"I Hope They Call Me On a Mission!"

The day after Thanksgiving is BLACK FRIDAY, when all of the stores have really great deals to start off the Christmas shopping.  I normally don't kill myself to get out there and get the bargins, but this time I couldn't resist the deals this year.  I was out at 5:00 that morning making rounds to all the stores and called Doug and Austin about 10:00 to see if they could take me to breakfast while they were in St. George delivering Austins truck bed he was selling.  We met at the Cracker Barrel and were in the middle of our breakfasts when Cody called to tell Austin that he had the next two years of his life in his hands.  HIS MISSION CALL HAD COME AND WE WEREN'T HOME!!!  Suddenly we were nervous, anxious, and Austin couldn't drive he was shaking so badly.  We hurried and texted everyone we knew to meet at one o'clock to open his call. 

I rushed home and Austin and Doug delivered his truck bed, then rushed home.  Because I got their first I got to try and see the letter first. 

Sadly, the letter was hidden by the mission packet and I couldn't see anything.  Darn. 

Dear Elder Beutler, You have been called to serve as a missionary. . . .

The letter signed by President Thomas S. Monson himself.  We were kind of hoping he could go somewhere he hadn't been before, but Austin has a great attitude about going wherever the Lord wanted him to go and is excited to serve in Anaheim, California.  I struggled with it for day or so until I was reading the letter again and realized that the Prophet reviews and signs every letter personally.  He double checks each call to make sure the call is what the Lord wants and I know that this is where Austin needs to go to serve.  I'm grateful he is going to be close enough to send packages and letters and that we can easily go and get him when he finished. We are very proud of Austin and his decision to serve a mission.  He is going to the happiest mission on earth!!  (because Disneyland is in their mission).  He is going to have a great experience.  Congratulations Austin!!

We are all thankful for. . .cell phones?

This year for Thanksgiving we decided to stay home instead of going up to Dayton or over to my Mom and Dads house.  It was just our immediate family for dinner and it was kind of nice, even though I had to do all of the cooking.  Austin came home from Idaho hoping to open his mission call on Wednessday, but it didn't come, so he jumped right in to hanging out with his friends and having them all over for a movie night.  It seems like you cook for days for this one meal and it is over in just a few minutes, but it is always worth the effort. 

We broke out the nice china, crystal goblets for the fancy lime slush, and REAL silver ware for the occasion.  Cody helped me set the table and finish up the cooking before dinner.  I found it very interesting that when we sat down to the meal I spent hours on, this is what I saw:

We are a modern family for sure, everyone has an electronic device that they are occupied with.  Needless to say, the blessing on the food was delayed.    

 

For dinner I made a small turkey breast because everyone voted to have ham instead.  I also made Idaho grown mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing cassarole, sweet potato pie, orange glazed carrots, homemade rolls, jello with whipped cream, and orange jello pudding salad.  I also had pumpkin, apple, and banana cream pies for later.  I think everyone enjoyed the meal and liked the new recipes for the most part.  It is always fun to use the finery I have saved in my hope chest for a long time.  I am grateful to have everyone together and safe, and for all our many other blessings that are to numberless to list.  We are so blessed!      

 

Happy Birthday Cody!

What do you get to do when you are fourteen that you didn't get to do when you were thirteen? That is what Cody wanted to know as he turned fourteen on the twentieth of November. It is not much of a difference, he decided, except he was ordained a Teacher in the Priesthood and can now go with the teachers on Tuesday nights, and he can go to the Stake Dances with Mady and his friends, and he can have girls and boys over for night games and parties. He is very excited to turn fourteen.  Happy Birthday Cody!

We had a small family party for him on Tuesday night with my Mom and Dad.  We had cake and ice cream and presents.   

He got a new western shirt and wranglers, a gun stock for his shotgun, and CAT socks and safety glass and a hat.  He was very happy with his gifts and had a really good birthday. 

Mady's first REAL date. . . Sadie Hawkins

On Saturday, the 17th of November Mady had her first "real" date.  (I guess her dad wasn't a "real boy", or so she says).  Her first date was to the girls choice dance, Sadie Hawkins, and Mady and her friends went as a group.  Mady asked Kyson Spendlove, whom she had to chase and put a tag around his neck per the rules of Sadie Hawkins.  She accomplished that on the first day of the chase and was so proud of herself! 
 She and her friends met on Satruday for the "day date" (a custom that has evolved from only going to the dance at night, to spending all day together playing games or four wheeling, or whatever.) with another group and had a "Minute to Win It" marathon.  Bobette Green and I planned the games and tried to make them as messy as possible. 

They did contests like picking gummy bears out of a pan full of whipped cream, pudding and other stuff; they ate lunch with their hands tied together, they shot elastic bands at toilet paper until it broke; sat on balloons filled with shaving cream until they burst;  put shaving cream on their shower capped heads and threw Cheetoes at each other, and other fun games like that.  It was very messy, but everyone had a great time. 

Mady and Kyson after the "cheese head" minute to win it game.
 

For dinner they went to Kelly Labarrons' Grandparents house and had a dutch oven dinner, then went to the dance together.  Mady had a very fun time dancing and laughing and having a great time with all of her friends. 

Mady and Kyson Spendlove

Kyson Spendlove, Mady, Trevor Halowell , Shelby Copeland,  Jenny Gowans, Justin Byce,
Kelly LaBaron, Talon Demille.              

Sweet Sixteen and Super Excited!!

Happy Birthday to Mady, who turned 16 on November 15, 2012.  She has been looking forward to this day for a long time.  Not only does she turn 16, but she also can get her drivers license and date.  She had her first date on her birthday with her Dad.  Doug and I decided a few years ago that we wanted to be our kids' first dates, so Doug called Mady up on her phone and "officially" asked her out and planned a fun time after school that Thursday. He picked her up from school and took her to Fiesta Fun Center in St. George where they played miniature golf and drove the go-carts.  She got quite a surprise on the go-carts when she tried to cut her Dad off around a curve and Doug hit her and spun her in a 360, getting her stuck into the side railing.  It kind of scared her, but later they had a good laugh about it. 

Mady said she didn't like playing miniature golf very much because it was slow and boring, so they only did it one time, with her cheating the hole way through.  She and her Dad went to the Cracker Barrel for dinner after Fiesta Fun, and had a very yummy combination meals, then came home for ice cream and cake with us in a small family party later that night.  My Dad came over to celebrate with us, because his birthday was the next day so we let them celebrate together.  Mady is getting very comfortable with her Grandpa Winn, and got a few good teases in when they were getting ready to blow out the cake. 

Mady is telling Grandpa that he can blow out one candle, because he is so old, and she will get the rest.  He surprised us all by blowing them all out faster than I've ever seen candles blown out on a cake.  I didn't even have enough time to set up for a picture.  They had a great time bantering back and forth. I think Mady was a little bit disappointed because she was expecting a big surprise party when she got back, because some of her friends had mentioned it in passing.  When she got back to just us and a few presents, she put on a brave face, but I could tell she was wondering where all her friends were. 

Funny thing, the next night was Friday night and her friends actually DID have a surprise party planned for her.  She went away with some girlfriends to make shirts for the SADIES dance which was on Saturday (her second date), and we hurried and got ready for the 20 kids coming over.  She had no idea anything was happening until she got home to walk downstairs and happened to see a bunch of cars parked in the back when she was on her way downstairs.  I had to nearly PUSH her down the stairs to get her to go and everyone yelled SURPRISE!!!  They played WII dance 4 and ate lots of food and had a really great time. 

I'm glad to report that she wasn't disappointed this time.   They all gave her presents that mostly consisted of food, and laughed and danced and was goofy for most of the night.  I appreciate Abby Londrie and Chelsie Cahoon for putting the party together for her.  What a great birthday! 
Happy Sweet Sixteen Mady!!! 

A New Eagle Takes Flight

Since becoming a New Scout when he turned 11, Cody has had a goal to become and Eagle Scout before he turned 14, and I'm so proud to report that he did just that!  On November 14th, he had his Eagle Board of Review and was found to have successfully completed everything required to be awarded his Eagle Scout rank advancement, six days before his 14th birthday.  We are very proud of him!  He had a few obsticles that we were afraid were going to keep him from his goal, but he is very determined, and extremely persistant which resulted in him achieving his goal.  We are very proud of him.  This year is the 100th anniversary of the Eagle Scout and those attaining this rank recieve special patches and certificates commemorating the special anniversary.  We are so proud of you Cody!!!  His court of honor will be held in February.

Congratulations Cody!!! 

Halloween Concerts

This year three of the kids are involved in music groups, and we get to participate in a lot of concerts, which I love.  Dalyon is starting the cello in the 6th grade with Mrs. Leavitt.  His concerts are short because they don't have a lot that they can play, but he is beginning to enjoy it.  His concert was on Thursday the 25th of October.  They played some fun songs, one with paper instead of their bows, folding it into tiny pieces as they went.  It was a fun concert.

Cody and Mady had a concert the next week on Monday the 29th of October.  Cody played in the Middle School orchestra and Mady played in the High School orchestra and symphony.  Because it was a Halloween concert they were all supposed to dress up for Halloween.  The concert was good and very long because they not only had the orchestra's, but also the bands playing.  It ended up being about three hours long.  We sat on the wrong side of the auditorium to be able to see Cody and Mady on the violin side, but we did get a few sneaky pictures of Cody.  He dressed up as a cowboy, and Mady dressed up as a mechanic, like in the pictures from earlier. 

The concerts were very good and I was glad to share them with my parents.  My Dad has been home since his truck burned in April and we have enjoyed having him come to the kids events with my Mom.  It is always fun to listen to the kids and their progress. 

Halloween is about. . . .

It seems like the older the kids get the less I have to do with them for Halloween.  This year was a very different year for me.  Cody asked if he could have a party with his friends so I knew I would be home chaperoning his party and I farmed the rest of the kids out to friends.  This is the first year in about 18 that I did not take the kids trick-or-treating and stayed home to answer the door.  (Usually Doug does that).  All the kids went four different ways, and all had a great time. 

Mady went with her friends to a party in Toquerville.  They all dressed up as the "Dougs'" in Doug's coveralls.  They thought they were SO funny!!!  They giggled and giggled about it.

 This is Mady, Chelsi Cahoon, Mercy Something, and Alyssa Bohne all dressed up as Doug, and Doug and their other brother Doug, and Larry.  (Alyssa's coveralls didn't have a name on them.)

This is Mady, Rachel Nielson and Chelsi ready to go to the party.  No one recognized Rachel until she smiled and then they thought she was her Mom, Britta.  What a great costume!!! 

Dalyon went trick -or-treating with his friend Dallas.  He dressed up in his Karate outfit, but Dallas wasn't ready to go when we got there.  They went all over Dallas' neighborhood begging candy and having fun together. 

Cami went as a farm girl with her friend Jessica Perry.  Jessica lives in a neighborhood call Roberts Ranch and they close the street off and have a big Halloween spook alley/trick-or-treat/party with all the neighbors.  Most of the town drop their kids off at one end of the neighborhood and let them go for the night.  Jessica's Mom took the girls to other neighborhoods that night because they get better candy if they do.  Funny.  They had a really great time. 

We didn't get any pictures of Cody and his friends but had a good time at home with them.  He had Carsen Bjelland, Summer Stratton, Hollie Isom, and a few other friends over for a small party.  I think everyone had a great time, and definitely their sugar fix. 

The gifts of Music

It is that time of year when each of the orchestra's our kids are in have their annual fall concerts.  This year I enjoyed three.

  Dalyon is in the beginning orchestra in the intermediate school and he plays the cello.  It is a lot harder to play than he thought but I think he is getting the hand of it.  His concert was on Thursday October 25.

Dalyon was very nervous for his first concert but I think enjoyed it anyway.  He seems timid right now with his playing and I hope he gains confidence and keeps practicing.  I know he will enjoy it as he gets better.

Cody is in the Middle School and he and Mady have the same teacher for their orchestra's,  Mrs. Thorton teaches both the Middle and High School orchestras so they have the same concert night.  My mom and dad came and we ended up sitting on the wrong side of the auditorium so I had to strain for a picture of him.  It was a Halloween concert so all of the kids dressed up, and Cody went as a cowboy (how did you guess that?).   He is a strong player and Mrs. Thorton always complements him on his playing. 

Mady also played that night in the High School orchestra and symphony.  She really enjoys playing also, however I couldn't get a picture of her in her costume because she was on the other side of the stage.  I guess I'm not very good at guessing where the kids are going to sit ha ha, but I will do better from now on. 

Cami also performed for the fall festival on the 27th of October at the first annual Halloween festival held in St. George at the town square.  It was a fun festival with magicians and lots of costumes, food, and games.  The performers before her group were belly dancers and she was funny because she couldn't watch, saying they were too immodest.  She did a great job dancing and smiling and having fun.

We are proud of all our kids and I'm especially grateful that they are interested in music and performing, even if it on a small scale. 

Taking a Little Time Out

Every couple of years a few friends and I get together and take a little Time Out.  Deseret Book Company puts on a production called Time Out For Women where they have several authors speak and LDS musical artists perform in uplifting and spiritually edifying ways.  In the past we have gone to Las Vegas when the tour was there, but this year we decided to try Richfield, Utah for a quieter, less traffic place to enjoy ourselves.  The idea turned out to be fabulous, and very very fun! 

We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Richfield and there were three to a room.  I went with Bobette Green, Maria Hall, Shelly Beutler, Joyce Swyers, and my Mom.  Bobette drove because she knows Richfield, her in laws live there and she visits often.  We traveled together on Friday afternoon, getting there early enough to check into our hotel and grab a bite to eat at the Wingers next door.

It seems the ride wasn't as stimulating as we had hoped.  Shelly got the coveted seat in the back, and the others were out, until I mentioned putting something up Maria's nose and she magically came awake. 

 Dinner at Wingers.  I love the "self portraits" (when you take the picture of yourself with your own camera).  They seem to always give you a double chin. 

Cute picture of Maria and Joyce trying to hide behind their menus.  Being silly is a part of the fun!

 Our seats were up in the balcony and it was great seats for us!  With the big screens we could see the speakers and performer up close and still enjoy everything. 

It is amazing how, in a room as large as this, with this many people there and all the disruptions that the spirit can be so strong and witness to you of truth. 

Jenny Oaks Baker, an exceptional violinist performed for us on Friday night.  Shelly and I got our pictures takes with her and Shelly got a CD autographed for her daughter Sadie, who is also an exceptional violinist.  Her music is beautiful. We also heard from Sheri Dew and  Virginia Hinkley Pierce.

Sleep was very late in coming for us that night.  When you let a group of women get away together without any kids of husbands, we tend to let our hair down and get silly, which is what happened that night.  Someone brought ice cream, bowls and spoons and dropped them off at Maria's room and told her to take some and pass it to the next room, so we did!  We also had treats we had picked up at Wal-Mart that night and we talked and laughed until well after midnight.  Such fun memories!!
 

 On our way into the convention Saturday morning they handed out their famous bags.  Every year they give those who attend on Saturday a fabulous bag, and this year was no exception.  Don't we all look happy and like we are having a good time? 

We had a great day with lots of great information and perspective changes.  We listened to the music of Mercy River and heard presentations from authors like DeAnn Flynn, Michael Wilcox, Wendy Ulrich, and Emily Freeman.  After the convention we took another photo opportunity on a rock outside of the convention center.  The weather was a perfect fall day, and the leaves were changing, adding to the beauty of the weekend. 

Not in any hurry to get home, we took a few moments to look around Richfield and eat at the famous Pufferbellys Mexican restaurant.  Our cute little waiter got in the picture with us, and a bunch of others before that .  Funny guy.  We had a really nice time together and I love to look over my notes and remember what I learned, hopefully to apply the ideas into my life.  I look forward to going again in a couple of years!! 

Introducing Indy Beutler

After all the luck we have had with our animals lately I was hesitant to consider getting another animal.  However, Cody found a Britney Springer Spaniel on the Internet that was in LaVerkin and we all fell in love with him.  He is five years old and is a pure bred, and well trained.  He had been with the same family in LaVerkin since he was born but they can't have pets in the place that they are moving to so they had to put him up for sale.  They were so sad, and I could tell he was too, but we were so glad to get him and I hope we can love him enough to replace his old family.  We picked him up on Sunday, October 7th after General Conference.  The kids had scrubbed out Gracies kennal and washed the blankets and tightened the fencing to get it ready for its new occupant,

.

 The first thing we did when we got him was give him and bath and found out he loves the water.  He jumped right in the tub and sat there!  He also has been trained to come, and sit, and lay down, and roll over, and the kids are teaching him to play dead.  He also shakes hands with both paws.   He is a purebred bird dog and the other day he brought me a chicken.  He had disappeared and suddenly I could hear a chicken squawking and found it in his mouth.  He was so proud of his catch and only played with it, not wanting to kill it.  (I'm told it is in their instinct not to kill the birds).  The poor thing was traumatized, but Indy was so proud!!  I didn't know whose chicken it was and I knew ours were locked up, and I didn't dare go around to my neighbors and tell them my dog captured one of their chickens, so we put it in the coup.  He was very excited to have gotten a bird!  It was so funny!!

We are so glad to have him apart of our family!  Even Doug likes him and that says something!  Welcome to our home Indy!!

Spud Harvest

While we were having such a "great time" at home, Doug and Austin were in Dayton working potato harvest on the Beutler Farms.  The Farms are owned by Dougs' cousin Wesley Beutler, and is run by he and his son Andrew.  Austin has been working for them since June, and Doug went up for the spud harvest at the first of October.  He was gone for 3 weeks and sent me some pictures so that I could share them.  He loved working with his Dad and Austin.  Grandma fed them well and made them lunches everyday!  We really appreciate all they did for the boys while they worked!  And we appreciate the opportunity to work!   Here are some pictures from Doug. 

The trucks and the potato digger getting ready to get digging.

The view from Doug's truck as he gets loaded. 
The digger brings 12 rows together and loads them at the same time so
it only takes about the length of a football field to load the trucks to capacity.

The view as Austin loads his truck.

The rear view of Austin loading.

Austin in on his way to the scale and the pit where he will unload
 the potatoes into the cellars.

Austin unloading his truck onto a conveyor belt.

As usual with farming, there are a lot of breakdowns.  This in their mechanic
Virgil Archibald and Uncle Mike fixing the crossover.  (The crossover digs four rows at
a time and crosses the potatoes over then dumps them in between the next two rows so the
digger can pick them up easier)

When they were down for repairs Doug and Austin would haul hay or do the field
work.  This is Austin loading a hay truck for delivery.  They really enjoyed working together,
and worked well together.

This is Doug running the track tractor and pulling the disk ripper. The
new tractors are GPS driven so they basically drive themselves.  He just had
to turn it around when the computer beeped at him at the end of the row.  I called him
once during the process and he said he was dozing.  The disk/ripper is a combination of a disk and
a ripper that turns the ground after harvest.  He is driving a tractor that is on tracks instead of tires.

What a great opportunity it was for Doug and Austin to work together with Grandpa Beutler doing something they all love.  This is a great picture of three generations of truckers doing what they love, and driving the trucks that they love.  Grandpa and Austin are driving Peterbuilts, and Doug is driving a Kenworth.  Grandpa took time off his regular job at Oakdale Eggs to drive for spud harvest.  They worked long hours, sometimes until one in the morning to get the potatoes in before the frost.  We all learned a lot about potatoes, the types and their sensitivities.  Doug really enjoyed working with his family again and being back on the farm.  Working with his Dad and his son really added to the experience.  We are grateful for the experience, and for the work/money that it brought to us. 

Therapy

 

It has been a hard couple of weeks, I'm not going to lie.  With Doug in gone and all that has happened I felt the need to get out of the house, and out of the area for a day, so on the Saturday of General Conference I loaded up the kids and we took a day long drive to see the leaves through Cedar Canyon on SR 14.  It felt good to heal our hearts and spend some time together as just us, with no friends.  We were all tired, sad, discouraged, stressed, and whatever else you can think of. 

We started about 9 am from Hurricane and made an always needed stop in Cedar City at the IFA there.  It is one of our favorite stores, and were able to get a few things on clearance that we had looked at during the summer.  Shopping is very therapeutic and paying $3 for something normally $20 is even more therapeutic.  We also grabbed some treats for our trip and headed back onto the road.  SR 14 has been closed for about a year due to a mountain slide and recently reopened to through traffic.  The "fall flowers" through the canyon were about a week away from their peak but we were still amazed at all the beautiful colors.  This is my favorite time of year, it includes the cooler weather, the color changes, wearing sweat shirts, jeans and boots again, and the feeling of peace I feel when I take it all in. 

Mady drove from Hurricane to Cedar City.  She is getting better, but I still am nervous.
She did great on the freeway though.

Cody is feeding Mady crackers and cheese.  We discovered Laughing Cow cheese
that is less fat and calories, and they like it!!  How nice of Cody!!

After our stop at IFA, we headed into the canyon.  It was so beautiful!!  We took our time
and enjoyed all the colors.  The trees were in various stages of peaking, with a lot of
yellow and a little red. 

Mady is in charge of the camera. 

A picture of the leaves through my sunglasses.  My glasses made
the colors pop out!

Another very pretty setting.  Mady and Cody took the pictures while I drove. 


 

Having fun with the camera sure made some nice pictures!  

 

Mady picked a flower and it was very pretty, but didn't last long without water.

We had a passer-by snap a picture of us at the peak of the drive.  Cami was
grumpy and wouldn't get out of the car.  It was so nice to get away!!

We stopped at Mount Carmel Junction and had lunch at the Thunderbird restaurant before heading home through Kanab.  The kids were getting a bit rambunctious by then and were a little loud in the restaurant, but it was good to laugh and joke around together.  We listened to General Conference the whole day, and when we got home Cody went with my dad to the Priesthood session.  Sunday morning we gathered at Grandma and Grandpa Winn's for the morning session of conference and had lunch with them.  The kids didn't even complain when they had to watch the entire session that morning.  Little did they realize that they listened to every session of conference.  It ended up being a nice weekend and a very good release for us.