Lobbyist?

We received the opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. with the National Milk Producers Federation.  We met with our Legislators and shared our views on the importance of Dairy. 

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We visited as many of the memorials as we could fit in.  The Roosevelt was our favorite.

The spirit of Reverence at all the memorials was so overwhelming for me.

I have so much gratitude to all those who have serve our country and sacrifice so much.

That is our feet in the very spot where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous

I have a dream speech.

I don't think I can explain our emotion at Arlington, I won't even try. I am fighting back tears 

as I am typing this 4 months later.  Just filled with gratitude....

Everything cost a million dollars in DC, so we were ecstatic when we found a 

5 guys burgers!  Even better, they were serving potatoes from

Idaho!!!  We are with our friends(Matt & Kristie Dorsey) we met on this trip.  Fellow Idaho

dairy producers and parents of 8 year old twins.  Needless to say we have a lot in common.

(And in case you wondered, yes, we are soaking wet in these pictures!!!)

We stayed in Alexandria which is one of the oldest towns in our nation.

It is AWESOME!  I love all the old houses and pavers...

Rob and I are standing in front of the skinniest house known.

There was something cool about the spot above(can't remember)

and below is the center of the city which is in the Capitol Building.

Coming down the stairs where the Presidents do to make

their Inauguration Speech.

The Capitol Building, Library of Congress.....so much marble!!!!

Check out those milk prices for a half gallon....really???

Lastly as we were in the airport waiting to fly home, Rob came back and told me to guess

who he shook hands with...none other than Larry Craig.  Wow, it completed our trip.

He wasn't very good at posing for pics =)

What a trip!  We hope to go back someday, we spent a week and couldn't

even being to see all we wanted to.  Next time we hope we can take the girls!

T Cross

Thanks to Kel we had the opportunity for the vacation of a lifetime.(We didn't know that at the time)

We spent a few days in Dubois Wyoming at the T Cross dude ranch.

So beautiful, so relaxing, best food ever, best family time.....can't wait to go back.

There was one little incident....but at least I didn't spill anything!!!!!

Memories of Marian....

Rob's memories of Grandma: He posted these on facebook the day before she died.   Kinda crazy like maybe he knew it was coming.  Thought I would share his memories along with his cousins responses. She was a great lady. =)

Rob Hull Nearly burnt toast and jam with cheerios for breakfast. Lots of Oreo cookies and ding dongs almost always available. A couple things I remember from grandmas. Had a blast from the past (doesn't happen to often) just thought I would share.

Jennifer Lee Merrill 

i remember the toast and the cheerios!! and the drawer full of sugar? was it? and skads of bags of pepperidge farm cookies in the freezer. i also remember the only time she ever got mad at me-- for playing in the coat closet. my dad told me she is worse lately. makes me sad

Rob Hull 

Jenn, I took many spoons full of sugar out of that drawer

Rachel Shepherd 

First thing I thought of was the drawer of sugar... my house has one just like it :)

Julie Keller Shepherd 

Raspberry jam on toast, popcycles and the hole in the cabinet down to the laundry room.

Rob Hull 

Didn't she call them cheery oats?

Rob Hull 

She always had a cooler full of pop to take out to the silage pit. Mellow Yellow, Tab, Sprite, and Pepsi

Kristin Aller Drake 

Tang....Diet Pepsi....Hawaiian Punch....Grandma runnin around trying to feed everyone and take care of grandpa....brownies with walnuts with the pan sprayed with about 2 inches of Pam....BBQ with radio active pickles....chili sauce for the roast and green jello with cottage cheese and marshmellows which was my faviorite...Grandma my heart hurts....I love you. :)

~ My favorite things about Grandma was that she always insisted I had a fresh jar of roses, as well as one for each of the twins. She would even snip off her only Princess Di(her favorite pink rose)  just to share. The way that Easter Lillies made her sneeze.  Her baskets of gourds.  The sweet voice she talked to my girls with.  She always wanted to know the status of the hay and how much longer until we got it all hauled in.  I loved the steak dinners on the back porch in the summer after a long day of work, and loved that on the nights I couldn't sleep or that I was up with my babies, she was up too smiling and waving at me out the window.  I loved watching her climb up on top of the counter tops to clean when she thought no one was looking or when she called me because she had managed to take down all the drapes and clean them with her arm dislocated and needed a little help getting the last few hooks in to hang them up.  I loved her Christmas tree and her bluebirds with the tags from "the farm".  I loved sitting in the lawn chairs and looking at the yard at dusk, and going for walks around the yard and around the church while the girls rode their bikes with training wheels. I loved that I always got a chocolate from the drawer when she didn't offer any to Rob.  I loved holding holding her tiny hand and I will forever miss kissing her soft cheek.  She made me feel like she loved me like I was her own grand-daughter, I loved her like she was my own grandma.  ~hollyjo

Grandma

Rob's Grandma Marian passed away last night.  Miss her already,
and when I can type without getting tears allover my keyboard I  will
add more.....

Shelby at her finest.....

http://qik.com/video/6046642

This is what Shelby was doing while we were watching idol......thought I better share it with the rest of you.
Looks like she inherited my dancing skills.....

Two good thoughts....

I had the opportunity to speak with the High Council, apparently according to the Stake Pres. I will have many more. (those of you who know why I think that is....quit laughing!)  It wasn't as bad as I thought.  And in the end, I am pretty sure the talk that I wrote was full of advice  for myself.   Always room for improvement right?   I thought I would share two of the thoughts from my talk.

  I love both of them!!! 

It has wisely been suggested that before we point out someone else’s faults, we should take time to count ten—ten of our own faults.

“If we will always look for the best in others, in our friends, in our neighbors, in our wife, in our husband, in our children, they will turn out to be the most wonderful people in the world. On the other hand, if we are looking for their weaknesses and faults and enlarge upon them, these same people may become even despicable.” 

Olympic Gold

Sydney's class has been having their own Olympics.  She cleaned house taking Silver in most all of the events! 

She came home with one Gold and one Bronze as well.  We were the most proud of her for getting a silver in the art event as well as in the spelling bee!!  Her favorite event however was a team event (the bobsled),

where they pulled each other on rugs across the gym floor.

Way to go Sydder!! You earned it, you worked hard!! We are so proud of you!!!

ON MY SOAPBOX

I spent Saturday morning at Stake baptisms, as usual.  Everything was going like it always does, then Shayla walked through the door.  Most kids walk in excited, but  nervous.  Shayla was frowning and not the least bit happy to be there.  I greeted her and her family like I do all the kids.  I knelt dowm by her and held her hand and told her how excited I was for her that she had made such an important decision to join the church.  Her poor little hand was shaking!!!

We ran through the program and unfortunately Shayla was last to be baptized.  By the time it was her turn she was in tears and had a “tummy ache”.  He parents pleaded with her for a few minutes and finally dismissed from the font out into the hall.  I watched out in the hall for a while and finally I felt prompted to go and speak with her.  By this point her parents were embarrassed and upset that their family and friends had been waiting for forty minutes!!!

I asked her what was wrong.  She told me she just couldn’t do it.  I  told her about how my twins were scared to death because they didn’t want to get water in their ears. (For those of you that don’t know my twins only have a 1/3 and a ½ of an eardrum, thanks to 2 sets of tubes and repeated ear infections).  I went and got Syd and Shelb and had them tell her how even though they didn’t want to get baptized they did, and they loved it.  She calmed down a little.  When the girls left she started crying again!

Finally I told her quite bluntly “Shayla you just have to have faith!!!  Heavenly Father isn’t going to let anything bad happen!!!  Have faith that Heavenly Father will take care of you!!!!”

She got mad at me and said “I do have faith!  I am just too scared!!!”  We said a little prayer together and  her dad picked her up and took her into the font where she cried all through the baptism.  She made it though.   Everyone was crying when her dad picked her up and carried her out of the font.  It was such a tender moment.

It made me think.  I have faith.  I know that when I do the things Heavenly Father asks me to do I will be blessed.  But sometimes I am scared too.  Making the obvious right choice isn’t always the easy thing to do.  I thought of Alma 22. One of my favorite sections of scripture.  Aaron is teaching Lamoni's father, the King about God and repentance.  He cries to the Lord “I will give away all my sins to know thee.”   Like Shayla I have faith, but just as she didn’t want to jump in over her head in the water, I have a hard time  giving up all my sins! It shouldn’t be hard, but it is.  It is just hard to go all the way under the "water"....  I struggle with making time to study my scriptures, not swearing, judging others, ect….  I understood how Shayla felt.  But she has inspired me, at least for this week, to try and do a better job of having faith, to just jump in, and knowing that the choices I make, if they are good ones, will bring me closer to my Heavenly Father, and closer to truly knowing him.

LOVE LOVE LOVE

To all you hopeless romantics like me(or am I the only one?) 

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

FYI

Some things I learned this week, Just so you know....

~ Spending some time with a good friend laughing,

and talking can make your week AWESEOME! (thanks Lena)

~ Using a steel edged snow shovel to clean off the 

canvas gazebo is NOT a good idea!

~ Working on taxes is HELL

~ Having taxes done with for the year is HEAVEN

~ Getting to attend sacrament meeting in your own ward and

sit by your OWN family, might be one of the BEST things

that I have taken for granted!!!

~ Eating 5 meals worth of spinach artichoke dip kinda makes

you feel SLuGGISH by the end of the week...I said KINDA!

And Yes, I would do it again!  =)

Our Snow Husky!!!

The girls and I finally got out and played in the snow.  We have been waiting and waiting for them both to be healthy so we could play!

This is our snow Husky.  I won't post his name

because the girls can't agree on one....imagine that!

A night out!!!

Gotta give a quick Thanks to Jess and Bry for letting us go to the Aggie game with them. Jess and I didn't see a bit of the game but we had a great night catching up!!! Thanks again guys, let's do it again soon!

Let me Out!!!!

I have cabin fever this last few weeks!!  I have been stuck at my desk working, which is great....but I needed to get out!  So I dug out my cross country skiis and headed out!!!  No one wanted to join me....their loss, I had a great time! Until Rob tricked me into falling down!!!!

Rockin' New Year's Eve

Our good friends The Leaks invited us to bring in the New Year in Style.

We had such a great time we didn't even make it home until after 3:00am and the kids stayed up the whole time!!!  Thanks guys YOU ROCK!!!

We played rock band for the first time ever....yeah, I know we need to get with it!!  Lena is a killer drummer!!! She put us all to shame!

Matt was a trooper, he was stinkin' sick but still partied with us!

Trey waitin' his turn! Stinkin' grown ups won't share the instruments!

Is this little guy cute or what....if he comes up missing......

The missing Thanksgiving

So I have been stressing because I thought somehow I had deleted or lost the pictures from Thanksgiving.  I haven't told Rob because he is always giving me a hard time about not backing up my computer!  So finally I mentioned something about them, and he informed me HE TOOK pictures and put them on his computer!!!  NOT COOL ROB!!!
 Anyway, here is a few

pics from Thanksgiving at the Allers, we had a marvelous time!!!! Thanks for having us!

Rob and Grandma Hull

Rob and his 'sister'

     Kris and Bro Chris

Kate, Syd and Shelb...having a good time doing..????

Rob and his Bro Will and Uncle Gary