So now for Tribe Happenings.

Emily is engaged to be engaged to her love Brian. They are planning their wedding for January 2nd. He gets home from his mission in a few months. She stays busy with her job as a nanny and working for Paul with the Farmer's Market and waiting for the few letters Brian seems to be able to take time to write. He has been so busy the last few months, working hard and loving it, which is of course what Em wants, but it is also hard to be the one waiting and needing that connection a letter can bring. But all is well of course and she is planning the details of the wedding until he gets home and he can help finalize it all with a official engagement! to hear more about her .... she has a blog lifeaccordingtoemily.blogspot.com

Taylor is still working at the MegaPlex theaters in Ogden. He is a supervisor now and is making pretty good money and is saving to buy a car. Not borrow from a bank and buy a car, but buy a car with cash. He stays busy with friends and his computer and video games and food runs(when him and his buddies, on a whim take off and get something to eat) He is in limbo about his future plans, like college and such....
I couldn't be prouder of him! He is a hard worker and responsible and an all around great person.

Elizabeth just started her Junior year in High School, can you believe it? She is doing well and has had a fun summer with girl's camp and youth conference. She is involved in Young Women's and loves going to mutual. She loves to read and watch movies and play video games. She is also kept busy working for Paul and involved with Farmer's Market.

Aaron just started his 8th grade year. He is at Canyon View School where he can get a little more one on one teaching and maybe he'll be able to take a few classes at Wahlquist this year, like choir or art and such. He had a great time at scout camp this summer and also had some swim lessons in hopes of passing the swim test at scout camp. Maybe next year. He is involved in Young Men's and scouting and has been making huge leaps of change in his behavior. He is really trying hard to make changes. Things are a bit calmer around here because of his effort.

Paul is still in the High Priests group leadership and with that and work and the garden and all that he does for the family in my stead... he keeps very busy. He is such a hard worker and he is so kind and considerate of me and my health. I couldn't ask for a better sweetheart than him. I feel very blessed that he is my forever hubby.

I have continued to love photography and feel blessed at being able to get on camera some of the beauty around me. I love red bubble (as you can see by the number of photographs on my bubblesite) I am learning and have noticed some improvement. I go from day to day with my health... taking each day as it comes. Though poor health is a constant challenge, I am so grateful for all the many little blessings in my life. My children, husband, parents, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, and their little ones. The beautiful world, the flowers, sunsets, mountains, I could keep going. The gospel keeps me filled with hope. I am so grateful for the Church in my life, for Jesus Christ and the atonement. Having that knowledge keeps me going on bad days and keeps me counting my blessings. A message my visiting teacher left has made me smile as I have repeated it when I'm having a bad day with my health or otherwise. She said when she was having bad days after her surgery and complications. She would go over the words to the Hymn. "We are all enlisted 'til the conflict is oér" you know how it goes....

1. We are all enlisted till the conflict is o’er;
Happy are we! Happy are we!
Soldiers in the army, there’s a bright crown in store;
We shall win and wear it by and by.
Haste to the battle, quick to the field;
Truth is our helmet, buckler, and shield.
Stand by our colors; proudly they wave!
We’re joyfully, joyfully marching to our home.

2. Hark! the sound of battle sounding loudly and clear;
Come join the ranks! Come join the ranks!
We are waiting now for soldiers; who’ll volunteer?
Rally round the standard of the cross.
Hark! ’tis our Captain calls you today;
Lose not a moment, make no delay!
Fight for our Savior; come, come away!
We’re joyfully, joyfully marching to our home.

3. Fighting for a kingdom, and the world is our foe;
Happy are we! Happy are we!
Glad to join the army, we will sing as we go;
We shall gain the vict’ry by and by.
Dangers may gather—why should we fear?
Jesus, our Leader, ever is near.
He will protect us, comfort, and cheer.
We’re joyfully, joyfully marching to our home

After singing that it is a lot easier to manage with my few little problems

So next time you are having a bad day.... start singing this hymn. Ü

What happened to Summer?

I can't believe it was May that I last posted. May, June, July, and almost August wow time is flying by! Summer went by with just a moment to think about doing something fun.

Now we are in the "Farmer's Market mode".... We have Farmer's market every Saturday in Ogden and sell all the produce that Paul has grown from the huge gardens he worked so hard on.

Early Spring with planting seeds in his greenhouse to get them an early start,

and then plant them in the gardens and keep them healthy and growing so that now

when everything is producing We've been doing Farmers Market since the 2nd to last week in July and for me it seems to be a weekly cycle of getting ready for Saturday.

Then from 8:00 to 1:00 usually really busy for the Market and then relief it is over,

(the only time I have a chance to get a picture is when it slows down so these pictures don't really show what it is like ha ha!)

Then Sunday and then Monday, Tuesday is recover time for me because of my CFS and FMS.

We have a chance to catch our breath and then it is back to getting ready for the next market. (Maybe that explains things a bit when I say Farmers Market Mode.....)

This year Paul grew flowers so we have been trying to sell "cut flowers"

We haven't had much luck at selling them at any price... we did sale a few this last week.

I have been learning and maybe one of these times we will sell more. People don't seem too interested in cut flowers, when they can go to walmart and for $5 get a little bouquet of professionally grown flowers. So last week I started calling them "Country Bouquets"and made the table around them "cute".... and we did sell some small bouquets.

*********

My new HOBBY

Last summer I started taking pictures with a digital camera I bought for $50 on ebay. I thought that if I took pictures of the Paul's garden that it would be fun to have them to display at the Farmer's Market. I wasn't sure if Paul would like that, but when I talked to him and told him what I was doing he said he had read of others who had pictures of the their garden to show at their farmer's market. It was fun to feel I was contributing to something that was such a big part of Paul's life and something he loved. After that, my sister Deanne, showed me a site online called Red Bubble and thought I ought to get an account and put up some of my pictures. So I did and I was hooked. I got ideas from Red Bubble of things to take pictures of and have had such fun taking pictures of flowers and animals and clouds and ... well I could go on. But with that intro....I wanted to write about my last adventure as a photographer ha ha!
I was in Ogden the other day to have Ogden Clinic send records to Primary Children Hospital. (I have an appt. for Aaron on May 12. For some testing to see if FAS might be part of his challenges.) One of the groups on Red Bubble called the scavenger hunt this week the subject to hunt was birds. Since I was close to Beus Pond ( which is a pond that is a park with a path around the pond and some benches, but mostly a huge pond where all kind of birds have made their home.) I hadn't been there for a long time and never with just me, but I decided to be brave and take pictures without feeling embarrassed or self conscience. (why I feel that way, I don't know) I decided to not worry about that and just have fun. It wasn't long before I forgot about all of the others who were there and it was just me and nature. I love that part of taking pictures. I saw all sorts of birds and the sky was blue and the sun was shining. A perfect day. From the path I saw a couple of Canada Geese (I was told on Red bubble that this is their proper name) I thought they must be mates because one was standing guard and one was laying on the ground. I took a few pictures and moved on. I came back after a little bit and I guess I startled them again, but this time I moved behind some trees. Even though I could clearly be seen by anyone, but to the birds I must not have been visible. I noticed the female's wings move a bit and I could see little feet and a bit of yellow fuzzy feathers. I was excited, not only did I have a chance to see the beautiful geese but they had babies!
I took some pictures of those tiny webbed feet under the protection of their mother's wings. The family must have felt safe because they all got up and started to walk away. I was able to see the whole family, the mom and dad and their yellow fuzzy babies. Then I moved on and sat on a bench and took more pictures. I had a mom wood duck and her babies swim right up onto the shore where I was sitting, It was fun to sit and take pictures of her and her little ones. I slowly made my way around the path stopping now and then to take pictures and ended in the parking area where they had all these beautiful tulips and so I took pictures of those and then decided I had to leave to get home. I felt like I had been given a gift.
I can't quite put into words the way I feel when I start taking pictures. I feel very peaceful and the Spirit is so strong and I feel grateful and renewed in a way as if I just came from a very spiritual meeting. I'm not very good at explaining this kind of feeling. I guess maybe words don't quite describe it.
I had such a wonderful time and enjoyed the beauty of God's creations and was so grateful to have my eyes open to all of the magic of nature. That is what this new hobby has done for me. It is as if I see the world in a whole different way. I notice the clouds and how beautiful they can be as a storm is breaking up or a sunset as it changes from moment to moment. I notice birds flying and how they seem to enjoy the winds before a storm as if they are riding the winds like people surf the waves of the ocean. It looks so fun. I notice the brilliance of the snow covered mountains against the blue sky . It has been fun to see the close up view and the details inside a flower and really looking at the different blossoms on the trees and how different they are from the apricot tree to the pear to the peach tree. There is such beauty that I have taken so much for granted for years and hardly noticed it. I think most people are like that. They get caught up in the day to day and forget just how beautiful their surroundings are. When I've been chasing a sunset (which is driving to find a good place free from power lines to take a picture... and a sunset changes so quickly that it feels like a chase) cars drive by intent on getting home or wherever they are going and I think wow how can they not notice the beautiful sky, the amazing clouds and the way the sun is shining through them. But I also understand how easy it is to get lost in everyday living that you don't see the beautiful gifts that Heavenly Father has put up for display. If nothing else, this new hobby has opened my eyes to those gifts and I feel awe and gratitude for the beauty that is all around me that I was blind to before. Maybe that is why I feel the Spirit so strongly while I get wrapped up in trying to capture that beauty on a camera. I am truly grateful and am noticing the wonderful gifts Heavenly Father gives us everyday in one way or another through the beauty of his creations. The hymn How Great Thou Art (I think that is what it is called) comes to mind. That is how I feel. My new hobby is to try and capture that in a picture to share that beauty with others.

Let's go Fly a Kite

L

We spent a fun after noon flying kite's . I even had a chance to fly a kite. Aaaron had asked me to hold the string to his kite and a gust of wind came up and grabbed the kite and sent it into the air and so I set the camera down and flew the kite for a bit. Memories of childhood came flooding back. The rest of the time I took pictures and Mr. Snoopy looks pretty cool up there in the air like that. Elizabeth had a kite name The Beast and Aaaron had a pokemon. These kites had been in my closet for years with always the plan to fly kites with the kids. All it took was Emily to suggest and pretty soon all were flying kites. Emily's kit is the only one that got caught on the roof, but no worries we were able to get it down. The funny part was that Taylor's cat Kitty whos usuual very layed back and quiet ended up jumping on the kite tales of Emily's barbie kite she found when she was at snow college. When the tale came close to the ground she just pounced on it a layed there. Emily had to move her to get her kite back.... caught a few pictures of Aaron in action. Fun was had by all... except my foot swelled up and was a bit uncomfortable
But it was great being out side and have it be breezy but warm. The sky was beautiful and the kites were up high enough you were able to see the contrast against the sky. Just a fun March day. Taylor is working almost full tmime now at the Mega Plex in Ogden where he is now a superviosr and has to wear a nice shirt and tie. He looks so good, I keep trying to get him to let me get a picture of him while he is dressed for work but he won't let me.. My foot is healing but not fast enough. It is a pain to wear this aircast everywhere. but I guess if it helps it to heal ot will be worth it. Paul is continue his plans for farmer's market in here Ogden. So all is well at the houshold of the tribe. our washer broke but Paul the handy man was the genius it gettiting it working abain. wonder man ! so if you want an afternoon of fun gets some kits and go fly them.

Well Seri ! This is a bit late, welll more than a bit.... but I hope better late than never....!

For all of you who are wondering... This is Seri's Bridal Shower at Unhui's last summer.

I've had this show done since I think August, but something would always go wrong and it wouldn't work. Well I'm hoping this will.

Who knows who will be in the next photoshow.?... I have lots of pictures "!!!!

We Love You Serenity ! Seri's Shower

All you bloggers out there.... I have been blog hopping from one cute blog to another and seeing the most wonderful families on the planet. I think I left a comment on each.

so fun being able to see your little ones grow up

Erik & Audrey Sealed For Time and All Eternity

Erik and Audrey's Wedding

Here is a slide show I did up with the pictures I took at Erik and Audrey's wedding. So this is their wedding day as seen through my camera . I'm hoping this works. If it does, I have one done up of Seri's shower. But the program made that with isn't working as of now since I have just upgraded my computer because of my wonderful son who's birthday is tomorrow. He will be 19.... can you believe that much time has gone by ... Well here goes as far as the slide show. It should be posted on the blog

http://www.photoshow.com/members/jeneralee/all here is a link if you want to see some of my other slide shows

Things are getting busy outside. Our snow is gone and Paul with Dad's help put up the plastic for his green house to be able to start his veggies early. He's a changed man... being able to be outside again. Now daylight savings has started again he can spend more time being outside doing what he loves.

I've been cooped up with this broken foot.

I wore a boot for 2 weeks until they decided to do surgery which they did. Now I have to wait for healing to take place. I'm a bit of a wansy and am having a hard time of it all. Mainly because I get so sick to my stomach from the pain pills, but also because I can't do without them and nothing else seems to work. Enough complaining... I'm sure each of you have your own aches and pains in one area or another. Bethany I love the choice of name for your new little one. !! How exciting but how busy you must be with all those little ones about. They all look so happy and cared for and your blog is darling. Adri and all of you have such cute blogs ! I love seeing all your cute little ones and all your doin's !!

Here is Emily's boys she is a nanny for ( these were taken last summer )

Have anyone checked into Emily's blog? it is lifeaccordingtoem.blogspot.com and if you want to hear about her Brian...elderbrianmontierth.blogspot.com she is keeping a blog for his family from his letters. It is called ...have to get back to you on that one. She has bought her a new car you can see pictures of it at her blog. She has been recording her cd and is having a photo shoot today for her album.... well her single with Jared that they will be putting on I-tunes. kind of exciting !

Taylor turns 19 today !! My has time flown. It seems just like yesterday he was a little munchkin

and now he's all big and grown. He just was promoted at his job and now is in a supervisor position where he has to wear slacks and button up shirt and on weekends a tie. Needless to say, we need to do a little shopping !!... We are proud of his accomplishments and his good work ethic and loyalty to his job. He also is a sweetheart and put together a computer for me that allows me to do my slideshows and red bubble without it taking all day long. So now I can get all the slide shows for all of you with Grandma Rhees and Mom and Dad with the grandkids. I'm excited to start working on them. First I need to get Aunt Carol's done. I've been working on hers far too long. I think she is probably not expecting me to finish !!

Elizabeth is a sweetheart and has been so helpful with my foot to help around the house and she is doing well in school . We need to start working on her getting her drivers license. She could have had hers by now if we would have been more diligent. She is her happy self most of the time. She goes about singing just as she used to when she was small.

Aaron is his own unique self, He has good scout leaders who are constantly working with him on getting his eagle. He continues to be a challenge or should I say we are constantly being challenged as parents to parent him. He is doing well at his school ... I just hope we don't have to fight to get him to be able to stay there.

Well I guess that is enough for now. I couldn't sleep as so decided to write. Oh
one more thing... I got a new calling as Librarian in our ward.

Oh I almost forgot another happening around here. They are building a church just around the corner from us.... not sure how to feel about that. This quiet little street might just not be so quiet anymore ....

Well goodbye for now
all my love
Jan