President Gordon Bitner Hinckley
June 23, 1910 - January 27, 2008

Tonight our dear prophet Gordon B. Hinckley passed away. He is reunited with his dear wife Marjorie (pictured below) whom he has missed since her passing almost 4 years ago. This was the first prophet my kids and husband knew and we will miss his loving leadership and gentle (but quick) humor. We are so grateful for Prophets. What a blessing the Gospel is in our lives!

Great Pictures Here

Boys and their dads...

When Christian came home from school yesterday, his dad was still here at the house working from home. This is a rare occurance and he was thrilled. "DAAAAAAD! You are home!" That is the way to wrap your dad's heart around your little finger.

Holy Explosions, Batman!

While Mike and Katie were on their way home from selling Girl Scout Cookies on Monday, they heard a loud "explosion" type sound from inside the car. "What was that?" was the joint question. Katie helpfully suggested that maybe one of the tires blew, so even though everything was steering just fine, Mike pulled over on the edge of the 202 to take a look and make sure. While cars were whizzing by him, which was apparently and understandably unnerving, he checked the tires.

Everything was just fine, so what could have made that horrible sound? As Mike was getting ready to get back into the car, he saw it. The beautiful sunroof we were so excited to get as part of our car purchase appeared to have spontaneously exploded. There seemed to be no explanation for it. There appeared to have been no car in close enough range to have caused a rock to hit. Off he went to the car dealership to let them know that he was not going to pay for an improperly installed sunroof that exploded on its own. (The collision center had come to that conclusion and sent him to the dealership). They however, had keener eyes and found the tiny, yet powerful, site of impact and referred him back across town the the collision center. We figured that the rock must have come from the other side of the freeway since Mike had been using the luxurious HOV lane.

Arizona, like California, has horrendous insurance rates. When we moved here we increased our deductible to keep our premiums close to the same rate. That of course is all and good as long as nothing happens to your car. Unfortunately, in the last 5 months we have had to: 1. replace the windshield ourselves since we only have chip coverage, 2. used our high deductible to replace the bumper on our car and several other things when a rogue truck tire hit Mike's car in rush hour traffic while blocked on both sides and no where to go, and finally this 3. another use of our high deductible which also had the paint scratched as glass blew off of the sunroof and down the back of the car. I have learned a few important lessons. There is a reason that Arizona has high premiums, having rental car insurance does save you money and replacing a sunroof is over twice as expensive as replacing a windshield. And most importantly, when you hear of something bad happen to a friend, you should be empathetic and not just glad that it wasn't you...so sorry Jeralee. (She broke her rear door handle on her van last week due to freezing weather in Eugene (she's a boxing harpist, don't mess with her!) and had to pay $200 to get it fixed).

Now, I do not want to sound ungrateful. Even if it wasn't until the next day that I could get over shelling out more money for a "stupid" fix, I realized that we were truly blessed. The full weight of how serious it could have been hit me the next day as I drove Mike into work. If the interior headliner had been open, the glass could have and would have started flying into the car causing real harm to Mike and Katie, taking a "stupid" accident to possibly a much worse one. I may still grouch about all those desert rocks out there, but I will count the blessings I can for now.

Selling Those Yummy Girl Scout Cookies...

Katie and her dad went selling Girl Scout Cookies today as they both had the day off from work and school. Mike has some friends in some Phoenix offices that wanted to buy some, so they got ready (Katie complete with irresistibly cute braids) and off they went downtown. She loves being part of the Girl Scouts and is really excited this year about selling cookies. Last year she was so scared of knocking on doors and asking if people wanted to buy some. Quite frankly, I don't blame her, there were people that peeked out of their blinds when we rang the doorbell and wouldn't open their door. I can understand them too, it really doesn't help that New Years resolution to stay healthy. This year she is on fire and she has been lucky to have her dad go with her twice so far. In another month we will be out at booths selling some cookies and that should be fun, if not interesting, too. Luckily it is a product that most people love, so even if they don't want to buy at the moment they are still pleasant and nice to the girls. Katie thinks it would be cool to "earn" the iPod, but I have a hunch that she is not going to sell 2,000 boxes of cookies. She agreed. Katie is excited to earn money for troop activities that they want to do. Just remember, if you see Katie coming and she has cookies on the brain, she just might ask you what your favorite kind is.

When Dad goes out to eat and kids play...

Mike went out to Margaritaville, a real restaurant, for burgers this last week with one of his co-workers. As a Jimmy Buffet fan (trust me, I was introduced to his music on our honeymoon) he loved bringing home the head wear memento from his time there. The kids loved it.

Katie may have a career in cosmetics. She decided to mix her lip gloss with some blue eyeshadow to get blue lipshadow. It was really nice when it spread all over her face. Talk about everlasting, we had to wash her face twice to get the combination off completely. She should sell that idea to the cosmetic industry for lipstick that doesn't fade. And yes, I have confiscated the eyeshadow.

Bread, Glorious Bread....

Growing up in a large Mormon family, I grew up with a mother that made her own bread, pizza dough, dipped chocolates, dinner (nearly every day), and even her own yogurt at times. Finally back in October or November, I expressed to Mike that after 14 years of being "grown-up" I was ready for a "real" mixer. Although grateful for our awesome hand mixer that we were given for our wedding (I don't think we even registered for one...obviously wasn't on my mind at the time), I was ready to make the big move. After talking to several friends and getting input, I let Mike know that when we were ready for the big purchase I would like to get a Bosch Mixer. Wanting to tap into using and rotating our food storage, I also wanted to get a grain mill so I could grind the grain that I had. In the last couple of years I have come to the realization that if Mike is to know what gift I would actually want to get, giving some information would be helpful. What a concept! For years he didn't know that I wanted anything because I would dream quietly. So when I finally decided what I wanted, I told him as if it was just in passing,..."By the way,...in case you happen to run across one of these....I would really like one..." He is so cute, he was visually trying to keep it cool about being excited to know what I really wanted. He loves to gift, and I unfortunately am hard to please only because I unwittingly never gave him a clue as to what would really make my day. Unbeknownst to me, over Thanksgiving with my family in California, he was asking everybody about the mixer and getting advice. My awesome BIL Geoff has a friend that sells them and got Mike an awesome deal for my HUGE Christmas gift (Thanks Geoff!). I didn't know that making cookies could be so fast. Finally this week I went back for a post gift bread making lesson with my friend Kaylene (Sorry Mom, I couldn't remember) to make sure I knew what I was doing. The kids have always enjoyed homemade bread from our bread machine, so now to see 6 loaves come out of the oven at one time is almost to much for them. Let us just say, they are in bread heaven. Mike is happy too. It is the now the gift that keeps on giving back! So here is the picture of my first batch of bread. First of many more to come. (Thanks, Honey!)