Harry's Hello

We can't seem to get Harry talking when Dad and Mom are on the phone but he will do it for the camera so I am blogging Harry's hello.

Harry is very vocal. Bentley barks, Harry talks. He talks all the time and when I don't understand what he wants he gets frustrated and gives me a nip on my leg. :) I sometimes think Harry is a person who has been turned into a dog like in the movies or something.
Harry is a real character but he is a lot of fun.

Wednesday's Trip to Springfield, Illinois

I drove with Marty down to Springfield to take his roofing exam. He is getting his roofing license for Nauvoo Restoration. He has been studying for months and has been really stressed out about it. We got up at 4:30 and left at 5am thinking we would have an hour once we got there to wind down. It snowed the night before and the roads were not clear and then we hit the morning rush hour.


Needless to say we arrived at the Route 66 Hotel and Conference Center at 8:15 and Marty had to be in his seat at 8:30. When he came out he was really happy with everything. He feels like he did good. Now we just wait 7 to 10 days for the results.

Bloggers Block

Katy and Laura did this thing so I felt like trying it.

Bloggers block...

The Rules:

1. Put your iTunes on shuffle.

2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.

3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.


If someone says 'are you OK?' you say? Foxy Lady

How would you describe yourself? Was it a Dream

What do you like in a guy/girl? Don't tell me

How do you feel today? six

What is your life's purpose? Patience

What is your motto? Hit That

What do your friends think of you? The only thing that matters

What do your parents think of you? Secret Garden

What do you think about very often? Saidie Hawkins

What is 2+2? Compromise

What do you think of your best friend? Hey there Delilah

What is your life story? Attitude

What do you want to be when you grow up? Pavan for a dead princess

What do you think when you see the person you like? I wonder as I wander

What will you dance to at your wedding? Sonata per Chiesa et camera

What will they play at your funeral? Motivation

What is your hobby/interest? Freedom Fighter

What is your biggest fear? Waltz from Swan Lake

What is your biggest secret? Afterburners

What do you want right now? Moving Forward

What do you think of your friends? Little Things

That was fun. I didn't read the questions at all. I just typed the answers in order and read it when I was done. It seemed like it was going to be really dumb and make no sense but it turned out kinda funny. You ought to try it!

Me Political??

Ok. I just read Katy's post about her political opinions and then I read Tacy's. It made me feel a need to write my feelings.

I will not pretend great knowledge on the subject of politics. I realize that there are many intelligent people out there who could challenge me on every level of my knowledge and opinions but my feelings are what I have to go by.

Being Conservative tends to mean we keep more of our opinions to ourselves. I realized that I need to be more outspoken and state my feelings more readily but I never want to offend and I respect each persons right to their own opinion. Many of my friends are fierce Democrats just as I have many friends who have beliefs that strongly oppose my own yet I have never felt a need to argue. I am so grateful for the freedom to vote my conscience and live the way I believe is right.

I will pray for our president. I will pray for our country. I will hope that no matter who hold the office of President that he will encourage people to love and respect each other. That our government system will thrive under the grace of God to protect us, overcome the mistakes of the past and the ones we will make in the future, and lift us up as a people in unity, love and charity.

I am grateful for the service given to us by President Bush. I am grateful for his willingness to take criticism and continue to try his hardest to stand up for what he believed was right. It would be horrible to live your life under a constant microscope. To have every mistake analyzed and triumphs ignored or under acknowledged.

Those who serve our Country in every office deserve our gratitude and I pray they will live up to the huge responsibilities that they have taken on. I hope they are strong enough to overcome the temptations to do the easiest thing versus the right things.

I might be considered uneducated and ignorant to some but I have Faith and I have Hope and I know that God lives and loves us all. He will not forsake us if we will not forsake him. I will do my part and that is all I expect from others.



I am grateful for our freedom and I respect the process enough to support the majority decision as long as my conscience allows. As long as my feelings of right and wrong are directed by my relationship with my Heavenly Father I know I have nothing to fear from the evil designs of men.

Amber and Amanda at "David's Chamber"

Amber and Amanda went to "David's Chamber" to take some cool winter pictures. "David's Chamber" is just a little outside of Nauvoo along the river road (highway). They call it David's Chamber because David Smith the son of Joseph and Emma Smith use to Paint there. He has some of his paintings hanging at the Community of Christ Church visitor center.






I think this is the coolest I have seen it look since we have lived here.

My Sweetheart!

I was taking pictures of Marty on Sunday. He was very annoyed but I couldn't help it he looks so good in a tie. lol He was in his suit all day and I was so shocked it didn't come off the second he got home. It's different but in a good way.

Lacey at the Orthodontist

On Friday I took Lacey to the Orthodontist. This is Layne her doctor. He is LDS. Actually a lot of the students at the Iowa City College of Dentistry are LDS. Her friend Kaylea went with us. I can't say it was a lot of fun but we are use to it and very grateful.

WHS receives national honor

Ambers high school received a national award as the most improved school in Illinois. I just thought that was worth blogging about.


Keokuk's DAILY GATE CITY
WARSAW, Ill. - Warsaw High School has received a national award from Businessweek.com as the most improved school in Illinois.

“This is based on our standardized test scores,” said Principal Tom Bertucci. “This is pretty neat. Look at the other schools named in the competition. They are all prep schools in the Chicago area.”

Chicago Tribune
Downstate Warsaw Senior High School was deemed the state's most improved school based on test scores, Jackson said.

Working the Jr High Basketball Concession Stand

Last night we were assigned to help at the concession stand. It was dead. There were hardly any people there and it was a tournament so we were there from 5 pm to 8:30 pm. During half time we would get 3 or 4 people and it was the same in between games. I wish I had brought a book.

The Hollobaugh Family

Jason and Chelsi with the new baby Landin, Colby who is 1 year and Cameron who will be 5 in February.

We were so excited to get this family picture from Chelsi's family this year we just had to share.

High School Musical

Amber has just been chosen to play the lead role of "Kim McAfee" in her High School musical performance of "Bye Bye Birdie". She is so excited and we are so excited for her. She will be really busy, I don't think the performance is until March sometime. This will be Amber's first lead role in a musical and I can't wait to see how she does.

Marty Made a MESS!!

Marty came home for lunch today Laughing. He said "I've had a bad day". Usually when he has a bad day he isn't laughing so I turned to look and he had mud all over himself. The best part of it was Joey Huston, one of his friends from NRI just happened to walk in as it happened. So he snapped a photo with his phone. I called him immediately and had him send me the picture. You can check out his whole story on his blog. http://martysteen.blogspot.com/

Lynn and Sharon are BLOGGING!!

Lynn and Sharon are blogging! (with a little help from me until they get the hang of it) I will decorate it better when "the cutest blog on the block" site is back online.
Visit their blog at
http://lynnandsharondickson.blogspot.com/

Luke is Gone...now that was a long drive!

We left at 11:00am and drove to Chicago O'hare to drop off Luke. His flight didn't leave until after 7:00pm but after all of the traffic problems we had when we picked him up we wanted to be sure he arrived plenty early. Plus the girls go back to school in the morning so we needed to get back so they would get a good nights sleep.



Sage has our GPS in Utah so we borrowed Lynn and Sharons. It has not been set up to miss the toll roads so we ended up driving all the way to the airport on a stupid toll road!! After dropping off Luke we figured out the GPS and didn't have that problem on the way home. lol
It was sad to say goodbye to Luke. He was so much fun to have around. We are really excited to find out where he will be sent on his mission.
Now it's back to the same old same old. It's sad to see the Holidays end.

Luke Turner Goes Home Today.

Today we are driving Luke to Chicago to catch a flight home to London, England. He is a really great kid and we are going to miss him. It has been a joy to have him around. He will be turning in his mission papers in June and then he will be gone for 2 years so we won't see him at all before August 2011. He will be a great missionary.

We are really going to miss you Luke!! Thanks for making the holidays so much fun!

Temple Day!

Yesterday was Sage's 19th Birthday and since she is in Utah we celebrated by going to the temple to do baptisms for the names our family has been working on. Our stake has challenged each member of the family to search out at least one ancestor and take that name all the way to the temple. Yesterday we took 10 female names and 9 male names. It was a really special day. There is an especially sweet spirit that goes along with bringing your family together eternally, even the ones who are gone.

The Nativity on the temple grounds
After the temple we drove to quincy and had dinner one last time before Luke leaves. Of course we had to go to the "Best Buffet" because that is just our favorite place to eat.

I need to get back to work....and life.

I need to get back to work and to life but I don't want to. lol I have 3 more days. Monday the kids go back to school, I go back to work and life goes back to normal. But today is the Last day I can get away with doing anything I want or absolutely nothing. I can't tell you how good this time off has been for me. I have never taken time off that I have not had to recover from the day off because it was so busy. lol I will be ready to work on Monday but as for today? I am still on VACATION!!!

New Years Day 2009

When we first moved to Nauvoo we were invited to a New Years Day Party that the Nelsons have at the church. Everyone brings holiday leftovers and snacks. Games and Puzzles.
We did this our first few years here and then it stopped for some reason. This year they had it again. It was so fun.

Lacey mostly played Basketball and Xbox.

There is always a puzzle going on.

and lots of board games and Card Games.

Sophie Smith brought this game called Quelf it was so much fun!
No Amber isn't being touchy feely it's all pert of the game "QUELF" It was so much fun we wer laughing the whole time.

We were there from about 10:30 until about 3:00pm. Then we went home and I got on the computer and Marty took a nap. It was a super fun way to start the New Year...I really miss my Mom and Dad though. I tried to go help with the puzzle but Dad is usually doing that and it surprised me how homesick I got for them. : ) Next year it won't bother me so much...you just watch and see. I had a great year last year and this one will even be better!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!