Trip of a Lifetime

If you've ever read my novels, you've probably noticed that I have a deep love for Ireland and Irish mythology. Every time I needed a new character to do something specific for my story, I would look through their mythology and find a creature that would do exactly that.

My dream for the last few years has been to travel to Ireland so I could see everything my books had talked about. I wanted to experience the Emerald Isle for myself. Partly so I could enjoy what I've grown to love, and partly to make sure that my research had steered me in the right direction for my novels.

This last August, Delta Airlines had an amazing sale using their air miles and I had the chance to do something I never thought I'd be able to do. We got to travel to England, and from there, we went to go to see Ireland and Scotland.

We left last week and started out in England. While my books have not been set there, I still got to go see some amazing things while I was there. The British Museum is full of artifacts that the British Empire stole from countries all over the world. Chinese, Japanese, German, and on and on. Every time I thought we were done, we'd find another whole wing of items. The Rosetta Stone is even in there.

But then we found out that one of the exhibits was about the Celtic culture. We bought our tickets and I went into devour everything I could learn about them. It was rich in history and had many items from that time. I was sad I couldn't take pictures while I was in there, so I tried to soak in as much as I could about the Celts and their history. MY history because these were my people. 

We also made at stop at King's Cross Station so I could get my photo with the cart going into Platform 9 3/4! 

The next morning we were off to Ireland. We took a train from London up to Holyhead, and then we took a ferry to Dublin from there. Amazing. Although I wasn't too fond of the up and down from the waves on the ferry. I got used to it about ten minutes from shore ... after a four hour trip.

We went right to the center of Dublin, and because we got there after all the sights had closed, we just walked around the streets to catch a glimpse of what we could. We found a memorial for those who had fought in wars, and a few cathedrals, and then we made our way back to our hotel.

I'd hoped to make to either the Blarney Castle or to a small forest near Kilkenny because they were both parts of my books, but we just didn't have enough time. The lady at the hotel warned us that while we could have gone to Blarney, it would have been cold, windy, and rainy. Not ideal when you want to climb 90 feet to the top of the castle...

We decided on a small place called Kilkenny. It was a 2 hour trip by bus, and then we stored our baggage at a hotel while we were there (Thanks to our concierge lady from the hotel in Dublin. She'd called in a favor.) 

Oh my goodness. It was the most amazing little place. The streets were cobbled in the pedestrian areas, and the stores were small and had the cool Celtic font the I love so much, and oh, there was a castle just hanging out in the middle of it.

We toured the castle and saw tapestries that were older than our country. It had been refurbished a few different times in it's history and was owned by a family until the 1920s when it was turned over to the city. 

Yeah, that's a castle. Just hanging out right there.

The dungeon

The whole castle. There used to be four walls, but Oliver Cromwell knocked one of them down.

My favorite little shop.

Afterward we went to lunch at a little pub that was in a home built in 1049. The owner was a woman who was charged with witchcraft, but she'd managed to escape before they burned her at the stake. The walls were a rough brick, and it was so cool to be eating in side a place that was so old. Plus, the Irish stew was to die for.

We'd planned to catch a bus back to Dublin so we could see Dublin Castle, St Patrick's Cathedral, and the leprechaun museum, but the bus didn't come for another five hours, so we were stuck in the most perfect little town ever. I didn't want to leave, so I counted it as a blessing that got to stay longer than we'd planned. 

Since we wouldn't get back in time to see anything in Dublin, we took the bus to the airport and went to our hotel. After dinner, we went right to sleep so we could get up at 4:30 in the morning to go catch a plane to Scotland. 

The plane actually took off at 7, but we still had to make the trip back to the airport from our hotel, and then walk back and forth to get from security to baggage claim and then to the plane. It was small and cramped, but otherwise it wasn't too bad. The ticket were also only 9 pounds, so we couldn't complain. 

We started out in Glasgow and walked around for a couple of hours, staring up at the architecture. It was amazing! It was colder than Ireland and we had to take our bags with us everywhere, so we didn't stay there for very long before hopping on the train over to Edinburgh.

They say that Edinburgh was built on seven hills. I'm pretty sure we walked up all of them. Okay, not really, but it felt like it. This was one place that showed up in my fourth Luck book so I wanted to get some research in. We also passed by the little shop where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter. Pretty cool!

After dropping our stuff off at the hotel, we made our way over to Edinburgh Castle. Our plan was to go there and tour, and then head over to Holyrood Palace since both places were in my book. We missed the Holyrood Palace tour by eight minutes. Bummer.

BUT the Edinburgh Castle was amazing. Every wall was filled with the history of Scotland. We saw cannons, towers, dungeons, old bathrooms, bedrooms, a military memorial, and my favorite, the crown jewels. That part actually gave me some great ideas for this last luck book. So be watching for it!

Afterward, we talked to a lady about our family names and ended up staying there to talk for at least an hour. She was wonderful to talk to, but as we talked, it started raining outside. I'm not talking normal rain. I'm talking heavy, soak everything you own rain. We still made our way over to the palace (and just missed it) so we could at least get a picture, and then headed back to the hotel. We did try one souvenir shop, but we were too wet to actually want to buy anything. They tried to get us to buy an umbrella, but by that time there was no point. When we got back to the hotel, we had to empty out our bags, pockets, and everything else so we could use an iron and blow dryer to dry our clothes out. It was crazy! 

The next morning we headed back to England. The countryside was beautiful as we traveled the four hours back down to London. We took our stuff back to the same hotel we'd stayed at before and boarded a tour bus. We got to see Big Ben, the tower bridge, Tower of London, several cathedrals, and the London Eye. Sadly it was too dark to see Buckingham Palace, but I still enjoyed the tour. Afterward we walked over to Piccadilly Circus and toured the area. We found Hamley's toystore that had been there since 1760. Holy moly. We wandered through the streets again to find dinner and then made our way back to the hotel to collapse.

We only had one more morning, so we stored our things and took a train over to walk along the Thames River and to go see the tower of London. We didn't have a chance to go in, but we did stop at the gift shop, so that counts, right? We hopped back on the bus again, and toured through London, but had to get off before Buckingham Palace (sigh... we missed it twice) so we could get on a train and sprint back to the hotel to get our stuff so we get catch a train to the airport. 

While we sat there, we found out that the area we'd traveled through from Scotland to London was flooded. It was crazy! 

It was the most amazing trip we'd ever taken, and while we could have used another month or five to see everything we wanted to, I counted myself lucky that I could see the places that my characters had traveled in my books.  If you ever have a chance to go and research the places you write about, take it. Enjoy it. And soak in every ounce of history you possibly can. 

February 22nd, 2015

Sunday morning, Steve left for Florida again. We loaded up the kids and headed to Salt Lake. We talked and sang and headed home. The kids had colds and concussions, and I felt awful, so we stayed home. Everyone rested during the day, and then I made pork chops and stir fry for dinner that night. It was pretty good if I say so myself.

The kids didn't have school the next day because of President's Day.  Ashley did have a soccer game that day, and she was awesome! She played goalie and she was able to stop every ball that came near her. It was amazing. The ref dubbed her Octopus Arms because Ashley was just everywhere. Sadly, they still lost 3-7.

Ethan also had a game and his team won 10-3. They have a tough little team. Ethan is getting better all the time, so I'm really happy we put him on a team.

We went home afterward so I could get books formatted and ready to print. For dinner we went to Chick-Fil-A for our grade school. I liked it because that meant I didn't have to cook, and the kids liked it because they like the food. Afterward we watched Back to the Future. The kids loved it and begged to let us watch the second one the next night.

Tuesday the kids went back to school and Jakob tried school for the first time. He made it a few hours before I had to pick him up because of headaches. He went to scouts that night and one of the leaders made him dance. It made him worse, and caused headaches, dizziness, and emotional stress. It was maddening and heartbreaking at the same time.

Wednesday I took Jakob and Heidi to the doctor for a checkup for Jakob. We were able to do Heidi's shots so she could have them for kindergarten registration the next day. Dr. Lauret banned Jakob from everything again until he could get better. He wrote a note telling his teachers to let him out whenever needed. It was hugely helpful!

We grabbed dinner for the kids and then went home and watched the second Back to the Future. The kids thought it was hilarious that the movie thought we'd have hover boards and other cool things. If only, right?

Thursday I took Jakob to school and talked to a principal and his orchestra teacher to let them know what was going on. The teachers were awesome. Seriously. I've been so happy with how well they've treated him. They knew what he needed before he'd admit it himself.

Confident that he was getting the help he needed, Heidi and I left and headed for her school. To register my baby girl for kindergarten. *sniff* She was ecstatic, and I'm excited for her ... it's just that she's my baby. She grew up too fast!

Andy had a soccer game that night. He played hard, but they lost because the ref didn't call two goals. EVERYONE saw them go in, but he said he didn't see them so they didn't count. Seriously.

Here's the cool thing about that day though. It was supposed to be insane. I had a basketball game and two practices, followed by a soccer game and my arts council meeting. That morning the meeting was canceled. Next, the ride for Andy was canceled. Then Ashley and Gavin's ride canceled for their practice, and Andy's was also canceled. Jakob wasn't allowed to go to his game. So instead of five things, I ended up with only one. I know I'm watched out for all the time, but it seems like the Lord knows I especially need it when Steve is gone, and makes things just a little easier on me. I was very, very thankful for that.

That night I was up really late getting edits and formatting done for book 2. I had to get to bed quickly though so I could be okay for the airport the next night.

After running all over the place for the kids, I took Heidi to her ballet class for the first time. Jenna came with me so we could talk books. She helped with my cover while I worked on formatting my novella. Heidi did a great job with her class, and was so excited to go back the next week.

I got back from there and made pancakes for the kids and sent them off to bed. Around 10:45 I decided to take a quick nap so I could drive to pick up Steve. That quick nap ended being an hour and a half, and I woke up to the text saying Steve had landed! Oops!! I flew out of the house and drove to get him. It didn't help that it was rain/snowing on the way there.

We got back safely and got to bed so we could make it to basketball games the next day.

It was INSANE. We had pictures on top of basketball, so we had to drive all over to get it done. Ethan played well in his game and while I waited for him to get his pictures done, Steve went to pick up Andy and Jakob. He dropped Andy off, and then brought Jakob out to get his pictures done where Ethan and I were. After that, he dropped me off at Andy's game, took Jakob home, and took Ashley and Gavin to their game.

Andy did awesome in his game. I love watching their team play because they work well together. They lost because they couldn't get the shot in, and the other team hit everything. A lot of fouling was going on which I wasn't happy about, but it was still fun to watch.

Andy and Ethan both had soccer games that day and they both did very well. We took Ethan to get ice cream after his game because he worked so hard and won. And because Steve and I wanted smoothies ...

Jakob had his board of review at the Isaacsons the next morning so he could get his 1st and 2nd class for scouts. He was very happy to get to this point. He's been waiting for a couple years!

I taught Sunday School that day and loved it. Poor Steve caught a cold while he was in Florida and after two days he lost his voice, so he wasn't able to help with teaching. Poor guy! I taught the basics of indexing from the beginning and I really hope it helped those that were in there.

Afterward, we had a ward service committee that consisted of Steve, me, and one other person. Hopefully we get more attendance at the next one!

Sunday February 15th, 2015

Sunday (8th), I felt horrible. I'm guessing it was all the soda I'd had during the weekend. But I also had a couple sick kids to stay home with.  The indexing class I was going to teach got moved to the next week, and I rested. Steve took Andy to his board of review to have him ready for his Tenderfoot and Second class in scouts.

Monday changed Jakob's life for what I hope is just a little while. He had a game that night, and like several other games, this was packed full of fouls. Terrible, horrible fouls. The other team mocked our team, and it was rough game. Jakob came up to us at half time and told us he was having a hard time focusing. I should never have let him go back in. He'd been hit in the face four times with elbows during the first half.

The second half he had to focus really hard on anything and played a very good half. He had a couple great shots (one swished and no one was around him. It was beautiful) and awesome blocks all over the place.  Too bad he doesn't remember any of it. He remembers one shot, and that's it. When he argued all the way out to the car that he didn't make any baskets, I whipped around and headed back into the gym. I'd had it. I couldn't take the lack of calls that were made in the game. And I let the ref know that. It was more tears than anger, but I needed him to know what had happened.

The ref wanted to argue. I could tell he did. I could read it on his face. But he didn't. He took a step back, swallowed, and said he'd do better in the next game. From what I hear, a few of the games after resulted in a few technicals and our coach getting kicked out. Not what I wanted...

We didn't let Jakob go to bed for a couple hours that night until his headache was gone. When it was still there the next morning, I took him to the doctor. His balance was way off and his headache continued to come and go. He was banned from life. No, really.  No exertion, no school, no sports, no music. For over a week.

So he watched all the old movies he used to watch, ate, and hung out with Heidi every day. He was bored, but he felt awful and didn't move. School wasn't forgotten, but it wasn't anything he could help, so he just let it go. The other kids stepped in to help with chores and just let him rest. Teenager's dream, right? Kind of. He misses sports and most of the other things they kept him from.

Jakob stayed home that night while we went to the Blue and Gold Banquet for scouts. There was a mix-up for the gym, so we were all crowded into the primary room to eat tacos.  The food was great and Gavin got his Bobcat award that night.

Wednesday was spent getting everything done that needed to be done before I left for the weekend. I had to order awards for city sports, edit one book, format book two (which went way faster on the kids' computer), taxes from the weekend before, pay for other edits, and advertise for a few launches. Easy peasy right? I got it done! Not sure how with all the driving to get kids, but I did it.

Thursday morning, Jenna picked me up bright and early to head off to LTUE. I helped her set up and then waited for Rachelle to get there so I could help her as well. We got her art all set up and headed downstairs.

My friend, Lindzee, showed up just then and I was thrilled. We sat down to decide what class to go to next, and stayed there. For hours. It wasn't that we weren't doing anything. We had great chats with many, many people. It was so much fun. I love writing conferences because I get to see all my writing friends again. We had fun catching up and joking about us just sitting there, and meeting new friends, and just lots of awesome.

We went to lunch at a pizza place where I grabbed some pizza for Rachelle and then we headed back to the conference. Rachelle had to leave to pick up her kids for school, and Lindzee and I went back and sat down. We talked to more people, before finally going to a panel.

Next was mine! It was a panel on the Brothers Grimm and it was awesome. I loved chatting with the other authors and I hope that the people in the audience learned a lot while they were there. It was fun talking about fairy tales and twisting them. I thought the other people on the panel did a great job, and I was happy to be a part of it.

The next panel I was rather out of my element. It was on AA Milne and Beatrix Potter. I haven't read those books since I was little, so I had a hard time with answers at times. Dan Wells was worth being of the panel though. He writes horror, but listening to him quote the poetry was great. I loved it! You saw a softer side of him. Someone assured me that it was all wonderful after we were done, so I'll take her word for it. :)

We headed home after, and took a detour to dinner and then Walmart. Poor Jenna reacted to the perfume in one of the aisles. I'm pretty sure the guy dumped a whole bottle on himself. I could smell it three aisles over. Anyway, she had to have the windows open the whole way home and struggled with it the next day. Darn asthma!!

I finished edits that night, and got to bed so I could get up early the next morning.

Friday was another day of panels. I actually went to a few classes that morning, and I had a panel on Robin McKinley retellings. I loved it. I love her books, so it was fun to talk about Beauty, and her others stories.

I was hungry, so I headed up to the green room to get some lunch. I talked to one guy that recognized me from the panel the night before. His wife was the moderator. We talked TV and books for a while and then his wife came and talked with us as well. I had to leave quickly because I got a text saying Jenna was having a really hard time. I rushed downstairs, but she'd already been wheeled off to a room to get rest and a blessing.

I couldn't do anything for her, so I went with Lindzee, Rachelle, and Oscar to get a sandwich. Jenna let me know she was okay, so we sat and talked for a while. Rachelle and Oscar had to leave shortly after. Lindzee and I went to a few more panels.

Steve came to the hotel, and I sold two Stolen luck books before we caught up with several other authors. Twenty of us headed off to Bombay House for Valentine's Day dinner. We walked, thinking it was only a couple blocks away. It ended up being about five blocks away.  The food was amazing, and we had fun talking to everyone there. We kinda overwhelmed Bombay House with a few more than what I'd reserved, but we still had fun.

Lindzee and Jenna went ahead of us, K'Dee, Charlie, and I walked together, and Steve went with Oscar in the car. Charlie showed off his raptor impression for K'Dee again. It's so cool. I wish I could get it on video.

Steve grabbed my books and we set them up by Charlie at the signing. I sold a couple books and necklaces. It was so much fun talking to people and handing out bookmarks. One girl was there to pick up my book before I even had everything set up. It was awesome!

Afterward, we gathered up my stuff, and Tristi's stuff and headed home. I wanted to edit a bit that night, but I was so exhausted, I fell right to sleep.

Saturday morning we ate breakfast and headed to the last day of LTUE. I went to a few panels before my panel at noon.

I was scared to death for this panel. It was on space travel and warp drive vs. the tesseract. If you're saying "huh?" you'll know how I felt going into it. I had a crash course in learning more about space travel thanks to awesome friends and good ol' google. The panel was awesome. I was thrilled to death with the discussion and the questions. And I think I did a pretty good job with moderating. I just hope everyone else did too.

The next panel was Modern Fantasy and it's relation to Folklore. Or something like that. And it was insanity. I don't want to say rude things so I won't. Let's just say it could have gone a LOT better. And our moderator won't be moderating next year. Because, uh, yeah. It was bad. But hey, I got some followers on Twitter from it. That's good, right?

It was a relief to be done with both of those, so we celebrated with a waffle sandwich at Borge's Waffles and Frites. It's a Belgian place and it's amazing. I had a club sandwich, but I want to try the waffles with mousse on them next time. mmmm.

After the last couple panels, I said goodbye to my friends and headed home with Ashley and Steve. Ashley was supposed to have a soccer game, but because of Valentine's Day, they canceled it. We took her out to get food at Burger's Supreme, and then to get a smoothie from Roxberry before heading home.

February 8th 2015

Whoops. I missed a whole month. February was crazy busy!

The groundhog saw his shadow, promising another 6 weeks of winter. We all laughed when we heard, considering we'd had no winter before that. Ironically, that's exactly what's happening. We've had more snow in the last week than we did all winter. Anyway, back to the 2nd.

Jakob had a game that night and it was really frustrating. Fouls were abundant, but they weren't being called. The coach couldn't say anything without getting in trouble. And it was awful. Sometimes it's really really really hard to keep your mouth shut....

Much of my week was spent trying to get my books edited and formatted. I had never done it before, so it was a pretty big learning curve. During the day I would edit, and at night, I'd steal Steve's computer to format. The kids were busy with school and playing with friends. The weather was nice that week so they played basketball outside until it got dark.

On the 4th, we had several things happen throughout the day. Gavin had a field trip, and we had parent teacher conferences for the younger kids.

Ethan is doing very well, but he gets too shy to speak Chinese with his class (Not surprising since he won't speak Chinese to us either). I know he knows it, because he points things out to me.

Gavin is doing well, but forgets to turn in his homework. He still has As in all his subjects, and he's a great friend to everyone in his class. We just have to work on the homework part. :)

Ashley is above and beyond in everything in school. She did get a lower grade on a math test, but only because she rushed through. She was pulled down in the math groups, but got a 100% on the next test so she was moved back up. She's a great helper to the teacher, which I'm thrilled to hear.

Andy's meeting was the next day. He's doing well. He also has a homework problem, but he's doing great in class. His teacher was happy to show me how well Andy is progressing in writing and comprehension. I was thrilled.

We had to rush from Andy's meeting to Orem to FINALLY close on our house refinancing. They were really nice and even served us cookies. We had to keep watching the time because Jakob had a game. Jakob played well, but again, the reffing was horrible. Maybe I should just ref myself ...

Friday morning we dropped the kids off at school and Steve took me to the airport with two suitcases and a backpack. We got there just in time to get me on the train to Ogden. I was headed to a boutique in Ogden. The train ride was nice and quiet. I was able to read for a while, and had got a few compliments on my awesome pink boots. While I waited in Salt Lake for the next train, I bought my very first set of isbn numbers (for self-publishing instead of others publishing my books) and assigned them to my books.

Wendy picked me up in Ogden and we headed over to set up for the boutique. It was ... slow. As far as sales at least. We had a lot of fun talking to people and hanging out with fellow authors. Plus we got free refills on our drinks, so that was pretty awesome. Afterward, I went to Wendy's and worked on formatting until really, really, really late.

After sleeping for a couple hours, I got up and kept formatting. I kept having things mess up, but finally got it to upload. We headed back to the boutique for another day. I got a cute little jacket for Heidi's birthday, and sold a few books. It was a lot of fun. At the end, the lady in the aisle across from us (who made a killing on clips)gave me a huge Tupperware bowl. She sold both clips and tupperware. She had been eyeing our Atlantis series the whole time and wanted to do a trade, but we couldn't do it because of how our set is put together. So as a trade, I gave her my Atlantis book, and we both walked away happy.

Juli drove me to the station in Clearfield and we had a good chat on the way. I got there just in time to grab a ticket and jump on the station. The train had a lot more people on this time and it was interesting. It's the perfect place for people watching!

I was happy to get home in time for dinner that night and spend time with family.

February 1st, 2015

I almost wrote January. The month flew by!

This week, I was busy making sure I had everything I needed for FanX. AND I had to make sure that the kids had what they needed before I left.

Jakob stayed home from school on Monday, but he was doing well enough that we let him play that night. He hadn't had a fever for over 24 hours and his cough was much better. The game was INTENSE. They had a new player on their team and he helped the team win by 8 points after going into overtime. It was crazy!

The next morning, his fever came back, so I took him to the doctor. Again. We found out he had a sinus infection, something that runs in our family. yay... We went and picked up an iPad so that I could have it for FanX and then I took the kids home so we could pick up the other kiddos from school.

Our shirts got done that night, so I went to pick them up and then Steve took the boys to scouts and over to the family history center.

Wednesday morning, Heidi woke up with a cold and she kept walking around saying "I'm so slow because I don't feel good." She was content laying on the couch and watching TV. I picked out Frozen for her and then hurried over to get my hair cut.

I ordered posters for my booth and finished packing up everything so I could leave as soon as the kids were home from school. I had to wait a bit for Steve to get off the phone and then we headed out. We stopped by a couple places on our way to the salt Palace and got everything set up at our booth. It was almost time!!

That night we got back and had yummy dinner.  Steve made a pork roast and it was fantastic.  I finished another edit and headed to bed after coloring my hair with burgundy and auburn.

Thursday, we got the kids to school (well, Steve did), and I got a few things done around the house until it was time to leave. Steve and Heidi took me to the hotel and got me checked into the hotel and then headed back home for him to get back on a call (Heidi was doing much better by then).

I checked in at the booth and got everything set up and ready to go. The other authors got there as well and we started handing out bookmarks. We had a pretty good day and I sold a few books and two necklaces right off. We saw a couple famous people, and Nichole took me up to the green room for dinner. We took pictures with people (Thor, Hagrid, Spock, and several others) and talked writing. It was fun! The time passed quickly, and soon it was time to head to the hotel.

Steve kept in touch and let me know what was going on at home. Jakob had played and their poor team got creamed. Apparently shots wouldn't go in, no one passed well, and the other team was physical without fouls being called.

Since I'd already eaten, I sat in bed and got the cash, etc, settled for the day. I finally slept well in a hotel and woke prompt at 7:21 the next morning. After grabbing a couple snacks, I went over to the convention center for another day. We saw many friends that day and had more fun in the green room. I had to walk around here and there so my feet and back wouldn't get too bad.

Jakob and Nicolas showed up halfway through the day and wandered around the convention looking for fun things to do. They sat in on a few panels and walked around looking at the different stores. When we were done for the evening, I met them at Ray Park's panel(and had to take all of our bags because they'd left them) and watched the last 15 minutes or so.

We headed back to the hotel to eat dinner. I had a burger, Nicolas had a chicken sandwich, and Jakob had chicken and beans. The food was really good. We hung out and I did the money stuff (and stressed out because the signal wasn't working on my iPad) while they watched TV.

Saturday morning Steve had to get up early to get Andy and the two youngest to Andy's soccer game. He did really well in his game, and then they had to rush back to Ashley and Gavin's game. They did well, but lost. The other team was physical, and nothing was done about it. Ethan's game was after that and did pretty well.

Meanwhile, I woke up at the same time Steve did and couldn't go back to sleep, even though my body really wanted to. I got ready and made sure I had all my bags packed before heading off to get breakfast. The two restaurants in the hotel were closed, so we headed over to JBs. The kids had fun enjoying the buffet and went with a breakfast of eggs, sausage, hash browns, and toast. They headed back to the hotel for an hour, and I headed over to the convention.

Saturday was slower as far as sales go for me. I sold a couple, but that was about it. BUT I did get to meet Tom Felton and get a picture with the boys and with Katy. And I DID get to go get a picture with the tardis thanks to the awesome guy that built I also saw Studio C in the green room and talked to Stacy for a bit. And I bought souvenirs for the kids. I got a tiara, a stocking Tardis cap for Steve, T-shirt for Jakob, and bobble heads for the rest of the kids. Andy got Heimdall, Ashley got Gamora (Guardians of the Galaxy), Gavin got Rocket Raccoon (same movie), Ethan got Groot(same movie), and Heidi got Captain America.

It was a very busy, very exciting, very tiring day, and we were all ready to go home when it was done. We missed it, but we were exhausted.  I enjoyed sitting on my couch when we got home.

This morning I didn't want to get out of bed, but Andy grabbed all of my clothes to wear for church and made sure I got ready. What a good boy! And church was wonderful. The lessons were beautiful, and I'm so glad I went.

We had beef and broccoli for dinner and Steve made quark while everything else made cupcakes. Both were delicious. Now it's time for me put this poor body to bed!

January 25th, 2015

This week was full of sick kids.

Poor Ethan wasn't any better by Monday morning, so after going to Andy's game, (he scored two goals!) I took the kids home and then headed in to Provo to take Ethan to the doctor. The poor boy had pneumonia in his lower left lung, and asthma. We have to go back in a couple weeks to see if the inhaler is helping him. They also had to dig at his ear because he had a huge ball of wax. He was in enough pain, that the doctor decided to wait until we go back in later to get it take care of. Poor boy.

We headed to Smiths to get his prescription and a treat for being such a trooper, and then back home. The kids all had Monday off so they spent it just playing.

Andy got antsy to go do something, so I sent him out on a bike ride to let out some of his energy. It helped, thankfully, and we were able to stay clam long enough for dinner.

For FHE that night, we watched 17 Miracles. It was amazing. The kids enjoyed the movie and counted up the miracles as it went. They'd heard a few of the stories from Ephraim's Rescue, but they heard of more of the miracles. I got to hear a story about one of my ancestors, the Rowley's. It was awesome!

Tuesday, Ethan still had to stay home so he could be past the 24 hours without a fever. He played on Heidi's preschool program after she was done, and just tried to stay busy so he wouldn't be so bored.

Andy and Jakob went to scouts, and Steve helped out with Family History, while I stayed home with the kids and with one of our neighbors. Steve had fun finding names for the young men and young women.

After they got home, Jakob had to admit that he had a fever, and took some ibuprofen before bedtime. He stayed home the next day and rested, hoping he could feel better for his game. The ibuprofen gave him a false sense of "Hey, I feel awesome!" and he played very hard. He scored 8 of their 16 points, but they lost 51-16. Ouch. We stayed to watch his friends play for a bit before he went home to bed.

Thursday was a busy day with school, and then practices for Andy, Ashley, and Gavin. I had to drive to Ashley's practice, drive to Andy's, go get Ashley and Steve, and then go get Andy.

On Friday, Jakob was still sick, so we finished up what Steve had to do, and left Jakob home to sleep while we did our errands. We got some irrigation boots for the kids to wear to feed the animals. We also got some straw.

After school, we went shopping and left Jakob and Ethan home to hang out and went to a few stores to get things ready for the party the next night. We were exhausted and knew we'd have to cook the next night, so we grabbed burgers and brought them home to eat.

I started the Anzac biscuits, lamingtons, and pavlova that night and edited while I wanted for them to get done. I'd hoped the pavlova would have behaved, but sadly, it still broke. It was still amazing though.

Saturday morning, we got up and got ready for Ashley and Gavin's game. The games were all late, so they went over, but I thought the kids did great. Gavin was more involved, and even got to take the ball down a few times. Ashley shot a few shots, but missed.

Next was Andy's game and they are just amazing to watch. They work well together and they scored time after time. Andy's an awesome little ball handler!!

Ethan's game was last and he did a great job. He dribbled really well and shot a few times. I was so impressed!

We went straight home and got cooking again. I made meat pies and sausage rolls while Ashley made the lamingtons, while Steve made the lamb, ginger beer, and helped where I needed him.  Gaye came over around 3:30 to help put together the food and stayed for a while after.

The party was awesome!! We had about ten families in our house all at once and loved every minute of it. This is the first time we ran out of food and I was so happy! Of course I was a little sad this morning when I realized there were no leftovers, but I'm still thrilled with the turnout we had. We had the Hearns, Ducos', my parents, Gaye, Castos, Booths, Hoffmans, Fords, Lynes, and us all in one house. So awesome! The food was amazing if I say so myself. :) But seriously though, things turned out a lot better this year than it did last year. I'm not sure why.

But one thing I can say, this house was so much easier to work with. We were able to get everything much sooner than we normally do because we had more space to maneuver. We had only one oven still, but it all worked out.

I loved it!!

This morning,  we hung out at home and got the kids showered and ready for church. We dropped the family off at church and I took Jakob and I to the doctor. I'm SO glad I went when I did. Every instacare was packed, and we had to wait an hour, but we got in and got seen. I did have a sinus infection, and Jakob's bronchitis was still in the viral stage, so we're working on clearing him up before he gets worse. By the time we got done, the wait time for that instacare was over two hours. The office by us was over three hours long!!

We had a wonderful dinner with potatoes and watched a couple movies with the kids before Steve and I left for a family history meeting. We had a great chat and got things organized before heading home.

Now I'm falling asleep while I'm writing, so I'm off to bed. See you next week!

January 18th, 2015

Hello, again. Welcome to another week of Weist insanity.

This week we started into basketball practice for all the kids. Or at least we thought that would happen. Andy's was canceled last the last minute because the coach was gone and his wife didn't know what to do for practice. Andy was totally bummed.

Anyway, back to Monday. After the kids were done with school, they played with their friends and made messes in our yard. The mud is terrible right now! Every shoe is covered.

That night, Ashley gave the lesson on Love at Home. She worked very hard on it and had the family read different verses.

While she was teaching, Heidi whispered to me that she had a game to play. Here are the rules:


1.You have to be quiet but it's not the quiet game.

2. And then you run away from the person, but it's not tag.

3. And you hide somewhere, but it's not hide-and-seek.

4. And it has to be indoors because it's not an outside game.

5. The girls are the orange applejacks, and the boys are the green applejacks.


Is it just me or does it seem like a riddle? Anyway, afterward, we actually cleaned so we could have our house clean for an appraiser to come in order to refinance our home. 

Tuesday, I buried myself in edits. Lots and LOTS of edits. I'd been working on them for a while but really cracked down to get it done.

After school, Heidi, Ashley, and I loaded up and headed down to a photo shoot. It. Was. Awesome. Heidi got to dress up as several different princesses and get photos done for Little Dress Up Shop. She wasn't sure what to do for the first pose, but after that she got the hang of it and had a great time. She was Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel (She was THRILLED when she got this dress to put on), Belle, Sleeping Beauty again, and it seems like there was one more ... Anyway, Ashley was begging to do it sometime too so we're going to see if she can be signed up. 

When we headed out to the parking lot, a semi pulled in and parked right behind our van. As in, we couldn't get out. I had to go and knock on the window to have him move up a few feet just so we could get out. Thankfully he was nice about it and moved.

We got back in time for Gavin's pack meeting. He didn't win any awards, but they had a great time doing the obstacle course. Heidi was dressed in the princess dress she picked out for doing the shoot. 

I stayed up really late that night working on edits. I was sure I would be done with them that night. But the pages just draaaaagged on. So I finally gave up that night and headed for bed. I won't say what time...

Wednesday was more of the same. School, being exhausted from lack of sleep, and lots of edits. Ethan had practice that night and he had a blast. He knows a lot of the kids on his team so he was super excited about that. He keeps asking when his first game is. 

While Andy was at practice with him, Steve and I went to a church meeting to get things organized for a family history challenge for the stake. Well, for our ward, but the challenge is at stake level. I'm excited to get everything going.

That night I finally finished the edits. Woohoo! I was exhausted but it got done. We'll see how well I actually did when the editor gets to that part. 

Thursday poor Ethan stayed home with a fever. He'd complained of a headache or just being tired for a couple days, but that morning he woke up not feeling well. He and Heidi watched Youtube movies and then switched between shows. 

I took some books to the library so they could let people check out my books, and then went shopping for a couple things. Steve needed me to go to the bank, and then I decided to grab a couple things, including exercise clothes. I figured if I looked good, I'd exercise ... right? It worked for the first day. I need to get better at continuing. I did run for 1/2 hour that day so that was a start, right?

That night I took Steve and Ashley to their practice and that's when I found out that Andy's practice was canceled. Thankfully he was able to practice with Ashley, but it was still sad for him. We came home and ate dinner and then Steve took Jakob to his practice.

Friday, poor Ethan was still sick and I felt pretty icky myself. I hadn't sleep well all week, so I rested on the couch with the kids. Steve had wanted to go to the temple but I didn't want to share germs, so I was going to send Jakob. They ended going to pick up pork instead. We had our pig butchered a couple weeks before.

I sat and designed book marks the whole day. I'm excited to see how they turn out when I get them ordered. Which I should do ...

Saturday I woke up late and scrambled to get ready for my book launch. Steve took Jakob to his practice and came back to help get things in the car. He dropped me off and took the kids. They got the house clean and then played with friends while I signed books.

The launch went really well! I had people come from 30 minutes away so it was very exciting for me.  I had great conversations with people, and the time flew. It was crazy!

Ashley, Heidi, Gavin, and Ethan went to a birthday party and it go busy enough that Ethan and Gavin were sent home. It was sad, but they played the Wii-U so they survived.

Steve and I went to get my phone checked on. His got replaced, but mine is an anomaly. We have no idea what's wrong with it. The story of my life.

We came home to make dinner, thinking Ashley's game was at 7:15, but Steve realized it was at 6:30 so we had to take off. Ashley did really well, even though they lost. I could tell she was getting tired, but she was still right in there the whole time fighting for the ball.

After grabbing a couple things, we headed home.

While we were gone, Jakob went to a Quinceanera for a girl in our ward. He had a lot of fun and danced several times. He couldn't eat much while he was there, but he enjoyed the ham, meatballs, and one other thing.

Today was one meeting after another. I'm tired!! We taught Ashley's primary class and Steve did a great job with the lesson. 

I think I need my bed!

January 11, 2015

Hey, look, I'm back!

This week was the first week back after Christmas break. I worried the kids wouldn't get to school on time because they'd slept in throughout the break, but they were up and ready to go. I love that my kids love school!

I also love that they have such awesome friends to play with. Monday, I got a phone call from our friend, asking if Heidi could go play. They picked her up and took her there, giving me time to work. I ... mostly did. I got a few things done at least. We picked up the kids and then went back down to Heidi. She wasn't very happy that I picked her up when I did. She wanted to keep playing!

Ashley was doing much better after her pneumonia, and the kids played with their friends. That night we talked about goals and we all came up with resolutions. There some that were silly, and others that were very serious. It was great!

Here they are:


JAKOB - 10 pushups every day and add one each week, 25 sit-ups

ANDY - Shovel people’s driveways, GET ALL HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS IN ON TIME

ASHLEY - Work harder at obeying Mom and Dad. 5 pushups and 15 sit-ups

GAVIN - Not pick my nose, GET ALL HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS IN ON TIME

ETHAN - Help our animals

HEIDI - Learn to bake, write books


DAD - Finish the Book of Mormon (he is reading every single cross reference as he goes!), new exercise program

MOM - Write my blog every week, write more on author blog, exercise, more writing stuff


After that, we came up with the vegetables we wanted to grow in our garden. We'll see if we have enough space for everything they want ...



Pig
Cucumbers
Carrots
corn
pumpkin
strawberry
peanuts
cabbage
beans
peas
raspberries
blackberries
blueberries
grapes
Pinto beans
tomatoes
asparagus
watermelon
cantaloupe
onions
garlic
herb garden


Yard goals
GRASS
Sprinklers
Fence

Yes, they did want a pig on the list. It may happen. Just not planted in our garden.

On Tuesday I worked on my book (and played games) while the kids were at school. Afterward, the kids got the house cleaned up and got homework done so they could play with friends again. Jakob had wanted to go sledding, but as it was 45 degrees, the snow was melting.

 The kids headed off for scouts that evening and Steve picked them afterward. Jakob got home before the rest of them because he ran.

On Wednesday, I kept working on my book while Heidi begged to play with her friend again. We definitely need to get them back together again!

We had Jason, Riley, and Emily over to play that evening. They had fun playing while I cleaned out my house looking for a necklace I wanted to give to Emily for her birthday. I didn't find the one I was looking for, but she picked out a different one instead. 

Thursday was a crazy day. Right after school, Jakob had to stay for an ASL play that he was doing microphones and curtains for. We grabbed him, and then ate quickly before sending Ashley and Steve off to practice. As soon as they were done, I was dropped off at my Eagle Mountain Arts Alliance meeting, and then Steve took Jakob to his basketball practice. At that exact same time, I was also supposed to be at writing group AND I had a basketball open gym for our stake. Insanity!  

The meeting was fun and we got a lot done. I'll be planning the writing workshop while the others work on their parts. It's going to be awesome.

Friday my friend, Jenna, talked me into going on a walk. We went all over the neighborhood and were gone for quite a while. I'm not even sure how far we walked but we enjoyed chatting. We'll go on walks at least once a week from now on.

Afterward we went to Cafe El Lago for lunch. It was delicious! Jenna mentioned we should probably not go out to dinner after every walk or it probably wouldn't do us much good to exercise. She has a point ...

After school Jakob stayed for a bit again and Andy took his bike home. We were going to go to the temple but it didn't work for the other couple. Instead, we went to the Ellises and had cake with them for their son's birthday. We had a great time talking and the cake was fabulous. Jakob was bummed he missed out because of the play.

Saturday was BUSY. Uh, like the rest of the week. Steve took Andy and Jakob over to the Ellises to clean out their barn. The pigs were killed there and then dragged into a truck ... and it made a big, bloody mess.

Afterward, we went to IKEA to pick out a few things, then to Cabelas, and then to Costco. The kids were mostly good, but it was nice to get home! We then took Ethan to his soccer game and he did awesome! He played well on offense, but then the second half he played goalie. He didn't let a single goal in until the last minute. That ball went in above his head. On the way home, he talked nonstop about how well he did and how much he loves playing goalie. All day today he's been watching goalie training videos. :) Jakob made us yummy eggs and french fries that we had for dinner. We watched a movie after that and then went to bed.

Today is my dad's birthday! Yay!! They flew home from Disney World and were happy to get back into the swing of things.  I'm thankful for texts, emails, and phone calls so we could let him know how much we appreciate at him.

Also today, we found out that my uncle Kirby past away. :( He was fighting for his life for a couple weeks while on his mission in Peru. Today was the day he decided to go home. I didn't know him well, but I knew he was very, very good man. He treated my aunt and her kids with lots of love and did a lot of good. Before this they were in China, doing other service.

Church was wonderful and I got to learn about President Benson's life. The teacher asked about our parents and their influence, so I told her about my parents. She told me it sounded like their lives paralleled President Benson's. I'd have to agree. 

Anyway, off to go have pizza. Have a great week!

September through December

Yeah, you read that right. I'm a little behind on my blogging. I really need to stop doing this. Also, I say it every single time I blog, so ... we'll see.

So this has nothing to do with my post, but seriously, this watermelon was awesome! We got five from our garden this year.

Anyway, after Comic Con in my last post, I had to lay low for a week or two because of what is lovingly termed the "Comic Con crud."

I was sick. Very sick. That didn't stop the kids from having soccer and everything else, but thankfully Steve was around to help out.

Monday morning I got to be on my first radio interview. And, yeah ... I cried. I wish I had the transcript though, because it was a cool interview with all the Atlantis authors. And others said that me crying was a good thing. We'll go with that.

On September 11th, I took part in an author event at Ranches Academy here in Eagle Mountain. I had the chance to talk to the first graders. and I could have talked forever. Seriously. They had so many adorable questions and it was just awesome. I sold a few books and got to see some of the kids I knew from my old neighborhood. It was awesome.

We were deep into soccer by that time. And when I say that, I mean that we had five kids with practice at the same time in four different places. It was insane. Add to that, six games a week at least (usually more), and we were very, very busy. And I loved every second. Don't get me wrong. I loved those days when weather or other things got in the way and we got to have a break. But I love watching my kids play sports.

That Saturday we went from one game to the next and I was still feeling sick. Later in the day we went to help Rachelle and Jeff get their house fixed. They'd had a leak in one of their sprinkler pipes and it had gone down into their basement. Between that and all the games, I wore myself out. I mean, completely worn out. It had been hot, and then with my cough, I ran out of energy. I'd never felt so horrible in my life. I was so dehydrated I could barely open my eyes. When Steve took the kids to church, I slept until they got back. It was AWFUL. I drank as much water as I could and after I finally woke up, I filled myself with Gatorade and even more water. Moral of the story? Stay hydrated. Because that was the worst thing ever. Plus, I found out later that I suffer from lots of kidney stones so that makes things that much worse. Yay ...

Ethan and Heidi enjoying one of the many soccer games.

The next week I was taking some books and other things into Andy's classroom. When they saw the books in my hand, they went crazy and fought over who got to read my books first. It was the coolest thing ever. I'd been having a hard time with my books at that point so they totally made my day. I had a huge grin as I left the school that day.

Poor Andy got sick around the same time I did (which is why I was at his school. I'd had to get his homework). And he wouldn't get better. He was exhausted and he couldn't kick his fever. He had a smaller appetite than usual, and he doesn't have much of one to begin with. He had a rough time when we wouldn't let him play in his soccer game that Saturday, so I agreed to let him play goalie. I shouldn't have. By Sunday he was still nauseated just thinking about food, so I finally took him in. They had to do the breathing treatment on him twice before he could breathe well enough to show he had pneumonia. Poor kid. Thankfully his antibiotics kicked in quickly and he was able to go to school that Tuesday.

He didn't want to stay home from his game!

While he was home and bored out of his mind, he tried to catch up on movies he'd never seen. We watched all three Mighty Ducks, a few of the Karate Kid movies, Wish Upon a Star, and of course, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. While he moaned on the couch, I took a journey down memory lane to when these movies came out. I was kinda sad when he went back to school and I had to watch Leapfrog with Heidi again.

Steve started traveling that next week as well. He was gone two weeks in a row and then had a break before going again. He was off in Georgia while I ran around from one thing to the next. He was able to finish his book! I'm so proud of him.

The kids had a blast at a fundraiser for Westlake Marching Band. They have two cousins in the band so we went to spend lots of money for them. The kids had fun sumo fighting, riding slides, and riding a segway. We had hot dogs and waited for the marching band to perform. They did a fantastic job and made enough money to make it to Hawaii for the Pearl Harbor parade. They even won the best of show award!

The 27th was a crazy day. It had been dumping for a couple days so they canceled the games that morning, which really saved my day. Andy still had a game—he played in the rain—but otherwise, I got to stay dry.

I was picked up for a signing while Steve got Jakob over to the school so he could go to a ballroom dance competition. He got a few things done at home before heading over to watch Jakob and then head off to Jakob's soccer game in the middle of Salt Lake. They didn't find out until they got there that the storm had canceled that as well. Steve took them back home and then came to get me from the signing.

Meanwhile, I did a reading from two of my books and answered a few questions. I sold a couple books and some jewelry as well. I had a lot of fun hanging out with my writing friends.

But the day wasn't over yet. We rushed back from that and got ready for a wedding reception. Andy's best friend's mom was getting remarried. We had so much fun! They had Tucanos cater and then had a dance afterward. Ashley caught the bouquet and Jakob caught the garter. We kept the flowers, but Jakob gave back the garter. :) I was definitely ready to collapse by the time we got home that night!

Steve took off again that Sunday. We had to rush to the airport so we could get back for church.

On Monday, Rachelle and Katy came over to do our pictures for the book cover for my newest book. We took several on each of my staircases so Rachelle and Jeff would have a bunch to choose from. They turned out awesome! Katy did a great job with modeling. Shortly after they got to the house, we found out there was a voluntary water restriction in the city. I'd been debating whether or not I should take the kids to a Studio C thing that night, but the water warning made me decide to go.

I wish I hadn't. I mean, we had fun. They had the first episode on a huge screen in a park in Provo. But we had people cutting us off over and over on the way there, then I lost my charger for my phone, and then I got the order wrong for Jakob at In N Out. Thankfully they were super awesome about it and replaced his burger for free—and gave us the other one as well (Jakob can't have dairy or gluten and I'd forgotten to tell them no cheese. Oops!)

Andy found this in my purse two weeks later. I'd checked it several times!

Thankfully the scare for the water was nothing and we were able to go back to drinking it. Someone had broken into one of the wells and they had to make sure nothing was tampered with. It was a little inconvenient, but I was glad the city took the precautions they did to keep us all safe.

October, 2014

And then it was October. A very, very busy October. Just like every other month. Steve had traveled again (and finished his first book!!) and that Friday night we drove into Provo for Jakob's soccer game. Siri took us on a wild goose chase to get there (going on Canyon Road during a BYU game doesn't work), but we got there.They did well, but lost.  Afterward, we had to rush off to go pick Steve up from the airport.

 The next morning, we headed down to St George to see my mom come in from the marathon. She went faster than she had in a few years so it was a race to get there before she crossed the finish line. We barely made it and got to cheer for the last several yards.  After helping her get her shoes off and into the car, we headed over to Wendy's for lunch. Steve's parents had lunch planned already, so we just had frosties.

Mom and Rachelle headed home and we headed over to Steve's parents' house for lunch and to help them out around the house. We love going down to help them with pruning and cleaning and whatever else needs done.

We left after the afternoon session on Sunday afternoon. We had a nice time listening to conference and relaxing while we were there.

Heidi came up with this little gem while we were there:

Heidi: Mommy, you have two hearts.
Me: Sweet! I'm a time lord.
Heidi: Uh-huh. If you have two hearts you're a time lord. If you have three, you're not.
Me: Oh, then what are you?
Heidi: A god. If you have four, you're in college.

Sometimes I wonder about her...

The next week we began yard work. Hard, scratchy, annoying, painful yard work. You know how when Adam and Eve were sent out of the Garden of Eden and would have to deal with thistle and noxious weeds? Yeah, they're in our backyard. Or they were.

A couple of our friends came to bring us some squash and mentioned that some people used a tractor to scoop up the weeds because the roots didn't really keep them secured to the ground. After they left I got to thinking. We had a carpet scraper that could do the same thing.

And so I did it. It was hard and back breaking, but I spent a couple weeks working on the 3/4 acre we own to get rid of those weeds. I had to work around soccer and school, etc, but I was determined to get it done so I wouldn't have to deal with them in the spring. 

Our whole yard was covered in weeds!

That weekend I attended IndieRecon Live. I helped out by introducing the different authors and embarrassed myself. Let's just say that you have to be REALLY careful how you say funky chicken, because sometimes it doesn't come out right. And sometimes it's right in front of forty people. Whoops!

But the conference was amazing. I learned so much while I was there. I can't wait to use it all. I've used some already. Other stuff will come in time. I'm just very glad I went. 

I'd hoped to have the yard done when I got back, but Steve had lots of other stuff he had to do. He did burn some of the weeds, but he was taking care of the chickens and getting kids where they needed to go.

Steve left yet again the next day, and I decided the best gift to give him when he got back was to have the yard cleared. That week we had UEA weekend. Normally we head off to Idaho to the pumpkin patch and to hang out with my family, but Steve was out of town. The kids had a couple soccer games during that time so we couldn't leave. The kids were amazing and helped a ton. I did bribe them a couple times, but each day we got done with just a little more. 

At night we'd burn the weeds and have hot dogs, steak, or hamburgers in the fire. I had a rash like you wouldn't believe on my arms because of the evil tumbleweeds, but it got done. And it was worth the happiness that Steve showed when he got home from the airport. We did have a little left to do when he got home, but we got it done. Rachelle came out a few times to help and we were able to move fast. At one point I almost started the carpet scraper on fire because I was using it to stir the coals. I didn't realize there was a hole at the bottom, so ash got up inside. Yikes!

Saturday I headed off to Tremonton with Jenna for a signing. We picked up Cindy Hogan on the way and made it to the Senior Citizen Center. We only had a couple people come, but I still had a lot of fun. I even sold a couple things. Afterward, we dropped Cindy off and went to find something to eat. We went to Texas Roadhouse and then Jenna kidnapped me and headed off to Provo so we could go to another signing. Steve and the kids had built up the chicken coop another five feet because the chickens kept flying out.

The next few days flew by. I helped Steve with everything while I could before taking off.  We took the kids to Meet the Mormons. It was amazing. My kids just stared at the screen and they all had their favorite stories when we left. Heidi kept asking when the movie would start so I'm not sure she got the point, but I'm still glad we took her.

That weekend was the St. George Book Festival. On Thursday, my brother-in-law picked me up and we headed down. I was dropped off at my hotel room and then I headed over for dinner. Alone. And then I went back to my room and wrote for hours. Alone. It was wonderful to have a break to get things done.

And Steve went to soccer, a performance for Jakob, and more soccer. With a few soccer practices in there. All on Thursday.

On Friday, I went to classes on writing. They had great information and I got to talk to Dean Hughes, who had been one of my professors at BYU. It was good to see him. I taught my first writing class on finding story ideas that work. I thought it went well, but I hope everyone else did too. We did writing prompts and then had people read them out loud. That night we had a banquet where my sister-in-law Susan joined me. It was fun talking with her for a couple hours. We sat with a few other writers and talked about what everyone writes. We listened to the mayor talking on writing, and then Dean Hughes was the keynote. He had great jokes and insight into writing. I really enjoyed it.

That night I wrote a lot more and then fell asleep with my laptop next to me. And learned you shouldn't eat day old banana cream pie. Just ... trust me.

While I did all that, Steve was keeping up with all the kids. Jakob and Andy both had campouts that night so he had to get them ready.

And then there was Saturday. I got up and packed and Steve (Bro-in-law) took me back to the Children's museum for a signing. It was a big jumble of musical numbers up in a loft, and the signing below. It got loud at some points, but the music was well done. We sold a couple sets and a few of my other books.

And Steve? He got up way early, drove up to get Jakob from camp, drove home to get his soccer shoes, drove back to his soccer game (Jakob won!!), and then back home to get supplies. He waited for Andy to get back from his camp and then headed down to St. George with the family. They got to Steve's parents' house and they did some work for his parents before it was time to pick me up. He brought the younger kids over to help me load up, and we chatted with a couple friends before heading off. After helping for a bit longer, we headed back home. I did some of the driving as Steve had already driven four hours that morning. 

On Monday I got to do a book assembly at both Hidden Hollow and Frontier Middle School. It was so much fun. We only had Laura and I, but we were able to use the time well and Laura did an awesome job getting the group laughing. We had an hour at the first school and then headed over to Frontier. That one was a little trickier because we only had a few people come at a time. It was still a good discussion, though. I enjoyed it.

We had one of our neighbors come by and grade our yard. It looks a gazillion times better. We worked on getting sod down that we'd been given from another neighbor. It took a lot of time and energy to get the ground flat and smooth for the sod - and then the ground settled anyway. But we have grass in our front yard. Yay!

Here's another Heidi tidbit:

Heidi: Mommy guess what dinosaur this is.
Me: Stegosaurus
Heidi: No
Me: What is it?
Heidi: Um, you know those dinosaurs on Dinosaur Train?
Me: Yeah.
Heidi: It's not one of those.

Wednesday night we had Christina over for dinner. It was her birthday on Thursday, but since everyone decided to schedule everything that day, we celebrated a day early. And that included taking her to Walmart to get a tire changed because she ran over a screw on the way to our house. Yay... But thankfully they took her van in and we were able to get it done. She was happy that she wouldn't have to work early or worry about the tire on her actual birthday. And dinner was yummy. We had hamburger sliders, fries, and cookies. I felt bad that we didn't have a cake for her but she insisted cookies are what she wanted anyway.

On the 30th, we had a ballroom dance performance for Jakob. The zombie dancers were rather disturbing to me, but Jakob's group did a great job. There were a few other groups i really enjoyed. I'm just really not a fan of zombies. There were a couple other things that happened that day but I don't remember what they were. I think Jakob actually played soccer as well.

And then it was Halloween. My favorite day! Heidi and I went to Ashley's classroom for Halloween. I was in charge of a cake walk (er, candy walk), and Heidi helped pass things out. When she wasn't trying to escape the classroom. After school, we went home and relaxed for a bit before taking Jakob to his friend's house for trick-or-treating. Then we walked to the church and did a trunk-or-treat there. Steve went home and worked on sprinklers while I drove the kids around to houses. We went back to our old neighborhood and trick-or-treated there as well. It was just ... quiet. There were few people out and about. It was really sad.

As Heidi was running to two places in our new neighborhood, she tripped. The first time she was still excited so she hopped up and kept running. The second time she came back to the car yelling and screaming. Not sad. Angry. Very, very angry. I got a Band-Aid on it and then she was already to do more walking.

Jakob walked around neighborhoods with his friend and they went to a zip line. I got a text saying: "I just ran into a barbed wire fence. Come in ten minutes. I'm not badly hurt, just small scratches."

Oh that doesn't worry a parent at all, does it?? And those scratches weren't small at all. Neither were the bruises underneath. He stepped on the board and it flew up and smacked him in the leg and chest. It hurt to run for several days. It also shredded the T-shirt he was wearing. Talk about scaring a mom to death!! If it had gone further north or south ... I'm just very grateful he was saved.

November, 2014

Hey, look we're to November. Ashley had her first indoor soccer game that day. When we were waiting to get her signed in, Ashley's bottle fell from the counter and down onto my poor baby toe. It was a five foot drop. I tried very hard not to scream. There was a nice blood blister there that lasted for weeks.

But, hey, Ashley won! She made a couple goals and fit right into the team. It was a lot of fun to watch. As I made sure no one came near my foot.

We went home and finished up the last of the sprinklers in the very, very cold weather. It almost felt like November! Almost. Then Steve and I got dressed up and headed off to Murray to a Halloween party. It was lots of fun. Several games and really good food. I hadn't been to any Halloween parties with just Steve and I before, and I'm really glad we went.

Steve went out of town again for the week. We went to our meeting on Sunday morning and then rushed him off to the airport. he'd gone to Georgia several times, but this time he took off to Florida. I was a little sad to be left behind, but alas, we had school. 

Monday morning, Mikey, Laura, and I went and put on an author assembly at Black Ridge Elementary. It was awesome. Mikey drew fun pictures while Laura and I helped come up with a story. I talked about writing and Laura talked about reading. Gavin, Ashley, and Ethan had asked a few times if I could take them home when I was done. I just laughed since we were done by 10:30. Yes, they stayed until the end of school. 

Heidi ended up with a gum ban that week. She got gum on her hands (Still not sure how) and tried to clean them off in the bathroom. And she got it all over the doorknob, faucet, and wall. Thankfully goo gone took it right off.

Tuesday I voted in the morning (Eagle Mountain sold off the utilities they'd owned since the city was incorporated in 1996. I'm still very torn as to whether or not I want it, but it's happening anyway), and then after school, I headed off with Rachelle, Heidi, Jason, and Riley to a grade school in Murray where we helped judge Reflections writing entries. Well, Rachelle did the art. I really enjoyed reading all the entries. 

Steve came home on Thursday and it was a super crazy day. I had to grab him, take him home, rush off to get my friend, Gaye, and head over to our Eagle Mountain Arts Alliance meeting. She's now our secretary. The meeting was a blast. We got a lot done and I can't wait to see where it goes from there!

On Friday morning we became the grandparents to adorable baby bunnies. We'd gotten the bunnies from our neighbors and 21 days later, we had babies. Andy came running in excited because the mom had pulled out a bunch of her fur to make a nest (which I had no idea would happen, but apparently he did) so the babies would probably be born soon. I hurried outside with a box I'd made with straw and started gathering up fur and straw—only to find tiny babies inside the next. Oh my goodness they're so cute!!! They were hairless little bunnies with long ears. So cute! I cleaned up the nest and got them all settled in the new one, then made sure the mama had plenty of food and water. One baby had died, but we still had five. Four gray bunnies and a white bunny with a gray spot by her nose.

That day Ethan decided it was time to read Harry Potter. The books are almost as big as he is, but I wasn't about to turn him down. He could read a few words here and there but he wasn't going to give up. He has brought every one of them at different times. I think I know what we're going to read as a family next.

While waiting for the next set of edits I needed to do for my book, Endless, I decided to take a little break from writing (well, rewriting, but I'll explain later), so we painted ceramics. My kids painted Halloween ceramics, and I worked on stores. It was relaxing to paint while we watched Ninja Turtles.

That night we got to watch Maleficent with the kids. We didn't get to start until a little later, so half the kids fell asleep. So unfortunately we had to watch it again the next night. I adore that movie. ADORE IT.

Here's an Ethan tidbit:

Ethan: Mommy how many dimes do you need to make a dollar?
Me: Well, a dime is ten cents and a dollar is a hundred cents.
Ethan(without skipping a beat): oh so you need ten dimes.
The kid is six but he has always LOVED math.

Ashley and Jakob both had several soccer games and Jakob had the opportunity to do stage crew for choir and band concerts, along with a couple plays. He loves doing it and even volunteered to do it again this semester.

That Saturday I got to sign books with other Trifecta Books authors at Pioneer Book in Provo. I enjoyed visiting with the other authors and the customers. When I'm at home, I become a total introvert. At church, scouts, meetings, whatever, I'd rather be home writing. But when I'm at a signing or other writing related events, I can put myself out there and fully enjoy talking with other people. It's strange, but that's how my life has become.

And how did my family feel about the signing?

Andy: Mom, if it's still snowing and we don't stay at your signing the whole time, can we go sledding?
Me: You don't want to stay at my signing?
Andy: Well, I want to go sledding.
Ashley: Are you saying you hate Mommy??

Needless to say, they didn't stay at the signing. They came for a bit, but went home for most of it. There was no sledding since the snow was melted, but they didn't have to stay and hang out at the bookstore. Well, Ashley and Gavin did. They got bored so I had them take a piece of paper and find a book title for every letter of the alphabet. They did it. Twice. The first time they forgot to write down the titles so I had them do it again. 

That night, as I was making dinner, Jakob started teaching Andy to play the violin. Between Jakob's cello and Andy's violin, I was highly impressed. Of course it only lasted the one day. After that, Jakob got bored and didn't want to teach any more. Sad.

The next week it was room purging time. I cleaned out the younger kids' rooms and got rid of several bags of clothes. The rooms stayed clean for a day. But hey, I tried. At least it's all clothes they can wear now instead of clothes are two sizes too small. 

The weekend before Thanksgiving was full of awesomeness. Well, my kind of awesomeness. We went full tilt into edits on Endless so I sat for two days with headphones on, making sure I didn't miss any mistakes. Also, the guy that reads pdfs is a riot in a robotic kind of way.

Saturday we went to help clean out a yard for our neighbors and then I headed back to my headphones and the laptop. And Steve butchered four roosters. No, really. They were getting too big and I think they were stressing out the hens. As soon as we butchered them, the hens started laying. 

That's Ethan holding the drumstick. Huge!

Anyway, the book got done, roosters got done, and my brain was fried. I had Steve and Ashley listen to it on the way to and from Ashley's soccer game. Steve was laughing at the robot guy's voice while I concentrated on the edits. And then we were done and ready for it to go on to formatting. Woohoo!

Monday I started collecting all the entries for the city writing contest. I was in charge of it for the year and I got to pick out the themes. I also opened it up to adults and the Jr high and high school students. It was awesome. We had 44 entries! For 18 and under, we had "If I Were an Elf..." And for adults we had "The Christmas I Remember Most." It's kind of amazing how many ways those themes can be interpreted... Anyway, I split them into their categories and came up with the judging rubric with Gaye.

Thanksgiving in St. George was short and sweet. I wish we could have stayed longer but the day after was a little insane. We had fun staying at Susan and Steve's. They were so good with the kids. And Andy and Jakob stayed with their grandparents. They had lots of working for them and staying in their little cottage in the back.

Friday, I went between announcing one book was free, another book was out, and being part of a Black Friday thing. It was crazy! Ashley had a game at 1, which is why we left the day before. Jakob was supposed to play, but they canceled his game because several of his teammates were playing in St. George that weekend. 

A joke from Heidi? Okay!

Why did the chicken cross the road?
Why?
Because he wanted to eat a squirrel.


Or, how about this one?

Heidi just had a "hot flash" so she had to open the window. Perhaps she's around her mom too much...

That's life living with Heidi. I love it! 

I spent Saturday getting everything organized for the writing contest so I could get them to one of my judges. It took longer than I thought, but I was happy with how it turned out.

December, 2014

December came way faster than I wanted it to this year. We had SO much happen throughout the year, but it still felt like it flew.

Anyway, I started out with an online book launch for Endless. It was so much fun! My friend, Konstanz, put together and I was so thrilled with how it turned out. A lot of people came and asked great questions. I had people excited to buy the book. It was fun. There was one point when it kinda died out, but it picked back up.  So cool!

The next morning I spent reading contest entries so I could get the winners to the city. It was very nice having the point system because there were several that would have been very hard to choose from. This way the points did it for me.

Thursday night we took the kids to Thanksgiving Point to see the lights. I was ecstatic. I'd been wanting to take them for years and found out that this ward does it for scouts every year. We got to ride on carriages through the park. Afterward we had hot chocolate and donuts. Yummy!

Friday was a game for Jakob and then we had to rush back to the Christmas tree lighting ceremony. I got to announce the winners and the kids got to see Santa. They wished for a goat, a pig, an iPad, and a few other random things. They had hot chocolate and donuts there as well and we waited until it was time to announce the winners. Out of the 17 places, only three people were actually there. It was kinda sad, but I was still happy with how everything turned out. Ashley wasn't happy with me though because she'd asked a few times to do the gingerbread house contest and I forgot. And she would have won everything because no one entered. Whoops!

Saturday it was sunny and cool, but not cool enough to keep me from wearing shorts and a T-shirt while I dug the hole for our green house. Yes, warm. I wasn't thrilled with it, but it was still nice to have the chance to work outside. We left there and headed off to a jewelry party at Mikey's house and then to the Festival of Trees and a soccer game for Ashley. Gavin and Ashley loved the trees we saw there. And the gingerbread houses? AMAZING. Castles and hotels and Frozen mountains, and temples. It was amazing.

While we were gone, Jakob watched Heidi and Ethan while Andy was off playing with his friends. Jakob made gluten free cupcakes that were fantastic. We're talking moist, gooey, chocolatey perfection. He had the fire alarm goes off, but it was totally worth it. Man. I want another one.

We had more soccer games and the weather suddenly decided to turn colder. I was thrilled to death. Time for winter! We made lots of yummy candies at our house for neighbors and handed them out. Each night I enjoyed our Christmas lights in our house. It was nice and peaceful. Especially with our electric fireplace going.

Ethan came down with a cold and stayed home from school for a couple days because of his cough. While he was home, we watched several Chinese songs (he's in the Chinese immersion program) and how to make fireworks, candy canes, toothpaste, jelly beans, and of course BACON. Then Heidi would take the TV back under control to watch her shows.

Steve and I got away for a night and went to the temple. It was so nice breaking away from everything to enjoy the peace. We got out late so we headed to Texas Roadhouse for some really good food. And now I want some more...

Saturday morning was the ward Christmas party. We made about four dozen eggs to help feed the ward and loaded up to go play. We wore pajamas (there was supposed to be a contest but I don't remember anyone winning ...) and ate. Then the kids let Santa know they wanted an American Girl Doll, bacon, a cow, a goat, an iPad, and a Pikachu. Which was different from what they told Santa just a week before.

Sunday, I had the kids help me write our Christmas letters, which was a lot of fun. You never know what they're going to say. I had to search for my address list, but thankfully it was on the memory stick, right where I left it.

Jakob had his Christmas orchestra concert and I was highly impressed. Especially when they played Carol of the Bells. He got to play with the Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced groups. It was so cool! I'm proud of my little cello boy. He's doing so well.

Finally, on the 18th of December, the weather actually decided to pretend to be winter. I said that before, but by the 18th it actually snowed. The funny thing was, most of the city didn't get any. We were on the edge of the clouds, so we got hit while most of the city didn't. 

Friday, we went to Jakob's soccer game and then took all the munchkins home so Steve and I could head back for a wedding reception. It was for Robin Ambrose and new hubby and it was held in a nursery. Talk about a perfect place for decorations! Plants were everywhere. We found a table with several of our author friends and talked for hours. Yes, hours. Oh, and did I mention cheesecake? It was delicious. After sending the bride and groom off with sparklers, we hung out outside and talked for another hour. Steve and I stopped at Kneaders for a sandwich before heading home. 

On Saturday morning, Christina came over for breakfast before we took her to the airport. We were going to have a quiet day at home, until I realized I could go do a signing at the South Towne Expo. I didn't sell anything, but I gave out several bookmarks and told people about my books. Hopefully it will help later.

On our way back from the airport, Donny Osmond's "A Soldier's King" came on. I was proud of myself for not crying this time, and then I heard a little voice from the backseat telling me that it was a perfect song for Christmas and could we please play it again? I looked back to find tears in Ethan's eyes as he tried not to cry. I turned it back on, and this time I teared up. It's so great when your little boy feels the Spirit all on his own.

I got to speak on Sunday in Sacrament Meeting. I told the story of Ethan and that song, and about another video we'd listened to on Monday for FHE. The talk went pretty well, and I hope that I could help people get into the real Christmas Spirit. I tried. :)

When we got back, I had the kids help me wrap the last of the gifts so we could leave the next day. They wrapped the gift they picked out for the sibling and the one for their cousins. Heidi even got to write her name on the gifts she gave. I was impressed!

And then it was time for Idaho! Okay, first we went to Ashley's soccer game and then went back to fill our car with our stuff, and then it was time to leave. The trip was smooth the whole way and we escaped the snow storms that were threatening to come.  When I got there, the first thing I went for was the box of books I'd been waiting to get my hands on. I had my Endless books!! 

Charlotte's family got there the next day and the parties began! Everyone played and we ended the day with ice cream. Yummy!

Christmas Eve has always been my favorite day. So many awesome traditions that start at about 6:00 that night. We start with bean dip and then we go in the living room. We put together the Nativity with puppets for all the grandkids. Next goes egg nog milkshakes for dessert and time for bed!

Christmas day we started at 7:00 am. And miraculously, Steve and I were both in good moods in the morning. Usually it's one or the other. Anyway, we went upstairs to let the kids find out what they got from Santa. Each of my kids got Pokemon cards and a Skylander figurine. They were ecstatic. Afterwards we unwrapped gifts from our family and then had tea ring (cinnamon rolls in a wreath design) and hot chocolate. Once that was done, we opened the presents from my parents and our cousins. My kids were excited. I got some super awesome pink Doc Martens and a coat. Steve got some gloves and a T-shirt with a cat on it. He wears both all the time. 

White Christmas!

We had ham, potatoes, corn, veggies, and bread for lunch, and then let everyone hang out for the rest of the day.  It was a great Christmas!

We were going to leave on Saturday, but because of the weather, we ended up needing to leave on Friday. I'm so glad we did. The storm I worried about on Monday was much worse than we'd thought it would be. So Saturday we spent doing things at our house and getting some shopping done. The kids played Skylanders and Disney Infinity.

On Sunday we left as soon as we got up and got the car packed. We took off for St. George with two kids with fevers. Yay.... So Steve dropped Ashley, Heidi, and I off at the hotel and then went over to spend some time with his parents. 

Monday we spent as much time as we could in the hotel until we had to check out. Then we were in the cottage for a few hours until we could check back into the bigger room at the hotel. That night we went swimming, and it was a HUGE mistake. Gavin went to bed with a 104.4 fever that only peppermint could help bring down. Of course that's because I forgot he had to have two Advil instead of one. Oops. He was doing way better by the next morning though. Thankfully!

Tuesday we spent the morning at the hotel, and then headed over to Steve's brother's rental. We let the kids play while we talked. We had lunch and then dinner there. Ron and Steve put together fish tacos and they were AMAZING. I could have kept eating but figured that wouldn't be a good idea.

Ashley and Gavin couldn't kill their fever, so while Steve took Jakob, Andy, and Ethan swimming, I took the other three to the little shop and let them pick out some ice cream and popcorn. It totally made their night. We watched High School Musical 3 together before they drifted off to sleep (because it was late, not because of the movie. They loved that).

We had to leave early on New Year's Eve because of another storm, so we said goodbye to everyone and took off. Fevers and coughs were gone (except Ashley, and by that time I was worried about it hanging on), so we put together a party for that night. The Ellises came over and two of my writing friends did as well. We ate lots of yummy food and watched How to Train Your Dragon 2. Such a great movie! After that, we had brownies and our cider while we used our phones to countdown to midnight. Too bad Netflix doesn't have the ball drop ...

Everyone left soon after and we headed off to bed. It was 2015!!! (Note: Some of those exclamation points could be because I'm almost done with this post ...)

January 2015

Ashley decided to start the year off with a bang by having me take her to the doctor. Her oxygen was down to 93 and her temp was up to 102.8. The doctor couldn't figure out what in the world was going on with her because her lungs seemed fine. So we went from Orem to the AF hospital to get an X-ray. We were told that because it was January 1st, it might be 24 hours before we heard back. Frustrated that we'd have to wait when she was so sick, I drove her home so she could rest. 

By the time we got to the neighborhood, Steve called to tell me that it was pneumonia and that they had to find a pharmacy that was actually open. I got Ashley some Ibuprofen and then headed back to Provo to the Walgreens there. It was only that one and the Rite Aid across the street that was open. So in all, it was about a hundred miles to get my poor girl the help she needed. 

Before we took her in, we took down all our Christmas stuff and cleaned everything out. She laid on the couch and whimpered whenever we asked her to do something. That was the hint for me that something needed done.

Steve even surprised me with moving our bedroom around like I'd wanted!

On Friday we took Andy to his soccer game and his team won by 10 points. We found out that Jakob's team and put another team together and didn't include him. It was kinda hurtful. But we'll find him a different team, or just have him do basketball since that's starting up.  

Saturday Ashley sang at Sophie's baptism. She got to sing with Sophie and Katy and it was an original song by Charlotte. So pretty!

We rushed from lunch at Charlotte's and went to Ethan's game. He did a good job with it being his first indoor game. He had a smile on his face for a lot of it and he was able to stop the ball.

That night we got a movie that we watched as a family and the kids all slept on the floor in the living room.

Sunday, Ashley went to Sacrament Meeting before she was exhausted so I brought her home and let her sleep. The chicken didn't want to behave that we made, so it was soggy by the time we finally ate it.

Andy had his Priesthood Preview last night. I'm going to have another priesthood holder in July. Crazy!

And now we're to today. I can be done, right? See you next week!