Frontrunner

On Saturday we decided to take the new Frontrunner train to SLC and had lunch. The stop is pretty close to our house and we got right on. It only took 30 minutes to get to there, which is about what it takes in a car. We had a yummy lunch and walked around Gateway for a while, then coming back we got to the station as the train was leaving, we ended up having to wait for an hour for the next train and then the half hour ride home. It was then that we decided it would have been better to have the car! But for a one-time ride on the train it was worth it!

Sunday was Stake Conference and a good opportunity to be out of town since I would not miss any meetings, so we went down and spent the day with Dad and Elaine. Dad turned 86 three weeks ago and is thankfully very healthy and happy! I am so glad that he has Elaine to be with. It was really hard seeing him when mom died, he was so alone and seemed so lost. Elaine is a wonderful grandma for Bri and we love having her be part of our family. It is hard to believe they have been married for almost eight years! My sister Marf and her family also went down to visit. Bri had her cousins to play with, which made the trip even that much more fun! (thanks marf, if you ever read this...you slacker!)

Fun with trash

I was feeling frustrated when I was at the store and couldn't find the item I had designed in my mind, so I came home and made it myself, with a little flare. I needed some small envelopes to hold flash drives for my job, and I am always drinking soda, so VOILA!

Calgon take me away!

I wish I were here right now...

Bri's piano recital

Bri had her piano recital last night. She did a great job! She has worked hard this past year at the piano and we are seeing the improvement. Our piano is an electronic keyboard that is fun to play around on, so having her focus long enough to practice her lessons is sometimes a challenge, but she is doing well. She also takes voice lessons and is really enjoying them, but she won't sing for anyone, not even us...at least not yet!

Happy National Pretzel Day...

Yesterday we went up to spend the day with JT's parents. They are getting older and to make it easier on them we took up everything to make dinner and then also invited over JT's sister and her family. It was nice to visit and spend the day with them. Bri just loves her cousins, they are older than her but it is nice when they take an interest and spend time with her.

I wanted to make a cake to take up for dessert, but I felt that I needed a holiday or occasion to celebrate (mostly so I could have a fun picture on the cake) so I found a website that has a bizaare holiday listed for every day of the year. Saturday was National Pretzel Day so we decided it was worthy of a celebration (and a cake)!

I have been having fun decorating cakes, and I got rave reviews from the family, but I think I need to try something different because they are all starting to look the same!

Working hard in the yard!

We bought our house a year ago and the previous owners never did much with the flower beds. They were in need of help. We started last week with a truck load of topsoil and filled up several of the beds that were too low. This week we planted a variety of bushes, flowers and a few small trees. We still plan to fill it up more, but this gives us a good start. I forgot to take pictures before we started, but I did take some this morning. The only bad part of all of this is that I forgot to put sunscreen on last weekend and gave myself a nice burn...farmer's style!



Here is JT getting ready to leave for work.

Poor Yeager peeking out from under the fence, he hates not being with us and often will EXHALE to show his disapproval! (He is a very quiet dog and hardly ever barks.)

We also had fun last night with our neighbors. They invited us over for dinner with the missionaries and then after the missionaries left we visited and played games until almost midnight, it was a very fun evening! (Thanks again Amber!)

Just for fun!

This is from one of my favorite web sites improveverywhere.com ....Life should be a musical! (You will have to go down and turn off my music to really appreciate this one!)

Happy Birthday Breezy!

Today is Bri's 10th birthday! She is an entire decade old! I just wanted to post a few fun things about my girlie.

We had a hard time getting her here, it took me three years and one miscarriage to be able to get pregnant with her, although I can't complain because I had a very easy pregnancy and delivery, and spent a subsequent eight years trying for another before my hysterectomy.

Bri has always been a fun and happy little girl and watching her grow up has been so much fun. She has a contageous smile, and smiles even when noone is watching, which is one of my favorite things about her. She loves animals and wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up. She does good in school and loves to read and do art. She collects stuffed animals and littlest pet shop toys. She likes to watch movies with us and play video games. She loves to be outside playing with her friends when she can, riding her bike, helping in the yard, jumping on her trampoline, walking the dog, etc. She is kind to her friends and always has fun playing with them.

For family time we have fun playing board games or card games with her. She loves to travel in the car and we have had some fun road trips in the past, even if it is just to visit grandparents or a travel day with her dad while he works.

I could go on and on about her, but I will just finish saying that I love being a mom and love that she is a part of my life!

Boundries

The boundry realignment meeting last night went so much better than I was fearing. We didn't lose any of our members and were able to gain 23 new houses. This will help us out considerably. Our ward was split about 2-1/2 years ago and since then our numbers seem to have been decreasing because members of our ward keep moving away and no LDS families moving in. Now I just have to figure out visiting teaching before it gets too far into the month!

Happy Birthday Bubba!

Our cute puppy is growing up! He turns three today. It seems like just yesterday he was barfing all over our bed...Wait...It WAS just yesterday he was barfing all over our bed! Anyway, we have enjoyed Yeager so much this year, he has calmed down a lot and is now trusted to be out of his crate when we are not at home, and he never gets into anything...when we are gone!

Yeager's favorite treat is Savory Sauce on his food and cheese flavored crackers. If you give him any attention at all he gets really excited and runs out of the room to find a toy to play tug-of-war. He will play hide-and-go-seek and gets so excited when he finds you. He thinks everyone that comes to our home is there to play with him and he will jump on them. (This is one bad habit we have not been able to break yet). He will follow me around all day and keep me company while everyone else is out of the house. He loves to lay in the sun or in front of the space heater and will sleep there all day if given the opportunity. He loves to play fetch but doesn't want to give up the toy when he brings it back, so it turns into a game of tug-of-war.

We love our BUBBA, STINKY, RATBATCATCOWPIGDOG!