a berfday girl!

A little late - but you know how it goes!!!!! Luv ya tons!

team-up thursday - L.O.V.E.

Last week, a photographer who's work I've been admiring for a long time, left a note on the blog wanting me to contact her! "Holy cow what on earth could she want" I asked myself? She wanted to team up for a NEW weekly game, if you will, of picking a theme and submitting a photo to match the theme! Sounded like a lot of fun and something that would challenge creativity. She's the "BOMB" when it comes to creativity - so it will definitely make me stretch.

I want you to meet Corey. She has an AMAZING blog featuring her adorable daughter, Sugar Bear. Corey's photos are so pristine, clear and clever, they make my jaw drop. You'll love visiting her family.

Our entry for the first week is below - Corey's photo on the left, mine on the right:



If you'd like to see more of "Team Up Thursday" head to Megan's blog for more excitement.

happy anniversary, guys!

"oh henry!"

I've been meaning to put these photos on for sometime - they were taken when we were in Utah helping Cam move. Cort, Ash and kids came over Sunday and we had dinner together - it was great. Every time Henry does something cute, my natural reaction is to say, "Oh Henry!" I can't believe how many times that day I said that and then I get hungry (! ! ! ! ) cause I'm then think about an "Oh Henry" candy bar! I love the photo of Ash, Cort, R.O.B. and Henry together - the only person missing is Oli!

I got off the phone tonight with Ty-lard (aka: Tyler, Toilet) - he wanted to see more photos on here of PEOPLE so I told him I would post some - Henry seemed like a good choice! Ty is doing great - he's being mentored by a 'kazillionaire' in Reno who has taken Ty under his 'wing' to help him grow his business. Ty went to his mansion in a gated community and did a job for him - he loved what Ty did and took tons of his business cards and passed them all out to his friends and business associates. Sweet, ha!

Schuy is going to school and working in Idaho Falls. I'm really PROUD of him - he's making the best of a bad situation - working a job that totally doesn't appreciate his talents in the culinary world. If they only knew!!! Whit is passing out tons of really cool cards she had made up for advertising. Things are S.L.O.W. around here and she hasn't had any calls - other than a few here and there. She did have a phone call from down south - a salon wants her to work! She may have to commute and hour (one way) to find some work - now that totally sucks . . . .eeeeek, did I say that?

Heather called this morning after Brian went in for some tests and found out that his gallbladder is totally not working at all. He'll be going into surgery within the week. They could have completely saved (at least) $10,000 by listening to Heather IN THE FIRST PLACE when she diagnosed Brian with gallbladder problems - from day '1'! I'm afraid it'll be beans and rice for the next 10 years to get this doc/hospital bill paid. Man, these poor guys just don't get a break. Heather sounded upbeat about the whole thing - but come to think about it, what else can you do. I know Bob and I paid TONS OF DOCTOR BILLS with 7 kids in the house and everyone of them was a dare-devil in their own right! In fact, I think within the last year OR two, we finally got the doctors/hospitals all paid off - hahahahaha and that's not a joke!

good bye - tribute to Anne Penney

My only girl cousin died today. I WILL MISS HER - she was a little ray of sunshine in my life - always happy to see me, loved to visit and above all she LOVED me and she always told me so! She lived in California and I in Idaho - so we didn't see much of each other but when we did, it was 'old home week' - we didn't skip a beat - picked up right where we left off! She was a little quirky but I loved that about her. She raised an amazing batch of boys - one highway patrol man, two attorneys and a federal judge! They protected her and kept her close in her last hours.

winter's solace

Okay, you cold yet? Well, if you weren't - this should do it!!! This is dedicated to all my friends in Arizona!!!

if you can't beat em', join em'

If you can't 'make' winter go away - you might as well enjoy it - haha! You can tell my day wasn't the best BUT, I made the best of it - the best I could! Do you ever have one of those? How do YOU cope with days like that? Lately, all I have to do is think of Haiti and well, I'm just fine - no matter what happens, everything seems like it'll work itself out.

Everyone (human and fury) in our full house are coexisting well. I've never eaten so well - fish tacos, to die for! No jobs yet for Schuy and Whit - Schuy did get a job in a upscale restaurant down south but the wage did not justify the drive down. He came home early yesterday, so I'm thinking he may have given his notice? Whit is currently designing some flyers and post cards to get some advertising done. She handed out 75 flyers yesterday to college apartments - hopefully she'll hear something. Unfortunately there are NO jobs in our 'slave-labor' town that pay anything - it's amazing that our economy is doing as well as it is with the wages they pay around here. Something is bound to open up for this little family. Bodin is a ray of sunshine in our home - it is so fun to watch him change right before our eyes. When he came, he wasn't talking much at all - now is constructing sentences with 3-4 words - very cool. He's so fun to play with and chase around the house. Every night (and before naps) he says, "Ni, ni - wub oo!" (translation: night, night - love you!) and then throws kisses and plants a big juicy one on your lips!!! Despite their obvious lack of employment both Schuy and Whit are trying their hardest to keep their chins up - definitely a challenge.

Got news that Ty was called to be 1st Counselor in the Elder's quorum (that's church talk for WORK, WORK, WORK)! He'll do a great job as he's very good with people-stuff and relates well with them. Nicole figures she spends 6 days a week at church as she's been called to teach early-morning seminary - thought my job was demanding - haha!

Today was the funeral of a friend of ours who was killed in an avalanche the other day. He was out snow machining with his family and the avalanche consumed him - they found him under 18" of snow still on his snow machine! He was one of the neatest guys you'd find - great father, husband, grandpa - well, you name it - that was him. The tragedy was, he had all his avalanche emergency equipment BUT, left it in the truck - kind of like getting killed in a car wreck because you never put your seat belt on! Wake-up call. Sure makes you wonder WHY - you never know when it's your turn - eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!