40 Days Challenge

Forty Days, Forty Bags of stuff out of the house.

1. Master closet
2. Master Bath
3. Night Stands
4. Laundry Room
5. Laundry Room
6. Girl's Bathroom
7. Mud Room
8. Mud Room
9. Coat Closest
10. Lazy Susan Cupboard
11. Under Kitchen Sink
12. Pantry
13. Refrigerator
14. Freezers
15. Storage Room
16. Storage Room
17. Basement bathroom
18. TV stand
19. Savannah's Room
20. Joe's Room
21. Veronica's Room
22. Bruce's Room
23. My dresser
24. Travis's dresser
25. Theater
26. Book Shelf in Dining Room
27. Furnace Room
28. Furnace Room
29. Joe's dresser
30. Garage refrigerator
31. Garage freezer
32. Garage shelves
33. Garage shelves
34. Garage steps
35. Garage
36. Garage
37. Honda
38. Subaru
39.
40.

Funny Conversation

Joe: Hey Mom, do you want to know why I think Heavenly Father gave us singing voices?

Me: Why?

Joe: To sing church songs, not swearing songs.

A Very Good Night

Bruce's mission call came in the mail Wednesday, so we gathered in the evening at Grandpa and Grandma's house to open the call. There were 59 people in attendance, with six more on Skype and a couple of others on the phone. The news was exciting--Taiwan Taipei. He goes in the MTC on January 5, 2011 and will learn Mandarin Chinese.

He's taken two years of Mandarin Chinese in High School, so he was especially excited. I was so happy he got a call he was so thrilled with.

Four people predicted correctly and won king-sized candy bars. Everyone else had to be satisfied with cookies. Bruce and Travis spent the next 45 minutes calling other grandparents, friends, his home bishop and college bishop and his young men's leaders. We're so thankful for all the good people who have influenced his life to make this good choice.

It's nice for Joe to have a big brother setting a good example.

Bruce and his Grandpa and Grandma Higginson.

We were joined by Bruce's friends, C.J. Pilling, Skyler Bingham, and Harrison Nichol.

After the opening, we had a carload to take home since we brought C.J., Harrison, Skyler and Bryce (Veronica's friend) with us. We took a little detour through Midget Village and then dropped Bruce and Skyler off at the dorms. It was a fun evening and we enjoyed being with the family and having Bruce and Veronica's good friends with us.

The Day Before School Started

We were trying to think of something fun to do the day before school started and were coming up empty. Then we got a phone call that some paperwork needed dropped off in Salt Lake, so that decided it--we were going to Salt Lake.

We took the paperwork, then toured Cathedral of the Madeleine, then went to Great Harvest where we got a braided baguette and butter and headed to Liberty Park. As you can see from the photos, we had a fun time.

We finished up the day sharing cheesecake at Cheesecake Factory. It was a nice, relaxing way to spend the day before jumping back into the routines of school.

Kids Start School

Joe - 4th grade


So after sending Bruce off to college last week, you'd think that sending the rest of the kids to school would be a breeze. It wasn't. I love summer. Especially now that my kids are older. Instead of spending the summer thinking of things to keep the kids entertained, the kids were so helpful and fun this year.


Savannah - 7th grade (1st year of Jr. High)


For much of the summer, they knew I was working on my book revisions and they've never pitched in better. It sounds selfish, but I'm going to miss the extra hands pitching in every morning.


It's great to live in a place where there is so much the kids can do outside, and they took advantage of it all--biking, riding the powerwing, night games on the golf course, building boats to float on the pond, digging and building in the piles of dirt/rock provided by the construction site across the street and more.

Veronica - High School Junior

I'm feeling a little homesick for my kids today, but that isn't the only reason I'm a little sad to see school start. I could have mustered up more enthusiasm if my kids had been more excited, but unfortunately, Joe was the only one really happy about it. The girls were nervous and didn't want to go. When they worry, I worry.


So while they looked as cute as can be, we return with mixed feelings. I'm hoping for a great year for them and that by the time they get settled into their new routine, they'll be happy.


Here's to another school year. May it be the best ever!

Bruce Goes to College

Today was a bittersweet day for us. Bruce moved into his dorm at the University of Utah.

Bruce and Skyler, his roommate, drove up separately so Bruce would have his car there.
After waiting in a few lines to get keys, take care of finances and get student ID/Trax cards, we were finally able to go to his room.

This is what greeted us as we walked into their building. Bruce and Skyler both started laughing, not sure if this was a good sign. They were in good moods and excited. Luckily, the power came back on while we were moving things in.

They laughed at the sort of cheesy door greetings. Bruce's said "New Galaxy observed by Bruce White." Skyler's said "Great Barrier Reef Diver: Skyler Bingham." There were some that were worse, like "New butterfly discovered by..." Not sure how many guys would have wanted that one.

Their room is a decent size--bigger than the dorms from BYU that I remember but definitely not huge. Here's Bruce with Veronica, Savannah and Joe in his room. We helped carry their things up to their room, but they had to try to beat the clock and get a few other things taken care of, so we didn't help them unpack or make their beds. That's too bad, because later Bruce discovered he'd forgotten his comforter and only had sheets and a pillow and Skyler discovered he'd forgotten all his bedding. Everything. I'm not sure they had a very comfortable first night.
Me and Bruce as we were getting ready to leave. We miss him already and are so proud of him for working so hard to reach his goals. He's going to do great! He and Skyler are coming home for dinner Sunday, so that helps soften the blow a little.

Love you Bruce.

Girls Camp and Oregon

The girls went to Girls Camp the last week of July. They had to camp, which isn't really our thing, but they had a great time and some wonderful experiences. It was Savannah's first time going and Veronica was a YCL (youth camp leader) assigned to Savannah's group. That was nice for both of them. We missed them while they were gone.

On Tuesday, August 3, we left for Oregon. (Everyone but Travis was able to go. We missed him a lot.) We arrived there in the evening and had Spencer and Kristi's cute family and a delicious meal waiting for us.

We went to Lithia Park in Ashland. Had fun in the water and drove around looking at houses.

The kids had a great time together shooting baskets, playing outside, reading together, playing with Legos and more.

Spencer and Kristi's kids are so cute. We really enjoyed spending time with them. Each of them have such different personalities and they're all awesome!

Sadly, Bruce had a cold, but of course they still went and played basketball. Unfortunately that game caused Spencer to have an injured ankle the rest of the trip (and probably still now, too.)

Spencer's pants got soaked and he had a t-ball game so they dried the pants while we drove around looking at houses.

We also went to Despicable Me, a really cute movie.

On Friday, we spent a fun afternoon on the Rogue River. The weather was great and we had a great time.


Kristi is a great cook and we had delicious food. Some highlights were pasta and sausage, corn on the cob-twice, hamburgers on home-made buns, grilled pineapple w/glaze, grilled pizzas with home-made pizza crust, tomato and mozzarella salad that I couldn't get enough of (and later used on my grilled pizza), brownies and home-made cookies and cream ice cream-twice. Thanks for the hard work and yummy food, Kristi.

Thanks for the wonderful time. We love your family!Some of the sights on the drive home. Doherty Slide is scary, Nevada is full of long, ridiculous roads, the Salt Flats tree is neat, but we almost didn't get to see it on the way home because of a crazy dust/salt storm.

When we got home I was surprised to see this. The lots on either side of the house, as well as across the street, are owned by the same builder. They're building two houses across the street and have piled both lots on the sides of the house with mound after mound of dirt and rock. It isn't pretty. I guess that's the hazzard of buying a house surrounded by empty building lots.

Summer Odds and Ends

Finally some pictures from Especially For Youth. Veronica and her friend Bryce went together and stayed in the dorms at the University of Utah. They had a great time and wished they could go a couple of times this summer.

Veronica's first dorm-living experience.

The kids waiting for check-in to be finished. Trust Joe and Boston (Bryce's brother) to figure out a way to make it fun.

Bruce in one of his animal graphic t-shirts. He's collecting them this summer.

This is one of Joe's chores before he can go outside and play everyday. He's gotten pretty quick at it.

This powerwing is how he spent his money this summer. He's had a great time.

Savannah giving Pepper a bath. She enjoys doing it and Pepper patiently puts up with it.
I finally sold the yoyo dress and HOORAY! it is going to be used as a wedding dress, which is what I hoped when I was making it. I shipped it to the bride in Switzerland this week!