I am going to be a mother-in-law!!!

Well, it is official. Stephanie is engaged to Aaron Lanoy of Rogers, AR. Don't have a date yet...just know it will be sometime in the fall. Sure I will know shortly. He seems like a wonderful man. We are very excited to meet him this coming weekend when they come up.

Melanie's Graduation Open House

Please join us to celebrate Melanie's High School Graduation. Event will be held in the Discovery Den, located on the 4th floor of the Kirby Science Discovery Center in the Washington Pavilion. Entertainment and refreshments will be provided. May 13, 2010. 5:30-7:30pm

Updates

I know...I know...it is a miracle that I am updating this! Just sitting here waiting for dinner to be done. Paul went to pick up the missionaries so that we can feed them and I had a few minutes of peaceful quiet. (Ben is outside playing basketball, Nate is on the computer, Shirley is in her room and Melanie and Sam are both at work), or else it wouldn't be quiet at all. So much has happened since the last time I wrote I wouldn't even know where to begin but most of you are on facebook anyhow and know what is going on. I will just put a few updates in here. Paul is having eye surgery on April 20 and May 18. He has glaucoma and they need to release the pressure. He just finished going through two weekend trainings for Wood Badge. Stephanie should be home in less that 10 days but she is flying out to Arkansas for a job interview and then going to Las Vegas with my brother so we will see her for a few days here and there. Melanie got accepted to BYU Provo and is going on a school trip to Chicago next week. Sam is going to the national leadership training and then to scout camp along with a handcart trek and an outdoor youth camp in the Rockies this summer so he will be busy. He is getting started on his Eagle...finally. Nate is working on his Eagle and should be done with his project in June. He has a big competition tomorrow for a physics challenge. Ben is starting softball next week and is loving scouts. He took 5th at the Pinewood Derby. Shirley will be leaving on May 25th. We will really miss her. Last weekend she took another oil painting class with me. She is going out to the Black Hills this month. I am busy at work. My boss is out until July but I really love my job! I lost my uncle this month and my sister got married. Unfortunately I couldn't go to either. I turn 40 next month and I am going to climb Mt. Washburn in Yellowstone as my present to myself. Steph graduated in December and Mel graduates next month. Life seems to by flying by but mostly it is a good flight to be on. Oh, and Melanie cut off 14 inches of her hair.

More Shirley Fun

Shirley told me she felt like she might have a pig cold...we finally figured out she was trying to tell us she was scared she had Swine Flu. At dinner we were discussing Sam being grounded...Shirley looked at Mel and said "Sam is a granddad?" We made monkey bread for dinner and I asked Mel and Shirley to help. She thought it was bread for the monkeys to eat. I told her we would eat it not monkeys...she thought that it was called monkey bread because it is the color of monkeys. I said no and then she thought maybe because it looks like a monkeys tail?!? She thinks the word goofball is fun so she is always calling people a goofball...tonight we were watching football and she got the two confused and called her friend a football on facebook. It is a riot around here!

New Exchange Student

We have an exchange student from China this year. She is adorable. Funny, respectful, helpful and just a delight. She speaks very good English but some things have been so cute as she figures out the correct usage. For example, we were having baked potatoes with ranch dressing. She wanted some ranch so she asked someone to pass her the potato jam. Then she was taking the skin off the potato and Melanie asked her what she was doing...she said she was taking off its clothes. She is loving seminary. We got her a Chinese Book of Mormon since that is what they are studying. She came home yesterday and was telling me about Lehi taking his family camping...we took her camping over Paul's birthday. She thought that it was very cold. We took her to the Renaissance Fair in Minnesota. That was quite an experience. She asked us to teach her to pray and has been offering prayers ever since. We are glad to have her here.

Ben's hospital stay

I am writing this while I am in need of a very long nap so if there are errors...please forgive me! Sunday night, Paul's parents were here visiting and about 4pm Ben had a seizure while he was awake. This is highly unusual as his seizures always happen when he is sleeping. He had two more within the next two hours and then had 9 while he was sleeping. I kept him home the next morning and he slept until 10 am and then went to school. He did great all day. I had put in a call to his doctor and was waiting for a call back. Tuesday, I still hadn't heard from the doctor and I picked him up early from the school to go to the dentist. He had a seizure in the waiting room and then two in the dentist chair so they cut his visit short. He had two more while we waited for Nate to get done with his appt. He continued to have them every 4-5 minutes...to make a very long story shorter...we ended up in the emergency room and by the time we got him sedated he had had 47 seizures. He was admitted to the pediatric ICU and they stopped the seizures and have started him on a new medication. His CT came back good but of course the EEG was abnormal but they feel we can control everything with medication. They also gave us a medication for PRN situations and for traveling. We came home about an hour ago and Ben is already sleeping and I am heading that way too.

Winterfeast part 2

Here are our pictures from Winterfeast.

WinterFeast

We attended the annual WinterFeast this last weekend. I have to admire my husband who is willing to not only dress up in costume with me, but in a kilt! The night was great fun. We had a beautiful dinner of roasted vegetables, potatoes, Chicken Wellington, and prime rib plus dessert. It was more food than I could eat. I had never had Chicken Wellington before. I enjoyed it. The entertainment was fun. A juggler, a magician and a group of singers. I have included some pictures for you to enjoy. Melanie was on a choir trip to Minneapolis but she was able to show up for the last 1/2 hour. Now our Renfest season gets underway. We have trainings, performances and meetings right up until our festival the first weekend in June.

Reading...avid or addicted?

As an avid reader, (I say avid, Paul says addicted), I am always looking for a good book. When I finish a series, I always feel a panic sweep over me wondering what I will read next. So, I am all for sharing. Many of my friends and relatives belong to Goodreads.com which allows us to share what we are reading and what we have read. It also allows one to rate and review. It is a great resource for finding what to read next. I just finished one of the best series I have ever read...The Nine Kingdoms Series. I read all three is 6 days. Please share your favorite books with me!

Latest news from here...

Here is the latest from South Dakota...
It is cold!
Steph will be home this Saturday. I am so excited.
Melanie went to winter formal last night. Her friends all came to dinner here...there were 12-13 of them. They all wore black but one so I teased them about going to a funeral. We had spent the day at the temple on a youth baptism trip so it was a big, long, day.
Sam and his best friend went to church in Brandon and then drove to church in Sioux Falls and went to the last 1 1/2 of 2nd ward...teens wanting more church???? I will leave the reasons up to your imagination!
We are headed to the Devotional tonight and then over to our friends to see the finale of Amazing Race.

Wow...yeah...Wow!

Well, I finished all the Twilight books, including the online draft of Midnight Sun and saw the movie in 9 days. I have to say, that was the most powerful series I have ever read and I am having a little trouble getting back to reality. Part of me wants to stay engrossed in the obsessive Cullen world. I now understand...

I really shouldn't have read these books...

So while I am shopping Monday night, I decide to pick up a copy of "Twilight". I got tired of waiting for one of Mel's friends to drop it off. I took it home and started reading a bit that evening...It is now Friday morning and I have finished "Twilight" and "New Moon" and am going to have to brave Black Friday before going in to work to pick up "Eclipse". Mel, Nate and I went to see the movie Wednesday night after church was over. I enjoyed the movie but as any reader knows...
I did not enjoy reading "New Moon". I found it so difficult to read through her pain. I was so thankful that Mel had already told me a bit about their future or I might not have made it through. Even so, it was difficult to read through my own tears. I really do get caught up in books too easy.

Facebook

I love facebook. I have connected with people I knew in grade school, both high schools, other towns that I have lived in, relatives on every side, and so many others. It is such an easy way to communicate. It has saved me from having to make at least one phone call a day. Case in point...our primary pres was sick yesterday and so I conducted. Later in the afternoon she was on so we chatted for about 2 min and I got her all the info she needed. I also can see what is going on in others lives without having to call them up and I can see the pictures they post. It is like blogging at times...except that many of my friends on facebook are men and they aren't really into the blogging thing like this. I reconnected with a friend from middle/high school whom I haven't talked to in 22 years. She is now an art teacher in the school system. I found another friend from grade school who used to tease me something fierce about being a member of the church and wouldn't you know...he joined 4 years ago. Paul is on it too. He has connected with friends from school and from his mission and we both are friends with our children's friends. Sometimes I find out more from facebook than I do from people. Not sure that is good. I know I sound like a commercial. I am just amazed at technology. I never thought I would talk to many of these people again in my life and it has been so fun to do so!

Life Today.

I know I should be blogging about the amazing things I heard on Glenn Beck this morning or the terrible service we have experienced at restaurants this last few weeks but I would rather talk about my family. Ben earned a Book It award for Pizza Hut so we went tonight...then we spent over two hours on homework! Mel and Sam worked. Mel is off to her friends house where they are getting geared up to see the midnight showing of "Twilight". I know, it is a school night but... and Paul, Nate and Sam are off moving a stove for one of the rentals in the freezing cold. It is supposed to get to 5F. That is mighty chilly. The popcorn sales are in so now I get to stare at it until Thanksgiving...which we are not being traditional this year. I have to work the day before and the two after so we are settling for pizza, popcorn, pop and football. Doesn't get much better than that. I am also on a countdown for Steph to get home. I am thinking of beginning the "Twilight" books tomorrow.

I Finally Got Tagged!

FOODOLOGY*

What is your salad dressing of choice? Really chunky blue cheese.

What is your favorite sit-down restaurant? La Fiesta in Sioux Falls...but I have to remember to take a jacket because I always get chilled.

What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of? Fettuccine Alfredo.

What are your pizza toppings of choice? Pepperoni, olives and extra cheese.

What do you like to put on your toast? Real butter and sometimes apple jelly.

*TECHNOLOGY*

What is your wallpaper on your computer? Fiddler Lake in WY where we camped with my aunt this summer. Amazing place.

How many televisions are in your house? 5...None with cable and only two have converter boxes...one still has rabbit ears...so shouldn't that count as only 1 or 2 really???

What color cell phone do you have? silver

*BIOLOGY*

Are you right-handed or left-handed? right

Have you ever had anything removed from your body? Teeth, tonsils, and 5 children.

What is the last heavy item you lifted? A box of rocks. Seriously, we are redoing the rock cycle exhibit at work.

Have you ever been knocked unconscious? Yes, a bite from a black widow...and a few other times.

*BULLCRAPOLOGY*

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? Absolutely not...I think it would change the future too much.

If you could change your name, what would you change it to? Elise maybe?

Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1,000? $1K? No way!

*DUMBOLOGY*

How many pairs of flip flops do you own? 3 or 4...my girls would argue that...they think some of them are theirs.

Last time you had a run-in with the cops? Ben and I went on a tour of the police station for school...does that count?

What do you want to be when you grow up? Retired with sufficient means.

Last person you talked to? Nate...he is getting ready for school.

Last person you hugged? Paul when I got home last night from church.

*FAVORITOLOGY*

Season? Fall

Holiday? Easter

Day of the week? Sunday

Month? Sept.

*CURRENTOLOGY*

Missing someone? Steph

Mood? Overwhelmed..My house is in need of a real cleanup but with work and after work activities...I haven't had a chance..

Listening to? The sound of Nate's shower.

Watching? My words show up on my monitor.

Worrying about? The new rock exhibit...tonight's staff meeting...when I will have time to get caught up around the house, money, things in my kids life...etc.

*RANDOMOLOGY*

First place you went this morning? it will be to drop of Ben.

What can you not wait to do? Travel again.

What's the last movie you saw? Get Smart...which I didn't watch too closely but Paul was watching it in our room.

Do you smile often? Yes

Snow

The interstate is closed across South Dakota. Deadwood got 4 feet with 70 mph wind gusts. It is snowing here now too. Winter has hit! I have nothing more to say. I was disappointed with the election in general but I agree with Glenn Beck that we must hold to our values but also unite and support out President-elect. I just finished watching "John Adams". It was a mini-series put out by HBO. I highly highly recommend it!!

Time Out For Women and Abstractions

Mel and I just returned from Omaha where we attended Time Out For Women. I could blog for miles on this so I will be short and just say we had a great time. My favorite speaker was Mary Ellen Edmunds. If you ever get the chance to hear her...take it! My favorite musician was Jenny Oaks Baker. If you get the chance to hear her...go! Amazing.
Today Mel and I got notification that both our submissions had been accepted into the new art show in Sioux Falls titled, "Abstractions". Mel submitted a mask made of mosaic mirrors. I submitted a triptych, acrylic paintings based on Auschwitz.
The artist's reception in Nov. 7th. It will be nice to have Mel there with me this time.

Kids

Steph spent the last week in New York City. She had a grand time. Went and saw Wicked again and met Glenn Beck and Howie Mandel. She also met lots of business people that I don't know but it was a real big deal to her. She also saw Clay Aiken and Daniel Radcliffe. I am not sure if that is how you spell it?? It is the kid from Harry Potter. She got home late last night and then left this morning for St. George with Scott. They are going to a wedding reception and to see some of his family. She is going to be so tired when school starts Mon. She is going to New Mexico with Scott for Thanksgiving and then he is coming to Sioux Falls during the Christmas break. I am really looking forward to it. Paul and Nate are out shooting at pheasants and Sam is getting ready for work. Mel is at work already and so Ben and I are cleaning house. Sat. have become precious to me since I started working again. I have not found my balance yet but I will adjust soon. I have faith.

It's Friday!

Work went well this week. I really like my job. I am watching the first season of JERICHO on my computer through Netflix. It is interesting. It makes one think about being prepared and that is why I wanted to watch it in the first place but now I am caught up in the story.