Talking to Myself

Anywhere but the dog bed

2010-04-04T18:40:00.000-07:00

There is some sort of genetic coding going on in the brains of all great danes that they refuse to sleep on their dog beds or the floor if there is a more comfortable option available (ie. couches, beds, overstuffed chairs, coats left on the floor, etc.). Ask any great dane owner and they will varify this behavior. If we allowed her to, Oakley would sleep on the couch or guest bed every night. In fact, my nightly routine before going to bed at night includes: turning the kids nightlights out, checking that all the doors are locked, turning off all the lights, putting the cat in the garage so she doesn't wake me up at 2am, and lastly, piling magazines, books, backpacks, or whatever is handy on the couches and chairs so that Oakley will not sleep there.

We have an ottoman that doubles as a toybox. One day Belle put some blankets and pillows in it for a bed while she watched tv. She left for a while and when she came back, Oakley had stolen her spot. She is a crazy dog.

Decorating Easter Eggs and the Space Derby

2010-04-03T18:11:00.000-07:00

Of course we decorated Easter eggs. Cole decorated them as well, but he is going through an anti-photo phase, so he refused to be in the picture.

I love missing teeth smiles. Belle you are beautiful!!

Cub Scout Space Derby - Last year's pine wood derby was such a disappointment that I was a little nervous this year. Cole and Rich built it together. Luckily this year, Cole did well and had fun.

Rich the hottie is on the far left and Cole the hottie is on the far right.

Reflections Contest

2010-04-03T12:22:00.000-07:00

Cole and Belle both entered the Reflections contest at school this year. Cole entered a story he wrote and Belle entered a picture. Cole ended up winning at the school, region and district levels! His story competed at the state competition, but sadly did not win. He was thrilled to have made it so far. It was a huge boost for his self esteem. Good job buddy!!!

Cole and Mr. Tillman the principal at Hidden Hollow at the region awards night.

March in a Nutshell

2010-04-02T16:16:00.000-07:00

The rest of February and March have been pretty uneventful. The kids are busy with school. Between subbing and PTA, I feel like I am always at the school and am getting nothing done at home.

March 5th- Cole and Alyssa are best buddies. Today when Alyssa came over, they decided to do a little face painting. I have to admit, they did a pretty good job.

Cole looks so serious in this picture. I think he was concentrating on holding still for the photo.

March 17th - St. Patricks Day! We started out the day by putting these posters in our kids rooms for when they woke up. Belle loved it, but Cole didn't say anything. At least I didn't put green balloons everywhere. At least he didn't throw it away.

For breakfast I tried to be fun and serve green eggs and green waffles. It was cute, but Cole refused to eat them! Oh well - note to self- green waffles are gross. We had to buy Belle a green shirt to wear seeing as she owns nothing that is not PINK!!

March 28th- Belle's first grade program. It was darling.

Her class did a hula dance/song to the hukelau.

March 31st -3rd grade biography fair. All the students in the 3rd grade worked on reports about a famous person in history then dressed up while the entire school walked through the displays. Cole was Ludwig Van Beethoven. Rich's "Sonny" wig from Halloween worked perfectly.

Belle's Birthday and Valentines

2010-02-22T12:35:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Isabelle is 7 years old! Am I going to say that every year? I can't believe Belle is 8 years old, I can't believe Belle is 9 years old, I can't believe Belle is 16 years old, I can't believe Belle is 75 years old! How time flies.

Being a Valentines baby, she started out the day by having a fun Valentines party in her classroom. They made these huge heart bags to put all their valentines in. Belle's teacher gave everyone a Junie B. Jones Valentine book.

She has been wanting her room redecorated for a few years now, but I have been putting her off frankly because I worked so hard to make her quilt that I wasn't ready to just tuck it away in the closet. I don't know if it was her constant pleas that finally got to me or the fact that I secretly long to redecorate my living room/kitchen area and can't afford to that made me antsy to decorate something, but I finally gave in and agreed to do it for her birthday.

It was a lot of work but kind of cathartic for me. I haven't used the creative side of my brain for so long that it felt good. I let her pick out the bedding set, paint and fabric for the wall hanging quilt. I picked out the curtains, pillows, wall decorations and shelf decorations. I didn't let her see any of that. I wanted to have a big reveal the morning of her birthday, with everything put together. Yes, I have been watching too many episodes Extreme Home Makeover.

She helped me paint, but then I kicked her out for 2 days with pinky promises sworn that she wouldn't spoil my fun by peeking. She actually did not peek and her reaction at the big reveal was all I hoped it would be. She appropriately gushed over everything, saying how much she looooooooved it, which of course, made all the hours of work worth it in the end. The picture doesn't do it justice. It is actually very cute. From light lavender to hot pink and turquoise...hmmmm. And yes, that is a lampshade posing as a bed canopy. I refused to pay $60 for one, so I made it myself. She likes it, so I guess that is all that matters. I have yet to finish her wall hanging quilt.

We told Belle that instead of a party, she could invite 2 friends to go do something fun with. She somehow talked me into taking three of her friends to Kangaroo Zoo. Rich and I joked about how it ended up feeling like a party in the end, but oh well. Our intentions of toning things down this year aren't really working out so well.

Opening gifts at our house. Two out of the three friends bought her the same little pet shop. Surprisingly, she wanted to keep both of them, instead of returning one. L to R: Aly, Sammy, Belle and Cole.

Much to my surprise she wanted a red velvet cake this year instead of a fancy store bought cake. I was torn because I also love red velvet cake, but I have a secret obsession with butter cream frosting from the bakery.

Kangaroo Zoo is a fun place with lots of inflatables. The kids just run around, getting sweaty and having a great time.

L to R: Aly, Cole, Belle, Sam, Savannah.

The next day was Valentines Day. We started out the day by making heart shaped pancakes and eating them on our heart shaped plates, while drinking out of our red cups with hearts on them. I did a heart attack in the kids' rooms with candy, balloons and paper hearts plastered everywhere. Cole, being a stinky nine year old boy, immediately took all the hearts down and put all the balloons in Belle's room. Cole, I am secretly sticking my tongue out at you while I am writing this. Fine, you're too old, or cool, or something, I get it. Next year I won't do anything and see how you like it. Rich bought Belle her own bunch of flowers, which she just thought was the coolest thing ever, to get flowers from her dad.

Sledding

2010-01-03T12:25:00.000-08:00

Thanks to a couple of big storms we had a lot of snow for Christmas. A few days after Christmas, we went sledding on the golf course. The dogs loved it!

Belle
Beautiful Belle

Rich with Bo on his lap.

Bo and Oakley trying to race me down the hill.

Cole

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

2009-12-31T18:05:00.000-08:00

Rich and both agree that this Christmas season has been the most enjoyable one that we can remember for quite a while. Finances being tight, we cut back on a lot of things this year and focused on our traditions. Later I came to realize that it was all the stuff we cut out that usually causes me stress during the holidays.

I skipped Christmas cards (BIG WHEW!!), friend gifts which are usually craft projects that take hours, and family calendars for my parents and siblings (sorry Mom). We did, however, still do applesauce chocolate chip cookies for our friends and neighbors. I love all the homemade goodies at Christmas time. What a great way to say Merry Christmas.

My favorite things about Christmas are beautiful decorations, twinkling lights, goodies, Christmas books and movies, parties with friends and family, new pajamas, cute wrapping paper, and snuggly snowy days.

We usually try to do several service projects during the holidays. We like getting a name or two off the angel tree, but we decided instead to do the 12 days of Christmas to our neighbors. We just did cheap fun things like hot cocoa, baked goods, a game, a movie, popcorn, a Christmas book, etc. It was very fun to sneak over every night. We almost were caught a few times, but I don't think they every knew it was us. I love that our neighborhood has big lots, but not when you are trying to be sneaky and the closest bush or car is a long way away. We also usually go to the food bank and deliver food boxes to people, but apparently we are not the only ones who like to do that at Christmas time because when I called at the first of November to schedule a time, they said they were booked up until January. We'll still go, but later I guess. That is a totally humbling experience.

We were going to cut back on gifts for each other this year as well, but in the end, I did end up spending the same amount on the kids as we spent last year. Oh well. At least I stuck to my budget. Really we had a great time just enjoying the season and relaxing. One day Rich and I went to the mall together and bought our own Christmas presents. I bought some new jeans and boots and he bought a few pair of new shoes and boots that he needed. It was fun to shop together and we ended up getting exactly what we wanted for Christmas!

Christmas Eve we went to Temple Square to see the lights. It was beautiful as always even if it was only 10 degrees. It was a nice way to spend Christmas Eve. Grandma and Grandpa Warner also came up to spend Christmas with us. We love it when we get them for Christmas!! They didn't feel like braving the cold for lights they have seen hundreds of times, so they opted to stay home, which is why they aren't in the photo.

All Christmas season Cole has been bugging me to tell him whether or not Santa is real. He secretly suspects that he is not and has been determined to find out the truth. He has been trying to persuade Belle to not believe either, so I finally had to talk to him privately and tell him that whether or not he chose to believe, he needed to leave her alone about it and not spoil her fun.

After all this professed unbelief all season, you can imagine my surprise, when Christmas Eve Cole sets up "Santa Tracker Headquarters" on the couch. He had google earth Santa tracker going on my laptop and was crossing off the cities Santa had been to so far. He was thrilled when Cedar City, Utah popped up as one of the stops already hit. Long after Belle had fallen asleep, Cole was still up keeping track.....hmmmm. Very interesting for someone who doesn't believe. He was determined to stay up to catch Santa, but finally around midnight he finally fell asleep.

Unfortunately for me, he was out on the couch, so we couldn't set anything out until he fell asleep. We finally made it to bed around 1:30am only to be awakened by Isabelle at 5am who couldn't sleep any longer and wanted us to get up. Ugggghhh!! We made her crawl in bed with us until 7am, only to learn that she had sneaked out of our bed and spent the whole 2 hours sitting on the couch looking at the tree and presents. She's a girl after my own heart! I have memories of doing that.

Belle on her new powerwing scooter. Cole received one two. Thanks to all the hardwood in our house, they rode around all day. Note how pitch dark it still is outside. I think there should be a rule against opening presents before the sun comes up.

Cole and Belle opening their stockings.

Belle made this cute envelope with a picture in it for Grandma and Grandpa.

Cole really was happy about his gifts even if he doesn't look like it.

Rich in his new hat that matches his new boots. Not that guys care about that. I realized that I didn't take anymore pictures Christmas day. I also don't have any pictures of Grandma and Grandpa. How sad. I guess I was being lazy and just enjoying the day. Later that night, Rich and I went to a movie while Grandma and Grandpa babysat. That was their gift to us. It was a most enjoyable Christmas!

Christmas Time Fun

2009-12-20T16:11:00.000-08:00

Belle's Class Party
I volunteered for Belle's class party this year. Cole was mad that I wasn't helping with his class, but I can only be in one place at a time. Belle's party was fun. The kids played a few games and decorated sugar cookies. At the end, Santa came in and passed out a present to each student. It was a bell from Santa's sleigh like in the polar express.

Belle was so funny with Santa. She was very excited, but I could tell that she was looking at him carefully and trying to figure him out. After we left the classroom, Belle whispered in my ear, "Mom, I don't think that was the real Santa." I said that it was not, but that Santa hired nice old grandpas to help him out during the holidays. She liked that answer. Besides, that Santa was way too skinny to be the real Santa.

Playing Christmas Bingo

The way too skinny to be the real Santa Santa.

Belle was telling him that she wanted a pink guitar for Christmas.

Warner Family Christmas Party
The Warner family Christmas party was fun. It was at Grandma and Grandpa's in Cedar City. We started out with some fun activities for the kids. We made reindeer candy holders and graham cracker houses.

L to R: Mason, Belle and Jaxon

L to R back: Cole, Mason, Jaxon and Belle. L to R front: John Henry and Jacob.

Cole and Belle making their houses.

We couldn't get the roofs to stay up, so we gave up and decided to settle for a graham cracker trailer instead.

After a yummy ham dinner, we gathered in the living room for presents and the program. We have 2 fun family traditions. One is that Grandma and Grandpa give new pajamas to all the grand kids. The second is that we don't exchange gifts except for a Christmas book exchange. Each family brings a Christmas book wrapped and we exchange them. It is fun and helps us all to build a nice Christmas library. We sang some carols and read the Christmas story in the scriptures. It was very nice evening.

Grandma with all the grand kids in their new pjs. Back row L to R: Cole, Mason, Grandma and Jaxon. Front row L to R: Belle, John Henry and Abby.

First Big Snow

2009-12-15T18:17:00.000-08:00

We finally had our first big snow for the winter. It was great to wake up to all this snow. We have church at 11am, so Rich spent the morning plowing us and all the neighbors out. We were all sent home after sacrament meeting to spend the day serving and digging everyone in the neighborhood out.

Our backyard.
Cole and Rich plowing.

Cute little Belle put her boots and coat on and tried her hardest to shovel the back porch. The snow was so heavy, she didn't get to far, but it's the effort that counts, right?

Christmas Card Photo Shoot

2009-12-06T17:46:00.000-08:00

I wanted some great photos this year for Christmas cards, however with the tight budget, we resorted to my neighbor with our camera in the living room. These are a few cute ones. We didn't end up sending out Christmas cards this year after all because I decided to take a break.

This one was my favorite.

Things got a little goofy.

Cole kept tooting and stinking us all out. He thought it was hilarious. Nice Cole.

Thanksgiving in Green River

2009-12-05T17:41:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving this year we went camping in Green River with our friends the Burrs, Nielsons, Ravens and Beechers. Damon Nielson cooked a turkey in a turkey fryer. The rest of us brought all the usual Thanksgiving fixins - minus the sweet potatoes, darn. I really like sweet potatoes with lots of brown sugar and marshmallows. Of course, we brought the regular potatoes from our potato stash. It was fun, but a bit too cold for me. We rode motorcycles some and of course the men went on their "guy rides". It was very relaxing and fun even if there were no sweet potatoes. I'm not sure how I managed to not take any pictures of Cole, but I didn't. Sorry buddy! You were on this trip though.

Rich digging into Thanksgiving dinner.

Of all the food served the only things Belle took were rolls and plain mashed potatoes. She is a very picky eater.

Enjoying the meal.

Isabelle loved riding her bike around the sandstone.

Belle
The girls "tanning" on the rocks.

Rich and Belle going for a ride in the Razor.

Cole's 9th Birthday

2009-12-03T16:32:00.000-08:00

I can't believe my son is really nine years old! Cole's 9th Birthday was fun, even though it was a school day. He took a treat to share with his school class. Rich and I met him for lunch at school, only to find out after we already had our 2 hours old Five Buck Pizza on our trays that he really wanted to go out for lunch. We ate our delicious pizza, well Rich and I did, but Cole didn't touch his. Afterward, I felt bad because it was is birthday, so I took him out to Subway. After school, he opened his presents and then we took 3 of his buddies to Jump On It. After that we returned home for cake. Happy Birthday Cole! We love you buddy!

Cole opening his presents. His favorite was this RC truck.

The kids having a break at Jump On It. L to R: Belle, Carson, Cole and Connor.

Cole and Belle jumping.

Cutting the cake. L to R: Cole, Connor and Belle.

Playing Catch-Up

2009-11-30T13:39:00.000-08:00

It seems as though I am always behind in life. My "to do" list is soooooo long, I don't know where the end is. My new years resolutions and goals I set for myself usually always have something to do with being more organized and staying on top of things better..... like personal finances, scrapbooking, schedules, exercise, general organization around my house, etc. So it really should come as no surprise to myself that I am now 4 months behind on my blog. What's new!!

The past few months have held some new experiences. Some good, some I could do without.

We went to Lagoon for the first time ever!!! Cole and Dad loved it. Belle, who is usually a dare devil, suddenly caught a case of the nerves and preferred not to ride the big, scary rides, which was fine by me because I don't like them either. I am definitely the weak link in my family when it comes to amusement park rides. Unfortunately, I forgot to charge my camera battery and didn't discover it was dead until we were already there. So, no pictures of our first day at Lagoon. Sniff. Sniff.

School pretty much consumes our lives. The kids are doing very well. I was somehow roped into being on the PTA board. I am the communications VP, which means that I am in charge of the monthly PTA newsletter. I agreed to it thinking that it would be an easy job I could mostly do from home. Boy, was I mistaken. I can do it from home, but every month it takes up about 10 hours. I don't mind the work, I just get irritated when I think about all the other things I need to be doing instead. Really, I am doing it for Cole because he likes me to do it. For some reason, it is important to him. Secretly, I think it is just because he loves to use the copy machines.

I have also been substitute teaching quite a bit. I usually sub once or twice a week. I really enjoy it. It's kind of like being a grandparent. You can enjoy the kids for a day and then give them back. Starting in March, I will be subbing everyday for a kindergarten teacher who will be out on maternity leave. Luckily, she only teaches 1/2 day. Between subbing, doing PTA things and helping in my kids' classrooms, I feel like the school is my second home. It has given me a good opportunity to get to know the principal and staff well.

Starting in September, things started to get really tight financially, as anyone in the construction industry knows right now. Over the past year, Rich's cabinet jobs have been slowly dropping off until they pretty much dried up this fall. It's not for his lack of trying and I don't blame him in the least. There just isn't much building going on right now and hundreds of contractors willing to do the work for practically nothing. We were getting pretty nervous wondering how we were going to pay our bills. Luckily a couple of good things came our way at the same time. I can call them good now because a little bit of time has past, but at the time, I'm not sure I would have called them "good".

First of all, I started subbing, which pays horrible, but is very flexible and I can be with my kids. Second, Rich was able to work temporarily for our good friend JP driving truck. Rich secretly hated driving truck, but we were grateful to JP for the work. Third of all, I received an email from a friend sent to her from a lady in Idaho who was looking for people interested in selling #50 bags of potatoes. I thought, I can do that. It's not uncommon around here in the fall for people to set up a stand in a parking lot to sell produce. So I did it. I bought 2 pallets worth of potatoes and sold them out of the back of the truck in the parking lot of a friend's business. I tell you what, nothing humbles you faster than realizing that you are selling potatoes on the side of the road to pay your bills.

I can talk about it now, but to be honest, I was quite embarrassed at first. I didn't want my friends and neighbors to know. I felt "above" it. After all, that is why I went to college, so that I wouldn't have to do things like that, right? I have been looking for a job in my field, but there aren't many jobs available and most of them are full time. My kids get home from school at 2:30, so that is not a good option right now. I didn't and still don't feel good about pursuing a full time job.

After I got over being embarrassed, I realized that selling potatoes was an answer to my prayers, albeit an answer I wouldn't have necessarily chosen. I prayed that I could find a way to earn some money and still be at home with my kids. Between subbing and selling potatoes, I was able to contribute significantly to paying the bills. The funny thing was that once my neighborhood learned what I was doing, several of my stay at home mom friends said that they wished they had know about it so that they could have done it too! Blessings sometimes come in unexpected ways.

A good thing that came from selling potatoes, was that my kids gained a greater appreciation for how much work goes into earning a dollar. Many times they went with me to sell and they could see how much money we made compared to the time we spent. After selling one day, we stopped to get something for dinner. As we were walking out, Cole said to me, "Mom, we just spent 2 bags of potatoes." From then on we started referring to money in bags of potatoes rather than currency. Things cost so many bags of potatoes. It was really good for my kids to start realizing that money doesn't grown on a tree in the back yard.

Anyway, that was in September and October. Since then, I continue to sub and miraculously, a few cabinet jobs have come our way. I can't believe I am saying this, but having tight finances has taught us some important lessons. It has forced us to buckle down and get back to the basics of what is important and what our financial priorities are. We are working on a good budget we can follow and we think about all our purchases a little longer before buying. We only spend what we make- NO credit cards ever. That has been hard for me, but it is good to get out of the habit. We only get movies at the Redbox and we don't eat out very often. We canceled our satellite tv and use an antenna which means local channels only. My kids are not happy about not having the Disney channel anymore, but I LOVE IT!!! They actually play instead of just watching tv all the time. Even when things get betterfinancially, I don't think I will get the satellite tv back- shhhh the kids don't know, they are secretly hoping. Belle is so cute, lots of times in her prayers she will ask that Dad can get more cabinet jobs so that we can get our "tv" back. Sorry darlin'.

All in all, the past few months have brought new challenges, but hopefully we will be better people because of them.

Now on to the fun things of the past few months. I love fall because it signals the start of the holiday season. My friend Meredith and I took our kids to Cornbellies Corn Maze and Fall Festival at Thanksgiving Point. The kids had a good time, but many of the rides were intended for a younger crowd. Belle said it was "kinda fun, but not super fun". Oh well. Now we know. At least it was a nice day.

The jumping things were a hit.

Cole, Me and Belle in the giant rocking chair.

Waiting for a wagon ride.

Their favorite part was the corn house filled with corn kernels they could play in. They took turns burying each other. L to R: Alyssa, Aaron, Belle and Cole.

Mom and Dad came up in September with Mason and Jaxon and we to the Conference Center to have a tour. I have been there for the Christmas Devotional, but I have never been on a tour. The building is huge and beautiful with lots of beautiful artwork hanging on the walls. My favorite was the hall of prophets, with all the busts and paintings of the prophets. Afterward we went to the Church History Museum. It was interesting, but the kids were wild and crazy, so we left.

This picture was taken on the roof. Even the roof is beautiful. L to R: Me, Cole, Belle, Mason, Grandpa Warner, Jaxon.

Rich's Birthday
For Rich's birthday this year he spent the day doing his favorite thing- riding his bike with some of his buddies all day. That night, we splurged and went to the Sushi House with friends. There were about 10 couples there. It was a lot of fun.

Halloween
This year, because money is tight, I told the kids that we needed to get creative and make our Halloween costumes this year instead of buying them. They moaned and groaned at first, but I think they were happy with their costumes in the end. Cole wore his motorcycle gear and we painted blood on his face and head to look like he had crashed. So, basically, Cole was going as Rich. Sorry, babe, but it's true. Belle planned all along to borrow a princess dress-up dress from Ally, her best friend, but at the last minute decided that being a princess isn't "cool" anymore and went to school as Hannah Montana instead. We borrowed come dance costume pieces from a friend that had sequins on them. She wanted to buy a wig, but I said no because she already has Hannah Montana hair. Funny girl.

I was able to help in both classrooms for their Halloween parties.

The game I was in charge of in Cole's class was a doughnut eating contest. They had to eat a doughnut off a string hanging from the ceiling without using their hands. It was hilarious, but a bit unsanitary.
Cole trying to eat the doughnut.

Mr. Madsen put on some music and the whole class started dancing and doing a conga line.

A few years ago, we started going to an actual pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins, rather than buying them at the store. The kids love it. Because I am always behind in life, we didn't make it there this year until Halloween day.

I love our neighborhood on Halloween. It is so fun and we don't have to drive anywhere. Two neighbors have really good haunted houses in their homes, the HOA has a chili dinner and we either trunk or treat or trick or treat.

Belle, Rich and I at the chili dinner. Rich and I went as Sunny and Cher. Belle decided that she wanted to be a princess after all. After the dinner, everyone went to their cars that were parked on the sides of the road and the kids had a trunk or treat.

Rich was hilarious in his outfit.
Belle and her best friend Aly.

Endurocross
Rich has been itching to race in an endurocross race ever since he watched a race last year. This year he signed up, so we drove the Motorhome to Las Vegas for the race. We camped in the pits, which was the parking lot of the casino, so it was fun to be able to walk back and forth to watch races and then relax in the motorhome. Rich had to race in several qualifiers before he made it to the final race that night in the main event. He entered the vetrans class, which is 35 or older. He did awesome!! He placed 2nd overall in his class. He rode very well and had quite the cheering section as quite a few of our friends came down to watch. It was fun, but like last year, both kids fell asleep right as the main event was starting at night. Being the second year in a row that they did that, we decided not to waste our money on tickets for them next year. At least they stayed awake long enough to watch their dad's race.

First Day of School

2009-08-21T09:49:00.000-07:00

Once again the summer has flown by too fast...oh, wait - it's only August 19th -IT'S STILL SUMMER!!! Why do they have to start school so early? I can't believe the first day of school is already here!

Belle had her first day of school outfit picked out 2 weeks ago. We had a completely different first day of school experience with her this year than last. This year she just wanted to hop on the bus and go to school all by herself with Cole. I asked her if she wanted me to drive her there and make sure she made it to her classroom ok. She said "No Mom, I don't want it to be like last year." I was torn between feeling proud of her and feeling sad that she didn't need me there. But I went to school anyway. Not for them, but for me.

Belle wearing her paint splatter shirt and pants. Not my favorite outfit of Belle's but it's hers. Cole on the other hand just says "I don't care, just pick something out for me."

Getting on the bus. Nothing like bright, morning sun. Oh yeah, that's because it's only 7:15AM!!! Crazy.
I had my big lens on and shot this picture from across the playground when Belle first discovered that I had gone against her wishes and come to school anyway.

Belle and her friend Savannah. They were so excited to be in the same class this year.

My big 3rd grader headed to line up with his class. The funny thing was that while Belle was too busy talking with her friends to care about me, Cole, on the other hand, stayed right by my side until the bell rang. He was definitely the more nervous of the two. His teacher is Mr. Madsen and he is thrilled to have the "cool teacher". Mr. Madsen is very musical and is known to do a lot of fun projects with the kids throughout the year.

Cole at his desk. See ya after school buddy!

I wish I could remember what I did with the rest of my "first day of freedom!", but since I am technically writing this is November and back dating it to August, I can't recall what I did. It must not have been too memorable. Probably just housework. Boring.

Idaho Trip

2009-08-15T20:21:00.000-07:00

This August we had a most excellent trip to Idaho. We started out going to Baumgartner Campground somewhere is Idaho-I'm not sure where we were exactly, all I know is that is was kinda in the middle of nowhere and 8 hours from home. We went there with two other families-Kara and Cory Pincock and Bryce and Kate Bell. Rich thinks the trails around Baumgartner are the best riding ever. He just loves it there.

We stayed there for 3 days riding motorcycles, hiking, floating the river, sitting in the hot-spring hot tub and enjoying the beautiful area we were in. While there, Kara and Kate taught me my new favorite card came called "nerts". Belle and I love it now and play it all the time, albeit according to "Belle's rules".

There is a natural hot spring that has been concreted in for a nice, huge hot tub. The campground workers let the water out every night and fill it up again every morning. It was awesome.
Our group in the hot tub.
The hot tub was hot, but the river right by it was ice cold. Rich is crazy, as we all already know and he jumped in it several times. Why, I don't know.

Rich and Cory with the kids floating the river. There were some rapids which scared the kids. Cole and Chachy did not like it and wanted off.

After Baumgartner, we left our friends and continued on down the road. Traveling in a motorhome is awesome for just hitting the road without a plan. We had a few days this trip without an agenda. It was nice to just drive and make spur of the moment decisions as we went. Three of the nights were spent not in a campground, but just off the side of the road somewhere that we could find a nice spot for the night. Idaho is great in that they have lots of pull offs for just that sort of thing.

We stopped in Sun Valley, ate pizza, did laundry, played tourist, and sat in more hot springs. We also visited a fun old ghost town. It was really interesting to see the old houses and how they lived in a gold mining community. Life was much simpler then.
Rich and Belle in a old house in the Ghost Town.
Cole and Belle running toward the old one room school house (the yellow one).

The school house had been restored along with 5 or 6 other buildings and most of the furniture and household items on display were original.

Being an old mining town, the kids were able to do a little panning for gold. The forest service lady who worked there was fabulous with the kids. They loved her.

You know those pictures when something in the background takes your attention away from the main person or thing in the picture? I think this is definitely one of those pictures. I guess I should have cropped this picture a bit. Sorry Cole.

We also went on a tour of this Gold Dredge. It is this huge boat thing that would dig out the river bed in search of gold. It hasn't been used since 1950 and is now a museum. It was neat to walk through. This particular dredge mined a lot of gold during it's operation.

Belle and I inside the dredge by the huge diesel engines. We were turning the motors manually with this really heavy metal pipe, which fell on my foot right after this picture was taken. Ouch!
When the lady who worked at the dredge found out we were from Utah, she went on and on about how some gold leaf she had in a little bottle was the same gold the Mormons put gold on the statues on the tops of their temples. We just smiled.

We left the mining town and had a day to kill before meeting another set of friends at Deadwood Reservoir, so we visited Red Fish Lake, which is now my new favorite place. It was this awesome, crystal clear, somewhat warm lake up in the mountain by Stanley Idaho. There was a cute resort with cabins, a restaurant and a beautiful beach and dock. You can rent paddle boats, bicycles and kyaks. The bottom of the lake was soft sand and the water by the beach was shallow for a very long way, making a perfect place for the kids to play. There are 5 or 6 campgrounds around the lake and they allow motorized boats. We are definitely going back there.
Rich and Belle on the dock.
Rich, Belle and Cole
The kids wanted to rent a paddle boat. Rich did not, but he gave in. We went for a short ride, which was "fun, but not that fun" according to Belle. The paddle boat was a little slow going.
Me on the paddle boat ride.

The next day, we met up with a different group of friends at Deadwood Reservoir. We have been there several times before and we love it every time. It is a hot spring fed reservoir and once again, the water is surprisingly pleasant for as high up in the mountains as it is. We met JP & Meredith Stoddard, Steve & April Slider, Pacome, and Tara & Lynn Ethington. It was a fun group and the weather was perfect, so we had a great time there as well. I taught the gals nerts and we played alot.
The kids playing on the beach. Our campground is right by the beach.
The kids catching frogs. We call this campground "tadpole heaven" because every time we come, there are thousands and thousands of tadpoles and tiny baby frogs all over. The kids think it is great. We ended up bringing 5 home and they lived in a fish tank on our porch for about 2 weeks until they all disappeared one day. I think a bird discovered them. Sorry frogs.
Because we were going to be done for so long this trip, we took the dogs with us. They were great and behaved themselves very well. Meredith's six month old baby, Mikelle, loved Oakley and would giggle and smile when ever she came around. Watch out Mer, she might be the child that finally persuades you to get a dog!
Rich and Belle looking over the edge of the damn at Deadwood.

The one sad spot on our trip was the unfortunate sinking of JP and Meredith's boat during the night. How it happened is a mystery. Sorry guys! It was a huge bummer, but after pulling it out with 3 trucks, we managed to salvage the rest of the trip.

It was a very fun trip, one in which I would not mind repeating next year.

Lake Powell and Blessings

2009-07-30T17:57:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows us much knows that we love Lake Powell. We make it down several times a summer, which never seems like enough. If we lived a bit closer we would be in serious trouble of never working or getting anything done and just being there.

As the mother of 2 young kids, I am well aware of the dangers associated with vacationing around deep water and boats and cliffs, etc and think of them often while there. Over the years we have had a couple of scary moments that make you count your blessings, but nothing compares to the near accident we had this trip.

We met the Nielsons and Burrs at the lake. Jared Burr and his siblings rented a houseboat. Our boat wasn't working well the entire trip. It kept randomly stalling, and to make matters worse, the starter was acting up. So several times a day, it would stall and then not start and we would have to sit where ever we were for a bit until it felt like starting again. Very annoying.

We had been having a very fun few days despite the boat issues when we decided to pack everyone up into 3 boats and go up a canyon for lunch. The particular canyon we were in was just wide enough for 2 boats to pass by each other safely.

Being a popular canyon, boats had been coming and going all day causing pretty big boat waves to bounce back and forth. We were the lead boat with Damon Nielson right behind us traveling in our wake which helps smooth out the choppy water. We each had boats filled to capacity, mostly kids. As soon as we emerged from the canyon, our boat decided to die.

Damon, traveling close behind us, had only a split second to process what was happening and make a decision. He made a hard left turn, nearly flipping his boat over and avoided a collision with our boat-or so we thought at first. Everything happened so quickly that Rich & I were still looking forward, so we had no idea he was that close to us until we felt this huge wall of water come crashing into our boat, while simultaneously seeing the underside of his boat go by just inches from us.

At first I thought Damon was messing around trying to be funny-which standing there with me and everything in my boat completely soaked, I did not find funny in the least. It wasn't until Damon came back around, completely shaken, asking if our boat was ok from the hit. We said "What hit?" Upon further inspection, we saw a gouge in the left back corner, a missing cleat, and a bent bar on the bimini just 3 inches from where my head had been.

Damon said that as soon as he realized what was happening, he had several options about what to do go through his head all at once-whether to cut the gas or turn right or left. Had he chosen to just cut the gas, he would have still been going fast enough that he probably would have gone over the top of our boat killing everyone in the back. Had he not turned sharp enough left, he would have hit us more directly, probably tearing huge holes in both boats and sending people flying.
Damon said that he has never had his boat on that steep of an incline before.

As we talked about it later on, we came to realize what a truly close call to complete disaster it had been and how lucky and blessed we were to have been kept safe. Damon said that for the rest of the day he kept having flashbacks over and over again and didn't sleep well that night. He was really shaken up by it. I'm just glad that he made the right choice and had the reflexes to react like he did.

Later, we discovered our missing cleat stuck into the bottom of Damon's boat. Before every trip we take, we always have a prayer and ask for a blessing of safety. We spoke with our kids about it, reminding them of our prayer and pointing out that our prayer had been answered and that we had been watched over.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House

2009-07-28T17:05:00.000-07:00

Grandpa and Grandma Warner came up for the night to go to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. Mason and Jaxon came up with them. It is a beautiful temple and it is fun to watch the kids reactions. I especially loved the murals and the huge double staircase right in the middle. I think it is a neat experience for kids to be able to see what the inside of temples looks like. I still remember going through the Denver Temple with my family when I was around 10 years old.
L to R: Grandma and Grandpa Warner in back. Mason, Jaxon, Belle and Cole in front. L to R: Jaxon, Belle, Cole and Mason

Denver temple under construction. The tiny people who you can't see well are my Mom, Me, Trevor, Allison and Amy. Apparently my Dad is taking the photo. I believe this would have been around 1985. Go 80's!! I'm not sure I like seeing the 80's style coming back in. It wasn't very good then. Let's not repeat it.

24th of July

2009-07-25T16:43:00.000-07:00

This year for the 24th of July we worked in the yard all day (yahoo!) and then went to our friends, the Burnhams, neighborhood party in Cedar Hills. Their neighborhood throws a great party with a tons of food, a zip line, inflatables, live music and really good fireworks. I didn't want to go originally because I didn't know anyone but the Burnhams, but it was fun and I'm glad we went.

Belle and Cole together watching something on Cole's itouch.

Weekend in Cedar City

2009-07-20T17:30:00.000-07:00

Belle, Cole and I spent a few days down in Cedar City and St. George visiting my side of the family. We had a great time and loved seeing everyone.

The first night, Allison and I took the four kids (Belle, Cole, Mason and Jaxon) to see Annie at the Tuacahn Theater in St.George. It was a very fun play. The kids were glued to it the whole time. It was however hotter than Hades. When we pulled in the parking lot, my car said it was 110 degrees and it didn't cool down much by the end of the play. Being an outdoor theatre, the heat was miserable. By intermission I was willing to pay $2.50 for a snow cone and $3.50 for a soda just for a little relief from the heat. Hats off to the actors and actresses who endure it every night.

After the play, the cast was waiting to give autographs. At first Cole acted like he didn't care, but then it was he who insisted that we wait in line 1/2 hr to take a picture with Annie!

The next day we met Trevor and Jodi at the Washington pool for some swimming. Grandma and Grandpa Warner came with us as well. It it a fun pool almost exactly like the Lehi Legacy Center. Mason, Jaxon, Belle and Cole took off on their own while I pretty much just watched. They didn't seem to need me and it was kind of nice. Watching Trevor with his two little ones reminded me of how nice it is that my kids can swim and touch the bottom!

L to R: Cole, Trevor, John Henry, Mason

Grandpa Warner, bless his heart, hung out in the heat and humidity just to be with us.

I love this picture of Belle and Cole.

It was the grand opening of the pool, so channel 2 news was there filming a news story about it. Cole and Mason were hilarious. They were bound and determined to be on tv, so they were constantly positioning themselves right in front of the camera. Note the two of them in this picture. Sadly, we didn't think to record the news, so we never saw if they were or not.

After swimming we all went to Trevor's for dinner. It was nice to visit and hang out with everyone. Cole, Belle and I spent the night there. The next morning we visited with Amy and saw her new apartment.

Belle is very cute with John Henry and plays with him a lot. John just eats it up.

Finally we made our way back to Cedar City and went to my parent's Ward BBQ with them. Dad's big hobby in life is Mountain Manning. He is part of a group that goes to rendezvous a half a dozen times a year. He is really into it and enjoys it. He was the entertainment for the evening by dressing up in his mountain man outfit and telling a few fun stories. He did a really good job.

L to R: Mason, Jaxon, Grandpa and Belle

My 34th Birthday

2009-07-09T18:34:00.000-07:00

Wow I am getting old! How did I get to be 34? I did have a really great birthday. Rich and the kids suprised me in the morning with my birthday gifts. They bought me a new purse and the new IPhone. I was very excited for the phone. It is the latest and greatest thing right now, but years from now when my grandkids are reading this, they will be laughing at our latest technology. Hey grandkids, your grandma still remembers vinyl records and 8 track tapes!!

My very nice friends took me out for lunch. It was great to sit and talk and enjoy a "mom" meal. They also gave me a gift certificate to a cute store in which I bought a new necklace.

Later that night, Rich and I, went on a double date with Bryan and Susie Bassett. Susie and I share a birthday, so it is fun to do things together to celebrate. Rich and Bryan suprised Susie and I with a nice dinner and show at the Desert Star Theatre. We had a wonderful dinner at TGI Friday, my favorite restaurant besides the Thai House. As usual, I ordered the Jack Daniels Chicken and Shrimp. After dinner we went to the Theatre and saw James Blonde Casino Real. The Desert Star specializes in saterical comedy. It was very funny and the actors did a great job. Rich wanted to make up for being lame on my last few birthdays and he did it. I had a great time. The Bassett's are great friends, so it was a very fun evening.
Pictures should never be taken first thing in the morning, but I like this picture showing my kids excitement to give me my gifts.

We forgot the good camera, so we had to take a few with the new Iphone. They aren't very good, but they'll do. These were taken at the Desert Star Theatre.

Susie and Bryan Bassett

4th of July

2009-07-06T17:13:00.000-07:00

This year we went to Monticello for the 4th of July weekend. We stayed with Rich's sister Patty. On the 4th of July we started out the day in Blading for the parade. Then we went to a Black Family Reunion and ended the day with fireworks.

Rich at the parade.

While finding a place to sit for the parade, we ran into Uncle Paul and Aunt Nette and their family. They went to the family reunion later, so we saw them later, but it was fun to sit by them at the parade.

Rich and his Uncle Paul. Paul is Rich's Dad's brother.

Belle loved getting sprayed by the fire truck. I, however, did NOT!! Rich and I both agreed that it was a pretty good parade for a small town. After the parade we made our way up the mountain to the family reunion. The last Black Family Reunion was the year Rich and I were married, 14 years ago.

Descendants of Jim and Roberta.

Aunt Bev and Belle

Later that evening we watched fireworks, which were also very good for a small town. We were laughing because there were big breaks in between groups of explosions, so we were joking that they kept finding new boxes of fireworks and deciding to light them.

I love watching babies watch fireworks for the first time. This is Patty's daughter Hailey and her baby Titan watching the fireworks.

Titan watching fireworks.

Suprise Cherry Tree

2009-07-01T17:02:00.000-07:00

Last year we were suprised to find that our pretty much dormant apricot tree was really a very good producing peach tree. This sring we had another fruit tree suprise. I was mowing the lawn when I discovered that our previously non-fruit bearing cherry trees were loaded with cherries! They were transplanted to our yard eight years ago. I'm not sure if it has taken them that long to recover from the transplant shock or what, but we are glad to have them.

I picked the cherries and was so proud of myself for canning 6 quarts of cherry pie filling. About a month later, I made a cherry cobbler with the a quart of the pie filling and it was horrible! I'm not sure what I did wrong, but it wasn't very sweet or tasty. I think it needed more sugar. I was so disappointed! After all that work!! Oh well, there's always next year.

Cub Scout Day Camp

2009-06-30T16:30:00.000-07:00

Finally Cole was old enough to attend camp Jeremiah Johnson this year. He really didn't want to go and only went when I sent him with my cell phone and promised that if he wasn't having a good time, that I would come and pick him up. I didn't really intend to pick him up. What mom hasn't told a small little white lie every now and then to get kids to do something we know they will end up liking in the end?

He did end up having a good time shooting arrows, slinging marbles and all the other fun things they do at camp.
Greg Ford, Cole and Carson Riley

Cole panning for Gold

Cole's friend Austin shooting a bow while Cole watches.

Come to find out, Cole really did call me while he was there, but there was no cell phone service at the camp. Too bad I didn't get the call!!

Fun Times in June

2009-06-29T18:30:00.000-07:00

The summer has flown by, and I am feeling overwhelmed with having to blog an entire summer's worth of activities. So I decided to condense things and only post one or two photos of each event. The following pictures were taken sometime in the month of June and not necessarily in this order. I'm just lucky to remember what happened in which month.

We love the Lehi Rodeo. We look forward to the horse parade and Rodeo every year. A big part of that is the Beecher family. It's nice to have great friends with which to have traditions with.

Our favorite horse in the parade.

Running for the candy. L to R: Isaac Beecher, Cayden Beecher, Cole, Belle, other kids.

After the horse parade we all went to the Houghton's for a BBQ. L to R: Belle, Allyson Beecher, Cole, Cayden Beecher.

Belle and I at the Rodeo taken on the iphone.

Last minute (like 3 hours before) we decided to attend the American Idols Tour Concert. Since we are huge AI fans, we thought it would be fun to see them live. And it would have been fun to see them live, if we had been able to actually SEE them. Our seats were at the opposite end of the arena and we forgot our binoculars. It was still fun, none the less to watch the AI ants. Adam, Kris, Allison and Matt were especially good performers. Belle said, "I like this better on tv." "Me too", I said.

Oh sure!!! We have trouble getting them to settle down at night to go to bed on a school night. Take them out, spend money on tickets and they are out before normal bed time!!! Seriously!!!

Rich raced in the Idaho City 2 Day Enduro. Since it was the last few days of school, the kids and I stayed home. He did really well and had a good time. He placed 8th overall.

I couldn't resist this picture of Belle and cousin Abby. My sister Amy and her husband Travis and their kids came and stayed for a few days. It was fun to spend time with them.

We went down to the Manti Pageant. Our friends the Aglers came with us. Since it is 1 1/2 hours away and we would be coming home late, we drove the motorhome and they rode with us. The kids liked it at first, but just like the American Idol concert, they were both zonked out about half way through. Oh well.

Chandler, Cash, Brigham, Marie and Corbin Agler.

Belle was bitten by a mosquito at the Manti Pageant and her eye and face swelled up really big. This picture is nothing compared to a few days later. The swelling moved across the bridge of her nose to her other eye. She looked horrible. Poor girl.

We went camping up by Malad, Idaho with our friends the Pincocks, Bells and Kams. There was a cute little river that the kids played in. Belle was thrilled because the Kams have 5 girls in their family so she had plenty of playmates. She said to me that she wants a sister instead of a brother.

Dillon Pincock and Cole playing in the stream.

We also went to Yuba lake with the Beechers. The first day was beautiful and part of the second day was nice, but then a huge windstorm blew in so we had to hurry and pack everything up before it all blew away. It was fun while it lasted.

Isaac Beecher, Ryan Beecher and Belle. Notice how Isaac wants Rich to go slower and Belle wants him to go faster.

Big Air! Ryan said that he had to hold onto Belle to keep her from flying off.

Belle's Swim Lessons

2009-06-10T18:18:00.000-07:00

Belle took swim lessons from our neighbor Wendy Ford who is a great swim teacher. She took them with Aly Hazard, of course.

Belle is very good at floating on her back. She can also go from swimming to floating and back to swimming all without touching the bottom.

Lake Powell

2009-06-06T16:38:00.000-07:00

Our first trip of the year to Lake Powell, Yeah!!! We went with our friends the Nielsons. Overall it was a bad trip for the weather. It was very windy. We had one day of good weather and the rest of the time it was on and off winds. Lake Powell is not a fun place in the wind. Thank goodness for a cuddy.

Cole fishing off the back of the boat. He later set his pole down and forgot about it, so now there is a "Cars" fishing pole in the bottom of the lake. It's not the first to find it's way there I am sure.

L to R: Bailey, Rich, Belle.

Cole's big catch.

Belle and Cole

Rich and the kids finding shapes in the clouds.

Belle found these letters carved in the rock and was sure it was ancient petroglyphs. I didn't have the heart to tell her they weren't.

Kindergarten Graduation

2009-05-29T16:27:00.000-07:00

Last day of school!!! Yeah!!! I admit, I am excited to have my kids home for the summer. I am tired of schedules and am looking forward to not having any. The kids have had excellent teachers this year and I am very glad for that. Grandma and Grandpa Warner, Mason and Jaxon were up for a few days, so they came to Belle's kindergarten graduation with us. Belle was excited to have them there. Rich was gone to Idaho City for a motorcycle race. I haven't quite figured out why schools have a kindergarten graduation. It's cute and all, but it seems like an awful lot of work for the teachers when the kids don't even care.

Belle received the "Best Listener" award. Mrs. Lebaron said that she never had to tell Belle anything twice.

Belle is second from the right on the bottom row.

Grandma and Grandpa Warner, Me, Mason, Jaxon and Belle.

After the programs in the classrooms, all the Kindergarten classes met in the gym for a program for the parents. The kids sang a few cute songs.

Belle was acting goofy up on stage. She was making funny faces.

She kept putting the string from her cap under her nose.

"I'm squishing up my baby bumble bee!"

After the program at school, we met some of the neighbors at the park for a picnic lunch. Cole set up a lemonade stand and ended up making $20!!!! I think a few nice neighbors gave them generous tips. That night I took Cole, Belle, Mason and Jaxon to see "Night at the Museum 2".

It was a busy, yet fun day.

Last year, I took the kids to Build a Bear for a "thanks for doing great in school this year" prize. So this year I overheard Cole telling Belle about how they get to go to Build a Bear again. Apparently he had decided, without me, that this was to become our end of the school year tradition. They both did excellent in school with nothing but praise from their teachers, so I don't mind rewarding them with something extra fun. The next day after Grandma and Grandpa and the cousins went home, we went to Build a Bear and they each picked out a new friend. I secretly love Build a Bear. It is such a fun store. Expensive, but fun. That night the kids fell asleep in my bed with "Corduroy" and "Rainbow".

2nd Grade Field Day

2009-05-28T17:06:00.000-07:00

I helped out with the 2nd Grade Field Day by doing an obstacle course. Sometimes I don't know if it is a good thing to volunteer for things for Cole's class or not because he has a tendency to hang out with me too much and not participate with the other kids. He just wanted to stay and help me instead of going around to all the stations. Actually, it was so hot that he just wanted to sit in the shade of the umbrella that I brought for myself while all the other kids roasted.

Belle in the pink shirt helping with the relay.

Camping in Kanosh

2009-05-22T16:14:00.000-07:00

We spent a few days camping up Kanosh Canyon with our friends the Burrs, Nielsons and Stoddards. It was a beautiful canyon and the mountain 4 wheeler trails we rode along were covered in fields of mountain flowers. I wished I had my camera on the rides to take pictures of the pretty flowers and scenery, but I didn't.

Cole and Alyssa Stoddard on a ride with Rich in the Razr.

The road through the camping area was perfect for the kids to practice riding on.

The kids loved playing on this big tree.

L to R: Belle, Megan Burr, Syney Nielson, Bailey Nielson, Alyssa Stoddard, Cole, Megan's cousin.

About 20 minutes down the road from where we were camping was this natural hot pot. I didn't get in because I didn't bring my suit and the kids refused to get in because it was pretty slimy and mossy.

L to R: Belle, Cole, Megan Burr

Rich was the only brave on in the family.

Planting the Garden

2009-05-20T12:09:00.000-07:00

Last year's garden was a complete disaster. I put a lot of money into soil improvements, but it didn't seem to help because everything died except 2 tomato plants. I've always secretly wondered if Rich sprayed the Roundup a little too close to the garden. I was a little apprehensive this year to give it another shot, but I dream of kitchen counters over flowing with fresh veggies and quarts of tomatoes in my food storage, so I'll try again. Rich teases me that by the time I add up the cost of how much I put into my garden last year and divided it by the few tomatoes we actually harvested, each tomato cost around $5. Oh well, there are worse things I have wasted money on before.The kids like to help in the garden. Belle helped me plant the corn. Why it is red, I don't know.

Mother's Day Tradition
Every Spring I look forward to picking up my flower pots up at the greenhouse down the street. I drop my empty pots off in February, and by Mother's Day, they are big and beautiful and ready to take home. This is my Mother's Day gift every year and I love it.

Cole's Class Trip to the Zoo

2009-05-15T22:44:00.000-07:00

Lucky me, another school trip to the zoo! Really, I don't mind going. The kids are fun to be with. Although, the pictures of Cole's trip to the zoo look vaguely familiar..... Actually, it has been nice to take my kids to the zoo without paying for it.
My little group.

Each of the kids had a worksheet to fill out with questions about the different exhibits.

All the kids love the big water ball.

Cole and his buddy Austin Akenhead at the playground.

And once again, no pictures of actual animals were taken, relatively speaking.

Cole's First Pinewood Derby

2009-05-14T13:27:00.000-07:00

Really this entry should be titled "Pinewood Derby Fiasco". First of all, Cole originally didn't even want to do it. That is kind of how he is now days. He doesn't want to do anything that he isn't absolutely certain about. It took a while to talk Cole into even participating. Once he finally agreed, he was excited to decorate it. He decided on a flag theme. I will admit, his was the coolest looking car at the derby. Rich spent a LONG time sanding and tinkering and balancing this and that to make the wheels go as fast as possible. I told him he was becoming crazy pinewood derby dad. Rich even padded a cardboard box with foam to carry the car in so that it wouldn't get accidentally dropped.

A few days before the derby, Cole wanted to take his car to school for show and tell. Rich very adamantly said no because if he dropped it once "the wheels will be ruined and it will be over". After much tears on Cole's part, Rich finally became exasperated and said "Fine, but if it gets ruined, I'm not fixing it", at which point Cole became even more frustrated and said that he would NOT take it to school after all, followed by more tears. Why does the Pinewood derby make seemingly normal men crazy?

Finally the day of the derby came and Cole once again didn't want participate. He told me that he was afraid of loosing. This is also another phase he is doing through right now. If he can't be the best at whatever he is doing, he doesn't want to do it at all. He did end up racing and I held my breath for his first heat, silently willing the car to do well. He came in dead last. "Don't worry," I said. "You'll do better the next heat." Hug Hug. Sadly, he ended up coming in last place the next 4 heats!

I was mentally preparing myself for an eruption on his part. Some sort of embarrassing tantrum where he threw his car down and stomped away, but much to my surprise he didn't. He was disappointed, but he kept racing anyway and seemed to actually be having a good time despite coming in last place every single time. Rich was bewildered and more frustrated than Cole. Rich tinkered a bit with the wheels and during the next heat, Lo and Behold! Second to last place!!!!! Cole was thrilled! He scooped up his car and came over with a huge smile on his face like he'd just won the whole thing!

By the end of the night, he had come in last place every heat except the one where he placed second to last. As we walked out to our car to go home we put our arms around him and told him thanks for being a good sport and that we were proud of him for his attitude. I secretly think it was a good lesson for him, that he can still have a good time even if he is not the BEST. I told Rich that next year he should take his car to show and tell and drop it a few times on purpose...couldn't hurt. Rich agreed. It is a few months later that I am writing this and the funny thing is that Cole still keeps his car in the padded box afraid to drop it....

Belle's Class Field Trip to the Zoo

2009-05-01T12:26:00.000-07:00

Belle's Kindergarten class went to the Hogle Zoo for a field trip and I went as a chaperon. It was a lot of fun. The kids were very cute and excited. Because it was a nice Spring morning, all the of the animals were out and walking around. We only had 2 hours to see everything and have lunch, so we were in a bit of a rush, but we managed to cover everything. Looking back through my pictures, I realized that the only animals in the photos were the ones captured in the background behind the kids or statues. Oh, well. I know what a Giraffe looks like.
My little group of kids.

Belle can't seem to take a serious photo these days. Note the height difference.

With all the animals to see, the other moms and I were laughing that the kids favorite place seemed to be the playground.

Belle and I

I took this picture because the two kids in the middle are holding hands and it cracked me up.
It starts so young.

My first 1/2 marathon

2009-04-21T12:10:00.000-07:00

I love running. I really do. I caught the bug in high school running cross country and have continued running ever since. Apart from vacations and having babies I usually run a couple times a week and have for 15 years. Until a few months ago, the furthest I'd ever run was 7 miles. My usual is 4-6. My friends Robyn and Kami ran their first marathon last year and it was a huge inspiration for me.

Feeling frumpy and frustrated at not being able to loose the 15 pounds I've been trying to loose for 5 years now, I decided to sign up for the Salt Lake City 1/2 marathon with Robyn, partly for a challenge and partly to see if it would rev up my metabolism and help me to loose weight.

We printed off a training schedule from Runners World online and I bought my new favorite thing in the whole world, a garmin watch. I'm not sure how I've been running all these years without one. I love knowing my pace, time, distance and calories burned. It is awesome. I liked the training schedule. The mileage increased so slowly, that before I knew it, I was running 10 miles without much thought. I never thought I'd see the day when I considered 6 miles to be a short run. Training for a spring race is one way to keep running on the cold days through the winter. The coldest day we ran was 12 degrees. After that we drew the line at 15 degrees and would go into the Lehi Legacy Center on the really cold days.

My golden retriever Bo is my running buddy along with Stacey and Robyn. Whenever he see my running shoes on, he goes crazy, pulling on the leash that hangs on a nail in the garage. He is always so excited to go and practically drags me along for the first few miles until he wears down a bit. I always joke that he pulls me up the hills when I am tired and that I don't know if could remember how to run without him.

Race day finally came. I rode up to Salt Lake with Robyn and Heather. Rich and the kids were coming later and meeting us at the finish line. On the way up to Salt Lake, I was sad when I realized that I left my garmin at home. The starting line was crazy. There were so many people. The website reported that between the 1/2 and full marathon, there were 12,000 participants. After the gun went off, it took a full 3 minutes to cross the starting line. It wasn't until about the second mile that we could actually start running, there were so many people all crammed together.

Armed with my shot blocks (glucose,electrolyte gummy cubes) and Cole's IPod I set off. Cole has a lot of music in his library on the computer thanks to the Itunes fiasco a while back, but come to find out, for some strange reason, the only music that synced the night before was the soundtrack to LazyTown. So for 2 hours I listed to Bing Bang, Energy, Play Time, Lazy Scouts, You're a Pirate, and Twenty Times Time over and over and over again. Luckily, because it was LazyTown, they were up tempo songs. Without my trusty Garmin, normal running music to listen to, and Bo pulling me along, I felt a little out of sorts at first. It took a while, but I finally found my groove.

Our goal was to make it in under 2 hours. After the slow start, we picked up our pace and it felt like we were passing a lot of people. Then we came to the top of the hill and I could see the sea of people ahead of me stretching out for miles. It was quite the sight. While running, I liked observing all the people around me. The one thing I like about running is that anyone can do it. There were people of all shapes and sizes, all ages and all ability levels just plunking along the same as me toward the finish line. The people who wore matching outfits cracked me up. Robyn and I joked about forgetting our matching outfits at home.

About mile 11 Robyn and I became separated at a water station and she pulled ahead of me, which was fine by me because I was running out of steam and wanted her to just go ahead. The organizers of the race are very mean people because they put a very long, slow hill in at mile 12 that seemed to last forever. Mile 13, the last mile, went by Temple Square and down to the Gateway. The crowds started to pick up and packed the sides of the road at that point. I was scanning the crowds for my family and finally found them on a corner near the home stretch. They didn't see me until I was right in front of them, but I didn't want to stop, so they pretty much missed seeing me run except for about 3 seconds. Crossing the finish line felt awesome except for my jello legs. I finished in 1:53, which I am ecstatic about because I was just hoping for 2 hours. After a few minutes of sifting through the crowds, I found Rich and the kids and we went home together. I felt tired, but a good tired. I was proud of myself for finishing and getting a good personal time.

Although I didn't loose any weight...hmmmm, I loved the whole experience and think that I will sign up for a few more 1/2's this summer and fall. I still don't know about a full marathon. I think I'll stick with the 1/2's for now.
Heather, Robyn and I before the race. Really no one should ever pose for a picture wearing tights next to Robyn.

By the time Rich saw me, I was already past, so this is the only picture of me running. Really, I am in this picture. Look straight down from the "W" in J.Crew and slightly to the right. I am the tiny person in pink. That is ok by me because running photos are not generally flattering.

The kids waiting and waiting and waiting for me to come by.

After the race, the kids thought it was awesome to get free bananas, chocolate milk and creamies.

Whewwww!! It's over!

Easter in Moab

2009-04-15T17:19:00.000-07:00

For Easter we went to the Jeep Safari in Moab. We took the Motorhome and our old white jeep that we've had since we've been married. Our friends the Burrs and Cooks went also. It rained alot and was pretty cold all weekend. Saturday we watched all the jeeps parade out of town and then went to the park to have an Easter Egg Hunt. Cole decided that he was too old this year to participate in the hunting, so he did the hiding with the older Burr boys. I secretly think that he was planning on finding them until the older boys said what they were doing. After the egg hunt we went to Potato Salad Hill to watch the crazy people try to go up it. While there, I ran into my old high school friend Jolynn Eardley Torgerson (Jorgerson? sorry Jolynn). She lives there. It was good to chat with her.

Sunday we went on a guided jeep tour with our friends. It started at 7:30 am and we didn't return home until 7pm. There were about 15 jeeps on our tour, so we would go over a hard part and then have to wait for everyone else to get over it before we continued on. So basically, we would drive for 10 minutes and wait for 30. The trail itself was only about 10 miles long. I guess it was good for the kids because they could get out and run around alot. It was about 6 hours too long for me, but over all it was pretty fun. I did have guilty feelings all day for spending Easter Sunday out jeeping. I think next year we should stay home. It felt like going jeeping on Christmas Day, just not right.

Braken and Cole hiding eggs.

Belle finding eggs.

Jared Burr left, Rich right supervising the egg hunt. Ya Right!

Oops. I am technologically challenged.

Our little family.

Out of the 15 vehicles in the group our was the only Grand Cherokee. Almost everyone else in the group were serious jeepers with serious rock climbing jeeps. We didn't have a cb radio, but our friends with one told us that everyone else was making bets whether or not our jeep would make it. I could just hear them, "Dang city slickers with their sissy jeep." It was a pretty hard trail. I think Rich said that it was rated a 7. At one point we were up on only 1 tire and we dented the sides of our jeep in pretty good on rocks, but I am proud to report that we made it!! I can't say as much for a few of the other jeeps. We showed them -14 year old Grand Cherokees rock!

Hey Cole- Whatcha doin?

We did a lot of this all day - standing and watcing.

The Burrs brand new Rubicon.

Decorating Easter Eggs

2009-04-06T20:50:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know technically it is the middle of June, but I am 2 months behind on my blog and I psychologically cannot blog out of chronological order, so I am going back and blogging in order and changing the date so that is seems as though I actually blogged this 2 months ago. Sorry to my friends who have to read about Easter now. I hope to be back to blogging the present in about a week.

Coloring Easter Eggs. Is there a child alive that doesn't LOVE coloring eggs? My kids beg to start coloring as soon as they see the coloring kits arrive in the stores (which is about February it seems these days). I put them off as long as possible because Belle doesn't let us actually eat any of the decorated eggs, so they remain in my fridge taking up precious space for weeks if we decorate too soon before Easter. This year we invited our friends the Browns over for dinner and egg decorating. Savannah, Sophie, Belle and Cole had a great time as usual. I wised up this year and made them do the actually coloring outside on the porch. One too many cups of colored water have been spilled on my hard wood floor over the years. Sophie had trouble using the little wire egg picker upper thing, so she gave up and used her hands instead to remove the eggs from the coloring cups.

I wonder how long it took for the Incredible Hulk to turn back into Sophie?

The next day I let the kids color some more since we still had the coloring stuff out. Belle was wearing a nice shirt that I made her take off, so I made her duck down for the picture. By the way, since it is technically June and not April, I can say that about a week ago I finally threw the decorated eggs away. Belle couldn't bear to part with them, but I finally just chucked them when she wasn't looking.

Hobble Creek

2009-04-05T16:14:00.000-07:00

I was looking thru some old photos and came across these that I had never posted to my blog. So here they are, better late than never. We went for a family motorcycle ride up Hobble Creek Canyon last fall.
Rich and I usually each take a child on our bikes with us, but the trails were a bit too muddy for me to ride with someone on with me, so both kids were on with Rich, which they prefer anyway.

The mountains in the fall are beautiful.

We stopped for bit to play in the leaves before heading home.

Ten Virgins

2009-03-15T18:01:00.000-07:00

The relief society in our ward recently put on a play about the ten virgins. It was very good. Tabitha Hanks was the narrator and the other ladies were either a wise virgin or a foolish virgin. They each sang a song about their reasons for either filling their oil lamps or not. The foolish virgins sang about things such as being too busy with life, worrying too much about what other people would think, not thinking it was necessary, worrying about worldly possessions, etc.

I could REALLY relate to the virgin who sang about being too busy. She sang about her days being filled with good things such as kids, cooking, taking care of others, etc., but how she didn't allow time for the things to fill her lamp with oil. For me that would be not making the time for daily prayer, daily scripture study, attending the temple, etc.-all the things I need to do to keep my spiritual lamp full.

It was a very nice evening and gave me a lot to think about. The people who participated put a lot of time into it. The back drop painting was incredible, but of course the ladies who painted it acted like it was no big deal.

Rich's Race

2009-03-05T23:00:00.000-08:00

As if Rich needed another reason to ride his beloved motorcycle more than he already does, he has started entering desert races. These races are many miles long out in the middle of nowhere. I want to say that this race was 80-100 miles, but I can't remember. There is not much to watch as spectators besides the start, pit and finish. Rich has a couple of friends who like to race also, so the wives and kids hang out and have a good time while we are waiting around during the race.

This particular race was held by St. George. There were about 300 riders. At the starting line, the riders aren't in a pack, they line up side by side down a really long starting line. They are classified into different classes according to their skill level. The experts go first, followed by the amateurs, beginners, etc. So there are about 5 different starts spaced apart by about 3 minutes. They give the betters riders the first start, so that they don't get stuck behind slow ones. It is a dead start, meaning the riders have to turn off their motors and wait for the go signal to start their bikes and go. It is very dramatic to watch because it is very noisy while they are all warming up and then silence just before the start and then an instantaneous roar after the start. It is very dusty out in the desert, so it is best to have a great start and be in the front, otherwise you will be stuck in a very thick dust cloud created by the other riders. The riders race out through a field for a while and eventually narrow down to a single track trail for the rest of the race.

The riders warming up at the start.

The spectators were up on a little hill where we could see the start well. Belle, Cole and some other kids patiently waiting for the start.

Ready, set, go! Rich is in the middle on the orange bike with the red helmet. Yeah, good luck with that, even I don't know which one he is!

One second after the start. Again, Rich is in this picture somewhere.

The dust cloud I was taking about. I can actually identify which one is Rich in this picture. He is on the right side in the middle with the black clothing, red helmet and orange bike. Go Rich!!

The hill with the spectators.

Rich coming in for pit. He refuels his bike, gets a drink and snack shoved in his mouth and is off for another 60 miles!

His good friend Cory wiping off the 3 inches of dirt plastered to his face. Rich took forever to come in for pit. We were waiting and waiting and wondering what was taking him so long. He finally came in to pit and said that he got a flat tire and had to change it. It took him about 20 extra minutes to fix it out on the trail, but he was glad he could fix it and continue riding.

As I said, we don't see much of the race, so here is Rich coming in at the finish. He didn't finish as well as he would have liked because of the flat tire, but he was thrilled to have finished at all.

Dirty and happy!! Good job Rich! My sisters Amy and Allison and their families came out and had a BBQ with us for dinner. It was a fun weekend. I sure enjoy my motor home.

Bo & Belle

2009-03-05T22:20:00.000-08:00

A girl and her dog. I remember when I was a little bit older than Belle, we had a little black mutt named Fritz. Fritzy used to sleep on the foot of my bed every night. He was the best dog. He helped me to not be afraid of the dark. Thinking back on all the good dogs I've had since Fritz, I am reminded of why I love dogs so much: Unconditional Love. They love you no matter what, don't complain at having to eat the same thing everyday, greet you when you come home as if you have been gone for weeks (even if it was only a 5 min trip to the neighbors), and take whatever attention you give them and are happy for it.

Draper Temple Open House

2009-03-05T21:45:00.000-08:00

We took the kids to the Draper Temple Open House. It was a really good chance to talk to the kids about the important things that happen there and being sealed together as a family forever. It was neat for them to see all the different rooms. Cole was especially interested in the Sealing room. Belle liked the Celestial room and the Endowment room with all the murals on the walls. I am so grateful for the blessings of the Temple in my life. I feel so blessed to live so close to so many. I guess that also means that there is no excuse for not attending often. Cole was the photographer for the picture.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-20T11:18:00.001-08:00

For Valentine's Day, I saw these cute boxes at the craft store and decided to make some for my kids for valentines. I filled them with candy and a small gift, Cole received a watch and Belle received a necklace. I want to create fun traditions with my kids, so I thought I would make filling these boxes our new tradition for Valentines. I also decorate the walls of their rooms with a millions construction paper hearts. I remember when I was growing up, my Dad would sneak in our rooms and leave a nice card and a box of chocolates for Valentines every year. I always looked forward to it.

Cole's heart box in not pictured because I don't know where it is and I am too lazy to go and find it for the picture.

Belle's Big Day

2009-02-13T10:46:00.000-08:00

I can't believe my little Bellie-Boo is 6 years old already. She is the sweetest girl with the best disposition. We love being with her and just hanging out with her. She loves to do things with me that I like to do like shopping and scrapbooking. She asks me every day if we can have "me and you night". She's my little girlfriend. Yesterday she said that she wanted to go see that "Shopaholic movie" as a girls night out with some of my friends. I hope this lasts and we stay close as she gets older.

Because we weren't celebrating until evening, we let her open one present first thing in the morning.

Everytime we go to a store, she zeros in on the cards that play music, so of course, I got a Hannah Montana card for her birthday. She loves it. She'll open it so the music plays and then dance around lip-syncing to the song.

Belle and Rich looking at the card.

Belle opened her new purse (which she picked out in St.George, but I made her wait until now to have it) and a princess watch. At school she was the spotlight of the week. She made a poster with pictures about her on it, which hung in her classroom all week. I came in and she talked to the class about it and passed out a treat.

Belle's class patiently waiting to begin the party.

Playing candy heart bingo

Cole decorated his valentine box all by himself.

Passing out the valentines in Cole's class. Belle always comes with me to Cole's parties. Cole is a good sport and doesn't mind his sister being there. She is so tall that she looks like she belongs in the class anyway.

After school, Belle's best friend, Aly Hazard came over to give her a gift. Aly gave her an adorable jewelry box that plays music with several pieces of jewelry inside, among which was a half of a best friends necklace with Aly having the other half. Belle loves it and hasn't taken it off.

It was torture waiting for Rich to get home to open the rest of the gifts.

I think she likes it! She has been asking for a nintendo ds for a long time. Of course, she wanted the pink one.

I just love the excited, joyful expressions! That is the best part of giving gifts, seeing their happiness and excitement.

Grandma and Grandpa gave her a Baby Alive dolly that moves and pees. Cole thinks the peeing part is hilarious. Needless to say, we went through the 3 diapers that come with the doll in the first 20 minutes. That diaper thing is a conspiracy to get more money out of us poor parents. I mean, come on! - why don't they make them reusable? For now, Belle is using a washcloth as a diaper until I buy more, which I may never do.

Even though she didn't have a friend party this year, we still ordered a Sleeping Beauty cake, partly because I have a weakness for butter cream frosting from the bakery. After dinner, cake and presents we suprised her with a trip to Build a Bear to pick out a new friend. I love Build a Bear. It is so fun.

Belle and her new friend Roseabelle. Note the new purse. She told me that she wishes she had been named Roseabelle instead of Isabelle. Sorry, I should have consulted you first, Belle.

Cole and Belle together.

After Build a Bear, it was Belle's choice to go to Jump On It. It is a fun place that has dozens of trampolines all pushed together. It wasn't very busy, so the kids had the run of the place practically all to themselves. Rich's back was bothering him, so he didn't jump, but the rest of us had a great time.

Belle throwing balls at Rich.

Happy Birthday Boo Boo.

Good Job Cole

2009-02-10T10:29:00.000-08:00

After 2 months of waiting and working very hard to change some bad behaviors, Cole finally earned his Itouch back. I am actually just as impressed with myself that I didn't cave and give it to him earlier, but we both stuck to the program. Cole suprisingly did not complain, ask or whine about it once the whole time. He knew what needed to be done and just dealt with it very well. He is by no means cured of the behaviors that resulted in us taking it away in the first place, but he is considerably better.

He is hilarious with it. It never leaves his side, even when he sleeps he keeps it right next to his pillow. He absolutely loves it. I regret only buying the 8G because it is full already. He loves to download apps from the apps store and music from Itunes. He has to pay for his own Itunes downloads, unless it is a song that Rich & I want as well. I'm thinking that it will be a good way to get him to do extra chores around the house for money so that he can buy more music. Actually, what is taking up all his memory are the movies. He has about 7 movies on it. It has come in handy many times to occupy the kids when we are out shopping or in the car. He doesn't like it when I say, but he really is a gadget/techy kid. He downloaded the scriptures on it, so that is what he uses for family scripture study and at church. His Sunday School teacher doesn't seem to mind, so I let him. Kids these days!

Quick Scrapbook Idea

2009-02-10T09:47:00.000-08:00

I think all good ideas should be shared. After the cruise I wanted to get a scrapbook done of the the trip quickly, without spending alot of time. I saw this idea in a scrapbooking magazine and am thinking of applying it to how I scrapbook in general, since I can't seem to keep up. I put 3 of these scrapbooks together, including computer time, in about 2 hours, which is a record for me.

I started out by buying the albums and embellishing the cover with the metal name plate. I lucked out and found these leather albums at the dollar store for $3!

Because the album itself isn't very fancy, I decorated the first page.
Then, on my computer, I made these 4x6 cards that say all kinds of different things, that I can then slip right into the plastic photo holder spots. You can have the cards say whatever you want, from the names of the places, to who went on the trip, to a top 10 list about the trip, etc. Then as you are putting your photos in the album, you just slip the cards in where they go. For congruency between the cards, all of mine had a square with rounded corners around the page and "cruise 09" in the upper right hand corner. Also, I chose a basic grey paper that is mostly solid with some distressing, so that it would be easy to read, yet still interesting to look at and matched my photos.

You can make the cards as simple or fancy as you like. Small embellishments would work well if you want a little more. Now all that is left to do is the journaling in the lines by every picture. Which reminds me, that I did make a card with just lines on it for a couple of longer stories that I want to write down to remember. I gave an album to each of the other couples that went with us and they loved them. I didn't insert the cards into their albums, I just gave them the stack of cards so that they could insert them themselves as their pictures dictated. Voila! Now I am enjoying the album instead of having the pictures sit in a box for who knows how long until I got around to doing them my normal way.

funfamilynights.blogspot.com

2009-02-09T22:54:00.000-08:00

FYI- I think all good ideas should be shared. My friend Robyn, who has all the good ideas, has started a blog to share FHE lesson ideas, and who doesn't need that??? It is funfamilynights.blogspot.com. Enjoy!

Caribbean Cruise

2009-02-08T17:33:00.000-08:00

Good Friends, Good Food, Good Fun, Good Times-Life is Good!

On January 18-25, we went on a cruise to the western caribbean on the Royal Caribbean ship Voyager of the Seas with our friends Jared & Jenette Burr and Damon & Michelle Nielson. It was an almost perfectly perfect trip: no problems of any kind and lots of laughs. The only thing that made it less than perfectly perfect was one rainy day. Other than that, I can't complain about a thing. It was an awesome trip!

I really am a cruise fan. We have been on three cruises. This time we went to Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Jamaica.

The enormous size of the cruise ships amazes me. My brain has a hard time understanding how something so huge and heavy can stay afloat.

L to R: Michelle Nielson, Damon Nielson, Rich, Me, Jared Burr, Jenette Burr. We had our own table for dinner. Not that I don't like getting to know new people, but I was glad we had a table to ourselves. One of my favorite things about cruising is all the good food! I looked forward to a nice dinner every night. Of course we ordered several entrees and desserts each every night-just because we could! Who doesn't on a cruise?

The first stop was Cozumel. It was the one stop that we didn't have plans reserved ahead of time. We made a spur of the moment decision to rent scooters and it ended up being a great choice! We had a hoot, except the times I was hitting Rich in the arm and yelling at him to slow down and not drive so crazy! We drove around the island and stopped when we wanted to.

Jared & Jenette Burr

The men go to Baja, Mexico every year to ride their motorcycles and watch the Baja 1000 (tough life, huh?). While they are there, they live off of fish tacos. The women, not having had the experience of eating an official Mexico fish taco, were on a quest to do so while we were there. This little restaurant on the side of the road was our fist attempt, however they only had beef and chicken. Since we were starving, we settled for beef and hung out on the beautiful beach for a while.

Cozumel is beautiful! The water was unbelievably turquoise. There are beautiful beaches all over Cozumel.

We stopped at the Mayan Ruins at San Gervasio. They were cool, but not well taken care of and there were no informational signs of any kind to explain anything. I would have liked some info and maybe some illustrations of what the buildings could have looked like and what they were used for. The the U.S. there would have been, but we were in Mexico.

We ended the day in the main city (I can't remember the name). Driving the scooters around the city was hilarious. There are no traffic rules and everyone drives like maniacs. There were tons of locals on scooters. I even saw a lady with a tiny baby strapped onto her chest with a snuggly type baby carrier driving a scooter! To their credit, everyone were wearing helmets. We asked a lady where we could go to get a fish taco. We followed her only to discover that she sent us to a nice fish restaurant. That wasn't what we had in mind, so we drove around until we found a divey place that served tacos. It wasn't until we sat down and looked at the menu that we discovered they only had pork and beef tacos! Considering that we were the only customers there, we felt bad leaving, so we ordered the pork. I wasn't going to eat because the dietitian in me was revolted by the lack of food safety and sanitation that I was observing, but I gave in and ate one anyway. They were surprisingly delicious. I figured that it would be no fun anyway if I was the only person in the group not sick later that night. Luckily, no one became sick, but I never got to taste the illusive fish taco while in Mexico.

Michelle and Jenette eating tacos.

The next day we were in Grand Cayman. We had booked a snorkeling trip to Sting Ray City ahead of time. This was my favorite thing of the whole trip. If you ever make it to Grand Cayman, you HAVE to do this! We stopped 2 places. The first stop was a place called the coral gardens. It was great snorkeling. The second stop was called Sting Ray City because tons of sting rays congregate there and swim around you. The water is only about 3 feet deep and the sting rays are all over. They are like ducks at a city park. They have become accustomed to getting food here, so they just hang out and wait for the tourists. It is a little disconcerting when they rub up against your leg, but it was very cool. The tour guide held one for us to kiss. He said that it is 7 years of good luck to kiss a sting ray.

On the boat going out to the reef.

Rich snorkeling at the Coral Gardens. This photo doesn't show how colorful the coral really was.

Rich with a sting ray.

Our group at Sting Ray City. The water was so clear.

Heading back to the ship at the end of the day.

The third day, we were at Montego Bay, Jamaica. We had booked a van and driver ahead of time. Our driver was named Chester and he was great. We had the van reserved all day and Chester said he would take us where ever we wanted to go. First we went to Dunn's River Falls. It was this awesome waterfall that you hike up. It was very crowded, but it was still fun. It was raining that day, and the waterfall is under the tree canopy, so it was kind of chilly. Rich gave me his shirt to wear to stay warm.

Driving around in the van. After the waterfall, we told Chester that we wanted to try some authentic Jamaican food, so we went to a place call Patty's where they serve patties. Chester said that patties are the equivalent to an American hot dog. They were basically a hot pocket type thing with minced meat filling inside. They were not very good, but we didn't tell Chester that. We didn't have much time left after that, so we had to head back to the ship. Dunns Falls was 2 hours away from the ship and we ran into an unexpected traffic jam. We were a little bit nervous to miss our ship, but luckily Chester knew what to do. He would drive in the oncoming traffic lane until a car was just about to have a head on with us and then he would honk until someone let us back in. I was strangely not scared by this. We made it back to the dock with a few minutes to spare so we stopped by Jerks and had some jerk chicken and pork. It was much better than the patties.

The next 2 days were sea days. We just hung out in the lounge chairs around the pool and soaked up the sun. It was very relaxing.

Rich went skating on the ice skating rink. I wanted to go, but I was wearing capris and they wouldn't let me.

Our room. Even though we had an inside room, the window in our room looked down onto the long promenade, so it was fun to people watch.

Rich climbed the rock climbing wall several times. Rich kept bugging me to try it. Being scared of heights, I didn't want to, but I gave in just so he would leave me alone about it. It wasn't pretty. I went up a little higher than my height, had a panic attack and quit. Rich was just glad that I tried, thank heaven because I wasn't doing it again!

Yes, I actually worked out everyday! All of us did. Crazy, I know, but I didn't want to go home 10 pounds heavier like I did last cruise. It was actually nice to run around the outside track in the warm sunshine. We went to the shows every night, despite the fact that most of them were painfully boring. I like musical shows, but the music was just too much before my time. That is probably because 80% of the other passengers were over the age of 65. There were a couple of fun shows. Every night we got the munchies and stopped at the same little cafe for coconut cookies.

Trip Totals:

0 kids (yeah, although I did miss them)

0 fish tacos eaten

1 super tall ice skater

2 stingrays kissed

2 speedos bravely sported (ask Rich sometime)

2 entertaining show

3 junkie scooters rented

4 boring shows (sorry Merrill Osmond)

4 dolphins spotted

19 throwing up in my mouth a little (inside joke)

25 extra entrees ordered at dinner

52 extra desserts ordered at dinner

96 miles run

126 ice cream cones consumed

2320 coconut cookies consumed

8654 stairs climbed

1 fabulous trip not to be forgotten!

Grandpa Warner generously came up and watched the kids for us. Grandma had to work, so only Grandpa came, which is new. The kids thought it was weird that Grandpa was coming without Grandma, but it ended up being just fine. Grandpa did a great job and said that the kids were really good for him. They did a lot of fun things together and Grandpa even tackled taking Oakley to school for pet show and tell day. Grandpa said that Cole was very cute with Belle and let her sleep with him in his bed and always held her hand while walking through parking lots. Cole may bug the crap out of Belle most of the time, but he knows how to step it up when he needs to. Grandpa said he enjoyed himself and I was glad that my kids and my dad had a good opportunity to bond more.

I can't wait for the next trip, although we promised the kids that we would take them on the next cruise. I think they would love it.

It is hard to go home after a cruise and get back in the mode of cooking a cleaning for myself!! Of course, nothing changes for the MEN!!!!

New Year's Eve Weekend

2009-01-30T20:47:00.000-08:00

We had a great New Year's weekend. We covered a lot of miles starting in Grand Junction, Colorado and ending in St. George, Utah. Rich's sister Bev and her boyfriend Dave threw a benefit party in Grand Junction on New Year's Eve. She rented out the reception center at a winery. It was a beautiful location with 3 buildings (reception center, winery, residence) surrounded by rows and rows of grape vines. The reception center was 2 stories tall with the main table area/dance floor area on the lower level and 10 very nice guest rooms above on the second level. Rich's brother Burton and his family came from Monticello as well as Bev's son Dusty and his girlfriend Lisa. We had a great time eating yummy food, dancing to the live band, and visiting. I thought that the kids would spend most of the night up in the room watching movies, but they wanted to be down in the action the whole time. They especially loved the party hats and noisemakers that Aunt Bev passed out.

L to R: Dusty, Lisa, Brandon, Burton, Dianna, Cole, Kaylyn, Rich, Bev and Dave. Front row: Ryan and Belle.

Enjoying the good grub! Cole knocked over his wine glass not once, but twice! Good thing it was just water.

Belle and I with our party hats on.

At 12:30am the party started winding down somewhat, but Belle was just getting started. She finally worked up the courage to join the people dancing out on the dance floor. She was hilarious- shakin' it like no body's business. I'm not sure how she had the energy since she never had her usual nap earlier in the day. Everyone there thought she was adorable and wanted to dance with her. She kept throwing the confetti on Rich. She kept it up for a good hour until 1:30 AM!!!! At which point I had to force her to go upstairs and go to bed. She claimed she wasn't tired, but was sawing logs about a minute after her head it the pillow. Cole had a great time also, but he's too much like me and was too shy to get out on the dance floor with Belle and Dad. I had a great time visiting with Lisa and getting to know her better. She is great-good choice Dusty! Thanks so much Bev and Dave for a fun night!

The next morning, after sleeping in, we headed off for St. George. The kids were suprisingly good for such a long car ride. I think they were still tired from the night before. Our friends and neighbors, Brian and Susie Bassett, own a vacation home in St. George and they invited us to join them there for a few days. Our other neighbors and friends, Charlie and Diane Smith and their kids came down also. We had a fabulous time relaxing, swimming, riding motorcycles and hanging out. I even managed to work in a run. It was nice to go running in a short sleve shirt in January! On the way home, we took a detour to Zion's National Park for a few hours. Thanks Brian and Susie for the good times! Of course we also stopped by Grandma and Grandpa's for a bit before going the rest of the way home.

I think I spent half of my time in St. George at the pool with the kids. Belle, Rich and Cole.

Hogan and Cole. In Zion's we went for a short hike. It was a little bit crazy because the trail was covered in ice and snow. It was very slick, but we made it.

Josie, Sage, Ellie and Belle

At the end of the trail was a very cool frozen waterfall.

Zion's Park is beautiful no matter what season it is.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-28T17:01:00.000-08:00

After all the chocolates had been eaten out of the advent calendar, all and I do mean all the shopping had been done (yes, I admit, I was one of the crazy people in Walmart on the 24th), all the neighbor gifts had been passed out and the turkey was in the fridge, it finally came!!! Christmas Eve!! I think that I may like Christmas Eve better than Christmas day. This year we were lucky enough to have Grandma and Grandpa Warner join us for Christmas at our house.

I started out the day by running 8 miles at the indoor track in Lehi with Stacey, followed by the mad dash into an outrageously busy Walmart. At home, I cleaned and wrapped presents. When Grandma & Grandpa arrived in the late afternoon, we hung out until we had dinner at the Thai House in Lehi. I think that going out to eat Christmas Eve may be our new tradition. Afterward we came home, read the Christmas story in the scriptures, read the Christmas Rose (a true Christmas story written by my mom and dad) and watched a Christmas movie.

The kids opened their traditional Christmas Eve pajamas from Grandma, which turned into a pajama fiasco. They both received pj's with feet. Belle's were way too small and Cole hates pjs with feet. Belle was crying because she wanted to wear hers even though she couldn't even zip them up and Cole threw his down and said that he didn't like them. At which point I said in exasperation "Merry Christmas Everyone!" I was mad a Cole for being a brat (needless to say, he lost his Itouch points for the day for that one), Grandma felt bad and Rich and Grandpa were just rolling their eyes. Cole ended up apologizing to Grandma and Belle was happy when we let her have Cole's which fit her perfectly, even though they were Supermario Bros. instead if Dora.

Except for the pj part, it was a very nice Christmas Eve. The best part was that Rich and I wised up and wrapped the presents the night before, so that we could relax and enjoy the evening.

I love the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve, with all the presents under it. We can't put them out sooner, because Cole is a sneak.

Christmas morning the kids were up at 6:30am. For Grandma and Grandpa's sake we managed to hold them off until 7:30. Note that it's still dark outside. I think it should be a rule that presents are not allowed to be opened until the sun comes up.

Belle loved all her presents, but especially her Alive Cub, which is supposed to purr and growl and blink and such, but DOESN'T!!!! When I called the customer service number, it said to call back on the 29th. Nice.

Cole, as usual, isn't into the norm for boys his age. He received and loved a camcorder, dry-erase board, charging station for the wii remotes (which he has wanted for a very long time), clothes, books on cd, motorcycle riding gear and a bike lock.

Gotta love Christmas morning photos! I received a trainer, which I really wanted. I am training for a 1/2 marathon in March and needed something to cross train with, so bought this for me and hopefully him soon.

Is there anything better than a big winter snow storm for Christmas (minus the traveling of course). This year has been a weather year. We had such a long, warm fall, that I was beginning to wonder if we were going to have a white Christmas. Luckily, in December, the snowstorms started coming one after another and we had tons of snow by Christmas day.

Dad received kitchen aprons and some cookware since he does most of the cooking these days. I am holding one of the jars of peaches that he canned this fall. He is very cute. Ever since he retired, he has taken on the "housewife" duties for my mom, because she still works full time. His pet project is food storage, so he does a lot of things for that. He even makes his own bread! We talk on the phone a lot during the day. It is kind of strange to be at the same place in life as your Dad, but also fun.

Enjoying the Christmas day feast! L to R: Rich, Grandma Warner, Grandpa Warner, Belle and Cole. I was very impressed with myself for cooking a very juicy and delicious turkey. The last time I cooked one, it was dry. Dinner consisted of: turkey, potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole (Rich's fave), croissant rolls, sweet potatoes with TONS of brown sugar and butter, raspberry jello/cream cheese/pretzel salad, and of course pumpkin pie. Of which Belle ate potatoes, and rolls and Cole ate turkey, rolls and pie. Typical!

Official Christmas Day Photo: L to R: Belle, Kaylyn, Cole, Grandma Warner, Rich, Grandpa Warner. After relaxing all day, we drove into Lehi to watch the movie, "Marley and Me". It was very good, but a tear-jerker. At the very end of the movie (warning:movie spoiler about to happen) they have to put Marley to sleep because of all things, HIS STOMACH TWISTED, just like Dodge. Having only put Dodge down a few weeks ago, we were all a mess, bawling like babies. It was still a good show. All in all, it was a very enjoyable Christmas!

BIG SNOW!!!

2008-12-23T15:49:00.000-08:00

Trevor and Jodi came up for Jodi's family Christmas parties, so they came and stayed with us for one night on the 22nd. It was the same day as a HUGE snowstorm, so it was fun to relax, watch the snow fall, make cookies and play in the snow together. Having them here helped a little to make up for missing the Warner family Christmas party.

Trevor's oldest son John Henry

Belle in her coveralls. She just LOVES the snow!!

John Henry loved to eat the snow, so Cole and Belle joined in. I love this picture of Belle.

Snowball fight with Uncle Trevie.

Cole eating snow with John Henry. No, that is not a cut on his upper lip. He got a little too close to a smelly marker.

John Henry and Trevor watching our neighbor plow his driveway.

L to R: Aly Hazard (neighbor), Belle, Trevor, John Henry, Cole.

So adorable!! John Henry eating the snow.

200 Cookies

2008-12-23T15:34:00.000-08:00

Instead of the usual banana bread that we give out for neighbor gifts, Rich made his specialty, applesauce chocolate chip cookies. I cannot make these cookies right to save my life, so I didn't mind giving up some of the Christmas responsibilities to Rich. Actually, speaking of Christmas responsibilities, Rich was very impressive this year. He actually helped do some things. I usually end up single handedly pulling off ALL of Christmas. From the lights outside, to the shopping, to the neighbor gifts, to the cards, I do it all by myself. A few years after we were married, I gave into the realization that I married the Grinch and have just come to accept that. However, he really surprised me this year by doing some of the shopping(without complaining!!) and making the cookies for neighbor gifts AND helping to wrap presents. Maybe there is hope for him yet.

First big snow!!!

2008-12-22T14:21:00.000-08:00

It has been such a dry winter so far that having the first significant snowfall for the year come just as the kids were getting home from their last day of school for Christmas break was absolutely perfect. As soon as Cole came off the bus, the kids put on their snow gear and headed outside with the neighbor kids.

Note Belle's coveralls. Poor girls doesn't have any snow gear of her own, so she is wearing Cole's coveralls from last year. They are suprisingly warm.

Cole pulling Belle down the street on the slide.

Belle

The kids eventually migrated to the hill in our back yard. While the kids were outside, Cole was inside with me getting mugs of hot cocoa ready for all his friends. He likes to be the host.

Belle loves to play in the snow. She kept growling at the sun and telling it to go away so that it wouldn't melt the snow.

School Christmas Parties

2008-12-21T12:19:00.000-08:00

All of the Kindergarten classes performed a Christmas concert for the parents. It was very cute, but very short, only about 15 minutes.

Lining up

I was mad at myself for forgetting my bigger camera lens. This is the closest shot I could get.

Belle is in the back row, of course, being the tallest kid in kindergarten.

Belle watched a show about hand puppets, so now she talks with her hand all the time. This is her hand saying "I'm goofy".

Back in the classroom for the party, all of the kids received a cute scarf which they all loved.

Belle playing pin the nose of Rudolph.

Belle's Christmas tree snack: great idea for kids. They smashed rice krispy treats into cookie cutters, and then pulled them out and put sprinkles on them. Very easy and the kids loved it.

On to Cole's party, which I was partly in charge of planning. First we sang a fun Christmas song, then broke into groups which rotated to the different stations of: bingo, book for teacher, making reindeer food and Christmas trivia. Afterward, everyone had donuts and hot cocoa while listening to a story. I forgot to take a picure of it, but the gift for the the teacher, Mrs. Jones, was very cute. I found a 4x6 photo album at target that had cute fabric on it. I embellished the front with Mrs. Jones initials out of glitter chipboard letters. Inside each of the kids had a card with their name, photo and phrase "I like Mrs. Jones because....". During the party, each of the kids wrote on their card. We then put all the cards in the album and gave it to her at the end of the party. It was fun to see how exited the kids were to give it to her. She liked it alot.

Belle was in charge of the bingo. She did a very good job.

A piece of Humble Pie

2008-12-20T13:30:00.000-08:00

We wanted to start doing more service during the holidays with our kids, so we delivered food to people for the Utah Food Bank. Nothin' dishes you up a piece of Humble Pie faster than delivering one of the bare basics of life to someone else. All of the three people on our list lived in very small apartments. We only went inside one home, but that was enough for the kids to see that not everyone lives in a house as nice as ours. Cole said to me "Does she really live here?", "Wow, I'm glad for our house." That night our prayers were definitely a little more sincere when we said that we were thankful for our house, food and warm beds.

Tribute to Dodge

2008-12-19T14:00:00.000-08:00

Dodge 2000-2008. On December 3rd, we had to put our sweet(sometimes ornery) buddy Dodge to sleep. His stomach flipped and he was in a lot of pain. With a risky surgery not being an option for an old dog, we said good bye to our friend. Great danes only typically live 8-9 years, so with Dodge being 9 we had been contemplating how much longer he had left and how we were going to handle it. But all the anticipation in the world doesn't prepare you for that agonizing moment when the vet is giving them the shot. Dodge was a great dog who will be greatly missed, so this is a tribute to the good times with him.

Dodge as a puppy. It's hard to believe something so big could start out so small. We bought Dodge when we found out we were expecting Cole.

December 2000 with the original three dogs we moved into our Eagle Mountain house with: Dodge, Max and Brodie. All three are now buried in the back yard. Cole is a week old in this photo.

Dodge and Cole. Spring 2001. Dodge was always very gentle with the kids.

Who needs a chair when you have a huge dog?

Cole's first Halloween. We borrowed a miniature pony saddle from the neighbors and made a mane out of yarn. I don't think Dodge enjoyed it too much, but he was a good sport. They were a hit at the trunk or treat.

Cole feeding Dodge a snack, probably his lunch.

Dodge taking over the swim deck on our boat at Lake Powell. He was kinda of whimpy in the water. He didn't like to go in very deep and he had to sleep on the boat with us at night instead of on the beach. Needless to say, we didn't take him very often.

Over the years, Dodge's dark brown muzzle kept getting whiter and whiter. Hey Dodge, how ya get so old?

Dodge really did think of himself as a human. If we would have let him, he would have laid on the couch and slept in our beds. At night, I had to put items on the chair and couches so that he wouldn't get up on them during the night. I also had to keep the door closed to the bonus room, otherwise he would be up on the guest bed. He was pretty good about not eating food off the counters in the kitchen, but every once in a while, with something particularly enticing, it couldn't be helped.

Summer 2008: Bo, Belle and Dodge cooling off in the shade of the apple tree in the back yard.

Last photo of Dodge just before we loaded him into the car to go to the vet. Cole took it particularly hard and hasn't wanted to talk about it since. The hard part about loving animals is that they just don't live that long. I guess I'll have to get a turtle. Good bye old buddy. Have fun with the kids in heaven.

Cole's Baptism

2008-12-18T12:43:00.001-08:00

A few months ago, my Dad came across this picture of my baptism and gave it to me.

I'm sure that every baptism is special, but there is something extra special about firsts. I can't believe my oldest child is eight and was baptised. About a year ago I started thinking about how to prepare him for it. I wanted him to understand what he was doing and want to do it for himself and not just because Mom and Dad told him to. I am grateful to have served in the Primary the past few years. Teaching Sharing Time lessons has given me extra opportunities to teach him certain gospel topics. Two months ago I was happy to be covering the topics of baptism, the Holy Ghost, repentance and the sacrament.

My two handsome men in white. I gave the baptism talk and Grandma Warner gave the Holy Ghost talk. I think there should be a rule that moms shouldn't have to speak at their own children's baptisms, but I felt bad asking anyone else to do it.

Cole was so excited to have a suit!!

The luncheon afterward at our house. There were a lot of friends & family that came. It was great to see how many people care about Cole.

L to R: Burton Black, Scott Christensen, Patty Christensen, Lexi Christensen, Brandon Black and Ryan Black

The Burr and Neilson Families

Also in attendance but not pictured: Grandma & Grandpa Warner, Mason & Jaxon Bailey, Stacey Hazard and kids, Robyn Akenhead and kids, Maggie & Wade Mattinson, Dianna & Danielle Black.

Cole's 8th Birthday

2008-12-18T10:04:00.000-08:00

Cole's 8th birthday was a very fun day. It started out by Rich & I having lunch with Cole at school.

Due to the lesson mentioned in the previous post, we considered cancelling his birthday party as well, but decided that loosing the Itouch was enough punishment. For his party, we went to a fun place similar to Boondocks called Liberty Land. Considering that a majority of the rides are outside and it was December 1st, we had the entire place to ourselves!! It was awesome!! An employee just followed us around and turned on whatever ride we wanted to do. Luckily, it was around 55 degrees, which is unseasonably warm. By far, the favorite was the roller coaster. It was just little as far as roller coasters go, but it was fun for the kids.

Getting Ready

The water bumper boats were fun, UNTIL, the kids got wet, and then they were cold. I told them not to squirt each other, but they couldn't help themselves.

Maggie Mattinson, Caden Hazard and Cole on the mini golf course.

Mini golf

Connor Bryant, Caden Hazard and Will Schroeder. Once it got dark and cold, we went inside for lazer tag, rock climbing and pizza.

Cole picked a Shrek cake, which the lady at Smith's was nice enough to make up for us right then. I have a huge weakness for the butter cream frosting on store bought cakes.

For fun, we drove the motorhome to the party. The kids thought it was great and it was nice to put on a movie for the drive home. I forgot to get a group photo, but the kids who came were: Austin Akenhead, Alyssa Stoddard, Caden Hazard, Connor Bryant, Andrew Hanks, Maggie Mattinson, & Will Schroeder.

Hard Lesson to Learn

2008-12-17T11:00:00.000-08:00

Raising kids is hard. I used to think that the little ones were hard and that life would be easier once they got a bit older and were more self sufficient. Boy was I wrong. They may be able to get themselves dressed & pour their own milk, but they are definitely NOT easier. I'm sure Moms with teenagers would tell me "just you wait!"

We have been having some trouble with Cole's attitude lately. At school, his teacher has nothing but praise for him. She sayes that he is an ideal student, never gets in trouble and is nice to everyone. I am glad to hear it, but I am wondering what button he is pushing during the bus ride home to become a totally different person. At home, he is bossy, doesn't mind, and yells alot. I call him "the tornado", while Belle is "the warm, soft breeze". While I know that he acts the way he does because I have allowed it, Rich & I have been stressed out lately pondering how to change it. By change, I don't just mean change Cole, I mean change all of us to stop the household behaviors & habits that have created this predicament in the first place.

The friday before Cole's birthday, we were given the opportunity to do something about it.
We drove out to 5 mile pass to ride motorcycles. Once we were out there and ready to ride, Cole pulled an attitude and decided that he didn't want to ride. After prodding him for ten minutes, we finally talked him into going, but with his condition that he be in the lead and that no one pass him. He proceeded to ride VERY, VERY slow on purpose just to be a stinker. We humored him for a bit, but then Rich rode up next to him to tell him to ride faster. Cole freaked out and slammed his bike to the ground and started walking back to the truck. That was the last straw for us.

After a swift kick in the butt, we loaded everyone & everything back into the truck and drove back to the house. Once at the house, we let him open his one and only birthday present, an Itouch. He has been dreaming about an Itouch for a long time. Once he unwrapped it and saw what it was, we then drove him to the store and made him return it. We told him that he could earn back the money a little everyday depending on his attitude and behavior.

I know this seems kind of harsh, but we have tried the usual punishments and nothing is working. He cried his heart out all the way home and I cried too because I knew his heart was broken, but I also cried because I felt like a failure as a mother. I held him and told him that he is a good kid, but that some things have to change because I can't take it anymore. We told him that we don't want to raise kids who think that the world owes them something and that they can have whatever they want despite whether or not they have worked for it or deserve it. I told him that is was mostly my fault for spoiling him, but that the only thing I knew to do about it was to unspoil him. Cole is a very smart kid and I know that he understood perfectly. He said "I feel so guilty of myself." and "I knew I shouldn't have done that."

As a family, we are all working hard at not yelling at each other and being more kind and patient. Cole can earn back $5 a day. So far he hasn't had too many days where he earned all $5, but he is doing much better. When he starts to yell, all we have to do is remind him of his Itouch and he calms down quickly. Even though returning the Itouch was one of the hardest things I have had to do as a parent, it was good for our family to have a wake up call and try to change some things before problems become worse.

I think the timing of this whole thing was meant to be because Cole was getting baptized just a few days later, so it was a good time for him to really think about right and wrong and making good choices.

Warner Family Christmas Party

2008-12-13T16:04:00.000-08:00

Saturday, December 13th was supposed to be the Warner Family Christmas Party, but due to a bad snow storm, we didn't make it down to Cedar City. We spent 3 hours in the car only to end up back home because the roads were so bad. I was very bummed and so were the kids. As it ended up, the snow storm that kept us from traveling down, also hit Cedar City and kept Trevor and Jodi and Amy and Travis from returning home to Toquerville and Hurricane that night also. They all had a big slumber party. Good thing Grandma gave everyone new pajamas!

Stringham Christmas Party

2008-12-12T16:41:00.000-08:00

When we lived in our little duplex in Lehi, there were quite a few other newly married couples in the ward. We all became friends and have managed to remain friends despite most of us having moved out of that ward. It is fun to get together every once in a while. The Stringhams are great to have an annual Christmas party that is always a lot of fun. As usual, I went home from the evening with sore facial muscles from laughing so much.

Gingerbread House

2008-12-01T21:56:00.000-08:00

Tis the Season.....Gingerbread houses are just so fun.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T21:52:00.000-08:00

We started out the day by participating in a family fun run despite the light rain. The run was supposed to be 3 miles, but it ended up being almost 5! It was a good run for me because I have been running lately. Rich hasn't run for many moons so it was a bit more of a challenge for him, but I am proud of him for doing it! We had a single jogging stroller for the kids, thinking that they would take turns riding, but they ended up sitting on each other's laps most of the time. They did get out and run for spurts here and there. Belle was a good sport and ran quite a bit, but Cole whinned most of the way. I don't know what he was whinning about because I was doing all the work pushing him!
Not the greatest picture of me, but I'm not going to put on makeup for a run!

Afterward we enjoy donuts and hot cocoa and a VERY freezing hay ride back to our cars. Note the kids' pajama pants.

Because we were just in Cedar City and the following weekend Grandma and Grandpa Warner were coming to our house for Cole's baptism, we decided to stay home for Thanksgiving. Luckily, our great neighbors, the Hazard's invited us over to spend the holiday with them. Over the years, we have spent several Thanksgivings and Christmases with them. It is nice to have such great friends that don't mind us crashing their family parties. Stacey's parents, Gail and Roger Boal, her sister Wendy, 3 of Wendy's boys, and Scot's parents, Ron and Patty Boal were there also. We enjoyed great food and even better company! Scot and Stacey's extended family members are always great to make us feel welcome. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable day. However, I was so busy relaxing, that I forgot to take pictures. So this is the one and only picture of our Thanksgiving dinner at the Hazards taken after we had eaten and were patting our full bellies in the living room while visiting.

Twilight AGAIN!!!

2008-11-25T22:00:00.000-08:00

I finally made it to Twilight with all the gals from the neighborhood. Literally, there were 20 of us! We had a great time and many of us commented how great it is that so many of us in our neighborhood/ward are friends and get along so well. Before the movie, we had dinner at the Olive Garden-yum!!

L to R: Susie, Christie, Stacey, Diane, Melissa, Kami, me. I was really having a great time despite my lack of enthusiasm in this picture. I wore my "I love Edward" tshirt again as a joke.

20 tickets!!!!

Anxiously awaiting the movie.

My niece Danielle joined us old folk.

I am happy to report that I liked the movie much better the second time. I think it was because all of the anticipation was over and I could sit back and just enjoy it. Can't wait for the third!!

Belle's Thanksgiving Feast

2008-11-25T19:53:00.000-08:00

Belle's Thanksgiving Feast was so cute. I love the all the kids in their hats.

L to R: Gentry, Sam, Belle

Sorry Cole, I didn't get any pictures of your class feast.

Weekend in Vegas

2008-11-24T16:33:00.000-08:00

After stopping in Cedar City to watch Twilight, we continued on to Las Vegas to watch the Endurcross. We camped in the "pits" (just the parking lot of the casino where it was held) because our friend Cory Pincock was racing, so we camped by them. Cole is good friends with Dillon, Cory's son his same age.

We arrived in Vegas Friday evening in enough time to walk all around the strip and expose our kids to all kinds of interesting things. Cole couldn't stop laughing at all the nude statues at Caesar's Palace and I would just like to say that the 10pm pirate show at Treasure Island is NOT meant for kids. It is basically a strip tease. Rich and I kept saying that we didn't remember the show being like this, so we left after a few minutes with our kids mad at us because they wanted to stay. Having kids in Vegas is nice for one thing and that is that the greasers handing out porn pamphlets on every corner LEAVE YOU ALONE if you have kids with you.

The incredibly fun piano at FAO Schwartz. Cole actually played a real song on it. I guess those piano lessons are good for something.

These animals are not meant to be sat upon as we learned right after taking this picture as we were scolded by an employee. Come On!! It can't be helped.

The kids loved the water show at the Bellagio. It was the most wholesome thing they saw all weekend.

Cole and Dylan at the Endurocross. We watched the pre-qualifying races during the day on Saturday. The kids grew a bit bored,so we walked around the pits where all the sponsors have booths set up. The kids thought it was Halloween with all the free promo stuff. We now have enough Geico pens to last a year. We were watching the Endurocross on tv the other day and lo and behold, during one of the interviews in the pits, the kids can be seen in the background walking past. Even though they were only on for a few seconds, they thought it was pretty cool to be on tv!

The group in the stands: Neilsons, Burrs, Cooks, Beechers, Pincocks, Bells and a few other families I don't know very well.

Poor Belle, bless her heart, crashed out Saturday afternoon for a 2 hour snooze in the stands.

And more sleeping. This picture was taken about 11pm right after the Endurcross main event ended. It was the most expensive nap the kids have ever had. We paid $50 per ticket for them to fall asleep 1/2 hour into the main event finale. Nice! They slept all the way thru it! I only fell asleep at the very, very end while we were waiting for the crowd to clear out so that we could quickly carry our kids out to the motorhome. I guess that's what we get for cruising the strip until midnight the night before.

We promised Cole we would let him ride a roller coaster while we were there, so Sunday morning we went to Circus Circus and did just that. It was a fun trip, but I don't think we'll be taking our kids back to Vegas for a very long time. On the way home we stopped in Cedar City again and had lunch with Grandma and Grandpa Warner.

Twilight the Movie

2008-11-21T20:56:00.000-08:00

I am not ashamed to admit that I am a HUGE Twilight fan and have been anxiously awaiting this movie. I planned to go with all my friends in the neighborhood that have read the books, so I was bummed to find out that our trip to Las Vegas coincided with Twilight's opening weekend. We were planning on traveling to Vegas Friday, so I came up with an alternate plan that worked out quite well. I bought tickets in advance to the 1pm show in Cedar City on Friday. We drove down, dropped the kids off with Grandpa and Jodi, Allison, Rich and I went to Twilight, then we jumped back in the car and finished the drive to Vegas.

L to R: Jodi (sister in law), me, Allison(sister)

Yes, I am a huge nerd!

Rich was a huge sport to go with me. He was a little embarrassed of me taking pictures in the theatre. He actually really liked the movie and has held his position with all of his guy friends who are giving him crap for it.

My Verdict: I like the movie but didn't love it. I think I over-analyzed it too much. I'm not sure about Edward. I needed more convincing that Bella and Edward were really in love with each other. I think that there was too much of a build up in my mind. It was fun to see it with Jodi, Al, and Rich.

I forgot to mention the tshirt I made. I bought a $3 tshirt from Old Navy and $2 iron on letters from Roberts crafts and made a gag shirt that sayes "I heart Edward". It was funny and I received alot of comments from strangers who liked it.

Spending time with the cousins

2008-11-16T18:36:00.000-08:00

L to R: Jacob, Cole, John, Belle

Two weeks ago, my brother Trevor had a conference in Salt Lake for work. He brought his wife, Jodi and their two boys, John and Jacob, with him and they stayed with us while they were in town. Cole and Belle love their little cousins and enjoy playing with them, despite the age difference. John also loved having his older cousins dote on him and play with him. After they left, Belle asked when we can go and stay for "5 days" at their house.

Sunday Letters

2008-11-09T15:15:00.000-08:00

I recently read a very good book called "The Wednesday Letters". It is a story about a husband who writes a letter to his wife every Wednesday. Years later, after the tragic death of the couple, their children find the letters and read them. I'll stop there so that I don't give anything more away about the book, but it inspired me to start the Sunday Letters.

I decided to write a letter to my kids every Sunday, but I am not going to give them to them until they are older. They are too young to value them, so I am saving them and will give them to them when I feel it is appropriate. In the letters, I am just going to write about significant events in their lives or just write thoughts and advice or my dreams for them.

I have never been a very good journal writer, I think mostly because I don't know the audience I am writing to. I feel silly writing to myself, so this way I am speaking to my children directly and telling them things that I want them to know or remember.

I have only been doing it a month, but I really enjoy it. I know it sounds kind of cheesy, but I think of what a fun surprise it will be someday for them to read them.

New President

2008-11-09T14:20:00.000-08:00

Since I also consider this blog to be my journal, I think it is important to comment on world events, so that my kids can look back and see how old they were when significant event occured. This week our nation elected it's first African-American President. While I didn't vote for him personally (because I am a Republican), I do understand it's significance in American history and to the advancement in equality of all races. Not that long ago black people and women for that matter weren't allowed to even vote. While I know that discrimation in many different forms still exits, the concept of segregation is a foreign concept to my generation and will probably seem downright archaic to my kids when they reach adulthood.

I helped out with a mock election at the school for the kids to vote for the President also. Some of the comments from the kids were very suprising. It was obvious which kids had very political parents. Some of the comments were:

"Which one is the good one and which one is the evil one?"

"Don't vote for him, he believes in killing babies."

"This one will raise our taxes."

"That's the black one and that's the white one."

"Are you voting for the one with the white hair?" (that comment was Belle's)

Some times I wonder if it even matters who we vote for because politicians just seem to keep finding new ways to muck things up and make everything a little bit worse than it was before, all the while blaming the other party for all the mistakes.

I guess I'll have to learn how to spell Barack (one r or two?) I admit that I will miss Tina Fey's impersonation of Sara Pallin! That was great! At least we live in a country where we can vote with risking our lives. For that I am grateful. God bless America.

Happy Halloween

2008-11-02T13:28:00.000-08:00

Halloween day was a very busy day for me. Between 2 costume parades and 2 class parties, I was at the school all day. Belle was Sleeping Beauty and Cole was a police officer.

Belle had been talking for weeks about having me curl her hair for Halloween. I was so excited because she doesn't let me do anything with her hair. Halloween morning I curled her hair in ringlets and it looked beautiful. She is too short to see in the mirror, so she couldn't see it while I was curling. When I was done, I lifted her up and she burst into tears. She said that she wanted it straight and started combing out her curls. After trying for 10 minutes to convince her that it looked great, I finally pulled out the straightening iron and straightened it for her. Oh well!

The class parties were fun. I dressed up as a guitar hero rocker with the big black wig we have. I didn't get any good pictures of myself. After school we carved pumpkins. At 5pm, our neighborhood met at the park for a chili dinner. Rich's costume made quite a scene. He was going for "Cher", but came off looking like a skanky ho. What cracked me up the most was that Rich's lesson for Young Men's today at church was about respecting womanhood! Nice coincidence!

After the chili dinner, we went to the two totally awesome haunted houses in our neighborhood! Some of our neighbors' go all out and it is so fun! After the haunted houses, Rich took his skanky self home to pass out candy and I drove the kids around the neighborhood. We normally do a trunk or treat, but someone got the bright idea to do trick or treat this year instead. I was not very happy. The houses in our neighborhood are too far apart for traditional trick or treating. We only cover 1 house in the time it takes people in other neighborhoods to hit 4-5 houses. I think I'll protest next year.

All in all, it was a fun night. As usual, I bought way too much candy. We have tons left over.

Cole didn't like the hat that came with his costume, so he didn't wear it.

Belle and her beautiful straight hair! She also refused to wear her tiara.

Belle and her friend Olivia.

Belle decorating cupcakes at her party

Belle and her teacher. She LOVED her teacher's costume.

Cole wrapping up a classmate with toilet paper during the mummy game at his party.

Cole's class on the stairs.

Rich and our neighbor Scott Hazard

The kids trick or treating.

Rich's 35th Birthday

2008-10-26T14:46:00.001-07:00

Last Friday was Rich's 35th Birthday. His buddies took him to lunch at the Thai House in Lehi. Since I happened to be in town and since that is my all time favorite place to eat, I invited myself to join them. It was fun and as always the curry and padthai were excellent.

After the kids came home from school we went with some neighbors to see High School Musical 3. The kids loved it and if I were younger, I'd have a crush on Zac Efron. Although, I did think that the girls dresses were a little too skanky for a Disney kids movie. I guess I should clarify that Rich DID NOT go with us to the movie.

For dinner, we invited a few families over for calzones and cake. It was a little crazy with all the kids, but it was fun for the adults to visit. As usual, we made Rich his favorite -Red Velvet Cake. It is a family tradition in his family and it is his Mom's recipe. All in all, it was a very fun day. Belle made Rich some special gifts- a big Dad name tag and a birthday card. And Belle made it fun for Dad (she is sitting by me and told me to type that). Happy Birthday Rich!!

Rich and I at lunch.
Rich's buddies at lunch L to R: Jerry Cook, Rich, Damon Nielson, Ryan Beecher, Jared Burr.

Later at the house eating Calzones.

Belle giving her Dad a big squeeze after giving him her gifts.

Belle giving Rich her gifts.

Red Velvet Cake-Mmmmmmm!

The adults enjoying the calzones. Our friends that celebrated with us were the Akenheads, Beechers and Aglers.

We didn't have 35 candles!

Seussical the Musical

2008-10-26T12:21:00.000-07:00

We went to see the play "Sussical the Musical" at the Scera Theatre. It was great! I recommend it to everyone. The kids loved every second of it. Despite the look on Cole's face in the picture, he really did enjoy himself. He is going through a "I don't like pictures taken of myself" phase. During the show, Cole said that one of the kids looked like a kid in his class at school. We looked at the cast list and sure enough it was his friend Zachary. Cole thought it was sooooo cool that someone he knew was in the play. A few days later, Cole said that he would like to be in a play and wondered how kids got to be in plays like that. Hmmmmm. I guess I need to look into a kids theater program or something. Move over Zac Efron!

Leaf Rescuer

2008-10-26T12:08:00.000-07:00

A few days ago it was very windy. All of the leaves were being blown off of the trees. Belle was all in a panic to save the leaves from being blown away. She put on her coat and spent an hour outside collecting as many leaves as she could. We humored her by allowing her to keep the pile of leaves in the garage for a few days until we couldn't take the mess anymore and finally threw them away.

Pleasant Suprise

2008-10-23T20:35:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago Mom and Dad came up for a visit and for Mom to work. Sunday, we went for a drive up American Fork Canyon to look at the changing leaves. In all the times that we have been up the canyon, we have never taken the time to stop at Cascade Springs. It was quite a pleasant suprise! The ponds, streams and boardwalks are beautiful! I wished that we had been wearing nice clothes to snap a photo for our Christmas cards.

We love looking at the fall leaves.

Belle and Cole

Me and my Dad

Belle and her Dad

Rich, Belle, Cole and Grandpa Warner

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

2008-10-23T19:57:00.000-07:00

I came into Belle's class to help out with an art project. Belle was thrilled that I came. She has been doing good about going to school, but she still asks me to come to her classroom every day. I have to hand it to Belle's teacher. I don't know how she does it everyday with 28 kids. I was exhausted after just 1 hour.

Twice as Nice

2008-10-23T18:28:00.000-07:00

I have been bad about posting lately, so I feel the need to catch up on the past month. At the end of September, Rich and I were feeling like the summer was coming to an end, so to try to extend it as long as possible we went to Lake Powell 2 times in 2 weeks. The first trip was PERFECT. Both the weather and beach couldn't have been better. We went with our neighbors, the Smith's. We had a great time with them. They were a lot of fun.

The second trip was cut short because of the bad weather. The first day and 1/2 were great. Our beach was awesome and the company was the best! We went with the Burrs and Neilsons. On the third day, the weather turned nasty, so we packed it up and went home. We love Lake Powell and can't seem to get enough.

1st Trip to Powell:

Belle

Cole jumping in.

L to R: Trevor Smith, Rich, Jake Smith. This was Rich's first real time on the tube because Charlie Smith drove the boat. I can't drive worth beans, so Rich had a blast finally being able to ride.

L to R: Jake Smith, Cole, Parker Smith

Rich buried Cole and Belle in the sand.

Charlie and Trevor Smith surfing behind the boat.

2nd Trip to Powell:

Cole, Belle and Rich building a sand castle with the most excellent sand free of prickers!

Rich and Jared Burr in the rain.

The crew hanging out waiting for the rain to stop. It was also very chilly.

Belle looking a little bored while waiting for the "big one". We bought the kids fishing poles this trip and they loved it. I was suprised how much time they spent fishing. Belle didn't seem to get that she needed to cast out and leave it. She would cast out and reel it in over and over again. Oh well, it kept her busy.

Cole's first catch. He barely touched it long enough for the picture. He thought it was gross and wanted Dad to handle it.

Fall Fun

2008-10-20T20:17:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Gardner Village to see the witches and a pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins. We took my nephews Mason and Jaxon and went with Robyn and her kids and Michelle and her girls. It is our favorite new tradition for this time of year. We had a great time! The kids love picking their own pumpkins.

Small Victories

2008-09-25T19:52:00.001-07:00

I am happy to report that Belle has gone to school totally by herself all week!! I still have to lie to her every morning and pinky promise that I will come visit her in her classroom just to get her on the bus. I think she knows that I am lying to her, but it makes her feel better for me just to say that I will come. It's been a long couple of weeks going to the school every morning, but it is worth it now to see her climb up on the bus without all the anxiety. I guess she just needed time to make up her mind that she would be ok without me. As another big step, she also let me drop her off at dance on Monday and go to Smith's to pick up a few groceries. I couldn't believe she actually let me leave and participated happily the whole time. Phewww!! I am happy for small victories!

Unexpected Suprise!

2008-09-25T19:28:00.001-07:00

This apricot tree was planted shortly after we moved into our house 8 years ago. It has always been a bit of a disappointment as far fruit trees go, hardly bearing any fruit at all if any. Much to our suprise this year it went crazy and was loaded with fruit. My neighbor Staci thought it was weird that they are barely ripe now when her apricot tree was ripe a month ago. I picked a bunch that were still kind of hard before the birds could get to them. As I was picking them I thought, wow, these are pretty big apricots.

I let them sit on my counter for a week until they ripened and then ate one only to discover that it's not an apricot tree at all! but a PEACH tree!!! I am actually thrilled because I have wanted a peach tree for years and was planning on putting one in next spring. I think that it decided that after 8 years of trying, it wasn't very good at being an apricot tree and decided to try being a peach tree instead. I now have lots of canning to do, but I couldn't be happier!

Lunch with Cole

2008-09-10T21:34:00.001-07:00

Today I had lunch with Cole at school. He loves it when Rich & I have lunch with him. I'll treasure these times while I can, because soon enough, he'll be too embarrassed to be seen with us. Cole is in the back with his arms raised over his face.

For the love of clean dishes

2008-09-10T21:17:00.000-07:00

I know it seems kind of dumb to blog about getting a new dishwasher, but anyone who has a crappy dishwasher will understand my joy. I have HATED, let me restate for emphasis, ABSOLUTELY HATED, my dishwasher for years, but haven't been able to justify buying a new one. Finally, the little door to the soap dispenser broke, so I said, "Hallelujah", and bought a new one!

Proof of my frusteration-A dish right out of the old crappy dishwasher.

The new dishwasher.