women of today...

...this is who we are:

"Sisters, now, more than ever we need women to step up and be strong. We need women who declare the truth with strength, faith, and boldness. We need women to set an example of righteousness. We need women to be anxiously engaged in a good cause. We need to live so that our lives bear witness that we love our Heavenly Father and the Savior Jesus Christ and that we will do what They have asked us to do. We need to “rescue all that is finest down deep inside of us” so that as daughters of God we can do our part to build the kingdom of God. We will have help to do this. As Joseph [Smith] declared, “If you live up to your privileges, the angels cannot be restrain’d from being your associates."

At the recent General Relief Society conference for the world, we were inspired to give ourselves credit for who we really are. I liked this summary of the conference.

...okay, one more!

...does anyone know who those song is by, where I can get it, etc....
Little One

...why was that again???

...after this recent slew of posts to get a little caught up, I once again am asking myself: why blog? To improve my writing? Is there somehow I can scrapbook all of this? Do I need to? Is it just for me? Just for the Grandmas? Help me out here...

express yourself...ABC Zoo...

...shutterfly came through for me once again with a code for a free 8x8 book and our newest children's book is:

tiya monkey...

...This is the Place Heritage Park....

...it's MUCH more than "just a monument"...

...it's little train rides, big train rides, pioneers, handcarts, horehound candy......and Lucky the horse, and "Tiya" our friend! Pony rides!

I'd heard about Hippotherapy used in many ways, including helping autistic children, and children with other learning delays, and speech delays. I thought I would see what happened when we put our Boo on a horse, so I brought her to the only pony rides that I knew of....and, wow! She immediately lost inhibitions that otherwise render her shy and quiet. She was talking to the people, to the animals, pointing to objects, naming things...I was amazed! We immediately bought a season pass and bring her for the pony rides. Boo made a friend she calls "Tiya," who was especially helpful and understanding of Boo's needs. Boo returned the favor by calling her favorite stuffed monkeys: Tiya monkey, and Lucky monkey, after a favored horse.

End of summer fun...

...I realize that summer has been over for a month now, but I wanted to add some pictures to finish it up...we were gone almost every other weekend. At first this was hard, and I wondered if even the kids were getting anything out of it...then as we got use to packing up and leaving, it became a lot of fun...

Trip to the cabin with the in-laws... ...playing in the river with cousins...

...motorcycle fun...

...even Lil Bay loved it with her uncle...

...Boo really loved the motorcycles...

...all the men chopping wood...

...and our first snow of the season...

...other things this summer:

get-togethers with the Hermanas, sister missionaries I served with:

...weekend at Bear Lake...learning from Great-Grandpa...

...playing in the sand with second cousins...

...and of course...SWIMMING...

...SWIMMING...

...and now the summer is over...

...WE LOVE AUTUMN!!!

blessings...

...come in all sizes. The newest grandchild/cousin was given a Priesthood blessing by his father in church on Sunday.
I love that the church has this ordinance, to give a name and a blessing to a child, usually given by the father. It's for any child. Just like in Bible times. These little ones, who don't yet need baptism or any saving ordinances, as they are still completely innocent and perfect. Simply a name and a blessing to start them out in life.

express yourself...mountain climbing...

...my hubbies latest adventure, the high peak of Montana, Granite Peak...

"2000 ft drop" huh? that sounds like fun...

...natures high points are what he loves to reach, so I love that he does it...he always comes home more in love with life, nature, God, and me! no complaints there. especially if I choose to come (slow speed and bad knees permitting), or be base camp with the kids.

express yourself...autumn project...

...here is the latest art project by Boo...and me! (can you guess who did which?)
Well, this project was to welcome in a favorite season: autumn! We painted these colors on wax paper...then...
..cut leaves to hang on the windows...so if you are missing those autumn colors...here's a project for you...

it's all about bodily functions...

…around here. That's what the wife of my former Bishop said of having small children. Well, we started introducing potty training…both girls! Little Bay is young to start this, (and Boo's a little older...but who's keeping track?) and Boo does better with her sister’s peer pressure and support. When Boo sits on the potty, she wants her sister right there on the little potty next to her. I have no expectations for them right now. Boo has just been stripping down and showing other signs lately so I wanted to try it. All expectations are on myself. I hope they just have fun with it and we’ll see where it goes, but, it’s not very much fun for me…any advice in this area is greatly appreciated!

inspire me...full time wiper...

...in church us women have a program called Enrichment Night. It’s similar to community learning classes, where we learn all KINDS of things, and better get to know our friends and neighbors. It was one of the ‘get to know you’ nights that my friend, mother of four small children, was planning on attending. She was supposed to make a basket of things representing herself, her talents, etc, to share with the group. She is the type of person who likes to be accurate; she didn’t just want to throw any old things into the basket, so she tried to give some thought to the task. Activity time came, however, and she had no basket. No time! Then inspiration hit as she was doing what she does daily: wiping up messes, wiping fingers, wiping faces, wiping bums, wiping noses, wiping dishes/counters/floors/windows/take your pick! She is a talented wiper! She filled that basked with all the ‘wipes’ she could find from Clorox wipes to diaper wipes and had a good time with it.
This silly situation has inspired me, as my friend often does, that we see the positive in our present situation and find our hidden talents as well as happiness. Her attitude helps me be content to be a professional wiper at the present time.

Go Cougars!

...still proud alumni...welcoming in the football season 2008...

winner!

Woo Hoo! Babinskis Baby a cute baby boutique had a give-away and I won! I got to choose a FREE Petit Bateau Spring onsie. Cute!