You have to read this story....

This year, our Christmas was a little something like this

Thank you.

Life, explained...

TWO WOLVES 

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle 

that goes on inside people.

He said, "My son, the battle is between 

two wolves inside us all. 

"One is Evil -  

It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, 
false pride, superiority, and ego.

"The other is Good -  

It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, 
compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

                The old Cherokee simply replied,

 "The one you feed."

(Merry Christmas!)

A Challenge, from Me to You!

Lately, I have been feeling like my life has been in the doldrums.   I don't even know exactly what a doldrum is, or where it's located.  Is it like a dumpster?  Because that's more where life's been lately - The big ol' trash dumpster.

So one night nearly a month ago, I saw that a blog-friend of mine, M-Cat, had posted on FB 

(don't you love it when your blog-friends transform into FB friends?  I do!)

that she was doing the Ironman Challenge.  Now, this Ironman differs from the three event, run a marathon, swim 2.4 miles, AND bike 112 miles All In One Day Event,  in one way:   you do it over a 2 week period of time.  

This hit me in the head, struck a chord with me, and totally put me right there!  

So, the Monday after Thanksgiving, I got busy with it.  Since the idea is to do all of the events spread out a reasonable period of time, you could break down the events any way you want to.   For me, the best way was,  with with the running and the biking, was to alternate doing a lot of one and a little of the other each day, and throw in the swimming where I could.  

The swimming is what I was most worried about.  We have an awesome new rec center (relatively)  near our home, so that wasn't an issue.  It was that my techniques was terrible - pretty much a cross between a dog paddle and a side stroke, alternated with a backstroke so I could catch my breath without drowning.      But I was pleasantly surprised - I ended up really enjoying the swim.  And next time, I will try to do the bike ride on a real bike, instead of the stationary one that I am grateful that we have, but really bothers my butt!  

So, to get to the point, I did it!  And, if you are at all into fitness, I would completely recommend it.  Although before doing this, I couldn't imagine how someone could do all of it in one day, and now, I really really don't know how a person can do it ALL IN ONE DAY!  Do you?  Have you or has anyone you know ever done it, and how did they train for it?  Just curious....


I am planning to do this again sometime after Christmas.  Who wants to join me?  Last time I posted my progress on FB, but I could post it here, too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

One of our Thanksgiving traditions is to bake - and of course eat - lots and lot of pies.

Today we had:
Pumpkin
Banana Cream Cheese
Lemon Meringue
Chocolate Turtle
Mocha Chocolate
Apple
Blueberry...

                                                                              

.....and Blackberry!

I am thankful for my many friends - in real life and those that I have met here on the Blog.  May you all receive many blessings!

They sent my Tax Return back! AGAIN!!!

In response to the question:

"List all dependents"

I replied -

"20 million illegal immigrants;

"3 million crack heads,

"2 million people in over 243 prisons;

"Half of Mexico ; and

"535 fools in the U.S. House and Senate.”
PLUS 
"1 inept jerk in the white house"

Apparently, this was NOT an acceptable answer.

(This didn't really happen to me.  It was in an email somebody sent me.

But it's priceless, right?)

Cross Country!

This fall, Tanner and Evalie decided they would participate in Cross Country sponsored by their grade school. 

As a kindergardener, Evalie trained to run 1/4 of a mile.  That's a Heck of a long way when you are only three feet tall!
(This photo is a re-inactment of the race....her mom missed her photo-finish)  But she did a great job and finished the whole way!

Here is Tanner about to cross the 1/2 mile finsh line....in spite of his shoes falling off," like Eight Times!" he did a great job.  And, epic mom-fail for not making sure his shoes wouldn't fall off.  But they never had before.  So, who knew?

Their after-party!

Four Generations

When this adorable little girl in the middle was born, we had a photo taken of the four of us - great-grandma, grandma, daughter, and granddaughter.  Six years later, here we are again!

 And here's my adorable granddaughter with her adorable little brother!  I am a lucky grandma!

Tanner's Baptized!

Of all of my children, Tanner was the one I was most worried about, in terms of choosing the right, when he was a little tiny boy.  He was the only one who threw and fit and fought me when it came time to go to church each Sunday.  I thought, oh boy, he's going to break my heart....

But somewhere along the way, as he got bigger and learned about the Gospel, he stopped getting so mad each week.   I know that his Primary teachers had a lot to do with it (and just learning to be able to sit still!) 

So this last year or two he has really looked forward to being baptized!

 With his Grandparents (thanks for coming, mom and dad - it means the world to us!)

The best little 8-year-old boy in the world! 

Fishing is a 6th Grade Elective?

Have you ever thought about homeschooling your kids?

We did, and we do.

It has yeilded some unexpected benefits.

Like when my husband has to take a road trip out of town, my son gets to go with him if he is ahead in his schoolwork.

So this trip they took some time to go fishing.

Pretty sure he caught the big fish if the day.

Here's the proof.

Great Father-Son bonding time, right?

OK....!

Noelle and I were driving around Cd'A the other day and saw this guy:

Looks kinda fun!

Pretty sure this guy put this bike together himself. 

Also - I didn't notice until I saw the enlarged cell phone photo on my computer, but he has a rag doll attached to the front.  I wonder what the significance of that is?

Crazy.  But kinda cool, too. 

(The bike, not the doll)

What's up with the Mascots?

Everywhere we go, every time Tanner sees any kind of mascot, he has to have his picture taken with them.

Here are a couple -

With Odie at Silverwood -

Tanner and my granddaughter, Evalie, at Cafe Chulo -

Not really a mascot, but a soda cooler shaped like the Star Wars character - all the same to him -

Love my Tanner-man!

 

Beautiful Lady...

As I was going through my cellphone photos in my quest to update this blog, I found this photo of my daughter-in-law, Elena. 

Isn't she beautiful? And she is just as beautiful on the inside.

My son is a lucky man, and I am a happy mother-in law.

Love you, Elena!

And here is a photo of their new child....

Their adorable kitty, Shadow.

It's Been A Long, Long Time

Yes, quite a while since I posted anything.  Not for the lack of having something to say, but just finding the time to squish in chronicling the events that I want to treasure and remember has been impossible.  But it is important to me that I do it - so many years went by before The Blog, where a couple snapshots of those memories are all I have, and it's a shame.

So I will catch up.  I will post what's been up here around the Carey household a 'lil bit at a time.  I will try to do it in something that resembles chronological order, because that's how I am wired to do things.  (I may even eventually change the dates that I post to reflect when it really happened, so don't get confused....

Can you tell that I am making a pledge to myself to get it done, and that if it's on paper for all (three of you who read my blog) to see, I WILL actually do it.

I hope.

In the meantime, a friend posted a link on FB to a blog post that had me crying my eyes out.   Right now, I think all of us can relate to it, in one way or another.

Beginning Our Garden....Way Late!

As promised, here are some photos of the garden that we have been working on this past month. 

Furiously. 

The weather had been too wet and cold to get started any sooner.

As I get older, I enjoy my garden more and more.  I never thought this would be the case back when I would weed the family garden for what seemed like hours and hours every day.  (Probably was, in reality, a whole lot less - right Mom and Dad?)

I am grateful to my parents who taught me how to weed, and more importantly, the value of hard work.

And the value of having a garden.

As an adult with my own garden, for years it had been more of a hobby than anything.

A place to escape to, where I knew my children would not follow....

For the past few years, the importance of having a garden has changed for me.  I have always believed that we should learn to be self-sufficient, but putting that into action is quite a different story. 

This year, I was hoping to have a really great garden.  One where we could harvest the bounty and enjoy it for much of the winter.  

Well, the weather certainly has NOT cooperated.  Too cold.  Or too wet.  Or too wet and cold.
We are at least a month behind, as my photos will attest to.

 Asparagus - have you ever had fresh asparagus, straight from the garden? 
Even if you don't think you like asparagus,  you will like it fresh. 
Promise!

Green Beans - just sprouting

 Blackberries - a lot less hearty than last year...

 Chives - The only thing that's doing great!

Green Peppers - starts from the Farmer's Market.

 Red curly lettuce - close-out starts from the garden center

 Rhubarb - So I lied - the rhubarb is doing great, too!

 Tomatoes - Garden Center as well...

Zucchini - have you ever seen a more pathetic plant?

 New rows of strawberries....

 A cluster of berries, ready to pick from last year's rows.

OK.  So call us optimists

(well, you can call my hubby an optimist, since he bought these plants from the garden center)

Do you know what kind of plant this is?

No?

This is a tomatilla plant.

I know....

OK, Got the New Background....

...now I am off to do some work in the garden.  And we are waaaay behind.

Will post photos soon!

. . . Where's Global Warming when you need it???

So anyone who's ever looked at my blog with any regularity (and I appreciate all three of you!) will know that I often change my backgrounds.  I like to match it to the season.   Anyone else out there like to do that, or is it just me?   Anyway, that's what I do.  Except I haven't changed it to a summertime background, with bright flowers and maybe a blue-sky background.  Why not, you ask? 


BECAUSE THERE IS NO STINKIN' SUMMER HERE YET!


There.


I feel just a bit better now.


The only other thing that will cheer me up right now is some SUMMER SUNSHINE!  With temps in the 70's and 80's, too, if you don't mind....


Yeah, I know the East Coast is experiencing record high temperatures.   


Gives new meaning to the phrase "average temperature across the country", doesn't it?


(Is that really too much to ask for? I mean, I really do need my garden to grow, and so do all of my friends around me!!)

Chad and Elena's Wedding . . .

The bride and groom. 

ready to get their (formal) photos taken... 

Outside of the Mesa, AZ temple:

The Bridal Shower, after the photos....

Luncheon, after the wedding.  

My daughter Kayla, and my new daughter, Elena!

Reception in Idaho

Beautiful couple!

Goofy groom and his sis...

My girls - Kayla, Rachel, Noelle, and my granddaughter Evalie

Taking photos, too!

Cutting the cake...

All the little mini-princesses...

Opening gifts....

More photos will be posted soon!