Girls Weekend in Pine Valley

A few weekends ago, I went on a girls weekend in Pine Valley with Justin's Mom and Grandma and several other female cousins and Aunts. We all had a good time.

Alex's Eagle Scout Project

After Zions, we went to Fernley to help Alex with his Eagle Scout project. The Scouts had prepped the parking balustrades (or whatever they are) for painting the previous weekend. The paint was white and it took several coats to make sure it covered correctly. We also painted the sign, which was definitely more dangerous than we had anticipated. Uncle Dave had his work truck there so that we could use the compressor to paint the sign. It was very helpful.

The final wipe down before painting.

Those to scouts in the back are standing on the tops of ladders. Literally, on the top of the ladder. That's what I deemed more dangerous than anticipated. The craziest thing about this picture is that the sign that they are painting is not over the entrance to the cemetery. The entrances are on the corners of the cemetery. Completely bizarre... talk about your poor planning...

Zions National Park for Dow's Birthday

We went with Dow and Hannah to Zions to hike for his birthday. We asked what he wanted for his birthday and that's what he decided. It was cold and snowy (yes, snowy) but so much fun and so pretty.


Dow and Hannah.


A picture of the snow.

I Love Fall! All the gorgeous colors...

I Got a New Haircut... Lalalalalala

Here it is! I love it! Justin's still getting used to it. Chris thinks it is cute. What do you think? Oh, and did I mention that it is super easy to do?

Haircut

Okay... I'm going to do it...

I have had long hair since Justin and I were married nearly five years ago. Before that, I had super short hair. I know that I swore that I would never chop my hair so short that I couldn't put it in a pony tail, but I've changed my mind. I'm going to chop it today... and I'm SO EXCITED! Anyway, for all of you who will miss my glorious, long tresses, I'm posting one last picture of them here.

Chris' New Do

Chris wanted to cut his hair because it "wasn't curling right." So, I grabbed my clippers and set to work. He wanted to rock a hawk for a few minutes before cutting all the hair off, so here is a close up of his "mohawk." Thank goodness for Elmer's glue...

New Blog Background

I created this new background using my Adobe Photoshop and some tips from a website I found through my sister-in-law's (Jody's) blog page. Sorry if you can't see the whole image. For those of you that will ask, yes, that is Campbell of Argyle plaid. A picture of Justin and I are on the left and just Justin is on the right. It was amazingly simple. Here's the link if you want to do it yourself.

Poor Puppy

On Friday, we had to take our puppy into the vet. I hate doing that because vets are so expensive, but our little puppy was in a lot of pain. Anyway, we found out that because her mother didn't nurse her long enough, her little bones were deformed and her immune system wasn't up to snuff. In fact, because of a fall, her abdomen was full of fluid and her kidneys were inflamed. Not to mention her ribs were flared and didn't connect to her sternum. The doctor gave her a 10% chance of living if we spent at least $2000 dollars and put her immediately through surgery. Even with all that, she would probably get sick again and it would probably be worse. So with that information, we decided to have Lily put down. I have decided that we are never, ever, ever getting another dog. It hurts Justin too much when they die.

Annual Laub Reunion '08

Saturday was the annual Laub family reunion up at the farm. We took off a bit late and almost didn't make it in time for lunch. It was fun to hang out with and catch up with the cousins that came. We played Deal or No Deal (in which I scored $10), went wheelin', played a friendly game of volleyball that was sabotaged by the sun, two trees and a fence, ate some great food, and played a cute game of baseball. Then we watched Michael Phelps win his record 8th gold medal. Yeah, we didn't get home until way late, but it was fun!

So much awesome! (great grammer, eh?)

Okay, so to start I'll take you back to the third of the month when I turned 24!

We had a birthday party at Justin's parents' house and soooo many people came! Thank you everyone who attended, I really appreciated it!

Next onto this last weekend. My parents, youngest brother, and a family friend came down from Fernley for the weekend and I was able to spend some time with them. We watched the Olympics (mainly the events, we saw a bit of the opening ceremony), went shopping (I got a new Dan Brown book Deception Point to read before Twilight which I have heard is awesome) and then went paint balling with my brothers and his friend.

So, all in all, it has been a great month!

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Lily Monster

It has been two months since we got Lily. I thought you might want to see some progressive photos to see how she's grown.Shortly after we got her.

Just before she fell between that gap in the stairs behind her. (Don't worry, she was fine)

Chilling under the picnic table at the Paice family reunion

On the 24th of July or so.

Isn't she cute?

Come On PEOPLE!!!

I must start off this entry by stating that I LOVED the movie The Dark Knight. It was a breath off fresh air in what seems to be a slipping of quality in movie entertainment.

Okay, now into my rant.

I have been reading a lot of articles pertaining to the appropriateness of the movie for children. I can not be the only person smart enough to read a rating! The movie is PG-13. Apparently, some parents have forgotten or were just never taught that PG-13 means that movie content may not be appropriate for those under the age of 13. Now, I believe that it is a parent's choice as to whether or not they take their children to a PG-13 movie, but when they start to complain that they brought their kids (under 13) thinking that it was going to be a nice, happy-go-lucky, bunny, fluffy movie, then they should be slapped. Where did common sense go?

The article goes on to suggest that the reason the movie is so detrimental is because the "action" isn't violence, per se, but of the heart. "There is no hope for the city." What? Did we see the same movie? The entire plot is based on the fact that even in the face of evil, people can make the right choice; a city can fight against evil tyranny. If there ever was a time for such a morally stand out movie that The Dark Knight is (surprisingly), it is now! Introducing the thought provoking questions asked in the movie to teens and young adults is not only appropriate, but down right necessary since many "main stream" parents won't do it. They are the generation shaping the world and, frankly, I would rather have them believing that people are mostly good and that evil can be conquered.

Okay... thanks for letting me vent... Go see the movie... It really is excellent and we should support the good entertainment in hopes that the law of supply and demand will take effect on Hollywood and produce more good quality entertainment.

Videos (Part 2)

The video has loaded now. Click here to watch it or click on the link on the left under "My Videos". As promised, here is the link to my YouTube channel, concerningjane.

Please rate and comment on any videos you watch. Thanks and enjoy!

Videos

So my new found talent/obsession/hobby is making videos. I have a program that I can put music, audio, video, text, pictures, narration, etc. in to and turn it into something that I think is pretty neat. After my videos are made, I upload them to YouTube. Here in lies my frustration today. I have just finished a video with my brother's music in it and have started to upload it. Under the little box where you find the pathway to your video on your computer, there is a little comment saying, "Please, be patient. This may take several minutes." Several minutes my foot! For a video four minutes in length, it seems to take half an hour! It's okay, I can wait. I have my work done, so I don't have much else to do, but GRRRRRR!!!!!

I will be linking to the video (when it finally finishes uploading) and my YouTube channel in my next post.

Gaaa! Sara Tagged Me!

Man, I thought that I was immune to this stuff! Crap. Now I actually have to think...

Name 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions / collections, 3 random / surprising facts about yourself - then tag 3 people.

3 Joys
Religion
Family
Friends
3 Fears
The plains. You know, big, open ground with no mountains. Where do you run for cover?
Someone in my family (especially Justin) getting in a fatal accident
Spiders... they're creepy, alright? ;)
3 Current Obsessions
Writing
Making movies
Photography
3 Random/Surprising Facts
I've never seen an ocean. (SF bay, yes, but not the ocean)
I've never been east of the Rockies.
My favorite movie is a little, unknown Harrison Ford movie called Six Days, Seven Nights.

As with Sara, this is also my first tag, so I'll tag... Jamie, Camille, and Jody. HA! Now you have to think! ;-D

Paice Family Get Together

For the past few years, the Paice side of my family has had an annual "get together" up at Camp Success. We don't really like to call it a reunion, as that implies that we have to actually organize some sort of activity. It is always very relaxing and very fun. This year we joked that there were more dogs than children. There are at least six dogs in the picture below and we were still missing two.

Here is the picture I took of everyone that was present. I used my ten second timer and couldn't believe how good this picture turned out. Some of us may not be smiling, but we at least had our eyes open. We were missing two of my uncles and a few cousins and spouses due to jobs and other obligations, but I still think we had a pretty decent turn out.

This is my Uncle George's family. Clearly, quite a few of his children, as well as his spouse, were not there this year. Many of them had just started new jobs and couldn't get the time off. :-(

This is my Aunt Gayle's family. She was missing one of her son's and his family. That's why I made it look like there was a hole there when I cropped the picture.

This is my Uncle Wayne's family. Two of his sons weren't present, but all of their grandkids were. Lucky Grandma and Grandpa! (Slight sarcasm is intended;-)

Here's my family's picture. I had to photoshop it a little to make mom smile and dad's smile look more like a smile instead of a grimace. But it all worked out in the end. One of these days, we're going to have to have a proper family picture.
And finally, here is the funny-face picture of the great grandkids (of my grandma and grandpa) who were there.

P.S. Uncle Frank, if you're reading this, it's been four years and my husband still hasn't met you... we need to come see you... definitely...

Pine Valley Family Reunion - the rest

Here are the rest of the pics I promised...

Happy Birthday Grandma and Juliet! We tried to persuade Jim to join in, as it's his birthday this month too, but he wouldn't.

I found this humorous... JD has the entire slice of cake on his fork. That's how he was eating it.

And, finally, here's Lizzy with her "important papers."

Pine Valley Family Reunion - Veyo Pool

Last weekend marked the annual Mark Campbell Family Reunion in Pine Valley. Here are some of the pictures from the Veyo Pool.

Jack and Elizabeth decided to play under the table with dirt. They were filthy!

Jamie and Jack lounging next to the pool. It was really cute to see Jack imitate his mom by trying to lie down on an inflatable tube.

I really like this one of JD and Jake. I'm not really sure why... I think it has something to do with the way Jake is walking away from JD... I dunno...

I suggested to Merril that Maxine should take some diving classes. Seriously, take a look at the form this girl has in her cannon ball! I think we have an Olympian diver in the family;)

That's all for the pool. My next post will feature the talent show and the rest of the reunion.

More Photoshop Adventures...

This is a picture of my niece, Caroline. I was fooling around in Photoshop and ended up really liking this one, so I thought I'd share. I'm thinking of doing a "collection" of all my nieces and nephews in a style similar to this, so keep your eyes open!

Justin's Lily

Several weeks ago, Justin was spraying a lady's house in Diamond Valley. The lady's dog, which is half Pit bull half Labrador, had just had puppies the Monday previous. She didn't even know her dog was pregnant until she started dropping puppies. The mother dog isn't very old herself; this is her first batch of puppies and it was the first time she had ever been in heat. The father is a pure bred Pit bull. They were in separate, but adjoining kennels and the mom burrowed over to the dad's kennel. Since that time, the mom has quit feeding the puppies. Of course, that means that the puppies had to learn how to eat real food much sooner than they should have had to. But when the mom take care of them anymore and they are eating regular food, then they are ready to go to a new home.

The owner called Justin and told him that if he wanted one of these puppies, to come and have a look. So, on Thursday after work, we went over and scoped them out. That's were we found little Lily, here. She's not much older than four weeks, though Justin has yet to find the receipt for the owner so he can figure out how old she is exactly. Lily has become Justin's dog; a daddy's girl. She will come to me, but only if she can't hear or see Justin. It's wonderful having a puppy that smells and acts and fattens up like a puppy.
All the research that we have done says that Pit bulls are great with people, but not with other dogs (at least the ones they don't grow up around). Though, one very pro Pit bull site did say that if they show aggression or intolerance to people, then they should be put down. We are hoping that her Lab side will show more than the Pit bull, but all in all, she's still cute!

He's Back...

Okay, so it's been nearly ten days since Chris go back from his mission... I've been a bit busy. Chris landed in Reno at almost 11:00am on the 23 of May. My family and some of Chris's friends all went to see him at the airport.

(the kid over Justin's shoulder isn't Harry Potter, though we always tease him that he looks like him!;)
After we collected his luggage, Chris decided that the place he wanted to go to lunch was The Macaroni Grill. For anyone that hasn't been to a Macaroni Grill, you are missing out! You definitely need to make some time to go there.

He was released later that same day. We all had fun, even though it rained the entire time we were up there. One of Chris's friends brought his Xbox 360 and his Wii and we played video games late into the night. On Sunday, he reported to the ward. Justin and Chris sang Redeemer of Israel in Portuguese while I played the piano.
Chris is excited to be home, but doesn't really know what he is going to do. He's looking into several options, but says that he will definitely be down to visit this summer.
It's kind of weird for me not to have a brother on a mission. Oh well, two more years and Alex will be going, so I can worry all over again!

Best Mother's Day yet...

Sunday was quite a day for me. Usually, Mother's Day tends to be a painful reminder that Justin and I, after four years of trying, do not have children. This year, I was pleasantly surprised by a few "tender mercies." The first tender mercy was that I was able to talk to my brother that is on his mission. He and I are very close and it has been hard to only talk to him through e-mails. We called him while we were at church (because that was the only time he could talk) and joked around on the phone for a few minutes.

He told me some great stories, my favorite being how he was unable to get a hold of my parents through their land line and couldn't remember my mother's cell phone number. Apparently, he had given my parents the wrong number to call him on, so of course, my mother couldn't get through to the right house. Anyway, he called my Uncle Dave, because we used to go to their house every mother's day to visit them and my grandma. My uncle answered the phone.
UD: Hello?
Chris: Hi, Uncle Dave. This is Chris.
UD: Oh, hi... CHRIS! Are you home?
Chris: No, is mom at your house?
UD: No.
Chris: Do you know where she is?
UD: No.
Chris: What's her cell phone number?
I laughed for ages, in fact I still laugh at that story. And, yes, my brother did manage to get a hold of my parents.
The second tender mercy I received was from Kevin and Sara's kids. I guess, in their day of shopping the week previous, the kids (Sam and Derrick, probably) saw a really cute picture frame that was red. Samantha immediately said something to the effect of "Rachel loves red, Mom! Can we get her a present?" I was touched when Sara told me that her children think of me as their second mom. I know that when I have children, I hope they are like her kids! I sure love those kids as if I was their second mom. So, thank you, Samantha, Derrick, and KayDee (and you too, Kevin and Sara) for helping make Mother's Day special for me. (sniff!)

I got this cute picture with the frame to have something to put in it.

Side note: my husband didn't forget me on that day, don't you worry. He took me out to dinner on Saturday night. He knows the way to my heart is through my stomach...;) I guess I really have spent to much time around guys! XD

Thank You, Mom

Though many women have been influential in my life, none have held a candle to my mother. She was the one who held me up through the death of family and friends, through difficult heart breaks, and painful rejection. She was the one who laughed with me, encouraged me, who celebrated with me. Aside from my savior, there has never been anyone who has plead with the Father for me more than she. If she has bad knees, I am convinced I am the cause. And when the time came to pass the mantel of my care to my husband, I am sure her heart broke, but at the same time, rejoiced when she watched us kneel at the alter. And though I owe a debt that can never be repaid, I will spend the rest of my life trying to make certain that all her love, all her care, all her prayers, all her sacrifices were not in vain. She is my friend, my confidante. She is my angel. She is my mother.
It is the season to appreciate mothers. Make sure your's knows how much you love her.

Photoshop Contest Winner

Congratulation to Jamie for her winning entry!

Say What?!?!?!

As I have said in the past, Justin and I don't have television, so when this news story came to my attention, even though it happened about a month ago (I think), I was blindsided. Apparently, a woman who worked for Walmart got into a very serious car accident and was mental handicapped by said accident. After a lengthy court battle, she was awarded $470,000 ($417,000 after legal fees) that was put into a trust to pay for her medical expenses for the rest of her life. Well, when she signed up for Walmart's health plan, she didn't read in the fine print that if the plan put out any money for medical expenses (which it did to the amount of $470,000), then they are legally allowed to be "reimbursed" if there is damages are awarded. And they did indeed take the $417,000 from the trust fund so that the program would be fair to all of its employees.
Now, I understand that what they did was well with in their rights, but was it very ethical? This is the question I'm posing to you all. Remember, Walmart pulls in $9 billion a quarter, not a year, a quarter, so they definitely didn't need the money. But the other thing that I found irritating is that with all these problems that his client is facing, the attorney that represents this woman is NOT being asked to return his legal fees and do the case pro-bono. He gets on his soap box and rails how Walmart is being unfair in taking the money, but shows no sign of relinquishing his 11%. Now, I know, he worked for it and he probably worked very hard, and the 11% is far below the usual 1/3 that many attorneys take, but this whole story just reeks, to me, of unjustness.
I have included the link to the story here www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/25/walmart.insurance.battle/index.html
in case anyone wants to read it. I know that it is on the CNN website, so I have taken it with the usual grain of salt, but even a blind squirrel gets a nut sometimes...

Adventures in Babysitting...

On April 12th, Justin and I watched Kevin and Sara's kids for the day while they went to a sealing. The kids were really, really good! We had so much fun together jumping on the trampoline, going for walks, and, as the picture depicts, going behind the pasture to the river. The water was still really cold and KayDee really didn't want to get her feet wet, but Sam and Derrick had a blast! Hub (K & S's dog) came with us. He's part lab... for anyone who has ever been around a lab, that is all I have to say. For those of you that have never been around a lab, lets just say that lab's love water. Needless to say, we all smelled like wet dog for a little while...

Dark Side of the Moon

I took this cool picture of the moon the other night. I set up my tripod, set the two second timer to prevent my unsteady hand from blurring the picture and let it go. This is what I got. Who says you can't see the dark side of the moon...

Feelin' a Little Trunky...

Yesterday, while at Justin's parents' house, I mentioned that my brother, Christopher will be coming home from his mission in six weeks. Emily put it best when she exclaimed, "Didn't he just leave?" Indeed, it does feel like time has flown by. Justin says that between me and my mother, he doesn't know who is the more trunky. As for me, even though I'm excited to see my brother again after two whole years, I think that my mom far surpasses my trunkiness. Just this morning he wrote to me, as today is the day we usually get e-mails from him and mentioned that he only has six weeks left! Only six more e-mails, one more phone call, and he is on his last transfer this week. He is excited to come home, yet sad to leave. Well, only two more years and we can experience this all over again when Alex goes...

Further Concerning Jude...

We decided not to keep Jude. He was only with us for three days as a trial run and, though he is a very good dog, he is way higher maintenance and needed far more attention than Justin and I could provide. Plus the Rueschs (es?) missed him. Oh well, Justin wants to save up and buy a beagle...

Hey Jude...

We kind of got a new dog yesterday. Ma Ruesch (our friend Randy's mom) had an extra dog she wanted to give away. His name is Jude and he likes to run and jump fences (don't worry, he always comes back). He also likes to sleep in Hub's (Sara and Kevin's dog) dog house. But I guess all is fair because Hub likes to scarf down all of Jude's food. We feed him inside now...
We're not sure that we will keep him for sure yet; it all depends on how he interacts with Kevin and Sara's kids. Here's a couple of pictures for you to look at. Tell us what you think!

Just chillin' on the driveway

Smokin' Jude (at least he's on filters...;)