Only six more days left of our summer vacation. I’m sad–oh so sad. Collin is full-swing into football, weight lifting  and finishing his tree house (can’t wait to show you the final results). Brecken is working at Simply Splendid, practicing her guitar for a wedding she’ll be playing at tomorrow and living, breathing, sleeping volleyball. So it’s often just me and my little (big) Sage. My gal loves adventures and we’ve been going on some fun ones lately.

First of all, Sage is my crafty one. She spends hours in my scrapbook room. She made this cute tie-dyed shirt and head band (American Girl brand).

She also has become a lover of flowers and takes my camera on long walks just to take photos of flowers.

Here are two (of dozens) of Sage’s flower shots:

I’m going to miss having all my little chickens around full time. But that’s how life is–always changing. Only three more days until our German boy, Konstantin (Konsti), arrives. We can hardly wait!

Okay–so I possibly did the stupidest thing I’ve ever done in my life today. Let me back up. My husband surprised me with a road bike a few Christmases ago. I was so excited about it until I saw the pedals had clips. (This means your shoes are “locked” into your pedals and you have to snap your foot to get out of them.) After falling really bad several times and having bruises all over my entire body, I gave the bike up. This summer I decided to conquer my fears and I’ve learned to love road biking with clips. Until today. I got up early to go for a ride when I saw my dog, Maggie, longingly begging to go with me. And then I got a bright idea! My seasoned-biker neighbor takes his dog on a leash while biking. I decided to give it a whirl. All was well until I got a few blocks from my house and Maggie decided to stop suddenly for a drink in a puddle. The sudden jerk pulled me down on the road really hard and I was not able to clip out of my shoes to stop the fall. I was sprawled out in the middle of the road–dog loyally at my side–unable to get up because one of my shoes was still clipped in. After laying there for a few minutes, a neighbor rode by on his way to work and stopped to help. Embarrassing but I was oh so grateful. Tonight I’ve got major road rash and bruising on my body. What was I thinking?

Life is good! Life is super good! We’ve got a busy rest of the week. Tomorrow is a nephew’s wedding, tomorrow night I’m speaking about journaling to my pal, Loni Stevens, church congregation. Friday is Collin’s first varsity football game against my husband’s alma mater, and Saturday Konsti comes! We are welcoming him to the neighborhood with a backyard party with all the kids his age. Should be fun. (Hope he’ll be able to stay awake with all the jet lag.)

Have a great rest of the week.

Lisa

Last week was our wonderful “girls only” camping trip up American Fork Canyon. Can you believe the beauty of this place? The base of this canyon is only minutes from my house. Below is the normal gang–Kristy and Alex Banks; Kerri, Kassidy and Jordon Bradford; Lisa, Brecken and Sage Bearnson; Karla Libbey; and newcomer, Carrie–a friend of Alex.

This is one of my favorite summer traditions. We have so much fun! It’s total rest and relaxation with a hike thrown in here and there. We always eat great food, work on crafts (I brought the iRock and the girls decorated hats–a big hit), play lots of games, roast marshmallows and laugh really hard!

There were lots of these for the girls to pick and blow. It brought back fun childhood memories!

This week the girls and I went on another “girls only” adventure to our friend’s cabin and then I went to Chicago for a few days. I’ve been working on some cool things with the Memory Keeping Collection. I can hardly wait to show these items with you.

Collin has also been in three-a-day practices all week and Brecken started volleyball at Lone Peak High School this week. We are crazy busy. Oh–and our German foreign exchange student comes next week. Thanks for all your words of encouragement with becoming a host family. It sounds like it will be a great experience for our family.

I’ve also been reading two amazing books on the power of thoughts. One is a children’s book, “What are you Thinking?,” and is authored by a dear friend of mine, Valerie Ackley. It is a must-have in every family’s book collection.

I’ve been marking the book up like crazy and here are some of my favorite “Jones” oberservations:

• “Remember, what you focus on increases.”
• “It’s time to stop letting your history control your destiny.”
• “People are either in a crisis, coming out of one, or headed for one.”
• “Worry is just imagination used in an unproductive way.”
• “Wisdom is the ability to see the future consequences of our choices.”
• “Many of life’s treasures remain hidden because we never search for them.”
• “If you are still here, then you have not completed your life’s purpose.”
• “We often judge ourselves by our intentions but others by their actions.”
• “If you want folks to believe in you, then it really helps if they like you.”
• “Life is a little like dessert. Keep your fork; the best is yet to come!”
• “In desperate times, much more than anything else, folks need perspective.”

Both of these books are amazing! You can get them both on amazon.com and during the month of August, you can purchase “What are you Thinking?” at the American Fork Costco.

Happy Reading! Enjoy your last weeks of summer!

Lisa

Oh I’m so sad! Only three more weeks of summer vacation with my children. It has been such a fun, hectic summer. Before I tell you about my most recent adventures, guess what? Our family is embarking on a new adventure in two weeks! A German foreign-exchange student will be joining our family for over nine months! His name is Konstantin, he’s 16 and has been learning English for eight years. He seems like an awesome young man. He wants to eat french fries and hamburgers and go to basketball and football games with an American family. Well Konstantin–you’re coming to the right family. We are sports fanatics and love good ol’ greasy hamburgers and fries. A sweet side note. The entire family felt good about Konstantin living in our home. Collin’s response was priceless: “I’d love to have a new friend and welcome the challenge of showing him around the high school and introducing him to new friends.” Oh–how I love that Collin.

Guess what? Kade only has FIVE months left on his mission! He returns home in January! I can hardly wait. Collin will then leave on his mission in a year. Wow–it’s strange to see my children grow up!

Now about our adventures this past week. We’ve had friends here from Southern California and Orlando, Florida. It’s been fun to rediscover all the cool places right in our own backyard.

This was a favorite for everyone:

The Alpine Coaster (right next to the Alpine Slide) in Park City, Utah is definitely a huge thrill. It’s a big roller coaster that goes down the mountain slope. The great thing about it is you control your own speed. You can go as slow or fast as you want.

Another fun Utah tradition is going to the demolition derby. This one was in Heber City, Utah.

For those of you who don’t know what a demolition derby is, here’s the definition:

“A contest in which drivers crash old cars into each other until only one is left running.”

Other fun things we did this past week: “This is the Place” state park, Bingham Copper Mine, Temple Square, Boondocks and the Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum:

This week I’m off on our “no boys allowed” all girls camping trip with Kristy Banks, Kerri Bradford and Karla Libbey. Wish us luck! Last year we had every mechanical problem in the world happen! We had no clue what was going on!

Hope your week is off to a good start!

Lisa

We are back from our family reunion. Really–if you’re from Utah or a surrounding area and need a great place for a family reunion, go to The Old Church in Joseph, Utah. It was truly so much fun. First of all, the renovated church is amazing–lots of bedrooms and bathrooms, a huge kitchen and HUGE home theater/recreation room. It’s located right next to a park which made it even better for basketball, volleyball and night games.

Thanks to these two people (with my cute Sage) who made this vacation possible for all of us:

Just a little side note. I get asked all the time how my parents are doing. My dad has been in poor health for some time now and my energetic mom hasn’t been feeling good for several weeks. I really hate this stage in life–watching parents in their elderly years struggling with health issues. I was so thankful they were able to come to the reunion and enjoy some time with their posterity. Question–my dad ALWAYS has glare on his glasses when I take photos. I try tilting them and it doesn’t really work. Any suggestions for this?

Back to the reunion.

White-water rafting on the Severe River at Big Rock Candy Mountain was a highlight for several of us. It was a total blast. (We only had the opportunity to take one photo and my sweet sister snapped the shot. I think she was using the rule of thirds .)

Also cruising around the town on these bikes was super fun too (and harder than you think). One more question–I know I have Sage in a lot of photos. To be honest with you, Brecken and Collin aren’t very cooperative in photos. Brecken says she’ll be better when she gets her braces off and Collin is just goofy. Any suggestions? I try taking pictures with my telephoto lens especially of Brecken but she usually spots me and turns away. I also have to hide my camera from her so she won’t delete the photos she’s in. I know this is just a stage but it’s super hard! Help!

Speaking of Brecken, just have to share with you what she’s doing this summer. She works at an adorable boutique where they serve lunch, sell amazing crafts and offer delicatessens like these Cake Pops (Brecken makes several different flavors):

If you’re ever in the Pleasant Grove, Utah area, stop in for lunch and to say hi to Brecken. Oh–and take your camera and try to get a photo of her for me ! The name of the boutique is Simply Spendid. Just an FYI: The card is from my Little Gifts, Big Hearts Gift Tag and Tag Kit.

We have lots of fun company here at our house–friends from Orange County, California and Orando. We are off to Park City for the day.

Hope you’re surviving the heat!

Lisa

Tomorrow we are on our way to Joseph, Utah for a Downs (my side of the family) reunion. I always enjoy time spent with all my sisters, brother-in-laws, nieces, nephews, hubby, my own children and of course dear ol’ Mom and Dad.

This year, my parents rented an old church that is now a beautiful renovated center for gatherings. We are going to play lots of games, eat yummy food, go on some bike rides and enjoy a white-water rafting trip on Saturday.

This priceless photo was taken last year at our family reunion in Park City:

My mom took three of her grandkids on a ride on the historic Heber Creeper train. This is truly a memory that will last forever with these children.

So grateful for the blessing of family. Something I will never take for granted.

Lisa

It’s been really strange around here! Collin is in Honolulu, Hawaii at an “Especially For Youth” program our church puts on. Sage is in Grand Junction, Colorado visiting family. Kade is still in Raleigh, North Carolina. And we just got back with Brecken from a four-day volleyball tournament (lasting Wednesday-Saturday). So it’s just been Brecken and her dear ol’ mom and dad for the past several days. Getting ready for church yesterday was a breeze! No last minute ironing clothes, finding matching shoes, straightening hair and all the other mom duties that come calling. I know I’m totally going to miss it one day but for this week I have to admit the less hectic life is a little nice !

A totally cool thing happened at Brecken’s tournament. Here is her 14-year-old team (they will be freshmen next year):

They lost all their matches on Wednesday. They lost all their matches on Thursday (winning one game). They lost all their matches on Friday (winning one game). My husband kept reminding me that they were playing against varsity teams–but loosing that many games in a row is hard to take! However, the team kept their chins up and just kept playing their best. Saturday was the final tournament. Something miraculous happened. They won their first match. They won their second match (on one game they were behind 17-24 and somehow pulled ahead and won). And then they won their final match–the championship game for their bracket! (Again against a varsity team.) I was so proud of these girls for never giving up!

When I posted photos of Brecken playing volleyball a few months ago, several of you asked how to take great pictures while at a sporting event (particularly indoors).

JoLynn Sorensen, the mom of one of the players, gave me this really great tip:

She said after years of never getting a good indoor photo, she invested in a good sports lens. The lens she suggested is a Canon ultrasonic zoom lens that is 70-200mm.  It has a really wide opening (77 mm) and can get down to 2.8 f stop indoors. A flash isn’t needed.

Remember to take lots of shots. For every 100, you may only get 10 that are keepers. Digital cameras are great–you can take and delete as many as you want!

Happy Monday!

Lisa

You guys are sooooo smart!

Yes–the photo in the post below are the moms of Scott yMcCreery and Lauren Alaina, the winner and first runner up of American Idol 2011!

Before I tell you how and why I met them, here are the winners (randomly generated) of the iRock tool and accessories:

1. Kristy Holt

2. Kasey Steele

Please leave your snail mail address in a comment and I’ll get your iRock sent!

Sooo–Yes! I got to meet all the 11 American Idol Finalists at the Salt Lake City American Idol concert. I’ve been to a lot of these concerts but this one was by far the best. The duets, group songs and solos were unbelievable! Of course this guy rocked the house:

My personal favorite at the concert was this cute gal:

Sage has been told on several occasions that she will look like Haley when she grows up. I have to agree–there are some similarities!

Now on to how I got a backstage pass to meet the finalists. We have a neighbor, Joe, who found an iPad in the LAX airport. He was afraid if he gave it to security, the real owner may never see it again. Instead he powered it up and found the number for the owner. Luckily he was only a few gates away. Upon meeting him, he told Joe that he was one of the producers of American Idol and he’s love to give him tickets to the Salt Lake City concert with backstage passes. Unfortunately the timing didn’t work for Joe. He was in China picking up his new adopted daughter and was unable to make the concert. So he gave them to me and my pal, Janette–the most true-blue American Idol friends he knew! We were able to take our girls–super fun night. Upon meeting the finalists, I looked in the corner of the room at two proud gals–laughing and thoroughly enjoying the moment. I immediately recognized them as the moms of Scotty and Lauren. I chatted with them for a bit, showed Scotty’s mom my photos from Garner, North Carolina (she got a kick out of this!)  and of course got a picture with them. After all, they really were the true heroes in the room. Hurray for motherhood!

Hope your week is starting off great!

Lisa

Hope your Independence Day weekend was great! Mine consisted of getting together with the Bearnson family at our home and eating dinner and this amazing dessert made by my adorable sister-in-law, Jenni:

Of course I have to share the recipe:

Bed, White and Blue Fruit Pizza

Crust:
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 cups eggs

Blend above until creamy.

Add and blend:
4 T. milk

Add:
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix thoroughly. Spray Pam on cookie sheet and roll out dough evenly over entire surface (use your fingers to make it even). Bake 10 minutes. The crust may not look done but I promise, it is!

After crust is cooled, top with this frosting:

Frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup powdered sugar
12 oz. Cool Whip

Mix first three ingredients, then fold in Cool Whip. Spread over cooled crust, then add whatever fruit you wish. Jenni used blueberries and raspberries to celebrate the 4th of July. Cool in fridge before serving.

The girls and I also went to our friend’s cabin for three days, plus the Oakley rodeo. We go to this rodeo every year and it’s always a good time.

Brecken has always wanted cowboy boots and she was thrilled when we found these on historic Main Street in Park City:

Collin and Brecken also left on a pioneer trek for four days:

All the youth 14-18 (along with lots of leaders) in our church congregation (along with eight other congregations) pull handcarts with all their gear and wear pioneer-era clothing along a Wyoming trail. Steve, Kade and I went four years ago and it was a GREAT experience. I’m hoping these two are having an equally good experience. We’ve been watching the weather and think it’s been stormy where they are–not fun when you’re only outdoors in the middle of nowhere. We went to the movie “17 Miracles” which is showing here in Utah theaters. It’s the story of the Willie Handcart Company and their trek to Utah in the 1800s. This is an excellent movie–I’d highly recommend it to everyone. Collin and Brecken were so moved by the story and all the miracles. This made them even more excited for trek.

So now for the fun contest! Have you all heard of the Imaginisce iRock? This is seriously one of the coolest tools I’ve seen!

The iRock, a crystal and stud heat-setting tool, adheres bling to paper, fabric, wood, hard plastic and so much more! I’m having a blast with it. In fact, I’m going on my annual girls camping trip next month (with Kristy Banks and Kerri Bradford) and I’m creating an entire craft around the iRock. So, do TWO of you want to win an iRock along with some cool gems and accessories? There are two ways to win. 1. Tell me who you think the two gals on the left of me are in the photo below (come on, give it a try–it’ll be fun!). 2. Correctly guess who the two gals to the right of me are. So, here’s how it works. If you enter a guess (right or wrong), you have one chance to win. If you guess correctly, you have two chances to win. (By the way, the gal to the right of me is my pal, Janette.)

You have until Monday morning to guess. I’ll post the winners that afternoon.

Hope you’re staying cool. It’s been really hot and a little humid here in Utah–something we’re not used to!

Sincerely, Lisa

Sorry It’s been a while since I last wrote. I was heavely tied up with Betsy’s viewing and funeral at the beginning of the week, then went to a friend’s cabin for three days.

Two days before Betsy’s funeral, I began feeling really bad there wasn’t a scrapbook celebrating her life. So my friend, Angelyn Bryce, and I pulled an almost all-nighter and created a “Tribute to Betsy” album. We displayed it at the viewing on big chip-board posters, then slipped the pages in an album afterward. It was a wonderful way for friends and family to reminisce about Betsy’s wonderful legacy. I’m so grateful for photos and scrapbooking!

I also had Angelyn’s 18-year-old daughter, Anna, draw a pencil portrait of Betsy. Anna just discovered this talent two years ago and has won several top awards. She is majoring in art this coming year. I found this photo that Steve took of Betsy and her husband, Stuart, on a plane ride to Hawaii and knew it was the “one:”

I e-mailed it to Anna and prayed that she would be guided while drawing Betsy’s portrait. I wanted the sketching to bring comfort to the Christensen family and for it to represent Betsy perfectly. When I saw the finished sketching, I knew Anna had absolutely nailed it:

Upon seeing it, through Stuart’s tears he said, “That is what Betsy looks like now–light in her eyes and a beautiful smile.” He felt like it perfectly captured our beloved Betsy.

Betsy’s funeral was full of hope, comfort and peace. All of us left feeling uplifted and wanting to be better people. One talk by her sister was on “walking in another person’s shoes and not judging.” This was something that Betsy continually strived to do. All three of Betsy’s girls (ages 16-20) gave beautiful tributes about the most important things their mother taught them throughout their lives. Always having a prayerful heart was the central theme. The closing remarks were given by one of the main leaders of our church–Elder Jeffry R. Holland. His talk was powerful and he promised Stu and the children that Betsy is nearby and will be there to help them through critical times in their lives. Here is Betsy’s beautiful family:

Here’s hoping you will have a safe and happy Independence Day full of love and laughter and remembering the freedoms we hold so dear.

Love, Lisa

P.S. Betsy’s father-in-law, Mac Christensen, is the famous “Mr. Mac” who started the men’s clothing stores here in Utah. He is also the president of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Stuart (Betsy’s husband) co-owns the Mr. Mac store on South Temple by Temple Square in Salt Lake City (if any of you need missionary or professional attire, go see Stu–he’ll give you a great deal!) and has clothed many of the leaders of our church. It was neat to see a bouquet of flowers from “The First Presidency,” “Presiding Bishopric” and this one:

My family has been at Lake Powell for the past week. We went with Steve’s entire family (minus four of the boys who are on semester abroad, a mission or in the military) and had a wonderful time minus a few mishaps.

Here is the entire gang. What a wonderful legacy my in-laws have!

We stayed on our time-share house boat, the Royal Flush:

The Good:
The good was we laughed a lot, played hard and ate way too much food. It was great hanging out for an entire week with no interruptions like cell phones or internet. Just good ol’ fun! I want to show you all my photos but here are a few of my favorites:

The Bad:
1. Our ski boat broke down after the third day. It needs a completely new motor. Luckily we had an extra boat to get us around!

2. A family member had a bad run in with a jet ski and the side of the mountain. Luckily he only suffered from moderate injuries but the jet ski didn’t fair quite as well. We all felt so thankful that he was okay.

3. There was was a family of mice living on the house boat with us. Let me just say now that I am SCARED to death of mice. I’d rather have snakes or spiders crawling all over me than mice. I guess that we are lucky that in all the years of going to Lake Powell we haven’t had a problem with them before. I was a little squeemish all week scared I was going to step on one!

4. Steve lost his $200.00 Ray Bans in the lake.

Putting it all into Perspective:
We received word at the end of our trip that our beautiful friend, Betsy Christensen, passed away last Wednesday. This news was really heart wrenching and put everything else that I thought went wrong into perspective.

Steve and I have a hole in our hearts from Betsy’s passing. She was an amazing, passionate woman who was a devoted wife, mother, daughter and friend. She delighted in all things beautiful.

Her husband, Stuart, is an equally amazing person.

The night after Betsy’s passing, Steve and I went to the family’s home to visit. We were amazed by the spirit of love and unity in the house–a feeling I never want to forget! Nathan, their 12-year-old, had constructed a huge fort out of blankets and had dragged everyone’s mattress into the fort so they could all sleep together (there are five children). What a tender memory.

I’m going to miss this gal:

God be with you ’til we meet again, Betsy. And know we will take special care of that special family of yours.

Love, Lisa

P.S. Just an FYI. My pal, Becky Higgins, is hosting a pretty cool contest where you can win some serious cash. Go here for more information.