Trick or Treat

I didn't want to do the green face, pointy chin, wart on the nose witch make-up today. I tried out a couple of different looks last night and this is what I finally settled on. The spider "beauty mark" was a favorite with the students.

I wore a bat ring and spider rings . The other hand had a black rose ring and the spider rings. Those spiders kept getting in my way all day long. They made it difficult to write notes for students, taking money and making change at lunch was difficult, and they even made typing hard. Maybe that is the reason witches use spiders in their brew, they are too difficult to wear as jewlery.

I loved that even though all of us in the office were dressed as witches, none of us looked the same. We all brought something of our different personalities to our alter egos today. And all but one of us choose the striped tights!

Shawna.

Shelly

Leena

My office mates and I

Shelly, Me, Cheryl

Laurane

Linda

I loved her costume the best

Sheryl
Here she is putting on her fingernails.

Those fingernails were as much a problem for her as my spiders were for me.

They kept falling off and we would find them all over the place.

They make so much more than typing difficult, trust me. That

is the reason I painted my nails.

Claudia

Our beloved head lunch lady as a crochety old man

The whole office gang (coven?)

Leena, Linda, Laurane, Shawna, Dana, Shelly, Me, Sheryl

Brandi

She wanted her spider on her chin. She had me

draw a string of web coming off of it.

This is my favorite picture of her in

her costume

Now for the cutest critter of all today...

Hunter

The cutest little monkey around

And yes, Grandma is allowed to be biased.

He gave me the stickiest yellow sucker kiss and didn't

even cry at my makeup. Love my boy.

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Fall Photo contest

Jessica wants to enter a photo contest. The subject is "Fall". She is allowed to enter only one photo. Below are the photos she is considering using and wants my readers to vote for the one she should enter. Voting ends Wed. Oct 29 at midnight.

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Lead Kindly Light

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Ab workout

Just because

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Romance and Books

The administrators and PTA at the high school love to give the faculty and staff small tokens of appreciation. At least once a day, if not more, one of them says, "Thanks for working here" in someway or another. It has been said in words, in notes, and in gift cards. Last week we got one of the best ever, a 20% use it more than once gift card to Barnes and Noble! One of the secretaries gave me hers because, "I will never use it. I don't go into book stores, they make me itchy." Doesn't go to bookstores?! Blaspheme!

My mom, sisters and I have been having a discussion over at Loretta's blog about books. I have feeling that if any of my family of origin ever needed to pack a handcart and trek across the continent, we would need more than one just for the reading material. Good thing I have so many boys, they can pull all of mine for me.

Jessica and I were talking about romance movies and telling each other our favorite scenes. We talked about Princess Bride and the moment that Buttercup realizes that Wesley is not really dead. Or the wedding scene in While You Were Sleeping that Sandra Bullock's character realizes that she is marrying the wrong brother.

How about the proposal scene in Runaway Bride? They are surrounded by books. Not to mention that it is the most perfect, romantic proposal ever:

Look, I guarantee that we'll have tough times. And I guarantee that at some point, one or both of us will want to get out of this thing. But I also guarantee that if I don't ask you to be mine I'll regret it for the rest of my life. Because I know in my heart, you're the only one for me.

But the best romantic scene in a movie? Beauty and the Beast. Beast gives Beauty his. entire. library. Be still my heart. Now that is a real prince of a guy.

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Reminders

I was talking with my parents about some things going on in my life. Ok, actually I was whining about them. I really try not to whine about them, but they are things that are hard and I am beginning to feel weary and discouraged because of them. My mom is great. She sent me a link to this reminder (read entire talk here)

From a talk by Richard G. Scott

Now may I share some suggestions with you who face the second source of adversity, the testing that a wise Heavenly Father determines is needed even when you are living a worthy, righteous life and are obedient to His commandments.

Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more (see Prov. 3:11–12). He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain.

When you face adversity, you can be led to ask many questions. Some serve a useful purpose; others do not. To ask, Why does this have to happen to me? Why do I have to suffer this, now? What have I done to cause this? will lead you into blind alleys. It really does no good to ask questions that reflect opposition to the will of God. Rather ask, What am I to do? What am I to learn from this experience? What am I to change? Whom am I to help? How can I remember my many blessings in times of trial? Willing sacrifice of deeply held personal desires in favor of the will of God is very hard to do. Yet, when you pray with real conviction, “Please let me know Thy will” and “May Thy will be done,” you are in the strongest position to receive the maximum help from your loving Father.

This life is an experience in profound trust—trust in Jesus Christ, trust in His teachings, trust in our capacity as led by the Holy Spirit to obey those teachings for happiness now and for a purposeful, supremely happy eternal existence. To trust means to obey willingly without knowing the end from the beginning (see Prov. 3:5–7). To produce fruit, your trust in the Lord must be more powerful and enduring than your confidence in your own personal feelings and experience.

To exercise faith is to trust that the Lord knows what He is doing with you and that He can accomplish it for your eternal good even though you cannot understand how He can possibly do it. We are like infants in our understanding of eternal matters and their impact on us here in mortality. Yet at times we act as if we knew it all. When you pass through trials for His purposes, as you trust Him, exercise faith in Him, He will help you. That support will generally come step by step, a portion at a time. While you are passing through each phase, the pain and difficulty that comes from being enlarged will continue. If all matters were immediately resolved at your first petition, you could not grow. Your Father in Heaven and His Beloved Son love you perfectly. They would not require you to experience a moment more of difficulty than is absolutely needed for your personal benefit or for that of those you love.

Don’t let the workings of adversity totally absorb your life. Try to understand what you can. Act where you are able; then let the matter rest with the Lord for a period while you give to others in worthy ways before you take on appropriate concern again.

Please learn that as you wrestle with a challenge and feel sadness because of it, you can simultaneously have peace and rejoicing. Yes, pain, disappointment, frustration, and anguish can be temporary scenes played out on the stage of life. Behind them there can be a background of peace and the positive assurance that a loving Father will keep His promises. You can qualify for those promises by a determination to accept His will, by understanding the plan of happiness, by receiving all of the ordinances, and by keeping the covenants made to assure their fulfillment.

The Lord’s plan is to exalt you to live with Him and be greatly blessed. The rate at which you qualify is generally set by your capacity to mature, to grow, to love, and to give of yourself. He is preparing you to be a god. You cannot understand fully what that means, yet, He knows. As you trust Him, seek and follow His will, you will receive blessings that your finite mind cannot understand here on earth. Your Father in Heaven and His Holy Son know better than you what brings happiness. They have given you the plan of happiness. As you understand and follow it, happiness will be your blessing. As you willingly obey, receive, and honor the ordinances and covenants of that holy plan, you can have the greatest measure of satisfaction in this life. Yes, even times of overpowering happiness. You will prepare yourself for an eternity of glorious life with your loved ones who qualify for that kingdom

Thanks Mom.

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Way to go Son!

Just a quick shout out and congrats.

Matt was accepted at the U of U- the first University of his choice! But when you have had a 4.0 GPA since kindergarten, what do you expect?

Way to go and love you son!

4 down, 3 t' go.

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For Mom

It's my mom's birthday today. If you asked her, I am pretty sure she would tell you that she is 18 today, because that is the answer she has given as long as I can remember.

I love my mom. I wish she did not live so far away. Whenever life gets overwhelming for me, I call her and she listens to my whine and cry about how unfair life is. Then she tells me that I will be ok and that the kids and I will be fine, I dry my tears and life goes on. And it is better because my mom said it would be.

I learned how to cook from her. It used to drive my roommates crazy when they would ask how to make something and I answered the same way Mom always answered me- "You add flour until it looks right and then cook it until it is done." I remember sitting on the stool in the kitchen with a pad of paper and a pen and trying to take notes while she cooked. I still have those "recipes" and still use them.

Her pie crust recipe is my most treasured one. She and I both were making pies this past Thanksgiving for the family get together. Dad told us that we could purchase pies at The Village Inn. Mom and I looked at each other and said, in unision, "But their pie crusts are nasty!" She still makes better Shelieghlie rolls than I do, though.

Mom and Dad on their wedding day

A few years later with Dawna and me(the baby)

November last year with Hunter

June at my niece's wedding. This is how you will almost always see Mom, working, doing, helping, cleaning. In all my memories of Mom, there are very few where she is sitting down. If she is sitting down, she is still working, sewing, stuffing, stitching, sanding, cutting, something.

Grandma Hulsey (dad's mom) Mom and Dad outside the temple after Shayla's wedding in June.

My parents gave me my love of reading. I do not remember a time whithout books. Both of them always had at least one, if no more, books started. I think at one time, Mom wanted to be a journalist. I,however, am glad that she choose to be a mom instead.

I miss you. I love you.

Happy 18th Birthday, Mom!

Indeed.

Love Letters

Today in Relief Society the lesson was "A Heart Full of Love and Faith: The Prophet's Letters to His Family" In reading the lesson straight from the manual, the lesson uses the letters of Joseph Smith to his family to illustrate how he kept in touch and guided his family even though he was far away from them, and often times imprisoned and not able to be with them. However, that is not the way our teacher presented them to us. Instead, we read the letters in chronological order, the way Emma would have recieved them.

In this day of instant communication, I think that we forget that very long periods of time would go by with no knowledge of what was going on in the lives of those not with you. Many times Joseph was ripped from the arms of his family with the thought that he was, this time, going to his death. His children were surely traumatized and I am sure very afraid. I cannot imagine the fear the felt as time passed and there was no word from their father. My father sends us a daily e-mail message and when I do not get one, I am concerned. I don't always ask if everything is alright, but I do imagine that something is wrong. And then the next day another message comes and all is right again. Joseph often tells Emma to let the children know that he is yet alive.

The one letter that caused the most discussion was the one dated Nov. 9, 1839. In this letter, Joseph tells Emma to watch over the children in a manner becoming a mother. He tells her to teach them to read. And then he says, "Do not let them be exposed to the weather to take cold." To us it seemed a condesending thing to say. Of course she would take care of her children! Why would he think that she would not? But through discussion we came to realize that the written word is so much different than the spoken word. And the written word of 1839 is very far removed from the communication in 2008. Joseph is far away and cannot help her in the day to day parenting and he wants to. He wants to be there for her to help her, support her and do what ever he can to make her burdens lighter. And perhaps these were things that they had spoken of and this was his way of cheering her on.

Joseph always mentioned how much he loved Emma. How often he thought of her. How his heart ached that he was away from her. But the most romantic thing that he said to her, and he said it often was that his heart was forever entwined with hers. I cannot imagine what a love like that would feel like.

I came away from the lesson knowing that I do not do my best in letting those I love know how I feel. I send the quick e-mail, text or blog post and call it good. I wrote my boys everyday while they were in boot camp, but it was mostly drivel about what was going on around me. Now they are set to leave halfway around the world, where people want to kill them just for who they are. My letters will not all be drivel this time. I will be sure to let them know how much I love them, how much I love the Lord and His gospel. I will bear my testimony more often. I will not be afraid to let them know how often I kneel in prayer for them. And even though they are my children, my letters will be letters of love from home.

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Two competitions

Here are the last two marching band videos for this year. The first one is last Sat at the Mt. Timp. competition. We didn't place in this one. It was cold and yucky and I applaude every member of every color guard that did not drop a flag or rifle- it was so cold that I was having a hard time holding onto the camera and I had on a coat and gloves.

This next video is from Tues. evening at the Rocky Mountain Review at the BYU stadium. Again it was cold, but not as bad as the last 3 competitions. I set up the camera on the tri-pod and just let it run so that there is a better perspective of the formations. They are really better observed from above. While it was filming, I was taking a bunch of stills because Jessica hasn't been able to come with me to any of the competitions, so I have no stills of any of them. I will post them in a slide show later.

We took 2nd place at this competition and 1st in Colorguard and 1st in Music. That makes a total of two 2nd places, two 1st place Colorguard for this season so far. We have one more competition in Ca. coming. I will not be attending that one, but will let you know how they do.

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Her Good Name

I just finished a book. A good book. I hadn't planned on reading this weekend. No, I had planned on cleaning out my office so that I can reclaim my diningroom table. Then I was going to start on my paper that is due Wed. night. But instead I picked up Josi Kilpack's new novel, Her Good Name.

Chrissy is having an identity crisis. As a single woman and convert to the Church, she has always managed to find her place in life — at least until someone else begins using her credit cards, her bank account, and, most important, her name. Now the real Chrissy must prove her innocence against a growing pile of collection notices and unpaid bills. But with no job, no money, a warrant for her arrest, and a closet full of high-heeled shoes, a girl can only get so far.
When Chrissy meets Micah Heet, the other half of a blind date gone bad, the two discover they are facing the same battle and join forces to find the perpetrators. Little do they know that the small semblance of life they have left will be put on the line in the process.

Josi's books reflect real life. The things that happen to her characters can, and often do, happen to real people in real life. This time it is identity theft. I would not recommend chasing the bad guys yourself, but rather going to the police. Even if it means a night in jail through no fault of your own. A night in jail beats dead in my opinion. But chasing the bad guys makes for a better read, so that is ok.

Oh, and just so you know, Josi knows how to write a good break-up scene. Loved it.

Purchase book here
Read the first chapter here

Now I need to get to some laundry and that paper.

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Family day

In late September the band held a family night where they performed their show for their families. Then one member of each family went down to the field and "marched" with their band member. Brandi marched with Ethan because, you know, I had to run the video camera ;)

At about the 2 minute mark, you can see Ethan signaling to Brandi which way to march next so that she doesn't get lost. Too cute.

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Marching Band 08

The next couple of posts will be of marching bands. My parents live about 1000 miles away from their grandkids and so they don't get to see all the things the kids do. These posts are for them.

This is my niece's band. One of the cute color guard is her. The beginning and ending are kind of shaky- I didn't have my tri-pod with me, it was in the car and I don't know their show nor which one she is, so I was looking for her. They are an amazing band. Look at how big they are, how crisp their lines and formations are. I think they took 2nd at this competition. She can comment if she wants and tell you more about their show- and mostly, which one are you???? I am pretty sure she is not one of the blonde girls- unless she has changed her haircolor since I saw her a couple weeks ago. Also, she is just a teeny, tiny slip of a girl. I thought that would help me recognize her, but when you are in the nose bleed section of the stadium so you can see the formations better, you can't tell who is who very well.

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Jessica

Today is Jessica's birthday. 21 years old. I now have 2 children considered legal adults by the law. When did that happen?

I am afraid that for so long Jess got the short end of the stick. The second child. The only girl (for a long, long time anyway) in a sea of boys and noise and messes. The one that always had to help mom, babysit, take care of, pick up, hold, watch, clean or just be there because the boys had something to do, somewhere to be. But in the last couple of years she has found her wings and become her own person and I am not looking forward to the day that she leaves and I have to figure out how to do my life without her there everyday.

Happy Birthday Sweetie! I love you. And I don't always want to walk fast ;)

In her room with Sambo?

She and her friends go out and find great places to do photo shoots. I cried when I saw this one. I thought of her as a grown up. I saw this as our heavenly parents sending her their spirit children to raise.

This is my sweet grandson, Hunter. Jess took this picture the day his parents went to the temple for the first time.

Jess and I, Jacob and Ethan playing in the water at Imperial Beach in San Diego last fall

Isn't she a beauty?

Jessica and Michelle

Here she is helping me make the trees for the gingerbead project that I wanted to make. The deadline for entering a contest was nearing and I was running out of time to finish. She stepped in and worked hard while I was not home, so that I could enter the contest.

Imperial Beach again. It was cold and stormy that day.

Carving pumpkins. I always find the biggest pumpkin I can and we make elaborate designs and carvings. It takes hours, but we have fun. Notice all the specialized tools for carving and cutting?

How did I get such a beautiful- inside and out- daughter?

Happy birthday!!!

She took most of the photos on this blog- check out more on her blog or here or here (this last one is a facebook page, but I think you can get to it, as it is on my page)

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