Monday was in the high 60s–beautiful day and perfect for trick or treating. Tuesday morning we woke up to rain and snow and it’s in the 30s. What? How does the weather change so fast?

A few days ago I was having a blah morning (of course the weather was nasty outside). So what did I decide to do to get me in a good mood? Bake! (I love to bake–not cook.) These pumpkin cupcakes were such a hit that I made them twice in one week! They are soooooo good. You must try them! Oh–and I baked them in Reynold’s Fun Shapes foil cups.

Here is the recipe:

Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes

1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1 pkg. (4-sering) vanilla instant pudding
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup water
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. cinammon
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. vanilla

Beat all ingredients with an electric mixer on low speed just until moistened, then beat on medium speed 2 minutes. Spoon batter into 24 paper-lined muffin cups or foil cups, filling each cup 1/2 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Frost cooled cupcakes with frosting below.

Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 pkg. (16 oz.) powdered sugar

Beat together all ingredients except powdered sugar. When mixed through, gradually add powdered sugar. Frost cooled cupcakes.

Have fun making them and spreading the love!

This past weekend I was at CKU in San Diego. I had such a good time and the projects were absolutely darling. CK pulled out all the stops out with this one! Some of my favorite moments other than CKU in San Diego included:

1. Spending time with amazing friends I met through scrapbooking! Here we are in Old Town enjoying the cuisine at a wonderful Mexican restaurant.:

2. Seeing the sea lions, seals and birds at a beach in La Jolla:

3. Walking behind this lovely couple while strolling by the beach. Just had to take a photo of this random couple. Love how in love they are with each other:

Our family also had the opportunity to have these Japanese scrapbooking friends over for dinner:

I met Cathy (to the right of me) in Japan several years ago at a CKU. She was my interpreter and we became fast friends. This past week, she brought some friends to experience CKU and visit Utah. It cracked me up–they changed their names while they were here to Sally, Judy and Betty! Much easier for me to remember than their given Japanese names. (The above photo was taken in my dining room. I have a mural painted on the wall which highlights my favorite scripture.) They took pictures of lots of things but their favorite was this one:

They told  me that in Japan, the men never clean up after a meal or work in the kitchen! Go Konsti, Collin and Steve!

My pal, Becky Higgins, shared a preview of her latest Project Life kit with me. I simply love this way of scrapbooking. I’m anxiously awaiting the Clementine edition:

Hope your November is off to a good start!

Lisa

P.S. Happy Birthday to my sweet father today! He’s 83 and I get to spend the afternoon with him!

One of my very favorite bands is Five for Fighting. I’m especially loving the song “World.” My favorite lyrics from this song are “Be careful what you wish for, history starts now!”

Wow–pretty powerful words and I’ve thought a lot about them. They especially had a lot of meaning for me today. I spent two solid days last week getting caught up on my family’s laundry including going through the huge pile of mismatched socks. It felt so liberating to finally be caught up! Then today I took one look in the laundry room and a blood-curdling scream came out of my mouth! There were piles of laundry everywhere! I closed my eyes and gave a silent wish to never do laundry again. A few minutes later, as I was in the middle of sorting laundry, the lyrics to this song popped in my head. “Be careful what you wish for, history starts now.” I realized that I really don’t want my laundry to go away. When it’s no longer here, my kids are also no longer here. Really a sad day indeed!

I’ve wanted to go on a Fall bike ride with my kids up Provo Canyon for some time now. A friend introduced me to a lovely trail there a few weeks ago and I’ve wanted to take my family on it ever since. Well–yesterday we made a little cool history happen. Sage had the day off and my niece, Mallory, also had time off from school. So the three of us went on a lovely bike ride up Provo Canyon to Bridal Veil Falls:

Speaking of something exciting that I’ve been wishing for for 21 months now, Kade gets home from his mission to  North Carolina in exactly three months (January 25th, 2011!). Another missionary mom sent me this tear-jerker movie. I can’t wait to make one myself! Can you imagine the amazing reunion we are going to have at the airport after not seeing my missionary for two years??

The countdown is on!

Hope you’re still enjoying Fall weather in your neck of the woods!

Lisa

Once again, life had been going at warp speed. Collin turned 18 on the 8th! A few days later, he was nominated by teachers and the student body to compete in “Sir Knight” which in essence is a beauty pageant for the male population at Lone Peak High School. Fifteen boys competed for the title–five from each grade (there was a winner in each grade). The competition was divided into three categories: fitness routine, on-stage talent and question. I was a little skeptical of Collin’s talent because I didn’t think he or his friends could pull it off. But–I was eating my words after the competition. Collin sang Andrea Bocelli’s “Time to Say Goodbye”–half in Italian and then in English. His friends (10 0f them) were backup dancers dressed in white clothing and exotic masquerade masks. Several were on rollerblades and there were human fountains and pyramid formations. It’s hard to explain but it was truly amazing–almost like a Broadway production! And–Collin was crowned the Senior Sir Knight. Here he is surrounded by the Lone Peak drill team after the competition was over.

I forgot my camera that night (I know, really?) but thanks to a camera phone, I was able to capture the moment.

Sports still continues to rule our lives. Collin’s varsity team is undefeated this year. They have one more regional game before the playoffs. My fingers are crossed that they’ll continue to do well! It’s been a fun year.

Konsti went to his first girl’s choice dance. Here he is with his date, Amylia:

Collin also went to the dance and he and his date dressed up like tacky tourists:

Okay–so I got my adorable banner finished. My friend, Judy, and I each made one last Wednesday and they really are easy to create using these instructions and the Perfect Layers tools.

Just check out how cute this is:

Just check out the detailed matting on the “flags:”

Judy fell in love with the Perfect Layers rulers. (I’m already in love with this tool.) How else can you get perfect matting every time? Oh and all the paper and embellishments I used on the banner are from American Crafts. You must check out their Halloween line!

If you made a banner, I’d love to see your project so send me a photo.

Hope you’re enjoying the beauties of autumn.

Lisa

The leaves are staring to change here in Utah. They’ve had a slow start due to some amazing weather (I’m not complaining!). We took a Sunday evening drive up in the canyon by our house so we could show Konsti the beautiful colors:

Love the changing of the leaves in American Fork Canyon!

Brecken was in the middle of kitchen stuff so opted not to come. She said, “I’ve seen the leaves before!” That’s a teenager for ya!

We are in the heart of fall activities. Brecken has had a great season so far with this team:

The Lone Peak Knights won this tournament.

Collin’s Lone Peak Knights varsity football team has thus far not lost a game. Last week’s game was super exciting. The team (Bingham) had not lost on their home turf in over four years. The final score was Lone Peak 48; Bingham 24. Collin plays Defensive End and is a good little sacker and hustler. If you live in Utah, the Lone Peak vs. Pleasant Grove game will be on Thursday night at 7 p.m. (K-Jazz). Watch for number 51, COLLIN BEARNSON! Here he is after his homecoming game with his homecoming date. She had worn his jersey–how cute!

Collin and Jansyn (his homecoming date) after having a big win over American Fork.

Konsti also went to the homecoming dance–he is really enjoying American high school life. Two days after the dance, the door bell rang late at night and there were balloons all over our front porch with this note: “Konsti, I would BURST with joy if you’d go to Sadie’s with me. Pop the balloons to see who’s asking you!” It definitely put a big smile on his face! Konsti fits in so well with our family. He’s a lot of fun to have around.

In Utah, the tradition is to ask in silly, creative ways to the school dances.

Collin also got asked by two girls literally 10 minutes apart from each other. One girl was outfitted in ski attire , laying in a cooler with only her arm hanging out holding Dibbs ice cream and this note: “Collin, it would be ‘cool’ if I had ‘dibs’ on you for Sadie’s! Open Cooler for a surprise.” When he opened the cooler, the girl jumped out and ran off with the cooler! The other girl gave him a bunch of Tootsie Rolls and a big poster that said “Hey ‘Toots!’ ‘Roll’ with me to Sadie’s?” He then had to open all the wrappers to find out who asked him. So fun! The boys then answered back following the same theme in a creative way.

I’ve been doing some Halloween decorating! Love getting out all the Fall stuff!

My Pal, Kristy Banks, surprised me with this “mantel runner” she whipped up over the weekend:

The mantel runner is the perfect accent for my stone fireplace.

Another pal, Marci Leishman, sent me this photo of a banner she created:

Marci Leishman made this "Spooky" banner to hang from a mantel or over a bench.

Take a closer look at the details on each “flag:”

Look at the precise cutting and sizing of the matting around each "flag."

There is a precise thin mat around each triangle. Marci has an expensive paper trimmer but swears by the Perfect Layers Rulers for exact cutting every time. It would be impossible to eyeball these and have them look right. I love this tool too! I’ve sold over 30,000 of them on QVC. It was the longest running scrapbook item because it’s very affordable, portable and a must-have in every scrapbooking room. It hasn’t been available for over two years but now it’s back. So–I have a challenge for you! I really want to make a Halloween banner to hang under my mantel so let’s make one together! How about if we are done by a week from Friday? That will give us plenty of time.

Here’s how to get started:

1. Gather Halloween Paper and Halloween accents from your stash.

2. Decide on the saying your want on the banner.

3. Go here for instructions.

4. If you don’t already have the Perfect Layers rulers, go here to order. You will get a discount by ordering this way.

I’m so excited to make a banner with you!

Happy October!

Lisa

Ahhhh! I can’t believe I haven’t posted for TWO WEEKS! What? Crazy, I know. But speaking of crazy I’ve been running around like crazy trying to get so many crazy things done! I’ll do better–promise!

Just to preface where I got the title from, my favorite singer/songwriter has got to be “Five for Fighting.” He sings a song called “This Dance” and some of the lyrics go “you put the beautiful in life.” I love these words!

Let me share with you some of the people who have “put the beautiful in life” for me this past week.

Most of last week, we had our good friends, Jim and Virginia Laudenbacher, visiting our home from Zanesville, Ohio. Some of you may recall their daughter, Lezley, an avid scrapbooking and wonderful friend who unexpectedly passed away just over three years ago. Lezley lived at home her entire 43 years of life and she was the light of her mom and dad’s life. As you can imagine, this rocked their world in a big way. I’ve been trying to get them to come to Utah for three years now and finally last week they came! Both had only been on a plane one other time–Jim 52 years ago! Jim was just like a little kid after arriving on the plane!

Last week a small miracle took place. Steve and I plus the Laudenbachers met both sets of parents up at Sundance for lunch.

From right to left: Bob and Clarine Downs, Virginia and Jim Laudenbacher, Lisa and Steve Bearnson, Rhea and Jim Bearnson.

Now keep in mind that my father can barely get around any more and doesn’t venture out much from his home. My mom says I can get my dad to do anything so after the meal I told him (and the rest of them) we were going on an adventure. I proceeded to escort them all to the ski lift where we got on and took a lovely ride high in the mountains. What an amazing memory for all of us and everyone had such big smiles (see photo above) after we got off. Yep–I’m memorizing this happy moment!

Sage “puts the beautiful in life” every afternoon after school. She sets up her “classroom” and “teaches” her homework to her stuffed animals and dolls. Yep–I’m memorizing this happy moment!

Miss Bearnson is an awesome teacher!

Steve “put the beautiful in life” this week by working on Collin’s treehouse two entire days while Collin was at school. Collin is trying hard to get it finished before winter comes. He wants to enjoy his “man cave” before he goes on his mission in a year. Just check this thing out! I love the creative use of the tree trunk and branches. Yep–I’m memorizing this happy moment!

Collin's tree house is coming along. Just an aluminum red roof, windows, drywall, a drawbridge and some carpet and it will be complete!

Collin and Konsti “put the beautiful in life” for me at the mother/son football dinner.

My boys, Collin and Konsti, at the "celebrating moms" football dinner.

Both gave me a rose and we enjoyed a great meal together. Collin then gave me a tribute in front of the entire crowd. Yep–I’m memorizing this happy moment.

What was the beautiful in life for you this week? What moments did you memorize? I hope you took plenty of pictures along the way!

Have a great weekend!

Lisa

P.S. Only five more weeks until the CKU Reunion in San Diego. If you haven’t signed up yet, you must come! I’d love to meet you. I understand that it is filling up fast. Go here for more details!

How was your Labor Day weekend? Mine was filled with good times around the good ol’ camp fire. We went camping up American Fork Canyon with this fun bunch plus our friends, the Palmers:

Enjoying the fresh mountain air in the beautiful Rocky Mountains.

As you can see, Konsti is fitting into our family just fine! We are enjoying this experience immensely and are having so much fun with him. He’s integrated well into American life. He asked a girl to the Homecoming dance this week and continues playing “American Football.” We are blessed to have him in our home.

One thing that’s interesting is how quickly Konsti has picked up on the Bearnson way of life and how he’s adapted to it. He now teases the dog like Collin does; He gives hugs to our family like I do; He tries very hard not to say words that our family chooses not to say and says words that we do say like “Oh my heck!;” He knows that Monday night is Family night and suggests activities we can do as a family (we politely said “no” to the tackle football suggestion against another family!).  A friend recently shared this poem with me and I couldn’t help how it applies to Konsti and to each of my children. It’s a message every adult should read because children are watching you and doing as you do, not as you say.

When You Thought I Wasn’t Looking

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator and I immediately wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you feed a stray cat and I learned that it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you make my favorite cake for me and learned that the little things can be the special things in life.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I heard you say a prayer and I knew that there is a God I could always talk to and I learned to trust in Hm.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you make a meal and take it to a friend who was sick and I learned that we all have to help take care of each other.

When you thougth I wasn’t looking, I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it and I learned we have to take care of what we are given.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw how you handled your responsiblities even when you didn’t feel good, and I learned that I would have to be responsible when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw tears come from your eyes and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it’s all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw that you cared and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I learned most of life’s lessons that I need to know to be a good and production person when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I looked at you and wanted to say, “Thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn’t looking.”

Isn’t this an amazing message? Thanks to my parents who did so many wonderful things when they thought I wasn’t looking! This is a good reminder that that kids are always watching!

Have a great weekend!

Lisa

I feel so bad! It’s been over a week since I last posted. Let’s just say life is going at warp speed and I’m trying to slow down a bit! Right now our lives center around sports. Three of the kids play on Lone Peak High School’s sports teams. Brecken plays volleyball and has had four matches already this week (and three more tonight). Her team is doing really well and it’s such a fun sport to watch. Collin has had three varsity football games and so far they are undefeated and are ranked second in state for their division (5A). He plays defensive end. Konsti played his first tackle football game EVER this week (JV) and was put in at the end of the game as running back. He was handed off the ball and gained three yards! The whole team was so elated and high-fived him as he ran off the field! Super fun for him. (So glad he followed his dream and didn’t listen to me or Steve!) Tonight we are going camping with friends until Monday. Can’t wait to show Konsti the beautiful canyon that is in our backyard. By the way, Konsti is the PERFECT fit for our family. Last Monday night he came home from football practice and asked what we were doing for Family Night. I responded that we were playing games and he asked if we could play basketball as a family! So–we did! It’s been a while since I played basketball but it was super fun! What a cute boy! We all adore him!

So–What are you doing October 27th-29th? I’d LOVE you to come join me and a bunch of my scrapbooking pals at the first ever CKU Reunion (yep–it’s been 10 years since our first one!) at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla in San Diego, California.

Just check out who’s going to be there!

Check out who's going to the CKU 10-year Reunion!

I’m so excited to see Stacy Julian, Teresa Collins and so many other friends. Also, my pal, singer and songwriter, Hilary Weeks will be there to entertain and sing to you!

The price is only $295.00 and includes an album track, four 90-minute classes, evening activities, goodies, prizes and so much more. Go here for more details!

One more quick thing. Can you guess what the longest running scrapbooking item on QVC was? There were literally over 30,000 of this item sold on QVC and I still get asked where to get it. Yes–It’s the Perfect Layers Rulers and after three years of not being available to the public, you can now purchase it here. This is a MUST if you want to create perfect borders, mats, frames and layered effects on your scrapbook pages. Hey–and if you live in Utah and are attending Scrapbook USA Expo at the South Towne Expo Center on September 9th and 10th, be sure and see a live demonstration of this product there!

Have a safe and happy labor day weekend!

Lisa

Our family welcomed our German foreign-exchange student last Saturday. Konstantin (Konsti) von Drachenfels is 16 and will be here the entire school year. He couldn’t be a better fit for our family! He’s polite, funny, big time into sports, and has liked everything we’ve fed him thus far ! I also admire his determination. He loves American football and wants more than anything to play on the varsity team with Collin. Steve and I tried to talk him out of it especially knowing he’s never played before. However, Konsti is determined to play and went to his first practice in the 100 degree hot sun yesterday. He’s an amazing soccer player and the coach noticed his kicking abilities and asked him to kick for him today. Maybe Konsti will be the best kicker Lone Peak ever saw! Love this boy’s confidence and drive with life!

Funny story. In trying to get everything done, I didn’t have time to make posters or signs. My sweet friend offered to put them together for me and I just sent her Konstatin’s name and the verbage I wanted on the signs.

Here are two of signs at our home:

I didn’t realize until the morning after he arrived that I had given my friend the wrong spelling of Konsti’s name! I had left an “n” out! I was totally embarrassed but he was a good sport and didn’t seem to care.

So yesterday was the first day of class. Here are all my little lambs going off to school. (I feel like a sheep herder every morning.)

Sage is going into the 5th grade. She has to wear a school uniform every day.

Konsti is going in 11th grade and Collin is a senior.

Ohhh–I love all these stages in life! I miss not having my children here with me during the day but also have to admit the quiet was a little nice today. I even had time to go to a movie with a friend–”Planet of the Apes.” I actually really enjoyed it!

Enjoy the last few days of summer!

Lisa

Only six more days left of our summer vacation. I’m sad–oh so sad. Collin is full-swing into football, weight lifting  and finishing his tree house (can’t wait to show you the final results). Brecken is working at Simply Splendid, practicing her guitar for a wedding she’ll be playing at tomorrow and living, breathing, sleeping volleyball. So it’s often just me and my little (big) Sage. My gal loves adventures and we’ve been going on some fun ones lately.

Just hanging out with my little buddy!

First of all, Sage is my crafty one. She spends hours in my scrapbook room. She made this cute tie-dyed shirt and head band (American Girl brand).

She also has become a lover of flowers and takes my camera on long walks just to take photos of flowers.

Sage especially loves wild flowers.

Here are two (of dozens) of Sage’s flower shots:

Love the green mixed with white in this photo.

Yellow has got to be the happiest color on earth!

I’m going to miss having all my little chickens around full time. But that’s how life is–always changing. Only three more days until our German boy, Konstantin (Konsti), arrives. We can hardly wait!

Okay–so I possibly did the stupidest thing I’ve ever done in my life today. Let me back up. My husband surprised me with a road bike a few Christmases ago. I was so excited about it until I saw the pedals had clips. (This means your shoes are “locked” into your pedals and you have to snap your foot to get out of them.) After falling really bad several times and having bruises all over my entire body, I gave the bike up. This summer I decided to conquer my fears and I’ve learned to love road biking with clips. Until today. I got up early to go for a ride when I saw my dog, Maggie, longingly begging to go with me. And then I got a bright idea! My seasoned-biker neighbor takes his dog on a leash while biking. I decided to give it a whirl. All was well until I got a few blocks from my house and Maggie decided to stop suddenly for a drink in a puddle. The sudden jerk pulled me down on the road really hard and I was not able to clip out of my shoes to stop the fall. I was sprawled out in the middle of the road–dog loyally at my side–unable to get up because one of my shoes was still clipped in. After laying there for a few minutes, a neighbor rode by on his way to work and stopped to help. Embarrassing but I was oh so grateful. Tonight I’ve got major road rash and bruising on my body. What was I thinking?

Life is good! Life is super good! We’ve got a busy rest of the week. Tomorrow is a nephew’s wedding, tomorrow night I’m speaking about journaling to my pal, Loni Stevens, church congregation. Friday is Collin’s first varsity football game against my husband’s alma mater, and Saturday Konsti comes! We are welcoming him to the neighborhood with a backyard party with all the kids his age. Should be fun. (Hope he’ll be able to stay awake with all the jet lag.)

Have a great rest of the week.

Lisa

Last week was our wonderful “girls only” camping trip up American Fork Canyon. Can you believe the beauty of this place? The base of this canyon is only minutes from my house. Below is the normal gang–Kristy and Alex Banks; Kerri, Kassidy and Jordon Bradford; Lisa, Brecken and Sage Bearnson; Karla Libbey; and newcomer, Carrie–a friend of Alex.

This is the canyon in my backyard. Can you believe there is still snow in the mountain peaks?

This is one of my favorite summer traditions. We have so much fun! It’s total rest and relaxation with a hike thrown in here and there. We always eat great food, work on crafts (I brought the iRock and the girls decorated hats–a big hit), play lots of games, roast marshmallows and laugh really hard!

There were lots of these for the girls to pick and blow. It brought back fun childhood memories!

Oh the memories! I remember doing this as a kid!

This week the girls and I went on another “girls only” adventure to our friend’s cabin and then I went to Chicago for a few days. I’ve been working on some cool things with the Memory Keeping Collection. I can hardly wait to show these items with you.

Collin has also been in three-a-day practices all week and Brecken started volleyball at Lone Peak High School this week. We are crazy busy. Oh–and our German foreign exchange student comes next week. Thanks for all your words of encouragement with becoming a host family. It sounds like it will be a great experience for our family.

I’ve also been reading two amazing books on the power of thoughts. One is a children’s book, “What are you Thinking?,” and is authored by a dear friend of mine, Valerie Ackley. It is a must-have in every family’s book collection.

This is simply an amazing book that every child should read!

The entire book is filled with creative illustrations like this frog.

I’ve been marking the book up like crazy and here are some of my favorite “Jones” oberservations:

• “Remember, what you focus on increases.”
• “It’s time to stop letting your history control your destiny.”
• “People are either in a crisis, coming out of one, or headed for one.”
• “Worry is just imagination used in an unproductive way.”
• “Wisdom is the ability to see the future consequences of our choices.”
• “Many of life’s treasures remain hidden because we never search for them.”
• “If you are still here, then you have not completed your life’s purpose.”
• “We often judge ourselves by our intentions but others by their actions.”
• “If you want folks to believe in you, then it really helps if they like you.”
• “Life is a little like dessert. Keep your fork; the best is yet to come!”
• “In desperate times, much more than anything else, folks need perspective.”

Both of these books are amazing! You can get them both on amazon.com and during the month of August, you can purchase “What are you Thinking?” at the American Fork Costco.

Happy Reading! Enjoy your last weeks of summer!

Lisa