Halloween Jokes for Kids

Why are angry witches afraid to ride their brooms? They’re afraid of flying off the handle.

Who won the skeleton beauty contest? No body.

What kind of mistakes do spooks make? Boo boos

What's the ratio of a pumpkin's circumference to its diameter? Pumpkin Pi.

What do you call a goblin who gets too close to a bonfire? A toasty ghosty.

Boston Baked Boltons

Siovhan has applied and been accepted to BYU’s Broadcast Journalism program, as I emailed to you all. She is so excited. She has had this dream for several years and didn’t have a back up plan for what she would do if she didn’t get in. Siovhan is enjoying her job at Trade Select (there has been a name change, but I don’t remember what it is). She is involved in some marketing aspects, which also surprises her mom. I often wonder if this the same girl who wouldn’t ask the neighbors for money for school functions?

Braden has been the Troop’s Senior Patrol leader for the past five months. His scoutmaster has put a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. He has had to arrange transportation, send out permission slips, organize meals, arrange sleeping arrangements, get the list for the quartermaster and arrange for the service projects. I often wonder what the scoutmaster is actually doing. The scoutmaster emails Braden constantly and then calls if Braden doesn’t respond the same day. It has been very good for Braden. I keep reminding him that there are several scout masters and ex-scout masters in our family and that he is carrying on the legacy. He is ready for a release though, it can be very daunting, but he is reminded about enduring to the end.

Ben loves the social aspects of being a teenager. He has arranged to do something every weekend during the past several months. I am afraid what it will be like when he turns sixteen. We usually drive a half an hour to his friend’s houses and they play for hours and hours. He is still practicing his guitar and I was surprised this week to actually be able to understand one of the songs.

Mikaela has decided to play the violin. I was a bit skeptical, as the last two violin players in the Bolton house ended up playing different instruments. Mikaela is in love with the violin though. Her violin teacher hurt her neck and hasn’t been able to hold a violin for the past few

weeks, so some of the excitement for playing has turned into frustration from not being able to play. Mikaela is the only Bolton child in the LDS Franklin Ward Primary Program. She has a small speaking part and is part of a double quartet. She has taken after two of her siblings who love to sing in public.

I have been temporarily relieved of my Young Women President calling. I have been called to serve a three-month minimission as a Ward Missionary. The Bishop received approval from the Stake Presidency to call all the Presidents from the Auxiliaries as Missionaries. My companion is the Primary President. It has been a very interesting and nervewracking experience. Our job is to visit all the members, active and less active and give them the lesson of the Restoration. We are then to ask the lessactive families what their standing in the church is. We are to use the Preach My Gospel book and Elder Bednar’s talk from the latest General Conference. It is a scary thought to realize how important this calling is and how it can change someone’s life.

Howard has been traveling a lot lately. He has been in Australia and Japan for the past two weeks. He will be home for two days (long enough to pay the Dentist for an emergency visit—go Dentists!) and then it is off to Puerto Rico for a week. He is really looking forward to his trip to Shanghi, China in December. He can’t wait to go! He went snorkeling two weeks ago at the Great Barrier Reef, but

became a little seasick on the ride. It made the trip a little unpleasant.

November is going to be an exciting month for us. Mikaela is having a birthday party, Howard’s twin brother Andrew may come for a visit. Siovhan is traveling to Georgia to help with the Republican Campaign. Braden and Ben are doing wonderful things with school and scouting. Todd and family are planning to spend time with us. November has always been such a fun and exciting month!

Take care. We love you!

Melanie

Joke of the Month

Photographer works

There was this haunted house on the outskirts of the town which was strictly avoided because the ghost who lived' there was feared by all. However, a journalist decided to get the scoop of the day by photographing the fearsome phantom. When he entered the house, armed with only his camera, the ghost descended upon him, clanking chains et al. He told the ghost "I mean no harm. I just want your photograph." The ghost was quite happy at this chance to make the headlines. He posed for a number of ghostly shots. The happy journalist rushed back to his dark room, and began developing the photos. Unfortunately, they turned out to be black and underexposed. So what's the moral of the story? The spirit was willing but the flash was weak.

Halloween Eyeball Cookies

(Looks creepy tastes good.)

1/2-cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups peanut butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1-tablespoon vanilla

12 ounces white dipping chocolate

1/2-cup mini chocolate chips

Blue food coloring

Cream the butter and peanut butter together. Beat in the vanilla and sugar. Chill for 1/2 hour. Roll into small balls, chill on wax paper for another 1/2 hour. In a microwave, melt the white dipping chocolate. Using two spoons dip the eyeballs into the white chocolate. Let cool on waxed paper until firm. Chilling will speed up the process. Pour a drop or two of blue food coloring into the remaining melted chocolate. Make a round iris on the eyeball, and immediately press a miniature chocolate chip in the center for a pupil, doing 5 at a time. For the bloodshot effect, dip the tiny end of a toothpick in red food coloring and squiggle the lines from the pupil outward, but not quite to the edges of the ball. Note: White-dipping chocolate is also known as white bark. Makes 40 cookies in 20 minutes.

October's Party

By George Cooper

October gave a party;

The leaves by hundreds came-

The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,

And leaves of every name.

The Sunshine spread a carpet,

And everything was grand,

Miss Weather led the dancing,

Professor Wind the band.

The Chestnuts came in yellow,

The Oaks in crimson dressed;

The lovely Misses Maple

In scarlet looked their best;

All balanced to their partners,

And gaily fluttered by;

The sight was like a rainbow

New fallen from the sky.

Then, in the rustic hollow,

At hide-and-seek they played,

The party closed at sundown,

And everybody stayed.

Professor Wind played louder;

They flew along the ground;

And then the party ended

In jolly "hands around."

Witch Finger Cookies

(One of my temple friends made these for us. She called them ghoul fingers for her “ghoul” friends.)

1-cup butter, softened

1 cup icing sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. almond extract

1 tsp. vanilla

3 drops green food coloring (or as desired)

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup whole blanched almonds

Powdered sugar to sprinkle 

In bowl beat together butter, sugar, egg, almond extract, vanilla and green food coloring; beat in flour; baking powder and salt. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Working with one-quarter of the dough at a time and keeping remaining dough refrigerated, roll heaping teaspoons full of dough into finger shape for each cookie. Press an almond firmly into one end for nail. Squeeze in center to create knuckle shape. Use a paring knife to make slashes in several places to form knuckle. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet in 325-degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Remove from cookie sheet and cool. Lightly sprinkle with powdered sugar. Makes 5-dozen.

The Buzzn’ Joneses

Julie and Jim have been working and working and working. Julie has turned into a canner of food and, if it grows, Julie will can it. Jim is always working. They are thinking of trying to find a place to live that will be closer to the warehouse so that Jim will not have to travel so much.

Mary and Julie are making a costume for Halloween, which has not been Mary’s favorite holiday. She doesn’t like any of the Halloween displays and worries about whether they are real or not. She asked Grandma if she would dare touch them. I guess if she would that makes them better. She wants to be a princess for Halloween. Julie thinks that she is sewing challenged but she is trying. If it has to do with Disney or Barbie or Princesses, it must be wonderful.

Christene has learned to turn over. She is no longer safe just lying on the bed and kicking. She isn’t really safe on the floor either because Mary likes to play with her and forgets to watch where she is stepping. She likes to sing and also laughs a lot. When Jim came in after work the other day, she was so excited to see him that she was ecstatic. Then he bent to kiss her and she smelled the bee go. You should have seen her little face.

Jim and his Elders have been helping our new neighbor build a big bedroom in the basement for our neighbor’s daughter and her finance so they can live with the folks for a while.

Julie does cub scouts and wonders why she was called to be cub master. Both of her assistants have problem pregnancies and cannot help right now. Grandma has become helper and says she likes it.

Make a Pull String Piñata

The pull string piñata is a particularly good game idea for small kids indoor celebrations. It is a fun yet safe party game for the youngest kids who can get hurt trying to break open the piñata with a bat. Here are instructions on how to convert a normal piñata into its gentler pull string version:

1) First of all, the piñata must have a flat bottom. Cut a 3"x3"x3" flap on the bottom of piñata as close to center as possible. Perforate a small hole near the extreme of flap where it opens.

2) Pass a ribbon through flap and tie a knot from the side that will remain inside the piñata.

3) Close flap. Do not secure flap with any tape or adhesive.

4) Using scotch or masking tape attach ribbons around base of piñata. Pull the ribbon that is hanging out of trap and bring it to same level as other ribbons.

5) Spread glue over the bottom of the piñata and apply the tissue paper making sure that all ribbons are completely covered. Let dry. Your pull string piñata is ready!

Pinatas.com offers a complete kit with clear instructions to convert a normal piñata into a pull string piñata. Take a look as well at our large array of piñatas and choose your favorite!

Monster Toes (Pigs in Blankets)

Biscuit dough

Green food coloring

Hot dogs

Black olives

Make your own biscuit dough, add 5 drops of green food coloring to the batter before you knead it and roll it out. Roll out your dough. Cut pieces big enough to cover one hotdog. Roll it and seal shut. Cut a black olive in half. Push one half into the dough on the edge of the hotdog for the toenail. Place all of the toes on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for twenty minutes.

Quote to Consider

"Cherish, therefore, the spirit of our people, and keep alive their attention. Do not be too severe upon their errors, but reclaim them by enlightening them. If once they become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress, and Assemblies, Judges, and Governors, shall all become wolves."

Thomas Jefferson (letter to Edward Carrington, 16 January 1787)

The Fantastic Five

The Saint George Trauntveins have been busy.

Erin is learning to read and is so excited about that. She thinks learning about reading is great. Grandma Barbara is a big help on the homework front and she and Erin are homework buddies. Erin is also learning about numbers and likes to do crafts and arts projects. She is really growing up and is becoming quite the little lady. She has lots of friends at school and her teacher likes her and thinks she is quite gifted.

Donovin is becoming quite and artist. He can draw people that even look like people, quite an accomplishment for his age. They have arms, legs, stomachs; chests, necks, faces (with eyes, noises, and mouths), and they even have hair. He drew a picture of his family and he was the only one who had short hair. (Both Grandmas like art. Grandma Barbara does wonderful portraits.) He remains an intelligent and loving little boy who likes to know about everything.

David likes his new job and the pay that came with it. He doesn’t have to go into homes anymore, which in St. George can be a plus.

Arbree is working and looking forward to the big trip her company and their spouses are going to take this January.

Barbara is being Grandma and is also baby-sitting a couple of other children. That gives Donovin some playmates during the day.

The family has been doing fun things together. They have done quite a bit of fishing and also like to hit golf balls at the driving range. They live just a couple of blocks from a golf course and have had fun. Donovin said that he doesn’t even need help to hit golf balls with his Dad’s clubs.

Rocky Mountain Snow

This is what Kirsten and Jared had to face on their way home after Ryan’s surgery. Kirsten said it was awful. Remember the surgery was on Wednesday in Denver and Ryan was released to go home to Colorado Springs on Thursday. Jared’s brother, who could reach them, had to pick up Kirsten and Ryan until Jared could get through to pick them up. Then they still had to make the ride home.

Friday, October 27, 2006

DENVER— The biggest October snowstorm to hit Colorado in several years dumped more than 2 feet Thursday, grounding flights, closing highways, knocking out electricity and jump-starting the ski season.

The storm began late Wednesday and turned highways wet and slushy across the state. That slush then turned to ice.

At one point, snow was falling at a rate of about 3 inches an hour in Denver. A 125-mile corridor from Colorado Springs to the New Mexico line was under a blizzard warning. Hundreds of miles of highways were shut down, but all major routes had reopened by Friday.

"Not too shabby," state Department of Transportation spokesman Gene Towne said.

Still, dozens of schools were closed Friday, and lawns across the state were littered with broken tree limbs that crashed down under the weight of the wet snow. The falling branches played havoc with power lines, and up to 90,000 customers in the Denver area alone lost electricity during the "devastating" storm, said Xcel Energy spokesman Tom Henley.

Crews had restored power to all but 1,400 by Friday morning, but Henley said it could take until Friday night to get all of them back on line.

An additional 20,000 customers lost power in Colorado Springs, but service was restored to all but about 1,000 by Friday, the city-owned utility said.

The storm caused more trouble as it moved east onto the Plains, bringing up to 4-foot drifts southeast of Denver late Thursday with blowing snow and winds up to 45 mph. Red Cross officials sent supplies to Byers, about 30 miles east of Denver, in case the weather stranded travelers along I-70. A 150-mile stretch of Interstate 70 was closed from Denver to Burlington, near the Kansas line.

Whiteout conditions in Colorado Springs during the evening commute also snarled traffic on Interstate 25, the state's main north-south route, for three hours. Wet heavy snow downed power lines, including some that arced and set off several tree fires across the city that were quickly extinguished, Lt. Jeff Sievers of the Colorado Springs Fire Department said.

Snow and black ice Wednesday forced a number of schools and facilities in the Colorado Springs area to close or open late, including the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Peterson Air Force Base and the Air Force Academy.

Up to 45,000 customers in Denver, Colorado Springs and Boulder lost electricity as snow-laden trees and branches gave way, taking down power lines

Denver International Airport got 5 inches, and more than 110 flights were canceled. Some suburbs reported up to 10 inches of snow that fell at about 3 inches an hour before the storm moved east onto the Plains, where it caused more trouble.

“There's an awful lot of trucks jackknifed in the median or across the road," said Dick Hormann, who was waiting out the delay at the Flying J in Limon, about 70 miles southeast of Denver. "There's a lot of rigs across the road in both directions."

The storm shut down dozens of schools, courthouses, voting centers and even chased office employees home early from a sheriff's office. Small towns in the mountains and foothills just west of Denver appeared to get the heaviest snowfall, with Evergreen reporting 25 inches and Conifer reporting 22 inches with 4-foot drifts. Two feet fell in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Large October snowstorms are common in Colorado, but this was the strongest in several years, National Weather Service spokesman Carl Burroughs said.

"We haven't had a real good storm like this in a while," he said. "It dumped a lot of snow pretty quick and then moved on.

Rocky Mountain “Hi!”

We had so much fun with Todd, Amy and crew in O-Hi-O! We still can't believe our time there has come and gone and is already a week behind us (or two or three by the time you read this). The weather was beautiful. The leaves were beautiful. The perks of having wonderful family members who can cook, entertain, clean up after you, chauffer you, etc. was beautiful (all for free, for us). It was just great! We highly recommend it to all you Utahans who are thinking of venturing that way. (By the way, you can stop in Colorado on the way. Now, if we could only get one of you to move to St. Louis, we'd have a perfect cross-country tour with designated free rest stops from Utah to Boston.)

Kirtland was amazing. Several of our friends here (in the Springs) had said that you could tour Kirtland in a few hours and call it good. I think we could have actually spent a little more time there. It was amazing to visit the temple. What was more remarkable was the lack of sacred feelings we now experience in that building compared to the feelings of peace induced by just walking the grounds of our temples today. We took the Kirtland Temple tour with a group of LDS people from Australia and some seminary students from New York (I think). It was pretty much a normal tour of any historic building until one of the seminary teachers broke out the words to The Spirit of God, only then did the Spirit witness to each of us individually of the incredible events that took place in that once sacred location. It was remarkable! It reiterated the importance of treating our bodies as temples. That once holy edifice had become devoid of the Spirit, yet each of us became holy "places" for the spirit to come and testify of the love of our Father in Heaven, his Son and the restoration of truths that will allow us to be together as families forever. Incredible!

Kirtland wasn't the only fun thing we did either! Our girls will say the best and most fun was playing with their cousins. They are still talking about all the fun times they had. Emma is so amazed that none of her friends here know her "friends, Cousin Tyler and Cousin

Emily." I think she thinks they are so wonderful that everyone should at least "know of" them.

Needless to say, life is now back to normal. I'm still trying to work off those few extra lbs from the smores; cheese, jam and fudge smorgasbords; and great German pancakes. I had to bring home something and the added weight was the easiest thing to carry. Now we are in the mad dash to prepare for Ryan's surgery (this will probably go out afterward). It also happens to be the day of our ward's Trunk-or-Treat party, a dress-up birthday party for Emma and regular old school day for Whitney. We have everything worked out (we hope). We just pray that all will go well with the anesthesia. We're pretty confident in the surgeon himself (he does 80 percent of the cases in Colorado every year), so we aren't so fearful of the surgery. Please just keep us and especially Ryan and his doctors and nurses in your prayers.

We'll keep you posted.

Love,

The Waites

The Old Folks At Home

Happy Halloween! If you see a witch, don’t worry. It is just Myrna.

Poor little Mary hates to go shopping. She is being traumatized by the store displays in Nephi (and elsewhere). There is the ghoul display (the ghoul is carrying an extra head) at “Family Dollar” and the singing skeleton at the grocery store in Ephraim. She keeps asking us if it is OK and talks about it constantly. Also, I knocked on her door late one afternoon and scared the wits out of her because she was certain I was a monster. I hope the rest of my grandkids are looking forward to costumes and candy and are not traumatized. 

I always wanted to stay home on Halloween because it was a lot more fun at my house than it was on the street. Grandma Smith always tried to guess who the person behind the mask really was. She also made everyone do a trick for her. They had to sing or dance or tell a joke, or something. She would say, “You said: Trick for treat.’ Here is the treat now where is the trick?” She had so much fun and the kids must have also because we used to get hundreds of kids. There went the budget. Of course, she gave good treats also, like candy bars or her wonderful big butter cookies or something BIG and good. Sometimes she even had apple cider or a drink to go along with what she put in the bag.

Halloween means Christmas is just around the corner. The stores have forgotten about Thanksgiving. I found a couple of turkey decorations and that is all. When you get to be my age, the days just slip by. Everything goes so quickly that it seems that there is just time to put away the Christmas decorations before it is time to get them back out again. I am certain that Christmas was just yesterday. When I was a child, Christmas took FOREVER to get here. Garth, David and I (Richard was born when I was 11.) would start picking out things about July and then we would revise and revise. David and I had birthdays at the end of the year, but Garth got his birthday present back in March. Either way we took time to consider carefully just what we would ask Santa to bring. Now I just buy what I want (ha, ha) when I want it. (Now you all know that was a joke, right?) I still have my secret wish list. For example, there was this. . . never mind. (If I told, you kids would get it for me and then I would feel dumb). I’ll probably ask for new socks or underwear, just the things I hated to get when I was a kid. Now that I am OLD they are OK.

I just wanted to add this bit: “I. . .saw the reference to the lion's cage at the LA Zoo, no doubt. My son did something similar at Sea World in San Diego when he decided to climb to the top of the shark tank so he could look down inside from there..... He was about 10 and his dad & I had gone into a 'dancing waters' show & didn't know about it until he had already climbed up! Boys!!!! Gotta run, more later, Toni” (Betty’s daughter)

We had a great time at Disneyland. AnnMarie and Dad (LHT) rode everything scary. I am getting better. I did quite a lot of things with Dad, Ams, Brandon and the older kids and quite a lot of things with the younger kids because I still like climbing the Tarzan tree and going to the Tom Sawyer island. Alyssa is like me; she isn’t really crazy about wild rides. Rachel had fun just walking around the island and liked everything except the swinging bridge because some OLD nerdy guys made it shake while she was trying to walk and she is not that steady yet. Anyway, the pills I take for my stomach have made it so that the drops of some of the rides do not make me want to throw up anymore.

That’s a plus. . I used to wonder why Dad wanted me to pay someone to make me sick. I don’t mind being high if I am in something but I used to hate having that falling feeling. I still don’t like standing on edges of things and lookingmdown. I wasn’t born to be a high-wire

artist.

We stopped to see the St. George Trauntveins on our way back. (It was too late when we were headed down because we waited for school to be out for UEA so we could leave. They did have an early day but we still drove way late.) The Howards got to see the great place that David and family are living. They were impressed with how nice it is and how big. It is a good place for the kids and the family. Barbara was cooking chicken that smelled wonderful and we were invited to eat but had been eating the food we brought so we were full. Plus we had Burger King for lunch. 

The trip into Nephi was horrible. My boss, Allan, said he knew about how horrible it could be so he got off at Mills. We didn’t. We crawled home. The freeway construction just east of Nephi had everyone at almost a stop. There were signs that warned that fines doubled for speeding. AnnMarie said that they should warn that fines doubled for parking. As a result, we got to Nephi about 11 p.m. and the Howards still had to get home. We had Matthew and Megan with us so we just put them in their car and they left. They went the Mona way because getting back on the freeway was a joke.

David was a big help to Jim working on his warehouse, barn or whatever we are currently calling it. Thanks to him, Dad and Jim’s Dad, Phil, who also came to help (at a different time), the warehouse can now be used for extracting though it is still not all the way insulated. There have still been some problems. Even working to get it done so quickly, still put the bees behind schedule and some of the honey has started to crystallize in the hives. It cannot be melted out of the hive without ruining all the honeycomb which is needed for the next year. So

some of the hives will just winter with the honey inside. Nevertheless, all the hard work has made it so that the place will be useful for years to come. Jim and Julie have now put their trailer on the lot and the family can be together more. They will stay there for four days or so at a stretch. The guys worked to put up insulation, build a heat-room (so the honey will come out), and to install two boilers and an extractor. Greg Newton decided to sell Jim his used equipment so that helped.

Dad has almost got his shed finished. (Now there is the little item of the downstairs bathroom that still needs to be finished.) Thanks to all the help from family, Dad’s shed is almost done—it just needs one gable and the doors. Shawn and boys came down and worked one day and Jim came and helped. Dad and I worked some and we roped Julie in for part of the job. Dad tried, once again, to smash me. He dropped a 2X4 on my finger. My pointer finger has been so bruised that I don’t shake hands. But, with the help of a lot of tape and padding, I have been able to type. When the doors are done, we can actually use the place. Dad is going to do like my Dad and put shelves up and hang things around the edges. We are supposed to put the Christmas tree there. We have had the fun of having some of the grandkids come to visit. We always like having them here. After all those years of noise and confusion, the poor old house makes noises if it is not full. (Maybe it is just the two old nuts rattling around inside.) So it is nice to have kids here. We got to see Donovin for a short visit and Shawn’s boys.

Remember to vote! Grandmother Smith, who was something of a Suffragette and stood for women’s rights, valued the right to vote and never missed a presidential (or other) election after she could vote. American women have had the right to vote since 1920. (Wyoming Territory in 1869, Utah Territory in 1870, and the states of Colorado in 1893 and Idaho in 1896 granted women the vote but the Eastern states resisted. Utah had actually allowed women to vote since settlement but did not make it a law until 1870.) Remember that Grandma Smith was born in 1894. My Dad was also proud to vote. After all, he fought to preserve that right and to preserve the free world. Grandma Edna was also proud of the right to vote and served as election judge many years. I too am proud of the right to vote. I encourage you all to be.

Ryan

Ryan's surgery was a success. Nevertheless, he looks quite bad, Kirsten says. He looks the way she did when she had her nose surgery because they did do Ryan's nose. He looks quite puffy and swollen. He will have the tubes in his nose for three weeks. They also repaired his lip. He has to have his arms in splints for a few weeks so that he does not touch his face. But the only time he really cried, she said, was when he was taken away from her to go into surgery. He has been very brave.

She said the thing she was worried about--Ryan not eating after midnight--was not as bad as she had supposed. She said that last night she nursed Ryan until midnight and then, when he woke up during the early morning hours, she just gave him some sips of water from a cup and rocked him back to sleep. Today, now that the surgery is over, he can nurse but cannot have a pacifier. He has nursed a few times today. The doctor told Kirsten and Jared that the surgery was a great success and that all should be well. Keep praying that he recovers quickly. He has been in pain. He has had to have some pain medication. One thing that they will have to watch for a full year is that he does not get sun on his lip and definitely does not get sunburned. It will not scar if they keep him out of the sun.

Last night they stayed at the home the hospital has that is like a Ronald McDonald home. (Good thing because of the snow.) The surgery was done early this morning. Ryan will stay the night at the hospital and will then go home.

Jared's brother, sister-in-law and their little girl live in the next town. They also have good friends whom they trust. The girls are being well cared for and Kirsten does have a support group. That is why we did not go to help, though we had thought we might. Kirsten discouraged it.

Kirsten says to thank you all for your prayers. She said they had been a big help for Ryan and were the reason he was doing so well.

Surgery takes two to three hours and often requires the infant to remain in the hospital one night. If needed, a revision of the lip repair will occur before the child begins school. One child in 700 is born with a cleft. It is the fourth most common birth defect, and the first most common facial birth defect.

Traditionally, the cleft lip is done when the child is 10 weeks old, weighs 10 pounds, and has a 10-gram hemoglobin. Like most clichés, this does not hold true for everyone. There are always exceptions. Waiting until each of these parameters is met assures that the infant's immune system and blood levels are strong enough to tolerate the surgery. Anemia is reason enough to not do this elective procedure. The lip repair is done when the child is in general good health. Three to six months of age is an excellent time to perform this surgery. Occasionally, in very wide clefts, the lip will be repaired in two stages. If the repair is done in two stages, the first is a temporary closure called an "adhesion".

If you have more questions about clefts go to: http://www.widesmiles.org/ and click on the topics to the side. I did the surgery topic and found out a lot. We love each one of you. I know what a blessed person I am to have you in my life. Thank you for being my friends as well as my family

The Magnificent Seven

We finally had a family vacation over UEA to Disneyland. It was really busy but overall it was very fun. We were pleased to take Grandma and Grandpa with us, and Matthew claimed Grandpa was his bestest friend.

Brandon is still busy working at Authorize.Net. They are trying some new ventures which are expanding his skills. Also, he is now working on rechartering all the scout organizations in the stake as part of his High Council duties. And he is working with the landscaper to finish the yard. We now have a retaining wall, curbing, sprinklers, half of a trampoline pit, a dismantled trampoline pit ring, and half of a yard of grass. Hopefully it will all be in except for the trampoline by Alyssa's birthday.

I have finished a marathon few weeks. With work, vacation, and children's activities I am never home. I am now planning a teacher's appreciation luncheon at school as Education Commissioner.

Alyssa is very busy with school and dance. She is very excited to become a teenager this month and is planning a big shindig (a Jay Woodard expression) for a few close friends. She is working hard since it is quarter-end next week and her first report card. She had her first girls' ensemble concert last week and did very well.

Kyle is keeping busy learning about Egypt this month. He has been spending a lot of time researching canopic jars and we now get to make some using Mom's play dough recipe and some paint. It will be nice to have it done. He is also looking forward to BYU's Merit Badge Powwow on Alyssa's birthday. We signed him up for the space rocket one and citizenship in the world. He is enjoying band (yeah) and the clarinet. His piano teacher thinks we should nudge him toward a jazz band since he is good at pounding on keys. She agreed that a saxophone would be good for him (we hope to do that next year). Megan is still doing a little bit of everything. She is in ballroom dance,

violin, early morning choir, piano, and activity days. (I refused to let her sign up for French because she was too busy and she told me she thought she had a few more hours.) She has turned this year into a year of friends. We were so worried because her best friend was put into a different class and Megan was so sad. But after a few weeks she was bringing home notes from so many girls I had never heard of that we have decided that she is where she should be. Plus this teacher had Alyssa and knows these girls really excel when challenged, and so has pushed Megan to greater heights.

Matthew loves kindergarten. Since I am a room helper, I get to go and help teach in the classroom. He is doing so well. I thought he would be too shy, but he has "come out of his shell" as his teacher said when she told me to talk to him about not being too talkative in class. They are learning letters, simple math, seasons, writing, memorizing poems, etc. There are so many interesting things that kindergarteners learn, I have fun being there.

Rachel is so much fun. She is at that age where each day there is something new that they learn and do that it would be impossible to write about it. She loves when the kids come home from school and she can play with them. She is so cute with her dad. She loves when he is home (which isn't very often) and will follow him around calling him "Mom" until he picks her up. Then she will give him a big Howard grin, lay her head on his shoulder, and pat his back. She knows I am Mom, but she calls everyone Mom, too, even Grandpa, it is really funny.

Just Another Sunday in the Country from Kimberly

You Never Know

Little Tikes Tykes dollhouse Replacement STAIRS (150020326745) This message was sent after the listing closed. grammymyrna is the winner. I will buy them. Thanks so much. Myrna

From: Richard Iverson
Tuesday, 17 Oct 2006 

Thanks so much for your honesty. We are always so impressed by people like you. We can send you an invoice with paypal for it. We also wanted to let you know that we have some Little Tikes Dollhouse items that aren't in perfect shape and altho we don't feel we can offer them for sale, would love to send them your way if you care to cover the actual shipping for them. The items we have are: green roof island kitchen, yellow clothes/hair mom, brown hair/blue clothes dad, green turtle sandbox without lid, red art easel, white dog, baby buggy, and 3 blue chairs. If any of these interest you we can send you pictures so you know what you'd want to ship and if so just add the amount to the stairs. Pls let us know and we can get the pics. taken. We would just like them to go to a good home and thought of you. It's our way of saying thank you for your honesty. thanks so much, Linda

Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2006 
Myrna,
I hope you don't mind me asking. . . . . since you are from UT. We couldn't help wondering if you were LDS due to your honesty and there being so many in UT. Please disregard if you don't know what we're talking about! lol
The postage depends on which items you would like. Like I said, they aren't perfect. below is a description of them. Parcel post is in increments of 1 lb., so if you are even half an ounce over one pound, you pay for 2 lbs. and the same on up. If you only wanted a few, they may only go for first class postage and we'd just hafta put them on our scale to get the amount. All of them comes to OVER 1 lb., so if you wanted all of them it would be $4.73, $3.95 if they don't go over 1 lb. On the stairs, since we don't have to pay ebay fees on it, we can drop the shipping amount and $10 is fine. We are more than happy to take a few pictures so you can see what the items look like. Just let us know what you think. Pictures really won't be much trouble if you're interested. Just didn't want to bother if you weren't interested.
Green roof island kitchen--looks like it the little "leg" that "holds" up the table part got chewed off at the bottom--we thought you could use a belt sander or metal rasp tool to sand it smooth and it won't affect its ability to stand by itself. Kids wouldn't notice it at all, but we don't feel we can sell it. We normally sell these kitchens for $9.99 and we have a similar one listed right now.
Yellow clothes/hair mom--she has a few faint teeth marks on one hand/wrist (I know, why do kids have to chew on things!?! but she doesn't look bad. Brown hair/blue clothes dad--the paint on his sleeves has flaked off; looks kinda splotchy. You could brush on some paint to make it look just fine, but we don't feel we can offer him for sale.
Green turtle sandbox without lid--the missing lid is the only thing wrong, other than maybe a few minor scratches. We could try to sell this for a reduced price but don't know if it would sell. I do know kids could still enjoy playing with it tho. The lid would easily get lost in play. It's the parents who would actually put the lid back on in real life anyway! lol
Red art easel--has a few scratches on each side to the paint of the "chalkboard" and painting side. not bad, we just don't feel good about offerring it for sale
White dog--these normally sell for $4.99 each, but this one has kinda yellowed on part of it. Not sure why. You could paint it of course, but kids would probably think it was just fine as is. We have touched up the nose/eyes/mouth with black sharpie marker/pen (perrmanent black marker, they also have fine tip ones, as well as colors and you can find them at Walmart, even craft stores)
Baby buggy--great other than the bendable plastic that they have around the handle you would push has split. Still could be tons of fun to play with, especially if you wanted to cover the handle with white electrical type tape very carefully--over the split plastic or with the plastic removed; or you could remove the plastic then paint the handle. Just some ideas. We just don't feel we can offer this for sale.
Three blue chairs--these have some bad teeth marks--I would omit them first if you want to keep it to 1 lb., and I can send a picture. It's too bad on these. They must have been chewed by a pet I'm sure. I don't know if you could kinda smooth them out by "sanding" or something. They don't look so great to be honest. They'll go in the trash unless someone wants to salvage them.
Let me know what you think! Linda
Dear Linda,
I am proud to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, honesty should be something everyone practices, especially those of us blest to live in the U.S. Most of us have so very much that I don't think any of us should cheat. I have been blest and have a good life filled with loving family and friends. I think honesty should just be the happy way we deal with one another. "Honesty is the best policy." I'll climb off the soap box.

I do appreciate the offer of the dollhouse items. I really think I should be charged something for them besides the postage. Let me know what you think about that. I would be happy to take all of the items. They sound wonderful and, as a mom and grandmother, I know that kids play with toys and love them. It is the love that shows through in worn paint and chewed fingers. I remember that, as a child, I literally loved the stuffing out of a few toys.

Please let me pay something that would be fair for you.

How do you want me to pay? How does PayPal work in a transaction like this one? Do I need to send a check or money order or give you a credit card number? Can we still use PayPal? Please let me know what you would like me to do.

Thank you.

Myrna