My New Hobby

I was never much of a reader growing up, in fact I hated it. But as I have gotten "older" I have really learned to love reading---maybe because I am no longer doing it for a grade... Thanks to my sisters and sister-in-laws I have had some great recommendations of books to read. Lately I have a book with me everywhere I go. I just finished my last book a couple days ago and I am eagerly anticipating the Hunger Games sequel that comes out next week. If you have not read the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins I highly recommend it. The Hunger Games is also going to be made into a movie but not set to come out until 2011. Here are some other books I have read during the summer that I have loved...



This is a great adventure series. The first 6 books of the series are available in the U.S right now. It is young adult, but good for any age. Everyone in my family that has read it loves it.

The title is a mouthful, but this book is really good. My sister-in law Dasha let me borrow it, and I loved it so much that I bought my own copy. It is all written in a series of letters so the story is told from a really unique perspective. It is currently on the bestsellers list.



Fablehaven is an amazing series, and as exciting as Harry Potter. There are 4 books currently out and I think there will be 1 more to complete the series. Brandon Mull is a local author and already has a movie contract for the 1st book. He has also written "The Candy Shop Wars" which is a great read as well.

July 4th

Over the 4th of July we spent another great weekend with the Cassity's at the Lake. We got in some good relaxation as always, 4 wheeler rides, hanging out on the beach, and watching fireworks.

Ben on the 4 wheeler


Roxy, Moka, Sunny and Lola enjoying the beach

The water level is really high after all the rainfall. Getting to the beach is a little bit of challenge. This is me knee deep in the mucky water trying to make it to the beach.

We've missed this place....?

I guess a good way to start off the month is a trip to the Emergency Room. Just the other day I was saying the last 2 years of our marriage had been free of trips to the Emergency Room....I spoke to soon. But this time it was not for his stomach.
Yesterday Ben was helping tear up some carpet at his parents house when he bent down and felt a snap in his back. When he tried to stand up he collapsed to the floor, and his Dad and little brother had to pick him up. By the time I was able to get home from work he was in intense pain and couldn't stand up or walk on his own. We got him in the car and I immediately took him to instacare and they told us to go to the Emergency Room---they wouldn't even let him get out of the car. Ben was a "little" stubborn and I couldn't find my insurance card so he wanted to tough out the night at home and just go to his doctors appointment in the morning. Needless to say we didn't last long at home. We got him in bed and when he tried to get himself up to go to the bathroom a couple hours later, he collapsed on the floor again. It took us an hour to get him up off the floor because he was in so much pain, and I am pretty weak...upperbody strength is not my strong point. At this point we decided he needed to go to the Emergency Room like we were earlier advised. When we got there some nurses helped him from the car into a wheelchair and got him all situated in his nice little curtained room. We were there for about 3 hours in which they checked all his vitals, and reflexes with the finale being 2 shots in the but of morphine and some perscription for pain medication, muscle relaxers, and a referral to a spinal center in Salt Lake. They think he has a hurniated disk in his lower back. We didn't get home until 4 am, and he is now sleeping doped up with pain pills and muscle relaxers. So here we are at home having a sick day---I know that in and of itself is amazing for me. He can't really do much on his own and we go see a spinal therapist Thursday.

Waiting for the doctor. He sat like this for over an hour. He couldn't stand up or lay down until he got his shots to take the edge off of the pain.

After he had the 2 shots in his butt. He asked for them in the arm and the nurse just laughed.

January @ Bear Lake...

It seems like the only time we take pictures is when we are at the lake, maybe we just need to venture out a little bit more. We spent another cold weekend at the lake last week, but loved every minute of it. I love the lake in the Winter almost more than the summer. This weekend was filled with lots of walks on the beach, watching movies at the cabin, and shooting guns up on the mountain (my first time).

Christmas & New Years Catch up

The holidays went by way too fast so here is the update of the last month. We had a great holiday season and hope you did as well. It was full of fun traditions and time spent with the Twede's & Cassity's.

Annual Girls Night Out with the Cassity Women. We ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory followed by Christmas shopping at the Gateway.

Baking Christmas Sugar Cookies and Candy with Grandma Schofield

The Pettingill Family Christmas Party. One of my favorite family traditions over the holidays. The best part is singing the 12 Days of Christmas with about 80 other people

Pettingill Family Christmas Party

Making Ornaments at the Cassity's. This is one of my favorite Cassity traditions. Every year we make new ornaments to decorate the tree. They started this tradition in 1984.



Our Christmas Tree, and yes there are one section of lights out!

The view from our house Christmas morning. On a clear day we can see all the way across Utah Lake to Pleasant Grove. It was a little snowy this morning.

Christmas Breakfast at the Cassity's

Ben & I wearing the scarfs made by Grandma Schofield. She made over 200 scarfs this year for all her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Christmas at the Twede's. We missed having the Clarks home this year, but they were enjoying the 80 degree weather in Dubai.

New Year's Day all the Twede girls (that were old enough) went to see Twilight together. It was a blast!

Happy Thanksgiving...

This year we were with the Cassity's for Thanksgiving and decided to celebrate it at Bear Lake. It was a fun weekend away from the holiday rush. We were able to relax and enjoy spending time with the family playing games, watching movies, taking walks on the beach and sleeping a lot. THANKS Pam & Dave for GIVING us another great weekend at the Lake!

Angie & Mike playing Wii "Ultimate Band"- Angie recorded all the female vocals for the game so it was fun to see the finished product.

Mike & Dasha shooting targets


Ben posing with a Colt 45 while practicing target shooting with the boys. He did the best with his shotgun and the clay pigeons.


Pam & Dave taking a walk with the dogs on the beach

Happy Haunts...

The Cassity Clan in front of the Haunted Mansion decked out in our "Nightmare Before Christmas" attire

This year we spent Halloween in Disneyland with the Cassity Clan. It was such a fun time to visit the park! It was great to spend time with family and re-live past memories and good times. One of the highlights was riding Splash Mountain for 45 minutes straight(11:15pm to Midnight) with Mike and Angie. There was no one in line so they let us ride it over and over--we took turns being in the front seat and we rode it 5 times over with out getting off. We laughed so hard and got so so so wet. THANK YOU to Pam & Dave taking us on this great trip and for your overwhelming genrosity. We really appreciate all you did to make this trip happen and can't thank you enough. I have really enjoyed becoming part of this family tradition! It is always fun when we can take a step out of reality and learn to be a kid again, and what better place to to it than DISNEYLAND!!

Professional Pin Traders

Inside "Its Tough To Be a Bug"

The 3 Mouseketeers

Waiting in Line for Splash Mountain with Mike and Angie

Ben inside a Candy Corn "O" at California Adventure