This Weekend

* On Friday, we went to a new place at Station Park, Brixton's (a baked potato restaurant!), for my birthday lunch out with 'The Girls.'
I didn't realize S.P. was such a happening place in the middle of the day - I saw several other people I knew there.
I guess I'll have to 'make an appearance' there more often!  ;)

* The afternoon was spent carting my daughters to and from friends'/parties.

* We went to The Roof with Matt's parents for our "anniversary dinner" on Friday night.

 (they want to take out each of their kids/spouse on an annual basis, so they use their
anniversary date to keep track of who they've taken out and whose turn is next)

* After returning home (and consuming much food & dessert), we thought it prudent to go out in our neighborhood in an attempt to WALK OFF dinner.

* Saturday morning, I did my first (of the required five) turn of being the chaperon/volunteer at the Bye Bye Birdie rehearsal that Katelyn is a part of (and will be performing in November).
Side Note: it was an interesting "study" in human behavior.
Each participant is suppose to sign in with their name and time of arrival prior to each rehearsal.
As background information, there has been a lot of emphasis put on the importance of being at and ON TIME to every rehearsal.  The directors have said that they will be giving out additional parts to those who do well in this area, and taking away from those who do not demonstrate dependability in this area.
One of my jobs is to check in all the kids.  So, when not everyone was there by the starting time, I wondered what those other kids would write down when they finally did arrive....
AND I observed that the majority of the kids (who were anywhere from 1 to 15 minutes late) STILL wrote down the time that the rehearsal started (when they were suppose to be there by) on the sign in sheet.
Hmmmm....See?  Interesting, huh?

* Matt & I took a jaunt up to Snowbasin...

for a Gondola ride and afternoon mountaintop dining,

followed by some hiking.

Apparently, we didn't get the memo about the XTERRA Utah off-road triathlon that was going on up there Saturday!
(notice all those cars down in the parking lot?  Normally, you wouldn't expect to see that AT A SKI RESORT in late Summer/early Fall)
So, we shared the area and our lunch table with that crowd!  (talk about some amazing athletes!)

* I attempted to go donate plasma....and was rejected. :(
The snag? Low protein.  I guess I better start eating more liver and tofu!  Yippee! (not.)

* Matt & I went up to the Bountiful Temple to do a session.

(I did pretty good staying awake this time!)  ;)

* We made sure to end the evening with a treat at Dairy Queen.
A Cherry float always hits the spot.

* Since we have afternoon church, I like to spend the morning reading/viewing things on www.lds.org.

I first read this blog post.

Which led to/referenced this article.
Valuable things to ponder. 

* We did our "yearly measurements" on the kids (height, weight, shoe size, waist/inseam).
It was only about 2 months late, I usually like to get to it in the Summer PRIOR TO going school shopping, but oh well.....
I write these all down and keep it in my purse, so I don't have to keep it all in my brain,
and I can look at it when I'm out shopping.
It's also fun to see how much they've grown from the year before!
Although everyone has grown and gained weight, the most unanticipated are:
Kyle now sports the same size shoe as his dad - a size 12!
Katelyn is just 4 inches away from being taller than I am!  She is only 10 yrs. old!

* Churchy-Church

In Sacrament meeting, we heard from a returned missionary who'd served in New Zealand.
THAT'S where I dreamed of going on my mission back in my youth!

While sitting there, I tuned-in to the fact that Matt needed me to rub his neck - he was not exactly
displaying a great deal of calmness at the moment - because of his first Gospel Doctrine lesson he had to teach in Adult Sunday School the next hour.
He prepared A TON on this lesson - and only taught a small portion of it before time ran out.
(Ya never know how it'll go with the class participation factor)

* After church, I made squash casserole.
(we've still got an overabundance from our garden!)

* We had dinner and FHE at Brenchley's

While talking together afterwards, we had an intriguing conversation about the lesson many of us had had in our Relief Society/Priesthood classes today titled,
 "Beware of Pride."

Bottom Line:  We ALL have it in some form.
(withholding gratitude and praise that might lift another, won't change our mind to accept truth, comparison, fault finding, jealousy, love the praise of man, don't receive correction easily, rebellion, puffed up,  defensiveness, not happy for another's acheivement, etc., etc.)

AND we all need to overcome/repent of this sin!

* I started my [Sunday night ritual] weekly letter to Ryan out on his mission.

This Weekend:

* I was home in the afternoon on Friday (good thing!) and my doorbell rang.
My girls answered it and called to me, saying it was for me.  

My visiting teachers were there.  (I'd totally forgot they were coming!)

But, luckily, I was here so we got to visit.
It was also lucky I'd changed out of the muumuu I had been hanging out in earlier in the day!
 (THAT would've been a sure giveaway that I'd forgotten!)

(Except my family room was a mess with kids' games, back packs, papers, clothes, scriptures, etc. strewn on the floor & chairs.
One of the ladies literally had to pick up
stuff off the couch and move it first before she was able to sit down!  Aaugh!
So, maybe they figured out my forgetfulness anyway?)

* Before going out on our date in the evening, we had to play "taxi service" for

Kyle, taking him to his social events/party.

* We went out to dinner at Sonora Grill in Ogden.

Matt had received a birthday "free entree" coupon already,

so that helped us choose the place tonight.

(I'm on this no-white-flour challenge, so I had to order my meal with corn tortillas......tonight was just not as yummy as their flour tortillas entrees I've had there in the past.)

* After dinner, it was still early enough that we figured our children would

still be up, so we stopped at Ross to kill some time go shopping.

We had to get some pool & beach essentials for the fam in preparation for our upcoming vacation.

* On Saturday morning, I walked to the library to return and pick up some books.
AND to get my fitbit steps in.  As I was out & about, I saw a couple of friends
who were outside, so I stopped to visit.  My 40 min. walk/errand turned into TWICE that long! :)

* We spent some time out in the yard.  Matt set up a pump to pump out the water
that is in our trampoline hole (a natural spring?)  The water was coming
out a hose - and it was crystal clear - so I took the hose up to the
garden we planted last week and watered the whole thing with the "good" water.
{I think we've got our emergency water situation taken care of!}
I cut up a watermelon and it tasted SO GOOD coming in from the warm outdoors.

* I went through the pile of clothes that has somehow ended up on my laundry room counter.
For some reason, the kids were putting clothes they didn't want to wear anymore there.
WHY?
I separated and organized them all into Put Away/Give Away/Throw Away piles
and now we can see the counter top again!

* Matt & I went to the plasma donation center.
I started a new book to read while I layed there donating:

(I haven't decided if it's good or not, yet.)

* We were driving towards an eating establishment, and right before we got there,
we got a text from Matt's brother inviting us to go to Sushi Monster with them.
Well, of course!  So, we switched gears and headed to meet them.
Except, I needed to eat one more vegetable for the day with this challenge I'm on,
and I wasn't sure I could get a whole serving from just sushi, so we
stopped at a grocery store to buy some carrot chips.
While we were in there, my flip flop straps totally came out and the foot-bed cracked
and was dangling on a thread, just seconds from breaking into two pieces.
I knew I couldn't go to Sushi Monster without any shoes on,
so we swung by our house to get new flip flops for me.
(Sidenote: I had a feeling that this 2nd pair of flip flops might fail me, too,
so I put a "replacement" pair in purse just in case.....and guess what?
I DID need them when my 2nd pair also broke.  Two in one night?!?  Wow! I'm talented!)

* Sushi Monster was good, and the company was great.
My recommendation: the Las Vegas roll.
Delish.

* Afterwards, we went to six stores looking for a new light blue purse for me.
My current one (in my beloved color, red, but I thought I venture out to a new color) is kinda hammered.

 (Yes, this is the same purse that Kohl's replaced for me last year.  I didn't have the gall to ask them for a new one AGAIN - it's tearing because I put the whole kitchen sink in it!)
Kohl's is ONE of the stores I went to, but in the end, I found my purse at Target (on clearance even!)

* On Sunday morning, I slept in until 9:30 a.m.!!!
This has just become a luxury in recent years.
Our kids have [finally]  figured it out that IF they wake us up,
we put them to work/tell them to get dressed/make them eat REAL, healthy food,
so it's so much better, in their minds, to let us sleep! ;)
Smart kids!

* I went out visiting teaching with my companion on Sunday,
then I came home, and our home teachers came to my family.
(Was it the last day of the month, or something?!?)  ;)

* Churchy-Church
It was the missionary farewell of one of my former young women!
They're growing up! {sniff, sniff}  She did a great job!
She shared an awesome quote from a Elder Holland talk he delivered at the MTC back in 2000.
Read it HERE.

 * Because it was the 5th Sunday, we had a combined meeting with the
Priesthood men and Relief Society women the last hour of our church block.
The theme of the meeting was "Family Home Evening" and we had been
asked to speak about our experience, representing a "family with children at home."
(There was also a newlywed couple and an Empty Nester couple who spoke.)
The thing about this "assignment" was, last Sunday Matt had mentioned to me, in passing, that
the Elder's Quorum President had talked to him about something and that he'd have to tell me about it later......
Well, that "later" happened to be last night around 10:00 p.m.!
(Ya gotta love it, baby!)

* I had a meeting after church, so I gave Matt instructions on everything
he needed to do to get dinner ready.
He owed it to me after the lack of notice he gave me on my speaking assignment in church, don't ya think?!?  ;)
We had Ranch Chicken.  It was a new recipe (found HERE) and I approved.

* We went on a family walk on the Lagoon Trail up to Farmington Pond
with grandma/pa and Matt's brother, wife, & kids.

A lot of other people had the same idea...and somehow some people
had confused our quiet Farmington Pond for a swimming hole that day.
There were a ton a people jumping off the fishing docks, splashing around,
and wearing skimpy suits - I'd never seen THAT up there.
Needless to say, we didn't stay long at all.

* Wrote my weekly letter to our missionary

* I quit eating before 9:00 p.m. (another part of this blasted challenge I'm on),
while Matt baked up some cookies for himself from the cookie
dough I'd made (but I didn't eat any!) for the missionary farewell/lunch.
 Only one week left of the challenge!  Yay!  ;)

This Weekend:

* Katelyn went to her Annual Valentine's Tea Party with her friends.

(Her friend's grandma, who lives about 50 miles away, has them over every year for this event.

They go in their "Sunday Best,", use REAL porcelain tea cups/dishes to eat/drink from, 

make big hats to wear, do a craft, pamper & primp, 

and come home with a "goodie bag" of sorts!)

Katelyn feels so lucky to always be invited since it is limited to just the # of friends who can fit into their car!

This year, her friend's grandma had made them all CUTE pillow cases!

Do you like how Katelyn was "Valentine-ing it Up" with her heart night gown & heart jammie pants that match so well?  ;)

* We went to the big "RIVALRY GAME" for Kyle's [rec] basketball team.

It was the "Bearcats" vs. the "Rejects" (kids all from the same High School, but on different teams).

It was very serious.  The Bearcats (Kyle's team) put in an extra practice during the week PLUS a "team bonding" hanging out session to get ready for the game.

The Sophomore class was divided; picking sides, either for the Bearcats or for the Rejects

The Bearcats called for a "blackout" game - all their fans were suppose to wear black.

(which was easy enough for me, I have lots of black in my wardrobe!)

 In addition to us parents, their following of "Bearkittens" (girls their age) and the "Bearcubs" (boys their age) turned out in droves to support the Bearcats in the big game.

We're talking posters, painted faces, standing for the whole game, Bearcat "growls," and lots of cheering!

In the end, I think the Bearcats expending all their energy get psyched up (or psyched out?) for the game, and 

didn't have enough left to actually play the game.

The "Rejects" crashed the boards like crazy, and were able to score from their third & fourth chance shots.

The Bearcats lost.

But, they went out together to celebrate - or commiserate - afterwards anyway!

* Matt & I went out to Ruby River Steakhouse afterwards. (we had a coupon!)

There was a wait, but it was OK.  I still needed to get some Fitbit steps in for the day,

so we went walking around the parking lot and neighboring businesses in the meantime.

We were at the restaurant for a while......I ate veeeerrry slowly.  You see, I may or may not 

have been eating cinnamon lips candy lately, and there's an ingredient in 

cinnamon candy/gum that makes my tongue swell, which in turn makes me talk funny and it's hard to move it/eat. ;)

* My sister-in-law invited me to her stake's Women's Conference, so I went.

The guest speaker was Wendy Watson Nelson, wife of Elder Russell M. Nelson.

There were a few things that were impressionable to me that I have already shared many times with others.

She is the author of a book, What Would a Holy Woman Do?

(I'm going to check out the "book on CD" from the library!)

She also had us all stand up and recite, out loud, a portion from Elder Holland's General Conference talk he gave in October 2012.  She had us insert our own name instead of the name, “Peter,” who Christ was responding to, in Elder Holland’s nonscriptural elaboration.)

“What I need, Peter (your name), are disciples—and I need them forever. I need someone to feed my sheep and save my lambs. I need someone to preach my gospel and defend my faith. I need someone who loves me, truly, truly loves me, and loves what our Father in Heaven has commissioned me to do. Ours is not a feeble message. It is not a fleeting task. It is not hapless; it is not hopeless; it is not to be consigned to the ash heap of history. It is the work of Almighty God, and it is to change the world. So, Peter (your name), for the second and presumably the last time, I am asking you to leave all this and to go teach and testify, labor and serve loyally...”

It really was impactful to me.  And it was inspiration for a Relief Society presentation that I am currently preparing for.  I have been asked to speak on the topic of "Hastening the Work of the Lord" in an upcoming meeting, and I just think I might use this little bit!!  ;)

* Matt & I had a "date" at the plasma donation center.  Matt & I ended up on the same row, but a few beds down from each other, and the phlebotomis saw me wave & talk to him a bit.  

He asked me if I knew him, and I replied, "Ya, and I kinda LIKE him, too!"  ;)  

Then we went out to lunch at Nielsen's Frozen Custard. (we had a coupon!)

* After a break (3 months) due to the holidays of not doing private dates with our children,

we finally started up again and it was Haylee's turn.

She chose her favorite Gluten Free pizza - David's Pizza.

But, there's no seating there (it's just pick up & delivery), so we got hers from there,

and then went down a few doors to Big Daddy's Pizza (where they do have seating AND we had a coupon!) and

ordered mine & Matt's pizza, so we'd be able to eat at their tables.

Then she wanted to go shopping at the D.I.  - don't be jealous!  ;)

 She LOVES finding $0.50 treasures!

AND we found some brand new, with-the-store-tags-still-on clothes for all of us!

We finished off by going to Menchies. (we had a coupon!)

* Churchy-Church on Sunday.

We had a Missionary Homecoming, which was great.  The returned missionary

was someone who was in Young Men's when I was serving in Young Women's.

He's gone and come home already?  Wasn't that just the other day? 

Time flies......when it's someone else's child!  :)  haha.

*  We had our New Beginnings in the evening for Haylee & all the Young Women.

They did such a good job!  It's so different (& nice!) to just be part of the audience and not

be in charge of it.  I thought it was way better and cuter than the ones we did....probably because I could really sit back and enjoy it - unlike the last three years when I was IN YW!  ;)

Look how adorable our "cruise ticket" (program for the evening) was:

 {front}

{back}

The mutual theme for this year is D & C 4:2, "Oh, ye that EMBARK in the service of God...."

so they pretended we were aboard a "ship" for the evening.

That video presentation can be viewed HERE.

There are GREAT YW leaders now, it's good for everyone to change it up!  

* Finished the weekend (like I always do these days) by writing my letter to Ryan on his mission,

while "Talkin' Sports" was on T.V. in the next room.

I Don't Take Rejection Well

A friend of mine referred me to BioLife, a place she goes to donate plasma, to earn some extra cash (every little bit helps when you have a missionary out!)

So, I go for my first time and they do all this "paperwork" (on the computer) first - including getting my fingerprint digitally, so I can "sign" by putting my finger on this devise.

They also do this medical pre-screening where they weigh you (Oh joy!  That's enough to back out right on the spot!) and check your arms.  They also take your temperature/blood pressure/pulse and they prick your finger to test your blood for hematocrit & protein levels.

By the time I get called up for my med pre-screen, I'd already been there for about an hour (plus the 15 min. drive time) so I was ready to get the show on the road!  Only to have them test my finger prick and tell me my hematocrit level was too low - BY ONE POINT!  So, I was disqualified from donating that day.  What?!?  I'm not good enough?  I didn't like that feeling.  I couldn't leave it like THAT!
They gave me a pamphlet with ideas on how to raise my hematocrit levels, some of which were eating more tuna and raisins!  I DON'T THINK SO!  Those are two foods I try to never come in contact with!  Thus, my low levels?  I opted for the iron supplement route instead and went back the next day and passed!  YES!
(Although, they didn't get a good "stick" on the first arm, and they eventually had to take it out and re-try on my other arm - a "Two for One deal" as they call it, ya, real funny!)  They told me that first arm they had tried is a little more tricky, and in the future, to ask for an"experienced" person.  Ummmm, shouldn't they ALL be experienced?

So, then I went back the next week - I wanted to see if I could do it "incident-free" and not have them find anything wrong with me.  Since, it was my 2nd time, I was "flagged" when I signed in, I guess.
So, they had me walk over to the receptionist area,
Then she directed me to the waiting area.
Then when I was "cleared" by a supervisor, they told me to go over to the computer area for my questionnaire.  One of the questions was about recent vaccinations received and I had just gotten my flu shot the day before, so I marked it yes....which ended up "flagging" me.
When I walked over to the pre-screen area, they saw the "flag" and had me walk over into a private consultation room to ask me about that question.
She didn't know if the flu shot was OK, or not, so then we walked over to the nurses offices to find out.
They said it was OK, so then we walked back to the consultation room, and that computer wouldn't work.
So, we went to find help, then FINALLY we were cleared to go back to pre-screening.
And they proceeded to take my vitals - and surprise, surprise, my pulse was too high!
What?  Another failure?
She said it was probably from all that walking to and fro in the previous 10 minutes.  (It might've ALSO had something to do with the fact that, right before she took it, I started thinking about my "2 for 1" experience from last time!)
This time, instead of rejecting me right on the spot, they told me to sit down for 5 minutes and then they could re-test my pulse.
I felt pretty unsettled about not "passing" again - I don't like that!  It's just a little, little thing, but it didn't sit well with me, so I was determined to prove them!  I HAD to be found worthy!  ;)  So, as I sat, I may or may not have engaged in deep yoga-like breathing exercises until they called my name again, and after testing me - my pulse was just fine!  YES!

So, then I was bound & determined to have a SMOOTH draw and PASS everything with flying colors, that I went again.  Hematocrit - PASS.  Pulse - PASS.  (We're on a roll!)  And then it came time for the stick.  It should've been a clue to me when the phlebotomist took extra time feeling my arm and touching up and down my vein.  Then she kept rubbing my vein and looking and feeling some more.  In fact, it WAS a clue, I was very aware of her hesitancy, BUT I had talked to her before we started saying that an experienced person needs to do my left arm, and she didn't back out, so I took that to mean she was, and I didn't refuse her and demand someone else.  Because, after all, wasn't that a lot of the reason I was THERE again?  Trying myself, not to be refused?  So, I'm not prone to do it to someone else.  She finally completed the stick, but the flow wasn't up to par, so she called for assistance, and someone else came and "adjusted" the needle (i.e. pushed it further in - too far, I believe, since as soon as she did it, I FELT a pain!  So, they moved it back a bit).  That draw took a little bit longer than normal, so NOT a success in my book.

That time WAS going to be my last time.......BUT in the days since I was there, I have developed bruising on my arm in the area above the stick site - it is in the area I felt pain in when they pushed the needle up TOO FAR.  Surprise, surprise!  The bruising on my arm now disqualifies me for another donation until it goes away.  So just knowing that; if I were to go in, not that I was necessarily even planning on it, BUT IF I DID and they saw my bruised arm, I'd be rejected......and that BUGS ME again.  It's like I have this little phrase that goes off in my head repeatedly, "They WILL NOT reject me.  They WILL NOT reject me.  I CAN do it!  I CAN!"

Uh oh, I think this means I might be back!  ;)

*This "condition" I have can probably be attributed to my 5th Grade teacher.  She made us memorize quotes, and one of them (that I OBVIOUSLY took to heart) was, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!"