What color are you?

How fun! I saw this on Shamae's blog & had to try it!

You Are a Yellow Crayon

Your world is colored with happy, warm, fun colors. You have a thoughtful and wise way about you. Some people might even consider you a genius. Charming and eloquent, you are able to get people to do things your way. While you seem spontaneous and free wheeling, you are calculating to the extreme. Your color wheel opposite is purple. You both are charismatic leaders, but purple people act like you have no depth.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Hey, you gotta try!

This website is offering a chance to win a free handbag. They are super cute. You don't have to put any information except your first name and email address. Give it a try! http://www.handbagplanet.com

Really, this speaks for itself...

Yes, it is early October.
Yes, Distric soccer tournaments started for Josh today.
Yes, that is snow.
Let me say it again, in case you don't believe me.
Yes, that is snow. In fact, during the game,

Another niece wedding

So I mentioned that one of my nieces got married in July & posted photos. Val & Kurt are doing super well & are expecting their first child! We are excited to return to Boise next summer to attend their sealing with them!

I had another niece get married in September in western Washington. Unfortunately, due to finances, we were not able to afford to be there with them. I was so sad that I couldn't attend the wedding, but hope that Elise knows that our hearts were there with her that day!



Also, I don't think I've ever mentioned it, but I have another niece who's been married for about a year. She is my oldest brother's daughter from his first marriage. After their divorce, her mother took her to live in Denmark, where she was from. Unfortunately, we have never had the opportunity to know Carrie very well, but we sure love her a ton. She is my oldest niece. She and Joseph got married in the Denmark temple. I told my mom that I think Carrie looks just like the photos I see of my mom when she was that age!

Breathtaking Beauty

So some of you may not know that I was born & raised until the age of 14 in Connecticut. My family has roots generations and generations deep in New England. I have lived in Idaho for going on 16 years now & while there is much about it I love, I miss New England & a large part of my heart is still there.

There are times that I think that I have seen all the beauty there is to see in this state. And every time I think that, I do something like I did last week. I had to go to Logan for more insurance inspections, so I took a day off work & talked my mom into coming with me. This is actually my tricky way of getting chauffered to my appointments! Anyway, somehow, in all the time that I have lived here, I have never been to Bear Lake. But I had to go to Soda Springs before going to Logan, so we decided to drive along the lake. The sheer beauty of the lake with the mountains behind it were breath-taking. We then turned & went through the Cache Valley National Forest(I think that was the name) and went through the Logan Canyon. It was the most gorgeous drive I have made in a really long time.




These photos are from the drive through Logan Canyon.





Of course, there's no way I could fail to mention that we got to see one of my very favorite temples. I just love the Logan temple. I think it is just gorgeous and I can never go to Logan without going to see the temple.

I know, I know, I've been severly lacking in my posting. I only wish I had a cool reason for it. But I don't. I've just been finding myself overwhelmed & feeling like I just can't keep up on everything. I've been letting things go & blogging is one of those things. The bad thing, and what I have to change is that I've been letting slide alot of the things that I really enjoy & that I think help to keep me (somewhat) sane. I've got alot of choices in front of me & a lot of things on my plate. But I promise I'll start blogging again!

But I'm going to start tomorrow. For tonight, I have a headache & I'm going to bed.

Chicken Palace Update

Have I ever mentioned that I hate chickens? If not, then here goes. I hate chickens. They are ugly little creatures. They are dirty. The only things they have going for them are that they lay eggs, which I like & they taste good. But, like it or not, we have these chickens that we are building a home for. And this little chicken house is another bone of contention. I call it the chicken palace because we're making it so dang fancy! But the important thing is that it's almost done & we should be ready to move the chickens in on Monday or Tuesday! Yay! Of course, they won't start laying for a couple more months, but that's OK.

The only thing left to do is a little bit of the roof, putting the siding on & fitting the doors in. I'm told that most of it should be done tomorrow. I love going off to work & coming home to see how much they've gotten done.

These photos were taken around Wednesday.

This is my mom admiring their hard work.


This is Josh working with our wonderful Bishop, who is a builder by profession. He's been awesome about working with Josh to help him build a terrific building.



The two photos above were taken yesterday morning. I thought I had pictures from yesterday afternoon showing the roof & the rest of the siding, but I guess not. I'll have to take photos tomorrow & add them!

Crazy fun weekend

What a fun, crazy, busy, fun weekend I am getting home from today! My niece got married this weekend. I had insurance inspections to do in Boise, so we decided it was a great idea to combine the two! I actually started on Thursday, by dragging my mom with me up to Jackson Hole to do an inspection. We made the mistake of going through Driggs to get to Jackson. Let me first say, we do not go to Jackson very often & did not realize that this would take us over a huge mountain with a very steep pass! It was a little bit scary, but this view sooooo made it worth while!

And then on Friday morning, we left for Boise. Most of Friday was work, as I had inspections to do. I was in the McCall area for the afternoon & it is so pretty up there! I had forgotten that there is a huge lake in McCall. Of course, I had to whip out the camera & take pictures of everything! I don't go up there very often & wanted to be able to remember how pretty it is.




So, once we realized that we were going to be there three nights, as we arrived on Friday & came home today, we got to looking at prices. We realized that we were going to pay almost $200 for a hotel room & we could camp at a very nice campground in Fruitland for $60. For the whole weekend. That was a no brainer for us! We like to camp & so we decided to camp. It is a beautiful park like campground with lots of trees & grass. There was tons of room for Josh to play soccer, which he wouldn't have had at the hotel. As long as Josh can play soccer, he is happy. Not only that, but right across from where we were camped, they had a great clubhouse with a living room area, a kitchen, and a pool table. So I'm not sure how close we really were to actual camping. Yeah, we slept in a tent, but we have a huge tent, we all had mattresses, we had cable TV, full electricity, and a full kitchen to cook in. It was my idea of camping! They also had this sweet cat that lives at the campground. He was super sweet & apparently took a real liking to us, as he was with us all weekend! I seriously thought about sneaking him into the car & bringing him home with us.


And then, we had the main event! My niece Valerie is such a sweet girl. She's always been super quiet & never really seemed to know where she fit in to things. She met this wonderful young man, Kurt, who has been absolutely wonderful for her. I saw a totally different young lady this weekend. She was outgoing, confident, and so sure of herself. A big part of that change is due to the influence that Kurt has had on her. I am so pleased with her choice in a partner & can't wait to go back to Boise a year from now for their temple sealing!!!

The beautiful couple during the ceremony.

Most of the family during pictures

With Val's dad & stepmom

Getting ready to cut the cake

One of Kurt's cute little nephews on the tire swing that they had in the yard of the B&B where the wedding was held. These darling little boys loved swinging on it & picked Josh as their favorite pusher. I think he spent over an hour pushing them!

This is how Josh travels...either watching movies on the laptop or sleeping. No wonder he enjoys going on trips so much!

The Great Annual Melaleuca Picnic!

Yes, it is that time of year again. We had our company picnic today. I love this picnic each year. It's a terrific thing that my company does for us. This year, for the first time, we had the picnic at Riverbend Ranch, the cattle ranch that the owner of our company owns. It was actually really cool to be there. It was way bigger than the place where we've had it in the past, so there was tons more room to spread out.

My company has about 2000 employees. Each year, we have a terrific summer family picnic completely funded by the company. They give everyone who attends Melaleuca bracelets, little cowboy hats for the kids, balloons, and sometimes t-shirts. There is a huge meal of potato salad, fruit salad, baked beans, BBQ sandwiches, chips, and ice cream. And the best part is that they roast about 20 big pigs & the management team carves them up for the employees. They bring in ferris wheel type rides, and the big blow up toys like slides, obstacle courses, those boxing things, climbing walls, etc. There's a water zone with pools for the kids, slip 'n slides, etc. They have some ponies there for pony rides for the kids. We have softball and volleyball tournaments. And then there are the prizes. Frank does a prize drawing at the picnic. Now, we are not talking about a couple of small items. I'll put photos of the prizes. We are talking basketball hoops, patio sets, family size tents, electric griddles, laptops, i-Pods, docking stations, PlayStations, Guitar Hero, power tools, propane grills, Wiies, airline tickets, ect. And then there are two grand prizes...a trip for 4 to DisneyLand, and a Caribbean cruise for 2. Unfortunately, I did not go home with any prizes, but it was still really fun to watch the prize drawing & see some of my friends win!

It was a beautiful day, with a great breeze and was so much fun! As usual, we returned home tired & worn out, but so glad we went!!
These are those cute little hats they give out!! Its adorable to see all these little kids running around with their straw cowboy hats!


These are the prizes...awesome, huh???


This is the food tent. You should see how fast those lines form when the lunch bell rings!!
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the unlimited snacks. Under this tent, there are unlimited sno-cones, popcorn, cotton candy, bottled water, and sodas & lemonades.

Some of my favorite people...
Michelle--not pleased that I surprised her with the photo.
Lucy
Debbie
Derik, serving his time in the dunk tank
In a move that I thought was really cool, Frank spent time this year coming around to different groups & just visiting. It was nice to spend a couple of relaxed minutes just visiting with him.
Oh yeah, and another really cool thing this year? For the first time ever, we had helicopter rides! Frank owns a helicopter, so we had contests throughout the company & those who qualified got to enter a drawing for a helicopter ride. I didn't win the drawing, but it was fun to talk to my friends who did. They said it was way fun & they really enjoyed it. Here's hoping my luck is better next year!
And, as always, Josh slept the whole way home, exhausted from a day of fun at the picnic(in the background behind his head, you can see the two beautiful lilies we bought at the Farmer's Market this AM before going to the picnic. I can't wait to get them planted, they're gorgeous!!!)

I wrap up my day today again thanking my blessings for being able to work for a company like Melaleuca. I get to go to a job each day for a company that I am proud to work for. I am grateful for the good people I work for and with & am thankful for all that Melaleuca has brought into my life!

Take a Stroll Down Memory Lane....

I saw this on someone else's blog & thought it looked fun! I hope you will play along.

Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.

It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments