Happy Birthday Tiffany!

Happy Birthday Tiffany! This is my amazing sister in law Tiffany! She is the most wonderful sister in law ever! She has kept me from the loony farm on more than one occasion! She is generous, kind, great psychiatrist, sweetheart, beautiful inside and out & fun person! I truly love her and don't know what I'd do without her! I'm glad she consented to marry my brother Randy! I admire her so much. She has been through alot over the years I've known her. I admire her faith, how hard she works to live the gospel of Jesus Christ. I admire what a great mother she is. She truly is a woman of God. She strives to be the best she can! (Even against amazing odds sometimes!) I hope you had the best day! I'm so glad to call you my sister and my friend! I love you!

Christmas Morning!

We had a most relaxing and enjoyable Christmas Day! Our girls slept in until 9am! Yes, that's right! 9am! I came from a family of boys that woke us up at 4am. It was crazy! I think 9am is a little late, but it was nice to catch so much zzz's!

We opened gifts and then Hillary and James joined us to open a few more gifts. Our girls draw names and it was fun to see how each one of them tried to think just what that sister would like to receive.










































Then we watched a new movie we received - "Kung Fu Panda". Later in the afternoon we went to see my parents and give them their gifts. It was a fun day and I was so sad when it was over! We work so hard and then in a blink of an eye it's over!

Grandma's Jammies

My Mom has been making pj's for all the Grandchildren for years now! It is a Christmas gift that they all look forward to. They really missed the pj's last year as she was on a mission, but true to form she worked hard and got all 24 pairs of pajamas made! WOW! She bottled each of us married kids (6) and the married granddaughters (2) quart and pint jars of pinto beans for our food storage and then she lovingly made TAMALES for each of us! YUMM-O! They were so good! You could just taste all the LOVE that went into them! My Mother is amazing! I love that she tries to give gifts of the heart! They are the best gifts!

(The lovely hair extensions on the older boys aren't real! They usually look like good looking future missionaries!)

Family Christmas Parties

We had such fun family Christmas Parties! I totally forgot to take my camera out of my purse at the Durfee gathering! It was really fun. I loved doing it before Christmas day. It was fun to see everyone and feel more relaxed and rested than in the past. Check out Hillary's blog for pictures! She was the smart one and took pictures!

Our Moore Christmas Eve was a huge success! There was a sweet spirit there and our "program" had a more spiritual feel! I loved it! It started out hillarious with the five snowmen singing and dancing, but got a little more solemn as it went on. The highlight was Colby singing a song she wrote! It was beautiful! I'd post it, but guess who didn't have their camera! Oh well! We had lots of fun!

Ready Or Not - Here It Comes!

Well - we are in the final count down! Only 3 more days left before Christmas! Whatever isn't done, probably won't get done!

I'm pretty much done with everything but wrapping! I wish I liked wrapping. It is so NOT my favorite thing to do! I'm thinking of putting everything in boxes and letting the girls wrap tomorrow! Not the best idea I've ever had, but I'm feeling sort of desperate! Frankly, I just want it done!

I also have some baking tomorrow. But then I will be officially done! Tuesday we will clean and get ready for the Durfee Christmas Party!

Wednesday I think I'm going to just lay around and relax! YEAH! Right! Ha ha ha! I'm sure there is something I've forgotten! Whatever it is, I plan to get a little R&R in! Although there will be some food preparations for the Moore Christmas Eve party!

I love Christmas! I can't wait to see my kids faces Thursday morning! And just to be able to forget the cares of the world for a whole day! To watch movies, hang out with my friends and family, read, maybe catch a nap or two!

Who am I kidding... the kids are home from school...Well, maybe it won't be relaxing, but it will be a different pace of life! Did I say I love Christmas? 'Cause I DO!

Merry Christmas From Our House To Your House!

Merry Christmas from our house to your house!
All the joys of the season to you.
May this day find you healthy and happy,
May your dreams and your wishes come true.

May your tree be as bright and sparkling each day,
As the Christmas star above.
May your stockings be filled but mostly we pray,
May your house be filled with love.

May each room ring with holiday laughter.
May your hearts sing with holiday cheer!
Merry Christmas from our house to your house.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas to You!

(written by Larry Beebe Sung by the Durfee Family Singers)

12 Days of Christmas!

I love traditions and we have LOTS of them! Some of my favorites are ones we have at Christmas time! I thought I'd share one of my personal favorites! This one was adopted from my friend Theresa. It has been modified and fine tuned to what it is today!

We have three little trees set up in our family room. Hanging on the tree's are 12 tags. One for each of the 12 days of Christmas. My kids really look forward to seeing the tags get put on the trees! On December 13th we start the 12 days of Christmas as a family. The idea is to spend time as a family enjoying the Christmas season as a family! It's so easy to be stressed and busy and not take the time to relax and enjoy each other. I used to buy games, puzzles and movies as gifts for Christmas that we never played or had time to do together! Our 12 days of Christmas tradition stretches the fun and anticipation throughout the month! We have learned to adapt the 12 days to activities that we have like Ward parties, concerts and family parties, but we still take the time to do things with just our family!

This year we are spending our 12 days of Christmas like this:

1. Baking Day (We had so much fun Saturday making cookies together!)
2. Puzzle Night (Vaughan & I choose a new puzzle, I wrapped it and we opened and started putting it together yesterday! They are working on it as I type! This is fun because they will spend the rest of the month putting it together! The kids LOVE this one!)
3. Holli's Choir Concert (We just got back from this amazing concert! It was fun to listen to beautiful Christmas music and support Holli too!)
4. Game Night (I bought a new game...It is wrapped under the tree and ready to be played! We will spend the evening enjoying our new game together!)
5. Story Night (I like to buy a new Christmas book every year. We have a very neat collection of Christmas stories. Some short, some for children, some longer! I put them out each year and we re-read them through the month.)
6. Temple Lights. (It wouldn't be Christmas without a drive to see the temple lights and then a drive around town to see light displays in various neighborhoods! We like to sing Christmas songs and end up at home for hot chocolate and donuts!)
7. Shopping Night. (Some years we have done this earlier and shopped for our "giving tree" recipients. This year we had to modify it - Mom already bought the giving tree gifts, so we will go shopping for our "sister gifts".)
8. Ward Party.
9. Movie Night. (We love Christmas movies at our house! I try to buy a new one each year. This year I bought "The Nativity" - I thought Sunday would be a good day to have our movie night!)
10. Deliver Goodies. (We like to make treats for our neighbors! We will deliver them tonight!)
11. Durfee Family Party. ( The Durfee family is making a change this year and having our Christmas party on Tues instead of Christmas Day! I think this will be fun and make Christmas Day a little more relaxing!)
12. Moore Christmas Eve. (We will have our traditional FIESTA Dinner and gift exchange. We have a family talent show after dinner and then the cousins exchange their gifts! Our talent show is pretty low key - basically you perform if you want to and it's one per family! We have music, a story and singing! Sometimes it is pretty hilarious!

Crutches Aren't Fun!

The Tues before Thanksgiving Heidi hurt her foot at dance. She called the house and asked us to come get her from dance - early. So we picked her up, looked at her foot and determined that yes, she had hurt her foot - put ice on it and it will fix it up! It was swolen and bruised, but not to crazy. By the description of what she did - some kind of turn and her foot rolled, we figured she just pulled something - strained something - no big deal.

So we decided she should go to school Wednesday and then she could stay off of it and nurse it for the long weekend. Well, Wed afternoon it wasn't looking too good, so we called my brother Marc, who is a physical therapist and asked him if we should bring her in. He had Hillary do some things to check it and said it was probably some pulled something or other and to ice it (which we were) put an ace bandage on it and stay off of it and he would check it the next day at Thanksgiving.

So, Thanksgiving night he comes over and takes a look at it. By now it's a lovely shade of purple and blue and it's not too swolen. But it hurts to walk on. He took one look at it and said, "this isn't what I thought it was. I'm pretty sure it's broken and she need's to have it checked." BUMMER! So, I ask him if the podiatrist isn't open on Friday could it wait until Monday when they open again. He thought that would be ok as long as she didn't walk on it at all. Until then she had been hobbling around on it. So we continued the ice all weekend and got her some crutches and on Monday morning (I let her stay home from school this time!) we went to see Dr. McKay. YEP, it's broken! So, the poor kid had been hobbling around for almost a week before we did anything! There goes my chance at Mother of the Year!

We were blessed that although it's a pretty bad fracture - one that takes alot of time to heal - everything was still in place, so she didn't have to have surgery. Also, he put Heidi in a removeable cast. She is so lucky to be able to take a shower and not have one of those miserable plaster casts! She has to have it on 24/7 unless she's bathing. She is on crutches for at least 3 weeks. We've already gone for the 2nd visit and he threatened her with the plaster cast because someone told on her... (I really didn't know he would make such a big deal of it, or I would have kept my mouth shut!) She had been taking the cast off while she was laying there doing homework, but apparently, that's NOT ok! She has been very good since that visit! We go back in a week and she may get to lose the crutches and walk on the cast. I think she will be very glad for that day! Of course, school will be out for Christmas Break, but at least there will be no crutches for Christmas! I told her Santa would have to take back the skateboard he got her. She didn't seem too concerned!

Luckily, dance is over for the month of December. And the recital isn't until April. So, she will be spending January observing. She also will miss being in the Fiesta Bowl Parade! We were sad about that!

She's really been a pretty good sport about it all! Of course, it probably is pretty nice to be waited on hand and foot, not have to do your Saturday chores or pretty much anything else! It was nice though to have her sit and do all the cookie dough rolling on baking day Saturday! What else could she do???

These pictures are about 2 weeks after the fracture, so most of the bruising is gone.

We Wish You A Merry Christmas!

I love Christmas! We've been decorating the house - a little too slowly! Hopefully, we will be done this weekend! But at least there has been minimal stress! So the house is looking pretty good! The shopping is just about done and I'm ready to start thinking about wrapping and baking! I still have some Christmas projects to finish. (shhhh can't give them a way - "top secret" It's Christmas you know!) But mostly I'm just enjoying the season! I LOVE Christmas movies and most evenings Holli, Heidi, Hope and I are sitting in the family room watching the Hallmark channel and whatever movie is airing that night!

My niece had this on her blog and I thought it was cute, so here it goes:

1.Wrapping paper or gift bags? Mostly wrapping paper. Half the fun of Christmas is opening packages!

2. Real tree or artificial? Three years ago we converted to an artificial tree! Best thing I've ever done! I LOVE it! It's alway as beautiful no matter how long it's been up!

3. When do you put up the tree? Soon after Thanksgiving. Usually within a week.

4. When do you take the tree down? New Years Day!

5. Do you like eggnog? Not to drink. I love to smell it and mostly I love making French Toast with it! It makes the BEST french toast! We just had some last night! Breakfast for dinner - Yummo!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Anything given to me by my Dad. I still have the charm that hung from a necklace and my first two cassette tapes - Glenn Campbell and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (think "Rain Drops Keep Falling on My Head".)

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Do I have a nativity scene? Try a whole room full of them. Our whole living room is decorated with nativity scenes! The Family room is for santa's and snowmen. Kitchen is gingerbread men and candy! But the living room is all about the Savior. I have NO idea how many. I'll have to count when we finish putting them up this year. I use to get a new one every year... but I sorta quit that!

8. Hardest person to buy for? Heather Anne! She insists she doesn't want anything. Well, that's NO fun! I still don't know what I've getting for her! Arghhhh!

9. Easiest person to buy for? Hope and Hillary! They love everything!

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Hmmmmm - I'm not sure. I remember the worst Christmas. It was the one where my brothers looked all over the house finding all the gifts and then told me what I was getting. Unfortunately, I also joined in and we unwrapped and rewrapped presents while Mom & Dad were out for the evening! Hated that Christmas! I knew what I was getting and it wasn't any fun! Because of that experience I don't even hide my kids gifts. I tell them to go ahead and look, but it will ruin your Christmas and you will wish you hadn't. As far as I know they have never peaked!


11. Mail or email Christmas cards? mail for sure! I LOVE Christmas cards!

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I love them all! I've hardly met a Christmas movie I didn't like... I'm a self proclaimed Christmas Movie junkie! But these are definitely some of my favorites and ones that I own: Elf. Miracle on 34th Street (new and old). Muppet Christmas Carol. The Grinch(both the cartoon & Jim Carrey versions). White Christmas. It's a Wonderful Life. Christmas with the Kranks. The Santa Clause 1, 2 & 3. Santa Clause is coming to Town, Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman, A Year Without a Santa Clause. Way too may to name!

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? when am I not shopping for Christmas? I usually make my Christmas list in August. But officially, the day after Thanksgiving!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes, Hillary received the same doll for her 1st and 2nd Christmas. I was so dumb and gave her way too much. After Heather was born I regifted some of Hillary's first gifts which were practically brand new! That is so funny - I haven't thought about that for years!

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Potato casserole, fudge, carmels, DIVINITY! Russian Teacakes and ginger cream cookies.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Definitely clear!

17. Favorite Christmas song? I have to agree with Alicia - Josh Groban's Christmas Album. It is amazing! Also, "The Forgotten Carols" Love it too!

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay HOME!

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen - Rudolph!

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? We've had an angel for most of our married life - But a few years ago I found this beautiful victorian metal star that I love! So it's a star for now!

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Not stopping to enjoy it all! I'm trying to slow down and just enjoy my family and all the fun. I alway wish I'd "remembered the reason for the season" more! That's my goal this year!

23. What I love most about Christmas? Pretty much everything~! What's not to love! I wish the magic of the season would last longer. That people would be kind all year long, not just for a month. That the movies on tv would be good, clean, wholesome and uplifting for more than one month! The music, the lights, the crisp cool air! Mmmmm hot chocolate and apple cider! Love it all!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

a little late! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I did! I was so fun. We spent the afternoon and my brother's house. It was quiet and peaceful!

The sisters spent the post thanksgiving dinner hours planning our shopping for the next day! Well, come to find out, AZ Mills was going to be open at 12 midnight. Hmmmm, shopping all night???? Well, it sounded like a good idea. Go shopping, finish shopping by say, 10 am. Sleep for a few hours! No big deal, right? WRONG!

First off, EVERYONE in the state of Arizona decided to shop at AZ Mills. I'm not exaggerating! We left our house at 11:30. We did not get to the parking lot until 1:00. There was so much traffic on the freeway off ramps that we were moving like snails. (think coming home on the 4th of July from up north.) When we got to the parking lot there were NO parking spaces. Every time someone would come out of the mall towards their cars six vehicles would come out of nowhere all trying to get the space! It was insane. To top is off we were in a HUGE SUV! (should have brought a toyota!) We finally scored a parking spot just before 2:00 am and were entering the mall shortly thereafter!

The mall was a madhouse! If you have ever been to Disneyland on an especially busy day. This would have been worse! It was very disappointing! And an experience that I will not repeat! The highlight of the evening was being with my sister and my daughter! Now that was fun! We laughed and made fun of ourselves until we cried we were laughing so hard!

After surviving that experience we decided to head to Kohl's. Hillary and I parted ways with Cindi so she could join up with her hubby, who apparently likes to shop with his wife! Kohl's was a great experience! We did enjoy a disneyland type line, but that's ok 'cause Target wasn't open yet! We got to Target just after we they opened, which was the plan, and purchased the items we needed. By 8:00am I was fading fast! But not Hillary! Oh to be young again! She wanted to go to Michael's! So I drove her there. She also wanted to go to about 3 other stores! My body was willing, but my eyes were not! They were having a hard time staying open! By now, I had been awake for 24 hours and I didn't have it in me to stay awake much longer! I waited in the car while she went in Michael's. I thought I could take a cat nap and maybe feel rejuvenated! But that didn't happen!

We drove home. I crashed, almost before my head hit the pillow. Hillary took Heather and went to finish her shopping! She's such a die hard! I slept so good! (despite a few interruptions!) When Hillary came home she laid down on my bed and that woke me up! It was about 12:30. So I decided to get up and shower - thinking maybe I would go out again and finish up! But, that didn't happen! And I'm perfectly fine with that! There is alway next week to finish up, and I really don't have much more to do!

All in all it was a pretty successful day! But I did learn - staying up all night to shop really wasn't worth it! So, next year I'm back to my traditional shopping experience!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had our 2nd Thanksgiving that evening with the Durfee's! It was fun visiting and seeing everyone. Like I said before! I love Thanksgiving! Now it's on to the next fun holiday! CHRISTMAS! I guess I just love holidays!

Mmmm, It Smells SO Good!

I LOVE Thanksgiving! All the yummy food and family! Today is baking day! (Also known as the day before Thanksgiving!) I've started my pumpkin pies and they are in the oven baking! I have a few more pies to go and LOTS of rolls to make! I have to get all the baking done so the turkey can cook tomorrow! How fun is that!

I will probably be making rolls most of the day... that means SCONES for dinner! YUM -O! I've been tempting my family all week with thoughts of those hot scones coming out of the fryer!

This is definitely one of my favorite day of the year! And to top it off, It's RAINING! Love, love love it!

It's Finally Here!

Today is the day I've been waiting for! It's chilly, cloudy and looks like RAIN! Can you believe it? Finally, a fall day! It feels good enough to set up the Hot Cocoa Station! Every year I set up this cute hot cocoa/apple cider bar that is nothing short of yummy! It usually comes out when I decorate for Christmas! But my kids have been asking me for it for two weeks now! I keep telling them it's TOO HOT! But I'm going to surprise them today and set it up for when they come home! How fun! Bring on the cold weather! I am ready!


















Everything you need to make a yummy cup of hot cocoa - peppermint sticks, hershey kisses, marshmallows and chocolate sprinkles!

If you choose apple cider - don't forget to add the red hot candies! YUM! And eat a yummy butter cookie for a sweet treat!

For the weight watchers there's herbal tea! Come on over and have a chat and a cup of warm yummyness!

Home Away From Home Daycare

That's what I've decided to call my daycare services! And YES! I'm going to start doing day care out of my home! Just a few kids! So if you know anyone who needs babysitting services send them my way!

I've got to get some "grandchildren" some way! And it will help us make those financial ends meet!

Today it's YOUR Birthday!

(Vaughan's Birthday last year!)

So today is my honey's birthday! Vaughan turned 47 years old! (He's older than me for 9 whole months!) I thought I would post a few of the things that I love about Vaughan! Not in any particular order! (I'd do 47, but I don't think I can stay awake that long!)

1. Vaughan is the most amazing father! I often hear "poor Vaughan - all girls!" But I know Vaughan has never felt that way! I don't know a more perfect man to have all girls! He is so patient and sensitive to their *ways*!

2. PATIENT. Need I say more?

3. Kind. I don't think there is a mean bone in his body! He does like to tease, but it is never done with unkindness.

4. Sense of humor. Ok - so I think his *jokes* are pretty ha ha funny (sarcasm in the ha ha funny), but he is pretty good at telling them! His ability to quote funny movie lines is hillarious!

5. Beautiful voice! I love to hear Vaughan sing! When we were first married I used to ask him to sing to me whenever I couldn't sleep!

6. I love how Vaughan honors his priesthood. He serves whenever he is asked - willingly. I don't think I've ever heard him complain.

7. Smart! (I was going to say intelligent, but I wasn't sure if I could spell it! :)) What would we do without a smart Dad? He helps the girls with their homework almost every night. Sometimes there is a line up - Heather with college math, Heidi with chemistry, spanish and algebra, Holli with history, math and science and Hope - yes, even Hope won't let me help with her 4th grade work. (Look - I graduated from HS. I got pretty good grades too! I can read!)

8. He puts his family first! I know we are number 1 on his list! Not that other things don't have to come first sometimes, but even when they do, I know he would rather be with us!

9. Date night! We have had a date night once a week since we got married! Vaughan makes this a priority! I love knowing that I will have at least one night a week that we can talk and just spend time together. This saved me when Vaughan was going to school! I used to live for Friday nights!

10. Hard worker. I know - no matter what comes - Vaughan will always provide for us! He works hard to provide our family with all that we need - both spiritually and physically!

11. Spiritual Giant. Vaughan is constantly studying and learning. He reads books that are to heavy for me to pick up let alone read! I love learning from him. I love having him explain things to me and helping me understand what I'm reading in the scriptures or studying.

12. Which brings me to the next one - Amazing Teacher. He is such a good teacher. This is probably what makes him good at helping the girls with their homework. He has even helped tutor a couple of his nephews in math. He can pretty much teach anything. If you want to know something in the scriptures... ask Vaughan, if you need help with your outdoor cooking skills... ask Vaughan. About the only thing I wouldn't ask him is measurements of cooking. Like, "honey, how many cups are in a quart?" I do remember asking that question and having a cooking fiasco! I solved that problem! I made a chart, so I just refer to that now to jog my memory! Hey, you can't be perfect at everything!

There are so many things I could say that I love about Vaughan! But mostly I just love him! So Happy Birthday honey! You are the best! Thanks for the best 25 years of my life and for being my one and only!

Baby Shower Fun!

For Young Women's tonight we held a baby shower for "Mother's In Need". Each of the YW brought a shower gift (which they signed up for). Most of them only cost $1 up to $6.00. They put together these *gift bags* with gifts in them. Each gift bag had a fleece blanket, onesie, hat, pair of socks, 5 - size 1 diapers, a small toy, bib and outfit or pajamas. They made a cute gift tag congratulating each of the new mothers on their new baby. We then played traditional baby shower games and ate yummy cake! The cakes were so cute! They were in the shape of onesies! A cute blue one and a cute pink one!

What a neat service project and fun evening! Thanks Cyndi & Jamie for a job well done! We need to repeat this one for sure! I hope the girls had as much fun as I did!

Coupons = Savings!

Who says using coupons doesn't pay off? Many of you probably know that I have been a subscriber to Coupon Sense for 7 years now. For those that do not know what Coupon Sense is, it is an online subscription service that tracks the coupons that are in the AZ Republic and they also track what is on sale at 8 stores here in the valley! The way to save money using coupons is to use a coupon when the item is on sale! Whala! Savings! Anyway, I've been a *user* for 7+ years and an instructor for 6+ years! (instructor: one who teaches people how to use the Coupon Sense program!) OK - this post is SO NOT meant to be an advertisement! (But if you want to know more... I'm your gal! :) )

The grocery stores around here have been having the BEST sales lately! Of course this is the BEST time to shop and stock up for you pantry. I usually do most of my shopping in the months of October and November. It's when I stock up on things like flour, sugar (white, brown and powdered), chocolate chips, veggies, fruit, pumpkin, canned milk, tomatoes, tomato sauce, soups, oatmeal, oil, and many other items! If I work it right I won't have to buy most of these things until next year!

So Fry's is having a MEGA EVENT - buy 10 participating items get $5 off at check out! It is an amazing sale with many items! If you have coupons, it gets even better! So please indulge me and check out these pictures! On Friday, when I was suppose to be cleaning my house - getting ready for a family get-together at my house on Saturday - I went to Fry's - 3 times! It was SO fun! My first order cost me $1.98 - I bought 30 items. My second order cost me $8.88 - I bought 34 items. My third order cost me $21.25 - I bought 35 items. I spent a total of $32.11 and got $320.88 worth of groceries! WHOO HOO! It was so fun! This is my kind of roller coaster ride! I know I'm easily thrilled, but I really do enjoy this stuff! Anyway - my food storage is looking great and I'm enjoying the fun of shopping the deals!
























These are my $1.50 items!




















These are my $1.00 items!




















These are my $.50 items!




















These are my FREE items! That's right I said F R E E !

Family Proclamation

Tonight for Family Home Evening we read the Family Proclamation and discussed it and what it means as a family. Sometimes I think my kids *know* this stuff. It's been around for awhile so why wouldn't they know it! But all day I have felt like this is what we needed to do as a family tonight. Nothing remarkable happened. It was pretty much like any FHE. Someone fell asleep (besides me... and I only slept for a couple of minutes.), it took us 15 minutes to actually start FHE because there was so much giggling and silliness, and someone's cell phone kept vibrating. (no names - I'm protecting the guilty!) But there was a sweet feeling as I heard my kids answer the questions Vaughan asked of them and they really did seem to "get" it.

What an inspiration this document is. How inspired. Who would have though in 1995 when President Hinkley read this that we would be where we are today. I'm so grateful for "watchmen on the tower". For living prophets to follow and be guided by. For families. And especially for five silly girls and one terrific son in law! (And one absolutely AMAZING husband!)

In Loving Memory

Yesterday Hillary, Heather and myself had the privilege of attending a funeral for the husband and son in law of some friends of ours. Officer Shane Figueroa was killed in a car accident while on duty as a police officer. It happened in Phoenix, Arizona.

I have never attended a funeral for a fallen police officer. It was very interesting with all the "pomp and circumstance" that takes place. It was very spiritual and made me think about what was really important in my life. I learned what an amazing young man he was. He was only 25 years old. Married for not quite 2 years. He left a beautiful wife and a three month old daughter. He served an honorable mission and led an honorable life. A good example to those he came in contact with!

This is when I am so grateful for the knowledge of eternal families and for the knowledge that we will see and be with our loved ones again. Shane and his family have this knowledge and belief. I'm sure it has helped them through this very tough time.

My thoughts and prayer have been with them this entire week and will continue. This experience has hit me close to home. I keep thinking about my oldest daughter (who is the same age as Shane's wife) and what she and her mother must be going through! I hope they are feeling our love and prayers that have been uttered in their behalf! I have always thought much of this family, and I still do! We love you guys and pray for you!

Stars of Excellence

I'm still floating on air over our excellent Evening of Excellence that we had on Wednesday! Everything turned out so perfect and so right. There was such an amazing spirit there. The YW did such a great job. Our theme was "Stars of Excellence". We had gold star balloons and twinkle lights under white tuille on the display tables. Cute star decorations on the tables that everyone sat around! The refreshments table had a cluster of three gold star balloons. We served *finger* desserts! Little cheesecake bites, brownie bites, butter cookies and mini eclairs with ice water to drink. One of our YW sang a beautiful song "To Be Like Him". It totally set the spirit! And then eight of our YW dressed up as women from the scriptures who have been "Steadfast and Immovable" read a narration about their lives and how it applied to one of the YW values - Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Works, Knowledge, Choice & Accountability, Good Works & Integrity. Between each of the girls parts we showed some of the girls on dvd telling about what they displayed for Evening of Excellence. They did such a great job. There was such a sweet spirit. It was just amazing. I've been to MANY Evenings of Excellence and this one will always stand out as one of my favorites! I am so grateful for this amazing opportunity I have to walk among these Young Women. They do so much for me and help me so much! I'm also grateful to have the YW program and the Personal Progress program as a mother! What a wonderful way to help our daughters return to live with a loving Heavenly Father! We are so blessed to have these tools to help us as parents raise our children in righteousness! Enjoy this song! I've been listening to it alot! (Thanks Jamie H. for finding it!)

I've Been Boo'd by Krista!

So here is how the Blogging Boo will go. Go to as many friends as you want and tell them they've been "B00-ED". Have them link back to your blog to pick up their Halloween Treat (picture) and tell them to Boo their friends. (Then put the pic in your side bar so everyone knows that you've already been "boo-ed and to send the pic to someone else.)So be watching your comments to see if you get booed!

"Doubt not, Fear not"

I've been trying to read something spiritually uplifting each morning. Maybe the scriptures, a article in a church magazine or other publication. Kind of a morning devotional of sorts! It has been inspiring and uplifting. I thought I would post something today that helped me! It is taken from an Ensign article by Elder Anthony D. Perkins, "The Great and Wonderful Love" November 2006.

"place your burdens on Jesus Christ. When you feel overwhelmed by expectations and challenges, do not fight the battle alone. Follow the example of small children, and drop to your knees in prayer.

Jesus Christ has commanded us, “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.” Doubt, fear, and worry indicate we have taken all of life’s burdens and anxieties on ourselves. When plagued by thoughts that you are inadequate, confidently say, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Then as you “cheerfully do all things that lie in [your] power,” you can rest assured that the Lord will do the remainder and things will work out all right.

The Savior promised, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” As you “cast [your] burden upon the Lord,” you will feel the peace of the Spirit."

Make it a GREAT day! I love you, Diane

DEAD FRED

So my cute Laurels wanted to have a Halloween Party. We decided to have a costume party and eat dinner. Two of the girls have a family tradition Halloween Party where they eat "dead Fred". Sounds morbid I know, but it was pretty cute! Fred's head was a pumpkin and we put spaghetti in a bowl placed inside the pumpkin. Inside his shirt is a basket full of breadsticks (his rib cage!), then on top of a pair of jeans (his torso and legs) was a bowl of salad (not sure what this was suppose to be, but I'm sure it's gross!), a bowl of green jello w/ grapes (eye balls and toe jam) and I made pumpkin bars just because! We had green lemonade (scary brew!) to drink! I put dry ice in it and it looked pretty cool if I do say so myself! It turned out to be a very fun evening. We played a game called Encore after we ate!

Pressure Canning Drama

So I have been wanting to learn how to pressure can chicken for quite a while! Well, my sister finally was able to help me learn! Let's just say every mistake I could make I did! It was the most stressful day ever! It started out with me trying to use my Mom's canner. I got ALL the chicken put in jars. Loaded the canner. I used the burner on our gas grill outside because we weren't sure my glass top would be able to handle the heavy canner. Well, I couldn't find the *How To* book and we couldn't get the darn thing to work. Apparently, it is the "old" style and my sister's canner is the "new" style. So after an hour of trying that we decided I should follow her home and borrow hers. (why didn't we do that in the beginning???) So I get the hefty thing home. Go outside. Unload the *other* canner and load the *new* canner and start all over. I called my sister so she could make sure I'd done EVERYTHING I was suppose to. I crank up the heat and sit down to watch the spout for a steady stream of steam! Of course by now it is 8:30 at night. It's dark outside. But I was determined that I was going to CAN CHICKEN! After about 20-30 minutes and no steam, I'm commenting on how long it is taking and I realize "Oh my gosh! I forgot to add the water to the canner." How dumb can I be? Apparently, pretty dumb~! So, in a panic I turn off the heat and start asking my sister "What should I do?" Of course she doesn't know, 'cause she's not as dumb as I am and has never had this experience. No pressure had built up (of course!) so I undo the lid and again unload the canner, add the water, and reload the canner. Seal the canner, turn on the heat and again sit down to watch for the stream of steam! Of course, telling myself how dumb I am the whole time! Can you say "Rubber Chicken"? Well, miracles of miracles the steam finally makes a showing. This took a LONG time. Then I got to watch for the pressure to build up. Again, this took a LONG time. Then I got to watch that the pressure stayed at the right number for 90 LONG minutes! FINALLY, at 1:00 am I was taking the jars out of the canner and letting them cool until morning. I'm happy to say they all sealed. (How could they not?) My sister tells me that I will never make these same mistakes again and that I "sure learned a lot!" Hey, guess what! Chicken is on sale again this week! Anyone want to come pressure can with me? What? No? Ahhhhh, ya Chicken! LOL (I would of posted a picture of the jars of chicken for proof, but to be honest they look kind of gross to me. Like a science experiment in a jar! ewwww!)

It's a Piggy Party

Shaelyn eating her *Pig in a Blanket*

So we decided for Fall Break we would have a Piggy Party! What is a Piggy Party you ask! Well, you invite all the cute girl cousins over for a sleep over. You eat piggy foods like - pigs in a blanket and pink cupcakes! You make cute pig noses and watch "Penelope" of course! We had so much girly fun!

Holli Piggy

Four Little Pigs

Sleeping Pigs

How Cute Is This?

Oh to be young again!
Ok - maybe not this young! tee hee!

I LOVE Fall!

I really do! This weekend it finally felt like fall is in the air! I'll take it any way I can get it! Today I am putting up my Halloween/Fall decorations. I think I have too many. I am feeling overwhelmed by it all. But every time I try to cut anything out I get weeping and wailing from one daughter or the other! "No, not that ghost!" "You can't get rid of that witch, she's cute!" Arghhhh! Heaven forbid! Oh well, I'm just going to "deck the halls!" with it all and be glad I have someone in the house that actually appreciates all the work that goes into celebrating the season! It's starting to look cute already! :)

Sad Sign of the Times!

Halloween could really stink this year!
(I hope this isn't in poor taste. I apologize if this a little "close to home" so to speak!)

I Am Glad For Many Things...

GRATITUDE - I have thought alot about gratitude lately. I've thought about the blessings I have. I have SO many!

In my life I have not always had a positive attitude. I think I did when I was young, because in my Patriarchal blessing it tells me to "keep my optimistic attitude because it will help me in a world that is filled with sadness and trouble that is causing men's hearts to fail them because of the trouble they feel unable to handle." (my words & translation of course!) As I've had life experiences I have learned what a blessing a positive attitude is! Recently, I learned just how much a positive attitude helps as I experienced an especially difficult time in my life. Sometimes, you just have to "fake it - until you make it"! I have a picture of the Savior by my computer that says "I never said it would be easy. I only said it would be worth it." In another part of my Patriarchal blessing it says something like this too.

I think about this often. I have learned that when we have an attitude of gratitude life just doesn't seem so bad. On especially difficult days I love to kneel in prayer and tell my Heavenly Father thank you for everything I can think of. This has helped me through some of those dark days that happen occasionally. I'm not perfect, I still get down and unhappy - but I find that listing my blessings helps lift me out of those sad feelings.

I've used this same principle when I'm having trouble thinking positive thoughts about people. Like children who are frustrating me, a husband that isn't perfect :) or just someone that I'm having trouble seeing their "good" side! It has helped me in my quest to develop Christ like love. I have so far to go, but I'm so grateful to have a loving Heavenly Father who is so patient with me.

There is so much unrest around us right now. It would be so easy to succumb to negative thought. But I won't! There is hope! There is so much good! So much to look forward to.

I titled my post "I am glad for many things" after a primary song. It goes "I am glad for many things, that are mine today! Thank you Thank you, My heart sings. Thank you for the many things That are mine today!" That is how I feel! My heart is so full of gratitude: for a loving family, the best husband in the world, children who are good (not perfect... but trying to be), a beautiful home where I feel peace and love, parents - who taught me to work and faith in the Lord, Brothers and Sisters, food to eat, a car that runs, employment, adversity to make me stronger, a church calling to help me grow, friends - who love me for who I am (with all my faults), a prophet to lead and guide us, knowledge that my Savior lives and loves me - enough to forgive me when I fail and pick me up again and again, a loving Father in Heaven - who listens to me pour my heart out to Him and loves me unconditionally. And so much more that I won't bore you with!

I truly am GLAD FOR MANY THINGS!

All Is Well!

I woke up Wednesday morning and realized "My Mom & Dad are home!" and then I knew - ALL IS WELL WITH THE WORLD! Everything just feels right again!

I know they loved their mission and really miss it, but I'm so glad to have my parents home! I just want to hang out at their house and not do what I "should" be doing! As a matter of fact, that is what I've been doing!

It's so fun to sit and visit with my Dad and work along side my Mom as we try to get them unpacked and organized again!

I'm so proud of them and all they've done in their lives! They are the best example of working hard and serving the Lord! I hope to be just like them when I grow up! I still have so much to learn from them!

The world is so crazy right now! It's hard to know what is going to happen next. But as far as my world goes -
ALL IS WELL!

Grandpa & Grandma Moore seeing Baby Ava for the first time!

Family Love

I just spent 3 hours with my brothers and sisters and their kids! It was so FUN! It's been so long since we spent quality time together. I haven't seen some of my family for awhile! So I just had to blog about the fun time I had visiting and observing each of them! They are all so amazing! It was fun to talk about what is going on in the world and the gospel and how it all applies to us! It makes me realize how important Family Ties are. I am so grateful for the gospel and for a family that can be together for eternity if we do our part!

Dad and Mom will be home in 11 more days! So there will be lots of fun family gathering and enjoying one another! I already can't wait until the next time we get together. Do you suppose that is how it will be in HEAVEN when we are reunited again?

I just thought of a song I used to listen to when I was a teenager... It was called "Where is Heaven"

The last line goes... "Where is Heaven? It isn't very far, When you're with the ones you love it's right where you are!" I guess I had a glimpse of heaven tonight!

Happy 38th Birthday to my Brother!

I have been blessed with FOUR brothers! Yes, I am blessed! I have to admit I didn't always feel so! I mean really - FOUR brothers is a lot! I only got ONE sister! NO FAIR! But she's pretty special, so it kinda evens out! Anyway, Monday, September 15th is my brother Marc's birthday. Marc is eight years younger than me! Being the oldest of them all has been NO Picnic, but I love each one of them for who they are!

Marc is a pretty special guy! He has always been a good example of living a Christ centered life! He is a great husband and father! I don't know how he finds time to do all the things that he does! Or how he has the energy to keep up with his amazing wife! He has five sweet children! Four girls and One boy! What would Marc do without his son! Marc is a big sports lover! Not that his girls don't know how to play in the dirt! They are their mother's children after all! But I know Marc enjoys having a son to coach in football and do those scouting things! Marc is a Physical Therapist at Moore Physical Therapy! (His own business!)If you need a good physical therapist he's your guy! He's the best!

I love you Marc and hope you have the best birthday ever! Thanks for being there for me whenever I need you! Enjoy your FIESTA!

I met an ANGEL!

I've been holding these thoughts inside. Not sure if I could share them. They are kind of sacred and special to me. But then I decided that I should write them down and that it would be ok to share them. I hope you understand and feel the sweet spirit that I felt...

Sunday we took the youth in our ward to the Randolph Center in Coolidge. We met at the church at 7:00 am and got to the center around 8:15am. We gathered together and the person in charge gave us instructions and told us some stories and what we were going to be doing. Then they split us up in groups and sent us off to get our "friends". The people who live at the Randolph Center are physically and mentally challenged. Some have downs syndrome. I really don't know all the different challenges that they have, but they are special people. I don't know what I was expecting... certainly not the experience that I had. I have to admit I was nervous about being there. I wanted to have a good experience. I wanted the youth to have a good experience. I remember sending several prayers upwards asking to be able to "come out of my comfort zone" and be able to do what was asked of me. I really wanted to reach out and show love to these special people.

I ended up making friends with Mark. What a special person he is. Mark has the most beautiful chocolate brown eyes I've ever seen. He didn't speak. He sat in a wheelchair not really doing much. Vaughan and I pushed him in his wheelchair back to the gym where we all met. We talked to him as we walked. When we got to the gym I bent down in front of him to talk to him and took his hand. He latched on to my hands and wouldn't let go. I ended up spending my whole time sitting in front of him holding his hands. We sang mostly primary songs the whole time. I told Mark how special he was. How much fun we were having. I looked in his eyes and sang the songs with him. One of the "regular" helpers came by and told me a story about Mark and how special he was.

At one point while we were singing Mark started responding. It was slight, but somehow I knew he was responding. He would look at me and raise his eyebrows one at a time. One time he looked kind of sad. Later he would look at me again, this time he smiled. OK - it wasn't a big all over face smile, but it was a Mark smile! I just knew it! I told him how much I loved his smile! Again, one of the "regular" helpers came by and noticed him smiling! He mentioned he hadn't seen Mark smile in a long time!

The last song we sang was "I am a Child of God." That song took on a new meaning for me. I could feel myself losing it! I wanted to just hold Mark and sob. But I knew I had to keep it under control! It wasn't until later that afternoon that I let myself think about this experience, really think about it, and feel it! Then I could let the tears fall. The thought came to me later, that I really shouldn't be sad about Mark's earthly state. He is loved. Heavenly Father is mindful of him. Just like he is of each of us.

Sunday I met an angel. His name is Mark. I don't know much about him. But I know he is a child of God. That Heavenly Father loves him. That he touched my heart. I haven't been able to get him out of my mind. I hope he never leaves my heart. I am so grateful for the beautiful experience I had. I was hoping and praying that it would be a positive one. It was. The spirit was there in such a sweet peaceful way. It was so hard to leave. But it was time to go. I told Mark I loved him. Because I did. I didn't know you could love someone you hardly knew and would probably never see again. What a lesson Mark has taught me.

I have often thought about the Savior and wondered at the love he has for us. I have wondered how to feel "Christ like love". How does He do it? Sunday, I came a little closer to understanding. I still have a long way to go, but I think I've taken a step closer to knowing my Savior. Thank you Mark. I love you!

My Visual DNA!

I thought this was fun! Not sure it's completely true, but it's pretty close!