TOFW

A few years ago in Las Vegas I discovered a program called Time Out For Women. It's based on the principle that when our kids need a break and a chance to regroup we put them on "time out", but do we ever give ourselves a "time out" to regroup. It is a weekend away from your usual routine and an opportunity to laugh, cry, be uplifted and encouraged. Since then I have tried to attend whenever the program comes to the city I am living in or near. This year the closest event was in Reno. When I received the flyer I dismissed it at first because I would have to travel and pay hotel fees as well as registration fees but after a few months of the ups and downs of life (and I admit over those months it seemed like the downs outnumbered the ups) I started thinking seriously about going. Thankfully I have a wonderful considerate husband who recognized my need for a "time out". I think he was more than ready to put me on time out if I didn't go on my own! So on October 14th & 15th Katie, Andrea and I headed for Reno to take our "time out". The theme of this years event was Choose to Become. We had a wonderful weekend with inspired talks on learning to believe in ourselves, getting out of our own way, trusting Heavenly Father. There was great music, lots of laughter and a few tears. We learned a lot about ourselves and what we want and need to do to Become the women Heavenly Father would have us be. They challenged us to choose one thing we can do to Become closer to who it is we want to be and not to leave what we had learned in the convention center parking lot. On our way home Katie, Andrea, and I talked about what we personally took away from the program and what we want to accomplish in our lives. We set some daily goals that will help us reach our larger goals and agreed to return and report to each other on how we are doing. I am so grateful to have attended this event right after General Conference. Having the two weekends so close together helped to increase the power of the messages to me that Heavenly Father knows and loves me. I am thankful for Katie and Andrea's company that weekend, for the support they gave me to follow through on what I want to accomplish. While my kids are now old enough that they no longer need to be put on time out I hope I never miss an opportunity to put myself at Time Out. 

Fun with the Great Pumpkin

Greg and Carinna came up for a visit in mid-October so we decided to go have some fun. Dixon CA has one of the worldest largest corn mazes. Since it's only an hour from us we decided to give it a try. Upon entering the maze Ty informed us that he would be our GPS for the trip through the maze.

Greg, Carinna, our GPS system (other wise known as Tyler) and I somewhere in the first half of the  maze.

GPS guiding Greg

We caught up with Brian and hit the half way point where a nice employee offered to take our picture on the center bridge

Having navigated the maze successfully in 45 minutes our GPS needed a break. What better place to relax than in a giant corn bath?

Jaxon was a little less enthusiastic about the corn bath than GPS

The corn maze is in the same location as Cool Patch Pumpkins so of course we had to explore the pumpkin patch. GPS took mommy for a tour on the pedal car in search of the Great Pumpkin.

Not finding the Great Pumpkin with mommy GPS heads out again with daddy, Jaxon and uncle Greg

Unable to find the great pumpkin GPS trys again with Riley and Kevin. Will the third time be the charm?
 
Success at last! Riley finds her "great pumpkin"

While GPS was busy taking eveyone out looking for the great pumpkin Joe and Katie were busy collecting pumpkins to carve. Two full wagons later our bank account said that's enough!

After a long day of navigating corn mazes and searching for pumpkins Joe and I took a break with what appears to be the Sunkist Orange mascot (although I think it was supposed to be a pumpkin) before heading home. Lots of fun memories!

Craigslist strikes again!

While I was in Arroyo Grande with Greg, Joe found an ad on Craigslist for free sod. All you had to do was rent a sod cutter and go remove it from the yard it was in and put it in your yard. Sounds easy right? NOT! I missed all the fun as Joe, Riley, Kevin, Kaitlin, our friend Virol, our neighbors son Tyler, and Brian worked all day Monday cutting it, rolling it, transporting it, and laying it. It actually took Tuesday and part of Wednesday to get it all in place but we LOVE our new yard. Thanks, Craigslist!

Before and After

Riley decided to cut her hair. Here are the before and after shots.

Playing catch up yet again

It's been a busy few months. In April our 6th grandson was born - Jaxon Walker Butler son of Brian and Katie and little brother to Tyler. We love having two little guys in the house. On the 20th Joe and I celebrated our 32nd anniversary by attending the temple and going out to dinner.

At the beginning of May we headed down to Disneyland to spend a few days with Andrea, Todd and their boys. We had a blast with them. We took Ty with us so he could spend some time with Avery and Kaeden. They had such fun playing and riding rides together. Of course Papa spoiled all of them and we came home with a stash of pirate gear. At the end of May Kaitlin graduated from seminary. Nine down one to go. By the time Kevin graduates from seminary in 2013 we will have had a child in seminary for 19 year straight.

In June Joe had surgery on his left knee to fix a torn minicus. Then we headed to Las Vegas to help Andrea and Todd move into a new home. That was lots of fun! We got to babysit the boys and I got to decide where everything went in the kitchen as Andrea had to work.

July brought one of our greatest blessings as Amanda was sealed to Brian Carson in the San Diego Temple. We had the entire family together so of course we took new family pictures (when I say "we" I really mean Katie took new pictures for us) which is no easy feat since there are now 24 of us total. Todd pointed out that in 10 years our family has literally doubled in size. Kevin turned 16 and Kaitlin turned 18 while we were in San Diego. They are growing up too ffast! Shortly after coming home from San Diego Joe had a second surgery on his right knee as it had not healed well from the first one in October of last year. I was asked to do an interview for an online website called The Mormon Women Project. It was way outside of my comfort zone but with Joe's encouragement I did the interview and it is now posted at www.mormonwomen.com.

At the beginning of August I went to Arroyo Grande to be with Greg and Carinna as Greg was having a cervical fusion to repair a ruptured disc in his neck. A year ago I was in Denver with Amanda while she had her lower back fused. I hope there are no more August fusions in my future! I returned home in time for Joe to return to work in mid- August. After two days back he bent over to pick up his shoes and pinched a nerve in his back which led toanother 3 weeks off work. Talk about a long vacation! He was off work the entire summer (maybe he should have been a teacher!) Kaitlin started college at the end of August and Riley came home from college for a few months.

September brought the beginning of Kevin's junior year of high school and my birthday. Joe took me to lunch and then we went to the temple. When we arrived home I had a houseful of unexpected guests as Katie, Brian, Joe, Riley, Kaitlin, Kevin and Tyler had planned a surprise party for me. It was so much fun!

Brian, Katie, Tyler, and Jaxon left for Alaska. They will be gone for 10 days spending time with Katie's family and touring Denali National Park. We can't wait to see all of Katie's fabulous pictures when they return! Joe was finally cleared to go back to work today leaving the house very quiet and giving me the chance to catch up on my blog!

More uses for duct tape

On Tuesday I had surgery to fix two pinched nerves and a problem with the tendon in my right arm. Everything went well and I am recovering nicely. I cannot straighten my arm yet so everyday Joe or Brian help me to stretch it out and try to straighten it a little more. Since I cannot hold it straight for any length of time Brian has offered to duct tape it down to my leg for me. Thanks Bri!

All in a days work

Joe built a lookout tower in the tree for the kids to play in awhile ago but Tyler wanted a fort, so Brian decided to build one in the backyard which would attach to the lookout tower. The result? A castle of course!

Brian, Ty & Kevin hard at work. Although she doesn't appear in the pictures Kaitlin was hard at work on the other side of the building.

Ty trying to hide inside

The ladder to the second story

Ty wanted trees outside the door and flower boxes on the windows. Katie and I will make him a flag to fly on top but we have not been able to convince them that it needs flower curtains on the windows. Papa and daddy are trying to figure out how to make the drawbridge go up and down without electricity. So far they have not found a way to make it feasible for a 3 year old to manage by himself.

More Craigslist Finds

Here are a couple of the free items that Joe has found for us on Craigslist.


8 person hot tub. We had to completely reside it but it was worth it.

Redwood gazebo. Brian & Joe had to completely disassemble this at the previous owners home and then reassemble it in our backyard. Lots of fun but since it was free they were okay with it.

Joe brought home this concrete culvert from work and turned it into a firepit. Slowly but surely we are getting the yard done. Now if only someone would give away some sod!

About time

After four years and three months of dating Brian Carson finally proposed to Amanda. We are thrilled! They will be sealed in the San Diego Temple this summer. The year is off to such a great start! New furniture, new paint, new carpet, a new son-in-law, a new grandbaby, I mean really - what more could anyone ask?

More paint

One of the changes in the living room was new carpet. The carpet that came with the house was poor quality and was pretty worn even though we've only been here for 4 years. Along with the living room we decided to replace the carpet on the stairs, in the loft and upstairs hallways. Brian & Katie also replaced the carpet in their bedroom & Tylers room. We've been wanting to repaint the upstairs for several years now but had been putting it off. There's nothing like replacing the carpet to motivate the painting. So we once again began the discussions of what color to use. Fortunately for us Brian & Katie had bought more paint than they needed for their room & Tylers room so we used the left over paint and redid the entire loft and upstairs halls. The carpet arrived at the end of February and was installed right away. It was quite an adventure having the guys here all day installing carpet and Tyler thinking that he was one of them and should be allowed to help. One of the installers had his nose pierced and Tyler asked him why he had a staple through his nose. The guy replyed that "It seemed like a good idea at the time" to which Tyler responded that he should be more careful with the staple gun and that he (Tyler) could use a staple gun without getting a staple in his nose. We all had a good laugh. Thankfully the guy was a good sport and did not get upset. The walls are much lighter than they were before and I love the contrast between the light walls and the dark carpet. It is so nice to walk on soft floors! It is amazing to me how much difference there is now between the old and new carpet. With all the changes and rearranging of things we have teased Katie about spreading her "nesting" to the rest of us. She is only 4 weeks from delivery and while I really love the changes in the house I do hope we are done for awhile.

My how time flies!!

Ok so I knew I had not posted for awhile but over 3 months - that was a shock to see! As always life is never dull in the Shoehouse. Christmas came and went with lots of joy and love, was that really 3 months ago? January brought many changes in our home. First off I have to say that Joe has an addiction to Craigslist that I just cannot understand. I guess it's the thrill of finding a bargain - or better yet a freebie. Despite my forbidding this behavior (like I can forbid him anything!) he continues to search the list daily. I did ask if he was going to search the list would he at least look for things we really need instead of just finding things for fun. We ended up getting a new set of sofa's for our living room which was really nice. We moved the old living room set to the family room - much to Tyler's dismay - and I finally got rid of my mismatched couches in the family room. The first morning Tyler came down and saw the living room furniture in the family room he cried "I want the old ones back! I can't play on these." The fun began when we realized the new sofa's did not match the wall color or the drapes in the living room which set off a chain reaction of events resulting in an entirely new room. Katie knew that one of the ladies at church was getting a degree in interior design & suggested we call her. We bartered her design services for Katie's photograhs of the finished product for her portfolio. So after Amie's first visit we spent several days - or maybe it was weeks - trying to agree on a new wall color. After having sample cards taped to the wall for several days we narrowed it down to four and bought sample sizes of each one. After painting them on the wall we scrapped them all and started over. I lost count of how many colors we actually looked at but we finally found one that we could agree on and the work began. Removing all the furniture, cleaning walls, taping baseboards & crown moulding, windows, etc. While we were busy painting Amie was busy trying to find accessories and drapes to match the new furniture. It was a great agreement. I destest shopping and Amie loves it. So she did all the shopping and brought everything over. All I had to do was choose what I liked and she returned the rest. With her help and gudiance we have a room that we absolutely love and thanks to Katie, Amie will have another set of photo's for her portfolio. Here's the finished product photographed by Joe on our little camera since Katie's are not done yet.