Guess Who's Coming to Town, and No, It Isn't Santa

BFF Amy!

And, as much as I would like to hog all of her time and keep her all to myself, I have decided I will share her with all of you (if I have to).   Actually, the reason she is coming to this frigid, frozen, wasteland (did I say that out loud) is to be with all of you.  Yes, you.  Amy is an amazing, incredible photographer and she is coming here to teach a photography workshop.  She is so awesome it would be worth it to pay $200.00 just to spend the day with her, think of the workshop as just an added bonus.  Believe me when I say you are not going to want to miss this fantastic opportunity.  As an extra bonus, you can spend time with me, cuz I will be there, too  (I know that's really not a bonus, but I will be there).

Class: Saturday May 21st (Yah! That's my birthday, and by then, hopefully, it won't be frigid) 
Time: 10-4 lunch will be provided
Cost: $200.00


To find out more information and to register click here.

Sign up fast we only have a few spots left!

We Can All Do Something

Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

 

There is no shortage of families hoping to adopt a child with Down syndrome, only a shortage of funds to do so.   Money is the ONLY thing keeping them apart.   

Reece's Rainbow works to eliminate the financial obstacles of international adoption, and your donations as adoption grants will make it possible for each of  these children to be saved from life in a mental institution.

Make a donation, purchase an ornament…send a check, use Paypal, or even donate stock!  It's so easy to "give the gift of a family" this holiday season.

• The average cost for a family to adopt a child through Reece's Rainbow is $25,000.
• The goal of the Angel Tree is to raise $1000 or more for each child, and to find families for (50) children in 8 weeks!
• The more each child has in their grant fund, the greater their chances of being chosen for adoption. 

Look at these beautiful faces.  I would bring them all home with me if I could.  This Christmas take a minute and donate to a great cause.  Help these children find forever families.  

These children, if not adopted, will end up in a mental institution for the rest of their lives.  These children are transfered to mental institutions at the age of 4 or 5.  Once there, these children have very little chance for adoption.  The institutions offer no education, no stimulation, no interaction and very little love.  The Today Show did a story on one of these institutions.  You can watch it here:

Click here to read the blog of one mother who is Eastern Europe adopting a 10 year old right now.  She met him 4 years ago while adopting another child.  She promised herself she would come back for him and 4 years later she was finally able to fulfill that promise.  Their story is truly inspiring will make you cry every time you read a post.

Click here to read another mother's blog who just returned from Easter Europe and rescued her son from an institution very much like the institutions in the video above.   Once you have read her latest post you won't be able to sit by and do nothing for these precious children.

I know we  can't all adopt a child, but everyone can do something to help these children find families that will love them by donating to their adoption funds.  Click here to find out more.

A Snack When Mom's Away

KateLynn: Dad I want some bread.

Dad:  Okay, you can go get some yourself.

and that's just what she did.

A Day in the Life of Winston the Dog

Staying with Uncle Shawn and Aunt Kim while my family is away.

When I arrived I did my business outside then I came right in and peed on the floor, just to show them what's what and that I'm in charge around here now.

This is what the boss did today. I...

..Barked and got everyone up at 6:30, cuz I had to go, BAD.

..Held Katie hostage on the the couch for a while, cuz she's a bit scared of me. She warmed up to me later when she realized I really wasn't going to eat her up.

...let Hannah lead me around the house on my leash for about 12 hours. She loves me. She said she is glad she has a dog at her house.

..made sure Aunt Kim got her exercise by pretending, like 20 different times, I had to go outside when I really didn't.

..was called "Utah" about 8,954,370,349,584 times by Aunt Kim. (BTW what did happen to that Utah dog)

...chewed up a tennis ball, a wooden clothes pin, and ate bark when no one was looking.
... left a HUGE dump on the living room floor, right after I came back inside. Who wants to do their business outside, I mean it's like -45 out there.
...had to go to the kennel for that one.
...threw up all the bark I ate right after I ate dinner. Twice.
...played Barbies, was a horse, and I licked that baby's head every chance I got.

Man, I'm worn out now, and I miss my family.

*****Kim says that if she ever decides to get a dog again that someone needs to hit her over the head with a rolling pin******

The Cattle are Lowing and the ...Lion is Roaring, Purring?

This is the nativity I bought for the kids to play with.

I wanted them to have their own nativity they could play with and enjoy, not just look at.

This is the nativity that is all scratched and dented and chipped because the kids have played with, and enjoyed it so much,.

This is the nativity that was left on the table when Logan was 1 1/2. I left the room for a moment and when I came back, I found Logan roasting baby Jesus over a candle flame.

I found out later that he gave a few of the other figurines scorch marks that day, too.

This is the nativity with the chewed up angel that can't stand up anymore. While we were gone one day our dog Utah (we don't have him anymore because of things like this) chewed up a Santa, a picture frame, and had started in on the angel. We arrived home in time to rescue the angel from complete destruction, but she was permanently damaged in the attack.

This is the nativity that has a lion, but no lamb. Odd, I don't remember anything in the Christmas story about a lion. Do you? How would you like to be Mary, in the stable, giving birth with a lion watching you. Especially since the lamb is missing. Did the lion eat it?

Phase 3

Phase 1: We tore out the pocket door into the dinning room and painted it this green color you see. It was a horrible orange color.
Phase 2: Tore out the wall that made a hallway into the kitchen, and installed new hardwood floors. (Thanks to the Earles)

Phase 3:

We're at it again. We are remodeling, and in case the master plan isn't completely obvious from the picture below here it is: Tear out the horrible rock wall where the wood stove used to be (we put a new one in downstairs), then put in french doors where the window is, and finally install a built-in dishwasher where the old door is and extend the kitchen counter down farther. I estimate that all this will take us roughly 10 years if we get to work on it right away.

Phase 3 of the grand plan has been started. I can't wait until we get the rest of the wall out of here. It will make so much more room for our table. Then we can get to work on installing those french doors.

Wanted: New BFF

She's really gone this time, for good, I think. I said she could go on the condition she found a replacement for herself, but she didn't so I guess I am left to find a new BFF on my own. Here goes:

Wanted: New BFF. Must be willing to workout 3-5 days a week at 6:00 a.m., walking in summer and working out at your house in the winter. Must have enough workout equipment for the both of us to use at the same time. Must have house clean each morning when I arrive(it is okay to fold clothes while we talk after we work out) and a fire blazing in the wood burning stove so that your house is nice and toasty warm when I arrive. Must be willing to get out of bed and get dressed and wait for me to come workout even when I don't feel like working out. You must not get mad that I usually won't call you and say I'm not coming because I am cozy in bed and too tired to call. While working out you must discuss homeschooling, religion, children, husbands, housework, cooking, dieting, literature, world news and problems, crafts, the weather and anything else I want to talk about. You must give me encouragement and make me feel like I am not a failure as a mother, but that I am actually doing okay. On mornings when I am just to wimpy to workout, you must say that is okay and then just sit and chat with me. Sometimes your husband will be required to offer me some of his breakfast, i.e. scrambled eggs, toast and juice or offer to make me breakfast.

You must be willing to get super involved with Leadership Education. You will be required to host seminars in Anchorage that will require you to put in endless hours on the phone, and computer. You will even have to make up the pay difference if you don't have enough people sign up for the seminar. You will be required to host many, many, book clubs at your house. This requires reading each book, coming up with discussion questions, having a clean house, and providing delightful refreshments all this while being extremely cheerful and fun to be with. You must be willing to build a tjed community by talking to all your friends and neighbors about tjed and get them and all of your family members to start using tjed in their homes. Because you are super excited about tjed you will host a math club for your child and 3 of your child's friends 3 days a week. You must make math seem fun and exciting and like everyone can not only do math but also enjoy doing math.

You must have boys around my son's ages, at least one needs to be obsessed with Star Wars so that they can play light sabers and star wars stuff together. At least one of your children will need to participate in the same sport as my daughter so that we can car pool. I am getting so sick of driving both ways.

Your husband needs to be super handy at doing household projects. He will be required to come to my house to do various projects and to teach my husband how to do all of the projects that I want done, specifically how to tear out walls and how to put in new french doors.

You must have relatively the same taste in movies and books as me, and let me borrow your books and keep them for extremely long periods of time (that reminds me, Amy I still have your How to Read a Book pamphlet) . You must be willing to receive phone calls from me at all hours of the day and possibly night, whenever I just want to chat. Be warned that if you don't answer your phone I may leave weird messages on your answering machine. You must hug and kiss my baby and tell me how cute my other girls are. You must be ready to babysit at a moments notice, and babysit at my house even though you have allergies and the house is filling up with smoke and you can't breath. You must host Halloween parties and park outings, make cookies and mini cupcakes, share a blog with me, look cute all of the time, be friendly to everyone, teach my daughter to make necklaces like you make, and never complain about my messy house. Above all you will need to be a good example to me in all that you say and do just like my last BFF.

Please reply to this message soon. I am missing my BFF already.

Here's to you Amy. I think you are irreplaceable. Thanks for being my BFF.