What We Have Been Up-To Lately...

Here is just a summary of what the Hutchings have been up-to lately.

Our huge tree out front is dropping its leaves and it is amazing. Our whole yard is just covered in golden leaves, and the tree still has a ton more leaves to shed. Jayna loves playing in the leaves and using her rack.

I think Jayna had an adverse reaction to her last vaccination, because it turned her into a wild girl. She actually did great at her doctors visit, and did not even shed one tear when she got poked with the needle.

Ryan and I did some wonderful planning and ended up having the Activity Day girls over to our house at the same time as the Teachers and Priests. It was a crazy night, but it went well. It made me happy and anxious at the same time to have all those kids running around the house.

I Pronounce this House Clean...

Ever since we moved into our new home the dishwasher has been my demise. The previous owners that foreclosed on the home took all the appliances and then some when they bitterly left the home. So the bank had just put in cheap appliances. We were okay with it knowing that the appliances were new and that we would slowly over the next couple of years upgrade them. The dishwasher however was anything, but a dish washer. It would leave food particles all over the dishes and everything had horrible caked on spots that I could hardly get off scrubbing it. My silverware was looking sad and dingy, and I just felt like the poor washings were taking there toll on all my kitchenware. I now finally lived in a house capable of entertaining lots of people and all my entertaining-ware looked like poo. Not except-able!

Ryan usually dose the dishes and I am very grateful to have a husband that does so, but he does do them his own special way. Mind you I clean dishes like I am hand washing them before I put them in the dishwasher, but Ryan thinks they just go straight in the dishwasher. So needless to say the dishwasher was causing a rift in our division of labor around the house. Ever time I would unload the dishwasher I would find myself stirring to angry at Ryan for not washing them good enough, and further despising the cheap white crank knob of a dishwasher we had. So finally I had had enough, and started my campaign for a new dishwasher. It took a couple lengthy discussions, but I finally convinced the Man that it would be better for everyone if we just solved this problem.

So I went back to my RC Willey man Lance Kingsford (he is the one that got us our refrigerator). If you have never heard our RC Willey story about our fridge you need to. Lets just say we are RC Willey fans for life, and I never thought I would ever say that. Lance found me a great Bosch Dishwasher in our price range and wrote me up a ticket because he was going out of town. We price compared at some other stores, and realized the Bosch one was our best deal. We went back to RC Willey to buy it, and they told us it was a floor model and that we would have to pick it up ourselves. I thought it was weird that Lance had never told me that it was a floor model, and it kinda threw a wrench into our thinking about buying it. We would no longer have the 14 day return or exchange and things like that. We eventually ended up buying it anyway, and later the next week Ryan picked it up and brought it home and installed it. The next day I got a call from Lance who had just go back into town. He said he did not know why they sold it to me like that, and gave me another $100's off my dishwasher. I had not even called or complained about it. I will find any excuse to buy something from Lance. He totally takes care of his customers.

I love my new dishwasher it is so cool, and does a great job at cleaning my dishes. The luster of my silverware is coming back and there are no-more feuds about dirty dishes.

Happy Birthday To You...

Saturday was Ryan's 29th Birthday, so we did the annual boy's night out. We went to the good old nickel arcade where we blew through nickels like no tomorrow and racked up the tickets playing awesome little kid games.



This time Jayna was able to walk around and explore so it was all new to her again. She loved going in the little rides and liked watching all the lights on the machines. She was a good helper at getting the tickets out when we would win, and I think we successfully avoided catching the swine flu from any of the dirty games.

I made my yearly treat bags for the boys so that they could have snacks while playing their video games, which they appreciated. Then when are thumbs and fingers were to sore to push another button we headed over to the Wing Coop to pick up some hot wings. I myself hate wings, but the husband loves them. After waiting for an entire hour for the two yahoo girls behind the counter to finish our order, after they made the fryer explode and boil over I hated wings even more. The boys thought they were worth the wait though.



Back at the house they zoned out watching UFC, while gnawing on bones. Sick, double sick. They each tried one of the really really hot wings and all about died. That was my favorite part. Then they hung out and played ping pong until two in the morning when I finally gave Ryan "the look". It was really fun! Ryan is lucky to have such good and loyal friends. So see everyone again next year same time, same place.

The Worth of a Daughter? Part II

Part I

My mom did a great job at the funeral. There was a viewing in the morning at a funeral home in Bountiful on main street and then a burial in Franklin Idaho. There was no service because my Mom and her Brother could not speak at it and no-one else would. So the night before my mom had me make up memory cards that people could write their memories of Shari on, and we also printed out life histories so people could take and read them at the viewing. I printed out and cut more than 50 of the memory cards, but only four people had memories to write down and they were really weird. Guess that is what happens when you are an mean old cuss.

My Mom has some of the most loyal supportive friends a girl could have. Karen Duke was one of the first people at the funeral, and she is the friend my Mom sent down to the funeral home Halloween night to check on her Mom for her. Cynthia Clegg and her Husband came up from American Fork to support her and let her have a shoulder to cry on. They are both just great and said the nicest things to me about my Mom.

I think my Mom cried at the viewing just because of the neighbors and church people that helped her so much as a youth. They were the people that lived in the houses thats doors she would run down the street pounding on when she was trying to get help to stop her parents knock out drag out fights. One neighbor didn't say much, but what she did say meant a lot to my Mom. The little white haired lady is blind now and got right up in my Mom's face holding it, and said "I know". It was just the acknowledgment that someone remembered how bad things were too, that touched my Mom. The other thing that really got the tears flowing even for me was when my Mom's mia-maide teacher showed up. She did not even know if my Mom was active and my Mom shared with me that she was a really big reason why she stayed so active during her child-hood. I just had to hug this little lady that made such a big impact for my Mom and our family. So next time you think your church calling is not important you can remember that it was a mia-maide teacher that made the difference in my Mom's life changing the course of her future.

Then in the middle of the viewing her brother that she has not seen since she was my age came. Now mind you we have been feed some crazy things about him from my Mom's mom over the years. She has told us he is in mental institutions, running from drug-lords in SLC, you name it.So when he showed up and was a cute little man in a nice suit we were pleasantly surprised. He shacked our hands and said hi, but I could tell he was standoffish and unsure of what to do. So I told him that I remembered him, and he got this shocked look on his face and said "you do?" I told him that as a little girl I remember saying goodbye to him at his dad's funeral. After I said that he just reached out and hugged me. You could tell it really touched him that somebody remembered him. It was sadly obvious too that their mom had successfully isolated them from one-another leaving them all alone to go their separate ways, with no chance of reconciling with each other. We learned that he has been out of a job for awhile and is having a hard time finding employment, that he is living with a couple over in the ward boundaries of our old ward over in Holladay were we lived within a minute from him for three years. Realizing his situation made us even more upset about their mom giving them nothing, because Kenidy could have used the house and the money to finally have a fair shot at life. He too seems like he has done better than where he came from, but possibly has typical problems from being a product of that kind of up-bringing.

My mom asked him why he thinks he was in trouble with their mom and he told the saddest story of why. He said that the only thing he can think of was this story that his mom has guilted and punished him for his whole life:

When he was two years old my Mom and him got the measles and at the same time their dad got sick. So the Mom took both of them up to their aunts house (the cousin who got every-things mom) to stay until they were better. A month or so later when she came to pick them up she called Kenidy to come to her and instead of running to his mom he ran to the aunt and grabbed her leg. His mom has never forgiven him for that and has used that story his whole life to tell him how selfish and ungrateful he is.

My mom herself can remember things she did when she was three that her mother never let her forget. If that is not the saddest story, I do not know what is. I just do not know what these poor kids could have done that was worth abandoning them their whole adult lives, or making them feel miserable about themselves. The fact that their mom too had one last jab to send their way and that someone is willing to carry it out is beyond my comprehension.

I hope that we can get to know Kenidy more and that he can know that he does have family that he can call in times of need. He needs to have a number in his back pocket and it needs to be his sisters. Kenidy left the viewing early. You can tell he is really lost and insecure. He also said that he did not know how to come to the funeral and represent his mother as her son if she never wanted him to be her son in the first place.

After the viewing we made the two hour drive to Franklin to the small old cemetery there. Just about everyone buried there is an ancestor of my Mom's in some way or another. It is a really picture perfect place. The whole town as you drive up on it is flat with farm land and gold colored fields and then to the left of town there is a small thick grove of trees that holds the cemetery in the middle of it. My dad dedicated the grave and a couple people shared odd memories of Shari and then we were done. My Mom mingled awhile and I took pictures of some of the old grave sights for her. We just let Jayna run around the cemetery, and there was another little girl there that she played with too.

Call me weird but since the day I started getting into photography back in high-school my favorite or ideal place I would like to take pictures would be a cemetery. I just think they hold such history and have the most interesting energy in them. I love it. Like I said though I am weird. Ryan hates anything about old people or death.

So everything is done with though, but I think my parents are going to look into contesting the will. In-fact they have not even seen a copy of it yet which is crazy. So If that cousin thinks she is withholding money from two adults that don't need or deserve it she is wrong.

She is withholding it from two poor kids.

One that was a survivor and ran down the street and sought out refuge in others, and one that was a victim and shut himself up in his room writing poems and listening to load music to drown it all out.

The Worth of a Daughter?

I know this is long, but I think it will be worth reading...

What is the worth of a daughter? Does it change if you have disagreements? Does it change if you are not as close to them? Does it change if she lives a different life than you would want her to? As little sweet Jayna sits in my lap as I write this post I can not imagine her worth in my eyes changing over anything. She is my world, she is my gift from heaven, she is my little baby girl. I am sure we will have are moments, and I do not know what the future holds for her or us. I know she will have her agency to choose things for herself in life, but I have and work everyday to grow the kind of love with her that will withstand the trials of this life. Some of that love I feel is just instilled in me. It is just something I posses as a woman, I feel I have that love for my children before they even come here. That is why I do not understand the following.

Lots of you are familiar with the circumstances of my mothers up-bringing. She was a poor child most of her life with two alcoholic parents that divorced early on in her child-hood. She has stories to tell of wearing her aunts bath slippers to school, because they were the only shoes she could get. Stories of having to entertain her drunk father on the front lawn in fear that he would brake the house windows again leaving them cold during the winter. Stories of thinking her middle name growing up was s**t head because she heard the phrase so often. Stories of her mother calling my father during their engagement to tell him that she was a slut and that he didn't know who he was marrying. Stories of her mother disowning her over her choices as a youth to join the church and live a better life. Now my mother has always laughed these stories off, and has told them with great humor, but they are insights into the harsh reality that was her life no matter how they are told.

I myself have probably met my Mom's mom a dozen times or so that I can remember. My memories mostly consist of my brother Craig and I sitting on her living room floor playing with old cigaret lighters. That is until my dad would order us to the car snapping us out of our child-minded daze to realize that our Mom was in a heated argument with her mother, of which my Dad was going to have none of it. So needless to say growing up I always thought I only had one grandma which was my Dad's mother. My Mom would contact her mom every couple of years or so, or if there was a death in the family or big news to share. My mom faithfully would send christmas cards to her and pictures of us kids, but we never would receive anything in return. In-fact the only thing I have ever received from her was fifty dollars for my wedding, which was a shock and quit generous considering. My mother also has one sibling, her brother Kennedy whom she has not seen since she was my age at her fathers funeral. She has asked for his information over the years wither it be for weddings or christmas cards, but her mother would never give her the information she requested. So as years past I think my Mom gave up, got over it, and moved on. There are only so many things you can do or say to someone who wants to be as bitter, mean, and lonely as her mom wanted to be. It is sad to waste a life-time, and misery loves company, but my Mom wanted more than that.

Since my Mom has little contact with her mom I have always asked her about the inevitable. "How will you know if your mom dies?" her answer has always sadly been, "I don't know, I think her neighbor will probably call me." Well this last Friday we found out. Friday night before a Halloween party my Mom received a call from a child-hood girlfriends mother asking her where her mom was. My mom had no idea what she was talking about, and the friends mom had no idea of the history between my Mom and her mother. It was embarrassing for her to relay to she is not really in-contact with her mom, and would not know where she is. The friends mom explained that Shari (my moms mom) had been in the hospital for the last two weeks and had been moved, but that no-one knew to where. My mom called me and I called the hospital that she had been at, but they no longer had record of where they had sent her. A few phone calls later my Mom found out where she was and found out that everyone in the family had known of her failing health and was told by her mom not to call her or her brother. Knowing her mom it was a last guilt trip, to see just how long it would take her rotten kids to find out that she was in the hospital. My mom sent a family friend that lives near the rest home down to see her and give them her information since she is next-of-kin. Her friend reported that her mother was unconscious and that the doctors said she had taken a turn for the worse two days earlier. My Mom then decided that she was not going to hurry out to visit her mom since it had been her wishes not to see her. My mom explained to me that she was at peace with not going, because her last conversation with her mom was a decant one, and was when she called her to tell her that Jayna had been born and that she was a great-grandma. Then a few hours later her cousin Toni called her to let her know that her mom had past away. My mom was also told that her mom left everything to Toni and gave her and her brother each a $1. That's right a dollar.

Now my Mom by no means needs the money, but I do not care who you are or what your relationship is with your mother that is a slap in the face. It was just one last way her mom could tell her she was good for nothing. So as I type this my Mom is up at her childhood house that contains all her memories of life, with her cousin and her cousins lawyer going through pictures and things. Having to ask for permission to copy childhood photos, and being told she cannot even have a cast-iron cooking pan. Whether they are good memories or bad memories they are my mothers. They are the rooms that she hid in when her parents fought. They are pans she learned how to cook with as a little girl. They are the pictures she is in with her father and mother. They are the things that only her and her brother are owed or deserved after having to endure half a life-time of sad and less than perfect memories.

I personally think my Mom should just frame the dollar with a little quote underneath it that reads "I survived having Shari Logan as my mother and all I got was this lousy dollar". But my Mom is not handling it with anger like most of us would feel justified in doing. No, she is up there right now being as sweet as can be, helping as much as she can. Why? Because that is how my mother has learned how to survive all her life. She has survived by turing bad into good and negative into positive. She has survived all that has come her way, by showing charity and love to those around her the best she knows how. The other alternative would have been to live an ugly life of bitterness, hate, and loneliness like her mother did.

So Mom I thank you. I thank you for having the buck stop at you. For knowing and wanting a better life for you and your children. For sacrificing relationships with your family to make a happier life for me and my family.

Your mother may only think you are worth giving a dollar to, but your Heavenly Father thinks you are worth giving the world and eternity to. I love you.

So I ask you, what is the worth of a daughter?

And the Winner is...

Ryan! Ryan won the ward chili cook-off. I was really excited for him, but jealous because I did not even place. What's up with that? So he got a bottle of sparkling cider and his name will go up on the plaque in the hall. He said that next year he will not enter so that I have a chance of winning. Thanks. My spider-web cupcakes turned out really good, way better than I expected. They were gone in two seconds, so I did not even get one. Oh, well.



Jayna dressed up in her little pretty witch costume and I did her make-up, but by the time we got there she had smeared it all over her face. Guess mascara and a 19 month old don't mix. What can I say I was a makeup artist for 7 years, you need mascara. She loved putting on the make-up though. I could not believe how well she sat there. She would even close her eyes for me while I put her eyeshadow on. I think I should do her make-up during church that way we would be able to sit the whole time.

Jayna loved running around with all the kids at the party. She thinks she is such a big girl when she is around all the older kids. It's cute.

Chili Wars

The chili war has officially begun! I am laughing my head off right now, because it is 12:00 at night and we are having chili panic at our house.

When we went to our new ward we noticed a plaque in the hall next to the bishops office that was titled Cimarron Ward Chili Cook-off Winners. It has engraved plates with the winner of each year on it. We were excited that our ward was so into their chili cook-off, because Ryan and I both come from families that have ward award winning chili recipes. So when the sign up sheet went around in church to sign up to bring chili to the cook-off / halloween party I signed both of us up. So not only are we in competition with the ward, we are in competition with each other. I don't know what's worse.

Ryan started his chili tonight since the recipe calls for it to sit over night in the refrigerator which is what has triggered the chili panic. Earlier this week I told Ryan that we needed to get another big soup pot so that we could take both the chiles to the party. Then I decided that I wanted to get two cheap pots since ours are new and I have had whole crock-pots broken at church events. So when we went to Walmart the other night I saw some of those kettle looking pots (almost like the ones you do canning in) that are speckled, so I bought two. They are kind of tall and are 12 quarts, but I did not think anything of it.

Well, Ryan has made a single patch of his chili and has waited two hours for it to simmer and then transferred it into one of those pots and it only fills it about 3 inches. Now he is running to the store to buy more ingredients for his chili, because in his words "It looks so stupid". It really does look stupid though. It looks like he made enough chili for two people to eat it. I am having him get more of my ingredients too, so that I can double mine. A single batch of my recipe is a pretty good amount (way bigger than Ryan's single batch), the Lund's always make big serving of food for some reason.

I have a feeling it is going to be a very late night, since he is planning on making another batch and it has to simmer for two hours. Now I hope he wins so that my lack of sleep will have been for something. I already caught him trying to put my dried onion flakes into his chili, so I better keep at least one eye open tonight so that I do not get sabotaged.

Tomorrow I will be making my spider web cupcakes for the ward party too. So I will be posting about that on the Bird and the Berry. Cross your fingers that we make it through tonight and do well at the chili cook-off.

Double Trouble

I'm not sure we are headed in the right direction here.

Weekend in Review: Walmart / Leaves

Walmart Experience-

Walmart has to be one of the most frustrating places to shop especially when you have a kids. Saturday we all went to Walmart to pick up our groceries for the upcoming week. I knew it was going to be a great trip when I pulled into the parking-lot and saw a full grown women in a superman shirt and matching cape. We had a long list, but were confident we could bust it out before Jayna would get stir crazy. We cruised through all the isles and the produce department and had one last stop at the deli to pick up some lunch meats and pepperoni for homemade pizza. It took forever! We waited so long that we even had to resort to getting Jayna one of those little cartons of fishy crackers and let her open and eat them before we even bought them. There was only one person in front of me that ordered two things. The problem was that there was only one old lady working the whole deli and she was slow as molasses. I was frustrated, but at the same time felt bad for the poor grandma that she even had to be working at Walmart in the first place, and that they had left her there all alone. It seriously must have taken me at least 20 minutes to get the 3 things I needed from her, and that was after I had already waited 10 minutes for the person before me. I could have gotten through a cutting table line at Joanne Fabrics on a sale night faster. Half way through my deli experience I told Ryan to go get inline at one of the checkout stands, because we all know how fast those go. When I met up with him to my surprise he was close to the front of his line. We got all the stuff up on the belt, and then something strange began to occur. Something that has never ever happened to me at Walmart. The food started flying of the belt and into the little plastic bag carousel with record speed. Ryan and I both immediately noticed the strange phenomenon we were witnessing. Ryan hurried over to grab a bag and upon touching it the bagger said very seriously "I'm not done with that one". Ryan took a step back and was like okay okay I will leave you to your work. Then upon permission we loaded our bags into our cart. Ryan told the checker that he had never seen anyone at Walmart bag that fast, there was a big pause and we thought he didn't hear what Ryan had said, but then he replied "I'm only going half the speed I usually go." We were trying so hard not to just bust out laughing. It was so funny. After we left we thought that we should have given him a tip for doing such a great job. The other thing we noticed was that all our bags were evenly distributed, which again never happens at Walmart. Usually I find every can I bought in the same bag. So if you ever find yourself at the Walmart off Redwood Road I highly recommend getting in my man Kevin's line.




Playing in the Leaves-

Sunday afternoon we all went out front to play on the lawn since the sun was out and shinning. Ryan got Jayna her little rack and he grabbed one for himself and started showing her how to rack up the leaves. Jayna looked so cute all bundled up trying to rack the leaves. Ryan would fill his rack up like a shovel and toss the leaves up in the air so that they would rain down on her. She loved it! It was a real moment for me to see her experience the fall leaves for the first time. She play in them and was curious about how they felt and what she could do with them. She would crinkle them up in her fists, or throw them up in the air like she had seen Ryan do. She would jump in them or bloop herself in the middle of the big pile laughing. It was so cute and beautiful to have my whole family just outside playing with the leaves in the crisp autumn air. I realized that this was what it was all about. I brought Jayna here to this earth so that she could experience wonderful fun things like playing in the leaves that she just wouldn't be able to experience anywhere else. I hope I will remember my fall leaf moment when I get those nervous thoughts about what this world is going to be like for her and her family, because Heavenly Father has given us so many beautiful and wonderful things on this earth, and they are still here and still stand as reminders of his love for us.

Wouldn't We All

I have a little cupcake making play kit that I have Jayna play with while I am making cupcakes in the kitchen. It is really cute. It has eggs, butter and the works, so she has everything mommy has to make cupcakes. This-morning we were doing our cupcake making routine and she was begging for batter while I was scooping it into the cupcake liners. So I poured some into her little cupcake pan and she began licking it out. Wouldn't we all like to fill up a cupcake pan and just like it out? I know sometimes I would like to. Lucky chick!

Does Anyone Think This is A Problem?

My child likes to walk around the house every once in awhile with the ziplock bags I use to organize her toys over her head. So strange.

Will one make me taller and one make me smaller?

So these are the pills that are suppose to change my life. They don't look like much but they must be made of gold because I payed over $100 for 30 days worth. This is a compound medication because like I had said before the "real thing" is on a world wide shortage. So maybe you could consider these pills to be fools gold. It is crazy to think that a man made pill could fix so many problems. I guess I should just be grateful that I live in the day in age I do. That way I do not have to be like the women on my mom's side of the family (that she has been finding out about while doing genealogy) who were bedridden most of their lives never knowing why.

Oh, I found a doctor who I think can help me better than the one I have, that is if you can call him a doctor. He does everything via email and phone and it is $100 an hour. I will have to be sure to cut out all my "chatterboxing". It is kinda weird, but I got a good referral to him. And if weird gets the job done than bring on the weird. So here goes nothing.

Sunday Happy Moments

This last Sunday our ward had regional conference and it was not being broadcast at the stake building. So going to the conference center was the only way to attend it. Since we did not think the busy body 19 month old would sit nicely for two hours we sadly opted not to go this time. So we had a lazy dazy Sunday just enjoying each others company. I was trying to video Jayna pretending to talk on the phone, but as soon as she sees the camera she stops what she is doing and wants me to show her pictures. She got in a really funny mood after looking at pictures and started making really funny faces at the camera. I would take her picture and the flash would go off and she would laugh really hard. She did this for awhile and it was just one of those sweet more than perfect moments in life. I snapped off this cute picture off her leaning on my shoulder and one of her showing her teeth. She has way to much personality for the little girl she is. I love waiting to see what she will do next.

Pumpkin Fun

For the past couple of weeks I have been looking forward to the Saturday that we would go to a pumpkin patch and pick out the perfect pumpkins for our front porch. I kept imagining Jayna in a cute little outfit trying to pick up pumpkins and me taking great pictures of her doing so. That is not quit how it turned out this Saturday though.



I decided that we should go to Thanksgiving Point to pick out our pumpkins because we had never been there before during Halloween. I thought it would be really farmy, but it really wasn't. It was more like a carnival or fair. They just had piles of pumpkins for you to choose from, which was far from the vine filled field I had been imagining. They did have white pumpkins though and I love those. So there I was the stupid mom with her kid all dressed up in leggings, a little plaid shirt, and shiny black boots that I made the whole family go out and get the night before. All the other kids where in play clothes which were appropriate since the whole place was filled with nothing but, slides, bouncers, and jumpy things. Oh well. At least I was not the mom that dressed their kid up and did not want them to get the outfit dirty.



Jayna had a blast on the slides. I still think she needs to have someone ride down the big slides with her, and my thoughts were confirmed as I saw mom after mom go down the big slides with their kids. I was out numbered though since Dad and Uncle Devin were there. So I had to watch my baby get laid down on the top of the slide and let go. She really does love it though. She only had a scared look on her face the first time and then she just wanted to run right back up to the top for more. Ryan even put her down the big tube slide by herself too. That is what dad's are for though, other wise moms would be going down the slides with there teenagers.



We went on the little train tractor ride that was being driven by a boy who was maybe 15 if that. Jayna loved it when we would go over the bumps and the little cart would wiggle back and forth. She just loves adventure. That is what I get for rafting down the Grand Canyon pregnant I guess. She is a thrill seeker. I am proud though. For having no siblings she is a pretty tough and brave little girl.




I did get these few pictures and I am pretty happy with them. And who cares if you do not get the pictures as long as you get the moments. We wore her out pretty good. She was pooped after we went and ate dinner and slept the rest of the way home. I just love her. She is the best.

Moxie: The ability to face difficulty with spirit and courage.

Last week my Grandma's dog Moxie got ran over by a car and passed away. It is always hard to deal with the death of a family pet. It is something I know I will have to face sometime in the future, and it is hard to even think about. I just feel so bad that my Grandma is having to go through this. She has had to deal with so much loss in her life. In-fact Moxie was a gift the family gave her after her second husband passed away. So this-morning when she called and I could tell she was not doing well I headed up to Bountiful with Jayna to get her out of the house and go to lunch. It is kinda neat that Jayna has a Great-grandmother that is still alive. My great-grandmother was alive when I was born, but I do not remember much about her and she passed away when I was just 3 or 4. So I thought it was cute when Grandma Goodfellow was worried about Jayna going outside without a sweater. Her solution to the problem was to wrap this large scarf around her neck. Jayna looked cute and I was surprised she left it on. It reminded me of that scene in the "Christmas Story" when the mom wraps the kid up like a mummy in winter clothes to walk to school. That movie probably depicts the same generation my grandmother is from too so it all makes sense. Grandma showed us where Moxie was buried in the backyard, which was sad. She seemed to handle it okay though. It is fun to see Jayna run around in the same places that I ran around as a little girl. My Grandma always tells me stories about how she would take me around the yard to look at all the fruit trees, and how it always amazed her how interested in them I was.





We had a good time at lunch and I was surprised how much Jayna loved interacting with Grandma Goodfellow. She played a cute little game with Jayna where she would walk her fingers across the table and tickle her. Jayna just ate it up, and giggled and giggled. I hope our visit made her feel a little better. I think grief is the hardest thing to give comfort to.

Announcement Everyone! (not what you think)

Okay, I know this is just what everyone needs, another blog to check...

I have decided to create another blog just for my projects, parties, crafts, and food. That way I can market it better and hopefully get the ball rolling a little to pick up some gigs on the side doing parties, baking, and photo editing for people. A girl can only come up with so many excuses to make cupcakes and have parties at her own house, so I need to branch out to other peoples houses.

The blog is obviously in the beginning stages and will probably go through some changes here in the next little while, but if you find it worthy ... link to it .... attach it ... blog it .... email it .... post it .... or do whatever you do with things you like and want to share. I have an image on the blog that you can copy the code for and place on your blog if you would like.

So Hutchings Home will still be updated, but will probably just be more about the family etc. I am sure I will cross post some things about house projects and family parties, but for the really crafty stuff visit the new blog.

I named the new Blog... Drum Roll Please... the Bird and the Berry, after cute Jayna Berry. She loves birds, and I often feel like I am her mama bird, and well, she is a little berry after all.

So my hopes are that you enjoy the new blog, leave lots of comments and share it with others who you think will enjoy it too.

Thanks!

* Pictures of the Dr.Seuss Baby shower are already posted on the new blog.

There's a Little Chick in My House

Jayna has been very moody lately to say the least. My hunch is that she is going through a temper-tantrum phase and is teething all at the same time. So I have been trying my best to enjoy the few moments a day that she is not upset or screaming. She was wearing her cute PJs, and then wanted to wear this hat. She looked so cute I just had to snap a few happy pictures of her. Now I can look at these pictures when she is being grumpy and be reminded that there just may be a happy moment coming soon.

All Tied Up This Weekend

Ryan had a little mission reunion that some guys had planned for this weekend. Since "guys" had planned it I was worried no-one would bring any treats so I whipped up some cupcakes for the occasion. Thank goodness I still have some plastic cupcake containers I was able to beg off the bakery ladies at Walmart. Cupcakes are the worse things in the world to transport, and the containers I have found so far are either too deep or too shallow for my liking. I found some disposable cupcake boxes and inserts on-line that I still need to order and try out, but until then I will just keep begging Walmart I guess.



Jayna and I drove up to Jared's house before the reunion, but we got there a little early. Thank goodness Jared lives right next to a park so I could take Jayna there and let her get some of her wiggles out. She loves the swings and unfortunately has only been in one three times. I loved this picture though.



The reunion was fun, not many people came, but I was glad we were there to say hi to the Ryan's mission president and his wife, they are great people. We went out to dinner afterwords and the boys even managed to get in a game of pong back at Jared's. It was a really late night for Jayna of which we dealt with the consequences of that today, but it was a fun Friday night out.