Cats

I've never liked cats.  I would watch my Papa shoot them if they came into his yard.  Really.  I watched him fling one over the fence by its tail.  We were taught that cats were bad.  So I have never liked them.  Refused to have them.  Until Jerry came along about two years ago.  I couldn't say no when Brandon and the kids asked to keep him.  And he was cute.  I kinda liked him.

About a year later Brandon thought it was a good idea to stop at a home with a sign that said FREE KITTENS.  With the kids.  They brought one home.  Looking back, I should have made them take her back.  But I didn't.  How was I supposed to know she would get knocked up and go into labor on my bed, right next to me??????

Brandon woke me when it started.  I flipped out and yelled at him to run get a box because she was NOT giving birth on my bed.  I've tried to blame what happened next on Charlie barking but the truth is, I startled Kotex (her real name is Ella) and she bolted from the bed.  Her first kitten fell out of her and on the floor by the vent.  

UGH.

Great.

Can kittens get a TBI (traumatic brain injury)?????

I grabbed a towel, scooped up the kitten and then mom and put them in the box.  I've never seen a cat give birth.  Obviously. And it was pretty cool to watch Kotex immediately start taking care of her baby.  I figured she was just having one, which confused me because I thought they had huge litters.  After reading on google and finding out there can be anywhere from ten to sixty minutes between births I went back to bed.  We woke up to a total of four kittens.  

Kotex has tried twice to move the under our bed.  On my side.  Seriously??  Why my side??

Those of you who have known me for a long time, I am sure are finding this hilarious.  Those in my family are probably finding this shocking and against everything we've been taught.  

So, we have four kittens.  Three still need a home when the time comes that we can take them away from their mom.  Anyone want one???  Please???

Jill vs. the Snake

A couple of weeks ago, I came home from a friends wedding to find a snake in Luke's aquarium that normally houses small frogs. Awesome.

 Luke proceeded to tell me how he caught it. Carried it home and downstairs to put in his red bin. Which he couldn't find at first and then once he had, he had to empty it out. Which is when I clarify that he brought the snake in the house and was holding on to it for that entire time????? At that time I was so relieved that he didn't drop it and lose it in the house. I asked him why he didn't just put it in the tank to begin with and he said, "Well, I wanted to show Dad. I didn't think it was a good idea to wake him from his nap holding a snake over him."
Good thinking. 

We told Luke he could keep the snake in the tank through the weekend. On Saturday night, the snake made a break for it. I don't like snakes or any other creepy crawly type animals. Contained, they are fine. I don't want to look at them but they don't bother me. A snake on the loose, in my house, is a whole different story.

In tears, I made Brandon and Luke tear a part the basement to find it. I know Brandon thought I was nuts. How were they going to find this little garter snake?? In that moment, I did not care.  They HAD to find it.  Needless to say, it wasn't found. I was pretty close to taking up a couple of friends on their offers of a couch or trampoline to sleep on instead of sleeping in my house. But, I stayed home and slept in my house.

In my bed.
With a snake loose.

I made Brandon shut our bedroom door and put towels along the bottom. Brandon almost lost some toes that night. He found it funny to wiggle his toes at me and make little noises that scared me half to death.  It's rare tat I don't find that man funny.  That night, he was not funny.

He thought he was.  I contemplated amputating his toes.  

A few days go by, roughly a week, and I am finally coming to the point where I figure the snake has died or found it's way out. So life went on. Til I did some laundry...

I was switching over a load of laundry and was reaching into my washing machine when I realized I did not have clothes in my hand but something else.  That was moving.  The snake.  It was alive. I drop the snake, scream for Brandon and immediately drop to the floor hugging my knees and start crying. Which I feel was the appropriate response given the circumstances. Brandon and Luke took it outside and I don't know if they let it go or killed it. I don't care. I still shiver and get chills just thinking about grabbing it. I'm fairly sure that Brandon had to bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.

I gave the tank to a friend for her sons birthday. I think she is nuts to allow a creepy crawly thing in her house. Look what happened to me!! Luke can still catch all the critters he wants. They will just have to stay outside.

Last summer I had to put a limit on the number of frogs he and his friend could catch and put in the tank. It was 4. I explained that there was "no more room at the Inn". Well, this summer, the Inn is shutting down.

November to Now...

SIDE NOTE: I wrote this over a month ago.  Ha!

Thanksgiving came and went. Along with Christmas, New Years, Valentines and all the other days in between. I thought it was time I put up an update... We spent Thanksgiving with my family this year. The kids were with us and we had dinner at my mom's. It was a lot of fun and a relaxing day. So relaxing that I didn't take any pictures!! Brandon and I have another beautiful niece! Emma Shinobu Tingey, born December 18, 2012 at 5:13 a.m. 8 lbs 1 oz, 20.5 inches. Brian and Andrea had their second child, well, technically Andrea had the baby. Emma was born in December and she is such a beautiful baby! Lincoln is so happy to be a big brother. We are excited for her blessing that is coming up. This year, the kids were with us for the last half of Christmas day. Brandon and I spent Christmas Eve with his family. It was such a nice night together as family. We are truly blessed.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           


We had Christmas morning with just the two of us, it was fun to open our presents and spend the morning together in our pajamma's. We were REALLY excited for the kids to come over. We were beyond blessed this Christmas and are so grateful for all of our friends and family. The Lord continues to bless our family, we are humbled and grateful.


                                                                                                                                   


New Years Eve this year was spent with our good friends the Wright's. We had enough food to feed an army, made lava lamps and set fire to a dummy in the front yard!! Really, the Wrights taught us about Ano viejo. A custom in South America, you write down all the things from that year (2012) that you want to leave behind you as you move into the the new year (2013). You then put them together and burn what you are leaving behind you. We each took a piece of paper and wrote down all the things from 2012 that we wanted to let go of and leave behind in 2012 as we began 2013. There was no reading of our papers. I noticed that the room grew quite quiet with the exception of a few cracks from Brandon and Cody. I thought the kids would struggle or not have much to write. Turns out, we all had things we wanted to leave behind. Mine ranged from silly to serious. I have no clue what anyone else wrote. That was one of the cool things about it. We then went out front and put them into the dummy the Wright's had brought. Cody and Brandon moved our 2012 dummy onto the lawn and to make sure it would burn, they poured gasoline on it. Personally, I think those two just wanted to make sure it was a big fire. As 2012 started to burn, there was a surprise, sparklers! Brandon and Cody had to put a little flare to our 2012. As the sparklers died and the dummy continued to burn we stood in silence and watched. After a few moments, Kari suggested we sing a song. Several of us asked what song? And in true Wright/Sandall fashion, Emma suggested that we sing "If You're Happy and You Know It". So, we watched 2012 finish burning and sang our hearts out. Actions and all. We are so grateful for the Wright family and their friendship. Silly one moment and serious the next. LOVE YOU GUYS!!

Thank You Pinterest and Lookout Martha!!

Well, it’s Halloween. This specific holiday is not my favorite (but I don't hate it) and I have never been a huge fan of dressing up, except maybe when I was younger. I get confused why grown women dresses in ¼ of what they would wear normally for this holiday and look like their teenage daughters. I missed the memo that standards are not applicable during this holiday! (End of rant) However, over the years I have grown to find this holiday to be fun. I’ve never been a fan of body parts in the yard, and cheesy stuff from Walmart and the decorations I like, that are found at boutiques is ridiculously priced. Hence, me never getting into the decorating spirit! My mom always went all out for any holiday when it came to decorating our house and fun activities during the weeks before, so sometimes people are a bit confused as to why I am not that way. Side note: My mom is amazing. If I can be half of the woman/mother she is, I would consider my life a success. This year, thanks to sites like Pinterest, I decided to perk up my Halloween decorations. I have a few friends in my neighborhood who go all out and I love their decorations!! They have sparked my creative juices (Thank you Karen!!). So…I’m trying to turn my kitchen into a Witches’ Kitchen, thanks to the help of the gals in my neighborhood. We had a recent Girls Night Out, craft night. We made potion bottles, which were absolutely darling!! I ended up making 25. You should have seen Brandon’s face when I came home with 25 wine bottles turned into potion bottles!! Laura helped me put glitter on a couple of skeleton heads and we put the new décor up this weekend. I also got an idea for a wreath off of pinterest. I dyed some monk’s cloth a burnt orange color, cut into two inch strips and twisted and glued to a wreath. Slapped a bow on that baby and VIOLA! I got through this craft project with only one battle wound. I was caught off guard by my glue gun. But my thumb is healing and I shall survive. Yet another cool thing about living in Plain City? I bought 7 pumpkins for $5.00 from a neighbor. There are many people out here who grow pumpkins, then set up a little stand on their front lawn where you can buy them. Pumpkins at Walmart are $3.88. Each. Take that, Walmart!! So I wrapped some of those in tulle and Laura and Liz helped me paint two of them. While Brandon was at the priesthood session of general conference, we finished the pumpkins and put them outside. The three of us decided to put out the rest of my decorations. I had a new and unexpected item in my Halloween box. It was a mouse. About half way through putting things out, I reached my hand in the box and all of a sudden the unexpected addition ran across the box right by my hand. EEEEKKK!! Ok, I don’t really freak out over mice. Or spiders. But this little guy totally scared me. We took the box out back, I finished emptying it and then got Jerry and dropped him in. Ha! Take that! Looks like I need to put out more mouse poison in the garage, or is it mice poison??? (This is one downside to living in Plain City….there are little critters) Once we were done, Laura, Liz and I hit the Maverick for a treat. We made it moments before the priesthood session ended and so needless to say, missed waiting in a long line of men and boys for our coke’s and treats! WHEW! I walked into the twin’s room and found one of Elizabeth’s craft projects on the wall. She is constantly leaving notes to each of us about how much she loves us and her family. I had to throw a picture of one of her recent posters in.

End of Summer

Summer is over. It was a fun summer and very low key. I decided to throw up a few pictures from us playing around...I did not do a very good job of keeping up with our blog this summer. My excuse would be is that I've been busy having too much fun! We hope that everyone had a good summer!



Mercy River performed in Brigham Young Historical park in SLC this summer. My good friend Amber and I were going and Brandon and Laura came along. It was a lot of fun. We got carmel apples and sat on the grass and enjoyed one of our favorite groups!



One of my good friends had surgery and so her little girl, also known as my little BFF, came to stay overnight over the weekend. We roasted marshmallows and made s'mores and we took her fishing for her first time!! We went up to a city pond in Brigham City that is stocked with fish. It's a great place to go with kids, you are almost guaranteed to catch fish. Mak loved it! You are allowed to take home two fish each. So, with a plan in mind, we kept a hold of 12.

Over the summer several "pets" Luke and Duncan caught ended up at Duncan's house. One of them was a catfish. When that catfish was returned to the wild, I told Mike and Amy to not be too sad. That I would get them another. So, while they were at church, Laura and I drove over to their home. We filled the bathtub and kitchen sink with water and we introduced the catfish to their new home.

CTR, Remember Who You are. Don't do drugs and stay away from weird men/women!

With the start of school here...I wanted to write to the beautiful girls in our ward (boys, you count too but I'm not friends with a lot of you on facebook and that is where this will be posted), my nieces and nephews, my cute step kids  and all the teens and kids getting ready to start another year of school where so many of your best memories will be formed but where you will be faced with real adversity... I always say, jokingly (yet, I'm not joking), when the kids get out of the car or leave the house, "Choose the Right!  Don't do drugs!  Remember who you are!  Stay away from weird men/women!"

I want to share a few things from a book I recently read, When Life Gets Hard by Meg Johnson:

"Being spiritually "able" requires very simple steps - the kind of answers always given in Primary.  Praying, reading scriptures, and being nice to others all invite the Holy Ghost and spiritual ability.  Likewise, spiritual paralysis happens with similar simplicity." 

"Being spiritually paralyzed is not a disability I can handle."

"Those who are spiritually disabled look at us as "self-righteous" and "haughty" when we refuse to join them in their unfair judgements, gossip, parties, movies and every other activity that would numb us spiritually.  They wallow selfishly in their spiritual paralysis.  They know where the path is but choose to stay spiritually disabled.  They do not wish to join us, instead, despise us for our valiance and humility - and ability."

This is so hard!!  How do we know if it is our pride or if it is someone else's insecurities/anger or spiritual paralysis??  And when we make a mistake, what do we do?  That is something that others sit and wait for us to do, to use as a tool to drag us down and to hopefully pull us off our path.  To point out what hypocrites we are.  We all make mistakes, and if you are me you make mistakes, A LOT (like, daily).  I don't have a deep, profound answer.  I have to always go back to the Primary answers above and have found that those, simple things, are the true answer.  If it is my pride, I ask for help to humble myself and apologize.  Apologies are not always accepted, but you have done your part in it, allow the Savior to do the rest.   

A part in the book, she talks about being in a movie that does not align with her standards and that she knows she needs to leave....and asks the question that I find myself asking, all the time.  What do I do?

"As a modern-day Daniel, you have two places to pray- hidden in your closet or right in front of the window.  Sometimes it is right to pray in your closets, but in this instance, being subtle about your standards and still keeping them -  like closing your eyes during the bad scenes - may not be enough.  But if you "pray in front of the window" and stand up in the middle of the show to crawl over everyone in the audience to get out, people might not be so happy with you.

Sometimes when we "pray in front of our window", we're considered arrogant and self-righteous.  Sometimes our friends won't understand our standards.  Sometimes our family will be angry at us for reminding them of our standards.  God does not always close their mouths.

Sometimes those who see our righteous example are not softened, sometimes they are hardened against us."

"As modern-day Daniels, what do we say in our prayers?  Do we ask that the lions' mouths will be closed?  Or do we ask for thicker skin?"

"....courage is not the same as bravery.  When we're brave, we are fearless and confident.  But I rarely feel that way.  Like you, I know people who dislike it when I pray at my window.  I fear that those lions may eat me and that the fires will burn me - but I fear God more.  In my fear, I have little room for bravery.

But I have room for courage.  Courage is not the absence of fear.  Rather, it is the willingness and determination to do what needs doing anyway - despite how we feel.  With courage, we can fall down on our knees right in front of our window, standing tall in our commitment to righteousness, and let the lions eat us.

With courage, we can walk through the fires that burn, and as we do, we will walk with God.  As we are courageous, we will know that if lions eat us, we're going to taste good because the fruits of the Spirit are sweet!

So let the lions eat us as we bear our testimony with our actions and pray in front of our windows.  Let the fires burn us to a standard-waving crisp!  There is nothing on our trail - no lion, no fire, no rock - that we can't handle when we walk with God, even if we can't walk."

Please remember to include everyone.  Gossip, talking poorly about others, bashing on facebook, that all hurts.  I know because I have been guilty of doing it and hurting people in the past and it has been done to me.  Words cut deep and being left out hurts.  I have few regrets in life, but when I have allowed emotion to take control and I have vented on social media, or said things that were hurtful, I have felt true regret.  It is hard to repair that kind of damage.  Look out for one another, and include one another.  Have fun and have courage.  If you won't, who will?   

And most importantly, choose the right!  Remember who you are!  Don't do drugs!  And stay away from weird men and women!! 

Thank you, Pinterest

So I like Pinterest.  I actually use it.  Mainly for recipes and hairdo ideas.  Recently, I saw a hilarious picture of a dog with penciled on eyebrows.  Monday,  I did it to Charlie and Jerry.  Truly, mid conversation with Brandon and Laura, I reached under the bed and grabbed out a cheap, old eye liner....Here is the result.  I find it hilarious.  Hoping no one reports me to the ASPCA.

Before...

They both held completely still, I must not be the only one who likes getting my makeup done.  Jerry, seemed a tad bit ticked off when I was done.