we start them early...

I bought these for my brother, Jacob, when he was born. I had just started my sophomore year at BYU. I don't think he wore them much because of his awesomely large feet. When William was born, my mom passed them back to me. Subsequently, each of my boys has had their turn with the cougar socks. Go Cougars!

a sad day...

Yesterday was a sad day. We replaced our little white car.

I don't know why it was so hard for me to part with it. It has been slowly falling apart for some time now. Rich has been driving around in the heat without a reliable air conditioner (it was the last thing to go.) I've rarely driven it in the past several months because Rich has been afraid it would break down on me.

That little car drove Rich up to college and back several times. It's the car we drove while we were dating.... to places like Dairy Keen, temple square, Comedy Sportz (nose hair clipper, Heather?), and the Movies 8. It got us through grad school. It took us to see all the church history sites: Independence, Liberty, Winter Quarters, Adam-ondi-Ahman, Far West, Carthage, and Nauvoo. It took us to Omaha... where somewhere in the middle of Kansas we lost our duct-taped headlight. It drove us to Dallas on numerous occasions. This car was full of memories!

Farewell little Geo!

goal setting

Growing up, the first Monday of January we always set goals for the upcoming year. We would write them down (and draw a picture) and then put them in a place where we would be reminded of those goals. I particularly remember making a goal to sit at the dinner table without getting up. I can vividly recall getting up from the table often. I could have sworn that I made this goal when I was about 5-ish. But when I found my old goals it turns out that I was in third grade! Wow. No wonder my parents suggested that I set that goal.

So this January, on the first Monday of the month, we helped William set goals. It's never too young to start good habits, right? And do you know what? William is doing great!

Pictures from left to right: William sitting in a chair at church, sitting on a turtle (don't ask), lots of food--beans, broccoli, tomatoes, celery, corn, and peas

The biggest success has been his personal goal of trying new foods. All we have to do is ask him what his goal is and he happily complies. Our picky, picky eater has tried so many foods in the past month--and liked them! We're still working hard at the other two but we're ecstatic at the progress we've seen so far!

the magic kiss

When I was a little girl and we needed to wake up my Grandpa Allred, my mom would tell us that the only way was to kiss him on the cheek. We would try other things but the kiss was the only thing that ever worked. And why wouldn't it? It worked for Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, right?

So when I got tired of being woken up by whining and poking and my eyelids being pried open, I told William that the sure-fire way to wake me up was with a kiss. It worked especially nice in the beginning because I could lay there, pretending to be asleep, for just a few more minutes until he remembered the secret. Now, however, he usually comes in, plants a big wet one on my cheek and asks, ever so sweetly, "Mom, can you please get me some more milk?"

This past week we were all feeling pretty crummy so when James stumbled into our room in the middle of the night I just let him crawl into bed--not something I usually do. Some time later I was aroused from my slumber by someone pulling on my pajama leg. I chose to ignore it. I was exhausted! But then I felt two little lips kissing my cheek! James must have seen William do it a few times and knew that it worked!

And so I continue in the tradition of my favorite fairy tale princess. Besides, who doesn't want to be woken up by the kiss of a prince (or two)?

pioneers and memories

First I just wanted to say Happy Pioneer Day! We've had a lot of fun with this, singing pioneer primary songs, telling pioneer stories, and showing pictures of when my family went to Martin's Cove. William wants to go there now... someday, someday. We are excited to watch this. (And for more fun pioneer activities click here.)

Next, I've seen this tag or meme going around and I thought it would be fun... Mostly because it takes no effort on my part--just on yours! Play along and let's let the good times roll.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see what people remember about you!

daddy dearest

Everyone in my family was born in different hospitals in California. Everyone that is except for me and my dad. We were both born in this hospital in Ft. Sam Houston, Texas.I always thought that was pretty cool. That is just one of the many things I have in common with my dad.

My Dad was blessed with four beautiful daughters... and didn't get a son until years afterward. However, that didn't stop him from doing things he enjoyed. He was always taking us on hikes,

hiking at Town Lake in Austin, TX

at the top of Mt. Timp

fishing, out in the boat,

canoeing at Prado Dam

and even shooting guns. I was probably 9 years old when I got my first pocket knife and 11 when I got an even bigger one. And we most certainly were expected to mow the lawn, take out the trash and other "boy jobs." My dad probably hasn't mowed the lawn in 15 years... at least.

He also liked to tease us. Here I am at 8 months old. You can see that the teasing starts early on. When I was probably 3 or 4 we went to the Hogle Zoo. Here's the story in my mom's words: Jeanine's favorite part of the zoo was the children's petting zoo. While we were in the petting zoo, a llama went over to Jeanine and started to nibble on her hair. Her hair was such a pretty yellow color he must have thought it was straw or hay to eat. Jeanine started to cry. Instead of stopping to help her though, Dad was busy trying to get his camera so he could take a picture of it. Obviously he was a little too slow and didn't get the picture.
And here we are at Martin's Cove pulling a handcart. Where is my dad going? He's running off to find a cow pie to toss at us. Nice.

But my dad also taught me by example the things that were important such as living the gospel and serving. My dad was also the one who baptized me,
gave me father's blessings, was there when I went through the temple for the first time, and when I got married. Thank you Dad. I love you.


And the other very important dad in my life is the father of my two boys. They can hardly wait for Rich to come home. Every time the phone rings William thinks that it's Rich and he'll ask me "Is Dad coming home? And he'll get clothes on? And he'll play 'king of the bed'?" When James hears the garage door open he'll squirm out of my arms so that he can run his fastest to get Dad.
And he too teaches our children everything from playing ball to the importance of prayer and scripture study. He's the best dad I could ask for for my boys.

Happy Father's Day!

And for a beautiful father's day post click here.

farewell corona high

It seems that I blog about Rachelle the more than my other siblings. Maybe that's because my other two sisters have their own blogs and they can tell you what's going on in their lives themselves. Or maybe Rachelle just has the most exciting life out of any of us. Or maybe Rachelle's just my favorite. I guess we'll never really know.

Just yesterday, Rachelle graduated from Corona High School. She is the fourth and final Fisher girl to graduate from that fine institution. By the time Jacob graduates high school most of the teachers I had will be retired. And thus ends the "Fisher Legacy." So let's run the numbers...

The number of Fisher girls who:

extracurriculars

Ran track = 2

Played in band = 1

Sang in Choir = 4

Sang in Madrigals = 3

Were in Madrigals for more than one year = 2

Were able to enjoy the new performing arts building (announced my freshman year) = 1
Went to plays with the International Studies Club = 4

Were in student government = 2

Were members of the California Scholarship Federation = 4

academia

Had Mr. Vaughn for World History = 4

Had Mr. Smith as a choir director = 3

Had Mrs. Robson for AP Language Arts = 4

Had Mr. Phillips for 11th grade Language Arts= 3 (unless you count Amy's one week in there... and then it's 4)

Had Mr. Williams for psychology = 2

Had Mrs. Hippie for 10th grade Language Arts = 4
Had Mrs. Gray for art = 2

graduation

Wore the same cap and gown = 4
Were salutatorians = 2

Graduated with honors = 4
Years at CHS = 1995-2008 = 13 years

So farewell Corona High School. We made many fond memories with you.

Congrats Rachelle!!!

girls camp

Yesterday I had the chance to drive some of the young women in our ward to girl's camp. It was a pleasant 3 hour drive up to the camp and when I got there, crossed the lake and was surrounded by big pine trees I almost forgot that I wasn't in the mountains! I was pretty glad not to have to stay up there for the week but once I was there I really didn't want to leave. I left much later than I thought and ended up making the long drive home in the dark, finally arriving home only a little before midnight.

Being up at girl's camp made me remember my own experiences. The camp here is much different from ours--we were in the mountains sleeping on the floor of a-frames and here they are in humid Oklahoma sleeping on beds in an air-conditioned cabin, we were divided up mostly by age and here they sleep together as wards, in addition to many, many others--but the spirit is essentially the same.

For some reason I can only find pictures right now from my last 2 years of camp but I thought I'd share them with you anyhow.

I'm just realizing that we are wearing our camp sweatshirts in some of the pictures. Funny. They would never even dream of making sweatshirts for camp here (although the girls had that air cranked in the cabin so it was rather chilly!)

What were your girl's camp experiences like?

**After Sis. Holmes' comments I remembered that the thing that the girls here are missing out on the most is the BATH girls!

of cake tops and tricycles

A few weeks back I made a cake for our Enrichment night in celebration of the Relief Society Birthday.

A week later I made a cake for James' birthday.

As I cut the tops off the cakes I was reminded of large tupperware containers full of cake tops the sat in my Grandma Allred's kitchen as a child. My grandma made beautiful wedding cakes.

This is the famous "Lace Cake."

During the times she was decorating cakes, we grandchildren were not allowed to go in her office or run through the dining area. If we were to bump a cake table we'd probably get a stern warning. But we were allowed to eat all the cake tops we wanted... which, in my opinion, are the best part. And Grandma would undoubtedly decorate our fingernails with frosting roses that we could lick off one by one. If we were lucky we'd even get to eat some of the frosting roses she was using on the cake. When I was around 12 years old I was granted the privilege of helping her transport the cakes and assisting in setting them up. I thought I was pretty special.

I can only hope that my children have such fond memories of their childhood. I hope they remember the excitement of racing their trike down the street.

William has recently found the joy of riding his bike. It is so fun to watch him ride up and down our street!

Or of tasting chocolate covered strawberries.

James loves chocolate... actually he loves anything that someone else is eating!

"Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose."

What are some of your fondest childhood memories?

i heart valentines day

I don't know why... but I love Valentine's Day. Well, all of February up to--and including--Valentine's Day. I love to browse the valentine aisles at any store I come across. I just can't get enough of all the cute hearts and cheesy gifts. I love that everything is pink or red or white. I love making heart shaped sugar cookies and frosting them perfectly pink. When this obsession began I don't know.

Growing up I always longed for a "special valentine." Every year I would write in my journal something to the effect of "No special valentine this year... maybe next year." And, of course, that never happened. But I have a few fond memories anyway.

Every year in our family we drew names and made a valentine for them. I don't know why my mom started doing this. The only thing I can think of is that it took us so long to make just one valentine that she decided one was enough. Who knows. My sister, Amy, drew my name almost every single year. Seriously. From the time I was around 9 (maybe before that?) through high school. She has always been a seamstress. So when she was 7 or 8 she made me a little red, heart-shaped pillow. Of course, she used all the batting on a pillow she had made for her school teacher and mine ended up stuffed with cotton balls--nice and lumpy. I still have that pillow! I'm sure that Amy thinks I'm ridiculous for keeping it. But how could I throw it away?

In high school, a bunch of friends invited the boys we hung out with on a treehouse breakfast date. We probably had just as much fun planning it as we did actually on the date. My freshman year of college some of my roommates and I decided to ask some boys from our ward on a date. We had dinner served to us by our friends and went ice skating. Super fun. Another year at college we serenaded our roommate and her fiance with "their song." In a resturaunt full of people... not embarassing at all. One of my favorite college valentines memories was "personalizing" our candy conversation hearts. Oh man were those hilarious! I just wish I could remember what we wrote. (Lori do you still have them? Yes! go here)

And now I finally have my "special valentine"--and never have to worry about finding one again. Rich always thinks of something wonderful for us. And because William and James are not taken yet, this year I have three valentines. I am one lucky girl.

But, you know, I've come to realize that, for me at least, Valentine's is more than having that "special" one. It's more than buying expensive flowers and jewelry. It's about showing people you love them. If I could I would send each of you a valentine's card... but, alas, I did not. So just imagine me giving you a great big hug and know that:

I love you!

listen to your grandma...

I remember making cookies with my grandma, sneaking some of the dough and being scolded. "There's raw egg in that," I was told. "You'll get sick." If only I had listened. (Of course I remember seeing grandma sneak some one day and she said "Even grandma's need a treat sometimes.") Thursday night Rich and decided that we needed a treat so half a batch of cookie dough was promptly mixed up. Boy was it yummy! We watched a show and played a game--all while snacking on this uncooked treat. By bedtime I wasn't feeling so good but I blamed it on the fact that I ate a TON. I won't go into details but by 3 or 4 in the morning I felt like I was dying. Around 10 0'clock Rich had caught up to me. We were two sick puppies. Thank goodness for Rich's mom who watched our boys while we slept at her house all day. And the boys were so good! They both slept all night long and when William woke up this morning he just played by himself instead of waking us. The think the worst is past but you won't find us eating cookie dough anytime soon!