Joan of Arc was a nut job!
**I stand corrected. It wasn't Joan of Arc, it was Marie Antoinette!**
Maybe I'm the nut job!

Seriously, what's up with that "Let them eat cake" stuff?
Evidently she didn't have an almost-10-month-old at her house.

When an almost-10-month-old picks up a cupcake
she realizes it's much more fun to smash in her hand than put in her mouth.

It's even more fun to rub it all over the counter being sure to grind it into all the grout lines.


It's also fun to rub it all over her face making sure to get it in her eyebrows,
up her nose, and in her hair.

Then, she reachs out to try and share it with others who pass by.
Yes, infinitely more fun than eating!

Maybe then she takes a little of it and puts it in her mouth just to see what
it would taste like. Hmmm, not like carrots..

She also thinks it's a fun game to put it in her mouth then spit it out all over.
Mom does really crazy things when the almost-10-month-old does that.

What does everyone else think about cake? You eat it? Really?

Not sure she really trusts you on that one. She thinks it's more fun to throw on the floor.

The almost-10-month-old is super good at that.

Okay, so I guess the fun factor is worth the clean up.

So, why not, "Let them eat cake!"

What?! Dinner?!?

Dinner has been on the bottom of my "to-do" list lately and I'm not sure why.

Maybe it's the idea of lighting a FIRE in my kitchen when it's already 100 degrees....maybe it's the fact that for the last week Adam's been out of town and we've eaten PB&J... or maybe I'm just plain tired of cooking dinner.

I think it's the latter.

I've also run out of good ideas for dinner. I'm tired of the same old things I always make.
So tonight I went out on a limb and using the produce from my bountiful basket order from last week, I made stuffed bell peppers.

They're pretty good, even if I do say so myself. Dallin liked them, but I'll have to do some serious convincing to get my hubby to eat them. I don't think he's ever eaten a bell pepper. They don't have them in Canada (hee hee, ha ha, ho ho).

I guess if he doesn't want this he'll just have to settle for PB&J.

Mommy's little helper.

Every few months I have to go through Mookie's drawers and weed out the too small and too stained. That's what we did today.

Once I did that, I realized she only has about 3 outfits she wears over and over again. I almost broke down and went shopping for new clothes when much to my surprise the clothing fairy (read mail carrier) dropped a HUGE box of clothes on my doorstep.

An interpreter friend of ours living in Nevada has a 2 1/2 year old daughter who has impeccable taste, and passes the clothes onto the mookster. How lucky are we?

Just in the nick of time Mookie is saved from going naked everywhere...although I think she may prefer the nakedness (she still hasn't outgrown that phase).

Her drawers are now full (no, not the stinky diaper drawers) and she is a clothed woman.
On top of that, we have a small box of "will grow into" clothes to pull out in another couple of months.

Whew, just in the nick of time! Thanks Karina!

Ahhh, Dirt.

I'm not sure when it was that dirt became exciting.


Don't get me wrong, I don't like ALL dirt, just the freshly tilled, rock free, ready to plant dirt that now fills my garden.

It took quite a while to get it to this point. After the spring garden died, I left everything to rot. I filled an entire green barrel with the decayed carcasses of the spring plants.

Then I had to pick out all the voluntary grass that decided to fill the garden spot, water the ground so it would be soft enough to work, and borrowed a tiller to use.

So, one full Saturday later, the garden is ready for planting. Now I just need to wait for the temperatures to fall below 110 degrees and I'm all set.

Now, what to plant in the garden...in the lovely dirt! I love dirt!

Wednesday Randomness

Random picture of Mookie learning to ride a bus.

The tower we built out of spongy alphabet mat squares.

Mookster being a helpster.

Yep, we've cornered the market on excitement here...

My Motorcycle Man

Think 80's rocker...ha ha

He's such a good sport about wearing the proper motorcycle gear, even if it makes him look like Mili Vanilli. Love my 80's rocker hubby!

WHEW! I survived the trip to the Dr. office with Mookie. Really, it's the first time I've taken her to a well-check since Garrett died. Adam, bless his heart, has taken her for me. I just couldn't stomach going into the Dr. office.

So, I switched offices and doctors and I did it! There was nothing wrong with my previous pediatrition, just the memories of the office and the hospital. It was a little more than I could handle on my own.

It was a rough morning. All day I had this stomach clenching going on and sweat dripping down my back. I must have looked like the world's craziest mom as I walked into the office with a smile plastered on my face and my teeth clenched the entire time, but I did it.

Heaven be thanked for small miracles in the form of former visiting teachers! While waiting in the kid play area (for 40 min) I started to get reaaaaalllly nervous and teary-eyed until I noticed a familiar face. Couldn't remember her name for the life of me but she walked right up to me and said "Hi" and told me her name and sat and chatted with me until her daughter's name was called. I hadn't seen her in about three years, and we did a lot of catching up and we talked a little about Garrett and her kids and strangly enough it was just what I needed. It did a lot to calm my nerves and dry my eyes. I'm sorry her daughter had a rash today, but I'm so glad she was there.

Whew, crisis averted, I overcame another hurdle, and love Maura's new Dr. *big sigh of relief*

The verdict: Healthy 9mo old little girl-he said she was "perfect"! Of course, I knew that.

I found some notes from former appointments and wanted to record them for my own recordkeeping-so if you're not interested go get an ice-cream or something.

Jan 24, 2008 Wt: 11 lbs. 1 oz. Ht: 23 1/2 inches
March 19, 2008 Wt: 12 lbs. 14 oz. Ht: 25 inches
June 10, 2008 Wt: 15 lbs. 15 oz. Ht: 27 inches
Aug 14, 2008 Wt: 18 lbs. 4 oz. Ht: 27 1/2 inches

HMMMMM, I think that maybe some measurment was off ...could she only have grown 1/2 inch in 2 months?? She seems to be growing faster than that (well, at least most of her clothes are too short for her). Oh well, not really that important, but I wonder...

Yup, I updated my blog with a fun background. It's about time. Good thing the directions were pretty easy, actually they were super-techno-illiterate easy, but it still took me 20 min and a lot of stress to do it. I'm such a dork about stuff like that. HTML garbage makes my toes curl. Seriously, it stresses me out.

BUT, I did it, I'm proud of it, and I like it. Except for those dang little tool symbols that are on there... what the heck are those? They've been there for a while and obviously everyone else in the known universe knows what they are for because I've never seen them on anyone else's blog. So tell me, what's the big secret? How do I get rid of them?

If you offer help please remember to write your instructions in "stupid" for me, kay?

Shiny Happy Girly

Mookie loves new things. Not necessarily new from the store, but new to her. Some friends gifted us with some toys that had been loved and needed a new home. We are happy to accept. Maura loves them.

Thanks, friends!

Mookie is a Foodie

She isn't too excited about baby food in the jar or that powdered baby cereal any more. She wants the good stuff! It really doesn't matter as long as she can gum it-and she's a good gummer I guess you'd have to be if you don't have any teeth!


My brother-in-law Kelly would be completely offended if he knew I was feeding her ravioli from a can with the SAUCE WASHED OFF! It's an unpardonable sin in his book to ruin perfectly good ravioli. But it's just less messy this way. Yes, less messy-can you believe it?


Ahhhh, it's coming back to me, the hours and hours spent washing the counters, floors and walls after each meal. Man, babies are messy.

Oh, look what we have here...another foodie...



Okay, so maybe I don't have to sweep and mop after EVERY meal...if I can stand the shiny dog slobber spots. That's so gross.


She enjoys an audience so much she's happy to share her vittles.

Yay! He caught it! Good boy Parker.

Again I say, YUUUUCK! Doggie slobber on my floors....ew.

Skiing in August?

Yep, all you need are cowboy boots, an avalanche and not much sense. That's Crazy 'ol Maurice!


I am a little jealous of his "office". Sure looks nicer than mine does today.

Dorenda Jones

Yesterday was a hard day. It has been two years since my mom died. She was a pretty neat lady. I was looking at some pictures and found a few that really showed her personality.

She was TERRIFIED of heights, but braved this ladder on the edge of a cliff during a family trip (just a month before she died).

She appreciated God's creations. She was always commenting on how beautiful the trees or flowers or mountains were. It sometimes got to be annoying how much she would comment.

She was also up for adventures with her grand kids. She was a great grandma. I love this picture, she's holding the kids back away from the edge of the cliff trying to be brave and enjoy the scenery even though it scared her silly.

She was the planner, executor and instigator of many a family gathering. We all gravitated towards her. She loved to plan, plan, plan and party, party, party.


I sure do miss her sometimes. I'm hoping Garrett gives her a great big hug for me!

Dorenda Price Jones Blog

First Day of School

*Sniff* He's off to the first day of school, and he's excited about it! I'm so glad. We were worried there for a while, he didn't want to go until he met his teacher and saw where he would be sitting, and now he's very excited.

He's gotten taller this summer. We had to raise his bicycle seat and move his handlebars back so he could still ride his bicycle. Maybe he will get a new one for his birthday.

On a sad note, it was hard to send one boy to school and not two. I avoided the Kindergarten side of the school and tried to keep myself extra busy yesterday so I didn't have time to be sad. I was still sad.

Garrett was always excited to go to school. He would have loved riding his scooter or walking with his good friend and neighbor Mitchell. He would have LOVED meeting new kids, singing songs and learning to read.

The newest entertainment for Maura:

She LOVES being naked...



And she loves Parker's kennel.


Yuuuuuck! Dog hair! I can hardly watch her crawl into it, but she loves it so much!

Ward Camp Out at LoMia

This year was the third annual ward camp out. It is a fun place to go to relax and we always enjoy the fun things we get to do with our ward family. We arrived about 5pm just as rain clouds descended and unleashed a torrential downpour for about an hour! Dallin ran in the rain and played in the mud with the rest of the kids but I didn't brave the storm to run get my camera out of the car-dangit!
We ate dinner, built a fire in the fireplace and then came the dancing...oh what moves we saw. Preston and Adam taught us all how to break dance. Very entertaining!

Then off to our separate cabins for a good night sleep. Maura did surprisingly well!

Saturday morning brought blue skies and no clouds. Perfect for a day of games and the zip line!

The Lodge at Camp LoMia


Dallin (along with all the kids) loved the zip line. It's been the recurring activity at our camp outs.


Maura liked eating rocks.


Adam enjoyed staying out of the sun! *Sigh* It all went too fast. We can't wait until next year!

The Flake Ranch

Just 2 1/2 hours north outside of Heber, Az is a forested oasis we get invited to once in a while. It's like a different country compared to the heat of "the Valley" as the mountain dwellers call it. It rained in the evening and during the day a cool breeze blew most of the time. It was quiet and just lovely.

It's also one of those 'kid friendly' places where we tell the kids "Go play and don't come back until it's dark", and they love it!


My Uncle Robert and Aunt Anne's cabin where we stayed. I think this will soon become their permanent home when Robert retires. We were so glad to have them invite us for the weekend!


Big D's cousin Laramie-a really good friend to play with.




Alison, Jonathan, and Diana.


Kevin & Maura

One of the reasons we went to the ranch was to be with Kevin and Diana. They are both Deaf and wanted someone to come with them to Diana's 10 year class reunion. We were so HAPPY to do it! It was really just a good excuse to hang out with them and their adorable kids.