I Have a Confession to Make...

...sometimes (well, lots of times, really) my husband is right. And I should listen to him.


Last fall, when we were trying to conserve money and make expenses as low as possible, we cancelled our cable TV. I thought we didn't watch much TV anyway, but I really missed my 15 minutes of the Today Show every morning while I made the bed, straightened the room, got ready for the day...I mean I REALLY missed it. Ever since 9/11/2001 I have turned on the Today Show every morning to be sure the world is okay and to keep me company. I felt like Matt, Meredith, Ann, and Al were my "friends."

Now that we are working again I wanted to turn the cable back on. Just the basics this time--so we could watch General Conference on TV and I could have the Today Show again. Jeff, who has cable at the RV park he lives in during the week in California had mentioned several times how worthless it is and how there is nothing worthwhile to watch on it. He said, "No. Don't turn it back on."

I figured I knew better. I would be watching at a different time of day than he does and I knew specifically why I wanted it back on. So I signed up for the $15/month basic cable service two months ago.

And...guess...what. I have turned on the Today Show exactly four times in those two months...Don't think I've watched another thing on cable, either. As a matter of fact, when I've been making the bed and thought about turning it on, I usually ignore it, as it feels like it would be an intrusion. The only time we've had the TV on is to watch DVDs we borrowed from the library. We get to pick the ones we want (The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency and Burn Notice,) we get to pick when we watch them, and we don't have to watch any commercials.

Guess I should have listened to my husband. I'll try and remember that next time.

Happy Pioneer Day!

We thought we'd be in Utah today, but didn't make it up there. So we got to go to our own ward's Pioneer Day celebration.

It included a homemade giant slip-n-slide that Tyler...

...and Nathaniel...

...and Aubrey loved.

"The kids" went ice-blocking...

including the bishop. I think he's the only one who made it ALL the way down the hill.

This little girl is not afraid to try anything. We're going to have to watch this one...

Nothing like a good ice-block run to cool you off in the desert.

I thought Maddie might be the only one her age there, but she had plenty of girlfriends to accompany her down the hill.

I'm not sure what was going on with this little hummingbird, but he even let the kids pet him!
When it is 102 degrees by nine o'clock in the morning, it's best to have your ward party first thing. Even if it means eating your hot dog "lunch" at 10:30am!

Getting ready for the sack races.

Everybody had a fun time and went home tired...Happy Pioneer Day!

I Help You...

Aubrey LOVES to "help you." Whenever I get anything out to start a project, she pulls up a step stool and says, "I help you, Nana." And she does.

She sticks to it till the project is done. Here she is helping me make cookies for our bishop's family. They had a kitchen fire and have had to move out of their house for two weeks. (Bummer!) I'm so blessed to have a good little helper like Aubrey.

Maybe I'm Not a Dummy...

I haven't taken a test that counted for anything for 21 years. The last time I worried about my score was on my Nevada driver license written test in 1989. I have been feeling like a real "dummy." But today, I took a test that means something.

In order to get my substitute teaching license I had to take the Nevada School Law test and the Nevada Constitution test. I read the text on our trip to Utah this past weekend and I reviewed yesterday and before the test today. I thought it would be a breeze.

It wasn't as easy as I thought. It has been a LONG time! There were 70 questions on the NSL test and 55 on the NC exam. All were true or false or multiple choice questions--my worst nightmares, as I ALWAYS tend to over think them...I was the next to the last person to leave the testing room-out of about 45 students. I seriously thought I might have to pay another $115 to re-take the tests.

But. I didn't. I passed. And I don't have to do them again. Hooray! Now I just have to study for and pass the Praxis general knowledge test.

(I got a 91% on the NSL exam and a 90% on the NC test. Not bad for a dummy...) (Hey, if I can't toot my own horn, who will??) (Ha ha.)

Dragonfly Cupcakes

Aubrey's previously-planned big birthday party was on the same day as Amy's wedding, so we missed it. We had to have our own auxiliary party.

We made dragonflies from pink-dipped pretzels and cake decorations, then had the kids come over for a Family Home Evening cupcake-decorating party.

Dad thought it would be too much work, but we had a lot of helpers...


The kids frosted cupcakes, put dragonflies on top, then ate their creations.


It was hard but satisfying work!



Sydney couldn't believe what she created!

Aubrey loved her tea-set and dishes and tiny picnic quilt. She also loved her Pool-Party Barbie from Ally and Sydney.

We loved having them over and creating cupcakes!

Notes to self: (1)Keep camera STILL when shooting photos. (2)Divide cupcake frosting into individual bowls for individual grandkids. Then the entire color of frosting will not be compromised when the grandkids use the spread-and-lick frosting method...

Cool Thank You!

When I got home from Girls Camp, there was a really cool package waiting for me.

Our niece, Manda, and her family sent us a great "thank you!"

A few weeks ago, they were one of our Disneylander families when they stayed with us on their way to and from the park.



To thank us, Manda took photos, had them enlarged and sent them to us for our Disneyland room.

They were special photos to match our Dave Avanzino shadow boxes on the wall. Aren't they just the coolest??

Thanks, Manda and Ivan!

Happy Birthday, America 2010!

There's nothing quite like a BIG small town Fourth of July celebration!

The parade this year was great and we had fun watching. We were in the "no water" section, but somehow ended up getting soaked anyway when the "water-okay" entries started going by!
Sydney had her own water fun!

We photographed the belly dancers for Amy. Last year SHE was in this entry!

"Did that horse just do what I think he did in front of me??" (Yes, he did!)

This patriotic guy always thinks he'll skip the parade...but he never does! (Too much free candy for the getting! You'd think he NEVER has any at home...)

We also swam in Grandma's pool, had a BBQ, and watched "Independence Day" this weekend. The fireworks were beautiful, as usual. For some cool shots look here. (Yes, those are OUR fireworks. Doesn't Jessica take great photos?)

Happy birthday, America!