I am thankful for muscles I didn't even know I had

 For Thanksgiving this year, we got together with Richard's side of the family and ate and played kick ball.  I had so much fun!  Why do I forget sometimes how much I LOVE playing kick ball?  It must be one of those things you forget with age.

 Well, I don't know if it is actually true, but in my mind, I am awesome at the game of kick ball.  However, today my competitiveness has left me with a few sore muscles, which makes me laugh, because every time I move and something hurts I smile and think all over again about how much I LOVE kick ball. :)  Richard, I am proud to report, has not lost any of his kick ball skills over the years and his performance as pitcher was truly amazing, making me proud to call him my husband.

Last, but not least, this picture was taken at Sarah's wedding and has nothing to do with Thanksgiving or kick ball, but it makes me laugh every time I look at it.  This is a picture of Paige and her cousin Annie giving us there best "come hither" looks.  Hysterical!  Oh yeah, since this is a Thanksgiving post it would be rude of me not to say that I am so thankful for my family, our health, our home, the blessing of living so close to a temple and...KICK BALL.

Sisters!

I just looked at a blog post today that contained a picture of 5 sisters and I thought, "hey, we have a  picture almost exactly like that."  Aren't these girls/women cute?  I know, I am the Mom so I am a little partial, but I LOVE these amazing girls and I am so blessed to be their Mom.  Even though I have siblings, I did arrive pretty late in the birth order and grew up mostly as an only child.  Heavenly Father definitely made up for that by sending me these amazing girls to love and have fun with.  Thank heaven for little girls...and big ones too!

If You Really Knew Me...

O.k., I haven't posted in awhile and I have really liked reading some of the blogs that I have read over the past few months entitled, If You Really Knew Me..." , so here is my attempt to fill you in on me.  I have broken more blenders in my life than I can count.  Why?  Because I use them too much.  To make healthy smoothies?  Of course not!  To make slushes for my family that are bad for us and full of sugar.  We thinly disguise them as healthy because we use fresh squeezed lemons and strawberries.  We live on these concoctions during the summer and they help to keep us cool.  

True story, if I really took every blender that I have ever broke back to the store to make good on the 1 year warranty that they promise, I would have only paid for 1 blender in my whole life.  

I enjoy doing ridiculous things like decorating our front door.

This is a picture from when I went to Mexico with Meagan 3 years ago.  Mexico was interesting to say the least and no one could have been more surprised than me when Matt was called to serve his mission in Mexico.

 I don't remember Mexico being as fun as Matt is making this picture out to be but I am glad he is finding joy in his journey.  I LOVE reading his e-mails each week!

 In the past year I have gone white water rafting and para sailing.  Both were very fun.

 I discovered one of my favorite places this year.  Rooster Cogburn's Ostrich Farm.  Pretty much the best time $10 can buy.

 I am not a huge fan of animals but some of my children are.  I will do crazy things, even allow a giraffe to lick me (yuck), if I am having fun with my kids.

Temple Tuesdays are always my favorite day of the week.  It is fun to see who will show up at our door each week to go to the temple with us.  

My children tell me that I have an unhealthy relationship with feta cheese.  This could be true.  I think a psychologist might call it a feta fetish. :)

 I love my family so much that I allowed this small beast to move into our home and live with us.  Her name is Dixie and she is fond of biting my toes to get my attention. Double yuck!  However, because Matt, as well as others in our home, love her so much I am ridiculously good to her.

 Family really is the absolute best!  I love this picture of our family, minus Matt, that was taken recently at Sarah's wedding.  I even have 2 adorable grandchildren now.  Who would have thought?

 I love Richard.  Especially when he acts silly, which is rare, but worth waiting for.  He would do anything for me and usually goes to extremes because I am not always easily impressed. :)

 Here he is with me in Colorado celebrating an unbelievable baseball catch from the stands!

 Had I known that having a son serve a mission would be such an incredible experience I would have maybe wished for more sons.  I do remember having my days with him and telling him that I hoped he got called to a place where when he got there they handed him a machete to cut through the brush and a flea collar.  Living in an apartment with no means to cook and eating a diet consisting mostly of corn flakes isn't the same as a machete and a flea collar, but close.  I couldn't be more proud of him.

 I like unusual things like pomegranates.  I grew up eating them in St. George, Utah, with the juice staining my hands and my clothes and running down my arms.  Delicious!

 I do NOT like roller coasters!

I'm so glad I married Richard.  What would I have done the last 26 years without him?

Wonderful Wedding

 Shawn and Sarah got married this weekend!  October 20, 2012, to be exact.  We spent the whole weekend with family, laughing and having fun.

 This is my absolute favorite picture that Allie, our talented photographer/sister/daughter took of the happy couple.

 This is Sarah's husband, Shawn Garrison, and we like him very much.  His family is pretty wonderful too.

 Isn't this a beautiful picture of Sarah?  Way to go Allie and you too, Sarah, for looking so great!

Meg gave birth to her second baby, Teanne Mitchell, on  October 7.  I will have to post some pictures of her soon.  She is adorable and I am not just saying that because I am her Grandma.  This was what the Mitchell family looked like just a few weeks ago.  They were able to fly to Arizona for Sarah and Shawn's wedding and we had so much fun with them.  We went to the Tucson zoo, had fun in our neighbor's hot tub and ate so much good food.  It was wonderful to have our whole family, minus Matt, home for a quick/busy weekend.  Family is FABULOUS!

Mexico Or Bust!

This is the picture that will go on Matt's mission plaque.  Doesn't he look handsome?  This photo will also appear (we hope very soon) in the next edition of the Beehive newspaper.  We can't wait to see it!  Every time the Beehive arrives I go right to the page that has the photos of missionaries that have recently left and look to see if there is anyone that I know.  

Today, Matt flew from Salt Lake City, Utah to Monterrey, Mexico.  He wrote last week to tell us that he would be able to call us once he got to the SLC airport and we were really excited to hear from him.  His flight was at 8:20 a.m. and so he thought he would be able to call between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m. our time.  Well, everyone woke up early and Allie, Sarah and Shawn came over and we waited.  We had breakfast and we waited some more and as it got close to 7 a.m. our time and 8 a.m. Utah time we knew that something had gone wrong and that we weren't going to hear from him.  We were disappointed, but knew that he was by far the most disappointed.

Lucky for us, he ended up having a layover in Dallas, Texas and ended up calling about 10:45 a.m.  He said that in SLC there had been too many Elders and too few phones and he thought he had missed his chance to talk to us until Christmas.  When he landed in Dallas it was just Matt and two other Elders and so they made the most of their layover and used the phones.  By then we had all scattered, but Matt had a phone card and so he made contact with everyone.  He called me and I talked to him for awhile and then he said go to the schools and round up the Monkeys (Paige and Kaylee) while I try to get in touch with Pop (Rich), Pooch (Allie), Sarah and Meg. (How come Sarah and Meg don't have nicknames? I don't know.)  Well, he was able to talk to Richard and Sarah, Meg and Allie got voice mails (they might be the lucky ones because they will get something to save and re-listen to) and he called back within 30 minutes of his original call home and was able to talk to Paige and Kaylee and hear Dixie bark as she listened to his voice on the phone.  We are all a little tired, but it sure was worth getting up early and being able to talk to Matt today.  He sounded happy, excited and ready to learn all about Mexico.

It feels like Matthew just blinked and the two months at the MTC just flew by.  I hope he feels that way too. His letters home are hilarious and usually complete with illustrations.  The highlight of his MTC experience was getting to have Elder Neal L. Anderson come to the Missionary Training Center and speak and feeling the undeniable witness as Elder Anderson walked in that he was a true Apostle of the Lord.  He enjoyed the "free box" where he was able to find such treasures as an inflatable monkey that they found a sombrero and bandanna for and they also got shirts, candy and cookies out of the "free box".  He worried for a period of time that an inordinate amount of hair seemed to be coming out every time he showered and he wondered if he was going bald and even if it might happen while he was still at the MTC. :)  He found out that there are stairs everywhere at the MTC and he figured he and the other Elders had walked at least 10 miles just using stairs during the first couple of weeks there.  He worked hard at learning Spanish and he looked forward to packages and letters from home and was dubbed "The 4 square King" during daily exercise periods.

The following are some pictures that Meg took of the day he arrived in Salt Lake City.  Here is Matt at the  airport with Brigham.  Brigham and Meagan met Matt at the airport two months ago and welcomed him with a balloon and an Elder Cluff poster.  Brigham loved spending time with his Uncle Matt.

Here is Matt and Meg.  Meg was able to pick Matt up at the airport and take him for lunch and a chat and then drop him off at the MTC.  That way all of us got to be a part of his MTC day since the rest of us took him to the Phoenix airport and said our goodbyes there.

This is the last picture that was taken before Matt entered the MTC.  His parting words to Meg were "See you in 2, Meg.  I love you!  We are so happy that Matt has this opportunity to teach the gospel and serve the Lord for two years.  We can't wait to hear all about his adventures and experiences in Monterrey, Mexico!

I Knew Carbs Were Bad For You

Don't let my title fool you, this blog post is really my review of the opera, Les Miserables.  Richard and I went and saw it last night.  It was his 4th time and my first.  Why, you ask, has Richard seen it so many more times than me?  Because he stays awake and I don't! :)  As of last night, I think I have attended Les Miserables 3 times but this is the first time I have stayed awake and seen the whole thing.  Opera is just not my thing.  Way too much singing!  Don't get me wrong, I have seen and even enjoyed a few musicals in my time, but the constant singing of opera gets to me.  Why do they have to sing everything?  So, what did I think of the big production?  Lets just say that Richard probably wished I had slept through it again.  The following is my take on it: The main character, Jean Valjean, gets into a lot of trouble because he eats carbs aka bread.  Don't most of us realize by now that carbs are usually nothing but trouble.  I have even known people to suffer way longer than 19 years because of their carb consumption. :)

 Richard said I would probably have to read the book to have all of my questions answered, but that is not going to happen anytime soon, so feel free to clue me in on what I missed or simply didn't understand.   How does Jean Valjean go from being a thief to being wealthy?  Why didn't they spend a lot  more time explaining that instead of showing a house of ill repute?  What happened to the people he even stole the bread for in the first place?

 This guy is named Javert and he spends his whole life trying to find Jean Valjean and put him back in prison. At the end of the opera he ends up killing himself.  Why?  Well, here is my theory; Do you know how much paperwork he would have had to fill out just to get reimbursed for years worth of per diem in chasing Jean Valjean all over France?

I know Richard loves singing much more than I do, but I am going to have to give Les Miserables a rotten tomato for unresolved plot and seedy characters. :)

The 411 Or...Everything You Wanted To Know But Were Afraid To Ask :)

 Did we have fun in Colorado and how did we really feel about wearing wet suits?  Yes, we loved our Colorado trip.  Some trips manage to become even more fun in your mind as time goes by and this trip will always definitely stand out as a good time had by all.  If you enlarge this picture you will see that the girls felt a little weird about wearing wet suits for our white water rafting trip, but they sure did keep us a lot warmer.

 How does Dixie feel about Matthew and Sarah moving out?  Depressed!  Poor Dixie, you still have Paige and Kaylee. :)  Yes, Sarah moved out this week to be closer to ASU and enjoy the fun of sharing an apartment with friends.

 What did Matt spend his time doing before he left on his mission?  He would probably never let us admit to this while he was here, but he used his creative skills to paint some of his sister's nails.  I had no idea what this design was but I was later informed that it has to do with Pokemon.  Hilarious! He also indexed like a madman and really helped our Ward with our indexing goal.

 Why doesn't Dixie wear dog clothes anymore?  We would love to tell you that the reason is because it is too dang hot for dog clothes during the Arizona summers but the real truth is that the children spent the summer teaching her all kinds of tricks that were rewarded with all kinds of treats and her dogie clothes are a little tight these days.  Nothing accompanying Kaylee to school 5 days a week can't fix.  On a positive note, she can sit, shake hands and dance but never quite mastered rolling over.

 Who does Matt miss the most since he left on his mission?  That is a no brainer.  The answer is our dog, Dixie.  If you asked what does Matt miss the most since he left the answer would be his big, comfy bed.

 What was it like on the morning that Matt left for the MTC?  It was really good.  We didn't look too beautiful since his flight was at 7:40 a.m. and he had to be at the airport 2 hours early, but it was a really good morning and one that we are all glad we took the time to participate in even if it was early.

 Did I cry and how did I feel about him leaving?  Nope, I didn't cry.  My family thinks I am heartless, but how can you cry when your son is leaving to do such a good thing like teaching the gospel to people that have been waiting there whole life to hear it and serving Heavenly Father?  I am so proud of him!  It was definitely a process...knee surgery, needed to lose some weight, passport, visa...but so worth it.

 Did Richard cry and how did he feel about Matt leaving?  Also, is it true that Richard could really retire in February.  Yes, he did cry.  Matt leaving for a mission brought back a lot of memories for Richard about how wonderful a mission is but also about how challenging a mission can be.  I think Richard was feeling a little like the elephants on the movie, Dumbo, when they said, "This is a proud, proud day." :)  And, yes it is true that Richard has put in enough years at his job that he really could retire in February.  However, he would still need to find another job with insurance because he is WAY too young for Medicare.  But, whether he decides to find a different job and retire from his current one or just keeps working at the same place, working for 30 years at the same job is quite an accomplishment.  Way to go!

 Last family picture with Matt in it until 2014.

 Are Sarah Cluff and Shawn Garrison engaged?  Yes!  They are planning to be married by Bishop Stephens on October 20, 2012.  They are both enrolled at ASU and are excited to begin their life together.  Do we like Shawn?  Also a Yes!  Shawn is a great guy and a really hard worker.

 Did anyone throw up on the first day of school this year due to nerves?  I am proud to say no.  :)

 Did we follow Cluff tradition and still go out to breakfast at Dennys on the first day of school?  Yes and it was nice.  We love traditions, especially when they involve food.

 Am I recovering from my bad haircut?  Yes, slowly but surely.  I still resemble Moe, but at least I am smiling now. :)

 Is Meagan pregnant again?  Yes!  Meagan and Hyrum are expecting a baby girl to arrive the week of Shawn and Sarah's wedding.  They are going to name her TiAnne.  Congratulations Meg and Hyrum!

 Do I miss my Dad?  Of course!  He was stubborn and funny and wonderful, what's not to miss?

How is my Mother doing?  Pretty good.  She has lots of friends and stays pretty busy.  We spend 2 days a week together and have lots of fun.  I am blessed to have had so much one on one time with my parents.

Last but not least... Am I still PTO president this year and am I still planning to cook the Boy Scout fundraising dinner two weeks after Sarah and Shawn's wedding?  Yes to both of those questions.  What can I say?  If I weren't involved in my church and community I wouldn't be nearly as happy as I am now.  Some people just love juggling.  I may just apply to work in the circus as a plate juggler once all of my personal juggling settles down.  Personally though, I want to be busy until I take my last breath on this earth.  One of my favorite quotes is from Marjorie Pay Hinckley and it says, "I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.  I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing a neighbor's lawn.  I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children.  I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.  I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.  I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."  Amen.