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My Most Precious Possessions

Our most precious possessions are not our abundant harvests, nor our orchards yielding luscious fruits, nor our waterways, nor our million miles of paved highways, nor oil wells, nor rich mines of copper, silver and gold, not even uranium- our most precious possessions, our treasures of eternity, are our children.

                                    David O McKay
I've been feeling particularly blessed at this time, and I would like to recognize that blessing with gratitude and Thanksgiving for my blessings by sharing with you some of the things I love about my children. {I hope you don't think me prideful or lacking meekness} I do recognize a greater power beyond myself and take very little credit if any for their talents.
Shannon

What are little girls made of?   Sugar and spice, and everything nice." So goes the old nursery rhyme.
But more importantly, thats what Shannon is.   I love that she is sweet, I remember as a little girl,  her never wanting to say anything bad about someone, I loved that in her.
She is strong, smart and beautiful.  I love that Shannon's greatest fulfillment, her greatest happiness is in the home and her family.   I love to watch her around her children, the daily teaching that she does with them, the nurture, love, and motivation she give them.   I love that she honors her womanhood, that she accepts responsibilities in the Church, and works to do her best.
I love that she find excitement in the everyday things, and is always progressing.  I love it when she shares her ideas with me,makes me happy.  Shannon brings a luster and strength and beauty to our family.  How thankful I'm for that.  She brings a measure of wholeness to our family also, when she is home with the boys there is a greater level of calmness!
I'm thankful to be her Mother.

Sam   

Sam is at a very busy time of his life. He is a Father, student, husband, provider!  He conducts himself in his home with a resolve to respect and honor his wife. 
He works long hours at his work to provide for his family, I respect that.
It is wonderful for me to see Sam take on the responsibility of a Father, the way he  protects, teaches and guides Carlee.   
I also like it when Sam lets the "wild" Sam come out.  Taking time to do fun things with Mason and Dad.
I  appreciate that Sam has always shown his Gratitude to us for things that we do for him.  I also appreciate the fact that he is willing to come to us for answers even if he really didn't need the help. Just to show us respect.
Sam is true, and stands up for what he believes in, that is a blessing in our family.
I'm thankful to be Sam's Mother.

Kent

Kent is our full time student.  He is also a return missionary.  Things I love about Kent, is that he is almost always positive. Nothing seems to get him down, and because of this he has many friends. I remember taking him to school, and most of the kids in his class would line up by the fence and when they saw him they would chant Kent's here, Kent's here! He is fun to be around. Most of our silly language we use in our family comes from Kent.  He has a easy going manner.  Kent can never eat his cereal sitting, has to stand to eat it. {silly}
He was a great missionary. I appreciate that he worked hard, and is now working hard at school!
Kent brings fun to the family, and I like that he takes time to be a buddy to Mason.
I'm thankful to be Kent's Mother.

Denver

Denver's whole life right now is being a full time missionary! How pleased we are with him. He is working hard and trying to be the best he can be.  Denver is very smart and has a good understanding of people.  I believe with all my heart that Denver will touch many people's lives.
He is learning many life lessons. 
Something very touching that he did this last Christmas, was to give his prized guitar to Mason for Christmas.  Just because he wanted Mason to know that He cares for him. I appreciate that.
Denver will have many opportunities to touch people's lives, I'm excited for him.
Denver blesses our life.
I'm Thankful to be his Mother.

Mason

Mason is a Junior and the baby of the family. {sorry Mason} His comments when he was younger were "Why  am I always born last?"   He has had some trials already in his life.   But is working hard to overcome them.  He loves Movies and games.   Because of  some of his  difficulties sports, and some social things have always been hard for him. But he doesn't let it get him down.  He is a friend to the friendless, and stands up for those who are being treated meanly,   I appreciate that in him.  He loves little kids, and they love him.  He's not too cool to spend some time with them.   
He's a hard worker, and loves to work with his Dad.   He works hard to... and gets good grades in school.  He loves to be around his family.  Something that is rare in teenagers.  He is planning to serve a mission when he is 19.
I'm thankful to be Mason's Mother.

As you can see I'm blessed beyond measure. My children are my joy, my life.  Thanks for letting me share!

            

Uncle "Boo"

Mason and Carlee have this little game they play. He will hide beside, or behind a chair, then all at once spring up and yell "BOO". Carlee love this, she will laugh so hard, it's really very cute.
  He has done this just about every time we are together.  Friday we were at Sam and Heidi's home just sitting there, when Carlee looks at Mason and said "Boo", so cute.   Needless to say Mason played their little game.
  So we now have a new name for Mason, it's "Uncle Boo".  And if you ask Carlee where Uncle Boo is, she looks right at Mason.  It's adorable.

Grapes of Wrath!

Today Mason, Dan and I headed to the Church Service farm to volunteer our service. We do this Several time through the year {6-8 week ends}  We roll, pick and prune the grapes {for raisins} The farm relies on the service of the church member to get the work done, the raisins are then shipped to all the Bishop store houses, and given to those in need.
  Today we pruned, which is one of the better jobs! Oh my goodness picking is a mess! Tiny spiders and dirt everywhere! When we roll we are on our knees the whole time, and the row we work on is about 1/2 to 1 mile long! So pruning is a great job compared to the others!  Today was our Branches service day-  Five people showed up, counting the 3 of us! So it was a slow go! Here's a picture of the crew.

Finally Done.....well maybe

A few days ago on my blog I talked about "recreating".  Some of the things I finished right away, others I've been working on.
    Today I finished a few more projects.  See if you are able to tell what is different.
Check out earlier pictures of this room. {Hint see "Dance Hall no more"}

ICE AGE

Thought you might like to see what "Sunny" California is like today.

I thought we were supposed to be experiencing "Global Warming"!?

Recreate

1965 was the year of the "Tree house", well really it was 5 trees {in our back yard} that grew so close together, they looked like a "hand", palm side cupped in a upward position, finger representing the trees. The trees were so close that you had to enter in just the right way to get in.  But once inside, the trees arched out making for a top secret little hide away.  This was the place that awakened my love to "Recreate".
   My sister and I spent hours, searching the old barn, river beds, basement, and would pile on "Old buck" {our  horse}  head up to the upper ranch in search of wild flowers. We would bring our found treasure back to our secret hide away, and proceed to turn it into something magical! And so there it began!
Fast forward to 2007 and I'm still at it. Just had the Itch the other day to "recreate" so I just started stacking things in the middle of the room.
And this is what I came up with. Boxes, glass, fabric, tables, candles,branches from our trees, etc.

And here is what has become of some of the things, {Still working on some}

I'm in the process of making curtains with the Fabric and I have a side table that is going to be remade into something totally different. {Don't know what, but it will come to me}

Also ripped through my bedroom- This is how it ended up.

Remember

"Go back.  Go back in time.  Everyone's life is a chain of memories.  In each chain there are shining links, happenings where this element of wonder...was very strong.  Why don't you reach out and relive some of those memories?  If you work at it, remembering the wonder can revive your ability to live life as it should be lived."
  Shannon and her Blog friend Katie have inspired me to come up with a single word to focus on for this year. so I've chosen "Remember" and here is why....
A couple of things happened last year "2006" that has brought me to think about my own mortality and remember love ones lost. My Mothers passing in October, and lost of a long time friend, Ben, who we have yet to find.  This month marks a year since he came up missing.   In honor of Ben this Saturday there will be a memorial, to help with some kind of closure and to honor the memory of Ben.
  "Remember" for me this year is going to be Hugh and here is a list of reasons why!
1. I want to "Remember" that things that were hard to bear are sweet to remember.
2. "Remember" to not takes things so seriously.
3. "Remember" nothing wastes more energy than worrying. {those who know me well, know I worry}
4. "Remember" to enjoy the simple things.
5. "Remember" where Dan put his keys.
6. "Remember" to be thankful for blessings that come each day.
7. "Remember" I don't need to weigh what I did in High School to be happy.
8.  I want to "Remember" that yes, there is adventure in the everyday, just have to look for it.
9.   "Remember"   to make a list of things I need to "remember" when I go shopping.
10. And last but not least "Remember" the Savior and all he has done for me, and live my life accordingly.

Seems lately my life is filled with "Can't Remember", "Do You Remember?" and "Remember when?" hope thats not a sign of my age.
I hope to fill this year with unexpected/astonishing things to "Remember!" It's never too late to do something extraordinary, right?

Pink Hat

Today we met Heidi and Sam  at the  Fresno Temple,   we could take Carlee for a couple of hours so Sam and  Heidi could spent  the morning together at the Temple. We took Carlee to the Mall while they were there,  and of course found something too cute to pass up.  This cute little Pink Hat!
Mason spent time at the video game store, so he was happy. 
I also spent some time at  my favorite make-up store
sephora, where I buy bare minerals the best foundation ever. Their eye shadows are great also.

Dan and Mason also spent some "Man" quality time at Brookstone.  Where I, believe it or not ended up with a prize a very soft cuddle nap blanket.{recent clinical research has shown that a 15-20 minute nap can enhance alertness, improve focus, and give you the energy you need to maintain peak performance throughout the day} So hey, lets take a nap!

After all the shopping was finished, we headed across the street to the "Cheesecake Factory" for lunch!                                                                  

Oh, and if you were wondering, Kent made it back to school safe and sound.  I think it's going to be a little weird for awhile until he makes some new friends.  {All the regular friends he hangs out with at college are on break} So I think this will be good for him.
This is the picture of Kent I have burned in my head....He got a new Lap top just before heading out and so this was mostly what we saw Kent doing his last days at home.

New Years Eve in the dark

New Years Eve Kent had some friends over for a quiet get together. They mainly visited down at the fire pit and ate. I tried to get a good picture, not sure whats up with my Camera,{Olympus Stylus 710, 7.1 Megapixel,actually got it back in May, but just started using it again} guess I need to do some research because the pictures on this camera are just not coming out like they would on my old camera {Kodak Easy Share DX6440} Two reasons I haven't been using the Olympus, Dan took it to Portugal and lost the charger, and just this week end I finally got a new one, plus I was never really impressed with it's picture quality.  I know it's me, because it is a better camera, I'm just doing something wrong.  Guess I need Shannon or Sam here to help me out with it! Kent took some of these pictures and looks like he had the same problems I'm having. HELP!

Ham

Came across these pictures and thought they were so cute- Never realized what a "Ham" Payton is. Anyways thought they were fun. Enjoy.