Scout Sunday

Mr. Serious. Chad cracks me up... smile, son! He is a very quiet and serious boy! He is a great son and I am VERY proud of him! He LOVES to camp and hike, he loves the scouting program! Yesterday was "Scout Sunday" and the young men were to all wear their scout shirts to church. I am not big on sewing... haha, okay, that is an understatement! Anyway, a sweet friend of mine called the week before and wanted to know if I would like for her to sew on Chad's merit badges? HECK YES!!! THANK YOU, KIM!!!! So, Chad gathered all his merit badges and patches and we took them over to her with a plate of cookies (THAT I CAN do! HAHA) She brought them back to us on Tues all done! So, when he walked into my room on Sunday morning he looked so cute that I had to stop and take his picture! Chad is 14 and has 22 merit badges. You need 22 to earn the rank of Eagle! So, now we just need to do his Eagle Project!! When he gets his Eagle rank, we will be 5 for 5! ALL of his brothers are Eagles too! (Do NOT praise ME, it was them and their wonderful leaders! We have been blessed with great scout leaders over the years!!!) THANK YOU MEN! THANK YOU SONS!!!

They went to Camp Chawanakee several years and love that place!

After Chad gets his Eagle I am anxious to get a picture of all my boys in their uniforms! I am very proud of them all for earning this rank, it is NOT easy!!!

I love you,

mom

Today...

The brakes on our car needed to be changed. It is quite expensive! So, my wonderful (and handsome) hubby decided to change the brakes himself! It saved us a lot of money! THANK YOU DEAR!

So, while hubby was busy I decided to go with a couple of friends to see a chick flick. Leap Year was at the cheap theater so off we went... it was very cute, romantic AND clean!!! It was so refreshing!!! I highly recommend it!

AND, I came across this cute blog today that I would recommend that you stop by and visit...

Have a good day....

***Warning*** LOTS of pics from the Cruise!

It has taken me a few days to do this.
It was such a bitter/sweet trip!

It about killed me to sail off without Devin! It is a good thing that I didn't realize when we had to leave him behind to "wait" for us to get his passport that we would sail off without him, there is NO way I would have ever left him!!!! I laid on my bed in my stateroom and cried for 2 hours after loosing my cool and yelling at some stupid ladies! I can't go into it again, I ended up crying about it all over again on Monday... if you want to find out more go HERE to read about.

This is probably our favorite place to hang out on the ship! We would get all the food we wanted and always picked a window seat and would sit in the window and chat and chat... as you know, I love the water!

The Mariner of the Sea is a great ship for boys! The whole top of the ship is a huge sports deck that includes, a rock wall, a full court basketball court and they would change to "indoor" soccer/volleyball/dodge ball... there was also a miniature golf course, in line skating, ping pong, a track to walk on which I really enjoyed and much more!

Here is Chad getting ready to climb the rock wall, it was HIGH above the water!

The boys playing basketball...

Bubba

Chad playing ping pong with a "friend" he made on the ship...

Hanging out in our room...

Cabo San Lucas

Cabo was soooooooooooooooooo beautiful!!!! The water was SO clear!!!

When we got off the ship there were a couple of women there handing the kids their iguana to hold! Devin had an iguana for a pet when he was about 10 yrs old!

She placed it on Chad's head!

We had a guy take us over to "Lover's Beach", it was absolutely gorgeous!

Me and my sister in law, Ellen.

Me and my man, I love you Brad!

Derek and Brittany had been here before, they came here on their honeymoon...

The water was so clear!

We saw a whale!!! I am hoping my SIL got a better pic than I did! :(

Chad LOVES to climb... him and his cousins!

The boys went snorkeling and were gone about 3 hours! They went around the cliffs and then out to a small cliff/island and dove off... they had a great time but they were sure tired swimming all the way back against the current!

Chad enjoyed snorkeling too!

Brittany played with Whitney and Abby in the waves!

HAHA, when the boys finally got back they had to rest!

Back on the ship...
They had lots of contests... the boys competed in a soccer shootout, Derek got a medal!

Dallin and Brittany getting ready to climb the rock wall!

Almost to the top!

Mazatlan

We had a guy take us to the Beach, it is very common to have a "taxi" in the back of a pickup truck.

We pretended that Devin and Diana were with us all the time! Someone would always say, I guess Devin already ate (when we were in the dining room) coz I don't see him anywhere.... It was really sad but we decided the easiest way to cope with it was just to pretend he was there! So, here they are... Devin and Diana!

Some of us decided to parasail! Brad didn't think Chad would want to so he asked him and was very surprised to find out that he REALLY wanted to... so, here he goes!

Up, up and away!

Brittany...

Here is Blake and Abby watching everyone!

And, then it was MY turn! I LOVED IT! It was one of the most fun things I have EVER done!

Back on the ship... We loved the jacuzzi...

and the ice cream...

and the beautiful sunsets!

The midnight buffet!

Puerto Vallarta

We loved Puerto Vallarta! The first thing we did was just take a walk and explore some of the city. Then we stopped in the grocery store, that was fun, here is Derek with some of the little banana's that he loved in Brasil!

Chad... look at the prices, haha....

Here is a picture of our ship, right off the ship is a lot of little shops (like a swap meet) and a little place to get drinks... we sat there and enjoyed the warmth and watched the people...

Dallin and Brittany had a Mexican Coka Cola... Derek went to look at the shops. He bought Devin a Laker's poncho! What a thoughtful brother!

Brad talked to a guy who took us in his Yukon out to the jungle! On the way he showed us lots of cool things... downtown, and a house that the Mexican government had given to Nixon, (it was up for sale now) he stoppped and let us take pics along the way...

Our driver took us out to El Eden, this is where Predator with Arnold Schwarzenegger was filmed. The movie people built roads up there and afterwards the guy who owned the land built zip lines, a restaurant, waterfalls, a lagoon, a spa.... you are safe to say he is now VERY wealthy! It was a beautiful place! We drove thru a little Indian village on the way up... very cool!

Here are some pics of the kids jumping off the rope into the water!

Blake doing a flip, of course!

A slide...

THE boys... as you can see Derek has his arm around Devin in this picture!

When we were taking pics the owner came out and told us they were filming a commercial and he asked Brittany if she would be in it!!! So, here she is.... Derek filmed them filming her! She got a free massage, lucky girl!

On the way back to the ship we told our driver that we want some REAL Mexican taco's! So, he took us to Pepe's! I have to tell you they were THE best taco's I have EVER had!!!! Have you ever heard of putting a thin slice of pineapple on a taco??!!! Oh, honey, it was SOOOOOO good!!!

When we got back to the ship we went down to the beach and stayed in the water till the sun went down! It was SOOOOOOOOOOOO warm!!! The water was 78°!!! LOVED IT! DIDNT WANT TO LEAVE!

Back on the ship.... HAD to finish the Laker game before going to dinner!

On the elevator.... going down to dinner...

Dirk (brother), Mom, and me... THANK YOU MOM, this was the best Christmas EVER!

Blake ordered escargot, and yes, I tried it too!

The head waiter cutting Dallin's duck off the bone...

Yep, the ship had ice skating too!

This was Friday night on the way back to L.A. There were storms and HUGE waves! The water in the pool would slosh from one end to the other, it would go up into a 4" wave and splash out of the pool!!! It was so crazy to watch!

A little chilly headed back to L.A.

The last night at dinner... our waiter was so cute, he had some kind of a puzzle every night for us...

I have to say that a cruise is the way to go! You can't pay for a hotel, meals, and entertainment for 50-60 bucks a day!!! I vote we do this every year!!!

Temple!

Last night we took the young single adults to the temple! What an awesome experience! I love these kids!
I wish you could see all the boys in the back better...

New Blog!

I just got an email about a new blog.... Know Your Religion!!!! There are questions answered and all kinds of good stuff... just thought you might want to know!!!

Saddest Thing EVER.

SADDEST THING EVER. Devin didn't get on the ship. He had his passport and his sea pass to get on in a Ziploc bag in the outside zipper of his luggage.... He had forgotten about it due to helping us get all the luggage out of the truck... and then being worried about his hanging bag that had a broken zipper.... I told him don't worry about it, just carry it on. I took the hanging bag from him for a min and as soon as I did he realized his hands were EMPTY. And, he had left his passport and sea pass in his luggage!!!!! By then the porter had taken all the luggage away... he ran after the porter but the luggage was gone. The porter told him not to worry, send us on to the room and the luggage would be there before 2 hours was up. It was 1 pm and the ship was not due to leave till 5. So, we went on the ship to wait for the luggage. After an hour of waiting we began to stress so I went down to customer service and got a manager to look for it. Devin had also reported it and they were looking for it from that end too! NOTHING. finally by 3:30 ALL of our luggage had shown up EXCEPT for DEVIN'S!!!!!!! Dallin snuck into the luggage room on the bottom floor of the ship and was looking for it... got chased out of there... Derek and Britt were going up and down our hallway looking....At about 10 till 4 a call came in from 2 floors down, they had it!!!! WRONG ROOM. It was delivered to the WRONG room!!!!! The manager, Brad and Dallin went running to that room to get the passport and sea pass out!!! I waited by the customer service desk.... by the time Brad and Dallin reached the "wrong room" they had already sent it down... they ran to get it... got it back to the customer service desk to have taken out to Devin so he could get on the ship.... NOPE. TOO LATE. The ship doors were LOCKED. NOTHING gets on or off the ship at that point. Needless to say, we begged.... pleaded.... I just stood there sobbing.... nothing. NOT only could Devin NOT get on the ship but they could NOT give him his luggage or passport.... so, he could not fly to Cabo to meet up with us. NO PASSPORT.

from Diana's blog....
So now Devin is in LA with a dying cell phone, with no luggage, and no car to get back to his parents house. Do you think the nice people working for the cruise ship let him wait inside till he found a ride? ... Of Course Not!! they handed him a paper thin plastic poncho and threw him out in the rain. Luckily, Devin found some nice people from Poland who gave him a ride back to his house. Since he had school this week he drove all the way back up here on Monday... still luggage-less and without a refund... But OF COURSE he cant just make it home peacefully... apparently one of our headlights was out, so he got pulled over for that, and then got a ticket for our window tint being too dark.... I mean Seriously?! Come on NOW!!

Last night the manager called brad up to the desk, took him to the back room and refunded the money for Devin!!!! THANK GOODNESS.... BUTT. it does NOT make up for not having Devin with us on our family cruise! :(

cruiSing queStionS

I know a lot of you have been on a cruise before.... but, I have NOT. SO, I am asking for ANY suggestions you might have... ANYTHING! WHAT to pack, WHAT to wear into the dinning room to eat (they say NO jeans or shorts), WHAT to be prepared for, WHAT to do, what NOT to do.... etc! PLEASE SHARE!!! Our whole family is going (well, except for our sweet Diana who CANNOT miss school, she is in a dental hygiene school and it is very intense... We will miss her terribly!!!)

We are going to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta. IF you have been there, I would LOVE suggestions on what to see and do at each port!

THANK YOU!!!!

Dallin's Birthday!

Today is Dallin's Birthday!

He turned 19 today! It seems like just yesterday that I was headed to the hospital to give birth to this wonderful son of mine! He is the ONLY one that I went into labor without all on my own, I was induced with all the other boys. Dallin's birth came fast, 33 minutes after we arrived at the hospital! No time for any pain meds... He was ready to get here! And I must say well prepared. I know he must have really "listened" in his premortal life when he was being taught how to live here on Earth. He is such a good boy... so, quiet (well, USED to be, hahaha), so obedient, so independent... honestly with 3 older brothers I sometimes felt that i neglected him. He should have just YELLED, "MOM!" like the other boys... but he didn't need me.



He is a GREAT student, did it all on his own. I can't take any credit for it... He is a sweet young man, always willing to help someone else... I have walked in on him praying and/or reading his scriptures... like I said, well prepared before he came to Earth. I am SO very grateful that he came into our family, we are so blessed to have him in our lives! He will be turning in his mission papers soon. He is up at BYU for another semester. I miss him, and will miss him so much more when he is gone for a solid 2 years...


Dallin, I love you. I am SO proud of you... so honored to call you son.


Love,
mom

Another day at the BeAcH

It was such a beautiful day at the beach last Monday so as Kathy and I were on our walk Saturday morning we decided that we should turn around and grab the kids, load the car and go! The men decided that they wanted to go too! So, we packed up the kids and the car and headed out!

It is weird how the weather is here.... Last Monday it was cool here (73°) and when we got to the beach it was over 80°, I had to take off my sweatshirt I was SO hot, on Saturday we were VERY hot on our walk and when we got to the beach it was cool, I left my sweatshirt on all day.

Here are a few pics from yesterday...

Yes, as you can tell, it is a different beach this time... no rocks... no tide pools...

Brad always brings a football to the beach...

Chad playing catch with his dad... and Scott watching

Kaitlin and me

Me, Kaitlin, and Kelsey

Awe, Kaitlin, thanks for taking some pics of me and my man!

Me and Kathy

How beautiful.... the Lord's creation!

A California Christmas!

Most of you were probably building snowmen, drinking hot chocolate, and making snow ice cream while we here in Cali were putting lights in our palm trees and visiting the beach... I have to say while I love visiting my mom and enjoying the beauty of a fresh white snow but I always love coming home to the WARM sunshine! I love living in southern California... we have been here for about the last 23 years. I LOVE the beach... the sand between my toes, the cool water, the warm sun on my face, the breeze thru my hair wading in the water and picking up pretty seashells, making sandcastles, sitting in the sand and watching the sun go down... oh yeah, I LOVE the beach! (I have to say my favorite trip ever was to Maui... and going snorkeling and swimming with the awesome sea life!)

The boys love going to the beach in the winter and looking in the tide pools for various sea life. It pretty much has become a tradition every Christmas. They miss the beach while living in the snow while they are off at school.... So on Monday Dec 28th we headed out to the beach to see what we could find!

Here are some beautiful shots of the ocean/beach that we took!

And here are some of the very cool animals that they found! These little guys are Brittle Starfish, I have to tell you it felt like a spider crawling on my hand... they are fearless, I thought it was going to crawl right off my hand and fall to the sand below! It really tickles when you hold them!

Devin searching the tide pools...

Doesn't this look cool? We saw sea slugs, sea urchins, starfish of different colors, a few octopi....it was so fun!

Dallin bringing up a starfish for me to hold...

Cool, huh?

Here the guys had found a very large octopus but he didn't want them to get him, he hid further under the big rock, they tried to move it but it was way too heavy, Devin had a hold of one of his arms but it was VERY strong, Devin's arm was shaking as he was trying to pull it up for everyone to see, at one point the octopus was able to bring Devin's hand to his beak and bit him! (just the tip of his finger) They found a tiny tiny octopus but I guess I didn't get a picture :(

This little guy looked hard but he was quite mushy, lol...

My climber boy, Chadman...

Diana soaking up some rays! It was a gorgeous day, about °74! We had to shed our sweatshirts! What a beautiful day!

We even saw a Sea Lion who was waiting for the tide to come back in to take him away...

Goodbye for today...

After we left we went to Togo's for lunch... what a wonderful time we had! There is just nothing like being with family and enjoying the sunshine!

Christmas Traditions!

Picking out our Christmas tree...

Loading it on the car...

Making Oreo truffles!

Oreo truffles and dipping our pretzels!

Making tamales!

(Remind me next year not to wear a sweatshirt under my apron, I look HUGE.)

The Mission Inn...

The kids were SOOOOO good to us this year, they all pitched in together and bought us new lights to hang over the dining room table, in the entry way and over the stairs... THANK YOU kids, we love you!!! You are so wonderful!!!

Taking down the old lighting...

Nope, the ladder ON the dining room table wont work... still not high enough...

Okay, make the ladder straight and lets use a rope and hold it at the bottom... does this look safe???

It WASN'T. I should have been taping it... Dallin fell!!!! Diana and I honestly thought he was going thru the window!!! The ladder tilted to the left and spun and Dallin fell/jumped off... and landed on the dining room table. It broke off one leg and shattered 2 corners.... SOOOOO GLAD DALLIN WASN'T HURT!!!!

Brad, Devin and Dallin were able to "fix" it. They cut a piece of wood and got the leg secure and used a C clamp over night... and then glued the "shattered" pieces back on... good thing the table was made the way it was... it is supposed to look "old"... so, it works!

Pictures of the new lighting!!! LOVE IT!!! You guys did a great job picking it out!!! THANK YOU!!! LOVE YOU!!!

We had a wonderful Christmas! We had all the kids at home except Derek and Brittany... we were sad to not have them but we understand... you have to share! °Ü° They are having a great time in Denver! They were able to spend Thanksgiving with us and for Christmas this year my mom, Brad and paid for a CRUISE!!! We are all going on a cruise!!! We are so excited!!! Derek, Britt, and Dallin are going to have to miss a week of school, oh darn! HAHA!

Anyway, we hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and were all very much aware of why we celebrate!!! I am sooooooooooooo very grateful for my wonderful family! I love the Christmas season when everyone seems to have such a giving spirit.... I love the lights.... the music... the smells... but, most of all I am thankful for a loving Father in Heaven that sent his Son that we might once again live with him! Merry Christmas everyone everywhere!!!

FREE books to download!

Go here to get some free books to download! Deseret Book is letting your download some great books. Just download them to your computer and read them later, they are available till Dec. 24th!

FiNaLlY sOmE tHaNkSgIvInG pIcS

Our schools started a "modified traditional" schedule a few years ago which means we get a week off at Thanksgiving, 3 weeks off at Christmas and 2 weeks off at spring break. So ever since we have been able to have 2 Thanksgivings, one in Utah with my family and one in Las Vegas with Brad's family. We go to Utah first and spend a few days and have our Thanksgiving dinner on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Here are a few of the pictures that we took.

Here are a few random pics... just hanging out in grandma's basement...

Some fun on the segways...

Just messin' around...

The cousins...

oh, bubba... yep, some messin' around AGAIN!

AND again...

Dessert! yum!

back to the basement... messin' around some MORE!

sittin' with grandma!

Decorating grandma's tree!

We babysat Lane a couple of times while we were there...

Now, in Vegas... we have such a big crew on this side of the family that we always have our Thanksgiving dinner at the church.... notice who was 1st in line for food! Yep, Bradly boy! AND, then the kids! HAHA

AND, you might notice... I guess it just cant be Thanksgiving without the big gulps, HAHA!

After we are done eating and chatting for a bit, we put away the tables and bring in the couches...

There is always a ton of sports in the gym. I missed getting pics of basketball, indoor soccer, and football... not sure what I was doing... eating still??? chatting??? checking the ads for black Friday??? Anyway, here are some pics of volleyball...

Hugs and saying good bye... to my girls...

oh, AND Dallin! Love you, Dal Pal!

I should say I am so very grateful for my family and for the gospel and for the knowledge that families are for.ever!!!

Great Talks!

As I sit here preparing my lesson for tomorrow night I thought I should share with you a great web site with wonderful talks/discussions. It is listed on my side bar under favorite web sites, it is "Book of Mormon Talks". When you get to this website just scroll down to Book of Mormon Episodes, then click on which chapters you would like to study. Then on the right hand side, click on "Listen to this Episode". It is so good to listen to, they are about 30 min each and oh so worth the time!! I love to take notes in my scriptures as they discuss... There are other wonderful talks and things on this web site too! ENJOY!

Isn't this just the cutest little picture ever?! (NO, I do not know her... wish I did!)

Today is SHAILA'S BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HaPpY BiRtHDaY ShAILa!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today is the day.....just a mere XX number of years ago (yes -I know exactly how many years ago... but value my life.. so I wont post it-But hey, I am always up for a BRIBE to leak out certain information) A little girl was born to James and Shari Measles in Plano Texas! (I think it was Plano, it was in Texas) She was the joy of her parents life (sorry Dirk...just keeping it real-I am sure when Shaila sees this ..she will edit it anyway) Shaila continues to bring much joy to SO many......She is a dear friend to sooooo many! Always serving, always teaching, always going about emulating the Savior!

Join with me in Wishing Shaila HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

We are all blessed to have you in our lives!

WE LOVE YOU!

Remembering our Veterans!

Just remembering our Veterans today! Here is a pic of my father when he served in the navy!


They got his headstone up....


And, the Navy got his marker down this week... just in time for Veterans Day!

Thank you to all those who serve/served our country!!!

I am proud to be an American! THANK YOU for protecting us!

RaNdOm StUfF

I have to say… work is totally cramping my style! I used to have sooooooooooooooooo much more time! So, this post is going to be totally random but I HAVE to catch up in this journal of mine!

Chad has had his stitches for over two weeks so I think I will take them out today! Tomorrow is his 14th Birthday!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sweet CHAD!!! I can’t believe you are going to be 14! That means that now you can go to all the church dances! Wow… Crazy! He is finally growing. When Brad took him to get stitches the Dr. did an X-ray and the Dr. pointed out all the “tares” in his bones to Brad and told him that he is really going thru a growth spurt! He is 5'4" at the moment, looking me square in the eye. His favorite meal is ribs, so.... tomorrow night, ribs it is!

My friend went up to Utah for the BYU Homecoming game and I bummed a ride up with her. It was nice to go up and see my mom and some of my older kids. Derek and Brittany came down from Rexburg too! The game wasn't so good... but we still had a blast! I forgot my camera on the trip! :( But here is a pic from the game that Devin took of us girls... it is the only pic we took at the game! I love these girls, we are so blessed to have them in our family!!!

And, here are a few pics that Brittany took in my mom's front room... as Britt says, the boys always make time to bond, aka hurt each other lovingly! HAHAHA, she is SO right!

Cute Britt with Derek...

Here is a pic of Brad and Chad cleaning the spider webs... i debated on leaving them since it was SO close to Halloween! Thank you, Chadman!

Halloween!

A family in our ward had a great Halloween party! This is Chad's scout leader that drove the tractor and took us all on a hay ride!

Chad and some friends sitting on the hay, ready to go!

Chad and his scout leader. He is Johnny Depp from the new movie coming out March 5, 2010, Alice in Wonderland.

Okay, all caught up.... gotta go work on my lesson for tomorrow night...

OUCH!

Chad is a very quiet boy but he is very active. He loves to run and jump and actually quite good at it. Blake is the one that is always doing back handsprings and flips on his snowboard, he and Devin did quite well at pole vaulting in high school, in fact, Devin held the school record for about 6 or 7 years. I tell you that because as high and as much as THEY jumped, Chad jumps more. Chad can run and jump upon the stage at the church without using his hands, he has done this for a couple of years now. Blake was shocked to see him do that, he told his dad, "I don't think I could do that until I was in high school." A few years ago Blake taught Chad how to do the Fosbury-flop, he does it quite well. I am sure in HS he will be able to do the high jump better than Blake. (Sorry, Blake, but YOU taught him!)

Yesterday Chad was at a merit badge fair earning his last merit badge before doing his Eagle Project. After he was all finished he was outside running and jumping with his friends. He misjudged a brick wall and did this....


I was at work when I got a text from Brad telling me that he was with Chad at the urgent care. The Dr. was concerned about his bone and his tendon. He cut it DEEP, yep, the Dr. showed Brad the bone and the tendon. He had Chad flex his foot up and down and then from side to side to check the tendon. Brad said the tendon looked like a ribbon and you could see it tightening etc as Chad moved his foot. YEAH, no damage to the tendon or bone. The bone was bruised but not chipped or anything! Here is a pic that Brad took when the Dr. was cleaning it up and getting ready to sew it up.

He cut the dead skin away and had to do THREE layers of stitches! Like I said, it as deep! Chad was quite the stud during all of this!

Here is the finished product. Oh, did I say this was his shin? Yep, it is swollen. We had a GREAT Dr. He wants me to take Chad in tomorrow and let him have a look at it. Chad is on antibiotics but we did not fill his pain pill prescription. He is doing okay with Tylenol.

Funny, thing to add... when Chad was in Kindergarten, he was climbing a fence and jumped off it, did I mention that Chad likes to jump? °Ü° Well, his shoelace got caught at the top of the fence and he fell to the cement below and broke both of his arms. YEP, not only did he break BOTH arms, but he broke 2 bones in one arm... so, yep, broke 3 bones! Yep, he had 2 casts on for awhile! What a little stud this guy is! Hang in there Chad, we love you!

The Viewing and The Funeral

My 2 oldest boys by my side...

There were 3 ribbons that said "Husband", "Daddy", and "Grandpa"

His grandchildren...

His brother, sisters, sister in law, brother in law, nieces and nephews from TEXAS!

Stacia and mom... Stacia was my very best friend growing up... they lived right next door to us! Her parents and my parents were best friends too! She always comes and supports me when times are hard... she flew in when I had seizures when Chad was born! Thank you, Stacia, I love you!!!

Dad has 7 grandsons, they were the pallbearers... very tender...

It was so cool, when we pulled up to the cemetery, the Navy was there!

He played Taps! (You can see him by the white flowers)

This was so cool! My brother in law taped it!

This is my dad's sisters and brother. They brought Texas soil for him to be buried in!

The Pallbearers

All but one of my daddy's nieces and nephews came! I love my cousins!!!

Dirk (my sweet brother), Stacia and me...

The grandsons in daddy's rose garden with the Texas flag at half mast...

My sweet cousins!!! THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING!!! It meant sooooooooooooo much! I love you all!!!

Brad, Dallin, Chad and I went to take Dallin up to BYU on Thurs, Aug. 27th (Brad's Birthday). Dad was not doing very well. He was very weak and was in bed. Mom had prepared me and yet I was surprised, we had seen him about 4 weeks before...

It was so wonderful (tender mercy of the Lord)... the timing. The older kids were also in Utah, they had finished working and had gotten there about the same time we did. We were able to spent 4 good days with him.

Daddy passed away on Sept. 1, 2009. It was his mother's Birthday! I am sure it was a wonderful birthday present for her to see her son again! Mom, Dirk and I were by his side when he left this mortal life. It was about 7:17 am. It was very sad and hard and yet.... it was very sweet and tender at the same time. Daddy was ready to meet his maker. He lived a good life and was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather and friend to many.

This is so hard for me to write. I have been meaning to write details of that weekend in my journal but every time I do I just sit here and cry. I really need to do it before all the details slip from my mind.

I am so grateful for Our Heavenly Father and the plan of salvation. I am so grateful for my knowledge that families can be together again. (Dad's children and grandchildren all sang "Families Can Be Together Forever" at the funeral). My parents were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple! WE WILL SEE HIM AGAIN!

But, in the meantime... I miss him.

I did the Life Sketch at the funeral. Here is a copy:

What an awesome responsibly it is to talk about someone such as dad… a servant of God, a Husband, a Father, a Daddy, Son, son in law, brother, brother in-law, Uncle, a friend and hero.

JG and Mary Measles had 5 children, 3 girls and 2 boys. Dad was the 2nd of 5. He was born in Olton Texas on Nov. 27, 1931. I am sure that his siblings could share with you many, many stories from those years… In fact, I am sure there are many stories that each of you can remember about good ‘ole James. We have put some cards in the foyer and we want to invite you to share those memories about dad so mom and can enjoy them later.

Dad graduated from Olton high school and he wasn’t too sure what to do after that, he asked his dad for council and papa told him that if he joined the Navy he would always have a hot meal and a warm bed so that is exactly what dad did. One of our favorite pictures of dad is the navy picture that mama had hanging on her wall forever. After serving in the Navy for 4 years and returning to Plainview he met the love of his life. They were dragging the gut in Plainview when they met, the friend that was with dad in his new blue, 2 tone, 2 door, hard top Pontiac Catalina was George Washington and just to be funny dad told mom that his name was Jerry Ferguson. Of course she thought George was teasing and believed dad! She was so excited to introduce her friends to this new cute guy she had met…“Jerry Ferguson” and just few nights later they were all out dragging the gut again and she saw him! She got really excited and was pointing him out to her friends; they all laughed and told her he was James Measles! Oh, yeah, that was James alright, quite the jokester! Mom and dad were married on Oct. 19, 1956 at daddy’s parent’s house.

Dad went to school at Draughns Business College, and later graduated from Wayland Baptist University.

Dad was prepared to hear the gospel before the missionaries knocked on their door that day. 6 months before he was listening to the radio and heard how bad smoking was and so he quit smoking that very day, saying no kid of mine will ever see me smoke. My grandmother Watts used to take Dirk and I to church every Sunday, one day dad was talking about some bible story and I said, “How do you know daddy? You don’t go to church.” That cut dad to the very core.

Mom had the question in her mind, what happened to my little brother when he died? So, that day that the missionaries knocked on the door, that was her very 1st question and as you know they shared the plan of salvation and Mom wanted to hear more. Once mom and dad were baptized they were committed, never wavering. I am so very grateful for a father who was not tooooo stubborn that he would listen, feel, and be baptized. Mom and dad were sealed for time and ALL eternity on Sept. 28, 1965 in the Salt Lake temple.

Dad was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 1960, he had his 1st hospital visit when mom was pregnant with me. I can remember in high school being called down to the office and Dirk and I would head to the hospital to meet mom and dad. He was very ill for oh so much of his life. But again, dad was a fighter, always positive and his faith helped him through. He actually asked the Lord to bless him that he might be able to live to raise his children. Dec. 10, 1985 mom and dad went to Boston and he had laser surgery at Harvard with the machine that cut the 1st atom. One of the side effects from that surgery was seizures. He was able to control that with meds and lived a long great life. We were so very blessed to have him in our lives for so long. Heavenly Father answered his pray and then some…. He was not only able to raise his children but he was around to be such an example to each of his grandchildren. We are VERY aware of this blessing and very grateful!

Daddy was always “teaching a lesson”… I know all of you think daddy was sweet and nice, but I will never forget the day he wouldn’t let me go to the swim party. Dad was serving as Branch President at the time. There was to be a fun swim party with EVERY body there on Sunday afternoon. When I asked if I could go he told me no, we do not swim on the Sabbath. I begged and begged, but daddy, I wont swim, I wont get in the water, I wont even wear my swim suit… every body is going to be there daddy! Again, No, Shaila, we don’t do that kind of thing on the Sabbath. I would not give up that easily…. Please, daddy, please… he finally said, “Okay, I will make a deal with you… You can go if I can go back behind the barn and smoke just one cigarette.” Are you kidding me??? Dad, you can’t do that!!! Well, there ya go. He won. I am sure he had NO intention of smoking that cigarette but he won, he got his way and there ya go…. He taught a lesson to me. Again.

Brad said, “Everyone needs someone in their life to set them straight.”

Even though dad’s dark skin was more like an Indian, he insisted on being dressed like a cowboy. He made sure he bought my boys their 1st pair of boots. I loved being raised by a good ‘ole cowboy and having a horse! There were great times on the farm riding…

We had a great family vacation EVERY year going to see something new, he hit 44 or 46 states; mom couldn’t remember if we went to north and South Dakota!

I loved dad’s dancing eyes; they were full of mischief and love…

Even during his lowest time in his life when he was diagnosed with cancer and very weak I can remember he telling me to grab some bags and we went into the back yard and picked peaches and then walked around and gave them out to some of his friends. He could barely carry them, but that was daddy… still serving. Ironically the scripture that makes me think of daddy is in James. James 1:22, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only”

When dad was diagnosed with Cancer last year, he was told he had 3-6 months to live. Poor daddy, he would not believe this, every time we would take him to a Dr. visit up at the Huntsman cancer he would ask the Dr. when she was going to make him well. He was going to beat this. And yet in quite moments of reflection he thought of anyone he might have offended and he would immediate get on the phone and call and apologize.

Lana can remember calling the house and asking “Can I talk to Shaila?” and daddy would say, “I don’t know, can you?”

When I would call and ask dad, “Hey, what’s up?” He would always answer, “Rent and taxes”.

Every time anyone would ask how he felt, he would…. Fingers…. Say, “With my fingers”

He never lost his personality, the day before he passed away Mike, his hospice nurse was here and he asked dad, “James, do you know who I am?” Dad said, “sure, Clem Kadiddlehoppe”

Dad had a lot of one liners!
Our family will miss him oh so very much. Teaching us a lesson… how to be a hard worker… how to serve… I know the grandsons will miss being called “a girl” or being thumped on the head with grandpa’s Texas ring… I know his family meant the world to him. I know he will be watching over us.

He had a great love for the Book of Mormon and applied it in his life.
He loved his Savior and knew of his tender mercies,
Dad’s testimony to me was Quiet and his actions were BOLD
He will always be our Hero…

I am grateful for my knowledge that families can be together forever.

Me and My Daddy!

I got home from work today and a friend had dropped off a gift for me... I opened the card and here is what it said:

Every little girl deserves a wonderful father to love and protect her. I have no doubt that your daddy was such a man, who has created many wonderful memories for you. I hope this little gift will always bring these memories to heart and mind.

When I got home from Utah (the funeral) this was on my front porch... The note says, "Remembering a good Texan and a great man! We love you!

My sweet sister in law made this beautiful watch for me... she made a watch to remind me that this is only for "time", not "eternity".... I WILL see him again!
I wish that I had of taken pictures of the flowers that my friends sent! :(

I really appreciate you all for your sweet words, texts, emails, cards, hugs, etc.... I love you all! Friends are so wonderful!!! THANK YOU!!! I LOVE YOU!

*Lehi's Dream*

This year in Institute I am teaching Book of Mormon. I know you all know the story of Lehi's dream but I want to share a few things that MIGHT be new to you...

Did you know that Father Smith (Joseph Smith Sr.) had a dream VERY similar to that of Lehi's? He had this dream when Joseph the prophet was 6 years old! Let me share this with you... this was taken from from Lucy Mack Smith, History of Joseph Smith by His Mother. I am now going to quote Lucy Mack Smith's account of the dream that Father Joseph had in 1811. Watch for similarities between it and Lehi's dream!

"I thought," said he, "I was traveling in an open, desolate field, which appeared to be very barren. As I was thus traveling, the thought suddenly came into my mind that I had better stop and reflect upon what I was doing, before I went any farther. So I asked myself, 'What motive can I have in traveling here, and what place can this be?' My guide, who was by my side, as before, said, 'This is the desolate world; but travel on.' The road was so broad and barren that I wondered why I should travel in it; for, said I to myself, 'Broad is the road, and wide is the gate that leads to death, and many there be that walk therein; but narrow is the way, and strait is the gate that leads to everlasting life, and few there be that go in thereat.' Traveling a short distance further, I came to a narrow path. This path I entered, and, when I had traveled a little way in it, I beheld a beautiful stream of water, which ran from the east to the west. Of this stream, I could see neither the source nor yet the mouth; but as far as my eyes could extend I could see a rope, running along the bank of it, about as high as a man could reach, and beyond me was a low, but very pleasant valley, in which stood a tree such as I had never seen before. It was exceedingly handsome, insomuch that I looked upon it with wonder and admiration. Its beautiful branches spread themselves somewhat like an umbrella, and it bore a kind of fruit, in shape much like a chestnut bur, and as white as snow, or, is possible, whiter. I gazed upon the same with considerable interest, and as I was doing so, the burs or shells commenced opening and shedding their particles, or the fruit which they contained, which was of dazzling whiteness. I drew near and began to eat of it, and I found it delicious beyond description. As I was eating, I said in my heart, 'I cannot eat this alone, I must bring my wife and seven children, and we all commenced eating and praising God for this blessing. We were exceedingly happy, insomuch that our joy could not easily be expressed. While thus engaged, I beheld a spacious building standing opposite the valley which we were in, and it appeared to reach to the very heavens. It was full of doors and windows, and they were all filled with people, who were very finely dressed. When these people observed us in the low valley, under the tree, they pointed the finger of scorn at us, and treated us with all manner of disrespect and contempt. But their contumely we utterly disregarded. I presently turned to my guide and inquired of him the meaning of the fruit that was so delicious. He told me it as the pure love of God, shed abroad in the hearts of all those who love him, and keep his commandments. He then commanded me to go and bring the rest of my children. I told him that we were all there. 'No," he replied, 'look yonder, you have two more, and you must bring them also.' Upon raising my eyes, I saw two small children, standing some distance off. I immediately went to them, and brought them to the tree; upon which they commenced eating with the rest, and we all rejoiced together. The move we ate, the more we seemed to desire, until we even got down upon our knees and scooped i up, eating it by double handfuls. After feasting in this manner a short time, I asked my guide what was the meaning of the spacious building which I saw. He replied, 'It is Babylon, it is Babylon, and it must fall. The people in the doors and windows are the inhabitants thereof, who scorn and despise the Saints of God because of their humility.' I soon awoke, clapping my hands together for joy."

I love how Father Joseph says that they got down on their knees and were eating "The Love of God" by double handfuls!!!

Also, look at v. 20 (ch 8) The phrase "stait and narrow path" is an interesting one. Note the spelling of "strait." It is not "straight." "Strait" means "narrow" or "restricted." So, in effect, we have the phrase "narrow and narrow path." It has also been suggested that the phrase can mean "narrow and narrowing" path.

Let me tell you a great story that is a perfect example of this... A good man had gotten way off the path for a time in his life. Through repentance and much effort, he regained his membership in the Church and was doing very well, having served a mission with his wife and done much good.

However, one day he went to see his bishop, he expressed grave concern about his chances for gaining celestial exaltation, whereas, he had been very confident about his chances for several years now. His concern boiled down to this: He was now noticing flaws and imperfections in his daily living which he had not even noticed before this time in his life. I guess his bishop startled him when he said, "Rejoice!"

As they chatted, his bishop explained that the fact that he was now noticing things heretofore un-noticed by him in his life was evidence that he was now much closer to the Spirit than before. he was drawing closer and closer to God, and the "light" was shining much brighter on the path so that he was noticing and worrying about littler things in his life. It was a sign that he was doing much better! When he realized this, he paused, then smiled, breathed a big sigh of relief and left the office very happy. Such is the power of travel along the "narrow and narrowing" path!

I feel as we start out on the "narrow and narrowing path", it is okay to lean on another's testimony but as the path gets more narrow we have to eventually stand alone... hence having our own strong testimony, living our lives better each day... line upon line...

My prayer is that we all continue to pray, read, study, learn and grow... attend the temple, serve others... and come closer to our Father in Heaven! I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who has given us every opportunity to repent and come unto him!

Frustrated.

I used to love to blog. It was my journal, but can I just say that there HAS to be an easier way!!!! I have tried to upload pics TWICE and it wont let me move them to the order I WANT them in!!!! I am frustrated. I am quiting for now. I will try again later....

Any suggestions? What am I doing wrong??? Do I need to do some kind of an upgrade to my blogspot???!!! HELP.

Beach Day

It is such a bummer when the summer comes to an end. School starts here on Wednesday. So, yesterday we went to the beach. I love the beach... the sun on my face, the wind in my hair, the sand between my toes, the mist in the air, the sound of the waves, and the joy on my children's faces! Here are a few pics from yesterday... Tanning and sharing headphones...

PS I cut my hair... short and sassy once again!

AND, Sunday night Dallin got his Patriarchal Blessing! It was a very sweet moment... For those of you who might not be LDS I looked "Patriarchal Blessing" up on Wikipedia and this is what is said: "In the Latter-Day Saint movement, a Patriarchal Blessing is a blessing or ordinance given by a Patriarch to a church member. Patriarchal Blessings are modeled after the blessing given by Abraham to each of his sons prior to his death."

Help with a talk???

I was asked to speak at Youth Conference. The Scripture that is the theme for this year is 1 Timothy 4:12, "...be thou an example of the believers in word and conversation....." The topic I have been given is, "Using your electronic communications to be an example of the believers".

I feel that the electronic communications that our youth use the MOST, are...

1) their phones (TEXTING)...

2.) Facebook/My Space... 3.) Twitter... So, my question for you is this... how would you address this topic in a talk for youth conference??!!!

"Using Your electronic communications to be an example of the believers"

I would LOVE any suggestions!!!

Friday Night

Upstairs bonus room on a Friday night.... Yes, they are 18, 19, 20, and 21 years old! Oh, and Chad man!

Hack Hack Hack..... and you thought hacking was only due to coughing

Shaila is at work.

I am at play....

I bet she wishes I would go JUST away......... (Or at least forget her passwords!)

Calling all, Shaila friends.. Lets help a girl out here. If we don't help her out, her stomach is going to sue her teeth for neglect!

As you know she is working now, getting off at 5. Its hard to come home and get dinner going.. SO. lets surprise her and send some quick recipes and meal ideas! If you don't have a quick dinner idea, then send her a little encouragement to her as she enters back in the work force...
LOVE... ME

I would help her out... BUT.... she didnt like my last idea for a BBQ

Well, its been over an hour and it still isnt showing up on google reader..... what fun is it to hack, if it wont post!!! ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

Starting Work

It has been wonderful to be blessed enough that I have been able to stay home to raise my boys! But, with the economy the way it is Brad and I both thought it would be nice if I could find a part time job to help out with finances. I looked at a few places around Christmas time but no one was willing to let me have the Sabbath off, so I remained unemployed. A friend of mine who works for an optometrist part time called me a week or so ago and told me that the other gal she works with gave her 2 week notice, so Kathy was wondering if I would be interested. YES!!! I had to make a resume and go in for an interview. I was a little nervous because of my age and not having worked in years! I knew there were a couple of cute young gals interested too... Anyway, long story short, I got the job!!!

I started on Saturday. Kathy trained me... I greet the patient, make copies of their ID and Insurance card, enter the info on the computer and start them a file. I take them back and check their eyes on several different machines... (This is NOT our office, but this is what the machines look like) I then write the results from the machines and put it on their chart. I then take the patient into the exam room...

It was really fun. I need to go buy scrubs now!!!

Thought Question...

Are you trading what you want MOST for what you want in the moment?

Update on Daddy

I just called mom to check on things and mom was in tears. Dad has been REALLY nauseated for a week or so now. He is on "the strongest anti-nausea" meds, the next step would be IV (says the Dr.) He has been throwing up every day, he even threw up his ensure this morning. He can't lay flat, last night they stayed up till 12:30 with him propped up on the couch. My brother just came home from work and is taking them to the ER to get dad hydrated. It is so hard being so far away and feeling so helpless. I am SO grateful that my brother lives so close and has a wonderful job so that he can be there for them night and/or day! Thank you, Dirk, I love you!

Poor mom, they have come to the conclusion that it might be time to call in Hospice. He needs a hospital bed. They have not wanted to call Hospice for a couple of reasons...
1) They do not want to feel like they are giving up
2) They have my brother and his family close AND they have plenty of wonderful people that can and will help from church
3) Mom really doesn't like people that she doesn't know in and out of the house.

Say a prayer... pray for my sweet mom...
Thank you dear friends/family... LOVE YOU!

UPDATE ~ Utah time 3:55 pm
Just heard from Dirk, they are at the ER and they are giving him fluids and nausea meds thru IV, he is already feeling better! They are also going to do an Xray to make sure there is no blockage! They said they can give him nausea meds to take home that he can put under his tongue so that it will go right into the blood stream and he will not throw them up!

Dirk said that on the way to the ER dad saw Beto's (he loves their breakfast burritos) and he teased and said, "Hey, do you think we have time to stop at Beto's?" They knew he was teasing, he has been nauseated and cant keep anything down, but he is still his cute little joking self!!!

The ER in American Fork is wonderful... they are on top of things! THANK YOU!!!
PS A nurses aid just came in and asked him if there was anything they could get him... he said he would love a large chocolate shake. Guess who is now eating a large chocolate shake? He is too cute!

A trip to Utah

I am way behind on posts... but I really NEED to get some pictures posted from my little trip to visit mom and dad. I drove up there the day after graduation with my mother in law, June 11 (Devin's Bday) and was able to stay thru Father's Day!!! Here are a few fun pics from the trip... My cute daddy sitting on the couch Okay, time for a rest... While I was there my sister in law and my cute neices worked in mom and dad's back yard. We dug around all the fruit trees and put some cement rounds and nice dirt and some bark around them. It will make it much easier for my sweet nephew to mow and it will be better for the trees too! Here are a couple of pics that mom took of us... Here is dad, coming out to see what we had done! While I was there dad was scheduled to have his biliary tube replaced. He has this done about every 3 months. Here is a picture of him in the recovery room. Also while I was there Brad, Dallin and Chad went up to the Bergquist's family reunion. They didnt take many pictures, but here are a few. All of my boys love little babies! Their oldest cousin had twins and this was the first time that the had seen them! Here is a picture of the group that was there this year... a pretty small group this year! After the reunion, Brad and the boys came back down to my parents house for a few days. Here are some pics of my brother's oldest son, Jack. Dallin and Grandpa My parents have a huge tree on their side yard and we all enjoy going and sitting out under it... My brother's youngest... she is darling, and boy does she have a personality! Then for FHE on Monday evening we had a BBQ. Brad got dad's grill out and guess what??!!! THERE WERE TONS OF WASPS NESTS in it!!! YIKES! I took a few pics of Bradly boy getting rid of the nests and wasps, it was actually fun to watch him swing the fly swatter and jump so not to get stung, lol... glad he didnt get stung, that might not have been so funny! Chad shucking the corn... Taking a break... WHERE'S THE BEEF??? Oh, yummy, almost done! I do have to say, Bradly boy makes the BEST burgers around, he seems to season them just right! Opps, something funny! Right out the nose! Derek and Devin have been giving grandpa his hair cuts but unfortunately they werent there! So, Brad stepped up to the plate... Grandma noticed little trees growing in the rain gutter, so Dallin got a ladder and got them out! LOL, this is the funniest site ever... the rest of the crew watching "the show"! Of course Brad and the boys always find time to play a little golf! And a little bike ride... A very tender picture ~ grandpa doing his home teaching. Yep, his companion AND the people he teaches comes over so he can fulfill his calling! There is some really wonderful people in their ward! Dallin, Grandpa, and Chad It was a very fun trip up to visit family! We had some good times! I plan on going back next month! I love you mom and dad... see ya soon!