Saturday, July 28, 2007

Lainey said...

Danner: Hey Lainey, I made you dinner tonight. How do you feel about that?

Lainey: Um. I not sure.

Neither were we, but it was yummy! Thanks Uncle Danner!

Besides my kids cracking me up as usual, it has been a good week. Here's why:

-I read Harry Potter, LOVED it. Harry and I have travelled far together and it is sad our journey has ended, but fear not, Harry! I'll reread you soon!
-I got a piano! Yup, that's right. I'm taking lessons, too! I am SSSOOO excited to finally do something that I've wanted to do for a long time and I'm glad I'm old enough to appreciate it! Best part is that I'm swapping babysitting for the lessons. Gotta love that. (I just found out that I am expected to perform at a recital, though. We'll see if I can weasel out of that... after all, it's not like I'm a STUDENT student, right?)
-My hubby made the kids clean the toy room which was beyond a disaster, thanks sweetie! (now if only I could get him to fold the laundry and clean our room)
- I got to do some service projects this week, always makes things seem brighter, doesn't it?
- I made meatloaf that I personally thought was to die for. Danner or Tyler (and most certainly Lainey) might tell you differently, but I doubt it. I love it when something I cook turns out exceptionally well.
- It's cooled off for a few days and even though one of those days involved an afternoon of monsoon-like conditions and inches of rain in a few hours, I'm more than happy for the temporary reprieve.

Hope everyone else had a great week, too!

Friday, July 20, 2007

For hire...

Thats right. I'm looking for gainful employment. But I need some serious help. I want to work from home (won't do it if I can't) and I would love to not be on a phone. We are trying to save money for a trip and I want some mad money. I'm really just wondering if any of you know anyone that works from home and how they got their job, etc. (For example, Megan, how did you get hooked up with taking pictures of jeans and putting them on ebay?) I don't want to sell books, candles, make up, etc. And I don't really want to babysit, although I guess I could, if I had to. Any ideas, friends?

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

What color are you?

Okay, for girls camp we did this color test. I thought for sure I was a red. I am actually much more blue than red. I'm dying to know what other people are. If you've got ten minutes, check it out. What color are you?

www.thecolorcode.com

Friday, July 13, 2007

What I got from Girls Camp

I spent the last few days up at Girl's Camp with our ward. I had SSSOOO much fun! I'm so glad I went. (And thanks, Daddy, for chillin with Lainey and Brady!) Really quickly, just wanted to share the things I learned (man, I'm learning a lot lately):

1. Big Booty is a great game to play even if it's raining and every one's got a poncho on.

2. I need to drink more water. A lot more.

3. Don't let a girl borrow your only towel (okay, she was shivering violently after our rafting trip and definitely needed it. But where was hers and why didn't I get it back right away???).

4. There is a HUGE difference between the age of 12 and the age of 18. Whoa.

5. I learned a new motto to add to the list of words I'd like to live by. Your name is safe in my house. I don't know if this inspired me because I was around gossiping little girls or if I'm really not as good of a friend as I'd like to think I am. We also talked about the value of those around us, which just about every young woman needs to hear.

6. Bishop counseled us to be more tender. I could work on that.

7. I need more patience. The whining, laziness, and lack of respect at times just about drove me to the breaking point.

8. I need to teach Lainey and Brady to work, and work hard! And to be helpful, thoughtful, and grateful, specifically.

9. Girls Camp testimony meetings still make me cry. Hard.

10. Camp can be a lot of work as a leader but also more comfortable if said leaders get a heated cabin while the girls rough it in the tents!

11. We are daughters (and sons) of a Heavenly Father who loves us, and we love Him!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Really lost in Colorado

I kinda told Danner I wouldn't post this, but as it has had a major affect on my life, I couldn't help myself. This is suppose to be a journal, too, so I'm just documenting a major life event. So Tyler and I got special sneak peek tickets to Harry Potter 5 last night. So cool, right? We were so excited, we left the kids with Danner and drove to a theatre up north. We got there two hours early to make sure we got in. At about 6:10ish Tyler calls Danner to check on the kids. All I hear Tyler say next to me to Danner on the phone is, "You're kidding, right?" And then he walks away from me. I had a tiny bad feeling, that grew into a huge one when Tyler came back (he wandered away from the noise to hear better) and told me, "Danner can't find Lainey." My heart stopped. Tyler (although I love his enthusiasm for HP and his calm assurance that everything would be fine) thought we should stay in line and wait to hear from Danner. I however, started running to the car. I have never known panic like that, in fact as I'm typing tears are forming in my eyes and my hands are shaking... I'm serious.

I call Danner to see if he's found her, I tell him we are on our way and asked him to call the police. Apparently, she had wandered out the front door while Danner was making her dinner. Danner had already driven around the block and hadn't seen her. My worst fears are all being realized... I was hysterical. We get in the car, I'm balling loudly. We pray. We drive. I start calling everyone in my cell phone from church and ask them to come and help Danner look. After 3 or 4 calls Danner calls Tyler's phone and says he's found her on the next street over. Thank goodness. Looking back I don't know why I would doubt that anything differently would've happened. Danner guesses she was missing for about 20 minutes. She had walked outside without her shoes and walked all the way up our street and all the way down the next one. She is my daughter, obviously, so she was also hysterical. We stayed on the phone with her for the 45 minutes or so that it took to drive home because she would break into tears if I mentioned getting off the phone.

She's fine, I'm fine. It's all hunkey dorey. Poor Danner was probably freaking out as badly as I was. And honestly, it could've happened to me, I'm sure. So Danner, don't feel bad. Really. 20 minutes is a long time for a three year old to wander off, though, and I was so far away which didn't lessen my hysteria. This whole ordeal really wiped me out, and when I crawled into bed I was sure I would fall asleep quickly. Nope. My eyes had a little more juice to squeeze out before they shut for the night.

Can I share with you my thoughts that came to me while I couldn't sleep? Danner said one of our neighbors immediately started helping him look for her. Thanks to good neighbors. Our neighbor also said later that a swarm of minivans showed up so quickly. Thanks to good ward members and friends. And some (Danner and Tyler) might have thought that I was overreacting, but thanks for not saying so, and continuing to not say so (and don't ever say so. I'll probably always be a little overprotective when it comes to my kids).

I also thank my Heavenly Father for the wonderful organization of this great church. I'm so glad to live near others, others willing to come at a moments notice. I wasn't surprised that there wasn't a moments hesitation when I asked some friends to go to our house, but that is another thing that makes this Plan of Salvation work. We are not meant to struggle alone. We are not meant to endure and strive and work through this life without our brothers and sisters to sustain and support and search with us. Isn't that great? Its no wonder that depression affects more and more people because technology is cutting out human interactions to a greater degree all the time (for example, self check out at the grocery store). We need each other.

I'm also so grateful for prayer. It's not even that it calmed my hysteria. I was 45 minutes away... sitting in a car... I'm not the type to solve a problem sitting down, and I couldn't help look for her. But I could pray. I'm grateful that prayer gave me something to do when there was nothing to do. I'm grateful that I could ask someone who knew where she was to protect her.

And finally, I'm grateful for the insight about our Heavenly Father that I gained from this. As I realized the depth and magnitude of my panic, I thought of how our Heavenly Father must have felt the moment He realized that we would not all be with Him again. He, being omniscient, already has a good idea how this life will play out for his children, but there must have been a moment when He knew that our birth on this earth would separate some of us from Him forever. As a parent, I can't imagine the anguish He must've felt.

Even today, it all seems a little melodramatic, but I can't even begin to describe the fear and anxiety I felt... I'm so glad its over. And I'm so glad I got to tuck her in last night and tell her that everything was okay (and that she should never do that again!). I guess we need to put the knob cover back on the door... Thanks for reading this excessively long post! And please someone tell me you've lost your child too, so I can feel like this is a little normal!

Sunday, July 8, 2007

Questions?

1. So all you creative women out there (or creative men, too), I got a melon baller to ball a watermelon for our block party. What else can I use it for? I've heard ice cream balls on brownies, anything else? Here's my melon.




I know, I'm a dork. No one should be shocked by this.

2. This may be a more difficult question for the Northwest people, but anyone know how you adjust a cookie and/or a cake recipe for high altitude? Our snickerdoodles are always extremely flat. We added extra flour, but it didn't make them any fluffier.

3. Last one, aren't these cute pics of my kids?



Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Happy Birthday to . . .

my Mom and my country! I love the 4th of July. My mom's birthday, fireworks, warm and sunny days, family, friends, yummy summer food. It's all so great! I love having a day to celebrate America, too. Rudyard Kipling's little poem here sums up how I feel about this great land!

Our hearts where they rocked our cradle,
Our love where we spent our toil,
And our faith, and our hope, and our honor,
We pledge to our native soil.
God gave all men all earth to love,
But since our hearts are small,
Ordained for each one spot should prove
Beloved over all.
~Rudyard Kipling


I love America! And since I do, I cannot help but try to live the way Pres. Lincoln describes.

I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him. ~Abraham Lincoln

Happy 4th everyone! And I love you Mom. Hope you have a great day. Thanks for all you do for me and all you've taught me (which is a lot!)

Monday, July 2, 2007

Blog Therapy

So I know, this is way to much time blogging. I just thought I would post one last time to publicly admit that my house is a DISASTER and not just a minor one. Hopefully since you now know this I will be motivated to get it cleaned up. I love having company over, but when it's Mom, she does more than half the work while she's here so the second she leaves, slacker mom (me) has to take over and thus far I've taken over with no success.

I also think I need a little therapy because of my home sickness. "But Carrie, you are home!" you say. I know, but I say home is with my family and every time my mom and dad leave I can't help but wish we lived next door to each other. Maybe that would get old, though. Probably not. I know without doubt I would've been a horrible pioneer, but the living near family that isn't normal any more would be nice, wouldn't it? Ah, such is life. And I know most of you feel the same way...

Needless to say, due to the condition of house and heart, we will be doing NOTHING this week. Thank goodness.

Cliff Dwellings

Air Force Academy and Garden of the Gods

Sunday, July 1, 2007

Wondering Part 2!

I had to take a break from the blog and go be a mom, get the kids in bed! But now that I've got time all to myself, I'll tell you about the FUNNEST day of the whole trip, Saturday! I realize that I may type more than you want to read, so just check out the pics!

We headed south and checked out the Air Force Academy. My dad enjoys architecture, so we went to see the Academy's renowned chapel. We also saw a video of life on campus. Their honor code was interesting: "We will not lie, steal, or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does." We continued on down to Garden of the Gods. Its a park full of red rock formations. We saw Kissing Camels, Sleeping Indian and the Cathedral Rock (some of the formations). I've never been to southern Utah, so it was just amazing to see. The contrast between the vegetation and the red rocks was beautiful. Our stop at the visitor center started the worst tantrum Lainey has ever thrown. We had been driving around for a few days, no naps, so I get the short fuse, but MAN was she out of control. It required every ounce of my patience not to lose it. Thankfully, modern technology saved us. We popped Toy Story 2 in the portable DVD player and Lainey was absorbed in the antics of our favorite Pixar friends.


We stopped next at Indian Cliff Dwellings in a place called Manitou Springs. Holy cow, it was awesome. We got to walk around inside them and read about the different areas of the Native American homes. We saw an early 'refrigerator' and they had Native American dancers. So fun. Lainey loved it. She got to dance to the beat of the drum and she ran around and around and around until we had to drag her back to the car.


And finally we ended our day in a little mining (now gambling) town called Cripple Creek. We took a train ride and they told us all about the history of the town. Interesting facts: Dr. Quinn is based on a woman from Cripple Creek, it is still an active mine that has pulled out over 350 million dollars worth of gold, and its the largest gold deposit in the history of the world!

We had a great time. I hope Mom and Dad did too. I can't believe how much stuff there is to do here! We barely scratched the surface. In fact, Tyler and I have a seriously long list of things to do that we missed. Good thing we live here. I know, I know... your're thinking what a dork I am for lovin the local attractions... but it was fun! I hope everyone else takes advantage of the 'tourist' attractions near them!

P.S. Tyler would like me to mention that my information in the previous post was incorrect. They did not catch a few fish, they caught LOTS of fish. Somewhere in the ball park of 19 among all three of the boys.

I know you're wondering...

I just know that you are dying to know where I have been all week. We had so much fun with my mom and dad! I feel like I've lived a month in the last seven days. My kids are probably going to need some time to recover from the withdrawl symptoms that have already begun to manifest themselves. I am sure the lack of attention will be nothing short of tramatic after all the hugs, kisses, loves, tickles, stories, and songs showered upon them by Grandma and Grandpa. Here is yet another list from me (I know, I'm sorry, but its a great way to summarize and add pictures) of all we have seen and done in the last week:
  • I burnt my arm with hot oil. I got the worst burn of my life, worse than the burn Tyler gave me that started our relationship (story for another time... its a good one). 3 blisters, lucky for me Dr. Dad was around to treat the burns. They are definitely looking better today. Mom said to put vitamin E oil on it to prevent scarring... I say no way! I want a cool scar! (okay, not really eventful, but wanted to share anyway!)
  • We drove up to Mt. Evans. The road to the summit is the highest paved road in the world and the summit is 14,264 ft. Mom and Dad (and me, a little) got some altitude sickness. Just queasy and lightheaded. It is an amazing sight. The Rocky Mountains are just spectacular and they go on forever and ever and ever. It is so quiet up their its almost unbelieveable! And animals on the side of the road, just waiting for all of us to figure out we aren't wanted up there and head down. There was still some snow and there were some clouds we were literally in the middle of. That is the only way to do a '14er'! Like I could hike one! (click and scroll over to see the pictures!)
  • We went downtown and checked out the 'famous' (only famous in Denver) 16th Street Mall. We walked up to the capital building and checked it out.

The capital steps have a step that says "One mile above sea level." Here we are sitting on it!

This is in front of the capital building, behind us is a US Mint.

  • We treked up to Fort Collins and checked it out, drove over to Estes Park and into Rocky Mountain National Park. We only went about 50 feet into the park, long enough to turn around. $20 bucks a car, decided to save it for another trip when we could get our money's worth out of the trip.
  • Grandpa, Danner, and Tyler went fishing. They caught a few fish and a good day. Here is a fish on Tyler's line.

The poor thing doesn't stand a chance, does he?

To be continued . . .