Our Favorite Elders

It's rare to come across a set of Elders that bonds with every member of our family.  These two are the exception.  Elder Kavanaugh and Elder Evensen.

They first hit it off with Phillip during Sunday morning meetings.  Lots of joking going on.

The three of them came up with a business plan called Tripod Industries.  The Elders even had a book made and did a presentation to us on the concept.  Funny!!

It didn't take long for the rest of the family to see what extrordinary young men they are.  Logan has been going to the Nursing home every Friday with them to sing along with other Missionaries. He has really grown to love them which is quite surprising for Logan.  Amanda, Emily and Isabelle think they're about as funny as they get.  And I just love them to pieces! 

We have a great time when they're here and bring such a great spirit with them.

But after eight months in our ward, Elder Kavanaugh is being transferred today.  And he only has six weeks left of his mission here.  We're so sad to see him go, but look forward to staying in touch and seeing what marvelous things he does with his life.  I don't know how many times I've asked them to marry a couple of my daughters so they can be a part of our family.

Thanks Elders for being a part of our family for a little while at least.

Beautiful Hymn

I sat and watched along with the congregation today.
It was amazing.
Those were MY kids up there singing so beautifully! 
Amanda and Emily looking and sounding like angels.
Logan so handsome in his suit. 
Elder Kavanaugh, love him like one of my own kids.
I wish I could have stopped time, rewinded and played it over and over.
How Great Thou Art sung acapella and in four part harmony.
So Powerful and so beautiful.
My favorite hymn.
Tears.
I wish all my family could have been there to see it. 
I hope to see it again someday.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to a great Dad who takes his family to Disneyland and Camping and Movies and Out to Dinner.....and on and on.

To a Husband who thinks it's very important to take his Wife on trips just the two of us.

To a Man who works hard at everything he does and makes sure he takes good care of himself for his family.

Happy Birthday Phillip!!

We Love you

Prom

It's Prom time again. This year is Scott's Senior Prom. But of course he took Amanda, his main squeeze, even though she's done with High School. He bought a brand new suit that will become one of his mission suits later. Amanda bought her dress at Black House White Market again. I thought they looked quite the dashing couple, don't you?

I just love this one! Look at him looking at her! awwww.

It's not a Concert

Here we are at the Michael Buble' show.  He doesn't like to call it a concert, because he talks and interacts with the audience so much.  It was alot of fun!  We had a great time!

This was the best picture we could get with our dinky camera.  Note to self:  Get myself a nice camera for Bday/Christmas this year.

CRAZY LOVE!!

The Cook girls and I are pretty excited about this day.
This is the day we get to go see him on his Crazy Love Tour:

These are the Cook girls on Christmas morning when they found out they were going to get to see him:

This is the guy who bought our tickets for us and lets us have our silly crush:

This is a Good Day!

The girl can't keep her eyes open

I don't know why these make me laugh, but they do.

These are all taken on crazy hair day on two different years, and coincidentally, she's wearing the same shirt.

Teenage Driver #3

Emily is in Drivers Ed at school.  She passed the permit test and scored 100 out of 110.  She couldn't WAIT to get her permit in her hot little hand!  Remember when we were excited about driving too?

Off with your head!

You just gotta love spirit week!  Today is Disney Day, dress like your favorite Disney character.  We didn't have to brainstorm very long at all.  The inspiration was the red heart apron Grandma Linda gave to one of my girls.

May I present to you, The Red Queen:

Although it's perfectly obvious what she is, if someone asks her who she is supposed to be, of course she will say;"OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!"

Cook's Crazy Hair

Today is crazy hair day for Isabelle at school.  And since there seems to be a hair theme going on here this week, I thought I'd share some of our family's crazy hair.  Enjoy!

Emily the morning after sponge curlers.  We love to tease her when her hair looks like this!

Logan's lack of hair after shaving it off just before Christmas '08.

Amanda sporting the 80's rocker look!

And me with the genuine 80's permed hair.  SO GLAD those days are gone! 

                                       And Phillip never has crazy hair.  Except that it's CRAZY grey these days!

Netflix + Wii = Movie Love

If you are a Netflix member and you have a Wii, you HAVE to get the disc from Netflix to play in your Wii so you can watch movies instantly.  Best. Thing. Ever.  That is, until we get bored with it.

Ok maybe not as blonde as I made it out to be.

I told you I used to be blonde.  The picture of me now makes my hair look darker.  But it's more blonde than that.  Or maybe I just think it is.  No, the flash turned it all weird.  I don't know.  Whatever.

Blonde again

I started life out as a blonde (once I finally grew hair).  I've always wanted to be a blonde again.  And today is that day.  My husband has always taken an interest in my hair.  Usually sending me to a salon to get my hair done for my birthday or Mothers Day or something.  Sometimes he wins an appointment with a hair stylist in a golf tournament, or sets things up with a coworker's wife who does hair.  That's what happened today. 
Debra from Statton Island came to my house armed with two duffle bags full of hair products and styling equipment.  Her husband works with mine and she's been in Arizona one year.  Her accent was as thick as her hair and I liked her immediately.  I told her what I sort of wanted and we chatted away as she did her thing.  Four hours later I emerged a new woman.  I almost didn't recognize me in the mirror.  I laughed for a few minutes, not believing that was really my hair. It's usually such a subtle change when I get my hair done, but THIS is a change.  Something different.  I think I like it.  Maybe blondes really DO have more fun.

And yes, he likes it too.

Allergy Girls

I have HIGHLY  allergic daughters.  Amanda and Emily. They are BOTH allergic to every kind of grass, tree and shrub ever created (almost).  They are allergic to dog and cat dander. Sorry, but I'm NOT getting rid of my dog.  I'll give him a bath more often, but he stays.   Emily is asthmatic every time she gets a cold. Doctors, prescriptions, emergency rooms, inhalers, breathing treatments.  We've been there.

And now the most recent allergic discovery:
Amanda is allergic to egg whites, strawberries, wheat and cows milk.  She also has a resistance to insulin.  That means pretty much no more carbs for her.  She gets 20 grams per meal.  She will have to take a prescription nasal spray and probably recieve injections.  Fruits, vegetable and meats from now on.  She's like one of those girls at girls camp that has to have special food made for her.  I don't completely understand how the insulin and allergies are related, but they are.  She's nineteen and buys and cooks her own food.  She joined the gym and works out 6 days a week.  I believe the pounds will literally be melting away.
  I feel for her, but in the long run she'll be way healthier than me!

a little update

Alrighty.  I've gotten over the fact that I can't put pictures on my posts.  Moving on.

Phillip took off for Flagstaff with his sister this afternoon.  Their Mom was hospitalized this morning for chest pains.  They will most likely be bringing her to our home tomorrow since she would probably try and do something silly like shovel snow from her driveway if left alone.  Unsure if she had a heart attack at this time. 

We're trying to figure out what is wrong with Amanda.  She's had weird symptoms lately.  Skin rashes and welts, skin numbness, headaches, loss of appetite off and on.  Took her to a very good and thorough Doctor who thinks she has a food allergy.  She had nine vials of blood drawn yesterday.  Now we wait.

We have been house hunting and it is quite frustrating.  This market right now is crazy.  There are so many short sales and foreclosures.  Pretty much everything we've looked at is either bank owned or in the short sale process.  It's frustrating because the banks and even the realtors don't seem to want to move these properties very quickly.  But we probably couldn't afford anything with land if they were being sold in a normal market.  So we wait to see if any of our offers get accepted.

Everything else is going well.  Knock on wood.

That's all.

Not a baby anymore.

This morning Phillip and I went out to run some errands.  We left Isabelle watching her favorite show while Emily and Logan were still asleep and Amanda at work.  While out, Logan called us and said his new boss wanted him to go to their house to talk with him.  He said Emily had left to go hiking.  So I immediately thought "Well he can't go because then Isabelle would be all alone".  So I had him put her on the phone and told her she could walk with Logan because she would be home all alone otherwise.  Her response blew me away:
"Mom! I can stay home by myself during the morning.  It's just the night time that scares me."
So she was home by herself for about thirty minutes until we got back.  She called after about twenty minutes just to make sure when we'd be home, she said.  Not a hint of nervousness in her voice.  She was watching out the window with Zero when we drove up.  She was very proud of herself and felt very grown up.

  But she's still only nine, so I can baby her a little while longer, right?

A caged bird

Confinement is damaging to the soul.

Cabin Fever makes you stir crazy.

A caged bird doesn't sing.

Freedom is life.

I really have nothing to blog about.

Amanda will be working Cutomer Service at Fry's when not cashiering.
Emily is learning how to live without a cell phone while being grounded from it.
Logan hopefully has a job. (fingers crossed)
Isabelle had a birthday party for her littlest pet shop monkey yesterday.
I've lost the will to blog, clean, cook, and create.

Does that ever happen to any of you?

Talent Show time again

Yes, it's that time of year again.  It sneaks up on me and then yells "WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE ISABELLE DO THIS YEAR???"

Since we weren't really prepared,  I just thought we'd take a year off and it would be fine.  Nope.  Her teacher is expecting something.  Her classmates are expecting something.  Her music teacher is expecting something.  So we got out our two karaoke cd's and went to work.  I was strongly suggesting "
Somewhere over the Rainbow", I had visions of red sparkly shoes and her hair in braids.  Darling.  But every time she tried to sing it she was either nearly in tears or throwing herself on the floor. 

Ok, what else?  We have to follow up with something as good as her Mulan and Cinderella songs with complete outfits from the last two years. She thought a song from Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast would be good.  They would be good, except our versions sound like they're on warp speed and she can't keep up.  That's it.  We tried, but try outs are today and we just don't have anything.   But then last night at 8:30 she put on "He's a Tramp" from Lady and the Tramp, and it just worked.  She went to bed with the song playing over and over in her headphones until she memorized it, she thinks it was about thirty times.  I have visions of her and our dog Zero up on stage.  Cuteness!!

I think I'm one of those pageant Moms in a much more scaled down kind of way.

If only Gone with the Wind were a Musical!!

:(

My camera won't let me download pictures to my computer anymore.

What am I to do?

Sigh.

:(

Sa-tur-day is a special day...

So after I had cleaned the kitchen, washed some dishes, cleaned the french doors, and folded some laundry (all of which Isabelle didn't see me do) I was going to start ironing Phillip's shirts.
  I asked Isabelle to please sweep all the wood.

She said  "But that will take all night!"

I said "well then it's a really good thing we don't live in a Mansion".

While ironing, and during her sweeping she asked me "what are YOU going to do to help out around the house".

I said "I'm ironing!"

She said "that's not helping around the house, that's doing something for someone else".

When she was all done I asked her if she could please sweep my bathroom also. I told her I'd love her forever.  She informed me that she tried that on me a couple of weeks ago and it didn't work.

While sweeping the bathroom she said in a loud voice "I guess this is just a VACATION for YOU!"


It's a good thing I love her so much.