Here's the Fun Part...

I got to hang out with my brother Steve while he did some much needed cleaning for me this week. He cleaned, I showed houses and retrieved key boxes. We ate together. I really appreciated his help since I was hosting a bridal shower on Sat. for Adam's sister, Kim. Hilary and family came down for the shower. Heather and family came down for a nephew's missionary talk on Sunday. That gave us the opportunity for a bit of family fun. Since our stake was invited to the General Relief Society Meeting at the Conference Center, I got three tickets and the three of us left the men in charge and went to be spiritually uplifted. We were well connected with our Relief Society heritage and came away relaxed, uplifted and grateful to be LDS women of faith. It was a special treat for me to have two of my beautiful daughters with me for this memorable experience. I'm not kiddding--I have gorgeous daughters. I guess I'll have to give all the credit to Steve.

Brinley, Jenna, Anna, Korinne and Elsie enjoy looking a pictures in our family books. Notice a few new shorter hair styles.

Quinn seems happier but of course, he loves the extra attention he gets from grandparents and here from Anna.

Jantzen, Brinley, Anna, Tanner, Quinn and Elsie are already to head to Layton for Jordan's mission talk and a big picnic after. The weather was in the 80's and absolutely fantastic which worked well for everyone. Our "Indian Summer" has been spectacular. The trees are brightly colored up in the canyons and mountains. I'm sorry that we haven't made it up for a closer look.

Another Technology Challenge!

My profession keeps me in a constant mode of being technologically challenged. I just get a system going and then it gets changed. This past week several of the large real estate boards in the state changed keybox systems. This meant that 10,000+ realtors throughout the state had to remove the keyboxes from all of their listings and bring them into their board offices at a pre-scheduled time. We then exchanged them for new keyboxes which had to be programmed with our specific codes, etc. We also had to exchange our keys and choose one of three options to replace the key. Then we had to have our new key system programmed and then learn how to use it. I opted to use my Blackberry phone and an infared converter called a FOB. This system will notify me whenever one of my registered key boxes is opened so I can track showings better. It should be really helpful to me and my clients, but... Of course, I have to learn how to set up and integrate all of these new things. I also had to drive all over two counties to re-install all of the new keyboxes on my listings. I'm almost finished with that part. I hope that I can remember all of this stuff.

We Are So Blessed!!!

I'm so thankful. This past week has been a week so full of blessings that it's truly amazing how generous our kind Heavenly Father is. At the top of a long list of blessings to be thankful for is the safe arrival of William Scott born to Jen & Tay on 9-15-09. He arrived at a robust 9 lbs. 12.5 oz. I'm not sure how Jen managed to carry him and deliver him so smoothly. What a miracle and blessing for her! We're happy that all is well with them in China.

He's only a few days old here--less than 1 week but he looks like he's a couple of months old.

We had two grandsons in the hospital this past week also, but both of them are home now and healing well. Thomas is recovering from an upper respiratory infection and Quinn is healing after the "bubble" under his tongue was removed. These two little boys had some serious hours and were in our prayers. We feel so grateful to have them on the mend.

We were additionally blessed to finally get the word on the CNH restructuring and Steve has survived all of the layoffs--he still has a job. He will be a product specialist instead of a business manager. I think it will be a good change and we are so grateful since the majority of his associates are gone from the company.

Hilary was able to accomplish her goal and finish her first marathon "Top of Utah" on Saturday inspite of a recent bout with the flu and IT bands problems. Congratulations on a difficult and impressive accomplishment.

I returned from my fabulous trip to Vermont and had offers on several of my listings in the next few days. Fortunately I have been able to get two of them under contract this weekend. Hooray for my clients!

We feel blessed to have our Sunday School class of 12 & 13 year olds. They are exceptionally good kids and we hope we can help them grow in the gospel of Christ. I have been feeling so grateful all week and today was another beautiful day to be thankful for.

New England Adventure

While this visit to the Dog Chapel in St. Johnsbury, VT was not the highlight of my trip. I must say that it was one of the more unique venues we visited. Inside and out there were shrines, momentos and messages to dogs who have passed on. There were several dogs with angel wings as noted on top of the spire. And inside definitely smelled "doggy."

Benson heading off to school on my last day. We got a kick out of the mother/son matching outfits.

Liberty and I pause for a photo on top of a Maine lighthouse we toured. It was most interesting and we were lucky that our schedule matched with Lighthouse Open House Day.

Not all lighthouses are tall. One (not pictured) was very short and named the Bug Light.

Jeff, Libbie, Benson and Sadie pause in the famous Maine port town of Kennebunk Porte. It was very quaint and touristy. The lobster rolls were awesome. I bought a signed copy of Barbara Bush's cookbook, and we drove by the Bush compound and saw a white-haired women riding around in a golf cart. We surmised it was Barbara.

It was a chilly day, but Libbie and Sadie waded in the surf and Benson built part of a sand castle.

Sadie wasn't the only one who enjoyed chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! We stopped at quite a few chocolate shops throughout Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Here's the famous candy counter in Chutter's. They say it's the longest one in the world. The kids picked out some true "penny" candy. I bought fancy fudge. Yummy!

Benson, Sadie and Jeff with their candy bags in Chutter's.

This was an extremely long covered footbridge in Vermont. I loved all the covered bridges.

This Portland Head Lighthouse hasn't been open to visitors for 10 years. We were among the 250 visitors that day who got tickets to go up inside of the lighthouse. They even allowed Benson to go up. It was awesome!

My visit has included Lighthouse touring; LL Bean and the Freeport Outlets; quaint old general stores and buildings, covered bridges, Camp Joseph and the Joseph Smith Monument; visiting friends and a famous artist, Frank Magleby; picking apples; making applesauce; eating lots of lobster, chocolate, ice cream, cider, cider donuts, chocolate, pancakes w/ maple syrup, pizza, Cabot cheese, lobster, chocolate and ice cream.

The leaves are just starting their process of adding crimson, orange and gold. I'm coming back next year about 2-3 weeks later in the season. It's been awesome seeing the sights and most of all seeing my kids and grandkids! I love you all. Thanks for a great trip!!!