Psychprof

Christmas 2012

2012-01-03T11:09:00.001-08:00

It started with the ward Christmas Party on the 5th and ended today when I took Aussie to the airport at 0'dark thirty. What a wonderful season full of family and happiness. Here is the px that Brad photoshopped for us. It was so great to have Tiana and Preston come for a few days and Aussie come for 10 days. Highlights:

1) The Home Pagent where we dressed Lily up as Mary and JJ as Joseph. Danica's Chinese exchange students were wisemen. Charley couldn't get over her costume and kept saying "I an angel!"

2) Making table runners. Watching Danica's kids so she could make gifts. (still so sick with her pregnancy, this was a huge effort for her)

3) "dates" with JJ and Lily were we make a gingerbread tree and played in the dollhouse respectively.

4) the beautiful snow, and boys to ski and board on it at copper mountain

5) We were in charge of The ward Christmas party (as the newest members of the ward) and we got to know some great people. Kyle Ankerman did the food and the chicken Marsala was the best we've ever tasted at a church building. Mark did the entertainment and people told their experience with a Christmas Hymn and then we sang it....all the while there was a beautiful slide show of px of Christ.

6) Family, Family, Family. Preston can be so friendly and interested in everyone. Tiana was so excited to be pregnant and fun to shop with, fun to show the things she decorated in my house., Aussie hung with Dave, helped alot and acts older and mature, having a career does wonders for the self-esteem. Our trainer was really impressed with his bulk and chiseledness since she last saw him. The grand kids squealing with delight at their new toys. We all rode the lightrail downtown to visit Dave at work and eat lunch downtown.

Psychology in Boot Camp (Fear, Duty and Love)

2011-08-21T09:23:00.001-07:00

We spent a day in San Diego with Austin at the end of boot camp. I can’t help but notice the many many Skinnerian learning principles employed to motivate the recruits to be obedient to their drill instructors by instilling an overabundance of fear.

Screaming: The Receiving drill instructors can’t touch you but start screaming at you for moving slow, not holding still, looking around, having things you aren’t supposed to have. They got yelled at if they didn’t take a salad and 2 fruits for dinner. They had to put each item of clothing on “by the numbers” and all shave at the same time. Imagine each tiny thing you do each day is by an order.

Homogenize the appearance: They shave off your hair. They take away your civilian clothes, give you a glow strap, and then and camies (a camouflage shirt and pants). They give those who wear glasses a pair of dorky square glasses so those are all the same.

They instilled a desire to fit in and look like the other, seasoned marines which where there by giving the, newbies the glow strap, making you keep your camies buttoned up to your neck, shaving your head. (observational learning and social pressure) They wait for a week before they will give you your boots. The new recruits are excited to earn the right to unbutton their top button and get their hair cut high and tight to look like the marines that have been at boot camp longer.

Humility and breaking down: The instructors make you yell “yes sir, or aye, aye sir at least 3 times each sentence. You are not allowed to say “I think we should ….” To your Instructor. It’s “this recruit thinks we should…..”

Austin learned to get the most rewards by yelling back a quick loud answer and acting quickly. He was made a squad leader over 13 recruits and a prayer leader. Austin shined at this leadership he had to drag a delirious marine up the “reaper” hill on the crucible hike. So, using lots of consequences like yelling, push-ups, cleaning, the young men were conditioned to fear the drill instructors every second and they became extremely disciplined. Obedience is what a well-disciplined machine like the marine corps needs. Eventually obeying out of fear of the drill instructor turns to obeying out of duty to self, the platoon and country. Eventually the final motivation is love or you are doing it for the marin to the left and right of you.

Austin and Don enjoyed the competition and the physicality of this Boot camp challenge. ( 5 years ago) said the crucible was like scout camp on steroids. They both lost a lot of weight, gained muscle and were at the peak of physical fitness.

As prayer leader Austin had 9 people come to his prayer meeting. After he taught the first discussion there was only him, Dyer, Garcia and one other. Dyer is a guy from Gilbert AZ who didn’t believe in organized religion but had many LDS friends and had taken the discussions before. His mom told us that Austin really made an impression on him and the Elders taught him, he read the Book of Mormon, prayed and was baptized on the 19^th after Marine Graduation. Austin did the baptism, the confirmation and conferring the Priesthood. These were things done out of love for the Lord and for the recruit.

New Baby Ethan

2011-08-21T00:18:00.000-07:00

The Grand Canyon

2011-07-27T04:15:00.000-07:00

‘There is no sight on earth which matches Grand Canyon. There are other canyons, other mountains and other rivers, but this Canyon excels all in scenic grandeur. Can any visitor, upon viewing Grand Canyon, grasp and appreciate the spectacle spread before him? The ornate sculpture work and the wealth of color are like no other landscape. They suggest an alien world. The scale is too outrageous. The sheer size and majesty engulf the intruder, surpassing his ability to take it in.’ JD Morris

Friday July 16th

We meet my Brother Eric and his family at Lees Ferry "The put in" and are told that Eric is "The Real River guide". His friend Mark Lineback who also ran rivers for many years is there as well. Dave McDonald gives us lectures on the layers of rock strata. It’s so great to have his explanations. I thought I understood and appreciated the rock layers the first trip, 15 years ago. But, this is a new appreciation. Once we donned out life jackets and were in our pontoon boat, we stopped in this huge amphitheater to play volleyball. KC (Keith) was the star running down the hill to rescue the ball from the river. His P90X has paid off. Vacey’s Paradise is a spot where a spring shoots out of the top of the cliff resulting in lots of green foliage and clean sweet drinking water. My newphews Andrew and Beau are interested in Mark Lineback's daughter Aimee.......for her umm...... river knowledge. This promises to be an interesting river trip on many levels, the geology, the spiritually, the rapids and the PSYCHOLOGY of four teenagers .

Saturday July 17^th

Unkar ‘Delta. We saw remnants of Indian homes and McKenna found these “real” arrowheads. (which Eric bought and had her hide there) We camp on the sandbars at night and put together some pretty excellent meals from the supplies we bought from the ceiba adventure company. The rapids are noisy but the stars are really bright.

July 18^th Sunday

We saw Elves Chasm. Stopped the boats at Phantom Ranch. The only sign of civilization for many miles. Got this cool t-shirt and got to use a real toilet instead of the big ammo can with a toilet seat we have to use in camp.

July 19 Monday

We went up a narrow slot canyon for lunch. McKenna was worried about flash flooding. While we explored we heard a loud booming sound and decided to exit quickly.

July 20^th Tuesday

Lovely waterfall, the others continued up to Deer Creek, but the fath ws too narrow and sloping for me. Dave did fall and scrape up his leg, but they made it up safely.

July 21^st Wednesday

Lake Havasu Day. 4 hour hike. Beautiful canyon and milky blue water, this is the gem of the Grand Canyon. It was hot and my wet pants chaffed my legs. We camped at a place called Fern Gully, a narrow slot canyon with enough water that ferns grow on the rocks.

July 22^nd Thursday

Got up and did Lava- the most famous rapid. It has a ledge that makes it technical, so you park the boat above the rive and climb the hill above it to "scout" out the rapid. It gives you a little bit of a scare to think you are going to take your boat through a class 10 rapid on purpose! It was my duty to sit in the front like I did 15 years ago. Danica sat with me. It was such a wild ride, the strap broke where KC was holding onto the pontoon. Afterwards Mark talked me into going through 3 rapids in the inflatable canoe. It was exciting. Crystal rapid was the other exciting and very wet rapid that came close to Lava.

July 23^rd Friday

Stopped at a beautiful waterfall. It was so hot and the water so flat, we kept shooting each other with the water canon. Kassidy and Mark Lineback were canoeing in the inflatable canoe and got too close to the front of the boat, stuck in an eddy and then run over by the boat. It was really tense. Kassidy was drug underneath the boat. We thought she would be a goner. We cut the motor and screamed her name helplessly. After what seemed like minutes she popped up with a look of terror on her face. It's just so hot, maybe 110 degrees F that it just doesn't feel that bad when someone named Danica drags you into a beautiful waterfall. Did awards on everyone in the camp. Andrew told me his dramatic and tragic love life and we looked at the stars with the star chart.

July 24

Saw a boiling rapid past the Pierce Ferry. Heard that a boat got stuck in the 90 degree angle and couldn’t get out. Stopped and bought a handmade necklace of Turquoise from a Navaho named Sally. It is so sad to leave the beautiful Grand Canyon.....but glorious to take a hot bath in the motel after 9 days of sleeping in the sand.

Mount Elbert

2011-06-27T08:05:00.000-07:00

We went camping with our friends Dot and Pat Bernhardt who live in Buena Vista. They have a heated trailer, Mark and I slept in the back of the new pick up. Sleeping under the starry sky was really amazing. Shivering all night was a little rough.

Dot is the social organizer and had planned a fun day with her friends whom she has convinced to buy ATV's and Kayak's for the lake.

Then we rode the ATV's on Mount Elbert, the tallest mountain in Colorado.Dot and Pat have a Colorado Wildflower book and they take pictures as they find them and match them up with the ones in the book. I thought that was a fantastic idea as there are wildflowers just about everywhere.

Cousin Camp in Branson Mo.

2011-05-15T15:03:00.001-07:00

Celeste, Brooklyn and Hunter flew down from Baltimore, Danica JJ Lily and Charleen flew over from Denver. Marcia Sam and Lucas flew into Branson from Salt Lake City. We all met for a really fun, loud, warm weather week at our vacation home on 141 Foggy Bay Lane, Branson Canyon MO.

Hunter said "Lets have a women party" We were a little confused. Finally we ascertained he was saying "swimming party"
Danica had farm morning and the kids made crafts.The kids painted crafts for their mothers day gifts.We tried eating at Olive garden with all the children. It was a little noisy. Later we got two babysitters from the Branson ward and had a girls night out shopping at Branson landing!
These pirate boats were fun to make, but did not last in the pool.
Two little pirates sitting on the step.
Arrugh matey. I found fruit snacks in the buried treasure.
We celebrated Brooklyn's and Jensen's birthday with a wild Pirate party and sword fights.
Lucas the swimmer boy.

Yay for tye dye and cousins. We had to bribe them with ice cream to get this shot.
Charley likes to be thrown up in the air and caught.
Silver Dollar city in our matching salmon t shirts for the women and tye dye for the kids.
We swam at the pool every day. The kids loved shooting me and each other with the water cannons.
The 3 legged race on "cousin olympics" Marcia was trying to get the children to do races. You can see Lily racing away in the background. This activity reminded me of herding cats.
There was a play set and a pool right by our Branson house.At any given time it seemed like at least one child was crying! But, what a blessing to all be together at once in the beautiful sunshine. It had been raining solid in MO and the lake was high, roads flooded and loads of leaves and flowers everywhere.
Silver Dollar city is a fun place to soar in the butterfly ride with your cousins!

Easter Pirates

2011-04-25T13:48:00.000-07:00

For Easter, we had grandchildren and 4 Missionaries at my house. These are the only missionaries in the past 2.5 years of having missionaries live with us to buy us a card, an egg pinata and an Easter basket. After a nice breakfast talking about the atonement, we dressed the missionaries who live in our basement up as pirates and had them sing a song to the grandchildren and had them find help find the Easter Eggs.
"I looked out the window and what did I see?
Pirates helping me to find my candy
Spring had brought me such a nice surprise
Pirates popping out before my eyes

Mark said we started a new tradition of "Easter Pirates", When the whole silly thing was over, the missionaries went back to work and my Grandson JJ said, "Where is my pirate?"

Tangled and girls vs boys

2011-04-11T14:09:00.000-07:00

The most interesting thing happened while we were watching Disneys "Tangled". Jensen was finding the slap stick humor (skillets hitting people in faces and horses hooffing people in the chest) so hilarious he was jumping on the couch with big loud gafaws. A very boy thing to do.

Lily on the other hand was covering her mouth in the "oh no" way that girls do. She looked like she would cry when the protagonist dies and she heard me sniffing, so she sniffed too. It was a perfect example of observational modeling, a concept I just happened to be teaching at ACC this morning. Tangled, by the way is my Disney favorite.

Lovely Belize

2011-03-20T13:37:00.000-07:00

3/4/11 From Belize City, We flew in a very small plane to San Pedro an island town famous for scuba on the reef. We stayed in the Royal Carribean. Big name for a set of Easter egg painted cabanas on the white sands of the beach. The people are all very friendly and greet us warmly. They eat rice and beans with almost everything. The prices are about the same as the states, but most people on the island drive around in golf carts. There was a little roadside stand where our cook was wearing big pink curlers and sent the other cook on her bicycle to get paper napkins. That evening we had fish on a beach side resort/hotel.
3/4/11 On our first dive we saw some big rays and beautiful blues in the water because of the white sand beneath. Afterward s, I was already nauseous from boat ride, so Mark went on the 2nd dive where they trailed some fish they'd caught and attracted huge nurse sharks that Mark was able to flip over and scratch it's tummy like a big cat. That night we went on a night dive where we saw more big rays and a big green eel and lotssa big groupers. It's kind of eerie when they ask you to shut off your flashlights and you are in the dark.
3/5/11
Mark was diving all day at the Bue Hole and 1/2 moon caye with sharks and groupers.
I went shopping and got great shell necklaces and found an outlet store with t-shirts for $2.50. I finished up by walking the hour back to the Easter egg cabanas and met a silver jewelry vendor I couldn't resist. That night we ate at the most amazing restaurant in Belize, the "hidden Treasure" The fish was in an amazing sauce made of cream, butter, Parmesan and white wine. Then they served true coconut pie for dessert. Thick fresh coconut.
3/6 We flew to Belize City. . We rented a Hyundai at the airport. We hit a pothole a few yards from the airport and it cracked the fiberglass rim. Why they would put a fiberglass rim on a car with mostly dirt roads and huge potholes, I will never know. $150 later and a beat-up Mitsubishi 4wheel drive truck later, we saw Atun Ha. It was Sunday and I read from Mosiah on my Droid at the top of the Mayan temple. We had fun telling out guide about the BOM. In Belize City we were shocked at how poor the people live in their Caribbean unpainted wood shacks.

3/7 We saw the Belize zoo and got our foreheads licked by a Jaguar. We went tubing through some caves. There were some interesting limestone formations that looked like phallic symbols.
3/8 Even though Mark has never had a good experience riding horses, We stayed at the Banana Beach Ranch where they do "horse whispering" and rode our horses through the beautiful lush jungle by the river. We galloped and Mark stayed on! He said it was his best ride ever. We drive down to Punta Gorda. The beach is not lovely here, in fact they get a lot of garbage from Honduras. We ate at the mangrove and had delicious shrimp and conch fritters. We stayed with Bruno who is a German who built cabanas for toursts and is a cave guide.
3/9 We went to the Virginia and Eliadio Pops Cacao farm in San Pedro Columbia. Eliadio was so proud of his farm and his 15 kids. His 30 acres had 3 kinds of cacao, mangoes that he planted, limes and palms. We watched them dry roast the cacao beans, dry roast them and then squish them with a rick and grind them into a paste. They made this dark chocolate drink that was pretty amazing. We saw Labam tuun and Mayan ruin that is famous for a crystal scull that was found there. Then we watched them at a chocolate factory leave the chocolate paste in the roller for 3 days and then pour the chocolate into mold. After this Mark bought chocolate bars and we at 1 each every night.
3/10 we went with Bruno and Silliano (Eliadio's half brother) into 2 caves. The first cave had wonderful limestone formations.

We were in the dark for hours, way way in the bowels of the earth. My little helmet flashlight went out and I thought….humm It’s really dark down here and there’s big deep holes to fall into and sharp rocks cutting my hands big spiders and eels and what was that low growling sound? There must be a reason they call it Tiger cave!.

After an hour we came into a huge limestone cavern and the sun rays shone down through the roof. I stood in the light

The 2nd cave was called Blue Creek and thank goodness I had a good life jacket because you swim most the way through. It also had awesome limestone formations. These areas are pretty much undeveloped to tourists and so we named some of the formations for them. There was a thunderstorm and the rocks were wet. I slipped and hurt my hand, thank goodness i didn't break it

3/11/11 We drove to stayed a beautiful beach town named Placencia, not as developed as San Pedro. i seriously wanted to buy a lot and build a vacation house here, but you have to pay all cash. Mark went out and saw an 18 foot nurse shark and massive eagle rays and turtles. I had fun finishing a Mistborn book on the beach and checking out all the jewelry in the 2 shops.

2011-02-27T19:34:00.000-08:00

The master bedroom in the model

The family room in the model, we are hoping to have dark wood floor

We like these colors. This is the outside.

The new house

2011-02-27T15:08:00.000-08:00

Kitchen.

Master Bath

extra bedroom

downstairs bath

Well, after a few years of wandering about in this huge house by ourselves, we've decided to downsize and buy a smaller, newer house with a view of the mountains.
It's in Parker and it will be finished in 4 months.

Snow, Snow and more Snow....

2011-02-07T15:22:00.001-08:00

I'ts freezing cold here in Denver. We had -15 for two days and this morning we were out shoveling again. To celebrate all this cold and snow, I decided to get extensions in my hair to keep me warmer. :)

However, while we were at the ice sculpture competition in Breckenridge. Mark did say all that long hair reminded him of something else. Ach! Medusa! The snow was so beautiful up there. Nothing like sitting in the Grand Timber hot tub and watching the soft quiet snow fall. Oh my we live in such a beautiful world.

But the snow was difficult for the cars on the freeway. The 1.5 hour trip home turned into 5 hours. I read Mistborn to Mark to keep him awake. We passed one car of a young man who had stopped, then lost momentum and just couldn't get his car up the icy road to the Eisenhower tunner. I felt so sorry for his dilemma, but how do you help? He had absolute panic on his face. We all had to try to get around him. At that moment I was so thankful for the AWD Murano. Another two were driving with their doors completely torn off. They were wearing only bandannas on their faces to keep them warm.

December 2010

2011-01-09T20:15:00.000-08:00

Christmas started with a photographer taking the MNT's picture at Danica's. Lily and JJ cross weapons over who gets to torment Charley.
Lily loves her PJ's on Christmas Eve.
A Princess Christmas for Lily.

As it turns out, Lily loves the heat of the fireplace and enjoys it by taking all the dolls clothes off and her own clothes off.....ahh
At the reception Dec 30th, Lily looked up at Don in his manly marines uniform and asked him "are you the prince?"
Wonderful Denver friends showed up for the reception even though the night was snowy and icy.

Every hand washing is an opportunity to make the most of playing in the water.
Grandma and Grandpa liked the "Wings over the Rockies". We saw and my office and had lunch.
Charley had a special and beguiling hairdo for Don's reception.

And Excellent Christams and a Gnarley New Year

2010-12-19T11:28:00.000-08:00

Here's our 80's Christmas Card. Celeste really did an Awesome Tubular job!

Don's Wedding

2010-12-05T16:08:00.001-08:00

Don really married a wondeful girl who has a wonderful family. She is crazy fun extroverted and a dance/cheerleader teacher. We love that they made the decsion to marry in the temple for time and eternity. We are so happy for him.

There is nothing in the world like being in the temple with all six of your children at one time. It is really an honor and a blessing to have a temple recommend. I don't ever think I will take that for granted. I am so thankful that this day ever occured. Leslie and her mom and Grandma carried off a fabulous wedding reception. We may loose a marine but we gained a whole bunch of Galan's. Sammy was the comic for the day by rushing in an helping support Leslie's bunda in the "hold te bride sideways" shot.

Los Cabos

2010-10-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

Oh the beautiful sparkling blue beach and the waves. It is like the celestial kingdom here. The ocean is the most beautiful blues and greens when the sand is off white coral. Our hotel looks right out onto the water. I can do without the loud music until 1 am each night but the big canopy beds with billowing curtains and the big sand cushions are cool. Mark is so much fun. The first night we slept out on our little patio on our couch cushions.

Sunrise from our hotel balcony. We saw 84 fishing boat go out for deep sea fishing this morning.
Sunset cruise with Senior Advisory Group. Mark was in the 30 top sales people in the nation, so they sent us on this trip to Cabo for 4 days.
I got carried away shopping the missed the departure of the Cabo Mar boat for the sunset cruise. The hotel activities lady got me on a wave runner and i met up with the group. This Mexican guy said we needed to go faster and said I'd have to wrap my arms around him. I said I didn't mind that at all. They said I made a splashy James Bond entrance and teased me all night. The sunset was spectacular.

Thursday we rode wave runners out to the sea lions and the point of land that marks the mixture of the pacific and the sea of Cortez. Friday we took sea kayaks out to see the sea lions up close. Mark and I were trying to navigate a big rock and we tipped over. I don't have the arm strength to pull myself back into the canoe and a nice guy on a wave runner took me to shore. Mark tried to kill himself playing in the surf where it pounds the beach and swimming isn't allowed. We found a street vendor who had smoked marlin tacos in the back of his truck. Then he went to scuba and I took a map to see where the locals hang out and went shopping for silver jewelry. Two gay guys talked me into shaved ice. I had an awesome massage for 25$ at a little shop off the marina.

Changing colors

2010-10-17T20:06:00.000-07:00

Oh beautiful fall colors. Every day the maple tree out front gets a little more orange. And, while the tree is changing colors, I did too. I owned a red Nissan 350Z a few years ago. This time I got a blue one. While the blue looks great against the orange tree, the real dopamine rush comes from driving it on the freeway with the top down.

Happy birthday Charley! Nothing better than watching a 1 year-old smushing a cupcake.

The Women and Horses in Cavalia

2010-09-26T07:21:00.000-07:00

Dad surprised me with tickets to Cavalia. We had great seats and saw that:

Cavalia is not a circus. It's a production built around the relationship between people and horses.

There was a "horse whisperer" named Sylvia. She's a Liberty trainer – a natural horsemanship discipline in which the horse responds to tone, voice commands and body movement instead of whips and restraints. Nine Arabians precede her on stage, one by one. They don't wear bridles or saddles. Nearly all are stallions, typically known for fighting and playing. It's Sylvia's job to keep them playing and to lead them into precision work.

"What I've learned is that horses love attention. They have personalities you can't imagine," she says.

Cavalia is for horse lovers, an innovative multimedia extravaganza. Blending dramatic visual effects, live music, dance and acrobatics with the bold presence of over sixty magnificent horses.

Lily's B-day

2010-09-12T09:27:00.000-07:00

Wow, do I have a strong willed and fiesty grandaughter. Lily is her name and defiance is her game. It was so funny at her Princess 3 year-old birthday yesterday. Danica had the 3 little girls dress up like princesses with tiara's nail polish jewelry and some play makeup. The other little girls let us adults gently apply the make up. Lily would have none of this, "I DO IT" she yelled and proceeded to smear the lipstick and blue shadow across her entire face.

A Labor Day Family Reunion

2010-09-06T15:14:00.001-07:00

Preston, Tiana and Austin drove my eclipse over. Bryce, Marcia, Sam and Lucas came in their car with Bryce's Mtn bike. We had a glorious 2 days. The boys went on a bike hike while we went to Plum creek stables to ride horses. The wrangler was really talkative and they called him "slim" Marcia's horse was very gentle and slow, mine wanted to eat and trot all the time and had huge sides. Danica had a really great horse named Mississippi and I'd go back and ride that one. It was so great to be out on the trail near Chatfield reservoir with people I love and on horses too! We pulled out a box and it was the kids "magic school bus"
We've lived in our house for 16 years and the tree in the back yard is big enough to shade us for an outdoor picnic. Then we watched BYU football and Tiana and Preston went to the Aquarium.
Sunday we all went to church and it was so great to take up the whole row. Lucas had a little jewelry box from China with 3 small objects in it and played with it over and over again, opening it up and calling it his spaceship. Lily was at her best, no biting this whole weekend and played happily with the other grand kids. Sammy and Jensen had a great time playing as well. Sunday night we had a gourmet dinner and afterward a Jewelry making party with my friend Jackie and her kids Baylynn and Tory.

Rosemary is my new favorite herb

2010-08-30T14:54:00.000-07:00

We have a bi-monthly dinner group with our favorite neighbors. I've always felt embarrassed because I'm not a gourmet cook like they are. Our table stuff is rather worn out from 6 kids. Karen Foreman mentioned such fancy decorations they have on the cooking network that they are called "Tablescapes" Also, we've never had steak knives or matching silverware or good napkins, napkin rings or even a decent looking salt and pepper shaker set. So I watched Giada De Laurenti and Barefoot Contessa episodes on the food network and came up with a Mediterranean meal---- I went to the Great Indoors and picked out just new place mats and napkins....100$. Put them back and went to hobby lobby and walmart and Sam's club where things cost 1/4th as much and they had purple grapes the size of plums and made the rest of the stuff I needed myself. Kevin, A guy who in the past brought liver pate shaped like a pineapple, walked in, saw the table and said, what nice presentation! And when we ate the food, someone else said "You've really outdone yourself!" I made Mediterranean chicken in foil packets with sundried tomatoes, feta and fresh basil on top. And Mark cooked up a zucchini potato pancake with Italian cream cheese on top.

Steve Foreman thought the napkins would make good dew rags.

Chinese Exchange Students

2010-08-22T08:56:00.000-07:00

We hiked up to St. Mary's Glacier.

Everone wanted the fast lane, but some didn't go so fast and others behind them got frustrated.
Riding up to the Alpine slide.
Shawn is 16 and like Marti, an only child.

Me and Marti getting to know Giada my horse out at Cottonwood Riding Stables.

Last Week of Summer Vacation

2010-08-15T09:46:00.000-07:00

With Celeste and Danica and 5 grandchildren in town, we went to the zoo, the pool and splashed in my backyard in the wading pool and with the slide. We ate at Cici's pizza where Lily held her ground in the video game room.
Grandpaw and JJ by the dinosaur in Utah.
Moving the kids through the zoo required some portage. I got a cutie (Charley)
Went to Utah, visited with my mom and dad, had lunch with Leslie, spent some time with Austin and traded vehicles with. Went SHOPPING with Tiana. Came back a day early and Mark took me on a hike to rocky mtn. forest.

Oh, it's so sad to see summer end. Do I really have to start teaching 5 sections of psychology 101 tomorrow! Ach!

Family Reunion in Utah and a week with Celeste

2010-08-08T21:57:00.000-07:00

Don Got Engaged to Leslie Galan while we were in Utah

Eating with the whole family in American Fork.

Hunter and Charley at the 7 peaks water park.

We got a baby sitter and went for a pedicure. Oh the luxury of the massage chair and being with my daughters getting our nails painted.

Celeste and I found amazing clothes, toys and books at Jessica Liu's Garage sale.

We hiked to devils head. I have forgotten how much I love this one hour him to the top of the mountains.
Brooklyn likes playing with my tea set.

Three New Things

2010-07-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

Elders Dale and Westerland helped us rip out the old main floor bathroom. They really worked up a sweat on this one. This bathroom was pretty sad. Cabinet from the 80's and really poor quality tile with water damaged drywall. Ugh.
Our friend and builder extraordinaire Larry Baldwin did the plumbing and tile work.
And this is the finished product. I'm so thankful for the new and improved, really clean and attractive results.

Now my broken arm is healed, I started two new things. I'm lifting with a trainer 2 mornings a week and I ride Jotta, a thoroughbred out at Cottonwood Farms. Between the two I am always sore somewhere.
Jotta is a very lovable animal. She's likely to rub her big head on your chest when you first meet her. She's awesome about responding to my commands, even though I just learning.

"The average Thoroughbred stands 16 hands (64") high at the withers, and weighs 1,000 pounds. Able to sustain speed for extended distances. Thoroughbred can run up to 40 miles per hour. Thoroughbreds are used as racehorses and polo mounts, for show jumping and dressage, and by mounted police units and recreational riders. :

I'm definitely the recreational rider in the above description. My teacher does jumping and dressage. She's only about 5 feet tall, but you should see her control the towering animals. In English riding I'm trying to learn to keep my things loose and my calves tight. I'm so sore, I can barely walk.

OKay, so I must admit. I was prepared to be underwhelmed by the missionaries that just moved into our basement. But, wow. They are cute, clean and work really hard. We'll keep them.

July 2010

2010-07-04T20:49:00.000-07:00

Wow it's fun to have 3 grandkids close by. Here is the result of putting the little tykes slide into the little pool filled with warm water from the hot tub. Lily and JJ went a little crazy with their little friend.

Lily is so precicous! I was watching her at a park while Danica was at girls camp and she bit a big boy on the arm. Then she saved the day by remembering where I had put my cell phone when it was lost. I can't get enough of these kids.

3 times a year I get to go out to eat with my Birthday Girlfriends. We've done this for like 14 years. We were all in the same ward together and have kept up this tradition. Here we are at the Brio which serves pretty good Italian food in Park Meadows Mall. From right to left it's Jill Maxwell, Karen Foreman (both of whom are finished with their masters degrees and are almost licensed therapists) and Maryanne Knudsen. Our kids hung out together and are now pretty much grown. We always have a lot to talk about.
We really like to go to the mountains in July because the wildflowers are abundant. Here are some of the kids we saw.We climbed Mt. Baldy. There are great views of Breckenridge across the valley. Then we found the perfect hike to the Mohawk lakes. Pungent pine smell, sounds of birds, bright sunshine and craggy peaks. I am so lucky to live near the rocky mountains.

Renaissance Fair in Larkspur CO

2010-06-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

So we've lived here for 18 years and never bothered to go to the Renaissance Fair in the woods of Colorado. We were NOT disappointed, it's been going on for 32 years here on the weekends in the summer. About 1/3 of the people were dressed up in costume. There were camel and African elephant rides. There were costumes to buy and jousting and tons of cool things to eat like "spinach pie" and "steak on a stake"
Most the acts were on the bawdy side, but these fire breathing acrobats were pretty great and this fairie gave me a magic rock.

PERU!!!

2010-04-25T15:55:00.000-07:00

By Mark AND Tracy Barrand

12 April 24, 2010 Lima

Peru

What an incredible city, founded by Pizarro in the 1500’s to become his port and Spanish capital in Peru, it was like stepping back into colonial time only with tons of traffic, smog, and honking horns. On the city tour we saw a famous San Francisco church with catacombs. There were brick bins filled with bones and skulls with this one spot where they were organized into this circle pattern. I love the plazas with the Spanish buildings all around the square. Most of the buildings were built in 1800’s because the previous structures had been ruined by earthquakes. There was a 1970 earthquake that killed 70K people. For lunch we went to a Peruvian Greasy Spoon and had the “Monumental Platter” which included fried egg, cheese, ham, hamburger patty, chicken and huge fries. We tried the INCA COLA which tasted like Bubble Gum. We went down to the beach. The place is famous the world over for surfing and it was a blast to watch the surfers. It wasn’t a gentle beach – no sand just rocks. It hurt like crazy to go on the beach because it was like walking on big marbles. The sun sets at 6 and the Peruvians love colored lights in fountains. We went to a dinner show. There were giant avocados stuffed with yummy seafood and they have elevated the potato to new heights. (300 varieties) We got to sit right in the front for this really fun show of dance from the different regions. Instead of just the mountain region where they just spin, we saw really sexy African/Spanish dances and an unbelievable scissors dance. For the scissor dance they throw in a little French ballet, Russian Cossack dancing, Chinese acrobatics, New York break dancing, and a painful form of “frying bacon” all while clicking these large scissors to the beat with their hands. They give a whole new definition to “don’t run with scissors.” Or “Watch out Edward Scissorhands, here comes the Peruvians.”

13 April 2010

We flew to Cusco. It is 12,000 ft in altitude and the tiny mud homes are plastered all up and down the rolling hills. This was the Inca capital and they felt it was the “Navel of the Earth”, I guess it could have worst names – like armpit or backside. First thing we got to do was ride horses up; to the temple of the Moon. It was a strange little cave with a hole in the top to let in moonlight on certain nights to illuminate the stone alter. There were carved rocks shaped like a puma, a condor, a llama, a couple of snakes, and female fertility stuff. I figured it must be their make out cave. On the way back down the mountain the horses saw this huge grassy, muddy meadow and took off trotting and galloping like crazy. For Tracy it was wonderful like flying and she couldn’t help but giggle. I was in terror/pain/terror/pain/terror/pain and almost fell off more than once. We then go on the city tour to the Cuzco Catholic Cathedral and Santa Domingo where the Dominicans built the Catholic one over the Inca temple. The foundations and base walls were from the Incas and the walls and roofs are Spanish. At least the Spanish were smart about this because it took too much work to dismantle the Inca foundation and they never fell down in the earthquakes like the Spanish building did. The Spanish wanted the Indians to integrate into the catholic beliefs they enticed the natives with things never used anywhere else. The cathedral had mirrors because the Inca’s like them. In the artwork Mary was depicted as Mother Earth as in the Incan religion, the Savior was seen with the Sun and the Moon as in Inca times and at the Last Supper Inca chilies, corn and guinea pig was served.

We toured some of the outlying ruins near Cusco such as; The Sacsayhumwan ruins (pronounced sexy woman) are shaped like the head of a puma. The largest stone tightly fitted is 125 tons. We also visited the temple of the waterfall and the Inca trail nearby. It was their human pony express that controlled the empire and you got to admire anyone that can run up to 10 miles in that altitude in a very short time. Last stop was at the temple of mother earth where the mummified nobles laid. It was these cool caves and trails – I figured it was another make out spot with a view of the city. We had grilled Alpaca for dinner.

14 April, 2010

We left Cusco city for a tour of the Sacred Valley of the Inca’s. It was an incredible drive. We were as high as 12,500 ft and dropped to a low of 8,000 along the drive. The Andes around us went up to 18,000 ft and at that altitude you would think it would be cold, but this close to the equator it is warm all year and in these wide mountain meadows they had two growing seasons. The drive was along these narrow two way roads that had massive speed bumps across the highway multiple times in every little village. In Chincero we bought “real baby alpaca sweaters” and saw a demonstration on dying wool and spinning it with hand held spindles. In Pisac we went to a silver factory where Mark bought me cocoa leaf and silver earrings. There was a brick bakery with empanadas. In Urubamba we had lunch. At Ollanteytembo’s temple there were 7 rose colored granite monoliths on top of a terraced mountain with granaries even further up. The end of the tour was along the river valley that had flooded in Jan. The towns had evidence of the water about 3 ft high on the buildings and they said that all their fields had been flooded. The floods had wiped out the train tracks and the road in spots. The road has been repaired barely and some towns were totally isolated until repairs could be made. Most of the train cars were on the Cusco side of the break so train service to Machu Picchu was really limping along requiring additional hours of bus rides along very narrow one way dirt roads with tons of construction delays to reach the new temporary train station. That night we ate in the market and I also talked mom into eating some guinea pig – it is very expensive and the ugliest things imaginable on the picture menus.

April 15, 2010 Machu Picchu

Because of massive rains and the destroyed train tracks we left for Machu Picchu at 4 am. Some people walk the Inca trail and 2 or 4 days. We didn’t have enough time and we found out later that those treks have 2-3 porters for each person and all you have to carry is your personal possessions, they carry all your food and bedding for you and prepare all the meals.

The other Inca ruins we’d seen were in the high dry part of the Inca Empire. Machu Picchu is much lower (7,000 ft) and is in the beautiful tropical, lush jungle. I was prepared to be underwhelmed with all the hype of this ruin, but it was incredible. It is a massive area that was an ancient breadbasket for the Inca that lived in the area. The inhabitants build the terraces by hauling tons and tons of gravel sand and soil up the steep slopes to fill in the terraces. Less than a 1,000 people lived in the buildings; it was mostly a farm and ceremonial plaza. The sun on the grassy terraces looked like glowing jewels. I really liked how they would incorporate a huge stone into the temple or house wall. We climbed Wuayna Picchu, the tall mountain right next to Machu Picchu. If you turn pictures of Machu Picchu on it side you can see the profile of an Inca warrior’s face and that mountain is the nose. It was a spectacular 2 hour humid hike, virtually straight up the mountain. For someone queasy about heights this would not be a good place to go. Now if you wanted to quietly get rid of someone then it would be a different story. They only let in 400 people a day to climb it and we were #381 and #382. We saw the guards carry a couple of people down on a stretcher. It is such a well hidden site; it took hundreds of years to find it. The Inca people were so amazing at stonework and building. It’s pathetic that only 160 of Pizarro’s men overcame such an advanced culture, effectively wiping them out. If only the Inca’s in the 1500’s had had gunpowder, the wheel, the written word, they could have repelled the Spanish invaders.

4/16

It rained all day. The river right outside our hotel seems stronger and more destructive in this heavy rain. The side streets had piles of sandbags from the flood in January. We tried to hook up with the missionaries but no luck. Boy we were blessed to get to see Machu Picchu on a sunny day. We went to the hot springs in Augas Calliente which weren’t all that hot, but the high mountains rising abruptly with jungle vegetation growing all over them was great. That afternoon we spent 6 hours traveling via train and bus to get back to Cusco.

4/17

We went to the little museum in Cusco after a stupendous breakfast of fresh jungle fruit, yogurt cheese and eggs. Then we saw the 12 and the 13 sided stones and the Puma and Snake stones. The Inca were such master stone craftsmen that they shaped their sacred animals into the block stone walls. We bought me a silver and green pendant and I got a massage. ½ hour of glorious rubbing for only $7. Then we flew to Lima and then Iquitos with only a slight mishap. We lined up at the right gate for the departing flight in Cusco according to the flight attendant and were watching the line waiting for our turn to board the plane. Suddenly over the sound of my book on tape, I heard my name on the intercom. I looked up and saw we were at the wrong gate and had to race to get to the right place before they shut the door. Then in Lima, we were confused about the plane – asked he flight attendant for the correct directions – and she walked off never to return. So we left the airplane to go find our other flight and ended up going all the way through the entire airport and repaying the airport fees before we raced back to get on the exact same plane for the flight to Iquitos. Again we made is with just a few minutes to spare. It is much hotter and more humid in Iquitos in the Amazon basin. We found a restaurant called the Yellow Rose of Texas where you can eat these two amazing fishes; the Dorado and P something wrapped up in a banana leaf and baked with tomatoes and onions. So delicious.

4/18

Humanitarian Day: Met Steve Jackson, Kizzy and Dave Meza for breakfast. We went with a doctor, nurse and pharmacist to Santa Maria a very small village on the Amazon. While the medical people handed out medicine for malaria and parasites. We met with the villagers’ in a room and Kizzy spoke Spanish with them. As with any enterprise there are tons of problems with the project. Steve donated a lot of money for seeds and other supplies but the villagers are slow to clear the community hectare for corn. They have delayed 3 months and couldn’t get organized to clear the land. The corn is to be sold to help the whole village. However, the government bought corn seed and the seed is “missing” (probably going to a village with more important voting power). As it is so late in the season, the water will flood the patch of ground anyway. I handed out crayons and paper and they drew me pictures of the river, their houses on stilts, and the animals in the jungle. One boy had been to Iquitos and he drew an ambulance and 2 story buildings. The community chicken coop in the next town was a little better. It takes 100 days for a chicken to mature and they’re going to use the proceeds from the sale of chickens to replace the batteries for their generator. We handed out little toys to the kids in the village. We bought Don a tiger skin drum from the village handicrafter. We probably spent about 4 hours in the boat this day. But it was worth every minute because on the way home we saw a pod of Pink Dolphins chowing down on a school of fish. I was so excited.

April 19

We went with Freddie, one of the local tour guides, to view some jungle animal reserves. First stop “Monkey Island”. So many kinds of Monkeys in this little spot on a jungle island 35 minutes down the Amazon in the fast small boat. Iquitos is at the junction of three major rivers and each is a different color. The Amazon is chocolate brown while the others have more of a blue color. The two colors can run side by side for miles. The river is filled with branches, logs, and whole trees ripped from the river bank of the jungle. It is a hard and fast rule that small boats must be off the river before dark because of all the junk in the river.

At the Monkey place I told them I had to use the baño and that was a cultural experience in itself. Thank goodness the outhouse had a toilet seat and toilet paper because 80% of the toilets here don’t. This particular outhouse was open and wild. In the reserve there was a baby spider monkey with a yellow belly and a long face that thought I was his mom. He insisted on wrapping his tail around the back of my neck and cuddling with me the whole time. He had long thin soft fingers and toes. He liked to be petted and tried to taste my silver ring. He only weighed as much as my little granddaughter Charley and wanted me to carry him around the whole way to view all the other monkeys. I hope to have a pet like him in the Celestial kingdom; I hope he likes riding horses too. The monkeys loved to eat bananas and the baby ones loved to hug us. Then we rode more on the river to get to the ¨serpentaria¨ with snakes. There we got to hold a big boa and a baby 2 meter anaconda. On the way there Freddie informed us that a pregnant woman was washing her laundry on the side of the river, and a huge anaconda swallowed her head first. They found her when they cut open the snake. So when they showed us a small anaconda at the serpentaria I only wanted to hold the body, I was leery of holding the head. For lunch we had the most amazing Amazonian Peruvian food. Rotisserie chicken with piles of green rice flavored with cilantro and this yummy Peruvian style hollandaise sauce over
everything with ripe sliced tomatoes and avocados. I love the fruit and avocados in the jungle. When you are done eating and have them put the leftovers in a to-go box to give to a kid on the street. We bought embroidered fabrics from Amazon Indians in the center square
which I plan to make purses out of for presents. There are so many amazing fabrics and handicrafts and jewelry to shop for here – at least 3 lifetimes. Mark has been great as he lets me ride horses, buy jewelry and fabrics and waits patiently.

April 20

A nice restful morning for our last day in Peru and we headed out to the most bizarre market I have seen. I’ve visited lots of village market days and witnessed many bizarre meats and vegetables and people crammed into small spaces with colorful sights and smells to knock you off your feet, but never have I seen such a huge market with as such an outlandish concoction of strange things. There was even a Viagra row with shop after shop of multi colored potions and lotions to help old men. Unfortunately many of the show owners saw me as old enough to qualify for their wares. I was highly insulted and Tracy and Freddie just laughed. The rows of meat vendors ran for 3 blocks and included the usual piles of plucked chickens and pig’s feet, but also had piles of turtle, alligator, piranha, snake, and guinea pig, plus some mounds of general intestines. Right next to a purveyor of chicken parts would be a great place to buy a nice watch. It was a mix mash of fabric and food with no sense or order. Cages of monkeys were next to a mound of yellow mush that promised larger breast for a woman. Lunch was being cooked and devoured next to gross displays of guts and innards. In these narrow little walkways people pushed past the stalls in a never ending stream of motion. We had to have a guide in front to mark our path and another behind us to protect from pickpockets. We wandered through down to the river’s edge. It was still city with buildings partially flooded. The river will rise another 12 ft before it starts receding and will completely put the first floors of the buildings under water. The people were in the process of moving to the second floor to wait out the annual flood. We went out in a small canoe to tour the floating city where the really poor people of Iquitos lived. They lived in very squalid conditions with bare wood walls and small rooms for a whole family to live. Little kids were swimming in this filthy brown river water chalked full of parasites, germs, and raw sewage. This trip creeped me out with how incredibly rich our lives are compared to so many people in the world, how can we ever complain about our lives.

We stuffed in a final lunch at the Yellow Rose, a bit of shopping, and even a little shopping before we caught the plane for an overnight trip to Chicago. Our target is the heart of commercial shopping American style along the “Magnificent Mile” at the Peninsula Hotel. It is without question the nicest hotel I have ever seen or stayed in. The contrast couldn’t be any more dramatic from the Amazon basin to Tiffney’s – polar opposites.

Hanging out with Danica, JJ, Lily and Charlie

2010-03-27T16:43:00.000-07:00

So, I've decided to sell my Home Care Franchise and head back to school to finish my PhD. There are great waves of happiness over this decision. It means I get to hang out with Danica more.
We've lived in HR of 16 years and I've never been to the craft fair. Really wanted to go and get ideas for Homemade Christmas gifts. But Dad's "feet always hurt". Hooray! Danica wanted to go while Dave was having a "man cave" day with his friends. We made it through with all three kids and were so inspired we decided to visit Jo-Ann Fabrics and get fabric for a quilt for Lily's new bunk bed. Two year old Lily proves to be the biggest hindrance to forward motion. Danica had a long line of people behind her at the cut counter when she discovered she needed a large bolt of pink fleece. I ran to get it, but alas, Lily also ran....straight for the far end candy rack where she could do some instant, quick and expensive damage. Luckily I lift weights and run because it was all I could do to try to coax her to go the opposite direction. She would have nothing to do with that! She wanted her new-found treasures. She did her infamous non-violent protest "make myself a lump of loose muscles on the floor trick" It was so complicated to pick up Lily and balance the unwieldy heavy bolt of fabric and maneuver them quickly the long yards to rescue Danica. Lily was screaming and kicking, we got the looks from the ladies in the line. Later we are eating lunch at (you guessed it) McDonald's play place and Charlie spit up all over the pages of my new Franklin planner.
It's easy to put things into perspective and forgive Lily all her rebellion and defiance when she flies out of the barrel slide from the play place and runs over to me and wraps her arms around me and hugs me.
Franchise fees, lost wages and costs 115K
Franklin Planner that will never smell the same $100
Running Hug Jump from Lily: Priceless

Snow, Snow and more Snow

2010-03-23T19:33:00.000-07:00

Sledding is fun when we have grandma trained to pull us up the hill.

Lily decided she liked my velvet skirt and climbed into it like a lily sleeping bag

We heard that Bryce and his family had an easter egg hunt last Saturday. On our Saturday, we had snow and so we went sledding with Lily and JJ. Tonight I sent my ACC class home an hour and a half early. My 15 minute ride took an hour on the unplowed roads. Pretty scarey. Watched a pick up do a 360 right in front of me.

The HCG Diet

2010-02-22T01:39:00.000-08:00

Mark at his beloved aquarium with a giant sting ray swimming over his head. I think our camera got water from the aquarium in the lense because everything is fuzzy.
The shark is swallowing me.
Thank goodness Mark's scuba equipment is a little newer than this stuff.
We've been lucky to watch Charley lately and this is her smile.
This is the skirt I bought to celebrate. On the HCG Diet you loose about 1 pound a day. I lost 18 in 21 days and went from a size 12 to an 8. it feels really great! An older gentleman on the track stops me every morning and tells me how much better I look. I't kind of a difficult diet. You have to give yourself a pregnancy hormone by injection every morning, you only eat 500 calories and you can't eat bread. But It's worth it! I'm trying to get my larger clients to go on it.

Charley Gets Blessed

2010-02-07T09:23:00.000-08:00

So we have these two elders living in our basement, Boyer and Naylor. Boyer for some unknown reason decided to shave off his eyebrows. He looked ridiculous like someone had pumped his face with air. He wore these crazy glasses for a few days that have no lenses in them. Here is Mark in the same glasses. Finally, I taught him how to put brown eyeshadow on them with a makeup brush. He is a little enthusiastic with the brown eyeshadow, but it does look better. Dad gives Boyer a really hard time "Elder you left your makeup in the bathroom"
Charley was blessed today. She didn’t cry but did spit up in her dad’s shoe right before the blessing. She and JJ and lily are so cute. I adore them, they are so much more than cute to me.JJ and Lily insisted on having their px taken as well. Lily threw a tantrum in church because Mark wouldn't let her color in his scriptures. She attended her first birthday party this weekend where the little boy expressley invited her because she is so precocious.

Utah Wedding for Amber Bertram

2010-01-18T04:02:00.001-08:00

My niece Amber Married Justin Last weekend. It was so great to see all the family at the bountiful temple for this beautiful wedding. A big highlight was the sealer/temple president. He had written out a half hour "talk" and memorized it.
I never tire of my funny, accomplished and tall brothers. Chad had lost 40 lbs. Eric is doing well at his new Engineering job. Rick brought all the equipment for Kalie to sing at the wedding.
Stayed one night with Mom and Dad. Here's Lily and Charley snuggling up to Great Grandpaw and Grandmaw.
Got to go shopping with Austin. He had no food in his cupboards. I was a little astonished to see he can look so good on what he eats and doesn't eat. Tiana did my hair, we looked for a painting with Marcia and Danica and I visited her medical spa for laser treatment. It is so great to have such accomplished kids.
The Hogan side of the wedding party minus Leslie's fam.
My favorite only little sister in her beautiful new kitchen her husband Brad built. Cinnamon stain on Maple cabinets- absolutely beautiful! What a talented guy. But maybe he should open his eyes for pictures.

The Family Px!

2009-12-14T05:54:00.001-08:00

Look at my incredible family: This was a learning new things year!
Celeste and Brad worked really hard on this one. I think it turned out fabulous. Celeste took up photography this year and bought herself a nice camera and some lights and read every library book on photography she could get her hands on. She also taught herself a photoshop program. Really good first effort--don't you think???? I am really proud of her.

Bryce has spend about 12 days and uncovered 400 names doing genealogy. The spirit of Elijah keeps him up late at night after the kids are in bed. He's also really helped Austin at Media Rain and learned to finish a basement and fix an old pick-up.

Austin started an internship at Rain and drives his new truck to work every day for some programming. We asked him if he wanted to come home for Christmas and he said "No, I want to stay and learn PHP."

Tracy learned so much about running a new business. I've had to learn quickbooks and do payroll, invoices and manage caregivers for my home care franchise with my partner Rick Roedel along with my 3 sections of college psychology, 15 hours of counseling a week and trying to be a temple worker, I have learned about waking up at 4 and worrying.

Danica tries to manage THREE children 3 and under and still finds time for young women and her projects. I am really proud of what she gets done and how patient she is with the kids and doing "school" with JJ.

Tiana has learned so much as an esthetician about laser everything. She works at one of the nicest medical spa's in Utah.

Don is protecting us in Afganistan....learning lots and in leadership.

Mark has learned the Magic of Sunday dinners- he invites all the investigators and newly baptized members over almost every Sunday. We really enjoy having the missionaries live in our basement and the association on Sunday evenings. Mark is also the temple veil coordinator and has learned (the hard way) about asking for help in the beginning and getting things to run smoothly

Thankfulness 09

2009-11-29T18:11:00.001-08:00

Austin showed of his dives amd his muscles at the rec center for the family.
Sometimes the 7 grandchildren did NOT get along and share toys, but this was one time they did!
Sam lifted the barbells we used for our Christmas picture.
The kids all got to paint at the children's museum.
Hunter enjoyed the tastey plastic vegetables at the Denver Children's museum.
Lily loved putting groceries in and out of this little kid shopping cart.
Cont 'em. Seven beautiful grand children!
Hunter wins the award for beautiful chub. O the glory of having all the kids and grandkids in the house (except Don who is in Afganistan) We went out to eat, we played games, we played walleyball and soccer and swam at the rec center, took our Christmas px, sat in the hot tub, went shopping at the Mall, the girls saw New Moon, they guys played racquetball and Desent.

I had to speak during 5th Sunday combined meeting about inviting people into our home as a way of fellowshipping.
I told about how great is to be married to Mark. Even though I work from 9 to 9 and have no free time between 3 sections of psychology, preferred care at home and counseling. Even though I'm awful at entertaining. Mark didn't even know what a salad plate was and told me to take back the dishes when i tried to buy them. I was putting grout in the bathroom and gave a recipe to Mark for Sausage rustica and he had the missionaries chopping and sauteing away. When we sat down to eat, I said "I think you men forgot the sausage." Sure enough, it was all browned in a bowl on the counter. They had been too distracted with their Risk game. Nevertheless. Mark is spectatular about inviting those who've just joined the church, have yet to join the church of just need loving an fellowshipping to dinner. I have learned to have a big dinner planned for Sunday. i hea learned that it doesnt' matter if they are old enough to be our parents or young enough to be our kids.

A Snowy Sunday

2009-11-15T20:40:00.000-08:00

Church was cancelled this week because of 12" of snow. I listened to conference talks and put this grout in the bathroom.
We had Clora and the Elders from the basement or dinner. They decided that purple was the right color and we took these px.

When it snows here, all heck breaks loose for me.....

2009-11-01T15:01:00.001-08:00

A beautiful Colorado sunrise from our back deck.
This is the bathroom remodel in progress. I used to think a big dump of snow in Colorado was an exciting thing.....they let school out, no one can work......you make hot chocolate and laze around in your bunny slippers and a good book.
Ha! That was until I bought this home care franchise. The snow started Wednesday and snowed and snowed. It was still falling by Thursday night. I couldn't get out. All Thursday and Friday we shoveled. All my counseling clients canceled (no money coming in) and the calls came in one after another from Preferred Care at Home
"I can't make it to work, My car is buried under 24" of snow"
"I can't make it to work, I wrecked my car sliding on ice"
"I can't get to the client, the road hasn't been cleared out to her house."
"I can't make it to work, school is canceled and I have no one to watch my kids"
This left poor elderly people with no one to cook for them, keep them from falling and breaking bones, no one to shovel their walks.
I spent all day on the phone trying to find replacements, calming angry family members.

But, Finally on Friday afternoon the sun came out! The snow is melting and the roads are clear. And, best of all, Dad is paying for the bathroom to be remodeled. One of the Elders who was just released and an 18 year old in the ward demolished the old and took pieces to the dump. New free-standing vanities, new oil-rubbed bronze and new travertine. Dad, Rick Roedel and I worked on the tile all day yesterday. Here's the px.
The snow is melting....melting.....melting, just like our splatted witch on the post

The Elders are like little boys sometimes. Here is what they did to my pumpkin. It's throwing up pumpkin guts.

Grand baby #7 Charlene Hazel McDonald

2009-10-18T19:29:00.001-07:00

We went on a bike ride today the highline canal. It was about 75 degress. We enjoyed the beautiful fall leaves with all kinds of other bikers, walkers even horse riders.
She's here in her 5 lbs of glory. After making her mom dizzy and headachey for 3 weeks, little Charlene Hazel (Charley) came on Friday. She looks like Jensen. And Jensen is crazy about her. We had the opportunity to babysit JJ and Lily while mom was in the hospital. I didn't know a child could manufacture screams that loud while in the quiet chair. We had a blast playing with toys. One night JJ woke up about 12:30 am saying "What a good nap I had" It's fun when they come visit, Mark is so unselfish and helpful.

Trip to Washington DC, Westminister MD to see Celeste

2009-09-16T21:50:00.001-07:00

We took a trip to visit Celeste in her new house. It's so nice- new woodwork and granite countertops, a nice fenced back yard and lots of finished basement for toys. My favorite item in the house is chubby bubba Hunter. Here he is sitting in his bumbee chair.
We got to drive to WV and see Harper's Ferry. It's a civil war cite that's been restored and passed between north and south several times. Ate some mighty fine BBQ there too.See my "Hands off my Health care sign." I carried this sign with 600 thousand people on the Sept 15 tea party patriot march in protest of Obama up Pennsylvania Avenue to the capitol in DC.
There were some really great signs and really angry protesters. This was one of my favs.

This is the Baltimore inner harbor. We also got to go to the national aquarium and Celeste cried at the dolphin show.
What would be a trip back east without war sights and forts? Here's Mark and Brooklyn at fort McHenry.

Girlzilla Aug 09

2009-08-30T09:05:00.001-07:00

When Celeste told us that Brad would be gone to New Mexico for 2 weeks, we invited her to Denver. Bryce and Marcia drove over for a high school reunion. Tiana flew in, Don and Austin drove over and for the first time in many, many years we had all the Barrand children together. Saturday morning the 21st we had Girlzilla- an early morning horse ride up on the bluffs and a glorious night away from the kids and the men to make jewelry and sew table runners in the Marriott.
Oh Joy, all my 6 cute grandkids together at once
We met the guys on their bikeride up on the bluffs
Sammy's Spiderman birthday party at Bellevue Park
Sewing with the girls
The train at Bellevue park only costs 1$!
My horse like to gallop. The mountains behind us are stunning.

Swimming at HR pool.

Trek Highlands Ranch 09

2009-07-19T20:33:00.001-07:00

We called ourselves the Hard-y family. Tracy, Mark, Megan Di Di Jason Derrick Austin Doug Lindsey and Tori Wearing the girls bonnets makes Austin and Derrick Thoughtful.
I won the biggest popped blister award. This was really painful and I had 6 miles to go. Austin saw me down and put his hat on my head. What a nice son.
Crossing the sweet water. A thoughtful spiritual moment as we thought about the young rescuer men who carried the company one at a time through the freezing water 100 years ago in winter.
Our family flag. The milk carton says "got trials" and the bubble says "I can do hard things."

Backpacking with Tiana and Preston

2009-07-05T21:14:00.001-07:00

For the 4th of July, Tiana and Preston were wonderful enough to meet us in Vail where we did the 10 mile trip to Notch Mountain. This is a special hike, because you can see the Holy Cross mountain from the top of Notch and many people thought if you hiked up all 13,000 feet, you'd be healed up there. We backpacked in the first night and had fun eating freeze dried dinners over our fire.

We watched fireworks in Beaver Creek the night of the 4th. They were spectacular. Then on the 5th Mark came horseback riding with me. It was a perfect trip except Tiana pulled two muscles and Preston got a little sick from the altitude.

Aussie Back to BYU

2009-06-28T08:25:00.000-07:00

Had a very, very fun trip to Utah to put Austin in college. My dad has grown his hair back after his chemo and radiation! Here we are at a family reunion for my ancestor Eric GM Hogan who immigrated from Norway.

On the first day, last Friday, I got to play with Sammy and Lucas and roll down a steep grassy hill in the rain while Bryce was mountain biking and trying once again to injure himself on the steep and rocky downhill of squaw peak. We saw Bryce’s new house---very nice, and ate delicious tri-tip for father’s day.

On Saturday, when we got to Provo with Aussie, he was waiting around for the office to open and an old freshman dorm buddy named Jesse jumped out of his apartment and invited Austin to stay with him. We really like this Jesse kid. He studies a lot. After talking to Austin about discontinuing his wow video game usage until we were blue in the face, Jesse sat Aussie and his friend Andrew down and asked them to remove all the games, which Aussie did.

I was so pleased when Aussie called later and said he had been to diving practice and coach asked him to do a front 1.5 full twist. Aussie thought, well, I haven't’ done that before but I have done something similar on the trampoline, so I’ll just try it. And he did it.

Back in Colorado, the house is so much more empty. I'm glad Aussie is there, it was socially, spiritually and intellectually inadequate here, and BYU will help him reach his potential.......but I can't help but miss his big goofy smile, his service projects, him admiring his butt in the mirror, his even emotions and his eating large quantities of food. Austin really enjoys food.

On Monday, Tiana did my hair and I got to hang out with her all day and shop at Tiapan trading and hobby lobby to make topiaries. Mark being his usual cultured and decorative self, called them "tapiocas"

Back at home in Denver, Danica came over to eat 2x Saturday and JJ and Lily are so cute. Lily’s running movement is straight up and down.

Yesterday Mark and I had an awesome bike ride on the Highline Canal. Mark waited for me and I went faster---until on the way home my bike came off the rack and now it’s trashed. It was scarey picking it up of c-470. It’s so sad to see my bike all bent and trashed.

Yesterday was also my last lesson with my riding teacher Crissy. She’s moving to Wyoming where feed for her 3 horses is much more reasonable. We saddled up Shadow and she rode Hazel bareback and we trotted through the long grass, trees and wild flower in the river bottoms. The sunset was ribbons of light streaming between the clouds on the mountains, Colorado can be so beautiful.

Horses and Mountains

2009-06-14T19:01:00.000-07:00

OK. So we forgot our camera. But, I'm putting these two horse pictures to give you an idea of what a beautiful day Austin, and his friend Rebecca and I had on our trail ride.

We actually were just a few miles from home on the bluffs above Highlands Ranch. The grass was long, the wildflowers were in bloom. The sun shone after days of rain. Austin's horse, a fleabitten mare loved to eat (who does that remind us of?) and Rebecca's horse kicked me and my horse if we got too close. Never the less, the gentle rocking in the saddle drove all my stress away. I was a wonderful way to spend Austin's last Saturday at home before he goes off to BYU this week.
Then we climbed Devil's Head mountain with Mark. Oh how I love Colorado Mountains!

Preferred Care at Home goes to the Zoo

2009-06-02T19:48:00.000-07:00

You are looking at our booth for "Preferred Care at Home" at the recent Denver Zoo Health Fair. Our Team from left to right : Jackie, Our Senior Real Estate agent, Margaret our Nutrition Therapist, Sharon our RN for the medical side, Me the Care Coordinator, Sherry Ross our Director of Mktg and Rick Roedel the Administrator.We love when Dave goes out of town for work, Danica fixes dinner and brings it over for Aussie and I. After a long day of work, two of my favorite things, food and grandchildren. But right after our first attempt at a picnic, it rained and rained. Everything is emerald green. I've never seen Colorado so green. I don't handle dark and cold and wet rainy weather well. I've been doing wierd things. I search through my bag for my phone while I am talking on it. It's as if synapses in my brain don't connect. I lock my keys in the car. It's June 2 and I'm sitting here in my ski sweater with the furnace on. Blach.

What we've been up to....

2009-05-17T20:26:00.000-07:00

Spring semester at ACC ended and I took a photo of one of my favorite classes in Human Growth and development for the nursing students. These 16 women and 1 man were expressive, story tellers, talkative. I always wonder if they enjoy me as much as I enjoy them. One student gave me a plant and a thank you card that said "I so much enjoyed your class, I feel like I have learned so much and realize I have a lot to learn. Because of you and your wonderful teaching I feel like I have grown, you've made a difference in my life." She's the one in the jean jacket in the middle of the px.
We went to the Newport Marriot condos with Bryce, Marcia, Sammy, Lucas and Austin. They condo's were beautiful, right on the beach. Sammy is always running, talking, making us laugh. Lucas is huggy and communicates by pulling on your finger and dragging you where he wants you to go.
There were tide pools at Laguna beach. We also went to Balboa beach and body surfed and ate sushi on the way home.
Our favorite was Shamu at Sea World. We didn't mind getting splashed. Sammy did the Shamu slap and I cried.
Mark waited for 45 minutes at Legoland for this ride for Sammy. Mark was not happy. Luckily we got to the first of the line with the wheelchair passes.
This pirate boat shot water and Sammy loved it.

Maryland!

2009-04-19T12:19:00.000-07:00

Announcing Cid Hunter Baillio. The cutest little new human on the planet.
I'm at Celeste and Brad's place in Westminster MD. My newest grandson is the coolest ever. He's so tiny and grunts and talks to us all night long.

Westminster has a big peep show competition where the locals made big diorammas and movies using peeps. There was the Rubix peeps, the Hells Kitchen Peeps, Harry Peeper (potter) Peeps Kabob and many, many others.
Brooklyn has a very very long attention span for 1) the Disney Cars movie 2) her books.

Been in Bocca Raton..... or in other words..... paradise.

2009-04-12T18:54:00.001-07:00

Mark helped me and Rick Roedel buy a home care franchise called Preferred Care. We provide reliable affordable and compassionate caregivers for elderly folks in their homes. Some of the services might include companionship, house keeping, meal prep, medication reminders, hygiene assistance, transportation and more. Preferred Care at home put us up in their beautiful condo which doubles as their corporate office right on the beach, Pinky white sand, surfers, moonlight beaches and always a great breeze.
This last week was my training and I had this unbelievable marble bath all to myself. It was a special treat to have my morning and evening bath in this claw foot tub

Frank and Jody Guerri started this home care business 2x. So they are excellent teachers and just good Christian people.
I am still seeing about 10 clients every week in the evenings and Fridays. I had a fantastic day when I returned to Denver. The people I saw were ready to work hard, take risks and GET BETTER! It makes a huge difference when people are humble and teachable, Otherwise counseling with someone who is stuck and hard hearted is a painful and draining experience

Mark's Christmas Present Trip to Bonaire

2009-03-22T08:57:00.000-07:00

For Christmas in 2008 I said to Mark "Your gift is a trip to Bonaire, the #2 scuba site in the world, I used your credit card to buy the tix."
After flying all night we arrived on the 14th of March and were picked up by Paulette and her new/old boyfriend Robert at the Bonaire Flamingo airport. What a great guy. It turns out that he and she went on a Caribbean cruise 17 years ago and they both really liked each other but had issues to resolve. So they were all in love and he sang the song he'd written for her. She gave me an awesome hand jeweled watch for my B-day. It was really fun to hang out with her. She is such a naturalist and gets very excited about earthy things. She's sees a weaver bird's nest and screams "Stop the car! I gotta have that nest." Or she would scream in her snorkle "Askdebn;;welkj;gklj" which translated means, 'I see an octupus!!!'

On Sunday the 15 we found the Bonaire Branch of the Church. What a lovely cultural experience. Twenty beautiful brown-skinned Bonarians sitting around on metal folding chairs, the "organist" sat at a table and pressed the buttons on a CD player when it was time to sing. The language was which was a Papiamento a a Portuguese creole, with vocabulary influences from African languages, Spanish, Dutch, English and Arawak languages. So we were given translator devices and the Elder from Kaysville Utah spoke into a mike so the 3 of us who were English speakers could understand. They were very loving and friendly and their first Convert of Dutch Ancestry who had been baptised the day before bore his testimony. There was a couple from Alaska serving there on a mission and I thought, "I can see us to serving in a beautiful humble place like this."
We rented scuba gear from a really friendly dutch place called Dive Friends Bonaire. We had been warned not to leave anything valuable in our rented truck. We put on our gear and tried to get in the water off the dock at a hotel, they wanted 15 bucks. So we walked back to the truck to drive up the road and everything was gone! Some really smelly shorts Robert had left, and Mark's glasses and our clothes all our sunblock. We were so upset. While the others were going into the hotel to call the police, I realized that everyone rented the same white Mazda truck and we went up 2 more trucks in the parking lot and there was all our stuff. We did our first two shoredives, the cliff and 1000 steps. The waves knocking me around while I was tryng to get on my flippers in all that heavy gear were difficult. I was all bloody and scratched. I should have attracted a shark, instead, I attracted this cool Moray eel.

Bobby Jeans
Monday the 15th Read Romancy Novel, Mark did Helma Hooker a wreck dive and the invinsibles.
Tuesday the 16th Paulette and I went shopping. Guy at Mimbusu dressed me. We ate at the Lions Den. Mark saved my fin at the Oil slick leap.

Wednesday the 17th we did a tour of the North Island 1500 years ago Astonomy center Pizza at captain Don's with the Sunset.
Thurs the 18th Mark went over to the Island to scuba. Paulette and I bought a bonita Tuna and we fried it up with Potatoes and ate Frozen grapes for dessert.
Friday the 19th saw the South side. These tiny buildings were used by the Colonial Dutch to house their slaves that worked in the Salt. This is the day i had most fun snorkeling.The ocean right by our hotel was a lovely aquarium teeming with fish and coral. I loved to just lay on top of the water and watch the parrot fish and trumpet fish.

Happy Birthday to Me. Austin's Homecoming.

2009-03-08T21:09:00.000-07:00

Danica came over with my very adorable grandchildren and some blueberry muffins with candles in them. Then we sat in the sandbox and swordfought with sticks. Mark replaced the white dishwasher behind lily with a beautiful new stainless steel one. Austin gave the BEST homecoming talk today on charity. Some dear friends came to hear it....Merklings, Roedels, Baileys, Joe Rutherford

Tiana's Wedding

2009-02-22T20:34:00.000-08:00

The bridemaids dresses were somewhat of challenge considering I had to sew a wide variety of sizes and 2 pregnant women (7 months)
Preston's sisters and Tiana's sisters supporting Preston. The view of the mountains at the Pointe was spectacular.
My sister Leslie the chocolate lover. The Van Dykes put on a catered dinner at their church building.
It's fun having a wedding in Utah when you live in CO. I got to see my cousin Jeff. His house was next to ours where I grew up and we all hung out in a gang of cousins and rode dirt bikes.
Tiana's strategy was to wear old sweats and no makeup for three days so she'd look really amazing to Preston at the wedding. She was going for the big contrast effect. Here she's just done my hair.
Aussie sees Celeste for the first time in 2 years and says "Dang Celeste, you've been busy"
There were some pretty good views at the reception center, both inside and out.
Hmmm. Isn't a chocolate fountain supposed to flow cascades of chocolate? This looks like ????

Oh my goodness! Austin is Home!

2009-02-08T10:13:00.000-08:00

He's here. He's really here. Minus a few teeth---but taller and better. We picked him up from the airport on Friday the 6th. So confident and mature. Where did that little boy we sent out go? He couldn't get over the mountains on the way home from the airport.....how beautiful they are......He's still a big goofball.....but now he's a spiritual man with goals and agendas. At one point I was making dinner in the kitchen HE CAME IN TO HELP ME and when were done, he said, "What should I do now.?" It's like he's trying to schedule every moment and make it count. It was amazing. And he finishes a lot of sentences with "aye"

Celeste's Month Long Visit.

2009-01-28T13:44:00.000-08:00

Brad and Celeste have been here for a month. I think it's different when you know you only have a month with a grown child and then they go away for years to far away Maryland.......
almost every day she and I and Danica get together and do something.
First, as you know, we all went to Costa Rica without the grand babies.
Then we had a baby shower and wedding shower for her and Tiana combined
We went swimming a few times at the rec center
Then Brad finished up his first draft of his Thesis and flew to Illinois to visit with the Professor in charge and then drive their car to Maryland.
Then we went to the aquarium
And the stock show
Sledding at Lonesome Pine Park in Acres green

We have been shopping for her new baby boy due April 7
Then we went to the Children s Museum

Wow, Children under 3 are very messy, demanding, noisy, and really, really cute and fun. I have decided it's good you have them when you are young because I feel really, really thankful to have had this time with them and really, really tired.

Costa Rica II

2009-01-11T05:08:00.000-08:00

We were so relieved to actually get our boarding passes to Costa Rica, since we missed the flight last year by 24 hours and couldn't go.
Our first stop was Irazu, an inactive volcano. Here's the crater at the bottom and all our bottoms at the top.

The Manuel Antonio National Park has a gorgeous coastline and acres and acres of preserved jungle. Our guide pointed out lots of sloths. Tiana was particularly excited about the leaf cutter ants.
So, these faces are awake and happy, but most of the 7 hour trip in the Nissan Van from Manuel Antonio to our rented house near Domical were spent trying to find a comfortable position to sleep.
Large foreign animals and plants in the jungle spooked Tiana somewhat. This coati is a relative to the racoon and would join us when we bought at fruit stands to get hand outs. The pineapple, bananas, mango, papya, grapes and blackberries were extraordinary. We gave him our passionfruit because that was like slimey Worf-food.Then we did the zip line where you wear this gear and race accross a cable high up above the Jungle canopy.This is the nice new air conditioned house Mark rented for us. It had it's own private pool and was right on the beach. At night you could hear the waves. It was like a little bit of heaven. No...a whole lot of heaven.

Tiana and Preston made good use of the beach at sunset time.The rest of us made good use of the beach during high tide. The boogey boarding was really great, except for the flesh eating rocks.

Our Last Great Family Px

2008-12-14T18:42:00.000-08:00

Hmm, thinking back on 2008. I've had a full year of teaching 8 sections of on ground college psychology and human growth and development and 16 sections of Psych, Art History and Ethics for the online school. I worked at LDS Family services and did counseling most the year, then Dec. 1 I started a private practice. Counseling there was great although they paid poorly and it restored my confidence in my ability to do therapy. Now Mark and I are empty nesters I sit around sad and languishing and missing my kids...unable to get motivated NOT! This year I did 3 new things and I'm truly happiest when I get to see Danica's 2 kids. She only lives 10 minutes away. They come over at least 1x a week, but they have to make an appointment.... he he he.
This star was px might be our best and our last.

Tiana's Bridal Photo's

2008-12-07T14:02:00.000-08:00

Tiana had her bridal photo's done. Wow. Does she look happy or what? She got some good gene's from Mark. I'm so proud of her. She's beautiful inside and out. You can see the other photo's shot at sunset at the old mental health hospital in Provo on the photographer's web page
http://eltonfilmandimages.blogspot.com/
And it's a 2fer1: I get another great-son-law from a wonderful family in the deal.

Classes are over for the semester. What a wonderful bunch of students I had this time. I enjoyed them immensely. This week, I had 3 clients in my new counseling practice. I was only locked out of the office 1x. Now, I'm helping Mark put up lights for Christmas and cleaning the Ford and the Lexus to sell them this week (hopefully). We got Mark a new AWD Murano (well it has 40K miles on it) for the snowy Colorado mountains. Speaking of snow and mountains, we were stranded near Breckenridge on I-70 on Sunday night last week. Luckily, Grand Timer had a 2 bedroom unit for the night an we got to sit in the hot tub with the McDonald's instead of sitting on the freeway for an additional 8 hours. There was no way Lily and JJ could have done another 8 hours with their mom and dad in their van.

A Week in Provo

2008-11-27T09:26:00.000-08:00

I got to play with Sammy and Lucas in Utah. Sammy went wild with the 2 light sabers and his Yoda costume. I put on Darth Vader and we choreographed a few light saber battles. He is really a fun 4.5 year old. We took the family picture of all star wars in Bryce's neighbor's house. He had converted his garage into a photo studio with a big piece of black paper. He took one family at a time and then photo shopped us all together. That way he got better little kid faces and we only needed two light sabers and 1 Han Solo blaster gun.
Andrew got his eagle and the Hogan family showed up for the celebration. Also his mom and Jo. We saw most all my family the Hogan's last week in Utah. There were 60 people at my Sister's house. My dad has cancer and all the men gave him a blessing. I'm really worried about my mom if he goes.
Got the sincere and extreme pleasure of going shopping with my last lovely daughter to pick out her wedding dress. Tiana knew she wanted this one and only this one when she saw it on the mannequin. It's a french style dress, with sleeves she can move her arms in! We met Preston's mom and dad and they are lovely, active, wonderful people. They insisted on having her reception at the Pointe which overlooks the whole Salt Lake Valley. We are quite excited about this.
I also helped Tiana pick out bridesmaids dresses. I say that loosely. Tiana really knows what she wants and I just witness the tornado. She really loves Elder VanDyke. They are kissey, huggy smothery touchy all the time. It’s fun to see how happy they are and absolutely smitten.

Horse Riding Lessons

2008-11-09T13:28:00.000-08:00

I graduated up to the paint quarter horse Shadow yesterday. He's a beaut. He loves to run and we did our trail ride through the cottonwoods just before sunset. The muted yellows and ochres of late fall were extraordinary. Here's a photo of a similar looking horse, except Shadow had his winter coat coming in and was really soft and shaggy. Someday, I hope to have a horse for every day of the week- A white Arabian for Sunday, A Palomino for Monday, etc. And I'll have a paint quarter horse for Tuesday and call him Hildalgo. That would be heaven. Maybe I'll have to wait for heaven :)

Mt. Bike to the top of the world

2008-11-02T17:15:00.000-08:00

It was one of the last warm sunny Sundays. We found a trail that took us to the top of the world. Well, the top of Highlands Ranch anyway. It was the only time this week I haven't felt worried and conflicted about starting a private counseling practice. Am on day 20 of sobriety from sugar (special occasions exempted) Got to speak to most the Bishops, RS Presidents and YW presidents in the Denver Area this last Tuesday on Depression through LDS family services.

I Love FALL!

2008-10-18T12:51:00.000-07:00

This was taken on Monday. Oh my goodness! It's so beautiful outside. Look at this tree! I planted this Autumn Blaze Maple 13 years ago when we first moved into the house.
This was Friday the 17th.
And this last one is 5 days later. For the beauty of the earth! And here's a px of our bike ride up to the top of the bluff. You can see the beautiful mountains and Highlands Ranch. Notice that a few other people have these red maples in their yards too! It was a perfect fall day.

Weekend with Celeste & Tiana

2008-10-13T08:07:00.000-07:00

Celeste brought Brooklyn and Tiana brought Preston Van Dyke over on the plane to visit us this weekend. Dad took Preston to play racquetball. And strangely enough Preston wants to play again at Thanksgiving when we go to Utah. We took all the grand babies to the Natural History Museum. The foam blocks in the the discovery room were a big hit with wild Jensen.

Lily was sleepy during our swim at the rec center. Bryce and Marcia, Sam and Lucas couldn't come because Bryce is trying to make up lost time at his job after his surgery. We missed them!
Tiana felt compelled to cut and color our hair and then clean cobwebs off the light fixtures. Celeste organized all my pantry. I love having these girls visit. They make things beautiful!

We had macaroni grill style italian food and played scattergories (Dad and I won) and apples to apples (Preston won) Preston also scored points by doing lots of dishes and holding lots of babies.

Brooklyn loved sitting on Danica, Tiana and Preston's laps.
Even though Celeste is pregnant and tired she is still fun. Brooklyn likes constant mommy attention. Only 3 weeks and Brooklyn gets to go into the nursery at church. Brooklyn has her own little language which doesn't comprise many actual words but is very effective and sometimes rather shrill.
Brooklyn and JJ are fearless in the water. They don't seem to mind if water gets in their faces, they just keep exploring and going, going, going.

The cousins at the rec center.
JJ still loves his Thomas trains at Gwamma and Gwammpa's house.

I won at Heroscape

2008-10-07T11:37:00.000-07:00

Look at this awesome set of trees that Danica and Dave now have for their massive (3 big storage boxes) game of Heroscapes. I had 3 secret agents, a ninja woman and Shade. Shade kills off people just by rolling 16 or over on the 20 sided dice. And, my wonderful son-in-law Dave didn't attack me for the first 1/2 of the game so I won!

A good moment in therapy

2008-09-28T14:52:00.000-07:00

I had a really good moment this last week.. I saw a client who's about my age and makes 6 figures. At first we were doing marriage therapy with her and her husband, but then the two of them started doing a little better because she learned to share her feelings with him, so now I just see her for her anxiety.
Part of the problem is that she has a tithing problem and hasn't felt worthy of God's help with her anxiety. She has to keep a pill in her pocket all day in case she needs it at work because she gets so anxious she just melts down (not good when you are a manager of many people) and sits at her desk immobile with anxiety thinking" I'm going to loose my job". She's been popping one daily.
Any way, the cool part of the intervention was knowing that she's going to get herself worthy AND I had some ideas for her from a OCD book I just read. I told him to have a daily "anxiety appointment" where she spends 15 minutes every night just cutting loose on the anxiety, worrying her head off and not trying to think of positive thoughts. That she only allow herself to worry during her appointment and if she starts to have anxiety during the day, turn it to problem solving. I compared her to a puzzle and she is to let all the pieces just jumble out of the frame during the anxiety appointment. Then put herself back together by problem solving and generating solutions. Then to tell her husband her anxiety and her solutions so they can keep their self-disclosure going. We tried it during session and she did really, really well. It's helps thelp the anxious person get a grip on the anxiety. Get control of it, by postponing it. Doing therapy for LDS family services is so fun because you can talk about the atonement and healing, hope and faith. Change and eternity.

Weekends.....

2008-09-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

After a long exhausting week of teaching, counseling and dad's lawsuit, Dad and I did a 2 hour mtn bike ride. It had rained alot on Friday, but Saturday dawned bright and shining, with snow on the mountains as a reward for out eyes after we struggled up the hills.
I rode Hazel on Saturday afternoon and made it through a tricky obstacle course which included "backing up". You should see what you have to do if the horses rear isn't straight when you start into the back so you can make it through the cones.... Saturday night we got to see JJ at the Thomas the train exhibit.
We had a birthday party for Lily's birthday. She is so cute and so huggable and is now saying "up". It's an multipurpose word which means just about anything she needs it to mean!