Christmas decorations

We did it. We got the xmas stuff up and got our tree up. This was an accomplishment for me this year. I really had to fight to muster any desire to do anything. Bah humbug. It sure helped get the xmas spirit going. There is something about the lights. It is really beautiful. Sarah, had her field trip and was all excited, she had me curl her hair and wanted her old "xmas" dress. She looked so pretty.
It is getting hard for Satin to jump up on my bed, so I gave her a big pillow someone gave me. It was nice to see her really take to it. It is getting hard to see her get old. She definately is an OLD friend. We have sure been through a lot together.
I took these. This is Sarah's new obsession. She likes her hair kinky. We braid it in about 10 braids at night. She is lucky she has such pretty hair. I am definately jealous.

Thanksgiving in San Diego

It was so fun to spend Thanksgiving with my family. It was so good for me to stay up talking to Rob and Crystal. It was great to get to know them a little better, and love them more. It was so fun to watch the cute little kids. I loved talking to Leah. Such big conversations we had. Little Logan, the great mimicker. Look out world!!!!!!!! What a great weekend, holiday. Thankyou mom and dad. You truly made it special with no pomp. I loved it. It was nice to get away with Stephen and drive and talk and just spend special time enjoying each others company. Thankyou Dad for going with me and doing a little meager shopping. Thankyou Jason for making that possible. Thankyou everyone for comming and making my holiday. It was great to be with family, because truly, isnt that what it is really about? Thankyou everyone, for making the effort to be there and sharing time with me. The memories are what we take with us and I truly enjoyed this one and made many. You guys are so important to me and I love you all.

The camera fairy,"goblin".

These are what I found on my camera when I went to capture San Diego. I had a visit from the camera fairy, or should I say "goblin". It is funny to see what goes on when I am not around or not aware of what the kids are doing. My little Sarah is such a stinker, but so cute. Is that possible?.......... It is funny to see her little creative mind working.

This week was Sarah's program. She was so cute up there dancing and singing. I was so looking forward to hearing her part. She got it the day before and we practiced and practiced and practiced. She could say it to the tee and was so dramatic when she said it. Then........... she got up to say the part and........ read it off her arm. Can we say mortified.... My child was the ONLY child to write her part on her hand and read it. AAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhggggggggggg. It is a good thing she is so darn cute. Love her.

The Age of Obama
Obama will need the spirits of Kennedy, FDR and Lincoln, and also a patient public.

PHOTOS
The Path to Victory
Obama's breathless race to the fin


I was so bummed last night. I have been very frustrated with the state that our country is in. It seems that these are the times that make or break people. It has been interesting to watch at work and my company is going through some changes that we have not experienced in the last 8 years. Financially I really am questioning its stability. I have watched friends, or at least I thought they were friends, make choices and react in ways I would have never expected. It is interesting what people do when they are really under stress. Sometimes, I guess that is when you really see what they are made of. I guess that is where loyalties are drawn. As the country continues to spiral it will be intersting to see if people bind together or pull apart. I suspect a little of both will appear.
I was thrilled to see the propositions that hold the family sacred were upheld. It was nice to see that the majority can still have a word. I was thrilled that at least it seems that the majority still has a foundation in what this country was founded on.
I spent the day watching the news profile what might be expected from the White House, as well as the House and Senate, for the next 4 years. I truly hope there will be a change. It is frightening to have them dominated by one party. It was amazing to see how charizmatic Obama is, I truly hope he has a plan and can initiate a change that will help the economy and reunite the country. We will see......... I guess at this point that is all we can do. It is hard to feel so helpless.

Halloween 2008

Halloween this year was fun. We carved our pumpkins Tues. night, and put them out with candles in them. The kids really had fun punching all the holes in them to create a picture and then cutting them out. We only got to enjoy them for a couple of days. I had to through them in the garbage fri. night because they were rotten. It has been so warm here that they went bad really fast.
Thurs. night Sarah had me roll her hair in sponge rollers because she wanted her hair curly. Fri. morning I woke up to her version of shirley temple. She has ring curls all over her head. It was cute. When I got home I put their makeup on and my devil fairies were off. It started off that the girls wanted to be devils, but when we went to walmart they found these great red wings and decided that they could be devil fairies. They looked cute and had a blast. It is so fun to go with them because they only want to be out for about an hour. They were pretty much done by 8:30. We came home and watched the legend of sleepy hallow. They liked that. Stephen got the privledge of staying home and passing out candy. It was a great success. It was fun to watch all the little kids. I think next year I will let Elizabeth take Sarah and I will stay home.

This week

This was an interesting week to say the least. I worked very hard Mon. and Tues and then was home on Wed. I thought it would be a good day, get up spend a few hours with the kids and then send the girls off and relax. I must have been crazy, it couldnt have been further away from the truth. Wed. turned into a big giant fiasco. First I had a big communication mishap with dingle dorf, and then when things finally calmed down from that I spent the rest of the day on the computer. Thurs. I spent the day trying to be flexible at work, and repeated that again Fri. I have been trying to work on not taking ownership of everything and everyone. It is something I really struggle with because I try to solve everything and somethings just shouldnt be solved. I have been very frustrated at work, our numbers are down and we are just not getting the volumns that we anticipated. That interprets out to not getting the hours that I need. It has really created a tremendous amount of stress. I think that balances out again to the fact Linna is being taught an old lesson AGAIN......... I must really have a thick skull. I need to rely on my heavenly father because Fri. I pulled all my xmas money out to pay bills. I was heart broken because I dont know if I will be able to replace it and I cant just skimp on xmas. Anyway, I put the rest in his hands and sure enough, sat. morning I had the opportunity to work. I truly was a blessing. I was on my last straw and I didnt know how else it was going to turn out. What a marvelous thing.
Stephen has been a absolute saving grace. He is always so good to try to help. He really sucked up this weekend. I know he was hoping to get in a lot of friend time and that totally didn't happen. He had such a great attitude about it. He was very good to help out every day and was very positive about being alone, even when I know he didnt want to be. I sure appreciate his goodness.
I havent seen the girls since Wed. morning. I hope they had a good time. I have missed them, and always do when they are gone. It will be good to have them back.
I have spent a fair amount of time reflecting on my friends this week. I have so many wonderful people that I consider friends. What a wonderful support system I have. To know that so many truly magnificent people are there to comfort, laugh, cry, love, support, share my burdens, relieve my stress, buy me hamburgers, bring me treats, is a blessing. I appreciate you so much. The ways that you inspire me to be better......... Thankyou so much.

No time.......

WOW,.... It has been a while. It didnt realize that it has been a couple of weeks since I posted an update. A friend got me into facebook.com and I have to admit it has become a little bit of an obsession. It has been fun to reconnect with girls I remember having sleep-overs with when I was a little girl. Girls that I used to hang out with when I was first discovering hanging out. It has been fun to log on and see what my friends are doing at various times of their day.
The kids are out of school this week and hanging out. It will be nice for them to not have any time committments and obligations. It will be nice to have a decrease in stress, although I'm sure I will be stressing all day at work wondering if they are making good decisions. I hope no one will dye this week.
We spent tonight watching a great movie, "October sky". What a great movie. It spurred some great conversation about education, and the human spirit. We talked about perserverance, determination, hard work, and never giving up. I hope that my kids can be passionate about life and achieving their dreams, however individual those may be. I never worried about what my parents wanted me to be. I always felt that was my choice no matter what I chose. It has been fun to dream and to watch myself occomplish those dreams. Sometimes I feel that I cant reach them fast enough, but it is always nice to look back and see progress even though at times it was very slow progress.
I have spent the last week watching the stock market spiral, and watching the marriage proposals around the country, and reflecting about where our wonderful world is going. There is a part of me that wants to fight to maintain those things that I love. I wonder where we will be in 10 years. I am amazed at how fast things can change. It truly is a privledge to be here and have what we have. It is funny how many times I have commented on how life needs to slow down and simplify. This may be the catapult that slows things down and returns us to a simpler life. If it is I hope we will appreciate all that we have and feel how blessed we are. I wonder if my children can appreciate how blessed they have been, and how hard I work to make things good for them. I think that sometimes they dont realize all that goes in to our life.
A good friend told me about a friend that she has that his wife just left for another man, someone she met on the internet. I also had another friend the same night frustrated because her husband doesnt quite get the importance of the temple and family committment. I am wondering why people dont get the important things in life, the things that really matter. It seems to me that the gospel, and our Savior are the only things consistent anymore. I am frustrated with the way men treat women. Where is the respect, admiration, and adoration that we have seen in our parents? I know the same could be said for the men that go out and work hard every day for their families while their wives stay home and loaf. I guess that I have a new respect for those that have it figured out and treat each other like true treasures. Isnt that what it is really about? I guess as I reflect about time, that is really what needs to be considered, time............ We have so little, we need to treat it as a treasured gift. I think Tricia taught me this the best. Thankyou dear sister. I reflect on you so much of the time. How you truly got it. How you treated your family, put your priorities where they should be, lived your life in accordance with what you believed, and never,never settled. Thankyou so much for your wonderful example.
Ok, maybe I shouldnt go so long....... I may reflect to much. Thankyou to those that can truly appreciate my passion, my exuberance for life, and my challenge to excell. I know it drives me crazy, I would assume it does that for others. To those others, I apologize and say thankyou for loving me anyway.

pumpkin pancakes

I had the best pumpkin pancakes yesterday at IHOP. Does anyone have a good recipe for pumpkin pancakes? I am starting to really get in to the fall season. I am wanting to bake and be very domestic. This is the time of the year that I love to be home to really relish family and friends. I love this time of the year.

I have tried to start this post 3-4 times. I kept getting interupted and putting it off. Now that it is starting to cool off, if the low 100's is cooling off, I have been spending more time outside in the yard. I love yard work and regard it as my therapy. We have laughed so many times this year at my two little trees that dad brought me. Dad brought me these seedlings last fall and they were about 24" tall. Then during the winter they dropped all there leaves and looked like two twigs stuck in the ground. As you can see they have grown immensly. My neighbor gets a good laugh about it also. He has asked me several times about my incredible growing twigs. It will be amazing to see how they grow next year. I also have looked back and try to imagine how my yard will look in 5-10 years when everything is mature. I hope the neighborhood doesnt go to the trash and I am still here to witness that. I have loved working in this yard and finally think it is where I want it. This last week I took some time off. I had originally planned on going to swiss days in St. George, but it took me so long to get over being home sick for the place that I decided not to go so soon. I miss it so much when I leave. I spent it with the kids. I went to "shadow a student" with Stephen. I went last year and had a great time. It was fun to see the friends he associates with and meet his teachers. I loved watching him in band, and particularly jazz band. I got a little emotional when they started to play. They sound so good and I was so proud of where he is at and how far he has come. I was excited about his band too, although it wasnt nearly as impressive as jazz band. It was fun to see how much he has improved, and I really have loved his teacher. I think she really makes a difference with the kids. I know mom will love seeing how much he has improved. It was fun to share our last year with her in such an intimate setting. Mom, you would have been so proud.
It was cute on friday. Both the girls came downstairs after getting ready for school and took one look at each other and couldnt believe it. They dressed in exactly the same outfits and had done their hair the same. They got the biggest kick out of being twins. Also, after school we were swimming and Sarah looked up and said, "hey mom look at my olympic dive." It was great to see what she took away from the olympics. The funny way the divers grab their legs.

It has been a great couple of days. It is hard to think about getting back into the swing of things to start a new week. It is so much fun to be home with the kids. Things run so much more smoothly. I dont know how I thought it would be fun and relaxing. There was so much to do, I really didnt get time to sit and read or relax. I had hoped to finish the host, get to the gym everyday, get caught up on my dvr list, and spend some much needed "me" time. I did get a little further in my book, thankyou Jackie, I am still plugging away. It is getting better. I only got to the gym once, I justified because I figured I was getting my workout at home. I watched one episode of bones and house, I still have multiple to get caught up on, and sadly really didnt get any "me" time. I guess my me time was spent in the yard doing therapy.
I am really looking forward to conference this next weekend. I love to spend the weekend eating and watching tv in my pajamas. Mom and Dad really did a good job enstilling a love for that in me. I count that as the best birthday present I could get. Every year I have a great excuse to stay in my pj's all day and do very little. Love it. I am glad that this year I will get to have the girls on Sunday, for my b-day, to watch conference. I hope they will always keep this as a priority and learn to love it as much as I do. I know they dont get the same exposure over at their dads. The priorities are just not the same.

Another great week

Yes, we had another great week. It is hard to know that all my weeks will not be this good. The kids have done such a great job getting their chores and homework done. I am really proud of them. Cant it always stay this good? They have been wonderful about taking resposibility upon themselves and following through.
I took the kids to the ground breaking party for the gym by my house. It was mostly for Stephen, he was meeting a couple of his friends there. You know I am pretty sure he thinks he is 19. Anyway, we were there and one of the trainers came up to talk to me. He called me by name, which initially I was impressed, but as we talked he asked why I hadnt been comming. I explained about my lack of time. He must have figured I was feeding him a line because the basic gist was that I would either be there or not and there are millions of other fat people in the world that have the same excuse. Creep. Anyway, my goal for the next couple of weeks is to try to get it back into my schedule. If I cant I will just have to wait till Feb. when the big one opens and I can go 24 hrs. a day. Ha wont he be surprised when I am there at 4 am or 10 pm. ;)
I finally had the talk with the gal that does my hair. WHAT TO DO WHEN THE GRAY HAIRS TAKE OVER. I havent been in to her in about 4-5 months. I think she get a little miffed because my roots get so grown out, again no time. But she agreed that my gray hair is gaining speed, she says bad genetics and to much stress. Thankyou dad, and grandma for the genes, and I dont see any let up in the stress department any time soon. We figured that with highlights, and low lights I will buy myself some time. I decided that 38 was probably to young to be so gray. It is pretty bad when the girls that I work with that are 50+ are less gray than I am, or the doctors greet me with "wow, Linna you are really going gray." Maybe they wouldnt notice if I was a little taller and the top of my head wasnt the first thing they saw. Maybe that is a possible solution, grow a little. ha ha ha
I started the book "Host" by Stephenie Meyer. I loved her "twilight" series. I have been promised that this is just as good. I have to say, it is hard to get into and a little weird. I have read everything from the twilight series, even the manuscript. I have really enjoyed her imagination. It is nice to sit and be entertained and escape to somewhere else for a while.

We made it. whew.

Mom and Dad left a week ago. I was a little apprehensive at first. As the week went by I had moments of anxiety and many moments of peace. I couldnt believe it. We had great week. The kids were wonderful. We only had one day when things went a little haywire. We rectified the situation and moved on. I am so proud of the kids. They handled the week perfectly. This week we are going to try to do better at getting chores done. We missed a few things, and I got them caught up this weekend. I can see how if they will really rise up to the challenge things will really run smoothly in the next couple of weeks. I am sure we will have weeks when things dont go so smoothly but I hope that we will always be able to get back on track and continue moving forward.
I was amazed this week at the passion, emotion and controversy that the political scene has brought on. Truly we must be in a battle of good and evil. There has sure been a lot of talk about proposition 102, or the marriage proposition. I spent the day reflecting on my personal committment to this issue. It is hard because I think that my initial response is to not rock the boat. I have a couple of friends that are gay and would like to have the same priviledge as we do. It is hard since my marriage turned out so badly. I did decide that marriage is of God, not that I ever questioned that, and trying to get it through alternative means is the adversary distorting our views. I love these people and they are wonderful individuals that offer a lot of good, but what they are doing is wrong. I would hope that someday I am able to find someone that loves the gospel and really magnifies the priesthood that will give me another opportunity to fulfill the marriage covenant the way it was meant to be. I have, and will continue to try to represent the gospel in a way that is pleasing to my savior. I am convinced that it is now that we have to be strong and secure in our morals and we can no longer sit on the sidelines and watch. Now is the time to step up and take firm stands on what we believe in and not compromise anything. I think the strong show of emotion is another indicator as to how important the issues are. I enjoyed Jackies blog about the election. I was amazed at the emotion it sparked. I was thrilled with the conviction. It will be interesting to see how it all turns out. I finally have some hope back as to the direction our futures may take.
I got a much needed camera this week. It was fun to play with. I took it to work hoping to figure it out. As you can see, I have a very exciting job. It seems everyone else had time to play with it. I still need to sit down and read the manual
so that I know how it works and can use it.

Yes, I got the spoiler on my car. It seems I love it more all the time. I got to fill it up with gas. WOW. I was actually giddy at the pump. I figured that I got about 22-23 mpg. What a change over 14mpg. It was almost fun to fill it up.
Stephen and I spent the weekend getting the yard into shape and revamping our relationship. It has been an interesting couple of months. He is definately exercising his adolescence. This is going to take some getting used to. I have to change the way I do everything it seems. He is much more direct in his tactics of trying to get "His" way. I am relying on my Love and Logic more each day. The girls went with their dad for the weekend. I have missed them. I cant wait for them to get home to see how their activity days stake event went. I miss sharing their activities. It is hard to let them go, but I know it is a good exercise for life. It seems I learn more each day than they do. I hope someday we will all look back and be grateful for what we have learned through all these experiences.

ooops forgot the pictures.

The New Car

This is my version of a BMW. It is probably the closest I will ever get.

Out with the old, In with the new.

I DID IT. I have been wanting to get rid of my gas guzzler for a year. I have loved the Tahoe. It was a car I had always dreamed of having. I loved feeling "BIG", and I loved being able to see everything around. This last summer when gas was over 4.10 a gallon I finally made a decision. It had to go. It was crazy, it was no longer fun to drive it when filling it up became such a burden. It was hard to take the pictures to finally put it in the auto trader. Then, like a good parent I was hopeful as calls started to come in that I would be able to find a good home for it. Someone to love it like I did. I know that seems absolutely rediculous. When it seemed hopeless, I began to be disappointed. I reconsidered my options and this last week when I knew the 2009 were coming out and I filled up my tank again and $75 didnt even fill the tank over 3/4 I decided that was it. I was tired of being a gas slave. I spent all day saturday at the honda dealership. I had initially walked in to just look. I had spent the last 4-6 weeks on the internet and talking to salesman to get a feel for my prices. I had intended to make my purchase next weekend over the labor day holiday, and I wanted one last look to finalize all my options. We played the game. Mom gracefully obliged. I went in to talk numbers and then got up to walk out, mom was waiting outside. I went to her and got in the car. Just as I shut the door the salesman with the manager were right there to make the deal. I told them their numbers were just to high. They asked what it would take to make me stay. Of course, I proclaimed my offer, and we made a deal. I spent the next 2 hours doing paperwork. I'm not sure what takes so long, and then I drove it home. I wanted gray, but when there was not one within 3 states I had to opt for a dark blue. I am pretty happy about it. Got all the things that were important to me. It is sure different driving so close to the ground. I am glad that hopefully I will not have to worry about car problems till the kids are in college. It will also be nice not to be enslaved at the pump.

Who said I need a Man?

When I was at Jackies we went to the iron store and I bought these great hooks. I really wanted something to hang the backpacks on so the kids didnt just drop them on the floor. I have dragged my feet since I got back afraid to hang them. I wasnt sure how to do it and I didnt want it to rip out of the wall. I thought about it for a week or so and then asked dad his opinion. I went to home depot to get my supplies. When I got there I asked them to get me lag bolts. The guy thought I was crazy. He wanted to know if I was hanging an elephant. I told him I was screwing it in to 3 studs and I wanted to make sure it didnt come out. He was hesitant but finally sold me what I wanted, and sent me on my way assuring me that the house would come down before the hooks. Here is my finished product. I got the studs all three times and the hooks are very secure. I was so proud of myself. I sure wish they could come up with a stud finder for me that is as easy as this.;)

Back to School...... Yah hooooo.

The kids went back to school this week. Their first day was Wed. They were so excited. We got their clothes out the night before. They all got up early, first day jitters, and we got them off on time with breakfast and happy. They were glad to see their friends. They all have good teachers, I think. Stephen was thrilled to be back at Jr. High. Elizabeth got the same teacher that Stephen had in 6th. I am thrilled about that, she will have a great year. Sarah's teacher is very young. Right out of school I think. She came home very excited about her teacher. It was cute because her teacher sent her a post card welcoming her to 3rd grade. She was very excited about that. They all came home every night very tired. By 9 pm they were all very grumpy and tired. All in all it was a good week. The girls have been at Scotts all weekend so we got a little break. They have called me every night. I think they are still missing home. They have been so cute every day in their new clothes. I got them bike locks and they ride their scooters every day. I took Wed. thru Fri. off from work. That was nice. I guess the vacation is officially over. It is back to work tomorrow. Both the girls came home with authorizations to be tested for ALP classes. I couldnt believe it, I guess their scores on their AIMS tests last year were very high. Who would have guessed. Last year was such a hard year, we struggled just to get by, or so I thought. I am glad to see at least they got my brains. ;) It will be fun to see where that goes. They were very excited to think they were that smart. ha ha ha. They are so cute. This is going to be a fun year....... Stephen cant keep his mind on anything for longer than about 2 seconds, and it always comes back to girls. Elizabeth is either crying because someone is mad at her or she is mad at someone. The horomones are running rampant here. I think my two older kids have officially been possessed. I wish someone would possess me so I could get out of reality. ;)

Back to the grind

The last week of summer is pretty much over. How exciting. We spent this last week shopping for school clothes and supplies. The kids have had a blast. It is funny to see all the piles in my closet. The kids have been in and out peaking. I had them all in bags until last night. I finally sat down and made piles. Piles with clothes, sock, and shoes. Piles with all the supplies, back-packs, and lunch boxes. The kids had a blast picking out new back-packs and lunch boxes. They are so funny about there lunches. They would rather take lunch than eat school lunch. I remember when eating school lunch was the coolest thing. Now if the kids eat to often they get on me about skimping on the lunches. They are funny. Two more days till we are officially back in the grind. We get to go back to the visitation schedule and splitting weekends. To bad heaven is over and back to all the games. I am sad to see things end, but also glad to be back on a schedule.
I have thought so much this week about St. George. I sure miss it. It is always hard to come back because I love it so much there. I have looked at the pictures over and over again. We had such a good time with the cousins. The kids have talked about it a lot also.
I also thought about going to the "New Dawn" release party. Yes, I got the new book and have been obsessing about reading it. I am going to try to have it read by the end of the week. It will be good to have that to do this weekend when the kids are gone. It is going to take a little getting back into the whole sharing thing again. It has truly been a great summer.
Sarah stayed down the whole weekend. She had a crown put on one of her molars and a filling a few weeks ago. It is infected. She has an abcess and was sick all weekend. We have been waiting for the dentist to come back in to town today to pull it out. Elizabeth said "he's going to rip it out". Sarah about died. We had to comfort her that he would be gentle.
Hopefully by next week we will have had a fabulous week, our first week of school will be uneventful and the kids will be happy to be back. I decided this week, it is time to get a new camera, since mine is stone-age digital (about 6 years old). I couldnt believe how bad the pictures were. Something that santa can bring, althought I hope he will drop it by early. ;)

Summer break with Jason and Jackie

Thankyou Jackie for a wonderful week. Thankyou for burning the candle at both ends with me. Thankyou for all our midnight talks. Thankyou for being my surrogate sister. Thankyou for making me a victim of the "twilight" series, I bought "Eclipse" and pre-ordered "New Dawn". Thankyou for the pool, splash pad, and boating. Thankyou for being such a wonderful host. Thankyou for your example of how to be a wonderful mother and even better a great wife. Thankyou for lending me your beautiful children, your lovely house and your special husband. Thankyou for "Ma-Ma-Mia". Thankyou for a boat full of laughs, and some near missed with wet-pants. Thankyou for the great meals. I dont know why my cooking never tastes as good as yours. Thankyou for putting up with me when my nose was so embedded in twilight that I couldnt pull it out if I wanted to. Thankyou for introducing me to EDWARD. I love him. Thankyou Jason for being such a fabulouse husband and father. Thankyou for taking such good care of us. Thankyou for the boating trip, although I could barely move my neck this morning. I hope you got a good laugh out of us moms. We had a delightful time. Thankyou girls for playing with my girls so well and Emma, for being Sarah's "best friend". I hope you girls will always be close. Thankyou Julia for being soooooooooooooo adorable. I love you. Thankyou Grace for scowling every time I told you "NO". I love your spirit and persistance. Thankyou Crissy for letting me dote on you as much as possible and for being my "little friend". Thankyou guys for a week where I leave my heart everytime I go there and pick it up when I return.