FINALLY THE RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY

So today -- the school that my children go to had their Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for their new school. The mayor was there as well, as other prominent members of the community, and important to the school. I managed to get my boys to stay at my sister in laws house so that I could enjoy this more. Here are just a few of the pictures :






Here is the mayor standing next to a girl from the school. I think she might be the Student Body President -- not for sure yet. The lady in Red is the DIRECTOR of the School = PRINCIPAL Lynne Herring
Hooray the Ribbon is cut!!! Here is Heidi in the center of the picture.
Hi Kaylee!!
I can see Katherine and Kaylee and a little bit of Heidi .

Presentation of the colors -- they were some junior ROTC students from Provo High School
Here is the Mayor speaking to the students.

Don't you just love that boys expression? And of course there is Katherine beside him.

Picture Game

I had this from my myspace page and I liked it so much that I wanted to post it as a blog, it's fun, and feel free to use it on your own blog as well.

1) Answer the questions below
2) Take each answer and type it into Photobucket
3) Take a picture from the first page of results copy the html code.
4) You cant copy the persons answers who posted this before you

1. age on next birthday: 30th birthday



2. place you would like to travel: Paris



3. Your favorite place Provo Temple

4. Your favorite object : Chapstick








5. Favorite Food : ICE CREAM !!!


6. Favorite Animal : Cat





7. Favorite Color: BLUE



8. The town you were born in : RIDGECREST



9. The town you live in : style="font-size:180%;color:#cc0000;"> PROVO

This picture is taken about 3 blocks from where I live.



10. Favorite candy: Reece's Peanut Butter Cups and Almond Joy




11. Name of your love
I typed in Chris Randolph and these football pictures came up, good thing my lover likes to watch football.







12. Your nickname : HILLBILLY





13. Middle name : LYNN



14. Last name: Randolph


Okay so this was fun!! Some of the pictures are kind of crazy but it's fun to do.

I've been tagged~~

I've been tagged by Kiera to come up with 7 random things about me, so I'll give this a shot and see if I can come up with anything interesting. Sorry this took so long to post -- I've had a hard time coming up with things.

1. I love to be creative and make "cards" -- over the last decade I've been able to add to my collection of things that I can use to make fun cards. So as long as I remember that I need one ahead of time I can totally have fun with it.

Here's one I made this last year -- and I think I might have actually given it to someone who will read the blog. You know who you are!!! So again "HAPPY BIRTHDAY"

2. I also love to have fun and be creative with making cakes for my kids: I made a racetrack cake just last week for Thomas and another one I had fun doing was an Elmo cake for Kaylee when she turned 2!!! That was her first birthday living in the house we are in right now. We've been here a while. WOW!!

3. I used to be a cheerleader in high school, I really enjoyed the "Stunts" and I was always the "spotter" so that no-one got hurt if it went wrong.

4. I love to sit in a warm bath with bubbles and read a book - I sit in there for a good hour to an hour and a half. And mostly forget the rest of the world exists. Can I say "CALGON TAKE ME AWAY!"

5. I love being on the internet!! Blogging, paying bills, email, researching, I can't get enough of it.

6. I love doing family history research!! If I could spend a day doing anything I want, I would spend it at the family history library in Salt Lake and then go back east and visits states where my ancestors are from.

7. I have a fear of driving over hills where you can't see what's on the other side. I always feel like I'll drive over it and there would be nothing more than a massive body of water -- I know it's crazy!!!

Now I'm going to tag: Shantil, Marianne, Jamie, and Aubrey

AMERICAN IDOL

YIPEE!!!! I'M SO EXCITED THAT AMERICAN IDOL IS STARTING ALL OVER AGAIN!!!! TONIGHT IS THE PREMIERE AND I'M THRILLED!!

It's a family event in our house -- so I hope that I have the baby down for bed by the time it comes on and that the older kids have finished their homework and are ready for bed -- and then I'll let them watch it, but of course, if they get loud and rowdy -- I'll send them quickly off to their beds.

I'd better go and get started with getting daily chores done so we're running smoothly this evening.

Baby Lana and Baby Logan

When we went to Idaho almost 2 weeks ago, we stopped in at Chris's cousins house. We stopped to see Phillip and Rebekah and their new little daughter Lana (said like Lonna). She is such a cute little baby. It makes me think of my kids when they were little
Family Picture with

Phillip and Rebekah and their new baby.

Here is a picture that was emailed to me by the new Grandma to both of these babies and happens to be Chris's Aunt.















This is Tabi and Juston's baby -- Tabi and Chris are cousins -- His name is Logan ---- I got these pictures from an email that was sent to me. I sure like babies when they are little and lately I'm beginning to think I really like them when I know that they aren't coming home with me, and I don't have to be the one to get up with them durning the night

More and More Milestones

Katherine has lost her 4th TOOTH !!!




Now I like to call her "doublewide" -- because of the big gap on the top.











Everything goes into this kids mouth!!! I sure wish that the older ones would learn to keep things picked up and put away.














And LOOK here he has TWO teeth that you can see well -- they both came in when when he was 7 months old.


















Just recently Ethan has started to stand up to various furniture around the house. Isn't that crazy!!!! He's growing up too fast and he's already 9 months old.

Thomas Turns 3

Thomas turned three on January 8th, 2008 !!! I can hardly believe that my little boy is that old!! Wow, where does the time go?? Well, we had a lot of fun, or at least I like to think that we did, but when all was said and done, and Thomas was getting tucked in at nearly 10pm that Tuesday night -- I asked if he had fun, he said "YES!!!" So here is a little of what his day or rather the party was like.


Thomas with Grandpa and Grandma -- can you tell he didn't really want to get a picture taken with them???? Here he is checking out the cool race track cake MOMMY made for him. Here is a picture of the cake up close and then one with Thomas in the picture also. He's so crazy about cars and trains lately. I thought it appropriate to make him this. The birthday boy with his presents, and his cool balloon.

He opened this one and said, "COOL!"
These were his two main gifts James at Boulder Mountain and a track expansion pack.




















And here is one of the designs we've come up with and we've done a lot in just a week. So with the Thomas Engine he got at Christmastime and now with the James engine and three extra cars he has hours of fun playing with his trains.

Here I am with all of my kids on Thomas's 3rd birthday and I'm the one who made that cool cake!!! I love all of the different facial expressions == these pictures are priceless!!!

I am so glad that he wasn't sick today like he was for Christmas!!! This boy was way excited!!!

In Memory of Kristy Ragsdale

I'm so touched right now, we learned of the passing of a friend, Kristy Ragsdale, my husband knew as a teenager. She was kind of like a kid sister to him. I didn't even know her but feel like I did as I've read through the numbers and numbers of entries on a blog set up in her memory. It was something that happened here in Utah. It was this last Sunday Jan 6th, ( this was also to be her 30th birthday) ---so she is just a few months older than I am. She was in the process of going through a divorce, and her husband shot her after she got out of the car and about to walk to the building. It came from behind and she had no warning, and about 6 feet away stood her mother. How Sad !! All I can do is CRY!! My poor husband --- he's never actually known anyone close that has passed away until my Grandfather did back in Dec 2004. He's so filled with emotion right now too. So after I've read through a lot of the entries I feel like she was someone I would have liked well!!! The saddest thing is that she leaves behind two little boys, Brandon and Carter (one is 4 years old and the other is 18months) --- When I think about that -- that's what gets me. I can't even imagine leaving this world right now, let alone leaving all my children behind. So I've come to the conclusion that it is moments and times like these when I'm grateful for the plan of salvation. The only way I've been able to work through this is by praying and reading my scriptures. So I may not have known her but I'm surely being affected by it. Not only am I sad for her family, but it also brings fresh tears from my own losses. My Grandpa in 2004 and a Grandma in 1988.

This woman seemed to have left a legacy of happiness, caring, love, friendship, and almost anything that is good. I sure hope that people will be able to recall those things about me when I'm gone.

My husband and his family all knew her, so in order for them to all go to the funeral -- I've offered to watch the kids so that they can go and pay their respects.

I'm so glad that I know FAMILIES CAN BE TOGETHER FOREVER if we live righteously.

And This is My Town

I thought I'd try and take you on a tour of where I grew up. I got most of these pictures from the internet -- but the next time I go back to visit my parents I'll be sure and get pictures that are more what I want.

At any rate this used to be a movie theatre -- I remember going into this building a few times, but of course, I can't recall what movies we watched. I don't think it functions as a theater anymore and hasn't for several years, at least the last 20 - 25 years.
Typical scenes in Trona -- broken down cars, thrashed houses, lots of vandalism. Looks pretty cruddy.

The place for which Trona is known for -- The TRONA PINNACLES! !!! As you leave town and drive around the corner at the far end of the valley you can see this image. A lot of movies have been filmed out here, I'll try and gather a list sometime.

This is on the south end of the valley out towards the Pinnacles looking back towards the place where I grew up.

The white building in this picture is just about 2 minutes from where I lived. And there again more junk cars. The yellow building of to the left of the picture is the REC Center and they used to do haunted houses in the basement, and hold dinners and dances. But I don't think that they've used it in at least a decade or more. I'll have to check with my parents on that one.
These are the "FISH ROCKS" -- These are along the only road into Trona so you see them everytime you head there. I think I'll try and stop here next time and get pictures with my kids in them. We'll see !!

This is toward the north part of town called Pioneer Point -- The section of town where my grandmother lives. The tank on the top of the hill is just near where she lives down below it and off to the right more.

So needless to say --- It was pretty cruddy!! I don't even enjoy it when I go to visit because it is so UGLY!! I so much enjoy PROVO !!! So for those of you who don't like UTAH!! It can be worse and I had it worse.

I grew up here and played sports in high school. Basketball, Volleyball, Softball -- and I was even a cheerleader for about a year and half. Basketball, was by far, my FAVORITE!!!
I learned how to drive in this town where you never experience a "rush hour", there are not stoplights, and I don't even think they have painted crosswalks. The football team plays on a dirt field, so does the softball and baseball teams. So when the wind would blow -- it was nasty!!! DIRT that was BLACK was flying all over the place and when kids would go outside to play -- well they cam in looking like they rolled in a coal pit.

So I guess I'm basically saying all of this so that I can make sure that I never forget where I grew up but to never return to such a place. And that I can always remember that things can be worse than they are right now. I've enjoyed my life more since I've left that town behind. Of course, it isn't gone and forgotten yet, because my parents still live there. YUCK!! Someday maybe they might move -- but who knows.

So that leads me to this point -- living in the desert I rarely saw snow. I never even learned how to drive in it really. So I was afraid of driving on it when I first moved to Idaho and Utah about 11 years ago !!
.....
I think we've gotten more snow this year then we've had in the last few years. And even if we haven't it sure feels like it, and I love it. Of course, it makes for terrible driving conditions, but I just slow way down and take it easy.

Now you would never guess that I was ever afraid to drive in it -- but when you are put into situations where you are kind of forced to learn better, it's amazing how much fear can leave your body. ALthough I still make sure to drive cautiously.