*Monday Memos*

*MONDAY MEMOS*

   

 (If pictures are too small, just click to enlarge) 
Weekly recap of my rather crazy, insane, but fun and rewarding life!

dear monday, went out and walked out west. Once again it was super hot.  Saw this:

That's not something you see everyday!

I came home and did my exercises for PT.  My back has really been bothering me since I went in for the PT. Maybe it was the traction.  Not sure, but whatever it was, it hasn't helped.  It was quiet around here without Carson. I practiced the harp and for not touching it for so long, I did surprisingly well.  I have been listening to a lot of podcasts since I have been walking instead of running and I have loved learning all the things I am.  But now my new phone won't hold a charge and so I can't really listen to them the whole time anymore. 

I went to Robin's Norwex party.  It was fun. There were a lot of fun peeps there. I ended up buying more stuff because it really is a good product and I need to use it more.  When I got home, Dave, I and boys watched a movie called Thor or something.  It was interesting but fun to be with all the boys.  I worked on the invites for Tyson's 30th birthday party celebration and one for the Sista Lunch.

dear tuesday, today I got out on my run and found all these coins by the school.  I was surprised since school's out.  It was a hot one again!  This summer has been unusually hot and dry.  We haven't had hardly any rain.  

I came home and worked on my parent's anniversary party.  I got the invites made.  Walmart was a hassle.  And when I picked them up, they were wrong.  Ugh.  I didn't stop all day but didn't feel like I accomplished much.  

 Parent's invite:

dear wednesday, I woke up at 3:45 a.m.  Why is it harder to wake up when you have to then when you don't?  No idea. I got ready and headed to the temple for my shift.  There was the sweetest lady named Stacie substituting.  We got talking and found out we went to school together.  She graduated in 1980 one year after me.  I don't remember her though.  She is sweet as can be. Josh came and then Jodie Nelson.  We were busy as always and we had a hard time keeping the towels stocked.  It's always fun and I always feel good while there and after.  I headed to Ogden to get some shopping done for several baby shower gifts,Tyson's party, my parent's anniversary party, and Carson's birthday.  I got most of it accomplished but not all.  I came home and cleaned the freezer to make room for my meals I am doing tomorrow.  I also cleaned the windows because they have been bugging me!

Laina dropped this by to thank me for speaking to the YW about Boston.  It was so sweet.  

We had stuffed peppers for dinner and everyone was here.  It has been SO SO SO hot!  Close to 100 degrees every day.  I am still so far behind on this, but sigh....I have just decided to quit worrying about it and get it done when I can. I am sure I will never be caught up. It's kind of like laundry. As soon as you think you are caught up, you still aren't because the clothes you are wearing are laundry.  This is the same only as soon as I get caught up, I'm really not because life keeps happening. And that's a GOOD thing! LOL   I found this quote and loved it:

President Joseph F. Smith, in general conference in 1916, said the following:

“Sometimes the Lord expands our vision from this point of view and this side of the veil, so that we feel and seem to realize that we can look beyond the thin veil which separates us from that other sphere. If we can see, by the enlightening influence of the Spirit of God and through the words that have been spoken by the holy prophets of God, beyond the veil that separates us from the spirit world, surely those who have passed beyond, can see more clearly through the veil back here to us than it is possible for us to see to them from our sphere of action. I believe we move and have our being in the presence of heavenly messengers and of heavenly beings. We are not separate from them.

“We begin to realize, more and more fully, as we become acquainted with the principles of the gospel, as they have been revealed anew in this dispensation, that we are closely related to our kindred, to our ancestors, to our friends and associates and co-laborers who have preceded us into the spirit world. We can not forget them; we do not cease to love them; we always hold them in our hearts, in memory. . . .

“How much more certain it is and reasonable and consistent to believe that those who have been faithful, who have gone beyond and are still engaged in the work for the salvation of the souls of men, . . . can see us better than we can see them; that they know us better than we know them. They have advanced; we are advancing; we are growing as they have grown; we are reaching the goal that they have attained unto; and therefore, I claim that we live in their presence, they see us, they are solicitous for our welfare, they love us now more than ever. For now they see the dangers that beset us; they can comprehend, better than ever before, the weaknesses that are liable to mislead us into dark and forbidden paths. They see the temptations and the evils that beset us in life and the proneness of mortal beings to yield to temptation and to wrongdoing; hence their solicitude for us, and their love for us, and their desire for our well being, must be greater than that which we feel for ourselves.” 

President George Albert Smith likewise emphasized that “those who are on the other side [of the veil] are . . . anxious about us. They are praying for us and for our success. They are pleading, in their own way, for their descendants, for their posterity who live upon the earth."

dear thursday, Jen text me this morning before my run and invited me to run the dam with her.  I was totally up for that especially when she told me she hasn't been running much. I didn't want to slow her down since I have mainly just been walking.  Plus, I have the dam race on Saturday and a go around the course would be nice.  We walked the first half or so and then ran the last.  It felt good to catch up.  We haven't been running in a very long time together.  We used to run together all the time but she does more trail running now and I'm basically a klutz on trails and fear I will break a bone or several.  hah  

I was in the kitchen a lot today.  We had to take dinner to Dave's parents tonight and so I made a chicken zucchini casserole that turned out pretty good. I also made some heavenly peanut butter bars.  I didn't need the calories but they were amazing.  Here is the recipe:

I went to West Weber to my friend Me'Chele's house to do a frozen meal party.  You pay for the meals and then they have them all ready to put together. I thought it would be super fast, but we had to chop veggies and of course put all the meals together. My friend Dawn did it with me.  There were 10-12 of us total. 

Me'Chele is a riot.  She reminds me of myself about 10 years ago.   She cracks me up.  We stayed after and talked to her for quite a bit about her mission her and her husband did in inner city Ogden.  It sounded scary. She is a great and amazing person.  She is a member of the group Heartbound and very talented.  I love going to listen to them when I go to Ed Week at BYU.  Her family is amazing as well. And her house has a good floor plan for her large family and grandkids. I wish I had designed mine differently now.  I always wish I had done it bigger overall. Bigger rooms.  On the way home I was trying to figure out how I could remodel it.  I just feel like we don't have enough places to go to just hang out.  But it was a lot of fun. I love to hang out with people like her who inspire me to be better.  I got a yummy recipe for Pickle Salad from one of the other gals:

I have been doing affirmations for about a week now and I really have noticed a difference.  I always start mine with "I am".  Then I list the things I either want to be more of, or I want to become. I believe our minds are so powerful and if we believe it then it will happen.  

This is nothing new for me.  I have been doing the "I am" thing for years off and on.  But I do believe there is great power in this.  I read an article today that talked about the power of the mind.  A lot of the podcasts I have been listening to have been on that as well.  But in the article it said a lot about how our brains are wired to survive not thrive and we have to rewire them to switch to positivity.  I'll copy and paste part of it.

"You can do amazing things. But it starts In your head.  You CAN feel good and look good as a mom. You CAN have twenty kids and still have your crap together. You CAN start that business you’ve been thinking about. You CAN write that book, or start that blog or whatever else your heart desires!

You’ve gotta change your mindset and your thoughts!

A phrase that helps me is “I don’t HAVE to, I am ABLE to.”

• I don’t HAVE to go grocery shopping, I am ABLE to.
• I don’t HAVE to pick my kids up from school, I am ABLE to.
• I don’t HAVE to get ready, I am ABLE to.
• I don’t HAVE to work, I am ABLE to.

You see the difference? That one phrase shifts your mind into a place of gratitude."

There's that gratitude thing again I like to talk about.  There is SO much power in gratitude that I think we have a hard time believing something so simple can have so much impact on our lives.  But trust me, it can!  I really like the changing from "I HAVE to" to "I am ABLE to".  Such a teeny tiny shift but it makes a huge change!  One thing is for sure, if we weren't able to, we would surely wish we could.  So, why not be grateful for it NOW?  So much wisdom there.

dear friday, I got out and didn't get in many miles today so I would be good to go for the Dam Race tomorrow.  I came home and did my PT and then got busy on the cake.  I was hoping to be done with it in three hours or less but instead it was another one of those pain in the patooty cakes that just drive you crazy because it should be so easy but nothing turns out right.  I did a banana three layer 8" and a two layer 6" inch. NBD, but holy, I had the same problem with the filling oozing out that I did with Weston's.  Sigh...  So I removed the stacked layers and took it out and started over thinking I fixed the problem but it still did some even though I made the icing much thicker inside that time.  I was getting very frustrated because the horizontal lines were not coming together how I wanted them to either. I am way too much of a perfectionist and so I was feeling very defeated. I finally prayed that it would be easier so I could be done and either it did or I just was okay with it as is.  After it was done, I felt like I should have done a bigger one but then grateful I didn't!  

Taylor made us potstickers and rice. Great kid.  He knew there was no way I was going to be fixing anything LOL.  Dave also brought home pizza.  The boys didn't complain we had too much food.  I'm pretty sure they never have.  LOL  I dropped in bed exhausted but so much on my mind. I wanted to get more done today on the party but it will have to be done tomorrow.  Didn't sleep well at all. 

dear saturday, I only got 3 hours of sleep last night. Ugh!  I have too much on my mind and it wouldn't slow down.  So much going on the next two days! 
I got up at 5:30 to get ready for the Dam Race.  We headed out about 6:30 a.m. and it was overcast in Mantua so I was hoping that meant a cooler race.  Instead it meant major humidity.  There were over 200 peeps running.  I wasn't sure how things were going to go but I was ready to run because I was feeling my body really needed it.  It's not my favorite distance to race, but I ended up doing okay and never felt like I wanted to die. Hah.  Well, maybe the last half mile because a lady got up to me and tried to pass me but I thought she was in my age group so I put on the gas and started to take more smaller steps and was able to get back ahead of her. That is until the final uphill to the finish line.  Then she passed about  20 feet from it.  Dang.  Luckily she was only 46.  Whew! Yeah, I am competitive in races.  :)  But I think that is why they call them races.  You race!  You try to win.  Happily, I ended up taking first place in my age division out of seven and 20th overall woman out of 115 and 60 out of 205 overall. My time was 42:33 which made me pretty happy. I was faster last year by a minute, but that's okay considering I haven't been running at all or training for anything.  I am grateful I survived!  Robin took 4th.

  I talked to our cute friend Julia McGee (or something) and she is now 87 and still runs half marathons!  She is my hero and inspiration.  Wow!  So amazing!  I wanna be like her when I grow up!  Heal back, heal!

We headed home and I had a full day. As soon as I showered I headed to a shower. A baby one.  It was for Meagan - my VT partner.  Or 'ministering' partner.  There weren't too many there but had fun chatting. Then Bonnie came and we talked for quite a while. 

dear brigham city - star of hallmark film, I left to go get some flowers for the cake and on Main Street it was 91° and snowing!!!  It was covered in snow and Christmas decors.  They're filming a Hallmark movie this weekend here. So exciting!   The movie is called "Miracle of Music" and hopefully will be out this Christmas.  The actors were in full winter gear! Coats, hats, gloves!  HOT!

 

 BC is now Masonville!

I bought a new wreath too!  Love it!  Then went to Walmart and got the photos for the party tonight and had to talk to four people to get my refund. Ugh.  I came home and spent the day finishing up everything for the party. 


dear parent's 60th anniversary party, 

1956

Aunt Dixie, Aunt Gay, Aunt Sharon, Aunt Sharon (I have two!), Mom, Dad, not sure, Grandma Mae, Grandpa Ed, Grandma Helen, Grandpa Ira. Shelley in front. 

Transporting the cake was a little nerve wracking as always.

These guys arrived together and were so cute and making me laugh.

We surprised my Mom with Britt!  She had no idea she was coming.

So sad my bro Jerry couldn't make it! But he face timed so he was still a part of it.

It was a wonderful celebration!

These two are the best parents anyone could ask for. I have been blessed beyond what I can even comprehend by being their daughter.  They are seriously the two best people I know on the planet.  My Dad is so friendly, nice, organized, likable, and the most easy going and happy person around and my Mom is so cute, hilarious, friendly, witty, quick and THEE funnest person to be around. I lucked out!  Deep down I know it wasn't luck, but a blessing.

Fun times!  Kailani was my little buddy.  She wanted to come home with me I think.  Hehe

So much fun!  I can't believe they have been married for 60 years!  Wow! Such a huge achievement!

Haha!  Love my Dad!  Always good for a laugh!

They remembered how to feed each other cake!

So cute!

So very proud to call these two my parents!

The tribe

The immediate tribe minus my brother Jerry and Bryce (he had to leave for a soccer game dang him!).

These are from their 50th Anniversary ↓

Some oldies....

1956

Aunt Dixie, Aunt Gay, Aunt Sharon, Aunt Sharon (I have two!), Mom, Dad, not sure, Grandma Mae, Grandpa Ed, Grandma Helen, Grandpa Ira. Shelley in front. 

My Dad with his dad Ira (middle left) and with his cool car and Jerry (bottom right) and some on the job pictures.

Back: my parents, me, my Uncle Rich

Front: my cousin Mike, Jerry, cousin Bill.

Handsome guy!

Pretty lady!

 California with the cousins and aunts and uncles.

 My Dad made that driftwood table.  They still have it.

 At my Grandma Mae's house.

 Our camper.  Good memories.

 Our Samoyed dog Queenie and her 10 puppies. She had 12 but two died. That's my Grandma Mae in the bottom right with my mom.

Sadly, this is the last professional family photo we had taken. Davis is missing.

Celebrating 60 years with these amazing parents of mine! So grateful for the influence they have been in my life as well as so many others. They don't come any better than these two! Happy 60 years Ma and Pa! You are very loved!!! Here's to many more!

dear sunday, you are NOT a day of rest!  Today was another very busy and crazy day. I hit the floor at 6 a.m. and didn't stop all day. It's never a good idea to be in charge of two big parties on back to back days.  Mainly because you can't get the second party done ahead of time because you have to focus on the first one. Chayden was up at 6:30 and I fed him breakfast and then got busy on the balloon tags for Tyson's party. My printer was out of ink.  Lovely.  Dave tried to help me out and I ended up getting by but had to use a few not so perfect tags because the ink he did find didn't last for all the prints.  Then I had to re-do the tag because I didn't save it right last year.  Sky had to bail me out and help save the day.  He is my techno hero.  I asked Chayden what his favorite meal was so I could make him feel special while here and he told me lasagna. I thought about doing a crock pot lasagna because of all the meals lasagna takes the longest to make.  But I couldn't disappoint him and so I made him the real thing.  

I still had to make three chocolate ecstasy's and finish up all the details for the party so I was cruising.  I had a massive bad hair day and our house was SO STINKIN' hot!  I do not remember being this hot this much in the summer as I have this year. I didn't get to spend much time with Carson today because there just wasn't time. We headed to church and after sacrament Carson took Chayden to Primary and took good care of him making sure he knew where his class was.  It was sweet.  The Sunbeams were all very active.  Except Cru.  He was crying before his mom dropped him off and I had to take him and hold him for the entire singing and sharing time. Julie ended up with Sam because both Cheryl and I had kids on our laps.  Things worked out well because Julie took her in our classroom and worked with her on her behavior and so by the time we got in class and she wanted to leave for another drink, I told her we already had a drink and it was now time for the lesson, she was very upset, but I was firm and totally ignored her inconsequential behavior (as Dr. Latham would say) and it worked like a charm as he testifies it always does.  She stopped and went and sat in her chair.  Dr. Latham was a genius. Go read The Power of Positive Parenting if you haven't yet. 

My adorable Sunbeams!  Love these cuties!

When I got home I had to rush to be sure everything was ready for Tyson's big 30th birthday bash.  Sadly, most of the balloons deflated.  I knew that was going to happen.  Sigh....  It's hard to do this party on a Sunday with the balloons if you are trying to keep the Sabbath day holy.  Luckily, we had a helium tank balloon kit so we could do a few of our own.  More pricey, but nice when in a pinch.  If not, the party would have been a flop because we only could use about 6 of the 35.  We ate dinner and the lasagna turned out really yummy.  Definitely my favorite food on the planet (well, next to chocolate).  Chayden liked it too, so that is what counts. 

I then finished with the dessert, laminated the tags and did another million other things to get ready. We had Tyson's party in celebration of his 30th birthday tonight.  It went well (details below).  I was exhausted. It has been a busy weekend and with not much sleep.  Carson's birthday is tomorrow so it could keep being crazy but they aren't celebrating it tomorrow because they are going to Lagoon. He is such a sweet kid and I hope he has fun.  I rescued Mr. Cat from a major cat fight with Tough Enough at 11:30 p.m. tonight.  Dang cat!

dear happy 30th birthday tyson,

 Today would be my Tyson's 30th Birthday! Planning on spending the day remembering and celebrating his amazing life! Happy Birthday in Heaven Bud!  I'm sure you're doing a few fireworks up there! We all love and miss you so much!!! 
☆¨´`'*°☆.¸.☆¨´`'*☆
․☆´`'*.☆¨´`'*☆
`☆ TYSON☆
․ ․`'☆.¨´¸☆¨..☆¨
․ ․ ․ ․`'*..¸.☆...*
FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS

Dave and I headed to the cemetery and my parents were already there because my Dad got the time mixed up. They were sitting in their lawn chairs by Tyson's grave.  I got everything set up while Dave did the balloons.  McKay showed up with the table and chairs and visited with my parents.  Visitors started arriving and then more and more and more.  Holy cow, we ended up with so many people this year. Tyson was definitely well loved and we felt it tonight.  

Everyone visited for a bit and then I gave anyone a chance to say a memory about Tyson but I wish Dave would have done it because I felt like he would have done a much better job. I was too nervous and totally just winging it. Never a good idea.  Oh well, we did have a lot of good memories. My Dad shared when they were on the golf course next to the hospital and they escaped to go find golf balls and Tyson was gathering up a bunch and some man yelled those were his.  Lynn shared about when him and Sky was at their house and they were playing and he got ...............Tiff talked about ........(can't remember these two- I'm gonna have to ask someone and come back and add them!). Cyndi said she loved it when someone at the funeral said how he would take the magnets off of one car and throw it on another one and say, '"That was  his and now it's theirs".  Matt talked about when they would be driving and Tyson would yell out the window at random people, "Get a job ya bum!".   Dave's mom said that he had a strong testimony.  Karen said how when Micky had two pigtails he would say that it was hurting her brain and he would take them out and redo her hair.  Sam said something I can't remember as did several other peeps.  I talked about when the cop pulled in our driveway right behind Tyson and got out saying that they had a report that a 12 year old was driving this car and he had been following him and he tried to lose him. When Tyson got out of his car, the cop said, "Oh, hi Tyson".  He knew him well because he had been pulled over so many times because he looked too young. 

It was fun and hard to believe he's been gone for so long.  Crazy.  We then did balloons and luckily we had enough.  It was kind of a disaster all together, but turned out okay. Some popped. Some released them too soon. Some just wouldn't go up.  But all in all it worked out okay.  

We ended up releasing my parent's 60th balloons as well.  That was fun to watch them float up and still be able to see them so far away because they were so huge.  We put a tag on them as well.  I was going to save them because they last forever and use them for Dave's 60th but this was funner and more people enjoyed it.  

The fireworks had to be on a smaller scale than usual because I can't find the big ones anymore.  Oh well. It worked. I now no longer have any fireworks and not sure where I will get them because they either quit making that kind or quit selling them here.  

We still did the did the traditional fireworks even though a couple people told me I would be doing jail time this year if I did because of the fire restrictions. Haha  Tyson would have loved that!  LOL  Well, then throw me in the slammer!  I would never NOT do them because fireworks were Tyson's favorite! 

Then we had chocolate ecstasy. We had so many peeps that I wasn't sure we would have enough but we ended up with leftover because we cut them so small. 

Some of Tyson's buddies and their posterity!  Crazy!  Life goes on...

Missing several peeps because I forgot to take a group photo before everyone started leaving.  :(   Oh well.  Such is life right?  Dang. Everyone's family is growing. I am always so amazed at the support we get each year for this, but this year was possibly the most we had and with those who usually come that couldn't this year, it for sure would be.  It is a great tribute to Tyson and how loved he was and still is.  Miss ya buddy!  So. Much.

My Facebook post:

Celebrating our Tyson's life and what would have been his 30th birthday yesterday! 🎈 His life reminds us all to be more grateful and to live life to the fullest. We sure do miss this guy! 😇 We know he was well loved and still is from all the love and support we received in his memory! 🎇#happyheavenlybirthday


dear random, 

Sure so love this little guy!

It came!!!

THIS is a great talk given at BYU on comparing and self worth something it seems everyone is doing more and more these days thanks to social media.  Take five minutes and read the article the Church News put together on it. 
https://www.ldschurchnews.com/living-faith/2018-07-05/we-are-not-all-meant-to-be-the-brightest-star-byu-professor-talks-on-discovering-self-worth-47527