It's Almost Time

Things are hopping in the Crowley home. The countdown is on until we load up in the van and head to sunny SoCal to visit Mickey and his friends.

Thanks to those who contributed ideas for making the most of our trip. We're planning to eat churros and chocolate covered bananas. We're planning to take back packs with snacks, water, and games to play in line. We're planning to sedate the children so that they sleep for 12 hours on the drive :-)

Have a nice Friday!

You know you are in Idaho when...

this is a list that my roommate and I have collected over the past few weeks from seeing different people around Rexburg. We titled it "You know you are in Idaho when..."

Idaho from the eyes of Heather and Sara 2007

YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN IDAHO WHEN….

*everyone talks about going huntin’
* guys talks about “drivin’ spud truck”
* Redneck jokes are the norm…
* Boys wear Carhart Coveralls to class* your anatomy teacher wears a shotgun shell holder to class and puts dry erase markers in it
*two year old children only know how to say “gun”*Sonic is the cool place to go and eat or get a limeade slush*wal-mart sells overalls (overalls went out in the 90’s) *the temperature hits -35 and everyone still goes on with the day like nothing happened*you go shooting cereal boxes and water jugs on the weekend*its nothing new to see a mullet *your nostrils freeze when you walk outside
*nobody shops at Albertsons Grocery Store because it’s too expensive
*the bottoms of all your jeans are stained with “red rock” from the roads
*people think it is okay to wear Wrangler’s out in public
*you have to have portable heaters and electric blankets to survive at all
*your toes feel like they are going to fall off and be purple when you walk outside no matter what shoes you have on
*you have to wear tennis shoes to walk to church and then change into church shoes when you get there because it’s to slick to walk in heels
*you go through lotion like there is no tomorrow *Idaho Falls in the “big city” and Salt Lake City is just HUGE
*it’s not a truck…it’s a pick up and HEAVEN FORBID you call it a car
*you walk around with a toothpick in your teeth, sucking on it all day
*you can tell you are in Idaho because as soon as you cross the border your tan fades and you look like a ghost
*your hot chocolate freezes outside INSIDE the travel mug!!! (January 27, 2007)
*free beef is offered for purchasing car tires
*”E-Brake” u-turns
*you wear flip flops in 35+ degrees
*you can see for miles and miles with nothing in sight
*you can paint your house pink or green or blue or have fake farm animals decorating your front fence because there is no such thing as a homeowners association
*you go tanning outside and lay out when it reaches 50 degrees
*you wear chaps and a cowboy hat snowboarding

SURPRISE

so i was out today enjoying and soaking up the 60 degree and my roommates started rambling and saying she needed to go home...i was so confused but didn't think twice. As we pulled up to the house she told me to go get the stuff she needed. I thought "are you lazy? go get your own crap!" but then such i am such an AWESOME roommate so i started walking up the stairs and i see a cute boy on my balcony holding a flower...confused i realized it was NATHAN RICHARD LEON CROWLEY!!!! The Crowley's were in my living room!! What a pleasant surprise...i was so happy to see familiar faces!! we sat in my disgustingly dirty living room (Sorry about that) and chatted for a little while and then they loaded up and left. I was so happy and i watched then drive away thinking what an awesome family i have...so thanks Crowley's for making me so happy today...i love you!!

FIGHT ON!!!

FIGHT ON, (DA DA DA DA) FOR OL' SC!!!! OUR MEN FIGHT ON, TO VICTORY!!! (DA DA DA DA) OUR ALMA MATER DEAR, LOOKS UP TO YOU FIGHT ON AND WIN!!!! (DA DA DA DA) FOR OL' SC, FIGHT ON TO VICTORY, FIGHT ON!!!!!!!! (BADADADADUHDUHDUHDUH) FIGHT ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GO SC!!!

LET'S GO USC!!!! BEAT THOSE STINKIN' TARHEELS!!!! I HATE UNC!!!! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO TROJANS!!!!!!

Family Reunion

Hello everyone,

I know that it will be a couple of days before everyone can read this, but I do my posting at work in the early morning, so today is the day to get it done. The family reunion is still on. We are still planning to have it over the Memorial Day weekend. Shirley talked to Joni Noorda Davis again just a couple of days ago and they are still planning to have us there that weekend, so we are off to the mountains to see what we can see and do what we can do.

We know that the California Nilsens are not going to be able to attend this year, and it makes us sad. We wish that we could accomodate everyones schedules, but that is becoming increasingly difficult as our family gets older. There are just so many activities. We are hoping that this central location will make the traveling easier on everyone so that no one has to go an especially long distance.

We are planning to have a mountain bike experience and a hike or two around the area. Joni said that the snow will be long gone and that it should be beautiful up in the mountains by the time we get up there. We also want to encourage you to bring your favorite games for the evenings and for Sunday afternoon. We will have more details later, but we did want to let you know that it is in the works. We are excited to see everyone.

Just can't wait

So the first week of April (spring break), my family and I are going to Disneyland. It is going to be the first time I stay in a hotel and the second time I go to Disneyland (first time for Matt). And the first day Emma (my favorite cousin no offence or anything), Thomas (nice guy), and Aunt Keri (wicked awesome), are coming with us. Emma I can't wait to come to your house. Call me Emma (make sure Emma sees this please).

Check It Out!!

So I got my own blog. I have a lot to say and didn't think that you all wanted to read all about my crazy thoughts all of the time. So if you want to take a glance at it...feel free. The website is http://www.heidihoheidiho.blogspot.com

oh rexburg...

i woke up this morning and got out of bed at about, hmmm lets see, 12:00pm (college life at its finest) and as i looked outside i saw something i haven't seen in a LONG time...my best friend in the whole world, MR. SUN!!! As i got ready for the day, i went outside and noticed that i could FEEL him beating down on my skin (one of my top 3 "natural highs" in life) so i knew it would be a good day for footless tights and a short dress!! As i walked to the mailbox i noticed many of my fellow coho residents out on the grass in their swimsuits sun tanning. I ran inside to check the weather to see what the current temperature is. I knew we had to be in the 80's or so.... but according to weatherchannel.com Rexburg, ID is currently 65 degrees with wind at 11mph. Oh how well my body has acclimatized!! My memory raced back to the good 'ole days in CALIFORNIA (almost there again :) ) and i remembered freezing my behind off and putting on a hoodie and then a jacket as soon as we got below 75....oh how confused and ignorant i was. I guess surviving (barely) -30 degrees I have learned to appreciate 65 degrees and the sun!! So just remember, next time its 65 and sunny, DONT COMPLAIN!!! Thank Heavenly Father for the sun and for its warmth!!

BLESSING.....

I HAVE A CAR FOR JUST OVER TWO WEEKS. THIS MEANS FREEDOM AND HAPPINESS. I don't really base my happiness on things such as cars but having this car brings happy things to me like spring Thanksgiving, trips to stores, a way to get to the airport to pick up my best friend in the whole wide world, a way to get to conference, and a way to enjoy the Utah drivers....its a darn good thing I have California plates on this car!!

NCAA Tourney

I have not heard much from anyone on the NCAA tourney that will be starting tomorrow. It is a bit of a surprise since we got 3 teams in this year in BYU (of course), Duke, and USC. With SC getting the highest seed at a 5, they are suppose to go the furthest. Still, I like BYU's matchup with Xavier. The location stinks as it is only 80 miles to Xavier's campus (can the NCAA be more transparent?) but I think the matchup is a good one for us. I have only seen USC and Duke a couple of times, but I think they can make some noise as well. I am just not sure how far anyone can go. A Sweet 16 appearance would be cool.

Cookie dough and tears will get me through

So as I sit and write this I am indulging in cookie dough and I have finally gone 7 hours without crying. My crazy roommate from summer term just moved back in. You may remember hearing about her...the underwear theif...ring a bell? Yes she is back! I got an email a couple of days ago telling me that she was moving back in and she would like a spot in the kitchen for her stuff and would like us to clean her room and make the apartment all clean. Do you think I did any of that for her! HECK NO! Who do I look like? Not her personal maid! This morning when she moved in I locked myself in my room to study and didn't come out until she had left. Our paths didn't cross for a couple of hours then I started feeling Christlike so I went and said hi to her. It is so awkward. I quite frankly don't want to have to deal with this again. It is really frustrating because NO ONE knows just how bad all of the crap I put up with was. Hmmm....I wonder what I am going to learn from this? Maybe I'll set a world record for tubes of cookie dough inhaled in one day? Cookie dough...the one thing in my apartment that doesn't judge me for being so intolerant...thanks Nestle, I appreciate you being here for me during this hard time. Oh and Kleenex...thanks for being so ready for my nose when I need you...

Fear Factor

hey everyone. today i had a birthday party that i went to for a friend. the theme was fear factor. the first thing we had to do was as a team dive on the bottom of a freezing cold pool for $2.57 all in pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. we could only go one at a time and we had do go off the slide. next we picked two members from each team and stood around a table. we spun this thing that had 8 different nasty dishes on it and lucky me i ended up eating a cracker with some weird fruit on it. my teamate had to eat a cracker with a raw sardine on it. some other dishes were a girl scout thin mint, caviar, sushi, and goat cheese. after that four of the members on our team go to shoot 2 free throws. on the first one for everyone we missed we added a cricket to our strawberry shake. on the next one aeveryone we missed we had to have a worm to our shake. we ended up having to have 3 of both in ours. it tasted just like a normal strawberry shake. after that we were going to do an event where one of your teamates was tied in hand and foot and had a dog shocker collar around their leg getting shocked the whole time while the other teamates had to: dig through a big box of manuer trying to find a small key that would open a tool box full of more manuer that had three small wood chips on them. then you had to take those three numbers and try to figure out the combination to a small lock that locked some wire cutters in a box. after you got that opened you cut the bonds and freed your teamate from being shocked more. we didn't get to do that event though because we were short on time. the final "real" event we had 1 minute to transfer small baby mice, worms, and fish. we could use our hands for the fish and mice but we had to use our mouth for the worms and we could only take one at a time. i started on fish and another teamate started on the worms. halfway through we realized that the fish were only 2 points so i started helping with worms. we ended up taking 17 worms over. it was sooo nasty!! then that was the end......or so we thought. we all went inside and we were about to start eating dessert and opening presents when the parent and the uncle of the b-day boy come into the house. they announce the teams that got 4th, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st. my team was in first!!! but there was a twist. we the extra worms teamates could eat them for an additional 55 points. so i jumped up real quick and swallowed one whole with no gagging or hesitation. i didn't bite it at all. the team that was in last place had 4 teamates eat a worm putting them ahead of us. 3 of our teamates ate worms and a 4th was about to eat one for the win.....but then the b-day boy's mom started getting nervous and made us stop. so we ended up losing by a mere 3 points!!! the winning team got $20 gift cards to sports authority. i was so bummed, but that's okay. it was still fun, so i thought i just might share. love ya all!!!

Highlight of my week...

Picture this....I am with my mom and her phone rings. Then she hands it to me...I hear the same words over and over again..."Heidi come" "Heidi come". It was Matthew. I'm coming Matt...don't you worry!! I love you!

Brad and the ankle

Hey everyone,

Well I just got back from the orthopedic surgeons office with Brad. The good news is that he does not need to have surgery!! The doctor (a friend and client) told us that if we put his foot a certain way and then cast it up, that the bone and ligament will grow back to how it was suppose to be. It seems that Brad has very strong ligaments and that instead of tearing away from the bone, they took a part of the bone with it. So long as there is no surgery, his mom is thrilled as am I. He has a lovely blue cast on his foot, and should be off crutches in a couple of days. The cast will be on for 3 weeks, and then he has to wear a brace for 3 more. Dr. Hoer said that in 6-7 weeks that it should be healed with no permanent effects. Wow did we dodge a bullett.

On a happier note, Chris and I went up to Provo and saw the massacre. It was a beautiful thing to see them beat on the ewets so bad. We have not had a lot to sing about in hoops for a few years, but it looks like we are on our way back. Chris and I had a great time at the game and during a "guys only" weekend. Sometimes eating pizza and drinking root beer and then belching your best belch is a necessity. It was awesome.

Hope that all is well with everyone. We appreciate keeping up with everything. Tom, thanks for putting me on the email list for Gary. He sounds good.

A Note of Thanks and Tender Mercies

We just wanted to thank you all for your fasting and prayers in behalf of Matt this weekend. We truly felt of your love and strength all day.

A wise and loving Heavenly Father is watching over us and we know that Matt will be blessed. Just last night, we invited over some friends in our ward (who we felt needed some fellowshipping). Around the dinner table, we got talking about Matt only to find that their adult married daughter who was there with us is a Special Education specialist who has worked in Davis county. She knew all about the people and process involved in helping to place Matt in the right class. And the mom is also a elementary school teacher who shared insights as both an educator and a parent.

So in trying to serve others, we found ourselves more blessed. And the path for Matt (while not certain yet) grew a little clearer.

We love you all. Thanks again for your love and support.
John & Janet

Basketball Team

hey everyone. guess what? i made my school basketball team. it's pretty awesome. we're gonna be really good. last year i was on the B team and we got like 8th and the A team got third. so this year there's only one team and we're gonna at least get second place this year. woo hoo!!!

Wicked Awesome

Okay so a month and a half ago I was sitting in math class when the announcments came on and it was time for the Mayor's luncheon ( it is every month). The principal started naming off the names of the people starting from first grade and working his way up, I was just waiting because it happened every month. Then I looked over at the teacher and she nodded her head forward and mounthed "you are going", at first I just gave her a confused look and mouthed "me." She nodded yes and then the intercom said Elizabeth Crowley ( except they pronounced it wrong). So I stood up and went to the office where the principal and two police officers were waiting for me. They gave me a nametag and a pin so I hurried and put them on before we were out the door. Sister Welch (my friend's mom her sister was going too) was waiting outside to take our picture. She took our picture and then the principal said "lets go!!", so off we were and the first thing the police officer asked us was "how many times have you guys been in a police car" obviously we all answered "never", and he said "lets keep it that way." So when we were passing by the trees they had just cut down that were on school property, the police officer asked the principal, "so why did they cut down those trees" and I had been thinking the same question. The principal politely answered " they were diseased". So after we had almost gone in a whole circle they parked in the buildin that was right behind our school. Then we all unbuckled and the principal and the officer got out. Then us three kids in the back started to freak out because the doors wouldn't open. But we forgot we were in a police car and that it was a good thing they weren't opening. When we were going inside the pincipal told us that there was a drawing and whoever won it got a free protable DVD player. Then the officer said mor importantly there is free Papa John's pizza and dessert. So we went inside and this lady told us pick a table. So we chose the one on the end. I noticed a girl in my ward sitting at the other table. While we were waiting for all the other schools to come other firemen and police officers came over and talked to us and one was reading our name tags and he came to mine and said "Elizabeth Croowley (in other words he mispronounced my last name)", I answered and said "actually it is Crowley" the principal was more suprised then the fireman. Before we went to get our pop the principal reminded us to be plite and say thank you. So we went got our pop and then it was time for pizza we got called up first and got our pizza and sat down. Everyone else hurriedly started to eat but I just ate slow because I wasn't theat hungry because my regular lunch time wasn't for another twenty minutes. So after lunch and dessert we heard some stories. Then the principal of every school had to go up with one child at a time and say why the child had been chosen to come. When I had to go up there I just smiled and hurridley sat down. Then it was time for the drawing and we all had a ticket with a matching one in the bucket. Then he said okay I have the number it is 66077 (it was exactly the same so far) 3 it was mine. I quickly raised my hand and he said come up here and get your prize. So I did. Then we got to have a picture with all the officers and the mayor and your principal. And the sad thing is I didn't know the mayor was the mayor until I had my picture with him!!!!

February 28- The Day to Forget

Not to sound depressing or anything, but yesterday was the pits. It was a long day at the office where everyone wanted to yell at me for no particular reason. I was already spent before I got home. When I got home, Chris, who has been sick the last 3 days, was feeling better and wanted to play in his basketball game that night. It was only a rec game, so Shirley and I relented. When we got home his fever was back up to 100. It has since come back down, but he is missing another day of school. Meanwhile, Brad who had just gone back to school yesterday because of the same cold/flu was playing a pickup game at the park. He went up for a ball and came down on someone's foot and heard a pop. So, Shirley ends up at the emergency room last night until 11:30 to get an x-ray and have it looked at by a doctor. Yes, you guessed it, it is broken. It is now in an expandable cast and we have been instructed to go see our primary care physician so that we can go see an orthopedic surgeon for surgery. The only good thing about all this is that Shirley got tickets for Chris and I to go to the Utah/BYU game on Friday and we are coming up to the frozen tundra on Friday. Wow, what a day! I have many more like that, and I am liable to sell all, move into a cave and trap little furry animals to exist. Hope your days were all much better.

For all those who love Matthew Crowley

Janet and I have been spending a lot of time on our knees pondering how to help our Matthew. He is making progress with his speech, but it just takes so much effort for him to break through some of his barriers.

We are asking all who are willing and able to join us in a special fast on Sunday. Pray for Matt, pray that his tongue will be loosed, that he will be able to express his thoughts, his questions, and the feelings of his heart. We will conclude the fast by giving Matt a priesthood blessing.

Thank you all for loving Matt. He feels your love every time he is around you.
We love you all,
John & Janet