Wasting away in Arizonaville

How many hours can one waste while following everyone elses's blog friends. I went to the blog of my dear friend Kathy. There I recognize a few names on her list, Becky's Blog, and more, so I check them out. (Kathy, your friends take the most fabulous photography). Then I recognize faces in some of the photos, so I look up their blog, and then there is another one... and suddenly I realize the sun is setting and I don't think I have moved for hours.....I read about honeymoons, cruises, sick daughters, snow in Utah, Photo shots of little girls who need to use the bathroom, little children pretending to be a fireman with a vacuum hose.......... and all the while it is getting darker and darker outside.

I guess I am glad I don't have a demanding family of little children who think they need dinner, or supervised. Just dogs who are tired of waiting to go on their walk..... so off I go.

Syngenesophobia

Phobia: syngenesophobia
Fear of: relatives

I stole this from my friend Bob McCoy. He is helping us with financial planning and trying to get Varce and I to retirement. He says the first thing we need to do is get rid of our kids who still live at home. He suggests we get this diesease. Well, he didn't really suggest it straight out, but his thoughts were made very clear some time ago. (I find it quite funny since he still has kids at home as well. Hang in there Bob).

A busy week

Oliver loves to play sports. Basketball has not been very good to him. Shortly after he returned from his mission he was playing, and ended up having surgery on his knee. . . . . . Well, somethings don't change. A couple of weeks he did a repeat performance. Surgery is being scheduled AGAIN.

Sometimes I wonder why my family can't seem to "keep it together". They would rather "fall apart" by letting lots of bad or unhealthy things happen to them... I say this with "tongue in cheek".

Jackson spent a day in Phoenix Children's Hospital. He will be returning there once a week for a 6 to 8 weeks for additional IV treatment for his Crones Disease. Once again his iron is very low and that indicates there is bleeding inside his little body. So, treatment begins.

Then my little Zoey developed an ear ache. She just kept shaking her head over and over, and so I knew. But then she added chewing on the top of her tail near her bottom. I was a bit more alarmed and then she started coughing. So off top the Vet we went. Kennel cough, ear ache, and some kind of "bug a boo" (Dr. Day's way of discribing it) on her tail. So 3 prescriptions later we headed for home. And praying she won't need a little surgery on her tail.. which is a possibility.

And then Madison didn't want to be left out of the "drama", because she will be the first one to tell you that "it is all about her". And we love love love her for being her!!

She was playing basketball (she and Oliver should get a clue) and she broke her ankle. She is in a temporary cast until the swelling goes down, then she will have a real cast. Her bootie is a slipper from her Aunt Liz!

Last night we girls were hanging out in my bedroom, (big girls working on Saving Dinner) and Madison was decorating her crutches. Tyia had taken her to get pink duct tape but they only had red, so that is what she used. And electrical tape added the black stripes. She has the craft gene for sure! A girl after my own heart!

So Oliver, Jackson, Zoey and Madison.... please try to be more careful! And all of the rest of you..... don't do anything to be a part of this blog!

I love all of you!

Victorian Girls

I love the Victorian Days. The lace, the pearls, the girls.

Thanks to Stampington for their free downloads

Plumbing Problems

Tyia is a really good cook. She fixes most of our dinner meals. However, we have recently learned that she is easily distracted. Especially when she is talking on the phone to her friends in Alaska. She simply transfixes herself there, and forgets what she is doing in Arizona. An example to prove this point happened last night.

Tyia was fixing Tacos for dinner. She was browning the hamburger and talking on the phone. As she drained the grease from the hamburger she just simply poured it down the drain. DUH!

This is the gob of hardened grease that Varcel retrieved from the drain.

He had a few words of advice to give her on plumbing and cooking.

Then he went back to preparing his talk for next Sunday's Sacrament Meeting.

Once upon a time..

Once upon a time there was a very lucky girl who fell in love with a wonderful boy. They were both from poor families, and they struggled to go to college and get ahead in life. Both of them sacrificed for many years to obtain earthly treasures, and spiritual blessings. Life was not easy for them, but they always maintained to stay the course and do what was right as much as possible. Many times they were tempted to stray away from their goals, but they stayed true to the promptings they were given in their hearts and minds and knew that the sacrifices would be worth it. So they held hands and faced life's trials with smiles and their armour of love for each other.

One day the lucky girl was enjoying her laptop. She spent the day listening to her music with the use of her ear buds attached to her computer. The sound was heavenly and she was lost in her dream world. It was soon time for her to prepare the evening meal for her family and the love of her life. In a hurry to accomplish this task she neglected to unplug her ear buds from her laptop. Without thinking about the danger to her laptop she left them on her chair.

Later that night her sweet husband walked between the laptop and her chair and broke the earbuds off, leaving the little metal piece still inserted into the laptop. The sweet man spent many hours trying to pry the little metal piece out but never found success. With the metal piece in the laptop no sound could now come from the computer.

The lady didn't mind,because her sweet husband replaced the the speakers with external speakers that plugged into a USB port. The sound was wonderful and served the lady for many months.

But the computer had a mind of it's own. Soon the computer didn't like the new speakers, so it found other reasons not to work. It would not recognize the server when the lady turned it on. She loved her laptop, and did all she could to fix it. She sent it to a computer brain surgeon who spent many hours working on the laptop. He deleted many programs and installed new ones, but it still didn't fix all of the faults of the laptop.

The dear husband felt so bad about the frustration of the lady. He watched her day after day as the lady struggled with the computer. He loved her too much to watch her be in such anxiety every day.

The dear husband spent his day off and went to many stores and shopped and shopped for the best deal to replace the faulty laptop. That night he talked to his love and told her his desire to make her happy. He shared what he had learned about the new laptops available. His wife smiled and hugged her husband, as she knew she had made the right choice many years before when she chose him for her husband. She showed her gratitude to him, and allowed him to drive her to the local Sams Club and demonstrate to her what he had found.

The lady appreciated her husband so much for his efforts on her behalf. They held hands as they walked to the checkout stand to purchase the new laptop. Her eyes sparkled at her husband with joy and appreciation for his love and his thoughtfulness. She recognized how hard he worked every day to provide the many earthly things they enjoyed each day together.

Now the lady can hear the music, get on line and once again join in the technology of the land in which they live.

The lady and the man love each other with all their hearts, and show that love often. Their children appreciate the example of the love of their parents. They are blessed and express their love to their parents every day.

The lady and the man and their many children lived happily ever after. The End.

Good thoughts vs. sad thoughts

A random list that gives me joy. Good thoughts in just a few words.

1. I love to read.
2. I love to crochet.
3. I also love to create hand made books.
4. Sudoku is a favorite I like.
5. Playing games, cards, board, darts, etc.
6. Scrapbooking is right up there.
7. I even love my job.
8. My family, I love unconditionally
9. Oh, and my dogs...yes! I love them.
10. Good quotes, I have books and books of them.
11. Thrift stores.
12. Used book stores
13. Chick flicks.
14. Cookie Dough Ice Cream
15. Clean Sheets
16. Unloaded dishwasher.
17. The smell of my husbands pillow
18. Giggling children
19. My Faith
20. Rolling Pins
21. Graniteware
22. Rain, thunder, lightening
23. Jam I make
24. Gifts from my friends, who really know me.
25. Monsoon storms
26. Sourdough waffles
27. Pantry with labels forward
28. Old typewriters
29. Old sewing machines
30. Photos

Then the thoughts that don't bring me smiles

1. Missing Madisons games
2. Not hearing Jacksons laugh
3. Varcel traveling without me
4. My children hurt.
5. My children far away from me.
6. To worry.
7. Forgetting to count my blessings
8. Wanting to see my parents, and can't
9. A second bowl of Cookie Dough Ice Cream
10. Not being patient
11. Time wasted
12. Having no idea what to fix for dinner.

I am so glad my good thoughts out number my sad thoughts.
I am glad I recognise blessings, even knowing trials are blessings.
As long as I have trials, I know the Lord hasn't forgotten about me, and I know Satan is threatened..... He is trying harder to turn good things into bad things. And when those trials are the hardest...means I am worth all of his attention, so I must be worth that much more to my Heavenly Father! Today, if only for today (and I take it one day at a time) I am strong. I am very strong. And I will be strong tomorrow.