this was some birthday fun! first--macadamia nut pancakes from the lovely husband on a special birthday plate and cup. then a nice hot soak in the tub. snow. some funny post-it notes all over my powder room with the most hilarious sayings courtesy of my scrap friends. my layout i did for the swap with above mentioned friends--an early Valentine for david. david took me to lunch and then bought me a brian andreas print and a cute thermal t with "kiss me" on it, then that night we all went to dinner and had chocolate bread pudding for dessert. yum! then on saturday all my scrap friends came up and spent the day and it was so much fun! they stuck up post it notes all over the bathroom that said things like "real men don't wear lipgloss" in reference to Lukas, "it's not a war on fuel", "republicans in '08" "bloody hell", "shalom", "official tat biotch" and a few happy birthdays! i seriously was cracking up over all of them--you guys are da bomb diggity! so a nice birthday weekend. and to top it off it snowed again saturday night and above are some pics. david took them sledding down the driveway and the street in front of our house. they had a blast...L

happy (early) birthday to me. i got two presents--the one above is one that i treated myself to while dave and the girls were in Utah. it is a japanese kanji symbol that means "love." i wanted something that would symbolize everything special to me--my husband, my children, family,the things i love in life--the fact that i love life itself. i have wanted a tattoo for as long as i can remember. the only thing that stopped me was let's see--needles and pain. two things i don't really like. but when i finally decided to go through with it it was actually a very calming thing. the tattoo literally took like 10 minutes. totally painless. i was so excited when i got it that i literally had to stop myself from going back to get another one. anyway--i have it and i totally love it as do my husband and children.

speaking of which they gave me my present tonight as well--our family is not big on waiting!! ha ha everyone, including me, was excited to open it. a totally cute bag from one of my favorite stores up here--lavender's blue. inside was a beautiful pandora bracelet and it had 5 charms on it--everyone had picked a charm to put on the bracelet. taylor picked one that had a sun, moon and stars, carson got me one that had a gold heart and the words i love you, anna picked oval purple stones, haley picked a flower with a diamond in it and david got me a "queen bee" complete with a gold crown. real funny. you can see what they look like here.

and another treat--my scrapping friends are coming up saturday to scrap with me. i can hardly wait...L

ps--above photo courtesy of shanna!

look how cute they are!!! that is brianne and her boyfriend jeff. wouldn' they make cute babies together? and from these pictures it looks like my baby is trying fo sure!!! see--brianne always says she's not like me and wishes she could be more like me--but look at that last picture--see--she is my baby, just like her momma. plus she emailed me a funny story that i am sharing. in her own words--"you're my favorite! so in church yesterday i start singing the closing hymn opera style to my roomate and after the hymn she tells me i'm going to hades. so i start laughing but am trying to hold it in and of course let out the loudest snort of my life in the silence just before the prayer. yeah me and five girls were laughing the entire prayer with our heads in our arms to avoid from making more sound. i'm a nerd!!!"

ha ha--i thought that story was funny! yeah, shanna--brianne is a snorter too. so is anna! it's hilarious. i guess her boyfriend has a goal to make her snort like once a day and she let me read a funny email that he wrote her that said "you know the best part of waking up is not folgers in your cup but knowing that chuck norris didn't kill you in your sleep!" now that is funny!!! so i didn't have permission to use any of these stories or pictures but if you are gullible enough to send these to me then i am going to use them!! HA HA oh yeah--when i showed david this picture of brianne and jeff with her licking him brianne actually bit me!!! geez, where's the love tongue girl?

and by the way--today is a year that i have been blogging!! YAY for me...L

the above picture was taken saturday night at the PBR--that's the lingo for the Professional Bull Riders! our friends had a suite at the PV arena and gave us tickets. i grew up watching this kind of stuff and going to the rodeo all the time but haven't gone to one in a long time except for last year in Vegas. it was fun--not something i want to do every weekend but i love seeing and doing things that are different for me. the best part was the "dance-off" in the middle of the rodeo. quite funny!

the next picture is of my latest layout and sweet find at an antique store. i have always loved Kerry's holder that she puts her latest layouts on in her scraproom and one of my latest obsessions is going to all the lovely and abundant antique shops around prescott. i picked this one up last week and absolutely love it! it sits on a table in my great room and has this layout on it at the moment.

the girls came home from school last week and asked a lot of questions about martin luther king. so we had a good discussion about why he was important and why we celebrate him. afterwards anna asked me if i knew she didn't have to go to school monday because it was "king arthur's" holiday. nice.

but to make up for anna's lack of political correctness i must tell you the most incredible thing that took place at my house last night. carson had a few friends come over and spend the night since there was no school today and late last night they had all their pillows and blankets sprawled out on the floor and were talking. i was on the computer and could hear them but wasn't paying that much attention until i heard the words, global warming, Bush, ozone hole, iraq and the discussion of bush sending more troops over when really this war just needs to end and what the real war is about--fuel, and how long it would take us to repair the hole in the ozone, yada, yada, yada. OK--these girls are 10 years old. they were discussing politics! later even taylor made the comment of how funny it was that they were talking about politics. i was amazed and elated at the same time. i hope this continues. i hope my girls keep reading and discussing and vote when they are old enough. i have a dream...L

Anna: mom, i want a haircut.

Me: how do you want it cut?

Anna: i want it curly.

so here is anna with her "curly" hair cut with a little help from momma and some soft rollers. and she was so happy--she must have asked me at least 5 times on the way to school this morning if it was still curly. here's wishing all of you in blogland a good hair day...L

so these are the layouts i worked on this week while i had some time. i'm pretty happy with them. most of them are scraplifts--the first one of brianne is a karen russell scraplift--love her work. the second one is actually my own work--ha ha, the third one is a candace cook lift from SE website, the fourth one is a lift from the SE website--don't remember who did it and the last one is my version of the friday challenge over at shanna's blog. happy sabbath...L

my family is coming home tomorrow. besides the complete emotional breakdown i had about 5 hours after they had left i have been fine. more than fine actually. i have thoroughly enjoyed my time alone. i still miss them and can't wait for them to get here but i have been productive and lazy at the same time and had fun.

being alone is a funny thing. i like it--i am definitely not one of those chicks that has to be with someone constantly--you know--can't go to the bathroom alone, can't go shopping, out to eat or to a movie by themselves. i can do all those things completely happy by my lonesome. not to say that i don't enjoy doing them with other people, but if other people are tied up or busy i can do it by myself.

funny thing is when you're alone for very long it forces you to take a good look at yourself and evaluate yourself and assess how you are. so i have been paying attention and took notice of a few things of myself. i realized i love my husband. i love my kids. my mom constantly has every tv she owns on in her home. i realized the quietness of a house when you are alone and would sometimes turn the tv on for background noise. i actually watched some tv and 3 movies. if you ever get a chance to rent Amelie you should. i like the quietness of the streets late at night and the street lights softly diffusing everything. i like listening to neil young while driving on those streets. i realized i am pretty happy right now. i'm definitely not a schedule person and that is going to end on monday with school starting up so i have enjoyed not having one single thing on a list TO DO. going to bed when i'm tired and getting up when i am ready to. i realized the beauty in small things. italian cookies and cold milk. a full moon. snowflakes. a hot bath. makeup. peppermint soap. pictures. friends. dr.pepper. indian food. naps. walks. scrapbooking.

so i thank my husband for taking my kids along with him for a fun time so i could have some fun time of my own. i'll be posting my layouts i finished tomorrow...L

there is absolutely nothing like a good hair day! my hair was bangin' in this photo and all because my oldest and most kind daughter brianne took mercy on my lack of hair skills and did my hair for me the entire time she was down here on thanksgiving and christmas. and now she's gone. back to your regularly scheduled station...L

well, this picture is most of my kids and my sister's. my son and her daughter are missing from the picture and my brother's son is in this pic. and all of them and 4 adults spent the night in my house last night! i have one brother and one sister and we each have six kids. unbelievable--or crazy--depending on how you look at it. my sister came down from georgia and has been here since new years eve. so fun to see her and my nieces and nephews. my brother and his wife and kids were also here for new years eve and it was a blast. we got to watch the ball go up (inside joke!), play, light fireworks and let the cousin's go wild together. they had so much fun. it is amazing to me that you can get family together after a long absence and they all totally connect and relate and just enjoy being together.

my sister went back today and david packed up all the girls and him and dennis headed for utah to take brianne back to school. i had a minute of being completely emotional and missing them and realizing that brianne is gone again and i debated driving the truck to catch up with them, but i stayed and i will try and enjoy the quiet and get some scrapping in. funny how as a mom you yearn for some alone time, some peace and quiet and then when you get it all you want is for them to come home...L

OK--those of you who know me well know that i have absolutely no clue about anything related to sports. i never know what season we are in for which sport or any players or if the game has innings or time outs or quarters or overtime, blah, blah, blah. i don't play sports, i don't attend hardly any live sporting events and i certainly never, ever watch sports on tv. however tonight i attended my very first hockey game. it was killer dude. prescott now has a semi-pro hockey team and a stadium in prescott valley and our good friend had a suite tonight and invited our family to go. so all of us went--6 girls and david. even my sweet little haley was doing the wave and clapping and throwing her arms up in the air when they scored a goal. and i was starting to get a little upset when we entered the 2nd quarter and no fighting had erupted. isn't hockey all about the fighting? not to worry--late in the 2nd quarter a few fights broke out and by the 3rd quarter there was a full blown helmets and gloves off knock down fist fight and our player got ejected from the game. which we won, 8-3. life is good. happy new years eve everyone and have a wonderful year in 2007...L

snow day here...L

i am so sad--not because Christmas is over--but because one of THE coolest men (next to my husband) died on Christmas day. yes--James Brown is gone. i LOVED james--david and i don't share all of the same musical tastes but james was a favorite of both of ours. we probably own at least 5 JB cd's. we always listened to James Brown's Funky Christmas CD every year. so a moment of silence for the godfather of soul...L

Merry christmas everyone!

congratulations shanna and shane--love ya...L

this little girl turned 4 on tuesday. my baby is 4. i'm in denial. and daddy made it home--so i been a little "bizzzy" as shanna would say. bow chicka bow wow...L

OK--what two things DON'T go together? hmmm--PMS and Christmas--bloody hell!
(and i only said bloody instead of a more appropriate word because my sweet BYU going daughter reads this blog!)

well, today was a good day. went into mesa to get my hair highlighted and cut. also got to go to scrapbooks etc. and rosa's for a shrimp taco. yum. saw shanna. delivered dr. pepper. then drove home to pick up my girls from my neighbor who was sweet enough to pick them up from school and keep them until i got home.

i do have to say one thing that happened this week. a neighbor family came over to watch the church christmas devotional on tv with me and the girls on sunday. they have a cute little boy anna's age who has passed that age of cuteness into the age of rudeness. not so much rude as extremely honest and very vocal in their observations. anyway this little boy asked me why my christmas tree didn't have any ornaments on it. I told him "cuz i freakin' hate christmas so shut your pie hole you little bastard!" no, not really--what i really said was "sure, there are ornaments, they are just really, really, tiny and you have to look really close" and when he looked closer i shoved his face into the tree and said "hey--can you see them now? can you? can you?" OK--i didn't do any of those things, but i sure had fun thinking about them...L

OK--and i totally redid my photo final and got some really cool pics.

i just have to say that the discovery of James Kim in Oregon has made me sadder than sad. my heart goes out to his family--especially his wife and two little girls. being without my husband going on two weeks now has made me miss him terribly. i can't even imagine if it were forever...L

i am going to post some pics i took for my final in photography class. it was such a learning experience and i almost feel like i have more questions now than when i started. i have learned a lot but now feel like there is so much more to learn...these pics were taken in skull valley, a tiny town about 15 minutes west of prescott. so much charm and so rural. the first time i saw it i knew i needed to take pictures of it. so i did.

conversations in the car part II--

anna: i want to be a veterinarian when i grow up.

me: that's sounds good.

anna: i want to be a veterinarian and a mom--i can get a babysitter to watch the kids when i go to work.

me: you can do whatever you want, sweetie.

anna: i'm not going to have a husband though.

Carson: you have to have a husband to have kids anna.

anna: no--i don't want to shoot a man.

me: well, sometimes things happen.

carson: you don't have to shoot your husband.

me: however...

anna: no, i don't want a shooter man.

carson: you mean you don't want a hunter?

anna: yeah.

guess it's hunting season here in prescott...L

got this questionaire off of shanna's blog and since i am feeling scroogey and bored out of my freakin' mind i thought i'd go ahead and post it. here goes...

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? EGGNOG is God's gift to woman--right after chips and salsa!
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa don't have time to wrap girlfriend!
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? white
4. Do you hang mistletoe? i have a tole painted one from my ex' SIL that she gave us (yep--I kept it!)
5. When do you put your decorations up? usually right after thanksgiving. david actually put the tree up already but that is it--no decorations or anything yet since he has been gone since sunday and i'm not putting them up until he comes back (that's my story and i'm sticking to it!)
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? anything with pumpkin or sweet potatoes.
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? getting up at about 4 a.m one year and opening every gift of mine and then sitting and watching everyone open their gifts about 4 hours later--not a happy time then but it is damn funny now
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa ? what truth? shanna said he's gay--is that true? he must be because he gives out fashionable stuff here!
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? usually
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? it varies from year to year--i hate the same old, same old--i'm guessing this year it will be whatever we have and whatever the kids want. however i would love a total lime green and white tree.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? love it as long as it doesn't stick around for a few months and the kids don't get a gazillion snow days--did i mention my husband has been gone since sunday? 'nuff said.
12. Can you ice skate? Yeah--not well though.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? dave and i had just started dating when it was christmas and he bought me a coach purse that he had seen me look at. can a girl resist a man whom buys her coach purses?
14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? the de-emphasis on the commercial aspect and the focus on the saviors birth. see--told you i was scrooge.
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? eggnog and candy cane cookies
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? it used to be walking around my old neighbor hood and seeing everyone's lighted sidewalks.
17. What tops your tree? A brand new angel in a lime green dress--hence the wish for lime ornaments! 18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? i completely love to give!!!!
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? jingle bell rock
20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum--totally yum but in small quantities.

let the commercialization of christmas begin...L

conversation in the car.

Carson: mom, do you believe in global warming?
Me: yes
Carson: President Bush doesn't (smart girl)
Me: well, everyone is entitle to their opinions
Carson: mom, what is global warming?
Me: well, basically it is the earth's atmosphere warming up
Taylor: well, technically it is more like the city of Phoenix is polluting more than they should and that pollution causes a hole in the ozone layer and then more of the sun's rays are getting through and causing the temperature of the atmosphere to heat up.
Carson: mom, taylor's explanation was a lot better than yours.
Taylor: yeah, it was--that's why we're in school.

and that's exactly where i want them...L

have you been to see the movie HAPPY FEET yet? if not run, don't walk, to the nearest movie theatre near you. definitely the best movie out there (of course i never go to the movies so take that for what it's worth!) Loved.this.movie. so wonderful on so many levels. i can't stand how good this movie was! Ok--enough said.

so tomorrow i venture out into the world of christmas shopping. i am so glad i am doing this for other people cuz i would have no motivation to shop for me--the thought of the holiday season is making me nauseous. in other good news though there is a chance of snow tomorrow and wednesday. my girls hope it snows enough to close school for a week. guess whom doesn't share that same sentiment. so this is scrooge saying peace out and take a break from the holiday stress and go see a really good movie...L

GRATITUDE unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. GRATITUDE makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. Melody Beattie

Happy Thanksgiving everyone...L

i had one last photo to do for class. my hubby volunteered! that is a man right there my friends and a good one that takes care of me and is on his way to cali-fornia right now. have fun sweetie...L

these are the pictures i shot for my photography class. the one of anna is outside and the one of haley is indoors. i love how they turned out!

lisa

conversation between me and Carson (age 10):

C: when i grow up i am going to have 4 kids (big pause) and one husband.
M: are you sure you don't want more than one husband? (snicker)
C: (big pause) no i don't want to get divorced. i'm going to make sure i get a really good one the first time.

amen, sister.

more pics...

when it's over it's over--that's what my husband said as he took all my halloween decorations down. i have to say that this was the best halloween ever! we had a party--the first one in our house here and we had neighbors, friends, co-workers and family over for food and fun. it was a blast! now i'll leave you with a few photos...L

couldn't load any photos!! also, all my links are gone because i tried to change templates and get this blog to look a little more coherent--yeah, right!

happy halloween everyone!

you know how when something is just meant to be? you'll never guess what was on my front doorstep this afternoon...yep, "the costume!" the box was all taped up and the woman's street number crosssed out and mine written in. oh, and it isn't a police officer uniform after all, i'm in the marines...the few, the proud, the Lisa...L

conversation between my oldest, most beloved daughter Brianne and myself:

me: i'm going to be a hooker for halloween

Brianne: well, at least you won't have to go and buy a costume!

damn, that girl is sassy and sarcastic--wonder where that came from???

oh--and the costume has been sent back--the fed ex man came by today and i told him the situation--he was literally bending over in two laughing so hard--he thought it was quite funny too--it wasn't him who left the package and i'm sure they are going to get a big kick out of it back at the office. of course not as big of a kick as my husband got ;)

happy weekend everyone!!!

WCQOTD (wedding crasher's quote of the day): Mrs. Cleary, I don't--Call me Kat--Okay, Kat--Call me "Kitty Kat."

what a day. where to start. first of all i went to Phoenix today--i had a lot of errands to run and things to do and david told me i could leave haley with him which was an extra bonus--since i have been feeling kind of yucky lately--and it was sooo nice to get a break from everything. so i did get my errands done and did get to visit lucky 15 and stop by and say hello to shanna and dropped off some much needed dr. pepper and a cookie--which led to much laughing and crying because we started quoting "the wedding crashers" then off to see Kerry to drop off some 7gypsies tape and see her cute halloween stuff before matthew loudly asks his mommy if they are going to target! um, matthew--why would you ask such a thing?? then i am on my way home.

so now the fun begins. i have been expecting some packages in the mail and there were three packages when i got home. so david was busy in the office and i proceeded to open my packages. one was a fed ex package that i was sure had my latest 2peas order in it. imagine my surprise when i open it and inside is a sexy police officer halloween costume--well, that is what i think it is. i just shake my head and laugh because i know david has ordered this for me to wear. i try it on and when i look in the mirror--um, lets just say that there are 2 huge lace ups in the back and it barely covers my "assets". i am thinking my naughty guy has big plans for this costume and it ain't for halloween!

so a few moments ago we returned from the grocery store and while david was putting away the groceries i run and change into "the costume" i come in my high heels into the kitchen and ask David to freeze--while i pretend to hold a gun. he then asks me where in the heck did i get that? i say--you ordered it--and he says--no i didn't--then i think he is surely kidding me and i say--of course you did--then he says--no really--and i tell him about the white box and how i opened it and yada, yada, yada. then david says--honey--that box is the neighbors--it had the wrong address on it and i was going to tell you about it. oh--i still think he is joking--so he asks where the box is and i tell him it is in the garage--starting to giggle and also worried at the same time now--so he brings the box in--sure enough--not my name on it or my address--they delivered it to the wrong house!!! OK--so serious laughter and worries now--since i have opened "the costume" and worn it and now what to do? take it over and say--oops--here's your uniform--happy halloween. david is laughing cuz now he wants to go spy on the neighbors to see who ordered this sex outfit and oh, yeah--he wants me to put it back on too. so yeah--happy halloween--and if anybody is missing their "costume" please give me a call and I'll hook you up with a sexy, albeit, slightly used naughty uniform...L

oh and shanna--MA--can you get us the meatloaf???

EDITED TO ADD: the best part--the name of the "costume" company--FORPLAY!! And the biggest lesson i learned--must wear my reading glasses while opening all mail and packages from now on!!

well, we are back from disneyland--yeah, we are in recovery mode right now. anna started throwing up last night so i pray that it is a fluke and not stomach flu going around that is going to hit our family of six! but we had fun and my grass just got delivered so all is well! and i'm talking about the kind of grass that goes in your back yard, not the smokin' kind! i don't have pictures to post since my small digi camera was broke and i took my compact FILM camera--yeah--i had to stop myself from checking out the back of the camera every time! so i am posting updated emails from my missionary son. the first one is the one we got the day we left for disneyland--the second one i got this morning. have i ever said that i love that boy? cuz i do...L


Well this is a pretty sad day for me. I have to pack my bags and go to Ravenna. I got transferred. WHen I got the phone call I just felt my heart break in two. I love this place and despite all the struggles here we just found three golden investigators but I will not get to help them embrace this glorious gospel. I just sat down and cried last night. Manly tears. I met so many people here and I jsut stinks to leave but, I know that the Lord wants me to go to Ravenna and thats where Ill go. Man, time flys in the mission I just start getting a hang of things and using preach my gospel to the max and its almost over. I feel like I need to run all over yelling the good news to everyone that the church has been restorded. However, once a missionary always a missionary. Its like Joseph Smith said, "after all is said, our most important duty is to preach the gospel." I pray that the Lord will give me the strength to continue this great work not just till the end of my mission but to the end of my life. I love all of you. Ciao!


2nd email:


Hey everyone! So Iam at Ravenna. Its a small city but very pretty. My comps name is Anziano Bergensen and he is a stud. We get all long too good. Well there are about twenty active members here soo yea we got some work too do but, we already seen a bunch of blessings. We found three new investigators and we had a investigator family in church on sunday. Sweet. Oh yeah my comp is from Indianna. Cool. Huh. We just get along soooo good but we need to make sure we dont have too much fun. For example we were doing the Mostra this showboard thing about the church and just stopping people all over the place and they kept saying im not interested before we even start talking so I said "hi" to a guy and he said "im not interested" and I said "o. ok. I just wanted to give away a thousand euro but, your not interested ok have a nice day." Yea not very christlike but we laughed forever and we had fun but yea I wont do it again. Well cool stuff. Love you all and just be happy thats what Heavenly Father wants for us to be. Happy.


oh, and as a sidenote--i came clean with the neighbor's wife--well, i left her a message on her phone and apologized for both the mooning and then lying about the mooning. brianne should be happy!!! now off to search for a halloween costume, and no it ain't gonna be a bare ass one--i can do that myself!

i must preface this post with a little known fact of myself. I'm a mooner. I moon people. not all the time and not just anyone, but friends and family have not been a stranger to me pulling my pants down and getting a flash of my backside. it's just funny. i once mooned my sister and her entire family at disneyland (and whoever else was driving by the intersection at katella!)

ok--so the other day david and i are driving and we drive past our neighbor's real estate office which is just down the street from us and david says that i should moon him--we are just laughing hysterically and i say no way and there were people in the office anyway--so we went on by--then when we drive back later david is like --ok moon him. so it seemed funny as hell at the time--so i mooned him--then i'm thinking--oh, he's gonna tell his wife and she doesn't like me anyway--blah, blah, blah. david says he could see him leaning way out of his desk and looking out the window when i mooned him. so david calls him last night to talk to him and then hands me the phone and says his wife wants to talk to me--then she tells me--so i heard you mooned my husband--please don't do that again--i was so freaked out i told her that david made me and she said 'what, you got no will of your own? you can't control whether you pull your pants down?' so now i think she is totally pissed--which if she had mooned david i totally wouldn't care--it's just a butt! and i wasn't like 2 feet in front of him--i was way down the street in a truck driving by. so then i was getting nervous so i told her i didn't do it and that her husband and mine were making up stories--then she says 'well, i didn't think nice mormon girls did that' david says i should have told her 'who said i was a nice mormon girl?' :) david says she was just teasing me but i wasn't sure.

so i get off the phone with her and i'm freaking out and telling david "i told you that was a bad idea--now she's mad at me and not only did i moon her husband i just freakin' lied about! oy vey" and now she's gonna want to know who's lying--me or her husband. so later this same night (last night) i am in the bedroom and david comes around the corner talking on his cell--he is just saying "um, yeah, ok. well here she is" then he tries to hand me the phone and tells me it is the wife again. i am about to hyperventilate and i'm yelling at david that i don't want to talk to her. he keeps handing me the phone and like an idiot i take it and say 'hello' and you have to realize that at this point i am a wreck! well, i don't hear anything--no one talking, no noise, anything--what i do hear at that moment is my husband keeled over on the bed laughing hysterically--he can't stop except to say "april fools!" hell--it's october!! he says he is taking this as his april fools cuz he can never get me and I always get him so it is his "april fools in october" then he tells me that i can "blog that!" ha ha


so he's right--he got me good. and the moral to this story--leave your pants on!! and then if you don't want everyone to know for heaven's sake don't blog it!

oh--and brianne if you're reading this i'm sorry--you should know your momma well enough by now to know she does stupid things like this! ok--shanna--you can stop snorting now! :)

well, on my last post my oldest daughter commented on the fact that she didn't have any pics of her up on my blog--but if she had been reading it all along she would have known that in july after the hawaii trip there are a lot of pics of her--really cute ones too! so i guess i'll add another here. thanks brianne for brightening my day and week for me. love you and miss you and can't wait until thanksgiving!!

so i went to the fair last week. one of my assignments in photo class was to take some "motion" shots. i had a blast with this one as you can see. first off i was so excited to go to the fair. fairs are one good memory i have of childhood. it was something we did every year and always looked forward to. you have to realize i grew up in a town the size of a gnat so the fair coming to town was wicked cool. first you have the killer rides--and i do ride them all, then you have the good food that only a fair has--yep, i'm talking fry bread and cotton candy and candy apples and corn dogs. that's good eatin' folks. and all for the bargain price of $100. pretty sure that's what we spent. oh, and to see haley totally diggin' all the rides--priceless...L

Well its been a while since Ive done one of these. Well I had a pretty fun experience last week. We went to this investigators house and a man gave us this flyer for a interreligious prayer for the peace in the world. We took and we were just like ok we gotta get to this appointment. So we went and read Enos and talked about prayer and hungering or desiring the anwser. then we after the lesson we asked the investigator if she wanted to go to the pray for the peace event thing and shes like yea lets go. So we went and there was muslims , scientologists , cattolici, protestant and buddihists all doing there prayers and talking to us about peace. Then something in my heads like what would you say if you had to talk about the peace. So I thought about it and finished thinking about it then this guy that help raise this event grabs me and is like your the mormons right? Would you like to come up and tell us about the importance of peace in your church. I was like o... ok. So I went up there and they introduced me and I did a little speal on peace and how we should pray so that we can be instruments for the peace and that we need peace in the family with husbands and wifes and children before we can go outside and pray for world peace. Yea maan I kow that was the prompting of the spirit that helped prepare me for the oppurtunity to get our church known over here and if it werent for the spirit I would have peed my pants in front of everyone and ran away crying. Yea the spirit rocks. D&C 8:2-3

con affetto
Anziano Gilbert


that was my email today from my son. you just have to know dallas--so anti public speaking! so proud of him and all he has done and learned on his mission. i'm telling you--this is not the same boy that lived in my home!!!! :) so i of course had to post the pic with him holding the cutest little girl and a peace sign. peace out everyone--it begins at home...L

just a few of the photos i have done for my photo class...L

can you believe it? seeing is believing! i actually got a picture up!! Thanks, beth and firefox!! and thank the man in this picture with the mohawk for getting the firefox up and running for me!! love you...L

more pictures to follow now--i am a happy girl! :)

well, due to the underwhelming response to keep my blog up i decided that i would keep blogging come hell or heinous computer. i love the word heinous--can you tell? anyhoo--big news--i can see the top of my scrap table--it's white!!! see what taking a few minutes off of blogging can do for a girl? ok, now the trick is to not stop the organizing--cuz usually i see some white space on my table and i want to do a layout. never mind the piles on the floor. if i can see my table i think all is right with the world. so i am going to forge ahead--with my organizing and blogging...L

first--time for another deep thought by jack handey: I remember that one fateful day when Coach took me aside. I knew what was coming. "You don't have to tell me," I said. "I'm off the team, aren't I?" "Well," said Coach, "you never were really ON the team. You made that uniform you're wearing out of rags and towels, and your helmet is a toy space helmet. You show up at practice and then either steal the ball and make us chase you to get it back, or you try to tackle people at inappropriate times." It was all true what he was saying. And yet, I thought something is brewing inside the head of this Coach. He sees something in me, some kind of raw talent that he can mold. But that's when I felt the handcuffs go on.

psssst--anyone think that kerry's been to target yet? anyone? anyone? bueller?

well, this is my last post for a little while. i am really sad about not being able to load pictures up--i have tried a lot of different things but to no avail. i even tried the free typepad and couldn't get pictures up there either. sorry to disapoint my 1.5 readers but it's no fun w/o being able to put up pics and layouts--which i can't stitch anymore anyway cuz the new computer puts my scans somewhere heinous that i can't figure out either. i am not a computer whiz. anway--this frees up about 10 more minutes to work on the other areas of life--like cleaning a scrap area that looks like a major tornado went through and then came back again cuz it didn't do enough damage the first time!

lisa out

ok--just realized that my spelling check won't work either--bloddy heel!

Lukas, you're our boy!!!!! YEAH!!!! All's right with the world...L

ok--LUKAS rocks!!! tune in tomorrow night to see him win! i do have to say that Dilana is a close second--her Roxanne song was off the charts! if she wins i might forgive 'em. but toby and magni gotta go!

on a funny sort-of-related sidenote, and as a shout out to beth, i have my own supernova rock star--it's anna--my always singing child--a few days ago she is singing her own version of "video killed the radio star" but to let all of you know--it's "video killed the radio STORE" just in case you didn't know--FYI beth--let your kids know asap!

so onto fun news about my missionary boy--(yeah--i can so talk about rockstars and missionaries in the same post!) my son emailed us this week that he got to take a p-day and go and see the formula one car race. it's very loud in case anyone was wondering!!! then later him and his companion went to mcdonalds to eat and he felt impressed to stick around after they had finished eating. he ended up running into a woman that he had taught in his very first area with his first companion and then she had moved and they lost contact! she was so excited to see him and ran over and yelled "anziano gilbert!!" he was extremely happy to see her and they now have an appt. to go see her. so proud i am of that one!

not much else--got the big scrapbook convention to go to this weekend. must get sleep. and shanna you are sooo lucky--still can't get my pictures to load to this piece of crap blog!!! i even changed browsers and disabled the firewall. such is life...L

oh yeah--any ideas whom won't be winning rockstar supernova? yeah, that would be shanna belting out "you light up my life" at creative escape--um, she even did it again after i threatened to put a paper piercer in her heart! so shanna will not be touring with tommy lee this year(even though she's sportin' enough tattoos to look like his love child!) ha ha

(go lukas!) :)

so i am back from Creative Escape. Holy hell that was a good time! Can't believe how much "free" stuff we got--except Shanna kept reminding me that it wasn't "free", we actually paid for it!! well, party pooper--I still think it was free! Everything was sooooo thought out--such cute little details and fun stuff--pink popcorn, pink bubblebath, fun RAK's in the class, cute nametags. my favorite thing was the ice cold pop with GLASSES and ICE in every class room. thanks--can't live without my soda fix. also loved the fact that they gave us 30 minutes in between classes which was nice so i didn't feel rushed. great classes and wonderful roomie and what else--oh, just wait until i get my pictures up--i feel i might have a few BAD ones of shanna that might have to go up...Shalom...L

i'm heading out for a scrapbook weekend tomorrow. Shanna and I planned and paid for this like, a lifetime ago and it's finally here! Can't wait!! No cooking, cleaning--just a weekend of fun girl time!! Extra special thanks to my hubby for taking care of the kids and letting me do something fun for me on HIS birthday!!! Happy birthday sweetheart--here's to another um, 30 years...L

well, today was a good day. labor day indeed. 3 trips to the nursery and i am now the proud owner of a small orchard in my back yard. apples. peach. plum. cherry. all trees in my backyard! so fun. then we bought some new plants and flowers to plant in front and back. rosemary, strawberries, aster, roses, butterfly bush, pansies, rose trees and wisteria!! yummy. i love the nursery. next to a bookstore that would be a fun place to own. I love to look and touch all the flowers, trees, shrubs. get my hands in the dirt.. have fun. i even did a little weeding. all in all a good labor day...L

well, i have been tagged! a first! so here goes!!

IF YOU COULD BUILD A HOUSE ANYWHERE, WHERE WOULD IT BE? Gearhart, Oregon—someday…
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ARTICLE OF CLOTHING? Shoes!
FAVORITE PHYSICAL FEATURE OF THE OPPOSITE SEX? smile/hands
WHAT'S THE LAST CD YOU BOUGHT? Red Hot chili peppers
WHERE IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO BE? On the ocean or close to it
WHERE'S YOUR LEAST FAVORITE PLACE TO BE? hospital
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO BE MASSAGED? Head and shoulders
Strong in mind or strong in body? Definitely both—I’m no wimp
WHAT TIME DO YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING? 6 a.m.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE KITCHEN APPLIANCE? the faucet above the cooktop
WHAT MAKES YOU REALLY ANGRY? hypocrites
IF YOU COULD PLAY AN INSTRUMENT, WHAT WOULD IT BE? DRUMS!
FAVORITE COLOR? Brown—green is next!
WHICH DO YOU PREFER, SPORTS CAR OR SUV? I would die for a cobra!
DO YOU BELIEVE IN AN AFTERLIFE? Yes
FAVORITE CHILDREN'S BOOK? Goodnight, moon
What is your favorite season? Winter and huge sweaters!
WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE HOUSEHOLD CHORE? Well, almost all of them suck equally!
IF YOU COULD HAVE ONE SUPER POWER, WHAT WOULD IT BE? To fly
IF YOU HAVE A TATTOO - WHAT IS IT AND WHERE IS IT? I so wish I had a tattoo, but pain and needles are things I try to avoid!
CAN YOU JUGGLE? I have 6 kids and a husband—of course I can!
THE ONE PERSON FROM YOUR PAST YOU WISH YOU COULD GO BACK AND TALK TO? No one I can think of (history is my least favorite subject!)
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE DAY? quiet and productive.
WHAT'S IN THE TRUNK OF YOUR CAR? A huge thingy that makes my stereo sound good and a jack.
WHICH DO YOU PREFER, SUSHI OR HAMBURGER ? sushi
WHO DO YOU TAG NEXT? Nicole and Tammi

my new favorite thing rockstar:supernova I love Lukas!!!! Ok, dilana and toby are my other faves. but where are all my reality tv friends not telling me to watch this? i am so getting a tattoo...L

it's a sad day. my daughter left to go back to college. anna and i had a good cry fest! her visit was way too short. i didn't feel well the whole time she was here either so that kind of sucked. brianne is a senior now--you think i'd be used to her being gone. but it still makes me sad everytime she has to say goodbye. we did have some good laughs together though and made some italian sodas and looked at the stars last night. i love to laugh with her--she thinks i'm funny and she has a dorky sense of humor like her momma. plus when she laughs her nose starts to shake--now that's funny...L

well, i was going to post yesterday but was not feeling that great and didn't have anything entertaining or relevant to say besides i can't get any pictures to load anyway. nothing has changed much today but i did have one funny thing happen last week. anna--we've been trying to get her to stop sucking her thumb. so she was with david and i last week and we are driving around. david asks anna if she thought she could stop sucking her thumb for a few weeks and there would be a treat involved. anna was excited by that prospect and immediately told us "i have a plan to keep my mouth shut forever!" OK--that works for us! a few minutes later david looks in the back seat and anna has her thumb in her mouth. david asks her if she forgot about the deal we just made and anna in frustration tells us "well, i want to keep my thumb out but my thumb keeps wanting to come in!" can't argue with logic!

in other news--my husband rocks!! i had a bad week and he has taken such good care of me that i just had to gush! he truly has been a sweetheart and it's so nice to have someone take care of you and love you and make you feel all warm and happy inside. ok--now back to your regularly scheduled program of sarcasm...L

Well, in light of my King Kong review I thought it only fitting to share some of my favorite movies. Not much of a movie goer for a few reasons: a) most movies suck in my opinion, b) the ones that I deem to be non-sucky are the movies that no one else will go to with me. I used to have a friend in Mesa that would go to all the arty, foreign language films with me but after she moved I had no one again. You can pretty well guess that no one sends me to the video store to rent the movie! That’s why netflix has been so wonderful—I can pick whatever I want and watch it by myself or talk David into watching it with me. So if you are a brave soul and haven’t seen some of the below mentioned movies—give them a try—you will either love them too or you will come to know how demented I truly am (as if you didn’t know earlier.)

In America—love this movie—actually dragged david to the movie theatre to see this when it came out. Beautiful story of some irish immigrants trying to make a new life—semi-autobiographical and the two highly talented girls in the film are sisters in real life.

Saturday night fever—was too young to see this in the theatre when it first came out. This is my all time favorite movie. It has everything in it—music, dancing, john Travolta when he was hot and the best coming of age story ever. Yeah—the language is real bad. Still love it.

Life is beautiful—my second favorite movie. Cried my eyes out in this. It deserved the oscar that year.

Run, Lola run—german movie with the girl who went on to star in the bourne identity movies. David hates this movie. I love it—the techno music, the off beat story line and the premise. Recently watched it again thanks to netflix (david didn’t stay up for this!) Must buy this movie.

American beauty—this is how I love my movies—dark, deep and fantastic acting. Pretty sure it won awards—it deserved them.

The godfather—parts one and two—like most everyone I find that whole mafia life completely fascinating. These movies just draw me in like no other.

Young Frankenstein—I gotta have one comedy in there—it doesn’t get better than this—plus I have some good memories of watching this with my family. Absolutely love the whole cast of this movie—good old fashioned comedy!

Awakenings—favorite scene in any movie ever—when Penelope ann miller dances with Robert deniro—if you don’t cry during that then there’s no hope for you.

Oh brother where art thou—my wife done R-U-N-N O-F-T!

so i watched a movie with david last night. King Kong. not a big movie goer like Shanna, but since getting hooked up with netflix i have been a movie watching fool. anyway--i put King Kong in my queue since i thought it might be ok to watch. i remember it didn't get great reviews, but hey--i was curious as to how the special effects were. if you haven't seen the movie yet and don't want to know how it ends--stop reading now! :) the movie pretty much stunk--in my opinion--and i was severely disapointed with a lot of it--namely the length, the stupid additition of dinosaurs and every gross, gigantic, mutated bug/insect. anyway--the best part of the whole movie was right near the end. when king kong takes ann up to the top of the empire state building. david leans over and asks me if the empire state building was in fact built during the time period of when the movie takes place. are you kidding me? you can deal with a 40 foot monkey, dinosaurs and 10 feet long centipedes but the fact that the empire state building might not have been there would be a disapointment?? funny stuff from my hubby--he does make me laugh!!

so i am back from the lovely state of Oregon. I don't know how or when but I will be an Oregonian some day! I am hoping sooner than later because David loved it too and the little town of Gearhart was made for raising a family. ocean, mountains, cool weather and green, green everything. everyone was crying on the night before we headed back. pictures will be forthcoming as the blogger is not being cooperative with me for some reason!

girls started school today. taylor had her first day of jr. high and it went well--much less scary than she thought! she loves her math teacher and saw old friends and met new ones. so relieved. carson and anna started at their new school. david and i decided to put them in a private school that we found here that we fell in love with. they were both beaming when i picked them up. carson has only 9 kids in her class including herself! they both get to go swimming once a week for PE and Carson has a spanish lesson every monday. Anna said that her teacher was very nice and didn't yell at anyone. is there anything better than a teacher that doesn't yell? haley starts preschool tomorrow! if you here a loud sound around 8 a.m. that would be me right after dropping off all children at school. it's been a lonnnnnng time since i had any days to myself. I'll let you know how it gets spent!

David and i celebrated our 12 year anniversary yesterday. very low key as we had just gotten back from oregon. 12 years. longer than my first husband. not without it's own trials. in 12 years we have had 4 children, 3 homes, 3 layoffs, 2 career changes, 1 death, 2 children leave home, happy times, sad times, anger, joy, good, bad--you name it. well, we're both still here trying to make it all work. most of the time it does, the other times you just hang on until it gets good again. marriage is a lot of hard work. i read a quote on a blog awhile back and it said that life is hard, marriage is harder! so true. but so worth it in the end. totally got lucky to get it right after being given another chance. love ya honey--happy anniversary...L