One Year Makes a HUGE difference

In May we have a festival called "Mike the Headless Chicken Festival". The festival is actually named after a true story. A farmer in Fruita in the 1940's cut off the head of a chicken to have for dinner. Well, the chicken did not die, he actually lived for months and months. If you're really interested, feel free to click HERE and read the story.

Anyway, Last May we went to the festival and the kids rode the little rides and we got our first sunburn of the summer, and also had our first icee of the summer.

Lauren & Josh on the train ride

Lauren & Josh loving the train ride

Hope and Daddy trying to stay out of the sun

Well, this year was a little different. Larry and Josh were out of town on their first Father/Son camping trip. So Lauren and I got up early and ran the "Run Like a Chicken with your Head cut off 5K". And then we came home and picked up Hope and went back to the festival. Hope went to the little petting zoo. When she saw the little goats she said "woof-woof". She thought they were dogs and was unimpressed. And then I sat her on a pony to ride thinking she would love it. Nope...she freaked out. She went to pose for a picture with a man in a chicken costume and totally freaked out (can't blame her though, that guy did look creepy). She's into the stranger danger phase. Finally we put her on the little train ride (with the help of big Sis), and she actually loved it. It's so fun to see how much they grow in just a year.

Even though they're not smiling...they did like the train ride
Hope petting the dogs..er I mean goats.

Would you want to know if you were dying??

I know...we're ALL dying.
But I've been thinking about this lately. One of the teachers at the kids' school just lost her husband. He was not sick, had no obvious illness, just passed away very unexpectedly...leaving behind his wife and an 8 & 10 year old son. I just can't imagine having someone in your life here one day, and then POOF..gone. It would be so hard to pick up the pieces and keep moving forward, although I know people do it all the time.
But on the other hand, would you want the knowledge that your "time" is very soon?? I was following the story of a man named Randy Pausch who was a Professor at Carnegie Mellon University. He too was a very healthy, young father. He was diagnosed with liver cancer and given 3 months to live. He gave a reprise of his "last lecture" on The Oprah Show. (if you have not seen it...click here and watch it. It's very neat! If you have seen it, you HAVE to watch it again!!) One of the things he mentions in his lecture is.. "I can't control the cards I'm dealt, just how I play the hand."
I've met lots of Blogger friends that have gone through so many hard times, they've been dealt some pretty tough hands. It's so inspirational to see how they've played those cards, when it might have been easier to just fold.
I don't know that I would think about this as much if I too was not a victim of cancer. I'm so fortunate to have not had a "so many months to live" come with my diagnosis, as so many people do. I do think of life as fragile. It's easy to get caught up in life, you forget to live your life. It's also easy to take life for granted, you forget life could end tomorrow for you or someone close to you. But life is so good. Just ask this man as he continues to wait month after month for a new heart, since his has not worked right from the time he was born. It's people like that that probably remember to say "thank you" after every breath.
So back to my original point...I think. Would you want to know if the "end" was near for you? Would you need that time to prepare? As I was thinking about that, I realized it doesn't matter. We should actually live every day like it's our last. Tell the people we love "I love you" and be the very best we can be.
(My thoughts and prayers go out to the Gisner family.)

WhirlWind Weekend

We had a great weekend. It was very busy. Our family came up from Salt Lake on Friday night. We had a Sunshine Generation performance at the school. The kids were able to perform in an assembly. They were so excited, and did a great job.

Then Saturday morning, Lauren and I ran in the Girls on the Run 5K race. We had a lot of fun. I am running another 5K in 2 weeks. I have been doing the "couch to 5K" running program. It's a great way for anyone to get into running.

Right after the race, we went to watch Josh's football game......in the pouring rain. He did a great job.

Then we had just enough time to get home and ready to go to Josh's baptism. I gave a talk on the 3 "Bears" of Baptism. And then Lauren and my friend Mindy Dare sung a duet. It was beautiful. Josh was so excited to get baptized. He's such an awesome kid!

It was a very busy weekend...but we had lots of fun!

The Office

Every night Larry will go in his office to do some work. Somehow Hope knows when Daddy is in his office and she has other plans for him. She loves to go in and sit on his lap and watch him work on the computer. I figured out why she loves it so much....he's not actually doing work when she comes in. He puts BARNEY on for her! Now I get it! :)

the best EASTER intentions

I had an idea for Easter morning.
I thought it was a good idea.
Larry did not have early morning meetings so I would have his help.
We would get everyone ready, and then before we left for church, I would take the kids pictures in their Easter clothes.

Unfortunately, my morning was a little more hectic. I barely had time to get me and the girls ready, let alone take any cute "before church" pictures. Luckily I did take a couple of pics of the girls in their matching dresses (thanks Grammie) even though it was before their hair was even done.

Bad news: I have no pic's of Josh on Easter, or all 3 kids together :(
Good News: I made it to church on time FINALLY! (thanks Lar for your help)!

True Italian Spaghetti Sauce

I just posted this recipe to my FB page. So I thought I would add it here as well. It's been a long time since I've posted a recipe. But this is one of my favorites. Enjoy!!

Also known as "Chicken's Chicken Spaghetti" Made with NO chicken:)

I'm just going to walk through how I make it. That's the true Italian way :)
1. brown 1 lb hambuger. drain and add 1 chopped onion and 1 garlic clove (or 1 tsp chopped garlic)

2. (put in a large sauce pot) 3 large cans tomato sauce, 3 small cans stewed tomatoes (I use 2 quart jars canned tomatoes), 1 small tomato paste. start simmering on low. (add the meat from step 1)

3. brown 1 lb. Italian sausage. Drain. add pepperoni (I use the stick instead of the slices) cut it up into bite size chunks. Drain grease again. add to the sauce pot.

4. Now for the seasonings. Don't be afraid the adjust to your liking.
I start with 1 TB of each of the following:
oregano
parsely
basil
rosemary
marjoram
thyme
then I add a couple spinkles of red pepper flakes (add more or less for how spicy you like it)and then add 2 bay leafs (don't forget to take them out before you serve the sauce:)

Let it simmer all day. It makes enough to have for dinner, and then freeze 2 huge bags for future dinners. Or it's good for a very large group. Remember, don't be afraid to play around with your seasonings. It's the best spaghetti sauce you will ever eat.

ps: The recipe also calls for a small jar of mushrooms. But omit them, since I don't like them AT ALL !

Is it a mouse in the house??? Squeak once for yes!

When we moved into this house we bought a new living room set. Larry was able to get us an awesome deal on it through his work. One of things we bought was a 3 piece table set. The tables were wood with a small trim of leather on each end to match the leather furniture.



So, tonight we noticed some of the leather on the end of our coffee table had been nibbled off, and the remnant bit off pieces were laying on the floor. We were pretty sure we had a mouse in the house that had nibbled away on the end of the table. Later that night we found that...yes, it was definitely a mouse. A "teething" mouse.



(the coffee table)
( a closer look at the damage)

( the mouse we caught)