Shawnee

Drink's on Me

2012-02-10T11:20:00.002-07:00

So, I had a meeting the other day, which is nothing out of the ordinary. It was over at the DDE Center, which is where the daycare is as well as some other programs. I was waiting in a nice, comfy chair with my drink on the table next to me. The drink was in a cup you would get from McDonald's or Wendy's, but it had ice water in it. I was sitting and reading some articles. All of a sudden, there is a little boy there, drinking my water from the straw. It was like he couldn't help himself. I about died laughing. His teacher turned bright red with embarrassment. It wasn't like she could have stopped him. I just laughed and said it's only water, then went to dump it out and throw the cup away. Made my day.

B is for....

2012-02-06T19:15:00.002-07:00

Usually I am a pretty tired cookie. Bed always is tempting, whether is sleeping, relaxing, or reading. I love my bed. When I look back over my life, I have always been able to take naps anytime of the day. (Sleeping at night is another story.) It seems like I was always tired and never had enough energy. Last year during my physical my blood work came back showing that my thyroid was "out of whack" (Citing the nurse who called me). So, they put me on some medication to help my thyroid produce whatever it produces accurately. Well, I was still pretty tired. So, I started taking a B vitamin complex, which is supposed to help with energy. Along with those two things and the Diet Coke my body seems to need in order to have normal brain function, I have had A LOT of energy and not needing as much sleep. Normally, you would think this is a good thing. Right? WRONG! My brain has been conditioned to want to sleep and take naps. So, my mind thinks, "Okay, nap time" while my body says, "HECK NO!" For instance, last week, I was feeling somewhat tired and thought I'd take a nap in order to have the energy needed to complete the rest of my day. Well, 45 minutes later I finally got up and worked out instead. Good. Right? I guess. It's been an adjustment for sure. Like I mentioned before, I can normally sleep at anytime during the day. Now it seems that I am not as lucky. So well to all of our daily get-togethers, dear bed. Now I'll only (okay, mostly) see you at night. Sigh.

Christmas Eve Day

2012-01-17T18:59:00.006-07:00

Christmas Eve also happens to be Sariah's birthday. For years we have gone to McDonald's for breakfast on her big day. This year was no different. They no longer have a normal play area due to staff infections. Now they have little computers to play on. The kids didn't seem to mind a bit. Here are some pics of the day.

Hayden and Bekah playing on one of the computers.

Mike

Part of the group
(Susan, Hannah, Bryan, Chelsey, Heidi, Wilson, and Shawnee)

The birthday girl.

Chels and Weston

Erik with Weston and Ethan

Erik with Weston (Sandy and Nicole looking on)

Weston
(Isn't he ADORABLE?)

Christmas Eve eve

2011-12-30T19:59:00.004-07:00

The day before Christmas Eve (the eve of) was the beginning of our celebrations. We were able to finally decorate for Christmas because the flooring and the kitchen were done. Whitney had a blast helping out. That afternoon Bryan's family came into town. Aunt Susan was here from Oregon. I think we had everyone over that evening at some point. We even had carolers come to sing to us (Lloyd and Claudia's family). They even fit into the house, which now seems so much bigger. Here are some pictures from the day:

Hadyen took a picture of Hannah and me.

Susan and Weston

Whitney in a box. (She and Wils loved it.)

Bekah, Susan, and Ethan watching the action.

Heidi munching on her sippy.

BrookLyn caroling.

Angie, Claudia, Kaleb, and Kristin singing.

Mom and her brother Lloyd. I love his hat. (And it's rare that he'll allow a picture to be taken of him, so it's even that much more of a special picture.)

Mom's Remodel

2011-12-24T11:13:00.003-07:00

The past few months my mom's house has been being remodeled. The brothers have been busy for sure. They started around Thanksgiving. I was able to 'help' with a bit of the destruction phase. (I say 'help' loosely because I had no clue what I was doing.) Mike finished installing the kitchen last night and Erik will finish the lights today. After that, it's just putting things back to where they should be. Here are some pics of the process that I've been able to see.

Erik knocking out the old insulation from the ceiling. (Nasty stuff).

Mike vacuuming the nastiness away.

The floor had been completely removed and new floor joists installed.

More of the wall-less, floor-less, ceiling-less living room. (We filled a huge trailer with all the wood from the destruction period.)

Putting in the sub-flooring.

Kaleb helping in instal the carpet.

Kaleb and Adrin working on the carpet.

The new wood floor (solid oak). Aunt Susan watching Mike getting ready to instal cabinets.

Mom checking out the first new cabinet.

The finished product. (Almost....still needs some shelves.)

Awesomeness.

Another view of the awesomeness. (Without the sink the Bryan finished installing last night.)

Everything looks so much bigger. I can't believe the change. Mom did a dance of joy last night and let out a huge "Wahoo!" She just keeps walking in and smiling and feeling the cabinets. I think she likes it.

Thesis

2011-11-28T18:59:00.001-07:00

I had my thesis defense today. And I PASSED!

Fall Break, Part 2

2011-11-08T17:52:00.004-07:00

Weston Kinser Hendershot was blessed while I was at home. He was so good for the whole thing. He didn't even stain his blessing outfit. They held it on a Saturday evening and all the family was there for it, except for Nicole's brother. Here are some pictures to highlight.

This was after the blessing. Just chillin' at home.

Smiling for me.

An almost-grin.

Completely out right before the blessing.

Grandma K and the little man.

The whole family.

Nicole and son.

Daddy Michael

Another of the family.

Grandma and Grandpa K

Grandma H and the little man.

I was so grateful that I could be there for it. I am continually amazed by little ones. They are such a miracle from God. How blessed am I to have 9 amazing nieces and nephews.

Fall Break, Part 1

2011-10-22T22:36:00.004-06:00

Fall break began on Wednesday afternoon. I drove home to Wyoming to visit with family. The canyons were beautiful. I love this time of year. Thursday was spent getting lights fixed on my car (Thank you Erik!), holding Weston, and watching the W's get their pictures taken. Can't wait to see how they turn out. The back drop was SUPER cute.

Friday was also spent with family, mostly just hanging out. My brother Bryan was supposed to come home this weekend, too, for Weston's blessing. He told me that there was a huge water main break in Gillette and wouldn't be able to make it. He lied. His family got here late Friday night after I had got to bed. I had sort of suspected that they might come, but my mom insisted that they weren't. I gave her the benefit of the doubt, since she's not a good liar. From now on I'll be sure to second guess what she says when it comes to Bryan. ;)

Saturday was spent entertaining the kiddos. They actually play well together, if no one is tired or feeling sick. There were only a few melt downs. We all went to the craft fair that morning to see Nicole and Janet. It was so warm and crowded in there that I ended up taking the little ones outside. There was a big kettle corn booth outside. Wilson walked up and took one of the bags. It was pretty funny. I don't think he realized that they weren't just for the taking. I ended up buying a bag to share with them all. They loved it. Afterwards we headed home. We picked up some leaves on the way. Once home, they traced them onto paper. They had a great time doing that. Then they played and played. Here are a few pictures to highlight.

Wilson, Hannah, Whitney, Grandma H, and Hayden walking to the craft fair.

Hannah and Whit

Wilson, Hayden, Whit, Grandma H, Hannah, and Heidi on the way to the fair.

Hayden showing off his beloved 'choo-choo' pajamas.

Whit, Hannah, Wils, Hayden and me

Bekah being silly.

Sariah

Sariah, Ethan, Sandy, Erik, and Bekah

Sariah, Sandy, Bekah
(It's highly unusual for them all to be looking at the camera at the same time, so this is a REALLY good photo of them all.)

Drooly Ethan

Man, I love being with my family!

Nephew #4

2011-10-17T20:03:00.003-06:00

On September 5, which happened to be Labor Day, the newest Hendershot was born. Weston Kinser. I was able to go home a few weeks after he was born to hold him as much as I could in a 4 day period. Here are some pictures of my time there.

On the couch getting cozy.

With cousin Sariah.

Checking out his new world.

With Grandma H and cousin Ethan.

Yawn! (I think Wilson took this picture, that's why it's fuzzy.)

He was so much fun to hold. Perfect size to lie on my tummy with his legs curled up to the side of him. I think he took a couple of good, long naps there. I loved it. It's been difficult to be so far from him, especially at this age because I'm sure he's changing so much. I do get to go home this weekend, so hopefully I'll get to hold him a bit more before he gets to big or doesn't want to snuggle any more.

Kids say and do, part 2

2011-10-12T19:37:00.002-06:00

Today, we were sitting by the door, waiting for all of our friends to get their jackets on before going outside. I was asking questions like, "Who has pink on their shoes? Who had dots on their jackets?" With almost every question, no matter what I asked, I had a resounding "ME!" from all of them, even if they didn't fit that particular category. I then asked the question, "Who has ears on their head?" Not one peep.

Pictures of the Niblings

2011-10-11T07:57:00.002-06:00

Here are some pictures of when I was on break during August....except for the first one. But it was too cute not to post right now.

Grandma, Ethan, and new baby Cousin Weston

Wilson and Whitney
Mom had bought some tiny card games. This is when we were playing Go Fish. Whitney LOVED it!

Ethan playing at Grandma's house.

This is one of Ethan's favorite places to play. It's a box of Uncle Kirk's puzzles. He figured out how to open it and loves to sit in it with the lid open.

Wilson with a big bump on his head. He was jumping from the stone hearth to the large ottoman that they have. When he jumped back, he missed and hit it head on the corner of the hearth. I was surprised it didn't get bigger than it did.

Kids say and do....

2011-10-05T21:28:00.003-06:00

I love working with 2 and 3 year olds. They say and do the craziest things. I do miss working with the babies; they are much quieter and a little less nicer to each other. But I wouldn't miss some of the funnies that I get to be a part of.

- I would guess that I hear the question "Why?" about 25-30 times in 5 hour day. I've found the best way to stop the next why is to ask them, "Why not?" They will look at me like I'm weird and then stop asking. At least for a few minutes.

- I love when they figure out my name and they say it in their cute little voices. It often ends of sounding like "Sauny". Once they figure it out, they are quick to use it and then say, "Watch this." I am always 'watching' something. At least, when I'm not answering, "Why?".

- We have a male teacher that comes in for a few hours to help out when we are in our transition times. One day while we were outside, he was playing 'horse' with some of the kids. One of the little girls had a full-out breakdown because she couldn't hold his hand the whole time. She was kneeling on the ground crying into her arms. When I asked her what was wrong she told me the teacher was mean because he wouldn't hold her hand. I almost lost it. I had to softly remind her that other friends need to have turns, too. It took some soothing, but she finally became happy and trotted around with the other children.

- When asked where milk comes from, one kids correctly identified 'cows'. I asked where it comes out of the cow. Some of them thought the nose. One boy piped up with, "Its (boy member part)". Oh, and this was during lunch. I had to quickly stop myself from laughing and say they were called utters. (Obviously this boy has had the talk about differences between boys and girls.)

- And, of course, I hear, "I can do it myself" quite often.

I'm going to try and be better about blogging the 'funnies' and cute things so that I can remember them.

Hannah's Birthday

2011-10-05T21:13:00.003-06:00

I'm a bit behind on my posts. In August, Hannah celebrated her 5th birthday. I happened to be on break from school, so I was able to go to Gillette when they had her party. My mom, Saraiah, Bekah, and I headed over to spend a night or two. The party was held at Chelsey's parents' house. We had pizza and hung out for quite a while. Most of my time was spent playing with Heidi since all the other kids where playing with each other. Here are a few pictures of the highlights (or when I actually pulled out my camera to take pictures).

Hannah with her birthday quilt that Grandma H made for her.

Cheesing out.

Bekah cheesing out.

Hayden being a cheese-head.

Hayden and his cousin Keith.

Hannah opening her presents.

Sariah

Memories: An Angel sent to answer my prayers

2011-10-03T23:03:00.002-06:00

For some reason, this memory has been on my mind a lot lately. I think it's because I've been praying to see God's hand in my life more and to show gratitude for the things He blesses me with. I don't often have those huge, miraculous events that would be considered a sign from heaven. Most of my blessings come in small packages. This memory is of the previous kind, so it kind of stick out in my mind as super important.

A few years ago, while still living in Rexburg, I needed surgery. My doctor explained that he would do the type of surgery that only required a small hole in my belly button and another on the lower portion of my stomach. Well, once they got the holes opened, he realized that they would need to cut me open in order to provide the necessary treatment. Needless to say, the surgery wasn't exactly what was planned. My mom was there with me and told me that afterwards I kept asking what had happened. She had to repeatedly tell me that the surgery didn't go as planned. Basically, I'd been cut open like I'd had a c-section. Not bad for one who's expecting it. But I wasn't.

Recovery was long and hard. The air bubbles inside hurt worse than any other pain. My mom was able to stay and take care of me for a few days, but my brother Kirk was having surgery that week, too, so she had to leave before I was ready to fully take care of myself. I had many close friends, so I wasn't too worried. My cousin's fiance, Brad, stopped by often to bring me chocolate milk and to check on me. I also had coworkers who often called.

One night, about a week or so after my surgery, I decided I needed to go grocery shopping. I had been told by the doctor not to lift anything over a certain weight. (I don't remember exactly, but I'm sure it's like 10 lbs or so.) I figured I could walk around the store (good exercise) and get the few items I needed in no time. Well, everything was fine until I went to lift a gallon of milk into my cart. My body didn't like that. In fact, it hurt so bad, I didn't know if I'd be able to get it into my car. I did, but just barely. The whole way home (all of 1 mile) I bawled because I had no idea how I was going to get my groceries out of my car, down the stairs, and into my apartment. I remember pleading with Heavenly Father to send help. To my utter amazement, when I pulled into my parking lot, my good friend Marianne was there to see how I was doing. I remember feeling immense relief. I know that my emotions where high and that I probably could have gotten everything in on my own. I also know that for her it was such a simple thing to do to take in my groceries. I can't explain how grateful I was for her to show up. Who knows what type of prompting she had so that she came. I was just grateful that she listened and that she was willing to serve me.

Memories: 9.11.01

2011-09-18T18:32:00.004-06:00

That day began as it always did, picking up stragglers on my street on the way up to BYU campus. I think that there was only 1 in the car with me that day rather than the usual 4-5. We were listening to the radio and heard the report. For some reason, I thought that the planes were only the small 2-seater ones rather than the large ones that they actually were. I wasn't too worried until I got to work. We turned the TV on to watch. The TV was right by my desk and I remember not being able to look away for hours. We finally turned it off so everyone would get some work done. We kept updated via news sites. Then the first tower collapsed. The TV went back on. We couldn't believe it. I have never been to NYC, so I'm not familiar with how tall these buildings actually were. Seeing the destruction on TV probably didn't give me a true sense of how devastating everything really was.

When I got home from work, my roommates and I pulled out my old and huge TV to watch. We had people stop in because not many people had TVs on our street. Everyone was in shock. Our EQP (elder's quorum pres) was going around the ward to make sure everyone was okay and to see if any family/friends were involved. Surprisingly, there weren't.

Later that evening I took Leticia with me to fill up my car with gas. No one knew who was behind the attacks and we were worried about not being able to get gas in the future. There was a huge line at the gas station. I ended up walking to work for a few days because I was worried. Didn't need to worry too much (except about the prices).

I think what I remember most about everything was the unity of the nation that came to the forefront. It's amazing to see the turn about in just 10 years. Before it was, "Do anything to protect this country and our freedom...including war." Now it's, "Avoid anything that would include our troops on foreign soil." It's a bit sad to me. I am SO grateful for those who fight for our freedoms as well as those who help support other countries so they can have similar freedoms.

My Buddies

2011-09-07T17:34:00.004-06:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE being with children. Their hugs, their laughs, their wiggles...everything! (Maybe not the stuff that comes out of their noses or the other end...)

Starting in June I've had the opportunity to begin to work/volunteer at a daycare on campus. The summer was spent in the infant/toddler room. I loved watching them figure things out: how to crawl, how to manipulate objects with their pudgy hands, that naps WILL make them happier. I started working in the 2-3 (young preschool) classroom last week. These little ones keep me on my toes! Talk about energetic. So many questions, with the most obvious one being 'Why'? I love having these little buddies.

It goes without saying that they often notice my least favorite body traits: my zits, which to them are owies; my moles that I have on my arm, neck, and face (What are THOSE?); when I sweat, I use a paper towel to dry my face (I saw one boy try to do the same once).

But most of all, I just love that they accept me even with these yucky faults of mine. They like giving me high-fives. My favorite is when I'm sitting and they come close to hold my hand or they stand between my legs so they can be near me. I know that away from the classroom most of them wouldn't recognize me. But it's comforting to know that I'm their friend for a few hours of each day.

Memories: Labor Day

2011-09-05T18:42:00.003-06:00

I think the first time I really heard and understood what Labor Day was when I was in 4th grade. My youngest brother Kirk was born on Labor day 24 years ago. I stayed at Aunt Linda's and Uncle Richard's while my mom was in the hospital. When we got the call the next day about Kirk, I remember I was sitting on their stairs putting on my shoes. When Linda told me it was another boy I thought she was teasing because she knew how much I wanted a sister. When I finally believed her, I cried.

When I got to school I remember my friends and I were confused about the true meaning of Labor Day. At first we thought it was the day that all babies were born. Then we realized that most of our birthdays were in other months so that couldn't be true. I'm sure we still didn't fully understand it after that. (I still don't fully understand it now.)

I would never trade my brother Kirk for a sister. There are been some trying times because of his disabilities, but they have taught me so much.

And to add to the greatness of Labor Day, another family member was born on Labor Day. Weston Kinser Hendershot joined the world today at 3:06 p.m. He was 8 lbs 12 ounces and 20 inches long.

Happy Labor Day!

A Visit from Family

2011-08-25T20:08:00.007-06:00

Most of my visits with family are done with me driving to visit them. This last July I had family drive to visit me in Logan. My brother Bryan and his family, as well as my mom, decided to spend a few days visiting. I was so excited that someone decided to come see me. They all stayed at my apartment, which was a little tight. But it was still fun. We drove to SLC a couple of times to go to various sights. Here are some pictures to highlight the few days.

My mom and I met up with Bryan's family at The Old Spaghetti Factory in SLC. (Was so not impressed with the food there.) This is Hayden cheesing it up for me.

Hayden and Grandma showing the love.

My mom and I were able to stop and see the Brigham City temple on the way to SLC. It almost looked like a cake topper because there were no windows and a red roof. Can't wait to see the finished product.

After lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory, we went over to the children's museum at the gateway mall. It was pretty expensive, but the kids had fun. Grandma decided to walk around the mall with Heidi while we played.

Hayden and Chelsey looking at the display that used balls and air.

Bry and Hayden playing a musical instrument.

Hayden building with blocks.

Hannah moving some blocks.

Heidi at Old Spaghetti Factory

Hayden and Hannah playing with the water display.

Bry and Hayden checking out the helicopter that was on display.

Checking out the controls on the heli.

Giving a newscast.

Building some more.

The next day we went down to check out Temple Square. We took a tour of the conference center and then sat in front of the temple for a bit. We were tired because we had already been to the zoo and it was a hot day.

Checking out the fountains at the conference center.

Where the music happens.

Heidi taking a break at the zoo. (It was REALLY hot.)

Hannah and Hayden riding the rhino.

Heidi enjoying the conference center floor.

One night we went to see the Logan Temple, which was closed. The kids enjoyed the water pools and running around.

Grandma enjoying the grandchildren.

The kiddos and me.

The trouble makers.

B-ry and Dee

I was surprised at how well the kids did the whole time, especially with how hot it was. One of the mornings before we headed to SLC the window in the van got stuck down. We ended up in the parking lot at an O'Reilly's parts store while Bryan fixed the window. Hayden was pretty intent on helping him. Us girls sat on the grass and watched while eating snacks. That seemed to be the only unexpected thing to happen. After church on Sunday we also drove up to the Idaho border, which is only 30 minutes away. Chelsey had never been to Idaho, so we went across the border so she could say she was there. The rest of the time was spent hanging out at the apartment. All in all, it was a great weekend.

A little bit of Billy

2011-07-28T12:29:00.003-06:00

Growing up my Dad and I didn't see eye to eye many times. Some of my best memories, though, are of playing music with him. He went through a Billy Joel phase when I was in my teens. Especially the "River of Dreams" music. He would turn it up loud and play along on his keyboard. It was awesome.

One of my favorite songs from the CD is called Lullaby. I downloaded to my IPod this week. Last night as I was winding down from my day I decided to listen to my IPod, which I hardly ever do when getting ready for bed. As I went to lie down this song came on. It was kind of like getting a goodnight hug from my Dad.

(The music is off a bit in the video...not really cued up correctly, but you get the idea.)

4th of July Gathering

2011-07-20T19:08:00.005-06:00

On the evening of July 4th we all gathered at Janet (Nicole's mom) and Kirk's house for Navajo Tacos, which have become quite the tradition at family dinners. We had just under 100 show up. The yard was full..what a great sight to see. We also provided pinatas for the kids, which have also become a tradition. Many of them had been asking their parents all week when they would get to hit the pinatas. Of course we blindfolded the older kids to make it more difficult for them. Mike also moved the pinatas around to make it harder. We only have a few mishaps that evening, which is amazing considering all the kids running around. All in all, it was a fun evening.

Richard, Neil, Norald, Gilbert, and Loraine

Whitney taking a swing at a pinata.

The little ones gathering candy.

Hans, Lloyd and Adrin

Jacob and McKay

Richard and Neil

Uncle Gilbert and Aunt Loraine

Wilson taking his swing

Eli, Ava, Kristin

Ethan

Daniel, Heidi, Hannah H., Sariah, and Maren

Whitney and her cute bows.

Wilson enjoying his taco.

Seth, Sam, Mark, and Erik

BrookLyn, Elle, Manda, and Nellie

Nathan taking a moment to rest before the festivities.

Ella, Patricia, and Leslie

Neil and Steve

Horseshoe Bend

2011-07-15T16:16:00.005-06:00

On the afternoon of the 4th, we decided to get out of the house and head to Horseshoe Bend, which is a lake about 30 minutes from Lovell. (One of the main reasons for going was so that Mom could make the scones for dinner without children in her kitchen.) We loaded up the vehicles and headed out. It was kind of overcast, but it made it perfect for sitting out because it wasn't so hot. The kids said the lake was freezing. I'm sure it was because there had been a lot of runoff from the snow pack that week. Ella told me that the lake has risen about 10 feet in just over a week. Craziness! I just watched as everyone else swam and played. I didn't feel like getting wet. It was fun to watch everyone else. Here are a few pictures to highlight:

Whitney wasn't too sure about getting all wet. It was pretty cold.

Most of the group hanging out in the water.

Jaelen making one of her many trips back and forth.
(Stinkin' cute girl!)

Aden trying to act cool.
(Actually, he was pretty cold from the lake.)

Amanda being cute.

Kaleb being a dork.
(He wore his hat while swimming. I gave him a hard time and this is the look I got.)

Alea being the princess while drying off.
(She was even eating grapes.)

Hangin' with Aunt Shawnee

2011-07-13T22:53:00.003-06:00

I was able to spend some time with Whitney and Wilson during the day of July 2nd. We had fun filling some pinatas with candy and then headed to the kiddie pool at the park. Here are some pictures of our fun-filled day.

'Filling' the pinatas. They were more interested in eating the candy than putting it into the pinatas.

Wilson at the pool.

Whitney had a blast.

Wilson cheesing it out for me.

With their floaties having fun.

One more of Wilson 'riding' one of the pinatas.

The Haggen Dinner

2011-07-13T22:39:00.004-06:00

Saturday, July 2nd we had a 'Haggen' dinner. Really, it was just the descendants of Deloy and Nellie Mayes. Mom meant to invite those invited on the Haggen side, but forgot. (They were later invited to the dinner on the 4th). We were supposed to go up to Five Springs, but heard the creak was a raging river. Since there were many little kids to consider, we decided to meet at Armory Park instead. I think it ended up pretty nice because the kids could play while the adults sat and talked. Mike brought his grill and made some yummy hotdogs, pork chops, and chicken. Everyone else brought potluck items. It was a satisfying evening, both because of the company and the food. Here are some of the pictures I captured that evening.

Uncle Robert and Uncle Steve
I was so excited to see both of them at the dinner. Robert felt well enough to attend both gatherings that day. Steve drove down from Washington with Leslie for the reunion.

Brooklyn
She had broken her foot the day before (rolled a heavy TV onto it). She was all smiles, though, at the dinner.

Linda and Richard

Mark and Shayla

Kirk happy to eat his dinner.

Nate and Hans

Juanita with a few of her grandchildren: Levi, Shae, and Taylor.

Tyler Garner, Alea Mayes, and Maren Reynolds

Uncle Richard and I (with my pretty face)

Memories: July 4th

2011-07-09T22:03:00.002-06:00

Growing up we didn't do much different for the 4th than any other day of the year. In my later teenage years, as cousins and I began to have money, we would mostly buy bottle rockets. We would then have bottle rocket wars out at Lloyd's in the field between their place and Richard's. Since bottle rockets were cheap, we had lots to shoot at each other. We often got bored before the end of the war. We would put hundreds into a can and light them all at once. It was actually pretty cool when lighting that many.

The bottle rocket wars became pretty dangerous. One year there was a rocket that blew up pretty close to Spencer's head. The next year he wore a helmet. Didn't help because the bottle rocket went into the helmet and blew up. He was without hearing for a while. Since then we really haven't done much in the way of bottle rocket wars. Now I think they do tank wars. Hopefully, no one will get hurt that way.

Annual July 4th Mayes' Breakfast

2011-07-09T21:10:00.004-06:00

The morning of July 2nd we had our annual Mayes' breakfast where the extended family usually gets together. LeRoy, Clarence, Lloyd and Isaac made a wonderful breakfast, with the help of Claudia and my mom. I'm not sure how many people were there, but it was pretty full with all the kids running to the park and back to the pavilion. I've noticed in the past, but it was really apparent at this breakfast, too. It seems that each family prefers their own people over mixing with the others. We all sat in our family units, even though there were others to visit with. Often, we even sit in our smaller family units. I think it's a bit ironic that we have these large gatherings to see each other but we often don't visit with those outside of our own family. Here are some pictures from the breakfast.

Isaac, Lloyd, Clarence, Leroy

Kirk

Whitney and Wilson
Wilson was pretty solemn that morning. He's usually a happy pretty kid. Not sure why he was like that, but I kind of enjoyed him cuddling with me.

Don and I

"The Singles"
Don, me, Seth, Karren, and McKay

Sadie Reynolds

I just thought this was too cute.

Happy '29th'!

2011-06-29T20:08:00.001-06:00

Happy birthday to the bestest mom in the whole wide world!
I love you!

Memories: Dragging Main in the Cold

2011-06-24T15:31:00.002-06:00

The 'cool' thing for high school kids to do in my hometown is drag main. This consists of driving from one end of town to the other on Main Street. My friends and I didn't do it often because we couldn't afford that much gas. Every once in a while after a basketball game (especially after a win) my friends and I would drag main, roll down the windows, and turn the heat on full blast since it was usually freezing outside. We would scream as we passed people. We never lasted long with the windows down all the way...too cold in the middle of winter in Wyoming. I can still smell the heat, the cold, and whatever smell the Zeller's cars carried from collecting honey during the summer.

Text books

2011-06-14T20:27:00.003-06:00

Sorry that the pictures are sideways. These are my textbooks for the summer. I just wanted to show everyone how hard I'll be working. Plus, I will be finishing my thesis (fingers crossed).

For INST 6720

For Psych/Educ 7610
(Applied Multiple Regression/Correlation Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences, just in case you couldn't read it)

Memories: Snow Fun

2011-06-14T17:14:00.002-06:00

When we lived at our old house on Oregon Ave., we would play in the snow a lot. I remember one particular year we built a snow fort. Really all we did was make an outline of a house in the snow while packing up some snow for the walls (which were only about 2 inches high). I'm pretty sure we did this in the fall with the leaves too.

I also remember that my dad would get his big snow shovel out, let us sit on it, and then take us for rides around the yard. The year I was too big was a sad one for me. I had to sit and watch as the boys got rides around the yard. I completely understand now how difficult it would be just to take a small child around on a shovel. Not exactly the most comfortable tool to pull around.

I know that one year we built a snowman in the back yard. I don't remember it, but we have a picture of it. It's face was made out of yucky tomatoes that didn't get picked from the garden. It was a scrawny thing (not much snow).

While I was on my mission I received a picture in a letter of the boys (Mike, Bryan, Seth, and Deloy) with a HUGE, GIANT, MONSTROUS snow man they had built in my mom's front yard. Seriously, Seth was sitting on a normal sized ladder, and he wasn't even as tall as it. I would have enjoyed seeing them build that thing.

Mayes Family Reunion Schedule

2011-06-09T17:01:00.002-06:00

Here's somewhat of a schedule for the reunion:

Saturday, July 2
early a.m.: Mayes breakfast at park
afternoon: whatever (possibly go to Horseshoe Bend)
evening: Haggen potluck (probably at Five Springs)

Sunday, July 3
Church
8:00 a.m.: 3rd ward (Geraldine, Richard M. and family, Adrin and family, Isaac and family, Erik and family, Eli and family all attend)
9:15 a.m.: 4th ward (Lloyd and family, Kenneth attend)
1:30 p.m.: 1st ward (Juanita, Hans and family attend)
3:00 p.m.: 2nd ward (Mike and family, Mark and family, LaFonda and family attend)

Monday, July 4
Morning and afternoon: ??? (Haven't planned yet)
Evening: Navajo Taco Dinner at Janet and Kirk's house (Mike's old house on 5th street)

Kirk on the Quad

2011-06-05T19:23:00.001-06:00

Ethan turns One!

2011-06-05T17:42:00.004-06:00

Although Ethan doesn't technically turn one until this week, we had a birthday party for him last night. It was quite a group. We were actually able to hold the whole thing outside. Erik BBQ'd and the rest of us sat and ate. It was pretty fun. Ethan is such a fun kid. He still isn't sure about his Aunt Shawnee, though. It's probably because the only time I really get to hold him is when I try to get him to go to sleep. He seemed to have a great time, though. He loved the cake and ice cream.

Ethan currently doesn't say much, except his baby talk. One thing he does say is "Who 'dat?" So, in honor of the 'who' part, Sandy made him an owl cake. I thought it was pretty cute. It fell apart because the white cake wasn't very strong. It didn't matter, though, because it tasted just fine.

The Owl

Bekah, Sariah, Ethan and I

Ethan just about to go down the slide. He wasn't too sure about it.

Ethan eating his hot dog.

I LOVE this one of Ethan. He's so cute!

Auntie and Ethan

With Mommy

With Daddy

Checking out the dirty patio before it got cleaned off.

With Grandma H.

He got lots of new clothes, which he needed. He also got a few toys, which he loved. Happy birthday, Ethan!

Riding the Quad

2011-06-05T17:34:00.004-06:00

Last night we had a family gathering. (More on that in the next post.) Whitney brought her new quad that her uncle Kletey bought for her. Mike started giving rides to the kids. They all loved it. He even gave Kirk a ride and he laughed so hard! Mom got a video, which I'll have to upload later. We all enjoyed watching that one. Here are a few pictures of the fun.

Bekah and Mike

Jay and Sam (Mark's kids)

Sam and Whitney
Sam LOVED the quad. I'm pretty sure he wants one for himself.

Jay and Wilson

Mark and Sam

Pictures from Watching the 3 H's

2011-06-02T19:03:00.003-06:00

I finally figured out how to upload the pictures from my phone. Here are the pictures of my time with the 3 H's.

Hannah and Hayden saying hi to Mom and Dad

Feeding Linda's chickens. I thought they would be afraid of them, but they warmed right up and were eager to help.

Hayden posing for a picture, showing his muscles.

Heidi being all cute in her cowboy boots and jeans.

Hayden and Hannah with the chickens again.

Hayden with Richard's bird. They were enthralled by it.

Being Aunt Shawnee

2011-06-02T18:02:00.004-06:00

I love being an aunt. I have the cutest nieces and nephews in the world! When I come home for breaks, they are always so eager to see me and yell "Aunt Shawnee!!!" while running towards me. It's one of the best things about coming home. I haven't gotten to see them all as much as I'd like, but that's how summer goes. (Plus, I haven't felt all that well, so I haven't made much of an effort to get out as much as I usually do.)

Some of my favorite things with the little ones:
-snuggling on the couch or in Grandma's chair while watching TV.
-unexpected squeezes from Wilson (a boy who doesn't stop for much) and snuggling on the yard swing under a blanket
-watching Hayden and Wilson try to sign 'I love you'
-receiving bouquets of picked flowers (dandelions)
-eating lunch with Sariah after summer school
-feeding Heidi fries at McDonald's (she's only 9 months old but grunted a lot until she got what she wanted)
-watching Hannah and Hayden make friends with all of the animals at Linda and Richard's house

Whitney wearing my USU sweatshirt with Wilson watching.

Heidi at McDonald's, happy because she finally got her french fry.

Bryan, Hannah, and Hayden in the tent. Bryan set it up in the living room and they all slept in there one night.

Ethan and Heidi. He is 3 months older than her, which you can't tell because she's a bit bigger than him. (Just found out that he's in the 5th percentile for height and weight for his age...small boy.)

Wilson and Mike on the yard swing watching a pumper suck sand out of the water system.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity of watching the 3 H's for a few days while Bryan got lasik surgery. I took them back to Mom's house. I was feeling a little under the weather so I wasn't as happy as I usually am with them. Hannah kept asking me what was wrong and I would tell her my head hurt. At one point I smiled at something she did and she said, "Your head feels better!" I felt so bad that I wasn't as fun-loving as I usually am. I'm sure they think I'm a grumpy aunt now.

While they were here we went out to Linda's house so they could see McKay's ducks. They ended up seeing Karren's dog, Richard's bird, Linda's chickens, McKay's ducks, Erik's horse, and McKay's lizard. (A regular farm!) I think they really enjoyed themselves. I have pictures, but they are on my cell phone. I'm still trying to figure out how to upload the pictures to the blog. We also went to the library and the park. We didn't stay at the park for very long because it was too cold. The kids were so good the whole time. I just wasn't ready for how much time Heidi, the youngest, required. She wanted to be more mobile, which required me holding her. Good thing she's so cute. ;)

On the way back to Gillette it PORED rain the whole way. When we got back, Bryan's basement was flooded. He had to get fans and all sorts of water-removing things. Poor house. He also had about 3 inches of standing water in his back yard, which he was able to pump to the street. So much water! Anyhow, I was grateful that I could be with the kids. They're so entertaining and I love 'em!

And finally, here is a picture of Bryan in his sleeping goggles that he had to wear after Lasik. Doesn't he look handsome?

Memories: Dancing in the kitchen

2011-05-22T20:20:00.002-06:00

Every once in a while my mom would pull out a record to play (yes, records) and then try to teach us to dance. The record had songs that were all different beats so we could learn various dances. I remember doing a triangle dance and a square dance (where our feet were to go in a diagram of a square). We each had our chance to dance with mom and then with each other. I think that was one of the few activities we could all do together without getting angry with each other. I don't think the lessons stuck as none of us enjoy dancing too much. Great memories, though.

Cliff Jumping

2011-05-21T20:16:00.003-06:00

On the way back from Gillette, we decided to stop at the side of the road on the side of the mountain. (A few of us were sick to our stomachs.) There was a huge rock (big enough to be a small cliff for the kids) right next to the parking area and the kids decided to climb it.

This is Grandma showing them the 'safe' way to the top of the rock.

It wasn't too long that the kids wanted to jump off the rock with Mike catching them.

Here is Whitney on her way down.

Mike and Wilson on the rock.

Wilson taking his turn jumping.

Hayden's Birthday

2011-05-15T20:35:00.002-06:00

Last weekend my mom, me, Mike, Whitney, and Wilson went over to Gillette for Hayden's birthday. It was a quick trip, but well worth it. When we got there, it was time for the party. They had it at the church so all the family could fit in one place.

This is Hayden opening some of his presents. He was very excited that they were all for him.

Grandma and Heidi watching the opening of the gifts.

After the party we went back to Bryan's house. They started cleaning up the yard and I watched the kids play.

Here is Wilson getting ready to play ball.

Hayden and Whitney riding bikes.

Wilson driving around the yard.

We left on Sunday morning and headed back to Lovell. Like I said, a short trip. But well worth it.

The Cough....continued

2011-05-15T20:29:00.003-06:00

So, I still have the cough. It's been over 4 weeks. I am in Lovell visiting family and decided to see the doctor while I was here. When I went in on Thursday. The doctor decided, without doing anything, that it's probably asthma related. So he sent me straight way to see the respirator therapist. She gave me some breathing tests, a breathing treatment, and then the tests again. She said that if it was asthma related, the scores on the tests should have been significantly better the second time, which they weren't. So I was sent back to the doctor. He listened to my lungs and then quoted some author by saying something like "a mystery shrouded in confusion, blah, blah, blah". Since he couldn't figure out what the cause of the cough was, he decided to treat the cough itself. (FINALLY!!!) He gave me some cough syrup and some cough pellets (little gems that are pretty cool looking). They really haven't gotten rid of the cough. Today it was pretty bad. I wasn't able to stay at church for the whole time. I left early for a nap. After church my brother Erik came over and gave me a blessing for health and strength. I have faith that it will help.

Memories: Hugging it Out

2011-05-03T13:27:00.003-06:00

I know my mom hates when I post stories like this, but I think it shows how creative she was as a parent. I have a brother that's less than 2 years younger than me. We were pretty good friends until we decided to become enemies. I'm pretty sure we argued over everything, just like most siblings do. There were a few times we even got physical and fought it out. (That stopped once I he got bigger than me.) I'm sure we drove our parents nuts with everything we fought about. One time my mom got so fed up with us that she set the timer and made us hug for 5 minutes. She said that every time we moved or said something mean she would add time. I'm not sure how long we ended up standing there hugging. I use the term 'hug' loosely because we were barely touching each other. I think it was a good method of punishment. I sure didn't want to have to stand in the kitchen hugging it out any more.

The Cough of 2011

2011-05-02T22:43:00.002-06:00

It began on Saturday, April 16 while taking a nap. I woke up with a tickle in my throat. By that evening it became a full-blown cough. It became so bad that I couldn't talk over the next week without coughing. By the time my mom came the following weekend, I got a sore throat. On my birthday I called to make an appointment with the doctor at the student health center for the next day. The good news about going to the health center is that the doctor visits are free because they're paid through student fees. It was a good thing because the doctor ran a BUNCH of tests. Blood work, a chest x-ray, a breathing treatment, and a shot of antibiotic. He also gave me prescriptions for another antibiotic, a steroid, and a cough suppressant. When I went back after a couple of days, he said my lungs sounded TONS better, even though I still had a cough. They weren't able to pinpoint it to an exact virus, but they said it was something like RSV, whooping cough, or such. I am now on day 16 of the cough. My neck is tight and sore from coughing so much. I can't wait until it's over.

My Birthday Weekend

2011-04-29T08:24:00.002-06:00

My birthday was this week. On a Monday. Yuck. The worst possible day for a birthday, right? Wrong! When it's on a Monday, you get to celebrate all weekend long. The celebration began on Friday afternoon when my mom got here. She doesn't leave home often, so this was a super-special occasion. That afternoon/evening we toured Logan, USU, went shopping, and had dinner at Texas Roadhouse (one of my favorites). When we got home, we even had time to watch a movie.

At about 2 a.m. on Saturday morning, I woke up because I was scratching my hands really hard. They itched so bad. I put lotion on right away. Didn't help. I then figured it must be an allergic reaction. I searched through my drawers for an antihistamine. Of course I didn't have any. So, I woke up my mom out of a deep sleep. I asked if she had anything. She remembered that she might have put some in her car. So I went out and searched. There it was! I took some and then iced my hands to a numbing point. I felt much better. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep that night.

The next morning we were supposed to go to the temple. Mom sent me back to bed and she went by herself. (Go Mom!) I really slept a long time. I guess that antihistamine really put me out. By the time I woke up, she had been home 2 hours and had gotten some work done. I felt like such a poor host. Oh, I guess I should mention that by Saturday, I had had a cough for a whole week. It took a lot out of me. That afternoon we went down to Lehi to visit some of my cousins (Patricia, Ashlie, Spencer, Lauri Jo and their families/friend). It was a good visit. We were both wiped by the time we got back to Logan, but we still watched a movie.

Sunday morning my mom left. She decided she would leave a day early so that I could rest. My hands were still pretty swollen, although not as itchy as before. I felt bad that she left, but sort of glad that I didn't have to worry about her while I was ill.

Monday came and went uneventfully. I spent the day in bed. I woke up with a sore throat on top of the cough I'd had for a week. I decided to finally make a doctor's appointment for Tuesday. I got a few birthday calls on Monday, which I didn't answer because I had no voice and would have coughed more than talked. I do appreciate all the calls, emails, and messages on Facebook. I have to say it was the most low-key birthday I've ever had.

Memory: The Easter Bunny lives next door?

2011-04-22T15:13:00.003-06:00

Growing up, my next door neighbors owned a local grocery store. They used to do all sorts of fun things for the holidays. There was one Easter where Carol dressed up as the Easter Bunny. I remember being outside in my pretty Easter dress and hat and seeing something white and big. I ran to the front side walk to see what it was. I saw an Easter bunny with a normal person's head. I was still at the age where I believed in all of the fairy tale characters and was so confused. I yelled to my parents that I just saw the Easter Bunny. I remember it (Carol) running inside. By the time my parents came over with their camera, the bunny had its 'regular' head, a big, white, furry one. I was still soooo confused. I knew that it was Carol inside, but it looked so real. The neighbors played it up saying that it was definitely the real Easter Bunny. I think it was at this time that I realized that grown ups often have more fun at holidays than children because of all they get to do, like dress up. My parents got a picture of me and one of my brothers holding the hands of the 'Easter Bunny'.

Another year, the same neighbors 'hid' a bunch of eggs in their yard for us to find. They also invited our cousins. Their back yard was covered with Mayes kids running all over for candy. I miss Bob and Carol, who moved a few years back. They had such a sense for the fun.

Monday Memories: Muddy

2011-04-11T20:02:00.002-06:00

Our neighbors down the street from us had a garden that was right next to our backyard. (Our block is a little screwy with land boundaries.) Mr. Ravell grew HUGE pumpkins every year. He usually watered his garden by flooding it. Well, one day the flooding came into our yard. At the time we had a little shed at the back of the property. The water pooled right next to it. I went out to see what my brothers were doing that afternoon only to find them in a mud puddle. Our cousin Mark was there, too. I remember getting mud on a few places on my body, mostly my arms, legs, and face. I remember thinking that it felt neat when it dried out. Well, the boys were a little more liberal with placing mud on their bodies. We have a picture of how muddy we all were at the end. I can only imagine what my mother thought when she saw us all, especially when one of the children wasn't her own. Needless to say, we got washed off with well water. BRRR! We have a picture of us showing off our muddy bodies. Someday I'll have to scan it so you can all see how bad it really was.

Montreal, Day 5

2011-04-11T19:54:00.002-06:00

Sunday, April 3
4:50 a.m.: Wake up and get dressed (Yes, that would be 2:50 UT time!)
5:45 a.m.: Get to the airport
7:30 a.m.: FINALLY get through security and customs (It was a madhouse! There were many impatient people who, I guess, thought they were more important than everyone else in line. Maegan and I were just glad that we had gotten there early enough for our flight.)
8:45 a.m.: Board the plane
2:30 p.m.: Finally land in Salt Lake. The flight from Detroit to SLC as the longest ever. I felt like I could have litterally climbed the walls of the airplane. There were children on the flight who behaved better than I did. I really didn't lash out. I just was extremely antsy. I think the 3 1/2-4 hour flight was about 2 1/2 hours too long.
3:30 p.m.: Eat at In-n-Out in Centerville
4:30 p.m.: Heave a sigh of relief as I enter my apartment. As much as I enjoyed the who trip, I think the flight home did me in. I pretty much slept straight for the next 36 hours, even missing a class. It was a great conference, but I'm glad I don't have to travel across the continent more than once a year.

Montreal, Day 4

2011-04-11T19:44:00.003-06:00

Saturday, April 2
8:30 a.m.: Get up (Yes, we slept in 2 whole hours! Of course, this was still 6:30 UT time, which was way too early)
9:30 a.m.: Go eat crepes again (Our hotel had a 'complimentary' breakfast, but it wasn't anything to get excited about)
10:30 a.m.: Attend a poster session of some USU colleagues
12:30 p.m.: Attend MY session (Okay, not really mine, but the session that I helped with a presentation for. Belinda, the lady who did the presentation, did an amazing job. I wish she could present my thesis for me.)
2:30 p.m.: Head back to the hotel (Maegan stayed for more sessions. She's a better person than I.)
6:30 p.m.: Meet up with Ann and Belinda for dinner at a French restaurant (Had the BEST chicken ceasar salad EVER! The sauce was a cream. Oh, I wish I could get another one.)
9:00 p.m.: Have a chat with Maegan, even though we were both tired.
11:00 p.m.: Go to bed

This was my favorite building (the green dome) that I saw in Montreal. I have no idea what it was, but it was beautiful. One night our bus drove by it, but it wasn't lit. Such a disappointment. It was only a few blocks from the hotel, but I never ventured towards it to find out what it was (sore feet and all).

This was some funky artwork that was in the conference center. Maegan and I just had to get a picture next to it. We couldn't decide if they were trees or pink hands growing from the cement earth. Whatever they were, there was a slew of them.

Maegan, Ann (our adviser) and me at the conference.

Ann, Belinda (the lady who I've worked VERY closely with the past few months) and me.

A sculpture in front of a university downtown. It was very interesting. It was something about the light and how those who were towards the back were farther from the light and therefore were worse off in life. Very interesting.

Montreal, Day 3

2011-04-09T14:26:00.003-06:00

Friday, April 1
6:30 a.m.: Wake up
7:30 a.m.: Eat breakfast at a crepe place just a block from us (AMAZING crepes). I had apple filling in mine. It was like eating pie for breakfast.
8:30 a.m.: Attend 3 sessions of the conference
2:30 p.m.: Hobble back to the hotel on extremely sore feet and take a nap
5:3o p.m.: Meet up with 'the numbers people' for dinner at a Thai restaraunt in China Town. (These are the people who do research into math and child development. Very interesting dinner. I mostly listened to them all comisserate on how difficult it has been to get published in this area. Kind of made me nervous about my future in this area of research. Hopefully it will change.)
7:30 p.m.: Get on the bus with Belinda to head to a SRHD wine and cheese (paid $5.50 for a glass of Diet Pepsi)
9:00 p.m.: Get in a taxi for a 4 block ride back to my hotel (yes, my feet hurt that bad)
11:00 p.m.: Go to bed

This is a picture of China Town. It was raining at the time. I loved all the lights (which you can't really see in the picture).

The Thai place wasn't as good as the Chinese we had eaten the previous night. Being the conservative eater that I am, I got the most boring meal I could find on the menu: beef and veggies. There were still plenty of veggies I didn't recognize in the dish. Belinda and I had to leave early for another meeting. We had already been at the restaurant for over an hour and the waiter seemed surprised that we would leave that quickly. (As I mentioned before, it seems eating out is an all-night experience.) I wish I could have had more time exploring China Town. But with the time constraints and the icky weather, there was no way I would do it on my own that night.

Another observation about Montreal: for the majority, it seemed that everyone drove VERY nice cars. We saw Audis, Mercedes, and all sorts of others everywhere. Hardly a Ford in sight. And the cabs were all normal cars with cab signs on top. None of them were yellow. Just normal cars. Most of them, ironically, were Fords.

Montreal: Day 2

2011-04-05T22:31:00.004-06:00

Thursday, March 31
6:30 a.m.: Wake up (this would be 4:30 Utah time)
8:20 a.m.: Begin attending SRCD conference
4:30 p.m.: Head back to hotel on VERY sore feet
6:30 p.m.: Meet up with some friend for dinner
7:30 p.m.: Finally find a restaurant that had openings
11 p.m.: Go to bed

The SRCD (Society for Research in Child Development) conference was amazing. So much research is being done on so many different areas. I mostly attended sessions on math (my thesis and dissertation topics) and bullying (an area of interest). I also tried to attend the poster sessions where Maegan or others we knew were presenting.

Maegan and my adviser Ann in front of one of their posters.

The building our conference was held in. It had restaurants, art shops, and a whole bunch of other things. A very interesting building.

Maegan, Ann, Belinda, me, Robert, and Nancy in front of a cathedral after eating Chinese.

We had the best Chinese that night! I'm normally not one for Asian, but this place was great. I got the least Chinese-like dish, beef and peas. It usually doesn't agree with me, but no problems this time. It did take us a while to find a place that wasn't full. We started out at a French place, which was full. Montreal does food so differently. It seems that the restaurants plan to only fill their tables once a night. Eating out is the only thing people plan for the night. We were at dinner for over 2 hours, and the management didn't seemed concerned at all. (That's how it was everywhere we went.) After dinner we walked around a bit. The company was great. By the time we got back to the hotel, my feet were feeling very sore. I think it was because I wore new shoes that day and they weren't broken in very well. I had blisters the next day.

Montreal: Day one

2011-04-02T13:26:00.002-06:00

Wednesday, March 30
3:15 a.m.: wake up
4:00 a.m.: drive to SLC airport with Maegan and her husband
5:30 a.m.: arrive at airport
7:00 a.m.: fly to Detroit
12:30 p.m.: walk through the Detroit airport (which Maegan and I decided we didn't like very much)
1:45 p.m.: fly to Montreal
4:00 p.m.: arrive in Montreal, go through customs (customs agents are super nice on the way into Canada)
4:30 p.m.: exchange money, take taxi to hotel
5ish: arrive at hotel, Le Square Phillips
5:30ish: go site seeing around Old Montreal

I'm not sure exactly what some of the buildings were that we saw. There were so many churches and buildings with amazing architecture. I could walk around forever looking at the buildings. It's amazing how many types of structures there are all on the same block. It's like they were built in different eras.

This is me by the St. Laurence (sp?) river. You can sort of see a clock tower behind me. To the left of it there was a beautiful bridge that goes across the river.

This is the Notre Dame cathedral that was only a few blocks from the conference. It was beautiful. Maegan later took a tour, but I didn't have time for it.

Maegan and I in front of a funky structure. Art seems to be a big thing here...between statues, the buildings, and art stores, my eyes have had a feast. (There have been quite a few nudes to see, which my eyes have NOT feasted on, thank you very much.)

Maegan and I walked around for a couple of hours amazed at all there is to see. We tried to find a place to eat on the way back to our hotel. There are so many eateries here...from French to Italian to steak to Chinese to anything. One thing that I really love about Montreal is that the restaurants all post their menu outside so passer-bys can look to see if they are truly interested or not. We ended up eating Italian at a place connected to our hotel. Super yummy. I'm not too fond of the prices of food in the city, but the food has been outstanding. (More on that in later posts.)

Monday Memories - 2nd grade crush

2011-03-28T20:33:00.002-06:00

When I was in second grade I had a HUGE crush on a fellow classmate. Around this time, my mom made a cool shirt that had pink hearts on it. I decided to wear it to school to show my 'love' for this classmate of mine. I knew he would know how I felt the minute he saw it. When I got to school, I decided I was too shy to show my shirt. I was afraid of how he might react. I kept my jacket on for a few hours. After literally sweating it out for a couple of hours, I finally realized that this guy wouldn't know that I was wearing the shirt for him. It was just a shirt....right? I finally took the jacket off. And of course, no one took any special notice of the shirt. Did anything come of out my wearing my heart on my sleeve? Nope. I don't think he ever took notice of me....thank goodness. He didn't turn out to be the kind of guy I would like to have as a significant other.

If I had a wish...

2011-03-23T09:33:00.002-06:00

Then it would be, a happy, happy birthday to Sandy from me.

Happy birthday to one of the sweetest people I know!

Okay, it was her birthday YESTERDAY. I'm a bit slow lately. It's the thought that counts, right?

Older and Wiser

2011-03-20T21:25:00.003-06:00

Happy birthday to a great friend and sister-in-law.
Hope this year will be a great one for you!

Happy Birthday!

2011-03-17T19:03:00.002-06:00

To a little princess.

Monday Memories: Singing on Valentine's

2011-03-14T22:06:00.004-06:00

I was in Swing Choir all four years in high school. Each year we did singing valentine's in order to raise money for our uniforms and music. One particular instance happened my senior year (I think...they all run together). I just remember that Kyle L. was in my group and we went to sing to someone in our ward. (I think Carlee was in our group, too.) We were having such a great time in the car, we laughed so much in between stops. As we went to this house, I got the hiccups. I thought I'd be done by the time we got to the door to sing. Wrong. It was so bad that I had to turn around so I wouldn't laugh. I felt so bad because someone didn't get their money's worth. But I sure had a great time.

Another time, I think it was my junior year, my group was my cousin Richard and Wendy M. We had to sing somewhere downtown. As we got back into the car, Richard backed up into a car. No damage. Just a memory to add to the list.

The experience I remember the most was when we went to sing to my Grandma Mayes. She always got tears in her eyes and gave us each a great big hug, even if she had no clue who the other people in my group were. I miss my grandma so much!

Monday Memories: Pie with an Apostle

2011-03-07T21:38:00.003-07:00

After graduating from Ricks in 1998, I went to work for the Church in Salt Lake City. While working there, I was able to see a lot of the church leaders walking around. When I had worked there for quite a few months, one of my coworkers won some money by submitting a joke to 'Reader's Digest' and he took us all to lunch at the Lion House. I designated myself as a helper to a lady in the office who had cancer and really wasn't strong enough to carry her own food. As picked out some nice chocolate pie to share. As she was fairly week, we decided to take the elevator to the second level where we would meet up with everyone else. After we got on the elevator, we turned to the front. And in walks Elder Perry (or as I called him when I was younger, Elder Smiley). Of course he was super friendly. He looked over my tray of food and saw the pie. He got a great big smile on his face and said, "Do you have a fork? Your pie looks mighty good." Me, being the nervous 20 year old that I was, stuttered that I had already promised to share the pie with someone else. He just laughed and said it was too bad. Afterward I could have kicked myself. Just chalk it up to my stupidity.

Titles

2011-03-04T17:23:00.004-07:00

Some of my current titles:
daughter
sister
aunt
cousin
friend
niece

Some day I hope to add:
mother
wife

Starting summer 2011:
Ph.D. student at USU!!!

San Francisco

2011-03-03T14:50:00.005-07:00

I was able to go to San Francisco last week (for the first time) for a training seminar. All expenses were paid by my adviser (except tips). I attended a training on NVivo, which is a program to help code anything from documents to videos to pictures to audio files. It really is an amazing program, and nothing like any program I had used previously. My adviser felt it wise to send me to the training as I'm using the program to code my thesis data. At first I was hesitant because I thought I could figure it out on my own. (I'm pretty proficient at computer programs and can figure most things out.) But like I mentioned, it's nothing like any other program I've used. So off to San Fransisco I went. (It was originally going to be Tampa, but that conference filled up too quickly. San Fran was a nice consolation prize.)

Day 1
I woke up at 3:45 a.m. in order to get to my shuttle at 4:30. (Thanks to my friend Daylee who also got up at the crack of dawn to give me a ride to the shuttle.) The shuttle arrived at the airport around 6 a.m. That meant I had 3 hours to kill before my flight. After checking my suitcase and waiting through the huge security line (tip: don't travel the morning after a 3-day weekend), I went into Burger King, got breakfast, and did some stuff on my computer. I then went to my terminal and watched shows on hulu to pass the time. I could have been doing homework, but that wouldn't have been any fun.

My flight went through Vegas, where I connected to another plane. On the way to Vegas I had a nice chat with the guy, Jeremiah, next to me. He was on his way back to LA from Provo. His wife lives in Provo and is still attending school at BYU. He graduated last year and is working in LA. Talk about a long-distance relationship. Ug.

I get to San Francisco around 1:30 p.m. their time. That means I'd already been up for 11 hours. My hotel shuttle arrives promptly and I head to the hotel. The shuttle driver was super nice and answered all of my questions. He got a nice tip. After checking in, I headed next door to Max's, a very eclectic restaurant. I indulged in a cheeseburger, as it had been MANY hours since my last meal. Afterward, I thought about going into the city to investigate, but was so tired. I fell asleep around 5 and slept straight through to the next morning. (I don't think I've slept that well since my mission.)

Day 2
Holiday Inn's have a GREAT breakfast. I was super satisfied every morning. After breakfast, I caught the shuttle back to the airport where I got on BART, the area transit system. It took me all the way to the financial district, where my training was.

I sat in training all day. My brain was overloaded with information on the program. I sort of felt like I did after my first week of grad school....too much information and not sure what to do with it.

I thought about hitting Union Square on the way back to the hotel, but I was tired again. I pretty much fell asleep when I got back to my room.

Day 3
Pretty much the same as day 2. During lunch I had the most amazing wrap from the food court downstairs from my training. (I think it was the highlight of my day.)

I did hit Union Square on the way back to the hotel, but wasn't too impressed. There wasn't anything there that I couldn't find anywhere else...expect the interesting people. :) After getting to the airport (the final stop of BART), I tried giving my ticket to some men because I still had money on it. They acted like I was trying to sell them drugs. Such a different environment! I decided I'd keep the ticket as a souvenir. (Silly men.)

Day 4
Get up at the crack of dawn again to catch a 6:30 flight home. While waiting in the SLC airport for my shuttle, my cousin Eli (who works for Skywest) came and found me. We were able to chat for about 30 minutes before my shuttle came.

I only took one picture the entire time I was in San Francisco. It was of the interchanges outside of the airport. I get so excited when I see roads over roads...I'm weird, I know. I didn't do any of the touristy things to do in San Francisco. It's hard to investigate a city when you're on your own. Next time I'm there, I'll be sure to plan some 'fun' time.

Monday Memories: The Rose

2011-02-28T13:17:00.002-07:00

The year was 2001. The month, September. There was a crisis in my life. Nothing new. But this crisis was BIG. I had been called to be the Relief Society president of my BYU ward. Problems: I wasn't a student and didn't feel like I was the best one who could relate to these girls; I had never served in leadership in Relief Society before; there were girls who were MUCH more qualified than I to be in this position.

I had actually been extended the call earlier in the summer, but the stress didn't hit until all the girls moved in for fall semester. And the stress really hit. I remember one Sunday in particular: I was a basket case the entire day. That evening I bawled my eyes out. I didn't know many of the guys in the ward, but there was one next door who I had met a few weeks previously (Mike Crockett). I called and asked if he and a roommate could come give me a blessing. That they did. It was the first time I met Matt Bloxham, who became a good friend. After the blessing, they each gave me a hug. I got mascara all over Matt's new Sunday shirt. (Great first impression, eh?)

The stress was still there, unfortunately. (As Pres. Eyring has said, God helps us through the trial, not out of one.) A few days later I received a gorgeous rose at work. The card said something like, "You are wonderful." That's not exactly it, but it made me feel wonderful. There was no name written on the card. I asked around at work and no one claimed to be the sender. My coworker Jewell called the floral shop and asked who sent it. The florist said the sender asked to remain anonymous. My roommates said they didn't send it. Same answer with my counselors and Mike and Matt. I still don't know who sent it.

It hung above my bed that whole school year. I never knew who sent it, but every time I saw it, I remembered that someone was praying for me. And that made all the difference.

President's Day Weekend

2011-02-20T21:59:00.004-07:00

I was able to go home this weekend to visit with the family. Bryan's family was there for the weekend, too. We all had a pretty good time. Here are some of the highlights.

Heidi and her cute self. (Not sure why the picture loaded like this.)

All of the grandkids.

Hayden, Wilson, Whitney, Ethan, Sariah, Heidi, Hannah, and Bekah.
Aunt Nicole with Whit, Wils, Hannah, and Heidi.

Whit and Hannah

Hayden (showing some nice bruisage on the face)

Grandma, Ethan, Heidi, Hannah, Whitney, Wilson, and Mike

We had a couple of dinners all together (minus Mike and Bryan, who were skiing.) Tonight Nicole made her yummy snow icecream. The only downside to the whole weekend was the TON of snow we got. Hopefully we can all get out and back to our homes.

Monday Memories: Big Hunk

2011-02-20T21:46:00.004-07:00

This is a memory from when I was 4 or 5 (I would guess). My mom took me to one of my first movies at the Hyart in Lovell. All I remember from the movie was a lady who crash landed her plane and sat next to a tree for a long time. The other part of this experience was the Big Hunk candy bar. Before the movie, I had the chance to get some candy. This didn't happen very often so I wanted to be sure I got the most out of it. Thus the Big Hunk...the largest candy bar available. I think I ate the whole thing during the movie. That's A LOT of candy for a 4 or 5 year old. After the movie we went over to my grandma's house. (I think there was family in town and they had gone to the movie with us.) I remember feeling so sick to my stomach when we got there. Too much candy will do that to a person who doesn't eat it regularly. (I'm pretty sure it would happen to anyone who eats a whole Big Hunk in one sitting.) Needless to say, anytime I see a Big Hunk candy bar, I get sick to my stomach. Even thinking about it now brings a queezy feeling. I wish I had been cured of eating all candy. Not so. Just Big Hunks.

I love...

2011-02-15T11:51:00.002-07:00

That it's 40 degrees out and I see people wearing
shorts and flip-flops.

But then again, I also see people dressed as if it were 30 below.

Gotta love the mountain west.

Monday Memories: Earliest Memories

2011-02-13T21:22:00.002-07:00

My earliest memories go back pretty far...my first year of life. A few years ago I asked my mom if we ever lived in an apartment with a sloped ceiling (and I described the rest of the apartment). She asked me where I had seen a picture of it. I said I remember sitting on the bed and looking around the apartment. She couldn't believe it. She said it was an apartment that we lived in in Provo...when I was under 1 year old. I have no idea how I remember that, but I can still see a picture in my mind.

Another memory was after we'd moved to Lovell and lived in the house I grew up in. I was sitting by the front door, one of those old solid things. I was crying pretty hard and I remember thinking, "I need to remember this." I'm not sure how old I was. I remember my mom comforting me and telling me that 'he' would be back. He was my dad who had gone to work. I've been told numerous times that I was a daddy's girl. Mostly when he was vacuuming. He had to hold me while he vacuumed. My mom recently told me I was also a mommy's girl...I guess it happens when you're the oldest and don't have anyone to play with.

Monday Memories: Courageous Parenting

2011-02-06T22:45:00.002-07:00

The other night my brother Bryan and I were talking about courageous parenting (he gave a talk on it recently in church). His idea of courageous parenting is to spank the child and send them to their room. (His thought, not mine. Of course I think he was 'sort of' joking.) It got me to thinking about my parents and some of their courageous parenting from my childhood. Here is one example.

When I was pretty young (I would guess 4 or 5), I was playing with my doll under the kitchen table while my mom was sewing. I remember talking to my doll and pretending that she used the Lord's name in vain. I knew that it was wrong to do so, but I didn't know all the reasons why. My mom heard it immediately and asked me what I had said. I told her and she quickly took me into the bathroom and put a bar of soap into my mouth for about 10 seconds. (I can still taste Dial Gold.) She then told me why it wasn't good to use the Lord's name in vain. She really didn't want to put the soap in my mouth, but she couldn't think of another way to help me understand how precious the Lord's name is. To this day, I have never used it in vain again. I have also avoided using Dial Gold.

Happy birthday, Nicole!

2011-02-06T22:41:00.002-07:00

Happy birthday to my sister-in-law Nicole (Feb 5),
one of the 3 best sisters-in-law a girl could ever ask for.

(I couldn't find a picture of her in my files [usually focus on the little ones].)

I think....

2011-02-06T22:37:00.002-07:00

It might be time for a new backpack.
(The white parts are the 'filling'.)

One-liners

2011-02-02T01:01:00.004-07:00

My bishopric is hilarious. Such a strange combination of men. One is a vet, one used to be a body builder and is now a contractor, not sure what the other one does. We had combined RS and Priesthood on Sunday where each of them got to speak for just a little bit. My bishop had some great one liners.

About dating:

Just do it, okay?

About media (the analogy of putting dog poop in chocolate cake is like trying to justify a little something bad in a movie):

Don't eat dog poop.

Can't wait for the next combined meeting. ;)

Monday Memory: The Tree

2011-01-18T12:18:00.002-07:00

Doing this Monday memory thing has got me trying to think of memories from my childhood. One memory that kept popping up this week was when my older boy cousins (Hans, Adrin, Kenneth, Richard, and Eli....Eli was younger, but he hung out with us older ones anyway) and I would climb the tree in Anderson's yard, which was next door to Grandma's house. Every Sunday the family would descend upon her house to get together and have fun. The grandchildren often ended up eating pop cycles. One thing us 'older' cousins would do was climb the tree, make Chinese stars with the pop cycle sticks, and throw them at the younger kids. I think one of us would wait at the bottom of the tree so we could grab all the sticks that had been thrown before the younger kids could get them. (We were so mean.)

I remember thinking I was so cool because the boys would let me climb the tree with them. There wasn't a whole lot of room up there, so they had to be picky with who could climb up with them. I also remember learning how to make the Chinese stars that we threw down. (I think back now and there is no way I would make one of those things with slobber from 5 different people on the sticks....you needed 5 sticks in order to make one. GROSS!)

The tree didn't last much longer through our childhood. Anderson's soon cut down the climb-able part of the tree. (Smart on their part, sad on ours.)

Leftovers

2011-01-13T01:03:00.004-07:00

Here are some leftover pictures from my Christmas break. They are just too cute not to post.

Ethan, my little monkey

Kirk enjoying his stash

Whitney and Wilson Christmas morning

Whitney and I the night before I headed back to Logan.
(She's in one of her princess dresses that her Grandma K made for her. She loves them.)

Whitney and Wilson playing dress-up.
(Their dad is going to hate that I posted it 'cause Wilson is in girly clothes. Oh well.)

I had to visit my other brother (who doesn't live in town with the rest of the family) and his gang before heading back as well.

This is Hayden with his gun. It shot little foam planes.
He loved it. (Especially shooting people in the behind.)

The B-ry

It snowed a ton while I was there. Bryan moved the snow from one place and onto my car. It was pretty packed down when I left. Got a few weird glances until I cleaned it off.

Hannah and Hayden being pulled around by B-ry in the FREEZING cold.

The break was WAY too short. I wasn't ready to come back to school. But then I'm hardly ever ready to come back when I could be playing with my nieces and nephews instead. They're too entertaining and cute.

Happy Birthday, B-ry

2011-01-11T19:33:00.002-07:00

Today's post is brought to you by the letter "B" (Bryan)
and the number "3" (brother number 3).

Happy birthday, you big hunk!

Memory Monday: Chats with Mom

2011-01-10T00:02:00.002-07:00

This last week while I was at home I kind of wasn't feeling well. When I get tired and run down, I usually get emotional. I started crying and asked my mom to tuck me in, which she gladly did. It reminded me of how she used to come and chat with me on my bed all the time. I would usually be reading in bed before falling asleep and she would come in and sit on the edge of my bed to visit. I think those were probably some of the best times because I had one-on-one time with her, which didn't happen often in a household full of other kids. I don't remember anything specific we talked about, but I do remember being happy when she would take time to come and talk with just me. Sometimes the chat would only be for a couple of minutes, kind of a summary of my day. Other times she would sit with me for hours and listen to me whine about my problems and concerns. I think because of these chats, I can honestly say she has always been my best friend. She has never betrayed my confidence about anything that I've told her. (I can't say that about many people.) Mostly I just remember feeling loved because she cared enough to take time out of her busy and chaotic world to make sure I was happy and loved. I have been so blessed to have a great mom. I love you!

Happy Birthday, Little Dude

2011-01-08T15:12:00.002-07:00

Happy 2nd Birthday to one of the goofiest guys I know. Love ya!

Christmas Eve 2010

2011-01-04T20:43:00.005-07:00

Christmas Eve was spent with family. It's Sariah's birthday so we met for lunch at had sloppy joes, presents, and cake. She turned 9 this year. That evening we met at Mike and Nicole's for dinner, fish pond, a Christmas thought, a visit from Santa, and fun. Here are some pictures from the day.

Sariah opening her fish pond present.
(I'm not sure what she's wearing. She seems to find it every time we are at Mike and Nicole's house.)

Wilson and Sariah looking outside when we heard sleigh bells.

Ethan looking oh-so-cute in his outfit.

Wilson 'fishing' for his present.

Bekah in her Hollywood getup.

Me and Santa

Ethan in his cute bib.

The kids with Santa.

Janet reading a story to Whitney, Sariah, and Bekah, with Klete looking on.

Memory Monday: Grandpa Mayes

2011-01-02T21:58:00.002-07:00

One of my resolutions this year is to blog about some of my memories at least once a week, hopefully on Mondays so I can keep the title of Memory Monday. Anyhow, I thought I would start by writing about a few of my memories about my Grandpa Mayes. He died when I was in 2nd grade. I remember that Aunt Claudia came to get Kenneth from school because he had died. I kept waiting for my mom to come and get me, but she never did. She later said she didn't think that I would understand what was going on and didn't want to take me out of school for it.

Grandpa was sick the last couple years of his life with cancer. I remember him being in a hospital bed in the living room. Us grandchildren were too young to really know what was going on, except for the older few. I remember one particular time when we kept running in and out of the house. Someone pulled us aside to tell us the grandpa was really sick and needed the quiet in the house. I think that was the first time I really got how sick he was.

Some of my memories of being with Grandpa were when I would spend the night. One time in particular we were going to eat dinner and it was time to say the prayer before eating. It was Grandpa, Grandma, and me. We all bowed our heads. I kept expecting one of them to say it. I probably waited a good 2 or 3 minutes before I spoke up asking who was going to say the prayer. They both chuckled and teased me that they were waiting for me to say it. He was a jokester that way. (I don't remember who actually ended up saying the prayer.)

He loved to work in the yard. There are pictures of me helping him in the garden, even though I don't remember doing it. I do remember him flooding the yard with well water. Us grandchildren thought it was so fun to run through it barefooted. It was so cold we never did last long.

I remember sitting on their old brown and orange couch that was next to the door in anticipation of him coming home from the body shop. He would always come in and say, "Howdy, folks." I thought that was the coolest saying and wanted to remember it so I could say it when I grew up. His hands were always looked dirty because of the work he did on cars. I remember when he came home from work he would wash his hands before he did anything else. I remember watching the dirt and grease come off his hands and wondering how they still looked so dirty all the time. He always had dirt and grease under his fingernails, too.

I remember sitting on his lap one Sunday at church. I put my head into his suit coat so it blocked out the light and I ran my hand over the walls (it was that prickly hay stuff that the church used to use). It was soothing and I fell asleep like that.

As a whole family (cousins and all), we used to go to Five Springs for picnics. There are pictures of us looking at fuzzy caterpillars that Grandpa had on a stick. I think there was one time he scared us by growling behind a tree and jumping out at us. (I can't remember if it was him or Uncle Lloyd. They're both pranksters, so they both could have done it.)

Like I said before, I don't have too many memories of Grandpa Mayes, but I do remember the feelings that I had around him. I don't ever remember being scared of him, even though he was a big man. I know that he loved my Grandma very much. I remember the way he used to talk to her and he didn't let us talk back to her at all. I look forward to when I can meet him again and get to know him as an adult.

The Stable/Dependable Thing in my Life

2011-01-01T23:24:00.005-07:00

As of this week, I have owned my car for 6 years. It's the longest relationship I've ever had with someone who isn't family. I bought it from my cousin Mark. It was one of the first cars he every bought with a rebuilt title and fixed up. I'd say this is a great advertisement for him. (Plus, he couldn't really go wrong with a Toyota.) Here's a few reasons it has a place in my heart:

I have never named it. Nothing has ever stuck in my mind as a name because it's never really given me any problems (knock on wood). (Suggestions for names welcome.) It has gotten me through many snow storms and icy conditions...often pulling out of a spin at the last moment before trouble.

It gets GREAT gas mileage...over 40 on the highway. It's great because I drive home so often.

Yes, the CD player has decided to not work, but I still have the radio. (Thank goodness for old country while driving through the wilds of Wyoming.)

It's been patient with all the children I've piled into the backseat with their car seats. And with all the messes they leave behind back there. (Okay, some of them are mine.)

It has never complained about the dust on the dash that has piled up over the years. It doesn't mind that it doesn't get washed every week, or even every month. It rejoices in the rain baths that it gets.

It has been registered 4 different times in 3 states, and it doesn't mind wearing UT plates.

This past year it has loved having covered parking. It doesn't mind a little pile up of snow, though, which it has gotten this break in Wyoming (thanks to my brother who piled up the snow he shoveled onto it.) :)

Although there are a few paint chips, window chips, and hub cap chips, it still gets around with beauty and grace.

I couldn't have asked for a better car over the last 6 years. I figure I still have about 40,000 miles until it gives out. I figure the body of the car will go before the engine does. Thank you, Corolla!

Dancing Queen

2010-12-23T20:56:00.002-07:00

On Tuesday I had the opportunity of going to a dance recital for a place that my sister-in-law teaches tap at. My niece Whitney was one of the cute little dancers. It was so fun watching all the different age groups dance. There was one group in particular that kept us highly entertained with their antics (that were not part of the dance, of course).

Whitney in her cute costume. She was so excited to dance on a stage with spot lights.

Me with the cutie pie.

Whitney and her friend Marissa.

Kinda fuzzy, but still so cute. This is while she was dancing.

Gingerbread Boxes

2010-12-23T16:16:00.004-07:00

One of the first nights home Aunt Nicole invited everyone out to their house to make gingerbread houses. Well, they turned out to be more like boxes, and they didn't even hold together too well. The kids had fun eating the candy while making the boxes.

Grandma and Mike watching the progress.

Sariah and her house. It turned out very cute.

Sariah and Wilson

Hannah and Whitney in their princess dresses, making their boxes.

Hayden being a cheeser.

Hayden, Whitney, Damen, Marissa, and Bekah

Marissa and Bekah

Goo, Hannah, and Whity

Musical Lights

2010-12-23T15:33:00.004-07:00

Here is part of one of the shows I got to see in Idaho Falls (see previous post)...I was very impressed.

Detour through Rexburg

2010-12-23T15:18:00.004-07:00

On the way home for Christmas break, I spent a few days in Rexburg visiting friends. I spent most of my time at my friends' the Wildes. I hadn't seen them in quite a while. How the kids have grown! I used to spend quite a bit of time with them when I lived in Rexburg. I miss being able to see them whenever I needed a kid fix. Here are a few pictures from the visit.

This is Madelyn...she is just too cute.

Me and the two boys-Cannon and Preston. I used to watch Preston all the time when he was a baby and toddler. Now he's in 1st grade! Yikes.

The boys waiting for their funny faced pancakes at IHop.
(They were HUGE!)

After dinner, we went and looked at lights in Idaho Falls. There are two houses within a mile of each other that have a huge light show set to music. They even had their own radio stations so people could sit in their own cars and watch the show. The kids loved it. (So did I.)

Also while in the area I got to go to lunch with my friend Stephanie. As with most of my friends, it had been too long since I had seen her. She's an amazing woman and I am so grateful for her friendship. I have been so blessed with good friends!

Happy Birthday, Erik!

2010-12-05T19:53:00.003-07:00

Happy birthday to my little brother, Erik!
(Shown here with is son, Ethan.)

School and Thesis Update

2010-12-01T20:43:00.002-07:00

School has been going well this semester. I really am only taking one class and working on my thesis. The class I'm taking is on family theories. It's been interesting because I've been trained to think developmentally (individually) rather than from the standpoint of a family. It's definitely broadened my thinking. In fact, I'm taking another family class next semester, one on family policy, so I can better understand the family framework. (I need to in order to pass successfully through my PhD program...so I thought I'd get a head start.)

A couple of weeks ago another girl and I gave a presentation in the Family Theories class on Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory. His theory is one of my favorites. Probably because it ties nicely into human development. :) Anyway, I was pretty stressed about it because the teacher would mention her critiques of other presentations to me in passing. Needless to say, my partner and I put a lot of work into the presentation. Afterward the presentation and during the break, the teacher gave me a high 5 and smiled. Later she wrote this: "You are an excellent teacher. Your goal of a ph.d. is well worth achieving. I was mesmerized by the way you drew the class to the level of involvement you got." I was so thrilled to get such positive feedback. Most of the time I feel like I'm the dummy of the class because I have to background training in family theory. At least I can teach!

As for my thesis, I did my proposal today. Basically, I presented what I want to do with my thesis to my committee members. (I had to write my intro, a literature review, and a methods section for the proposal. Three chapters down, two to go!) Again, I was pretty stressed. My committee members are wonderful, but I still worried. As I told my advisor, when you put so much effort into something you don't want to hear anything negative about it. Kind of like when you become a parent, you wouldn't be able to hear anyone say anything negative about your newborn, even if it was something insignificant, like about its clothes. Anyway, this morning I got a call from the department secretary saying that the room I had been scheduled for had been double booked and I needed to move since she was actually defending her thesis and I was 'only' doing a proposal. Good thing they had another room readily available or I might have lost it. I really didn't mind, but any hurdle at this point seems like a mountain. The proposal meeting went fine. My committee had many good suggestions to help clarify my methods and my analysis. It's nice to get an 'outsider's' point of view...someone who is not 'entrenched' in the process so they can see things more clearly. It was a lot to take in, but very useful. So now I go back to my thesis and make the suggested changes and enhancements and REALLY begin work on the data analysis. I don't mind this part. It's a lot less stressful.

The next thing on my plate is studying for a stats pretest so that I can get into a stats class next semester. It's amazing how much I can forget in such a short time from when I took it. Okay, it was 2 years ago, but it wasn't in high school. I can remember a lot of the basics, it's just some of the formulas I'll need to try and remember.

Onward and upward!

More Thanksgiving

2010-11-30T20:32:00.002-07:00

Here are a few more pictures from my Thanksgiving break.

Hannah 'hiding' in a storage box.

Hayden, Bryan, and Wilson watching sledding.

Hayden helping Grandma bake rolls and cookies.

Hayden and Hannah with balls in their shirts.
(This is what I always do when I take a ball from them...put it up my shirt. They love it.)

Heidi (2 1/2 months) and Ethan (5 1/2 months)

Thanksgiving Fun

2010-11-26T21:51:00.006-07:00

Thanksgiving break has been fun. I love being with my family, especially the little ones. Here are a few highlights from the fun-filled week.

Sariah, Bekah, Hannah, and Whitney wrestling with Bryan

Nicole making snow ice cream (VERY yummy)

Wilson, Whitney, and Ethan

Hannah and Whitney

Me visiting Uncle Richard's family
Hayden, me, Kayla, McKay, Callie, Nina, Karren, Hailey,
and Uncle Richard

Hayden out in the cold

Wilson, Hayden, and Whitney sledding
(Being pulled by Bryan)

Sariah and Hannah waiting their turns for sledding

Bekah bowling

Scary Bryan, Pretty Chelsey, Grumpy Hayden, Sweet Hannah
waiting their turns for bowling

Who's going to marry you?

2010-11-24T19:48:00.002-07:00

Lately, my 4 year old niece has been concerned about who will marry me. I think her real concern is when she can next be a flower girl. This is a conversation we had a few days ago.

Hannah: Shawnee, who's going to marry you?
Me: That's a really good question, Hannah.
Hannah: How about Kirk? (My youngest brother.)
Hannah's mom: His name might be Kirk, but it won't be Uncle Kirk.
Hannah: Oh. Well, who's going to marry you then?

Another conversation the next day.

Hannah: Shawnee, who's going to marry you?
Me: I don't know, Hannah. Maybe no one.
Hannah, with a confused/concerned look on her face says: You can marry my daddy.
Me: He's already married.
Hannah: That's okay. He can marry you, too. Can I be your flower girl?

Too cute.

Dreams

2010-10-21T11:11:00.002-06:00

For those of you who know me fairly well, you can attest to the fact that I have weird and vivid dreams almost every night. At one point in my life, while working at BYU, a costar would automatically ask me every day what I had dreamed the night before. And usually I could remember.

Last night's dream was a doozy. It started out with me being at church in my single's ward. Then, all of a sudden, our ward was in a huge arena (much like the Marriott Center at BYU). My bishop then announced that instead of having normal meetings, we are going to have a stake conference. The arena begins filling with people from other wards. Our speaker then arrives, with much applause (which doesn't normally happen during church meetings). It's Dr. Steven Covey. He shyly smiles while the crowd goes wild. Soon, we begin to hear music and Gladys Knight is on stage grooving to "Amazing Grace". I yell to my neighbor over all of the loud music and clapping, "My mom is going to be SOOO jealous." During all of this, Janice Kapp Perry also makes a showing. During her singing, the congregation decides to put on a show of dancing. I was so flustered because everyone around me knew what to do. But I had no clue! So I stomped around holding my scriptures and wallet. At one point, one of the performers took my scriptures as a prop. They're brand new, so I was NOT happy about this. I finally found them at the end of everything, and was back at the church in my home town. I couldn't remember where I had parked. So, I waited for the parking lot to empty out to see if I could find my car quickly. It was snowing hard, and I couldn't find my car. So, I ended up walking to my mom's house, in the snow, in heels.

Very strange dream. Wonder what it means?

Loner....Continued

2010-10-14T11:57:00.003-06:00

So I woefully stayed in Logan over the weekend instead of heading home to see family. I worked hard on my paper that was due on Tuesday. I called a co-student of mine on Monday to reschedule a meeting because I was so stressed by the paper. When I said I was stressed, she seemed confused and said, "It's only a paragraph with 3-5 references we'll use for the final paper, right?" So then I became confused. Turns out, I was looking at the requirements for the FINAL paper that's due in December, not the outline that was due this week. (In my defense, the assignment title I was going off of in the syllabus had "outline" in the title so I thought I was doing the correct assignment.) If I had gone back to the BEGINNING of the syllabus where there was a short description of the assignments, I would have read about the paragraph with 3-5 references instead of the summary I wrote of 8 references. (It would have been 10 except I quit after talking with my friend.) So, in other words, I stayed in Logan to write a paper that wasn't due instead of going to visit family. I was SO not happy when I found this out. On the bright side, I guess I'm a little further along on the paper than I would have been....

The Loner of Logan

2010-10-07T23:07:00.002-06:00

So it seems I'm destined to be alone....all of the time. I planned on going home - almost (Gillette) - for my newest niece's baby blessing. On Tuesday I realized I had a heck of a paper due next week and there was no way I would get it done if I spent the weekend playing with the nieces and nephews. So, I made the decision to stay in Logan. Alone. Even though I know it's what I need to do, it's still tough not to be with my family when they are all together. I keep thinking that in the long run, family is what's important. But then I also know I need to take my education seriously. Tough decisions. Needless to say I am REALLY bummed about not being with them this weekend. I just couldn't justify spending 18+ hours in the car when I could use them for writing my paper. *sigh* Here I go on to face my lonesome weekend. (Not that it's different than any other weekend I spend in Logan.) I made sure to tell my mom to pinch all their bums for me....'cause they're just so cute!

On a brighter (sort of) note, I did get a new calling in my single's ward. It's probably the lowest calling on the totem pole, but that'll be fine, I guess. I'm the new chorister. No, I don't get to pick the hymns, the bishopric will do that. No, I don't get to lead the choir, there's a different chic for that. All I get to do is wave my ugly arm for 3-4 songs each Sunday. That's it. Nothing more. Kinda lame and it doesn't really get me involved. Plus, I won't get to sit with people during Sacrament meeting. At least I have a calling in this ward. Last year I didn't and it was a bit strange. (By the way, this is the ONLY thing I marked 'no' on in my info sheet....I HATE leading music during church. Guess that'll teach me to say no.)

Gillette Visit

2010-10-04T01:03:00.003-06:00

My niece Heidi was born at the beginning of September and I couldn't wait any longer to see her. So, last week I decided to skip town and head to Gillette to visit Bryan and his family. I left Logan on Wednesday and got back on Sunday. It was a very good visit. I needed a kid fix. I've been having trouble focusing this semester, and I think being able to see some of the family helped a bit. Here are some pictures of the visit.

Hayden wearing his hat.
(A lady in my old ward makes them. They are so cute. I didn't think she would get them done so quickly and I couldn't wait for cold weather to give them to the kids.)

Hannah in her cute hat, 'skating' across the kitchen floor.

Hayden in his boots, ready to go outside.

Here's Hannah loving on Heidi. (Hannah adores her.)

The cutie herself.
Hannah calls her Squeaker because she makes squeaking noises.

Singles Ward, parts 31-45

2010-09-21T19:00:00.002-06:00

I went to a singles ward on Sunday for the first time in a while. This singles ward is different than anything I've experienced before. It's a ward for singles aged 31-45. The only singles wards I've gone to are for 18-30. I've been on the older end of things for those types of wards. In this new ward, I'm on the younger end. A very strange feeling. It was amazing to realize how diverse the ward really is. There are people there who've been divorced and who have children. There are some, I'm sure, who are widows/widowers. Then there are those like me who have never been married. It's quite the mixture of people. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about attending a singles ward again. I'm tired of all the games that people play in the dating world. But I figure that I need friends in Logan, since the 2 I had last year moved. I have friends in my program, but they are all married. I need friends who are single....thus my decision to attend a singles ward. Plus, I was reminded in my institute class last week that every person needs to keep marriage as their first priority, even those who are single. Most days I'm okay with being single. It's a lot easier than being married for sure. But with that reminder, I guess I need to keep my options open. (Ug. Thanks a lot, Brother Harding.) What better way to do that than attend a singles ward for old people like me. ;)

Perry the Platypus

2010-09-20T19:42:00.003-06:00

All of my nieces and nephews are amazingly talented. (That statement has no bias whatsoever.) Once in a while I am able to record their amazingness. While visiting Bryan and Chelsey last month, Hannah amazed me with her Perry the Platypus immitation. For those of you who don't know, Perry is a Platypus that stars on the Disney show "Phinneas and Pherb". She is an avid watcher. (It's actually pretty creative and funny. I've laughed during every episode I've seen.) Anyway, one day she made this noise. I called her Perry and she thought it was great. So, this video is of us singing Old McDonald had a Perry on his farm. For a reference of what the real Perry sounds like, you can see that here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONgjXrOShlc. Definitely not as good as Hannah, though.

Happy Birthday, Kirk!

2010-09-06T20:39:00.002-06:00

I can't believe that it's that time of year...Happy birthday to my youngest brother, Kirk. I know I cried when you were born because I wanted a sister instead of another brother, but I am so grateful that you are you. I cried more tears as the years passed by, either because I was frustrated that you wouldn't listen or because of how special you are. I have laughed because of the funny things you've said at the most inappropriate times (like during church when you yelled 'shut up' during a talk). I have been frustrated by your incessant asking to go the Red Apple. I have loved sitting on the couch with you to tickle your feet and arms. When you sing your songs, it brings a smile to my face. It's been amazing to see how much you have grown through the years, and especially this year working with Janet. I would give anything to be able to know what you are thinking at any given moment. But most of all, it brings joy to my heart to know that one of God's special children was sent to be my brother. I love you, Kirk.

Miles and Motorcylces

2010-08-26T14:11:00.003-06:00

Summer is over. Can you hear me sighing? I can't believe it went by so quickly. At the beginning I thought, "What in the heck am I going to do with all of my free time?" I look back and wonder where all that 'free time' was. I guess being lazy was easier than I thought.

I did a calculation of the miles I traveled this summer. The sum? About 6,500. That's right. I could have driven across the US and back with all the driving that I did. Well, I did drive half way across (to MN, IL, and IA) making up 2600 of my miles. I also went to Bryan's house in Gillette about 5 times. It's 400 miles each trip, totaling 2000 miles. I also drove to Logan a few times, each trip about 1000 miles (more when coming from Gillette), for a total of 2000 miles. This doesn't count the trips to Billings (200 miles round trip) or to Cody (100 round trip). So you can see that I was on the road....A LOT this summer.

On one trip from Gillette to Lovell, I decided to count the motorcycles going the opposite way. It was the weekend before the Sturgis rally (Harley Davidson circus), so there were lots. (Gillette is half way between Lovell and Sturgis.) On the 200 mile trip, I counted over 400 motorcycles. That means 2 motorcycles for every mile I traveled that day. NUTS!

On the trip back to Logan, I drove from Gillette and was on I-80 most of the way. As many of you know, I-80 is the road of truckers. They OWN the road. I decided to count how many trucks I passed on I-80. There were over 150 that I passed....they were going the same way as me. If I had counted those on the other side of the freeway, my brain would probably be fried right now...too many.

Anyhow, a summer of traveling is done. I expect that I'll be stuck in Logan until Thanksgiving. That's so sad because Ethan will be 5 months by then, and the little one who'll be born in a few weeks will be so big! Can you hear me sighing again?

One Last Visit

2010-08-23T22:39:00.003-06:00

Before heading back to Logan, I wanted to see Bryan's family just one more time. I spent a few days with them just hanging out. Here are some pictures of us outside.

Hayden being his cute self.

Hayden and Hannah playing in their sandbox.

Hannah showing how to pose.

Cute, cute

It's kind of a two-edged sword when I visit. It's good to get my fill, but then I miss them that much more.

Being Aunt Shawnee

2010-08-21T20:56:00.002-06:00

At the beginning of August, I took Hayden and Hannah to my mom's to give Chelsey a small break during her last month of pregnancy. We had some good times. We went to the pool (shown previously). We also just played lots outside. Following are some of the pictures of the good times.

Hannah and Wilson riding bikes.

Hayden with a bow on his nose.

How cute. ;)

Hannah after eating some yummy ice cream.

Wilson riding bikes.

Hayden riding bikes.

Swimming in Lovell

2010-08-20T22:21:00.005-06:00

At the beginning of the month, I had Hannah and Hayden with me in Lovell. One day we decided to go to the whale pool that's at the park a block from my mom's house. They were so excited. Hayden was pretty excited after his last time there. He finally got comfortable going into the water. Unfortunately, this time he tried to drown himself by being too independent. After that he stuck pretty close to me at the side of the pool. Whitney and Hannah had a blast. They're just the right size/age for this type of pool.

Whitney going down the whale.

Whitney and Hannah on the way to the park.
(They are so cute in their suits!)

The girls enjoying the pool.

Hayden being his cute self.

Whitney

I LOVE this picture of him.
(He usually avoids the camera as much as possible.)

Hannah enjoying the water.

Family Time - July

2010-08-19T20:20:00.004-06:00

It was great being home for some of the summer. Being near the nieces and nephews is always a treat. This summer was no different. Here are a few highlights from the end of July.

Wilson being his cute self. He usually pushes or crawls all over the cart. This time Uncle Erik helped him take a ride.

Typical boy avoiding a kiss. (Who could blame him in this case? Scary!)

Ethan has gotten so big the last month. He loves 'talking' at people. He's getting pretty good at it. He is now making all sorts of different noises. He hardly ever cries and loves to smile.

Whitney holding cousin Ethan.

The kiddos reading a book. They like to do this a lot. Sariah is good and usually reads to them. Wilson sometimes wants to turn the pages too soon, so he usually ends up reading his own book.

Wilson eating an ice cream cone. He loved it.

Whitney after eating her ice cream cone. Not so messy.

Summer Trip - Stage 6 - Winter Quarters

2010-08-19T20:07:00.004-06:00

On our way home from Nauvoo, we stopped in Omaha to go to the Winter Quarter's temple. Omaha was out of the way, but we never knew when we'd get a chance to go again. The temple is in an old and random part of town. Glad we had Atty (Ms. Attitude, aka GPS) so that we could find it easily.

The inside setup reminded me of the St. Paul temple...small. There were beautiful windows depicting different pioneer things. Beautiful.

After going to the temple, we went to the visitor's center across the street. It was a great way to end our trip.

Summer Trip - Stage 5 - Nauvoo Temple

2010-08-19T19:59:00.002-06:00

Mom and I were able to attend a session at the Nauvoo Temple. What a special treat! The wood throughout the building was amazing. The locker rooms were even out of wood rather than like normal locker rooms. Gorgeous! It was surprisingly small. I kept expecting it to be like the Salt Lake temple (aka huge), but the rooms were about the size of the Billings temple. One unique thing was the large meeting room where they used to hold conferences and such. It was neat to see things that I'd only ever seen in pictures.

The view from the front of the temple. You can see the Mississippi in the distance.

Me by the plants. I couldn't believe how large all of the foliage was in the area. I guess that humidity is good for something.

Summer Trip - Stage 4 - Carthage

2010-08-17T16:27:00.003-06:00

Carthage, the prison where the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum were martyred, is only about 1/2 hour from Nauvoo. (I'm lucky my pictures turned out. My camera did not like the muggy air.) The tour started with a movie at the visitor center. Then one of the missionaries takes you into the actual house/jail.

This is the room where they stayed. The window is the one that Joseph fell out of while he was shot by the mob. It was a very small room. It was air conditioned for us. I could only imagine how hot it would have been for them.

This is mom looking out the window that Joseph fell through.

This is the cell that the men stayed in for the first few hours. There is only a tiny window in the room and it got above 100 degrees while they were in here. The owner of the jail took pity on them and allowed the men to stay in his family room, which was the next room over (the one pictured above).

Another picture of the cell.

The top window is the one the prophet fell out of.

The whole tour was neat. It felt like we were a little rushed because of all the people there wanting to go through, but I'm glad we had the chance to go.

Summer Trip - Stage 3 - Nauvoo Pageant

2010-08-14T16:56:00.003-06:00

The day we got to Nauvoo, we were a little late to visit any of the sites (they all close at 6 p.m.). We went over to the visitor center and walked around in the cool Women's Garden outside. They have various statues of women. We then went and waited for the pageant to start. I am not made for muggy weather. As we sat waiting, an elderly gentleman came up to us and started giving us a survey. He then shared information about the pageant, such as it's the only pageant to be commissioned by a prophet (Pres. Hinckley) to be written. He then moved us to some great seats that are reserved for mission/temple presidencies and their guests. Very good view. It was an amazing experience. We went again a few nights later. It was just as good then.

The view of the temple from where we sat.

During the pageant, they build a miniature model of the temple on stage. This is the first part.

Second part

And it keeps getting bigger.

The cast was huge. There are 5 different casts that are each there for 2 weeks. Some of them stay for the whole summer, many of them families.

Pictorials de mi Familia

2010-08-11T22:41:00.005-06:00

Over July 4th weekend we were able to get our family pictures taken (THANK YOU KRISTIN!!!). We try to do this every year so we have updated pictures to send out at Christmas. This year we took them a little earlier than normal this year, which is A-OK. Except that we'll have a new little one by the end of the year (Bryan and Chelsey). Here are a few highlights.

Mike & Nicole's family

Erik and Sandy's family

Bryan and Chelsey family
The girls

Another of the girls

Grandma and the kiddos

Me and Boy #3

Momma and me

The whole familia (pretty darn cute!)