I Can Finally Talk About It

It's been awhile since I last posted. Just looking at our blog today I was actually surprised by how much time had gone by since I had taken the time to share anything that has been going on with our family. But there's a good reason for that. And I haven't been able to talk about it until now. In fact my younger sister, Liz, told everyone not to even bring it up if they spoke with me because I would start to cry. She's probably right. Those of you who had the courage to call and discuss it were probably shocked at how freely the tears flowed. But I'm ok now and can finally talk about it. In fact, I see the wisdom and the lesson in all of it...
A couple of weeks ago I was on my cell phone, and realized that it was almost out of juice. At the time I had been working on some things with my computer. Well, I gathered up my computer and what I had been working on and went in search of my cell phone charger. I had too many things in my hands, way too many things in my hands, and as I went to set them on the kitchen counter I dropped my external hard drive on the floor. At first I wasn't upset. But then later on when I plugged it into my computer I realized that it wasn't working. I waited and waited for the computer to read the external hard drive but......nothing. I tried ALL the computers in the house....NOTHING! I then "Googled" the situation thinking there was something I could do to fix it. I was so shocked to see how many people have dropped their external hard drives on the floor and LOST their data. I tried to remain calm as I headed over to the Geek Squad for some information. But they were no help. My external hard drive would have to be shipped off in the hopes if recovering any data. That is only after the possibility that it could cost $$$$$$$$. UGH!!!

Many might not understand the dramatic effect this could have on me. But??? On there were all of my photos, digital scrapbooking kits, ebooks, music, and most importantly my ideas and inspiration...Countless stories and journaling...My husband will quite frequently call me the "STORYTELLER" of my family. Because I am the one who takes the pictures, journals, videotapes, documents, and tells the stories. Not just of our immediate family but of our extended family as well. And no, I didn't take the time to make a second backup of all my work. How careless of me...
But luckily, most of the data can be recovered with little or no money. Because I have this...

And this...

And this...

And this...

And more importantly this...

Chances are I will eventually take it somewhere to see if they can recover most of the data, without costing us too much.
But for now I am determined to organize all of my treasures better than they were before. And in the process to learn and grow. After going through some of these things, ideas and thoughts have come to mind that have been buried for way too long. Maybe now is the time to pull those out and have the courage to share....
Lessons Learned:
Backup your treasures in more than one place! 2-3 places would be great.
Be organized!
Don't EVER carry more than you can handle!

LUCKY DAY

A few days ago Mark and Cole took a little road trip down to Arizona to cheer on Boise State during the Fiesta Bowl. It was a much anticipated trip. On their way there they stopped at the Hoover Dam...

A few hours before the game was to start I talked to Grampy Cooper about how things were going. He said that today was their "lucky day." Earlier they had tried to find a parking spot but all the lots close to the stadium were sold out in advance for $30-$40. It was looking like they were going to have to walk a mile or so to get to the stadium. Then they drove down a residential street across from the stadium and one of the neighbors happened to be out in their yard. Mark asked him if he could park in front of his house for $20. The guy told him he would park on the street and Mark could pull his car into their driveway. How cool is that?
Then the four of them walked into the stadium and tried to purchase tickets to the party. But all the tickets were sold out. I guess you needed to purchase the tickets ahead of time. Only a certain number of people were allowed into the party.

After seeing this picture I understood why only a certain number were allowed in...

While they were standing around talking about what they were going to do a guy came up to them and asked them if they wanted 4 tickets. The men just looked at each other and smiled. Of course they wanted the tickets.

Grampy said that since good luck always comes in a group of three he predicted that the "3rd" good luck event of the day would be Boise State winning over the favored TCU.
Hmmmm....?????

Here they are playing an armchair quarterback game...

The stands were packed and the game was a blast!

In the end Boise won 17-10. I guess Grampy was right. It really was their "LUCKY DAY!"


On the road trip home they stopped along the Colorado River. Check out how beautiful it is...


They capped off their road trip with a scenic tour of Zions National Park.

Warm Wishes

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas! May your New Year be full of warmth and love...

You Would Have Loved This

Every year at Christmas time I pull out my Christmas music. The lyrics and melody of the songs bring back such warm and inviting memories. This year I haven't been able to find my Cori Connor's CD "Sleepy Little Town." It is my most favorite Christmas CD of all time, given to me by my mother-in-law many many years ago. It reminds me of my brother, my uncle, my grandparents and all those family members that have passed on before me. While searching on youtube I came across this video that mormon soprano had put together of "You Would Have Loved This" and couldn't believe my eyes. There it was. A little gift. And so I want to share that little gift with you. Please enlarge the screen so that you can enjoy it even more...

To order her music go to www.coriconnors.com or itunes. I hope it becomes one of your favorites too...

It's All About The Lights

This year Mark and I decided (or should I say I begged) that we should put up lights on our house to get the kids excited about Christmas. I couldn't believe it but Mark climbed up on our roof in order to get it done. They actually turned out pretty good...


Thanks Mark!!

Then last week I took the kids down to Thanksgiving Point to check out the lights over there. These first couple of pictures were taken by Cole as we were driving...




We also watched the movie, Deck the Halls. Soooo funny! Must see! Carson and I laughed throughout the whole thing. It was just all about the lights last week...

My Favorite Pic

I took some pictures of the kids a few weeks ago. This one was my favorite...

Do You Have Room?

Thought this was beautiful and just wanted to share...