I also have a Confession...

Jennifer's post inspired me.  I also have an online game addiction.  Mine is "Farm Town", which is a game found on Facebook (yes, that's right, Facebook).  Just as the name implies, the game is about farming.  You start with a plot of land and a little money, and have to plant and harvest crops to earn money.  The more money you earn, the more land you can buy to plant more crops!  Then you can buy fences, barns, houses, and even a mansion!

This is my farm:  

Isn't it pretty?  You can see all my pretty crops growing. The barn is a new addition.  You have to reach certain levels before you can buy buildings, and I just reached barn level last night.  It was quite exciting!

I am not alone in this addiction!  And I am not playing with a bunch of 12-year-olds!  I have four friends - all close to my age - who also play.  We are all Farm Town neighbors.  And I know a sister in our ward - who is older than me - who also plays - and has an awesome farm!

If you're on Facebook, give Farm Town a try.  It's really a lot of fun!

Ewww

How would you like to get baptized in this baptismal font:

Yes, that is my son, Brian, standing in a baptismal font filled with filthy water.  In the Dominican Republic, sometimes you take what you can get!  The baptism took place - in that water.  This might have been the only time a missionary was glad he didn't get to do the actual baptizing! 

Freedom is not Free

Freedom is not Free

by Cadet Major Kelly Strong

I watched the flag pass by one day. 

It fluttered in the breeze, 

A young Marine saluted it, and then 

He stood at ease.

I looked at him in uniform 

So young, so tall, so proud, 

With hair cut square and eyes alert. 

He'd stand out in any crowd.

I thought how many men like him 

Had fallen through the years. 

How many died on foreign soil? 

How many mother's tears? 

How many pilots' planes shot down? 

How many died at sea? 

How many foxholes were soldier’s graves? 

No, freedom is not free.

I heard the sound of taps one night. 

When everything was still. 

I listened to the bugler play 

And felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times 

That taps had meant "Amen" 

When a flag had draped a coffin 

Of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children, 

Of the mothers and the wives, 

Of fathers, sons and husbands 

With interrupted lives. 

I thought about a graveyard 

At the bottom of the sea 

Of unmarked graves in Arlington.

NO FREEDOM IS NOT FREE

Memorial Day

I am always grateful to those that choose to serve in the military and protect our country.  But, on this Memorial Day, may we all take some time to remember and honor the brave men and women who gave their lives defending our freedom.

Prom Pictures!

Prom night means just one thing.  Pictures, of course!  We went to a park in New Territory to take pictures.  This our just a small sampling of the many, many pictures we took. (Gotta love digital cameras!)

Here they are - Jeffrey and Jennifer:

Don't they look cute?

Here is  a picture of the 2 couples, Jeffrey and Jennifer, and Stephen and Kat.  This is one of the many nicely posed pictures we took:

Here is a less traditional picture of the four of them:

I really like that one!

And here is the typical picture of Jeffrey and Stephen:

That picture really captures the two of them, doesn't it?

Like Lori, I have received my text letting me know they made it to the Marriott - Galleria (Jeffrey drove).  

Now, like Lori, I shall wait for my son to return home safe and sound.

**Kimberly and Lori**

Your comments have disappeared because that post was deleted.  I redid the post so all of the pictures could be enlarged.  Hey, I'm waiting.  I've got nothing better to do.

Brief Moment of Prom Panic

Jeffrey is going to Prom tonight.  This morning he came up to me and said, "Mom, I forgot to pick up the Prom tickets!"

Here's the deal.  He bought the tickets over a month ago. The school, in its infinite wisdom, decided that the students would lose the tickets if they gave them to them that early. So they decided to pass out the tickets the week before Prom.  And Jeffrey didn't pick up his tickets.  While that does make him a goofball, I will defend him a little.  He was gone from school Monday and Tuesday, and any announcements made in the cafeteria are almost impossible to hear (and I know this because I've been in the cafeteria at lunch).

So, here we were Saturday morning, with no Prom tickets. I called a friend who knows everything going on at Travis, and she told me who to call.  The second call resulted in me finding out that the tickets are really just souvenirs, and not needed to get into the Prom.  The Prom people already know who's coming, so an ID is really all that's needed.  

Whew.  Ticket crisis averted.  On to the next one!

Yearbook Update

I have e-mailed the 2 faculty yearbook advisors.  I have yet to hear back from them.  I will let you know when, or if, I do.

Oh, I did find 3 more small pictures of individual band students, taken during Marching Band season.  They are on a page called "Travis Football Spirit".  How nice. 

Travis High School Yearbook

My boys brought home their yearbooks today.  Tell me if you think this is fair:

Sports - 40 pages

Band and Orchestra - 2/3 of a page TOTAL

Choir - No picture

What sort of message does that send?

**Update**

I looked through the yearbook some more.  The 5 small pictures of the Honors Band, Concert Band, Marching Band, Orchestra, and Full Orchestra?  All mislabeled.  How hard would it have been to figure out the difference between the groups and at least get that right?  Of course the pictures are so small, it doesn't really matter anyway!

On the upside, there is a double page spread on tattoos. Because that's important.

I Just Have to Say.....

Jeffrey and Scott have been gone since Friday.  They are on a Band trip to Disney World (lucky boys).  Robert and I have been empty nesters, although since Robert had to work both Saturday and Sunday, I felt more like I was an empty nester all by myself.  

Anyway, the point of this post is to say that I love my boys very much.  I am not pushing them out of the house.  But....

LAUNDRY IS MUCH EASIER TO DO FOR ONLY TWO PEOPLE!!!

I will now go hang my head in shame for even thinking such bad mom thoughts.

Weird Coupon

I was cutting coupons this morning and came across this one:

A&W Barbecue Sauce?  Am I the only one that thinks this is weird?  I mean, I love A&W Root Beer.  But as a drink.  On it's own in a big glass with ice.  Or, even better, mixed with vanilla ice cream.  I don't want it slathered on my grilled chicken or ribs.

If someone out there thinks this is a good idea, please explain it to me!

Eurovision

Every year there is a musical competition called "Eurovision".  European countries send a musical act to compete.  This year's winner was Alexander Rybak from Norway.  I can totally see why he won.  He's very cute, he plays the fiddle, he's very cute, he sings, and he's very cute!  (Did I mention he's very cute?)  Plus there are three acrobats doing their acrobatics while he performs.  What could be better than that?   

I have to say, this was much more exciting than American Idol!

Unnecessary Law of the Month

Here is May's unnecessary law of the month:

In Topeka, Kansas, it's illegal to serve wine in teacups.

What I want to know is what exactly happened in Topeka, Kansas tea shops that warranted passing this law.

(Brought to you courtesy of Townhall Magazine.)

The Dichotomy that is Me

Two of my Mother's Day gifts:

The Waltons: Season 9

Criminal Minds: Season 2

Could there be two more different series?  I think not.  But I love them both!

That probably says something about me psychologically.

The Last Phone Call!

Today we got to talk to Brian in the Dominican Republic. For the last time!  This was our 4th phone call.  Next time we talk to him should be September 2nd ... in person ... at the airport in Houston ... when we greet him up at the end of his mission!  

It was so nice to talk to him.  He sounded wonderful.  We were able to have a nice looooong talk.  Some mission presidents put time limits on the calls, but Brian's doesn't, so we talked for a while.

I am so grateful to whoever it was in the Church that decided that families should get to talk to their missionary on Mother's Day.  That phone call made my Mother's Day WONDERFUL!    

Wheat!!

I decided we needed to seriously jump on the food storage bandwagon.  So I ordered 200 pounds of wheat.  Tonight we borrowed the stake's dry pack canner and dry packed our wheat.  Here are my menfolk working hard with the dry packer:

It normally doesn't take 3 people to operate the dry packer. We had to have two because the clamps wouldn't fit on our counter, so the extra person was there to keep the thing from falling off the counter and probably crushing someone's foot (or feet) in the process.  Robert just wanted to be in the picture, he wasn't really helping at all.

Here is one of the 40 cans of wheat we dry packed:  

Isn't it pretty?  

I'm not sure what to do with wheat besides make bread, but at least we have some!  I plan to order more in June and we will do the whole dry packing thing again.  Fun times at the Clutter's house!!

Happy 21st Birthday, Brian!!

Happy 21st birthday to Brian, serving his mission in the Dominican Republic!  Here he is, newly born:

Here he is after a long, hard day walking all over Niagara Falls:
I love that picture!  You can just tell he is thinking, "I can't go on anymore"!

Here he is in 5th grade, after winning the Arizona Fleming Elementary School Spelling Bee for the 2nd year in a row:
Here he is in May of 2007, holding the envelope containing his call to serve a mission in the Dominican Republic Santo Domingo West Mission:
Here he is on August 29, 2007, after eating one last meal at IHOP:
He entered the Missionary Training Center a couple of hours later, ready to begin his new adventure as a missionary!

Today he is turning 21 years old!  He has served 20 months of his two year mission.  I can't wait to see him in four months!  

Brian, I'm so proud of you for sacrificing your time to serve the Lord.  I know you are being blessed for your service.  I love you, and I'm proud to call you my son.

Happy 21st birthday!!

Grocery Annoyance

I went to the grocery store today.  I got in line behind a lady who had a large order (it was the shortest line).  After they rang up and bagged her whole order, she said she needed to also buy a $100.00 gift card.  Then she said she wanted to use the $100.00 gift card, which she hadn't paid for, to pay for the grocery order because her son's swim team would get 3% back (or something like that).  A manager was called over and after the whole situation was explained again, it was determined the only way she could do what she wanted to do would be to void the entire order, buy the gift card, and RERING THE WHOLE ORDER!  This meant that I had to take all of my stuff off the conveyer belt, so they could put all of her stuff back on the conveyor belt. Needless to say, I just moved to a different lane with all of my stuff that I had to put back in my cart.  

I was not happy.  When the lady said "I bet you hate getting in line behind people like me", I did quietly say, "Yes, I do". 

I understand when things happen at the checkout, but I would think you could figure out that you need to pay for a gift card BEFORE YOU WANT TO USE IT!