One day last week I came home to find the lights not working. As I looked around the house I realized the clock on the stove wasn't working either. In fact, we had no power. The house was quiet, dead, very lonely. My mind was racing as I thought, "Did I forget to pay the electric bill? What kind of person forgets to pay the electric bill-have I stooped that low? If I didn't pay it, wouldn't they send me a notice prior to shutting it off? Maybe I forgot to read the incoming mail too!! Oh, no!! Wait a minute - I use billpay on the internet, I know it got paid! But wait- I haven't paid the rent yet. Oh, what date is it? Holy Cow that's like 2 weeks late!! Would the landlord be able to have our electricity turned off until we pay our rent? But she didn't even call me!" Then I remembered I passed a firetruck on the way home and there was a huge electric line down. Whew!! We're okay-everyone is out of power in this area.
After realizing I couldn't do laundry, watch the news, or even check my email, I decided I'd better get the flashlights out before the sun went down. We took our luke warm crock pot dinner over to Dads and ate with them. Then we came home and played shadow puppets for a few minutes before reading together by flashlight for about an hour and were all in bed by 8:30. So the next time you feel like life is moving too fast, I suggest you flip the breaker and live like pioneers for a few hours. It's very therapeutic.

Where in the heck am I supposed to type with all these pictures in the way?!!

So this loveley hole in the ground is not a grave site-it's for the way cool, hidden, secret, underground propane tank. Did you know that if it's in a low-lying place with lots of water it can actually float up out of the ground? I learn something new every day. Come to think of it, lately I'm learning tons of something news every day-could be why I feel a bit overwhelmed!

I had a complaint tonight at Stake Conference that there wasn't anything about me on here (I love you, Lisa), so here you are. This is really what there is about me right now. Life is more than we can handle these days. I have come to realize that the "dream job" as a school nurse is a bit tougher than I dreamed it would be. In a moment of weakness a few weeks ago I signed us up for 4-H thinking that it would give the kids something to do in the summer time. Upon finding out that it gave them and me lots of somethings to do all year long I snaked out of it. So now I'm trying to find ways to simplify our lives and find the joy. I'm hoping this blog will help. We really are hugely blessed. I hope you enjoy the updates on our lives.

Check it out!! All my dreams are coming true-a bath tub I can sink into...aahhh...

Bill has been amazing through this whole process. While I feel completely overwhelmed at times and I definately show it, he has remained cool and calm. He's been working at his paying job about 30% of the time and the rest is spent between the house and our little rental. He gets the kids ready in the morning and takes them out to school, whether he's working on the house or in town on someone elses house. Since he is building most of the house on his own, he's been back and forth between different projects. We were hoping to have the siding finished before the cold weather came, but now it's on hold to run the gas line for the propane tank before the ground freezes. Then there's the plumbing lines that have to be put in before all the siding goes up-something about holes in the outside of the house, I don't know. Like I've said before, I make a way better nurse than a builder. I try not to ask too many questions, it just makes me dizzy.

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Taylor is loving life! She's always smiling and always trying to find an animal or baby to love on and she loves her Daddy!!

Taylor's latest interest is practical jokes!! She bought a book from her book order at school to learn how to safely annoy her family members with her trickery. She has taped the rolling ball on the computer mouse so it won't work, she's made our bed with the flat sheet under the fitted sheet, and perhaps her favorite-she's dipped our toothbrushes in lime juice. Just in case you've never had the privilage of lime flavored toothpaste, it's gross.

Taylor also made the honor roll this semester and loves watching T.V. Her favorite show is "Walker, Texas Ranger". Don't ask me why, I don't understand it. She's begging for a horse. For parent/teacher conferences she said the best thing we could do for her was buy her the horse Huckleberry. Huckleberry lives in northern Idaho by her grandma and she fell in love with (her/him?) when she was there last summer. Who knew she would love to ride horses so much?

The Latest With Us is That We Are All Glad the Elections Are Over!

Our Ben-What a Boy!! He loves to make noises with anything and is always using his hands to explore the world.

Ben finished up football season just in time to beat the cold-man are we glad! He enjoyed learning a new sport but has confirmed his loyalty to baseball. After a mid-quarter scare with math he managed to pull up his grade enough to make the honor roll. Way to go, Ben! He's been spending Saturdays with Bill working on the house.

Ben has recently turned 12 and is now attending all of the youth events at church, making us realize we're not as young as we think we are. He loves spending time with his friends and is begging for a dog.

Well this was easier than I thought!! (I think-I'm not finished yet)