Real Big or Real Deal?

The diamond fell out of my wedding ring recently. Within seconds it caught my attention, when the rough post scratched my arm. A fellow employee and I scouted out the receptionist desk area until it was spotted. During lunch I drove straight to the jewelers. For $20 more, I could get a full carat cubic zirconia the jeweler said. Hmmmm.

He handed me the sparkling marble and watched while I set it on my ring. Wow! It was big and looked pretty awesome hovering over the setting. People would be so impressed when they saw it, I thought. I imagined envious eyes popping as they gazed at it. "Is it real?" they would wonder. Hmmm.

Is that what I wanted? No. Why and who's opinion is most important? I would know it was a fake and that is what matters most. "Put the real one back in", I told the jeweler.

Two weeks later I didn't recognize my own ring. Tiffany's move over for this gleaming "TRUE" diamond sparkled like a sunrise. What a transformation was the 'real deal' all fixed and polished up.

Often through our own trials and challenges our self-esteem becomes battered and bruised. Like my ring we may need a little refurbishing, to remind us how beautiful we really are. Everyone is sacred and special to the Lord. If you're feeling low or whenever you need it, ask for help from the Lord or your loved ones.

Apron Accolades

It was a keep your clothes clean kind of day so all of the aprons were on the table. Everyone picked their favorite one to wear. With that many dressed up in Grannie's best we had to model them. Next was the line up to see who looked the most culinary minded. It's time to vote?

Cloudy, With a Chance of Fog

Three of our double pane bedroom windows have gone cloudy over the years due to the seals separating which allowed moisture to blur them. Of course they were all the stationary side of the framework. It was like having one bad eye every time I looked out the bedroom window.

Enter Bountiful Glass man, Ray Irkkla. We met him through his elderly aunt, Margaret. Hit with more than her share of health challenges this year, she sought our help from her assisted living home by way of our Home Teaching responsibilites. Sometimes the least likely person can be the source of finding help. She was and we did.

Ray came over to measure and say he could make them. A few weeks later he installed, sparkling new windows. No more 'Cloudy, With a Chance of Fog'. Thank you Ray & Margaret.

Donut Falls adventure

The excitement of watching dumb people who park in terrible spaces getting ticketed was not the only highlight of this little trip...

It could have been Brayle spitting so beautifully through those lovely teeth of hers...


It could have been the cuteness of Jed and Breann...


It could have been Sarah's saucy attitude in finding the perfect stick...


It could have been Hunters ability to not smile in a single photo...


It could have been Jory's ability to strike a pose under a stressful waterfall


It could have been how pretty it is up in the canyon!!



It also could have been Brayle's awesome eye for Moose.


We really missed these little boogars...


... Thanks Gma and Gpa Schmidt for a fun day!!



(P.S. yes we love you Zach!! We just didn't get any pictures of you because you were hiking so darn fast!)

'Super Sheep' Shepherd She Is

Brayle's sheep waits patiently in his pen for his number to come up at the Tooele County auction. She waits patiently in the chute until it is her animal's turn to be auctioned off.

Thinking her love of hunting might encourage a better bid, she painted her intentions on the sheep's velvety coat. Looking like an experience sheep woman, she guides her charge to the desinated spot on the auction floor. The Les Schwab Company made the winning bid at $450.

It was hard to tell who the auctioneer was as he sat so still, holding the mike in his hand chanting the familiar tones so fast you didn't know what he was saying most of the time except, "I have $300, who will make it $350? $350, $350 who will make it $350, repeated over and over, droning on for hours pushing the bidding higher and higher. Every time the price would be set, with the words, 'Sold for $450, $600 or whatever the highest and last bid was.

This young lady was happy at the end of the day.

It's All About the Auction

Hunter had some sheep in his 4-H Super Sheep Club. He spent a good deal of the summer feeding, herding and caring for two sheep. The county fair was this weekend where the sheep were auctioned off. Each of them sold for $400. After paying for feed and the original investment to buy them, he profited $600.

His skills at handling the sheep were very good. See him during the sale with the auctioneer in the background, with the blue shirt handling the bidding smoothly. Three gents at the edge of the pen verified each bid as the buyers held up, nodded or showed their bid number.

One happy young man led each sheep down the chute to the waiting owner.

Fire Pit Fancy

I fancied a fire pit in the back yard visualizing our family sitting around it roasting hot dogs and marshmallows. Imagine quiet cool nights sitting around one, oozing with campfire aroma and camraderie. When a round one with star shapes went below $100 (the top seller), we slapped down our money and packed it out of the store.

Marshmallows and tin foil dinners have found their way to the coals. On hot summer nights its hard to mimic the campfire chill and feel, but we tried. What child isn't mesmerized by a fire's glow. Bring your weiner roasting sticks and come on over for an old fashioned dinner this week.