My Hut!

 Last year, after struggling to return all our Christmas decorations back up to the attic, and after the holes in my skull from the newly protruding nails from hail damaged roofing healed...and the bruises and bumps from my head banging into the roof trusses...and my grouchy, irritated mood as a result of such, I walked around my acre and noticed that things were a bit, well, UNFAIR! Our garage was full of HIS stuff (bullet loaders, tool boxes, car transmissions, fishing rods, lathe and mill, duck decoys, bikes, etc.) And the shed in the back yard was full of HIS stuff (bikes, rope, propane tanks, paint, camping awnings, plumbing parts, electrical parts, tile stuff, paint stuff, bolts, garden stuff...etc. ) I had no place! So, I asked for my own "hut"...a place for MY stuff...my holiday decorations. I didn't want much. I waited. and Waited. It got hot, so I told the guys to wait till it cooled off. After all I wouldn't need to re-store decorations till Oct. 31st. On November 1, I hauled my seven boxes BACK in the head-poking attic. Thanksgiving decor went up...and down, and I hauled it BACK in the forehead-banging attic. I was so discouraged when Christmas decorations needed to be put up. I almost said, "No More!" till Nate climbed up with me and hauled each and every box down, all at once. (I usually do it a box or two at a time. No sense him knowing everything I store to create the magic at holidays that he loves.) Christmas went up, and I worried, cuz Nate will be in Daejeon South Korea next year. and the next. I was going crazy with the stuff up. I gave a date...January 8. I started taking the stuff down. So, they took me seriously, and started.

A foundation was poured...thanks Doran for getting us the cement mixer from Sundrella Casuals. It worked awesome, and, since, again, Nate aka family cement mixer, will be gone, we found a Craigslist replacement...we call it "Nate 2".

Wade, Cameo's Dad and superbly wonderful carpenter extraordinaire, helped figure the building supply list and get the stuff...not a bit of waste, mind you, down to the last board!...and put it up. Dee and Nate worked, Wade worked.

Nate built shelves...still has one set to go if time, but we can do that if he doesn't have time...And last weekend, Wade came over and finished roofing it. I have my own hut...with a lock and my OWN key!

Thanks to the guys for my hut. Love. It.

I love blogging...or rather, READING other blogs. Me, I stink at keeping up on my blog. It is only when I see my ever-so-busy-mom-of-three-and-primary-president Daughter catch up hers that I finally kick myself into gear. But THIS Pretty In Pink Giveaway makes me get off my duff!

I soooooo want to win these Kitchen-aid Mixers...One for my dear daughter and one for my daughter in law, Cam. Daughter is totally awesome cook, and Cam has grown sooooo much and is now an absolutely awesome cook as well. I wanna win these for them!

So go on, enter yourself...but wish the best for Alli and Cam!

Finally...

I will update the blog soon, but I am sooooo excited because we FINALLY took Nate's graduation pic for my wall...and we took a picture for his missionary plaque (hangs in the church).

This one will hang on the wall until he leaves for the Missionary Training Center

And this is the one that will go up AFTER he leaves...

January Birthday Celebration

We are continuing our tradition of getting together each month for a quick birthday celebration. Since the first Sunday of the month was New Year's Day, we postponed for a week. Nano couldn't be there, since she had planned a trip to Utah. While there, she saw Becca report after serving a mission in South Carolina, then Becca's engagement ring, dress shopping, etc. as she accepted the proposal of the very handsome and adored-by-Becca Alex, then Haylee's baptism, and Brigham's ordination as a teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood.  Boy, what the Moore family has to do to get Nano away from our quick cake parties!

I don't know what it is about those Rice boys...they LOVE lighting candles.!

Aren't they the handsomest boys ever!

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For those who might be concerned, yes, Nathan is still alive and not in any sort of hospital or rehabilitation facility. 

Cameo LOVES nice soft gummy bears...and I think we have succeeded in "gummy bear - inn" her out this year. 

Anyway, Nate wanted his traditional Mississippi Mud cake, though I used some Christmas marshmallows, making it look like pink and green mud...but it tasted richly awesome. And, for Cam...and Nate, she made her cherry cheesecake, which Nate adores...and since he will miss the next two birthday parties, she -being the marvelous sister that she is - indulged him!

We sang, opened presents, played with Morgan's puppy, and had the usually awesome time!

Love These Kiddos!

I snitched this from Allison's blog...I have a weakness for those three cute kids, and I wanted MY friends to see. The most amazing thing, aside from the adorable subjects, is that it was taken by her friend. I have MUCH experience trying to get kids to look...and look decent...during a photo. Those moms are amazing!

Sisters Forever

My sister and I grew up, six years apart in age, and miles apart in personalities. It was only when we became adults that we found joy in each others strengths, and it is great! My daughters, though, didn't have to wait till adulthood to bridge that gap. Allison faced brother, after brother, after brother being born. (We even had to get her a My Little Pony Flutter Pony from newborn Morgan just for her to let him in the door.) When Dr. Matson delivered our nine pound three ounce baby and said, "It's a girl", my first reaction was "Call Allison". She finally had a sister. That new baby, who turned out to be a "colicky, crying-all-the-time, there-is-no-way-we would-have-had-six-kids-if-she-had-been-the-first" kind of baby was immediately welcomed into the vastly mature nine year old's room, and they have NEVER been apart since, though sometimes miles separate them. They read the same, think, the same, love to watch the same...everything. They share so many things: the van back seat when we camped over and over and over, the dislike for beef, the love of Harry Potter (yep, Kayty went to Vegas last year to see a premiere with her sister!) Kayty was Allison's sponge. I told Kayty's kindergarten teacher, when she started school, that this little girl couldn't write her name, but she could paint her nails, put a scrunchy in her hair by herself, and knew the story of almost every Nancy Drew book. Every year, at Christmas Break, Kayty treks to wherever Allison lives, for sister time. They have witnessed Pinecone Drops, endured diabetes diagnosis (yep...Kayty was with her Alli...and she got to vent all her frustrations, worries, cares, etc. to that dear big sister before Mom and Dad got there...I was so thankful she had her sister there!) This year was a bit shorter, due to Kayty's car trouble, but the moments were a joy, just the same. 

I love love love it when they can be together. Though they are independent halves that do very well in their own wonderful lives, the sister whole that they become is amazing and treasured...especially by me!

January 1, 2012

A new year...a new start. What is it about New Years' Day? I used to absolutely despise New Years' Day for all our Christmas decorations came down and were put away. I guess Mom and Dad took that fresh start thing very literally. (To be totally upfront, I am writing this on January 11th and my house is disgustingly full of Christmas decor because the "hut" they are constructing for me to hold all of my decorations is now but a poured cement floor. The Young Women from church are coming by to learn how to make pizza tonight. Tomorrow, boxes come out, and, though my house will be stuffed full of errant boxes, I will no longer have to relocate 25 rubber penguins, a snowman cookie jar, two snowmen plates, and a penguin candy dish just to get to my Bosch to make bread and pizza dough! ugh...do you sense my growing frustration)

Anyway, as of January 1, we assess our family and personal goals we set for last year, and then set new ones. It is more challenging this year, since Nate is getting ready for his full time church mission, with a whole new set of goals for him. We don't want to omit him from our goals, nor do we want to waste his sheer muscle power while he is yet with us (Ethan is very busy, both with work at work, and his own home; Doran lives much further away now; Morgan is in between jobs and may move with the racing circuit since he loves working with horses and the heat makes them run away from Phoenix in a month or two.) 

First, we assessed last year. We were awful on Family Home Evening (hard when Kayty is at college and goes to her singles Family Home Evening, Nate out with sports during school, and other much more cute options than us - though while with Jessica he IS with her family...Plus, Dee was president this year, which makes many Family Home Evenings outdoor projects...jkjk ;) This year, I am in charge. He and I will plan to do Family Home Evening alone, and if someone else happens to breeze in, so be it. We were pretty good on Family Prayer: almost every morning and evening. Family Scripture Study was harder as well, with the Family Home Evening problem, so we decided to read fewer verses, and try to catch whomever whenever. We changed our monthly movie/game night to a monthly birthday celebration, which has proved great and we will continue this year. Our four campout goal became one brief overnighter, but we are determined to go camping in Vegas with all of us. Wilkins will let us know when Mike knows his schedule. We failed to complete the outdoor kitchen (stucco, tile, plumbing, and painting) AGAIN...year three, I think...so for next year, its NOT a goal. We DID complete "Grammy's Grandbaby Gazebo" and with many exclamation points...We planned just a grape arbor with a dirt floor. I have a grape arbor, 4 living vines with 5 more to plant, a river rock floor that will be completed this week-too bad for my sickness, cuz I'm the master rock picker - a table and five seats with granite tops on all...Waaaaaay cool! Dee and Nate hunted deer, unsuccessfully, and they will try for Javelina before Nate leaves, plus there will also be the annual Dove Opening Day on Grampa Rice's Sept 1 birthday. We did repair the front roof, thanks to that October Hail Storm and homeowners insurance, but we also replace and repainted the trip and had the back roof skylights removed and roofed over...awesome. We had Nate's grad party too, with a root beer keg...and now we have our very own for Dee to make all the root beer he wants. 

This year, we also want to improve our gardening areas, and Dee, with Nate's very constant encouragement, bought a used cement mixer (we always borrowed one from Doran's workplace when we had a big job (pizza oven, raceway sandbox, and hut floor) and as of last night, we named it "NATE 2" and it mixed the heirloom tomato garden borders. Number one goal is getting Nate ready for his mission and on that plane to Utah on February 22nd. He bought his shoes the other night...380 dollars worth, but they should last. Slacks and long underwear come in the mail in the next day or two. He gets preparation day and workout clothing for his birthday, plus shoes...Wisdom teeth come out Feb. 6th, he goes to the temple for the first time on Feb 11th and he speaks in church on Feb 12th, with a good-bye open house for family and friends that night...pizza and root beer keg!

I am boring, but just letting you know why the blog quote changes yearly...It's what we focus on for the year. New start. Maybe its good. And, once these ding dong decorations are down and my house is dusted, I will be ready too.