Patriotic Enrichment Night...

Last night at Enrichment night they asked Chad to talk about his experiences in Afghanistan. He did an amazing job. He talked for a little bit then did a slide show presentation showing how things are there along with a question and answer part. He was interesting, informative and very funny. Everyone loved it and were very impressed. He also showed a couple of video clips of "close calls" when he was driving and he had his camcorder on his dash recording. One of them had an explosive buried in the side of the road that was detonated as he passed beside it. He had to swerve hard to avoid it. The road came up in this huge mound bigger than his vehicle. The other was a truck that blew up in front of him with a suicide bomber driving it. It sent debris flying at him. He quickly threw it in reverse to get out of there. Its a very strange and un-nerving thing as a mother to watch videos of terrorists trying to blow up my boy. I count my blessings everyday that Heavenly Father watched over him and brought him back home to us.We set up a display table as well. I grabbed an arm full of his ducks for the table and told them about the story of his Uncle Steven advising Chad to be the duck and stay down and safe instead of the goose that runs around getting shot. I told them how so many of my blog readers sent him care packages that included these ducks showing their support and love. They all though it was great.I finally put together Chad's National Guard frame. I really love how it turned out and so does he, so I'm a happy mom. :o)Money from Afghanistan
Brother Harmon spoke before Chad and gave us a great lesson on American history. He was very informative and even quizzed us. He brought these old flags to display. The lower only has 48 stars. I love old flags and cant help but think of the history that surrounds them. It really was a great evening.


Today Chad, his friend Hunter and myself worked on wood for girls camp. They are now ALL drilled and sanded. It feels great to have that checked of my to-do list. My list is still long, but that was a big one.
We have a fun and busy weekend ahead of us. I've gotta run now, but I hope you all have a wonderful weekend as well.

bedding and a tag questionaire

Does this bedding look too juvenile for an adult room? I like this quilt set. My bedding is getting tired, old and ugly so I've been looking online for different Americana style quilts. Most of them are way too expensive. (for me) I found ones that I really loved, but I just can't afford them. This one is on the lower end so it's in my thinking about it list.

This is one that I really love!

So sorry I haven't blogged since last week. I planned to blog about Father's and sons camp out but apparently they never took the camera out of the truck. Mark and the boys had a great time with lots of other fathers and sons from the ward. They said the camp spot was perfect and they ate really well. (Thanks to me...hee..hee) Mark was in charge of breakfast for everyone so I cut up a huge amount of fruit salad and Mark and I made the fixins for breakfast burritos so all they had to do was fill the tortilla's and grill them. Of course I made tons of salsa for them too. I also made tin foil dinners for my guys to eat for dinner up there. I hope to get pictures for one of the dad's that actually used his camera.

In other news Mark traded his motorcycle in and got another Royal Star like his old one that he has dearly missed since the very minute he sold it. The only difference is this one is black cherry, not black. It's gorgeous! I'll take pictures of it to share when the windshield isn't covered with bug guts. Bigger news is Mark FINALLY has his motorcycle license. He's been riding motorcycles his whole life, but now he's finally legal! Yippee!

Happy Birthday to my awesome sister in law Chris. I hope you had a wonderful day. I love you and I miss you tons!

5 Things about me....

5 things on my to do list:


1. Laundry


2. Dishes...lets face it...the whole house needs cleaning.


3. LOTS of camp stuff


4. cook dinner


5. Take Cole to basketball practice





5 places I've worked:


1. Burger King (as a teenager)


2. House keeper-but I was pregnant with my first baby and puking all the time so that didn't last. Apparently home owners don't like that.


3. Full time mom and Mark's errand girl

4. Still doing the mom/errand girl thing

5. Yep, still doing the mom/errand girl thing and busier than ever.





5 favorite foods:


1. Tacos - I love them!


2. Steak and potatoes


3. Chicken cordon bleu lasagna casserole


4. Breads and desserts


5. Good old home cooking - nothing fancy





5 things you may not know about me: This one is hard because I tell everything on here.


1. I am completely addicted to drinking water, but only with teeny sonic ice and only in my big scrapaholic cup.


2. I feel TERRIBLE that I don't get to be with my cute grandsons enough. I miss them! I need to plan some outings with them.


3. Mark spoke in our ward a few weeks ago. He said things that totally embarrassed me. I cried most of the day. He tends to speak before he thinks. He will never do that to me again. Really bad day! The rest of his talk was great.


4. I'm really struggling with my kids growing up. It's all happening so fast. I don't want to be alone and I wish I could remember more of the past. Why didn't I take more pictures? I need to scrapbook more. I thnk I will feel better about things if I get the memories I do have preserved.


5. I'd really like to get a spray on tan, but I don't think I could hold my breath for 30 seconds-twice! I could see myself freaking out in the booth while choking on that stuff. I would love to have a little glowing color without the risk of cancer.





5 things I'd do if I were a billionaire:


1. Pay off our debts.


2. Build a custom home with a basement -a white picked fence and a wrap around porch goes with out saying. Of course there will be a cute red barn in the back yard with big beautiful shade trees all around.


3. Have a 2 year supply of food, water, fuel, and necessities for my family.


4. Help others in need- especially extended family and friends.


5. Do things with my family to create memories that we can't afford to do now.

Craft and Emma Smith movie...

Here is a picture of the main craft we are making at girls camp. I will share pictures of all the smaller crafts once I have samples made. As I mentioned before the theme is "Like the Stars". "Steadfast and Immovable" is also part of our theme. It's a 12X10 piece of pine that I painted and sanded the edges. I glued an 8X8 piece of sheet metal to make it a magnet board. I painted wood stars and glued round magnets to the back. I had Kim cut vinyl with the words "Steadfast & Immovable" I drilled holes and hung it with ribbon. I will have lots of colors to choose from for the girls to paint their boards to match their rooms or taste and the ribbon and vinyl will be available in black and white. The vinyl will also be in several different fonts to choose from. I think the girls and leaders will all like this craft. It's such a good reminder for them to remember who they are and to be true to their values while striving to be the best that they can be.

Tonight we took the young women to the Emma Smith My Story movie. While we are up at girls camp each ward has to do a devotional on someone. We drew Emma Smith's name so I was thrilled when I heard this movie was here. She was the wife of our first prophet, Joseph Smith. This was such a powerful and emotional movie. I cried quite a bit during it. The trials Emma and Joseph went through were unimaginable. My chest was heavy and my heart ached. She was such a strong amazing woman. I think the girls have a whole new appreciation for Emma Smith and their devotional at camp will have so much more meaning to them. I know it deeply impacted me. Here is a clip of the trailer to the movie. For you local Arizona readers It is showing at the Cinemark in Mesa on Dobson and the 202 until June 12th. It really is a must see. I'm taking Mark there to see it again before it's gone. I found a listing online of where it's showing around the country for those of you who are interested. It seems that the theaters that get it are only showing it for a week or 2 so you have to jump on it if you want to see it.

Movie Theater Locations and Movie Time Listings for Emma Smith - My Story:
The new updated theatrical showings as of 5/30 -
"Touching, insightful--provides a perspective that is long overdue!" - Doug Wright, KSL Radio
Thanks to your requests and help, we have set up the following showings of Emma Smith: My Story.
Anchorage, AK (May 30-June 5)
Theater Location: Regal Dimond Center 9, 800 E Dimond Blvd, Suite 210, Anchorage, AK 99515
Boise, ID (May 30-June 5)
Theater Location: Edwards Boise Stadium 22 & Imax, 7709 Overland Rd., Boise, ID 83709
California (Bay area--coming soon)
Idaho Falls, ID (starting May 23)
Theater Locations: Center Theater, 361 Park Ave, Idaho Falls, ID
Kansas City, MO (May 29 & June 9)
Theater Location: Glenwood Arts, 9575 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park, KS 66212
Showtimes: May 29 at 7:30 pm, and June 9 at 7:30 pm only.
Laie, HI: Coming soon.
Las Vegas, NV (May 30-June 5)
Theater Location: Regal Village Square Stadium 18, 9400 W Sahara Ave., Las Vegas, NV
Mesa/Tempe, AZ (May 30-June 12)
Theater Location: Cinemark 16, 1051 N. Dobson Rd., Mesa, AZ 85201
Nauvoo, IL (June 12 - October 2008)
Showing at: Nauvoo Adventure Zone, 885 East Highway 96, Nauvoo, IL 62354.
Showtimes: Monday-Saturday 3 pm and 7 pm.
Orlando, FL: Coming soon.
Portland, OR (May 30-June 5)
Theater Location: Regal Movies on TV Stadium 16, 2929 SW 234, Hillsboro, OR 97123
Richmond, VA: Coming soon.
Sacramento, CA (June 6-12)
Theater Location: UA Olympus Pointe 12, 520 N. Sunrise Ave., Roseville, CA 95661
San Diego, CA (May 30-June 5)
Theater Location: Regal Edwards San Marcos 18, 1180 West San Marcos Blvd., San Marcos, CA 92069
Seattle, WA (May 30-June 5)
Theater Location: Regal Alderwood Stadium 7, 3501 184th Street SW, Lynnwood, WA 98037
Tennessee (coming soon)
Texas (coming soon)
Thatcher/Safford, AZ (May 30 & 31, June 2 only)
Theater Location: 1014 N. College Ave., Eastern AZ College Activity Center, Thatcher, AZ.
Showtimes: May 30 at 7 & 9 pm; May 31 at 5, 7 & 9 pm; June 2 at 5, 7 & 9 pm.
Tucson, AZ (Aug. 29-Sept. 4)
Theater Location: Century El Con 20, 3601 E Broadway, Tucson, AZ 85716
Washington, DC: Coming Soon.
Now in Utah Theaters (check listings for specific times):
Century 16 Union Heights
Tinseltown 17 in Layton
Gateway 8 in Bountiful
Capitol Theater in Brigham City
St. George Pineview Stadium 10
Please check listings in your area for the specific times, but note that the theater may not post them until closer to the theatrical dates scheduled. Check these emails and the website www.emmasmithmovie.com for updates.

Lake house retreat...

This past weekend we took the young women on a lake house retreat. It was by far the funnest thing we've ever done. Some friends in our ward own the lake house and boat on a private lake. They were kind enough to let us come stay and play there. Otherwise our little budget would have been crushed. We all appreciate their generosity. I don't think I've ever seen the girls or leaders have so much fun. I took like 168 pictures. In a few weeks the girls will be coming over to scrapbook the pictures so they can all have memories saved from our trip. I did get on the boat, but mean Aunt Flow has no sense of timing so I wasn't able to get in the water. So sad! Before I left I didn't think I would even want to get in the water because I don't like lakes, but with this one being small and private it was so clean and nice. I LOVED this place! As you can tell from the pictures everyone had a blast!
The leaders

(yes, I am sun burnt...I'm a burn and peel kind of gal)

The girls and leaders

Gracie..who is so cute with her sunglasses on her head and big flip flops.
Cute baby Olivia who is styling in her sun hat and matching glasses.

One of the girls moved to Mesa and this was her last activity with our ward. Each girl and leader gave her a little something small that reminded us of her. I gave her an orange bowl filled with orange smiles because she brightens everyone's day with her sweet spirit. She radiates true love for everyone. As I was writing the card to her I sat here bawling like a baby. She means so much to me. Miss Jodi will be dearly missed by all of us. Her new ward is so lucky to get her. (she is on the far left in the group picture)

So much has been happening in the George home and I don't have time to talk about it. Some fun, some not so fun. Always crazy and sometimes entertaining. I gotta run. Lots to do to get ready for a camp meeting tonight. I have to look like I'm somewhat on top of my responsibilities. :o)

camp stuff...

I hope everyone had a nice long weekend. I stayed home Monday and cleaned house. I didn't get it all done, but I made a dent....in my house making a dent feels good. Mark went for a memorial ride, but cleaned a bathroom before he left so he wouldn't feel as bad for leaving. Plus he had some work that day. We also got Frankie back last night. He has lost so much weight and looks bad from being sick. I'm glad he's home and so is Scardy Butt. They've been playing together a lot.

Today I spent all day shopping for girls camp stuff. I got all my wood and paint for the main craft. The very nice dude at home depot didn't even charge me the .25 cents for each rip cut. That would have eaten into my craft budget. I really appreciated that. I have to drill holes and sand all those piles of wood. That will take me a few days. I can't start on that until Will and Chris get their dogs out of my back yard. It WILL be tomorrow. Then they have to clean up all the brand new messes the dogs have created. Plus we had lots of rain the other day, so they got good and muddy. Everything is so gross out there. All the back windows are covered with muddy paw prints too so you can bet those boys will be washing windows.

I have also spent loads of time ordering craft and decor stuff online. As soon as everything comes in I will make a sample of each project and take pictures to share. Camp is a month away and there is SO MUCH to do. I do feel much better because I can see that things are coming together, but my stomach hurts just thinking about the nights up at camp. I don't know how I'll make it through. So scared!

Bathroom question...while in a public restroom today they had those stupid toilets that flush automatically. What exactly is the purpose of those? It certainly isn't water conservation. They always spontaneously flush 4-6 times while sitting. Then you get up and nothing, so you have to push the button anyways. So dumb! I hate that and it wastes so much water. Such a terrible idea. I'd much rather push the lever ones with my foot. One flush saves water.

pictures, peppers, puking, playing & preparing

Here are a few pictures from the photo shoot I did 2 Saturdays ago. They are such a beautiful family and I really had fun with them. The long haired blond one is Brittany's mother. Her sisters and parents all have a close relationship and it was a joy to see the bond they share. I'm not a professional photographer which is why I take them for free. When I learn more about my camera and gain more experience and knowledge I will charge , but for now, it's good practice.


I got a card from Vida. I had to share because it's beautiful. I LOVE how it turned out. It's full of pictures and journaling. She is an amazing photographer and has beautiful hand writing. Thank you so much Vida!


On Saturday night we had a ward "Fiesta" party. It was so much fun. We had Mexican food and everyone brought dessert to share. They had games like musical chairs, the limbo, a pinata and a pepper eating contest. Cole won a round of musical chairs, Mark lost a round when he was hip bumped by a woman clean out of his chair. Cody ran the rope for the pinata. It was a tough one. All the kids smacked the crap out of it. Finally they gave the stick to Cole. He broke the stick in just a few whacks. Chad and Will participated in the pepper eating competition. They started out with 3 milder chilies each. They were really juicy. The first one Chad ate, he had a bunch of the juice shoot right up his nose. It went down hill from there. He was in tears. Each level they were given hotter peppers. 4 out of 6 of them puked. Chad ran out of the room in the wrong direction of the bathroom. He ended up in the custodian closet. LOL! Poor guy. Funny thing is, he doesn't even like peppers or hot food. Will on the other hand won the competition. His "big prize" was a chili plant. LOL! It was such a fun night.



For family night, we (and the Bishop's family) went to dinner at the Crosby's house and they gave us a tour of the dairy. After dinner the kids played some football out front. They have grass...I miss grass...I want grass! Since I've share pictures of the dairy before I didn't think it was necessary. It was so interesting. Mark was like a kid sucking in as much information as he could. After the tour we all ate krispy creme doughnuts for dessert. What goes better with milk that doughnuts? So good! I appreciate the Crosby's hospitality. It was a great night.

I picked up Cole early from school today. He's has a lot of headaches. When he got home he fell asleep. When he woke up he felt sick to his stomach and ended up puking then fell asleep again on the bathroom floor. He had a fever and I gave him some Tylenol. Poor kid is back in bed. Looks like he'll be home from school tomorrow.



Today I made a big batch of salsa and put it into 72 little containers. We are making breakfast burritos in the morning (Wednesday) for the seminary students. They will have sausage, eggs, potatoes, and cheese in them. After we fill and roll them we grill them on our griddle. It adds a better texture and flavor than just leaving the tortilla uncooked. I'm going to roll them all in foil sheets to make it easy to keep warm and to serve.
I also cut up tons of fruit with help from Will. We put them in individual containers for each student. Don't they look pretty?! We are also having milk and juice. We have to have everything cooked and to the church by 7:00 a.m. As much as I hate early mornings, I think they will be happy with breakfast.

David Archuletta did awesome tonight. They are both amazing and will have wildly successful careers. Wednesday night will be exciting!

American Idol...

First off I want to thank you all for being so sweet and supportive with all the stress in my life currently. I really appreciate it. I keep saying...this too shall pass. Of course there is a whole lot that has to pass so I'll need to have patience. I just finished cleaning the kitchen. It's 11:00 on Friday night. This morning we went and set up the church then Me, Mark and Will worked ALL day cooking food for the honors dinner. We made 25 stuffed pork chops, 25 chicken cordon bleu, 30 pounds of garlic mashed potatoes, huge batches of mixed veggies, green beans and corn. Loaded the car, went to the church, unloaded, served dinner, enjoyed the program, tore down and cleaned up there, loaded my again car, then home to unload again and clean up more. I would have taken pictures but there was no room in my car to even fit my camera. It was packed full, but trust me, it looked really nice. It's been one really long day and I'm exhausted and very glad to be done. That's one more thing checked off my to-do list. Mark is taking me out to breakfast to Bill Johnson's Big Apple in the morning so I'm happy about that. It's my favorite place for breakfast. For dinner...not so much.

I love both David's and I'm really looking forward to seeing who wins American Idol.
Fantasia's performance truly puzzled me. I'm sorry if you like her and this offends you, but she was just terrible! (in my opinion) We fast forwarded through the last half because it was painful to watch and hear. I really think Syesha has so much more talent.Really trying not to be mean here, but the whole time she was on stage this is who I was thinking of. Good old Mr. Heat Miser. LOL! Do you see the resemblance?

I'm just saying! :o)

If you don't remember who he is check out this little video and it will refresh your memory of him and his brother Mr. Snow Miser....well unless your too young to even have a clue who they are.They even have their own back up singers/dancers. :o)

Have a great weekend whether you're relaxing or out having fun. Just enjoy yourselves!

the good, the bad and the ugly

Like my blog title states...Jolene's family life journal of living in her very own nut house.

The good...the bad...and the ugly!

We've got it all here folks!We will start out with the good. I know I was suppose to do the getting to know you card prize drawing on Mothers day but lets face it. I haven't really had a good mother's day for many many years and I was far too grouchy to blog. Wait...we're suppose to be talking about good right now. Crud!I had no boys around to pick a winner so I did it the only fair way that came to mind and laid out all the cards I've received on my desk and did the very mature, eanie meanie miney mo. Catch a tiger by the toe. If he hollers make him pay fifty dollars everyday. My mother told me to pick the very best one and YOU are it! That IT being Amy Gresens. I have no idea if those are even the correct words, but that's the version I remember from my childhood. Congratulations Amy! I will be sending you a very cute box kit of SEI cards. Those will be fun to make. A purse sized post it note book with a pen and a pedicure brush/sander/buffer thing with foot cream. I hope you enjoy! Thanks so much to everyone who sent me a card. I love them.

The bad....Chad and his two friends (who are brothers) Will and Chris went to town today on the motorcycles. Someone cut in between them on the freeway and hit their brakes causing Will who was in he back to crash the bike. He was riding Chad's green machine. Most of the damage was done to the tank. The center of the ring is dented in, but you can't tell in the picture. There is also damage to the foot peg, blinker and head light chrome hoodie. The stupid driver took off. I love that bike...so sad!

The ugly...here is the damage to poor Will. He is pretty scraped up and in pain, but it could have been much worse. I'm counting our blessings. See...even the ugly has some good in it. (Yes, this is the same Will who was almost arrested for the blind incident.) Also if I forgot to mention before, Chris and Will have been living here for a couple of weeks. Pretty much since Chad got home. My household grew from 5 to 8 instantly.

In other news and reasons why I haven't blogged in a week.

• I made 2 more arrow of light awards for pack meeting. They turned out really nice, but I'm glad to be done with them.
• Saturday we went on a long motorcycle ride to Tucson with 14 other bikes to the Star Touring and Riding headquarters. The put on a BBQ for all the local chapters. It was VERY hot that day and my body hurt so bad. By the time we finally got home I had about 20 minutes to lay down and try to cool off before we headed to North Phoenix to do a photo shoot of 5 sisters with their parents. They were all in town having a sisters weekend at a resort. So much fun! I'll share a couple of the 109 pictures I took later. It was a long day!
• My mouth has been in major pain since last Thursday. Were talking the whole thing. tongue, gums, roof, underneath. Yet I could see no sores. Eating and drinking were a nightmare. Today is the first day it didn't hurt to eat.
• I got a very spontaneous urinary tract infection in the middle of the night and had to send Mark to town for medicine at 3:30 in the morning because nothing stays open 24 hours in Maricopa. I have been miserable. It is such a horrible feeling to think you have to pee worse than anything and nothing comes out. Were talking like if we were on a long road trip with no rest stops in site, I would beg Mark to pull over and let me pee on the side of the road with no care for who saw me kind of urgency. Picture that kind of pain, but it NEVER goes away. Now try to sleep with that. Nice, huh?! You never know when it's the real thing or not. Lots of time spent trying.
• I have 5 children plus the 2 temps totaling 7 who are all making poor choices and for some odd reason decide to do it all at once just to torture me. The stress associated with all of those things would add up to at least a dozen of these bullet points if I listed them individually. I will spare you the details. Trust when when I say that it's enough to make you want to curl up in a ball and stay in bed for days wondering why you signed up for this whole parenthood thing.
• My cat Frankie has a major ear infection and as hard as I've tried I haven't been able to get his medicine down him. He is one stubborn strong cat. We had to take him back to his previous owner so she can medicate him. Apparently she has the ability to let him know who's boss. Me and Scardey butt sure miss him and can't wait until he retuns.
• Chris and Will brought their dogs over here a few days ago and they have been residing in my back yard. I had to pull out the doggy door to keep them out of the house, but now Pappi isn't happy because he can't come and go as he pleases to do his business. The new dogs like to chew up everything and made a disaster of the back yard to which I honestly didn't think could get worse. I was wrong. I made them go clean it up today.
• FLIES!!! I don't know if it is a coincidence but the very day the dogs arrived so did the largest population of flies that I have ever seen in my life. They are now in my back yard. It totally creeps me out. I hate flies! Every time I let Pappi in or out, I do it as fast as I can but little buggers keep getting in my house. I walk around with one of the paper chinet dinner plates constantly. My arm is getting sore from swinging at flies. I have a plate here on my desk because 2 flies are in here right now tormenting me. There were three. I got one of them. They give me such anxiety.

Tomorrow I have to buy groceries because I'm cooking a big fancy dinner for 45 people on Friday night. It's for the seminary honors students, their parents, the seminary teachers and the stake presidency. I'm making stuffed pork chops, chicken cordon bleu, garlic mashed potatoes, steamed mixed veggies, corn, green beans and punch. I did delegate out the salad, rolls and dessert. (that is progress in my book)

Saturday I have penciled in a small emotional break down because I don't have time before then....although I have cried numerous time over the past week. I have to keep sucking it up and trucking along. Too much to do.

Please don't think I'm looking for a pity party. I just need to vent sometimes and I do want a record of things in my life that are not always sunshine and smiles. It will make me appreciate the good things that much more and also when I look back and remember how cruddy things were, I'll be proud of the things I've survived. For now I've earned the right to be a bit grouchy.

Ooh! I'm down to one fly in my office. These flies are picking on the wrong woman. I go for the kill.

P.S. I do honestly love my boys and we pray everyday that they will make good choices. I can't help but want to run their lives when I see them make mistakes. If it weren't for that darn agency! I do tell them it's not "free agency" because while good choices bring blessings, bad choices have consequences. There's nothing free about it. When they make it hard on themselves it makes it extra hard on me. I hate that.

Well, it's officially 12:57 a.m. Happy Thursday!