Running Away & Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today I made chocolate chip cookies for Emma and Josh to have as a snack after school. As I was making them I remembered a story that happened years ago when Christopher was about 8 years old. It made me smile and I wanted to make sure that I somehow recorded it for his children to read one day.

Christopher was upset with me one day for something...I honestly can't remember what the problem was, but I do know that he was not a happy camper. He decided to run away. I helped him pack and told him that I would miss him very much, but if this is what he needed to do to be happy, then by all means go. I think that surprised him a bit, but it did not stop him from packing.

As he was leaving it began to rain. Poor little dude. I watched him walk across the street and go to a common area and set up camp under a picnic table...in full view of my kitchen window. As the minutes ticked by he slowly moved his little "camp" closer to the house. He eventually ended up in the back yard under the porch of the walk out basement. He was still too stubborn to come inside. I then had a brilliant idea. I went and opened all the windows of the house and began to make chocolate chip cookies. I have no doubt that the aroma was killing him. It did not take long for him to come inside and announce that he was back home and he also inquired if he may have a cookie.

To this day he swears that it was not the cookies that lured him back, but that he missed us and wanted to come home. Okay Christopher...seriously? It had not even been one hour. If that is your story...by all means stick to it :) I guess it does not really matter anymore, yet every time I bake chocolate chip cookies I still think of you. How glad I am that you found your way home.

Just Let Me Vent For A Bit...

Okay...I really just need to murmur for a few minutes and then I will be fine. You know...get it all off my chest. Here goes...

In the past few months I have had the following things stop working around my home: My refrigerator, stove and computer. I finally have the fridge and stove replaced and now we are working on fixing the computer (it is running really slow and has a lot of issues). Just when I think "Finally! Everything is up and working" I get slammed again and this time it is by far the worse kind of punch.

A few days ago I noticed that the driver's side door to my Honda Civic was having trouble unlocking. I did not think too much about it. The next day I noticed that my key to the ignition was not working properly. The key went in, but it had to be persuaded. The day after that, they key would not even go into the ignition...not good. For all you non-mechanical people like me, this means we can't drive the car...my car.

Greg told me he would take care of it and started calling around for the part. The news was not good. $350.00 for the part and another $65.00-$85.00 to have the new keys "flashed" (whatever that means) by the Honda dealership. This does even include possible labor. We then thought "let's call the salvage yards and see if they have any parts". They told us that they cannot even get the parts, we have to go through the dealership. GIVE ME STRENGTH. Can I just say that I have a love/hate relationship with vehicles. I love them when they work, but get very frustrated when there is a problem.

So...my car is sitting in my driveway. Ironically, it is a great little car. Good engine under the hood, but we can't get the key into it to actually prove that. I shudder to think what is next in our path after we get this car fixed. "Come what may and love it"...that seems to be my mantra lately.

Wow...I already feel much better :)

Meet Money...Cha-Ching

Emma is playing in a new soccer league this year. The name of her team is "Money"...kind of funny if you ask me, but they love it. She has the same coach and some of the same teammates. They decided to go into a higher league and challenge themselves a bit more. Last night she had a scrimmage against a team that is older and two leagues up from them. What a blow-out. I was a bit worried that she would have her spirit broken but that is not the case at all. She told me after the game that if she could play shoulder to shoulder to that team, no one scared her anymore. What a great attitude! The official season kicks off early Saturday morning. Should be interesting...
(Before the game getting a talk from Aryl, her coach)

A Senior & A Sixth Grader

I can't believe another school year has started again. Wow...they seem to be going by faster and faster each year. This year Josh is a senior and very proud of that little fact. He is excited to have a great school year and head off to college soon. Emma is starting sixth grade. This is the last year I will have a child in elementary school. Crazy.

Last Friday we took both of them out to lunch to celebrate going back to school and to mark the official end of their summer. They don't look too sad about it, do they?

Josh hates having his picture taken early in the morning, so I promised I would leave him alone. (Precisely the reason I took a picture of him at the lunch). I knew that Emma would gladly pose for the camera, so her she is...moments before heading out the door ready to conquer sixth grade.

Grandpa's In Town!!!

Every two years my dad has a family reunion with his siblings. This year it is being held in Burlington, Iowa and my dad really wanted to go. So...Mark made arrangements for my dad to fly to Utah with him on one of the legs of his commutes. There was no way dad could have ever made this trip by himself and I am so grateful that Mark was able to help him out. When my dad flies to Iowa he is flying with his brothers and their spouses and he will have plenty of help. He returns on the same flight as Mark next Monday. It all just fell into place.

Some of my children have not seen my dad in a number of years because of his health. We were all excited to have him come for a visit. Since his arrival we have had some fun get-togethers were we do a lot of visiting and couple it with consumption of large amounts of food. Isn't that what family gatherings are all about? Talk and food. I don't think it gets much better than that.

Here are a few photos from a couple of our gatherings. Above is a picture taken at my home just before dinner one night. Jenni and Cordell were working and came later so they are not in this picture.
Christopher, Samantha, Taylir, Cordell and Emma playing a vigorous game of "HORSE".
Sam looks concerned :)
Cordell showing us all his great basketball form.
Jenni and Cordell braiding Emma's hair while we were visiting.
Four generation picture with Tavyn, Keegan, dad, Mark, Brandt and Will.

Moab Scout Pictures

Josh's priest quorum went to Moab, Utah this year for their annual campout. He had a ball. Greg was able to go one night with the group and then had to come back for work. He was happy to come back home and sleep in his own bed...even after one night. Greg is not really the camping type, but wanted to spend some time with Josh.

When I was looking over the pictures they took I realized that they did not take one picture together. Are you kidding me? Men :D


I am lovin' the hat hair! Work it Josh!!!

Steele Days Pictures...Finally

Okay...so I am a little bit late posting these pictures. Summer has been crazy and now that school started I finally have some time to sit and post some pictures from the past few months. I realize that I could just forget the whole picture thing, but when next year rolls around and I go to print my blog book again I really want these included. So...please bare with me.

The picture above is from Steele Day Celebration that our cute little city has each year. Debra, Jenni, Emma and Casey went with me and we had a lot of fun that evening.
Casey and Emma wasting time waiting for the movie to start. Those two girls are very silly.
Emma and Casey riding some rides before the show. I love how Casey's hair is flying through the air.
More waiting for the movie. Notice the big screen in the background. We were sitting pretty darn close (not my decision).
Some of the fireworks from the big show. What a great night.