Frosty the snowman!

I really need some more snowman in my yard. Come on! I know alot of you out there like to build snowmen, so come on over and build me more. We could all have a snowman party. This is Haley's first snowman she built with her friends and then they knocked it down.

Here is Haley's 2nd snowman after a day. She calls it her athletic snowman. It's stretching right now and she put a shovel to it's head to hold him up. I guess he did too many sit ups. Here is Haley's 2nd snowman. Haley said when it snows next she is going to make 3 kid snowmans. I'm counting on your word and I have it in writing for everyone to see. Snow, snow, snow. Everyone pray for snow!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Tallest snowman!

Day 25 MERRY CHRISTMAS! Okay Haley get busy! I have been wanting a snowman in our front yard this past week and Haley and her friends built me one, not quite this tall, and then they knocked it down. I was very sad, so I told Haley she has to make me another one. I hope everyone is having a nice Christmas today. Love all you guys, and if you have some extra time and love to play in the snow and build snowman's you can come over and build me one. I have lots of snow. Ha Ha! Oh and Haley is turning into a blog woman now. Check out her blog. It's called "The Amazing Haley" It's listed on my blog list

Day 19 The First Noel

Day 19 Calming music I missed a few days, okay almost a whole week. It has been a very busy week. As I was helping clean up after our Christmas Ward party tonight. I heard a faint, but clear song being played on the piano by a child in our ward. He was sitting at the piano by himself playing "The First Noel" with his right hand. I walked up to listen to him and he saw me come over so he stopped. I asked him if he would continue and play it again for me. I was very proud of him and told him it sounded so good that I wanted to hear it again. He started playing it again after he found the right key to start on. It took him a few tries and he finally got it. This child I have had in my primary class and at first would barely talk to me and do anything I asked him to do, but I have always felt impressed to continue trying and through the years he talks to me now and I feel closer to him. It was so nice to have him play the song again when I asked him tonight. I thought the song sounded nice while hearing paper crinkle, chairs folded and put away, sweeping, tables being put away, talking, laughing and running. The song stood out so clear and brought Christmas cheer. I think with all the chaos and noise we experience sometimes it's nice to feel music to calm things. I think the Savior is in our lives more than we think He is. He is there to calm things with music, love, friends, family and so much more.

Day 13 Blessed Are the Children

Day 13
Bitter are the tears of a child: Sweeten them.
Deep are the thoughts of a child: Quiet them.
Sharp is the grief of a child: Take it from him.
Soft is the heart of a child: Do not harden it.

Pamela Glenconner

It has been a week since I got released from being a second counselor in the Primary Presidency, but it was not official until today. I thought I was going to be okay with it, but every time I thought of the children I would get tears in my eyes. I was okay until I had to leave them and go to Relief Society, then I was having a hard time focusing on the lesson because thoughts of the children would come into my mind. As I sat there all I really wanted to do was go back to be with the children. Then at home, the primary president who I served with came over and brought me the coolest book. It's called "Blessed Are the Children"(the picture of this post is on the front cover of this book) That is the perfect book and I cried reading it. When I gave her a hug we both started crying and tried to cover it up. I think we will all miss the Primary. I loved serving with Susan Bradford and Jamie Boconegra and Renae Belliston. We became very good friends and now are friends forever. We laughed and cried and just felt loved. You guys are awesome and I could not have done my calling without all of you. I also got letters from a class that I read when I got home and they all said "thank you, you are nice, we will miss you. I will miss them. I think it might take a few sunday's to get used to. I'm just emotional today and I already miss the Primary. Children are amazing! The reason I choose this poem from the book I received today from Susan is because that's how we as leaders came into the primary. We wanted to show the Children love, to let them know they are loved and that we love them, just as the Savior shows us. I think Children are the closest to our Savior and that's where I want to be. I think I might try and sneak in Primary once in awhile. I will definately sub for any class. Primary is an awesome place to be.

Day 11 and 12 Be like a little child

Day 11 and 12 Helpers Sorry I'm behind on my post. I have not had energy to do anything. It has been nice hanging out for 3 days and not being tempted to eat anything. Hey, I have not had any chocolate in 3 days and don't have a desire to eat any, actually anything. It's been nice seeing the scale go down a bit, but I'm tired of being sick and hope I can eat again soon. Being sick takes a lot out of you, but I have had some great helpers. I washed my sheets the other day and Zac and Reilly would not let me make my bed. I tried one corner and Zac said "stop right there mom, we are going to do it" So I let them do it and then they kept coming in my room to give me a hug and ask if I was still sick. They have been very helpful and patient with me. I got to thinking that this is how the Savior is with all of us. He is helpful, patient, kind, thoughtful, loving, concerned, forgiving and so much more, and that's how our kids are sometimes. We can learn from them and be like the Savior in all we do and say. So having my kids help me, helped me remember the Savior and how much he does for me and all of us. Letting Him in more will help us be like Him.

Day 10 Alright! Thats it!

Day 10 Peace and Quiet Okay, this has not been a fun day, but at least I got to spend it with my sister who has not had a fun day too. We both have the flu and have been in bed all day long. (at our own houses, we have been texting all day) When you are sick all day it's nice to spend it with someone who has the same thing. Thanks Joni. We both got it about the same time and I hope we get better because we both have a house to clean in the morning if I can find some energy to do it. I have not eaten anything or drank anything for fear of what might happen. Maybe I will loose some pounds. It's been kinda nice relaxing in bed and enjoying the quiet. I just figured out what this post will be and that is peace and quiet. It's amazing how your mind works when you have hours of quiet. Mine has been going all day just thinking about my life, family, friends, a home and lots more. I am feeling thankful for all I have today. Ho Hum(ha ha, that's for my sister Karen) Well anyways...(for my sisters and Mom) I figured I needed something funny because I have been too serious lately. I need some TYNOL(Grandma saying) Ha Ha! Karen go down to Nisons and grab me some, and then lets play donimos(Grandma saying) My Grandma is so cool. She is in her 80's. We have a story made up with all her sayings. Love you Grandma and I think about you a lot. That's it! Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go go go. Literally. Ha ha! I am up a tree without a paddle(Grandma saying) Okay, I will stop now.

Day 9 Could it be?

Day 9 More Christmas presents or just they love me I don't know if it's because of the Christmas season, but for some reason my kids have been coming up to me and just giving me a hug or saying I love you and then they go about their business. There has been less fighting and more hanging out with each other. Zac was very bored yesterday and just wanted to hang out with me. I have been working a lot lately so maybe he just missed me, or maybe since Christmas is in 2 weeks they are just trying to be extra nice so they can get some things they want for Christmas. I really hope it's because they just want to be that way and not forcing themselves to do it. It has been kinda nice with less fighting, doing more to help out and hearing those wonderful words "I love you", or just a hug. Maybe since I have been letting the Savior in my life more is helping too. I just feel the spirit more in our house and I'm looking closer at people and things that happen more around me. It's been kinda nice.

Day 7 and 8 I don't know!

Day 7 and 8 remembering For the last 2 days I have been figuring out what to write and I have been searching both days for things that happen and for the life of me I can't think of anything so I will just write what I am thinking of now. I just recently read my friends blog and she talked about a time when destroyed some ornaments and she mentioned that she could not remember that she did that. Well, I decided to make this post about "remembering" I too have a hard time remembering things when I was little and for the life of me I can't remember any right now. I have a bad memory. Maybe I should just stop this post right now because I'm not making any sense. I think what I'm tyring to say is I want my kids to keep journals so they can remember things that happened to them while they are young and the feelings they have. I wish I could remember more, but I don't.

I always remember Christmas morning and those of us who slept downstairs could not come up and go past the gate till my mom or dad came to open the gate(I hated that gate) I remember seeing all the gifts in our little room, there was a lot since there was 9 of us and we each got about 4 or 5. My favorite part was seeing my mom and dad open their gifts that I made them and I see that in our kids now. They can't wait till Christmas just to see us open their gift they probably spent hours on. I love that and it always makes me cry.

We always took a ride on Christmas Eve to look for Santa in the sky and sometimes I could really see him. I really need to sit down and try to remember more and when I have time I will. I don't know why I just posted this, but I know I needed to stay up on these days I'm doing. It's bugging me that I'm behind so I just did it not even knowing what I was going to write. Hope this wasn't too boring. I think trying to remember things is helping me to "Let Him In" more because I feel the Christmas spirit more when I can remember and can feel things over again. Now my brain hurts, so I better go make dinner.

Day 5 and 6 "His Hands"

Day 5 Giving I find myself thinking more and more of this phrase all day long every day. "Let Him in" It feels good to think of this and find ways to be more Christlike. I feel like I am learning to have more patience as the day goes by and I feel more love towards other people.

As I was waiting in line with my cart full of groceries I turn around and see this lady waiting patiently with only like 3 things in her cart. I felt like I needed to ask her if she wanted to go ahead of me, so I did offer. She said with a smile, that was really nice of me to ask her that, but she was fine and did not have to be anywhere and did not mind waiting. I felt good after I did that and I felt much happier and could feel the Christmas spirit more.

Also, as my sister and I were on Bangerter highway on our way to clean a house yesterday we saw like 8 police motorcycles and police cars with their lights on leading a funeral procession on the other side of the freeway and then police cars with their lights on in the back. No other cars were on the freeway and we wondered who it might be. We all the sudden thought it could be Elder Worthlins funeral because that was this day. It got us thinking of him and what a great man he was, and to think about how much he gave to others. We are not sure it was him because we think he was buried in Salt Lake, but it was good to remember him and his family and it gave us goose bumps. It made our day a little better.

Day 6 Good Sportsmanship Today I was reminded of a song as I watched Parker's futsal soccer game today. The song is called, "His Hands." During Parker's game, which got a little physical an opposing player got tripped and fell to the ground. Parker went right over to him and stuck his hand out and pulled him up and they continued their game. We ended up loosing, but as all the players were getting their stuff and leaving both teams shook hands and patted each other on backs and they all left smiling. I thought that was so nice of Parker to be concerned about the other player and help him up when he fell, and that's when I thought of that song "His Hands" by Kenneth Cope.

"His Hands"

His hands tools of creation stronger than nations power without end and yet through them we find our truest friend his hands sermons of kindness healing men's blindness halting years of pain children waiting to be held again his hands would serve his whole life though showing man what hands might do giving, ever giving, endlessly each day was filled with selflessness and I'll not rest until i make up my hands what they could be 'til these hands become like those from Galilee.

His hands lifting a leper warming a beggar calling back the dead breaking bread, five thousand fed his hands hushing contention pointing to heaven ever free of sin then bidding man to follow him his hands would serve his whole life though showing man what hands might do giving, ever giving, endlessly each day was filled with selflessness and I'll not rest until I make up my hands what they could be 'til these hands become like those from Galilee.

His hands clasped in agony as he lay pleading, bleeding in the garden while just moments away other hands betray him out of greed, shameful greed and then his hands are trembling straining to carry the beam that they've been led to as he stumbles through the streets heading towards the hill on which he died he would die they take his hands, his mighty hands, those gentle hands and then they pierce them, they pierce them he lets them, because of love from birth to death was selflessness and clearly now I see him with his hands calling to me and though I'm not yet as I would be he has shown me how I could be. I will make my hands like those from Galilee.

If we could be like that and remember all the things the Savior has done for us with His hands we could "Let Him In" more in our lives.

Let Him In

I love this picture and I got it from my sister Karens blog. She is doing a "Let Him In" post every day and I thought it was so cool, and thought I would try it. I know I will probably miss a day or 2 but I'm going to try. Thanks Karen.

I love this picture. It's my favorite one. This Christmas season I want to try to be more like Him and let Him in my life more.

Day 1 PATIENCE The other day while driving I got behind someone going very slow and wanted him to go faster because he was going like 10 miles under the speed limit. I could have gone around him or honked (which I never do) or said "Hurry up", but I decided to have patience and not make a big deal out of it and it made me feel better and I used the slow ride to just think about things and before I knew it I was home.

Day 2 CHRISTMAS SPIRIT Since I have been so busy with putting up lights with Andy I have had no desire to put up my tree or anything else. Zac and Reilly did that for me and it was so nice. They had all the Christmas things all on top of the piano with our Nativity set placed so perfect. We don't have alot of shelf room and so they put it all on the piano and they took pictures off the walls and put up Christmas things. They were so excited and I felt bad for not doing it so I helped them with the tree and fluffed out the branches, then when I had a few min after work I went through and organized things a little more and put out some more Christmas things. I felt alot better and had more of the Christmas spirit. Thanks Zac and Reilly.

Day 3 JOURNALS I have decided that I need to pay more attention to my journal since I forget to write in it. I used to write in it every day and I have lots of journals. After I had Parker I stopped and only wrote in it when I remembered and now it's like 6 months, a year or 2 before I remember, but now that I blog so much I decided to pull the stuff off my blog even comments(sorry guys but I have to put those in it too). I have been copying and pasting and now have 17 pages of my post. I feel like I'm getting so much better at my journal now. I love it.

Day 4( today) "Letting Him In" Thanks Karen for helping me find a way to feel the Christmas spirit more and finding a way to "Let Him In" more in my life. I hope it will make me a better person and closer to Him.

Funny video

Here is a new post to check out. It's pretty funny of my kids. I tried to get it to just show up, but I don't know how to do that. Just click on it and enjoy

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/Ic8c1N0C5mjekIWvMfXC

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

Thanksgiving is becoming my favorite Holiday because my whole family is here. Alan my older brother comes up every year and spends time with all of us. We go to Mi Ranchitos every year and reserve the big room. It is so much fun, then we take pictures and stand in a line from oldest to youngest. It's a tradition I always want to have. Black friday is a tradition we always have to do too! Oh my gosh, we had so much fun watching people argue, fight, scratch each other over things, men crying in line because they probably did not get what they wanted, the crazy long lists people tried to read in the dark standing in line and listening to them talk about their plan when they get in the store. Turn right when you walk(people did not walk in they ran) then turn left, then right ect...., counting all the people who we think did not shower, watching people run down isles, crowds of people at walmart standing around an item(which they only had 22 of that item) ready to grab when it turned 5 am sharp and watching them push and shove, going out to breakfast, shopping more and seeing the line even longer at stores which wrap around the whole store, glad we are not in the line, pretending to be very dramatic at Kohls standing in line outside, then when we got in the store, we started running to our item, with Angie pulling me by purse handles. I've never laughed so hard! Black friday is the best! We go to laugh and cry from laughing so much, to watch crazy people and pretend to be crazy ourselves. It was the best morning ever, even tho we got up at 3:15 am.


Standing in line at Kohls at 3:30am in the morning with my Mom and sisters and sister in laws. Shelley, Kristen and Shari you have to do this with us next year! We have so much fun when we all get together and my Mom is there every time. She is like one of us, crazy as ever and we laugh and laugh and laugh. Crazy!

Dinner with my brother Alan(second in line by me) who is from Arizona and comes up every Thanksgiving and we go to Mi Ranchitos and sit in the big room. We are standing oldest to youngest. SO much fun!

Millions of HUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love hugs! Yesterday I was gone most of the day and Zac kept noticing. Everytime I came back for a second and then go to leave he would hug me and not let go. He had dishes to do so I said I would stay in the kitchen on the computer while he did them cause he did not want me to leave. He came up to me and said "close your eyes I have an early christmas present to give you" so I closed my eyes and he gave me a huge hug. I said "wow thanks, that was a big hug," then I said. "When you get into High School will you still give me hugs like that." He said "yeah, but not in front of his friends." He is so funny and he gives the best hugs. He gives me like 49 hugs a day. I hope he keeps that up even when he is older. Today I'm grateful for HUGS!!!!

Send a 40th birthday comment to my sister. She needs it!

Today I'm grateful for my sister who turns 40 today and I love her so much. Happy Birthday Joni!!! I also wanted to put this on my blog because it's the craziest day ever and I think she needs some positive things today because it's her 40th birthday today and I thought, "hey I could put it on my blog so maybe everyone could give her a comment to tell her happy birthday since her day yesterday was soooooooo BAD!!! Check out her blog. It's the Elegante one. So here is her day...

Let me start at the beginning:
I cried over stupid things all morning, at 11:30 Madison calls and Say's " Mom, I was goofing around at lunch and twisted my foot and I cant walk" Crying hysterically!! So i go to the school and she walks to the car with just a little limp, and I'm thinking to myself, it can't be that bad if she's walking. I put an ice pack on it for the afternoon and go on with my day. Dakota goes out to the garage and climbs up on the top shelf and, for some reason, I'll never understand jumps off!! He brakes his toe.. OK, there's more..... I bring in one of my Christmas trees and put it together, only i didn't realize it was our old tree until I was almost done!! So, I take the tree back down and bring in the right tree... I forgot about my visiting teaching appointments starting at 4, i was a little late! I take Jordan to work, go out to dinner with my siblings and then at 8 decide to take Madison to the ER. Well her foot is broken!! And it's a bad one, she has to stay completely off it for 4 weeks! She will see a specialist in 7 day's to see what the next step is. Meanwhile,My sister in law, who is watching Dakota and Shelby, text me that Shelby is shaking and Say's she's going to trow up! So I race to her house and, so far, so good! It's 11 and I'm really tired but can't go to bed because Jordan is at work and needs a ride home!!! And, in one hour i will officially be 40! Yikes, I hope tomorrow is a better day!

ThePiano Man

Wow!!! Is all I can say. Mic's concert was amazing and I was so proud of him. He did such a good job and he made me cry. My heart is full of gratitude and love for Mic and all the hard work he did to make this concert happen. The story about the blind boy when he played his last song made me cry. Mr. Price that was doing the lights and working with the crew put his whole concert on a cd and gave it to Mic. I have always wanted to have a cd with his songs on it and they turned out so clear. My sister took pictures of him and they turned out so good. Thank you Shelley. I love the hands on the piano one. Amazing! I am so grateful for all the people that showed up to see him and the food they brought. Mic's goal was to have enough food to make 50 Holiday Kits and that's what happened. He had a small box of extra cans and stuffing, but he got all 50 and put them together today. Thank you all again for coming and supporting Mic. Words cannot express how I'm feeling right now. All I can say is I love you all and thank you.



Love this one of his hands on the piano

I want your autograph. All the kids loved this. His little nephew Dakota came up to him with his arms outstretched and said "You did good"

Mic, you have amazing voice and can harmonize really well

The blind mans song, the song that we all cried on

Mic the amazing Piano Man.

Oh Shoot!!!!!!!

Okay that's really the only word I said, really. I was going to help Andy do lights today, but he said we will do them later tonight or tomorrow so I thought I would go home and make me a really good sandwich with my favorite chips and grape soda that brings back memories when I was younger. I don't normally drink soda, but today it sounded good. So I got my lunch all made and went to open the pop and wallah... pop goes everywhere. The force of the pop coming out threw the lid across the table. I try frantically to get the lid and put it on, but the pop was coming out so fast I could not get it on. Meanwhile it sprays everywhere as you can see. I even found some on the pantry door. It ended up all over the table, in drawers, on the floor, on all the grocery bags full of groceries, and all over my food that I carefully made. "Oh shoot!" I said. Okay I said "crap" too but that is all. Well, I got a towel and started cleaning it up, replaced the bread on my sandwich and took off the soggy chips because soggy chips and bread I don't do, changed my clothes and mopped the floor then sat down to eat and you know what the pop was so very gross. All that happened because that grape soda sounded good. A fourth of the soda is gone from spraying everywhere. I'm not drinking grape soda ever again! Where's the chocolate? I need some right about now. I should have just had water and chocolate for lunch, but instead I am cleaning, not what I wanted to do. I'm looking forward to going to Mic's concert and just enjoy the evening and forget about soggy bread and chips and drink no more grape soda. Don't forget to go to the concert. That will be my next post to put on my blog.

Reminder: Mic's Musical Eagle Scout Project

Hey everyone! Mic's concert will be tomorrow night, that's Nov 20th at 6:30. Here are the details. I hope you all can come. It's going to be so much fun. He hopes to get alot of Holiday Food Kits for the food bank:

The Musical Eagle Scout Project
What: My name is Mic Lopp and I am holding a concert for my Eagle Project to help gather food for Holiday Kits for the food bank that I will be putting together. The concert will include various groups from Timpanogos High School among others who will be sharing their talents for the community.

When: November 20, Concert time 6:30pm-7:30pm

Where: Orem Junior High School Auditorium (765 N. 600 W. Orem)

Admissions: 1 Item from the Holiday Kit listed below ( if you come as a family you can bring a whole kit.). In reality I need 200 food items to complete my kits so feel free to bring extra food. Money donations can also be donated after the additional admissions. All money contributions will be used to buy additional items needed for the Holiday kits.

HOLIDAY FOOD KIT
Stuffing Mix
Canned vegetables
Gravy Mix
Mash potatoes (Instant)

Mic will be collecting additional Holiday Kit foods from Nov 10-28.

Here is a sneak peak of the concert:

The Musical Eagle Scout Project

Thursday November 20th

Introduction: Mic Lopp

THS Chamber Choir
I’m a Train
Good King Kong
Parade of the Wooden Soldiers
We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Lex Hatch: Singer

Michael Magistro: Singer
Songs of Josh Groban

THS GUITAR CLUB MEMBERS:
Mic Lopp
Nikki Crandall
Katie Fairchild
Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol

Mic Lopp: New Age Piano Music
Dust in a Storm
Ocean Tide
Pathway to Eternity
A Blind Dream

Thank you all for coming and donating food and supporting me with my Eagle Scout Project.

It's going to be so much fun!

Spiders, now MICE!!!! HELP!!!!!!!!!

I've got to get these spiders off my blog and do more post so they don't show up every time I bring up my blog. It's freaking me out. Okay, so today I was taking off this clients lights off her tree in my family room(7ft tree) because they don't work. As I was putting on new lights while sitting on the floor I see this brown mouse crawl along the edge of the wall, crawl behind the entertainment center, then go behind the couch and disappear. I freaked out and tried to find it, but I could not and I still had to finish this tree. What was I too do? Sit on the floor and wait for it to crawl by me. Well, that's what I did, I had to finish it, but I never saw it again. What is it with spiders and mice doing Christmas lights. That's it I quit! Anyone want my job? I hope I never see another moving thing while I do more lights. Hopefully my next post wont have any creepy crawly things in it, just be glad I did not have a picture of the mouse. I am not thankful for mice. I know we are supposed to say one thing we are thankful for each day in Nov, but it's not working for me. I have a very long list of things I am very grateful for, but spiders and mice and creepy crawly things don't fit into things I'm grateful for. They are overtaking my life! HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yikes! Which one is it???

Yesterday was very scary for me because I hate spiders to the point I have spider dreams very often. Parker and I were putting lights on trees in Cedar Hills yesterday and all the sudden something moved out of the corner of my eye. I looked over and there was this huge spider just sitting there. I hurry and took a picture of it while frantically calling to Parker to come and kill it. He came over and got his camera phone out. He tried throwing rocks on it, but it just moved a little. I was tempted to just step on it, but it was way too big and I did not want to feel it being smashed so Parker kept throwing things at it and then it crawled over to the rocks while I was freakin out thinking it was going to get away and IT DID!!!!!!! Crap, now I had to finish my tree right next to the spider who got away. I almost made Parker do it, but his tree was harder and taller, so I hurried as fast as I could while looking at the ground 49 times and brushing my clothes off 49 times, and sweating 49 buckets, I was so scared. We are not sure what it was, but I showed a neighbor the picture from my phone and he said it was a baby tarantula. He said they have them all the time. Yikes!!!!! Parker wanted to keep it for a pet. NO WAY!!!!!!!!!! I posted some other spiders that looked like the one we saw and I'm not sure which one it could be. I'm going to let you all decide and hopefully I did not freak you out with all these spiders. I told Andy to watch out for a spider dream tonight and guess what I really did, except it was about ants. Millions of ants starting crawling and appearing in my sheets... or maybe they were millions of baby spiders. There was a ton, but luckily it only lasted a few seconds. I HATE SPIDERS!!!! Which kind was it? You decide. This is the one from my phone and its hard to see, but it was big. That is the crack in the cement with the spider covering the whole thing.

On the Internet this said it was a tarantula

A Huntsman or wolf spider

Hobo spider

brown recluse spider

I think it looked a lot like the Hobo spider. Parker thinks so too. Do they live here? I don't know, but I don't want to see another one EVER again, and sorry if I freaked all of you out big time, but I just wanted to know what it was. I hope you all don't have spider dreams tonight! Ha Ha! I saw the same one in St. George a few months back and yes I had a spider dream that night. I am NOT grateful for spiders at all. I wish there was no such thing as spiders.

A challenge for you all.

I am feeling grateful today for everyone in this ward, and I'm thankful for blogging because it has given me the chance to get to know each of you better. I feel closer to all of you and I feel I have more friends. I love to read all your blogs and read all about your lives. I really wish we could find a way to make our blog list bigger and read about others too in this ward. We have an amazing ward and I'm grateful for everyone. I love to go to church and see and say hi to everyone. I hope that I have been a friend to everyone. Sometimes when I don't know someone very well I get into my quiet mode which I hate and I have a hard time talking. Sorry if I came off not friendly, it's just me being too quiet and not knowing what to say. I have always been quiet and I hate it. Blogging has helped me reach out to others and I'm just grateful for it. You guys are all so GREAT and I hope we always blog and involve others. Let's make our blog list bigger. I also love that I blog with my family(Mom, sisters and sister in laws and their friends) You guys are all so great and I love you. Big challenge of the week; get 2 new people on your list.

What a day, I mean 2 days!!!

What a day I had with my sister on Monday and my arms are about ready to fall off they are so sore. I feel like I have done lunges with my arms. We clean this house in Alpine every Tuesday and it has 7 bathrooms and it takes us 3 hours. It's not bad because it's already clean, but the owners asked us if we could clean their cabin up in Heber in Timberlakes on Monday, so we decided to give it a try.

The weather was kinda cloudy and rainy, but as we got to the dirt road all the sudden we were in a snow storm and the road was packed. A window cleaning guy was coming the same time to do their windows and up ahead we could see him sliding all over and barely moving, so we thought maybe if we go a little faster we could catch up to him, but once we slowed down we started sliding. We could not make it any further. Snow was coming down like crazy! We seriously could not make it up this hill and we had no phone service. Well the window cleaning guy started backing up slowing, so we did too. We had to back up a long ways. We finally got turned around and made it back to the office. We had to call the owners to see what he wanted us to do. He decided to come and get us and the window guy. How embarrassing!!!!!!! His car made it up just fine and we were there in no time.

Thinking that their house takes 3 hours to clean we thought we would be home before 1 or 2. Well...... we were wrong. It's a brand new cabin and there was dust, paint, and caulk everywhere. The hours kept ticking by and the bathrooms were slowly coming to an end (7 of them) and by the time we were done we were dead and hungry. They did have big windows and we could see the snow coming down. It was beautiful and for a second I felt the Christmas season. This cabin was huge and really cool. There was this one room with 4 single beds lined up(just enough for the beds)and it was our favorite room. This would have been a fun room to have sleep overs with all your friends.

The cabin was full of log cabin furniture and big fat log beams everywhere that I bumped my head on one time. When I get rich(Okay I said "When" and not "If" I'm trying to be positive here) I want a cabin just like this one. Well by the time we were done it was dark outside(5). We left our house about 8:15am and got home close to 6pm. I called my kids to let them know I was coming home and could not deal with a messy house so to get busy. The kitchen was clean, but dinner was not cooked, laundry piled to the ceiling and the family room a disaster. So I told myself..okay, just one more hour then I can take a bath and lay on my bed and watch a show I had taped. Ahhhh.... I hurried as fast as I could and was in heaven when I reached my bed except for one thing, I had no chocolate in the house and had not had any all day and not much food too. I was way too tired to do anything about it, so I told myself I would just eat a big breakfast in the morning before we go clean the owners house and another one cause it would be Tuesday.

It's Wednesday now and I'm glad Monday and Tuesday are over with. I might have to sit at the computer all day so I don't have to lift my arms. Sounds good to me. So, I am grateful for today and I have no cleaning to do (Except for my house.... Nah, that's not going to happen.) I do feel bad for my sister Joni tho, she has 4 houses to clean with my other sister Shari today. Sorry Joni, hope it goes okay. I told her I would call her if I'm not doing Christmas lights with Andy. I might need some help holding up my arms to put lights on trees tho. Wow this is turning into a very long post, it's been a very long 2 days and I'm grateful they are over with.

Yeah! It's all done.

Just thought I would comment on the primary program today. I thought it went really good and so many of the kids memorized their parts and some had some long parts. I was just going to read mine, but 10 min before the program started I tried to memorize mine so I could be like the kids. I had to look down a few times. Through the program I was emotional just hearing the kids sing and saying their parts. I could feel the spirit so strong and had to keep my emotions under control because we as a primary were up on the stand in front of the whole ward. I just loved the program and hearing from the kids. We have amazing kids in our primary and I learn from them. I really enjoy being in the primary. I am so proud of all the kids today for their hard work in memorizing their parts and learning all the songs. I made a page of all the songs and had to use it today on some songs, but I tried really hard to listen to the kids so I would not have to look at my cheat cheat page. Oh, and thanks Caradon for singing so great because if I forgot a word I could hear you or watch you. You are amazing and helped the kids so much. Great job! Today was great and I felt the spirit so strong. It was amazing! So I am thankful today for the primary and all the wonderful children and how they strenghten my testimony. Love all you guys.

Try it now

My comment thing is working now. I had it set to always view comments before they are posted, but I did not put my email address. Now it's changed, I had no idea it was like that, so sorry if you commented on my blog and it did not post. Try it now

Mic's Musical Eagle Scout Project

Mic has been getting ready to do his Eagle project and it's on Nov. 20th. Please come, it will be amazing! This is actually Mic's dream to put on a concert and play the piano in front of lots of people, and he wants to fill the whole auditorium. There will also be others performing. Bring your whole family,extended family, and lots of food. The food banks need it. It will be an amazing concert! Here are the details:

The Musical Eagle Scout Project

What: My name is Mic Lopp and I am holding a concert for my Eagle Project to help gather food for Holiday Kits for the food bank that I will be putting together. The concert will include various groups from Timpanogos High School, among others who will be sharing their talents for the community.

When: November 20, Concert time 6:30pm-7:30pm

Where: Orem Junior High School Auditorium

Admission: 1 Item from the Holiday Kit listed below. In reality I need 200 food items to complete my kits, so feel free to bring extra food. Money donations can also be donated after the additional admissions. All money contributions will be used to buy additional items needed for the Holiday kits.

HOLIDAY FOOD KIT
Stuffing Mix
Canned vegetables
Gravy Mix
Mash potatoes(Instant)
Mic will be collecting additional Holiday Kit foods from Nov 24-28. See Mic if you are bringing more food later.

No rides to school?

Ahhhhh..... I am thankful for today because it was light outside, sunny, and not raining when the Jr. high and high school kids left for school. Not one of them said "Mom can you give me a ride?" They have been asking that for days since it's been dark outside when they leave, so it was nice today because it was light and they just walked. It was a very nice morning. And I did not have to go outside in my pj's with a very bad hair day, and take them to school. I am grateful for today for the early morning sun, no rain, and not stepping foot outside till I went to work.

Mic and others are famous on Halloween

Here is Mic fighting Ken Bretschneider on Halloween, they even got themselves in the newspaper on the FRONT PAGE of the Daily Herald! Logan Wyatt is there too. Pretty cool! Mic spent all night there till all the trick or treaters were gone. He would rather do that than go trick or treating. I'm sure he is thinking he will just get the left over candy that Mom and Dad were passing out. You are out of luck Mic, cause all that is left is chocolate and you know your Mom. She needs a stash of her own. Mmmmmmmm

Friends long ago and now

It feels strange to not put a picture along with my text, but I thought I would try it and see what happens and I don't have pictures of my young life on my computer.
Just the other day I ran into a friend from my nanny days and it was so much fun to see her. We had a lot of fun while we were nannies and now the kids we took care of are going to college. The little boy I took care of is now 22 years old. Man I feel really old.
I think it's great that we have friends and some for a really long time. What would we do without friends? I can't imagine that. I'm glad I have friends and glad I find long lost friends and get to catch up on things. Friends are just perfect! I'm glad that I made a blog and can see all my friends blog too and my families blogs, you guys are my friends too. Keep blogging!

Parkers last game of the season

Keep going Parker!

Notice Parkers new shoes. He paid for them and they even have his name on them.

Look at his leg muscles. Geez! I need some of that.

That's just amazing how photographers can catch a picture of the ball like that. That is cool!

Sorry, I just had to brag. All these years I have been trying to get pictures of Parker this clear. A lady on our team took these, and I thought they were so clear and professional. I emailed her to thank her because I love them. Now I can do a big frame of Parkers soccer and then I want to do one of Mic and his music. I thought that would be cool to do one of each of the kids and to show their talents. This game was tied 0 to 0, but since the blue team had one more point in the season they got to go on to quarter finals. We were all very sad. We took state in the spring tho. This is the first time they did not go to quarter finals. Parker is now looking forward to Mountain view high school soccer, and futsal(playing indoor soccer). Sorry I just love my kids and have to brag a little.

So I quess Haley is a girl!

Haley always claims she is not a girl. I think she is wrong. Uh, Haley you look like a girl to all of us, maybe a little too much. Ha Ha! Very cute tho! This is the first time I have seen this picture. I wonder what other pictures I can find to prove she is wrong about not being a girl. And Haley said she would never be caught dead in pink. Well, she is wearing all pink and a little white. Very cute!

Another trophy for Mic's marching band!!!

Mic's marching band got another trophy! Infact they got 3. They got outstanding performance and outstanding color guard and they got 2nd place overall in their division. Provo got 1st. I think they got that wrong. The competition was at BYU stadium yesterday and it lasted about 6 hours or 7. And no I did not stay the whole time. I would have loved too, but you know us moms(We are so busy) I watched a few bands including his and then came back for the awards. I caught him after and made the bus driver call his name to come off the bus with the trophy to take a picture. Thats what moms are there for right. Too embarress our kids and love it. Ha Ha. I wanted to see if he could hold all 3 trophy's, but look how big they are. He did a great job and had a lot of fun. You know Mic, he is the music man and can't stay away from it. Congrats Mic! You are awesome!

Congratulations Mic

Mic had a marching band competition today at Mountain View in the freezing cold and they got 1st place out of their division of 5 schools. They were all so excited! Great job Mic!

Clear Creek with Reilly

What a trip we had. We went over night with Reilly's class and another class up to Clear Creek. Sue Allan went too with Natalie and we had a blast! The bus driver introduced himself and I recognized the name. Mr. Tobler. He was my 5th grade teacher. I asked him if I said my name if he would remember it, so I did and he said yeah I remember you Thomas'. Well, I don't know if he remembered really, but it was cool to see him. I got kinda adventurous and tried the big rope course. Sue did too. Got some funny videos of it, but not sure how to put them on my blog. I almost made it to the end. The last 5 feet was hard. Reilly had a good time and was glad I went. I was glad I went and glad to see my bed when I got home. Between all the girls in our cabin screaming and playing tag before bed and waking up every hour I was tired. I was also excited to eat a normal meal. Corn dogs and burritos were not the highlight of this trip. We also went on a hike up hill and just before Sue and I were about to die they said turn around it's time to go back. You could say we were really relieved. If you ever have a chance to go with your 5th grader to Clear Creek, go because it's fun!

Watch out! Here they come Haley.

Haley plays goalie on her soccer team ( Blaze) and today they won 2-1. She played against her team she was on last year so they were very determined to win this game. They played awesome! Great job Haley!

Great job on the win Parker

Finally a win!!!!!!! Parker's ranger soccer team finally won today 3-2. Parker is the one in maroon. It was an awesome game. Parker almost got a goal and he is a defender. The ball bounced off the goal post and went up over it, but hey they still won. The last 3 games have been hard, but today they stepped it up. Hopefully they can take state like they did last year. They have 3 more games then they start state cup. Parker got new soccer shoes and loves them, they even have his name on them and he paid for them. You gotta love that. He even cleans and shines them after he wears them every time. I wish he would do that with his room and his jobs. I think thats every moms dream.

What's for dinner? This is what teenagers do when they are bored and they even clean the kitchen too. Maybe they can cook dinner every night. That would be awesome!!!
Here is the recipe: It's kinda like a Beto's burrito but they used big breadsticks. They just cooked potatoes, eggs, cheese, salt, pepper, shredded chicken, peppers, tomatoes and I think that's all. You could add green salsa.
They were pretty proud of this creation.

At the campout. How do I get down from here??

Campout at Antelope Island. Getting ready to cook.

Mic on his campout this past weekend at Antelope Island.

Haley the disco chic

Mic and Kristen. They used to ride big wheels together when they were little. Now look at them!

Girls camp. They are all sitting on my lap. Yikes!

I quess you would have to be there to understand this picture. At girls camp we had a craft day and since our theme was "He will rock you", we made pet rocks. I am very afraid of bears, so I decided to make a bear rock to try and overcome my fear of them. I found the perfect bear head and proceeded to find a body, but the body would not stay glued on, so I thought I would just make a bear head, so I painted it brown and then I realized I'm not good at being a artist to make a face so I just kinda stopped, then someone said it looked like a piece of pooh. It really did, so I wrote pooh on it in white paint then put 2 eyes on it. It became known as the "one eyed pooh rock" because one eye fell off. I thought Haley's rock turned out really cute, but mine was a motivational rock especially camping if you know what I mean.

Girls Camp is so much fun, especially when I got to share a whole week with Haley. We had a blast and plan to go again next year.