Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Some More Summer Snapshots

Let's start with the spotty-dotty Glen... Every 6 to 12 months he goes in for a zapping by the skin doctor. Never fear! It only took about a week for him to heal and get looking back to his normal self.
G&K sprang for a family Lagoon day again this year. Dallas did another great job designing the matching t-shirts for the company. All the employees really stood out this year in their florescent orange shirts. I loved them!! 
Look at this guy here who has been living with us since April. Anybody recognize Ben in there? He's sporting the new t-shirt he bought for himself. 
Lincoln is studying that face...
 ...yup! He found his uncle Ben behind all that facial hair.
I went on a major de-junking kick a few weeks ago. It felt so good to go through everything and decide what to keep and what to throw away or give away. It was a walk down memory lane for the whole family as I pulled things out and checked whether to keep or not. 

Sarah and Ben made quite a few creations in their high school ceramics classes. These two Sarah creations now adorn the shelves in her bedroom as I deemed them keepers. 
Ben was telling us how good he was at clay pottery spheres.
These are his spherical creations he keeps on his dresser because he loves them so much.
Jacob and Laurie chose not to have me continue keeping Jacob's Scout memorabilia wall hanging. They said there is not a place for it to hang in their home.  
In one extra large box, I found all these trophies of Abe's which he gave the okay to throw away. He did request a picture of each one and suggested I take pictures of things that mean something to us before we throw them away. Good idea!!
 I had my own pile of trophies--in the form of plaques--which I earned for shorthand and typing. I figured if Abe could part with his trophies then I could part with mine.

Well...I did keep the one where I earned the title of National Typist. Maybe in 15 more years when I de-junk again, I will get another thrill out of seeing it and then maybe I will throw it away then.
How could we ever forget the Abe's head creation his friend Sam Quick made for him.
It kind of freaked Abe out at night when the head was sitting on his dresser. He ended up putting it in his closet so he could sleep.

The head is modeling the BYU helmet creation Abe made before going to a football game with Glen. Don't worry everyone--I kept the head and the helmet.
Sarah came over one day and I showed her all the old dolls and bag of (homemade) doll clothes she had been keeping. 
The bald baby sure loved the bald doll.
This was probably the kitchen cupboard that prompted all the cleaning. 
Here's the after shot of the same cupboard. 
Before drawer photo.
After photo. Hmmm. Still a junk drawer, but a little more organized junk?
I even got Glen in on the action. He pulled out the old computers and began cleaning off all the data.
This office closet was so crammed full of stuff. Now there are empty spots on the shelves and we can see the floor.
Here is a priceless picture I came across in my cleaning. Glen with his study buddy group at their Georgia State University graduation in June of 1998.
These are all the school books and binders Glen used during those intense couple of years of graduate school. They were stored on the bookshelves and in the corner of the exercise room which is also the room where the buckets of toys are kept for the grandchildren.
For YEARS I have wanted to get rid of those books and now my wish has come true. Unfortunately I didn't take a before picture, but picture all those books and binders on and by these shelves. And look at them now!
The basement storage room is another spot that needed lots of attention. Voila!! Now there are empty shelves down there!

I am really glad this project has come to an end.
There are still a few drawers here and there that could use a little attention, but pretty much all of the de-junking has occurred. What a great feeling!!

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Quotes of the Week

"The secret of happiness is to count your blessings while others are adding up their troubles." 
 -- William Penn 

"If you can't forgive and forget, pick one." 
 -- Robert Brault 

"The naked truth is always better than the best-dressed lie." 
 -- Ann Landers 

"There is a great difference between worry and concern. A worried person sees a problem, and a concerned person solves a problem." 
 -- Harold Stephen 

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Quotes of the Week

"The things you take for granted, someone else is praying for." 
-- Author Unknown 

"I learned that we can do anything, but we can't do everything... at least not at the same time. So think of your priorities not in terms of what activities you do, but when you do them. Timing is everything." 
 -- Dan Millman 

"If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door." 
 -- Milton Berle 

"Go as far as you can see: when you get there you'll be able to see further." 
 -- Zig Ziglar 

Friday, August 21, 2015

BYU Cheer Camp

Andy and Amanda's family came to dinner on Sunday when Laurie, Natalie and Emma were visiting. Of course there had to be popcorn after dinner.
Maggie loved holding baby Lincoln.
And she was successful at getting him to sleep.
The women gabbed while the girls played.

Bright and early Monday morning we picked up Brooke to take her to Provo with us so she could play with her best friend Ania while Natalie went to cheer camp. When we saw the "hot" sign at Krispy Kreme, we just had to stop.


Who should we see at the cheer camp registration but Cosmo himself.
Don't feel too sorry for Natalie because she missed our Spaghetti Factory lunch. She reported that there was a lot of good food at the cafeteria on campus.
Emma couldn't decide which flavor ice cream to get, so the waiter brought her two kinds.
Laurie was on a quest to find some modest dresses for her and the girls. While her mom shopped, Emma re-positioned the headless mannequin's arms.
Natalie's group of future BYU cheerleaders were practicing outside.
The second day of cheer camp I spent the day in Provo with Natalie. I watched two movies during the time she was doing her cheering. I got back to the gym just in time to hear the awards being handed out and Natalie was one of a handful of girls who got the spirit award. YAY, NATALIE!!!!!
On the way home from cheer camp, Natalie and I stopped at the South Towne Expo Center to see the float preview for the upcoming Pioneer Day Parade.




Natalie liked any float that had a temple or a beehive on it--because she is a Beehive now, you know.






We liked this float. Not only did it have a beehive on the back of the float, but the skunk intermittently sprayed out something from its nether regions. Hilarious!
Natalie and I got a kick out of the big sleeping man in the bed on the front of the float.
The little boys in the family would have loved this float of the jeep in the red rocks of southern Utah.
They also would have loved this dragon float whose head moved all around spewing fire from its mouth.  
 Cute idea to give kids swords to try to slay the dragon.
My favorite was the whale float.


And Natalie's favorite was the BYU float...naturally...considering she wants to be a BYU cheerleader when she grows up!


Third day of cheer camp family members were invited to attend the last hour so they could show us what they learned.
  


Group photo!
Natalie is the fourth future cheerleader from the right on the front row.

Go Natalie! Go Cougars! Here she is doing her practice homework.
On the day Natalie and I spent together, Emma and Laurie met up with Rebecca, Brooke and Caroline at Hale Theater to watch "The Little Mermaid." They all loved it!


 
It had been so much fun having Laurie, Natalie and Emma here for the week. It was a real treat to spend that time with them.
Love you girls. Looking forward to spending time again with you soon at Disneyland!!