Conference Weekend

No pics on this post just a run down of our exciting weekend. 
1. Watched the Saturday morning session of Conference in which President Monson announced a temple to be built in Cedar City!  Gasps of joy were heard in the audience.  He also spoke of the temple dedication in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.  Then went over the numbers of missionaries serving through out the world. 
65,000 now serving, 20,000 with calls waiting to go, and 6,000 awaiting calls.  AMAZING!!!!!!
Jordan is part of the 65,000, K'loni is in the 20,000 category, and Mom and Dad in the 6,000 group.  It is just THE MOST WONDERFUL THING!!!!!!
2.  After all that good news Mark and I hopped in the truck and drove to St. George to buy a car.  Yes, I said BUY A CAR.  And we brought one home.  A BRAND new Ford Escape.  It is sooooo fun to have a NEW car.  We have had ONE new car in our lifetime.  And that was 17 years ago.  I've been driving a 1996 jeep for the past four years so yes, I am a bit elated about this new development.  We have been for 2 Sunday afternoon rides this afternoon.  Whitney drove after Conference and we watched the odometer turn to 100 miles! 
3.  This morning the missionaries serving in our Stake came over for eggs golden rod and watched Conference with us.  They are nice boys and I love having them around. 
4.  We got to listen to messages from our Prophet and other General Authorities.  There were so many great talks.  I am growing to love Conference as I age.  :)

We Said Goodbye To A Dear Friend Today...

We said goodbye to our van today.  :(  The van has been in the family about as long as Courtney has.  We bought it when we had her.  We figured now that we were a 3 child family we needed a van!  We have been driving that van for almost 15 years.  Now THAT is a good car!  Shortly after Jordan turned 16 we got a Jeep for me to drive and gave Jordan the van.  He souped it up taking out the middle seat and putting in a fuzzy rug, disco ball, and silver Christmas garland all over the back.  He and his friends had some good times in that van. :)  Whitney was never a fan of the van and pretty much refused to drive it.  So it has been sitting in the garage quite lonely since Jordan left.  Today Mark's friend Mario came and took it off our hands.  He bought our Jeep too. (It was in a little wreck with Whitney last week and it no longer runs.)  So now we will have a little down payment for a new car.  We looked around a bit last night and will go look some more on Saturday.  We shall see what we decide.  But I was a bit sad to see the van leave our garage.  We have so many good family memories in that thing.  But alas it was time to part ways. 

Here is the back of our lovely friend.

Now this van had personality!
Jordan wrecked it early one morning while delivering papers.
Mark's friend Mario helped us find a bumper for it.
All he could find was this blue one.  :)

Probably my favorite imperfection on the van was this one on the back by the tire.  One morning I was taking Courtney to school and someone ran into me.  It was a teenage boy who seemed rather frazzled.  He said he was so sorry and that he was in a hurry because he was late for class.  I asked him if he went to Canyon View.  He said he did.  I asked him what grade he was in.  He said he was a Senior.  I then asked him if he knew Mr. Comstock.  He then said.  "Yes, that's the class I am late for!"  I told him to hurry to class and when he got there to tell Mr. Comstock the reason he was late was because he just ran into his van!  The poor boy turn ghostly pale.  I told him not to worry about it  and that he could work things out with Mr. Comstock.  :)  Which he did.  We opted to just leave the dent/scratch there.  It is just SUCH a great story!!!!  

The Treasure Hunt

Grandma decided that since the kids were getting older she would hold a "Treasure Hunt" this year instead of an Easter egg hunt.  I thought it was a smashing success!  She gave the kids the first clue which said something about leaving her house and going left, passing the first right turn and turning on the 2nd right. It said to find a clue hidden on an abandon trailer.  That clue said to go to a dirt road and walk up a way pass two fat trees to a skinny tree.  There we found the next clue.  It sent us back to the main road and onto another dirt road.  Going left at the fork in the path.  We found a clue under a tree there.  It told us to to back to the fork and take a right this time.  We walked a ways and found another clue telling us to go back to grandma''s house and look by their trailer.  That clue told us to go to their basement.  In the basement we found a big tub full of fun treats.  The kids started with the oldest (Whitney) and each picked one thing from the tub.  Then went around again.  I think everyone got 3 or 4 prizes.  Grandparents are simply the best!  We are so blessed to live near Grandma and Grandpa Jordan and not to far from Grandma and Grandpa Comstock.  :)

Courtney and Megan off to find the treasure.

Courtney reading the 2nd clue.

Madee reading a clue.

This cute girl (Lindsey) wanted to be the first to find the next clue!!!

My DARLING daughters.  :)

Some of the "TREASURE"

Madees got the clue! 

Some of the girls treasure! 

Spring Break 2013

So the break is about to come to an end.  Tomorrow is Easter.  And Monday, back to school for 7 LONG weeks with NO breaks!  Hopefully we will have some warm weather and long recesses to help us get through it.  :) 

On Wednesday Mark and Courtney and Madee and I went up to The Parowan Gap.  Exciting times!  I had never been there and there were all kinds of old Indian writing on the rocks and lots of interesting history to read about.  After exploring the rocks we went to Brad's to see our favorite new employee.  Whitney has been working there for a couple of weeks.  I do LOVE a Brad's diet coke with lime.  Most of the kids that work at Brad's have some kind of connection to Brad.  Some of the girls were asking Whitney how she got her job there and she said.  "I don't know, my mom likes diet coke?!?!?!?!?"  So apparently all those diet cokes with lime every morning on the way to school paid off.  :) 

Enjoying an ice cream cone at Brad's.



I am seriously debating leaving this picture on the blog. 
Why is it I have NO neck and I resemble an Umpa Loopa? 

On Thursday the day started early and we met Grandma and Grandpa and Grandpa's brother Uncle Larry and Aunt Ann and David and Julie and kids in the Wal-Mart parking lot and we all headed up to Zion.  It was a perfect day weather wise.  And man, did EVERYONE know that.  It was REALLY crowded.  But we had a great time.  We had to hurry to be home by 4 because Whitney had to work.  We will have to do it again another day when we aren't rushing to come home. 

Madee took this one.  Check out the rainbow!

Many times when we are together I make Dahlin take a picture
with me.  OH, I miss Jordan SOOOO much!  Dahlin is such
a good young man.  He too will make a great missionary one day.
( Next year!)

Uh, ya we think we are funny.  Great engagement pic huh?

Brother and Sister Jordan will be the best missionaries!!!! 
But Geez, I will miss them too!!!!

On Friday we were a bit lazy.  Whitney worked, Mark, Courteny and Madee got haircuts. Whitney got in a fender bender on the way home from work.  We are so glad she is o.k.  She just has a little bump and kind of burn on her for head.  We think she got it from hitting her head on the steering wheel.  Then we spent a good part of the afternoon and evening worrying about what to do with only one car and 3 drivers!  Luckily we had planned to have the missionaries over for dinner.  That was a nice distraction.  We grilled some yummy burgers.  Oh, how I love the missionaries!  We invited them to spend Conference Sunday with us too.  Conference it next week.  There are many rumors about some really exciting things that maybe announced on Saturday morning.  It should be a great weekend next weekend. 

Saturday we mostly hung around the house.  Whitney and I went tanning.  Well, she went tanning I walked while she tanned.  I made it all the way to Joann's while she was tanning.  Then we ran to the store.  Heather Kadera and Lindsay Holmes came by for a visit.  They were both home for Easter.  Then Mark and I went to dinner with Mark's student teacher and his wife.  We dyed Easter eggs tonight.  I almost didn't do it this year.  The kids are getting older and I thought it would be no big deal to not do it.  But it's a tradition.  Even when you get older you still do traditions right?

Tomorrow we will go to church and focus on the life of our Savior and His Resurrection and the wonderful gift of the Atonement.  In the evening we will go to mom and dad's house and have an Easter egg hunt.  ( OR Treasure Hunt as my mom calls it now that the kids are getting older.)
Then we will have Easter dinner. 

Private

I've decided to make the blog private.  If you do check in and read it from time to time leave your name in the comments and I'll make sure add you to the readers list. Thanks!!!!    Will you leave your email ?  Apparently I need that to send invitations.  :)

I Prefer You!

Whitney and Tyson.  I think the dress looks great!
We had a bit of dress DRAMA. 
A friend brought this dress over about a half hour before the dance.
She looks BE-U-tiful!!!

I didn't think I could get a shot of the whole group at once.
So here they all are in two pics.  :)
Dallon (the cute boy with the white tie) didn't have his date at the house, she had to work and met him at the dance.  I told him to hop in the picture and stand next to his football buddies!

Gorgeous girls!

Silly boys.

All these handsome boys have just received mission calls. 
From left to right: 
Scott, Tampa Florida,
Tyson, Dominican Republic
Dallon, Puebla Mexico
They are all such great young men and will make amazing missionaries!
We are blessed that Whitney had chosen to surround herself with such amazing friends.  :)

Last night was the Preference dance at school.  Whitney went with her friend Tyson.  They have been friends since Middle School.  Back in 8th grade they were given the great honor to be voted
 "Biggest Flirts."  Now they both have steady boyfriends/girlfriends so I don't know if that honor would still be bestowed upon them.  For Seniors best I think Tyson was voted "Best Personality" and Whitney was voted "Best Back Pockets."  (Yes, it was awkward when the boys in Mark's class were all talking about voting and Whitney's great butt.) 

They went to Red Cliffs yesterday with a big group of friends and hiked.  It was about 70 degrees in St. George yesterday so they had a great time.  They ate at Texas Road House and then came home and got ready for the dance.  The kids all met at our house and had dessert.  We made a cake that Whitney likes.  Some have a name for it that is inappropriate for teenagers.  :)  It is a chocolate sheet cake that you poke holes in after you bake and pour in sweetened condensed milk and Carmel ice cream topping and then frost with cool whip and sprinkle crushed Heath Bar on top.  I saw it in a ward cookbook called "Gospel Cake".  So that is what we now call it at our house.  :)   My friend Jeanna (Kyra's mom) brought over some yummy fruit pizza too.  It was great to have the kids over and see how beautiful and handsome they all looked. 







The Low Down

As I looked at the blog I noticed that I have not written anything about anyone in our family BUT Whitney!!!  ( And she thought Jordan was my favorite!)  Yes we are ALL still alive and well.  We had a great Sunday today.  Went to church at 11:00.  It's a great time.  :)  Came home watched a movie, some of fell asleep during.  Had a great dinner of steak and baked potatoes. Courtney had a great idea to make chocolate covered strawberries.  We pulled out our fondue pot and some white and milk chocolate, sat around the table after dinner and had a great FHE.  We all shared our favorite scripture.  I cherish those moments when we are together without facebook and twitter and music and texting  and we are all happy.  With 3 daughters (2 teenagers and a tween) and a mom in the house it is sometimes difficult to find a time when everyone is happy.  I mean that is ALLOT of hormones in one house!!! 

So here's to a happy home and good time together!!!!!!