Well into the Holidays!

Let's see...some things that have happened since I last wrote (I'm getting lazy!).  I got to go to Time Out for Women in Phoenix.  That was fun.  I hitched a ride with a lady in our ward and her sister and mom.  It was really fun getting to know them.  Her poor mom was sick on the way down and we had to stop a couple of times so she could do some business on the side of the road.  Luckily it was from her medication she was taking and not an actual bug!  I got to hang out with my friend from Mesa.  She just recently got divorced and so it was good to spend time with her and see how things are going.  I am just reminded how lucky I am to have a husband that continually wants to do what is right and do his best and even when he finds out he's wrong, he does everything he can to make it right.  I really am blessed!  Anyway, it was fun hanging out with the girls (Scott's sisters and cousin).  We always like to hang out :)  A couple weeks later, we went down to Phoenix for Thanksgiving.  We had a good Thanksgiving.  We went to Phoenix.  We really enjoyed our time there.  I think because we can't go anywhere as often as we used to be able to, we seem to soak up the time we are able to be with family and friends.  It is hard, though, because it never seems like we have enough time to sit and chat with everyone individually.  The girls didn't do their annual shopping and breakfast because we recently found out that some of the guys really don't like when we do that (haha...I don't know why?!?).  So, instead, we decided that we would rather sleep in and go shopping that night instead...so we did.  Around 10:00 pm some of us went.  I went to Khol's and the line was ridiculous!  It was probably an hour and a 1/2 wait in line.  It was PACKED!  Anyway, I found my nieces in line and gave them my extra debit card and they purchased the items for me so that we could go to Target and Walmart.  That was so nice!  It seemed good because the next day we were able to hang out more with everyone, although, Scott and I went and saw his dad for 3 hours.  It was good and he is happy.  His wife, Ivy (or Terry), is very musically inclined and she played some of her music that she has written.  We enjoyed our visit.  It definitely is different than it was with Ruth, but I realized while sitting there that they are happy and being watched over, and for that I am grateful.  We went and saw "Frozen".  It was entertaining and cute.  We also found out that Chris and his new wife (married in July) are expecting their first child 3 months after Amy (Chris's mom) is due!  We are excited for them all.  Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving...

Calvin entertaining himself while waiting to eat 

Ashton sitting with Heidi's neighbor, Will, who joined our family for the day

Played lots of Volleyball and other sports

We were conversing about reading Grandma Bowler/Jacobson's personal history...great read!

The spread 

Some of the cousins (Dallen in the middle of them)

Ashton showing off his volleyball skills

the players (most constant ones, anyway)

Planning our shopping trips

We really had a good time.  Then we went home and it seemed like the world was falling around us for the day!  Our car broke down on the way home.  We found out it was the power steering pump (didn't know there was such a thing) and that was $400.  Then we went to check on the animals and found out that all but two of the chickens had been eaten.  Something broke through the chicken wire and ate them all.  One that was injured, died in the coop and the kid watching our animals tried to save it, but Shep was protecting it and he couldn't, so it died.  The other two were injured, but seemed to be doing okay.  Then the next day, I came home from work and the chicken pen was open!  I had specifically told the kids to leave them in so that they could heal.  We had no idea where they were.  Then Dallen went to the neighbor's house and their dog had half our chicken.  We didn't know how she got it and we had no idea where the last one was.  Around 9 that night, we checked to see if she had tried to come back to the pen, and sure enough, there she was.  She was injured REALLY bad.  She ended up dying a couple days later.  We learned that the neighbor dogs had learned how to open the pen through the door that we have and they got in again, after I had gotten some more chickens on Facebook (for free!).  Two more down!  So, now we have the pellet gun out and these chickens squawk really loud, so we know when something is there.  Sure enough, today, I heard them squawking and Dallen ran out there with his gun and started shooting at the dumb dogs...they were back.  I am not sure what we are going to do, but for now this is working.  I'm hoping that with enough pellets in the butt, they will get the message.  If it's not the neighbor dogs, it's the coyotes or the hawks...joys of living in the country!  The poor kid watching the animals felt so bad.  He thought it was his fault...what?!? Shauna got out (phone call on the way home from Phoenix) and he thought that was his fault, too, but the strap we had holding the gate broke, and so his father helped him make something more secure.  Crazy week, for sure!  We were sad that all the chickens were gone.  We really liked collecting the eggs.  These new ones are more wild and they look like a cross between a road runner and a chicken.  They haven't started laying, yet, and I'm not sure when they will.  They are about 9 months old, but they are a different breed than before, so I am not sure what to expect.  But, they were free and if anything, we'll have some nice chickens for food storage :)

Boys are doing good.  Calvin is playing basketball (well, hopefully...he had a fall-out with the "friend" that is in charge of the team and he hasn't been telling Calvin when the games are...kind of a bummer).  Ashton is getting good at driving.  Only 6 more months until Scott takes his Funeral Director license exam.  I am excited that it will be more "final".  We are so grateful for all of this experience, though.  It's been one of our hardest, yet best journeys!   

This last month...

Time really flies!  First, let's start with my birthday :)  I turned 41 this year (yay!).  I have amazing friends here and was SO touched that they would want to surprise me for my birthday.  I had planned on going to lunch with Brittney (not shown in the pictures because she was the one taking the pictures!) the day before my birthday and so I worked that morning and then went to lunch with her.  Just before I left work, my boss, Tamra, sprinted out the door (which she does often) and I didn't think anything of it.  Anyway, we went to Celebrations (one of my favorite places) and I walk in and there were about 10 of my friends that came to celebrate my birthday with me.  I was so surprised and didn't expect it at all.  Scott told me later, that my friend, Rinda, had been planning it for a month.  I was so excited because I got a couple Willow figurines and some hand soap and a lot of my favorite candy/chocolate.  It was such a good time.

Then the next week, Scott was AMAZING because he and Dallen collected (pulled out and removed) t-posts and fencing and then came to our house and installed it all so that we could get the horse over on our property since she was still at our neighbor's house (3 weeks longer than we thought she'd be).  We were able to install 650 ft of fencing for $10.  What a blessing!!!  If people don't believe in tithing, then they need to come talk to us!  We are living proof that it works and never in ways that you would imagine.  We just kept praying that there would be a way for us to come up with the money to provide a fence for the horse and then Scott's boss was getting rid of all his fencing, but didn't want to pull it because it wasn't worth the trouble, but we were motivated.  It is so awesome!  

Our friend came with his tractor after being at his kid's soccer games and dug holes for the corner posts and moved them around for us.  It would have taken Scott SO long to do and it was such a blessing.  He then moved a whole truck load of gravel that we found on the property, which was also a huge blessing because we needed to protect the asphalt driveway.  So, Scott did most of it and Dallen and I helped for about 1/3 of the fencing.  You can kinda see the fencing here with Dallen and Shauna.  She is liking her new home :)

Speaking of tithing working...Dallen needed glasses and so we called the insurance to see where to take him.  The closest place was Flagstaff!  By the time we paid for gas and everything, we would have paid the same amount as just taking him to Wal-mart in Show Low.  I was discouraged and just decided that we would need to just sacrifice something in order to get it done.  We have an optometrist in our ward and Scott was by his office in Pinetop.  He just wanted to see what they charged because half the ward goes to them.  His wife said "I would love to trade Amy's bread for Dallen's glasses"...what?!?!  Heck yah!!!  So, that is what we are doing.  It seems like a lot of bread, but considering I make it weekly anyway and they only want a couple loaves a week (they like it fresh), it will take less than a year and I am fine with that and she is super happy!  What a blessing!!!  So, Dallen is wearing contacts now and so happy he can see.  He has glasses, but NONE of his friends will wear them and so he won't.  But, that's okay...at least we have them just in case!

 Then, it was Calvin's birthday.  He turned 18!!!  He decided that he wanted to go to a Phoenix Suns vs the Oklahoma City Thunder pre-season game in Phoenix. One of his favorite players is on the Thunder and he wanted to see them.  I will have to get pictures from him with that.  So, he got his birthday money early and bought the tickets and was so excited.  He and two of his friends were having a long weekend in the Valley for his birthday (it was Fall Break).  So, the morning of his birthday, we got up and had a birthday breakfast and sent him on his way...He went shopping and saw family while he was there.  He had a really good time.  It will be a birthday he will NEVER forget.

 Then came our next project.  I had seen on Pinterest (Scott's favorite words!) a barn made from pallets.  Pallets are everywhere around here and people and businesses are always giving them away...so Scott was, again, AWESOME and rounded some up so that we could build a barn for Dallen's saddle and tack and then a place for Shauna to go if the weather was too bad (which this year is supposed to be bad and I REALLY spoil our animals...I just can't help it!).  So, the smaller picture is the pile (that was only 1/2 of what was gathered!), then next picture is 1/2 built by lunch time.  The chickens were even liking the new place!  We had the cats, dogs, chickens and horse hanging out with us while we were working.  It was pretty entertaining!.  By dinner, we were done for the day.  We still need to put up siding and paint it, but that will have to wait until this next weekend or so.  I will post pictures of the finished product.  I then found out that it is a little bigger than what is allowed (we built 13 x 10 and we are allowed 10 x 10).  So, we will need to go talk to the County about having it there and how we didn't realize it needed a permit.  Hopefully they will be understanding?!?  Mostly we have to do that if they neighbor makes a complaint and then it is backed by having already filed it with the county.

Below are pictures into our funny life.  At least we think it's funny!  This is what was going on while we were building the barn.

Chickens letting us hold them

Collecting eggs :)

This is for Alec...this is his chicken

This is for Alec, too...don't you just miss this face?!?

Cats and chickens hanging out together

Happiest dog on earth :)

Here the happiest dog is with his new best friend (whether she likes it or not!)

the horse, chicken, and dog all sharing alfalfa pellets (weird dog!) 

Ashton and Dallen...just starting

  Yesterday we carved pumpkins.  Scott did a tribute to Pinterest considering he had learned some new tricks from Pinterest on how to carve a pumpkin and then also all the projects I have him doing from the site.  He really gets worried when I say "I saw this cool thing on Pinterest", but it can't be all bad because he still does them for me :).  Dallen did a headless horseman and then funny thing is that when he was printing off the picture, he asked Ashton "Where's his head?", not realizing that he was doing the "HEAD LESS" horseman.  We had a good laugh.  Calvin did his favorite band's album cover and Ashton messed up on his and decided to destroy the pumpkin.  

this is what Scott learned from Pinterest

Pinterest logo :)

Ashton and Calvin

Dallen

Dallen's pumpkin (headless horseman)

Calvin's pumpkin (Common Courtesy - from A Day to Remember)

I think that catches us all up.  Storms are starting to blow in and winter is getting closer.  As you can see, we are doing well and keeping our heads above water :)

This last week...

We had the opportunity to go to the County Fair this week.  Everything seems to shut down around town when the fair is going on.  Almost all the friend's kids are in 4-H and have some part in the fair, so we decided to go see what it was all about.  I remember going to the Tulsa State Fair once.  It was HUGE to me and a lot of fun.  I will always remember funnel cakes and rides.  Well, this was no different because there were funnel cakes and rides.  We were told that the best day to go was Thursday because the ticket bands for the rides were cheaper and we knew that the kids' friends were going to be there with their livestock and so we decided to go on Thursday.  It was fun because I think 1/2 the people there were from our ward and it was a lot of fun.  Every ride spun and Calvin was done after 1 hour, but Dallen and Ashton were determined to go all 3 hours it was open.  Scott and I walked around the fair.  It was fun because we actually knew people who had entered their stuff.  We were looking at people who had entered their vegetables and I was talking about our friend who had grown this gorgeous white pumpkin that I had never seen before and I looked over and said, "like this one!".  Scott looked at the tag, and it was our friend's pumpkin!  We were so excited for him because it won 1st place and best of show ribbons.  He had other vegetables (onions and cabbage) that also won 1st place in their categories.  They had an ugliest cake contest and lots of different art.  Heck, it made be want to enter something!  It was fun to look at.  Scott and I got a funnel cake and it was a really good night.

We left the fair and headed home, about a 1/2 hour drive.  Dallen's friend came with us and we were almost to Calvin's work to pick up his car when..."bluck..."  Dallen threw up in the car!  He gave us no warning!  Luckily we were just pulling into Calvin's work, so I had him open the door to the restaurant so we could get paper towels and water to clean it up enough to get home (we still had 10 minutes in the car!)  As we were cleaning up, Ashton starts throwing up in the parking lot.  Luckily I didn't have to clean that up, too!  Scott and I decided we got our money's worth out of that night because they rode rides for 3 hours and then threw up which meant they used every ounce of fun for the night that they could and they will probably never want to do that again.

Dallen took Shauna out for a couple rides this week.  He really loves having the availability to ride her.  Cody Hancock came over and is going to help us get the fence up.  He said, "oh yah, this is no big deal.  We'll have it up in 2 days"...I think it would take us more like 2 weeks without his help!  Anyway, here are a couple pictures of him with Shauna...

Dallen with Shauna (and Shep) getting her ready to ride

Going on a trot around the yard (second time out for a ride)

This was a couple days after he had gotten her.  She did awesome on her first ride out.  Dallen's friend, Calvin, riding his horse, Flash.  Flash and Shauna have been "speaking" to each other across the road and they did awesome riding together.  Shauna did give Flash a little kick to warn her not to get too close, but other than that, they did great.  Dallen is so happy he can ride with his friends.  They like to go often.

The rest of us are doing good.  Ashton and Calvin have taken up drawing.  They are really good and it's exciting to see.  I will post pictures of Calvin's drawings (Ashton's too embarrassed right now).  He has to bring them home from school.    

Our Collection of Animals!

This post is mostly for our records and for Jenette and Craig ;)  I was talking with Jenette about all our animals that we seem to have and that I couldn't believe we are getting a horse.  But, knowing me, I am not surprised and actually, it all makes me SO happy.  Scott just smiles at me because I dance around when I talk about my animals (ok, not really, but close!).  Jenette mentioned, too, that she and Craig thought I needed to do a post about all our animals and take pictures all in one post.  I love, especially, that I have a couple sons that love them just as much as I do.  Dallen, though, has taken it one step further and any money he might get goes toward an animal.  So, all but Shep, the cats, and the chickens (although Dallen claims the cats and chickens are his, too, but knows Shep is mine and Alec's baby), Dallen owns all the rest of the animals at our house!

Our un-named rabbit

Angel

Shep

Copper and Hooch

The chickens...now currently laying eggs!!!!!

The Turtle in his new home

Dallen's fish (Blue Gill he caught at the lake and a sucker fish)

the hamster

Swannee, the Gerbil

Shauna, Dallen's latest purchase (with her fly mask on)

Last night he was able to finally purchase Shauna, his horse.  She is actually in the next door neighbor's corral because we have a friend that is taking down his old fencing and putting up new and wanted to know if we wanted it (tithing really works!!!) and so we are patiently waiting until all that happens.  It is the County Fair this week and so it won't be happening for at least a week.  Our neighbor, Marcie, is a friend who I met because I visit teach her.  I also have helped her out with her kids (Carson - 8 and Dylan - 2).  Dallen had noticed that Marcie had a corral and fenced area for horses or cattle and so he was brave and asked Carson what the deal was with that and it used to be his dad's and now that they are divorced, it doesn't get used. So, then I asked Marcie (Dallen was too scared) if we could possible house her there until our fence got done and she was happy to do it.  So, last night we brought her over in between rain storms and she was CRYING!!!  It was so sad and she was wailing so loud.  My heart was breaking and Toni, whom we bought her from, had to leave quickly because it was tearing her heart out.  She is as tender about her animals as Dallen is.  He purchased her for $200.00.  She is 19 years old and perfect for a first time, recreational rider.  She has a fun personality (loves to dunk her head in water when she is getting a drink!) and make faces when she gets the mosquito spray put on her.  Toni bought her first horse at Dallen's age for $200.00 and thought it was fair.  She also had an extra saddle that is perfect for him and sold that to him for $80.00.  He worked and saved since last October and earned over $350.  He bought a horse, saddle (and all the tack), and boots.  It is SO cute to me!  Anyway, I will have to take a picture of him on her, but he wants to wait a week to ride her because Toni said it takes about that long until she stops crying and is doing good.  Shauna is doing really good today and Dallen has gone over to visit her three times today and fed her and talked with her.  She was "talking" to the horses across the street (Flash and Duke) and making friends already.  The fun thing is that those are Dallen's friend's horses and so she will most likely be riding along with them.  She has a sore eye right now (not shown, but has a patch on the other eye) because one of the colts she lived with in Toni's pasture accidentally kicked her in the eye as he was playing around.  So, she has to wear this patch for about 4-6 weeks and we have to check it weekly to make sure it's not getting any worse, but Toni thinks she should heal fine and so does the vet, so we'll just keep our eye (no pun intended) on her.  Anyway, those are our animals while we are here in Taylor Arizona.

Birthdays!

We have recently had a few birthdays and I need to mention them!!!

Scott and Alec had their birthdays (August 26th).  This is the first time in 19 years that Scott has had the day to himself.  We missed blowing out of two sets of candles (Scott's and Alec's), but we did it in spirit :).  All Scott wanted for his day was lasagna for dinner and homemade lemon-meringue pie (which I haven't made for years because I never feel I get the meringue just right).  I got a banana cream pie, too just because Ashton and I don't care for lemon-meringue.  Here is the pie(s) and Scott on his 42nd birthday

Alec, for his birthday, well...I'm not sure what he did all day.  He never said (typical Alec), but we had a Sister in his ward (the Bishop's wife) who was just called as Ward Missionary and assigned to make sure the Elders are fed each week for dinner appts and that day, no one had been able to sign up and so she took them to Subway because she had a crazy day and couldn't make them a meal with her family.  Then she found out that it was Alec's birthday and felt really bad and wished she had known.  I am grateful, though, that she was kind enough to send me pictures of him on his 19th birthday.  She'll never know how much I appreciate her doing that!  Here is Alec at Subway on his 19th birthday...

For Alec's birthday, I sent him a box filled with balloons that were filled with money and candy as well as brownies he could make for his "cake" and candles.  I assume he liked it.  He never said :).  Then 10 days later...Derrek had his 20th birthday!  We are one less teenager!  I made sure Derrek's box, like Alec's, was there on time and it came the day before his birthday.  His birthday was on transfer day and the mission home said they would try their best to make sure he got the box.  Then there is a Sister in Columbus Ohio area that delivers cakes, balloons and goodies to the Missionaries, if their mom lets them know it's their birthday.  So, I got brave and texted her and asked and she called me a little later to get details about Derrek.  It was really fun talking to her and I now have a new friend :).  She is retired, grown kids, and single and so she said it gives her great joy to be able to do this for moms.  She was the beneficiary of this act of kindness when her son was serving in the Oklahoma City Mission years ago.  After she delivered the goodies to Derrek, that night, she sent pictures and then she called me and was thanking ME for the opportunity to do that for Derrek and how much she benefited and was blessed by the experience.  What?!?  I couldn't believe she was thanking me!  Here are pictures she sent of Derrek...

This is Tina...the angel!

Later that day, Mike Wihl texted and said Derrek was standing there and to tell us that he had a great day and thanking us for all we do for him.  I was relieved that he had a good day.