Lofthouse Family

What Do You Think?

2012-01-15T22:18:00.000-07:00

I decided to change things up with a new header and background. The lemon wallpaper looking thing appealed to me for some reason. The picture is one we took for our Christmas card.

So...It's been a couple of months. During that time we celebrated Halloween, Thanksgiving, Rusty's Birthday, Christmas, and New Years. Fun was had by all.

2012 is looking like a good year, so far. Ryan started his second semester at Snow College. He had a blog now. Getting in Tune. You should check it out. It's awesome. The kids just finished up the second term at school. Tracy is ready to start teaching piano lessons using the Simply Music method. That should be great. I am still anxiously awaiting word from my editor about the schedule for Defenders of the Covenant. Pray that I'll hear from her this week, okay? I have been invited to speak at Timpview High School's Career Fair in February! I am excited, but also nervous. And I feel a little like a fraud. Hopefully, it'll go well.

Here are some pictures, since no blog post is complete without those!

Our Christmas Eve jammies

Camary got a horse

Sam got an electric bass

Finlay got computer games

All the big boys got Rubik's cubes

Xander got "crashy cars"

Not sure why I don't have a picture of Ryan. He got an mp3 player. A Sony Walkman, actually, which I find kind of amusing. Rusty got one for his birthday. Incidentally, we had church at 9am on Christmas. We came home, got back in our PJs and opened presents afterward.


On January 2, we went for a hike up our canyon and happened to run into my dear friend Suzette.

Camary's art work on our new white board. I use it to announce what we're having for dinner,

Xander's prize for using the potty consistantly

Well, hopefully it won't be another two and half months before I post again. See y'all later!

Punkin Carvin'!

2011-10-30T18:36:00.005-06:00

Yesterday was pumpkin-carving day at our house. Here are a few pictures.

This pumpkin is waaaay creepy...

Just ask Xander!

The lighting of the pumpkins.

The final display on the front porch.

Taylor Family Halloween Party

2011-10-23T16:46:00.001-06:00

The Taylor Halloween Party was last week on the 15th. Before I went to the party, I went to my friend Michelle's book launch party. That was fun! I can't wait to have a launch party of my own. (Soon!)

She had it at this great little dessert place in Orem called The Chocolate. Mmmm. After that, I met up with the rest of the fam at Grandma's house for the party.

Sam went as Rusty. Hahahaha


Xander went as a pumpkin. Silly kid.

Camary was a cowgirl. Cute!

Finlay was a Jedi. Awesome. (And Tracy went as a photographer.)

I put on a witch hat for the occasion.

There were various activity stations for the kids:

My storytelling station was not all that popular.

We did the Monster Mash on the front porch.

We also had desserts and went trick-or-treating to Grandma Taylor inside. Very low-key compared to some Halloween parties past. We didn't have Rusty or Ryan with us, but it was still fun. It's nice to get together. It was a bit weird not to have Grandpa there telling us all to keep the door shut. ;)

More Birthday Fun

2011-10-16T18:37:00.002-06:00

Finlay turned 11 on the 2nd. We had his party the Friday before.


We ate pizza!


And a slightly crooked birthday cake.


He opened presents. Candy!

After that we went to see Kung Fu Panda 2. Pretty cute. For some reason I don't have a picture of him opening his present from Tracy and I the next day--an Agent P watch. A good time was had by all.

On the 11th, Xander turned four! I can hardly believe it.

His cake was also somewhat of a disaster. But it tasted good!


Blowin' out the candles.

He got a bubble Mater, since he loves all things Cars!

So, birthday month was pretty fun. Of course, we had Grandpa Bird's funeral in the middle of these two birthdays. Both my grandpas in six weeks! That's crazy. I will miss them, but I'm so grateful for the plan of salvation and for the atonement.

Now we are looking forward to Fall Break. Tracy will have to post some of the pictures he took of our breathtaking fall colors! Oh, and I'll have to post about the Taylor Halloween party too. Stay tuned...

Birthday Bash!

2011-09-25T21:45:00.000-06:00

Birthday week began with me turning 40. I decided instead of being sad about it, I would celebrate all the wonderful things in my life. I really have so much to be grateful for. Forty is awesome!

I got a camera for my birthday! My very own little camera that I can carry around and take pictures with. Like at writing events and stuff. Awesome!

I celebrated at my favorite place on earth (Salem Pond), with some, but not nearly all, of my favorite people on earth.

My writing friend Alaina and my roommate from college, Julie

Julie and her husband,

Alaina gave me the awesome fedora. The necklaces came from my parents and my friend Shelly

I wish I had gotten pictures of more of the people there. Don't know what I was thinking. My friend Shelly came with her husband Steve, my cousin Michelle and her family (thanks for the forty sucks--tootsie pops), the Woolston clan, and my friend Danyelle and her cute family. I so appreciated everyone who was there. We had a good time! =)

That was Saturday. On Monday, we celebrated Camary's and Tracy's birthday because we had no time to celebrate on their actual birthdays due to soccer games and all of our other activities.

My mom made Camary this cute skirt!

Our little cowgirl. She loooooves horses.

Tracy got some movies and popcorn and root beer to go with them.

We had cherry cheesecake that night. Mmmmm.

Then the next Saturday, we had a party for Camary with her friends.

Here they are playing with the balloons

The cowgirl cake. (Note to self: Use wax paper on the cake next time. Yeah, I have awesome decorating skills.)

Sam drew horses on all the balloons...

...except for the special dragon balloon he drew for Xander.

Now we've got Finlay's birthday a week from today and Xander's just 9 days after that. Fun, fun times!

Backpack

2011-09-04T21:17:00.001-06:00

On Xander's first day of preschool last Monday, he had a great time. But he kept on taking another boy's Lightning McQueen backpack and trying to claim it as his own. Xander loves Lightning McQueen and all things Cars related. I hadn't bought him a backpack at all, because really backpacks are preschool are pretty much useless. Still, to prevent further backpack theft, I figured I'd better go get him his own Lightning McQueen backpack.

We went to Walmart. There were no Lightning McQueen backpacks left. Of course. I flirted briefly with the idea of getting him a Lightning McQueen lunch bag, but it really wasn't the same as a backpack. Finally I found a small, plain black pack just the right size for Xander. I figured we'd stick some Cars stickers on it and call it good.

The stickers didn't work. First of all, Xander insisted on putting them on himself and they ended up in a big jumble in the middle. He loved it, but unfortunately, the stickers did not stick to vinyl well at all. The were falling off by the end of the next preschool class. I knew I needed a different solution.

I had a Lightning McQueen stocking cap that I bought for Xander one day to appease him when he wasn't getting the Lightning McQueen shoes he wanted. But he's never worn the hat. For one thing, it's way too big. Actually I think it would be too big for me even. Anyway, it had a great Lightning McQueen applique on it and I got the brilliant idea of cutting the applique off the hat and attaching it to the backpack. I used hot glue. Worked like a charm! Considering how totally non-crafty I am, I thought this was a major victory.

Cute, isn't it? You'll notice that one of the stickers remains. Now Xander has a snazzy one-of-a-kind Lightning McQueen backpack which he refuses to take to preschool! Ah, well. Maybe he'll decide to take it with him next week.

Some Summer Highlights

2011-08-28T21:15:00.000-06:00

Since I didn't post much this summer (sorry) here are a few of the highlights:


Sam turned 13!


He got a ukulele for his birthday.

We went to the zoo as part of our July 4th weekend.

We went to the balloon launch on the Fourth. There were Star Wars characters about!

The Darth Vader balloon. Unfortunately minutes after this, the wind kicked up and all the balloons deflated. It was fun while it lasted.

We enjoyed our favorite July 4th treat, firecracker strawberries. (I saw the same recipe in Family Fun this summer, but they had renamed them revolutionary berries. Whatever.)

Rusty playing in the Salem Days parade. We got an insane amount of candy at this parade.

Of course, you've already heard about our trip to Wyoming. Other than that, we spent the summer swimming, picnicking, watching Phineas and Ferb, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Stargate SG1 (we love streaming Netflix!) and generally enjoying ourselves.

Everyone survived the first week of school. They love their new teachers and classes. I think Rusty will love Salem Hills. Xander starts preschool tomorrow and I'll officially have a child in every level from preschool through college.

It was another emotional week for me. There were lots of tears and worries and more than one sleepless night. I am adjusting, though. Ryan is doing great and loving Snow. He made section leader of the Wind Ensemble! I'll be enjoying the time to myself while Xander is at preschool. Life moves on and it's all good!

It's Been Quite a Week

2011-08-21T19:11:00.000-06:00

My Grandpa Taylor passed away. I will miss him.

My parents and Tiffany came and stayed with us most of the week. It was good to have them here.

I got to see all of my family at Grandpa's viewing and funeral. The service was beautiful and I loved the Air Force Honor Guard at the cemetery. Very moving.

Our kitty, Alice, was hit by a car and killed. =( Darn it.

Saturday, we drove Ryan down to Ephraim and moved him into his dorm at Snow College. That was hard! I can't believe he doesn't live with us anymore. I sure hope he will make new friends and have a great time at college. I miss him already!

So, know I'm feeling tired and emotionally drained. School starts tomorrow, and although I love fall, the end of summer always makes me feel melancholy.

I am so thankful for the comfort of the Holy Ghost and the tender mercies of the Lord that have been with me all this week.

Madhouse 2011

2011-07-31T18:31:00.000-06:00

Well, it finally happened again. Almost as frequently as Orrin Hatch turns conservative, all nine of my siblings and I get together and terrorize some poor unsuspecting locale. We originally plotted to invade Anchorage, but due to many unfortunate circumstances, it wasn't possible. Instead, we picked a small town in southwest Wyoming, where my sister and her husband have procured several acres for their kids and horses to roam.

On our way up on Monday, July 18th, we took the scenic route through Provo Canyon and across the Mirror Lake Highway to Evanston. I have no pictures because you have to buy a recreation pass to even park on the side of the road on the Mirror Lake Highway. When did that happen? I haven't been through there in a very long time, so that surprised me. I was also surprised at the amount of snow that was still on the ground. We jumped out of the car at the state line and got pictures of everyone below the welcome sign, then continued to our destination and pitched our tents. The weather was generally nice, but we did get rained on at times for the first three days.

On Tuesday, we hit the old Mormon Trail for a short handcart pull.

The property owner of the Piedmont ghost town also took us on a tour of the charcoal kilns and some of the old buildings and told some stories about the town and some of her ancestors.

On Wednesday, after a scrumptious breakfast cooked on camp stoves, we headed for Flaming Gorge to raft the Green River. We commandeered seven 8-man rafts for our group.

Finlay showing us how tough he is. Unfortunately for him (and Sam), it clouded up and rained for the first half of the float and he about got hypothermia.

Camary, Angie and Xander - ready to hit the water. I don't have any pictures from the actual float because I didn't want to risk my camera. Which means I should have stayed close to my brother who has a water-proof camera. Oh well.

On Thursday, we were supposed to visit some museums and possibly a water park, but no one really wanted to pack up the kids and drive somewhere. So we basically just hung out at my sister's house and did various things. We took our shotguns and rifles up and several of my brothers brought handguns, so we did some shooting. The younger kids spent a lot of time on the trampoline. Especially Xander. I think he got in at least eight hours of jumping.

The kids also got to ride on a horse for the first time. Camary was ecstatic. We were planning on sticking around until Friday morning, but the old bodies decided it was time to sleep in a bed again. So we came home Thursday night.

And that's enough for now. I have a ton of pictures, but this will have to do.

Coming Out of the (Water) Closet

2011-07-10T16:59:00.000-06:00

In the debate of nature vs. nurture, there are myriad stereotypes bandied about by both sides. Frankly, I find some of these to be very offensive and I, for one, stand firmly on the side of nurture. See, in my house the only time the lid is left up is when the in-laws come to visit. It doesn't matter who it is - my mother-in-law, my father-in-law or my sister-in-law - the lid is always up after they've visited the bathroom. I have raised four boys who, without fail, put the seat down after doing their business (as an aside, the fifth boy is still very much interested in the lid being up; but seeing as how he's only three years old, I figure there's still an opportunity for improvement). The funny thing about all this is that my wife - who, interestingly enough, actually lived with my in-laws for 18 years - also puts the lid down. Perhaps, being the oldest, she got out of the house before the bad behavior had taken root. But rather than conjecturing on something I don't completely understand, let me tell my side of this bucking-of-the-stereotype.

My grandma crochets these cool little yarn balls stuffed with quilt batting. They're usually about the size of a softball and are fantastic for pelting siblings (although there were plenty of occasions where something harder was desired). One of our favorite uses for these balls was a game we called "Deer." One person was designated the hunter and was armed with the "bullets," and the rest were the deer. We had a fantastically big house with a staircase at each end that lent itself well to all-out running, and provided a way to effectively avoid the hunter. This resulted in numerous injuries from tripping over things in the dark or running into walls or furniture - or each other - and endless arguments about whether the bullet had actually hit its mark. But probably the most memorable moments came when a deer was hiding in a bathroom and the yarn ball ended up taking a swim in the toilet because someone had left the lid up. This became known in my mind as a "Tidy Ball." It would probably be more accurately spelled "Ty-D-Ball" in honor of the "Ty-D-Bol" toilet cleaner which was apparently pretty popular in the 1970's. I attribute the name to my older brother Eric.

He had a clever way of seeing a name on a bag or a box, a TV ad or a newspaper and turning it into an epithet. For example, there was a bag in the laundry room that had a label on it that said "Barbizon Flannel." Eric unleashed this in a name-calling attack on one of my younger brothers. It was eventually shortened to simply "Barber," and that nickname stuck with him for some time. Of course, we had our own names for Eric, but they were rarely spoken to his face. Otherwise, we might have been called something much more egregious, such as "Gubernatorial Candidate." In any case, you can imagine the terror that rippled through the deer population when word came that the hunter had a "Tidy Ball." I mean, who wants to get hit by something so unspeakably disgusting? Even if you didn't take a direct hit, there was collateral damage as the ball spun by, spraying its deadly payload on anything within a few feet. I never gave much thought to the discomfort of the hunter carrying one of those things around. Unless I was the hunter. Then I really wanted to nail someone with it and hear the satisfying squelch as the "Tidy Ball" left a big wet mark in the center of someone's back. It soon became a habit to go through the house and make sure every toilet lid was down before we started playing a game of "Deer." Eventually it became something that I just did each time I used the bathroom. So while using the term "nurture" to describe how this came about might not be completely accurate because my parents had nothing to do with it and I would be hard-pressed to call my brothers nurturing, it was certainly not something that I was born with.

That's it then. The truth is out. I'm a man. And I put the lid down after I use the toilet.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

2011-06-05T20:02:00.000-06:00

That's fingernail polish. 'Nuff said.

Graduating

2011-05-29T20:30:00.000-06:00

Here are some pics of Kindergarten, Seminary and High School graduation. It was wonderful to have my mom and dad and Tiffany here for Ryan's graduation. I thought I would cry, but I didn't. I was so happy and proud. It was a really great day. Way to go, Ryan! Great things are ahead of you.

Camary and her teacher, Mrs. Nelson, on Kindergarten graduation day.

Ryan and his seminary diploma.

Pomp and Circumstance

High School diploma! Those yellow cords are for high honors!

All of us on graduation day. Way to go, Ryan!

So, you want an update, do you?

2011-05-22T18:16:00.001-06:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know it's been a while. I was kind of waiting for Tracy to put together a video of spring break and well, time just slipped away. There is still no video of spring break. But that's okay. You can see pictures of our spring break on Lindsay's blog. We had a great time.

Well, let's see. It's been a whirlwind of concerts, awards assemblies and other end of the year stuff. May always seems to pass by in the blink of an eye. Here's a little about everyone:

Xander is crazy as ever, microwaving burritos, going outside whenever he feels like it, getting into Sam and Fin's room and playing with their legos... You get the idea. I am trying to potty-train him. It's going...slow. He loves to snuggle with me and have me sing "I Am a Child of God." He sings along too. So cute!

Camary graduated from Kindergarten last week. She did so well this year and she's reading like a pro! She even reads aloud from the Book of Mormon during family scripture study. Today she made a little house for her toy animals, complete with furniture made from play-dough. So cute. Right now she is helping Tracy make cinnamon rolls. Yum!

I went to Finlay's author party at school Friday and got to read all of the stories he's written this year. He's terrific. And doing so well at everything in school. I don't know if I mentioned he got braces on his front teeth. This makes him look like a mini-teenager. So adorable!

Sam is just finishing seventh grade. He has been in the advanced orchestra this year--one of the only seventh graders in it--and he is first chair bass! Plus he is one of the only seventh graders in the jazz band. He played electric bass at their last concert. It was great. Sam is so creative. He's always drawing or writing or making up his own languages (just like Tolkien!). He's getting taller too.

Rusty just finished playing soccer with the Salem Shooters. Unfortunately, they lost every game. =( But I think he had fun, in spite of spraining his ankle last week. It's feeling a lot better now. Rusty tried out for the high school jazz band (yes, he'll be in high school next fall) on the bari sax and he made it! He'll also be doing marching band again this year.

Ryan graduates from high school on Wednesday! I can hardly believe it. He's graduating with high honors. Tomorrow I am going to go to the Senior Sob Assembly to hear him perform a song that he wrote. It'll probably be the Mom Sob Assembly too. I am so proud of him. Eighteen years old! Wow. He's got so much wonderful stuff ahead of him.

I (Angie) had my novel accepted by Walnut Springs Press! I. Am. So. Excited! I have been waiting for this day for seventeen years. It will be out later this year, hopefully in the fall. I am having a blast coming up with fun ideas for the launch party. I hope you all will come to that and celebrate with me. I finished this year's Christmas story. Yeah. Last week was my Musettes concert. It turned out well. Tracy made a video of it, so if you are ever at my house and want to watch it, you can. I also ended my term as president of the Musettes. It was nice to serve, but I'm glad to have a break now.

Tracy is gardening, making videos, taking pictures, and working, working, working. At the moment he's making cinnamon rolls. What a guy!

So, ya still reading this looooooong post? I started a new facebook profile for family and friends that I actually know and feel comfortable sharing more personal info with. It's Angie Taylor Lofthouse (my regular profile is just Angie Lofthouse now), so if you'd like to be friends on that profile, please add me. I added too many friends all at once, so Facebook has banned me from adding more friends. =( But I think you can add me. Hopefully my friend adding ban will be lifted soon. Whatever, Facebook!

Here are some picture highlights, since I know you all want pictures with these posts:

At the Jacob Hamblin Home

Dying Easter Eggs

Ryan heading out to prom

Sam on electric bass

Rusty playing soccer

Pelicans on the pond in Springville

Catching Up

2011-03-27T22:10:00.000-06:00

So, I know I need to post here again. The thing is, I don't have any great pictures or exciting events to write about. My brain doesn't feel like putting together beautiful sentences right now, either. I guess I'll just ramble.

Let's see. Finlay won 2nd place in the pinewood derby a couple of weeks ago. That was exciting. Best our family has ever done in a pinewood derby. Rusty is playing soccer on a freshman/sophomore team that's not actually affiliated with the high school. It's a club team. I think they're called the Salem Shooters. He'll be getting his learner permit in a week or so. Not sure how I feel about that. (Well, I feel good about it. I just don't want to be the driving instructor). Camary is super excited about her first loose tooth. The adult tooth is already growing in behind it, so hopefully it will fall out fast! Ryan got glasses. He doesn't have to wear them all the time. Only for reading. I got new glasses too. It's nice to be able to see again. Hmmm...that leaves Sam. Let's see. He started a project for his family life merit badge. Something to benefit the whole family. He is organizing and cleaning out the toys in the common room. That's quite the project!

Tracy and I talked to each of the kids individually today. We want to do that every week, but it's been a couple of months. It was nice to talk to them. We discussed topics from Ryan's impending adulthood and future plans to Camary's loose tooth. It was nice.

Oh, yeah. I didn't talk about Xander yet. Xander. Oh, man. He is quite the little handful. So cute and yet such a terror too. Still, I love it when he says "I love you, too." Or the other day when he said. "I just so love you, Mom." Awwww. Almost makes up for his reign of terror in Sacrament Meeting every week.

Tracy got a tripod for his camera at last. He's wanted one forever. (Really. For.ev.er) I'm so glad he finally got one. He's been having fun with it. You can see his pictures on Facebook. (I would post some here, but blogger isn't letting me.)

I still haven't heard from the publisher who expressed interest. I'm dying from the suspense. Three other authors (that I know of) have signed with this publisher since they contacted me. I don't know if that's good or bad for me. (I am happy for those authors, though.) Their books are all coming out in like two or three months, which is super fast, so I hold out hope that they will want to buy mine for later this year too, but I don't know. I fluctuate between hope, despair and frustration. But I'm trying to choose hope! (I can't really talk about this over on my writing blog, though it has to do with writing. I don't want to stick my foot in my mouth in any way.)

Well, sorry to ramble on for so long. Basically, we are doing well. We have our ups and downs, but who doesn't?

Love you all!

A Week Made of Awesome!

2011-02-20T14:55:00.000-07:00

(Except for the part where we all got the stomach flu one by one and I had to clean puke off the carpet.)

Aside from that, I have had like the best week ever. It actually started on the 11th, when Tracy and I went to stay in this Bed and Breakfast in Spring City.

Cute, huh? It's called the Osborne Inn, and I highly recommend it if you want to stay somewhere in Sanpete County. It was next door to this beautiful church:

Neat, huh? Built in 1902. I almost wanted to stay until Sunday so we could go to church there. We went over to Ephraim that night so Tracy could play for Ryan's music scholarship audition. It turned out to be a pretty laid back audition. I felt like Ryan did well. Anyway, I got sick the next day, so we won't count that in the week of awesome.

Last Monday, we celebrated our nineteenth anniversary! Yeah for us. Tracy, I love you. You are awesome.

Tuesday, I got the following email from a publishing company who shall remain nameless at this time:

Dear Angie,
Is Defenders of the Covenant still available? I have read a portion of it, and we may be interested in publishing it this year. If the manuscript is still available, please send me a detailed synopsis by chapter.

Woohoo!!!! Happy dancing!!!! It's not a sure thing yet, but pretty darn close. Keep your fingers and toes and all other appendages crossed for me. Or say a little prayer. =)

Wednesdays are always awesome. I sent off the chapter synopsis and had Musettes.

On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I went to Life, the Universe, and Everything, a Science Fiction symposium at BYU. It was so much fun. If you read my writing blog, then you know that I got to do some panels there. That's just a dream come true for me. I was so nervous at first, but I learned something. I LOVE sitting in front of a room full of people and talking about writing! Seriously, I loved it. Two of my panels were with the hugely popular, successful Dave Wolverton. I was just in awe. What an honor to be able sit on a panel with him. I saw so many of my writing friends and made so many new friends. (If you want book recommendations, I have them!) It was a great three days. And Tracy stayed home and took care of the kids. I got home last night to find them playing board games together and the house all clean. What a guy! We topped off the week of awesome by going out to Coldstone for ice cream.

Pretty cool, huh? Hope you guys all had a great week too!

Come Thou Fount

2011-01-21T20:50:00.000-07:00

I missed one of my rare chances to record some music without background noise last week, but I decided to record anyway and hope there wasn't too much to overcome. I think it turned out alright, but definitely not CD quality. Anyway, I collected some videos from last year and various pictures I've taken over the years, and set them to my arrangement of Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. Enjoy!

December 2010 In Concert

2011-01-01T18:25:00.000-07:00

The promised video clips. Enjoy!

Coming Soon!

2010-12-19T22:23:00.001-07:00

Video clips from all of our concerts! (This will be coming soon, right Tracy?)

Stay tuned!

Just Another Blog Post

2010-12-05T23:14:00.000-07:00

Here's Finlay in the Fourth Grade County Fair with his clay diorama of Bryce Canyon. He had Garfield county. I didn't even know where that was, but now I do! (The entire population of Garfield County is less than 5,000 people). He did a good job on his project.

We had a great Thanksgiving dinner at home. Sure wish mom and dad could have joined us, though.

We bought a Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving and decorated it on that Saturday. The kitties think it's the best toy ever. Between them and Xander the poor Christmas tree hardly stands a chance. At least they haven't knocked it over yet. (Knock on wood.)

Ryan went to a Snow College open house and walked with a two-year full tuition scholarship! Way to go, Ryan. All that hard work in school has paid off. I'm so proud of him. I know he'll do great in college. It kind of freaks me out to think of him leaving home, though. My babies are growing up!

Well, I hope you are all enjoying the Christmas season. If you live anywhere near Springville, my Musettes Concert is next Sunday, December 12, at 7pm at the church at 355 E. Center St. Please come! Ryan and Tracy are playing a piano duet for us. It's going to be a great program.

A Little of What You Missed

2010-11-22T14:07:00.001-07:00

Here is a video of some clips we got of Ryan performing in Les Miserables at the high school. The performance was amazing! Those kids are so talented and they put their whole hearts into the play. I pretty much bawled my eyes out the whole time.

(Honestly! Tracy got the video ready, but I couldn't upload it with blogger. I had to upload it on YouTube and embed it. Sheesh! This is why I don't post videos often.)

In the final scene, Ryan at the back of the stage a little to the right of center. Watch close and you can see him here and there.

Anyway, it was absolutely incredible. If anyone lives close enough to drive down to Salem Hills High School, tonight it their last performance. You should go see it! You will be glad you did.

On Saturday, Tracy, Rusty, Sam and Finlay wen to the annual ward turkey shoot (shotgun shooting) and Tracy and Rusty both won a turkey! Here are some pictures:

Rusty and Bryce strike a pose

I just love that look on his face

Finlay awaiting breakfast

Sam looks happy

Our New Additions

2010-11-08T12:14:00.000-07:00

Our two old cats, Rugen and Button, just aren't catching the mice anymore. It was time to get some new cats. I wasn't very happy at the prospect, but we had a mouse in the house last week. Ick! So, it is definitely time to do something. Our neighbor, Jay's cat had five kittens out in his hay stack, and we are now the happy owners of three of them. The kids are thrilled. They are really cute.


Hazel and Skippy playing

Alice, the most wild of the three, in the basket


Hazel, the tiniest and most cuddly

Skippy, the male--the biggest and most brave

We ROCKED October!

2010-10-31T23:14:00.001-06:00

Here's how:

Rusty and Sam performed in their first concert of the year:

Ryan performed in his first concert also. It was awesome and included the choir and dance company too. We neglected to bring the camera, but it rocked!

Tracy caught a great big fish:

(He let it go after that.) Tracy also went to L.A. for the Adobe Max conference last week. It's a big computer conference. He had a great time.

The Marching Band garnered two more first place trophies and two second place finishes a point or less behind first. They were also invited to perform for the crowd after the 5A bands at the Bridgerland tournament at Utah State yesterday. They rocked the house! They have one more competition this weekend in St. George. Good luck, guys!

I set a goal to finish the novella I was working on. That would require twice as much writing as I would normally do in a month. And I did it! I finished "Renegade" on Friday. Wrote 89 pages this month, which doubled my previous monthly record. Read about it on my writing blog. I also started exercising regularly for the first time since I sprained my ankle six months ago.

We had a great time at the Taylor Family Halloween Party:

I even made sugar cookies (a minor miracle). I love how they both have big gobs of frosting, but no cookie.

We had some Halloween fun too. A hail storm complete with thunder and lightning hit just in time for trunk-or-treating at the church. We did it in the gym instead of outside. When we came out of the church, there was the brightest and most beautiful double rainbow I have ever seen. Here's a picture of the kids after we got home. They made out like bandits on the candy!

Here's hoping November will be just as great!

Xander's Birthday, Fall Break, etc...

2010-10-24T21:47:00.000-06:00

(Blogger is driving me crazy tonight! Argh. I can't get it to do anything right!)

Xander turned 3 years old a couple of weeks ago! He thoroughly enjoys his birthday, after witnessing four others in the month beforehand. If someone wished him happy birthday, he would get angry and say, "No, it's my birthday!" Very funny. Tracy got a video clip of it, but again, I have not yet learned the secrets of video posting. Sorry. Here he is blowing out his candles. Don't look at my poor crooked, pathetic cake. It tasted good!

Over fall break, we went to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving point. All in all, we had a good time, but it was hot! I got sunburned. That's not supposed to happen in October. After Cornbelly's we took everyone out to dinner at Chuck-A-Rama. It was a fun, tiring day.

Squinting into the sun when we arrived.

A little bit lost in the corn maze.

Xander found a walking stick, er, stalk.


Most of our little piggies.

In the world's largest rocking chair.

The boys had almost as much fun in the princess playland as Camary did.

More Pics

2010-10-06T10:14:00.000-06:00


Camary blowing out her candles on her sixth birthday in September


Ryan's Homecoming group


Ryan and his date, Kaylynn at Homecoming

Finaly blowing out the candles on his tenth birthday last week

Pictures from the Winning Competition--Enjoy!

2010-10-06T09:51:00.001-06:00

Their show is called "Recharged: The Music of Styx." They play Mr. Roboto, Show Me the Way, and Come Sail Away. It's awesome.

Congratulations, Guys!

2010-10-03T23:21:00.000-06:00

I'm a little late here, but last Saturday (Sep. 25), the Salem Hills Marching Band competed in their first tournament of the year, the Nebo Tournament of Bands at Payson High School.

(Argh! Blogger won't upload my pictures and it's just too late to fight with it. Maybe I can post them another time.)

Anyway, they did awesome! They won First Place and Outstanding Visual Performance and Outstanding Musical Performance.

Way to go!

Has Anyone Seen my Brain?

2010-09-19T23:08:00.000-06:00

Just wondering. It seems to have gone AWOL. Like when I went to the story to get hamburger buns and tortilla chips. I came home with buns and Ruffles. Yeah. I didn't even notice I had got the wrong chips until well after I got home. And right now, I can't even remember any of the other stupid and dingy things I've done that I was going to post here. Oh, well. That's probably for the best.

A couple funny stories: The other night while praying before family scripture study, I asked, "Please bless that our testimonies can be shaken...I mean strengthened!" That was pretty much it for scripture study that night. Tonight we were listening to some music, and Camary asked, "What did she say?"
"Be a little bolder."
"Be a little boulder?" (You could tell by the look on her face that's what she thought I said.)

Okay, it's late and this feels really random. I'm going to bed.

G'night!

Yeah, so I'm a little behind in the blogging...

2010-09-12T17:48:00.000-06:00

The school year is in full swing now, complete with homework, football games, soccer and Musettes. It's fun. We went to the zoo Saturday as part of Sam's school project to plan and execute a family activity. Here are some pictures from our trip:

We had a good time. It's birthday week! Mine was Friday, Camary's is Monday and Tracy's on Tuesday. As a bonus this week, my mom and dad are here! They are refinishing our deck for us. Thank you, thank you, thank you! It's fun to have them here.

Here's some fun with birthday balloons:


Finlay

Sam

Princess Camary

Xander Man

School's In Session

2010-08-29T22:47:00.000-06:00

The boys went back to school this week. I did take a couple of "first day of school" pictures, but to post them I would have to go downstairs and get the camera, pull them off the camera, upload them to blogger... You're out of luck. Anyway, like a dope, I forgot to take Ryan's and Rusty's pictures. Oops.

Sam went back on Monday for 7th grader day. They get to go alone without the older kids and find their classes and figure out their lockers and such. He did great and his orchestra teacher moved him into advanced orchestra. He'll also be playing in the jazz band. (I think being a Lofthouse is helping him out!) He's playing the bass, by the way. Since carrying a bass back and forth to school would be impossible, we're renting one bass for home and one for school.

The other boys started on Tuesday. Finlay is in fourth grade. He has two teachers, Mrs. Turner and Mrs. McKee. They each teach half a day. Mrs. Turner just moved up the street from us. Cool. Rusty started ninth grade. It's at the Jr. High where Sam is going. He's playing bari sax in the concert band and trombone (yes, you read that right) in the jazz band. (That's two more instruments to rent). Oh, and tenor sax in the high school marching band. Ryan is a SENIOR! and the drum major of the aforementioned marching band. He's taking a bunch of really hard classes. I'm sure he'll do great.

Camary starts Kindergarten on Tuesday. She went in for her assessment last Wednesday, and did great. She has Mrs. Nelson, who taught Finlay in Kindergarten. She is so, so excited and can't wait to wear her new school clothes.

Last Thursday, Tracy and I went to the temple with the Lupiens (I am probably spelling that wrong), a couple from Quebec that Tracy taught and baptized on his mission (the wife, anyway.) I'd tell you their first names, but I have no idea how to spell them. Maybe Tracy can help me out. They came to Provo to drop off their oldest daughter at BYU. It was awesome to meet them and be in the temple with them. They are incredible people and it was such a neat experience. We took a picture, and Sister Lupien said she'd email us a copy, so when she does I'll post it.

Tales of Xander

2010-08-22T22:47:00.000-06:00

I know you love them. So do I. At least after the fact.

He is so stinkin' independent that it's not even funny! He wants to do everything by himself. He climbs up on the vanity in the downstairs bathroom, where there's about an inch of space between the sink and the edge, and gets himself a drink of water. If I help in any way--like turning on the water, getting the cup for him, or even trying to steady him on the precarious edge--he gets highly offended. He'll dump out the drink and start over, because he has to do it all himself. The other day, though, he brought me a drink of water at lunch that he'd gotten for me all by himself. It even had a straw in it, which as you know makes any drink extra special. My heart just melted.

Our new van has a power sliding door. He loves the power door. He's obsessed with it. Every time we get in the van, he yells, "I push button! I push button!" The button in question is on the inside of the van, so we have to open the door and he gets in and presses the button, which closes the door before everyone else gets in. Then he gets mad if we open it again. Sigh. Once he's buckled in, he can't reach the button, which usually results in a lot of complaining that he wants to "push button!" Same deal when it's time to get out. I hope the novelty of the sliding door wears off soon!

At church, he loves the Sacrament (a spiritual giant. I know). Actually, when it gets to our bench he yells, "There it is, Mom. Toast!" He's also been singing in church. I think I mentioned that before.

On Friday, he fell asleep at the swimming pool around four o'clock and didn't wake up until 8:30. Then he stayed up until about 1:30 am. Argh. When I tried to take a much needed nap on Saturday, he kept coming in about every ten minutes. I know I could lock the door, but when I do that, he stands there and kicks it and shouts, "Mom!" It's much worse than just letting him come in. I was a little ticked off that the rest of the family wouldn't keep him out of my room, but I know how hard it is to keep a handle on that kid. Besides, he climbs into bed with me and says, "Puppy." Which means he wants to be my puppy and snuggle with me. Of course, this puppy always meows.

I could go on and on. This little guy sure keeps us all on our toes!

We love you, Xander.

Salem Days Parade

2010-08-15T20:12:00.000-06:00

Saturday was the Salem Days Parade and the first parade of the season for the Salem Hills Marching band. Here's Drum Major Ryan at the head of the band swinging his Drum Major baton (which I have learned is called a mace.)

And Rusty with his saxophone.

We were sitting near the end of the parade so they were hot and tired and Ryan felt like his arm was going to fall off, but to me they looked perfect. When they came by (playing music), I cried. I mean, who cries when a marching band goes by? A proud mom, that's who.

Fishing!

2010-07-27T06:26:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago, we went fishing in Huntington Canyon to celebrate Sam's birthday. There wasn't much in the way of catching fish, but we definitely caught the fishing bug, so we went again last Friday. Hopefully there will be more before school starts!

News and Stuff

2010-07-25T17:34:00.001-06:00

The A/C in the Suburban went out, and it ended up being another $1000 repair. Ugh. We decided it was time to stop dumping money into that thing, so we went and got ourselves this:

It's a 2009 Toyota Sienna with 34,000 miles--far newer than any of our other vehicles. It seats eight. I'm very happy. It gets 2x the gas mileage of the 'burban. I love the two sliding doors and the back windows that roll down. It's pretty nice.

We celebrated Pioneer day by going fishing on Friday night. On Saturday we went swimming and later Tracy and the kids climbed the hill behind us to watch the fireworks in Spanish Fork.

Xander has started singing in church. He opens up a hymn book and sings at the top of his voice with great enthusiasm. It doesn't resemble what the rest of us are singing, but he sure sounds like he's enjoying it. I love it.

Everyone else is doing good and getting excited for school to start soon. I can't believe how fast the summer has gone!

In Joy or Pain

2010-07-18T23:20:00.000-06:00

I need thee every hour, in joy or pain. Come quickly and abide or life is vain.

Maybe it's my new calling in the Relief Society Presidency, but it sure seems like bad things are happening all over. My neighbors lost their 18 year old grandson in a boating accident. The neighbor next to them is dying of liver cancer, and she is only in her fifties. The 18 year old girl on the hill above us rolled her truck and is paralyzed from the waist down. She was a world champion rodeo rider. Another neighbor on the street just lost her father, who was a member of the ward. Friends of mine are getting divorced. Many in our ward are dealing with unemployment and hard economic times. Tracy's uncle passed away last week. And family members on both sides of our family are suffering through serious difficulties. It's enough to make you really depressed.

But if I have learned anything from my own trials and troubles, it is that the Lord is always there for us, no matter what. If we turn to Him and trust in Him, He will get us through even the worst difficulties, and He can bring us joy and peace even in the middle of our pain.

Elder Holland said:

Are you battling a demon of addiction—tobacco or drugs or gambling, or the pernicious contemporary plague of pornography? Is your marriage in trouble or your child in danger? Are you confused with gender identity or searching for self-esteem? Do you—or someone you love—face disease or depression or death? Whatever other steps you may need to take to resolve these concerns, come first to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Trust in heaven’s promises. In that regard Alma's testimony is my testimony: "I do know," he says, "that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions". . .Brothers and sisters, whatever your distress, please don't give up and please don't yield to fear. . .If you are lonely, please know you can find comfort. If you are discouraged, please know you can find hope. If you are poor in spirit, please know you can be strengthened. If you feel you are broken, please know you can be mended.

(I remember when he gave this talk in April 2006. It was an especially difficult time in my life. I wanted to give up. When he said, please don't give up, I felt like the Savior himself had his arm around my shoulders, pleading with me personally to keep going.)

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. --John 16:33

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. --Romans 8:28

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. --Romans 8:38-39

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. --Isaiah 41:10

My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes. --D&C 121:7-8

Hang in there, everyone! With the Grace of God, we'll all make it through.

Have You Been Savoring Your Summer?

2010-07-11T17:23:00.000-06:00

We have!

Now for an ironic story:
For my 200 followers blog giveaway, I had to order a copy of the anthology Unparalleled Journeys which contains one of my short stories. It was one of the prizes. The anthology came out in 2005, so all that was available were two used copies on Amazon. I picked one of those and ordered it. When it came in the mail, I opened up the front cover and found the following inscription:

To Grandpa Bird

Love, Angie

Enjoy!

Yes, that's right. I bought Grandpa Bird's copy of the book. That means I have now paid for that particular copy twice!! I wasn't offended. I realize that his books were probably all sold or given away when he moved to the rest home. I knew he read my story, though. There were food stains on the pages. :) Well, now it belongs to a lady in Miami Beach. I wonder if it'll make it's way back to me again someday. (As long as I don't have to pay for it again.)

Deacon, Teacher, Priest and Elder

2010-06-28T15:19:00.000-06:00

Sam was ordained a Deacon yesterday, along with two of his friends, so now I have a Deacon, Teacher, Priest and Elder. How cool is that? What a wonderful blessing the priesthood is! I am so very thankful for it and for all the great men in my life who hold it.

Blessings come in other forms too. Late last night I had to go down to the basement for TP. As I started down the stairs, I had the horrifying realization that last time I had come downstairs for TP, I had taken up the last of it, and of course promptly forgot to do anything about it. I wanted to cry. It was late on a Sunday night and that time of the month. (TMI!) What was I going to do without TP? I had reached the bottom of the stairs by then, and looked up to find one last package of toilet paper still there in the basement. Crisis averted. Thank you, Lord. I went to the store today and bought 36 packages of toilet paper. That's 144 rolls. So, we should be good for a while

Okay, you probably didn't need that story. I hope everyone has a terrific Fourth of July!

Celebrating Summer

2010-06-13T16:07:00.000-06:00

Here are the things I love about summer:

Fresh fruit. Strawberries, watermelon, cherries, grapes, pineapple, peaches, plums... I hope my fruit gorge during the summer makes up for the fact that I don't eat it in the winter.
Barbecues.
Picnics. Yeah, more food.
Swimming pools and the smell of sunscreen
Thunderstorms
Camping
No schedules
No socks
Sitting on the porch swing and watching the stars
The smell of pines coming down with the canyon breeze in the evening
The Fourth of July

Summer is so short! Savor every moment.What do you love best about summer?

Our Musicians

2010-05-26T11:52:00.002-06:00

After long, painful hours fighting with various video editors and codecs, I finally got a montage of our boys doing their musical thing. Maybe it would be worth a few bucks to buy something that would make video editing easier, but I'm cheap. :)

All four of these guys have done fantastic work in developing their talents. It has been very enjoyable to hear them perform, especially the high school Jazz Band. Makes me wish I would have kept going on the trombone myself!

In Rusty's Defense

2010-05-23T17:45:00.000-06:00

Well, he may not be fancy, but Rusty can make a mean chocolate chip cookie, and does so almost every Sunday. In fact, he's baking cookies right now. Mmmmm. Can't wait. Also, he was named the Jazz Band MVP at the Fine Arts Award Banquet. He and his friend wrote a song for their Ender's Game book project (with piano, sax, and vocals) and it totally rocked! As you may know, Ender's Game is one of my favorite books ever, and I was quite impressed with their song. I'll try to get them over here so I can record it.

Ryan tried out for and was chosen for Drum Major of the marching band this year. Way to go Ryan! He'll be awesome. (That kid on the trumpet in front of him in the picture is the assistant drum major.) I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but he was also given an Outstanding Soloist award at the State Jazz Band Festival, and he scored an impressive 32 on the ACT. Just three and a half more days of school, and he'll officially be a senior. Oh. My. Goodness. I'm not that old am I?

Sam performed in the sixth grade talent show. He played "Dark Horse" by David Lanz. Not an easy piece at all. (Heck, I couldn't play it.). He played it all from memory. It wasn't perfect, but it was still pretty impressive, especially for someone his age. I know his friends were all very impressed. Yes, we did capture this on video, but I have not yet figured out the secrets of posting videos, so you'll just have to wait. (Tracy is creating video montages of the kids performances. They are going to be awesome. We will post them soon, I hope.) Sam also received a certificate for being nominated by his teachers for the Kiwanis club Terrific Kid award. (Rusty won that award when he was in fifth grade.) Good job Sam!

Ankle update: It's improving. I can walk without crutches, but I think I used it too much this week, because it was so sore and swollen after Ryan's band concert last night, that I just wanted to cry. In fact, I did cry. But I made it to church today. Tracy held my hand while I slowly limped through the halls. I think I will still have to rest it quite a bit, but I'm heading into my fourth week of lameness, and yeah. I'm not really that patient. I have missed May! But at least I have been able to get to all the kids performances and awards banquets. Can't wait for school to be out. Thursday is the last day. Summer fun awaits!

Fancy People

2010-05-16T20:06:00.001-06:00

Today at dinner, Camary asked, "Are fancy people real?" She's been asking about lots of things lately, like, "Is Disneyland real?" and such. I told her that yes, fancy people are real. "Where do they live?" I told her they live all over. In fact, we could probably find some fancy people right here in Elk Ridge. (This is more likely in "upper" Elk Ridge, not down here in "lower" Elk Ridge, where we live.) Rusty jumped into the conversation with, "I'm fancy." Camary quickly rebutted that idea. "Fancy people don't fart and stink all the time. Also, they keep their rooms clean. Your room stinks like a skunk!" Yes, indeed. It would seem that Rusty is sadly not fancy.

I missed blogging last week, because I just didn't feel like it. Shortly after posting on the 2nd, I came down the stairs with Xander in my arms, missed the last step, and sprained my darn ankle! (Blast this family ankle curse.) Tracy and I were at the ER in Provo until one am that night. So, basically I've been laid up on the couch for the better part of two weeks. (I blogged about it on my writing blog, if you want to read that.) Thank heavens for good friends and a kind, helpful husband. My ankle is improving. I still have to use crutches, but I can put a little weight on it, so the crutches aren't so hard. I can also walk a short distance without the crutches, which makes getting around the bathroom and kitchen a whole lot easier. It's been a pain, but at least I can see improvement.

P.S. About that "upper" and "lower" Elk Ridge remark, I really do love this town. I haven't ever met anyone snooty. It's really just an indication of elevation and not social status, but with the big houses up there, the term has always made me smile.

May 2, 2010

2010-05-02T19:36:00.000-06:00

Three weeks in a row! Aren't you proud of me? Yes. Yes, you are. Speaking of pride, I was inordinately proud of this:

It's a pretty sloppy french braid, but I did it! It took me four tries to get it to look this good. I know I used to be able to french braid. I remember doing it as a teenager, but I've lost the skill. Camary so rarely wants her hair done that I don't get to practice, either, so I was really happy to do it for her today, even if it doesn't look the best.

This week was Ryan's Nebo Youth Philharmonic concert:

Rusty had a couple of soccer games:

And I had my Musettes concert:

Yes, it's concert season. This week we have Rusty's concert and Ryan's jazz band concert. Speaking of jazz band, Ryan's band teacher suggested that he take some private lessons from Mr. Burton (don't know his first name) who teaches jazz at Snow College and is the best trombone player in the state. He agreed to give Ryan lessons starting this Friday. The best part? As long as Ryan practices, the lessons are free! He has to drive out to Ephraim, but still. That's just awesome. What a great opportunity for him.

I'll leave you with a picture of Xander cooking lunch for us:

What a sweet little chef!

Busy, busy week

2010-04-25T23:36:00.000-06:00

Some of the highlights:

Sam's Monster Concert. All the sixth grade orchestras in our school district played together. (That cute little girl right behind him used to be in our ward in Springville. I can't believe how fast these little ones grow up!)

Ryan turned 17!

We celebrate by going out to dinner at Chuck-A-Rama (after I got home from the writing conference), and eating homemade cake and ice cream (that Tracy made). Ryan got three Star Wars novels and two Meredith Andrews CDs.

On Saturday, he went to prom with his friend and fellow trombone player, Michelle Biggs. Aren't they so cute?

Tracy went to the Utah County Republican Convention on Saturday, and I spent the weekend at the LDS Storymakers writers conference.

You can read more about that on Notes From the Writing Chair, but not tonight. I'll post over there tomorrow. Sam went on a scout camp out over the weekend too. And it was Stake Conference. Never a dull moment around here!

Xander and Stuff

2010-04-18T23:32:00.000-06:00

Perhaps I should set a goal about how often to update here. Maybe every Sunday or something. If you'd like to see pictures of our fun spring break, check out Tiff's or my mom's blog, or see Tracy's Facebook page. He posted all our pictures there.

Xander is learning more words all the time. He has finally started to call Camary Camary instead of "yai" like he used to. He can say all of his brothers' names, but for some reason he calls Finlay Sam. He calls Sam Sam too. He can say Finlay (or at least Fin), I've heard him. He just refuses to. Maybe he's just being rebellious. Xander refers to himself as Der, because I guess he can't make the Z sound for Xander. Of course, his brothers think Der is hilarious, so I have to threaten them not to call him that. He said his first sentence last week. "My head hurts." Ah, what a sad sentence. It's so cute to hear him say, "What happened?" whenever something falls down. I think he believes that "what happened" means "something fell down." He says it when he falls down too. He'll come up to me crying, and say. "What happened, Mom. What happened." He's not asking. He's just telling me he fell down. His favorite food is "chowat." (That's chocolate, if you can't tell. A child after my own heart.) He loves, loves, loves to watch the movie Cars. I usually wake up to him asking, "Watch Cars, Mom?" Sadly, since I usually don't want to get up as early as he does, I turn on Cars. Sigh. My friend suggested I switch the language to French and call it an educational experience.

We got a gecko from our hometeacher. He raises them. I was reluctant. The kids have been asking forever to have one. I finally relented. They've been taking good care of him, and I have to admit that he's growing on me. He really is kind of cute. Ryan took the ACT last week. He's going to prom on Saturday, the day after his 17th birthday. Man, time goes by so fast. Rusty is playing Spring soccer. I don't usually allow Spring soccer, as one soccer season per year is enough, but I let Rusty do it after forbidding him to play lacrosse, which broke his heart. Sam and Finlay will be doing an after-school karate class for about three weeks. That should be fun. I got Camary all registered for kindergarten in the Fall. She's very excited. Tracy was elected our Republican precinct chair, so he gets to be a delegate to both the State and County conventions. He's been attending lots of political meetings, getting tons of mail, and I'm about to switch our phone to an unlisted number so we stop getting "public survey" calls. It's a good thing for him to be involved. Oh, I got elected the precinct secretary. Not sure what, if any, duties I actually have with that. I guess I'll find out. My R.S. calling is going well. We went up to Salt Lake for Auxiliary Leadership Training the week before conference. It was really good.

I guess that's about all for now. See ya later!

Tagged!

2010-03-10T12:05:00.000-07:00

I was tagged for this on my writing blog, but I'm doing it here too. (Don't worry. I'll try to make them different.)

I like the smell of rain, the sound of thunder, the brief vision of lightning.

I like summertime and hanging out with the kids when they are out of school.

I like Christmas.

I like going to church on Sunday.

I like our new HDTV.

I like that I get to be a stay-home mom.

I like picnics in the park.

I like camping in the mountains.

I like wearing slippers on cold days.

I like going barefoot on warm days.

I like living in Elk Ridge.

I like petting kittens.

I love my family.

Today was so far, so good.

I hate getting angry.

I hate addictions.

I hate being criticized.

I hate seafood.

I hate rap music.

I hate running errands.

I hate the constant ringing in my ears.

I hate getting up before 8am.

I (secretly) like snacking on raw macaroni noodles.

I love my Savior.

I am going to tag Mom, Lindsay, Tiffany, Amanda, Mandi, Michelle, and anyone else who wants to post it. I'd love to see your lists!

Yeah, I'm a Slacker

2010-02-16T12:09:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I've slacked off this blog. I guess I just don't really have time for two blogs, so this is the one that's suffering. Bear with me. The family is doing great. I went to BYU's Science Fiction Symposium last week. It was awesome (you can read about it on the writing blog.) Tracy was nice enough to babysit for me.

We celebrated our eighteenth anniversary on Sunday. I'm so glad that we've made it this far. Love you, Tracy!

In other exciting news, I was called as the 2nd counselor in the Relief Society presidency. I'm over the Relief Society Meetings (formerly known as enrichment, formerly known as homemaking). Right now, I pretty much have no clue what I'm doing, but I'll learn.

Tracy became a Team Lead at work. It's kind of a cross between manager and programmer, and I know he'll be just great at it.

The kids are great, busy with school, band and scouts and stuff like that. Ryan is hoping to earn his Eagle before June 1, so that he can get the award at a Court of Honor they are holding at the Stadium of Fire. How cool would that be? Good luck Ryan.

Here are a few pictures, so you don't forget what we look like:

Tender Mercies (and a Temple!)

2010-01-25T22:02:00.001-07:00

President Monson announced a temple in Payson today! Oh, this makes me so, so happy. :) Temples are such a great blessing in our lives. I am so excited. The temples are definitely a tender mercy from the Lord.

Tender mercies come in other forms too. Last night at dinner we were discussing what everyone learned about at church. (We all learned about the Fall. Everything is so coordinated!) Camary said she learned, "About whether we want to live with Jesus or Nathan." Nathan? Who's Nathan? "Satan?" I asked. "Yeah, that." We don't spend much time talking about Satan at home. Well, her little mispronunciation caused me a hysterical giggling fit. If you've never seen me have a hysterical giggling fit, you're really missing out. Well, that giggling fit turned out to be a tender mercy for me. Right before she said that, I was feeling ornery. Really ornery. In fact, "Nathan" had put it into my heart to do and say some really nasty things just then, but you know what? After laughing so hard, I didn't feel grumpy at all. Not one little bit. Thanks, Heavenly Father!

If you feel you can help...

2010-01-19T12:35:00.001-07:00

My friend Sherri, mom of eight and all around amazing lady, needs help raising $22,500 to get necessary back surgery so she doesn't remain bed ridden. Read her story here, and if you feel you can help it would sure be appreciated.

Home Teachers

2010-01-10T23:20:00.001-07:00

Well, I haven't posted for a while here, so I thought I'd just talk about some random stuff. Whatever comes to mind. Rusty was ordained a Teacher last month and was assigned to home teach . . . us! He's now our home teacher's partner. They came to see us today. We keep teasing Rusty that he has to walk down to Brother Hansbrow's house (just four doors down), and then come to see us. We also informed him that now that he's our home teacher, he has to cheerfully help us out with whatever we ask him to do. :) Okay, he pretty much does that anyway, but not always cheerfully.

Xander got hold of a flashlight during our home teaching visit, and thought it was just hilarious to shine it in Rusty's eyes, and then in Brother Hansbrow's eyes. Then to run away giggling when Dad got up to get the flashlight. He also unloaded videos and tried to plug in the TV games. Then he rammed his dump truck into the kitchen cabinets. Kevin (Bro. Hansbrow), said, "I love this place." I think he really meant it. He also said he was going keep Sophie, his two year old daughter, away from Xander, since he's crazy. (I don't think he really meant that.)

Rusty also gave a talk on the Priesthood in Sacrament Meeting today. He did a wonderful job. I was so proud. We also had a departing missionary and a returned missionary speak. The chapel looked like Stake Conference with all the visitors, but I felt like I was singing a solo when I led the hymns. Come on people! We're singing Called to Serve for heaven's sake! Put some life into it!

Here is a picture of our home teacher (and his lovely wife) on the pioneer trek:

Our Christmas Season in Pictures

2009-12-31T18:02:00.000-07:00

Hope yours was as merry as ours!

Concerts:

At the Mall to see Santa:

Taylor Family Christmas Party:

Cookie Baking:

Snow Fun:

Christmas Eve:

Christmas Morning:

Hope you all have a very Happy New Year!!!

O, Christmas Tree

2009-12-06T22:22:00.001-07:00

We bought ourselves a real, live Christmas tree this year for the first time in like 14 years! It is so much bigger and more beautiful than the old artificial tree. And the smell . . . I'm in heaven. When Tracy put the lights on it yesterday, though, he gave serious consideration to a pre-lit tree next year. I don't know. I don't think I can go back to fake now.

We decorated it this afternoon:

Ryan must have been a little sleepy.

Rusty was comatose on his bedroom floor.

Don't know what's Sam's doing here.

The finished product

Xander likes to feed the kitties. Their bowl is outside, so today it was freezing cold. You can see he's trying to hold it with just one finger on each side.

Anyway, we're looking forward to a wonderful holiday season. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Don't miss my earlier posts from today:
Finlay's Grandparents Day and The Music Man
Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

2009-12-06T21:38:00.000-07:00

On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we attended Denise's annual Thanksgiving dinner, held at Megan's house in Highland this year. The kids played outside despite the freezing weather.

Dinner was yummy, but then it started to snow pretty hard, so everyone took off. The drive wasn't bad until we got close to our house. Then it was pretty much white-out conditions. We made it home safe, though.

We went to Vegas for Thanksgiving this year. It was fun! The weather was perfect and it was fun to see everyone. We even got to see Tiffany for a few minutes before she left for Arizona. Ike, Madi. and Becca stayed over every night, which was fun for all the kids. We even had Auri and Andrew stay on Thanksgiving night. The dinner was so yummy, despite the now infamous roll incident. The kids played with marshmallow guns, which made a lovely mess in the backyard.

My true personality shines through

We were sad that Amanda and Lenny were sick, and we didn't get to see much of them. Lenny came to dinner, though. On Saturday, my mom and dad celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary! Way to go! All in all it was a fun holiday, and I have so much to be thankful for.

P.S. Don't miss the post about Finlay and The Music Man below!

Grandparents Day and The Music Man

2009-12-06T19:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm trying to catch up a little here. On Nov. 20, Finlay's class put on a Grandparents Day program at school. He was really happy to have Grandma Cindy and Papa Larry and Grandma and Grandpa Lofthouse join him for this special day.

They sang songs like "Grandma's Feather Bed" and "It's Always Fun When Grandpa Comes."

I was so impressed with how loudly and enthusiastically the kids all sang. Finlay very efficiently served us all treats at the end. It was a fun time.

Later that night, we all went to see Ryan in The Music Man at the High School. It was a very impressive production.

They worked hard on it for months. For a while, I felt like I never got to see him. The show was terrific, but it's nice to have him home more often, too.

Guns and Music Boxes

2009-11-20T14:09:00.004-07:00

Last Saturday was our annual Turkey Shoot. Ryan was busy with a school play, so he didn't come this year, but Rusty and Sam braved the cold and came with me out to West Mountain with many others from the ward. It was snowing when we had breakfast, but the clouds broke up a little and it wasn't too bad when the shooting started. Here are a few pictures.

Sam didn't actually shoot this year. A 12-gauge is still a bit much, so he bummed around with his friends and collected shells.

Rusty shot well again, but wasn't lucky enough to win a turkey. Maybe next year!

Here's a shot of several of the youth in an Annie Oakley style competition.

Now for a completely unrelated topic. I recorded some of my practice time on the piano last Sunday. I don't often play things flawlessly, and this isn't flawless either, but I got a pretty good rendition of Music Box Dancer, so here it is. (The setting-the-table noises in the background are an added bonus.) Feel free to critique!

Happy 60th Birthday, Papa Larry!!

2009-11-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

For your birthday, the Lofthouse clan is going to share some of our favorite memories of you!

Camary: I remember talking to you on the swing when you came to watch my Primary program.

Finlay: I remember the day we went swimming together. It was fun.

Sam: I remember we would always get our bikes out, and whenever we got tired or thirsty, you would get us an otter pop and it was really good!

Rusty: I remember when you helped me fix my bike down in Las Vegas. We fixed a bunch of loose screws and stuff.

Ryan: I remember when you fed me ice cream and root beer when I was 2 months old. (No, I really don't remember that.) I remember all the times that you took me driving with you.

Angie: How to choose just one? One of my most recent favorites is sitting on the porch swing and talking early in the morning about life and eternal things.

Tracy: I remember working together on the ship show, especially the day you called Angie and told her how I "bumped my arm a little."

We all have many more memories than these. We love you so much and appreciate the time we get to spend with you and all that you do for us. You're the best!

Happy Birthday!

Wisdom from Kleenex

2009-11-12T11:21:00.001-07:00

I just noticed this on the bottom of a box of Kleenexes (we go through a lot of those), and it struck me as both hilarious and profound at the same time.

Kiss calm, cool and collected goodbye!

Don't be bashful. Don't be shy. It's time to unabashedly let it out*! So be messy. Be imperfect. Be liberated and free. Be what you are. Be human. Blow it loud and blow it proud with KLEENEX Tissue.

* Trademark of Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. (Yes. That is on the box. Don't abuse the phrase!)

Clouds Over Mt. Loafer

2009-11-09T11:41:00.000-07:00

I Love to See the Temple

2009-11-01T17:29:00.000-07:00

I gave a little presentation in Relief Society today, and thought I'd share it with all of you too.

Ezekiel 11:19 says, ". . . I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of [your] flesh, and will give [you] an heart of flesh."

A little over a year ago, in August of 2008, I went to the temple—this is embarrassing to admit—for the first time in over a year. That is definitely my record for temple non-attendance, and I was determined that it wasn't going to happen again.

Not coincidentally, at that same time I had some intense spiritual experiences that were the culmination of a process that I had started at that time three years before. I attend an LDS Family Services Addiction Recovery Family Support Group, and I have for four years now. I could talk for a long time about the twelve steps and what an inspired program it is, but I'll just say that by earnestly working those steps, at the time that I went back to the temple I had received, through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, that new heart the scripture talks about. I felt like a new person, like I had actually been reborn. Outwardly, the difference was probably not that big, but inside, it was huge.

Part of that change of heart for me was a whole new perspective and love for the temple. It's not like I didn't love the temple before that; I did. But it felt like such a chore to go. Oh, we're so busy, there's so much going on, it takes so long. Let's just wait for a more convenient day. Well, sometimes a more convenient day didn't come for a while, like fifteen months.

Now, I feel differently. As I said, that came with a mighty change of heart. Now my feelings for the temple are more like this scripture in Alma: "Yea, methought I saw, even as our father Lehi saw, God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels, in the attitude of singing and praising their God; yea, and my soul did long to be there."

Okay, I have never seen a vision of God, I've never even had any big Wow experience in the temple, but it does feel like that to me now. I feel so much peace and so much love and joy. It feels like coming home, and my soul longs to be there. I can't wait to go to the temple. I look forward to it. Instead of months, I think, I haven't been to the temple for like three weeks. I want to go again.

How wonderful was it to have two temple open houses and dedications this year? That was so exciting for me, especially because I could take my kids. Most of them could even go to the dedications, and did you notice how it felt different in here during those dedications? It really did become a part of the temple. I have a love for the temple now that I just didn't have before.

To go along with that, Elder Christofferson, Elder Scott and Elder Bednar all spoke on the subject of temples and our covenants in the April General Conference. Those talks, along with all the lessons we've had this year in here and in Sunday school about the early saints and the first temples in this dispensation, have given me a deep and profound gratitude for my temple covenants that bind me to my Heavenly Father. Nothing can ever change that. Nothing any other person could do to me, nothing that could happen to me in this life can ever take those covenants away from me. I might choose to be disobedient and break those covenants, but it would be my choice. Heavenly Father will never break the covenant, and no other power on Earth or hell could do it. Those promises are sure and they are beyond comprehension. That is such a blessing and a comfort to me to know that.

When I drive down the canyon, I can look across the valley and see the Provo Temple and I can look across the other end of the valley and see the Mt. Timpanogos Temple and the feeling of love and peace comes back to my heart just from looking at them. So even though I can't always be inside the temple, but I can always have the temple inside of me.

I want you to know that all of this came to me as a gift through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the power of His Atonement, from a loving Heavenly Father who wants me to come home.

We got a camera!

2009-10-29T14:42:00.000-06:00

We got ourselves a fancy new camera that can even do videos. Too bad we didn't have it in time for Rusty and Ryan's awesome band concerts. We did get some cute pictures of other stuff, though.

The Halloween Party:

Pumpkin Carving: (See? Ryan is still a part of the family)

Our Piano! (Thank you so much, Denise!)

Xander continues to be Xander:

Someday, I'll get the other film developed and I'll learn how to post videos. Happy Halloween everyone!

Fall Break

2009-10-18T16:33:00.000-06:00

This week was the school break formerly known as UEA weekend. We had planned a trip to Vegas, but since we are going next month for Thanksgiving, we decided to stay home this time. On Thursday we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Taylor. It was nice. They have the Halloween decorations up. We had a good visit. Grandma said that sometimes when she's awake at night, she runs through the list of all her great-grandchildren to see if she can remember all their names. I can totally see myself doing that someday.

Friday we went to the Hogle Zoo. It was so fun, and way better than going in the blazing heat of summer. I love the zoo. The baby elephant and giraffe were soooo cute. It was fun to watch Xander get excited about the animals. When we got home, Ryan had some friends over for the beginning of a Lord of the Rings marathon. We watched the Fellowship of the Ring. I always love that. We ate popcorn and candy and pizza. Mmmm. It was a good day.

Saturday, Tracy and I went to the temple in the morning, and Ryan and Rusty went to do baptisms for the dead in the afternoon. Half our family at the temple! Yeah! Ryan went to his friend's house for the conclusion of the LOTR marathon, and Rusty went to a friend's house to watch The Incredible Hulk. The rest of us didn't do much, but that's okay.

Sunday, I was glad to be home to go to my awesome ward. The choir sang. Tracy is the director. I think we sounded pretty good. I enjoyed the Sacrament Meeting talks and the lessons in Sunday school and Relief Society. It has been a peaceful and relaxing afternoon, especially after a two and a half hour nap. (I needed that!)

Earlier this week, I experienced total parental dental failure, but I don't want to talk about it. If you haven't been on the new Family Search site, I highly recommend it. It's not available everywhere yet, but if you can, you should check it out. It's amazing. I don't think they could make family history any easier! It was pretty cool. (Thanks to David for the link on facebook.)

This week we have two band concerts to look forward to, the Taylor Family Halloween party, and the primary program on Sunday.

Long Overdue Update

2009-10-11T22:44:00.001-06:00

We've had a lot of blog worthy events lately, but I haven't blogged about them because first of all, I thought I'd wait and post about all of them at once instead of individual posts because I'm lazy like that. Secondly, our camera broke (nice, passive, no-blame sentence), so I don't have any pictures to post. We have taken pictures on a disposable camera and our old 35mm camera (how quaint and old fashioned), so we'll hopefully get that film developed in the next two or three years. (J/K. I hope.)

Anyhow-- Rusty's soccer team won the city league championship! Woohoo! Way to go! They were an awesome team. Rusty played goalie and forward and was great in each position.

Finlay turned nine on the 2nd. He got a blue MP3 player for his birthday. He listens to it a lot. We ordered pizza and had cake and ice cream on his birthday. Homemade cookie dough ice cream with actual homemade cookie dough. I love my ice cream maker. Yesterday (the 10th), we had his party. (We waited a week because of Conference.) We took him and some friends to see Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. So funny! The kids had a good time.

Ryan went to Homecoming that night. Wow. I can't believe he's that old! He took Ashley Rawle. They both looked so cute. They had a group of five couples and ate dinner at one boy's house, took pictures in the park, went to the dance, and went over to another boy's house to play games. Since it's Utah law that one cannot drive passengers until after you've had your license for six months, I drove Ryan and his friend Dallin and their dates, and Tracy drove them home when they were done (almost midnight). Anyway, I think everyone had a great time, and hopefully we'll have some pictures sometime.

Today was Xander's 2nd birthday. Awww. My baby is two! How time does fly. After witnessing the whole birthday ritual several times in the past month, Xander was absolutely thrilled that it was his turn today. I wish you could have seen his big smile when we sang him "Happy Birthday" and brought out his presents. He got two wooden puzzles, the kind that have knobs on the pieces, and a wooden cube with five different activities on it (a bead maze, shape sorters, clock face, etc.). He totally loved them and played with them all afternoon. After dinner, we had cake and ice cream. We sang "Happy Birthday" again and set the cake in front of him. Right on cue, without any prompting, he leaned forward and carefully blew out each candle on the cake. Words cannot convey the cuteness of that moment. He was delighted. We're so grateful to have him in our family. He's quite a little firecracker.

Okay, I think that's all. Someday I hope to have pictures to post again.

Gospel Teaching Moments

2009-09-25T10:50:00.000-06:00

Lindsay's gospel teaching moments (from her blog):

Also, another cute Auri story - on Saturday night we had a huge thunderstorm. It was really scary to Auri. I told her to say a prayer that she wouldn't be scared. She did and went to bed without any issues. The storm went on for a while that night. The next morning, Auri told us that the storm had awakened and scared her. But, it was okay. She said that the Holy Ghost spoke to her and told her the storm would pass. She was able to sleep fine after that. I. Know. What a sweet little girl!!!

My gospel teaching moment:

Camary: It's a good thing heaven has a floor or Jesus would fall down to Earth. And he'd be dead because you can't breathe in outer space.
Me: (slightly horrified) He wouldn't be dead! He was resurrected. He can't ever die again.
Camary: Oh. So, Jesus can breathe in outer space?
Me: Uh, yeah, He sure can.

Very important gospel principle. Jesus can breathe in outer space! You can't tell we're obsessed with sci-fi around here, can you?

Birthday Week!

2009-09-18T11:20:00.001-06:00

We had a lot of fun celebrating birthday week: mine on the 10th, Camary's on the 13th and Tracy's on the 14th. I got an ice cream maker for my birthday. Mmmm. I think it's time to make some more tonight! Camary had a birthday party with friends for the first time. I didn't get a lot of great picutres, but here are a few.

I think she had a great time. We played a few games and had cake and presents. It was pretty low-key.

We gave her a princess bike! How exciting.

On Sunday, her actual birthday, we had a family dinner to celebrate everyone's birthday. Monday was also our niece Kennedy's second birthday. She blew out two candles:

Then Camary blew out five candles:

Then Tracy and I simultaneously blew out 38/40 candles:

Camary got her gifts from Grandma Cindy on Monday.

Tracy got a food storage cookbook and The American Patriot's Almanac.

He and the boys played Risk:

And since I know you're all Xander fans, here's how he spent Tracy's birthday:

Basically covered in chocolate!

Onion Days Parade

2009-09-09T11:16:00.003-06:00

Remember last year's parade? There's a link to Tracy's vivid description, if you don't. Well, this year it was much sunnier and drier, but we were disappointed with the low amount of candy thrown! Here are some pictures:

The rest of the day was quite peaceful and relaxing--except for the basement flood (don't ask). We went out and bought a couple of apple trees for the backyard, and Tracy barbecued for us. Overall, a good holiday.

Ramblings

2009-09-02T09:54:00.000-06:00

Camary started her second year of preschool this week. She was excited, but also disappointed that her friend Sky won't be there this year. Her fifth birthday is coming up soon! Soccer season started last week. Rusty, Sam, and Finlay are all playing. We have 3-5 games per week. Yikes! I have learned to have serenity about soccer season. If I can't make it to all the games, then I can't. No problem. Last week we had the missionaries for dinner. Camary was so excited and talked non-stop the entire time. Ryan went on splits with them after dinner. That was awesome! The boys are enjoying school so far. Ryan is auditioning for the Music Man. Rusty is playing the bari sax in concert band and tenor sax in jazz band. He seems to be getting into band just as much as Ryan. In fact, they are both playing for the pep band at the high school football games. My little big boy got a haircut. He looks so cute.

He's still making fantastic messes, too, as you can see. One of his favorite things to do now is get a handful of toilet paper and splash around in the toilet with it. Hard to believe that he's almost two years old. Time goes by so quickly. I won a Christmas story contest. Yeah! You can read about it on my writing blog. The story will be in a collection of Christmas stories for sale starting Oct. 31. I'll post more details later. Tracy went mountain biking at Deer Valley last weekend. He only wiped out once, and got some impressive wounds. (We didn't take pictures, though. Sorry.) I sang a solo in church last week. Nearer My God to Thee. I think it went well. Anyway, birthday week is rapidly approaching (Tracy's turning 40!). I'm sure I'll be posting about that soon!

Mother/Daughter Camp Out

2009-08-23T14:02:00.009-06:00

This weekend, our ward had a mother/daughter camp out. I have to admit, I was reluctant to go. For one thing, it was far away--in Ophir, UT. If you don't know where Ophir is, you're not alone. Suffice it to say it was a 1 1/2 to 2 hour drive from our house, and we had to go through Lehi which, as you may know, is one of the classic blunders. (The first, as everyone knows, is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well known is this: never try to drive through Lehi on a Friday night!) Also (and I hate to admit this) I felt reluctant to give up my weekend writing time in order to go. But Camary was so excited about it, and the Relief Society Pres had asked me to bring my guitar, so I determined to clean up my bad attitude and go have a good time. I bought strings and fixed my guitar. I decided not to worry about how much I had written. I would go and have fun with my girl. I think the Lord blessed me for my willingness, and I found that I had already reached my 10 page goal for the week before we even left for the camp out. I survived the traffic in Lehi, and we made it to the cabin in Ophir. It was quite pretty up there. I played my guitar, but I had lost my voice due to a cold, so I didn't sing. I think everyone liked the background strumming, though. We had s'mores and slept in our little two-man (or woman in this case) tent. On Saturday, we made up skits and learned to hula. It was pretty fun. Here are a few pics of Camary having fun.

Camary on the slide

And the rings

Walking with a friend

On the rope swing

Today has been a good one. First thing in the morning, we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple dedication. How lucky are we to go to two temple dedications in six months? We heard a story about Heber J. Grant (I think), who made a long and difficult journey to St. George so that he could be married in the temple. He said he never regretted doing that, though he could have just gotten married and waited for the Salt Lake Temple to be finished and then be sealed. It made me think of Tiff and her decision. After the dedication, we had my best friend and her girls over for yummy breakfast burritos. It made for a great Sunday.

Back to School

2009-08-19T10:56:00.005-06:00

It's the first day of school. Ryan left at some insanely early hour to get to Marching Band on time. It starts at 6:30am. Hence, no picture. :( Good news, though--he drove himself there! I think I'll make him earn his keep with the car by picking up the others from school every day, and running other errands for me. Ah, another driver. How sweet it is. Ryan started his Junior year today. Wow. Time flies, eh?

Rusty left next, at seven, for eighth grade. He got us up at 6:50 for family prayer. (I went back to bed afterward.) I sent him to school with an ear infection. Ironic. He had an ear infection on the last day of school too. Problem? Maybe. He's feeling better today, though.

Sam and Finlay got to leave at the much more reasonable hour of 8:30. Sam is in sixth grade, his last year of elementary, and Finlay is in the third grade. Usually, the school has an open house the day before the first day so the kids can meet their teachers. They didn't do it this year. So, they're going in cold. Well, not Sam. He knows his teacher since Rusty had Mr. Applegate in fifth grade, and he is also the director of the school choir which Sam is a part of. Finlay's teacher, Ms. Orton, is brand new this year, though, so he gets to be surprised. I'm sure they're having a great time.

It's pretty quiet around here with just Camary, Xander and I. Xander seemes to be devoting his full energies to tormenting Camary. Fun, fun. Camary will start preschool again on the 31st. It occured to me recently that in just two years I will have a child in every level of education from preschool to college. Wild, eh?

A Thing or Two

2009-08-02T16:24:00.016-06:00

Camary took a little dance class during July, taught by the daughter of her preschool teacher and a friend of hers. I think she enjoyed it. They had a little recital after their last class. Here are a few pictures.

There is a benefit to having a boatload of older brothers. Xander found a Tonka dump truck down in the basement. His eyes got all big and excited when he showed it to me.

He said, "wow," over and over, and, "Yay!" and, "Oh, yeah." I cleaned it up and took it outside for him. He pushed it around making truck noises. Are truck sound effects inborn in boys? I think they are.
Ryan had marching band camp all last week. They learned their competition show for this year. He had a great time. Last night, the band performed the show for their families and we had a barbecue. The band sounded great. They are playing songs by Queen. Ryan has several trombone solos. He totally rocked, of course.

A couple of weeks ago, Tracy went to tour the new pipeline his company is building in western Colorado. He had a good time, but I sure missed him.

He is quite an awesome guy. He gardens, he grinds wheat, bakes homemade bread, cooks better than I do, leads the choir, plays the piano, accompanies me when I sing and takes care of all my computer woes. Not to mention his unfailing support of all my writing endeavors, no matter how much time I spend at it.

It's a shame how I get so hung up on his faults sometimes, because he really is quite amazing. I love you, Tracy!

I just posted another of my short stories, "Among the Silent Stars," on my blog, if you'd like to read it. I'd love to read your thoughts about it.

School Registration Time Again!

2009-07-30T11:29:00.002-06:00

Woah. Only three weeks left of our summer vacation. I took Sam and Finlay to the elementary school registration today. I must say they have certainly streamlined the process this year. I was quite relieved to only have to fill out one family information card instead of five different forms three different times for each kid. Of course, there was also the Residential Survey, which I refused to fill out. For some reason that just rubs me the wrong way. The government doesn't need to know what kind of house my kids live in. I also registered Camary for preschool--three days a week this year! I'm sure she'll have a blast once again. Hard to believe that next year she'll be starting kindergarten. Of course, she only misses the deadline by two weeks, so she really should be starting this year. But it's nice to have her home with me for an extra year. Next week is Jr. High registration, and we get to just mail in the High School forms. Or even just pay online. Cool.

So, with summer winding down it's time to think about shopping for new clothes and notebooks and pencils and backpacks. I always feel a little sad and nostalgic when summer ends, though I know the school year is filled with wonderful activities and events to look forward to. I feel the same way when the school year ends, too. My kids are growing up so fast! The years pass so quickly that I feel like I want to hold onto everything just a little bit longer, but I'm looking forward to the future at the same time. (I have actually given much thought to the thrill of becoming a grandmother, though that won't be for while yet.) How do you all feel about the end of summer?

More summer fun stuff

2009-07-16T14:58:00.016-06:00

"I don't know about you, but I'm all funned out." The Emperor's New Groove

Here are some pictures from the Neeley Family Reunion in Soda Springs, Idaho:

The kids ran through the sprinkler the other day. The water was cold!

We had a great time yesterday with Brooke and Jason's family, plus Denise with Megan's kids. We went on a hike up Loafer Canyon Road, ate ice cream and had a barbecue for dinner. Next week, we will hit some movies (Harry Potter anyone?) and maybe go to the zoo.

Camping Adventures and the Fourth of July

2009-07-06T12:03:00.020-06:00

Two weeks ago, we tried to go camping up Payson Canyon. Bad idea. We left late on Friday and found no place to camp anywhere. Instead, we stopped at a picnic spot, cooked our tinfoil dinners, made s'mores and then went home.

Last week, we decided to camp on Thursday/Friday, since Tracy had Friday off for the holiday. This time we left earlier and went to Diamond Fork instead. We found a lovely camp site and had a great time.
We had a long day on the 4th. Tracy and the boys woke up at 4:30 am to go down and stake out a parade spot. Then Tracy and Ryan ran in the 10k. Way to go, guys. I showed up much later with Camary and Xander and we watched the parade with Megan and Brooke and Denise and families. Then we drove up to Megan's for a barbecue. We got dinner at KFC, and went to eat at our usual firework watching spot below the temple, but we didn't stay there, because we had tickets to the Stadium of Fire. We walked down to the stadium and enjoyed the show, though I think the screaming girls were louder than the fireworks! It was fun. We walked back to the car, and waited on the grass for about a half an hour for traffic to clear out a little and got home about 12:30am. It was a killer schedule, and I think we'll just skip the morning parade from now on.

We have a busy week of fun activities planned. Then we're off to the Neeley Reunion in Idaho for the weekend. I love summer!

Cameo

2009-06-30T09:53:00.004-06:00

I don't post much since I started my gardening blog, so I thought I'd just say hello and share one of my all-time favorite Haikus (it was really hard to pick one out of the mess of Haikus I absolutely love).

One of the most insulting billboards I get to see on the way to work says:

Smart people buy cameras from a camera store.

So, now you know. I'm not a smart people.

Oh, and I saw an SUV on the freeway yesterday that was advertising a "mobile spa." It was pulling one of those trailers made from a pickup truck bed. Are you thinking what I was thinking?

Sam's 11th Birthday

2009-06-26T11:22:00.006-06:00

My kids are growing up! For Sammy's birthday on Wed., he invited five friends over and we all went swimming at the Payson pool. I brought along Ryan and Rusty to help keep track of everyone. Xander was asleep when we arrived, so Ryan took Camary to the pool, and I sat there on the towel and worked on my novel! (Eventually, he woke up, and I got to swim too.) How's that for a cool birthday party? Then we came home for cake and ice cream and present opening. Everyone had a great time. I'm all about easy when it comes to birthday parties! Sam wanted steak and baked potatoes for his birthday dinner. I bought rib-eyes. Mmmmmmm. It was so delicious! Now today he's on his first scout camp, at Adventure Park with the eleven year old scouts. The boys' first campout with the scouts always makes me nervous for some reason, but I'm sure he'll have fun. Here are a few pictures of the birthday festivities.

Our camera batteries were both about dead, so we got no pictures of candle-blowing. Bummer. Oh, and speaking of rib-eye steaks, yesterday we got the half a beef we ordered from Real Foods market, all organic and hormone-free and all that good stuff. Boy, am I excited for all those steaks and roasts! I'm going to learn to make brisket. I can taste it already.

"The Bearer's Oath" is Available!

2009-06-19T19:43:00.000-06:00

I am excited to announce that my novella, "The Bearer's Oath," is now available in Mindflights print edition issue #5. Order a copy here. The other stories in the issue are also great. You won't regret it. Oh, and isn't that cover just beautiful?

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

2009-06-12T15:12:00.000-06:00

Okay, as a writer, I don't exactly agree with that, but I don't really want to do a thousand word post right now, so here are a few pictures that speak for themselves:

Ryan's New York Trip:

The kids in the writing chair:

Xander's latest trick:

750 piece panoramic puzzle which Sam put together by himself:

Hobble Creek Heaven

2009-05-31T22:45:00.000-06:00

If there is anywhere better than Hobble Creek Canyon, I haven't found it yet. We went up there yesterday for a "day camp." Spending the night on Friday just didn't work out, but we got there around 1pm on Saturday ate lunch, relaxed, played around and had dinner, too. We even got rained on a little bit. I could go on, but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Xander literally careened around the campground. It was an adventure keeping him from going right into the creek.

Sam's been into whittling lately, ever since he found his pocketknife somewhere in the depths of his bedroom.

Fin was into jumping. From a log...

and a boulder.

Camary specializes in cuteness:

As does Rusty:

Mom and Dad relaxed (once Xander fell asleep for a bit).

All in all, it was a fun afternoon. But wait. Where's Ryan??? He went to marching band camp. He leaves for NYC bright and early tomorrow morning. He'll probably have the time of his life. We're sending the camera with him, so I hope he'll have some great pictures to post when he comes back.

The End is Near

2009-05-24T19:59:00.002-06:00

Last week was "Band Awards Dinners" week. On Tuesday was Ryan's band barbecue and awards. He made the turtles to bring. They turned out so yummy. Ryan got an award for being the top student in the marching band. Actually, he tied with his fellow trombone player, Michelle. They were the only two trombones in the marching band, and could outplay the rest of the band all by themselves. Awesome. Thursday was the concert band/concert choir performance at Salem pond. They put on a Memorial Day tribute to veterans. The music was terrific and scenery was breathtaking. Friday was Rusty's fine arts awards banquet. The power was out when we arrived and we ate dinner in the dark and listened to the teachers yell out the awards for the kids sans microphone. Eventually, the power came back on. Rusty got the Leadership Award for his band. Afterwards, Tracy and I took him out to Coldstone for ice cream. Mmmm. I am very proud of both of them and their fine qualities.

You'll note this post is picture-free. I never remember to bring the camera anywhere. Sigh.

So, what's new?

2009-05-19T16:01:00.005-06:00

Ryan's jazz band concert last week was fantastic! Unfortunately, I forgot the camera. As usual. Here's a picture of Tracy and the boys on their way to run the Payson Area Stakes 5k fun run.

Our ward won the coveted Golden Shoe award for having the most participation. I think over fifty people from our ward ran -- but that did not include me. I was peacefully asleep at the time.

I did remember to bring the camera to Camary's preschool program. It was painfully cute.

Sadly, our camera didn't take very good pictures. Time for a new one, I think. Camary sang loudly and knew the words to all the songs. She said her line, "I was playing with my friends, and we all shared," perfectly. It was a fun way to start our Family Night last night.

Tonight is Ryan's band BBQ and awards. Thursday he has his concert band concert. (Can you keep track of how many bands he's in?) Friday is Rusty's band banquet and awards. School will be out on May 29, and we can start our summer fun! Can't wait.

Never a Dull Moment

2009-05-08T16:22:00.002-06:00

It's been quite a week at our house. On Sunday, Ryan was ordained a Priest. It really reaffirmed my testimony of and gratitude for the Priesthood and the Gospel. That night was my Musettes concert, which I'm happy to report was a big success. Tracy's piano solo was amazing!

On Tuesday, we had to split two parents between three performances. I took Finlay with me to see Sam in the Hope of America program at the Marriott Center. It's part of the Freedom Festival. Tracy wrangled Camary and Xander through Rusty's Jr. High band concert and Ryan's Nebo Youth Philharmonic concert. That night, we also booked Ryan's plane tickets for his trip to New York City in June. (I'm terrified!)

Wednesday, we had our last Musettes meeting of the season, and I was unanimously elected Vice President (because no one else volunteered). That means next year, I'll be the President. I am really happy to serve on the Musettes board. They are such a big part of my life, and I love them.

Thursday, Ryan got his Driver License! Wow. I can hardly believe it. He drove himself to the movies that night. I went with the other kids to the walk-a-thon at the elementary. Both Sam and Finlay ran five miles. Good job, guys! I went over to Suzettes house afterwards to meet her sister Bethany and friend Elana, both fellow writers that I know online. It was nice to meet them in person.

Thats Suzette, Bethany, me, and Elana

Today was Finlay's Mothers Day program in his class. It was so cute. He wrote a biography of me which is just precious, and made some flowers out of cookies. Mmmm. Tonight, I'm going to see Star Trek XI. Yeah! Tomorrow, Ryan goes to Sadie Hawkins, Camary is going to a birthday party, and I (I hope) am going to the temple.

Sixteen Candles

2009-04-26T22:01:00.006-06:00

Ryan turned 16 on the 23rd. I can't believe he's that old already! We got him two Star Wars novels, a bike helmet, and a mountain bike -- a real one, not some Wal-mart special. He went on his first date on Friday, and will probably get his license sometime this week.

He will be ordained a Priest next Sunday. We are very proud of Ryan and the fine young man that he is.

So Far in April...

2009-04-19T17:38:00.017-06:00

So, I'm a little behind on posting stuff. Sam had his school choir concert on the 10th and 11th. The program was titled "Kids in Lights." They sang songs from Broadway shows. It was pretty neat. I watched it twice and was impressed both times. Unfortunately, I didn't really get any good pictures, but here's the best one.

After the concert on Saturday, we colored Easter eggs and then did an egg hunt indoors, since it was cold and rainy outside.

You'll note Ryan's absence from the Easter festivities. He was at an "anti-prom" party.

On Wednesday, the 15th, we drove down to Vegas to spend spring break. This is what it looked like when we left:
It wasn't snowing in Vegas, but it was windy and cold. Also Tracy, Sam and Finlay were sick, so it wasn't as fun as it could have been. We did have a good time, though. We saw "Race to Witch Mountain," and the kids had a great time with their cousins. I loved visiting with my siblings (and in-laws). We all went out to dinner together, which is always fun.

And some cute parting shots:

Yes, I do consider myself cute. You should, too. (Consider yourself cute, I mean. Not me.) I knew if I didn't take a self portrait, there'd be no pictures of me at all.

Don't miss Tracy's new hymn arrangement posts below!

Get It Free While You Can! Part Deux

2009-04-19T17:04:00.003-06:00

Here's my other hymn arrangement, Praise To The Lord. I have included links to the PDFs as well as mp3s. The recordings were done with a lousy recorder on a lousy piano by a lousy player (at least today). For what it's worth. :)

Anges de Noël - PDF (Angels We Have Heard On High/The First Noel)
Anges de Noël - MP3

Praise to the Lord - PDF
Praise to the Lord - MP3

Get It Free While You Can!

2009-03-31T07:39:00.002-06:00

I played my hymn arrangements (mostly incomplete) for some of my family on Sunday, and Paige demanded that I give her a copy. Actually, she asked nicely. So, here's a link to the only one I've transcribed so far. Once I collect enough, I'll try to sell a book or something, so get it free while you can!

Anges de Noël (Angels We Have Heard On High/The First Noel)

4-Year-Old Seeks Husband; Must Be Able To Dance

2009-03-29T07:11:00.003-06:00

A couple of days ago, Camary (our 4-year-old) came wandering into my room and said, "I still don't know who I'm going to be married to."
Me: "Oh yeah?"
Camary: "Maybe it will be Skyler's dad." (Skyler is one of Camary's friends.)
Me: "I think Skyler's dad is already married."
Camary, in a resigned tone: "I know."
Me, jokingly: "What about Beau?"
Camary: "The kitty?"
Me: "Yeah."
Camary: "No, he doesn't dance very well."

Camary frequently wonders who she is going to marry, usually assuming it will be someone's dad or one of Ryan's friends, so I tried to explain to her that her husband is probably about four years old right now. She gave me a look that said, "Right, like I'm going to marry a 4-year-old!"

So, if you know any 4-year-old boy out there, send him Camary's way in about 12 years. Just remember: He has to be able to dance.

The Cub-anapolis 500

2009-03-26T10:55:00.009-06:00

Brief announcement before beginning the post: Please everyone pop over to Notes From the Writing Chair and become a follower. Just scroll down to the Followers gadget below my profile and click the "follow" button. It's quick and completely painless. I want my blog to look semi-impressive should anyone (i.e. an editor or agent) decide to have a look at it.

Okay, back to the post.

Cub-anapolis 500 was the theme for pack meeting on Tuesday. The cubs decorated cardboard boxes to race in. Sam and Finlay turned theirs into pigs (purple and pink, respectively).

Sam's pig car

Finlay's pig car

They raced three laps around the gym, with their families acting as the pit crew.

Sam running in the boot "tires."

Getting gassed up with lemonade.

Finlay getting his windshield goggles washed.

Gas for Finlay.

Even Camary got into the action!

This is one of the most fun pack meetings I've ever been to, and I've been attending pack meetings for eight straight years now. After the race we had "flat tires." Doughnuts with ice cream on top covered in chocolate syrup. Oh, so yummy!

Ryan's Trombone Solo

2009-03-20T22:32:00.004-06:00

Angie mentioned Ryan's solo at the Solo and Ensemble Competition. We recorded a practice run, so I put a slideshow together with some pics we got. Enjoy!

New Gardening Blog

2009-03-20T07:14:00.001-06:00

I created a blog to chronicle my gardening experiences. I hope it's informative!

Loafer Canyon Gardening

My New Car! (And some other stuff.)

2009-03-18T11:12:00.007-06:00

It's a 2003 Chevy Cavalier with less than 60,000 miles on it. We needed something to replace the van (which died an ignominious death), and something that I can graciously loan to Ryan now and then once he gets his license (next month!), especially for things like 6:30 am Marching Band practice or early morning seminary or all the band activities I'm always running him, too. We were very blessed to be able to pay cash for the car.

Yesterday was the Region Solo and Ensemble festival at Emery High. Since Tracy was playing for Ryan and one of his friends, and since we love Castle Dale, He and I and Camary and Xander took a little day trip. It was fun. Tracy played for Ben first. It was two hours before Ryan's solo, so we went out and got some lunch. We got to the restaurant at the same time as the North Sanpete High band, so we had a looong wait for our food. It was worth it, though. Then we raced back to the high school for Ryan's performance. He did good, but I don't know yet if he qualified for State. We also go to see Tracy's Aunt Eileen and his cousin Sylvia and her husband, Kevin. Eileen was playing piano for lots of the Emery kids. It was great to see them. We drove home over Huntington and Fairview Canyon. So beautiful! It was a fun day.

UPDATE!!! Ryan did in fact qualify for State. Way to go, Ryan! And I neglected to mention that Aunt Eileen was Tracy's first piano teacher. Did a good job with him, eh?

Thunder Snow!

2009-03-09T21:57:00.007-06:00

Did someone mention spring?? Here's what it looks like at our house today:

And there will more tomorrow and possibly later this week. Suddenly, I'm in the mood for Christmas music again. It thundered during the snowstorm, though, which I find weirdly cool.

Other random tidbits:
Tracy got a new calling as the ward choir director. Yay! Go, Tracy. I'm sure he'll be great. He'll get his baptism by fire on Sunday when the choir performs. Ryan went up to the Region Honor Jazz Band at Snow College last week, and had a great time. Ryan is pretty awesome on his trombone. And did you know that Snow College has the best music education program in the state? Cool. Rusty has taken over the egg business and does all the work with the chickens now. We figured he wouldn't make much, though, so we're paying him $20 a month to do it. He's really been motivated by it. Xander continues his reign of terror. He can now open the DVD cases, so I may have to find some place new to store the movies. He went to nursery this week (a little early, but Tracy stayed with him.) Hooray for nursery! Don't you agree that the nursery leaders have the most important calling in the ward? I think so. Here are some more random pictures.

We visited Grandma and Grandpa Lofthouse after visiting the Draper Temple Openhouse last week.
We got to watch the thrilling end of the BYU-Utah basketball game.

Grandma Cindy will be happy to know that the chicken pillows are being put to good use:

So, basically we're just muddling along like usual.

Update on the Update

2009-02-26T09:31:00.002-07:00

Okay, since everyone is interested, I am going to post Sam's Science Fair Report:

Color or Words?

By: Sam Lofthouse

One day my brother gave me a test where you had to say the color of the word and not what the word said. That made my wonder if humans paid more attention to words or color. I decided to make a little poster and quiz people in my family. My hypothesis is they would get most of them wrong.

I found out that most people get them wrong. That is when there is a time limit. The time limit scares them and they rush. I think I should have used one.

I used a poster, a notebook, a pencil, and a person to a quiz. I made the poster thirty words long, and I almost made some words underlined, italic, or bold, and the words were a color but in a different color. For example: red in the color yellow. They had to say the color of the word to get it right. I then decided that they had to say the words in five seconds, but my brother changed my mind. I started with my little brother. He got nine wrong. Then I quizzed my older brother. He got three wrong. My little sister got one wrong. My mom, two wrong. My dad and other older brother got none wrong. I was going to try, but two lines in I realized I had no right, all wrong.

My hypothesis was wrong. The final score was 15 wrong, 165 right. I thought it would be the other way around. Even though they got them mostly right, they went really slowly. With a time limit, my hypothesis would be correct.

If any one did this project, I suggest that you do a time limit, and make some words underlined, italic, or bold.

So, there you have it. I also neglected to mention one other class that Ryan is taking next year: Japanese 2. Also, he was named a Student of the Month for February. We went to a little breakfast at the High School today to honor him. Good job, Ryan! And I have determined that Xander can say both "stupid" and "stop it." Great.

We took our Suburban in to the shop, because the brakes didn't feel or sound right. Good thing we did, since they were about to fail all together. It's all fixed now, though.

A Little Update

2009-02-22T20:07:00.002-07:00

Okay, so my blog has gotten boring. Or maybe I'm just bored with it ... Tracy says it's because we're in the winter doldrums right now. Well, here's a little about what we're up to.

Xander gave up crawling about two weeks ago, and is officially a toddler, though I can't get him to wear shoes. He's also using a few words, mostly "this" and "that." He also says "yeah" a lot, and "drink" once in a while. And when he's mad he says something that sounds like "stupid," but may be "stop it." Not quite sure. He's such a cute baby!

Ryan is registering for his Junior classes next year. He's taking Concert Band, Jazz Band, AP Language, AP Physics, AP US History, AP Calculus, Social Dance, Seminary, and Marching Band. Plus Financial Literacy online. Yep. That's FOUR AP classes, and he'll only be a junior. Very cool. He'll start upper level college classes as soon as he graduates, I think.

Rusty moved up from Pre-Algebra to Algebra for the second semester. He is having fun in his CTE class. He sewed himself a bag, and he even sewed up his pajama pants when they ripped. He got to go to work with Tracy for job shadow day.

Sam just finished his fifth grade science fair. He did an experiment to see if our brains pay more attention to the color of the word or the word itself. For example, we had to say the color of the word instead of the color word (red, green, blue, etc.) He did a good job on it.

Finlay reads all the time, so it's hard to keep him in books. He's been enjoying Bone graphic novels lately. He went to the Cub Scout Belt Loop camp on Saturday and earned his science, geology, and math belt loops.

Camary is having fun with the paint program on the computer. She's moved into a big bed now, and we got her room a little more organized with a new toy bin.

Tracy went biking on the Antelope Island Causeway on Saturday. He had fun, but he's sore. He bought a nice big sun lamp to grow seeds in the basement. He just got released from the Sunday School calling that he's been doing for almost three years. More on his new calling later.

I submitted a query letter to Deseret Book, and I'm hoping they'll want to see the whole manuscript of my novel. I am in the planning stages of a new novel now. It's kind of scary since I've been writing short fiction for about 11 years. Sometimes I wonder if I can remember how to write a novel. Guess we'll see. Tracy and I had a good time on our anniversary date to the Gateway in Salt Lake. I guess that's about all for now.