Scardy Cat

photo by Zak

2 Nephi 2:11

For it must needs be, that there is opposition in all things. Last week we had record breaking heat at 115 degrees

This week we have record breaking rain. It was barely 61 degrees for the high yesterday.

Thanks for the lesson.

I asked Zak to go out and take some pictures that depicted the rain that we had that day. This is what he came up with:

very artistic

Now THIS one needs a caption....anyone??

The rest of his photos:

That black dot....it's a ball Zak threw up in the air

It's a Good Thing!

It's a good thing Zak does NOT have a fancy phone because if he did, when he LEFT IT at El Polo Loco, it may not have been turned in; and he would not have a phone anymore. It's a good thing I drive a nice, big, hard car or when the lady drove into the back of my car today, it would have left a mark. As it was, no sign of trouble!

Let's Dig in the Past!

This last summer Zak agreed to start digging a hole...and dig and dig.

We needed to fix our plumbing, so Zak said he would work on digging the hole. I really can't say how long it took, but I can show you how DEEP it was!

Zak is standing on his feet; not his toes. The hole was deep.

Notice the people walking by. He had many people that would stop and chat. It was a neighborly experience.

Now, Zak was not the only one who dug; he just dug the most and he is the only one that we took pictures of in the hole.

Zak has the camera. That is the view from the bottom.


This is Scott Luna. He came and did the major plumbing part. He cut that pipe there on the right.

Here are the cut pipes with the roots in them. The one on the left is PACKED with the roots; that is not just dirt, it is ROOTS!

The COMPLETED WORK! On the right is where Scott joined the new pipe to the old.

It is a lovely feeling to flush the toilet; take a shower, not worry that the "plumbing" will come back on us. Nice summer project!

Poppycock!

This stuff makes me crazy; and I don't mean the popcorn!

Apparently Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins broke up some time ago. I had no idea; nor do I care. BUT, she must have some new movie or something coming out because she has been interviewed lately and they spoke about her break-up. This is what she says:

"You bring people into your life at certain times," she says. "Maybe you have a relationship to have children, and you realize that it's fulfilled after that point."

So now they just drifted apart.

Satan will tell you 9 truths to tell you one lie: this is one of his lies...we just drifted apart; it's no one's fault; we were just meant to be together for that short time.

That is not the way it really works. Marriage means that you both agree to love and support one another through the good times and the bad times. When it gets boring, you don't walk away, you fix it. That is what a commitment is. I don't care that Susan and Tim broke up. I care that she is putting out there that this is just one of life's little things...you just drift apart, so then you break up.

Poppycock! If you want to break up; go ahead; but if you really wanted to stay together you would work it out.

**ok, not to be offensive to any, but I do realize some marriages will end in divorce. I just think it is a sad thing to let it drift off....

That's my soapbox for the day.

So Far...

We had Seminary carpool this morning.
Z & Q did not wake up - but at the exact leaving moment; I woke up. I quickly found out my kids weren't going, but I still had to take my other charges.
Which I did.
It was pleasant enough; Ashley enjoyed my jokes.

The whole round trip takes about 25 minutes. When I got home Z & Q were ready and wanted to go to seminary late. Really; good choice. I took them.

Got back about 7:25; woke up K & G. Made them their usual french toast for breakfast. Took them to school. Went grocery shopping. I decided I wanted beef quesadillas for lunch; I had to get the "on sale" tri-tip in the crock pot so it would be ready for my yummy lunch. The nice meat guy got me a smaller piece of meat. I also got a whole chicken to cook for dinner. We'll have salad and cabbage, oh, and I had better get the frozen rolls out too!

I've got the kitchen cleaned; checked Facebook, other blogs. Now I've GOT to make myself clean my bedroom.

Do you want to come over for lunch? Let me know!

Things I Learned and Heard

Has it been busy today...or just this afternoon...not sure?

Most of the day, I (and some we) spent watching General Conference. It was really good and uplifting. If you are unaware; make sure to watch. It is on your BYU channel. Find it. The music alone is fabulous!

Things I learned and heard in the talks today:
God loves us all; it's never to late to say thank you; stay on the right path; there is a living prophet; attitude matters; life offers time and freedom of choice; hard work builds and refines character; slow down; don't over program yourself; love is spelled t-i-m-e; in heaven we chose to follow Jesus, continue to follow him on earth; sometimes it is worth walking across a newly varnished floor; Satan is active and real; Gerrit W. Gong is funny; life is no spiritual picnic; our challenges are refining experiences; be watchful; If ye love me, keep my commandments; we become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become.


AFTER Conference: Kylie & Griffin cleaned out the fish tank; then begged to go and buy some new fish! OK! (Even though I don't like pets; now you all know.) It make them SO happy. Griffin's fish was 27 cents! They bought the fish with their own money.



Quinn DOES like pets. He really likes the dog.








Then I had to take Kylie to soccer. Her team won. She also played goalie. The only camera I had was in my phone. Enjoy my photographic skills.

Steven came and took Z & Q to the Priesthood session of Conference. Afterward the boys are hoping to get a group together to play a little "ball". I hope they are successful. Kylie & Griffin are going to watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince! They are very excited. I got it from the library!

Don't worry, I went grocery shopping; have food for several meals; including BLT's for tomorrow! Bacon was on sale at the grocery store. I did laundry and dishes. I'll find something to entertain myself tonight.

Thanks for checking in!

Pigskin Pick'em

There is an easy game on ESPN where you get to pick who will win in each football matchup every week. It tallies who gets the most wins'n'stuff. you shuold be able to make an entry here and then join group "Cole Family" password "griffin"
mom wants everyone to do it this week or your busted

Americana at the Brand

We girls had an adventure today! We went to The Americana at the Brand. It is an outside mall - kind of like Main street at Disneyland. Heather did have her camera, but we forgot to take a picture to memorialize the moment. We did see plenty of other picture takers there, but didn't think to ask.

We had a good time looking at this and that. We went in lots of stores but bought hardly anything. Candice did buy a necessity of new, darling pot holders.

We saw a Vera Bradly store; went inside. It was amazing...loud...very Vera. Teo was with us (sorry Teo, I did not put you in the graphic, I remembered too late that you were with us!) and he may have required some water, so the nice lady at Vera Bradly brought out these water bottles and gave us each one! So nice! The water really tasted great.

Ok, I have doddled enough; need to make dinner.

Hope you enjoyed my graphic design.

This Morning

Hmm, Zak's hairstyle is obviously coming from me. It's easy to achieve; just go to bed with wet hair. Wake up and you are ready to go!

This morning's conversation:

Kylie: Mr. V has another rule in class; he does not allow anyone to say shut up.

Mom: that's great! I knew I really liked him. Now, if he would only add the rule of remembering to keep the 3rd commandment!

Kylie: which one is that?

Griffin: remember your words!

Kylie: oh, that's right, don't take the Lord's name in vain.

Oh, they make me proud!! I taught the primary during the first week in September how to remember the 10 commandments. Makes me happy that Griffin remembered that so well! And a THANKS need to go out to Steven & Chase, since they both came home from their missions showing us how to easily remember those commandments.

Ok - now on to past photos....I took these photos Late August/Early September....I was really going to blog about them, but never got around to it. I'll just do it now!

I think I told you about Zak getting a new braces color; one that he didn't really pick; it was a rather bright green color. Well, here is a photo. We all got used to it and kind of liked it. He just went back to the Ortho and got his original color that he really wanted before and while driving home in the car he said he liked his new color, but may like this green color better!

And now, this picture of Quinn...STUDYING/HOMEWORK after his first day of school. What a good example! Notice, he is using his new iTouch. That's makes it a little easier.