The 4th in Zion

This year, we decided at the last minute, to go spend our 4th in Utah. I am so glad we did! We had a great time with my little brother's family: John, Mindy, Ben and Scooter. We went up to a hill right under the Provo temple where we could watch the amazing Stadium of Fire, shot off from BYU. It was AWESOME! My camera ran out of batteries at just the wrong time! Anyhow, we stayed up on the hill from about 6pm-12am. The kids were in HEAVEN running and playing and enjoying the yummy food. Someone made these amazing cookies, which I kept sending Sammi back for. They were perfect chocolate chip cookies, with carmel in the middle -- super! Anyhow, it was a great time had by all! It may be a new tradition! We also went to see my Nan on Sunday up in Heber. It is always so good to see her. I am so glad we live close enough to visit family!

I was trying to convince Mindy to let me have Scooter. For some reason, she would not go for it. He is one of those babies that you just want to snuggle and smooch. I would grab him whenever I could. Scooty, who's your favorite Aunt?? ;-)

Scooter was showing off his snot-bubble-blowing ability. :-)

Just hanging out together as family . . .



It was so pretty watching the sun go down outside by the temple, the mountains, and everything. It was such a pretty night.
I love family. Nothing better. We had a super time! Thanks John and Mindy!

Home and Family Update

I thought I would take a moment and update my blog. I did sign-up for facebook, but I really prefer the forum of a blog; it is much more pleasant, personal and pretty. :-) Just a few things that I actually took pictures of . . .

Charles and Sammi going to church. Daniel and William were sick, so I stayed home first and then Charles came home while I went back to teach my YW lesson. Cutie-heads . . .

Sure love these two!

Water days . . . the kids have enjoyed cooling off while running in the sprinklers . . . I have enjoyed sitting back and watching them squeal.

William's new hair-cut -- he is now a "real boy". Daniel got a haircut, too. He insists on having "bangs". Cute boys. It cracks me up that William will just tackle Daniel as if he is the same size . . . Daniel is usually pretty tolerant. :-) I can't wait until Daniel is 16 and William is 12. Oh boy!

Lovely Sammi and lovely roses. Sammi has been doing well and she achieved her Faith in God goal of getting straight A's for the whole year. She is a determined little person. Her nose is always in a book, usually fantasy. I wish I had had the amazing books to read that she has! I remember reading Babysitters club, Sweet Valley Twins, and other non-brain-stretching books! Sammi is a joy! She is almost 9 and will be in 4th grade! Yikes!

I have been trying to teach the kids little lessons here and there. We did a dinosaur lesson and I made homemade clay so we could create our own dinos. We watched a dinosaur movie, and colored some dinosaurs, too. They loved it.

The kids have been enjoying breakfast more during the summer . . . their favorite so far is German Pancakes -- amazingly easy and wonderful!

This is what our backyard looked like when we moved in (2 years ago). It was also infested with box-elder bugs (by the thousands -- no joke!) spiders of every kind (by the hundreds), earwigs, and huge black beetles. It was a bug breeding ground . . . I still cannot believe we cleaned up the crazy mess --layers and layers of rotted debris, rocks, 200 cinderblocks, tree chopping, stump digging, etc, etc. The first time I saw the yard I thought, "This has potential?!" . . .

Last Saturday I spent the day lying on a blanket on our grass, soaking in the sun and beauty . . . I looked around in awe of what we had accomplished, and I was so grateful for what we had done . . . our hard work is paying off. Sometimes you just need to have a "vision" of what is possible and then you work hard and make that vision a reality . . .

The front of our home before we moved in . . .

The front of our home now (it would not let me type above the picture)

The kids used to play in the dirt and rocks after we cleared out the top layer of debris . . .

Now they can lay and play on the lovely green lawn . . .

I have been amazed at the beauty that surrounds me lately. I am so grateful to live in this beautiful world. There is hope for the future. Have a vision for your life, and who you want to become . . . and make that vision become a reality. Anything is possible.

The Eyes

Ed and Sally Lindquist: The creators of the "Lindquist Eyes"

Most families have something that makes them "look" like family. My family has a very strong physical trait that seems to travel through the generations . . . our eyes . . . they are BIG! I can remember being teased through grade school about my eye size, but then as I grew, my eyes became something I would emphasize rather than try to hide. (Thank you make-up!) Eyes came to my attention again at the Lindquist family reunion and I was surrounded by huge (beautiful) peepers! What a bunch of lovely people!

One night we were gathered together on "The Roof" (the restaurant at the top of the Joseph Smith building) and we were discussing our eyes . . . just a few minutes later my brother noticed Hilary Weeks was there, too, and she came in to say "hi" to our family (she was a family friend, and a very good friend of my older sister, Kary.) One of the first things Hilary mentioned as she looked around at our family was how we all had the "Lindquist eyes". We had just been talking about it, so we thought it was pretty funny.

Anyhow, it made me think . . . what does it mean to have "Lindquist eyes"? I recently met a cousin on the Lindquist side, Celeste, and I noticed she had bright beautiful eyes, but her children (though their eyes were very beautiful) were not the same? If my children and her children were in a room together you would not guess that they were related. Also, my cousins on my mother's side (the Post cousins) do not sport the same eye look -- very different. So, I think the "Lindquist eyes" comes directly from the combination of my mother and my father. Now all of their children, and so far, all of their grandchildren (regardless of the color of the eyes) have the eye "look". It is a VERY strong trait . . . !

My mother as a baby. Look familiar?

My father as a young boy

The Lindquist Family (Can't really see our eyes, we are all squinting!)

John, Bob, Ed (Dad), Mari, Beth, Sally (Mom), Kary

The grandchildren (except Scooter, sorry no picture, Mindy? Trust me, he has got the eyes too.)

Sammi and Mommy

My nieces, Kimmy and Katie -- both have big beautiful eyes (and smiles!)

Sammi

My niece McKinley and Sammi, could be sisters?

Mari, Sally, Nan, Kary, Beth, Sammi, McKinley

Sammi, Kimmy, Jimmy, Daniel

My older brother's family

Kevin, Tanya (Kevin's wife), Katie, Jimmy, Kimmy, Amy, Bob

Stephen -- his eyes are like Frodo's

My sister's (Kary's) son

and McKinley Kary's daughter

Daniel

Grandpa says Daniel has "bedroom eyes" must get them from grandpa! ;-) wink!

Sammi and Daniel, just a little related??

Oh look, there is Scooter! My brother (John's) son -- what a cutie!

William sporting his Lindquist eyes

Now, of course, all the children are a little different, and the combination of spouses create their own variation. But there is still a very strong link, that became even more apparent when we were all together. We are definitely all connected. It is a really neat thing to see.

I think Ben is a runner-up for the biggest eyes . . .

But, I must say . . . I still think I win the prize. I feel strongly that I am the winner for the BIGGEST eyes in our family . . . what do you think?? :-)

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I WIN!!

Just a few little things . . .

I am finally private and I hope I have not missed any one! I thought I should do a little catch-up as it has been a long time!

Erin and I got together to find Erin's family (entering them in new family search) and she is now on her way! At one point she cursed my name (literally) because of the apparent enormity of the task. Like I told Erin: It is like cleaning a large mess . . . you can stand there and pull out your hair and scream, or you can start picking up/scrubbing a piece at a time and before you know it -- it will be sparkly clean! :-)

I try to do a bit daily, sometimes not as often, but it becomes addictive (in a good way) and it is as though I can feel my ancestors, and Charles' ancestors, pushing me to do it! All it takes now is sitting on your bootie and clicking buttons, I hardly have an excuse not to do it! I am MORE than willing to help anyone get started . . . just let me know!

(Hey look at that! 5 bars on my clearwire -- amazing! )

One of the things I enjoy is finding more than just names and dates, but information and pictures . . . This lady is my 4 times great grandma, Sarah Mumford, born 1795 . . . now I know where I get my sparkling personality!

It was both Daniel and William's birthday this last weekend . . . no picture of William?? Anyhow, here is Daniel with the cupcakes I made for school. What a cute little guy . . . 7 years old now! William is 3!

The other day, after church, Charles told us we had to hurry home because we were going to sing at the Marquee Care Center (an old folks home). Charles quickly pulled out his guitar and I practiced "I am a Child of God" with Sammi and Daniel. The kids were nervous to go and sing --Daniel had never sung by himself before. I explained to him the importance of service and helping other people, and he seemed to feel better. We pulled it together, Charles played his guitar for the first time in public (he did great!) and we all sang our hearts out. I can barely contain myself whenever I go there, I just want to cry. A few of the members gather together each Sunday to have sacrament meeting. Most are in pretty bad shape and their lives are coming to a close. My heart always aches when we go there, but it was made that much more potent, singing that song, with my children, in front of people so close to the veil. The members there are always so appreciative when I have gone, little do they know what a profound effect they have on my heart!

On our way home Daniel said, "That was awesome, I love giving service!" It made my heart soar. Then Charles had an opportunity, that same week, to help someone with an Eagle Scout project, and Daniel said, "Are you giving service? I want to go!" So, off he went with Charles. Again, he was so happy when he got home, all covered in paint. I was so happy that he was happy, I had to take a picture!

I was out one day and I saw a gooey blob of something. I looked a little closer and discovered it was my favorite -- a FROG! I had never caught a frog before, so I thought it was as good a time as any. :-) I helped it jump into my container and I kept it around for awhile. He smiled at me, I know it. It loved me. :-) Of course, I had to let it free, but it was fun while it lasted!
This year the Easter bunny must have been on a tight budget because he came the day after Easter. That worked out OK though, because when he came -- HE CAME! Though there was some disappointment on Easter day, the day after Easter there was shock and awe! Charles noticed when he came home from work that there was something in the front yard, some eggs, as it were. We got the kids all shoed-up and out they ran to find their special treats (should have taken a picture of that! But I was too excited!) The once sad faces were so excited they could hardly stand it! I thought William was going to pee his pants! Ahhhh . . . good things come to those who wait. :-)
That is all for now . . . more to come, hopefully more often, too! Glad to be back!

No, really, I am . . .

I really am going private soon . . . I have been spending ALL my time on the computer doing Family History work and so the blog has been kind of kicked to the curb. I will get to it . . . and I will post something, sometime, someday . . . soon. ;-) Hope I have your e-mail! :-)

Private Starting Monday!

Goodbye!!

I will be lost to the open-blogging world starting MONDAY . . . so it is your last chance to let me know if you want an invite! I am sad to do it, but it is for the best. I look forward to posting again, soon!

Women

I will be making the blog private soon . . . but I will give it a little more time. I do not want to switch it over and lose those who have not requested an invite. I know there are many who read that have not yet left an e-mail (I have a map and counter), so if you just want to "peek" in from time to time, feel free to let me know, and I will add you to the list. :-) (Charles actually wants me to keep it open for all readers, and I am very reluctant to go private, but I think it would be best.) Again, if you have not yet e-mailed me, or left a comment -- feel free (all I need is your e-mail address) . . . mari4u@hotmail.com. Otherwise, I will disappear!

I just wanted to mention my favorite quote from General Conference . . .

"Women should be women and not babies

that need petting

and correction all the time."

-- Sis. Beck (who quoted Eliza Snow.)

Sis. Beck has always impressed me with her words of wisdom. She is not afraid to "say it like it is" and I really appreciate that. There is often a request of us to stand a little taller, be a little more diligent, and to live up to our potential; rather than shrink and shun the fight, or allow excuses to defeat our efforts to become truly great. All of conference was tremendous, but this was the quote that stuck with me the most. :-) I will start devouring the written words soon . . . now that they are available on: www.lds.org. I really loved it all!