Gingerbread Houses

Every year I get those wonderful premade kits for gingerbread houses and let the kids decorate them. It has been a tradition for several years now, and this year is no exception. The only thing about this year was I bought pre-made houses (thinking this was a good thing), only to have my son inform me that I cheaped it out. Apparently not having to wait while I make sure the roof won't fall off is better...

Anyway, here they are:

The next Ace of Cakes????

Oh yeah, I got the train set...have you met my husband Scott?

Point for Emily

OK, Emily has inherited her father's sense of humor (I'm not really sure if it is a sense of humor or some German version of it). Anyway, she rarely appreciates mine but thinks her father is funny...I know, weird! So it was a pleasant surprise the other night when she not only executed a great zing at me, but stuck the landing as well! We were walking into City Market for some groceries and she was commenting that some movie was sick, then she turned to me and said, "Here, let me put it in a term you would understand Mom, it is 'radical'. Isn't that something from your 80's days?".

I had a little tear in my eye, I'm so proud!

Whirlwind Trip

Every year just around Thanksgiving, Nancy or I will say..."Man, I could sure use a trip to Salt Lake, but I just don't know when I'm going to have a free day to run over there." So almost every year, we manage to find one day. One special day that we usually leave obscenely early, dash over, hit our stores and drive home in less than ideal weather. This year was rather special, because we actually managed to spend one night...thanks to my sweet husband who took care of the kids and Kassie, plus my great brother-in-law who had some frequent stay points that got us a couple of sweet rooms.



So Sunday, in a storm, we headed over. Fortunately we only had sleet part of the way, you know the first half and the second half. Monday morning we hooked up with Donna and started out bright and early...sorry you didn't get a hot breakfast Donna.



8:45 - Church Distribution Center (and discovered it didn't open until 9:00)



9:45 - Ok, ok, come on you guys, we can't spend all day in one place...let's move





10:00 - Alright, here's our strategy. I just need to get the sofa I've already picked out. The rest of you, skip the top floor and I will meet you downstairs.


10:50 - Oh man, Scott gave me 68 tie downs...I wonder if I have to use them all. Well, if I don't I'm sure to be sorry. I think the blue tarp with paint on it makes us look a little redneck.



11:20 - Ok, you guys go on in, there are a couple of air gaps in the tarp. I'll get them nailed down while you pick up what you need here. Lunch? We don't have time for that. Move, Move, Move.


12:00 - Seriously, don't people in Orem/Prove have to work? Why is there so much traffic on University?


12:30 - University Mall, do you think it's selfish if I only get the ones I like?


2:30 - Why don't they ever have boxed nativities left? Of course, it was time to renew my platinum membership, since I only use it in December. Why don't they have any of my favorite books?
4:00- Finally find Donna's new step daughters house, basically toss her onto the front step. (Sorry Donna... and you forgot your Lehi Roller mills bag, but you did end up with my See's candy).


5:00 - One last stop at the Deseret Book in Spanish Fork, they have boxed Nativities.

We managed to get home around 10:00, but the fog through the desert was really thick, and while Nancy and I think we are hilarious, my Mother apparently doesn't always share our humour and punished us by refusing to speak to us from Crescent Junction to the state line.

We both made it to work on Tuesday, but maybe we are getting a little old for this shopping trip. Well...until next December.

17"

Tuesday night as Scott and I climbed up into the ginormous bed (but that's another blog) and settled ourselves in for a good nights sleep, we had the following conversation:

Me: Hey Scott, guess what we have to do this Saturday?

Scott: ugh, what?

Me: Nothing!!!

Scott: That's good, maybe we can spend some time together.

Me: Hey we just spent 2 hours together last night out in the shop, cutting out pieces for the Webelos to make birdhouses.

Scott: I meant something together that didn't involve cub scouts.

Me: Au contrare, cranky boy! Remember...we spent 2 quality hours together this morning, digging my van out of the driveway!

Yes, on Tuesday morning we woke up to find 17" of that lovely white stuff covering our home. I know what you're thinking, "Allison, you live in Colorado, of course you get snow." Yeah, I get a little sprinkling now and then, but I live in Western Colorado, we don't get 17" all winter, let alone out of one storm. I couldn't get out of my driveway, then I couldn't get up the ranch road to Kannah Creek road. Since the ranch road is a private drive, we don't get snowplows, then if you add that lovely little hill at the top, plus the extra 18+" the snowplow sent our way, it was very exciting. Scott and I dug for several hours, slapped my chains on, and finally got up and over the hill. As you can see it is still pretty nasty, but with temperatures in the -15 range, I'm sure it will be melting away soon!

Oh Yeah!!! 1st Again!!!

Well, once again, our scout pack has outdone its self! The theme for the Parade of Lights this year was Toyland (creepy song, cool theme). So Scott and the other Dad's got together and came up with this design, it was a street, with street lights, and a road closed sign at the back of the semi. Then we turned the boys into toys, we had Monopoly boards, yo-yo's, checker boards, Lego's and Erik was a Scout in the Box on the back. We blasted some of my favorite Christmas tunes and handed out candy canes, and did I mention we won first place in the Youth category again this year? Cold days of decorating and finger numbing light wrapping experiences all fade but...the bragging rights go on all year! For more pictures go to the gjsentinel.com and check out the Parade pictures, we are slides 64 & 65.

Stepford or Crazy?

I remember my Dad telling me once that you could call a sane person crazy and they would just laugh, but if you called a crazy person crazy...they would show how much they were. Anyway, I also remember my Dad telling me I would have had a lot more dates as a teenager if I would just stop intimidating the hell out of people, but... everyone needs a hobby.

After my previous blog, and reading further in this one, you might begin to conclude that I am some sort of femi-nazi, I can assure you that I am not. I also do not belong to the "in" crowd of my ward at church. I am sure they are perfectly nice women who worry about framing the Proclamation and matting it with pictures of their family. They worry about getting together for their Pampered Chef Parties, choir practice, soccer and who knows what else. I don't belong in that world because I wasn't raised to spend my time on trivialities, and yes, I consider those things trivialities. So needless to say I don't spend a lot of time socializing with them, worrying about things they do, what they say, or even what they think.

I do have a few close friends in the ward and while I don't get to spend a lot of time together, we are pretty compatible. So, this morning when one of them called me, we started chatting and she said she had recommended that a woman in our ward (who is part of the "in" crowd) ask me about raising chickens. Apparently the woman was very surprised and then said, "Allison Dederick? Well...isn't she...bipolar?". Now at this point in the conversation, both my friend and I laughed. Seriously? We then speculated, because this person really doesn't know me at all, on who had diagnosed me and just how many "good sisters" are worried about me. So I guess word in the middle of the ward is that I am right there on the edge...(in retrospect I probably shouldn't have told the Primay President I was thrilled with getting a pistol last year for Christmas)

Of course the first thing I have to do after I hang up is to call my mother and sister, they thought it was pretty funny too. My mother then became very indignant and said it was because they were a little green eyed. My sister Nancy speculated it was because I actually have my own personality and feel emotion as opposed to all the Stepford Mormon women who simply "turn the other cheek" and never let anything show, after all you are supposed to just take it with a smile. Then I called my husband...who just got mad. It makes me wonder if I was still a size 22 if I would be unbalanced? After all, I can hear it now, "well, she might be thin, but you know...".

Just for the record, no, I have never been diagnosed with bi-polar, manic, schizophrenia, or any other mental illness. I do, however, have a lot of sympathy for those with actual disorders. But for those women in my ward, who have time on their hands to worry about me...I appreciate your concern, how Christ like of you. But let's just let the cat out of the bag, my Dad had it right. Maybe if I didn't intimidate the hell out of you...you wouldn't have to make up stories about me.

Point of View

Well, last night as Emily and I were on our way home from getting freshly dyed, waxed, and cut (yes, we go to the hairdresser together), we got into a discussion about working Mom's. Emily has a lot of professional aspirations, including marine biology (my preferred), Egyptology, or novelist. As a result she has even picked a college of choice...in Florida. Anyway, I was telling her how some people believe that a mother should never work outside of the home, and some people think it is a pretty big sin that her mother has worked outside the home all but one year of her life. She was pretty baffled by this...apparently the blond dye is working on the brain cells during YW.

So I told her my story of an institute director who informed me, during my junior year of college, that I was wasting my time actually taking the higher level science courses, after all I should really just focus on finding a husband. He went on to inform me that women didn't really need a degree, we just needed to land a worthy priesthood holder. If you are wondering, no I never went to Institute again. I have had people inform me that if I would just grow a garden, I wouldn't even miss my income. I have had people inform me with a smug attitude on their face that they have never worked outside of the home since they were married (imagine their stress when their husband was laid off).

I guess that some people would say my mother never worked outside the home, but I will be quick to point out that she did drive a swather, bailer, and disc. That she rode horses on the mountain from daylight to dark, after packing lunches for everyone, and kept the books for the ranch, among many other jobs. So I would never call my Mother a non-working Mom.

So it was with great confusion that I tried to explain to Emily that the church really encourages women to stay home. I'm not sure how to explain this, since given current economic issues, I don't even understand it. But I informed her that someday when she was older and the proper amount of guilt had been applied, she could then yell at me for being a bad Mom and working outside the home. After all, she should think of all the time I spent away from her while working...she thought for a moment...(the blond look of confusion)...then announced that if she had anything to talk to a therapist in the future about, it would be the amount of time Cub Scouts took.

Ellen

I miss my sister today. Ellen would be having her 47th birthday today, she has been gone for a little over 10 years. I know that 20 years of her life were spent battling a rare disease, but she still managed to have a pretty good attitude all things considered. I miss her humor, her generosity, and just her.

The other night I had a dream about her, we were getting ready for some family event and we were spending the day in town, going to all her favorite haunts...K-mart, Dollar stores, etc. I turned to her and said, "Man Ellen, I miss you so much. How come you never come around very much anymore?" She just gave me this funny look, and then I said, "Oh yeah, because you're dead." Then we just laughed. To some people that might sound really strange, but that is just how our family is.

I miss Ellen chasing my cat out of her room, buying way to much Avon from her, and hearing Christmas songs coming from her room in June. I even miss visiting her in the hospital and going down to the cafeteria together (even though I wasn't really hungry). But most of all I just miss her. I know how difficult her physical limitations were, and I wouldn't wish that she were still here in her suffering...but that doesn't stop me from missing her today.

Happy Birthday Ellen

Politically Incorrect...again

I have a question, do you still get your 72 virgins if it's an infidel woman who pumps you full of lead? I think it was awesome the way Sgt Kimberly Munley took care of the idiot at Fort Hood. Today, I couldn't be prouder of my gender. It makes me want to exercise my freedom this weekend with a little target practice. Still, I am so sorry for the families of those who were his victims, and will keep them in my prayers.

When Scott and I first moved to Utah his TDY rate was over 200 days a year (that means he was gone a lot). Scott asked me if I wanted a handgun for protection while he was away, but he said, "If we get you a gun, you need to decide right now that you are willing to kill someone." He's a pretty smart guy, and he was right. Before purchasing something like that you do need to make that decision because the heat of the moment isn't the time, and hesitation means your gun can be used against you. At the time I decided that I could kill someone, but didn't want to live with the memory of it. So we didn't get me a gun.

Then I had children, and realized I could live with a lot of things. By that time we had moved on base, so I thought I was pretty safe. After all, where in the world could you be safer than surrounded by some of our nation's finest? We were only on base 3 months before there was a murder next door. Hmmm.

Anyway, obviously from my previous posts our family is comfortable with weaponry now. I didn't grow up with handguns, but since marrying a guy who is really good with them, my children and I are now much more familiar with them. No, we aren't right wing nut jobs that obsess about them. However, I do feel that if they are going to be in my home, everyone there should learn to use them and respect them. After all, it isn't guns that kill people...it's bullets!

But, I digress. This post was about Fort Hood, and how impressive that a woman on traffic duty rose to challenge and did just what she had trained for. How many lives did she save yesterday?

Dogtober

Well, I haven't posted for a few weeks because I have had a little residual stress from the lovely dog days of October! It started well, but quickly went to the dogs (and I mean that literally). It began with Frank, that lovely foster dog that Nancy and I have been taking care of, disappearing one day. Frantically we checked all the shelters and pounds, finally calling Jason to let him know Frank had gone missing. Jason came out and spent the afternoon looking everywhere, discovering only that one of my cousins female dogs was "in the mood" and they had run off together. The next morning at 4:00 am Frank announced his arrival back, and seemed to be fine.

That afternoon as I came home I discovered an animal control officer on my street, who pronounced my beloved Dudley as a "dangerous dog". Claiming she had the authority from some slanderous accusations, she took my precious boy into custody. As they say, "Hell hath no fury..." after some serious talking to my cousin and her offspring, I was allowed to pay $200 and get my darling back. There are however, stipulations...apparently my mother's nearly 200 acres are not enough for three dogs, and the officer is claiming that I must have my dogs so they cannot access any public land. Even though she did not observe them on any public land, they could have if they had wanted to and even though they didn't she still fined me accordingly, and combined it with the threat of her return.

Additionally while all this drama was going on, Frank went missing again. Apparently he had enjoyed the sins of the flesh and went on down the road looking for a little action. Since I had checked with and left contact information at all the shelters previously, they knew where to call. Frank had gone about a mile down the road before a neighbor snagged him and called. But, now that he has gotten all carnal minded, Frank won't stay home and Allie has an appointment for him at the Planned Pethood Center on Thursday. (I can't even make that name up and I'm pretty sure that is were some of the stimulus money must have gone.) So once Frank is nipped and tucked hopefully he will just stay home.

But, back to my dogs, they are adjusting pretty well to being house dogs, although Dudley hasn't grasped the concept that the living room is not his bedroom. For now they are either with me or sadly tied up in the back yard. I have a lot of things I would like to say about the situation, but my Mother, and an attorney friend of mine, has warned me to behave, that and I love my dogs.

Saturday vs Sunday

So this is my daughter on Saturday.... and this is my daughter on Sunday.

This is my son on Saturday...

and this is my son on Sunday.
I think that makes us bitter clingers!!!

Don't you feel bad for the first guy that breaks her heart?

She must get that awesome form from her mother's side of the family. OK, ok, she must then get her marksmanship from her Dad!

One of my favorites, my Dad's 30-30.

Adult Channels?

Since we live almost in the middle of nowhere (town seems to be getting closer these days), and we are serious TV junkies, we have Dish Network. One of the features that we really like about Dish is that you can create favorites lists, so you don't have to scroll through a gazillion channels to find what you want. Because Scott was a former member of the AV club in high school (he denies this) anyway, we have several favorites lists, kids, pay per view movies, music, etc. I love having my own lists that has channels the kids aren't interested in, like Fox News, the Food Network, or the History Channel. I hadn't thought anything about this until I overheard my son the other morning as he was turning on the TV say:

"Ughh, every time I turn on the TV, it is on the Adult channels."

Scott has now renamed that list "Parents".

Cubmobile Race

Erik is on the left, in his car, which of course was green!

After months of planning, stressing, sawing, painting, and advertising the day of our Cubmobile Race finally arrived. Six a.m. found Scott and I moving the porta-potty (that of course had been placed in the wrong spot), and then hauling about 150 bales of hay to line the track. By 8:30 people were showing up and we started at 10:00. I had no idea how many people we would end up having, but we had 28 boys enter, and about 100 spectators. I think all the boys had a great time, and we didn't even have any serious accidents. At the end of the race three of the Dad's decided even they needed a try down the hill.

I treated Scott to a steak last night, he definitely deserved that!! Today we have both realized, we are getting old!!! We have muscles hurting we forgot we had, but our goal with scouts isn't because we love doing all this work, our goal is that someday, when these little boys grow up and become Dads they will remember doing something like this instead of sitting home playing Xbox. Then maybe they will want thier kids to do something like this to.

Challenges

Well, things around here have been pretty crazy. It has made me think (I know, that doesn't happen all that often) about the things that are really important in this life. You just never know when that curve ball is going to come, how fast, or how hard. But the one thing that has happened this week, is that I am extremely grateful for my family. My husband, sisters, and Mom all have very busy lives. Even though my sisters and mom live next door we can go several days without seeing or talking to each other, but when a call comes I know they all will drop everything and come.

The challenges this week are not mine to share, but many of you know what they have been. My heart aches and I want to do anything I can to help. I often fall far short of what I feel I should do, but I try. My inadequacy to fix any situation often makes me very frustrated (I'm the fixer girl, and if I can't Scott is supposed to). But some things just take time, and through them I suppose we are learning to be patient. That is one thing I am a slow learner on. My family has had it's fair share of challenges in the last 17 years, I could list them, but I think there is a limit on the size of a blog post! They say "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger". I think who ever made that up, didn't know what the heck they were talking about.

I Have Been Exposed!!

Well, my work is now on "Alert Level C" (whatever that means). Apparently because we provide an essential service we are on hyper-planning for the swine flu. We went through this last spring, and now we get to "activate" our plan this fall. Every meeting we have they go over THE PLAN. The plan is 1) Don't get sick 2)If you get sick, don't come to work 3) When you are better you will be sequestered at work, and not allowed to associate with sick people. They have even posted signs all over the gate and doors listing symptoms that if you have, you should turn around and go home (yeah, like I would make it all the way into work, see the sign and then realize I was sick).

They have stock piled supplies at our plant that include soup, ramen noodles and yes...bottled water. HUH? Isn't that what we do?? I may not be the brightest star in the sky, but I do work at a water plant, and I'm pretty sure we make water you are supposed to be able to drink...anyway....

Sooooo, on Friday I was happily doing my Friday stuff (washing dishes, dumping the weeks samples, running the autoclave, listening to my favorite radio) when the phone rings. It was the assistant manager of the district, and we had the following conversation:

Dave: Hello Allison, how are you feeling?
Me: I'm fine Dave, how are you?
Dave: Oh, I'm fine. Are you feeling healthy?
Me: Umm, yeah...do you?
Dave: Well, the reason I'm calling is that Jenny called in this morning saying she was deathly ill with the flu.
Me: Jenny...crap I was sitting right next to her in the Safety meeting when she was bragging to everyone how she already got her flu shot.
Dave: Yes, I know. That is why I called you, to let you know you have been exposed.

So, now I have "been exposed". It is like we are all sitting around knowing it is only a matter of time before we each get hit. I figured after spending over 9 hours with my Mom in the ER last weekend and not coming out sick I was in the clear. Then I find out I was exposed while in a meeting about the prevention of the swine flu. Grand.

Man cannot live on bread alone...

but SHE could live on venison backstrap. Thanks Jason for hooking me up, you're an awesome wildgame chef.

My Mother Doesn't Appreciate My Humor

OK, so I have been feeling a little tired and run down for about the last month. After Scott insisted I went in for a few blood tests. Well, the doctor's office got the wrong phone number and my mother got a message on her answering machine that said, "Allison, this is Dr. SoandSo, I just got the results from your blood test and you need to call me right away." So my mother calls me all in a panic, "hurry and call him back and tell me what he said". Of course doctors aren't just sitting by the phone waiting for you to call them back so it took a few hours. After I got the news that my iron was low (big surprise), I called my mother and had the following conversation:

Mom: Did you talk to the doctor?
Me: Yeah.
Mom: What did he say?
Me: I'm pregnant
(silence.....crickets chirping...silence.....)
Mom: Are you really? (in a tone that makes me sound like an irresponsible 15 year old)
Are you serious!!!
Me: No, mom, I'm just anemic.
Mom: (heavy, relieved sigh) oh....

Of course now, she claims to have been happy with the news...yeah!!

Hungry!!

As I was leaving for work this morning, I spotted two lovely three points walking in my mother's alfalfa field...and it made me hungry!! Some people think the ultimate meal is lobster or prime rib, but not me. If I were on death row (yeah, some of you are thinking that is only a matter of time) anyway, and they asked me what I wanted for my last meal, it would be venison backstrap, lightly dredged in flour with salt and pepper, then skillet fried. It makes me go to my happy place just thinking about it.

Irritated

Growing up in a conservative, Mormon household I was raised thinking the Kennedy's were on the right hand side of Satan. So it was with no small irritation that when I arrived at work today that I saw the flag at half staff. In the last few years my political persuasions have moved to a more libertarian view. That being said when Ted Kennedy expired this week, I reviewed my attitude towards the Kennedy family, and after researching a little, thinking about what I knew, and speaking with a co-worker from Boston, I have come to the conclusion, my parents were right! I know I have some relatives that will object to my aspersions, or think my political views shouldn't be shared on my blog...to them I say, to bad. If Joe Kennedy had been my father, I would still be in hiding, and after the GQ article on Kennedy in 1990, the fact that Massachusetts re-elected him is down right criminal. So I will have to look at flags at half staff today, and think how much I appreciate freedom and real heroes. Fortunately in this age of 24 hour news cycles, my pain will be over by Sunday!

Happy Birthday Emma Lou

Happy Birthday Emily! Yes, she turned 14 yesterday, and contrary to what her aunts may have told her, no, she can't group date!! But she can go to stake dances and she finally got an ipod. It was a rough 9 months with her 10 year old brother having one and not her (of course what 10 year old brother would rub that in?). So Happy Birthday Emily!!

My Dudley

Well, here he is, my Dudley, my doodles, my grumpy old man, my faithful doggy companion. No, I don't have any idea what his pedigree might be, he doesn't do any tricks, and he really isn't house trained. However, that being said, what he is...is my most devoted dog. Oh Tina likes me, but Dudley would lay down his life for me in a minute. He is the most devoted dog in the world, if I'm on the ranch and not in my house, you can know exactly where I am by looking for Dudley. Lots of time he will be laying right on the doorstep of where ever I am.

That's not to say he doesn't have his faults, he is a res dog. But at least he has the presence of mind to look a little ashamed after a morning of chicken killing, but I'm not naive enough to know he won't do it again. He doesn't like little kids, and chases cars on the street.

He tolerates Erik, likes Scott and Emily, but I think if the house were on fire and he could only save one of us, I'm the one he would drag out. I think it's because I saved him. I went to the shelter 8 years ago looking for a beagle they had advertised, and found him. He was sitting alone in a corner and had been there for 9 months. They told me he had come from Shiprock, NM and that was all the information I needed (because if you have ever been through Shiprock you know exactly what I am talking about).

He is getting older now, and his hips bother him, but he is still the alpha male of the pack and regularly puts Frank in his place. Some days he frolics with Tina and Daisy acting like a puppy, but since I don't know his true age and he seems to be slowing down a little, I wonder how much longer he will be my security detail. This morning I saw him lead the pack out to chase a couple does in the alfalfa field behind the house and that alone made for a good morning. So for now, I will just love him and try to be the person he thinks I am.

Watermelon Wizard

My sister's children and daughter-in-law threw a surprise (until about 2:00) luau for her 50th birthday. Yup, she is that old!!!! My assignment: make Aunt Lois' super secret recipe slushie drink and get my artistic husband to carve up a few watermelons. I was thinking a whale and a basket, but true to Scott standards he went above and beyond!!!!

It was a great party, everyone really enjoyed it... well except for the 180# pig that got roasted in a pit in the backyard!!

I Don't Want to Go Back to School

Alright, it isn't even my kids whining, it is me! We started back to school on Wednesday, and whether it was Emily starting high school or the fact that Erik did not have a great year last year, I have been seriously stressed about school starting. I think I just don't want summer to end, I love the relaxed, don't care about bed times, don't care if you do stay in your PJ's all day, think we can go to the movie on a Tuesday summer time fun. This summer has gone by way to fast and the way it's going, Christmas will be here next week. I want more time to just hang out with my kids, go to the rodeo, drive-in, or just watch Hannah Montanna some more.

This school business stinks!! But Emily and Erik were all geared up, couldn't wait to get there, is it time to go yet, anxious. Seriously, what happened to kids who groaned and had to be dragged to school? This anxious to learn stuff is concerning enough to consider therapy (not for the kids, but for me!). So I guess there is nothing I can do, but give them lunch money, a backpack full of supplies (of which they will use exactly half and bring the rest home in May to join previous years supplies), and send them out the door. They at least could act like they wanted to not go....at least for the sake of their mother.

Regatta Race

We have taken about 6 weeks off from scouts, but with the summer winding down, and school starting up, it is time to get back into the swing of things. We started with a scout activity this Saturday at our house. The boys came over and made the little balsa wood boat kits (designed for the smooth water of a rain gutter). We painted and glued, then headed down to the creek for a little race. Unfortunately these boats had a little trouble staying upright, keeping their sails, and remembering to float downstream! The cubmaster was a good sport though and followed them down, we only had three that didn't make it and after walking back up stream we found them hiding in the brush. I think a pretty good time was had by all.



Cub Master Lance "fishing" out the boats

An Unexpected Phone Call

Well, as I have previously blogged, the R.E. Whiting Reunion has sucked up a ton of my energy and planning this summer. As of Tuesday morning, I assured my husband of three things, 1) I would never again ask him to drive to Arizona for a family reunion 2) he never had to be "Dude Rascal" again, and finally 3) I would not volunteer to do anything for a reunion for a very long time.

We had both taken last week off, which was good, we needed it to recover from our trip to AZ. So we cleaned the garage, went to the Farmer's Market and generally relaxed around the house. On Saturday night, I was busy working on a baby blanket for a co-worker (hurrying to get it done before Sunday, so I wouldn't have to pick out the stitches with my nose for sewing on the Sabbath) when the phone rings, and Scott says, "It's for you."

It turns out the caller was a second cousin of mine, Christene Sowby. OK, that is a little weird, then she informs me she lives in the valley of the sun. Interesting, but still not dawning on me why she is calling. Then she informs me she is in charge of the "big" EM Whiting Reunion in 2010. At this point, alarm bells are starting to go off. (I had already told Scott I had no interest in attending and camping with a thousand of my closest relatives, so this is not great news.) She goes on to tell me how she had heard about my families performance at the homestead last weekend and asked if we would be interested in performing for the Friday night program, August 6th, 2010 (nothing like planning in advance). By the way, she wouldn't admit who had ratted us out.

So I told her I had a lot of people I had to check with, three sisters, a brother-in-law, a couple nephews, a couple of nieces and more importantly my husband. So after that I looked at Scott and he said, "I guess..." I go to my sister's (thinking at least one out of the three would say no) oh, they were all jazzed, and my brother-in-law had just been saying how he would like to go down to one of the big reunions. Grand!!! My hair was falling out just dealing with the "little" reunion, by the time next August comes I will probably be bald!! Scott is already talking about how he will have to make set adjustments for the outdoor stage (literally over 1000 people come to this reunion, and they can't fit everyone into the rec hall). Well, I have to go, I think I hear a Xanax calling me...

We Survived!!!

Well, we did it! Our little branch of the family had 24 people there, we were only missing 8, so I think that is a pretty good turn-out. We left Thursday morning and it took nearly 11 hours to get down to the homestead (now I remember why we don't go there very often). We met Laura, Jackie, and Beth there, and Donna and Jolyn had already got there also. We had 8 tents, 3 shade/rain canopies, and about 20 coolers. Oh yeah, did I mention that of those 24 people we had 6 kids between the ages of 18 months and 5 years?On Friday morning we headed straight up to the infamous rope swing. This swing is located on an old growth pine on the side of Sierra Trigo (a very steep, extinct volcano). So you hold on to the rope, run down the mountain and let the rope swing you way out and around. It is quite a workout, but true to all the kids before them Matt and Erik loved it!Here is Erik on the rope swing

After lunch we had a chance to drive up and see Little Giant spring (about 3 miles away) where the homestead gets its water. Back when my Great Grandfather homesteaded he boxed in the spring and line sited the pipe all the way back to the homestead. Then we went up to where he had a sawmill, there isn't very much left, but it was great to see where it was.

Matt and Evan on the remains of their Great, great, great grandfather's sawmill

Janna and Erik climbing on it too



My children also discovered my favorite lizard, horny toads, we even brought a few home.

Of course on Saturday morning, started the horseshoe tournament, my cousin's Brian and Brent won the men's again this year, and their wives won the women's.

Scott and Donna hitting a few ball in the shadow of Sierra TrigoAnna conned the kids into shagging balls for her, about 4 times.

My second cousin had a candy canon, which shot candy about 100 feet at the kids, here is Nancy and Janna hunting for candy!

Cute Anna and Beth, but the glasses make you look a little like sleestacks


Faith taking her duck for a walk.

Ok, for us the pinnacle of the reunion came on Saturday night. We had volunteered for the program back in March (it seemed like a good idea back then). We attempted an old fashioned melodrama, it would have helped if we all knew our lines. Thank goodness for Jolyn over on the side prompting. The only problem was that there was so much ad-libing that she had trouble even knowing where the heck we were!!

So here I am holding my plastic six shooters on Casey and Scott, while Jason looks on!

Here is Nancy (after revealing herself as an outlaw), Jackie, Emily, Erik and Beth
So, we finally packed up on Monday morning, I offered Matt 2 cans of silly string if he would go around and pick up all the little candy wrappers on the ground, he looked at me very skeptically and then said, "What color?" That made me laugh so after he picked them all up he actually got five cans, which he promptly shared with his brothers.
Jason made us all breakfast on the infamous pancake griddle and then we headed out.


I decided that since I was in the area I would stop by the family section of the St. Johns Cemetery. This is the headstone of the woman I was named after, my Grandpa's second wife, Aliceson Darwin, who died of TB on her 26th birthday. She had given birth about a month earlier and her baby died two weeks after her death. So we were walking around and I was taking pictured of the headstones when.....
yeah...I fell into a grave. The ground had settled below what looked like a layer of weedblock and down I went into my Dad's cousin's grave. OK, it was a baby named Lee Whiting, second child of my Great Uncle Eddie. The little boy died right after he was born in 1909. I will admit I screamed when that happened. There went my spiritual moment, here I was attempting to connect my children and their ancestors and now all they will remember is that time when Mom fell into the grave! Sorry Lee.

So, other than that little incident, the trip to the cemetery was pretty neat, it turned out that both my Great grandma and Grandpa Whiting were buried there, as well as my Great Great Grandma, Mary Elizabeth Cox Whiting.

Well, this has been a really long post, but reunions are a big deal with my family, and we will be all charged up for the next one, in 2011, and I promised Scott to not volunteer for anything!!