Happy 1st little Ella!

Happy Birthday Umbrella-Ella-Ella-Ella-Kissed-a-Fella-Ella-Ella!

We love ya!

Sorry that I forgot to post this on your birthday, October 5th!

Happy Birthday Brandon!!

Dang!

Hope you had a great day!

Brandon... Hard to believe you are 14! Let me tell you, this kid is taller than me! I think his foot is bigger then mine too! He is a very good-looking kid, with such a manly voice now.

Save me a piece of cake!

Dad, why do you have a Strawberry?

...Lindsey asked last night. Shawn looked at me, I looked at Lindsey. Confused, I asked Lindsey, "A strawberry?" Yes, why does dad have a strawberry phone? Hmmmmm....

Then I realized she said the wrong fruit...

While I still use the 2005 hand-me-down phone. Hand-me-downs are good, right?
We all had a good laugh.

In 40 years...

Will I really be missing all the little things that are happening now? After President Monson's talk, and then reading some blogs of friends who are more wiser than me, I have decided yes... I will miss~

Josh's moodiness especially when he doesn't want to do something, like, let's say... going to his Eagle Scout Board of Review last night. He pleaded, begged and even bribed (I almost got to go eat at Outback last night!), but I didn't give in, and he was moody until almost 7pm. He passed (who doesn't?), and is now an Eagle Scout!

Lauren's back-talking over everything and anything she doesn't get her way with. Maybe it will be her crying over the rest of the stuff? Maybe it's because she is 13 1/2?

Kayley's poutiness whenever she is asked to do something that she doesn't like... no matter what it is or the circumstance it may be.

Jacob's angriness over anyone who gets in his way while playing Game Boy or N64 or Sim City, and so therefore has been grounded from them for the next week.

Krissy's whininess every morning that it's time to get up for school or church. Saturdays are the best day for her to be in a great mood. Other days? Forget it!

Lindsey's tandrums for not being able to go to school even though she is the first one up and ready to go before anyone else!

Joey's mischievous ways... oh, will I miss the whole bottle of antibiotic being spilled from a supposedly kid-proof bottle, I doubt it. But I suppose I will miss having to dig things out of the toilet & trash can, and all the messes he makes in between.

But all in all, I have some great kids. Whose family is perfect? All families have their ups & downs. I will miss for sure the times when my kids got along, we did things as a family, and the times when we felt close to our Lord & Savior. I know this may sound sappy and all, but I will miss it. Josh is about to be gone in a year's time. I was thinking about this last night. I hope he remembers the good times we had. I hope he remembers that we did our best, even if it was buying a green mini-van that he hated! I will miss Lauren's talks about boys: "Mom, can I have a boyfriend?" Are you 16? "No." Well, then that's your answer. She's already had a boyfriend, yes, and hours did they speak on the phone, but after speaking to her, I told her maybe it would be better if they were just friends. She agreed, and still talks with Matt.

I do hope in 40 years my kids can look back and thank me, just like I have thanked my parents for the way they raised me. Things I did wrong were my choice, not because my parents didn't raise me well. They did they best they knew how, just like me.

How low will it go?

This morning at the Texarkana Sams:

$3.08

Cry baby, cry!!

Update

Shawn's aunt from Norman, Oklahoma emailed me: $2.98!

HO-LY COW!!

I love President Monson!

I just love listening to him!! I loved his closing remarks from the 1st session! There is hope that one day my laundry will be caught up... and he even said I would miss it! Excellent speakers, even from the General YW Leader, Elaine Dalton, who Josh grumbled about. He takes after his dad... "no women should ever speak at conference." I guess because they are so "happy" and "cheerful" and have their little squeaky voice that men can't stand? Geez!

Because I was so busy in my family history work this weekend, instead of homemade Cinnabon cinnamon rolls, my kids got and absolutely went gaa-gaa for

(which I don't understand!):

And I also made french toast. Yep... full of unnutritious ingredients & white flour!

But, I had to steal a piece of the white bread and smother it with real butter!

Past few days...

Where to start? The weather here has been changing, and it's been quite nice. Cool throughout the day and night. I don't think my a/c has kicked on at all. But because of season changes, kids get sick. Krissy started with the hacking cough, still has it some, but not as bad as Joey. Most of them have the sniffles too, but not as bad as Joey. Finally I took him in this morning, and yep... double ear infection too! 3rd time since getting his tonsils out! Maybe I should have had tubes done? I think I am going to take him back to the ENT, so he can possibly have his 3rd surgery before the age of 2. Poor kid is miserable. Dr. Platt is in SLC @ conference this weekend, so I got the doc on call, and he was pretty cool. Can't remember his name.

Can't get caught up with my laundry. I hate laundry.

Some of you know that I have a job. It's not a hard job, and I'm not getting paid up front. A sister in our ward had asked Josh to help her with some family history work. The deal was, he did it, and she would pay so much a month in a mission fund in his name. Easy, right? Well, he didn't think so. So I talked with her, and I asked her if I could do it, and my pay would be putting money into his mission account. Afterall, missions are $10K now. Usually I waited until she called me to tell me when she was going, and then I would get some names for her from my side of the family. We had names that had been ready for so long, but no one to do them yet. She called me on Thursday telling me she was going to Dallas next week for a whole week, and needed names. "Great", I thought... where was I going to get more names? I think I've submitted all the names that I could find without having to go start looking up names (which is a pain to do on dial-up). 2 things happened this week that I would like to share with you:

1. My gramma's dad was married to another lady before he married my great-gramma. He had about 12 children with that wife before she died. Gramma was the 6th child with her parents. WOW! My great-gramma's name was always the name that showed up because afterall, she was related to me, not the 1st wife. But on Thursday (maybe Friday), the 1st wife's name was showing up on the direct line. I thought "how weird" since I'm the only one who goes into Family Search, and I've never clicked on her name to be the direct name. I decided to click on it to just see what was there. WOW!!! Hundreds of names to be done!! I was kinda excited that I can help a line that isn't "mine" perse, but in a way, they are 1/2 relatives... KWIM? I was able to print some names off, and I know these people are so excited to finally be able to have their work done.
2. A sister in my ward is blind in one eye, and legally blind in the other (but she still drives... scary!). She isn't computer literate. Because she is a convert to the church, a lot of her family history work has not been done. She told me she had tons of names to be done, and she asked me if I could help her. "Sure", I said, thinking it would be just a few here and there. She gave me a box with 4 file folders FILLED with articles, obits, stories, etc... She has quite the family. Almost every Texas town in Central Texas is named after someone in her family line, including her great uncle who Randolph Air Force Base is named after; Bell County for her great-great grandparents; plus Millican, Anderson, Bartlett, McGregor plus hundreds of cemeteries named after someone from her family. Her family was well known in Austin. It's pretty amazing to read about her family. Past 2 days I have been able to add names to her file, and I think I have gotten a least 150+ names ready for the Temple, plus already another 100 more for next time. I called her today, and told her, and she was so happy.

I am on the 3rd folder right now. I'm about 1/2 way done with it. I think I will take a few days break so I can get caught up with my laundry. :-(

Madusa no more

Exactly one year ago, I had Lindsey's hair chopped off. We had cut 10-12 inches off, and the plan was for me to send the piggies to Locks of Love, but that never happened. I just found the bag the other day. I'll either send them in, or save them in her babybook. Since then, I haven't cut Lindsey's hair. This is how long it grew over the year. And it was beginning to get on my nerves some. She hated for me to comb it out (#1 reason we cut it last year!). This is her serious case of bed head in the front...

and in the back.

This is her after she got her hair cut a few weeks ago.

Krissy got hers done too. They both want the pink hair again this month (Breast Cancer Awareness Month), so I may let them. I don't know if I want to cut their hair this short again though. I love putting their hair up in a ponytail with cute bows, and it's hard to do that with short hair. Krissy actually wanted hers shorter, but I told her no.

"You're going down!"

Some of our good friends, the Cooks, came over for dinner just before they moved to Virginia in August. We really enjoyed getting to know their sweet family. Jeramy was the Seminary teacher for Josh's last year. As the Cooks were beginning to load up their family to go home, Josh challenged Jeramy to an arm-wrestling match... Shawn always allows Josh to win at least one match throughout the course of wrestling, but not Jeramy!

"On your mark, get set..."
"Go, Josh, go!"
Poor Josh... didn't have a chance with Jeramy!

Talk about family resemblance!

Lauren

1952

1960
1968
1990

Kayley

1950

1964

1968

1978

1980

1996
Jacob

1990

1994

(And no, I don't have anything better to do)

Visiting in Homer, LA

Yesterday kids didn't have school, nor did Shawn have to go to work. We've been trying to get to Homer to visit Mamaw Davis for a long time, but it just never seem to work out. We decided yesterday was going to be the best time even if Josh couldn't make it. We had a great time visiting Mamaw Davis in the nursing home. Mamaw Davis had hundreds of Mardi Gras beads, and gave them to the girls to play with and keep. Kids entertained them all with singing, playing the piano, running around, being cute...

and playing with the wheelchairs! Kids had a great time! The little girl sitting next to Joey is Emma Katherine, another great-grandchild who lives in Homer. She and Joey are 4 1/2 months apart, and were so cute playing together.
Joey has found a hat that actually fits him well. I thought Mimi & Grampa would be proud!

21 months old

I have been really bad past few years of getting pictures done on schedule. I really like this one of Joey. I just did it B&W on my computer, but I am going to get it printed in color. I think it's very cute of Joey. I need to get Lindsey done soon too.

Shawn was feeling left out...

1988~ Year Shawn was on his mission.

1976~ Shawn actually looked like this in 1984-86...

I'm trying to decide on a new hairdo...

1996 look

1994 look

1984 look

1970 look (year I was born)

What do you think? Any suggestions?

In today's local paper

Helping hands

Local church group helps clean up after recent hurricanes

By: Rhonda Morrow - Texarkana Gazette -

Published: 09/27/2008

Submitted photo Members of the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently volunteered in Baton Rouge for hurricane damage cleanup. They are, back row from left, Joshua Miller, homeowner Monica Chedville, Mark Hoskins, Robert Anderson and Brandon Jenkins; middle row from left, Kevin Platt, Ricky Bowman, Henry Platt, Steve Davis and H.J. Platt; and front row from left, Michael Anderson and Mark Tew.

Sometimes work for the Lord is done in such a way the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing.

Then there are times when the sound of the chainsaws makes it impossible to be discreet.

Such is the case with members of the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-

day Saints who went to Baton Rouge to participate in clean-up after the recent hurri-canes.

The group was one of several hundred from the denomination that took their chainsaws, tools and ATVs to help with the cleanup organized by Martin Luther King III, son of legendary civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The younger King is the founder of Realizing the Dream, which spearheaded the cleanup. His vision for the organization is to help fulfill his father’s dream of creating communities where people are united and help each other as they work to eradicate poverty.

Local volunteers helped at the home of Darryl and Monica Chedville, who own the 10-

acre Lucky Plantation. The plantation was home to large pecan and live oak

trees destroyed during the storms.

Initially, the crew was given two work orders for their two-day stint, but by the time their two days were completed, they had actually assisted seven families.

H.L. Platt, leader of the local church, thinks the experience was an example of true religion cited in the Bible at James 1:27.

“I feel like we have participated in what ‘true religion, undefiled’ really is,” he said.

The local Latter-day Saints volunteers are part of a much larger crew working with King’s organization this weekend in Houma, La. King’s request was for 1,000 volunteers—a number Jileen Platt, local spokeswoman, said was exceeded.

Fact for the day by Heidi

Did you know that when you buy Hershey Bars w/Almonds (6 pack), they are only made with 8 whole almonds? And they are lined up in a row right down the center of the bar? And that the almonds aren't even big for the price you pay for the candy bars, and that you can almost eat the whole candy bar before even eating an almond if you eat it just right?

A new wallet

When I turned 18, my friend, Kenna, gave me a wallet. It was black and really nice since I had never had a new cool wallet like that before. I think the wallet I had before that was red, and I got it when I was like 11, so it had been a long time. I used that black wallet until 1992 (I think I actually still have it in my cedar chest!). Mom worked at a resale shop ran by the Junior League, and those rich ladies had to donate so many $$$ of clothes a year. Mom would call me whenever someone brought in nice stuff (especially from a few ladies who had sons just a bit older then Josh). The money that was made at the store was then donated to the community. The prices were never high, and quite affordable to a student's family. One day, a lady dropped off some stuff, and in her stuff was a blue Liz Claiborne purse & wallet. I loved that purse until it just gave way years ago, and used that blue wallet until last Saturday. That was 16 yrs! This is my new Liz wallet:

I got it at TJ Max's for $12. I am really excited for it. I love it! The inside is even pink, my favorite color! It has tons of pockets for my credit cards (LOL!), and a place for pictures. It came with a checkbook cover, but I couldn't get it to work with my duplicate checks, so I tossed that.

Guess what I did?

LOL! I crack myself up. So last night I'm at Walmart @ 11pm, and I am going down the aisle of all the kitchen/household stuff, dreaming and dreaming some more. I then head over to the food aisle to get a couple of things, and pass the jewelry counter. That's where they have the gift registry for "Baby", "Wedding", or "Wish". I click "WISH" and add my personal info, and tonight I headed back to Walmart. I got the little black hand-held (oh, BTW... found my Soduku game in Joey's toybox). and went to the same aisles as last night. Added stuff that I wanted! Yep, sure did! Even the $300 something Cricut (makes those vinyl letterings for cool projects), and all the supplies to go with it!! For the "date" I put my 20th Anniversary... 8 September 2009. LOL!! I'm heading to Target next, and maybe Bed, Bath & Beyond.

If anyone wants to buy me something over the next year, you know where to look now! Also, now I should be able to get something decent for Christmas since all Shawn has to do now is go print my list! LOL!!!!

So not fair!

My dad is in Hawaii. Unfortunately by himself as my mom couldn't go because it's work-related. Even staying by the PCC and the Temple.

And he has a condo to himself, so all Shawn & I would have to do is get tickets over there, and rent a car, and stay with him! How cheap would that be? Not very... ain't going. Take pictures for me Dad! I am jealous!

Funniest thing I have ever read

(well, at least today it is...)

Because we all know what Bill Clinton was really saying when he said Palin was hot!