Grandparents, Cauldrin Linn and spring

Rustin and I went to the most beautiful sealing this weekend here in our temple.  The temple president was the sealer.  At the very beginning of the sealing he talked about how happy he was to see grand parents and great-grandparents at the ceremony. He said that where grandparents are obedient  grandchildren will follow.  He said that the reason we have so many temples here in Southern Idaho is because righteous grandparents have taught their children.  I felt the spirit so strongly.  I know he is right.  Sometimes I reflect back on the generations that have gone before me with awe.  They had such faith and determination.

A while ago when we were visiting Great-Grandma Geisler we asked her to tell us about her parents.  How many kids can say they learned about their great-great grandparents from people who knew them personally?!

This weekend reminded me that I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to my ancestors. I hope they now know how much their work and dedication have paid off.

We had Rustin's parents here visiting this weekend with Sam and Ariel and baby Jori.

We loaded kids and a picnic up and went to Cauldrin Linn on Saturday.  We love to go there when the water is low because of all the awesome rock formations.

We skipped rocks on the smooth calm river surface above the narrows and we hiked around on the rocks.  We got splashed by a dog (Paisley!) who--we discovered--loves to swim, and we had a nice picnic lunch. Might I just add--the lunch was completely prepared, packed and loaded by Rustin.  It was so nice!

The dogs ran around and sniffed everything.  Paisley swam in the river (and gave us all a shower!) and we enjoyed some fresh air and vitamin D!

Our newest family member!

We have a new dog! 

Not quite as exciting as a new baby but nearly as time consuming!

We are embarking on a new adventure.  We have always loved dogs and we especially Love whelping puppies so we have started a new business!

We are going to be breeding English Cream Goldendoodles and I will be writing all about it on a blog over at our new website.   

After searching from the East coast to the West we found our perfect dog.  We purchased Paisley with some friends here in town (Matt and Fonda Thompson) and Paisley flew in from southern Arizona last Friday.  She is beautiful, easy going and very mild mannered and she is doing great hanging out with chickens and a busy toddler.  We will be breeding her with a smaller white poodle and we will have beautiful rare English Goldendoodles in about 2 1/2 months.  We can't wait!  

I have spent a million hours working on our new website which is all about our dogs, breeding, puppies and training. 

MagicValleyGoldendoodles.com 

Click on over and have a look!  

Thanks! 

State wrestling 2013

If you had asked me how I felt about wrestling before this year I would have told you that I was not a fan.  Most of my previous experiences with wrestling usually involved brothers who couldn't solve their own disagreements or long drawn out meets spent sitting in hot sweaty bleachers. 

This year totally changed my mind!

Dallin and Landon threw their hearts and souls (and blood sweat and tears...) into wrestling this year so I decided that I better figure what it was all about.  I found some experienced wrestling parents to sit by in the bleachers and I started to learn all the in's and out's of scoring, strategy and amazing physical and mental effort. 

I am now a fan. 

Seriously. 

We spent two days in Pocatello at the Holt Arena watching epic battles for the ultimate state wrestling title. (Sixteen mats at the same time--every high school from Idaho!) 

It was inspiring and torturous. 

Here was the inspiring part...

Dallin State Wrestling Tournament 2013

Landon Wrestling tournament 2013

Here is the torture:

Jackson was not a fan of the 8-10 hour days in the stands.  Actually he just wasn't a fan of the mom who wouldn't let him run down the cement ramps alone and who stopped him from climbing the giant unused storage stair-cases that lead to nowhere.  

Thankfully we had lots of other family members who came to watch and wait and hang out with us. Spencer, Tom, Kendra and Becki all came with their families.

We also got to spend two days with Grandma Geisler which was fun.  I think it is beyond awesome that my kids can know their great grandmas.  

                                                             

There were some inspiring wins and some heart-breaking losses. Both of the boys did great.  Dallin started the tournament seeded 3rd.  Landon wasn't seeded at all.  They went through entirely different routes and ended up placing 4th (Landon) and 5th (Dallin) in the 195 pound  4A category.  They narrowly avoided wrestling each other.  Phew. 

The cousins ran around and joined the pack of random kids holding an impromptu wrestling tournament on the turf in the end zone.  They found an empty storage container and made a 'fort.'  Our family who couldn't come kept in constant touch with texts and phone calls. Thanks everyone!  It was a great weekend. 

Valentine's Day

Sometimes I hate Pinterest.  I saw this beautiful picture of a fluffy strawberry cake and decided to use my silicone heart shaped pan to make my family a treat.

I pulled out my favorite Lion House cake recipe and added some freshly chopped strawberries. Then Jenna and I added in some strawberry jello to add a pink color and flavor to the cake.  I baked it for 35 minutes and it was still jiggly so I added another 10, then another 10 until  finally I took it out of the oven despite its jiggly-ness.

I don't know how I managed this but my beautiful 'fluffy' cake seriously had the texture of bread pudding.  Delicious bread pudding but definitely NOT cake.  Who makes a cake that turns into bread pudding!?

Cakes have never been my favorite but now I am determined to figure out how to make an awesome fresh strawberry cake.

Otherwise Valentine's Day was fun.  It's been 18 years since Rustin and I were engaged. Eighteen awesome years! We've almost lived with each other longer than we lived with our parents.  That's a weird thought.

I can't wait until 2045 when I can say that we were engaged 50 years ago... Won't that be fun?! I'll have to plan some awesome party.  Or maybe just a quiet night home.  I would love both equally.  That's the great thing about marrying the right guy. Rich or poor, young or old, whatever we do makes us happy.  I hope it always stays that way.