Family Fun.

So here we goooooo! Munk Family Fun! Yeah! I said I would share and here it is. The above picture shows midMan with my biggest competition, in this world, when it comes to midMan's attention in the mountains. You decide if that is the Grizzly 4-Wheeler or his brother. Man, did they have a blast and we got to see lots of critters.

These 8 Antelope, 1 male in the lead, 3 ladies, and 4 babies would grace us each day with their presence just right outside our camp. Are they not beautiful? One mom even fed her babies right in front of us. This so amazed us because usually when we see antelope they are about 200 yards away and running about 55 miles per hour, directly away from us. Just believe me when I say, 'This is amazing!'

Here's midMan holding up the remains of his fish. See, I told ya mine was bigger. He was so jealous. heeheehee

tailEnd and Haygen getting ready for a ride on our smaller 4-wheeler.



Grandma and Grandpa had a great time sitting around when they weren't fishing. They stayed up with us the whole week. We even managed to get them both on the wheelers for a few rides. It was really great to get some good quality time with them. It seems that life has been so hectic lately we haven't had a chance to catch up with them. They also retired a year ago and have been going non stop since.



Here's Jeff, one of midMan's brothers, and his wife Lesty, who both happen to be Haygens mom and dad. They came up for a couple of days and we had nothing but fun. Jeff and midMan got to have some real fun looking for mule deer and Lesty and I got to have some really good visits. When we all decided to branch out away from St. George we lost a lot of the time we had to spend together, so any time that we have together we try to cram in a lot of visiting and catching up on each others lives. Oh and Lesty spent the whole weekend with her hand in front of her face trying not to get her picture taken, haha it didn't work to well for her did it!?

Here is our oldest son and his wife. They decided to take a break from college and join us for a couple of nights.

Here's the middle son, Dayton. He came up for a couple of hours in the middle of the week. It was great to see him for a bit, but I was really thankful that he was at home taking care of our house and our little bit of a garden. He did so good we came home to lots of tomato's, quite a few jalapenos and one zucchini ( truth be told if that's the only zucchini we get I will forever swear off of growing a garden).

Last, but definitely not least, here's tailEnd trying his hand at spelunking. There is this cave close to where we were camping and he just begged us to let him go down. It's actually an old lava tube, called Mammoth Cave. He explored it when he was in 5th grade and really wanted to check it out better. I didn't want to nor did Grandma. We just waited up top and were completely surprised when he showed up coming from a totally different direction.

As you can all see and read we had a great time. I just wish it could have lasted longer. Although longer without a shower would not have been fun. I hope you all enjoy the trip with us. Maybe next time I will be better with the camera, there is always hope, right?

Love to All,

midRae

My Fishy!!

(Please forgive the fat fingers)

I can honestly say that I would much rather be on vacation, falling asleep in my chair at the lake, doing nothing with my hair all day long, and freezing to death in the mountains in the middle of July, than be at work. Don't get me wrong, I do love my job, but I also lllloooovvvveeee!!! Vacations!!!! I wish mine had lasted just a little bit longer.


We had a blast and I am happy to share with you all one of the greatest catches of my life. Right now in my world I would say it's number two, right after midMan. Now that could change, you just never know what's going to happen in life and I like to leave my options open for that number two to change. Number one never will!!!!

Yep!!! I caught this one all by myself!

Now I have a love/hate relationship with fish. For the most part I hate. I know, hate is such a strong word, but when your dad chases you up the hill, when you are just a kid, with the first fish you ever caught you tend to really not want to experience fish again. I really do not care for the taste either. midMan caught a fish, it was about half the size of mine, earlier in the week and we cooked it, I decided to be adventurous and try it. I have to say I was not impressed, it tasted like dirty water. My mother-in-law said we really needed to season it with some lemon, which we had not!! She said that when you catch one and the meat is really pink, now that is when the taste the best. I guess I took her at her word and just had to catch one that was so pretty pink you would have been amazed.

As we left the lake we stopped at the little store and bought some lemon juice and some lemon pepper. Now we were completely prepared to cook that fish. The only problem seemed to be that the guys had already fixed themselves dinner and were not hungry. I cleaned the fish, and we put it in my mother-in-laws freezer. And it now sits in my freezer at home.............waiting for me to get the guts to cook it and see if it's good. hhhhmmmmmmm............Should I cook it or not?

I don't even know how to cook a fish so if any one has even a little clue please share. I think I might want to try fish again, maybe. So if you send me a suggestion make it a good and easy one and I will report back on whether I have been converted to being a fish lover. Can't wait to hear from someone.

Love to All,

midRae

Back To Reality!!!!

I have spent the last two days trying to catch up on life after being gone, with no computer and no Internet, for 8 days. Life went on without me and it really takes a lot to catch up. I learned that Walter Cronkite had died, and I learned that I really do enter a lot of numbers into the computer at work. I learned that this little boy needs our prayers and thoughts. And I learned that I can go 8 days without a shower but must most definitely wash my hair at least every other day. I also learned that my family is so wonderful and I am so blessed to have them all in my life.

I learned that I am definitely a news junkie and a blogger junkie. I missed you all and it is going to take me weeks to catch up on everyone. I learned that it is time for me to get back on the diet and exercise wagon, after jumping off two weeks ago, if I want to fit into any of my cloths. Camping is really awful for diets!! I learned that squatting to take pictures is very very bad for my knee, hopefully the swelling will go down so I can work out tomorrow. No luck tonight, I spent the evening with a bag of frozen strawberries on my knee, it's twice the size of my other one.

I learned that I can catch fish (picture to follow later in the week), and I can also clean the fish. It was a big one, just come back and see. I learned that I really love to go camping and to just get away from the craziness of life, even if I do miss the news and the blogs. I learned that Kathy likes to play with her family and I learned that Brittany loves to go swimming with her daughter. I also learned that Rae is such an amazing woman, she's training for a marathon and I wish I could train with her.

But most of all I learned that I am so very thankful for all that God has chosen to bless me with.

Love to All,

midRae

Issues.

I have issues. Plenty of issues. Issues are the things that we know we need to work on to improve, and we all try really really hard, most of the time. Some issues are small, like being OK if the dishwasher is not loaded just the right way. And some issues are big, like realizing that everything in life does not have to be completed the way I think they need to be completed. As I've said in the past I'm a little bit OCD. But here is my biggest issue, at least in my mind right at this moment.....

ROAD RAGE!!!

Yep, I have it and I hate it. I get so mad at what I term as 'Idiot' drivers. It is just so frustrating to be going down the road at the speed limit with no one behind you and someone pulls out in front of you and then they proceed to go slowly. AAAHHHHHHH!!! See I have it bad. In the next breath I try to tell my self that it is no big deal, to just let it go, charity, charity, charity. Some times it works, some times it doesn't. I mean seriously I have it bad.

It seems like I turn into a really mean and aggressive person when I get behind the wheel. In everyday life I am the happy one, the easy going one, the one who is terrified of confrontation, but you put me in a car and I turn into something else. You know, like the Incredible Hulk. That would be me but you can call me the Raging Maniac. Yup that's me, the Raging Maniac. Look out here she comes, get out of her way. Where does this thing come from? My boss calls me the sweetest person. If he only knew.

I get so mad at slow drivers, too. If you are going to drive, follow the rules! Please, please, for my peace of mind just go the speed limit. See the Raging Maniac is rearing it's ugly head again. And inattention, come one people, you are in a vehicle, which can cause some major damage or take a life, and you are on your cell phone texting, not paying attention, thinking the person on the other end of your conversation is more important than the little child riding their bike in front of you. What are you thinking?

I know that sometimes it's alright to get a little 'ragey on the road', but I really do have a problem and need to work on it. I want my whole being, person, me.... to always be filled with Charity - the pure love of Christ. He loves us so much, He showed us so much charity by dying for our sins. I mean can you image, the pain, the suffering , the agony that He went through for us? For us, who do not deserve what He did? I want to be worthy of His love and I work towards that goal each and every day of my existence. And I will continue to work to always be more like Him.

I am sure I will always have issues and I hope that I can overcome those issues as I work on each one of them. I believe that that is what our Heavenly Father wants us to do. To always strive to be better and to do better. This is by no means the final say on any one thing. It is my take and my understanding at this moment in my life. I don't claim to be a great knowledge on the Scriptures but I do know the my Heavenly Father loves me. I think I will take that and continue to work on my road rage. And never ever give up growing.

Love to All,

midRae

Not Me Monday..........

Oh it's that wonderful day of the week when we get to tell the world how we would never, no never, ever, ever, ever do something like.......................

Picking up tailEnd from weights for football dressed only in my PJ's with no bra. Nope I would never do that, it's should be against the law. And I most definitely did not proceed straight from picking tailEnd up to taking out the trash still in my PJ's and no bra, this time minus any shoes. Nope I would never do that. And I most definitely did not talk with tailEnd about memopause on our way to drop him off for weights the day before. Nope no me, I would never talk about something so personal with my 14 year old son. Nope, not me.

And to top all of that off I would definitely not write this post on Thursday because I will be gone all week and still wanted to join in the fun. Nope I would definitely not do that. Now if I could just figure the whole McLinky thing out, to work while I am gone, I would be good. I am lost and alone and afraid. Nope I would never get lost and alone and afraid, just ask midMan. Nope not me.

And I would never be secretly excited that my in-law were coming camping with us and not going to visit my brother-in-law's, two of them, and lose sleep over being so excited, we miss them so much. Nope not I, I would never covet time with my in-laws. MidMan wouldn't either, nope! Nope! Nope! Nope!

Love to All,

midRae

PS.......Check out the link below and see what all the fun is about.

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

GONE CAMPING!!!!!

I am excited, but sad, to say that I am on an adventure. CAMPING!!!!!

Excited because I love to go camping. I find it so relaxing and fun. I have lots of ATV riding, reading, hiking, fishing, cooking, photo taking, and eating to do (the diet starts July 27th).

Sad because I will miss you all. Please don't forget about me, I will be back (name that movie).

Come back and visit when I return, or check back thru out the week, I might get really motivated and do a few blogs before I leave,or maybe not. I should have lots of fun pictures for all to view, I may even have a fun story or two to tell also. So have a great week and enjoy the summer, I know I am. Heeeee Heeeee Heeee Woot! Woot! (midRae jumping for joy)


Love to All,


midRae

This Is What I Do.

OK, we all have those little things we do to help us push away the munchies. I thought I would share what has been working for me for the past 2 1/2 years.

My biggest challenge to date has been when I finally get to sit down for the evening. You know, that little bit of time you get to just relax and forget about everything else. I know, I know, you moms with little ones don't really get to have those moments yet, but wait they are coming, I promise. As you all know my youngest is 14 and there really is not much to do when it comes to keeping him occupied, he manages that quite nicely by himself, and even ropes me in sometimes.

I learned to crochet when I was 9 years old, and I really didn't keep doing it all that much as I was growing up. When my boys were younger, my Little Grandma decided to have me crochet baby sweater sets for all of her Great Grand Kids, I even manage to win a blue ribbon at the County Fair once. I then lost interest and life just went other directions. I hadn't even picked up a hook for about 15 years when I decided that it was time to lose weight. My problem, the dreaded munchies. I get bored really easily and need something to occupy my hands at all times, my solution in the past was food or another bad vice which I have since quit (3 1/2 years and counting). Food definitely does not help when your goal is to lose weight.

After a week or two of frustration, and pulling out my hair, I came upon the solution when I visited my mom and sister. There they were, both crocheting (light blub goes off above my head). I thought, 'Wow, this may work! My solution is at hand!' Or better yet, 'In my hands!'

As you can see from the sampling of photos, I have been busy. The first afghan I made (it's was like the tan one below) went to my bosses mom who was battling breast cancer, after God nudged me a little, I tell ya I am not so good a recognizing a service that I can do. She loved it! Boy was I surprised, I really didn't think it was anything to brag about, I thought I would just hide them all in the closet and when I died my boys would have to deal with them. I have given a few others away, well more than a few, I have actually lost count, they make good Christmas gifts along with a couple of movies, popcorn, and movie candy. I don't even know how many I have made.

So over the past couple of years a skill, that I learned when I was just a little girl, has helped me to become a much healthier, happier, lighter adult. I have to date lost 55lbs and am gearing up to lose at least 15 to 20 lbs more. Wish me luck.

(small sampling of the baby afghans w/ a sweater)

I am sure that there are quite a few more in my future, I have lots of Grand Babies to look forward to, I hope. And I still have more closet space to fill, especially as the boys move out. I guess I better get busy.

Love to All,

midRae

100 Weird, Random or Juicy Bits About Rae

My new friend Lynnette over at Dancing Barefoot on Weathered Ground did a blog that revealed 100 things about herself. I loved reading them and got a great laugh out of some. I am really short on time this week and thought what a great idea and maybe I would learn something new about myself.

So, without further ado, here I go:

1. I was born in Cedar City, Utah
2. My mom almost didn't make it to the hospital and I was almost born along the side of I-15.
3. I am a little bit OCD, just ask my family.
4. I got a tick in my ear when I was a baby.
5. I also caused my mom to run into a tree, with her truck, when I was about 2 years old.
6. I love reality TV and really wish I had the guts to go on Survivor.
7. I enjoy a hot bath more than anything.
8. I crochet to lose weight.
9. I have an older brother who died of cancer this past January.
10. I played the flute when I was in 7th grade.
11. I am totally completely tone deaf.
12. I used to catch Horny Toads when I was little and keep them as pets.
13. I was a total tomboy when I was growing up and I think I still am.
14. I love doing a job well.
15. I really really would like some grand kids someday soon.
16. I am addicted to working out.
17. I tear up at almost any hint of sadness.
18. My favorite subject in school was math. To bad I am not so good at it now.
19. My least favorite subject in school was English. Can you tell? hahahaha
20. I am the third child of 4.
21. My nieces and nephews think I am the coolest Aunt.
22. I have a really hard time with conflict.
23. I hate for my children to be mad at me, or any body else for that matter.
24. I love to give service but I hate coming up with a service to do. Tell what you need and I will do it with a smile.
25. I love to go camping.
26. I broke my right wrist doing a cartwheel when I was 12.
27. I was a cheerleader for 1 year in high school.
28. I grew up with the wrong last name in a small town, but I did marry the right last name.
29. I was on my high school drill team for 1 year.
30. I also played basketball and volleyball. Loved them both but hated the jammed fingers.
31. I love to read.
32. I am the worlds worst speller. Thank you for Spell Check, my life saver.
33. I am the mother of 3 boys, 2 born completely natural, and one born with help from PIT, and I never did get an epidural.
34. My last baby was born in 2 hours.
35. With my second child, the one with PIT, I went home less than 12 hours after he was born.
36. I love to work beside by husband, midMan.
37. I have been eating chicken salad for lunch for the past 2 1/2 years. Am I bored with it yet? NOPE!!!
38. Jesus is my Savior, and I thank God for His sacrifice each day.
39. I am an animal lover.
40. I am beyond proud of my boys.
41. My mom and dad would not let me watch scary movies when I was little because I would have nightmares for months.
42. Our childhood dog, Cindy, attached me when I was little and I had to have a bunch of stitches in my face. You can't tell now. Great Doc.
43. My Little Grandma told me I would get sick if I kept biting my fingernails. I quit immediately.
44. I love to go barefoot.
45. I love my house to be cold and then I curl up in a blanket.
46. I am tired of Panda Express.
47. When I was 30 I broke my little toe twice in 2 weeks. I have since then broken it 4 more times.
48. I love the smell of a warm puppy. Except for our dog Bella's breath, it will make your toes curl.
49. I eat lots of fresh fruit and veggies.
50. But I really crave anything baked.
51. I can't seem to bake cakes lately. They all fall flat. I really know not why.
52. Sometimes I get really tired of being the responsible one.
53. My daughter-in-law has a 4.0 GPA in the Accounting Program at SUU.
54. My 3 boys are all completely different. Dion likes computers, Dayton likes cars, and right now Dylan likes football.
55. I really love my job.
56. I do about 200,000 keystrokes a week on the 10 key on my computer at work.
57. I have had four surgery's to fix my hands and shoulder in the past 4 years. One for a ganglion cyst, one to re-attach the ligament in my thumb, one for carpel tunnel, and I had a shoulder de-compression done.
58. I am addicted to Blogging. I love it.
59. I just got a really good camera and am currently learning how to be a better photographer. And I am so not a professional, just something I enjoy doing.
60. I love to go hiking.
61. I love to ride ATV's
62. I really love to bake.
63. My youngest son was hit by a truck when he was 6. He's OK now.
64. My oldest was burned in a flash fire two weeks later. He's OK, no scars.
65. My middle son got a ticket for riding an ATV one week later. He still likes to go fast.
66. My middle son also decided to drive heavy road machinery when he was 7 years old.
67. I used to go help my uncles milk cows.
68. I really would like to learn how to jog. But I don't think my body wants to.
69. I love YOGA, but my shoulder and neck do not. I really should go take a class I bet I am totally doing it wrong.
70. My husband and I have been married 26 1/2 years. YEAH!!!!!
71. I can drive a forklift.
72. But I can't drive a motorcycle. They run away from me and leave me standing.
73. I was engaged to be married when I was a junior in high school. Did not work out, he was going out with 2 other girls at the same time.
74. I used to be a little bit on the wild side.
75. I have a tattoo of a heart with bubbles on my right ankle.
76. I love to go to football games.
77. I love to work really hard beside my husband. We are a team.
78. I love my life.
79. Someday my husband and I will have a log cabin and live in it forever.
80. One of the memories from my childhood that just sticks with me is when we came home from my Great Grandpa's funeral and my dad had bought a new lawn mower, he stayed home.
81. I used to sleep walk, a lot, when I was a child. One time I ended up outside in my mom's car.
82. I used to talk in my sleep, too. Guess what?!? I still do and so do my kids.
83. My sister and I got into a fight, at my Grandma's house, and I ripped her shirt off of her. The fight went on for about an hour, our parents let us fight it out. I don't think either one of us won and I have no idea what it was about.
84. I had the coolest bike when I was younger. It was blue and would go faster than a 10 speed.
85. I really love flowers. Bet ya couldn't tell.
86. I do not take compliments well. I just can't figure out what you are supposed to do when you get one, I am always embarrassed.
87. I believe that 'Thank You' can go along way in making this world a little nicer.
88. My dad used to call me 'PeeWee.'
89. When I was little I thought I was adopted. I can remember crying over it, I was just broken up at the thought.
90. I was deathly afraid of my mom's dad, Grandpa Garner. He just scared me!!!
91. I loved to feed the calves, at my uncles farm, when I was a kid.
92. My biggest accomplishments in life to date is that of being a wife and mother.
93. I live to please everyone. I want to make the world happy. :)
94. I worry entirely to much about what other people will think.
95. I really do not care what kind of car I drive just as long as it is not a mom van.
96. I once had a boyfriend with the nickname 'Pickels'.
97. I love to laugh. I love to laugh with abandon.
98. My younger brother, who is 42, is going to be a father for the first time. And I am so completely excited.
99. I so love the rain. It is so soothing to the soul. And the world looks so clean afterwards.
100. I love that my life is full and that I am content, most of the time, with who I am.

Hopefully this wasn't to painful to read. I really hope that someone enjoyed this little bit of Rae.

Love to All,

midRae

Not Me Monday....

This is my first try at doing this type of post so here we go, let's see what we get.

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not go for a ride this past weekend with my husband, to find a camping spot for our vacation next week, and drink 1 gallons, yes 1 gallons of water, in two hours. Nope not me. I then definitely did not have to go potty 4 times on the side of a dirt road and almost get caught by two motorcycle riders the last time. That would definitely not be me, I would never do that. Oh we did find a great camp site, midMan is so very very excited about it.

And I did not bake another 7up Cake with Mountain Dew and jump up and down because it didn't turn out to be rubber in the middle, like everything else I bake lately. Nope I definitely did not get really excited about that one. And I did not cook a great dinner and only tailEnd and I ate it. Nope, that would never never happen in my house.

And I did not wander aimlessly around my house wondering where everyone was this past week. Nope not me I would never be sad to have an empty house. I love to have an empty house so I would never ever be lost when everyone was gone. And I did not get excited when tailEnd came home from a week long camp out with the scouts. Nope I did not jump for joy, again, when I saw all of the dirty laundry to do. No I definitely would not do all of that because I was bored. Never, never, never.

And I would never forget that my middle son, Dayton, was in Las Vegas on Sunday morning and keep telling midMan and tailEnd to 'Please be quiet, Dayton is sleeping.' Nope my age would definitely never think to show it's ugly head and make me forget things. Nope definitely not me, nope never.

Oh, and I would never ever keep calling my brother at 9:00pm at night, while he was at the movie, to please come and get his dog that I was babysitting and then feel really bad about it. Nope I would never ever be so rude as to do that just so I could go to bed. Nope never happen.

Nope I would most definitely would not do any of that. Nope, never, not me.

Love to All,

midRae

Getting To Know You.......

See that cute little button, on the left, that says 'Getting To Know You'? Well click on it and you will link to a really great idea. It's a way of getting your blog out there and visited by a lot of other bloggers, and seeing a lot of blogs that may interest or inspire you, or connecting to someone that may become a friend for life. Check it out and see what happens, you may find some of the answers you have been looking for.


Meanwhile, sit back and think about all of the challenges you have faced in your life, reflect on them, really think on them, then with all of your heart and all of your might find the good that came about because of them.


Love to All,


midRae

4th of July Parade

OK, so this past weekend, as you all know, was the 4th of July. Now we as a family are not really into all of the parades and the all day park activities. We just don't really get into it, our family is usually up in the mountains camping, fishing, and hiking. But this year was different. tailEnd, our youngest, had to march in the parade with the Cedar Middle School Marching Band. One last opportunity for a good picture of him playing his Sousaphone for the last time.

This is the best one that I could get, pretty sad when you realize he will not be playing it ever again. At least not in the next year or two unless he decides to start playing it again. But between the heat and all of the other people wanting pictures and the fact that he was a moving target, I will just have to be happy with what I got.

Now the parade itself was not to bad, it just really seemed to be a great big section of the advertisement page in the newspaper. It was pretty awesome seeing all of the Veterans and to see all of us showing our love for our country but there really wasn't much else to see because of all of the people standing in our way. It was really funny. Here we are sitting there, midMan and I have our chairs, we are ready with water, and we are at what we thought would be a great spot. Then the crowds descended.

At first we were a little taken aback with all of the people standing around us, remember we are not parade people, but then we decided to just laugh it off. I even managed to nicely hand a girl back her balloon, which she was holding, which was bopping me about the head and face, I tell you I almost didn't survive the beating. And security was no help, they were only interested in getting free food from the Quizno's cup.

Then there was the family just to the right of us. Here they came with their 8 chairs and all their other stuff. The husband didn't want to block traffic from the cross walk but his wife insisted that it would be just fine. She then proceeded to leave, along with everyone else except the husband and one kid, left sitting there with 8 chairs to watch over. When another gentleman and his children went to walk through the crosswalk, Familyman decided to inform the gentleman that 'there was going to be kids sitting there, they could not stop there!!!' We though a fist fight was in the making. But the gentleman gave way and proceeded across the street to the other side, what Familyman didn't realize is that the gentleman was only using the cross walk not taking over his spot. When Familyman's wife finally returned with their 3 year old, no one else ever did return, she proceeded to stand in front of us for the entire time we were there and the chairs ended up just taking up space.

After tailEnd was done marching, and acquiring heat stroke along the way. We chose to go home halfway through the parade, which we couldn't see anyways, so that tailEnd could feel better for Fireworks later that night with Jordyn, his friend who just happens to be a girl. tailEnd even managed to throw up on the ride home, yum....... HASHBROWNS! Eeeewwwww!!!

Life was grand at this years 4th of July Parade. And one of the cutest things I saw was this little clown.


Love to All,


midRae

To All The Young Couples In The World......

You know how you have all these little children running around your ankles wanting all of your time and energy and you can't wait until they are older so that you and your significant other will finally get to have that wonderful alone time together that you have heard so much about?


Well guess what? By the time it happens you are to tired, have to go to work, need to mow the lawn, need to clean all of the bathrooms, need to vacuum, need to dust, need to clean out all of the gunk from the sink, need to take out the trash, and you also need to finish up the laundry, along with countless other tasks and responsibilities that need to be taken care of.


So here is what happened in my little world. Dion and Ada moved out about 4 months ago. Great!!!! Two down and three to go. Now two of the other three, Dayton and Shannel, don't seem to be going anywhere which is OK with me. They pretty much take care of themselves and live on a totally different schedule than midMan and I do. We don't see them much, but we do see them enough to know that life is moving along for them. Now number three will not be going anywhere for at least 4 years, you know he's only 14, we can't kick him out for at least that long.


Please, please, please, don't get me wrong. I love my children and would love to have them with me 24 hours a day. I love our conversations, I love our laughter, and I love our disagreements, because you know we never fight, only disagree. I am one of those mothers that needs to know what is going on in my children's lives every minute of every day, they have gotten used to it, which is good, they love to humor me. I really do love to have my children around.


Now here is the thing. Dylan, tailEnd, left yesterday for a scout camp. WhooooHoooo!!!! He was so excited and I was a little sad, he has become one of my best friends lately. We laugh so much!!!!!!! But yeah, he will be gone until Saturday afternoon. One down and two left at home. Now today I get a call from Dayton telling me that Shannel and him have made it to Vegas OK. I'm thinking, 'OK, I didn't know that you were going but I sure am glad that you got there OK, have lots of fun for Shannel's birthday, be safe, and make sure that you come home to me. I love you.'


And just like that we are down to midMan and I, alone for the rest of the week. Now what?!?! I think I forgot what couples do without all of the other interruptions. Hmmmmmmm.......Maybe it will come back to me. After we catch up on the sleep that midMan missed last night because he got called into work after only sleeping 2 hours, and after we mow the lawn, and after I workout, and after I cook dinner, and after midMan goes to work in Mesquite and Vegas for the rest of the week, which makes him really really tired, and after I work all week too. And after all of that we are just to tired and have taken on all of those other responsibilities to remember that yes we could go to the movies, we could go out to eat, we could just go for a walk, we could just sit and talk, we really could just sit and cuddle.


Hmmmmmmm...............maybe I do remember. And maybe all of that other stuff just doesn't matter and maybe I'm going to go home and just cuddle.


Love to All,


midRae

Grandpa Trees

I have always been fascinated with the trees here in Cedar Valley, there are so many that convey time, knowledge, age, and beauty all at once. I am drawn to these trees just as anyone would be drawn to their Grandparent.

I just look at them and wish that I could understand all that they have to tell me, all that they have seen, and all that they have lived through. I wish that I could here their life stories and grow as they have.

These ancient trees have lived through at least two World Wars. They have lived through the depression and seen the world change, for better or worse it is for us to decide. They have watched us pave over their lifeblood and take down their brothers. They have watched us take over nature.

What might this tree tell us if we could hear and understand? How many children have climbed it's body and how many sheep have nibbled at it's skin? How many sunset's has it seen and how many conversations between a father and his son has it heard?

It has shared it's shade and given of it's fruits, but have we as humans forgotten the beauty that is there to see? Do we take and not give back? Have we forgotten?

Take a moment in each day to thank God for what he has given us. Take a moment to see what there is to see. Take a moment to let life slow down and savor what is right there in front of you. Take a moment.....................to remember.

Love to All,

midRae