A moment of Silence for Caylee~

The verdict is in: "NOT GUILTY" for Casey Anthony! When I heard the news I felt completely shocked! I felt angry, disappointed, frustrated and a deep sense of sadness for little Caylee. How can anyone, let alone a mother, destroy the life of a child? I can't even begin to comprehend it!! Of all the people in the world that a child should be able to trust, to feel safe with and to feel loved by...it should be their mother. So many thoughts have been going through my head since the verdict was read. The simple fact that Casey didn't report her 2 year old daughter missing for and entire month is just beyond belief! FOR ME that was the breaking point...GUILTY was written all over her face. Accident or NO accident...at this point it doesn't matter...Casey should take responsibility for her actions. A little girl lost her life at the hand of her mother and her mother should have to pay for it!!! WHY is it that a person can unintentionally hit someone with a car, kill them and have to spend the remainder of their life behind bars...but Casey Anthony can walk free after "intentionally OR unintentionally killing her own flesh and blood? There is something wrong with this picture!!!

AND THEN to add insult to injury, I was mortified when Casey accused her father of molesting her...and thats WHY she covered up the "accident"? Its a terrible thing when someone is molested. Its wrong, its sick and it should be punishable by death (in my book!)....BUT personally I don't believe Casey was molested. I don't believe that her father ever hurt her. I believe that Casey is looking for someone to lay the blame on for her actions. Growing up, my parents taught me that "one" should take responsibility for "ones" actions" regardless of what "one" has done, and that's how I feel. If you do something, you fess up to it (as hard as that my be sometimes) and you pay the consequences...you "pay the piper", so to speak. A person's past may be full of pain, hate, abuse, trial or torment BUT that should never be an excuse for a person's bad behavior....otherwise it would cause a vicious cycle which would never end. We can all find something in our past that we could use as a crutch in our lives...but we DON'T. We stop the cycle...we rise above it and we move forward, as hard as that might be. It appalls me that anyone...ANYONE at all, would give Casey Anthony a second thought, as to her innocence in killing her daughter and then covering it up because she may or may not have been abused. WHY does that matter, as far as HER actions go? It shouldn't, it doesn't...but for some reason in our society, and in some cases, it does!!! When do we say, "TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN ACTIONS"? When do we make people accountable for their own choices? Another's actions shouldn't determine ours!!!

I am outraged by the outcome of this trial, outraged that society excused her behavior with a slap on the hand for lying...yet let her walk away from the more grotesque part of her crime. I am saddened for the life lost of a sweet little two year old girl who never had a chance to live her beautiful life. A little girl that won't get to play hopscotch on the neighborhood sidewalk, who won't get to sell lemonade from her own lemonade stand, who won't get to eat ice cream as she dances in the rain, a little girl who won't grow up to go to her Jr. Prom or experience the joys that come from having her own little family here on this earth. I am saddened by her death and how it came to an end so quickly, but I'm thankful that I know there is a Father in Heaven who loves little Caylee and will hug her and hold her and let her know that she is special. What a blessing it is to know that their is a life after this...that life goes on and that eventually justice will be served and Casey Anthony will get what she deserves. It may not be in this life...but the time will come when she will meet her maker and she will pay for what she's done.

BUT for now...I'm going to take a moment of silence for Caylee.

I didn't know her, but I fell in love with her adorable chubby cheeks,

her dark brown hair and her radiant smile. What a beautiful little girl!

The world will never forget her!

*NOTE: These are my thoughts and opinions, on MY blog...YOU don't have to like them or agree with them, I'm okay with that....but if you have something negative to say about MY THOUGHTS and OPINIONS concerning this post...please keep it OFF of my blog. After all...this is a MOMENT of SILENCE for CAYLEE. Thank you~

The old, the colorful, the brown, the tattered......

Since my kids were just little tikes, I've always tried to incorporated some fun into summer . I try to make memories with them that will last a life time. Don't get me wrong....we don't party every day, we still have PLENTY of chores to do around the house and in the yard but we try to get those done during the week...so that on FRIDAY we can take a "field trip" and venture out into the big wide world to do something fun. We've done various types of activities...gone to the movies, gone fishing, we've gone on a lot of picnics, we've gone to the zoo, we've had "movie day" where we stay home and watch TONS of DVD's and eat popcorn all afternoon and we've gone swimming...we've just had a lot of fun over the years.

This year I'm down to ONE child that goes with me on "Field Trip Friday" (sometimes the other 2 will go, but most times not), so I have had to be a little more creative with what I plan because its not as much fun for the "ONE child" (especially when they are a teenager) when they are the ONLY one going (with mom)...but I do the best I can.

Last Friday I really just wanted to go for ride and see the flooding in our area. Halle (my daughter) said, "Ummmm... that sounds really boring", but she agreed to go with me anyway. I thought I would add a little "TWIST" to our journey so I decided that we would do a photo scavenger hunt along the way. I had a list of 20 things that we had to find and take pictures of. The only rule was...there had to be a human or an alive animal in the picture. I told Halle that we would stop several times along the way so that we could snap our pictures. WE...and I say WE (because it was both of us) had a BLAST! It was so much fun.......

...taking pics at our first stop~

...this was a picture of something with BRIGHT colors~

...a picture of something ROUND...yes that could be MY FACE, but its actually a picture

of the ROUND tire~

...something OLD....a roll of TP that had been under the snow

all winter (at least we're hoping that was why it was soaking wet)

...something BROWN...the lovely DEAD pine tree behind my head.

...AND something WHITE...YES, what you see is NOT a cement WALL, but

rather a WHITE WALL OF SNOW.

There was still piles of snow at the top of Wolf Creek. I had plans of walking around the campground when we reached the top of the mountain, but it was still closed with at least 3 feet of snow in front of the gates to get in. It was melting quickly, as there was water every where, but I was shocked to see the mounds and walls of snow still there (watch for pictures on my NEXT post). The weather was perfect. It was about 70 degrees. We laughed and had a wonderful afternoon....just the 2 of us!

Can't wait for this weeks "Field Trip Friday"!

(now to think of something to top last weeks adventure~)

Making the Old Beautiful again~

Can I just say, I LOVE FINDING A BARGIN!!!!

I was shopping with Dayna (my daughter) a few weeks back and stumbled on this bench at the DI (second hand store). I have been looking for a piano bench for YEARS and this one was perfect. It doesn't open like a "real piano bench" but it was the right size and WAS DEFINITELY GOING TO WORK! The best part about it was the price....CAN'T beat that!

This little bench needed some TLC. It was pretty "un-stable" to say the least, it needed some more skrews...some wood glue and DEFINITELY a new fabric cover~
I took the bench apart, gave it a GOOD dose of wood glue, placed some long skrews where they were missing and then let it rest under the clamps for most of the day while I reupholstered the top of it.

THEN....I got this~

Walaa....the finished project!

I have to say...I LOVE IT!

I didn't paint it or stain it or do anything with the wood because it matched my old piano perfectly....CAN I JUST SAY ONE MORE TIME...

I LOVE OLD JUNK!!!

Have any junk laying around?...you can call me!

1, 2, 3.....say CHEESE~

1, 2, 3.....SMILE~

Todd (my son) has this old, ugly couch. Its one that he got from Deron's parents when he got married...a hand-me-down and something to start out his married life with. It wasn't pretty, but it was comfy. Since then, its been replaced with a new, nicer couch and so this one has been DEMOTED to the garage. Cam wanted to have friends over one night and watch movies outside...there was only one problem...they had no place comfy to sit. So he called up Todd and asked if he could borrow the ugly couch....to make a long story short, the couch ended up being here for a few days. SOoooo......The girls and I decided to try our hand at a "PHOTO" shoot with "THE UGLY COUCH". So many of the amazing photographers are using OLD props when they do their shoots, so I thought "why not US?"....I had so much fun. I don't claim to be a photographer by any means...but it was fun to shoot the girls and play around with the photo's afterwards. The props are so much fun and add a lot of dimension, texture and variety to the pictures. After shooting over 100 shots of each of the girls, I found a FEW that I loved. IT WASN'T THAT THE GIRLS WEREN'T ADORABLE IN THE PICTURES THAT i DIDN'T LIKE....it was the lady behind the camera that was shooting the pictures that needed more experience in what she was doing (me).

Anyway...There are a few of my favs~

We're off to see the Wizard.....the wonderful Wizard of OZ

Each summer the girls and I go to Vernal and watch the play at the Outlaw Trail Theater. This years production was near and dear to our "childlike" hearts, making it that much more fun to plan our summer event together. Ever since I was just a wee little one (a LONG time ago) I have loved the show "The Wizard of OZ". I watched it faithfully each and every time it was broadcast on television. As I grew up and started my own little family, I began purchasing video's (they were "the thing before DVD's" for those of you who don't remember them well) for our home library...The Wizard of OZ happened to be the first one that I bought. The kids quickly fell in love with the show and we watched it SEVERAL times a day (probably because it was ONE of only THREE video's that we owned at the time). ALL of my children grew to love this magical movie as much as I did...SO when we heard that the play that would be presented at the Outlaw Trail Theater this year was going to be The Wizard of OZ we were ECSTATIC! Kim counted down the days until we would be attending. We called my mom and invited her to go with us and thought it would be fun to have grandma along too...it was such a fun night! We ended up running into one of my brothers and his family there as well, so we got to spend the evening with them too. It was awesome!!!

We arrived an hour early for the play because I was worried that we might not get a good seat (ha ha ha...we were the very 1st ones in the theater). We bought our tickets, placed our blankets on our chairs and went wandering until it was time for the play to start. There is a museum full of "OLD" antiqueish like stuff right next to the theater so we decided to check it out....WOW, I seriously wished I had some of that amazing "JUNK" to decorate my home with. I love antiques and this place was full of them!!!
We found and OLD toilet that people used before they actually had indoor plumbing....I don't know how I would feel about having ONE of those STINKY THINGS in my house...after much thought, I think I would rather just have an outhouse vs. one of these "make shift toilets".....don't think I could stand to empty it...UHG!!!!
Kim found a "guy" with a HORSE SKIN coat...among other things, it was itchy and heavy. I am glad that we don't have to wear coats of fir. I prefer my artificial filled ones made with synthetic fabrics...the kind that don't smell and are easily washed. The museum was filled with a lot of really interesting things...some of those old antiques I remembered seeing at my grandparents homes, which brought back many fun memories for me.

After our wandering for 45 minutes or so.....it was TIME for the play to begin!

It was awesome! I thought the acting was great, the scenery and special effects that they used were fantastic...I LOVED it and so did my mom and the girls. We had such a fun evening. Can't wait to see what they have up their sleeves for next years production!

Eat and Eat and Eat until we die.....

For Christmas Dayna and Jack gave me a gift certificate to have our Family Pictures taken. It has been YEARS since we have had one done, so needless to say...I WAS THRILLED at the very thought of finally getting the family together to get one taken. There was only one problem....finding a weekend when we could ALL adjust our busy schedules and do them. The photographer that was going to take them was out on the Wasatch Front, which is 2 hours away for most of my family...so it wasn't like we could just do it on an evening after work. It took planning ahead and finding a good day that suited everyone's schedule. After much planning and preparing, we finally had a date set...only to have the weather ruin it...so back to the drawing board we went. We set a date for June 25, thinking that the weather would be a "guaranteed" good by then, having it be summer and all we were hoping that this would be the weekend when we could finally get them done. As the date drew closer it looked as though the day would be warm and sunny...perfect for picture taking. Everyone set the day aside, excited to finally see this "photo shoot" come to pass. Dayna and Jack invited the entire family to their new home out on the Wasatch Front, for a fun barbecue before we headed out to have our pictures taken. It isn't very often that we get the entire crew under one roof (or in this case...in one YARD) to have dinner, let alone...do something all together. Everyone has busy lives, work schedules that conflict and miles that separate us...so I was elated to have everyone all in one place, at one time (a mothers dream!).

We enjoyed hot dogs, hamburgers, salads (of various kinds), chips and dips....

We got dressed and ready for our photo shoot.....

Kenron had a blast...he had lots of attention and many fun people to play with him.

We "practiced" our "photo shoot smiles".....

and ate this stinkin yummy dessert that Dayna prepared for us!

We all enjoyed the sunny weather outside...and those of us that DON'T live on the

Wasatch Front enjoyed the NO WIND factor~

(since where we live, the wind blows DAILY)

Grandpa and Kenron enjoyed some play time on the lawn....

along with Cameron...who had a belly ache from eating SO MUCH food!

Rest and relaxation was seen on everyone's faces as

we sat around and visited, laughed and .....

ATE!

and ATE....

and ATE......

and ATE~

It was a wonderful day....the best day in a long time.

I'm so grateful for my "happy lil' family".

I am truly blessed to have the family that I do!

AND....

I can't wait to see our FAMILY PICTURES~

Moving Day~

Its been many years since we've had kittens (of our own) at our house, but a week ago our mama cat decided to have a litter of them out in the flower bed. She tends to "disappear" for days on end and we hadn't even noticed she was expecting....only because she wasn't ever around...and then one day when she was kind enough to "grace us with her presence" we noticed she was about ready to pop. When I found where she had had her little ones, I moved them to a safer, dryer home...an animal carrying crate that we had laying around. I put a nice soft blanket in it so that the kittens would stay warm and dry. Tiny (the mama cat) seemed content and happy to have them there UNTIL one afternoon when our dog decided to sniff around to see what was in the crate.....it wasn't long after that when they disappeared.
She moved them all to a hideaway deep in inder our lilacs....(like the DOG wouldn't find her there~) A few days later we had a downpour of rain, which I am sure soaked them all...so once again she packed up and moved them out.... we haven't quite been able to locate the little critters just yet...but I'm sure we will. Honestly, I really don't care where she puts them, I just want to be able to get to them so we can play with them, making them tame so that when the time comes (and it will), we can give them away to good homes instead of having 5 wild cats running around our yard. Don't get me wrong, I like cats and I like to have 1 good mouser around, but that's ENOUGH for me...(our mama cat is THAT 1 good mouser), so the rest will eventually have to go!

.......I guess THAT will be their "FINAL MOVING DAY!"