We had a different but good 4th of July. Matt is out on the truck. Gabby is with her Grammy Donna, so it was just Mike and I. We were at Mom's in St. George for the morning, watched a movie. (Alex Rider, Stormbreaker) Then we headed home so that I could I work. Then I sat on the porch and watched the fireworks while Mike hung out with his cousin and set off fireworks with them. Last night was a little lonely, everyone was gone but me. It was great for a little while but too much alone time is not a good thing for me. Gabby and Mike trade places today, it will be good to have my girl back. (Miss you Gabby:) ) Theater Workshop started yesterday, I have a small but good group of kids to work with, I think we are doing 'The Gingerbread Man' this year. Waiting to hear when Matt comes home next. Not much else is happening yet, emphasis on the yet. :)

Well the good news is that the background is no longer green, and the new one should carry me through the summer and into the fair. :) We spent the last week at Grandma's in St. George, we tried to help uncle Russ with the bathroom, but I don't know if we actually helped get anything accomplished or not, it was still good to see him and spend time with Mindy and the kids, Friday at the park was great! So school is out and Gabby left for girls camp this afternoon, Mike is sharing with his cousins and brought home whatever is what that they had last week, poor kids. Matt is testing out today and we will know tomorrow what his schedule for the next few weeks will be. Woo hoo! As mentioned we spent time at mom's, not long enough it is always hard to leave and come home, wish we were closer, or that we could do the Star Trek trasnsporter thing, so we could come and go in the blink of an eye, someone should get to work on that. We are happy and for the most part healthy and we could have our dad back soon, so we won't complain about much, it wouldn't help even if we did :). Happy birthday wishes to Matt and Uncle Harold, love you guys. Missing my kiddo and her dad so I'll end now.

Ok, we have definately established that this is not my strong suit, but I will keep trying and applauding the little victories. It has not been a full month since my last entry, so that is some improvement. We are all well, Matt finishes his school on March 2nd, so we are close, he still doesn't know where he will be working, but he has had a few offers and we are doing our homework. Michael and Gabby are both doing well in school, we enjoyed getting to watch the 8th graders production of Bugsy Malone, Mike was Bugsy and he did a great job. Gabby just competed in her first Solo and Ensemble competion and has advanced to regionals, we were there to cheer her on. It is an amazing experience to watch your children accomplish things that you had nothing to do with, and excel at the things that matter to them. We are all happy and healthy, Mike and I are involved with stage crew for the musical at the Community Theater again, and we are all looking forward to being in St. George and spending time with our cousins.

Love you all
Lisa

Well, it is a new year and time for setting new goals. Keeping this updated would be one of mine. Our holidays were very low key and quiet. It was just the four of us at home and while we missed spending time with our extended family it was nice to be together. We had a few teaching moments in the middle of all the Christmas concerts and firesides. We were Cedar City one afternoon right after a big snow storm, the roads were awful, there was easily a foot of snow on the ground. As we were driving to our destination we passed a car that was stuck, we couldn't tell if they were trying to come or go from their home, but they were not getting very far when we drove by. We circled back around the block, found a place to pull off the road. The kids and I piled out of the car and went to go help. She was trying to get up her driveway in her little Prius, I'm sure that it drove her nuts that we were in a Suburban. :) As we were clearing snow out of the way a college student pulled up and grabbed the snow shovel and pitched in and we soon had her up in the driveway. The guy stayed and manned the shovel and cleared the rest of her drive for her and the kids and I got back in the car and headed on our way. The reason this story was a teaching moment was twofold; first she had several stickers on her car to indicate that she did not believe in our Heavenly Father or our Savior, and second as we were leaving she didn't even look at us or say thank you, she was totally uncomfortable with the help the whole time that we were there. We talked about all of this on our way home, and the fact that she didn't believe in her Father in Heaven, but he loved her enough that he sent 4 angels to help her that afternoon. As Christmas drew closer we realized how truly blessed we were to live where we live, and to be surrounded by friends who love us.

The high lights of the last month include Richard helping us put in our bricks for our wood burning stove, you're the best. The little elves who helped Santa at our house. We went to St. George and got to spend some time with mom and Julie. We were sad that we did not get so spend more time with Russ, Mindy, Amy and all of the cousins, maybe some time soon. Matt is going to school to get his CDL and then look out 'cause he'll be on the road.