~~CHRISTMAS IN DELTA~~

Rebekah made me a Chicken Roll Keeper. Grandma Janie had one she would put over a bowl to keep rolls warm then all we had to do was reach in where the wings opened and get our rolls!!! Katie put the chicken on her head (she didn't know what it was for)and said I could wear it for Halloween and give out treats from my head.....Thanks Bekah, I love it and I have it in my kitchen on the cupboard.

Christmas Eve morning they all went sleigh riding. I stayed home and cooked dinner. We didn't have a lot of snow left but the kids, big and small, had a good time, I think.

We were expecting a big snow storm that afternoon, but it didn't show up in Delta until Christmas morning. The kids all stayed late on Christmas Eve, they were making me nervous because we knew Utah and Salt Lake valleys would get hit. Sure enough they hit snow on their way home. We did have fun, lots of food and conversation, playing with the grandbabies, Lincoln watch my Living Scripture DVDs. I was so glad, after talking to Shawn, I thought I had goofed again. Lincoln liked them and Sawyer and Ezra even slowed down a minute to watch!!

We missed our 'out of state' families. It's not the same without them all here. Maybe some day.

Christmas was a good day, nice and quiet. A little too quiet. We opened gifts and ate leftovers. Just vegged out for the day. Thanks for all of the great gifts everyone...we appreciate each of you. And...now we can clean up and get ready to do it again next year!!!! ;-D

~~THANKSGIVING PHOTOS~~

A day out target shooting. Ezra didn't have a coat and he really didn't want to wear Grandpa's "orange" sweatshirt. Rob brought his co-worker with him. She has 5 brothers so she fit right in.

Later that day we fondued bananas and apples in chocolate. I have a little Hershey fondue pot Kevin gave us last year for Christmas. I think the boys and grandma had a great time!!

~~Snow Means Christmas~~

It snowed here Saturday. I was so excited! I love the snow, and even more so this year because I don't have to go to work or anywhere else. I can stay home and enjoy it. And Darwin was home with me to enjoy it too. And you all know Darwin, he was right out in it. He HAD to shovel the walks and he HAD to straighten out the house lights. (Which meant going up on the roof) Funny man. During the night someone or someones came and tried taking our reindeer from the front yard. Instead the big one came apart and I think the kids got scared and ran, getting away with nothing. Darwin was up before I was so when I came downstairs I found the big reindeer in the house!! I asked him if this was how he was going to keep it safe??? hahaha!! He actually had to fix some of the lights. So big deer is now back in the yard with the baby deer and all are staked down extra good. And you know some kids are not too bright?? It snowed and Darwin could follow their footprints to their doors.......dah! Of course he didn't, sometimes it's wise not to know who was out having good fun. It's not like we didn't cause trouble when we were 12. And our kids did their share. I remember Tori coming home scared because some farmer had chased her and the Basset kid and friends.....and who didn't go toilet papering???

I think we will be getting MORE SNOW today!! So I am going to bring in some wood and bake sugar cookies. And do some laundry, clean bathrooms, change bedding, wrap presents, shovel snow, mop snow off the floor, and start over when Darwin comes home.

~~DECEMBER 9TH~~

I thought today would be a great day to update our blog since it is our baby's birthday!!!
We can't believe Tori is 28 years old. I always think back to that day, she was two weeks over due and really wanted to come into the world!! I remember getting up and knew something wasn't quite right. Katie had been born c-section so it was likely Tori would too. Even though the doctors said not necessarily so. Tori was trying to come through the old incision. We called the doctor's office and they had us come right over and then sent us right to the hospital. While I was waiting for Darwin to come home from work to take me to the doctors, I made a phone call. Back then the General Relief Society board had a hot line with a thought for the month. I called that line and I can't remember who was giving the message but it was about Mary. The Sister remind us about what life was like back then and how hard it was for an expecting mother. No running water, no hospital, no Doctor, no cars, no heat, no pain pills or shots. Here I was scared and feeling so unsure of what was to happen in the next few hours. The Sister continued about how Mary left it to the Lord to watch over her little family as they entered Bethlehem. She knew everything would be all right. How great was her FAITH. Darwin got home and we headed out.
At the hospital, I was set up for another c-section. i had eaten 1 caramel earlier that day so I could not be anesitized. I was glad I had called that hot-line. I could not feel sorry for myself. I could only remember Mary. I prayed for strenghth to handle the pain. The Doctor did deaden
the lower half or whatever they did back then. Of course, it didn't completely work. ;( As I prayed, I heard the doctor decide to just go ahead. That's when I passed out. Tori was delivered and I was stapled up then woke up. It all worked out great.
I will always remember Mary and will always be thankful to her for her courage and example.
So Miss Victoria Ann Bills Thompson, Happy Birthday!!!

~~HERO DAD~~

We have been up North the last two week-ends and each time your Dad has been a "rescuer".

The first weekend, we were heading toward the escalator in the Provo Towne Mall and a little 4 or 5 year old girl was standing there by herself. Her Grandma and Mother were going up the escalator and yelling at her to get on! Of course these days you don't know if you should help and get in trouble or run. I could tell the mother was being cautious and wondering what to do, did I mention she had a baby in her arms? But the frantic Grandma asked your Dad to bring her up to them. The little girl was hesitant at first until her Mom said it was okay. I wished I'd had a camera, she reached up and took your Dad's hand and held on til we were at the top and then she took her Grandma's hand and waved good-bye after saying Thank-you to him.

The next week-end we pulled into the Mervyn's parking lot at the University Mall. There was a college student standing in the empty space next to the one we pulled into. She was on her cell phone and you could tell she was very upset! She reminded me of our kids when we'd get the 'phone calls". Your Dad was smiling, he said, "Wait til you get out and come around, you'll see what's wrong." She had pulled her car over one of those cement dividers. She had called a kid to come help her. (Her licenced said Washington) It wasn't two seconds and he pulled up, he had two logs with him and a jack. But your Dad took charge and offered to help push the car back over the cement divider. He did use the logs. The poor girl was sooo thankful. She shook his hand and had tears in her eyes. And of course your Dad was the proud rescuer!!

What a guy!!!

~~Finished Project~~

Here they are. All finished!!

~~MY PROJECT~~

Just before going to Arkansas, we had bought a new TV stand for the TV. (that was dah) Any who, I painted the inside black and thought by time we got back it would be dry. (Actually, I put the back on right side out and had nailed the sucker on pretty good.) Needless to say the Family Room was a mess, in all of the rearranging, I decided to build a built-in bookcase. I have watched millions of the DIY shows, how hard could it be? Darwin bought me the wood and I was off. I had an idea of building a frame and raising it into the square. I cut out the carpet, and built a platform for this frame to sit on. So far so good. The problem was that I had put all of the books on the love seat right where I need to put my frame together??? And I WASN"T going to move those books one more time!! So I built the frame in the middle of the Family room. Darwin said he would help me get it into the square??? Okay, I measured three times and everything was all set----we raised the frame. BAM! We hit the low part of the ceiling! With some finagling we got it in place. Yea!!! Next we went on a quest to get the brackets and peg things to put the shelves up with. Remember, we live in Delta!! Argh!! ;( Losee's had some of the uprights I needed but not enough and they didn't have the little peg things. So I had Gary order me some, he said they would be in on Monday. Ya, right! I called after 11 just to give them time to find them, only to find out Gary went up on Monday to get his order and would be back around 3 or 4. :( Mind you, I came down with a cold Saturday, I got chilled out in the garage painting shelves. So I decided to wait and called on Tuesday, The uprights were there but the guy couldn't find the peg things. Fine. :( I felt like crap so I took some cough syrup and had a nap. I worked in between feeling good and coughing on the frame work around the bookcase. Wednesday I headed up to Losee's! The peg things were not in stock at the warehouse and had to come from another company, Gary said they should be here Thursday! Argh :( (So did that mean next week?) I did some errands and when I got home Losee's called. The peg things were there!! ;) Happy Day!!
I rushed home with my little $35 package of peg things and got busy putting in the uprights I had gotten that morning and the shelves!! I couldn't wait to get the books off of the love seat, I noticed the seat cushions were getting flatter and flatter! No worry though, they popped right back up with some fluffing. The books now have a permanent home and I can say I built the bookcase myself !! Mostly.....

~~PHOTOS from ARKANSAS~~

Just a few photos of Arkansas kids. It is a really beautiful time of year, the leaves are starting to turn colors and it's just pleasant to be outside and walking around the park or neighborhood.

~~My APRON CAME~~

My apron was here when we got home!! The lady's daughter had her best friend die and so she was late getting it sent. Poor girl, that would be hard. I really like my apron and the little teddy bear, even the bag of Moose Poop!! It was worth the wait.

~~Baptism~~

Saturday was Isaac and Sadie's Baptism Day. It was a perfect day, the sun was shining and it was warm. Shawn and Bekah had a little program planned and everything. All of their friends and co-workers were there and the kids Primary teachers and the President were there. I felt bad for Bekah, her Dad's talk didn't get there as planned. She read her Dad's talk though and it worked out well, but I could tell she misses them.

Grandpa took care of Silas for most of the program, he really was delighted that one of his grandkids would go to him. (The others will like him more when they get older I'm sure).

All in all it was a perfectly wonderful day !!!!

~~ARKANSAS TRIP~~

We made it back to Delta in one piece on Tuesday at 4 o'clock. And Delta was still here!! Talula was excited to see us and she "meowed" for an hour! I think she was cussing us for leaving, I haven't heard her meow like that before?...

We had great fun in Arkansas with the kids! Silas is growing and says a lot of words. Like "I don't know", What's that?", "Okay" , "no", Sadie was plain but I couldn't understand Isaac or Phebe. Silas is definitely the King of the house. Sadie is a young lady and still a little shy, but she can get the other two to do things her way. Isaac is a young man and very smart, still has quite the imagination and he CAN tell a story. He can enunciate and add the drama in all of the right places! Phebe is Phebe, she can make you laugh and she can make you cuss all at once! She was definitely named after the right Grandma(Jan). Very stubborn, but very soft hearted when someone it hurt or hurting. And we loved our time with them. We found out they would be in school Wednesday but only half a day on Thursday and home on Friday. So Thursday we figured we could handle taking them to McDonald's or Sonics, and it went great. So after McDonald's we ventured on to Walmart to get a couple of videos for them. Sadie and Phebe got the new Barbie video "Diamond Castle" and Isaac and Silas got "Underdog". Then I had to get wrapping paper and gift bags, it was a record trip to Walmart!! We were in and out in 25 minutes. Silas was thoroughly bored and wanted down. Of course you all know what happens when you put a 1 year old down in a store? They RUN!!! Just as fast as two short little legs can carry them, even with one shoe on and one shoe off!! Hilarious !! Friday we watched the movies and when it warmed up, the kids went outside to play in the back yard. Grandpa took Silas for a stroller ride and the girls went with them. Later we decorated a haunted house that Sadie and Phebe got at a birthday party. What a fun mess!! Have you ever decorated with BLACK frosting??? (See photos) Isaac had a very black mouth from the big spoonful I put there. Sadie had it all over her hands and was drizzling frosting on the roof. After, her and I had a black hand battle, it was fun until I tried to get her nose black and then the fun was over!! I thought she would have to get baptized with gray hands! But it finally came off with lots of soap! Oh, but what a house they made! Friday night Shawn and Rebekah came home and the kids missed them and were so glad to see them. Silas especially missed his Dad, he is a Daddy's boy. (Which means he really liked Grandpa) I think me and grandpa were just a happy to see them.!!!

~~ OUR LIFE ~~

Just a quick up-date on "US". Darwin is doing great. He took prednisone for his knee and that seem to help him so far. He found out he has osteoarthritis in his knee also....(I thought he knew that?) He is still the Membership clerk for the Ward, has been for 13 years now. I was just put in over Visiting Teaching....(Katie, give me some ideas come spring)
We spent 4 days in Reno, helping Tara & Jake. Jake is in the hospital with bladder trouble.
Tara said he is doing ok. We got home Friday night. While in Reno, Eli was sick. I got it and when we got home Darwin got it. Tara had it. Not really fun, I felt so sorry for little Eli, he had dry heaves and it sounded like it hurt. However, it did not slow him down very much!
Next week, we are flying to Arkansas !! We can't wait to see the Bills Bunch there. I can't believe how grown up Sadie looked on the blog. I just hope Silas will like us. Sadie and Isaac will be baptized while we are there. Our little family is growing up. Next will be graduation, then missions!!
BTW= We thoroughly enjoyed having Sawyer for a couple of days (at the First part of the Month)(I think). He is quite the character, and he knows how to get around the NO's. I think he had fun, he just meandered around and played. Fun times, next it's Lincoln's turn.
See you all when we get back~~

~~BACK2LIFE~~

This is our new "stretch your spine" machine. I seen this on TV. On one of those ads they do.

It showed how it stretches and rotates your spine. So I thought it would help Darwin's degenerated disc disease, and it has. I tried it and it DOES work!!! Darwin said his back feels a lot better and he can move easier. Which means he can work harder! It also puts him asleep.....

~~NEW TOY~~

I have a new toy !! Target had these on sale, so I thought I'd
give it a shot. Maybe by Christmas I will be able the play something. It's kind of fun, it
has all of the back-up stuff on it, so it makes you sound good. And it can connect ot the
computer, for what I don't know yet?

~~APRON #2~~

This is Grandma's new apron. It turn out quite festive!
I don't think she liked it, might have been too bright....!

~~THE APRON SWAP~~

I finished my apron for the Swap. What a project this has been!! Did you know that either everyone is using chocolate brown rick rack right now .... or the company isn't making enough of it to go around ! Mom's Fabric here in town was out, Joann's (both stores) was out of it. I had this apron cut out and half sewn, because I thought I could just go to Joann's and get brown rick rack. But no, and all of the pink rick rack was the wrong pink!? And either all the stores had only 1 package of beige or none. So I got on the Internet and ordered 6 packages of sable brown rick rack. It came this morning and I got to work on my apron. It is now done and will get mailed out tomorrow to Stephanie in Iowa. I hope she likes it, she said her favorite colors were brown, pink, blue, and green.

~~WE DON'T WANT TO BE GREEN~~

We finally got around to painting our bedroom a couple of weeks ago. We are no longer GREEN. We are now Navajo Tan. And I don't have to make a new quilt because the one we have still matches just fine. Anyway, I thought you'd like to see what we do for fun around here.

~~DING DONG - THE SOFA IS GONE~~

We finally retired the old sofa!! We decided it was about 22 years old. So it was about time. We went to St. George and found this one at Ashley Furniture, I had been on the Internet searching so I was glad they had it in the showroom. Of course, it didn't look quite this big at the store. Then of course, the chair pads did not match. Monday I redid those.

It only took me ALL DAY!! I ripped open the back cushion so I could reuse the stuffing and the spongey stuff went all over!! What fun that was! Any who, I think it turned out okay? And now it matches the sofa. It's muted reds and olive greens. Alittle different than my usual blues, but it matches my roosters, so that is good. (I should redo Katie's cushions, don't you think Katie??)

~~New News~~

Tara asked if we had any new news??? I'll think of something......We were privileged to have a visitor on the 7th, 8th, and 9th. Tori and Clark trusted us to tend Ezra and we had so much fun!!

Talula was his best friend and she was very patient with him. Ezra would lay on his belly and put his little nose right up to Talula's dish and watch her eat her "cereal". And Ezra likes bugs, or maybe he doesn't, he told Grandpa, "Bug!" and then he stomped on it!! Grandpa laughed and laughed! Ezra followed Grandpa around the yard when Talula gave him the slip. Ezra also loves the trucks and cars, he carried them around and I have found them all over the house and yard. We enjoyed having him, he is really growing into a cute little "boy". He's not a baby anymore.

HAPPY 58th BIRTHDAY !!!! DARWIN

It's your BIRTHDAY ! You just turned 58 !! What are you going to do now???

~~MAMMA MIA~~

We went to "Mamma Mia" last night. Darwin didn't know what he was getting into. I told him it was a 'chic flick', he said he was fine with that. We had some women come sit behind us and one was laughing out loud---we couldn't help but laugh with her. One of them brought a three year old with her, he was having a good time too. He'd scream when Meryl Streep did and then he'd laugh!! The show was good, in fact it was great and I can't wait to get it on CD. Of course, the music is from our 'teen years'. I loved ABBA. We had an 8-track tape and when the kids were younger, I remember playing it in the van and we'd all sing along. You probably don't remember that. Now we need to get the sound-track! (I don't know how to download to my play track thing??) Any who- it was good and even though some of the actors could not really sing. And yes, Darwin did like it. He said at least it wasn't one of those depressing chic flicks!!

FINALLY ARRIVED !! ~~~~~

I finally received my placemats and napkins!! They are from a lady in Kentucky. They have a bandana print and a little floral print on the blue. They are cute, but I know my girls could have sewn better than or just as good as this lady. It's interesting to see all of the ideas that come from one pattern, and to see who follows that pattern or does their own thing. (Check out the http://btrsswap.blogspot.com/ ) I can't wait to see how the Flirty Aprons turn out!!

CARE PACKAGE~~~

Your Dad says Thank You for the Care Package!!! Shawn, Bekah and family sent him all kinds of good stuff to help him feel better. He really liked the cards from Isaac, Sadie, and Phebe. Your Dad took the Advil to work with him this morning, it's his favorite. And he really got a kick out of the ball cap and t-shirt. He needed that! He really is the very best Grandpa. And I say thanks for the bubble gum lipgloss and the neat pen! I do like the gloss, it taste so good! And I can write you guys a letter with the pen. Won't that be fun?? That was a cute idea and it made him feel good to receive something from his "favorite son and daughter in law and kids in Arkansas."

STONEY DARWIN UPDATE~~~

Darwin had a follow-up appointment on Friday. He is doing ok, but still gets pains off and on.
On Wednesday(the one before the appointment) night he pulled the stint out~~it turned out to be 15 inches long and Darwin cussed ~~I can't repeat what he said or thought! Once that was gone he did better. He still had blood in his urine but I think he is still healing from all of this.
The Doc told him he still has a 5mm stone in his kidney. This news did NOT make him happy!
So basically it is a waiting game, if the stone moves or not. One of his concerns was cancer, but the Doc reassured him that the Cat Scan did not show anything. Darwin's new thing is to go walking around the neighborhood in the evening when he has a pain, I suggested maybe it would lessen it since that what they do in the hospital. Only he wears his pajamas! The neighbors stop him to see if he is okay because he is slumped and walks like an old man. (Actually, I think he gets a kick out this!)
Darwin did go to work today. After all of this, he is ready for retirement. Really ready. We will see how long he last today. He is still weak and his stamina isn't like it was. We stopped by Mom and Dad's on Friday and Grandma told him he looked terrible!! So much so that she took a picture of him to show the rest of the family....funny. He has lost at least 25 pounds and his pants fall right off!! The good news is he is getting better. It will just take time and now we know how to handle kidney stones.

Dirt and Worms

2 cans tomato soup
1 lb. hamburger
1 medium onion chopped (optional or use onion powder)
12 oz. Twisted pasta
Brown hamburger and onions, add tomato soup and let simmer. Cook pasta according
to direction. Combine pasta with sauce and serve!!! Would be good with French bread.

4th of JULY FUN !!!!

THESE ARE A FEW PHOTOS FROM THE 4TH~~
EZRA DIDN'T LIKE THE NOISE AND STAYED ON CLARK'S LAP AT THE PARADE~~I THINK THAT IS ME AND TORI PLUS A FEW EXTRAS ON THE NEW HAMMOCK (that's Taylor-Lincoln's friend)~~KATIE ON THE HORSE SWING~~AND TORI & EZRA IN THE POOL. (WE MISSED GETTING A PICTURE OF KATIE IN THE POOL.)

~~~~THE STONES~~~(Not the Rock Group)

Wow! What a weekend. That is a photo of Darwin at the Parade on the 4th, he was in pain then but joined in the fun anyway. Plus he had taken a few Percocets. By 5 in was dying! So after a blessing, we headed to the ER, after 5 morphine shots in the I.V. (20ml) his pain was under control but not gone. They released him with a bottle of new pain killers. His urologist told us to give him a call if the pills didn't work and he would have him admitted to the hospital up north and do something about the stones. Of course, the intense pain didn't come back until Saturday evening. At 9, Darwin had me call the Urologist, Dr. Platt, only he wasn't on call, his associate was and he sent us to the ER at Timpanogas Hospital. We left Delta at 10:30 and got in Orem around 12. That was quite the ride!! Poor Darwin was in so much pain and every curve and pot-hole made it worse. Then after we got there, the ER Doc was going to send him home. Darwin told him No way! He wasn't going anywhere! So they admitted him, which was a good thing.

On Monday morning Dr. Platt removed the stones by doing a urethra-basket procedure. Check this out on the Internet, it's really something. They slide a wire under the stone and break it somehow and then this little basket opens behind the stone and is pulled out. They did this several times....OUCH! The Doc said he had a hard time getting the big ones out because they wouldn't break up. The hospital sent him home around 10. Needless to day Darwin is in a lot of

pain today. The Doc put a stint in to keep the channel open so he could pass the residue left from the breaking of the stones. The stint has a sting on it so on Friday Darwin can pull it out.

This has been quite the experience for him!! It hurts when he goes to the bathroom, he came downstairs and asked me if I knew how bad that burns and hurts?? I laughed!!! You mean like after giving birth and the epesiotomy hurts?? Then he laughed and said "Touche!" But lets hope he is on the mend and that this doesn't happen again!! Darwin really thought he would be up and running today, but instead he is tired and very weak. Thanks again for all of your thoughts and prayers on his behalf.

BTRS Swap Project~~~~

This is my finished product!! And now I get to send them to a lady in Alaska. I really hope she likes them. This has been fun to do, except trying to decide what fabric to get. It has little cherries on the white piece, that's as vintage as I could find. ( Some of the other was quite ugly)

And I found this cute green plaid ribbon to do the border. They turned out okay....I think.

Busy Friday !!

Darwin had a follow-up doctor's appointment for the kidney stones. At 9:45, so we started out early. We seen Dr. Platts associate, Dr. Egan, he was funny. He told Darwin it might take a while to pass the stones or pieces of the 9 millimeter. Darwin did pass one the morning before and so we had it so they could have it analyzed. Dr. Egan would rather find out what causes the stones than to just treat them. So, we go back in three weeks. Darwin has to have another x-ray here in Delta and he will take it with him so the Doc can see if things are moving. Darwin had another "episode" last Sunday. He was in PAIN. I don't like to see him hurting. I'm just glad it's not a constant pain.
After the doctor, we stopped by Joann's to get fabric for the BTRS swap and then hit the Golden Corral for lunch. We headed up to Pops and Grandma's to do some finishing touches on their downstairs bathroom. Randy started the project by rearranging the plumbing, Darwin did the wiring, Kevin did the framing, Eric (Kristin's husband) did the walls and ceiling, Kevin painted the walls once and Pops & Grandma painted again. Soooo- Darwin put up the lights and we tiled the floor. We were out of practice and it took us a minute to get it going, but it turned out pretty. I think Pops wanted his bathroom back, it's been a few months. Kevin is living with them and he has been lifting and resetting the toilet each time it needed it because it's too far to go upstairs....funny boy! By the way, Kevin and Karen are getting a divorce. Due to this event, he has seen Monica and his three little grandbaby girls. It is a very good thing. He is going to AAA and trying to get it together, so pray for him. We had Chinese dinner with Pops & Grandma then headed home around 8. All in all it was a great day!!!

~~RENO VISIT~~

We made our way to Reno last week. As Tara said, we needed to check on Eli. And we had to make sure Tara and Jake were well also. It was a way too short visit, but they are busy and Talula can only fend for herself for so long. Eli is doing great, he gets around so fast for a little feller. He has the army crawl down and it's like he floats above the wood floor he goes so fast. He wasn't too sure about Grandpa at first, but he was warming up to him before we left. We seen Jake's TV infomercial about the digital Hi-Def thing coming to TV. I did listen but I forget easily.
He was very professional & knowledgeable !! Tara had her Bow-making stuff out and had been working hard before we got there.
It was interesting to see Donner's Pass museum. It makes you glad for what we have and for the time we live in. Even Eli was impressed by it. He got really quiet. The drive around Tahoe was enjoyable, I love Tahoe. It is so peacefully there and people are friendly. Last year, when we checked into the motel, a bear had been in the lobby. We had just missed it. Needless to say, the bellboy was extremely excited !! Going to Tahoe is our annual anniversary get-away, but we decided not to go this year. (Don't know or remember why?)
Any who, we had a very good time and playing Wii was a riot. I found muscles I haven't used for a while.....Now how am I going to get to Shawn & Bekah's ?????

5 Unimportant Things About Me~~

Bekah tagged me and I had to think about this ????
Oh, and I'm tagging Tori, Katie, and Tara !!

1. I worry as much as Darwin, I just don't let it show.
2. I would rather do dishes at a Ward Party than socialize...
3. I really like to do creative things--or at least try. It's fun to try something new and to see if
it can be accomplished.
4. I like to sew, decorate, & garden more than clean the house......
5. I decided in 7th or 8th grade that I was totally a Minority---red hair, glasses, & left handed.
A total loser back than!!! ;) ( my thinking has changed since then)

TAG~~YOUR TURN!!

S'MORE QUESADILLAS ( MoM)

USING YOUR QUESADILLA MAKERS---

2 TORTILLAS
CHOCOLATE CHIPS
MARSHMELLOWS

Place 1 tortilla in maker, place marshmellows and chocolate chips on top. Top with second tortilla and close lid. After marshmellows melt and ooze out and make a complete mess, open and cut into 4th. Enjoy!! You could add graham cracker crumbs for that taste of a s'more. Or bananas would be good. (I added the ooze part)
(I seen this on the recipe sight and thought the kids would like it)

Hacker

Yep, that's me. I am a hacker. I got into Mom and Dad's account and changed things up (this is Katie, by the way). I did have permission, just for the record. Sorry the header is massive. Still trying to figure out how to re-size things. I love this picture of Mom and Dad! They are beautiful people!

DINNER ANYONE???

The other day we were out and about in the yard. Grandpa was hooking up the watering system in the garden, he turned the water on to test it out. It also turns on the sprinklers under the trees by the back fence. I noticed that Talula was just sitting there with her back to the water. Now why is she doing that, I wondered? So I called to her. She didn't move, she merely put her nose in the grass and scratched around. Soon she walked over to the patio where I was and she had a what looked like a mouthful of grass. Upon examining closer, I seen it was a LIZARD !! The question was "Where on earth did Talula get a lizard?" I screamed at Grandpa, "Talula has a lizard! Do something!" He just said, "Good for her, it's okay. Tell her not to play with her food."
I kept a close eye on her, but especially on the lizard. She would let the lizard get so far then she would reach out with her paw and catch it's tail. The thing would play dead and not move for a long time and then Talula would nudge it til it moved and it started all over again. At one time it got over in the flowerbed and Talula lost it, I didn't and I picked her up and showed her where it was! She was so excited! Grandpa needed parts so we headed to Ace's and an hour later she was still playing with the lizard. That was until she seen us. She then proceeded to take the lizard in her mouth and went around the corner by the chimney. Soon she was back around and wanted to come in the house with us. No way, I went to check out exactly where that lizard was. All I found was a wet, greasey looking spot on the cement.....argh !! Needless to say, Talula did NOT come in that night. She had to digest her dinner. Now the question is, "Are there anymore lizards in my yard?" I really don't handle snakes or lizards well !!! :)

~~UPDATE ON DAD~~

Just to let you know what's been going on here with your Dad. Remember the lilac bush we moved and your Dad hurt his knee and all? Well, the pain didn't go away. Friday Darwin was putting in the new front door and his back and leg and knee was hurting. I finally told him to go to the Doctor!! He agreed (right away I might add). I called and got him in to see Dr. Shamo that afternoon. Dr. Shamo told the therapist at IPP was right, it is his sciatica nerve. And that he has Osteo Arthritis in his body. The doctor sent him over to have an X-ray of his back. We got the results Monday, he also has "multi-level degenerate disease in his discs and joints". And then..on Monday he came home early, he had twisted his ankle again ! He is NOT having a good week. The doctor told him to take Tylenol and Glucosamine Sulfate for it all. When he can't stand it anymore then I guess we think about surgery. (On his back). Can you believe he took sick leave?? As you can see he is on the mend.