Lessons From The Strangest Places....

My bed was made and I was on to folding laundry so I could follow up with cleaning the carpets when I heard it. The TV was on. Not because I wanted to watch anything, I just like the "background noise" sometimes. "Live With Regis and Kelly" was on and they were discussing the flooding in North Dakota. Which, by the way, includes some family members of friends of ours, so any prayers on their behalf would be appreciated. Anyway, they were commenting on how the community in one small town had pulled together and the schools were even closed so everyone that could was out bagging sand. Then she said it, Kelly, "You really see what a community is made of when they are faced with adversity." Hmmmm, I pondered, that's true with individuals too, which launched my mind on an inventory of all the truths I have been blessed to learn and experience about adversity. Amazing how the Lord continues to bless us and teach us.....even from the oddest places......I love it when that happens...those unexpected golden moments...one of my favorite things!! Thankfully my "lesson" carried me right through my chores and I was finished before I knew it.

Time for change.....

....and no I'm not talking politics. I'm talking weather. Is anyone else sick of winter and ready for spring like I am?!?! On Saturday it was a lovely day. I snapped a few pictures of baby lambs playing ...........

and a brand new baby calf....one of my favorite things about spring......

.......and then Monday morning we woke up to.......



SNOW....MORE SNOW......AAAAGGHHHHH!!!!



But never fear....the inevitability of spring is punching through the tenacity of winter!!

Amber's Big Day - #27!!!

How is it possible that my baby is 27?!?!? Isn't she beautiful?!?! Her birthday was actually last Thursday, but we had a family celebration on Sunday at our regular Family Night dinner. Amber wasn't sure what kind of cake she wanted, so I made a Rice Crispy Treat cake and we had S'mores as well - roasted over candles right at the table! It was fun!

The Birthday Girl!


Blowing out the candles-Amber needed a little help!


Dalin snuggling with Aunt Chantile admiring the balloons.


Dalin posing for Grandma.


Dalin might just very well be our next photographer - he took this shot pretty much all by himself!

All the Who's Down in Who-ville........

My Doodlebug had quite the exciting past week or so. Last Saturday (3.7.09) she went to see High School Musical on Ice. Chantile won four tickets from a local radio station! Lucky Bug!! So Chatile, Omah (Chantile's mom), Jasmine and a friend went and had a good afternoon despite the colds they all had. Then at school, Doodlebug had two fun accomplishments. First, she was Student of the Week in her class - yea Jasmine!! And she won this Cat in the Hat doll for having the best Who-ville costume. She was pretty excited about that! We also had a fun evening together on Saturday (3.14.09) when Matt took Chantile out for the evening and Jazy stayed with us. The highlight for her was seeing the kids at prom. Park City is a very small school. The graduating class size is usually around 30 or so. Prom is held in the gym and for the first half hour anyone who wants to come is allowed to come and sit in the stands as the kids are introduced and they walk down the "red carpet" in the center of the gym. Then the Prom King and Queen are announced and they have a dance and then all the "non-prom attendees" are kicked out. I thought it was pretty cute. Jasmine was so excited to see all the dresses and was designing her dress in her mind the whole time - Get ready to sew Amber, she has lots of big ideas!!

Grateful for the bathroom! :-)

I haven't forgotten about the blog! I am still here. This weekend I realized how grateful I am for our bathroom. I am getting over a touch of food poisoning or a really nasty stomach bug. I am pretty sure it was some left overs I had that I can thank for the hours of wonderful fun. Things have calmed down and now I just feel like a truck ran over me. Anyway, George took really good care of me. The boys had an activity in Red Lodge and he took them there, drove all the way home to check on me and then all the back to pick them up. He's such an awesome guy. He and the missionaries gave me a blessing and I know I would still be locked in my "tower" without that!
On a happier note, Amber has a birthday coming this week ( on Thursday the 12th) so next Sunday we will have a family birthday dinner.....pictures to follow! Hope all is well with everyone out there!