Women's Conference

 This was the first Women's Conference that allowed 8yrs and older to attend.  I took my girls to get a bit to eat then met up with my sister Tana and her daughter Hallie to ride up to the Conference Center in Salt Lake City.  It was great to be together for such an occasion.  Thank you to my brother Jeff for getting us great tickets.

Because we were early, we were able to see different news stations broadcasting on this event.  Tana had to get a picture with Carol Makita from KSL.  If you see the lady in the background, we were actually interviewed by her 2News at 10.  I'm sure there is a link to our footage, but who knows when that will expire, so no need to post it.  But it was cool to see us on TV that night.  Me and Raegan made the editing cut. :o)

Once inside, we soon met up with Trent's mom, sisters and their daughters.  It was a wonderful night in Salt Lake.

Afterward, me and my daughters went out for ice cream.  It was a perfect end to the night.

Choir Concert

Rian did a great job on her Concert Choir concert at Vista Heights Middle School.

Trisha Howard

This beautiful person is someone who taught me a lot about the purpose of life.  She really did have a bad hand of life dealt to her.  Being the oldest of...I think 10, she was definitely the strongest.  She had some sort of disorder with the frame of her body, keeping her stature short.  She had her first stint of cancer at age 7.  With little support from her family life, she made it through with great determination.  But because of this, she would never bear children.  This saddened her thinking no one would ever want to marry someone who couldn't procreate.  Either way, she again picked herself up and accomplished so much, such as going on a mission, loving all of her nieces and nephews as her own, and even taking care of her own siblings in their hard times.  

Among all this, she continued to battle a cancer 6 more times...a cancer that is not common to come back even a second time.  She is a warrior and true soldier of strength.  She testified of our Savior again and again!  I awed at how strong her testimony was through all her trials.  She did have the blessing to marry and take care of children, but on her last test of strength, the mortal body had lost.  I did notice a slight peace from her that she knew her time was near.  But she still would brighten up and smile.  I had the honor to be her companion in Visiting Teaching.  I loved her gentle heart, her sweet outlook on life and her unwaivering point of perspective.  She knew her purpose and she lived it well.  I love you Trish and I will always remember your life you shared with me. 

At the funeral near the round about, the ward had put purple ribbons all over!  Trish's motto was Purple War.  Such a strong spirit was there!  It was so powerful and forever strong.  

A Gormley Night

Our good friends from Cedar Hills, the Gormleys, also moved out to Saratoga Springs.  Stratton is one of Ammon's best buddies.  Jacque invited us and some other old friends from Cedar Hills to be together.  It was a lot of fun seeing all the kids growing up already.  Ammon had a blast most of all.

Random Post

 With our ward split, the YW had another retreat for the girls to get to know each other.  This was the only picture I was able to obtain for evidence...even if she said she didn't have "fun", I know she did.

School was out March 10th, so I took the kids rollerskating and fun center.  It was fun being together and having a good time.

Our neighborhood it just a dirt pit, so the kids found the sand pile left by the builders.  Ammon had two friends from Kindergarden over with Natalie as our neighbor also in his class.  Another kid was in carpool.  Ammon, Natalie, Kaiser, Porter (brown shirt) and Chase on the end.

Raegan had a loose tooth and wanted me to help her with it.  I told her I'd meet her in the kitchen.  When I got there, this is what I saw...  Funny girl!

Ammon loves Liona.  This cat is the most patient with this boy.  Perfect match for our family!

Dentist time of year.  Not sure how they came to match each other, but it looks cute.  Waiting for their turn in the chair.  Two days of dentist reminded me of the days with my family growing up taking multiple days.  I've come full circle.

Kitchen Trim Project

Here is my latest project.  I don't have too much time for myself ever, and I'm always planning on what I could do next (but it's rare I actually get to execute an idea, so this was huge).

We had this row of windows in our kitchen that I asked for in our building plans because the view is amazing and I don't need too many more cupboards.  Extras were adding up in our house "upgrades" so I had plans to do it myself.  Without trim these windows look simple and even sad, so I decided to bring them and the view to a grande level.

 This is my first attempt, so I know there are things I could have done better, but I'm happy with the outcome.

This is what swirls in my brain with all my ideas.  I love using my hands and designing new things.  Sadly, I don't have a 'mentor' or anyone to encourage me or bounce questions off of.  Many things never come about...but this one I was determined to make it real.  Drew up the plans and measured and double measured and triple measured...

This is how it all started...

Took this blank slate of three windows and wanted to make it look like ONE continuous piece framed out like a picture.

For Christmas these were my gifts.  A few months ago, my compressor was stolen out of our garage in our rental house.  I was so angry.  I knew it was a service guy who fixed the rental garage door, but nothing came about the accusations.  So for Christmas Trent found a great deal and got one along with a new saw (old one died many many years ago).  These were all I had to do my project...a table saw would have been a better tool, but some day I will own one.

Cutting straight lines was difficult, especially with so many long pieces I had to cut.

Hooked up the nail gun and secured all the pieces into place.  My last nail hit into the wood was close to my ear, so I turned my head to minimize the sound and...

...next thing I know, I had a nail going through my finger.  The gun must have angled when I turned, and my hand was holding the MDF in place...I was a bit shocked.  Especially when I had to pull a two inch nail out of my finger.  Luckily they are thin nails and no long term damage was made.

After things were nailed I had to do all the finishing work, like filling the nail holes and caulking the seams.

Finally taped and painted.  As I've learned, MDF takes at least three coats of paint to have a finished product.  Using an oil based paint it was really smelly and messy.  Not as easy to clean up as latex. 

I was so glad to peel away the tape and see the final reveal...

Fixing Stuff

 I've had this cupboard thingy for a long time, but the hinges were so bad.  Years ago I took the doors off to replace the hinges, but couldn't find the right size hinges...then we moved and I was afraid to loose it's parts...moved again...  anyhow, I finally found parts but the holes for the screws were so striped I had to do something.  In the class I took "Finishing Basements,"  I learned this trick.  I asked my father-in-law for some of his golf tees, drilled out the bad holes that were rotted away and too large for the smaller screws.  Put wood glue on the tees and crammed them into the newly made holes. 

Then I sawed off the ends to be flush with the board...

There you have it, new wood to drill new holes for the hinges.  Now I have a door hinge to work on...ugh.