Where does the time go?

Where does all the time go? I can't believe its been almost three months since my last post! I have no idea how people can write everyday. I guess it's easier for some then others. I have a hard time thinking of things to write about and then when I have an idea I just don't seem to be able to express my thoughts, feelings, and ideas very well. Oh well, we all have different talents I just wish some of mine were of the artistic kind!

Morgan got her drivers permit last week. It's very fun, but scary too! She asks everyday to go driving and she is doing great! We only have a car with a standard transmission right now so she is a little over whelmed with all that she has to do and remember. We've been doing a lot of starting and stopping so she can get the hang of first gear. Susie took her driving tonight in her car which has an automatic transmission and Morgan thought it was so much easier. Well duh! It wont be long though before she is driving everywhere! I can hardly wait until I can have/make her run errands for me!

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! xoxo Monica

A Really Great Weekend

The Victory Bike that was raffled off. Raffle tickets were 5 dollars.

This old bike had copper parts on it and a leather seat with no padding ouch!

I thought this bike was pretty sweet and not just because it was pink either!

Last weekend Del and I went to Cliff Castle Casino in Camp Verde for a poker run/motorcycle show. We had a total blast! The weather was beautiful! We got there at about 8am on Saturday and promptly registered for the poker run because they were awarding four big money prizes to the two highest and two lowest hands. One of each to the drivers and one of each to the passengers with those hands. The high hand was worth three thousand dollars and the low hand worth two thousand dollars. I, as the passenger, had much better odds of winning since there were a lot fewer of us then drivers, but I still didn't win! We got our poker run cards and chose our first number to be punched 1 through 52. I chose 27 and then we were off!

We started our ride by driving up I-17 to Munds Park where we stopped to get our poker cards punched. I chose number 9 and then we continued on up the 17 until the Lake Mary exit. We drove along Lake Mary to Mormon Lake where we stopped and got our third punch I chose 49. We bought snacks in the little store and walked a round for a bit to rest our rear ends. Then we hopped back on the bike and headed down the 87 to Mustang gas, in Happy Jack, for our fourth punch. I chose 22 and while there we got to see the mobile elk dressing/processing(?) trailer and they were skinning an elk! I told Mr. Ring to take a picture to show the kids but he didn't want to so, you all don't get to see it either! We then headed back into Camp Verde to get our fifth and final punch on our cards. I chose 33. Boy was my bum tired of sitting by then. We stopped and ate at Taco Bell for lunch before going to the casino to turn our cards in and get our coupons for 10 dollars cash from the casino.

We walked around and looked at the motorcycles and the retail booths while we waited for them to post the cards. Each card had been assigned to a number and that was how you got your hand. We looked at the numbers and cards and I saw I had nothing but total crap and Del had a pair of eights. I really wanted to win but it was not to be. The high card driver winner had four kings and the passenger winner had a flush ace high. The low card winners all had ace to six and there was a three way tie for the passengers. I think they probably had to split the pot so that was a bummer, but 666 dollars would still have been nice.

We went into the casino because it had started to rain and we needed to cash in our coupons to get our money. We sat down at the penny machines. I doubled up but Del lost his ten. We went into the gift shop and I saw this thing one of my coworkers had that I thought was really cool so I bought one and wanted to buy a couple of more because they are so fun but didn't because I really didn't have a purpose for them. Later I remembered that Danelle and Aimee's birthdays are coming up so I bought them both one the next day and that's why I'm not telling you what it is. I'll just show it to my family here when next I see them! Since it was still raining, we found a somewhat quiet spot and got out our books to read until it let up so we could head home.

Sunday morning we headed back up so that we could be there when they raffled off the 30 thousand dollar Victory touring bike because you had to be present to win, but of course we didn't win! We did however get to eat Indian fry bread for lunch which was so yummy and we went into a thrift shop in Camp Verde where I found a couple of vintage little bottles for my collection. So that was fun. As we were cruising around town we found an old windmill. Del has been taking pictures of windmills around the state because he wants to make a coffee table book. So, when we spotted the one pictured above, of course, we had to stop and take a picture.

However, the best thing about the weekend was every time we got on the bike I got to wrap my arms around my hubby to hang on for dear life. I also got to feel the wind in my face and the glorious feeling of freedom riding a motorcycle induces!! It was a really great weekend!

Monica xoxo

The Waiting

The Waiting is a song by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. As I was listening to it yesterday I heard the line the waiting is the hardest part. I started to think about all the different kinds of waiting we do like: bored waiting, excited waiting, mad waiting, anxious waiting, ambivalent waiting, happy waiting and sad waiting. I'm sure there are more types of waiting but these are what came to my mind.

I was thinking about all the waiting I've done for my daughter this year which starts each school day at about 6:25 am as I wait for her to be ready for me to take her to seminary. I call out " Are you ready yet Morgan?" her reply is " in a minute Mom" 10 minutes later I yell "Let's go you're going to be late!" she says " I just have to finish my make up, or I need to brush my teeth, or put on my shoes, or find my P.E. clothes/Cheer stuff" another 5 or 10 minutes have gone by and she is now going to be somewhere between 10 to 20 minutes late for seminary. It drives me crazy!! I hate to be late. Then at the end of the day she calls me to pick her up and when I get to the school she is not out front waiting for me so I have to wait for her. I hate having to wait on her when she told me she was ready to get picked up! After I've waited about 5 minutes I call her "Morgan I 'm out front waiting" she replies " I'm coming, or I 'll be there in a minute, or I need to just stop by here first, or Ms Treat needed to talk to us." ( Her cheer coaches' name is Candy Treat. If your name was Candy would you marry a man with the last name Treat? I don't know I guess it was true love!) So, Morgan often starts and ends her day getting yelled at. Isn't it great to be a teenager? I hope we will do better this next school year! I am going to think up some torturous punishment for her when she is late for seminary so we will see how that goes!

I have had experiences with all kinds of waiting, but I would love to hear a story from your life so please leave a comment! Love Monica xoxo

Dog Days Of Summer

The month of May in Arizona was so hot! Half the month the temps reached to over 100 degrees. The month of June was a little cooler because half of its days were under 100 degrees, but now we are into July and it's supposed to be 116 today! I was running some errands today and every time I got in the car I felt like I was melting. The steering wheel is so hot it burns my hands when I touch it and if your not careful buckling your seat belt you might get a second degree burn. To top it all off the air conditioner in my car is not blowing very cold air so it never really cools off!

Last weekend we went backpacking to East Clear Creek to cool off, have fun, catch trout, and cliff jump. We had an awesome time! It rained hard on Friday for several hours so we hung out in our tents reading and sleeping. When the rain finally let up we started a fire but it was very smokey because the wood was so wet. Oh well, it was still warm and we were able to cook over it! While sitting around the fire we played this game where someone chooses a letter of the alphabet and then you take turns naming movies that start with that letter. You get one point for each movie you can name and double or triple points if more that one word starts with the letter. If the letter is M and your movie was Maid in Manhattan you would get two points. When no one can think of any more movies with that letter you choose a new letter. If your in the car you can take letters from the license plates around you. It's fun but I am not very good because I just can't seem to think of very many movies!

Here is a car game for you. Write each family members name on a lug nut of the car. Each time you stop the person who's name is on top gets a prize, chooses where to sit in the car, or what kind of music to listen to.

We really haven't done a whole lot this summer. Morgan and I went to girls camp with church,but she came home early because she got sick. Morgan also got to go to cheer camp with her school team. She came home totally worn out but she learned a lot and had tons of fun. They were at the Arizona Grand Resort which is very nice. It has its own water park which they got to use on their last day there. Morgan was so tired she didn't want to stay as late as the other girls so I picked her up early! Denver got to go to Boy Scout camp at camp Geronimo. He had a great time fishing, horseback riding, doing archery and everything else. There was some sort of flu going around the camp because a lot of people got sick! Thankfully Denver didn't get it because it cost three hundred dollars to go. Last year one of the boys got home sick so he went home after just two days and this year he got sick and so he came home early again. They had two other people in their group get sick and have to go home as well. One of the worst was a troop with 25 members and only three didn't get sick. The camp handed out bleach water and had everyone spray down their camp sites. Del and Dillon didn't get to go to any official camps, but I think they had fun last weekend.

I just celebrated my 37th birthday this last week. My Mom took me to see Wicked! It was really good! We didn't get to sit together because it was almost sold out. We tried to win their lottery but we weren't lucky): It' s actually pretty cool. If you lived near the theater you could try to win tickets before every show. They reserve 20 premium tickets and if your name gets drawn you can buy two tickets for twenty five dollars each! Mom had to spend quite a bit more for our seats but it was a lot of fun! Thanks Mom it was an awesome night!

Tomorrow we are having the family over for a swim party to celebrate Susie's birthday and my birthday. I'll try to remember to take pictures so you can see us! Love and miss you all, Monica xoxo

Growing Things

a peach from my tree

There is just something so satisfying about eating fruits and veggies that you have grown yourself. I think there are several reasons why. One- it is just so fantastic to go out back and pick a piece of warm juicy ripe fruit off of my peach tree, take a big bite of its sweet lusciousness, and have its warm sticky juice run down my chin and know, that because I took proper care of my tree it has rewarded me! Two- Sharing said lusciousness with friends and family. In the past, I have grown roma tomatoes by my pool and when my sister Aimee and kids would come over to swim we would pick tomatoes and peaches, wash them in the pool, and then gorge ourselves on them! Oh what fun! Three- I love hearing what my family made with the fruit I gave them. When Danelle was here last month she took a big bag of lemons home and I know in the past she has used the lemons from my tree to make special desserts for her family. I haven't heard what she did with the last batch though! Four- it just makes me feel good to grow things that produce such yummy results. Five- I like to slice my lemons and freeze them so I can have a taste of summer in the middle of winter and I don't have to pay through the nose for it! I have also done this with my peaches but between the birds and the kids there is not a whole lot left over for freezing.

I hope you are all happily gardening and growing things that bring you joy. Love, Monica xoxo

Spring Break

Does my title bring to mind college students attired in swim suits who get drunk and party? Well, my spring break did not have any partying college students, but did include 14 children, 4 sisters and their spouses, swimming, laughing, playing, hunting for the leprechaun and his booty, one temper tantrum by my daughter, black and white cupcakes, a Sweet 16 birthday party, lunch with my youngest son, an unplugged concert and later that night a second concert by Thriving Ivory, catching up, and sisterly love.

In a previous post I talked about this cookbook I got called Hello, Cupcake and when my niece Julie saw it, she asked me what cupcakes I was going to make her when she came. I let her choose the cupcakes and she chose the black and white ones. We made them on Thursday and even though they were not as perfect as the ones in the book, they turned out great and we had a lot of fun! My kitchen had white nonpareils and black sugar all over it! Everyone was very creative in their designs. Isabel made a yin and yang cupcake, Daniel made a snowman, Denver made a smiley face, and the little kids put all kinds of decorations on theirs.

Isabel turned 16 on the 16th and for her party we went to Susie's apartment since it has all of these super great amenities like a heated swimming pool with tvs and two gas fireplaces, a movie theater with free popcorn, a pool table, and many other things. We laid out, swam, BBQ, watched a movie in the theater, had cake, and watched Isabel open her presents. I gave her a hot pink purse. Grandma gave her twenty dollars. Sam ( her 5 year old brother) gave her lip gloss "for kissing", and her parents gave her a diamond promise ring. When her Mom gave her the ring she explained how the diamond started out as a lump of coal, and how it was exposed to great pressure to became a diamond, and that she like that lump of coal will also be exposed to all kinds of pressures, and if she but endures she too can become perfected like the diamond and be sealed in the temple for all time and eternity. I hope my daughter listened to this message and that both the girls will remember to be like that lump of coal and endure the many trials that will and are coming their way.

On Saturday the 14th Morgan won tickets for Thriving Ivory. Two tickets to an unplugged show at the radio station and two ticket to their concert at Martini Ranch. She was very excited even though she didn't know who they were and that she wouldn't be able to go to the evening concert because it was at a bar. Morgan brought her friend Lindsay to they unplugged show and even though she was allowed only one guest they let me go up too. The couple in the elevator with us weren't able to go to the concert that night so she gave me her tickets! When I picked up our tickets I found out it was an all ages concert so Morgan wanted to have a girls night out! Before we met the band we were served lunch. It was pizza, wings, salad, and bread sticks. The girls only ate one piece of pizza. What's up with that? At home Morgan will eat three or four slices! After lunch, we went into a little studio and sat down. The band was right there! They played three songs, answered questions, and took pics with everyone. I didn't want to be in it though so it's just Morgan and Lindsay. If you want to see their picture or video from the set go to http://www.mix969.com/ under their unplugged series. It's not up yet, but I hope it will be ready for viewing on Monday or Tuesday. That night when we got to Martini Ranch we got a sweet free parking spot right across the street! I was so happy, because I didn't want to be driving all around searching or have to pay a fortune to park in a lot. We couldn't find a fourth friend to go with us on such short notice so when we were in line we gave the ticket away to the people behind us. It was a man and his daughter, here from Alaska for spring break to visit family. They are loving our gorgeous weather which has been in the 80's all week. I felt good giving them the ticket and saving them a little money on their vacation. The girls had a total blast at the concert! It was a lot of fun and Thriving Ivory was great! Since I didn't have to pay for parking I bought their Cd and Morgan has been listening to it all day! After the concert, Morgan and Lindsay said that Thriving Ivory is their new favorite band! When we left we were starving so we went to Applebee's for half price appetizers and had cheese sticks, fries, and wings which I love, love, love!

Spring break is almost over, and we all have to go back to school and work, but the memories of this week with my family will not soon be forgotten. I hope my sisters, nieces, and nephews have all gone away with memories that they can cherish, and recall fondly, when they are missing us, as I will do when I am missing them. Love, Monica xoxo

Backpacking

Here are a few pics from our backpacking trip last weekend. We went to West Clear Creek which is near Camp Verde. We arrived at about 8:30 pm so it was dark when we hiked in. If we've been there before and the hike isn't too hard we like hiking in at night. We attach glow sticks to our backpacks and wear our headlamps for light and off we go!

We have really enjoyed backpacking the last couple of years. It's fun to camp where there are little or no other people and to feel like you are alone with nature is awesome! I enjoy knowing that we carry everything we need for the weekend: food, clothes, tent, sleeping bag, and cooking supplies in, on our backs.

A few months ago Del made each of us an awesome little camp stove out of a soda pop can. They only weigh a few ounces, and for those of you who backpack know, shaving a few ounces here and there can really add up to a much lighter backpack. Anyways, they use denatured alcohol as fuel and we finally got to "field" test them. They worked great! We only used them to heat water for our hot cocoa, but they did a good job! When the boys tested them at home they also cooked hot dogs with them and they turned out yummy! The one problem with them is that they only hold an ounce or two of fuel at a time, and so only burn for about 10 minutes. When the flame burns out you have to refuel and light them. They're not very practical for cooking something that takes awhile, but work great for our backpacking needs.

I hope you all have a great day. :) This smiley face comes to you because the General Presidency of the Young Women want all the girls to do three things each day which are: to have personal prayer morning and night, read the scriptures just five minutes a day, and to smile. So go out there and smile and make someone feel good. Monica xoxo

A new pet

Dillon and Maddi

Monica and Hurley

Del and Monica being silly!

Aren't we cute?

Friday Del comes home from work with a living breathing Valentine's Day gift for me, at least, he said it was for me even though it's not what I wanted, he named it, and bought it a name tag with that name on it. If you haven't guessed it is a puppy. Well, I wasn't very excited about Him since if we were to get a dog I want a little fluffy female puppy and not a male who's private part sticks out when he sits or gets excited yuck! I hurt Del's feelings a little but really how could he expect anything else. We already have a cat, Maddi, two dogs, Sassy and Lily, three turtles and now Hurley. He is very cute, cuddly, and happy and has grown on me. He runs around and plays and when he gets tired he will curl up next to you or on you and sleep. He is very cute but, today I decided to call him Turdy Hurley since he keeps on pooping all over the house! We don't know how old he is or what breed he is since he was a stray but he still has his baby teeth and Del went online and he looks a lot like a Manchester Terrier. So, we are thinking maybe a mix between that and a Chihuahua?

On Valentine's Day Del and I went to the movies and out to dinner. We saw the new movie Taken with Liam Neeson. It was pretty good, but in real life he wouldn't have been able to save his daughter. For dinner we went to Applebee's and had wings (which we love). When we got home I thought we should take our picture so I hope you enjoy us being silly.

On March 2nd we will have been married for 18 years woo-hoo! Sometimes I feel like we have been married forever and other times it seems like it was just yesterday that we met and married. We have our ups and downs like everyone does, but we love each other and are looking forward to the next 18 years. Soon our children will start to leave our home and when they are gone Del wants to buy a 30 ft or bigger sailboat and live on the ocean!!? I think it could be fun except for the fact that I get motion sickness very easily so I don't know if it will work for me. Love to all Monica xoxo

Ps. Aimee, I thought you would comment on my last blog and I am Very disappointed that you didn't!! Don't you think those cupcakes are the cutest?

Yummy Yummy Cupcakes!!

Oh my gosh, I just got the most delicious cupcake cookbook ever. It is called Hello, Cupcake by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. The cupcakes are the cutest! If you're into cupcakes you need this cookbook. There are tons of cute and fun ideas for birthday parties and all the major holidays. I can't wait to start baking and creating these little mini works of art. That's all I really wanted to share with you. I hope you all have a fantastic day. Happy Valentine's Day!

Love, Monica xoxo

Super Bowl Sunday

On Sunday we went to Micah and Susie's for a Super Bowl/birthday party. We were cheering for the Cardinals, our home town team, it was a big bummer they lost. It was very exciting there at the end of the game when they scored. We were all screaming and cheering it was awesome. It was to bad they couldn't hold on to the lead. In honor of the Cardinals we made our own t-shirts for the game. We tie-died white t-shirts red and wore them to THE PARTY. It was a lot of fun!

The B-day part of the party was for Morgan and Micah who both share the same birthday, February 3rd. Morgan turned 15 today and Micah, 24. Susie made this great football field cake for them. It turned out really great and tasted delicious!

We grilled, ate yummy food, watched the game, sat in the hot tub, played the Ps3 and watched a movie. We got home at about 11:30pm. Needless to say no one wanted to get up on Monday morning! Love to all, Monica xoxo

Sisters

This picture is the one I wanted to post with my last blog.

So, I just wanted to say to Aimee that I really really love her and miss her a lot because, she is so much fun to be around and she makes me feel happy when ever

I am near her, but I thought my other sisters might get jealous so, I decided to say that I really really love all my sisters, and I am glad I got to spend time with Danelle last week to talk and feel loved, AND I am always happy to hang out with my baby sisters Holly and Susie.

I was thinking about changing my picture on my blog. Which one should I choose? Love you sisters of mine, Monica xoxo

A New Day

I don't usually make new year resolutions because I think it's a little silly to try to change your life just because it's a new year! We should be thinking it's a new day and a new year everyday and set our goals accordingly. Of course, it's just as hard to follow through but we (or guess I mean me) should try anyways and hopefully we'll (I'll) get better at it!

Del and I have both been released from our Sunday callings. So yesterday we decided to ditch church and go on a picnic. We have this great book called Explore Arizona by Rick Harris (he has another one called Discover Arizona as well) which Del spent forever looking through trying to find somewhere fun and close to go to. By the time he chose a place to go to which were some ruins near Jerome it was already 12:30. I was like we don't have time to drive there and find the ruins before it's dark. Plus, Del and I have had these books since we were first married and we have done a lot of the destinations and finding the location of the ruins, marble quarry, cave, or whatever could often be difficult because things have changed and I think the author had been drinking most of the time when he went to these locations so his directions are kind of iffy. Then Del was all mad since no one was helping him and we didn't know where we were going. Anyways we left without a destination in mind. Except for the store where we bought fried chicken and potato salad for lunch. We hit the freeway and just started to drive. We ended up at Table Mesa Road and went east which dead ended after about a mile with State Trust Land which your not allowed to be on without a permit. So we turned around and went west of the freeway. There were a ton of people over there riding there dirt bikes, quads, and shooting guns. After driving a couple of miles we actually found a hiking trail called Black Canyon Trail so after eating we started out along the trail. We hiked a little way and we found a pile of old cans and a couple of jars. I was excited because I have a farm kitchen with black and white tile floor, two red walls and two walls papered in apple trees and cows. Anyways, on top of my cabinets I put these found items; tin cans, jars, an old rusted canteen, old spoons etc. I think it's fun because I am cleaning up where ever we go and I get a kick out of displaying these rusty things in my kitchen. After picking up several items we continued on our way. We had a nice hike and Del thought we might like to go backpacking out there because there was a creek near where we were hiking. I had an especially nice time because Morgan and I were in the back and she was filling me in on her life and telling me about how she wants to redo her bedroom for her birthday (which is February 3rd) with red walls, black trim, and black furniture with some white accents. I guess painting will be in my near future. She wanted to do stripes again but I vetoed that since I've been there and done that! No thanks, painting stripes suck. All in all we had a really fun time. Monica xoxo