Getting Closer

The tickets for the open house of the Rexburg Temple became available on Monday. My sister-in-law and I along with most of my co-workers frantically checked every ten minutes until 10 a.m. to get our tickets. Finally, I was able to get some tickets to attend the open house.

A co-worker forwarded me a copy of the temple at night and it was so amazingly beautiful I just had to set it as my background on my computer screen. Looking at this photo makes me think of the primary song, "I love to see the Temple." Sydney already refers to it as her temple and maybe, just maybe one day she will make it her temple as she looks forward to marriage.

Happy Birthday Sydney

It is official....my baby turned five today! Sydney was born at 9:05 a.m. at Madison Memorial Hospital in Rexburg, Idaho five years ago today. Those who were there included Nana, Papa, Zack, Daddy, Mommy (of course), Aunt Lisa and Uncle Kelly.

Syd has been such a delight to have in our family. She is her daddy's little girl and loves him very much. They work out in the mornings together and she will sometimes come snuggle into bed with me and catch an extra 30 winks before getting ready for the day. Her laughter and smile are contagious. She really adds so much to our family.

I cannot believe it has already been five years. My sweet baby is growing so quickly and will be heading off to school next fall. She can already spell her own name and loves to write us "notes" and color pictures for us. Happy birthday big girl.....we love you!

How The Grinch Stole Christmas...and My Heart

The other day I was in Walmart and they have up their count down calendar to Christmas day. For all of you procrastinators out there you only have 37 shopping days left.

One thing I love about Christmas is that my FAVORITE Christmas movie of all time airs.

Yes, I love the movie of the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Dr. Seuss himself wrote this classic. Secondly, I love Max! His facial expressions stole my heart the first time I watched this tale of wonder. Plus, how many dogs can really make a horn look cute really?!

Right around this time of year several years ago (ok, 5 but who is counting right?), my sweet little Sydney was born. Some people couldn't remember her name and would call her Cindy-Lou so I really like that association as well. Plus with her beautiful blonde hair and her amazing blue eyes, you could swear you are looking at the same little girl. Ok not quite but almost.

Finally, the message of the story is so relevant. Sometimes we get too caught up in the commercialism of the holiday and forget that without our packages, boxes and bags Christmas would still be Christmas and would come anyway.

"Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small, was singing! Without any presents at all!He HADN'T stopped Christmas from coming! IT CAME! Somehow or other, it came just the same!"

"And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so? It came without ribbons! It came without tags!" It came without packages, boxes or bags!" And he puzzled three hours, `till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! "Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store." Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"

"And what happened then...? Well...in Who-ville they say that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day!"

I think Dr. Seuss had it right...when we look beyond the packages, boxes or bags we see that Christmas is about something more. I love this show. Now...what is your all time favorite Christmas movie and why?

Jensen's Farm

Ok, so we have animals. It seems like our home is constantly a revolving door for the latest "trendy" animal to come around and set up residence. We have had dogs (which are gone), three cats, a turtle from Missouri (thanks Grandpa J.), a rabbit (wandering around somewhere on our property if it hasn't been eaten), ducklings (they didn't survive), chickens (which now live at Uncle Kendon & Aunt Lisa's house), and squirrels (Sharman brought home from a job site when he knocked over their nest...they are gone now). As if all of those animals weren't enough, now we have......

Guinea hens. We will see how long these guys last. They may be ugly, but they eat bugs and kill snakes. I am a serious non-fan of snakes and with a snake house less than a mile from our place I guess ugly chickens are better than snakes. They are not penned up or anything so they just run around in a small flock. We have about 20 just wandering around. I will keep you posted and let you know when they are gone.

The kids did freak out yesterday when the guinea hens arrived and promptly took off down the road. I told them that the hens were just going site seeing. They were definitely relieved when the hens came home.

Sirens Are Screaming

So as most of you know my husband is an arborist...he cuts trees for a living. He brings home and dumps chips from the jobs he does and over a season he accumulates quite a pile.

Well, once a year we light off the pile and you can see smoke for miles around. Yesterday was that day. Unfortunately for our new neighbor from California, smoke tends to end up where ever the wind blows. Also being from California, he doesn't realize that this is something that happens annually and it is not an emergency. At about 5:30 last night the sirens started and soon we were inundated with fire trucks. What a sight to be seen!

I did apologize to the fire chief and ask him if he knew the way to our house by heart. He smiled and said he was still laughing about the Californian who doesn't know this is not an emergency but he did welcome the training opportunity it provided his men.

Happy Halloween

My best friend at work, Emily, sent me a list of rules for Halloween and once I was able to breathe again and clear the tears from my eyes I knew I had to share them with you. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did. My sides still hurt.

1. When it appears that you have killed the monster, "never" check to see if it's really dead.

2. Never read a book of demon summoning aloud, even as a joke.

3. Do not search the basement, especially if the power has just gone out.

4. If children speak to you in Latin or any other language which they should not know, or if they speak to you using a voice which is other than their own, shoot them immediately. It will save you a lot of grief in the long run. NOTE: It will probably take several rounds to kill them, so be prepared.

5. When you have the benefit of numbers, "never" pair off and go it alone.

6. As a general rule, don't solve puzzles that open portals to Hell.

7. Never stand in, on, above, below, beside, or anywhere near a grave, tomb, crypt, mausoleum, or other house of the dead.

8. If you're searching for something which caused a noise and find out that it's just the cat, leave the room immediately if you value your life.

9. If appliances start operating by themselves, move out.

10. Do not take "anything" from the dead.

11. If you find a town which looks deserted, it's probably for a reason. Take the hint and stay away.

12. Don't fool with recombinant DNA technology unless you're sure you know what you are doing.

13. If you're running from the monster, expect to trip or fall down at least twice, more if you are of the female persuasion. Also note that, despite the fact that you are running and the monster is merely shambling along, it's still moving fast enough to catch up with you.

14. If your companions suddenly begin to exhibit uncharacteristic behavior such as hissing, fascination for blood, glowing eyes, increasing hairiness, and so on, get away from them as fast as possible.

15. Stay away from certain geographical locations, some of which are listed here: Amityville, Elm Street, Transylvania, Nilbog (you're in trouble if you recognize this one), the Bermuda Triangle, or any small town in Maine.

16. If your car runs out of gas at night, do not go to the nearby deserted-looking house to phone for help.

17. Beware of strangers bearing tools such as chainsaws, staple guns, hedge trimmers, electric carving knives, combines, lawnmowers, butane torches, soldering irons, band saws, or any device made from deceased companions.


Enjoy the holiday and stay safe.

I'm Dreaming of ......

Laying on the beach and having some fun with the kiddos. As this time of year rolls around again I am starting to get a bit ansy. I am longing for the warm weather and beautiful beaches we enjoyed last year when we went to Hawaii. I look to my left and see the calendar of Hawaiian landmarks and start to daydream about beating the cold weather in a tropical paradise.

I think I need to go home and look watch our Hawaiian video. My heart longs to be there again and enjoy the beauty of the islands with our children. There is something absolutely magical about the islands that you just don't get in our world today. Maybe it is the fact that everything is slower there. There are no worries. When you get there you get there. You don't feel the constant rush of having to be somewhere RIGHT NOW! You can take an Aloha Friday (meaning you take the day off) and spend some time snorkeling with the Honu!!!