My Charmed Life!

I am sitting on my bed listening to a little Coldplay with cherries on my face (new facial) and pondering on the day. It was a good day. I woke up early and actually worked out before going to work. I literally have not done that for years. I had a good day at work and the best thing about it is that I don't have to return to the hospital for 2 weeks. I have not had 2 weeks off together since Mom died. I have some trepidation because one of my partners just filed for divorce and one is having some health issues. Oh well, they will survive. After work I went downtown and went to the temple. It of course added to the goodness of the day. I saw one of our old patients from LDS Hosp. pan handling outside. He is an addict with Popeye arms, don't ask. I just walked by. I drove home and had a little dinner, stayed within my points, Yeah! And then I watched an old movie with Gregory Peck and Sofia Loren. It was kind of cheesy but cheesy is good once in awhile. I got some other things done for "the project" and so it is feeling like a fruitful day. President Faust once said the best feeling is to kneel down at the end of the day before the Lord and report to Him what you did with that day and thank Him for one more day to prepare to meet Him. It will feel good to do that tonight. I am truly thankful for good days. Now all I have to worry about is getting Morgan a birthday gift for tomorrow. I wonder if she would like 40 leftover bricks, probably not. I will have to be a little more creative than that. Oh and I also have to get my voice warmed up and practice a little patriotic diddy that I am singing in church on Sunday with some others. By the way I need to remind everyone that on Monday when we leave it is St. George that is our final destination that day, not Cedar City. And just to keep with tradition it is supposed to be 108 degrees in St. George on Monday. Sound Familiar. I am looking very forward to it all nontheless. I hope you are all too. See you all soon. I suppose it is now passed time to remove the cherries.

Backyard Improvements

So the past few weeks the raised flower bed on the east side of the backyard has been crumbling and so Andrew wanted a new project. He tore it down and then we researched this DIY retaining wall and decided that would be the way to go.
So last night Josh, Morgan, Andrew, Leah, Hannah and I went to Home Depot to buy the bricks and load them home. I paid for them and then we had to wait an hour to have a forklift bring them out to Josh's truck and the explorer. Morgan and I guessed that each brick weighed about 15-20 pounds each and I bought 140 of them. Let's just say it was low rider all the way home to the house. It was very scary seeing the forklift load them onto Joshs truck. The back bumper was just a few inches from the ground and his tires were flat. I was worried that his truck would never be the same. It then took us about another hour to unload them. I was complaining earlier in the day because I had not been able to get a work-out in. Well that was taken care of. Carrying 20 pound bricks from the frontyard to the backyard was very sweat producing.
Anyway Morgan and Andrew spent yesterday preparing for the bricks and then today putting them into place. Doesn't it look great. I was very pleased with the end result. I have a few left over and so I need to come up with a plan for the extras. It has been really nice to have Andrew so motivated and wanting to do yardwork. He has fixed the whole sprinkler system and of course the retaining wall and taken down the old fence for the new one to go up and pulled out some shrubs on the west side of the house. He loves to pull out shrubs.
I really like this picture because it shows off the fence and the new wall so well. My neighbor Brent paid for the new fence but the deal was we had to tear down the old and dispose of it. So far it is not disposed of yet but I am trying to come up with a plan. My neighbor has also had lots of opinions on what I should do with my yard. I am not sure why. I think he will be pleased with the new addition. Thank you Andrew and Morgan for all your hard work!

I took this picture the other day and thought it was pretty sweet. She loves to fall asleep with her Daddy in the big chair. Thanks Leah for being a good girl while your parents have been working hard in Aunt Sara's yard.

Arden's Birthday

Today we got together at my house for a little birthday gathering for Arden. We had a fun evening with lots of good food and good company. This is Arden trying on one of her cute outfits that she got.

We decided to spend some time out on the front lawn because it was so nice out there.

Maren enjoying a little Uncle John time and an Otter Pop
The boys hiding out by the van doing their boy things.
Seth enjoying his cousins
Maren and Anne Adele looking at something fascinating I am sure.




The teenagers
Yummy Food! Believe me, it was tasty.
Arden having some fun with Esme.

This morning I was talking to Anne Adele about the above stains that I have on my carpet. I told her that I hated them because they were right there for everyone to see and I could get them temporarily clean with carpet cleaner and then they just get worse and seem to attract more dirt than before. She said to try hot water and a little vinegar. I decided to have a go.
Instantly the stains came up. I scrubbed a little but I was so stunned that something that I already had in the cupboard would take care of these pesty stains. Well there you go, vinegar the miracle cleaner. Who new? Well, I guess Anne Adele did. I smelled like vinegar for awhile but it was worth it. No wonder that the guy at the bank and the people at the library were looking at me weird. I have enjoyed having her here with me for the past few days. Seth got back from EFY today and she and Seth will be catching a shuttle to Rexburg tomorrow to go spend some time with the Baums in Hidyho.

Will Miracles Never Cease

Anne Adele has had her 1st blogging tutorial and has a nice new blog to show for it. Check it out it is most impressive. We noticed that some of you did not have the correct link for her. It is maurieanneadele.blogspot.com

Happy Father's Day

Are there any 7 children on this Earth who are as blessed as we have been. I know that everyone thinks that about their dad's and that is great but I know that we have been given a special gift in having Dad as our earthly father. I know there is not a day that doesn't go by that he is not in our thoughts. So much of what this family has become is because of his great example of putting family first.

I am so thankful for Dad's unfailing testimony of the Gospel. I am thankful for Dad's sense of humor especially is his latter years when he would get such a kick out of everything and for the way that he could laugh at himself. I am thankful for Dad's knowledge. He knew so much and you could ask him practically anything and he would have an answer. I am thankful for his constant example of right and wrong. I am thankful for his hard work and for putting 7 kids on missions and in college and braces and countless other things that we probably didn't even know. I am especially thankful for all the love that he freely gave us. There was never any question that we were all very loved by him. We are truly blessed.

Shrimp Tacos

This has been one of my favorites since I first had them. They are really easy to make and delicious. I kind of made these up myself with the things that I like most on them.

Shrimp thawed , cooked or uncooked is fine. Sautee the shrimp in olive oil and garlic until cooked or until the texture that you like.

Corn Tortillas lightly pan fried in olive oil.

Picco de gallo- I make my own with chopped tomatoes, chopped cilantro, chopped green onion and chopped red or white onion. Set aside in a bowl.

Avocados- chopped and squirted with lime juice

Spicy Ranch- I usually mix up a packet of ranch and add then add tabasco or cayenne pepper to it to spice it up.

Place shrimp in warm corn tortilla. Then add pico de gallo, avocado, and ranch on top.

They are really messy so have a napkin ready. I like to serve them with refried beans and rice.

Enjoy!

A Little Leah

Leah came for a little visit while her Mommy and Daddy went to the movie. She is a little obsessed with her Baby Einstein video and had to watch it in her excersauser.
She has some remnants of sweet potato and corn baby food on her face.

My first tomato
Just a few pictures from last week.
Knawing on a chicken leg.
Deep in thought
Even deeper in thought.

Whitney Update

Whitney has updated her blog. You have got to check it out. She looks so happy.

It's Been a Year

It has been a year since the big move. There are some days that it seems like I have been in this house forever and other days when it just seems like a few months. Anyway it has been a good little house for me and a good little house for many of you too.
The big project.
Many more projects to come.
I remember it well. Boy that was a long day. I am glad that we are not moving any pianos this year.

The Latest Project

Well, I finally got it done. I have been trying to secretly work on Madison's graduation gift. Well, not so secretly for some but secretly for her. I think it turned out very cute. She seemed to like it too.

I had bought a kit of these 4 inch squares. I decided to just do a very patchy quilt and use them randomly instead of doing a pattern.

I wasn't so sure about the dark fabric. But I think it really makes the quilt.
When I was down in Castle Dale I used Lizzy's new sewing machine to do really cute quilting stitches. Actually she did a lot of it. I didn't really have plans to do all that. I mainly wanted to use her machine to do the quilting. It was Lizzy's idea to do all the extra stuff. I am glad that she suggested them all. Lizzy is all about the journey or the experience. I am all about getting the task done and checking it off the list. I am trying to be a little bit more like her and enjoying the learning process instead of always focusing on the getting it done.
This is a little hard to see but it says "Love Aunt Sara 2008"
Arden came out for Madison's graduation and to spend a little time out here for the Summer.
Arden got her braces!