Headed for Lake Powell

Whew! I can check "update blog" off my list of things to do before vacation! I had started a few posts, but didn't get them completed until today! It has been a busy couple of weeks as summers usually are but in a good, relaxing way mostly. We also had the annual Schimbeck Reunion last weekend over the 4th of July, but my camera wasn't working, so I'll have to get pics from the sis-in-laws after Lake Powell!

Must haves for Lake Powell:

1. Sunscreen, aloe vera, and lip protection
2. Plenty of water & ice
3. Shade Tent
4. Plenty of food & snacks
5. Reading material and lounge chair
6. Life jackets
7. Boat, kayak, jet skiis, or other water toys
8. Flip flops, hat, sunglasses
9. Money, Husband and kids, friends, extended family, etc.
10. Oh. . . and a swimsuit for daylight hours! LOL

Thanks for reading my blog and commenting...it's like getting a letter in the mail instead of bills!

New Councilman and Mayor

Evan and Mayor Larsen being sworn into office. Now they're official and important! Let the fun begin!

Happy Birthday Abby & Happy Father's Day Evan

These two events have only occurred on the same day twice since Abby's birth. Eleven years ago it wasn't such a good Father's Day for Evan when Abby decided to enter this world much too early. Evan wondered if he'd be a single dad left to raise his little girls alone. Thank goodness our story has had a happy and blessed ending. Looking at her today, one would never guess Abby was a 26 week preemie. Evan has more grey hair from raising three girls (he claims), and they still share a very special Daddy-Daughter bond between them. Both are stubborn about sharing their affections, emotions, and feelings, so we sneak in hugs and kisses whenever we get the chance. ABBY and EVAN, We love you very much! You have blessed our lives in so many ways! Abby enjoying Hot Fudge Cake for her 11th birthday dessert. She LOVES chocolate in any way, shape, or form. She makes brownies nearly every Sunday evening.

Guns Are For Girls, Too--Silly Boys

The girls wanted to go shooting at the gun range with the "Range Master" (Evan) during Father's Day Weekend. Very important to wear protection so we don't lose our hearing like Dad! Cousin Chandler shows up on our doorstep like a little orphan from time to time, so he was thrilled to go along and shoot guns with Uncle Evan. He brought home cups and pocketfuls of bullets in a variety of sizes and shapes. We told him he could take as many home as he wanted to along with his pollywog and crawdad from the creek. (Lucky for the little crawdad...he was too small for Chan to boil up and eat!)

Whitney brought her roommate, Noelle, to visit. Not bad shooting skills for a couple of college girls!


Chicka was disappointed that there wasn't a shooting range this year at Girls Camp, so Evan made up for that by letting her shoot his AR15, 22s, 223 preparing for deer hunting in October since she drew her first tag. Woo Hoo!

Girls Camp on Kolob Mountain

Taylor and I had a great time at Girls Camp! The theme was: Anchor Your Soul in Christ. We had so much fun as a camp committee putting our ideas and plans together over the past few months. It was a lot cooler this year with light rainshowers nearly every day. I was in the Stake Camp while Taylor was in our ward camp, but we saw each other daily. Some of the activities were: canoeing at the reservoir, performing silly skits, watching a movie, hiking, pranks, secret sister messages, special firesides each night with music, great food, and lots of testimony building experiences and events. We can't wait to initiate Abby to Girls Camp next summer! I'll have to post pictures later as we only took disposable cameras.

Top Ten Reasons I LOVE Summer

10. Time to catch up on unfinished projects (or not).
9. Family Reunions and get-to-gethers with family and friends. (Camping, Lake Powell, BBQs, Birthdays, etc.)
8. Girls' Camp on beautiful Kolob Mountain. (2009 Theme: Anchor Your Soul in Christ)
7. Abby, Whitney, and I all celebrate summer birthdays. (Woo-hoo!)
6. Plenty of sunny days with occasional summer rainshowers. (Never enough rain in NV)
5. Variety of fruits and vegetables in season. (strawberries, watermelon, cucumbers, tomatoes, cherries, apricots, cilantro, Mmm. .Mmm!)
4. Barbeques, roasting marshmallows, and star-gazing. (Do ya hear those crickets?)
3. Laid back schedules with longer day-light hours. (Sleep in, up late...whatever)
2. School's out for 12 weeks. (Sure gonna miss those kids.)
1. More quality time to spend together with family! (Swimming, picnics, coloring, sewing, reading, watching great flicks, dad's salsa, organizing, painting, shopping, eating, bike rides, walks, longer visits, playing games or anything...as long as we're together!!)

Caliente or Mayberry?

When we moved to Caliente eight years ago, Evan began working as a deputy sheriff. In many ways Caliente is similar to Mayberry in the old tv show--The Andy Griffith Show. Who wouldn't want to live in Mayberry? He's been an active Barney Fife ever since (and is allowed to carry more than one bullet!) He began serving on the City Planning Committee the past year and enjoyed it. Then he came up with the crazy idea to run for City Council. Well.....elections were Tuesday, and he won with the highest number of votes! He says it's a trial run to see if he'll want to run for Mayor or Sheriff someday. I just wish I had some of Aunt Bee's homemade pie to celebrate with!

Happy Birthday to Me

Yes, it's true. . .I had another birthday. The family said since I post everyone else's b-days, I should post mine; however, they said "NO" about posting me in my new 40-something birthday suit. Anyway, I had a great day. The girls and I joined friends at Kershaw-Ryan for a picnic and swim. Abby had a softball game in Pioche and Evan gave me money to buy my own cheeseburger and soda at the concession stands while he coached! Wow! Since he outdid himself on Mother's Day less than a month ago, I told him I'd take care of my birthday. He just doesn't get the whole "spa" thing.

I have always loved having a birthday in June because I'm out of school and can do whatever I want to. On Monday I'll be joining girlfriends at the spa for some pampering and relaxing. That will be a treat! Thanks Evan for being so understanding!!

Trent's Graduation

Check out all the medals, ribbons, honors, and champion rings on each finger! What an amazing guy he is!

A very proud Tibbitts family. Whitney is the shortest one in the center. His twelve year old sister is taller than Whitney!

Here's Whitney posing with her "boyfriends", Talen and Trent. Trent's dad teases them both about Trent leaving and Talen "keeping her company" while he's on his mission!

And last of all. . . Whitney with Trent . . . lots of emotions. . .college, mission, separation . . . I'm glad I'm past that season in my life!

Chicka Visits Lehman Caves

Taylor had fun on a field trip to Lehman Caves with the middle school. The caves are located in Great Basin National Park. Students learned about unique rock formations. Chicka learned that it's difficult to take good pictures in a deep, dark cave! Thank goodness she didn't scream and scare the bats away.

School's Out For Summer

I don't know who is more excited about summer. . .the teachers or the kids. Anyway, we had a lot of fun events to end the school year including swimming at the pool, beach day at the school, cleaning and checking in all our books and supplies until August! Here's Abby and friends cooling off with shaved ice.


Water slides are so much fun!

5th Grade Class posing after our swim party!

The cutest puppy face getting soaked in sponge toss!

What's More American?

Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet! Softball season is nearing an end. We've all eaten our share of hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, scones, slushes, and junk food while watching Abby's softball games! Abby can eat and spit sunflower seeds as good as the boys, and she knows that "there's no cryin' in softball". Evan has enjoyed coaching the girls with all their drama and spunk! I never thought sports could be so much fun. . . watching our kids is the best sport ever!

Just Three Days Left of School

For any of you ladies who may covet the time off teachers get each summer, I have come up with an analogy that may put it all in perspective for you. Remember the joyous and difficult moments of pregnancy over the course of nine months? Remember the last trimester when you were so worn out, tired, out of patience, and ready to explode? All you can do is to continue doing your best, endure to the end and await the joyous end results. You hope that all the tests come back within normal ranges and that what you have done during this time will produce a happy, healthy and thriving human being. Well, that is what May is like for teachers! We must have our summer months off to recuperate, mend our hearts, and dry our tears of joy as we forgive and forget the pain and agony these little brats have put us through.
Then come August, we will once again be at the school for hours beyond our contract time planning curriculum, learning activities, and excitedly looking forward to teaching the little darlings once again with renewed vigor and vim! We will have forgotten the evil things they may have done or said and that many of their parents believe their child would never do wrong. . . ever! We will come back with more responsibilities than before with little hopes of a pay increase due to budget cuts and we will gladly spend our own money to supplement our supplies and make due with whatever materials we have. . . and we'll believe we can once again make a diffference! Ha! I hope that helps those of you who covet our time off during the summer months!

Happy Mother's Day Surprise

I was greeted this morning with the traditional breakfast in bed which was, of course, a delicious omelette, hash browns, bacon, toast, strawberries, and served with a beautiful bouquet of lilacs and yellow tulips. As Evan placed the tray on my lap, I saw each girl coming in with a large black and white picture of herself. They are 16 x 16's framed with an extra wide black frame made by handy-man Evan himself. WOW! Did they ever surprise me?!? I had no idea at all that they had schemed and pulled this together with everyone's schedules to work around. I didn't know they were such good story-tellers until they told me how they worked it all out! I LOVE THEM! Thanks to my amazing photographer friend, Janine @ Moments and Milestones Photography, she has already sized them and forwarded them to me so I can blog them today! Aren't they adorable?

Love Those Lilacs!

Sniff...sniff...ahhhhhh! I LOVE the smell of lilacs! They are so pretty and fragrant in the spring air!

The smell of lilacs takes me right back to my elementary days in Ephraim, Utah when we would walk to the Snow College gymnasium each afternoon to practice for our annual "May Day Dance Festival". All the girls would pick a sprig or two to tuck behind our ears. It would make us extra special and beautiful as we danced and sang merrily around the May Pole. It helped us forget about the nerdy boys we had to dance with or hold hands with. What fun times they were!

Way to Go, Whitney Jo!

Whitney is just finishing up finals this week after her first year away at Dixie State College! This is a poem Whitney had to memorize in 3rd Grade and probably still remembers it. It's quite fitting for her celebration of completing finals!

STICK TO THE TASK

Stick to the task till it sticks to you;
Beginners are many, but enders are few.
Honor, power, place, and praise
Will come, in time, to the one who stays.

Stick to the task till it sticks to you;
Bend at it, sweat at it, smile at it too;
For out of the bend and the sweat and the smile
Will come life's victories, after awhile.

We are so proud of her "sticking to the task" in spite of new challenges, new job, homesickness, roommate differences, limited budget, changing schedules, classes, professors, institute, boyfriend separation, and learning to be more independant! She has managed to maintain her full time status, pulling A's and B's, and keeping her chin up! (Sorry to brag dear, but we are so pleased with you!)

Next Phases of Kitchen Remodel

What a project this kitchen remodel has been! We've all been enlisted in helping with this one over Spring Break! It's a good thing the girls are eager to learn and try new things. Taylor and Abby quite like using power tools, and I'm reminded again there are some things men can do better than women such as plumbing, wiring and moving appliances. I'd much rather clean up messes as we go, paint, organize, and document the process.

Easter Sunday

Our three beautiful daughters modeling their new Easter dresses before church. They're growing up way too fast!!

Kitchen Remodel

I am so glad to have a husband with handy-man skills! Here's a few photos of the project so far. Island out. Some cupboards out above washer and dryer.
Good-bye cottage cheese ceiling with gold and silver sparkles!!
Top layer-carpet and padding. Particle board in places to "even" the transition. Under that was two layers of linoleum. Then red wood planks coated with a thick tar-like adhesive, 1978 Las Vegas Review Journals, pink paper and finally, down to the original plank boards as the sub-floor.

Amazing Race through Caliente

On April 1st classes were able to ride their bikes to the Caliente Depot to greet the host of the Amazing Race--Phil Keoghan. He is riding across America to raise awareness and funding for Multiple Sclerosis. On day five, he came through our town! Sheriff Lee was out to meet and greet, protect and serve.
We all rode with him back to the school where he visited briefly and presented our principal with a t-shirt. (See Abby on the lower left hand corner in red sweatshirt). Evan and I are mixed in the crowd. Phil rides approximately 100 miles each day. Check his journey out at philridesacrossamerica.com. Be sure to look on The Daily Blog, day 4 and 5.