Rediscovering Long-lost Cousins

When Brett was young, he was super close to his cousins and had great relationships. Since they've all grown up and gotten married and moved all over the country, they haven't been as close or been very good at keeping in touch, which happens to all of us.

Well, this summer Brett was assigned to a clinical rotation in Blackfoot, ID. His cousin Ty and his wife Annie just happen to live up in that area. So we decided to try to re-connect. We hadn't seen these guys in close to 10 years. After so much time passing, who knew how things would go, right?

 WE HAD SO MUCH FUN!! 

I can't believe we haven't been in contact with these guys for so many years!!! What a tragedy that we haven't gotten together until now! If we lived in Blackfoot, I'm sure we would totally be best friends!

Ty and Annie treated us like royalty while we visited them. We got to have a wonderful Sunday dinner and a very fun Sunday afternoon and evening visit. It was so great to catch up.

The next day the Tanners invited us to go out on their boat in a lake that Annie's family actually made!! It's called Jensen Lake. It's fed by the Snake river and is actually pretty cool. It even has a slalom course! If you've ever been driving north on I-15 through Blackfoot, you've driven right by it. It's awesome and beautiful. It has grassy areas where you can set up a blanket and have a picnic and has a "shore" were kids can wade in.

The morning started out overcast and cloudy, but it was still warm outside.

Mickey "skiing"!

Kenna "wake-boarding" or "skiing"

Con hanging out on the boat

By the time Connor got out to ski, the clouds had cleared and the sun was shining. It was going to be a beautiful day.

Connor skiing 

Belle, Makenna, Addy and McKay

Hanging out on the "beach"

I'm kicking myself for not getting more pictures of our wonderful weekend. Thanks, Tanners for all the fun! We love you guys!

Some of My Favorite Women

I feel incredibly blessed.

Every year our church has a General Relief Society Meeting where all 6 million members of the relief society gather at churches and assembly halls around the world to hear the leaders of our church and organization speak. It is always very spiritual, uplifting and inspiring. 

This year I was especially excited because the choir was made up of women from my stake. I was really looking forward to the night.

I had the opportunity to actually go to the meeting in the conference center with some wonderful women from my ward! We got their fairly early and got to sit right in the front.

Look who we got to see walking in:

Sheri Dew visiting with Elaine Dalton

Some great ladies up in the choir along with Sis. Sandra Rogers, director of the BYU Women's Conference. First row is the General Relief Society Presidency

President Thomas S. Monson, President Henry B. Eyring and President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

First Presidency view from our seats

Elder Uchtdorf and his sweet wife

Some of my favorite ladies in the whole world.
Back Row L-R: Deanna Weirholt, Gayleen Bennett, Marilyn Reagh, me, Maryam Chaney, DeeLane James, Dallas Meyers, Sandi Nelson, Amy Wilson
Front Row L-R: Natasha Hodder, Pari Bennion, Amy Bentley, Julie Johnston

My favorite part of the whole night was Pres. Uchtdorf's talk. His talk was a testament to me of  prophets being led and inspired by God. They truly communicate with our Father in Heaven and he inspires them to know what to say. That is the only way a man could know how women truly feel.

He talked about forget-me-not flowers.

Using the 5 petals of the Forget-me-not flower, Elder Uchtdorf told us of 5 things that the Lord would not want us to forget.

1. Don't forget to be patient with yourself: the Lord is fully aware that you & I aren't perfect. He's also aware that the people you think are perfect, aren't perfect. It is part of the mortal experience to have strengths and weaknesses, and to become perfected is a LONG time goal. STOP punishing yourself for your weaknesses/imperfections. Stop comparing your weaknesses to others strengths. Be thankful for your successes; even if they seem small, God notices them and they aren't small to Him.
2. Don't forget the difference between a good sacrifice & a not-so-good sacrifice.  Staying up to lovingly care for your child who can't sleep is a good sacrifice. Staying up all night so that your daughter will have the perfect coordinating bow to go with her dress for church tomorrow is not so good.  A good sacrifice gives up something for something better - am I committing my time & energy for what matters most?
3. Don't forget to be happy NOW!  There's nothing wrong with seeking good, what is wrong is when we put our happiness on hold waiting for that perfect thing that we think will make us happy. Are we failing to notice the blessings that we do have?
4. Don't forget the WHY of the Gospel - The what & how of the Gospel mark the path to happiness, but it is the why of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that actually makes us happy.  When we focus on why, the Gospel won't be a burden.
5. The Lord loves YOU! No matter where you are, who you are, whatever your circumstances may be, YOU are NOT forgotten!

This talk left me feeling uplifted and loved and like I could do anything! What a blessing to have living prophets in my life today.

Going to See Dad!

During the summer months, Brett was lucky enough to have a clinical rotation in Blackfoot, Idaho. This was a great place for him to be. He got to see a lot of action at the hospital and the people were great to work with. The Nurse Anesthetist in charge even rented out a house for Brett to stay in for the 3 months he was there. It was a cute little place and just perfect for him. 

It was also a perfect place for us to come stay with him! So, we loaded up the van and headed up to the great state of Idaho. It was a beautiful, hot summer day. 

We were enjoying great music and a great car ride. Then I heard something on KSL. It said, "There have been reports of the freeway being shut down at the UT/ID state line. We have no further details on this story."

Great. Just my luck. Seriously. 

No further details. 

Oh well, what could I do? I was still about 2 hours away from that point in my trip and I was hoping that by the time we made it up that way, the mess would be cleared up.

Two hours later........

We came to an absolute standstill. 

Rats!

I thought, ok. We'll move in a bit.

No moving at all.

After about 15 minutes of no moving, I called Brett and had him get me the Malad City Police Department phone number. I needed to find out what was going on and what the hold up was.

I talked to a lady named Sandy. She told me that 6 hours earlier that day, a propane truck had crashed and leaked everywhere. They were still in the cleaning stage, but traffic was being diverted to the frontage road. 

Ok. We should be up and moving in a bit.

15 minutes later, we hadn't moved at all. I called the lady back. She told me while they  had diverted traffic to the frontage road, a semi truck carrying food had tipped there and food was everywhere. 

That road was also closed.

Huh??

We were stuck. 

So, after being totally bugged and ornery (and Brett talking me down off the edge, we decided to make the best of it.

Here is the first picture I took. I didn't take any pictures of the freeway back up. I was too bugged. 

We had finally made if to the frontage road-- 1 mile away from where we had stopped-- after TWO HOURS!

See that long stretch of road up there with no cars on it? THAT is the freeway.

Here we are on the frontage road.

Kids are all smiles. Kenna is under her blankie playing the Game Boy

Peek-a-boo!

Semi being trucked out

Tipped trailer

How many Idaho state workers does it take to move a trailer? (Just kidding-- no offense)

Here is the beautiful moon as we were driving later that night. I was grateful to have arrived safely to be with my dear husband and to have good kids and a working car.

These Guys Kept Him Sane.....

These guys are great guys. 

These are Brett's classmates. They have known each other for only 30 months, but they are the closest of friends. They have been through a lot together.

For instance: Jake and Brett lived together while doing a clinical rotation in Hell El Paso, TX. I think Jake is one of the reasons why Brett didn't quit. I am SO GLAD they were able to be down there together.

Brett has been able to commiserate with these guys. He's been able to talk about what it feels like to be taking someone's life into your hands for the first time.

They have been wonderful. 

Thank you for taking care of my husband!!!

Michael, Brandon, Brett and Jake

Teeth, Food and Shows, oh my!!!

Things have been busy at our house!

Kenna has finally lost her two front teeth! The top ones, that is. She has been waiting for this day for a long time! She is excited to sing, "All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth".  The photo credits on this one go to McKay-- thanks for the close-up, buddy!

McKay is a Cub Scout and loves it! He has great den leaders and great friends. I love the values that the scouting program teaches and instills in boys. Last week they worked on a requirement about cooking and the food pyramid. FYI-- it's not a food pyramid anymore. It's a plate. Just thought you might like to know.

Part of passing off the requirement is helping to plan, cook and clean up a meal with your family. We did that this week.

McKay loves the Orange Chicken from Panda Express. So do I, but I hate the calories! So, we looked for our own healthy version. This one was a hit!

Yummy, healthy orange chicken

I couldn't get McKay to not take a bite before our picture! This was so fun to do together!

Here are the kiddies in downtown SLC. A dear, sweet friend gave us tickets to go see Mary Poppins at the Capitol Theater. The kids were thrilled. Not only to see the show, but because they were checked out of school just a bit early!

The twins elected to dress up for the occasion. For Connor, if it's not church, this is what he calls dressing up: a shirt with a collar.

A funky piece of "art" taking up prime space right next to the Capitol Theater. The kids thought it was awesome. Notice Connor. See that he is holding down one of those bad boys? Notice who it looks like it's going to hit? Yeah, I stopped that from happening.

Here we are in our awesome seats! Can't wait for it to start!

We had an awesome, wonderful time! Thank you to dear, sweet friends!!!!

Watch Out HGTV!!!

McKay is my little decorator. He is always so excited for holidays and decorating. I remember being the same way when I was little. I'm glad to have a helper get all that stuff out for me! It is so much more fun with a little friend to help!

He came up with all these ideas on his own.

This is McKay's "mummy wrap" 

Crazy paper hanging from the lights

More crazy paper

Gotta love that crazy paper!

Black Widow spider hanging by back door!

Love that ghost and chain right by my sink 

To greet me at the microwave

He didn't want Tiggs to feel left out! She's sure not to let the black cat cross her path!

Spider web hanging from the cd player

This poster cracked me up. It's a wanted poster of a dead guy. It reads:
"Wanted
RIP
Died October 31, 1841
Mr. Mean
Spotted by police
Died at the Rush home"  

Another wanted poster:
"Wanted
Mr. Magic
Turned Rushes house into dust"

More mummy wrapping in the bedroom

This little basket of goodies is for the twins' Halloween party they are planning. Fully of candy and crafty items. These guys are a hoot.

Our Very Own Albert Einstein

One of the big projects for the 5th graders (among a ga-zillion other huge projects for that year) is to put on a Wax Museum for the whole school and parents. Each student is to choose someone famous to portray and then come totally dressed like them with a prop or two. They do the "museum" all day. It is quite the feat! Connor chose to be one of his heros: Albert Einstein. He was glad he chose to be Einstein where he could sit or stand comfortably and felt bad for one of his friends who chose to be Lady Liberty herself and had to stand with her hand up, holding the torch all day!

Connor ready for school and the museum-- and no, he is not wearing socks. He said that by wearing "high-waters" for pants and no socks is something that Einstein typically did. Ha! Who knows if that is true or not! (I think a lot of his research was done on Wikipedia,)

He purposefully grew his hair long for this event.

Thinking like Einstein did!

Working with numbers

Going for the famous Einstein "tongue" pose. He pulls it off pretty good,  but needs just a bit more tounge out there!