Extreme Sheep - Herding

Dad sent this out via email. Someone should show him how to put this stuff on the blog.

2nd try . . .

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Tanner came out resembling ET! He is 4 days old. He is still darling. The threads of his heart have been woven into the yearnings of mine.




When he was 2 yrs, he and CMP visited us at Oakhill. It was Thanksgiving time. We had our first snow. Tanner was mesmerized. He couldn't wait to get out there and see what the snow was like. He was wearing his sandals.


At breakfast, Bumpa asked Tanner if he could say blessing. He said yes.



During that visit, one of the things Tanner loved most was to have a wet rag and wash with it. Here he is mopping up Nana's kitchen floor. What bliss!!



Sophia was born in June of that year. Tanner was mesmerized with her, as well.



Ithink Tanner wants to go outside.



He always enjoyed being read to.





Here he is walking with Jenna who is one month older.



He loved exercising with Mommy.



Now he is mimicking his Dad.



2003. Another Thanksgiving. In those days Tanner always had some action figure in his hands.



Here he is today with Mom and baby brother, Teo, who has just been dressed in his Daddy's gown to be given a name and a blessing at Church. Tanner called me this morning to thank me for sending his birthday card with his little gift inside. We love you, Tanner. We love to have you come visit.

Good News and Bad news...

Jenna was stung by a scorpion today. Yes, it really was a scorpion. The good news is that it was not poisonous. She is fine.


On the other hand, we found out today that the Dr. is 95% sure that Allysa has torn the ACL in her other knee. It has been almost a year to the day since she did it before.

She is not fine.

While I was at BYU Ed Week ....

Diana had a birthday! She is now 44. That's not bad since most of us feel like we are now ancient! She has been so gracious and patient to wait so long. Since getting home from BYU I have been overwhelmed with everything. If you all think you are getting old, just you wait (Mr Higgins) 'till you are my age! Anyway here is Diana sitting with her husband and sister-in-law.



This must have been a Christmas past. Everyone is singing joyfully. This is one of our most fun things to do. Diana does not often join us. We are happy that she did this time.



Here is another good picture of singing.



Standing with Katie on our back porch. I think they both chose fun polish!



Talking to Bart just before leaving the house. Maybe she is giving him instructions!



Good picture of her with Adam.



We all anjoyed fun summer days out on our back lawn on Oakhill. Here is one of those times. I know Diana had a good birthday. She works hard at teaching school, taking care of her children, and communicating very well with her husband. We love you Diana.

Happy Birthday Tanner

Eleven years old today!

Here is a quick video of one of his birthday presents.

Monday Meeting

Well, I don't get here often, but I really enjoy the chatter.
What happened to the Monday Meeting!
last post a month ago.
Everybody is really doing great.
I am striving to exercise a minimum of 5 X per week... and doing it!
Bumpa

Happy Birthday, Quinn!!

There once was a boy named Quinn,
He had one sticky hair growing out of his chin!
Nobody saw it; but he wanted to paw it,
And trade it in for a 'killer whales' fin!!





Here is Quinn eating steak with his Dad.



In the baby bed with all the dolls. He was the cutest little live doll!!



I love this adorable face!



This is June of 1999. We were at the river (Wilderness Park) Nana took a little respite away from her mission in Indiana to go to CA to see the new baby which was Kylie! While there, we decided to do one of our favorite things - go to the river. Steven pushed Zak and Quinn in the stroller, Nana and Chase followed along, and Kerry drove up in his car!



At the river I asked Quinn to smile for a picture, but, he would have none of it!!


Steven took very good care of his little bro.



Here is Quinn all grown up. This is July 9, 2008. The day they took Chase to the MTC. Julie couldn't go because Griffin was very sick with the vomits. He just sucked on root beer popsicles for the day.



Last picture. June 8, 2008 - Quinn and Kylie at Nana's. Happy Birthday, Quinn, we love you. Nana

This is not Breaking News

Just talked to Beth. She is NOT in labor... yet.

She is dialated to a 3 and 80% effaced. She would like to go into labor tonight, as Mike is leaving for field duty tomorrow night. I suggested Raspberry Tea, she said Castor Oil. I said whichever she can tolerate. Expecting news (pun intended) in the next day or so.

Wasatch Women 5k run

So a little back story if you please about a month ago I saw an add in the newspaper about a Wasatch women 5k run and thought huh that is cool. Went to work and my awesome friend there said she was going to do a 5k I asked her if it was that one she said "yes you should do it to." It was today and I did in 32 min and 55 sec. I'm very proud of myself just wanted to share that feeling. :)

Monday Meeting - Week 4

Exercised 3 times this week.

Lost 2 more pounds, but then gained them back by the end of the week.

Allergy attack today and last night. Couldn't sleep.

Stocked fridge with healthy snacks.

School started today!

JULIE!!

DID YOU LOSE 10 POUNDS?

6 lbs. later...

Yesterday I stepped on a REAL scale and I have lost SIX POUNDS!

OK. I cheated. But I didn't mean to. I have been fighting a "flu" bug for almost 3 weeks off and on. It started with what I was afraid was a UTI which I was really upset about as I had just begun working for a Urologist as his "Medical Receptionist" (does everyone know that? I no longer work for the prison post office - that is a whole different post - haha) But a went to the store at 5:00 in the morning and bought a huge jug of cranberry juice and spent the day drinking it. Things seemed to get better although some symptoms lingered for a few days. I felt good for 3 days and then BAM! OHHHHH. The intestinal cramps, the body aches, headache, fever, etc. I had to miss a day of work (I only work 2 days a week). Achyness lasted about 4 days. 3 good days. BAM. This time it was worse - the chills were debilitating, the sweats were awful, every sneeze caused a jackhammer to go off in my head. I decided I must have a propensity for this sort of flu because I had the exact same experience 6 months ago (which caused problems at the prison-post office). That time the whole thing cycled 3 times and then it was over. This time Don got concerned enough that he arranged for me to see the doctor without an appointment.

-ASIDE...don't you hate going to the trouble of making an appointment with the doctor, knowing something is wrong, then getting there and being told "It's a virus. Just wait it out." --

Although the chills had gone I was still quite achey and yucky feeling and I had about decided it was a long-standing sinus infection gone out of control and turned into a tumor of some sort, so I dragged myself to the doctors office. They swabbed my nose for the flu. I felt sure they would come back and tell me it was swine flu. Instead, the test was negative. What else could it be, I asked. They took my temperature. 102.8. Hmmm. And I wasn't nearly as hot as I had been the day before. I wasn't even sweating. The doctor diagnosed a kidney infection, put me on antibiotics, told me if wasn't quite a bit better or if I got even slightly worse in the next 24 hours to go straight to the ER. From the kidneys, the infection could spread to the bloodstream and turn toxic!
Wow. Was I ever validated. Anyway, I have lost 6 pounds because I havn't had much of an appetite, but I am definitely feeling at least 50% better, which means my appetite will return and I will regain the 6 pounds! Cheaters never prosper.

Darn it.

That's my story! TTFN.
P.S. Oh. The doctor said that because I experienced the exact same symptoms 6 months ago, he had to assume that wa also a kidney infection which put me in the category of "complicated" so I had to take the antibiotics for a longer period of time...Mom has already told me she will give a kidney if I REALLY need it!

Monday Meeting: Week 3

How's everybody doing?

Well, here's my story. Mark has been attending a 12-Step meeting for almost 4 years now. Because of his recovery process, I have been working on my own recovery and kind of piggy-backing on his. We finally decided that I needed a program that was a little more specific to my needs (even though an addiction is an addiction and the steps are the same regardless of your drug of choice). So last month I started going to Overeaters Anonymous.

It took me a month to take the first step--Admitted we were powerless over food. I kept telling everyone that I wasn't "powerless", I made reasoned decisions when it came to what I eat and sometimes I just chose to eat things that weren't necessarily good for me (sugar, cheese, bread). I absolutely WASN'T compulsive! Well, about three weeks ago I had a binge. As binges go it wasn't massive, but it was definitely uncontrollable. It was like I was two people in mind, one saying "Oh no, don't eat that" and the other saying "SHUT UP, I'm eating this chocolate and you can't stop me!!!". The fact that I absolutely could not stop myself was incredibly revealing. I ate chocolate for three days, until I got very sick. That Saturday (my meetings are one Saturday), I admitted to the group that I am a compulsive overeater and that my life had become unmanageable.

For OA (that's Overeaters Anonymous) there are some definite differences from other addictions. If you are an alcoholic, you're sober when you stop drinking. However, as a food addict, you can't just stop eating! So there's your food plan which can be different from your diet plan, both of which are VERY different from your abstinence plan. In OA we are not "sober" we are abstinent. And abstinence means something different for everyone. For some it's sugar, for some it's when they eat or don't eat (no eating after 7:00 PM for example). It just really depends on how your addiction manifests itself.

Last week I figured out what abstinence looks like for me. Well, really it was something that the Holy Ghost gave me, 'cause I had been trying to figure it out for weeks, even before I did the first step. Anyway--for me, abstinence is eating for nutritional support, not for emotional support. Last week, for example, I spent Wednesday eating. I had cereal for breakfast, and a (wonderfully delicious) sandwich at Mom's house. I don't remember eating dinner, but I did go out and buy a very large frappucino with A LOT of sugar in it (however, I DID NOT eat ANY chocolate). I did all that, all day long, because I knew that the things I was eating would help to calm down the nervous feelings that I was having. That's eating for emotional support. Not a good thing for me to do.

Now, I have a line that I can clearly see. I should not have cheese on my hamburger, because cheese is not nutritionally supportive for me (the less I eat dairy, the more I realize how allergic I really am). I should not eat the bun on the hamburger, because the wheat flour is not a nutritional support for my body. Sugar is really poison. And it goes on like that. Because I know what will support my body nutritionally and what will not, my decision making process has become much clearer. And when I find myself craving another frappucino--I just have to ask myself what emotion I am trying to mask with sugar? (And then it just gets really complicated).

I had a really great weekend, and I am ready to tackle today.

So, how was your week?

A Star is Born... Well, something anyway.

Yesterday, I spent couple of hours at Nana/Mom's house working off some nervous energy. I was very nervous. Mom was so sweet, she let me help her color her roots. Thanks Mom.

Last night, about 9:30 pm, Mark and I started a new adventure. We became Stand-Up Comics.

We have actually been working on this since last March. Mark decided that we would make a great team, and being a husband and wife comic team would help us to stand out. And last night we did our first "open mike" at Wiseguys Comedy Club.

Mark writes most (99%) of our material. Our original debut was supposed to be in May, but we stalled out (we did NOT chicken out). We've rewritten and rewritten and practiced and practiced. We got really serious this last week and finalized a routine. We practiced some more.

Open Mike night means that they let anyone up on stage. And I do mean anyone. Normally there are about 15 to 20 people signed up. Last night there were 32 (An article had appeared in last Sunday's paper about the club and the owner creating a lot of extra interest.) We were in smack dab in the middle of the show. We kept going out to the foyer and practicing. Tim and Hope, and Justin, Jessa and AJ came to see us.

Fortunately, Jessa videoed our bit. And I say fortunately because I was concentrating so hard on where my cues were that I missed most of the audience reaction. However, we were fabulous. We were so relieved when we were done. And SO excited -- we didn't get to sleep until midnight (and Mark had to get up at 5:00 am to go to work).

So, I have a video of the performance, but I am missing the cable to connects the camera to our PC. Once I get that replaced, I'll post the video and send you a link. This routine is rated PG-13. We will continue to perform Wednesday nights at the Wiseguys club in Trolley Square. The show starts at 8:00 pm. Mom/Nana and Dad/Bumpa are NOT ALLOWED to attend. Anyone else over the age of 18 is welcome.

What Happened??

What happened to our Monday Meeting??

Anyone else notice it was missing?

Week 2 Weight Loss

How'd we do during the notorious Week 2. You know this is the hardest week, according to "Biggest Loser." I guess your body doesn't like to give up weight during this week.

Did anybody have any success? Are you still on your plan, or did you stop? Please tell us a positive and a challenge for this week. How did you do??

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRIFFIN!!

Griffin, I hope you have had a very fun birthday! You are now 6 yrs old. You will be going to school every day in about a month. I know you will love that because you are very smart and love to learn new things. But, I know your Mommy will miss having you at home. In this picture you are wearing Bumpa's hat and have just eaten a chocolate fudge bar.

Griffin loves going to the beach. His Mommy took this picture of him when he was three.




Griffin, Kylie, his Mom, and his Nana and Bumpa all went to the Beach at Camp Pendleton earlier this summer. Griffin brought along his "plastic" sand bucket. He had lots of fun.



Here he is playing in the sand with his Sister and cousins. Camp Pendleton.



Griffin was barely walking here. Everyone is out on the big lawn and the kids are playing water baseball. This is in July of 2004.



Another picture of the sweet little baby, just learning to walk. We love you, Griffin, and we hope you had a wonderful and exciting birthday. Nana and Bumpa

Weight Loss Monday Meeting

Welcome to our first Monday Meeting! First of all, I just want to say how proud I am of everyone trying to be a little bit better this week. We are on the right track.

For our meeting, you can post or comment, whatever is easier. As you share your week, may I suggest a couple of options:

1. Share something positive that happened this week.
2. Share a challenge you are struggling with or have a question about.
3. The rest is up to you . . . you can share your goals, any weight loss success, or suggestions for next week.

Thanks for coming. We'll see you next week.

P90X and Jessica

I am afraid I will be too busy tomorrow to post, so I am doing it tonight.
Jessica and I are on our way!
I have a friend, 54 years old?, VERY active, very athletic, but not slender. She is a stout woman. A couple of weeks ago she came over and I actually noticed that her hips were definitely smaller. She told me about this program she was doing called P90X. It sounded interesting so I looked it up on the internet and bought it. It is 12 DVD's, each one a different workout. No fancy equipment, no need to go anywhere, a pull-up bar, a couple sets of weights, and your very best "BRING IT" attitude. I was a little slow getting started. I tried to get my girls to be my workout buddy, but our schedules never meshed. Then I mentioned it to Dawney and she said Jessica had been dying to try this out, but she couldn't buy it. So now, Jessica comes over to my house every night at 8:00 and we work our butts off. (Sorry, Julie. It is an intense workout and needs an intense phrase). I have never sweated so much so quickly. We work out 6 nights a week for 60-90 minutes. We work on different parts of the body. Each exercise takes 30 seconds to 1 minute and then we switch. There is no time to get bored. We've done plyometrics, a very difficult Yoga class (just watching the people do these poses is incredible) , core stability, Kenpo, cardio...who knew there were so many different ways to do pushups and pullups! The program is based on muscle confusion so there is no real plateau. I love the variety. I REALLY like the creator of the program. He reminds me a little of Gil. He is is fantastic shape, and he pushes you to do your very best, but make sure it is YOUR best, not anyone else's. Plus, he's funny.

In 90 days, if I really have improved my health, then it will be because of Jessica. She puts in most of the effort. She is working around MY schedule. She is the one who comes to my house and then has to drive home again at the end of a difficult workout. Plus, she leaves me absolutely NO EXCUSE. She comes, and I have to exercise. She is like my exercising guardian angel. Plus, she doesn't complain when Daniel, Jenna and Sophie all try to crowd into our small exercise space and workout with us! Thank you, thank you, Jess.

Now for confessions...what I eat continues to be my downfall. Ugh. I HAVE increased my water intake and decreased my soda intake, but I still eat too many of the wrong calories. I don't really have a strong enough committment to change my eating habits yet. It's SOOOO much work.

That's my report!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANDICE MUFFIN!!!

And I loved you then



here is the Birthday Baby, just a couple of hours old, 26 July, 1972



Here she is at 3 yrs. I love this picture



When she was doing commercials.


In front of Tom Sawyers Cave. We looked for "Indian Joe" but didn't find him!




As a babe being held by Mom. Does she look a little like Teo?



By this time we were just a family of four. You two kids kept us going!!!



Sorry, I didn't see that this was turned sideways. I searched for this pic yesterday and had it ready but when they are tiny little pictures sometimes I can't see them properly. Anyway, I love this picture of CMP and Tanner on Thanksgiving Day in 2003 just ready to walk out the door to the airport for CA.



Here she is in Paris on her honeymoon with Gil.



Beautiful Picture with Teo



The family. Candice, Tanner, Teo, Gil. Have a wonderful day Candice. We love you!