Last Post for 2008- grandma Dorene

I don't know where all of our pictures went on Trent's computer, they just disappeared, so I had to pick one from Trent's file.
This won't be much of a entry, depends on my mood I guess.
I just wanted to do one last blog for '08, for sentiments sake. I guess. Last week and this week we worked 1 1/2 days. Then we get 5 day weekends. Last weekend seemed like it went on and on! I hope this one goes that way to. But it probably won't. Cory and Natalie are here, my cousin Melinda Lou is here and Trent will be back from Brighton thursday.
I went to my grandma Toni's on saturday, down in Page. That was fun. She told me to tell EVERYONE that she loves them and keep sending her pictures(snail mail)(especially Tammi). She has this book that was never given to my uncle but is for him and it has a letter for my grandpa from my grandma Dorene during a time she thought she was going to die, it was really cute. She told him to be patient with Ronnow and that he needed to remarry a nice gal so he wouldn't be single(I got a copy of it and I thought about scanning it on and putting it on here, but I didn't think anyone would read it) I loved it, then there was a tribute to her written by my aunt Jeannie that she read at her funeral, so I got a copy of that. That was funny. I never knew her, she died 2 years before I was born. There was a part in it where she was so fed up with my grandpa's tormenting(comes from the Leavitt side of the family) so she threw an open can of spaghetti on him(he was in his church clothes). While she was in the hospital in the end she was kinda in and out of conscious and the family would be laughing at a joke, she would open her eyes and smile.
I love hearing things about her because I wish I knew her. But sometimes I feel like I have met her because people will tell me that my personality is just like hers. Last night we were joking around that my parents found me on the side of the road because I look nothing like my siblings(EXCEPT--- I'm the only one who LOOKS like my parents) and so my mom told me how all of her kids had red hair or blonde and looked like Ipsons or whatever and so one day my grandma told my mom that she needed to have a little black haired baby that looked just like her, then my grandma died and the very next baby my mom had was me. So she said that my grandma hand picked me out just for my mom. And she prepared me to come to earth so that is why I am so much like her. I wish I knew more about her. I wonder if my mom might have journals or something. Hmmmm, I'll have to ask.

Anyhow- HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!!! Don't Drink and Drive!!!!!

My Dirty Jeep!

Every year we have a tradition to take the four wheelers out on christmas day and just go out south of Hurricane and play. This year because of all the storms, Mikes shoulder and Trent wanting to be with his girlfriend, we didn't go. Bummer! Then I got this bright idea to take the jeep instead! My dad, Jameson and me we out and had a ball! There is a HUGE puddle in the middle of the road on the back way to the sand dunes, I have only seen in dried out once in my life. So we went around and the fields surrounding it are empty because people go four wheeling out there all the time, the mud was so slippery and gross, I was too chicken to do much, then we drove out further and found some smaller puddles and my dad told me to go through them fast so I wouldn't get stuck, with mud flying everywhere and my dad laughing, it was so fun! There were about 3 of them, then we drove back to the HUGE puddle and my dad told me to do what he said, so I did, I went to the middle of the field, turned the wheel as far as I could and floored the gas, HOLY COW!!!! My tires were spinning and mud was flying everywhere, then he told me to turn the wheel and go the other way. It was so fun! My jeep was so dirty. When we got back to the house I parked it so the dirtiest part was facing the road, well that night we had a huge rain storm and it washed the drivers side off, and I didn't want to drive around with a half clean/half dirty jeep, so I froze my butt off spraying the mud off. I was going to wash it before I went to Page, but it's a good thing I didn't, the roads between Kanab and Page were really icy and I got dirty water all over it(people in Northern Utah probably know what I am talking about). When I got up for church today there were dirty icicles melting off where the tires are. But I diffently need to wash it soon. If I didn't have the back wiper and fluid on the back I would have gone crazy. But it was FUN and totallly worth it!

These two pictures are christmas morning. We really don't take a lot of pictures christmas morning, so these are kinda dumb.

Christmas was a fun day. Chris woke me up a little after 8. When we were kids we had to be up at 7. So it's nice as adults to sleep a little longer. Trent, Chris, Emily and me all got nintendo DS's, so that was fun. Cory gave me a "boy" game. It's a monster truck game, I just thought that was funny. But it's actually a fun game. Then he gave me 2 fire fighter t-shirts, a sweatshirt and a beanie all for Lake Montezuma/Rimrock department. I'm excited.

My parents gave me more than I expected. I didn't get a dog though! :( But I know why.

I went to Page on saturday, it was fun. I didn't leave as early as I wanted to. But I was there for a few hours, I wish I had been there longer, but oh-well. I don't want to wait as long to go back down there next time. At least I know there is a next time.

My grandma let me look through a little journal/scrapbook that she is going to give my uncle Ronnow one of these days, it was so interesting to look through there. My mom has one too, but it's in storage so I've never see it. But it has a letter from my grandma Dorene(she died 2 years before I was born) to my grandpa from a time she thought she was going to die, it was a real tear jerker, but good. I think my grandma Dorene sounded really neat. It was only a few sentences, but I loved it, so I got a copy of it, because it was to my grandpa, not one of her kids. Then there was a tribute to her written by my aunt Jeannie for grandma Dorene's funeral. I thought that was really good. Funny and good. I love reading things like that.

That trip was a good trip for me. I always love going down there. I guess I've always had a connection with my grandma(even though she's my step grandma- she will always be a real grandma to me). I personally think she's awesome!

I found out today that the Hurricane's singles branch will stay at 1 pm, YEAH!!! I'm excited. I hate 9 am church. I just can't do it. I've tried it(every 3 years of my life) and now that I am on a night shift, it's just to hard to suddenly change my sleeping habits. It's crazy.

Ok, one more thing before I go, my grandma and me were talking about blogs and how she can't get on private blogs, she kept calling them blobs. Not really realizing it was a g not a b. And as I was trying to leave she told me who all to tell she loves, she went down the list naming EVERYONE, then as I was walking out the front door(clear on the other side of the house) she yelled some more names. It was funny! She cracks me up!

Pictures from Christmas past!!!

Ok here are some pictures from christmas's from the past. I didn't think of this till now! I'll probably update my blog again soon anyways, but oh-well! There fun anyways! The first one is of Cory in 1985!

Everyone but my mom(my dad is Santa)! 1987!
Cory and me in 1985! Dang we were spoiled little brats! I wish we got that much stuff now!
Christmas 1984. Probably after church, I mean why would we dress up to open christmas presents! We don't dress up for anything else(the white trash in us).
I LOVE this picture. It was taken in 1978, it's Dustin Hinton and Wade, and Shellie is holding Holly Hinton! I LOVE the looks on Wade and Dustins faces!!! Shellie's is pretty cute too!!

Crafts SUCK!!!

I don't do crafts!!!! But I found this super cute picture of a wreath with peppermint candies, so I thought, "oh that would be way easy and fun"
But it's harder than I thought it would be! First I had to find a wreath- then a friend told me hot glue guns melt the Styrofoam(not true), then I needed peppermint candies, I could not find any of the kind with the twisty wrappers, and the other kinds aren't cute, so I took them out of the wrappers, not worried because our front door is covered so I wasn't worried about it getting wet and melting the candy. Well- it started snowing Monday, from the north and SOMEHOW managed to get my wreath and it started making the candy drip a little, so I brought it inside thinking it would dry out! Yeah right! It just got warm and melted more, so I put it back outside so it would drip on the carpet and I thought they would freeze or something- OR something- when I went and looked at it Tuesday, there was a puddle of red on the doorstep(I'm rolling my eyes with annoyance). From a distance it still looks cute! But up close it reminds me of running mascara!
It was a fun little craft and it turned out super cute, but it's ruined and now I'm annoyed because my crafting efforts NEVER work out! My next one(when I have the time) is to make bird seed suet to hang on the Christmas tree in our front yard, I don't even want to think what might happen there! Then I am making Christmas tree sugar cookies(the kind where they stack up stars to look like a Christmas tree) for my visiting teachers- I'll probably end up making them look really ugly and food poison my VT's. If that's possible with sugar cookies! I HATE crafting! So if you've ever wondered why I never get involved with crafts or scrap booking, that's why! They never turn out cute like everyone else's and some kind of disaster happens!

The beginning!

The result!

Me, Emily and Sally! Long story behind that picture, but it's not worth telling! I didn't want to be in the picture, they wanted Sally in it, and she wouldn't hold still! And I'm the only one NOT afraid of a few scratches!

We had fun this weekend~!~

This weekend Natalie's parents came home from their mission in Croatia, so they were here on Sunday night, Cory hung out with us on Monday evening. Which why I have the pictures of Cory and the rest were just fun pictures! Emily and me, we both have our braces and expander's, hopefully her braces work out better than mine are!

This me and Madison, we were bored and just thought these pictures would be cute!

My dad, Lillie and Cory sitting on the back porch eating pomegranates. I just thought it was a cute picture.

Trent and Dani. She's gonna kill me when she sees this picture on this. But I think it's really cute. She hates having pictures taken of her, so that makes me more determined to get one. This one was a stroke of luck. I was trying to get me and Emily and turned the camera to Trent and Dani at the very last second! It turned out cute!

Fun pictures of my parents

Ok, on my day off I got bored, I know I just wrote on my blog yesterday, but I have been wanting to scan my parents pictures on here from back in the day when they were young and first married! Here are a few- This one absolutely cracks me up! This a bumper sticker and on the bottom my dad wrote- Oops too late! I love it!

My mom doesn't date her pictures so I don't know if this was before or after they got married!

There was a dance that they went to as hippies(back in the 70's everyone was a hippy). I LOVE this picture

At their wedding reception in Las Vegas.

Understanding and Music

I can't really decide on what to write this week, but I like to update it each week, I don't write in my journal, I'm just not a person who hand writes stuff. I have really sloppy hand writing. This is my journal! So today, I'll just write whatever comes to mind, like cat fishing! Here is Jameson and my dad while deer hunting.

Trent at I'm guessing Sheep's Bridge.

Bryce and Lindsay.

Last Saturday I watched Shellie's kids while they went out to dinner, and our cat Sally doesn't like to play with cat toys, she refuses. So after trying to get her to play with some string we gave up, Jameson disappeared for a while, so I went and found him at his house playing with Sally with the fishing pole. It just had the sinkers on it, no hook, and he'd cast it and reel it in and Sally LOVED it. We played for about an hour. She jumped and flipped and she had a ball. It was so fun! Good thinking Jameson. I never would have thought of that!

On Friday night at work we were supposedly going to have an 11 hour night, but we finished in 7 hours(because we are awesome and we have tons of team work), so I came home and I inherited insomnia from my mom's side of the family, plus with the medicine I take for my anxiety, mixed in with my restless legs syndrome, I didn't fall asleep till 7 am. But that's not unusual for me! Anyways, so you all know I like to collect cookbooks, well, I had bought a Taste of Homes magazine at Wal-mart earlier and I had gotten a Jeep catalog(for parts and stuff) that day. So while I was in bed I was reading my Jeep magazine, it took me an hour to get through it(it had less pages than the cooking magazine), I was so interested in it. But I was surprised when I looked up at the clock over how long I spent look through it. Then I read the cooking magazine and usually I can take over an hour read them, I read them like books, and I was done in 20 minutes! I just thought it was funny how I spent more time looking at something Cory or my dad would love.

I put new music on my blog, so I'll write some about the new music, but I won't go into detail like the first time. I have a few Jason Mraz songs on here, I really like him! Where was he before? He's awesome. And I really like his song Lucky with Colbie Caillat, but couldn't find it on this website.

There are a couple of Gary Allan songs, I love him. He is HOT!!!!! But I just really like Smoke Rings in the Dark, because he's telling a story and it's a good one. And Life Aint always Beautiful has helped me through A LOT!!!!! That song came out at a time when I needed it. So I never pass up a time when it starts playing to listen to it!

There are a couple Chely Wright songs, one of my favorites is Shut up and Drive, my dad would take me and Kristi to school every morning and he would tease us, I would always say- shut up and drive, and that song came out that same year! Plus I love her voice!

I really like Cruella De Vil, but I couldn't find the original one. That is my favorite Disney song at the moment, because it's so fun!

I put a Celtic Women's song on here, I love their music. They have some really pretty voices and music. I'm slowly downloading their music off of Itunes.

I have Snoop Dogg(his tribute to Johnny Cash). Joey & Rory, they are a new country duo, I like their music, they are a married couple and the song Cheater, Cheater is very blunt. But I love it. The video is funny! Justin Moore's- Back that thing up- is a fun song, I LOVE his accent! The Good Life by Trent Willmon is a good song, I want my life to be like that( I like all of his songs)

And of course I have a church song- A Poor Wayfaring man of Grief- they didn't have a whole lot of LDS songs, but I really like this one!

Right now I am reading a book titled- Our Search for Happiness- by M. Russell Ballard. It's good, if you have a non-member friend interested in the church, or wants to understand it better, that's a good book for them. It was written in 1993. But I bought it at Seagull(or Deseret, I can't remember) about a month ago. I just started it today, but I'm on chapter 3 and I am marking the good parts. So later on I can go back and reread those parts or if I want to read something to a friend or have a talk(hopefully never) or a lesson. He gives a really good meaning of understanding! He says:

" It's a simple word, really- one that most of us use everyday. But it means something quite remarkable. With understanding we can strengthen relationships, revitalize neighborhoods, unify nations and even bring peace to a troubled world. Without it chaos, intolerance, hate and war are often the result."

He also says "Your LDS neighbors talk about their church a lot- perhaps even more than your friends who belong to other faiths. They may have invited you to come to church with them or to listen to the missionaries in their home and in their enthusiasm they may have made a thoughtless remark about your beliefs or your lifestyle."

Then he goes on to say(which I LOVE): "I'm sure the offense was not intended. One of the most cherished tenets of our faith has to do with honoring religious diversity. As our church's first president, Joseph Smith, taught: 'We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where or what they may'

We really do believe that. Just as we claim the right to worship as we choose, we believe you have the right to worship- or not to worship- as you see fit"

I really wish more people thought that way. If they do, we never see it! I'm just looking forward to reading what an Apostle has to say, rather than listening to how I should live my life from concerned family members or friends(doesn't mean I don't listen to them). I think I will like this book and it will be one I go back to over the years. I've even thought of a few friends I know who would love it also. So once I'm done if anyone wants to borrow it(that will for sure return it) so welcome too! Just let me know!

Cute picture of my butt~~~~!!!

I just thought ya'll wanted to see a cute picture of my butt!
I don't have any fun pictures to put on here, because no one else in the family shot any deer. So I don't think I've used this one before! This was taken up in Birch Bay Washington(I think) it's called No Mans Land, or something like that, there is a peace arch and I am now walking over to Canada. The sign says Leaving United States Border. That was an awesome trip.

I went to the Hurricane Singles ward today, it felt like I was in a college ward all over again, me, Ann and Jason were probably the oldest people there. At least it felt like it. Ann left after sacrament meeting because it was her birthday, so I followed Jason to sunday school, he was showing me all the cool stuff on his palm pilot(or at least that's what I think it was), it was so cool, I'll have to sit by him more.
I hope he doesn't think I like him and I'm following him around. I mean he's a nice guy and my parents would LOVE it if we dated, but there are so many girls out there who are crazy about him, I don't want to be just another crazy girl. Anyways, I have always wished Hurricane had a singles ward and he's the only person I really know. Everyone was like Trents age. It's a nice ward and I am going to go for a few weeks just to give it a try, I just wish more older people, my age, would go. Oh-well.
I just got back from a fireside, It was good. The fiancee of Mandy Johnson(who was killed in a plane crash by Moab) was the speaker, I went because I knew Mandy. But he is so nice. They had him and Mandy sealed to each other 2 weeks ago. I thought that was nice of him to do that. He will be sealed to her forever, whether he ever marries or not and he will be apart of the Johnson family, so thats neat, because they are a cool family.
Tomorrow is FHE at the Corn Maze at Stahli farm, I want to go, but I have no idea where it's at. Its a regional FHE, with all the singles wards in Southern Utah, I've never been there, but it sounds like fun. I could car pool with someone, but I feel so old over there. Oh-well, we'll see tomorrow night.

This week at work was so crazy. We were busy tuesday night, but the rest of the week was slow. So friday night Kale had us painting cross overs yellow. That was actually kind of fun. I was working next to Melissa, so we just talked about everything. Her family is originally from Colorado City, her grandpa is Leroy Barlow(I think, I just remember her saying he was a bishop out there), so we talked about that and future weddings, and our bosses- who are funny- we totally lost track of time. But it was fun. We never get a chance to just talk at work and have it all quiet and slow paced. Kale had to remind us that we wanted to leave at midnight at 12:30. So that was fun. Kale is a fun boss.

I'm ripping a cd and it's taking forever, like I have too many things going on or something, which I don't, the Internet is the only other thing going on! This is drive me crazy!

Deer Hunting Fun!!!!!

Ok, this picture was so funny! It cracks me up! We were at my grandmas and Emily LOVES to take pictures, I wasn't in a bad mood, I was just tired. I was ready for that day to be over with and so Emily wanted to take a picture of me so I gave her my most annoyed face that I could!
My dad got the first deer(and only one so far), it is a 2 pointer, which is pretty good. He usually settles for spikes while everyone else gets bigger stuff. So I'm proud of him for getting it!
Trent, right before we left for the deer hunt!

We really didn't get very many pictures while we were up at my grandma's for the deer hunt, because I was at the house with the kids and I'm usually the only one who takes pictures, so we waited till we got home to get any pictures of the deer.

Which, I didn't want to put any gory pictures on here, so I got the one with my dad and the horns.

We got up to my grandmas around 7 Friday night, my uncle was putting in a new water heater(the old one was like 50 years old- ok, maybe 40), so my dad helped him with that. My cousin(on the leavitt side) Kim showed up, that was cool. I was surprised to see her. So now when we talk about grandma's house, she'll know what we are talking about!

We put on Mr. Hollands Opus, hoping to get the kids asleep faster. Me and Emily slept on a couch(I didn't know it laid flat, I always thought it was a regular couch), Trent slept on the other couch, Chris and Madison slept on the floor. There are plenty of beds up at grandmas house, but the bedding never gets washed because people are hardly ever up there long enough to try it. So anyways, my aunt Linda and grandma got there around 1 am, and aunt Linda tried to sleep with grandma because she didn't know which beds were empty, and grandma was driving her crazy during the night, so aunt Linda came in the living room and curled up in a chair and slept. It was crazy, then after the deer hunters left, she slept on the couch.
I hardly slept that night(which is bad for me), every time Emily would turn she'd take the blanket with her, or she would turn and her arms and legs would be on top of me, drove me crazy. So finally I pulled the blanket out from under us and used that and let Emily use the other one. Then, I woke up when the deer hunters left, then Emily woke me up at 8, I was so tired. But I had to be responsible, so I got up, helped the kids get ready for the day. We ate breakfast then went to the park. We went back to the house so I could start making dinner(in the slow cooker), then Madison and Chris and me went to Richfield for a few hours, to Wal-mart, then KFC on the way back to Junction Madison had to go the bathroom so we stopped at Big Rock Candy Mountain, that's a cool little restaurant/gift shop. I got a magnetic bracelet that wraps around but it can also be used as a necklace because it's so long, it's really pretty. Anyways, so we got back and my aunt Ruethella was there, she just got 2007 mustang, it is HOT!!!! So she let me and aunt Linda take it out for a drive and so aunt Linda drove half way to Circleville and let me drive the rest of the way, then I drove back and I wanted to floor it so bad, my aunt said I should(it's mustang- duh), then she said "it's not flooring it until you actually touch the floor" I think I got up to 105 when I thought I should slow down! It was AWESOME!!!!!!! And my aunt Ruethella didn't care, if she did, she didn't say anything.
The deer hunters got back my dad got a 2 pointer, then they rested for a half hour then got my uncle Dave and went back up on the mountain.
So the kids were begging me to take them back to the park, so we went and played for a little while and went back to grandmas house, I was trying to get them to eat a little of our dinner, it was so good, I surprise myself sometimes. We had homemade(frozen-store bought) bread with honey butter and Golden beef and apple cider stew. It was really good. I was surprised the kids ate as much as they did, their a bunch of picky little brats.
Anyways, I was on the brink of having a panic attack all day, little things would make it worse, but I think when the deer hunters got back and they all had headaches and were tired, but they went back out, then the kids were getting nervous and that made me frustrated. So by the time the deer hunters got back I was miserable and just wanted to go home, even though I was so excited to be up at my grandmas and wanted to stay for church. And my dad wanted to stay and visit with everyone and Shellie didn't have any room for me, so I felt so bad about asking my dad to leave early. He acted like it was no big deal, but I felt bad still. So we got home around 10:30, left hung the deer up, then we all went to bed.
The Hurricanes Singles ward starts at 1 and the Bloomington singles ward got changed to 12:45, so I figured I would get plenty of sleep and go to church not tired. My cell phone alarm went off at 11:30 and I was so tired, I had a sore throat, my nose was running away from me. So I just went back to sleep.
We hung out all day sunday, my mom got home from SLC that afternoon and we just recovered from our whole weekend.
Today I woke up with some guy banging on my window. I guess we had a window cleaner here cleaning our windows, when we put down cement for the patio they got cement on my window and we've never gotten taken care of and so my window is always gross looking. That woke me up so I went up stairs and feel back to sleep on my parents bed.
The thing about having anxiety attacks is if I don't get enough sleep it makes it worse, so when I make plans to visit someone, or have something big going, I have to have PLENTY of sleep, besides this recent one, the last one I had was at the family reunion and I was puking my guts out, the one before that was before we left to go camping on Beaver Mountain. Once I get somewhere I'm usually ok, but getting there is whats hard. But since I didn't have a whole lot of sleep friday night I was miserable all day saturday, I didn't want to take too much xanax because it makes me tired and loopy, but I'd rather feel like that than sick to my stomach, but I hate having people know about it. So anyways, when I go somewhere to visit someone I tell them if I have to leave a day early or I don't feel good, it's not because I don't want to be there, it's because I'm crazy!!!!
Just kidding, I'm not crazy, or at least not a lot!

I swear I had a melt down today. Shellie had me watch Madison and Emily(they are here right now) so they could go hunting again, they took the boys. I had to make dinner because my mom comes home too tired to make anything, my dad comes home hungery but dinner isn't made. So I try to make dinner on mondays when I am home, then after going crazy with Madison and Emily, trying to get them to eat something healthy and keep them entertained, then my mom came home in a bad mood, my dad came home tired. I just felt like everyone and everything was all on me. I was going crazy.
So after we ate dinner, I got Emily and Madison to agree on a movie to watch, Nim's Island, Madison just barely lost interest in it, it's at the part where the tourists go to the island and all Nims friends are attacking them. It's a cute movie and now I've had time to calm down and relax.
Barbara's grandson(my friends Monica's mom- I talked a lot about them in my old blog) was target shooting up in Enterprise and his little brother shot him in the back with a .22, Barbara called me sunday, crying, it was in the paper on sunday and monday. I hope he's ok. It's Monica's nephew, she has been through so much lately. So I hope everything works out for Nates family.
So, this week is going to be great, work will be wonderful, I'll make WONDERFUL production, I'll get as many hours as I can, it will be the best week ever. I hope! Since all my gal pals will be back from vacation and where ever they went we will be able to hang out and have fun like always! :)

Just having fun with the scanner!

I'm just having fun right now! This is my absolute favorite picture of my dad! I think he was HOT back in the day! I'll put more fun pictures of him as I get them scanned on here! But I've been looking for this one for the longest time! :)

Thanks Mickie

Here is my parents on my blessing day! My cousin Mickie had these and emailed them to me! I've never seen these pictures before, so I was so STINKIN' excited to get them!

Here is my grandpa and grandma, she made the afghan for me! I still have it. It's being saved in my cedar chest for my first daughter!