Belated Sad Goodbyes to best friends

What I really wanted to do was scan some older pics of all us for fun.

But let's face it, I'm never gonna get around to it.

Here is a pic of one of Jared's best friends.

Vinnie has lived near Jared for a couple decades.

They strung up little brothers, buried the nice silverware,

started fires, you know, all the boy stuff.

That is until Vinnie joined the Air Force, then they both served missions,

then got married & moved far away. But For the last 3 or 4 years,

they've lived close enough for us to see them a few times a year.

But now, so long. It's time for them to go to Florida!

(Actually, it was time weeks ago, I'm just getting around to this post.)

They look good together.

Playing Guitar Hero while Charly hung out in the closet.

And here's my besty. We met at band camp. Yes, band camp. Andrea & I bonded immediately. Always at each other's homes, switched baby blankets, drooled after immature high school boys, camping, writing letters in class, the works.

Then her husband had to go join the Air Force too. So 3 years ago it was off to Germany. Boooo Ben Kanop (google the video) She visited a couple times, but was here for a bit a couple months ago before she was off to Georgia. A little bit closer than Europe.

The boys with the cute babies.

As Jared & I were driving away after saying goodbye, I was thinking out loud.

"It seems as though we just saw them, & that we'll see them again

sometime next week. Not like until Christmas time."

Jared said, that's how I feel about Vinnie.

That's when you know it's a best friend.

Several times I've lamented over not having a really good or

best friend that lived close. I wish I could find another like Drea.

But then again, that's what makes her so special.

Some firsts for Grant

My baby is going to school! No tears or sadness from me.

I was super proud of how big he has gotten. Grant has been preparing &

talking about going to school for over a year.

(Don't mind the time stamp, it's from my Mom's camera & we can't change it)

SOCCER!!

I have been waiting to be a soccer mom FOR-EVVV-ER.

So even though Grant only made the age cut by 2 days,

therefore making him theeeee youngest kid in the league,

I signed him up.

He doesn't run too fast, but he enjoys picking flowers for me during games.

During a game last Saturday, I kept looking into the backyard behind us. Then one time I looked, a small table in the yard had caught on fire. I told the people around me, "Ummm, can you tell if that's a table or a BBQ on fire?" We yelled a bit & after I had a bad attempt at climbing the fence (darn flip flops), one of the parent refs hopped the fence where there just happened to be a gallon of water & a towel nearby. WHEW Guess the person was in the shower & a candle caught the magazine on fire.

Never without excitement.

He looks like a natural.

Charly got to a bowl of cheez-its.

Kept finding bits & pieces

throughout the house for days

Little Dresses for Africa

There WILL be child care from 3-5:30 pm!!

Little Dresses for Africa service project.

Changing lives one little dress at a time.

Friday, September 25th

3 pm – Finish

9821 Old Placerville Rd

Sacramento CA, 95827

Over 135 pillowcases & fabrics have been collected. Please come

to help assemble & sew them into dresses for African orphanages.

See the original post here.

Items to bring along: thread, scissors, elastic, rotary cutter & mat,

iron/board, pins, sewing machine, serger, YOURSELF!

(Be sure to label all items with your name.)

Any extras like Ric Rac, lace or ribbon can add nice touches.

If you're a thrift store shopper, there's always some ric rac for .50 cents or so.

All & none talent is needed. From cutting & sewing to ironing &

sizing. No sewing skills are necessary. Only the desire to do good.

Come for as little as 10 minutes.

Children old enough to help are welcome.

If you would like to do these at home, let me know!

I can drop off some supplies & show you how to do them.

Even if it's only the prep work!

I do need some one to be my second in command.

You just need to be able to boss people

around & be there for the most part.

Feel free to call or email with questions.

Jennifer Hasleton 747-5110

jnjhasleton@gmail.com

Lisa's Mirror

One of my favorite SIL posted this on her blog recently. I asked her if I could copy it & post it on mine seeing it said everything I wish I could. You can see her here.

Mirror, Mirror

My poor old body. Tonight I had the rare opportunity to take a bath. Yesterday while rushing around like an exhausted zombie I tried to impale my thigh on our front gate. Seriously, I first felt the shock of hitting it and then in my confused state I kept going forward into the protruding metal bars. I don’t know, maybe I was hoping if I hit again I might win the second time. But I definitely lost. Then hurrying to clean the wound and get into bed I taped on an inferior cloth bandage and called it good enough. This evening it was predictably “glued” to the gash necessitating a long soak and proving that while haste makes waste, haste + exhaustion makes pain.

Painful origins of the bath aside, I really enjoyed the soak and lived it up with a bit of Epsom salt poured in. It’d been quite a day, quite a week, quite a month, quite a year. So much has happened. So much of it good. So much of it just-what-happens-to-people-when-they’re-alive. But I digress (and when don’t I), to concentrate on today, when I stepped out of the bath and looked in the mirror I was shocked. Who was that mess of a woman and how come she was taking up my reflection?

Then I remembered, oh yes, that’s me. That’s what I look like now. Not that I was expecting to see twenty-something Lisa: effortlessly size six, naturally long blond hair, and blue eyes unhidden by glasses (which I believe is the legal definition of pretty—wish I’d appreciated it more then), but neither did I expect the wreck of a human that wearily chuckled and sighed back at me.

My lovely bruise, glowing purple and red above my knee, was nothing compared to the lines of stretch marks that shone on my legs and torso in rippling waves. Sadly, there is plenty of flesh for those marks to illuminate.
Nor could my bruise compete with that strange crater that my poor belly button has become. My pitiable navel has been living the life of fugitive for the last ten years. It keeps going into hiding, lost at the end of a massive growth, only to resurface, wider and worse for the wear, 9 months later.
And perhaps it is the 45 months of pregnancy that is responsible for my stature, but I just didn’t seem to be as tall as I once was. Is that possible? Or maybe it was just my posture, perhaps I was stooped from the pain and annoyance of that monthly visitor I am entertaining. Which then indicates that I’m no longer nursing and therefore the one-two? things I didn’t mind looking large now just hung there.
And to top it all off, my eye make up, which I hadn’t removed yet, was smudged from the crying I done earlier at a funeral for David’s mentor who was taken too soon by a -hard, early life in the Chinese coal mines and nicotine. Altogether, I looked something like a large, wet raccoon drug in by the dogs.

“Oh yikes,” was all I could think. “Oh yikes, what happened to you Lisa? Who did this? And why?” It was a very depressing moment for me and my reflection, standing there facing the naked truth. Then grace, sweet grace, came and I recalled, through no effort of my own (after all, all my efforts were engaged in suppressing laughter and tears at that lady in the mirror) the Parable of the Talents.

Suddenly I understood that my body was exactly what I wanted it to be, perhaps minus the bruise. And to answer my questions: Life happened. I did this to me. And because I want to live that life to it’s fullest and for the purpose that it was given.

As that long ago twenty-something I thought that the talents in the parable meant abilities like playing the piano, manipulating a soccer ball, or even befriending people. It never struck me to take it farther to the most obvious gift that our Heavenly Father has bestowed. So, with renewed vigor I take on the challenges of this life. I will not bury my body in the gym or hide it in the kitchen. I will strengthen it, feed it right, use it to bless others, and keep it until it is completely worn out and ready to hear the words “well done thou good and faithful servant.”

-Lisa

A New Favorite

Drop whatever you are doing & go get a copy of

"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society"

(I think the library has a lengthy list over 100 people)

I just finished it & LOVED it! It was funny, interesting,

disturbing, (war stories) but made me grab each of my

children & be grateful for them. The characters were some of the

best developed & the story line was the best. I don't really know how to

describe this book. Just get through those first few pages

with all the characters, then you'll be there

& wanting to buy a plane ticket to Guernsey.

(Although Jared says it's not worth it.)

Also, Jared just made the best eggplant bacon pasta.

Better than any pasta I've had at a restaurant.

His cooking really has ruined eating out.

Thanks to Vinnie for the recipe.

Chop bacon into a skillet at medium
Add onions when bacon gets "chewy"
Add garlic and cubed eggplant when onion starts to get clear
When eggplant tastes good to you, add to cooked pasta and chopped tomatoes. Add fresh mozzarella as a nice touch - I like to shake salt on the whole pot and mix it.

Sorry, no measurements.

Barlow & Hasleton 2009

6 Months for Charlotte

6 Months

15 3/4 lbs

26 1/2 " long

She's scooting around, can move her hands forward 

a couple of times in the crawling position, 

loves to watch her brothers, eats Cheerio's like they're going out of style, 

sleeps great, loves her mommy ;) 

& always gets comments from strangers about how cute she is. 

My baby is FOUR!!!

Wow, 2 weeks between posts, very unlike me. 

On July 29 2009 my baby Grant turned 4 years old! 

I can't believe how time flies. 

He'll be starting school in a couple of weeks & is so excited. 

Me, not so excited. I'm actually very nervous of 

what he'll be learning from the other kids. 

Nate was just as excited to get a bunch of Transformers. 

The 3 together again. My how they have grown. 

Opening presents. 

Thank you everyone for the best gifts ever! 

Nothing made any noise & most were educational.

Every Sunday in Sacrament, Grant looks around for his "friend" Lily. 

Carrie, I would totally luck out if you ended up as some in laws.  

Four years. 

Grant loves to play with puzzles, friends, cousins,

 jump on the trampoline, watch a video (Super Y is the fav around here), 

wash his hands, go to church, 

help around the house (if he's not busy he says), 

& to swim whenever he can. 

Looking forward to another great year my love!

"Making Do With The Not So New"

I have a HORRIBLE habit of searching for fun websites & blogs. When I find one, I'm in trouble. I'll sit there in front of the computer for a good 2 hours reading every article, looking at every project. My bookmark page is full of the fun places I have found. So the last couple of hours I have been reading articles from this page.... Making Do With The Not So New  very interesting stuff. There is a list on the right hand side of thrifty things to do.  Some stuff I have heard of, others were brand new to me. 

Going off one of those links, I found this. I go back & forth about doing clothe diapers. Should I do it? I think Yes, I could do it. Then I don't want the leaks & plastic liners on my kids bums. Sorry Environment. But this blog goes even farther with "family clothe." I think I could do it for myself. Maybe not for the dirty bums that come around here. 

What do you think?

Craft it forward pay out & garden 2009

Our garden for the year. We've got tomatoes, strawberries, green beans, pumpkins & garlic. Much better than last year. Although we've yet to eat any fresh strawberries. First the birds were getting them. So we put up a net. Then a raccoon (we think) came & ate some of everything. There were 3 gorgeous almost ripe strawberries, then they were gone. Not by birds since they cut clean off & the net hadn't moved. Then a chunk of a pumpkin gone. I found half a tomato & strawberry hidden by the fence. The darn thing was storing our food! He didn't come last night, so hopefully he's gone. I've been so mad that someone else is eating my food I've worked so hard on. There is a good feeling that I grew something myself. Similar to having a baby but not nearly as important. I'm excited for our "crop" to keep going. Hint, don't eat fresh non-ripe garlic. It burns your mouth.

Below is my quilt I've finally finished. I took a start quilting class a couple months ago at Quilter's Corner. It was so much fun & I learned A LOT. There were so many things I was doing incorrectly. I wish I had the time & patience to go & redo all my other quilts I've done. Did you know you can quilt your own top? All you need is a walking foot. Unfortunately, my sewing machine is so old & crappy, I can't get one. Meissner's tried 6 different walking foots on mine, then ordered a couple. But nope, I'll just need a decent sewing machine, someday. 

I have also finished my craft it forward gifts for Shell & Ceanne. I'll get them to you soon. Shell, I'll probably just give yours to your mom, & I'm not going to the family reunion, only coming up to visit the week after. So I'll bring yours with me Ceanne. 

At Joann's a few weeks ago, I saw this lemon fabric & thought of my SIL Pili. She has given us so many GREAT hand me downs, this was her gift as a thank you! 

Any one else wanting an apron?? A few have suggested selling these. Any ideas of how much you think I could get for them?

Door Step Angels

THANK YOU   THANK YOU   THANK YOU 

To whomever you are, 

we love you & are grateful for 

your thoughtfulness & gifts.

I guess I smelled that bad on Sunday huh?

My hair sends special regards. 

Update

Update to post below. 

Plus a $75 visit to the ER for Grant. 

He's fine. 

ARGHHH

Please excuse me. I need a little "wo is me" venting.

Since Jared lost his job a couple months ago, we've been watching our budget. But the last couple of weeks we've been on money lock down. Seriously. We buy nothing. I've been using body lotion on my face, old make up samples for eye shadow, spray leave in conditioner for my hair, windex to clean my kitchen counter, baby detergent for all our laundry needs, & mooch flour & butter off our parents. Who can live w/o butter? Good thing for WIC. We'd be living off our food storage & large collection of Pasta Roni.

So why is it when we do so good, other things happen?

Like our brakes needing full replacing=$230.

We need 4 new tires & alignment=$105 a tire & $60 alignment.

And no we can't wait on this. Our mechanic (in whom we trust) says not to wait more than a month. Eeek! That's scary.

A Periodontist bill for $250 which our insurance won't cover. Just for the Doc to tell me I can't have surgery. You PUNK!

You know how many groceries I can buy with this money??

Don't get me wrong. I am so grateful for the things I have. A beautiful healthy family, a roof over our heads, 2 working cars, food storage, reduced COBRA payments, friends with fruit trees, a husband who makes great bread, no debt, things lying around the house we can use. I had no idea how many samples & trial sizes of soaps & lotions I had under the sink. I've made it a point to use them all. Some really stink. If you think you smelled something funny at church on Sunday, it was most likely me. Rasberry mint shampoo. Cool cucumber conditioner. Cranberry body wash. Some fruity lotion which stank so bad that after putting it on my arms I threw it away & continued to put mango melon on my legs. Yup, that smell was me.

Sometimes I feel like we shouldn't try at all. Just rack up our credit cards & get what we want. On the other hand, I'm a little interested to see how far we can go using what we have. Don't worry, we have plenty of toilet paper & diapers.

More Vacation

UGH. I am so tired of posting vacation pictures. 

So I'm skipping most of the reunion, Zion's National, 

church historic sites, crazy Hasleton people, 

& just getting on with it.

Below is Jared & PJ at Zion's on the Weeping Rock hike. 

It was gorgeous. I really wish we could have done more, 

but with a late start, my kids & I were done a little after 1 pm.

An awesome water park where the St. George

 library used to be. Right next to the Tabernacle. 

We walked out from taking a tour at the TAB & 

let the boys play in their undies. There was 

another one behind it that was designed 

to look like the canyon. 

Why can't Sac have cool things like this?

Our water parks are only ok.

All of us at the VC!! I have so many pics 

from my mission standing in front of this Christus statue. 

Now it's my family :)

Elder & Sister Reid serving in Cove Fort. 

They loved me so much as a Sister missionary 

that they keep in touch. My nickname they gave me is Sis Imp. 

(I was a little playful in the VC when 

things got slow. Can you imagine?) We stopped by 

to see them on our way down to St. George from Provo.

 If you've never been to this site before, I totally suggest it. 

Lots of great stuff there. Pres. Hinckley's  Grandparents 

were in charge of it. & the only shot ever fired 

went into his dad's leg.

 Awesome stuff. 

Awesome people.

Brothers & sister saying goodbye. 

I don't know how many tears were shed 

that week saying good bye to our family 

who was off to some far away state.

We miss you all already.

Now to my favorite family in St. George. The Timothy family. 

There's a bit of a story here. Hope you have the time, 

I'll try to keep it short. My companion at the time, 

Sister Villarete, her & I had a dinner appointment 

at the Timothy's house. Trena (mom/wife) was a member, 

Shaun (husband/dad) was not. Her parents were there, it was fun. 

They already had 2 kids & another on the way. 

We were told not to even try talking to Shaun about the church. 

It was a sensitive subject. Shaun seemed a little rough 

around the edges, we heeded the advice. 

So a few weeks later, S. Villarete & I were walking 

home at the end of a day. We were almost home when 

we both stopped, looked at each other, 

& said, "Did you feel that?" The spirit had told us 

to go to the Timothy's house. Wondering why, & anxious 

about the time, we turned around & went. 

Knocked on their door where an angry Shaun 

answered and yelled at us "Why are you knocking on my door?" 

We said we felt that we should stop by to see how they were doing. 

He told us to come back tomorrow night then slammed the door. 

We were a little confused, but went back the next evening. 

Sis. Villarete & I taught what most people 

would know as the 2nd discussion. Shaun just sat 

there with his arms folded, staring at us as if we weren't welcome. 

So we get to the end. 

"Shaun, do you believe in the Holy Ghost?"

"Yes"

"Do you feel it's important to be baptized?"

"Yes"

"Will you be baptized?"

"Yes"

Trena was sitting there crying, Shaun with no look on his face, 

& 2 bewildered missionaries. We asked what had changed. 

He proceeded to tell us that the previous night he & Trena 

had been fighting about him not being a member. 

He said, "I need something from God to tell me to join." 

That's when our knock came on the door. 

And that was it. He took his "sign" & got baptized 

quickly after that discussion. Then Jared & I got to 

drive out to SLC a year later to watch them & 

their family be sealed for all time & Eternity. 

They now have 5 kids, Shaun is the Elder's Q pres., 

& we love to see them! It was a lot of fun as 

Trena cooked a yummy dinner, the kids played, we joked. 

Such good times. 

I'm grateful for experiences like this. 

I had several baptisms on my mission, all were wonderful. 

But Shaun's story sticks out as my favorite. 

The night Sis Villarete & I heard a voice whisper to us. 

Then we drove 12 or so hours home. 

It was a great vacation. Much was learned. 

I wish I could record everything. Especially Grandpa's 

stories about wearing potato sack underwear. 

Back to real life it is.

Sleepy heads & the Oxen

As I watched the Martin van drive around the corner

 for the first time, I thought," what happened to their car?" 

As it came closer, I got a better look at Penny & Diesel. 

David & Lisa had painted their entire van to be a 

covered wagon. Ox included. I think it's great and totally justified 

since they did have something like a 22 hour drive.

I think Enoch was a bit tired & couldn't care less about 

anything going on around him. He did wake up long enough 

to get a cookie, steal & eat his brother's cookie, 

but then went back to sleep on the gym floor. 

Can you tell who these people are?

And Charlotte asleep at the Hunt's with her favorite toy of the day.