Amanda, my niece who's blog link is off to the right under "Amanda & Taylor" enjoys finding old pictures and posting them. I thought I'd show her this one. Left to right, Lisa, Laurie (Amanda's mother), Mom (or G-rents as Amanda calls her), and Favorite Aunt Kim.

I was probably 7 or 8 in this picture, but I don't remember posing for it - I do remember that hideous sweater Lisa is wearing. I never liked it, too furry and itchy. Also, please appreciate the curls, which were achieved by sleepless nights in pink sponge curlers wound too tightly.

Happy Birthday, Charlie



You're such a cutie-patootie!

From the Great State of Texas
We had visitors this month! My brother Malcolm, sister-in-law Jennifer, and their two cutie kids Dylan and Caitlyn. It rarely happens that I have visitors from my family so this was way cool. We had plenty of fun times around the house, and they also checked out the tourist parts of Vegas as well.

• Hoover Dam tour
• Belagio dancing waters
• Two nights of walking the strip up and down checking out all the Casinos
• A sweet 8,000 penney jackpot
• Shark Reef and Mandalay Bay
• Rio Buffet
• Ethel M. Chocolate factory and cactus garden
• Family dinner at Matt & Ashley's
• Trip to the 'butterfly' park (Buffalo Dr. and Elkhorn)
• Blue Man Group show
• Tour of fire stations (o.k. maybe that's just a fellow firefighter tourist thing to do)
  

That's quite a bit for 5 days. Dylan and Caitlyn are the same ages as Drew & Charlie so we had the perfect playmates.

Dylan and Drew at the Rio Buffet.

Jennifer, Malcolm & Dylan petting sting rays.

Dylan in front of fish

Malcolm & Jennifer

Jennifer, Malcolm, Rebekah & Caitlyn

Jennifer & Charlie

Drew & Dylan. And the scoop about the table -- Dylan loves to play with the hot wheels cars. He also loved to play with them on the coffee table, (believe me - he's not the first little person visitor that thought that's what the table was for. I guess I really do have a 'grandma' house.) I felt bad asking Dylan to play with the cars on the floor all the time, and didn't want him to remember me as the mean aunt that got after him, so on a whim I decided to turn the table over. Problem solved. Dylan walked in the room, looked at it kind of funny, and played with the cars on the underneath side of the table the rest of the week. I hope it wasn't rude, but to me it was problem solved, he had a surface for the cars, I didn't worry about the top of the table being scratched. Dylan also loves Thomas The Train. I had not watched any train cartoons for 20 years, so it was nice to catch up on the adventures of Thomas the Train. Caitlyn was just trying to decide if she should take a few steps and walk or not.

Thanks for coming Malcolm & Jennifer!

CON TE PARTIRO'

Time to say goodbye

Next overdue update. Time to say goodbye to Lexi.

I was going to try and hold on till the fall, but worried what breakdowns might occur this summer. 120 degree Las Vegas heat tends to bring out the worst in engines and if anything's going to break, the heat will do it. So a few weeks ago I unexpectedly got an offer for Lexi which was too good to pass up, the logical side of my brain took over and she was sold. After 4 years and 134,000 miles she is now a memory.

There were three things that made Lexi awesome:

• Bose sound system
• Navigation system
• Backup camera.

In any car I'm driving, I'm constantly looking at the dashboard now - before I backup, when I'm wondering what the next street is I'm coming up on. I know I was at that construction office 2 years ago, how do I get there again?

The music was the best. The official CD of Lexi was Confessions, by Usher; with Yeah! the theme song. It could be found in CD position #2. Open up the sun roof, crank the radio, and goooooo!

I am a major SUV/truck lover so I'm on the lookout for I think a Tahoe/Yukon. I like the new '07 models, but the above three items have me spoiled and to get the top of the line model that has upgraded stereo/nav sys/backup camera, it's a pretty penney. And in today's economy with the penney costing 1.7 cents to make, that could be a problem. I'll probably end up driving around Scotty's truck when he leaves (shhhh, don't tell him, he doesn't like to hear that) and then look for something next fall.

In the meantime I'll leave you with another song that I loved to play in Lexi. Your computer speakers will not do this justice, but in Lexi, this song sounded great.

Good-bye to Lexi

I know, I know. I've been such a blogging slacker. After many repeated requests from my kids, I'll start the updates.

Baja, Mexico Ride 2008

Ron, Matt, and Scotty went on the ride this year. Very few injuries, mostly bumps, bruises, and sore muscles. If I understand the story right, this is what happened: After a very short distance Ron and Scott broke down. Ron started driving the truck, Scott got on an extra bike and kept riding. After a couple of days then Matt broke down and joined Ron in the truck. Several others joined in during the week, as well as being the go-fer vehicle for extra parts for others broken down. Ron didn't call as much as he usually does and it turns out he arrived late at night on several days because he was rescuing. But it is sooooo much fun! The scenery does look pretty.

The group they go with (UTMA - which is a motorcycle group out of Utah) does a lot to help the people of San Felipe where the ride starts and finishes. Every year on Sunday after church, they do quite a service project. All riders bring down bags of clothes to donate. The last couple of years there's been an Scout that uses this as their service project. The clothes are gathered, divided up into smaller bags by gender and then passed out. Hygiene supplies are also handed out. A big favorite with all the kids is the CANDY that is thrown out in the crowd. The bishop of the ward suggested that a donation to the ward for temple trips would be very appreciated. Also the bishop, or past bishop, was in need of cataract surgery ($800) and that was paid for by a rider in the group. Matt and Scott each took a woman shopping for groceries and then carried them home for them.

Here are pictures from the trip:

The Big Ride

Ron, Matt & Scott are gone this week on the 900 scenic fun-filled ride through Baja, Mexico. You never know all the details about the trip until they get back - but it's sounding like a rough start. No call Monday night, I was expecting one, but decided not to worry about it. Ron did call Tuesday afternoon. The reason for no call Monday is they didn't get to their first location until after 11:00 p.m. That can't be good. And the reason he could call me in the afternoon was because he was now driving a truck through Baja instead of his bike. So the trip started off with breakdowns, getting lost (not one person - but a whole sub-group of 20) and a late night. He thought he'd have phone access Wednesday night, so we'll just see what tonight's report is.

In the mean time - I've expressed frustration with enrichment group book club before. I now have the Enrichment councilor 'concerned that I'm o.k." I'm fine. I won't go inactive. I'm not offended. I won't quit going to church. Jenn found another book club one day in blog world and called me up to convince me that I really should join this blog book club. I thought, why not. I really need to expand my horizons. So I commented that I was in. It's month one and the first book of choice was The Other Boleyn Girl. The cover of the book stated it was soon to be a movie, I just didn't know it was so soon. I enjoyed the book. I thought while reading it that it would be a rated R movie. So imagine my surprise when I saw the movie advertised this week and it's PG-13. I'm so excited. Even if they do a bad job adapting the book the costumes and scenery are so cool. Thanks to Mrs. Zastrow (Glendora High School English, a long time ago), I love anything about old England.

I can't wait.

IN JILL'S FOOTSTEPS

My vacuum has died. I had a Bissell canister that has lasted the longest out of any vacuum I've ever owned - over 5 years. But today it was sounding funny and I lifted up the power head and the brush was barely turning. I thought it was the belt so I went for the screwdriver. The belt is fully intact - but the little engine was smoking and smelling.

I've spent an hour on the web looking to see if I could order just a new powerhead. Didn't find one. I did find a new motor for the inside at a cost of $98. That's almost half the cost of the whole vacuum.

I went to consumer reports to see what they said about vacuums but I guess you have to be a member for them to let you know all this. So I'll throw this out there for your suggestions. I have a house with stairs so I need to be able to vacuum steps. Bagless vacuums give me the heebe-jeebies, so I think I need to be able to pull all the gunk out neatly gathered in a disposable bag.

What are your favorite brands?

Thankful Thursday

Charlie 10 mos. Hallie 6 months

Things I'm thankful for this week:

• That the family was all together this weekend. Thank You Brad & Kara for driving up here.
• People in Scott's life the last year that have truly made a difference
• That Ron & the boys are almost ready to leave on their trip.
• That the company has jobs lined up to do.

On another note, Ron & I have this ongoing conversation and 27-year disagreement on what the definition of "A Weekend Away" means. The conversation goes something like this:

Kim: I really need a break. I'm just drowning, I need to get away from it all for just a weekend.

Ron: Hey ____ (insert usually some brother's name) is going to ________ insert some campground. We should go with them it would be fun.

Kim: No. I'll just stay home.

Now, what Ron does not realize is between his word 'fun' and my word 'no' there is a huge thought process going on:

"Hmmm. Pack clothes lightweight for the day, jackets for night. Plan 3 meals/day. Write shopping list, consider every item you would need for the meal so you don't miss anything. Go to store load all food in shopping cart, out onto conveyor belt, back into the back of car, drive home and unload into house and put away. Bring out all the food previously bought and put in ice chests and various containers and pack for trip, including all pans and utensils necessary for cooking said meals. Grab camping gear, sleeping bags, packed clothes, ice chests full of food (so now I'm lugging this food around for the 5th time) toys, books, chargers, paperwork I might need because we're expecting a call from someone with work. Drive to location.

Unpack and settle in. Cook and clean up three meals a day. Keep camping area cleaned up. Keep warm/dry/cool/away from bugs/whatever the circumstances. Pack and clean it all up to come home. Get home, empty out ice chests, get them dry and put away, wash all clothes from the trip, possibly need to wash sleeping bags and pillows. All the time this washing and cleaning up putting away from the weekend trip while I have to continue with the normal washing cleaning up of the household I was trying to escape from and rejuvinate for over the weekend. Hmmm, no thanks, I'll just stay home. That idea for a weekend away sounds like A WHOLE LOT OF WORK FOR ME. No.

Ron thinks it's more like No, you don't want to spend time with me. It's not that. His idea of a relaxing weekend involves motorized vehicles and dirt and work.

Kim's idea for a weekend away:

Leave Friday noonish. drive to Orange County. Get a nice hotel room. Go out to eat at a restaurant. Go to a movie. Come back to the hotel and sit in the jacuzzi. Get up in the morning and go to the swap meet. Walk up and down the isles for 4-5 hours looking at all kinds of stuff you mainly do not need. Buy a few irrestiable items. Like 4 t-shirts for $20. Sunglasses discounted, etc. Leave and drive by the beach just to sit, smell the salt air and listen to the waves. If I have extra money, there's Spa Gregories close by. If not, cruise on home.

Ron says: Your weekend costs me money. My weekend idea is cheap.

Kim: Huh????

• We're both driving 4-5 hours away. Same cost ($200).
• Hotel room ($150) vs. thin mattress camping - you've got me there.
• Buying and cooking all food vs. restaurants = the same ($200).
• Swap meet and spa - prices range for this. spa is easy $100, swap meet, $50 to -- whatever the budget.
• Gas for motorized vehicles on Ron's weekend, $300

So Ron's weekend away 'relaxing' is about $700. My weekend away is about $700 (and somebody else has done all the work!). Yet his is cheaper and more fun? Uggghhhhh. I don't know if other couples have this same conversation.

PICTURES FROM OPENING SCOTTY'S MISSION CALL

Here is the scene at our house as Scott opened his mission call letter. We had several people on the phones listening in. I think what I like about this video is it is so typical of Scott & Jenn's relationship. She's always right there by his side telling him what to wear, or how to get things done.

(Todd, Bryce, Devin (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Tyler (Mexico City East, Mexico), Russel, Scotty (Belo Horizonte, Brazil)
Here's a picture of the Schnatzberrie Gang. This was one year ago when they were headed up to BYU to go to the UNLV game, wearing their "Real Mormons are Rebels" t-shirts.

Three of the boys now have their missions calls, with more to come. I'm glad Scott had these good friends to hang out with.

Thanks for all your guesses!

I'm so bad at these guesses, I wasn't even close. But neither were many of you. I thought it was going to be in the states (o.k. maybe it was purely selfish on my part - easy mail system & packages, close by even if you can't visit or see them - they're at least in the same country, comforts of home still available ((taco bell, mc donalds))...) and ever since his interviews, Scott was convinced it was foreign. I was trying to brace him to not be disappointed. Seems I was wrong, he was right.

A quick check on weather channel dot com looks like the temperature doesn't vary more than 10 degrees between summer and winter, which explains why one website described their seasons as hot and hotter.

Something else I read (isn't google great!) said the city was laid out and planned based on Washington D.C. The streets are hilly like San Francisco.The main city has a population of 5 million. The mission reaches out and covers other areas, I don't know if he'll be in the city the whole time or countryside. But I'm sure he'll grow to love the peopel of....

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Belo Horizonte, Brazil!

Scott will report directly to the MTC in Sau Paulo, Brazil on June 11th.

The winner of the contest would be Jenn's boss, Keen Ellsworth: "Jenn's brother, probably smart, smooth talker and full of fun and laughter. Sounds like a Latino fiesta! I say South America, probably Brazil."

IT'S TIME TO MAKE YOUR GUESS

Where will Scotty serve his mission?

The traditional treat at Dairy Queen is the prize for the one who guesses closest. Please leave two guess, one for stateside and one for foreign. Everybody leave a comment, even if you usually don't and are just checking us out from a link on another blog.....I know you do it!

To start out the list, I honestly have no idea. I hope it isn't here but my guesses are Tempe, Arizona & England. Although I think this area would be cool, too. The great thing about the gospel is we all know he'll serve exactly where the Lord wants him to, but it's fun to guess.

update

Random things that have been going on:

Introducing Kruger. The picture is blurry - but all the pictures I've taken of him are blurry. He's about as photogenic as Charlie, every time I point the camera her direction, she moves. So does Kruger.

Kruger came from Alamo, Nevada. Scott resucued and brought him home. I wasn't sure why Scotty would bring home a dog just before he leaves to go on a mission. He thought I needed someone to keep me company when he's gone. Kruger's already had a hospital bill - one thing I swore I'd never do. But when they wake you up at 1 in the morning sick...as a dog...you have to get them some help. Appearantly puppies can't eat just anything.

Another new thing around here has to be the coolest surprise I've ever gotten in the mail. (is gotten a word?) Wait, maybe the card announcing Kara's pregnancy was the coolest thing in the mail. But this item sure is Saweet. Allison and Terry Owens sent this roomba vacumn cleaner as a combined Christmas/birthday/thanks-for-letting-Brian-live-with-you gift. I don't know that I would have ever bought one for myself, but now that I have it, it is awesome. You just turn it on and it travels throughout the room cleaning up after everybody. (well, when it can clean up a puppy oops, then it will be cleaning up after everybody)

I also decided to tackle tuning my piano. I started thinking about it last November. It was soooo out of tune and choir practice would be at our house the month of December. One day as Ron was taking apart a motorcycle in the garage, I got to thinking, how hard can it be to take apart a piano? So I got up, walked over and started dismantling it. Then I decided I have a pretty good ear, how do you do it? Thanks to the internet and YouTube, there are many people willing to tell you how to do it. I ordered the wrenches and rubber wedges on-line and last week sat down to tune the piano.

This has been the funnest project I've done in a long time. In case you didn't know, each note has three strings that form it. Isolate and tune one outside string of the three, then isolate and tune the other one, then tune the middle string to vibrate perfectly in sinc with the other two. When you reach that tone, it is the coolest thing ever.

My goal to read all book club books this year bombed in month #1. Not because I didn't purchase and begin to read the book. But because at Page 33, I said, "This is crap." and I put it down. My opinion didn't go over too well at book club meeting. I'm not against reading other books, I want to, that's why I choose book club. But this book didn't fall into the 'best of books' category. So I'm even rethinking the whole participating in book club idea. At first I thought since I was a member of Relief Society and HFPE meeting monthly was being replaced by monthly interest groups and a quarterly get together, it was my responsibility to choose an interest group. Scrapbooking, or book club. Book club won. But if I have to torture myself through one more self-help book, I'm going to scream. So I'm thinking if this is what everyone enjoys, why should I go and spoil it for them. I'll just not go.

Brad & Kara have an announcement on their blog that's generated a lot of comments. Check it out.

David & Rebekah celebrated their 2nd anniversary. Their blog has a nice slide show. Check it out.

(doesn't that make you want to break out in Black-eyed-Peas song...."Check it out. I met a girl down at the disco she said, hey, hey, hey, let's go." Which brings me back to book club discussion. Appearantly it's o.k. to read crap, you're just not supposed to listen to it.)

Drew started Sunbeams, wrote his own version to the theme song. Again, check it out.

Jenn & Jordan have callings in their ward and are doing great. Maybe she'd be offended if I didn't ask you to check them out as well.

Seminary Oops. Here's what I get for following the manual and trying to mix up my teaching style a bit. The lesson was on God using the weak things of the world to accomplish his purposes. It gave five different people out of the Book of Judges. So I typed up the name and scripture reference on a piece of paper. The kids were instructed to look it up and explain the situation and why that person was an unlikely hero to the house of Israel. The other kids got papers that said, What can you do to help move forward God's kingdom on earth. I mentioned that they might need to read chapter heading, a few verses before and after to get the full picture. It was all fine until Jephthah (Judges 11.) One of the smartest girls in the class ended up with his name. She not only read the reference (which was two verses) but chapter before and after. And ends her explanation with "in the end, he ended up making an oath with God to sacrifice his daughter, which I don't understand because God isn't about sacrificing children."

"No, he's not." So there must be something she didn't catch in the reading. I open to that chapter, kind of started reading through and talking to the kids about it - can't let this go unaddressed. But it really is reading as she explained. and it gets worse. Luckily I have the skills to read, talk, and skim ahead all at the same time. I ended up just trailing off..."and she wanted to go...away...for the month...with her friends..." And I just ubruptly stopped and said, "I don't have an answer why he was allowed to sacrifice his daughter, I'll have to sit and look at this a little closer." I don't think there were many students following along that would have filled in the words about her bewailing her virginity, but it was a couple of seconds of panic on my part. Good thing I was saved by the bell. And the Institute manual.

And finally, politics. UGHHH.... What's up with the GOP? I've always been with the red state way of thinking. But 'they're' making it harder and harder. I've liked Mitt for a long time. I've followed his website long before it was announced he was running, back when he was still putting committees together. I've always thought a business man should run the country. I didn't have a problem with him changing his mind on things. I can't stand McCain. I've never liked him. I can't figure out why a state like Arizona who has just as many conservative thinking people like me would put up with him, let alone elect Gov. Janet Napolitano. Go figure. Huckabee is hanging around to be a thorn in Mitt's side and to get on as McCains #2 pick. It's almost enough to make me turn blue. I don't know what I'm going to do, short of moving out of the country. I'm so upset.

Well there's lots of good news on the horizon....until next time.

February 3rd
Happy Birthday, Matt

For the last 27 years, Matt has been busy:

• He was a Decker Dinosaur (Decker Elementary)


• A Guinner Winner (Guinn Middle School)


• A Trailblazer (Durango High School)


• Eagle Scout


• Missionary in the Oklahoma Tulsa Mission

His greatest accomplishment was marrying Ashley:

And being a father to these cuties:

Matt is constantly busy helping others and does a great job with the young men - helping several to become Eagle Scouts. He's a great example for his family.

Happy Birthday Matt.

These kids are awesome!

It started very slowly this morning. The first young man had on a white collared shirt under his jacket. I didn't think much about it. Then Trevor walked in in a white shirt and tie. I was confused about what sports season was playing, and I don't remember Trevor playing sports. So I asked him if he had a game today. He said, "No, I'm wearing it for President Hinckley."

I then looked up at the class and noticed several girls in their Sunday best, just as another student walked in with shirt and tie on. Last night as news of President Hinckley's death was announced, youth all over the western United States started texting each other to wear their Sunday best on Monday to school.

The second thing I didn't notice until the end of class. I have a sign-in book for them to sign as they arrive. Every morning I ask a question for them to answer. Sometime it's Are you reading the Old Testament at home? Sometimes it's something silly like Do you like Chocolate or Vanilla better? Today as I wrote down the date, I just didn't feel like writing a question, so I left it blank. At the end of class when I picked up the book, the kids on their own started writing about President Hinckley on the sign-in page.

I was so concerned for my kids last night. This is the only prophet they remember throughout their lives. I knew it would hit hard for them. It was so powerful to see them dressed up for school to show their love for him.

President Gordon B. Hinckley

TWINS: Twice as Nice

Has it REALLY been 21 Years???




Happy Birthday to Jennifer & Rebekah

It's taken me so long just to do a slide show tonight. I wanted it to be just right, but it took forever to find a song. The N'sync songs weren't working...So I've come close getting this ready by the midnight time limit.

This afternoon we went and saw 27 dresses. It was fun. The husbands, Jordan & Dave, owe me for sparing them both this chick-flick. Here's 21 facts about The Twins:

1. They were not born premature and weighed 7 1/2 pounds each
2. Both took dance lessons for several years
3. Jenn competed in gymnastics for 3 years
4. Rebekah took voice and music lessons
5. Both played softball from age 5-17 (on different teams).
6. Bekah played basketball at Kenney Guinn M.S./Jenn was a cheerleader
7. They wore matching clothes until they were about 4.
8. From 4-7 I bought them the same clothes, but they didn't match on the same day anymore. After 8 their individual styles were so different they just had a couple of dresses that matched that they would wear on special days. After 12 they refused to ever wear matching dresses.
9. Their hair styles were named: Top up/Bottom down
10. Inside-out pony tail
11. Braids, one or two. French or inside-out.
12. Pony tail twist.
13. They were in the same class at school until 5th grade, after that they were always in separate classes.
14. They went to different high schools.
15. They had different sets of friends they hung out with. Jennifer was a 'the more the merrier' and was always with a LARGE group. Rebekah is more of a one-on-one type of friend.
16. Both received their Young Women Medallions
17. Both graduated high school early (Jenn as a junior, Bekah one semester early)
18. In 7th grade they both had an assignment to write a special essay. Rebekah agonized over making it just right. Jenn was busy being social and came in at the last minute, dug through the trashcan in their room looking through Bekah's wadded up rejects. Choosing one she thought was just fine, she rewrote it in her handwriting and turned it in. It won a Clark County School District contest with an award. I didn't know anything about what had happened, until they walked through the door screaming at each other: "you stole my paper" "You threw it away"
19. Jenn collects hoodies, shoes, & purses.
20. Rebekah collects recipes & movies.
21. They are two totally unique individuals with equally outstanding qualities

Whenever anyone would say, "twins, double trouble." I always told them, "Oh, I think it's Twice as Nice." Thanks for proving me right. I can't imagine our family without you both.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCOTTY

We gathered for Scotty's favorite meal tonight: Steak, mashed potatoes, and creamed corn. As he opened the first gift revealing a tie, Matt's comment was, "Oh, yeah, this is that 19th birthday that has all the fun gifts."

Six ties:

One sweater:

Five white shirts:Basketball shorts & home town t-shirt for those intense MTC 4-square games:

Missionary Reference Library:

This evening was certainly quieter than past birthday's for Scott. I'm surprised he didn't ask for a trip to LV Mini Grand Prix. From the time he was 3 up to 17 every year the 'boys' in the family went there for Scott's birthday. It certainly was quieter than last year's birthday bash with 150 of his closest friends.

Drew was excited to come celebrate with Scotty too:

Scott's girlfriend, Catherine, snuck in and decorated Scott's room super cute for the day:

Happy Birthday Day, Scotty, we love you.

(Jenn put up a nice slide show on her blog, and Ashley has a picture of Scott & Charlie I hadn't seen before.)