The Tallest Christmas Tree in the Nation!

This morning I took the hubby to the airport to fly to Idaho Falls to meet the youngest daughter and drive home from school with her. Allegiant Air just started flying out of Mesa Gateway Airport directly to Idaho Falls and since it is A LOT cheaper the hubby decided he would give it a try. The airline and flight were both good, according to him, but he did end up leaving 2 hours late due to the heavy fog - not in Idaho but in Mesa. Yup, we had some unusual fog this morning. Oh, and by-the-way don't always trust that map quest knows how to get you somewhere. It sent us on a non-existent road. Luckily the son-in-law had given me some basic directions that got us back on the right path.

After I returned home the youngest son decided he felt bad that he wasn't going to Idaho and wanted to go on a road trip. I am always ready to go for a drive and the grandson likes to go ( said dew, dew, dew with the head waving side to side). We finally decided on a jaunt to witness the tallest Christmas tree in the nation at the Anthem Outlet mall.

Read all about it -

The grandson was a lot more impressed by the tree than the youngest son was.

This is my view looking up from the base, probably about the top 2/3rds fit in my view finder.

Here I'm using the 6 foot 2 son as a height gauge. The toys at the base of the tree were as tall as he was.

And, here you have it - the nation's tallest fresh cut tree. All 110 feet of it.

The son was generous and decided we could visit the Nike store and the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory which were on either side of the tree. I took the grandson to Toys R Us the other day and he almost went hysterical with excitement. He jabbered non-stop about everything he saw. I was surprised that he felt the same way about the shoe store. He was thrilled with all the orange shoe box stacks, the little sample shoes attached to the rack with stretchy cords and the floor mirrors that he could see himself in. It was SO exciting!

Today I am thankful that

my son actually wanted to do something with his mom for a change.

the grandson likes to nap in his car seat.

Cafe Rhumba was kind of on the way home from the mall. I love their tropical chicken salad. Yum! Yum!

Activity Day Girls Project - Pool Noodle Beads

A couple of months ago the other counselor in the primary presidency was released. The new counselor preferred to be involved with cub scouts and so my responsibilities changed to being the counselor over the 8 to 11 year old girls activity days (HOORAY!). I have enjoyed spending time with these girls. They have been working really hard to memorize all of their articles of faith the past couple of months and now they are great at reciting them and telling everyone what they mean.

Tonight they finally got to work on something different. The girls, and their adult helpers, made pool noodle beads to donate to the ward nursery. The activity day leader had a friend who suggested this project. I tried to find the original blog, to give her credit for the idea, but I couldn't locate it. Just know that there is a creative person out there somewhere that we benefited from and we are grateful.

First we took our pool noodles and cut them into 1 inch slices with a sharp kitchen knife. We used both smooth pool noodles and ones with bumps in them, which created the flower shaped beads.

Then we cut nylon rope into 2 foot lengths. I am not sure how thick our rope was, more than 3/8" though. It was probably a little too thick in my opinion and possibly cut a little too short.

Next, we cut a small x in the center of a cottage cheese container lid. The x just needs to be large enough to feed the rope through (Think of the hole in the top of a soda lid). This could also be done with a drill, making a circle not an x.

After the rope was threaded through the lid, the adult men in our group used a butane torch to fuse the lacing end of the rope. One of our dads had a very manly torch, but a hand held lighter (the longer kind with a nozzle look) would work just as well. The girls flayed out about an inch of the rope on the opposite end and this was also burned to keep the rope from pulling through the lid.

Notice the decorative heart that the "boys" felt the need to burn into the church sidewalk. It had rained and the sidewalk was wet, so there was no permanent damage done. I just think it's cute.

And ta-dah! Here is the finished product.

The girls are all looking forward to presenting their gift to the nursery on Sunday. Doesn't this just make you want to make some of your own? Too bad it's December and there are no pool noodles in any of the stores.

Today I am grateful for

6:00 PM, when the oldest daughter arrived to retrieve the grandson. He was being a stinker today.
getting to work with the activity day girls.
rain that cooled things off and made it seem possible that Christmas is only a week away. I have a hard time feeling motivated to complete my Christmas list when it is 85 degrees outside.

Today I am grateful

for a van that I don't have to share with anyone, even if the check engine light does continually come on for no apparent reason.
that priesthood holders are capable of "leaving it on the court" after they try to kill each other during a church basketball game. I have a little harder time doing that than they do.
that none of my children have posted anything on facebook that got them arrested and that they aren't wandering the United States looking for handouts to buy booze or picking up girls (or boys) to pay their cell phone bills for them.

Things that made me happy today -

Darcy the Dragon.
a little boy in jeans and Toy Story cowboy boots who walks like he just got off his horse.
the church drinking fountain.
memories associated with our Christmas tree ornaments.
Christmas weebles that wobble, but don't fall down.
grandbaby hugs.

The Grandson Performs

Today I'm thankful for

a young men's leader who is smart enough and nice enough to help the youngest son get his car in running order again.
a light bulb testing gun.
Christmas tree lights - they make even an old, crooked tree look magical.

Scary Halloween

A few weeks ago the grandson and I went to DI and brought home a Halloween book called Jack O'Lantern's Scary Halloween by Robert Kraus. It has become his favorite book at Grandma's house and he makes sure we all get a chance to read it with him every day.

It is a cute little story about a Jack O'Lantern, a ghost and a skeleton who go trick or treating together. They visit all their scary friends and get treats, but you'll never guess what happens when they visit the last house on the hill and come face to face with a cute little girl. EEK!

Today I am grateful for

cool weather.
my hubby's ham and cheese omelets.
evidence that we are finally going to get a new roof.

Today I am thankful for

a living prophet.
a husband who knows how to hook the computer up to the TV so we can watch conference as a family.
my 3 men all dressed up and heading off to the Priesthood session of conference together.

Fire Explorers CPR Training

Tonight the youngest son had CPR training for Fire Explorers. He was looking pretty spiffy in his "uniform" when he left home.

Here is tonight's group (click on colored word to see pictures.)
and the son saving a baby, (after he figured out how to put him together) as well as resuscitating a body-less person.
To view all the pictures that were taken tonight go here.

Today I am thankful for

positive learning experiences for the son.
positive sleeping experiences for the grandson.
positive dinner experiences with the hubby.

Eyelashes

Why is it that some little boys are blessed with beautiful, long eyelashes that any girl would love to have?

It just doesn't seem fair, does it?

Labor Day

It's called LABOR Day for a reason.

As you can see, our lawn is as ready for the long, hot summer to be over as I am.

Today I am thankful that

this weekend had 3 days in it.
the youngest son and the hubby helped me do some yard work.
other people think the grandson is as entertaining as I do. It is going to be a rude awakening for both of us when people stop thinking he is adorable.
the youngest daughter arrived safely in Rexburg.

A Message From the Editor

Can I just say it really bugs me when people have a blog and they don't ever post anything on it. It is so frustrating to want to see what they are thinking about today and see nothing. Come on middle-aged mother - get with the program!