"Boo" from the Eardley Crew

Kaycee (Jeremy’s wife) has started a new tradition with the Eardley family, She does a fantastic job of throwing a Halloween pumpkin carving party for all of us. I use to hate carving pumpkins because I always make the same stupid pumpkin face. Then she taught me you could make really “cool” pumpkins if you used a pattern. A pattern, who would have thought? I didn’t even know that pumpkin carving patterns existed. Now I love carving pumpkins. Most of all I love growing them in the garden to use for the party. This year I searched the net to find the perfect pumpkin pattern. I found a witch I loved and my holiday was complete.
Although I loved carving the pumpkin the very best part of the night is seeing the joy in the little kid’s eyes and hearing their laughter as they work on their own pumpkins. I is certainly a family affair. We all come. Kaycee cooks good food (Stuffed mushrooms, potato soup, pigs in a blanket and other Halloweenish, Fallish, types of food), Matt growls with the kids (Watch the video, you will laugh out loud), and we all have a great time together.
Thanks Kaycee. It was a “Spook” tacular night.

You Might Be a Redneck If.......

You might be a redneck if your Halloween pumpkin is held together with duck tape and toothpicks! Last week we had a Dad and Daughter pumpkin carving night at our house for Young Women’s. Emily’s dad couldn’t come so Timmy took over. What a mistake! He jumped right in carving with an eight inch hunting knife. From that moment on I knew it was going to be bad. Emily took it all in stride and seemed to have a great time. In fact everyone had a great time. We topped off the evening off with prizes, photos, chili and brownies. It is always a blessing to see the young women interacting with their dads. The night turned out to be Terror-ific!

Happy Birthday Dear Stephanie............

Happy Birthday Dear Stephanie! You’re 21!
Steph turned 21 on October 2, 2008. These flowers are the most wonderful creation. I don’t know their “real” name but I call them “Tie Dyed” roses. Their fun and innovative appearance reminds me of Stephanie and her amazing personality. We love her a bunch and know that Cody is one lucky boy to have such a wonderful wife.

Just trying out a new blog "thing"

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I am just trying out a new blog "thing" with some family pictures I took of my friend Toni Martin and her family last Sunday before the snow.

Catching a New Wave, Continued

Here are the photos to accompany the previous blog.

Catching a New Wave

2 new blogs in one day. Can you believe it.

As far as the blogging goes, I am catching a new wave. (The reason for the photos!)This photo was taken on the beach at Trujillo, Peru. I flew down to Peru to bring Tim home from his mission. It was such a great time. I got to meet people Tim taught and worked with day after day. It was a moving experience to have so many people tell me how “my son” changed their lives. Most of the people could not speak any English and I can’t speak much Spanish. Tim translated but the Spirit truly spoke to our hearts and our feelings were shared. We traveled all through the mission and met some very wonderful people. One highlight of the trip was to me Emily. She is the most beautiful little girl I have ever seen. I would like to bring her home. Tim and I traveled with the Merkley family. They are from Green River, WY. After touring Tim’s mission we took a side trip to Machu Picchu. It was just as amazing the second time around. On this trip I decided to climb Wyna Picchu. That is the large mountain you see behind Machu Picchu in all of the famous photographs. It was spectacular. Best of all, I got to spend so much time with Tim. It was so good to see him after being gone for 2 years. What a blessed family we are.
The photos are: Tim and Trica on the beach in Trujillo, Peru, Trica eating a traditional late night snack, Trica at the top of Wyna Picchu, Tim being sacrificed on an Inca alter, and my favorite picture of Tim in the Andes.

Turning Over a New Leaf

There I go again, procrastinating! I wrote this blog last week and then just didn't get it posted. Just my luck. It snowed and fall was over. That is what I get for putting things off until the last "season". Well, I am going to post it anyway.


Turning Over a New Leaf
The colors are so beautiful right now on the Eardley Ranch, I just couldn’t help but add a couple of pictures to the blog. I also want you all to notice that I am “turning over a new leaf” as I have added 3 new blogs to my spot in the last week!
I love fall. It is my favorite time of the year. It is cool and crisp in the morning and the night with wonderful days. But remember, I live in Wyoming and it could snow any day. Happy Fall.

Run Trica Run, See Trica Run

I’m back! It is time to get going again on this blog thing. I have seen some really great ones and Leaca puts me to shame. I’ll never be that good but I know that I had better give it a try. So I am running a new race, just working on the training, and getting in shape to blog, blog, blog.
This photo was taken just after I finished my first ½ marathon. Yikes! Someone slap me if I ever decide to run a full marathon. Matt came down with me to Provo, UT for the race. It was insane. There were 2500 runners in the competition. We had to load up on busses at 4:30 AM on Saturday, August 9, 2008. I knew I was insane when I was out of bed that early. When we reached the start line we waited for it to get light enough to see. Then a guy just shot off a gun and …….off I went. This was a huge goal of mine. For some reason, I’m not sure why, I just wanted to do this. Through the miles of training I just kept repeating our family motto, “Enjoy the Journey”. And “Enjoy the Journey” I did. I know it sounds crazy but I actually looked forward to my long Saturday morning runs when Matt would drop me off up in the mountains 10 or so miles from home and I would just run, and run, and run, and run and run and run. I felt wonderful and free. Call me crazy (most people in my family do) but it was an incredible journey. I still can’t believe I finished in under my goal time of 2 hours. Better yet, I still can’t believe I finished! I am stronger, more confident, and a better person for the experience. I am also missing 2 toenails. I would show you a picture of that, but it would be gross! Losing my toenails was a small price to pay for how wonderful it felt to cross the finish line. Even better than that was that when I came to the finish line, I could see and hear Matt cheering for me. With tears in both ours eyes (mine because I hurt so bad) I again realized how blessed I am to have someone to support me in my crazy life. I couldn’t have done this without my wonderful Matt.