Fishing with my Dad!

I went to Page last weekend for a visit! My dad and I tied at 302 points in an intense Scrabble game Friday night (Shocker, cuz my Mom usually wins!), so we agreed that the tiebreaker was whoever caught the most fish the following morning!

I love going trout fishing with my Dad down the Colorado river! For me it's more about the hike than it is the fish though.  It's so beautiful and serene down in the canyon. 

Hiking down in.  I love my Dad!!! 

Finally reaching the bottom!

My Dad was kind enough to thread my worms for me! Edward will never go fishing because he feels bad for the worm on the hook, and then the fish on the hook afterwards! He has such a tender heart for all living things! He won't even kill spiders, he scoops them up on a magazine and then carries them outside! Anyway, back to fishing...

At first all we caught were big gobs of slimy green moss. Gross. 

We moved further down river and found a nice sandbar.  I could even wade out in the freezing cold water here and cast out a little further.  Fishing is all about location!

Getting a nibble...

A fish at last!  In the end I caught 4 fish and my Dad caught 1.  

Now to hike back up and out with the added weight of the fish in the pack.  My legs were a little sore the next day! 

Gotta love that Arizona red rock! 

The sun was just setting as we reached the truck, and finding our way back to the highway was tricky business! There are like a million dirt roads winding around the Navajo Reservation, and they crisscross each other everywhere!   My dad tried blazing his own path across the desert, but we couldn't get the 4-wheel-drive to work. I'd rather be in the truck looking for the highway though, than running along the highway looking for the truck (which has happened before)!  It's always an adventure with my Dad : )  Thanks Dad! It was a fun trip! 

Happy Mothers Day!!!

This is my beautifull Mom! She is the most amazing woman you will ever meet! She is a cancer survivor and crazy teenage daughter survivor = ). I know everyone thinks their Mom is the best, but I really think mine is! She is a woman of many talents! She has an incredible greenthumb. (As is evident by the flowers blooming in the background.) I think because she nurtures weeds and plants alike for their respective herbal and medicinal properties, they in turn flourish under her care! (Unfortunately I do not have this talent -I struggle to keep plants alive). It always amazes me when we go for walks together how she can name all the plants along the way and tell me what they can be used for! (even down here in the middle of Pheonix where I didn't think anything good grew.) I've always admired her for getting her Bachelors and becoming an RN. She is a hard worker! She is a gifted tole painter -and has made lots of cute decorations to make home festive for every Holiday!  She cans food, bakes bread, sews, you name it! And a hidden talent -she has written 300 pages thus far for a book about Jay/Autism! I hope I can be as kind, patient, and loving to my children as she has been to me.  What I admire most about my mother though is her steadfastness and love of the gospel! Her testimony is rock solid and unwavering, and she has a vast knowledge and understanding of the scriptures that only comes from years of earnest studying.  She has an inner strength and peace that she uses to uplift others. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful mother and friend! Happy Mothers Day Mom!  

4th Anniversary!!!!

Eva Ross stitched this for us as a wedding present. I just love it!!!

Out with the old...

I usually never have a cell phone longer than a year cuz I drop it and break it, or my cat knocks it in the bathtub, or I get pushed in the pool unexpectedly (actually -that one's Edward). Amazingly the phone I have now is three yrs old! A few buttons have popped off and there's makeup caked between the keys (gross I know), so I decided it was time to upgrade. I was going through my old saved text messages before I transfer everything over and the ones from Edward make me smile. I decided just to post them for memory sake (this is the closest thing to a journal I have going right now), even though some of them won't make any sense to anyone else reading them :)

*Sweet your like every other dummy in the land. (I shredded my T-mobile Rebate card cuz I thought is was a credit card offer -they said people accidently do that all the time.)
*On Valentines he sent me a pic of Sylvester the cat holding a boquet of flowers. He says I'm like Pepe-Le-Pew (the skunk) cuz I chase him around the house and smother him. Seldom happens ;)
*Pray 4 your soul
*Off to the temple w/missionaries c u later
*Should love your husband he bought it
*Thats a sweet T where does one get such a fine garment? (I sent him a pic of my dad concentrating hard on a scrabble game, and my dad happened to be wearing a T-shirt Edward got him :)
*How's the kissing booth workin out? (I was helping my Mom with her nursing booth -there was no kissing :)
*I'm back stage with Jack Black (He really was!)
*Good. At least we wern't the only dummies up at 4am (We were up taking care of our friend's kids while they were at the hospital having another baby :)
*Welcome to the jungle baby
*Rise and shine little girl
*Way to be old school. Where r u?
*Have a good time. I love u. No speeding! (Taking off for another trip to Page to see my fam. I'v gotten a lot of tickets.)
*Way to do your patriotic duties
*Good morning wef a (nickname -pronounced "weefay" = means "wife".)
*Do u want me to get u a Harry Potter book?
*I 87 hundred dollars love u
*3 down, an eternity to go. I super love u. (On our third anniversary)

Good Books

I have always enjoyed reading. However, when I finish a series or author I love, I get this sad feeling like I've just lost a friend. It's like I've finished eating a really good cake and I'm craving more, but I know I'll never have any ever again. (Silly analogy I know.) And then the thought goes through my head that I will never be able to find another book as good, I always think I've already read all the good ones ever written. You can never trust the book store people, they always recomend dumb crap (Soap opera style). I mostly stick to reading young adult books cuz they're safer, or maybe cuz I havn't grown up yet :). I want to teach my kids to love to read, and I decided to start a list of some of my favorite* books growing up! If you have suggestions to add, or any recommendations of good books to read now (I'm kinda in a slump), please let me know =)

*The Boxcar Children (Loved the first book, but tired of the others quickly. Too happy go lucky.)
*The American Girl Books (I read about all the dolls they had at that time, from Samantha to Addy.)
*Nancy Drew mysteries (I read all 54 of the origionals in 5th grade, I liked that we had the same name!)
*Little House on the Praire (Don't read the sequel "Rose" about Laura's daughter though -it was depressing!)
*Summer of the Monkey's
*My side of the Mountain
*Treasure Island
*The adventures of Tom Sawyer and Hucklberry Finn
*Little Women
*Harry Potter books*
*G. A. Henty books
*Little Lord Fauntleroy
*Lorna Doone
*The Princess Bride (also a good movie :)
*Anne of Green Gables (ditto)
*Pride and Prejudice ( " )
*Jane Eyre
*Mrs. Mike
*Where the Red Fern Grows
*Rangers Apprentice (My brother Buzz's favorite books, and I think they're good too :)
*A distant Prayer
*Three against Hitler
*Number the Stars
*Twilight Series (I also enjoyed reading "The Host")

I can't think of anymore really good ones right now, but I'll add to the list as I read and remember :)

My Dear Sweet Grandma passed away today.

My Grandma has had Parkinson's Disease for quite a while now, and she has been really suffering of late, so it is really a blessing that she was able pass on. She had been telling my grandpa lately, "Why can't I just get out of this old and broken body?". I know that she is happy to be with her parents and her brother now. I have a testimony of Christ's ressurection, and that one day we too can be reunited with our bodies forever. I have a testimony of Eternal Families, and am so gratefull that Heavenly Father loves us all so much, and blesses us with such hope! I will miss her so much. She is such a wonderfull, spiritual, and amazing woman!

I lived with my Grandparents for a year while I was in school, and my Grandma was my best friend! She would sleep out in the living room in the recliner, and sometimes I would sleep on the couch. She loved having her head massaged and her hair combed, so we would stay up late, me scratching her head to help her tremors go away, and her listening to me chatter and babble on and on about this and that. It was like a weekly slumber party! My Grandma has such a great sense of humor. One time the dishwasher melted a cup, so that it was shaped more like a triangle. My Grandma picked it up and said, "Your Grandpa is going to love this! Finally a cup that will fit over his nose when he drinks!" Another time I was having some chocolate milk, and my grandma asked me if I wanted her to hold it for a minute so it was "mixed real good" (because of her tremors). Edward's favorite is when one time I was telling her about a friend of mine who is Hopi (Native American) and whose parents fixed an arranged marriage for her. My grandma said. "Well, I guess they just 'Hopi' for the best!" And her cute little 'tee hee hee' laugh was so infectious!

My Grandma was a very talented woman. She loved to read and was a grammatical expert. She helped me edit my school papers several times. She got her Bachelors in "Large food quantity production" from BYU, which came in handy later when she had 10 kids and lots of visitors! She taught me how to cook, and her special recipe for french bread, Edward is very gratefull to her for that! She was an amazing seamstress. I still have the baby blanket she sewed for me. She sewed the outfits my dad and the twins are wearing in the photo to the right. But most of all she was loving, patient, and kind, a wonderfull wife, mother, and grandma, and a disciple of Christ all her life. Her testimony shone out of her and touched all who knew her. I love you Grandma!