Playing "Catch Up"...

We are home!!!

I was looking through my pictures in my camera and thought I really need to play catch up, so bare with me... (Okay, this ended up being a way longer post than I anticipated, sorry!)

I feel the need to back up to Dallin's last football game. He had a great game! He has several solo tackles! As tradition has it, the last game of the season is "Sr. Night", meaning that all the Sr.'s (football players, cheerleaders & members of the band) all line up on the field at the goal post with their parents and are called out and pictures are taken. Here are a few pics of us all before the game on the field. Three of the Sr. cheerleaders are good friends of Dallin's, in our ward.

Sorry, Farryn, I am not sure why this turned out blurry! LOVE your cute smile! Far left... playing safety...I know it is blurry, but what do you expect with an "action" shot? That is Dallin, making the tackle!

My Birthday happened to fall on the last game day and my sweet friend Alanna surprised me at halftime with yummy (my favorite) Cinnabon! Candles and all!!!
Thank you, Alanna, you are so fun!

The Sunday before Thanksgiving we had MY side of the family's Thanksgiving up at the cabin. Here are a few pictures...
Finishing off the pie!After dinner... game time!
Clearing off the leaves before the snow comes!

On Wednesday we headed to Vegas to have Thanksgiving with the other side of the family, again, here are a few pics...

Watching the "talent show"The teens teaching grandpa some "cool moves"

PS. YES, Dallin cut his hair (several people mentioned this to me on the comments and emails) He met with the bishop for his BYU application and the bishop told him he is supposed to be living the BYU standards NOW, so he had to get a hair cut! He came home from his interview, Brad got out the clippers and he showed the bishop that night at a fireside! What a good obedient boy, thank you Dallin!
Bryce ~ One year older and Cancer FREE!!!! Happy Birthday, Bryce! We are sooooooooooo happy!!! We love you!!!

My fun brother in law, Lane, took us shooting!!! THANK YOU, Lane!!! It was soooooooo much fun! I have never been shooting clay pigeons before!
Lane and Brad getting everything ready...
We rode from station to station in a golf cart, so much fun, and only ONE accident, huh Ariel?
Isn't he cute???!!!
Don't laugh, I actually hit a few!

And, last but not least... Dallin's application for BYU is in!!!

Thanksgiving Thoughts...

I have been thinking HOW am I going to make sure we think about and show our "Thanks" this year. Last year I tried the tree thingy - you know... I made a tree with branches and provided paper for the kids to cute out leaves and write down things they were grateful for on the leaves and then tape the leaves to the tree. Well, I SHOULD have done that when they were younger! They had to tease me, as always... "Mom, we are not 5!" So, this year I was thinking I would just post up sayings... thoughts on Gratitude. Hopefully, they will take the time to read them. I am going to type them up on card stock and put them up all around the cabin on the walls...

Here are some thoughts I have found so far... please feel free to give me more!!!!!

We should confess His hand in all things. Ingratitude if one of our great sins. (Ensign, May 1977, p. 33) ~Ezra Taft Benson

Hold fast to the blessings which God has provided for you. Yours is not the task to gain them, they are here; yours is the part of cherishing them. (Church News, June 14, 1969, p. 2) ~J. Reuben Clark, Jr.

It is perfectly evident... that to thank the Lord in all things is not merely a courtesy, it is a commandment as binding upon us as any other commandment. (See D&C 59:5-7) (Ensign, Nov. 1982, p. 50) ~Marion G. Romney

Pray in thanksgiving. In many countries, the homes are barren and the cupboards bare - no books, no radios, no pictures, no furniture, no fire - while we are housed adequately, clothed warmly, fed extravagantly. Did we show our thanks by the proper devotion on our knees last night and this morning and tomorrow morning? Ingratitude, thou sinful habit (TSWK, p. 20) ~Spencer W. Kimball

Thankfulness is measured by the number of words; gratitude is measured by the nature of our actions. (CR, Oct 1955, p. 4) ~David O. McKay

There isn't a word in all the English language with more magic in it than the word gratitude. Love makes fertile the soil for things to blossom and to grow, and love begins with gratitude. (Ensign, March 1971, p. 53) ~Geraldine P. Anderson

Think to thank. In these three words are the finest capsule course for a happy marriage, a formula for enduring friendship, and a pattern for personal happiness. (Pathways to Perfection, Thomas S. Monson, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co, 1974, p. 254) ~Thomas S. Monson

You could have an experience with the gift of the Holy Ghost today. You could begin a private prayer with thanks. You could start to count your blessings, and then pause for a moment. If you exercise faith, and with the gift of the Holy Ghost, you will find that memories of other blessings will flood into your mind. If you begin to express gratitude for each of them, your prayer may take a little longer than usual. Remembrance will come. And so will gratitude. (Ensign, Nov. 1989, p. 13) ~Henry B. Eyring

What type of things do you do to help your family remember WHY we celebrate Thanksgiving? I love traditions. I love adding NEW traditions! Please share yours!!!

The Rain Pours on Us All

Matt. 7:24-27
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

You are all familiar with this story, we always talk about how we need to have a sure foundation, which we do, but the thing that I want to point out is "the rain came". The rain came on both the house on the rock and the house on the sand. So it is with trials. We ALL get them.

Matt. 5:45
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

We will have great days... great times... in our lives. We will have storms. We ALL will have storms.

Here is a quote that Chadman used in his talk today, it is by Pres. Eyring. "The great test of life is to see whether we will hearken to and obey God's commands in the midst of the storms of life. It is not to endure storms, but to choose the right while they rage."

Today is Shaila's Birthday!!

Join with me in wishing her a VERY Happy Birthday!

Happy 29th (Again) Hope it is the BEST YET! Happy Birthday!

DISCLAIMER... I got an email from Shaila. She is worried you all might think this was her writing in 3rd person. That "you" might think she was ....well, so old she is writing in third person. Just in case you are confused. I wrote it. "I" being Pam. I have since repented and have promised to give up my blog hacking days.....

so sad..... maybe I will try robbing banks . Sorry for any confusion. Carry on

Thanksgiving Cream Corn

I was just thinking... (yeah, I know... a miracle!) I decided I need to make a list of what we will be serving for Thanksgiving. And, I remembered this GREAT cream corn recipe that I got years and years ago! It has totally become a tradition for all of us! It just would not be Thanksgiving without it! It is so funny, my nephew's get a cup and fill it and DRINK it, yep, they drink the cream corn!!! It is so yummy!!! Anyway, here is the recipe!

Cream Corn

20 oz. frozen corn (leave it in the fridge to thaw over night)
1 C. whipping cream
1 c. milk
1 t. salt
6 t. sugar
2 T. butter
2 T. flour

Combine all ingredients except flour and butter. Bring to a boil, simmer for 5 min. Mix melted butter and flour and add to corn. Let simmer until it thickens like you want... SUPER easy but oh so good!!!



So, now will you please share some wonderful recipe that YOU make for Thanksgiving??!!! OR a great tradition you do??!!!

Holy Flippin' Moly!

Dang. I get to brag again!!! Just a couple of day's ago I got to brag about my cute DIL Diana getting the scholarship for college, well.... I just found out yesterday that my other cute DIL Brittany ALSO got a scholarship!!!! YEAH!!!! Congrats to Brittany too! I am very proud of both of you! INCREDIBLE!!! TWO FOR TWO!!! Keep up the good work



Me and my girls!

Christmas Wish List...

I had to post that, I thought it was so stinkin' funny!!!



Now for the wish list...
I gave this to my kids last year and had them fill it out. I emailed it to my older kids up at college and they cut and pasted it, answered it, and emailed it back. It sure helped me with getting gifts and getting to know their thoughts and desires again. I will be having them fill it out again this year! I thought I would share it with you! Feel free to change anything you want to...



All About Me
Name:

My Sizes: Shoes______ Pants_______ Shirt_______

My favorite Color:

My personal hygiene preferences (favorite things):


Things I'm working on this year:


What I like to do in my spare time:


Kinds of movies I like:


Kinds of Music I like:


Books I would like to read:


Treats I like:


Things that have worn out or run out of:


My future goals include:


What I care about most is:


I wish someone would help me:


I think our family could use:


If I had $100.00, I would spend it on:


Things I wish would fall out of Santa's sleigh into our yard/house:






I know MOST of you do not have married kids but some of you do... so, my question to YOU is... WHAT DO YOU DO FOR THEM? Do you do personal gifts or a gift for their home or what??? I would love any FUN ideas you have!!!

I need your help!

I need your help! Seriously. I have been thinking about this for years, but, now I am serious. Bren has motivated me! I have been motivated before but I can't seem to stick with it! Now I am serious. HELP. Is there anyone out that that loves to eat? Even when you are not hungry? It is not ONLY that, but my eating habits are horrible. HORRIBLE. This morning for breakfast I had graham crackers with icing on them. I DID have a glass of milk with it... is that good?

Is there anyone out there that used to eat like I do and changed???? Someone that can give me tips on what to do???? ...how to change???

I am getting older (I KNOW, some of you out there are thinking oldER? Lady you are PAST old!) and now I am starting to worry about my health. What if I become diabetic? And, I NEED to loose some weight! HELP!!! I WANT to eat better!!! HOW DO I START??!!! AND CONTINUE??!!!

Randomness

Chdman had to make an animal cell for his Science class. Here is a picture of the finished project.

And yesterday he played in his last soccer game... it was really too dark, they didn't start on time, but here is a pic of him going for the ball... (white jersey with his foot on the ball)

I just have to post this CUTE pic of my daughter in law, she is so fun, she always makes us laugh! We just love her!

Dalpal is taking Health this year and he had to bring home a baby... the school just got all new babies. This is one is so different than the ones my older boys had. We were sitting at dinner and it was in his carrier and was just laughing! At 6 this morning I hear the baby crying and so I went in to see if Dal just didn't wake up this time, man I wish I would have had my camera then!!! These babies have a computer chip in the bottle, diapers, etc. So, you have to DO the right thing or they keep crying! Here is a picture of him changing the baby's diaper...

REALLY must of been a hard night... He is crashed!

Like I said earlier, the soccer game started late and this is a picture I took from there at the soccer fields just as the game was ending... The sky was so beautiful!

Today we had Stake Conference. Pres. N said, "Be Grateful and above all, Be Grateful". I AM grateful. I am grateful to have healthy children that can play soccer and take care of babies. I am grateful for my darling daughters in law. I am grateful for a beautiful sunset!

WHAT are they thinking??!!!

This is our Los Angles Temple...

And, quoting from The Salt Lake Tribune...
" More than 3,000 people swarmed downtown Salt Lake City to march past the LDS temple and church headquarters, protesting Mormon involvement in the campaign for California's Proposition 8. The measure, which defined marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman, passed this week."

I wish I could figure out how to post the video of the people outside the SLC temple... but here is the link:
http://166.70.44.68/multimedia/2008/prop8/index.html

And the newspaper article is here:
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_10929992?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com

No matter how you feel about us Mormon's, this is crazy to take it out on our temples... our people... there were TONS of other religions that voted yes to restore the definition of marriage, between a man and a woman!
What do you think about all of this???