Only in Provo...

True life adventures in the "Happy Valley".  The following came from a news report, so I totally believe it.  KSL December 31, 2008

A Provo woman has been arrested after police say she went on a naked rampage.

Court documents obtained by the Provo Daily Herald show the 33-year-old woman broke dishes and lamps, threw neighbors' things off her balcony and turned over a birdcage on Saturday. Most of the items the woman broke were from her own home, which officers described as a "total mess." They say she also was yelling and knocking on neighbors' windows.

When officers tried to stop her, they say she bit one on the thigh.

Police say she was high on meth. They finally arrested her and booked her into the Utah County Jail on charges of resisting arrest, assault on a police officer, child abuse and disorderly conduct.

Her 6-year-old child was home at the time. He's been placed in protective custody. The bird was handed over to animal control officers.

So my questions are:

1.  What makes having a mental breakdown a "rampage"? Turning over a bird cage is a good start!

2. High on Meth.  Hello!  I guess her self esteem has never been lower.

3. Protective custody.  That's serious.  Loser should never, EVER, get that child back!!!

4.  My favorite:  The Bird! What happened to the BIRD?  Oh, swoosh!! Thank heavens for animal control officers.  I was going to cash in some frequent flyer point, fly to Provo and make sure that was taken care of.

Happy New Year's!  It couldn't be worst that "naked rampage".

Cake Creation

Every princess needs a tiara, pink pillow and cake. Why not have it all together? Today I created one of my best cakes so far. It was commissioned by a 4 year old party girl. It was yummy! I tasted the trimmings!

Elf on a Shelf

We have a newish family tradition for Christmas. It's a Christmas Elf. Ours is named Scout. We acquired him last December at a Hallmark store and quickly put him to work. Each night he hides in a different place. In the morning, we (Cooper) look for him. But, you can't touch him or he will lose his magic. After we go to bed, he moves to another spot. He watched us all day long to see if we are naughty or nice. We've had a lot of crabby lately. ..Where does that fit. Anyways, on Christmas eve our Elf Scout flys to the North Pole to report back to Santa. This year Cooper wants a Wii. He better be much less CRABBY!

Here is Cooper with Scout.

Happy Birthday Libby!

Digging the grass up.

Trimming the stems.

Pictures taken December 26, 2008

Today is Libby's birthday. She would be 5 years old. It is difficult to believe so much time has passed. Each year gets a little easier. There is usually a Fast Sunday a day or two before her birthday. That's a hard day too.

Usually we go to the cemetery and bring flowers. I don't like to spend much time there. She's not there. She is in our hearts. But it's nice to remember the day she was born. That was a wonderful day. A miracle. She looked beautiful, all 3 pounds, 8 ounces.
We are very blessed.

We've been asked about the quote on her gravemarker.  It comes from a quote from Joseph Smith, Jr.

"The Lord takes many away, even in infancy, that they may escape the envy of man, and the sorrows and evils of this present world; they were too pure, too lovely, to live on earth; therefore, if rightly considered, instead of mourning we have reason to rejoice as they are delivered from evil, and we shall soon have them again...

"...The only difference between the old and young dying is, one lives longer in heaven and eternal light and glory than the other, and is freed a little sooner from this miserable, wicked world. Notwithstanding all this glory, we for a moment lose sight of it, and mourn the loss, but we do not mourn as those without hope."

Many of you know that I wrote a book about our experience.  If you have tissue and would like to read the pdf, go to: www.cherishbound.com/publishing/books/l_5847380722_web.pdf

ELF

Buddy the elf.  What's your favorite color?

Watching ELF for the 3rd time this weekend.  This is one of my favorite Christmas movies.  Will Farrell is tooo funny.  

"(New York) What's it like?

Well, there are some things you should know.

First off, you see gum on The street,

Leave it there. It's not free candy.

Oh. Second,

There are, like, 30 ray's pizzas.

They all claim to be the Original,

But the real one' son 11th.

And if you see a sign that Says "peep show,"

That doesn't mean that They're letting you

Look at presents before Christmas.

And who knew Zooe Deschanel could sing.

Welcome to the Christmas Season!  Now go decorate something and have some hot cocoa.

Weasel McPuppy

Have you ever found something and it made you feel like you discover plutonium.  Today's plutonium is Weasel McPuppy.  Just the name makes me laugh.  But now I literally have tears cascading down my cheeks from laughing so hard.  My dog is the only one home and looking at me like I have lost it, completely this time.  Check out http://weaselmcpuppy.blogspot.com/. My favorites are Adam West, The Hamburglar (the tear factor), William Shattner and Doris Day. Have a Weasel McPuppy Day!

Twlight

Now as many of you know, I am the ATN,

 Anti-Twilight-Nephite.  But I have found a version of Twilight that I can support.

Enjoy!!

If you enjoy this, try "Fuzz".

I am the parent of a teenager

Well, actually 2. Number 1 turned 17 this weekend. Wowzers! Can it be? No, because I am only 25 years old. We had a fantastic weekend and playing the piano at Nordstrom made the day of a beloved daughter making my day glorious.

Happy Birthday Sweet Pea!

Preparing for the Second Coming of Christ

Election Relief

Horray!  The election has finally come to an end.  I have mixed emotions.  I am elated to hear that YES on Prop 8 finally passed.  We, family, friends, neighbors, etc., worked so hard to make sure that the traditional definition of marriage remains that of a man and woman.  I think it was a hard slung battle on both sides. After reflecting on the past 2 weeks, I think this has been one of those defining events. There is no room for fence sitters, gray area or maybes. You either stand for Truth and Righteousness, or you don't. I do. I try to. I try to teach that to my children.

Now as for the president, I really am on Hold. I would have preferred it he did not win, but he did. This is America. I am content to wait and see. He could surprise the conservative portion of the country and be successful. I am more concerned with the Democrats in Congress, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. The prayers will continue.

Trick Or Treat

It was a fairly quite Halloween at our house.  Child #1 dressed up as Joey "Joanne" Ramone, Child #2 was an In-N-Out guy, and wee little #3 was Batman.  Spectacular!  I think this was the easiest year we have had in creating costumes.  It's been 2 days and the candy collected has almost been eaten.  Well, all the good candy.  We have plenty of "office" candy to last us to next year!

Pumpkin Humor

These are my two favorite pumpkin pictures.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

I just found the most entertaining musical/movie on the

 internet.  

If you haven't seen it 

yet, you HAVE to check out 

 "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog". 

 It is 42 minutes of fantastically filled fun and great quotes. 

 Be the first on your block to say:

"I don't g to the gym.  I'm just naturally like this." 

or my personal favorite:

"I'm a fan of laundry. Psych- I love it!"

Prop 8- Hitting the Streets

Today was one of those Yankee-Doodle Dandies.  The kids and I, and later Stan, join over 400 friends and church members on highway 79 this evening to support the Yes o Prop 8 campaign.  We enjoyed the honking and waving of supporter driving by, and only a few ugly gestures.

Tomorrow morning I am up at 7 am to hit the street again with my sign.  

Pray for the voters and the country !

Eight is Great - Cooper Style

Our little boy has turned 8!

He lost his two front teeth, began Cub Scouts, got Heely's, got his own email account and was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints- all in one week.

We are so proud of him!

Buzz Light Year

The Best Attraction at Disneyland.  We rode it 5 or 6 times yesterday.  Unfortuately, this did not represent my best score.  That one got lost!  Here is the tip we discovered:  Aim for the triangles or diamonds for the most points.  We will try again Saturday!

Too Old for Concerts

Stan and I went to a rock concert on this weekend.  I say rock concert like my grandmother would say it, probably because I felt OLD.  We saw Augustana, Counting Crows, and Maroon 5.  Whoaa! Augustana was interesting.  Our friend Lori, who actually got the tickets for Stan's birthday, commented that they looked like Civil War veterans.  

Counting Crows were, strange. I like "Butterfly in Reverse", which sadly they did not play.  

 I liked watching Adam Duritz, aka Helicopter Head.  He is like watching a combination of someone in a therapy session and a drama audition.  Funny stuff!  

Then, as soon as Maroon 5 came out, so did all of the pathetic housewives of Orange County.  I felt old and irritated with the old farts (older than us!) downing the beer and passing the doobies, mixed with the smell of bbq, b.o. and the Junior Mints in my pocket.  Whooa!  Anyways, a good sing-a-long was had by all!  Next time, I think I'll just stay home and watch VH1 classic pop up video!

Boys and Dogs

Today I am finished with dogs and boys.  Why must they pee everywhere?

The Anti-Twilight-Nephite

Last year when all the hub bub about a new book series came along, I listened.  Then everyone became fanatical, then crazed, now, down right obsessed about vampires.  Yes, yes, I know, :"it's a love story."  Well, I'll pass.  I was going to wait and read the book before the movie came out, now, I don't think I will read the books, EVER.  I may not even see the movie.  I may forbid my teenage daughter to see the movie. So please, don't tell me,  "YOU JUST HAVE TO READ IT."  No, I don't.  And if you ask my husband, if you tell me I HAVE to do anything, well, right there you lost me.  FREE WILL!!!

Signed,

The Anti-Twilight-Nephite*      copyright shane traveller

First Day of School

While summer continues to burn on, school is back in session.  Mr. C returned to TLES as a 2nd graders.  Whooa!!  I almost cried.  It was worst than Kindergarten.  My baby is growing up and has the attitude to go with it.  On the way to school, we talked about being the smartest kid in class.  He thought that title would probably go to someone else (probably-NOT!).  However, he thought he could be the kindest and most helpful student.  I thought that was brilliant.

Not to be forgotten, #1 is now a Junior and #2 the BMOC in 8th grade.  Mom didn't get her self together to take back-to-school photos THAT early. 

Just a few more years until they are out and we can rent their rooms to Bulgarian exchange students for big bucks$$$.

Palm Springs

Summertime in Palm Springs in not always the coolest, unless you spend the day at an awesome pool.  We invited the Rhodes girls to party with us at Shadow Ridge Vacation Club where everyone, especially Cooper and Sarah rode the water slide a billion times. Lexie played photographer and took spectacular photos of the kids.  Good times!!

Photography

I love photography.  I remember carrying a 110 camera in my purse in high school.  At that time, no one did that.  I have many, many photos, and it's a good thing.  The older I get, the more I forget. 

 

My sister Jen has a photo studio in Cedar City, UT.  I am sooo jealous!  The equipment and a studio would be awesome. Here is a link to her studio  Storybook Portraits.  Check out the children in the Gallery.  The little Samoans are her kids.  Too cute.  Here is one of here babies, Avery.  If you are in the So Utah area and need a photographer, give her a jingle.

Girl's Camp

I was invited to Girl's camp for a couple of days this week.  All the girls were great, even you Janelle :)  Had a great time playing Phase 10, eating, talking, singing, sweating, swatting flies and LAUGHING!  Click HERE for more pix.

Got to spend 2 1/2 great days with my favorite teenaager!

Motorcycle Lessons

Stan got a bee in his bonnet a couple of years ago about getting a motorcycle license.  I told him it was irresponsible for a father with small children to do that (thanks, Dr. Laura).  Then Steve and Luanne told him about an awesome day trip they took in Maui by motorcycle.  Now he is determined.  Steve brought over his little motorcycle to give Stan a first lesson.  Luanne and I were in the house when Cooper came running in "Dad crashed and needs a towel."  Good Gravy! He actually jumped the curb and dropped the bike on himself, in an effort to prevent damage.  Well, a wet washcloth, a nasty couple of scrapes (ask to see his forearm) and he was back on the bike.  The dog loved chasing him around.  He'll be taking an actual class next month.  Crash updates to follow.

4th of July

We spent a beautiful day swimming and eating (do you see a pattern here?) with friends from our ward.  The kids swam for 4 hours, until their eyes were red and blurry.  That evening we watched the city's firework show from the most awesome location!  Thanks Gundersons!!