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.