My friend, Lance

Last night I got a phone call from my little friend, Lance. He is 7. He said he needed to tell me "some stuff". First, though, he wanted to know if I like the DS or the WII better. I have never played with either one, so I wasn't much help. He told me how to turn them on and play with them, just in case I ever got a chance. I asked him why he wanted to know. He said that his big brother Ben had to do a survey for school and so he wanted to do a survey of his own.

He said he got in trouble at school and "lost" his friends. He was not looking forward to today. He also fell and got a big hole in his knee. He was not having a good week, I guess.

We talked for about ten minutes and he told me he got to talk to Ann Ann. He is patiently waiting for her to get back to his house!

A funny thing about Lance. When he was a baby, he and his parents and big brother, Ben, lived with us for a few months. They lived downstairs. He would crawl up the stairs every chance he got and just play quietly with me or whoever was home. I say quietly because when his mom realized he was gone, she would always come get him and take him back home! One day Ben got some fruit snacks and somehow Lance got them and started running away with the little bag held high above his head. I guess he thought that if they were up high, Ben couldn't get them! Funny boy! (Ben was a lot taller than Lance! But Lance was pretty fast!)

Thanks for calling me, Lancey-boy. I hope we get to talk again.

Maddie is 17!

So, Maddie is 17 as of two days ago. She is having a birthday party and I am hiding in the bedroom. I am very proud of her. She has a lot of good friends and loves to be with them. She is a happy girl most of the time and has a great sense of humor.

For the last few months she will get into bed and then call, "Mom." "Mo-om." "Moooo-oooom."
Then I am supposed to say "WHAT?"
Her: "I can't go to sleep until I get tucked in."
Me: I'm not tucking you in."
Her: "I promise I will go right to sleep if I get tucked in."
Me: (I tuck her into her blankets and she lays there and grins with her arms sticking out of her blankets--when I reach over her to tuck in the other side she tickles me and says "TICKLE FIGHT! TICKLE FIGHT!") (we both laugh but I am not supposed to)
Me: (flustered)"Good night."
Her: "I love you."
Me: "OK" and then I walk away

Maddie: "Meg." "Me-eg." "Meeee-eeeeg." and so on.

EVERY NIGHT! Of course we all laugh and roll our eyes. What a funny tradition! (It's from the movie "ELF" if you think it sound familiar)

Happy Birthday, Maddie! Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. She got on the high honor roll at school this last quarter! Way to go.

That took longer than I thought!

I made three costumes for Maddie and just need to do touch up on a couple more. They look great on Maddie and I am very happy to be finished. I will post pictures soon.

This month and a half has been quite eventful (and not all fun). Meg wrecked her little Ford Escort. She hit the back of a school bus (no one was hurt) and crunched the front of her car. It folded like a taco. The bus has a little skid red skid mark and that's it. She and Jeff went to the junk yard and got parts to fix her car back up. Meganne actually LIKED that!

Maddie got a date to Valentine's Dance at LHS. She found her dress at a consignment shop for 1/2 the marked price of $80. What a bargain shopper. It brings tears to my eyes! She looks great in this dress. It is dark brown and is very modest, too. I didn't need to do anything to fix it for her to wear it! BONUS!!!

Jeff has two more classes to go until he is DONE with school and then he will have his teaching degree. I am so excited for him and look forward to him being a member of faculty somewhere and having health insurance!

Hunter has been working very hard on his Merit Badges for Scouts. He loves checking stuff off and accomplishing new things. He has done a Family Home Evening lesson on the Word of Wisdom and even drew his own pictures for an activity. He made his Valentine box for his school class and won first place! It is a bank safe and looks good! He even started TWO of his own companies called: S.J.B.Co. & M.E.S.S. SJBCo stands for Sisters Job Break Company and his ad says: "Ever have parents nagging you to actually DO you JOB??? Don't worry, we understand. Just give us a call and we will help! Contact us for prices." He actually made $5 off Meg one day!

MESS stands for Meganne's Emergency Straightener Service "Ever have a friend coming over last minute? We can help! With quick and effective service, we get the job done." (fine print at the bottom says "Prices will vary with shorter notices")

Oh, yeah. Jeff and I were in a car crash on Monday. It was snowing and a young guy ran a stop sign. We spun in the snow and ice and ended up facing the way we had just come. We tore up a few layers of sod in the median. We were shaken up and bumped around some but we are ok. Our Outback is in the body shop getting the left back door fixed, the rear axle straightened and I don't know what else. Damages were around $4300. Glad the other guy had insurance. We are in a rental for the next few weeks. Also glad the kids were not with us. One of them would have been in that seat by the back door.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope y'all had a great Christmas and a safe New Year's celebration. I am gearing up to sit at the sewing machine for the next month. Maddie needs only three costumes for "Showboat"! I am so excited! Maybe it will take me less than a month! Hey! I have dreams and aspirations. I even have a toilet bowl that's springtime fresh. (haha! Inside family joke)Have a cool January!

Funny boy!

I found some videos of "The Waltons" tv show. I checked out about 6 episodes from the public library. Last night Hunter, Maddie and I watched the first episode. It was great! Oh, the good old days...Remember when tv had good shows that were worth watching?

Hunter just came to me and asked if we could "watch the next pioneer movie".

Merry Christmas!

"Once again we find ourselves enmeshed in the Holiday Season, that very special time of year when we join with our loved ones in sharing centuries-old traditions such as trying to find a parking space at the mall. We traditionally do this in my family by driving around the parking lot until we see a shopper emerge from the mall, then we follow her, in very much the same spirit as the Three Wise Men, who 2,000 years ago followed a star, week after week, until it led them to a parking space."
~ Dave Barry

I like this video much better than the last one I posted.

"Annie"

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Halloween 2008

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Trunk or Treat

What do you think of this? Would it be too late do try putting costumes on our cars this year or should we do it next year? Check out this website for more ideas. http://tipjunkie.blogspot.com/2008/10/decorate-your-car-for-trunk-or-treat.html

What a History!

Next time you are feeling rather unimportant, try a little arithmetic trick based on the undebatable fact that it took two people, your parents, to get you here. They each had two parents, so there are four more people who contributed to your existence.
You are the product of eight great-grandparents, 16 great-great-grandparents, 32 great-great-great grandparents, etc. Keep on multiplying the number by two. If you figure an average of about 25 years between each generation, you'll discover that a scant 500 years ago, there were 1,048,576 people on this planet beginning the production of you!
This is from an article in the Reader's Digest (year unknown)

It's Voting Time!

Just wanted to let you know that next week you can still vote early. Go to www.daviscountyutah.gov/clerkauditor for locations and times. This info is only good for Davis County. Choose wisely! I'm just sayin.

Dalley Family Portrait

Fall Is HERE!!!!

Eternity!

21 years ago today, Jeff and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple. We have not had easy times but we have always loved each other. Jeff makes me laugh. As mad as I am sometimes, and don't want to give in with even a smirk, he can somehow manage to make me giggle.

One thing, though. He does not like to smile when his picture is taken. He teases me about taking pictures of everything (when I remember my camera). We were at the drive-in this summer and he pulled this face because I wanted pictures of our first summer activity!

He can fix MOST things. We call him the "Rainman" at our house. He remembers everything. He knows something about everything. Family members and friends call him for help on taxes, computers, insurance, retirement, medical issues, school, math, Priesthood blessings, cars (which does make me giggle), politics, Scouting, building things (that's usually Hunter), recipes, and many, many, many more subjects.

He is a great nurse and I say that sometimes he is better at "mothering" than I am. The kids have always gone to him when they are sick or hurt. Even in the middle of the night! (I have to admit that I taught all my kids their first word, "Dada", so they would call out to him).

He is generous. If he had a dollar in his wallet, he would give it to you if you needed it. Since he never has a dollar in his wallet, you will have to take my word for it. His time is valuable to him and us, but he will help anyone who asks for it.

Last year on our 20th anniversary, Jeff asked me if there was anything I would change in our marriage for the next twenty years. I said I wanted to stop rolling my eyes at his jokes, etc. Sorry, honey! I'm still working on that one! I guess I have eternity to stop it?

I love that Jeff honors his priesthood. He carries out his church calling faithfully. He makes sure we have scriptures and prayers. He goes to Priesthood Session of Conference every six months. He always comes home and gives me a hug. I ask him what he learned this night and his answer is always the same..."Love and honor your wife and stay away from porn". He has done well listening to and following the Prophet!

I am blessed to have Jeff. I love him very much. I am thankful he loves me, too.

So Cute!

Ice Cream, You Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream!

Ice cream Saturday night after Priesthood Session at the Godwin Cul de Sac! Bring your flavor of ice cream and a topping. (Bowls and spoons would be great too)