During Primary today thunder was rumbling quite loudly and really making the children nervous. We sang our little hearts out today during singing time and I kept them pretty focused as the thunder boomed and the lights occasionally flickered. During the closing prayer the child saying it asked for us to be safe during the storm. It was a big deal. When I prepared to go outside people were standing at the doors and no one was leaving. It was raining so hard that you could barely see anything outside. It was POURING! Most people didn't have umbrellas with them because it was sunny and perfect weather when we came to church. A lot can change in three hours. I did however have my umbrella and prepared to head out into the craziness. I removed my high hills so I could be prepared to run to the car. I was so glad I did because as I hurried through the parking lot I felt myself wading through a foot of swiftly moving water. I was wearing a maxi skirt and by the time I made it to the car it was wet at least a foot above the hem. I sat in the car for a minute was a made it and then ventured out of the parking lot. I think I was the only one leaving church! The streets all the way home were covered with rivers and huge lakes. I have never seen so much water appear in such a little amount of time. It was still pouring as I headed down the street into our neighborhood. I stopped quickly as I realized the road was blocked with the stream that had overflowed and it didn't seem like a wise decision to pass through it at the time. I sat on the side of the road for about twenty minutes until the rain slowed down to a pitter pat. After seeing a few cars venture through the river I got brave and slowly went through it. It was crazy!
This is the view of the creek that runs through our front yard. It's usually just a slow moving tiny trickle. I've never seen it this wide....ever! It was crazy! The rain stopped as quickly as it came and left a mess. Just a little Sunday afternoon adventure!
A shout out to Easton for graduating from middle school. The awkward years are officially over for him! I had the privilege of attending the ceremony that lasted a whopping 3 and a half hours long! What the heck! They had a huge awards assembly at the beginning of the program that went on WAY too long and then they moved into the graduation portion. You could hear audible groans coming from parents as the Principal continued to announce awards. It was just too much! But alas...we made it through and it was exciting to watch Easton walk. He has had a great year and we look forward to entering the doors of high school in August. I can't believe my youngest is going to high school. Another chapter is over.
Just found these lovely shots that I took while on my trip to Utah in April. We went out to eat A LOT and this is one of the many pictures taken while sitting at a table in a restaurant. You would think that all we do for fun is eat! This was at the new Outback restaurant in Provo....and it was OK. It's probably the last time I will eat there because my standout memory of that place is sitting right next to another table of people. Seriously, right next to them. It was awkward and kind of killed the atmosphere.
It was a glorious Mother's Day this year. I love my children and I know that I am truly blessed to be their mother. Each one of my children are unique and add so much to my life. Easton is the only child at home now and I am grateful to spend these years with him. I know how fast time flies now and he will be out of the nest before I can blink.
We had a fabulous steak dinner! It really was awesome. The Filet Mignon was perfectly grilled with just the right amount of pink in the center. On the side we had strawberry spinach salad, grilled fresh pineapple and a baked potato. Chocolate mousse was the extravagant dessert!
A picture with my favorite guy!
We went over to visit Stephen's mother....Brent and Stephen look super happy to be there!
A great picture of Stephen with his Mama and Daddy (Gene and Sandra)
You know it's Mother's Day when you get to Skype with your missionary son who is on a mission in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was such an awesome day to be able to spend an hour talking with Landon. He looked great and he sounded great! I loved hearing his voice and especially seeing and hearing him laugh with the family. What a blessing to have a son on a mission! I love this boy of mine so much and am so grateful to be his mother.
Another Carroll missionary has entered the mission field. We were privileged to hear my nephew, Colin speak in church a couple of weeks ago and then attend his open house that evening to give him our best wishes for an awesome two-year mission experience. He is now in the Chile mission training center and will be serving in Santiago, Chile. Good Luck Colin!
While on my visit to Utah in April Ashton and Brandon graciously planned an awesome Sunday dinner....they planned the menu, did the grocery shopping, provided the grill, brought everything to Grandma and Grandpa's and helped cooked the delicious meal. It was a fabulous meal of grilled Salmon and all the yummy sides to go with it. AND they brought one of Dallin's favorite fruits that he loved when he was in Brazil, a Jaca. It was huge and strange looking but both Dallin and Brandon were so excited to open that puppy open and get eating it!
And that's what it looks like on the inside. We all tried it and it was OK. Dallin said it wasn't very ripe so it wasn't as sweet as it is supposed to be. It was a fun experience....what do expect from a Brazilian fruit found at Harmon's in Provo, Utah!?!
All of the Homer cousins and Blackham cousins joined us for Chocolate Sundaes later in the evening.
From left to right: Cathy, Ginger, Renae, Susan, Julie, Me, Kris. In front: Tina and Debbie
At the beginning of April I took a week long trip out to Utah to see my high school friends and family. The high school girls that I hung out with in school and church had been planning to get together for over a year. We were going to spend the weekend in St. George at Cathy(Finlayson) Millers home. We had friends coming in town from all directions; Washington, California, Texas, Georgia and Utah. Everyone was able to make it except Jill Salisbury. I am so glad I made the trip out and was able to spend time with my friends that I haven't seen in years!
Left to Right: Me, Susan, Tina, Cathy, Julie, Kris
On Thursday morning we all met at 10:00 at the Village Inn in Sandy, Utah to carpool down to St. George. there were a total of nine of us that went. I rode with Cathy and Julie and it was amazing how fast the time flew as we talked and got caught up on our lives. It took about four hours to get there and then we moved into Cathy's little home in St. George. It was a beautiful home that Cathy and Bret built and it was so nice. There was a basketball court, pool, hot tub, tennis court and more in the backyard. It was a really fun place. We got settled in and then we went out to eat Mexican for dinner and then stopped at the grocery store on the way home to stock up the kitchen with food. We hung out in the hot tub that evening and just talked and talked and talked.
Kris has her car loaded up with half of her house!
The next morning I went on an early morning walk with Cathy and Ginger to get our exercise. The St. George scenery was beautiful with the red rocks and cliffs. After everyone got ready we headed out to go to Zion's National Park. Our plan was to find a nice place to go for a hike. We stopped for lunch right before getting to Zions.
After lunch we entered Zions and started driving through the amazing park and scenery. We stopped after a while to get some group pictures.
After this awesome shot we found a different spot and were getting organized to take another group picture when I discovered that I had big black ants crawling up my arm. I started to panic a little and tried to get them off. I noticed that Debbie, who had been standing next to me also had ants on the front of her shirt. We both scrambled to get the crazy ants off of us. I am allergic to certain ants so I was panicking a little. All of the ladies were super helpful and started picking them off me. They were everywhere but they were especially in my hair and you all know that I have crazy hair. My friends picked them carefully out of my hair and it took quite a while before I felt comfortable that they were gone! It was quite the scene! We looked like little monkeys picking bugs off of each other.
At one of our scenery stops it was discovered that Debbie's cute little white car was pretty much out of gas. She had forgotten to fill up before we hit the road in the morning and now she was running on fumes. We had a grand discussion on how the problem would be solved since there are no gas stations in Zions. After much discussion it was decided that we would all head back into town and be done with Zions for the day. We were all hopeful that Debbie could pretty much coast all the way to town because it would be down hill out of the canyon.
Just a little snippet of the problem solving conversation...
Debbie's car made it to the gas station....woohoo!
We made a quickie snack pitstop on the way home at a place called Swig. They sell yummy sugar cookies and other treats and fun flavored sodas and slushes. The cookies were so good!
For dinner that evening we gathered in Cathy's backyard to make our own personal pizzas that would be cooked in the brick oven in the backyard.
Ginger and Cathy
My pizza is just cooking away! It only took like three minutes to cook because it was so hot in the oven.
On Saturday morning a small group of us went on a hike in Snow Canyon. We kind of got off the beaten path and went exploring. The scenery was amazing and the weather was perfect. It did get a little warm as we got closer to lunch time but it was still very comfortable.
Tina, Renae, Cathy, Me (Sheila), and Debbie
After our hike we headed back to the house and grilled some chicken for lunch and then just hung out at the pool and played in the backyard and talked and laughed. We went shopping later and then in the evening we went to this really coo dinner place at the base of Snow Canyon right smack in the middle of the desert. I got a salmon taco and it was really yummy! I think we were all getting a little tired from two nights of really late nights so we played games for a while after dinner and went to bed.
I snapped these pictures as we were driving to church Sunday morning. After church we packed and then went our separate ways. What a fun weekend I had reconnecting with friends. It was great being able to catch up, laugh and reminisce and make new memories with each other. We are all very blessed.
