Service

I signed our family up for the Give a Day, Get a Disney Day program. I love going to Disneyland, especially when it’s free. And what a great opportunity for our family to work together and offer service in our community. It’s a win-win for everyone! We volunteered at the Safe Haven cat shelter in Scottsdale. I’m not an animal person but I knew the girls would be in heaven, surrounded by cats and kittens. The Safe Haven Cat Shelter is a house that a bunch of cats occupy; no humans live there. The house is divided in half and the older cats occupy the front of the house and the kittens occupy the back half of the house. Volunteers go everyday to scoop poop, wash the floors, and feed the animals. It takes a lot of work to run the house. Seth tinted the windows, I vacuumed the floors and cleaned out a closet. Rachel and Alex got to groom the cats, hold them and have fun with them. Our volunteer guide mentioned that 60% of the Disney volunteers are no-shows. Can you believe that? Who wouldn’t want to get free Disney tickets and offer some service at the same time!

You’re probably wandering where Jeremy was during our two hour service project. The shelter only needed four volunteers so Jeremy stayed home and offered service for our family. He cleaned the pool and mowed the lawn. After we were all done with our service projects we took the kids to dinner at our new favorite burger joint, Five Guys.

 

Sixteen – The Sweetest Number

It’s official, Jeremy is old enough to date and drive. Happy 16th Birthday Jeremy! We had a family party with a cake that I made and my sweet husband decorated to look like a guitar pick. We also made some of Jeremy’s favorite foods for his birthday dinner. This is an important milestone because he will advance in the priesthood and because he is ready to receive his patriarchal blessing. I was very impressed when Jeremy approached his dad to get the ball rolling, he’s already had his interview with the Bishop and received his recommend. Next call is to the Patriarch!

2009 Top Ten List

At the end of each year we create a list that highlights the memorable moments that stood out for us as a family.

1. Impromptu Family Trip to Knott's Berry Farm
2.  Wicked
3. Seth's New Job
4. Jeremy Got His Drivers Permit
5. New Hobbies;Guns & Ammo
6. Girls Trip to California
7. Seth's New Drums & Bass
8. No Kids For 5 Straight Days
9. Someone Turned 40
10. Survived One Year Together As a Family

Storm Damage

The media are claiming that this week's storm is one of the strongest ever (top three) sustained by the Phoenix metropolitan area. We didn't get that full force felt by L.A., but we did have record precipitation and winds in excess of 30 mph. Sky Harbor Airport was closed during much of the evening, several highways were closed — I-10, AZ-101, I-17, I-40 — and tornadoes were reported but not yet confirmed.

At home in Chandler, we didn't escape the torrent. Scroll down to see the destruction in our own back yard!

 

(Actually, a couple forty foot acacias fell into our back yard. Click to see the pictures.)

Lots and Lots of Snow!

A couple days after Christmas, Evon and I packed Jeremy and Rachel into the car for a road trip to Utah. We got there just in time for a terrific snowfall. Alex flew into SLC the next day from spending Christmas with her dad. We spent the week at my parents’ home in Pleasant Grove and packed the week (a little too) full of fun! Here’s a little montage that shows how a family from the Arizona desert will go crazy when they see the white, powdery stuff.

We ate in the Lion House Pantry and met my fifth cousin, Sandy, then toured the Beehive House. We walked around Temple Square and stopped in the Tabernacle and visited the Church History Museum. They have the actual pistols Joseph and Hyrum defended with in Carthage Jail. We toured the Conference Center where we saw Arnold Friberg’s twelve original Book of Mormon paintings. We played in the snow, built snowmen and snow forts, went sledding, visited friends who use to live in Arizona, visited cousins and aunts and uncles and second cousins. We went tubing in Soldier Hollow and had the best burgers and shakes at Dairy Keen in Heber, UT. We drove to the west desert and plinked targets and snowmen. We went shopping at BYU Bookstore and looked at everything in BYU’s Museum of Art and saw Avatar in IMAX 3D. And somehow we found time to play Risk for hours and hours.
Happy New Year to you and your families. We wish you peace, happiness, good health and success.

Our Early Christmas

Our Christmas was wonderful this year. We began, as is now becoming tradition, by getting together with our family here in Arizona for Christmas Eve dinner. This year, though, it was held on the 19^th. After a delicious dinner, to which everyone contributed — excellent smokies, Lindsey! — we played our annual white elephant game. We play it so that each item can be stolen three times only and no more. As you can see, everyone is vulnerable.

It was a night of excellent food, good fun, beloved family, and perfect timing … because we planned to celebrate Christmas the next morning — almost a week early! Jealous? Alex was flying to California to be with her father and family. Rachel and Jeremy were spending Christmas day with their mother and family. So we opened presents December 20 in the morning. Know what Santa brought? Three guesses!

We hope that you had a wonderful, Christmas.

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my four children on demand, visited their doctor's office more than my doctor, sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground and figured out how to attach nine patches onto my son's boy scout uniform with staples and a glue gun.

I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze; but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month two pregnancies ago.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals; and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with three kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother," because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season.
Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely.

It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don't catch cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always,

Mom

P.S. One more thing...you can cancel ALL my requests if you can keep my children young enough to believe in Santa.

(Author Unknown)