LIVING FOR THIS WEEKEND

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints held the 188 semi-annual General Conference this weekend.  It is one of our favorite "holidays!"  We celebrated in our traditional way... but added a Saturday morning fun run/walk 5K!

We signed up to walk/run The Great Pumpkin Run two months ago.  Unfortunately, we didn't plan on catching a terrible cold and having a difficult time breathing...  But we still participated!  And it was fun!  I think we'll make this tradition part of the celebrations every October conference!  

Amy - Me - Katia

We did it!

Scott was there to support us!

We got medals, pumpkins and green running jackets!

I was proud of my time - especially since I was sick.

Then we gathered together to enjoy listening to the prophets for over 10 hours! There is nothing better than listening and learning from our leaders!

Love this family!

Raisin enjoyed her sweet rolls!

I really love these two!

Watching conference with Jelly Bean makes me happy!

I took notes... in a different way....

This girl loves the gospel!

Between sessions... Jelly Bean gave Kotten Kandy a make-over!

This girl is so pretty!

I wanna look like her!

This evening, we finished our celebrations with our General Conference Family Home Evening.  We had a picnic and everyone shared their favorite part of conference.  This tradition has really made conference extra special!  Even 3-year-old Raisin shares her favorite part: "Jesus!"  I love us!

Mmmmm - Hoagies

She's so silly!

Yummmm!

Chris and Scott

Love these kids!

Apple Pie and Kotten Kandy

Diva!

Playing Frisbee

Bonus:

Here is the first picture I have of my beautiful grandbaby:

And here are some cute pictures of my sweet daughter and her cute husband:

Cody and Kiara

They rock!

And, yes, we had tacos on National Taco Day! (Katia was adamant!):

Katia - Scott - Me

Tacos!

OUTDOOR FUN & CALLED TO SERVE THE YSA

Two weeks ago, Scott and I were called to serve in the Louisville Young Single Adult (YSA) branch!  It's a huge change.  But we are up to the challenge.  I'm excited for the opportunity to love more people!  These young adults ROCK!  I  will definitely miss my Shelbyville ward and friends... but I know we'll still stay in the loop somehow... and in the meantime, we get to pretend we are young again with these awesome "kids!"

Gorgeous sunset

Amazing clouds

Look how beautiful Kentucky is!  I'm so lucky to live here!

I love this guy!

He's soooo cute!

And this girl is so funny!

She makes me smile!

This weekend we also spent some fun time with our DeThortenhausen family!  We went "camping."  Well... almost all of us did... Scott and I stayed for awhile and then retired to our own bed.  But I sure do love this crazy family of ours!

The Bettenhausen clan are some of
my all-time favorite people!!!

How cute are Apple Pie, Raisin and Jelly Bean?!

Yellow is my favorite color!

Thanks for the glow sticks, Katia!

Great man!

All of the kids loved the glow sticks...

If you look close, you can make out each Bettenhausen!

Jelly Bean thinks he's so cool!

And who can resist Raisin's great big grin?!

And even Karmel is adorable:
sporting her glow-stick necklace...

I also have read quite a few books the bast few weeks.

Graham Greene's The Third Man is a fun mystery/thriller set in post war Vienna.  I read the book because of our trip this summer to Vienna.  Greene was actually hired to write a screen play about post war Vienna, not a book.  But he wrote the novel too.  I haven't seen the movie yet, but I'm looking forward to it, so I can see the places I've already seen in the movie.  I wish there was a bit more description throughout the book, but it was an easy, fun read.

This week I just finished reading The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan was an unusual and rewarding book about the lives of a small-town group of women as they deal with the trials of dealing with WWII on the home front in England.  The entire story is told through letters and diaries written by the women of Chilbury.  Tragedy: the war, bombings, food shortages, etc. befalls them, but Ryan depicts the strength and resolve of these women as they decide to determine the course of their lives, despite the thought that tomorrow may never come.  There is a comradery built up around the choir which pulls them together and gives them the courage to continue. I enjoyed the book.  There were parts that were frustrating.  But I loved the message of courage, growth, strength and building one another up that was prevalent in this great group of women.
Besides reading these two books, I've also finished re-reading the first 3 books in the Harry Potter book series again.  I sure love those iconic characters, stories and "magic!"  (Yes, I'm re-reading the entire series... so I've already started the 4th book too!)

O-H-I-O & BATS & PEARS & ELDER TYLER

Chris, Katia, Scott and I

chilling at a baseball game

Two weeks ago we got to go to a Bats Baseball game.  We went for the hot dogs and the sunshine.  I'm not a huge baseball fan, but I enjoyed reading in the stands and being with this crazy family of mine!

Mary shares her bounty with us!

Thanks!

Look how beautiful these apples are!

It's where the bees pollinated...

So pretty!

Mmmmmmmmmm!

Pear Jam

Amy and I picked pears (and apples) courtesy of Mary Nelson.  We got 4 huge buckets full.  The pears were hard and the skin was a bit rough and nasty.  But after a LOT of work, and burns, and stickiness, and processing... we got over 48 pints of pear jam.  It's delicious!

Chris, Katia, Scott and I

cheering on the Buckeyes!

So much fun!

Love this sweet daughter of mine!

Soaked....

Still wet at the end of the game...

And we won!

Bring on their bottomless fries!

Love this man of mine!

Scott took us all to the Ohio State Football game this weekend.  It was AWESOME!  The weather made it even more memorable: super hot for the first half and then a HUGE storm delayed the game for 45 minutes.  We were soaked!  I felt like a fish.  We had to purchase dry clothing just to drive home from Columbus, OH - and to eat dinner at Red Robin.

Goodbye for two years....

We love the Coolbears!

One of my all time favorite boys is leaving on his mission this week.  We will really miss Elder Tyler Coolbear!  But I KNOW he's going to be AMAZING!  Arizona is so lucky to have him!
Also... guess what?!  My husband is SUPER talented...  Look what he made from scratch:

For my western friends this game is called Corn Hole (pronounced: Karn Hall).

FORTY SIX

Some people don't like to make a big deal about their birthdays.  They lead quiet lives and love to "fly under the radar" on their special days.  I do NOT understand those people.  Today is MY 46th BIRTHDAY!  And I love being remembered, celebrated and spoiled
I woke up to this sight in my front room, before I left for work:

I couldn't stop grinning!

My husband is so thoughtful!

I LOVE yellow!

The school I photographed today was a wonderful school, with great smiles and a great group of kids...  But the highlight of working (and of my birthday presents) was a sweet text from my Idaho kids:  I'm going to be a grandma!  I screamed out loud and told everyone who would listen.  I'm sure they thought that I was a crazy picture lady! 

This is an estimated guess...

She'll see the doctor sometime next week.

When I got home from work, I got flowers from Kiara and Cody, a balloon and chocolate from my dear friend, Sheila, and homemade bread and honey butter from another dear friend, Sheba!  Talk about spoiled!
When Katia and Scott got home they took me to dinner at Claudia Sanders.  I LOVE Claudia Sanders.  And it was delicious! 

I love this restaurant!

Then they whisked me away for a "surprise."  Thirty minutes later, Katia got us tickets to see Dinesh D'Souza's newest movie Death of a Nation.  I have been really wanting to see it.  And I'm glad we did.  He teaches so well.  And I feel like not only are his movies entertaining, but they are "dead on" with his history and analysis. 

Great movie!

I can't believe how spoiled I have been!  And I've loved all the well wishes on FB and text messages!  I truly feel loved!  I really am looking forward to year 46!
Oh!  And look who we got to go to dinner with last week:

Me - Katia - Scott - Teresa - Tony - Mike

Sheila - Amy - Mark - Spencer - Asher

We love our "tribe" of people!