Thank you Elder Wirthlin!!

Thank you Elder Wirthlin for you words of wisdom and insight! Without them, this morning would have been dreadful! :)

Today was my day to do the carpool for preschool. After I drop the girls off at preschool, I usually get to play volleyball for 2.5 hours. Yay!! Today, I decided to "listen" to the blinking light on my dashboard "Check Tire Pressure." Which means, due to the cold weather, my tires are low on air. Usually, Luke takes care of those things (thanks Sweetie), but today, I decided to be proactive and do it myself.

I get to the gas station and air up my backleft tire. Then, switch to the front left. As I started to air it up, the air did not sound like it was going in the tire. So, I took the hose "thingy" off my tire and tried again (not roughly, I might add). This time the tip of the valve broke COMPLETELY OFF! Augh! I stood there dumbfounded in my flipflops, t-shirt and shorts with my mouth hanging open, in the 30 degree weather, as my tire went Phhsssssssssstttttttttttttt - completely flat. Uhhh, I didn't need air in my tire that badly! Next time I will wait for Luke to do it!

So, okay, I have changed a tire before, here goes. Of course I had the back of the Tahoe completely full of stuff to be taken to DI. So, on the side of the road I take that out and get out the jack, etc. Then, I look at the back of the truck. I know there is usually a hole in the back bumper that you can stick the crank into and lower the tire out from under the vehicle. So, I find it, but there is a keyhole in it instead! SSSWWWWEEEEEEEEETTTT! This one is electronic! Yes!! So, I stick the key in the lock - perfect fit. Great same key even! I turn the key and .....nothing happens. Oh crap! The electrical is broken! Oh, I pray "Please Heavenly Father, make this work! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE!" Nope still won't work.

I have a friend that works at the gas station there. So, I went inside. Hi Michelle! Can I use the phone? I try to call Luke at work (not sure what he's going to do from work 25 minutes away, but what the heck!) He didn't answer though.

I know I can change a tire! I just can't get the dumb thing out from under my car! So, i go back out and try the key again. Nope, no luck. Michelle comes out and I said, well it was just the tip of the valve, maybe I can buy a new one and screw it in there and no big deal. So, Michelle loans me her car. I transfer Quincey's babyseat into her car and drive down the road to NAPA. I ask the man there if my little plan is possible. "No, there are welds that have to be broken, etc to do that. You have to take it to a tireshop." Nevermind that it is on my car I can't drive and I can't get my spare down! Darn.

So, as I am walking out, I turn back around and ask, "So, do you have any idea why the electrical for letting my spare tire down from under my car wouldn't be working?" He looked at me a little strangely and says, "what kind of car do you have?" A Tahoe, I reply. He then proceeds to tell me that most vehicles do not have electrical cranks for their spare tire that it is done manually, except for some Cadillacs, etc. I said, okay well mine has a keyhole in it. He kind of chuckled and then said, it is probably a lock to keep people from stealing your spare! You have to turn the key and pull and this will take the lock out of the the shaft and then you crank the tire down manually! Oh now that makes sense! Why didn't I think that people would want to steal my spare and so I have a lock on it? Oh yeah, because I would never steal anyones spare!

So, I go back to my car and start to get tire down (using the wrong extension of the crank, but whatever). Finally, I realize my mistake and get the tire down, just as the calvary arrives (Michelle called her husband)! So, he finishes changing the tire while I talked inside with Michelle (Rick kept telling me to go sit and relax). So, Quincey ate an entire packet of Starbursts and didn't even share 1 with me! Boo. When he finished, I tried to put the jack back where I got it from and then gave up. Rick told me to turn the car around so he could fill the spare with more air.

Then, as I drove away, I noticed my blinking light "CHECK TIRE PRESSURE!" AUGH!! I am where I started, but with a gimpy tire on my truck! However, if I had stopped Rick would have been the one to air up the other two tires I never got the chance to break and he had already done sooo much!

I got home with about 10 minutes left to take a shower and then back to pick up the kids from preschool! Needless to say, I never did get my hair done today. However, due to Elder Wirthlin's talk at Conference on finding humor in trials, I was able to pass my day with a smile! Besides, I got to know Michelle and Rick better! And this could have happened in two weeks on our trip to Disneyland! No, today was a good day for it to happen! :)

However, I do think next time I will leave the car maintenance to Luke! Oh, and when Quincey gets over her sugar rush, I'll put her down for a nap.

The Traveling Mooner!!

Story behind the "Traveling Mooner"

I had an email sent to me by my SIL.
It was a picture of a (much better)
version of this guy. I sent it to a few
friends. One emailed back and
thought it was VERY hilarious.
She thought we all should duplicate it.
So, was born the idea for the "traveling"
mooner. When he appears on your lawn.
You can move him immediately to
someone else's lawn or you can leave
him for a day or so. The idea is to "moon"
as many houses (people) as possible!
Just make sure when you pass him on,
it is to someone's lawn who can appreciate
the type of humor that comes with this sort
of "Halloween Prank." :)



You've been mooned - pass it on.

Sorry my pics are not very good. I stuck it on
my friends lawn took a snapshot and jetted!

Procrastinated Pictures

The three munchkins


Our Stud-muff Tyler


Our Princess Emma-Lemma


Our little Quincey-bear

I Can't remember the last time I really
sent pictures out to anyone. I tell you,
I DO know how to procrastinate--
just in case you were having doubts!!

These pics were taken between
Conference sessions on the way
up to Mount Nebo. Very pretty
colors.

I had a bit of a creative streak!

I know it's not very creative (especially in

comparison to my crafty, motivated, creative

friend people, but it's mine. Speaking of mine,

I grew those cornstalks, even! Yay me!

Every girl needs a sister. But then again, so does every boy.

Emma and Quincey enjoying a
"we're BFF's" moment!

Even a Procrastinator Can Have Spiritual Moments!

I didn't include this in yesterday's entry because it was already pretty looong.

When we got into Salt Lake for Conference, traffic was pretty bad. Imagine that. Luke decided that it would be better for Chelsea and me to get in and get our seats and save him one. So, we got out of the car at the stoplight and walked across the street to the Conference Center (in the rain). Luke parked the car and only had to walk in said rain, 5 blocks. What a guy! Course it doesn't wreck his hair. lol

As we were crossing the street with the masses, there was a man yelling that "THERE IS NO LOVE IN THE MORMON RELIGION!" Which at first made me chuckle. Then, it made me sad. I cannot believe people would side with Satan enough that they are past feeling the Spirit that they cannot even decipher "LOVE."

I parted ways with Chelsea and her friend. We were in different sections. I found my seat next to a lady that had a son singing in the Childrens Choir. We talked for a while. Then, the choir started to warm up. They sang "I am a Child of God." Which I will admit made me tear up. I glanced over at the lady next to me. She also had tears in her eyes. I mentioned the man outside. I said, "You cannot listen to this (gesturing at the choir) and tell me there is no love in our religion." She said, "Yeah, I wish we could bring them in here for just 3 seconds and let them hear this. But then, that probably wouldn't even work because they are so far past feeling that they wouldn't get it." Sad.

I hate the thought of having to live without knowing the truths and comforts that knowing I am a Child of God gives me daily. The talks this conference have been phenomenal, informative and motivating. I love that we get to hear the prophet of God, (Thomas Spencer Monson) and the rest of His apostles and leaders of God's church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) bare their testimonies to bouy us up. I am grateful for the Holy Ghost who testifies the truth to us and I am grateful for the opportunity I had to sit by this lady and have that conversation. Where else can you go and have that kind of experience with someone you don't even know? I love the church and it's "unity" that it's teachings are the same no matter where you go in the world.

Caught Procrastinating!!! ACK!!!

So, today is my birthday! Yay Me! Since it is also Conference Weekend, I got up early this morning to make "Conference Cinnamon Rolls." As I was making these, Luke and the kids came down and gave me my presents! Some very cute Fall decorations. Since I was in the middle of making my mess in the kitchen, I had to keep leaving to do stuff and only got the decorations half up. Luke ended up putting the replaced decorations away himself. :)

Then, he got the kids going on their Saturday morning chores. However, this Saturday is different because we were trying to get the kids ready and out of the house by 10 am, because we had tickets to Conference and they were going to Grandma and Grandpa's house. So I am thinking, "just leave the cleaning for later!" --My silent mantra! :) So, I continued making a mess in the kitchen as Luke is trying to motivate our little troops into cleaning the rest of it. We got out the door at 10:15 - not bad I thought! We took the munchkins to Grandma and Grandpa's house and went to Conference.

Well, it turns out, Luke had planned a surprise party for me this evening. So, even though they had worked so hard on the rest of the house, I left the kitchen a mess from my cinnamon roll making! Of course the kitchen is right there next to the dining table, where we all congregated, ate our cake and gabbed for the get together. Ugh! Darn procrastion! I should stop procrastinating and do what I am supposed to when I am supposed to! Hmm, that sounds an awful lot like what I tell my kids. Oh wait! It is exactly what I am telling my kids all the time! :) I guess I do listen to myself as well as they do!

So, we had a great time at Conference and loved hearing the choir of children. They were so sweet. We picked up the kids afterward and since Luke was in such a hurry to get home (I was still ignorant of my impending embarrassment), neither of us buckled Emma into her booster seat. As we were pulling out of their driveway, Emma yells, "Hey, I am not safe here!" I turned around and she was trying to buckle her seatbelt, but couldn't because her seat had tilted and she was practically laying on Tyler. Funny moment.

We walked in the door at the same time he had invited our friends over. So no chance to clean up at all (although I wouldn't have stressed about it, since I had no idea they were coming. So, I was trying to figure out what to feed the kids for dinner--cake and ice cream worked out well! Although, when Luke tried bribing them with a piece of cake tomorrow, Tyler looked at him like he was crazy. Luke didn't know Tyler had a cake stomachache!

Thanks everybody! It was great despite the embarrassment!