East High....Go Wildcats!

We took the kids up to see East High where they filmed High School Musical 1 & 2 and they are finishing up #3. Some of the kids there for summer school took us on a tour. They said the we had just missed the cast by an hour. They had been there signing autographs. Oh well. We were pretty happy to know that we were walking on the same ground that Zac, Corbin, Vanessa and Ashley had just been on.

The clock (HS 2) The front of the High School

The cafeteria

Sharpay's Locker (they switch these two lockers out for the pink one)

On the little stage

On the big stage

Troy and Gabriella sat in these seats

Kelsie's piano

Locker room

The moon that they painted in detention HSM 1
The Gymnasium.....Go Wildcats!

Banners in the hall

The Balcony where Gabriella sings after Troy betrays her in HSM 1
In front of the school where they sang Summer Vacation HSM 2

Where Am I?

I'll give you 10 hints...

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Thanks Venita and Jeph for a great night out in SLC!

Temple Open House

We went to the temple open house on Friday morning with Ken's sister Julie and her family. It was so beautiful. The spirit is so strong there. I was emotional right from the start. On our way out of the temple, a woman in our group that I know from homeschooling leaned over and said, "I can't wait until it's dedicated. I just didn't feel the spirit that strong." I looked at her shocked and then decided that maybe I was confused and was instead having another one of my extra emotional hormone moments. A couple minutes later, Justyn came up to me and said, "Mom, that was amazing. I could feel the Holy Ghost so strong. I don't want to leave. I just want to stay here and think about Heavenly Father. I'm really sad that I can't go back inside again until I'm 19 and getting ready to serve my mission but at least I got to come and feel the spirit and now I'm going to work really hard to make sure I'm worthy to come back here as soon as I can." I love it when my children have life changing spiritual moments.

Zach got to work on Saturday putting the foot coverings on and off the feet of those entering and leaving the temple. He enjoyed serving others and being a part of that experience. Our Bishop took him through the temple again with him and his wife. Zach couldn't stop talking about the experience and all the things he saw and talked about with other people but his favorite thing about the whole day was the spirit he felt inside the temple, especially in the Celestial Room. He said he could stay in there forever. Ken has been doing security at the temple and he has really enjoyed that. I got to babysit for Ken's cousin so that she could do a double shift because some people didn't show up to work their shift. I was tired and grouchy and wishing I could be in the temple working instead of home with all these wild kids. Then I rethought it and decided that I, too, was doing my part. Mine was just more behind the scenes and that's okay also.

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Many years ago, I was a new mother and, as I held my firstborn child in my arms, I marveled at the thought that he had recently just left our Heavenly Father's presence. I suddenly felt very inadequate and wondered why I thought I would be qualified to take on the responsibility of teaching and guiding this child back to His presence. I had never served a mission, I didn't know about converting, and my own testimony seemed so small and simple. I was afraid I would be lucky to get myself back to Heaven let alone someone else.

I read a talk in the Ensign called "Our Precious Converts". I'm not sure who wrote it but I remember the message loud and clear as if I read it yesterday. I even remember where I was. We were driving back to Roseburg along a river after a weekend on the Oregon Coast. I can see the road in my head but I don't know which one. Anyways, it said that as parents, our most precious converts to the church would be our own children. We should treat their testimonies as we would any other investigator of our church, not by force but by choice. I remember thinking about the scripture, "If ye should labor all your days and bring save one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father." I looked at this little boy and thought, " 'One soul.' yes, I can do this."

Now I have 6 little investigators of the church and whatever they choose one day, is up to them. I just have to do my part to provide opportunities to teach them, and as these experiences happen, I get to watch as the Holy Ghost touches their hearts and testifies to them of the truthfulness of His gospel. It's not me at all. I just get to be an instrument in God's hands.

And as for my weak little testimony, well, Heavenly Father has a plan for me also. As I do my part for my children, my testimony also grows and, together, one step at a time, we are getting closer to our eternal goal.

Another Funny Kate-ism

Zach walked past Kate and I after his shower wearing a towel around his waist. Kate said, "Eew Yuck! I saw his boobs. I mean bobs." I said, "What? Did you just say bobs?" Kate said, "Yes, Boobs are for girls and Bobs are for boys."

Pathetic!

I just finished reading the 3rd book in the Twilights Series by Stephenie Meyer last night at 1 a.m. When I woke up this morning, and I was once again 33 years old, married to a human and mother to my 6 kids. My life can now resume back to normal, at least for 22 more days.....

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Nine Lives?

Meet Rosy

And Bree

Our neighbor gave the kids some baby kittens last week. We have become obsessed with them. They are the most loved kitties ever.

Yesterday I killed Rosy.
I had taken my hanging baskets down to water them. I hung them back up and then was standing outside watching Henry chase Bree around her little kennel making sure he didn't catch her and pull her tail. Rosy was playing over in my flower bed. She saw the fun and came over to play. Just as she got close to us, the craziest thing ever happened. My basket, that had been hanging for the last 10 minutes, fell! It landed right on top of Rosy. I screamed. I grabbed the basket off of her as fast as I could, praying that it had missed her. I lifted it off of her and her body went into convulsions. Her head was on the ground and she was laying in a pool of blood while her body kept convulsing. I ran in screaming for Ken to come out and help me. By the time he got there, she was no longer moving. Her body was stiff and she was dead. Ken got the shovel and scooped her up and threw her in the garbage. Then he hosed off the blood off the sidewalk. The kids were all sobbing, I was in shock. I think I'll have nightmares for the rest of my life.

The kids headed over to the mother cat's house to tell our neighbor what had happened. I stepped outside to make sure everything was all cleaned up. I heard a meow. I was surprised and confused but then Zach came walking around the side of the house holding Bree. I asked him if she had just meowed. He said that she had. I walked over towards the garage to put some stuff away and heard a meow again only it was very close and very loud. I turned to Zach and he was as surprised as I was. I asked if that one was Bree. He said no. Then we heard scratching coming from the garbage can. We both froze. Once again, I ran in the house screaming to Ken. Rosy was still alive. I was scared to look in the garbage can. Ken looked in and told Zach and I to come and get her out. He is allergic to cats so he wouldn't touch her. I couldn't reach her and Zach was freaked out by the whole situation. Justyn came up and Ken dumped him inside the garbage to get her out. Justyn set her on the ground and she started turning circles. Her face was still covered in blood and her eyes were clouded and weepy. It was so sad. Ken said she had to be shot and he loaded her up into his truck to take her out into the country to kill her. We all stood in the yard crying and sobbing. It was awful.

I hung the basket back up on the hook. As I looked up at the bottom of the basket, right in the center was a big hole where it had landed on her head. Seriously, that was the craziest thing I had ever seen in my life. I was standing right there. The basket had been hanging for 10 minutes, at least. The hook didn't break, the basket didn't break, I have no idea why or how it fell. Also, the kitty wasn't even playing there. Talk about a freak accident. I took the basket down. How can I hang up the basket with the big hole in it from Rosy's head?

A few minutes later, Ken pulled back into the driveway. The kids were all still crying but we hadn't heard a shot. Zach climbed out of the truck, carrying Rosy and she was still alive. Ken said that they had stopped by Matt's, his cousin, and Matt said to give the kitty a chance. It was obviously a fighter. Wait out the night and see what happened.
We took her down to the mother's house. The mother cat cleaned her up and snuggled with her for a little while. Rosy couldn't walk and she kept falling asleep. Zach stayed right with her. The neighbors offered to let her stay with the mommy for the night but Zach wasn't letting her stay without him. The neighbor had some pain medicine from when one of her cats had gotten hurt so she gave Rosy some. That seemed to help her. She stopped shaking and her eyes stopped tearing. We took her home and Zach held her the rest of the night. He got a little syringe and fed her milk and water throughout the evening. Justyn made a little sign with her name on it from his wood burning kit in case she didn't make it. He named her middle name Faith since if she was going to live, it would take a lot of faith and a miracle.

Everyone prayed really hard all night long. The boys put both kittens in a basket in their bedroom for the night. Bree snuggled up next to Rosy and cleaned her and stayed right with her all night. We all headed off to bed to wait out the night and see what morning brought us.

Ken and I skipped our workout this morning. We were wiped out from the day before. It's not every day we kill a cat and then watch it come back to life. I was sure we would be burying a kitten this morning and I didn't want the kids to wake up and not have us here.

Bright and early, Justyn came running into our room. He was holding Rosy. He said that he was woken up by her licking his face. He showed me his bookmark in his scriptures. It has a little mustard seed taped onto it and it says, "And Jesus said unto them, 'If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall remove mountains.....And nothing shall be impossible unto you...' Matthew 17:20" He said that if that tiny amount of faith could move a mountain, then he knew God could definitely heal Rosy and that it was by our faith, all of us together, that we had experienced our own little miracle.

Rosy still isn't 100% yet but she is doing remarkably well. She is walking with a little limp but she has been up eating and drinking all by herself and she is alert. Other than the scratches on her face, she is looking great!

And Ken has been awesome through all of this. He is NOT into animals at all but he has tolerated these little kittens. He has even let them relocate their home from the flowerbed to the boys bedroom, temporarily, until Zach is ready let Rosy move back outside. It's funny that Justyn is the one who loves the animals but Zach is the one who is very very protective and nurturing to them. When we got the kittens, Bree had a hurt foot. She wouldn't walk on it and she refused to eat for about 24 hours. I thought she would starve to death. Zach nursed her back to health also.

I'm so thankful for the faith of my little children. They continue to amaze me. I don't have any idea why such a freaky accident would happen to us but there is an amazing spirit of reverence and thanksgiving in our home today. We definitely have felt how fragile life is and how very close death can be to us and we know who's hand has been in control the whole time. My children know that God is real and that his spirit has been here, with them and with this small little kitten. My children taught the little kids across the street, who have no religion in their life, how to pray and then they went to bed praying for our kitten and they got to see the miracle of their prayers. The children down the street also went to bed praying for their kitten that they gave to us and they also witnessed the miracle of our little Rosy. I know, it's just a little insignificant kitten. Most people hate cats and they are free on every corner but at our house, Rosy and Bree are our first experience with pets outside of a fish and my children love them so much.

I am thankful that Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers, no matter what we pray for. In our case, our kitty lived, at least for now. We know that the answers don't always come so quickly or the way we hope that they will but you can bet that they next time my children need an answer, they will not hesitate to pray and ask because they know that their Heavenly Father is listening and that he knows each of them and he cares about the things in their hearts and that he will answer their pleas no matter how big or small they may be.

So, do you believe cats have 9 lives? When we were down at the neighbors last night, Sasha, my neighbor, told me that this is actually Rosy's second brush with death. When the kittens were born, they waited about an hour before they went out to check on them and count them so that the mother could clean them and be with them. As they moved the mother cat out of the way, they noticed one kitten that the mother had missed. It was still in the sack and it was cold and not moving. They opened it up and gave it to the mother but she didn't want it. They rubbed it and got it warmed up and breathing and they bottle fed it and kept trying to get the mother to take it. It was almost a day later before the mother would have anything to do with it. Once it was healthy, it actually turned out to be one of the most outgoing of the whole litter. I think our cat has just lived through two lives already in it's short little life.

I also have two hanging baskets I'm trying to get rid of. One is slightly damaged but they are both healthy and pretty. Let me know if you want them.

Getting to Know Your Friends Questionnaire

I received this in an email from Amy. Since all of my family and friends read this, I decided to respond here instead of email.

1. What time you got up this morning? 4:45am

2. Diamonds or Pearls? Diamonds

3. The last film you saw at a cinema? Flicka

4. What did you eat for breakfast? Grape Nuts and Blueberries

5. Your middle name? Irene

6. Your favorite TV show? American Idol is the only show I actually make time to watch. Everything else I fall asleep when I sit down and stop moving-I get that from my mom:)!

7. What foods do you dislike? steak

8. Favorite CD at the moment? the last General Conference talks

9. What kind of car do you drive? 2007 Suburban

10. Favorite sandwich? a "good" melt-in-my-mouth hamburger with homemade French Fries

11. What characteristics do you despise in people? dishonesty, cruelty, double standards, fake

12. Favorite item of clothing? t-shirts

13. Where would you rather be right now? getting ready to go camping

14. Favorite brand of clothing? I'm not picky. Anything that fits

15. Where are you going to retire to? Probably here in Twin Falls

16. What is your most recent memorable birthday? I really like my kids birthday's more than my own. So I would say, bowling for Justyn's birthday and picnic in mountains for Ali's.

17. Favorite sport to watch? Umm... the only time I watch sports is the Olympics and I like pretty much everything except boxing

18. Furthest Place you are sending this? the whole World Wide Web-I think Tanya and Kristin in Australia

19. Person you expect to send this back first? All of you!

20. When is your birthday? September 19

21. Morning or night person? Night

22. Shoe size? 6

23. Pets? NONE!

24. Any news you want to share with us? Umm...Henry slept in his own bed last night, Ali lost another tooth, Zach just finished reading the Twilight books, Shaelynne just got a giant end-of-the-world sliver from her dresser drawers, Kate just discovered that it is more comfortable to NOT wear underwear under her swim suit, Justyn pushed a little boy in the girls bathroom at the park and is grounded for the rest of his life, Ken is working all weekend so I'm on my own again, and I am 2000 miles over on an oil change in my car which means I am in big, BIG trouble!

25. What did you want to be when you were little? Interior Designer

26. How are you today? trying to figure out why in the world John Travolta would want to play the role of the overweight mother in the movie Hairspray. WEIRD!!!

27. Favorite flower? wild flowers, cosmo's and daisy's

28. The day you look most forward to on the calendar? Pay Day!

29. Full name? Laurie Irene Mencl

30. What are you listening to right now? Henry's stuffy nose from allergies and kids squeals and laughter in the other room

31. Last thing you ate? yogurt

32. Wish on stars? No, but I like to look at the stars and wonder at the beauty of the universe and my tiny place in God's whole eternal plan

33. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? yellow

34. Weather right now? Sunny, clear, going to be HOT!

35. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Ken

36. Favorite soft drink? Root Beer

37. Favorite restaurant? Olive Garden

38. Real hair color? Dark brown

39. Favorite toy as a child? anything we could find on the farm to play house with or in

40. Summer or winter? Summer

41. Hugs or Kisses? hugs

42. Chocolate or Vanilla? Vanilla

43. Coffee or Tea? sometimes herbal tea

44. Want your friends to email this back? no, do it on your blog!

45. The last time you cried? today

46. What is under your bed? police stuff and winter clothes

47. What did you do last night? washed car, made cookies for neighbors, had FHE and scripture study with my kids and husband

48. What are you afraid of? myself!

49. Salty or sweet? sweet

50. The number of keys on your key chain? 3 (car, house, mail)

51. Years at current job? almost 13 years as MOM! wife is a close second at almost 14 years.

52. Favorite day of the week? Thursday

53. How many towns have you lived in? 8

54. Do you make friends easily? Yes, but I'm not so good at having close friends. I get way to caught up in my own world and taking care of my kids that friends have taken a second seat for now. Maybe someday. That's why I blog. It's the best way I've found to balance both worlds.

55. How many people will you send this to? none, I'm posting it on my blog instead

56. How many will respond back? I don't know

57. How did you get your name? My dad's grandmother was Laura Emma and my mom's grandmother was Maggie Irene and they came up with Laurie Irene

58. If you are married, how long? Almost 14 years

59. Favorite childhood TV show? Little House on the Prairie

60. Favorite Alcoholic Beverage? None for me

61. Plans for the Weekend? not sure, hopefully something patriotic

62. Travel plans for 2008? A couple trips to Utah and home to the farm

63. If you had only one wish and you could wish for anything ... what would it be? Lower gas prices!!!

64. What's your idea of a perfect day off? going anywhere with Ken and playing with my kids

65. Name a celebrity your partner is attracted to? Umm...I honestly don't know.

66. Do you still keep in touch with childhood friends? Not too many

67. What is one of your regrets in life? Not finishing my college degree

68. What is your favorite hobby? playing piano, sewing, decorating my house, working in my yard

69. What has been your greatest joy? my children

70. Who is someone you admire? I can't think of only one person. I admire so many people for many different things. Anyone who inspires me or others to do more. Today I totally admire my friend Angie. She has just adopted her 3rd baby. She now has 8 children. She is amazing to me.

71. How does one endure to the end being positive? Personal Testimony

72. If you had no responsibilities...none whatsoever what would you do with all your free time? travel with my husband and play with my kids

Now it's your turn. Copy the questions and then replace my answers with yours.