Meagan's Homecoming Day...

(Sister Doxy-Crapo)

Today was officially her homecoming day...She spoke in church and gave a great talk that put most of the people in tears. She did a great job. After Church we all went to my house to eat lunch and boy was that a lot of people in a pretty small house. So here are just some random pics of the day. Below you see Meg and Becca. Meagan and Sister Doxy (the cute girl above) taught Becca and her Dad the gospel and they were baptised a little over a year ago. Becca is here in Utah for school now.

Here we have Uncle Rod and Cute cousin Emily...

This is Bishop Swain, he was Meagan's bishop before she left for her mission.

Here we have cousin Amanda with baby Peyton and hubby David.

Granny Thayn and Kim with cute cousin Mariah (hope the spelling is right)

Now the guy above is Dan...He was in the mission with Meagan and this guy is an amazing musician. He gave us a little private concert and it was my favorite part of the day. Aside from seeing everyone of course :)

cousin's Cody and Devin...I just thought this was a cool picture...

Cousin Costner and baby Annabelle with Tyler giving one of his looks...

My favorite neighbors The Bigelow's (thanks for the cookies Andrew!:)

I want to thank everyone for pitching in with food and drink! It was a fun day and and great way to end what was an amazing time for our family. We're glad she's home with us and that she served her Heavenly Father with all her heart. Now who's next? :)

Peyton's Baby blessing

We have yet another baby added to the clan. Peyton David Edmunds...His blessing was sunday night so it was fun to see everyone and the new baby's (that includes Sister Henson)...ha Above you'll see the proud Grandpa Lynn, of the new addition, holding his grandson Nico.
Here is Meagan holding Peyton, while I look wistfully on wishing and hoping to be a grandma someday :)
Here is Court and the good Aunties of Peyton...That's code for babysitters.
Mandy is the proud Mom along with Great Grandma and Grandpa Thayn...That was great grandparents in case you missed that...whew

Welcome baby Peyton...you are loved

She's Home!

So the day is finally here and here we are at the airport tying to wait paitently...The "kids"are having an hard time.
As you can see by Chase's face, we may have arrived at the airport a little early...oh well
Then the moment arrives when we see her and cheers go up all around. There were 4 missionairys coming home together, so there were lots of people at the airport to greet their loved ones.
Of course the next day we have to go shopping and lunch...it's tradition for us Henson girls.
And here is the end result. She was so excited to put together an outfit and go out to see friends. Can't even tell from her clothes that she just off the plane...:0

Meagan is coming home!!!

Sister Henson (Meagan) will be home this friday (the 14th). We are so excited and ready for her to be home. What an amazing experience this has been for our whole family...Never have we been so blessed and felt closer to our Heavenly Father than the last 2 years. I'm so grateful.
I have to say that I am, of course, proud of Meagan and her dedication, but more than that I am so happy for her. So happy that she has had these experiences..That she gets to start her adult life with this foundation. I think it's what every parent wishes for their children. I have great kids...and I love them all.
This is a part of her last letter that I loved reading. It may help explain why I'm so happy for her.

(from Meagan)
I’ve been anticipating this last week that I’m going to get the question “So, how was your mission?” about a thousand times when I get home. I’d like to take a moment and answer that to everyone who reads this email so that I only have to say it in real life about 987 times (I’m not sure how many people read this). Words like great, amazing, wonderful, incredible, just don’t quite do it justice. A wise word from one of my favorite members here helped me to put it into one sentence. Here it is: It’s more than I ever thought it would be. I’ve learned more, I’ve experienced more, and I’ve found more joy than I ever thought I would. I’ve loved more, cried more, had more faith than I thought possible. I’ve seen more miracles, more conversions, and more opposition than I could have ever imagined. I’ve learned to trust my Heavenly Father, my Savior, the Spirit and myself. I’ve learned to be patient with the Lord’s timing, others, and most importantly, myself. I’ve learned how to work, how to set goals, how to become the daughter that my Heavenly Father wants me to be. I’m not there, but I’ve got the tools and I understand how to use them. I found that when I truly lost myself in the work, that’s when I found out who I really was. That’s just some of the miracles of a mission. So if you ask me about it, please come equipped with tissues and an hour, and then I might be able to explain to you what the last 19 months of my life has meant to me. I am eternally indebted to my Heavenly Father for allowing me to come here. To allow me to represent His Son, teach His Gospel, and fix me all at the same time. Not to mention all the work that He had to do to help the people I teach become converted despite me. I stand all amazed.
I thank you for the support you’ve been. For the prayers you’ve offered on my behalf and the people here. Thank you for paying your tithing and allowing the work to move forward, it’s blessing millions of people and one girl in particular.
I leave you my witness that Jesus is the Christ. That He lives. That this is His Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That His Gospel was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. That the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and will bring you closer to Christ because, as Elder Smith put it, “you bump into Him a lot more often in it.” I love you all. I’ll see you soon.
Love, Sister Henson


ps. feel free to come see her...she'll need things to do :)

Basement update

We've done most of the painting in the basement and have moved on to the fun stuff of decorating. It's still a work in progress, but it looks so much better already that Blaine and I actually go downstairs again! It's been years since we've wanted to watch a movie down there...haSo I hung the curtains that I made yesterday and I also made the pillows...for those of you who know me...they know what a huge deal that is...
Blaine is staring me down...daring me to take a picture of him and put it on my blog...ha I did it!
Just another view of the TV room...
Notice the cow hide on the back wall. Both Blaine and I loved the look of it and our kids were horrified that we would hang it on the wall. I don't get it...It looks good...don't you think so?

We will be working on the other side of the room this week where the computer desk is, so I'll update that when it's done. We also put the counter tops in the kitchen this weekend, but I'm going to hold off blogging that till it's all done.

Only 12 days until Meagan comes home! So the timeline is definitely marching on. I think we will actually be done with the remodel, and ready for visitors!!

Happy Halloween!!

Since we don't have little children any longer we have to dress up our dog. She really loves the trick or treaters, cause she thinks they are coming to play with her. Courtney dressed up for work, as you can see, and I think she looks great. She's a rockin fairy! She even won the prize at work, which was a piece of paper...wow Cute!

Sorry it's been so long...

I know I haven't updated for awhile, but we've had computer problems...Hopefully I can show you the updates on the remodels this weekend so stay tuned...I'm working on the basement right now. Anyway...

Sister Henson will be flying home on ( imagine drum roll) Nov 14th at 10:00 am!
I am so ready to have her back. She needs to be part of the family again and I need another girl at home. Her homecoming is set for Nov 23rd at 11:00 at the stake center by our house. So please come and have some lunch with us right after!

Yea!!!

Come listen to a Prophets voice...

Today Blaine and I had an amazing experience. We got to attend General Conference for the first time. My sister came down from Oregon and was able to get tickets for 5 of us. It was very cool when the Prophet came in and everyone became completely silent...We weren't suppose to take pictures inside the conference center, but everyone was sneaking pictures so I decided to go with the masses. This is my sister Tami, her daughter Afton and her husband Michael.
This of course, is all five of us. Someone kindly agreed to take a picture of us. In this picture there is sunshine, but when we arrived in Salt lake it was pouring rain!

I loved Pres. Monson's talk about change. I find his words and mannerisms very comforting. Thanks for the tickets and the experience Sis....

Bedroom remodel accomplished!

So this weekend my sister Tami kindly agreed to come all the way from Oregon to help me fix up one of the many rooms I'm trying to get ready for Meagan's homecoming (Nov 14th is the release date). We used our extra bedroom for a sewing/extra storage room but now that 3 out of 4 of my children will be living at home again...:| I've had to give up my extra room and it was in sore need of a remodel.

This is the room after we removed the gamma ray green walls and I was going for a black and white room with splashes of green. One angle...and the chair folds out into a bed...
Sorry about the angle of the next two pics but above is another angle that shows the curtains I made and the mirror I painted from a garage sale...
The above (before pic) shows the green walls I had to cover with two gallons of paint....
This is my ever helpful sister who is full of good decorating ideas and as you can see...really really loves to paint...just look at her face if you don't believe me..;)
Then my other helpers were Court and Afton...Tami's daughter...but wait...they don't look like they are painting the walls...

So we have counter tops still to do in the kitchen and just a few touches to finish in Meagan's room and then it's on to the basement...Be looking for the emails and texts from me begging for painters on the basement...Painting Party!!!

Remodel updates

I'm almost done painting in the kitchen!! It was such a process to strip wallpaper, texture, paint three coats on walls and cabinets and doors. I thought it would be no big deal. But anyway here is a look at the cabinet that will have glass doors. I wanted to paint the inside black to tie things together and I love the way it looks. I bought some plates in fall colors and love them also. Doors will go on next week as well as the new counter top. Blaine has to do that thankfully.
Blaine and I went garage saleing this weekend and found some great treasures. This table and mirror set was cheap and we love the way it looks in the entry hall. The lamp is new and I love it too.
This is a door that is finished. We experimented on a few different looks and we decided on this one. It's an ivory color with a distressed sanded finish. So much better than the yellow Oak and just the cost of paint...(and my many many hours of labor)!!!

We'll be done by the first weekend in October when Tami and Afton will come down and help me with Meagan's bedroom. I've been gathering some very cute things so it should be fun to put together!

Happy Birthday My littlest BIGGEST baby boy!

My youngest and tallest baby (6 foot plus) just turned 15 years old. Do you realize how old that makes me? 29 or so...but anyway...He's anxious to get his driving permit and that makes his Dad and I pretty anxious too. We took the family and some friends to dinner for his birthday and had a good time.
Kasey...your a great son and we love you.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!

Let's all survive the teen years for the last time! Yea

Let R Buck...Our trip to the Pendleton Round-up

We just spent a great weekend in my hometown of Pendleton Oregon.
Every year the professional rodeo comes to Pendleton and every year we go to watch them.
Having grown up in a cowboy and Indian town you'd think that I might be a bit of a cowgirl myself but alas...no. I was considered a city girl, but now we do have fun playing cowboy/cowgirl for a few days a year.

The weekend starts out with the Round-up Parade as you will see below. This particular parade has horses and some more horses and then a few other horses...here we see big horses...Clydesdale horses to be specific. They are beautiful..

Then we see bigfoot riding on the back of a wagon pulled by horses...Gee how did he get from Jackson hole to Pendleton...he's fast or maybe it's his brother?
This is my way cool Dad who just got these way cool sunglasses in the mail. I'm trying to get him to model them for us, but he's not being very cooperative.
Coco came with us...alone as her hubby had a test he couldn't miss, but she made up for his loss by riding the mechanical bull. Her cousin paid her $40 to shoot for the 8 second thrill...and she did it! Well almost, more like 6 seconds...yee haw
Here is a pic of our Native American friends that always participate in the Round-up. The chief of the tribe is holding the American Flag.

And then the very best part of the rodeo...the bull riding. Here is where the real money is made and the real excitement. Take a look at why we go every year. Our seats were just above the shoots... Until next year

Kasey's first youth conference outing

My baby boy is 14 years old almost 15 on Sept. 11th and this was the first year he has been able to go to youth conference. The kids went to the Manti Temple, did some service at an old playhouse...(also where they stayed), then went repelling and who knows what else but I think he had more fun than he thought he would...which is always a good thing.

In this picture he was climbing and I guess his shoe came off and stuck to the tree and then his other shoe did the same thing.


Just hanging around as usual
Here he and his friend ate a whole bag of starbursts that night and you can see the wrapper stuck to his buddy's head...boys
Here is my cute boy cutting across a log

All in all they had a good time and did some service to boot. Sounds pretty good

So being the kind of person that I am...(a procrastinator and generally lazy) I have waited until the last minute to get the house ready for Meagan's return (Nov 14th). I realized that I was going to have a lot of people coming over upon her return and my house was not up to par. In fact it was becoming a dirty time warp. So I've taken it upon myself to set things right. Many of you won't remember what my teeny tiny kitchen looked like before, but it had terrible wall paper from the 90's and oak cabinets...which were great 15 years ago when we put them in. Rather than spend tons of money and wait for Blaine to do them, I decided it would be "so easy" to paint the cabinets, strip the wallpaper, texture the walls and paint. The only thing Blaine has to do is the counter tops because I can't. well....it's not easy. I remembered how much I "don't like" painting and everything is taking 2-3 coats. But after all my complaining I think it will look much better and I'm excited for the end result. Here are just a few pics of the process...Of course after the kitchen it's on to the bedroom that will be Meagan's and then the basement...so stay tuned for more griping:)

This pic is after the wallpaper is off and the walls were textured and painted. The stuff on the counters is from the cabinets...not just messy
I've painted the cabinet fronts and crown. I'm also painting the inside of the front cabinet black, as it has glass doors and I think it will look cool.
Here you can see the old countertop that is green and looked good in 1995. So you'll see that transformation.
And here I am at Blaine's shop paining the cabinet doors...They will be an off white with some darker aging in the corners of the panel. I have paint all over me....still...go ducks!

The return of the mighty hunters

I love this picture of the mighty hunters who returned empty handed but having gained a new experience in life. Lots of hiking and sneaking and dirty boy camping and the boys were ready to come home. I think the dad liked it quite a bit more....not sure he was ready to come home. don't know what that says ..ha

It's been a long time since I've blogged because there's nothing going on worth blogging about. It's been pretty quiet and non-newsworthy...so I thought of a few things I could share.

First is the quilt top I just finished. It was done with Amy Butler fabrics and the most basic of designs but I actually did it. Ok it was in a kit, but I had to cut the fabric and sew it all together. I'm getting ready to get the batting and the backing and take it to a long arm quilter. I can't wait to see the final product. Nice thing about hand made is that it doesn't have to be perfect cause everyone knows it's "handmade".

This is an apron I made for another blog "the angry chicken" she comes up with a theme and you make an apron to fit into the theme. This time it was "gingham" which I don't like and "chicken scratch" which is a basically cross stitching. I used a soft color palette because I don't like gingham... and just used a little gingham...in this picture you can't really see it..but the top ruffle, bottom ruffle and waist band are gingham...you can't even see the chicken scratch on the waist band but it's there. I'll have to submit a better cropped picture I guess.

Then there are the mighty hunters leaving to go deer hunting. With bow and arrows of all things. Don't ask me why...but they were so excited to go and do man things for a week....I get the house to myself..for a few days anyway...good luck boys and don't shoot each other.