Thanksgiving

What is family? Is it people who are blood related? Do they share the same relatives? I ask these questions because I had a great Thanksgiving with my family. People who I haven't seen in years...5 or 6 and some people I was never acquainted with became family to me today. There were new spouses and boyfriends and neighbors that I had never met. We had a great meal at my Dad's and StepMom's house. We could have easily fed 50 more people and I am not exaggerating. Sitting around the table and chatting with my "elders" is always such an enlightening experience. Today I learned why my Grandmothers family moved from Kansas in the 40's. They originally resided in Dodge City and in order to give their children more opportunities, they moved to Canby Oregon. I learned about my Grandpa's surgery and commented on how much weight he had lost. He isn't looking great to say the least. My father's brother had five children. I haven't seen any of them for 5+ years. Some of them had been married and had children. It was great to see them. The most profound thing though was speaking to a cousin of my fathers and his family. They have a daughter that is looking into becoming a nun. Not only did we have a very deep and profound discussion on service and Charity, but ended up talking about Proposition 8 and the persecution of the Church. This led to a very wonderful discussion on faith and religion that was amazing. Sometimes I am just so glad that my Grandparents and my husband and I are the only active members in my family. We had such a great opportunity to share the gospel in a very loving and wonderful way. I love days like this! They make me want to give everyone a hug and sing "He's got the Whole World in His Hands!"

Sampson (Evan) loses his powers...

The deed has been done. The tears have been shed by little boy and mother alike. A pile of curly blond locks is in our garbage and a few choice curls have been tucked away for safe keeping. My baby looks like a huge boy now! Only after cutting away the mane did I realize the size of this kids noggin! He must have a ten pound head! Seriously, it hurts just looking at his cranium. It was the saddest sight to see him bawling his little eyes out as we chopped away at his "hairs". His strength waned with every cut. He cried every time we laid a new clump of hair on the table...sad tears not whiny tears. Curls still reside around the ears and front of his head, but the top is just plain wavy. Inevitably, we will be applying product to his hair everyday now...but he is still dang cute!

Why do we love Twilight?

After posing this question, why do so many grown women love this book, I wondered myself what was so attractive about it? I am not a follower of any romance writers, LDS or not. The genre doesn't thrill me. So why does a book about a 17 year old girl and her vampire boyfriend give me the chills? I am double this girls age! At 17, well if I could revisit that space in time, I would do so many things differently, but I remember being in love, having my heart broken, having a massive crush on a bad boy who still looks like a Greek God...sorry but he still does. (Now happily married with two kids by the way) Do we all want to revisit the past? Did we all see ourselves in Bella, a stranger in a new place that is too mature for her age? Are we longing for that intense emotional passion that couldn't be expressed? What is it about these books that causes grown women to swoon and discuss the correctness of the Actor that portrays Edward? Any ideas people?

Twilight!

I finally saw it! I loved it! It oozed the feeling of an independent film. The extras were all real NW people and the locations were amazing! How could you not love a film set in the NW about love that is forbidden? The sensual nature of Bella was well portrayed. Sure, I get that Robert Patterson was not as handsome as the the Edward that Stephanie wrote, but who would have been a better choice? Bella's Dad reminded me so much of my own father and the actors they chose to portray the parts were really well done! Alice was amazing and so was Bella's high school friends. Rosalie should have been prettier but I liked the fact that she had some curve to her. Yes, it's not as profound as the book but all in all, I'd see it again and look forward to the next chapter....Makes me want to go up to Crown Point right now and dance under the stars! I know, I'm a cheese ball...sucker for a romantic story where true love wins in the end! And so cool that Edward dismembers the bad guy for his Bella!...Ok. I'll stop now...

HomeTeachers are Coming!

Ah, another Sunday under my belt. Patrick got home very late last night,and I had been yelling at the kids all day to clean their rooms (a post coming with before and after pictures) so we didn't make it to the first hour of church because of shear exhaustion. We scuffled all the children to their respective classes and hurried to ours. I helped teach YW today about preparing for change...funny I know! I could write a book on the subject! When we got home, after devouring lunch (did anyone even eat breakfast?) the children went upstairs to play and finish their rooms and Patrick and I took a walk. We have discovered a new trick that might be helpful to you out there that have loud voices, go on a walk together when your angry....it's harder to yell when you are huffing it up a hill! Or if you are really pissed about something, try talking it out while you are jogging! It works! Not to mention, that endorphins are released and they help you feel better. Both of us were tuckered out by the end of our walk and took a nap (isn't that what Sunday is for?) while the kids were playing kickball in the house(literally! Anderson broke a wall sconce) and we slept right through it! And when we woke up, all of us were running around like chickens with our heads cut off ( and yes they actually can run without their heads!) trying to ready the house for the HomeTeachers. Now I mention this, because near the end of every month, the HomeTeachers call and you must drop everything, make your house presentable to virtual strangers, put on clothing...ultimately making the sabbath a day of work! Am I the only one out there that finds this phenomena just down right comical? So our Sunday is done, laundry mountain folded, dishes washed, Evan's hair got cut (another post too), and now at 11:00 I am going to go to sleep and begin the week from Living Hell people! It is going to be crazy this week! A wedding and a major holiday that involves me cooking and me decorating and me picking up flowers and arranging them, picking up a wedding cake and not destroying it in the process, and taking pictures of it all just so all my peeps can be happy. This week, I will be channeling every Martha Stewart cell in my body so don't be surprised if you can't get a hold of me. I'll be up to my elbows in branches and glitter with a little flour and blueberries and pumpkin thrown in for good measure! I am exhausted just thinking about it!

Retail Therapy and "Hoochy" boots

Ten things I am grateful for today: (Read like the Top Ten of David Letterman)

10. Going to Joann Fabrics and spending other peoples money.
9. Getting to design a Wedding Cake with no creative restrictions and its not even my wedding.
8. Spending Quality time with my StepMom.
7. Eating lunch at a restaurant that cannot be found in Utah and having a total Tongue-asm!!
6. Having to wear a belt because all my jeans are getting too big.
5. Rediscovering the Flat Iron and it made my hair look fabulous.
4. Waking up at 2:30am and then being able to go right back to sleep.
3. Finding something on Clearance at Target, that I have been trying to find for a year (2 4x6 rugs that will look perfect in my living room) and spending next to nothing for them.
2. Exercising my butt off (literally, my butt is looking fabulous!) this morning and not feeling winded, but energized!
1. I found a killer pair of boots that I have been searching high and low for. I always laughed at the women at church who wore knee high boots to church with a short skirt. I referred to the look as Hoochy Momma...well I found a great pair of dark brown Hoochy boots, I am not too proud to admit, that they look amazing on me!

Spirit Fingers

My two year old, who could pass for a mini version of Napoleon Dynamite, is obsessed with Spirit Fingers! It is the funniest thing to watch him jam out to Nasty by Janet Jackson while I am working out. His chunky legs are bouncing and his spirit fingers are flying! Anderson is busy break dancing although it resembles wrestling with an imaginary lion more...

My Timeline

As you can see, I was a cute kid! You will never catch me in a Bikini again, and no, I don't have an "outie" anymore. I thought the idea of this post was cute...so for all of you that want to get to know me better and see my transformation into a 35 year old, this is for you!





20 years ago...1988 I had just moved back to LakeOswego. I was a sophmore in high school and taking Latin and in Danceteam.

17 years ago...1991 Just started College at Ricks (BYU-Idaho)

And no...I didn't date the whole time I was at college....Ricks had a 4 girls to 1 guy(who usually was under 20) ratio...I was being saved for something better!

15 years ago...1993 I had just graduated from Ricks and was living with friends in Tualatin. I was attending PSU majoring in Dance and coaching Lakeridge High Danceteam.


13 years ago...1995 I was on my Mission in St. George, Utah!!

10 years ago...1998 I was pregnant with Christian and dealing with Madeline, who was 10 months old and had horrible reflux and ear infections. We put her in a real bed because she kept getting stuck in the rungs! Kevin was applying to Universities to get his masters and he just completed his GRE's. Intel stock was lucrative and I lived in Hillsboro Ward. Stacey and I just became friends.


7 years ago...2001 I was a single parent and had 3 children 3 and under. My dear friends "surprised" me with an impromtu television spot on AM Northwest because they thought I rocked! I got a free massage out of the deal and a bond with friends that can never be broken!

6years ago...2002 I was a newlywed. Patrick and I were preparing to move our family to Alaska. Patrick spent 2 months there alone while I sold my home and waited to move into our new one in Eagle River.





3 years ago...2006 we were living in South Jordan, Utah and had Gayle living with us. I had just had Evan and we got Wilson two weeks after.
Baby Evan, 2 weeks old and Wilson 8 weeks old!

1year ago...2007 I was living in a hotel and had just lost a butt load of money on a house we were supposed to buy in Sherwood. We moved into a large rental home in the Stafford area and it was like coming home for me. I knew so many people from LakeOswego. The sherwood house...

This year, Patrick started his own business. We rented a farm and increased our family with chickens, goats, cats, and a dog. I have learned how to can lots of things. I grew a huge garden. We moved to Hillsboro and now reside in Dairy Creek ward.

Yesterday, the whole family cleaned out the Tahoe. I found all the missing socks! I worked on several documents for YW, wrote a few pages in my novel, went out with my Husband to Costco and Noodles&Co and dropped off a gift for Nina's twins.

Today, I was sustained as the YW 2nd Counselor. I scrubbed the entry, where Wilson has been living. I cleaned the laundry room and put Wilson in there. The little kids got pecked by the rooster and Patrick was outside using it as target practice! We had chicken for dinner. Evan is snuggling in my arms as we speak. We played Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader.

Tomorrow, I will attend a Presidency meeting, make my Christmas list, write more pages in my novel and thank my Father in Heaven for all my blessings!

Kevin's Coming Home Day

It has been 8 years since the death of my first husband Kevin. I thought I would honor him today with a post of all the wonderful things I remember about him. Everyone knows how he died and how painful it was, so I would like to focus on the positive things about him...
1. He was a great piano player! He wrote his own music and played quite well. One of the reasons we have a piano is because of him. My children are very musical. Christian has perfect form and Brighten has his hands.
2. He was a canary! He had a great voice and was a perfectionist about it. He was a member of the men's choir at BYU. He was a great choir director.
3. He did the best monkey impression I have ever seen! He has the longest arms ever! He could always make me laugh with that one!
4. He was an awesome strategist. The guy should have been in the military! He found such joy in strategic computer games. They were his favorite.
5. He was just as funny as his Dad. The Carter men have some kind of humor gene I believe. He could always make me laugh!
6. He was a crazy driver! I can remember, he got his mother to the airport from Hillsboro in 20 minutes! It sometimes takes an hour. He could weave in and out of traffic better than a Nascar driver!
7. He was a voracious reader. He read big heady books like The Creator and Jesus the Christ. He had an appetite for non fiction that could rival my own addiction. The last Book he read was Earth: In The Beginning.
8. He was Mr. Smarty pants. I still have all of his Lab notes from Intel and I can't make them out! His handwriting is incredible, I just don't understand a word he said!!
9. He loved his family. He was always concerned about his relationship to his brother and sisters. He was very patient and loving towards his parents and was always there to lend a hand. Way to be of service!
10. He loved being a Dad. He would sit and watch them at play for hours and I found him just rocking Christian for what seemed like hours, before he left us. It was his greatest accomplishment.

Hope you all have great memories of him on this day. He is busy and with us always.

Take a Picture...It Lasts Longer!

A Woman's work is never done. It never is done! The laundry calls you daily. The dishes, the dirt on the floor, the hungry mouths beckon. My father commented that he could live in the kitchen when he is around my family. Not only do you have to prepare 3 meals, but then the snacks before lunch, before dinner and then after dinner, everyone is always hungry. Stacey knows that my housekeeping skills are not the best on the planet, but I definitely can make a house sparkle if motivated. The baseboards, the door frames and cabinet fronts get washed down regularly. You can let small children roam without encountering something life threatening. I will admit that I loved having someone come in weekly and clean. If I ever have money again, that will be one of my guilty pleasures. I would give up pedicures or new clothes or going out to eat to have someone else mop my floor and scrub my bathrooms. It's not that is is hard or that I can't do it, it just never gets done all at the same time. I don't have an 8 hour block to just clean. I am feeding and doing laundry and driving and doing my calling and everything else that life consists of. So to have my entire house spotless all at once, it is just such an amazing thing! It only lasts a few hours at most, until the children swoop in from school and destroy the splendor....

So, in my desperation, am including pictures of my clean house because a picture lasts longer! And it shows me that something I do, does get done...it just doesn't stay that way!!


The floor is still wet from mopping!


Master Bedroom



Very clean kitchen! I love Stainless Steel counters by the way...very easy to maintain.


The very clean dining room that we eat at nightly. The chair in the corner is the only place I get phone reception and that is where I spend most of my time on the computer! The light is fabulous too...Look at the sun shining in...

Newest Additions

On the same Saturday, we received 2 new members of our extended Family. Ronin Keoni Perry, born to Patrick's sister Chi, arrived in American Fork at 4:00 am. He weighed 5 lbs! Tiny thing!


Saturday at 7:15 am Kurt Perpuse met his extended family at PDX. My Aunt and Uncle's first child is from the Philippines. Al is as well. He is 3 days older than Evan and half of his weight. He already has his Mom wrapped around his little tan fingers.

Blanket Baby

My Evan is a thumb sucker. My last baby is spoiled and he is just a teddy bear of a boy. He carries this blanket around with him when he is tired. I want to record this for the future. He fell asleep on the rocker a couple of days ago ( looks uncomfortable!) and I just had to snap a few...

A White Bathroom

Scrubbing the intricate grout on a floor of small hexagon tile can be a spiritual experience....and I say this because I prayed to God the entire time that I would always remember this experience and never put white grout on a floor of any future home that I owned! Girls there is a right way and a wrong way to do all white. A little decorating advise...white can work, but it has to be done right. I just left an early 90's home with 6 inch white tile everywhere. The gold fixtures and the movie star light bars were also a little dated...It was definitely the wrong way to do white...
The house I live in now, the cute 1930's farmhouse, has two white bathrooms. Of course, she spent some good money on the stuff in it, but you could do it for cheap too...
The rules for a white bathroom:
1. NO white grout on the floor. Grey or dark brown or black is much better. It highlights the tile and saves your back.
2. Do thicker grout lines for a more aged and rustic look, perfect for non perfectionist housekeeper.
3. Subway tile, square tile and patterned tile are all still in.
4. Buy timeless fixtures...
5. Stick with the style of your home! Don't put a contemporary bathroom in a farmhouse. And don't put Victorian or Old World in a Ranch. It just wont flow people.
6. You have to love it. Don't put marble in your bathroom unless you love it! Just because your neighbor has it, doesn't mean you have to. I really like the look of Travertine, but I don't love it, so I would never pay money to have it put in. I would, however, put brick style tumbled glass in a bathroom, because I absolutely love it!
7. Shiny is harder to keep up. Keep your main surfaces more of a matte look. It will be easier on you...
How to get the look for less...
1. Buy inexpensive fixtures and then purchase new glass shades for a more expensive look.
2. Have a freestanding hutch instead of a built in.
3. Wood wainscoting is inexpensive compared to tile.
4. Fred Meyer, HomeDepot, and Lowes have lighting that mimics Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn styles for less.
5. Knobs can be expensive. Mix and match with different pieces...
6. Keep your tile neutral and spend the real money on the accent tile.
7. Contractor mirrors and fixtures can be sold at garage sales.
8. Rough up and paint old wood to get that antique look
9. Remember scale is very important...don't buy a small pedestal sink if you have a huge bathroom. It will look like barbie furniture!
10. Antique places have great bureaus and vanities that can be converted into cabinets fairly inexpensively.

Halloween Party

Your all waiting for this post, I know. The barn party was a huge success. It was a little cold, but all in all, we had a blast. Elder Oaks was in town speaking to our youth, so the babysitting was a little hairy. But for those who attended, they got a well deserved reward! We had great food, great music, great decor, great movies, and a great scare. It was fabulous to see so many friends let down there "hair" and see who they really are! The bloody leg surgery and escaped convict were freaky. I think someone might have actually peed their pants...I wont say who...but you know who you are! And for all of you left at the end of the night when the Girls Gone Wild dance party began, sorry about the crazy dancin...but I wasn't alone...you all had some moves of your own. Let me know if you want some Hip Hop lessons or some Pole Dancing classes....He He!