Sunday Nov. 8, 2009 Carolyn's haircut

OK, so one more haircut lastnight. This is about as short as I can go due to all my cowlicks and stuff. I guess I could go spikey on top but I don't think I will. I am kinda likin' this. I don't know how long it will be short. It's not too hard to care for really. Surprizingly!
We hope you had a great Sabbath Day. Ours was great. We had a Stake Conference Broadcast with Elder Eyring and others who were awesome. We had the new Spanish Sister Missionaries over for dinner tonight and they brought a wonderful Spirit with them. As I took them home I told them how we loved having the Sister Missionaries live with us when we were in San Diego and made some really great friends of them, still today.
The weatherwas a nice temperature today. Cool but not bad. No wind. No clouds. Rain is expected soon. That's OK. It is supposed to be Fall with cooler weather but we will cherish each warm and pleasant day until the cold weather actually gets here. Yesterday, late in the afternoon, I put a bag of Ice outside in a planter box to melt. It has been there now all night, all day (it's 7:00 p.m. now) and there is still a half bag of ice left to melt. Hmmmm! Ok, maybe it was colder than I realized. Barney bar-b-qued our dinner outside earlier tonight and he didn't mind the beautiful weather. We have had a fire in the wood burning stove today. We mostly have had a fire for a few weeks now since we set up the stove downstairs in the family room. It's been great.
I can't believe Thanksgiving is so near, then Christmas. Wow! We do love the Holidays. Especially when we can visit the homes of our children and grandchildren, which we will this year.
We hope you had a nice weekend.

Carolyn and Barney Fall colors

The two of us with some Fall colors in our own back yard. Nice. We love it. The leaves have mostly fallen off now with the winds last week. That was the same time that central Utah got snow. We only had a few flurries at our house. East of us got some snow, near the mountains. The mountain tops all around us were white & beautiful!

Back Yard Fall Colors

This is looking south from our back door through our back yard with the Fall colors. The back forest has a beautiful blanket of yellow leaves on the ground. Crisp nights. Fairly warm days (so far). Soon this will be all white with snow. Barney recently installed our wood burning stove. It works now. It's so nice and warm (hot). We love it. Barney also made a new dog run in the back of the yard. You can sort of see it between the back of the truck and the front of the trailer behind the truck. He's also getting a piece of ground ready (just behind the truck cab) to pour cement for a small garage our friend is giving us. He will also be pouring cement for a retaining wall in the side yard and sidewalks down both sides of the garage. We are trying to get the outside ready for winter so when spring comes we will be ready to plant a garden and grass front and back, and flowers to brighten things up around here next year. He's also been trimming alot of the trees on the side of our yard (front of truck) as well as partially cutting down a couple of other trees elsewhere in the yard. He has been soooooooo busy. Great job Barney. I am painting our living room a pale yellow from a very dark burgandy. It will take several base coats to cover up enough for the very pale top color. It wil look nice with the dark hardwood floor and white ceiling, trim and baseboards.

John and Bryan goofy Fall photos

Our goofy boys in the beautiful Fall colors, early October near Huntington, Utah. I can never get them to be serious.

September Hair style for Carolyn

OK, so this is the new style of the month for me. Actually since the picture was taken few weeks ago in Sept. (notice how green the leaves are in the background. Not Fall yellow yet of October).
It is now even shorter on the sides and top. You can see here that it is severely frosted. I did the cut and color myself. I actually like it alot. So does everyone else. It could change though at any time. It always does. Just ask Barney. He never knows what he will come home and find. Luckily, he doesn't mind - much, usually.
He says at least he knows my hair grows fast and soon enough it will be longer again.

Barney moving dirt

So here is my cute husband playing with a big boy toy in our back yard. He is sure having fun moving dirt. Little boys play with little toys and big boys play with big toys. Thanks Kory Mossman for sharing your toys with Barney. He is moving dirt around to divide our side yard, upper from lower and put in a retaining wall where a garden will go in the Spring, then some grass and flowers. We are making lots of changes in our yard before winter. Cement sidewalks and a small garage pad and a wall, then fences. So much to do. Winter time the projects move to the inside of the house, hooking up our wood burning stove and finishing off some rooms and projects that need more attention. Barney keeps so busy at work, at home and so many service projects for friends and family. He is such a hard worker and I appreciate him so much for how he uses the talents he has been blessed with. I love him so much. Thank you babe!
Life is great with Barney. We have a wonderful family and the cutest, sweetest 8 grandkids, and two great boys at home, John and Bryan. We love it. Rock on!

Carolyn's Hair Style late Aug. 2009

My Hair Style in late August 2009 after removing the perm from my hair. This is the "Before"......

Carolyn's hair style Sept. 2009

This is the "........After," just a couple of weeks later. This is pretty much what it looks like even this week. I have cut it alittle shorter but still the same basic style. Last week I nearly cut it every day somewhere on my head. I just played around with it to try something new. I actually like it.
I plan to highlight it soon too. Why not? Hair is a renewable commodity. It will grow back. You never know what it will look like until you try something new. I guess it's that four or five year itch for me when I take a longer style and go shorter. Oh well. I am sure I will start growing it out again real soon. What do you think?

Casey Sorensen

Oh My Gosh! We had a nice visit with our old friend, Casey Sorensen, from San Diego, who truck drives out of Salt Lake now. He was driving through our area so Barney and I met him for breakfast at the new J.B.s in Price this last week - plus it's his Birthday this week so we treated him. We had such a great visit with him and caught up on everything since we saw him last - oh, about 6 years ago or so. "KEEP ON TRUCKIN' "CASEY, it was so good to see you again. You have really grown up!!!!

Claudia and Paul and Rocky

Last week we had the opportunity to have a family "get-together" at my parent's house to see Claudia (daughter of my sister JoAnne's husband Al) and her husband Paul from Colorado and Al's son Rocky. Last time I saw him he was about 12- 14 years old. Wow. I think he said he was about 29 now. He has grown up. Nice kid. Claudia and Paul have come to visit a few times when they can. Sometimes it has been during holidays when we leave town to visit our own kids and their families and we sadly missed visiting with them. We had a fun time catching up this time. Nice.

Carolyn's old hiking boots

Wow! Here's my dilema. I recently decided that I needed to go through my closet and get rid of some things. I started with shoes this time. I came aross these really awesome hiking shoes. Well weather proofed but not real warn - some. I actually bought these shoes back in the day when I was - oh , about 20 years old and one year married to Chris at that time, somewhere around 1972 or so. Wow! Maybe alittle later but close. I thought, gee, if I ever will need to walk to Missouri I will be prepared :0) back pack and all. I am sure glad I never had to, if you know what I mean. Not with these anyway. Think about good hiking shoes now days. These probably weigh at least two or three times that of a good pair of shoes today. These cost me over $50.00 in 1972. They would be at least $100.00 to $200.00 or much more today to get a good quality (and a reasonable light weight shoes). I did actually wear them for hiking back in the day. They were good shoes then. We did some camping and rock climbing then, starting with our honeymoon at Sequoia National Park where we bused in for the week. Nice. So through the years with the addition of two kids they were alot of fun. So I thought about getting rid of them. Now I have other boots - Ok - not expensive ones but good ones that suffice for me for now. I always say "take a photo of what you have and then get rid of them. The photos takes up less space in a photo album than the object does to store. Ok - it is definitley time to retire these puppies, especially now that I have photos and memories of them that will last so much longer. I can't believe I have had these shoes for how many years now? Wow - nearly 40 years. Unbleiveable, huh?!?! Theyare actually still in good shape. It's time someone else got some good use out of them. I'll be sad to see them go. So long shoes. It's been nice. It's been real but I am sure you will have a good home soon. I used to tell Barney's mom when we were helping her get rid of "stuff" - "Pass it on now, to someone who needs it and would appreciate having it while it's still worth having". It seemed to help her. I think about that withmy own stuff and figure someone else needs it right now. I can pass it on. I love it.
Anybody wear a size 5 in women's shoes?

John Bryan & Karolynn

Our boys, Bryan (on the left) and John (on the right) with sister, Karolynn in the middle when she came to visit the boys. Nice. Happy??????? Cheer up goofie boys!

We took the boys to Legoland while in San Diego, Calif. this summer. They had fun.

Tide Pools

Awesome seashore at Point Loma San Diego California at the Tide Pools.

Dalton and parents

Dalton left our home and got to go home permanently to be with his family just before school started in August this year. We are sad to see him leave but happy for him and his family. Way to go Dalton! We'll sure miss his giggles and playfulness.

Nathaniel and BZ

Welcome to the world little Nathaniel Michel. It's not that scary really. You will get used to it. You have lots of loving people around you, like Grandpa & Grandma Zauss, your mommy and papa, brother Christian and sister Amelia, family and friends, to teach you, help you and protect you as you grow up. Don't worry. It'll be Ok. We love you very much.

Well - it's Football season here. We have Bryan playing weekly at the Jr. High School and John playing weekly at the High School :0) It's fun watching them. they are doing well. They love school - well probably just the social life - or should I say THE GIRLS!!!!!!!! Everyone knows them. They love it - of course! They keep pretty busy. They are both taking early morning Seminary this year. It's great to see their testimonies grow.
Barney got his Flooring license. Yeah, Barney. We are so excited for you. He already has his Handyman license. He can build small structures and remodels and repairs. He is keeping so busy. Heavenly Father has certainly blessed our family so much through the talents that have been given to Barney. He loves his work. He learns so much.
We are trying to get our yard in order for the winter so when Spring comes we might have grass, flowers, and a ready spot for our garden. We have trees to trim ( very large cottonwood trees) fences to get up, retaining walls to build and dirt to move, cement to pour (sidewalks, a small garage foundation, etc) among other things. We also have a wood burning stove to finally hook up and try to actually use it this winter. When it gets cold we will shift to inside projects. We are going to try and add on to the back of our house this next year. It will more than double the existing size of our home - adding three levels. We now have two. We keep changing our minds about how much to actually add on. Our goal is to finally have a real dining room to have people over for dinner, friends and family. We miss than. We will have a family room off the dining room which will be off the existing kitchen, separated by a bar/counter. Our basement will be added on which will give me a handicap access salon. We will be adding a master bedroom and bathroom on the attic level with a small deck off the back of the bedroom and a larger deck off the side of the dining room and a mud room/ sitting room/sun room or greenhouse type room off the back of the house from the family room entry. We want to grow some small tropical fruit trees. This all may take Barney awhile to complete. We are very excited though. He can do all the work. He would like to get the foundation in before the ground gets too cold. Then he could work on framing it up during the winter. We will have to keep our blog updated with the progress and pictures to go with it. We have already taken "Before" photos. We will post them as soon as we begin. Stay tuned for further notice.

back to school 2009

Well - I guess you are saying to yourself "it's about darn time someone updated this blog!" OK! We have been pretty busy this summer. Boys out of school and all. All our travels (ha!), etc. Well life is sort of back to normal. School has started again. Summer is over. Life is in constant change for us. In July, just before school started, Dalton's family went to court for a family reveiw. The judge granted them that he should be able to go home for good. they still have services of support provided to them by DCFS but now Dalton is on what I call "House arrest, in his parents custody" :0) He is home. We miss him. We talk to his family often. Also in July, our other boys, John and Bryan had their family court review and we were granted guardianship of the two boys. that basicly means we sort of adopted them until they(currently 9th and 10th grades) graduate from school. we are all very excited about that. Now they don't have to leave our home. They don't have a caseworker any more to check up on them. We get all the control in their lives. Sweet!
At the end of the school year in June this last summer, I quit my job at the Heirloom Retirement home where I worked in the Hair Salon a couple days a week. Nice part time job. I just couldn't continue my job and be available for the boys all summer. I hated to quit but it was for the best. I am glad I did. It was great having time for the boys all summer with all the many places they needed to be. All the doctors, dentists, Therapy, activities, day camps, E.F.Y. , etc. I couldn't have done it otherwise. I was very blessed. Now that school has started, the boys catch the bus at 6:30 each morning. I see them off and Barney too and then I have the whole day to myself. It's been great. I have caught up on so many huge projects that have been put off for so long. I am loving it. I still have alot more to do. The boys have football practice (and now games begin) after school so they don I't get home until around 6:00 p.m. A long day for them but I have so much time for me. Yeah! I actually have dinner ready for them when they get home. Aaahhh!
I also straightened my hair. I took the perm out of it. I even had it cut a few inches in the back, today. I am trying to get used to something new. It's alright ---- for now :0) Maybe I will post somenew photos of me. My computer is being weird so I am using Barney's laptop for awhile until I get things fixed. He doesn't have my photos on his. OK - so more updates at a later time. Thanks for being patient.

Chad & our boys horseback riding in Loa

In May, we went down to Loa (2 hours south of us) to visit with Jennifer and Chad before Barney helped them move back up to Springville, Utah (1 1/2 hour north of us) Closer, yeah! Chad was so nice to let the boys ride the horses. He even got John on a horse, I think for his first time. Nice Job! They went for a nice ride. Even though it was raining off and on that day. Chad was so good with them and the boys sure had alot of fun. Chad, they will never forget it. Thank you. You're awesome! That's all the boys talked about all the way home. They made some great memories that day with you.

John's Graduation

John Graduated from the 9th grade at Helper Jr. High School, class of 2009, with many sports Awards.

John's Athletic Award

John received the "Outstanding Athlete Award" from Coach Howa, for the 9th grade class of 2009 at Helper Jr. High. He player Football, Wrestling, Track ( Competed State and received several Awards), and Basketball (his main love after Football. He is very athletic and loves sports.

Dalton Graduated from the 6th grade. Yeah Dalton :0)

Nathaniel Isaiah Michel March 2, 2009

Welcome to the world little
Nathaniel Isaiah Michel
Born on March 2nd. 2009

Your family loves you very much. You are so cute and sweet and precious. You have such a wonderful big brother and sister to help mommy and papa take good care of you.

Tamara's new floor

Tamara and Nathan's new Floor
Here are a few photos of
Tami's house after the new floor
Barney so diligently installed
while we were there for a week
visiting after the sweet little
baby arrived.

"Baby" News Release!

Baby Michel (#3-Tamara and Nathan's) has arrived at 5:28pm tonight. Yeah!!! He weighs in at 8lbs. 3 oz. at 20 1/4" long. Mom and baby are both doing well . They will likely be in the hospital for another three to four days. Just in time for us to get down there to see them this weekend, on Sat. :0) We are so excited for them and so anxious to see them all, little Amelia and Christian. We miss them so much.

My dry skin remedy

A few years ago Mike and Megan Holdaway went with Barney and me to Greenriver Days during the summer. We had so much fun. We look forward to going again, maybe this summer. Megan and I bought this really cool stuff for dry skin. I forget what it was called but it came in a zillion different delicious scents. We had fun trying them all. We did both end up buying our favorite ones. It was a scented oil scrub for dry skin. Well, when I finally used mine nearly up I decided to try to make more myself. I have been meaning to share this with Megan so here it is for everyone else too. I hope you understand and enjoy it for yourself.
Take a container that has a nice screw cap like a wide mouth plastic jar. Not too deep. I fill it about 2/3 the way full with epsom salts (the finer the better but any brand is Ok. Some you will like better than others but it doesn't matter). Then take some of your favorite body oils such as Vitamin E oil, maybe Avon's Skin so soft bath oil, and whatever other oils you might like to use scented or not, such as Neutrogena body oil, baby oil or anything you want. You can add a few drops of concentrated scented oils from the health food store, or wherever. My latest addition is this:
I added alittle lavendar thick concentrated bath oil( that I got at Walmart. It's called Dr. Teal's Therapeutic Bath & Body - Vapor Bath, in a tall slender dark blue bottle 16 oz). I happend to buy the Lavendar - "Sleep" one but there a few different types to chose from). It made the mixture so smooth and sluggish. Nice. Not too wet & oily like the other oils. It was really nice. It just took alittle bit. Then, after I mixed it up I could add more salts for filler if I want. Don't make it too oily, not too wet. Use a plastic spoon to dispense it. I keep it in the shower. After I shower I spoon out alittle onto each foot and massage it onto my dry areas - exfuliate - then rinse. Then do your elbows and knees. It feels so nice.
If you have any questions let me know. As you use the mixture up, you will likely have more oil left than salts. You can just keep adding more salts to fill the space in your jar from time to time. I sometimes make up the oil mixture in one container and then add it to my jar as needed with the salts. I will have a spare container of oils to add as necessary. Epsom salts are real cheap in the medicine area of the pharmacy.
Anyway I just love using this now. I thought you too might enjoy the treat. Let me know what you think of it and what your mixture turns out to be.

Here is our Zauss Family little Christmas tree. It was so cute. The boys had so much fun decorating it for Christmas.

Camille and Carolyn with Camille and Dan's little Max - 1 year

Nancy's after Christmas

Here's the girls at a recent visit with Aunt Nancy. Now all mothers themselves. What fun we all had getting together right after Christmas.

Megan & Mike Tenney & son


Jennifer and Dog
Richard and Tina Tenny