Guest room

I finished painting the guest room. I forgot to take

photos before, but I found one from 2 years ago.

It at least shows the red trim that I had to let go...

The closet doors were the same color red.

Here is the after photo...the guest room now has a bed,

thanks to my grandma...

This one shows the color a little better...

Keepers of the light

I've been busy this week painting the guest room. (My sister moves in with us this week.) So I haven't blogged much this week because the computer has been covered up. I just wanted to leave a quick thought. When I went to girls camp a few weeks ago, we practiced a song called "Keepers of the Light." It was amazing to listen to a bunch of teenage girls sing this song. The words talk about how we are children of God and how we are sent for these days to be keepers of His light. We must stand strong, letting virtue garnish every thought. I couldn't find the lyrics. Anyway, the song is on the CD "Daughters of a King." As I thought about what the song was saying, I thought about one of my favorite scriptures. In 2 Nephi 31:20, it says, "...press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." I think we can have a perfect brightness and BE a perfect brightness of hope to those around us, being keepers of the light and sharing the light of Christ within us.

I love to see the temple...

We went to the temple tonight. The boys got to go and

hang out as Alex and I traded off doing work in the temple.

They loved climbing on the steps outside.

I love going to the temple. A couple of my

favorite quotes about the temple:

Temples are "...a living expression of a testimony that God our Eternal Father lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that life is eternal, that love is eternal, that the family may be eternal; that we are our Father's children to whom He has offered that which He would have us have for our blessing, our happiness, our salvation, and our exaltation." -Pres. Hinckley

and

"The temple stands as a statement that we as a

people believe in the immortality of the human soul."

Sabbath day...a day of rest?

I wish that I could have a day of rest from my labors of the week...
Sometimes I think there should be a clause in the scripture talking about the Sabbath as a day of rest. Exodus 20: 10, it should say, "But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work"... except for parents of young children. You don't get a break. Sometimes Sundays are the hardest days for me, trying to get the boys to church by 9:00am. Alex is the ward mission leader, so he goes to a 7:30am meeting at church. It's great for him, because he doesn't have to get the boys ready. And he is an early morning person anyway. And then trying to entertain Jared during church is not fun. Can't wait until he can go to nursery in 4 months...

Actually, I shouldn't be complaining too much - the boys took a nap at the same time today, and so I got to take a little nap as well. And it is nice to have Alex home on Sundays. But sometimes I wish I could truly have a day of rest again...

Any suggestions from those who have young children and even for those who don't, how do you make the "Sabbath a delight"?

Pawnee Bill Ranch

We had a stake picnic at Pawnee Bill Ranch yesterday. It was very hot, but we went for a little while. They had a cow and ponies for the kids to look at. Jared touched the cow. Nathan wouldn't get near them. Too bad, because Nathan could have ridden the pony. Oh well...

Nathan did enjoy seeing the buffalo. We drove through the herd a few times before we left for home. It was cool to see them right next to you, with the car between us of course.

passport needed...

We took Jared today to get his "mugshot" and applied for his passport... because...

We're headed back to Australia!

We're planning to go for about 6 weeks at the end of the year.

Ordinary Miracles

This is a song that Sarah McLachlan sings at the end of the movie "Charlotte's Web". It's now one of my favorite songs. Thought you would enjoy it too if you haven't heard it already...

It’s not that unusual when everything is beautiful
It’s just another ordinary miracle today
The sky knows when its time to snow
You don’t need to teach a seed to grow
It’s just another ordinary miracle today
Life is like a gift they say
Wrapped up for you everyday
Open up and find a way
To give some of your own

Isn’t it remarkable?
Like every time a raindrop falls
It’s just another ordinary miracle today
Birds in winter have their fling
And always make it home by spring
It’s just another ordinary miracle today

When you wake up everyday
Please don’t throw your dreams away
Hold them close to your heart
Cause we are all a part
Of the ordinary miracle
Ordinary miracle
Do you want to see a miracle?

Its seems so exceptional
Things just work out after all
It’s just another ordinary miracle today
The sun comes up and shines so bright
It disappears again at night
It’s just another ordinary miracle today
It’s just another ordinary miracle today

http://youtube.com/watch?v=z8SMsMnA1cI

You should be able to go to this site and listen to the song and see a video that goes along with it... It's good!

Big helpers?

I'll don't think I'll ever be done with the chores...

Alex said I have to finish my chores before I can use the computer...

North Carolina trip

These are pictures from our recent North Carolina trip. My parents rented a beach house for a week. All of my immediate family was there; we had a little mini reunion. We had such a good time. I wish we could have stayed longer...

(Sorry about the captions- for some reason they won't line up with the pictures.)

Family Photos...

Beach House in North Carolina...

Trying to take pictures at the beach...

Beach bum...

Tired Jared and Grandma...

Happy couple...

Swimsuit Models...

Enjoying juice boxes...

My brother Mike and his wife Carrie, with new nephew Nicholas

My dad and sister Alison...

My sister Ashley and nephew Jaden...

The airport in Dallas had a nice play area- it

made the 2 hour layover much easier...

Sand diggers: The boys kept their hats and sunglasses

on the whole time...no sunburned babies

Jared's 1st dip in the Atlantic Ocean...his 1st ocean for that matter

Nathan was scared of the ocean, but he sure loved the sand...

Relaxing in the pool...

These are a few of my favorite things...

Let's talk about me...let's talk about #1... Alex loves that country song. I don't like it so much- it mostly gets stuck in my head. Anyway, I thought you would enjoy getting to know me a little bit more, or at least give you some reasons not to like me! Ha-ha



Color(s): blue and green (I do have some red in my closet now though)

Least fav color: pink (sorry pink fans)

Flower: Roses and tulips

Least: Marigolds?




Scent: Cucumber Melon, Vanilla, light scents
Least: Anything too strong- perfumes are out for me

Favorite smells: Colorado Pines, Homemade Bread, Cookies

Least: Cigarette Smoke (nothing against the smoker, just the smell)

Sports: Soccer, baskeball, volleyball, tennis

Least: Boxing?



Games: Settlers, Clue (advanced), spades/hearts, Pictionary
Least: Trivial Pursuit- I can't remember what I did yesterday- how am I going to remember random facts/names



Music: Lately I'm tuned in to the Oldies station. I also like Sarah McLachlan, Van Morrison, CCR (thanks Alex), Collective Soul (again Alex got me on that), church music, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, etc.
Least: Rap, Heavy Metal (Is that even music?)


Vacation Spots: Prefer mountains, New Zealand, Australia, anywhere with family
Least: Don't like the beach so much (hot, leaves you crusty, too much preparation to go)- unless it's with family


Hobbies: Piano, Scrapbooking, Hanging out with family, exercising (Alex, no comments here please)

Movies: Mr. Holland's Opus, Ever After, One Fine Day, Nanny McPhee, Harry Potter, My Best Friend's Wedding, Remember the Titans, Rudy, Pursuit of Happyness, Cars, Charlotte's Web, Sweet Home Alabama

Least: Dumb & Dumber (speaks for itself); there's too many dumb movies out there to list

Favorite Actors: Matthew McConnaughey, Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks

Least: Jim Carrey, Jack Nicholas

Favorite Actress: Julia Roberts, Reese Witherspoon, Dakota Fanning

Least: Helen Hunt

T.V. Shows (when we used to watch): Seinfeld, Everwood, Dr. Phil, Survivor, HGTV, College Sports

Food: Pizza, Mexican, Mom's scalloped potatoes & roast, Dessert

Least: Oysters, Lobster- not a big seafood fan

Dessert: Fruit Smoothies, Orange Juice & vanilla ice cream, pie, brownies

Least: Tapioca pudding, flan

Favorite Candy: Twix, Snickers, FastBreak bars

Least: Skor bars, Candy Corn

Favorite Fruit: Pineapple, Raspberries

Least: Plums

Favorite Veggie: Steamed broccoli

Least: Okra, beets

Fast food: Fazoli's, McDonald's

Least: Burger King

Restaurants: Goode Co. Barbecue, Bad Brad's BBQ, Mexican, Chinese Buffets

Least: Red Lobster

Favorite Stores: Bargain/Thrift, Ross, Wal-Mart

Least: The Mall

Favorite Chore: vacuuming

Least: Dishes, folding laundry

Favorite Animal: Dogs- Retriever Mix

Least: Snakes

Favorite non-LDS modern-day historical figures: Abraham Lincoln, Ernest Shackleton, Helen Keller

Least: Bill Clinton

Favorite Books: Scriptures, Self-help books, Mystery

Least: Western

Favorite Holiday: Thanksgiving

Least: Halloween

Girls Camp

This past week I went to Girls Camp at Sequoyah State Park, near Wagoner, OK. I was one of the ward camp leaders. The picture is of me and the other leader Melissa. We had 8 girls there from our group. The theme was "Spiritual Survivor" (like the tv show Survivor). We had different challenges and devotionals. The rafting challenge turned out to be more of a challenge than we expected. We had quite an experience. We started off on the rafting trip. About 2 miles into the 12 mile trip, a bad storm moved in, with lighting and pounding rain. We paddled through the lightning and rain about 3 miles. We finally came to a pull-off and dragged in all the rafts (about 20), and turned them over, propped up by the oars, so the girls could sit under them. It was a very scary experience. We were lucky no one was hurt. The rest of the week was so much fun. Of course, air-conditioned cabins and showers isn't quite "camping". It was a vacation for me- someone else to cook and clean, and no kids to look after. Alex did well at home with the boys- he decided he wants to be a stay-at-home dad...

My growing boys

First things first. I had to show off my boys. Nathan turned 3 in January and Jared is 14 months old. They both have red hair like me. Poor boys... they may not like having red hair, but I think they'll actually be quite handsome. Jared is walking now, toddling around. And Nathan talks up a storm. They're keeping me busy. How do they have so much energy?

Welcome

Well, I decided to try this blogging thing out. We'll see how it goes...I'm still trying to figure everything out. Anyway, welcome to my blog spot!
I am excited to make new connections and strengthen relationships with family and friends. I can't promise consistency, but I'll do my best. I do have to say I was a little discouraged when I first tried to set up my site. Of course the first thing you have to establish is a title and blog address. It was like trying to DEFINE yourself in one word or so. I gave up on my 1st try. I finally came up with "RedsDirt"- cheesy I know, but I guess it fits. My red hair is a distingushing feature. And in middle school, one of my basketball coaches actually called me "Red." And what I'll be sharing and what everyone posts is "dirt." So I hope you enjoy my "dirt" and I'm excited to read the "dirt" on you.