News from Elder Holladay

Look! Zack is learning how to crochet!

Hey mom! LoL

Sister Carter is pretty funny! I hope I didn't embarrass you by singing that song! yeah Sis. Carter is cool. For the life of me, I couldn't remember the tune to "Give Said the Little Stream (rock version), let alone the words. Elder Palmer said that you sounded really young. I love Elder Palmer!

how did dad tweak his knee? was he playing with a hammer? or is he getting.... you know...old? Does he get to wear a brace now? did it swell up? did you get a picture? does he have to use crutches? I think he did it on purpose so that he could take a break from putting tile in. :P

...I showed the twins that Spencer and I had put down the tile. Jake said, "Hey! I was going to help with that!" Huh! Go figure! I think Jake is trying to tell you to make him do more work. He was obviously very distraught that he couldn't help with the tiling, so you need to find something else for him to do. something harder perhaps.

Jake got above a 3.0?????? WOW! I did NOT see that comin! he must have taken all easy classes this semester. Tell him and spence I said good job! oh and everyone else did a good job too.

The missionary mall socks are my favorite. the padded ones. they are soooo much more comfortable than the gold-toe ones. I also heard that they last 2 years as well, so yeah get me one of those plz. and/or maybe a tie and/or some white socks for P-day and/or an old white shirt that I can use to make a tie buddy.

Oh I got a new companion, Elder Okamoto. He's from Tokyo, Japan. He's the youngest of 3 siblings. he has 2 older sisters. He is an EXCELLENT artist and he likes a lot of the same things that I do. I think we'll get along just swell.

Well thats all the time I have today, I'll type you next week!

Love,

Elder Holladay

On Wed, Oct 29, 2008

ok so I have 7 minutes left, so I thought I'd answer this one real quick.

which bathroom did you paint? yours? what colour? has it snowed any since that one sunday that you got 3-4 inches?

It actually didn't snow where I was. It was just cold. It rained though. Oh, yesterday we chopped wood for the Reese's. I got two huge blisters, but it was fun! It was really "naughty" wood too. Elder Palmer taught us how to swing an axe. I'm still not very good at it, but I'm more effective.

We carved giant pumpkins not too long ago. I'd send you a pic. but I've run out of time. We carved the Washington DC Temple. it turned out pretty cool! but we don't know what it looks like when it's lit up.

We've got tile!

Spencer and I laid this tile tonight! It only took us an hour. We just have 2 more tiles to cut in the toilet room so we can finish laying the tile in there, grout and get the toilet back in. YEAH! I miss my toilet. Dave was cutting all the tiles on Saturday and I wore him and the tile saw out. Dave needs to replace the saw blade before we can finish.

Tag of 8

Rachel tagged me!

8 TV shows that I love to watch:
1. Smallville (well, I used to like it, but it's gotten kinda weird)
2. Heroes (I liked the first two years, but now it's getting too weird for me)
3. Ghost Whisperer
4. Life
5. House (sometimes)
6. The Mentalist
7. ER
8. the News

8 Favorite Restaurants

1. Asian Buffet
2. Chilis
3. Olive Garden
4. The Roof
5. Red Lobster
6. Applebees
7. Fridays
8. Iggys

8 things that happened yesterday:
1. Got beat (again) in Racquetball
2. Talked to Tay on the phone
3. Talked to Tiffany on the phone
4. Didn't talk to Zack and Elder Palmer, but I heard their voices
5. Went grocery shopping
6. Did the dishes
7. Folded towels
8. Scriptures/Prayers and hugs

8 things on my wish list:
1. I would love my tile to be finished!
2. 4-wheelers
3. New flooring
4. A normal kid
5. To lose weight
6. Caribbean cruise
7. A yard makeover
8. A live-in maid and cook

8 things that I am looking forward to:
1. Having my house re-do finished
2. Getting rid of the extra cars at my house
3. To lose weight
4. For my boys to be able to drive themselves to school
5. winning more racquetball games
6. Elections to be over
7. Lower gas prices
8. Spring

8 people I tag
1. Heather
2. Dana
3. Beth
4. Shauna
5. Elizabeth
6. Tay
7. Arianne
8 whoever would want to do this.

Carrots!

I pulled these out of my garden. It makes me want to make some noodle soup!

Big News!

I got Dave to go to a musical!
The play was good, but it was fun to go to a play, with Dave!
Anyone who knows Dave and how much he loves the arts
will understand how unusual this is!

Tagged again!

I was tagged by Jessica (Thanks Jess!) for my three most embarrassing moments. I guess she doesn't know enough embarrassing things about me!

1. Most recently, I accidentally stole some guys wallet at the gym. I thought it was Jake's because it was sitting on the floor by my racquetball bag so I threw it in the bag and didn't give it to him until bed time. He said, "That's not my wallet!" I finally was able to find the guy on the internet. He had no phone # in his wallet, not listed in the phone book, but his wife had a blog, so I left her a note telling her the situation. What was even more embarrassing was he had to leave on a plane the next morning, but luckily he had a passport to board the plane with. (Note to self: Next time you take a wallet, make sure you check the name on the inside!)

2. The summer after I got married, Dave & I went to Lake Powell with Mark and his friend and I think Dana. I forgot my swim suit (of all things) so I had to buy one at the marina. As you can imagine, they didn't carry any suits that were modest. The most modest one I could find was a one piece that was kinda low cut, but I had nuthin to show, at the time, so I picked that one. We went for a short hike somewhere, and we came to a part where we had to swim across or wade waist deep. I took off my shirt (with my suit underneath, of course) and shoes and started across. The guys swam much faster than me so they reached the other side a lot quicker. Unfortunately, since I didn't have much to show, that also meant I didn't have much to hold the swim suit in place either. Dave noticed this as I was coming out of the water and instead of telling the guys to look the other way he yells, "Rose, your suit!" to which to both got whip lash trying to see what was going on (or off as the case may be)! Thanks Hon!

3. I was swimming at the Deseret Gym, years ago and noticed Pres. Monson swimming laps in the pool. He would swim and swim and swim and then occasionally he would rest in the shallow end. I happened over there when he was taking a rest to say hi to him and these words came out of my mouth..."Hi Elder Monson! I didn't recognize you without your....suit." I almost said, without your clothes on! I'm sure I made a lasting impression on the man who would some day be prophet!

I tag Jill H., Janine, Fern and April

Happy B-day to Grandma

I looked out the window and what did I see
a cute little face staring back at me.
Fall has brought me such a nice surprise
Little boys growing right before my eyes




Grandma Holladay had her 87th birthday today! This is her cake I made her. It was yummy! I told her that since I couldn't fit 87 candles on the cake, I counted out 87 sprinkles and put them on the cake. You can count them if you want!

We did it!

I have one last room to finish painting. I got the front room finished today! It's funny how the light changes the color of the walls. To get the top of the wall with the chair in it, I had to stand on the railing and hold myself up with one hand while painting with an ever steady hand with the other. FYI The pics are all the same tan color. This is Dave finally getting the grout on our shower. I forgot to upload the final pic with the grout wiped off the tiles, but it looks great! I'm hoping to have the energy to finish the painting tomorrow, in the living room. I need the entertainment center moved away from the wall. Fun, fun, fun!

Tagged!

The Rules for playing TAG:

*Link to the person who tagged you
*Post the rules on your blog
*Write six random things about yourself
*Tag six-ish people at the end of your post (I'm doing four-ish)
*Let each person know he/she has been tagged
*Let the tagger know when your entry is up

Janine Hansen tagged me.

1. One of my pet peeves is hearing people chew their food. It's like scratching a chalkboard. I will leave the room if someone stands behind me and chews their food in my ear. I don't know why it grosses me out, but it does.

2. I am the only one who understands the dog and she understands me. I can tell by the way she looks what she wants. If she sneaks in the living room or comes looking for me in the house and I tell her to go in the kitchen, that's where she goes.

3. I've been skinny dip...well, maybe that's too much information!

4. I used to work at the Comminution Center! A prize to anyone who knows was Comminution means!! No fair Googling it!

5. I have a scar on my hand from being hit with an arrow! The story is dumber than the headline! I was talking Archery lessons in college and was pulling the arrow out of the target (yes, I actually hit the target). I tugged and tugged until the arrow popped out and the back of the arrow hit my other hand, cut it and left a scar. I can show you if you want! LOL

6. Mmmm I can't go to sleep without brushing my teeth.

I know, kinda boring, but I can't confess everything in one blog! LOL

I tag Rachel, Tera, Carrie & Jessica

I'm OK now!

Yes, Zack was MIA yesterday, so he was unable to write me, but he made up for it and sent me a letter today! I'll post his stuff later. I'm in the middle of trying to get the front room painted. I got the boys to pull the piano and other furniture out from the wall and I got to clean the ???years of dust that had collected on the walls and floor. Now it's time to wash, tape and paint.

Thanks for the comments on my blog guys! It's nice to know that someone is actually reading this stuff!

I wasn't as actually sad as that last picture depicted, but I thought it was a pretty cool pic.

No news from Zack

I hate it when Elder Holladay is too busy to write to his mom. He always has a good reason, but it's still depressing when I don't hear from my boy.

What's new?

Perhaps some of you have been wondering what I've been up to lately. Well, read on and your curiosity will be satisfied. LOL

I successfully missed all of my children's SEOP's this month. I made appointments, rescheduled some appointments and still, my ADD kicked in for every appointment and I missed all four of them. I swear (well I really don't swear, but, you know...) if I don't put this stuff on my palm pilot, I just can't remember! Getting old sucks sometimes!

Did I ever write on here how much I love my kids? Well just for the record, I do, and my wonderful husband, who is an awesome racquetball partner. We played some of our new friends, the Ahlstrom's on Saturday morning. We were having so much fun we forgot to quit so I could go to Super Saturday and complete my projects. I got to the church late, but had barely enough time to finish my projects and visit a few minutes with my sweet sisters, whom I miss because I don't see them anymore, because I serve in Primary now (boy that was a long sentence!). Afterwards, we ran to Provo for a Holladay Family lunch for Gennies B-day (early), Joyce's treat. Thanks again Joyce! Good food, great company!Good news minute! Dave finally got all of the tile on the shower! Whoohoooooo! We were going to attempt getting the grout in, but I had to run an errand and then I got an important phone call that lasted an hour or so...hopefully it will be done by Christmas!

Spencer started piano lessons last week. He is doing awesome for a first time lesson! We are hoping that learning to play will help his thinking process. I've read studies to suggest that it does amazing things for kids like Spence. His teacher is a very special friend of mine with an amazing ability to work with people with disabilities. I have faith that this is going to be a good thing for Spencer...but if I have to listen to "I've Been Working on the Railroad" one more time...LOL

I have been busy painting my upstairs. So far I have painted the hallway, the stairway and part of the front room. I painted most of my bathroom before we put the tile in, but I'm thinking of painting the "toilet room" a different color. I'm a little bit of a mod-podge decorator. I wish I had a little more skill or talent in this area, but, I guess I have to work with what I've got. My dream is to have the Incredible Home Makeover team come over and redecorate my house so it has a little more class. In the mean time... my goal is to finish painting the upstairs (front room, great room and my bedroom) so I can get some new carpet.

I am trying to figure out what to put on the badly needed kitchen floor. I've ruled out tile (because our marriage can't survive another tile project) and linoleum and am considering wood or wood laminate. My friend, Jill showed me how she redid her kitchen cupboards for less than $30. They look awesome! I will put that on the list for next year (maybe earlier because I could have it done in a couple days). I've been moving boys and furniture around. I don't think Zack will recognize the house when he comes home. I'm hoping to have the majority of the work done by Christmas.

The outside is nearly complete, except for a little bit of walkway stones I want to put down and I need to replace the shutters next spring (thanks to some rude neighbor boys who broke ours). Oh well, it's time for a change there anyway.

I've been changing out the blinds, slowly, so I can afford it. Our two front bay windows are so small, I don't know if I can find the wood blinds to fit. We had to trip the aluminum ones that are in there now and I believe we are on our second set of those. Wouldn't it be great if all your windows could have the blinds enclosed in the windows so you never have to dust them? I love the ones in my back door! That was a great investment!

I've been playing racquetball nearly every day, for exercise. It's pretty fun to play different people. I had a great time playing Jake, John and their friend Austin! I may be getting old, but I've still got style and grace! LOL

All my joints ache not only in the morning, but all the time. Is there a pill you can take for that?

We had a primary lesson about talents. I was suppose to take something to show my talents and talk about my talents as well as theirs. I asked the kids what my talents were and they kept saying, "You're the best teacher, ever!" I've taught them well! LOL Gotta love the hugs at the end of the class...even the boys hug me! If they don't remember anything else about the lessons I gave, I think they will always remember that I loved them.

I think one of my favorite part of Primary with Emily is singing the Primary songs. I still take my guitar to her house and she sings as loud as she can. I have to really step it up to keep up with her. Today I thought it would be fun to let her strum the guitar while we sang one of the songs (Called to Serve). She actually did awesome for her first time because she had to strum and sing the words at the same time. Sometimes we have to stop and review the words so we can get them right, but we are getting better! When she feels better, I think we're going to have to play the "Primary Circuit" and get some good gigs going. "Rock and Roll"!

Date Night

Dave and I had a date tonight. Dave took me out for a nice dinner, then we went to a musical benefit concert for Emily Heaps.

Some of the amazing talent was from our ward and some were friends of Tamera Bell, who put it all together.

Some of the singers were from the Tab. choir. The talent was amazing! I was pleasantly surprised!

They put together a slide show of Emily's family and of Emily growing up. It was so sweet. At the end, Emily brought out some flowers for Tamera (who not only put it all together, but performed some amazing piano playing, and Ruth Clark, who was the main singer in the program. It was so awesome to see Emily come out at the end, I had to go up and give her a hug. It was great to participate in such a great concert with our neighbors and friends.

Zack News

Long hair missionary pic

Tell Heather I said HAPPY 20th BIRTHDAY! What did she get? :P

Tiffany's Baptism was pretty good. The ward turnout was much better, and I had to sing a song with the other missionaries that were there. It was Joseph Smiths First Prayer to Come Thou Fount. I'm trying to learn how to listen to the bass and tenor notes in songs now, so I can sing something other than the melody (cuz sometimes I can't hit the notes). She got confirmed that same day! RJ and Tiffany are going to the ward temple trip this saturday!

Sooo embarrassing ...I accidentally stole a wallet because I thought it was Jake's This guy put his wallet with our stuff at the Rec Center. His wife said this is the 5th time he has lost it! LOL! Its a good thing that guy had an ID in his wallet or it would have been hard to find him!

If Jake and John don't go on a mission, I'll have to give them a hard time about it...

Oh, I got John something from Cowtown. I just have to send it to him. I've been looking for those bracelet linkage-ma-bobs, but no body has any.

How much does spencer know on the piano so far? Who is his teacher? Can he play any songs yet?

Yesterday gas was $2.99.

Dad and Bob got the electric car running. So the Yellow car works? How far does it go? Are you going to buy batteries and drive it when gas goes up again? I told Elder Palmer about it, and he expressed some interest in it. He said that he wanted to fix it up and maybe even modify it to make it better. How much were you going to sell it for? He lives up in Washington by Spokane, so he might have his folks pick it up for him if he can afford it.

Also, Do you have any instrumental music that would be good? We asked Pres. Winegar and he said that soundtracks are ok.

Heard you have a pool at your apt...Yeah we have a pool, but its really gross so I wouldn't want to swim in it anyways. the water is nasty. Yes. I'm healthy and well fed. I think I gained a few pounds too, so no need to worry.

I got to watch to most of General Conference. The only part I missed was the beginning of the saturday morning session because the projector wasn't set up in time. I have found that if you watch conference with a prayerfully considered question, your question will be answered. I took some pretty good notes too. I had to have something to eat during conference so I bought some Jolly Ranchers to share. But there was only a few people there, and they didn't even want any. so now I've got a bag and a half of Jolly Ranchers left. Maybe I'll give some out at Halloween. lol

I started learning spanish again. Hermana Gleed and Sister Whitney are starting a spanish class on tuesday nights during mutual. It kind of bugs me to recognize spanish words that I used to know, but not know what they mean any more. I remember a lot more than I thought though. so far we've learned to pray in spanish.

Well I gotta go. My time is running out...

Love

Elder Holladay

OK, OK, Here's Zack's letter

Elder Holladay, Jason, Elder Palmer

Hey mom!

So you almost got a jeep eh? thats kind of expensive for a car IMO. I think you should get a truck or something (even though I don't like them, it doesn't matter because I'll never drive it). I guess you'll have to think ahead and find out how many fourwheelers you plan on having first and then go from there.

I've offered to paint for some people for service, but I still haven't gotten the chance to paint yet. I've mowed a lawn and cleaned up houses and pulled weeds, and planted seeds, and weedwacked, and organized orders.

We're still kind of struggling to get everything worked out since the Hermanas came. It's hard to divide everything up between us and get stuff organized. It requires more effort.

I'm glad that Emily is doing better, and I hope she continues to recover! I hope that Bro Richards recovers as well. I pray for both of them every day.

I attached 2 pics to the email this time. One of them is me and my companion and Jason Reese who just left on his mission to yucatan Mexico a few weeks ago. He gave us like 5 member referrals in just a few weeks! the other one is me with a sunburned face.

RJ's Baptism was pretty cool. I'll have to tell you about it sometime. probably in a different letter.

I think it would have been cool to get that yellow car up and running, but I didn't have the time or the money. :/ Especially since gas prices are so high. actually over here, its gone down a lot! it was down to $3.09 today!

Yeah, Sis. Carter said that she could hook me up. I think I'll still keep the 3 blankets just in case.

Answers:

What happened to your car? Pep Boy's dented it while we were going to get our oil changed last month.

What is your new apartment like? New apartment is big. it doesn't have a washer or a dryer or a dishwasher. which sucks, but its really big. and it has a big deck too. total, the apartment is probably like 750 square feet (complete guess).

Questions:

this one is for dad:

1. Is there any possible way to install Drivers onto the thumbdrive?

2. in the next package, whenever it is, could you send me some of that silver-mouthwash-stuff? I ran out a few weeks ago.

Love,

Elder (Doc) Holladay