Cat with and Attitude

Have you ever owned a cat with and "Attitude"? I guess you haven't been around our cat. Her name is Pumpkin. We have owned her for about three years. She is calico and very pretty but you can't let that deceive you. She is mean and vicious.

My girls just love our cat no matter what she does to them. She can be loving sometimes but for the most time she just hisses at people, animals or just anything. We had to get her declawed because my daughter Angela had so many scratches on her arm that it was scary. The other night we were just watching tv and she wanted to be petted so we were petting her and she just started biting us for no reason. I don't know if she is worth the trouble.

She can be really funny to watch because she leaps in the air when we use a flashlight on the wall, she tries to attack it and will jump many feet in the air. It is hilarious and very entertaining.

She seems to really like Mike even though he likes to tease her and irritate her.

Fun Day of Boating with the Townsends

We have been planning a boating trip with my sister and her family and finally the day arrived. On Saturday we headed up to see my dad at the hospital and then met Kristi and her family at Utah Lake to start a day of fun. (I definitely think that Kristi and Terry are a lot more tan than I am)

This is my niece Matia and nephew Treg. They pretty much eat, drink and sleep in the water. They are big fish and love every minute of it. They are so much fun and we just don't get to see much of them so we enjoyed being with them.

AJ and Todd decided to start the day out by going with Bowdee on the tube. They had a great time.

After the boys went Kristi and my girls, Karrilyn and Angela decided that they were going to check this out. They had a great time. They just adore their aunt and love to be with her even though they were dumped in the water a couple of times.

Yes, I actually went tubing in the water too. Mike and I both went tubing together. It was fun but we got dumped a few times too.

Mike and Terry( my sister's husband), went tubing together. They weren't too smart because they told Kristi to "Bring it on" as she was driving the boat and she did. They did pretty good to hold on but she dumped them in good. They have way too much fun together, just a couple of boys out playing.

Of course Todd and AJ wanted to go too so they decided to go with Mike. I think he was able to go with almost everyone. They had a great time and were all a little water logged by the time they finished.

The boys all had to try the wakeboard especially after Bowdee made it look so easy with his talent. My boys tried and tried but didn't quite make it but of course Mike was able to make it up and do a little boarding. After he was finished and trying to get in Kristi threw the rope at him and banged him in the head and he bled and bled. Ok, it wasn't that bad but we like to give Kristi a hard time. She truly just adores Mike and would never hurt him on purpose.

After we had played and played we all just wanted to relax and swim in the water. Kristi and I just wanted to relax and talk. I don't get much time to just be with my sister so I enjoyed EVERY minute of it. She is awesome.

After a long fun day of playing in the water we were all hot, sun burned and tired but what a great day of FUN!! Maybe we can do it again next year. Thanks for spoiling us.

Thanks Kristi and Terry you rock!

Just Hang In There

This weekend I was able to go up and see my dad, finally. I have been worried about him all week and have had a hard time not being there to see him. It was so nice to finally make it up to Provo to see him. He had back surgery on Wednesday of this past week and has really been struggling trying regain his strength. Even though he wasn't feeling his best he was so happy to see all of us and let us know how much he loves us.
He is awesome and a great example to me and my kids of how to endure. Hang in there dad, you will make it and we will all be praying for you!!!

Friendship Plant

I have this plant in my bedroom and it just continues to grow and grow. Yes, it is only one plant. As you can see it will probably strangle us some night while we are sleeping because it is so long. This plant has even endured a move to Cedar and still continues to grow and grow and it is definitely a big part of our room.

I think of this plant as my friendship plant. It was given to me by a great friend when I finished my scuba diving class about 5 or 6 yrs ago. It was very small in a small pot and as you can see it has grown and grown. This plant reminds me of the friendships that I have gained through the years and how that friendship continues to grow and grow. I have many dear friends that I don't live close to but truly are in my heart always. I miss them always. I am also lucky to have many great friends that I live close to.

This plant reminds me of those great friends that I have gained through the years and the great blessing they are. Just like this plant their friendship has taken light,water, nourishment etc but it is so awesome to have friendships that continue through the years... I will be always grateful for my friendship plant that reminds me of my truly great friends.

Life

This week has been a hard one for me. Yesterday I went in to the doctors and that was kind of stressful and then today my dad went in for major surgery on his back. This has been hard on me because I feel so far away from my family and just want to be there and see him. I know I don't live in a different state but with school every day for me I can't just miss whenever I want.

I have been waiting all morning and finally my mom called and said that he is going to be ok. The doctor said that his back was a lot worse than they suspected and they had to work hard to try to get his back to normal. We won't know until he starts to walk around how he is really going to be. This will be very hard on my dad because he is such a goer and a doer.

I am very excited that I have a four day weekend so that I can have some down time and I will get to go and see how he is doing. I think that we realize often how great our parents and family are but when they are going through hard times we really come to terms on how much they have influenced our life and how much we truly love them. My dad is an awesome man and has taught me and made me so much of who I am. I can't imagine life without him.

The Taming of the Shrew

Thursday night I was lucky enough to get to go to "The Taming of the Shrew" at the Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City with one of my great friends. I was even luckier to get free tickets for both of us to go the the show. If you have never been to a Shakespeare play you need to experience it. It was great. I really enjoyed it. I don't think it was supposed to be a comedy but there were parts that I truly laughed out loud at. The actors and actresses were remarkable. The audience loved it.
I think that I am getting a little better at understanding what is going on in the Shakespeare play. I guess you could say that I am gaining a little "culture".

I've been Tagged: Six unimportant things about me

I have been tagged by Angel for "Six Unimportant Things About Me". This has been a lot harder than I thought it would be. I have been thinking and thinking. Here they are:

1) Until just recently I would drink diet coke or diet cherry coke every day. I looked forward to
my coke. It became a habit that I really looked forward to every day. I finally decided that the carbonation and caffeine probably wasn't the best for me so I have moved on to Crystal Light or Sugar Free Lemonade. There are days when I still miss my Diet Coke but for the most part I think I sleep a lot better at night without the caffeine to keep me awake.

2)I am a true red head. Most people don't have red hair naturally but I have been blessed to have red hair even though it has decided to start to add a little gray on its own. I also can do my hair either curly or straight. It sure takes a long time to do my hair straight because I have a lot of hair but it lasts longer than the straight hair. My husband wishes my hair was curly like it was in the 80's when I had Big curly hair. I don't know if I will go back to that but who knows. My husband also has red hair and most of my four children.

3) I am a country girl. I grew up on a farm as a child. I remember feeding about 50 baby goats every day by bottle. They were the cutest. They thought I was their mother and would "ba ba and ba" until they got their milk. It was very rewarding. I learned at a very young age how to work hard and to love animals. I was able to experience milking goats, feeding baby goats, and helping the mother goats deliver their baby goats. I am thankful for such great experiences.

4) I collect Snow Babies. I have collected snow babies for years. They are a collection of figurines that depict small snow babies doing many different things in the snow. My husband has bought me many many snow babies as we have experienced many different things. I have one set of snow babies that is snow babies in a canoe and he brought it home for me from Yellowstone when he went to Shoshone Lake with family. Every one of the snow babies that I have represent some important experience or time to me. I keep them up all year round but not too many people even see them or know that I have them.

5) I love amusement parks. My entire family enjoys amusement parks. We have been to Disneyland a dozen times, and also to Six Flags in Chicago. Six Flags in Chicago is an amusement park that is mostly rollercoasters. I remember their was even a "Backwards Rollercoaster", kind of crazy. It was great fun. My husband and I always join in the fun as much as the kids. This May we went to Disney World in Florida. We had a great time. It was very different than Disneyland but it was great. I am glad that we have been able to travel with our kids to some of these fun places to make some great memories.

Here is a picture of us at Disney World this year.

6) I run 5-9 miles every day. I wake up early and run every day. Last year I was running 9 miles every day and the doctor said that I needed to cut back because I am not as young as I used to be. This year I am running about 5-7 miles. I never thought I would be one that ran because I really never enjoyed it before. I am truly not a fast runner but I keep going. I don't think that I will ever be as fast as my husband but who knows. No, I am not training for anything but I am asked many times if I am. I just want to be healthy and it would be great if a great benefit like losing weight would come along I would LOVE it. I think that the working out definitely helps me to deal with my kids, school and just every day life, even if I am crazy.

This is my husband and I and some of our kids at the end of a 5K a few years ago. So this was fun and now I guess I get to pass on the fun to:

Kristi

Rae

Stephanie

If you are reading this blog entry then consider yourself tagged. I was very surprised how many I was able to bold as I answered this list. Go ahead and try it. It's kind of fun.
I hope you all join in.

Copy the list below and bold all of the ones you have done.
1. Touched an iceberg
2. Slept under the stars
3. Been a part of a hockey fight
4. Changed a baby’s diaper
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Swam with wild dolphins
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a tarantula
10. Said “I love you” and meant it
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
20. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Bet on a winning horse
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Taken an ice cold bath
28. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Ridden a roller coaster
31. Hit a home run
32. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
33. Adopted an accent for fun
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment
36. Loved your job 90% of the time
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Watched wild whales
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Gone on a midnight walk on the beach
41. Gone sky diving
42. Visited Ireland
43. Ever bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited India
45. Bench-pressed your own weight
46. Milked a cow
47. Alphabetized your personal files
48. Ever worn a superhero costume
49. Sung karaoke
50. Lounged around in bed all day
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Done something you should regret, but don’t
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Been in a movie
60. Gone without food for 3 days
61. Made cookies from scratch
62. Won first prize in a costume contest
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Been in a combat zone
65. Spoken more than one language fluently
66. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
67. Bounced a check
68. Read - and understood - your credit report
69. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
70. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
71. Called or written your Congress person
72. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
73. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
74. Helped an animal give birth
75. Been fired or laid off from a job
76. Won money
77. Broken a bone
78. Ridden a motorcycle
79. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph
80. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
81. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
82. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
83. Eaten sushi
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read The Bible cover to cover
86. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
87. Gotten someone fired for their actions
88. Gone back to school
89. Changed your name...when I got married
90. Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands
91. Eaten fried green tomatoes
92. Read The Iliad
93. Taught yourself an art from scratch
94. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.\
95. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
96. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
97. Been elected to public office
98. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
99. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
100. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
101. Had a booth at a street fair
102. Dyed your hair
103. Been a DJ
104. Rocked a baby to sleep
105. Dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all fours
106. Raked your carpet
107. Brought out the best in people
108. Brought out the worst in people
109. Worn a mood ring
110. Ridden a horse
111. Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap
112. Cooked a dish where four people asked for the recipe
113. Buried a child
114. Gone to a Broadway (or equivalent to your country) play
115. Been inside the pyramids
116. Shot a basketball into a basket
117. Danced at a disco
118. Played in a band
119. Shot a bird
120. Gone to an arboretum
121. Tutored someone
122. Ridden a train
123. Brought an old fad back into style
124. Eaten caviar
125. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need
126. Ridden a giraffe or elephant
127. Published a book1
28. Pieced a quilt
129. Lived in an historic place
130. Acted in a play or performed on a stage
131. Asked for a raise
132. Made a hole-in-one
133. Gone deep sea fishing
134. Gone roller skating
135. Run a marathon
136. Learned to surf
137. Invented something
138. Flown first class
139. Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite
140. Flown in a helicopter
141. Visited Africa
142. Sang a solo
143. Gone spelunking
144. Learned how to take a compliment
145. Written a love-story
146. Seen Michelangelo’s David
147. Had your portrait painted
148. Written a fan letter
149. Spent the night in something haunted
150. Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane
151. Ran away
152. Learned to juggle
153. Been a boss
154. Sat on a jury
155. Lied about your weight
156. Gone on a diet
157. Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget
158. Written a poem
159. Carried your lunch in a lunchbox
160. Gotten food poisoning
161. Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission
162. Hiked the Grand Canyon
163. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks
164. Gone to the opera
165. Gotten a letter from someone famous
166. Worn knickers
167. Ridden in a limousine
168. Attended the Olympics
169. Can hula or waltz
170. Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books
171. Been stuck in an elevator
172. Had a revelatory dream
173. Thought you might crash in an airplane
174. Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert
175. Saved someone’s life
176. Eaten raw whale
177. Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint
178. Laughed till your side hurt
179. Straddled the equator
180. Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing
181. Gone to a Shakespeare Festival
182. Sent a message in a bottle
183. Spent the night in a hotel
184. Been a cashier
185. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
186. Joined a union
187. Donated blood or plasma
188. Built a campfire
189. Kept a blog
190. Had hives
191. Worn custom made shoes or boots
192. Made a PowerPoint presentation
193. Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course
194. Served at a soup kitchen
195. Conquered the Rubik’s cube
196. Know CPR
197. Ridden in or owned a convertible
198. Found a long lost friend
199. Helped solve a crime
200. Responded to a NJP newsletter

Happy 30th Birthday Kyle!

Today is my youngest brother's 30th birthday. Happy Birthday Kyle!!! I am the oldest of six kids in my family and Kyle is the youngest and he is turning 30 today. When he was brought home from the hospital I was 12 years old and so I still remember it very vividly. I was lucky enough to get to babysit him quite a lot. He was such a beautiful baby.

Even though Kyle doesn't know it I have always looked up to him because of his easy going personality. He gets along with everyone and makes everyone feel like they are his friend. He just makes everyone feel comfortable and loved when they are around him. This picture was taken at my 40th birthday party and he was telling a few fibs about me. He loves to tease as all brothers do. Kyle is a great father and husband. He works hard at everything that he does. He is a very hard worker. He is also a great mechanic and very talented. I wish that I lived closer to him to be able to spend more time with him.

Happy Birthday Kyle! You are awesome!

Dutch Oven Cooking Recipes

In the past few weeks, Mike and I have tried some great recipes for dutch oven cooking that
we just love and I wanted to share them with you. It is so nice in the summer to cook outside and to have a great yummy meal. We are so lucky to have a Volcano that we can put our dutch ovens on with the briquets and then cook the food in our dutch ovens. If you have never tried dutch oven I encourage you to try it out. I love it.
Here are a few recipes:
Dutch Oven Potatoes

(This is a big recipe so we just cut it in half unless you are feeding a large group)
10 lbs of potatoes sliced 1 small bag onions
2 lbs bacon 2 lbs sausage
1 can Cream of Chicken soup 1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
Prepare charcoal( 50 pieces for Dutch oven cooking, un less you are halfing the recipe then you won't need as many)

1. Rub the inside of the Dutch oven with oil.
2. Place 15 pieces of charcoal under the oven and 35 pieces on top of each oven used.
3. When ovens are hot cook the bacon, sausage and onions, or you can cook them in a pan before hand in a pan on your stove.
4. When bacon, sausage, and onions are cooked remove them from the ovens.
5. Layer the potatoes with the bacon, sausage and onions mixture in each Dutch oven evenly or you can mix every thing up all together.
6. Replace lid and cook for 30 min. Check. If potatoes are cooked top with cheese and replace lid. Cook until cheese has melted. If potatoes are not done cook and additional 10 min before topping with cheese.
7. Adjustments in cooking might be necessary and this recipe can be made in a normal oven if desired.


Cheesy Chicken Breasts

8 chicken breasts, skinned and boned
1/2 lb fresh sliced mushrooms
1/2 lb Muenster cheese, grated or cheddar cheese
1 cup chicken broth
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups bread crumbs
1/2 lb mozzarella cheese, grated
Dip chicken breasts in egg, then roll in bread crumbs or breading. Brown the chicken in a buttered skillet. Place in a 14" dutch oven. Top with mushrooms and grated cheese. Pour broth over chicken and bake for 45 minutes to one hour or until golden brown. Use 10-12 briquettes on top and 10-12 briquettes on bottom. This can also be cooked in a conventional oven at 350 degrees. Serves eight.

These recipes are delicious. Try them out.

The green show at the Shakespearean Festival

On Monday night, we took the kids to the Green Show at the Shakespearean Festival here in Cedar City.
It is a small mini show that plays in the midst of the trees outside of the indoor theater. It
plays every night at 7 pm and is awesome because it is also free.

The dancers are dancing around the May pole in this picture.

This is a picture of us watching the green show. There was a lot more people than I have seen in any other year.

This is just a different picture of the dancers at the green show.

We all really enjoy the green show every year. It is such a beautiful setting and really fun and quite humorous to watch. We always have to splurge and get a lollie, a chocolate or a tart to top the evening off just right. Every year we also go the the Shakespeare plays. They are each so different and enjoying.

Christmas in July

About three years ago Mike and I bought a Christmas cactus at Christmas time and thought it would be nice to have and that every year it would blossom because his mom has one and every year it blossoms for her. Well, it hasn't blossomed at all. I told Mike that we just needed to get rid of it because it isn't that pretty if it won't blossom. I never knew how hard it would be to get it to blossom.
About four weeks ago we moved it downstairs to our new family room and put it in the window and I am so excited to say that it started blossoming this last week. I don't know why it started after all of this time but I just have to say it is about time.
It is beautiful, even though I think it has the holidays mixed up.

What do you do on the 4th?

Every year for the 4th of July we buy Tommies donuts and have donuts for breakfast and then go to the parade here in Cedar City. We woke up and headed over to the parade and realized that the information that we got about the time was incorrect so we ended up waiting for 45 min before it started. That wouldn't have been too bad if we would have been in the shade. A little hot to sit in the sun.
This is of Karrilyn, Todd and Angela waiting for the parade to start. The sun is real bright and Angela is having a hard time looking at me because of the sun. AJ had to work at Smiths so we ended up celebrating without him.
I was surprised how many people continue sitting down when the American flag comes through at the beginning of the parade and how many people don't put their hands on their hearts. After all what are we celebrating any way. We are given so much in our country, but so much is taken for granted.
We enjoyed the parade but my kids still enjoy getting the candy thrown at them but the people in the parade don't throw it at the bigger kids. One of the disadvantages of getting older but still feeling like a kid. Todd actually got a water bottle thrown at him and he caught it and he was grinning from ear to ear.
After the parade we began working on my computer. A month ago we broke our camera and now my computer has broken. At least I know that I will still be able to get all of the information, contacts etc off of my hard drive and put it onto my new computer. This is great because I don't have all of my friends phone numbers, addresses and email addresses written down any where else.
After working on the computer we all decided to go down to our new family room down stairs and play games. Well of course, everyone wanted to play "Rock Band". If you don't have the game and have never played it, it is great fun. My entire family can play this together and we just love it. The kids decided that they wanted to try the "58 Song Set". Which means that we play 58 songs in one day and they also review how well each member of the band did and if you don't get booed off of the stage then you can continue to the next song. They finally talked me into it and we began the long journey to finishing 58 rock songs.
We played and played and played. We did take a break for our barbecue and also to go and see fireworks.
At about 12:00 am we finally finished it. I don't know how many people actually accomplish this but we were thrilled. WE DID IT!!! 58 SONGS!!! I must say it was very long, but we had a great time. How many of you have conquered the 58 song list on "Rock Band"????

I really am alive

It seems like forever since I have blogged. I have had a hard week with many personal things to deal with, but I am so excited, I finally have a new camera. I hope that means that I will be able to get pictures of what is going on here and keep this more updated. I have some awesome blog friends that are great at blogging and are so creative. It would be nice if they would rub off on me. Thanks for all of your inspiration in blogging.
This last week has been filled with girl's camp, reunions, receptions, and school. I feel like I have been in a race and I am never going to win. I am on my second session of summer classes. I have two classes and I can tell that is going to be a lot harder for me and my family.