Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!!!!

This year we wanted to do something other than the traditional turkey and or ham. So we got a Prime Rib......yummy!!!!!

Peanut Butter Balls

Most of you know I'm really not much of a Christmas baker, so this year I thought I would try making some chocolate covered peanut butter balls.

They turned out real yummy!!!

Thanksgiving Fun

Boy did we have fun in Mesquite for Thanksgiving!!!! Hopefully we can all stay in touch until we can all get together again!!!

Partial Knee Replacement

Well, Steve finally got to see an orthopedic surgeon about his knee as he agreed that Steve needed surgery.

He will be getting a partial knee replacement on Monday Nov. 10th.

Hope he is healed enough to go on our Thanksgiving trip with us!!!!

School Pictures

Well, I now have an 11th grader and an 8th grader in school this year. Their school pictures turned out real good!!

The Pumpkin's Pudding

It's that season again for "pumpkin time....." Chelsea made her "pumpkin pudding" again this year and we decided to put it in a pumpkin to serve it. It won the "Most Unusual" dessert at our Ward's fall festival.

Financial Peace University (click here to learn more)

Our ward is taking this Financial Peace University course and we just started last night. We are so excited as this is what our family needs in this tough economic times. I would encourage everyone to talk to their Bishop to see if your ward could participate.

The church is also on the list for everyone to receive CEU's (that is college credits for those attending school)

It is a 13 week program and it seems wonderful!!

Family Thanksgiving 2008

I'm so excited about Thanksgiving this year. We have just purchased our airline tickets to go to Nevada for Thanksgiving. This will be the first time in......... forever....... that I have seen many of my cousins. However, I'm very sad that my mom and brother are unable to come... :(

The Baldwin Sisters

I went to Arizona for my Mother-in-Laws funeral. Since I had to fly from NC, I packed the only outfit I had that I would not need to iron. And could you believe that my sister shows up in the SAME outfit??!!!

Yes, we are in our 40's and our mother still buys our clothes. XD

She though since we live so far apart, this would never happen, boy did we show her!!!!

100 Things about Me

1. My name is Shawna Lee (Baldwin) Lay.
2. I was born in Jackson Hole, Wyoming
3. I was raised in Cornville AZ
4. Yes, there is a Cornville AZ (not from Hee Haw)
5. I have been married for 18 1/2 years and hopefully will be going to the temple to be sealed by year 19. :)
6. I was married by a Baptist minister in Lake Tahoe NV.
7. I did not want to be married in Las Vegas.
8. I have 2 teenage children, 16 and 13.
9. Daughter 16
10. Son 13
11. I went to the temple to receive my endowments last year
12. It was on my son's 12th birthday when I went to the temple for the first time.
13. I love to go to church on Sunday!!
14. I only have 3 classes left before I get my BS in Business Management.
15. I can not spell to save my life.
16. I would not have passed any of my classes without spell check!! ;)
17. I work from home
18. I work for American Express.
19. I have worked for American Express for almost 20 years now.
20. I have lived in 4 states, Wyoming, Arizona, Utah, and North Carolina.
21. I love living in North Carolina!!!!
22. I would sleep all day, if I could.
23. I love all the people in my ward in North Carolina, they are all great people!!
24. I love the rain.
25. I have big feet (allot of understanding!!)
26. I miss my dad.
27. I'm very grateful for my mother.
28. I'm grateful for the gospel in my home.
29. I'm so proud that my son received the priesthood when he was 12.
30. I don't like to cook.
31. I'm addicted to chocolate.
32. I love my dogs.
33. I love Dr Pepper!!!
34. Dr Phil is not bad either. LOL ;)
35. I love Paula Dean's cooking!!!! (southern style)
36. I just started to watch Rachel Ray, she is pretty funny!
37. RR is helping me want to cook a little more
38. I have been to Tahiti twice.
39. I worked at Club Med when I was younger.
40. I have also traveled to the Caribbean and Bahamas with Club Med.
41. <-----------This is how old I am.
42. <-----------This is how old my hubby is
43. I cried when my daughter started school.
44. I did not when my son started school (I wonder why???)
45. I bought my daughter a laptop for her 16th birthday (I wonder why!!!)
46. I bought my son a Wii for his birthday so I could get a Wii Fit.
47. <----------This was my Wii Fit age when I started.
48. Boy, I am out of shape.
49. I was the Sunbeam teacher in AZ before we moved.
50. I have also been the Librarian in our ward in AZ
51. I am now the Compassionate Services Leader
52. I did not really know what the Compassionate Service Leader was before I had this calling
53. I finished reading the Book of Mormon for the first time last year
54. I never made it past the book of Alma in the past
55. I wore braces for 2 1/2 years when I was younger
56. My bottom teeth are crooked again
57. I do not remember the last time I went to the dentist
58. I have dreams that my teeth fall out (what does that mean?)
59. I also have dreams that if I run fast enough I can fly!!!!
60. I have been to the Dr so many times this year, I met our family deductible myself
61. My monogram found something abnormal, so I had to get a biopsy
62. Everything is fine, just more “fatty” tissue (go figure)
63. Since our deductible is met Steve can go get his knee fixed
64. I don't really like my hair
65. I think my nose is too big
66. I have small teeth
67. I don’t like to shave my legs
68. I will just wear long pants to cover up my legs
69. I always shave my underarms!!
70. I think this is more information about me than anyone wants to know
71. I saw the new movie "Forever Strong" (GREAT MOVIE)
72. The movie is about Rugby
73. I know nothing about Rugby
74. I sometimes sneak a nap during my lunch hour
75. I should be working right now, but I’m not
76. I am related to Caleb Baldwin (he was the one in Liberty Jail with Joseph Smith)
77. We went to Liberty MO this summer to see Liberty Jail
78. We also went to Branson MO
79. On our way home we went through St Louis MO and went through the Arch
80. We stopped and spent the night in Paducah KY
81. I thought Cornville was a strange name for a town, but Paducah?
82. I can not believe that my daughter will graduate next year (Class of 2010)
83. I am getting sick and tired of all the political adds
84. I will probably vote republican in this general election
85. I do like Sarah Palin’s glasses
86. I hate to wear my glasses
87. I would love to get lasik surgery, but would be scared I would lose my sight
88. I’m worried about our economy
89. I believe the Lord will provide for those that have followed the prophet’s council
90. I do not have my years supply
91. I do have my 72 hour kits for my family
92. I read all the Harry Potter books
93. I have not read any of the Twilight books
94. I got the book “The Secret” on my 40th birthday
95. I still do not know what the secret is (I guess I should read the book)
96. Maybe I will get the video instead (LOL)
97. I would be lost with out a computer
98. I have a Facebook page
99. I do not understand Facebook
100. I’m sure this is A LOT more info on me than anyone wanted to know!!!

OK, there you have it!!! It took me 3 days to complete!!!!

River Rafting

Our last weekend before school started, we took a trip up to the Great Smokey Mountain Range to the Nantahala River.

Here is a photo of our rafting trip. We had a group of people that went up so we were an unguided group. Therefore Steve, who has never rafted before, was our fearless leader.

I think he did a great job!! What do you all think?

Court of Honor

Tyler had his Court of Honor after church today. Chelsea volunteered to make a stew for the festivities, which was strange, because she does not even like stew. Anyway, I had to find a recipe as I don't make stew very often. We found the recipe and we were off to Wal~Mart to pick up the supplies.

When we were going through the ingredients, I did not get flour as I thought we had some at home. As you might have guessed, I did not have any flour.

We have to leave for church at 9AM so Chelsea and I were up at 5AM to begin preparing the stew in the new Crock Pot we just got.

As we were getting everything together, I realized we did not have any flour to coat the beef. I was frantically looking for something to use and the only thing I had was blueberry pancake mix. That's right, blueberry pancake mix. As we started, the blueberry pancake aroma filled the house (on a fast Sunday!!).

I told Chelsea not to tell anyone about our "secret ingredient" but I could not hold my tongue and had to let everyone know. And "YES" you could taste the slight blueberry flavor. It actually was not to bad and the stew was all gone by the time we when home. So Chelsea's first stew was a great success.

We've gone to the Birds

While in Branson, we went to a bird show. It was fun!! Here is a photo of us with the stars of the show!!!

Ride the Ducks

We also "Rode the Ducks" This "bus" drove us through town and then in the lake. It was a blast!!!!

The Promise

It has been awhile since I have updated my blog, so I'll try to catch up..... This summer has been real busy.
We were just in Branson MO and went to the show "The Promise"... it was GREAT!!!! I would highly recommend everyone that visits Branson sees this show!!!

Mommy's Birthday Surprise

Click title for "Mommy's Birthday Surprise"

4th of JULY

We had fun this 4th of July with the fireworks that Steve got in South Carolina.
Ranger did not like them very much.

Pioneer Trek 2008

We have been so busy so far this summer, I haven't had time to blog.^_^ So, let me try to let y'all know what has been going on............

Chelsea went on a 14 mi. trek with 2 stakes. There were a total of 20 carts and about 12 people in each family. She had a lot of fun and is GLAD she is born in this time. I'm just glad they did not call Steve and I to be a Ma and Pa!!!!

She thinks my tractor's sexy

Boy, Steve is really loving country living!!!! When we lived in Phoenix, I had to beg him to mow the lawn...........He does it here every week (and can't wait to ride the lawn mower).

Now our landlords want to plant a garden, so they had to borrow a tractor, and Steve was right there to lend a helping hand!!!

Storm Chaser

On Mothers Day, we had several tordado warnings. I was inside tring to do some homework (watching Mona Lisa Smiles with Julia Roberts) and Steve came running in to find the camera. There was a tordado that was in our area. All the kids were screaming and the moms were trying to get them in the basement and the dads were finding cameras and running out in the road and field to get the "perfect shot"

Brush with "FAME"

Guess who we saw at our local Denver NC Wal-Mart today? You guessed it (was the picture a give away??) Jimmy Spencer. I was not convinced it was him, but Steve was adamant it was. I felt like we were stocking him, so I just went up front to pay for our "goodies" for the day. Steve then came back and said it was him, Steve went up to him and said "Hi Jimmy Spencer, how are you today" Jimmy responded "Hey buddy, how you doing"

Bend it like Beckham

Tyler decided to turn in his glove and bat and try his hand (or feet) at Soccer. This is his first time playing and he is doing pretty good!!!

Genealogy

A little girl asked her mother, "How did the human race appear?"The mother answered, "God made Adam and Eve and they had children and so was all mankind made."Two days later the girl asked her father the same question.The father answered, "Many years ago there were monkeys from which the human race evolved."The confused girl returned to her mother and said, "Mom, how is it possible that you told me the human race was created by God, and Dad said they developed from monkeys?"The mother answered, "Well, dear, it is very simple. I told you about my side of the family and your father told you about his."

Run Bambi...........RUN

Here are 4 deer that were across the street from us a few nights ago. These lucky deer did make it across this street without getting hit by a car. Last month, one of their friends were not so lucky, she took out our mailbox and went to the great big pasture in the sky. (The kids were quite upset, especially when they had to stand near it the next morning at the bus stop.)

Steve's First Fishing Trip

Steve's first fishing trip was his birthday cake.

Chelsea decorated this cake for Steve's 42nd birthday. It is all done with rolled fondant and is edible, it was real sweet and tasty..........She did an excellent job!!! :)

Dogs new hair cuts.....

Not much happening with us this month, just work and school. But we did take the dogs into the groomers to be groomed, don't they look cute?!??

Watch out Chelsea's driving!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It only took three times, but Chelsea passed the test and she can legally drive now (only if her dad or I will let her...ha ha ha)

She decided to become an organ donor so she could have the little heart on her permit. Isn't it cute!!!

Temple Day

The youth of our ward went to the Columbia SC Temple for baptisms for the dead. This was Tyler's first time. We thought the Church Buildings were small...The Temples are also small... But the spirit is still as strong!!!!

Our Little Church Building

After living in the West, we were used to larger church buildings. After moving to NC, this little building was quite different than what we were use to.