got milk?

Last night we took the young women to the local dairy. (it is HUGE) One of the girls dad is a head guy there and gave us a private tour. This is in the milking parlor. They milk 10,000 cows-3 time a day here. By the time they get through all 10,000, it's time to start again so they are milking 24 hours a day. It's much cleaner that I was expecting. Jimmy was so full of information. I wish I could have recorded everything he said, because it was all so interesting to me. I learned so much, but I also forgot a lot or didn't hear it because I was at the back of the group and it's kind of loud in there. I think the girls enjoyed it as much as I did.This in underneath where they milk the cows. You can see the milk flowing through the lines.


These tell exactly how much each cow is putting out so they know if it is producing enough.
Then the milk goes through the chiller before it is pumped into milk tankers.



So dang cute! I LOVE cows!We ended our tour at the nursery. The girls loved the calves. They average 30 calves a day are born. They would suck on the girls fingers...so cute! I would have loved to do the tour during the day so I could see all the cows out in the pens. It was too dark to take pictures. When I was young my dad was the milk man. Not this stage of it. He delivered milk to stores. Me and my sisters use to go with him a lot during the summers. It was pretty fun. We were milk lovers growing up and my boys are milk lovers too. We go through 8 gallons a week. We always drank whole milk, now we have 2%, but I love whole. For those of you out there drinking skim milk..DON'T....trust me! :o)

Some of you have been concerned about Brittany since she hasn't updated her blog in a while. Baby Mark has been sick. Plus by the time they boys are down for bed at night she's been to tired to blog, as I'm sure you can understand how hard it is taking care of 2 babies who are only 11 months apart whether they are healthy or sick. She hopes to update soon.

card and stuff...

I got another way cute getting to know you card in the mail. Doesn't Angie have the most darling little family. For those of you that don't know her, she is a local AZ girl who teaches at the best scrapbook store in Mesa. (Scrapbooks Etc) She is wonderfully talented and has the funniest sense of humor and a huge heart as well as beautiful. There is nothing I don't love about her. Check out her blog and you'll see why.

Sorry I've been MIA. Lots going on around here to keep me busier than I'd like to be. My boy is not home yet. Now they've pushed it back to Saturday...Friday if we are lucky. Makes me grouchy just thinking about it...among other things. Lots of other stresses to make me grouchy too. Apparently I'm not suppose to get stressed out because it affects the rest of the family. Option 1 is to bottle it all up until I blow. Option 2 is to take brisk walks and talk to myself like an idiot till I fell better. They both have their merits...we'll see. :o)

Yesterday Kyle brought home a dog named Lily for a sleep over to see how she would get along with Pappi in an effort to keep her. Don't let the sweet name fool you. This is not some sweet little dog. This is what I like to call a horse, otherwise known as a great dane. She is scared to death of me, but loves Mark...go figure. She is "suppose" to be house trained but decided that even though the back door was wide open that the best place to unleash her enormous bladder was on my living room carpet...mind you I just had my carpets steam cleaned a mere 12 hours earlier. lovely! She is also skilled at removing anything her heart desires off the kitchen counters merely by walking past them. We won't even talk about the barking. Needless to say, she has been taken back and my carpet was spot cleaned.

I still haven't answered emails or check out blogs. I feel just terrible about it...so sorry! So much craziness! That's all I've got for tonight. I packing a combo pack of tired, headache, cramps, hormones, stress etc. Don't worry. I'll be good in a couple days. You can't keep this girl down. :o)

Camp kick-off meeting

Last night was our camp kick-off meeting. I was in charge of setting up a display table that looked outdoorsy, camp like, with stars added too since they are our theme this year. Luckily my whole living room is outdoorsy, so I just borrowed from there and took stars from around the house. When I was getting ready to go Cole asked me "Mom, why is it that no matter what theme it is you are able to find what you need to decorate with out of our own house?" Then he said "They should pick a theme that you have to buy new things....oh wait...You have everything...never mind" LOL!

I also had to make a poster. I think it's cute, but when I got there I found out they changed the theme from "like a star" to like the stars" Oh well! The meeting was very informative. It's unbelievable the amount of work for many months before girls camp even gets here by so many people who volunteer their time and talents, let alone being away from their families for the 5 days of camp. I think it will be a truly amazing experience. (minus the sleeping hours)

I got home from my meeting late, so Mark took me out for a quick bite to eat on the motorcycle. When we got home he was helping me take off my helmet. Some how in the process my helmet spun around and hit me in the mouth. My top lip is swollen, my gums were bleeding. Everything is still swollen and hurts this morning. Mark feels just terrible about it. I feel bad that he feels bad because it was just an accident with an outcome of me looking icky. I just want it back to normal quickly! Good thing I'm working around the house today. So MUCH to do here before Chad gets home. I have several emails I have yet to reply to. If you are one of them, I'm sorry. I will get to it as soon as I can.

Happy Friday! I love Fridays!

Happy Birthday Chad...and cards

***Edited to add at 10:04 a.m. on 3/27*** I just heard from Chad. He arrived safely in Kazakhstan. He is really sick. He said his fever finally broke, but he's been coughing like crazy. Ever since he was a little kid, when he'd get a bad cough, it would make him puke. Apparently the same as an adult. Poor guy. He feels miserable and I can't do a thing for him. I hate it!!



Another birthday without my son. Today Chad turned 20. I love and miss him so much! I borrowed these pictures from his myspace because for obvious reasons I have no current ones of my own. These were taken at the Castle in of Infidel. They had to go search it to make sure bad guys weren't using it. Chad was in the first group to make sure it's clear. (does NOT make me happy) After that they decided to have a little photo shoot. He is a cute boy even though you don't get a good look at his face. Last year on his birthday he was flying to Afghanistan. Today he is flying OUT of Afghanistan. First he is flying to Kazakhstan, then to Scotland, then to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, then sweet home Arizona!!! He is "scheduled" to be home on April 2nd if all things go as planned. I can hardly wait. Even though I know he's on his way home, I have still been filled with worry. I don't know how to over come that. I guess it's the mom in me taking over. I just REALLY want my boy HOME!

I received 2 completely adorable getting to know you cards in the mail. One from Heidi and one from Teresa. This is the front of them. Their personal info is on the back. Total cuteness! Thank you so much girls. I love them and I love that you took the time to make them and send them to me. Totally made me happy! You two are now entered in the drawing to win a prize. If I don't get more cards in soon your odds of winning will greatly increase. :o) To the rest of you, it's not too late. Please send me your 4X6 cards. I would love to get a BUNCH of them. Mail them to P.O. Box 40512 Mesa, Arizona 85274. Thanks in advance!

Happy Tuesday!

Ultimate P-R-O-C-R-A-S-T-I-N-A-T-I-O-N......

So, do you remember WAY back to July 30'th 2007 when I started painting my downstairs bathroom? Well 7 months, 3 weeks and 1 day later it is finally finished. Now that my friends IS the ultimate procrastination. I've had the paint and rollers sitting in the corner of the bathroom so I would see them every time I went in there in hopes that I would feel guilty and take the time to do it. Apparently I didn't feel guilty enough until last night then I just couldn't take it anymore and I dusted off the paint can and got busy. I would be so proud of myself if it hadn't taken a ridiculous amount of time to accomplish such a small task. Never the less, I am thrilled that it's done. I still have to paint the little outhouse on the shelf and add a couple of little things, but overall, it's DONE! Yippee! It took serious effort to take pictures in a room with mirrors without getting me in the picture in my purple pajamas. If I was still in my pretty purple Easter dress I might have done it, but the jammies are not so pretty. :o)One would think this cute outhouse cubbord would be filled with towels and such, but nope! It's full of photos and scrapbook supplies. :o) Little vinyl quote I got at the last CK convention.

and how cute does my picture look framed? I love it! So, I am fully aware that an outhouse bathroom isn't for everyone, but I think it's adorable!
Enough about the bathroom. One of the young women girls had a birthday this weekend. We give all the girls the same gift for 2008. A fleece throw blanket and a poster card from the YW presidency. I'm responsible for making ones for the girls who are 14 and 15. One of Emma's favorite colors is yellow, so I found this way cute fleece with yellow butterflies on it. I just cut strips all around it to make a fringe. She will love it!



The poster board is done in yellow too. We always choose their favorite color to do it in. I really like how it turned it. Who knew I'd look cute as a paper head. :o)

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter. Ours was great. We went to church, then came home and fed 25 people really yummy food and enjoyed visiting with each other.
Before I go, you have to check out this video of my nephew Kayce and his friends who were bored one night. Just teenage boys being goofy. It's pretty funny. Kayce definitely has loads of personality. It's 7 minutes of your life you'll never get back, but it made me laugh, so I thought ya'll could use a laugh too. Laughter is good for you! Check it out then come back and leave me a comment. You know how I LOVE to hear from all of you. YES, I mean YOU! :o)

More birthday fun & presents...

My mom and 2 of my sisters took me out for my birthday. We went to lunch at the farmhouse in Gilbert. Such a cute little area. We ate outside because the sun was shining and it was beautiful! We were all commenting on what a nice day it was, THEN we suddenly got massive winds. The wind was blowing so hard, we had to change tables to get a little bit out of it's path. It's hard to try to eat lurch and not eat your own hair as it's blowing into your mouth. :o) Across the path is the brownie connection that have a large variety of yummy brownies...so good! (but very rich) I couldn't eat a whole one. Julie and Coleen, I am NOT posting the pictures we took of ourselves...they were BAD! You'll thank we later.If you look closely you can see a little boy through the railing of the fence. During lunch he beat the heck out of a piece of lattice that had fallen over in the wind with an aluminum bat. I think he's the grandson of the owner. We couldn't believe he was doing it. I had to take a picture for proof of what REALLY happened to it....LOL! For those of you still covered with snow, I thought some beautiful spring time flowers might help. Hopefully spring will come to you soon.

Mark and I ate my birthday dinner at Joe's Real BBQ in Gilbert. I love this place. My favorite thing it the loaded baked potato with pulled pork on top. So good and very filling all by itself.
They have this John Deere Tractor inside. I have always wanted a tractor. Old, new, I don't care. I love them!



Friday night and Saturday on Main Street in Mesa they had tons of old cars. They were beautiful! Everyone was allowed to "cruise" main street just like the good old days. Stuff like this make me grin from ear to ear. So fun! I wish they did this every weekend, or at least once a month.


This cute Sunday outfit complete with shoes and purse was a gift from my sisters. I love it and can't wait to wear it. Thanks girls!


I got a new set of salt and pepper shakers to add to my collection. They remind me of kindergarten because we did an art project and we had to draw and color grapes. The kids in my class thought my grapes were the best. (weird what things you remember)


This picture is dark. It's a frame that looks like bark with 2 black bears on the sides. When we re-take family pictures I will put one in there for my front room, but until then I plan to make a sign in it for girls camp. It will say...
"Warning...Grizzly bear sleeping here.
Complimentary ear plugs.
Trust me...you want them.
Sincerely, the Bear"

(thanks for the idea Wendy)


These I got at my favorite store on Main Street, Vintage Charm. Such cute things in there. If I keep them in the front room I will fill them with little pine cones. If I move them to another room I will fill them with lemons, nuts, or something...who knows yet.





This pine swag I got in Payson. It has little pine cones and a rusty metal bow. It look great above the window in the front room.


Mark also got me a hand mixer. Remember I burnt up the motor on my old one when I was making sunshine cookies. I also got a new electric can opener. Mark threw mine away before we moved here because it rarely worked right.Finally the red milk can. We got this in Payson too at an antique shop. I have forever wanted a milk can, but they were always too expensive. This one was really cheap, so I was thrilled to find it.

See what I mean about a bunch of presents that are not extravagant, but make me smile.

Gotta fly. I have a house that needs my attention. It's feeling and looking neglected.