The Beal Family Blog

My wonderful sister weekend going to St. George

2011-10-24T12:29:00.000-07:00

2011-10-24T12:16:00.000-07:00

I just had the most fun weekend you can imagine. I went with my two sisters to St. George, Utah to hear my other sister's new Book of Mormon hymn program that she helped write with Janice Kapp Perry. They got a standing ovation and were signing autographs afterwards. It was such a thrill!!! We gabbed and laughed all the way down and gabbed and laughed all the way home. We surely solved all the worlds problems. We stayed with Bev's son Steven and wife Bonnie and he designed, landscaped, built and decorated his home and man was it impressive. They were a blast to visit with. Two 1st cousins were also there from Canada that we got to know a little bit better. I saw eight of my bro. and sis. along the way(Carolyn is on her way home from a mission as we speak.) We saw Kolob canyon on the way home and Beverly took me up Cherryville and Onieda station by Preston to see all the gorgeous leaves Friday. What a memorable experience that I will treasure forever.

2011-08-04T18:01:00.000-07:00

We had another smashing year at Red Fish Lake. Twenty nine of our family of 35 made it and we sure missed the ones who weren't there. When we arrived it rained hard for an hour but Seth's tarp made fixing and eating just fine then it cleared up for a beautiful evening. The next day everyone (except the smart ones...ha) hit the FREEZING cold water for lots of fun. Jory brought crafts that the kids all loved. My favorite part is the late night talks. We think we are SO funny(I'm sure no one else would.) We had a fun skit night that made us laugh and bawl. Brynn's violin song, "Arron's Boat Song" brought me to tears. Riding the bikes morning and evening is also a blast plus the food is to die for. We had four marvelous days. Thanks fam!!!!

While we were gone there was a terrible storm. Many south of us got hailed out. Our basement got a little flooding but nothing too bad. Probably just enough to make my carpet smell the rest of it's life. Thank goodness it wasn't worse.

2011-06-22T16:18:00.000-07:00

We delivered Keaton to the mission training center today. We drove to Salt Lake Tuesday night and went to the movie "17 Miracles" about the handcart company and man, once again I was in awe of the sacrifices and faith of our pioneer ancestors. They put me to shame! The next morning we got up at 5:30 and went to a session in the SL temple which I had never done before. It was SO interesting to see the pioneer decor and the magnificence of that great temple. It took the pioneers 40 years to build it. We dropped Keaton off at noon and there were clean cut, enthusiastic missionaries everywhere. This is truly an experience of a lifetime for these stripling warriors! Boo hoo for me, I miss him already!

2011-06-19T20:45:00.001-07:00

What a weekend! Keaton is leaving for the mission training center Wed. for a few months to learn Spanish, then he will fly to the Mexico Villahermosa mission for two years. We had almost the whole family home for the weekend and Keaton gave a talk in church Sunday(many tears shed.) We were just overwhelmed with love for our family and will miss Keaton more than we can express but are so pleased that he wants to serve a mission for Jesus Christ.

Some of the fun were, picking asparagus in the barrow pit, a picnic at the Craters of the Moon, the gabs till 1:30 in the morning, the guys went shooting, the grand kids singing around the piano, the grand kids making a fort in the basement with blankets, four wheeling, badminton, trampolining (is that a word...no) fishing, and of course eating and eating and eating. There's nothing better than family!!!!

2011-05-30T15:45:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely memorial day weekend despite the cold, rainy, cloudy weather. Mitzi and family plus Kelsey, Chase and his roommate came home. So we had eight adults and two children which is a perfect size crowd. That evening they had smores around the fire pit plus some great visiting till 11:30. Sunday,after church we enjoyed our traditional Sunday dinner then we all crashed. We had the perfect family home evening. We sat around the kitchen table and ate candy popcorn, then went around and everyone shared their favorite scripture or thought. Remember if you have teenagers...the key is feed them while it's going on, make it short, and involve everyone as much as possible. We hit the cemeteries then watched, "Forever Strong" an uplifting true story. That night they yelled and laughed playing "Rage" till midnight while I crashed at 9:30. I woke up at 4:00, read, walked outside for 45 minutes then we all ate at the Moore ward breakfast. Everyone did a lot of shooting and four wheeling all day. Now they've all returned home. It sure is fun when the family gets together!

2011-05-01T18:06:00.000-07:00

We had a memorable weekend. Keaton decided he wanted to go to the Twin Falls temple since he'd never been there, to prepare for his mission so we realized that it was a pretty central location for all our family so we invited everyone. Jory was at women's conference and Travis had baseball games(he's the coach) but everyone else was able to make it. Friday night we all kind of did our own thing for supper then most of the in-laws baby sat(they were super good sports!) so the siblings could support Keaton and we had all nine children in the temple at once. We were thrilled that Christy was able to come and Kelsey and Brynn(oldest grandchild) also did baptisms. Meanwhile back at the hotel the grandkids never tired of swimming. When we got home many swam till midnight. Later in our room do you think we could sleep! NO Finally at 2:00 we turned on the t.v. for about an hour then we tossed and turned the rest of the night. Sat. morning lots more swimming then we all got our own fast food and hit Shoshone Falls. This area is all pretty new to us and it was spectacular! The wind was short of a tornado Friday but we really lucked out on Sat. with gorgeous weather. This was the most priceless mother's day gift I could even imagine. Thanks to my wonderful family for one of the highlights in my life!!!!

2011-02-11T21:46:00.000-08:00

Red letter day at the Beal's today! Keaton got his mission call to the Mexico, Villahermosa. He leaves June 22. Sounds like a beautiful place where there are lots of ancient ruins.

2010-12-27T09:37:00.000-08:00

Our family was asked to sing in Sacrament meeting yesterday. The tape is way messed up but seems to work the second time. We are such amatures but this is part of my all time favorite Christmas song and we have fun singing it every Christmas Eve.

2010-12-19T11:54:00.001-08:00

Chase is home!!!!!!!! What a weekend we've had. Oh my, one of those memory times for sure. We started out with Trisha and Keaton and what a gab fest we had driving to Boise. When we arrived at Mitzi's, Kelsey came over and it's like...mother and three daughters together, we solved all the world's problems , HA! We had to force ourselves to go to bed at midnight. Sat. we all headed to the airport and found out Chase's flight was delayed and hour. I have five married children in Boise so there were quite a few of us. The grandkids had a ball terrorizing the airport. When it was time it seemed like we waited forever and our emotions got higher and higher. FINALLY there he was, home, safe and sound! What a blessing, what a miracle. I'm so grateful beyond words. Then we all hit the Pizza Hut. Seth and Chase went shopping and he got a new $600.00 phone for free because of some promotional deal(Merry Christmas.) We crashed at Mitzi's. Sat. night Gabe hosted a party and we played games and had another big time. Sunday we drove home(we had planned to come home Sat. but changed our minds, so we didn't have any church clothes) and the roads were horrible the last half but I survived by sitting in the back seat and singing "Let It Snow" etc. when I got nervous(positive thinking aye..faith not fear.) Once again, three hours of conversation we again solved all the world problems. It was actually a priceless time together with the best visit of all. Just for selfish reasons, what an amazing experience missions are. Getting my boys, all home from their missions, have been the five highlights of my life. Now, I just have one more to go.

2010-12-15T17:56:00.000-08:00

Well you can definitely know that I have more time when I start decorating. I'm the worlds worst decorator but, what the hey, I'm excited Chase is getting home from his mission, so since I didn't have daughters I could assign it to, I tried to make a welcome home sign. It's pretty dippy but I had fun., and yes it's backwards on the other side. HA!

2010-11-25T16:18:00.000-08:00

Look at these beautiful scenes out my windows. I think I live in a beautiful place!

2010-11-15T20:43:00.000-08:00

Tonight was another first. Since we are now empty nesters I've been thinking about starting a family home evening group. I wanted to invite a whole bunch of people but decided to just stick to my very closest neighbors and to only have four other couples. I made the laziest meal I could think of...chili, corn bread, relish plate and root beer floats. I kept finding great stuff for the lesson and ended up with three lessons. HA! I just gave two though. One was that fabulous talk, "Come What May and Love It," by Wirthlin and then just a story on gratitude on page 87 of the Ensign. They all added tremendous stories that applied and we just had the best time visiting. They all seemed to enjoy it a lot and we are going to meet once a month. I've been involved with my family for so long that we haven't had much social time so this was a new and fun event for us.

2010-11-13T14:40:00.000-08:00

Well, since the kids have gone I am pretty hard up for things to blog about. Today was a first however. Seth has strawed down the cattle for 40 years and I have never once gone to see what that was. Well, since our six sons are gone, guess who has to help now? I never pictured myself doing anything on the farm. This is truly about the first time I've ever driven a tractor. I'm having a lot of firsts these days.

2010-10-20T09:12:00.000-07:00

Well, after almost forty years of kids we are now empty nesters. I thought I would be bored and depressed but I have been pleasantly shocked that it's been absolutely heaven around here. Of course I miss the kids but I hardly have to clean and fix food. I have just enough work to keep me happy and I'm LOVING these gorgeous fall days working out in my yard. Life is good and I'm sad to say goodbye to my flowers but I have to rip them out or there's too much work in the spring.

2010-07-26T14:52:00.000-07:00

We had our annual camp out at Redfish Lake. We had such fun and enjoyed our family so much. We fished, swam, rode bikes, had skit night, gabbed and stayed up late and ate too much. Then some of the kids came on home for the weekend. Some had class reunions and Keaton and Kelsey rode the bike Keaton welded in the parade. All the ones that ran in the fun run got medals. It was truly the highlight of the whole summer. Families make life the BEST!!!!

2010-06-21T14:32:00.000-07:00

Chase, my son, will be home from his mission in six months. I can't believe it, the time has FLOWN by. Here are a few pictures. Can you see the snake in the one picture?

2010-06-14T15:40:00.000-07:00

We had our whole family(34) home for Seth's birthday this weekend. It's become a tradition and boy is it WILD! We had people sleeping everywhere you can imagine and it was crazy but fun also. My favorite part was the Craters of the Moon. We all met at 6:00 and had a delicious picnic. It was plenty chilly but then we went hiking and it was perfect weather. We went through Indian cave which is the coolest cave in the world. The grandkids LOVED the hike. My next favorite part was the gab fest till 2:00 in the morning, we laughed our heads off. The next day was pretty cool and windy but it didn't stop the grandkids they were outside all day riding four wheelers, jumping on the tramp, and playing in the fort. Most of the guys went fishing up Antelope. Some took to the mountains on four wheelers and I had the pleasant time of having my brother Reed and sister Beverly stop in for a few hours. Three families left that evening. I was tired Sat. night and had a big day at church the next day so I went to bed but about 11:30 I could hear everyone laughing and yelling playing the family favorite Rage (a card game) so I came down and took a picture. We went to church at 11:00 then came home and the weather was perfect and we had another lively visit till everyone left around 5:00. The kids all brought either a breakfast casserole or a lasagna. We had tons of FATTENING fantastic food! Great memories had by all! Oh, the bike in the picture, is two bikes connected,that Keaton made in his welding class. I thought Brigitte's hair picture showed what the frazzling times were like, HA!

2010-05-27T18:20:00.000-07:00

I have three new posts here. You have to click on older posts to see the graduation and lock in pictures.

2010-05-27T18:05:00.000-07:00

2010-05-27T17:50:00.000-07:00

My babies graduated from high school this week. Kelsey was the top student in her class in academics. She got a half scholarship to BYUI plus some other ones. She also got a medal from the army, that was a surprise, for outstanding academic and athletic achievement. She and Keaton also sang with a group and did a good job. Keaton also got a $500.00 scholarship. We have enjoyed these kids more than I can express. It will be hard to see them go to college next year but I'm trying to be positive, just think I won't ever have to clean house again! HA! HA!

Seminary graduation was Sunday and the kids both graduated from four years of that also. Kelsey was also the Pres.

I was suppose to be a chaperone at the senior lock in and I honestly didn't know how I was going to stand it. Well, we visited and hung around for awhile and then we started rockin. We acted like idiots and had the blast of blasts! Here are a few pictures.

2010-03-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

This week my twins were in "Annie Get Your Gun." They had the time of their lives. Kelsey had the part of Annie and Keaton was Charlie. It was a bit of a miracle that Kelsey was able to sing every night with no problem because she had a terrible cold. She'd blow her nose all day and cough but had no trouble during the play. Another answer to our prayers. A bunch of my kids and their kids came Friday night and we all just ate it up like crazy. It was the blast of blasts! It's a darling play with lots of clever lines. The whole cast did a great job and it was so fun to see them all having the time of their lives. We all stayed up till 1:00 gabbing and ate like pigs. What a big time!

2010-03-22T08:48:00.000-07:00

We had the most fabulous weekend! Friday night we arrived at Gabe and Christy's and she fed us the BEST food, then on the spur of the moment we decided to go to" Blind Side" again and loved it. Saturday I shopped all morning while Seth helped Gabe with a fence then we went to the all state choir concert. I was so sad to have to miss Christy's baby shower. She made a haul! Kelsey tried out along with 600 other high schoolers and 200 made it. Then we all (I have five kids and families in Boise area) went to pizza hut for Keaton and Kelsey's birthday bash. Sunday morning they blessed Gabrielle Cannon and Mitzi also got her young women in recognition award for the second time. We had such a nice dinner at a place Jory's parents have access to. Thanks a ton Jory and we just had the best time ever. We sure missed Trisha's family(they live in Rigby) and Chase(on a mission.) There's nothing better in this life than FAMILY!!!!! You're all the best!

2010-02-14T07:38:00.001-08:00

Keaton and Kelsey had a great time at their senior sweetheart last night.

2010-02-05T09:51:00.001-08:00

Today Seth and I have been married 39 years. He's truly the greatest miracle of my life. When I married him I thought he was perfect now after 39 years I know he's perfect. HA! not really but pretty darn close folks.

2009-12-26T11:02:00.000-08:00

Every Christmas is the best. We do exactly the same things every year. Christmas Eve we have a full blown turkey dinner and Seth makes home made ice cream. Then we have a white elephant gift game, then a spiritual program with lots of singing, the I read Christmas at Grandmothers that my dad wrote and I always cry, then we play games, with Gestures being my favorite, then we end off the evening with "It's a Wonderful Life." Christmas day we have a big late breakfast with Salmon and waffles with strawberries and whip cream, eggs and juice. the kids play games and they usually go on the four wheeler. Family is pricless and we have been lucky enough to always have some kids around, which is my favorite part of Christmas. Ahhhh, such wonderful memories.

2009-12-01T20:22:00.000-08:00

Here's another video of the game lightening.

2009-11-30T19:57:00.000-08:00

Here's some pictures of our Thanksgiving. We have the pie pig out, playing lightening at the church, Braden feeling sick, Mycah and Dejah making pies and the ladies crocheting.

2009-11-22T20:46:00.001-08:00

Okay, so here's the finished products.

2009-11-22T13:35:00.000-08:00

This shows the difference in Keaton and Kelsey. Keaton is enjoying decorating by throwing his tree together and Kelsey is taking great pains to make hers perfect.

2009-11-21T11:09:00.000-08:00

Today's a typical Saturday. Seth is remodeling the t.v. area so we can put in a bigger screen t.v. Keaton is the puzzle master. He's really enjoying some down time, while waiting for his date. Kelsey is fixing her hair getting ready for her Saddie Hawkins date and I am studying my Sunday School lesson. What a peaceful day!

2009-10-28T17:53:00.000-07:00

Gabe and Christy bought us a new dog. Why, I'll never know as we already have a dog but he sure is cute and we are getting attached to him. His name is Buster.

2009-10-21T18:30:00.000-07:00

We just went on a nine day trip to New York etc. We went on the train to Nauvoo and this was the highlight of the trip. We went to the temple, Cathage jail, horse and wagon ride to see all the old pioneer homes and then took in a play that night. It was a priceless day. Next on to Chicago and the Sears towers then the next day to Palmyra New York. This was also a treasured day. We saw the two houses that Joseph Smith grew up in and the sacred grove where he saw God the father and his son Jesus Christ. It was a glorious place. We saw the hill Cumorah and I was surprised at how steep it is. Then we went to Niagra Falls. Next day on the train we encountered a group of people that SMELLED! Truly I almost died. I enjoyed the lush foliage and red leaves on the drive. We got in New York and were fortunate to not have any rain even though it was cold and cloudy. We spent two days on the bus tours and seeing all the sights. We flew home and truly there's no place like home!!!!

2009-10-20T11:22:00.000-07:00

Last week was homecoming and Kelsey got third attendant to the queen and Keaton was her escort.

2009-09-11T17:48:00.000-07:00

We had a surprise visit from Gabe and his family Sunday. On Labor day we all decided to go up to Elbow canyon and cook Dutch oven potatoes, bacon, eggs and some juice. Then we rode the four wheelers up to the medow. I enjoyed the glories of nature more than I can express. It was such a fun little outing.

2009-08-09T15:49:00.000-07:00

Keaton and Kelsley had some serious fun shooting guns yesterday.

2009-07-27T13:57:00.000-07:00

We made our annual trip up to Redfish lake last week for four days. I thought, this is as close to heaven as it gets. Here are my daughters and daughters in law. We are "the ladies of the lake." The picture of my six sons was taken two years ago and also all of us with our bikes. My camera didn't work.

We ate like pigs, rode bikes all over morning and evening, laughed around the campfire till midnight, and I got in a swimming suit for the first time in 10 years and we played frisby football in the lake in the hot afternoon. Great times were had by all.

2009-06-24T13:59:00.000-07:00

Our windows wouldn't open and shut so we had to replace 10 windows in our house. Here are the before and after. The old ones looked better but the new one sure work better.

2009-06-24T13:50:00.000-07:00

Here's some pictures of Keaton and his scout troup doing his Eagle project. They put in benches at the city baseball field and poured cement under them. Yea! we are done with scouts forever! Thanks to a wonderful father we have six Eagle scouts.

2009-06-15T18:18:00.000-07:00

2009-06-15T13:48:00.000-07:00

2009-06-15T13:33:00.000-07:00

Okay, I did this whole ordeal and somehow put it on Christy's blog. We'll try again. We had a wonderful weekend with all the family home(29). Despite the rain we found some dry moments to have an invigorating hike up at Wildhorse and a fun game of Cannon ball and tons of food. We loved it so much we decided for sure this will be a tradition!

2009-06-03T11:09:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Seth and Keaton making a new head gate and Keaton and Kelsey leaving on their trek to Martin's Cove. Pioneer stories are unbelievable to me. These people were something else!!!! I can't even imagine me doing some of the things they did. I love our modern conveniences.

2009-05-30T10:27:00.000-07:00

We went to West Yellowstone for a little overnighter. We went to the Playmill theater and "Footloose" was playing. We thought it was a hoot! I spent a summer up there and it brought back many fun memories. We had a gorgeous drive home and took the Upper Mesa Falls route and it was a spectacular drive. Here's a few pictures.

2009-05-11T11:43:00.001-07:00

Ta Da!!!! We finished remodleling our bathroom. What a MESS we've been in for three months. Here's the before and after. The white one is the before . I don't know how to decorate yet especially the tile wall. Probably nothing will go on that.

2009-05-08T19:52:00.000-07:00

Today was district track. It started at 9:00 a.m. and ended at 3:30. Oh my! Anyway, exciting news...Keaton gets to go to state. He got 3rd(missed second by 1- thousandth of a second) in the 110 hurdles. He's pretty excited just to get to go. He went last year in the same thing. Kelsey came in forth in the 400 and she will find out Sunday if they take her. She got to go to state when she was a freshman and would like to go again, so we'll see. The weather was fabulous! Yesterday it was like a hurricane. They had to cancel many events. Thank goodness we didn't go. I survived by studying Sunday School lessons all day. You'd think I'd be so smart. Too bad I forget everything I learn. It was a very enjoyable day.

2009-04-19T08:25:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of prom. Kelsey got the queen and Keaton got first runner up to the king. They went to the Falls with this group for a movie and dinner.

This is Seth working on our tile wall in our bathroom.

We are always amazed at how much Keaton can eat and is still skin and bones.

2009-04-06T15:32:00.001-07:00

It's the first day of spring break and the first nice day we've had in ages! We all enjoyed it tons. Keaton harrowed the field(which he likes to do) Kelsey got a gang together and they all played base ball at the shelter. Then she and Madison washed cars. I finished up planting some garden. Great day!

2009-03-29T18:27:00.000-07:00

2009-03-29T16:54:00.000-07:00

Oh dear, I don't know how to deleat the one I did twice.

2009-03-26T19:33:00.000-07:00

Here's Keaton and Kelsey doing some stuff in their play. This is the first time Kelsey has ever sung.

Kelsey going to a dance and Keaton enjoying spring in Lost River.

2009-03-17T12:55:00.000-07:00

2009-01-27T12:34:00.000-08:00

What do you do on two snow days? You play The Farming Game for hours and hours! It was especially fun because I won with $520,000.00. It was so fun to sell my fruit for $50,000.00 twice and $70,000.00 once. I'm ready to go buy fruit trees and plant them in Arco. Too bad it was 21 below today and nothing grows here but a few apples.

2009-01-08T15:02:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of Chase at the MTC.

2008-12-27T09:36:00.000-08:00

Hey world! My sister has written a book. How exciting is that? You'll all love it, I promise. Check it out at this web site.

www.sevensistersthemovie.com

2008-12-25T14:40:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!!!! We have had a historical storm. Seth said he's never seen anything like this before. He and Keaton have been moving snow this whole day. We must have four feet or more. It's up to Seth's crotch. Here are some pictures of the snow, Keaton putting lights on the bushes a few days ago, Kelsey with her RED legs when she went out to take pictures in her shorts(YIKES) and a picture Keaton drew for me of the armour of God for my lessons in Sunday School. I'm watching "Ben Hur" one of my all time favorite movies.

2008-12-18T18:25:00.000-08:00

Wed. we took Chase to the Mission Training Center in Provo. It was a priceless experience. When you watch the news and see all the evil in the world, then you go to this place and you see tons of righteous young men being prepared to go teach the world about Jesus Christ, it is truly amazing.

2008-12-15T13:26:00.000-08:00

We had almost the whole family home last weekend to say goodbye to Chase who leaves on his mission Dec. 17. We had tons of food, tons of people, and tons of fun. Here are a few pictures, Seth playing Gestures, the fam. playing Rage, and some other shots.

2008-12-08T12:42:00.000-08:00

The kids had a great party last Sat. night. They were litterally screaming till midnight. This is one of their quieter moments. I loved that they didn't watch a movie like they do at all the other parties. This kind of party make memories!!!

2008-11-29T13:04:00.000-08:00

2008-11-28T13:48:00.000-08:00

Merry early Christmas! We got a new, used Pontiac

Grand Prix, 2008, 9,000 miles. I don't know how to arrange all this stuff so this is a mess. On Thanksgiving day Kelsey and Keaton decorated the two Christmas trees. The three grand daughters were so cute helping. Here they were singing jingle bells while they decorated. They also played games all day.
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Mitzi had a sewing project she wanted Trisha to help her with and they dilligently sewed all afternoon on Thanksgiving.

Chase's birthday was Monday. We had corn chowder and T-bone steaks with coconut cream pie. Since we spent about a thousand dollars getting clothes, plus a watch and a camera for his mission, we told him Merry Christmas and happy birthday. Thanks goodness Stepahnie came through and bought him fabulous gifts, so he had a marvelous birthday. We played Pictionary and Gestures and really had a fun evening.

2008-11-09T16:06:00.000-08:00

Chase, Stephnie, her sister Tanessa, her brother Nick and her dad, who's taking the picture ,climbed Saddle mountain, in Howe, in Oct. It's 1200 feet high. they started out at 4:30 and got home about 7:00 at night. Doesn't that just sound like the worst experience ever!

2008-11-03T08:31:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful and memorable weekend we had. We took off Friday at 10:30 and drove straight to Lance's in Nampa(dropped Kelsey off at the mall to shop with Mitzi)visited for a short while, drove to Alex's, visited for a short while, drove to Gabe's, visited for a short while then went to Hart's at 5:30. Can you bleieve it all took that long. We saw all the cute grandkids in their Halloween costumes. What a blessing to see our grandkids growing up in such strong loving homes. Thank goodness the kids all have jobs and nice homes to live in. Now a days that's one of life greatest blessings. Jory had a wonderful homemade noodle soup for us and then we went and saw Jory's parent's home. They just moved in and it is out of this world lovely! Hart got a nice Disney, pg movie called "Watcher in the Woods." We thought we were pretty safe with a Disney, but man it was pretty darn freaky!

Saturday Jory fed us a wonderful breakfast and then we headed for Mitzi's. Seth fixed her sink and then Kelsey and I had about an hour at the Mall. Rush rush rush, we never have enough time for anything. She got her T shirts for the Sadie Hawkins dance then we couldn't find anything much after that. A bunch of the family all met at Chuckorama sp? and of course I wasn't hungry after Jory's big fab breakfast but I had no trouble pigging out. It was the beginning of our fast so we ate royally. What FUN! Then we all headed for Eagle Island state park where Keaton ran in the state cross country race. The weater was perfect. Cloudy and cool but not cold at all. Butte's team did about average. We ran from spot to spot cheering Keaton on. He'd had a lot of fun with the team so he decided not to go home with us. We drove home and I prepared my Sunday School lesson and plus two magazines saved me. The best part of going anywhere of course is coming home. Chase spent the day in Pocatello with the Nickersons at the football game so Seth drove out to Howe and brought him home that night. I could never have survived all the driving Seth did. It was pretty exhausting.

Sunday morning we drove to Rigby to Trisha's baby's blessing at 9:00. Travis gave such a nice blessing and Trisha bore a beautiful testimony. We had soup in soup bowl breads. YUM! Then we took Chase to Rexburg and then drove home. He's always fun and it was great to be with him also for a short time. GREAT weekend! Isn't family just the best!!!!

2008-10-20T19:46:00.000-07:00

Mitzi tagged me, so I put my fourth picture in my fourth album and here it is. Seth and I having our family home evening when we were young. Hart was our first baby. No wonder he turned out so good! ha

2008-10-17T17:50:00.000-07:00

This has been a fun fun week. It's been homecoming and the kids have been gone to activities all week. They dressed up for "blast from the past." Keaton wore Gabe's old letterman's jacket and Kelsey wore her hair like the 80"s. Kelsey was in charge of the parade(Junior class president) and also all the competitions. They won the hall decorating, the noon games, and I'll let you know if they won the float which I think they should have. Here are some picutres. I heard about this lake up west of Mackay so I thought it would be great fun for their date group to go four wheeling up there Sat. before the dance. Seth and I went exploring Thursday and it was way too far, too dangerous and we never found the lake, ha, but had such a fun time four wheeling and having a picnic. The weather was gorgeous today. I never remember having such a nice homecoming for a long long time. We are just going to the football game in a minute. Yea! The last home game of the season. Now I just have one more year to suffer through and I'll never go to another football game. Actually it's KIND OF fun to gock around at all the people.

2008-10-02T16:07:00.000-07:00

We went on a family outing today. My neighbor went four wheeling up to some lakes in Copper Basin and I've been dying to go ever since. Finally today Seth got some time so Keaton, Kelsey, (they were out of school today) Seth and I took off for the mountains around 10:00a.m. I have it in my head that I can eat all I want if I eat the right foods so I pigged out on fresh peas from my garden all the way up. YUM! It took us an hour and a half to get to the place, after a couple of lost detours from our map reading. We ate tuna fish sandwiches, saved by Thora's wonderful homemade white bread and some fresh spinach, some carrots and plums all from the garden. The back of the trailer was missing so I thought Seth said drive 30 minutes then turn around and I'll go look for the lost part. I miss understood cause he wanted us to come back and pick him up after a few minutes. Well he went for a nice 45 minute hike while we drove to the lake. It was SO pretty and we saw a HUGE Moose with monster horns. Keaton and Kelsey were taking pictures when I caught up to them and of course I was scared he would attack us so I made them hurry and get the heck out of there. We had a dead line of time cause Kelsey has a volley ball game tonight so the sad part is we didn't make it to the lake cause we had to turn around in 30 minutes, SAD, but it was still a fun ride, and we loved seeing all the leaves. Now I want to go four wheeling every week till it snows. I LOVE the outdoors but I'm too scared of animals to go hiking around in the toolies like we used to with our older kids. On the way home we went over the summit into Antelope. The switch backs and cliffs just about put me away. It took us an hour and a half to go twenty miles over that summit. I hope to never go that way again. Here's a few pictures.

2008-09-24T12:31:00.000-07:00

Lead Bread

8 cups warm water
4 T. yeast
2/3 cup sugar
2T. salt
3/4 cup oil
2 eggs

about 19 or 20 cups w.w. flour(sometimes I throw in 1 cup of ground flax seed just for health reasons.)

makes about 5 loaves 350 degrees for 55 minutes

2008-09-23T11:24:00.000-07:00

Chase got his mission call to Fort Worth, Texas Sat. night. We had grandma and Stephanie over and had peach pie. YUM!!!! Here's a picture of him reading the letter into the speaker phone to some of the family. It's not as exotic as a foreign mission like his brothers but I think when you get right down to the purpose of actually teaching that he'll get a lot more opportunities to teach than some of those hard foreign missions. Seth and I are thrilled to have him in the states! He leaves Dec. 17, four days after he finishes up at BYUI.

2008-09-17T13:50:00.001-07:00

I don't know how to edit yet???? I mean Shae and Hailey DON'T take much work.

2008-09-17T13:41:00.000-07:00

Last night I got three boxes of peaches. Today I canned 28 quarts and have two more boxes coming in a few days. I did 28 quarts of pears the other day. This gives me such a big high. I LOVE canning and and I'm getting fat with all the corn in the garden and all the wonderful food around this time of year. Is there anything better than September?

2008-09-17T13:37:00.000-07:00

Trisha had her baby Friday, Brianna Phillips. She weighed 8 pounds 12 ounces. Monday I went over and she is a little doll. I worked to help Trish out then I brought Cooper home for four days. He's been a little doll and I only thought I had lost him once so far. She's doing well and getting good rest. Shae and Hailey are in school so they take much work.

2008-09-17T13:32:00.000-07:00

Keaton and Kelsey had a party last Sat. night. The kids around here always just get together and watch some stupid movie they've all seen five times. I told them I didn't care about my flower beds this time of year so they had the gang over and they played warden till late out in the yard then they came in and played gestures. This will be a real memory for them they had so much fun.

2008-09-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

This week Chase and Keaton helped me freeze corn. In this picture they are husking the corn. Does this bring back memories kids? Also we went to Boise for Braden's baptism. Here he is with the scriptures I bought him. Keaton had a football game in Boise also Sat. and Brigitte was also blessed and can you believe I forgot to take a picture but Gabe's blog will have picutres of that special event soon I'm sure, so check out his blog. One morning we had two deer in our garden I don't know if you can see them very well in this picture.

2008-08-27T13:40:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent photos. Kelsey is cutting green beans while she talks to Blake. He gets his mission call tomorrow and she plans to break up with him this weekend. She doesn't want to get serious and doesn't want him or anyone else to think she is waiting for him. This ought to be interesting next week as she is totally addicted to him.

Seth finished up his water lines and now is working on his corrals. He poured cement this morning so I'll try to get a picture of that up soon.

My flower beds have like three different sets of flowers. Black Eyed Susans and phlox are featured in the fall. I've changed lot of flowers around and it will be so much prettier next year.

This is SMUT that I found in my corn. I examine it every day to cut it out. The spores are in my soil and will last for years. dang

Kelsey and Keaton have started school. When they come home Kelsey talks about everything. I try to get something out of Keaton by asking him about his day and he just says aaaaaaaaa. Last night he did mention he was the class clown. I'd like to see that side of him, interesting. Chase has one more week of home before going to BYUI. Every time I'm around him I'm teaching him about nutrition, cleaning, bad t.v. shopping, etc. etc. At noon he said, "Can I just once be here without a lecture! Ha, he's definitely ready to be out of here. Did I worry about the older kids this much????? He gets ordained an elder next Sunday. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true! Check it out strangers!!!!!

2008-08-07T13:36:00.000-07:00

Here is the video we took of the Beal family bikers racing through the campground.

2008-08-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

We took our annual trip to Red Fish this week and it seems like every year it just gets better. Getting ready to go and coming home almost put me away but it is always worth it. The absolutely best part for me are the BIG bike rides every morning after breakfast and every evening after dinner. Scott is going to put that on my blog when he gets time cause my camera wasn't working right. We sit around the fire every night till midnight and have the most fun talking and laughing. In the hot afternoons everyone heads to the beach and play games around the picnic table. I usually enjoy my air conditioned camper and a nice nap. Dutch oven potatoes and fruit are the best part of eating. We had tons of junk food that I couldn't resist but the REAL food is always soooo much better. I made cinnamon rolls and can you believe I had to bring them home and feed them to the dog. Next year I'll bring more fruit and just cookies, they seem to go over the best. I came home to piles of wash and my garden busting forth with green beans and raspberries that needed attention immediately. When we got home the electricity was off. I weeded till I couldn't see then I had to take a shower with my clorox bottles of water in my storage. FUN

2008-08-03T19:00:00.000-07:00

We had the annual gathering of the Hart's in Preston Sat. We have a great family. I love my brothers and sisters. They are one of lifes best gifts.

2008-08-01T17:48:00.001-07:00

We got the trailer and went over to Atha's and got some of her grass. Keaton, Seth and I worked for three hours loading and unloading all the grass nice and thick all over my garden. This keeps the moisture in and prevents weeds. Then in the fall I till it in and next year my garden dirt is nice and fluffy. You can't even imagine how exciting this is to me. It was probably the best day of my summer!

The boys are cutting wood, sorting cattle and Seth is having to put in a whole new water line all over his farm corrals. He has to dig a tunnel so if you could pray that it won't cave in on him I'd appreciate it. SCARY! This project will take forever but we are so glad it's not January with the ground all frozen.

2008-07-23T09:27:00.000-07:00

Trisha came for her class reunion last Friday and Sat. Hailey was cute, she wanted to work so here is a picture of her cleaning out the messy utility closet before and after. Sat. was Shae's birthday so I took her picture also. Chase is filling out his missionary papers so here is his photo also. This is the fort on the ground now, much safer!

2008-07-16T17:47:00.000-07:00

Seth got all done haying and irrigating so we took off Tuesday for Wildhorse for an overnight campout. We found a nice grassy spot right by the river that Seth loves to fish. We rested then went for a drive up to Fall creek and took the most beautiful little hike up to the falls. It took about ten minutes. My kind of hike. Just right for a grandma. Seth and I cooked dutch oven potatoes and chicken then the guys went fishing. Kelsey and I went for a little jaunt on the four wheelers then read(whoopie) while the guys fished. Acutally it was very pleasant and enjoyable. I'm reading "Twilight" and even though it's SO STUPID that it's about a vampire it kept me entertainedvery nicely. Right about dark the three guys had walked the whole river and were home. Keaton caught the most (four) and they really had a great time. They saw a moose right by the river just as they finished. I was in the camper so I missed it. The next day we slept in till about 8:30...ubelieveable for me since I wake up at 5:00 every morning. It was heavenly. We pigged out royal. We had leftover dutch oven potatoes, bacon, eggs, French toast, cantalope and orange juice. Gabe always wants to know what I eat. HA! The best part of camping is the food, right? I tried to take tons of healthy food but the junk food was way too hard to resist. Then we went for another favorite hike up to the big falls. It's another great grandma hike. It's only about 15 minutes and mostly in the shade. Lunches are always the pits to me but Seth suggeted Jan's chicken salad. We had it both days and it was FABULOUS!!! It's just a bunch of celery, red grapes and chicken with a little salad dressing with sugar in it. YUM!!!! We then hung around a little and came home. Wouldn't you know my camera"s battery went dead so I only have a few pictures.

2008-07-03T15:32:00.000-07:00

Alex, Keaton, Chase and Gabe went to Red Fish and hiked for a few days. One day they hiked six miles to a lake to spend the night. There was NO place to pitch a tent and the mosquitos about ate them alive. They had to turn around and hike out six miles and they said it was SOOOO horrible you can't imagine how horrible it was. They thought they were going to die. How awful!!! I've found that a two mile hike in the mountains is like a ten mile hike on flat ground. Sure glad I was home watering my flowers!

2008-07-03T15:30:00.000-07:00

2008-07-03T15:29:00.000-07:00

2008-07-03T15:27:00.000-07:00

2008-07-03T10:31:00.000-07:00

2008-07-01T14:19:00.000-07:00

2008-07-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

Seth and the boys are killing themselves working this farm. Seth hasn't slept for three nights(well, he's up every hour changing water.) Chase is cutting hay and Keaton is irrigating. There's nothing worse than irrigating in the lightening. We just had out of the clear blue a HUGE clap of thunder. Nothing before and nothing after. It was so close I thought it had hit the house. I've been on my knees more than once today praying. I HATE lightening!!!!

We went out to the Craters for family home evening and took Stephanie. We rode bikes and hiked for a solid hour and a half. It was great fun but a real killer, I'm getting way old.
Here are some of our latest pictures.

2008-06-22T15:08:00.000-07:00

2008-06-22T14:52:00.000-07:00

Since our trip to Oregon fell through I decided to invite the WHOLE family home for the weekend. We simply never do this because there is just too many(28.) Well I had nightmares about the food but now that it's all over we had such a great time and the food was actually edible. We had a big sleepout under the stars. The kids had fun on the four wheelers, the pond, the fort, the trampoline, the pool table, the basketball court, the swingin tree and the gab fests. Blake said, "This is the game house." Everyone brought lots of good treats and the kids went wild over the cute kittens. I drove them a little nuts making them sing in church but it thrilled me and we did okay, truly, lots better than the tape. Lots of memories I hope for the kids and grandkids this weekend.

2008-06-21T08:33:00.000-07:00

It's early in the morning and we're all ugly. I can hardly play the piano and we've only practiced this song three times not working parts yet but here is Bonnie's song in the rough! I told the kids this is my Christmas and mother's day gift. Now if we can just keep them from laughing at church tomorrow when we sing it, it will be a miracle, they're all so silly when we get together. Scott's going to put the song on tonight. The song is "The Book of Mormon Has Come Forth " by Janice Knapp Perry and Bonnie Murray.

2008-06-18T14:28:00.000-07:00

YIKES, we thought our cat was a boy! DAHHHH. Now what are we going to do with all these kittens? I love baby animals, they are just darling.

2008-06-18T12:49:00.000-07:00

When you live in the country and there isn't a swimming pool for ever, any little puddle of water is heaven. Joel Andersen made this little pond just south of our house so now the kids have their own pool in the back yard. It even has a waterfall!

2008-06-08T19:25:00.000-07:00

2008-06-08T19:11:00.000-07:00

It drives me crazy that the teens all get together every week and just watch a movie they've all seen ten times so I told the kids we ought to go fishing on free fishing day and take a picnic up to the Mackay Dam and they could invite their dates. As the COLD COLD week progressed I couldn't think of anything more horrible than going fishing. The kids were all excited. Well, thank goodness Seth got a bad sore throat so we begged out. The kids all went with their dates except Keaton and they had a ball. They froze but they actually caught seven fish. I was so thrilled that they had and EXPERIENCE instead of just rotting in front of the t.v. Then a whole crowd of kids showed up here at the house and they played warden and shot off fireworks till midnight. They had SUCH a big time.. I love it!!!!

2008-06-04T09:04:00.000-07:00

We took off and went to the Playmill Monday night. It was "Oklahoma" and we really enjoyed it. The girl playing Ado Annie was sooo good. Also Will and Ali Hackum had us laughing a lot. Chase and I got in a laughing fit and we couldn't control ourselves. Oh my! We stayed in a hotel and hit the Mesa Falls on the way home. This was my idea of a good time but horribly expensive.

2008-05-26T10:28:00.000-07:00

2008-05-26T10:26:00.000-07:00

2008-05-26T09:52:00.000-07:00

2008-05-26T09:49:00.000-07:00

Chase graduated and Keaton and Kelsey both made it to state track. FUN times folks!!! Here are few pictures.

2008-05-03T16:53:00.000-07:00