Summer Vacation

Spring Disneyland trip 2007



I spent my 50th birthday at Disneyland last year-at the very end of Disneyland's 50th birthday celebration. I'll be there for my 51st birthday this year!



The three musketeers



Last year's summer Disneyland trip

We're heading out tomorrow for California...Disneyland, of course and the beach. Amy is done with work, junior high starts next week, we take Amy to BYU for orientation next Wednesday, and hopefully work picks up and we get REALLY BUSY. So this is the last hurrah for the summer. David, Loretta, Julie, Ally, Brian, Susan, Tyler, Aubrey, Amy, Maddie, and I are going. We hope Dad joins us at the end of the week. We sure wish Ally, Jimmy, and Sydney were going too. The two grandmas are staying home too.:( We'll put pictures up when we get back!

Long live Harry Potter!

Madison as Professor Trelawny. "See into the beyond!!"

My friend Mary had a fun "book club" activity last night. She invited all her friends, any age, who had read all seven Harry Potter books to a party. Her invitation was so cute. It said: "Calling all Harry Potter readers. Finished the 7th book? Well then, your presence is requested at the (family name) muggle residence, number 632 (street name.) Please bring your books, wands, and other wizarding wheezez you may possess. If you have proper dress robes, please fashion yourself accordingly. It would be wise of you to prepare yourself for book discussion, much like an O.W.L. exam. You are encouraged to bring other wannabe Hogwartians, given they have completed the series. We wouldn't want to spoil it for first years. Games, refreshments, and other merriments provided."
We had a really busy day yesterday-chores, work, school-clothes/-shoes shopping, dinner out with a neighbor, and then the party. We flew in from dinner late, but took time to don our dress robes. Amy wore a cape, wand and lightning bolt, Maddie dressed as Professor Trelawny, and I wore an ugly flowered dress, big brown bow in my hair, and carried a clipboard with "detention list," a scary looking quill, and two kitty cats. Yes, I was the toad-faced Professor Dolores Umbridge. (It was the only costume I figured I could carry off.)
What a good time we had. There were people there from age 10-55 or so and everyone contributed something! We discussed the series with questions the hostess had prepared, drank "butter-beer" (creme soda with butter flavoring,) played Harry Potter trivia, and just enjoyed each other's company and love of reading. I'm so glad I have friends who are so creative and so much fun (Mary and company have a killer Halloween party every year...) I also feel so blessed to be able to live in a place and time where-along with all my many responsibilities-I can also take time for frivolous fun once in a while! Thanks, Mary. Quoting Madison on the way home last night: "That was WAY HECKA FUN!"

Tag! I'm it!

Jobs I've held:
1. Babysitter,Housekeeper, Flower Nursery laborer, Print Shop laborer, Waitress
2. Drug Store cashier
3. 4th Grade Teacher
4. Construction Company President (I can hear you all laughing!!!)

Movies I can watch again and again:
1. It's a Wonderful Life
2. Ever After, Shall We Dance, Pride & Prejudice (A&E version, with Mr. Yummy-Colin Firth!), Sarah-Plain and Tall, Return to Me
3. And...believe it or not, I never seem to tire of "Airforce One," edited version...

Guilty Pleasures
1. Mega Peanut M&Ms
2. TV Shows-24 and Alias
3. Reading fluff once in a while

Places I've lived:
1. AL, WA, FL, NM, CA, UT, NV
2. Madrid, Spain

Shows I enjoy:
1. The Today Show-I get at least ten minutes of it every day I have to iron a shirt!
2. Ellen (Twice a month or so while I fold clothes...Should that go under guilty
pleasures???)
3. Without a Trace (haven't seen it since it moved from Thursday night...)
4. Law and Order reruns

What were likely the first things you thought when you saw your significant other (or best friend) for the first time?
1. Significant other--He has pretty eyes and a cute smile.
2. Best friend--That woman is tall and quiet. A little later-That woman is my favorite teacher in Relief Society.

Places I've been on vacation:
1. Disneyland and Pine Valley
2. Virgin Islands
3. Durango, CO
4. Valley Forge, PN

Favorite foods:
1. Anything Mexican
2. PeiWei's Mongolian Beef
3. Grilled, marinated chicken and roasted potatoes

Websites I visit daily:
1. Yahoo.com news
2. Blogs of my family and friends

Body parts I have injured:
1. Broke my jaw in a bicycle accident.
2. Stepped off a curb on a morning walk and blew out my knee.

Nicknames I've had:
1. Lindy Lou when I was little.
2. Lin by high school boyfriend.
3. Hon-Jeff.
4. Grampa Linda-Little Ally.
5. Gramma Linda.

Who tagged me:
1. Lori H.

Finally! I'm done!

Although I stood in line at the Walmart in Ephraim, Utah at midnight July 21 to buy my (second) copy of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," I just finally finished it two minutes ago! I was determined to watch the four videos, then see the fifth movie at the theatre, then reread the sixth book (which I had only read once last year) and THEN start the seventh book. I had preordered a copy from Amazon with a giftcard I'd earned on my credit card, but as we were driving to Mt. Pleasant for five days the evening of July 20th, we all decided we must time our arrival in Ephraim for midnight so we could buy books...It was actually quite fun, as their Walmart generally closes at midnight, but was staying open for a special event just to sell Harry Potter. When the Duncans came to Fairview to ride ATV's the next day, we had FOUR copies of the book in the motorhome. Grandma Sargeant, Amy, Stephen, and Jacob were reading on and off all day. Since I was only on page 40 0f Book 6 by this time (and still had not seen the fifth movie) I would not allow anyone to speak a word about Book 7 in my presence!!! Jeff, Amy, Ally, and I went to see the movie when we got home and I finally started the last book last week. Because I've been so busy, I've only had time to read a few pages at a time and it has been very frustrating! I started the last exciting section last night and was looking forward to Maddie's orthodontist appointment this morning for half an hour of uninterrupted reading! (I did have to leave the office and sit in the car for a bit while I recovered from my sobbing at one point.) When we got home I had to do my agenda for a presidency meeting, have the meeting, then meet with the missionaries, take Maddie to ballet, and take the girls home...Finally...I sat down and ignored everything else-including fixing dinner for my hard-working husband-and finished the book! Now I can do nothing but think about the series and the incredible ride it has been.
Not even just the story itself, full of adventure, symbolism, hope, and triumph, but the whole Harry Potter experience. My brother-in-law says there is something to be said about not reading the books till the series is done. Now he can read them quickly, one after another, with no waiting to see what's going to happen. Most often, I would agree with him. But for this series I can only quote what Amy wrote on her blog when she finished the book.
"I wouldn't have given up these years for anything! I loved the experiences of growing up with the characters, waiting in line anxiously for the next book, seeing Harry Potter books in the hands of the most unlikely people, buying all things Potter-related, and enjoying the magic created by J.K. Rowling for my generation and all the generations to come. Thanks J.K. Rowling for your creation, thanks to all you fellow Potter fans young and old, and to Harry, Ron, Hermione and all the fabulous and very believable characters of the books, thanks for a wonderful ride. Expecto Patronum!"
It's kind of pathetic when a fifty-year-old woman gets teary-eyed and a lump in her throat over a post about a fictional children's book series, but I totally agree with Amy. I can't believe it's over...but I'm sure glad I was along for the whole experience. Thanks, J.K.. from me too!

Bye bye POD

I must admit I am quite proud of myself. I just remodeled our garage!!! Well, okay, I didn't actually do any of the construction work myself. I only functioned as the general contractor/job superintendent/laborer/clean-up crew, but I did arrange it all and get it done! When Jeff bought the property in Fairview and began going up there every spare minute and then when he bought new dirt bikes and played on them when he WASN'T in Fairview, I realized that I truly NEVER WAS going to get my list of "Honey-Do's" done. It's been a long process and it's not done yet, but I and my new best friend, Tim, the Handyman, are making progress. As a result, I have had a large PODS storage container, with most of the contents of our big garage inside of it, in the middle of my driveway for the past two months! As of this morning, it is emptied back into my sheet-rocked, textured, painted, and "cabinet-ed" beautiful "new" garage and the POD will be picked up Friday morning! Yay! I still have lots to put away and organize, but it is going to be beautiful and NEAT! I have more things to accomplish on my list (fix closet doors, put up stair handrail, replace some fans, fix some electrical problems) but they are happening and I am doing it (well, making it happen!) This is such a departure from my normal comfort zone, that I really feel a sense of accomplishment. If we just keep plodding along, I'll eventually get to the end of that list...

Aubrey Jane Sargeant

Aubrey is eleven days old and she has a complete name! "Aubrey" was suggested by Susan's mom and both parents liked it, but they couldn't decide on a middle name. Susan wanted "Jane"
from the beginning, but Brian was lobbying for "Ann or Anne." He thought it was cute that Au[brey Anne] was a play on the "Brianne" or "Brianna" that Great-Aunt Betty Jenkins suggested as a way of passing on his name to the baby. Susan said there were too many "Ann"s in the family already (Grandma Mary Anne Sargeant, Madison Anne, Julie Ann...) It's only fair that Susan got to name Aubrey since she had no input whatsoever on "Tyler James..." (We're all hoping that Amy will get over the fact that she now feels she can't use her long-favored boy's name "Jack Aubrey" because he'd have a GIRL cousin named the same name - feminine version! Maybe she'll find a new hero before then...) (At lease she still has "Martin Hinckley!" See "Amy Leaves the Nest" posted previously.)


Allyson, my blog technical adviser, is in New York, so I can't rotate these pictures, but they are better than nothing. Susan took these today and I think they do a fair job of showing Aubrey's eleven-day-old cuteness!


She's already a pro at our family favorite - the "O" mouth. This little girl can make some REALLY interesting faces already! She also growls and grunts for a while before she wakes up!

Could this be Sydney Nadramia's cousin?? Sydney is only seven months old and already poses and claps excitedly whenever she sees a camera. Baby Aubrey - posing at 11 days...


She even strikes a cute pose when she is sleeping. Is it any wonder we love this little doll? And get a load of all that dark hair. We're hoping it might be curly-cue like Susan's...

Susan is doing well and Brian is anxious to get life back to "normal." He tried very hard to convince Susan that they should all drive up to Fairview today so he and Tyler could help Papa work on "the land." Susan is feeling pretty well today and yesterday, and even took Tyler and Aubrey out by herself today, but she's not ready for a six hour drive to Utah yet! Luckily her midwife concurred and everyone is safe at home...

Welcome, Babies 'R' Us!

Congratulations are in order! Brian and Susan have a new baby girl and I am a grandma again! Susan came here after Tyler's parent-tot swim lesson at 1:00pm yesterday to finish her work in the office. She said she had started having labor pains in the pool and they were about 2-3 minutes apart. Since she had had an exam in the morning and then bounced around in the pool, I figured it was false labor and would stop soon. I made her keep working and get all the bills paid! By 4:30pm she decided she couldn't wait any longer for Tyler to wake up from his nap. From her position crawling around on the floor (trying to encourage the baby to turn over) she instructed Amy to wake Tyler up and they went home. I had a few things left to do here, then went to the store to get some groceries Susan wanted to have at home. By the time I picked up some dinner for them and got to the house it was 6:10pm. The midwife had arrived five minutes before, and as I was putting groceries on the counter and listening to the sounds upstairs I asked Amy, "Is she pushing!!??" I ran up the stairs, grabbed the video camera from Brian so he could assist in the birth and looked down to see the baby's hair! Babies 'R' Us was born at 6:25pm on Monday, June 18, 2007. She was 7lbs. 9oz. and 19 1/2" long. She has lots of black hair that looks very much like it is going to be curly. She is a beautiful baby girl who looks like her brother and her Grandma Provenza. She loves to suck her thumb and fingers - in fact she was born with a little worn blister on her left index finger from sucking on it in the womb! (Susan doesn't like this much, but gets a demonstration of the baby's strong personality when she or Brian remove the thumb from her mouth. Babies 'R' Us has a set of lungs and she's not afraid to use it!) Brian is still trying to decide on a name for her (Ashley? Michelle? Megan? Anna? Caily? Mikayla?) but Tyler is still insistent that she is "Babies 'R' Us" and nothing else!!! When I left there this morning he was giving her lots of kisses and telling her, "It's me. It's your big brudder" over and over. It was very, very sweet. I'm so grateful that everything went so well, that Susan is such a trooper, and that the baby is healthy and beautiful Once again I feel incredibly blessed to have another spirit entrusted to our family. Picture and name to follow...