A Place of Love and Beauty

The temple is always just that!
This year, we have visited all four Idaho temples. In August, I blogged about our visits to the newest 2 Idaho temples: Rexburg and Twin Falls. In the last two months, we have seen the oldest 2 Idaho temples: Idaho Falls and Boise, while on trips to watch our H.S. Football team play (hence the reason for all the orange and black clothing!).
In October, we watched a game in Shelley and spent the night in Idaho Falls. This was the view from our hotel:
The next morning, we fed some wandering ducks by the Snake River, watched the tranquil waterfall, and took some photos in front of the absolutely beautiful temple. It is such a gorgeous site right next to the reflective water. I love this temple; Josh and I usually attend this temple when we go, which is 2 1/2 hours from our home.

In November when we went to the State Football game, we took a short visit to see the Boise Temple up close. My aunt & uncle's church was right next door to this temple, and I've seen it many times, but never took my children around the grounds.
We visited just as the sun was setting.
I was filled with love as we walked around the grounds and I pondered more about my aunt, and my family, and all the good things in my life! We had a terrific day-long visit to Boise, and we were so happy that our friend, and babysitter, and sometimes the boys' girlfriend Kimi came with us!

A Short Visit

Boise to me means Aunt Candi. Ever since I was a little girl, we visited Aunt Candi & Uncle Kieth and their family in Boise; it's the only reason we ever went there. Every summer we went to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Perkins who lived on Lake Couer d'Alene, and we would break up the 12-hour drive there by going to Boise and spending the night at Aunt Candi's house. Even after I got married and moved to Idaho, whenever Josh had meetings in Boise and I went with him, I always tried to get a visit in at Aunt Candi's house.
Aunt Candi (right) with her best friend Janice (thanks for the photo Liz!)

The last time I visited her was February 2005, but she no longer lived at her home. Ammon and I visited her in a Care Center. She had suffered Encephalitis in fall of 2004, had multiple debilitating seizures around Christmas 2004, and then she had terminal cancer that began on her kidney and spread to the rest of her body. She passed away in July 2005.
Cousin Liz, Sister Tawna, me, Sister Tabbi, Sister Trina, & Ammon at her funeral

Boise to me still means Aunt Candi, but her presence is noticeably missed. I feel a void when I go there now. I love my Aunt Candi. She always spread happiness with her delightful humor. She always made me smile. She always showed that she genuinely cared. She shared her love by always knowing the right thing to say and do. She always remembered my birthday. I always felt loved in her presence. I miss her smile, and especially her laugh. I miss her warmth. I miss her welcoming home. I just miss her.
So when we went to Boise last weekend, I scheduled in a visit to see her. A visit of a different kind. We didn't get to see her smile or hear her laugh or squeeze her with a hug. But we spent time remembering her. She touched my life, and in my heart she will never be forgotten. And I want my children to know that.

We are SAVAGES

On Friday we saw THE Best Football Game EVER!!! Our Salmon High School Savages made it to the Idaho Championship Game for the 1st time in the school's history!
During the playoffs, with each game won, the excitement could literally be felt across our small isolated town. Businesses had signs posted in windows, conversations were centered around the team and the upcoming game, and everyone proudly sported the school colors of orange and black.
A week ago, we had the opportunity to play in the semi-finals at the Holt Arena mini-dome in Pocatello against our rival Shelley. The last time we played in the semi-finals at Holt Arena was 2000. Josh and I lived in Chubbuck at the time, and we took ten-month old Ammon to the game with us. We unfortunately lost that game. But this time, we came out victorious!!! During this year's season, we didn't lose a game in our conference until we played against Shelley. We lost to them only and thus missed out on the District Title. But last week, we beat them 25-15 and guaranteed ourselves a spot in the Finals!!!
The Championship Game was held on the blue smurf turf of the Bronco Stadium in Boise. Our town made the 300-mile trek to Boise. There are only two ways to get there from here, and both are just two-lane highways. We passed and followed cars from Salmon with orange-painted windows the whole way there! We saw people in stores in Boise and could spot them easily decked in orange and black clothes. There are only 3,000 people living in Salmon, and over 1,000 people came to support the Savages at the game!
We played against the undefeated Fruitland team (whose colors also happen to be orange and black). They have been to the Championship Game for the last 3 years, and were favored to win. It was a close game the whole game. We were sitting by people we didn't know very well, but then I think everyone else was too. It was very crowded, so it was difficult to find good friends to sit by. But it didn't matter who we sat by, because everyone there had the same goal, the same purpose: everyone was focused on the game. I normally go to games to watch the people in the crowds because I have difficulties focusing on the game. But I was even focused on the game. I can't even explain how unreal it was. The crowd was ALIVE and LOUD and INTO it!!! Every time we made a touchdown or an interception or a first down, I was high-fiving everyone and hugging people and jumping and yelling and cheering and dancing! And so was EVERYONE else!!!!
Do you want to know the best part?!! We were the underdogs, and WE WON!!! The final score was 37-26. The excitement is still in the air! But now instead of "Good Luck" signs on businesses, the signs have been changed to: STATE CHAMPIONS!!!

#4 Photo Tag

Thanks Debbie for the tag! Here's what you do: take the fourth photo in the fourth file in the computer, add it to your blog, and tell us what it's all about!!!
Here's Mine:

This is a photo of the Westminster Cathedral in London. After flying through the night and arriving in England at 6:00am, we had a full day ahead of us. We took a 30 minute train from the airport to a HUGE station located in London. From there we walked to our hotel, dropped off our baggage in a store room (it wasn't check-in time yet but we did NOT want to bring our suitcases with us all day) then got on a double-decker bus headed for the Westminster Abbey, where we would be getting off and walking to the sites in downtown London. I've never been out of the country before, and Josh had never been in London. IT WAS CRAZY!!! You know on "Harry Potter" when he takes the midnight train and the bus driver is madly driving all over the place, and the riders are literally being sloshed around? Well, that's what it felt like. When we saw the sign for the Westminster Cathedral, we mistook it for our destination and got off the bus. I took a picture of this sight, because it's such a neat-looking building, but we never went inside. We spent 20 minutes walking in circles after that trying to figure out how to get where we really wanted to go. And we finally did. This was our first (of only 3) stressful and argumentative time on our vacation!
I hereby tag:
1. D'Neill
2. Tawna
3. Heather C.
4. Hailey

*CRISP*

CRISP: (krisp) adj. definition- easily broken, brisk or cold, brittle, crumbly, fresh, sharp, clear, crinkled, tightly curled.

Saturday was a beautiful CRISP fall day.

We enjoyed playing in the CRISP leaves that had dropped to the ground with our friends (AND second-cousins) Caysen and David.
We raked and picked up the CRISPY leaves and took them (via wagons and wheelbarrows) to the giant burn pile.

Then Josh started it on fire, and we enjoyed throwing in sticks and watching them turn CRISPY.
And of course, we roasted hot dogs over the fire, and cooked them to a CRISP! It was a perfect fall day, spent in the very best way!

When The Saints Go Marching In

Ammon started his second year of piano lessons in September. His awesome teacher Candise moved away last spring, so I taught him in April and May. And now he has a new great teacher Nichole. He's doing really well, especially for having 3 different teachers in 12 months! He admitted to me that I have been his least favorite teacher, which is fine with me. I think he learns better from others, and so although I could teach him to play, I'm happy to pay somebody else to do it! While listening to him practice the other day, I heard the keys played and knew what song it was. I said to him from the other room, "Ammon, is that 'When the Saints Go Marching In'?" He said "Yeah, how did you know?" And I responded "Because I played it in the sixth grade", which also happened to be during MY second year of lessons.
Playing the piano is like learning to read. When you play, you first learn the letters, then you learn the finger placement, then you learn to count, then you learn to put it all together into a song. It takes a while before songs are really able to be played. Just as in reading: you learn the letters, you learn the sounds, you learn how to put sounds together to create words, and then you can read sentences after a while.
It's fun to watch my kids grow as they go through different learning phases. Right now, Ammon is in the learning to play the piano stage, Kanyon is in the learning to talk stage (his new word phrase is "tay-koo" for thank you), Jonah and Micah are in the learning to read stage (they have learned the letters & their sounds, and they are learning how to put sounds together to create words, such as their names).
Isn't learning fun? I love to learn! And I love watching my kids as they learn! I'm grateful for the opportunity to be a participant in their growth and learning. Life is constantly changing, and soon enough Kanyon will be in school, Jonah and Micah will be reading, and Ammon will be playing Beethoven. But I am truly content for now with "When the Saints Go Marching In", and seeing the half-written names in first-hand of "J-O-N" and "M-I-C", and hearing grunts emerging from the baby's mouth.

TCBY to HBTY

Acronyms...they've found a perfect place in this world. With the electronic generation, acronyms have found their home in texts and emails and website messages. The first acronym I can remember is TCBY. It's the restaurant called "The Country's Best Yogurt". When I was in 3rd grade, and our family lived in Ogden, I loved that place! It was a rare treat, but too delicious to be forgotten. I am slow at acronyms. I love using them, but sometimes it takes me a while to figure out what they mean. For example, a friend once texted me a message including the acronym "LMAO" in it. It took me a full five minutes to figure out what that meant. Josh and I don't have texts included in our cell phone plan. For several months, every time one of my sisters or friends texted me, Josh would be irritated because that meant he was paying 10 cents more on the bill for each one. BUT...then his employees started texting him, and suddenly texting was cool. So now, sometimes Josh and I text each other, just for the FUN of it! A few weeks back, he was in a meeting, and I texted him "Need Bread". Typing on the phone feels like speaking in code or something. When Josh and I were dating, we started coming up with our own acronymical language that we used in correspondence. I used ITLY frequently. He said YAILY a lot. Well, this past Friday was a special day because it was Josh's special day. I texted him a fun message during the day, and he texted me back with a hilarious response. That night, we went on a date to dinner with our great friends Jason and Hailey. Then we came home, and he opened the kids' presents. And then we partook of two home-made cheesecakes, pumpkin and raspberry. At the beginning and end of the day, I said HBTY. Josh, you are an amazing husband and an awesome father. You are my TLFAE and I feel so HTBYW.
BTW, to prevent any rumors: the number of candles does not represent his age, it was just how many came in a package. And he actually blew them all out in one breath, too!

That's what little boys are made of

You know the poem, "Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails..." Well, I'm sad to say my oldest son has grown out of that cute little boy phase. This year, Dad took Ammon shopping for a Halloween costume. They showed up with a horrific zombie ensemble. I told Ammon he was lucky, because if it had been me that had gone with him and if he had told me that's what he wanted to be, he would've been OUT of luck. I would've made him be a bunny (you know, like the one that the boy wore on A Christmas Story) before I'd let him be that freaky-looking zombie. It's sad to see my little boy all big and scary-looking for Halloween. At least I still have the baby to dress-up as what I want him to be! And he was the CUTEST little puppy ever. Complete with a Puppy Dog Tail. Because, after all, that's what little boys are made of!!!

Ammon the Zombie

Bubbers the Puppy

Cartoon Couples

Twins can be pretty special at times. Sometimes there are unique opportunities just for them. Halloween is one of those opportunities. For example, in 2006, Jonah and Micah dressed as a famous couple. We've decided to keep the tradition going ever since. Here's a rundown of the twins and their renditions of famous duos:

2006 - Batman & Robin

2007 - Buzz & Woody

2008 - Mario & Luigi

2009 - We're thinking maybe SpongeBob & Patrick...any other ideas?

Make Mine SCARY

The annual tradition of carving pumpkins happened just days before Halloween this year. Our friends the Hobbs' graciously gave us some pumpkins that Gina grew since the ones in our garden failed. The boys each picked out the appropriate pumpkin, by its size according to their age. Then the brain surgery began as each pumpkin's head was cut open and the guts were pulled out by each boy. As soon as the baby saw what the older 3 were doing, he of course had to join in the slimy fun as well. For some unknown reason to me, my boys have races over everything: who ran inside the house first, who finished their dinner the quickest, who put their clothes on the fastest... Well, Micah won the cleaning-out-the-pumpkin "competition". Since Ammon's pumpkin was the biggest, he convinced Micah to finish his for him as well. Sometimes it amazes me what brothers will do for one another.
Ammon wanted a scary pumpkin with lots of pointy teeth. Dad carved his for him, and Ammon was pleased with the final product. I carved the other three boys' jack-o-lanterns. Micah wanted triangles and circles to form an angry face. He thought his pumpkin turned out great. Jonah wanted all triangles to form a face as scary as Ammon's pumpkin. When I drew the design on paper, he liked it, but after it was carved he wanted me to "make it scarier" by cutting out a different mouth. But the pumpkin didn't want to be changed, and by the next day Jonah didn't mind. Since the baby loves Kitties, and since Kit-Kat was his first word (rather than mom or dad), I decided to make his jack-o-lantern just that.

PRESENTING the 2008 Pumpkin Carving Creations:

Ammon with the scary-faced j.o.l. he drew up all by himself.

Jonah with his triangular one.

Micah with his angry one.

Bubbers and his Kit-Kat.

My PC & ME

For the last two VERY LONG weeks, my computer was down due to a nasty virus. But it has been nursed back to good health and I'm glad to be back online again. In the last two weeks, I have filled my life with projects, projects, and more projects so that I wouldn't have to feel the pain of the void of my computer addiction!!! All trials bring blessings, and although it has been hard, it has also been a blessing for me to get so many other things accomplished! But, now I can once again enjoy the part of my life that brings me just a window of sanity each day. And for that, I thank you computer-fix-it-man. The window is open, and I can be sane again!!!