Wow, a post two days in a row!  I finally bit the bullet and started putting pictures up.  I kept thinking I wanted to paint everything first, but I'm not liking all the pictures stacked in my bedroom.  So yesterday was the day!  These shelves that jut out of the fireplace make things really easy.  With the fire going it makes the family room really cozy!  I didn't get everything hung, but it's a start.  I'm loving the gas fireplace.  I can turn it on in the morning and it really heats up the basement to a comfy toasty temperature.  By 10:00 I can turn it off and we are good for the day.  The upstairs doesn't really need the heat yet because it has been getting quite warm by the afternoon.  Thank you Wyoming weather for not dropping your temperatures so drastically quite yet!

I also attacked our flower beds in the front of the house.  We have several over grown rose bushes so I hacked at them and got them pruned down with lots of major thorn pricks in the process.  I'm not a fan of rose bushes, they are so hard to keep up.  But, pulling them completely out is hard to do without losing a finger to the thorns.

Here's to another day of reading on my couch with the fire in the background, I'm loving this!

Chilly mornings are starting to be the norm.  It really warms up by the afternoon so the kids go to school with coats and then are sweating when they come home from school.  I didn't want to turn on the heat this morning, so I read my scriptures next to the fireplace.

It was so nice and cozy and warm!  Plus since it's a gas fireplace I only have to push a button!  The conveniences of the modern world, I can enjoy a crackling fire without the hassle of chopping wood, hauling it in the house, starting the fire, and smelling like smoke!

Emma finished her "baby" weekend and when she turned everything in to her teacher she said she got the highest grade in the class!  She's an expert!  Here's a few pictures of the baby.  Lucy loved it the most!

It looked a little creepy which was magnified by the extremely realistic baby noises it made randomly throughout the day and night.  The computer chip inside of it can tell how you are holding it and how fast you respond to it's crying.  The teacher said the other students didn't support it's neck well and Emma got full points on that.  It was a pretty realistic and cool experience which caused me to dream about having another baby!

With football over we see Palmer a lot more until wrestling starts.  He has used his time this week applying to colleges.  He finished Utah State's application yesterday and just has three essays left on the BYU application.  BYU's app is so much more involved, but he is almost done.  His birthday party with the missionaries went well.  The sister's are doing a great job here and we enjoyed getting to know them better.  One is brand new from Delta and the other is from Sacramento and goes home in December.  They enjoyed eating Palmer's cheesecake with him!  Palmer got lot's of mission related gifts.  It's so incredible to think that he can start the application process in just a few months!

I got to go to parent teacher conferences last week.  All the kids are really doing well and I was impressed overall with the teachers.  Palmer's teachers talked to me about his plans after high school.  He had already told them he was planning on serving a mission and it's wonderful that his teachers, none of whom are LDS, think it's great.  They all said all the kids have seemed to settle in well and have friends and are doing well in their classes.  I did miss seeing all the teachers at their Utah schools that I know so well and that know all my kids.  I had to introduce myself over and over again to the teachers and I know it will take awhile before they remember me and I start to feel a connection with this high school.  Because my kids are awesome we have a good start!

Girl's Night!

It's just Emma, Lucy and me home tonight--PARTY WITH THE GIRLS!  

Eric is on a scout campout, Palmer is playing his last football game of his high school career tonight in Green River.  It's about 4 hours away down by Rock Springs.  Brian drove down to watch him and Andy and Peter went with him.  They are going to spend the night down there and then Palmer takes the ACT at Green River High School in the morning.  It's his birthday today and he isn't even home!  Brian just texted me and they are losing the game.  Darn.  Their team started out really well, but have lost the last few games.  We are planning on celebrating his birthday on Sunday with the missionaries that are coming over for dinner.  What a better way to celebrate than with the sister missionaries!

Emma has a "baby" for the weekend.  She has a class called The World of Children and part of it is taking care of a baby for 48 hours.  The doll has a computer chip in it and it cries if you don't change it's diaper, feed it, burp it, rock it, etc.  It has a different type of cry for each problem.  Last night Emma was up with the baby from 2:30-3:30!  It's a pretty realistic experience!  She wears a wrist band that can tell what she is doing with the baby.  It makes noises as it sleeps and eats and burps.  It's actually pretty cool.  It looks and feels just like a baby!  She was pretty tired this morning since she it didn't go to sleep until 11:00 and then was up for an hour in the middle of the night and then woke up at 7:00 this morning.  I "took care of it" while Emma took a shower!  Lucy has decided that she wants one just like it.  Emma can't let Lucy play with it because if she drops it Emma automatically fails because the baby registers the fall.  

Andy has started basketball.  They lost their first game to Greybull last night.  Andy doesn't play very much, but he enjoys it.  Lucy is also going to sign up for basketball.  I'm not sure she even knows how to dribble, but this is the best way to learn!

I get to play the organ for sacrament meeting on Sunday.  I went and practiced on the organ today.  This organ is head and shoulders better than the one at my old ward.  It sounds really good.  I'm also playing my harp for a musical number as well.  It feels good to play, I really enjoy it.

I was reminiscing with Emma about each of the kids when they were babies.  I got out Palmer's baby book and remembered what  cute kid he was.  Here are a few of the pictures:

a few weeks old

1 year old

2 years old

3 years old

4 years old

little missionary

Stake Conference

Emma and Palmer and the Worland High School Black Thunder Marching Band received all Superiors at the state marching band competition in Casper!  Way to go!  They got back at 1:30am on Sunday morning.

We had our stake conference this weekend.  Brian missed it being in Indiana, so I went to the Saturday meeting by myself.  I was asked to lead the music on Saturday and Sunday as the regular chorister was out of town.  Our stake is pretty small compared to the one we came from in Utah.  There are only 6 wards in the stake.  On Saturday night we didn't even fill up the chapel.  It was a little better on Sunday, with people sitting in the overflow, but still very small compared to the Orem Park Stake.  The meetings were wonderful and I really felt the peaceful feelings of the Spirit.  On Sunday we were part of the regional conference that included Wyoming, Montana, and parts of Colorado.  We heard Elder Scott, Elder Bednar, Elder Christensen, and the 2nd counselor in the primary general presidency speak from Salt Lake.  They were really amazing talks and I felt bad Brian missed them all.  He got back today around 4:00.  I wanted to share a link to a clip from a BYU devotional in 1996 by Elder F. Enzio Busche.  One of the counselors in the stake presidency recommended we watch it.  I thought it was very inspiring:

F. Enzio Busche BYU Devotional May 1996

 We had a family over tonight for Palmer's awesome chocolate chip cookies.  She is the stake organist and played at the meetings this weekend.  Her and her husband and her son live in the Worland 1st ward.  Brian got to know them well when he was here and attended the 1st ward thinking that's the one we would be living in.  They had him over for dinner several times during the time he was here by himself.  They are wonderful people and we had a very nice evening with them.

I've finally been assigned a visiting teaching assignment and I get to go tomorrow!  I'm excited to meet and get to know some sisters better.

Short fast trip to Utah

Wednesday afternoon we pulled out of Worland at 1:45.  At 8:45 we pulled up at Audrey's apartment in Provo.  There was much rejoicing as Audrey and Lauren were reunited with their siblings.  Lauren lives right across the street from Audrey so we all went from Audrey's apartment to Lauren's and took this not so great picture:

Lucy was the lucky one and got to spend the night at Audrey's apartment!  We left Lucy and drove to their cousins house in Orem and dropped Andy and Emma off at the Horne's to spend the night. Eric, Peter, and I then went to my sister's house and slept there.

The next morning I tried to cram way too many things into one day!  Everyone needed to see and go to different places!  I managed to get a lot done, but it would have been nice to sit down and relax!  Here's most of the days activities:
Eric and Peter's haircut (they got their haircut in Worland and it really wasn't done well)
Sports Authority for a birthday present for Palmer
Plato's Closet for a skirt for me
The DMV for a duplicate learners permit for Emma because she lost hers
Emma to her friends house
My hair cut and colored
Lauren's hair cut
The van's oil changed
Dinner with my mom
Visited with Brian's mom
Visited with Brian's dad
Saw a few more friends

We enjoyed the time with family and took some silly pictures:

On Friday we got up early and I took Andy and Emma to see one more friend each, I ran to the store and ran to BYU to say goodbye to Audrey.  We left at 9:15 for Salt Lake to go to Emma's Dr.'s appt. at Primary Children's, which was the reason we were in Utah in the first place.

I found out after we were in Utah that at the football game on Friday night they would be honoring the seniors.  Palmer said he had to have a parent there at 5:30 to escort him onto the field.  Brian was in Indiana for some training and I didn't think I could get back in time, but we gave it our best shot.  We got out of Emma's appointment at 11:00 and we pulled up at the high school at 5:25!  We all prayed that we would be able to get there in time and thankfully we did.  I felt bad Brian wasn't there because it was a really cool thing to see them honor the seniors.  There were only 8 senior football players and they gave them flowers and balloons and announced all their accomplishments over the loud speakers as the parents walked with them on the track.  They had a huge banner with their picture taken together in their uniforms.  It was really nice.  The sad part is they lost the game to Star Valley which means they won't be in the state playoffs.  They started the season off really well, but have lost the last few games.

The kids did really well in the car!  On the way back I rationed water because I didn't want to stop.  We stopped once for gas and that was it!  It was so nice to pull up to our house and be done driving!
Palmer and Emma are in Casper today for the state marching band competition.  Their band has really improved so I hope they do well.

Billings again!

We made the trek to Billings again this morning.  I made an appointment with the temple for the kids to do baptisms at 10:00am.  When we got there Palmer discovered he forgot his white shirt and his tie!  Andy forgot his belt, Emma, fortunately didn't forget anything.  There is an outside dressing room for those who travel to change into their Sunday clothes and right next to it is the distribution center.  We went in there to see if they sold any white shirts.  We figured it didn't matter if they didn't have a belt or a tie.  The only sizes they had were enormous and the lady said Palmer would be fine to just wear his suit with his t-shirt underneath.  They completely understand and it isn't the first or the last time it has happened.  Most importantly everyone remembered their temple recommends!

Lucy, Peter, Eric, and I waited outside the temple.  We walked around the grounds and took some pictures.  I let each of them take some pictures as well.  Peter hates to smile and told me he won't smile in pictures, hence his face in all these pictures!  We took a lot of them, so here they are:

The stained glass right behind me is the celestial room.  It's really pretty from the inside.

We ended our day by going to Costco and buying entirely too much and eating lunch at the food court there.  We didn't stay much longer because Palmer and Emma had lot's of homework to finish. 

Conference weekend was a refreshing and fun time for us.  I especially liked hearing some of the general authorities speak in their own language.  Peter tried speaking Chinese like one of them and we recorded him:

Brian got to go spend the night on Monday in the big metropolis of Casper.  It's about 2 and a half hours away from us.  He had meetings with the other store managers.  They have a Walmart, of course he stopped there before he came home.  Walmart's are like the oasis in the desert, when you come across one you have to stop and stock up because you don't know when you will see one again!
On Tuesday our high school hosted a marching band exhibition with three other high schools-Cody, Riverton, and Buffalo, to  help them get ready for the state marching band competition on the 18th.  We sound and looked good.  They had performed at  half time a few weeks ago and they have really improved.

The weather has been really nice lately, a little chill in the air, but sunny and clear.  I went running yesterday and really enjoyed my views:

The run was nice, but halfway through it felt like something was burning on my arches.  I was clear out in the boonies so I had to keep running and I didn't want to wimp out.  When I got home I took off my shoes and I have 2 huge blisters on my arches!  Not fun.  I guess I will ride the bike at the gym for awhile until they heal.

Conference weekend

Andy had his last football game against Powell at 9:00 this morning.  Brian went and watched them lose.  They finished the season with 5 wins and 3 losses.  All of us got to watch the second session of conference together. If Audrey and Lauren could have been here it would have been perfect!  Lucy invited her friend to watch conference with us.  Fiona lives across the street and is a member, but her family doesn't go to church very often.  It was great to have her spend the afternoon with us.

The boys left for the priesthood session and the rest of us are on our way out to get a treat and then back home to watch Harry Potter.

Last night the high school team played Cody.  They lost.  Brian, Andy, Eric, and a dad and his son from the other ward drove there to watch.  They didn't get home until pretty late and then Andy had to be at the school at 6:00am to leave for Powell.  Andy was pretty wiped out today and came home from the game with a killer migraine.  Thankfully after several ibuprofen and a nap he was feeling well enough to go to the priesthood session with Brian and Palmer.

We all enjoyed the messages from conference.  It seems this weekend goes much too fast.

I just realized it's Wednesday already!  Let's see what has gone by:

Lucy had two volleyball games on Monday back to back.  She didn't do as well as she has in the past.  Maybe the excitement of playing volleyball is wearing thin?

Andy had a game yesterday and Greybull blew them away!  It's their second loss.  Andy has been having some pain in his back from some pulled muscles.  Just down the street from us is a member of the ward that is one of the physical therapists at the hospital.  He came home from practice on Monday in a lot of pain.  He laid down and I gave him some ibuprofen and he iced it for awhile.  Brian called the physical therapist and he came over and did some stretches with Andy that have helped.  He played in the game yesterday, but with a few minutes left he got collared and tackled and it really hurt his back.  Thankfully Saturday is his last game and then he can heal.  They told him he can't hurt it worse by playing, but it's going to hurt if he plays.  Of course he has decided to play and then take the time to start feeling better after Saturday.  I really love his determination, but I hate to see him in pain.

The middle school has decided that Andy is too smart for the highest math they offer.  So now during first period when he normally has math he goes to the library and does geometry online.  It has taken them awhile to get this set up because they wanted to make sure he was really ready for geometry even though he took Algebra I last year and we told them that, they still enrolled him in Algebra I because that is the highest math the middle school has.  He took the end of the year Algebra I test and got 98%.  After that they decided that yes he should be in geometry! He's done online school in the past and done well so I'm  sure he will do well this time as well.

I have started teaching the kids piano lessons finally!  Peter had his first lesson and said it was very hard!  The day after he was practicing and was practically in tears!  I  sat with him and showed him that it wasn't that hard and he decided he can practice by himself now.  I have Eric and Lucy working on a duet, I think it will be fun for them.  Lucy wants me to start teaching her the harp.  I'm going to wait a month or so to let her get used to piano lessons and then I will add the harp.  I am teaching Emma and Andy as well.  Palmer is just going to work on hymns for now.

I've been working out everyday and I'm sooooo very sore!  The pains of getting back in shape!  I'm trying to take advantage of the weather before it gets too cold to run outside.