Yesterday was Parker's primary program at church. He was so cute up there saying his part and singing his songs. When a person who was sitting in front of me would move and make it harder for me to see Parker, he would shift or stand on his tiptoes or stretch up his neck to make sure I could see him. It was pretty fun knowing that he was so aware of how badly I wanted to watch him up there. (I remember Ty and Kayla doing the same thing. Even in choir in high school they would shift a little to one side or the other so I had a good view of them).

Even though I get to be a mom of a primary child longer than most I know I am going to miss it terribly when Parker turns 12.

Yesterday brought back a fun memory for me. When Parker was 3 years old he had his very first part in a primary program. He even memorized it! We were so excited to see his first reaction to speaking in the microphone. His teacher sat with him on the front row in the chapel and I was sitting off to the side of him a little bit. Just as it was time for his class to go up to the pulpit and say their parts, his teacher turned and looked at me with a horrified look on her face. She grabbed Parker and turned him toward me. He had a bloody nose! Oh no!! I grabbed him and ran with him down the hallway and into the bathroom. I shoved a piece of toilet paper up his nose and sponged the blood off of his white shirt. I got the nose to quit bleeding and then grabbed him and ran him up to the pulpit just in time for him to say his part. When Sacrament Meeting was over the ward organist, Nora Larson, (who had witnessed the whole thing) came up to me and said, "Good save MOM!" For a minute I felt like I'd made the winning touchdown. I have come to realize that quick thinking and being fast on our feet can serve us in many areas of our lives :) .

2008 Deer Hunt at the Bookcliffs

This year Tim "drew out" for a great hunt in the Bookcliffs. He was really excited about it but was unable to go scout and find the deer. And then when it came time to go, nobody could go with him and we knew that he shouldn't go alone so Rachel volunteered. She was pretty excited about the whole thing until she heard that there were bears there.

When they first got to their destination they decided to find a place to set up camp.

They were excited about their mode of transportation. Tim borrowed this 4-wheeler from Larry, who he works with. It made the trip a lot more easy and fun.

Their "kitchen" worked well for them. They boiled water to wash with and they cooked meals such as chili, stew, bacon & eggs and chicken. All the comforts of home.......sort of.

They set up the tent and then each chose the side they wanted to sleep on. This is Rachel's side of the tent. Yes, she did have to take Spots, Dots, Dot and Daisy or she would not have been able to sleep. As you can see, she wanted to feel at home so she had to make sure her area was a little cluttered. At least it looks like she had plenty to do.

This is Tim's side of the tent. Wait a minute......are those teen magazines??? It appears that Rachel branched out to both sides. During the night Rachel made Tim get up a few times and go out in the dark and make sure there were no bears in the camp. She was sure she could hear them out there and couldn't sleep until she knew for sure. Then she scooted over next to Tim and made him put his hand on her ear. That was the only way she could sleep.

They had a good time driving around and looking for deer. However that was not to be done on Sunday. Rachel had agreed to go only if Tim agreed to keep the Sabbath Day holy. So, they read church magazines, played games and lived through the "longest day ever."

On Monday Tim shot a three point buck. He was ready to come home and didn't want to go back out so he "settled" for a smaller deer. Rachel said that the grossest experience of her life was when dad gutted the deer. She cannot decide if sight or sound was the worse. EWWW.

Tim brought the deer home and gave it to his friend Andy. Andy made jerky out of it and gave us some. So far Tim and Clint like it. As for the rest of us........well...........not so much. I think the best part of the hunt for Tim was spending time with Rachel.

HALLOWEEN AT OUR HOUSE

Parker and I went to Walmart a couple of weeks ago to find him a Halloween costume. Little did I know, we were on a special mission. I thought we were looking for something like Optimus Prime or Ironman but no........Parker's "duty lady" at school told him that she thought he should be something scary like a skeleton. So, when Parker spotted the Green Skull he knew it was the costume for him.

Did you know that the Green Skull can also dance? Here he is showing me some of his better moves.

This is how the Green Skull looks in his classroom.


Okay, there's my cute Parker. He was getting excited for his costume parade but he didn't know whether to leave his mask on or take it off.

And here I am taking a picture of the Green Skull at my 29th annual Halloween Costume Parade. I have been going to one of my children's school for the past 29 years, starting in Clint's preschool. I have five more years to go. 34 consecutive years of elementary school Halloween with my own children.......I wonder if that will be a record?

So, Rachel had a lot of ideas of how she wanted to dress up for the holiday. Her first choice was Gazelle (she swears that is how it is spelled - but I know that is an animal) from the movie Enchanted. She wanted to wear Amy's wedding dress to school!!! That's a pretty expensive Halloween costume. She eventually changed her mind and decided to be a retro 80s girl.

"Let's get physical, physical....let's get into physical....let me hear your body talk, your body talk...." (I'm hoping everybody knows where that is from and that they don't think I'm just weird)

Every Halloween the kids come home and pour their "loot" onto the floor so they can have a good look at it. We went trick or treating down at the city park where all of the businesses, the fire dept, the police dept, etc were giving out treats. Johnny Depp was there, Rachel swears he was. Or at least Captain Jack Sparrow was. I actually seen him walking around town so I have to agree with her.

We then went to our ward "trunk or treat" but instead of at the church, we do it around the park here by our house. Everyone came and parked their cars and decorated their trunks. It was really fun. There were prizes for costumes and the best trunk decorations. We had the Boar head in our trunk, we didn't win but the bishop did take a picture. Tim and I were standing by our trunk so we weren't down where they were giving out the awards. After awhile Parker came running by us and said, "Oh yeah, I won something" and he threw a bag into the trunk next to me. Apparently the bishop wanted to give a prize to the best skeleton and he gave it to Parker. He got a Secret of Nimh DVD, a coloring book, some popcorn and a rootbeer.

After we went to trunk or treat Tim took Parker and Isaac for more trick or treating on a four wheeler. They had a great time! I'm just glad it is all over for another year.

PREPARING FOR KAYLA'S BIG DAY

When Kayla set her wedding date for July 25th, we knew we had our work cut out for us. With her in Rexburg and me here, we had to plan our weekends carefully. We had clothes, invitations, refreshments, a wedding dress, reception place, showers, wedding cake and so much more to think about. When she wasn't here, Kayla was busy with school at BYUI, work at the radio station and finding time to spend with Brian since he had moved to Blackfoot. I'm happy to say that through it all we were able to get prepared and Kayla, amazingly, earned grades that would allow her to keep her scholarship.


Our weekends were fun and eventful. In May we looked at places to have the reception. Brian and Kayla's favorite was Wadley Farms.

In May we also went shopping for wedding dresses. I thought it was going to be impossible to choose because Kayla looked so beautiful in every one she tried on.

I'm afraid we wore Rachel out. It's a good thing that most of the wedding dress shops had a comfy couch for the tired "maid of honor."

The minute Kayla tried on this dress she knew it was THE ONE. She really loved it. It was just what she had wanted. She especially liked that it was ivory. Of course once you pick out the dress you've only just begun. Then you have to find the veil, the sash, the brooch, the jewelry, the shoes and the slip. Whew!

We also fit in time to visit a fabric store and pick out material for a quilt to tie at her shower.

Then in June it was back to Wadley Farms for the engagement pictures. Brian's mom and I went along. How fun!!

We joked about using this picture for the invitation. It certainly is a good depiction of how happy Kayla was that day. But then, the guests would have had to come to the wedding to see what the groom looked like.

This is the picture that Kayla chose to go with their announcement in the local newspaper.

After looking at over 100 exceptional pictures, this is the one they chose to include with their invitation. Kayla and Brian found the paper for their invitations at a store in Rexburg and then they shipped it off to Houston where Brian's dad, JC, did a beautiful job of printing them. Amy used these pictures and others to make a wonderful wedding DVD. It is truly worth watching! You can see it on Amy's blog at http://www.thewondertwins.blogspot.com/ under her July 2008 posting.

Next, we took the material for the quilt over to my sweet next door neighbor, Xenna. She cut it up into squares for us. Together she and I would put patterns together on her floor and then I would take a picture of them and email it to Kayla to see what she thought. Once she decided which pattern she liked best we pinned it all together and Xenna sewed up the quilt top for us. I picked up the batting and other materials needed and we were ready to tie it at the shower. Xenna came to Lisa's house and set everything up for us.

Lisa gave Kayla a fun family bridal shower. She really went the extra mile to make it so nice for Kayla. We tied a quilt, had delicious food and enjoyed visiting. Kayla received alot of nice gifts.

Notice how Kayla and I have the exact same expressions in the next three pictures.

Brian and Rachel found time to have a marshmallow eating contest. The object was to see who could fit the most in their mouth at the same time. Rachel won.

BRIDAL PICTURES, A TREK AND LAST MINUTE PREPARATIONS

June ended and July began in a very busy way. Brian and Kayla came down for a ward shower, bridal pictures, some shopping on Craigslist, addressing invitations, picking out a wedding cake, some more shopping and a ward trek!


Lisa helped Kayla do her hair for the bridal pictures. It took a few hours and lots of hair product.

Kayla wanted to have her bridal pictures taken at the temple. Ernie, our photographer, thought it would be neat to have them taken in the evening when the light was just right. There wasn't anywhere to change so we had to get Kayla in her dress outside (holding up blankets) at a church nearby. To my horror, I found that I had forgotten the slip! The slip is extremely important because it gives the dress it's shape. I didn't know what to do. I thought everything was in the bag with the dress but there was no slip. I started to question if the dress shop had given me the slip. I'm afraid I had a melt down. I called home and thank goodness Suzi was still there. She found the slip and brought it to us. She also grabbed some flowers from a vase on my table. I must say that Suzi saved the day. By the time we were ready I was afraid that it was getting too dark but Ernie didn't seem worried. He took some beautiful pictures. Brian came along for the bridals too and that made it extra fun.



Ernie went right to work. Brian got the posing thing down immediately.

After the weekend of showers, Craigslist shopping, invitation addressing, etc. We took a few day break and went to Rocky Ridge near Martin's Cove on a trek with our ward. This was just three weeks before the wedding. We slept in tents, pulled handcarts and became pioneers for a time. It was a good and humbling experience for all of us.

Rachel's favorite part of the trek was square dancing with Brian.

Usually treks are for the youth and their leaders. I am so glad that the whole family, which is very rare, was invited on this one. It was fun to have grandparents, babies, children, etc. I was really glad we got to bring Parker along. Notice Tyrel and Suzi's clothes. Suzi made her dress and his vest. They looked so good and very festive for the upcoming 4th of July holiday.

We had a program at this ampitheater on our last night there. Rachel sang and Tyrel spoke about the man he walked for who died at Rocky Ridge.

I am always happy when Tyrel is with me. He helps me keep a good eye on everybody, especially his younger siblings.

Tim thought Kayla looked so pretty in her blue pioneer dress and bonnet. He told her so every few minutes. We were all liking Brian's "scruffy" look. Such a cute couple....and so ready to get married!

On July 18th we all headed up to Rexburg to be with Kayla when she received her endowment in the new Rexburg, Idaho temple. Grandma and Grandpa Salisbury came and so did Tim and I and Brian's parents. Grandma Wilkins (Kayla and Brian's adopted grandma in Rexburg) was there and so was Kayla's organ teacher. Rachel and Parker waited for us outside of the temple.

After we were done at the temple we went to a nearby park and celebrated Brian and Rachel's birthdays which are both on July 18. Brian's mom, Sandi, and I ordered sandwiches from Broulims and we had a picnic topped off with an ice cream birthday cake. After that we went back to Kayla and Brian's apartment and they finished unpacking and organizing so they'd be ready to move in when they got home from their honeymoon.

The next morning I grabbed Kayla and ran to Utah so we could take advantage of a couple of days to finish getting ready for the wedding. Brian went with his parents to Blackfoot and then on to Salt Lake where he waited for his siblings to fly in from all across the country.

It was a fun and exciting week. There was a Cook family shower, shopping, packing, a Cook family no-talent show and lots of anticipation. Before we knew it, the big day was here!