G is for . . .

G is for GENUINE. I am the real deal, and I make no excuses for it. I don't buy into the "keep up with the Joneses" attitude, or try to fit in with the cookie-cutter-designer-jean-buying women who sit at the soccer games and make mindless chatter. I am sure I will offend some of you with this comment, but this is life-according-to-Barb, with no filter. I decided to give up trying to be like the herd years ago, and just embrace my weirdness. I know most women can relate to what I am saying here, but are just not brave enough to blog about it. All I can say to that is . . break free! It is SO liberating! It is said that "it takes a gentle tongue to say things sincerely, and a courageous soul to show it". Okay . . .so I don't have such a GENTLE tongue. People know where I stand, and those that truly are my friends appreciate it.

G is also for GOOFY. Its what I want my GRANDKIDS to remember their GRANDMA BARB as. Nothing is too silly.(Way too much to say about the GRANDKIDS by the way, so that will have to be blogged about on another day). I am finding that Hailee comes by the odd Simon humor naturally, and so she appreciates the sometimes ridiculous things we talk about and do together when she is here.

G is for GRANDPA SIMON. There is one good thing that came out of my Mom's passing, which is that I became so much closer to my Dad. He has always been so good to us, and we love hearing his stories and gleaning wisdom from his life's experience. G is also for GRANNY. She can be silly as well, and luckily she passed some of those GENES on to my husband, or otherwise he would not be able to tolerate me. She is probably the most GIVING person I know, and she always GUSHES about everything I make and do, even if I don't deserve it.

G is for GRACEFUL, which I am SO not! I never considered myself accident prone, but this year proved that to be true, for sure. I tripped over the computer desk drawer twice, once breaking my toe, and the other rupturing something on my right side. I never had it looked at, but I was sore for several weeks. I burned myself twice on the oven element, both times while taking a pie out. I nearly cut off my finger while cleaning the inside of a drinking glass. Their usually pain tolerant Mom gave the girls a scare, as I let out a pretty nasty scream and a few choice cusswords! GOLLY GOSH GEEZ! What a GOMER GOOBER am I??? (yeah right).

And lastly, G is for GOD, our eternal father. Without him, the possibility of being genuine, goofy, or graceful would not be possible. And neither would having Grandpas or Grannys, or watching GREAT basketball. GO GONZAGA!!!

F is for . . .

F is for FACEBOOK. I was seriously addicted for a couple of weeks, because it was so FUN to reconnect with old friends, and keep abreast of what everyone is up to. But as with everything else, it loses its appeal over time, sort of like keeping up on this darn blog! I try to check it every morning when I get home from the route, and its FUN to see all the new pictures that people post. F is also for FURNIE, which is what my kids call Randee. It escapes me how or when that nickname came about, but it's stuck for alot of years now. She hates it by the way, but it might be a better alternative to Nanny, which is what I call her. Nonetheless, if you were assigned such silly names against your will, wouldn't you be tempted to say the "F" word? Ask Gaylord FOCKER the same question. I think he would concur. F is for FLOCCINAUCINIHILIPILIFICATION. Yes, it is a word, and it means "insignificant". Kind of ironic, considering how long the word is. Its definately what I am feeling now that I am headlong into my mid-life crisis. Yoink. F is for FORGIVENESS, because it is the one F word that is like a miracle when practiced. It is truly the key to happiness. F is for FRIVOLOUS. I know this word often has a negative connotation as light-minded or something to be disregarded, but to me it means all of the experiences in life that are memories to be savored. I won't remember which states voted democratic in the 2008 Presidential election, or what team won the NBA playoffs, but I will remember the time spent in NYC going into secret rooms with Darcy & Randee to find knockoff Coach purses, and getting on Instant Messenger with all of my kids and dishing about the latest episode of The Office. And last but not least - FAMILY, FAITH, FRIENDS, FREEDOM. Without these, no other F words would do.

E is for . . .

Boy, E is a hard one. Lets see . . .E is for EMPTY- NESTER. This word literally makes me shudder. John wants us to start attending a Family Home Evening group for Empty-Nesters, and I am digging in my heels. No offense to my dear friends that attend, but I am not ready to join the ranks of the childless yet, sorry. My body may be aging, but my mind still thinks its twenty-five. Even after Randee is gone, I don't think I will be ready. Who ever said that there is an age where you have to resign to being old, and lose your youthfulness, eh? I would much rather have Robin over, and play with her kids. That is why the Lord keeps putting me in the Primary I think.

E is also for ECONOMY. Not my favorite subject right now. Every time you turn around, someone or something is taking more of your green stuff away. It certainly makes a person far more resourceful in making ends meet. Luckily, gas has gone down a bit, or I would be delivering my newspapers from a Radio Flyer. Darcy actually started a blog called "Save The Pingels", where she is selling things to make ends meet, and I for one think its a great idea. We all have too much "stuff" that other people could use, at a discounted price of course.

And finally. . .E is for EXERCISE. Heaven knows I need some of that stuff, although my couch might miss me. Even if its the sit-in-your-chair and move your feet from left to right kind, any movement will do. Time to drag out the good old "Sweatin' To The Oldies", with Richard Simmons. Always wanted a pair of striped satin jogging shorts that showed my 'private bits' when I flop around . . . NOT! I do have a treadmill downstairs (Dreadmill to Micheal Scott of The Office) that is collecting dust, and its even within clear view of a very large big screen TV where I could watch my favorite reality TV shows while I gasp for air. I HAVE no excuses, so its time to buck up and join the Biggest Loser Crowd. My kids think I could win that show. Jillian . .SAVE ME!

KUDOS TO JOHNNY

No offense to friends and family, but I say DITTO to Johnny's "Things That Make Me Mad". If you have not read them, visit his blog. At least if people know where you stand, there is never opportunity for conflict.

I'VE BEEN TAGGED DARN IT!

The RULES
1. Link the person who tagged you --- DARCY'S BLOG
2. Post these rules.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them.

Six Unspectacular Quirks About Barbra...

1. I eat too much, plain and simple. When food stops being so damn good, I'll quit eating it.

2. I like order. If I walk into the living room, and the throw pillows are out of place, I immediately have to go set them straight. Colors have to match, and things have to look even. It can drive a crazy person like me, crazier.

3. I wear black, every day. Almost every clothing item I have is black, or black in combination with another color. It saves on the clothing budget, believe me. Black bootleg leggings and black cotton t-shirts are cheap. I get teased about it, but what can I say? I am all about comfort & affordability, not style. FYI . . . Barbra means "dark stranger". I guess I am the resident goth Mom. So, if you plan on asking me why I wear so much black, or tell me that I should wear more color . . .don't waste your breath. I am what I am, so get over it.

4. Only being asked to sing at funerals. Don't get me wrong, I love doing it. More age appropriate I guess. I still get that hankering though to sing for large events and gatherings as well. Nonetheless, I am grateful for whatever opportunities I get to share my talents.

5. I am a homebody. I wish I had the desire to go out more, but I just don't. I think over time you realize that going out means spending money you don't have, and dealing with people that are overly annoying.

6. Just like Darcy, I am addicted to my special drink . . .propel. I am out as we speak, and I am convulsing. It used to be diet coke, so at least I switched to something that is not putting holes in my stomach and intestines.

YOU'RE TAGGED!

Dot
Jacque
Brooke
Tiffany
Crystal
Jessica

CONGRATULATIONS TO ADAM!

A big congratulation hug to Adam, our son-in-law for getting the lead in BYU Idaho's Fall production of "She Loves Me"! I hope all our kinfolk that live down south can plan on attending. He and Darcy are all settled into their tiny apartment, and Darcy is currently job hunting. If anyone has any leads, please give her a buzz.

D is for . . .

D is for DEE, which is my middle name. I endured years of school where teachers asked me for it, and when I said it was Dee, they thought I misunderstood them and that I thought they wanted my middle initial. Sheesh. D is for all the DAVIDS in my life . . . DAVID B., who is my father and a great one at that. So glad to still have him with us. (Funny photo of my Dad above). DAVID #2, my nephew in Highland, UT who we rarely get to see, but when we do, he is always blessing us with his karate and piano skills. And finally DAVID Archuleta, who needs to marry Randee so that he can serenade us for life. I am sure he is searching profiles on facebook as we speak, looking for a homegrown Idaho girl . . yoink. (Sorry DAVID Cook. We love ya, but we were rooting for the sweet little Mormon boy from Utah). Then there's DARCY the DIVA. My oldest daughter, who has always liked the finer things in life (in her defense, she can be seen shopping at Goodwill as well). D is for our most favoritist aunt ever, Aunt DOT, who makes every family get-together fun. (But aunt Dot, where are MY pretty panties, huh?) Its also for DECORATING, which I love to do, on a shoestring budget, of course. We hope to get the upstairs done by Christmas. It has been a yearlong project, and its looking more beautiful all the time, thanks to handyman John. D is for DAUGHTRY. I haven't listened to a CD in years where I loved every song on it, and this is a winner. And lastly . . kudos to DIMPLES. Always loved the ones on Johnny's cheeks under his eyes, and Dana has them as well, and passed them on to the girls. I have them too . . I just wish mine were on my face. Argh. My favorite dimples of all time were Randelle Rutkowski Parker's. We will miss them but look forward to seeing them again in the hereafter.

Romantic Comments @ Comments101.com

C is for . . .

C is for CHILDREN. I absolutely adore little children between the ages of two and five, and the darling little things they do and say. If I had a dollar for every funny thing my kids ever said back in the day, I would be rich. Of course, I cannot recall them all now, and I very much regret not writing them down. One instance in particular that I love, is something Skyler said when he was getting his first haircut. I think he was about three years old at the time. The gal who was cutting his hair was trying to make idle conversation with him, asking him random questions. She asked him where he lived . . .and he said "In that brown house by that one tree". I think he actually thought she would know exactly where he lived by his description. She thought it was so cute, and I could tell she wanted to laugh . . . but she kept a fairly straight face and said "Oh yeah, I know where that is".

Also, my nephew Zack and my niece Jessica were constantly entertaining me with their hilarious spin on words. They called a sandwich, a swamich. A magazine, a mazagine. And the day that Jess finally could say BaRbRa instead of Bawbwa will go down in infamy. I think I hugged the stuffing out of her I was so proud!

You won't want to miss these particularly great kid videos on www.youtube.com. They'll brighten any downer of a day, trust me on this. First, watch ""Blood". You'll die laughing. Second, the little asian girl who sings "The Lord's Prayer". Third, the toddler who pretends to play the guitar, and sings "Hey Jude". Fourth, "Isabella Natalini Sings Ellen the 50 States". And finally, "Janna and Hannah Sing "I See You, Lord" for Lola Pinay". Two little Philippino angels singing for their Grandmother's funeral. They can even harmonize with each other . . amazing! Oh . . and I almost forgot . . .watch a little video of my grandaughter Izzy getting WAY excited about a bouncing penguin on Travis and Jenna's blogspot. (www.tjandersonfamily.blogspot.com). Scroll down until you find the video clip where she is wearing the red shirt. I think she discovered her voice, and could not stop screaming. The more she hears her voice, the more she screams with delight! Such precious little gifts from God.

C is also for CREATIVITY. I am told I have alot of it, but I would not admit to it because I am very hard on myself. I am not perfect in the things that I do, but I do try think outside the box to make the things I create, special. I am a micromanager, and I drive people crazy with my vision, but in the end I get things done. Whether it be writing a script for a play, putting together a musical program, remodeling a bedroom, or making a simple card or gift for someone . . .I try to make it memorable. It goes right in line with Good, Better, Best . . .the talk given by Dallin H. Oaks. Just go the extra mile in whatever you do. CARPE DIEM!

B is for . . .

B is for BLOGGING . . .which has become my new obsession. I am always learning, and trying to figure out new ways to make it interesting and clever. My latest project was the slide show, which was not as hard to put together as I thought it would be. I already had most of the pictures on my computer from the massive slide show I made for the Anderson Reunion. I am adding more pictures every day though. . .so ya'll come back now, ya hear? B is also for BARBIE, BOMPERS, BURP, BARBIE DOLL, BARBALICIOUS . . .and all the other funny and disgusting nicknames that people have given me over the years. B is for BENEFIT, the most entertaining makeup station imaginable thanks to Frederick (that one's for you Darcy). B is for BROADWAY, which I missed this year and I am so BUMMED!!! Wanted to see BEAUTY and the BEAST, or Legally BLONDE. Darn. B is for BELLE, Isabelle to be exact . . .who I would really love to squeeze at this very moment . . especially her BABY BUM cheeks!

A is for . . .

Okay, so I gave in and finally joined the ranks of the ABC bloggers, inspired by Jenna of course. The logical answer to what the letter A is for is ANDERSON, since I am one . . but I certainly do not want to copy you Andersonites who already used it . . . So, I am going to say APPLEBEES, because of the new California Shrimp Salad that you can get there. For those of you who have not tried this delectible creation, I STRONGLY recommend it. It is to DIE for! I know what you're thinking . . .it could not match the Oriental Chicken Salad that you have been ordering for years, but trust me on this one . . . it surpasses it by a mile. And the Grilled Shrimp Spinach Salad is a close second. Bon Apetite!

Last week, My niece Jessica called and asked if we would be willing to babysit a 9 month old snow white maltese pup for a few of days, until she could arrange a ride for her to Shelley, Idaho. Everyone knows that Randee would rather have puppies than kids, so there was definately no hesitation on her part! For just the four days we had her, Randee named her Little Miss Muffet, or Muffy. She is now in Shelley in her new home, and has been named Bella. I have learned that I am much better as a dog sitter, than a dog owner. I will have grand-pups though, thanks to Randee. Hopefully the pups will feed and water her kids, and clean up THEIR poop.

CONGRATULATIONS TO TRAVIS FOR LANDING A JOB WITH OMNITURE!!! Travis and Jenna will be moving down to the Provo area! Travis got on as an accountant with Omniture, a server company. (Thankyou Johnny for keeping him abreast of the job openings). It will be nice to have both boys in one spot, for visiting purposes.

Hailee, my oldest grandchild called me the night before last, and told me that Grandma Bobbi's dog Hank got hit by a car. I asked her if she was sad, and she said "No, but Grandma Bobbi is". So, I said "How come you're not sad Hailee?" To which she replied, "Because his spirit went up, up to heaven". Course, I laughed because I thought it was so cute and funny, but I was so glad that Hailee actually listens in Primary, and knows that our spirits go to live with Heavenly Father when we die.

My Top 10 Most Favorite Things

1. CHOCOLATE. Anytime, any place, any way. Particularly chocolate with peanut butter in any form or variety. You can find a chocolate wrapper in just about any trash recepticle at my home, inside or out. If I gave up chocolate, I would have no need to fantasize about getting the lap band. Hersheys would go out of business if it weren't for me.

2. GRANDKIDS. They are the reason I get up in the morning, a reason to be silly, the reason I smile, the only motivation to get out of town what little I do. What do I love about my grandkids? Hailee's quips, especially when she told Grandpa its better to pee his pants than to waste time stopping at Ross to use the bathroom . . . My webcam visits with Riley, who thinks seeing Grandma on the monitor is like watching a really boring TV program . . . Izzy's thighs, so luciously fun to squeeze . . . and Camryn's chubby cheeks . . . ditto.

3. NEW YORK CITY. Manhattan. Bonding time with Darcy & Randee. Riding the subway train. Appetizers at Ruby Foos. Frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity. Late night frozen yogurt runs. Totally awesome all-you-can-eat deli buffets (that ones for you Randee). Lion King. Max & Laura in Grease. Hours & hours at Sephora. Lips Celebrity Impersonators. Purse & jewelry shopping in Chinatown. Gondola watching in Central Park. Lady liberty in all her majesty. Watching the girls on TRL from our hotel room. Dolling up, and going out. Celebrity watching. Walking, walking, and more walking. Visiting Manhattan YA Ward. Being Silly. Everything that makes this dirty, stinky city worth exploring. Its the female equivalant of a hunting or fishing trip. After years of taking care of everyone else, I finally am doing something just for me. Filling my artsy void. It recharges me, and makes me want to face life again. Nuff said.

4. REALITY TV. Just about any show I can get my eyes on, or can Tivo. Survivor, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Big Brother, The Apprentice, American Idol . . .I love them all, and then some. I can even be caught from time to time watching Flavor of Love or I Love New York, if I need a good laugh. The most hilarious reality show of all time was Joe Schmo. I still chuckle from time to time when I think about it. It satisfies my very twisted sense of humor. Its in the Simon genes, trust me. PS . . .David Archuletta, we love you. If you like tall girls with long blonde hair, give me a jingle. I can hook you up.

5. HOME DECORATING. I love, love, LOVE to do it. My budget doesn't allow me to indulge this obsession, but I do what little I can. It is the one thing I think I am really good at, besides music. I love rich fabrics, faux finishes, meaningful wall quotes, functionality. Maybe some day I will be able to make my dream house a beautiful showpiece. I am an admitted homebody, so beautiful peaceful surroundings are very important to me.

6. SLEEP. I don't get much of it because of the paper route, so when I actually get a decent four hour stretch of REM, I treasure it. Every year on Mother's Day and my birthday, I tell my family that all I want is uninterrupted sleep. But without fail, the phone rings, someone knocks at the door, the icemaker does its thing, an airplane takes off, or Randee makes noise just to wake me up because she is lonesome. Even at that, my 49 year old body has to visit the bathroom several times a night, and I wake up thirsty at least twice. I actually slept 5 hours straight on our vacation to West Yellowstone last weekend, thanks to 4 Ibuprofen. I am still in disbelief about that one.

7. PERFORMING. Particularly, singing. I was given a vocal talent, but I can see it fading as the opportunities do. There is no big demand nowadays for a 49 year old overweight wedding singer. But, I do love the opportunities I get to share my talent, whether it be a wedding, funeral, or special occasion. One of the things on my bucket list, is to write enough music to cut at least one CD . . . burned on my computer, for just a select few of course. I want my grandkids to know that their Grandma had pipes.

8. TRAVEL. If money were no object, I would be traveling constantly. If I only get one chance at this planet, I may as well see as much of it as I can while I am here. My travels so far have included Chicago, Florida, New York, Mexico, and Hawaii, plus most of the Western States. My hope is that before we get too old, we can take in a few cruises, see Australia & New Zealand, see some ruins, bask in the Sun in Cabo, visit Hawaii once again, and take the grandkids to Disneyland, for sure. We are still crossing our fingers that we can pull off John's trip to the Philippines with Johnny and Uncle Dan, to get Skyler. He also has always wanted to do a fishing expedition up to Alaska with the guys. Of course, I will continue to do my New York trip with the girls, if finances permit. Oh, by the way . . that is Darcy with the Naked Cowboy in Times Square. Naughty naughty Darcy.

9. THE ELDERLY AND SMALL CHILDREN. I find them to be interesting, sweet, and real. None of that drama that comes from most grown women. So many never made it past Junior High School, and are still at each others throats. To my current friends . . take this with a grain of salt, I love you. I just would rather be playing games with Hailee and Riley, or having lunch with my Dad. Easy going, stress free.

10. BEING AT HOME There is no place I would rather be than in the comfort of my own home. Its the most peaceful serene place I know of, short of being in the temple. Its where I choose to be to escape the chaos of the world around me. The quiet is my survival. The downside though, is that I find the more I am here, the more I don't need anything or anyone else. I think I am becoming a recluse to be honest. But . . I have been in homes with disorder and craziness, and it drives me insane. I love the new song that we are learning for the Primary Program called "Home Is Where The Heart Is" . . .It tells all the things that make home, home: "Home is where the heart is, where warmth and love abound. Home is where warm circling arms go all the way around." Love hearing those little primary kids sing.

Dear Family,
This week was quite the memorable week. In case you haven't heard, the Philippines just got rocked by a huge typhoon. They have warning signals for storms 1-5 and it was a signal 4. The thing is, the news didn't warn anyone so it caught us off guard. It hit here Saturday and my companion and I just happened to be in a far part of our area when the storm started.

I asked the members and they said that they thought it was only about a signal 1 or 2, so I told my trainee that we could still work. But at about 5:00 we were at an appointment and I realized that it was getting too bad to work. There were trees falling everywhere and people's houses were getting blown to pieces left and right due to the strong winds and rain.

My comp and I ran to a members house hoping that they could give us a ride home but they were all too scared to leave. We tried texting our zone leaders to see what we should do, but there was no service at all. So due to the fact that we didn't have a ride home and we had no contact with our leaders, we ended up sleeping at a members house on their floor. They lived in a cement house so we knew we were safe there.
My trainee had the bright idea that we should walk home and kept insisting that we could make it home if we had a flash light. I don't know what the heck he was thinking cause stepping outside was like walking into a tornado. Sometimes he has some really weird suggestions and I don't know really how to respond to them.

The next day when we got back to our apartment we saw that our roof had blown off and some of the members were trying to fix it. A lot of my stuff got wet but mostly just clothes and my bed. Other then that everything was ok. Today at district meeting our leaders told us that this week we will mostly be going around our zone and fixing peoples houses that got destroyed in the storm. There was a lot of damage and my area is still without electricity so its been quite the experience.

On the bright side of things our work has been really good. Though we missed a few days of work because of the storm we managed to get 26 new investigators and 31 lessons. We had the highest states in the zone but my trainee acts like our stats are low. Its definitely hard training a new missionary cause he doesn't quite know how things work in the mission yet and sometimes he argues with me about how things are done in the mission though I've been out about 14 months now and he's been out about 3 weeks. Elder Pontino is a way shy guy but there are times when he does talk and it is usually when he has to complain or when he has a off the wall suggestion. Oh well, he'll get over it.

That's pretty much all the news I have for you this week but I hope things are going good with you guys over there. The mission is flying by now and its definitely keeping me busy. The months seem like weeks. I love you guys and write back soon. Elder Anderson

The Wedding of Darcy McKay Anderson and Adam Scott Pingel

Whew! I survived another wedding . . .barely, and I think my family survived ME (but you will have to ask them yourself!) I got very intense and grouchy at times, but considering how much work was required to pull this off, I think I managed pretty well.

Darcy and Adam were married on May 2nd at 1 PM at the Spokane Washington Temple. Surprisingly, it was the first sunny day we have had in a very long time. The ceremony was short, sweet, eternal. The room was filled with family and close friends, and our dear friend Clive Grimmett (who is in the temple presidency) performed the sealing. Darcy's cousin, Jessica Maus took the pictures on the temple grounds, and they all turned out beautiful as usual. I included some of them above.

I headed straight back to the church after pictures to finish up the last minute details. I had decided months prior, that I needed to do most of the work myself if this was going to be the classy event the kids wanted, and stay within our budget. I was very careful to gauge my time, so that I didn't leave too many stressful things to get done at the last minute. For weeks I worked on: tablecloths that I made out of gold satin sheets from Ross (the fitted ones were a pain to disassemble, believe me)...centerpieces made from ivy covered grapevine wreaths, covered with sugared fruit & grapes, floral, and bows....bouteniers, corsages, bouquets...and on and on.

I had cleared the gym for the three days prior to the wedding so that we could transform the gym into a classic gold tuscan beauty. I would call it Olive Garden meets Donald Trump. Lots of gold satin, Ivy, grapes and sugared fruit, cedar arbors, lighted ficus trees, and beautiful floral. Sister Felsing brought her white parachute lined in icycle lights to produce a false ceiling, and then we hung a gold glass chandelier down from the center.

My sisters Val and Kristen were such troopers, spending many hours at the church with me, and putting up with my micromanagment. John was at the church til nearly midnight the night before, trying to repair the chandelier, and hoist it up to its proper place.

We decided early on, that this was going to be a black & white wedding, at least for the attire. Darcy was able to wear the exact dress she had imagined, thanks to my friend Julie. I sewed her a gold satin sash, literally finishing it on the way to the temple. She adorned it with a rhinestone brooch, and wore a rhinestone headpiece in her hair.
Julie loaned us a couple toddler sized dresses that looked just like Darcys, for Riley and Hailee. They had so much fun twirling the night away, and sneaking into the reception line for attention from time to time. For the bridesmaids, I found five tuxedo-like black satin dresses at J.C. Penney for just the right price. I sewed satin shrugs to match, and Darcy found white pearls for each of the women. All the men wore black suits, and we found burgandy satin ties for each to wear.

Thanks to my dear friends Pam Knight & Julie Jensen, the food was delicious! Loads of yummy finger foods and pastries, too much to mention. I would describe the kitchen staff as the "dream team". They worked hard and fast, and kept the food coming with no delays. Adam's mom, Shari Pingel made the wedding cake, and it was the tastiest I had ever tried.

We had a steady stream of people for over two hours, and I would estimate that 300 plus people attended, which may be standard in Mormon communities, but its a stellar attendance for here. Our family and dear friends stayed after it was over, and we all worked together quickly and efficiently to get everything down and put away. Its nearly three weeks later now, and I am still exhausted. All in all, it was a wonderful party, and worth all the work.

FYI . . .Darcy is engaged, and set to be married on May 2nd in the Spokane Washington Temple. Darcy had been living in Huntington Beach, CA for nearly a year, living the post college beach baby single life, hoping to meet her prince charming, and live happily ever after. Unfortunately, things kept going awry, and after many tearful phonecalls to Mom, she moved home to live with us, and to find her path.

She told me that Heavenly Father knew her address, and that if she was living right, he would bring the right man into her life. Enter stage left - Adam Scott Pingel. Needless to day, they had a whirlwind romance, and were engaged after 10 days of dating!

We could not have hand picked a better match for her! Both love singing, dancing, acting . . .and will be headed to work at the Playmill Theater in West Yellowstone this summer, so if any of you get up this way, take the time to catch one of their shows! Adam is a Theater/Speech major, and wants to be a high school administrator.

I just had to start out our blog with a really funny story from our son Skyler, who is currently serving in the Philippines Baguio Mission. We had a really good laugh over this letter. I bet this did alot for our son's self esteem to stand next to this little guy! Made Skyler look so tall! Here is an exerpt from his letter to us:

"This week has been quite the long week for me. We had to do a lot of tracting so it was bad at first but after awhile it got kinda fun. I had seen this midget in the past in a far part of my area that I wanted to contact so I decided we would tract there.

When we first went to his house he was nowhere to be found so I was a little discouraged because I really wanted to have a midget investigator. But I didn't give up there. After a few appointments we came back to his street and sure enough there he was sitting on the side of the road. So I turned to my companion and said "let's get'em".

When I first started talking to him, I'm sure I looked like an idiot because I was so excited to talk to him that I was laughing a little as I introduced myself. At first I couldn't understand him because he mumbled when he talked and he spoke Pangasinan which I only know a little of. I thought about asking him if he has ever worked for Santa or Willy Wonka or if he was in the Wizard of Oz for good time sake but I thought it would be best if I didn't. haha.

He is 50 yrs old and his name is Max. We ended up teaching him and we got a return appointment. He's so funny looking cause he looks old but at the same time he looks like he's 8.