Can we really not afford it?

You Are Invited...
to spend a half day (or even a full day) in the temple each month Here is what monthly temple participation will do for you:

1. If a man, you will become mighty; if a woman, powerful.(D&C 109:22)
2. It will serve as great "insurance protection" for your marriage.(D&C 132:19)
3. The blessings of the Eternal Gods will be called down upon you, and great spiritual growth will be yours.(D&C 109: 12&14)
4. Unseen angels will watch over your loved ones when Satanic forces tempt them.(Acts 27:23)
5. Your families will draw close to the Lord and there will be no empty chairs in the Celestial Kingdom.(Hymn #301)
6. Your children will all go on missions.(D&C 109:58)
7. You children will get married in the temple.(Conference Talks)
8. The veil will be thin, you will have great spiritual growth, and many spiritual experiences will distill upon you.(D&C 138)
9. You will be prepared for exaltation--with a celestial body, a celestial mind, and a celestial personality.(3 Nephi 12-20, 3 )
10. You will become receptive to divine guidance and you will receive spiritual perception to help you grapple with your problems and cares.(D&C 38:30)(D& C 3:1-3)
11. You will see clearly how to make critical decisions that weigh heavily on your mind.(D&C (109:42)
12. You will become Christlike.(D&C 109:22-25)

Travis and I have thought about trying to come up with a way to get everyone together to the temple once a month. I think we will just decide on a date and temple and then let you all know via the blog. If you can make it great, if not, hope to see you next month!

Love this kid

April 22nd

This is our reminder to go to school on the 22nd

or your living quarters might be too cozy.

You would look cute in orange,

but stay away from tattoos!

Okay. So I went before the judge today for the second time in a week. Me and all the other drug heads, shoplifters, and stalkers. Man, all I did was drive over the speed limit a little bit. Does that make me a criminal? I sure felt like it as I watched those in orange suits with chains on their wrists and ankles taken back to their cell. Now I have to go to traffic school! Traffic school! I could teach traffic school! I'm not nervous about going to traffic school, I'm more nervous about forgetting to go to traffic school. So this is my request, please don't let me forget on April 22nd, I have traffic school at 6 p.m. sharp! Because I am NOT going back to that courtroom again! It freaked me out.

Gage and the miserable trip to the Hospital

Poor little Gage is doing much better. These are pictures of his fourth day in the hospital. Hopefully he will be able to come home Sunday 4/5.

On top of everything else, Mandi and Bronson are also sick.

Several times a day, Gage needed to have a deep suction to clear his lungs from the accumulated mucus. When the nurse came into the room and put on the yellow gown, poor little guy knew what was coming and would get such a sad look on his face.

EASTER SUNDAY (4-12-09)

Looking forward to Easter Sunday dinner.
Menu:
Ham (Erin Sanderson's recipe)
Yummy Potatoes
Pretzel Salad
Etc. etc.

I have fond memories of a few years back when I couldn't remember where I had hidden the Easter candy and some of you grandchildren became obsessed with finding it. Fun!

After dinner, we will have funeral services for Lenny. You remember Lenny, he was the little hidden imp in our monthly newsletters. He is no longer in the picture and will be laid to rest in a lovely spot in our back yard. Anyone wishing to express words of appreciation may do so at that time. Viewing just prior to services.
P.S. UPDATE
Sorry the viewing and funeral has to be postponed!!! Probably a first in all of history. Karlene, Ron and kids will be out of town so we will have the services when they return. Put Lenny on ice.

Two things to post, one good, one not good

First the not so good- Gage has been in the hospital for the past two days with RSV, but he should be home Saturday. Even thou he's sick, he has been such a trooper. He rarely crys, and trys to smile. He smiled a lot for Lori. Ron stopped by to show his support. Mandi and Bronson are holding up pretty well. They really appriciate everyones love a support. Bronson' s mom, ChrisAnn, is going to stay with them until Sunday. Keep them in your prayers.

(This is a picture taken in healther times)

On a happier note Chuck, Amy, and all the parents met at Grandma's (and Grandpa's) house Wed for Chuck and Amy to open their wedding presents. They got lots of cool stuff to start their new home and lives together.

Thank You, Everyone!

We are so glad for all of the support at the wedding dinner, Sealing, and reception. Everything went so well. It was so fun seeing everyone there.


Here are just a couple of Amy's STUNNING bridals.




The honeymoon has been great. If you've never been to Steamboat Springs, Estes Park, or Fort Collins, Colorado... go. They are great. Steamboat has more to do than the other places, but all were amazing.

These first two photos below are of another great place- in Midway, UT called Johnson Mill- Bed & Breakfast. We'll definitely be returning to visit this place.





Amazing food in Steamboat Springs, CO:


Estes Park, CO:



Next on the list: Open presents and hopefully move into our new house... let's hope!

-Chuck & Amy

Band Concert

Jessi and I have a band concert on April 7th. Its at Canyon View Jr. High. I think it starts at
7 pm.

Watch out!

I love that everyone is getting the hang of this!! So, March flew by! Trek is turning 16 on wednesday and has already asked a girl to the Prom in May! He is anxious to get his license so I don't have to go everywhere with him. And so am I buddy! He made the Lone Peak soccer team so he's been busy and he played great tonight with one goal and a few assists. Whitney is running for Student Body Secretary as most of you know. I tried to post the video, but the computer wouldn't post it. (I'm sure it wasn't me:)Baylee has to get a minor surgery done in her mouth on friday. She has a cyst on the inside of her lip that has to be taken out at the surgery center. I really wanted to post a picture for you all to see, but she said "no". Party pooper. Brinley has a lead in the school play. She is Ophilia in "Hamlet" so she going to be doing a lot of memorizing of lines. Ron just bought a new (to us) lawn mower and trailer. He and Trek are hoping to get a little business going this summer. I am getting excited for Conference this weekend! I love Conference weekend! Think Spring! We love you all so much! "R" gang :D

Emergency prepairedness challenge

I just finished CERT (citizen emergency response team) training. I learned more how to be more prepared for home and community emergencies. So my challenge for each family member is to make sure you have a fire extinguisher in your home. Also to keep a box of baking soda in the kitchen next to the stove. Any kitchen fires, especially oil and grease fires, need to be smothered. DO NOT ADD WATER. Review with your kids how kitchen fires need to be put out.

Okay, that is the challenge. Post a comment when you’ve completed the challenge. If anyone has any other tips, please post.Tom

YELLOWSTONE HERE WE COME!!!

We finally have firm conformation on the cabin rental. Money has exchanged hands and we have the Island Park cabin reserved for July 6,7,8,&9th (Mon, Tue, Wed,& Thu). We will arrive on Monday and leave on Friday morning. We reserved a fourth night so it will give everyone time to go into Yellowstone Park if they want. Also we will be able to celebrate Jessi's birthday while in Yellowstone. A great place to have a birthday. I AM EXCITED!!!
Love - Grandma & Grandpa

Mommy's BAD

So Austin was really quiet this afternoon and all of you who are moms know the quiet means bad news! So I walked in to the bathroom and Austin was sitting on top of the toilet and he had gotten into the baby lotion that I had just bought and I left out….whoops ….. he put lotion ALL OVER HIS FACE! And then he thought it was funny cuz mommy was taking pictures of him!

"MEXICAN FIESTA" (sort of)
(having themes was Ben's suggestion)










This Sunday, March 29, for our family dinner
Menu:
Enchiladas (Brook's suggestion)
Fajitas (Karlene's suggestion)
I do appreciate suggestions – keep them coming!
Love - Grandma

What we're up to!

This cute little bug is POTTY-TRAINED!!! We are so excited for him! He has done really great and it was a lot better than we all expected. He still wears a diaper for naps and bedtime and we choose to stick him in a diaper for long periods away from home just so we don't have to deal with the public toilet thing. He even tells us when he needs to go when he has a diaper on! I am lovin it! On average we are using only 2 diapers a day. Lots of times he wakes up after his nap dry, but I just don't want to mess with it yet. Or I just don't have the energy. Which leads us to our next cool thing! We have less than three weeks left until Mayzie will be here. My doctor will induce me on April 14th, but he said I won't make it that long. I'm at 2cm and 50%. I have regular contractions each day for anywhere from 2-5 hours. I was so excited to hear that they are doing something and I'm not just in pain for no dumb reason. It makes it that much easier to do. My goal was to just get through the wedding (TOMORROW!!!) and my shower (Saturday) then we are good to go. Considering I went from 2cm to 10cm in 3 hours with Myles we are looking at any day.

Life here is pretty great, just hanging out and enjoying the fact that it's spring and spring weather is just around the corner! We love you all and you will be the first to know when Mayzie makes her appearance.

STUCK!!

Austin has been loving the weather! He wakes up every morning and immediately asks if we can go on a walk……. So we end up at the park at least every day and sometimes a couple times a day. On Wednesday we went to the park, Austin was playing and I was sitting on the grass with Tyson (Mike & Macae’s baby) when I heard Austin calling my name and yelling STUCK! And this is how I found him……

Taking pictures of Tyson was so much fun yesterday at my parents house.....he is just sooo CUTE

WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

It's our 52nd wedding anniversary today!
52 YEARS together. I can't even imagine life without Grant but I can imagine "forever" together. A temple marriage is wonderful because it gives us that possibility. Wishing all of you a wonderful and happy marriage.
Love - Grandma

EMBARRASSED

How embarrassing! Why didn't you take the picture when the bubble was BIG. I am embarrassed that someone might think I can only blow tiny bubbles.
Grandma

Zona's casserole recipe

Brown:
1 lb. extra lean GROUND BEEF

Add & sauté:
1 large ONION, chopped

Add and heat through, then serve:
About one cup (more or less?) cooked RICE
1 or 2 cans TOMATO SOUP, undiluted (I use Campbell's condensed)
1 can CORN, drained
1 or 2 tsp. CHILI POWDER

P.S. Chili powder wasn't originally in this recipe but I like to add a little.

Note: Actually, I had never written this recipe down until now (3-6-09). Ron asked about some recipe that we used to have when he was a kid. He described this recipe but I thought he meant Tamale Pie so he and Whitney made that one night. It wasn't the one he was thinking of. Hopefully this is the right one. We'll know soon, serving it tomorrow (some of us getting together to work on our Family Quilts, a three year project so far).

P.S. #2 (3-7-09) Ron says it's the one. He loves it.

P.S. #3 (3-9-09) I was happy that nearly everyone wanted this recipe. This morning, Mike even called and asked for it over the phone. Made my day! My challenge now will be not to serve it too often.

History:
When we visited Zona and Walt at the Steiner Ranch, Zona always had a nice dinner fixed for us. This recipe comes from her ward's Relief Society cookbook. We all loved it.
The Steiner Ranch was quite a few miles away from a store so they always served powdered milk rather than fresh. After everyone had finished eating, Walt would go around the table and pour any left over milk, from the individual glasses, back into the pitcher, then place it in the fridge! Zona usually mixed up a fresh pitcher before dinner and that was the only milk I ever drank there.

love - Grandma

Hey, I love this! I've been writting in a journal for years and years and no one has any interest in reading it (including me). But now I have Readers! Yeah!
More to come.
Love - Grandma

Karlene this is soooooooo cute, little shamrocks all around and everything! Thanks for all you do.

I already e-mailed to some of you but just in case you didn't get the information we are going to have a Hawaiian Luau on Sunday for dinner. A couple of weeks ago I asked for suggestions for dinners and got some great ones. Ben suggested theme dinners and Jacob suggested Hawaiian Haystacks. This Sunday we are going to do both. Should be fun.

Aloha - Grandma

So I was upstairs getting ready for us to all go somewhere and when I came down this is how I found my 2 boys! I guess I was taking WAY to long! ha ha!

Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned Part two

I came across this video at a time I think I needed it most. These are a few of the thoughts I had. What were some of yours?

I think there quite a few lessons that can be taught from this story. First and probably the most obvious is that we need to always be generous to others. Second, while a simple joke may be funny to some, it's not always funny to others and we never know what situation they may be in physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Third, teaching by example is usally the best method and the lesson learned is often more valuable.

Brinley had her Valentine's dance. I put this picture up because I love it and she'd probably kill me if I put one of her dancing with a boy:) We received her registration papers for 7th grade. weird huh? She's really excited right now because she was able to get her point shoes in ballet. Here come the blisters. ouch! Baylee, however, hurt her knee in dance and has to have it wrapped. It just popped out of place and she fell on her wrist. I probably should have had her wrist x-rayed, but she says it feels a little better. Oh! This was fun. Trek said in seminary last week, they got "called on missions". He opened his and guess where he went? Mexico! funny huh? He said it got him excited. Whitney is busy with school. She has the Spring Fling dance coming up. It's a casual dance, thank goodness, because it's girl's choice again. Trek has been asked by several girls if he's 16 yet cuz they wanted to take him. He just misses the dance by a week or so. But he'll be able to go to prom. Again, very weird. It's fun the kids are growing up, but so crazy!
Happy blogging! We love you all! Love, "R" gang :D

Count down/up

I am working on finding a missionary ticker for Steven. I don't really want a count down, but more like how long he has been out! Chuck and Amy, if you want a different countdown then just find one you like better, I didn't really know where to look. If anyone else wants a countdown just let me know! There are lots of cute ones for prom, graduation, etc.

I am glad we have this thing going! I think it will be a lot of fun to share information with the family as soon as it happens and show lots of picture!

Love you all!