Leap Year

Leaping along in Life

Yesterday was a crazy, busy day for me. Among the many things I did, I helped out at the school, went to a doctor appt., watched my friend's son, went to an amazing art exhibit at our Stake Center depicting works done by Rembrandt, I took my kids to and from school and my girls to and from piano.

A picture by Rembrandt.

I ran to the chiropractor and made dinner for my family and another family (though I cheated and got some help from the yummy rotisserie chicken at Costco).

I'm still going to the chiropractor for my hip/leg problem, for now. And I've never done this before but after doing an online search (thanks Stephanie), I found a program that says I can be "cured" of this leg pain or at least get it MUCH better than it is now. So I laid down $97, and we'll see if it produces any results. I'm not sure just yet what it entails.

I'm so looking forward to Spring! In fact our weather here in Colorado is fantastic today - it is almost 60 out there and very sunshiney. I need to get out there in it!!

Oh, and a little disclaimer--the picture on my last post of the chocolate fountain wasn't my ward enrichment's fountain - it was just a picture I found online! Sorry to lead you along like that!! But we can all drool, can't we?!! I just like to add more pictures for funner/easier reading.

Sisters

(not my sister and me)

Yesterday I was able to take advantage of Laren working from home and got to go and spend the afternoon with my sister, Kallie. It was a rare treat because, though we only live 35 miles apart, I have Rilyn in Kindergarten who needs picked up midday. Besides that we have 9 kids between the two of us and we have lots of other picking up and dropping off to do, and one of her 4 kiddo's includes a new baby.

Last night I went to Enrichment, I'm on the committee, and we had a speaker from the Stake Presidency and for dessert we had a chocolate fountain and a caramel fountain with all sorts of yummy and sinful things to dip in it (like pretzels, apples and yummy gooey brownie bites)!!

The nominees and my piriformis

I think McCain (unfortunately) and Obama are going to be the Republican and Democrat nominee's for President. I consider myself to be an Independant voter and will likely vote Democrat, depending on who the running mates are. It seems like such an interesting election year, a lot has happened in a short amount of time. I just hope whoever the new President is that they will do a beneficial job for our country!

In other news, I went back to the chiropractor this week. It turns out I have an extra (lower) vertebrae in my back. I have a small chunk out of one of my middle vertebrae, which I'm not sure how or when that happened but the Dr. suspects it is an old injury from my cheerleading days.

The bottom vertebrae in my back was almost completely compressed shutting off the sciatic nerve and piriformis muscle in my right leg which has caused me chronic pain for a long time now. So, the Chiro recommends I go back 3 times a week and then 2 times a week and then 1 time a week for the next 3 months or so. The problem is, our insurance doesn't cover chiropractic and that's $35 a pop! So, I'm trying to figure out what to do.

I've been to the regular doctor (he gave me muscle relaxants to deal with the problem) and to physical therapy for it also. The main thing that helped with the physical therapy was the ultrsound machine but whenever I didn't get that I had no pain relief. Ahh, what a frustration. If anyone has any good suggestions, I'm open to it!! :)

New Look

Big shout out to my friend Kris for the new blog template. She has quite a few blog templates that are free to upload. Go and take a look!

The fine line of blogging

Blogging is an interesting thing.

I blog to journal.
I blog for fun.
I blog to document the lives of me and my family.
I blog to reconnect with old friends and to connect with new friends.

I blog to bridge the span of miles between family members who we don't see as much as we'd like. (Though I have a "Family" Blog that is primarily for them.)
I blog to vent my frustrations.
I blog to share my joys.
I blog to encourage myself and get encouragement from others.

There are many good reasons for blogging. But sometimes blogging can be invasive because there are others out there who can leave negative comments or think negative things even though they may not comment.

Just like in life, sometimes the negativity gets back to you and sometimes it doesn't. And of course I have to keep certain details vague to deter any predators that may be out there.

In allowing others to visit my blog, I'm entrusting you, the reader, with my tender and sometimes raw feelings. I'm hoping that you read without judgement.

Blogging is daring, it is brave. But blogging helps us to learn about others and ourselves. It helps us to discover more about humanity. There have been many new things I've learned from blogging, mostly ideas on how to be a better parent and a better me.

I enjoy reading positive, uplifting things. And I enjoy writing about positive, uplifting things. But sometimes life gives me hard things to deal with and I like to get them out by blogging about them. Often times I avoid writing about it because I don't want to be negative. But sometimes I allow myself to do it.

Blogging has been a great tool of connection for me and on many days it is therapy. Blogging is not perfect. I am not a prolific writer. In reading the written word we cannot always properly convey context or emotion.

Sometimes life circumstances can be read as braggy or boastful when it was not at all intended to be that way. Sometimes we misunderstand what we read. Sometimes we misunderstand the person we are reading about.

But the human being is not perfect. I am not perfect and I hope you all know that I know I'm an imperfect person trying to be a little better, trying to try a little harder and I just happen to blog about a lot of that journey.

My Day

This morning I spent the morning cleaning listening to the new XM radio that Laren got me for Valentines (we just got it in the mail yesterday). It really did help me keep to my (cleaning) task because I had some good things to listen to while I did my mindless chores.

I even took time to play cars with my little Tyler guy.

Here he is at the end of our "playtime" this morning. I counted he has 56 little cars!

I manage to make time for cleaning, laundry, computer time and errands but I don't manage to spend much quality, fun time with my kiddo's. I'm trying to change that! My laundry still sits upstairs washed and dried and wrinkled in laundry baskets but somehow that is okay.

Last night I got my hair done by one of my favorite stylists, Rilyn!

And since several of you commented saying you hadn't yet seen my kitchen since we got the cabinets, here are some better pictures from a few different angles.

(Gotta love the air compressor sitting there waiting to be used in tandem with the nail gun to put up the crown moulding on the top of the cabinets. Gotta wait until Laren's leg is better to get this project done.)

Also, I watch a friend of mine's little boy everyday for a short time after school. Scott is in Kindergarten with Rilyn and so he comes home with us and then stays to play for about 30 minutes or so until his Mom gets here from work to get him.

Scott, Rilyn and Tyler.

And in an effort to use my time better, I will (hopefully) be spending less time on the computer. While I intend to keep blogging, my posts may be more sporadic.

I hope you're all enjoying your day!

SPT

I haven't done SPT in ages, but I'm going to jump in on this one.

What do you do when you need a quick pick me up?




I'm totally taken by GOOD smells. So one of the first things I do is put one of my favorite scents in my oil warmer from Bath and Body Works. I really love Pink Grapefruit because it is a cheerful, fruity scent!

Another thing I do is get my house tidied, if it's not already. I really don't function well if there's stuff laying around. I'm not a "clean freak" but I can't stand clutter laying around!

The Book of Mormon Made Easier by: David J. Ridges

I just purchased this book last week. It is WONDERFUL! It is the entire text of the Book of Mormon (in 3 volumes total) and it has useful background information and insights noted in between and within the verses.

I have to admit that I struggle reading my scriptures because my mind wanders so much. I've actually been praying for help and found this book last week.

I highly recommend this book, it is JUST like sitting in one of my Religion Classes at BYU or Ricks or Institute for that matter. The only exception is that there is no one around to make comments (except the Instructor) and you are reading it instead of hearing it.

This book WILL NOT disappoint!

Here's an example:

This is in Mosiah 3 (I accidentally bought the second book first)

"Note: Verses 18 and 19 contain what is known as "chiasmus." Chiasmus is a writing technique developed in ancient times which emphasizes certain words and phrases then lists these same words and phrases in reverse order.

It is a literary style and technique which was discovered in ancient writings including Isaiah, long after the Book of Mormon was published. Thus, discovering it in the Book of Mormon is strong internal evidence that Joseph Smith truly translated it from an ancient record.Chiastic structure can be denoted by letters, for example: A B C D, and then the reverse order, D'C'B'A'.

Chiastic structures can be any length. For instance: eyes, ears, hearts, hearts, ears, eyes. Normally, the middle word or words are the central focus of the thought.

Thus, in our simple example above, "hearts" would be the main focus. We will print verses 18 and 19 now, and will bold and underline the chiasmus. See if you can pick out the main focus or center of attention around which the other teachings and concepts revolve. We will denote each element of the chiasmus with a capital letter.

(I don't know how to underline on my blog, so the chiasmus will just be bolded.)

18. For behold he judgeth, and his judgment is just; and the infant perisheth not that dieth in his infancy; but men drink damnation to their own souls except they humble (A) themselves and become as little children (B), and believe that salvation was, and is, and is to come in and through the atoning blood of Christ (C), the Lord Omnipotent.

19. For the natural man (D) is an enemy to God and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man (D) and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ (C) the Lord, and becometh as a child (B), submissive, meek, humble (A), patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

As you can see, the central focus is avoiding the character traits of the "natural man." We will now continue with verse 19 which is a famous and often-quoted verse in the Book of Mormon.

As we study this verse, we must understand that people are not "naturally" evil. In other words, the "natural man" is not born that way. Rather, people become that way by violating God's commandments.

This clearly taught in Alma as follows:

Alma 41:11. And now, my son, all men that are in a state of nature, or I would say, in a carnal state, are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity;..." (The Book of Mormon Made Easier part two by David J. Ridges, p. 31-32)

And so on!!!!! This is just a little snippet to give you an idea of the format of this book.

I cannot say enough good about it. And I find that I'm reading much, much more in my daily scripture reading than I was before I found this book! I will be getting the other 2 books in this series this week, they are that good!

Happy 10th Birthday Alyssa!

I can't believe my second oldest is now 10!

*She's my little rice lover, just like her Dad, so tonight we are having Pork Chops Monterey (ala Sweet and Sour Pork Chops) and Rice at her request!

*She loves gum and candy but especially gum!

Here she is at the store a couple of weeks ago checking out the candy display.

*She loves to do her hair and "get pretty."

*I love that she still plays with her American Girl doll! She got a new outfit for her doll as one of her birthday gifts.

*She is a good conversationalist.

She got a new alarm clock with a cd player for her birthday, this is the one gift she was really hoping for!

*She misses living in warmer weather. She has been telling me a lot lately that she doesn't like winter.

*She was my calmest baby, the only one not to have colic.

*She is still my calmest child. She has a fun-loving easy going personality and makes friends easily.

Alyssa showing off the jewelry box that she got for her birthday. (Shh...I think her Mom found that at Kohl's for $8, marked down from $55!)

*Alyssa is very sweet with her younger sister, Rilyn and her baby brother, Tyler. She is going to make a fantastic mother someday, because of the motherly instincts in her already.

*And lastly, Alyssa loves ice cream! In honor of that we are having ice cream cake for her birthday tonight after dinner.

Happy Birthday to my sweet, sweet daughter Alyssa!!

Yesterday

Yesterday was a fun day, Laren was working from home so I got to go and help out at the school "kidless"!! In other words, Tyler got to stay home with Dad while I went and helped out in the morning in Rilyn's class with her Valentines Party and then in the afternoon with Kyle's Valentine Party.

At Rilyn's party.

Rilyn and her best friend at school, Rylee.

Kyle at the end of his party.

I tell you kids sure do make the holidays (doesn't matter which one that it is) more fun! I had gotten the kids a few little "treasures," some little candy treats and balloons and a puzzle. And then for dinner I made Cranberry Chicken and Rice - something reddish and that appeals to my husband. My kids were so full of "junkfood" I don't think they would have cared what was for dinner!


And Denise gave me this award awhile back for my "Roaring" words. I want to thank her for that and pass it along to Jenny, for always making her posts so detailed and interesting and Heidi for speaking her mind, no matter what it is! :)

My Love, My Valentine

Kari Clawson Livingston
Laren and I at Christmas time this year, headed to his company party.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY EVERYONE!!!

Slow and Steady

This is my new pace. I've found I get stressed out and easily frustrated when I try to rush too much. Even though "Slow and Steady" has always seemed too slow for me in the past, which frustrates me too--I've found it is less frustrating than rushing too much.

Laren with his leg brace, is recovering slowly from severing his patellar tendon playing basketball. He still has to keep his leg completely straight, the brace is locked to 0% indicating the degree of bending that he can do in his leg--which is none! He still can't drive, but he is getting used to the crutches more. But the crutches are giving him painful kinks in his neck.


Tyler got his stitches out last week. In fact, I took them out. I could have taken him in but that would've been another trip and more waiting in the doctors office. He didn't want to hold still so Laren had to hold his head while I snipped and tweezed the stitches out.

Tyler's ribs are quite painful to him still. The doctor(s) that he saw on Monday indicated that an Xray wouldn't do any good because even if his ribs are broken and not just bruised that they would do nothing different as far as treatment. They said rib injuries are very painful. Poor guy!

Perhaps "Slow and Steady" is what my family needs to do as well to prevent all these accidents we've been having?!

On Sunday I made 2 large batches of Heart Shaped Sugar Cookies to take to some of the widows in our ward and to some friends and neighbors. We delivered most of them on Sunday evening, however I still have a couple of plates to deliver. It's hard to catch some people home!

Some Sugar Cookies we delivered.

Kayla playing Basketball.

We spend some time every Saturday Morning going to Basketball games for Kayla and Kyle. I need to bring the camera with me to Kyle's games to get some pictures.

Another Basketball picture of Kayla.

Our van getting a new windshield.

A couple of weeks ago Laren and I made the decision that rather than replacing our aging vehicles that we were going to keep them and spare ourselves the payment. Both of the vehicles we have (Toyota Sienna and Camry) are paid for.

But in keeping them, I told Laren I needed a new windshield because it was cracked along the bottom, I wanted to get it detail cleaned and a few other things. And just a week or so ago a friend of my daughter's accidentally ripped the door handle off trying to get in. It was already loose.

My good mail.

In the last week or so I've gotten a few pieces of "Good Mail" that I thought I would post. My friend, Shannon, sent me a very cute Valentines Card with a picture of her family on it (don't have a picture of that). Love the Valentine, Shannon!

And my friend, Alisa, reading of our plight around here lately sent us a couple of gift cards for Pizza Hut - Thanks Alisa, it totally hit the spot!! We loved the pizza!!

And Cristin, my blogging friend, after seeing my January Menu that I posted sent me a cute dish towel with my name on it to brighten my day!! Thanks Cristin, I love it!



Yesterday I spent half the day at the Temple. It was such a great experience, one that I hope to do much more often than I've done the last few months or so.

Tyler

Yesterday was a crazy day at Church with Tyler. Laren had to stay home with Kyle who was sick. And Tyler gave me a run for my money! He took off out of the Chapel in the middle of the Sacrament and I tried to get Alyssa to go and get him (I figured he went to the drinking fountain) but she wouldn't.

So I got up and went to get him and I couldn't find him anywhere! I solicited help from a few other adults out in the Foyers. Finally after 10 minutes of searching we found him!

He was hiding in a classroom near the stage. Then when he saw me, he darted to go in the other direction knowing he'd be in trouble!! I was just grateful we found him and he was safe, I was so worried about the parking lot.

Speaking of Tyler, his ribs are SO sore! They seem to be worse now than they did a week ago (right after his fall). He will grab at his ribcage while he's walking around the house or playing. And he's a tough little guy so I know something must be bothering him pretty bad. I take him in for his 3 year well child check soon so hopefully they will have some more definitive answers for me.

Another reason to love Target

Last night we took the kids to Target to get their Valentines for school. Of course we always end up spending more in there than we'd hope to.

Laren deciding he couldn't bring himself to do the scooter. Being on crutches all the time begins to hurt his armpits, so I convinced him to take the scooter. It lasted all of one minute or so. But I did manage to get a picture, barely!

I have to say though, it's a fun place to shop! Shortly after we got there, I had to use the bathroom. I usually go in the "family" bathroom if I need to go when I'm there and so I'd never been in the regular women's restroom.

Laren was with me to watch the kids so I could go alone--for the first time in as long as I can remember! And I couldn't believe it, in fact I had to do a double take when I saw this:

Free Tampons at Target!

It's a Tampon dispenser that says "Free". So yes, not only are the tampons free there but so are the pads. I couldn't believe it!!


I'll admit it was a bit of a challenge to shop with 5 kids in the store with me.

But overall it was a fun trip!

Pondering

I don't think a day goes by without me pondering on the enormous, important job I have of mothering my children. On the one hand, I want to do the very best job but on the other hand my actions do not support my desires.

Case in point, here I sit blogging rather than getting my kids to get dressed and get going for the day. It is their day off from school. On the one hand it's nice for them not to have to rush into their daily "routine" but on the other hand there is something to be said for order.

A good friend posted this on her blog recently and I regularly ponder on these words of President Hinckley.

"And so I plead with you tonight, my dear sisters. Sit down and quietly count the debits and the credits in your role as a mother. It is not too late. When all else fails, there is prayer and the promised help of the Lord to assist you in your trial.

But do not delay, start now, whether your child be 6 or 16. Do not trade your birthright as a mother for some bauble of passing value. Let your first interest be your home.

The baby you hold in your arms will grow quickly as the sunrise and sunset of the rushing days. I hope you will have every reason to be proud concerning your children.

If with all you have done there is an occasional failure, you can still say, "at least I did the very best of which I was capable. I tried as hard as I knew how. I let nothing stand in the way of my role as a mother."

Bottom line: I MUST do better as a Mother.

I think there are a few things I need to do that would help me in this, liking getting into my scripture reading. I just really struggle with that, I can do good for awhile but then I lose interest and it just doesn't motivate me.

What's in my purse?

I've been tagged again! This time it is by my friend, Leah. I'm a little late on this one so please forgive me. This is a fun one!

Things to look for:

notebook
2 pens
wallet
4 tylenol capsules

appt. card for my husband's doctor appt.
Target Receipt
pack of mini nail files
4 tubes (of sorts) of lip gloss

purell hand sanitizer

round white tape measure (you never know when you need to measure something...)

a small package of glide dental floss

a larger container of glide dental floss (my teeth are very close together and I need to floss after almost every meal to keep stuff from getting stuck between my teeth!)

my business card holder

a Weight Watcher Point Slider/Finder
a pack of Extra Gum - my new favorite flavor Berry Pearadise - it's TASTY! I highly recommend it!

Now I'm tagging Jenny, Mary, Cristin, Julianne and Krista to show us the contents of their purse. The only rule is, no cleaning it out ahead of time!

Pictures from the Smile File

We got up bright and early this morning and got out the door with the entire family just after 7am. Kayla, 6th grade, was selected as student of the month and the school holds a special breakfast for all the students of the month and their families.

Kayla standing in line to receive her reward.

Kayla standing with the other students. She is in pink.

It's always such a nice feeling to go and participate in this with our children. After breakfast, I came home and did some laundry and then went back to the school to help as I regularly do.

Though I got done a bit early this time due to so many teachers out with sickness, I stayed so I could drop off money for each of my kids to send a Valentine Candy-gram to their friends. And before leaving I also filled out a card/candy-gram for each of my 4 kids in school to get a Candy-gram on Valentines Day, from me.

Another item of note, I'm sure it can be easily ascertained on my blog what political candidate I've been in support of. So it probably wouldn't surprise you to see:

This

and this.

Now, after I got home from spending all morning at the school my Mom had called and I was talking to her on the phone. And in the course of conversation she told me she had heard on the radio that Mitt was suspending his campaign. And then after my conversation I went online and watched his "official" word on suspending his campaign at his address to the CPAC in Washington DC.

We ordered the magnets for our cars and the yard sign back when he was still in Florida for the campaign (a week and a half ago). The signs just got here yesterday, the day after he won the election in Colorado. So we didn't get to have them for that.

Though it makes me sad, I realize that he did the honorable and wisest thing by suspending his campaign. And I have a bit of hope that he will run again in 2012 and make it! Notice his campaign signs do not give a year on them. So if he does run again, I will already have my signs!!

I've been tagged...

I've been tagged by my friend Angela to tell you some things about me.


10 yrs ago: I had 1 child and was less than 2 weeks from delivering my second. We had just moved to Mesa, AZ from Tucson, AZ. I made up a bunch of FHE packets on the Old Testament, our course of study that year.

5 Things on my list of things to do today: Take the kids to school, take Laren to work, pick up Rilyn from Kindergarten, pick up Laren and the kids from school and in between visit with my Sister.

Things I would do if I suddenly was a Billionaire: Pay off my house, buy a new car, put money away for my children’s college tuition/housing and start a mission fund,

3 of my bad habits: Not using my time well, not reading my scriptures like I should, biting my fingernails.

Places I have lived: Montana, Idaho, Washington, Utah, Arizona and Colorado.

Jobs I have had: Job Service and the local library during the summers when I was in high school, and in College I worked at Arctic Circle in Rexburg, in the summer between my years in college I worked at the bakery commissary as a civilian employee, I worked for Washington Water Power and Farm Credit Bank. When we lived in Provo, I did some temp work for Novell.

Now I'm tagging anyone who has not yet been tagged with this. And I'm hoping I can go back to sleep! I'm up at 3:52 am with insomnia, I've already been up a couple hours. I don't know how I'll function tomorrow unless I can fall back to sleep!!

Running Around

Lately, life has been filled with lots of running around. Yesterday we went to Church and then came home and got ready to go to my friend's daughter's baptism in Fountain, CO that is south of Colorado Springs. It's almost 2 hours from our house and so we didn't get back until late last night.

Natasha right before she was baptized.

We were so happy to go and be there for Natasha and Amy. I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost and Laren did the confirmation. He couldn't do the baptizing because of his leg.

Amy and Natasha, her daughter.

While we were at Amy's, Tyler (our 3 year old) fell from her kitchen down to her family room. Her house is a tri-level and there was a little opening next to the stairs. I was really scared because he seemed to be fussy and acting funny. Of course it happened just before we were ready to leave!

We stayed another 30 minutes or so just to be sure nothing serious was wrong and then we made a dash for home! It was a long drive because I was worried about Tyler and the road was windy, it is a 75 mph speed limit which is kind of fast for lots of curves and hills and lots of traffic!

Tyler seems to complain whenever I lift him on his right side to wash his hands or to lift him into his carseat. The left side doesn't seem to bother him nearly so much. He landed on his right side when he fell.

So this morning I had to take Laren to a doctor appt. right after I dropped the kids off at school. Laren was able to get his stitches out, but will not be able to bend his knee for another month which is when he will go back to the doctor. So his leg brace and his crutches are his best friend right now.

Laren with his bum leg.

After Laren's doctor appt. we picked Rilyn up from school and took Tyler to the doctor. We just wanted to have him checked out to make sure nothing is seriously wrong.

The doctor, the same guy we are borrowing Laren's crutches from, said Tyler may have bruised or broken ribs. It was inconclusive, but that in about a month his soreness should improve and that he should heal fine.

Now we need to get Laren's temporary handicap permit and get it to the drivers licensing place and then I need to pick the kids up for school! Thankfully, it is not my turn to drive the carpool for Kayla's basketball practice tonight but it is my turn to drive for Kyle's. So I'll be taking care of that too.

This is really taxing me. I never realized how much stress is imposed on the Mother at times like this. One thing is for sure, I will always appreciate the "dull" times in life much more than I used to!!

Despite all that has gone on, I have so much to be thankful for for sure! For the most part, we enjoy good health, insurance, and I'm SO grateful the injuries were not any worse than they were!

Meeting Mitt

Today, after our harried morning, we went to the Rally for Mitt Romney here at a Ford Dealership in Denver. I guess they were expecting only 150 people to show up and it ended up being 1500 to 2000 people that showed up instead!!!

Unfortunately we did not get there early enough to get "inside" where Mitt was speaking. So we stood outside and got glimpses of him through the huge windows of the dealership.

Laren, when we finally got inside after the crowds went outside!

I was impressed by Mitt's Energy, Enthusiasm, and Charisma! He is so articulate and knows just what to say. I was impressed by the fact that he didn't give his message in the "same" way that I had heard on TV. He gave the same message but in more detail.

Mitt also came outside and spoke to the crowd. By this time we were inside the building! I noticed he was headed outside and motioned to Laren. We quickly went out but he was surrounded in a crowd of people quite quickly!


Him going outside was unplanned but he went out because his "people" working with him suggested he do so because there was an enormous crowd of supporters that couldn't make it inside that wanted to see him!

So he obliged and came out!




I happened to be positioned near where he walked when he walked back in to give more television and radio interviews.



Giving his million-dollar smile, he shook my hand. I told him, "You have my vote!" He said, "Thank you" very genuinely. He was graciously signing shirts, books, magazines - you name it! He was shaking hands and greeting people.



I was really struck by how upbeat he is for being the underdog right now. He seemed so optimistic. He is forging forward, not retreating!

There were Mitt signs, posters, hats and clothing everywhere!

He looked great! As I thought about it later, I realized once again that he is 60. He certainly did not look like a 60 year old man. He looked more like he was in his late 30's to early 40's. No kidding!

Me standing on the same stage where Mitt did when he spoke. They were already taking down the signs by the time I got up there!

He had a smile for everyone.
He is smiling in almost every picture I have of him and I was just trying to get a picture, any picture. I wasn't going for the gusto, that one best shot.

If he is fortunate to get enough delegates and become the Republican nominee, I know he will represent the Republicans better than McCain would. I don't think McCain stands a chance against the Democrats.

Laren standing on the peripheal. It was hard for him to get too close with his crutches.

We saw a lot of people we know at the Rally today. I was somewhat surprised by that!

On the way home from the Rally, we listened to the interviews Mitt did on talk radio.

If he makes it, he will be a great President!