True Companions

So I have decided to start writing down all the things I eat. It really forces me to consider the junk I put into my body. Hopefully I will lose weight, but I think I will need to increase my exercise. I currently walk about 20mins a day during work (during lunch). I eat about 350 - 400 cals in the morning and about the same at lunch. Generally I eat around 1300 to 1800 calories a day. So I am on the right path. Having just started however, I am always 'hungry'.. like I need to munch on something. Sometimes my stomach growls, but I dont' really feel like EATING is the answer.. more like it's the HABIT. It is really tough. :(

OK. Andrea - you are right! I totally suck at this blogging thing. Can I blame it on my pregnancy (I do everything else!)? There are so many things I need to update! Pinewood Derby (Hunter placed 2nd), Easter (We had a great trip to California), Hunter's baptism, Hana's Baptism, Hunter first baseball game, Danny's first t-ball game. Oh my gosh I am getting overwhelmed as we speak. I will put all of these things in here one at a time. Keep watching....... I will try to quit being a slacker!!! (But not tonight I am tired!! - blame it on the pregnancy!!)

Elder Quentin L. Cook - Heed the words of the Prophets. H. David Burton - Benefits of Helping hands and service efforts. Dean R. Burgess - Do you know who you are? You are a priesthood holder and a son of God. John M. Madsen - To the 12 year old deacons. We are rearing a royal generation. We must see our Sons as the divine and royal children of God. Dieter F. Uchtdorf - He was quite surprized to be called as a counselor in the First Presidency. He sustains and supports President Monsen with all he has. He told many stories of how major destruction can occur when we are off by a few degrees from our course. It only takes a little deviation to destroy a great many things. Do not delay corrective action or the consequences may be far too great. Henry B. Eyring - Have the confidence to keep your priesthood covenants. God has chosen you to hold the priesthood and has confidence in you. Go forward in faith. Bear testimony to all. President Thomas S. Monsen - Expressed his appreciation for ou...

Clearance story This story all begins on September 14, 2005. Greg and I had made the decision to get married the next time he was in town which would be October 15 th (Sweetest Day). I called the St. Paul , Minnesota Temple to make the appointment. They began asking me questions. One of the questions was “has Greg been sealed previously?” since the answer was yes they then asked “does he have a clearance?”. I was fairly new to this aspect of the gospel. I had no idea what a clearance was but I figured Greg knew a lot more about all of this than I did and answered “I’m sure he does.” They made the appointment for October 15 th at 1:30 p.m. I called Greg to tell him we were scheduled and told him about the conversation I had with the temple worker. His response was “What’s a clearance?” This did not bode well for us. Fortunately, I had an appointment with my stake president, President Painter, later that evening in order to get my temple recommend (as I ...

So lately I have been telling the 'clearance' story quite a bit lately. It has dawned on me however, that the story changes slightly, each time I tell it. I get the general gist of it, but it's much better with all the 'cool' details. So in the next couple of days, I need to collaborate with my wonderful wife and get the 'true' and 'complete' story written down. (I think I wrote it somewhere but can't find that record)

.: (You really should read this first!) :. So I have spent the last few weeks taking care of sick kids...and trying (without much success) not to catch anything myself. Hunter had strep and an ear infection, Danny has had a fever and severe stomach pains, Madison has pneumonia , and Hana has an upper respiratory infection. I have a stuffy nose (which the ENT says is totally related to the pregnancy), and cough and am now trying to get over a severe ear infection. FUN, FUN, FUN!!!! Here's the crazy part: The girls complain about their symptoms to their mom but she doesn't do anything about it except brush them off or give them a pill (who knows what that medication might be) then when they come to our house we bring them to urgent care BECAUSE THEY ARE SICK!! and she gets mad. Go figure!!! But at least everyone is being taken care of any are on a variety of drugs!! Keep us all in your thoughts and prayers that the illnesses will all leave and we can resume a resemblance of ...

Well, my friend Andrea came to visit from Minnesota. She came the same weekend as Hunter's baptism. It was wild and crazy and yet in the midst of it all I think she had a great time. For more pictures and details check out her blog at http://andersonzoo.blogspot.com/ . Of all the pictures that were taken this one is my favorite! It is the essence of a Minnesotan in Arizona in February!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/us/politics/07cnd-repubs.html With the withdrawl of the only good candidate...where do we go now?? I have to lay out my position clearly and without question. You CANNOT vote for Hillary Clinton. This is not a request...This is the rule I have just implemented. If you do, I reserve the right to disown you as my friend, family member or favorite blog reader. The idea of Ms. Clinton running our country scares the *%#$$*&^* out of me!! As a woman, she would be viewed by many political leaders in other countries as inferrior and hold no political weight whatsoever. As a leader she would plainly.....just suck!! C'mon I was there when she implemented HIPAA. (you know what that means, right? Not Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act - it means Helping Increase Paperwork Across America). The laws she "implemented" were already in place, all she did was make twice as much work for every medical office in America. Which m...

I have seen quite a few of these since the death of President Hinkley. I have liked this one best so far. Check it out: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7433508959787481703&pr=goog Enjoy! Stand a little taller and strive to be like Him!

After reading Ryan's post from yesterday ( http://andersonzoo.blogspot.com/ ) I was prompted to post my dislike for the Arizona way of voting. I must say that when I registered to vote I was surprised that they asked me to declare my political stand by stating exactly what I was. Now, for those of you who know me best you should know that there isn't one way I am...which includes how I vote. I have never voted straight anything. I like to pay attention to who is out there, what they stand for and vote for the person who makes the most sense to me. Now, I must admit that sadly I am not nearly as political as those closest to me (Greg and Dad I am talking about you!!) But I arm myself with enough knowledge to make an intelligent decision. With this in mind I will tell you about the craziness we call voting in Arizona..... Apparently, Arizona feels it is their duty to prevent anyone other than republicans and democrats to vote in the primaries. And if you declare yourself ...

For those of you who haven't heard I thought I would let you know here. We are officially having a girl. We are sure as we had the ultrasound tech check 5 times. Each time she was sure she never saw a 5th appendage. As Joel says: The Woolf legacy doesn't live on. Sorry Dad Woolf - we will have to do better next time. I certainly can't say I am disappointed as this will be my first baby girl. Greg's response was...."well, I'm not surprised." (meaning: 13 Woolf grand babies and all of them are girls except the two I brought with me and the 1 his sister had....who isn't a Woolf) And then after a few moments he said "Oh, another wedding to pay for!" I have to admit I am excited for pink, frilly and bows. I have never gotten to do that. YEAH!! My Jack is still waiting....hopefully he comes next!!! (Lord, that is a strong hint, because I am not sure I could convince Greg into having more than two)

This is a composite (a pretty good one I might add). If you can't see the largest size or need one for printing, let me know so I can get you the highest resolution file. Love you all !!!

Okay I had to add this video because it is such an awesome idea that was so perfectly executed an is sooo funny! I have used a Babelfish or Google translation web widget and it is admittedly the same kind of dialog! LOL funny stuff!

Yeah! Anna and Nate are here!! We picked them up at the airport last night. It has been much too long since we have seen them. I love the holidays! I love that family comes and visits. It is my favorite part of the season. Also, we have no kids!!! The boys are in Minnesota with their dad and the girls are with Melissa. While we miss them (of course) it is quite enjoyable to not have the responsibilities. We can play at anytime of the night or day. We spent the whole day shopping. Since we are not celebrating Christmas until the boys return on Jan 1st, we are able to take advantage of the after Christmas sales to finish purchasing our presents. Yesterday we saw 2 movies. First we saw "National Treasure 2". It was awesome! Greg thought #1 was better since it had more clues and puzzles to figure out. But this one had more character development. It was very good. The next movie we saw was "I Am Legend". The previews show that it is about a man who survives something tha...

.: (You really should read this first!) :. We did our family Christmas pictures and they didn't turn out very well. First we were outside by some trees and those were a bust so then we just decided to come inside and do them by our own tree (even though I hadn't finished decorating it yet!). So these were the best:

The kids had their Winter Sing tonight through school. It was sooo good!! The kindergartners stole the show!! (and not because I worked with them for the last 3 weeks). They were soo cute. I will have pictures and will load them on when I download them onto the laptop. Danny and the kindergartners sang Rudolph, Silent Night, and Nuttin ' for Christmas. They were soo cute and did such a good job!! Hana and Hunter and the 2 nd graders sang Jingle Bells - Arizona Style ("dashing through the sand..."), We Give Thanks, Sixty Million Snowflakes, and Celebrating Hanukkah. Madison and the 4 th graders sang Chatter with the Angels, Go Tell It On The Mountain, A La Puerta Del Cielo , and Frosty Hand Jive. She was also supposed to join in the finale of The Manger Carol but her mother made them leave early (Madison was mad!!!). Regardless, it was a great show and I am very proud of all of our children!! Afterwards we went to the Mesa Arizona Temple to see the Temple ...

.: (You really should read this first!) Another email from Andrea. Here is my get to know you with four things. Four jobs I have had in my life 1. Waitress 2. Office Manager 3. Paralegal 4. Domestic Engineer Four movies I would watch over and over: 1. American President 2. Coyote Ugly 3. Where the Heart Is 4. Just Like Heaven Four places I have lived: 1. Florence, AZ 2. Anoka, MN 3. Houston, TX 4. Pueblo, CO Four TV shows that I watch: 1. LOST 2. America’s Next Top Model 3. Amazing Race 4. Did I say LOST? Four places I have been: 1. Mexico 2. Grand Caymen Island 3. California 4. Ozark Mountains Four People who e-mail me (regularly): 1. Greg 2. Emily 3. Amy 4. Andrea Four of my favorite foods: 1. Subway 2. White pizza from CiCi’s Pizza 3. Steak Fajitas 4. Salad Four places I would rather (or would love to) be right now: 1. On a cruise with Greg 2. On a desert island with Greg 3. With the kids at Disney World 4. Africa!!!! Four things I am looking forward to next year: 1. Hunter ...

I have to begin by pointing out that I have been doing soo well on my blogging lately! (I say that and than I will stop!) Hopefully not. Maybe I can start staying on top of the laundry too - but maybe that will be too much to ask!! :-) Well, we went to see Santa last night. Because this entire holiday season is out of sorts (again blaming the pregnancy) we ended up at Superstition Springs Mall. I am not a fan of mall Santas - unless we talk about the Mall of America Santa because he is the best Santa EVER!!!! But with the time constraints - now only having the girls on the weekends and the boys leaving on the 20th for Minnesota - we didn't have much choice. We ended up standing in line for almost an hour. We first had dinner at Taco Bell which left two of the children with tummy troubles and lead to a few trips to the bathroom while waiting. Right as we got to the beginning, Danny had an accident. Poor thing! But that would be why he is kneeling on the floor and didn't get to ...

Your Holiday Stress Level Is Low You take it easy over the holidays, and you only take on what you can handle.You know the holidays are about celebrating and fun - not standing in line at the mall! What's" Your Holiday Stress Level?

.: (You really should read this first!) :. Ok so I am really a sucker for these. (Which is probably why Amy continues to send them all to me). Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Okay,here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Just copy this entire email and paste into a new e-mail that you can send. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you......Tis the Season to be NICE! 1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper for Christmas…but I am a gift bag person otherwise. 2. Real tree or Artificial? I love the smell of the real trees but the needles all over the house dictate that my sanity can only handle an artificial one. 3. When do you put up the tree? Usually the night of Thanksgiving. I was a bit slower this year – but I chalk that up to the pregnancy!!! 4. When do you take the tree down? I can usually last until a day o...