The Summer of Improvement

Phew! What a summer! Our household was a buzz all summer long with projects & road trips & youth camps. Everyone was going in a different direction. I am calling it our

"summer of improvements".

Some of my favorite television shows are the ones where some old, beat up or neglected house is fixed up or a dirty house is cleaned up & made beautiful again. I feel the same way about people. To watch someone who struggles with one thing or another, come to learn who they are (a child of God) and make changes in their life that leads to their progression is so inspiring to me. I love when something old is made new again. I love when something or someone damaged is made whole again. I guess you can say I am a HUGE fan of improvement!

My husband Derron went with our 14 yr. old son, Niclaas, and his scout group to Philmont in New Mexico. Philmont is a leadership camp owned & run by the Boy Scouts of America. They hiked approximately 90 miles over 10 days, showering only twice, once on the 5th day & the other before they loaded up the vans & headed home (thank goodness). It was such an important experience for them. It was tough but isn't that when we learn our greatest lessons? Long story short...my son came home a different boy, an improved boy.

My 17 yr. old daughter went to "Especially For Youth" at the BYU Provo, UT campus. Another fantastic program. She had a great "building" experience. If you want to read a story of progression & improvement click here for an inspiring story, oh...and don't forget to check the "comments". I love when you get to hear the back story.

A long awaited home improvement project was finished....hallelujah! I have been looking at a pile of sandstone & dreaming of a patio for several years now. Well...it is FINALLY done! In the end I moved over 9,000 lbs. ( yes...I did mean to write 3 zeros) of sandstone & moved a dump truck load of sand with my shovel & wheel barrow. The backyard is greatly improved & so is my physic! So many people have been wondering what I've been doing to look so trim...well that's it. I always refer to my yard as my gym & this summer it definitely was. The great thing about "working out" in your yard is that in the end the improvement is two fold...the yard looks great & so do YOU! You'll never see me in an aerobics class but you will see me pushing a mower & hauling rocks & hoeing weeds.

The week before school started it was my turn for a get away. I went with two of my friends to the Barbara Barrington Jones "Especially For Women" at Thanksgiving Point in Utah. I went thinking it would be a fun trip with fun friends. What I didn't realize was that this was going to be the very best thing I've ever done for myself. That's the best way I can describe it. I'll never forget this experience. I am forever changed because of it and what I learned their will be improving me from this point on.

An Advertisement

Check out "Clella Belle's Beads" aka "Cat's Creations". I just posted some new pieces. I will have them available during my yard sale next saturday. Mark your calendars...

Announcing Joseph City's 3rd Annual

Community Yard Sale

Saturday, May 21 @ 8:00 a.m.

*Maps at all sales & signs on Main Street

*Over 23 yard sales in one mile

*One family needs to get rid of a pool table!

*Bring your friends...Bring a truck...Pass it on!

Treasures and Friends, Friends I Treasure.

So I have these great friends, Julie, Linda & Jill. We LOVE to hunt for treasures in any thrift store, yard sale & junk yard we can find. Our latest adventure was a place that Jill recently discovered. I don't even remember the name of it but it was not unlike the backyard of a hoarder...only somewhat organized into sheds & old box cars & piles leaning against those sheds. We drove through the open gate into shangra la! Piles & heaps of old bed frames, old windows, old signs...You name it, if it was old & rusty, it was there! After walking around and eyeing all the possibilities, we noticed that no one seemed to be there. We then saw a note from the owner on the door of one of the sheds. He was out of town but he left a phone number, so Jill quickly dialed her phone. He soon answered...he was way out of town...like Kansas out of town! So Jill asked if he would let us leave him the money for the items we had picked out! I love my friends...they are so bold! We had looked forward to this for over a week, we had driven over an hour, we had brought a truck, we did NOT want to go home empty handed. Guess what? He agreed! It was on, we started making our "piles" but we couldn't ignore the sign that read: "More Treasures Inside the Box Car". Only the box cars were padlocked! "MMM...I wonder if he keeps a key around for just such an occasion? Let's call him & ask". Sure enough...before we knew it Jill was on the phone with the owner as he gave her directions to the key! We were soon inside the box cars and they did not disappoint. The owner called us back a few times to see if we had any questions. Soon we were tallying up our purchases over the phone, writing our checks & leaving them where he could find them. After loading up the truck we were off to a great Mexican restaurant for lunch...after all it was "Cinco de Mayo". Our lunch was "deelish" and due to the holiday there were great specials. I don't think any of us paid more than $5.00 for our meal. We love to stretch a dollar. It was a great day! I'm grateful to have such genuine women to call my friends. They are such good examples to me, they help me be a better person and they make me laugh. I am looking forward to our next adventure in treasure hunting, but until then I am planning to return there, when the owner is home, and thank him for trusting us and allowing our day to not be ruined. Here are the treasures I came home with. I love the "For Good Results We Feed MoorMan's" sign. It's actually an old livestock feed brand:)

"I'm proud to say I love this place...Good ole' small town USA".

Prom, Easter and Worm Hunting

April is here and almost gone. It seems like the older I get the faster time goes by. While shopping for Annelie'a prom dress I realized we would only do this one more time. The next important dress we will shop for will be her wedding gown. Wow... I hope that shopping trip is a waaays down the road! I could go into detail about my feelings about it all but then I'll start crying...again so I'll just say that I'm living in the moment as much as I can & enjoying everything as much as I can. I enjoyed being on the jr. class prom committee. It all turned out really nice & sadly I didn't take one picture:( I know...what the heck was I thinking? Sunday was Easter and the wind blew right on schedule but at least it didn't snow. That's been known to happen. This year grandma threw the kids a curve ball & hid all the eggs & candy at my house before anyone showed up for the Easter dinner at her house.
These pictures make me wish my rock patio was finished...ahh....someday:)
After the candy was hunted & all the kids "cashed in", we put everyone to work hunting the night crawlers that have taken over the back lawn. A couple of years ago Derron came home from a fishing trip with left over night crawlers & put them in the back flower bed. Well...they have multiplied & replenished & are ruining the back yard! We researched what to do & found that if you pour soapy water on the grass, the worms will come up. It was a big hit! Everyone joined in & we caught a lot of night crawlers!
Anyone going fishing? We have all the night crawlers you need...we'll even furnish the soap.

Featuring my daughter...the writer.

My daughter is a great writer...I love reading her blog...it makes me laugh...it makes me cry. Just thought I would feature her here today. Click on over to

Dolly Ink,

you'll be glad you did:)

Founder's Day 2011

I always look forward to Founder's Day. I love that Ivin Lee wakes us all up at the crack of dawn with his anvil blast. I love that we expect the wind to blow & when it doesn't we are all pleasantly surprised. I love that the streets are lined with our American flags put there by the local boyscouts and their leaders. I love that there are more than a dozen tracors in the parade. Yes, we are proud of our tractors. The parade this year was the longest of any that I can remember. It was great! JD & Deanne Smith did a great job. We had everything from a boat being pulled by...you guessed it, a tractor to a bathtub & chicken coop with actual chickens rolling down main street. It was a great parade in true Joe City style:) Here are just a few of the entries. The Local Highschool Principal...Mr. Fields.

I always love to watch the native dancers. Something about that drum beat.

I had to post this tractor...these are two of my young women...real Joe City girls!

There's my son Nic "skiing" behind the boat. Annelie & Seth were in the boat throwing candy, with Uncle Brad driving the tractor.

You thought I was kidding right?

Here they are...JD & Deanne. Love the red long johns:)

I couldn't agree more!

Jacob Fields demonstrating that, yes, you can saddle up a back hoe.

The Baird's did a great job representing all of us John McLaws descendants...I still can't believe that car runs!

Here are my three Joe City kids. "Joe City born, Joe city Bred"

It was another great Founder's day...thanks to all those responsible:)

aaah....memories!

So I'm finally getting around to doing some blogging...I've had a whirlwind couple of weeks & I'm coming up for air! Between my kids, my church calling, community obligations & being a landlady, my last several weeks have been booked solid...nobody call me for a couple of days... PLEASE! And as soon as I say that....I just got home from my kids parent teacher conferences aaaaand....now I'm on the Prom committee (my daughter is a Jr. this year, AAAH!) and I'm on the 8th grade graduation party committee (my son is graduating from 8th grade in May, double AAAH!) More memories right? Yes & I wouldn't want to miss any of it, although I do wish all these things were spread out a little & not all at once!

Here are a few memories I've made in the last few weeks.... When the Lip Sync contest rolls around each year both my kids classes vote me in to come up with their song & choreograph them. I'm glad they do...I have so much fun with it. My daughter's class lip synced & danced to "We Go Together" from Grease (it totally fits her class...a bunch of fun & krazy over achievers!) My son's class performed to Joan Jett's "I Love Rock & Roll" ( a personal favorite of mine & totally fits his class... a bunch of kids who are too cool for school).
I was on the BYU Ballet committee. I was in charge of ticket sales, which completely sold out a week before the show...my phone has never rang so much! People were trying like crazy to get tickets...it pretty much took over my life for a while. The ballet was a real success...it was all about princess's & fairies. All the girls were encouraged to dress up like a princess...there was a princess party before the show for all the little girls to meet the ballerina's who were in their costumes...soooo cute. During intermission all the little girls were invited up on the stage to dance with the ballerina's. This picture doesn't even do justice to how adorable it was... all those little girls twirling around the stage. (In this photo I highlighted my niece Lacy) "New Beginnings"

with my Young Women was last week. We created our own Mormon Ad a couple of weeks ago and this was our theme. My girls are so creative & I love working with them... they're great! I do however have plans to redo the photo. I have chosen a more open road for the spot & not all my girls were able to make it to this shoot & I want them all to be in it sooooo...we will be having re-takes.