To the Fifth Power

To bring me out of hiding! Tagged for a meme! (Thanks, Jenna) Here goes. . .

Five North American Cities in Which I'd Seriously Consider Living:

1. Austin, Texas
2. San Diego, California
3. Denver, Colorado
4. Portland, Oregon
5. Would love to live back East somewhere for a while.

Five Songs to Which I Know all the Words:

(I am not great at this! And I am sure at least one friend will make fun of me... you know who you are!)

1. "Black Horse & The Cherry Tree" by KT Tunstall
2. "It's Not Over" by Daughtry
3. "Head Over Feet" by Alanis Morissette
4. "Popular" from the Wicked soundtrack
5. "The Joker" by Steve Miller Band

Five Foods I'd Wish to Have in Unlimited Quantities on a Desert Island:

1. Steak
2. Popcorn
3. Yogurt Pretzels
4. Cafe Rio Salad
5. Ice Cream

Five Chores I Should Be Doing Right Now Instead of Blogging:

1. Organizing our kitchen filing drawer
2. Moving summer clothes out and winter clothes into my closet
3. Cleaning out the refrigerator
4. Making a grocery list
5. Getting lunch/food ready to take to work tomorrow.

Five Childhood Friends I'd Love to See Again:

1. Dannette Hyde
2. Stacey Gleason Hickman (she got married recently so I just saw her but it had been years!)
3. Toni Harmer
4. Chad Ferrera
5. Heather Pitts

Now, five friends to tag (but please play even if you aren't tagged, and then let me know!):

1. Kim
2. Susie
3. Tara
4. Misty
5. Trish

End of summer and a new website!

What are you doing to enjoy the last bit of summer??

I am excited to have one last trip to the beach with my family in a couple weeks, but can't believe how fast this summer passed us by! We usually go camping at least 3-4 times and we haven't been once! We usually have a BBQ or two on days other than holidays and again, not one! Life has been more busy this summer and it doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. I hope you are all well and settling into the routine of kids going back to school and summer coming to an end. Bummer!


Also, my dear friend Emily Freeman has just launched her new website... go check it out and say "hi".

www.emilyfreeman.com

She is an amazing writer and the thoughts, moments, etc... she just posted are no exception.

If you have any ideas to improve the function of the website let me know, I can pass them along.

Enjoy the last couple weeks of summer!!

Opportunities in Differences...

Have you ever had to work with someone either at your place of employment, church calling, PTA, etc... that just rubbed you the wrong way? I have. I try to always find the positive in a person but occasionally it can be difficult. This quote was a good reminder for me. Plus I am sure you are all sick of seeing the "Healthcare petition" post. :)

"God will help us see a difference in someone else not as a source of irritation but as a contribution. The Lord can help you see and value what another person brings which you lack. More than once the Lord has helped me see His kindness in giving me association with someone whose difference from me was just the help I needed. That has been the Lord’s way of adding something I lacked to serve Him better."


Henry B. Eyring, “Our Hearts Knit as One,” Ensign, Nov. 2008, 70–71

Stay tuned...I have many good ideas but have been traveling a lot in July. Most recently for business in California. Don't feel too bad I did have Brad fly out for the weekend so it wasn't all work and no play.

Healthcare Petition

Hi all,

I usually don't get involved in political discussions because I feel everyone has their own views and I am not the controversial type but...I feel this is a really important matter that is vital to our future health benefits. I feel that the health plan that Pres. Obama and "friends" are trying to push through congress is detrimental to our future. After talking to people in Canada and other countries that practice socialized medicine, this is not what we want in our country. I am sure if our politicians would put their heads together they could come up with a better plan that does not lessen the choices or the caliber of treatment that we currently have. They can preserve and even improve upon our current healthcare system without allowing the government to get involved and telling us who we can go to and what we can afford. Citizens from other countries come to the United States to get the health care they need because the wait time for certain treatments are so long that they may not catch the disease or illness soon enough to prevent further problems. This is not the American way... I don't know about you, but I don' t want my next doctor visit to have the efficiency of the Post Office and the bedside manner of the IRS!

Please join me in signing this petition and let our politicians know that we don't agree with this health plan. I have included below a link to the petition from Congressman Bob Bennett's website. (btw: we are not related)

Thank you so much,
Angela

Healthcare Petition

Posted using ShareThis

Here is some info from Bob Bennett's website:

For years now I have worked with my senate colleagues to create the Healthy Americans Act, a healthcare plan that would provide every American with affordable, private health insurance. Unfortunately, the Obama administration is wary of free market solutions and sees government intervention as the only answer.
President Obama is demanding that any efforts put forth by Congress include a so-called "public option" to compete with private insurers. Once the government gets involved, it won't be long before the private insurance industry is out of business, and the public option becomes the only option.
Indeed, the public option is nothing more than a back door to single-payer, socialized care, and it's for that reason that I stand alongside my fellow conservatives in opposition to it. Please help me send a message to the Obama administration on this issue by signing this petition. We have set a goal of collecting 10,000 signatures, so please sign the petition telling the Obama administration that our country does not want or need a single-payer, government-run healthcare system. When you are finished, I hope you will forward this petition to your friends, neighbors and family members asking them to join the fight.

Thank you for joining me,
Bob

Choosing the Right Way...

Happy Pioneer day for those of us in Utah!





And a quote to ponder on a Friday...

"If we choose the right way, we are sustained in our actions by the principles of righteousness, in the which there is power from the heavens. If we choose the wrong way and act on that choice, there is no such heavenly promise or power, and we are alone and are destined to fail."

William R. Bradford, "Righteousness, Ensign," Nov. 1999, 85

7th Anniversary

I can't believe yesterday was our 7th anniversary, time really does fly! As Brad and I were discussing our previous anniversaries, we realized we have forgotten some of the details. That is when I decided we should document them all now in a count down format starting with yesterday. Of course yesterday will be the most detailed. So you can keep reading.. :)

7th Anniversary...

This year I was supposed to attend Youth Conference on our anniversary but since I was released a couple weeks ago I was able to spend the day with my husband instead. Yippee! There have been very few anniversaries we have actually spent together due to Girls' camp or Youth Conference in the past 7 years. I have an extremely supportive husband and he has never once complained and for that I am grateful. I have to admit there was a part of me that missed being with the youth this weekend but I thoroughly enjoyed my day with Brad!

Brad had been great about making sure we did things that I enjoy so this year when he asked what we should do I suggested fishing. I actually enjoy fishing in the summer when it is warm. At first he thought I wasn't serious but after I told him at least 5 times that I thought it would be fun he finally believed me. And it really was fun! We hadn't been to this place for about 4 yrs, it is on the Mirror Lake highway above Kamas, UT by Clear Lake. There is a beautiful waterfall hidden in the trees that Brad found once and it has great fishing...usually. This year the fishing wasn't as good as we remembered but the scenery was beautiful. We really enjoyed being in nature and being together. Here are some pictures from the day.

Luckily a random couple were enjoying nature too and were able to take this picture of us. :)

Beautiful right?

Abby (our dog) loves to wait for Brad to catch a fish then she tries to capture it while he is removing the hook. She is so intense while waiting.

I have a video of Abby jumping up the waterfall but couldn't figure it out. I know I am slow to the game but can someone educate me on uploading a video to my blog?

Zion Ponderosa

We went to Zion Ponderosa this past weekend. If you haven't heard of it or have never been check out the link. It was the perfect getaway for us and we had a great time! We have some friends that go up there every year and they always have glowing reviews. So we decided to check it out.

We stayed in one of the vacation homes there and it was incredible. This is the view from the back porch. Amazing!

As luck would have it our friends were staying there the same weekend and were gracious enough to be our tour guides. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery on the ATVs, went to the pool (super fun with slides), played games and had incredible food. They also have a recreation barn with pool tables and ping pong tables for the guests to use, horseback riding, hiking, a zip line, rock climbing wall, tennis court, frisbee golf course and of course Zion's National Park is within a 15min drive! We had a great time and loved spending time with friends and family. Tim and Hilary seriously have great kids! My parents joined us Saturday morning but I totally forgot to get a picture of them... sorry mom and dad! We enjoyed spending time with them too!

Here are a few pictures of us on the ATVs...

Back 4wheeler Kelsey, Anna, Dallin, Meg & Noah. Front Kenzie, Keeley, Calli & Marley.

The kids all piled on the morning they left, they all loved riding and would ask every time they saw us if they could go on a ride. Meg kept telling Brad "go faster horsey!"

Tim, Brad, & Calli.

Meg, me, and Anna.

Kenzie and her friend Kelsey

This is the view from a look out spot on one of the ATV trails. Beautiful view!

During the ride we took Saturday, I noticed rain clouds approaching. When I asked Brad if we should head back he said it shouldn't be a heavy rain. So we kept riding and when the rain hit we were SOAKED within 10 min! Very fun ride up to that point and after changing we planned to go back out but the rain started again so we didn't make it.

Brad's pants are normally a lighter color! Luckily we have a couple jackets in the ATV bag.

Random bit of information...this police truck was parked in the SAME spot when we passed in on the way to Zion Ponderosa so we looked harder on the way back and they have a dressed mannequin in the driver's seat to fool people into slowing down. Way to go Kane County!

We had an enjoyable time and will most definitely go back again!

Love this!

I ran across this quote today and had to share it...hope you have a fantastic day!

"Hope . . . is like the beam of sunlight rising up and above the horizon of our present circumstances. It pierces the darkness with a brilliant dawn. It encourages and inspires us to place our trust in the loving care of an eternal Heavenly Father, who has prepared a way for those who seek for eternal truth in a world of relativism, confusion, and of fear."

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "The Infinite Power of Hope, Ensign", Nov. 2008, 22

Every calling has a time and season...

I was released as Young Women's president in my ward this past Sunday. I found out last Tuesday and since then a flood of emotions have filled my heart. While it was definitely overwhelming at times, the opportunity to see the girls grow in their testimony of the gospel, discover who they REALLY are and the love they shared with me made it all worth it!

I knew the Sunday before camp (June 14th) as the girls stood to say the theme that this would be one of the last times I would have this experience with this group of girls - and of course I cried. But I don't think you can ever be prepared to be done, after putting my whole heart into this calling for the last 2+ yrs it will be hard to just stop doing it. I know that my time has ended and I already feel the mantle of this calling leaving. It is interesting that after so much focus I didn't realize how tired I was. Heavenly Father really does bless us in our callings to have all the energy we need to accomplish everything that is required. Now that it is ending my body is telling me that I need a break. So, it is a bittersweet end and a new beginning for myself and the girls. I will miss them dearly. I am so grateful I had one more camp with these girls, (it was my 3rd) we had a great time! I also hope my service was pleasing to my Heavenly Father and that I did all I needed to in the time I was given. I gained some incredible friendships as part of this calling and will be forever grateful for the lessons I learned and the experiences I had both personally and spiritually. I am excited for the new presidency, all are dear friends, I know they will do a fantastic job!

A special thanks to my presidency, advisors, & specialists over the past 2yrs, some have come and gone but have left their footprint on my heart! They were each unique and brought a special spirit to the Young Women program while they served. They made countless sacrifices to serve faithfully. I love you and couldn't have made it through without you!

Thanks to all my friends and family who supported me throughout the past 2+ yrs. The phone calls, guidance/advice, emails, hugs, and kind words. They were appreciated!

On to my next adventure...

An opportunity to bless an amazing family!

My dear friend Hilary Weeks is having an auction (ends Friday, July 3rd @ midnight) to raise money for a young family that just lost their daughter Sadie this past week. Sadie was diagnosed with a brain stem tumor in February last year. Their family was nominated for Hilary's "Because I Have Today" award in May and Hilary was able to visit Sadie this past Wednesday, the day before she passed away, and wrote the details of her visit on her blog. Hilary asked me to spread the word so here goes. The details of the Auction are below and also on Hilary's blog.

From the award page: "Before you read this touching story of love and faith, I wanted to share a little bit about this month’s journey in choosing a winner for the “Because I Have Today” award. This nomination was made by Kelly Hill. Kelly has never met the Huish family. She has followed and been inspired by the Huish’s story by reading their blog. http://sadiehuish.blogspot.com/

After receiving the nomination and visiting the blog myself, I knew this was the family that needed to be spotlighted. They are amazing. I was drawn to their story for many reasons and I’m sure you will be too. The song “Just Let Me Cry” was inspired by a little girl named Devan who also had a brain stem tumor. While I can’t begin to understand what it must be like to face such a challenge, the deep faith and trust that resonates in this family touches my heart and makes me want to be better, try harder and live each day to the fullest. Visit their blog – you will leave there a different person." Love, Hilary

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Sadie Huish

Auction details:

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Bidding will start at $1000 you can place a bid on ebay or by following the link below and all proceeds, in their entirety, will be donated to the Huish family to help pay for funeral costs.

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http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=280363819969

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Auction will end Friday, JULY 3rd at MIDNIGHT!

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The winning bid will receive...

• 11 pages of songwriting notes for the 3 Christmas songs she just finished writing for her new Christmas album. Which will include all the thoughts, scribbles, scratches, ideas and changes that have created these three songs.
• An opportunity to attend a session at the studio while she records the Christmas CD.
• A private concert to be used any way you would like... family party, friends gathering or company party.

I have had the opportunity to attend one of Hilary's private concerts and you will NOT be disappointed. She is an amazing person and your family/friends will enjoy every minute.

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!! Let me know if you have any questions!

6th folder 6th picture

I have been tagged... it has been over 2 weeks (sorry Kim!) but with girl's camp this past week, life has been CRAZY to say the least! We had a great time except for ALL THE RAIN - more stories to come.

This picture is of us at Havasupai in Arizona. This is Navajo falls 1 of 4 beautiful falls in the area. AMAZING vacation and wonderful memories. We went with Brad's sister Monica, her husband Chris and 2 oldest children Alison and Will. I would recommend this vacation to anyone. Well worth all the hiking. If anyone wants to go I would be happy to give you any tips.

Memorial Day

The day started off with the alarm at 5:45am...Yes, I said 5:45am! My husband serves in the Boy Scout program in our church and as part of their fundraising efforts, they put up American flags in the yards around our neighborhood on all the National holidays. I had a little reminder set in my phone to wake us/him up in time to go help. When I tried to wake him up he said "we decided last night the weather was too bad today, so no flags. I told you last night." (He hadn't told me and we finally figured that out today when we were both more coherent.) Of course, I had a hard time falling back to sleep and just as I started to dose off again, Brad got out of bed and said he had to go to flags. I said "What?" Apparently, he had looked outside and told me the sun was out with no clouds in sight, so they better get the flags put up... and off he went! When he returned, we decided it would be fun to go 4 wheeling. We loaded up the 4 wheelers, grabbed some lunch and we were off!


We headed up American Fork canyon near our home. It was a beautiful day and the drive up AF canyon is gorgeous! We unloaded the machines and started our trek up the mountain. After riding up the first couple miles there was a bottle neck and we were unable to go any further. We found out there were about 30-40 trucks, jeeps or ATVs trying to come down as we were heading up. We had to wait until they all passed... it seemed to take forever but really only lasted about 25-30min. Once the bottle neck was resolved, we continued our ride. The sun was shining and the landscape beautiful. It was peaceful and so great to be out enjoying nature.

Some fun pictures from the day...

This white truck wouldn't back down the mountain any further so he forced this poor blue truck to try to pass him while placing the 2 passenger tires on the mountain. They almost hit each other - some people...





We had to wait for all the trucks, jeeps, ATVs, etc... to pass since it was too tight ahead for us to move forward, while they were all coming down. Luckily, by the time everyone passed we didn't run into any back ups like this the rest of our ride... yipee!!

And they keep on coming... In fact, one had a flat tire so my "always prepared" boy scout husband said "I have a compressor, if you want to pull over here I can pump up your tire for you." He is always so willing to help! I am a lucky girl!

View from the top of one of the trails...breathtaking!

I love this time of year! As the snow melts, several random waterfalls appear. This picture doesn't even come close to how beautiful it was.

Several of the trails still had snow at the top.

Yes this is the same truck from before! After trying unsuccessfully to dig him out of the snow, his parents used a tow strap to pull him out with their truck. Come to find out "smart guy" (our new nickname for him) didn't have his truck in 4 wheel drive before hitting the snow. Which in most newer trucks wouldn't make a difference, but his was older and had locking hubs which of course were not locked! (For those unfamiliar with such terms... older trucks didn't have the 4 wheel drive "button" inside the cab. You had to get out and turn the center of the hub on the front two wheels. Then when you got back inside the cab, you had a 2nd shifter that had to be put into 4 wheel drive...did I loose anyone?)

At least while waiting, I took this great picture!!

And this one on our way back down...

Closer to the end of our ride. The water coming out of the canyon is really

high and moving very fast. It is incredible to watch!


Overall, a very enjoyable day. We ended up at a neighbor's home for a BBQ after we returned home and watched the Lakers get schooled by the Nuggets... good times! Oh and one of my cute laurels was on KSL news as well, 92 students in her class of 105 graduated with an Associates Degree from UVU before they received their diploma's for high school graduation. It was also her birthday today and she came over to watch the news with us since her family doesn't have TV. Happy Birthday Janneka!

Race for Cure - May 9th

Every year we try to go to the Susan G Komen Race for the cure with some friends. It is a great way to support breast cancer awareness and also support our friends that have lost love ones to breast cancer. The amount of people that come each year is incredible and the strength you feel walking in such a large crowd is amazing. I wish I had taken more pictures of the different t-shirts and outfits people wear. There are men wearing pink tutu's, others wearing pink wigs and some just decked out in all pink! What a sight!

This year we walked the 5k with Kim, (her kids Lauren & Isabella), her sister Heidi and Charity one of the special needs clients Heidi works with. Charity walks almost every year with us as well. You can't read Heidi's shirt in this picture but it says "Of course these are fake, the real ones tried to kill me!" We had a great time! Next year I think Brad will run the 5k with Cesar and Sam. (Kim's husband and 5yr old son)

Isabella enjoying a nap!

Lauren eating fruit by the foot!

The amount of people walking this year was incredible. You can see all the way to the end of the picture-tons of pink! Several blocks a head of us were full of people...

Another view of the crowd in front of us.

The crowd behind us at least 3 blocks or more.

After the event at the Gateway fountain area...

Anyone is welcome! Let me know next year if you want to join us. It is typically the Saturday before Mother's day.

Ireland

My parents have been traveling around Ireland for the past 2 weeks with my dad's two brothers and their wives. They actually return tomorrow, time sure flies! My mom sent us this picture of an Irish band playing in a small pub close to where my great grandpa lived.

My grandma visited her father's homeland when she was 92 yrs old, a couple years before she passed away. When she passed away last year my dad and his brothers thought it would be great to take a trip back to see where their grandfather was from. My uncle Darwin took grandma when she went back, so he knew where to go and had already met some of my grandma's cousins. One cousin still lives in the home my great grandpa lived in.

I am excited to see all the fun pictures and hear about their adventures!

Who won????

Drum roll please......

Congratulations Jennie!!

She has won the book "21 Days CLOSER TO Christ" by Emily Freeman.

Thanks to all who left comments! I have great friends!

Another Giveaway!

Ok... so it has been longer than a couple days... forgive me?

I know I promised another giveaway back in November... well here it is!!

This giveaway will be an autographed book by Emily Freeman. She is the best selling author of several books including - "The Ten Virgins", "21 Days Closer to Christ", "God Bless Your Way" and most recently "The Woman at the Well". She has another book coming out in the Fall that is incredible! Depending on how many comments I get I may throw in 2nd book!


Emily speaks all over Utah & Idaho at Young Women's New Beginnings, Young Women in Excellence evenings and Relief Society Enrichment nights. I have attended the presentations for the "The Ten Virgins" book and "21 Days Closer to Christ" and both were fantastic! She recently started presenting with the Time Out for Women tour this year and her presentation is AMAZING! You can read more here.

Here is a clip from the Question and Answer portion of Time Out for Women last month. If you are still unsure about going to an event. Hopefully, this will give you a little taste of what it is like. When you have Emily, Kris and Hilary on the stage together, you know it will be funny and uplifting!





Emily lives in our ward and I have had the opportunity to get to know her the past 2 1/2 years. She and her husband Greg were actually one of the first couples we met before moving into the ward. We went to church about a month before we moved in to check things out. That Sunday I sat by another dear friend Julie who talked me into signing up for dinner groups that month and she promised to make sure we were in the same group. About a week later, (I had forgotten that we signed up) I get a call from Emily letting me know we had been assigned to her home for dinner and would I mind bringing a salad (I think). She had been told we were new to the ward and let me know Julie had requested we be in the same group. We had a great time that evening getting to know Emily and Greg better and they did a great job helping us feel welcome!


Now as kind of a side note... when my sister-in-law Monica found out we were moving to Lehi she said "I think one of my high school friend's lives down in that area. Her name is Emily Freeman." Come to find out 2 of her brothers were also in the ward and Brad knew them growing up as well. Small world eh?

Anyway, after that first meeting, Emily always made a point to say "hi" and check in. A few months after we moved in, Emily was called as the Relief Society President in our ward and served for just over a year. Which worked out perfectly, because right about that time I was in need of an assistant camp director. Our current camp director needed to attend to her family and was unable to finish up the last minute details. So with 3 weeks until camp, Emily was called and pulled everything together with the help of our YCL's. Here is a picture of some of the leaders at camp. She is the camp director again this year and everything is coming together nicely! I will save the fun camp stories for another post! :-)

Emily, Josephine, Mindy, me and Trish

Brad and I have really enjoyed getting to know Emily, Greg and their wonderful family. They have always helped us feel included and have been great examples of how we want to be as parents. Emily has an amazing testimony of her Savior and is one of the best examples to me of seeking guidance from our Heavenly Father in all that she does. She knows the scriptures and understands how to liken them to any situation. She is also a great friend, as I have sought advice or comfort she always knows the right thing to say. I have seen her in action on many occasions within our community, neighborhood, ward, etc... and I always know I can count on her. She gives of her time and talents to all those around her and places the needs of others above her own. Brad calls her Wonder Woman - if she can't do it- no one can! We have learned great things from Emily and Greg and are grateful to call them our friends.

Now in order to qualify for the drawing you must make a comment on this post by Wednesday May 13th @ 10PM. I will announce the winner(s) the next evening. If you make a comment on this post and have (prior to today) made a comment on one of the previous 2 posts you will be entered twice!

HAPPY MONDAY!!

I promised a 2nd giveaway back in October and I hope to have that posted in the next couple of days. Until then enjoy the following ...

Here is a portion the most recent parody by Hilary Weeks from the TOFW events for 2009. (just posted on YouTube.) There are 2 other parodies from this year which you will have to go to an event to see! HAPPY MONDAY!!!

Laundry!



In case you missed the songs from previous years...

2007 "My Favorite Things"


2008 Ultimate Mom "TO DO" List


"He Is" if you are not familar with Hilary's music.

Month in Review...

Since I have been absent from the blogging world for over a month I thought I would do a quick recap of what has been going on.


BABY BLESSING
Maya's baby blessing was this past Sunday. It was great to support a friend and her family. I wish I could have went to her home afterward but we had a family dinner to get to.


STATE OF PLAY
Also, this past weekend we went to see a movie. We hadn't BEEN to a movie in the theater for a while, it was nice to go on an official date. We decided to see the movie State of Play. It was a surprisingly good movie and we both enjoyed it. It may have been the low expectations we had before going but we weren't disappointed.

MY BROTHER
I did a post on my brother Lance last year about his struggles with drug addiction. And while he was unable to stay clean during his last release he was able over this past year to complete his sentence for good. He was released last week and is not longer on parole. He is finally in a place where he really wants to change his life and start his own family.

He agreed to go to a drug rehab in Long Beach California and has been there a week. So far he is doing great! He has been drug free for a year and they are working with him to stay that way. He has a girlfriend named Ashley who is super supportive and they seem really happy. Lance wrote me yesterday and he is running on the beach every morning, they are taking him body surfing today and he want to an Angels baseball game 2 nights ago. The goal of this rehab is to help the clients learn to have fun with out being high and to learn life skills that they haven't mastered yet. They will help him get a job locally and if he wants to go to school help him with that as well. I am excited for this new chapter in his life and our family is praying for his success!

WICKED!!
The highlight of this past month was going to see WICKED here in Utah. They are performing here for about 5 weeks. We stumbled upon an opportunity to get tickets with our dear friends Tim, Hilary and 3 of their darling daughters. We had a great time!

I know the show is sold out but if you have the chance to go DO IT! It was amazing! Even better than when we saw it in New York. Glinda's voice was incredible and she was so witty and clever with her portrayal of the character! We laughed almost the entire time. Even Brad gives it 2 thumbs up for the 2nd time.

EASTER

We had a fantastic Easter lesson for the YW by Brother Dallon. He did a great job helping the girls (and leaders!) understand the true meaning of Easter and why our Savior did it all for us. He really explained things in a simple, yet meaningful way and we all left filled. He has an incredible testimony of his Savior and were blessed to hear him teach.

We then headed to my parents for Easter dinner. We loved having the traditional deviled eggs and my mom's YUMMY strawberry pie!! Of course, with my brother's release a few days later my mom forgot we were all coming, so we had hamburgers and hot dogs! We still enjoyed ourselves and the food as well as conversation was fantastic! Love you mom and dad!

FAMILY DINNER

We had a family dinner with my cousin Troy and his family (minus Holly) and my parents. It was conference Sunday and we had a great time. We have so much fun with his family and we can always count on lots of laughter and great stories!

Well more to come! I am hoping to post a new video for the first time wish me luck!

WHY?

**disclaimer - I stole this post idea from Laurel ... Thanks Laurel! I had actually been thinking about doing something like this since I previewed the book a couple weeks ago... :D















I have been working in the youth program in our church for past 6 yrs, most recently as the YW President. My husband and I had the opportunity to preview this book a couple weeks ago and I have to say it is the perfect resource for youth ages 12-18, their parents and leaders! Especially since the most common question from a teen... or ANY child for that matter is - "WHY?"

This book was co-authored by John Hilton III and Anthony Sweat . It will be in Deseret Book stores next month but you can pre-order today here. I have had the opportunity to hear John speak a couple of times and have spoken with him about the youth of today and the struggles they are having. He is an amazing teacher and really connects with youth of all ages. You will love this book! They have a website set up with posts and content from the book as well.

Features answers to more than 100 questions, such as:

• Why do some people who break the commandments appear happy?
• Why shouldn’t I just “try” alcohol, just so I can see what it tastes like?
• Why is wearing two pairs of earrings such a big deal? Or is it?
• Why is it wrong to steady date someone if we both have high standards?
• Why is 16 the magical age— is it all that different from 15?
• Why is pornography a big deal if it doesn’t hurt anybody?
• Why shouldn’t I wear flip-flops to Church?
• Why do some people who pay tithing still not have a lot of money?
• Why should I talk to the bishop about certain sins?
  

Check out this video!

Also, John Hilton III has another fantastic book out that helps youth and adults alike with studying their scriptures.

Enjoy and if you have any thoughts about either book please share!!

HAPPY ST. PATTRICK's DAY!!

Ok... so I am part Irish and felt it my duty to wish everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day! Here are some corny St. Patty's day jokes for your enjoyment! Have a great day!


1. What is out on the lawn all summer and is Irish?
2. What do you call a fake stone in Ireland?
3. Why do frogs like St. Patrick's Day?
4. When is an Irish Potato not an Irish Potato?
5. What does it mean when you find a horseshoe?
6. Why did the elephant wear his green sneakers instead of his red ones?
7. Why is a river rich?
8. What does a leprechaun call a happy man wearing green?
9. Knock Knock Who's there?Irish! Irish Who?Irish you a happy St. Patrick's Day!
10. What do you get when you cross a pillowcase with a stone?
11. Why did St. Patrick drive all the snakes out of Ireland?
12. Have you ever heard of the 6-leaf clover? ?I haven't either!
13. What happens when a leprechaun falls into a river?
14. What do you call a diseased Irish criminal?

Answer key:
1. Paddy O'Furniture.
2. A sham rock.
3. Because they're always wearing green.
4. When it's a FRENCH fry!
5. Some poor horse is going barefoot!
6. The red ones were in the wash!
7. Because it has two banks.
8. A Jolly Green Giant.
9. Knock Knock Who's there?Irish! Irish Who?Irish you a happy St. Patrick's Day!
10.. A sham rock.
11. He couldn't afford plane fare submitted by Berta.
12. Have you ever heard of the 6-leaf clover? ?I haven't either!
13. He gets wet!
14. A leper con.

HOPE YOU ENJOY THE DAY!!

New arrivals...

Here are the updates on Linda and Melissa. You may remember me talking about Kim, Linda and Melissa all being pregnant and due within close a time frame of each other...see this post.


Well, the day has arrived. All babies have now entered this world and are all healthy.



Linda and Dan are the proud parents of Maya Isabella she was born at 4:09 am Feb 26th, 2009. She weighed 7lbs 9 oz. She is darling!

Melissa and Scott are the proud parents of Madeline Loran. She was born at 8:40am today March 2nd, 2009. She weighed 7lbs 13oz and is 20 1/2 inches. Super cute with tons of black hair!

CONGRATS to both sets of parents - Linda and Dan as well as Melissa and Scott!!