General Conference Pep Rally

(FYI: General Conference is a semi-annual worldwide conference held in SLC, UT and broadcasted all over the world.  We hear inspired messages from living prophets and apostles on the earth today who serve the Lord, Jesus Christ just like prophets did in ancient times, as taught in the Bible.  We are so blessed to live in a time when it's so easy to have access to these teachings!  Satellite, cable, internet access, etc. bring these messages directly do our home and then the following month, every talk is printed up in the Ensign (a magazine) so we can reread the messages and study them, applying them to our lives to enrich our lives and the lives of those around us.  Cool, huh?  Anyone can participate, if you're interested let me know and I will tell you how!)  

Okay, it wasn't exactly a pep rally, but I nearly felt as if I had attended one after last Saturday's General Relief Society broadcast.  It was such a good broadcast; the talks were great and I felt so inspired/uplifted!  It made me so excited for this weekend's General Conference!

All of the talks were great but two of them really stood out to me.  I took notes on all of them, but you can easily tell which two spoke the most to me.  I think they were exactly what I needed to hear at the time.   In fact, I know they were.  If you missed the broadcast, or would like a reminder, here are the notes I took.  Also, watch for the talks in November's Ensign.  Everyone should read President Uchtdorf's message; it was just THAT GOOD.

(Another FYI: The Relief Society is an organization of women 18 years and older.  Every woman in the church is a member of the Relief Society; it is the largest women's organization in the world and just as the name implies, it is an organization that seeks to bring relief: physical, emotional, spiritual, etc.)

Julie B. Beck, General Relief Society President
There is more to be done. 
It is time for Relief Society to fulfill it's purpose as never before. 
The purposes of Relief Society:

• Increase faith and personal righteousness
• Strengthen families and homes
• Serve the Lord and His children

She shared a personal experience of when she was a young newlywed and lived close to her parents.  When it came time for her parents to move to another part of the world, she cried and asked her mom, "Who will be my mother?"  Her mother counseled her that she should "tie" herself to the Relief Society.  They would teach her, help her, serve her, love her.  The Relief Society would be her "mother".
We do the work of the Lord as we seek, receive, and act on personal revelation; without it we cannot succeed, with it we cannot fail.

Silvia Allred, General Relief Society 1st Counselor
We make covenants to show our devotion to build up the kindgom.

Barbara Thompson, General Relief Society 2nd Counselor
Service in Relief Society magnifies and sanctifies.
The Relief Society is the Lord's organization for women. 
We need women to step up and be strong. 
Declare the truth with strength, faith, and boldness.
Set an example of righteousness.
Be anxiously engaged in a good cause.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, 2nd Counselor in the First Presidency
Women sometimes undervalue their abilities.  They have an inner desire to please the Lord to the best of their abilities, which is good, but sometimes it makes them feel inadequate and overwhelmed.
How can we taste of God's happiness even with our burdens?
We are spirit daughters of the most creative being in existence.
Seek and experiece eternal happiness.  One way is by creating things.  As mothers, we create life but we also teach and nurture (a way to create which will bring happiness).
We all have talents and gifts.
Creation = bringing into existence something that did not exist before. 
It does NOT need to be PERFECT!
Start small.  Create smiles, write letters of appreciation, etc.
Trust and rely on the Spirit as we create and improve the world around us.
Service and sacrifice open the windows of Heaven.The number of prayers we say may contribute to our happiness but the numbers of prayers we answer may be of greater importance.

As I listened to these talks, I felt the spirit witness to me that the messages were true and of great importance to me, especially right now.  I felt the spirit prompt me in how I can improve in these areas.  I know that this broadcast was for all of the Relief Society sisters all over the world, but I can't help but feel some of those talks were just for me.  I have felt inspired to make some changes and I've been trying to apply them (a stong emphasis on the word "trying"; it is easier said than done).  I know that by following these promptings of the spirit, I will be happier and that I'll be a better wife/mother, as well as being a better servant of my Heavenly Father.  I want to do His will and I want Him to be able to count on me to act when He needs me to act. 

I just cannot wait until this weekend!  Two full days of inspired messages for us, living right now in these times.  With all the crazy chaos and scary situations that we see around us in the world today, we could DEFINITELY use some divine guidance!  I love our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson and I know he is a living prophet of God.  I know he is led by our Savior; this is His church and He speaks through His prophets and apostles. 

It is exciting to know that God loves us and wants to talk to us.  I hope we all set aside this weekend to hear exactly what it is that He has to say.

Manipulation?

Maybe. lol

Rori is excellent at getting ready for prayer (folding her arms and closing her eyes) and then saying "Amen" at the end. However, I have only managed to get her to say it herself (repeating after me) once or twice.

Finally, today I had a brilliant idea. (If I do say so myself. lol) This time, after having her refuse to repeat the prayer with me (yet again), I asked Acadia to show Rori how to repeat what I say. Of course, Cadi was willing to help. We didn't even get past the "Dear Heavenly Father" before Rori realized what Cadi was doing and just HAD to do it, too. So, all three of us said the prayer together.

HA! Take that, toddler! Who outsmarted who this time? Not to mention, who found a way to get that darned sibling rivarly to work in MY favor for a change! lol

Conversations

So "typical Acadia"...

Before School -

Cadi: I'm afraid to go to school today.
Me: Why?
Cadi: There's going to be a new kid in school today.
Me: Well, that shouldn't make any difference. Either you'll meet a new friend of it will just be another kid at school.

After School -

Cadi: Mom, remember the new kid in school?
Me: Yes.
Cadi: We're BFFs and I gave her my number, we want to have a playdate.

together is a wonderful place to be

A month or so ago, I ordered this saying from my friend's home party for my bedroom wall.  I love it!  Ryan loves it!  And so, I share:

Sing, sing a song!

Today Acadia started choir at school. I'm really pleased that she is wants to be so involved. I don't even mind that it requires her arriving at school an hour early twice a week. It just kicks my butt in gear a little earlier those days! ;)

I'm anxious to hear how it went. Cadi has a sweet and pretty voice and I know that if she learns how to use it, she could develop it into a beautiful talent. I'm excited that she has the opportunity to start now. And for free! :D

I vant to suck your blood!

Yesterday we began discussing what we want to be for Halloween. Acadia said that she wanted to be a vampire. Now, last year she had decided to be a horse, then wanted to switch to a vampire but instead combined it into one and was a vampire horse. What? You've never heard of a vampire horse? ;)

I told her that she could only be a vampire if she did it the right way: no fangs, no capes; she had to be a true vampire. A Twilight vampire. Well, that started her thinking... Soon we were all going to be vampires. We would be the Cullen Family. lol It was fun to talk about it for a little bit but of course, none of us could pull off being a vampire. Well, probably Rori could. She's cute (and dangerous) enough. ;)

I don't know where that leaves us for Halloween. But I do know that the only thing I found consoling about knowing we could never really dress up as the Cullens successfully was that I knew I could at least blog about the idea of it. :)

Has this ever happened to you?

You've just gotten home from the gym and grocery shopping and figure since you're gross already, it would be a good time to mow the lawn. So you are laying your toddler down for a nap and about to go mow your yard. The house is a mess, the dishes piled in the sink, the dandelions are about a foot tall in your "lawn" (really, there's no grass, just the dandelions), you're all sweaty, and you get a phone call. The person on the other end knows who you are but you don't have a clue who they are. He tells you he dated your mom in college and recently had reconnected with her and happens to be in Vancouver and would love to meet you. Nearly insists on it. But it has to be now because they are about to drive home.

Uh.

So, here's my thought process: I'm home alone and clearly this person knows who I am and who my mom is, or at least claims to. I got him to talk a little more and based on things he said about my mom I determined he really did know who she was, really is friends with her, so I'm pretty sure it's not some serial killer or even an undercover investigator trying to trick me into meeting them so they can show me on 48 Hours to demonstrate what NOT to do if a stranger calls and wants to come over to your house. (I could just see it, I'd be the person everyone would be thinking, "What an idiot! Why would you tell them your address and give the directions? You don't know who they are! Just tell them you're not interested!!!" So I went ahead and invited them over.

As soon as we got off the phone, I called my mom and asked her who this guy was. (And if I needed to dead bolt the front door and call the cops. lol) She felt bad because she had meant to tell me he had said he might be around but she said she didn't give him my number and she had no idea when he was going to be in town, so she didn't really think he'd actually call me. Anyhow, she insisted he was a nice guy, he wasn't going to be any danger (and he wasn't going to bring a camera crew and tell me how gullible I was). And she also reminded me that if he was inviting himself over at the last minute, then he was taking the risk of coming when the house was a mess and the weeds were tall. lol

So, I did quickly sweep the floor, or at least most of it, and I did change clothes, and just as I finished putting away the dishes in the dishwasher, the doorbell rang. All the time, I'm thinking: I don't know this person (or his wife, she was coming too), what on earth will we talk about, and why does he care to meet me - he doesn't know me!? Fortunately, he was easy to talk to, his wife was friendly and apparently thought he was weird for contacting me with no warning, too (lol). He said he knew that but he didn't care. lol Anyhow, they stayed for about half an hour maybe? And then left.

Very interesting. It was totally unexpected, caught me completely off guard. So, siblings beware: Mom's old boyfriends may one day call you up asking if they can come over to meet you without warning. And while we all know which one we would LOVE to have randomly call us and drop by (but with a little more warning), say WITH THEIR FATHER... it's not that one. ;) lol

What a lovely start to the day.

*sarcasm*

Last night was not-so-fun. We were woken several times by Rori who kept needing us to get her binkie. This was my fault. I had taken out the crib bumper so I could change her sheets more easily and I didn't replace it. I didn't really think much of it. Until she kept waking us up. Over and over and over again. No joke, at least half a dozen times.

During my last short sleeping period, I had a weird dream. Ryan and I were going to Costco, except it was most definitely not Costco. To start, it was tiny, the parking lot was like 3 rows, it had a daycare, and there were no big TVs when you entered. As we were going in, I went to get my Costco card out, but my wallet was missing. It wasn't in my purse at all. So I go to look in the car. Nope, not there. Or in the 2 other purses that I apparently keep in my car. ??? While I'm looking for my wallet, I see a couple of church "pass along cards" and as I notice them, I also notice two women nearby who are talking about a poster they just had printed up at the store. As they read it outloud, I recognize it as a scripture from the Bible. I think to myself, "I should give them a pass along card!" I turn to give them one and see that they are dressed in white jumpers (remarkably similar to the white jumper one might wear if they were getting baptized) and right at that moment, one of the women makes a comment to the other one about what they said in ward council. Drats, they're already LDS! LOL I seriously found humor in the fact that I was disappointed about that. lol So, I went back to searching for my wallet. We end up going home and I still can't find it. I look everywhere. Nope.

I woke up (with a headache) to Rori crying for her binkie (once again) but at least this time it really was time to get up. The first thing I did was put that stupid bumper back on her bed, the whole time she's crying and crying for her binkie. I remind her that it's time to get up and she's not allowed to have the binkie out of her crib. She doesn't let up. I tell her the only way she's getting her binkie is if she is going back to sleep. She said "yes". I double checked and she said "yes" again. So, she is currently sleeping in her crib with her binkie (and the stupid bumper). Of course, today is my day to drive the kids to school so I can't take advantage of her sleeping in at all, in fact I really have to wake her up in a few more minutes and hope she's not as cranky this time.

As soon as I left her room, the first thing I did was check my purse. *whew* At least my wallet's there. :)

Rori's First Ever Tag

Pam's little girl, Lilia "tagged" Rori on her mom's blog. We will attempt to complete this. Rori has an attention span and a vocabulary of a 2 year old (imagine that!), so this may be interesting...


1. What is something mom always says to you?

"Snack" (I'm not sure if this was her answer or a request. lol)



2. What makes mom happy?

"happy"



3. What makes mom sad?

"sad"



4. How does your mom make you laugh?

"Blues Clues" (Again... not sure if this is an answer or a request. lol)



5. What was your mom like as a child?

*silence*



6. How old is your mom?

*silence*



(Okay, I don't think this is working. I can't get her to respond to the questions at all even though we've tried several times today and yesterday, she's just too young to "get it". So, I'm going to leave it at that, but I'll leave the questions on here for the people she "tags". Sorry, Lil! We tried!)



7. How tall is your mom?



8. What is her favorite thing to do?



9. What does your mom do when you're not around?



10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?



11. What is your mom really good at?



12. What is your mom not very good at?



13. What does your mom do for her job?



14. What is your mom's favorite food?



15. What makes you proud of your mom?



16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?



17. What do you and your mom do together?



18. How are you and your mom the same?



19. How are you and your mom different?



20. How do you know your mom loves you?



Rori will tag: Cadi (big sister); Rosalind (from church); Pammie (vkid); and Esther (cousin... maybe it can be on Grandma's blog? It could even be her answering questions about Grandma if you want.)

4 down, 2.2 to go

Miles, that is!

As I shared last week, I'm getting ready for a 10K on Thanksgiving. Last week, I surprised myself by "running" a 5K without stopping. A 5K is 3.1 miles. So, I'm half-way to my goal (though I do hope to be able to pick up the pace just a little by T-Day). I'm still trying to take it slow (Slow and steady may not always win the race, but it can usually finish the race, and that's what I'm after!) and after my interrupted sleep last night, I again didn't expect to do anything spectacular at the gym today.

But I did! At least, for me!

For the first time EVER IN MY LIFE, I "ran" 4 miles without stopping! I could have kept going, I'm sure of it. I was just out of time. I needed to come home, shower, and get ready for a potluck luncheon that I'm going to in an hour. And I'm kind of glad I "quit while I was ahead" anyway, I really am trying to take this slow and steady.

But *woohoo*! I feel great! I haven't really lost any weight or inches yet but I'm feeling stronger, I am building my endurance, and I'm going farther than I ever have before. :D

Photo Tag

Ugh.  Yeah.  So, here are the rules: you must take pictures of the following things, as is, no straightening up etc.  Can you tell why I'm less than thrilled to get this tag? lol

I received the tag last night and didn't have time to do it; I was running out the door to a meeting in about 15 minutes.  I did consider for a moment that I could just do the tag today but I knew that I would have straightened each of these areas before I "had the chance" to take the pics.  So, instead I ran around taking the pics right then to post today.  And here you go. 

My fridge- Now I do admit that I only took a picture of the outside last night.  Then I realized that other people doing this tag were showing the inside, too.  So... I took that one this morning.




My toilet.   Really people, my toilet???  


My kitchen sink, which really should be replaced.  The porcelain has been chipping away on the edges and one of these days (like if we ever finish our backyard) we're going to get a new one.


My favorite room in the house.  I debated on which room that would be but I decided it was definitely our family room since that's where we all spend the most time and where we are almost always together.



My closet.  Okay first off, my closet is small and there just isn't enough room for everything.  Then, my side of the bed is really close to it and so I couldn't get a decent pic.  Okay, I guess I could have gone over to the other side of the bed and taken the pic from further back, but I didn't even think of that until now.  But the thing about this pic that bugs me the most is that you can totally see a Goodwill tag hanging off a blouse in there! lol 


My laundry room.  Yeah, I don't really have a "laundry room".  My, how I wish I did!  But I do have a little area right off the kitchen, next to the garage door, where my washer and dryer are tucked behind a couple of doors.  (Not that I ever really close those doors since I'm always doing laundry, lol.)



Ooh, and one day (yeah, probably the same day that I get my new sink) Ryan's going to get me new shelves that are deeper and that will come down lower, right above the dryer.  Then I won't have all that stuff sitting on top of the dryer.  Yep, that's the plan. ;)

My kids.  Well, see this is another reason why it's a good thing I took the pics last night instead of waiting until now.  Right now, Cadi's at school and Aurora is napping so I wouldn't be able to get pics of either.  (And if you think for one minute I'd sneak into Rori's room during naptime just to take a pic, you're sorely mistaken.  And you must not be a mom.  The instant that door were to crack open, she'd be up in a flash and I VALUE naptime! lol)  So, this is what my girls were doing last night when I got tagged and started running around taking pics.

Here's the good one...


And here's the naughty one...


Our pet, Simon.  Poor old, deaf, half-blind dog.


My dream vacation.  This is hard because I have a few "dream vacations".  I want to see church history sites, I'd love to go to New Zealand, I want to try a cruise, I can't wait to go back to DisneyWorld, I hope I get to swim with dolphins again.  And so, I just chose which one was the easiest to show a pic of. lol


My favorite shoes.  I don't have a pair of favorite shoes.  I have several that I like a lot and I have favorite shoes to wear for certain things or with certain outfits.  But these are the ones I wear the most simply because they are so comfortable.


And that leaves the self portrait.  I set up my camera to take my pic.  And, uh... it took a couple of tries. lol







And now I must share the joy and tag some friends.  Please forgive me.  I tag: Aimee, Sidnee, Jessica, and Wendy.

Count Your Blessings

•I have a loving husband who works hard to provide for our family.

•Ryan has a great job that is stable and provides for our needs as well as many wants while allowing me to stay home with our kids.

•He gets holidays off, unlimited sick time, and not only does he get a generous amount of vacation time each year, but he is the one who handles the vacation schedule and can most times arrange for us to get our vacation time whenever we want. And we have a nice week long vacation coming up in two months. :)

•He gets paid hourly, which means when he works extra, it's overtime pay.

•And when he works enough hours, it's double time.

•None of the plans I have this week require him to watch the girls for me.

•Even when he is at work, he can often call home or chat briefly on IM.

•This next week or two are just a tiny little part of the eternities we get to spend together.

•My girls are good girls who, while often they drive me bonkers, it's usually in a good way.

•My girls also have a pretty decent bedtime so if I get really tired of being the parent, all I have to do is hold on until they go to bed and then I'm released from my immediate duties and merely placed "on call".

Can you guess who's going to be working late every night for the next couple of weeks?

These Boots Were Made for Walking

As I was uploading pics yesterday, I came across these that I took a little over a week ago.  Rori loves to wear shoes - especially other people's.  These are Acadia's boots.  They come up to Rori's thigh!  Anyhow, I thought they were cute.  Enjoy!

 
                
 

What I would post if I had any pics that would cooperate...

The girls and I had a very fun evening with friends tonight.  Several families all met up at the park for picnic dinners to let the kids play while the grown-ups visited.  It was kind of a last-minute kind of thing.  We had a great time.  I think it would have been even more fun if Ryan was with us.  (He was called into work this afternoon and is still there.) 

It was relaxing to visit with friends, and since the girls hadn't taken their baths yet but were going to when we got home, I didn't even mind at all that Aurora brought half the sandbox home with her - in her hair.  Of course, she minded as I was trying to wash it all out.  I didn't get it all, so for those of you who attend church with us, don't look too closely at her scalp. ;)

I did take pictures but most of them are of the group and I don't have permission to post everyone else's kids on here.  I do have a cute pic of Rori and a tree.  She kept running up to it and kind of hugging it.  I think she wanted to climb it but it's not a climbing tree; there are no lower branches at all. lol  So I'll share that... but nothing else.  Just use your imagination. ;)

Open Up Wide!

Today the girls had a dental appointment.  This was Aurora's first time!  I was smart and took my camera.  I was not smart and did not bring extra batteries, as the camera's batteries were dead.  However, I shook, shook, shook that camera and managed to turn it on 3 seperate times, just long enough to take one quick photo each time.  *phew*

And so, I am pleased to be able to show you Aurora's first dental check up:

Acadia did go first and of course, Rori wanted to do whatever Cadi was doing so that worked out really well.





Rori didn't exactly "love" getting her teeth checked and cleaned but she didn't fight it either.  She was eager to get out of the chair when she was told her turn was done.  But she was also eager to get BACK in the chair to play or even when the dentist came in to look. 

I managed to get this one of Cadi and the dentist, too. 



Of course, both girls had a great check up and no one had any cavities.  *Yay!*  The dentist did recommend a consult with the orthodontist for Acadia because one of her permanent teeth isn't coming down correctly and they may want to do something there.  We don't see her until later in October though, so for now we're good!

United

I have only a few short minutes and so, I would like to direct you to my friend, Millie's post today which contains a letter written the day after the attacks.

Reading that letter really reminded me of all the feelings I had during that time and the feeling of strength and unity that were abundant, even amid the feelings of shock, pain, and loss.  I think it is important to remember that we all have more in common than what divides us.  And when it comes down to it, we all hope for the same things.  I think that is one of the biggest reasons why it is important that we remember days like today, to put things back into perspective and to reunite ourselves.

Happy Birthday to the woman who gave me life!

Yep, it's my Mom's b-day today... She had to work. :( But then, doesn't every mom have to work on her b-day? Though, she actually had to go into the office and work at her desk. That's totally not fun. :(

But I hope she's still managing to have a great day anyway!

Happy Birthday Mom! We love you!

For the First Time EVER.

I find myself thinking maybe we shouldn't be living here... Maybe we should still be living in Idaho. What if this happened to us??? Nine years!?!?! Our sweet Tigger disappeared about 10 years ago, while we were living in Pocatello. If a cat can come back 9 years later, don't you think one could come back 10 years later? But even if he did turn back up on Flamingo Dr. and even if someone did take him into the pet clinic there, the microchip we had put in him would give them bogus info on us. There's no way they'd know to contact us here. :(

I miss our Tigger.

Run like the wind! Or at least like a gentle breeze.

So now that school is back in session, I am making a sincere effort to really get back into the routine of going to the gym regularly. I alternate between weights and cardio. Today was cardio.

Keep in mind that last week was the first time I stepped foot in my gym since before summer. *hangs head in shame*

Last week I "ran" (I use this word loosely. It was really a slow jog, 4mph, most people would consider it a quick walk. But I'm short and out of shape and so for me, it was a jog. But "running" sounds better than "jogging" and it's my blog. So there. Besides, I also incline the treadmill to make the resistance more realistic since when you really go running, there's not a treadmill moving itself while you run. So at least if I'm going slow, I'm also facing resistance... that cancels out the slowness, right? lol) 2 miles without stopping and was pleased enough with that since as I mentioned, it was my first time at the gym in months.

So today, I figured I would do the same; I want to go slow and really pace myself. And I really want to have realistic expectations. So, I "ran" for my 2 miles. As I came to the end of the 2 miles, I felt great and I knew I could go further so I just told myself I'd go another 1/2 mile before I slowed it down to a walk. That 1/2 mile went by and I was starting to get tired but I knew I could still go a little further without pushing it so I decided I would just run until I felt like I should stop. As I approached the 3 mile mark, I realized that if I extended it just another tenth of a mile beyond 3 miles, I would have run a 5K. Admittedly, by this time I was definitely reaching my limit but now I was excited that I would actually have "run" a 5K without stopping so I pushed on until that point and then slowed down to walk through the rest of the workout. I have to admit that I'm pretty impressed with myself. Even though it was at a slow pace, lol.

We always try to go to Sacramento for Thanksgiving and while we're there, we usually participate in the Run to Feed the Hungry on Thanksgiving morning. Most times, I've just done the 5K, usually walking. Once, I attempted the 10K and ran (fine, jogged) about half of it, walking the rest. I really want to try to do the 10K again this year and to run most, if not all of it. Wish me luck, I think I'll need it! lol

Mini Me, still in training.

I wish that I could have taken a picture of Rori yesterday the first moment I saw her at church.  I had early morning meetings so Ryan and the girls were on their own that morning.  This is not unusual.  We've gotten into the habit of Cadi clearing her outfit with me the night before and me laying out a complete outfit (with shoes, even though last week the shoes I selected were completely ignored and other shoes that did NOT match were worn instead... not that I care or anything... lol) for Rori so that I at least know they will show up to church looking decent.  The only thing I still have to worry about is Rori's hair.  We're seriously lucky if Ryan remembers to brush it.  Needless to say, the members of our ward can always tell which Sundays I have early meetings and which ones I don't.

So yesterday, I was waiting for my family to arrive, hoping that Rori's hair had at least been brushed, when I see this cute little thing running toward me.  Again, I wish I could have taken a picture.  She had a little ponytail sticking up, off to the side, from the top of her head.  It was just one little ponytail and it reminded me of an 80's hairstyle.  (Key word: reminded.  Her hair did not look like this pic, thankfully. lol)



This was Acadia's first attempt at "doing" Rori's hair.  And considering she rarely ever "does" her own hair, I thought she did a pretty good job.  Even if it did make me giggle each time I saw it.  She even selected a bow that was nearly the same color as Rori's dress.  I was slightly tempted to "redo" the "do" but I just couldn't do that to Cadi.  She had given her best effort and it really did look pretty good.  So, I let it stay.  And I bet no one even thought twice about it, if they even noticed at all.

I think I may let Cadi do Rori's hair more often now, to give her "guided" practice.  That way, the next time I'm not there to help, she'll be able to do it by herself without making me want to giggle in the middle of church.

My Plea to Stephenie Meyer.

After reading Millie's plea and Klin's plea, I decided to join ranks and post my own plea as well.  For anyone not entirely sure of what I'm referring to, read this.

Dear Stephenie,

I was one of those reluctant readers.  My friends all raved about your books and I knew, I just KNEW, that if I so much as looked at one of them, I would become completely addicted, just as they were.  I really didn't have the time for another obsession and I was pretty pleased with myself for not giving into peer pressure.  Then my husband read an article about you in Time Magazine and decided that he wanted to read your books.  The next day, he brought home our first copy (yes, I say first because we do now own two copies) of Twilight.  He took that beautiful book out of the bookstore bag to show me, not realizing that he would not see that book again for 24 hours, unless it was in my hands with my nose buried deep in it.  The next day we rushed back to the bookstore to buy New Moon and Eclipse and reserved our copy of The Host as it was being released the following week.  Again, I took about 24 hours on each book and finally emerged two days later absolutely and completely in love with a vampire.  So many times that weekend, and since, I have lovingly told my husband that he is my Edward.  Thankfully, my husband has also read each book and realizes this is one of the best compliments that I can give him.

When I first heard of Midnight Sun, I was ECSTATIC!!!  Finally, we get to hear his thoughts!  We get to learn his side of the story!  I read the first chapter and just could not wait for Midnight Sun to be completed.  I began to look forward to Midnight Sun as much as Breaking Dawn and far more than the Twilight movie.  And now that we have read Breaking Dawn (which I personally enjoyed - as did my husband -  and I especially have enjoyed your answers to the FAQs; they helped me to understand more so that when rereading BD just recently, I found it even more enjoyable), Midnight Sun is by far the one thing I'm looking forward to most.

I was so disappointed to hear that someone in whom you had placed your trust had violated that confidence and leaked your partially finished manuscript.  I felt awful for you, for how that must make you feel.  I have never been in your situation but I can imagine that I would feel very hurt, offended, and betrayed.  I can understand why you have decided to put this project on hold.  I imagine (and I'm guessing here, so I could be totally off) that this may have totally thrown you off, making it more than a little difficult to really "get back into it".  I know you've said that when you're writing, you just write what the characters tell you.  And I can imagine that Edward's voice is not very easy to find right now. 

My plea is not for you to pick Midnight Sun back up and finish it right now.  (Though, that would be fine too. lol)  My hope is that you are able to take a break and spend your time with family and true friends, relaxing, loving, enjoying, and doing things that bring you happiness.  And then, my plea is for you to consider the many thousands of TRUE fans who respect you and your work, who have fallen in love with your characters, who support you completely, and who are dying to hear more of Edward's thoughts!  We are so sorry you have been hurt and we hope that you can heal quickly.  We honestly don't care about a paritally finished draft, we want Midnight Sun - the polished, finished book that you started.  We can wait but please don't make us wait too long!

Thank you for bringing these characters to life for us.  And thank you for providing us with good, clean books that entertain as well as any other series I've read. 

Sincerely,
Sariah

P.S.  And please, please, please consider writing New Moon from Jacob's point of view.  I would be just as interested in that story as I am in Midnight Sun! :)

*Gasp* Nooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

Let me make one thing perfectly clear:  My household's number one team is the Patriots and we LOVE Tom Brady!!!



Granted, in this pic Ryan is wearing his Welcker jersey because Wes Welcker is probably our second favorite Patriot.  But rest assured, we EACH have our own Brady jersey and each wear our jerseys more often than you'd think.  (Cadi was just wearing her's on Saturday.)

So imagine our great distress when we learned Tom Brady is out for the season, down with a torn ACL.  Ryan's had a torn ACL... they're not fun.  We feel awful that our fearless leader is going through this!
So, where does that leave our team?  Well, we're not sure yet.  Cassel did pretty well, they did win the game yesterday even though Brady went out in the first quarter.  But then, they weren't exactly playing a very challenging team.  :S

I really hope they do well this season, even without Brady.  And I think they can.  Let me tell you why...
Everyone (myself included) makes a big deal about Brady.  They act as if the Patriots are only the amazing team they are because of him.  Don't get me wrong, like I mentioned before, we love Brady and yes, he is "da bomb".  He is the heart and soul of the team and he is a terrific leader.  But the Patriots are made up of MANY excellent players.  And they are capable of winning without him.  Can they go all the way?  I am not sure.  But I'm going to be cheering them on as they try.

To Tom Brady:  We wish you the best as you recover and hope that it's a speedy and healthy process.  We will miss you on the field this season but anxiously look forward to seeing you back, strong and healthy, next season!  Go Pats!

What the NorthWest is REALLY like.

After a great day at Mt. St. Helens, the next thing on the list of things to experience in our area was the rain the Columbia River Gorge.   Well, they got both.

We attended church, then changed, loaded up the cars with kids and lunch and headed into the gorge.  Just as the raindrops began to fall.  Welcome to Washington. ;)

But fortunately, as is often the case, the showers came and went and we actually enjoyed a fairly rain free lunch when we arrived at LaTourell falls.





After we ate, we took the short walk down to the Lower Falls.








Next we headed to Oregon's number one tourist attraction: Multnomah Falls.  And wow, were there tourists!  Despite the drizzly, rainy day, it was PACKED!  The whole gorge was full of hikers/campers/observers, but Multnomah was definitely the busiest place.





We walked the 1/4 mile up to the bridge and I took this pic, it's an angle I haven't shot before.



Proof that I carried Rori during part of our walk.  I just won't tell you which part (uphill or down). ;)





After Multnomah, the rain really started to pick up.  We continued driving up the scenic highway and stopped at HorseTail Falls, where we had originally planned on hiking a couple of miles.  The rain wasn't going to let up and we had three young'uns with us so we decided to call it a day.  But before we headed back, some of us took a few minutes to check out HorseTail Falls.



The rest of the day was spent at home.  We played games, mostly the Wii, and had dinner together.  Don't tell the kids, but as soon as they were in bed, Tom, Laura, Ryan and I fired up the BBQ and roasted marshmellows for S'mores! lol  It was silly but fun!  I really can't wait until we finish our backyard and have our firepit. ;)

Early the next morning, the Davis family headed back to Idaho.  It was a great visit, I wish it could have been longer, hopefully they liked it enough to consider coming back for a longer visit next time.  :)

A real live volcano!

Last weekend, our good friends, the Davis's came to visit us!  It was their first time to the area and we were very excited to show them around our "neck of the woods". 

They arrived Friday morning and we mostly "hung out" that day while Ryan was at work.  We took the boys up the hill to the neighborhood park.  They loved the tall trees and everyone had fun on the playground.  That night my cousin agreed to babysit all the kiddos for us so the grown ups could go out to dinner together.  Sweet!  Thankfully, the kids were all well behaved for Sami. :)

One of the things they wanted to see most while here, was Mount St. Helens; the boys were excited to go to a "real volcano"!  It was cute. lol  Unfortunately, the weather wasn't perfect for seeing Mt. St. Helens.  But it wasn't bad, either.  There was a large cloud that had planted itself at the top of the crater.  We could see into the crater, just not the top rim.  It could have been worse, I've been there when you couldn't see the mountain at all.  It was a bit breezier than they expected but we brought a lot of extra sweatshirts for kids to "swim" in, and I think everyone ended up having a really good time!

Here are some pics from Mt. St. Helens:

This was taken at a lookout over the Toutle River.


Bundled up, arriving at Johnston Ridge.


I am always humbled whenever we visit Mt. St. Helens, no matter how many times I go.  These images just move me with the awesomeness of what nature can do.




Inside, Laura shows Ariana (in her arms), Riley, Cadi, Nate, and Timmy the display demonstrating the chain of events that took place when Mt. St. Helens errupted in 1980.


Checking out the seismographs which show all earthquake activity on the mountain - live!


Acadia tries to make her own earthquake. lol


Braving the wind and chilly temps to get a view of the mountain.




The first time I visited Mt. St. Helens, I was struck by the devastation and how vast it was.  Now, each time I return, I see more and more signs of life, the mountain rebuilding herself, and beauty returning.