This [UEA] Weekend:

Every year, the second week of October, we get Thursday & Friday off school for U.E.A. (it means Utah Education Association, and there's a 2-day convention for educators).  But, working in the airline industry, we know U.E.A. actually stands for: Utah Escapes to Anaheim!

Although, many Utahns do go to Disneyland over this long weekend, we do not. (the crowds!)  We usually go somewhere, but this year, we stayed right in Utah.

We:

* Celebrated "Wingtoberfest," and got half-price boneless wings at Sonic for lunch.

* Went to the WitchFest at Gardner Village

And, while there, we HAD to go to the Chocolate Covered Wagon (a sweets shop) for caramel apples, Utah shaped chocolate dipped Rice Krispie treats on a stick,
old-fashioned candy sticks, etc. (of course!)

We did the "Witch Scavenger Hunt" and we were on a mission to find them all, so we could take our completed list to the Naborhood Bakery to get our cookies for $0.50!
(We did it, getting "help" on just the last [elusive] one).

* That evening, Haylee & Brookelle went to play night games and have a sleepover with their cousins.  Katelyn went for a late-night at her friend's house.

* Matt & I picked up our Bountiful Basket, went to donate plasma, and then to Station Park to do some birthday shopping
for a couple of our children in between taking our kids places.

* On Friday, I took Katelyn out to her favorite smoothie joint: Roxberry's. 

(since she was the only girl at home - the others were still at their cousins, 

and Kyle just wanted to hang out at home and rest for once, after so much XC running/practice!)

* Matt & I had date night at Joy Luck Restaurant.

(It seems they "replaced" some of the shrimp in our Walnut Shrimp dish with broccoli florets - pretty disappointed!)

* We went over to Matt's brother's house to catch the last half of the USU vs. Boise State football game.

It was a great day to be an Aggie!  :)

52-26!  

* On Saturday, Matt & I went out to breakfast at a new place I've been wanting to try, Criddles Cafe.

It seemed their menu was very close to our favorites; the former Doug & Emmy's, and Sill's Cafe.

I had a cinnamon roll the SIZE OF MY PLATE 

(I only could eat a couple of bites, and took the rest home to my kids - they didn't mind at all!)

* We took the family up to the Ogden Temple

Matt, Kyle, and Haylee went in and did Baptisms for the Dead.

I walked around the temple block with Katelyn & Brookelle (too young to go in still) while we waited.

 Katelyn was excited to be almost as tall as one of the stop signs we passed!

We also thought we could take a tour at the nearby D.U.P. while we were killing time....

but it's only open Memorial Day to Labor Day - too late!

So, we found somewhere else to go!  ;)

* We finally helped the kids with one of the "bucket list" items, by taking them 

shopping at Smith & Edwards - the Country Boys Store.

Ya know, the one with the slogan, “We’ve got anything you need....IF we can find it!” 

To say the girls were THRILLED about the largest Schleich toy inventory at a store they've ever seen, would be an understatement!

From Schleich to saddles....this store has it ALL!

*  Then we had dinner at the Burger Bar on our way home.  It’s been featured on the Food Network’s show, “Diners, Drive Ins, and Dive’s.”
Even though their specialty meat they were highlighting that week was ALLIGATOR....none of us opted for it!  ;)
(But we did get deferred when trying to donate plasma later, due to us being lipemic = fat levels in blood too high) I wonder why?  ;)

* Churchy-Church on Sunday 

* Third Sunday dinner/FHE over at the Brenchley's.
Haylee commented on our way home, "That was SO MUCH FUN tonight with the cousins!"  

*  I wrote my weekly novel letter to our missionary son.

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:

* Friday, Matt & I went to the Bountiful vs. Viewmont High School football game.

I'm a BHS alumni, and Matt's a VHS alumni (MAJOR RIVALS back in our day!!!)

....and our kids go to VHS (I know! SOOO embarrassing!)...

...so WHICH TEAM should we cheer for?  And WHICH SIDE should we sit on?

Well that's easy!  I gotta go with the BRAVES!  And I DID wear [the mighty] Red & Gray!  ;)

Actually, our nephew plays on the Bountiful team, and we don't have ANY

relatives playing for the Vikings, so it was a NO BRAINER!  (For me, at least!)

We ended up in the middle of the Braves fans - on the Bountiful side, even though it was played at Viewmont.

(AND the Braves got the victory!!!)  :)

* We went to Sonic Drive-In - a brand new one was built in our community! -  afterwards for one of their gazillion flavors of slush.

I think we lucked out and only got two [completely unnecessary] phone calls from home during our "date" - maybe three...? 

*Saturday, Matt, Katelyn, Brookelle, & I went to the Ogden temple open house.

(Everyone else in our family had already had a chance to go with others.)

It just so happens that my cousin & family were volunteering there at that time!

His daughter & wife were some of the ones putting the shoe cover slippers on the guests' feet before we entered.

All during the walk-through, the girls kept admiring all the PRETTY THINGS they saw everywhere!

 They brought up several questions - which I was thrilled with!  It created a special opportunity to talk & teach about the sacredness of temples.

See HERE for explanations.

 We went to the visitor's tent afterwards, too.  They were especially enthralled with the nail marks in Christ's hands & feet and the pierce mark from the spear in his side.

* I had to go out to my work in SLC for a quick meeting, so Matt drove me there, then we

found a restaurant that was nearby - and had a coupon in the Happenings book - to eat at.  

If you don't mind flies flying all around you, average food, and waiting a REALLY long

time to get your check, you should give it a try, also!  ;)  haha.

* We went to Temple Square in Salt Lake to the Paul Cardall concert.

{Matt REALLY likes his piano music - and I do, too.}

He played a few piano pieces, then would get up and speak, then play again.

He told interesting stories, jokes, & bore testimony - it was a good mix.

* It was Fast Sunday this week (due to our Stake Conference next week on the usual 1st Sunday) so

our Maddox turkey steak dinner (& sides) seemed REALLY yummy.

We also let them have slush AFTER they ate real food.

* I made cinnamon rolls since it'd been a while, and Brookelle was sad that

she had missed them at school on the day she was absent

when we all took Ryan to the MTC.  

I think we got like 3 dozen out of the recipe, so we started taking the excess around 

to our home teaching & visiting teaching families.  (Since it WAS the last day of the month anyway!  haha!)

* Monday was the holiday, so we went out for our traditional Labor Day breakfast 

at Sill's Cafe for their famous frisbee-sized scones and hash browns with S.O.S.  Yum!

{Unless you're a Celiac, like Haylee, and she has a plate full of bacon & eggs.}

* I had to work during the day, so Kyle convinced Matt & the other kids

to go up in the Farmington mountains for a hiking Encore.

{It's SO sad I had to work!  ;0  NOT.  haha!}

This time, they went on the "Hell Hole" trail.

* We went over to the Brenchley's for a BBQ and cousin play time.

* Late at night, I finished putting together a package for our missionary, then dropped it off
on our neighbor's porch - to be delivered tomorrow.
It's really convenient that he runs an [approved & licensed] Same-Day MTC delivery business -
AND he gives a "ward discount."

In the Right Place at the Right Time

Ryan's day at the St. George Temple....

going for the first time to receive his own endowments.

 To find out more about temples, click HERE.

So GLAD for his choice to be there!

So GLAD to be there with him!

What a BLESSING the temple is!
It IS the House of the Lord - I could feel it!

Because of the temple, we can be a Forever Family = JOY.

------------

*For a history enthusiast like Ryan, the St. George temple holds a special meaning since the spirits of our country's Founding Fathers visited [the then President of the Church] Wilford Woodruff requesting that their temple work be performed for them.  A great painting (an artist's rendition of Pres. Woodruff's testimony) and plaque with all the men's names on it is displayed inside this temple.  Read about this interesting fact in THIS article.

This Weekend:

* Our elementary school aged children invited us to go with them to the annual V. I. P. breakfast at their school.

We "dined" on muffins, bagels, cold cereal, & fruit.

* Matt met me at the Bountiful Temple Friday late afternoon to attend

a session together.

It was nice to be there with him again - due to our schedules,

I have just been going single a lot lately.

* When we came out of the temple, it was pouring rain!

Uh Oh.  Ryan was umpiring at the ball park, and 

the plan was for us to drop him off a car to have

when he got done with his games later in the evening.

The rain forced them to call the games early, and

he was stuck in the rain without a car.

* Matt & I finished our date night by going out to dinner at our "standby", Costa Vida, afterwards.
{It's so convenient now that we have one RIGHT IN Farmington!}

* Saturday morning, my friend/photographer came out to take

Ryan's Sr. pictures.....BUT, it was raining still!

And it was MORNING! = he was NOT a happy camper!

After an hour or so, we called it good and rescheduled

for when it's suppose to be a lot better weather.

(But, then he got to go to work - refereeing soccer IN THE RAIN for 3 hrs!)

* I went to a bridal shower brunch for our Bishop's daughter.

It was really fun visiting with the ladies in attendance and the bride & groom-to-be.

This girl really "has it together" and it was sweet to hear her fiance talk about how amazing she is.

In fact, he told the story about how he's had this certain conversation with her a few times now, asking her: 

Tell me what I even have to bring to the table?  I know I'm good looking, ;) but YOU....

you've already got all these accomplishments, talent, brains, skills, & a whole list of attributes. 

(That's GOOD he's starting out with the proper adulation for the most important woman in his life!) 

Anyway, after his comment, one of the more "mature" ladies there gave a sermon reminded

them that it is Heavenly Father's PLAN for men & women to marry and have their own family!

{THAT'S WHY he's needed}

* In the afternoon, I actually started hanging up pictures and decorations
on the walls of my "new" [20 month old] home!
I finally committed and put holes in my walls - some in the wrong place and had to do over!  {sigh}

* Went to the store and then picked up Little Caesars pizzas on the
way back for dinner.
It's Saturday night, and we are trying to follow Matt's tradition
of his youth: always having pizza on Saturday night.
(Gluten-Free Haylee eats an alternative meal}

* It was our Stake Conference weekend, so we went to the Saturday
evening session, and took Ryan & Kyle since the youth were
invited this time to what is the usual "adult" session.
We had some great speakers including one who told the story of how he
 invited a gang member, in a colorful Sacramento area, to church,
then invited him to hear the missionary discussions, then invited him to be baptized!!
He accepted it all, and actually had to get the FBI involved; be relocated and get a new identity.  WOW!
Afterwards, the parents of Ryan's future prom date approached us and we met & visited with them.

* We went to Roxberry afterwards for smoothies with Kyle (Ryan left the conference early to go "crash" another High School's prom.  It's dumb, I think).
{and then I was CHILLED and couldn't wait to get home in my warm jammies & bed!}

* We got up pretty early on Sunday morning so we could leave
our home at 8:30 a.m. (all church-dress-ready) to drive out to the Conference Center
 in Salt Lake City for our Stake/Regional Conference.

It ended up we got there PLENTY early (in our seats 47 min. before it started),
but it was good, because I like to have a good seat, close & center, so I can SEE!
We didn't know beforehand who would be speaking, but we got to hear gospel messages from
several general authorities & officers of the church, including Elder Neil L. Andersen and his wife - which was really special.
Especially because usually children under the age of 8 are not allowed into events at the Conference Center,
(frequently these live events are being filmed/recorded, so they can't have too much noise)
so it was a real treat for Brookelle & Katelyn to be able to go this time - they'd never been, yet!

* We had my cousin and her family of 6 over for Sunday dinner.
She has three daughters who match up in age with my three girls,
so they got to officially meet and hang out for the first time.
They actually live quite close, but we'd never gotten together.
They are a delightful family.  And we got to pull out our high chair again for their baby!  :)
When it was time for them to go, the girls were hugging and begging
to have them stay, asking when they could be with them again!
And, of course, they tried to pull the "stowaway" trick in their minivan.
We hope to see them some more.

* We wanted to go on a walk in the evening to assist the digestion
of our turkey dinner & brownie sundaes, BUT it started to rain again!
Aaugh!
So, we just stayed inside and put our computers, TVs, & electronics to use.
(That wasn't a wise trade off! hahaha.)

A Couple of Math Equations

1.

 +

 +

 +

 +

 +

 =

A much needed [Winter] BREAK in Hawaii last week.

2.

 {It's the wait-until-Mom-gets-home-to-finish-Science-Fair-project-that's-DUE-the-NEXT-DAY-syndrome}

To find out how I feel about those things, read HERE.

+

 +

 {I haven't got a clue!}

+

 +

 

{Why is unpacking such a daunting task?}

 +

 +

=

A RUDE awakening to my harsh reality!

Can He Take the Hint(s)?

Here is my child, "Kylee"...er...uh...I mean, "Kyle."

 And this is how he has chosen to wear his hair lately.

 Much to my mom's and some adults from church disgust & disturbance.....

I don't say anything, unless I'm asked.  I just let his experiences tell him all he needs to know/learn.

*Although, I do have to slip in a joke when the situation presents itself; like when I got an email from the Jr. High saying that they were going to have a bunch of different themed days at school that week.   "Crazy Hair Day" was one of them.  I asked him if we was going to participate, and then followed it up real quickly with the comment, "Oh, you don't need to do anything.  You've got 'crazy hair' EVERY day!"  ;) 

So, these experiences started two months ago we were down in St. George for Thanksgiving and we (Matt, Ryan, Kyle, me, my brother & sister, their spouses, and my niece & nephews) all went to the St. George Temple together to do Baptisms for the Dead. 

When it was Kyle's turn, Matt was in the font with him, and he looked at the monitor to start reading the name of the person he was going to baptize Kyle for and he noticed that the Officiator had put a pink card of names up.  (Female names are printed on the pink cards, male names on blue cards).  Matt told him he needed to change the card.  The Officiator looked up from his desk and down into the font, and looked completely confused - and hesitant to follow Matt's suggestion.  He did doubtfully trade out the pink card for a blue card so all was right, although he couldn't figure out why Matt had made that request. 

Later, I took Kyle aside and said, "Just so you're aware......." and proceeded to explain to him that he was mistaken for a girl that day in the temple -- because of his hair!  And it was something to consider.
Well, he got pretty testy about that and argued, "Just because some 189 yr. old guy, who is CONFUSED and has BAD VISION, makes a mistake because he's OLD, you think I should cut my hair?!?"

Nope, I replied.  It's just something to consider.

*And just for the record, the temple worker was not even half that old!


THEN, fast forward just three weeks later......our youth group from church went to the Bountiful Temple together to do Baptisms again.  I was there, accompanying the group, including Ryan & Kyle, as an adult leader and was watching everyone get baptized. 

The names of the people they were doing the work for was from a foreign country, with some of the last names spelled with a t-s-z-j all in a row, and very hard to pronounce.  On the monitor at this temple, I could not tell the color of the card - they looked white to me.  So, it became Kyle's turn, and I noticed the first person he got baptized for was a "Maria" with one of those really tricky last names. 

I even leaned over to the girl next to me and said, "I guess in that foreign country, 'Maria' is a boy's name!"  And we smiled together. 

THEN the next name came on the monitor and it was "Julianna."  I started to think, What are the chances that this [girl name in America], too, is a boy name in their country?!? 

So, then I looked up and over the monitor and onto the desktop and saw that it was, indeed, a pink card that was being used!  At that point, I interjected out loud, "Are these girls' names?"

Again, all the workers looked back & forth between Kyle and the pink card.  And because he had actually been baptized [for a girl] already, his hair was wet and looked even longer in the back at that moment!
Some more baffled looks and mumblings about what was going on.  His brother, Ryan, was more than happy to blurt out, "He's a guy!"
And Kyle moaned, "Not again.  That's TWICE!"

They fixed it all, switched out the pink card for a blue card, and the rest of us ward members in there had to try SO HARD to control our giggles!  ;)

After that experience, the universal question people were asking was, "Is he getting the hint, yet?"

Well, he FINALLY did - after another month went by!

He claims it did not have anything to do with his "mistaken identity" but rather because it was too "high maintenance" of a hairstyle.  And it was.  He took a l-o-o-ong time to get it to flip up just so in the back, and to gel up the front.  I would be waiting for him to go somewhere, in the car out in the driveway, as he was in the bathroom doing his hair still! 

Tonight, he just asked me to cut it off!

{He's put that "precious memento" in a baggie and saved it!}

I've had tons of people come up to me and tell me HOW GOOD his hair looks, now!  Yep!

But, he says he's had mixed reactions at school. 
The boys are saying, "Dude, WHY did you cut off your mullet?" 
And the girls are telling him they like it!  ;) 
So, then he's having second thoughts.

To which I asked him, Who would you rather want to think you look good; the boys or the girls?

Oh....yeah....that makes sense, he realized, as my comment put things into perspective for him.