are always better than the movies! *sigh* ~Still, a fun girls day out. :O Up next for the book club gals...Marley and Me in December!
Polly and daughter Emily

Sherrie and Louise

Mollie and Polly

R to L Marcy, Debbie, Anne and her sister

Elf Yourself

2008-11-21T23:25:00.001-08:00

Aren't we cute little Elves?

Do You Need a Good Laugh Today?

2008-11-20T21:46:00.000-08:00

My 5th graders just finished up their Early Explorers Unit and presented their projects to the class this week. I wanted to share a little thing that made me laugh.

One of "Suzie's" choices was to write a letter as though she were the explorer, Vasco Nunez de Balboa. The letter was meant to encourage men to join his exploration. It's the end that cracks me up the most! ~Enjoy!

Translation: (just as she wrote and spelled things)

Dear Crew Members,

I am inviteing you to join me to find the great Sea. I am leaving in one week. This is a good chance to become famos. Be ready there will be strong winds Sickness going around and all kinds of other things. Bring some supplies cause we will need it. If you want to be on my crew you will have to be older than twenty years old. You will have to bring five dollor if you want to be on the crew. I now that is a lot of money but it is worth it. You have to sigh up befor this Wendsday. Come to the stake center to sigh up.

Sincerly,

Vasco Nunez de Balboa

Reflections Contest

2008-11-20T21:32:00.001-08:00

The Reflection Contest results were announced at school this week, and we're happy to report that for the third year in a row, Devin has placed in the standings. This year he received an honorable mention for his literature entry based on the theme "Wow!" (See story below) In third grade he received a top 10 award for his art entry based on the theme "I Can Make a Difference." (I'll get that scanned in and posted this weekend)

In second grade he also received a top 10 award for a poem entry based on the theme "My Favorite Place." In second and third grade his entries went on to the district level.

In second grade, his poem won for his age group at the district level and went on to the state competition! (See poem below)

We are very proud and happy that he chooses to work hard and enter the Reflections Contest every year! (Of course mom gives him LOTS of "encouragement!")

4th Grade Reflections Entry

2008-11-20T21:27:00.000-08:00

The Haunted Hollows By: Devin Wilkins

(His "artist" statement for this piece was "WOW, That was SCARY!")

It was a dark and stormy night. Kids were running to the store to get their last bit of Halloween shopping done. Little Tucker needed to buy more candy for his Gramps to hand out to trick-or-treaters. He wanted to get to Wal-Mart and back to his Gramp’s house before his favorite show, Veggie Tales, began. That’s why he decided to take the shortcut down along the Hollows.

It had been said that the Hollows was a haunted place and many kids had ventured in but had never been heard of again! Little Tucker was not scared of the old ghost tales about the Hollows. Every day after school he would play in the Hollows by the river with his friends, Ben, Kayla, Brayden and Devin. However, Little Tucker’s mother had always forbidden the kids to play in the Hollows at night.

Knowing the trail very well, he took off down the path that led to the bridge over the river. He was halfway across the bridge when suddenly something reached out and grabbed at his legs. Frightened by this strange thing, Little Tucker took off running the rest of the way across the bridge and continued on the trail. As he slowly caught his breath he realized he must have imagined the strange thing on the bridge because he knew that there is no such thing as ghosts.

As he continued walking along the trail he faintly heard the sound of pans crashing together. Little Tucker turned around to see where the noise was coming from and to his horror a big dude started yelling “Git, git, this is my gold, what’d ya think yer doin’ down here?” The worst part of it was, the big dude was carrying a stick with the head of a ninety year old man on the top of it! Maybe the big dude was an old miner who had been panning for gold back in the olden days. Little Tucker was starting to regret that he didn’t listen to his mother about staying away from the Hollows at night.

Determined to put on a brave face, Little Tucker wrapped his coat more tightly around him and kept moving forward. He was tempted to cry a little but he stayed brave. The feeling to cry kept sneaking up on him because he thought he heard someone else crying in the distance. As the full moon came up over the tree tops the outline of a woman and her skeleton-baby came into sight. Little Tucker heard the woman cry out in sadness, “Please, please help, please help me save my baby.” There was nothing Little Tucker could do for the baby. It was already dead!

This was the last straw. Little Tucker was now just as convinced as everyone else that the Hollows was a creepy, haunted place. How was he ever going to get out alive? He would burst into a full speed run to get out of the Hollows and make it to the store in one piece. He would not stop. He would not look back. He promised he would never return here at night again!

Suddenly Little Tucker thought he saw a light up ahead. He prayed that the light would lead him safely out of the Hollows. He had no other choice but to follow it. As he got closer to the light he heard a kind, gentle voice say, “Follow me boy, I’ll get you out of here.” Little Tucker knew he was incredibly lucky! He had found the Night Watchman who could lead him out of the Hollows to safety at the end of the trail. He thanked the Night Watchman a thousand times and ran quickly on his way to Wal-Mart to buy the Halloween candy for his Gramps.

With his Halloween candy safely stored in his back-pack, Little Tucker did not go back home the way he had come. He took the long way home to avoid being trapped in the Haunted Hollows again. When he got back to his Gramp’s house, he was so relieved he had made it home alive that he gave everyone in the house a big hug and a kiss. His favorite show, Veggie Tales was just ending to the tune of “Ooo, Ooo, Ooo, Ooo... THIS IS HALLOWEEN... BOO!!!”

2nd Grade Reflections Entry

2008-11-20T21:25:00.000-08:00

My Favorite Place
By: Devin Wilkins

My imagination is filled with many things,
I can fly most anywhere on giant dragon wings.

Way up high above the clouds,
My dragon and I can sing right out loud.

We soar over rainbows and spy leprechaun gold,
And return back to earth before we catch cold.

The toys in my room come alive right on cue,
But hide under my bed when I do my Kung Fu!

On my huge tramp I jump up to the sky.
I don’t come back down ‘til the fourth of July!

Yes, my imagination is my favorite place.

It always puts a huge grin on my face.

And The Winner Is....

2008-11-20T15:11:00.001-08:00

Are you ready? Drum roll please...................... ANGELA wins the shout out!!! Her guess was $395 and the actual "little shopping trip" to Costco came to $384.97

Thanks for playing, everyone. That was fun! You were all in the ballpark.

Let's Play a Little Game!

2008-11-17T19:59:00.000-08:00

What was the (ridiculous) dollar value of this "little shopping trip" to Costco? Be the contestant to come closest to the actual dollar value without going over and you'll win...you'll win...a shout out as the contestant with the closest guess! (If you click on the pics. you can see the items a little better) I really need to start clipping coupons!!!