OK...just a FEW MORE YOUTH CONFERENCE

Dodgeball,Save the Baby, Steena the Sweet, the Cooks,"night, night"

More YOUTH CONFERENCE

Leg wrestling, dance off, cards, spider web game....

YOUTH CONFERENCE

Our theme for Youth Conference was being COMMITED to standing STEADFAST and IMMOVABLE(CSI)in living the gospel of Jesus Christ. We left Friday at 4 and took about 60 youth and 12 leaders to a cabin up Timberlake in Heber. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!!! The cabin was gorgeous, the setting was breath taking. Sue and Jerry Rapier came JUST to cook. We walked in to the smell of tri tip steak grilling and cream cheese brownies...um..I'm never going to get these new 8 pounds off. The food all weekend was AMAZING!! Johnny Harline came to speak to them that night (YEP! THE JOHNNY HARLINE!!! Even the girls who weren't so football crazy seemed to know who he was)
It was fun to be there with Spencer and Sam...Josh didn't come up until saturday because of his Senior Dinner Dance. It was wierd to think of Don home ALONE...but he assured me that there was NOTHING wierd about it...just very NICE.
I'm only going to include a few of my pictures here. I'll start another BLOG and dump ALL of the pictures there for you girlies...and I'll put all of our other class pictures up there as well.

Saturday we did alot of team building games and activities and then paralled them back to life and the priorities we can choose from. We talked about being the difference in other people's lives. We sledded and boarded and played cards and stayed up way too late!!! it snowed again Saturday night so getting all the cars out was a nightmare...they got the kids home just in time for another 3 hours of church...just a few slept through the last 2!!
Anyone planning a YC...this was a great weekend and I'd love to share the plan so you don't have to reinvent the wheel!

Vote for SAM He's the MAN!!!

My buttons were busting this morning as I went with Sam to help him put up his election posters...all the kids were so happy to see him and stopping to talk. Then, as we went back to retape one of the posters, a group of about 6 girls were ahead of us and saw his poster and one said "I LOVE SAM Harris!!!" and the rest agreed...Sam was blushing like crazy and then when they truned around and saw us THEY were blushing!!! It's pretty darn great to be the mom of such MAGNIFICENT children!

I will admit that last night when he wanted help with his posters and I moaned and said.."Sam, please give me a 1/2 hour...I've been running straight for 4 days with Youth Conference and church and dinner...and do you KNOW HOW MANY ELECTIONS I've been through?" that was a rotten mom thing to say....not always easy to be the BABY! Thanks for the 1/2 hour Sam! Michael....we smiled and tried to think of all the campaign slogans....GOT MIKE? topped our list....lOVE YOU BUDDY!

SMELLS and your neck

My nose seemed to reach maximum sensitivity during pregancy...I could smell PEOPLE before I could see them! This is true! 13 years later and I still can't eat at Burger King due to a pregnancy SMELL issue. Then after years of allergy problems my nose seems dead most of the time. But every now and then for blips I get these amazing scent"sations" and I am almost startled that I am smelling.(Okay, I can AWLAYS smell my rolls baking...ummmmmm)Anyway.Since I was a little girl one of my favorite places on the human body is the crook of someone's neck...it's warm and soft and has their smell. I LOVE a babies neck...you KNOW WHY they call it their "Sugar" in the south. When I was a teenager I loved the smell of BRECK shampoo... it is unfathomable to me that they no longer make it. If you know me well at all you know I LOVE Johnson and Johnson Baby Lotion--and yes I know it's some mothering psychological deep stuff thing...but REAL to me none the less. I LOVE THAT SMELL!!! And a fresh bathed baby with that smell....heaven. Well, Johnson and Johnson has done it again, I just wish it were in a bottle or in a form that would last...I LOVE the smell of their Daily Pore facial cleanser. Yea, really.
This is a commercial. GO get some. I use it as a body wash. Just thought you'd at least like a sweet momentary whiff the next time you are in the grocery store. And there a few people out there that I haven't had any "sugar" from lately...ahem...Drew, Laikyn,Haven, Elle, Austin, Audry, Issac, William, Jax, Annie (NO you are NOT TOO OLD) Katie, Sam and Mollie.....

Grateful

I woke up with such a bad headache. Excederin is great stuff. SO is sleep. SO is working real estate at home in your sweats. SO are the clients on the other end of the phone who wouldn't care even if they knew you were in your sweats! Just feeling deeply deeply grateful to BE today. Grateful to have a head that can ache, to live in a world of generous, smart, kind, serving PEOPLE who test, study and invent all sorts of things to make our hurts go away. So glad to be a PERSON among PEOPLE, and hope that I can contribute as well.

Now Reading

I am only a few chapters in but already I am LOVING the way this guy's mind works. I love to get inside other peoples "worked out" thoughts...so far, I highly suggest it.
Hoping for sunshine and all they predict is rain possibly snow. They could be wrong..

HAPPY 51st BIRTHDAY ESPOSO XXOOXX

Breakfast in bed with an e-mail from Michael was a fun start for the day! We LOVE you honey.XXXOOOXXX. THANK YOU for sharing 25(6) years of your life with me. Thank you for all the love and happiness and goodness and kindness and FUN that you've given me. Thank you for choosing me out of all the other girls on the planet. Thank you for the years and years of hard work to keep us fed and enjoying life. Thank you for continuing to help me learn about love.

EASTER DAY PHOTOS

Hello Boise Family!!! Just proof that Dad really came! Hope everyone had a lovely Easter Day with lots of treats and yummy dinners.

Happy Easter!!!

This little sparrow is STILL trying to get into my office with me...we are great friends now and I will be sorely disappointed when he quits trying.

Don's Dad has been with us this week---he is a dear, sweet, kind, thoughtful soul and it has been a pleasure to have him. He's been VERY patient with all the kids in and out and LOUD and wrestling and eating and laughing and yelling.....

We have a new favorite game...Megan taught us last night--- it is called SETTLERS of CATAN...you MUST try it...and I would personally be thrilled to teach you!!! Come on over.

I just started a book by David Ramsey...you are all probably very familiar with him from his talk show...but I'm a little behind the times...I am LOVING what he says even though I'm not sure I'm tough enough to do what he says...but I'm gonna try.
Anybody else on his road? I'd love to talk to you for support.

Yesterday was wierd...no one to hide eggs for...yep...felt sorry for myself. Even drove to Lindon park to WaTCH the kids ...but NO HUNT...so I just prayed for grand kids. No pressure children.

Being Easter, I would like to add my testimony of gratitude and love for a Savior who loves me even when I don't understand it or all that He has done for me. I think we all are just starved for the way God's love feels. I know He sent His son to help us remember. I want to love like them.

TGIF

Workin on it....

St. Patrick's Day Family Home Evening with the Hulsey's

Tonight was a riot! Our neighbors the Hulsey's came for a GREEN dinner to celebrate St. Patrick's Day and to dye Easter Eggs...which we ALL LOVE to do. Damon Hulsey (Dad) is on his way to Iraq for his second time right now and will be gone over a year. He has only been gone 3 weeks. WE MISS YOU DAMON!!! I'll try to get Adam "river dancing" and doing push ups for you on video... Michael...you are probably surprised at how big they all are! Check out the SWEET look on Maren's face in the picture, she was BORN an ANGEL!!!

I saved some dye packets Michael if you want to catch up on the egg dying in July:)

In honor of St. Patrick's Day...I just want to mention my 5th Great GrandFather, Francis Moran B.1817, who was a wealthy rubber baron and owned some of the most sought after property in Brookly and Manhattan. His Brooklyn home sat across the Bay from his Manhattan docks where his import fleets would come into port.He spoke oveor 7 languages. He was an amazing man and left ALOT of money with instructions for the good it was to do...unfortunately the next 4 generations drank it all away. Francis raised the money after coming to America as a very young man (17) to bring his parents and all 9 siblings to the United States. Only one sister went back to County Donegal--Katharine. Francis Moran is one of my life hero's and he is dang proud that the alcholic cycle has been broken. Proud to be Irish!!!

My MANLY MAN

Josh may kill me for this,...BUT...he got home at 2;30AM from his choir tour this morning...slept in until 10am when he came so happily into my office to greet me...I was SHOCKED...he always shaves so I have never seen him with a two day growth...well...here it is....so HARD to believe that this is my Baby!!!!IT was a good thing I snapped this photo when I did...the next time he came up he was all clean shaven again.

I AM SO LOVED!!! Another BEST FRIEND

There just aren't words in my brain to adequetely describe my feelings...this is when I wish I one of those other amazing word miracle workers that know how to help the reader (you) feel what is really in their (my) heart. So, as close as I can get is I LOVE JAMIE and SHE LOVES ME!!!! We have known each other 21 years (maybe more) and it was love at first meeting. Me being from Florida and her from Georgia made an immediate connection...but pretty much we must have known each other in another life because we have always just "known" each other. This is a girl who gets ME...and still likes me. We laugh and laugh and the world as we see it together is a pretty lovely place. I love how she does that---makes everything seem SO OKAY. Even when we go for a few months without getting together (which is ridiculous and I vow to repent) we pick up where we left off. I swear I could talk to her the rest of my life. Jamie had us over tonight for my birthday dinner...yes late, but with all our kids that we even got together is a miracle. She had home grown steak, twice baked potatoes, Georgia Mac n' Cheese, broccoli, fruit, rolls and then my favorite sugar cookies AND this killer new cake for dessert. That's love. And I love being loved by her.
[Michael...check out Ray (6ft 2) and James...unbelievable what 2 years has grown those boys into huh?....and Ashley! She'll go to BYU Provo this fall. Sam is out playing basketball in the snow so he missed the picture and Josh is on Choir Tour until early this am so he missed the whole thing. All is great with them. You will come home on Jamie's birthday!!!]

THE REAL HARRIS FAM

Okay Michael...this are for you. I pulled them off of MEGAN's facebook site. I wasn't sure if you go there or not...you should. Megan is best at getting the real "US" on film...so I decided to pull these over. THis was Spencer's birthday dinner...and yea, we MISSED YOU!!!!