Personal Progress

Summertime is a great time to work on Personal Progress! Sadie has been doing just that. Personal Progress is a program designed by the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for young women between the ages of 12 and 18 years old. It helps them strengthen their faith and testimony, apply the teachings of Jesus Christ in their lives, and prepare for womanhood. There are many requirements that must be completed in order to receive the Young Womanhood Recognition certificate and medallion. Each requirement centers around one of eight values: Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Knowledge, Choice and Accountability, Good Works, Integrity, and Virtue. This past week, Sadie chose to complete a value experience for KNOWLEDGE:
"In your journal list talents that you have and others that you would like to develop. Read Matthew 25:14-30. Learn a new skill or talent that will help you care for your own future family or home (for example, playing the piano, singing, budgeting, time management, cooking, sewing, or child care). Share with your family, class or Young Women leader what you have learned."

Sadie decided she wanted to learn how to make bread. I taught her how, having her watch me one day. Then, a few days later, I had her help me make it. Monday she made it all by herself. She shared her new found knowledge with her family and a few neighbors, letting them watch as she worked. The bread turned out great! She decided to make cinnamon bread by adding cinnamon to the dough before shaping it into the loaves. It was delicious!


I am so thankful for the experiences that she is having as she works on her Personal Progress. I especially like the opportunity it provides for mother and daughter to spend quality time together. I LOVE it!

Pioneer Day

No sleeping in this weekend!!! It was Pioneer Day!!! Kristi, Cameron, and Elise rode in our ward's primary float as "missionaries." After the parade, we went to the park for games, food and entertainment.

Cari, Trevon and Sadie each helped work at the Dunk Tank activity. All the games were free to participants. The younger children especially loved the face painting. The food was sold at cost, not for profit, and was affordable. There was pizza, watermelon, lemonade, ice-cream sandwiches, walking tacos, orange Julius, and hot dogs for sale. ((I thought the walking tacos were a clever idea. It included cutting the top off of an individual sized bag of Frito corn chips, then filling it with desired toppings such as beans, cheese, lettuce, tomato, olive, etc.)) Hurricane has two Stakes of the church here. One was in charge of the activity booths (each ward having one), the other was in charge of food booths. Each year, they switch responsibilities. All wards from both stakes also participate in the parade with a float. That makes up our town's celebration of PIONEER DAY (the 24th of July).
We ended the day with a small fireworks show in our backyard. It was a long, but fun filled day.

Exchange Student

The past few days have been filled with fun and excitement. On Thursday evening, our international exchange student arrived from Japan. We went to the college to pick her up. As we waited for the students to arrive, I was nervous and anxious. I didn't know what to expect of this experience. The group of children entered the room and I immediately filled with emotion (to tears). You'd have thought I was there to adopt a new baby! Each of the dark haired children (ages 9-18) were BEAUTIFUL! I loved them as soon as I saw them. It was a revelation to me of how our Heavenly Father loves his children; each and EVERY one of us; unique in our own ways. We are each beautiful in our own way, and I was able to see that - OUT LOUD! We were the first ones called to meet our new family member, Nanami. She doesn't speak very much English, but seems to be able to understand what I write on paper for her. She has a great dictionary that I have also used to communicate with her a little.

Nanami is twelve years old. She plays the piano and likes movies and animals. Her favorite sport is volleyball. She likes pineapple, but does not like cucumbers. She is from Kobe Japan. She brought special gifts for each member of our family. She also presented us with some goodies from her homeland. We have enjoyed everything she has shared with us.

I'm trying to decide on what gift we can give to her when it is time for her to return home, in three weeks. Nanami and Kristi spend the most time together. We have gone for a walk, played games together, celebrated Pioneer Day, taken her to church, and enjoyed getting to know her. She has a sweet laugh and we're so glad to be able to share our family life with her.

During her stay, she will attend ESL classes at Dixie college and participate in numerous field trips: museums, Fiesta Fun, horseback riding, shopping, water sports, sports, the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, and Zion National Park.

Happy 20th!

Well, I have now lived with Mike longer than I haven't! We celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary.

Enjoy a FEW pictures of us, then and now...we haven't changed all that much, have we?! I think we're only getting better!

I'm so thankful to have Mike in my life. He's my best friend, a great father and wonderful husband. He's GOOD FOR ME and I look forward to the next 20+ years, and an eternity together!

Still crazy (in love) after all these years!

It was a HAPPY ANNIVERSARY.

Super Activity

Mike took the Priests (16-18 year old young men) of our ward on a super activity to California. They camped near the beach in San Mataeo; went to the San Diego temple and did baptisms; played at the beach; and got sick at Six Flags, Magic Mountain. They had a great trip, right up to the end when the truck broke down! We were thankful they were close to home when that happened!

Trevon was also gone for the week, with the Teacher's Quorum (14&15 year old boys). They went rafting on the San Juan River in eastern Utah. He saw wild Big Horn Sheep along the river and hiked to some Native American ruins. They drove through Monument Valley near Mexican Hat. He was happy he did not get a sunburn and was able to keep his sleeping gear dry, when it rained on them!
AT home, we read books, watched movies (staying up way too late), ate too much, made bread, and also had a car break down (Cari's). I am ready to return to some normalcy this coming week. We have invited a Japanese student into our home for three weeks. Nanani will arrive on Thursday and we are very excited to meet her and have her join our family for a short time.

Sunday Surprise

This afternoon we received a phone call from Mike's Uncle Jim. He was in town with his son and grandsons. They are on a scouting expedition with a group from Massachusetts. They have gone on many hikes in the area and also played at Lake Powell this past week. We were thrilled that they stopped by for a visit. What a great family to be a part of!

Family Reunion 2010

WOW! We've had quite the fun the past ten days. It was the Miller/Ohlson Family Reunion and so we loaded up the Suburban and drove to South Dakota to visit with our family there. We had a great time. It took us an entire day of driving to get there. We spend four busy days and five nights visiting, playing games and eating lots of food. We had a total of 57 family members attend the reunion. I really enjoyed seeing my Grams, aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, siblings and their children!


I loved visiting with my sisters as we ran up the hills and walked on the sandy dirt roads that separated the fields of growing crops. How great to be able to visit together and reminisce, face to face, in a place where we each have fond childhood memories.
During the reunion activities we played some really fun games. I was Sadie's partner in the Cheeto toss game. We also played a toothpick/mint relay, Grab Bag (using various sized paper bags that you had to try to grab without using your hands, standing), Suck it Up (relay game using a straw and Skittles), Balloon Games, a Pudding Drop game, and more. We discussed how our families have grown, changes that have occurred and what we have in common. Then, we took the kids down town to the carnival on Main Street. They enjoyed playing on the rides there.



On Sunday morning we drove about a half hour to reach the small branch building for church. It was good to see members of the Eliason family again. When I was a child, we would meet in their home for our church meetings in SD. There are a few more members of the church there now, and it was great to meet in a building, even a small one. Still, the Spirit was felt and we were thankful to be able to meet as Saints and share our testimonies.

After church, we gathered with all of our family again for lunch. We attended the patriotic parade together in our reunion attire. My favorite part of the parade was watching over fifty horses pass by, each rider holding a flag of one of our country's states. It was a visual reminder to me of what the United States are and made me reflect on the blessing it is to be a part of such diversity and freedom.

After the parade, I drove to a couple of cemeteries with my sister Dene'. We were able to find some of our buried relatives. I reflected on visits made long ago, when these special people were yet alive. We enjoyed looking for their names and finding others too.

We met together again as a BIG family and shared memories and pictures of Uncle Tom, who passed away when I was just a little girl. Then, we sang Happy Birthday to Grams who will be turning 80 years old next month.


Every night was filled with firecrackers. I thought it was miraculous that no one was seriously injured. My aunt had a whole bunch of fireworks, she added to everyone else's, and the family met together for quite a BLAST to end the reunion. We (the Beutler's, Maier's and Ferrin's) stayed an extra day at my aunt & uncle's farm. They host/guide hunters during pheasant season (Dakota Family Farms) and had plenty of space for my family. We enjoyed the beauty of the farm and my Aunt Marta and Uncle Bill's great hospitality. I love them both soooo much! We have a special family in South Dakota and I am so thankful to have been able to see them this year.

Trevon helped drive us to and from South Dakota. He has to log 40 hours before he can get his license. On our trip, he drove a total of thirteen hours (not consecutively)!

We drove to Provo, Utah and visited Mike's brother and his family for a few days before heading home. While there, we enjoyed relaxing in front of the T.V., playing the Wii games, jumping on the trampoline, and walking to the Creamery on Ninth. One day, we took the kids ice skating. Trevon went with his cousin to Seven Peaks, a water park next door to the ice skating arena.


We HAD to eat at SLAB pizza one night. Uncle Eric makes the best pizza. We walked around the Provo temple grounds and BYU campus too. We had a great visit. Before officially ending our vacation, we went to see the movie Despicable Me. It was okay....but getting home, that was GREAT! There's no place like home!