The way things were..1962

Today is my birthday...yikes, how can I possibly be this close to 50?
In order to amuse myself I decided to play the Numbers Game. Here it is...

21
Number of places I have lived (not to be confused with the number of times I have moved)

9
Number of U.S. Presidents since 1962

8
Number of Prophets since 1962

5
Number of times the San Fransisco 49ers have won the Superbowl

4
Number of times the Detroit Redwings have won the Stanley Cup

3
Number of boyfriends I have had (including the missionary that dumped me after I waited for him!)

Here are some other Fun Facts about 1962...

Personnel Manager earned $8,000 per year

Sears Kenmore refrigerator $198

3 bedroom house $17,500

Ladies shirtwaist dress $2
1962 Ford Galaxy $2645


Bread 2 loaves for .29
Butter .63 a pound
Eggs 2 dozen for .89
One pound ground beef (free of hormones) .35
Kraft Grape Jelly .29
Ice Cream ( a real whole half-gallon) .75
72" Sofa $199
In 1962 Pepperidge Farms introduced Goldfish crackers .37
Bottle of Coke .10
Candy bar .05
Movie with popcorn and drink .80

The minicomputer introduced in 1964 $16,000

Color TV $400Postage .04
Gas one gallon .31

From the menu at Burger Chef (who remembers those?!)
Cheeseburger .27
Large Coke .25

And finally... the New York Yankees won the World Series in 1962 in 7 games and the Academy Award for Best Picture was
Lawrence of Arabia

Special thanks to all of you who have made my day SO great!! Jaime for cookies, Cathy and Tomoe (and Amy if she had gotten my message) for breakfast and flowers. Nicole, Debbie and Traci for lunch and books and earrings.
My nieces and friends who wrote on my Facebook wall. Donny Osmond who sent me a "personal" Happy Birthday email.
Phone calls and birthday cards!
Dinner and Hester's dessert from my wonderful family.
It has been a terrific birthday and it would not have been possible without ALL of you. I love you!

Still smiling!

I wish I could show you photos of the Primary kids singing and speaking on Sunday! They were so great!
Don't kid yourself, I'm SO glad that it is over, I was a nervous wreck, but I was SO proud of how seriously that took their roles :-) I am STILL smiling!
When I accepted the calling as 2nd counselor in Primary the program had already been written wonderfully by the incredible Jaime Page. All I had to so was show up at practice and pretend I knew what was going on.
I was completely in denial about having to write it myself one day. A whole year? That's forever away!
Then in May I had my first "primary program nightmare" and I was scared. So scared that I put it off for another 2 months. There are so may variables...how do you write parts for kids that most likely won't be there that are not absolutely essential to the "story". How do you account for the different personalities of kids who want to talk and those who don't? How do you keep the flow of the "story" while keeping all of the kids roughly in their "class" so that the seating arrangement is not a TOTAL nightmare. And what do you do about the Sunbeams who, no matter what you do will eventually be bored and restless and try to climb over the stand?
Yeah, you see my terror yourself now don't you?
Plus there are 8 songs they are supposed to sing and you know me, more music is always better so I added a few songs as well. 12 songs in all-- one in Spanish and one in sign language!
The kids were so good while waiting for their parts and their turn to sing. As Vanessa has reported there was a close call for tears, but Diana was able to "dry them up". We had no burpers and no primary counselor's child "eat" the microphone (Kian last year!)
I surely felt the Spirit. I have always loved the Primary program Sunday even more than "pajama church". I know that it is truly inspired and I was truly inspired. I felt like Moses afraid to try to relate what the Lord wants us to know, but I am so grateful for my Aaron who "spoke" for me both with writing the parts and in the form of Amy Hughes who taught those wonderful songs and got those beautiful kids to use their beautiful voices.
Thank you everyone! Amy, Cathy, Tomoe, Shawna, LeeAnn, the talented teachers and especially Sara Soelberg for sitting in at the last minute as our pianist. I love you all and am blessed to serve with you and be friends with you.

Utah...This is the Place

So I haven't written about this because I am not sure if I will be able to find any pictures on the computer. We have a "stealth" system and it does not like me...

Anyway, we were called on Wednesday by Doug's brother Greg who wanted us to surprise their Mom and Dad for their 25th Wedding Anniversary. On Saturday morning we were on a plane! Thank you to Greg and Lora...we never could have done it without them.

Kian really seemed to enjoy his first plane ride.


(Half an hour later and I still cannot find the pictures of the trip...I rest my case!)

Anyway, our first stop basically was Los Hermanos. This is Doug's favorite restaurant and one of mine. Four of his brothers were there with their families and it was so fun! Those little cousins sure are growing up!!

Kian had a great time playing the Wii at Uncle Matt's house with Tanner and Ben. And we had Apple Beer floats...only in Utah :-)


Sunday we had dinner with Doug's parents and it was delicious as usual. Love Gramma's roast beef.


Monday we went to BYU and it was Education Week...who knew? Well, not me obviously and it was crowded, but we didn't have a lot of time anyway. Just enough time to get our 5 bags of Chocolate-covered Cinnamon Bears, yes! I think 2 bags actually made it home :-)


Monday we were able to get a short visit with Doug's BFF Steve Day. Paula was at work, but we enjoyed the tour of their newly remodeled beautiful home! Also two of his grandkids were there and Kian was thrilled to play with London and Landon.

Braylee (London's sister) was thrilled that Mackenzie came and got her from me...she loved Mackenzie! We literally sqeezed into the Chrysler Seabring and Illegally made our way back to Greg and Lora's house.

It was also the night of the party and it was a fun Luau. Doug's Dad and step-mom went to Hawaii on their Honeymoon. Shellese and Brooke (Greg's daughter and daughter-in-law) put together a raffia filled "book" of letters that we had each written. I am quite sure I will never see another book like it ever!


The food was good the company was even better. We sat with Steve and Michelle and were able to catch up and laugh at all the old jokes. We love them!

We came home Tuesday. Quick trip, but it was fun and I am so glad that Kian now knows what Utah is. After all, this is the place.

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our 23rd wedding anniversary!
August 22, 1985 we were married in the Jordan River temple in Sandy, Utah.

I would love to say that every day has been happiness and bliss, but come on...23 years!?
I would love to say that we didn't have a huge argument the night before and that I was wondering if I might be making a mistake.
I can say that Doug is the best husband in the world and that I did not make a mistake, I made the best decision of my life.

I can say that through all of the bad times we have been made stronger and become more committed to our eternal family. I can say that the good times have been great!
I can say, "Boy have we changed!"
My husband is funny, he is sweet and generous to me, he loves kids (especially his own!) he is so genuine and loving and loves the Lord. We have had a great marriage with lots of spiritual experiences to remind us of how blessed we have been.
Everyday a picnic? Not even close, but every day has made us closer and more in love (sorry kids, didn't mean to gross you out:-)
Also did I mention that he looked exactly like Luke Spencer? Who wouldn't be in love?

One more thing...today Doug kissed me to wish me Happy Anniversary and Kian yells, "Hey, don't kiss my girl!"
Ahhhhh, bliss!

Vampire Prom 2008

So I think everyone and their brother is reading the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. OK maybe not my brother, but he has heard of them!
I hadn't met anyone who had read Twilight when I got it for Calah for her birthday couple of years ago. I admit I was immediately sucked in, it might have had something to do with the fact that it is a high school romance and my high school boyfriend had a fairly intense interest in Vampires.
So fast forward (no, not from high school but from Calah's birthday) to the continuing saga and the release party on August 1 for the final book "Breaking Dawn".
I was taking Mackenzie and her BFF Katie and was asked quite passionately,
"You're not going to hang around with us are you?!"
Hel-lo! It's me-- in a book store-- without Doug or Kian! What do you mean me hang around with YOU??
But secretly I think Calah wanted to go as well so she said she'd go so I'd have someone to hang out with...dang...Oh well. I love hanging out with Calah so it'll be fine. Plus Calah thought since it was a "Prom" she wanted to dress up. So she wore her Homecoming dress (Yes! the one I made in 13 hours!!) her black/red lipstick and her combat boots. She looked lovely :-)
While we were sitting not quite in the Starbucks Cafe-which BTW does NOT take Starbucks gift cards--one of the B&N workers comes to ask Calah if she could put Calah in the Prom Court! Calah said in her way "Um, sure..." and the woman said "You look great!"
So the three couples line up while everyone galks (is that a word? If so I have no idea how to spell it) and votes. Well, Rock the Vote!!! Calah won!!


This is Calah and the Prom King...yeah.


She thinks this one looks "creepy". I think it shows her enthusiasm for Edward and all things "vampire".
She got a crown, a sash, some black flowers with one red rose, a journal, a collection of stories called "Prom Dates from Hell", Red Hot candies, a Breaking Dawn T shirt and most importantly...Dark Chocolate Raspberry Godiva Chocolate!!! Go my vampire girl!

Where have I been?

Well, July is over and I missed it!
I mean I had a fun July 4, but that's about it.
We had our first Block Party since I was a kid in our new house on July 3 complete with great fireworks.

Then July 4 at Connor Prairie...not in there, but out across the street for the FREE fireworks show.
Then on Monday July 7 on my way to a Primary meeting I cough, hmmmmm. Doug has had a cough for a week now. It's just a little tickle at the back of my throat... Am I getting a cold?
Well, I wish! I ended up feeling like I had been hit by a truck. Seriously... I can't remember when I have felt SO awful! It's like my body was rebelling against me and my brain was along for the ride. If I got my small child fed it was a small miracle. I have been OFF the computer the entire time!
They call this Bronchitis. I had never had it before and no one told me it would last an entire month. I am still coughing and my throat now HURTS because of it. I would rather give birth without an epidural (trust me, I have done that and it's not so bad comparatively) On the up (really?) side I sure have given my obliques and abdominals a workout!

So I apologize for everything I have missed...at least 2 birthdays. But I am slowly crawling back to the land of the living so come on back for new posts!

We got our (MY) new baby kitty tonight (Thanks Traci and Elphie!) Her name is Goldie and I will post some pics as soon as I get some.
She is SO cute...even Doug said so. Baby Cat was supposed to be my cat, but I knew as soon as we saw her in foster care (yeah, I know) that she only had eyes for Calah and she is now MAD about Goldie. She growled-cried and then peed on Calah! Yikes...




Here's Goldie

Where did May go?

Wow, so much has been going on!
On May 31, Calah's graduation...

It was a hot day, but the graduation didn't go on forever and Kian was pretty well-behaved.
We went to Olive Garden for lunch after and had a really great day.

We also had "Mulch-fest" which I swear is Kian's favorite time of year. Just like last year we ordered from the Boy Scouts and the minute it gets here Kian starts asking,
"When are we going to do the mulch?" For some reason he loves this activity. In fact he wanted to help the neighbor do his mulch too!
This year we also planted a Japanese Maple so we had a lot of yard work to do.




And here is our "twig". Some day it will be a big, beautiful Japanese Maple!

Then on June 4 we went to Mackenze's awards presentation at Fishers Junior High. We had been told that she was getting an award but we didn't know what it was. She felt that it was for her "doctorate" which is a special program that requires a high grade and some extra work. She did get her Doctorate in Social Studies and English.

These are her friends, Ashton and Peyton. I call them The Three Girls With Boy Names! Vanessa calls them The Hot-Smart Clique! They are a great couple of girls and we are so proud of Mackenzie. All her hard work paid off...
She was also named Student of the Year in Mr Sturgeon's advanced English class. She was stunned and I of course cried...
I was hoping you'd be able to read this, but maybe you can't so I'll include the last few stanzas. All of the teachers write a poem for their student of the year (including the math teacher!) and they don't tell you who it is until the end.

In the style of the Jabberwocky...

"And as she made her way through the year,
she impressed me at every turn.
She did her work with no fear,
my respect and trust she did earn.

One-two, one-two, and through and through
every obstacle she did surmount.
Oh glorious day! Hip-hip Hooray!
The joy you've brought, I cannot count.

And hast thou earned the glorious prize?
Come to the stage because you've won.
And suddenly the crowd turned their eyes,
and looked at Mackenzie Nelson."


And THEN as if that wasn't enough to celebrate...Later that same night the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup!!

Henrik Zetterberg wins the Conn-Smythe trophy. What a cutie!!

All in all it's been an eventful summer already.