I'm afwayed your gonna ground me....

Porter came home from school today totally mortified, he handed me the pretty little pumpkin seed he'd been growing since Halloween, I took it , told him how neat the plant was, but I couldn't understand why was soo sad. He said that I was gonna be too mad at him, and he was afwayed that I would ground him, because he'd gotten a red card, and he immediately started sobbing. When I finally got him calmed down he told me that he was just playing Cooper and Carter's game with them. It sounded innocent enough, but upon further investigation I discovered that the object of the game was to either wrestle your Nemesis to the ground or just take a swing at them. Everything was fine until his giant friend accidently caught someone, and that kid didn't like it, O and the name of this little game is; the "Hitting Game". Yeah I guess that's a problem. In Porter's defense, he never was lucky enough to lay a hand on anyone, and he learned a valuable lesson about, those whom you associate with.... Anyway the pumpkin sprout was real sweet, and to this day that has been his only red.

Pleeeease Grandpa...

Lake Powell has held some of the best memories of my childhood. We spent a lot of time there in the summers as a family. Swimming in the warm water, skiing, boogie boarding, sleeping under the stars, or just boating. The scenery alone is enough to imprint you for life. We would meet friends and extended family there, and we would take turns bringing friends from home. a lot of fantastic memories were born there, but my sister and brother would agree that one of the most vivid, was seeing the moon rising over the beautiful rocky landscape... We were just hangin out one evening, chillin on the boat when Dad said," hey do guys want to see something neat? we were like yeah! Okay then follow me and your mom, your gonna see the moon rise, it's so beautiful." So we jumped up on to the rocks and tried to keep up with Dad, he then told us to sit down where we were, and we would see it soon. We were all waitng excitedly, & Mom started yelling "look, look" and the next thing we saw was Dad's big white rear end mooning us! Yeah, we all thought it was pretty funny, and still do, it's just one of those images you can't get out of your brain! Well, eventually we moved, and Dad made the decision to sell the cabin cruiser, that was not an easy choice to make. Those were some dark days, and we still miss that family tradition!~ Recently we were fortunate enough to take our children to Lake Powell, and stay on the Kings house boat, it was awesome! It was one of the best things we have done with our kids, they loved it as much as I did when I was there age, although they still haven't had the opportunity to see the moon over the rocks. Hurry up Grandpa & buy a new boat!

Howe family favorites...

We love the water! Our most favorite family memories have been at the ocean in La Jolla, and on the water at Lake Powell!~ La Jolla is like experiencing a different lifestyle for many reasons, but we got lucky with Price line and got an amazing Hotel. It wasn't amazing because it was luxurious, it was the location! We literally could walk out the back of our hotel on to the beach. A private beach, which was maintained daily. And situated in a cove-like area, where there were only small waves so the little kids are safer. It was beautiful, and the hotel has complimentary beach chairs and towels, and you can also get food and drinks served right there on the sand. When we planned our vacation we wanted to have time on the beach, but we were also there for Sea World, which in hind sight wasn't necessary (although Steph loves marine life). the beach was the most fun by far and less expensive, the time passed too quickly and the kids were never bored. The water was warm and calm enough for lil' boogie boarders, and the sand was soft, perfect for laying on, or making sand sculptures and of course Brooklyn's fav. collecting sea shells. At night it was a little chilly, but you could build a fire to roast wieners and marshmallows,(we haven't done that yet, but it sounds so beach bummy, beach bummy that's funny.) Anyway, my best thing was just sitting quietly on the beach listening to the waves and watching the dark water in the moonlight there is something a little scary about how powerful the water is and that it can be deadly, the massiveness of the sea is truly awesome.. It's spiritual, I could sit there every night, to wind down it's the most relaxing thing in the world.

PTC ; J., T. and me...

JoAnna , and Toni; my girls, my sisters. I have been blessed to have amazing women in my life! These two are unique because the 3 of us have very different stories, but we get each other exactly, there is a bond because of our experiences. We love each other, and even though there is an odd number, no one is ever out.

Sister from another Mr.

I don't know what I would have done the last 17 years without my girlfriends! I couldn't count how many times they have been there for me when I needed them.... Char was my first true girlfriend. We met at S.U.U. in Cedar City , Utah when our husbands got put on the same softball team. Char was like being back with my family, it seemed like we'd always known each other, we thought the same things were funny, and we had so much in common. That's when I decided I could live in Cedar. She let me wash our clothes at her house so I wouldn't have to be outside freezing and pregnant going up and down the stairs of our scuzzy apartment. We wall papered our trailer house's together, you can't say that about many people. I got to be with her when she was converted to the gospel and entered the waters of baptism against the wishes of some of the most important people in her life. Char showed me how to be a good wife, ( she had been married a whole year longer than me). She was there at Charlee bug's 6 week check up, when the doc. told me that my baby had a heart defect and would most likely need surgery, I wouldn't have been able to get back to Cedar without her.... The night she lost the baby that she and Sterling had tried so hard to conceive, was the night I knew she was my sister, it was so painful to see her go through that. She loved my child and was like Bug's 2nd mommy. We stayed with her family parent's when we would have to make the trek so often to Primary Children's Hospital for appointments. We'd share dinners, and late nights while the boys were studying or having Nintendo tournaments. And the day Colton was born was one of my happiest memories. I was finally able to teach her something, I was a champion breast feeder. We started our first business together, the "Sports Court"and watched our first "venture" be not so successful. Soo many hysterical memories that when we talk about them today we can't stop laughing. Like when we couldn't understand why we weren't losing weight, when we were going to step-aerobics at least once a day, and eating no fat! Later we realized that having that large fat-free frozen yogurt everyday after working out, or eating ton's of "fat free pasta dishes and "fat free" Hot Tamales could have been the culprit. No wonder why a couple of years later the Atkins diet was the first one that ever worked for us!
~The day Loren and I left for Arizona to begin the process of opening our own Big O Tires, we couldn't stop crying, that sucked. I Listened to the tape of Dan Folglegberg she had made for me the whole way to the Valley, (Loren was driving the U-haul) or that wouldn't of ever happened.
~We have not been fortunate enough to live in the same place again, but we have traveled to be with each other for milestones in our lives, and spent hundreds of hours on the phone. Both of our families have grown and changed, the same with our hairstyles, and jobs, but when we are lucky enough to be together, it is as if no time has passed, and nothing has changed.....

If I could have any talent, it would be singing...

Man O man, Our Stake is so talented! Tonight we went to the Stake musical, and it was amazing! Stephi was in the Young Women's choir(she was great!) and Emmi did a taped piece, about how reading the scriptures as a family makes her feel happy.(she was super cute) I am very happy that our children are being raised in this Stake, It was so moving to watch the scriptures being acted out in such a beautiful way. And beautiful art work also, especially the Tree of life quilt, Nancy.... O yeah by the way, today work was easier, I worked with 2, and they were very different from eachother, both were mostly smiley and happy! It was nice, I can't beleive how quickly you bond with these kids, I think it's because they're innocent, and they love you so easily....... Goodnight, Soccer for Steph and Porter bright and very early in the mornin.

I was so wrong...

Today i was supposed to be at a job, that when I got there it had been over staffed. They ended up sending me to another school to be an aide for a paticular girl for the next 2 days. When I walked in It was full of big kids, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. First thing, a sweet boy named ***** offered me some hand sanitizer, I took some and said thank you, then the teacher told me that the girl I was supposed to work with was the most violent child of them all, and had actually injured people, so they put me with"hand sanitizer boy". I had already realized that these children were autistic or something similar, which was fine but I soon found out why H.S. boy had the sanitizer at his seat. One of the teachers told me that he was a "licker", he would lick (slobber) his hands and arms and wipe them on his face and hair and then on me. Now if anyone knows me, they know that I have an issue with germs and I'm sure that my eyeballs were about to pop right out of my head, when she instructed me to be very firm, wash him up, and re-direct him, which would be often. So ***** is as tall as I am and definitely stronger, getting him to stay in his seat was a challenge, he could only focus about 2 seconds at a time and then I would firmly remind him of his task(coloring, puzzles or blocks). I would have to put my hand on his to help him trace a shape, and tell him to look at what he was doing. He could only say one syllable sounds not words and his favorite was ta- ta which meant computer(his most favorite thing). All he wanted to do was just sit very close to me and smile this goofy grin,which made you love him, or he would want to get up and wonder. It was not an easy day, but at the end of it, he was responding to me, he would color consistently for about5-7 seconds while looking at what he was doing! and that small thing was so exciting, that we would have to high 5 between colors! He would hold onto my hand while I cut feathers, that he had colored for his turkey. I was more comfortable with him by the time I left. The other kids had issues of their own, but I just kept having a recurring feeling that they have whole and amazing spirits who had agreed to live on this Earth with their disabilities. And I had a new respect for the people who work with these children every day, but mostly I felt respect and love for him.... I think I am going to be able to go again tomorrow.