I betcha didn't know...

that Evelyn is tight with Michael Phelps, did ya?

This coming Tuesday....

We will be traveling to Rexburg.

The Rexburg City Council is holding a meeting to discuss pedestrian safety within the city (especially surrounding campus) and specifically to come up with some solutions for the crosswalk where my mother-in-law was killed two weeks ago today.

Since BYU-I has become a 4 year school and enrollment has increased, there are so many more pedestrians on the streets and there are some serious issues that need to be discussed and resolved.

My husband Bill wants to be a part of this solution.



**For those of you who would like to keep tabs on Bonnie's recovery (she is the lady that was also hit in the crosswalk with my mother-in-law, and critically injured), you can visit a blog dedicated to her and her recovery. I have posted a link to this blog site in the right hand column of my blog.

We're Nerds...

...COSTCO nerds that is.

And so is the entire city that I live in.

My sister Katie called tonight from COSTCO. (They aren't supposed to have their grand opening until in the morning.) But she and her family were at COSTCO for the "Night Before Open House". She said we needed to get over there because there was all sorts of free food.

We told her we had dinner in the oven and that we would head as soon as we ate. She then told us to put dinner in the fridge and get over to COSTCO right now because there was so much food that we could literally have dinner at COSTCO.

So we did just that. We put our freshly baked lasagne in the fridge to eat tomorrow, and we all got in the car and headed for COSTCO. When we got to the intersection, there were so many cars trying to get into the parking lot that it caused a traffic jam out in the intersection. We were tempted to turn around and go back home. But curiosity got the best of us and we proceeded to find a parking spot at a cell phone store nearby.

There were so many people. I had never seen anything quite like it in my life. The whole city was there. And there was SO MUCH FOOD. Food was everywhere. Eggrolls. Fish. Chicken. Beef. Rolls. Potstickers. Sushi. Hotdogs. Pizza. Jerky. Pie. Cake. Cheesecake. Coffee. Soda. Bottled water. Frozen yogurt. Smoothies. Chips and salsa and guacamole. Cheese and crackers. Nuts. and more.

We ate until we hurt. We ate some more. We ran into so many people we knew. We happily walked through crowded isles and looked at everything like children in a candy store, pointing, touching, ooohing and ahhhing.

I think we all looked rather silly.

Only a COSTCO could do that to people.

My Baby Doll

I recently ran across a couple of pictures that I havn't seen in a long time.

Porter took these with his camera right before church when Evelyn was only about 1 month old.

When I saw them, I couldn't believe it. I now understood what people had been telling me all the time in the grocery store, at church, at school, etc. It happened all the time when Evelyn was a brand new newborn until she was about 3 months old.

So many people, complete strangers even, would stop me and tell me that my little baby looked just like a baby doll sleeping. I would respond politely saying, "Oh, thank you. You're so sweet....", never really thinking much of it.


Until now.



When I came across these pictures,



Of my little sleeping baby doll:

Mom

Exactly one week ago tonight, we got a phone call letting us know that my husband's mother, my sweet mother-in-law had been killed in a tragic accident in Rexburg. This post I am writing for her.




My mother-in-law Deloris was one of the most Christ-like people I knew. I called her Mom. This past Christmas, she gave each of the daughter's and daughter's in law a necklace with a pendant of an actual widow's mite mounted in silver (made by my sister-in-law Christine). She was buried in her widow's mite necklace. This was very symbolic to the family. One, because she was a widow herself and two, just like the widow in the story in the Bible, Deloris gave all that she had.

Deloris loved her family and the Gospel more than anything else. She served everyone around her, often putting her needs last. The outpouring of love displayed to us this past week by neighbors, members of the community, and family was overwhelming and a tribute to her from the many, many people that knew and loved her.

Here are some memories from this past week.

When we woke up in Rexburg the Monday following her death (Columbus Day) we looked out the front window and saw her lawn lined in American flags:





The day of the funeral was perfect. The funeral services were beautiful. Andy and Brian wrote and gave the life sketch. Christine and her 10 year old daughter Karen read "The 70 things we love about Grandma" (a list of things we gave her on her 70th birthday). Catherine played a beautiful arrangement on a folk harp. My husband Bill gave a talk referencing the story A Christmas Carol and also talked about the story of the widow's mite and Jesus Christ's life of service. The funeral program cover had a picture of the Rexburg temple that Bill had taken. Porter and his boy cousins were pall bearers and honorary pall bearers.

She was buried in a beautiful hardwood casket that was identical to her husband Brian's:

Looking on.

Son and grandson.

My sweet husband's eyes tell it all.

Bill with Aunt Pat and Uncle Hal (Two of Deloris' siblings).

The back of Brian's and Deloris' headstone.

Little Evelyn asleep in the arms of Aunt Ginny at the family luncheon.

Evelyn and I relaxing after the funeral and luncheoun back at the house.




A white rose from a huge bouquet sent to the family from BYU I.

I know that even through all the tears, stress, emotion, lack of sleep, etc., we all came away knowing one thing for sure: that families are bound together for eternity through sacred temple covenants. Last night, after we put Evelyn down for the night, Bill took me on a walk around the Rexburg temple. We didn't even have to step foot inside to feel the overwhelming reassurance of where Brian and Deloris are.

These guys are AMAZING

Last night our student ward held a Goods and Services Auction to earn money for Pennies By The Inch. The money raised from this fundraiser goes directly to help pay for the care of very sick children at Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City.

All I can say is, these guys blew me away last night.



It was truly humbling to watch the energy in the room and to see these (mostly) college kids, sacrifice SO MUCH to be able to help these sick children.

Here is a table full of some of the things that were auctioned:







Porter auctioned a Wii Party with Snickerdoodles. Bill auctioned an Evening with his telescope and hot chocolate on top of Buckskin Mountain.





This is what I auctioned:





Other items auctioned were:

A 15 minute foot rub
Tickets to the Symphony
Gift Certificates to Taco Bell
Vacuuming of the interior of car
An afternoon of riding motorcycles with the Bishop
Movie and Pizza night
A double date with Curtis and Nate, limousine included
Dinner date with Kassie
Handmade bookcase by David

And the list goes on and on.


Dustin was our auctioneer, and I seriously don't think we would have done so well without him. He was fantastic!








So, how much did we raise?

$250?



Nope.



$400?



Nope.



$750?



Nope.



Try, over $1000.

THIS....

...Is what happens when you let your ten year old watch the baby while you make dinner.

(Photoshoot courtesy of Porter)

"7 Random (or wierd) Things About Me" Tag...

...from cousin Sarah.

Random thing #1: I LOVE avocados. In guacamole. On a sandwich. Plain, with a little salt and pepper and lemon. I even get an avocado in the toe of my stocking :) I have since I was a little girl.

Random thing #2: I DO NOT like pork and beans. BLLLECK! Do not make me smell them. I just might throw up.

Random thing #3: I love my Chaco sandals. I have been wearing the same pair for 5 and a half years. I even wear them in the winter with wool socks. My chacos make me happy.

Random thing #4: I often leave just one little bite on my dinner plate. Don't ask me why. I don't know. My dad does it too. Wierd.

Random thing #5: Benjamen is my favorite brother on Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. He made my heart go pitter-patter in Jr. High and High School. Dorcas made Bill's heart go pitter-patter :) We were meant for each other, just like Benjamen and Dorcas.

Random thing #6: I am an internet news junkie. We havn't had t.v. for a really long time, so I have had to rely on the internet to get all of my news. I check it often. My favorite: Fox News.

Random thing #7: I always have to be touching Bill's toes with my toes to be able to fall asleep. I really can't cuddle to fall asleep...I get claustrophobic. But having my foot against his is a must. Bill falls asleep the second his head touches the pillow. I take much, much longer. But it makes my dreams much sweeter when we are sleeping toe to toe.

Over the River and Through the Woods...

Porter got his first backpacking back pack for Christmas this past year. Bill has been waiting a long time to be able to do this. He has been calling Porter his future hiking buddy since Porter was little.

So this August, Bill took Porter on his first official backpacking trip. (Official, meaning Porter carried his own stuff. In the past, Bill and I have packed everything in). Bill wanted to take Bracken on one more trip before the mission, so my brother Bracken and cousin Isaac came along too.

They went up into the Lost River Range near Mackay, right up by where my Grandpa's ranch is.

Well, they ended up coming home a day early, and let's just say they had an adventure that is forever ingrained deeply in each of their minds, including: a down pour of rain which soaked everything, lightning so close it would make a grown man cry, falling rocks, wild animals outside the tent, a tent full of water, poorly marked trails, mud that stuck to the bottoms of their boots, and the list goes on and on. I think they are just glad they survived :).

(My brother Bracken later wrote us from the MTC and said that he told this experience to help him teach one of his lessons.)

Here are some pictures from the adventure:




They, of course couldn't pass up a big, manly burger for lunch at Pickle's Place in Arco on the way home:






I think they look a little bit tired, don't you?