Hey Folks, it's my mom's birthday.

Nobody worry - I've got the cake and clean up thing under control.

Dude, I have it made. My sister will take care of everything and I can just watch cartoons.
Happy Birthday to Ashley.

It's my Daddy's birthday


Happy Birthday

YEAH!!!!

29 Woot WootFor our 29th anniversary Ron bought me a huge boquet of carnations. I can hear the gasps already from flower elitests....before you judge him, it's my request. I LOVE CARNATIONS. Please don't bring home roses. Oh, I'll take them with a kiss, place them in water and enjoy. But if you want to make my heart go pitter patter, bring carnations.

Here's a few facts from 29 years:

States visited: 20
Countries visited: 4
Cruises: 5
Trips to Hawaii: 3
No. of temples we've been to: 15
Trips to Lake Powell: 20-24
No. of children: 5+4=9
No. of grandchildren: 3

Gosh, we've been busy.

OUR BALANCING ACT

Warning: this is way long, like Iliad-long, and there are no Spark notes.

THE SET-UP

Three years ago we had what I called the perfect storm: Ron invested in adding grading and paving to our business, and in doing so made a couple of mistakes, like $30-50,000 each mistakes. We can recoup from that. Then a contractor didn't pay us, we had to sue, ended up with pennies on the dollar, ended up being almost a $70,000 loss, no problem, it's going to be tight, but we can recover. Then there was another expense that came up. We had three things that hit all within a couple of months of each other. I was ready to move on to a new year and get those months behind me.


THEN...the next year rolls around and it seems like we just can't get on top of the bills again, every month is hard. A few personal trips we planned ('cause in the past if someone suggested something 4 months out - no problem, we're in.) barely panned out. By the end of the year I finally ran all the company reports to take a look at things financially. We were down 30%, no wonder I felt like it was a struggle all the time. Up to that point we had ten different years where we made so close to the same amount every year, Ron joked it was a fine oiled machine. We definitely had taken things for granted. But, whew, glad to know there was a reason for the tough times. 30% drop was alarming to me, so I started asking around to several other contractors we know "you guys slowing down?" Many of them would give me a look, "No, we can't keep up with it all/just added another crew..." SO, then I would get all down and out like we were the only losers that couldn't do well. BUT then after feeling sorry for myself for a couple of months I realized in conversations that some of them were just now working on projects we had complete 6 months before. DUH, we're the first in with the ground work and utilities, they're at the end of projects. Now the tide had turned, they were noticing the slowdown in work too. Whew, it's not just us.

NOW to this year/or year 3 in the story. Once the banking crisis hit, it was like a faucet was turned off. Did I mention that last summer we did two jobs and then the owners couldn't get financing - Yeah I did - Work gets slower and slower, projects get smaller and smaller, competition for bidding gets larger and larger. For the last year and a half Ron and I have had conversations about how to handle the slow down and the money, what's our worse-case scenario? For the record, Ron is Mr. Optimist. I'm the more the realist. We balance each other out. Not that I'm not positive or optimistic, but someone has to make a Plan B. and C. and D.

THE QUESTIONS
Earlier this year I really started pondering how bad was this going to get, and when will it turn around? I tried my best to understand CNBC, and all the other newscasters that scream at you to get your attention. I observed as I was driving around town. Do we need to be drastic or just hang in there? I was a mess. So I do what anyone does when they're a mess. I called my dad. He's very well-read in financial stuff and world news. He chats with me about various stuff. And regulations. And who started what with regulations and deregulations. I don't want the history, I just want my answer. You know dad, this is what I'm seeing: 1) The stimulus package is supposed to open up funding again. Great. I know several projects approved ready to go when the owner can get funding. BUT we do commercial work. 2) I drive around town and the commercial shopping centers only look half-full. Our neighbor is in commercial lease management, his centers are at 40% occupancy, he's worried. So....even if a bank is going to fund, you have to show something like 70% tenant commitments to the bank to get a loan. Who's going to get that when everything else in town is half empty? 3) we know several engineers and they're either going out of business or about to because they don't have any work. If they're not working - there's nothing coming down the pipes for us to do.

"So, dad, how long do I have to hang on??? If you tell me 6 months, I think I can do that, if you tell me longer, I don't know what we're going to do."


So my dad with his Texas drawl asks: How long after an engineer completes a project till it reaches your company to install? And I think, well, easy 6 months. Maybe more. it has to go through plans check, red lines, funding, out to bid, get awarded the bid, then permitting and start. 6-9 months.


"Well then, there's your answer. Watch the engineers, when they get busy, you're 6-9 months away from getting busy yourself."


I hang up stunned. Still in a mess. I know, he's right. BUT I didn't have time to think about it anymore because I had a stake welfare training meeting to get to...

SOME ANSWERS
I sat down in the chapel with all the leaders in the stake and to be honest, my mind was still back at my convo with my dad. All this stuff was running through my brain. I just wanted someone to tell me it will be back to normal and in what month. Less than 6? I can do less than 6.

The DVD started. My notes started. I'll share them, in case you haven't seen - and even if you have, your notes were probably different.

Elder Hales: Joyfully living w/in our means. Use resources wisely. Do not covet. Avoid debt, be content. Exercise faith in the Savior to do better and be better. Our ability to serve is increased/decreased by our self reliance. Change lifestyle & place of residence to live w/in your means. Be a good employee.

Sister Beck: Organize teach & inspire sisters. *great quote on relief* education/money/social/ and emotional well-being. improve skills: home industries, accounting/bookkeeping.

Bishop Burton: basic welfare principles. Seek out the poor. Promote personal..?. Sustain life - not lifestyle. Downsize where necessary. Provide commodities before cash.

Stake leaders remarks: What can we do to help our members receive personal revelation and raise spirituality in individual members? More temple attendance - esp. if out of work. Utilize prayer roll. Use General Conf. talks for inspiration. Keep commandments, pray, ask for revelation D&C 20:47. Have gratitude and serve. Plan for your future. Read Book of Mormon for greater spirituality. NO dispair, depression or giving up. The scriptures say, 'And it came to pass' - not 'and it came to stay'. Be where you're supposed to be, do what you're supposed to do, and allow the Lord to bless you.

What a fantastic 90 minutes. And now I at least know, this won't be over in 6 months. The church wouldn't go to all the trouble of this DVD and asking all stakes in the U.S. to have training meetings if this was a temporary situation. And in a strange way, relief. This just wasn't my situation, others must be having the same conversations at their homes. It's time to hunker down and trim expenses to get through.

THE MONTHS MARCH ON
Some areas of the country have hurricanes, some flooding, some tornadoes, or forest fires. I decided an economic storm was sweeping through our area. Much like tornadoes and wildfires, it can devastate a home to ashes and leave the one next door standing fully intact. That's how I've felt this year. As we sat down to look at the refinancing paperwork, I ran another company report. I knew it was worse. I struggle every day of every week. Always twice as many bills as income. I now have reoccurring nightmares of the voices that call everyday wondering when Invoice #...will be paid. That part is not fun. restless, sleepless nights. So the income for the company this time was even more dismal. Six months into the year, we're down another 40%. Yep, that's right - doing quick math, we're down over 70% from a 'normal' year. And we're only half-way done.

So we looked at the options. IF the company did the same amount of work the 2nd half of the year, yeah, we probably could work out this refinancing. BUT what if it continues to slide down? What if we go from steady, low dollar jobs, to a job then a few weeks of nothing before another job. If that happens, there's no way we could sustain the household expenditures. By the time you do the payment, property taxes, HOA, utilities, that is a rather large chunk of change. Honestly, Ron & I could live on much, much less than that monthly figure.

Is it wise right now to spend that much on our personal lives? Would it affect being able to pay our employees? Are we throwing good money after bad? Are we prolonging the inevitable? When will we go back to normal? Will we be sorry? Are we making the right decision?

I'M SORRY
So, when all along we thought we were refinancing and staying put, we decided to not keep the house. We're trying to keep the business going and must reduce our expenses. So...to anyone who might be reading this (you're still reading this?), if you didn't know we were moving, I'm sorry. It really happened so fast, and we were incredibly busy. I didn't tell many people. It took a couple of weeks to figure out what/where everything would go, then it took a couple of weeks to pack and move it. So so exhausting. and hot. and humid. What do you do with the household items of a 4,000 sq ft house? It almost all fits in a 40 foot tractor trailer. We're just storing everything for now. The office is moved to Matt & Ashley's extra room. The food storage is in Jenn & Jordan's extra room. And we are in Bekah & David's extra room. The storage for the company is in another tractor trailer and a few other locations.

I was ready to rent something else. Ron is just certain some out-of-town jobs will come through, so why rent if he has to work out of state? So the compromise was hang out at Bekah's for a little bit. 6 month limit. If nothing pans out by then, we need our own place, our own stuff.

THE END of the epic post
I don't know that we will ever go back to 'normal'. We will adjust to a new normal. I'm very optimistic for the future. We truly believe we just need to make adjustments for about 2-5 years. I don't have all the answers or details for my next year, but I know without a doubt that the future will be wonderful. There will be other houses, other grandchildren, other church callings. We will be blessed beyond our ability to comprehend. Is the worse over? Probably not. Will we be sorry we made this decision? Maybe, but I don't think so.

I struggled on whether I should write about all this. My family knows what's going on. Do other people really need to? Could it help others? Will they think we are just frivolous lousy business people? and personally morally bankrupt? To those I would say: we're doing the best we can. Our vehicles are paid for, we don't have credit card debt. Those nice vacation trips in the past - paid in cash or we didn't go. What about provident living, you should have 6 month's expenses in a savings acct? From experience, it helps in year one, continued to help in year two, but when you get half-way into year three, it's gone. Then I was worried about my kids. I hope they are not embarrassed. I don't know what they will face in their life, but I know there will be challenges. Whatever they are, I certainly hope we are examples to them of how to put a smile on your face and move forward with faith. This storm will pass. We have years ahead of us full of fun and excitement.

THIS SURE EXPLAINS IT BETTER THAN CNN

Happy Birthday

Declaration of Independence
[Adopted in Congress 4 July 1776]

The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government...

Me & The King of Pop


Michael Jackson's music has been the background of my life.

Back in the day, he was awesome.

When I was in elementary school, he was on Soul Train and Tiger Beat:


When I was a senior in high school, Ron & I rocked the night away:


Matt & Brad were my Pretty Young Things as little toddlers:


Just this week Bekah was telling me that Britney Spears is coming back to town and she'd really like to go (again...) and my response was, "Why would you want to go see her again, she's so screwed up." And Rebekah said, "Because she's so good."

I know what you mean, Bek. [wow - did I just use all 3 of my names for you in 2 short sentences?] His life was so screwed up, but he was so good.

So here's one last number. It just happens to be what I used to sing to you and your sister when you were babies, and it features your favorite fellow screwed up artist:


I don't care what you say, I liked him.

Bees are our friend...in the garden

The garden in April

The Garden June 15th

It's a miracle

The transformation that turns this boy:

Into this man:



52 weeks down

52 to go

No tears today - just a happy dance.

Check back in 365 days for more airport pictures!!!

Scott was speaking of miracles as well. Here's his letter this week:

Dear mother,


Well I guess every thing has to come full circle. Sometime a year ago today I was sitting in the airport and a nice man saw my tag and took me to get an ice cream. He was flying to Texas for business and he was a member from Alaska. We had an interesting talk about the weather, my family, and what the next two years would be like learning a language and teaching people about the Lords true gospel here on the earth today.

Looking back on the year, I must say that it has been a ride. From the ctm till now has been a rush of excitement with ups and downs, happy moments and sad letdowns, but through it all I’ve gotten stronger in the faith and closer to my Father in heaven and His Only Begotten. I can tell you with a whole heart that this church is true. That our God is a god of miracles. Sitting in that airport a year ago, I didn’t know that, I had a hope of that. I can now say that that hope has grown into faith. In the 3rd chapter of 1st Nephi there’s a promise that almost every buddy in the whole church knows that is the Lord never gives us a commandment except before providing a way (or method). Last night I realized as I was giving a message at an *integration night. That I came, I’m completing a commandment of the Lord that every young man from 19 to 26 needs to serve a mission, I’m doing my best and the Lord is providing the way -- and in my case the Lord gave my specific assignment in Portuguese. He is providing a way and is blessing me and my companion for our efforts. I can say with a firm belief that our God is a god of miracles.

The area is good. My comp isn’t too happy with me ‘cause I marked an appointment at 10 this morning and its p-day, so he isn’t too happy. He also isn’t happy that I insist on using the internet here at the chapel cause there’s only one cpu that works and will have to take 3 hours not 1 and a half (if we were to go to a internet cafe). But here the cpu are free and its faster and I don’t have to wait if there are a lot of people and there’s air conditioning in the room here so it’s way better.

So far every brasilian comp I’ve had has always told me that I’m the worst American when it comes to money. That I have a "gringo card" (as they call it) or in other words, a card that my parents give me money on. The thing is, yea, I get a little money but I’m not going to go spend it if I don’t have to, or if I don’t want to, or if there’s internet for FREE! but whatever. I’m just careful with my money that’s all.

We are teaching a good group of people that I have faith will get baptized. Nothing too important on the news here in the mission. Everything is good here in the promised land. I love you all and hope you all have a good week until week 53 HAHAHAHA CRAZY!!

Love the one and only Elder Marx

*integration night is when they have a game a message and people from the branch come and integrate with our investigators

Somebody let me know when Rebekah updates her blog and it's safe for me to click on it again.
The Mom

Gather Round Sista's...

and Show Me Where Your Waist Is.

I made these aprons for the girls for Mother's Day. A simple request sparked quite a conversation. "Now all you guys put your aprons on and let me take a picture."

Apparently the current generation feels like their waist is actually closer to their hips.

Me: They need to be tied at your waist.

Girls: This is our waist.

Me: No, it isn't.

Girls: Yes, it is.

Me: No, it isn't.

Girls: Where do you think our waist is?
Me: Find your belly button and go 2 inches above that.

Girls: Ewwwe. No. That's way too high.

Me: Well that's where your waist is.

Girls: Waists have moved.

If I'm lying I'm dying. That was the actual conversation. (Minus Kara who supplied her picture to me from San Diego and missed out on the actual conversation but confirmed the other sista's opinions by her own apron placement.)

Silly girls, the waist hasn't moved, you've just been hanging your pants too low. See model below for correct vintage apron placement:

Notice how the waistband is closer to the bend of the elbows?

Another waistline-measuring-how-to I read this morning suggest leaning to the right, to the left, and front and where your body bends is your waistline.

Despite their waist adversions, I am so incredibly proud of all four of these girls. Watching all of them balance the demands of home, school, work, church, and family responsibilities is inspiring. I am honored to be their mother.

Hi There, How are 'Ya

It's official. I just downloaded an album from iTunes that was sorely needed in my library. I don't know why it took me so long. I can't tell you how many times at a stoplight I've spun that little wheel looking for one of these songs, only to say to myself, "Geez, you need to get that album on here."

I have now owned this Album in:

• Album
• 8-track
• Cassette tape
• CD
• iTunes/iPod

It joins itself right next to Boston and Breakfast in America as albums I have owned in all formats. These albums are the best. All the songs on them are great. You can listen over and over and never get tired of the music. They should all thank me for my 30+ years of loyalty.

It seems like lately artists aren't making albums where you listen to the whole thing, you just buy selected songs that you like. Maybe I could make an exception for Confessions by my boy Usher, but there are actually a few songs there that I hit skip on. So for now, these are my top 3 all-time favorites owned in all formats. There are a very few others, but they don't make the all-formats list. Don't feel bad Journey, Foreigner, The Police, The Best of Bread, I just didn't buy the album or 8-track.

Here's a glimpse of lyrics - do you know what all-time great album I downloaded?

Hi there, how are ya?

it's been a long time.

Seems like we've come a long way.

My, but we learn so slow

And heroes they come and they go

And leave us behind as if we're s'pposed to know why.

Why do we give up our hearts to the past?

And why must we grow up so fast?

Comment with your guess, and I'll let you know next time.

A.W.E.S.O.M.E.
V.I.D.E.O.

Check IT out!

Thanks Brad & Kara

A.W.E.S.O.M.E.

W.E.E.K.

Monday, Kara and Hallie came over for a visit. They were in town for some family events in Kara's family. Just watching Miss Hallie play at our house was so fun. I miss Brad, Kara & Hallie. I loved her little flip-flops, they reminded me she's our girl from Cali. Before long she'll be wearing cut-off capri sweat pants with something printed across her butt and hoodies, just chillin & cool.

She loves reading books and knows her letters.

Hallie sang and stomped the Dinosaur song for us. Something she learned from library reading time. She also played the piano while I played the harp. We make a pretty good duo.

Hallie played with grandpa's mustache.

Saturday was Ashley's Graduation!

Yeah! Mom!

With her parents, Richard & Joleen Hunt who are from Goodyear, AZ

Ashley graduated from the Business College with a degree in Accounting. We are so proud of you Ashley!

Sunday was SCOTTY CALLS HOME day aka Mother's Day

Scott sounded great. He has the inflection in his voice you'd expect from the language down there. He loves his mission president, and wondering what the new president will be like. He's in a little city 10 hours from Belo Horizonte, so he expects to be there for 6 months at least. Everyone from the family met here for his phone call. It was just GREAT to hear his voice. I miss this kid so much, but we are so proud of his willingness to serve. He's loving Brazil, missing American food, speaking Portuguese, and having a great time.

Grandpa Marx had his questions written down. They were some good questions, and I need to talk to him to find out what the answers were!

After The Phone Call, the boys BBQ steaks and we had a wonderful dinner. They surprised me with some thoughtful gifts, Cafe Rio, new shoes (oh, so hard to find in my size), and tickets to see Donny & Marie, and a spa treatment. It was a beautiful Mother's Day. Thank You so much.

Grand Canyon Trip

The Scenery

Our plan for this trip was to go up to Mequite to a dirt trail that lead up and over the mountains. The total trail ride would be about 130 miles to the northern edge of the Grand Canyon. There is a campsite up there where we would stay Friday night. Saturday morning, visit the canyon, and then come home Saturday afternoon.

I enjoyed the trail ride and the Canyon view, some other parts of the trip were not as enjoyable. Here's a peak at some of the scenery.

We're probably 10 feet from the edge, but it was still too close for me. I know I'm not too coordinated on my feet, I didn't trust myself to look over the edge.
Our friends Kim and Chance DuVail that came with us.

Matt & Ashley

Are you C.R.A.Z.Y.?

Grand Canyon Trip -

The Break Downs

Back in the archives of our family is the famous "Trip" to Lake Powell. What makes this trip stand out so far above the other 30 trips to Lake Powell was the break downs (8 flat tires. 10 hours of travel there and back turned into something like 25 hours)

I try very to hard to avoid these types of trips. But every now and then, they hit. Our Grand Canyon adventure turned into another trip for the archives of our family history.

Here's a list of the problems:

1. 15 miles short of camp the trailer we were pulling with all the camping supplies got a flat tire.
2. Ron continued driving on it very slowly getting as close to camp as possible. 10 miles short of camp, the axle on it broke. The trailer is really done for now.
3. Piled as much of our camping gear as possible on top of me in the bousa car and continued on.
4. Kim starts setting up camp while Ron goes back for the rest of the gear.
5. Kim discovers the the ride out was so bumpy in the trailer that the ice chest was a mess. The eggs were all broken and swimming around in the ice water (major yuck). The foil dinners were wet and mangled. The crate with the kitchen dry goods and pans didn't fare any better. The salt container ruptured, everything had been just beat to death.
6. We're going to make the best of this and a fire was started, foil dinners rewrapped and cooked. Not too bad - but they could have been better.
7. The air mattress had a leak. 'nuf said.
8. Ron and Matt discussed many plans of how to get all of us, our gear, and out of commission trailer home.
9. We head out on our way home and a wheel on the bousa car almost falls off. After 90 minutes we take off. (1 p.m.)
10. It broke again. Another 90 minute fix.
11. Catch up with Matt and Ashley who had been sitting for 3 hours on the side of the road. Oil is leaking from Matt's motorcycle. The night before he took a tumble and the kickstand came up and put a hole in some part that hold the oil for the engine. We put half of a quart in the bike and keep going. (3 p.m.)
12. Matt was in the lead and took a wrong turn at a fork in the road. Ashley followed. Ron was last screaming at them that they're headed the wrong way. Ron drove insanely crazy to catch up to them and turn the back in the right direction. My eyes were closed. (6:30 p.m.)
13. Put more oil in Matt's bike.
14. Get 26 miles short of Mesquite and Matt's bike needs to stop so it doesn't totally run out of oil and burn up the engine. We leave him with a camelpack of water, backpack of fruit roll ups, beef jerkey, and granola bars. He will wait 3 hours...again. (7:30 p.m.)
15. Get to Mesquite. Ashley and I go buy JB Weld and oil. Ron heads back to Matt, Ashley & I get in one of the trucks, drive through Jack in the Box, and get on I-15. (8 p.m.)
16. Just as I get to the Bunkerville area, Ron calls and says his car is broken, come back.
17. We get to Ron 8 miles up the trail. He jumps in the truck with us and we start the s...l...o...w trip up the trail at about 15 mph. (9 p.m.)
18. After a few minutes, the stick that was holding the back window up broke. This problem started a few hours before we left on Friday, the window was proped in the closed position but the road was so rough it broke. Ashley was holding on to the window. If it fell inside the door, it would break for sure. Ron stops on the trail and takes the door panel off, removes the glass, and we continue on with an open window.
19. Get to Matt, JB Weld the oil pan, add oil. Ron gets on the motorcycle because he is more experienced and can ride in the dark back to Mesquite faster. Matt joins Ashley & I in the truck and we're going to s...l...o...w...l...y go back on the trail to where the bousa car is, Ron will ride into Mesquite get his truck and trailer and meet us back there. (10:30 p.m.)
20. Using the tripometer, we get back to the spot where the bousa car is and find it hid off the trail. Where's Ron?
21. 5 minutes later we see his head lights heading ever so slowly up the trail
22. Then we can hear him. Thud, thud, thud.
23. Ron has a flat tire on his truck.
24. Wait around to see that Ron & Matt have lights, right size socket, and a spare. Check, all tools necessary - they're on there own. Ashley and I head back down the remaining 8 miles of the trail to Mesquite.
25. Get gas and caffeine to keep me awake on the way home. (11:30)
26. FINALLY 12 hours after we started, and 6 hours later than we thought we'd be, we got home. (12:30)
27. Matt & Ron got home at 2 a.m.

Our camp is still set up. The trailer is still on the side of the trail broken.

On Sunday, Matt & Ron leave at 10 a.m., head to St. George to get on a better trail that's driveable. Go to the camp. Get all our gear packed up. Go to the broken trailer, put it on another trailer that they had pulled out there, and brought it all home. They get back again at 11 p.m. Sunday night.

What a FUN weekend!

Ron & I have had some discussions on our different definitions of the word FUN. Ron loved the trip. I was anxious, nervous, worried, scared. Not my idea of fun. Today, in Scotty's Mother's Day Call, after he got done talking to everyone that was there, Ron got on the phone. All he wanted to know about was the trip mom wrote him about. He asked Ron if all those things really went wrong. Then he said, "How fun. I can't believe I missed such a great trip. I can't wait to get back home and go with you."

Those boys and their idea of fun.