Merry Christmas 2008!

We had a wonderful Christmas and very white! The snow prevented us from visiting family on Christmas day but we were able to go down to Salt Lake on the 26th and see everyone. It is still snowing here every day. We're getting very strong from all of the shoveling.

We hope you all had a very merry Christmas too!

Concert Week

This week has been what we call at our house concert week. Tonight was the Logan High School orchestra concert which was excellent---especially since Juice was first chair in the Philharmonic. She never told us! She played a wonderful solo which I was silly and forgot to record. You'll just have to take my word for it that it was very well done.

Yesterday was the Logan High School choir concert which Sonny Pie was in. Here he is playing the hand bells in one of the songs. He always looks very serious in his concerts. I don't know if that's concentration or boredom. Tuesday was Silly Guy's and my first orchestra concert. It was very fun to be under the lights on the stage. Silly Guy was so excited afterward. He said he wants to be the best cello player in the school. I guess the concert made it worth all of the pain(mostly mine) of practicing every day whether he wanted to or not!

A million memories

Well it's been a week now since Grandpa passed away and what a week! I've had so many memories running through my mind. It seems like most of them have to do with food! Everyone remembers his famous pancakes. Last July I took my kids to visit Grandma while she was in the hospital after her stroke. We thought we were going to get up and make breakfast and see what we could do to help Grandpa---but surprise!--He was up before us making his famous pancakes. What a wonderful memory for my children!

I remember picnics in the back yard with Grandpa's famous dutch oven potatoes and BBQ chicken. (Does anyone have his chicken recipe? I know it had vinegar and water in a spray bottle. What else did he put in?)

I remember Thanksgivings at Grandma & Grandpa's house with the whole family. We were always scrambling to find a place for everyone to sit. When I was little Grandpa would tell me, "You might have to sit on your thumb!" I think I might have tried it once without much success!

Grandpa was always the quiet strength in the background of all the noise and fun when we were all together. What a great example for all of us!

Blue what?

Recently we discovered the answer to a great mystery in our family. A few years ago we went on a trip to Disneyland. It was very exciting and fun--especially for Silly Guy and Superstar. For about a year after the trip Superstar was obsessing about going back. What we couldn't figure out was why his obsessions were always blue. The blue hotel, blue breakfast, the blue elevator, etc., etc., etc. We were looking at pictures a few days ago and discovered the reason for our blue vacation---He was wearing these blue sunglasses pretty much the whole time!

Love you Grandpa

My dear grandpa left us early Tuesday morning. He was such a rock. He kept holding on so he could care for Grandma. About six weeks ago he and Grandma moved in with my mom so they could have more help. Once he knew Grandma was taken care of his health quickly went down-hill. He was in a lot of pain so it's a good thing for him that he has gone on to prepare a place for Grandma on the other side. How I will miss him! Here is his obituary.

Don Robert Hymas, loving husband, father, and grandfather, slipped away peacefully at home Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008, surrounded by his devoted family. One of two children born to Benjamin and Sarah Elizabeth Hymas on March 6, 1923, in Sharon, he grew up in a loving family, with fond memories of helping on the family farm, adventures with his dog, Ring, and enjoying community dances and activities throughout the valley. He entered the Army during World War II and served his country proudly for three years. He married his sweetheart, Lillie Roma Beckstead, on June 1, 1945, in the Logan Utah Temple. They lived in Preston for a time and then moved to Twin Falls. Together they have six children, 25 grandchildren and 38 great-grandchildren. He was a devoted member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in many capacities, including ward clerk, executive secretary and counselor to the bishop, as well as serving with his wife in the Boise Idaho Temple. He found joy in hard work. His profession was in the grocery business, as well as being a transport driver. He was involved with the American Legion for many years and loved fishing with his boys, being in the out of doors, bowling, woodworking, cooking, gardening and being with family. He found great joy in his grandchildren and great-grandchildren and loved being with them and hearing of their achievements and activities. He is survived by his wife, Lillie Roma Beckstead Hymas; and children, Shawna (Larry) Dunn, Kent Hymas, Randy (Carolyn) Hymas, Catherine (Bill) Garrison, Kristine (Edward) Durtschi and Richard (Kelly) Hymas; as well as his sister, Pearl (Verl) Perkel. He was a gentle giant. We will miss his loving and devoted ways, his hugs, his teasing nature and the joy he brought to his family and friends. The funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 12, at the LDS 9th Ward Chapel on Elizabeth Boulevard in Twin Falls, with burial to follow at Sunset Memorial Park. A viewing will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 11, at White Mortuary "Chapel by the Park," 136 Fourth Ave. E. in Twin Falls, and one hour prior to the service at the church. Friends and family can share your thoughtsand fond memories at www.Mem.com.

Barton Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

We had a really fun Thanksgiving with the Barton family at the Weight's house(Stephen's sister). All but one were there. We missed her! Here are a few pics.

Ten things that make me smile---

1. Juice asking for help with her problem---it being that too many boys like her!

2. Cutie laying in his bed in the morning singing "You are my Sunshine."

3. Silly Guy practicing his cello---without being asked:)

4. My yard is all cleaned up for the winter.

5. My family laughing together as we play charades.

6. Lower gas prices!

7. Superstar planning to build a restaurant so that I will want to eat out more often. (More on that later!)

8. Stephen's love and patience.

9. Sonny Pie being so relaxed and easy-going and responsible. (This is a huge change from a few years ago!)

10. My wonderful family!----That's all of you!

String Bass?

I'm embarking on a new adventure!

I'm going to become a bass player. (I use that term very loosely;) I've been going to the elementary school two days a week to help with the beginning orchestra where Silly Guy is learning to play the cello. The cellos and basses have their class together---6 cellos and 1 bass. The little girl who is learning the bass is having a really hard time. She is the only one that has something different to play than all the others. The orchestra teacher has been afraid she was going to quit.

So I thought maybe if I learned to play the bass also it would help this girl to not be so discouraged. This was the first day that I played the bass. It was kind of fun. I hope it really does help!

Baptism Day

What a great day it was for our Superstar to be baptized. He has been preparing and being prepared by the Spirit for a long time and finally the day has come. His older brother and sister gave the talks and his brother and cousin gave the prayer. Superstar sang a musical number--"When I Am Baptized." We were really grateful for everyone from both sides of the family who took time out of their busy schedules to travel to be with us. We felt especially blessed that Grandma & Grandpa Hymas were able to be there en route to moving to Salt Lake. Thanks to everyone who helped to make it a special day!

It's Fall Time!

Cutie has been having so much fun discovering what "Fall Time" is all about. We drive around town and he is constantly telling me that it's fall time in the street and on the sidewalks and on the grass, etc., etc., etc. (Wherever there are leaves fallen it's fall time. If there are no leaves then it's not fall time in that place.) Today we dropped the van off at the high school for Juice and Sonny Pie to go to swim practice then walked to the bus to ride home. He was having so much fun walking and jumping and kicking in the leaves. When we got home he wanted to stay outside and I came in the house. About five minutes later he came running inside hollering, "Mom, Mom, Mom!" I wondered if anything was wrong, but when I asked him what was up he said, "It's fall time at OUR house!!!!!" What a discovery that the leaves are falling off of our trees too!

Birthday Boy!

Superstar is "finally 8", to use his own words. We had such a busy day with EFY, swim meet, ward party and a birthday, but I think he was thrilled to have this giant balloon to carry around all day and his monster birthday cake and presents after it was all over.

Here he is in his new cub scout uniform. He is so excited!
Happy Birthday!

Where were you?

20 years ago:
1. I was at Ricks College and dating my future husband. What a great year that was!

2. I was taking a lot of credits and accompanying several voice students and singing in the school opera "The Magic Flute". It was so busy, and crazy, and fun. (Kind of like now!)

3. My goal of going on a mission was changing to my goal of becoming a wife and raising missionaries!

10 years ago:
1. I was expecting my third (and long awaited) child. We were starting to think that there were no more coming.

2. I lived in the USU Trailer Court while my husband went to school. I was doing day care full time. I was called to be the Primary president in our student ward. That was very challenging and fun.

3. My parents splurged and took the whole family to Florida and Disney World. We were all very surprised and we had a lot of fun.

5 years ago:
1. I was expecting our fifth and last child. I was so glad to be having him and also so glad he was the last! That's just how I still feel today.

2. Parenting was becoming much more challenging with a new middle schooler, a temperamental 10-year-old, two toddlers close in age--one of which was having autistic tendencies, and being pregnant!

3. We really enjoyed the harvest from our garden the first year in our home. We would go pick and ear of corn and steam it in the microwave for lunch. Delicious! We haven't had as much success since.

1 year ago:
1. My husband got a big raise at work which brought much relief to our financial woes we had been experiencing for a couple of years. This brought us from poverty level to lower middle class. Thus--

2. We set a goal to pay off our mortgage within five years. Right now we're pretty close to on track to accomplish that goal. We'll see what the future brings.

3. My first son entered high school as a freshman. It is with great trepidation that I watch my children grow up. Have I helped them have the wings they need to fly?

Yesterday:
1. I took Cutie with me to help in the beginning orchestra class at the elementary school where Silly Guy is learning to play the cello. This has been challenging for both student and parent!

2. I oversaw much homework, cooking, cleaning, etc.

3. I watched Sonny Pie sing in his first choir concert. I just know one of my children will want to share in my passion for choral music!

Today:
1. Cutie and I will ride the bus to the library for story time. He is so ready for kindergarten but has to wait until next year.

2. I'll begin sewing Halloween costumes. As much as I really dislike Halloween somehow I can never get out of figuring out costumes, treats, etc. Superstar wants to be a mustard bottle. I saw a picture in a magazine that I am going to make. Silly Guy is going to be a piece of pizza. I have that costume from a couple of years ago. Cutie is going to be a cat since he loves to act and sound like a cat all the time. The older kids are on their own. They get to figure out their own.

3. Tonight is the fall orchestra concert. Juice is playing in it. She's a senior (I can't believe it) so after this year we'll be done with high school orchestra concerts for a while. That makes me sad. Sonny Pie is actually playing percussion in this one too.

Tomorrow:

1. Laundry.(actually that one is every day:P)

2. Working on Halloween costumes and birthdays for Superstar. He'll be eight on Saturday.

3. Cooking, cleaning, etc. (Tomorrow doesn't really sound very exciting, but somehow it always is more exciting than it sounds:)

Next week:

1. Preparing for a baptism for Superstar on Saturday. He's so excited!

2. Conducting a Cub Scout pack meeting. (I'm the cubmaster) We're having an Arrow of Light ceremony. It should be great!

3. Swim meet for Juice & Sonny Pie. I like to be the backup timer for the races. It's much more exciting than sitting in the stands for two hours to watch my kids swim for two minutes.

Next year:

1. Juice will be graduating from high school!

2. We'll probably try to go on a trip to Yellowstone and to see Sonny Pie who will be working at a scout camp near there.

3. Cutie will start kindergarten! Finally:) Maybe that means I can go back to school too?;)

Family Pictures

For about three years now we've been trying to get a good family picture without paying an arm and a leg for it. We've gotten a few pretty good ones, but nothing we would want to blow up and put on the wall.
Now thanks to my very talented sister and an opportune moment we finally got some really good ones.

Cello!

Last week began a new adventure for Silly Guy. He began to play the cello. He's been watching his older siblings play violin and percussion for his whole life and it's finally his turn! Hopefully he'll stick with it when it starts to get hard in a week or so. Today he gets to bring his rented cello home for the first time. How exciting!

Powder Puff

Somewhere among all those blurry yellow shirts on the football field is my beautiful daughter. She was so excited to play powder puff football her senior year during homecoming week. How did she get so old? Wasn't it just a week ago that she was born and I held her in my arms? I don't think it ever occurred to me that someday I'd be watching her run up and down a football field playing a game she doesn't really understand just for the fun of it! Nor could I have imagined what a thoughtful, kind and loyal friend she has turned out to be. How quickly she has grown!

During primary today the person doing sharing time had brought a phone and we had this big discussion with the children about phones and what they are for and how we use them. One of my little sunbeams leaned over to me and said, "What's Heavenly Father's phone number?"

Little did she know that was exactly what we were talking about!

Preschool

Yesterday I had a friend ask me if I wanted to do preschool for her son next year. There's an excellent preschool in our neighborhood where most of the kids go, but she doesn't think she'll be able to afford it for her youngest next year. She knows I don't send Cutie to preschool and I teach him at home. I had to laugh because what she doesn't know is that he pretty much runs his own preschool. Here's how our preschool goes--early in the morning he says, "We need to make my lunch." so we make a lunch in a lunchbox(at his insistence) to save for lunch time. Later he'll say, "Can I do my preschool book?" so we'll get it out and do some pages. If he needs my help I help him but a lot of the time he doesn't need any help. After a few pages he'll decide he's done with that and he'll ask if he can do his letter flash cards. So we'll review letters and sounds for a few minutes until he decides he's had enough. Almost every day he asks to watch The Letter Factory or The Talking Words Factory. He really wants to learn to read and he's getting there fast with little or no prodding from me. We go to a neighborhood play group once a week and story time at the library once a week. That's pretty much our preschool.

None of my children went to preschool and each one has been a different adventure. I just let them take the lead and I follow along. Needless to say, I turned down her offer. I don't think running a preschool in my home is an ambition I want to follow(as fun as it may be!).

"Sailing" with Grandpa

We met Grandma & Grandpa Dunn at Pineview Reservoir a couple of Saturdays ago hoping for a little bit of sailing. Unfortunately there wasn't enough wind for sailing but we did get to row around a little. Superstar and Cutie thought that was just as good. Silly Guy said he thought sailing was boring and he didn't ever want to go again. We had to set him straight that he wasn't sailing today and he should try it on a more windy day. He did learn how to skip rocks though. He was pretty excited about that. It was fun to do something different even if we didn't get to sail.

School starts at last!

The first day of school is finally here! I was so looking forward to summer vacation June and it's been a great summer but school starting is the greatest thing right now! Juice is a senior, Sonny Pie a sophomore, Silly Guy-4th grade, and Superstar-2nd grade. The high schoolers are so glad for school to start, the younger kids are not so sure but their mother is very glad. Poor Cutie keeps asking when he gets to go to school and where his school is. He wants to go too. He's going to Mom's Preschool at our kitchen table. That will be fun too!

Today's the day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're all anxiously watching and waiting for our son/brother to get home today. He's been gone all summer to work at Camp Loll, a scout camp by Yellowstone. We haven't seen him since mid-June when he left. He missed his fifteenth birthday and his brother's fourth birthday, the fourth of July, the 24th of July and we missed him! We've been able to send letters and talk to him on the phone occasionally. Last week after we all got to talk to him Silly Guy said, "I like Sonny Pie even better than candy!" I think we all feel that way right now. He'll be back today:)

Projects!

Last Spring my husband suggested that we should choose a room in our house to fix up each month. Every Saturday we would spend about four hours working. What a great way to teach our children to work!(I hope it's working) That seemed like a good idea so we stripped the outdated wallpaper from our family room and painted in April and May. It looks great! That worked out pretty good.

So in June we decided to fix up the boys' room. The first Saturday we pulled down the wallpaper border and washed the walls and picked the paint colors. The second Saturday we painted. That didn't take very long so my husband said, "Let's refinish the dresser and bunk beds!" Now refinishing furniture is a pretty big project, but he wouldn't be deterred so we pulled the furniture out into the back yard and went and bought some stripper and began. . . . .and guess what!

It's still sitting in our carport.

We(I) finally finished the dresser a couple of weeks ago, but the bunk beds are a lot bigger job and they're still sitting there. School starts in two weeks and I am determined that we're(I'm) going to have it finished before that. I've been trying to get one piece stripped each day this week, but I'm not sure the kids are learning to work from this project since the stripper is very acidic and I don't want them working with dangerous chemicals.(I'm not very excited to work with them myself!)

Anyway, I think it will be very nice when it's done, but I am not sure I am glad we began. I'll post some pictures when we're finished.

Words that make my heart sing!

We were on our way to a concert or something when my 7-year-old leaned over to me and said,
"Mom, you're a spring chicken!" I was a little surprised at that. He went on to say, "That means you're young and beautiful." Of course I loved to hear that from my little boy! Then he continued with, "Well, you're not really young, but you seem young and you ARE beautiful!"

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A few days ago my 9-year-old said to me, "During the summer you're my best friend." He's really shy and has been toying with the idea of being bold and going to play with some of the 20 other boys his age in the neighborhood. I guess he decided he likes me better:)

Getting To Know You

I was at a neighborhood play group today(which I rarely take my kids to) and met a woman who has just moved into our neighborhood. She is such a great example of getting to know everyone and learning about all of her new neighbors. She said to each of the moms there, "What do you do?" That was all. And she wouldn't let them say anything obvious like, "I'm just here." It had to be something she wouldn't obviously know.

I'm not that outgoing. It takes time for me to get to know people. I learned a lot from this woman. It doesn't have to be that hard!

Pioneer Day

A week ago we said to our three younger boys, " This week is Pioneer Day. What should we do for it?" Their response was, "What's Pioneer Day?" We were shocked that they didn't know what Pioneer Day was since it's such a big deal around here. We don't really go out to where all the crowds are much and we don't watch TV to see the big parade from Salt Lake so I guess they just didn't realize there was a holiday at this time.

So-------we decided to give them a taste of Pioneer day.

We had a lesson about the pioneers in Family Home Evening so they would know the source of all the celebration

AND

We went to the parade here in Logan. It wasn't very big but it was a hit with the boys because they loved getting candy thrown at them and water sprayed at them:)
AND

We walked around all of the displays and booths they had at the park. Isaac won us a Dwarf African Frog by throwing a ball in a cup so now we have a new pet!

AND

We went to the fireworks in the evening. We usually do this but maybe the kids didn't realize the reason for the fireworks in the first place. I think the glow sticks we brought with us were more exciting to the kids than the fireworks.

It was a fun day and I don't think they'll ask us what Pioneer Day is ever again!

What's a parent to do?

I have this beautiful, amazing, wonderful 17-year-old daughter. She has always been so good. She pretty much does what we ask her and is responsible for herself. It is a struggle, however to know how much freedom is too much for her. Is it too much for us to ask her to call and let us know if she'll be home later than expected? I don't think so. We've been pretty laid back parents, but when we feel she is putting herself in a potentially dangerous position we feel like we must establish some guidelines for her. She sure doesn't like it! She is constantly pushing the limits(which aren't very tight). It is definitely a matter to be prayed over---a lot! Of course she has to make her own choices AND accept the consequences.

Grandma & Grandpa

This is my grandparents who I love dearly. They live a couple of hours away and I don't get to see them very often. Grandma had a stroke a couple of weeks ago and she has been in the hospital. I guess she's recovering fairly normally but I worry about her so much. It's really hard on Grandpa too. They're in their eighties. I need to make it a point to be in contact more often. How much I will miss them when they are gone!

Families Can Be Together Forever

My daughter Jessyka and I just came from playing some music for a wedding here in town. It was really beautiful and the couple was so happy. However, they don't know what they are missing out on!

I'm so grateful for the knowledge that I can be with my family forever--not just for the rest of this life. I don't know what I would do without them!

This is my wonderful husband Stephen crossing the finish line of the 15K Freedom Run he was in on the 4th of July. Right now he's gone to scout camp as a leader and I really miss him. He does so much to help me with the kids and housework and everything. He'll be home Saturday. Hooray!

Memory lane

My dear baby sister Jenni is the one who inspired me to start this and here she gave me a great idea:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

It's a blogging life

So I've been having so much fun reading the blogs of my siblings and other family members that I decided it's time for me to make my own. I don't really know what I'm doing but I think this will be fun.