Utah: Friday

Friday dawned clear, bright and beautiful.

Today Brent and I put flowers on graves of two of the most wonderful women we knew...
our mothers.

It is hard to believe that we lost them only two years apart.
It is hard to believe we lost them to difficult and ugly diseases.
It is hard to believe that Maddison, Davis and Cooper will not have their physical love to grow up with.

But it is a beautiful thing to know that they are whole again and that Heavenly Father's plan is true and eternal.

Brent's mom is buried in Clinton, Utah.  My mom is buried up Logan Canyon in Mendon, along with her parents and other family.  It is a truly beautiful spot and sits right at the foot of the mountain.  Won't Resurrection morning be glorious for my mom!
Also in that cemetery is James G. Willie, Captain of the Willie Handcart Co.  If I go three generations past my Grandpa Stauffer's name (my mom's dad) on the pedigree chart, there is James G.  It is very humbling to know my ancestors paved a very brave and selfless path for me and my children.  We are lucky to have faith building pioneer heritage on Brent's side as well.  As a matter of fact, just a few generations down Joyce's line is the name Thomas Steed.  We have his journal entries of when he was asked by the prophet Brigham Young to go out and rescue the exhausted and desperate people in the Willie Handcart Co.
It makes my heart very happy to know that Brent and I have a story that connects one hundred and thirty five years before our marriage in 1991.
I'm sure that since their meeting in heaven eight months ago, mom and Joyce have chatted and laughed and hugged about it too.

And it's all bound together forever because of these beautiful edifices that dot the earth.
We sat in the cool shade of the Logan temple today and felt gratitude for many, many blessings.

We enjoyed an ice cream on Utah State's campus.  I ordered a Carmel Cashew, just like I said I would so that I could make a fair and completely unbiased judgement. 

Both had large pieces of yummy cashews and a good amount to boot. This is VERY important to me.  If you claim to have something in your ice cream, I want to see it and sink my teeth into it.  Often ice cream will say they have chucks of this or that or swirled with this or the other, only to discover that it's just tiny flakes or fragments of whatever they are claiming and you taste it once or twice in a scoop.  Such disappointment!!  Anyway, I digress...
The pieces were often whole or complete halves of this creamy nut.  A hint of salt was perfect.
That is where the similarities end.
The ice cream itself at the Aggie parlor was carmel flavor.  It was okay but the texture was not real smooth and a bit icy.  The ice cream under the Y was vanilla with gobs of carmel-ly (I'm making up words here) goodness mixed in.
Gobs of goodness!  I like the way I said that.
And the texture was smooth and creamy.  No icy bits.  And the generous amount of chunky cashews put it over the top.  And now excuse me while I get in the car and make a quick drive to the Creamery on Ninth for a scrumptious scoop of Carmel Cashew ice cream.  Back in a flash...
I wish.

We ended the day with a stop for dinner at Maddox.  I've posted about this lovely place before.  After all, it is the home of the world's finest beef.  That's gotta put a smile on your face.

This time we took the kids.  It was a first for them.  It was so fun to see them enjoy REALLY good food.  The fluffy, dreamy rolls kept everyone happy while we waited for our dinner.  Maddie surprised me by diving into a bowl of creamy, dreamy clam chowder.  And I had their spicy, dreamy fresh shrimp and crab appetizer.  Mmm.  Mmm.  Mmm.  My mouth is watering thinking of that horseradish cocktail sauce.
Succulent, dreamy prime rib for Brent and my Dad.
Juicy, dreamy hamburger for Davis.
Crunchy, dreamy fried chicken for Cooper.
Melt in your mouth, dreamy filet mignon for Maddie and myself.

Friday was a FABULOUS day in Utah.

I interrupt my Utah updates with this great commercial...

remember to pause my playlist music!!

Utah: Wednesday and Thursday

Brent loaded up the truck for a boy's road trip.

Grandpa Brown, Davis, Cooper and our nephew Burk took a drive up to Evanston.

Contraband was all they had on their minds.

I honestly feel that Porter's should rethink their sign...

Those two headliners are bad enough on their own but together???  Come on people!

Soon bags were filled and smiles couldn't get any bigger so they headed back.
My boys were very excited to do a quick show and tell.
And I heard something in all the hubb-bubb about getting a mystery firework for free because they spent X amount of money.
Oh wow!  I could hardly wait for that.

The boys were set and counting down the days until the firework show.

I was dealing with a kidney stone. 
Dang kidney filled with stones!!

Utah: Tuesday 10:30 p.m. to Wednesday 3:00 a.m. AKA: The Eclipse premiere

It's fun to pretend that I'm young and giddy with excitment like these two darling girls.
Afterall it was nearly midnight and we were standing in line to see Eclipse!

Back up 43 years.

I was born.

Six weeks later Carrie was born.

We lived next door to one another and grew up best friends.

And as the story goes,

Carrie got married.

I got married.

And seven weeks apart Maddison and Hannah were born.



And although Carrie and I were standing in line for different reasons than Maddison and Hannah...

...it was lots of fun to share it with our girls!

Utah: Monday (part 2)

Our next destination...Howard Manor.



Why is it that part of Heavenly Father's plan is to meet a wonderful family, become great friends, celebrate holidays and BYU victories together, borrow sugar or eggs, lend paper, tape, markers, glue sticks, doorbell ditch Valentine cards, hang out on the driveway letting the children play for hours and even joining one of their children throwing up in the kitchen sink...just to have them move away and take a piece of your heart with them???

Oh yeah, I think it has something to do with totally understanding the principle of tasting the bitter to savor the sweet.
And savor we do!

You might remember this beautiful sobbing child.  Well, now he is a handsome little man and this "i-wanna-munch-those-chubby-cheeks-and-fall-into-those-pools-of-chocolate-you-call-eyes"  bundle has taken the spot of baby of the family.  Goodness.  They make 'em gorgeous, don't they!

We lingered over dinner and of course we fought over who got to buy.  That's what good friends do.
Brent won out this time but next time, because there will be one, it's on the Howards.

We drove away waving and shouting our good-byes until we could see them no more.  And my heart was stinging with the bitter but so grateful for the sweet.

Utah: Monday (part 1)

I think the gorgeous skies were welcoming us.

First stop...BYU.  This included lunch at Legends Grille. Please treat yourself to the San Francisco Melt with tender beef brisket and chipotle mayo. Oh! My!  And we stopped at Legacy Hall to touch Brent's plaque. It's good luck you know! A visit to the bookstore to stock up on new "GO COUGARS!" paraphernalia is something we all look forward to. Even when Brent walks out with his pockets turned inside out, he's positive it was money well spent : )

Davis is working on a handful of merit badges this summer so to fulfill a requirement for the Art Merit Badge we stopped at the BYU Art Museum.  It was beautiful.  Although we all agreed we had no idea what the artist of the huge piece at the entrance of the display was trying to say.  Oh well!  That is bound to happen at most art museums.  I did take pictures of the sculptures made from farm sprinkler equipment.  I guess my dad being a QA Engineer for a sprinkler company "spoke" to me.  Cool stuff!

 We made sure we left enough room for a treat at the one and only...

I had the Carmel Cashew on a yummy crunchy sugar cone with the intent of conducting a taste test with the same flavor at the Aggies Ice Creamery.

Results to follow on my "Friday" post : )

I have two favorite holidays...this is one of them!

Jet fly overs and fireworks just make my heart happy.

growing can be a pain in the mouth...

Cooper has a loose tooth.
A very loose tooth.
It wobbles back and forth to the point of laying horizontal in his mouth.
The little bugger will not come out.
Cooper has tugged.
Brent has pulled.

(all words in caps meant to be said with great emphasis)
This afternoon he said to me
"Whenever I eat ANYTHING, it hurts SO bad!"
I'm so sorry honey, I reply.
"This means I can't eat a HOTDOG EVER again!"
I understand how deeply he means this as his passion for food right now is hotdogs.
Poor guy.
Tucking him in bed tonight he said
"I'm going to pray that my tooth falls out tomorrow."
I think that's a great idea, I reply.
Ten minutes after placing the umpteenth kiss on his forehead he comes to find me.
"It just hurts TOO much Mom.  Now my HEAD hurts and everything."
Let's get some medicine, I reply.
I tuck and kiss some more and then
"I prayed five times that my tooth will fall out.  I threw some other stuff in there too but mostly just my tooth."

I would love to see the smile on Heavenly Father's face when he hears the prayers of a seven year old boy that has a very loose tooth and loves hotdogs.

this way he can one day prove to his own kids that he used to terrorize the playground...

The Responsibility Center at our elementary school is basically the detention cell for the unruly kids.  Having worked at the school for the past five months, I know well the little ruffians that spend time there.  BTW, the dictionary states a ruffian is "a tough, lawless person; roughneck; bully".

One month before the last day of school I walked into the school to help educate and uplift the future generation under my stewardship.  Suzy (keeper of the ruffians) handed me three pieces of paper as seen below.  She said something like "you're not going to believe this" with an apologetic tone in her voice.

My son had received a note to report to the Responsibility Center that morning.
Yeah, that's right...my son Davis.

Suzy explained that the reporting adult said that Davis was much too big of a kid to be putting smaller boys in headlocks.  I'm not denying the truth of that statement.  But I'm also saying that a particular pesky smaller boy that is always interfering should return a ball when asked instead of threatening to kick it away.  He's lucky Davis got a hold of him and not some ruffian.

And as a staff employee at our elementary school can I just say that I put out PLENTY of fires without sending kids to the RC.  Especially the tiny little fires that involve great kids.  How hard would it have been to say "Hey Davis, you're too big too handle other kids that way.  Keep your hands off."
Uh yeah...Davis gets it. He does not fall under the category of ruffian.

The pesky smaller boy was not hurt.
But the heart of my big boy was.

But with a little time and a father who has a great sense of humor when it come to stuff like this...
it's a joke in our family now to see if Cooper can stay out of the RC longer than Davis.
And this paper work will serve him well in the future.  It makes him look tough!!

a very good day...

Our Memorial Day was good. 

Us and the kiddos.

Enjoying a trip to the movies.

Enjoying the "still a bit too cold for me but not for the polar bears living with us" pool.

Enjoying some yummy BBQ on the patio.

Enjoying splendid homemade icecream.

Mostly...

enjoying each other.

And my big brother put flowers on my mom's grave.

I'm looking forward to placing flowers of my own when we visit soon.

I think Pioneer Woman's Photography post "Coming Home" is a wonderful start to remembering.
I honestly think this is a perfect way to celebrate such a day.

Remembering is powerful.

what TRADITION tastes like...

because four generations (at least) of hand cranked ice cream doesn't lie.

he comes by it honestly...

    Cooper's Little League season is over for now.                  

  

If there ever was a boy who would play night after night,
practice day after day,
and do it with a huge grin on his face all year long...
it would be Coop.

But then he is his father's son...
 

The little team that could...

Another season of Little League has come to an end.
We thought Davis' team would struggle to succeed.
But succeed they did and Davis was a CONSTANT contributor.
They survived in the playoffs game after game.
Soon they faced the #1 seed and in a nail biter finish, managed to knock those boys out of the tournament.
Our team didn't make it to the championship game but
they had already proved themselves all season long.

and appearing as the March Hare...

Davis Brown!! 

The kids did an amazing job with this year's production.  It was great fun to see Davis really get into his part.  He even had a small solo singing part which took me by surprise.  He sounded so professional!  It made me a bit emotional...
The after party was quite the celebration.  Davis has a wonderful friend who's mom makes cakes.  And not just any cakes but INCREDIBLE cakes.  Like the one pictured here.  She said the hours that were put into it were crazy.  And then she cut it up and served it!  How can you seperate the blood, sweat and tears of building something like this from the pure enjoyment of slicing it up and eating it??  I obviously won't be on the Ace of Cakes any time soon!!

Good times for sure : )

I love to see the temple...

 It was a wonderful morning sitting next to Brent with Maddison and Davis beside us.

Given we had the sweet opportunity to participate in the dedication of the newest temple here in Arizona...

I wanted to post a couple of pictures I took from our trip to San Deigo last fall.

A temple is a glorious sight.

And Maddison had the chance to go to an early morningside with all our Stake Youth.

They sat on blankets in the fields where our new Gilbert Temple will stand in the near future.

They heard the words of our Stake Presidency inspire them and guide them to be worthy to enter the doors of the temple that will arise from the dirt they sat upon.

What a blessed Sunday.

The Greatest

pause my playlist please : )

Kenny Rogers was my very first live concert.  I was about 10.  I cried when he came out on stage.

I've been a fan ever since.

This particular song has been a favorite of ours since it first came out.
Bet you can't guess why...

Sweet song.
Better message.

Have an amazing day : )

Thanks for reminding me of this Hailee - love you!

in the breeze on mother's day...

Because the desert won't

really allow me to
successfully have this...

I chose this to keep her close to me.

Last year I thought I might never enjoy the beauty and sweet fragance this little flower gives.  I got plenty of beautiful green vines, but hardly any blossoms.

I have been keeping my fingers crossed especially hard this year.





And it has paid off.

The


timing


 was


 perfect.

Every time I walk out to my porch a little smile crosses my lips.
And I take a deep breath.
Because in the breeze there is a whisper...
 my mom's love filling my lungs, my head, my heart
with what I miss.

is there a light at the end of the tunnel?? oh yeah - it's there! I just have to squint : )

Every year at this time I feel the same...
I can't possibly do one thing more!
And then
I give thanks that there are three reasons to love it all!

My New Life by Stephanie Nielson

I've posted about this inspiring story before.
Here is another look at this courageous and faithful latter day saint woman.
Please pause my music.

I'll take one of these please...

The homes that lined Corona Del Mar beach were nothing less than spectacular.
I'm asking for one for my next birthday.



We had a wonderful vacation.
Getting back into the swing of things was tough.
But that's what makes getting away and spending time together so wonderful.
It makes you want to do it again and again.
And we will : )