M.T.C.

We'll my friends, we did it. Our son Trevor is now Elder Trevor Craig Randall and is in the MTC as of 1:15 pm today.  I am so proud of him.  He truly had to go through a lot to get there (I consider losing 25 lbs a lot).  He was so ready to be out serving the Lord.  He will be a GREAT missionary.  I will miss him dearly (I already do), but I know that he is where the Lord needs him.  I look forward to hearing about wonderful experiences that he will have.  I look forward to being able to write him every week.  I look forward to all the growth that will take place within himself.  I especially look forward to two years from now when we will be welcoming him home.
Since he was born, people have told me how fast the time flies by.  It is true. Just yesterday we brought Trevor home from the hospital.  Now his wings are spread and he is soaring.
I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family.  My husband is a ROCK.  There have been times when I have felt that I was 'parenting' on my own with Craig being in school, working late hours and church callings.  I now see that that was not so.  Craig has been guiding Trevor down the correct path all his life.  Trevor has had a wonderful example in Craig.  I am so grateful for this knowledge and for Craig and his example.
Our extended family and friends have been incredible too.  The prayers offered on our behalf today were truly felt and appreciated.  I was so calm all day and had such a peace when Trevor left.  It was beautiful.  It was perfect.  We got a couple of blocks away, listening to some MoTab in the car, when what song came on?  God Be With You Til We Meet Again.  It was truly a tender mercy from our Loving Heavenly Father.  I can't wait to write Trevor about that.

This and That

This morning Porter and I were outside with the dog when I noticed that his zipper was down. During the summer he wears shorts with elastic waste bands and doesn't have to worry about zippers. It takes us a few months to get use to zipping them up again come winter time.

I told Porter that it looked like he didn't zip his zipper up. He said, "No, it just falls down." I said that "it doesn't fall down, you don't zip it up". He said to me with a straight face, "Maybe it's just scared of heights." I tried hard to hold in the laugh. I asked him where he heard that from. He said that someone told him the other day that it looked like his zipper was scared of heights. I explained to him what they meant by it. I've been laughing all day about it. He's too cute.

I received a text message today from a girl who would like to take Trevor to the Christmas dance next week. To be continued...

0 for 2 +1

So, not the best way to start off the BASEBALL season.
Porter's first game was on Thursday. So to the ball park we went. It was COLD! I hate cold baseball weather. Porter is doing the machine pitch this year. Much different than t-ball. He plays on the "BIG" field. The same one his brother plays on. So we have the baselines drawn up to the real 1st and 3rd bases, then Porters 1st base sits about 2/3 the way up the baseline, so they've shrunk the ball field.
Porter got up to bat and got a hit. YEAH! He starts to run to 3rd base, goes back the other way and heads to 1st base. Not his 1st base. The one that Trevor uses. His coach brings him back to show him where he needed to stop and then tells him that he is out and points for him to go to the dugout (along the 3rd base line). He runs as hard as he can around all the bases, is heading for home plate. He was so excited and his other coach finally catches up to him and says, "You're out. Go sit down." It was so funny. He did get 2 more hits too, but never scored.













So Friday night, 9:00 pm, was Trevor's game. I dropped him off for batting practice around 8 pm and then came back up for the game. As I pulled up, guess who was on the mound warming up to pitch? Trevor. I was so excited for him. He pitched a good game (2 1/2 innings), unfortunately, there was no fielding help. He struck out his only time that he got up to bat. Oh well. They've dusted off their cob webs and will have a better games this week. We've got 4 to play this week so we will be plenty busy.
So my +1. My friend is in charge of the snack shack up at the ball park. I asked her last year if she could use Natalie's help. Never heard back from her. So Porter was playing against her sons team and she said to me, "Does your daughter still want a job?" YEAH! So I think she's just a substitute, which I think will mean a lot of last minute positions, but hopefully that will work out for her. It just means for me, one more commute up to the ball park. Oh well.

RUMBI'S

So, Porter and I went and got take out from Rumbi's today. I didn't have extra money for drinks, so we were just getting our food and leaving. I called ahead of time and was told 15 minutes and it would be ready. We ran a couple of errands before hand. Got to Rumbi's just a little early. Used my coupon and paid $10.33 for our 2 meals. GREAT DEAL!
They said they were having problems with making the rumbi rice and it would be about 15 more minutes if we wanted to wait. Sure why not I said. They guy said, "well let me get you a couple of drinks then why you wait". Better yet. Then he said, "Would you like some chips and salsa why you wait?" Sure!
We waited and ate our chips and salsa and talked. I love that Porter kid of mine! He is so very funny. He had seen a commercial on the TV today where someone was saying that their Dad delivered a baby. He looks at me and says, "Why can't our Dad do that?" Anyway, on with my Rumbi's story.
We sat and waited and the time flew by. The guy came back to me and said, "I'm really having problems with the machine. Can I get you white or brown rice, noodles, fries instead?" So I chose the rice and they went and put it together. The cashier lady came out and gave me a coupon for a free meal. I looked at her and said, "You don't have to do that." She looked at me and said yes we do. They got us our meals. They all THANKED us, I think there were 4 or 5 of them there. Then we came home to eat.
I couldn't believe it. We were treated so well. I HIGHLY recommend going to RUMBI'S. They know about customer service. Perhaps I should look there for a job?

CA 2011

We'll what we thought was going to be a wonderful trip, turned out to be a wonderful trip after all. However, here is the beginning of it.

As we were approaching Cedar City (Mile Marker 75) we heard a pop and Craig could not get the gas pedal to work. We pulled over to find out that the fuel line had blown. I called 411 and got the tow truck there within about 15 minutes. He proceeds to give me a number to a car rental and informing me that Cedar City closes down at 5:00 pm. It was 4:45 pm. No one was going to drop everything and fix our car?
So we called the Enterprise who didn't have anything larger than a sedan. Called Avis, they had a car that would work. He meet us at the Ford dealership and he took Craig to fill out papers while the kids and I took car of the car and paying the tow truck driver. The highlight was being able to ride on the top of the tow truck into town and getting the looks from everyone. Very fun.













Made it into Laguna Beach about 1:00 am. Very tired, yet grateful to be there. Got beds set up and waited for the Sullenger's to arrive. Saturday we went to the Orange County Swap Meet. Love it! Then took the kids to the Beach for some water fun. It was cold but the kids didn't even care. They had so much fun. We have to work on the boggy board with Porter. Next time he'll get it. I love this picture of Porter. What's cuter? The freckles or the sand all over his face? So much fun!














We went to Conference at the Stake Center on Sunday morning and watched it online in the afternoon. Then it was back to the beach for a nice LONG walk. So fun. Of course Porter couldn't resist the water and wound up with sand all over him. Lucky his Dad was there to carry him home. Sand hurts when it's down there.

Monday we introduced our kids to "Newhart". Remember that show? Natalie is a huge fan now. She tried to convince her cousins to watch it with her, but they were not interested. Oh well. We had a relaxing day. I did laundry, we went and got something to eat and went for a drive. Then Porter and I went to the park.
Porter meet a friend at the park. The boy asked him where he lives.
Porter says, "Utah".
Boy, "Why are you here then?"
Porter, "We are staying at Frank and Linda's beach house. Do you know Frank and Linda?". Boy, "You mean Frankie?".
I laughed hard. So cute.

Tuesday we went to San Diego with the Sullengers. We stopped at the SD Temple. Then went on to the Mormon Battalion Fort. Porter and Em got to dress up.






















Brian got some AWESOME tickets for us to the Padres vs GIANTS game. So sad that my Giants lost, but it was a lot of fun to be there. I forgot how much I LOVE going to see a major league baseball game. It was the home opener for the Padres. They even announced that Trevor was there. They all cheered for him and everything. I am so ready for the baseball season to begin with my boys. PLAY BALL!

Wednesday and Thursday we spent at D-LAND. It was wonderful to have Porter tall enough to ride the fun rides with us. We meet up with our friends the BURNS and had some fun with them in the afternoon on Wednesday. Trevor was the big man on "campus" knowing 1/2 of the people at the parks. It use to be Craig who knew everyone, now it's Trevor. Like father, like son.













Friday we went to HOLLYWOOD BABY!
Pictures by the HOLLYWOOD sign,
walk of fame, two great restaurants (Pinks and Phillipes - really liked Phillipes!), followed by the LA Temple, Rodeo Dr and Venice Beach. Oh yeah, and a LOT OF TRAFFIC! What is up with CA drivers not using their turn signals. UGH!


(The Sullenger's call Porter "P-Diddy". This is Sean Diddy Combs Star)

















It was a GREAT vacation. So sad to see it come to an end. What's worse? Reality hits tomorrow. School, work, cleaning, laundry... I want to go back.

Hello world

Yes we do still exist. Why I don't get on here and write more is beyond me. Perhaps it's because I started blogging so my parents could stay caught up with us while they were on their mission. Perhaps it was because all my scrap booking supplies were in boxes for umpteen years. Who knows. I do miss it and I miss reading everyone's blogs. I guess with facebook I feel like I'm "caught up" with your lives. But that's not really the case. On facebook I get the "cliffsnote version", not the whole story. So here I am again.
Life with the Randall's is ever so crazy. I'll try catching you up one at a time.

Craig is staying busy. We hope we have survived the worst of the economy and that we are on to higher ground. We KNOW that we have been so blessed. He has not had to shut his business down. He did downsize from 4 of them to just 2 now. He is serving as the EQP in the ward and is ever faithful with his service to the Lord. He has gotten us a step closer to our basement being finished. My craft room is actually a room I can do things in. It's not finished yet, but progress is progress. I wish he could take off a week from work and just finish it. That's not going to happen. Craig even took some time off to attend many of Trevor's football games this year. YEAH! I do love this man of mine. He means so much to me.

Trevor started his sophomore year. High school???? Where did the time go? He joined the football team this year. He was a little hesitant at first, but when he decided he gave it his all. He wore #76 and even recovered a fumble ran about 30+ yards before someone finally took him down. His dad was there for that game. It was even more sweet because it was against Viewmont. He also played baseball over the summer. It was an exciting year for him. I was very proud of his decision he made to not play in 2 of the tournament games and attend Youth Conference. He returned from Youth Conference and was able to help his team finish the tournament and win the Championship. Such a great experience for him.He is quite the sportsman and is ALWAYS showing his good sportsmanship. He is becoming such a responsible young man. I'm amazed at how he has grown.

Natalie is in 7th grade this year. She is a 7th grade officer at Mill Creek Jr High. She absolutely LOVES IT! She is my go to gal. If I need help with anything, she is there for me. She absolutely loves crafts and fashion. She keeps saying she wants to be a fashion or interior designer when she grows up. Her goal with school this year is to get a 4.0. She is close and is a good student. She is working on homework for 2, 3 sometimes even 4 hours after school. She is very disciplined and sometime is too hard on herself. We are working on that one. She is the FRIENDLIEST girl ever. She always has been. She is the babysitter extraordinaire too. She is trying to save up for a Nook. She absolutely loves her brothers. I love to see the relationship with her and Trevor. They have become more friends with one another. It is AWESOME!

My Porter just turned 6 years old. I can hardly believe it. Time goes by so very very fast. He is a busy busy boy. He loves to play and go and do. He is in Kindergarten this year and has an amazing teacher. Mrs. Gallacher sings to these kids and teaches them all sorts of songs. He comes home singing a new song while doing homework. I LOVE IT! He has lots of friends and loves to have "late nights" with them. He has started reading and thinks that he should be able to read ANY book he has. His favorite things to do is play ball (basketball, baseball, soccer or football - it matters not), play with friends, ride bikes/scooters, play the Wii and be OUTSIDE. He has always been my outdoors boy. He played soccer and baseball last spring. On his baseball team was a boy names Isaac who's 2 older brothers were on Trevor's baseball team. It was nice for Porter to have a friend to play with at all the games. Isaac is now in Porter's kindergarten class and have become great friends. Porter is the baby of the family, who isn't so baby-ish any more. He a young boy.






Porter is wanting a pet so bad. The rule is, when the basement is done we will get a pet. For Porter that is too long to wait. So during the summer he collects bugs. He has had more than one grasshopper that has stayed with him all day.








As for me, I am trying like crazy to keep things taken care of for everyone else. I help Craig with office work down at his business. I take the kids to and from and from and to. I am still working 30 hours/week at the U. My calling for the last 2 years has been Stake YW Camp Director. It has been amazing getting to know so many people from the Stake. It has been a lot of fun too. I'm struggling more this year with it though. I'm not sure what my purpose is this year and I'm not sure I can and should be going to camp. My current job ends in September. Girls Camp in the 1st week in August. It's one of those things I keep praying about, but I'm sure not getting any answers. Hopefully something will click with me soon. It was fun to have Natalie at Camp with me last year. I have been enjoying my hobby room. It's fun to put things away and organize them then be able to go right to them and use them when needed. Everyone needs a hobby room.

With it being less than a week before Christmas, I hope that we will all remember the true meaning of Christmas and be able to carry a Christ like attitude with us to the new year.

STRESS!

Ok, so I sat down yesterday to do "homework". I had before me Porter's Kindergarten registration forms, Natalie's Jr High School registration forms and then Trevor brought in his High School registration forms. Holy crap. Three kids in three different schools. All the schools are new to them. I might need to go on some serious caffeine for next year. Either that or have some GOOD chocolate on hand. Yikes!