Why does this have to be so difficult!

Okay, so on a semi-regular basis I type up a little note to send to my family and close friends to let them know what we are up to. I try to do it almost every week. But, as you can see, I never blog. I would like to keep up the blog, so I thought, at least once in a while, I could copy and paste my family newsletter and put it on here. It did not work. I copied but it will not give me the paste option. Arghh!

So we are "very very busy and we have a lot to do and we haven't got a minute to explain it all to you..." - Thank you Sandra Boynton for that song.

I will take the time to say that even in all of our busyness, we have been enjoying the time we have had together and it is wonderful to see our kids growing up becoming cool people.

I also feel so blessed to live in a free country where I can worship according to the dictates of my own conscience without fear.

One final plug...If you would like to donate to Andrew or anyone on our team we are walking in the JDRF walk on October 30th. If you want to walk with us, I will print you a T-shirt if you bring it to me. www.walk.jdrf.org .

A loooonnnggg time........

It has been a busy few months for us and I just realized it has been three months since I have posted, unlike my niece Emma Pearl, who keeps her blog www.extinctstinks@blogspot.com very up to date and interesting.

We are all doing well. School keeps Lee and the kids busy and I have almost a full part-time caseload of clients to keep me on my toes.

My youngest, Seth was baptized yesterday and I don't have pictures yet, but will post them soon hopefully. It was a wonderful day with both sets of grandparents and Aunt Patty there to celebrate with us. Seth is such a fun and sweet boy and it was nice to see him in the spotlight and to see him growing up.

Last week over spring break, Lee and I made a trip to the Mesa temple and had a nice session. On our way home, however, we were hit while traveling through an intersection and our cute little red Corolla was totalled. Miraculously, neither Lee nor I, nor the other driver had serious injuries. So, we are in the process of car-shopping.

That is about it. Work, choir, school, and so on and so on.

OREO TRUFFLES

This is a recipe I found on www.allrecipes.com and it is so yummy and good. I would have a picture but they are all gone.

1 8 oz. bar cream cheese softened
36 oreos finely crushed in a blender or food processor (do not use double stuff because they will be too gooey.

Mix these ingredients together and form into 40 or so 1-inch balls. Freeze for a few hours.

Then you need
9 oreos finely crushed in a blender or food processor
2 2/3 cups of semisweet chocolate chips melted in the microwave or on the stove

Dip the cookie balls into the chocolate using 2 forks to allow the excess chocolate to drip down. Cool on wax paper. While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle the balls with the 9 crushed oreos.

Wii did it again!

In addition to all of the Lego Santa brought, we gave the kids a few more Wii games this year: Mario Kart, Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympics and Sports Resort. Aunt Evelyn and Uncle David got us Guitar Hero World Tour and Lego Rock Band and Grandpa and Grandma Williams got us some new accessories.

You might think we would be tired of all of this by now, but NOOO! We are having a blast. We limit Wii time to about an hour a day (if at all) and this has made it a valuable reward. It is so fun and the kids work together on a lot of games. I am not good at all, but I like to play when I am home by myself.

We did not just play Wii last week though. We also had a Melvin L. Huber family reunion that I was in charge of. It was not a big deal, but we had a potluck and picnic at a nice park/preserve out in Gilbert. It was fun to see everyone, especially my cousin Heidi whom I have not seen in 10 years and all of my newest nieces and nephews.

This week I am working my usual 3 days and then we are off to Sierra Vista on Thursday for New Years with the Williams clan. Should be fun!

Hallelujah (Chorus that is...)

Matthew happened to mention the other day that his teacher knows the Hallelujah Chorus. When I asked him how he knew that he said "because when I start singing it, she sings with me." How great is it that Matthew feels comfortable singing in class and that his teacher feels comfortable singing with him.

On the singing note, we are halfway through the Boys Choir Christmas season and have completed 4 of 8 concerts. They sound beautiful and Matthew is having a great time. They sing some of my old favorites as well as a couple of new ones. It is really fun to travel around the valley and see other churches. Marissa and Andrew had their school concerts early in the month and they were enjoyable as well. Andrew earned a new moniker from his chorus teacher which Marissa has adopted - he is a "Funky Bass Brother."

My Cub Scouts did it again and made me proud. I got the idea to send my brother-in-law Brady a care package. He is serving in the Army in Afghanistan and will hopefully be coming home soon, but not before Christmas. In a little over a week's time they made over a dozen Christmas cards and snowflakes, and gathered over 30 pounds of snacks and treats for him and his unit.

I am feeling extremely grateful for my job and the children and families I serve. It is a privilege to work with them and I feel blessed by it daily. A new, sweet, 2 1/2 month old baby girl is my latest addition and I could not be more excited.

Life is good, the weather is cool and my heart is ready for Christmas.

Seventy-six trombones, 20,000 walkers, 3 cans of frosting and sprinkles

We have had a really busy month with Andrew in "The Music Man" for his high school in addition to Cub Scouts, stake musical rehearsal, Boys Choir, the JDRF Walk, school, work, and so on, but it has been good.

Andrew did really well as the bass in the barbershop quartet for the musical although it still throws me off to hear him sing so low after being a first soprano for so long. He finished off the Halloween weekend by going Christmas caroling with a couple of friends for Halloween.

The JDRF walk was fun. Susie and Emily, my sisters came as well as my nephew Jordan and our friends, Lynne and Taylor Turschmann. The kids got tons of free stuff and we raised some money for a good cause.

The stake musical is next week and Lee, Marissa and Matthew are all participating. I am excited to see it after hearing about it for a couple of months.

Marissa is going to spend a night at Outdoor Ed at Lake Pleasant this week. She is also busy revising her book which has been edited by two of my very good friends.

I went to Seth's class for a Fall Party on Friday and got sent to the cookie table. The kids definitely had more sprinkles and frosting than cookie. It was really fun.

Matthew is busily getting ready for Choir Christmas season. He is excited for their number "Twas the Night Before Christmas."

Lee and I are busy working and taxiing kids around to activities.

Life is still good.

Same old, same old

We are well into the school year and I am getting back into the routine of car pools, rehearsals, more rehearsals, scouts, Mutual, Activity Days, etc. It is good to be busy sometimes, but sometimes I just want to get off this merry go round for a few days. I look forward to Sundays because after we get home from church at noon, we have some time to just be together, read, play games, etc. No homework or TV on Sunday so that simplifies things even more.

I should not complain too much. I am truly blessed. Lately, it has been so fun to see my children learning new things and sharing their talents. It is amazing to me to see what they are able to accomplish. They are growing up to be fun, talented, happy, pleasant, mostly polite and good kids. Lee and I are not always sure where they came from.

I am really looking forward to General Conference this weekend (and it is not just because I get a break from Nursery.) It is so nice to just sit and listen to those inspired messages and get charged up for the next six months. I went to the Relief Society meeting last night and it was good.

I know that none of this may be profound or life-changing, but life is good and I am glad for it.