Christmas...just barely!

The best christmas present for this year is the miracle of healing. My mother wasn't feeling well and thought it was the flu or a reaction to some antibiotics. She was admitted to the hospital in Lovell for dehydration issues. They fixed that but was stills having major issues with balance.
The doctor decided to order a CAT scan to see what was causing this. They found a very large tumor at the base of her brain. After more tests, she was flown to Denver to have surgery to get it taken out. I went with her on the airplane. That was not a fun experience and was glad that I hadn't eaten dinner that night. I stayed with her through the surgery and Gwen was able to be with her that night (Christmas eve) and is still with her. Jared came and stayed with me on Sunday and Monday. Mom really enjoyed having him, she focused on him while she was coming out of the anesthesia. She told me later that she didn't think she would have come back to us if it weren't for him being there.
Jared and I left Denver Monday night after we we sure she was ok. We got as far as Laramie that night. We needed four wheel drive pretty much from Denver to Casper. We were able to show up at our house by one in the afternoon. Spike and the boys had the house all spiffed up, dinner cooking and the presents ready to unwrap. Special thanks go out to friends and family who said prayers for us. Mom continues to do well. The surgery went very well and she could be home by the end of the week.

Denver

My mom has a meningeal tumor in her cerebellum. She is doing much better now that she is here in Denver and is taking steroids to take down some of the swelling. We hope that the surgery is scheduled for Monday. Life in the hospital is sort of slow. Gwen came down from Laramie today. That was really nice.

Big Sister!

Guess what? I'm going to be a big sister this summer:)

Choir Concert

This is Jacob dancing and singing during the middle school part of the concert.  Oh yeah, he's got the moves down!

This is a picture of the combined High School and Middle School Choirs.  The Swing choir bunched in with the middle school kids and the rest of the high school choirs stood at the side of the risers. Mat is in the picture along with Kane, Jacob, Dino, Cody and a bunch of others.

The Concert was held in the community center and included the middle school choirs, the high school regular choir, the women's choir and the high school swing choir.  The parking lot was absolutely packed.  We got there early so that we could get into the parking lot.  I honestly don't know where some people ended up parking their cars.  At first I thought that this was not a good idea but I think it was one of the best concerts I have been to.  Certainly, it would have been better if more of my kids were singing ;) but it was fun to see everyone and not just the middle school kiddo's.

Jacob wanted me to post these songs on youtube.  Here are some links if you want to listen.
 Christmas Medley Combined Choirs
Santa Clause is Coming to Town
Jingle Bell Jukebox

Christmas Decorations!

This is my attempt at brightening up the front hallway for Christmas.  I think I like it.

I noticed that the bottom part of the tree looks a little bare.  It got 'harvested' while Eve and Connor were still her at the Thanksgiving break.  Love those little fingers.

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Jacob thinks I am getting out of control with the Christmas decorations this year.  I wish my house could stay decorated for Christmas all year round.  Right now I think that.  The day after Christmas I am sick of it all and everything comes down.  Maybe this year will be different.  This year I am missing having kids home.  Jacob is here and we are really missing Mark.  Jared will be coming home for Christmas too.  That will be so very nice.

Washington Seattle Mission

We've been impatiently waiting for weeks. Mark's mission call finally arrived in the mail. He has been called to the Washington Seattle Mission and will report to the MTC in Provo on January 30, 2013. Woo hoo!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are not low carb.

I thought I would share my favorite recipe of all time for Chocolate Chip Cookies.

This makes a lot of cookies.  Since we only have Jacob home with us now and I really shouldn't be eating any, and Spike only likes to eat a few, we end up giving most of these cookies away.  It wouldn't be fair to Jacob to never make any so that's what I did this afternoon.  I am going to give a giant plateful to Mat Savage.  He came to our rescue Saturday.  We needed someone to let Molly out of her kennel and into her yard since we were in Worland for the day.  Molly loves Mat and didn't want to leave him.  He had to shove her outside.  Thanks for being my Hero For the Day!

1 Cup Margarine
1 Cup Crisco
1 1/2 Cups White Sugar
1 1/2 Cups Brown Sugar
2 tsp. Vanilla

At this point mix this all together well.  Make sure the margarine is a little cold. 

Add:
4 eggs and mix again.  Not very well, just to incorporate them together.

Add
4 1/2 Cups flour
2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt

Mix it but don't over mix it.

Add 1 bag of chocolate chips and just for fun sometimes I do half a bag of white chocolate and half a bag of semi sweet chocolate.  I think I like that best.

Put them on a cookie sheet and put them in a preheated to 375 degree oven for 9 minutes.

These are not too cakey or too chewy.  These are just right.

There are two things that are very important when making this cookie recipe.  The first is the Crisco/margarine ingredient.  They need to be even.  The other is to keep the dough cool.  When it is summertime, I usually keep the dough in the fridge until just before I put them in the oven.

Band Concert

Jacob had his first band concert last week.  He is playing the baritone.  Hmmm.  Carrying on the family tradition I guess.  I am just glad we already had one so we didn't have to buy.  Those can be expensive.  He uses one at school for the concert and he practices on ours at home. 

Jacob and Jack Steed doing some serious counting while the rest of the band plays.  Those two boys are lots of fun.  I am pretty sure I have almost identical pictures of Jared and Mark playing in their concerts.

Thanksgiving 2012

Eddie!

Jared loves to play the guitar and is very good at it.

WE had Thanksgiving Dinner thanks to Margaret and Matt over in Burlington.  The dinner was absolutely delicious and we had so much fun playing in the gym afterwards

A little down time.

Wii Dance!

Connor!

The Whole Family!

The Dog Party!

We had such a fun Thanksgiving.  I don't think anyone slept nearly enough.  I was amazed at how many times the dishwasher was run and the garbage taken out.  Thanks for coming home.  Jacob missed you all very much after you left. He can't wait for someone to come home again.  Me too.

Tackle Football Picture

Jacob!

These are Jacob's football pictures.  He was in football a couple of months ago and we barely got the pictures back.  I forgot we ordered them.  I am glad they finally showed up.  What a handsome young man I have.  He is looking huge compared to the kids around him. He was wondering why he had to be in the front row.  I think it was because he is as tall as one of the coaches and he would just fit in better kneeling.

Dog Party

A dog party, a big dog party! If you are wondering why we have dog parties, read 'Go, Dog, Go!' by PD Eastman.  Our dog parties are almost as good as his.

Brian, Maddy,, Lucas, Shanae, Connor, Betsy, Lexi, Joyce, Susie and Kim are all playing Scrabble while Leah watches.

Daniel is telling a big huge story.  Rachael, Erin, Brenda, Jared, Logan, Mark and Gary are enthralled! I don't think the fish was really that big.

Ah...playing the Wii.  C'mon Katy, you can beat your little brother!

Jacob is trying to learn....intently.  I predict a new champion in the next few years.

Gary is thinking.....thinking.... getting no help from Lucas.

Daniel and Mark are looking pretty confident in their trivial pursuit skills.

New Family Picture

We finally have our family all together again!  This weekend has been so great.  We have been able to visit and play games and catch up with everyone.  Jared finally got to meet his niece and nephew.  They really like him and he has had fun with them too.  We couldn't leave the dogs out of the picture.  They are definitely family to us. 

Swimming Pictures

 Jacob Sixth Grade Swimming, 2012

Lovell Middle School Swim Team - 2012

Jacob is enjoying his swimming season.  They have a meet tomorrow in Powell.  I can't go to it because of a scouting meeting.  I really, really, really want to support Jacob but I need to go to this meeting.  I need an attitude adjustment ;)

I can ID that kid!

A mother always knows who her kids are.  This is a picture of Mark that was in the Football insert for the State Football title games.  This is how you take care of the ball. It was fun to see yet another picture of Mark wearing a football uniform. Unfortunately, Lovell lost this year to the Lyman Eagles.  I didn't end up going down to Laramie this year but I got to watch it on the huge screen at the Hyart with about 500 other hopeful Lovell fans.

Here is a re-cap of the game from the Casper paper.

LARAMIE -- One thought entered Bransen Bradshaw's mind when Lyman took over at the Lovell 21-yard line with 6 minutes, 20 seconds left in the Class 2A championship game.
"Run them over," the Lyman senior said.
Bradshaw didn't fail in his objective.
The fullback-turned-quarterback put the Eagles ahead for good on Saturday at War Memorial Stadium, as his 1-yard touchdown push with 43 seconds remaining was the difference in Lyman's 22-20 victory against Lovell in the Class 2A title bout of the Wyoming State High School Football Championships.
The game-winning drive covered 79 yards and chewed 5:37 off the clock and consisted of 15 plays -- all runs.
"The time just lined up perfectly for us," said Bradshaw, who ran for 143 yards and scored all three of Lyman's touchdowns. "We just drove it down and scored."
Bradshaw put Lyman (11-0 overall) on the board first with 1:26 left in the first quarter, but Lovell answered with two touchdowns in a span of three minutes. On the second, Lovell senior running back Dino Collins took a swing pass from senior quarterback Dylan Hultgren off the right side, cut back across the field and skirted down the left sideline for a 34-yard touchdown.
Lyman retook the lead with 1:45 to halftime on a 2-yard run by Bradshaw. But the tide appeared to turn in the third quarter.
A fumble by Lyman senior Kyle Stokes led directly to a 23-yard touchdown pass from Hultgren to senior Austin Ellis, and Lovell took a 20-16 lead with 6:30 left in the third quarter.
Bradshaw threw two interceptions in the fourth quarter, the first at the Lovell 1-yard line, and the second put the Bulldogs (9-2) in business at the Lyman 33-yard line. But Stokes atoned for his fumble, with a leaping interception along the right sideline that set the stage for the final drive.
The Lyman defense held the state's leading rusher (Collins) to just 17 yards on 13 carries, but Hultgren played a masterful game. The Bulldogs signal-caller finished 14-of-26 for 206 yards and two touchdowns; his lone mistake came on the sideline attempt for Nathan Grant. Stokes knew Collins had been leaking out of the backfield all day, and when he didn't see him emerge, he read Hultgren.
"I just broke on it, and it was there," said Stokes, who added 72 rushing yards.
Lovell coach Doug Hazen knew the team needed one additional score to create final separation, but like the previous four meetings between these two teams, turnovers at key times made the difference.
"We had our chances, and we just couldn't quite convert on [them]," Hazen said. "That's a good football team. We let that one slip away."
And with the passing game shaky late, Lyman first-year coach Dale Anderson knew who to turn to: Bradshaw and Stokes, as the duo had all 15 carries on the final drive.
Lovell may have "The Beast" (Collins' nickname), but Lyman has a freight train, and it's No. 44 (Bradshaw's number).
"He won't even admit that he's a quarterback," Anderson said.

Rachael and Eve showed up to the football game.  Eve was cheering on the Bulldogs!  Sorry I missed the weekend there but Jacob and I were able to get him to his swim meet and then have some fun at home.  Hopefully we will see these kids in a few weeks at Thanksgiving.

The Right to Vote

I am thankful today for the right we, as Americans, have to vote for our leaders. This morning was a tough one.  I went to bed last night hoping that the people on the west coast would have some sense and vote for Mitt Romney.  I thought that maybe they would because of the Prop 8 thing but no, I was disappointed. Even though the person I thought would be the best choice for President didn't win I am still thankful that we have choices. 

Jacob has been interesting lately.  He is so growing up, not only physically, but also emotionally and intellectually. He got quite passionate about this election and was frustrated that all people in the United States didn't vote the way he would have. (I don't know where he gets that attitude ;) He was rather upset when I woke him up this morning and we discussed the election results.  The discussion we had eventually came around to what we need to do in our lives to be okay.  We need to simply, 'Follow the Prophet".  I love that Primary song, especially the last verse:
Now we have a world where people are confused.
If you don't believe it, go and watch the news.
We can get direction all along the way,
If we heed the Prophet, follow what he says.

We will be ok if we follow the prophet.  What a comfort that is, that we have a living prophet that gets direction from our Heavenly Father. So where do we go from here?  Food storage, Get out of debt, Read Scriptures, have FHE, Be Happy, Be Involved.  There are many other things and just because this election didn't go the way I wanted it doesn't mean that anything new is being said by the Prophet. We have been told to do these things for years.  I guess it is time to re-commit and take things a little more seriously.

Lovell Over Big Horn in a Semi-Final Win

 I have missed having someone on the Lovell bulldog football team.  I feel like most of the seniors are kind of mine anyway since they have been playing with Mark for a long time.  Spike was looking forward to this game all week.  He felt like this was truly the State Championship game.  What a game it was. I give full credit of this article to the Casper Star Tribune.  I stayed at home and had a hard time listening to it on the radio because it was just too intense.

The Lovell girls volleyball team took state this year.  Lovell has sure had it's share of State Championships lately.  I like it.

BIG HORN -- Lovell quarterback Dylan Hultgren called “Fire!” and a blown play turned into the night's key moment.
The senior, who serves as the holder on kicks for the Bulldogs, recovered after an errant snap on an extra point attempt to throw a two-point conversion to Nathan Grant and cut Big Horn’s lead to six with 2 minutes, 8 seconds remaining in the first half.
That additional point was all that separated the two teams as Lovell earned a chance to defend its Wyoming State High School Class 2A title with a 29-28 victory against the Rams at Dow Memorial Field on Friday.
“We call ‘Fire!’ when there’s nothing there, and it was a bad snap but our guys executed well,” Hultgren said. “That ended up being the game for us, so it worked out well.”
Big Horn (9-1) appeared to be in control when Scott Passini broke to the outside and raced untouched down the sideline to put the Rams in front 28-15 on the second play of the second half.
“We knew we just had to get a couple of stops and get us back on the attack,” Lovell coach Doug Hazen said. “But at that point, thing weren’t good in my mind, I can tell you.”
After Big Horn stopped Lovell (9-1) on the ensuing possession, the Rams faced a fourth-and-1 at the Lovell 49. However, a delay of game penalty forced the Rams to punt, and Lovell took advantage.
Hultgren capped an 11-play, 74-yard drive with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Cody Savage on fourth down to make it a 28-22 game with 2:08 to play in the third quarter.
“We had our chances, but we didn’t capitalize,” Big Horn coach Michael McGuire said. “Lovell is a good football team, and we let them hang around when we had a couple chances to put them away. That came back to bite us.”
Lovell running back Dino Collins found the end zone from four yards out with 5:43 to play, and Savage’s extra point gave the Bulldogs their first and only lead at 29-28.
Collins, who came into the game leading the state with 1,383 rushing yards, finished with 108 yards on 26 carries. The senior scored two touchdowns and keyed a strong defensive effort by the Bulldogs in the final quarter.
Big Horn had two chances to win the game late, but quarterback Connor McCafferty fumbled the ball when he was hit by Lovell defensive lineman Jacob Beck. Then, with less than one minute to play and Big Horn at the Lovell 42, McCafferty’s pass was picked off by Hultgren.
“We turned the ball over six times all year coming into the game,” McGuire said, “and we turned it over four times [Friday]. It’s hard to win any game doing that, but it’s even tougher when you do it against a quality team.
“It was a great game, and we just ended up on the short end of the stick.”
The Rams scored on their first three possessions and led 21-7 midway through the second quarter on McCafferty’s 8-yard scoring pass to Lucas Wollenman.
But Big Horn failed to convert on a fake punt on their next possession and Lovell took advantage, with Hultgren finding Calin McArthur for a 25-yard TD. And then Hultgren gave the Bulldogs a boost with the successful two-point conversion.
“We’re going back to state,” Hultgren said. “And we want Lyman.”
Lovell will get the Eagles after Lyman advanced with a 32-6 victory against Newcastle on Friday. Lyman (10-0) handed Lovell its only loss this season with a 20-6 victory on Sept. 14. The Bulldogs and Eagles will play for the fourth time in two years when they meet in a rematch of last year’s state championship game, which Lovell won 21-13.

Swimming Season Starts

 Jacob is doing the fifty meter backstroke in this picture.  He swam in a couple of freestyle relays and the fifty meter freestyle.  Spike thought he did a really good job and is perfectly suited to be a swimmer.  He just needs more confidence and that comes with more time in the pool.

This was my first swim meet.  I suppose it is a lot like a track meet but....I think I still like track meets better.  The Cody facility is pretty darn fantastic.  I wish Lovell had something like that.

I love this picture.  He just finished with his race and did a quick check up in the observation area to see if we were watching.  I forgot to tell him that we were coming and when he spotted us, we got a great big grin.  Love that kid.

This is his first sport that is a 'school sport'.  I think he likes being more independent from mom and dad. We stuck around during the diving part so that if he needed to come up and sit by us he could.  Nope, he didn't, he just had some snacks with his friends.  Good for him.

Halloween Pumpkins

 This one is Jacob's pumpkin.  We didn't think it worked out very well until we got it out to the porch and lit the candle.  I really like it.

 Spike was a party pooper this year and so I got to do his pumpkin.  I tried my hand at some sculpture techniques.  Hmmm. I think I need better tools and some talent would be good.

 This one is mine.  I think it turned out really scary.  The picture below shows you a little better what the pumpkins looked like to begin with.

This was not Jacob's favorite part of the job.  His pumpkins was pretty juicy and stringy.  Gross.

We had only about 25 trick or treaters this year.  Thanks to Devin and Kynstyl for bringing over their kiddos.  Also a big thanks to Daniel Jay and Amanda for coming all the way from Cowley.  Cute kids.  We don't live in the popular part of town...populated...anyway, so I took Jacob and his friend Mat over to Circle drive where all the kids show up to do most of the trick or treating.  I wish I had thought to take a picture of the kids on horseback that were roaming the streets in the dark.  Wondering just how safe that was.

Fall Leaves

Jacob and I had some fun raking the leaves under the oak tree. We have a new diagnosis on the tree. It might be a fungus so we need to make sure we get rid of the leaves and then spray with an anti fungal, the weed and pest suggested diluted mouthwash. Interesting.

Halloween in Laramie