Thoughts From a Frazzled Mind

First let me explain th at my last two trips to Disneyland did not quite reach the level of “perfection” for one simple reason, I could not relax because I was worried about my children. While at Disneyland when Shandra was 2 years old, she climbed out of her stroller and disappeared. Obviously, I have never been so frightened in my life! Apparently, she enjoyed the “Pirates of the Caribbean” ride so much that she wanted to ride again. While four frantic adults spent an agonizing 20 minutes rushing around, yelling her name, and pretty much panicking, Shandra was calmly working her way past the hundreds of people in line and was just about to board the pirate vessel with strangers. Fortunately a few people had seen her sneaking through the line, and when they saw us, they directed us to her. Of course, she was only mad that she couldn’t get on the ride, but needless to say, I was scarred for life! Fast forward several years. We were again at Disneyland, BJ and Shandra are consid ...

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins! We love pumpkins! Our family (lead by Kim of course) really gets into pumpkin carving! Everyone at our house is expected to carve a pumpkin! And, not just a simple Jack-O-Lantern, oh no! Each must be a work of art! Many years ago Kim discovered special tools for carving the "perfect" pumpkin, and then went so far as to make custom tools of his own. We usually use pre-made patterns for our creations, but Kim often creates his own patterns. It is amazing how good everyone is getting at this art! Each year the girls choose more and more difficult patterns. But, no matter how good any of us get, Kim can carve even more challenging projects, AND, he can do two in the time that it takes us to do one! He is truly the MASTER CARVER! Bubba's pumpkin. Tasha's pumpkin Audrey's Pumpkin Shandra's Pumpkin Kim's Pumpkin (Kim was only able to do one this year because he worked late and got a late start!) Bubba usually spends Hallowee...

Last Christmas a friend gave Bubba some horses. He was absolutely thrilled with them, and still plays with them almost every day. Right from the onset he was insistent that they each had names. The first time he asked me their names, I naively thought that he would promptly forget their names, and so I just threw out the first names that I could think of. . . "Jenny" "Frank" Silly me! Bubba was very serious about their names, and has never forgotten them. Consequently we have been a little more careful of the names we have given each additional horse! This one is " Shadow " This one's name is " Maple ", but Bubba calls him " Naple " "Charlie" He is so funny, if we try to trip him up by saying the wrong name for one, he sternly gives us the "evil eye", shakes his finger at us, and then corrects us, "no, that's not _____ it is ______! Recently he has realized that we are playing a game with him by cal...

One of my very favorite things to do when I was a kid was to run through the sprinklers . I always knew it was finally summer when my mom felt it was warm enough to give into our begging and let us play in the spray. It is amazing to think how many hours we entertained ourselves with the ice cold water! I remember that we would dare each other to see who could sit on the sprinkler the longest. Yesterday was extremely hot! Very few people ventured outside of their air conditioned houses. Since Bubba and I felt cooped up from being inside, we decided to brave the heat and go outside. When he picked up the hose, I immediately began reminising of my childhood and the fun we had with the sprinklers. What GREAT memories! Summer has always been my favorite time of the year.

Today is my last day off for a long while (school starts again next week) so I invited my sisters and their cute little guys over for a swimming party! They had such a grand time splashing in the water, playing ring-a-round the rosies, and running, running, and running around! I can't believe how enjoyable it is to just watch toddlers play together! What a great way to spend my last day off!

On Memorial Day Donny did a benefit concert at Utah State University with Jessie Clark Funk and the The American Festival Chorus and Orchestra. Jodi was right on top of things and got us great tickets! We decided that we would give our husbands the opportunity to see Donny's great talent, so we planned a double date. We went to Cafe Sabor for dinner - usually a fantastic place - however, after a VERY long time, and several bowls of chips, we discovered that somehow they lost our order and we had to leave before we could enjoy our dinner. (Don't worry, they apologized and made it right.) We ended up taking our food to go, and just sat on the lawn scarfing it down and hardly enjoying it because we were late. The American Festival Chorus and Orchestra performed various patriotic numbers. They were very good. After that, Jessie Clark Funk sang for us. She is wonderful! She has an incredible voice and was very fun to watch. (sorry, my pictures of Jessie didn't turn out very good...