Food Bank boxes

As a way to give back during the holiday season, we got cardboard boxes from the Utah Food Bank and decorated them. They then use the boxes to deliver food to housebound people. It was a fun way to get all ages involved. The Schusters and the Dolmans helped us.

Fall is Fun

One day, while the kids were at school, I looked out the window and saw that someone had raked leaves in a very strategic place, ready for an afternoon of fun after school.

Fall days, when the air is as crisp as the fallen leaves. When the light comes in on a tired slant, ready for long summer days to end. But lingering on a golden angle, reluctant to submit to the short days of winter.

Perfect for slide plowing into leaves.

And Fall Football- of course.

General Conference

We had a very special visitor for General Conference. Diahan was in town for another work conference and made time for us to get together. 

Not only did she make time, she gathered enough tickets for all of us to go to the conference center for the Women's session with our daughters. It was so much fun.

BFFs

(We also had dinner together the night before and talked about everything under the sun. The best kind of therapy session!)

Sunday, the boys went to the afternoon session of conference at the conference center. I took the girls for a drive up to Squaw Peak in Provo. It was cold and rainy but it was also a great view with lots of vibrant fall leaves.

I love these girls of mine.

And I love the opportunity we have to listen to a prophet speak and reveal new things to us- like-

* 2 hour church and 

* a new way to study and teach the gospel at home and

* challenging the women to limit social media and 

* to attend the temple more often and 

* read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year

Service and Sweets- Days for Girls

I have a new podcast that I love listening to.

The Sisterhood Podcast.

The hosts are Allyson Reynolds and Tiffany Sowby. They are friends who are opposite in many ways but have a great balance and chemistry. 

As part of their effort to bring women of all walks of life together, they also sponsor service activities called-

Service and Sweets.

First, you serve, then you go get a treat afterward.

This time I brought Sydney and we volunteered at Days for Girls. This program makes and provides hygiene kits for girls in under-developed countries. It's a wonderful program and we had a great time sewing together. 

Afterward, we went to Fiiz and got a drink and had some great conversation! I'm so glad to have found this podcast and made some new friends!

Karin, Allyson, Tiffany, Ingrid

Bradshaw slice of Heaven

Ever since the Bradshaw's moved from our cul-de-sac slice of heaven, we have missed them. Especially Camille missing Shelby. So when we can, we like to drive up to Idaho and visit them on their new little slice of heaven.

During this drive, we passed a section of the landscape that had been burned by fire. 

The Bradshaw's opened their home to us and it was like no time had passed. Tracey is a fantastic host and we had a lot of fun working on the farm with their new dog and getting the pigs ready for the fair. 

We also went on a hike with the cub scout group. The views were beautiful.

We also kayaked down the Snake River. Tracey rounded up enough kayaks for everyone to have their own. It was amazing. Super fun and a little bit peaceful, floating down the river. 

We also went swimming at the local pool. 

One morning I went for a run. The views were amazing.

Visiting with Tracey is good for my soul. We talked about our kids, church, family, siblings, parents, mental health, technology, affirmations, self-care, work, volunteering, just to name a few topics. She is like a ground wire for me and medicine for my frantic mind. I love this woman. 

Storymakers 2018

Storymakers conference 2018 was a smashing success this year. 

One of the highlights for me is to see all my writing friends.

Here are some of my Reality Writers friends!

Steve, Karin, Carmen, Rena, Jessilyn

Tanya and I were missing our friend, Amy, who had a graduating senior this year and lots of family obligations. So we sent her a picture and told her to plan on next year!

And this is my weekly critique group.

Keri, Brenda, Karin, Cindy, Angie

After 4 years of entering the First Chapter contest...I finally won! I won Second place in the General Fiction category! I was so shocked! I haven't plotted out the rest of this book yet, but maybe now I will. 

Both my Reality Writers and weekly critique group helped me polish this chapter up. I couldn't have done it without them!

Here I am with my award certificate.

Keri from my weekly group won 3rd in YA general fiction and  Krista from Reality Writers won first in nonfiction and was runner up in a tie for overall first place. It's good to be surrounded by good writers and awesome friends!

Karin and Krista

Candy Cane Corner

This December, I took these friends to Candy Cane Corner downtown SLC. 

From the Candy Cane Corner website:

Candy Cane Corner benefits families and individuals receiving services from the YWCA Utah, The Road Home, or Volunteers of America, Utah by giving them an opportunity to select gifts for the holidays. It also provides a heart warming volunteer opportunity through out December for anyone interested in lending a hand.

So CCC is basically set up like a mini-store stocked with donated items. Toys, clothing, household items, towels, blankets, diapers, coats, etc.

We helped keep things stocked and tidy. And then we also helped wrap presents. It was such a great experience.

Ashely, Sydney, Kyler, Lexi

How many teenagers does it take to wrap a gift?

The kids had a great time being together and working hard. I think it was a little humbling to see people come in, mostly refugees the night we were there, and see them try to piece together a Christmas for their family.

All them were smiling and happy and said they were already planning on doing it again next year.

Karin, Sydney, Lexi, Kyler, Stephanie(Kyler's mom), Ashley

April stuff

Bryce is quite the amazing young guy. All on his own, he cut out each of these letters and taped them on my door. He has such a tender, beautiful heart and the best hugs!

During spring break, we followed Sterling on a one-day trip to Beaver. Lots of time in the car. But the time was together so it was worth it. On the way, we stopped at a turkey farm. Pretty awesome. 

We had two cousins get married in April. Stuart and Ben. The kids were able to take a day off of school and attend Ben's wedding at the Payson Temple. We had fun at the luncheon reception place with our Ellsworth cousins before everyone else arrived. 

We also got to visit with Shelby Bradshaw and her mom, who were visiting their family and cousin who was competing in the Miss Eagle Mountain contest. It was a fun show and even more fun to visit with friends.

On a Sunday afternoon, before going to dinner with family, Bryce kicked his soccer ball and hit the front window. Luckily its a double pane window and he only broke the outer pane but sheesh. That's a sickening feeling to hear shattering glass.

Rachel has been texting my mom a lot. It just cracks me up. And the gifs take it to a whole new level. 

And here is some video of Syd's mad dancing skills. The first part is Syd and company doing Just Dance on the computer. The second part is Syd doing homework with Lexi. I'm not sure how much homework got done that day.