We'll Miss You Dad & Grandpa

John's Dad passed away on Saturday. I want to include his obituary in my blog so we can have it as part of our blog book at the end of the year.



Gordon Kenney H****, 77, peacefully passed away on April 26, 2008 in Provo, Utah, after battling renal disease for 10 years. Gordon was born on May 31, 1930 in Magrath, Alberta Canada to George Lewis and Leona Holman H****. He was the youngest of 3 children. His early education was in Alberta, Canada and he continued his education at Brigham Young University, receiving his Bachelors of Science degree in Agronomy with a minor in Chemistry. He furthered his education earning a Masters degree in Agronomy at the University of Nevada, Reno.After completing his education he pursued a career in Research Agronomy working for Ellison Milling, in Lethbridge, Canada; for the Canadian Government; as The Utah State Seed Analyst in SLC; and finally for US Borax from 1965 to 1977 in Southern California. In 1977 he moved to Provo, Utah and began a career in Real Estate. He was a very hard worker and always continued his education; as a result he earned many awards for his excellence in the Real Estate field. When he passed away he had a current broker's license. With his outstanding people skills and positive attitude, he enjoyed success and great friendships wherever he went.Gordon was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and had a very vibrant testimony. He served an honorable mission in Eastern Canada from Oct. 1950 Ð 1952. He always served 100% in every calling he received, especially his favorite, being a home teacher.After his mission, while attending BYU Gordon was introduced to his future wife and love of his life, Carol ReNe' T****, on a blind date. They were married six months later, on June 5, 1953 in the LDS Manti Temple. Together they raised 7 children and enjoyed 57 years of marriage.He was preceded in death by his parents; his brother, Harold; and son, Dennis Gordon H****. He is survived by his wife of Provo; 6 children: Terry Lyn S**** (Blaine) of Canyon Country, California; Julia Ann S***** (Kyle) of Las Vegas, Nevada; Brenda Gay K****, (Mikel) of Marysville, Washington; Bonnie Jean C**** (Ray) of Orem, Utah; Richard Wayne H**** (Dallas) of Highland, Utah; John Kenney H**** (Angela) of ****, Utah; 32 Grandchildren; 19 Great-grandchildren; and sister, Betty H**** Murray.We would like to thank the caregivers of the University of Utah Dialysis Center in Provo for their kind and loving care for the past 10 years.Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, May 2, 2008 at the Grandview 9th Ward Chapel, 1555 North 1350 West, Provo. Friends may call on Thursday from 6-8 p.m. at Berg Mortuary, 185 East Center Street, Provo and Friday morning from 9:30-10:45 a.m. prior to the services at the chapel. Interment will be at Eastlawn Memorial Hills, 4800 North 650 East, Provo.

Give Me Some Sugar

My sister Autumn asked me to post this sugary little treat. I made these apple dumplings last time I visited them, and my brother-in-law, Keith, ate like ten of them. They are seriously rich and sugary, and I can only eat one, but they are mmmlicious. I stole the recipe from Pioneer Woman. If you want to see step-by-step photos of how to make them you should check out her post. And just a little warning, if you are trying to be healthy, this is not the treat for you - all sugar and butter baby.

Pioneer Woman's Apple Dumplings:

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored

2 cans Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

2 sticks butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla

6 oz. Mountain Dew

cinnamon

Cut apples into 8 slices each. Roll each apple in a crescent roll. Place in a 9x13 buttered pan. Melt butter, add sugar & barely stir. Add vanilla, stir & pour over dumplings. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with lots of cinnamon. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream.

FYI - I cut the recipe in half for our small family and it works fine.

Happy Earth Day!

Oh stop, don't roll your eyes, you knew I'd have something to say about Earth Day :) I've mentioned my slight obsession with clean air before. If you have forgotten why, click here.

Anyhoo, every year around earth day I take a little mental inventory of the things I need to improve on environmentally. Then I choose one or two things to work on for the year. This past year, I made 2 small changes and 1 bigger change.

The first change was I stopped 'idling.' It has since become a huge pet-peeve of mine, so if you do it stop right now - or I'll kick you. Have you ever noticed when you go to pick your kids up from school that there are 100 cars sitting there for like 10 minutes and they're all still running - dumping needless pollution into the air? Same thing when you're sitting at the pharmacy drive-thru or wherever - turn off the car. And a little bonus - it'll save ya some cash, and who doesn't want that?

My next change was turning off power strips and unplugging chargers. Did you know that if you leave your cell phone/ipod/camera charger plugged in, it continues to suck power from your outlets even if it's not actually charging anything? Unplug people! Also, things like your dvd player and dvr continually suck power even when not in use. An easy solution is to plug them in to a power strip and simply turn the strip off every night.

The next change was fun - we started a garden. Love it. Fresh fruits and veggies all yummy and pesticide-free.

We also planted this cute maple tree this weekend.

And we put in this new garden box. John's back hates me right now.

Look, we already have little onions growing.

And my windows are lined with lots of things waiting to be planted.

Our magnolia bush is starting to bloom - I love spring! OK, so are you motivated to make some changes? Leave a comment and tell me what you're doing for earth day. This year my goal is to start composting and start using reuasable bags all the time. We'll see how it goes - I'm a slacker on the bag thing.

Go Bulls!

The kids had their first baseball game on Saturday. They are numbers 5 & 10. I wasn't thinking when I signed them up for baseball and soccer at the same time. We have baseball on Tuesday, Thursday & Fridays and soccer on Wednesdays & Saturdays. So, if you need to find me, you know where I'll be ;)

My little ballerina loves to play sports - and she's pretty good too. Dance is still her favorite though.

I love watching Matthew play. After he hits the ball he pretends he's an airplane flying to first base. He is so much fun.

5 Things MeMe

I thought about ignoring this - I've been given it twice now - but I'll do it only because I love you Cara

First, the rules:
1. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
2. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves a comment letting them know they've been tagged and to ask them to play along and read your blog.

What I was doing 10 years ago....
1. Hanging out with Cara, discussing her boy troubles
2. Still a newlywed, married a year
3. Working at Computer Warehouse
4. Wondering why I wasn't pregnant yet
5. Learning to cook

5 Things on my to-do list today...
1. make a vip poster
2. baseball practice
3. laundry
4. pay bills
5. write a primary talk

5 snacks I enjoy...
1. warm cocoa with whipped cream
2. strawberries with whipped cream
3. Chili's chips and salsa
4. blueberry muffins
5. trail mix

5 things I would do if I was a billionaire...
1. Move to Washington - somewhere green with clean air
2. Travel
3. Hire a housekeeper
4. Give lots away
5. Buy nicer "stuff"

5 of my bad habits...
1. I am a very over-protective mother, and I have no intention of changing :)
2. My poor friends have to make the effort to stay in touch - I'm a slacker
3. I over-schedule myself and my kids
4. I'm blunt (otherwise known as rude-haha)
5. When I'm tired I turn into Oscar the Grouch

5 places I have lived...
1. Orange, CA until I was 18
2. Provo, UT for BYU
3. Draper, UT
4. American Fork, UT aka the ghetto
5. The small town I live in now

5 jobs I've had...
1. mall clothing store in high school
2. Pizza Hut - where I met John
3. computer store
4. Intel
5. Mother - definitely the best "job" ever

Tag You're It!
I'm going to tag my family because they still have to love me...sorry guys.
1. April - my very sweet sister
2. Autumn - my very pregnant sister (she's sweet too)
3. Mom - my nutzo mother
4. Aubreana and Alaina - my nieces
5. Andrew - my nephew

Tulip Festival

The kids are on track break right now - no school for 2 weeks woohoo! I think I enjoy track break more than they do. Today we decided to visit the Gardens at Thanksgiving Point to check out the annual Tulip Festival...

Sadly, there were no tulips at the Tulip Festival. The kids and I were disappointed at first, but the day was so perfect and warm and beautiful that we quickly got over it and enjoyed our walk through the tulip-free gardens.

We stopped for a fruit snack at the top of this little hill with a gorgeous view. We sat there peacefully for about 20 minutes. Kylie announced, "Mommy, I like it when it's all quiet like this." I said, "me too sweetheart." Then we both looked at Matthew who yelled, "I like loud!"

Kylie posed by every single thing in the gardens. Matthew was more interested in looking for bugs.

My favorite thing about the 55-acre garden is that there is so much open space for the kids to run around and explore. They loved it.

We stopped by the petting zoo before leaving, and there were lots of new babies. These baby goats were sooo tiny and adorable - they kept kissing each other.

The Fun is Here Again

Kylie's favorite part of soccer practice. This girl LOVES swings.

Matthew promises to provide another couple months of entertainment.

It's warm in Santa Hor-hay

We had a fun visit with my family last weekend. My entire family was able to be there (except for Uncle Frank the workaholic).

Cousins having fun...these 3 are all a year apart and remind me of when April, Amber & I were little. They are all so cute.
Check out Atticus' tongue - he gets into it. Adorable.
We had a little baby lunch for my very pregnant sister Autumn. I made yummy chicken salad croissants. And of course we had to visit the lambs. Kylie & Matthew cannot get enough of these little lambs.
They are very sweet.
Don't John & my dad look cute on a motorcycle together?
Popa gives tours of the peach orchard by wagon and the kids all love it.
Just a random picture of my parents' neighbors' pecan grove. I think they're pecans - some kind of nut anyway.