What they switched to Pepsi!

Me and Steve were able to take a week long cruise to the eastern Caribbean last week. We had been to St. Thomas before but not Samana or Tortola so we were excited to visit some new places. I guess I need to explain the title for my post. We usually purchase the soda package on the ships. Nothing tastes so good as a nice cold diet coke when your sitting out in the sun. Last time we cruised with Norwegian they served coke products so we both purchased the package. Before we joked about what we would do if they served Pepsi. Thinking that would never happen I wasn't worried. We got on board and went to get our insulated cups when I looked and the cups said Pepsi on them. I can't stand the taste of Pepsi so luckily they refunded me my money and I figured I would live without anything. I wished I had packed some crystal light packets with me, but figured I wouldn't die. The second day at sea we got talking with a couple from Minnesota and somehow we got to talking about them switching to Pepsi. She said that she had found out before and brought bottles of coke on board. After lunch we went back to our chairs and she had brought me one of her bottles of diet coke. We had an instant friendship and it was fun seeing them around the boat and visiting with them. They also found out we were LDS and we got talking about the church and he was so shocked to find out that we had never drank alchol. He was very impressed and even high-fived Steve for it. Maybe if the missionaires stop by their house they will let them in to find out more. We meet another LDS family and a kid from Vernal that we had fun talking to.

We didn't pull the camera out much so we only have a few pictures. In Samana we just stayed on board. It was windy and they were having a hard time with the tenders. It's a new port so not much to do on shore. At St. Thomas we took a taxi over to Magens Bay and went swimming. After that we got dressed and looked around the stores.

In Tortola we went scuba diving the RMS rone. It was the second ship that had been named unsinkable. They now do not say that about ships. It was one of my favorite dives. We got to swim through the propellers of the ship and that was cool. Steve had his dive camera so I will post the dive later.

Just some of the fun towel animals they made for us. The monkey hanging from the ceiling was my favorite.

My favorite stop on a cruise is their private island. It is so relaxing and nice. They bring food out so your never hungry and you get to lay around and play in the ocean. We found that we had to keep shirts on most of the trip to keep from sun burning. We even had 30 sun screen that we applied alot. It was a great trip we had beautiful weather and nice ports to see. I love spending time with my best friend.

Taryn is 25

Taryn had asked us months ago if she could go out to the cabin to celebrate her birthday. Of course we said yes and hoped that by her birthday the snow would be gone and they would have a wonderful spring weekend. Well we just seem to want to hang onto winter this year. Usually by now the snow has melted on the sunny side of the road but we still have a couple of feet of snow. This is how we got all the supplies into the cabin. Steve hooked some mess onto the snow so things wouldn't fall off. Luckily we only have to walk about 1/2 mile to the truck. We dumped off our stuff and took the sleigh back so Taryn could use it to bring her stuff in.

The next day me and Steve went for a walk. Since we are trying to get in shape we decided to hike up the hill. Luckily this side of the hill most of the snow is gone. Steve's goal is to hike King's Peak this summer so I think we will spend a lot of time this summer hiking up hills.

We got up to the top and there is still alot of snow. We didn't bring our snow shoes so at times we would just sink in. We had so much fun playing around in the snow. We made snow balls and would see who's snow ball made it to the bottom. Steve shocked me when he laid down and made a snow angel. Going down the hill we thought it would have been fun to bring the sleigh up and ride it down. So when Taryn and her friends decided to go for a hike we told them to take the sleigh and ride it down. I have never seen a sleigh go so fast. Jace was the only one brave enough to go for a ride.

Cambri and Jace warming up by the fire after their hike. Chris was glued to the tv watching March Madness.

We left that night and they stayed over. Unfortunately Chris caught a bug and was sick all night so they packed up early and headed home.

They came over that night for a birthday dinner and Greg and Lauren joined us. I can't believe my baby girl is 25. Am I really that old. She's a beautiful girl and I'm proud of the young women she has become.

Thank-You Steve

On our drive to Kentucky this Thanksgiving we stayed the first night in Kansas. As I was getting ready for bed I took off my wedding ring and the thought occurred to me to put it in my purse so I wouldn't forget it the next morning when we left. We got up early the next morning to take off for another long day of driving and about an hour after we left I started looking in my purse for my wedding ring. Searched and searched and could not find it. Steve called the hotel and they said they would search our room to see if it had been left. Meanwhile I am sick thinking I had lost my ring. I hate to lose anything, but especially something so sentimental as a wedding ring. The hotel got our number and said they would call. Meanwhile we thought it could be in our luggage or in the laundry. I didn't worry alot about it thinking we would find it when we got to Heathers. Once there I tore our luggage apart and searched everywhere. It then hit me that it was gone for good. The hotel had called and said they looked everywhere but could not find it. The lady seemed geniuenly upset that it was lost.

After we got home Steve called the hotel back and they said that someone had found a ring in the parking lot and that they would send it right away if we would pay postage. Of course we would pay for the postage. I was so excited and went to work with a smile on my face. Later that afternoon Steve got a call back from the hotel and said that the ring had been claimed and it wasn't ours. Something about this whole story seems fishy. Over the years I had always joked with Steve about getting me a big rock for a wedding ring. I was just teasing and never thought it would happen. We stopped by a jewlrey store on our anniversary and I fell in love with this ring. A few days later my sweet husband went and bought it for me. I have designated spots where I will take it off so I won't lose this one. Thanks Hon.

Taylor's Hump Day!

I learned that a Mom really does survive having her son gone for two years on a mission. The first few weeks after Greg left I wondered if that was true. Don't get me wrong I am so happy that both of them have chosen to serve, and to give up two years of their life to share their testimony of Christ. But I do miss having them around. March 3rd was Taylor's hump day. Only one more year. I love having the countdown. Only two more phone calls, two more General Conferences and one more Christmas.

Then we get this goofy kid back. We know his crazy personality is the same and we look forward to his e-mails every week. But the best part is I get a Son who has learned to put his whole trust in his Heavenly Father. Who understands that with his help anything is possible. Who has seen lives changed for the better and has learned to listen to the promptings of the Spirit. These are the lessons that I'm grateful he has learned while serving.

I wanted to share a part of his e-mail that we received today.

"We didn't have any set appointments the whole day, blegh...But as we were leaving an apartment complex I saw a homeless man limping across the street. All of a sudden he looks at me "I;m going to commit suicide, I want to kill myself." Me "Don't do it! I know God loves you and cares about you."

Man "What does God care about me?" Then he comes over and sits down and shows us his destroyed knee. He vented all of his anger toward God for letting all this happen. I swuatted down by him and just listened for a while. He was actually pretty sane. He told us about how some guys had beat him up for ten dollars. He told them to just take the money and leave him alone but they beat him up anyways. He started tearing up and I almost cried too. Then he wanted me to read some stuff in the Bible so we did. I just reassured him that God did love him. He asked "Why does everyone hate me? You're the first ones that have even come close to talk to me". I helped him up and you could feel a different spirit. He told me "I'm not going to kill myself." Then we said goodbye and he to look for some food in the dumpsters. I can't ever be the same after an experience like that. The Lord puts us in the right places at the right time. If we are living right he will do miracles through us. I know nothing is impossible with God.

I love what mission does to these young men.

The girls are back in Town

We had been looking forward to this visit for months. Kevin's family planned a trip to Disneyland so we were lucky that Heather had a layover in Salt Lake. Braelyn turned 5 in January but we kept her presents for when she got here. They flew in Saturday night and stayed with us until Friday. Then her and the girls flew to California. Kevin flew in that night and they stayed there until Wednesday and flew back here to Utah for a week and a half.

Braelyn loves everything you give to her. I also took her shopping to pick out her own birthday gift.

Berkley is trying some of Braelyns new lip gloss. Braelyn picked out a doll head that you can put make-up on and Berkley was very serious when she applied the make-up. The more make-up on the doll the prettier both girls thought she was. Hopefully their tastes will change when they grow up and wear their own make-up.
Braelyn loved having some sticker earrings to wear. Sunday was great having someone to sit on my lap and I loved watching Braelyn in primary. She has such a happy personality and loves being around kids her age. She makes friends everywhere she goes.
Monday was valentines day. While shopping I came upon a barbie and ken valentine doll that I just had to get for them. It's so much fun being a Grandma and spoiling your grandchildren.

Here the girls are delivering Steve's valentine present to him. When my kids were little I found this cute valentines song. You start out singing about leaving a valentine at a friends house. Then the paino plays a little part that the kids tip-toe around and then the music changes to a loud fast part that the kids run home after leaving the valentine. The girls loved that song and we played it often as they pretended to leave valentines. They left Friday and me and Steve celebrated our 28 anniversary. We had dinner at Texas Rhodehouse and before we ate we stopped at a jewelry store to look for a wedding ring to replace the one I lost in Kansas. I found three that I really liked. Tuesday Steve went back and picked out the one I chose. Wednesday the girls came back. Thursday after work we packed up and drove to Duchesne. Amy is such a great aunt and sends the girls packages all the time and Braelyn really wanted to play with Kiley.

Here Amy is splitting up all her change between the four girls. Kellee brought her two over and they played all afternoon. The next day the girls played again and we went to Duchesne's new Chinese Cafe. It was good. I never thought I would see a Chinese Cafe in Duchesne. Amy and Josh stopped by on their way to a rodeo so the girls could feed and see the horses.

Braelyn got brave and let us put her on the horse. Berkley was not that brave and was content just to watch them.

Braelyn even feed them. It was nice of Amy to take the time and pull the horses out of the trailer so the girls could see them.

We went up to Taryns work to see where she works and for the girls to see the minature horses. We had to laugh that we spent so much time visiting horses and they live in Kentucky. They had alot of fun playing with the cats. They found some twine and the cats loved chasing it. Berkley hates the sun so whenever she is outside she wears her sunglasses. We even had to close the blinds sometimes in the house because of the sun.

The best part of the trip for Berkley was dipping her fries in the frosty.

I loved very minute they were here. I loved reading them bedtime stories and seeing their cute faces early in the morning. I don't Braelyn slept past 6:30. One night I woke up around 3:00 and saw lights on downstairs. I went down and she was quietly playing with some toys. I made a bed for her on the couch and luckily she went back to sleep. It was really hard taking them to the airport and saying goodbye. Heather said Berkley cried for 15 minutes on the plane saying she missed Munga and Papa. I feel like I could cry that long also.

Been Busy

I don't know if anybody else is like us but we get the urge to do a project right after Christmas. Steve has made fun of me taking down the decorations right after Christmas but it dawned on me it is because we are always doing some new project. I had bought a cute sink from my friend who owned the real deal store in Springville. She gave it to me at cost and I knew it would look so cute in the kids bathroom. It sat in the office for about a year. Finally last year after Christmas we installed the sink and put travertine down on the floor. It looked great but the lovely white tile with a teal accent in the bathtub stood out like a sore thumb. Before you judge me those were the colors that were popular when we built the house 20 years ago. We didn't want to tear that tile out with Greg getting home from his mission and Heather and the girls visiting and Taylor leaving so we just kept the shower curtains closed and it didn't bug me.

So after Christmas with nobody using this bathroom we tore out the beautiful white tile and my handy husband installed this tile. He did such a great job it looks beautiful. I know the fixtures are still the old ones but to replace them it will be over $300.00 so I just painted them. New fixtures will eventually come.

Here is the cute sink I got from my friend and the new floors. Such a difference from the standard bathroom sink and the white tile with the tiny teal diamonds.

Steve is not the only handy one and I saw on the Nate Berkus show this magnetic paint. I thought I would give it a try and it really works. You put a couple of coats on and then paint over it the color of your walls and you have an instant magnetic board.

Years ago we had given one of the bunk beds to our friends who needed it. I completely forgot about it and she asked me after Christmas if we would like it back. I said yes thinking we would just store the frame and maybe one of the kids would use it when they had children. It took about a week before I realized that we could make the bunk beds again. The problem was she had painted hers white and the frame we had was stained. So two hours of sanding later I painted both of the black. Which Braelyn and Berkley thought was a very boring color. They thought orange or yellow would have been much better. Hopefully with the cute purple comforters they will not notice that the frames are boring black. Only a few more days and these beds will have two cute girls in them. Now I just need to do something about my oak stair railings. Maybe next year after Christmas.

Snow shoeing into the Cabin

We haven't had the chance to snow shoe into the cabin this year. Even with a storm coming in on Saturday we headed out Friday afternoon to stay the night. It was a beautiful afternoon. The sun was out and no wind. It is 1/2 mile from the road where we park the truck. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day to snow shoe. We had to get a picture of the deck. The snow is almost up to the door handles. Duchesne has had 213 percent snow pack. That was one of the reason's for heading out to get the snow off the decks.

I'm standing over the fence. All you can see is the top 5 inches. Most of our trees are buried under all the snow. And it's hard to tell where the road is with all the snow.
We arrived at the cabin around 5:00 and happily the temperature inside was a warm 41 degrees. By about 8:00 that night we had the inside temperature up to 55 degrees. Which isn't too bad considering many times it's below 0 up there.

We read, ate, watched movies and played games that night. Very relaxing and thanks to an electric blanket we slept nice and cozy. The next morning a storm was blowning in and it was windy. Here Steve is getting the snow off our deck. I felt bad for him and helped him do the other deck. The wind can really whip off that deck so as we would throw a shovel full of snow half of it would blow back into our face. Luckily with all the lifting and shoveling we stayed warm.

Even with the bad weather we had to go for a walk.

Most of the river was frozen over. I tried to get Steve to go set on that log but he wouldn't go for it. We crossed over a frozen part of it and headed into a blizzard. Okay it wasn't really a blizzard but hard to look up with the snow blowing into your face. Finally we gave up and headed back. It was much nicer going with the wind on your back instead of your face. I wasn't thrilled about going up this weekend because of the cold but we had a great time and stayed pretty warm. Only a few more months and we will open it back up. I don't think I will ever get tired of going up there.