This is my off-track summary and my-computer-is-working-hurry-and-post-something post.

First, we found some monarch caterpillars. Very exciting! The kids named them Thunderbolt and Wiggles. Wiggles was the most friendly and everyone held him.

 Bryce was devastated that we put them in jars. He probably would've slept with his if it was allowed.

When the monarch's instinct tells it to become a butterfly, it'll hang upside down with the aid of a lot of silk and then hang there in this 'J' shape for a day or more (this is all written from observation, not pre-written scientific material).

The green hat is actually the beginning of the cocoon. It happen so quickly. Moving from the 'J' to this.

To this: all covered, but still stripey like the caterpillar. This all took about five minutes.

The cocoon is all finished here (well, there were a few more golden dots of color added as it ripened).

Then we waited.

In the mean time, Bryce began t-ball, Ella started soccer and Dane...got pneumonia.

Bryce is having a great time, but won't watch the ball. Ella is having fun with her best buddy on her team, but won't watch the ball. Dane is making a great recovery after about 10 days of being exhausted, moody and restful. He has only a couple of days left of his anti-biotic.

  We've made lots of yummy salsas. (I couldn't get this pic to turn). This is half-Lemon Boy tomato and half red.

Ella had a VERY happy birthday. She requested cup-cake baking supplies and got them. She's kind of a wiz with that pastry bag. We had a extended family party the Sunday before she turned 7 and then just a celebration with our family with some reserved presents.

 As part of the birthday fun, we traveled into Little Cottonwood canyon to our favorite rock throwing spot.

"We" did the final touch up painting in the kitchen. Just need to get those pendant lights installed and then the remodelling will really be finished. 

More nature inside the house: found this tiny half-dollar sized mushroom growing at the base of one of my house plants. CUTE!

Then this morning! The metamorphisis was complete for Thunderbolt. 

As of this moment, he's hanging on my ficus tree, drying his wings in the warm dining room. I have tiny sugar water supplies throughout the room. 

Bryce was so gentle. We're excited for Ella and Dane to come home so that they can see, too! This has been a precious miracle to experience for our family. It's been great!

Bryce says that "Jesus is the best!" because he helped Daddy find the caterpillars in the first place.

Yard work has been our answer to every question about our plans or our thoughts in the recent weeks.
Here's a pic from the east side of the back yard last fall. Lush ivy on fence, lots of lawn, edge rimmed with river rock.
We had a desire to expand our vegetable garden opportunities and came up with a plan to change this area (the winter was really hard on that ivy, but it's growing back). We started by removing a lot of the river rock and sod.Cam carefully leveled out areas for gardening boxes......and then began building them.WOW!When it came time to fill the boxes, we got the kids involved in mixing up the soil.Dane planned out where the 44 veggie plants should be placed. Bryce and I planted them all, some of them while it rained. We also planted two peach trees (on the right). Although we're not finished yet, we're so excited about the progress than has been made. So much hard work!
I didn't help a lot because I've been working on the west side of the yard.
Just over the edge of our deck was a lawn that wouldn't grow. Too much shade, spindly little blades of grass...Last fall we had a cement patio poured.On May 16th, I began building a retaining wall out of river bed rock.
This is only a fourth of the rock delivered to our house.

The work is basically a little bit puzzle and a little bit Lego and a lot of chiseling.

The progress is mostly slow, but every now and again a whole bunch of rocks will align perfectly together, one right after another. Believe me, it's such a blessing when that happens. It's a bit taller now than pictured and I have to add one more foot worth of height over a 15 foot stretch, but when this thing is finally finished, I think I'm really going to proud of what I've accomplished. More pictures to come, when we're all finished!

As for the Christmas to-do, I:

• remade the caramels, didn't kill the poinsettia, got gifts divvied up and crafty gifts finished
• absolutely didn't exercise, unless you count walking around in 4" heels for two days and /or Wii Bowling exercise.
• The kids didn't break any Christmas decor
• didn't keep our outside bird feeders filled, but they are filled now. Happy New Year's, birdies.
• You know I made three snowmen. I also made a Christmas mix CD with the kids. They have loved it.
• My husband's mother made the popcorn balls for her son. My kids and I made the dough for gingerbread men. Santa almost didn't get any treats.
• Cam and I managed two dates this month. HEAVEN!!! Saw "True Grit." Loved it.
• Ooh, that stinkin' Christmas garland. I made the templates and bought the felt for it. I guess I'll just have to make it myself. Or have the kids help me over the next year.
• did take more pictures of my kids, even if the lighting is bad, because they're so cute and they just keep growing.
• sang in my parents ward last Sunday. It (my voice) worked.
• snuggled with babies, kept the house somewhat sane and watched the original Grinch movie.
• gave my grandparents a present.
• got no sleep until Christmas night when Cam and I stayed at my grandma's house while the kids stayed at their grandma's house. We went to bed at 10. They went to bed at midnight.
• did get to the DI and my neighbor gifts were pretty easy. Everyone brought ours to us and we just did a quick swap. Note to self: payback is next year. Get them out first.
• read to the kids. I loved my time with them and am sad that our four weeks together is almost over. As always, though, I'm glad we get to end the season with a bang (New Years) and a Birthday (DANE!)
• We read Luke 2 before bed on Christmas Eve. All was calm, all was bright.

Today so far:

• I've been organizing the formerly-crashed computer back to a functional system. Once more, I am so grateful for a husband who 'gets' technology and we never have to deal with tec support.
• I removed decorations and dismantled (with the help of my kids) our smaller tree. I'm excited to have this main room in our family's life clean and functional again.
• I suggested that Cam give a Family Home Evening lesson tonight on Resolutions. I was feeling brave. Last year I was a fussy, pathetic pill about resolutions and so I promised to be good.
• I've been throwing out those extra hang-on goodies that fill counters at the end of the season. I even put the bags of candy my mom gave me right into the freezer for another time.

I got to help my friend Angie pack a few boxes for her upcoming move this morning.

That, plus the beautiful sunshine, put me in a housekeeping kind of mood.

Just look at that sky!

I wiped out one of my ovens and started the self-cleaner. The windows are opening to let out the fumes.

I washed my garden windows. They're the best view from inside the house and now they're a spotless view.

I kicked the last of the ice off of the deck and swept all the sunflower seed husks left by the flocks of birds we've been feeding. Here are some of our frequent visitors:

This is a nuthatch. He's so tiny. Less than 4 inches in length. They're my favorite!The house finchThe black-capped chickadeeThe mountain chickadeeOur more rare visitors are:

the spotted woodpeckerthe northern flicker (a type of woodpecker)and a small family of quail.I filled all their feeders so they should be happy.

I took out a bunch of trash and recycling and in general am feeling that calm before the next winter storm.

Such a nice day and there's Christmas to look forward to! The best part of that is that I'm all done shopping!

With my desire to get more fresh air and sunshine I was determined to do some minor yard work to just get out there and breathe. So, when we woke up to the snow blizzarding around our ears, I thought I'd just stay inside. Then as we drove away from the house I saw that the yard work I wanted to do was not snow-covered. It was then I thought that this -->

would be a very welcome addition to what I'd planned to do!

We just kept adding one more tiny snowman. Bryce was delighted. We placed them on Daddy's side of the drive-way so he'd be sure to either see them or hit them when he comes home tonight.

It was a fun thing for me and Bryce to do together. He likes that fresh air and sunshine as much as I need it.

Now on to spring...while we were out there I heard birds chirping and finally saw the first buds of narcissus poking out of the earth. It's on it's way!!!

To help your spirits and mine get more of a taste, I found some great spring wallpaper for your desktops. Just click on the photo you like, right button click on the larger photo that comes up and choose Set as Desktop Background on the pop-up menu. If these don't work for some reason, just google: spring wallpaper. Lots of fun, cute, uplifting choices. BTW, I chose the leaves...

So it's snowing...a lot.

I'm not going anywhere so I'm sharing some recent happenings around here in reverse order.


I locked myself and the kids out of the house this morning without phone, wallet and well, keys. I was just walking across the street to participate in visiting teaching and as soon as I shut the door I knew. My saintly partner drove me to friend Angie's house who sadly wasn't home. Then I had my partner drive me to Wal-Mart grocery store. Can you believe she lent me some money, just in case? I figured we wouldn't be a burden on anyone and we could find something to entertain us, IE finding letters, numbers, colors...while waiting for Cameron's meeting to end so that he could come help is get back in. About 7 minutes into our Wal-Mart adventure, I realize there is no way that I'm going to keep them occupied for an hour and a half here (yeah, insert "duh"). Then I turn around and see my saintly friend Angie walking up the aisle with her kids. I'm sure my eyes bulged out all cartoon-like, knowing that I had just been very blessed because not only did she take us into her home, but she fed us lunch too. I know that "this is what friends are for" (as she kept telling me), but it sure is humbling and I feel so grateful. I'm also grateful I can give my visiting teaching partner her money back and didn't need to use it.

Ok, I also locked myself out of my house last night, too. Cam was home and answered the door after I pounded a bit. I was practicing for the Christmas program on Sunday with the aforementioned Angie. Boy, she's been helping me out a lot!

Yesterday was Sunday and a good day. My primary kids sang so well and they appreciated the Hershey's bribery. I also got to see my little sister who had me take pictures of her with her dog. They turned out cute. She's so beautiful.

Then my mom came up to see my kids. They sure do love Gwama Cindy!
Saturday became Mom and Boys day for me and Daddy/Daughter day for Cam. Between normal errands and all the craziness of Christmas errands we divided and conquered. Cam and Ella also baked yummy Craisin/white chocolate chip cookies together. However, we started the day out by taking family pictures for Christmas cards much to my family's chagrin (which shows plainly on some of their faces in the photo).

Friday Cameron and I did something I thought would never happen...we sang together...in public...in performance capacity. I've never been so happy in my life. What a treasured memory! He did so awesomely and even sang a verse of Silent Night/Stille Nacht alone and in German.

The rest of the week I enjoyed time with my family. I love having Dane off-track and home.

We're simply too too excited for next week! We have fun stuff planned, it's Cameron's birthday and of course, Christmas Eve/Day!!! Yay! This is the most wonderful time of the year even if it is 29 degrees Fahrenheit