The bliss of solitude

Lessons Learned

2011-09-28T19:22:00.000-06:00

I thought it might be fun to look back over the month and check out some of the things Burt and I learned in September.

Lesson 1: You’ll never know who you might run into on campus. Here’s a pic with Burt with his cousin.

Lesson 2: the best spot for internet reception is in the Albertson’s library were they have hard chairs, small desk cubicles and where food and drink aren’t allowed.

Lesson 3: You’re not a true Boisean if you don’t watch Boise State football. Burt and I went over to a ward member's house (who has cable) to watch the game and brought chips and salsa to share.

Lesson 4: pictures are fun to take, but it’s best to take them inconspicuously. When I went to my job interview there wasn't anyone in the front office, but I heard my new supervisor ask if it was Cindy who had just come in. I told him yes, and he told me to come on back to his office. He said that a few minutes ago one of the other people in the office said that there was a woman in the parking lot taking a picture of a chicken. He looked out the window and thought that maybe it was me. I'm not sure who was more embarrassed. Me for getting caught taking a picture of a stuffed animal before my interview or Burt for being called a chicken!

Silver City, Idaho

2011-09-08T15:52:00.000-06:00

I met Melinda and her family on Monday for Memorial... I mean Labor Day :). That really was an accident, but it made me laugh, so I guess I'll leave it in. They picked me up at my place and then we drove to Silver City. Ever heard of it? It's a ghost town near the Oregon border, and in its prime in the 1880's around 2,500 people lived there. I read that at least sixty million dollars’ worth of gold and silver were mined. Can you imagine what that would be worth at today's prices?! It's such a remote location and really difficult to get there it's a wonder anyone found any silver in the first place. The first hour was good road but windy (as in it winds around a lot). Isn't that how you spell windy? Or is that windy (as in the wind is blowing really hard). Now I'm confused. The last hour was a dirt road (and so is the town), but really beautiful countryside. The area is really mountainous. We had good road until the turn off to the current mine and then we had 30 miles of dirt road. They still have dirt roads in the town and no electricity or running water. We had a picnic at the park which consisted of about 12 horseshoe stands. Weird. And no grass. Not so weird given we were pretty high in the mountains and there were not very many flat places.

The buildings were pretty cool. There was a bad wild fire at the turn of the century and cleared out a lot of the wood homes left over from when Silver City was booming. The rest are mostly in disrepair, but a few had been restored or in the process of restoration. Because everything is private property were weren't able to go in the church or the school house which were my favorite places, but we did get some fun pictures. Walking up to the cemetery. I told the kids, I'd buy them a treat for the person who found the oldest grave. 1856! That's pretty old! I've been walking more since moving to Boise, and I've found that I can walk up to two miles! Most times I regret it on the second day, but eventually I hope I work up my endurance and to strengthen my legs and feet. This one I definitely felt the next day, but it was worth it! I loved the school house. It was so pretty and HUGE. It's the only thing left in Silver City that I thought it was a big town. I just read that they're doing an open house in 2 more weeks where they are opening about a dozen of the private homes to the public. Hmmmmm.

I told Preston that where ever I go I bring my little Boise State Bronco called Burt. He tried really, really hard to laugh at me :). I guess he isn't used to adults carrying around stuffed animals. Burt, of course, loves school!

On the ride back, Preston got car sick so we played musical chairs. Rob took the back and worked on some reports, Melinda drove, I was the co-pilot and Preston took old my seat behind me. When we got back to Boise, it was a little early for dinner so we did some window shopping. I told Melinda I couldn't tell anyone about it because I talk about food in all my emails, and she told me that they thought it would be fun if we went somewhere nice because she knew I liked food :). Made me laugh. We decided to do an early dinner and still waited for almost a half an hour. I'd have to look up what I ordered but it had chicken and pasta and it was gooooood. Thanks Wilkinsons!

After they dropped me off, I thought I'd watch a movie, but my roommate put the movies I'd pulled out to watch (how dare she clean up after me!) So I took a nap. A long one. I fell asleep immediately and woke up several hours later, ate something, took my night meds, and went back to bed. I figure I slept for close to fourteen hours. Whew! Those Wilkinsons know how to wear out a girl!

The Spirit of Boise and Farmer's Market

2011-09-03T16:43:00.010-06:00

Saturday morning I went with my roommates to the Spirit of Boise which is a hot balloon classic. A lot of landscapes done of Boise have the skyline filled with balloons because they've been doing it for the last 20 years. So the balloons are suppose to lift off at sunrise, so I got there a little early so I could watch them set up and fill with air. It was seriously cool! I loved watching them fill with air and then stand, but my favorite was when they went air born that first 20 feet or so. They had a Boise State balloon that had a blue football field and a rocket ship balloon! I really loved all the colors and it was hard to edit down my pictures.

I met my roommates there and then we walked downtown for the Farmer's market. They had some really beautiful produce (black berries and strawberries and peaches and necatrines) and some fun jewelry and art stalls. There's one section of the road where you walk and it has different motion sensers and will make different rhythmic sounds that is suppose to sound like the music of pedestrians. It was pretty cool. I bought some mini-donuts and a fresh mint limeade which probably hit my sugar quota for the week, but it was worth it! It was fun to mess around with my roommates.

First Thursday

2011-09-01T16:30:00.001-06:00

I met Krystal Alvey and Lisa Barnes (who was visiting Krystal) for First Thursday in downtown. It goes from 5:00-9:00 pm and gives people the chance to stroll through the shops and galleries in downtown with many featuring special events. We decided to skip the window shopping and visit a couple of the museums. We started a the Boise Art Museum. The visiting exhibit was about comic book art. You think about some of the pen and ink that they go through and the detail they can achieve and really is remarkable. They had several abstract and pottery displays which I passed through fairly quickly. I did find a water color I really liked and a HUGE sculpture. It's hard to describe the sculpture and this museum won't allow pictures (and didn't bother to stock post cards of their art in the gift shop; lame), but basically it looks like a big circular beam that forms a giant oval and stretches "through" several rooms and out of the museum itself. It took a long time to build and is really quite impressive. Next we visited the Idaho Historical Museum. one ofmy roommates suggested I visit the 2 headed calf.f It's set up in the salloon area, so it kind of surprises you when you find it. I guess they've had it for over 50 years and most people remember it best and longest. Of course, it's pretty hard to forget something like that :). They even sell a little stuffed two headed calf inthe gift shop. The gift shop keeps a scrapbook of all the places Deja Moo has visited :). I really enjoyed visiting the two museums with friends who love to wander museums as much as I do! We ended the night with dinner at Chilis. I told them I know where Murger King, Sonic, and Chili's was, and we decide to make a night of it and went to a restaurant. We got the 2 for $20 dinner (an appetizer and 2 entrees) and split it 3 ways. We chose the Texas Cheese fries (With applewood smoked bacon, jalapeños and green onions. Served with ranch dressing), the Quesadilla Explosion Salad (Layers of flavor make this our most popular salad. Includes grilled chicken with cheese, tomatoes, corn relish, cilantro and tortilla strips. Served with our citrus-balsamic dressing and cheese quesadilla wedges.) and the Santa Fe Sizzling Skillet (Cheese quesadillas, fajita chicken and grilled onions topped with Monterey Jack cheese and smothered in a mild roasted Hatch green chile sauce. Served on a sizzling skillet.) Sounds good doesn't it? Cuz it was! :)

Burt the Bronco visits Boise State

2011-08-21T23:42:00.002-06:00

First thing Tuesday morning I drove to campus and while there I bought a little stuffed Bronco that I have named Burt. So far I've moved into my room; it's a little room with a little closet, so I used a great deal of creativity to get everything in. I've also been on campus a couple of times to meet with the disability office, take a math assessment test, visit the book store, and for internet access. I'm getting pretty good at navigating the main roads: Broadway, Federal Way, Overland, Cole and Vista, and I only get seriously turned around if I get stuck in an area with one way roads. Saturday night I went to see Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader in Julia Davis Park. Crystal lent me a short canvas chair that worked perfectly, so all I had to do was sit back and watch the movie with my bag of snacks. I had so much fun I went for a drive today through the Park and then walked through the Rose Garden and down to the Green Belt. I even found this cool statue of Abraham Lincoln. I took Burt with me so I have some pictures of my adventures. I've got my backpack packed and my clothes laid out for tomorrow's first day of classes. Wish me luck!

Five Day Summer Vacation- Days 3, 4, and 5

2011-08-21T23:35:00.000-06:00

Saturday morning I got up early (9:00 am) and drove to American Fork to meet Brad's family for breakfast at IHOP. I got the Stuffed French Toast with blueberry topping but had a bite of Loriel's Nutella crepes and Dorothy's stuffed French toast with cinnamon apples. I know Saturday mornings are difficult for Brad, so I was thrilled when he was able to join us. Afterward, we went back to their house. We got to talk about Daniel's impending first semester at college and Dorothy moving to her new classroom for her music class. Plus, Loriel showed me her bedroom and her new comforter and pillows and rug. I even managed to do a little furniture rearranging. And for anyone that knows me, that is my idea of a good time ;).

Later, on my drive to Payson, Mom and Dad passed me on the freeway. I had to laugh because they hovered right next to me for a long time, and I was thinking, "Why doesn't this guy pass me already!" I didn't realize it was them until they did pass me and Mom unrolled her window to wave! They were on their way to Aunt Mary's house for a visit too. We got to visit for about a half hour before Alisha and I left to go swimming at the Payson Pool. We picked up Wendy on the way and met Tamara and Scott there. I loved going to the Payson Pool when I was little when I'd visit for two weeks during the summer. The Payson Pool has been seriously upgraded, and they now have two water slides, a lazy river, a kid’s water park area, and a lap pool. Plus they have picnic areas with shade and tables. Not that we got one of those, but we found a sliver of shade, dropped our stuff, and made for the water. I told Wendy that my goal for the day was to get a sun burn. It may be August, but I am going to have some summer fun! After a couple of rounds on the lazy river and a speedy run down the waterslide, I sat back with the cousins and some snacks and laughed and laughed. I love my cousins! Who could ask for better friends?!

After I was sufficiently toasty (mission accomplished!), I gave everyone hugs and headed off for my last stop of the day at Trevor and Erica's. I told them before I came down that I thought it might be fun to go to the drive-in or rent a movie on Saturday or maybe BBQ on Sunday. I'd been working hard this summer and saying goodbye to people, and I was SO ready to have some R&R and some FUN! Especially since I would be back to working hard next week. Blah. Stupid school. Stupid math. Tricia was also down visiting Trevor this weekend, so Erica, Tricia, and I watched Soul Surfer on Netflix. I found it to be a really moving story about a young girl with a lot of great insights. I think I'll check to see if it was a book first.

Sunday was a lazy day with another movie called Arthur, which was MUCH better than I thought it was going to be, a nap, and burgers. Have you noticed how much I've talked about food this weekend? I guess I got to try so many new things that I thought I should share that part of the adventure too :). That afternoon, I went to Lisa's house for my last night of my five-day "weekend." I started with Lisa on Thursday and ended with her on Sunday. She made us hot dogs and French fries. I got a giant bowl of French fries with some ketchup and a giant glass of lemonade and went down stairs and watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. One of the fun things about watching a movie with Shane is that he really notices quirky things about a movie. He remembers the actors’ names and every movie they've been in. This time he was pointed out how the actress that plays Marion Ravenwood looks like she's going to break a hip running up the stairs. he he he. That was a good one :).

Monday I woke up and drove to Boise. It's a fairly long drive and takes about five hours without stops which is much longer than the two and a half hours I'm used to, so that gave me plenty of time to think about the weekend and about all my friends and family. I am so blessed with people that love and care for me! They are interested in what I'm doing and share my joys and disappointments with me. Thanks so much to everyone that made time to see me on my whirlwind trip. Love you!

Five Day Summer Vacation- Day 2

2011-08-21T21:58:00.000-06:00

First thing Friday morning, I went to visit the doctor. He wanted to know about my plans for school and what I'd be studying and where I was attending. About 15 minutes into the appointment, I mentioned that maybe we should talk about some of my joints. He didn't tell me to "take your medicine or quit complaining." But I did tell him that I'm still not regular about taking my Enbrel and Methotrexate, but that I've been better and that I'll be extra careful about taking them correctly when I get up to school. I also requested that he write new scripts, so I can pick my nearby pharmacy when I get to Boise. When he was done, I counted them to make sure we'd gotten everything. Yep. Eight. Which I suppose is less than some but more than most.

For lunch I met Michelle (and Stella), Natalie, and Stephanie (and Charlie and Garrison) at Red Robin. I can't believe how much all the kids have grown since the last time I'd seen them which looking back was actually in 2009, so I guess maybe it's not so crazy. However, we did have a crazy table with all the kids and all the catching up going on. A couple of times Stella would try to get her mom's attention by putting her hand on Michelle's cheek to turn to look at her. It was pretty cute, so I tried to get a picture. Then Stella took some pictures using my camera. I figured she probably should finish her lunch, so I told her she could take our group picture outside when we were all done. It's not the most flattering picture, but it has all of us Ricks roomies.

Mom and Dad entered the MTC on Monday, but they have evenings off so I arranged to meet them for dinner and a visit to the Millers. I got done with my errands a little early, so I drove to our designated meeting spot (near the University Mall sign). I found a little shade, pulled my pillow out from the backseat, snuggled up next to my suitcase in the front seat, and with the car (and the air conditioning) running closed my eyes. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew I had to wake up to answer my phone. It's a good thing I was early because so were Mom and Dad. They had spotted a Spaghetti Factory for dinner and Mom and I split Chicken Penne with marinara sauce. I was a pretty hit and miss on remembering to pull out my camera during the weekend, but I did remember to ask the waitress to take our picture. Because I was in front of a window, she suggested I sit over by Mom, so I snuggled up to her for a pretty cute picture.

After dinner we went to visit Aunt Nila and Uncle Ted. Uncle Ted didn't look so good and was very pale. He couldn't vocalize, but he was very aware of what was going on around him. Dad took his hand and said hello then told him a little joke, and it made Uncle Ted smile. When I held his hand and told him hello, he held on real tight and maintained eye contact. It was a very sweet moment, so I shared about how much I appreciated being able to live with them when I went to BYU. One of my special memories was learning about prayer through their example. We had prayers every night, and they were really good about mentioning people by name and asking for blessings specific to their needs. I learned that prayers are important to communicate to our Heavenly Father, and He is as interested in what we have to say as we are interested in sharing it with Him. Then Dad and Aunt Nila talked a long time about football and sports. They did a lot of name dropping; it's so funny. I love it when Aunt Nila tells a story and circles and circles and circles and circles and then goes back to her original topic. How she remembers where she started, I don't know because I can't ever do it, but I love it when she does that. Terri and one of her kids and a couple of Deb's kids came by to say hello. It was nice to see everyone and we had a nice visit. When we said goodbye Mom and Dad told Uncle Ted, "We'll see you when we'll see you," and I thought that was very fitting.

Friday was a pretty long day with waking up at Michelle's, the doctor, lunch with my Rick's roommates, a drive to Provo, dinner with Mom and Dad, a visit to the Millers, and a drive down to Santaquin to Katie's house. I told Katie that I had to get to bed early that night. And then we proceeded to visit until eleven :). It was worth it though! We talked about my move to Boise and our families and their new house. They recently moved into a great house on the edge of town. Of course, I loved that because I'm from a small town myself and lived right on the border of town and the country. Katie and Jared's Madilyn is a friendly little girl. She'd tell me, "Hi! Hi! Mom, say hi." They were super great to their first house guest, and I can't wait for my next visit!

Five Day Summer Vacation- Day 1

2011-08-21T21:21:00.000-06:00

I had a GREAT weekend and loved seeing everyone. From Wednesday- to Saturday, I saw my entire family! Plus, I squeezed in lunch with my Ricks' roommates, a visit with Aunt Nila and Uncle Ted, a sleep over at Katie Haymore's branny new house, and swimming with Scott's, Alisha's, Tamara's, and Wendy's families. I think I averaged about three families a day. So here's a breakdown...

Thursday: Mike, Amber and Ellie Larsen stopped by the office in the afternoon to drop off a going away present. It's a picture of each of their kids each holding up a sign so that together they read, "We love you, Cindy.” And, I gave them my 'With Love, The Browns' picture book with pictures of our adventures this summer and some random pictures of us so they don't forget Mom or Dad or Tricia or me. I think it turned out real cute, and they were nice to go through and look at all the pictures. Earlier, we had a little last-day-party that Doug brought a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, so Larsens stayed and had cake. We visited for a little while (Mike wondered if now I would root for BYU or BSU which I'm still debating) and the girls colored some pictures for me. After they left, I finished up some loose ends and jumped in the car for my crazy weekend in Utah.

Dinner was with Lisa at Chili's. We split the most delicious salad called Quesadilla Explosion Salad (Grilled chicken with cheese, tomatoes, corn relish, cilantro, tortillas strips and citrus-balsamic dressing and served with cheese quesadillas.) I told Lisa about working for Doug in Boise, and she was way helpful telling me all the things I should keep track of that I can itemize for a tax write off. She had lots of great suggestions that I had considered before like internet and a desk and unbilled time and the percentage of my time on the phone for work. It was super helpful.

That night I drove to Michelle's house. For my thanks-for-letting-me-crash-at-your-house-gift, I brought some huckleberry taffy that I got at Gossner's. Brent told me that it tasted like grape taffy, and since he likes grape taffy, I figured it was a hit. Before I went to bed, Michelle and I watched the finale of So You Think You Can Dance. She has a dance background and a definite opinion on who she thinks is good and who isn't. It was awesome praising and bashing the different dancers as well as comparing our favorite choreographers and dances of the season. It was like old times. Except she has her own house. And a husband. And a kid. :)

Mission Farewell for Elder and Sister Brown

2011-07-24T10:47:00.014-06:00

So Mom and Dad had their Mission Farewell this weekend… which I found out about on Friday. Since they don’t have speakers on Fast Sunday, and the week before that is a special missionary Sunday for our ward, then the only other available Sunday was this one. I love my family! With only a few days notice, Brad and Lisa both arranged their schedules so they could come, and they both drove here and back home again the same day. It was fun having Aunt LaWana there for this special occasion too! Things seem to moving too quickly for me. I’m thrilled that they’re going to go on another mission. They were so sweet together when they came home from the last one, and I think it will make our whole family stronger. But, I’m going to miss them! They truly live what they teach, and I love them for their example!

MACKLEY FAMILY REUNION... Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

2011-07-20T10:35:00.007-06:00

My favorite part of Wednesday was skit night. Chris and Tricia brainstormed and came up with a few random skits that we cast with the next generation of little kids, and I opened the night with a little joke. How many Mackley cousins can you fit in a jacuzzi? How many of us are there?! Linda and Karyn and then the little girls did a hula, Todd's family did a lip synch to "Another Tatoo" by Weird Al, and my personal favorite: the reenactment of looking for a camp site for 2011 Mackley Reunion.

We had Chris be "Aunt Jan", Josh be "Uncle Brownie, and Lisa, Tricia, and I were "sis" since Mom can't keep us straight when we're all together. We made name signs on paper plates, which incidentally were used by little kids to feed the fire when we were still getting ready for the skits :). We had Chris go up to a pretend house and say that this was a lovely house made out of straw, sticks, or brick and would be perfect for reunion. At each house she would say we're looking for a place for reunion in 18 months, 1 year, or next week and ask if we could stay there. They'd tell her, sure!, but we'll need some money, which she gives them, and then they tell her, "By the way...." The first place had code violations and sometimes no water at all. The second place the home owner's association wouldn't let them rent out anymore. At the third place Chris poked Josh and told him, "Brownie, give the man your Visa." That got a good laugh. Kaylun listed all the little adventures we'd had that week: the sprinklers go off without warning and every time we'd congregate to the pavilion, there were fees for everything!, Bear Creek cabin had a chipmunk in the building, and on and on and had us ALL in stitches. *sigh* Good times!

We tried to do a few skits that were reminiscent of previous skits like Jamie, Todd, Karyn and Linda doing Kookie :). And, like the last skit where we had about seven little vignettes of the week interspersed with the chorus from "We Are Family" (originally it was "Mama Said"). We had 1) Devon and Tyson Jerauld play air hockey and Devree kept walking by asking what they're doing, 2) Livie, Skyla, Dane, and Shay swat mosquitoes, 3) Skyla, Wendy, Livie, Dane, and Tricia do Zumba, 4) Chris gathered all the kids to the pavilion and Shay "turn on the sprinklers," 5) Chris, Erica, Jacob, Tricia, Devon and Skyla drag bottom on the raft, 6) Wendy, Skyla, Livie, Devon, and Tylson Jerauld come out with a tarp and a dutch oven and then remember that this was the wrong year, and 7) Chris, Skyla, Dane, and Shay reenact the three sticks we used for the pinata. The night really reinforced to Chris, Tricia, and I that through the years, whether it is is the past, the present, and we KNOW in the future, will will have fun when we are together no matter the circumstances!

That night we played cards and sat in the Jacuzzi (each cabin had one) and visited until 2 in the morning. It's so hard to say good bye to everyone that we just kept moving from room to room. We'd get closer to the door but it took a couple of hours before we finally left and went to our respective cabins for a little nap before we had to get up, pack up, clean up, and hit the road.

Thursday we talked a lot about the next reunion in 2013 in Washington and our plans to see each other soon. I'm hoping I can go to Missouri next summer for 4th of July with Chris and Tricia (and maybe Josh too! since he had so much fun with his 2nd cousins). We dropped Tricia off in Rexburg but first we stopped at Sammy's for a cupcake ice-cream shake, a burger, and fries (I had the raspberry lemonade cupcake shake, Robi's South of the Border burger with pepper jack cheese, bacon, guacamole and pico de gallo, and the sweet potato fries). Aunt LaWana came back with Mom and Dad and stopped in Idaho Falls to visit Aunt Irene and then stayed with us until Sunday. Todd, Shana, Devree, Shay and Dane were heading home to Nevada and decided to stop in Burley for the night. We met them for dinner at Mom and Dad's house and then went to the theater to see Harry Potter. By the way, I thought it was EXCELLENT and can't wait to see it again :). Angela, Tina, and Jacob took Thursday to drive through Yellowstone and then drove to Mom and Dad's house late Thursday night. Friday was a very lazy day with several naps intermixed with games. It's hard to see everyone go home, but it helps when you can draw it out to last 2 weeks! Six year old Jacob said it best when he told his mom that reunions should last until you're ready for them to end!

MACKLEY FAMILY REUNION... Tuesday

2011-07-19T09:54:00.001-06:00

Tuesday we had everyone doing a little everything. We had some go into Yellowstone, some do a float trip on the river, some visited Mesa Falls, and some play cards and visited. Tuesday, Chris handed out the Mackley memory books. It was a HUGE project and they turned out super cool! She invited everyone to share a memory with each other of what being a Mackley means to each of us and what characteristics, memories, values and ideals that sustain our family and have become the roots of the Mackley family tree. We got some of the aunts and uncles, about half the cousins, and three great-grandchildren to share. Plus, Chris did some research and included some fun and interesting factoids about our grandparents. Lisa and and Tricia were in charge of activities, so Tuesday they did crafts (duct tape wallets and flower hair clips) before lunch as well as games at campfire that evening.

For Minute to Win It, Mackley cousins, moved cotton candy on their vaselined nose to the other end of the table, shave balloons, and move skittles by sucking them by a straw to the other end of the table. For Whose line Is it Anyway, we had a blind driver, a copilot who only spoke with her hands, and the ill-tempered Mexican wrestler had the walkie talkie... it's a miracle they made it to the reunion. (They had to change costumes and roles every 30 seconds). Improv is just one of the many skills exercised at reunion :). We also had Kaylun as an Elvis impersonator with a crush on the host, Dane was an astronaut needing directions, Skyla was a disco dancer needing the host to be her dance partner, Jamie was a cowboy wanting to get the host's secret recipe for potato salad, Shay was hypnotized to think he was a chimp whenever anyone used the word "and", AND (Insert chimp noise here) Poor Erica was the host... GREAT JOB EVERYONE!

I borrowed pictures (in no particular order) from several family members (Tina, Lisa, Shana, Tricia, Chris, and Linda) for this post, and I just wanted to say thank you for all those who posted on Facebook!

MACKLEY FAMILY REUNION... Monday

2011-07-18T16:52:00.032-06:00

Monday was "check out" at Dr. Stock's cabin. Dr. Stock doesn't charge to borrow his cabin, but Dad did a few repairs that Dr. Stock had requested, and then we cleaned up so it would look better than when we started. I snuck out a little early and went with Linda and her family to Upper and Lower Mesa Falls. It had a rainbow and was so pretty! They have an awesome overlook and you can get up close and personal at Upper Falls. I got a real pretty picture of Linda and her family in front of the falls. Lower Mesa Falls overlook is much further away and not as exciting if it hadn't been for Kaylun. Kaylun is about 22 or 23 and is training be a Navy SEAL and will start BUD/S in August. Anyway, he decides he wants to do an open plank (I guess it's kind of a yoga move) on the edge of the overlook in front of Lower Mesa Falls. It makes my heart beat fast just thinking about it! Crazy kid! :)

Later, we met the welcoming party at Johnny Sack's cabin. We met several of my cousins coming in from California, Nevada, and Utah. My family went last year when we did our Brownie Reunion (AKA the Research Trip), so I may have talked about it before. But FYI, Johnny Sacks built his cabin in 1929 next to Big Springs. It took him 3 years to build, and it is gorgeous! It's seriously cool when you walk around looking at all the beautiful woodworking that he essentially did with hand tools. Plus, he was a real character I guess. He was only 4'11" and he said he never married because a woman would just put rugs on his floors and draperies over the picture windows :).

Big Springs is spring water that comes up from an underground aquifer that feeds the Snake River and Henry's Fork. They had a pretty bridge that you could feed fish. The fish were feeling pretty shy, so they'd hang out in the shadow of the bridge under the bridge. Linda told me that five year old Daila couldn't get enough of it. She'd take half a worm from Uncle Bill and drop it between the bridge's planks. It would try to squirm back up and her pudgy finger pushed it back down... to its death... eww... I'm glad she has Uncle Bill to share that with. :) I took an Aunt Cindy walk with Anna down by the river and walked my feet off (opps!) and got pictures of the river, the flowers, and a few self-portraits. That afternoon we checked into our cabins at Enchanted Forrest, served dinner (an Idaho potato bar), and visited and visited and visited with all our Mackley cousins.

Photography by Anna

pre-MACKLEY FAMILY REUNION... Sunday

2011-07-17T16:32:00.038-06:00

We got up early Sunday and went to church. Their church house looks like a stake center with a chapel, a cultural hall, classrooms, etc, and then they have an annex for overflow that they broadcast Sacrament meeting into. We went early but seats filled up quickly. It took a while to pass the sacrament and then they announced that there were 1,100 people there that day! With so many LDS people in the area it helps explain why the play last night could get away with writing in so many LDS jokes about primary or sunbeams or missionaries and the audience would get it. After church we had a late brunch and decided we'd take a drive through Yellowstone. Trying to get 20 people into as few cars as possible and arrange walkie talkies took as an hour, but then we were off and headed to Old Faithful!

Our first stop was on the side of the road when we spotted some cow elk. Yellowstone is so green and beautiful! It truly is a fascinating place. Then we went to a place called the Fountain Paint Pot. I loved that place because they had hot pools that have the most beautiful colors from the minerals in the water, mud pots with their funny boiling mud, and a great geyser that doesn't go as high as Old Faithful, but then I don't have to wait an hour either :). I gave my camera to ten year old Janae to take any pictures that she wanted. Linda told me later that she thought it was nice that I took her on an Aunt Cindy walk, and I had to laugh because I didn't even realize I'd done it :). Next we went to Old Faithful which the kids loved and the gift shop and ice-cream which I loved. Our car decided that we were tired and would go back to Dr. Stock's cabin and come back another day, but the other two cars went on and finished the loop. When we got back to the cabin, Mom had cooked hamburgers and we had a very relaxing evening.

Photography by Janae Voelkel

pre-MACKLEY FAMILY REUNION... Saturday

2011-07-16T16:21:00.018-06:00

Reunion was so much fun! We started out early with Uncle Bill and Aunt Kathy visiting Burley for a week before reunion. Mom and Uncle Bill are very close and are so sweet together. It's fun to watch Mom switch from the mother or wife role to the sister. She laughs a lot! I think it goes back to the complete and utter trust that comes when knowing you're accepted and loved. Saturday we went up to Dr. Stock's cabin to stay for two days before we checked into Enchanted Forrest and our four cabins in Island Park (30 miles from the west gates of Yellowstone) for Mackley reunion. We met Aunt LaWana, Karyn, Lafi (he's SamOan and, Oh, so sweet!), as well as Linda, Ben, and their three children: Anna, Janae, and Daila; and Kaylun. Plus, there was Lisa and Josh; Tricia; Trevor, Erica, Ian and Alex; and then the Burley people Mom, Dad, Chris and Cindy (and Uncle Bill and Aunt Kathy). Let's take a moment and count. Dr. Stock's cabin has four bedrooms and two bathrooms, and we had twenty-two people :). We squeezed into the cabin and squeezed in a lot of fun Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday meant LOTS of hugs as each group arrived. That night we went to the dinner and play that night at Mack's Inn Playhouse. They served prime rib or chicken, and we watched Home School Musical starring Linoleum Dynamite and ZacTeflon. So funny! I laughed so hard my cheeks hurt! We were on the front row and got to heckle and interact with the cast since it's a parody and they encourage that kind of thing. They had a million great one liners from the show (mostly from Mama), when they would talk to the audience, and when they broke script :).

HOME SCHOOL MUSICAL QUOTES

Mrs. Hugginkiss: “Do you think that was funny, Mr. Chuckles?!”

Mrs. Hugginkiss: “Snap! You just got snapped!”

Linoleum Dynamite: “I want to ask you the two golden questions: What do you know about polygamy and do you want to know more? (Don’t steal my line.)”

Homers: “Don’t be cruel to home school!”

Mrs. Hugginkiss: “Seven Days in the hospital or sudden death? Watch out! Mama’s coming!”

Palmyra: Do you want a Ute Taco? It’s just like a Navajo taco, but it’s made with ground cougar.”

Lisa booing Senator Crackpotter

Senator Crackpotter: “Hey, I’m funny.”

Senator Crackpotter: “I’m man enough to admit when I’m wrong.”

Linoleum Dynamite: “Yes!, I knew it.”

Telephone ringing

Mrs. Hugginkiss: “I picked it up! It can stop ringing now. (To the audience) We have an opening for a tech.”

Zac Teflon: “I’m looking for Amanda Hugginkiss”

Paymayra: “He wants a man to hug and kiss.”

Mrs. Hugginkiss: “Get out of my grill.”

Mrs. Hugginkiss: “Mama’s getting overheated.”

Mrs. Hugginkiss: “Let’s go home and soak it in windex.”

Linoleum Dynamite: “I’m out of here. Nobody’s going to walk on Linoleum anymore.”

Zac Teflon: “Is this room 201?”

Linoleum Dynamite: “You’re mom is in room 201.”

Mrs. Hugginkiss: “If you give away the milk for free, no one will buy the cow.”

Senator Crackpotter: “I need to raise my PP score.”

Mrs. Hugginkiss: “Gold stars for everyone! But a green star for you for perseverance because that wasn’t any good.”

Palmyra: “You smell good.”

LaVelcro: “It’s called Forget the Anthem. It’s from the Christina Aguilera line.”

Mrs. Hugginkiss: “Your shake brings all the girls to the yard!”

A Tribute to the Armed Forces

2011-07-03T10:40:00.000-06:00

My friend, Marci Larsen, invited me to sing with her in the Patriotic Concert. I've often thought about it, but being the observant person I am, I always seem to miss the announcement of the start of rehearsals. They do a free community concert at the King Fine Arts Center on the Sunday before the 4th of July. It's so popular that they have two performances: one at six and one at eight. They invite different groups to perform and then they have a non-denominational choir.

I so enjoyed singing with the choir this year! It's interesting how many different ways you can sing, America, the Beautiful :). They also have this really fun song about Yankee Doodle Dandie. In fact, I woke up one morning singing,

And that ain't a josh
She's a Yankee, by gosh
Oh, say can you see
Anything about a Yankee that's a phoney?

It's a funny line to have stuck in my head, but the tune is so upbeat I ended up humming it most of the day!

We had several cool songs, but the best, most favorite, the crowd pleaser was the "Salute to the Armed Forces." I cried the whole way through the first performance because I was so overwhelmed with gratitude. The narrator invited those who had served and those who had lost a loved one to stand, and I couldn't help thinking of all the people and families that have sacrificed for our country.

I especially enjoyed being in the choir because it gave me a chance to put God into my celebration of the Fourth. I work so hard to keep God in holidays like Easter and Christmas, but I’d never considered remembering God’s part in Independence Day. It was something of an awakening for me and a tradition I hope to continue.

When I Am 8...

2011-07-02T16:27:00.021-06:00

Saturday, July 2nd, Ian was baptized by his dad. During the talks, they sat in the first row dressed in white with Trevor's arm around Ian. Sometimes I wish I was an artist so I could capture my mind pictures forever. I couldn't help reflect through the rest of the program on that special moment. Dads care for, protect and lead their children, and in turn, children love and follow their dads whether they are our earthly or our Heavenly Father. I think our little Ian is such a special soul. When Ian was being confirmed a member of the Church, I loved seeing him fold his arms so reverently and scrunch his eyes so intently. I think Josh described the day best when he posted on Facebook, "My little cousin got the holly gost to day."

Later we met at Boston's for dinner with our little group of 22 people. We has several people try to take pictures that would encompass the whole group. Here are my favorites from the night:

Loriel, remember when...

2011-06-27T15:21:00.003-06:00

I can't help thinking back to when Loriel was little, and she and Daniel used to come visit each summer. They were so little, so we would help them keep a diary to help them remember the trip. They couldn't write yet, so they would draw and color what they did that day: jump on the trampoline, go swimming, play games, plant grandpa's corn, etc. I loved the way Loriel would say, "diary." She would put the accent on the last syllable and made me laugh every time.

I love how she can make me laugh! On this visit she was telling us about the "other" dojo and how they only teach showy stuff and not skills, so their sparring is really terrible. I had to laugh out loud when she said she was watching them at the last competition and felt like Grandpa watching football and wanted yell at them to keep their arms up and move their feet. I just had this clear image of her in Grandpa's recliner yelling at the players.

I love her for having such a bright attitude. She is up for any adventure and enjoys every moment.

I admire Loriel because she values family relationships. I am so grateful she helps me feel connected to her life through emails, pictures, and Facebook. I am so glad she came for a visit!

BTW, I've tried and tried to get this picture to flip. But, it's still a cute one!

Meet Loriel:

My current occupation is: A karate Aide and soon I will be a daycare worker/teacher.

My dream job is: To own a bakery and complete custom cake orders.

If I could live anywhere in the world, it would be: Exactly where I am-- all the magic I need is right here.

The best birthday gift I could receive would be: Just people that love and care about me.

If I had a million dollars, the first thing I'd buy would be: A new house for my parents.

When I was a teenager, I thought that at my age I'd be: I always thought that when I turned sixteen someone would wave a magic wand and all of sudden I'd be beautiful, fun to be around and have a bunch of wonderful friends. No wand was waved--maybe the magic was believing in myself.

The goals I'm currently working on are: I want to get back into the same activity level as I was before surgery. I want to finish Electronic Highschool. I want to enlarge my circle of friends.

When I'm 80, I hope I am doing this: Impacting other's lives.

The person I'd like to be more like is: My dad is just so calm and content with life.

The last person I sent a card to is: My dad for father's day.

I ate this for lunch today: A leftover hamburger.

Something I just learned how to do is: Knit.

My favorite song right now is: The Story of Us by Taylor Swift

The last book I read is: Siddartha- darn you summer homework!

This is what I'm wearing right now: My karate gi--I'm about to leave for karate.

The last phone call I made was to: My best friend.

Inside, I don't feel very different from when I was: 12

The last restaurant I ate at as: Applebees

My favorite TV show is: I don't have one.

Two everyday things I couldn't live without are: My phone and an icepack to ice my knee.

Something I really worry about is: I worry about growing up. I want to do everything right. I want to make my parents proud but currently that goal seems out of reach.

My favorite place to shop is: Hobby Lobby- So much crafty things are there as well as cake decorating things.

Four jobs I've had in my life are: Weeding and babysitting.

Four movies I could watch over and over are: She's the Man, Penelope, While you were Sleeping and Enchanted.

Loriel's walking tour

2011-06-24T15:40:00.001-06:00

Friday, Loriel and I tried a scrapbooking project and walked around downtown to take some artsy pictures of things like the brick on the buildings, the manhole covers, alley way signs, and Loriel got some really cool pics of all the different styles of old fashioned doors and I had fun taking pictures of all the different kinds of brick and the signs.

Loriel's Whirlwind Visit

2011-06-24T15:40:00.000-06:00

Whew! What a whirlwind Loriel's visit was! Loriel got here late Tuesday night and then left early Saturday morning. She did lots of projects with Grandma like covering notebooks with scrapbooking paper and sewing some aprons. I had to work during the day, but we got together every night for something. Wednesday night we had a movie night at my house and watched 17 Again with Matthew Perry and Zac Effron. I think I might have a little cougar crush on him. Zac, not Matthew :).

Thursday night Grandma, Chris, Loriel and I went to Twin Falls for some shopping and dinner. Then on the way back we went to visit Shoshone Falls. Since they're worried about flooding, they've been letting off HUGE amounts of water. It was pretty windy so the mist coming off the Falls kept making rainbows in the sky!

On the way back home, I told her she could drive some since she just got her learner's permit. For her first time off a parking lot and on a road, I think she was starting to get the hang of it by our fourth loop around the neighborhood. Of course, I also think both of our nerves were shot by that point, so we were just calling it good :). BTW, she just blinked and is NOT driving with her eyes closed!

Later, Loriel came with Chris, Tricia, and I over to our friends’ house to play Beatles Rock Band and Disney sing along (they have three little girls!). It was a busy three days and we piled a lot into it and made a lot of memories.

2010 Blurb Book

2011-06-14T14:08:00.000-06:00

I finally published my last year's blogs! I love being able to blog and then print it up with all the journaling and pictures :) Check it out...

The Bliss of Solitude by Cindy Brown | Make Your Own Book

Ditch the Parents Day

2011-05-28T20:38:00.003-06:00

The long awaited Ditch the Parents Day has finally arrived! Last year, Chris, Tricia, and I took the kids to Boondocks. We like helping the kids know their cousins and building relationships with their aunts. This year we decided to do a sleep over at the Holiday Inn Express in West Valley. It took some thorough furniture rearranging, but we managed to get all eight of us in one room. Talk about family togetherness! We had Loriel and Tricia in one bed, Chris and I had a bed, Daniel and Josh had the sofa bed, and Ian and Alex slept on hiking mats on the floor.

Next week is Daniel’s high school graduation, so we had a Hooray-Daniel-is-graduating-pizza-dinner, gifts, and an epic silly string fight. Chris picked up Joshua, Ian and Alex for DTP Day, and they stopped at a dollar store to pick out gifts for Daniel. Josh picked up a ninja sword that makes a swish sound because he knew Daniel likes Ninjas. Ian picked out a fun graduation balloon. And, Alex, found some ring pops because “Daniel is going to love this!” From Chris, Tricia and I, we gave him two neck ties—one to recognize his past (an American Fork red and black tie) and to look toward the future (a BYU blue tie). Afterward, Alex and Josh had a pretty intense silly sting fight. I believe they got everyone and every nook and cranny of the room.

I have two favorite memories from Friday. The first was when we all made it to the hotel and the hugs, chatting, and catching up. We were LOUD but so HAPPY to be together. Later we went swimming and Loriel was our official event photographer. As we were lying in our respective beds and everyone was settling in and drifting off to sleep. The room was quiet and then Ian said his nightly prayers. His sweet voice echoed everything I had in my heart. “I am thankful for the world. Please bless we won’t have nightmares. Please bless we will have fun tomorrow.”

Saturday was a breakfast of omelets, bacon, sausage and chocolate chip “muffins” followed up with more swimming (I went down the slide twice!), packing up and putting the hotel room back together, chicken nuggets at McDonald’s for lunch (Ian ate 15), and then back at Erica’s house for milkshakes and Lego Rock Band. Daniel and Loriel were having so much fun they called their parents and talked them into coming and picking them up at Erica’s house later that afternoon instead of me dropping them off in the morning. Our nephews and niece are so hilarious and we had a hilarious time.

General Conference Links

2011-03-29T15:12:00.001-06:00

Hello, friends! Just a friendly reminder that General Conference is THIS weekend. Below are a few links I used to make up our booklets delivered by our General Conference fairy :). Enjoy!

LDS.org conference notebook

Deseret Book's General Conference Activity Packet (FREE)

Sugardoodle's General Conference Helps

I was reading on the Sugardoodle page about all these wonderful ideas to prepare for General Conference. One person talked about learning about the different apostles and doing things they liked for family home evening (like baking or football or music or painting). Another lady wrote that they do "conference candy" by putting out a candy dish and each session and when you hear a preselected word (ie: Book of Mormon, missionary work, prayer, etc) you can help yourself to a piece of candy. Several shared that they like to have a pot luck lunch between sessions with another family or with several families. Several shared that they put up a tent to come and listen to the prophet (at the Nephites did for King Benjamin).

I'm wondering what YOU do to prepare for conference? I'd love if you'd leave a comment and an idea:

What do you do to prepare yourself or your families for General Conference?
What traditions do you have centered around conference?
What do you do to make it a special or memorable experience?

Don't forget to leave a comment and I'll be sure to include all your ideas for my next post in October!!!

Treasure Hunt

2011-03-28T13:33:00.003-06:00

Saturday, my friend, Marci, called and asked me if I wanted to go geocaching with her family. I've never been before but always thought it would be cool, and it is! They picked a spot approximately eight miles to the West. So we took Highland Avenue, and then drove through Heyburn, and then through Rupert, and then followed Baseline out toward the freeway. How about that for ironic?! It’s fun, though, to drive through the country. We saw winter wheat as well as both cows and horses. It was really a pretty evening even if it was a bit overcast. Once we got about a mile away from the geocache we started winding our way back and forth and round and round on some dirt roads. In the meantime, I got some pictures of our group and passed the camera around for the little girls to take a few too :). We finally found the right road when we turned towards a little pond. We had to crawl into a clump of trees and I found a box at the base of a particularly branchy tree. The girls got to trade some knick knacks we brought for some new toys in the cache. Ellie picked a little book and Amber found a little Care Bear key chain. I sure had a great time! Thanks for having me :).

Photography by Amber

Photography by Ellie

Idaho History Day

2011-03-22T23:30:00.098-06:00

I love reading kids' writing! I took a job reading standardized tests one summer after finishing college and read some of the most hilarious essays. I have a friend that every year goes to Boise to grade the Direct Writing Assessment and blogs about the awesomeness of 7th and 8th grade essays. I love reading about all the great observations the kids make. After experiencing so much joy from children's point of view, I figured I'd share this year's gems from the 4th grade essays of Idaho History Day.

The Cassia County Museum goes all out for Idaho History Day! They have 15 stations and the kids make it to at least 10 of them. There's the presentation at the school house where they learns such interesting facts like the teachers weren't allowed to marry or date and couldn't wear any colors. There's the Black Powder demonstration about trappers and Indians. There's both a cheese making station and a butter making station. They pan for gold/ pyrite, watch a movie about irrigation in a old train caboose, and eat chili and Dutch oven cornbread for lunch.

I've been volunteering-slash- roped into being on the reading committee for the past several years, and I've love the mixed nuts hour d'oeuvres, translating 10 and 11 year old handwriting and their inventive spelling, debating which kids are the best, and every wooden chair bum-numbing minute of it! I figured it was time to share some of the love :).

THE PROMPT:

On September 16th the fourth grade attended the Cassia County Fairgrounds to participate in Idaho History Day. Think of two stations that you enjoyed the most and write a short personal narrative on why you admired them. Include important information and details so that the reader feels like he/she is experiencing it firsthand. Your narrative should be no more than one page front and back.

"faveret stashon"
"On the bus ride it was really long. We had to sit by a boy."
"Idaho is my favorite state because it is famous for it potatoes and [I] love potatoes."
"[The homemade cheese on crackers] was so good. I had 10 of them. My teacher din't believe me that I had that much. It' was really yummy."

"On September 16, 2011 it was Odaho Histery in Burly on the fair grounds."
(For his 2nd paragraph) "Hey guys! Its me agin Boy! This stations make you say wiky tidy did list."
(For her conclusion) "You guy put together a really good day of Idaho history."

"Next I am going to tell you How people lived back than in the ninteen hundred in Brooklen were pore peaple married pore peaple and rich peaple married rich peaple at fancy wedingings with a big cake and a yard for the weding and all the gess and brothers and sisters and that is all."
"I also learned the children had to eat out of the same bucket of food."
"I liked looking in the classroom and wondering if it looked a little newer back then."

A Tour of Rexburg

2011-03-21T18:16:00.001-06:00

I hope you had a great weekend; I know I did :). Tricia texted me on Wednesday and asked if I wanted to come visit to go to Guitars Unplugged. I went to visit her two years ago and we went and had a blast, so I guess it's just natural for her to think of Guitars Unplugged and having a blast and then think of me :). On Friday, I totally rocked the Modification of Deed and Promissory Note I was writing at work, so I was able to get off early. I got gas, cash, dinner, and some new tunes and hit the road by 4:30. When I got to Rexburg, I called Tricia to talk me through how to find her apartment. She told me where to turn and where to go straight and then she said she was wearing a green shirt and asked if I could see her. She hopped into my car and gave me a twisty turn tour through her apartment complex. It's some beautiful new housing and still smells like new carpet! Apparently, I'm easy to please especially after my house hunting in Boise :). The best joke of the weekend was when we went to dinner. We were visiting with her roommate and a friend about places we should go to eat and I swear they suggested Virginal Tai. Didn't make sense to me, but I thought Tai sounded good, so we went there. I had a good laugh when I learned the name is actually Original Tai. I had the Drunken Noodles which the menu described as "intoxicated with Tai flavors." They were tasty, but by far the best were the Spring Rolls. Yummy in my tummy!

Saturday, we went to campus and picked up our tickets for Guitars Unplugged, visited the art exhibit in the Spori, and toured the new BYU Idaho Center. Tricia said some people call it the BYUIC (sounds like Buick) and some call it the I Center, but whatever you call it, it's HUGE. It's like a mini Conference Center where ALL the student body can attend devotionals on Tuesday. It has some really great art, which is what Tricia wanted to show me. Since we just went to the Carl Bloch exhibit in Provo she showed me some of the Bloch prints they have there and this wonderful collection of paintings of scenes from the Book of Mormon. I'll have to find out the name of the lady that did them because they were so cool! I loved the art exhibit at the Spori. They were displaying classical style paintings and I found one I really liked so I took a picture with my phone. I hope it turns out. I like all the different styles and colors of stone and I thought this courtyard looked peaceful.

When we were walking around on campus it started to hail. They were tiny but they got stuck in Tricia's braids and got in our pockets and somehow down my shirt. I felt like Rexburg was welcoming me back with open arms :). Later, we went to lunch at Sammy's. I think it's my new favorite place. It's a diner like atmosphere with burgers and shakes but they play cool music, and Tricia said at night they have live bands come and play. We got the peach cobbler shake and sweet potato french fries.

That night for Guitars Unplugged we went to the Hart. It has bleachers, which is what we sat in, or you could bring a blanket and sit on the basketball court. They had some really great groups. My favorite was a girl that sang a song she wrote herself called. Basically, it's about her dad's beat up green truck and how when guys came and picked her up for a date, then he made them take his truck and when they brought his daughter home in one piece he'd give them back the keys to their car. That's the idea anyway, but it was written really clever. Like, the first boyfriend showed up in shiny red Camerro. The next boyfriend got the same story but he drove a black T-bird. The only problem with original music at a concert is that I can't sing along and if I liked the song then where can I download it?!

Sunday, I had my Sunday School lesson to teach, and I promised a friend that I would substitute for her in Relief Society. So, I got up in the morning and drove home... in my pajamas :). It made for a long day, but as I was getting ready for bed, I couldn't help thinking about how great it was to spend time with Tricia at her home, visiting campus again, and exploring Rexburg. Lots of fun! Thanks, Tricia :).