S is for.....

While I was in Arizona I walked with Jen, Tess, Brynn, Claire, Jayne, & Ana to the school to drop Tess & Brynn off for the school day. After we saw them safely to school, Ana & I were left pushing Jayne & Claire the rest of the way around the loop. Jen had taken off to the studio for her hour of work. So Ana & I had some time to chat. We established the fact that she is seven and in the second grade. I said, " that is 2 S's about you, we need to think of another s about you". Without skipping a beat she replied, "smart"!  I totally agree with her. She is a smart, seven year old in second grade. (Plus she is one of my favorite sweetness pies!)

Fall Break Flash Back

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Last week Amy & I celebrated Fall break in AZ. We had so 

much fun. As usual we needed 

a vacation from our vacation 

when we got back home. Some of our 

events included, but this list is

not all inclusive, a fun, fun Halloween party, an hour of 

musical wigs, a dance off, a walk

to school, a check back at the 

doctor for Claire, In & Out on

Austin's birthday in celebration 

of his birthday without him there, work-up in the street, playing jump rope, project time at home & at the church, a pumpkin patch, basically we had more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Wait we had a barrel of monkeys & their names 

were Teancum, Tess, Ana, Brynn, Jarom, Rebekah, Claire, Sariah, & 

Jayne. The only monkey missing was Addy. I picked from the pictures 

I had on my camera a sample of some of our fun times. I hope Jen  & Amy share the pictures they have. We had double the fun with the Hoopes' cousins in Arizona an extra day. Thanks for making the arrangements. Looking at the pictures gets me excited for more fun at Thanksgiving time!

Just a Glimpse

I had Dad, then Rob, then Austin mention my lack of blogging of late. I would love to be blogging, but instead I am trying to figure out microbioloby & chemistry. Both are tougher than I expeccted & I do expect to retake both. I will be happy to get passing grades, which right now is doubtful. I have learned why people retake classes. It is because they are really hard classes & reading for hours isn't always enough. Even old dogs sometimes are forced to learn new tricks. I am sharing just a glimpse of what I see in my micro lab. This week we looked at helminths (worms that infest humans & yeasts-which humans eat!) It is so interesting. I enjoy the lab, it's the class that's killing me. I am fascinated by the subject, how our cells work, it really is a miracle to me. If I learn nothing more from my college experience I have a greater understanding & stronger testimony that we are divinely created. There can be no other way. I do not understand why it has been said scientist's have a harder time believing in God. The more I learn, the more I see God's hand in our creation. 

Happy Halloween

I am happy to say the school rivalry here in Utah has cooled a bit. I think we are all happily cheering for the red & blue. To prove my point I have posted this picture of Rob wearing the red in support of his baby sister's football team. In reality I am worried about the BYU-Ute game. So far neither team has lost a game this season. It should be a great game to watch, but someone will lose. Maybe we should all pitch in $5 & loser takes all. The winner will be too busy gloating, it is the loser that needs cheering up. The build up is almost as tense as our upcoming election...who is going to win? p.s. Rob is also in the holiday spirit with his Halloween vest!

Jack & the Beanstalk...or was that a tomato plant?

Earlier this summer I was ambitious enough to plant 6 cherry tomato plants. I chose 2 different planting spots. For the last 5 or 6 years my cherry tomato plants have grown in the parking strip at the end of the driveway. They have been very prolific & even reseeded every year. Unfortunately a ground cover dominated the space & won out. No tomato seedlings this year so I bought new plants. I planted 3 plants in that spot hoping they would take hold & flourish. The other 3 I planted to the side of my house. This was a new experiment. In fact my thougthts were these plants would not get enough sun & would not do well. Now at the end of the growing season plants 1, 2, & 3 in the parking strips were all but a failure. Two died out completely & the third struggled enough to produce 20 cherry tomatoes, which were yummy, but not the usual yield I have been accustomed to from that spot. In contrast plants 3, 4, & 5 are unbelievable. I have never seen tomato plants as tall or as long as these grew. If I didn't know better I would think someone traded out regular tomato seeds with magic tomato seeds in an attempt to climb to that magical palace where the goose that lays golden eggs lives. It is hard to see in the picture, but the green shoots above the lilac bush are my cherry tomato plants. They grew up through & are supported by the lilac bush. Other people win prizes for the biggest pumpkin, not me...I have the tallest tomato plants.

Thank You!

Gramps was asking tonight if he had thanked me for some of the menial tasks I have done over the years. He mentioned he noticed the clean bathroom, the clean laundry. It made me think of a comment my microbiology teacher recently told the class. He said if a Maple tree lost all its leaves & they were gathered up, then laid out flat, they would cover a football field. That is a lot of leaves from one tree. Then a thought came to mind;  if I hung all the laundry I have washed, dried, folded, ironed, put way on a line, one laundry line post would be in my backyard & the other post would be on the moon! 

Date Night in the Big City

A couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail about tickets to the Leann Rimes benefit concert. The tickets were only $20 each. I called Gramps to see if we could swing the $40. He didn't seem very interested, so I dropped the subject and deleted the e-mail. Fast forward to this week. On Wednesday Gramps said he had a secret, but it wasn't set in cement. Of course in my excitement I thought about it through the day. On Thursday he said he had the secret secured. I begged to know what the secret was & he said he had Leann Rimes concert tickets. I was so surprised. Leann Rimes is a grammy winning country/rock singer. I have her early music on my i-pod. I started liking her when she was a teenager winning awards. So, Friday night we went to her concert. She sang 3 songs I recognized, the girl next to me knew all the words to every song. Her closing song was Amazing Grace, which was her best performance of the night. She sang it accapella, her voice is incredible. Thanks Gramps for a fun night in the big city.

Thanks Rob

This was a touph week for Rob & I. We disagreed on a point of view & it took several chats for us to put it to rest. On Friday, after a long day of work & school, then a concert in Salt Lake, I came home & there on the kitchen table was a vase with roses 2 beautiful roses. It was a very kind gesture & I am grateful for his thoughtfulness. I wanted to let everyone know he has moved to the top of my list!

Let's Glean Pumpkins

In case you haven't gone yet, I am reminding all it is time to go to your local farmer's field & glean as many pumpkins as you would like! They are free for the taking. As you can see I helped myself to 2 this week in preparation for Halloween. I just yearn for that orange splash on my front porch. My relief society president hasn't announced the free-for-all yet this year, so I just waited until dark & made a dash through the field. I grabbed 2 nice big ones as that was all I could hold. Good luck to all my fellow pumpkin gleaners!