Family Pictures

Thanks to my 'lil sis., Di after about 20 shots we finally got a good one we could use for our Christmas Card, so here it is. The sun was so bright on the first ones we were squinting too much. Down below are some of the other ones where one person is geekin' out here or there.

Sun too bright!
Trent blew it on this one, plus JJ's comin' outta nowhere. Brooke looks hot, though. Matt's irritated about this process. David's thinking about food. Ryan's being a good sport.
I cropped this and put this on, B/C it was so funny!! David pulled this cross-eyed face. We were all cracking up at him and we were all, "c'mon, that was the one, thanks, David!!"
I am so proud of these two. On Saturday they will graduate from Utah State! Brooke is graduating with her Bachelor's in Elementary Education Summa Cum Laude or however you spell it. It means All A grades or something like that. And Ryan will r/c his Bachelor's in Business Entrepreneurship which is a fairly new major in the business department. Ryan, you will go far in life. Your work ethic is remarkable and you're a wonderful young man. Thanks for taking such good care of Brooke. You are an adorable couple and I always smile, watching you two interact and play around. CONGRATULATIONS, graduates!!!!!!

Question of the day: Do you throw away gift bags & boxes or keep and re-use them?
Listen, I must be a pack rat or a hoarder! .... JK ..... I like to keep gift bags and boxes (good ones) and re-use them! I feel good when I re-use them! I hate buying gift bags, I rarely have to. I have, like two big boxes of gift bags that are collapsed, side by side and another box of previously used tissues. Whoa, previously used tissue sounds like tissues for your nose! ha! So, what do you think? What do you do? throw away or keep and re-use.

Road Trip!!

Sorry it's been awhile since my last blog. Life is spinning by, out of control....way too fast. The boys are busy, each one of them. (David, congrats making the soph. basketball team out of 35 boys who tried out.) I'm busy, Trent's busy and so are Brooke and Ryan. It's crazy. We're all running circles around each other.
So, Trent decided at 3:30 on Friday we were going to get away and have a road trip. "Road trip!!!" $10 if you tell me what movie that is a quote from.
So we went to St. George and snooped around the diff. areas of town for a future, way future, real estate investment and a show in Vegas. Cirque du Soleil's Beatles' "LOVE". Does that mean "circus of the sun" in French? Well, if you haven't seen it yet, you've just got to. It was mind blowing. Sensory overload!!!!
So, to backtrack, I left my classroom at 4:00 on Friday, went to the new Smith's Marketplace at 4:07, bought a bunch of frozen dinners and foods for the boys to make, packed and was ready by 4:30. wow, what a woman I am!
Thank goodness Vern and Elaine came over and watched the BYU game with the boys. That was so nice of them. And it was so comforting to know Di was just down the street. Our boys were so shocked that we just drove out of town in a moment's notice. VrooOOOOOoooooom, we were gone. JJ's all, "hey, what happened?" ha. Trent says and I agree it's good for them to fend for themselves. Hey, they're big boys, right?

Matt the Bruinator--Region 7 finals Cross Country

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from Afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness, . . . . . .
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home. . . . . .
Thanks to the human heart by which we live,
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears,
To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.
--Wordsworth
I just read "The Great Gilly Hopkins" to my class. It has this poem in it. ...I was thinking about it today and how great it is. I wanted to share it with you and also Matt's cross country race today. He ran 2.9 miler in 15:40. He took 12th overall.
Way to go Matt and team, you ran your guts out, trailing clouds of glory.
BTW ... JV girls, boys and Varsity girls took 1st place. Matt's Varsity team took 2nd place to Timpview (boo). But they "showed up" and gave it their best.

Final, final Landscaping

Thought you'd like to see it with the lights and stuff.

Happy Birthday Trenter!

Well, it's not everyday you turn 47 years old. Wow!!!!!! There's my hunney, getting the mail on his birthday, standing by the newest (and final) phase of the landscaping. He reluctantly posed by the newest feature, the "bubbling rock" ha ...thus his tentative smile! Gee, ........I hope none of those letters are bills!!
Tonight, instead of going out to eat, we just stayed home and had a family dinner of SF Pizza I picked up and a lovely green salad. Trent loves SF Pizza. It's sourdough and he is a lover of that and pretty much anything that has to do with SF, besides homosexuals and liberals. I've got a berry pie in the oven ..... his favorite dessert. We had fun tonight, just sitting around the table, savoring each other in conversation and laughs. We know this is something we won't always be able to do -- as the boys are growing up so fast.
Hey babe, Happy Birthday. I love you.

My Shepherd Will Supply My Need; Jehovah is his Name

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM0YaQEvrRM

I just walked in from ward choir practice. For the past month we have been learning and practicing the above hymn. Every week I have looked forward to singing this because it strengthens my testimony of the Savior. I get to fill up my bucket. The beautiful message it conveys, renews my spirit. The feeling it gives me is more than words can describe, and my heart is overflowing. I want to share it with you and I hope it will touch you as deeply as it has me. I hope you read the lyrics.
My choir friend told me about the above link. It is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing this hymn at President Hinkley's funeral, (apparently a favorite hymn of the Prophet's). Along with the fab. singing is a video tribute to this exquisite man.

This song touches me to the very core. The message is deep, true and comforting.

Now a plug for ward choirs everywhere. !! If you haven't sung in a choir before or once did, but haven't in awhile, I would like to encourage you to join one today! Especially with Christmas coming around the corner, it will help you feel the spirit and feel the joy only music can bring.

Here are the lyrics:

My Shepherd will supply my need;
Jehovah is his Name;
In pastures fresh he makes me feed,
beside the living stream.
He brings my wand'ring spirit back,
when I forsake his ways,
and leads me for his mercy's sake,
in paths of truth and grace.

When I walk through the shades of death,
thy presence is my stay;
One word of they supporting breath drives all my fears away.
Thy hand in sight of all my foes, doth still my table spread;
My cup with blessings overflows,
thine oil annoints my head.

The sure provisions of my God attend me all my days;
O may thy house be mine abode and all my work be praise!
There would I find a settled rest while others go and come,
no more a stranger, nor a guest; but like a child at home.
. . . . No more a stranger, nor a guest; but like a chld at home.

American Folk Hymn
Melody from Southern Harmony, 1835
Paraphrase by Isaac Watts (1674-1740)
Psalm 23
Arranged by Mack Wilberg for the BYU Concert Choir

I know the Savior, Jesus Christ lives. I know he is my redeemer. I love him. -- Kelley

Latest News

A typical school night of homework ... the twins happily working together on theirs, Matt working with a friend over the phone on an APGAP assignment. Notice the Oatmeal Creme pies in the background, just in case he gets hungry.
A typical school night for Trent ... watching the news in his chair, and half of my diet coke still sitting there! Trent is an awesome Daddy and Hubbie. He's my sweetie. I love him and he works so hard to provide for us.
Ahhhhh .... At last we are back together again. Partners in crime, my Brookie, Di and me. We were just leaving to get our hair done ..... uh...... we should've taken the pic after, not before!
Matt's SUPER FANTASTIC 18TH B-DAY PARTY
After the football game at MVHS on Friday night, we invited Matt's friends to come and celebrate with pizza and ice cream. It was yummy Costco vanilla with crushed Oreos, whipped cream and chocolate syrup. Below is John, from (drum roll please) non other than Simi Valley, my home town. How crazy & awesome! He moved here 2 weeks ago. He played the drums as we sang happy b-day to Mattie. What a guy.
Will and Tanner. Two of Matt's fav. friends. Tanner is a runner on the XC team w/Matt. Will is a good 'ol friend, a homework buddy and just solid, great guy.

Davey Runnells and Matt should've been girls. They are so pretty! They have beautiful features .... blue eyes, clear skin, & white, straight teeth. Davey is a great kid. Fab!
Some of the crazy girls that were there. There were 30 people in our kitchen. Darling, fun girls. I think Matt said he wants to take the 3rd one over (Andrea) to one of the dances this year.
NEWS FLASH: Matt got his Eagle Scout Award! Yippee kai Yai yay. Just in time for the 18th b-day deadline. Do you like the "pose"? I had a way better pic. but someone (ahem) deleted it.
This gives you a glimpse of what's going on around here lately. It's fun to blog and reflect on both the fun and the slightly mundane day to day activities. I am so thankful for these days. I know they won't last forever. I am loving the moment. The boys are great, obedient boys. I am happy to have Brooke and Ryan back. We spent a lot of time together this weekend. B & R, I love you.

Ohhhhhhhk-lahoma!!

Curly & Laurey profess their love!
A few of us from the ward went to the classic Rodger's & Hammerstein's "Oklahoma!" last night. We had a blast, enjoying the familiar tunes like "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'", "The Surrey With The Fringe on Top" and the super fantastic finale number "Oklahoma". It was at the Thanksgiving Pointe barn. Below is the majority of the cast. One of the little boys in the front row goes to Westfield, where I teach. He is in the 3rd grade across the hall from me.
A family in our ward has a son who played "Slim". He is pictured in the two pics below. It was a little-ish part, but he was perfect in it. This is him bowing before my cam could get the flash going and snap. Isn't he handsome?!!
That's Julianne and her young twin girls, on either side of "Slim" in the front. The rest of the girls are from the ward YW. A girl named Heidi Payne is in front of me. She is trying out for the lead (Belle) in "Beauty and Beast" for Lehi High's Fall production. I hope she gets it.

Timpanogos Hike

I went on an 18 mile (round-trip) hike up Timpanogos Mountain Saturday 8/9. It is the most beautiful mountain to me. For the previous 10 years, we lived on the other side of it in Orem. It has provided years of beauty and inspiration to me over the seasons. It never looked the same. It depended on the light, weather and time of year. "I love you", Timp. mountain. Some ward members and I started our hike at 7 a.m. This is the first look backward, over the mountains to the east. If you're not careful, you could hike all day with your head down, focusing on the trail and forget to look up, pause and savor the beauty and light surrounding you. It is like being bathed in precious oils and then dressed in a cocoon of cashmere. Ahhhhh!
We started our hike at 7, got to the "saddle" at noon. This is the early part of the morning. Look at the light coming over the mountain.

One of many waterfalls along the way. Several were laiden with beautiful green, mossy rocks.
O M G !!!!!

This is Amanda, a YW from our Lehi ward, she's a great girl. The fields were covered in gorgeous wild flowers like this. It was so beautiful. This picture does not convey extreme lushness and abundance of wild flowers experienced that day.
Scenes like this can be recalled forever and ever. Moments of shear beauty. This is what I dream about at night. jk -- I wish I could control dreams.
My Mattie and I met up along the trail. He started 2 hours before us with the YM. He was on his way down, I was on my way up.....this is right before the "saddle", so you can see I'm extremely red and hot! It's not that I'm out of shape or anything!!! ha!!
FYI the "saddle" is the top of the mountain, when you can look over the other side of the mountain at Utah Lake and Utah County. The "saddle" actually looks like a saddle, a little scoop out of the top of the mountain. Have someone explain this better to you, as I am at a loss for words right now, me?.... a loss for words?
Oh! this is a view from the top, or saddle, looking as far north as I could capture. If I had gone to the summit, I would've been able to see the great Salt Lake. I could see our new development, Ivory Ridge, the white indoor tennis tent -- look right in the exact middle of the picture, there's a white rectangle.
view from the saddle, looking SE -- of Utah Lake and southward. (PG, Lindon, Orem).
There was a family of 5 mountain goats! They were probably wondering, "hey, what are you doing here? This is my habitat. Move out of our way!" It was amazing to watch them ever so gingerly walking on the terraces of the mountain cliffs. wow!
See that little pointy tip to the left of middle of this pic? That is the summit. There is a shack up there, what you're seeing is the tip of the flag on the roof of the shack. I didn't want to go to the summit this time, it was another mile and 1/4, (up scary, rocky, brittle stair-step like ledges) so I just chilled and watched hikers do their thing, watch mountain goats, (and I had to change my feminine product when no one was looking around a secluded ledge!!!) ha!!! Ew... I know, but life has to go on, even at 10,000 ft. elevation. It was an issue. A man asked me what was back there when I came back around the corner.....I just said, another beautiful view.
At three O'clock on the pic above, if your eye went straight up from there, ... that would be the summit. In the green field straight out, a rescue helicopter had to come rescue a guy that was trying to slide down the glacier and broke his lower leg, (compound fracture), you could see into the guys leg, my ward friends said who could see it from the summit.
looking south and east at the saddle
That is the path to the summit. craggly and rigorous, but A-W-E-S-O-M-E! That word was made to describe the summit of Timp. It is well worth the trip if you've never done it.

Looking at Pleasant Grove, the green mountains. ....... ah.
Tanner & Julianne Clegg, me (wow), Amanda, Stephanie-Eric-Ben Rogers. Wendy and John Rogers & Beth Chun were still coming down from the summit, so we unfortunately were impatient and didn't get them in our picture. This Julianne is a new friend of mine in my new ward. She is so fun and crazy. She was David's Ma for the ward pioneer trek in June. She wrote me a touching letter about Matt and the twins. Wow. What a woman she is.