Favorites

Awhile ago I saw this on a blog and it made me start to think of some of my favorite things. These are just a few but seriously it just makes you feel better about life to stop and think of some of your favorite things. When I read a lot of my favorite things, it really deals a lot with our senses....sights, sounds, and smells. Fall kind of puts you in that mindframe the sights of the leaves changing, the sounds of leaves crunching as someone walks on them, smells of soups and candles.  Since Fall is my favorite time of the year I thought I would share some of my favorites....

1. My husband.
2. My children.
3. My family.
4. Hugs from my kids.
5. One on one time with my kids.
6. Talking with my husband, actually talking about life without any interruptions from kids or life!
7. Our home.
8. The smell of clothes after they have been hanging on the clothesline outside, better yet a bed made with freshly washed and clotheslined dried sheets, YUMMY!!
9. The smell of baking bread, I remember when I was growing up on Saturday evenings folding towels for my mom while she was taking out homemade bread, I'll NEVER forget the smell.
10. Cinnamon rolls
11. A hot bowl of soup on a cold day. I remember coming home from school when my mom had been home from work, the house was clean, and I could smell soup cooking YUM!!
12. Tulips, I LOVE them.
13. Seeing tulips and daffodils come out in the spring!
14. A tulip picked by a child and given to you as a surprise.
15. Wildflowers, I LOVE them.
16. Daisies
17. Okay, face it I love flowers and mostly I love working in my flower gardens in the summer, there is something tranquil about it!! Don't get me wrong though I don't like weeds either.
18. The sound of a creek.
19. The smell after a rain.
20. A lightning and thunderstorm
21. The seasons as they change.
22. The season Fall.
23. The beautiful Fall leaves.
24. The chill of a Fall football game
25. Laughter
26. Laughter of a child
27. Laughing with my kids
28. Playing games with my children
29. Playing games with friends and family
30. Eating out, but not so often that it becomes routine.
31. Going for a ride in the car
32. Going for a ride in the fall to see the beautiful fall colors on the trees
33. Afternoon naps.
34. Camping
35. Hiking
36. Dutch Oven Food
37. Roasting marshmallows over campfire, just not eating them, well unless they are between a lot of chocolate and graham crackers.
38. Watching my children when they give me a "perfectly" roasted marshmallow that is golden brown. They are so proud, how could I turn it down, that is where the chocolate and crackers come in.
39. Sledding with my children.
40. Hot chocolate after sledding.
41. A snowball fight
42. The crackling of firewood burning in the fireplace on a snowy night.
43. The feeling on Christmas Eve.
44. Playing "Secret Santa"
45. Finding the "perfect" gift for someone and watching them open it.
46. A beautiful sunset.
47. Taking time to enjoy a sunset.
48. A relaxing afternoon enjoying the sun's rays!
49. A canoe ride
50. Floating the river
51. A good mystery book.
52. Music
53. Country music
54. George Strait
55. Reba, her music and her television show.
56. Baking
57. The smell of things baking
58. Cooking and baking with kids and spending time talking with them as we cook.
59. A warm chocolate chip cookie.
60. Delivering homemade goodies to a friend or family member.
61. Visiting with an old friend
62. Making new friends
63. A girls night out with friends
64. Diet Pepsi
65. Reeses Peanut Butter Cups
66. Gooseberry cookbooks, not just recipes but their fun ideas http://www.gooseberrypatch.com/ 
67. Getting a recipe from a friend or family
68. Craft Shows
69. Blogging
70. The smell of a candle burning.
71. The glow of a candle burning.
72. A clean house
73. Watching my children succeed
74. The color blue
75. Lilac trees and lilacs
76. The smell of lilacs
77. Coloring with crayons with my children
78. Getting colored pictures from my children
79. Getting a handwritten note from from my children when they were just learning to write and spell
80. A child's smile
81. A baby's laugh, especially when theygiggle clear from their toes.
82. The smell of a baby after their bath and when they have baby lotion on them.
83. A bubble bath
84. A shiny sink, okay check out Flylady for explanation on this one http://www.flylady.com/
85. The smell of potato harvest and the pit, I know call me crazy.
86. A baked potato, especially fresh from the field!  It's a comfort food.
87. Not just a baked potato, but all the yummy toppings!
88. Speaking of comfort foods, chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy!!
89. Carving pumpkins AFTER they are cleaned out
90. Pumpkin Pie, especially my mom's.
91. Okay any pie my mom makes, cherry, apple...you get the picture!!
92. Holidays
93. Decorating for the holidays, just not cleaning up the mess
94. A ride to see the Christmas lights
95. Traditions
96. Memories of holidays and the traditions of each one.
97. My country and those that fought for my freedom so I can enjoy my favorite things!

So what are some of your favorites?

Tuesdays Thoughts and Tidbits

Since it is Tuesday I thought I would actually post a Thoughts and Tidbit.  Today's thought is "Think Pink".  Recently a childhood friend's daughter was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Jana's daughter, Morgan, was 15 at the time she was diagnosed.  Just days after her first chemotherapy she turned 16 and last week she went to the homecoming dance with her hair shaved and a matching beanie.  I've been thinking about Morgan, her mom, and her family a lot lately and my prayers have definitely included them.  Jana has had to go through a lot of trials and if anyone can handle them positively Jana can and now, once again, her, her daughter, and their family are handling things positively.  My thoughts and prayers are with them. 

Today Morgan goes in for her second chemotherapy.  This is a picture of her before she started chemotherapy.  (I hope Jana and Kylee, her older sister, don't mind that I stole a picture from their blog.)Isn't she pretty!

 She is pretty without hair too.  This is a link to her blog.
http://www.welovemorganwatson.blogspot.com/



Now like I said Morgan's mom, Jana, and I were childhood friends. We went to school together when we were young and what is funny is my mom and Jana's mom were childhood friends too. The four of us even went to lunch together a few times. Now fast forward a bit. Jana and I both took our kids to the most wonderful babysitter there is, Sheila Gummow. Jana's sister's daughter, Nicole, and Harleigh have also gone to Sheila's together.  Sheila's daughter posted some pictures of the kids way back when. I hope that Shari doesn't mind but I stole some of her pictures too. I looked at them the other night with the kids. Brodie and Jayce have been aware of Morgan and the cancer but I think seeing the pictures brought back some memories for them too and it hit home even more. I'm even allowing them to wear their "I Love Boobies" bracelets now.

So this Tuesdays Thoughts and Tidbits is for Morgan, my thoughts and prayers are with her and her family today as she goes through chemotherapy again and this tidbit, Friday is the first of October and October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, may we all try to become a little more aware, wear pink, and think pink for Morgan and so many others !!!

Where Did Summer Go?

Yesterday was the first day of Autumn and, even though fall is my favorite season, it left me wondering "Where Did Summer Go?"  Seriously it seems like summer went so quickly this year, maybe because most of June it rained and summer didn't seem to get here until July.  I cannot believe that I did not even blog all summer long and when I thought about fall's arrival I stopped and wondered what did we do this summer.  I got out the camera and looked through pictures that I took so now instead of individual posts of our summer you get one long post of a few of our summer's highlights:

One of my co-workers, Aaron Smith, works at an elk ranch and their family invited us out to see the elk.  It was pretty cool.  There were so many of them.  It rained most of the time we were there but it was still a great time.  Notice the younger kids pose for pictures but not my older boys, had to just take one of them whether they liked it or not.  Harleigh hung out at the Smith house quite a bit this summer playing with Aly and Annie.  In fact one night I went to pick her up and was informed that there was no Harleigh Davison there only Harleigh Smith and that I could go back home, without a little girl named Harleigh.  Finally she did agree to come home with me.  Thanks Kara for letting her hang out with you guys so much this summer, she loved it. 

We took a trip to the zoo with my sister-in-law Rima when her granddaughters were here for the summer.  Brynn and Addi are a year older and a year younger than Harleigh so she loves it when they are in town.  Rima's daughters, Eraleigh and Timmorie, joined us and so did Kim, Brentlie, Courtnie, Kaydn and Emma.  The kids had a lot of fun but it was HOT that day. 

The kids enjoyed the back yard.  Harleigh and Jayce set up the pool and kept it up for awhile in the back yard, emptying and moving it every other day.  Jayce decided to set the tent up for a week and sleep out each night.  Harleigh and I attempted it one night but it was the night that there were hundreds, okay, maybe a dozen, ambulances going by.  Since we live so close to the hospital we REALLY got the full affect of the siren.  Harleigh would almost get to sleep and another ambulance would go by, she'd wake up and start giggling, then Jayce would start making siren sounds and she'd giggle even more, finally we ended up in the house.  Here is a picture of Harleigh and Jayce in the pool.  Jayce showing off his six pack abs and Harleigh just waiting for me to put the camera down so she can throw a water balloon at me. 

What would summer be without the 4th of July parade.  Harleigh and I walked down to our usual spot, the intersection by the Courthouse, to watch the parade.  We took a few pictures of the officers that I work with, we've just started an Honor Guard for the police department, this was before their new uniforms came in so Dustin Hirschi and Kellen Whetten didn't have their "full" attire on.  They have their uniforms now and they are pretty impressive to watch.  Eric Wheeler was a having a little too much fun on the four wheeler and we couldn't pass up getting a picture of Bart Smith picking up candy while on his bicycle, but I did miss the picture of him giving the candy to a little girl. 

Harleigh and I also went down to Idaho Falls to see the fireworks on the 4th of July.  We had a great seat.  My cousin Joy lives near the airport and saved us a spot in a parking lot close by.  We backed the pickup in, the girls played games while I visited with Joy and her husband Lynn, we watched the fireworks, and were on the road ahead of most of the traffic, it was GREAT!!  Definitely will be something we try to do next year.

We went to another parade in St. Anthony at the Pioneer Day's Parade on the 24th of July.  First we worked at the DARE car wash at Ray's and then went up to St. Anthony for the parade.  Harleigh had to wear the DARE t-shirt she got for helping at the car wash, she thought it was pretty cool.

We also went to the Blue Angels airshow in Idaho Falls.  Brodie and Todd are a part of the Civil Air Patrol so they worked at the airshow.  On the Saturday Harleigh, my sister-in-law Tammie, and I just parked the car nearby and watched the airshow and actually had an awesome view without the crowd.  Brodie and Todd worked until later that night, came home exhausted and sunburned and got up and went to it again early the next morning.  Todd called me and told me he could get me in a back gate and I could avoid the parking crowd so we headed down again.  I LOVE going to an airshow with Todd because he was in the Air Force so he can tell me about all of the planes and makes it so much more interesting.  I just don't think they would be as enjoyable without him.  It was awesome seeing the Blue Angels, they put on such a great show!!

We took a ride to Bone to see the HUGE windmills.  We've always wanted to get close to them and they are so big.  Harleigh wanted to pose like a windmill when we stopped to take pictures.  We even saw a deer nearby.

Jayce turned 15 on August 4 and wanted to celebrate at Heise.  I took the day off of work and took the kids along with two of Jayce's friends to Heise.  It was WONDERFUL, we had a great time and soaked up lots of Vitamin D, maybe a little too much since we came home with some sunburns that reminded us of the fun we had for a good week after.  Jayce also got his driving permit this summer, he still has to have someone over 18 in the passenger's seat with him but he can drive now and in February will be able to drive on his own, just a little heads up if you are on the streets of Rexburg. 

This one makes me laugh because even though Jayce and Harleigh fight CONSTANTLY he was right there to watch her jump off the diving board and just in case Jayce couldn't handle things his buddy Jake was right there watching over her too. 

And summer wouldn't be complete without the annual police department campout.  We went to Big Elk Campground again this year near Palisades.  The weather was great and it was SO nice to get away.  We always have a great time.  Harleigh has a blast playing will all of the other girls there.  This year we were entertained by our cooks.  Not only did we get some good food but check out their attire, it was VERY entertaining.  Not only did they cook up a good dish but they even played some horseshoes.  Lets just say those shorts were VERY, VERY short!!

Just like the campout summer wouldn't be complete without a float trip.  We finally were able to go the weekend before school started.  We rented a boat from BYU-Idaho and then headed to Island Park.  We floated twice down Box Canyon and then headed to Warm River to float from Warm River to the Ashton Bridge.  This is one of my favorite things to do in the summer.

And with the end of summer comes back to school pictures.  The kids started school the end of August.  Harleigh is in the 3rd Grade this year. 

She even let me fix her hair that day and wanted me to take a picture of it.

Jayce is a Sophomore at the new Madison High School.  Can we just say that the new high school is HUGE!!  Don't you love Jayce's smile!  My boys seriously HATE these back to school pictures. 

And here is Brodie, the Senior, VERY, VERY happy for his picture.  I goofed and the first picture didn't turn out so I had to take another one and can't you just read what he was saying "are you serious, another one!"  Oh I love my boys!!

And there you have it some of our highlights from this summer.  Not everything was captured on camera and there was so much more that I wanted to do this summer with the kids.  I just can't believe that summer is over and it is now fall.  Like I said ...."Where Did Summer Go?"