create.....we all can do it!

i watched this little mormon message about being creative....

president uchtdorf does a wonderful job expressing to us that we all have the ability to create something, anything, if we just try and start small...

we all have talents, we can create!

watch the video...

addison's on a roll.....

this week is "brag about addison" week.....
luck is on his side lately!

addison took the act in october and finally got his score.....
he came dancing into our room at 11 pm with laptop in hand....
put it up in our "asleep" faces and said, "LOOK!"
he got a 29 on his act test.....(last score was a 27)....
he went up in every subject except math....
way to go....we are so proud!

addison was made class president in seminary, recently.
that may not seem like that big of a deal, but it made him feel good.

addison made the varsity basketball team at jordan high!
this is his 4th year on the basketball team and of course his last being that he is a senior...
he is very excited and happy to be on the team!
go beetdiggers!

addison won the "principal's award" at jordan high
i am not sure what that means...i'm not even sure he gets any money with it, but he won it nonetheless.
he said that gave it to him in hopes that he would stop coming in and hounded them about scholarship applications and such....haha

most importantly, addison is growing in the gospel and in his testimony....
i asked him recently about where his testimony stood and he said....
"mom, i have a strong testimony. i believe in the church and the gospel. i am on a spiritual high and i know that i can always lean on the lord if i make mistakes and he will help me. i want to go on a mission and nothing (anxiety and/or girls) is going to hold me back."
now, that is music to my ears!
as a parent and a mother....that is payoff!

many blessings have come his way lately! i am grateful that heavenly father has blessed him and loves him and knows who he is. i am grateful for the many blessings that heavenly father has blessed me with....a loving family, a testimony, good health, talents, my calling in the young women's organization, loving friends, and much more. i am grateful!

birthdays......another one?

this past wednesday, november 10th, was my birthday!
yes, i know that you are shocked that i am getting older....
because, i certainly don't look it...hahaha!
i turned 45.....pretty much smack dab in the middle age of life...

it was a busy, crazy birthday....
phone call from ashley at 8:00 am, master's swimming, going to jordan high school for fun bus sign-ups, lunch with annie cheney, boundary committee meeting, young women's.....
the older you get, the more your birthday's turn into ordinary days.....
but, i do have a sweet family who make me feel loved!
when i was down at the high school, addison and a friend carried in 72 cookies from paradise bakery.....yum!
the "commons", where i was gathering sign-ups, was packed that day....
addison gathered his friends around him and everyone else joined in to sing me happy birthday!
it was very sweet!
i was told that there were 72 cookies - 1 for every year of my age.....thanks a lot, add!
we shared the cookies with kids at the school!
i thought that addison had bought the cookies with his own money....$50 worth.....
but, he and mark had planned together to do this during lunch - no wonder mark had asked what time i would be down at the school......
mark and addison are very sweet! mark is always doing something for me every year to make my birthday special....thank you!

face book is sometimes a good thing....
for example, you can go onto your wall on your birthday and see all the birthday wishes from lots of your friends.....
i never knew i had so many friends....:0)

it was a wonderful day even though it was a crazy, busy day!
onto another year.....hope it's a good one!

beehives and bacon

yesterday, we had youth baptisms at the draper temple at 7 am.....
mark went up to the churcht to see them off and asked them if they had a last request for breakfast.....
(they were coming here for waffles after the temple)
all the beehives said......bacon!
mark worried that we didn't have enough bacon for them so he sent me to the store to buy more...
all together, we had bought 4 pounds of bacon!
that should be plenty for 12 youth and some leaders, right?
waffles were made......yum!
all the bacon was cooked......yum!
well.....i have never seen beehive young women eat that much bacon before!
they had to have eaten at least 3 pounds of it!
we weren't sure that the boys would get any or the bishop!
it was amazing!
those beehive girls just crack me up.....
i love working with them......
it is such a joy to be with them every week!
yeah for beehives and bacon!

to the "dark side"....dark blue that is.....

yesterday, mark and i went down to byu to the football game....
i know, i know....we are really ute fans, but....
we had extra tickets that addison couldn't use and didn't want to waste them....
besides, we are more of a fan of ashley than byu football!

it wasn't looking like it was going to be a good day to sit in the stands.....
it was pouring rain!
we were soaking wet by the time we got to our seats!
but, luckily mother nature decided to stop the rain for the game......
so that we could spend the afternoon with ashley and our nephew, nick walter.....

so here's to the coug's for an exciting game......
and here's to ashley for being an awesome daughter.....
i say "ashley", you say "you're a winner".....
ashley, you're a winner!

yahoo!

i have to write this or brag about this.....can't help it.....
today in master's swimming, we were swimming sets of 100 yards....easy, medium, strong...
up to 9 of them.....
the last one was a time trial and i had to beat my time of 1 minute 23 seconds.....
i haven't swum that fast in two years.....
i honestly didn't think that i could do it.....
then i got all nervous for the timed one.......dumb, huh!
sooooo....we get to the last one.....i rely on cathy dover to pace me because she is faster....
all i can say is that I DID IT!!
i beat my time! my new personal best for this old lady is 1 minute 16.6 seconds!
i was so excited that i had to write it down!

i looked back in my scrapbook from the old swimming times in high school.....
i am only 8 seconds slower than my best time when i was 18!
not bad for a 44 year old lady who is just swimming for exercise!

i never thought that i would say this, but thanks dave ryland for pushing me when i don't want to be pushed.....
i love swimming!

recapturing beauty....

ashley put on her blog the focus of byu's women's center campaign for this month....

the focus is "recapturing beauty"....http://recapturingbeauty.byu.edu/challenge/

check out the link and come along with us and do this challenge....

this will be a challenge, but i think it will be a good one.....

all is well on the home front!

keep smiling! ;0)