I'm afraid this is painfully true....

Things will not always go the way you planned, but you don't 
have to let that stop you. Remind yourself that you can 
adapt, adjust, and continue doing what's important to you.

Often, the interruption itself is not what throws you off 
track. Your anger and disappointment may end up disrupting 
you longer than whatever interrupted you in the first place.

Go ahead and accept the fact that interruptions will come 
along and plans will have to be altered. Then, just make the 
adjustments and get on with life.

Some of those unplanned occurrences might actually turn out 
to contain pleasant surprises. Make the choice to live 
life's value where you find it.

Instead of seeing the interruption as an excuse, see it as 
an opportunity. Let it strengthen your resolve and provide 
you with a reason to focus even more intently on making the 
progress you have chosen to make.

Life is filled with unplanned interruptions, and getting 
upset about them won't do you a bit of good. Instead, let 
them come, let them go, and enjoy the richness of a 
positive, purposeful life no matter what.

Ralph Marston

..and sometimes we don't want to blog about the "ugly" but for the record, I must. Last Sunday found me in a HUGE INTERRUPTION....the emergency room in Folsom in excruciating pain. Too bad I read up on the wrong things and people at church were sure I had kidney stones or appendecitis....so 4 hours later and $3000.00 worth of tests, they sent me home on pain meds and said that nothing was wrong. I drugged myself up for a couple of days and was supposed to head home on an early morning flight to help with Kyle's kids while they went to Vancouver but just before leaving for the airport, I started to throw-up so I figured something was really wrong. Got dressed, went to a doctor and showed her a spot I had discovered recently on my back and she said...."that's shingles".  Oh, my....the most dreaded of dread diseases. What to do. Getting so upset and agitated just made it worse. I've been upset for a week now and it's not doing me any good...if anything, it's sending me into a fit of depression and drug overdoses (not on purpose) and putting my system totally out of whack. I've been plugging along, doing the best I can and pretending to not be sick but my insides are churning constantly and my emotions are wild....I feel like I'm going crazy but I think now that I can blog about it, I'm on the mend. I finally boarded a plane on Friday to be home where I could get some help. Spencer got me in....

...and the shingles are on the mend but the drug withdrawal is a buggar. The upside to being home and not being too disabled is all the stuff I got to see and do. I got on the anti-viral meds real soon after diagnosed so hoped I wasn't contagious but I did get to enjoy the mid-night run associated with Dixie's Homecoming....always a fun family activity. Kyle started it a few years back and we all look forward to participation. Hopefully next year I'll be more than the picture taker (I say that every year) but I'm determined to get my health back in this 65th year of mine coming up.

Pre-run activities. My family likes to show up way early and use the big college field for some fun and games.

Sporting the green tees this year.  (Middle: Yet another Seth photo bomb and a good one from The Troy)

My action shots didn't turn out well but loved the bottom left with Miller running in with his dad. He claims he ran the whole 5K but I'm betting he had a bit of shoulder action from his dad. He was a proud finisher though and before the race started he proudly proclaimed....."I was made for this race".

You know you are in Small Town, U.S.A. when there's an occasional parade. George, Emily and Evan walked with the swim team while we all took our places on the sidelines gathering the yearly Halloween Stash of candy.

I've got these a bit out of order but Tailgating is always a favorite activity. The Alumni Association throws a great party before the football games....free food, fun and games and the kids love it.

I got to take in a couple of the last flag football games....Jack and Seth played on adjacent fields. Laynee ran State Cross Country; I didn't get to go and watch but was proud of her 7th place finish along with being voted (by her many fans) as "Athlete of the Week". I don't have a picture but hope to find one for the record book. Traci and her boys were able to be there to cheer her on.

Spencer and Shana were able to stop by and visit Lauri and the kids...always fun to see family....

Traci and Lauri enjoyed a little excursion with their youngest at the zoo...It's a good thing they could all sit in the wagon. 

So glad they have each other up in the north country. Cutest kids ever......

Emily and Maycee finally got to go to Thriller....ugghhhh and scary but they look pretty happy. I'm just not a real fan of "scary". This is Kyle's birthday tradition and I didn't pay much respect for him on his birthday so I'll throw this in 'cause I'm dang proud of him.....this was in the Alumni Magazine. His new title is "Dean".

Halloween is tomorrow and our family tradition has always been to carve pumpkins the Monday before Halloween. Snapped a pic of these from Kyle's house.....there are others that I will post as I can find them.

I'm so glad to see these traditions that we enjoyed so much carried on into the families of my children. Also, a preview of Halloween costumes. Caught Matty's pre-school parade and Traci and Lauri sent me these. Traci's Rock Star theme is truly rockin' it this year.....

Here's Matty (top left) and Jake and Max ready for the school parade. Just in is Lucy and Molly....

....ready for the pre-school show. Love Molly's poofy slip....reminds me of the good ol' days and the dress-up box. Well, I think that's about it. I had taken down my blog....never to do it again, definitely the drugs speaking. I'm on the mend and today I don't really care if the Russians look at my blog so I'm up and going again. I start a new year tomorrow. Hope to get to feeling better....this past experience has taught me a lot about my mental health. I will be guarding it ever so vigilantly from now on as well as my physical well-being and would admonish anyone reading this to do the same. I hope the kiddies have a safe and fun Halloween. This would be a great place for a TBT photo but hey, I'm doing good to get this blog up and running for the history books so I'll save that for another day. For today, I'm embracing the interruption....and trying to get on with life.

Can't think of anything better...

...than this cute birthday wish from his adorable nieces and nephew. Happy Birthday, son. You're the best. I mean it. I'm a bit under the weather to today but needed to keep up my tradition of birthday blogs. More to come later. Stay tuned.

Everyone in this family knows that you rock...you take care of us all whether your wife wants you to or not and we thank you and honor you on this day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY....It was a good day 41 years ago when you made me a mom for the first time. Sorry you had to be the experiment. You turned out pretty darn good inspite of it.

Winning isn't everything....

...but it's mighty fun when one of my own does it...and this little girl is a winner in more ways than one. (Region Champ and she's only a sophomore!!!!).

I've come to love Cross Country because Laynee loves it and is good at it. She had a strategy yesterday and it worked. I was able to get to one of her meets a couple of weeks ago in Cedar City and she was discouraged with herself....but life lessons are learned. We will win some and we will lose some...and in the losing comes the building of character but in the winning comes the reward of hard work and goals achieved. Both are very important in life. I just heard a quote today that says "if we don't fail sometimes, we're not working hard enough." Keep up the great work, Laynee Jane. Good luck at State next week. You are awesome....on many levels. Beautiful inside and out.

I'm gonna have to brag a little....

....but just today because it's Mason's birthday and he's just the best dentist ever....

...and it's not just that I'm his mom; it's because I just had a huge tooth pulled by him and I was so scared and wasn't sure I really wanted it done but it was a mess and had to come out. I had  heard some horror stories but then my sister told me it would be a piece of cake and you know how I like cake....so I just went in with a little trepidation and made Randy drive here to hold my hand and it was awesome. Didn't feel a thing...not even a little needle pinch. He had the numbing stuff in there before I knew it and then said he was going to numb around the tooth a bit and that's what I thought he was doing when he said..."all done, you did great".....well, my son; you did great. He put in some gauze, told me to keep it in for a while and we went over to Family Pawn and I told the people in there, (talking with the gauze in my mouth)...."painless, totally painless. Just had a tooth pulled and it was PAINLESS. Hurricane Dental. That's the place to go".....I didn't even tell them it was my son. The guy smiled and said..."I'll have to try them." Great job, Mason and Happy Birthday. Hope it's a good one. You deserve it.

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Last week, Traci brought her little boys to town for their annual dental appointments and they all did great too....every one of them. Mason's good with little kids too and has a great treasure box. Wish I would have taken more pictures but here's little Harry just rockin' the dentist chair.

Traci had a check-up too because it's very important when one is pregos to have good dental hygiene....yep, she's expecting #5 and we couldn't be more excited....and all I can say on this is if it's a boy, she will have a basketball team and if it's a girl, pink, lace and Mary Jane's (from me anyway). We are all just thoroughly thrilled for the Staheli family and this little one will certainly have a whole team of boys watching out for her/him. I'll keep this blog updated when we find out more....a new Honda Odyssey will be a wonderful ride for these five. Congrats again on that addition to the fam.

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As mentioned earlier, Randy came early to hold my hand at the dentist but we took off Friday and headed up to Zion.....

And as you can only imagine, I had my camera (upper right) and had a great time with it. Found my new dream mode of transportation next time we go camping (upper left) and next to that is a picture of a new favorite treat. We enjoyed a most beautiful day as we made our way to Cedar Mountain and stopped at Duck Creek.....

Randy got in a little fishing (and I mean "little" as he used a little Scooby Doo fishing pole that he keeps in the trunk) and he caught 4 fish with it. We enjoyed the beginning of the Fall color change and just a little piece of heaven on earth right here in our own back yard. Then we headed on down into Cedar City for Laynee's Cross Country Track Meet.....(we packed a lot in that day).

Her team-mates were supposed to write someone that had died on their arm that they were running for and she wrote "grandpa". I know her grandpa would have been to every one of these meets to cheer her on. I try to get to all of them that I can and have really come to love watching the sport. Not only is she a great runner, she's beautiful inside and out. Love to see that blond hair whipping in the wind as she runs....then on over to Pine Valley for the "carb load" before the marathon.

Mason and Kyle both had injuries but they had their running cloths and were totally on the verge of doing it...but I raised them smarter than that and they refrained and it was very HARD on them but we cheered on Mandy and Spencer (Mandy coming in at 3:07 and Spencer at 3:35) Awesome times. I love love marathon week-end and it's partly because it's conference week-end and I headed back up to Pine Valley to enjoy conference with Randy in this beautiful setting.....

We were able to put conference on the outside speakers and enjoy the messages outdoors. The leaves are just starting to change but the summer flowers are still in bloom. Later in the afternoon we enjoyed a visit from Mason and Spencer's families......

We had to head back to Folsom and I was going to miss George's piano recital so I headed over for a concert of my own....

George is teaching Emily and she's doing awesome and he takes from Robert Ruesch and is so amazing. He played "Frozen" which he made up from just listening to the arrangement. He played in Shayne's Homecoming and did fantastic on an arrangement of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing". He will be one to watch in the coming years. Maybe he'll be pumping out ragtime at Disneyland or better yet, head to Julliard his Freshman year....you go George.

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We headed to Bakersfield where Randy's mom is staying with his sister Abby and her husband Mike. We spent the evening with them, had a delicious dinner at Wool Growers Bask Restaurant, one of Randy's favorites from his growing up years and headed out the next morning for home.

Abby pumps out these amazing costumes for her grandkids....I was in aw, such amazing detail. She's a very talented seamstress but says she prefers making costumes. Where was she when I needed Traci's formals and dancing outfits. Josephine is really happy and doing well....so good to see her and spend some time there.

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I've been missing Louis and he is growing and changing so fast.....

 Lauri sent these pictures along...just a little preview of Halloween....

I have 18 grand kids and they are all just adorable and I love them all but I'm here to tell you that the picture of Molly on the left....even if she weren't mine, this would be the picture of the year. She's just the cutest little Snow White ever and I always wanted to dress Lauri and Traci in this costume but never got around to it....so here she is, my little Snow White, just in adoration of her own awesomeness. Isn't that hair just the cutest????? We are back in Folsom now and the adventures continue as last night we attended an Interfaith Music and the Spoken Word. Our friend Jon B. Fish is the president of the Interfaith Council and he invited us to this program and it was good but even better was to be in this venue, The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament of Sacramento.

I took the picture on the right with my cell phone inside the cathedral. It was a wonderful evening with good music and thoughts given by each of the ecclesiastical leaders of the various churches in the area. Our Sacramento Cordova Missionaries had a choir that performed as well. Wed. night we went to the Sacramento Temple and did sealings which was a great experience as well. I'd only done that one other time in my life. Beautiful evening in a beautiful setting.

And now, just a fun little picture to end this very long post on......at Matty's birthday party which was in my back yard, she found this on the trampoline......

...just hanging on for dear life. Wowsers.....I better watch close in my house from now on just in case one sneaks in. I think that's about it for this post. Another big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Mason. He was born 36 (is that right, I lose track) years ago on this day about 3:15 p.m. I won't lie....he was a character to raise but he is the kindest, most generous, thoughtful person you will ever meet and he throws a mean party...and is a very talented dentist, worth the drive to Hurricane. Don't wait until 2:30 (tooth hurty) to get your appointment....like I did. Oh, and Happy Columbus Day on Monday.