Savage Stories

SHOUT OUT!!!

2011-06-10T12:12:00.000-07:00

Hey Savage Family! Have you noticed that our Family Reunion is coming up really fast? Well, I don't know about you, but I really liked those T-shirts from Yellow Stone and Flaming Gorge. So I was thinking we could make some for this year! My mom said to talk to Gayla and Lita, so if you are reading this, comment and tell me what you think. Also, I have only been to the temple to do Baptisms for the Dead twice and it was with the ward. I thought that it would be fun for the cousins that are old enough to go do Baptisms come and do Baptisms with me in the Logan Temple. The only problem would be that I have Stake Girls Camp on June 29th--July 1st. If we did go we would have to go on the 27th, 28th, 2nd, or maybe even after Bear Lake. Anyone comment or email and tell me what to do. If we are going to the Temple, we need to schedule ahead of time so be sure to contact me. My Email is bubonice@hotmail.com

Thanks!

Chantel

Look Grandpa it fits!

2010-05-29T14:05:00.001-07:00

Minus 16 Degrees

2009-12-10T12:59:00.000-08:00

This morning as I was taking my kids to school the temperature gauge in my car said it was -16 degrees outside! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! Some schools around got canceled but not our district. Trent is home with the flu. Oooohhhhh how I'm longing for those Southern winters today....... Andrea, Lisa, Lynetta, Martina or Melinda if you go Christmas shopping today in shorts I don't want to hear about it.

Popular Grandpa

2009-12-08T10:57:00.000-08:00

So I thought this blog needed an update and while this picture is already on Shayna's blog I thought it also belonged here.

Grandpa surrounded by girls the first weekend in November as he often is. I believe there were us 6 granddaughters, 2 aunts, and grandma.

Grandpa I'm ready!

2009-05-08T12:31:00.000-07:00

Cherakie saw your boat out today and wondered when she gets to go. . . she's named her worms though, so you might have to round up some new ones.

Anyone for Fishing & Camping?

2009-04-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

I'm posting this for Grandpa. He hooked this up all by himself and is ready to go camping and fishing - any takers? He drove all the way over to Brigham and back to see how it would drive. I say hook up the grill that we bought for Christmas, and I'm there - I'll even bring the meat!

Mom for a few Days

2009-04-04T17:23:00.001-07:00

Last week I got to babysit for Roy and Heather as they trekked down to St. George. Cherakie liked to remind me that while mom was gone I was mom. I don't know how people have kids and still go to school though. . . I was able to do it the two days I was there and may be able to do it more than that but if it have been a semester I don't think homework would be getting done very well - much less studying. I let the girls have my camera a lot so I have a TON of pictures AND several videos of just randomness! Here is a look at some of our fun. Also it was nice to see Mandy and BreAnna Saturday night and then Julie and her kids came up for the week and it was nice to get to see them - once again my camera was put to use! Thanks Roy and Heather for asking me! :)

Hailey LOVES this outfit!

Julie and Natalie - playing of course!

Grandma with Blake and Kyle.

Grandpa being peaceful.

Oh Raquel!
I have no idea . . .

We ate at McDonalds one night and the straws fit perfectly onto Chantels two front teeth! She had fun with it!

Doing tricks.

Brilee lost her first tooth!

2009-02-01T20:11:00.000-08:00

Something New

2009-01-21T16:42:00.000-08:00

So this hasn't been updated for a while and I figured why not write something?!?! (And I am avoiding the homework that I KNOW I should not be avoiding because there is already a huge pile. . .)

This picture is of course from Disney World and I love it! So I want to thank Grandma and Grandpa once again for an amazing trip! :) Also I want to thank all of you for having the influence that you have had on my life and for the knowledge that I have that each of you care about me and love me! :) I am always thinking about how blessed I am for the family that I have - we have fun, laugh, tease, and love each other! :) So have a better than GREAT day! :)

Happy New Years

2009-01-01T21:07:00.001-08:00

As promised . . . love ya BERT!

2008-12-26T15:37:00.001-08:00

Anothern' down, '09 to go. What a merry day, and how fun the blizzard! Did you guys get tons of it, Julie's probably getting it today. We here in Cache Valley had the amazing, lovely, and did I say WONDERFUL, dinner Grandma served. Jealous? Then we opened presents, there is always a sad sigh in my heart knowing Kim isn't there to pass them out. Remember it had to be silent before he'd call out the next name, and that just did not work with toddlers.
Then we played games and ate some more, and by the way did you know James is ticklish?

Happily Ever After

2008-12-22T13:06:00.000-08:00

More Disney World

2008-12-17T21:59:00.001-08:00

Disney World Florida

2008-12-17T21:11:00.000-08:00

Twas the night before Christmas

2008-12-13T10:15:00.001-08:00

Roy and I went to his bank christmas party last night. They go all out, they have a raffle you get a ticket for being an employee, then you donate can goods to get more tickets. We left with another night at little america in salt lake, a portable dvd player, and a high powered flashlight. They also gave away concert tickets, numerous gift cards, flat screen tv, ipods. I guess the economic down turn hasn't effected at least our bank in cache valley.
Several times throughout dinner we got phone calls, "Can we use the tree skirt? Can we use a christmas tree? Where are the santa hats?"
We came home to play tickets on the kitchen table to the play, Twas the night before Christmas, being performed in the Sitting Room concert hall. Hailey's beard is actually a battenburg lace handkerchief.

Happy 50th Anniversary

2008-12-02T15:45:00.001-08:00

I think Shayna could beat me for pictures taken. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for such a wonderful trip. I enjoyed the dinner and testimonies. My other highlights were - the awesome hotel, being with family, dressing my girls up for Princess day, Raquel and Brilee getting locked in the airplane bathroom, and the serene night sky before landing in Salt Lake.
Check Heidi's Blog for her story also if anyone else has their own blogs, let me know and I'll add the link, that way you're not overbloggin your brain out.

2008-11-23T09:43:00.001-08:00

Over a year ago my sis sent out to find herself, to achieve something great. I hope after seeing her come home that she found what she was looking for. Click on my photo blog for today's entry and more of the story.

3 1/2 Months

2008-11-19T21:03:00.000-08:00

Grandma Savage (Phyllis) used to say, "Growing old is not for sissies!" I now say, "Being your own general contractor is not for sissies!" It was one harrowing summer for Bruce and me. We've been in our new home for three and a half months and it feels SO GOOD to be in. In our 16 years of marriage we have moved six times and all but this one have been cross country moves. Unfortunately, the only move that was completely paid for and included packers and movers was one that occurred before we ever had children and probably a lot less stuff. All the rest we've done our own boxing etc. About two weeks before this move a burning red rash began flaring up on both my arms between the wrists and elbows, I'd never had anything like it before. I finally figured out it was a stress rash. A few days after we moved it went away completely. I have also never in my life had insomnia so bad due to stress. I would go to bed at 2:00 a.m. and wake up at 5:00 a.m. exhausted, body aching, but could not, no matter how hard I tried go back to sleep.

We were trying to put a lot into July, the house had to take shape and come together. Bruce was finally done teaching summer classes and I was mostly finished shuffling kids to summer tumbling, dance, and scouts. We could (and had to) focus on the house full time. We pulled out of all our other obligations: Bruce's conference in Seattle, the Wimmer reunion in South Jordan, our trip to Mandy and Trent's wedding, our traditional Independence Day parade in Cache Valley, the library's summer reading carnival, even my class reunion. We gave notice to the owners of our rental unit that we would be out by August 1st. Bruce was scheduled to attend scout camp with Trent August 4-9 in Island Park. The new school year with a change of schools for the kids would be shortly after that. We simply HAD to be moved out!

The way things had been going and with the stress Bruce and I were both feeling, I feared the worst. It was difficult to try and build a house with the ages our children were: 11, 8, 5, 2. With Benjamin being only two he needed constant supervision and with Trent only 11 it was a little scary leaving the kids in his care for very long. He had begun watching them for short times but if we left them for very long what usually happened was we would come home to a house that was trashed and ended up being more work than if I had just stayed home and taken care of the kids myself. If we brought them out to the house with us they would get filthy dirty and be a lot of extra work to clean up once we got back to the rental. There was not much for them to do than play in the dirt. Bruce finally took the tractor and dug a big hole and filled it with water for a "swimming hole" to entertain while we got things done on the house. That worked for a while, you know, until someone got a sliver in their foot and everyone was dirty and muddy from head to toe. Either way was just difficult trying to get a lot done with four young children.

By that time of the summer the dirt was like baby powder. It was so dry there was a puff of dust with every foot step. In fact, I woke up one night in a panic realizing that with the problems our concrete guys were having with their previous job, we were going to have carpet before our concrete (stairs, sidewalk, and driveway) was poured. That concerned me because most sub-contractors refuse to remove their shoes and just walk all over your new carpet getting their work done - and there was plenty of work that still needed to be done! We were able to push our carpet back by three days which was a huge relief. That gave the painter and finisher time to get more work done. Those two were our worst and most frustrating subs. We could not for the life of us get them here to finish their work. They were too busy. They did not care about our deadlines, we were not going to be repeat business for them They didn't answer the phone when Bruce would call, and they were never her when they said they would be. We had (unfortunately) paid them 75% of what we owed them so they seemed to care very little about coming back to finish the job. This was extremely frustrating to Bruce and me. They were holding up everything! They could have come in weeks earlier but hadn't and now they had other jobs they were working on. We wanted to fire them (and they deserved it!) but we could not find any replacements, and believe me we tried! It was pre-parade-of-homes season and it seemed everyone we talked to who could do the job had other work.

Our ordeal with our painter was a nightmare I don't even want to relive here. To make a long story short after he painted the doors, he stacked them up before they were dry and they stuck together. So when we went to pull them apart they pulled wood and paint from each other and were a big mess. I was so disappointed I wanted to cry. I wish now that I had demanded all the doors be sanded down and RE-SPRAYED and stood my ground. That would have been a lot better than the patch work of puttying and brush painting they tried to do. Hindsight is 20/20 isn't it? Does anyone out there know how to pull a bond? Who were our favorite subs you ask? Our windows guys, of course, they are the BEST in the business! O000r should I say the best who were recruited to the business. Thanks Bert, James, Josh, Roy, Blake, and Grandpa!!! We also dealt with the BEST BANKER in the business. :)

Anyway, we'd been working our tails off on the house when we took a short break to attend Mandy and Trent's open house in Cache Valley on Saturday, July 26th. While there Heather OFFERED to take the kids until the following Tuesday when she could send them back up with Grandma and Grandpa who were bringing their truck to let us use for the move. This was AN ENORMOUS BLESSING! We brought Trent back with us to help. Heather ended up having the three younger ones until Thursday because again our favorite subs (can you hear the seething sarcasm?) hadn't finished their work. That week I barely had time to take care of myself with all that we had going on let alone look after kids. I was supposed to be packing up the rental but spent most of my time babysitting sub-contractors at the new house.

The days before the move Bruce and I had insomnia so bad I finally told him I wasn't going to bother undressing and trying to go to bed for the night, I was just going to plan to pack all night and when I got too tired I'd curl up on the couch for a nap. He would be out at the house all day then go into his office to make sure his computer runs were still going and end up being there for several hours.

Not knowing anyone in SE Idaho the only manpower we had moving in in '06 were Bruce, Blake, Cody, and seventy something year old Grandpa. It was a loooong and exhausting day. I was getting nervous about how we were going to move again. The Elders Quorum at church move people all the time and I'm sure they get tired of it, and who can blame them? Besides that I hate asking for help. I know, I'm too prideful for my own good. I finally started calling moving companies and learned that you can get two men and a truck for $89 per hour and I was willing to pay it (Bruce....maybe not) but apparently the end of the month is a popular time to move especially in the summer as none of the three companies had anyone left available for hire. So finally out of complete desperation I fired off a friendly email to some of the women from church whom I had gone to book club with announcing our "moving party" Thursday and asking them to send their husband's muscles over to help move the big stuff at 6 p.m. that night. Bruce also had asked two of his colleagues to help us beginning at 3 p.m. that day. Luckily one of them recruited 4-5 of his students to come help too. Bruce said these guys worked fast!

On the day of our move, after the second truck and trailer load had been taken to the new house I stretched out on the bedroom floor of our rental that had only moments ago been covered with furniture and looked up to the ceiling and said out loud, "This is a miracle! We aren't even going to need the church people." If you had seen the garage of our new house that night you would have said we had a MESS not a MIRACLE. But I know a miracle when I experience it firsthand. It was a bloomin' miracle! (I would have taken a picture but I had even packed the camera)! Other blessings that led up to our miracle include:
* Roy and Grandpa helping immensely with the electrical, supplying advise and a variety of odds and ends which are too many to list.
* A woman from church whom I'd never even met called me out of the blue and asked if we needed any boxes. I told her we could surely use some. Her husband delivered two loads of big nice boxes with handles.
* My mom and sister split a week watching the kids so I could work out at the house. Denette had recently moved herself and brought up packing materials and packed my wall hangings - the glass of the photo frames and pictures - my least favorite to pack.
* Due to the fact that we were moving in when the finisher had barely moved all his equipment out of the garage it was covered with sawdust and lots of other mess (even though I'd cleaned it numerous times before). I had wanted so much to get in there to clean it all out before we moved everything in but there hadn't been time. Bruce was somehow able to get everything out of the garage and hose it down which gave me big time peace of mind.
* Grandma watching the kids during the move. They wore her out completely, and that' s not easy to do, she'd still Miss Energy you know. She was trying to keep them out of all the dirt, no small task!
* I had stocked up on lots of water and Power Aid but since we were moving around dinner time, Grandpa bought all our help chicken and chips, which was really nice.
* Another big blessing that contributed significantly to our miracle was my cousin, Monica. She drove over from I.F. and just began tearing through our rental like a tornado...the good kind! She taught me the art of HUCK AND CHUCK!
* Finally, Lisa took Trent and Teagan home with her for a couple days to give us a chance to start organizing everything, but it was slow going. Bruce and I were so exhausted from it all and just needed to decompress.

So HURRAY we are in now and loving it! Thanks for being part of our miracle...

Project 52

2008-11-19T12:25:00.000-08:00

I've decided to move my project to my photography blog, I currenty post it to two blogs and it gets monotonous. So click on the link on the right and it'll take you there.

RoyzGirlz 3/52 - Project 52

2008-11-16T21:08:00.000-08:00

The Sunday Salon

RoyzGirlz 2/52 Project 52

2008-11-09T10:27:00.000-08:00

I know I'm not "really" in this photo, but I hope that when the girls see this they will remember all the fun times, and maybe just maybe, they'll remember my cracked and calloused hands from tying all those skates.

Happy Halloween

2008-11-01T10:25:00.001-07:00

Check out that Halloween morning sky!

RoyzGirlz - 1/52 Project 52

2008-11-01T10:17:00.000-07:00

Here we go! Week one, the opening game for USU, also Halloween. Cherakie is sad cause she remembered how frightning Big Blue is. Is there a phobia for that? We weren't going to get tickets because - that's a lot of bread and butter! Roy decided last minute that we couldn't give up our family tradition.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T22:25:00.000-07:00

Our trick-or-treaters had a good time. It was actually warm this year for Idaho. Usually it's coat weather but the kids just wore costumes while I had a light jacket. That reminds me of my first Louisiana Halloween. We hung out with the Baxter's whose neighborhood really gets into the holiday. Trent and Lauren were both in first grade and enjoyed each other so much. It felt so strange to come in from trick-or-treating all sweaty. Hope you had a fun night!

Project 52

2008-10-27T13:59:00.000-07:00

Any of you have albums of pictures without you in them? I am so doing this, let me know what you think?

The challenge is to take a photograph with one or both of my kids once a week for 52 weeks! Wow. That was exhausting just to type! 52 weeks is a looong time, but I think it'll be way worth it. At least after the 52 weeks, I'll have TONS of memories and LOTS of documentation that I did indeed exist in my children's lives! That is priceless.

I would like to extend this challenge to you viewers as well. Get out your cameras and get into those pictures! You don't need to be an established photographer or experienced photoshop guru. The creativity is up to you. You can do posed shots, candid shots, timer, remote, tripod, or the good 'ole extended arms self portrait pic! It's all good. The only rule is that YOU must be in the picture somehow. Doesn't have to be all of you, but you do have to be in the image somehow.

Aaaaahhhhhhh!

2008-10-24T07:11:00.000-07:00

The other day Bruce and I were moving things around in our storage room. Benjamin happened to be in there also. I was moving empty boxes and handed him one. When I turned around he had three eggs in his hands. I took them from him and asked where he got them. He innocently pointed to a shoe box. I looked at the eggs and could tell they had not been cooked but had tiny holes poked through the shell like I do when I'm going to boil them in the egg cooker. We had no idea how they got down there but decided to feed them to the neighbors cat that was always hanging around. Bruce was trying to coax the cat to the back porch when Trent came around the corner and saw what we were feeding him and exclaimed, "No, those are my stink bombs!" Our son is trying to make stink bombs in the basement of our new home. Sigh, whadya do?

Our hurricane baby turned 3!

2008-10-12T18:32:00.000-07:00

Last weekend our hurricane baby turned three. And three years ago Kent and Lita were putting up with us. It doesn't seem like it could be that long ago because I remember some things so vividly. We were praying we wouldn't overstay our welcome. We ended up having a lot of fun with them. I remember feeling that our officials in Lake Charles, LA were just really wanting to error on the side of caution and get everyone evacuated out of there, especially after the Katrina mess. I wanted to drive a few hours north and watch the storm on a hotel television then return home. However, Bruce and I home and visit taught a sister in her 70's who did not drive and had no family around and what were we going to do with her? Lita had called me and invited us to stay with them (little did she know we'd be there three weeks!) and since Sister J had two sisters in Tyler, TX we headed that way. We had to leave at 5:00 a.m. to avoid the traffic. We were able to drive for two hours at 60 mph before we hit traffic. We dropped Sister J off at her sister's home and made it to Kent and Lita's in 13 hours. Lorenzo and Dominic were just pulling pizzas out of the oven. Lita had taken MariAmanda to a birthday party.

After the hurricane passed through our area the local officials told everyone to stay away. They even blocked the exits to keep people out. Full power was not restored for two weeks. Lita got Trent and Teagan enrolled at Oakdale and that was good for them. Lita and I talked, shopped, talked, cooked, talked, got a pedicure, we had to of course, because I could no longer reach my toes! She told me all about how she and Kent got together, all stuff I didn't know. We read scriptures with them, had family prayer, and played a mean game of DON'T EAT PETE! for FHE. They made us a part of their family. It was fun. Bruce and I also got to see some friends we knew from our newlywed years since we lived five minutes from there for the first two years of our marriage. That was a fun surprise too.

We decided it would be best to just have Benjamin in OKC. There just happened to be an OB/GYN in Kent and Lita's ward. We were expecting a "Cajun" baby but had a "Sooner" instead. After Ben arrived Lita bathed the other kids and did Teagan and Brilee's hair all pretty for them to come to the hospital to meet their new baby brother. I remember Brilee's expression as she walked into the room and saw Benjamin in my arms. It was kind of a look like I had betrayed her. It's always an adjustment when a new one comes into the family.

Before we evacuated our neighbors had told us to put all our frozen meat into one freezer just in case the power was out for an extended period, you'd only lose one of your freezers. So we took all the meet out of our fridge/freezer side by side and put it in our pantry freezer. A few days after Benjamin was born Bruce, Kent, and Lorenzo drove back to Lake Charles to assess the damage to our home and get things ready for us to return with the kids. We were very grateful to learn that we only had minor damage - shutters, shingles, and we lost a couple of our trees. It was Kent (bless him) who ended up cleaning out our freezer. That must have been nauseating! Somehow he got all the blood stains out of the tile and grout. We wanted to be able to keep it but we could not get rid of the smell and had to dispose of it. Bruce and Lorenzo cleaned up the limbs and downed trees in the yard. Meanwhile back in OKC I drug Lita all over Baptist hospital trying to get the off hours help I needed from the Lactation Consultant. Benjamin just wasn't co-operating and that was my source of stress. We really appreciated them letting us crash at their place and for their kindness. Lita did mountains of laundry and rounded up all kinds of baby things for us. Grandpa put our name in the temple and I know that and all the other prayers offered up from family is the reason things went as well at they did. So three years later here's a big THANK YOU!

Here are some pictures of the Ben Man's family party. He's all about balls, cars, and spiderman right now.

Little Bear corn maze

2008-10-04T14:51:00.001-07:00

We went to the corn maze for family home evening. This one, close to home, had alot to offer for kids. They had a mammoth sized straw pyramid, a projector playing a halloween movie, a scary hay ride, and two mazes, plus a fire pit where you could roast mellows.

It feels like the season has fallen upon us with the rain. I have to admit, I'm loving it, fury socks and all.

Hope you enjoy conference! I added a link to my photography blog, and one I think is funny, add to it if you'd like. If you can't, because I am the administrator, let me know and I will put it on for you.

Surprise Harvest

2008-10-01T10:37:00.001-07:00

One night in late May or June Bruce and the older kids planted a garden. They planted corn, beets, lots of different kinds of squash, peas, cucumbers, tomatoes and I don't even know what else. I do remember they all came home (to our rental) very muddy. We then, of course, did nothing but work on the house all summer. We didn't pull a single weed and scarcely remembered to turn the water on our weed patch, I mean garden. It was pretty much one evening of planting, then zero effort. But, WOW have I been impressed with what has come out of our little weed patch! The grasshoppers got our corn and I don't know what happened to the peas (I think you're supposed to plant them earlier(?) but we have been feeding our neighborhood with squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes. The cherry tomatoes are especially sweet and flavorful. Imagine what we could have next year with a little more effort and TLC of our garden. Come visit us and we'll load you up!

Super Heroes

2008-10-01T06:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday these superheroes rescued downtown Logan from all evil and mayhem, except for the poor souls who wanted to drive in the alleys I was photographing.

Harvest Moon

2008-09-28T21:01:00.000-07:00

Bruce caught this harvest moon from our front porch. It is so quiet and beautiful out here, we are enjoying it very much. Next project? Landscaping!

Sleeping Ben

2008-09-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

The other day I went into Benjamin's room to check on him while he was napping and I found this common scenario. Ben takin' a good nap with the blanket wrapped around his face and head instead of his body.

I can never figure out how he can breath like that! I tried to make a little opening in the blanket so he could get some fresh air but he just rolled over as if to say, 'I'm enjoying my nap please go away'. Silly boy!

2008-09-18T14:37:00.001-07:00

Kyle

2008-09-15T12:38:00.000-07:00

Mandy's & Trent's Wedding

2008-07-28T22:21:00.000-07:00

Okay - so I have a kazillion pics, here's a few to sample. I'll let Mandy fill in with the story. We had tons of fun with you guys. Thanks for letting us be a part of it.

Me Again

2008-06-22T14:32:00.000-07:00

I am sending out invitations to join the blog, please send me an email with the email address of those in your families heatherofthevalley@hotmail.com. Thanks! This is open to all, grandkids, siblings etc. Once we are all hooked up, I'll restrict viewing to family only. Thanks!

Welcome All!!!!

2008-06-22T14:03:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the new savage blog. I hope with this blog we can keep in touch better, share our current dilemmas, happy days, as well as memories of the past. With the Disney world vacation fast approaching, so is the daunting (for me) task of putting together a history. I need HELP from all of you. The goal is to publish a written history, but also to make a video to show at our family dinner at Disney World. If and when I can figure it out, i'd like to make a link or a separate section on this blog where you click to go specifically to adding memories, etc. So check back often, and post often.

We had an enjoyable visit Kent's and Bruce's families. We love Grandpa's boat!!! However, I don't think we'll ever catch a fish when giggly, bouncy, splashy girls are aboard.

Hope to hear from you all soon. If you have any problems posting or using the blog let me know.
Love Ya
Heather