I can’t believe she’s 12! Goodbye Primary - Hello Young Women’s! She was so ready. When they passed out Primary Program speaking parts, Aliya politely informed them that she would be 12 before the program (4 days before!) So she talked her way out of it. She told me last year that she was so happy she didn’t have to do it anymore. So Anthony was the lone Dewsnup primary child in the program.

Aliya’s birthday extravaganza began on September 10th. It was Wednesday. She could’ve gone to YW’s but decided to go to dinner and the mall instead to celebrate. We had dinner at the 5 and Diner off of 27th ave and the 101 with a creepy life-sized poster of Elvis Presley watching our every move. The staff sang to her and I swear I saw his hips move! “Yeah, we gonna win this race.”

At the mall, she had her heart set on finding a hair brush at Clair’s. She was successful and she got a darling purse and chapstick too! On the way out, Kev started announcing to any and all life in the mall that it was her birthday. Quite loudly. Hoping to embarass her (as if the staff at the 5 and Diner (and Elvis) didn’t do the job). Surprisingly, her face stayed a normal shade and she giggled - I guess she assumed no one cared or was listening. It was pretty late, for a week day. Not many people were around. She thought she was safe. Thought. We walked passed a store and I yelled in, “Hey, today’s Aliya’s Birthday!” There was a kid at the counter chatting. He looked up and said, “Hey, Happy Birthday!”

Now her face was changing shades! Aliya started laughing. We continued walking toward the exit. Soon we hear the kid again…in perfect tone…”Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you.” We joined in and finished the song with the kid who had started it. She laughed all the way to the car! Especially when I spilled my ice cream sundae down the front of my shirt!

As if that wasn’t enough!

Friday night Aliya had a slumber party. Maddie, Kayla and Kailen came to celebrate.

The night started off with pizza and presents! Followed by a scavenger hunt that led them to their final gift - a picture frame which they decorated with paint and jewels. They turned out darling!

And finally the main event of the night was a little something I like to call Midnight Mischief. Dressed in black with black streaks under their eyes ( I think they confused this event with football ) we went to show a member of our ward how much we love them. Toilet paper was my suggestion, but the sweet girls thought that wasn’t very nice so we made bows, posters and paper hearts. Aren’t these girls adorable? We left the house around midnight and walked to the Bailey’s. (Oh, yeah - they knew it was us! - Someone slipped and spilled our plans.) We covered their palm trees with bows, their garage door with posters and paper hearts, their front door with a banner and their cute little bear at their front door - we left him with a hat of chocolate chip cookies.

We saw a weird guy out walking his dog on our way back home. Who walks their dog at Midnight? Yikes! Good thing I am a black belt in…let’s run really fast!! There were five of us and actually, I think he was a little afraid!

After that, I don’t really know what happened. The girls set up a game of LIFE and I went to bed. What a great party! What a fun bunch of girls!!

At church on Sunday, Bro Bailey met us at the door, said thanks for the cookies and rewarded Aliya with the opportunity to speak in church next Sunday!

Over the last couple of weeks, the word “Cancer” has seemed to appear in strange places and times. The woman at the nail salon and then on Friday, September 5th all the local T.V. stations banded together along with several celebrities and showed the world it was time to take a stand against Cancer and find a cure - NOW. The program was amazing. Hopefully you were able to watch it! To find out a little more about it or to donate to the cause click here. Another good link is here, for a little more info on the show if you missed it.

The statistics are staggering and I learned so much. It was exciting to hear that a cure is definitley in reach but what is holding up the process? Money. Make sure you watch the youtube video of where the money goes. It explains it simply. (You can click here.)

I know this is a strange Blog topic but I have been thinking about it so much lately and I guess I would like to help spread the word. We live in an exciting time and Scientists are discovering and solving life’s mysteries all the time. Can you imagine a day when our children might receive a Cancer vaccination at birth? Or a treatment that kills Cancer but won’t leave you hairless, weak and with life long side effects? No more “life expectancy” predictions at the prognoses of Cancer. Just a treatment. And one day Cancer could be an illness we have bested and a nightmare of the past like Polio, Hepatitis or Measles.

It’s just a matter of time - and money. I know that soon, Cancer will too, be a thing of the past and will no longer be capable of driving fear into our hearts at the sound of it.

Andre, Parker, Taylor, Joseph and Michael. Five boys and a re-newed hobby - bikes. They are getting pretty good. I don’t know how they handle the heat but they do. They ride to these dirt jumps that are right behind our back wall. They watch each other as they daringly attempt new jumps or try greater speed and ride back home several times for water - stinky and sweaty.

Lately, the excitement has been about the accessories. Kev brought home a box full of colorful accessories and told Andre’ and Anthony they could do some chores around the house to earn them. How nice! Andre’ dusted all the blinds and ceiling fans for some new brake cables! One day Parker even swept my entire downstairs wood floors for some handle grips!

They are a great group of boys and it is a blast to watch them!

Lucky us! We don’t even need to leave the comfort of our home to observe wild life, it comes to us!

A few months ago I was sitting in the back yard on the patio swing. It was about 6:30 am. I was enjoying the cool breeze and the peace while the kids were still sleeping. Our back yard is not very deep. Probably about 30-40 feet from the house to the brick wall.

I’m swinging and letting my thoughts wander when something off to the left catches my eye. I look up and freeze. I put my feet down to stop the swing and I held my breath. My instincts told me to run for the house, but my body would not listen. Fear had gripped me. Walking just like a tall, slender, graceful cat across the back brick wall was a coyote. A big one! His black eyes scanned the back yard for any bite sized rodents or bite sized doggies.

When he positioned himself right in front of me he turned and leaped off the back side of the wall. He did not see me. If he did, he stayed very calm. I wasn’t a threat to him at all. I took in some air and finally was able to move. I felt that was enough fresh air for the morning and I dashed inside.

Then a couple of days later, I was cleaning out the pool. The kids had left the toys in it from the day before and some rafts. I couldn’t even see the water, there were so many toys. I started pulling out the floaties and rafts when I saw a “bobber”. There bobbing in the water was the biggest fattest bloated desert toad I have ever seen!

I thought the one was bad enough. I had Aliya take a picture of it for me, isn’t he cute!

When I pulled out the last raft, there was another one!

My mind started working:

Once upon a time…

Mr. Toad enters his home after a long day of work. “Jewls” he says to his wife. “You need a night out, and I know the perfect place.”

On his way home from work a couple of days earlier, he had discovered a large lake. He had scouted out the area and found that not only was it clean and warm, but he was confident there was no threat of any predators.

The night is warm and humid as Mr. and Mrs. Toad make their journey across the desert, under the bushes and through tiny openings to get to the wide open space…and the water!

“It’s beautiful” Mrs. Toad says dotingly to the love of her life. They can hardly wait to feel the refreshing water on their dry wart covered Lycra skin.

Together in unison they make three graceful hops before landing happily in the warm water.

“Ahhhh!” they sigh.

They swim and enjoy each others company for a very long time. They fall in love all over again. It is the perfect evening and just what they need to break away from the stress and tediousness of daily life as a desert toad. The endless searching and collecting dried leaves for the home, scavenging for food and watching carefully for pesticides. A long relaxing swim is the perfect get away!

Soon they grow tired and reluctantly decide to call it a night.

“How do we get out?” Mrs. Toad pants.

“Ummm.” Mr. Toad takes off and circles the outskirts of the lake. He is discouraged to find only sheer walls straight up out of the water.

They kick for as long as possible, but unfortunately, it won’t be enough. They know “the end” is coming.

“Sorry darling. I only wanted to show you how much I love you.” Mr. Toad whispers fighting to keep his head above the water.

“I love you, Harold.”

And then together they suck in water. Memories of their short lives together flash like still framed flash photography. They look into each others eyes one last time.

Two tiny bubbles are seen from the surface.

Poor little desert toads!