Hey family,
I had a blast from the past this morning watching Mountain of the Lord with Stef and Bret. It was so fun recalling all the great one-liners from that movie such as: (in a thick scottish accent) "Just arrived, Scotland, Lanexshire", or "Good boy Hampton", or "May I call on you? Perhaps with a proper introduction..." or "He's a tough Scott". I will never forget playing legos and watching that movie almost every sunday.
This has been a good week. Work has been going well and I feel more and more each day like I am contributing and helping out. In fact on Wednesday my boss was out of town and he and I have been the primary people working on a 5-yr plan for the hospital and at a moments notice the CFO, Mary Hatch came over to my cube and invited me to come present it to the top 5 most important people at the Hospital. --I am having feelings of dejavu like I have already shared this story...sorry if I have-- I sat in a meetin with the CFO, and Administrator, and 4 of the 5 Operations Officers disccused how we are going to keep this hospital afloat. It felt very cool to be in that meeting and to know what is happening. Quite frankly it gave me a great sense of job security as the reality of cutting back employees was sort of discussed. It is still a last resort type of thing and the hospital if far far from it, but it was still comforting to know what was being said about it. Still though, never get too overconfident about your situation because it really can change in an instant. I still do have slow days at work but as I am able to do more and more on my own I enjoy my job more.
We have been doing lots of fun stuff at home. I think I already reported on our Zion's trip last monday. What a beautiful and fun little trip that was. Bret loves his hiking back that Mom and Dad gave us for graduation. We did a little hike called Emerald Pools and Bret had seriously the time of his life playing in the warm water and sand. We have used several gift cards given to us at graduation for places to eat out at, and then the fun thing this weekend has been Stef's parents coming to visit. Her dad just turned 50 and so they came down here for the weekend. They stayed at their own little condo a few minutes away (it is a time-share thing) and we have gone back and forth from here to there over the weekend. Dave and I went golfing on Saturday Morning and had a great time. Because it was just the 2 of us they paired is with another couple and it was fun chatting with them. They were temple workers and of course knew grandpa Winder and were just very pleasant people. After that we did some swimming and BBQing and then finished off the evening watching Forever Strong. I liked it better this time than the first time I saw it. Church was much better this week than last week and everyone is now taking a Sunday nap before we have Dave's birthday dinner.
Stef has been doing a lot of cooking lately and that has been a blast. Now that we have some money to buy fresh ingredients (that is a movie line for you Nacho Libre lovers) she has been filling the cupboards with things she can use to cook. We had a neighborhood/scentsy part on Friday and she made some good muffins and then mom's tasty bean salsa. Do you remember mom giving us the ingredients and the recipie to it when we first got married? That was the salsa she made and it was really really tasty. She also made some deece enchiladas the other night. She is such a good mom to Bret and I do my best to help when I can. I have been taking him on runs almost every morning (thanks again to Mom and Dad's running stroller that they got us) and then I will feed and bathe him before I get off to work. That isn't every day but lots of days I have time to do it. I also ride my bike to work every day which is nice because it leaves Stef the car and I can enjoy the beautiful weather in St. George.
We are happy and healthy is the most important thing. We are grateful for all of you and serioulsy...we hope you know how much we miss you all. We are delighted to be here but boy we miss being around everyone. We hope it is only a short amount of time before we can all live close by each other again and enjoy each others company on a regular basis. Life is what it is though and there really is so much to be thankful for.
I love you all!
Nick
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
Announcement...
Well I have been debating whether or not I should write this post or call Mom first...but I think it might be fun to tell you all about some exciting news this way... So here goes ... I decided to go and buy a new car yesterday!!!! Yahoo... Ok that really is not the news, the truth is, I got my second, first kiss last night. I don't know if that makes sense but it is true. For those of you who don't live at home... meaning those of you who I don't call because I am such a horrible sister .... Anyways for those of you who I have not kept up my personal life with, I have been crushing on Daniel since he got home from his mission a month and a half ago. We have been going on dates and hanging out quite a bit and last Saturday he held my hand (in front of his family)... scary! His sister Laura who I am good friends with said "When did this happen?" when she realized that we were holding hands. It was embarrassing. Anyways the big news is that last night after watching Forever Strong, he gave me a little kiss. It was so strange because it was so natural. Seriously, you may all be wondering if this is the same girl who took 18 years to kiss Jeff, but it was honestly just so natural. THat is what I love about being with him is that I don't feel awkward and I don't worry so much. I just feel at home. I know it sounds cheesy and strange, but I think that is the biggest difference between him and Jeff is how I feel when I am with him, I always felt just a tad bit awkward with Jeff, I rarely feel that way around Daniel. So anyway, there you go... that's my life right now. Mom I will call to talk to you too...I just thought this might be a fun way to announce it. I know the 2nd kiss is not as exciting as the 1st especially since there was not 8 months of anticipation leading up to it, but I am excited. Hope everybody is doing well. I love you all....
Love, Rosey
P.S. There were butterflies ...
Love, Rosey
P.S. There were butterflies ...
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Awards Assembly!!!
Hey everyone, I just got back from Valley's Awards Assembly and it was great! I got a music award, 4.0 citizenship award, scholarship (GPA), and then the Presidents Education Award! As many of you know, I played Bumble Boogie for the musical number (I was the only student playing a musical number) and I feel really good about it. I was really nervous at the beginning but then once I got up there, I just pretended like I was in the living room playing, and it helped! I was really, really relaxed and I played my very best. After everything was finished, I got some compliments while I was walking out to get refreshments, and then when I got outside and was waiting in line, a man, probably in his mid 30's, came up to me and said, "Max Bassett? Dude, show me those fingers! Are they still smoking? Do you have to put them in ice everytime you play? That was seriously awesome! You should've put a little cup out beside you for tips!" Then he took out a dollar stuffed it in my shirt pocket and said, "I would definitely pay money to go see that! Good Job man!" It was so COOL, I got a tip for my playing :) That was a compliment I'll never forget, and it was awesome that he knew my name too and I had never met him! Well, overall tonight turned out to be a great night! I'm really glad mom and dad could come to see me. Thank you sooooooooooooooo much mom and dad for paying for my piano lessons, and for the keyboard too, it has been soooooooooooo GREAT!!!!!!
Thanks,
Max
Thanks,
Max
Very Important Question (Mom)
First, be sure to read Blaine's letter below. Didn't mean to knock him off the top so quickly!
So, the question is: When you were in 9th grade, who paid for Lagoon Day?
Now we all know that no one in our family ever has nor ever will get to keep their last day of school refund. (Even though ALL of your friends did.) No siree, not in this family. But I need to know from Blaine, Nick, Janey and Rosey if we paid for Lagoon Day ($25 passport, plus $1 to ride the bus, plus spending/food money) or if you all paid your own way. Be honest here. Of course Max is hoping and praying that is was us. Anyone remember?
And we would love input from Kristi and Stef, too. I'm sure you guys always got to keep your school refunds because you have really nice parents.
So, the question is: When you were in 9th grade, who paid for Lagoon Day?
Now we all know that no one in our family ever has nor ever will get to keep their last day of school refund. (Even though ALL of your friends did.) No siree, not in this family. But I need to know from Blaine, Nick, Janey and Rosey if we paid for Lagoon Day ($25 passport, plus $1 to ride the bus, plus spending/food money) or if you all paid your own way. Be honest here. Of course Max is hoping and praying that is was us. Anyone remember?
And we would love input from Kristi and Stef, too. I'm sure you guys always got to keep your school refunds because you have really nice parents.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Porting a Bark letter to the BAWB--a first for me...
In case you didn't see it on the Bark--a copy and paste of a letter I just posted there. Enjoy!
Hey everybody,
It strikes me as I sign in to the Google Groups/Bassett Bark page that it classifies this particular group as "Low activity". It makes me wonder what on earth it would be like to be part of a "Moderate activity" or even--heaven forbid--a "high activity" group. The mind boggles at the thought! I mean this as a high compliment to you all. It is amazing to me how active the group is--how good everyone is to write the letters and especially to respond so much to everyone else's letters. Myself, I don't do either very often. It's not that I don't read and try to keep up. I do (although it is nerve-racking to actually see people, as we saw the Franklin clan this weekend, and wonder what I'm going to slip up and say that will demonstrate how many letters "skim" has been the operative word more than "read", if you catch my drift... :) But no, I do try to keep up as much as possible with the reading, but the problem is that's all I have been able to do. I consume the Bark but have not traditionally done much more active participation. I do write as often as I can to our Bret Bassett family blog, but anyway, these are all excuses that are eating into time I could be writing a real letter. So anyway--here I am.
The main thing I wanted to do was really comment to Jill's and Lorie's awesome letters (that, amazingly, they were able to bust out in like zero time from when the events happened). I thought I was doing pretty good to get on here tonight to write about our fun weekend but low and behold the job had already been done, and done well, and to just reply to it I would have been buried under pages of other insightful and entertaining comments--almost mini letters in and of themselves. Thus my decision to just make my own post. A few things to add about our weekend from our perspective:
First of all, we had a GREAT time and it was such a perfect little Memorial Day trip for us. Thank you to everyone for your sacrifices of time and money and other plans, however large or small. We loved every minute of the trip and as we got home I think Kristi summed up one of the best parts of all when she said, "You know, it just feels really good coming home from a trip like that. We had so much fun and I think we actually saved money by going there instead of just hanging around here." Indeed, not only did J&K/L&M give almost all their time and a wonderful place to stay to us, they also provided every meal (including covering the bill when we ate out at the East Star sushi buffet) and Kyle even gave me his ticket to one of the rides at the last minute because I had opted not to buy a ticket for myself. Literally, we paid for gas to get there, a ticket for Kristi to ride on the roller coaster, and a quarter for Gwen to feed the fish. I'm pretty sure they covered everything else!
Another couple of quotes that sum up how much fun we had. These ones were things Gwen said:
This morning when she woke up: "Dad, can you bring Aunt Jill here? When is Aunt Jill going to come here? Can you bring her here today?"
Then a little later: "Dad, how come we had to come home so soon? I wish we could stay there as long as we get to stay in Utah."
Then as I was pouring her cereal: "Dad, I wish we could make other things besides cereal. Like how we had pineapple and stuff at Aunt Jill's."
Anyway, you get the point--we had a great weekend!!
I also wanted to respond to Curt's comment about me being a party animal and all. First of all, that was post high school but it was not Pre-Kristi. Kristi and I were actually very serious at the time. I mean, not like we are now, but we were definitely together. Second I do have vivid memories of riding the highway with the top down, listening to "Faith" as sung by "The Blenders" over and over (that was definitely the theme song to the trip...). However, I had almost forgotten about the temple deal until you refreshed my memory. Oh, what a hoot! I don't think I really realized how bad we were at the time but as (more of) an adult, I'm thinking--wow, I can't believe we did that! It was interesting to see the investigator experience from the investigator's end of things though. I remember a portion of the conversation that went something like this:
Curt: "So I've heard a little about you guys but I thought it was just mostly in Utah."Sister Missionary: "No, actually we are a worldwide chuch with a growing membership all over the world."Curt: "Oh yeah? How big is the church."Sister missionary, stumbling a bit: "Well I kind of forget the number, we now have over, I think...10 billion members world wide. Or maybe it's 10 million. No, I think it's billion."Curt, trying to hide his disappointment: "Well, there are about 6 billion people on earth so I'm guessing it's probably 10 million..."And so on and so forth until we got to the part where they wanted to get our names and addresses to send "representatives" out to teach us more and that's when we really just had to duck and cover and get out of there, as you can imagine.
Yes, Curt is the real party animal, obviously.
Anyway, I don't want to start going into what's happening in my life or I'll really get carried away and what may seem like a long letter now will look like a note on the back of a napkin if that happens. (You can see the other reason I hesitate to write letters to anyone very often--I'm not short in writing. I never have been and doubt I ever will be. There's no such thing as a "quick comment" or a "quick letter" or, as you're seeing now, even a "quick paranthetical insertion" or a "quick wrap up" to a letter that is probably ready to be done.) I will say that work has been a big roller coaster with more low points than high lately, family life just the opposite--many more high points but still a roller coaster with our three sweet kids, and that after great outreaches of love and support from my parents and Grandma and Sid and Jill and Kyle (to name a few) and all of you in general--we are attempting once more to back out our previous plans, get our finances in order, talk to bosses about going into negative vacation days, and (drum roll, please) make it work to come to the reunion. And I think we are going to make it!!! We are so psyched, especially after getting a remembrance of what late night Bassett games are all about this weekend. Also after watching the "A Bassett Carol" video starring Joe Applegate as "Scrooge Bassett", a classic film which we saw for the first time on J&K's monster TV and which was the straw that broke the camel's back to where we just couldn't say no to the reunion any longer!
Okay, I'm done. Love you all and can't wait to see many of you soon!
Blaine
Hey everybody,
It strikes me as I sign in to the Google Groups/Bassett Bark page that it classifies this particular group as "Low activity". It makes me wonder what on earth it would be like to be part of a "Moderate activity" or even--heaven forbid--a "high activity" group. The mind boggles at the thought! I mean this as a high compliment to you all. It is amazing to me how active the group is--how good everyone is to write the letters and especially to respond so much to everyone else's letters. Myself, I don't do either very often. It's not that I don't read and try to keep up. I do (although it is nerve-racking to actually see people, as we saw the Franklin clan this weekend, and wonder what I'm going to slip up and say that will demonstrate how many letters "skim" has been the operative word more than "read", if you catch my drift... :) But no, I do try to keep up as much as possible with the reading, but the problem is that's all I have been able to do. I consume the Bark but have not traditionally done much more active participation. I do write as often as I can to our Bret Bassett family blog, but anyway, these are all excuses that are eating into time I could be writing a real letter. So anyway--here I am.
The main thing I wanted to do was really comment to Jill's and Lorie's awesome letters (that, amazingly, they were able to bust out in like zero time from when the events happened). I thought I was doing pretty good to get on here tonight to write about our fun weekend but low and behold the job had already been done, and done well, and to just reply to it I would have been buried under pages of other insightful and entertaining comments--almost mini letters in and of themselves. Thus my decision to just make my own post. A few things to add about our weekend from our perspective:
First of all, we had a GREAT time and it was such a perfect little Memorial Day trip for us. Thank you to everyone for your sacrifices of time and money and other plans, however large or small. We loved every minute of the trip and as we got home I think Kristi summed up one of the best parts of all when she said, "You know, it just feels really good coming home from a trip like that. We had so much fun and I think we actually saved money by going there instead of just hanging around here." Indeed, not only did J&K/L&M give almost all their time and a wonderful place to stay to us, they also provided every meal (including covering the bill when we ate out at the East Star sushi buffet) and Kyle even gave me his ticket to one of the rides at the last minute because I had opted not to buy a ticket for myself. Literally, we paid for gas to get there, a ticket for Kristi to ride on the roller coaster, and a quarter for Gwen to feed the fish. I'm pretty sure they covered everything else!
Another couple of quotes that sum up how much fun we had. These ones were things Gwen said:
This morning when she woke up: "Dad, can you bring Aunt Jill here? When is Aunt Jill going to come here? Can you bring her here today?"
Then a little later: "Dad, how come we had to come home so soon? I wish we could stay there as long as we get to stay in Utah."
Then as I was pouring her cereal: "Dad, I wish we could make other things besides cereal. Like how we had pineapple and stuff at Aunt Jill's."
Anyway, you get the point--we had a great weekend!!
I also wanted to respond to Curt's comment about me being a party animal and all. First of all, that was post high school but it was not Pre-Kristi. Kristi and I were actually very serious at the time. I mean, not like we are now, but we were definitely together. Second I do have vivid memories of riding the highway with the top down, listening to "Faith" as sung by "The Blenders" over and over (that was definitely the theme song to the trip...). However, I had almost forgotten about the temple deal until you refreshed my memory. Oh, what a hoot! I don't think I really realized how bad we were at the time but as (more of) an adult, I'm thinking--wow, I can't believe we did that! It was interesting to see the investigator experience from the investigator's end of things though. I remember a portion of the conversation that went something like this:
Curt: "So I've heard a little about you guys but I thought it was just mostly in Utah."Sister Missionary: "No, actually we are a worldwide chuch with a growing membership all over the world."Curt: "Oh yeah? How big is the church."Sister missionary, stumbling a bit: "Well I kind of forget the number, we now have over, I think...10 billion members world wide. Or maybe it's 10 million. No, I think it's billion."Curt, trying to hide his disappointment: "Well, there are about 6 billion people on earth so I'm guessing it's probably 10 million..."And so on and so forth until we got to the part where they wanted to get our names and addresses to send "representatives" out to teach us more and that's when we really just had to duck and cover and get out of there, as you can imagine.
Yes, Curt is the real party animal, obviously.
Anyway, I don't want to start going into what's happening in my life or I'll really get carried away and what may seem like a long letter now will look like a note on the back of a napkin if that happens. (You can see the other reason I hesitate to write letters to anyone very often--I'm not short in writing. I never have been and doubt I ever will be. There's no such thing as a "quick comment" or a "quick letter" or, as you're seeing now, even a "quick paranthetical insertion" or a "quick wrap up" to a letter that is probably ready to be done.) I will say that work has been a big roller coaster with more low points than high lately, family life just the opposite--many more high points but still a roller coaster with our three sweet kids, and that after great outreaches of love and support from my parents and Grandma and Sid and Jill and Kyle (to name a few) and all of you in general--we are attempting once more to back out our previous plans, get our finances in order, talk to bosses about going into negative vacation days, and (drum roll, please) make it work to come to the reunion. And I think we are going to make it!!! We are so psyched, especially after getting a remembrance of what late night Bassett games are all about this weekend. Also after watching the "A Bassett Carol" video starring Joe Applegate as "Scrooge Bassett", a classic film which we saw for the first time on J&K's monster TV and which was the straw that broke the camel's back to where we just couldn't say no to the reunion any longer!
Okay, I'm done. Love you all and can't wait to see many of you soon!
Blaine
Sunday, May 24, 2009
slideshows
Dad, I hope it is ok, but I changed the Holiday Bassetts to St. George Bassetts.
It isn't working right now but maybe I just need to log out and log back in.
Anyway, just wanted to let you know.
Nick
It isn't working right now but maybe I just need to log out and log back in.
Anyway, just wanted to let you know.
Nick
sweaty
Hey everyone,
This letter will be a bit like responding to letters on the mission. I just read all of your letters and your comments to my letter and now I will attempt to respond to your questions and comments as write this letter.
Sorry for the dumb letter name by the way. It am sitting here hot and sweaty as usual and so I thought that would be a good name. Well, whether it is or not is a discussion for another day.
To answer dad's question about cleaning for B&W...(I think he meant B&N) we actually have not even been over there since we moved down. Which is strange because when we lived here before it felt like we were there almost every week. Stef has talked to Nancy about a price though and I believe Nanc just put something in her little St. George packet saying that if people want her to clean they can. I don't think this is usually prime time for the St. George visitors because it is really starting to get hot. Despite the heat though, the fun never stops.
Today has been a rough Sunday. Mostly it was just rough at church. Bret is at the age right now where he really needs to go to Nursery but he needs to wait 3 more months. He usually does really well in sacrament meeting for which I am very very grateful. It is once we get to 2nd and 3rd hr that he gets harder and harder. He just wants to run around and play and yell the whole time. Today was particulalry bad for Stef in RS, so bad that she finally just took him out-out side and let him walk around. It is a little harder in this ward than it was at wymount because this ward has a lot of older people...in fact mostly older people because the younger people are all in primary or YM/YW. The older people are very tolerant of it but we still just feel extra bad because we know they are trying to listen and are long past the stage of dealing with kids in church. If any of you have any thoughts or suggestions about how to keep kids under control please let us know. We are doing our best but still find ourselves getting so frustrated some weeks.
Work has really been going well lately. My boss (Don) was out of town for the last couple days of this week because he had family in town and so I was one of the go to guys for people at the hospital with budget questions. One thing that just Don and I have been working on is a 5 yr plan where we project what our NOI and other metrics will be over the next 5 yrs. That was all due on Friday and so all the last minute wrap up things needed to be done by me since don was gone. It was really good for me to be on my own and have to just figure stuff out. It was a good "exposure" opportunity as well as the CFO of the hospital needs to ultimately approve what we send in and so I would chat with her and show her what we had and she would instruct things to adjust, so i would adjust them, and then communicate with her some more. I felt like I did well and made some good impressions. Ultimately I felt great because I wasn't just a puppy dog following someone around the office trying to learn by observing but I got to actually learn by doing. So, things are going well with my job and most importantly we are just grateful to have a job.
I want to quickly thank everyone for watching Stef and Bret for me while they were up in Salt Lake. You were so nice to have a little quick B-day party for her and thanks to B&K too for thinking of her. She had a great week up in Salt Lake and a great birthday down here. For her birthday we bought her a printer and so while she was gone I got it all set up for her and got some things cleaned up on her computer too so that we have a nice functioning little office up here in the second room. I think she really liked it. As a side note, also up here in the office is a sowing maching that she got from her mom. She is working on a quilt for a friend and is doing a great job. She too is learning by doing as she will sow for a few minutes and then need to fix something or re-thread the bobbin or whatever it is you do. I am sure proud of her though for just figuring it out and for doing such a great service.
I need to say too what a joy Bret is to have around. All I did was complain before about how hard he is in church but I want you all to know how much happiness he brings into our lives. He is at stage now where he loves to play. If he is every fussy or starting to get mad, all I have to do is get down on my knees and start wrestling with him and he just loves it! He will giggle and then come back and try and tackle me. Then sometimes he will just lay there like he is playing dead or something and then get up with his big ol' smile. He really is so much fun to have around.
We love you all so much. We are going to give this runion thing one more shot especially since B&K are going, now there will be other kids so it wouldn't just be Bret slowing everyone down, but maybe 2 different groups doing stuff...a kid group and an adult group. I am going to find out more details on me taking time off, and then we will look deeper into our financial situation and decide if it is even feasible. I don't know what we will decide but whatever happens we just hope everyone knows how bad we hope we can go. It sounds like sooo much fun and I am quite certain that will be the only family vacation of the summer and we want to be there. So, we will keep you posted with that. If you have any ideas or advice about where to find cheap flights, or cheap car rentals, please let us know.
Loves to all!
Nick
ps...still sweaty
This letter will be a bit like responding to letters on the mission. I just read all of your letters and your comments to my letter and now I will attempt to respond to your questions and comments as write this letter.
Sorry for the dumb letter name by the way. It am sitting here hot and sweaty as usual and so I thought that would be a good name. Well, whether it is or not is a discussion for another day.
To answer dad's question about cleaning for B&W...(I think he meant B&N) we actually have not even been over there since we moved down. Which is strange because when we lived here before it felt like we were there almost every week. Stef has talked to Nancy about a price though and I believe Nanc just put something in her little St. George packet saying that if people want her to clean they can. I don't think this is usually prime time for the St. George visitors because it is really starting to get hot. Despite the heat though, the fun never stops.
Today has been a rough Sunday. Mostly it was just rough at church. Bret is at the age right now where he really needs to go to Nursery but he needs to wait 3 more months. He usually does really well in sacrament meeting for which I am very very grateful. It is once we get to 2nd and 3rd hr that he gets harder and harder. He just wants to run around and play and yell the whole time. Today was particulalry bad for Stef in RS, so bad that she finally just took him out-out side and let him walk around. It is a little harder in this ward than it was at wymount because this ward has a lot of older people...in fact mostly older people because the younger people are all in primary or YM/YW. The older people are very tolerant of it but we still just feel extra bad because we know they are trying to listen and are long past the stage of dealing with kids in church. If any of you have any thoughts or suggestions about how to keep kids under control please let us know. We are doing our best but still find ourselves getting so frustrated some weeks.
Work has really been going well lately. My boss (Don) was out of town for the last couple days of this week because he had family in town and so I was one of the go to guys for people at the hospital with budget questions. One thing that just Don and I have been working on is a 5 yr plan where we project what our NOI and other metrics will be over the next 5 yrs. That was all due on Friday and so all the last minute wrap up things needed to be done by me since don was gone. It was really good for me to be on my own and have to just figure stuff out. It was a good "exposure" opportunity as well as the CFO of the hospital needs to ultimately approve what we send in and so I would chat with her and show her what we had and she would instruct things to adjust, so i would adjust them, and then communicate with her some more. I felt like I did well and made some good impressions. Ultimately I felt great because I wasn't just a puppy dog following someone around the office trying to learn by observing but I got to actually learn by doing. So, things are going well with my job and most importantly we are just grateful to have a job.
I want to quickly thank everyone for watching Stef and Bret for me while they were up in Salt Lake. You were so nice to have a little quick B-day party for her and thanks to B&K too for thinking of her. She had a great week up in Salt Lake and a great birthday down here. For her birthday we bought her a printer and so while she was gone I got it all set up for her and got some things cleaned up on her computer too so that we have a nice functioning little office up here in the second room. I think she really liked it. As a side note, also up here in the office is a sowing maching that she got from her mom. She is working on a quilt for a friend and is doing a great job. She too is learning by doing as she will sow for a few minutes and then need to fix something or re-thread the bobbin or whatever it is you do. I am sure proud of her though for just figuring it out and for doing such a great service.
I need to say too what a joy Bret is to have around. All I did was complain before about how hard he is in church but I want you all to know how much happiness he brings into our lives. He is at stage now where he loves to play. If he is every fussy or starting to get mad, all I have to do is get down on my knees and start wrestling with him and he just loves it! He will giggle and then come back and try and tackle me. Then sometimes he will just lay there like he is playing dead or something and then get up with his big ol' smile. He really is so much fun to have around.
We love you all so much. We are going to give this runion thing one more shot especially since B&K are going, now there will be other kids so it wouldn't just be Bret slowing everyone down, but maybe 2 different groups doing stuff...a kid group and an adult group. I am going to find out more details on me taking time off, and then we will look deeper into our financial situation and decide if it is even feasible. I don't know what we will decide but whatever happens we just hope everyone knows how bad we hope we can go. It sounds like sooo much fun and I am quite certain that will be the only family vacation of the summer and we want to be there. So, we will keep you posted with that. If you have any ideas or advice about where to find cheap flights, or cheap car rentals, please let us know.
Loves to all!
Nick
ps...still sweaty
Friday, May 22, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Life in Texas (Kristi)
Well we hate to be the ones who don't keep in touch, so I guess it's about time for an update from your long lost Texas Bassetts.
- Bentley was so darn sick last week, I was certain that it was the swine flu, so I took him straight to the doctors and turns out it was not the swine flu. Thank goodness. I am not sure how it is up there but it was scary for a while here as there were tons of cases all around and they weren't sure how serious it was yet and...yeah, panic mode for me. So he had a fever for a few days and a horrible cough for several more days but now seems to be doing good.
-Bentley is talking a ton. My favorite is to ask him questions like, "Bentley, you love mom the most, right?" to which he will respond, "wight". Or "We're going to go pick up Gwen from school, okay?" and he'll say "kay". I love it. He will also say "Nennie" for Gwen and "dister" for sister. He can say "watcha show" (great parenting on my part right?), and just about anything. One think he will not say though is "Bentley" or "Ben" won't even try, kinda weird! He won't say Ivy either, but he does consistently call her the same ten syllable word, I am just not sure what that word is or means.
-Gwen's last week of preschool is this week. Sadness, tears, anxiety for both of us. She's loved this year and has had a blast. I think I am going to prepare a kindergarten curriculum and attempt some sort of home school this year to see how it goes.
-Ivy Jane can laugh and it is SO cute. I caught her first laughs on film, I will try to send them. She is the best baby ever!
-The weather here has been BEAUTIFUL! We actually had a spring! I couldn't ask for more of a paradise. We've been going to the park, going on bike rides, going on walks, etc.
- My friend Anna is teaching me how to be a pioneer. Well, at least she is teaching me to can beans. We are kind of doing a "Tuesdays with Anna" type of thing where she teaches me some awesome domestic skill and I let her hold Ivy Jane while we work. I have a lot to learn from her about domesticity and just plain awesomeness. She has cancer and recently had to have her leg amputated, her husband recently got laid off, she's had huge problems with selling her house and many other trials, but is such an optimistic wonderful person. I am really enjoying our visits.
-some dad gum insects are eating my garden. Why I oughtta....
- I keep going to the gym at 9PM. Still not losing weight but hopefully my body is getting healthy or something.
-Blaine is excited for the American Idol finale tonight. He is making progress on his project at work and we are just so thank he has a job!
Hmmmm....I am trying to figure out how I can turn my blog into a source of income. I have one friend in particular who says he'll be my agent and publicity manager if I want to write a book. I keep thinking about taking the blog more seriously and actually trying to do something to generate income, but....eh, I don't know. Sounds hard : ) But then again, we do hard things, and Mormons never cry and Bassett's feel no pain, right? (Love you Grandma Bassett!).
Can't think of much else to say! Love you guys and love to hear from you!
- Ah, a funny Gwenism. If she wants to remember something she says she is putting it in her "remembery" and likewise if I forget something she will ask if I've put it in my "forgotery"
- Bentley was so darn sick last week, I was certain that it was the swine flu, so I took him straight to the doctors and turns out it was not the swine flu. Thank goodness. I am not sure how it is up there but it was scary for a while here as there were tons of cases all around and they weren't sure how serious it was yet and...yeah, panic mode for me. So he had a fever for a few days and a horrible cough for several more days but now seems to be doing good.
-Bentley is talking a ton. My favorite is to ask him questions like, "Bentley, you love mom the most, right?" to which he will respond, "wight". Or "We're going to go pick up Gwen from school, okay?" and he'll say "kay". I love it. He will also say "Nennie" for Gwen and "dister" for sister. He can say "watcha show" (great parenting on my part right?), and just about anything. One think he will not say though is "Bentley" or "Ben" won't even try, kinda weird! He won't say Ivy either, but he does consistently call her the same ten syllable word, I am just not sure what that word is or means.
-Gwen's last week of preschool is this week. Sadness, tears, anxiety for both of us. She's loved this year and has had a blast. I think I am going to prepare a kindergarten curriculum and attempt some sort of home school this year to see how it goes.
-Ivy Jane can laugh and it is SO cute. I caught her first laughs on film, I will try to send them. She is the best baby ever!
-The weather here has been BEAUTIFUL! We actually had a spring! I couldn't ask for more of a paradise. We've been going to the park, going on bike rides, going on walks, etc.
- My friend Anna is teaching me how to be a pioneer. Well, at least she is teaching me to can beans. We are kind of doing a "Tuesdays with Anna" type of thing where she teaches me some awesome domestic skill and I let her hold Ivy Jane while we work. I have a lot to learn from her about domesticity and just plain awesomeness. She has cancer and recently had to have her leg amputated, her husband recently got laid off, she's had huge problems with selling her house and many other trials, but is such an optimistic wonderful person. I am really enjoying our visits.
-some dad gum insects are eating my garden. Why I oughtta....
- I keep going to the gym at 9PM. Still not losing weight but hopefully my body is getting healthy or something.
-Blaine is excited for the American Idol finale tonight. He is making progress on his project at work and we are just so thank he has a job!
Hmmmm....I am trying to figure out how I can turn my blog into a source of income. I have one friend in particular who says he'll be my agent and publicity manager if I want to write a book. I keep thinking about taking the blog more seriously and actually trying to do something to generate income, but....eh, I don't know. Sounds hard : ) But then again, we do hard things, and Mormons never cry and Bassett's feel no pain, right? (Love you Grandma Bassett!).
Can't think of much else to say! Love you guys and love to hear from you!
- Ah, a funny Gwenism. If she wants to remember something she says she is putting it in her "remembery" and likewise if I forget something she will ask if I've put it in my "forgotery"
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Growing up sometimes stinks! :) (Jane)
Sorry to post so quick after Nick and Stef. After you finish my letter be sure to read Nick and Stef's...they posted today too! Also, I wrote this letter for the bark, so it's pretty general information that most of you probably all know...so hopefully it doesn't bore you. If you want anymore info about anything (including the breakup with Aaron), just give me a call and I'll talk your ear off...Kris, I still want to tell you everything, sorry we never talked this week.
Life just keeps moving along at a good and busy pace. I haven’t written in awhile and will try to give a quick synopsis of the latest and greatest.
-Winter semester ended! Hurray. I did a lot better in school this year and attribute that to a year break from school, the mission, and a change in my major. I really like the Communication Disorders program and am anxious to go to graduate school so I can do something with my major.
-I moved home for the summer and love it. I do miss my roommates and the friends I made throughout the year, but really do feel settled when I am at home. I am grateful Mom and Dad still let me come home.
-I started Spring Term at the BYU Salt Lake Center. This is a very interesting and different experience. There are only about 10 people in my classes (weird) and everything moves so fast! I am taking a Math 110 class to help me review for the GRE (which I plan to take at the beginning of Fall semester), and a Persuasive Writing class (my last general class). Like I said, I feel like we have huge assignments due every time we go to class, but it’s so nice to know that it will be over in exactly a month from today (and I feel like I just started)! I only have class twice a week, but its 5 hours straight! Anyway, I am enjoying that.
-I am still working at Smart Cookie Company. I am still in the American Fork store but will be moving to the new Fort Union store sometime within the next couple of weeks. I only work twice a week right now, but will go full time once school is over. My boss is pretty good at working with my schedule, but I have to admit that I am currently getting kind of tired of that job. But, it would be dumb to quit because I can get the time off that I need, and it pays a lot better than any other job I could get right now in my life. I know I’ll last through the summer, but after that……we’ll see!
-Disneyland! After finals ended I went with two of my roommates to Disneyland for a quick little trip. That was a fun and an adventurous thing. We drove my car down on a Wednesday (my car is doing much better these days), and stayed with a family that one of my roommates knew. On Thursday we went to the San Diego temple (I did a session…wow, what a beautiful temple, inside and out) and then went to La Jolla Beach. It wasn’t super warm, but we braved the cold and splashed in the waves. On Friday we went to Disneyland. It was my birthday, and if you sign up before-hand you get into one park for free! I had to pay $25 for a park-hopper pass, but $25 is better than the $96 my roommate paid for a day pass. We went hard core all day, but were dying out by about 8 at night. We wanted to go on Space Mountain, but our fast pass tickets weren’t good until 11 pm, and the line was like a 90 min wait. So, we decided to go on a few rides with short lines just so we could sit down. However, we spent a good hour in one of the stores in Frontier Land trying on hats, making funny faces, and taking pictures. I had to laugh because we paid $96 dollars and what were we doing…trying on hats. We had a good time and now have lots of pictures to remember it all (I will try to send out some pictures soon!) On Saturday we made our way to Sea World. I haven’t been there in a long time! I loved the shows and just looking at the animals that you never get to see anywhere else. We made the long trek home on Sunday and were grateful to have had a navigation system that my friend’s Dad let us borrow for the trip (I was tempted to ask for one of these for my birthday….these things are amazing. If nothing else, you have a friend to talk to as you’re driving along.)
-My last piece of interesting news is that I broke up with Aaron. I guess if you aren’t a “Utah Bassett” you might not have known I was even dating someone because I don’t think I ever wrote about him. We started dating in Feb. and then when I got back from my trip to Disneyland, we decided to break things off. He is a really amazing guy with some amazing goals, but I guess right now isn’t the right time. I’m okay with it all…so no worries. It’s always sad to loose a friend though (I was really good friends with all his roommates too, so that kind of makes things a little weird too.) But, life is good and I am grateful for the things I learned from it all!
-My last last piece of not so interesting but very depressing news is that I got kicked off my parents insurance. Sometimes it stinks to grow up! For so long you feel like you gain all these new privileges with each birthday (such as your license and dating), but then…you start having things taken away and you really have to grow up and be semi responsible. Bummer! :)
Hope all is going well for you!
Love, Janey
Life just keeps moving along at a good and busy pace. I haven’t written in awhile and will try to give a quick synopsis of the latest and greatest.
-Winter semester ended! Hurray. I did a lot better in school this year and attribute that to a year break from school, the mission, and a change in my major. I really like the Communication Disorders program and am anxious to go to graduate school so I can do something with my major.
-I moved home for the summer and love it. I do miss my roommates and the friends I made throughout the year, but really do feel settled when I am at home. I am grateful Mom and Dad still let me come home.
-I started Spring Term at the BYU Salt Lake Center. This is a very interesting and different experience. There are only about 10 people in my classes (weird) and everything moves so fast! I am taking a Math 110 class to help me review for the GRE (which I plan to take at the beginning of Fall semester), and a Persuasive Writing class (my last general class). Like I said, I feel like we have huge assignments due every time we go to class, but it’s so nice to know that it will be over in exactly a month from today (and I feel like I just started)! I only have class twice a week, but its 5 hours straight! Anyway, I am enjoying that.
-I am still working at Smart Cookie Company. I am still in the American Fork store but will be moving to the new Fort Union store sometime within the next couple of weeks. I only work twice a week right now, but will go full time once school is over. My boss is pretty good at working with my schedule, but I have to admit that I am currently getting kind of tired of that job. But, it would be dumb to quit because I can get the time off that I need, and it pays a lot better than any other job I could get right now in my life. I know I’ll last through the summer, but after that……we’ll see!
-Disneyland! After finals ended I went with two of my roommates to Disneyland for a quick little trip. That was a fun and an adventurous thing. We drove my car down on a Wednesday (my car is doing much better these days), and stayed with a family that one of my roommates knew. On Thursday we went to the San Diego temple (I did a session…wow, what a beautiful temple, inside and out) and then went to La Jolla Beach. It wasn’t super warm, but we braved the cold and splashed in the waves. On Friday we went to Disneyland. It was my birthday, and if you sign up before-hand you get into one park for free! I had to pay $25 for a park-hopper pass, but $25 is better than the $96 my roommate paid for a day pass. We went hard core all day, but were dying out by about 8 at night. We wanted to go on Space Mountain, but our fast pass tickets weren’t good until 11 pm, and the line was like a 90 min wait. So, we decided to go on a few rides with short lines just so we could sit down. However, we spent a good hour in one of the stores in Frontier Land trying on hats, making funny faces, and taking pictures. I had to laugh because we paid $96 dollars and what were we doing…trying on hats. We had a good time and now have lots of pictures to remember it all (I will try to send out some pictures soon!) On Saturday we made our way to Sea World. I haven’t been there in a long time! I loved the shows and just looking at the animals that you never get to see anywhere else. We made the long trek home on Sunday and were grateful to have had a navigation system that my friend’s Dad let us borrow for the trip (I was tempted to ask for one of these for my birthday….these things are amazing. If nothing else, you have a friend to talk to as you’re driving along.)
-My last piece of interesting news is that I broke up with Aaron. I guess if you aren’t a “Utah Bassett” you might not have known I was even dating someone because I don’t think I ever wrote about him. We started dating in Feb. and then when I got back from my trip to Disneyland, we decided to break things off. He is a really amazing guy with some amazing goals, but I guess right now isn’t the right time. I’m okay with it all…so no worries. It’s always sad to loose a friend though (I was really good friends with all his roommates too, so that kind of makes things a little weird too.) But, life is good and I am grateful for the things I learned from it all!
-My last last piece of not so interesting but very depressing news is that I got kicked off my parents insurance. Sometimes it stinks to grow up! For so long you feel like you gain all these new privileges with each birthday (such as your license and dating), but then…you start having things taken away and you really have to grow up and be semi responsible. Bummer! :)
Hope all is going well for you!
Love, Janey
Sunny St. George
Dear Family,
I start this letter out by requesting your forgiveness for my absence from the BAWB for such a long time. As school got busy and I got out of the habit of writing I just kept telling myself I would start writing again once we got to St. George. We are now here in St. George and Stef got us hooked up with internet this week and so I am now officially a regular contributor to the BAWB.
First I want to sincerely thank everyone for their help with the move. To those of you who have moved (B&K especially) you know what a pain it is to pack up all your things and move them. Having so much help from family made ALL the difference in the world. Dad, Max, Curt, and Bruce all came and helped move stuff (along with Stef's family) while nice Mom was inside just cleaning away like she does so well. I don't know if I took time to personally thank everyone so if I missed you, THANKS! (also, thanks for helping us vicariously B&K, we missed ya but know you are helping others down there!)
Temperatures are really starting to climb. I would guess that today we hit around 100. I am not quite sure but it sure feels hot...especially in a suit. Being the dry heat that it is though, it doesn't bother me to much especially when be just jump from building to building that is air conditioned. We love the apt that we moved into. We are still making small constant adjustments all the time. Stef has done a great job decorating our home beautifully with all the things we have always had, not to mention some new things she has picked up lately. Bret's room is all done and it looks great with our free crib that we painted, Stef's dresser and night stand from when she was a girl, and the nice rocker that Stef recieved for graduation from mom and dad. The office simply has Stef's desk from when she was a girl and a matching book shelf. Our bedroom has the nice little stacked drawers from mom and Stef with lots of our clothes, and then the standing tote holder that Janey gave us for Christmas and our nice end table from Dallas, not to mention the King (and I mean King in every way!!) bed that we are borrowing from Brent and Nancy until they need it at some future date. That are so nice to let us borrow that. The basement has our old couch and a new entertainment center we just received from some friends down here and the not so old digital piano. We feel so blessed to have so many nice things and also to be so close to work. National Ride your bike to work day was last friday and so I clocked my ride into work and it took me 3 mins and 2 seconds and was .66 miles. It is very nice to be so close, in fact most days I come home for lunch and then bike back in to work. That may change when we get into the 110 degree weather but for now it has been nice.
Beyond that we are trying to just ease into life here that should last more than 8 months (which is the longest we have been somewhere since we got married). Our bishop is a really nice, gentle cool guy from Samoa, and this past friday night was the fathers and sons. I figure that Bret is too little to sleep over (not to mention I don't have a bag for him) so we just went up for dinner and I invited my friend who is in a hard situation. His wife just left him a few months ago and left him with 2 kids. The 4 yr old girl was his x-wife's originally and he adopted her and then the wife left her with him, and while they were married they had a little boy. Stef was so nice to watch the little girl and take her to the park and pizza while he and his boy Carter and Bret and I went up to Pine Valley. The dinner was amazing!! I have forgotten how good dutch oven is, but they had chicken, potatoes, carrots, burgers and more with a tasty cobler for desert. It was delicious.
This afternoon we went out to the Jacob Hamblin home out in Santa Clara. Stef has been there but I never have and so that was neat to learn some more about the rich pioneer heritage this place has.
I apologize I am not a better writer and I hope that when I don't have so much to say I can take more time to word things. If nothing else I have said makes coherent sense, we are doing good. Our testimonies grow each day, and our unity as a family continues to grow. We are so grateful to be a family and espeically to have Bret in our home. He is so cute we can't hardly stand it. We hope and pray each day that we are doing things that will bring him up in truth and righteousness and will teach him to someday be a man of God. Sorry if that is a bit cheesy but I think you know what I am getting at.
I love you all!
Nick
I start this letter out by requesting your forgiveness for my absence from the BAWB for such a long time. As school got busy and I got out of the habit of writing I just kept telling myself I would start writing again once we got to St. George. We are now here in St. George and Stef got us hooked up with internet this week and so I am now officially a regular contributor to the BAWB.
First I want to sincerely thank everyone for their help with the move. To those of you who have moved (B&K especially) you know what a pain it is to pack up all your things and move them. Having so much help from family made ALL the difference in the world. Dad, Max, Curt, and Bruce all came and helped move stuff (along with Stef's family) while nice Mom was inside just cleaning away like she does so well. I don't know if I took time to personally thank everyone so if I missed you, THANKS! (also, thanks for helping us vicariously B&K, we missed ya but know you are helping others down there!)
Temperatures are really starting to climb. I would guess that today we hit around 100. I am not quite sure but it sure feels hot...especially in a suit. Being the dry heat that it is though, it doesn't bother me to much especially when be just jump from building to building that is air conditioned. We love the apt that we moved into. We are still making small constant adjustments all the time. Stef has done a great job decorating our home beautifully with all the things we have always had, not to mention some new things she has picked up lately. Bret's room is all done and it looks great with our free crib that we painted, Stef's dresser and night stand from when she was a girl, and the nice rocker that Stef recieved for graduation from mom and dad. The office simply has Stef's desk from when she was a girl and a matching book shelf. Our bedroom has the nice little stacked drawers from mom and Stef with lots of our clothes, and then the standing tote holder that Janey gave us for Christmas and our nice end table from Dallas, not to mention the King (and I mean King in every way!!) bed that we are borrowing from Brent and Nancy until they need it at some future date. That are so nice to let us borrow that. The basement has our old couch and a new entertainment center we just received from some friends down here and the not so old digital piano. We feel so blessed to have so many nice things and also to be so close to work. National Ride your bike to work day was last friday and so I clocked my ride into work and it took me 3 mins and 2 seconds and was .66 miles. It is very nice to be so close, in fact most days I come home for lunch and then bike back in to work. That may change when we get into the 110 degree weather but for now it has been nice.
Beyond that we are trying to just ease into life here that should last more than 8 months (which is the longest we have been somewhere since we got married). Our bishop is a really nice, gentle cool guy from Samoa, and this past friday night was the fathers and sons. I figure that Bret is too little to sleep over (not to mention I don't have a bag for him) so we just went up for dinner and I invited my friend who is in a hard situation. His wife just left him a few months ago and left him with 2 kids. The 4 yr old girl was his x-wife's originally and he adopted her and then the wife left her with him, and while they were married they had a little boy. Stef was so nice to watch the little girl and take her to the park and pizza while he and his boy Carter and Bret and I went up to Pine Valley. The dinner was amazing!! I have forgotten how good dutch oven is, but they had chicken, potatoes, carrots, burgers and more with a tasty cobler for desert. It was delicious.
This afternoon we went out to the Jacob Hamblin home out in Santa Clara. Stef has been there but I never have and so that was neat to learn some more about the rich pioneer heritage this place has.
I apologize I am not a better writer and I hope that when I don't have so much to say I can take more time to word things. If nothing else I have said makes coherent sense, we are doing good. Our testimonies grow each day, and our unity as a family continues to grow. We are so grateful to be a family and espeically to have Bret in our home. He is so cute we can't hardly stand it. We hope and pray each day that we are doing things that will bring him up in truth and righteousness and will teach him to someday be a man of God. Sorry if that is a bit cheesy but I think you know what I am getting at.
I love you all!
Nick
Saturday, May 16, 2009
90+ degrees and lovin' it (Stef)
Hey everyone! We finally got internet hooked up here. Glad to be reconnected with the cyber-world...
I am not in the writing mood, so I will just bore you with a list of things I've done lately.
-I just finished the fourth book in the Twighlight series- Breaking Dawn- I think. I love reading and those were some fun books. It makes you wonder if stuff like vampires and werewolves really exist because they have been legends forever. It had to come from somewhere right? :)
-We have finished unapcking and sorting through most all of our stuff- made a big drop-off at the D.I., donated a bunch of books to the St. George library, and organized the rest of stuff in storage bins!
-We got a new family picture taken for free from Nick's work. Now we just have to wait 2 weeks to get it back.
-I have become a professional "park hopper"- I take Bret to lots of different parks.
-We babysat for Stef and Jan Miller while they attended the temple, and they watched Bret while we went.
-I talked to my little bro (well listened to him) from Colombia on Mother's Day.
-I think this is the last one...Last night was father and sons for our ward and Nick invited his friend Mike from work, so I took his little girl Alexis to get pizza and play at the park. Then we came home, made Kool-Aid, watched Wall-E and colored. It was a fun night.
We are trying hard to get Bret on a good nap schedule and we are having fun in our new place down here....but we miss you guys all so much! You can call us anytime! I am coming up on Monday and will be hanging out with you guys on Monday night! Can't wait to see you all, love ya,
Stef
I am not in the writing mood, so I will just bore you with a list of things I've done lately.
-I just finished the fourth book in the Twighlight series- Breaking Dawn- I think. I love reading and those were some fun books. It makes you wonder if stuff like vampires and werewolves really exist because they have been legends forever. It had to come from somewhere right? :)
-We have finished unapcking and sorting through most all of our stuff- made a big drop-off at the D.I., donated a bunch of books to the St. George library, and organized the rest of stuff in storage bins!
-We got a new family picture taken for free from Nick's work. Now we just have to wait 2 weeks to get it back.
-I have become a professional "park hopper"- I take Bret to lots of different parks.
-We babysat for Stef and Jan Miller while they attended the temple, and they watched Bret while we went.
-I talked to my little bro (well listened to him) from Colombia on Mother's Day.
-I think this is the last one...Last night was father and sons for our ward and Nick invited his friend Mike from work, so I took his little girl Alexis to get pizza and play at the park. Then we came home, made Kool-Aid, watched Wall-E and colored. It was a fun night.
We are trying hard to get Bret on a good nap schedule and we are having fun in our new place down here....but we miss you guys all so much! You can call us anytime! I am coming up on Monday and will be hanging out with you guys on Monday night! Can't wait to see you all, love ya,
Stef
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
A Day in the Life of Mom (Mom)
Dearest Family,
Hours ago I got on the computer to write a post. First I had to catch up with email and then blogs and finally here I am. Anyone else get bogged down on the computer or do you all have the discipline to just skip over stuff? WHY DO I HAVE TO READ EVERYTHING????
I woke up missing all of you and wishing that we all wrote at least weekly and knew more about each other's lives but then I realized that I am not a very good example of doing that. So I decided to write.
I think I'll just write about yesterday. I got up at 7 to fix Max's lunch and get him out the door for school. (Remember, you get your lunch made through 9th grade. I just figured out that I only have 16 more sack lunches to make in my entire life!!) Max said he didn't need a lunch since he was fasting for a friend whose brother was in the hospital. Wow, that alone was worth getting up for - to hear your 15 year old is fasting on his own free will. I love you Max.
After Max left and I said my morning prayers and then went running - four miles exactly. I love that my Garmen tells me exactly how far I go. I don't love that it reminds me how slow I am.
Then I spent the next hour in the garden. I had carefully planned and purchased plants at Lamberts the previous day. Dad spent Saturday getting the garden all ready and it was perfect. I pondered and planned, researched information from my gardening journal, and finally got those 11 plants in the ground, with root starter and a prayer. Nice Janey watered them for me since I had to hurry over to. . . . .
James and Karen Yorgason's garage where I had promised to help with our stake 24th of July float. All the props are being stored in their garage and I volunteered to help out. Five women in the ward spent the next couple of hours sanding styrofoam shaped boots, trumpets and records. I had no idea that so much work was required to prepare styrofoam for painting. This was crazy and after two hours we all had a very fine white powder over all of us! I was glad it was windy walking home so I could clean off.
No matter that I was powdery, I hurried down to Western Garden to buy seed potatoes and bush bean seeds. I then finished planting the garden and finally showered.
At 2 pm I drove Nancy and I to a PTSA meeting at Valley Jr High where we stayed only a half hour and then went to Granger for a Granger High School rebuild meeting. This was very interesting and lasted until 4 pm. Then I stopped by Comcast to pick up a new black box and was delighted to learn we can save $15 on each monthly bill. Comcast has good customer service.
At 5:30 Dad and I left to the Jordan River Temple for a ward temple dinner and then an endowment session. At 10 pm we were home and so was Janey. Tues and Thurs are her school nights. Dad and Max installed the black box (and learned the other was only unplugged!!) and I reclined on Janey's bed to talk to her while she tried to catch up on emails.
So that was my day. I guess it wasn't typical since I didn't fix a meal, do any dishes or laundry, or even get on the computer. (I've made up for that today.) What do you guys do in a day?
Love you all. Thanks again for a wonderful Mother's Day. And thanks for reading if you indeed made it to the end.
Love, Mom
Hours ago I got on the computer to write a post. First I had to catch up with email and then blogs and finally here I am. Anyone else get bogged down on the computer or do you all have the discipline to just skip over stuff? WHY DO I HAVE TO READ EVERYTHING????
I woke up missing all of you and wishing that we all wrote at least weekly and knew more about each other's lives but then I realized that I am not a very good example of doing that. So I decided to write.
I think I'll just write about yesterday. I got up at 7 to fix Max's lunch and get him out the door for school. (Remember, you get your lunch made through 9th grade. I just figured out that I only have 16 more sack lunches to make in my entire life!!) Max said he didn't need a lunch since he was fasting for a friend whose brother was in the hospital. Wow, that alone was worth getting up for - to hear your 15 year old is fasting on his own free will. I love you Max.
After Max left and I said my morning prayers and then went running - four miles exactly. I love that my Garmen tells me exactly how far I go. I don't love that it reminds me how slow I am.
Then I spent the next hour in the garden. I had carefully planned and purchased plants at Lamberts the previous day. Dad spent Saturday getting the garden all ready and it was perfect. I pondered and planned, researched information from my gardening journal, and finally got those 11 plants in the ground, with root starter and a prayer. Nice Janey watered them for me since I had to hurry over to. . . . .
James and Karen Yorgason's garage where I had promised to help with our stake 24th of July float. All the props are being stored in their garage and I volunteered to help out. Five women in the ward spent the next couple of hours sanding styrofoam shaped boots, trumpets and records. I had no idea that so much work was required to prepare styrofoam for painting. This was crazy and after two hours we all had a very fine white powder over all of us! I was glad it was windy walking home so I could clean off.
No matter that I was powdery, I hurried down to Western Garden to buy seed potatoes and bush bean seeds. I then finished planting the garden and finally showered.
At 2 pm I drove Nancy and I to a PTSA meeting at Valley Jr High where we stayed only a half hour and then went to Granger for a Granger High School rebuild meeting. This was very interesting and lasted until 4 pm. Then I stopped by Comcast to pick up a new black box and was delighted to learn we can save $15 on each monthly bill. Comcast has good customer service.
At 5:30 Dad and I left to the Jordan River Temple for a ward temple dinner and then an endowment session. At 10 pm we were home and so was Janey. Tues and Thurs are her school nights. Dad and Max installed the black box (and learned the other was only unplugged!!) and I reclined on Janey's bed to talk to her while she tried to catch up on emails.
So that was my day. I guess it wasn't typical since I didn't fix a meal, do any dishes or laundry, or even get on the computer. (I've made up for that today.) What do you guys do in a day?
Love you all. Thanks again for a wonderful Mother's Day. And thanks for reading if you indeed made it to the end.
Love, Mom
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Almost done...but still busy!!
Hey everyone!
Well, I know that all of you are finished with school, (well except Janey, who is doing the summer school) But I am still not quite all the way finished. Summer break is coming soon though! I am super excited for that to come. Even though my Junior High days are almost over, I still have a pretty busy life. Let me tells you a couple things I still have to do in the next couple of weeks.
Well, I know that all of you are finished with school, (well except Janey, who is doing the summer school) But I am still not quite all the way finished. Summer break is coming soon though! I am super excited for that to come. Even though my Junior High days are almost over, I still have a pretty busy life. Let me tells you a couple things I still have to do in the next couple of weeks.
- I am still deciding what to get mom for mothers day. Shopping can be very stressful sometimes for me. :)
- I am starting math CRT's in a couple of days. I am in Geometry, and that is by far my hardest subject. The CRT test will be very difficult, but it's good to have science and English CRT's all over with.
- I am practicing really hard for the concert next week. Even though it's the choir concert, the Jazz Band is playing RESPECT by Arentha Franklin, and one of my teachers Ms. Parks will sing and the choir will be the back round singers. It will be a lot of fun and hopefully it will sound good.
- In two weeks, I will be playing a musical number in church. I chose a pretty hard version of Abide with Me in the Rhapsody of Hymns book. I've got to practice hard for that!
- The week after that, I play the organ in church. Playing the hymns on the piano is a whole different thing than playing the hymns on the organ. So I'll have to start going to the church more during the week and practicing there on the organ so I will be ready!
- A couple days after that, I am playing the piano in our Awards assembly. Luckily, I get to choose the song I play, and the one I'm going to play is Bumble Boogie, which is the recital piece I had last year. I am still really nervous because there will be a lot of people watching me and I haven't played that song in front of people in a long time, so hopefully everything turns out alright.
Anyways...so there is a little bit on what I still have to do before I can party hardy during summer time! :) I know some of you just finished finals, so this really sounds like nothing compared to what you have had to do these last couple weeks, but just think of all those things in a 9th graders perspective. If you can't look in that point of view, I'll tell you, that is a lot of stuff considering school is almost out!
Well thanks for reading.
Love you all,
Max
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