first fire of the year

NO MORE RADISHES

No more radishes for me, or at least only a few at a time. Come midnight last night -- had a stomach ache. Hope no one else was effected.

We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet

We were so blessed to meet President Uchtdorf and President Monson. I approached President Uchtdorfd and asked if I could meet him! He got a smile on his face and shook our hands then spoke with us for a few minutes. He complimented us and told us we had a beautiful family. Then about 2o minutes later we met President Monson. He also spoke with us and played with Mayzie. Poor Myles slept through the whole things. He commented on Mayzie's earing too. Wow. I am just so star struck. I am still shaking. What wonderful men. I am so grateful I had this opportunity to meet them. They have such an abundance of the spirit. There was light radiating from them both. We feel so blessed. I could go on and on. WOW!

worried about losing pictures, etc?

About a year ago we signed up for Carbonite.com. It automatically backs up nearly everything on our computer. Pictures, etc. (not some copyrighted stuff like Turbo Tax). It costs about $50.00 a year. A discount of about $10.00 for using Russ Limbaugh's name. It has taken away the worry of not having something backed up. I sleep better now.

SUNDAY DINNER 4-25-10

Menu:
Taco Salad
Birthday Cake & Ice Cream
(Michael, Austin, & Mandi if she can make it)

Unusual...

So where's the post about what's for dinner this Sunday??? I have been waiting all week! ;-)

I need honest opinions

Is it even possible to get an honest opinion from this family? I trust Lori, but not the rest of you. Here is your chance to earn my trust. I am working on a handout for a lesson on Family Traditions and I just don't know about this one. I would use the Smuckers jars of "preserves" pictured because the colors will match my tag. The jars are really small - 1.5 oz. What do you think? Honestly:

4 - love it

3 - like it

2 - neutral

1 - don't waste your time.

fond memories

On my way home from Costco just now I saw a few lemonade stands. Reminded me of a fond memory of Trek. Years ago, when Trek was quite young he called us and invited us over. Said he was having a sale. "BRING YOUR MONEY" were his parting words.
When we arrived there were several item of food on the kitchen island, including small cups filled with "water". The water was delicious, so are the memories.
We have sweet memories of each one of you. Happy that we are all in the same family and that it continues to grow. More memories a come'in.

Spanish Fair!!

Today I went to a spanish fair at BYU with 20 people from my school. We did a skit with everyone and got superior!! Then we all had individual presentations and mine was show and tell. My friend and I got excellent! I was so excited and I had SO much fun!! We also got free t-shirts and it was so fun to walk around campus and act like we were in collage. :) Overall, our school got 1st place! I loved it!! (I don't have any pictures to show...)

April is Exciting for Us TOO!

Oh wait. Not really.

But hey- I can't let Kristy show us up now, can I? Hee hee. Kidding. :-)

I go to work. I sit in a store that gets very little business from 10-2 every day. Then I go to my other jobs- either at the Scera or at a little preschool and dance studio that's close to our house in Saratoga Springs. By December 31 both of our cars should be paid off!!! (If everything goes as planned...)

Chuck goes to work. His company loves him and he got a nice raise today- that's happy. He writes on his blog.

We ride bikes.

He attempts to teach me basketball.

That basically sums up our lives.

The end. :-)

CONGRATS to Kristy on graduation and for Travis and his new job! YIPPEE!!!

And yay for Steve (who I have never met!) coming home!

Great April for Us!

Mayzie turns one tomorrow and she is walking!Myles is just as fun and cute as ever. He will have preschool graduation next month. I will let you all know on here if anyone would like to come. He's very excited. He has also been faithfully watching his plant grow and gets excited more and more the bigger it gets. He was put under general anesthesia last Friday for some dental work to be done. I was very never, but he did great. We told him that he was going to go on a rocket ride. Astronauts wear masks they breathe in so he would have to as well. By the time he was supposed to go back he was super excited and went back with no problems. But... then he came out of the anesthesia and he hadn't been on a rocket so Mom and Dad had to deliver. Luckily I remembered there was a park in PG that had a rocket in it so we went and played there. Then he was hungry because he hadn't eaten so we stopped to get him some fruit, but it was mixed with honeydew so the lady was so nice and gave him a cup up cucumbers. He was one happy boy with is cucumbers. :)

Travis has 2 more days left at the "trailer park"! Wahooo!!! I'm so every excited! He starts the academy this Friday. We'll let you know how it goes. There are going to be days of no fun when he comes home all beaten, tased, and sprayed with pepper spray. Pretty much they do all to him that he might ever have to do aside from shooting him. It will be a great raise for us though, as well as health insurance!

Tax season is over (well for me at least since I only worked weekends)! My internship paid me! I have finished all my credits to graduate. I graduate on April 30th at 11:00 at Noah's in Pleasant Grove. Travis won't be able to make it because he can't miss a single day at the academy. I'm very sad. I have been asked to speak and I'm really nervous. I haven't started writing my speech yet because I do much better under pressure. I'm going to keep it under 5 minutes, which is really only about a page and a half or two so it's not too bad, but I've never spoken in front of people before. ICK! Here's the problem. No one really cares or wants to listen to graduation speeches so how am I ever going to keep their attention? *Sigh*

Reupolstered chair

No pressure from Grandma, huh? Really, it wasn't worth all the hype.

Finally a picture of the chair......Good job Lisa!

Sunday Dinner up-date

Since some will have to leave early, we will begin at 4:00 p.m. this Sunday. But don't worry if you come later. We'll have plenty of food. Looking forward to seeing you!

OUCH!

So today Trek and his buddy went up for some Spring snowboarding. This is the result of one of his jumps. I'm relieved it was only his wrist. I've been expecting a call saying he broke his neck. Crazy boys!

chair

I'm trying to add a picture of re-upholstered chair but it won't let me do it. Can't add any pictures. Something wrong.
Help Karlene.

p.s. I am so hoping this isn't another humbling experience where I find out the something wrong is ME.

Elder Olsen coming home

I hope everyone knows that they are invited to come to the airport when Steve comes home! I am CERTAIN he will hope to see you all there!!! He flies in at 1:23pm on Friday, April 30. I totally understand if you can't be there(may a camel spit in your eye). The time has flown by and I can hardly wait to have him back!!!

A thought, imagine that.

I just had a thought, possible even a profound thought. So I'll share it.
"Children can't appreciate their parent's love for them until they also become a parent themselves." So kids, appreciate your parents! They love you more than all of your friends combined, and then some. Plus a parent's love lasts forever.

Yesterday we were watching Conference and Austin started watching it about the last 15 mins or so.... When it was all over and they had said the prayer Austin looked at us and said "Ok lets go to nursery now!!"

Professional looking re-upholstered chair

Lisa re-upholstered this chair. Did a great job of it!
(You ask what chair? Help Tom, need picture. Thanks)

SUNDAY DINNER 4-11-2010

Just a reminder -- we now start at 5:00 p.m.
Menu
?not sure yet, maybe Oriental Chicken Salad?
Rolls, Butter, Jam
Birthday Cake, Ice Cream & Toppings

sent our last letter to "Elder Olsen"

(click on picture to make it larger)

HEY! Where are the prom pictures from Whitney and Trek. You can't just flippantly mention they were at Prom during the monumental changing of the Grant and Mary odometer and then not put up some pictures...

love the birthday peoples pictures

CHANGES

This month is the 30th anniversary of when the LDS Church changed it's meeting schedule to the three hour block -- in March 1980.

Craig says that the Church has made another schedule change. All wards will follow the same schedule of starting Sunday meetings at 9:00, 11:00 or 1:00. Their ward now meets at 2:00 p.m. (a terrible time). Changes effective May first. Yeah!

In keeping with the tide - we are also changing our Family Dinner time to 5:00 p.m. Of course, we know everyone can't arrive at 5:00 so it's still "come when you can". We'll have plenty of food. Just that we'll plan on beginning and saying the blessing at 5:00 p.m. and end sometime before midnight.

We love having you all come here (hay, we used to live in Texas so it's ok to say "you all") and it's a great blessing that we all get along so well and enjoy each others company. A BIG plus is that the little ones enjoy playing with their cousins so much. We just love it.

Surprise!

Saturday night grandma called our house and said she had a big surprise for us and to come out and see it. Well, of course we all ran out to grandma and grandpa in their trailblazer (Me, Ron, Baylee and Brinley. Trek and Whitney were at Prom or else they would have run out too) and grandma says, "Look at the speedometer! 100,000 miles!" Smack dab in our driveway. Ron asked if they had been driving around. Grandma said, "Yes!" It was a photo op and I took it so all of you could enjoy the surprise too! You all know what a THRILL grandma gets out of this stuff. So cute.

EASY MONEY

I heard that the Check Cashing place buys gold jewelry. I was embarrassed to be seen going in it but I snuck in and sold an old gold necklace for $57.00 and a white gold ring for $83.00 and some old gold earrings for $1.80. Should have kept the earrings but they actually have to damage (discolor) the jewelry when they test for the quality of gold so I went ahead and sold them also. Check out your old neckless and maybe you'll find some easy money too.

Check it out.

Now is a good time to go to
time.gov
then click on Utah
the shadows are straight up and down
they normally are at an angle, depending on the time of year.

Mary's Wednesday Babble

Often when driving down the freeway and seeing the long line of cars that goes on as far as the eye can see, I think of something Isaiah wrote, many years ago, about our chariots (cars).
". . . neither is there any end of their chariots." Isaiah 2:7
A great description of what we see today, there is no end of our chariots. Pretty good proof that he actually did have a vision of our day.

Green uniform

Bureau Commander Chief Deputy Shane HudsonCorrections Bureau Commander Chief Deputy Rollin CookIntake at the Salt Lake County Metro Jail

What do all of these pictures have in common? The first two will be coworkers and the last will be apart of Travis' new job description!

Travis was offered the job as a Salt Lake County Sheriff Correctional Officer!!

The academy will start April 16 and goes for 16 weeks. When he graduates from the academy he will be sworn in as a Special Forces Sheriff. We are very excited and very happy!

Good job honey.

Good News

Grant had expected to fly to Portland on Sunday morning for his participation in the trial (BSA being sued for $14,000,000.00. An assistant scout master accused of sexual abuse of a scout - back in the 1980's, when Grant was the top guy in the council) but come to find out he doesn't have to leave until Monday morning. This means he will be here for our Sunday Dinner get-together! I say, Yeah!

SUNDAY DINNER 3-28-10

It's not Easter Sunday on the 28th but it's our Sunday to get-together so we'll do the Easter Dinner thing. Ham, Yummy Potatoes, etc, etc.
Lisa will do her traditional hiding of jelly bellies and "guess how many in the jar".
Hope everyone can come.

The other day Craig, Mike and Tyson were in Smith's and Mike went into the bathroom followed a minute later by Craig and Tyson. Craig called out to Mike, who was in a stall, and then held Tyson up to look down on Mike and said, "Tyson, who do you see?" Tyson didn't say anything and then Mike came out of the next stall. Craig, realizing he was holding Tyson over the wrong stall looking down on the wrong person, pulled Tyson down and said, "Oh, sorry guy!" and quickly left the bathroom!

Believe It or Not...

It's been ONE YEAR as of this Thursday, the 25th!!!!

Happy anniversary to me and Chuck!!! :-)

Cool Shades

I had to post Mayzie's shades. She didn't even try pulling them off! So cute!!!

Mary's Wednesday Babble

(click on picture for larger view)

Do you remember what you were doing four years ago today, March 18, 2006?
Well, some of us spent HOURS driving from fabric store to fabric store searching for just the right fabric to choose to represent us in our upcoming project of making "Family Quilts". Then we came back here to my house and spent more hours cutting, sewing and ironing. It was great fun and with such great results. We all LOVE our quilts.
Thanks Lori!

Pictionary FHE

A few weeks ago we played Pictionary for FHE. Grandpa was out of town, so we invited grandma to come over. See if you can figure out the picture:





Baylee: kidneys (thought for sure it was appendix)
Brinley: Sunrise
Whitney: Around
Trek: Jumper cables
Grandma: the word was defect, but she misread it as defeat(we didn't guess it)haha
Karlene: Mosaic (look close)No one got that either:(

Family Activities

Mark your calendars for June 21 and 22. On Monday (21st) we plan to go to Hogal Zoo and This is the Place Heritage Park . On the 22 we'll be at Seven Peaks. Grandpa's treat. Hope everyone will be able to come and join in the fun.

fun blog

KC and EM have a blog that is updated often with pictures of their triplets. Check it out at
www.teedle.blogspot.com

clever way to make an announcement

The chicks in the top picture are about five inches tall and two weeks old. Myles calls them "big chicks". The three baby chicks are just three days old. Myles will see them Saturday and hopefully let us call them "baby chicks".

We have new chicks at our house

Mary's Wednesday Babble

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."
This comes from Plato (429-347 BC). Good advise.

Zebra Queen

(Zebra, meaning my floors are now black or white.)
I have been trying to clean the grout on my tile floor for the last couple of days!
I've rented a Sargent Steam cleaner that is supposed to be fantastic but it isn't so great. It's a lot of work which I wouldn't mind if it worked the first or even the second time but I am having to do it four times! Meaning steam it really good, let it dry and stream again and again and again! and it still isn't perfect.
End result = a zebra looking floor.
I have become a great fan of linoleum!
My mother never had so much trouble with her floors.

SUNDAY DINNER 3-14-2010

Menu
HAWAIIAN HAYSTACKS
dress Hawaiian (if you would like to)
P.S.
Hey Karlene I need a picture.
And how about you and kids teaching us the hula?

stunning!

Mary's Wednesday Babble

Actually, this week it's good stuff, not just babble.

After everyone left our house last Sunday, I found this written on a note paper.
When you can't sleep at night don't count sheep, talk to the Shepherd.
Good suggestion. Lisa said that Lori told it to her for a possible handout.

In keeping with the above message I thought I would include two of my favorite scriptures. D&C 84:88 and
I Nephi 21:14-16
Would love it if some of you would tell us a favorite of yours. You could add them in Comments.

The brethern at the BYU game

The other day at the BYU game, Pres. Uchtdorf and Elder Bednar were there. I had to zoom with my little camera so the quality is bad, but I thought it was fun! Next to Uchtdorf is Pres.of BYU and he usually has at least one of the well knowns there, but it was fun to see 2 of my favorite people!!

State Road 92

As you know sr 92 is undergoing new construction. There is a video that is kind of fun to watch that shows how the road will be when finished.
click here on www.udot.utah.gov/sr92/
then click on the middle of the picture, then the sound emblem (lower right of picture).
It's worth watching.
P.S. sr 92 is the road between Thanksgiving Point and Alpine.